Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1852-1859, 1855-08-24
CFrom the New York Courier & Enquir er)
Rachel and the Marseilles Avmn.

Rachel and the Marseilles hymn.
To Oblige certain OF our readers, anu as npnur-
tune TO the arrival vi the distinguished agt dsnne
We Iepublsh from files the following paragraph
tom one UI the ''SlGMA" letters written by us IN
Paris, in April, 1918, shortly alter the revolution
OF that year:
The other individual to whom alluded is Rou-
get de LISle, an oOScuIe lieutenant OF the artillery
who, Que night III 1892, IN the city Of Strasburs,
composed song which has been worth more 10 the
cause OF FreucG freedom than !. HUNDRED thousand
bayOnets. For mIoIe than hIty years II has Geen
The De PFCiundIS OF Kings, and the ViUdt Of Lib
erty. As the rampatiS oil TheheS sprung INTO ex-
IStence at the sound OF 3mphon'S lutc, so the bar
ncadeS OF Paris leap from the earth at lie first
burst OF La 1IaTseiLtHise. In times of monarchy
Kings suppressed II; but they cannot pluck it out
Of mems recollecuonS. 1t lies there like Smoul-
deTlng fire brand--aIl the for its being pent
up, ScoEching and clustering The Utmost flores of
the soul; and when at last II finds vent, il UIaZeS
out with violence that is SuIe 10 envelope The
whole land III one vast cunfagrauOn. But the
MarSellaISe Is not only tocSn OF revolution; it is
the cantIcle OF national deliveran:e. Its notes
may even now be heard from one end of Republic
eau France TO the other. In all places Of public
entertainment it Is made the great object oil at
traction.
1t IS almost worth voyage across the Atlantic
TO hear the MarSeiELalse sung, or rather decaued,
by Rachel Gil the buArds OF the Theatre de Ia Re
pubHque. In the lips of the first tragic actress i'll
the world, CEASES 10 be patriotic song, and be-
comes tras c poem OF seven magnificent strophes
each word oil which strikes upuu the ear like the
blast of a trumpet. Rachel seems to have been
made for some such part as this She is like an an
lmated Greek statue, SO classical are her eatureS
so perfect IS her onn Se,ene and goddess like
is her beauty; and yet she Is endowed with the
most extraordinary powers of expresslom
She comes upon the stage with boty bent and
arms hanging down, with her face IIvihIy Diic
and dark III.
gled anguish, defiance and despair, In ZONES as
rigid ami sulien as the toings OF funeral kuell,
she begins TO chant OF burning fields aud villages,
of murdered men aud IaviShed wOmen-her ex-
bauSted nature soon EevIveS, her form erecS itself
and Swa!S from side 10 side beneath Tie folds of
her white tunlc, her Voice gains altitude and
cearneSS, her eyes glitter in their inameti orbits
her GrOwS wTItlle with deadly hate, her ncSttS
dIlate, her lips curl. her buSum heaveS and she
becomes Passion incarnale-no mortal passiou
vluated by earthly faint, but tie pure passion OF
a proud heaven descended PGometLean sp.rrt
maddened TO desperation by a burning, crushing,
loveTpowerIng Sense Of wrong. But presently this
disappears. Invoking and inspired by the Sacred
loDe Of country and liberty, priceless liberty! she
lakes the deafness resolution de les Uenger GU de
les SuiUre; and with immortal confidence ana holy
fervor of soul willing, ii need be- TO meet matlvf-
dom, she waves with naked arm the fatal tucotur,
and, sinking upon her knee, her radiant form en-
Veoped Ill lis brilliant dGapeIy, with clarion ac-
Gents that send culver through every heart, and
string the nerves OF every ann, she cries out tie
terrible final leraln-
Aux armes, citoyens! former o. battaiilons,
MaTchOms,
IChuuS,
Qo'un san impur abreuve nos sIlOns.
Well might such cry be the chosen raI!ying
call OF a Continent!
The passion of the people for IL MIrseiL1iSe some
times nanIIeStS itself in way what singular
10 stranger was at the Italian opera the other
evening, at the last performance of the SeaSon.-
was prepared to hear the popular ode at every
other place Of resort, but IN my simplicity imagined
it would find no favor among the ariStocrauc
trequenters OF les Itaiions. was, however, ms
taken. Though the play Othelo, the chef
d'Gucre Of ROsina, aud uIi Of the lendereSl ard
most rayiShing me!otieS yet, just before the last
act, when the interest of the representation had
wound itself up TO lis most powerful pitch voice
from the parterre called out IL MarSeiItGiSe! The
call was repeated from parerre TO amphittalre,
until final y Lablache and Mario, the Infatuated
Doge and the jealous Moor, were obliged to APP
pear and comply with the demands OF the audience.
The song OF course lost nothing by being executed
by the two best singers in Europe; yet could not
but feel its introduction 10 be miserable nruflma-
ton OF the occasion. Even Grsl herself was after
wards called for, and had not the good Sense ofthe
sobeter portion Of the audience prevailed, we Sonn
should have had the strange spectacle of DeSGe-
mona, with heart llceIaied with all the agunies
OF outraged loved, chanting martial dithyrambics
to the people.