t I would present him with a
_recueil_ of the most beautiful passages of that great poet; and I am sure
he would be so delighted with them that he would readily join in the "All
Hail" that the British nation awards him. Thus you may perceive the
distinction I make between the creative genius who designs, and the artist
who fills up the canvas; between the Poet and the Dramaturgus. I am
probably singular in my taste as an Englishman, when I tell you that I
prefer Shakespeare for the closet and Racine or Voltaire or Corneille for
the stage: and with regard to English tragedies, I prefer as an acting
drama Home's _Douglas_[46] to any of Shakespeare's, _Macbeth_ alone
excepted; and for this plain reason that the interest in _Douglas_ never
flags, nor is diverted.

In giving my mite of admiration to the French stage, I am fully aware of
its faults, of the long declamation and the _fade galanterie_ that
prevailed before Voltaire made the grand reform in that particular: and on
this account I prefer Voltaire as a tragedian to Racine and Corneille. The
_Phedre_ and _Athalie_ of Racine are certainly masterpieces, and little
inferior to them are _Iphigenie, Andromaque_ and _Britannicus_, but in the
others I think he must be pronounced inferior to Voltaire; as a proof of my
argument I need only cite _Zaire, Alzire, Mahomet, Semiramis, l'Orphelin de
la Chine, Brutus_. Voltaire has, I think, united in his dramatic writings
the beauties of Corneille, Racine and Crebillon and has avoided their
faults; this however is not, I believe, the opinion of the French in
general, but I follow my own judgment in affairs of taste, and if anything
pleases me I wait not to ascertain whether the "master hath said so."

It shows a delicate attention on the part of the directors of the _Theatre
Francais_, now that so many foreigners of all nations are here, to cause to
be represented every night the masterpieces of the French classical
dramatic authors, since these are pieces that every foreigner of education
has read and admired; and he would much rather go to see acted a play with
which he was thoroughly acquainted than a new piece of one which he has not
read; for as the recitation is extremely rapid it would not be so easy for
him to seize and follow it without previous reading.

Of Moliere I had already seen the _Avare_, the _Femmes savantes_ and the
_Fourberies de Scapin_. Since these I have seen the _Tartuffe_ and _George
Dandin_ both inimitab