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XIX.—RACHEL.
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w Mademoiselle Kaohel Felix was born on ...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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( 158 )
( 158 )
Xix.—Rachel.
XIX . —RACHEL .
W Mademoiselle Kaohel Felix Was Born On ...
w Mademoiselle Kaohel Felix was born on the 24 th . of March , 1820 ,
of poor Jewish parents . To gain a precarious livelihood , she and her sister used to sing in the streets and cafSs of Paris , Rachel
accompany young ing herself to a little cracked guitar . The wonderful expression . she gave her songs , the fire of her black eyes , and the
animation of her countenance attracted the attention of the celebrated Choronwho received the " wandering minstrel " into his musical
, class . —Soon however her tragic talents developed themselves , and she relinquished the boards of the Opera , to become the dramatic
pupil of Monsieur St . Aulaire . Under his instructions she remained four yearsduring -which he laboured to inspire her with a taste for
classical traged , y , though her own inclinations were decidedly in favour of comedy . After some private representations , wherein she
gained great applause , she was received at the Gymnase on the 24 th of April , 1837 . Her success however was scarcely decided until the
following year , when she appeared at the Theatre Fran _^ ais , in the part of Camillein ' Les Horaces ; ' since then she , this delicate
, and fragile creature , held the undisputed sceptre at this theatrewhenever her name appeared on the bills the house was crowded to
overflowing . What emotions throbbed in the spectator ' s heart , at the the walkthe gesturethe voice of this actress , who ,
weak appearance slender , , seeming , , off the boards , , as though she had hardly power , to breathe or speak , became powerful , ardent , inspired from
the moment she stepped on the stage !—Rachel is remembered by all as the divinest inspiration of the ideal . " I would have given , " says
Maurice Albert , at 18 , "I would have given twenty years of my life onlto have touched Rachel's glove ; and when later , in my
artist ' s career y , I met her , spoke to her , dined with her , offered my arm to conduct her to her carriageI felt the happiness , passion , and
enthusiasmwhich must have made , the priests of Minerva tremble when they , approached the statue of the goddess . I was one of the
last , two years ago , to bid her adieu , and to endeavour vainly to dissuade her from the fatal American tour which has torn her from us .
She is dead—this woman , this artist , this genius , this divinity . . . „ There are three Empressesand ten Queens in Europe—there was
, one Rachel , and now there is none ! " Mademoiselle Rachel died on Sunday , January 3 rd , 1858 , at the
village of Cannet . The following day her remains were embalmed , and laced in a double coffin of lead and walnut-tree wood . The
funeral p was attended by many of the living celebrities of the day , and was marked by all the solemnities of the Jewish persuasion .
The burial-ground appropriated for this religion is situated at the
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Citation
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English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), May 1, 1858, page 158, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01051858/page/14/
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