On Chapelle see note to p

1. 21. Fa'venture du t/iinime. The reiigious order of ' Les Minimes' was founded by Saint Francis of Paolo in the fifteenth century. The monk of whom Sainte-Beuve tells the story was a member of this order.

1. 22. quelque ancien barbiste: like somepupii of the Collège Sainte-Barbe in Paris, a school famous for its thorough classical éducation.

1. 31. Les Bons-Hommes was the name given in France to the branch of the order of Minims established at Chaillot. They lived in 'an old manor-house called ' La IMontagne des Bons-Hommes ' or simply ' Les Bons-Hommes.'

1. 35. Baron (1653-1729), son of a comedian of the Hôtel de Bourgogne, became himself one of the most highly esteemed actors of his time. He had the rare gift of combining nobleness with simplicity in his delivery ; J.-B. Rousseau wrote on him the four folio wing lines :--

Du vrai, du pathétique il a fixé le ton : De son art enchanteur l'illusion divine Prêtait un nouveau lustre aux beautés de Racine, Un voile aux défauts de Pradon.

1. 39. Grimarest (1659-17 13), a master of languages, collected a number of anecdotes on the life of Molière, and published them under the title of Fie de Molière, with Additions à la vie de Molière (1705-6) ; most of them are inaccurate, although the author claims to hâve received them from the mouth of Baron himself.

Page 41. 1. i, Rohault (1620-75), a physician and philosopher, who, in his Entretiens sur la philosophie (1671-75), gave a clear and methodical account of the philosophical System of Descartes.

134 TROIS PORTRAITS LinÉRAlRnS

I. 6. 1,1 Guerifi, i. c. llic widow ot Molière, Ariiiandc Béjart, without any respect for tlic glory of Ihc illustrions poet who had givcn lier his naine, marriccl Cîiiérin d'Kstriche soon aftcr lier husband's dcath,

1. 14. son génie si f roue du collier. An expression applicd to horses, used hcrc inetaphorically tor a niind frecd from slavish obédience to conventions.

i. 15. la duchesse palatine d'Orléans. Charlotte Elizabcth of Bavaria, daiighfer of tlic Elcctor Palatine Charles Louis, becanie the second wife of Philippe duc d'()rlcans. brothcr of Louis XIV. Shc was the niothcr of the ' Régent d'Orléans.'

I. 22. Taschereau (1801-74), the author of an Histoire de la l'ie et des écrits de Molière (1825), and of an Histoire de la l'ie et des ouvrages de Corneille (1829).

Page 42. 1. i. Brécourt, an actor of ISIoIicre's Company. Louis XIV said that 'he would make stoncs laugh.'

1. 17. M. de Montausier (1610-90) \vas long a fréquenter of the Hôtel de Rambouillet. In 1668 he was appointed tutor to the Cîrand Dauphin, Louis XIV's son, and he soon after chose Huet and Bossuct as instructors for his pupil. Molière has ahvays becn supposcd to hâve taken the Duke of Montausier as a model for his Alceste, but no positive proof has cver bcen discovered to support this belief.

1. 19. Le comte de Granwiont (1621-1707) distinguished himself under Turennc and Condé. He settled in England during the reign of Charles II and married INIiss Hamilton. Her brother Anthony Hamilton wrote (îrammont's memoirs, which give a full account of his adventurcs.

1. 20. le duc de La Feuillade (1632-91). A pupil of Turenne and one of the great gênerais of the reign of Louis XIV. He was made a ficld-marshal for his services.

1. 21. Dangeau (1638-1720). The Marquis de Dangeau was one of the aides de camp of Louis XIV. He left a journal which was published in 1854, in which he describes from day to day the most minute incidents of the Court.

Tallemant des Réaux (1619-92), a fréquenter of the Hôtel de Rambouillet, for the socicty of which he wrote his Historiettes, which contain anecdotes full of Court scandai. Sainte-Beuve said of him, 'Il écrit ce qu'il sait par plaisir de l'écrire, avec le sel de sa langue, et en y joignant son jugement, qui est naturel et fin. Tel quel et ainsi fait, il est en son genre impayable et incomparable.' — Le Moniteur, 19 janvier 1857.

Guy Patin (1602-72), a famous physician and writcr,

whose letters hâve been preserved. They arc l'ull of intcresting détails about the literalure, thc sai-ants, ^nd thc illustrious people otthe period.

Cizeron- Rival (1726-^5), a French writcr famous for his Récréations littéraires, a curious collection of anecdotes. Sec also note to p. 28, 1. 38.

1. 22. ces amateurs âana. Ana is the termination of the ncutcr phiral of Latin adjectives ending in -atius. It is oftcn iised as a siiffix to the namcs of distinguished people to indicate a collection of their sayings and 'bons mots.' Thiis Le Ménagiana, Le Segraisiana. \'oItaire says : ' Tous nos 'ivres en ana ont répété l'historiette.' — Mœurs, 123.

1. 28. L'abbé Cotin (1604-82) is the well-known original of Trissotin, whoni Molière had called at first Triccotin. The famous scène in uhich the Sonnet a la Princesse Uranie gives rise to quarrelling between Vadius and Trissotin was ail the more piquant as it was true. Cotin had, under this very title, composeda sonnet for Madame de Nemours, and was just reading it in Mademoiselle de Montpcnsier's 'salon,' when Ménage, coniing in unexpectedly, declared, without having taken the trouble to ask for its author's name, that it was a very poor one indccd ; hcnre arose a dispute between Cotin and Ménage, which the famous scène of the Femmes sai-antes hère referred to has rendered immortal.

1. 30. Je crois à ce que dit Molière des prétendus portraits dans son 'Impromptu de rersailles' ... In the Impromptu de Versailles (sc. iv), Brécourt, a man of quality, addressing two ' marquis ridicules,' says : ' Vous êtes fous tous deux de vouloir vous appliquer ces sortes de choses ; et voilà de quoi j'ouïs l'autre jour se plaindre Molière, parlant à des personnes qui le chargeaient de même chose que vous. Il disait que rien ne lui donnait du déplaisir comme d'être accusé de regarder quelqu'un dans les portraits qu'il fait ; que son dessein est de peindre les mœurs sans vouloir toucher aux personnes, et que tous les personnages qu'il représente sont des personnages en l'air, et des fantômes proprement qu'il habille à sa fantaisie pour réjouir les spectateurs . . . Comme l'affaire de la comédie est de représenter en général tous les défauts des hommes, et principalement des hommes de notre siècle, il est impossible à Molière de faire aucun caractère qui ne rencontre quelqu'un dans le monde ; et s'il faut qu'on l'accuse d'avoir songé à toutes les personnes où l'on peut trouver les défauts qu'il peint, il faut sans doute qu'il ne fasse plus de comédies, . . .'

1, 38. C'est la différence d'Onuphre à 'Tartufe ... La Bruyère, considering that Tartufe was not in every respect an

136 TROIS PORTRAUS LITTERAIRES

accuratc portrait of thc devolccs of Louis XIV's Court, drcw, in his Caractèrr.', atiothcr picture of thc hypocritical saints who wcrc inorc numerous still in his timc than in Molière's (sce note to p. 4,1, 32). The two picturesdiffer on many points, and are well worth comparing. Sainte-Beuve very shrewdly points eut the cause of thèse différences, showing that La Bruyère copies individuals, uhiist Molière créâtes types.

Page 43. 1. 1 6. Pipaule de Pélops : an allusion to the famous épisode of Greek mythology. Pelops, son of Tantalus, was served up by his father as a feast for the gods. The lalter rcstoredhiin to iife, and, as his shoulder had been already eaten by Ceres, gave him anothcr made of ivory.

1. 17. Dans cette famille ^esprits . . . See notes to pages i and 3.

1. 18. Z<: S'agir (1668-1747), a famous Frenchvvriter,author of several novels— among which Gil Blas de Santillane stands foremost — and of many comédies, thc most important of which is Tu/caret, one of the plays of the eighteenth century that come nearest to the great masterpieces of Molière. 1 1 is almost the rounterpart oi Tartufe, a bitter satire on the vices of the uneducated 'parvenus,' financiers and 'traitants,' who were then beginning to form a new aristocracy, that of riches. The production of the play stirred up the same kind of opposition as Tartufe had done forty years before, and the first représentation (Feb. 14, 1709) was a sensational event.

1. 19. Beaumarchais C1732-99), the famous author of two dramatic masterpieces, Le Barbier de Sé-ville and Le Mariage de Figaro. Sainte-Beuve wrote of him, in the Causeries du Lundi : ' En mêlant au vieil esprit gaulois les goûts du moment, un peu de Rabelais et du Voltaire, en y jetant un léger déguisement espagnol et quelques rayons du soleil de l'Andalousie, il a su être le plus réjouissant et le plus remuant Parisien de son temps, le Gil Blas de l'époque encyclopédique, à la veille de l'époque révolutionnaire ; il a redonné cours à toutes sortes de vieilles vérités d'expérience en le- rajeunissant. Il a refrappé bon nombre de proverbes qui étaient près de s'user. En fait d'esprit, il a été grand rajeunisseur. . . .'

1. 36. Gresset (1709-77), French poet, the author of Vert-Vert, a liitle masterpiece of amusing poetry. and of a comedy, Le Méchant, several élégant and witty lines of which hâve remained as proverbs in the French language.

Pagk 44. 1. 8, Crébillon (1674-1762), a tragedian, author of Idom'eme, Atr'ee et Thyeste, Rhadamiste et Zénobie, &C. . . . , the latter laeing his masterpiece. Thèse plays hold an important place in the literary history of the eighteenth century,

partly on account of their own merits, and partly because of the discussions and polemics to which they gave rise. When Voltaire began to write for the Théâtre, his rivais praised Crébillon beyond measure, so as to overshadow the talent of the new-comer ; Ihey used to call ' Corneille grand, Racine tendre, Crébillon tragique,' ineaning that Voltaire had none of thèse three qualities.

Ducij (1733-1816), a French dramatist who adapted some plays of Shakespeare to the taste of his time ; he did not prétend to give exact translations — he knew, besides, very little English— but his imitations, however far they may often be froin the original text, enjoyed great success. [Hamlet, produccd in 1769 ; Romeo and Juliet, 1772 ; Khig Lear, 1783; Macbeth, 1784; Othello, 1792— Talma acted the principal part in the last play.j What Sainte-Beuve says of Ducis may be compared to what Ducis wrote of himself : ' 11 y a dans mon clavecin poétique des jeux de fliJte et de tonnerre. Comment cela va-t-il ensemble ? je n'en sais trop rien, mais cela est ainsi.'

1. 22. Goethe is hère compared to Talleyrand, because of the same ' impartialité calculée et glacée,' which he may be considered to hâve displayed in his ideas on Art, as Talleyrand did in bis politicai conceptions.

1. 38, On the Èpitre à Mignard see note to p. 16, 1, 29, and p. 28, 11. 3 et seqq.

Page 45. 1. 13. On Racine, Les Plaidev.tJ, Esther, Sec, see notes on the third portrait.

1. 19. /a lettre à F auteur des ^Imaginaires.^ Between 1664 and 1665, certain members of Port- Royal, the well-known Jansenist centre, published anonymously pamphlets called Lettres sur P hérésie imaginaire, in which they severely criticized the stage from the Christian point of view. A tragedy of Racine called Alexandre le Grand had just been published, and the author consequently considered that the attack was directed against himself. He replied in a vigorous letter, to which Sainte-Beuve alludes hère.