Page:Great Men and Famous Women Volume 8.djvu/240

 864 ARTISTS AND AUTHORS was teaching herself writing by copying the manuscript of others. Presently she was studying elocution under M. St. Aulaire, an old actor retired from the Fran- cais, who took pains with the child, instructing her gratuitously and calling her " ma petite diablesse." The performances of M. St. Aulaire's pupil were occa- sionally witnessed by the established players, among them Monval of the Gym- nase and Samson of the Comedie. Monval approved and encouraged the young actress, and upon the recommendation of Samson she entered the classes of the Conservatoire, over which he presided, with Michelot and Provost as his co- Drofessors. At the Conservatoire Rachel made little progress. All her efforts failed to win the good opinion of her preceptors. In despair she resolved to abandon altogether the institution, its classes and performances. She felt herself neglected, aggrieved, insulted. " Tartuffe " had been announced for representation by the pupils ; she had been assigned the mute part of Flipote, the serving-maid, who simply appears upon the scene in the first act that her ears may be soundly boxed by Madame Pernelle. To this humiliation she would not submit. She hurried to her old friend, St. Aulaire, who consulted Monval, who commended her to his manager, M. Poirson. She entered into an engagement to serve the Gym- K^se for a term of three years upon a salary of 3,000 francs. M. Poirson was quick to perceive that she was not as so many other beginners were ; that there was something new and startling about the young actress. He obtained for her first appearance, from M. Paul Duport, a little melodrama in two acts. It was called " La Venddenne," and owed its more striking scenes to " The Heart of Midlothian." After the manner of Jeanie Deans, Genevieve, the heroine of the play, footsore and travel-stained, seeks the presence of the Empress Josephine to implore the pardon of a Vendean peasant condemned to death for following George Cadoudal. " La Vendeenne," produced on April 24, 1837, and received with great applause, was played on sixty successive nights, but not to very crowded audiences. The press scarcely noticed the new actress. The critic of the Journal des DSais, however, while rashly affirming that Rachel was not a phenomenon and would never be extolled as a wonder, carefully noted certain of the merits and characteristics of her performance. " She was an unskilled child, but she possessed heart, soul, intellect. There was something bold, abrupt, un- couth about her aspect, gait, and manner. She was dressed simply and truth- fully in the coarse woollen gown of a peasant-girl ; her hands were red ; her voice was harsh and untrained, but powerful ; she acted without effort or exag- geration ; she did not scream or gesticulate unduly ; she seemed to perceive in- tuitively the feeling she was required to express, and could interest the audience greatly, moving them to tears. She was not pretty, but she pleased," etc. Bouff 6, who witnessed this representation, observed : " What an odd little girl ! Assuredly there is something in her. But her place is not here.' So judged Samson also, becoming more and more aware of the merits of his former pupil. She was transferred to the Francais to play the leading characters in tragedy, at a salary of 4,000 francs a year. M. Poirson did not hesitate to cancel her agree