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I did not fee many operas, not being fo good a Frenchman as to underftand themwhen fung. The Opera , called l’Europe Gallante, 1 was at feveral times, and it islooked upon as one of the very beft. It is extremely fine, and the mufic and fingingadmirable : the ftage large and magnificent, and well filled with aftors: the fcenes wellfuited to the thing, and as quick in the removal of them as can be thought: the danc-ing exquifite, as being performed by the beft mailers of that profeflion in town: thecloathing rich, proper, and with great variety.
It is to be wondered, that thefe operas are fo frequented. There are great num-bers of the nobility that come daily to them, and fome that can fing them all. And itwas one thing, that was troublefome to us ftrangers, to difturb the box by thefe volun-tary fongs of fome parts of the opera or other ; that the fpe&ators may be faid to behere as much adftors, as thofe employed upon the very ftage.
The comedies have another houfe in another part of the town ; for the operas areunder the roofofMonfieur, and it is part of the Palais Royal .
The difpofition of the theatre is much the fame; but fomething lefs. And herethe ftage itfelf is to be let j where for ftrangers, the places are molt commodious tohear and fee.
I heard many tragedies, but without gull for want of language: but after them,the little plays were very diverting to me, particularly thofe of Moliere, Vendange deSurefne, Pourcegnac, Crifpin Medecin, le Medecin malgre luy, le Malade Imagi-naire, &c.
In this all agree, that though Moliere’s plays have lefs of intrigue in them ; yet hischara&ers of perfons are incomparable, fo true and juft, that nothing can be more.And for this reafon, fo many of them are only of two or three aCts; for without anintrigue well laid, the characters would have failed him, in which was his excellency.
However, this is now fo much become a cuftom on the French ftage; that you everhave one of thefe little pieces tacked to th? tragedy, that you may pleafe yourfelf ac-cording to your appetite.
It is faid Moliere died fuddcnly in aCting the Malade Imaginaire : which is a goodinftance of his well perfonating the play he made, and how he could really put himfelfinto any paflion he had in his head. Alfo of the great danger ftrong and vehementpaffions may caufe in weak conftitutions, fuch as joy and fear ; which hiftory tells us,have killed many very fuddenly. He is reported to have faid, going off the ftage,Mejfieurs , J'ay jouele Malade Imaginaire ; mais je fuis veritablement fort Malade ; andhe died within two hours after. This account of Moliere is not in his life by Perault,but it is true : and he yet has blamed him for his folly, in perfecuting the art of phy-fic, not the men, in divers of his plays.
Moliere fent for Dr. M-, a phyfician in Paris of great efteem and worth, and
now in London, a refuge . Dr. M-fent him word, he would come to him, upon
two conditions; the one, that he fhould anfwer him only to fuch queftions as heftculd alk him, and not otherwife difeourfe him ; the other, that he Ihould oblige him-felf to take the medicines he Ihould preferibe for him. But Moliere finding the doc-tor too hard for him, and not eafily to be duped, refufed them. His bufinefs, itfeems, was to make a comical feene in expofing one of the mod learned men of theprofeflion, as he had done the quacks. If this u 7 as his intention, as in all probabilityit was, Moliere had as much malice as wit; which is only to be ufed to correCt thevicioufnefs and folly of men pretending to knowledge, and not the arts themfelves.
This I rauft needs fay, that obfeenity and immorality are not at all upon the French ftage, no more than in the civil converfation of people of falhion and good breeding.
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