----------------- HES POSTING ----------------- 
Surely the espression is present in the French Enlightenment, but I guess 
that it apprear even before 1750's in France... 
 
The search on Gallica http://gallica.bnf.fr/ returned 49 entries. Some 
sources apparently pre-date 1750, for example: [Le] Prince: Lettre I-II Á 
Monseigneur le cardinal de Richelieu [par Jean-Louis Guez de Balzac] /Paris 
: INALF, 1961 (1631). 
 
An extract from the text, based on a search for "felicite publique": 
 
"Il n y en a point qui se tienne pauvre quand il songe aux mines des Indes, 
et qui ne cherche dans la felicite publique, le contentement qu il ne peut 
pas trouver dans sa fortune particuliere". 
 
 
Yuri Tulupenko 
 
------------ FOOTER TO HES POSTING ------------ 
For information, send the message "info HES" to [log in to unmask]