Rabelais, Francis, designated a
great jester by lord Bacon, I. 23.
Born about 1483 at Chinon, in
Touraine, 23. Parentage of, and
reputed propensity to wine, 23.
Educated in a monastery, 24.
Takes the habit of the order of
St. Francis, 24. Envy at his
preaching, 24. Malice of the
Franciscans at, 24. Budæus laments
it, 24. Alleged reasons for
confining him on short commons,
25. Personates St. Francis and
laughs at devotees, 25. For which
he is whipt, 25. Relieved by
gaiety and learning, 25. Joins the
order of St. Benedict, 25. He
next studies medicine at Montpellier,
26. Lectures on Hippocrates
and Galen, 26. Defends
the privileges of the faculty of
Montpellier, 27. His scarlet gown,
27. How diminished, 27. 28. He
practises at Lyons, 27. 28. Accompanies
cardinal du Bellay to
Rome, 27. 28. In what character,
27. 28. His epistolary correspondence,
27. 28. Interview with
Paul III., 29. His notion as to
excommunication, 29. _Bruits_ as
to the method of his return to
Lyons and journey to Paris, 29.
Takes his own supposititious poison,
30. Is librarian, &c. to Du
Bellay, 30. His "Lives of the
Giants Gargantua and of Pantagruel,"
31. Privilege of publication
by king Francis, 31. Aristotelian
controversy ensuing
thereon, 31. His work condemned
by the Sorbonne, 31. He
attacked the popes and clergy of
Rome, and the monastic orders,
31. Account of his book, 32.
And of his religious principles, 33.
De Thou's account of, 33. La
Bruyère, La Fontaine, favourable
opinions of, 34. Bayle and Voltaire
contemn him, 34. Exposition
of his views, 34. Imitators
of, 36. Various writings of specified,
37. "Letters from Italy,"
37. Poetry of, 37. Parallel of
Swift and Rabelais, 36. 37. Editions
of his "Giants Gargantua
and Pantagruel," 38. The
"Rabelæsiana," 38. His acquisitions
as an universal linguist,
38. Also in science, 38. His noble
carriage and expressive physiognomy,
38. His fulfilment of duties
as curé de Meudon, 39. Death
aged seventy, 39. His death-bed,
39. Epitaphs for, 39. Further
allusions to, 154. 170.
Rabutin, family of, I. 214.
Rabutin, Bussy, count de, cousin of
madame de Sévigné, I. 217. _See_
Bussy-Rabutin.
Racine, Jean, a rival of the great
Corneille, I. 57. His comedy of
"Les Plaideurs," 58. Pathos of
his tragedy of "Bérénice," 58.
His "Britannicus," 118. His
daughter describes the demeanour
of La Fontaine, 181. Is received
at the court of Louis XIV.,
279. Historiographer together
with Boileau, 279. 316. They accompany
the king to the siege of
Gaud, 280. Racine makes several
campaigns, 281. 289. 317. They
read their history to the king,
282. Affair of his and Boileau's
pensions, 289. His parents respectable;
left Racine and his
sister, orphans, 297. His education
at Beauvais, 297. His predilection
for the Greek tragedy,
299. His studies at Port Royal,
299. Removes to the university
of Paris, 300. His ode entitled
"Nymphes de la Seine," 301.
Colbert rewards his early genius.
301. His ambition excited, 301.
Visits his uncle, le Père Sconin,
at Uzès in Provence, 302. His
letters at that time, 302. His dislike
of the patois of Provence,
303. His study of Virgil and St.
Thomas Aquinas, 303. His "Bath
of Venus," a poem, 304. Begins
a play of "Theagines and Charicles,"
304. He returns to Paris,
occupied with poetry and the
drama, 304. He writes for Molière,
304. His "Alexandre," 305.
It occasions a quarrel betwixt
Molière and the aspirant for fame,
306. Racine teaches la Champmélé
to recite, 307. Critics attack
him keenly, 307. His reply to M.
Nicole of Port Royal, 307. 308.
Writes his great tragedies, "Britannicus,"
"Bajazet," "Iphigénie,"
"Mithridates," "Phèdre,"
&c., 308-312. Writes "Bérénice"
in rivalry with Corneille's
tragedy of, 308. His comedy of
"Les Plaideurs" the result of a
lawsuit in which he had been
tired out and foiled, 310. Humour
of this comedy, 311.
Takes his seat in the French Academy,
312. His "Phèdre" brings
him into disputes, which produce
desire to lay down his pen, 312.
313. His religious principles,
313. His marriage, 314. Madame
Racine's ignorance of poetry, 314.
His daughters take the veil, 314.
His new mode of life induces him
to seek reconciliation with the
abbé Arnaud, 315. Succeeds
therein, 315. Writes "Athalie,"
320. His "Esther," 251. 320. His
conversations with Louis XIV.
and madame de Maintenon, 320.
323. 325. Dies of an abscess, 326.
Displayed the force of friendship
in his last parting with Boileau,
326. Critique, 327. "Phèdre"
and "Athalie," his best tragedies;
"Bérénice" and "Britannicus"
the most pleasing,
328.
Racine, Louis, son of the tragic
poet, I. 291. 307.
Rambonet, Prussian councillor of
state, II. 39.
Rambouillet, Hôtel de, literary society
of the, I. 84. Celebrated
authors who frequented it, 85.
220. Molière's "Précieuses Ridicules"
designed as a satire on,
85. 107.
Rameau, musical composer, II. 128.
136.
Ramus, Peter, engaged in the controversy
on Aristotle, I. 31.
Rennes, in Britany, political affairs
at, I. 243. Severe example made,
243.
Retz, cardinal de, ambition of, I. 68.
His projects and partisans, 69.
Temporary success of the Fronde,
73. His affray with Rochefoucauld
in the palace of justice, 75.
In danger of violence from the
mob of Paris, 76. His intrigues
and artifices, 80. 82. A relation
of the marquis de Sévigné, 217.
His disgrace and imprisonment,
221. He escapes from the citadel
of Nantes, 221. He repairs to
Spain, 222. Esteem of madame
de Sévigné for, 241. His death,
247. His "Memoirs" quoted, I. 77.
Richelieu, cardinal de, Montaigne's
Essays dedicated to, I. 21. Policy
of, 41. His dramas, 41. 43. 101.
The "Comédie des Tuileries,"
43. His theatre, 43. He invites
the French Academy to criticise
the "Cid" of Corneille, 47. He
represses the powerful nobles of
France, 64. His great authority,
64. His death, 65. His expedition
into Rousillon when his
death was approaching, with
Louis XIII. in the same condition,
100. Execution of Cinq-Mars,
and of de Thou, 100. He
revived the arts in France, 101.
Richelieu, duke of, II. 53. 107.
Rochefoucauld, de la, François,
duke, his experience at court, I.
63. His Maxims declare self-love
the chief motive principle, 63.
Dignity and ancient power of his
family, 63. Obliged to quit the
court, 64. Was at first called
Prince de Marsillac, 65. His return
on the death of Richelieu,
65. Meets the duchess de Chevreuse
on her way to Paris, 66. Is
wounded at the siege of Mardike,
67. Is governor of Poitou, 67.
His attachment for the duchess
de Longueville, 69. His gallantry
and wounds, 71. Is desirous of
the restoration of peace, 71. Succeeds
his father as duke de la
Rochefoucauld, 73. Raises troops
in Guienne, and endeavours to
defend Bordeaux, 73. Seizes de
Retz in the palace of justice, but
refrains from slaying him, 75.
Is wounded by an arquebuse in
the action of St. Antoine at Paris,
81. He retires to Danvilliers to
recover from his wounds, 83. He
quits the party of Condé, 84. His
active life concludes with the
pacification, 84. He gives Gourville
an honourable employment
in his family, 84. Is an ornament
of the literary coterie
of the Hôtel Rambouillet, 84. 85.
His friendship for the countess de
la Fayette, a celebrated novelist,
85. De Retz's character of the
duke, 86, n. Rochefoucauld's
couplet for the picture of the
duchess of Longueville, 83. His
portrait of cardinal de Retz, 86, n.
Personal and moral qualities of
Rochefoucauld, 87. Character of,
by his contemporaries, 87. 88.
His sons, 88. Madame de Sévigné's
account of his last illness,
89. His death, 90. His "Maxims"
reviewed, 91-95. His
"Memoirs of the Regency of
Anne of Austria," 96. Some quotations
from his Memoirs, 65. 68.
70, &c.
Roche-Guyon, Mlle. de la, her marriage
with the prince de Marsillac,
I. 83.
Rochelle, siege of La, I. 214. English
descent on the Isle of Rhé
for relief of the town, 215.
"Rodogune," tragedy of Corneille,
I. 52. Gilbert's tragedy of, 53.
Rohan, chevalier de, his ill usage of
Voltaire, II. 17. Does not choose
to fight the poet, 18.
Roland, madame (Manon Phlipon),
her opinion of the marquis of
Condorcet, II. 187. 193. Her
literary reputation, 260. Her
Memoirs, 260. Condition of
her parents, 261. Receives a
careful education, 261. Her
early habits, 262. Her admiration
of Pascal and the Port-Royal,
263. Vain of her intellectual
powers and acquired
talents, 264. Her suitors, 265. Impressions
on reading the "Nouvelle
Héloise," 266. Her habit of
writing her remarks, 267. She
lives in a convent on a scanty
income, 267. M. Roland de la
Platière, 268. His high character,
268. Sues for her hand,
and is referred to her father,
who rejects him, 269. Conduct
on this event, 270. Their
union takes place, 270. They
travel through Switzerland and
England, 271. Wish to go to
America, 271. Her letters, 271.
She gladly hails the revolution,
272. Her fears as to its nature,
272. Monsieur Roland deputed
on financial affairs from Lyons to
the National Assembly, 273. She
returns to Paris, and is greatly
admired, 273. Her husband consorts
with the Girondists and
Brissot, 273. Her political sentiments
on the crisis, 275. Her
republican love of liberty, 275.
Roland appointed minister of the
interior, 277. His costume at
court, 277. Is dismissed, 278.
Recalled by Louis XVI., 279. Her
dread of Robespierre, Marat, and
Danton, 280. Description of madame
Roland by Le Montey, 281.
Dumont's testimony of her modesty
of demeanour, 282. Energy
of M. Roland against the Septembriseurs,
282. He is the chief
hope of the Girondist party, 283.
He endeavours to repress the
Mountain party, 285. Execution
of Louis XVI., whereupon M.
Roland resigns his office, 285.
Madame Roland in danger of arrest,
285. Prepares to leave Paris,
285. Prevented by sickness, 286.
On the order to arrest her husband
she determines to appear before
the Convention to expostulate,
286. Escape of her husband
and fortitude with regard her own
peril, 286. She was said to ad.
mire the handsome Barbaroux,
deputy for Marseilles, 286. Her
calmness on being arrested, 287.
Arranges a systematic mode of
life in the Abbaie, 287. Commits
her observations on the leaders
of the revolution to writing,
288. Deceptive assurance of her
being at liberty, 288. But carried
to Ste. Pélagie, 288. She
names Marceau to be her advocate,
291. Her defence written
by her over-night, 291. Her sentence,
291. Is guillotined, 292.
Her dying address to the statue
of Liberty, 293. M. Roland, in
safety at Rouen, stabs himself,
not to outlive his wife, 293. Her
courage and sweetness of character
recorded, 293.
Romance, Spanish, I. 45.
Rome, visit of Rabelais to, I. 28.
Facetiousness of Rabelais elicited,
29. He attacks the vices of the
high clergy and ignorance of the
monks, 31.
Rotrou, poetry of, I. 43.
Rousseau, Jean Baptiste, banished
on his dispute with M. Saurin,
II. 6. His quarrel with Voltaire,
17. 31.
Rousseau, Jean Jacques, ridiculed
by Voltaire, II. 88. Born at Geneva
in 1712, 111. His studies in
that town, 112. Early life of, 113.
His "Confessions," 113. _et passim._
His rambles, 115. Visits the curé
Pontverre, 116. Visits madame de
Warens at Annecy, 117. Is sent as
a proselyte to an hospital at Turin,
117. Errors and consequent remorse,
119. Leads a vagabond
life, 120. Returns to madame de
Warens, 121. His want of moral
courage, 121. She departs for
Paris, 122. Becomes a music-master
at Neufchâtel, 122. And
at Chambery, 124. His projects,
125. Resides with madame de
Warens at Les Charmettes, near
Chambery, 125. His new method
of noting music, 127. Arrives
in Paris, 128. Accompanies
M. Montaigu as secretary to Venice,
128. Returns to Paris, and
is kindly received by his former
friends, 129. His mistress, Thérèse
le Vasseur, 130. 144. 162. He
sends their children to the Foundling
Hospital, 131. His account of
this act in his "Confessions,"
130. Remissness of his moral sentiments,
132. His friendship for
Diderot, 133. 144. Laments his
friend's imprisonment, 144. The
academy of Dijon having proposed
a question as to the influence of
the progress of arts and sciences on
the happiness and virtue of man,
Jean Jacques, in an essay, asserts,
it to be of evil tendency, and so
eloquently as to bear off the palm
134. This success acquires him
consideration, 135. He refuses
the offer of a place with a farmer-general,
although a road to fortune,
129. 135. Earns a livelihood
by copying music, 135. His "Devin
du Village," 136. It becomes
the fashion with the great to encourage
and soothe him, 136. Revisits
Geneva, 137. Abjures the
Romish faith, 137. He inhabits
the Hermitage, near the wood of
Montmorenci, 138. His writings,
139. His meditations and day
dreams, 139. His "System of
Education," 139. Writes the
"Nouvelle Héloise," 140. 150. His
declarations to madame d'Houdetot,
142. His mental sufferings
nurtured by this hopeless passion,
145. Accusation against Grimm's
loyalty in his conduct to Rousseau,
145. Diderot's letter to
Rousseau respecting madame
d'Epinay, 146. Indecision of Jean
Jacques, 146. Removes to Montmorenci,
147. Diderot having offended
him, seeks a reconciliation,
and is repulsed, 148. The
nobility court him with compassionate
regard, 150. His religious
principles unsettled, 152. "The
Confession of the Vicar of Savoy,"
152. Consequences of the publication
of "Emile," 153. The
"Emile" of Rousseau condemned
to the flames at Geneva, 153.
Rousseau proceeds to Iverdun,
in the territory of Bern, 154.
Exiled by the states of Bern
and Geneva, he settles at Motiers,
near Neufchâtel, 154. Engages
in a controversy of the Genevans,
157. His "Lettres écrites de la
Montagne," 157. Resides in the
island of St. Pierre, lake of Bienne,
158. Accompanies David
Hume to England, 159. Writes
the first portion of his "Confessions"
at Wotton, 160. George
III. grants him a pension of 100_l._
per annum, 161. Being half deranged,
he flies to France, 161.
Is protected by the prince of Conti,
162. He quits the Armenian
dress he had worn for ten years,
163. Is welcomed in Paris, 163.
Reads his "Confessions" to a
circle of acquaintance, 164. His
mode of life, and diligence in
earning a subsistence, 165. The
prince de Ligne takes an interest
in his welfare, 165. His objection
to receive presents, 167.
Respect shown for him by a
Parisian audience at a theatre,
168. His death, 169. Inquiry
into his state of mind, 169. _et
passim._ Inscription on his tomb,
170. His character, 171. His reveries,
172. Critique on the
"Emile," 173. On the "Nouvelle
Héloise," 174.