The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1869-10-25
RACHEL AND soNTAa.
The Queen OF the Dramatic and Lyric
Stage.
From the Galaxy.

w
SOntag and l,achel-lcft impressions upon me,
rs women, that l am sure will never bc OBJ
scured by times attrition. Both were of
nun hmm5e birth and both were remarkable nn Tor
but with this difrcrcncc-that Sontag, charm
ing and elegant on the stage, was more charm
ing and elegant In private; while Rachel, who
behind the footghts, was the ideal OF queen
or q great lady Of the old school, in private,
although courteous and well hammered, show
cd the stamp Of her origin and her pro-
fession,how, cannot tel, but there 1t was,
Countess dc ROssl, or for that matter, dc
Montmorcnci, could not have shown in her
personal bearing nobility of higher or sim
In this respect by the Jcwcss, who, rs unable
In private 10 conceal her breeding as her race,
Showed yet upon the Stage tho command and
graciousncss OF those who are born In the
purple.
Saying this, one day.. to the late eccentric
Count Gurowski, was pleased and not sur
prlsed TO hayo' the curt reply, "0nf Rachel
is the 0ne:ly grand dame on dthe tay-ahtre."
Sontag, when knew her, was mature wo-
man, and my senior by many years; and yet, ,
notwithstanding this, and a knowledge of the
and said, and which rivnlled that other gam
bling husband, she seemed to me to di1rise
around her all the Influences of youthfiilness
and YiyacliS. 4 freshness ms dellcpte. as + thc
aeRd Gs RsdFSs HGss e eSEy ysbsE E F1 a Fs sa an NE NE
gratcfulncss of balm, and Its fragrant virtue
She had the tenderness and crispncss OF YOUTH
without Its greenness. / have rarely met q
girl Of seventeen 80 young as Sontag was ut
The age of fOrty-ive. i have said nothing of
her beauty, for that was well known TO all
men; and when saw 1t still preserved, then
first iccollccted that had heard of It before
was old enough 10 know what wOnlans beauty
was; brIt Fhad not hcard Of her hand, which
was beautiful enough to worship, as we may
worshipiali perfection. And this woman, 80
beautiful, 80 winning In her ways, 80 Charming
as singer and an actress, was also clever in
the most attractive form Of female clcvcrncss.
She talked well, with sententionsness and
becomes III truly feminine woman. ',i :.
shall never forget her description of tho
rompous dullncss OF the dinners and the even
ings at the country .lroises of English noble:
afler her;marriagc with Count. Rossi and re-.
1irementifrom the stuge. The essays in gal
lantry Of men who had been fox hunting or
shooting all day, and who had come home
tired and hungry to get themselves up in fos-
tive apparel. and TO eat q hearty dinner and
drink heuvywinc, were not much 10 her tasiei
although If she were half as lively under their
inflictioh as she was in describing it, she must
have been priceless creature amid all that
dullness. Only one indication of her humble
origin and of solfconsciousness. escaped her,
happened to mention that had followed a
procession, in large city, for the purpose of
observing the people called out by IT'S passage,
and that J.. had found the prettiest women
aniongthose In tho lower condition OF life
'.it is always So" Her sudden % death in ] %exi,
co was generally attributed to poison, her jhus-
band, 1t Is said, having thus avenged himself
OF her love for tener singer, who was In their
Count RoSsi may not haye been too coed a
man thus TO relieve himself. of q woman who,
by her Own cxertions, had restored him, ~ q
great measure Of least, the fortune he had
for whom she labored.
Rachel talked more. Of tic stagc and of lit
crature than Sontpg did. She made nm nd
mission TO me ono evening that was surprising.
and great power over the emotions Of her au-
dicncei but she spoke: to me with q. natural
400 ulu. sIlc never surpassed on the stagei of
her wearincss OF French tragedy, Of the scnti-
mentality Its prosiness end its sG!ilel verse.
"Oh, that ] had learned English, that might
play Shakespeare but now 1t Is too late.n
"What, are, you not. satisfied. with Racine, or
even Corneillc 7" "No; Corneille Inns moments,
and one. can make something ont OF Racine by
her upon her Phddre which, although an un-
pleasant character, seemed 10 me- one that gave
scope for fine acting. eyes, have an oppor-
tunity for, doing something; but; that boy"
waiving r,hands as II Hippolytus we're pres:
cnt, "wllat does lie but spout. nonsense! And
that old man with his monster" {referring to
Theramdne's. description Of tho death of Hip
nolytc ''and NIL the rcst-how stupid (bcte)
il is! Gro ne e'Shaloespearonp,' -: ....fiu.tii
II this was = .delieate compliment, to u, man
Of Shakesneare's race, and q student of his
works. u vas Ghborate and a very snpcriiuous
but a'gfndinc expression Of the. opinion and
feeling which she might not have been willing
to avoW 70 Frsnchmn9. She was right as to
her eapacily.: To see her. pIny Cleopatra or
voyage 70 Europe. She was born. to play
perhdYs with TIC capacity to be- Lady Macbeth;
and, except her black hair, to look the wife
1.-THE, aprFltlpl, al}GIing female ,fchd ns she;
OF perhaps bright and sunny, and sweet, and
surely yclow-haired, like Lydia Thompson,
who herself has capacities for tragedy in the
fine lines OF her faGt, AS for those big, Black,
bOny, Lady ,Aacbeths, that stalk about the
stage and .atafe ont. or pictHrcs they might
drive q Soldier 70. seek death upon tRc Held,
but they could tempt him neither TO marriage
nor TO murder. ,.,o; ,,... ,......r ~
The last tlnle l. saW, Rachel to. sneak with
her RGs on tle ,oStasl9n! or her last, appear
ance, Id the fill D9sSesNlon Of h II powers, i
was fri,' BoSton and She Dlhyed AdiipnnC Y IL