incapable of acting at her best on evenings of her first
appearance in a new role. Her critical power was very weak in
comparison with her intellectual power, the reverse being true of her
modern rival. Rachel's greatest inspiration was _Phedre_, and in
this role Bernhardt "is weak, unequal. We see all the viciousness
in _Phedre_ and none of her grandeur. She breaks herself to pieces
against the huge difficulties of the conception and does not succeed
in moving us.... Rachel was the mouthpiece of the gods; no longer a
free agent, she poured forth every epithet of adoration that Aphrodite
could suggest, clambering up higher and higher in the intensity of her
emotions, whilst her audience hung breathless, riveted on every word,
and dared to burst forth in thunders of applause only after she had
vanished from their sight."

Both of these artists were children of the lower class, and struggled
with a fate which required grit, tenacity, and determination to
win success. The artist of to-day is no social leader--"never the
companion of man, but his slave or his despot." It is entirely her
physical charms and the outward or artificial requisites of her art
that make her what she is. According to Mr. Lynch, her tragedy "is but
one of disorder, fury, and folly--passions not deep, but unbridled and
hysterical in their intensest display. Her _forte_ lies in the ornate
and elaborate exhibition of roles," for which she creates the most
capricious and fantastic garbs. She is a great manager,--omitting the
financial part,--quite a writer, somewhat of a painter and sculptor,
throwing her money away, except to her creditors, adored by some
and execrated by others. Her care of her physical self and her utter
disregard for money have undoubtedly contributed to her long and
brilliant career; rest and idleness are her most cruel punishments.
All nervous energy, never happy, restless, she is a true _fin de
siecle_ product.

Among the large number of women who wielded influence in the
nineteenth century, either through their salons or through their
works, Mme. Guizot was one of the most important as the author of
treatises on education and as a moralist. As an intimate friend of
Suard, she was placed, as a contributor, on the _Publiciste_, and for
ten years wrote articles on morality, society, and literature which
showed a varied talent, much depth, and justness. Fond of polemics,
she never failed to attack men like La Harpe, De Bonald, etc