“You made me play before I was ready. You gave me only eight stage rehearsals, and there were only three full rehearsals of the piece. I could not make up my mind to appear under such conditions, but you insisted upon it. What I foresaw has come to pass, and the result of the performance has even gone beyond what I expected. One critic actually charges me with playing Virginie in _L’Assommoir_ instead of _L’Aventurière_! May Emile Augier and Zola absolve me! It is my first rebuff at the _Comédie_, and it shall be my last. I warned you at the dress rehearsal. You have gone too far. I now keep my word. When you receive this letter I shall have left Paris. Be good enough, Monsieur l’Administrateur, to accept my resignation as from this moment. Apr. 18, 1880. SARAH BERNHARDT.” An immense commotion at once arose, as if some tremendous political upheaval had occurred. Sarah took train and disappeared in the country, just as on a similar occasion, years before, she had suddenly gone off to Spain. The press, her fellow players, and the author of the play all poured upon her head a shower of abuse. M. Sarcey prophesied: “She had better not deceive herself. Her success will not be lasting. She is not one of those _artistes_ who can bear the whole weight of a piece on their own shoulders, and who require no assistance to hold the public attention.”[27] The _Comédie_ took legal action against her, and a few months later, when the suit was tried, Sarah was formally deprived of her standing as _sociétaire_, of her portion of the reserve fund, amounting to more than eight thousand dollars, and in addition had to pay the _Française_ damages of twenty thousand dollars. She hadn’t the money, but she soon earned it, on her first American tour. So ended, for good and all, Bernhardt’s connection with the government theatres; so abruptly did she turn a corner in her remarkable career. From her retirement Sarah announced, absurdly enough, that she would renounce the stage, and live by painting and sculpture, for these, she said, brought her thirty thousand francs ($6,000) a year. As a matter of fact, within two weeks she signed a contract with Henry E. Abbey, who post-haste crossed the ocean for the purpose, to go to America. His English agent, Jarrett, had long been importuning her to go. Now she was glad to accept.[28]