MILLET, Parisian grocer, on rue Chanoinesse, in 1836 attended to the
renting of a small unfurnished room in Madame de la Chanterie's house;
gave Godefroid information, after having submitted him to a rigid
examination. [The Seamy Side of History.]
MINARD (Louis), refractory "chauffeur," connected with the Royalist
insurrection in western France, 1809, was tried at the bar of justice,
where Bourlac and Mergi presided; he was executed the same year that
he was condemned to death. [The Seamy Side of History.]
MINARD (Auguste-Jean-Francois), as clerk to the minister of finances
he received a salary of fifteen hundred francs. In the florist
establishment of a fellow-workman's sister, Mademoiselle Godard, of
rue Richelieu, he met a clerk, Zelie Lorain, the daughter of a porter.
He fell in love with her, married her, and had by her two children,
Julien and Prudence. He lived near the Courcelles gate, and as an
economical worker of retiring disposition he was made the butt of
J.-J. Bixiou's jests in the Treasury Department. Necessity gave him
fortitude and originality. After giving up his position in December,
1824, Minard opened a trade in adulterated teas and chocolates, and
subsequently became a distiller. In 1835 he was the richest merchant
in the vicinity, having an establishment on the Place Maubert and one
of the best houses on the rue des Macons-Sorbonne. In 1840 Minard
became mayor of the eleventh district, where he lived, judge of the
tribunal of commerce, and officer of the Legion of Honor. He
frequently met his former colleagues of the period of the Restoration:
Colleville, Thuillier, Dutocq, Fleury, Phellion, Xavier Rabourdin,
Saillard, Isidore Baudoyer and Godard. [The Government Clerks. The
Firm of Nucingen. The Middle Classes.]
MINARD (Madame), wife of the preceding, born Zelie Lorain, daughter of
a porter. On account of her cold and prudent disposition, she did not
persist long in her trial at the Conservatory, but became a florist's
girl in Mademoiselle Godard's establishment on rue Richelieu. After
her marriage to Francois Minard she gave birth to two children, and,
with the help of Madame Lorain, her mother, reared them comfortably
near the Courcelles gate. Under Louis Philippe, having become rich,
and living in that part of the Saint-Germain suburbs which lies next
to Saint-Jacques, she showed, as did her husband, the silly pride of
the enriched mediocrity. [The Government Clerks. The Middle Classes.]
MINARD (Julien), son of the preceding couple, attorney; at first
considered "the family genius." In 1840 he committed some
indiscretions with Olympe Cardinal, creator of "Love's Telegraphy,"
played at Mourier's small theatre[*] on the Boulevard. His dissipation
ended in a separation brought about by Julien's parents, who
contributed to the support of the actress, then become Madame Cerizet.
[The Middle Classes.]
[*] This theatre was built in 1831 on the Boulevard du Temple, where
the first Ambigu had been situated; it was afterwards moved to No.
40, rue de Bondy, December 30, 1862.
MINARD (Prudence), sister of the preceding, was sought in marriage by
Felix Gaudissart towards the end of Louis Philippe's reign. [The
Middle Classes. Cousin Pons.]
MINETTE,[*] vaudeville actress on rue de Chartres, during the
Restoration, died during the first part of the Second Empire, lawful
wife of a director of the Gaz; was well known for her brilliancy, and
was responsible for the saying that "Time is a great faster," quoted
sometimes before Lucien de Rubempre in 1821-22. [A Distinguished
Provincial at Paris.]
[*] Minette married M. Marguerite; she lived in Paris during the
last years of her life in the large house at the corner of
rue Saint-Georges and rue Provence.
MINORETS (The), representatives of the well-known "company of army
contractors," in which Mademoiselle Sophie Laguerre's steward, who
preceded Gaubertin at Aigues, in Bourgogne, acquired a one-third
share, after giving up his stewardship. [The Peasantry.] The relatives
of Madame Flavie Colleville, daughter of a ballet-dancer, who was
supported by Galathionne and, perhaps, by the contractor, Du
Bourguier, were connected with the Minorets, probably the army
contractor Minorets. [The Government Clerks.]
MINORET (Doctor Denis), born in Nemours in 1746, had the support
of Dupont, deputy to the States-General in 1789, who was his
fellow-citizen; he was intimate with the Abbe Morellet, also the
pupil of Rouelle the chemist, and an ardent admirer of Diderot's
friend, Bordeu, by means of whom, or his friends, he gained a large
practice. Denis Minoret invented the Lelievre balm, became an
acquaintance and protector of Robespierre, married the daughter of
the celebrated harpsichordist, Valentin Mirouet, died suddenly, soon
after the execution of Madame Roland. The Empire, like the former
governments, recompensed Minoret's ability, and he became consulting
physician to His Imperial and Royal Majesty, in 1805, chief hospital
physician, officer of the Legion of Honor, chevalier of Saint-Michel,
and member of the Institute. Upon withdrawing to Nemours, January, 1815,
he lived there in company with his ward, Ursule Mirouet, daughter of his
brother-in-law, Joseph Mirouet, later Madame Savinien de Portenduere,
a girl whom he had taken care of since she had become an orphan. As
she was the living image of the late Madame Denis Minoret, he loved
her so devotedly that his lawful heirs, Minoret-Levrault, Massin,
Cremiere, fearing that they would lose a large inheritance, mistreated
the adopted child. Doctor Minoret, at the time when he was worried
over their plotting, saw Bouvard, a fellow-Parisian with whom he had
formerly associated, and through his influence interested himself
greatly in the subject of magnetism. In 1835, surrounded by some of
his nearest relatives, Minoret died at an advanced age, having been
converted from the philosophy of Voltaire through the influence of
Ursule, whom he remembered substantially in his will. [Ursule
Mirouet.]
MINORET-LEVRAULT (Francois), son of the oldest brother of the
preceding, and his nearest heir, born in 1769, strong but uncouth and
illiterate, had charge of the post-horses and was keeper of the best
tavern in Nemours, as a result of his marriage with Zelie
Levrault-Cremiere, an only daughter. After the Revolution of 1830 he
became deputy-mayor. As principle heir to Doctor Minoret's estate he
was the bitterest persecutor of Ursule Mirouet, and made away with the
will which favored the young girl. Later, being compelled to restore
her property, overcome by remorse, and sorrowing for his son, who was
the victim of a runaway, and for his insane wife, Francois
Minoret-Levrault became the faithful keeper of the property of Ursule,
who had then become Madame Savinien de Portenduere. [Ursule Mirouet.]
MINORET-LEVRAULT (Madame Francois), wife of the preceding, born Zelie
Levrault-Cremiere, physically feeble, sour of countenance and action,
harsh, greedy, as illiterate as her husband, brought him as dower half
of her maiden name (a local tradition) and a first-class tavern. She
was, in reality, the manager of the Nemours post-house. She worshiped
her son Desire, whose tragic death was sufficient punishment for her
avaricious persecutions of Ursule de Portenduere. She died insane in
Doctor Blanche's sanitarium in the village of Passy[*] in 1841. [Ursule
Mirouet.]
[*] Since 1860 a suburb of Paris.
MINORET (Desire), son of the preceding couple, born in 1805. Obtained
a half scholarship in the Louis-le-Grand lyceum in Paris, through the
instrumentality of Fontanes, an acquaintance of Dr. Minoret; finally
studied law. Under Goupil's leadership he became somewhat dissipated
as a young man, and loved in turn Esther van Gobseck and Sophie
Grignault--Florine--who, after declining his offer of marriage, became
Madame Nathan. Desire Minoret was not actively associated with his
family in the persecution of Ursule de Portenduere. The Revolution of
1830 was advantageous to him. He took part during the three glorious
days of fighting, received the decoration, and was selected to be
deputy attorney to the king at Fontainebleau. He died as a result of
the injuries received in a runaway, October, 1836. [Ursule Mirouet.]
MIRAH (Josepha), born in 1814. Natural daughter of a wealthy Jewish
banker, abandoned in Germany, although she bore as a sign of her
identity an anagram of her Jewish name, Hiram. When fifteen years old
and a working girl in Paris, she was found out and misled by Celestine
Crevel, whom she left eventually for Hector Hulot, a more liberal man.
The munificence of the commissary of stores exalted her socially, and
gave her the opportunity of training her voice. Her vocal attainments
established her as a prima donna, first at the Italiens, then on rue
le Peletier. After Hector Hulot became a bankrupt, she abandoned him
and his house on rue Chauchat, near the Royal Academy, where, at
different times, had lived Tullia, Comtesse du Bruel and Heloise
Brisetout. The Duc d'Herouville became Mademoiselle Mirah's lover.
This affair led to an elegant reception on rue de la Ville-l'Eveque to
which all Paris received invitation. Josepha had at all times many
followers. One of the Kellers and the Marquis d'Esgrignon made fools
of themselves over her. Eugene de Rastignac, at that time minister,
invited her to his home, and insisted upon her singing the celebrated
cavatina from "La Muette." Irregular in her habits, whimisical,
covetous, intelligent, and at times good-natured, Josepha Mirah gave
some proof of generosity when she helped the unfortunate Hector Hulot,
for whom she went so far as to get Olympe Grenouville. She finally
told Madame Adeline Hulot of the baron's hiding-place on the Passage
du Soleil in the Petite-Pologne section. [Cousin Betty.]
MIRAULT, name of one branch of the Bargeton family, merchants in
Bordeaux during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. [Lost
Illusions.]
MIRBEL (Madame de), well-known miniature-painter from 1796 to 1849;
made successively the portrait of Louise de Chaulieu, given by this
young woman to the Baron de Macumer, her future husband; of Lucien de
Rubempre for Esther Gobseck; of Charles X. for the Princess of
Cadignan, who hung it on the wall of her little salon on rue
Miromesnil, after the Revolution of 1830. This last picture bore the
inscription, "Given by the King." [Letters of Two Brides. Scenes from
a Courtesan's Life. The Secrets of a Princess.]