231. Alexis Piron. Poet.
[Born at Dijon, 1689. Died 1773. Aged 84.]
A wild and dissolute spirit. The author of one admirable comedy, “La Métromanie,” which may take rank with the dramatic productions of the best period in France, and of seven volumes of compositions which have long ceased to float on the broad river of fame. Piron was the son of an apothecary at Dijon, and after almost breaking his father’s heart by his follies, he was obliged to flee his native town in consequence of the publication of an indecorous effusion written amidst the fumes of an orgie. He went to Paris, and there for nine years lived in great indigence, supporting himself as a copyist. Then he took to writing for the minor theatres, with more or less success, until 1738, when he produced his masterpiece, already mentioned. It secured him a place at once amongst the best dramatists of his country. In 1753, he applied for a vacant seat in the Academy, and was refused. He revenged himself by composing a satire and the following epitaph:—
“Ci-git Piron, qui ne fut rien,
Pas même Académicien.”
“Here lies Piron—a nullity—
Not even an Academician.”
[This is an admirable bust, by Caffieri, dated 1775. Copied at Versailles by M. Pigalle.]
232. Pierre Claude Nivelle de la Chaussée. Dramatist.
[Born in Paris, 1692. Died there, 1754. Aged 62.]
He is regarded as the inventor of sentimental comedy in France (Comédie larmoyante.) Hugh Kelly’s “False Delicacy” made the invention known in England, and Foote’s “Piety in Pattens” ridiculed it. Pierre de la Chaussée was a French Academician. His writings gained for him considerable fame during his life, and La Harpe ranks him amongst the authors who have conferred honour upon the French theatre.
[In marble, by Caffieri. 1785.]