ses, and recently the bourgeois, who were sore from
_Sganarelle, ou Le Cocu Imaginaire_, were up in arms; and the rival
theatre maliciously raised the halloo, flattering themselves that the
comic genius of their dreaded rival would be extinguished by the ludicrous
convulsed hiccough to which Moliere was liable in his tragic tones, but
which he adroitly managed in his comic parts.

But the genius of Moliere was not to be daunted by cabals, nor even
injured by his own imprudence. _Le Prince Jaloux_ was condemned in
February, 1661, and the same year produced _L'Ecole des Maris_ and _Les
Facheux_. The happy genius of the poet opened on his Zoiluses a series of
dramatic triumphs.

Foreign critics--Tiraboschi and Schlegel--have depreciated the Frenchman's
invention, by insinuating that were all that Moliere borrowed taken from
him, little would remain of his own. But they were not aware of his
dramatic creation, even when he appropriated the slight inventions of
others; they have not distinguished the eras of the genius of Moliere, and
the distinct classes of his comedies. Moliere had the art of amalgamating
many distinct inventions of others into a single inimitable whole.
Whatever might be the herbs and the reptiles thrown into the mystical
caldron, the incantation of genius proved to be truly magical.

Facility and fecundity may produce inequality, but, when a man of genius
works, they are imbued with a raciness which the anxious diligence of
inferior minds can never yield. Shakspeare, probably, poured forth many
scenes in this spirit. The multiplicity of the pieces of Moliere, their
different merits, and their distinct classes--all written within the space
of twenty years--display, if any poet ever did, this wonder-working
faculty. The truth is, that few of his comedies are finished works; he
never satisfied himself, even in his most applauded productions. Necessity
bound him to furnish novelties for his theatre; he rarely printed any
work. _Les Facheux_, an admirable series of scenes, in three acts, and in
verse, was "planned, written, rehearsed, and represented in a single
fortnight." Many of his dramatic effusions were precipitated on the stage;
the humorous scenes of _Monsieur de Pourceaugnac_ were thrown out to
enliven a royal fete.

This versatility and felicity of composition made everything with Moliere
a subject for comedy. He invented two novelties, such as the stage had
never before witnessed. Instead of a g