Page:Rachel (1887 Nina H. Kennard).djvu/97

 gift. Although not without intelligence, she had no refinement or perception of the delicate shades of difference in expressing emotion. Rachel was much blamed for using her influence to obtain Sarah's admission into the Comédie Française, where she appeared for the first time on the 24th May 1849, as Célimène in the Misanthrope. The Parisian public shrugged their shoulders and said, "Going to the Théâtre Français was like going to the synagogue." Rachel's influence was not strong enough to stem the condemnation universally bestowed upon Sarah by the critics, and she was obliged to accept an engagement at the Odéon, where, in November 1851, she created the rôle of Caroline de Lussan in the Droits de l'homme, by PremarayPrémaray [sic]. This was the only piece in which Sarah ever was successful. The Théâtre Français, in consequence, re-engaged her, but her stay was limited, and she soon made up her mind to definitely quit the theatre. She found a more lucrative pursuit in the manufacture of toilet washes, and made a fortune by the sale of her celebrated "eau des fées," which bears her name and is still extensively patronised. She died at Paris on the 12th January 1877.

Rachel's other sisters all enjoyed a considerable reputation on the stage. Rebecca, indeed, who was nine years younger than Rachel, was at one time looked upon as a most promising recruit in the ranks of the Comédie Française. Rachel devoted herself to the cultivation of her younger sister's talent; she smoothed the difficulties of her profession for her as much as she could, and from Rebecca's earliest years took her under her protection. One of the first letters in the series published by M. Heylli, is a charming one from Rachel to her mother on the subject of the little sister.