Chapter 4

Dr. Louis Véron -- The real man as distinguished from that of his own "Memoirs" -- He takes the management of the Paris Opéra -- How it was governed before his advent -- Meyerbeer's "Robert le Diable" _underlined_ -- Meyerbeer and his doubts upon the merits of his work -- Meyerbeer's generosity -- Meyerbeer and the beggars of the Rue Le Peletier -- Dr. Véron, the inventor of the modern newspaper puff -- Some specimens of advertisements in their infancy -- Dr. Véron takes a leaf from the book of Molière -- Dr. Véron's love of money -- His superstitions -- His objections to travelling in railways -- He quotes the Queen of England as an example -- When Queen Victoria overcomes her objection, Véron holds out -- "Queen Victoria has got a successor: the Véron dynasty begins and ends with me" -- Thirteen at table -- I make the acquaintance of Taglioni -- The woman and the ballerian -- Her adventure at Perth -- An improvised performance of "Nathalie, la Laitière Suisse" -- Another adventure in Russia -- A modern Claude Du-Val -- My last meeting with Taglioni -- A dinner-party at De Morny's -- A comedy scene between husband and wife -- Flotow, the composer of "Martha" -- His family -- His father's objection to the composer's profession -- The latter's interview with M. de Saint-Georges, the author of the libretto of Balfe's "Bohemian Girl" -- M. de Saint-Georges prevails upon the father to let his son study in Paris for five years, and to provide for him during that time -- The supplies are stopped on the last day of the fifth year -- Flotow, at the advice of M. de Saint-Georges, stays on and lives by giving piano-lessons -- His earthly possessions at his first success -- "Rob Roy" at the Hôtel Castellane -- Lord Granville's opinion of the music -- The Hôtel Castellane and some Paris salons during Louis-Philippe's reign -- The Princesse de Lieven's, M. Thiers', etc. -- What Madame de Girardin's was like -- Victor Hugo's -- Perpetual adoration; very artistic, but nothing to eat or to drink -- The salon of the ambassador of the Two Sicilies -- Lord and Lady Granville at the English Embassy -- The salon of Count Apponyi -- A story connected with it -- Furniture and entertainments -- Cakes, ices, and tea; no champagne as during the Second Empire -- The Hôtel Castellane and its amateur theatricals -- Rival companies -- No under-studies -- Lord Brougham at the Hôtel Castellane -- His bad French and his would-be Don Juanism -- A French rendering of Shakespeare's "There is but one step between the sublime and the ridiculous," as applied to Lord Brougham -- He nearly accepts a part in a farce where his bad French is likely to produce a comic effect -- His successor as a murderer of the language -- M. de Saint-Georges -- Like Molière, he reads his plays to his housekeeper -- When the latter is not satisfied, the dinner is spoilt, however great the success of the play in public estimation -- Great men and their housekeepers -- Turner, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Eugène Delacroix 62