and the enormous sums paid to her at the present time more than double
the amounts which Jenny Lind received, and which in that day were
regarded as fabulous.
On a natural plateau, surrounded by picturesque vales, and situated in
the heart of the very wildest and most romantic part of South Wales,
between Brecon and Swansea, and at the base of the Rock of the Night,
stands the Castle of Craig-y-nos. This is the nightingale's nest. The
princely fortune which Patti has accumulated has enabled her so to
beautify and enlarge her home, that it now contains all the luxuries
which Science and Art have enabled Fortune's favorites to enjoy; and
so crowded is it with curios and valuables that it may best be
described as "the home of all Art yields or Nature can decree."
Here, in picturesque seclusion, surrounded by a unique splendor
created by her own exertions, lives this gifted and beautiful
songstress. She is the "Lady Bountiful" of the entire district,
extending many miles around the castle, over which she presides with
such hospitable grace. The number of grateful hearts she has won in
the Welsh country by her active benevolence is almost as great as is
the legion of enthusiastic admirers she has enlisted by the wonderful
beauty of her voice and the series of artistic triumphs, which have
been absolutely without parallel during the present century.
SARAH BERNHARDT
By H. S. EDWARDS
(BORN 1844)
A little girl, as Sarcey relates, once presented herself at the Paris
Conservatoire in order to pass the examination for admission. All she
knew was the fable of the "Two Pigeons," but she had no sooner recited
the lines--
"Deux pigeons s'aimaient d'amour tendre,
L'un d'eux, s'ennuyant au logis"--
than Auber stopped her with a gesture. "Enough," he said. "Come here,
my child." The little girl, who was pale and thin, but whose eyes
gleamed with intelligence, approached him with an air of assurance.
"Your name is Sarah?" he said.
"Yes, sir." was the reply.
"You are a Jewess?"
"Yes, sir, by birth; but I have been baptized."
"She has been baptized," said Auber, turning to his colleagues. "It
would have been a pity if such a pretty child had not. She said her
fable of the 'Two Pigeons' very well. She must be admitted."
[Illustration: Sarah Bernhardt.]
Thus Sarah Bernhardt, for it was she, entered the Conservatoire. She
was a Jewess of French and Dutch parentage, and was born at Paris in
1844. Her father, after having her baptized, had placed her in a
convent; but she had already secretly determined to become an actress.
In her course of study at the Conservatoire she so distinguished
herself that she received a prize which entitled her to a _debut_ at
the Theatre Francais. She selected the part of Iphigenie, in which she
appeared on August 11, 1862; and at least one newspaper drew special
attention to her performance, describing her as "pretty and elegant,"
and particularly praising her perfect enunciation. She afterward
played other parts at the Theatre Francais, but soon transferred
herself from that house to the Gymnase, though not until she had made
herself notorious by having, as was alleged, slapped the face of a
sister-actress in a fit of temper.
The director of the Gymnase did not take too serious a view of his new
actress, who turned up late at rehearsals, and sometimes did not turn
up at all. Nor did her acting make any great impression at the
Gymnase, where, it is true, she was only permitted to appear on
Sundays. At this theatre she lost no time in exhibiting that
independence and caprice to which, as much as to her talent, she owes
her celebrity. The day after the first representation of a piece by
Labiche, "Un Mari qui Lance sa Femme," in which she had undertaken an
important part, she stealthily quitted Paris, addressing to the author
a letter in which she begged him to forgive her.
After a tour in Spain, Sarah returned to Paris, and appeared at the
Odeon. Here she created a certain number of characters, in such plays
as "Les Arrets," "Le Drame de la Rue de la Paix," and "Le Batard," but
chiefly distinguished herself in "Ruy Blas," and in a translation of
"King Lear." Already she had riveted the attention of the public and
the press, who saw that a brilliant future lay before her.
At the end of 1872 she appeared at the Comedie Francaise, and with
such distinction that she was retained, first as a pensionnaire, at a
salary of six thousand francs, and afterward as a _societaire_. Her
successes were rapid and dazzling, and whether she appeared in modern
comedy, in classic tragedy, or as the creator of characters in
entirely new plays, the theatre was always crowded. Her melodious
voice and pure enunciation, her singularly varied accents, her
pathos, her ardent bursts of passion, were such that her audience, as
they hung upon her lips, forgot the caprices and eccentricities by
which she was already characterized in private life. It seemed,
however, that Sarah's ambition was to gain personal notoriety even
more than theatrical fame; and by her performances of one kind or
another outside the theatre make herself the talk of society. She
affected to paint, to chisel, and to write; sent pictures to the
Salon, published eccentric books, and exhibited busts. She would
receive her friends palette in hand, and in the dress of a male
artist. She had a luxurious coffin made for her, covered with velvet,
in which she loved to recline; and she more than once went up in a
balloon.
Her caprice, whether in private or public, was altogether unrestrained.
In 1880 Emile Augier's admirable comedy, "L'Aventuriere," was revived at
the Comedie Francaise, and the author confided the part of Clorinde to
Sarah Bernhardt. After the first representation, however, she was so
enraged by an uncomplimentary newspaper criticism that she sent in her
resignation to M. Emile Perrin, director of the theatre, quitted Paris,
and went to England, where she gave a series of representations, and,
appearing there for the first time, caused a veritable sensation in
London society. Meanwhile, M. Perrin instituted against her, in the name
of the Comedie Francaise, a lawsuit for breach of contract, with damages
laid at three hundred thousand francs. It was at this juncture that
Sarah accepted the offers of an enterprising manager for a tour in
America, where she achieved no less phenomenal successes than in Europe.
A sensational account of this American tour was afterward published by
one of her associates, Mlle. Marie Colombier, under the title of
"Sarah Bernhardt en Amerique." This was followed by a second volume
from the same pen, entitled "Sarah Barnum." The latter book, as its
title suggests, was not intended as a compliment; and Sarah Bernhardt
brought an action against the writer, by which she was compelled to
expunge from her scandalous volume all that was offensive.
The rest of Sarah's career is too recent to be traced in detail. Nor
can the life of an actress of our own time be dealt with so freely as
that of a Sophie Arnould or an Adrienne Lecouvreur.
From America Sarah returned to Paris, where she revived all her old
successes, and where, in 1888, at the Odeon, she produced a one-act
comedy from her own pen, entitled "L'Aveu," which met with a somewhat
frigid reception. She has appeared in several of Shakespeare's plays
with great success, but her most ambitious and perhaps most admirable
productions of late years have been her Cleopatra, first produced in
Paris in 1890, and her Joan of Arc.
Among her numerous eccentricities, Mlle. Bernhardt once got married;
London, by reason of the facilities it affords for this species of
recreation, being chosen as the scene of the espousals. The hero of
the matrimonial comedy, which was soon followed by a separation, to
which, after many adventures on the part of both husband and wife, a
reconciliation succeeded, was M. Damala, a Greek gentleman, possessed
of considerable histrionic talent, who died in 1880.
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[Illustration: Signatures of the authors.]
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