lost his first action against Dumas, she sent to tell him that she had 200,000 francs at his service.
She heard of the suicide of an unfortunate man, Saint-Edmé by name, who, unable to make enough to purchase the necessaries of life for himself and his four children, committed suicide. He had begun his literary career by contributing to a collection of biographies of all the notable people of the day, and amongst others had written a sketch of Rachel. She alludes to this in the following letter:—
It would be useless to endeavour to tell you the impression that the death of poor Saint-Edmé has made upon me. I read his pitiable confession in the papers, and am grieved beyond measure that I did not know of his terrible position, for I am certain I have influential friends who would have lent him a helping hand. This sad end of my first biographer depresses me dreadfully; for the last three nights I have seen the unfortunate man hanging to the block of wood ho had saved out of his firing and placed across the doors of the library, from which all the books had gone. I have re-read in his "Biographies of Remarkable People," the praises he heaped on little Rachel Félix, and I asked myself, reproachfully, if a man who had helped me so early ought thus to perish of cold, hunger, and misery; the only excuse I can plead is entire ignorance of his state. It seems he had not even money enough to buy a pistol! These sentences in his own confession are terrible in their brevity: "Alone, without comfort or hope, pursued by misfortune, poverty, humiliated, calumniated, scorned, I saw only one mode of escape from my misery—suicide." Unfortunate man! he leaves four children, and had the courage or the cowardice to die. Find out for me where the children are; I wish to send them 500 francs, my profits yesterday in Camille. I feel sad and depressed these last few days, and should like to go away for a time.
We could multiply many other instances of Rachel's kindness of heart, particularly towards genius struggling under difficulties. On one occasion a young author, very poor, and yet enjoying a certain degree of poetical reputation, had completed a three-act comedy in verse. He presented it to the Théâtre
