M O L 
MOL 
a company of young perfons who adted in the fuburbs 
of St. Germain ; and, affuming the name of Moliere, com- 
pofed feveral little pieces of the comic kind, and perform¬ 
ed his part on the dage. At length he joined La Bejart, 
a provincial adtrefs, and they formed a company which, 
in 1653, reprefented at Lyons his fil'd regular comedy in 
verfe, L'Etourdi. It was followed by Le Depit Amou- 
reiix, and Les Precievfes ridicules , fil'd exhibited at Beziers, 
where Moliere was very favourably received by the prince 
of Conti, who was chief of the dates of Languedoc. He 
next vilited Grenoble and Rouen; and from the latter 
came to Paris under the protection of Gallon duke of Or¬ 
leans, who introduced him to Louis XIV. and his queen. 
He obtained permidion to open a theatre in the metropo¬ 
lis, and the guard-chamber in the old Louvre was firlt al¬ 
lotted him for that purpofe ; in 1660 it was changed for 
that in the Palais Royal; and in 1665 he was placed in the 
lervice of the king, with a penfion. 
From this time, Moliere continually rofe in reputation 
as a writer by the new pieces which he prsfented to the 
public, and which became more and more perfedt as he 
advanced in experience and oblervation. By almoll the 
general content of Europe, he is placed at the head of that 
genuine comedy which has for its fubjedt the ridiculous 
in charadler and manners ; and it is agreed that no one 
ever united more pleafantry in dialogue and incident, 
with more good fenle and penetration in feledting jull ob¬ 
jects for comic fatire, and feizing the true point of the 
ludicrous. He is conlidered as the great reformer of the 
French theatre in refpedt to comedy, as Corneille was in 
refpedt to tragedy 5 and, though in feveral of his pieces 
he del'cends to what may be called farce, yet his fcenes of 
low comedy abound in genuine humour and natural cha¬ 
racter. His more l'erious compolitions, and thole written 
in- verfe, are, by his countrymen, elteemed his mailer- 
pieces, efpecially the Mifanthrope and the Tartuff'e. In 
the latter of thefe, he touched upon a dangerous topic, 
that of religious hypocrily; accordingly, it railed a great 
clamour againll him from the falfe devotees, who had in- 
tereftto procure from the parliament a prohibition of its 
reprefentation. Soon after, the Italian comedians hav¬ 
ing performed a very licentious farce, entitled, Scara- 
mouche Hermite, the king, who had been a fpeClator of 
it with the prince of Conde, Paid, “I fhould be glad to 
know the reafon why thofe who are fo much fcandalized 
with Moliere’s play take no notice of this Scaramouche.” 
“Becaufe (anfwered Conde) the latter offends God alone, 
but the former offends the devotees.” This temporary 
attack, however, has not prevented the Tartuff'e from re¬ 
taining its place as one of the great ornaments of the 
French Itage. Some of the principal 1'ubjeCts of Moliere’s 
fatire were the coxcomb men-of-quality of his time, call¬ 
ed petits maitresj the pedants and aft'eCled belles-efprits, 
male and female ; and the medical faculty. Among the 
two former clafies, his ridicule is laid to have effected 
great reforms ; the latter were too well fortified with gra¬ 
vity and the opinion of mankind to feel him. 
The private character of Moliere was, in many refpeCts, 
eftimable. He was kind, obliging, and generous. Va¬ 
rious inltances of his liberality are mentioned, of which 
the following is the moll ltriking. Having one day given 
to a beggar by miltake a piece of gold, which was re¬ 
turned him by the poor man, “ In what hole (faid Mo¬ 
liere) is virtue going to hide herfelf? Here ! my friend, 
here is another for your honelly.” At a mature age he 
married the daughter of the aCtrefs Bejart, who followed 
the fame profelllon ; and he is faid to have incurred the 
lame ridicule that he fo plentifully bellowed upon poor 
hulbands in his comedies. In friendship he was more 
happy ; and he numbered among his intimates not only 
men of wit, but fome of the greatelt perfons about the 
court. It is remarkable that his death was the immediate 
conlequence of his aCting the principal partin his divert¬ 
ing play of Le Malade Imaginaire. He was labouring un¬ 
der a pulmonary complaint, and was Itrongly urged by 
627 
his wife, and Baron the aCtor, to defer the reprefentation. 
“ What (cried Moliere) muff then become of fo many 
poor people who depend upon it for their bread? I 
Ihould reproach mylelf for having negleCted a fmgle day 
to fupply them with neceffiiries.” He exerted himfelf on 
the Itage with unufual fpirit, and his efforts brought on 
the rupture of a blood-velfel, by which he was fuffocated. 
This happened in February 1673, when he was in the 
53d year of his age. The archbilhop of Paris, Harlai, a 
man of loofe morals, but defirous of plealing the rigorids 
of the Roman church, refufed him Chrillian burial; and 
the king’s authority was requifite to procure him private 
interment in a chapel of the church of St. Eultache. The 
bigotry of the populace impeded even this obfcure cere¬ 
monial ; for they collected in great crowds before his 
door on the day, and would not fuller the funeral to pro¬ 
ceed till money had been thrown among them. Such 
was the treatment of a man who was an honour to his 
country, and who will ever rank among the principal or¬ 
naments of the age in which he lived ! No one was more 
feniible of his merit than the great Conde, who faid to a 
miferable rhymer, who brought him an epitaph on Mo¬ 
liere, “ Would to heaven he had brought me thine.” 
Boileau has honoured his memory with fome fine lines; 
and Racine, on being afked by the king whom he thought 
the firlt writer that had appeared in his reign, without lie- 
fitation, named Moliere. Voltaire, in his Siecle de Louis 
XIV. calls him “the belt comic writer of any nation.” 
His llyle in profe is perfectly natural and eafy. In verfe 
he has been accounted incorreCt and carelefs; but Vol¬ 
taire afferts that he is full of admirable lines which im¬ 
print themfelves on the memory. As an aCtor he ex¬ 
celled only in comedy: his voice was feeble and indifi- 
tinCl; but his ftrong expreffive features, animated by arch- 
nefs and intelligence, rendered him the perfeCt reprefen- 
tative of the characters in his own pieces which he took 
upon himfelf. Of the many editions of his works, that 
of M. Bret, at Paris, in 6 vols. 8vo. with notes, is one of 
the molt eiteemed. 
MOLIE'RES, a town of France, in the department of' 
the Lot: ten miles north of Montauban, and fixteen fouth 
of Cahors. 
MOLIE'RES (Jofeph-Prival de), a celebrated French 
pried and mathematician, who flourifhed in the eigh¬ 
teenth century, was born at Tarafcon, in the county of 
Foix, in the year 1677. Owing to a tender and delicate 
conllitution, he choie for himfelf a life of lludy, and be¬ 
came, in a ihort time, famous for his learning on divers 
topics, but particularly in the feveral branches of belles 
lettres and mathematics. His elder brother, who had ob¬ 
tained coniiderable rank in the army, having been flain 
in battle in 1695, M. Molieres’ parents were defirous that 
he fhould fettle in the world ; but his love of dudy ren¬ 
dered their perfuafions ineffectual: and that he might 
put an end to all importunity on this head, he entered at 
once into the church, and was ordained pried in the year 
1701. He afterwards joined the Congregation of the 
Oratory, and taught the daffies and philolophy with great 
fuccels in feveral of their feminaries. Some years after 
this, having read and greatly admired the works of Male- 
branche, he was anxious to become acquainted with their 
author; and for that purpofe quitted the oratory, and 
repaired to Paris. Here he attached himfelf clofely to 
that philofopher; and, during his day in the metropolis, 
he prefented feveral memoirs to the Academy of Sciences, 
and in 1721 he was admitted into it as an adjunCt to the 
mechanical clafs. Two years afterwards he obtained the - 
profeiforfliip of the College Royal; and in 1729 rofe to 
the rank of affociate in the Academy of Sciences. He * 
had already publifhed a work, entitled “ Mathematical 
Lelfons,” in which the principles of algebra and arithme¬ 
tical calculations are methodically laid down, and the 
theorems explained and demondrated. After this, which 
was well received, lie publifhed four volumes of “ Lec¬ 
tures on Natural Philolophy, containing the Elements of 
Phyfics 
