New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1855-09-04
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AAt1<N A. u RSA&sf
t>s,aAps, sseps,cs as~ schsss ~ eastisaenf, Ne
49,, =, ,...t,n, The r.s ..ss The soul, she ether
an. ,As Aa.,,. The e.s ssus'a,ses aciseas, the
-, s,,,s,,. ,er..sA,rs We samte the one hr The
asss. AZ nj, tAeusAa the ether ia the 10 'doseea' q"
NJ. sslsrs The ere Into vsscus II ns'ra' great
,e... the ssAst aescends ps,snsG 9" he ah"d"s :"
Nara. aAllty. The eNaoins severity Of The one often
A,ex., . s,mrasAy with human weakness Tho psi
a.t,sx sanpe~s AZ The other creates wgsc, tot tho 40
.rvse 81 m,aAl .srpassh. The strength IL Corne'ie
IN the yiscs Of his thought This vigor made hun Tue
architect II rvnch tragedy. The strength Of Rsc'ae
!. in Tire delicscy Of hs scrsihih'y Tbs dahasoy
made him 10 graceful decorator. Tho one tounded
the structure upon rccks 81 thought the other % su
afca h hv sa,,rnuscuts Of sentiment French u'eedy
Nth Co,ur.lc withou, Rs,ino would be too alsieIe.
With Racine without CornsilIe, too vilup'uous. The
-, ,,,,,a usle vitue too rcpusvo by his rigdity,
ne ether vice too attractive by his phaDcy. What
Al. rsadear of conception Of the one had begun toe
.r anse Of srums Mt OF me other completed, and tae
power, 81 bota thus blending 1hat eeaueous ere alton
was knned, called French tragedy.
RACINE As MAN.
rrom the character Of his writings IL becomes at
erca apparent that Racine a man more OF feoing
than thought Of richness OF imagination than vigor
II soul He VAS born and destined for the pulpit, out
20 a mere child be felt vocation for poetry, ana inc
sppc~iton he met with from the oigotry OF his re'a
ticp. only lent strength and growth to his passion
Sensitive a. he was this opposition only made him
mere determined The first effort by which he won
seine po,oriety ives the comedy Of The Hostile
B.others," which, through the interference OF the
rrea, Moierc who was the first 10 detect ani nurse
the blossom of his genius, obtained place on the
stage. When Phesdra, the PLAY Of tonight, was pro-
- cod cola. nj A tttrO
by Bsjazet and Audromsque. The appearance Of =
new tragedy was two hundred lcars ago greater
event a, Paris han il is event day. andh'~evfr re1t
Ne enthusiasm With which drama Of Vi tor Hugo
would be greeted il would be ebe compared TO that
elected by the production of PhRdra NJ q time wbea
Louis pisued himself upon hs clhssc taste and
the poet was s pet of cplrts aod ladies'.
Like most great men Racine had enemies, though he
was the lest 10 provoke one He was perfect para
son If correlation, and insinuated himself with every
cne by never hurting tue amour propre of any one.
He listened with such counterfeit difference to the talk
ofue most uforior minds that he made friends OF
those who conld not understand him, as well as adj
nirers Of those who could. Louis XIV liked him, as
he ssd for bis handsome face and he became subse-
qutnty The bistriogrspher of the great monarch fol-
loving him 10 the battlefield and making in verse as
much as he could Of bis glory Strange thatsO sweet
tempered man should have an enemy. Yet was il so,
and that enemy woman-one of the blue-stockDgs
Of the seventeenth century, who, like so many of her
sisters Of day, only fanced those who we're not
superior 10 her, that she could always dictate with
arrogance and have TO blush for ignorance This
lady, Madame des HouIieres iustgated PradOn, of
her fsvortes TO bring Phadrs simultaneously with
tbst OF Roo w whose theater she and her chg 1e
took the principal boxes, to the privilege Of
keeping the house empty while they took care TO keep
that ofPradon filed. Such sharp practice not siugu
lar In those or even later times in Paris bat spite of all
iptrigues Rscine's Phedra great success, and
Pradons miserable failure To revenge this defeat the
lady published some sarizing Ph@dra. Racine
replied with great zest and bitterness The Duke of
Nevers the lady relative took oense Intense excite
mentr ran over Paris and Versailles. Attic Court and
The Boulevard nothing was spoken Of but Raciue and
Eeven. Boilesu who was ever Rsoine's most devoted
friend, however arranged the affair but from this and
other Racine contracted disgust for Paris, the
court, the ladies, and for the Rachel Of those
days, Mdle Champmee, for whom It was @hispJred
be felt more than the regard which should have lcgti
na,ey sprung from their position In th- vexed and
weaied state Of mind he took classical regeuse by
marrying ultra.religious sdy who had never BEEN
10 the Tbeater, would 60 TO H. and married him
only on condition that he would renouoce the stage.
This marriage effected reconciliation between b m
and hs aapt and ssters-the ADDRESSES Of tse ceebra
ted JsnseDist Port Royal - and such the
influence Of women and monks on his susceptible
batsie that he doomed all his daughters
nunueIy and his SONS to the priesthood.
Rst t impulses of poets are more violent than en-
psing The temptations Of Thesps again up be-
fore him in spite of Mrs. end the old Misses Racine.
Matters had changed in Paris. The old King, when
he could longer indigo in pleasure took that step
which gay women are apt to take when they pass the
boundary lire Of forty He became dovout and
Madame do Mantenoh was then in full reign, endeav
orpg to make religion out Of politics and politics out
Of religion. Now Racine was lady's man, aud Just
such man the MaintenoA fancied. But she would
only tolerate religious tTagedics. No love. Not even
soft sly whisper. Thus Esther and Athalie" were
produced but however chas'e ard Sabine, especially
Athse, the MdinienoD would not allow the young
ladies of the Cour who cot itup for private theatri
cali, to GO op with it, IS sumo seemed TO shine too
much by their peUonal beauty; and the vrtuous Main
tenon would not encourage vanity In those days vir-
tue was not deemed powerful CROUCH and woman, not
being trusted the beauteous guardianship of the
angel in her own bosom, constantly made 10 blush
by those igpobe imputatiOns in which only womee Of
the Mantenon class indulge.
SYNOPSIS OF PaEDRA
Acr lite trseedy opens Tresens "a tho palace Of
fhestus the King Since his atriase ian pkS Ira the
70 cry once IN WIZ ", P ne 30 send "a
Der aepson, HPpoyus. youth srieSd tost BY s' n1e
bes and 'poteSs character But u a hr haod Of ha
have relaxed; allowed him e.
home. hipp0ytus, how"N ~cafs m ai ~ Hep ancho y