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His father, who signed himself Delharpe, was a descendant of a noble family originally of Vaud. Left an orphan at the age of nine, La Harpe was taken care of for six months by the sisters of charity , and his education was provided for by a scholarship at the Collége d'Harcourt . When nineteen he was imprisoned for some months on the charge of having written a satire against his protectors at the college. La Harpe always denied his guilt, but this culminating misfortune of an early life spent entirely in the position of a dependent possibly had something to do with the bitterness he evinced in later life.
In 1763 his tragedy of Warwick was played before the court. This, his first play, was perhaps the best he ever wrote. The many authors whom he afterwards offended were always able to observe that the critic's own plays did not reach the standard of excellence he set up. Timoleon (1764), Pharamond (1765) and Gustave Wasa (1766) were box-office and critical failures. Mélanie was a better play, but was never represented. The success of Warwick led to a correspondence with Voltaire, who conceived a high opinion of La Harpe, even allowing him to correct his verses.
In 1764 La Harpe married the daughter of a coffee house keeper. This marriage, which proved very unhappy and was dissolved, did not improve his position. They were very poor, and for some time were guests of Voltaire at Ferney. When, after Voltaire's death, La Harpe in his praise of the philosopher ventured on some reasonable, but rather ill-timed, criticism of individual works, he was accused of treachery to one who had been his constant friend.
In 1768 he returned from Ferney to Paris, where he began to write for the Mercure. He was a born fighter and had small mercy on the authors whose work he handled. But he was himself violently attacked, and suffered under many epigrams, especially those of Lebrun-Pindare . No more striking proof of the general hostility can be given than his reception in 1776 at the Académie françaiseThe Academie francaise (French Academy) is the pre-eminent French learned body on matters pertaining to the French language. The Academie, limited to forty members, has the task of acting as an official authority on the language, even though it has no enf, which Sainte-BeuveCharles Augustin Sainte-Beuve ( December 23, 1804 October 13, 1869) was a literary critic and one of the major figures of French literary history. He was born in Boulogne, and studied at the College Charlemagne in Paris. He became friendly with Victor Hug calls his "execution." MarmontelJean-Francois Marmontel ( July 11, 1723 December 31, 1799) was a French historian and writer, a member of the Encyclopediste movement. He was born of poor parents at Bort-les-Orgues, in Correze. After studying with the Jesuits at Mauriac, Cantal, he taugh, who received him, used the occasion to eulogize La Harpe's predecessor, Charles Pierre Colardeau , especially for his pacific, modest and indulgent disposition. The speech was punctuated by the applause of the audience, who chose to regard it as a series of sarcasms on the new member.
Eventually La Harpe was compelled to resign from the Mercure, which he had edited from 1770Events March 5 Boston Massacre: 5 Americans killed by British troops in an event that would help start the American Revolutionary War 5 years later. May 14 Marie Antoinette arrives to French Court. May 16 14-year old Marie Antoinette marries 15-year old L. On the stage he produced Les Barmecides ( 1778Events "The term Thoroughbred was first used in the United States in an advertisement in a Kentucky gazette to describe a New Jersey stallion called Pilgarlick. January 18 Third Pacific expedition of Capt. James Cook, with ships HMS Resolution and HMS Dis), Philoctete, Jeanne de Naples ( 1781Events January 5 American Revolutionary War: Richmond, Virginia is burned by British naval forces led by Benedict Arnold. January 30 Articles of Confederation ratified by 13th state, Maryland. January William Pitt the Younger, later Prime Minister, enters), Les Brames ( 1783Events February 3 American Revolutionary War: Spain recognizes United States independence. February 4 American Revolutionary War: Great Britain formally declares that it will cease hostilities with the United States of America. May 18 Saint John, New Brun), Coriolan ( 1784Events January 6 the Turks agree to Russia's annexation of the Crimea in the Treaty of Constantinople January 14 The U. Congress ratifies the Treaty of Paris with England to end the American Revolutionary War February 27 Count of St Germain dies of pneumo), Virginie ( 1786). In 1786 he began a course of literature at the newly-established Lycee. In these lectures, published as the Cours de littérature ancienne et moderne, La Harpe was at his best, for he found a standpoint more or less independent of contemporary polemics. He is said to have been inexact in dealing with the ancients, and he had only a superficial knowledge of the middle ages, but he was excellent in his analysis of 17th century writers. Sainte-Beuve found in him the best critic of the French school of tragedy, which reached its perfection in Racine.
La Harpe was a disciple of the "philosophes"; he supported the extreme party through the excesses of 1792 and 1793. In 1793 he edited the Mercure de France which adhered blindly to the revolutionary leaders. But in April 1794 he was nevertheless seized as a "suspect." In prison he underwent a spiritual crisis which he described in convincing language, and he emerged an ardent Catholic and a reactionist in politics. When he resumed his chair at the Lycée, he attacked his former friends in politics and literature. He was imprudent enough to begin the publication (1801-1807) of his Correspondance littéraire (1774-1791) with the grand-duke, afterwards the emperor Paul of Russia. In these letters he surpassed the brutalities of the Mercure.
He contracted a second marriage, which was dissolved after a few weeks by his wife. He died on February 11], February 11], 1803 in Paris, leaving in his will an incongruous exhortation to his fellow countrymen to maintain peace and concord. Among his posthumous works was a Prophétie de Cazotte which Sainte-Beuve pronounced his best work. It is a somber description of a dinner-party of notables long before the Revolution, when Jacques Cazotte is made to prophesy the frightful fates awaiting the various individuals of the company.
Among his works not already mentioned are: Commentaire sur Racine (1795-1796), published in 1807; Commentaire sur le théâtre de Voltaire of earlier date (published posthumously in 1814), and an epic poem La Religion (1814). His Cours de littérature has been often reprinted. To the edition of 1825- 1826 is prefixed a notice by Pierre Daunou. See also Sainte-Beuve, Causeries du lundi, vol. v.; G Peignot, Recherches historiques, bibliographiques et littéraires sur La Harpe (1820).