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friend and patron, nominated him to the cure of Meudon, which he is faid to have filled with great zeal and applicatication to the end of his life. His profound knowledge and skill in phyfic made him doubly useful to the people under his care; and he was ready upon all occafions to relieve them under bodily indifpofitions, as well as to confult and provide for the fafety of their fouls. He died in 1553. As he was a great wit, many witticisms and facetious fayings are laid to his charge, which he knew nothing of; and many ridiculous circumftances related of his life and death, which it is but juftice to him to omit as fabulous.

He published several things, but his Chef d'Oeuvre is "The Hiftory of Gargantua and Pantagruel a rough fatire, in the form of a romance, upon monks, priests, popes, and fools and knaves of all kinds; where wit and learning are fcattered about with great profufion, but in a manner wild and irregular, and with a strong mixture of obscenity, coarse and puerile jufts, prophane allunions; and low raillery. Hence it has come to pafs, that, while fome have regarded it as a prime effort of the human wit, and, like Homer's poems, as an inexhauftible fource of learning, fcience, and knowledge, others have affirmed. it to be nothing but an unintelligible rhapfody, a heap of foolish conceits, without meaning, without coherence; a collection of grofs impieties and obfcenities. Both parties have reason for what they fay; that is, the truth lies between them both. Rabelais certainly intended to fatirise the manners of his age, as appears plainly enough from the general turn and nature of his work; but, from a certain wildness and irregularity of manner, what he alludes to or means in fome particular paffages does not appear fo plain. They must be greatly prejudiced against him, who will not allow him to have wit, learning, and knowledge of various kinds; and fo muft they who cannot fee that he is oftentimes low, coarfe, prophane, and obscene.

The monks, who are the chief object of his fatire, gave fome oppofition to it when it first began to be published, for it was published by parts in 1535: but this oppofition was foon overruled by the powerful patronage of Rabelais among the great. The beft edition of his works is that with cuts, and the notes of Le Duchat and Da Monnoye, 1741, in 3 vols. 4to. Mr. Motteaux publifhed an Eng lifh tranflation of it at London 1708, in 2 vols. 8vo; with a preface and notes, in which he endeavours to fhew,

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that

Bavle's Di&t. in voce.-D

Baillet's

Boileau,

Lettre a

croix.

that Rabelais has painted the hiftory of his own time, under an ingenious fiction and borrowed names. Özell published afterwards a new tranflation, with Duchat's notes, 5 vols. 120.

RACAN (HONORAT de BEVIL, Marquis of), a French poet, was born at Roche Racan in Touraine, 1589. At fixteen, he was made one of the pages to Henry IV; Jugemens and, as he began to amufe himself with writing verses, des Sçavans, Tom. V. he got acquainted with Malherbe, from whom he learned all the kill he had in French poetry. Malherbe reproached him with being too negligent and incorrect in his verfification; and Boileau has paffed the fame cenfure on him, yet affirms him to have had more genius than his mafter; and to have been as capable of writing in the Epic way, as he was in the Lyric, in which he particularly Sat. IX. & excelled. Menage has also spoken highly of Racan, in his Mr. Mau- additions and alterations to his "Remarques fur les Poefies de Malherbe." What is moft extraordinary in this poet is, that he acquired perfection in his art by mere dint of genius; for, as fome relate, he had never studied at all, but even fhewn an incapacity for attaining the Latin tongue. Upon quitting the office of page, he entered into the army; but this, more to oblige his father, the marquis of Racan, than out of any inclination of his own: and therefore, after two or three campaigns, he returned to Paris, where he married a wife, and devoted himself to books and poetry. His works confift of facred odes, paftorals, letters, and memoirs, of the life of Malherbe, prefixed to many editions of the works of that poet. He was chofen one of the members of the French academy, at the time of its foundation. He died in 1670, aged 81. He had fo low a voice, that he could fcarcely be heard.

Niceron,

RACINE (JOHN), an illuftrious French poet, was T.XVIII. born at la Ferté-Milon in 1639, and educated at PortRoyal; where he gave the greatest proofs of uncommon abilities and genius. During three years continuance there, he made a moit rapid progrefs in the Greek and Latin tongues, and in all polite literature. His genius lying towards poetry, made him particularly fond of Sophocles and Euripides; infomiuch that he is faid to have learned thefe two great authors by heart. upon the Greek romance of Heliodorus, "of Theagenes and Chariclea," and was

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He happened. "of the Loves reading it very greedily;

greedily when his director furprifing him took the book, and threw it into the fire. Racine found means to get another copy, which alfo underwent the fame fate; and after that a third, which, having a prodigious memory, he got by heart and then, carrying it to his director, faid, You may now burn this, as you have burned the two "former."

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Leaving Port-Royal, he went to Paris, and ftudied logic fome time in the college of Harcourt. The French poetry had taken his fancy, and he had already compofed fome little pieces in it; but it was in 1660, when all the poets were making their efforts upon the marriage of the king, that he firft difcovered himfelf to the public. His "La Nymphe de la Seine," written upon that occafion, was highly approved by Chapelain; and fo powerfully recommended by him to Colbert, that the minifter fent Racine a hundred piftoles from the king, and fettled a penfion on him, as a man of letters, of 600 livres, which was paid him to the day of his death. The narrownefs of his circumftances had put him upon a defign of retiring to Uzes; where an uncle, who was canon regular and vicar general of Uzes, offered to refign to him a priory of his order which he then poffeffed, if he would become a regular; and he ftill wore the ecclefiaftical habit, when he wrote the tragedy of "Theagenes," which he presented to Moliere; and that of the "Freres Ennemis" in 1664, the fubject of which was given him by Moliere.

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In the mean time, the fuccefs of his ode upon the king's marriage fpurred him to attempt higher things, and carried him at length entirely to the fervice of the theatre. In 1666, he published his tragedy of " Alexandra;" concerning which Mr. de Valincour relates a fact, which he had from Racine himfelf. Reading this play to Corneille, he received the highest encomiums from that great writer; but at the fame time was advifed by him to apply himfelf to Une Lettre any other kinds of poetty, as more proper for his genius, de Mr. de than dramatic. "Corneille," adds de Valincour, " was inferée dans "incapable of low jealoufy if he fpoke fo to Mr. Racine, l'Hiftoire de "it is certain that he thought fo. But we know, that "Acad: mie "he preferred Lucan to Virgil; whence we muft con- Mr. Abbe Françoit de clude, that the art of writing excellent verfe, and the d'Olivet, "art of judging excellently of poets and poetry, do not avec les ad "always meet in the fame perfon."

Racine's dramatic character embroiled him at this time with the gentlemen of Port-Royal. Mr. Nicole, in his

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"Vifionaires

Valincour

ditions de

ce Sçavant.

Vifionaires, & Imaginaires," had thrown out occafionally fome poignant strokes against the writers of romance and poets of the theatre, whom he called the public poifoners, not of bodies, but of fouls: "des empoifon"neurs publics, non des corps, mais des ames." Racine, taking himself to be included in this cenfure, was fomewhat provoked, and addressed a very animated letter to Nicole; in which he did not fo much concern himself with the fubject of their difference, as endeavour to turn into ridicule the folitaires and religious of the Port-Royal. M. du Bois and Barbier Daucour having each of them replied to this letter, Racine oppofed them in a second as fprightly as the fift. These letters, published in 1666, are to be found in the edition of Racine's works 1728, and alfo in the laft editions of the works of Boileau. In 1668, he published "Les Plaideurs," a comedy; and "Andromache," a tragedy; which, though it had great fuccefs, was a good deal criticised. The character of Pyrrhus was thoughtoverftrained and too violent; and the celebrated actor Montfleuri had certainly reafon to think that of Oreftes fo, fince the efforts he made in representing it coft him his life. He continued to exhibit from time to time several great and noble tragedies; "Britannicus," in 1670; "Berenice," in 1671; " Bajazet," in 1672; "Mi"thridates," in 1673; "Iphigenia," in 1675; "Phæ"dra," in 1677. During which time, he met with all that oppofition, which envy and cabal are ever ready to set up against a fuperior genius; and one Pradon, a poet whofe name is not worth remembering, was then employed by perfons of the first diftinction to have a Phædra" ready for the theatre, against the time that Racine's fhould appear.

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After the publication of "Phædra," he took a refolution to quit the theatre for ever: although he was ftill in full vigour, being not more than thirty-eight; and the only perfon, who was capable of confoling Paris for the old age of Corneille. But he had imbibed in his infancy a deep fenfe of religion: and this, though it had been fmothered for a while by his connections with the theatre, and particularly with the famous actress Champmêlé, whom he greatly loved, and by whom he had a fon, now at length broke out, and bore down all before it. In the firft place, he refolved, not only to write no more plays, but to do a rigorous penance for thofe he had written; and actually formed a defign of becoming a Carthufian

Louis XIV.

friar. Had not Voltaire good reason to say, that " he was by
"far a greater poet, than philofopher?" His religious di- Siecle de
rector, however, not fo mad, but a good deal wifer than he, tom. ii.
advised him to think more moderately, and to take measures
more suitable to his character. He put him upon marry-
ing, and fettling in the world, with which proposal this
humble and tractable penitent complied; and immediately
took to wife the daughter of a treasurer of France for
Amiens, by whom he had feven children. His next
concern was to reconcile himself, as he did very fincerely,
with the gentlemen of Port-Royal, whofe cenfures on
dramatic writers he acknowledged to be moft just. He
made peace at firft with Nicole, who received him with
open arms; and Boileau introduced him to Arnaud, who
alfo embraced him tenderly, and forgave all his fatire,

He had been admitted a member of the French academy
in 1673, in the room of la Mothe le Vayer, deceased;
but fpoiled the fpeech he made upon that occafion, by
pronouncing it with too much timidity. In 1677, he
was nominated with Boileau, with whom he was ever in
ftri&t friendship, to write the hiftory of Lewis XIV; and
the public expected great things from two writers of their
diftinction, but were disappointed. "Boileau and Ra-
"cine," fays de Valincour, after having for fome
"time laboured at this work, perceived that it was en-
tirely oppofite to their genius; and they judged also,
"with reafon, that the, hiftory of fuch a prince neither
"could nor ought to be written in
fs than an hundred
years after his death, unless it were to be made up of
"extracts from Gazettes, and fuch like materials."

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Though Racine had made it a point of religion, never to meddle any more with poetry, yet he was again drawn, in fpite of all the refiftance he could make, to labour for the theatre. Madam de Maintenon intreated him to compofe fome tragedy fit to be played by her young ladies at the convent of St. Cyr, and to take the subject from the Bible. Racine compofed "Efther;" which, being first reprefented at St. Cyr, was afterwards acted at Verfailles before the king in 1689. "It appears to me very re- Ibid. "markable," fays Voltaire, "that this tragedy had then "univerfal fuccefs; and that two years after Athaliah,' "though performed by the fame perfons, had nane.

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It

happened quite contrary, when thefe pieces were played
at Paris, long after the death of the author; and when
prejudice and partiality had ceafed. Athalialı,' repre-

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fented

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