as a dramatic author he was, as he was in journalism, very modern. He
had found means of achieving a noisy notoriety by beginning with an
extremely violent attack on Corneille and Molière. Against the latter he
composed his comedy _Zélinde, ou la véritable critique de l'Echole des
Femmes et la critique de la critique_, in which he has left a portrait
of the poet that has become famous, and which is, in our eyes, not a
criticism but a splendid eulogy. 'I came down,' says a lace merchant;
'Elomire [an anagram on Molière] did not say a single word. I found him
leaning up against my shop in the attitude of a man in a dream. He had
his eyes fixed on three or four persons of quality who were bargaining
for lace; he appeared attentive to their words, and seemed by the
movement of his eyes to be scanning the depths of their souls to see
there what they did not say.'
La Reynie thought of utilising the talent and the notoriety of the
dramatic author, and, not satisfied with granting him what he asked in
regard to the title of Boursault's comedy, he gave him in addition the
subject for a piece which was destined to obtain the greatest success.
To prove to demonstration in Paris, by means of a play to which the
public, excited by the great poison case, would flock in crowds, that
the pretended skill of magicians and sorceresses was only deception and
trickery, seemed assuredly the best way to dissuade the ingenuous mob
from dealing with them. From this idea issued _La Devineresse ou les
Faux enchantements_, a comedy represented for the first time in Paris by
the king's company on November 19, 1679, and published in the following
February. We have mentioned that Donneau de Visé was one of the pioneers
of the modern literary life, and _La Devineresse_ will be a fresh proof
of the assertion. Let us note first that Visé was the father of a
literary custom which is in these days highly popular, collaboration.
One of the masters of dramatic criticism, Edouard Thierry, writes on
this subject: 'Collaboration, an unfamiliar term which existed at most
as a term in jurisprudence, was nevertheless not absolutely unknown at
the theatre. There had been the _Psyche_ at the Palais-Royal, completed
by Pierre Corneille on the plan and under the direction of Molière; but
this was considered only as work done to order; it belonged in the end
to the person who hired the worker. There had been the _Plaideurs_ of
Racine, and some other successful parodies, composed by several hands,
it was said; but this was only an amusement, a literary picnic of gay
wits who stimulated each other to satire; nobody up to that time had
thought of raising the game to the level of an industry.' From the very
first, collaboration as a business gave results which exceeded the most
sanguine hopes. Visé, who had made his peace with the elder Corneille,
entered into partnership with his younger brother. This Thomas
Corneille, who was a remarkable vaudeville-writer and also a remarkable
scholar, a member of the Academy of Inscriptions and Belles-Lettres, has
been unjustly thrown into the shade by the glory of his elder brother.
_La Devineresse_ was not merely a modern piece in respect of this new
trick of collaboration; it was the origin and doubtless the model of
those spectacular pieces, with shifting scenery and mechanical effects,
which give the Châtelet its success to-day. And we shall find, not only
that the idea sprang from this, but that the comedy contains scenes and
stage business which have come down to us in direct succession through a
line of such pieces--such as the talking headless man, the dismembered
man whose limbs rearrange themselves spontaneously, dropsy passing from
one subject to another, the fairy, wizard or devil who comes into a room
through the wall.
Finally, the _Devineresse_ must occupy a select place in the annals of
the modern stage from the manner in which the authors managed to float
it. One of them, Donneau de Visé, was a journalist, and consequently a
master of the advertising art. He had the idea, among others, of getting
up for 1680 an almanac of the _Devineresse_, in which there was a large
engraved plate representing the principal scenes in the piece, the
features of the spectacle, grouped around a monstrous satanic figure;
these of course were the principal tricks in false magic performed by
the sorceress and her mate. These pictures are still in existence,[18]
and present to our eyes a curious representation, not only of the
theatrical scenes of the eighteenth century, but also of the interior of
the houses in which the sorceresses received their clients. These
circumstances, together with the striking actuality and the wit of the
authors, secured to the _Devineresse_ an unprecedented success, both
financially and in arousing the curiosity of the public. All Paris ran
to see it. Its representations extended over five months, and, what in
those days appeared remarkable, it ran for forty-seven nights in
succession; the first eighteen performances brought in double the usual
receipts. Seconded by the skill and talent of the authors, the
lieutenant of police had attained his end.
The fortune-teller who is the chief character in the piece was none
other than La Voisin, whose name Corneille and Visé slightly disguised
in calling their sorceress Madame Jobin. In the comedy are to be found
echoes of the replies made by the sorceress before the commissioners of
the Chambre Ardente, a fact which indicates the share of La Reynie. The
principal ally of La Voisin was called Du Buisson, that of Madame Jobin
is called Du Clos. Their practices are the same, but turned to ridicule
by the authors, who make their Madame Jobin a mere schemer with no other
idea than to snap up the crown-pieces of the public. In the essentials
of the character we are thus very far from the terrible sorceress of
Villeneuve-sur-Gravois.
In the course of the second scene of the second act, Madame Jobin
explains to her brother what her art consists in.
'This is what the majority of men are. They swallow all the stupidities
retailed to them, and when once they have let themselves go, nothing is
capable of undeceiving them. See, my brother, Paris is the place in the
world where there are most clever people and also most dupes. The
sorceries I am accused of, and other things which would appear still
more supernatural, want a lively imagination to invent them and skill to
make use of them. It is through these that people have belief in us,
and magic and devils have nothing to do with it. The fright people get
into who are shown this sort of thing blinds them enough to prevent them
from seeing they are deceived. As to my meddling with fortune-telling,
as you will be told, that is an art in which the thousand folk who put
themselves every day in our hands make our information easy to get at.
Besides, chance accounts for the greater part of our success in this
line. All you want is presence of mind, and boldness and intrigue, to
know the world, to have people in your houses, to note carefully things
that happen, to get information on their little love affairs, and
especially to say a good many things when any one comes to consult you.
There is always one of them true, and two or three, said quite
haphazard, are enough to give you a vogue. After that it will be of no
good to say that you know nothing; no one will believe you, and, good or
evil, they make you talk.'
The comedy itself is far from being without merit. You will not see in
it, to be sure, the breadth and the sureness of touch of that Molière
whom Visé had so much ridiculed, and the pleasure one may find in
reading it is spoilt by the feeling that Molière would have made so much
more of such a subject, in which so many laughable and so many moving
things are concentrated. Nevertheless, the majority of modern
extravaganzas would have to yield in many respects to the _Devineresse_,
as regards both construction and literary merit. In the course of the
preface to the published edition of their piece, the authors are careful
to speak of the famous rules ascribed to Aristotle without which no
dramatic piece could be constructed in the time of Racine and Boileau.
And in fact Visé and Corneille did observe them--these three famous
unities of time, place, and action. In an extravaganza, mark! That,
assuredly, is what an author of our day would consider the most
extravagant feature of their work.
The preface states the subject of the comedy: 'A woman mad after the
sorceresses, a lover interested in opening her eyes about them, and a
rival who wishes to prevent their marriage, form a subject which opens
the plot in the first act, a plot only unravelled in the last act by
the unmasking of the false devil. The other actors, or at least a part
of them, are envoys of one or other of the two interested persons, who,
by the reports they give, augment the credulity of the countess or make
the marquis believe still more firmly that the sorceress is a knave.
Thus these characters cannot be regarded as unnecessary. It is true that
there are some who, knowing neither the countess nor the marquis, only
consult Madame Jobin on their own behalf; but, being as famous as she is
here depicted, was it likely that during twenty-four hours there only
came to her persons who knew one another or furthered the principal
action?'
From the outset the comedy is well constructed, and the character of the
persons comes out clearly. The seasoning of the dialogue is a little
strong, indeed; but the wit springs always from an acute and delicate
power of observation. We may mention the scene in which the sorceress,
who easily dupes persons of cultivated mind and even those who never
relax their vigilance, is utterly nonplussed by the primitive
simple-mindedness of a village girl. The dénouement is brought about by
the presence of mind of the marquis, who seeks to undeceive the countess
whom he loves. The sorceress has foretold frightful misfortunes to the
countess if she should marry the marquis, being paid for so doing by a
Madame Noblet who has fallen deeply in love with the latter. The
marquis, armed with a pistol, springs at the throat of a devil whom the
sorceress has summoned through the wall. The devil falls on his knees:
'Mercy, sir; I am a good devil!'
It remains to inquire whether the lieutenant of police had as much
success as the authors of the piece; that is, whether the practices he
wished to extirpate in France disappeared under his efforts. La Reynie
did succeed, as much as he could hope, in the struggle he had undertaken
against the poisoners. Magic, however, was a hardy plant. 'You would
never believe how desperately silly they are at Paris,' wrote Madame
Palatine on October 8, 1701. 'Everybody is anxious to become an adept in
the art of invoking spirits and other devilries.' Black masses were
again said in the outskirts of Paris, in circumstances so horrible that
'a beggar girl aged thirteen years, who had been taken there, died of
fright': she was buried in her clothes by sub-deacon Sebault, and
Guignard, curé of Notre Dame de Bourges, who had said the monstrous
office. And according to M. Huysmans, black masses are said to this very
day.
When, two thousand years before our era, the Chaldean mages and the high
priests of Egypt on clear nights pierced the starry sky with their
patient gaze, did they read there that after thirty centuries a grave
magistrate and chief of police would fight their descendants by means of
a fairy extravaganza, with trap-doors and puns and transformation
scenes?
INDEX
Alacocque, Marguerite, 121.
Bachimont, Robert de, alchemist, 137.
Barbier, archer of the guard, 55, 56, 58.
Bazin de Bezons, 163.
Belot, François, poisoner, 331.
Black Mass, 131, 132, 155 ff.
Bocager, law professor, 31, 32.
Bodin's _Démonomanie des Sorciers_, 122-126.
Boileau, 348.
Boscher, Alexander, physician, 319.
Bosse, Marie, sorceress, 119, 129, 172, 173, 179.
Bossuet, 126, 219, 220, 313, 329, 333.
Boucherat, Louis, 163.
Bouillon, Duchess de, 275-279.
Bourdelot, Abbé, physician, 318, 323, 334.
Boursault, journalist, 363.
Briancourt, lover of Madame de Brinvilliers, 19, 24-32, 35, 47, 68, 69.
Brinvilliers, Antoine Gobelin de, 4, 33, 34, 51.
Brinvilliers, Madame de, her career, 1-116.
Brissart, Marie, 152-154.
Brunet, Madame, 177-179.
Bussy-Rabutin, 173-176, 239.
Cadelan, Pierre, banker, 140, 141.
Castelmelhor, Count of, 137, 138.
Chamberlain, Hugh, physician, 319.
Chambre Ardente, the, 163-180, 275, 279, 291, 296, 302, 304.
Chasteuil, F. Galaup de, alchemist, 133-142.
Chevigny, Father de, 80, 93.
Cluet, Sergeant, 38, 40.
Colbert, 50, 257, 290.
Coligny, Madame de, 173, 174.
Corneille, Thomas, 361.
Creuillebois, Sergeant, 36, 38, 39, 41.
Croissy, Marquis de, ambassador in England, 50.
D'Aubray, Antoine, brother of Madame de Brinvilliers, 18, 19, 20.
D'Aubray, Antoine, father of Madame de Brinvilliers, 3, 13.
Delamarre, attorney for Madame de Brinvilliers, 40, 41.
Descarrières, political agent, 53.
Desgrez, captain of police, 9, 52, 53, 107, 111, 119.
Desoeillets, Mademoiselle, 221, 222, 252-254, 286.
Donneau de Visé, dramatist, 361-365.
Dreux, Madame de, 166-168.
Du Parc, Mademoiselle, 349-359.
Exili, Italian poisoner, 9-11.
Filastre, Françoise, sorceress, 184, 249.
Fontanges, Duchess de, mistress of Louis XIV, 237, 240, 250.
France, Anatole, on 'Madame,' 334, 336.
Galet, Louis, poisoner, 234.
Glaser, Christophe, chemist, 10, 12.
Godin, _alias_ Sainte-Croix, _q.v._
Guibourg, Abbé, 155, 215-218, 227-231.
Guillaume, executioner, 114.
Harvillier, Jeanne, witch, 123, 124.
Henrietta Anne, Duchess of Orleans, 313-345.
Hocque, Pierre, sorcerer, 126-128.
Huysmans, J. K., on philosopher's stone, 138.
Joly, sorceress, 167, 168.
La Chaboissière, valet, 142, 143, 198, 304.
La Chaussée, valet, 17, 18, 19, 21, 45, 47-49.
La Fayette, Madame de, 314, 315, 320, 324-327.
Lamoignon, President of High Court, 65, 68, 69, 76.
La Reynie, Nicolas de, lieutenant of police, 12, 49, 52, 53, 121, 132,
144, 156, 176, 181, 182, 194, 202, 203-205, 231, 234, 245-247, 265-312,
361-374.
La Rivière, 173, 176.
Leféron, Marguerite, poisoner, 168-170.
Leroy, poisoner, 215, 216.
Lesage, magician, 130, 148, 149, 153, 159, 160-162, 184, 199-201, 203,
206, 221.
Littré on death of 'Madame,' 335, 336.
Louis XIV, 179, 181, 183-186, 208, 210, 212-214, 217, 219, 220, 255,
258, 264, 272, 283, 284, 296, 363.
Louvois, 52, 180, 205, 210, 255, 284, 285, 287, 292, 307.
Ludres, Madame de, mistress of Louis XIV, 226, 235.
Maintenon, Madame de, 220, 226, 257.
Mariette, Abbé, 199, 200.
_Mercure Galant_, 362, 363.
Michelet, 1-3, 79.
Molière's _Amphitryon_, 209.
Montespan, Madame de, 187-265.
Montespan, Marquis de, 207-214.
Monvoisin, Catherine, poisoner and sorceress, 120, 130, 144-159, 169,
170, 182, 201-203, 242-244, 349-358.
Monvoisin, Marguerite, 193-195, 221, 227-231, 241.
Nadaillac, Marquis de, 15.
Nivelle, advocate for Madame de Brinvilliers, 70-74.
Palatine, Madame, 192, 373.
Palluau, Parlement counsellor, 57, 66.
Pennautier, receiver for clergy, 37, 43, 44, 60-64, 115.
Picard, commissary, 36, 38, 39, 41.
Pirot, Abbé, 5, 6, 75-115.
Poulaillon, Madame de, 170-176.
Rabel, alchemist, 140-142.
Racine, 346-360.
Rébillé, Philibert, royal flutist, 177-180.
Regnier, police officer, 46, 47.
Romani, poisoner, 246, 248.
Sainte-Croix, lover of Madame de Brinvilliers, 6-12, 15, 17, 22, 25, 29,
30, 33, 35-38.
Saint-Simon on Pennautier, 44, 61;
on Madame de Montespan, 189, 192, 259, 261-263;
on La Reynie, 266.
Sévigné, Madame de, on Madame de Brinvilliers, 14, 34, 64, 111, 115;
on Madame de Dreux, 167;
on La Reynie, 180;
on Madame de Montespan, 188-190, 214, 223, 224, 225, 235, 236, 239;
on Madame de Maintenon, 226;
on poison cases, 273, 274;
on Duchess de Bouillon, 276-278.
Soubise, Madame de, mistress of Louis XIV, 224.
Trianon, sorceress, 243, 245.
Vallière, Louise de la, 188.
Vanens, Louis de, alchemist, 118, 135-137, 142, 143.
Vigoureux, Madame, 118.
Vivonne, Duchess de, 272.
Vosser, Marie (Madame de St. Laurent), 60, 63.
Wier's book on demonology 124, 125.
Printed by T. and A. CONSTABLE, (late) Printers to Her Majesty at the
Edinburgh University Press
* * * * *
A SELECTION FROM
_Messrs. Duckworth & Co.'s List_
_MR. LESLIE STEPHEN'S NEW WORK_
_In Three Volumes, on_
THE ENGLISH UTILITARIANS
_Is now Ready._ Demy 8vo. 30s. net
_Times._--'Never dull; always incisive in speech; bright phrases, happy
verbal turns; and everywhere there is unflagging interest in all things
human, a large vision, and toleration extended to every class but
fools.'
_Literature._--'This is a book we must be profoundly thankful for. The
work will never be done again with equal thoroughness and appreciation.
A permanent addition to English philosophical literature; one that will
be not only quoted in the future, but read.'
_Spectator._--'A critical estimate clothed, it need hardly be said, in
excellent literary form. We find a sympathetic imagination which we
should indeed expect from one of the best living critics of English
literature. The exposition is always admirable.'
_Athenæum._--'Rare acquaintance with the history of literature and
philosophy, practised skill in the art of biography, and remarkable
power of keen analysis. Vivacity, directness, and recurrent humour.'
PETER ABÉLARD
By JOSEPH M'CABE. Large Crown 8vo. 6s. net.
_By the same Author._
STUDIES OF A BIOGRAPHER
By LESLIE STEPHEN. Two vols. Large Crown 8vo.
Second Impression. Buckram, gilt top, 12s.
_Times._--'No living man is more at home than he in the literature of
the eighteenth century, and few, if any, have a better right to speak
about the literary performances and influences of the nineteenth.'
_Arthur Symons_ in the _Saturday Review_.--'Who is there, at the present
day, now writing in English, who is capable of such acute, learned,
unacademic, serious, witty, responsible criticism as that contained in
these two volumes; Mr. Leslie Stephen is not only a critic, he is a
philosophic thinker.'
A HISTORY OF THE BARONETAGE
By FRANCIS W. PIXLEY, F.S.A., Registrar of the Honourable Society of the
Baronetage.
Crown 4to. 10s. 6d. net. Limited Edition, on hand-made paper, £1, 1s.
net.
_Athenæum._--'Mr. Pixley's work is of real value, and represents
industrious research.'
_Spectator._--'It is one of the byeways in history, and is worth
exploring.'
_Scotsman._--'His work is scholarly and valuable. Will prove invaluable
as bringing to public light much interesting and new material. A book of
substantial learning in a new field of research. May be cordially
recommended.'
PROBLEMS OF EVOLUTION
By F. W. HEADLEY, Assistant Master at Haileybury College.
With 14 Illustrations. Demy 8vo. 8s. net.
_Glasgow Herald._--'An exceedingly able and suggestive book.'
STUDIES IN FOREIGN LITERATURE
By VIRGINIA M. CRAWFORD. Crown 8vo. 5s.
CONTENTS:--The Present Decadence in France--Cyrano de Bergerac--Alphonse
Daudet--J. K. Huysmans--Emile Verhaeren--Maurice Maeterlinck--A Singer
of Bruges--Gabriele D'Annunzio--Antonio Fogazzaro--Henryk
Sienkiewicz--War and Peace.
_Literature._--'Mrs. Crawford has the two great merits of knowing her
own opinions and of expressing them clearly. The reader who is anxious
to acquire a certain familiarity with the qualities of the various
authors reviewed will find in Mrs. Crawford a safe and an interesting
guide.'
_Speaker._--'Sense and sensibility, as well as courage and insight, mark
Mrs. Crawford's "Studies," a volume of critical appreciations of modern
writers abroad. Sane, acute judgments, written with candour and
independence.'
_Outlook._--'A volume that can be heartily recommended to all those who
wish to obtain an introduction to the most important foreign authors of
the day.'
NEW NOVELS
THE CRIMSON WEED
By CHRISTOPHER ST. JOHN. With a Cover Design and Tailpiece by Gordon
Craig. Crown 8vo. 6s. _2nd Impression._
_Standard._--'Thoughtful, well-written and thoroughly interesting all
through. It is a remarkable bit of work, and ranks well above average
fiction.'
_Literature._--'An original and clever book.'
_Daily News._--'A very able novel.'
_Liverpool Mercury._--'Mr. St. John's book is one of the best we have
seen this year.'
A NEW NOVEL by EDWARD H. COOPER (Author of 'Resolved to be Rich,' 'Mr.
Blake of Newmarket,' etc.) entitled.
THE MONK WINS
Crown 8vo. 6s.
_St. James's Gazette._--'Secure of winning applause.'
_Outlook._--'Sure to be popular.'
_Athenæum._--'Really good reading.'
_Literature._--'Humour, sense, and observation. This is the best book of
its kind since the days of Hawley Smart.'
_By the same Author._
RESOLVED TO BE RICH
Crown 8vo. 6s.
THE VISITS OF ELIZABETH
By ELINOR GLYN. Crown 8vo. 6s. _10th Impression._ _With Photogravure
Frontispiece._
_Gentlewoman._--'Really charming. Artistic and captivating.'
_Manchester Guardian._--'Mirthful spirits, always overflowing. Wherever
she goes her eyes and ears are alert.'
VILLA RUBEIN. By JOHN SINJOHN, Author of 'Jocelyn,' etc. Crown 8vo. 6s.
_M.A.P._--'_Villa Rubein_ is a story that goes with a rush from start to
finish, no digression, no wearisome speeches. The story is everything
and keeps the attention alert. Bright movement and vivid narrative.'
_Literary World._--'Interesting from beginning to end.'
_Review of the Week_--'Really good novel. Every figure stands out living
and definite. We are grateful to Mr. Sinjohn.'
THE BANNER OF SAINT GEORGE: a Picture of Old England. By M BRAMSTON.
_New Volume of the 'English Public Schools' Series._
A HISTORY OF ETON COLLEGE
By LIONEL CUST, Director of the National Portrait Gallery. With numerous
Illustrations. Pott 4to. 5s. net.
_Spectator._--'Mr. Cust is to be congratulated. It was a difficult task
to carry out. But Mr. Cust has taken a line of his own with considerable
freshness and an adequate array of new material.'
_Scotsman._--'A happy blend of learning and literature, written with
full knowledge and in the best spirit. Likely to prove the most widely
acceptable book about Eton that has been written.'
_Other Volumes already published._
A HISTORY OF WINCHESTER COLLEGE
By ARTHUR F. LEACH, M.A., F.S.A. Pott 4to. 6s. net.
A HISTORY OF RUGBY SCHOOL
By W. H. D. ROUSE. Pott 4to. 5s. net.
LIFE OF CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS
By his Son, C. F. ADAMS. Crown 8vo. 7s. 6d.
_Athenæum._--'Written with a full knowledge and in a fair spirit.'
_Morning Post._--'A real addition to the history of America. Replete
with that information which can only be acquired by a man admitted
within the inner circles of diplomacy.'
_New Volumes of the 'Modern Plays' Series._
LOVE'S COMEDY (_Kjærlighedens Komedie_). By HENRIK IBSEN. Translated by
Professor C. H. HERFORD. Pott 4to. 3s. 6d. net.
_Literature._--'We welcome this admirable rendering. _Love's Comedy_ is
the introduction to all Ibsen's social plays. Its dialogue is fiery with
metaphor, sparkling with wit. Of all his plays this is the most
characteristic of Ibsen the idealist.'
_Manchester Courier._--'Will be cordially welcomed. The play is
fascinating. It has passages of fine idealism, its cynicism is not
always untrue, its satire is justified. In itself, and as a clue to its
author's attitude towards modern problems, the play is noteworthy.'
_Speaker._--'_Love's Comedy_ is such a remarkable piece of work, and
Professor Herford's rendering of it such a notable achievement, that,
for the credit of English letters, this volume should be ensured a
hearty reception.'
THE COMEDY OF PEACE (_Das Friedensfest_). By GERHART HAUPTMANN.
Translated by JANET ACHURCH and C. E. WHEELER. Pott 4to. 3s. 6d. net.
_Globe._--'Is sure to have many interested readers.'
_Academy._--'A serious contribution to dramatic literature.'
LA RÉVOLTE AND L'EVASION. By VILLIERS DE L'ISLE ADAM. Translated by
THERESA BARCLAY. Pott 4to. 3s. 6d. net.
THE STORY OF CATULLUS. With Translations of several of the Poems. By
HUGH MACNAGHTEN, formerly Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge,
Assistant Master at Eton College. Small Crown 8vo. 2s. 6d.
_Athenæum._--'The literature of Catullus has been scarce of late, and
this addition to it is welcome. The versions reach a high degree of
excellence.'
THE POEMS OF CATULLUS. Edited by HUGH MACNAGHTEN and A. B. RAMSAY,
Assistant Masters at Eton College. Small Crown 8vo. 2s. 6d.
_Times._--'A useful and elegant edition.'