sed in both languages who did not previously know
which was the original, and which the translation, might take up passages
in Pope, Thomson, Collins and Goldsmith and read parallel passages in
Delille and be extremely puzzled to distinguish the original: for none of
the beauties are lost in these imitations. And yet, in preferring to
imitate, it must not be inferred that he was deficient in original
thoughts.

To return to the theatre, I have seen Mlle Mars in the _role_ of Henriette
in the _Femmes Savantes_ of Moliere. Oh! how admirable she is! She realizes
completely the conception of a graceful and elegant Frenchwoman of the
first society. She does not act; she is at home as it were in her own
salon, smiling at the silly pretensions of her sister and at the ridiculous
pedantry of Trissotin; her refusing the kiss because she does not
understand Greek was given with the greatest _naivete_. In a word Mlle Mars
reigns unrivalled as the first comic actress in Europe.

I have seen too, _Les Plaideurs_ of Racine and _Les fourberies de Scapin_
of Moliere, both exceedingly well given; particularly the scene in the
latter wherein it is announced to Geronte that his son had fallen into the
hands of a Turkish corsair, and his answer "Que diable allait-il faire dans
la galere?"

I have seen also _Andromaque_, _Iphigenie_ and _Zaire_. Mlle Volnais did
the part of Andromaque; but the monotonous plaintiveness of her voice,
which never changes, wearies me. In _Iphigenie_ I was more gratified; for
Mlle Georges did the part of Clytemnestre, and her sister, a young girl of
seventeen, made her debut in the part of Iphigenie with great effect. The
two sisters supported each other wonderfully well, and Lafond did Agamemnon
very respectably.

Mlle Georges the younger, having succeeded in _Iphigenie_, appeared in the
part of Zaire, a bold attempt, and tho' she did it well and with much
grace, yet it was evidently too arduous a task for her. The whole onus of
this affecting piece rests on the _role_ of Zaire. In the part where
_naivete_ was required she succeeded perfectly and her burst: "Mais
Orosmane m'aime et j'ai tout oublie" was most happy; but she was too faint
and betrayed too little emotion in portraying the struggle between her love
for Orosmane and the unsubdued symptoms of attachment to her father and
brother and to the religion of her ancestors. In short, where much passion
and pathos was required, there she proved unequal to