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CHARLES FECHTER
and in his final dying instants, in which,
after the proud self-abnegation with which
he declared himself a lackey, he held out
his arms to embrace the queen, the eager,
reverent tenderness of the action, and the
look of love and exaltation which trans-
figured his face before it stiffened in death,
were profoundly stirring and very beauti-
ful. There was no rant in any passage,
and no evidence of deficient self-control.
The charge of extravagance might as well
have been made against a tornado as against
Mr. Fechter's Ruy Bias, at its height.
In The Lady of Lyons he achieved a
similar triumph, which was perhaps more
remarkable because of the material in
which he was there compelled to work.
Ruy Bias may be called great, without
much strain upon the adjective ; but Bul-
wer's play is a crafty thing of gilt, rouge,
and cardboard. Fechter's acting redeemed
the English work from the artificiality and
tawdriness which seemed of its essence.
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