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 CORNEILLE CORNELIA 361 several salaried authors. Corneille was ad- mitted into the coterie of the cardinal's official poets, but either by his success incurred the jealousy of his master, or offended him by venturing to improve one of the plans submit- ted. At the age of 30 years, having lost the favor of Richelieu, Corneille returned to Rouen, where by the advice and aid of M. de Chalon, a former secretary of Maria de' Medici, he learned the Spanish language. The fruit of his studies was the tragedy of Le Cid, founded on a play of Guilhem de Castro, and the first French dramatic masterpiece. It was distin- guished by simplicity in treatment, and by a purity and elevation of style of which France had furnished no previous example. Though received with enthusiasm by the public, it brought upon the author a violent literary per- secution. The academy, urged by Richelieu, published in 1638 the Sentiments de V academic sur Le Cid, by which that drama was admitted to be a masterpiece, though most of its pecu- liar beauties were censured as faults. Its popu- larity spread through Europe, and "As beauti- ful as the Cid " became a proverb in France. The tragedy of Horace (since called also Les Ho- races) appeared in 1639, and surpassed its pre- decessor in originality, and also in the force and grandeur which characterized alike the situations, personages, and dialogue. It was followed in the same year by Cinna, esteemed by Voltaire the most finished of the author's pieces, and in 1640 by Polyeucte, which is usually esteemed by French critics the best work of Corneille, if not of the dramatic art. In 1641 and 1642 he produced Pompee and Le menteur, the former of which was not equal to his previous tragedies, but the latter, found- ed on a Spanish piece of Alarcon, renewed the glory which he had obtained by the Cid, and was the first French comedy which gave a lively and natural picture of the manners of the time. In 1643 followed La suite du men- teur, which was not more felicitous than the second parts of poems usually are. The de- cline of his genius appeared in the complicated and fantastic subjects, excessive desire for the- atrical effect, chimerical ideals, and subtleties of disquisition which now began to mark his pieces. Rodogune, Theodore, Heraclius, Don Sanche d'Aragon, Nicomede, Andromede, and Pertharite, between 1645 and 1653, were of unequal though all of inferior merit, and the decided failure of the last caused him to re- nounce dramatic composition for six years. In the interval he translated the " Imitation of Christ " into French verse. In 1659 he was induced to return to the theatre, only to dis- figure in his (Edipe one of the most admirable themes of ancient tragedy. The applause with which this piece and his Toison d'or (1661) were received induced him to write constantly for 15 years, but no one of his later dramas has kept its place on the stage. Sertorius (1 662) has some interesting and pleasing scenes ; Sophonisbe, Othon, Agesilas, and Attila (1663- '67) show the almost powerless efforts of a failing imagination; Tite et Berenice (1670) was an unequal contest with Racine, then in the early vigor of his talent ; the ballet trage- dy of Psyche (1671) was composed in conjunc- tion with Quinault and Moliere ; and Pulcherie (1672) and Surena (1674) were his last and also his feeblest attempts. He wrote also in prose important Examens of each of his plays, and three discourses on the drama, on tragedy, and on the three unities. The reputation of Corneille rests chiefly upon the Cid, and the four or five pieces which immediately succeed- ed it, which are distinguished by the justice and vigor with which they exhibit great pas- sions or great characters. In these his lan- guage is elevated and his sentiments generally noble. Love, in the delineation of which he is least successful, he uses as a secondary but never as the primary motive of his dramas. His eloquence, often remarkable for strength and compression, sometimes becomes pompous declamation, amid which a few simple words interspersed here and there have been extrav- agantly praised. Instances of this are the Qu'U mour&t of the old Horace, the Soyons amis of Cinna, and the Moi of Med6e. Cor- neille was acquainted with polite literature, history, and politics, but he chiefly regarded them in their connection with dramatic wri- ting; for other parts of knowledge he had neither curiosity nor much esteem. His tem- per was hasty and his manners were some- what blunt. He rarely visited the salons, and was uninteresting in conversation, so that the great Cond6 said that he ought to be heard only at the h6tel de Bourgogne. The best eloges of Corneille are those of La Bruyere, Racine, Gaillard, Bailly, Auger, and Fabre; the best lives are those of Fontenelle, Tasche- reau (1829), Yignet (1846, Anecdotes, &c.), and Guizot (Corneille et son temps, 5th ed., 1866). Among the best of the numerous editions are those of Thomas Corneille (1706), Joly (1738), Voltaire (1754 and often afterward), Renouard (1817), and Lefevre(1854). II. Thomas, brother of the preceding, also a dramatist, born in Rouen, Aug. 20, 1625, died at Andelys in 1709. He was an industrious and prolific writer, and in the course of his career produced upward of 42 dramatic pieces, besides a dictionary of arts and sciences, a dictionary of history and geog- raphy, a metrical translation of Ovid's Meta- morphoses, and some miscellaneous works. His plays enjoyed great popularity ; his style was pure; and it is customary to rank him next, though at a considerable interval, to Racine and the elder Corneille. Of all his plays three only, Ariane, Le comte d* Essex, and Le festin de Pierre, have kept possession of the stage. In 1685 he succeeded his brother in the academy. In the latter part of his life he became blind, but pursued his literary labors with undiminished zeal. CORNELIA. I. A Roman matron, the young- er daughter of P. Scipio Africanus the elder.