Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1886-03-15

iLOUGN only SUN GNU. luob bhIN Ncuei'
alton has seen on the stage.
Nothiun rrander can be conceived than
this Camille" 10 my dying day ] will
hear that voice and see those tears. She is
priestess, pythOness, this child OF II
The imprecatiOn is the fret revelation of
RachePs power. The storm raging In this
griefstricken breast is terrific. We trem-
bic before it as before something super,
human-gOdlike." Not long after this
Jann, who had grown despOtic in the ex,
ercise Of his critical autOcracy, and feel
ing that the traditions Of French art had
been outraged by the excessive demands
made on behalf Of his daughter by old
Felix, sought TO undo the work OF his
earlier eulogies, but unsuccessfully.
Rachel had gained the ear Of the public,
and no detract0n could avail in the pres
/ ence OF her trapscendent passion.
! The position thus gained by Rachel al
the age of II was maintained by her, al
most unquesti0ned, for II years. In 1871
! she went to England for the first time, and
| her success was unbOunded. In 1912 she
made her first visit TO Belgium. 10 was
! there that Charlotte Bronte saw her, and
TO this we owe that wonderful descrip-
ton Of her acting, the best, perhaps, that
| we possess. In lS43 she first appeared In
'Phedre," and this may be taken as the
! climax of her artistic career. The year
| lSiS-the year OF fevoluti0n-was marked
/ 10y that recitation or chant OF LA Mar
seillaise," which so profoundly impressed
all who heard IL, and which made her
popularity as unbOunded with the masses
as 10 had been with the educated public.
This is the account given OF the first Oc-
casiOn OF this unique performance: "Af-
Ter a stormy and excited representation
Ollie Greece the tricOlor nag was left, as
IL were by chance, lying on a bench IN the
forum, in the last scene Of the play.
Rachel seized it, and, with one of those
grand gestures OF hers, holding it
alolt, came on toward the fOOt-lights,
chanting, low and fierce: 'Allons,
eniants de la patrie.} The audience sat
silent and breathless, while this fate, this
fury, this goddess OF liberty-fOr to them
she represented all this--gaye a new sig
nlfcance, new meaning, to every word
and every line Of the hymn. A perfect
delirium OF excitement fell upon the .
crowd, and as the dag waved narm0ni-
ously round her men felt capable Of
her0isn and death. lie Jour ode
glOire' had dawned for them
and their country. Republicans
fell sObbing into one another's arms;
ROyalists trembled and shiveTed be-
fore the great wave of revolutionary ex-
ultaliOn that swept around them" In
the summer Of 1852 she went to Berlin at
the invitation of the King OF Prussia.
Here she met the Emperor OF Russia. who
invited her TO visit st. Petersburg the fol-
lowing summer. The visit was made,
and was a triumphal progress from begin
ming to end. The height of worldly no
less than Of artistic ambition was hers
in this intercourse with kings and en-
per0rs. But the flame of genius was fast
burning her away. She alaeady had pre-
mOniJions of the close of her career. In
1885 she wrote to Emile de Girardin: Il
feel there is something wrong. We were
speaking ofthe watch; il is as if you had
turned the key too hard-it goes craze l
often feel something going 'crac' in me
when | wind myself up to play. The day
before yesterday. in Les HOraces,' when
giving MauOant his cue, felt the 'crac. >
Y es, my friend, was breaking to pieces.n /
The last scene or her eventful public /
life was enacted in America. She had
before been urged to add the new world
to her cOnquests, but had constantly re-
fused. The incentive that at last impelled
her was the transference OF the allegiance
of her Partisan public to a young Italian
actress, Adelaide RistOri. Indignant at
this detection, she resolved to shake the
OF 1890 she appeared /
for the last time at the Coincide |
Franchise, but not now to the crowded /
houses that had ever before delighted to /
do her honor. "WOuld it have been other
wise" the writer asks, chad they known
that her name mad appeared for the last
time on the bills of the Coincide Fran /
caise-that never again would they hear /
that musical, sad voice, or see that weary,
pale face, or be moved to awe, pity, and |
terror by the sublimity and greatness Of |
that genius to which they dared to COM
pare the artificial elaboration of her ltal- |
ian rival. We, indeed, except from the
fascination of RistOrPs beautiful appear
ance and manner, find it difficult TO I'M
derstand how, for one moment, she can
have been compared to Rachel. Time
mas readiusted the scales which the pas
sions and jealOusies of the moment had
put so h0pelessly out Of gear"
On the way to America she stopped in
London for farewell season, and reached
New York in August, 1855. She had the
reception that we usually give to great
European actors. Many went 10 see
her from curiosity; few because they
could appreciate her art. The sup
port was poor. the appointments
meagre, and the success equiyO-
cal. New York, Philadelphia, last OF
all Charleston, had what was, IN spite of
all defects M support aud surroundings,
the inestimable privilege Of hearing her.
The 18th of December, 1850, was her last
appearance upon any stage, and the play,
"Adrienne," the only one OF the modern
parts created by her which still holds the
stage, and one to which she was singu-
larly we'll adapted. There are many still
living who witnessed these American
performances, and TO them her
"Phedre," her "Adrienne," and her
"Tisbe" are precious and inefface-
able memories. From Charleston she
went TO Havana, but was too
i'll to appear. Completely broken down,
she returned 10 PaEs, only to leave it for
retirement in the country. In her de.
spairing search for health she visited
Egypt in the winter Of 1856, again re-
turned to Paris the next summer, and in
the autumn once more sought the south
this time turning her weary steps toward
lie Cannot, the last place upon which her
eyes we're TO rest.
Unto lonely villa, in a dell
Above the fragrant, warm Proveucal shore
The dying Rachel In chair they bore
Up the steep pine-plumed paths Of the Es-
treble.
Here IL was that she breathed her last
on Jan. 3, 1858. And from hence her re-
mains were borne in state TO Paris, and
eloquent tongues We'd with each other TO
do honor 20 her memory.
The art Of Rachel, at its best, was in
tensely vital. She did not, by dint OF
study, acquire perfection in a part 70 re-
peat IL over thereafter with undeYlatiug
eXactitude. IL Is said that she never
played "Phedre" twice alike. During her