set, Sedaine, who have produced work of remarkable character and
merit, and a crowd of clever playwrights who amused their own times, and
would amuse ours, if it were not that all comedy, save the very highest,
is of its nature ephemeral. The list is worthily opened by Lesage, who,
during the greater part of his life, earned by vaudevilles and
operettas, composed either alone or in co-operation for the Theatre de
la Foire, the bread which his incomparable novels would hardly have
sufficed to procure him. This lighter dramatic work is, it may be
observed, among the chief products of the century, and it has continued
up to the present day to form one of the staple elements in the
journey-work of French literature. Little of it has permanent qualities,
yet the remarkable talents of many of the men who composed it make it,
ephemeral as it is, interesting historically and even intrinsically. It
derived partly from the indigenous farce, partly from the Italian comedy
of stock personages, and partly from the merry-andrew performances
already mentioned. The theatres at which it was performed were the
object of much jealousy from the Comedie Francaise, and restrictions of
the most annoying kind were placed on it. Once an edict forbade more
than a single actor to appear--a condition surmounted by the ingenuity
of Piron. Sometimes it was confined to dumb show, illustrated by songs
on placards which the audience chanted. Often the audience joined in the
chorus, and it may be said generally that singing was always included.
Besides this rapid and perishable kind of work Lesage has left two
pieces in the true style of Moliere. The more extravagant and farcical
side of the master's genius is represented by _Crispin Rival de son
Maitre_, 1707, a lively piece, the subject of which is indicated by its
title, and which carries off the extreme and probably intentional
improbability of its plot by its brisk and rapid action, its vivid
pictures of character, and the shower of wit which the dialogue
everywhere pours out. _Turcaret_, 1709, is a regular comedy of the
highest merit. It has been found fault with by some French critics,
enamoured of the ruling passion and central situation theory; but this
is really a testimony to its merit. _Turcaret_ is in the strictest sense
a criticism of life at the time, and the author shows the true
prodigality of genius in filling his canvas. It is often described as a
satire on the corruption and vices of t