The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Memoirs of Marie Antoinette, Queen Of
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Title: The Memoirs of Marie Antoinette, Queen Of France, Volume 3
Being the Historic Memoirs of Madam Campan, First Lady in Waiting
to the Queen
Author: Madame Campan
Release Date: December 4, 2004 [EBook #3886]
Language: English
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MARIE ANTOINETTE ***
Produced by David Widger
MEMOIRS OF THE COURT OF MARIE ANTOINETTE,
QUEEN OF FRANCE
Being the Historic Memoirs of Madam Campan,
First Lady in Waiting to the Queen
Volume 3
CHAPTER VI.
During the first few months of his reign Louis XVI. dwelt at La Muette,
Marly, and Compiegne. When settled at Versailles he occupied himself with
a general examination of his grandfather's papers. He had promised the
Queen to communicate to her all that he might discover relative to the
history of the man with the iron mask, who, he thought, had become so
inexhaustible a source of conjecture only in consequence of the interest
which the pen of a celebrated writer had excited respecting the detention
of a prisoner of State, who was merely a man of whimsical tastes and
habits.
I was with the Queen when the King, having finished his researches,
informed her that he had not found anything among the secret papers
elucidating the existence of this prisoner; that he had conversed on the
matter with M. de Maurepas, whose age made him contemporary with the epoch
during which the story must have been known to the ministers; and that M.
de Maurepas had assured him he was merely a prisoner of a very dangerous
character, in consequence of his disposition for intrigue. He was a
subject of the Duke of Mantua, and was enticed to the frontier, arrested
there, and kept prisoner, first at Pignerol, and afterwards in the
Bastille. This transfer took place in consequence of the appointment of
the governor of the former place to the government of the latter. It was
for fear the prisoner should profit by the inexperience of a new governor
that he was sent with the Governor of Pignerol to the Bastille.
Such was, in fact, the truth about the man on whom people have been
pleased to fix an iron mask. And thus was it related in writing, and
published by M. ----- twenty years ago. He had searched the archives of
the Foreign Office, and laid the real story before the public; but the
public, prepossessed in favour of a marvellous version, would not
acknowledge the authenticity of his account. Every man relied upon the
authority of Voltaire; and it was believed that a natural or a twin
brother of Louis XIV. lived many years in prison with a mask over his
face. The story of this mask, perhaps, had its origin in the old custom,
among both men and women in Italy, of wearing a velvet mask when they
exposed themselves to the sun. It is possible that the Italian captive
may have sometimes shown himself upon the terrace of his prison with his
face thus covered. As to the silver plate which this celebrated prisoner
is said to have thrown from his window, it is known that such a
circumstance did happen, but it happened at Valzin, in the time of
Cardinal Richelieu. This anecdote has been mixed up with the inventions
respecting the Piedmontese prisoner.
In this survey of the papers of Louis XV. by his grandson some very
curious particulars relative to his private treasury were found. Shares
in various financial companies afforded him a revenue, and had in course
of time produced him a capital of some amount, which he applied to his
secret expenses. The King collected his vouchers of title to these
shares, and made a present of them to M. Thierry de Ville d'Avray, his
chief valet de chambre.
The Queen was desirous to secure the comfort of Mesdames, the daughters of
Louis XV., who were held in the highest respect. About this period she
contributed to furnish them with a revenue sufficient to provide them an
easy, pleasant existence: The King gave them the Chateau of Bellevue; and
added to the produce of it, which was given up to them, the expenses of
their table and equipage, and payment of all the charges of their
household, the number of which was even increased. During the lifetime of
Louis XV., who was a very selfish prince, his daughters, although they had
attained forty years of age, had no other place of residence than their
apartments in the Chateau of Versailles; no other walks than such as they
could take in the large park of that palace; and no other means of
gratifying their taste for the cultivation of plants but by having boxes
and vases, filled with them, in their balconies or their closets. They
had, therefore, reason to be much pleased with the conduct of Marie
Antoinette, who had the greatest influence in the King's kindness towards
his aunts.
Paris did not cease, during the first years of the reign, to give proofs
of pleasure whenever the Queen appeared at any of the plays of the
capital. At the representation of "Iphigenia in Aulis," the actor who
sang the words, "Let us sing, let us celebrate our Queen!" which were
repeated by the chorus, directed by a respectful movement the eyes of the
whole assembly upon her Majesty. Reiterated cries of 'Bis'! and clapping
of hands, were followed by such a burst of enthusiasm that many of the
audience added their voices to those of the actors in order to celebrate,
it might too truly be said, another Iphigenia. The Queen, deeply
affected, covered her eyes with her handkerchief; and this proof of
sensibility raised the public enthusiasm to a still higher pitch.
The King gave Marie Antoinette Petit Trianon.
[The Chateau of Petit Trianon, which was built for Louis XV., was not
remarkably handsome as a building. The luxuriance of the hothouses
rendered the place agreeable to that Prince. He spent a few days there
several times in the year. It was when he was setting off from Versailles
for Petit Trianon that he was struck in the side by the knife of Damiens,
and it was there that he was attacked by the smallpox, of which he died on
the 10th of May, 1774.--MADAME CAMPAN.]
Henceforward she amused herself with improving the gardens, without
allowing any addition to the building, or any change in the furniture,
which was very shabby, and remained, in 1789, in the same state as during
the reign of Louis XV. Everything there, without exception, was
preserved; and the Queen slept in a faded bed, which had been used by the
Comtesse du Barry. The charge of extravagance, generally made against the
Queen, is the most unaccountable of all the popular errors respecting her
character. She had exactly the contrary failing; and I could prove that
she often carried her economy to a degree of parsimony actually blamable,
especially in a sovereign. She took a great liking for Trianon, and used
to go there alone, followed by a valet; but she found attendants ready to
receive her,--a concierge and his wife, who served her as femme de
chambre, women of the wardrobe, footmen, etc.
When she first took possession of Petit Trianon, it was reported that she
changed the name of the seat which the King had given her, and called it
Little Vienna, or Little Schoenbrunn. A person who belonged to the Court,
and was silly enough to give this report credit, wishing to visit Petit
Trianon with a party, wrote to M. Campan, requesting the Queen's
permission to do so. In his note he called Trianon Little Vienna. Similar
requests were usually laid before the Queen just as they were made: she
chose to give the permissions to see her gardens herself, liking to grant
these little favours. When she came to the words I have quoted she was
very, much offended, and exclaimed, angrily, that there were too many,
fools ready, to aid the malicious; that she had been told of the report
circulated, which pretended that she had thought of nothing but her own
country, and that she kept an Austrian heart, while the interests of
France alone ought to engage her. She refused the request so awkwardly
made, and desired M. Campan to reply, that Trianon was not to be seen for
some time, and that the Queen was astonished that any man in good society
should believe she would do so ill-judged a thing as to change the French
names of her palaces to foreign ones.
Before the Emperor Joseph II's first visit to France the Queen received a
visit from the Archduke Maximilian in 1775. A stupid act of the
ambassador, seconded on the part of the Queen by the Abbe de Vermond, gave
rise at that period to a discussion which offended the Princes of the
blood and the chief nobility of the kingdom. Travelling incognito, the
young Prince claimed that the first visit was not due from him to the
Princes of the blood; and the Queen supported his pretension.
From the time of the Regency, and on account of the residence of the
family of Orleans in the bosom of the capital, Paris had preserved a
remarkable degree of attachment and respect for that branch of the royal
house; and although the crown was becoming more and more remote from the
Princes of the House of Orleans, they had the advantage (a great one with
the Parisians) of being the descendants of Henri IV. An affront to that
popular family was a serious ground of dislike to the Queen. It was at
this period that the circles of the city, and even of the Court, expressed
themselves bitterly about her levity, and her partiality for the House of
Austria. The Prince for whom the Queen had embarked in an important
family quarrel--and a quarrel involving national prerogatives--was,
besides, little calculated to inspire interest. Still young, uninformed,
and deficient in natural talent, he was always making blunders.
He went to the Jardin du Roi; M. de Buffon, who received him there,
offered him a copy of his works; the Prince declined accepting the book,
saying to M. de Buffon, in the most polite manner possible, "I should be
very sorry to deprive you of it."
[Joseph II, on his visit to France, also went to see M. de Buffon, and
said to that celebrated man, "I am come to fetch the copy of your works
which my brother forgot."--NOTE BY THE EDITOR.]
It may be supposed that the Parisians were much entertained with this
answer.
The Queen was exceedingly mortified at the mistakes made by her brother;
but what hurt her most was being accused of preserving an Austrian heart.
Marie Antoinette had more than once to endure that imputation during the
long course of her misfortunes. Habit did not stop the tears such
injustice caused; but the first time she was suspected of not loving
France, she gave way to her indignation. All that she could say on the
subject was useless; by seconding the pretensions of the Archduke she had
put arms into her enemies' hands; they were labouring to deprive her of
the love of the people, and endeavoured, by all possible means, to spread
a belief that the Queen sighed for Germany, and preferred that country to
France.
Marie Antoinette had none but herself to rely on for preserving the fickle
smiles of the Court and the public. The King, too indifferent to serve
her as a guide, as yet had conceived no love for her, notwithstanding the
intimacy that grew between them at Choisy. In his closet Louis XVI. was
immersed in deep study. At the Council he was busied with the welfare of
his people; hunting and mechanical occupations engrossed his leisure
moments, and he never thought on the subject of an heir.
The coronation took place at Rheims, with all the accustomed pomp. At
this period the people's love for Louis XVI. burst forth in transports
not to be mistaken for party demonstrations or idle curiosity. He replied
to this enthusiasm by marks of confidence, worthy of a people happy in
being governed by a good King; he took a pleasure in repeatedly walking
without guards, in the midst of the crowd which pressed around him, and
called down blessings on his head. I remarked the impression made at this
time by an observation of Louis XVI. On the day of his coronation he put
his hand up to his head, at the moment of the crown being placed upon it,
and said, "It pinches me." Henri III. had exclaimed, "It pricks me."
Those who were near the King were struck with the similarity between these
two exclamations, though not of a class likely to be blinded by the
superstitious fears of ignorance.
While the Queen, neglected as she was, could not even hope for the
happiness of being a mother, she had the mortification of seeing the
Comtesse d'Artois give birth to the Duc d'Angouleme.
Custom required that the royal family and the whole Court should be
present at the accouchement of the Princesses; the Queen was therefore
obliged to stay a whole day in her sister-in-law's chamber. The moment
the Comtesse d'Artois was informed a prince was born, she put her hand to
her forehead and exclaimed with energy, "My God, how happy I am!" The
Queen felt very differently at this involuntary and natural exclamation.
Nevertheless, her behaviour was perfect. She bestowed all possible marks
of tenderness upon the young mother, and would not leave her until she was
again put into bed; she afterwards passed along the staircase, and through
the hall of the guards, with a calm demeanour, in the midst of an immense
crowd. The poissardes, who had assumed a right of speaking to sovereigns
in their own vulgar language, followed her to the very doors of her
apartments, calling out to her with gross expressions, that she ought to
produce heirs. The Queen reached her inner room, hurried and agitated; he
shut herself up to weep with me alone, not from jealousy of her
sister-in-law's happiness,--of that he was incapable,--but from sorrow at
her own situation.
Deprived of the happiness of giving an heir to the crown, the Queen
endeavoured to interest herself in the children of the people of her
household. She had long been desirous to bring up one of them herself,
and to make it the constant object of her care. A little village boy,
four or five years old, full of health, with a pleasing countenance,
remarkably large blue eyes, and fine light hair, got under the feet of the
Queen's horses, when she was taking an airing in a calash, through the
hamlet of St. Michel, near Louveciennes. The coachman and postilions
stopped the horses, and the child was rescued without the slightest
injury. Its grandmother rushed out of the door of her cottage to take it;
but the Queen, standing up in her calash and extending her arms, called
out that the child was hers, and that destiny had given it to her, to
console her, no doubt, until she should have the happiness of having one
herself. "Is his mother alive?" asked the Queen. "No, Madame; my
daughter died last winter, and left five small children upon my hands." "I
will take this one, and provide for all the rest; do you consent?" "Ah,
Madame, they are too fortunate," replied the cottager; "but Jacques is a
bad boy. I hope he will stay with you!" The Queen, taking little Jacques
upon her knee, said that she would make him used to her, and gave orders
to proceed. It was necessary, however, to shorten the drive, so violently
did Jacques scream, and kick the Queen and her ladies.
The arrival of her Majesty at her apartments at Versailles, holding the
little rustic by the hand, astonished the whole household; he cried out
with intolerable shrillness that he wanted his grandmother, his brother
Louis, and his sister Marianne; nothing could calm him. He was taken away
by the wife of a servant, who was appointed to attend him as nurse. The
other children were put to school. Little Jacques, whose family name was
Armand, came back to the Queen two days afterwards; a white frock trimmed
with lace, a rose-coloured sash with silver fringe, and a hat decorated
with feathers, were now substituted for the woollen cap, the little red
frock, and the wooden shoes. The child was really very beautiful. The
Queen was enchanted with him; he was brought to her every morning at nine
o'clock; he breakfasted and dined with her, and often even with the King.
She liked to call him my child,
[This little unfortunate was nearly twenty in 1792; the fury of the people
and the fear of being thought a favourite of the Queen's had made him the
most sanguinary terrorist of Versailles. He was killed at the battle of
Jemappes.]
and lavished caresses upon him, still maintaining a deep silence
respecting the regrets which constantly occupied her heart.
This child remained with the Queen until the time when Madame was old
enough to come home to her august mother, who had particularly taken upon
herself the care of her education.
The Queen talked incessantly of the qualities which she admired in Louis
XVI., and gladly attributed to herself the slightest favourable change in
his manner; perhaps she displayed too unreservedly the joy she felt, and
the share she appropriated in the improvement. One day Louis XVI. saluted
her ladies with more kindness than usual, and the Queen laughingly said to
them, "Now confess, ladies, that for one so badly taught as a child, the
King has saluted you with very good grace!"
The Queen hated M. de La Vauguyon; she accused him alone of those points
in the habits, and even the sentiments, of the King which hurt her. A
former first woman of the bedchamber to Queen Maria Leczinska had
continued in office near the young Queen. She was one of those people who
are fortunate enough to spend their lives in the service of kings without
knowing anything of what is passing at Court. She was a great devotee;
the Abbe Grisel, an ex-Jesuit, was her director. Being rich from her
savings and an income of 50,000 livres, she kept a very good table; in her
apartment, at the Grand Commun, the most distinguished persons who still
adhered to the Order of Jesuits often assembled. The Duc de La Vauguyon
was intimate with her; their chairs at the Eglise des Reollets were placed
near each other; at high mass and at vespers they sang the "Gloria in
Excelsis" and the "Magnificat" together; and the pious virgin, seeing in
him only one of God's elect, little imagined him to be the declared enemy
of a Princess whom she served and revered. On the day of his death she ran
in tears to relate to the Queen the piety, humility, and repentance of the
last moments of the Duc de La Vauguyon. He had called his people
together, she said, to ask their pardon. "For what?" replied the Queen,
sharply; "he has placed and pensioned off all his servants; it was of the
King and his brothers that the holy man you bewail should have asked
pardon, for having paid so little attention to the education of princes on
whom the fate and happiness of twenty-five millions of men depend.
Luckily," added she, "the King and his brothers, still young, have
incessantly laboured to repair the errors of their preceptor."
The progress of time, and the confidence with which the King and the
Princes, his brothers, were inspired by the change in their situation
since the death of Louis XV., had developed their characters. I will
endeavour to depict them.
The features of Louis XVI. were noble enough, though somewhat melancholy
in expression; his walk was heavy and unmajestic; his person greatly
neglected; his hair, whatever might be the skill of his hairdresser, was
soon in disorder. His voice, without being harsh, was not agreeable; if
he grew animated in speaking he often got above his natural pitch, and
became shrill. The Abbe de Radonvilliers, his preceptor, one of the Forty
of the French Academy, a learned and amiable man, had given him and
Monsieur a taste for study. The King had continued to instruct himself;
he knew the English language perfectly; I have often heard him translate
some of the most difficult passages in Milton's poems. He was a skilful
geographer, and was fond of drawing and colouring maps; he was well versed
in history, but had not perhaps sufficiently studied the spirit of it. He
appreciated dramatic beauties, and judged them accurately. At Choisy, one
day, several ladies expressed their dissatisfaction because the French
actors were going to perform one of Moliere's pieces. The King inquired
why they disapproved of the choice. One of them answered that everybody
must admit that Moliere had very bad taste; the King replied that many
things might be found in Moliere contrary to fashion, but that it appeared
to him difficult to point out any in bad taste?
[The King, having purchased the Chateau of Rambouillet from the Duc de
Penthievre, amused himself with embellishing it. I have seen a register
entirely in his own handwriting, which proves that he possessed a great
variety of information on the minutiae of various branches of knowledge.
In his accounts he would not omit an outlay of a franc. His figures and
letters, when he wished to write legibly, were small and very neat, but in
general he wrote very ill. He was so sparing of paper that he divided a
sheet into eight, six, or four pieces, according to the length of what he
had to write. Towards the close of the page he compressed the letters, and
avoided interlineations. The last words were close to the edge of the
paper; he seemed to regret being obliged to begin another page. He was
methodical and analytical; he divided what he wrote into chapters and
sections. He had extracted from the works of Nicole and Fenelon, his
favourite authors, three or four hundred concise and sententious phrases;
these he had classed according to subject, and formed a work of them in
the style of Montesquieu. To this treatise he had given the following
general title: "Of Moderate Monarchy" (De la Monarchie temperee), with
chapters entitled, "Of the Person of the Prince;" "Of the Authority of
Bodies in the State;" "Of the Character of the Executive Functions of the
Monarchy." Had he been able to carry into effect all the grand precepts
he had observed in Fenelon, Louis XVI. would have been an accomplished
monarch, and France a powerful kingdom. The King used to accept the
speeches his ministers presented to him to deliver on important occasions;
but he corrected and modified them; struck out some parts, and added
others; and sometimes consulted the Queen on the subject. The phrase of
the minister erased by the King was frequently unsuitable, and dictated by
the minister's private feelings; but the King's was always the natural
expression. He himself composed, three times or oftener, his famous
answers to the Parliament which he banished. But in his letters he was
negligent, and always incorrect. Simplicity was the characteristic of the
King's style; the figurative style of M. Necker did not please him; the
sarcasms of Maurepas were disagreeable to him. Unfortunate Prince! he
would predict, in his observations, that if such a calamity should happen,
the monarchy would be ruined; and the next day he would consent in Council
to the very measure which he had condemned the day before, and which
brought him nearer the brink of the precipice.--SOULAVIE, "Historical and
Political Memoirs of the Reign of Louis XVI.," vol. ii.]
This Prince combined with his attainments the attributes of a good
husband, a tender father, and an indulgent master.
Unfortunately he showed too much predilection for the mechanical arts;
masonry and lock-making so delighted him that he admitted into his private
apartment a common locksmith, with whom he made keys and locks; and his
hands, blackened by that sort of work, were often, in my presence, the
subject of remonstrances and even sharp reproaches from the Queen, who
would have chosen other amusements for her husband.
[Louis XVI. saw that the art of lock-making was capable of application to
a higher study, He was an excellent geographer. The most valuable and
complete instrument for the study of that science was begun by his orders
and under his direction. It was an immense globe of copper, which was
long preserved, though unfinished, in the Mazarine library. Louis XVI.
invented and had executed under his own eyes the ingenious mechanism
required for this globe.--NOTE BY THE EDITOR.]
Austere and rigid with regard to himself alone, the King observed the laws
of the Church with scrupulous exactness. He fasted and abstained
throughout the whole of Lent. He thought it right that the queen should
not observe these customs with the same strictness. Though sincerely
pious, the spirit of the age had disposed his mind to toleration. Turgot,
Malesherbes, and Necker judged that this Prince, modest and simple in his
habits, would willingly sacrifice the royal prerogative to the solid
greatness of his people. His heart, in truth, disposed him towards
reforms; but his prejudices and fears, and the clamours of pious and
privileged persons, intimidated him, and made him abandon plans which his
love for the people had suggested.
Monsieur--
[During his stay at Avignon, Monsieur, afterwards Louis XVIII, lodged with
the Duc de Crillon; he refused the town-guard which was offered him,
saying, "A son of France, under the roof of a Crillon, needs no
guard."--NOTE BY THE EDITOR.]
had more dignity of demeanour than the King; but his corpulence rendered
his gait inelegant. He was fond of pageantry and magnificence. He
cultivated the belles lettres, and under assumed names often contributed
verses to the Mercury and other papers.
His wonderful memory was the handmaid of his wit, furnishing him with the
happiest quotations. He knew by heart a varied repertoire, from the
finest passages of the Latin classics to the Latin of all the prayers,
from the works of Racine to the vaudeville of "Rose et Colas."
The Comte d'Artoisi had an agreeable countenance, was well made, skilful
in bodily exercises, lively, impetuous, fond of pleasure, and very
particular in his dress. Some happy observations made by him were
repeated with approval, and gave a favourable idea of his heart. The
Parisians liked the open and frank character of this Prince, which they
considered national, and showed real affection for him.
The dominion that the Queen gained over the King's mind, the charms of a
society in which Monsieur displayed his wit, and to which the Comte
d'Artois--[Afterwards Charles X.]--gave life by the vivacity of youth,
gradually softened that ruggedness of manner in Louis XVI. which a
better-conducted education might have prevented. Still, this defect often
showed itself, and, in spite of his extreme simplicity, the King inspired
those who had occasion to speak to him with diffidence. Courtiers,
submissive in the presence of their sovereign, are only the more ready to
caricature him; with little good breeding, they called those answers they
so much dreaded, Les coups de boutoir du Roi.--[The literal meaning of the
phrase "coup de boutoir," is a thrust from the snout of a boar.]
Methodical in all his habits, the King always went to bed at eleven
precisely. One evening the Queen was going with her usual circle to a
party, either at the Duc de Duras's or the Princesse de Glumenee's. The
hand of the clock was slily put forward to hasten the King's departure by
a few minutes; he thought bed-time was come, retired, and found none of
his attendants ready to wait on him. This joke became known in all the
drawing-rooms of Versailles, and was disapproved of there. Kings have no
privacy. Queens have no boudoirs. If those who are in immediate
attendance upon sovereigns be not themselves disposed to transmit their
private habits to posterity, the meanest valet will relate what he has
seen or heard; his gossip circulates rapidly, and forms public opinion,
which at length ascribes to the most august persons characters which,
however untrue they may be, are almost always indelible.
NOTE. The only passion ever shown by Louis XVI. was for hunting. He was
so much occupied by it that when I went up into his private closets at
Versailles, after the 10th of August, I saw upon the staircase six frames,
in which were seen statements of all his hunts, when Dauphin and when
King. In them was detailed the number, kind, and quality of the game he
had killed at each hunting party during every month, every season, and
every year of his reign.
The interior of his private apartments was thus arranged: a salon,
ornamented with gilded mouldings, displayed the engravings which had been
dedicated to him, drawings of the canals he had dug, with the model of
that of Burgundy, and the plan of the cones and works of Cherbourg. The
upper hall contained his collection of geographical charts, spheres,
globes, and also his geographical cabinet. There were to be seen drawings
of maps which he had begun, and some that he had finished. He had a
clever method of washing them in. His geographical memory was prodigious.
Over the hall was the turning and joining room, furnished with ingenious
instruments for working in wood. He inherited some from Louis XV., and he
often busied himself, with Duret's assistance, in keeping them clean and
bright. Above was the library of books published during his reign. The
prayer books and manuscript books of Anne of Brittany, Francois I, the
later Valois, Louis XIV., Louis XV., and the Dauphin formed the great
hereditary library of the Chateau. Louis XVI. placed separately, in two
apartments communicating with each other, the works of his own time,
including a complete collection of Didot's editions, in vellum, every
volume enclosed in a morocco case. There were several English works,
among the rest the debates of the British Parliament, in a great number of
volumes in folio (this is the Moniteur of England, a complete collection
of which is so valuable and so scarce). By the side of this collection was
to be seen a manuscript history of all the schemes for a descent upon that
island, particularly that of Comte de Broglie. One of the presses of this
cabinet was full of cardboard boxes, containing papers relative to the
House of Austria, inscribed in the King's own hand: "Secret papers of my
family respecting the House of Austria; papers of my family respecting the
Houses of Stuart and Hanover." In an adjoining press were kept papers
relative to Russia. Satirical works against Catherine II. and against
Paul I. were sold in France under the name of histories; Louis XVIII.
collected and sealed up with his small seal the scandalous anecdotes
against Catherine II., as well as the works of Rhulieres, of which he had
a copy, to be certain that the secret life of that Princess, which
attracted the curiosity of her contemporaries, should not be made public
by his means.
Above the King's private library were a forge, two anvils, and a vast
number of iron tools; various common locks, well made and perfect; some
secret locks, and locks ornamented with gilt copper. It was there that
the infamous Gamin, who afterwards accused the King of having tried to
poison him, and was rewarded for his calumny with a pension of twelve
thousand livres, taught him the art of lock-making. This Gamin, who
became our guide, by order of the department and municipality of
Versailles, did not, however, denounce the King on the 20th December,
1792. He had been made the confidant of that Prince in an immense number
of important commissions; the King had sent him the "Red Book," from
Paris, in a parcel; and the part which was concealed during the
Constituent Assembly still remained so in 1793. Gamin hid it in a part of
the Chateau inaccessible to everybody, and took it from under the shelves
of a secret press before our eyes. This is a convincing proof that Louis
XVI. hoped to return to his Chiteau. When teaching Louis XVI. his trade
Gamin took upon himself the tone and authority of a master. "The King was
good, forbearing, timid, inquisitive, and addicted to sleep," said Gamin
to me; "he was fond to excess of lock-making, and he concealed himself
from the Queen and the Court to file and forge with me. In order to convey
his anvil and my own backwards and forwards we were obliged to use a
thousand stratagems, the history of which would: never end." Above the
King's and Gamin's forges and anvils was an, observatory, erected upon a
platform covered with lead. There, seated on an armchair, and assisted by
a telescope, the King observed all that was passing in the courtyards of
Versailles, the avenue of Paris, and the neighbouring gardens. He had
taken a liking to Duret, one of the indoor servants of the palace, who
sharpened his tools, cleaned his anvils, pasted his maps, and adjusted
eyeglasses to the King's sight, who was short-sighted. This good Duret,
and indeed all the indoor servants, spoke of their master with regret and
affection, and with tears in their eyes.
The King was born weak and delicate; but from the age of twenty-four he
possessed a robust constitution, inherited from his mother, who was of the
House of Saxe, celebrated for generations for its robustness. There were
two men in Louis XVI., the man of knowledge and the man of will. The King
knew the history of his own family and of the first houses of France
perfectly. He composed the instructions for M. de la Peyrouse's voyage
round the world, which the minister thought were drawn up by several
members of the Academy of Sciences. His memory retained an infinite
number of names and situations. He remembered quantities and numbers
wonderfully. One day an account was presented to him in which the
minister had ranked among the expenses an item inserted in the account of
the preceding year. "There is a double charge," said the King; "bring me
last year's account, and I will show it yet there." When the King was
perfectly master of the details of any matter, and saw injustice, he was
obdurate even to harshness. Then he would be obeyed instantly, in order
to be sure that he was obeyed.
But in important affairs of state the man of will was not to be found.
Louis XVI. was upon the throne exactly what those weak temperaments whom
nature has rendered incapable of an opinion are in society. In his
pusillanimity, he gave his confidence to a minister; and although amidst
various counsels he often knew which was the best, he never had the
resolution to say, "I prefer the opinion of such a one." Herein
originated the misfortunes of the State.--SOULAVIE'S "Historical and
Political Memoirs Of the Reign Of LOUIS XVI.," VOL ii.
CHAPTER VII.
The winter following the confinement of the Comtesse d'Artois was very
severe; the recollections of the pleasure which sleighing-parties had
given the Queen in her childhood made her wish to introduce similar ones
in France. This amusement had already been known in that Court, as was
proved by sleighs being found in the stables which had been used by the
Dauphin, the father of Louis XVI. Some were constructed for the Queen in
a more modern style. The Princes also ordered several; and in a few days
there was a tolerable number of these vehicles. They were driven by the
princes and noblemen of the Court. The noise of the bells and balls with
which the harness of the horses was furnished, the elegance and whiteness
of their plumes, the varied forms of the carriages, the gold with which
they were all ornamented, rendered these parties delightful to the eye.
The winter was very favourable to them, the snow remaining on the ground
nearly six weeks; the drives in the park afforded a pleasure shared by the
spectators.
[Louis XVI., touched with the wretched condition of the poor of Versailles
during the winter of 1776, had several cart-loads of wood distributed
among them. Seeing one day a file of those vehicles passing by, while
several noblemen were preparing to be drawn swiftly over the ice, he
uttered these memorable words: "Gentlemen, here are my sleighs!"--NOTE BY
THE EDITOR.]
No one imagined that any blame could attach to so innocent an amusement.
But the party were tempted to extend their drives as far as the Champs
Elysees; a few sleighs even crossed the boulevards; the ladies being
masked, the Queen's enemies took the opportunity of saying that she had
traversed the streets of Paris in a sleigh.
This became a matter of moment. The public discovered in it a
predilection for the habits of Vienna; but all that Marie Antoinette did
was criticised.
Sleigh-driving, savouring of the Northern Courts, had no favour among the
Parisians. The Queen was informed of this; and although all the sleighs
were preserved, and several subsequent winters lent themselves to the
amusement, she would not resume it.
It was at the time of the sleighing-parties that the Queen became
intimately acquainted with the Princesse de Lamballe, who made her
appearance in them wrapped in fur, with all the brilliancy and freshness
of the age of twenty,--the emblem of spring, peeping from under sable and
ermine. Her situation, moreover, rendered her peculiarly interesting;
married, when she was scarcely past childhood, to a young prince, who
ruined himself by the contagious example of the Duc d'Orleans, she had had
nothing to do from the time of her arrival in France but to weep. A widow
at eighteen, and childless, she lived with the Duc de Penthievre as an
adopted daughter. She had the tenderest respect and attachment for that
venerable Prince; but the Queen, though doing justice to his virtues, saw
that the Duc de Penthievre's way of life, whether at Paris or at his
country-seat, could neither afford his young daughter-in-law the
amusements suited to her time of life, nor ensure her in the future an
establishment such as she was deprived of by her widowhood. She
determined, therefore, to establish her at Versailles; and for her sake
revived the office of superintendent, which had been discontinued at Court
since the death of Mademoiselle de Clermont. It is said that Maria
Leczinska had decided that this place should continue vacant, the
superintendent having so extensive a power in the houses of queens as to
be frequently a restraint upon their inclinations. Differences which soon
took place between Marie Antoinette and the Princesse de Lamballe
respecting the official prerogatives of the latter, proved that the wife
of Louis XV. had acted judiciously in abolishing the office; but a kind of
treaty made between the Queen and the Princess smoothed all difficulties.
The blame for too strong an assertion of claims fell upon a secretary of
the superintendent, who had been her adviser; and everything was so
arranged that a firm friendship existed between these two Princesses down
to the disastrous period which terminated their career.
Notwithstanding the enthusiasm which the splendour, grace, and kindness of
the Queen generally inspired, secret intrigues continued in operation
against her. A short time after the ascension of Louis XVI. to the
throne, the minister of the King's household was informed that a most
offensive libel against the Queen was about to appear. The lieutenant of
police deputed a man named Goupil, a police inspector, to trace this
libel; he came soon after to say that he had found out the place where the
work was being printed, and that it was at a country house near Yverdun.
He had already got possession of two sheets, which contained the most
atrocious calumnies, conveyed with a degree of art which might make them
very dangerous to the Queen's reputation. Goupil said that he could
obtain the rest, but that he should want a considerable sum for that
purpose. Three thousand Louis were given him, and very soon afterwards he
brought the whole manuscript and all that had been printed to the
lieutenant of police. He received a thousand louis more as a reward for
his address and zeal; and a much more important office was about to be
given him, when another spy, envious of Goupil's good fortune, gave
information that Goupil himself was the author of the libel; that, ten
years before, he had been put into the Bicetre for swindling; and that
Madame Goupil had been only three years out of the Salpetriere, where she
had been placed under another name. This Madame Goupil was very pretty
and very intriguing; she had found means to form an intimacy with Cardinal
de Rohan, whom she led, it is said, to hope for a reconciliation with the
Queen. All this affair was hushed up; but it shows that it was the
Queen's fate to be incessantly attacked by the meanest and most odious
machinations.
Another woman, named Cahouette de Millers, whose husband held an office in
the Treasury, being very irregular in conduct, and of a scheming turn of
mind, had a mania for appearing in the eyes of her friends at Paris as a
person in favour at Court, to which she was not entitled by either birth
or office. During the latter years of the life of Louis XV. she had made
many dupes, and picked up considerable sums by passing herself off as the
King's mistress. The fear of irritating Madame du Barry was, according to
her, the only thing which prevented her enjoying that title openly. She
came regularly to Versailles, kept herself concealed in a furnished
lodging, and her dupes imagined she was secretly summoned to Court.
This woman formed the scheme of getting admission, if possible, to the
presence of the Queen, or at least causing it to be believed that she had
done so. She adopted as her lover Gabriel de Saint Charles, intendant of
her Majesty's finances,--an office, the privileges of which were confined
to the right of entering the Queen's apartment on Sunday. Madame de
Villers came every Saturday to Versailles with M. de Saint Charles, and
lodged in his apartment. M. Campan was there several times. She painted
tolerably well, and she requested him to do her the favour to present to
the Queen a portrait of her Majesty which she had just copied. M. Campan
knew the woman's character, and refused her. A few days after, he saw on
her Majesty's couch the portrait which he had declined to present to her;
the Queen thought it badly painted, and gave orders that it should be
carried back to the Princesse de Lamballe, who had sent it to her. The
ill success of the portrait did not deter the manoeuvrer from following up
her designs; she easily procured through M. de Saint Charles patents and
orders signed by the Queen; she then set about imitating her writing, and
composed a great number of notes and letters, as if written by her
Majesty, in the tenderest and most familiar style. For many months she
showed them as great secrets to several of her particular friends.
Afterwards, she made the Queen appear to write to her, to procure various
fancy articles. Under the pretext of wishing to execute her Majesty's
commissions accurately, she gave these letters to the tradesmen to read,
and succeeded in having it said, in many houses, that the Queen had a
particular regard for her. She then enlarged her scheme, and represented
the Queen as desiring to borrow 200,000 francs which she had need of, but
which she did not wish to ask of the King from his private funds. This
letter, being shown to M. Beranger, 'fermier general' of the finances,
took effect; he thought himself fortunate in being able to render this
assistance to his sovereign, and lost no time in sending the 200,000
francs to Madame de Villers. This first step was followed by some doubts,
which he communicated to people better informed than himself of what was
passing at Court; they added to his uneasiness; he then went to M. de
Sartine, who unravelled the whole plot. The woman was sent to St.
Pelagie; and the unfortunate husband was ruined, by replacing the sum
borrowed, and by paying for the jewels fraudulently purchased in the
Queen's name. The forged letters were sent to her Majesty; I compared
them in her presence with her own handwriting, and the only
distinguishable difference was a little more regularity in the letters.
This trick, discovered and punished with prudence and without passion,
produced no more sensation out of doors than that of the Inspector Goupil.
A year after the nomination of Madame de Lamballe to the post of
superintendent of the Queen's household, balls and quadrilles gave rise to
the intimacy of her Majesty with the Comtesse Jules de Polignac. This
lady really interested Marie Antoinette. She was not rich, and generally
lived upon her estate at Claye. The Queen was astonished at not having
seen her at Court earlier. The confession that her want of fortune had
even prevented her appearance at the celebration of the marriages of the
Princes added to the interest which she had inspired.
The Queen was full of consideration, and took delight in counteracting the
injustice of fortune. The Countess was induced to come to Court by her
husband's sister, Madame Diane de Polignac, who had been appointed lady of
honour to the Comtesse d'Artois. The Comtesse Jules was really fond of a
tranquil life; the impression she made at Court affected her but little;
she felt only the attachment manifested for her by the Queen. I had
occasion to see her from the commencement of her favour at Court; she
often passed whole hours with me, while waiting for the Queen. She
conversed with me freely and ingenuously about the honour, and at the same
time the danger, she saw in the kindness of which she was the object. The
Queen sought for the sweets of friendship; but can this gratification, so
rare in any rank, exist between a Queen and a subject, when they are
surrounded, moreover, by snares laid by the artifice of courtiers? This
pardonable error was fatal to the happiness of Marie Antoinette.
The retiring character of the Comtesse Jules, afterwards Duchesse de
Polignac, cannot be spoken of too favourably; but if her heart was
incapable of forming ambitious projects, her family and friends in her
fortune beheld their own, and endeavoured to secure the favour of the
Queen.
[The Comtesse, afterwards Duchesse de Polignac, nee Polastron, Married the
Comte (in 1780 the Duc) Jules de Polignac, the father of the Prince de
Polignac of Napoleon's and of Charles X.'s time. She emigrated in 1789,
and died in Vienna in 1793.]
The Comtesse de Diane, sister of M. de Polignac, and the Baron de Besenval
and M. de Vaudreuil, particular friends of the Polignac family, made use
of means, the success of which was infallible. One of my friends (Comte
de Moustier), who was in their secret, came to tell me that Madame de
Polignac was about to quit Versailles suddenly; that she would take leave
of the Queen only in writing; that the Comtesse Diane and M. de Vaudreuil
had dictated her letter, and the whole affair was arranged for the purpose
of stimulating the attachment of Marie Antoinette. The next day, when I
went up to the palace, I found the Queen with a letter in her hand, which
she was reading with much emotion; it was the letter from the Comtesse
Jules; the Queen showed it to me. The Countess expressed in it her grief
at leaving a princess who had loaded her with kindness. The narrowness of
her fortune compelled her to do so; but she was much more strongly
impelled by the fear that the Queen's friendship, after having raised up
dangerous enemies against her, might abandon her to their hatred, and to
the regret of having lost the august favour of which she was the object.
This step produced the full effect that had been expected from it. A
young and sensitive queen cannot long bear the idea of contradiction. She
busied herself in settling the Comtesse Jules near her, by making such a
provision for her as should place her beyond anxiety. Her character
suited the Queen; she had merely natural talents, no pedantry, no
affectation of knowledge. She was of middle size; her complexion very
fair, her eyebrows and hair dark brown, her teeth superb, her smile
enchanting, and her whole person graceful. She was seen almost always in
a demi-toilet, remarkable only for neatness and good taste. I do not
think I ever once saw diamonds about her, even at the climax of her
fortune, when she had the rank of Duchess at Court.
I have always believed that her sincere attachment for the Queen, as much
as her love of simplicity, induced her to avoid everything that might
cause her to be thought a wealthy favourite. She had not one of the
failings which usually accompany that position. She loved the persons who
shared the Queen's affections, and was entirely free from jealousy. Marie
Antoinette flattered herself that the Comtesse Jules and the Princesse de
Lamballe would be her especial friends, and that she should possess a
society formed according to her own taste. "I will receive them in my
closet, or at Trianon," said she; "I will enjoy the comforts of private
life, which exist not for us, unless we have the good sense to secure them
for ourselves." The happiness the Queen thought to secure was destined to
turn to vexation. All those courtiers who were not admitted to this
intimacy became so many jealous and vindictive enemies.
It was necessary to make a suitable provision for the Countess. The place
of first equerry, in reversion after the Comte de Tesse, given to Comte
Jules unknown to the titular holder, displeased the family of Noailles.
This family had just sustained another mortification, the appointment of
the Princesse de Lamballe having in some degree rendered necessary the
resignation of the Comtesse de Noailles, whose husband was thereupon made
a marshal of France. The Princesse de Lamballe, although she did not
quarrel with the Queen, was alarmed at the establishment of the Comtesse
Jules at Court, and did not form, as her Majesty had hoped, a part of that
intimate society, which was in turn composed of Mesdames Jules and Diane
de Polignac, d'Andlau and de Chalon, and Messieurs de Guignes, de Coigny,
d'Adhemar, de Besenval, lieutenant-colonel of the Swiss, de Polignac, de
Vaudreuil, and de Guiche; the Prince de Ligne and the Duke of Dorset, the
English ambassador, were also admitted.
It was a long time before the Comtesse Jules maintained any great state at
Court. The Queen contented herself with giving her very fine apartments
at the top of the marble staircase. The salary of first equerry, the
trifling emoluments derived from M. de Polignac's regiment, added to their
slender patrimony, and perhaps some small pension, at that time formed the
whole fortune of the favourite. I never saw the Queen make her a present
of value; I was even astonished one day at hearing her Majesty mention,
with pleasure, that the Countess had gained ten thousand francs in the
lottery. "She was in great want of it," added the Queen.
Thus the Polignacs were not settled at Court in any degree of splendour
which could justify complaints from others, and the substantial favours
bestowed upon that family were less envied than the intimacy between them
and their proteges and the Queen. Those who had no hope of entering the
circle of the Comtesse Jules were made jealous by the opportunities of
advancement it afforded.
However, at the time I speak of, the society around the Comtesse Jules was
fully engaged in gratifying the young Queen. Of this the Marquis de
Vaudreuil was a conspicuous member; he was a brilliant man, the friend and
protector of men of letters and celebrated artists.
The Baron de Besenval added to the bluntness of the Swiss all the
adroitness of a French courtier. His fifty years and gray hairs made him
enjoy among women the confidence inspired by mature age, although he had
not given up the thought of love affairs. He talked of his native
mountains with enthusiasm. He would at any time sing the "Ranz des
Vaches" with tears in his eyes, and was the best story-teller in the
Comtesse Jules's circle. The last new song or 'bon mot' and the gossip of
the day were the sole topics of conversation in the Queen's parties. Wit
was banished from them. The Comtesse Diane, more inclined to literary
pursuits than her sister-in-law, one day, recommended her to read the
"Iliad" and "Odyssey." The latter replied, laughing, that she was
perfectly acquainted with the Greek poet, and said to prove it:
"Homere etait aveugle et jouait du hautbois."
(Homer was blind and played on the hautboy.)
[This lively repartee of the Duchesse de Polignac is a droll imitation of
a line in the "Mercure Galant." In the quarrel scene one of the lawyers
says to his brother quill: 'Ton pere etait aveugle et jouait du
hautbois.']
The Queen found this sort of humour very much to her taste, and said that
no pedant should ever be her friend.
Before the Queen fixed her assemblies at Madame de Polignac's, she
occasionally passed the evening at the house of the Duc and Duchesse de
Duras, where a brilliant party of young persons met together. They
introduced a taste for trifling games, such as question and answer,
'guerre panpan', blind man's buff, and especially a game called
'descampativos'. The people of Paris, always criticising, but always
imitating the customs of the Court, were infected with the mania for these
childish sports. Madame de Genlis, sketching the follies of the day in
one of her plays, speaks of these famous 'descampativos'; and also of the
rage for making a friend, called the 'inseparable', until a whim or the
slightest difference might occasion a total rupture.
CHAPTER VIII.
The Duc de Choiseul had reappeared at Court on the ceremony of the King's
coronation for the first time after his disgrace under Louis XV. in 1770.
The state of public feeling on the subject gave his friends hope of seeing
him again in administration, or in the Council of State; but the opposite
party was too firmly seated at Versailles, and the young Queen's influence
was outweighed, in the mind of the King, by long-standing prejudices; she
therefore gave up for ever her attempt to reinstate the Duke. Thus this
Princess, who has been described as so ambitious, and so strenuously
supporting the interest of the House of Austria, failed twice in the only
scheme which could forward the views constantly attributed to her; and
spent the whole of her reign surrounded by enemies of herself and her
house.
Marie Antoinette took little pains to promote literature and the fine
arts. She had been annoyed in consequence of having ordered a performance
of the "Connstable de Bourbon," on the celebration of the marriage of
Madame Clotilde with the Prince of Piedmont. The Court and the people of
Paris censured as indecorous the naming characters in the piece after the
reigning family, and that with which the new alliance was formed. The
reading of this piece by the Comte de Guibert in the Queen's closet had
produced in her Majesty's circle that sort of enthusiasm which obscures
the judgment. She promised herself she would have no more readings. Yet,
at the request of M. de Cubieres, the King's equerry, the Queen agreed to
hear the reading of a comedy written by his brother. She collected her
intimate circle, Messieurs de Coigny, de Vaudreuil, de Besenval, Mesdames
de Polignac, de Chalon, etc., and to increase the number of judges, she
admitted the two Parnys, the Chevalier de Bertin, my father-in-law, and
myself.
Mold read for the author. I never could satisfy myself by what magic the
skilful reader gained our unanimous approbation of a ridiculous work.
Surely the delightful voice of Mold, by awakening our recollection of the
dramatic beauties of the French stage, prevented the wretched lines of
Dorat Cubieres from striking on our ears. I can assert that the
exclamation Charming! charming! repeatedly interrupted the reader. The
piece was admitted for performance at Fontainebleau; and for the first
time the King had the curtain dropped before the end of the play. It was
called the "Dramomane" or "Dramaturge." All the characters died of eating
poison in a pie. The Queen, highly disconcerted at having recommended
this absurd production, announced that she would never hear another
reading; and this time she kept her word.
The tragedy of "Mustapha and Mangir," by M. de Chamfort, was highly
successful at the Court theatre at Fontainebleau. The Queen procured the
author a pension of 1,200 francs, but his play failed on being performed
at Paris.
The spirit of opposition which prevailed in that city delighted in
reversing the verdicts of the Court. The Queen determined never again to
give any marked countenance to new dramatic works. She reserved her
patronage for musical composers, and in a few years their art arrived at a
perfection it had never before attained in France.
It was solely to gratify the Queen that the manager of the Opera brought
the first company of comic actors to Paris. Gluck, Piccini, and Sacchini
were attracted there in succession. These eminent composers were treated
with great distinction at Court. Immediately on his arrival in France,
Gluck was admitted to the Queen's toilet, and she talked to him all the
time he remained with her. She asked him one day whether he had nearly
brought his grand opera of "Armide" to a conclusion, and whether it
pleased him. Gluck replied very coolly, in his German accent, "Madame, it
will soon be finished, and really it will be superb." There was a great
outcry against the confidence with which the composer had spoken of one of
his own productions. The Queen defended him warmly; she insisted that he
could not be ignorant of the merit of his works; that he well knew they
were generally admired, and that no doubt he was afraid lest a modesty,
merely dictated by politeness, should look like affectation in him.
[Gluck often had to deal with self-sufficiency equal to his own. He was
very reluctant to introduce long ballets into "Iphigenia." Vestris deeply
regretted that the opera was not terminated by a piece they called a
chaconne, in which he displayed all his power. He complained to Gluck
about it. Gluck, who treated his art with all the dignity it merits,
replied that in so interesting a subject dancing would be misplaced.
Being pressed another time by Vestris on the same subject, "A chaconne! A
chaconne!" roared out the enraged musician; "we must describe the Greeks;
and had the Greeks chaconnes?" "They had not?" returned the astonished
dancer; "why, then, so much the worse for them!"--NOTE BY THE EDITOR.]
The Queen did not confine her admiration to the lofty style of the French
and Italian operas; she greatly valued Gretry's music, so well adapted to
the spirit and feeling of the words. A great deal of the poetry set to
music by Gretry is by Marmontel. The day after the first performance of
"Zemira and Azor," Marmontel and Gretry were presented to the Queen as she
was passing through the gallery of Fontainebleau to go to mass. The Queen
congratulated Gretry on the success of the new opera, and told him that
she had dreamed of the enchanting effect of the trio by Zemira's father
and sisters behind the magic mirror. Gretry, in a transport of joy, took
Marmontel in his arms, "Ah! my friend," cried he, "excellent music may be
made of this."--"And execrable words," coolly observed Marmontel, to whom
her Majesty had not addressed a single compliment.
The most indifferent artists were permitted to have the honour of painting
the Queen. A full-length portrait, representing her in all the pomp of
royalty, was exhibited in the gallery of Versailles. This picture, which
was intended for the Court of Vienna, was executed by a man who does not
deserve even to be named, and disgusted all people of taste. It seemed as
if this art had, in France, retrograded several centuries.
The Queen had not that enlightened judgment, or even that mere taste,
which enables princes to foster and protect great talents. She confessed
frankly that she saw no merit in any portrait beyond the likeness. When
she went to the Louvre, she would run hastily over all the little "genre"
pictures, and come out, as she acknowledged, without having once raised
her eyes to the grand compositions.
There is no good portrait of the Queen, save that by Werthmuller, chief
painter to the King of Sweden, which was sent to Stockholm, and that by
Madame Lebrun, which was saved from the revolutionary fury by the
commissioners for the care of the furniture at Versailles.
[A sketch of very great interest made when the Queen was in the Temple and
discovered many years afterwards there, recently reproduced in the memoirs
of the Marquise de Tourzel (Paris, Plon), is the last authentic portrait
of the unhappy Queen. See also the catalogue of portraits made by Lord
Ronald Gower.]
The composition of the latter picture resembles that of Henriette of
France, the wife of the unfortunate Charles I., painted by Vandyke. Like
Marie Antoinette, she is seated, surrounded by her children, and that
resemblance adds to the melancholy interest raised by this beautiful
production.
While admitting that the Queen gave no direct encouragement to any art but
that of music, I should be wrong to pass over in silence the patronage
conferred by her and the Princes, brothers of the King, on the art of
printing.
[In 1790 the King gave a proof of his particular good-will to the
bookselling trade. A company consisting of the first Parisian
booksellers, being on the eve of stopping payment, succeeded in laying
before the King a statement of their distressed situation. The monarch was
affected by it; he took from the civil list the sum of which the society
stood in immediate need, and became security for the repayment of the
remainder of the 1,200,000 livres, which they wanted to borrow, and for
the repayment of which he fixed no particular time.]
To Marie Antoinette we are indebted for a splendid quarto edition of the
works of Metastasio; to Monsieur, the King's brother, for a quarto Tasso,
embellished with engravings after Cochin; and to the Comte d'Artois for a
small collection of select works, which is considered one of the chef
d'oeuvres of the press of the celebrated Didot.
In 1775, on the death of the Marechal du Muy, the ascendency obtained by
the sect of innovators occasioned M. de Saint-Germain to be recalled to
Court and made Minister of War. His first care was the destruction of the
King's military household establishment, an imposing and effectual rampart
round the sovereign power.
When Chancellor Maupeou obtained from Louis XV. the destruction of the
Parliament and the exile of all the ancient magistrates, the Mousquetaires
were charged with the execution of the commission for this purpose; and at
the stroke of midnight, the presidents and members were all arrested, each
by two Mousquetaires. In the spring of 1775 a popular insurrection had
taken place in consequence of the high price of bread. M. Turgot's new
regulation, which permitted unlimited trade in corn, was either its cause
or the pretext for it; and the King's household troops again rendered the
greatest services to public tranquillity.
I have never be enable to discover the true cause of the support given to
M. de Saint-Germain's policy by the Queen, unless in the marked favour
shown to the captains and officers of the Body Guards, who by this
reduction became the only soldiers of their rank entrusted with the safety
of the sovereign; or else in the Queen's strong prejudice against the Duc
d'Aiguillon, then commander of the light-horse. M. de Saint-Germain,
however, retained fifty gens d'armes and fifty light-horse to form a royal
escort on state occasions; but in 1787 the King reduced both these
military bodies. The Queen then said with satisfaction that at last she
should see no more red coats in the gallery of Versailles.
From 1775 to 1781 were the gayest years of the Queen's life. In the
little journeys to Choisy, performances frequently took place at the
theatre twice in one day: grand opera and French or Italian comedy at the
usual hour; and at eleven at night they returned to the theatre for
parodies in which the best actors of the Opera presented themselves in
whimsical parts and costumes. The celebrated dancer Guimard always took
the leading characters in the latter performance; she danced better than
she acted; her extreme leanness, and her weak, hoarse voice added to the
burlesque in the parodied characters of Ernelinde and Iphigenie.
The most magnificent fete ever given to the Queen was one prepared for her
by Monsieur, the King's brother, at Brunoy. That Prince did me the honour
to admit me, and I followed her Majesty into the gardens, where she found
in the first copse knights in full armour asleep at the foot of trees, on
which hung their spears and shields. The absence of the beauties who had
incited the nephews of Charlemagne and the gallants of that period to
lofty deeds was supposed to occasion this lethargic slumber. But when the
Queen appeared at the entrance of the copse they were on foot in an
instant, and melodious voices announced their eagerness to display their
valour. They then hastened into a vast arena, magnificently decorated in
the exact style of the ancient tournaments. Fifty dancers dressed as pages
presented to the knights twenty-five superb black horses, and twenty-five
of a dazzling whiteness, all most richly caparisoned. The party led by
Augustus Vestris wore the Queen's colours. Picq, balletmaster at the
Russian Court, commanded the opposing band. There was running at the
negro's head, tilting, and, lastly, combats 'a outrance', perfectly well
imitated. Although the spectators were aware that the Queen's colours
could not but be victorious, they did not the less enjoy the apparent
uncertainty.
Nearly all the agreeable women of Paris were ranged upon the steps which
surrounded the area of the tourney. The Queen, surrounded by the royal
family and the whole Court, was placed beneath an elevated canopy. A
play, followed by a ballet-pantomime and a ball, terminated the fete.
Fireworks and illuminations were not spared. Finally, from a prodigiously
high scaffold, placed on a rising ground, the words 'Vive Louis! Vive
Marie Antoinette!' were shown in the air in the midst of a very dark but
calm night.
Pleasure was the sole pursuit of every one of this young family, with the
exception of the King. Their love of it was perpetually encouraged by a
crowd of those officious people who, by anticipating the desires and even
the passions of princes, find means of showing their zeal, and hope to
gain or maintain favour for themselves.
Who would have dared to check the amusements of a queen, young, lively,
and handsome? A mother or a husband alone would have had the right to do
it; and the King threw no impediment in the way of Marie Antoinette's
inclinations. His long indifference had been followed by admiration and
love. He was a slave to all the wishes of the Queen, who, delighted with
the happy change in the heart and habits of the King, did not sufficiently
conceal the ascendency she was gaining over him.
The King went to bed every night at eleven precisely; he was very
methodical, and nothing was allowed to interfere with his rules. The
noise which the Queen unavoidably made when she returned very late from
the evenings which she spent with the Princesse de Gugmenee or the Duc de
Duras, at last annoyed the King, and it was amicably agreed that the Queen
should apprise him when she intended to sit up late. He then began to
sleep in his own apartment, which had never before happened from the time
of their marriage.
During the winter the Queen attended the Opera balls with a single lady of
the palace, and always found there Monsieur and the Comte d'Artois. Her
people concealed their liveries under gray cloth greatcoats. She never
thought she was recognized, while all the time she was known to the whole
assembly, from the first moment she entered the theatre; they pretended,
however, not to recognise her, and some masquerade manoeuvre was always
adopted to give her the pleasure of fancying herself incognito.
Louis XVI. determined once to accompany the Queen to a masked ball; it was
agreed that the King should hold not only the grand but the petit coucher,
as if actually going to bed. The Queen went to his apartment through the
inner corridors of the palace, followed by one of her women with a black
domino; she assisted him to put it on, and they went alone to the chapel
court, where a carriage waited for them, with the captain of the Guard of
the quarter, and a lady of the palace. The King was but little amused,
spoke only to two or three persons, who knew him immediately, and found
nothing to admire at the masquerade but Punches and Harlequins, which
served as a joke against him for the royal family, who often amused
themselves with laughing at him about it.
An event, simple in itself, brought dire suspicion upon the Queen. She
was going out one evening with the Duchesse de Lupnes, lady of the palace,
when her carriage broke down at the entrance into Paris; she was obliged
to alight; the Duchess led her into a shop, while a footman called a
'fiacre'. As they were masked, if they had but known how to keep silence,
the event would never have been known; but to ride in a fiacre is so
unusual an adventure for a queen that she had hardly entered the
Opera-house when she could not help saying to some persons whom she met
there: "That I should be in a fiacre! Is it not droll?"
From that moment all Paris was informed of the adventure of the fiacre. It
was said that everything connected with it was mysterious; that the Queen
had kept an assignation in a private house with the Duc de Coigny. He was
indeed very well received at Court, but equally so by the King and Queen.
These accusations of gallantry once set afloat, there were no longer any
bounds to the calumnies circulated at Paris. If, during the chase or at
cards, the Queen spoke to Lord Edward Dillon, De Lambertye, or others,
they were so many favoured lovers. The people of Paris did not know that
none of those young persons were admitted into the Queen's private circle
of friends; the Queen went about Paris in disguise, and had made use of a
fiacre; and a single instance of levity gives room for the suspicion of
others.
Conscious of innocence, and well knowing that all about her must do
justice to her private life, the Queen spoke of these reports with
contempt, contenting herself with the supposition that some folly in the
young men mentioned had given rise to them. She therefore left off
speaking to them or even looking at them. Their vanity took alarm at
this, and revenge induced them either to say, or to leave others to think,
that they were unfortunate enough to please no longer. Other young
coxcombs, placing themselves near the private box which the Queen occupied
incognito when she attended the public theatre at Versailles, had the
presumption to imagine that they were noticed by her; and I have known
such notions entertained merely on account of the Queen's requesting one
of those gentlemen to inquire behind the scenes whether it would be long
before the commencement of the second piece.
The list of persons received into the Queen's closet which I gave in the
preceding chapter was placed in the hands of the ushers of the chamber by
the Princesse de Lamballe; and the persons there enumerated could present
themselves to enjoy the distinction only on those days when the Queen
chose to be with her intimates in a private manner; and this was only when
she was slightly indisposed. People of the first rank at Court sometimes
requested special audiences of her; the Queen then received them in a room
within that called the closet of the women on duty, and these women
announced them in her Majesty's apartment.
The Duc de Lauzun had a good deal of wit, and chivalrous manners. The
Queen was accustomed to see him at the King's suppers, and at the house of
the Princesse de Guemenee, and always showed him attention. One day he
made his appearance at Madame de Guemenee's in uniform, and with the most
magnificent plume of white heron's feathers that it was possible to
behold. The Queen admired the plume, and he offered it to her through the
Princesse de Guemenee. As he had worn it the Queen had not imagined that
he could think of giving it to her; much embarrassed with the present
which she had, as it were, drawn upon herself, she did not like to refuse
it, nor did she know whether she ought to make one in return; afraid, if
she did give anything, of giving either too much or too little, she
contented herself with once letting M. de Lauzun see her adorned with the
plume. In his secret "Memoirs" the Duke attaches an importance to his
present, which proves him utterly unworthy of an honour accorded only to
his name and rank
A short time afterwards he solicited an audience; the Queen granted it, as
she would have done to any other courtier of equal rank. I was in the
room adjoining that in which he was received; a few minutes after his
arrival the Queen reopened the door, and said aloud, and in an angry tone
of voice, "Go, monsieur." M. de Lauzun bowed low, and withdrew. The
Queen was much agitated. She said to me: "That man shall never again come
within my doors." A few years before the Revolution of 1789 the Marechal
de Biron died. The Duc de Lauzun, heir to his name, aspired to the
important post of colonel of the regiment of French guards. The Queen,
however, procured it for the Duc du Chaatelet. The Duc de Biron espoused
the cause of the Duc d'Orleans, and became one of the most violent enemies
of Marie Antoinette.
It is with reluctance that I enter minutely on a defence of the Queen
against two infamous accusations with which libellers have dared to swell
their envenomed volumes. I mean the unworthy suspicions of too strong an
attachment for the Comte d'Artois, and of the motives for the tender
friendship which subsisted between the Queen, the Princesse de Lamballe,
and the Duchesse de Polignac. I do not believe that the Comte d'Artois
was, during his own youth and that of the Queen, so much smitten as has
been said with the loveliness of his sister-in-law; I can affirm that I
always saw that Prince maintain the most respectful demeanour towards the
Queen; that she always spoke of his good-nature and cheerfulness with that
freedom which attends only the purest sentiments; and that none of those
about the Queen ever saw in the affection she manifested towards the Comte
d'Artois more than that of a kind and tender sister for her youngest
brother. As to the intimate connection between Marie Antoinette and the
ladies I have named, it never had, nor could have, any other motive than
the very innocent wish to secure herself two friends in the midst of a
numerous Court; and notwithstanding this intimacy, that tone of respect
observed by persons of the most exalted rank towards majesty never ceased
to be maintained.
The Queen, much occupied with the society of Madame de Polignac, and an
unbroken series of amusements, found less time for the Abbe de Vermond; he
therefore resolved to retire from Court. The world did him the honour to
believe that he had hazarded remonstrances upon his august pupil's
frivolous employment of her time, and that he considered himself, both as
an ecclesiastic and as instructor, now out of place at Court. But the
world was deceived his dissatisfaction arose purely from the favour shown
to the Comtesse Jules. After a fortnight's absence we saw him at
Versailles again, resuming his usual functions.
The Queen could express herself with winning graciousness to persons who
merited her praise. When M. Loustonneau was appointed to the reversion of
the post of first surgeon to the King, he came to make his
acknowledgments. He was much beloved by the poor, to whom he had chiefly
devoted his talents, spending nearly thirty thousand francs a year on
indigent sufferers. The Queen replied to his thanks by saying: "You are
satisfied, Monsieur; but I am far from being so with the inhabitants of
Versailles. On the news of your appointment the town should have been
illuminated."--"How so, Madame?" asked the astonished surgeon, who was
very modest. "Why," replied the Queen, "if the poor whom you have
succoured for the past twenty years had each placed a single candle in
their windows it would have been the most beautiful illumination ever
witnessed."
The Queen did not limit her kindness to friendly words. There was
frequently seen in the apartments of Versailles a veteran captain of the
grenadiers of France, called the Chevalier d'Orville, who for four years
had been soliciting from the Minister of War the post of major, or of
King's lieutenant. He was known to be very poor; but he supported his lot
without complaining of this vexatious delay in rewarding his honourable
services. He regularly attended the Marechal de Segur, at the hour
appointed for receiving the numerous solicitations in his department. One
day the Marshal said to him: "You are still at Versailles, M.
d'Orville?"--"Monsieur," he replied, "you may observe that by this board
of the flooring where I regularly place myself; it is already worn down
several lines by the weight of my body." The Queen frequently stood at
the window of her bedchamber to observe with her glass the people walking
in the park. Sometimes she inquired the names of those who were unknown
to her. One day she saw the Chevalier d'Orville passing, and asked me the
name of that knight of Saint Louis, whom she had seen everywhere for a
long time past. I knew who he was, and related his history. "That must
be put an end to," said the Queen, with some vivacity. "Such an example
of indifference is calculated to discourage our soldiers." Next day, in
crossing the gallery to go to mass, the Queen perceived the Chevalier
d'Orville; she went directly towards him. The poor man fell back in the
recess of a window, looking to the right and left to discover the person
whom the Queen was seeking, when she thus addressed him: "M. d'Orville,
you have been several years at Versailles, soliciting a majority or a
King's lieutenancy. You must have very powerless patrons."--"I have none,
Madame," replied the Chevalier, in great confusion. "Well! I will take
you under my protection. To-morrow at the same hour be here with a
petition, and a memorial of your services." A fortnight after, M.
d'Orville was appointed King's lieutenant, either at La Rochelle or at
Rochefort.
[Louis XVI. vied with his Queen in benevolent actions of this kind. An old
officer had in vain solicited a pension during the administration of the
Duc de Choiseul. He returned to the charge in the times of the Marquis de
Montesnard and the Duc d'Aiguillon. He urged his claims, to Comte du Muy,
who made a note of them. Tired of so many fruitless efforts, he at last
appeared at the King's supper, and, having placed himself so as to be seen
and heard, cried out at a moment when silence prevailed, "Sire." The
people near him said, "What are you about? This is not the way to speak
to the King."--"I fear nothing," said he, and raising his voice, repeated,
"Sire." The King, much surprised, looked at him and said, "What do you
want, monsieur."--"Sire," answered he, "I am seventy years of age; I have
served your Majesty more than fifty years, and I am dying for
want."--"Have you a memorial?" replied the King. "Yes, Sire, I
have."--"Give it to me;" and his Majesty took it without saying anything
more. Next morning he was sent for by the, King, who said, "Monsieur, I
grant you an annuity of 1,500 livres out of my privy purse, and you may go
and receive the first year's payment, which is now due." ("Secret
Correspondence of the Court: Reign of Louis XVI.") The King preferred to
spend money in charity rather than in luxury or magnificence. Once during
his absence, M. d'Augivillers caused an unused room in the King's
apartment to be repaired at a cost of 30,000 francs. On his return the
King made Versailles resound with complaints against M. d'Augivillers:
"With that sum I could have made thirty families happy," he said.]
CHAPTER IX.
From the time of Louis XVI.'s accession to the throne, the Queen had been
expecting a visit from her brother, the Emperor Joseph II. That Prince
was the constant theme of her discourse. She boasted of his intelligence,
his love of occupation, his military knowledge, and the perfect simplicity
of his manners. Those about her Majesty ardently wished to see at
Versailles a prince so worthy of his rank. At length the coming of Joseph
II., under the title of Count Falkenstein, was announced, and the very day
on which he would be at Versailles was mentioned. The first embraces
between the Queen and her august brother took place in the presence of all
the Queen's household. The sight of their emotion was extremely
affecting.
The Emperor was at first generally admired in France; learned men,
well-informed officers, and celebrated artists appreciated the extent of
his information. He made less impression at Court, and very little in the
private circle of the King and Queen. His eccentric manners, his
frankness, often degenerating into rudeness, and his evidently affected
simplicity,--all these characteristics caused him to be looked upon as a
prince rather singular than admirable. The Queen spoke to him about the
apartment she had prepared for him in the Chateau; the Emperor answered
that he would not accept it, and that while travelling he always lodged at
a cabaret (that was his very expression); the Queen insisted, and assured
him that he should be at perfect liberty, and placed out of the reach of
noise. He replied that he knew the Chateau of Versailles was very large,
and that so many scoundrels lived there that he could well find a place;
but that his valet de chambre had made up his camp-bed in a lodging-house,
and there he would stay.
He dined with the King and Queen, and supped with the whole family. He
appeared to take an interest in the young Princesse Elisabeth, then just
past childhood, and blooming in all the freshness of that age. An
intended marriage between him and this young sister of the King was
reported at the time, but I believe it had no foundation in truth.
The table was still served by women only, when the Queen dined in private
with the King, the royal family, or crowned heads.
[The custom was, even supposing dinner to have commenced, if a princess of
the blood arrived, and she was asked to sit down at the Queen's table, the
comptrollers and gentlemen-in-waiting came immediately to attend, and the
Queen's women withdrew. These had succeeded the maids of honour in
several parts of their service, and had preserved some of their
privileges. One day the Duchesse d'Orleans arrived at Fontainebleau, at
the Queen's dinner-hour. The Queen invited her to the table, and herself
motioned to her women to leave the room, and let the men take their
places. Her Majesty said she was resolved to continue a privilege which
kept places of that description most honourable, and render them suitable
for ladies of nobility without fortune. Madame de Misery, Baronne de
Biache, the Queen's first lady of the chamber, to whom I was made
reversioner, was a daughter of M. le Comte de Chemant, and her grandmother
was a Montmorency. M. le Prince de Tingry, in the presence of the Queen,
used to call her cousin. The ancient household of the Kings of France had
prerogatives acknowledged in the state. Many of the offices were tenable
only by those of noble blood, and were sold at from 40,000 to 300,000
franca. A collection of edicts of the Kings in favour of the prerogatives
and right of precedence of the persons holding office in the royal
household is still in existence.]
I was present at the Queen's dinner almost every day. The Emperor would
talk much and fluently; he expressed himself in French with facility, and
the singularity, of his expressions added a zest to his conversation. I
have often heard him say that he liked spectaculous objects, when he meant
to express such things as formed a show, or a scene worthy of interest.
He disguised none of his prejudices against the etiquette and customs of
the Court of France; and even in the presence of the King made them the
subject of his sarcasms. The King smiled, but never made any answer; the
Queen appeared pained. The Emperor frequently terminated his observations
upon the objects in Paris which he had admired by reproaching the King for
suffering himself to remain in ignorance of them. He could not conceive
how such a wealth of pictures should remain shut up in the dust of immense
stores; and told him one day that but for the practice of placing some of
them in the apartments of Versailles he would not know even the principal
chef d'oeuvres that he possessed.
[The Emperor loudly censured the existing practice of allowing shopkeepers
to erect shops near the outward walls of all the palaces, and even to
establish something like a fair in the galleries of Versailles and
Fontainebleau, and even upon the landings of the staircases.]
He also reproached him for not having visited the Hotel des Invalides nor
the Ecole Militaire; and even went so far as to tell him before us that he
ought not only to know what Paris contained, but to travel in France, and
reside a few days in each of his large towns.
At last the Queen was really hurt at the Emperor's remarks, and gave him a
few lectures upon the freedom with which he allowed himself to lecture
others. One day she was busied in signing warrants and orders for payment
for her household, and was conversing with M. Augeard, her secretary for
such matters, who presented the papers one after another to be signed, and
replaced them in his portfolio. While this was going forward, the Emperor
walked about the room; all at once he stood still, to reproach the Queen
rather severely for signing all those papers without reading them, or, at
least, without running her eye over them; and he spoke most judiciously to
her upon the danger of signing her name inconsiderately. The Queen
answered that very wise principles might be very ill applied; that her
secretary, who deserved her implicit confidence, was at that moment laying
before her nothing but orders for payment of the quarter's expenses of her
household, registered in the Chamber of Accounts; and that she ran no risk
of incautiously giving her signature.
The Queen's toilet was likewise a never-failing subject for animadversion
with the Emperor. He blamed her for having introduced too many new
fashions; and teased her about her use of rouge. One day, while she was
laying on more of it than usual, before going to the play, he pointed out
a lady who was in the room, and who was, in truth, highly painted. "A
little more under the eyes," said the Emperor to the Queen; "lay on the
rouge like a fury, as that lady does." The Queen entreated her brother to
refrain from his jokes, or at all events to address them, when they were
so outspoken, to her alone.
The Queen had made an appointment to meet her brother at the Italian
theatre; she changed her mind, and went to the French theatre, sending a
page to the Italian theatre to request the Emperor to come to her there.
He left his box, lighted by the comedian Clairval, and attended by M. de
la Ferte, comptroller of the Queen's privy purse, who was much hurt at
hearing his Imperial Majesty, after kindly expressing his regret at not
being present during the Italian performance, say to Clairval, "Your young
Queen is very giddy; but, luckily, you Frenchmen have no great objection
to that."
I was with my father-in-law in one of the Queen's apartments when the
Emperor came to wait for her there, and, knowing that M. Campan was
librarian, he conversed with him about such books as would of course be
found in the Queen's library. After talking of our most celebrated
authors, he casually said, "There are doubtless no works on finance or on
administration here?"
These words were followed by his opinion on all that had been written on
those topics, and the different systems of our two famous ministers, Sully
and Colbert; on errors which were daily committed in France, in points
essential to the prosperity of the Empire; and on the reform he himself
would make at Vienna. Holding M. Campan by the button, he spent more than
an hour, talking vehemently, and without the slightest reserve, about the
French Government. My father-in-law and myself maintained profound
silence, as much from astonishment as from respect; and when we were alone
we agreed not to speak of this interview.
The Emperor was fond of describing the Italian Courts that he had visited.
The jealous quarrels between the King and Queen of Naples amused him
highly; he described to the life the manner and speech of that sovereign,
and the simplicity with which he used to go and solicit the first
chamberlain to obtain permission to return to the nuptial bed, when the
angry Queen had banished him from it. The time which he was made to wait
for this reconciliation was calculated between the Queen and her
chamberlain, and always proportioned to the gravity of the offence. He
also related several very amusing stories relative to the Court of Parma,
of which he spoke with no little contempt. If what this Prince said of
those Courts, and even of Vienna, had been written down, the whole would
have formed an interesting collection. The Emperor told the King that the
Grand Duke of Tuscany and the King of Naples being together, the former
said a great deal about the changes he had effected in his State. The
Grand Duke had issued a mass of new edicts, in order to carry the precepts
of the economists into execution, and trusted that in so doing he was
labouring for the welfare of his people. The King of Naples suffered him
to go on speaking for a long time, and then casually asked how many
Neapolitan families there were in Tuscany. The Duke soon reckoned them
up, as they were but few. "Well, brother," replied the King of Naples, "I
do not understand the indifference of your people towards your great
reforms; for I have four times the number of Tuscan families settled in my
States that you have of Neapolitan families in yours."
The Queen being at the Opera with the Emperor, the latter did not wish to
show himself; but she took him by the hand, and gently drew him to the
front of the box. This kind of presentation to the public was most warmly
received. The performance was "Iphigenia in Aulis," and for the second
time the chorus, "Chantons, celebrons notre Reine!" was called for with
universal plaudits.
A fete of a novel description was given at Petit Trianon. The art with
which the English garden was not illuminated, but lighted, produced a
charming effect. Earthen lamps, concealed by boards painted green, threw
light upon the beds of shrubs and flowers, and brought out their varied
tints. Several hundred burning fagots in the moat behind the Temple of
Love made a blaze of light, which rendered that spot the most brilliant in
the garden. After all, this evening's entertainment had nothing
remarkable about it but the good taste of the artists, yet it was much
talked of. The situation did not allow the admission of a great part of
the Court; those who were uninvited were dissatisfied; and the people, who
never forgive any fetes but those they share in, so exaggerated the cost
of this little fete as to make it appear that the fagots burnt in the moat
had required the destruction of a whole forest. The Queen being informed
of these reports, was determined to know exactly how much wood had been
consumed; and she found that fifteen hundred fagots had sufficed to keep
up the fire until four o'clock in the morning.
After staying a few months the Emperor left France, promising his sister
to come and see her again. All the officers of the Queen's chamber had
many opportunities of serving him during his stay, and expected that he
would make them presents before his departure. Their oath of office
positively forbade them to receive a gift from any foreign prince; they
had therefore agreed to refuse the Emperor's presents at first, but to ask
the time necessary for obtaining permission to accept them. The Emperor,
probably informed of this custom, relieved the good people from their
difficulty by setting off without making a single present.
About the latter end of 1777 the Queen, being alone in her closet, sent
for my father-in-law and myself, and, giving us her hand to kiss; told us
that, looking upon us both as persons deeply interested in her happiness,
she wished to receive our congratulations,--that at length she was the
Queen of France, and that she hoped soon to have children; that till now
she had concealed her grief, but that she had shed many tears in secret.
Dating from this happy but long-delayed moment, the King's attachment to
the Queen assumed every characteristic of love. The good Lassone, first
physician to the King and Queen, frequently spoke to me of the uneasiness
that the King's indifference, the cause of which he had been so long in
overcoming, had given him, and appeared to me at that time to entertain no
anxiety except of a very different description.
In the winter of 1778 the King's permission for the return of Voltaire;
after an absence of twenty-seven years, was obtained. A few strict
persons considered this concession on the part of the Court very
injudicious. The Emperor, on leaving France, passed by the Chateau of
Ferney without stopping there. He had advised the Queen not to suffer
Voltaire to be presented to her. A lady belonging to the Court learned
the Emperor's opinion on that point, and reproached him with his want of
enthusiasm towards the greatest genius of the age. He replied that for
the good of the people he should always endeavour to profit by the
knowledge of the philosophers; but that his own business of sovereign
would always prevent his ranking himself amongst that sect. The clergy
also took steps to hinder Voltaire's appearance at Court. Paris, however,
carried to the highest pitch the honours and enthusiasm shown to the great
poet.
It was very unwise to let Paris pronounce with such transport an opinion
so opposite to that of the Court. This was pointed out to the Queen, and
she was told that, without conferring on Voltaire the honour of a
presentation, she might see him in the State apartments. She was not
averse to following this advice, and appeared embarrassed solely about
what she should say to him. She was recommended to talk about nothing but
the "Henriade," "Merope," and "Zaira." The Queen replied that she would
still consult a few other persons in whom she had great confidence. The
next day she announced that it was irrevocably decided Voltaire should not
see any member of the royal family,--his writings being too antagonistic
to religion and morals. "It is, however, strange," said the Queen, "that
while we refuse to admit Voltaire into our presence as the leader of
philosophical writers, the Marechale de Mouchy should have presented to me
some years ago Madame Geoffrin, who owed her celebrity to the title of
foster-mother of the philosophers."
On the occasion of the duel of the Comte d'Artois with the Prince de
Bourbon the Queen determined privately to see the Baron de Besenval, who
was to be one of the witnesses, in order to communicate the King's
intentions. I have read with infinite pain the manner in which that
simple fact is perverted in the first volume of M. de Besenval's
"Memoirs." He is right in saying that M. Campan led him through the upper
corridors of the Chateau, and introduced him into an apartment unknown to
him; but the air of romance given to the interview is equally culpable and
ridiculous. M. de Besenval says that he found himself, without knowing
how he came there, in an apartment unadorned, but very conveniently
furnished, of the existence of which he was till then utterly ignorant.
He was astonished, he adds, not that the Queen should have so many
facilities, but that she should have ventured to procure them. Ten
printed sheets of the woman Lamotte's libels contain nothing so injurious
to the character of Marie Antoinette as these lines, written by a man whom
she honoured by undeserved kindness. He could not have had any
opportunity of knowing the existence of the apartments, which consisted of
a very small antechamber, a bedchamber, and a closet. Ever since the
Queen had occupied her own apartment, these had been appropriated to her
Majesty's lady of honour in cases of illness, and were actually so used
when the Queen was confined. It was so important that it should not be
known the Queen had spoken to the Baron before the duel that she had
determined to go through her inner room into this little apartment, to
which M. Campan was to conduct him. When men write of recent times they
should be scrupulously exact, and not indulge in exaggerations or
inventions.
The Baron de Besenval appears mightily surprised at the Queen's sudden
coolness, and refers it to the fickleness of her disposition. I can
explain the reason for the change by repeating what her Majesty said to me
at the time; and I will not alter one of her expressions. Speaking of the
strange presumption of men, and the reserve with which women ought always
to treat them, the Queen added that age did not deprive them of the hope
of pleasing, if they retained any agreeable qualities; that she had
treated the Baron de Besenval as a brave Swiss, agreeable, polished, and
witty, whose gray hairs had induced her to look upon him as a man whom she
might see without harm; but that she had been much deceived. Her Majesty,
after having enjoined me to the strictest secrecy, told me that, finding
herself alone with the Baron, he began to address her with so much
gallantry that she was thrown into the utmost astonishment, and that he
was mad enough to fall upon his knees, and make her a declaration in form.
The Queen added that she said to him: "Rise, monsieur; the King shall be
ignorant of an offence which would disgrace you for ever;" that the Baron
grew pale and stammered apologies; that she left her closet without saying
another word, and that since that time she hardly ever spoke to him. "It
is delightful to have friends," said the Queen; "but in a situation like
mine it is sometimes difficult for the friends of our friends to suit us."
In the beginning of the year 1778 Mademoiselle d'Eon obtained permission
to return to France, on condition that she should appear there in female
dress. The Comte de Vergennes entreated my father, M. Genet, chief clerk
of Foreign Affairs, who had long known the Chevalier d'Eon, to receive
that strange personage at his house, to guide and restrain, if possible,
her ardent disposition. The Queen, on learning her arrival at Versailles,
sent a footman to desire my father to bring her into her presence; my
father thought it his duty first to inform the Minister of her Majesty's
wish. The Comte de Vergennes expressed himself pleased with my father's
prudence, and desired that he would accompany him to the Queen. The
Minister had a few minutes' audience; her Majesty came out of her closet
with him, and condescended to express to my father the regret she felt at
having troubled him to no purpose; and added, smiling, that a few words
from M. de Vergennes had for ever cured her of her curiosity. The
discovery in London of the true sex of this pretended woman makes it
probable that the few words uttered by the Minister contained a solution
of the enigma.
The Chevalier d'Eon had been useful in Russia as a spy of Louis XV. while
very young he had found means to introduce himself at the Court of the
Empress Elizabeth, and served that sovereign in the capacity of reader.
Resuming afterwards his military dress, he served with honour and was
wounded. Appointed chief secretary of legation, and afterwards minister
plenipotentiary at London, he unpardonably insulted Comte de Guerchy, the
ambassador. The official order for the Chevalier's return to France was
actually delivered to the King's Council; but Louis XV. delayed the
departure of the courier who was to be its bearer, and sent off another
courier privately, who gave the Chevalier d'Eon a letter in his own
writing, in which he said, "I know that you have served me as effectually
in the dress of a woman as in that which you now wear. Resume it
instantly; withdraw into the city; I warn you that the King yesterday
signed an order for your return to France; you are not safe in your hotel,
and you would here find too powerful enemies." I heard the Chevalier
d'Eon repeat the contents of this letter, in which Louis XV. thus
separated himself from the King of France, several times at my father's.
The Chevalier, or rather the Chevalaere d'Eon had preserved all the King's
letters. Messieurs de Maurepas and de Vergennes wished to get them out of
his hands, as they were afraid he would print them. This eccentric being
had long solicited permission to return to France; but it was necessary to
find a way of sparing the family he had offended the insult they would see
in his return; he was therefore made to resume the costume of that sex to
which in France everything is pardoned. The desire to see his native land
once more determined him to submit to the condition, but he revenged
himself by combining the long train of his gown and the three deep ruffles
on his sleeves with the attitude and conversation of a grenadier, which
made him very disagreeable company.
[The account given by Madame Campan of the Chevalier d'Eon is now known to
be incorrect in many particulars. Enough details for most readers will be
found in the Duc de Broglie's "Secret of the King," vol. ii., chaps. vi.
and g., and at p. 89, vol. ii. of that work, where the Duke refers to
the letter of most dubious authenticity spoken of by Madame Campan. The
following details will be sufficient for these memoirs: The Chevalier
Charles d'Eon de Beaumont (who was born in 1728) was an ex-captain of
dragoons, employed in both the open and secret diplomacy of Louis XV.
When at the embassy in London he quarrelled with the ambassador, his
superior, the Comte de Guerchy (Marquis do Nangis), and used his
possession of papers concerning the secret diplomacy to shield himself.
It was when hiding in London, in 1765, on account of this business, that
he seems first to have assumed woman's dress, which he retained apparently
chiefly from love of notoriety. In 1775 a formal agreement with the
French Court, made by the instrumentality of Beaumarchais, of all people
in the world, permitted him to return to France, retaining the dress of a
woman. He went back to France, but again came to England, and died there,
at his residence in Millman Street, near the Foundling Hospital, May 22,
1710. He had been a brave and distinguished officer, but his form and a
certain coldness of temperament always remarked in him assisted him in his
assumption of another sex. There appears to be no truth in the story of
his proceedings at the Russian Court, and his appearing in female attire
was a surprise to those who must have known of any earlier affair of the
sort.]
At last, the event so long desired by the Queen, and by all those who
wished her well, took place; her Majesty became enceinte. The King was in
ecstasies. Never was there a more united or happier couple. The
disposition of Louis XVI. entirely altered, and became prepossessing and
conciliatory; and the Queen was amply compensated for the uneasiness which
the King's indifference during the early part of their union had caused
her.
The summer of 1778 was extremely hot. July and August passed, but the air
was not cooled by a single storm. The Queen spent whole days in close
rooms, and could not sleep until she had breathed the fresh night air,
walking with the Princesses and her brothers upon the terrace under her
apartments. These promenades at first gave rise to no remark; but it
occurred to some of the party to enjoy the music of wind instruments
during these fine summer nights. The musicians belonging to the chapel
were ordered to perform pieces suited to instruments of that description,
upon steps constructed in the middle of the garden. The Queen, seated on
one of the terrace benches, enjoyed the effect of this music, surrounded
by all the royal family with the exception of the King, who joined them
but, twice, disliking to change his hour of going to bed.
Nothing could be more innocent than these parties; yet Paris, France, nay,
all Europe, were soon canvassing them in a manner most disadvantageous to
the reputation of Marie Antoinette. It is true that all the inhabitants
of Versailles enjoyed these serenades, and that there was a crowd near the
spot from eleven at night until two or three in the morning. The windows
of the ground floor occupied by Monsieur and Madame--[The wife of
Monsieur, the Comte de Provence.]--were kept open, and the terrace was
perfectly well lighted by the numerous wax candles burning in the two
apartments. Lamps were likewise placed in the garden, and the lights of
the orchestra illuminated the rest of the place.
I do not know whether a few incautious women might not have ventured
farther, and wandered to the bottom of the park; it may have been so; but
the Queen, Madame, and the Comtesse d'Artois were always arm-in-arm, and
never left the terrace. The Princesses were not remarkable when seated on
the benches, being dressed in cambric muslin gowns, with large straw hats
and muslin veils, a costume universally adopted by women at that time; but
when standing up their different figures always distinguished them; and
the persons present stood on one side to let them pass. It is true that
when they seated themselves upon the benches private individuals would
sometimes, to their great amusement, sit down by their side.
A young clerk in the War Department, either not knowing or pretending not
to know the Queen, spoke to her of the beauty of the night, and the
delightful effect of the music. The Queen, fancying she was not
recognised, amused herself by keeping up the incognito, and they talked of
several private families of Versailles, consisting of persons belonging to
the King's household or her own. After a few minutes the Queen and
Princesses rose to walk, and on leaving the bench curtsied to the clerk.
The young man knowing, or having subsequently discovered, that he had been
conversing with the Queen, boasted of it in his office. He was merely,
desired to hold his tongue; and so little attention did he excite that the
Revolution found him still only a clerk.
Another evening one of Monsieur's body-guard seated himself near the
Princesses, and, knowing them, left the place where he was sitting, and
placed himself before the Queen, to tell her that he was very fortunate in
being able to seize an opportunity of imploring the kindness of his
sovereign; that he was "soliciting at Court"--at the word soliciting the
Queen and Princesses rose hastily and withdrew into Madame's
apartment.--[Soulavie has most criminally perverted these two
facts.--MADAME CAMPAN.]--I was at the Queen's residence that day. She
talked of this little occurrence all the time of her 'coucher'; though she
only complained that one of Monsieur's guards should have had the
effrontery to speak to her. Her Majesty added that he ought to have
respected her incognito; and that that was not the place where he should
have ventured to make a request. Madame had recognised him, and talked of
making a complaint to his captain; the Queen opposed it, attributing his
error to his ignorance and provincial origin.
The most scandalous libels were based on these two insignificant
occurrences, which I have related with scrupulous exactness. Nothing
could be more false than those calumnies. It must be confessed, however,
that such meetings were liable to ill consequences. I ventured to say as
much to the Queen, and informed her that one evening, when her Majesty
beckoned to me to go and speak to her, I thought I recognised on the bench
on which she was sitting two women deeply veiled, and keeping profound
silence; that those women were the Comtesse du Barry and her
sister-in-law; and that my suspicions were confirmed, when, at a few paces
from the seat, and nearer to her Majesty, I met a tall footman belonging
to Madame du Barry, whom I had seen in her service all the time she
resided at Court.
My advice was disregarded. Misled by the pleasure she found in these
promenades, and secure in the consciousness of blameless conduct, the
Queen would not see the lamentable results which must necessarily follow.
This was very unfortunate; for besides the mortifications they brought
upon her, it is highly probable that they prompted the vile plot which
gave rise to the Cardinal de Rohan's fatal error.
Having enjoyed these evening promenades about a month, the Queen ordered a
private concert within the colonnade which contained the group of Pluto
and Proserpine. Sentinels were placed at all the entrances, and ordered
to admit within the colonnade only such persons as should produce tickets
signed by my father-in-law. A fine concert was performed there by the
musicians of the chapel and the female musicians belonging to the. Queen's
chamber. The Queen went with Mesdames de Polignac, de Chalon, and
d'Andlau, and Messieurs de Polignac, de Coigny, de Besenval, and de
Vaudreuil; there were also a few equerries present. Her Majesty gave me
permission to attend the concert with some of my female relations. There
was no music upon the terrace. The crowd of inquisitive people, whom the
sentinels kept at a distance from the enclosure of the colonnade, went
away highly discontented; the small number of persons admitted no doubt
occasioned jealousy, and gave rise to offensive comments which were caught
up by the public with avidity. I do not pretend to apologise for the kind
of amusements with which the Queen indulged herself during this and the
following summer; the consequences were so lamentable that the error was
no doubt very great; but what I have said respecting the character of
these promenades may be relied on as true.
When the season for evening walks was at an end, odious couplets were
circulated in Paris; the 'Queen was treated in them in the most insulting
manner; her situation ranked among her enemies persons attached to the
only prince who for several years had appeared likely to give heirs to the
crown. People uttered the most inconsiderate language; and those improper
conversations took place in societies wherein the imminent danger of
violating to so criminal an extent both truth and the respect due to
sovereigns ought to have been better understood. A few days before the
Queen's confinement a whole volume of manuscript songs, concerning her and
all the ladies about her remarkable for rank or station was, thrown down
in the oiel-de-boeuf.--[A large room at Versailles lighted by a bull's-eye
window, and used as a waiting-room.]--This manuscript was immediately put
into the hands of the King, who was highly incensed at it, and said that
he had himself been at those promenades; that he had seen nothing
connected with them but what was perfectly harmless; that such songs would
disturb the harmony of twenty families in the Court and city; that it was
a capital crime to have made any against the Queen herself; and that he
wished the author of the infamous libels to be discovered and punished. A
fortnight afterwards it was known publicly that the verses were by M.
Champcenetz de Riquebourg, who was not even reprimanded.
[The author of a great many songs, some of which are very well written.
Lively and satirical by nature, he did not lose either his cheerfulness or
his carelessness before the revolutionary tribunal. After hearing his own
sentence read, he asked his judges if he might not be allowed to find a
substitute.--MADAME CAMPAN.]
I knew for a certainty that the King spoke to M. de Maurepas, before two
of his most confidential servants, respecting the risk which he saw the
Queen ran from these night walks upon the terrace of Versailles, which the
public ventured to censure thus openly, and that the old minister had the
cruelty to advise that she should be suffered to go on; she possessed
talent; her friends were very ambitious, and longed to see her take a part
in public affairs; and to let her acquire the reputation of levity would
do no harm. M. de Vergennes was as hostile to the Queen's influence as M.
de Maurepas. It may therefore be fairly presumed, since the Prime
Minister durst point out to his King an advantage to be gained by the
Queen's discrediting herself, that he and M. de Vergennes employed all
means within the reach of powerful ministers in order to ruin her in the
opinion of the public.
The Queen's accouchement approached; Te Deums were sung and prayers
offered up in all the cathedrals. On the 11th of December, 1778, the
royal family, the Princes of the blood, and the great officers of State
passed the night in the rooms adjoining the Queen's bedchamber. Madame,
the King's daughter, came into the world before mid-day on the 19th of
December.--[Marie Therese Charlotte (1778-1861), Madame Royale; married in
1799 Louis, Duc d'Angouleme, eldest son of the Comte d'Artois.]--The
etiquette of allowing all persons indiscriminately to enter at the moment
of the delivery of a queen was observed with such exaggeration that when
the accoucheur said aloud, "La Reine va s'accoucher," the persons who
poured into the chamber were so numerous that the rush nearly destroyed
the Queen. During the night the King had taken the precaution to have the
enormous tapestry screens which surrounded her Majesty's bed secured with
cords; but for this they certainly would have been thrown down upon her.
It was impossible to move about the chamber, which was filled with so
motley a crowd that one might have fancied himself in some place of public
amusement. Two Savoyards got upon the furniture for a better sight of the
Queen, who was placed opposite the fireplace.
The noise and the sex of the infant, with which the Queen was made
acquainted by a signal previously agreed on, as it is said, with the
Princesse do Lamballe, or some error of the accoucheur, brought on
symptoms which threatened fatal consequences; the accoucheur exclaimed,
"Give her air--warm water--she must be bled in the foot!" The windows
were stopped up; the King opened them with a strength which his affection
for the Queen gave him at the moment. They were of great height, and
pasted over with strips of paper all round. The basin of hot water not
being brought quickly enough, the accoucheur desired the chief surgeon to
use his lancet without waiting for it. He did so; the blood streamed out
freely, and the Queen opened her eyes. The Princesse de Lamballe was
carried through the crowd in a state of insensibility. The valets de
chambre and pages dragged out by the collar such inconsiderate persons as
would not leave the room. This cruel custom was abolished afterwards. The
Princes of the family, the Princes of the blood, the chancellor, and the
ministers are surely sufficient to attest the legitimacy of an hereditary
prince. The Queen was snatched from the very jaws of death; she was not
conscious of having been bled, and on being replaced in bed asked why she
had a linen bandage upon her foot.
The delight which succeeded the moment of fear was equally lively and
sincere. We were all embracing each other, and shedding tears of joy. The
Comte d'Esterhazy and the Prince de Poix, to whom I was the first to
announce that the Queen was restored to life, embraced me in the midst of
the cabinet of nobles. We little imagined, in our happiness at her escape
from death, for how much more terrible a fate our beloved Princess was
reserved.
NOTE. The two following specimens of the Emperor Joseph's correspondence
forcibly demonstrate the vigour, shrewdness, and originality of his mind,
and complete the portrait left of him by Madame Campan.
Few sovereigns have given their reasons for refusing appointments with the
fullness and point of the following letter
To a Lady.
MADAM.--I do not think that it is amongst the duties of a monarch to grant
places to one of his subjects merely because he is a gentleman. That,
however, is the inference from the request you have made to me. Your late
husband was, you say, a distinguished general, a gentleman of good family,
and thence you conclude that my kindness to your family can do no less
than give a company of foot to your second son, lately returned from his
travels.
Madam, a man may be the son of a general and yet have no talent for
command. A man may be of a good family and yet possess no other merit
than that which he owes to chance,--the name of gentleman.
I know your son, and I know what makes the soldier; and this twofold
knowledge convinces me that your son has not the disposition of a warrior,
and that he is too full of his birth to leave the country a hope of his
ever rendering it any important service.
What you are to be pitied for, madam, is, that your son is not fit either
for an officer, a statesman or a priest; in a word, that he is nothing
more than a gentleman in the most extended acceptation of the word.
You may be thankful to that destiny, which, in refusing talents to your
son, has taken care to put him in possession of great wealth, which will
sufficiently compensate him for other deficiencies, and enable him at the
same time to dispense with any favour from me.
I hope you will be impartial enough to see the reasons which prompt me to
refuse your request. It may be disagreeable to you, but I consider it
necessary. Farewell, madam.--Your sincere well-wisher, JOSEPH
LACHSENBURG, 4th August, 1787.
The application of another anxious and somewhat covetous mother was
answered with still more decision and irony:
To a Lady.
MADAM.--You know my disposition; you are not ignorant that the society of
the ladies is to me a mere recreation, and that I have never sacrificed my
principles to the fair sex. I pay but little attention to
recommendations, and I only take them into consideration when the person
in whose behalf I may be solicited possesses real merit.
Two of your sons are already loaded with favours. The eldest, who is not
yet twenty, is chief of a squadron in my army, and the younger has
obtained a canonry at Cologne, from the Elector, my brother. What would
you have more? Would you have the first a general and the second a
bishop?
In France you may see colonels in leading-strings, and in Spain the royal
princes command armies even at eighteen; hence Prince Stahremberg forced
them to retreat so often that they were never able all the rest of their
lives to comprehend any other manoeuvre.
It is necessary to be sincere at Court, and severe in the field, stoical
without obduracy, magnanimous without weakness, and to gain the esteem of
our enemies by the justice of our actions; and this, madam, is what I aim
at. JOSEPH VIENNA, September, 1787.
(From the inedited Letters of Joseph IL, published at Paris, by Persan,
1822.)
CHAPTER X.
During the alarm for the life of the Queen, regret at not possessing an
heir to the throne was not even thought of. The King himself was wholly
occupied with the care of preserving an adored wife. The young Princess
was presented to her mother. "Poor little one," said the Queen, "you were
not wished for, but you are not on that account less dear to me. A son
would have been rather the property of the State. You shall be mine; you
shall have my undivided care, shall share all my happiness, and console me
in all my troubles."
The King despatched a courier to Paris, and wrote letters himself to
Vienna, by the Queen's bedside; and part of the rejoicings ordered took
place in the capital.
A great number of attendants watched near the Queen during the first
nights of her confinement. This custom distressed her; she knew how to
feel for others, and ordered large armchairs for her women, the backs of
which were capable of being let down by springs, and which served
perfectly well instead of beds.
M. de Lassone, the chief physician, the chief surgeon, the chief
apothecary, the principal officers of the buttery, etc., were likewise
nine nights without going to bed. The royal children were watched for a
long time, and one of the women on duty remained, nightly, up and dressed,
during the first three years from their birth.
The Queen made her entry into Paris for the churching. One hundred
maidens were portioned and married at Notre-Dame. There were few popular
acclamations, but her Majesty was perfectly well received at the Opera.
A few days after the Queen's recovery from her confinement, the Cure of
the Magdelaine de la City at Paris wrote to M. Campan and requested a
private interview with him; it was to desire he would deliver into the
hands of the Queen a little box containing her wedding ring, with this
note written by the Cure: "I have received under the seal of confession
the ring which I send to your Majesty; with an avowal that it was stolen
from you in 1771, in order to be used in sorceries, to prevent your having
any children." On seeing her ring again the Queen said that she had in
fact lost it about seven years before, while washing her hands, and that
she had resolved to use no endeavour to discover the superstitious woman
who had done her the injury.
The Queen's attachment to the Comtesse Jules increased every day; she went
frequently to her house at Paris, and even took up her own abode at the
Chateau de la Muette to be nearer during her confinement. She married
Mademoiselle de Polignac, when scarcely thirteen years of age, to M. de
Grammont, who, on account of this marriage, was made Duc de Guiche, and
captain of the King's Guards, in reversion after the Duc de Villeroi. The
Duchesse de Civrac, Madame Victoire's dame d'honneur, had been promised
the place for the Duc de Lorges, her son. The number of discontented
families at Court increased.
The title of favourite was too openly given to the Comtesse Jules by her
friends. The lot of the favourite of a queen is not, in France, a happy
one; the favourites of kings are treated, out of gallantry, with much
greater indulgence.
A short time after the birth of Madame the Queen became again enceinte;
she had mentioned it only to the King, to her physician, and to a few
persons honoured with her intimate confidence, when, having overexerted
her strength in pulling lip one of the glasses of her carriage, she felt
that she had hurt herself, and eight days afterwards she miscarried. The
King spent the whole morning at her bedside, consoling her, and
manifesting the tenderest concern for her. The Queen wept exceedingly;
the King took her affectionately in his arms, and mingled his tears with
hers. The King enjoined silence among the small number of persons who
were informed of this unfortunate occurrence; and it remained generally
unknown. These particulars furnish an accurate idea of the manner in
which this august couple lived together.
The Empress Maria Theresa did not enjoy the happiness of seeing her
daughter give an heir to the crown of France. That illustrious Princess
died at the close of 1780, after having proved by her example that, as in
the instance of Queen Blanche, the talents of a sovereign might be blended
with the virtues of a pious princess. The King was deeply affected at the
death of the Empress; and on the arrival of the courier from Vienna said
that he could not bring himself to afflict the Queen by informing her of
an event which grieved even him so much. His Majesty thought the Abbe de
Vermond, who had possessed the confidence of Maria Theresa during his stay
at Vienna, the most proper person to discharge this painful duty. He sent
his first valet de chambre, M. de Chamilly, to the Abbe on the evening of
the day he received the despatches from Vienna, to order him to come the
next day to the Queen before her breakfast hour, to acquit himself
discreetly of the afflicting commission with which he was charged, and to
let his Majesty know the moment of his entering the Queen's chamber. It
was the King's intention to be there precisely a quarter of an hour after
him, and he was punctual to his time; he was announced; the Abbe came out;
and his Majesty said to him, as he drew up at the door to let him pass, "I
thank you, Monsieur l'Abbe, for the service you have just done me." This
was the only time during nineteen years that the King spoke to him.
Within an hour after learning the event the Queen put on temporary
mourning, while waiting until her Court mourning should be ready; she kept
herself shut up in her apartments for several days; went out only to mass;
saw none but the royal family; and received none but the Princesse de
Lamballe and the Duchesse de Polignac. She talked incessantly of the
courage, the misfortunes, the successes, and the virtues of her mother.
The shroud and dress in which Maria Theresa was to be buried, made
entirely by her own hands, were found ready prepared in one of her
closets. She often regretted that the numerous duties of her august
mother had prevented her from watching in person over the education of her
daughters; and modestly said that she herself would have been more worthy
if she had had the good fortune to receive lessons directly from a
sovereign so enlightened and so deserving of admiration.
The Queen told me one day that her mother was left a widow at an age when
her beauty was yet striking; that she was secretly informed of a plot laid
by her three principal ministers to make themselves agreeable to her; of a
compact made between them, that the losers should not feel any jealousy
towards him who should be fortunate enough to gain his sovereign's heart;
and that they had sworn that the successful one should be always the
friend of the other two. The Empress being assured of this scheme, one
day after the breaking up of the council over which she had presided,
turned the conversation upon the subject of female sovereigns, and the
duties of their sex and rank; and then applying her general reflections to
herself in particular, told them that she hoped to guard herself all her
life against weaknesses of the heart; but that if ever an irresistible
feeling should make her alter her resolution, it should be only in favour
of a man proof against ambition, not engaged in State affairs, but
attached only to a private life and its calm enjoyments,--in a word, if
her heart should betray her so far as to lead her to love a man invested
with any important office, from the moment he should discover her
sentiments he would forfeit his place and his influence with the public.
This was sufficient; the three ministers, more ambitious than amorous,
gave up their projects for ever.
On the 22d of October, 1781, the Queen gave birth to a Dauphin.--[The
first Dauphin, Louis, born 1781, died 1789.]--So deep a silence prevailed
in the room that the Queen thought her child was a daughter; but after the
Keeper of the Seals had declared the sex of the infant, the King went up
to the Queen's bed, and said to her, "Madame, you have fulfilled my wishes
and those of France: you are the mother of a Dauphin." The King's joy was
boundless; tears streamed from his eyes; he gave his hand to every one
present; and his happiness carried away his habitual reserve. Cheerful
and affable, he was incessantly taking occasion to introduce the words,
"my son," or "the Dauphin." As soon as the Queen was in bed, she wished
to see the long-looked-for infant. The Princesse de Guemenee brought him
to her. The Queen said there was no need for commending him to the
Princess, but in order to enable her to attend to him more freely, she
would herself share the care of the education of her daughter. When the
Dauphin was settled in his apartment, he received the customary homages
and visits. The Duc d'Angouleme, meeting his father at the entrance of
the Dauphin's apartment, said to him, "Oh, papa! how little my cousin
is!"--"The day will come when you will think him great enough, my dear,"
answered the Prince, almost involuntarily.--[Eldest son of the Comte
d'Artois, and till the birth of the Dauphin with near prospects of the
succession.]
The birth of the Dauphin appeared to give joy to all classes. Men stopped
one another in the streets, spoke without being acquainted, and those who
were acquainted embraced each other. In the birth of a legitimate heir to
the sovereign every man beholds a pledge of prosperity and tranquillity.
[M. Merard de Saint Just made a quatrain on the birth of the Dauphin to
the following effect:
"This infant Prince our hopes are centred in, will doubtless make us
happy, rich, and free; And since with somebody he must begin, My fervent
prayer is--that it may be me!"
--NOTE BY THE EDITOR.]
The rejoicings were splendid and ingenious. The artificers and tradesmen
of Paris spent considerable sums in order to go to Versailles in a body,
with their various insignia. Almost every troop had music with it. When
they arrived at the court of the palace, they there arranged themselves so
as to present a most interesting living picture. Chimney-sweepers, quite
as well dressed as those that appear upon the stage, carried an ornamented
chimney, at the top of which was perched one of the smallest of their
fraternity. The chairmen carried a sedan highly gilt, in which were to be
seen a handsome nurse and a little Dauphin. The butchers made their
appearance with their fat ox. Cooks, masons, blacksmiths, all trades were
on the alert. The smiths hammered away upon an anvil, the shoemakers
finished off a little pair of boots for the Dauphin, and the tailors a
little suit of the uniform of his regiment. The King remained a long time
upon a balcony to enjoy the sight. The whole Court was delighted with it.
So general was the enthusiasm that (the police not having carefully
examined the procession) the grave-diggers had the imprudence to send
their deputation also, with the emblematic devices of their ill-omened
occupation. They were met by the Princesse Sophie, the King's aunt, who
was thrilled with horror at the sight, and entreated the King to have the
audacious, fellows driven out of the procession, which was then drawing up
on the terrace.
The 'dames de la halle' came to congratulate the Queen, and were received
with the suitable ceremonies.
Fifty of them appeared dressed in black silk gowns, the established full
dress of their order, and almost all wore diamonds. The Princesse de
Chimay went to the door of the Queen's bedroom to receive three of these
ladies, who were led up to the Queen's bed. One of them addressed her
Majesty in a speech written by M. de la Harpe. It was set down on the
inside of a fan, to which the speaker repeatedly referred, but without any
embarrassment. She was handsome, and had a remarkably fine voice. The
Queen was affected by the address, and answered it with great
affability,--wishing a distinction to be made between these women and the
poissardes, who always left a disagreeable impression on her mind.
The King ordered a substantial repast for all these women. One of his
Majesty's maitres d'hotel, wearing his hat, sat as president and did the
honours of the table. The public were admitted, and numbers of people had
the curiosity to go.
The Garden-du-Corps obtained the King's permission to give the Queen a
dress ball in the great hall of the Opera at Versailles. Her Majesty
opened the ball in a minuet with a private selected by the corps, to whom
the King granted the baton of an exempt. The fete was most splendid. All
then was joy, happiness, and peace.
The Dauphin was a year old when the Prince de Guemenee's bankruptcy
compelled the Princess, his wife, who was governess to the children of
France, to resign her situation.
The Queen was at La Muette for the inoculation of her daughter. She sent
for me, and condescended to say she wished to converse with me about a
scheme which delighted her, but in the execution of which she foresaw some
inconveniences. Her plan was to appoint the Duchesse de Polignac to the
office lately held by the Princesse de Guemenee. She saw with extreme
pleasure the facilities which this appointment would give her for
superintending the education of her children, without running any risk of
hurting the pride of the governess; and that it would bring together the
objects of her warmest affections, her children and her friend. "The
friends of the Duchesse de Polignac," continued the Queen, "will be
gratified by the splendour and importance conferred by the employment. As
to the Duchess, I know her; the place by no means suits her simple and
quiet habits, nor the sort of indolence of her disposition. She will give
me the greatest possible proof of her devotion if she yields to my wish."
The Queen also spoke of the Princesse de Chimay and the Duchesse de Duras,
whom the public pointed out as fit for the post; but she thought the
Princesse de Chimay's piety too rigid; and as to the Duchesse de Duras,
her wit and learning quite frightened her. What the Queen dreaded as the
consequence of her selection of the Duchesse de Polignac was principally
the jealousy of the courtiers; but she showed so lively a desire to see
her scheme executed that I had no doubt she would soon set at naught all
the obstacles she discovered. I was not mistaken; a few days afterwards
the Duchess was appointed governess.
The Queen's object in sending for me was no doubt to furnish me with the
means of explaining the feelings which induced her to prefer a governess
disposed by friendship to suffer her to enjoy all the privileges of a
mother. Her Majesty knew that I saw a great deal of company.
The Queen frequently dined with the Duchess after having been present at
the King's private dinner. Sixty-one thousand francs were therefore added
to the salary of the governess as a compensation for this increase of
expense.
The Queen was tired of the excursions to Marly, and had no great
difficulty in setting the King against them. He did not like the expense
of them, for everybody was entertained there gratis. Louis XIV. had
established a kind of parade upon these excursions, differing from that of
Versailles, but still more annoying. Card and supper parties occurred
every day, and required much dress. On Sundays and holidays the fountains
played, the people were admitted into the gardens, and there was as great
a crowd as at the fetes of St. Cloud.
Every age has its peculiar colouring; Marly showed that of Louis XIV. even
more than Versailles. Everything in the former place appeared to have
been produced by the magic power of a fairy's wand. Not the slightest
trace of all this splendour remains; the revolutionary spoilers even tore
up the pipes which served to supply the fountains. Perhaps a brief
description of this palace and the usages established there by Louis XIV.
may be acceptable.
The very extensive gardens of Marly ascended almost imperceptibly to the
Pavilion of the Sun., which was occupied only by the King and his family.
The pavilions of the twelve zodiacal signs bounded the two sides of the
lawn. They were connected by bowers impervious to the rays of the sun.
The pavilions nearest to that of the sun were reserved for the Princes of
the blood and the ministers; the rest were occupied by persons holding
superior offices at Court, or invited to stay at Marly. Each pavilion was
named after fresco paintings, which covered its walls, and which had been
executed by the most celebrated artists of the age of Louis XIV. On a line
with the upper pavilion there was on the left a chapel; on the right a
pavilion called La Perspective, which concealed along suite of offices,
containing a hundred lodging-rooms intended for the persons belonging to
the service of the Court, kitchens, and spacious dining-rooms, in which
more than thirty tables were splendidly laid out.
During half of Louis XV.'s reign the ladies still wore the habit de cour
de Marly, so named by Louis XIV., and which differed little from, that
devised for Versailles. The French gown, gathered in the back, and with
great hoops, replaced this dress, and continued to be worn till the end of
the reign of Louis XVI. The diamonds, feathers, rouge, and embroidered
stuffs spangled with gold, effaced all trace of a rural residence; but the
people loved to see the splendour of their sovereign and a brilliant Court
glittering in the shades of the woods.
After dinner, and before the hour for cards, the Queen, the Princesses,
and their ladies, paraded among the clumps of trees, in little carriages,
beneath canopies richly embroidered with gold, drawn by men in the King's
livery. The trees planted by Louis XIV. were of prodigious height, which,
however, was surpassed in several of the groups by fountains of the
clearest water; while, among others, cascades over white marble, the
waters of which, met by the sunbeams, looked like draperies of silver
gauze, formed a contrast to the solemn darkness of the groves.
In the evening nothing more was necessary for any well-dressed man to
procure admission to the Queen's card parties than to be named and
presented, by some officer of the Court, to the gentleman usher of the
card-room. This room, which was very, large, and of octagonal shape, rose
to the top of the Italian roof, and terminated in a cupola furnished with
balconies, in which ladies who had not been presented easily obtained
leave to place themselves, and enjoy, the sight of the brilliant
assemblage.
Though not of the number of persons belonging to the Court, gentlemen
admitted into this salon might request one of the ladies seated with the
Queen at lansquenet or faro to bet upon her cards with such gold or notes
as they presented to her. Rich people and the gamblers of Paris did not
miss one of the evenings at the Marly salon, and there were always
considerable sums won and lost. Louis XVI. hated high play, and very
often showed displeasure when the loss of large sums was mentioned. The
fashion of wearing a black coat without being in mourning had not then
been introduced, and the King gave a few of his 'coups de boutoir' to
certain chevaliers de St. Louis, dressed in this manner, who came to
venture two or three louis, in the hope that fortune would favour the
handsome duchesses who deigned to place them on their cards.
[Bachaumont in his "Memoirs," (tome xii., p. 189), which are often
satirical; and always somewhat questionable, speaks of the singular
precautions taken at play at Court. "The bankers at the Queen's table,"
says he, "in order to prevent the mistakes [I soften the harshness of his
expression] which daily happen, have obtained permission from her Majesty
that before beginning to play the table shall be bordered by a ribbon
entirely round it, and that no other money than that upon the cards beyond
the ribbon shall be considered as staked."--NOTE By THE EDITOR.]
Singular contrasts are often seen amidst the grandeur of courts. In order
to manage such high play at the Queen's faro table, it was necessary to
have a banker provided with large, sums of money; and this necessity
placed at the table, to which none but the highest titled persons were
admitted in general, not only M. de Chalabre, who was its banker, but also
a retired captain of foot, who officiated as his second. A word, trivial,
but perfectly appropriate to express the manner in which the Court was
attended there, was often heard. Gentlemen presented at Court, who had
not been invited to stay at Marly, came there notwithstanding, as they did
to Versailles, and returned again to Paris; under such circumstances, it
was said such a one had been to Marly only 'en polisson';--[A contemptuous
expression, meaning literally "as a scamp" or "rascal"]--and it appeared
odd to hear a captivating marquis, in answer to the inquiry whether he was
of the royal party at Marly, say, "No, I am only here 'en polisson',"
meaning simply "I am here on the footing of all those whose nobility is of
a later date than 1400." The Marly excursions were exceedingly expensive
to the King. Besides the superior tables, those of the almoners,
equerries, maitres d'hotel, etc., were all supplied with such a degree of
magnificence as to allow of inviting strangers to them; and almost all the
visitors from Paris were boarded at the expense of the Court.
The personal frugality of the unfortunate Prince who sank beneath the
weight of the national debts thus favoured the Queen's predilection for
her Petit Trianon; and for five or six years preceding the Revolution the
Court very seldom visited Marly.
The King, always attentive to the comfort of his family, gave Mesdames,
his aunts, the use of the Chateau de Bellevue, and afterwards purchased
the Princesse de Guemenee's house, at the entrance to Paris, for
Elisabeth. The Comtesse de Provence bought a small house at Montreuil;
Monsieur already had Brunoy; the Comtesse d'Artois built Bagatelle;
Versailles became, in the estimation of all the royal family, the least
agreeable of residences. They only fancied themselves at home in the
plainest houses, surrounded by English gardens, where they better enjoyed
the beauties of nature. The taste for cascades and statues was entirely
past.
The Queen occasionally remained a whole month at Petit Trianon, and had
established there all the ways of life in a chateau. She entered the
sitting-room without driving the ladies from their pianoforte or
embroidery. The gentlemen continued their billiards or backgammon without
suffering her presence to interrupt them. There was but little room in
the small Chateau of Trianon. Madame Elisabeth accompanied the Queen
there, but the ladies of honour and ladies of the palace had no
establishment at Trianon. When invited by the Queen, they came from
Versailles to dinner. The King and Princes came regularly to sup. A
white gown, a gauze kerchief, and a straw hat were the uniform dress of
the Princesses.
[The extreme simplicity of the Queen's toilet began to be strongly
censured, at first among the courtiers, and afterwards throughout the
kingdom; and through one of those inconsistencies more common in France
than elsewhere, while the Queen was blamed, she was blindly imitated.
There was not a woman but would have the same undress, the same cap, and
the same feathers as she had been seen to wear. They crowded to
Mademoiselle Bertin, her milliner; there was an absolute revolution in the
dress of our ladies, which gave importance to that woman. Long trains,
and all those fashions which confer a certain nobility on dress, were
discarded; and at last a duchess could not be distinguished from an
actress. The men caught the mania; the upper classes had long before
given up to their lackeys feathers, tufts of ribbon, and laced hats. They
now got rid of red heels and embroidery; and walked about our streets in
plain cloth, short thick shoes, and with knotty cudgels in their hands.
Many humiliating scrapes were the consequence of this metamorphosis.
Bearing no mark to distinguish them from the common herd, some of the
lowest classes got into quarrels with them, in which the nobles had not
always the best of it.--MONTJOIE, "History of Marie Antoinette."]
Examining all the manufactories of the hamlet, seeing the cows milked, and
fishing in the lake delighted the Queen; and every year she showed
increased aversion to the pompous excursions to Marly.
The idea of acting comedies, as was then done in almost all country
houses, followed on the Queen's wish to live at Trianon without ceremony.
[The Queen got through the characters she assumed indifferently enough;
she could hardly be ignorant of this, as her performances evidently
excited little pleasure. Indeed, one day while she was thus exhibiting,
somebody ventured to say, by no means inaudibly, "well, this is royally
ill played!" The lesson was thrown away upon her, for never did she
sacrifice to the opinion of another that which she thought permissible.
When she was told that her extreme plainness in dress, the nature of her
amusements, and her dislike to that splendour which ought always to attend
a Queen, had an appearance of levity, which was misinterpreted by a
portion of the public, she replied with Madame de Maintenon: "I am upon
the stage, and of course I shall be either hissed or applauded." Louis
XIV. had a similar taste; he danced upon the stage; but he had shown by
brilliant actions that he knew how to enforce respect; and besides, he
unhesitatingly gave up the amusement from the moment he heard those
beautiful lines in which Racine pointed out how very unworthy of him such
pastimes were.--MONTJOIE, "History of Marie Antoinette."]
It was agreed that no young man except the Comte d'Artois should be
admitted into the company of performers, and that the audience should
consist only of the King, Monsieur, and the Princesses, who did not play;
but in order to stimulate the actors a little, the first boxes were to be
occupied by the readers, the Queen's ladies, their sisters and daughters,
making altogether about forty persons.
The Queen laughed heartily at the voice of M. d'Adhemar, formerly a very
fine one, but latterly become rather tremulous. His shepherd's dress in
Colin, in the "Devin du Village," contrasted very ridiculously with his
time of life, and the Queen said it would be difficult for malevolence
itself to find anything to criticise in the choice of such a lover. The
King was highly amused with these plays, and was present at every
performance. Caillot, a celebrated actor, who had long quitted the stage,
and Dazincourt, both of acknowledged good character, were selected to give
lessons, the first in comic opera, of which the easier sorts were
preferred, and the second in comedy. The office of hearer of rehearsals,
prompter, and stage manager was given to my father-in-law. The Duc de
Fronsac, first gentleman of the chamber, was much hurt at this. He
thought himself called upon to make serious remonstrances upon the
subject, and wrote to the Queen, who made him the following answer: "You
cannot be first gentleman when we are the actors. Besides, I have already
intimated to you my determination respecting Trianon. I hold no court
there, I live like a private person, and M. Campan shall be always
employed to execute orders relative to the private fetes I choose to give
there." This not putting a stop to the Duke's remonstrances, the King was
obliged to interfere. The Duke continued obstinate, and insisted that he
was entitled to manage the private amusements as much as those which were
public. It became absolutely necessary to end the argument in a positive
manner.
The diminutive Duc de Fronsac never failed, when he came to pay his
respects to the Queen at her toilet, to turn the conversation upon
Trianon, in order to make some ironical remarks on my father-in-law, of
whom, from the time of his appointment, he always spoke as "my colleague
Campan." The Queen would shrug her shoulders, and say, when he was gone,
"It is quite shocking to find so little a man in the son of the Marechal
de Richelieu."
So long as no strangers were admitted to the performances they were but
little censured; but the praise obtained by the performers made them look
for a larger circle of admirers. The company, for a private company, was
good enough, and the acting was applauded to the skies; nevertheless, as
the audience withdrew, adverse criticisms were occasionally heard. The
Queen permitted the officers of the Body Guards and the equerries of the
King and Princes to be present at the plays. Private boxes were provided
for some of the people belonging to the Court; a few more ladies were
invited; and claims arose on all sides for the favour of admission. The
Queen refused to admit the officers of the body guards of the Princes, the
officers of the King's Cent Suisses, and many other persons, who were
highly mortified at the refusal.
While delight at having given an heir to the throne of the Bourbons, and a
succession of fetes and amusements, filled up the happy days of Marie
Antoinette, the public was engrossed by the Anglo-American war. Two
kings, or rather their ministers, planted and propagated the love of
liberty in the new world; the King of England, by shutting his ears and
his heart against the continued and respectful representations of subjects
at a distance from their native land, who had become numerous, rich, and
powerful, through the resources of the soil they had fertilised; and the
King of France, by giving support to this people in rebellion against
their ancient sovereign. Many young soldiers, belonging to the first
families of the country, followed La Fayette's example, and forsook
luxury, amusement, and love, to go and tender their aid to the revolted
Americans. Beaumarchais, secretly seconded by Messieurs de Maurepas and
de Vergennes, obtained permission to send out supplies of arms and
clothing. Franklin appeared at Court in the dress of an American
agriculturist. His unpowdered hair, his round hat, his brown cloth coat
formed a contrast to the laced and embroidered coats and the powder and
perfume of the courtiers of Versailles. This novelty turned the light
heads of the Frenchwomen. Elegant entertainments were given to Doctor
Franklin, who, to the reputation of a man of science, added the patriotic
virtues which invested him with the character of an apostle of liberty. I
was present at one of these entertainments, when the most beautiful woman
out of three hundred was selected to place a crown of laurels upon the
white head of the American philosopher, and two kisses upon his cheeks.
Even in the palace of Versailles Franklin's medallion was sold under the
King's eyes, in the exhibition of Sevres porcelain. The legend of this
medallion was
"Eripuit coelo fulmen, sceptrumque tyrannis."
The King never declared his opinion upon an enthusiasm which his correct
judgment no doubt led him to blame. The Queen spoke out more plainly
about the part France was taking respecting the independence of the
American colonies, and constantly opposed it. Far was she from foreseeing
that a revolution at--such a distance could excite one in which a
misguided populace would drag her from her palace to a death equally
unjust and cruel. She only saw something ungenerous in the method which
France adopted of checking the power of England.
However, as Queen of France, she enjoyed the sight of a whole people
rendering homage to the prudence, courage, and good qualities of a young
Frenchman; and she shared the enthusiasm inspired by the conduct and
military success of the Marquis de La Fayette. The Queen granted him
several audiences on his first return from America, and, until the 10th of
August, on which day my house was plundered, I preserved some lines from
Gaston and Bayard, in which the friends of M. de La Fayette saw the exact
outline of his character, written by her own hand:
"Why talk of youth,
When all the ripe experience of the old
Dwells with him? In his schemes profound and cool,
He acts with wise precaution, and reserves
For time of action his impetuous fire.
To guard the camp, to scale the leaguered wall,
Or dare the hottest of the fight, are toils
That suit th' impetuous bearing of his youth;
Yet like the gray-hair'd veteran he can shun
The field of peril. Still before my eyes
I place his bright example, for I love
His lofty courage, and his prudent thought.
Gifted like him, a warrior has no age."
[During the American war a general officer in the service of the United
States advanced with a score of men under the English batteries to
reconnoitre their position. His aide-de-camp, struck by a ball, fell at
his side. The officers and orderly dragoons fled precipitately. The
general, though under the fire of the cannon, approached the wounded man
to see whether any help could be afforded him. Finding the wound had been
mortal, he slowly rejoined the group which had got out of the reach of the
cannon. This instance of courage and humanity took place at the battle of
Monmouth. General Clinton, who commanded the English troops, knew that the
Marquis de La Fayette generally rode a white horse; it was upon a white
horse that the general officer who retired so slowly was mounted; Clinton
desired the gunners not to fire. This noble forbearance probably saved M.
de La Fayette's life, for he it was. At that time he was but twenty-two
years of age.--"Historical Anecdotes of the Reign of Louis XVI."]
These lines had been applauded and encored at the French theatre;
everybody's head was turned. There was no class of persons that did not
heartily approve of the support given openly by the French Government to
the cause of American independence. The constitution planned for the new
nation was digested at Paris, and while liberty, equality, and the rights
of man were commented upon by the Condorcets, Baillys, Mirabeaus, etc.,
the minister Segur published the King's edict, which, by repealing that of
1st November, 1750, declared all officers not noble by four generations
incapable of filling the rank of captain, and denied all military rank to
the roturiers, excepting sons of the chevaliers de St. Louis.
["M. de Segur," says Chamfort, "having published an ordinance which
prohibited the admission of any other than gentlemen into the artillery
corps, and, on the other hand, none but well-educated persons being proper
for admission, a curious scene took place: the Abbe Bossat, examiner of
the pupils, gave certificates only to plebeians, while Cherin gave them
only to gentlemen. Out of one hundred pupils, there were not above four
or five who were qualified in both respects."]
The injustice and absurdity of this law was no doubt a secondary cause of
the Revolution. To understand the despair and rage with which this law
inspired the Tiers Etat one should have belonged to that honourable class.
The provinces were full of roturier families, who for ages had lived as
people of property upon their own domains, and paid the taxes. If these
persons had several sons, they would place one in the King's service, one
in the Church, another in the Order of Malta as a chevalier servant
d'armes, and one in the magistracy; while the eldest preserved the
paternal manor, and if he were situated in a country celebrated for wine,
he would, besides selling his own produce, add a kind of commission trade
in the wines of the canton. I have seen an individual of this justly
respected class, who had been long employed in diplomatic business, and
even honoured with the title of minister plenipotentiary, the son-in-law
and nephew of colonels and town mayors, and, on his mother's side, nephew
of a lieutenant-general with a cordon rouge, unable to introduce his sons
as sous-lieutenants into a regiment of foot.
Another decision of the Court, which could not be announced by an edict,
was that all ecclesiastical benefices, from the humblest priory up to the
richest abbey, should in future be appanages of the nobility. Being the
son of a village surgeon, the Abbe de Vermond, who had great influence in
the disposition of benefices, was particularly struck with the justice of
this decree.
During the absence of the Abbe in an excursion he made for his health, I
prevailed on the Queen to write a postscript to the petition of a cure,
one of my friends, who was soliciting a priory near his curacy, with the
intention of retiring to it. I obtained it for him. On the Abbe's return
he told me very harshly that I should act in a manner quite contrary to
the King's wishes if I again obtained such a favour; that the wealth of
the Church was for the future to be invariably devoted to the support of
the poorer nobility; that it was the interest of the State that it should
be so; and a plebeian priest, happy in a good curacy, had only to remain
curate.
Can we be astonished at the part shortly afterwards taken by the deputies
of the Third Estate, when called to the States General?
ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS:
Elegant entertainments were given to Doctor Franklin
Fashion of wearing a black coat without being in mourning
Favourite of a queen is not, in France, a happy one
History of the man with the iron mask
Of course I shall be either hissed or applauded.
She often carried her economy to a degree of parsimony
Shocking to find so little a man in the son of the Marechal
Simplicity of the Queen's toilet began to be strongly censured
The charge of extravagance
The three ministers, more ambitious than amorous
Well, this is royally ill played!
While the Queen was blamed, she was blindly imitated
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