Even when engaged in the most absorbing of intrigues his lovers pretend that they are their own masters, and that they feel only such sentiments as they have elected to feel. At that early day--when _Médée_ and _Clitandre_ were written--the culte of the will had germinated; and time proved that it was predestined to become the chief director of Corneille's work. In _La Place Royale_ Alidor says of _Clitandre_[70]:
Je veux la liberté dans le milieu des fers, Il ne faut pas servir d'objet, qui nous possède. Il ne faut point nouirrir d'amour qui ne nous cède, Je le hais s'il me force, et, quand j'aime, je veux Que de ma volonté dépendent tous mes voeux, Que mon feu m'obéisse au lieu de me contraindre, Que je puisse, à mon gré, l'enflammer ou l'éteindre, Et toujours en état de disposer de moi, Donner quand il me plaît et retirer ma foi.
In Corneille's plays young girls are raised to believe that they can love, or cease to love, at will; and their pride is interested. Ambition demands that they remain in command of their affections. When old Pleirante perceives that his daughter Célidée is fond of Lysandre he lets her know that he has divined her secret and that he approves of her choice, but Célidée answers proudly:
"Monsieur, il est tout, vrai, Son légitime ardor A tant gagné sur moi que j'en fais de l'estime . . . J'aime son entretien, je cheris sa présence; Mais cela n'est enfin qu'un peu de complaisance, Qu'un mouvement léger qui passe en moins d'un jour, 'Vos seuls commandements produiront mon amour.'"
Another ingenuous daughter answers, in an offended tone, when her mother intimates that she seems to be in love with Alcidon, that she
"_Knows that appearances are against her!_ But," she adds, "my heart has gone only as far as I willed that it should go. It is always free; and it holds in reserve a sincere regard for everything that my mother prescribes for me.... My wish is yours, do with me what you will."--_La Veuve._
The public approved this language. It commended people who married their daughters without consulting their hearts. And who shall say that this way was not the one best fitted for their times? Faith added to necessity engenders miracles, and miracles are what morality demands.