40 



Historical Notice rcspccthfg the Life 



[Afig. I, 



M. do la Harpc feems greatly to have 

 regretted tliat one ot' liis trai;edies wliicli 

 had been received more favourably tlian 

 any other at Court, fliould not have been 

 rcpreiented in the capital. We know 

 not what were the intrigues which depri- 

 ved him of this gratification. " Meuzi- 

 colV" was the play we fpeak of; and the 

 action is the difgiace of that child of vi- 

 cifiitude. The combination of the plot 

 is not very well imagined ; but the piece 

 abounds with beauties in det^iil. We 

 need not any further jiurfue ihefe tra;:e- 

 dies of the fecond order. 



Altliough our author often railed his 

 voice againll operas, yet, yielding to the 

 public talte, he compofed two <^f that 

 fpccies of drama, concerning which there 

 is nothing to notice but the poldhed ele- 

 gance of their flyte. 



To render the homage due from him 

 to Voltaire, he wrote a piece, in w hich, 

 alluding to the uiiivcrfaht.y of his mailer's 

 talents, 'he fuppofes the whole of the 

 Mules ill a conteil which fhali dicree llie 

 greatelt honours to him. This plan, com- 

 mon as it may be, i» CAecuted witii much 

 delicacy of conception. It will be felt 

 that Melpomene mull be diflinii,uiflied 

 above the reft ; and the author here 

 found no difficulty. But what to make 

 Thalitt fay, was not fo eafy to conceive. 

 The author has very dexteroully witii- 

 drawn himfelf frojn this embarralfment ; 

 tlie Mufe of Comedy contenting h.erfelf 

 with obfcrving, " When he vitited me, it 

 Avas for pafthiie ; but I do not pay a ho- 

 mage the Icfs (incore to his merit." 'i"his, 

 exprelfcd in elegant poetry, is not one of 

 the fniallcft beauties of the piece. 



M. de la llarjie alio wrote a comedy 

 for the inauguration of the New Fix nch 

 Theatre, intitied " Moliere at the New- 

 Theatre." It is diftinguill-.ed by a native 

 and genuine gaiety, whicli aifords no 

 firtsvU rcafon to believe ti;at our author 

 "woi/d have fucceeded in Comedy Jiad he 

 eai'ly attached iiimfelf to it. 



M. Gaillaid, in drawing a parallel be- 

 tween the tragic productions of M. dc la 

 Ilarpe and M, de Dubelloy, gives the 

 preference to the latter for ell"e6(, and to 

 the Ibniier i'or ityle. " f know not (he 

 fays,) what rank pofterity will alf:gu to 

 !M. de la Ilarpe among our diaiuatic po- 

 ets : it will not, however, be denietl, that 

 liis pieces are writtmi in a ftylc fuperior 

 to any except the tine tragedies of Ra- 

 cine and Voltaire ; and how many beau- 

 ties are fiippofcd in uckiiowlcdgiu;; that 

 ©flMe!" 



M. de la IFarpj! was hinifelf alkcd, a 

 little i)efore his death, how lie would 

 have fpoken oi'liis tragedies in liie Cours 

 dc LUllrature, had it been within his 

 plan to have criticifed living autiiors. 

 lie replied, " I would have done myfelf 

 this juftice, to fay, that if I have not coih 

 tributed to the luccefs of the dramatic 

 art, I cannot be accufod of acrelcratin<; 

 its fall." It is not pofliblo for any one to 

 judge himfelf with more truth or modefty. 

 It is fome proof of the richnefs of M. 

 de la Harpe's talents, that, alinoil alwav* 

 occupied with ferious and eloquent dil- 

 courk's, or the grandeur of tragic fub- 

 jects, he nevertlielefs could obtain fuc- 

 cefs in lighter productions, ufually the 

 fruit of a love of life and fociety. Anions; 

 thtfe are two ]"piltlcs, one to TalVo, and 

 the oilier from Horace to \'oltaire, writ- 

 ten with cafe and eleg;mce. We will not 

 pafs in review his Odes, although fonic 

 enjoyed re])iilation in their lime. It ap- 

 pears toub that the a'uihor didnot polTef* 

 tiuit fire of imagination necclfary to fuc- 

 cefs in the ode. 



But we now quit all the minor produc- 

 tions of M. de la Ilarpe, to conlider an- 

 other great feature of his literary cliarac- 

 ■ ter. " Let us iuppofc him ftripped (fay* 

 M. GaiUard,) of his other works, his tra- 

 gedies, his poetry of various kinds, his 

 academical difcourfes ; let liiin no longer 

 be deemed a poet or orator ; let us uinr 

 view alone the critic : — I low great will 

 the ("pace be, liow fplcndid the fame, lie 

 will yet enjoy in litirature ! How has he 

 graced and ennobled that function of 

 jounudift, which fo many before and al- 

 ter him ha\e degraded !" 



The corrcfpondence of M. delallarpe 

 with the Grand Duke of Kuliia gives ii 

 fine,juft, and animated picturcof the au- 

 thors who tlourillicd in viie period of the 

 corrcfpondence. It abounds with cu- 

 rious details refpecting their works, ta- 

 lents, and mnimers ; and contains a va- 

 riety of anecdotc^s of literature, and of 

 the arts and fcieniros. 



^Ve are now come to the work which 

 places the lial on the literary reputiitioii 

 of M. dc la Ilarpe, his Cou7-s dc Litlirt^- 

 ttu-e, Ancknnc ei Modenic, which jultly 

 entitles him, in the beginning ol"thc nine- 

 teenth CiMituiy, to the honourable appel- 

 lation of the French (juintillian ! j\l. 

 IVritot, after having examined and ana- 

 lyz<;d the plan which Mannonlel haa 

 adopted for his Elcmcns dc Litlirafure, 

 continues thus : — "The career of I'J. dc 

 k Ilarpe is more \iift and brilliant. He 



