returned to France,
bought several lucrative offices and an estate in the country, and lived
partly there and partly at Paris, writing comedies and indulging largely
in the pleasures of the table. He died at his chateau of Grillon in
1710, apparently of a fit of indigestion; but various legends are
current about the exact cause of his death. He wrote twenty-three plays
(including one tragedy of no value) and collaborated with Dufresny in
four others. Many of these pieces were comic operas. At least a dozen
were represented by the 'Maison de Moliere.' The best of them are _Le
Joueur_, _Le Distrait_, _Les Menechmes_, _Le Legataire_, the first and
the last named being his principal titles to fame. Regnard trod as
closely as he could in the steps of Moliere. He was destitute of that
great dramatist's grasp of character and moral earnestness; but he is a
thoroughly lively writer, and well merited the retort of Boileau (by no
means a lenient critic, especially to the young men who succeeded his
old friend), when some one charged Regnard with mediocrity, 'Il n'est
pas mediocrement gai.'

Baron the actor was born in 1643 and died in 1729, after having long
been the leading star of the French stage. He wrote, though it is
sometimes said that he was aided by others, seven comedies. One of
these, _L'Andrienne_, is a clever adaptation of Terence, and another,
_L'Homme aux Bonnes Fortunes_, has considerable merit in point of
writing and of that stage adaptability which few writers who have not
been themselves actors have known how to master.

Charles Riviere Dufresny, a descendant of 'La Belle Jardiniere,' one of
Henri IV.'s village loves, was born in 1648 and died in 1724. He was a
great favourite of Louis XIV. and a kind of universal genius, devoting
himself by turns to almost every branch of literature and of the arts.
He was, however, incurably desultory, and was besides a man of
disorderly life. His comedies were numerous and full of wit and
knowledge of the world, but somewhat destitute of finish. Besides those
in which Regnard collaborated he was the author of eleven pieces, of
which _L'Esprit de Contradiction_, _Le Double Veuvage_, _La Coquette de
Village_, and _La Reconciliation Normande_ are perhaps the best.

Florent Carton Dancourt was born in 1661 and died in 1725. He too was a
favourite of Louis XIV., but, unlike Dufresny, he was an actor as well
as an author. Towards the end of his days, having made a moderate
for