St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1882-08-25
The Original Of Rebecca in
IVanhOe.

Rebecca Gratz, the original of Re
becca in "Ivanhoe," is the subject of a
short article 10y Gratz Van Rensselaer,,
which, with a beautiful portrait of the
lady, appears in the September Cen
tury We believe it is not generally
known that the honor of having been
the prototype and inspiration of the
character of Rebecca the Jewess, in
"Ivanhoe," belongs to an American
lady, whose beauty and noble qualities
were described to Scott by friend.
The friend was Washington Irving,
and the lady Rebecca Gratz, of an hon
orable Jewish family of Philadelphia.
Rebecca was born on the 4th of
March, 1871, and in her younger days,
and even beyond middle life, she pos
sessed singular beauty. Her eyes
were of exquisite shape, large, black,
and lustrous her figure was graceful,
and her carriage was marked by quiet
dignity which were height
ened by elegant and winning manners.
1t is said that, when young lady,
Rebecca won the regard of a gentle
man of character, position, and wealth
whose passion was devOtedly returned.
The difference in their religious faith,
| hOwever,-the one conscientious
Christian, the other devoted to the an
cient creed of Israel, an in
| superable barrier to their union. She
was never married.
One of her brothers most intimate
friends was Washington Irving, then
in the early freshness of his literary
| fame. When in Philadelphia he was
a welcome guest at the mansion. and
the ''big room" was assigned him to
''roOst in,' as he termed it. The beau
ty and character of Rebecca, together
with the fact that she was represen-
tative of Il race whose history is full of
romance, deeply impressed him, and
the foundation was laid of cordial
friendship and admiration which last
ed through life.
Miss Gratz passed many of heI
younger days with the Hoffmans and
other old families in New York, with
whom she was on intimate terms.
Among her friends at this time were
the literary wits of Salmagundi. Ma
tilda Hoffman, the object of Irving's
first, last. and only love, was her dear
est friend. Miss Hoffman, who is de-
scribed as lovely in person and mind
with engaging manners, delicate sen
sibilities, and playful humor, faded
early and died in April, 1909, at the
age of eighteen. Rebecca was her con
slant companion during her illness
sharing with the family the cares o
her sickbed, and holding her in hel
arms when she died. Irving was thel
twenty, six years old, and for the half.
century of his later life he cherished
faithfully the memory of his early love
He slept with her Bible and prayer
book under his pillow, and they were
ever his inseparable companions. Aftel
his death, package was found con
tanning some private memoranda, {
miniature of great beauty, braid o
fair hair, and slip of paper contain
ing her name in his own handwriting
In his private notebook he wrote
"She died in the beauty of her youth
and i'll my memory she will ever bC
young and beautiful
For many years, during which h,
studied law and was admitted to the
bar, Irving's naturally gay tempera
ment was overshadowed by this grief
and his frequent intervals of depres-
sion untitled him for literary labor
Engaging i'll business with his brother
at Liverpool, he passed much of hi
, time abroad. His mercantile career
however, proved failure, and Ii,
thencefOrth devoted himself to litera
ture. 1t was in the fall of the year lS1,
that Scott and Irving met for the trst
time. With letter of introduction
from the poet Campbell, who wa
f aware of ScOtts high estimate of Irv
| A
t ford. He was most cordially received
and welcomed by Scott himself, VIII,
came limping down to the gate, at
tended by his favOrite aghound, ant
grasped his hand in way that mad
; Irving feel us if they were already ole
} friends.
} To this friendship we owe the char
acter of Rebecca in "Ivanhoe." Dur
ing one of their many conversations
/ when personal and family affairs wer
: the topics, Irving spoke of his OWL
$ and Miss Hoffman's cherished friend
t Rebecca GratZ, of Philadelphia, de
e scribed her wonderful beauty, relate,
b, the story of her firm adherence to he
religious faith under the most tryin
= circumstances, and particularly illus
trated her lOveliness of character, an
t Jealous philanthropy. Scott was deep
5 ly interested and impressed, and con
, ceived the plan of embodying the pure
a moral sentiment, that like thread o
, silver ran through the story. Althoug
e ''Rob Roy" was then unfinished, h
| was already revolving in his mind til
e plot and characters of 'Ivanhoe." II
5 Immediately determined to introduce
Jewish female character, and, on tn
a strength of Irving's vivid description
= he named his heroine Rebecca.