R AC 



299 



RAD 



generally are, procured him, through the interest of Col- 

 b'fi-t, a small pension. Although his uncle, who was 

 a prior, offered to resign to him his benefice, on con- 

 dition that he would take holy order*, yet lie decline I 

 this act of l:!nT;dity ; and, elated with the success of 

 his first poetical rli'ort-, he resolved to take up his re- 

 sidence in Paris a* an author. 



In lu(>'K he brought upon the stage his first tragedy, 

 entitled, /. Tln-lxude, on les Freret Ennemis, written 

 njudiciously nt'ter the manner of Corneille. He next 

 pul>lished his Alexandre, and then his Andramaque, 

 which established his reputation as u writer of tragedy. 



About this time Racine was presented to the priory 

 of Kpinay ; but as he had not taken orders, his right 

 to hold the living was contested ; and, after a law-suit, 

 he was obliged to abandon it. 



Racine's success in tragedy induced him to try his 

 powers as a comedian ; and he accordingly produced 

 his comedy of Let Plaideurs, which, though it met 

 with the approbation of Moliere, and was well receiv- 

 ed by those about court, was the only one which he 

 published. His Britanniciis, Berenice, liajazel, Milk- 

 ridales, In/iigenie, and Phcedre, appeared in succession 

 between the years lf)?0 and 1678, and gained for the 

 author a high degree of popularity and fame. 



Having reached this high elevation, he became the 

 object of the malignity and envy of the dull crowd 

 whom he had outstripped by his talents. A mind like 

 his ought to have learned from the history of letters 

 that the hostility of inferior rivals is the first and most 

 sincere tribute that is paid to living genius ; but his 

 sensibility was too great to allow himself to be influ- 

 enced by such views ; and he is said to have confessed 

 to a friend, that the worst critique upon his works 

 gave him more pain than the greatest plaudits had 

 given him pleasure. 



In this frame of mind, and under the influence of 

 the religious principles which he had early imbibed, 

 he resolved, when he was scarcely thirty-eight years 

 of age, to renounce poetry and plays, and become a 

 Carthusian. His religious adviser, however, advised 

 him to act with more moderation, and his resolution 

 to become Carthusian was converted into the more 

 rational one of taking a wife, and settling quietly in 

 the world. He accordingly married the daughter of 

 a gentleman who was treasurer of Amiens, by whom 

 he had seven children. 



In 1673 Racine was admitted a member of the 

 French Academy, in the room of La Motte le Vayer ; 

 but he is said to have destroyed the effect of his ad- 

 mission speech by pronouncing it with too much hu- 

 mility. About this time Racine obtained the situa- 

 tion of gentleman in ordinary to the king, to whom 

 he made himself very useful. 



In 1677 he was nominated along with Boileau to 

 the office of historiographer royal, with the view of 

 writing the history of Louis XIV. The public ex- 

 pectations were raised by that appointment ; but the 

 two poets laboured in vain at their task till they found 

 that it was unsuitable to their genius. 



Madam Maintenon, with whom he lived in great 

 intimacy, prevailed upon our author to compose a 

 scriptural dramatic piece, entitled Esther, for the ladies 

 of her foundation of St. Cyr, which they performed 

 before the whole court with great applause in 16'89. 

 This was followed by his Alhalie, which the same ladies 

 performed in 16'91. 



At the request of Madam Maintenon, Racine was or- 

 dered to draw up a memorial on the miseries of the peo- 



pie, and the means of relieving them. The king hap- R*tm 

 pening to obtain a reading of this memoir from a lady Kdoor 

 to whom it had been lent, took offence at the manner 

 in which the author had treated the subject. " Be- 

 cause he knows how to write good verses/' said the 

 king, " does he suppose that he knows every thing ; 

 and would he be a minister of state because he is a 

 great poet ? ' These expressions, complimentary though 

 they be, are said to have produced a deep effect upon 

 the mind of Racine, and to have brought on a fever, 

 of which he died, on the 22d April, 1699, in the 6Oth 

 year of his age. The king, who entertained a real 

 affection for the poet, sent often to inquire after him 

 during his illness, and after his death he settled a hand* 

 some pension upon his family. 



As a dramatic writer, Racine is placed next to Cor- 

 neille ; and he is supposed to have possessed the art of 

 versification to a degree superior to any French author. 

 His plays are characterised by correctness, tenderness, 

 elegance, good taste, and refined and elevated senti- 

 ments. Besides his dramatic works, he wrote the 

 Canliques, a work full of devotion ; L'Histoire de Pari~ 

 Royal, Idylle sur la Paix, Epigrams, Lettert, &c. A< 

 Director of the French Academy, he pronounced the 

 eulogy of Corneille. The best edition of his works it 

 that in 6 vols. 8vo. published in 176l. 



RACINE, Louis, the son of John Racine, waa 

 born at Paris in 1692, and inherited his father's poeti- 

 cal talents as well as his pious dispositions. He adopt- 

 ed the ecclesiastical habit, and in a state of retirement 

 he wrote in J720 his Poems on Religion and Grace. 

 The Cardinal Fleury afterwards gave him a place in 

 the Finance, and he then married and lived happily in 

 his family, till the death of an only son threw him in- 

 to a state of deep dejection. On the crucifix which 

 he always carried with him, he piously inserted the 

 lines of Tibullus: 



Te spectera suprema mihi cum venerit bora, 

 Te tencam raoriens dcficiente iiianu. 



He died in 1763, at the age of seventy-one. His 

 other writings are Odes; Epistles; a Translation of 

 Milton's Paradise Lost ; Reflexions sur la Poetic ; M- 

 moires sur la Vie de Jean Racine ; Remarquei tur les 

 Tragedies de Jean Racine. He likewise wrote several 

 papers in the memoirs of the Academy of Inscriptions, 

 of which he was a member. His works have been 

 published in 6 vols. 12mo. 



RADNOR, the name of a county in South Wales, 

 bounded on the north by the counties of Montgomery 

 and Salop ; on the west by the counties of Cardigan 

 and Brecknock ; on the south by Brecknock ; and on 

 the east by Herefordshire and Salop. It is about 20 

 miles broad from east to west, and about 24 long from 

 north to south. Its area, according to Mr. Clarke, is 

 about 510 square miles, or 846,000 acres ; but others 

 compute it at only 426 square miles. 



About two-thirds of the whole county is either lying 

 waste, or in a state of commonage. A large mountain- 

 ous tract in the middle of the county, and partly be- 

 longing to the crown, is called the Forest, though it 

 has no trees. The general aspect of the county is bleak 

 and mountainous, particularly in the north-western 

 part. In the east and south, however, the county is 

 more fertile; and the hills, which are here of moderate 

 elevation, are not altogether destitute of wood. The 

 highest ground in Radnorshire is 2163 feet above the 

 sea; and in this region, about two miles west from 

 Radnor, is the waterfall called "Water Break its Neck, ' 



