Mr. Punch's History of Modern England, Vol. 2 (of 4).—1857-1874Graves, Charles L. (Charles Larcom)
History
Mr. Punch's History of Modern England, Vol. 2 (of 4).—1857-1874
Graves, Charles L. (Charles Larcom)
Great Britain -- History -- Victoria, 1837-1901 -- Humor
The lady's business having been knocked down by the Judges, her
effects are about to be knocked down by the auctioneer. The
catalogue and sale bills are quite overpowering to the imagination.
The drawing-rooms and principal apartments are said to "present
splendour and magnificence difficult to describe." There are
candelabra (brass and lacquer probably) formerly belonging to the
Emperor Napoleon, and incense-burners once the property of the King
of Delhi! "Dispersed through the house are numerous works of Art
and articles of virtu, many of them presentations from Madame
Rachel's distinguished patronesses."
[Sidenote: _Fashions in Coiffure_]
_Punch_ headed his remarks "Madame Rachel's Last Appearance," but the
heading was premature. Released on a ticket-of-leave in 1872 Madame
Rachel boldly renewed her operations in Duke Street, Portland Place, in
1873, and continued them till 1878, when she was sentenced a second time
to five years' penal servitude for swindling another client, and died in
Woking Prison on October 12, 1880. The curious may turn for further
details to the reminiscences of Serjeant Ballantine and Montagu
Williams. Both Serjeant Ballantine and Montagu Williams appeared for the
prosecution in the Borradaile case. There were two trials: in the first,
held in August, the jury disagreed. It is perhaps not unfair to say that
the heavy sentence passed by Mr. Commissioner Kerr was due more to
Madame Rachel's demerits and her record than to the merits of the case.
But she had not merely obtained money under false pretences: she was a
forger and a blackmailer as well. Ballantine, who could not be accused
of squeamishness, had known of her in earlier days and describes her as
"one of the most filthy and dangerous moral pests that have existed in
my time and within my observation."[34] Montagu Williams, who gives a
full account of the trial, calls her a "wicked old woman," but contents
himself with observing that the case "afforded a striking illustration
of the vanity of some women, and of what tricks can be played upon them
by the artful."[35] Madame Rachel does not appear in the D.N.B., though
less remarkable impostors have found a niche in that comprehensive
temple of native talent, and her fame was not confined to one
hemisphere. One of the springs on the shores of Lake Rotorua in New
Zealand was named "The Madame Rachel Bath" in virtue of its medicinal
and rejuvenating qualities.
[Footnote 34: _Some Experiences of a Barrister's Life._]
[Footnote 35: _Leaves of a Life._]
[Illustration: FASHIONS FOR THE COMING SEASON
From the "Journal des Coiffeurs."
(_The ladies have already begun._)]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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