, 1879-03-22

ihAt ]ue young WIG was Eul!ty because ejle
aIe se a'tStsfs oerc Es''s atsw. qT,s'' e VIZ A.
or i1 Lppineots has fallen into tIs
mistake. The facts Tint we certainly
loo lica uout tic marriage bond. 1lcr elder
sister. 4 Is presumed, Ind improper relations
viii Mollere for mai.y ycnrs. There was a
scr!ona dfsnnrity bct*ccn the hgo Of Armaa1o
Wea @ 91 ey o. sr n'S naTca ~ motas s s'
tle agc wcro loose, thoug', not ayowctlly 80.
Everybody assumed to have Virtue which few
possessed. Ono of Tic strnngcst contrasts III
y .at b'twse I've Tho puy o !, No. No.
socicty III which hc moved. The hypocrisy Of
Yartslfe was cllarastertslic Of French purity ot
lllat time; md .7artue. i will be rcnelnbcred,
Attempted under tho cloak Of religion to do.
llo Court Of Louis XIV. in France vas worse
IN sonle reanccts ttban TINT Of Charles II. IN En-.
1n,n. The gailants and rtystercrs about
Charles at least had the courage Of tae'r CON
than thcy were. They boasted Of tl,sir
nmours at,d we're proud oi them. Tie
playwrlgtss Of England at this ttnla alao wcso
moro truthful than ttloso Of France. Things
crIy, Faroular, nnd VanbrnEh ptt Tic society ot
the day on hustagc without apology or conceal.
mont ii its worst vices. Tho only pttEo comedies
they had wcro stolen frota Mo!crc, tlts'! paMed
OIL IS original oil the English public. The
entity represented ~ their Respective lteratuEGs,
were essentially tho samo In r6at itfe. Il.
France thu things were dono but nut talkel
about; IN GnglMnd tl.ey were bath douo aud
mcr country Is exhibited In tho sianlsr ctrcll-
lated nboat MotleFc during Ills lifetime to tlle
effect TINT ha Ind n,arrlcd Ills own lnuRlltert !
A pgctts bad condttiou OF p!tvatc snoraea
ss- u,t h9s r,.o esstS Wb,t to woneE eE' sus s,a
such surroundings Arrando Molieto
should have gone wrong. Wo do not commit
the ,nlstake oi Mrs. Oliplant Ia prcsnmlng, frum
tic want Of cyidoncc to tlio contrary, that sha
Of prvats morals In France Is only referred to as
showing tl,At ttlero ts nothing inherently itnprob
uhlc In statement, properly supported, that ales
with her early associastons n,lt' e1lrro'itdlngs
% ii Il, a,, alIng tle admitted fac.s, Tint Mo-
iiere for yenrs 1yctla from Ills aIc and never
spoke to her H. private, though ltrlng IN the
sanle house, and meeting her constantly OH The
| staKc, wp have d net OF clfcunstartal evidence
/ from which hardly moro than one conclusion
cau be drawn. hlollcrc was nllrc, almost aus
tcrc, IN Ills habits Efter marriage; md tic fault,
| II any existed, must have been on TIC side ot
| his wife: Many Of his plays present ssitua-
| tton substantially the aa,nc as TINT which Is
| supposed TO I,ayo existed tn the Molcrc house,
| hold; and the reat husband mud real wife on
| tic stage gave expression to fcelings which
| must have swaycd them even moro powerfully
| Ia private.
| The controversy is not d savosy ono, md from
every point Of yiaw but one It ought to be dis.
| tasteful to the biographcr Ut Molierc, but It
| ,nuas be fought out to tl!e end II tho ife mud
| works 0f t!le grgnt comedian md coIedy-YritcE
| judgment Of Mollerc'e character und Of some oI
| lis plays which cmbody his grief II ArInanllc
WIS true to him, be waa tedious, susptclous,
moody, tyranaieal, and crnel; T. she s.!s
hcr h: fond,y nobody now GcnIcs. Ti.at i,o could
| have soparatel from her unless hg lad tllr
strongest. evidence OF her infdcllty secma
doubtful. The separation ts, Indeed, evlence
That works both ways. Il shows that her fault
wns serious, for IN those days eoauetry, canrlee,
Or tudtecrcttou was not harshly thought of, and
It jsstitlcs Moicre In not publsIng l,fs wife te
the world for what sue was. Ho spared llcr gu
account Of bis love- hut llo respectful Himself By
living apart from her.
The plays Of Mollere. which It ianot pavt OF ous
purpose to write Of critically in this place, were
turned into English several ysars ago By Henri
| Van Laun, Eho Will be remembered ns lf1t
translator Of Tatne., A now edition Of this
| MoMero'a French ia exceedingly dt,llcu,t tp
translate. Like all good somcdy.writ!ng, 1t 4
lutt OF 1d!ons; aHu tlte production of these II
cult task. AT one extreme Is the dnnger OF bc,
luz still or pedauttc, aud on the oller tllAt ol
Inps!llg Into eoarsencss. 10 ayofd these dffllcul
ties Mt all ttncs would require tle genius d
Van Lauu las s1rmountud .the'n, or any grcal
l. proportion Of them. Tie has See. least q q!
successful Ii his titles: "Iac Hlunderern ~ fo'
III Etourdc",; ."Preteattous Young Lalles II
ucntililo mnlc''; "'rie Learned Ladies" fo
HLcs Fcmmcs sayantcs,'' Tic 1mnein
a.Y Inva!sa," for - LIZ stsladc Imagtnatres
| arc clumsy or INACCURATE translationE
Ks to tc Whole tcxt Of iiio translation, we con
with the original; but turning to some tes
pnints 1t Is easy to Judge Of the gencsas raeF!s'
Dc @ ssnp!n,S wh!s!l l,as slnse Ieco,no prove1Ila,
"Quc dtubse nllatt-tl fAira dang cSttu galcre.'
is translated BY Van Lam, "What tic, uovt
did tte want III the Eallery,i" which, & though *
pressivc, Is not nearly literal. Tl,s idea Is
Was be doing there p aud, though teis is c1sl
vcycd tnirly Ii the translation. 1t Ia not fully
Again lit "L'Avatu" We hare n rel,
dcrlng Of French words IN identical, but no
tls loss Of Ills money, which Is In French. lttora
turu wllnt ShWock'x frenztcl speech obout ht
llueats atnl hs daughter Is ln EuAllah, contain
tho following passage:
1ieias! mon pauvfn nr-i Alas! my pooF money
ReNtl 1non pauyru argcnt my poor nlonGy! my aeat
mon cher anil on nj q est trisnd thoy lslve ~
| prlVe do tot; Of putsqns prirta mo OF you; md 4
tu M cs eneye j. nj per. you taken from inc,
dn mon support. ula con. have !ost my auppost, II
| snlatlon, ma fp!e: toutcohx0tatlon, my joy; cp
cst hut pour tuoi, OF jc!crythng is at Mn end IL
monde. Sa1ls loi ii m 'cpt moro to do in thts world
cst fait; nea pals pias Impossible ii Is ali uvcl
10 me meuss: 10 suis nort;lI dna utterly tIaHfted
10 knis cnterEe. N'yll nm dying; ain deads
a.t.tl pataon1aq qut ven|lle lam buried. IL thcrn
dant mon cher argent ou|me by giving me hack n.
on M npprennnt qni nfbGiofeu money. of BY tet