John-Baptist Pocquelin de Moliére was the son and grandson of tapestry-weavers attached to the king's household. His father intending him for the same line of business, gave him a suitable education; but he soon discovered an excessive attachment to the theatre. At fourteen he was placed in the Jesuits college, and his progress was unusually rapid and honourable to himself. The Belles-lettres improved his mind, while the precepts of Gassendi enlightened his understanding. His father becoming infirm, he was compelled to pursue the family trade under Lewis XIII. whom he followed in his journey to Narbonne in 1641. The French theatre was then beginning to emerge from barbarism and neglect, and to flourish under the great and fostering talents of Corneille. Pocquelin, destined to become among the French the founder of true and legitimate comedy, no longer dissembled his decided preference for the stage. He quitted his employment, and joined a society of young men like himself, devoted to theatrical pursuits. It was then that he assumed the sirname of Moliére, either from regard to his family, or in compliance with a custom which generally prevailed among the actors. A similarity of taste and sentiments occasioned his union with La Béjart, a provincial actress. They formed a company, which first began to perform at Lyons, 1653, with the Etourdi, written by Moliére himself, and his original essay. The genuine wit of the dialogue, the inexhaustible address of the valet in repairing the blunders of his master, and the interest occasioned by this perpetual contrast, procured the piece considerable success, notwithstanding its numerous defects. Moliére, equally great as author and actor, united every suffrage. At that period, people were accustomed only to pieces of the most immoral or insignificant tendency, and debased by low and improbable intrigues. The art of

exhibiting on the national stage characters and manners taken from real life, was reserved for Moliére. The applause which he received on the representation of the Etourdi, followed him to Béziers, where the Prince of Conti then presided at the assembly held for the province of Languedoc. He received Moliére as his friend and companion, and even offered to make him his secretary; but the poet declined the honour, declaring "that though a tolerable author, he would probably make but an indifferent secretary." The Depit Amoureux and the Précieuses Ridicules, next appeared on the theatre of Béziers. The succession of incidents is equally well preserved in the Depit Amoureux as in the Etourdi. In the dialogue we discover the same rich fund of humour, and the repartees are alike ingenious and laughable; but the nodus or intrigue is too complicated, and the denouement destitute of probability. In the Précieuses Ridicules, there is more simplicity and truth in the design: a keen and delicate satire on the rage for the Bel Esprit, which then prevailed; on the stiff and swelling diction of the romances in vogue; the ridiculous pedantry among the women, and the affectation universally observable in their language, their sentiments, and their dress, distinguishes this piece from the preceding ones, and marks at once the talent of Moliére. When represented at Paris, it produced a general alteration of manners. The spectators laughed at their former follies, and while they applauded the author, reformed themselves. Menage, who assisted at its first representation, said to Chapelain, "You and I were accustomed to applaud the follies which have just been exposed to ridicule with so much good sense and ingenuity." An old man exclaimed from the pit, "Courage, Moliére, this is legitimate comedy!" Louis XIV. was so pleased with the pieces exhibited by the company of Moliére, that he permitted

them to call themselves the King's Comedians,' and be stowed on their leader a pension of a 1000 livres.

The Cocu Imaginaire, adapted rather for the gratification of the people, than to the taste of more refined auditors, next appeared in 1660. The genius of Moliére may be discovered occasionally in this piece, but it exposed him to all the severity of the critics, who were however little attended to by the public at large. L' Ecole des Maris, taken from the Adelphi of Terence, but superior to the original, presents a denouement natural in itself, incidents developed with art, and great simplicity in the intrigue. While the theatre yet resounded with the applause which it so justly merited, the Facheux, a piece conceived, written, studied, and represented in the space of a fortnight, was played at Vaux, a house belonging to Fouquet, the celebrated superintendant of the finances, in the presence of the king and court. The scenes of this little comedy are by no means sufficiently connected; but the attention of the spectator is kept alive by the variety in the characters, the spirit of its dialogue, and the elegance of its language. The improved talent of Moliére next displayed itself in l'Ecole des Femmes, represented the following year. Some negligences in the style excited the censures of the critics, and they overlooked the exquisite art which prevails throughout the inimitable character of Agnes, and the rapid and natural succession of incidents. Moliére replied to this decision by an ingenious critique on his own. performance, and completely refuted the unjust cavils it had occasioned. His talents now deserved and obtained great rewards. The king, who uniformly considered him as the founder of a new species of literature in France, and an useful reformer of vice and folly, placed him on the same footing with the numerous other

authors who flourished by his bounty.

Moliére, influenced by a lively sense of this monarch's munificence, soon produced the Impromptu de Versailles, and the Princesse d'Elide, a spectacle composed on purpose to add splendour to the fete given by the king to the reigning queen, the queen dowager, and queen Henrietta of England, the widow of the unfortunate Charles. But the Princesse d'Elide, when divested of the superb decorations and the brilliant audience of Versailles, was less favourably received at Paris. The Marriage Forcé, another piece of the same description, met with a similar fate. The Festin de Pierre did not meet with better success; some expressions of a nature bordering on impiety, in some degree injured the reputation of Moliére, and he withdrew the piece after it had been twice represented. L'Amour Medecin was another hasty production, upon which it would be unjust to reflect any great degree of censure. But it is observable that it was the first in which he began to ridicule the faculty.

But the greater part of the high reputation he has acquired, is derived from the Misanthrope, an admirable play, little applauded at first through ignorance or envy, but now considered as one of the first in the ancient or modern drama. It must be admitted, however, that it is more generally admired in the closet than on the stage. "The little interest excited in the public," says Voltaire, "by the representation of the Misanthrope, may probably be thus accounted for: that the plot, though accompanied by innumerable beauties of detail, is not in itself sufficiently diversified; the conversations, however ingenious and instructive, not being properly connected, rather weaken than support the action; and the denoument, though wisely planned and naturally deduced, is in consequence coldly received. The satire of the

Misanthrope is perhaps more keen and delicate than that of Horace or Boileau; but as a comedy, it is undoubtedly less interesting than the Tartuffe, which, combining the satire and the elegance of style peculiar to the former, excites a more lively sensation." The suffrage however of every man of taste, consoled Molière for the indifference of the multitude. To regain their applause, he wrote the Médecin malgrélui, in 1666, sufficiently gay and farcical, to retrieve his reputation for humour and spirit. The Sicilien, or l'Amour Peintre, is still seen with pleasure, as it contains a sort of graceful gallantry, less effeminate than in many other similar productions. But the reputation of Moliére now attained its climax, by the appearance of Tartuffe or l'Imposteur. Its representation was at first prohibited; the many priests and devotees who knew that it was written expressly to expose them and their hypocrisy, had obtained the order from the king. At the representation of a farce called Scaramouche Hermite, infinitely more satirical, and even licentious in its tendency, the king said to the great Condé, "I should be glad to know why those people who pretend to be scandalized at the performance of Moliére's play, say nothing against Scaramouche." "Sir," answered the prince, "Scaramouche only offends God, but Moliére attacks the priests." At length, in spite of the innumerable intrigues to prevent its representation, it was performed with inconceivable applause. No where was hypocrisy more completely unveiled, characters more ingeniously drawn, or dialogue written with more nature and truth. In 1668 he produced Amphitryon, imitated from Plautus, and superior to its model, but in which he has evinced less attention to propriety of language than in his former plays. L'Avare, another copy from the same poet, is rather outré in its principal character; but it must be confessed to be admirably calculated for the