300 CALLOGRAPHY. 



Lamartine's Mort de Socrate, or Death of Socrates; and his Chute 

 $un Ange, or Fall of an Angel ; which is of a wilder character. 

 Le Brim's poem, La Nature, is valuable ; and there are also poems 

 on Theatrical Declamation, by Dorat; on Painting, by Lemierre ; 

 on Astronomy, by Guidin ; on Navigation, by Esmenard ; and on 

 Agriculture, by Rosset. Among the French writers of satire, were 

 Boileau, Regnier, Gilbert, and Le Roy. The most noted French 

 fables, are those of La Fontaine. 



French dramatic poetry, may be regarded as commencing with 

 the dialogues of Faydit, and other troubadours, first called comediens. 

 To these succeeded the plays called mysteries ; representing scrip- 

 ture subjects; but degrading them to the level of the vulgar taste. 

 Next followed the moralities, so called ; and the farces of the Clerks 

 of the Bazoche ; and to these succeeded the follies of the Lads 

 without care ; a society which took this name, and performed comic 

 pieces. The Captive Cleopatra, of Jodelle, performed in 1552, was 

 probably the first French Tragedy of note or influence; arid his 

 Dido, contains great beauties. The Sophonisba, of Mairet, and the 

 Marianne, of Tristan the Hermit, are less natural ; but La Famine, 

 by Gamier, exhibits great force. The tragedies of Corneille, excel 

 in force and dignity ; though sometimes faulty in the plot. His 

 Medea, was his first, and the Cid, is considered his best. Racine, is 

 polished and elegant, but wants fire and inspiration. Les Freres 

 Ennemis, the Inimical Brothers, was his first tragedy ; but his 

 Andromache, and Athalie, are regarded as superior. Voltaire, is 

 the third great tragic poet of the French ; and his Zaire, Mahomet, 

 and Alzire, have been much admired. The Rhadamiste, and other 

 tragedies of Crebillon ; the Omasis in Egypt, of Baour Lormian ; 

 the Charles IX., of Chenier ; the Templars, by Renouard ; the 

 Artaxerce, by Delrieu ; the Pama, of Delavigne ; and the Crom- 

 well, of Victor Hugo ; are tragedies of note, and all that we have 

 room to name. 



The oldest French comedy, worthy of mention, is the Avocat 

 Patelin, first represented about 1480, by the Clerks of the Bazoche. 

 The great comic poet of the French is Moliere ; whose free invention, 

 and ready humor, have perhaps never been surpassed. L'Etourdi, 

 or the Wild Fellow, first gave him celebrity ; and his Tartuffe, and 

 Misanthrope, are said to have become models of the higher comedy. 

 We have farther room to mention only La Metromanie, by Piron ; 

 Le Tresor, by Andrieux ; Le Joueur, by Regnard ; L'Ami de tout 

 le Monde, by Le Grande ; Le Mechant, by Gresset ; Le Glorieux, 

 by Destouches ; and Les Chateaux en Espagne, by D'Harleville ; 

 as among the best productions of this class. The first French opera 

 writer, was Qninault; whose Armide, appeared in 1686. The 

 comic operas, originated in the vaudevilles, or sprightly songs, at 

 the fairs, after the prohibition of comedies, in 1707. Favart first gave 

 them a higher character ; and the Barber of Seville, and Marriage 

 of Figaro, by Beaumarchais, are among the most celebrated. 



The earliest French romances, in prose, were those relating to 

 King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table ; of which Tristan 

 de Leonois, (or le Lionnais), by Chretien de Troyes, and Launcekt 



