Later Queens of the French Stage

by H. Noel Williams

“William Hitchin, master of the ‘Sun’ public-house, at Barnes, deposed that yesterday morning, about eight o’clock, coming along the street, he saw Lawrence put a tin can into the Count’s carriage, and return into the house. When he got opposite the door, he heard the report of a pistol. Turned immediately round, and saw the Count and Countess just within the door. The Countess said something to the coachman, who answered, ‘It is indoors, my lady.’ The Count and lady returned into the house. He then heard some persons screaming, and was going to get some weapon, but coachman begged him not to go, and he did not. The coachman and he were going into the house, when the Countess came out of the house, passed them and fell down. Thought she had only fainted, and, while standing by her, saw the Count come out of the house, with blood streaming from his shoulder. The Count instantly returned into the house, and immediately afterwards witness heard the report of a pistol in one of the upper rooms; this report occurred before the Count could possibly get to his own room. Some people came up, and he accompanied them into the house. The first thing he saw on the floor of the passage was a dagger, bloody and with some silk on it, as if it came from a shawl; on desiring a person to go upstairs with him, he refused without having a weapon, on which witness gave him the dagger, and himself took a poker. The coachman followed, and the witness desired him to go first into the room, which he did. On entering the room, he saw the Count sitting on a bed, alive, but speechless, and Lawrence lying on the floor dead, with a brass double-barrelled pistol close to him.

“Matthew Ball, Surgeon, of Barnes, deposed that, about a quarter past eight o’clock in the morning, a woman came to his house, and desired him to come immediately to Count d’Antraigues, for the Count and Countess were both murdered; immediately went, and when he came into the house, saw the Countess lying on the floor of the parlour, and a great deal of blood both on the floor and on her clothes. Then examined and found a large lacerated wound on her right breast, made by a sharp instrument, which had passed through the third and fourth ribs to the cavity of the chest, from which a great effusion of blood had proceeded. As soon as he found the wound was mortal, and that she could not live many minutes, witness went up to the Count, to assist Mr. King, a surgeon, who had previously gone up to dress his wound, and found the Count had received a wound on the shoulder from a sharp instrument, which had penetrated four inches. He was motionless and speechless, and died in about a quarter of an hour after his (Mr. B.) seeing him. Saw two small leaden bullets in the string-board of the stairs, which appeared to have been shot from a pistol. When he entered the Count’s room, saw Lawrence lying on the floor on his belly, with a quantity of blood under his face; on examination, found a loaded pistol had been discharged into his mouth, the contents of which had very much lacerated and torn his mouth, and from which wound he had instantly died, the bullet being still lodged in the vertebra of the neck.

“The Coroner then told the jury that, as they had not only heard what the witnesses had sworn, but also the depositions read over to them, it was unnecessary for him to go into a recapitulation thereon. He should, therefore, leave them to determine whether, from the evidence they had heard, they believed, first that Lawrence had murdered the Count and Countess; and, secondly, whether he had committed suicide, being in his senses.

“In about five minutes, the jury returned a verdict that Lawrence had murdered the Count and Countess, and had afterwards committed suicide, being in his senses.”

“Thus perished,” says M. Adolphe Jullien, “the greatest lyric tragédienne whom France has possessed. But she did not wholly die: the recollection of her remains graven in the mind of her admirers, and she left behind her a luminous trace of her passage across the stage of the Opera. Her generous influence continued to make itself felt throughout long years; her triumphs excited many ambitions, inflamed many resolutions. She remained an object of admiration and emulation for all the artistes, for those who had seen her, as for those who, in later times, knew her only by renown. She united, in fact, in the highest degree, two qualities usually disconnected: the rarest talent of the singer and the greatest art of the tragédienne. She was in every sense of the word an artiste of genius.”[216]

INDEX

[A], [B], [C], [D], [E], [F], [G], [H], [I], [J], [L], [M], [N], [O], [P], [Q], [R], [S], [T], [V], [W], [X], [Z]

A
Adèle de Ponthieu, incident during a representation of, [69]
Aiguillon, Duc d’, his galanterie with Mlle. Raucourt, [159]
Alceste, Gluck’s, [69-75], [78]
Alembert, d’, [4], [79], [96], [159]
Alexis et Justine, Madame Dugazon’s appearance in, [210]
Allard, Mlle, (danseuse), [105], [265]
Alleaume (notary), Sophie Arnould’s letters to him, [80-82]
Alopeus (Swedish Minister in London), [330]
Amelot (Minister of the King’s Household), [292], [294], [300], [305], [312], [313], [315], [322]
Amis des Lois, les, scene during the performance of, [183]
Amours des Dieux, les, Sophie Arnould’s appearance in, [15]
Antraigues, Comte d’, his ancestry, [320];
his early life, [321];
his political writings, [321];
changes his politics, [321];
his relations with Madame Saint-Huberty, [322];
his letter to her, [322];
takes refuge in Switzerland, [326];
joined by Madame Saint-Huberty, [326];
marries her secretly, [327];
an active agent of the counter-revolution, [328] and note;
arrested at Trieste, [328];
escapes from Milan, [329];
establishes himself with his wife in England, [330];
employed by the Foreign Office, [330];
assassinated, with his wife, by their Piedmontese servant, Lorenzo, [331-337];
inquest upon, [337-343]
Antraigues, Comtesse: d’, see Saint-Huberty, Madame
Ariane dans l’Île de Naxos, Madame Saint-Huberty’s appearance in, [286], [287], [299], [300]
Armide, Gluck’s, [107], [266], [275], [313], [317]
Arnaud, Abbé, [46]
Arnault, [257]
Arnould (daughter of Sophie Arnould), Alexandrine Sophie, birth, [43];
marries André de Murville, [82], [83];
her character, [83] and note;
ill-treated by her husband, [83], [84];
wishes to join the Opera, [84];
divorces her husband and marries again, [89]
Arnould, Jean (father of Sophie Arnould), a worthy man, [4];
declines to force his daughter to marry M. de Malézieux, [13];
in financial straits, [21];
takes the Hôtel de Lisieux, [21];
deceived by the Comte de Lauraguais, [21-23];
reconciled to his daughter after her elopement, [24]
Arnould, Madame (mother of Sophie Arnould), affects literary society, [4];
takes her daughter to visit Madame de Pompadour, [9];
dreads Sophie joining the Opera, [11];
favours the suit of the Chevalier de Malézieux, [13];
sends Sophie to take lessons from Mlles. Fel and Clairon, [18];
a vigilant guardian, [20], [21];
deceived by the Comte de Lauraguais, [21-23];
in despair at her daughter’s elopement, [23];
reconciled to her dishonour, 24
Arnould, Sophie, birth and parentage, [3] and note, [4];
education, [4];
taken by the Princesse de Conti to live with her, [5];
sings in the choir of the Ursulines of Saint-Denis, [5];
receives a letter from Voltaire, [5], [6];
sings at the Abbey of Panthémont, [7];
visits Marie Leczinska, [8], [9];
and Madame de Pompadour, [9-11];
appointed a singer of the Queen’s Chamber, [11];
ordered to join the Opera, [11];
receives an offer of marriage from the Chevalier de Malézieux, [12-14];
her début at the Opera, [12-14];
her success in La Provençale, [15];
in Énée et Lavinie, [15], [16];
and in Les Fêtes de Paphos, [16], [17];
her voice, [17], [18];
her acting, [18];
her personal appearance, [19] and note, [20];
surrounded by soupirants, [20], [21];
her elopement with the Comte de Lauraguais, [21-24];
her liaison with him, [28], [29];
the idol of the public, [30];
her wit, [30-34];
leaves Lauraguais, [35-37];
“comes to an arrangement” with the financier Bertin, [37], [38];
bestowing her favours freely, [38];
discards Bertin and returns to Lauraguais, [39];
stormy character of their relations, [40];
procures Lauraguais’s release from prison, [43];
has a daughter by him, [43];
supplanted in his affections by Mlle. Heinel, [45];
receiving great attention from the Prince de Conti, [45] and note;
leading an unedifying life, [46];
accepts the “protection” of the Prince d’Hénin, [46], [47];
her projected hôtel in the Chaussée-d’Antin, [47];
falls in love with the architect Belanger, [47], [48];
insults the Lieutenant of Police, [49];
behaves with “unexampled audacity” towards Madame du Barry, [49] and note;
her caprices a source of much tribulation to the administration of the Opera, [49-52];
her triumphs as a singer, [53], [54];
insufferably bored by the Prince d’Hénin, [54], [55];
wishes to retire from the Opera, [56];
her vocal powers and popularity declining, [56], [57];
chosen by Gluck for the name-part in Iphigénie en Aulide, [57];
claims the right to take liberties with the time when singing, [59-61];
her success in Iphigénie en Aulide, [65];
quarrel between Gluck and the Prince d’Hénin at her house, [66];
her performance in Orphée, [68];
shocks the audience during a performance of Adèle de Ponthieu, [69];
passed over by Gluck in favour of Rosalie Levasseur, [70-72];
believed to have joined a cabal to ensure the failure of Alceste, [72], [73];
her letter to the Nouveau Spectateur, [73], [74];
the object of hostile demonstration at the Opera, [75], [76];
interference of Marie Antoinette in her favour, [75], [76];
refuses to bow to the storm, [77];
insulted in the garden of the Palais-Royal, [77], [78];
retires from the stage, [78];
her house a rendezvous for men of letters, [78];
Voltaire’s visit to her, [79];
failure of Mesmer to cure her dog, [79], [80];
her letters to the notary Alleaume, [81], [82];
marriage of her daughter Alexandrine, [82], [83];
goes to live at Clichy-la-Garenne, [83];
her life there, [84], [85];
in financial difficulties, [85];
declines to prosecute a burglar, [85], [86];
attack of Champcenetz upon her in La Chronique scandaleuse, [86], [87];
removes from Clichy to Luzarches, [87];
her description of her new home, [87];
receives a domiciliary visit from the local revolutionary committee, [87], [88] and note;
her bon mot on
the occasion of her daughter’s second marriage, [89];
becoming poorer and poorer, [89], [90];
befriended by Belanger, [90];
her letter to him, [90], [91];
returns to Paris, [91];
her letter to Lauraguais, [92], [93];
her generosity the cause of her poverty, [93];
her letter to Lucien Bonaparte, [94], [95];
in a pitiable condition, [95];
Belanger’s letter to Lucien Bonaparte on her behalf, [96], [97];
her death, [97];
her kindness to Mlle. Raucourt, [170], [171];
deserted by the Prince d’Hénin for that actress, [177]
Artois, Comte d’, casts a “benevolent glance” on Sophie Arnould, [69];
credited with a desire to participate in the favours of Mlle. Raucourt, [177];
witnesses the performance of the Mariage de Figaro, at Gennevilliers, [235];
become the amant en titre of Mlle. Contat, [243];
indulges in a practical joke at her expense, [244];
obtains for her an authorisation to play biribi at her house, [244];
refuses to recognise his daughter by her, [245];
sends her three thousand louis to pay her debts, [246]
Ashton, Elizabeth, her evidence at the inquest upon the Comte and Comtesse d’Antraigues, [339]
Atys, Piccini’s, [288], [313]
B
Bachaumont, [319];
(cited) [49] note, [52], [53], [111]
Bajazet, Mlle. Contat’s appearance in, [226]
Balbatri (musician), [6]
Ball, Matthew (surgeon), his evidence at the inquest on the Comte and Comtesse d’Antraigues, [342], [343]
Barbier de Seville, Beaumarchais’s, [188], [231]
Beaumarchais, a visitor at Sophie Arnould’s house, [79];
his manœuvres to stimulate public interest in his Mariage de Figaro, [230];
enables the Comte de Vaudreuil to win a wager, [230] note;
chooses Mlle. Contat for the part of Suzanne, [231];
performance of his Mariage de Figaro at Théâtre des Menus-Plaisirs forbidden by Louis XVI.;
his diplomacy, [233];
his play performed at Gennevilliers, [235];
reads it to an audience selected by the Baron de Breteuil, [236], [237];
production of the Mariage de Figaro at Comédie-Française, [237-240]
Beaumesnil, Mlle, (singer), [33], [52]
Beaumesnil, Christophe de (Archbishop of Paris) objects to the opening of Mlle. Guimard’s private theatre in the Chaussée-d’Antin, [121];
persuades Louis XVI. to forbid a fête at her hôtel, [121], [122]
Beauvau, Princesse de, [152] note, [157]
Bélanger (architect), designs an hôtel for Sophie Arnould in the Chaussée-d’Antin, [47];
becomes her amant de cœur, [48];
his practical joke at the expense of the actor Florence, [48];
wishful to marry Sophie, [48];
narrowly escapes the guillotine, [89];
marries Mlle. Dervieux of the Opera, [89];
his kindness to Sophie Arnould during her last years, [90];
her letters to him, [90], [91];
his letter to Lucien Bonaparte on her behalf, [96], [97]
Bernis, Abbé (afterwards Cardinal) de, [4]
Bernard, Marie Anne (mother of Mlle. Guimard), [101], [102], [104], [105].
Bertin (farmer-general) “comes to an arrangement” with Sophie Arnould, [37];
presents her to his friends, [38];
his generosity powerless to gain her affection, [38];
discarded by Sophie, [39];
indemnified by the Comte de Lauraguais, [39];
furnishes a handsome apartment for Mlle. Guimard, [105];
supplanted in her affections by M. de Boutourlin, [108]
Berton (director of the Opera), [53] note
Bièvre, Marquis de, first amant en titre of Mlle. Raucourt, [159] and note, [160]
Billington, Miss (singer), [213]
Black, Susannah, her evidence at the inquest on the Comte and Comtesse d’Antraigues, [337-339]
Blaise et Babet, Madame Dugazon’s performance in, [209], [210];
played at Trianon by Marie Antoinette and her friends, [209], [210]
Boïeldieu (cited), [208]
Bompas, commits a burglary at Sophie Arnould’s house at Clichy, [85];
pardoned by her, [86]
Bonaparte, Lucien, Sophie Arnould’s letter to him, [94], [95];
promises her a benefit performance at the Opera, [95];
Belanger’s letter to him on her behalf, [96], [97]
Boucher (painter), [10]
Boudreau (financier), lover of Madame Dugazon, [205], [206]
Boufflers, Chevalier de, 5[3] note
Bouillon, Duc de, [32], [320] note
Bouilly, [217], [221], (cited) [207], [212]
Bourbon, Duc de, his offer to Mlle. Raucourt, [156]
Boutin (financier), lends money to Sophie Arnould, [85]
Boutourilin, M. de, lover of Mlle. Guimard, [108]
Boynes (Minister of Marine), Sophie Arnould’s bon mot at his expense, [34]
Brancas, Constant de (son of Sophie Arnould and Comte de Lauraguais), [91]
Brizard (actor), trains Mlle. Raucourt for the stage, [147] and note;
his speech on the evening of her début at the Comédie-Française, [148];
attacked by the enemies of the actress, [176]
Breteuil, Baron de, opposed to the production of Beaumarchais’s Mariage de Figaro, [235];
his opposition overcome by Beaumarchais’s tact, [235], [236];
engages Piccini to come to Paris, [295]
Burney, Dr. (cited), [44] note
C
Cabanis (physician), [323]
Camille, ou le souterrain, Madame Dugazon’s success in, [216]
Campan, Madame (cited), [168]
Campardon, Émile (cited), [101], [109], [124], [208], [210], [212]
Canning, George, [331]
Caprices de Galathée, les, Mlle. Guimard’s triumph in, [124]
Castil-Blaze (cited), [3] note, [91], [304]
Castor et Pollux, Rameau’s, [33], [51], [52]
Cazes, M. de, lover of Madame Dugazon;
compelled by Dugazon to surrender his wife’s letters and portrait, [202], [203];
caned by Dugazon at the Comédie-Italienne, [203], [204]
Champcenetz, his attack on Sophie Arnould in La Chronique scandaleuse, [86]
Champfort, [236]
Chasse (singer), [6]
Chartres, Duc de, [64], [120]
Chartres, Duchesse de, [64]
Chesterfield, Earl of, [67]
Chevalier, Mlle. (singer), [6]
Chimène, Sacchini’s, [308]
Choiseul, Duc de, Sophie Arnould’s bon mot about him, [34];
releases Lauraguais from prison on her petition, [42]
Choiseul-Praslin, Duc de, [34]
Clairon, Mlle., gives Sophie Arnould lessons in acting, [18];
her pension compared with that of Sophie Arnould, 78
trains Mlle. Raucourt for the stage, 1[47] and note
Clytemnestre, Comte de Lauraguais’s, [35] note
Cléophile, Mlle., [160]
Colasse (composer), [15] note
Collé, [112], [120], (cited) [17], [24], [26] note
Collette, Mlle., [108]
Contat, Amalrie (daughter of Louise Contat and the Comte d’Artois), [245], [261]
Contat, Émilie, [252]
Contat, Louise, her parentage, [225] and note;
adopted and trained for the stage by the Prévilles, [225];
her début at the Comédie-Française, [226];
her success in comedy, [226];
cabal formed against her at the theatre, [226], [227];
her success as Rosalie in Les Courtisanes, [228], [229];
and as Sophie in Le vieux garçon, [229], [230];
chosen by Beaumarchais for the part of Suzanne in his Mariage de Figaro, [231];
her triumph in this part, [239], [240];
her personal appearance, [240];
her liaison with the Chevalier de Lubsac, [240-242];
rejects the advances of a wealthy financier, [242];
squandering the patrimony of the Marquis de Maupeou, [242], [243];
discards him in favour of the Comte d’Artois, [243];
her ruse to stimulate the latter’s generosity, [243], [244];
authorised to play biribi at her house, [244];
has a daughter, [245];
abandoned by the Comte d’Artois, [245];
her relations with Desentelles and the actor Fleury, [245];
in financial difficulties, [245], [246];
adventure with Prince Henry of Prussia, [246-248];
her success in Les Deux Pages, [248], [249];
inimitable in high comedy, [249], [250];
her triumphs in the provinces, [250];
verses addressed to her by a blind admirer, [251];
her imperious character, [251];
her quarrel with Alexandre Duval, [251];
unable to endure a rival on the stage, [251], [252];
her efforts on behalf of her sister Émilie Contat, [282];
her attachment to Marie Antoinette, [252], [253];
escapes the guillotine, [283];
enthusiasm aroused by her at Bordeaux, [253], [254];
her popularity in society, [254], [255];
her qualities as an hostess, [255];
her wit, [255], [256];
her magnanimity, [256];
her attraction for men of letters, [256-258];
Napoleon an admirer of her acting, [258];
her marriage, [258];
her last appearance, [258], [259];
her illness and death, [259-261];
her daughter Amalrie Contat, [261]
Conti, Prince de, pays assiduous attentions to Sophie Arnould, [43];
invites her to his box at the Opera, [45];
“wishes her to be entirely his own,” [45] note;
gives her a pension, [80] note
Conti, Princesse de, takes Sophie Arnould to live with her, [5];
suggests that she shall sing at the Abbey of Panthémont in Holy Week, [7];
embarrassed by Madame de Pompadour’s desire to see Sophie, [9];
endeavours to conceal Sophie in a convent, [11], [12];
encourages the suit of the Chevalier de Malézieux, [12], [13]
Cour du Roi Pétaud, la, Comte de Lauraguais, [25], [26] and note
Courtisanes, les, anecdote about its rejection by the Comédie-Française, [228], [229];
Mlle. Contat’s performance in, [229]
Crébillon fils, [46]
D
Dalayrac (composer), [210], [211], [212], [213], [217]
Danaïdes, Salieri’s, [308], [309]
Dangeville, Mlle., [226], 239
Dardanus, Sophie Arnould’s performance in, [42], [50], [51]
Dauberval (dancer), one of the lovers of Mlle. Guimard, [113] note
Dauvergne (director of the Opera), [126], [127], [311], [313], [315], [318], [322], [324], [325]
David, Jaques Louis (painter), Mlle. Guimard’s kindness to him, [118], [119]
Dervieux, Mlle., [90], [116], [121]
Desentelles (Intendant of the Menus-Plaisirs), [245]
Des Essarts (actor), [183]
Desfaucherets, [257]
Despréaux, Jean Étienne, his parody of Ernelinde performed at Mlle. Guimard’s hôtel in the Chaussée-d’Antin, [122];
and before the Court at Choisy, [122];