oice did not promise much, however; as she confessed, she
could not sing--she could only recite. She had received but the
scantiest and meanest education; she read with difficulty; she 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 Francais, who took pains with the child,
instructing her gratuitously and calling her "ma petite diablesse."
The performances of M. St. Aulaire's pupil were occasionally witnessed
by the established players, among them Monval of the Gymnase 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-professors.

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 Gymnase 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 Vendeenne," 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 Debats_, however, while rashly affirming that Rachel was not a
phenomenon and would never b