SCHMUCKE (Wilhelm), a German Catholic, and a man of great musical talent; open-hearted, absent-minded, kind, sincere, of simple manners, of gentle and upright bearing. Originally he was precentor to the Margrave of Anspach; he had known Hoffman, the eccentric writer of Berlin, in whose memory he afterwards had a cat named Murr. Schmucke then went to Paris; in 1835-36, he lived there in a small apartment on the Quai Conti, at the corner of the rue de Nevers.[*] Previous to this, in the Quartier du Marais, he gave lessons in harmony, that were much appreciated, to the daughters of the Granvilles, afterwards Mesdames de Vandenesse and du Tillet; at a later period the former lady asked him to endorse some notes of hand for Raoul Nathan's benefit. [A Daughter of Eve.] Schmucke was also instructor of Lydie Peyrade before her marriage with Theodose de la Peyrade. [Scenes from a Courtesan's Life]; but those whom he regarded as his favorite pupils were Mesdames de Vandenesse and du Tillet, and the future Vicomtesse de Portenduere, Mademoiselle Mirouet of Nemours, the three "Saint-Cecilias" who combined to pay him an annuity. [Ursule Mirouet.] The former precentor, now of ugly and aged appearance, readily obtained a welcome with the principals of boarding-schools for young ladies. At a distribution of prizes he was brought in contact with Sylvain Pons for whom he immediately felt an affection that proved to be mutual (1834). Their intimacy brought them under the same roof, rue de Normandie, as tenants of C.-J. Pillerault (1836). Schmucke lived for nine years in perfect happiness. Gaudissart, having become manager of a theatre, employed him in his orchestra, entrusted him with the work of making copies of the music, and employed him to play the piano and various instruments that were not used in the boulevard theatres: the viol d'amore, English horn, violoncello, harp, castanets, bells, saxhorns, etc. Pons made him his residuary legatee (April, 1845); but the innocent German was not strong enough to contend with Maitre Fraisier, agent of the Camusot de Marvilles, who were ignored in this will. In spite of Topinard, to whom, in despair at the death of his friend, he went to demand hospitality, in the Bordin district, Schmucke allowed himself to be swindled, and was soon carried off by apoplexy. [Cousin Pons.]
[*] Perhaps the former lodging place of Napoleon Bonaparte.
SCHONTZ (Madame), name borne by Mademoiselle Schiltz, afterwards Madame Fabien du Ronceret. (See this last name.)
SCHWAB (Wilhelm), born at Strasbourg in the early part of the nineteenth century, of the German family of Kehl, had Frederic (Fritz) Brunner as his friend, whose follies he shared, whose poverty he relieved, and with whom he went to Paris; there they went to the Hotel du Rhin, rue du Mail, kept by Johann Graff, father of Emilie, and brother of the famous tailor, Wolfgang Graff. Schwab kept books for this rival of Humann and Staub. Several years later he played the flute at the theatre at which Sylvain Pons directed the orchestra. During an intermission at the first brilliant performance of "La Fiancee du Diable," presented in the fall of 1844, Schwab invited Pons through Schmucke to his approaching wedding; he married Mademoiselle Emilie Graff—a love-match—and joined in business with Frederic Brunner, who was a banker and enriched by the inheritance of his father's property. [Cousin Pons.]
SCHWAB (Madame Wilhelm), wife of the preceding; born Mademoiselle Emilie Graff; an accomplished beauty, niece of Wolfgang Graff, the wealthy tailor, who provided her with dowry. [Cousin Pons.]
SCIO (Madame), a prominent singer of the Theatre Feydeau in 1798, was very beautiful in "Les Peruviens," a comic opera by Mongenod, produced with very indifferent success. [The Seamy Side of History.]
SCOEVOLA (Mucius). Under this assumed name was concealed, during the Terror, a man who had been huntsman to the Prince de Conti, to whom he owed his fortune. A plasterer, and proprietor of a small house in Paris, on about the highest point of the Faubourg Saint-Martin,[*] near the rue d'Allemagne, he affected an exaggerated civism, which masked an unfailing fidelity to the Bourbons, and he in some mysterious way afforded protection to Sisters Marthe and Agathe (Mesdemoiselles de Beauseant and de Langeais), nuns who had escaped from the Abbey of Chelles, and were, with Abbe de Marolles, taking refuge under his roof. [An Episode under the Terror.]
[*] His parish was the Saint-Laurent church, which for a while during
the Revolution had the name of Temple of Fidelity.
SECHARD (Jerome-Nicolas), born in 1743. After having been a workman in a printer's shop of Angouleme situated on the Place du Murier, though very illiterate, he became its owner at the beginning of the Revolution; was acquainted at that time with the Marquis de Maucombe, married a woman that was provided with a certain competency, but soon lost her, after having by her a son, David. In the reign of Louis XVIII., fearing the competition of Cointet, J.-N. Sechard retired from active life, selling his business to his son, whom he intentionally deceived in the trade, and moved to Marsac, near Angouleme, where he raised grapes, and drank to excess. During all the latter part of his life, Sechard mercilessly aggravated the commercial difficulties which his son David was struggling against. The old miser died about 1829, leaving property of some value. [Lost Illusions.]
SECHARD (David), only son of the preceding, school-mate and friend of Lucien de Rubempre, learned the art of printing from the Didots of Paris. On one occasion, upon his return to his native soil, he gave many evidences of his kindness and delicacy; having purchased his father's printing shop, he allowed himself to be deliberately cheated and duped by him; employed as proof-reader Lucien de Rubempre, whose sister, Eve Chardon, he adored with a passion that was fully reciprocated; he married her in spite of the poverty of both parties, for his business was on the decline. The expense involved, the competition of the Cointets, and especially his experiments as inventor in the hope of finding the secret of a particular way of making paper, reduced him to very straitened circumstances. Indeed, everything combined to destroy Sechard; the cunning and power of the Cointet house, the spying of the ungrateful Cerizet, formerly his apprentice, the disorderly life of Lucien de Rubempre, and the jealous greed of his father. A victim of the wiles of Cointet, Sechard abandoned his discovery, resigned himself to his fate, inherited from his father, and cheered by the devotion of the Kolbs, dwelt in Marsac, where Derville, led by Corentin, hunted him out with a view to gaining information as to the origin of Lucien de Rubempre's million. [Lost Illusions. A Distinguished Provincial at Paris. Scenes from a Courtesan's Life.]