MADEMOISELLE RACHEL, THE FRENCH TRAGIC ACTRESS.

THE first appearance in London of Mademoiselle RACHEL, the extra- ordinary young actress who stepped at once to the summit of histrionic greatness in Paris, and the inspiration of whose genius has revived French classical tragedy, drew together crowds of theatrical cogno- scenti, and a considerable number of the Hebrew race, at the Italian Opera-house on Monday. The reception of the Sr000Ns of the Theatre Francais was enthusiastic, and her success triumphant : the startling no- velty and brilliancy of her performance at once achieved a conquest over the audience, carrying them away in spite of national prejudices against an artificial and effete form of drama alien to English notions. Mademoiselle RACHEL personated Hermione in RACINE'S Andromague ; which is little better than a congelation of triste epigrams : but the ac- tress gave vitality to the frigid form of rhetorical art, creating a soul under ribs of ice, and making the petrific mould of the author's concep• tion glow with the fervour of passion. She seemed a Greek statue, animated with Promethean fire ; fulminating with electric effect the points of RACINE'S verse by the force of her declamation ; manifesting the while in her tremulous movements, quivering lips, and flashing eyes, the throes of human agony. Hermione does not appear till the second act, and during the first the other performers had only excited ridicule and contempt ; but the moment RACHEL entered the scene was com- pletely changed: her commanding presence filled the house with ad- miration, and the first words she spoke rivetted the attention. In person, Mademoiselle RACHEL is of middle stature, slightly but beautifully formed ; and her head is of Grecian contour, with features regular though petite : the only indications of her Hebrew parentage are the jet-black hair and lustrous dark eyes, which appear small be- neath their low level brows. Her step is firm and unconstrained, and her air and movements are eminently graceful and seemingly un- studied : she gesticulates little, and her action is the reverse of redun- dant, but upon occasions requiring extreme vehemence it is wildly ener- getic. The distinguishing characteristic of her manner is calm, deter- mined self-possession, wholly free from meretricious assumption or ob- trusiveness, and rising to the height of intrepidity without exaggeration or unfeminine audacity. Her great power appears to lie in the expres- sion of the angry passions : her disdain and indignation are terribly beautiful, and she launches an invective with a glance that scathes like lightning. Her voice is sweet, full-toned, and melodious, but not powerful ; it even fails in the violence of rage ; it is, however, suscep- tible of the most delicate modulations : the peculiar charm of her de- clamation, indeed, consists in the intense meaning conveyed by its ex- quisite variety of inflection : for distinctness, significance, and force, her enunciation is marvellous : she throws the whole strength of her will into the utterance of a single word, which falls upon the ear with a weight of import increased by the velocity of its delivery. So lovely a young creature and one so gentle and unaffected as she is described to be in private life, cannot surely be deficient in tenderness ; though her power of expressing feelings of pity and love is said to be far inferior to her demonstrations of jealousy, scorn, and hate. There is little if any scope for the softer emotions in Hermione; which is spoken of as RACHEL'S finest part. RACINE represents Hermione as writhing under the tortures of unrequited love for Pyrrhus ; and in the first transports of resentment at his perfidy and indifference inciting Orestes to murder him ; her subsequent abhorrence of that deed, and hatred and contempt for the perpetrator, forming the climax of her misery. "Hell has no fury like a woman scorned ; and in the case of Hermione the pangs of remorse are superadded : scarcely a gleam of hope, much less of joy, relieves the gloom of this fierce conflict of bad passions. Love turned to hate, bitter mortification and vindictiveness self-baffied by the very act of revenge, constitute the source of the tragic emotions ; and these find vent in long-winded, laboured amplifications on the causes of wo, intermingled with reproaches and invectives, that tend to exasperate rather than allay the feelings. To discharge this galvanic battery of anguish and resentment with the requisite number of shocks of the utmost intensity, is the painful task of Mademoiselle RACHEL in Hermione ; and she performs it most effectually, apparently con amore. In the second and third acts she was meditative and sup- dued—the calm before the storm, interrupted by occasional fitful de- notements of the coming tempest, which in the fourth act burst forth with uncontrollable fury ; the first bolt of vengeance being levelled at Pyrrhus. The effect of this outbreak was appalling " Courez an temple. II fast immoler- Oreste. Qui ?

Hermione. Pyrrhus."

The way in which this single word " Pyrrhus " was uttered, sent a shudder through the audience : from that moment the woman was transformed into a daimon. To enumerate the different points of the dialogue which she caused to explode with terrific power, would be to quote every scene in which she appears : the comment of her look was scarcely less eloquent while she listened than when she spoke. In the midst of the whirlwind of passion there was nothing overcharged or ex- travagant ; her pale and troubled countenance was the mirror that re- flected the turmoil within her breast. In this consists the distinguish- ing excellence of her performance : instead of making efforts to simulate the signs of emotion, she appears labouring to suppress what she is unable to control, and her most violent action seems only an

irresistible impulse. •

Our unqualified eulogy of.,the powers of RACHEL'S tragic acting must, however, be understood to apply to it as the utterance of French tragedy, with its ceremonial formality, artificial modes, and narrow, petty, shallow emotions : we see not the human soul agitated to its profound depths, as in the tragedy of SHAxSfERx, but a drawing-room scene,

where the pain is personal and superficial, and passion is but the quint- essence of ill-temper. Rectaqz would put the snaky tresses of Medusa en papillottes. In Hermione, wounded self-love, not generous devotion, is the mainspring : her agony is but intense vexation, her vindictive

fury but venomous spite, and her remorse only intolerable chagrin. It is not possible for the player to give sublimity to grovelling desires

and base-born resentments ; but so far does the consummate skill and

fine genius of RACHEL succeed in elevating and expanding the polished littleness of RACINE, that we are disposed to think she might have

attained a commensurate degree of greatness in embodying Lady Mac-

beth, had she been reared in the dramatic soil of the English stage. In an imitative art like acting, the powers receive the direction and in- , press of the school they are trained in : of the French school RACHEL is at the head, taking rank with TALMA and GEORGES ; and the excel- lences of her style may be studied by the actors of our own country with great advantage. That "one touch of nature " that " makes the whole world kin " is not wanting in RACHEL.

The applause elicited by her performance throughout and at the close was fervent to a pitch of rapture ; and when she came before the curtain at the call of the audience, no longer the self-possessed actress having an ideal character to assume, she stood fixed to the spot, and seemed about to sink down, overpowered by her feelings, when some one stepped forward to assist her off.

A word to the manager. As there is only one scene required for the entire tragedy, LAPORTE might have gone to the expense of a Greek

interior, instead of making Andromache enter a Roman palace furnished with two old chairs in covers painted to look like white marble. We think, too, he ought to have got together a better company, considering the prices demanded. Pylades and Orestes looked like a couple of scarecrows. A shout of laughter is not the most fitting conclusion even to a French tragedy.

The following sketch, taken from the Morning Post of Tuesday, may gratify the curiosity of those who desire to know more of the career of the gifted debutante.

" Mademoiselle Rachel, whose family name is, we believe, Felix, is about twenty years of age; and was born of Israelite parents, in humble circum- stances. When scarcely fourteen, she frequented a school of declamation at Paris, kept by Saint Aulaire, an actor of the Theatre Francais ; and even at that early period displayed an intelligence, energy, and knowledge of scenic effect, such as to make some persons who visited the school predict her a bright

career. In 1837, circumstances induced her to appear at the Gymnase in a light piece called La Vendienne ; but her exertions were unnoticed by the

public, and she relapsed into obscurity. Nevertheless, her spirits did not sink

under the disappointment ; her dramatic instinct prevailed, and she persevered in her favourite pursuit—tragedy—with renewed ardour. She was diligently

studying the chefs-d'auvre of Corneille and Racine in silent hopes of better days, when she had the good fortune to attract the attention of a distinguished actor of the Theatre Francais ; who discerning her capacity, gave her advice and encouragement, and, with the assistance of one of those who bad foretold

her future eminence, procured her an engagement at the Theatre Francais. On that classic stage she made her debut in June 1838, as Camille, in Cor- neille's Horaces : and such was her success, that the Parisian public almost immediately proclaimed her a tragedian of the first order,—a judgment which her performance of five or six other parts has since fully confirmed."