See also:

• PIERRE

PIERRE See also:

• PIERRE CORNEILLE (1606–1684)
• CORNEILLE, THOMAS (1625-1709)

CORNEILLE (1606–1684)  , See also:

• FRENCH
• FRENCH, DANIEL CHESTER (1850– )
• FRENCH, NICHOLAS (1604-1678)

French dramatist and poet, was See also:

• BORN, IGNAZ, EDLER VON (1742–1791)

born at See also:

• ROUEN

Rouen, in the See also:

• RUE (Fr. rue, Lat. ruta, from Gr. pur)

rue de la See also:

• PIE

Pie, on the 6th of See also:

• JUNE

June 16o6 . The See also:

• HOUSE
• HOUSE (O. Eng. hiss, a word common to Teutonic languages, cf. Dut. huis, Ger. Haus; in Gothic it is only found in gudhiss, a temple; it may be ultimately connected with the root of " hide," conceal)

house, which was See also:

• LONG, GEORGE (1800-1879)
• LONG, JOHN DAVIS (1838– )

long preserved, was destroyed not many years ago . His See also:

• FATHER

father, whose See also:

• CHRISTIAN
• CHRISTIAN, WILLIAM (1608-1663)

Christian name was the same,, was avocat du roi a la Table de Marbre du Palais, and also held the position of maitre See also:

• DES

des eaux et fords in the vicomte (or bailliage, as some say) of Rouen . In this latter See also:

• OFFICE (from Lat. officium, " duty," " service," a shortened form of opifacium, from facere, " to do," and either the stem of opes, " wealth," " aid," or opus, " work ")

office he is said to have shown himself a vigorous See also:

• MAGISTRATE (Lat. magistratus, from magister, master, properly a public office, hence the person holding such an office)

magistrate, suppressingbrigandage and See also:

• PLUNDER

plunder without regard to his See also:

• PERSONAL

personal safety . He was ennobled in 1637 (it is said not without regard to his son's distinction), and the See also:

• HONOUR (Lat. honos or lwnor, honoris; in English the word was spelled with or without the u indifferently until the 17th century, but during the 18th century it became fashion-able to spell the word " honor "; Johnson's and Webster's Dictionaries stereoty

honour was renewed in favour of his sons See also:

• PIERRE

Pierre and See also:

• THOMAS
• THOMAS (c. 1654-1720)
• THOMAS (d. 110o)
• THOMAS, ARTHUR GORING (1850-1892)
• THOMAS, CHARLES LOUIS AMBROISE (1811-1896)
• THOMAS, GEORGE (c. 1756-1802)
• THOMAS, GEORGE HENRY (1816-187o)
• THOMAS, ISAIAH (1749-1831)
• THOMAS, PIERRE (1634-1698)
• THOMAS, SIDNEY GILCHRIST (1850-1885)
• THOMAS, ST
• THOMAS, THEODORE (1835-1905)
• THOMAS, WILLIAM (d. 1554)

Thomas in 1669, when a' See also:

• GENERAL
• GENERAL (Lat. generalis, of or relating to a genus, kind or class)

general See also:

• REPEAL (O.F. rapel, modern rappel, from rapeler, rappeler, revoke, re and appeler, appeal)

repeal of the letters of See also:

• NOBILITY

nobility recently granted had taken See also:

• PLACE (through Fr. from Lat. platea, street; Gr. IrAar6s, wide)

place . There appears, however, to be no instance on See also:

• RECORD (Lat. recordari, to recall to mind, from cor, heart or mind)

record of the poet himself assuming the " de " of nobility . His See also:

• MOTHER

mother's name was Marthe le Pesant . After being educated by the See also:

• JESUITS

Jesuits of Rouen, See also:

• CORNEILLE, PIERRE (1606–1684)
• CORNEILLE, THOMAS (1625-1709)

Corneille at the See also:

• AGE (Fr. age, through late Lat. aetaticum, from aetas)

age of eighteen was entered as avocat, and in 1624 took the oaths, as we are told, four years before the See also:

• REGULAR

regular See also:

• TIME (0. Eng. Lima, cf. Icel. timi, Swed. timme, hour, Dan. time; from the root also seen in " tide," properly the time of between the flow and ebb of the sea, cf. O. Eng. getidan, to happen, " even-tide," &c.; it is not directly related to Lat. tempus)
• TIME, MEASUREMENT OF
• TIME, STANDARD

time, a See also:

• DISPENSATION

dispensation having been procured . He was afterwards appointed See also:

• ADVOCATE (Lat. advocatus, from advocare, to summon, especially in law to call in the aid of a counsel or witness, and so generally to summon to one's assistance)

advocate to the See also:

• ADMIRALTY, HIGH COURT OF

admiralty, and. to the " See also:

• WATERS, TERRITORIAL

waters and forests," but both these posts must have been of small value, as we find him parting with them in 1650 for the insignificant sum of 6000 livres . In that See also:

• YEAR

year and the next he was procureur-See also:

• SYNDIC (Late Lat. syndicus, Gr. vivv&aos, one who helps in a court of justice, an advocate, representative, crap, with, and Sirc77, justice)

syndic des Etats de Normandie . His first See also:

• PLAY

play, M6lite, was acted in 1629 . It is said by B. le B. de See also:

• FONTENELLE, BERNARD LE BOVIER DE (1657-1757)

Fontenelle (his See also:

• NEPHEW

nephew) to have been inspired by personal experiences, and was extremely popular, either because or in spite of its remarkable difference from the popular plays of the See also:

• DAY (O. Eng. dreg, Ger. Tag; according to the New English Dictionary, " in no way related to the Lat. dies")
• DAY, JOHN (1574-1640?)
• DAY, THOMAS (1748-1789)

day, those of A .

See also:

• HARDY, ALEXANDRE (1569?-1631)
• HARDY, SIR THOMAS DUFFUS (1804-1878)
• HARDY, SIR THOMAS MASTERMAN
• HARDY, THOMAS (1840- )

Hardy . In 1632 Clitandre, a tragedy, was printed (it may have been acted in 1631); in 1633 La Veuve and the Galerie du palais, in 1634 La Suieante and La Place Royale, all the last-named plays being comedies, saw the See also:

• STAGE (Fr. 6/age; from Lat. stare, to stand)

stage . In 1634 also, having been selected as the composer of a Latin See also:

• ELEGY

elegy to See also:

• RICHELIEU, ARMAND EMMANUEL SOPHIE SEPTEMANIE DU PLESSIS
• RICHELIEU, ARMAND JEAN DU PLESSIS
• RICHELIEU, LOUIS FRANCOIS ARMAND DU PLESSIS

Richelieu on the occasion of the See also:

• CARDINAL (Lat. cardinalis)

cardinal visiting Rouen, he was introduced to the subject of his verses, and was soon after enrolled among the " five poets." These See also:

• OFFICERS

officers (the others being G . Colletet, See also:

• BOISROBERT, FRANCOIS LE METEL DE (1592-1662)

Boisrobert and C. de l'Etoile, who in no way merited the See also:

• TITLE (0. Fr. title, mod. titre, from Lat. titulus)

title, and J. de See also:

• ROTROU, JEAN DE (1609-1650)

Rotrou, who was no unworthy yokefellow even of Corneille) had for task the more profitable than dignified occupation of working up Richelieu's ideas into dramatic See also:

• FORM (Lat. forma)

form.' No one could be less suited for such See also:

• WORK

work than Corneille, and he soon (it is said) incurred his employer's displeasure by altering the See also:

• PLAN
• PLAN (from Lat. planes, flat)

plan of the third See also:

• ACT (Lat. actus, actum)

act of See also:

• LES

Les Thuileries, which had been entrusted to him . Meanwhile the year 1635 saw the See also:

• PRODUCTION (Lat. productionem, from producere, to pro-duce)

production of Medee, a See also:

• GRAND

grand but unequal tragedy.' In the next year the singular extravaganza entitled L'Illusion comique followed, and was succeeded about the end of See also:

• NOVEMBER (Lat. novem, nine)

November by the See also:

• CID, THE

Cid, based on the Mocedades del Cid of Guillem de See also:

• CASTRO, INEZ DE (d. 1355)
• CASTRO, JOAO DE (1500-1548)

Castro . The triumphant success of this, perhaps the most " See also:

• EPOCH (Gr. E7roxij, holding in suspense, a pause, from E1rxav, to hold up, to stop)

epoch-making " play in all literature, the See also:

• JEALOUSY (adapted from Fr. jalousie, formed from jaloux, jealous, Low Lat. zelosus, Gr. j'i os, ardour, zeal, from the root seen in '&u', to boil, ferment; cf. " yeast ")

jealousy of Richelieu and the See also:

• ACADEMY, GREEK
• ACADEMY, ROYAL

Academy, the open attacks of Georges de See also:

• SCUDERY

Scudery and J. de See also:

• MAIRET, JEAN DE (1604–1686)

Mairet and others, and the pamphlet-See also:

• WAR
• WAR (O. Eng. werre, Fr. guerre, of Teutonic origin; cf. O.H.G. werran, to confound)

war which followed, are among the best-known incidents in the See also:

• HISTORY

history of letters . The trimming See also:

• VERDICT (O. Fr. verdit, Lat. vere dictum, truly said, used in Late Latin in one word with its present significance)

verdict of the Academy, which we have in J . See also:

• CHAPELAIN, JEAN (1595-1674)

Chapelain's Sentiments de l'Academie francaise sur la tragi-comedie du Cid (1638), when its See also:

• ARBITRATION (Lat. arbitrari, to examine or judge)
• ARBITRATION, INTERNATIONAL

arbitration was demanded by Richelieu, and not openly repudiated by Corneille, was virtually unimportant; but it is See also:

• WORTH
• WORTH, CHARLES FREDERICK (1825-1895)

worth remembering that no less a writer than Georges de Scudery, in his Observations sur le Cid (1637), gravely and apparently sincerely asserted and maintained of this See also:

• GREAT

great play that the subject was utterly See also:

• BAD, BCD

bad, that all the rules of dramatic See also:

• COMPOSITION
• COMPOSITION (Lat. compositio, from componere, to put together)

composition were violated, that the See also:

• ACTION

action was badly conducted, the versification constantly faulty, and the beauties as a See also:

• RULE

rule stolen ! Corneille himself was awkwardly situated in this dispute . The esprit bourru by which he was at all times distinguished, and which he now displayed in his rather arrogant Excuse a Ariste, unfitted him for controversy, and it was of vital importance to him that he should not lose the outward marks of favour which Richelieu continued to show him . Perhaps the pleasantest feature in the whole See also:

• MATTER

matter is the unshaken and generous admiration with which Rotrou, the only contemporary whose See also:

• GENIUS (from Lat. genere, gignere)

genius entiled him to criticise Corneille, continued to regard his friend, See also:

• RIVAL

rival, and in some sense (though Rotrou was the younger of the two) See also:

• PUPIL (Lat. pupillus, orphan, minor, dim. of pupus, boy, allied to puer, from root pm- or peu-, to beget, cf. "pupa," Lat. for " doll," the name given to the stage intervening between the larval and imaginal stages in certain insects)

pupil . Finding it impossible to make himself fairly heard in the matter, Corneille (who had retired from his position among the `.` five poets ") withdrew to Rouen and passed nearly three years in quiet there, perhaps revolving the opinions afterwards expressed in his three Discours and in the Examens of his plays, where he bows, somewhat as in the house of Rimmon, to " the rules." In 1639, or at the beginning of 164o, appeared See also:

• HORACE [QuINTus HORATIUS FLACCUS] (65-8 B.C.)

Horace with a See also:

• DEDICATION (Lat. dedicatio, from dedicare, to proclaim, to announce)

dedication to Richelieu .

The See also:

• GOOD, JOHN MASON (1764-1827)

good offices of Madame de Combalet, to whom the Cid had been dedicated, and perhaps the See also:

• SATISFACTION (Lat. salisfacerc, to satisfy)

satisfaction of the cardinal's See also:

• LITERARY

literary jealousy, had healed what See also:

• BREACH (Mid. Eng. breche, derived from the common Teutonic root brec, which appears in " break," Ger. brechen, &c.)

breach there may have been, and indeed the poet was in no position to See also:

• QUARREL

quarrel with his See also:

• PATRON

patron . Richelieu not only allowed him 500 crowns a year, but soon afterwards, it is said, though on no certain authority, employed his omnipotence in reconciling the father of the poet's See also:

• MISTRESS

mistress, See also:

• MARIE

Marie de Lamperiere, to the See also:

• MARRIAGE

marriage of the lovers (164o) . In this year also See also:

• CINNA
• CINNA, GAIUS HELVIUS

Cinna appeared . A brief but very serious illness attacked him, and the See also:

• DEATH

death of his father the year before had increased his See also:

• FAMILY

family anxieties by leaving his mother in very indifferent circumstances . It has, however, been recently denied that he himself was at any time poor, as older traditions asserted . In the following year Corneille figured as a contributor to the Guirlande de Julie, a famous See also:

• ALBUM (Lat. albus, white)

album which the See also:

• MARQUIS

marquis de See also:

• MONTAUSIER, CHARLES DE

Montausier, assisted by all the literary men of the day, offered to his See also:

• LADY (0. Eng. hlaefdige, Mid. Eng. ldfdi, lavedi; the first part of the word is hldf, loaf, bread, as in the corresponding hldford, lord; the second part is usually taken to be from the root dig-, to knead, seen also in " dough "; the sense development fr

lady-love, Julie d'Angennes . 1643 was, according to the latest authorities (for Cornelian See also:

• DATES

dates have often been altered), a very great year in the dramatist's See also:

• LIFE

life . Therein appeared Polyeucte, the memorable See also:

• COMEDY

comedy of Le Menteur, which though adapted from the See also:

• SPANISH

Spanish stood in relation to French comedy very much as Le Cid, which owed less to See also:

• SPAIN
• SPAIN (Espana)

Spain, stood to French tragedy; its less popular and far less good See also:

• SUITE (Suite de pieces; Ordre; Partita)

Suite,—and perhaps La Mort de Pompee . Rodogune (1644) was a brilliant success; See also:

• THEODORE
• THEODORE (602-690)
• THEODORE (Fedor) GRIGORIEVICH ORLOV, COUNT (1741–1796)
• THEODORE (Rus. Fedor, or Feodor)

Theodore (1645), a tragedy on a somewhat perilous subject, was the first of Corneille's plays which was definitely damned . Some amends may have been made to him by the See also:

• COMMISSION (from Lat. commissio, committere)

commission which he received next year to write verses for the Triomphes poetiques de See also:

• LOUIS
• LOUIS (804–876)
• LOUIS (893–911)
• LOUIS, JOSEPH DOMINIQUE, BARON (1755-1837)
• LOUIS, or LEWIS (from the Frankish Chlodowich, Chlodwig, Latinized as Chlodowius, Lodhuwicus, Lodhuvicus, whence-in the Strassburg oath of 842-0. Fr. Lodhuwigs, then Chlovis, Loys and later Louis, whence Span. Luiz and—through the Angevin kings—Hungarian

Louis XIII . Soon after (22nd of See also:

• JANUARY

January 1647) the Academy at last (it had twice rejected him on frivolous pleas) admitted the greatest of living French writers . See also:

• HERACLIUS ('HpaeXaos) (c. 575-642)

Heraclius (1646), Andromede (165o), a spectacle-See also:

• OPERA (Italian for " work ")

opera rather than a play,' See also:

• DON
• DON (anc. Tanais)

Don Sanche d'See also:

• ARAGON, or ARRAGON (in Span. Aragon)

Aragon (165o) and Nicomede (1651) were the products of the next few years' work; but in 1652 Pertharite was received with decided disfavour, and the poet in disgust resolved, like See also:

• BEN (from Old Eng. bennan, within)

Ben See also:

• JONSON

Jonson, to quit the loathed stage .

In this' See also:

• RESOLUTION

resolution he persevered for six years, during which he worked at a See also:

• VERSE (from Lat. versus, literally a line or furrow drawn by turning the plough, from vertere, and afterwards signifying an arrangement of syllables into feet)

verse See also:

• TRANSLATION

translation of the See also:

• IMITATION (Lat. imitatio, from intitari, to imitate)

Imitation of See also:

• CHRIST (Gr. X pLQTOS, Anointed)
• CHRIST, WILHELM VON (1831-1906)

Christ (finished in 1656), at his three Discourses on Dramatic See also:

• POETRY

Poetry, and at the Examens which are usually printed at the end of his plays . In 1659 See also:

• FOUQUET (or FOUCQUET), NICOLAS (1615-168o)

Fouquet, the See also:

• MAECENAS, GAIUS (CILNIUS)

Maecenas of the time, persuaded him to alter his resolve, and (Felipe, a play which became a great favourite with Louis XIV., was the result . It was followed by La Toison d'or (166o), See also:

• SERTORIUS, QUINTUS

Sertorius (1662) and Sophonisbe (1663) . In this latter year Corneille (who had at last removed his See also:

• RESIDENCE (Latin residere, to remain behind, to dwell, reside)

residence from Rouen to See also:

• PARIS
• PARIS (also called ALEXANDROS)
• PARIS, ALEXIS PAULIN (1800-x881)
• PARIS, BRUNO PAULIN GASTON (1839-1903)
• PARIS, FRANCOIS DE (169o-1727)
• PARIS, LOUIS PHILIPPE ALBERT
• PARIS, TREATIES OF (1814-1815)

Paris in 1662) was included among the See also:

• LIST (O.E. lisle, a Teutonic word, cf. Dut. lust, Ger. Leiste, adapted in Ital. lista and Fr. lisle)
• LIST, FRIEDRICH (1789-1846)

list of men of letters pensioned at the proposal of See also:

• COLBERT, JEAN BAPTISTE (1619-1683)

Colbert . He received 2000 livres . Othon (1664), Agesilas (1666), See also:

• ATTILA (d. 453)

Attila (1667), and See also:

• TITE, SIR WILLIAM (1798-1873)

Tite et See also:

• BERENICE
• BERENICE, or BERNICE

Berenice (167o), were generally considered as proofs of failing See also:

• POWERS, HIRAM (1805-1873)

powers,—the cruel See also:

• QUATRAIN

quatrain of Boileau " Apres l'Agesilas Helas ! Mais apres l'Attila Hole!" in the See also:

• CASE
• CASE, JOHN (d. 1600)

case of these two plays, and the unlucky comparison with See also:

• RACINE
• RACINE, JEAN (1639-1699)
• RACINE, LOUIS (1692-1763)

Racine in the Berenice, telling heavily against them . In 1665 and 167o some versifications of devotional See also:

• WORKS

works addressed to the Virgin had appeared . The See also:

• PART

part which Corneille took in See also:

• PSYCHE (//vxi7)

Psyche (1671), See also:

• MOLIERE (1622-1673)

Moliere and P . See also:

• QUINAULT, PHILIPPE (1635-1688)

Quinault being his coadjutors, showed signs of renewed vigour; but Pulcherie (1672) and Surena (1674) were allowed even by his faithful followers to be failures . He lived for ten years after the See also:

• APPEARANCE (from Lat. apparere, to appear)

appearance of Surena, but was almost silent See also:

• SAVE, or SAVA (Ger. Sau; Hungarian Szdva; Lat. Savus)

save for the publication, in 1676, of some beautiful verses thanking Louis XIV. for ordering the revival of his plays . He died at his house in the rue d'See also:

• ARGENTEUIL

Argenteuil on the 3oth of See also:

• SEPTEMBER (Lat. septem, seven)

September 1684 .

For nine years (1674-1681), and again in 1683, his See also:

• PENSION (Lat. pensio, a payment, from pendere, to weigh, to pay)

pension had, for what See also:

• REASON (Lat. ratio, through French raison)

reason is unknown, been suspended . It used to be said that he was in great straits, and the See also:

• STORY, JOHN (c. 1510-1571)
• STORY, JOSEPH (1779-1845)
• STORY, ROBERT HERBERT (1835-1907)
• STORY, WILLIAM WETMORE (1819—1895)

story went (though, as far as Boileau is concerned, it has been invalidated), that at last Boileau, See also:

• HEARING (formed from the verb " to hear," O. Eng. hyran, heron, &c., a common Teutonic verb; cf. Ger. Koren, Dutch hooren, &c.; the O. Tent. form is seen in Goth. hausjan; the initial h makes any connexion with " ear," Lat. audire, or Gr. &Kobew very doub

hearing of this, went to the See also:

• KING
• KING (O. Eng. cyning, abbreviated into cyng, cing; cf. O. H. G. chun- kuning, chun- kunig, M.H.G. kiinic, kiinec, kiinc, Mod. Ger. Konig, O. Norse konungr, kongr, Swed. konung, kung)
• KING [OF OCKHAM], PETER KING, 1ST BARON (1669-1734)
• KING, CHARLES WILLIAM (1818-1888)
• KING, CLARENCE (1842–1901)
• KING, EDWARD (1612–1637)
• KING, EDWARD (1829–1910)
• KING, HENRY (1591-1669)
• KING, RUFUS (1755–1827)
• KING, THOMAS (1730–1805)
• KING, WILLIAM (1650-1729)
• KING, WILLIAM (1663–1712)

king and offered to resign his own pension if there were not See also:

• MONEY

money enough for Corneille, and that Louis sent the aged poet two See also:

• HUNDRED

hundred pistoles . He might, had it actually been so, have said, with a great See also:

• ENGLISH

English poet in like case, " I have no time to spend them." Two days afterwards he was dead . Corneille was buried in the See also:

• CHURCH
• CHURCH (according to most authorities derived from the Gr. Kvpcaxov [&wµa], " the Lord's [house]," and common to many Teutonic, Slavonic and other languages under various forms—Scottish kirk, Ger. Kirche, Swed. kirka, Dan. kirke, Russ. tserkov, Buig. cerk
• CHURCH, FREDERICK EDWIN (1826-1900)
• CHURCH, GEORGE EARL (1835–1910)
• CHURCH, RICHARD WILLIAM (1815–189o)
• CHURCH, SIR RICHARD (1784–1873)

church of St See also:

• ROCH, ST (Lat. Rochus; Ital. Rocco; Span. Roque; Fr. Roch) (d. 1327)

Roch, where no See also:

• MONUMENT (Lat. monumentum or monumentum; from monere, to advise, bring to mind, remind; the German equivalent is Denkmal)

monument marked his See also:

• GRAVE

grave until 1821 . He had six See also:

• CHILDREN, LAW RELATING TO

children, of whom four survived him . Pierre, the eldest son, a See also:

• CAVALRY (Fr. cavalerie, Ger. Kavallerie or Reiterei, derived ultimately from late Lat. caballus, horse)

cavalry officer who died before his father, See also:

• LEFT

left posterity in whom the name has continued; Marie, the eldest daughter, was twice married, and by her second See also:

• HUSBAND

husband, M. de Farcy, became the ancestress of See also:

• CHARLOTTE

Charlotte See also:

• CORDAY

Corday . Repeated efforts have been made for the benefit of the poet's descendants, See also:

• VOLTAIRE, FRANCOIS MARIE AROUET DE (1694–1778)

Voltaire, See also:

• CHARLES
• CHARLES (1270-1325)
• CHARLES (1421-1461)
• CHARLES (1525-1574)
• CHARLES (c. 1319-1364)
• CHARLES (Fr. Charles; Span. Carlos; Ital. Carlo; Ger. Karl; derived from O.H.G. Charal,latinized as Carolus, meaning originally " man ": cf. Mod.Ger., Kerl," fellow," A.S. ceorl, Mod. Eng. " churl ")
• CHARLES (KARL EITEL ZEPHYRIN LUDWIG; in Rum. CAROL)
• CHARLES [KARL ALEXANDER] (1712-1780)
• CHARLES, ELIZABETH (1828-1896)
• CHARLES, JACQUES ALEXANDRE CESAR (1746-1823)
• CHARLES, THOMAS (1755-1814)

Charles X. and the Comedie francaise having all See also:

• BORNE, KARL LUDWIG (1786–1837)

borne part therein . The portraits of Corneille (the best and most trustworthy of which is from the burin of M . Lasne, an engraver of See also:

• CAEN

Caen), represent him as a See also:

• MAN
• MAN, ISLE OF (anc. Mona)

man of serious, almost of stern countenance, and this agrees well enough with such descriptions as we have of his appearance, and with the See also:

• IDEA (Gr. Ibia, connected with i&eiv, to see; cf. Lat. species from specere, to look at)

idea of him which we should form from his writings and conduct . His nephew Fontenelle admits that his general address and manner were by no means pre-possessing . Others use stronger See also:

• LANGUAGE (adapted from the Fr. langage, from langue, tongue, Lat. lingua)

language, and it seems to be confessed that either from shyness, from See also:

• PRIDE, THOMAS (d. 1658)

pride, or from See also:

• PHYSICAL

physical defects of utterance, probably from all three combined, he did not attract strangers . Racine is said to have assured his son that Corneille made verses "cent fois plus See also:

• BEAUX, CECILIA (1863– )

beaux" than his own, but that his own greater popularity was owing to the fact that he took some trouble to make himself personally agreeable .

Almost all the anecdotes which have been recorded concerning him testify to a rugged and somewhat unamiable self-contentment . " Je n'ai pas le merite de ce pays-ci," he said of the See also:

• COURT
• COURT (from the O. Fr. court, Late Lat. cortis, curtis, a popular form of class. Lat. cohors, gen. cohortis; the mod. Fr. form tour is due to the influence of the Lat. curia, the word used in medieval documents to translate " court " in the feudal sense)
• COURT, ANTOINE (1696-176o)

court . " Je n'en suis pas moins Pierre Corneille," he is said to have replied to his See also:

• FRIENDS, SOCIETY
• FRIENDS, SOCIETY OF

friends as often as they dared to suggest certain shortcomings in his behaviour, manner or speech . " Je suis saoul de gloire et aflame d'argent " was his reply to the compliments of Boileau . Yet tradition is unanimous as to his See also:

• AFFECTION (Lat. ad, and facere, to do something to, sc. a person)

affection for his family, and as to the See also:

• HARMONY (Gr. dpµovia, a concord of musical sounds, dpA'ew to join; &plan midi (sc. TeXvil)

harmony in which he lived with his See also:

• BROTHER

brother Thomas who had married See also:

• MARGUERITE

Marguerite de Lamperiere, younger See also:

• SISTER

sister of Marie, and whose See also:

• HOUSEHOLD, ROYAL

household both at Rouen and at Paris was practically one with that of his brother . No story about Corneille is better known than that which tells of the See also:

• TRAP (0. Eng. treppe or traepee, properly a step, as that or which an animal places its foot and is caught, cf. Ger. Treppe flight of stairs)

trap between the two houses, and how Pierre, whose facility of versification was much inferior to his brother's, would lift it when hard bestead, and See also:

• CALL (from Anglo-Saxon ceallian, a common Teutonic word, cf. Dutch kallen, to talk or chatter)

call out " Sans-souci, une rime!" Notwithstanding this domestic felicity, an impression is left on the reader of Corneille's See also:

• BIOGRAPHIES

biographies that he was by no means a happy man . See also:

• MELANCHOLY (Gr. µe)tayXotia, from µEtas, black, and Xotii, bile)

Melancholy of temperament will partially explain this, but there were other reasons . He appears to have been quite See also:

• FREE

free from envy properly so called, and to have been always ready to acknowledge the excellences of his contemporaries . But, as was the case with a very different man—Goldsmithpraise bestowed on others always made him uncomfortable unless it were accompanied by praise bestowed on himself . As See also:

• GUIZOT, FRANCOIS PIERRE GUILLAUME (1787-1874)

Guizot has excellently said, " Sa jalousie fut See also:

• CELLE

celle d'un enfant qui veut qu'un sourire le rassure contre les caresses que regoit son See also:

• FRERE, JOHN HOOKHAM (1769-1846)
• FRERE, PIERRE EDOUARD (1819-1886)
• FRERE, SIR HENRY BARTLE EDWARD (1815-1884)

frere." Although his actual poverty has been recently denied, he cannot have been affluent . His See also:

• PENSIONS

pensions covered but a small part of his long life and were most irregularly paid . He was no "dedicator," and the occasional presents of See also:

• RICH, BARNABE (c. 1540-1617)
• RICH, CLAUDIUS JAMES (1787-1821)
• RICH, JOHN (1692-1761)
• RICH, PENELOPE, LADY (c. 1562–1607)
• RICH, RICHARD, 1ST BARON RICH (1490?-1567)

rich men, such as Montauron (who gave him a thousand, others say two hundred, pistoles for the dedication of Cinna), and Fouquet (who commissioned Gdipe), were few and far between, though they have exposed him to reflections which show great See also:

• IGNORANCE (Lat. ignorantia, from ignorare, not to know); want of knowledge, a state of mind which in law has important consequences. A well-known legal maxim runs: ignorantia juris non excusat ("ignorance of the law does not excuse")

ignorance of the See also:

• MANNERS, CHARLES (1857– )

manners of the age .

Of his professional earnings, the small sum for which, as we have seen, he gave up his offices, and the expression of Fontenelle that he practised " sans goflt et sans succes," are sufficient See also:

• PROOF (in M. Eng. preove, proeve, preve, &°c., from O. Fr . prueve, proeve, &c., mod. preuve, Late. Lat. proba, probate, to prove, to test the goodness of anything, probus, good)

proof . His patrimony and his wife's See also:

• DOWRY (in Anglo-Fr. dowarie, O. Fr. douaire, Med. Lat. dotaria, from Lat. dos; from root of dare, to give; in Fr. dot)

dowry must both have been trifling . On the other See also:

• HAND
• HAND (a word common to Teutonic languages; cf. Ger. Hand, Goth. handus)
• HAND, FERDINAND GOTTHELF (1786-185r)

hand, it was during the See also:

• EARLY
• EARLY, JUBAL ANDERSON (1816-1894)

early and See also:

• MIDDLE

middle part of his career impossible, and during the later part very difficult, for a dramatist to live decently by his pieces . It was not till the middle of the See also:

• CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century that the See also:

• CUSTOM (from O. Fr. costume, costume or coustume; Low Lat. costuma, a shortened form of consuetudo)

custom of allowing the author two shares in the profits during the first run of the piece was observed, and even then revivals profited him nothing . Thomas Corneille himself, who to his undoubted talents See also:

• UNITED

united wonderful facility, untiring See also:

• INDUSTRY (Lat. industria, from indu-, a form of the pre, position in, and either stare, to stand, or struere, to pile up)

industry, and (See also:

• GIFT (a common Teutonic word, cf. Ger. die Gift, gift, das Gift, poison, formed from the Teut. stem gab-, to give, cf. Dutch geven, Ger. geben; in O. Eng. the word appears with initial y, the guttural of later English is due to Scandinavian influence)

gift valuable above all others to the playwright) an extraordinary knack of hitting the public See also:

• FANCY (a shortened form, dating from the 15th century, of " fantasy," which is derived through the O. Fr. fantasie, modern fantaisie. from the Latinized form of the Gr. cbavraoia, Oavrai'ecv, Oat Pais, to show)

fancy, died, notwithstanding his See also:

• SIMPLE

simple tastes, " as poor as See also:

• JOB

Job." We know that Pierre received for two of his later pieces two thousand livres each, and we do not know that he ever received more . But his See also:

• REWARD

reward in fame was not stinted . Corneille, unlike many of the great writers of the See also:

• WORLD

world, was not driven to wait for " the next age " to do him See also:

• JUSTICE (Lat. justitia)

justice . The See also:

• CABAL (through the Fr. cabale from the Cabbala or Kabbalah, the theosophical interpretation of the Hebrew scriptures)

cabal or clique which attacked the Cid had no effect whatever on the See also:

• JUDGMENT

judgment of the public . All his subsequent masterpieces were received with the same ungrudging See also:

• APPLAUSE (Lat. applaudere, to strike upon, clap)

applause, and the rising See also:

• STAR

star of Racine, even in See also:

• CONJUNCTION (from Lat. conjungere, to join together)

conjunction with the See also:

• MANIFEST (Lat. manifestus, clear, open to view)

manifest inferiority of Corneille's last five or six plays, with difficulty prevailed against the older poet's towering reputation . The great men of his time—See also:

• CONDE
• CONDE, LOUIS DE BOURBON, PRINCE
• CONDE, LOUIS II
• CONDE, PRINCES OF

Conde, See also:

• TURENNE, HENRI DE LA TOUR

Turenne, the marechal de See also:

• GRAMMONT (the Flemish name Gheeraardsbergen more clearly reveals its • etymology . Gerardi-mons)

Grammont, the See also:

• KNIGHT, CHARLES (1791-1873)
• KNIGHT, DANIEL RIDGWAY (1845– )
• KNIGHT, JOHN BUXTON (1843–1908)

knight-errant duc de See also:

• GUISE
• GUISE, HOUSE OF

Guise—were his fervent admirers . Nor had he less justice done him by a class from whom less justice might have been expected, the brother men of letters whose criticisms he treated with such scant See also:

• COURTESY (O. Fr. curtesie, later courtoisie)

courtesy . The respectable mediocrity of Chapelain might misapprehend him; the lesser geniuses of Scudery and Mairet might feel alarm at his See also:

• ADVENT (Lat. Adventus, sc. Redemptoris, " the coming of the Saviour ")

advent; the envious Claverets and D'Aubignacs might snarl and scribble .

But See also:

• BALZAC, HONORS DE (1790-1850)
• BALZAC, JEAN LOUIS GUEZ DE (1594-1654)

Balzac did him justice; Rotrou, as we have seen, never failed in generous appreciation; Moliere in conversation and in See also:

• PRINT

print recognized him as his own See also:

• MASTER (Lat. magister, related to tnagis, more, as the corresponding minister is to minus, less; the English form is due partly to the O. Eng. maegister, and partly to O. Fr. maistre, mod. maitre; cf. Du. meester, Ger. Meister, Ital. maestro)

master and the foremost of dramatists . We have quoted the informal See also:

• TRIBUTE (Lat. tributurn, a stated payment, contribution)

tribute of Racine; but it should not be forgotten that Racine, in See also:

• DISCHARGE (adapted from the O. Fr. discharge, modern decharge, from a med. Lat. discargare, to unload, dis- and earn care, to load, cf. " charge ")

discharge of his See also:

• DUTY (from " due," that which is owing, O. Fr. deu, dil, past participle of devoir; Lat. debere, debitum; cf. " debt ")

duty as See also:

• RESPONDENT (from Lat. respondere, to answer)

respondent at the Academical reception of Thomas Corneille, pronounced upon the memory of Pierre perhaps the noblest and most just tribute of eulogy that ever issued from the lips of a rival . Boileau's testimony is of a' more chequered See also:

• CHARACTER (Gr. xapareri7p, from xap&crew, to scratch)

character; yet he seems never to have failed in admiring Corneille whenever his principles would allow him to do so . Questioned as to the great men of Louis XIV.'s reign, he is said to have replied: " I only know three,—Corneille, Moliere and myself." " And how about Racine ? " his auditor ventured to remark . " He was an extremely See also:

• CLEVER

clever See also:

• FELLOW

fellow to whom I taught the See also:

• ART

art of elaborate rhyming " (rimer difficilement) . It was reserved for the 18th century to exalt Racine above Corneille . Voltaire, who was prompted by his natural benevolence to comment on the latter (the profits went to a relation of the poet), was not altogether fitted by nature to appreciate Corneille, and moreover, as has been ingeniously pointed out, was not a little wearied by the length of his task . His partially unfavourable verdict was endorsed earlier by See also:

• VAUVENARGUES, LUC DE CLAPIERS, MARQUIS DE (1715-1747)

Vauvenargues, who knew little of poetry, and later by La Harpe, whose See also:

• CRITICAL (in alphabetical order of authors)

critical standpoint has now been universally abandoned . See also:

• NAPOLEON

Napoleon I. was a great admirer of Corneille (" s'il vivait, je le ferais See also:

• PRINCE
• PRINCE (Lat. princeps, from primus capio, " I am the first to take "; Ital. principe, Fr. prince)

prince," he said), and under the See also:

• EMPIRE

Empire and the Restoration an approach to a sounder appreciation was made . But it was the See also:

• GLORY (through the O. Fr. glorie, modern gloire, from Lat. gloria, cognate with Gr. KXebs, abets)

glory of the romantic school, or rather of the more See also:

• CATHOLIC (Gr. KcaBoXuK6s, general, universal)

catholic study of letters which that school brought about, to restore Corneille to his true See also:

• RANK (O.Fr. rant or rent, mod. rang, generally connected with the O.E. and O.H.G. bring, a ring)

rank . So long, indeed, as a certain See also:

• KIND (O. E. ge-cynde, from the same root as is seen in " kin," supra)

kind of See also:

• CRITICISM
• CRITICISM (from the Gr. KpiTrlS, a judge, Kpivew, to decide, to give an authoritative opinion)

criticism was pursued, due appreciation was impossible .

When it was thought sufficient to say with Boileau that Corneille excited, not pity or terror, but admiration which was not a tragic See also:

• PASSION (post-classical Lat. passio, formed from pati, passus, to suffer, endure)

passion; or that " D'un seul nom quelquefois le son dur ou bizarre Rend un poeme entier ou See also:

• BURLESQUE (Ital. burlesco, from burla, a joke, fun, playful trick)

burlesque ou barbare;" when Voltaire could think it crushing to add to his exposure of the " infamies " of Theodore—" apres cela comment osons-nous condamner les pieces de Lope de See also:

• VEGA, GARCILASO DE LA
• VEGA, GARCILASO DE LA (1503-1536)

Vega et de See also:

• SHAKESPEARE, WILLIAM (1564-1616)

Shakespeare ? "—it is obvious that the Cid and Polyeucte, much more Don Sanche d'Aragon and Rodogune, were sealed books to the critic . Almost the first thing which strikes a reader is the singular inequality of this poet, and the attempts to explain this in-equality, in reference to his own and other theories, leave the fact untouched . Producing, as he certainly has produced, work which classes him with the greatest names in literature, he hasalso signed an extraordinary quantity of verse which has not merely the defects of genius, irregularity, extravagance, bizarrete, but the faults which we are See also:

• APT

apt to regard as exclusively belonging to those who lack genius, to wit, the dulness and tediousness of mediocrity . Moliere's manner of accounting for this is famous in literary history or See also:

• LEGEND (through the French from the med. Lat. legenda, things to be read, from legere, to read)

legend . " My friend Corneille," he said, " has a See also:

• FAMILIAR (through the Fr. familier, from Lat. familiaris, of or belonging to the familia, family)

familiar who inspires him with the finest verses in the world . But sometimes the familiar leaves him to shift for himself, and then he fares very badly." That Corneille was by no means destitute of the critical See also:

• FACULTY (through the French, from the Lat. facultas, ability to do anything, from facilis, easy, facere, to do; another form of the word in Lat. facilitas, facility, ease, keeps the original meaning)

faculty his Discourses and the Examens of his plays (often admirably acute, and, with See also:

• DRYDEN, JOHN (1631-1700)

Dryden's subsequent prefaces, the originals to a great extent of specially See also:

• MODERN

modern criticism) show well enough . But an enemy might certainly contend that a poet's critical faculty should be of the Promethean, not be Epimethean See also:

• ORDER
• ORDER (through Fr. ordre, for earlier ordene, from Lat. ordo, ordinis, rank, service, arrangement; the ultimate source is generally taken to be the root seen in Lat. oriri, rise, arise, begin; cf. " origin ")
• ORDER, HOLY

order . The fact seems to be that the form in which Corneille's work was See also:

• CAST (from the verb meaning " to throw "; the word is Scand. in origin, cf. Dan. kaste, and Swed. kasta; " cast " in Middle Eng. took the place of the A.S. weor pan, cf. Ger. werf en)

cast, and which by an See also:

• ODD (in middle English odde, from old Norwegian oddi, an angle of a triangle; the old Norwegian oddamann is used of the third man who gives a casting vote in a dispute)

odd See also:

• IRONY (Gr. dipaweLa, from eipwv, one who says less than he means, eiepees, to speak)

irony of See also:

• FATE

fate he did so much to originate and make popular, was very partially suited to his talents . He cou'd imagine admirable situations, and he could write verses of incomparable grandeur—verses that reverberate again and again in the memory, but he could not, with the patient docility of Racine, labour at proportioning the action of a tragedy strictly, at maintaining a See also:

• UNIFORM

uniform See also:

• RATE

rate of See also:

• INTEREST

interest in the course of the See also:

• PLOT
• PLOT, ROBERT (164o-1696)

plot and of excellence in the See also:

• FASHION (adapted from Fr. facon, agon, Lat. factio, making, facere, to do or make)

fashion of the verse . Especially in his later plays a verse and a See also:

• COUPLET

couplet will See also:

• CRASH

crash out with fulgurous brilliancy, and then be succeeded by pages of very second-rate declamation or See also:

• ARGUMENT

argument . It was urged against him also by the party of the Doucereux, as he called them, that he could not See also:

• MANAGE

manage, or did not See also:

• ATTEMPT (Lat. adtemptare, attentare, to try)

attempt, the great passion of love, and that except in the case of Chimene his principle seemed to be that of one of his own heroines:— ' " Laissons, seigneur, laissons pour les petites flmes Ce See also:

• COMMERCE
• COMMERCE (Lat. commercium, from, cum, together, and rnerx, merchandise)

commerce rampant de soupirs et de flammes." (Aristie in Sertorius.) There is perhaps some truth in this See also:

• ACCUSATION (Lat. accusatio, accusare, to challenge to a causa, a suit or trial at law)

accusation, however much some of us may be disposed to think that the See also:

• LINE

line just quoted is a See also:

• FAIR

fair enough description of the admired ecstasies of Achille and Bajazet .

But these are all the defects which can be fairly urged against him; and in a dramatist See also:

• BOUND, or BOUNDARY (from O. Fr. bonde, Med. Lat. bodena or butina, a frontier line)

bound to a less strict service they would hardly have been even remarked . They certainly neither require, nor are palliated by, theories of his "megalomania," of his excessive See also:

• ATTENTION (from Lat. ad-tendo, await, expect; the condition of being " stretched " or " tense ")

attention to conflicts of will and the like . On the English stage the See also:

• LIBERTY (Lat. libertas, from liber, free)

liberty of unrestricted incident and complicated action, the See also:

• POWER [WILLIAM GRATTAN] TYRONE (1797-1841)

power of multiplying characters and introducing See also:

• PROSE

prose scenes, would have exactly suited his somewhat intermittent genius, both by covering defects and by giving greater See also:

• SCOPE (through Ital. scopo, aim, purpose, intent, from Gr. o'KOaos, mark to shoot at, aim, o ic07reiv, to see, whence the termination in telescope, microscope, &c.)

scope for the See also:

• EXHIBITION

exhibition of power . How great that power is can See also:

• ESCAPE (in mid. Eng. eschape or escape, from the O. Fr. eschapper, modern echapper, and escaper, low Lat. escapium, from ex, out of, and cappa, cape, cloak; cf. for the sense development the Gr. iichueoOat, literally to put off one's clothes, hence to sli

escape no one . The splendid soliloquies of See also:

• MEDEA (Gr. Mi/Seta)

Medea which, as Voltaire happily says, annoncent Corneille," the entire parts of Rodogune and Chimene, the final speech of Camille in Horace, the See also:

• DISCOVERY

discovery See also:

• SCENE (Fr. scene, Lat. scaena, Gr. oflvil, a tent or booth, a stage or scene)

scene of Cinna, the dialogues of Pauline and Severe in Polyeucte, the magnificently-contrasted conception and exhibition of the best and worst forms of feminine dignity in the Cornelie of Pompee and the Cleopatre of Rodogune, the singularly See also:

• FINE

fine contrast in Don Sanche d'Aragon, between the haughtiness of the Spanish nobles and the unshaken dignity of the supposed adventurer See also:

• CARLOS, DON (1545-1568)
• CARLOS, DON (1788-1855)
• CARLOS, DON (CHARLES MARIA DE LOS DOLORES JUAN ISIDOR.E JOSEPH FRANCIS QUIRIN ANTONY MICHAEL GABRIEL RAPHAEL) (1848—1909)

Carlos, and the characters of Aristie, Viriate and Sertorius himself, in the play named after the latter, are not, to be surpassed in grandeur of thought, felicity of See also:

• DESIGN (Fr. desiin, drawing; Lat. designare, to mark out)

design or appropriateness of language . "Admiration " may or may not properly be excited by tragedy, and until this important question is settled the name of tragedian may be at See also:

• PLEASURE (through Fr. plaisir from Lat. placere, to please; Gr. rlbovii)

pleasure given to or withheld from the author of Rodogune . But his rank among the greatest of dramatic poets is not a matter of question . For a poet is to be judged by his best things, and the best things of Corneille are second to none . The Plays.—It was, however, some time before his genius came to perfection . It is undeniable that the first six or seven of his plays are of no very striking See also:

• INTRINSIC (through Fr. intrinsique, from Lat. intrinsecus, inwardly; inter, within, secus, following, from root of sequi, to follow)

intrinsic merit . On the other hand, it requires only a very slight acquaintance with the See also:

• STATE
• STATE, GREAT OFFICERS OF

state of the See also:

• DRAMA (literally "action," from Gr. Snail, act or do)

drama in See also:

• FRANCE
• FRANCE, ANATOLE (1844– )

France at the time to see that these works, poor as they may now seem, must have struck the spectators as something new and surprising . The language and See also:

• DIALOGUE

dialogue of See also:

• WAITE, MORRISON REMICK (1816–1888)

Waite are on the whole simple and natural and though the construction is not very artful (the fifth act being, as is not unusual in Corneille, superfluous and clumsy), it is still passable .

The fact that one of the characters jumps on another's back, and the rather promiscuous kissing which takes place, are nothing to the liberties usually taken in contemporary plays . A worse See also:

• FAULT (Mid. Eng. faute, through the French, from the popular Latin use of fallere, to fail; the originallof the Latin being replaced in English in the 15th century)

fault is the anXo.wOia, or, to See also:

• BORROW, GEORGE HENRY (18o3-1881)

borrow See also:

• BUTLER
• BUTLER (or BOTELER), SAMUEL (1612–168o)
• BUTLER (through the O. Fr. bouteillier, from the Late Lat. buticularius, buticula, a bottle)
• BUTLER, ALBAN (1710-1773)
• BUTLER, BENJAMIN FRANKLIN (1818-1893)
• BUTLER, CHARLES (1750–1832)
• BUTLER, GEORGE (1774-1853)
• BUTLER, JOSEPH (1692-1752)
• BUTLER, NICHOLAS MURRAY (1862– )
• BUTLER, SAMUEL (1774-1839)
• BUTLER, SAMUEL (1835-1902)
• BUTLER, SIR WILLIAM FRANCIS (1838– )
• BUTLER, WILLIAM ARCHER (1814-1848)

Butler's expression, the See also:

• CAT
• CAT, CIVET
• CAT, HOUSE

Cat-and-Puss dialogue, which abounds . But the See also:

• COMMON

common objection to the play at the time was that it was too natural and too devoid of striking incidents . Corneille accordingly, as he tells us, set to work to cure these faults, and produced a truly wonderful work, Clitandre . Murders, combats, escapes and outrages of all kinds are provided; and the language makes The See also:

• REHEARSAL (from " rehearse," to say over again, repeat, recount, O.Fr. rehercer, from re, again, and hercer, to harrow, cf. " hearse," the original meaning being to rake or go over the same ground again as with a harrow)

Rehearsal no burlesque . One of the heroines rescues herself from a ravisher by See also:

• BLINDING

blinding him with a See also:

• HAIR (a word common to Teutonic languages)

hair-See also:

• PIN (a doublet with " pen " from Lat. pinna, feather, pinnacle, which is said to contain the same root as irirvs, pine tree, and properly to mean a sharp point or end)

pin, and as she escapes the seducer apostrophizes the See also:

• BLOOD

blood which trickles from his See also:

• EYE
• EYE (O. Eng. edge, Ger. Auge; derived from an Indo-European root also seen in Lat. oc-ulus, the organ of vision (q.v.)

eye, and the weapon which has wounded it, in a speech See also:

• FORTY

forty verses long . This, however, was his only attempt of the kind . For his next four pieces, which were comedies, there is claimed the introduction of some important improvements, such as the choosing for scenes places well known in actual life (as the Galerie du palais), and the substitution of the soubrette implace of the old inconvenient and See also:

• GROTESQUE

grotesque See also:

• NURSE (a shortened form of the earlier " nourice," adapted through the French from Lat. nutrix, nu/rite, to nourish)

nurse . It is certain, however, that there is more See also:

• INTERVAL

interval between these six plays and Medee than between the latter and Corneille's greatest drama . Here first do we find those sudden and magnificent lines which characterize the poet . The title-role is, however, the only good one, and as a whole the play is heavy . Much the same may be said of its curious successor L'Illusion comique .

This is not only a play within a play, but in part of it there is actually a third involution, one set of characters beholding another set discharging the parts of yet another . It contains, however, some very fine lines, in particular, a See also:

• DEFENCE
• DEFENCE (Lat. defendere, to defend)

defence of the stage and some heroics put into the mouth of a braggadocio . We have seen it said of the Cid that it is difficult to understand the See also:

• ENTHUSIASM

enthusiasm it excited . But the difficulty can only exist for persons who are insensible to dramatic excellence, or who so strongly See also:

• OBJECT

object to the forms of the French drama that they cannot relish anything so presented . Rodrigue, Chimene, Don Diegue are not of any age, but of all time . The conflicting passions of love, honour, duty, are here represented as they never had been on a French stage, and in the " strong See also:

• STYLE
• STYLE (from Gr. a-6'1ms, a column; a different word from that used in literature, see below)

style " which was Corneille's own . Of the many objections urged against the play, perhaps the weightiest is that which condemns the frigid and superfluous part of the Infanta . Horace, though more skilfully constructed, is perhaps less satisfactory . There is a hardness about the younger Horace which might have been, but is not made, imposing, and See also:

• SABINE, SIR EDWARD (1788-1883)

Sabine's effect on the action is quite out of proportion to the space she occupies . The splendid declamation of Camille, and the excellent part of the See also:

• ELDER (0. Eng. ellarn; Ger. Holunder; Fr. sureau)
• ELDER (Gr. 1rpev(3iTepos)

elder Horace, do not altogether atone for these defects . Cinna is perhaps generally considered the poet's masterpiece, and it undoubtedly contains the finest single scene in all French tragedy . The blot on it is certainly the character of Emilie, who is spiteful and thankless, not heroic .

Polyeucte has some-times been elevated to the same position . There is, however, a certain coolness about the See also:

• HERO (Gr. open)
• HERO, THE YOUNGER

hero's affection for his wife which somewhat detracts from the merit of his See also:

• SACRIFICE (from Lat. sacrificium; sacer, holy, and facere, to make)

sacrifice; while the Christian part of the matter is scarcely so well treated as in the See also:

• SAINT (lat. sanctus, " holy ")

Saint Genest df Rotrou or the Virgin See also:

• MARTYR (Gr. pimp or µaprvs)

Martyr of See also:

• MASSINGER, PHILIP (1583-1640)

Massinger . On the other hand, the entire parts of Pauline and Severe are beyond praise, and the manner in which the former reconciles her duty as a wife with her affection for her See also:

• LOVER, SAMUEL (1797-1868)

lover is an astonishing success . In Pompee (for La Mort de Pompee, though the more appropriate, was not the See also:

• ORIGINAL

original title) the splendid declamation of Cornelie is the See also:

• CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

chief thing to be remarked . Le Menteur fully deserves the honour which Moliere paid to it . Its continuation, notwithstanding the judgment of some French critics, we cannot think so happy . But Theodore is perhaps the most surprising of literary anomalies . The central situation, which so greatly shocked Voltaire and indeed all French critics from the date of the piece, does not seem to blame . A virgin martyr who is threatened with loss of honour as a bitterer See also:

• PUNISHMENT (from Lat. punire, to punish, from poena, punishment, Gr. 7rocvil)

punishment than loss of life offers points as powerful as they are perilous . . But the treatment is thoroughly bad . From the heroine who is, in a phrase of Dryden's, "one of the coolest and most insignificant heroines ever See also:

• DRAWN

drawn, to the undignified See also:

• VALENS

Valens, the termagant Marcelle, and the peevish Placide, there is hardly a good character . Immediately upon this in most printed See also:

• EDITIONS

editions, though older in See also:

• REPRESENTATION

representation, follows the play which (therein agreeing rather with the author than with his critics) we should rank as his greatest See also:

• TRIUMPH (triumphus)

triumph, Rodogune .

Here there is hardly a weak point . The magnificent and terrible character of Cleopatre, and the contrasted dispositions of the two princes, of course attract most attention . But the character of Rodogune herself, which has not escaped criticism, comes hardly See also:

• SHORT, FRANCIS JOB (1857– )

short of thegse . Heraclius, despite great art and much fine poetry, is injured-by the extreme complication of its argument and by the blustering part of Pulcherie . Andromede, with the later spectacle piece, the Toison d'or, do not call for comment, and we' have already alluded to the chief merit of Don Sandie . Nicomede, often considered one of Corneille's best plays, is chiefly remarkable for the curious and unusual character of its hero, Of Pertharite it need only be said that no single critic has to our knowledge disputed the justice of its damnation . (Edipe is certainly unworthy of its subject and its author, but in Sert©rius we have one of Corneille's finest plays . It is remarkable not only for its many splendid verses and for the nobility of its sentiment, but from the fact that not one of its characters lacks interest, a See also:

• COMMENDATION (from the Lat. commendare, to entrust to the charge of, or to procure a favour for)

commendation not generally to be bestowed on its author's work . Of the last six plays we may say that perhaps only one of them, Agesilas, is almost wholly worthless . Not a few speeches of Surena and of Othon are of a very high order . As to the poet's non-dramatic works, we have already spoken of his extremely interesting critical See also:

• DISSERTATIONS

dissertations . His See also:

• MINOR
• MINOR (Lat. for smaller, lesser)
• MINOR, ROBERT CRANNELL (1839-1904)

minor poems and poetical devotions are not likely to be read save from motives of duty or curiosity .

The verse translation of a Kempis, indeed, which was in its day immenselyrpopular (it passed through many editions), condemns itself . B1nL1oGRArxv.—The subject of the bibliography of Corneille was treated in the most exhaustive manner by M . E . Picot in his Bibliographie Cornelienne (Paris, 1875-1876) . Less elaborate, but still ample See also:

• INFORMATION (from Lat. informare, to give shape or form to, to represent, describe)

information may. be found in J . A . Taschereau's See also:

• VIE

Vie and in M . Marty-Laveaux's edition of the Works . The individual plays were usually printed a year or two after their first appearance: but these dates have been subjected to confusion and to controversy, and it seems better to refer for them to the works quoted and to be quoted The chief collected editions in the poet's lifetime were those of 1644, 1648, 1652, 166o (with important corrections), 1664 and 1682, which gives the definitive See also:

• TEXT (Lat. textum, woven fabric, from texere, to weave)

text . In 1692 T . Corneille published a See also:

• COMPLETE

complete See also:

• THEATRE (BEarpov, " a place for seeing," from OeacOae)

Theatre in 5 vols . 12mo .

Numerous editions appeared in the early part of the 18th century, that of 1740 (6 vols . 12mo, See also:

• AMSTERDAM
• AMSTERDAM (NEw AMSTERDAM)

Amsterdam) containing the CEuvres diverses as well as the plays . Several editions are recorded between this and that of Voltaire (12 vols . 8vo; See also:

• GENEVA
• GENEVA (Fr. Geneve, Ger. Genf, Ital. Ginevra, Late Lat. Gebenna, though Genava in good Latin)
• GENEVA, LAKE OF

Geneva, 1764, 1776, 8 vols . 4to), whose Commentaires have often been reprinted separately . In the year IX . (1801) appeared an edition of the Works with Voltaire's commentary and criticisms thereon by Palissot (12 vols . 8vo, Paris) . Since this the editions have been extremely numerous . Those chiefly to be remarked are the following . Lefevre's (12 vols . 8vo, Paris, 1854), well printed and with a useful variorum commentary, lacks See also:

• BIBLIOGRAPHICAL

bibliographical• information and is disfigured by hideous engravings .

Of . Taschereau's, in the Bibliotheque elzevirienne, only two volumes were ublished . Lahure's appeared in 5 vols . (1857–1862) and 7 vols . (1864–1866) . The edition of Ch . Marty-Laveaux 1n See also:

• REGNIER, HENRI FRANCOIS JOSEPH DE (1864– )
• REGNIER, MATHURIN (1573–1613)

Regnier's Grands Ecrivains de la France (1862-1868), in 12 vols . 8vo, is still the See also:

• STANDARD
• STANDARD, BATTLE OF THE

standard . In appearance and careful editing it leaves nothing to See also:

• DESIRE

desire, containing the entire works, a See also:

• LEXICON

lexicon, full bibliographical information, and an album of illustrations of the poet's places of residence, his arms, some title-pages of his plays, facsimiles of his writings, &c . Nothing is wanting but variorum comments, which Lefevre's edition supplies . Fontenelle's life of his See also:

• UNCLE

uncle is the chief original authority on that subject, but Taschereau's Histoire de la vie et des outrages de P . Corneille (1st ed .

1829; 2nd in the Bibl. elzevirienne,1855) Is the standard work . Its information has been corrected and augmented in various later publications, but not materially . Of the exceedingly numerous writings relative to• Corneille we may mention the Recueil de dissertations sur plusieurs tragedies de Corneille et de Racine of the See also:

• ABBE (Serbo-Croatian Rai))

abbe See also:

• GRANET, FRANCOIS MARIUS (1777-1849)

Granet (Paris, 1740), the criticisms already alluded to of Voltaire, La Harpe and Palissot, the well-known work of Guizot, first published as Vie de Corneille in 1813 and revised as Corneille et son temps in 1852, and the essays, repeated in his Portraits litteraires, in Part-Reyal, and in the Nouveaux Lundis of Sainte-Beuve . More recently, besides essays by MM . Brunetiere, See also:

• FAGUET, EMILE (1847- )

Faguet and See also:

• LEMAITRE, FRANCOIS ELIE JULES (1853— )

Lemaitre and the part appurtenant of M . E . Rigal's work on 16th century drama in France, see Gustave Lanson's " Corneille " in the Grands Ecrivains See also:

• FRANCAIS, ANTOINE, COUNT (1756-1836)

francais (1898) ; F . Bouquet's Points obscure et nouveaux de la vie de Pierre Corneille (1888) ; Corneille inconnu, by J . Levallois (1876); J . Lemaitre, Corneille et la poetique d'Aristote (1888); J . B . Segall, Corneille and the Spanish Drama (1902); and the recently discovered and printed Fragments sur Pierre et Thomas Corneille of See also:

• ALFRED

Alfred de See also:

• VIGNY, ALFRED DE (1797-1863)

Vigny (1905) .

On the Cid quarrel E . H . Chardon's Vie de Rotrou (1884) bears mainly on a whole See also:

• SERIES (a Latin word from serere, to join)

series of documents which appeared at Rouen in the proceedings of the Societe des bibliophiles normands during the years 1891-1894 . The best-known English criticism, that of See also:

• HALLAM
• HALLAM, ROBERT (d. 1417)

Hallam in his Literature of See also:

• EUROPE

Europe, is inadequate . The See also:

• TRANSLATIONS

translations of See also:

• SEPARATE

separate plays are very numerous, but of the complete Theatre only one version (into See also:

• ITALIAN

Italian) is recorded by the French editors . Fontanelle tells us that his uncle had translations of the Cid in every See also:

• EUROPEAN

European See also:

• TONGUE (O. Eng. lunge)

tongue but See also:

• TURKISH

Turkish and See also:

• SLAVONIC, OLD

Slavonic, and M . Picot's See also:

• BOOK

book apprises us that the latter want, at any rate, is now supplied . Corneille has suffered less than some other writers from the attribution of See also:

• SPURIOUS

spurious works . Besides a tragedy, Sylla, the chief piece thus assigned is L'Occasion perdue recouverte, a rather loose See also:

• TALE (O.Eng. talu, number, account, story; the word is common to many Teutonic languages; cf. Ger. Zahl, number, Erzahlung, narrative, Du. taal, speech, language)

tale in verse . See also:

• INTERNAL

Internal See also:

• EVIDENCE (Lat. evidentia, evideri, to appear clearly)

evidence by no means fathers it on Corneille, and all See also:

• EXTERNAL

external testimony is against it . It has never been included in Corneille's works . It is curious that a translation of See also:

• STATIUS, PUBLIUS PAPINIUS (c. A.D. 45-96)

Statius (Thebaid, bk. iii.), an author of whom Corneille was extremely fond, though known to have been written, printed and published, has entirely dropped out of sight .

Three verses quoted by See also:

• MENAGE, GILLES (1613-1692)

Menage are all we possess . (G .