That Mme. Favart was greater as an actress than as a vocalist (which may be said of so many singers who have distinguished themselves at the Opéra Comique of Paris) is beyond doubt. "She is not a singer," said Grétry, the composer; "she is an actress who speaks song with the truest and most passionate accent." "What a wonderful woman!" exclaimed Boieldieu, after a representation of his _Caliph of Bagdad_. "They say she does not know music; yet I never heard anyone sing with such taste and expression, such nature and fidelity." Boieldieu, through Auber, his successor, brings us to modern times. With Ambroise Thomas, the composer of _Mignon_, and Bizet, the composer of _Carmen_, the Opéra Comique has always been the most French of all the French musical theatres. At the Grand Opéra, or Académie, nearly all the successful works have been composed by foreigners: by Lulli, Gluck, Piccinni, Spontini, Rossini, Meyerbeer, Donizetti, and Verdi. The most popular works at the Opéra Comique have, on the other hand, been composed by Frenchmen. _La Dame Blanche_, for instance, of Boieldieu; the _Fra Diavolo_, _The Black Domino_, _The Crown Diamonds_ of Auber; the _Mignon_ of Ambroise Thomas, and the _Carmen_ of Bizet, have all been due to the genius of Frenchmen. The Opéra Comique, since its formal separation from all connection with Italy, has itself had strange and tragic adventures. The last of these was its destruction by a terrible fire, in which more than one hundred lives were lost. Since this catastrophe, which took place on the 22nd of May, 1887, the Opéra Comique has been provisionally established in the Place du Châtelet. To make an inevitable excursion which here presents itself, the Rue Monsigny, deriving its name from one of the most famous composers connected with the Opéra Comique, will always be remembered as the head-quarters of the Saint-Simonians during the first meeting of that strange association, founded by Saint-Simon, lineal descendant of the duke who wrote the famous _Memoirs_. The aims of the Saint-Simonians, visionary as they may have been, were at least noble; and the society numbered among its members some of the most able and high-minded young men of the day. The truth of this latter assertion is proved by the distinguished part played by many of the Saint-Simonians in very different spheres after the society had come to an end. Michel Chevalier, the political economist, Duveyrier, the dramatist, and Félicien David, the composer, may be mentioned among those Saint-Simonians whose names will be familiar to many Englishmen.