It  is  really  "an  event"  in  the  season  when  the  great
tragic  actress  opens  a  series  of  performances  at  that  most
charming  of  theatres,  the  St.  James's.^  All  those  who
have  never  seen  her,  feel  within  them  the  longings  of  an
old  desire ;  all  who  have  trembled  beneath  her  passionate
eloquence  long  once  more  to  feel  the  strange  thrill  which
follows  the  flashing  terror  of  those  eyes,  the  wild  unearthly
grandeur  of  "that  little  rod  of  Moses."

And  here  she  is  again  amongst  us,  in  the  power  and
the  glory  of  her  genius,  in  the  consciousness  of  her
unapproached  excellence !  Phbdre,  languishing  in  the
restlessness  of  unsatisfied  unholy  desire —

"  C'est  Venus  tout  enti^re  a  sa  proie  attachee,"

and  recurring  in  remorse  to  the  time  when

"  Mes  jours  moins  agit^s  couloient  dans  I'innocence."

Ph^dre,  miserable,  because  from  amid  all  the  sophistications
of  passion  emerges  the  clear  steady  conviction  of  her  own
criminality —

"  Objet  infortune  des  vengeances  celestes
Je  m'abhorre  encor  plus  que  tu  ne  me  detestes  ; "

in  a  word,  Phddre,  the  great  creation  of  a  great  poet,  who
has  infinitely  surpassed  his  Greek  model,  is  represented
by  Rachel  with  an  intensity  and  subtlety  of  passion  and
discrimination  which  makes  one  feel  how  great  an  artist

'  Rachel  appeared  in  Phidre  on  June  l ;  Polyeucte,  June  3;  Adtieime
Lecouvreur,  June  4  (Regnier  playing  Michonnet) ;  Augier's  Di'aue,
June  8  (in  which  Lewes  declared  that  she  "was  herself  again,"
with  warm  praise  for  the  play  as  well);  Lady  Tartufe  (see  next
article),  June  15.
244  DRAAfA  TIC  ESS  A  YS.
