The Palace and Park by Phillips, Forbes, Latham, Owen, Scharf, and Shenton

[Born in Paris, 1622. Died there, 1673. Aged 51.] The real name of Molière was Jean Baptiste Poquelin. That which is associated with his renown was assumed when he became an actor, and “disgraced” his family, who cut Jean Baptiste away from the genealogical tree,--the father of Molière being _valet de chambre_ to Louis XIII. Like our own Shakspeare, Molière was an actor as well as a writer of plays. He forsook the study of the law for the stage, and at the age of 24 was making his way in the provinces, where he produced comedies, in which he himself acted. In 1658, he returned to Paris, and by the favour of Louis XIV. opened the theatre of the Palais Royal. His new comedies produced there attracted crowds. His latest work was “The Imaginary Invalid,” brought out in 1673. He played the principal part himself, and during the fourth representation, was carried a dying man from the stage. The rites of Christian sepulture, denied, as a matter of course, to the player, were not conceded to the author who had satirized hypocrisy in his well-known comedy of “The Hypocrite.” Molière was beloved by his contemporaries: he was generous and warm-hearted--the friend of Condé, Boileau, and Racine. He is by far the first writer of Comedy in modern times. His place is close to the side of Shakspeare, for, like the English writer, he successfully addresses all countries and all ages, appealing to no limited, local, and accidental condition of the human mind, but striking home to the universal and unchangeable heart of man, as it everywhere throbs. Beyond the humorous faculty, he possessed earnestness of feeling, and a deep tone of passion. He was a man of tender heart; and of all French writers, he is the least French. [From the marble in the Louvre.]