's criticism
provoked replies in England and a defense from Diderot, who shared with
Lessing the effort to emancipate the drama from some of its
neo-classical restriction. Translations of twelve plays by La Place
(1745-1748) and all of the plays by Le Tourneur (1776-1782) gave an
opportunity for greater acquaintance with his work. A version of
_Hamlet_ by Ducis was acted at Paris in 1769. But even at the end of the
century, French literary opinion, though partly won by Le Tourneur's
praise of Shakespeare, still sympathized with Voltaire, now engaged in
an attack on Englishmen and their favorite. His last opinion (1778)
declares, "Shakespeare est un sauvage avec des etincelles de genie qui
brillent dans une nuit horrible."

[Page Heading: In France]

The nineteenth century saw a reaction from this criticism, indicated by
the praise of Madame de Stael (_De la Litterature_, 1804), by Guizot's
essay accompanying a revision of Le Tourneur's translation (1821), and
later in the appreciation of Mezieres's _Shakespeare ses [OE]uvres et
ses Critiques_ (1860), in several translations, and in Victor Hugo's
eulogy (1869). The best of the translations is by the poet's son,
Francois Victor Hugo in prose (1859-1866). On the Paris stage, the
leading English actors have appeared from time to time, and French
versions of _Hamlet_, _Macbeth_, and _Othello_ have made a permanent
place. M. Jusserand is the chief authority for the history of
Shakespeare in France and an ambassador of peace between the conflicting
literary tastes of the two nations.

In Italy, Holland, Russia, Poland, and Hungary, during the nineteenth
century, many of the plays have been regularly acted, and from Italy
have come great actors and actresses, as Ristori, Salvini, and Rossi.
Complete translations have been published in these countries and in
Bohemian, Swedish, Danish, Finnish, and Spanish; and separate plays have
been translated and acted in many other languages including those of
India, Japan, and China.

In music and painting Shakespeare's influence has also been
international. Books have been devoted to the history of Shakespeare's
music, and such surveys include nearly every English composer of note,
and also Schubert, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Berlioz, Ambroise Thomas,
Saint Saens, Rossini, and Verdi. In painting as well, the persons and
scenes of the play have excited the efforts of English, German, and
American artists.

In America, as has already bee