should he harmonious, whose entire effect should hesublime.
The bounty of the king in bestowing a pension onhim, it is probable, was one cause of his establishinghimself in Paris , and his brother’s recent success as adramatist a yet more urgent one. Hitherto Corneille had resided at Rouen , visiting the capital only at inter-vals, when he brought out any new play. In 16'42 hehad been elected member of the French academy; butthat circumstance caused no change in his mode of life.He was not formed to shine at court, nor in the gayParisian circles. Simple, almost rustic, in his mannersand appearance, his genius was not discernible to thecasual observer. “ The first time I saw him,” says awriter of the day, “ I took him for a merchant ofRouen — his exterior gave no token of his talents, andhe was slow, and even dull, in conversation.” Corneille certainly neglected the refinements of society too much ;or, rather, nature, who had been so liberal to him in richgifts, had withheld minor ones. When his familiarfriends, who desired to see him perfect, spoke to him ofhis defects, he replied with a smile, “ I am not the lessPierre Corneille.” La Bruyere hears the same testi-mony : “ Simple and timid ; tiresome in conversation— he uses one word for another — he knows not howto recite his own verses.” *
In truth, Corneille ’s merit did not, as with manyFrenchmen, lie on the surface. Conscious of his owndesert, ambitious of glory, proud, yet shy, he shrunkfrom society where all excellence is despised that doesnot sparkle and amuse. We are inclined to believefrom these considerations that his migration to Paris isattributable rather to his brother than to himself.
* Corneille gives much the same account of himself in some verseswritten in his youth, and which he calls a slight picture of himself: —
“ En mature d’amour je suis fort inegal;
J’en ecris assez bien, et le fais as«ez mal;
J’ai la plume feconde, et la bouche sterile :
Bon galant au theatre, et fort mauvais en villej
Et l’on peut rarement m’ ecouter sans ennui;
Que quand je me produis par la bouche d’autrui.”
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