PETER, the celebrated dramatic author, was born at Rouen in the year 1606. He was educated for the bar, which he soon abandoned for pursuits more congenial to his taste. A little amorous adventure first Corneille developed his poetical talent, the incidents of which are said to have formed the groundwork of Melite, his first comedy, which contains some ingenious comic combinations, and met with extraordinary success. Melite was succeeded by several other pieces which seemed to indicate no great power; but the genius of Corneille suddenly took a loftier flight, and produced the tragedy of Medea. His fame, however, was not completely established till the appearance of the Cid in 1637, which at once placed him in the first rank of dramatic writers, and drew down the envy and persecution of Richelieu, who was as despotic in the realm of criticism as in that of state policy. But the cardinal found taste to be more stubborn than politics; and the man who swayed kingdoms could not crush the fame of a poet. The Cid was so universally admired, that it became proverbial to say of anything beautiful, Cela est beau comme le Cid. This excellent tragedy was followed by the Horace, Cinna, Pompee, Polyeucte, the comedy of Le Menteur, and numerous other dramatic pieces. Corneille, who is said to have been of a devout and melancholy cast, wrote a translation in verse of Kempis' Imitation of Jesus Christ, and some smaller poems. He died dean of the French Academy in 1684, aged seventy-eight years.

From the appearance of the Cid the literary age of Louis XIV. dates its commencement; and to Corneille is generally assigned the honourable title of the inventor of dramatic art in France, which was afterwards so successfully cultivated by Racine, Voltaire, and Molière. His best works display forcible conception and delineation of character. He raises sentiment into true poetical pathos and sublimity, and exhibits the contending passions, affections, and interests of human nature in all their turbulence and impotency, with great vigour of thought and expression. Many of his descriptive passages are marked with singular beauty; his dialogues are skilfully conducted, giving rise to bold declamation, replete with rich imagery, and glowing with fervour and energy. The vividness with which some of the replies are made has not perhaps been equalled by any writer, ancient or modern. The celebrated exclamation of the elder Horace, qu'il mourit, is a well-known illustration of this peculiar quality in the colloquial power of Corneille. His style is occasionally rather formal and pompous, and his sentiments forced and even refined. But in general he is true to nature, and few writers have been more successful in reanimating and reproducing on the stage the heroes of antiquity. The tragedies of Corneille contain some of the best specimens of chaste diction, and varied and harmonious versification, which are to be found in the French language. The dramatic works of Corneille, with commentaries by Voltaire, were published at Geneva in 1764, in 12 vols. 8vo. This edition has been several times reprinted. An edition of his whole works, with observations by Palissot, was published at Paris in 1802, in ten large octavo volumes.

Corneille, Thomas, brother of the former, was a member of the French academy, and of that of inscriptions. He discovered in his youth a great inclination to poetry, and at length published several dramatic pieces, in five vols. 12mo, some of which were applauded by the public, and acted with success. He also wrote, 1. A Translation of Ovid's Metamorphoses, and some of Ovid's Epistles, Paris, 1669 and 1670; 2. Remarks of Vaugelas on the French Language, Paris, 1687, in 2 vols. 12mo; 3. A Dictionary of Arts and Sciences, 2 vols. folio, Paris, 1694, 1720, and 1732; 4. An Universal Geographical and Historical Dictionary, in 3 vols. folio, Paris, 1708; and some other works.

Michel, a celebrated painter, was born at Paris in the year 1642, and instructed by his father, who was himself a painter of great merit. Having gained a prize at the academy, young Corneille obtained a pension from Louis XIV, and was sent to Rome, where that prince had founded a school for young artists of genius. Having studied there for some time, he gave up his pension, and applied with great industry to the study of the antique. He is said to have equalled Caracci in drawing, but in colouring he was deficient. Upon his return from Rome he was chosen professor in the academy of Paris, and was employed in all the great works then carrying on at Versailles and Trianon, where are still to be seen some efforts of his genius.