the stage, and not in the slips. Hence, a new form, with a new name,
_le drame_, has taken exclusive possession of the French tragic stage.


3. PRODUCTION OF "ESTHER."

In the year 1687, Mme. de Maintenon had founded at St. Cyr, in the
vicinity of the royal residence of Versailles, an establishment for the
education of two hundred and fifty girls, belonging to noble families
in reduced circumstances. To this institution she devoted much of her
time and care.

It was usual, in the latter part of the seventeenth century, to
consider the acting of plays a valuable aid to liberal education,
suitable pieces being often written by the heads of the institutions in
which they were to be performed. Dissatisfied with the compositions of
Mme. de Brinon, the first superior of St. Cyr, and objecting to the
love-making that held such a large place in the works written for the
public stage, Mme. de Maintenon applied to Racine, requesting him to
write a play that should be entirely suitable for performance by very
young ladies. The courtier poet could not refuse, and the result was
the play of _Esther_, performed in January, 1689, by pupils of St. Cyr,
not one of whom was over seventeen years of age.

The success of the play was startling. The king witnessed it
repeatedly, and insisted that all his court and guests should do
likewise. The performances of _Esther_, at St. Cyr, became great
events for the fashionable society of the day. This unlooked-for
result was not slow to alarm Mme. de Maintenon: their very success
became a danger for the youthful actresses. Accordingly, Mme. de