1829.] Carneille; his Life cuid Writings. 615 



cardinal, accompanied by a certain pacifying present. He acknowledges 

 these " liberciUtes de Monseigneur" in a letter to Bois Robert, the terms of 

 which are sufficiently explicit. " Maintenant que vous me conseillez de 

 n'y repondre point, vu les persoiines qui s'en sont melees, il ne faut point 

 d'interprete pour entendre cela ; je suis un peu plus de ce monde qu'- 

 Heliodore qui aima mieux perdre son eveche que son livre, et j'aime 

 mieux les bonnes graces de mon maitre que toutes les reputations de la 

 ten-e; je me tairai done." The secret of this forbearance, and of his 

 shortly afterwards resuming his place among the cardinal's five poets, 

 are to be found in that fruitful and melancholy source of many of the 

 inconsistencies which mark the lives of men of genius — the scanty pecu- 

 niary resources he possessed. 



In 1639, his tragedy of Horace was brought out. The universal 

 applause which it met with, excited again the same envy which had 

 been caused by Le Cid, and some fresh observations were threatened, 

 but were stopped by a well-timed hint from Corneille himself, who 

 remarked in a letter to a friend, which was made public, that " the 

 Horatius of history, though condemned by the Decemviri, v/as acquitted 

 by the people." 



Ciiina appeared in the same year, and the effect which it produced 

 surpassed even that which had been occasioned by Le Cid. Voltaire 

 has accounted for this by the particular tone of public feeling at the 

 time, when the influence of the factions which had agitated the reign of 

 Louis XIII., or rather of the Cardinal de Richelieu, was not forgotten, 

 and when the minds of men were therefore disposed to appreciate the 

 sentiments of the ti-agedy. " Among those," he says, " who saw its 

 first representation, were some who had fought at La Marfee, and who 

 had been engaged in the Fronde. There is, besides, a more than 

 dramatic veracity running throughovit the piece, and a development of 

 the constitution of the Roman empire, which was very agreeable to 

 statesmen — and at this period every one was desirous of being reputed 

 a politician." Circumstances which, while they disclose a satisfactory 

 reason for the extraordinary success of the tragedy, explain why the 

 charm holds no longer. 



Soon after the appearance of this tragedy, Corneille's father died, 

 leaving a widow and a numerous family with very slender means of 

 support, his own income being derived chiefly from his office, the pro- 

 duce of which had been expended in the education of his children. The 

 care of providing for them, therefore, fell on the poet, who cheerfully 

 assumed these new and burdensome duties. About a year afterwards, 

 he formed an attachment, which, although it appeared hopeless at first, 

 terminated, with the assistance of the Cardinal Richelieu, to liis entire 

 satisfaction. Fontenelle says, he made his appearance one morning in a 

 more grave and melancholy mood than usual before the cardinal, who 

 asked him if he was meditating some new tragedy. Corneille replied 

 that he was far from possessing the composure necessary for such an 

 undertaking, for that he was distractedly in love. The cardinal inquired 

 the particulars, and the poet told him that the object of his passion was 

 the daughter of IMathieu de Lampericre, Lieutenant-general of Andelys, 

 in Normandy, who would not consent to his union. The lady had very 

 little fortune ; and for this reason it was that her j)arent would not sanc- 

 tion lier nuirriage with a man wh(j had none at all. The absolute car- 

 dinal sent for the father, who was so much alarmed at the summons. 



