MEMOIRS OF THE COURT OF

MARIE ANTOINETTE, QUEEN OF FRANCE

Being the Historic Memoirs of Madam Campan, First Lady in Waiting to the Queen

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONSDuchesse du Barry

Princesse de Lamballe

The Parisian Bonne

Louis XVI. And Marie Antoinette

Beaumarchais

The Reveille

Madame Adelaide as Diana

The Bastille

Opening of The States General

Louis XVI. 

Marie Antoinette on the way to the Guillotine

Madame Campan

PREFACE BY THE AUTHOR. 

Louis XVI. Possessed an immense crowd of confidants, advisers, and guides;he selected them even from among the factions which attacked him. Never, perhaps, did he make a full disclosure to any one of them, and certainlyhe spoke with sincerity, to but very few. He invariably kept the reins ofall secret intrigues in his own hand; and thence, doubtless, arose thewant of cooperation and the weakness which were so conspicuous in hismeasures. From these causes considerable chasms will be found in thedetailed history of the Revolution. 

In order to become thoroughly acquainted with the latter years of thereign of Louis XV. , memoirs written by the Duc de Choiseul, the Ducd'Aiguillon, the Marechal de Richelieu, [I heard Le Marechal de Richelieu desire M. Campan, who was librarian tothe Queen, not to buy the Memoirs which would certainly be attributed tohim after his death, declaring them false by anticipation; and adding thathe was ignorant of orthography, and had never amused himself with writing. Shortly after the death of the Marshal, one Soulavie put forth Memoirs ofthe Marechal de Richelieu. ]

and the Duc de La Vauguyon, should be before us. To give us a faithfulportrait of the unfortunate reign of Louis XVI. , the Marechal du Muy, M. De Maurepas, M. De Vergennes, M. De Malesherbes, the Duc d'Orleans, M. DeLa Fayette, the Abby de Vermond, the Abbe Montesquiou, Mirabeau, theDuchesse de Polignac, and the Duchesse de Luynes should have notedfaithfully in writing all the transactions in which they took decidedparts. The secret political history of a later period has beendisseminated among a much greater number of persons; there are Ministerswho have published memoirs, but only when they had their own measures tojustify, and then they confined themselves to the vindication of their owncharacters, without which powerful motive they probably would have writtennothing. In general, those nearest to the Sovereign, either by birth orby office, have left no memoirs; and in absolute monarchies themainsprings of great events will be found in particulars which the mostexalted persons alone could know. Those who have had but little undertheir charge find no subject in it for a book; and those who have longborne the burden of public business conceive themselves to be forbidden byduty, or by respect for authority, to disclose all they know. Others, again, preserve notes, with the intention of reducing them to order whenthey shall have reached the period of a happy leisure; vain illusion ofthe ambitious, which they cherish, for the most part, but as a veil toconceal from their sight the hateful image of their inevitable downfall!and when it does at length take place, despair or chagrin deprives them offortitude to dwell upon the dazzling period which they never cease toregret. 

Louis XVI. Meant to write his own memoirs; the manner in which hisprivate papers were arranged indicated this design. The Queen also hadthe same intention; she long preserved a large correspondence, and a greatnumber of minute reports, made in the spirit and upon the event of themoment. But after the 20th of June, 1792, she was obliged to burn thelarger portion of what she had so collected, and the remainder wereconveyed out of France. 

Considering the rank and situations of the persons I have named as capableof elucidating by their writings the history of our political storms, itwill not be imagined that I aim at placing myself on a level with them;but I have spent half my life either with the daughters of Louis XV. Orwith Marie Antoinette. I knew the characters of those Princesses; Ibecame privy to some extraordinary facts, the publication of which may beinteresting, and the truth of the details will form the merit of my work. 

I was very young when I was placed about the Princesses, the daughters ofLouis XV. , in the capacity of reader. I was acquainted with the Court ofVersailles before the time of the marriage of Louis XVI. With theArchduchess Marie Antoinette. 

MADAME CAMPAN

My father, who was employed in the department of Foreign Affairs, enjoyedthe reputation due to his talents and to his useful labours. He hadtravelled much. Frenchmen, on their return home from foreign countries, bring with them a love for their own, increased in warmth; and no man wasmore penetrated with this feeling, which ought to be the first virtue ofevery placeman, than my father. Men of high title, academicians, andlearned men, both natives and foreigners, sought my father's acquaintance, and were gratified by being admitted into his house. 

Twenty years before the Revolution I often heard it remarked that theimposing character of the power of Louis XIV. Was no longer to be found inthe Palace of Versailles; that the institutions of the ancient monarchywere rapidly sinking; and that the people, crushed beneath the weight oftaxes, were miserable, though silent; but that they began to give ear tothe bold speeches of the philosophers, who loudly proclaimed theirsufferings and their rights; and, in short, that the age would not passaway without the occurrence of some great outburst, which would unsettleFrance, and change the course of its progress. 

Those who thus spoke were almost all partisans of M. Turgot's system ofadministration: they were Mirabeau the father, Doctor Quesnay, AbbeBandeau, and Abbe Nicoli, charge d'affaires to Leopold, Grand Duke ofTuscany, and as enthusiastic an admirer of the maxims of the innovators ashis Sovereign. 

My father sincerely respected the purity of intention of thesepoliticians. With them he acknowledged many abuses in the Government; buthe did not give these political sectarians credit for the talent necessaryfor conducting a judicious reform. He told them frankly that in the artof moving the great machine of Government, the wisest of them was inferiorto a good magistrate; and that if ever the helm of affairs should be putinto their hands, they would be speedily checked in the execution of theirschemes by the immeasurable difference existing between the most brillianttheories and the simplest practice of administration. 

Destiny having formerly placed me near crowned heads, I now amuse mysolitude when in retirement with collecting a variety of facts which mayprove interesting to my family when I shall be no more. The idea ofcollecting all the interesting materials which my memory affords occurredto me from reading the work entitled "Paris, Versailles, and the Provincesin the Eighteenth Century. " That work, composed by a man accustomed tothe best society, is full of piquant anecdotes, nearly all of which havebeen recognised as true by the contemporaries of the author. I have puttogether all that concerned the domestic life of an unfortunate Princess, whose reputation is not yet cleared of the stains it received from theattacks of calumny, and who justly merited a different lot in life, adifferent place in the opinion of mankind after her fall. These memoirs, which were finished ten years ago, have met with the approbation of somepersons; and my son may, perhaps, think proper to print them after mydecease. 

J. L. H. C. 

--When Madame Campan wrote these lines, she did not anticipate that thedeath of her son would precede her own. 

HISTORIC COURT MEMOIRS. 

MARIE ANTOINETTE. 

MEMOIR OF MADAME CAMPAN. 

JEANNE LOUISE HENRIETTE GENET was born in Paris on the 6th of October, 1752. M. Genet, her father, had obtained, through his own merit and theinfluence of the Duc de Choiseul, the place of first clerk in the ForeignOffice. 

Literature, which he had cultivated in his youth, was often the solace ofhis leisure hours. Surrounded by a numerous family, he made theinstruction of his children his chief recreation, and omitted nothingwhich was necessary to render them highly accomplished. His clever andprecocious daughter Henriette was very early accustomed to enter society, and to take an intelligent interest in current topics and public events. Accordingly, many of her relations being connected with the Court orholding official positions, she amassed a fund of interestingrecollections and characteristic anecdotes, some gathered from personalexperience, others handed down by old friends of the family. 

"The first event which made any impression on me in my childhood, " shesays in her reminiscences, "was the attempt of Damiens to assassinateLouis XV. This occurrence struck me so forcibly that the most minutedetails relating to the confusion and grief which prevailed at Versailleson that day seem as present to my imagination as the most recent events. Ihad dined with my father and mother, in company with one of their friends. The drawing-room was lighted up with a number of candles, and fourcard-tables were already occupied, when a friend of the gentleman of thehouse came in, with a pale and terrified countenance, and said, in a voicescarcely audible, 'I bring you terrible news. The King has beenassassinated!' Two ladies in the company fainted; a brigadier of the BodyGuards threw down his cards and cried out, 'I do not wonder at it; it isthose rascally Jesuits. '--'What are you saying, brother?' cried a lady, flying to him; 'would you get yourself arrested?'--'Arrested! For what?For unmasking those wretches who want a bigot for a King?' My father camein; he recommended circumspection, saying that the blow was not mortal, and that all meetings ought to be suspended at so critical a moment. Hehad brought the chaise for my mother, who placed me on her knees. Welived in the Avenue de Paris, and throughout our drive I heard incessantcries and sobs from the footpaths. 

"At last I saw a man arrested; he was an usher of the King's chamber, whohad gone mad, and was crying out, 'Yes, I know them; the wretches! thevillains!' Our chaise was stopped by this bustle. My mother recognisedthe unfortunate man who had been seized; she gave his name to the trooperwho had stopped him. The poor usher was therefore merely conducted to thegens d'armes' guardroom, which was then in the avenue. 

"I have often heard M. De Landsmath, equerry and master of the hounds, whoused to come frequently to my father's, say that on the news of theattempt on the King's life he instantly repaired to his Majesty. I cannotrepeat the coarse expressions he made use of to encourage his Majesty; buthis account of the affair, long afterwards, amused the parties in which hewas prevailed on to relate it, when all apprehensions respecting theconsequences of the event had subsided. This M. De Landsmath was an oldsoldier, who had given proofs of extraordinary valour; nothing had beenable to soften his manners or subdue his excessive bluntness to therespectful customs of the Court. The King was very fond of him. Hepossessed prodigious strength, and had often contended with Marechal Saxe, renowned for his great bodily power, in trying the strength of theirrespective wrists. 

[One day when the King was hunting in the forest of St. Germain, Landemath, riding before him, wanted a cart, filled with the slime of apond that had just been cleansed, to draw up out of the way. The carterresisted, and even answered with impertinence. Landsmath, withoutdismounting, seized him by the breast of his coat, lifted him up, andthrew him into his cart. --MADAME CAMPAN. ]

"M. De Landsmath had a thundering voice. When he came into the King'sapartment he found the Dauphin and Mesdames, his Majesty's daughters, there; the Princesses, in tears, surrounded the King's bed. Send out allthese weeping women, Sire, ' said the old equerry; 'I want to speak to youalone: The King made a sign to the Princesses to withdraw. 'Come, ' saidLandsmath, 'your wound is nothing; you had plenty of waistcoats andflannels on. ' Then uncovering his breast, 'Look here, ' said he, showingfour or five great scars, 'these are something like wounds; I receivedthem thirty years ago; now cough as loud as you can. ' The King did so. ''Tis nothing at all, ' said Landsmath; 'you must laugh at it; we shallhunt a stag together in four days. '--'But suppose the blade was poisoned, 'said the King. 'Old grandams' tales, ' replied Landsmath; 'if it had beenso, the waistcoats and flannels would have rubbed the poison off. ' TheKing was pacified, and passed a very good night. 

"His Majesty one day asked M. De Landsmath how old he was. He was aged, and by no means fond of thinking of his age; he evaded the question. Afortnight later, Louis XV. Took a paper out of his pocket and read aloud:'On such a day in the month of one thousand six hundred and eighty, wasbaptised by me, rector of ------, the son of the high and mighty lord, 'etc. 'What's that?' said Landsmath, angrily; 'has your Majesty beenprocuring the certificate of my baptism?'--'There it is, you see, Landsmath, ' said the King. 'Well, Sire, hide it as fast as you can; aprince entrusted with the happiness of twenty-five millions of peopleought not wilfully to hurt the feelings of a single individual. '

"The King learned that Landsmath had lost his confessor, a missionarypriest of the parish of Notre-Dame. It was the custom of the Lazarists toexpose their dead with the face uncovered. Louis XV. Wished to try hisequerry's firmness. 'You have lost your confessor, I hear, ' said theKing. 'Yes, Sire. '--'He will be exposed with his face bare?'--'Such isthe custom. '--'I command you to go and see him. '--'Sire, my confessor wasmy friend; it would be very painful to me. '--'No matter; I commandyou. '--'Are you really in earnest, Sire?'--'Quite so. '--'It would be thefirst time in my life that I had disobeyed my sovereign's order. I willgo. ' The next day the King at his levee, as soon as he perceivedLandsmath, said, 'Have you done as I desired you, Landsmath?'--'Undoubtedly, Sire. '--'Well, what did you see?'--'Faith, Isaw that your Majesty and I are no great shakes!'

"At the death of Queen Maria Leczinska, M. Campan, --[Her father-in-law, afterwards secretary to Marie Antoinette. ]--then an officer of thechamber, having performed several confidential duties, the King askedMadame Adelaide how he should reward him. She requested him to create anoffice in his household of master of the wardrobe, with a salary of athousand crowns. 'I will do so, ' said the King; 'it will be an honourabletitle; but tell Campan not to add a single crown to his expenses, for youwill see they will never pay him. '

"Louis XV. , by his dignified carriage, and the amiable yet majesticexpression of his features, was worthy to succeed to Louis the Great. Buthe too frequently indulged in secret pleasures, which at last were sure tobecome known. During several winters, he was passionately fond of'candles' end balls', as he called those parties amongst the very lowestclasses of society. He got intelligence of the picnics given by thetradesmen, milliners, and sempstresses of Versailles, whither he repairedin a black domino, and masked, accompanied by the captain of his Guards, masked like himself. His great delight was to go 'en brouette'--[In akind of sedan-chair, running on two wheels, and drawn by achairman. ]--Care was always taken to give notice to five or six officersof the King's or Queen's chamber to be there, in order that his Majestymight be surrounded by people on whom he could depend, without finding ittroublesome. Probably the captain of the Guards also took otherprecautions of this description on his part. My father-in-law, when theKing and he were both young, has often made one amongst the servantsdesired to attend masked at these parties, assembled in some garret, orparlour of a public-house. In those times, during the carnival, maskedcompanies had a right to join the citizens' balls; it was sufficient thatone of the party should unmask and name himself. 

"These secret excursions, and his too habitual intercourse with ladiesmore distinguished for their personal charms than for the advantages ofeducation, were no doubt the means by which the King acquired many vulgarexpressions which otherwise would never have reached his ears. 

"Yet amidst the most shameful excesses the King sometimes suddenly resumedthe dignity of his rank in a very noble manner. The familiar courtiers ofLouis XV. Had one day abandoned themselves to the unrestrained gaiety, ofa supper, after returning from the chase. Each boasted of and describedthe beauty of his mistress. Some of them amused themselves with giving aparticular account of their wives' personal defects. An imprudent word, addressed to Louis XV. , and applicable only to the Queen, instantlydispelled all the mirth of the entertainment. The King assumed his regalair, and knocking with his knife on the table twice or thrice, 'Gentlemen;said he, 'here is the King!'

"Those men who are most completely abandoned to dissolute manners are not, on that account, insensible to virtue in women. The Comtesse de Perigordwas as beautiful as virtuous. During some excursions she made to Choisy, whither she had been invited, she perceived that the King took greatnotice of her. Her demeanour of chilling respect, her cautiousperseverance in shunning all serious conversation with the monarch, wereinsufficient to extinguish this rising flame, and he at length addressed aletter to her, worded in the most passionate terms. This excellent womaninstantly formed her resolution: honour forbade her returning the King'spassion, whilst her profound respect for the sovereign made her unwillingto disturb his tranquillity. She therefore voluntarily banished herselfto an estate she possessed called Chalais, near Barbezieux, the mansion ofwhich had been uninhabited nearly a century; the porter's lodge was theonly place in a condition to receive her. From this seat she wrote to hisMajesty, explaining her motives for leaving Court; and she remained thereseveral years without visiting Paris. Louis XV. Was speedily attracted byother objects, and regained the composure to which Madame de Perigord hadthought it her duty to sacrifice so much. Some years after, Mesdames'lady of honour died. Many great families solicited the place. The King, without answering any of their applications, wrote to the Comtesse dePerigord: 'My daughters have just lost their lady of honour; this place, madame, is your due, as much on account of your personal qualities as ofthe illustrious name of your family. '

"Three young men of the college of St. Germain, who had just completedtheir course of studies, knowing no person about the Court, and havingheard that strangers were always well treated there, resolved to dressthemselves completely in the Armenian costume, and, thus clad, to presentthemselves to see the grand ceremony of the reception of several knightsof the Order of the Holy Ghost. Their stratagem met with all the successwith which they had flattered themselves. While the procession waspassing through the long mirror gallery, the Swiss of the apartmentsplaced them in the first row of spectators, recommending every one to payall possible attention to the strangers. The latter, however, wereimprudent enough to enter the 'oeil-de-boeuf' chamber, where, wereMessieurs Cardonne and Ruffin, interpreters of Oriental languages, and thefirst clerk of the consul's department, whose business it was to attend toeverything which related to the natives of the East who were in France. The three scholars were immediately surrounded and questioned by thesegentlemen, at first in modern Greek. Without being disconcerted, theymade signs that they did not understand it. They were then addressed inTurkish and Arabic; at length one of the interpreters, losing allpatience, exclaimed, 'Gentlemen, you certainly must understand some of thelanguages in which you have been addressed. What country can you possiblycome from then?'--'From St. Germain-en-Laye, sir, ' replied the boldestamong them; 'this is the first time you have put the question to us inFrench. ' They then confessed the motive of their disguise; the eldest ofthem was not more than eighteen years of age. Louis XV. Was informed ofthe affair. He laughed heartily, ordered them a few hours' confinementand a good admonition, after which they were to be set at liberty. 

"Louis XV. Liked to talk about death, though he was extremely apprehensiveof it; but his excellent health and his royal dignity probably made himimagine himself invulnerable. He often said to people who had very badcolds, 'You've a churchyard cough there. ' Hunting one day in the forestof Senard, in a year in which bread was extremely dear, he met a man onhorseback carrying a coffin. 'Whither are you carrying that coffin?'--'Tothe village of ------, ' answered the peasant. 'Is it for a man or awoman?'--'For a man. '--'What did he die of?'--'Of hunger, ' bluntly repliedthe villager. The King spurred on his horse, and asked no more questions. 

"Weak as Louis XV. Was, the Parliaments would never have obtained hisconsent to the convocation of the States General. I heard an anecdote onthis subject from two officers attached to that Prince's household. Itwas at the period when the remonstrances of the Parliaments, and therefusals to register the decrees for levying taxes, produced alarm withrespect to the state of the finances. This became the subject ofconversation one evening at the coucher of Louis XV. 'You will see, Sire, ' said a courtier, whose office placed him in close communicationwith the King, 'that all this will make it absolutely necessary toassemble the States General!'

"The King, roused by this speech from the habitual apathy of hischaracter, seized the courtier by the arm, and said to him, in a passion, 'Never repeat, these words. I am not sanguinary; but had I a brother, andwere he to dare to give me such advice, I would sacrifice him, withintwenty-four hours, to the duration of the monarchy and the tranquillity ofthe kingdom. '

"Several years prior to his death the Dauphin, the father of Louis XVI. , had confluent smallpox, which endangered his life; and after hisconvalescence he was long troubled with a malignant ulcer under the nose. He was injudiciously advised to get rid of it by the use of extract oflead, which proved effectual; but from that time the Dauphin, who wascorpulent, insensibly grew thin, and a short, dry cough evinced that thehumour, driven in, had fallen on the lungs. Some persons also suspectedhim of having taken acids in too great a quantity for the purpose ofreducing his bulk. The state of his health was not, however, such as toexcite alarm. At the camp at Compiegne, in July, 1764, the Dauphinreviewed the troops, and evinced much activity in the performance of hisduties; it was even observed that he was seeking to gain the attachment ofthe army. He presented the Dauphiness to the soldiers, saying, with asimplicity which at that time made a great sensation, 'Mes enfans, here ismy wife. ' Returning late on horseback to Compiegne, he found he had takena chill; the heat of the day had been excessive; the Prince's clothes hadbeen wet with perspiration. An illness followed, in which the Princebegan to spit blood. His principal physician wished to have him bled; theconsulting physicians insisted on purgation, and their advice wasfollowed. The pleurisy, being ill cured, assumed and retained all thesymptoms of consumption; the Dauphin languished from that period untilDecember, 1765, and died at Fontainebleau, where the Court, on account ofhis condition, had prolonged its stay, which usually ended on the 2d ofNovember. 

"The Dauphiness, his widow, was deeply afflicted; but the immoderatedespair which characterised her grief induced many to suspect that theloss of the crown was an important part of the calamity she lamented. Shelong refused to eat enough to support life; she encouraged her tears toflow by placing portraits of the Dauphin in every retired part of herapartments. She had him represented pale, and ready to expire, in apicture placed at the foot of her bed, under draperies of gray cloth, withwhich the chambers of the Princesses were always hung in court mournings. Their grand cabinet was hung with black cloth, with an alcove, a canopy, and a throne, on which they received compliments of condolence after thefirst period of the deep mourning. The Dauphiness, some months before theend of her career, regretted her conduct in abridging it; but it was toolate; the fatal blow had been struck. It may also be presumed that livingwith a consumptive, man had contributed to her complaint. This Princesshad no opportunity of displaying her qualities; living in a Court in whichshe was eclipsed by the King and Queen, the only characteristics thatcould be remarked in her were her extreme attachment to her husband, andher great piety. 

"The Dauphin was little known, and his character has been much mistaken. He himself, as he confessed to his intimate friends, sought to disguiseit. He one day asked one of his most familiar servants, 'What do they sayin Paris of that great fool of a Dauphin?' The person interrogated seemingconfused, the Dauphin urged him to express himself sincerely, saying, 'Speak freely; that is positively the idea which I wish people to form ofme. '

"As he died of a disease which allows the last moment to be anticipatedlong beforehand, he wrote much, and transmitted his affections and hisprejudices to his son by secret notes. 

"Madame de Pompadour's brother received Letters of Nobility from hisMajesty, and was appointed superintendent of the buildings and gardens. Heoften presented to her Majesty, through the medium of his sister, therarest flowers, pineapples, and early vegetables from the gardens ofTrianon and Choisy. One day, when the Marquise came into the Queen'sapartments, carrying a large basket of flowers, which she held in her twobeautiful arms, without gloves, as a mark of respect, the Queen loudlydeclared her admiration of her beauty; and seemed as if she wished todefend the King's choice, by praising her various charms in detail, in amanner that would have been as suitable to a production of the fine artsas to a living being. After applauding the complexion, eyes, and finearms of the favourite, with that haughty condescension which rendersapprobation more offensive than flattering, the Queen at length requestedher to sing, in the attitude in which she stood, being desirous of hearingthe voice and musical talent by which the King's Court had been charmed inthe performances of the private apartments, and thus combining thegratification of the ears with that of the eyes. The Marquise, who stillheld her enormous basket, was perfectly sensible of something offensive inthis request, and tried to excuse herself from singing. The Queen at lastcommanded her; she then exerted her fine voice in the solo of Armida--'Atlength he is in my power. ' The change in her Majesty's countenance was soobvious that the ladies present at this scene had the greatest difficultyto keep theirs. 

"The Queen was affable and modest; but the more she was thankful in herheart to Heaven for having placed her on the first throne in Europe, themore unwilling she was to be reminded of her elevation. This sentimentinduced her to insist on the observation of all the forms of respect dueto royal birth; whereas in other princes the consciousness of that birthoften induces them to disdain the ceremonies of etiquette, and to preferhabits of ease and simplicity. There was a striking contrast in thisrespect between Maria Leczinska and Marie Antoinette, as has been justlyand generally observed. The latter unfortunate Queen, perhaps, carriedher disregard of everything belonging to the strict forms of etiquette toofar. One day, when the Marechale de Mouchy was teasing her with questionsrelative to the extent to which she would allow the ladies the option oftaking off or wearing their cloaks, and of pinning up the lappets of theircaps, or letting them hang down, the Queen replied to her, in my presence:'Arrange all those matters, madame, just as you please; but do not imaginethat a queen, born Archduchess of Austria, can attach that importance tothem which might be felt by a Polish princess who had become Queen ofFrance. '

"The virtues and information of the great are always evinced by theirconduct; their accomplishments, coming within the scope of flattery, aredifficult to be ascertained by any authentic proofs, and those who havelived near them may be excused for some degree of scepticism with regardto their attainments of this kind. If they draw or paint, there is alwaysan able artist present, who, if he does not absolutely guide the pencilwith his own hand, directs it by his advice. If a princess attempt apiece of embroidery in colours, of that description which ranks amongstthe productions of the arts, a skilful embroideress is employed to undoand repair whatever has been spoilt. If the princess be a musician, thereare no ears that will discover when she is out of tune; at least there isno tongue that will tell her so. This imperfection in the accomplishmentsof the great is but a slight misfortune. It is sufficiently meritoriousin them to engage in such pursuits, even with indifferent success, becausethis taste and the protection it extends produce abundance of talent onevery side. Maria Leczinska delighted in the art of painting, andimagined she herself could draw and paint. She had a drawing-master, whopassed all his time in her cabinet. She undertook to paint four largeChinese pictures, with which she wished to ornament her privatedrawing-room, which was richly furnished with rare porcelain and thefinest marbles. This painter was entrusted with the landscape andbackground of the pictures; he drew the figures with a pencil; the facesand arms were also left by the Queen to his execution; she reserved toherself nothing but the draperies, and the least important accessories. The Queen every morning filled up the outline marked out for her, with alittle red, blue, or green colour, which the master prepared on thepalette, and even filled her brush with, constantly repeating, 'Higher up, Madame--lower down, Madame--a little to the right--more to the left. 'After an hour's work, the time for hearing mass, or some other family orpious duty, would interrupt her Majesty; and the painter, putting theshadows into the draperies she had painted, softening off the colour whereshe had laid too much, etc. , finished the small figures. When the workwas completed the private drawing-room was decorated with her Majesty'swork; and the firm persuasion of this good Queen that she had painted itherself was so entire that she left this cabinet, with all its furnitureand paintings, to the Comtesse de Noailles, her lady of honour. She addedto the bequest: 'The pictures in my cabinet being my own work, I hope theComtesse de Noailles will preserve them for my sake. ' Madame de Noailles, afterwards Marechale de Mouchy, had a new pavilion constructed in herhotel in the Faubourg St. Germain, in order to form a suitable receptaclefor the Queen's legacy; and had the following inscription placed over thedoor, in letters of gold: 'The innocent falsehood of a good princess. '

"Maria Leczinska could never look with cordiality on the Princess ofSaxony, who married the Dauphin; but the attentive behaviour of theDauphiness at length made her Majesty forget that the Princess was thedaughter of a king who wore her father's crown. Nevertheless, althoughthe Queen now saw in the Princess of Saxony only a wife beloved by herson, she never could forget that Augustus wore the crown of Stanislaus. One day an officer of her chamber having undertaken to ask a privateaudience of her for the Saxon minister, and the Queen being unwilling togrant it, he ventured to add that he should not have presumed to ask thisfavour of the Queen had not the minister been the ambassador of a memberof the family. 'Say of an enemy of the family, ' replied the Queen, angrily; 'and let him come in. '

"Comte de Tesse, father of the last Count of that name, who left nochildren, was first equerry to Queen Maria Leczinska. She esteemed hisvirtues, but often diverted herself at the expense of his simplicity. Oneday, when the conversation turned on the noble military, actions by whichthe French nobility was distinguished, the Queen said to the Count: 'Andyour family, M. De Tesse, has been famous, too, in the field. '--'Ah, Madame, we have all been killed in our masters' service!'--'How rejoiced Iam, ' replied the Queen, 'that you have revived to tell me of it. ' The sonof this worthy M. De Tesse was married to the amiable and highly gifteddaughter of the Duc d'Ayen, afterwards Marechale de Noailles. He wasexceedingly fond of his daughter-in-law, and never could speak of herwithout emotion. The Queen, to please him, often talked to him about theyoung Countess, and one day asked him which of her good qualities seemedto him most conspicuous. 'Her gentleness, Madame, her gentleness, ' saidhe, with tears in his eyes; 'she is so mild, so soft, --as soft as a goodcarriage. '--'Well, ' said her Majesty, 'that's an excellent comparison fora first equerry. '

"In 1730 Queen Maria Leczinska, going to mass, met old Marechal Villars, leaning on a wooden crutch not worth fifteen pence. She rallied him aboutit, and the Marshal told her that he had used it ever since he hadreceived a wound which obliged him to add this article to the equipmentsof the army. Her Majesty, smiling, said she thought this crutch sounworthy of him that she hoped to induce him to give it up. On returninghome she despatched M. Campan to Paris with orders to purchase at thecelebrated Germain's the handsomest cane, with a gold enamelled crutch, that he could find, and carry it without delay to Marechal Villars'shotel, and present it to him from her. He was announced accordingly, andfulfilled his commission. The Marshal, in attending him to the door, requested him to express his gratitude to the Queen, and said that he hadnothing fit to offer to an officer who had the honour to belong to herMajesty; but he begged him to accept of his old stick, saying that hisgrandchildren would probably some day be glad to possess the cane withwhich he had commanded at Marchiennes and Denain. The known frugality ofMarechal Villars appears in this anecdote; but he was not mistaken withrespect to the estimation in which his stick would be held. It wasthenceforth kept with veneration by M. Campan's family. On the 10th ofAugust, 1792, a house which I occupied on the Carrousel, at the entranceof the Court of the Tuileries, was pillaged and nearly burnt down. Thecane of Marechal Villars was thrown into the Carrousel as of no value, andpicked up by my servant. Had its old master been living at that period weshould not have witnessed such a deplorable day. 

"Before the Revolution there were customs and words in use at Versailleswith which few people were acquainted. The King's dinner was called 'TheKing's meat. ' Two of the Body Guard accompanied the attendants whocarried the dinner; every one rose as they passed through the halls, saying, 'There is the King's meat. ' All precautionary duties weredistinguished by the words 'in case. ' One of the guards might be heard tosay, 'I am in case in the forest of St. Germain. ' In the evening theyalways brought the Queen a large bowl of broth, a cold roast fowl, onebottle of wine, one of orgeat, one of lemonade, and some other articles, which were called the 'in case' for the night. An old medical gentleman, who had been physician in ordinary to Louis XIV. , and was still living atthe time of the marriage of Louis XV. , told M. Campan's father an anecdotewhich seems too remarkable to have remained unknown; nevertheless he was aman of honour, incapable of inventing this story. His name was Lafosse. He said that Louis XIV. Was informed that the officers of his tableevinced, in the most disdainful and offensive manner, the mortificationthey felt at being obliged to eat at the table of the comptroller of thekitchen along with Moliere, valet de chambre to his Majesty, becauseMoliere had performed on the stage; and that this celebrated authorconsequently declined appearing at that table. Louis XIV. , determined toput an end to insults which ought never to have been offered to one of thegreatest geniuses of the age, said to him one morning at the hour of hisprivate levee, 'They say you live very poorly here, Moliere; and that theofficers of my chamber do not find you good enough to eat with them. Perhaps you are hungry; for my part I awoke with a very good appetite thismorning: sit down at this table. Serve up my 'in case' for the nightthere. ' The King, then cutting up his fowl, and ordering Moliere to sitdown, helped him to a wing, at the same time taking one for himself, andordered the persons entitled to familiar entrance, that is to say the mostdistinguished and favourite people at Court, to be admitted. 'You seeme, ' said the King to them, 'engaged in entertaining Moliere, whom myvalets de chambre do not consider sufficiently good company for them. 'From that time Moliere never had occasion to appear at the valets' table;the whole Court was forward enough to send him invitations. 

"M. De Lafosse used also to relate that a brigade-major of the Body Guard, being ordered to place the company in the little theatre at Versailles, very roughly turned out one of the King's comptrollers who had taken hisseat on one of the benches, a place to which his newly acquired officeentitled him. In vain he insisted on his quality and his right. Thealtercation was ended by the brigade-major in these words: 'Gentlemen BodyGuards, do your duty. ' In this case their duty was to turn the offenderout at the door. This comptroller, who had paid sixty or eighty thousandfrancs for his appointment, was a man of a good family, and had had thehonour of serving his Majesty five and twenty years in one of hisregiments; thus ignominiously driven out of the hall, he placed himself inthe King's way in the great hall of the Guards, and, bowing to hisMajesty, requested him to vindicate the honour of an old soldier who hadwished to end his days in his Prince's civil employment, now that age hadobliged him to relinquish his military service. The King stopped, heardhis story, and then ordered him to follow him. His Majesty attended therepresentation in a sort of amphitheatre, in which his armchair wasplaced; behind him was a row of stools for the captain of the Guards, thefirst gentleman of the chamber, and other great officers. Thebrigade-major was entitled to one of these places; the King stoppedopposite the seat which ought to have been occupied by that officer andsaid to the comptroller, 'Take, monsieur, for this evening, the place nearmy person of him who has offended you, and let the expression of mydispleasure at this unjust affront satisfy you instead of any otherreparation:

"During the latter years of the reign of Louis XIV. He never went out butin a chair carried by porters, and he showed a great regard for a mannamed D'Aigremont, one of those porters who always went in front andopened the door of the chair. The slightest preference shown bysovereigns, even to the meanest of their servants, never fails to exciteobservation. 

[People of the very first rank did not disdain to descend to the level ofD'Aigremont. "Lauzun, " said the Duchesse d'Orleans in her "Memoirs, ""sometimes affects stupidity in order to show people their own withimpunity, for he is very malicious. In order to make Marechal de Teasefeel the impropriety of his familiarity with people of the common sort, hecalled out, in the drawing-room at Marly, 'Marechal, give me a pinch ofsnuff; some of your best, such as you take in the morning with Monsieurd'Aigremont, the chairman. '"--NOTE BY THE EDITOR. ]

The King had done something for this man's numerous family, and frequentlytalked to him. An abbe belonging to the chapel thought proper to requestD'Aigremont to present a memorial to the King, in which he requested hisMajesty to grant him a benefice. Louis XIV. Did not approve of theliberty thus taken by his chairman, and said to him, in a very angry tone, 'D'Aigremont, you have been made to do a very unbecoming act, and I amsure there must be simony in the case. '--'No, Sire, there is not the leastceremony in the case, I assure you, ' answered the poor man, in greatconsternation; 'the abbe only said he would give me a hundredLouis. '--'D'Aigremont, ' said the King, 'I forgive you on account of yourignorance and candour. I will give you the hundred Louis out of my privypurse; but I will discharge you the very next time you venture to presenta memorial to me. '

"Louis XIV. Was very kind to those of his servants who were nearest hisperson; but the moment he assumed his royal deportment, those who weremost accustomed to see him in his domestic character were as muchintimidated as if they were appearing in his presence for the first timein their lives. Some of the members of his Majesty's civil household, then called 'commensalite', enjoying the title of equerry, and theprivileges attached to officers of the King's household, had occasion toclaim some prerogatives, the exercise of which the municipal body of St. Germain, where they resided, disputed with them. Being assembled inconsiderable numbers in that town, they obtained the consent of theminister of the household to allow them to send a deputation to the King;and for that purpose chose from amongst them two of his Majesty's valetsde chambre named Bazire and Soulaigre. The King's levee being over, thedeputation of the inhabitants of the town of St. Germain was called in. They entered with confidence; the King looked at them, and assumed hisimposing attitude. Bazire, one of these valets de chambre, was about tospeak, but Louis the Great was looking on him. He no longer saw thePrince he was accustomed to attend at home; he was intimidated, and couldnot find words; he recovered, however, and began as usual with the wordSire. But timidity again overpowered him, and finding himself unable torecollect the slightest particle of what he came to say, he repeated theword Sire several times, and at length concluded by paying, 'Sire, here isSoulaigre. ' Soulaigre, who was very angry with Bazire, and expected toacquit himself much better, then began to speak; but he also, afterrepeating 'Sire' several times, found his embarrassment increasing uponhim, until his confusion equalled that of his colleague; he thereforeended with 'Sire, here is Bazire. ' The King smiled, and answered, 'Gentlemen, I have been informed of the business upon which you have beendeputed to wait on me, and I will take care that what is right shall bedone. I am highly satisfied with the manner in which you have fulfilledyour functions as deputies. '"

Mademoiselle Genet's education was the object of her father's particularattention. Her progress in the study of music and of foreign languageswas surprising; Albaneze instructed her in singing, and Goldoni taught herItalian. Tasso, Milton, Dante, and even Shakespeare, soon became familiarto her. But her studies were particularly directed to the acquisition ofa correct and elegant style of reading. Rochon de Chabannes, Duclos, Barthe, Marmontel, and Thomas took pleasure in hearing her recite thefinest scenes of Racine. Her memory and genius at the age of fourteencharmed them; they talked of her talents in society, and perhaps applaudedthem too highly. 

She was soon spoken of at Court. Some ladies of high rank, who took aninterest in the welfare of her family, obtained for her the place ofReader to the Princesses. Her presentation, and the circumstances whichpreceded it, left a strong impression on her mind. "I was then fifteen, "she says; "my father felt some regret at yielding me up at so early an ageto the jealousies of the Court. The day on which I first put on my Courtdress, and went to embrace him in his study, tears filled his eyes, andmingled with the expression of his pleasure. I possessed some agreeabletalents, in addition to the instruction which it had been his delight tobestow on me. He enumerated all my little accomplishments, to convince meof the vexations they would not fail to draw upon me. "

Mademoiselle Genet, at fifteen, was naturally less of a philosopher thanher father was at forty. Her eyes were dazzled by the splendour whichglittered at Versailles. "The Queen, Maria Leczinska, the wife of LouisXV. , died, " she says, "just before I was presented at Court. The grandapartments hung with black, the great chairs of state, raised on severalsteps, and surmounted by a canopy adorned with Plumes; the caparisonedhorses, the immense retinue in Court mourning, the enormousshoulder-knots, embroidered with gold and silver spangles, which decoratedthe coats of the pages and footmen, --all this magnificence had such aneffect on my senses that I could scarcely support myself when introducedto the Princesses. The first day of my reading in the inner apartment ofMadame Victoire I found it impossible to pronounce more than twosentences; my heart palpitated, my voice faltered, and my sight failed. How well understood was the potent magic of the grandeur and dignity whichought to surround sovereigns! Marie Antoinette, dressed in white, with aplain straw hat, and a little switch in her hand, walking on foot, followed by a single servant, through the walks leading to the PetitTrianon, would never have thus disconcerted me; and I believe this extremesimplicity was the first and only real mistake of all those with which sheis reproached. "

When once her awe and confusion had subsided, Mademoiselle Genet wasenabled to form a more accurate judgment of her situation. It was by nomeans attractive; the Court of the Princesses, far removed from the revelsto which Louie XV. Was addicted, was grave, methodical, and dull. MadameAdelaide, the eldest of the Princesses, lived secluded in the interior ofher apartments; Madame Sophie was haughty; Madame Louise a devotee. Mademoiselle Genet never quitted the Princesses' apartments; but sheattached herself most particularly to Madame Victoire. This Princess hadpossessed beauty; her countenance bore an expression of benevolence, andher conversation was kind, free, and unaffected. The young reader excitedin her that feeling which a woman in years, of an affectionatedisposition, readily extends to young people who are growing up in hersight, and who possess some useful talents. Whole days were passed inreading to the Princess, as she sat at work in her apartment. MademoiselleGenet frequently saw there Louis XV. , of whom she has related thefollowing anecdote:

"One day, at the Chateau of Compiegne, the King came in whilst I wasreading to Madame. I rose and went into another room. Alone, in anapartment from which there was no outlet, with no book but a Massillon, which I had been reading to the Princess, happy in all the lightness andgaiety of fifteen, I amused myself with turning swiftly round, with mycourt hoop, and suddenly kneeling down to see my rose-coloured silkpetticoat swelled around me by the wind. In the midst of this graveemployment enters his Majesty, followed by one of the Princesses. Iattempt to rise; my feet stumble, and down I fall in the midst of myrobes, puffed out by the wind. 'Daughter, ' said Louis XV. , laughingheartily, 'I advise you to send back to school a reader who makescheeses. '" The railleries of Louis XV. Were often much more cutting, asMademoiselle Genet experienced on another occasion, which, thirty yearsafterwards, she could not relate without an emotion of fear. "Louis XV. , "she said, "had the most imposing presence. His eyes remained fixed uponyou all the time he was speaking; and, notwithstanding the beauty of hisfeatures, he inspired a sort of fear. I was very young, it is true, whenhe first spoke to me; you shall judge whether it was in a very graciousmanner. I was fifteen. The King was going out to hunt, and a numerousretinue followed him. As he stopped opposite me he said, 'MademoiselleGenet, I am assured you are very learned, and understand four or fiveforeign languages. '--'I know only two, Sire, ' I answered, trembling. 'Which are they?' English and Italian. '--'Do you speak them fluently?'Yes, Sire, very fluently. ' 'That is quite enough to drive a husband mad. 'After this pretty compliment the King went on; the retinue saluted me, laughing; and, for my part, I remained for some moments motionless withsurprise and confusion. "

At the time when the French alliance was proposed by the Duc de Choiseulthere was at Vienna a doctor named Gassner, --[Jean Joseph Gassner, apretender to miraculous powers. ]--who had fled thither to seek an asylumagainst the persecutions of his sovereign, one of the ecclesiasticalelectors. Gassner, gifted with an extraordinary warmth of imagination, imagined that he received inspirations. The Empress protected him, sawhim occasionally, rallied him on his visions, and, nevertheless, heardthem with a sort of interest. "Tell me, "--said she to him one day, "whether my Antoinette will be happy. " Gassner turned pale, and remainedsilent. Being still pressed by the Empress, and wishing to give a generalexpression to the idea with which he seemed deeply occupied, "Madame, " hereplied, "there are crosses for all shoulders. "

The occurrences at the Place Louis XV. On the marriage festivities atParis are generally known. The conflagration of the scaffolds intendedfor the fireworks, the want of foresight of the authorities, the avidityof robbers, the murderous career of the coaches, brought about andaggravated the disasters of that day; and the young Dauphiness, comingfrom Versailles, by the Cours la Reine, elated with joy, brilliantlydecorated, and eager to witness the rejoicings of the whole people, fled, struck with consternation and drowned in tears, from the dreadful scene. This tragic opening of the young Princess's life in France seemed to bearout Gassner's hint of disaster, and to be ominous of the terrible futurewhich awaited her. 

In the same year in which Marie Antoinette was married to the Dauphin, Henriette Genet married a son of M. Campan, already mentioned as holdingan office at the Court; and when the household of the Dauphiness wasformed, Madame Campan was appointed her reader, and received from MarieAntoinette a consistent kindness and confidence to which by her loyalservice she was fully entitled. Madame Campan's intelligence andvivacity made her much more sympathetic to a young princess, gay andaffectionate in disposition, and reared in the simplicity of a GermanCourt, than her lady of honour, the Comtesse de Noailles. Thisrespectable lady, who was placed near her as a minister of the laws ofetiquette, instead of alleviating their weight, rendered their yokeintolerable to her. 

"Madame de Noailles, " says Madame Campan, "abounded in virtues. Herpiety, charity, and irreproachable morals rendered her worthy of praise;but etiquette was to her a sort of atmosphere; at the slightestderangement of the consecrated order, one would have thought theprinciples of life would forsake her frame. 

"One day I unintentionally threw this poor lady into a terrible agony. TheQueen was receiving I know not whom, --some persons just presented, Ibelieve; the lady of honour, the Queen's tirewoman, and the ladies of thebedchamber, were behind the Queen. I was near the throne, with the twowomen on duty. All was right, --at least I thought so. Suddenly Iperceived the eyes of Madame de Noailles fixed on mine. She made a signwith her head, and then raised her eyebrows to the top of her forehead, lowered them, raised them again, then began to make little signs with herhand. From all this pantomime, I could easily perceive that something wasnot as it should be; and as I looked about on all sides to find out whatit was, the agitation of the Countess kept increasing. The Queen, whoperceived all this, looked at me with a smile; I found means to approachher Majesty, who said to me in a whisper, 'Let down your lappets, or theCountess will expire. ' All this bustle arose from two unlucky pins whichfastened up my lappets, whilst the etiquette of costume said 'Lappetshanging down. '"

Her contempt of the vanities of etiquette became the pretext for the firstreproaches levelled at the Queen. What misconduct might not be dreadedfrom a princess who could absolutely go out without a hoop! and who, inthe salons of Trianon, instead of discussing the important rights tochairs and stools, good-naturedly invited everybody to be seated. 

[M. De Fresne Forget, being one day in company with the Queen Marguerite, told her he was astonished how men and women with such great ruffs couldeat soup without spoiling them; and still more how the ladies could begallant with their great fardingales. The Queen made no answer at thattime, but a few days after, having a very large ruff on, and some 'bouili'to eat, she ordered a very long spoon to be brought, and ate her 'bouili'with it, without soiling her ruff. Upon which, addressing herself to M. De Fresne, she said, laughing, "There now, you see, with a littleingenuity one may manage anything. "--"Yes, faith, madame, " said the goodman, "as far as regards the soup I am satisfied. "--LAPLACE's "Collection, "vol. Ii. , p. 350. ]

The anti-Austrian party, discontented and vindictive, became spies uponher conduct, exaggerated her slightest errors, and calumniated her mostinnocent proceedings. "What seems unaccountable at the first glance, "says Montjoie, "is that the first attack on the reputation of the Queenproceeded from the bosom of the Court. What interest could the courtiershave in seeking her destruction, which involved that of the King? Was itnot drying up the source of all the advantages they enjoyed, or could hopefor?"

[Madame Campan relates the following among many anecdotes illustrative ofthe Queen's kindness of heart: "A petition was addressed to the Queen by acorporation in the neighbourhood of Paris, praying for the destruction ofthe game which destroyed their crops. I was the bearer of this petitionto her Majesty, who said, 'I will undertake to have these good peoplerelieved from so great an annoyance. ' She gave the document to M. DeVermond in my presence, saying, 'I desire that immediate justice be doneto this petition. ' An assurance was given that her order should beattended to, but six weeks afterwards a second petition was sent up, forthe nuisance had not been abated after all. If the second petition hadreached the Queen, M. De Vermond would have received a sharp reprimand. She was always so happy when it was in her power to do good. "

The quick repartee, which was another of the Queen's characteristics, wasless likely to promote her popularity. "M. Brunier, " says Madame Campan, "was physician to the royal children. During his visits to the palace, ifthe death of any of his patients was alluded to, he never failed to say, 'Ah! there I lost one of my best friends! 'Well, ' said the Queen, 'if heloses all his patients who are his friends, what will become of those whoare not?'"]

When the terrible Danton exclaimed, "The kings of Europe menace us; itbehooves us to defy them; let us throw down to them the head of a king asour gage!" these detestable words, followed by so cruel a result, formed, however, a formidable stroke of policy. But the Queen! What urgentreasons of state could Danton, Collot d'Herbois, and Robespierre allegeagainst her? What savage greatness did they discover in stirring up awhole nation to avenge their quarrel on a woman? What remained of herformer power? She was a captive, a widow, trembling for her children! Inthose judges, who at once outraged modesty and nature; in that peoplewhose vilest scoffs pursued her to the scaffold, who could have recognisedthe generous people of France? Of all the crimes which disgraced theRevolution, none was more calculated to show how the spirit of party candegrade the character of a nation. 

The news of this dreadful event reached Madame Campan in an obscureretreat which she had chosen. She had not succeeded in her endeavours toshare the Queen's captivity, and she expected every moment a similar fate. After escaping, almost miraculously, from the murderous fury of theMarseillais; after being denounced and pursued by Robespierre, andentrusted, through the confidence of the King and Queen, with papers ofthe utmost importance, Madame Campan went to Coubertin, in the valley ofChevreuse. Madame Auguid, her sister, had just committed suicide, at thevery moment of her arrest. 

[Maternal affection prevailed over her religious sentiments; she wished topreserve the wreck of her fortune for her children. Had she deferred thisfatal act for one day she would have been saved; the cart which conveyedRobespierre to execution stopped her funeral procession!]

The scaffold awaited Madame Campan, when the 9th of Thermidor restored herto life; but did not restore to her the most constant object of herthoughts, her zeal, and her devotion. 

A new career now opened to Madame Campan. At Coubertin, surrounded by hernieces, she was fond of directing their studies. This occupation causedher ideas to revert to the subject of education, and awakened once morethe inclinations of her youth. At the age of twelve years she could nevermeet a school of young ladies passing through the streets without feelingambitious of the situation and authority of their mistress. Her abode atCourt had diverted but not altered her inclinations. "A month after thefall of Robespierre, " she says, "I considered as to the means of providingfor myself, for a mother seventy years of age, my sick husband, my childnine years old, and part of my ruined family. I now possessed nothing inthe world but an assignat of five hundred francs. I had become responsiblefor my husband's debts, to the amount of thirty thousand francs. I choseSt. Germain to set up a boarding-school, for that town did not remind me, as Versailles did, both of happy times and of the misfortunes of France. I took with me a nun of l'Enfant-Jesus, to give an unquestionable pledgeof my religious principles. The school of St. Germain was the first inwhich the opening of an oratory was ventured on. The Directory wasdispleased at it, and ordered it to be immediately shut up; and some timeafter commissioners were sent to desire that the reading of the Scripturesshould be suppressed in my school. I inquired what books were to besubstituted in their stead. After some minutes' conversation, theyobserved: 'Citizeness, you are arguing after the old fashion; noreflections. The nation commands; we must have obedience, and noreasoning. ' Not having the means of printing my prospectus, I wrote ahundred copies of it, and sent them to the persons of my acquaintance whohad survived the dreadful commotions. At the year's end I had sixtypupils; soon afterwards a hundred. I bought furniture and paid my debts. "

The rapid success of the establishment at St. Germain was undoubtedlyowing to the talents, experience, and excellent principles of MadameCampan, seconded by public opinion. All property had changed hands; allranks found themselves confusedly jumbled by the shock of the Revolution:the grand seigneur dined at the table of the opulent contractor; and thewitty and elegant marquise was present at the ball by the side of theclumsy peasant lately grown rich. In the absence of the ancientdistinctions, elegant manners and polished language now formed a kind ofaristocracy. The house of St. Germain, conducted by a lady who possessedthe deportment and the habits of the best society, was not only a schoolof knowledge, but a school of the world. 

"A friend of Madame de Beauharnais, " continues Madame Campan, "brought meher daughter Hortense de Beauharnais, and her niece Emilie de Beauharnais. Six months afterwards she came to inform me of her marriage with aCorsican gentleman, who had been brought up in the military school, andwas then a general. I was requested to communicate this information toher daughter, who long lamented her mother's change of name. I was alsodesired to watch over the education of little Eugene de Beauharnais, whowas placed at St. Germain, in the same school with my son. 

"A great intimacy sprang up between my nieces and these young people. Madame de Beauharnaias set out for Italy, and left her children with me. On her return, after the conquests of Bonaparte, that general, muchpleased with the improvement of his stepdaughter, invited me to dine atMalmaison, and attended two representations of 'Esther' at my school. "

He also showed his appreciation of her talents by sending his sisterCaroline to St. Germain. Shortly before Caroline's marriage to Murat, andwhile she was yet at St. Germain, Napoleon observed to Madame Campan: "Ido not like those love matches between young people whose brains areexcited by the flames of the imagination. I had other views for mysister. Who knows what high alliance I might have procured for her! Sheis thoughtless, and does not form a just notion of my situation. The timewill come when, perhaps, sovereigns might dispute for her hand. She isabout to marry a brave man; but in my situation that is not enough. Fateshould be left to fulfil her decrees. "

[Madame Murat one day said to Madame Campan: "I am astonished that you arenot more awed in our presence; you speak to us with as much familiarity aswhen we were your pupils!"--"The best thing you can do, " replied MadameCampan, "is to forget your titles when you are with me, for I can never beafraid of queens whom I have held under the rod. "]

Madame Campan dined at the Tuileries in company with the Pope's nuncio, atthe period when the Concordat was in agitation. During dinner the FirstConsul astonished her by the able manner in which he conversed on thesubject under discussion. She said he argued so logically that his talentquite amazed her. During the consulate Napoleon one day said to her, "Ifever I establish a republic of women, I shall make you First Consul. "

Napoleon's views as to "woman's mission" are now well known. MadameCampan said that she heard from him that when he founded the convent ofthe Sisters of la Charite he was urgently solicited to permit perpetualvows. He, however, refused to do so, on the ground that tastes maychange, and that he did not see the necessity of excluding from the worldwomen who might some time or other return to it, and become useful membersof society. "Nunneries, " he added, "assail the very roots of population. It is impossible to calculate the loss which a nation sustains in havingten thousand women shut up in cloisters. War does but little mischief;for the number of males is at least one-twenty-fifth greater than that offemales. Women may, if they please, be allowed to make perpetual vows atfifty years of age; for then their task is fulfilled. "

Napoleon once said to Madame Campan, "The old systems of education weregood for nothing; what do young women stand in need of, to be well broughtup in France?"--"Of mothers, " answered Madame Campan. "It is well said, "replied Napoleon. "Well, madame, let the French be indebted to you forbringing up mothers for their children. "--"Napoleon one day interruptedMadame de Stael in the midst of a profound political argument to ask herwhether she had nursed her children. "

Never had the establishment at St. Germain been in a more flourishingcondition than in 1802-3. What more could Madame Campan wish? For tenyears absolute in her own house, she seemed also safe from the caprice ofpower. But the man who then disposed of the fate of France and Europe wassoon to determine otherwise. 

After the battle of Austerlitz the State undertook to bring up, at thepublic expense, the sisters, daughters, or nieces of those who weredecorated with the Cross of Honour. The children of the warriors killedor wounded in glorious battle were to find paternal care in the ancientabodes of the Montmorencys and the Condes. Accustomed to concentratearound him all superior talents, fearless himself of superiority, Napoleonsought for a person qualified by experience and abilities to conduct theinstitution of Ecouen; he selected Madame Campan. 

Comte de Lacepede, the pupil, friend, and rival of Buffon, then GrandChancellor of the Legion of Honour, assisted her with his enlightenedadvice. Napoleon, who could descend with ease from the highest politicalsubjects to the examination of the most minute details; who was as much athome in inspecting a boarding-school for young ladies as in reviewing thegrenadiers of his guard; whom it was impossible to deceive, and who wasnot unwilling to find fault when he visited the establishment atEcouen, --was forced to say, "It is all right. "

[Napoleon wished to be informed of every particular of the furniture, government, and order of the house, the instruction and education of thepupils. The internal regulations were submitted to him. One of theintended rules, drawn up by Madame Campan, proposed that the childrenshould hear mass on Sundays and Thursdays. Napoleon himself wrote on themargin, "every day. "]

"In the summer of 1811, " relates Madame Campan, "Napoleon, accompanied byMarie Louise and several personages of distinction, visited theestablishment at Ecouen. After inspecting the chapel and the refectories, Napoleon desired that the three principal pupils might be presented tohim. 'Sire, ' said I, 'I cannot select three; I must present six. ' Heturned on his heel and repaired to the platform, where, after seeing allthe classes assembled, he repeated his demand. 'Sire, ' said I, 'I begleave to inform your Majesty that I should commit an injustice towardsseveral other pupils who are as far advanced as those whom I might havethe honour to present to you. '

"Berthier and others intimated to me, in a low tone of voice, that Ishould get into disgrace by my noncompliance. Napoleon looked over thewhole of the house, entered into the most trivial details, and afteraddressing questions to several of the pupils: 'Well, madame, ' said he, 'Iam satisfied; show me your six best pupils. '" Madame Campan presentedthem to him; and as he stepped into his carriage, he desired that theirnames might be sent to Berthier. On addressing the list to the Prince deNeufchatel, Madame Campan added to it the names of four other pupils, andall the ten obtained a pension of 300 francs. During the three hourswhich this visit occupied, Marie Louise did not utter a single word. 

M. De Beaumont, chamberlain to the Empress Josephine, one day at Malmaisonwas expressing his regret that M. D-----, one of Napoleon's generals, whohad recently been promoted, did not belong to a great family. "Youmistake, monsieur, " observed Madame Campan, "he is of very ancientdescent; he is one of the nephews of Charlemagne. All the heroes of ourarmy sprang from the elder branch of that sovereign's family, who neveremigrated. "

When Madame Campan related this circumstance she added: "After the 30th ofMarch, 1814, some officers of the army of Conde presumed to say to certainFrench marshals that it was a pity they were not more nobly connected. Inanswer to this, one of them said, 'True nobility, gentlemen, consists ingiving proofs of it. The field of honour has witnessed ours; but whereare we to look for yours? Your swords have rusted in their scabbards. Our laurels may well excite envy; we have earned them nobly, and we owethem solely to our valour. You have merely inherited a name. This is thedistinction between us. "

[When one of the princes of the smaller German States was showing MarechalLannes, with a contemptuous superiority of manner but ill concealed, theportraits of his ancestors, and covertly alluding to the absence ofLannes's, that general turned the tables on him by haughtily remarking, "But I am an ancestor. "]

Napoleon used to observe that if he had had two such field-marshals asSuchet in Spain he would have not only conquered but kept the Peninsula. Suchet's sound judgment, his governing yet conciliating spirit, hismilitary tact, and his bravery, had procured him astonishing success. "Itis to be regretted, " added he, "that a sovereign cannot improvise men ofhis stamp. "

On the 19th of March, 1815, a number of papers were left in the King'scloset. Napoleon ordered them to be examined, and among them was foundthe letter written by Madame Campan to Louis XVIII. , immediately after thefirst restoration. In this letter she enumerated the contents of theportfolio which Louis XVI. Had placed under her care. When Napoleon readthis letter, he said, "Let it be sent to the office of Foreign Affairs; itis an historical document. "

Madame Campan thus described a visit from the Czar of Russia: "A few daysafter the battle of Paris the Emperor Alexander came to Ecouen, and he didme the honour to breakfast with me. After showing him over theestablishment I conducted him to the park, the most elevated point ofwhich overlooked the plain of St. Denis. 'Sire, ' said I, 'from this pointI saw the battle of Paris'--'If, ' replied the Emperor, 'that battle hadlasted two hours longer we should not have had a single cartridge at ourdisposal. We feared that we had been betrayed; for on arriving soprecipitately before Paris all our plans were laid, and we did not expectthe firm resistance we experienced. ' I next conducted the Emperor to thechapel, and showed him the seats occupied by 'le connetable' (theconstable) of Montmorency, and 'la connetable' (the constable's lady), when they went to hear mass. 'Barbarians like us, ' observed the Emperor, 'would say la connetable and le connetable. '

"The Czar inquired into the most minute particulars respecting theestablishment of Ecouen, and I felt great pleasure in answering hisquestions. I recollect having dwelt on several points which appeared tome to be very important, and which were in their spirit hostile toaristocratic principles. For example, I informed his Majesty that thedaughters of distinguished and wealthy individuals and those of the humbleand obscure mingled indiscriminately in the establishment. 'If, ' said I, 'I were to observe the least pretension on account of the rank or fortuneof parents, I should immediately put an end to it. The most perfectequality is preserved; distinction is awarded only to merit and industry. The pupils are obliged to cut out and make all their own clothes. Theyare taught to clean and mend lace; and two at a time, they by turns, threetimes a week, cook and distribute food to the poor of the village. Theyoung girls who have been brought up at Ecouen, or in my boarding-schoolat St. Germain, are thoroughly acquainted with everything relating tohousehold business, and they are grateful to me for having made that apart of their education. In my conversations with them I have alwaystaught them that on domestic management depends the preservation ordissipation of their fortunes. '

"The post-master of Ecouen was in the courtyard at the moment when theEmperor, as he stepped into his carriage, told me he would send somesweetmeats for the pupils. I immediately communicated to them theintelligence, which was joyfully received; but the sweetmeats were lookedfor in vain. When Alexander set out for England he changed horses atEcouen, and the post-master said to him: 'Sire, the pupils of Ecouen arestill expecting the sweetmeats which your Majesty promised them. ' Towhich the Emperor replied that he had directed Saken to send them. TheCossacks had most likely devoured the sweetmeats, and the poor littlegirls, who had been so highly flattered by the promise, never tastedthem. "

"A second house was formed at St. Denis, on the model of that of Ecouen. Perhaps Madame Campan might have hoped for a title to which her longlabours gave her a right; perhaps the superintendence of the two houseswould have been but the fair recompense of her services; but her fortunateyears had passed her fate was now to depend on the most important events. Napoleon had accumulated such a mass of power as no one but himself inEurope could overturn. France, content with thirty years of victories, invain asked for peace and repose. The army which had triumphed in thesands of Egypt, on the summits of the Alps, and in the marshes of Holland, was to perish amidst the snows of Russia. Nations combined against asingle man. The territory of France was invaded. The orphans of Ecouen, from the windows of the mansion which served as their asylum, saw in thedistant plain the fires of the Russian bivouacs, and once more wept thedeaths of their fathers. Paris capitulated. France hailed the return ofthe descendants of Henri IV. ; they reascended the throne so long filled bytheir ancestors, which the wisdom of an enlightened prince established onthe empire of the laws. 

[A lady, connected with the establishment of St. Denis, told Madame Campanthat Napoleon visited it during the Hundred Days, and that the pupils wereso delighted to see him that they crowded round him, endeavouring to touchhis clothes, and evincing the most extravagant joy. The matronendeavoured to silence them; but Napoleon said, 'Let them alone; let themalone. This may weaken the head, but it strengthens the heart. '"]

This moment, which diffused joy amongst the faithful servants of the royalfamily, and brought them the rewards of their devotion, proved to MadameCampan a period of bitter vexation. The hatred of her enemies hadrevived. The suppression of the school at Ecouen had deprived her of herposition; the most absurd calumnies followed her into her retreat; herattachment to the Queen was suspected; she was accused not only ofingratitude but of perfidy. Slander has little effect on youth, but inthe decline of life its darts are envenomed with a mortal poison. Thewounds which Madame Campan had received were deep. Her sister, MadameAuguie, had destroyed herself; M. Rousseau, her brother-in-law, hadperished, a victim of the reign of terror. In 1813 a dreadful accidenthad deprived her of her niece, Madame de Broc, one of the most amiable andinteresting beings that ever adorned the earth. Madame Campan seemeddestined to behold those whom she loved go down to the grave before her. 

Beyond the walls of the mansion of Ecouen, in the village which surroundsit, Madame Campan had taken a small house where she loved to pass a fewhours in solitary retirement. There, at liberty to abandon herself to thememory of the past, the superintendent of the imperial establishmentbecame, once more, for the moment, the first lady of the chamber to MarieAntoinette. To the few friends whom she admitted into this retreat shewould show, with emotion, a plain muslin gown which the Queen had worn, and which was made from a part of Tippoo Saib's present. A cup, out ofwhich Marie Antoinette had drunk; a writing-stand, which she had longused, were, in her eyes, of inestimable value; and she has often beendiscovered sitting, in tears, before the portrait of her royal mistress. 

After so many troubles Madame Campan sought a peaceful retreat. Paris hadbecome odious to her. 

She paid a visit to one of her most beloved pupils, Mademoiselle Crouzet, who had married a physician at Mantes, a man of talent, distinguished forhis intelligence, frankness, and cordiality. 

[M. Maigne, physician to the infirmaries at Mantes. Madame Campan foundin him a friend and comforter, of whose merit and affection she knew thevalue. ]

Mantes is a cheerful place of residence, and the idea of an abode therepleased her. A few intimate friends formed a pleasant society, and sheenjoyed a little tranquillity after so many disturbances. The revisal ofher "Memoirs, " the arrangement of the interesting anecdotes of which her"Recollections" were to consist, alone diverted her mind from the onepowerful sentiment which attached her to life. She lived only for herson. M. Campan deserved the tenderness of, his mother. No sacrifice hadbeen spared for his education. After having pursued that course of studywhich, under the Imperial Government, produced men of such distinguishedmerit, he was waiting till time and circumstances should afford him anopportunity of devoting his services to his country. Although the stateof his health was far from good, it did not threaten any rapid orpremature decay; he was, however, after a few days' illness, suddenlytaken from his family. "I never witnessed so heartrending a scene, " M. Maigne says, "as that which took place when Marechal Ney's lady, herniece, and Madame Pannelier, her sister, came to acquaint her with thismisfortune. --[The wife of Marechal Ney was a daughter of Madame Auguie, and had been an intimate friend of Hortense Beauharnais. ]--When theyentered her apartment she was in bed. All three at once uttered apiercing cry. The two ladies threw themselves on their knees, and kissedher hands, which they bedewed with tears. Before they could speak to hershe read in their faces that she no longer possessed a son. At thatinstant her large eyes, opening wildly, seemed to wander. Her face grewpale, her features changed, her lips lost their colour, she struggled tospeak, but uttered only inarticulate sounds, accompanied by piercingcries. Her gestures were wild, her reason was suspended. Every part ofher being was in agony. To this state of anguish and despair no calmsucceeded, until her tears began to flow. Friendship and the tenderestcares succeeded for a moment in calming her grief, but not in diminishingits power. 

"This violent crisis had disturbed her whole organisation. A crueldisorder, which required a still more cruel operation, soon manifesteditself. The presence of her family, a tour which she made in Switzerland, a residence at Baden, and, above all, the sight, the tender and charmingconversation of a person by whom she was affectionately beloved, occasionally diverted her mind, and in a slight degree relieved hersuffering. " She underwent a serious operation, performed withextraordinary promptitude and the most complete success. No unfavourablesymptoms appeared; Madame Campan was thought to be restored to herfriends; but the disorder was in the blood; it took another course: thechest became affected. "From that moment, " says M. Maigne, "I could neverlook on Madame Campan as living; she herself felt that she belonged nomore to this world. "

"My friend, " she said to her physician the day before her death, "I amattached to the simplicity of religion. I hate all that savours offanaticism. " When her codicil was presented for her signature, her handtrembled; "It would be a pity, " she said, "to stop when so fairly on theroad. "

Madame Campan died on the 16th of March, 1822. The cheerfulness shedisplayed throughout her malady had nothing affected in it. Her characterwas naturally powerful and elevated. At the approach of death she evincedthe soul of a sage, without abandoning for an instant her femininecharacter. 

ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS:

Ah, Madame, we have all been killed in our masters' service!Brought me her daughter Hortense de BeauharnaisCondescension which renders approbation more offensiveDifference between brilliant theories and the simplest practiceExtreme simplicity was the Queens first and only real mistakeI hate all that savours of fanaticismIf ever I establish a republic of women. . . . No ears that will discover when she (The Princess) is out of tuneObserve the least pretension on account of the rank or fortuneOn domestic management depends the preservation of their fortuneSpirit of party can degrade the character of a nationTastes may changeThe anti-Austrian party, discontented and vindictiveThey say you live very poorly here, MoliereTrue nobility, gentlemen, consists in giving proofs of itWe must have obedience, and no reasoningWhat do young women stand in need of?--Mothers!"Would be a pity, " she said, "to stop when so fairly on the road"Your swords have rusted in their scabbards