CENTRAL PARIS (_continued_).
The Rue Saint-Denis--Saint-Leu-Saint-Gilles--George
Cadoudal--Saint-Eustache--The Central Markets--The General Post Office.
[Illustration: RUE DE BIRAGUE, LEADING TO THE PLACE DES VOSGES.]
The Rue Saint-Denis is by ancient tradition, and still in the present
day, as a matter of fact, the favourite abode of the French bourgeois.
Our aldermen have long ceased to live in the City, and a John Gilpin of
our own time, wherever his place of business might be, would have his
private residence at Clapham or Brixton, at Holloway or Highgate. The
Paris tradesman, however, still lives, like the M. Jourdain in Molière's
"Bourgeois Gentilhomme," above his shop; and his shop, in a good many
typical cases, is, as it was two centuries ago, in the Rue Saint-Denis.
"La Grande Rue Saint-Denis" the street was formerly called; and, as it
is upwards of three-quarters of a mile long, it may be said to deserve
its name. It is even now the most central and the most commercial street
in Paris. According to Sanval, one of the many historians of the French
capital, it is the street _par excellence_ of all Paris. Voltaire, on
the other hand, detested this street, and had good reasons for doing so.
One day, when he was but seventeen years of age, he found himself by
chance in the Rue Saint-Denis, with his purse well filled, at the very
moment when an auctioneer was selling the goods of an unfortunate man
who had not been able to pay his taxes. A carriage, with two horses, and
the livery of the indispensable footmen, was put up, and in a sudden fit
of wildness, the young philosopher, not yet philosophical, purchased
the lot. The coachman, who was looking on, offered his services, which
the youthful Voltaire at once accepted. "Put in the horses and get
up on the box," he said; and the schoolboy, who had just left the
Jesuits' College, was seen driving along the Rue Saint-Denis; not,
however, for any length of time. The coachman he had engaged, an awkward
fellow, managed, at the corner of the street, to upset the carriage.
Voltaire's ardour now subsided and he lost no time in getting rid of his
newly-acquired equipage. The Rue Saint-Denis, in consequence, no doubt,
of this accident, had made a bad impression on Voltaire; and in after
days he never spoke of it without sarcasm.
[Illustration: FOUNTAIN OF THE INNOCENTS.]
The Rue Saint-Denis was originally nothing but a highway leading to
the Abbey of Saint-Denis; and one of its frequenters is said to have
been that very Saint Denis whose name it was afterwards to bear. The
highway, thanks to its central position, was soon lined with houses, and
before long every house in the street had its shop. Along this great
thoroughfare the kings and queens of France passed in returning from
their coronations; and it was by the same road that they proceeded to
their last resting-place. The Rue Saint-Denis became at once the central
line of communication and the central commercial street of Paris. Then
it was that the name of "La Grande Rue Saint-Denis" was given to it--a
title it well might bear even in the present day.
The Rue Saint-Denis connects the quarter of the "halles," or public
markets, with the Bonne Nouvelle quarter. After crossing the Rue
Saint-Honoré the Rue Saint-Denis breaks off on the left, interrupted by
the Square of the Innocents, in the centre of which stands the fountain
of the same name. This square replaces the Market of the Innocents
abolished in 1860. The fountain dates from the thirteenth century,
having been repaired in 1550 by Pierre Lescot, with Jean Goujon for
his assistant. Despite the many alterations and modifications it has
undergone, the fountain is still remarkable for a certain nobility and
grace. But the five water-nymphs of Jean Goujon, worn by the rays of the
sun and by the spray of the cascade, show signs of decay; and it has
been proposed to replace them by copies, while preserving the originals
in the Louvre.
A little higher up on the right is the Church of Saint-Leu-Saint-Gilles,
founded in 1235, and raised to the position of parish church in 1617.
It has been so often repaired and reconstructed that very little of
the original building remains. The church possesses a portrait of
Saint-François de Salles, painted after his death by Philippe de
Champagne, and a picture of the year 1772, embodying the legend of
the soldier who was burnt in 1415 for having stabbed with his knife an
image of the Virgin which stood at the corner of the Rue aux Ours, now
known as Rue de la Bourse. The image, according to the tradition, shed
blood in atonement for the soldier's profanity. An expiatory festival,
which lasted three days, used to be celebrated up to the time of the
Revolution.
It was in the Church of Saint-Leu-Saint-Gilles that an heroic priest
dared, in 1793, at the height of the Reign of Terror, to say a mass for
the soul of the Princesse de Lamballe immediately after her execution.
Here, too, George Cadoudal, the Vendean chief, pursued by the police,
concealed himself for several days in one of the subterranean tombs.
Cadoudal was the son of a farmer. But like all classes in La Vendée, he
was devoted to the Monarchy, and joined one of the first bands formed
during the Reign of Terror to fight against the Revolution. After the
defeat of the principal corps, Cadoudal was arrested and imprisoned at
Brest. He made his escape, however, and soon became one of the most
formidable leaders of the rebellion in Brittany, known as that of the
Chouans--so called from their cry of recognition resembling that of the
screech-owl or _chouette_. In 1796 he surrendered to Hoche, and was
pardoned on condition of not again bearing arms against the Republic.
This, however, did not prevent him from heading a new insurrection in
1799. Again defeated, he was received in conference by General Brune,
and was once more released on the same conditions as before. The First
Consul wished to take him into his service, but Cadoudal would listen to
no offers from one whom he regarded as a usurper. He now, in the year
1800, left France for England, where he received, with congratulations
on the part of the English Government, the rank of lieutenant-general
and the Grand Cordon of Saint Louis, the commission and the decoration
being both handed to him by the Count of Artois in the name of Louis
XVIII.
[Illustration: SAINT-EUSTACHE.]
After many vain attempts to bring about a new insurrection in the west
of France, he resolved to attack Bonaparte's Government in Paris itself,
and sent on one of his officers, Saint-Régent, to prepare the way for
him. He afterwards denied all complicity in Saint-Régent's plot against
Bonaparte's life. "He was at Paris," said Cadoudal, "in obedience to my
orders, but I never ordered him to construct and employ his infernal
machine." Cadoudal was in Brittany at the time. But closely pursued, he
was advised once more to take refuge in England, where, with Pichegru
and the Count of Artois, he prepared another plot against the First
Consul, who was now to be arrested and carried away.
In August, 1803, Cadoudal went to Paris, and remained there, in spite
of the constant search of which he was the object, for seven months.
He was at last arrested in a hackney-cab, but not until after he had
killed one of the police agents. Brought to trial, he avowed that his
object had been to upset the Government in order to place Louis XVIII.
on the throne. He was executed with eleven of his accomplices. After the
Restoration his family was ennobled by Louis XVIII.
The Church of Saint-Leu-Saint-Gilles was converted during the Revolution
into a salt-petre store, and then fell into the possession of Jews, from
whom it was bought back when public worship was restored in France.
Further on is the Abbey of Saint-Magloire, and beyond that the asylum
of Saint-Jacques aux Pelerins, which dates from the early part of the
fourteenth century. In 1317 under the reign of Philip V., called The
Long, many notable and devout persons who had made the pilgrimage to
Saint James Compostella in Galicia, moved by devotion, meditated the
construction of a church and an asylum in the Rue Saint-Denis, to the
glory of God, the Holy Virgin, and Saint James the Apostle, in order to
lodge and feed the pilgrims, whether going or coming. The church was
built with an asylum joined to it, and it was open, not only to the
pilgrims, but also to seventy poor persons whom it received every day.
The Abbey of Saint-Magloire dates from the tenth century, when it stood
half-way on the road from the Cité to Saint-Denis. It was converted by
Marie de Médicis into a convent known as that of the Filles-Dieu, where
penitent girls found shelter. It was suppressed, like all the other
religious houses, in 1793. Some fifty years afterwards the foundations
of the convent, which had fallen into ruin, were being dug up with a
view to some new building, when ten Gothic statues were discovered,
mutilated and blackened. Among the stone figures Saint James was easily
recognised by his pilgrim's costume. The statues were claimed by the
town, and now figure in the Musée des Thermes. The shop which at present
occupies the site of the ancient convent has for its sign:--"Aux Statues
de Saint-Jacques."
Another famous convent existed at one time in the Rue Saint-Jacques--the
Convent of the Holy Sepulchre it was called, also known as the Hôtel of
the Trinity. Built for the pilgrims returning from the East, it was kept
up until the taking of Constantinople, more than a hundred years later.
The Holy Sepulchre having then fallen into the hands of the Turks,
the idea of making pilgrimages to it came to an end; and the hostelry
for pilgrims to the Holy Land was no longer required. The convent was
now occupied by the Brothers of the Passion, who had obtained letters
patent from Charles VI. empowering them to play religious mysteries.
Thus the earliest of French theatres stood in the Rue Saint-Denis. It
has been said that the kings of France made their coronation processions
along the Rue Saint-Denis; and when Louis XI. was crowned, fountains of
wine, milk, and mead were established over the whole length of the Rue
Saint-Denis. In the present day the Rue Saint-Denis has lost much of its
ancient animation through the formation of the Boulevard de Sebastopol.
But under the ancient _régime_ it was really the leading thoroughfare
in Paris. When, after the surrender of Paris to Henri IV., the Spanish
garrison marched away, they defiled down the Rue Saint-Denis, while the
king, standing at an open window, called out: "Now go home, and do not
let us see you here again." The Rue du Faubourg Saint-Denis, on the
other side of the boulevard, is less rich in historical associations
than the Rue Saint-Denis itself. It may be mentioned, however, that at
Saint-Lazare the bodies of the French kings made a halt on their way to
their last resting-place in the Abbey of Saint-Denis.
The region comprised between the left side of the Rue Saint-Denis, the
Rue de Rivoli on the south, the Rue Croix des Petits Champs on the west,
and the Rue Étienne Marcel on the north, forms the vast quarter of the
markets, with the parish church of Saint-Eustache, the Protestant Temple
of the Oratory, the Central Markets, and the old Corn Market as its
principal features.
Saint-Eustache is one of the most remarkable and one of the most admired
churches in Paris. Erected on the site of an ancient chapel dedicated
to Saint Agnes, which dated from the first years of the thirteenth
century, it was already a parish church, under the invocation of Saint
Eustache, in 1223. In the course of the next three centuries it became
the richest and most frequented church in Paris. After Notre Dame, the
Church of Saint-Eustache is the largest in Paris. Its coloured windows,
signed Soulignac, and dating from the year 1631, eleven in number,
are admirable alike by colour and by design. In addition to its mural
paintings, dating from the reign of Louis XIII. (discovered beneath a
thick coat of plaster in 1849), Saint-Eustache contains a number of
frescoes and paintings of high merit. In the Ninth Chapel the tomb of
the great Colbert, executed by Coysevox, after the designs of Lebrun, is
to be seen. The grand organ, reconstructed in 1844 after a destructive
fire, is one of the most complete and most sonorous that exists. This
church, thanks to its colossal dimensions and to the perfection of its
organs (one at each end), is the favourite church of musicians; and it
is here that the Society of Musical Artists celebrates annually the
festival of Saint-Cecilia, their revered patroness. On such occasions a
new mass or musical service of some kind is given; and it was in this
church that the Abbé Liszt had one of his most famous masses performed
only a few months before his death. The angle formed by the meeting of
the streets called Montmartre, Pont-Neuf, Montorgueil, and Rambuteau, is
known as the "Saint-Eustache Point." It dominates the vast quadrilateral
occupied by the Central Markets.
The Central Markets were founded by Philip Augustus, and they were soon
surrounded by houses and shops. These markets in their present form were
constructed on one design, and, so to say, at a stroke, under the reign
of Napoleon III., by the architect Beltard, who sought his model in the
finest of the Paris railway stations. The principal office of the fish
market, at the corner of the Rue Pirouette and of the Rue Rambuteau, is
in the ancient Hôtel du Heaume, a building of the fourteenth century. At
number 108, Rue Rambuteau, was born Regnard, author of "The Gambler" and
of "The Universal Legatee," the house having been owned by his father,
a fish salesman beneath the sign of Notre Dame. A little nearer the
Church of Saint-Eustache, just at the mouth of the Rue de la Réalle,
stands a house which once belonged to the carpet-maker, Jean Poquelin,
and afterwards to his son and heir, J. B. Poquelin, better known by his
adopted name of Molière. For the name of Poquelin, by the way, he was
indebted to an ancestor serving in the Scottish Guard, who bore the
surname and came from the place of Pawkelin.
[Illustration: A MARKET SCENE.]
The Paris markets are the scene of constant activity from morning till
evening. Buying and selling comes to an end, it is true, with the
approach of night; but then the remains of what has been sold, with
rubbish of all kinds, have to be cleared away, and scarcely has this
been done, when market carts arrive with produce for the next day.
The provisions brought to Paris are either sold to the factors of the
market, who buy wholesale and sell retail, or to the market men and
market women, or to any private person whom it may suit to become a
purchaser. The finest, best, and most highly quoted vegetables and
fruits come from the suburbs of Paris, where kitchen-gardening is
carried to the last point of perfection. The farmers and gardeners of
the environs, whose heavily-laden carts arrive towards nine in the
evening, are their own salesmen in the markets. The growers of the
departments and of Algeria send their fruit and their fresh vegetables
to factors or commissioners, to be sold either in Pavilion Number
6--reserved for this kind of business--or at shops established in the
neighbourhood of the markets.
[Illustration: AN AUCTION SALE OF POULTRY IN THE CENTRAL MARKET.]
It is calculated that in the course of the year the sales of fruit
and vegetables amount to 241 millions of kilogrammes (one kilogramme
represents upwards of two pounds), to which must be added nine million
kilogrammes of fresh grapes, 30 million kilogrammes of sea and river
fish (including lobsters and crayfish), eight million kilogrammes of
oysters from various parts, 18 million kilogrammes of butter, 57 million
kilogrammes of cheese, 181 million kilogrammes of meat of all kinds, 24
million kilogrammes of poultry and game; besides 20,721,600 kilogrammes
of eggs, representing eggs to the number of 414 million--which gives
to each Parisian an average of 166 eggs in the year. This figure,
indeed, understates the fact, for the supply contributed by Paris
itself has not been reckoned. Paris contains a number of cow-houses and
small dairy farms, where milk and eggs are sold morning and evening,
new-laid eggs, of which the Parisians are particularly fond, fetching
from three to four sous apiece. There are fowls, too, in the Garden
of Acclimatization; also in the large stables of the omnibus and cab
companies. Many private persons, moreover, keep fowls. During the siege
of 1870 a provision dealer in the Rue Vivienne kept on a marble counter
a fowl which, when so disposed, laid beneath the eyes of the customer;
and the eggs, whose freshness was unimpeachable, were sold at three
francs apiece.
[Illustration: RUE RAMBUTEAU IN THE EARLY MORNING.]
There is a great sale, moreover, in the Paris markets for raised pies
of various kinds coming from Agen, Périgueux, Marseilles, Pithiviers,
Chartres, Amiens, Auvernay, Colmar, and Strasburg. These are estimated
at 1,250,000 kilogrammes in the course of the year. But such a figure
represents only a small portion of the pâtés consumed by the Parisians,
large numbers of the delicacies being made in Paris itself, either by
pastry-cooks of repute or by the best restaurateurs. At rich private
houses, as at the principal clubs, where the kitchen is in the hands
of eminent chefs, the pastry is always prepared on the premises.
Season the whole with 20 million kilogrammes of grey or white salt,
pepper, oil, and vinegar, and Paris will be found to consume of market
food-produce alone, 640 million kilogrammes, without counting bread, the
consumption of which is estimated at 700 million kilogrammes per year.
Each Parisian, male or female, small or great, consumes every year
on the average 600 kilogrammes of food, which is washed down with 600
million litres of wine, beer, cider, or perry, independent of coffee and
liqueurs, such as Cognac, Chartreuse, rum, Curaçao, kümmel, and kirsch.
From the above figures it will be gathered that the Parisian population
is well fed; and such is indeed the case. The very poor find their
profit in the superfluity of the very rich; while the working
classes profit by the relative cheapness of everything. If the minor
restaurants, where dinner can be had for 22 sous and breakfast or
lunch for 16 sous, are found too dear, there are the crèmeries and the
wine shops, where a basin of soup, a slice of boiled beef, and a piece
of bread may be had for 8 sous. A number of charitable institutions,
moreover, exist, where a basin of soup or a slice of meat costs only 2
sous, or, in some instances, is given gratuitously.
The corn market occupies a portion of the site of the ancient Hôtel de
Soissons, given to the convent of Penitent Girls by Louis XII., from
whom Catherine de Médicis bought it in 1572 as a residence for herself.
A curious and significant memorial of the queen mother's abode subsists
in the shape of a column 30 metres high (the French metre is somewhat
longer than the English yard), which is said to have been erected for
Ruggieri, chief astrologer to the queen. At the base of the column is
a fountain inscribed with the Arms of Paris; at the summit a sun-dial,
constructed by Canon Pingré.
Two interesting buildings of different, and, indeed, opposite
characters, that must not be forgotten in connection with the central
markets are the new Commercial Exchange (in the Rue Etienne Marcel) and
the old Fortress of John the Fearless, a very interesting specimen of
the mediæval military architecture.
The greater part of this ancient quarter has been pulled down, and in
place of it has arisen a new General Post Office (Hôtel des Postes), a
building which resembles at once a barrack, a prison, a market-place,
and a stable. The despatch, reception, and distribution of letters and
printed papers is managed in the upper storeys, to which there are
lifts, while the ground floor is reserved for the public. The former
Hôtel des Postes, which has been absorbed in the new one, belonged
successively to the Duke of Epernon and to the Controller-General,
Barthélemy d'Hervart, from whom, on a memorable occasion, La Fontaine
received hospitality.
The General Post Office of Paris, and central post office of all
France, is established in a collection of houses, of which at least
one possesses an historical character. Among the numerous persons of
distinction who have from time to time directed the French Post Office
mention in particular must be made of M. de Lavalette, who began life
as a lawyer's clerk, entered, at the time of the Revolution, the
National Guard, and volunteered to serve with the army when war broke
out. He distinguished himself at Arcola, and attracted the attention
of Bonaparte, who promoted him to the rank of captain, appointed him
one of his aides-de-camp, and afterwards gave him in marriage the niece
of his wife Joséphine. After taking part in the campaigns of Egypt,
Germany, and Prussia, he was charged with the reorganisation of the Post
Office, received the appointment of general-director, together with
the title of Count, and the right of sitting in the Council of State.
Dismissed by the Bourbons in 1814, he did his utmost towards bringing
the dethroned Emperor from Elba, and, on the news of his arrival in
France, took possession of the Post Office; in return for which Napoleon
gave him the superior appointment of Minister of the Interior. After the
battle of Waterloo and the Second Restoration, Lavalette was arrested,
brought to trial on a charge of high treason, and condemned to death.
His wife, however, Louise de Beauharnais, had sworn to save him, and
with this view sought an audience of King Louis XVIII. She had many
friends who were all willing to aid her in her wifely enterprise. The
Duke de Richelieu promised to speak to the Duchess of Angoulême in
favour of Lavalette; and she, it was hoped, would intercede with the
king. Marmont, an intimate friend of the prisoner, had arranged to take
the young wife to the Tuileries; but on the very day appointed for this
purpose an order was issued that no woman was, under any circumstances,
to enter the palace. The explanation of so unexpected an edict was that
the Duchess of Angoulême had resolved not only to say nothing to the
king on Lavalette's behalf, but to prevent anyone else, and especially
his wife, from uttering a word to His Majesty on the subject. Marmont,
however, accompanied by Mme. de Lavalette, contrived to force his way
into the palace, and took up his position, with the agitated wife by his
side, in a room through which he knew that the king and the Duchess of
Angoulême would pass, on returning from mass. Seeing the unhappy woman
on her knees, the duchess turned her head away; while the king, after
receiving a petition from her, muttered something unintelligible, and
walked on. All hope of pardon had vanished; and it was understood that
the execution would take place the following day. Foreseeing what in all
probability would happen, Mme. de Lavalette had already formed a plan
for her husband's escape. One of her associates in the enterprise was
an old friend of Lavalette's named Baudus, who, in case of success, had
prepared a safe asylum for the prisoner at the house of an old member of
the Convention named Bresson, then chief of a division in the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs. The very evening of the day on which she had gone
to the Tuileries Mme. de Lavalette was taken to the Conciergerie in
a Sedan chair, accompanied by her daughter, a girl of 14, and an old
governess. The husband and wife dined together in a separate room; then
the countess exchanged clothes with the prisoner. During this time a
stupid servant was imprudent enough to say to the porters that they
would find their load heavier than when they brought it in; adding, "But
there will be 25 louis to pocket." "We are to take away M. de Lavalette,
are we?" asked one of the porters. Thereupon he refused to have anything
more to do with the affair, and withdrew, but without divulging the
secret. Another man was found to replace him. At last, after a painful
leave-taking, three women appeared in the lobby of the prison; one of
them being in such a state of grief that, covering her face with her
handkerchief, she did nothing but sob. The janitor helped her out of the
prison without venturing to lift up the veil she wore. Then going to the
room which the prisoner had occupied, he saw no one there but Mme. de
Lavalette.
[Illustration: ON THE WAY TO THE CENTRAL MARKETS.]
[Illustration: THE FISH MARKET.]
"Ah, madame," he cried, "you have deceived me. I am lost!"
One of the strangest things in connection with this escape was that
M. de Lavalette, having been driven off by the friendly Baudus, found
shelter with Bresson, who concealed him at the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs until the 10th of January, 1816. That day three Englishmen--Mr.
Bruce, Captain Hutchinson, and General Sir Robert Wilson--took Lavalette
away in the uniform of an English colonel, and conducted him as far as
Mons, whence he made for Bavaria, there to find hospitality in the house
of his brother-in-law, Eugène de Beauharnais.
On hearing of M. de Lavalette's escape, Louis XVIII. could not help
exclaiming: "Well, of all of us, Mme. de Lavalette is the only one who
has done her duty." After being arrested in the Conciergerie, where she
was found wearing the clothes of her husband, the young and heroic woman
was in a day or two set free. But the three Englishmen who had conducted
Lavalette to Belgium were sentenced to three months' imprisonment,
and the janitor to two years'. Soon afterwards the reason of Mme. de
Lavalette, who in all her troubles had shown the greatest presence of
mind, gave way; and when in 1822 her husband received his pardon and
came back to France, she could no longer recognise him. She continued
in her sad condition until 1855, when she died.
[Illustration: INTERIOR OF THE MONT-DE-PIÉTÉ, RUE CAPRON.]
[Illustration: THE GENERAL POST OFFICE.]
The interesting "Memoirs" published by Lavalette were chiefly based on
documents collected and notes made by his unhappy wife.
[Illustration: THE POSTE RESTANTE.]
The office of postmaster-general does not as a rule expose its holder
to any of the dangers incurred by M. de Lavalette. It demands from him
nothing more than a certain talent for organisation and administration.
The postal services of all the countries in Europe are now for the
most part conducted on the same plan, and offer to the public the same
advantages. The English penny postage system, whose principle consisted
less in the lowness than in the uniformity of the new charge for
letter-carrying, has been adopted throughout the civilised world; and
since the days of Sir Rowland Hill many innovations and improvements
have been introduced in France and in Germany which afterwards found
imitation in England. It is undeniable, however, that the most important
reformations in connection with postal communications were first made
in this country. It was not until nearly a year after the introduction
of post-cards in England that, on the proposition of Count Bismarck,
only a few weeks before the war of 1870, they were adopted in Germany,
which may claim to be the first country that used post-cards, or,
indeed, a regular postal service of any kind, in an enemy's country
while hostilities were actually going on. The post-card was adopted
by the French Chamber in 1872 on the recommendation of M. Wolowski,
who had previously published an interesting pamphlet on the subject.
After speaking of the great variety of purposes for which the post-card
is employed in England, the celebrated economist went on to consider
whether the use of post-cards could have an injurious effect on
epistolary style. He decided that by imposing brevity it lent itself to
conciseness, and that, forced to express himself in narrow limits, the
writer on a post-card was bound to be terse, if not epigrammatic. The
style, however, of correspondents making use of post-cards is probably
not more lapidary than that of ordinary letter-writers. According
to M. Wolowski, the circulation of post-cards in England amounted,
in 1871, only a year or two after their first introduction, to 75
millions--nearly a million and a half per week. At the post-offices
of France, as of England, money may be deposited at interest, lives
insured, and annuities purchased; but in France, as in England, the
Government hesitates to adopt the German device, by which tradesmen can
send goods through the post with an obligation imposed on the postman to
collect at the destination of the goods the money due upon them.
The Place des Victoires, which we have previously passed, is close to
the General Post Office; close also to two other edifices of commercial
and financial importance, the Bourse and the Bank of France. Formerly
the Place des Victoires was remarkable for its historic houses, many of
which no longer exist. Here stood the mansion where, in 1653, Marshal
de l'Hôpital married Françoise Marie Mignot, a simple grisette, or shop
girl, who, after the Marshal's death, became the wife of Sobieski,
King of Poland and Abbé of Saint-Germain des Prés. Up to the time of
the Revolution the Place des Victoires was inhabited only by important
noblemen or rich financiers. It is now given up entirely to commerce,
wholesale and retail; silks, shawls, drapery, and haberdashery of all
kinds being largely traded in.
The mansion of Marshal de l'Hôpital became the first abode, in 1803,
of the Bank of France, where, in virtue of an Imperial decree, it was
permanently established five years afterwards. Founded in 1800 by a
society of capitalists, who had collected 30 millions of francs, the
Bank of France obtained in 1803 the privilege of issuing notes. The
notes of the Bank of France now in circulation are of the value of more
than three milliards (_i.e._, 3,000 millions) of francs; to meet which
an equal amount of gold and silver are kept in the cellars.
The name of the Secretary of State, de la Vrillière, for whom the
mansion, afterwards occupied by Marshal de l'Hôpital, was originally
built, is still preserved in the title of the remarkable and picturesque
Rue de la Vrillière. Little more need be said about that portion of
Paris which separates the quarter of the markets from the Seine;
though here and there many a house might be pointed out which suggests
interesting associations. Thus, in the Rue Saint-Honoré, at the corner
of the Rue Sauval, is a butcher's shop surmounted by an inscription
to the effect that in this house Molière was born "in 1620." To be
quite accurate, he was born in 1622, not in the house which bears the
announcement of his birth, but in one on the same site, which long ago
fell into ruin.
Close by is the Rue de l'Arbre Sec, where at one time lived the famous
Mme. de Saint-Huberty, for whom in opera, as for Mdlle. Sallé in ballet,
Mdlle. Clairon in tragedy, and Mme. Favart in comedy and comic opera,
is claimed the honour of having played parts for the first time in
the costumes historically appropriate to them. The costumes worn at
that time on the French stage (nor were they much better on our own)
were simply ludicrous. But the public was accustomed to them, and
the managers found it more economical to keep to costumes already in
the wardrobe than to order new ones for every fresh piece. Actresses
representing queens were entitled to two trains and two pages, who
followed them everywhere. "Nothing is more amusing," writes a critic
of the time, "nothing more comic, than the perpetual movement of these
little rascals, who have to run after the actress when she is tearing
about the stage in moments of distress. Their activity keeps them in a
constant state of perspiration. Their embarrassment, their blunders,
excite general laughter. Thus, a farce is always going on, which
diverts the spectator in an agreeable manner if the situation is too
touching or too sad." When she appeared as Dido, Mme. de Saint-Huberty
would have no little boy running after her--ready to pursue her even
to the funeral pyre. She at the same time threw off the conventional
train and all the trappings which had habitually accompanied it, to
appear only in the tunic designed for her by an artist of the period
who had studied archæology. The operatic directors strongly objected
to the introduction of archæologists and other costly pretenders into
their domain. "If," one director is accused of saying, "this fury for
truthfulness of costume only enabled us to save a little money! But,
on the contrary, models must be brought in, men of learning consulted,
artists paid; and all this costs money, much more money than the
dresses to which we are accustomed. Besides, when the piece is laid
aside, all the costumes appropriate to it must be laid aside too." M.
de la Ferté, the Intendant of the Opera, says in one of his letters
on this subject:--"I have just ordered Saint-Huberty's dress. This is
terrible. The consulting committee of the Opera held one day a special
general meeting to consider whether Mme. de Saint-Huberty could really
be allowed to have the costume she desired for the part of Armida."
"Madame de Saint-Huberty," said the report on the subject addressed to
the Minister, "has sent us the design of a dress she requires for the
character of Armida. The committee, considering that this character
in which Mme. de Saint-Huberty has not yet been seen, might give to
the work the charm of novelty, and procure for the Opera advantageous
receipts during a series of representations, has thought it right to
agree to Mme. de Saint-Huberty's expressed wish; the more so as she has
no objection to share the part with Mdlle. Levasseur, it being arranged
that in case of illness the costume made for this opera shall be worn by
the substitutes, as well as by Mme. de Saint-Huberty herself."
[Illustration: THE PUBLIC HALL, GENERAL POST OFFICE.]
In the margin of the report the following observation of the Minister
appears:--"Good for this time only, and without the establishment of a
precedent. All the members of the company must, without distinction,
wear the dresses furnished to them by the administration of the Opera,
so long as they are considered in a fit state to be worn."
[Illustration: THE TELEPHONE ROOM AT THE GENERAL POST OFFICE.]
"You must be convinced," wrote M. de la Ferté to Mme. de Saint-Huberty
on another occasion, "of our desire to satisfy you in all reasonable
things and to be generally agreeable to you. But, at the same time, you
ought to understand that you are obliged to conform to established rules
like all the other members of the company, and like those who played
the first parts before you; for if, instead of accepting the appointed
costume, each one wished to dress according to individual taste, the
result would be hopeless confusion, together with an expenditure both
useless and ruinous for the King and for the Opera."
[Illustration: PLACE DES VICTOIRES.]
The end of this celebrated representative of tragic personages was
tragic indeed. After marrying Count d'Antraigues, engaged in secret
diplomacy on behalf of the exiled royal family, she went with her
husband to England, where they lived together for many years, the Count
being during this time in constant relations with the Foreign Office,
until in July, 1812, they both fell victims to a murderous attack on the
part of one of their servants.
A faithful account of the horrible affair appeared in the _Times_ of
July 23rd, 1812, from which the following may be extracted:--
"The Count and Countess d'Antraigues, members of the French noblesse,
and distantly related to the unfortunate family of the Bourbons,
resided," says the English newspaper, "on Barnes Terrace, on the banks
of the Thames. They lived in a style which, though far from what they
had formerly moved in, yet was rather bordering on high life than the
contrary. They kept a carriage, footman, coachman, and a servant out of
livery. The latter was an Italian or Piedmontese, named Lawrence; and
it is of this wretch that we have to relate the following particulars.
The Count and Countess, intending to visit London yesterday, ordered the
carriage to be at the door by eight in the morning, which it accordingly
was; and soon after that hour they were in the act of leaving the
house to get into it, the Countess being at the door, the Count coming
downstairs, when the report of a pistol was heard in the passage, which,
it has since appeared, took no effect; nor was it then ascertained by
whom it was fired. Lawrence was at this time in the passage, and, on
the smoke subsiding, was seen to rush past the Count and proceed with
great speed upstairs. He almost instantly returned with a dirk in his
hand, and plunged it up to the hilt into the Count's left shoulder;
he continued his course and made for the street door, where stood the
Countess, whom he instantly despatched by plunging the same dirk into
her left breast. This last act had scarcely been completed when the
Count appeared also at the door, bleeding, and following the assassin,
who made for the house and ran upstairs. The Count, though extremely
weak and faint, continued to follow him; but so great was the terror
occasioned that no one else had the same resolution. The assassin and
the Count had not been upstairs more than a minute when the report of
another pistol was heard, which satisfied those below that Lawrence had
finally put an end to the existence of his master. The alarm was now
given, and the cry of 'Murder, murder!' resounded from every mouth. The
Countess was still lying at the front door, by which the turnpike road
runs, and at length men of sufficient resolution were found to venture
upstairs, and, horrible to relate, they found the Count lying across his
own bed, groaning heavily, and nearly dead, and the bloodthirsty villain
lying by his side a corpse. He had put a period to his own existence by
placing a pistol that he found in the room in his mouth, and discharging
its contents through his head. The Count only survived about twenty-five
minutes after the fatal blow, and died without being able to utter a
single word.
"The Countess had by this time been brought into the house; the wound
was directly on her left breast, extremely large, and she died without
uttering a single word. The servants of the house were all collected
last night, but no cause for so horrid an act was at that time
known--all was but conjecture.
"The following circumstances in so extraordinary a case may be, however,
worth while relating. The Count, it appears, always kept a brace of
pistols loaded in his bedroom and a small dirk. About a month ago the
Countess and the servants heard the report of a pistol upstairs, and
were in consequence greatly alarmed. When one of the latter, a female,
went upstairs and looked into her mistress's room, it was full of smoke,
and she screamed out. On its clearing away she saw Lawrence standing,
who told her nothing was the matter--he had only fired one of his
master's pistols. It afterwards appeared that he had fired into the
wainscot; it was loaded with ball, and the ball from the pistol is yet
to be seen.
"The Count and Countess were about sixty years of age. The latter was
highly accomplished, a great proficient in music, and greatly admired
for her singing in fashionable parties. There is no reason whatever to
believe that Lawrence was insane. Only about ten minutes previous to his
committing this deed of blood, he went over to an adjoining public-house
and took a glass of gin. He had lived only three months in the family,
and, report says, was to be discharged in a few days.
"The Count and Countess had resided in Barnes for four or five years,
and have left an only son, who, we understand, is at present in this
country, studying the law.
"Besides his house on Barnes Terrace, Count d'Antraigues had a town
establishment, No. 7, Queen Anne Street, W. He was fifty-six and the
Countess fifty-three years of age. The Count had eminently distinguished
himself in the troubles which have convulsed Europe for the last
twenty-two years. In 1789 he was actively engaged in favour of the
Revolution, but during the tyranny of Robespierre he emigrated to
Germany, and was employed in the service of Russia. At Venice in 1797
he was arrested by Bernadotte, at the order of Bonaparte, who pretended
to have discovered in his portfolio all the particulars of the plot
upon which the 18th Fructidor was founded. The Count made his escape
from Milan, where he was confined, and was afterwards employed in the
diplomatic mission of Russia at the Court of Dresden. In 1806 he was
sent to England with credentials from the Emperor of Russia, who had
granted him a pension, and placed great dependence upon his services.
He received here letters of denization, and was often employed by the
Government. The Countess was the once celebrated Mme. de Saint-Huberty,
an actress of the Théâtre Français. She had amassed a very large fortune
by her professional talents."