afterwards studying philosophy
(under Gassendi) and law. He was, according to some accounts, actually
called to the bar. At his majority he seems to have received a
considerable share of his mother's fortune, and thus to have become
independent. He joined some other young men of fair position in
establishing a theatrical company called _L'Illustre Theatre_, which,
however, failed with heavy loss to him, notwithstanding the assistance
of a family of professional actors and actresses, one of whom, Madeleine
Bejart, figures prominently in his private history. He was not to be
thus disgusted with his profession. In 1646 he set out on a strolling
tour through the provinces, and was absent from the capital for nearly
thirteen years. The notices of this interesting part of his career which
exist are unfortunately few, and, like many other points connected with
it, have given rise to much controversy. It is sufficient to say that he
returned to Paris in 1658, and on the 24th of October performed with his
troupe before the court. He had long been a dramatist as well as an
actor, and had written besides minor pieces, most of which are lost, the
_Etourdi_ and the _Depit Amoureux_. Moliere soon acquired the favour of
the king, and the _Precieuses Ridicules_, the first of his really great
works, gained for him that of the public. In 1662 he married Armande
Bejart, the younger sister of Madeleine--a marriage which brought him
great unhappiness, though it was probably not without influence on some
of his finest work. The king was godfather to the first child of the
marriage, and Moliere was a prosperous man. He became valet-de-chambre
to Louis, and it was some insolence of his noble colleagues which is
alleged, in a late and improbable though famous story, to have
occasioned the incident of his partaking of the king's _en cas de nuit_.
The highest point of his genius was shortly reached; _Tartuffe_, the
_Festin de Pierre_, and _Le Misanthrope_ being the work of three
successive years, 1664-6. _Tartuffe_ brought him some trouble because it
was supposed to be irreligious in tendency, or at least to satirise the
profession of religion. These, his three greatest comedies, were not all
warmly received, and he fell back upon lighter work, producing in rapid
succession farce-comedies for the public theatre, and _divertissements_
of divers kinds for the court until his death in February 1673, which
happened almost on the stage.

The following