red and enthusiastic. There was a display of fire-works in the
evening rarely equaled, and probably never surpassed. The theaters were
all open, free to all who came, and could gain entrance. In the course
of the day more than three hundred balloons were sent up, laden with
confectionary and things to tickle the palate, and showered down upon
the multitude. The whole of Paris was gay, and the stranger had a fine
sample of a grand Parisian _fete_, and Sabbath--both in one!

CHAPTER XI.

THE FATHER OF FRENCH TRAGEDY--THE JESTER--THE DRAMATIST.

MEN OF THE PAST.

During my residence in Paris I became very much interested in the
history of the great men of France, not only in the present day, but in
past years. I was not so well acquainted with the great French masters
in literature, especially of the past, as with the great men of English
history. I believe this to be the fact with most Americans. I soon found
that to know France, to know Paris to-day, I needed to have by heart the
history of her heroes of to-day and yesterday, and especially of those
great men who made Paris their home and final resting-place. The
influence of these men over the minds, manners, and even the morals of
the people of Paris, is still very great. Nowhere is genius more
praised, or adored with a greater devotion, than in Paris. Rank must
there doff its hat to genius, which is the case in no other country but
the American republic. It will then not be out of place for me to sketch
a very few of the most brilliant men who in the years which have fled
away lighted with their smiles the saloons of Paris. I will commence
with

THE FATHER OF FRENCH TRAGEDY.

In the Rue d'Argenteuil, number 18, there is a small quiet house, in
which Corneille, the father of French tragedy, breathed his last. It
has a black marble slab in front, and a bust in the yard with the
following inscription:

"_Je ne dois qu'a moi seul toute ma renommee_."

The great man lies buried in the beautiful church of St. Roch, where a
tablet is erected to his memory.

Corneille was the son of Pierre Corneille, master of forests and waters
in the viscounty of Rouen. His mother was of noble descent, but the
couple were somewhat poor. The dramatist was born in 1606, and early
became a pupil of the Jesuits of Rouen. He was educated for the law, but
had no taste for that profession, and although he attempted to practice
it he was unsuccessful. It was well for