happiest effect, and in her attempt to conceal her uneasiness and
her affected contempt of the dream in these lines:

Un songe, me devrois--je inquieter d'un songe?

she seemed in reality to labour under all the anxiety and fatigue arising
from it. That fine scene between Joad and Joas was well given, and the
little girl who did the part of Joas performed with a good deal of spirit.
The actor who played Joad recited in a most impressive manner the advice to
the young prince terminating in these lines:

Vous souvenant, mon fils, que cache sous ce lin,
Comme eux vous futes pauvre et comme eux orphelin.

The interrogating scene between Athalie and Joad was given spiritedly, but
the rather abrupt and uncourtierlike reply to the Queen's remark, "Ils sont
deux puissans dieux"--"Lui seul est dieu, Madame, et le votre n'est rien"--
excited a laugh and I fancy never fails to do so, every time the piece is
performed.

Racine has several passages in his tragedies which perhaps have rather too
much _naivete_ for the dignity of the cothurnus; for instance in the answer
of Agamemnon to Achille in the tragedy of _Iphigenie_:

Puisque vous le savez, pourquoi le demander?

A poet of to-day would be quizzed for a line like the above, but who dare
venture to point out any defect in an author of whom Voltaire has said and
with justice too, that the only criticism to be made of him (Racine) would
be to write under every page: "Admirable, harmonieux, sublime!"

The costume and the decorations at the _Theatre francais_ are so strictly
classical and appropriate in every respect, that it is to me a source of
high delight to witness the representation of the favourite pieces of
Racine, Corneille, Moliere and Voltaire, which I have so often read with so
much pleasure in the closet and no small quantity of which I have by heart.

The next piece I saw was the _Cinnna_ of Corneille; and here it was that I
beheld Talma for the second time. I was of course highly pleased, tho' I
was rather far off to hear very distinctly; this was, however, no very
great loss, as I was perfectly well acquainted with the tragedy. Talma's
gestures, his pause's, his natural mode of acting gave a great relief to
the long declamation with which this tragedy abounds. When this tragedy was
given it was during the time that poor Labedoyere's trial was going on, and
the allusions to Augustus' clemency were eagerly seized and applauded. It
was hoped that Louis