RUE DE LA CHAUSSÉE D'ANTIN.-It was in this street that Mirabeau died on the 2d of April, 1791, at the age of forty-two years. The theatres of the capital were immediately closed, the public bodies put on mourning, and the name of the street was changed to rue de Mirabeau.* In 1793 it was named rue du Mont Blanc, in honour of the department of that name, annexed to France by a decree of November 27, 1792.

In 1786, a splendid hotel in this street, which belonged to one of the most celebrated opera-dancers, was called Temple de Terpsichore. This distinguished woman was visited by the first society in Paris; she had a theatre at her town-house and country-seat, and frequently the best French and Italian performers abandoned the public to join the brilliant parties of mademoiselle

......

At the opening of her theatre in the rue Mont Blanc, the principal actors of the capital assisted, and more than five hundred spectators were present, notwithstanding the opposition of the gentlemen of the king's chamber and the remonstrances of the archbishop of Paris.

In 1786 this hotel was disposed of by a lottery, consisting of two thousand five hundred tickets at five louis d'or each, forming a total of 300,000 livres.

A dispute arose in 1779 between the performers at the Opera-House and the managers, upon which the former proposed to resign. Mademoiselle

said to them: Point de démissions combinées; elles ont perdu le Par

lement.

RUE DU CHEMIN VERT. In the middle of the seventeenth century the site of this street was an open road which traversed a marsh covered with grass. From hence comes the name Chemin Vert (green road).

RUE DU CHERCHE-MIDI.-The name of this street is de

* For Mirabeau's funeral, see Vol. I., p. 127.

rived from a sign called Cherche-Midi, which represented a dial with persons seeking for noon à quatorze heures. This sign appeared so striking, that it was engraved, and gave rise to the sayings: Il cherche midi à quatorze heures; c'est un chercheur de midi à quatorze heures. Jaillot is of opinion that the idea came from Italy, where the hours are reckoned by some to twenty-four in succession. In the long days, noon (midi) would be at the fifteenth hour, but never at the fourteenth. To seek midi, therefore, à quatorze heures, is to look for that which can never be found.

RUE DU CHEVALIER DU GUET.-(See Vol. II. p. 133).

RUE CHEVERT.-This street is so called in memory of the brave Chevert, who was born at Verdun-sur-Meuse in 1695, and died at Paris in 1769.

RUE CHILDEBERT.-This street, which was opened in 1715, near the church of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, took the name of Childebert I., king of Paris, Orleans, and Bourgogne, who founded that church, and dying in 558 was buried in it.*

RUE CHILPERIC.-The site of this street once formed part of the cloister of the church of Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois, the foundation of which is attributed to Chilperic I., king of Soissons, who died in 584. †

RUE CHOISEUL.-This street bears the name of ChoiseulStainville, who was minister of war and minister for foreign affairs. He was born in 1719, and died at Paris in 1785.

RUE CHRISTINE.-This name is derived from Christine, second daughter of Henry IV. and Marie de Médicis.

RUE DU CIMETIÈRE-SAINT-ANDRÉ-DES-ARCS.In this street formerly stood the Collège de Boissi, founded, in 1354, by Godefroi de Boissi and Étienne Vidé de * See Vol. I., p. 209. See Vol. I., p. 87.

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Boissi, his nephew, canon of Laon, both born of poor parents in the diocese of Chartres. It was required by the deeds of the foundation that the principal, chaplain, and twelve scholars, of which the college consisted, should be of the family of Boissi, and in the event of its becoming extinct, of poor persons of Boissi-le-Sec, or the adjacent villages.

RUE CLOTILDE.-This street is so named in memory of Clotilde, queen of Clovis I., king of France, who died in 545, and was buried near her consort in the ancient church of Sainte Geneviève.*

RUE CLOVIS.-This street, which is contiguous to the preceding, bears the name of Clovis I., who died at the Hôtel de Thermes, in 511, and was buried in the church of Sainte Geneviève.

RUE COLBERT. In the rue Vivienne, opposite to this street, stands the Hôtel Colbert in which, by order of the celebrated minister from whom it derived its name, the royal library was deposited. Colbert was born at Rheims in 1619, and died at Paris in 1683.

RUE DU COLISÉE.-The Colisée was a public garden in the reign of Louis XV., which proved a ruinous speculation. †

RUE DES COLONNES.-In this street, which is near the passage Feydeau, columns extend on each side from one extremity to the other.

RUE COMTESSE D'ARTOIS.-This street is so called, because Robert II., count d'Artois, nephew of Saint Louis, had an hotel near it.

RUE CONDE.-The name of Condé was given to this street in 1612, because Henry de Bourbon, prince de Condé, bought a superb and spacious mansion in it. In

* See Royal Abbey of Sainte Geneviève, Vol. I., p. 198.

See Vol. II., p. 525.

1792, it was called rue de l'Égalité, but the former name

was restored in 1805.

RUE DU CONTRAT-SOCIAL.-This street was opened in 1786, and took the name of rue de Calonne, because M. de Calonne was then minister of the finances. In 1790, it was called rue Lafayette, after general Lafayette, at that time very popular. It 1792, it was denominated rue du Contrat-Social, from the title of one of the productions of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who long resided in the vicinity.

RUE COQ-HERON.-The hotel in this street known by the name of Parlement d'Angleterre was occupied, in 1788, by Elizabeth Chudleigh, duchess of Kingston, born in 1720, of an ancient family in Devonshire. Her father, a colonel in the English army, died whilst she was very young, leaving her with her mother, whose only support was a slender pension allowed her by the government. Mrs. Chudleigh loved the gay world, and continued to frequent the society of the persons of distinction to whom she had been introduced by her husband. Her daughter was admired for her beauty, wit and accomplished manners, and through the good offices of Mr. Pulteney, afterwards earl of Bath, became a lady of honour to the princess of Wales.

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The personal charms of Miss Chudleigh, added to her exalted situation, attracted many admirers. The duke of Hamilton obtained the preference, and it was fixed that, upon the return of his grace from a journey he was about to make, the marriage should be celebrated. Among the aspirants to the hand of miss Chudleigh was captain Hervey, son of the earl of Bristol, whose pretensions were seconded by Mrs. Hanmer, aunt of miss Chudleigh. Mrs. Hanmer intercepted the letters addressed to her niece by the duke of Hamilton, and succeeded in obtaining the

celebration of her marriage with captain Hervey. On the day after the nuptials, miss Chudleigh (Mrs. Hervey) conceived an aversion for her husband, and resolved never to see him again. They were separated, and she afterwards became the mother of an infant which died.

The duke of Hamilton upon returning to England, and learning in part the artifice of Mrs. Hanmer, offered his hand to miss Chudleigh, of whose marriage he was ignorant, and was thrown into the utmost despair by her unaccountable refusal, which equally astonished the public and enraged Mrs. Chudleigh, who was a stranger to the secret engagements of her daughter. To escape the reproaches which met her from every quarter, she embarked for the continent with an English major, who became her travelling companion in a manner which displays her extraordinary character. She inserted in the journals the following advertisement: "A young lady, mistress of her person and possessed of a considerable fortune, who believes herself agreeable, and flatters herself that she is so in the eyes of others, has formed a resolution to pass some time abroad, and would be glad to find a young man, of a respectable family and agreeable society, to become her travelling companion. Her heart is disengaged, and she is desirous that the individual who may offer himself should also be free from engagement, in order that nothing may hinder a more close union. A reply through the medium of the journals will be expected within a fortnight. It is presumed that the affair will be kept secret until all the arrangements are made, and a violation of secrecy would not remain unpunished." The next day the journals contained the following reply: "A middle-aged gentleman, of an agreeable appearance and good health, offers his services to the lady who advertised in the journals yesterday. He is perfectly independent, and has already travelled. If the