in the same words. His creed and his philosophy were pagan. He adored
three goddesses,--_la Comedie_, _la Musique_, _la bonne Chere_; his
solution of the problem of life was enjoyment.

"Fair tout ce qu'on veut, vivre exempt de chagrin,
Ne se rien refuser,--Voila tout mon systeme,
Et de mes jours ainsi j'attraperai la fin."

Wisdom was given to man to temper pleasure,--to avoid excess, which
destroys pleasure. Regnard had agreeable recollections of the past; the
present satisfied him; he was as careless of the unknown future as De
Retz, whose _epouvantable tranquillite_, appalling ease of mind on that
point, so shocked poor Mme. de Sevigne. All other speculations he put
quietly aside with a doubt or a _cui bono_. It was a witty and refined
selfishness, and nothing beyond. Spiritual light, faith, none; hope that
to-morrow might pass as smoothly as to-day; love, only that particular
affection which man feels for his female fellow-creature. Such a
heathenish frame of mind will find little favor in this era of
yearnings, seekings, teachings. It was, indeed, a lamentable condition
of moral darkness; but the error, though grievous, has its attractive
side.

"On court apres la verite;
Ah! croyez moi, l'erreur a son merite."

It is a relief in these dyspeptic times to turn back to Regnard, the
big, rosy, and jolly pagan, enjoying to the utmost the four blessings
invoked upon the head of Argan by the chorus of Doctors:--

"Salus, honor et argentum.
Arque bonum appetitum."

Comfortable, contented with himself and with the world, he was free from
the sadness, the misgivings, and the enervating doubts which overrun so
many morbid minds,--symptoms of moral weakness, and of the want of
healthy occupation. Hence lady poets, more than all others, love to
indulge in these feeble repinings, and take the privilege of their sex
to shed tears on paper. In his bachelor establishment, Rue de
Richelieu, there was, he tells us,--

"Grande chere, vin delicieux,
Belle maison, liberte toute entiere,
Bals, concerts, enfin tout ce qui peut satisfaire
Le gout, les oreilles, les yeux."

The _Societe choisie_ was numerous; for a good cook never fails to make
friends for his master, and Regnard's cook dealt with fat capons,
plover, and ortolans. His lettuce, mushrooms, and artichokes were grown
under his own eyes. The choice vintages of France, in casks, lay in his
cellar. He gave wine to