HORACE STIRS FRENCHMEN.
Reading edition
A remarkable incident occurred, says the Paris Journal des Débats, at the opening matinée of the Comedie Française, when the old-fashioned Roman tragedy, "Horace," was presented.
Written in 1639, when France was fighting Germany, it contains numerous veiled allusions to the war and prophecies of successes afterward realized by Louis XIII. One such is the Sabine heroine's appeal to Rome to spare her country and seek conquests further afield: "Hurl your battalions against the East; plant your flags on the borders of the Rhine!"
The Journal des Débats says:
"At these words a shiver of excitement passed over the whole dense audience, which rose, cheering frantically, and continued the applause for several minutes."