Note 83 — CABINET CYCLOPÆDIA. (continued 6)
Reading edition
The pensions were granted in 1663. Chapelain selected the names; but we can hardly believe that he wrote the list, such as it has come down to us, wherein the praise lavished on himself is ridiculous enough: The occasion of the pension is appended to the name: this is a specimen of some among them:—
"Au sieur Pierre Corneille, premier poète dramatique du monde, deux mille francs.
"Au sieur Desmarets, le plus fertile auteur, et doué de la plus belle imagination qui ait jamais été, douze cents francs.
"Au sieur Molière, excellent poète comique, mille francs.
"Au sieur Racine, poète français, huit cents francs.
"Au sieur Chapelain, le plus grand poète français qui ait jamais été, et du plus solide jugement, trois mille francs."