Stripped of every grand and cosmic
feature, it degenerated into the principal form of amusement. The
eighteenth century, though instructive and interesting to the student of
eroticism, produced nothing new. Under the undisputed sway of France, a
period of sensuality set in, unparalleled by any other epoch in the
history of the race, except, perhaps, the early oriental epoch; even the
gynecocratic family of remote antiquity was openly revived by the ladies
of Paris. Casanova was the sexual hero of the age (as he is to some
extent the hero of our present impotent epoch). Indefatigable in the
pursuit of woman and successful until old age, he was a well-bred
sexualist without subtlety or depth. The Vicomte de Valmont, the hero of
Choderlos de Laclos' famous and realistic novel _Les Liaisons
Dangereuses_, an absolutely cold and cunning seducer, was its god. They
were seconded by the pleasure-loving Ninon de l'Enclos, who was still
desired at the age of eighty.
This ultra-refinement was followed by the loathing of civilisation and
love of nature expressed by Rousseau, Werther and Hoelderlin; closely
allied to these passions was sentimental love, the direct precursor of
our modern conception of love.
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