Finally, she came to the conclusion that "the soul capable of rejecting all the advantages which are offered is a thousand times more noble than the one that accepts them," and declined to expatriate herself.[193] The Princess Galitzin was not the only distinguished foreigner to seek to perpetuate the genius of Mlle. Clairon. Garrick, who had seen her act at Lille, during his first visit to France in 1742, and prophesied a great future for her,--though this, of course, was in comedy--came to Paris, with his wife, after the conclusion of peace in 1763, on their way to Italy. A warm friendship sprang up between the great English actor and the Queen of the French stage, and so delighted was Garrick with the _tragédienne's_ talent that he commissioned Gravelot to engrave a design, representing Mlle. Clairon "in all the attributes of Tragedy," her arm resting on a pile of books, on which might be read the names of Corneille, Racine, Voltaire, and Crébillon.[194] By her side stood Melpomene crowning her with laurel. At the top of the frame, on a ribbon encircled by an olive branch, one read:-- "Prophétie Accomplie." And on a tablet at the base, the following verses:-- "J'ai predit que Clairon illustrerait la scène, Et mon esprit n'a point été déçu: Elle a couronné Melpomène, Melpomène lui rend ce qu'elle en a reçu." --GARRICK. The following year, the Comte de Valbelle and a M. de Villepinte, another warm admirer of the actress, caused a gold medal to be struck in the lady's honour. On the face of this medal was Gravelot's allegorical design; while the reverse bore this inscription:-- L'Amitié Et Melpomène Ont Fait Frapper Cette MÉDAILLE EN 1764. The pleasure which the lady derived from this piece of adulation must have been considerably discounted by the publication of the following mordant epigram, from the pen of the dramatist Saint-Foix, of whose works she appears to have spoken slightingly:-- "Pour la fameuse Frétillon Ils ont osé frapper un médaillon; Mais à quelque prix qu'on le donne, Fut-ce douze sous, fut-ce même pour un, Il ne sera jamais aussi commun Que le fut jadis sa personne."[195]