ALARCON Y MENDOZA, Juan Ruiz de, one of the most distinguished Spanish dramatists, born at Tasco in Mexico about the close of the 16th century, was descended from a noble family belonging to Alarcon in Cuença. Nothing is known with certainty of his early life, but it is probable that he was educated at one of the Spanish universities. In 1622 he had taken up his residence at Madrid, and in 1628 he was appointed to the office of relator (reporter) of the royal council of the Indies, which afforded him a competency. In the same year he published the first volume of his comedies, dedicating it to “the rabble” in a daringly contemptuous address. A second volume of comedies appeared at Barcelona in 1634, in which he brought charges against several poets of appropriating his productions. About the same time he was successful in an open competition for a dramatic libretto to be played at ths fêtes in honour of Philip IV. These two facts, combined with his haughty disdain both of the public and of his literary brethren, made Alarcon very unpopular; and he was scur-rilously lampooned by most of the poets and dramatists of the day, Calderon honourably distinguishing himself by his silence. A further injustice was done him in the piracy of his works by other and better known authors than himself. To such an extent was this carried that Alarcon’s reputa-, tion as a dramatist was almost extinct even before the close of his life, and it is only quite recently that it has been revived. The date of his death is given, on doubtful authority, as 1639. Alarcon holds a foremost place among Spanish dramatists, being surpassed only, if at all, by Lope de Vega and Calderon. He is distinguished by the correctness of his language, the harmony of his verse, and the elevation of his ...