The Sun.
London, England, 1858-06-07 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

Memoirs of Rachel. By Madame do B--. 2
vole. Hurst and Blaoket'.

No sooner has the grave closed over one erni-
nent in any public career, whether sovereign,
statesman, author, artist, or actor, thin his life
and character become the acknowledged inheritance
of the biographer and the critic. We have before
expressed an opinion that this system is open to
grave objection-e—that it trenches too much on tits
sacredness of private life—that it exposes the pe-
culiarities of the departed to an analysis which can
scarcely fail to be painful to their surviving friends,
and subjeats them to a scrutiny which has not
the individual accuracy of a contemporary, nor
the calm judgment'of a subsequent time. We must
acknowledge that the hook before us is, in some de-
gree, exempt from many of these ohjections. The
private life of Madllo. Rachel, excepting her busi-
ness connectious with her immediate family, is left
almost untouched, the authoress announcing in
the preface her conviction that to enter into per-
sonal details would be an unwarrantable intrusion.
" Whatever could convey an idea of her character,
temper, or inclinations, all that had connect:on
with her dramatic talent, we were bound to re-
cord ; further, we had nothing to add from the
garrulous chronique scandaleuse of the day." The
ready appreciation which the great tragedienne
always met with in this country, the cordial recep-
tion and crowded houses that attended her,
even when the statAy French classic tragedy
was the only entertainment, prove how high her
reputation in the highest line of dramatic art ranked
amongst us. Those who have seen her waking the
stone to life, by her impassioned personation of the
heroines of Corneille and Racine, giving animation
to the long speeches to the confidantes, and variety
to the self same scene, will feel some curiosity to
trace the early career of the gifted actress, to know
how her abilities first attracted attention, and what
encouragemept or impediment encountered the de-
velopment of her powers. This earlier portion of
her career the authoress has given at length, tell-
ing us not only of her original poverty and the ob-
stacles she met with, but of the difficulties that she
had to surmount after her gaining some reputation
on the stage, of her natural deficiences, and of the
harsh criticisms and severe judgments that some-
times fell to her lot. Madame B— says, with
truth, that no young aspirant to drawadc fame
need despair when they read of Rachel's early
struggles. She was the child of very poor parents,
and one of a large family. After many years' wan-
dering they established themselves in Lyons, where
the father gave lessons in German and the mother
opened an old clothes shop, while Sarah, the
eldest child, who had a fine voice, went alxitit
to the different cafés singing, with her younger
sister Rachel, who collected the halfpence,
often trundling on a barrow the youngest little one.
Having accidentallymade a fortunate acquaintance,
the children obtained an introduction to M. St.
Aulaire, the manager of the Salle Gsinard, where
pupils were received gratuitously. Her appear-
ance was mean, and her voice harsh and gruff, but
her instructors recognised the existence of native
power. Alf, however, were not discerning enough
to do so. Among these were M. Provost.
"On the following Saturday Provost 'heard her re-
peat her part, and, according to custom, was exceE-dingly
harsh and violent with her, This was, in fact, his man-
ner with all his pupils. He entered so completely into
the spirit of the part, that he did not pause to consider
that all were not imbued with his conception of it, and
in consequence of this arbitrary view any deviation was
visited with merciless severity. Rachel was snubbed,
scolded and brow-beaten like the rest, with the addi-
tional comment that she bad the voice of a costei..
monger. 'Go child, go sell bcuquets ; that's all you
will ever be fit for,' was the comforting finale of the
professor's lecture.

" Some months after this stormy lesson, the derided
pupil had an opportunity to remind the false prophet cf
his disheartening predictions. She had played, ' tier-
mione' to an enthusiastic public and been greeted with
a shower of bouquets. When the curtai❑ fell, gather
ing her trophies in the skirt of her Grecian tunic, she
approched Provost, who was behind the scenes, and
kneeling with mock humility, said :
" Sir, ycu once advised me to sell bouquets ; will ycu
now be my first customer.'

"Provost gracefully admitled his error, adding that
none could rejoice more sincerely than Zimself in the
falseness of his prophecy."
In answer to those critics who assert that Rachel
was but an echo of her professors, and that the
merit of her success was theirs, the authoress ob-
serves with truth, that were this the CKSO she
would not stand alone on the height to which she
has risen, for many have been instructed by the
same masters, but we have witnessed but one
Rachel. While recounting the varying successes
of her different debuts, the authores gives us copi-
ous extracts from the rival cri ics of the day. The
work would have been far better as a biography if
suoh extraneous matters had been omitted, and
the book condensed into one volume. Theie is a
great deal that is quite superfluous, such as a
lengthy analysis of characters, in which she never
attained celebrity, the plots of indifferent plays,
the memoirs of rival artistes, repetitions and
descriptions that are quite unnecessary.
We must also differ from the writer on another
point. She has pourtrayed the great
actress in very unpleasing colours. She may,
however, ba justified in so doing, but where a story
is manifestly to the disadvantage of her subject, and
she cannot vouch for its accuracy, it should be sup-
pressed. However piquant or amusing the anec-
dote, it is not fair to give it at length, leaving ou
the readers mind an injurious impression tW'hich
may be without foundation. Those who can-
not defend themselves have the right to the
benefit of the doubt. The various fluctuations of
Mdlle. Rachel's theatrical career, the countries she
visited and her receptions, the criticisms and cen-
sures of the learned, the constant disputes and
bickering into which her love of gold led her, are
all chronicled at length. We are also shown her
more aimiable attributes, such as her filial rover-
enct., her readiness to assist her family, and her
love for her sister Rebecca. The folio wing passage
explains the scope of the work itself, and pleads
the cause of the actress :

" Three-fourths of the following pages were written
during the life of the celebrated woman whose career
constitutes their subject. As the work drew to a close
the tomb opened to receive her, who for eighteen years,
bad been the pride of the French stage. But the event
that has cast so deep a gloom over the prospects of
classic art, depriving it of its sole support, can make r o
difference in a work in which neither posthumous flat-
tery nor detraction find a place. Even the truth due to
the dead should bespoken within certain li mitre When the
faults and errors of one who attained so high a rank as an
artiste, are trumpeted by the tongue cf malice, or
hinted at by the conscientous biographer, the reader
must bear in mind the There in which she was born and
passed her early youth, the intoxictting influence of
unexpected fame and opulence, the bewildering effect of
the sudden transition from the society of the low, the
ignorant and the vulgar, to that of the most high-bred,
educated, and ari.•tocratic of the land, the satiety and
weariness that tho prompt fulfil went of every wish soon
brought with it, the nervously irritable and constitution-
ally frail organisation of the being who was censtautly
called upon to personify the most violent and wearying
passions; let us not then wonder that her aspirations
towards the good and beautiful were often followed by
no results, that the creature so richly endowed by pro-
digal nature, so powerfully sustained by fortune, should
not have been unifi rrnly great, and that blemishes should
have darkened her finest traits.

"Yet with all her imperfections, it will be long ere
the world shall soe another Rachel, the stage another
tragedienne uniting her genius, her intuitive conception
of the sublime and the beautiful, her extraordinary
power of expressing whatislie so perfectly conceived, her
grand Pagan qualities, her Greek statue-like figure, her
majesty of brow and attitude, her quiet dignity of man-
ner. The lovers of art have sustained an irreparable
loss, and mournfully exclaim :
' There's a great spirit gone 1'
" We have followed Rachel more especially in her
professional career, without, however, omitting the
more arduous task of speaking of her, as the woman
in her social sphere—a delicate subject at all t rues,
since it necessitates the invasion of the sanctuary of
private life, revealing its mysteries to a prying public—
but. more especially so in the present case.
" We have endeavoured to fulfil this task so far as it
was consistent with the duty of biography to record the
words and actions of its suje it. But there are grounds
it is not our province to touch upon—grounds that are
beyond the limits of even the morbid curiosity that
eagerly seeks in every great work that issues from the
Divine Hand the contaminating touch of the spirit of
evil—grounds where the truth is too obAure to be dis-
tinguished from fiction, and where, even if known, it
would afford no better clue to character, would convey
no lesson, prevent no fall."
•" '

Though the mere title of the book will be sufficient to
ensure it a ready circulation, it would have been
far more agreeable to the reader as well as more
creditable to the writer had there been more con-
ciseness, more point in the narrative. It would have
given it an animation and a spirit which it needs.
That life mint indeed be singu!atly eventful whose
public records would fill two such volumes. The
deep interest felt in the life of so great a dra-
matic genius, and the regret generally felt for one
whose career was closed so early, will, without
doubt, secure for these volumes a large and culti-
vated circle of readers.