Part 24
On the other hand, there can be no question that between that date and her death, fifteen months later, she was reduced to great distress, as witness the following appeal addressed to Chaptal, the Minister of the Interior, and in response to which she received an order on the Treasury for 2000 livres:--
* * * * *
"CITIZEN MINISTER,--For a month past I have been vainly seeking a protector to bring me to your notice; but if it be true that you are of a generous disposition, it is to you alone that I should address myself. Seventy-nine years of age, almost in want of the necessaries of life, celebrated at one time by the possession of some talents, I wait at your door until you condescend to grant me a moment.
CLAIRON."[214]
* * * * *
In good truth, an object-lesson for the moralist to dilate upon! Clairon, the haughty, the incomparable Clairon, the idol of town and theatre; Clairon, to have met whom in society was the proudest boast of the braggart in _Candide_; Clairon, for whose smiles a King (according to Grimm) had sighed in vain, and a Serene Highness--not in vain; Clairon, whose classic features had been painted by Van Loo and sculptured by Lemoine; Clairon, in whose honour gold medals had been struck, and whose praises "bards sublime" had chanted--forced to beg her bread at the door of a Minister!
At the time when the above letter was written, the old actress had removed from Issy, and was living in the Rue de Lille with a Madame de la Rianderie,[215] the widow of an officer in the Gardes-Françaises. Here she was visited by Lemontey, who describes her as a little, withered old woman, feeble and sickly, but still retaining something of her majestic manner, and who spoke to him in a voice which had lost but little of its power and sweetness. Observing a little boy who had accompanied the historian, she motioned him to approach, saying: "Make that child come here. He will be very pleased to be able to say one day that he has seen and spoken to Mlle. Clairon."
Another of her visitors was the English actor John Kemble, to whom she recited a scene from _Phèdre_ with a majesty and fire truly astonishing in one so old and frail.
Mlle. Clairon died on January 31, 1803, six days after completing her eightieth year.
* * * * *
Animated to the last by the pride which had dominated her whole life, Mlle. Clairon bequeathed to the nation her marble bust by Lemoine and the gold medal which Valbelle and Villepinte had caused to be struck in her honour; but, for some reason, these souvenirs were not accepted. The native town of the great actress showed itself less indifferent than the State, and placed a commemorative tablet on the house in which she had been born. In 1876, however, the house collapsed beneath the weight of years, and the tablet was buried under its ruins.[216]
The remains of Mlle. Clairon were interred in the cemetery of Vaugirard, where they remained until its suppression in April 1837, when, escorted by a deputation from the Comédie-Française, they were transferred to Père-Lachaise, and there re-interred, Samson pronouncing an _éloge_ over the grave. In 1889, at the solicitation of M. Caille, an inhabitant of Condé, the _sociétaires_ of the Comédie-Française decided that the tomb of the famous _tragédienne_ should be completely restored, and voted for that purpose a sum of one thousand francs.
INDEX
A
_Actrice nouvelle, l'_, Poisson's, 151
_Adrienne Lecouvreur_, Scribe and Legouvé's, 129 and note, 182 note
Aiguillon, Duc d', 163
Aiguillon, Duchesse, 319, 337
Aïssé, Mlle., 140, 180, 184 note, 186; (cited) 180-183, 188-190, 192 note
_Alexandre_, Racine's, 26, 92
Allainval, Abbé d', 129; (cited) 134, 145, 199
_Amours de Bastien et Bastienne_, Justine Favart's performance in, 268
_Amphitryon_, Molière's, 49, 155
_Andromaque_, Racine's, 11 note, 93
Anne of Austria, Queen of France, 27
Anne Ivanovna, Duchess of Courland, 173, 174, 175
Anspach, Margrave of, his character and personal appearance, 340, 341; falls in love with Mlle. Clairon and invites her to Anspach, 341; "the sweetest and kindest of beings," 342; discards Mlle. Clairon for Lady Craven, 344-346
Anspach, Margravine of, 340, 341, 344, 345, 346.
_Antiochus et Cléopatre_, Deschamps', 154
Argental, d', 164-168, 169, 193 note
_Ariane_, Mlle. de Champmeslé's performance in, 99.
Arles, Council of, excludes the actor from the Sacraments, 66, 67
_Attila_, Pierre Corneille's, 26, 97 note
Aubry, Sebastian, 13
Augustus II., Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, 169, 170, 174, 176
Aunillon, Abbé, 179.
_Avare_, Molière's, 78
B
Bachaumont, (cited) 293 note, 328, 335 note, 337 note
_Bajazet_, 98, 337.
Balicourt, Mlle., 228 and note
Barbier, (cited) 161, 213, 301
Barbier d'Aucour, 102
Bauffremont, Marquis de, 318
Baron, Michel, 56-58, 63, 75, 94, 147, 151, 152, 159
Bayle, 8, 41
Bazin, 9, 44
Beaumarchais, 325
Beaumenard, Mlle., mistress of Maurice de Saxe, 239, 243 note
Beffara, 9, 15, 211 note
Béjart, Armande, her marriage with Molière, 3; controversy concerning her parentage, 7-20; accompanies the Illustre Théâtre to the provinces, 20; her education, 21; her personal appearance, 22-25; her gifts as an actress, 25, 26; her _début_, 27; plays before the Court in the _Impromptu de Versailles_, 27; and during _Les Plaisirs de l'Ile enchantée_, 27-29; bears Molière a son, 27; her rendering of the part of Célimène in the _Misanthrope_, 29-31; other performances by her, 31, 32; her moral conduct considered, 32-40; charges brought against her in _La Fameuse Comédienne_, 40-48; temporarily separated from her husband, 48-54; her supposed _liaison_ with Baron, 56-58; her platonic friendship with Pierre Corneille, 58, 59; birth of her second son, 60; endeavours to dissuade Molière from playing in the _Malade imaginaire_, 62; goes to find a priest to administer the last Sacraments to her husband, 63; her appeal to the Archbishop of Paris, 63, 64; her interview with Louis XIV. at Saint-Germain, 64; throws money among the crowd on the day of Molière's funeral, 71; causes a fire to be lighted on his grave, 72; conclusion as to her moral conduct, 72, 73; resumes her place in the company three days after her husband's death, 74 and note; secures the Théâtre Guénégaud, 77, 78; her adventure with Président Lescot, 79-82; libelled by Guichard, 82 and note; marries Guérin d'Estriché, 83, 84; her later years, 84, 85
Béjart, Bénigne Madeleine, 10, 19
Béjart, Geneviève, 7, 15
Béjart, Joseph _pére_, 3, 7, 9, 10
Béjart, Joseph _fils_, 4, 10, 15, 75
Béjart, Louis, 15
Béjart, Madeleine, her parentage, 34; becomes an actress, 4, 5; has a daughter by the Comte de Modène, 5, 6; commonly believed to be the mother of Armande Béjart, 7-10; and to have been the mistress of Molière, 11; hideous accusation of Montfleury, 11, 12; repeated by Guichard, Le Boulanger de Chalussay, and in _La Fameuse Comédienne_, 12-15; joins the Illustre Théâtre, 15; her talent as an actress and personal appearance, 16; question as to her relations with Molière considered, 17-20; promotes the marriage between Molière and Armande, 21, 22
Bellerose, 76 note
Benoît (surgeon), his dispute with Dubois of the Comédie-Française, 328, 329
_Bérénice_, Racine's, 96, 97, 98
Bergheick, Comte de, lover of Mlle. Clairon, 281
Bernard, Samuel, 216
Bernhardt, Madame Sarah, 138
Berri, Duchesse de, 205
Berryer, Lieutenant of Police, 285, 304, 305, 306, 318
Besenval, Baron de, Mlle. Clairon's love-letters to him, 303
Bimorel, Madame de, 282, 283, 285
Blainville, expelled from the Comédie-Française, 329
Blondi, dancing-master, 206
Blot, 42
Boileau-Despréaux, 60, 71, 100, 103, 108, 109, 116; (cited) 102
Boileau-Puimorin, 60
Bossuet, denounces the plays of Molière, 70; his _Maximes et réflexions sur la comédie_, 119, 120
Botte de la Barondière, Père, insists on Brécourt renouncing the stage, 117 and note
Bouillon (Louise Françoise de Lorraine), Duchesse de, enamoured of Maurice de Saxe, 179; her personal appearance, 179 note; accused by the Abbé Bouret of having engaged him to poison Adrienne Lecouvreur, 179-188; suspected of having caused the death of the actress, 188-190; consideration of this charge, 190, 191; discarded by the Comte de Clermont for Mlle. de Camargo, 213
Bouillon (Marie-Anne Mancini), Duchesse de, intrigues to ruin Racine's _Phèdre_, 103-105
Bourdaloue, Père, preaches against _Tartuffe_, 70; denounces the theatre, 120
Bouret, Abbé, accuses the Duchesse de Bouillon of having engaged him to poison Adrienne Lecouvreur, 179-184; sent to Saint-Lazare, 184; released, 184; rearrested, 185; persists in his accusation, 186; but finally recants, 187; set at liberty and disappears, 187
_Bourgeois gentilhomme_, Molière's, 23, 24, 97 note
Bouteville, Duc de, 302
Bouty, Marie (mother of Mlle. de Champmeslé), 130
Boyer, Abbé, 92, 114, 115, 153
Brécourt, compelled by the curé of Saint-Sulpice to renounce his profession, 117 and note
Breuze de la Martinière, 8
Brie, Mlle, de, joins the Illustre Théâtre, 17; becomes Molière's mistress, 17; resides in the Béjart's house, 48; resumes her intimacy with Molière, 55, 56; jealousy between her and Mlle. Molière, 73
Brizard, 330
Brossette, (cited) 17, 100
Brotok, Comte de, ruined by Mlle. Clairon, 303
By, Chevalier de, lover of Mlle. Clairon, 286
C
Caffaro, Père, his _Lettre d'un Théologien_, in defence of the theatrical profession, 119, 120
Cahusac, (cited) 203
Calandrini, Madame, 180
Camargo, Marie-Anne de: _see_ Cupis de Camargo
Cartouche (brigand), 135
_Cartouche, ou les voleurs_, Le Grand's, 135
Casanova, (cited) 220
Castelnau, Marquis de, 265
Castil-Blaze, (cited) 200, 208
Champmeslé, Charles de: _see_ Chevillet de Champmeslé
Champmeslé, Marie de: _see_ Chevillet de Champmeslé
Chantilly, Mlle.: _see_ Favart, Justine
Chapelle, 42, 49-52, 53, 54, 71, 98
Chappuzeau, Samuel, (cited) 76 note, 77
Chardon, M. Henri, (cited) 4, 18, 19
Châteauroux, Duchesse de, 215, 289
Chevillet de Champmeslé, Charles, runs away from home to become an actor, 90, 91; marries Marie Desmares, 91; joins the Théâtre du Marais, 91; leaves it for the Hôtel de Bourgogne, 93; a complacent husband, 93; on the best of terms with his wife's admirers, 108; joins the Théâtre Guénégaud, 113; his _Parisien_, 113; singular incident connected with his death, 125, 126
Chevillet de Champmeslé, Marie, birth and parentage, 89; becomes an actress and makes her _début_ at Rouen, 90; marries Charles de Champmeslé, 91; comes to Paris with her husband, 91; joins the Théâtre du Marais, 91; her first successes, 92; leaves the Marais for the Hôtel de Bourgogne, 93; her triumph as Hermione in _Andromaque_, 93; her gifts as an actress, 94, 95; her personal appearance, 95, 96; becomes the mistress of Racine, 96; her successes in _Bérénice_, 97; in _Bajazet_, 98; in _Ariane_, 99; in _Mithridate_, 99; in _Iphigénie en Aulide_, 100-102; in _Phèdre_, 106; her house "the rendezvous of all persons of distinction in both Court and town," 107; unfaithful to Racine, 107, 108; her relations with Charles de Sévigné, 108-110; _liaison_ with the Comte de Clermont-Tonnerre, 111; discarded by Racine, 111; her impersonation of Queen Elizabeth in the _Comte d'Essex_, 113; joins the Théâtre Guénégaud, 113; one of the original _sociétaires_ of the Comédie-Française, 113; secures her brother Nicolas's admission _sans début_, 114; later performances by her, 114-116; falls ill and retires from stage, 116; with difficulty induced to renounce her profession, 122; dies, 122; two letters of Racine on her death, 122, 123; her pupils, Mlles. Duclos and Charlotte Desmares, 123-125
Chevreuse, Duchesse de, 246, 247
Choiseul, Duc de, 327
Christian VII., King of Denmark, 337
Cindré, Marquis de, lover of Mlle. Clairon, 306
_Circé_, Thomas Corneille's, 78
Clairon, Mlle., her parentage, 276; her birth, 276, 277; comes with her mother to Paris, 277; her account of how she was led to become an actress, 278-281; makes her _début_ at the Comédie-Italienne, 281; accepts an engagement at Rouen, 281; her life there, 282, 283; adventure with Gaillard de la Bataille, 283, 284; _Histoire de Mademoiselle Cronel, dite Frétillon_, 284, 285; her mother tries to coerce her into marriage, 285; "three rival warriors contending for her heart," 286; rejects the proposals of "my lord" Marlborough, 287; returns to Paris and joins the Opera, 287; leaves the Opera for the Comédie-Française, 288; her admission opposed by certain members of the troupe, 289; insists on making her _début_ in the part of Phèdre, 289, 290; her brilliant success, 290, 291; her personal appearance, 291; her remarkable gifts as an actress, 293; testimony of Favart, 294; of Collé, 294, 295; of Hérault de Séchelles, 295; of Oliver Goldsmith, 295, 296; of Sturtz, 296-299; of Garrick, 299, 300; performances by her, 300, 301; her brilliant success as Aménaïde in _Tancrède_, 301; her lovers, 301-307; her _liaison_ with Marmontel, 307-309; changes her style of acting, 309-313; brings about a reform in stage costume, 313-314; an indefatigable student of everything connected with her art, 314-316; continuing her career of gallantry, 317-318; conceives a genuine passion for the Comte de Valbelle, 318, 319; her social success, 319 and note; her portrait painted by Carle van Loo, 319 and note, 320; declines an offer to take up her residence at St. Petersburg, 320, 321; Garrick commissions an engraving of her "in all the attributes of Tragedy," 321; gold medal struck in her honour, 322; her pride and arrogance, 322, 323; has the interests of her profession sincerely at heart, 323, 324; endeavours to relieve the stage from the ban of the Church, 324; attacked by Fréron, in the _Année littéraire_, 324-328; _l'affaire_ Dubois, 328-331; sent to For l'Évêque, 331, 332; her letter to Garrick, 332, 333; visits Voltaire at Ferney, 334, 335; enthusiastically acclaimed by the pit at Marseilles, 335; retires from the Comédie-Française, 335, 336; her life after her retirement, 336, 337; plays before the King of Denmark, 337, 338; and at Versailles, 338; her correspondence with her pupil Larive, 339, 340; accompanies the Margrave of Anspach to Germany, 341; her life at Anspach, 341-344; supplanted by Lady Craven in the affections of the Margrave, 344-346; takes up her residence at Issy, 346, 347; publication of her _Mémoires_, 347; her last years and death, 349-351; removal of her remains from Vaugirard to Père-Lachaise in 1837, 351, 352
Clavel, Adrienne Lecouvreur's letters to him, 142-145
Clement XI., Pope, declines to interfere between the Church and the theatrical profession, 121 note
Clermont, Comte de, his character, 212; becomes the lover of Mlle. de Camargo, 213; can refuse her nothing, 214; insists on her quitting the stage, 214; appointed abbot of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, 215; installs Mlle. de Camargo at the Château de Berny, 215; discards her for Mlle. Le Duc, 216; presents his new enchantress with a magnificent equipage, 217, 218; makes Mlle. de Camargo an allowance, 220
Clermont-Tonnerre, Comte de, one of the admirers of Mlle. de Champmeslé, 107, 108, 111
Cochin, Charles Nicolas _fils_, his drawing of Justine Favart, 228 note
Colbert, 17 note, 77
Collé, (cited) 152, 153, 216 and note, 252 note, 294, 295, 301, 314, 322 note
Comédie-Française, its foundation, 113
_Comte d'Essex_, Thomas Corneille's, 153, 156
Conti, Prince de, 69
Coraline, Mlle., shocked at the conduct of Justine Favart, 256
Corneille, Pierre, 17, 26, 32 note, 58, 59, 96, 97 and note, 114, 131, 132, 266, 294
Corneille, Thomas, 78, 92, 112
Coulanges, Madame de, (cited) 99
Couvreur, Robert, father of Adrienne Lecouvreur, 130, 131
Couvrigny, Père de (chaplain to the Bastille), his letter to the Lieutenant of Police, 186
Coypel, Charles, his portrait of Adrienne Lecouvreur, 142-145
Crébillon _père_, 124, 145, 227, 294, 300, 321 and note
Crébillon _fils_, 321 note
_Critique de l'École des femmes_, Molière's, 27
Cupis de Camargo, Ferdinand Joseph de (father of Mlle. de Camargo), descended from "one of the noblest families in Rome," 199; gives his daughter lessons in dancing, 200; accompanies her to Rouen, 201; and to Paris, 202; exercises unsleeping vigilance over her, 208; his letter to Cardinal de Fleury after her elopement with the Comte de Melun, 209-211
Cupis de Camargo, Marie-Anne de, birth and parentage, 199, 200; her precocious talent, 200; sent to Paris to take lessons from Mlle. Prévost, 200; _première danseuse_ at Brussels theatre, 201; goes to Rouen, 201; engaged at the Paris Opera, 201, 202; her triumphal _début_, 202 and note; her personal appearance, 202, 203; "abbreviates her skirts," 203, 204; triumphs over the intrigues of Mlle. Prévost and becomes queen of the Opera, 204-206; revolutionises the ballet, 206, 207; patronised by the Duchesse de Villars, 207; carried off by the Comte de Melun, 208-211; conceives "_une belle passion_" for the Marquis de Sourdis, 211, 212; becomes the mistress of the Comte de Clermont, 212-214; temporarily retires from the Opera, 214; does the honours of the Château de Berny, 215; discarded by the count for Mlle. Le Duc, 216; becomes the mistress of the Président de Rieux, 216, 217; receives a magnificent present, 217; breaks with the président and resumes her _liaison_ with the Marquis de Sourdis, 218; returns to the Opera, 219; rivalry between her and Mlle. Sallé, 219; verses addressed to them by Voltaire, 219; makes her _début_ as a singer, 220; definitely retires from the Opera, 220; her later years and death, 220, 221
Cupis de Camargo, Sophie de, 208, 209-211
D
D----, Baron, lover of Adrienne Lecouvreur, 141
Dancourt, 135
Dangeville, Mlle., inspires Mlle. Clairon with a desire to become an actress, 278-280; finds it "impossible to live" with Mlle. Clairon, 323
Des Boulmiers, (cited) 171
Desheys introduces Mlle. Clairon to the Comédie-Italienne, 281
Deshoulières, Madame, intrigues against Racine, 103
Desmares, Charlotte, 114, 124, 125, 126
Desmares, Guillaume, father of Marie de Champmeslé, 89
Desmares, Marie: _see_ Chevillet de Champmeslé, Marie
Desmares, Nicolas, brother of Marie de Champmeslé, 89, 114, 126
Desmarets de Saint-Sorlin, 69
Desnoiresterres, Gustave, (cited) 229 note, 239, 240 note, 242
Des OEillets, Mlle., 93, 94, 98
_Devineresse, La_, 78
Diderot, 347
_Don Garcie de Navarre_, Molière's, 301
_Don Juan_, Molière's, 65, 78, 79
Donneau de Visé, 8, 27, 78, 79, 99
Dubois, Abbé, (cited) 106
Dubois (actor of the Comédie-Française), his dispute with the surgeon Benoît, 328; expelled from the Comédie, 329; temporarily reinstated, 329; Mlle. Clairon and four of her colleagues decline to act with him, 330; his partisans create a riot in the theatre, 330, 331; resigns his place, 334
Dubois, Mlle., 329, 330, 331
Duclos, Mlle., 123, 124, 125, 126
Du Deffand, Marquise, 319
Du Gué, Madame, invites Adrienne Lecouvreur to perform at her hôtel, 131-133
Du Maine, Duchesse, 158
Du Marsais, César, his "_Bon, cela!_" 148; gives Adrienne Lecouvreur lessons in elocution, 149
Dumas d'Aigueberre, (cited) 152, 153
Dumesnil, Marie Françoise, a worthy successor to Adrienne Lecouvreur, 275; her triumph in _Mérope_, 276; compared with Mlle. Clairon, 292, 293; preferred by Louis XV. to the latter, 338
Dumolard, (cited) 242
Du Parc, Mlle., rejects the advances of Molière, 17; and of Pierre Corneille, 58; confidante of Armande Béjart, 45; Racine "experiences with her a sentiment which has the dignity of love," 107
Duras, Duc de, 327, 335, 336
Duronceray, Justine: _see_ Favart, Justine
Duronceray, M. (father of Justine Favart), 228; a tool in the hands of Maurice de Saxe, 254-256, 258, 259, 261
Duronceray, Madame (mother of Justine Favart), 228
Du Rouvray, M., 283
E
_École des femmes_, Molière's, 14, 33, 34
_École des maris_, Molière's, 33
Edwards, Mr. Sutherland, 43 note
_El Desden con el Desden_, Moreto's, 28
_Électre_, Crébillon's, 145, 312
_Électre_, Longpierre's, 33
_Électre_, Voltaire's, 322
Elizabeth Petrovna, Czarina of Russia, wooed by Maurice de Saxe, 173-175; invites Mlle. Clairon to St. Petersburg, 320
_Élomire hypocondre_, Le Boulanger de Chalussay's, 13, 14
Elzevirs, the, print an edition of _Élomire hypocondre_, 14
Épinay, Madame d', 315
Eugène of Savoy, 135, 169
F
_Fameuse Comédienne, La_, libel on Armande Béjart, 15, 21, 22, 25, 40-54, 56, 72, 73, 82, 84
_Fausse Prude, La_, 121 note
Favart, Charles Nicolas Joseph, 272
Favart, Charles Paul, 225 and note
Favart, Charles Simon, his early life, 225, 226; produces _La Chercheuse d'esprit_, 227; director of the Opéra-Comique, 227; engages Justine Duronceray, 228; marries her, 229; invited by Maurice de Saxe to accompany him to Flanders, 231; celebrates the Marshal's entry into Brussels, 233; his adventures in Flanders, 234, 235; announces in verse Maurice's intention to give battle, 237, 238; his account of the battle of Lawfeld, 244, 245; learns of his wife's misconduct with the Marshal, 245; takes her to Brussels, 246; his letter to her, 247; prosecuted by the proprietors of the Brussels theatre, at the instigation of the Marshal, 249; returns to Paris and persuades Justine to leave Maurice, 251; flies to Strasburg, 251; Justine's letter to him, 253, 254; refuses money offered him by the Marshal, 259; reduced to terrible straits, 265; returns to Paris, 265; his verses upon the death of Maurice de Saxe, 266; regards love as "the greatest of all evils," 267; tolerates his wife's _liaison_ with the Abbé de Voisenon, 267; his later works, 267-272; his admiration for Mlle. Clairon's acting, 294