170
PARTISAN R'EVIEW
that one nobleman, who considered that he had been libeled by Mo–
liere, accosted the dramatist in a public place, caught hold of
his
head and rubbed
his
face violently against the metal buttons of his
coat, repeating the gibes which had offended him in the play. The
importance of the writer's function was fully recognized; he moved
in high circles; but the division between him and the man of noble
birth was absolute.
I turn now to what may be called state patronage. Handsome
pensions had been given to men of letters under Louis XIII and
during the Regency, but it was not until Louis XIV actually took
~ession
of
his
throne in 1661 that an attempt was made to organize
patronage on a substantial scale. Colbert at once enlisted the services
of Chapelain, who was considered the greatest poet of the day, and
invited
him
to prepare a suitable list of writers who were to be rec–
ommended for a pension. The list was duly prepared and the different
writers endowed in accordance with their standing. They were ex–
pected to work for their money and one of Chapelain's most important
duties-a duty which was zealously executed- was to go round anq
prod those authors whose stubborn muses failed to produce an ode of
thanksgiving with sufficient promptness or who failed to commemorate
royal births, deaths or convalescences. Those who still failed to deliver
the goods or whose goods were not considered to be up to the neces–
sary standard had the chagrin of discovering that their names were
missing from the next year's list. On the other hand, those who
like
Racine grew in stature discovered-no doubt with gratitude-that
the amount of their pensions kept pace with their literary progress.
There were also other ways of rewarding the very great writers.
Moliere-always a favorite with Louis XIV-received a
gratification
every time one of his plays was performed before the King; and
Racine and Boileau were made royal historiographers whose duty
was to follow the armies and record the military victories of the Roi
Solei!.
Unfortunately for the writers, the system of pensions was not
quite as satisfactory in practice as it was in theory. There were delays
in making payment and there were distressing discrepancies between
the figures shown in the published list and the sums which they actu–
ally "touched." When the scheme was inaugurated, the pension was
handed to the happy writer in a silk purse, but that did not last long.
