o society, shows it to us
on every side; but it remains only a trait of character, although we see
it in half a dozen different lights. Tartuffe is the one exception; in
him, hypocrisy hides covetousness and lust; and Tartuffe is Moliere's
masterpiece. But in most of his comedies he displays rather a knowledge
of the world than a knowledge of human nature. In his walk he has no
equal at home or abroad; but his walk is not the highest. We feel that
something is wanting, and yet we can hardly extol him too highly. He
brought comedy into close relation with every-day life; he is the father
of the modern French stage, which has gradually cast off the old
conventional personages. The French dramatists of to-day are not men of
genius like Moliere, but, in their airy, sparkling plays, they represent
the freaks, follies, and fancies of society so exquisitely that nothing
remains to be desired. They furnish the model and the materials for the
theatre of all other nations.

When Regnard came before the public, the stage remained as Moliere had
left it The only new personage was the Marquis, first introduced in the
"Mere Coquette," by Quinault, the sweet and smooth writer of operas,--of
whom it was said, that he had boned (_desosse_) the French language. The
Marquis is the ancestor of our Fop,--

"Loose in morals and in manners vain,
In conversation frivolous, in dress extreme,"--

who in turn has become antiquated and tiresome. Regnard's only original
character is the Gambler; in his other comedies he made use of the old,
familiar masks, and won success by his keen sense of the ridiculous, his
wit, and his unceasing jollity and fun. His Crispins and Scapins are
perfect. What impudent, worthless, amusing rogues! To keep inside of the
law is their only rule of right. "Honesty is a fool, and Trust, his
sworn brother, a very simple gentleman." They came of an ancient race,
these Crispins and Scapins, that had flourished in Italy and in Spain
since Plautus and Terence brought them over from Greece. They found
their way to France, and even reached England in their migration,
following in the train of Charles II. when he returned from exile, and
during a short life on that side of the Channel added drunkenness and
brutality to their gayer vices. The character was true to Nature in
Athens or in Rome, where men of talent might often be bound to devote
their brains to the service of those who owned their bodies, and by
their con