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 witha general examination of his grandfather's papers. He had promised theQueen to communicate to her all that he might discover relative to thehistory of the man with the iron mask, who, he thought, had become soinexhaustible a source of conjecture only in consequence of the interestwhich the pen of a celebrated writer had excited respecting the detentionof a prisoner of State, who was merely a man of whimsical tastes andhabits. 

I was with the Queen when the King, having finished his researches, informed her that he had not found anything among the secret paperselucidating the existence of this prisoner; that he had conversed on thematter with M. De Maurepas, whose age made him contemporary with the epochduring 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 dangerouscharacter, in consequence of his disposition for intrigue. He was asubject of the Duke of Mantua, and was enticed to the frontier, arrestedthere, and kept prisoner, first at Pignerol, and afterwards in theBastille. This transfer took place in consequence of the appointment ofthe governor of the former place to the government of the latter. It wasfor fear the prisoner should profit by the inexperience of a new governorthat he was sent with the Governor of Pignerol to the Bastille. 

Such was, in fact, the truth about the man on whom people have beenpleased to fix an iron mask. And thus was it related in writing, andpublished by M. ----- twenty years ago. He had searched the archives ofthe Foreign Office, and laid the real story before the public; but thepublic, prepossessed in favour of a marvellous version, would notacknowledge the authenticity of his account. Every man relied upon theauthority of Voltaire; and it was believed that a natural or a twinbrother of Louis XIV. Lived many years in prison with a mask over hisface. 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 theyexposed themselves to the sun. It is possible that the Italian captivemay have sometimes shown himself upon the terrace of his prison with hisface thus covered. As to the silver plate which this celebrated prisoneris said to have thrown from his window, it is known that such acircumstance did happen, but it happened at Valzin, in the time ofCardinal Richelieu. This anecdote has been mixed up with the inventionsrespecting the Piedmontese prisoner. 

In this survey of the papers of Louis XV. By his grandson some verycurious particulars relative to his private treasury were found. Sharesin various financial companies afforded him a revenue, and had in courseof time produced him a capital of some amount, which he applied to hissecret expenses. The King collected his vouchers of title to theseshares, and made a present of them to M. Thierry de Ville d'Avray, hischief valet de chambre. 

The Queen was desirous to secure the comfort of Mesdames, the daughters ofLouis XV. , who were held in the highest respect. About this period shecontributed to furnish them with a revenue sufficient to provide them aneasy, pleasant existence: The King gave them the Chateau of Bellevue; andadded to the produce of it, which was given up to them, the expenses oftheir table and equipage, and payment of all the charges of theirhousehold, the number of which was even increased. During the lifetime ofLouis XV. , who was a very selfish prince, his daughters, although they hadattained forty years of age, had no other place of residence than theirapartments in the Chateau of Versailles; no other walks than such as theycould take in the large park of that palace; and no other means ofgratifying their taste for the cultivation of plants but by having boxesand vases, filled with them, in their balconies or their closets. Theyhad, therefore, reason to be much pleased with the conduct of MarieAntoinette, who had the greatest influence in the King's kindness towardshis aunts. 

Paris did not cease, during the first years of the reign, to give proofsof pleasure whenever the Queen appeared at any of the plays of thecapital. At the representation of "Iphigenia in Aulis, " the actor whosang the words, "Let us sing, let us celebrate our Queen!" which wererepeated by the chorus, directed by a respectful movement the eyes of thewhole assembly upon her Majesty. Reiterated cries of 'Bis'! and clappingof hands, were followed by such a burst of enthusiasm that many of theaudience added their voices to those of the actors in order to celebrate, it might too truly be said, another Iphigenia. The Queen, deeplyaffected, covered her eyes with her handkerchief; and this proof ofsensibility 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 notremarkably handsome as a building. The luxuriance of the hothousesrendered the place agreeable to that Prince. He spent a few days thereseveral times in the year. It was when he was setting off from Versaillesfor 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 onthe 10th of May, 1774. --MADAME CAMPAN. ]

Henceforward she amused herself with improving the gardens, withoutallowing any addition to the building, or any change in the furniture, which was very shabby, and remained, in 1789, in the same state as duringthe reign of Louis XV. Everything there, without exception, waspreserved; and the Queen slept in a faded bed, which had been used by theComtesse du Barry. The charge of extravagance, generally made against theQueen, is the most unaccountable of all the popular errors respecting hercharacter. She had exactly the contrary failing; and I could prove thatshe often carried her economy to a degree of parsimony actually blamable, especially in a sovereign. She took a great liking for Trianon, and usedto go there alone, followed by a valet; but she found attendants ready toreceive her, --a concierge and his wife, who served her as femme dechambre, women of the wardrobe, footmen, etc. 

When she first took possession of Petit Trianon, it was reported that shechanged the name of the seat which the King had given her, and called itLittle Vienna, or Little Schoenbrunn. A person who belonged to the Court, and was silly enough to give this report credit, wishing to visit PetitTrianon with a party, wrote to M. Campan, requesting the Queen'spermission to do so. In his note he called Trianon Little Vienna. Similarrequests were usually laid before the Queen just as they were made: shechose to give the permissions to see her gardens herself, liking to grantthese little favours. When she came to the words I have quoted she wasvery, much offended, and exclaimed, angrily, that there were too many, fools ready, to aid the malicious; that she had been told of the reportcirculated, which pretended that she had thought of nothing but her owncountry, and that she kept an Austrian heart, while the interests ofFrance alone ought to engage her. She refused the request so awkwardlymade, and desired M. Campan to reply, that Trianon was not to be seen forsome time, and that the Queen was astonished that any man in good societyshould believe she would do so ill-judged a thing as to change the Frenchnames of her palaces to foreign ones. 

Before the Emperor Joseph II's first visit to France the Queen received avisit from the Archduke Maximilian in 1775. A stupid act of theambassador, seconded on the part of the Queen by the Abbe de Vermond, gaverise at that period to a discussion which offended the Princes of theblood and the chief nobility of the kingdom. Travelling incognito, theyoung Prince claimed that the first visit was not due from him to thePrinces of the blood; and the Queen supported his pretension. 

From the time of the Regency, and on account of the residence of thefamily of Orleans in the bosom of the capital, Paris had preserved aremarkable degree of attachment and respect for that branch of the royalhouse; and although the crown was becoming more and more remote from thePrinces of the House of Orleans, they had the advantage (a great one withthe Parisians) of being the descendants of Henri IV. An affront to thatpopular family was a serious ground of dislike to the Queen. It was atthis period that the circles of the city, and even of the Court, expressedthemselves bitterly about her levity, and her partiality for the House ofAustria. The Prince for whom the Queen had embarked in an importantfamily 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 bevery sorry to deprive you of it. "

[Joseph II, on his visit to France, also went to see M. De Buffon, andsaid to that celebrated man, "I am come to fetch the copy of your workswhich my brother forgot. "--NOTE BY THE EDITOR. ]

It may be supposed that the Parisians were much entertained with thisanswer. 

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 thelong course of her misfortunes. Habit did not stop the tears suchinjustice caused; but the first time she was suspected of not lovingFrance, she gave way to her indignation. All that she could say on thesubject was useless; by seconding the pretensions of the Archduke she hadput arms into her enemies' hands; they were labouring to deprive her ofthe love of the people, and endeavoured, by all possible means, to spreada belief that the Queen sighed for Germany, and preferred that country toFrance. 

Marie Antoinette had none but herself to rely on for preserving the ficklesmiles of the Court and the public. The King, too indifferent to serveher as a guide, as yet had conceived no love for her, notwithstanding theintimacy that grew between them at Choisy. In his closet Louis XVI. Wasimmersed in deep study. At the Council he was busied with the welfare ofhis people; hunting and mechanical occupations engrossed his leisuremoments, and he never thought on the subject of an heir. 

The coronation took place at Rheims, with all the accustomed pomp. Atthis period the people's love for Louis XVI. Burst forth in transportsnot to be mistaken for party demonstrations or idle curiosity. He repliedto this enthusiasm by marks of confidence, worthy of a people happy inbeing governed by a good King; he took a pleasure in repeatedly walkingwithout guards, in the midst of the crowd which pressed around him, andcalled down blessings on his head. I remarked the impression made at thistime by an observation of Louis XVI. On the day of his coronation he puthis 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 thesetwo exclamations, though not of a class likely to be blinded by thesuperstitious fears of ignorance. 

While the Queen, neglected as she was, could not even hope for thehappiness of being a mother, she had the mortification of seeing theComtesse d'Artois give birth to the Duc d'Angouleme. 

Custom required that the royal family and the whole Court should bepresent at the accouchement of the Princesses; the Queen was thereforeobliged to stay a whole day in her sister-in-law's chamber. The momentthe Comtesse d'Artois was informed a prince was born, she put her hand toher forehead and exclaimed with energy, "My God, how happy I am!" TheQueen felt very differently at this involuntary and natural exclamation. Nevertheless, her behaviour was perfect. She bestowed all possible marksof tenderness upon the young mother, and would not leave her until she wasagain put into bed; she afterwards passed along the staircase, and throughthe hall of the guards, with a calm demeanour, in the midst of an immensecrowd. The poissardes, who had assumed a right of speaking to sovereignsin their own vulgar language, followed her to the very doors of herapartments, calling out to her with gross expressions, that she ought toproduce heirs. The Queen reached her inner room, hurried and agitated; heshut herself up to weep with me alone, not from jealousy of hersister-in-law's happiness, --of that he was incapable, --but from sorrow ather own situation. 

Deprived of the happiness of giving an heir to the crown, the Queenendeavoured to interest herself in the children of the people of herhousehold. 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 theQueen's horses, when she was taking an airing in a calash, through thehamlet of St. Michel, near Louveciennes. The coachman and postilionsstopped the horses, and the child was rescued without the slightestinjury. 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, calledout that the child was hers, and that destiny had given it to her, toconsole her, no doubt, until she should have the happiness of having oneherself. "Is his mother alive?" asked the Queen. "No, Madame; mydaughter died last winter, and left five small children upon my hands. " "Iwill take this one, and provide for all the rest; do you consent?" "Ah, Madame, they are too fortunate, " replied the cottager; "but Jacques is abad boy. I hope he will stay with you!" The Queen, taking little Jacquesupon her knee, said that she would make him used to her, and gave ordersto proceed. It was necessary, however, to shorten the drive, so violentlydid Jacques scream, and kick the Queen and her ladies. 

The arrival of her Majesty at her apartments at Versailles, holding thelittle rustic by the hand, astonished the whole household; he cried outwith intolerable shrillness that he wanted his grandmother, his brotherLouis, and his sister Marianne; nothing could calm him. He was taken awayby the wife of a servant, who was appointed to attend him as nurse. Theother children were put to school. Little Jacques, whose family name wasArmand, came back to the Queen two days afterwards; a white frock trimmedwith lace, a rose-coloured sash with silver fringe, and a hat decoratedwith feathers, were now substituted for the woollen cap, the little redfrock, and the wooden shoes. The child was really very beautiful. TheQueen was enchanted with him; he was brought to her every morning at nineo'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 peopleand the fear of being thought a favourite of the Queen's had made him themost sanguinary terrorist of Versailles. He was killed at the battle ofJemappes. ]

and lavished caresses upon him, still maintaining a deep silencerespecting the regrets which constantly occupied her heart. 

This child remained with the Queen until the time when Madame was oldenough to come home to her august mother, who had particularly taken uponherself the care of her education. 

The Queen talked incessantly of the qualities which she admired in LouisXVI. , and gladly attributed to herself the slightest favourable change inhis manner; perhaps she displayed too unreservedly the joy she felt, andthe share she appropriated in the improvement. One day Louis XVI. Salutedher ladies with more kindness than usual, and the Queen laughingly said tothem, "Now confess, ladies, that for one so badly taught as a child, theKing has saluted you with very good grace!"

The Queen hated M. De La Vauguyon; she accused him alone of those pointsin the habits, and even the sentiments, of the King which hurt her. Aformer first woman of the bedchamber to Queen Maria Leczinska hadcontinued in office near the young Queen. She was one of those people whoare fortunate enough to spend their lives in the service of kings withoutknowing anything of what is passing at Court. She was a great devotee;the Abbe Grisel, an ex-Jesuit, was her director. Being rich from hersavings and an income of 50, 000 livres, she kept a very good table; in herapartment, at the Grand Commun, the most distinguished persons who stilladhered to the Order of Jesuits often assembled. The Duc de La Vauguyonwas intimate with her; their chairs at the Eglise des Reollets were placednear each other; at high mass and at vespers they sang the "Gloria inExcelsis" and the "Magnificat" together; and the pious virgin, seeing inhim only one of God's elect, little imagined him to be the declared enemyof a Princess whom she served and revered. On the day of his death she ranin tears to relate to the Queen the piety, humility, and repentance of thelast moments of the Duc de La Vauguyon. He had called his peopletogether, she said, to ask their pardon. "For what?" replied the Queen, sharply; "he has placed and pensioned off all his servants; it was of theKing and his brothers that the holy man you bewail should have askedpardon, for having paid so little attention to the education of princes onwhom the fate and happiness of twenty-five millions of men depend. Luckily, " added she, "the King and his brothers, still young, haveincessantly laboured to repair the errors of their preceptor. "

The progress of time, and the confidence with which the King and thePrinces, his brothers, were inspired by the change in their situationsince the death of Louis XV. , had developed their characters. I willendeavour to depict them. 

The features of Louis XVI. Were noble enough, though somewhat melancholyin expression; his walk was heavy and unmajestic; his person greatlyneglected; his hair, whatever might be the skill of his hairdresser, wassoon in disorder. His voice, without being harsh, was not agreeable; ifhe grew animated in speaking he often got above his natural pitch, andbecame shrill. The Abbe de Radonvilliers, his preceptor, one of the Fortyof the French Academy, a learned and amiable man, had given him andMonsieur a taste for study. The King had continued to instruct himself;he knew the English language perfectly; I have often heard him translatesome of the most difficult passages in Milton's poems. He was a skilfulgeographer, and was fond of drawing and colouring maps; he was well versedin history, but had not perhaps sufficiently studied the spirit of it. Heappreciated dramatic beauties, and judged them accurately. At Choisy, oneday, several ladies expressed their dissatisfaction because the Frenchactors were going to perform one of Moliere's pieces. The King inquiredwhy they disapproved of the choice. One of them answered that everybodymust admit that Moliere had very bad taste; the King replied that manythings might be found in Moliere contrary to fashion, but that it appearedto him difficult to point out any in bad taste?

[The King, having purchased the Chateau of Rambouillet from the Duc dePenthievre, amused himself with embellishing it. I have seen a registerentirely in his own handwriting, which proves that he possessed a greatvariety of information on the minutiae of various branches of knowledge. In his accounts he would not omit an outlay of a franc. His figures andletters, when he wished to write legibly, were small and very neat, but ingeneral he wrote very ill. He was so sparing of paper that he divided asheet into eight, six, or four pieces, according to the length of what hehad to write. Towards the close of the page he compressed the letters, andavoided interlineations. The last words were close to the edge of thepaper; he seemed to regret being obliged to begin another page. He wasmethodical and analytical; he divided what he wrote into chapters andsections. He had extracted from the works of Nicole and Fenelon, hisfavourite authors, three or four hundred concise and sententious phrases;these he had classed according to subject, and formed a work of them inthe style of Montesquieu. To this treatise he had given the followinggeneral title: "Of Moderate Monarchy" (De la Monarchie temperee), withchapters entitled, "Of the Person of the Prince;" "Of the Authority ofBodies in the State;" "Of the Character of the Executive Functions of theMonarchy. " Had he been able to carry into effect all the grand preceptshe had observed in Fenelon, Louis XVI. Would have been an accomplishedmonarch, and France a powerful kingdom. The King used to accept thespeeches his ministers presented to him to deliver on important occasions;but he corrected and modified them; struck out some parts, and addedothers; and sometimes consulted the Queen on the subject. The phrase ofthe minister erased by the King was frequently unsuitable, and dictated bythe minister's private feelings; but the King's was always the naturalexpression. He himself composed, three times or oftener, his famousanswers to the Parliament which he banished. But in his letters he wasnegligent, and always incorrect. Simplicity was the characteristic of theKing's style; the figurative style of M. Necker did not please him; thesarcasms of Maurepas were disagreeable to him. Unfortunate Prince! hewould predict, in his observations, that if such a calamity should happen, the monarchy would be ruined; and the next day he would consent in Councilto the very measure which he had condemned the day before, and whichbrought him nearer the brink of the precipice. --SOULAVIE, "Historical andPolitical Memoirs of the Reign of Louis XVI. , " vol. Ii. ]

This Prince combined with his attainments the attributes of a goodhusband, 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 privateapartment a common locksmith, with whom he made keys and locks; and hishands, blackened by that sort of work, were often, in my presence, thesubject of remonstrances and even sharp reproaches from the Queen, whowould have chosen other amusements for her husband. 

[Louis XVI. Saw that the art of lock-making was capable of application toa higher study, He was an excellent geographer. The most valuable andcomplete instrument for the study of that science was begun by his ordersand under his direction. It was an immense globe of copper, which waslong preserved, though unfinished, in the Mazarine library. Louis XVI. Invented and had executed under his own eyes the ingenious mechanismrequired for this globe. --NOTE BY THE EDITOR. ]

Austere and rigid with regard to himself alone, the King observed the lawsof the Church with scrupulous exactness. He fasted and abstainedthroughout the whole of Lent. He thought it right that the queen shouldnot observe these customs with the same strictness. Though sincerelypious, the spirit of the age had disposed his mind to toleration. Turgot, Malesherbes, and Necker judged that this Prince, modest and simple in hishabits, would willingly sacrifice the royal prerogative to the solidgreatness of his people. His heart, in truth, disposed him towardsreforms; but his prejudices and fears, and the clamours of pious andprivileged persons, intimidated him, and made him abandon plans which hislove for the people had suggested. 

Monsieur--

[During his stay at Avignon, Monsieur, afterwards Louis XVIII, lodged withthe Duc de Crillon; he refused the town-guard which was offered him, saying, "A son of France, under the roof of a Crillon, needs noguard. "--NOTE BY THE EDITOR. ]

had more dignity of demeanour than the King; but his corpulence renderedhis gait inelegant. He was fond of pageantry and magnificence. Hecultivated the belles lettres, and under assumed names often contributedverses to the Mercury and other papers. 

His wonderful memory was the handmaid of his wit, furnishing him with thehappiest quotations. He knew by heart a varied repertoire, from thefinest 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, skilfulin bodily exercises, lively, impetuous, fond of pleasure, and veryparticular in his dress. Some happy observations made by him wererepeated with approval, and gave a favourable idea of his heart. TheParisians liked the open and frank character of this Prince, which theyconsidered national, and showed real affection for him. 

The dominion that the Queen gained over the King's mind, the charms of asociety in which Monsieur displayed his wit, and to which the Comted'Artois--[Afterwards Charles X. ]--gave life by the vivacity of youth, gradually softened that ruggedness of manner in Louis XVI. Which abetter-conducted education might have prevented. Still, this defect oftenshowed itself, and, in spite of his extreme simplicity, the King inspiredthose who had occasion to speak to him with diffidence. Courtiers, submissive in the presence of their sovereign, are only the more ready tocaricature him; with little good breeding, they called those answers theyso much dreaded, Les coups de boutoir du Roi. --[The literal meaning of thephrase "coup de boutoir, " is a thrust from the snout of a boar. ]

Methodical in all his habits, the King always went to bed at elevenprecisely. One evening the Queen was going with her usual circle to aparty, either at the Duc de Duras's or the Princesse de Glumenee's. Thehand of the clock was slily put forward to hasten the King's departure bya few minutes; he thought bed-time was come, retired, and found none ofhis attendants ready to wait on him. This joke became known in all thedrawing-rooms of Versailles, and was disapproved of there. Kings have noprivacy. Queens have no boudoirs. If those who are in immediateattendance upon sovereigns be not themselves disposed to transmit theirprivate habits to posterity, the meanest valet will relate what he hasseen 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 wasso much occupied by it that when I went up into his private closets atVersailles, after the 10th of August, I saw upon the staircase six frames, in which were seen statements of all his hunts, when Dauphin and whenKing. In them was detailed the number, kind, and quality of the game hehad killed at each hunting party during every month, every season, andevery year of his reign. 

The interior of his private apartments was thus arranged: a salon, ornamented with gilded mouldings, displayed the engravings which had beendedicated to him, drawings of the canals he had dug, with the model ofthat of Burgundy, and the plan of the cones and works of Cherbourg. Theupper hall contained his collection of geographical charts, spheres, globes, and also his geographical cabinet. There were to be seen drawingsof maps which he had begun, and some that he had finished. He had aclever method of washing them in. His geographical memory was prodigious. Over the hall was the turning and joining room, furnished with ingeniousinstruments for working in wood. He inherited some from Louis XV. , and heoften busied himself, with Duret's assistance, in keeping them clean andbright. Above was the library of books published during his reign. Theprayer books and manuscript books of Anne of Brittany, Francois I, thelater Valois, Louis XIV. , Louis XV. , and the Dauphin formed the greathereditary library of the Chateau. Louis XVI. Placed separately, in twoapartments communicating with each other, the works of his own time, including a complete collection of Didot's editions, in vellum, everyvolume enclosed in a morocco case. There were several English works, among the rest the debates of the British Parliament, in a great number ofvolumes in folio (this is the Moniteur of England, a complete collectionof which is so valuable and so scarce). By the side of this collection wasto be seen a manuscript history of all the schemes for a descent upon thatisland, particularly that of Comte de Broglie. One of the presses of thiscabinet was full of cardboard boxes, containing papers relative to theHouse of Austria, inscribed in the King's own hand: "Secret papers of myfamily respecting the House of Austria; papers of my family respecting theHouses of Stuart and Hanover. " In an adjoining press were kept papersrelative to Russia. Satirical works against Catherine II. And againstPaul I. Were sold in France under the name of histories; Louis XVIII. Collected and sealed up with his small seal the scandalous anecdotesagainst Catherine II. , as well as the works of Rhulieres, of which he hada copy, to be certain that the secret life of that Princess, whichattracted the curiosity of her contemporaries, should not be made publicby his means. 

Above the King's private library were a forge, two anvils, and a vastnumber of iron tools; various common locks, well made and perfect; somesecret locks, and locks ornamented with gilt copper. It was there thatthe infamous Gamin, who afterwards accused the King of having tried topoison him, and was rewarded for his calumny with a pension of twelvethousand livres, taught him the art of lock-making. This Gamin, whobecame our guide, by order of the department and municipality ofVersailles, did not, however, denounce the King on the 20th December, 1792. He had been made the confidant of that Prince in an immense numberof important commissions; the King had sent him the "Red Book, " fromParis, in a parcel; and the part which was concealed during theConstituent Assembly still remained so in 1793. Gamin hid it in a part ofthe Chateau inaccessible to everybody, and took it from under the shelvesof a secret press before our eyes. This is a convincing proof that LouisXVI. Hoped to return to his Chiteau. When teaching Louis XVI. His tradeGamin took upon himself the tone and authority of a master. "The King wasgood, forbearing, timid, inquisitive, and addicted to sleep, " said Gaminto me; "he was fond to excess of lock-making, and he concealed himselffrom the Queen and the Court to file and forge with me. In order to conveyhis anvil and my own backwards and forwards we were obliged to use athousand stratagems, the history of which would: never end. " Above theKing's and Gamin's forges and anvils was an, observatory, erected upon aplatform covered with lead. There, seated on an armchair, and assisted bya telescope, the King observed all that was passing in the courtyards ofVersailles, the avenue of Paris, and the neighbouring gardens. He hadtaken a liking to Duret, one of the indoor servants of the palace, whosharpened his tools, cleaned his anvils, pasted his maps, and adjustedeyeglasses to the King's sight, who was short-sighted. This good Duret, and indeed all the indoor servants, spoke of their master with regret andaffection, and with tears in their eyes. 

The King was born weak and delicate; but from the age of twenty-four hepossessed a robust constitution, inherited from his mother, who was of theHouse of Saxe, celebrated for generations for its robustness. There weretwo men in Louis XVI. , the man of knowledge and the man of will. The Kingknew the history of his own family and of the first houses of Franceperfectly. He composed the instructions for M. De la Peyrouse's voyageround the world, which the minister thought were drawn up by severalmembers of the Academy of Sciences. His memory retained an infinitenumber of names and situations. He remembered quantities and numberswonderfully. One day an account was presented to him in which theminister had ranked among the expenses an item inserted in the account ofthe preceding year. "There is a double charge, " said the King; "bring melast year's account, and I will show it yet there. " When the King wasperfectly master of the details of any matter, and saw injustice, he wasobdurate even to harshness. Then he would be obeyed instantly, in orderto 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 whomnature has rendered incapable of an opinion are in society. In hispusillanimity, he gave his confidence to a minister; and although amidstvarious counsels he often knew which was the best, he never had theresolution to say, "I prefer the opinion of such a one. " Hereinoriginated the misfortunes of the State. --SOULAVIE'S "Historical andPolitical Memoirs Of the Reign Of LOUIS XVI. , " VOL ii. 

CHAPTER VII. 

The winter following the confinement of the Comtesse d'Artois was verysevere; the recollections of the pleasure which sleighing-parties hadgiven the Queen in her childhood made her wish to introduce similar onesin France. This amusement had already been known in that Court, as wasproved by sleighs being found in the stables which had been used by theDauphin, the father of Louis XVI. Some were constructed for the Queen ina more modern style. The Princes also ordered several; and in a few daysthere was a tolerable number of these vehicles. They were driven by theprinces and noblemen of the Court. The noise of the bells and balls withwhich the harness of the horses was furnished, the elegance and whitenessof their plumes, the varied forms of the carriages, the gold with whichthey were all ornamented, rendered these parties delightful to the eye. The winter was very favourable to them, the snow remaining on the groundnearly six weeks; the drives in the park afforded a pleasure shared by thespectators. 

[Louis XVI. , touched with the wretched condition of the poor of Versaillesduring the winter of 1776, had several cart-loads of wood distributedamong them. Seeing one day a file of those vehicles passing by, whileseveral noblemen were preparing to be drawn swiftly over the ice, heuttered these memorable words: "Gentlemen, here are my sleighs!"--NOTE BYTHE 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 ChampsElysees; a few sleighs even crossed the boulevards; the ladies beingmasked, the Queen's enemies took the opportunity of saying that she hadtraversed the streets of Paris in a sleigh. 

This became a matter of moment. The public discovered in it apredilection for the habits of Vienna; but all that Marie Antoinette didwas criticised. 

Sleigh-driving, savouring of the Northern Courts, had no favour among theParisians. The Queen was informed of this; and although all the sleighswere preserved, and several subsequent winters lent themselves to theamusement, she would not resume it. 

It was at the time of the sleighing-parties that the Queen becameintimately acquainted with the Princesse de Lamballe, who made herappearance in them wrapped in fur, with all the brilliancy and freshnessof the age of twenty, --the emblem of spring, peeping from under sable andermine. Her situation, moreover, rendered her peculiarly interesting;married, when she was scarcely past childhood, to a young prince, whoruined himself by the contagious example of the Duc d'Orleans, she had hadnothing to do from the time of her arrival in France but to weep. A widowat eighteen, and childless, she lived with the Duc de Penthievre as anadopted daughter. She had the tenderest respect and attachment for thatvenerable Prince; but the Queen, though doing justice to his virtues, sawthat the Duc de Penthievre's way of life, whether at Paris or at hiscountry-seat, could neither afford his young daughter-in-law theamusements suited to her time of life, nor ensure her in the future anestablishment such as she was deprived of by her widowhood. Shedetermined, therefore, to establish her at Versailles; and for her sakerevived the office of superintendent, which had been discontinued at Courtsince the death of Mademoiselle de Clermont. It is said that MariaLeczinska had decided that this place should continue vacant, thesuperintendent having so extensive a power in the houses of queens as tobe frequently a restraint upon their inclinations. Differences which soontook place between Marie Antoinette and the Princesse de Lamballerespecting the official prerogatives of the latter, proved that the wifeof Louis XV. Had acted judiciously in abolishing the office; but a kind oftreaty made between the Queen and the Princess smoothed all difficulties. The blame for too strong an assertion of claims fell upon a secretary ofthe superintendent, who had been her adviser; and everything was soarranged that a firm friendship existed between these two Princesses downto the disastrous period which terminated their career. 

Notwithstanding the enthusiasm which the splendour, grace, and kindness ofthe Queen generally inspired, secret intrigues continued in operationagainst her. A short time after the ascension of Louis XVI. To thethrone, the minister of the King's household was informed that a mostoffensive libel against the Queen was about to appear. The lieutenant ofpolice deputed a man named Goupil, a police inspector, to trace thislibel; he came soon after to say that he had found out the place where thework was being printed, and that it was at a country house near Yverdun. He had already got possession of two sheets, which contained the mostatrocious calumnies, conveyed with a degree of art which might make themvery dangerous to the Queen's reputation. Goupil said that he couldobtain the rest, but that he should want a considerable sum for thatpurpose. Three thousand Louis were given him, and very soon afterwards hebrought the whole manuscript and all that had been printed to thelieutenant of police. He received a thousand louis more as a reward forhis address and zeal; and a much more important office was about to begiven him, when another spy, envious of Goupil's good fortune, gaveinformation that Goupil himself was the author of the libel; that, tenyears before, he had been put into the Bicetre for swindling; and thatMadame Goupil had been only three years out of the Salpetriere, where shehad been placed under another name. This Madame Goupil was very prettyand very intriguing; she had found means to form an intimacy with Cardinalde Rohan, whom she led, it is said, to hope for a reconciliation with theQueen. All this affair was hushed up; but it shows that it was theQueen's fate to be incessantly attacked by the meanest and most odiousmachinations. 

Another woman, named Cahouette de Millers, whose husband held an office inthe Treasury, being very irregular in conduct, and of a scheming turn ofmind, had a mania for appearing in the eyes of her friends at Paris as aperson in favour at Court, to which she was not entitled by either birthor office. During the latter years of the life of Louis XV. She had mademany dupes, and picked up considerable sums by passing herself off as theKing's mistress. The fear of irritating Madame du Barry was, according toher, the only thing which prevented her enjoying that title openly. Shecame regularly to Versailles, kept herself concealed in a furnishedlodging, and her dupes imagined she was secretly summoned to Court. 

This woman formed the scheme of getting admission, if possible, to thepresence of the Queen, or at least causing it to be believed that she haddone so. She adopted as her lover Gabriel de Saint Charles, intendant ofher Majesty's finances, --an office, the privileges of which were confinedto the right of entering the Queen's apartment on Sunday. Madame deVillers came every Saturday to Versailles with M. De Saint Charles, andlodged in his apartment. M. Campan was there several times. She paintedtolerably well, and she requested him to do her the favour to present tothe Queen a portrait of her Majesty which she had just copied. M. Campanknew the woman's character, and refused her. A few days after, he saw onher 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 becarried back to the Princesse de Lamballe, who had sent it to her. Theill success of the portrait did not deter the manoeuvrer from following upher designs; she easily procured through M. De Saint Charles patents andorders signed by the Queen; she then set about imitating her writing, andcomposed a great number of notes and letters, as if written by herMajesty, in the tenderest and most familiar style. For many months sheshowed them as great secrets to several of her particular friends. Afterwards, she made the Queen appear to write to her, to procure variousfancy articles. Under the pretext of wishing to execute her Majesty'scommissions accurately, she gave these letters to the tradesmen to read, and succeeded in having it said, in many houses, that the Queen had aparticular regard for her. She then enlarged her scheme, and representedthe Queen as desiring to borrow 200, 000 francs which she had need of, butwhich she did not wish to ask of the King from his private funds. Thisletter, being shown to M. Beranger, 'fermier general' of the finances, took effect; he thought himself fortunate in being able to render thisassistance to his sovereign, and lost no time in sending the 200, 000francs to Madame de Villers. This first step was followed by some doubts, which he communicated to people better informed than himself of what waspassing at Court; they added to his uneasiness; he then went to M. DeSartine, who unravelled the whole plot. The woman was sent to St. Pelagie; and the unfortunate husband was ruined, by replacing the sumborrowed, and by paying for the jewels fraudulently purchased in theQueen's name. The forged letters were sent to her Majesty; I comparedthem in her presence with her own handwriting, and the onlydistinguishable 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 ofsuperintendent of the Queen's household, balls and quadrilles gave rise tothe intimacy of her Majesty with the Comtesse Jules de Polignac. Thislady really interested Marie Antoinette. She was not rich, and generallylived upon her estate at Claye. The Queen was astonished at not havingseen her at Court earlier. The confession that her want of fortune hadeven prevented her appearance at the celebration of the marriages of thePrinces added to the interest which she had inspired. 

The Queen was full of consideration, and took delight in counteracting theinjustice of fortune. The Countess was induced to come to Court by herhusband's sister, Madame Diane de Polignac, who had been appointed lady ofhonour to the Comtesse d'Artois. The Comtesse Jules was really fond of atranquil life; the impression she made at Court affected her but little;she felt only the attachment manifested for her by the Queen. I hadoccasion to see her from the commencement of her favour at Court; sheoften passed whole hours with me, while waiting for the Queen. Sheconversed with me freely and ingenuously about the honour, and at the sametime the danger, she saw in the kindness of which she was the object. TheQueen sought for the sweets of friendship; but can this gratification, sorare in any rank, exist between a Queen and a subject, when they aresurrounded, moreover, by snares laid by the artifice of courtiers? Thispardonable error was fatal to the happiness of Marie Antoinette. 

The retiring character of the Comtesse Jules, afterwards Duchesse dePolignac, cannot be spoken of too favourably; but if her heart wasincapable of forming ambitious projects, her family and friends in herfortune beheld their own, and endeavoured to secure the favour of theQueen. 

[The Comtesse, afterwards Duchesse de Polignac, nee Polastron, Married theComte (in 1780 the Duc) Jules de Polignac, the father of the Prince dePolignac 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 Besenvaland M. De Vaudreuil, particular friends of the Polignac family, made useof means, the success of which was infallible. One of my friends (Comtede Moustier), who was in their secret, came to tell me that Madame dePolignac was about to quit Versailles suddenly; that she would take leaveof the Queen only in writing; that the Comtesse Diane and M. De Vaudreuilhad dictated her letter, and the whole affair was arranged for the purposeof stimulating the attachment of Marie Antoinette. The next day, when Iwent up to the palace, I found the Queen with a letter in her hand, whichshe was reading with much emotion; it was the letter from the ComtesseJules; the Queen showed it to me. The Countess expressed in it her griefat leaving a princess who had loaded her with kindness. The narrowness ofher fortune compelled her to do so; but she was much more stronglyimpelled by the fear that the Queen's friendship, after having raised updangerous enemies against her, might abandon her to their hatred, and tothe 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. Ayoung and sensitive queen cannot long bear the idea of contradiction. Shebusied herself in settling the Comtesse Jules near her, by making such aprovision for her as should place her beyond anxiety. Her charactersuited the Queen; she had merely natural talents, no pedantry, noaffectation of knowledge. She was of middle size; her complexion veryfair, her eyebrows and hair dark brown, her teeth superb, her smileenchanting, and her whole person graceful. She was seen almost always ina demi-toilet, remarkable only for neatness and good taste. I do notthink I ever once saw diamonds about her, even at the climax of herfortune, when she had the rank of Duchess at Court. 

I have always believed that her sincere attachment for the Queen, as muchas her love of simplicity, induced her to avoid everything that mightcause her to be thought a wealthy favourite. She had not one of thefailings which usually accompany that position. She loved the persons whoshared the Queen's affections, and was entirely free from jealousy. MarieAntoinette flattered herself that the Comtesse Jules and the Princesse deLamballe would be her especial friends, and that she should possess asociety formed according to her own taste. "I will receive them in mycloset, or at Trianon, " said she; "I will enjoy the comforts of privatelife, which exist not for us, unless we have the good sense to secure themfor ourselves. " The happiness the Queen thought to secure was destined toturn to vexation. All those courtiers who were not admitted to thisintimacy became so many jealous and vindictive enemies. 

It was necessary to make a suitable provision for the Countess. The placeof first equerry, in reversion after the Comte de Tesse, given to ComteJules unknown to the titular holder, displeased the family of Noailles. This family had just sustained another mortification, the appointment ofthe Princesse de Lamballe having in some degree rendered necessary theresignation of the Comtesse de Noailles, whose husband was thereupon madea marshal of France. The Princesse de Lamballe, although she did notquarrel with the Queen, was alarmed at the establishment of the ComtesseJules at Court, and did not form, as her Majesty had hoped, a part of thatintimate society, which was in turn composed of Mesdames Jules and Dianede Polignac, d'Andlau and de Chalon, and Messieurs de Guignes, de Coigny, d'Adhemar, de Besenval, lieutenant-colonel of the Swiss, de Polignac, deVaudreuil, and de Guiche; the Prince de Ligne and the Duke of Dorset, theEnglish ambassador, were also admitted. 

It was a long time before the Comtesse Jules maintained any great state atCourt. The Queen contented herself with giving her very fine apartmentsat the top of the marble staircase. The salary of first equerry, thetrifling emoluments derived from M. De Polignac's regiment, added to theirslender patrimony, and perhaps some small pension, at that time formed thewhole fortune of the favourite. I never saw the Queen make her a presentof value; I was even astonished one day at hearing her Majesty mention, with pleasure, that the Countess had gained ten thousand francs in thelottery. "She was in great want of it, " added the Queen. 

Thus the Polignacs were not settled at Court in any degree of splendourwhich could justify complaints from others, and the substantial favoursbestowed upon that family were less envied than the intimacy between themand their proteges and the Queen. Those who had no hope of entering thecircle of the Comtesse Jules were made jealous by the opportunities ofadvancement it afforded. 

However, at the time I speak of, the society around the Comtesse Jules wasfully engaged in gratifying the young Queen. Of this the Marquis deVaudreuil was a conspicuous member; he was a brilliant man, the friend andprotector of men of letters and celebrated artists. 

The Baron de Besenval added to the bluntness of the Swiss all theadroitness of a French courtier. His fifty years and gray hairs made himenjoy among women the confidence inspired by mature age, although he hadnot given up the thought of love affairs. He talked of his nativemountains with enthusiasm. He would at any time sing the "Ranz desVaches" with tears in his eyes, and was the best story-teller in theComtesse Jules's circle. The last new song or 'bon mot' and the gossip ofthe day were the sole topics of conversation in the Queen's parties. Witwas banished from them. The Comtesse Diane, more inclined to literarypursuits than her sister-in-law, one day, recommended her to read the"Iliad" and "Odyssey. " The latter replied, laughing, that she wasperfectly 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 ofa line in the "Mercure Galant. " In the quarrel scene one of the lawyerssays to his brother quill: 'Ton pere etait aveugle et jouait duhautbois. ']

The Queen found this sort of humour very much to her taste, and said thatno pedant should ever be her friend. 

Before the Queen fixed her assemblies at Madame de Polignac's, sheoccasionally passed the evening at the house of the Duc and Duchesse deDuras, where a brilliant party of young persons met together. Theyintroduced 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 alwaysimitating the customs of the Court, were infected with the mania for thesechildish sports. Madame de Genlis, sketching the follies of the day inone of her plays, speaks of these famous 'descampativos'; and also of therage for making a friend, called the 'inseparable', until a whim or theslightest difference might occasion a total rupture. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

The Duc de Choiseul had reappeared at Court on the ceremony of the King'scoronation 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 seeinghim again in administration, or in the Council of State; but the oppositeparty was too firmly seated at Versailles, and the young Queen's influencewas outweighed, in the mind of the King, by long-standing prejudices; shetherefore gave up for ever her attempt to reinstate the Duke. Thus thisPrincess, who has been described as so ambitious, and so strenuouslysupporting the interest of the House of Austria, failed twice in the onlyscheme which could forward the views constantly attributed to her; andspent the whole of her reign surrounded by enemies of herself and herhouse. 

Marie Antoinette took little pains to promote literature and the finearts. She had been annoyed in consequence of having ordered a performanceof the "Connstable de Bourbon, " on the celebration of the marriage ofMadame Clotilde with the Prince of Piedmont. The Court and the people ofParis censured as indecorous the naming characters in the piece after thereigning family, and that with which the new alliance was formed. Thereading of this piece by the Comte de Guibert in the Queen's closet hadproduced in her Majesty's circle that sort of enthusiasm which obscuresthe 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 tohear the reading of a comedy written by his brother. She collected herintimate circle, Messieurs de Coigny, de Vaudreuil, de Besenval, Mesdamesde Polignac, de Chalon, etc. , and to increase the number of judges, sheadmitted the two Parnys, the Chevalier de Bertin, my father-in-law, andmyself. 

Mold read for the author. I never could satisfy myself by what magic theskilful reader gained our unanimous approbation of a ridiculous work. Surely the delightful voice of Mold, by awakening our recollection of thedramatic beauties of the French stage, prevented the wretched lines ofDorat Cubieres from striking on our ears. I can assert that theexclamation Charming! charming! repeatedly interrupted the reader. Thepiece was admitted for performance at Fontainebleau; and for the firsttime the King had the curtain dropped before the end of the play. It wascalled the "Dramomane" or "Dramaturge. " All the characters died of eatingpoison in a pie. The Queen, highly disconcerted at having recommendedthis absurd production, announced that she would never hear anotherreading; and this time she kept her word. 

The tragedy of "Mustapha and Mangir, " by M. De Chamfort, was highlysuccessful at the Court theatre at Fontainebleau. The Queen procured theauthor a pension of 1, 200 francs, but his play failed on being performedat Paris. 

The spirit of opposition which prevailed in that city delighted inreversing the verdicts of the Court. The Queen determined never again togive any marked countenance to new dramatic works. She reserved herpatronage for musical composers, and in a few years their art arrived at aperfection it had never before attained in France. 

It was solely to gratify the Queen that the manager of the Opera broughtthe first company of comic actors to Paris. Gluck, Piccini, and Sacchiniwere attracted there in succession. These eminent composers were treatedwith great distinction at Court. Immediately on his arrival in France, Gluck was admitted to the Queen's toilet, and she talked to him all thetime he remained with her. She asked him one day whether he had nearlybrought his grand opera of "Armide" to a conclusion, and whether itpleased him. Gluck replied very coolly, in his German accent, "Madame, itwill soon be finished, and really it will be superb. " There was a greatoutcry against the confidence with which the composer had spoken of one ofhis own productions. The Queen defended him warmly; she insisted that hecould not be ignorant of the merit of his works; that he well knew theywere 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 wasvery reluctant to introduce long ballets into "Iphigenia. " Vestris deeplyregretted that the opera was not terminated by a piece they called achaconne, in which he displayed all his power. He complained to Gluckabout 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! Achaconne!" roared out the enraged musician; "we must describe the Greeks;and had the Greeks chaconnes?" "They had not?" returned the astonisheddancer; "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 Frenchand Italian operas; she greatly valued Gretry's music, so well adapted tothe spirit and feeling of the words. A great deal of the poetry set tomusic by Gretry is by Marmontel. The day after the first performance of"Zemira and Azor, " Marmontel and Gretry were presented to the Queen as shewas passing through the gallery of Fontainebleau to go to mass. The Queencongratulated Gretry on the success of the new opera, and told him thatshe had dreamed of the enchanting effect of the trio by Zemira's fatherand sisters behind the magic mirror. Gretry, in a transport of joy, tookMarmontel in his arms, "Ah! my friend, " cried he, "excellent music may bemade of this. "--"And execrable words, " coolly observed Marmontel, to whomher Majesty had not addressed a single compliment. 

The most indifferent artists were permitted to have the honour of paintingthe Queen. A full-length portrait, representing her in all the pomp ofroyalty, was exhibited in the gallery of Versailles. This picture, whichwas intended for the Court of Vienna, was executed by a man who does notdeserve even to be named, and disgusted all people of taste. It seemed asif 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 confessedfrankly that she saw no merit in any portrait beyond the likeness. Whenshe went to the Louvre, she would run hastily over all the little "genre"pictures, and come out, as she acknowledged, without having once raisedher eyes to the grand compositions. 

There is no good portrait of the Queen, save that by Werthmuller, chiefpainter to the King of Sweden, which was sent to Stockholm, and that byMadame Lebrun, which was saved from the revolutionary fury by thecommissioners for the care of the furniture at Versailles. 

[A sketch of very great interest made when the Queen was in the Temple anddiscovered many years afterwards there, recently reproduced in the memoirsof the Marquise de Tourzel (Paris, Plon), is the last authentic portraitof the unhappy Queen. See also the catalogue of portraits made by LordRonald Gower. ]

The composition of the latter picture resembles that of Henriette ofFrance, the wife of the unfortunate Charles I. , painted by Vandyke. LikeMarie Antoinette, she is seated, surrounded by her children, and thatresemblance adds to the melancholy interest raised by this beautifulproduction. 

While admitting that the Queen gave no direct encouragement to any art butthat of music, I should be wrong to pass over in silence the patronageconferred by her and the Princes, brothers of the King, on the art ofprinting. 

[In 1790 the King gave a proof of his particular good-will to thebookselling trade. A company consisting of the first Parisianbooksellers, being on the eve of stopping payment, succeeded in layingbefore the King a statement of their distressed situation. The monarch wasaffected by it; he took from the civil list the sum of which the societystood in immediate need, and became security for the repayment of theremainder of the 1, 200, 000 livres, which they wanted to borrow, and forthe repayment of which he fixed no particular time. ]

To Marie Antoinette we are indebted for a splendid quarto edition of theworks of Metastasio; to Monsieur, the King's brother, for a quarto Tasso, embellished with engravings after Cochin; and to the Comte d'Artois for asmall collection of select works, which is considered one of the chefd'oeuvres of the press of the celebrated Didot. 

In 1775, on the death of the Marechal du Muy, the ascendency obtained bythe sect of innovators occasioned M. De Saint-Germain to be recalled toCourt and made Minister of War. His first care was the destruction of theKing's military household establishment, an imposing and effectual rampartround the sovereign power. 

When Chancellor Maupeou obtained from Louis XV. The destruction of theParliament and the exile of all the ancient magistrates, the Mousquetaireswere charged with the execution of the commission for this purpose; and atthe stroke of midnight, the presidents and members were all arrested, eachby two Mousquetaires. In the spring of 1775 a popular insurrection hadtaken place in consequence of the high price of bread. M. Turgot's newregulation, which permitted unlimited trade in corn, was either its causeor the pretext for it; and the King's household troops again rendered thegreatest services to public tranquillity. 

I have never be enable to discover the true cause of the support given toM. De Saint-Germain's policy by the Queen, unless in the marked favourshown to the captains and officers of the Body Guards, who by thisreduction became the only soldiers of their rank entrusted with the safetyof the sovereign; or else in the Queen's strong prejudice against the Ducd'Aiguillon, then commander of the light-horse. M. De Saint-Germain, however, retained fifty gens d'armes and fifty light-horse to form a royalescort on state occasions; but in 1787 the King reduced both thesemilitary bodies. The Queen then said with satisfaction that at last sheshould see no more red coats in the gallery of Versailles. 

From 1775 to 1781 were the gayest years of the Queen's life. In thelittle journeys to Choisy, performances frequently took place at thetheatre twice in one day: grand opera and French or Italian comedy at theusual hour; and at eleven at night they returned to the theatre forparodies in which the best actors of the Opera presented themselves inwhimsical parts and costumes. The celebrated dancer Guimard always tookthe leading characters in the latter performance; she danced better thanshe acted; her extreme leanness, and her weak, hoarse voice added to theburlesque in the parodied characters of Ernelinde and Iphigenie. 

The most magnificent fete ever given to the Queen was one prepared for herby Monsieur, the King's brother, at Brunoy. That Prince did me the honourto admit me, and I followed her Majesty into the gardens, where she foundin the first copse knights in full armour asleep at the foot of trees, onwhich hung their spears and shields. The absence of the beauties who hadincited the nephews of Charlemagne and the gallants of that period tolofty deeds was supposed to occasion this lethargic slumber. But when theQueen appeared at the entrance of the copse they were on foot in aninstant, and melodious voices announced their eagerness to display theirvalour. They then hastened into a vast arena, magnificently decorated inthe exact style of the ancient tournaments. Fifty dancers dressed as pagespresented to the knights twenty-five superb black horses, and twenty-fiveof a dazzling whiteness, all most richly caparisoned. The party led byAugustus Vestris wore the Queen's colours. Picq, balletmaster at theRussian Court, commanded the opposing band. There was running at thenegro's head, tilting, and, lastly, combats 'a outrance', perfectly wellimitated. Although the spectators were aware that the Queen's colourscould not but be victorious, they did not the less enjoy the apparentuncertainty. 

Nearly all the agreeable women of Paris were ranged upon the steps whichsurrounded the area of the tourney. The Queen, surrounded by the royalfamily and the whole Court, was placed beneath an elevated canopy. Aplay, followed by a ballet-pantomime and a ball, terminated the fete. Fireworks and illuminations were not spared. Finally, from a prodigiouslyhigh scaffold, placed on a rising ground, the words 'Vive Louis! ViveMarie Antoinette!' were shown in the air in the midst of a very dark butcalm night. 

Pleasure was the sole pursuit of every one of this young family, with theexception of the King. Their love of it was perpetually encouraged by acrowd of those officious people who, by anticipating the desires and eventhe passions of princes, find means of showing their zeal, and hope togain 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 doit; and the King threw no impediment in the way of Marie Antoinette'sinclinations. His long indifference had been followed by admiration andlove. He was a slave to all the wishes of the Queen, who, delighted withthe happy change in the heart and habits of the King, did not sufficientlyconceal the ascendency she was gaining over him. 

The King went to bed every night at eleven precisely; he was verymethodical, and nothing was allowed to interfere with his rules. Thenoise which the Queen unavoidably made when she returned very late fromthe evenings which she spent with the Princesse de Gugmenee or the Duc deDuras, at last annoyed the King, and it was amicably agreed that the Queenshould apprise him when she intended to sit up late. He then began tosleep in his own apartment, which had never before happened from the timeof their marriage. 

During the winter the Queen attended the Opera balls with a single lady ofthe palace, and always found there Monsieur and the Comte d'Artois. Herpeople concealed their liveries under gray cloth greatcoats. She neverthought she was recognized, while all the time she was known to the wholeassembly, from the first moment she entered the theatre; they pretended, however, not to recognise her, and some masquerade manoeuvre was alwaysadopted to give her the pleasure of fancying herself incognito. 

Louis XVI. Determined once to accompany the Queen to a masked ball; it wasagreed 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 theinner corridors of the palace, followed by one of her women with a blackdomino; she assisted him to put it on, and they went alone to the chapelcourt, where a carriage waited for them, with the captain of the Guard ofthe 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 foundnothing to admire at the masquerade but Punches and Harlequins, whichserved as a joke against him for the royal family, who often amusedthemselves with laughing at him about it. 

An event, simple in itself, brought dire suspicion upon the Queen. Shewas 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 obligedto 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 sounusual an adventure for a queen that she had hardly entered theOpera-house when she could not help saying to some persons whom she metthere: "That I should be in a fiacre! Is it not droll?"

From that moment all Paris was informed of the adventure of the fiacre. Itwas said that everything connected with it was mysterious; that the Queenhad kept an assignation in a private house with the Duc de Coigny. He wasindeed very well received at Court, but equally so by the King and Queen. These accusations of gallantry once set afloat, there were no longer anybounds to the calumnies circulated at Paris. If, during the chase or atcards, the Queen spoke to Lord Edward Dillon, De Lambertye, or others, they were so many favoured lovers. The people of Paris did not know thatnone of those young persons were admitted into the Queen's private circleof friends; the Queen went about Paris in disguise, and had made use of afiacre; and a single instance of levity gives room for the suspicion ofothers. 

Conscious of innocence, and well knowing that all about her must dojustice to her private life, the Queen spoke of these reports withcontempt, contenting herself with the supposition that some folly in theyoung men mentioned had given rise to them. She therefore left offspeaking to them or even looking at them. Their vanity took alarm atthis, and revenge induced them either to say, or to leave others to think, that they were unfortunate enough to please no longer. Other youngcoxcombs, placing themselves near the private box which the Queen occupiedincognito when she attended the public theatre at Versailles, had thepresumption to imagine that they were noticed by her; and I have knownsuch notions entertained merely on account of the Queen's requesting oneof those gentlemen to inquire behind the scenes whether it would be longbefore the commencement of the second piece. 

The list of persons received into the Queen's closet which I gave in thepreceding chapter was placed in the hands of the ushers of the chamber bythe Princesse de Lamballe; and the persons there enumerated could presentthemselves to enjoy the distinction only on those days when the Queenchose to be with her intimates in a private manner; and this was only whenshe was slightly indisposed. People of the first rank at Court sometimesrequested special audiences of her; the Queen then received them in a roomwithin that called the closet of the women on duty, and these womenannounced them in her Majesty's apartment. 

The Duc de Lauzun had a good deal of wit, and chivalrous manners. TheQueen was accustomed to see him at the King's suppers, and at the house ofthe Princesse de Guemenee, and always showed him attention. One day hemade his appearance at Madame de Guemenee's in uniform, and with the mostmagnificent plume of white heron's feathers that it was possible tobehold. The Queen admired the plume, and he offered it to her through thePrincesse de Guemenee. As he had worn it the Queen had not imagined thathe could think of giving it to her; much embarrassed with the presentwhich she had, as it were, drawn upon herself, she did not like to refuseit, nor did she know whether she ought to make one in return; afraid, ifshe did give anything, of giving either too much or too little, shecontented herself with once letting M. De Lauzun see her adorned with theplume. In his secret "Memoirs" the Duke attaches an importance to hispresent, which proves him utterly unworthy of an honour accorded only tohis name and rank

A short time afterwards he solicited an audience; the Queen granted it, asshe would have done to any other courtier of equal rank. I was in theroom adjoining that in which he was received; a few minutes after hisarrival the Queen reopened the door, and said aloud, and in an angry toneof voice, "Go, monsieur. " M. De Lauzun bowed low, and withdrew. TheQueen was much agitated. She said to me: "That man shall never again comewithin my doors. " A few years before the Revolution of 1789 the Marechalde Biron died. The Duc de Lauzun, heir to his name, aspired to theimportant post of colonel of the regiment of French guards. The Queen, however, procured it for the Duc du Chaatelet. The Duc de Biron espousedthe cause of the Duc d'Orleans, and became one of the most violent enemiesof Marie Antoinette. 

It is with reluctance that I enter minutely on a defence of the Queenagainst two infamous accusations with which libellers have dared to swelltheir envenomed volumes. I mean the unworthy suspicions of too strong anattachment for the Comte d'Artois, and of the motives for the tenderfriendship which subsisted between the Queen, the Princesse de Lamballe, and the Duchesse de Polignac. I do not believe that the Comte d'Artoiswas, during his own youth and that of the Queen, so much smitten as hasbeen said with the loveliness of his sister-in-law; I can affirm that Ialways saw that Prince maintain the most respectful demeanour towards theQueen; that she always spoke of his good-nature and cheerfulness with thatfreedom which attends only the purest sentiments; and that none of thoseabout the Queen ever saw in the affection she manifested towards the Comted'Artois more than that of a kind and tender sister for her youngestbrother. As to the intimate connection between Marie Antoinette and theladies I have named, it never had, nor could have, any other motive thanthe very innocent wish to secure herself two friends in the midst of anumerous Court; and notwithstanding this intimacy, that tone of respectobserved by persons of the most exalted rank towards majesty never ceasedto be maintained. 

The Queen, much occupied with the society of Madame de Polignac, and anunbroken series of amusements, found less time for the Abbe de Vermond; hetherefore resolved to retire from Court. The world did him the honour tobelieve that he had hazarded remonstrances upon his august pupil'sfrivolous employment of her time, and that he considered himself, both asan ecclesiastic and as instructor, now out of place at Court. But theworld was deceived his dissatisfaction arose purely from the favour shownto the Comtesse Jules. After a fortnight's absence we saw him atVersailles again, resuming his usual functions. 

The Queen could express herself with winning graciousness to persons whomerited her praise. When M. Loustonneau was appointed to the reversion ofthe post of first surgeon to the King, he came to make hisacknowledgments. He was much beloved by the poor, to whom he had chieflydevoted his talents, spending nearly thirty thousand francs a year onindigent sufferers. The Queen replied to his thanks by saying: "You aresatisfied, Monsieur; but I am far from being so with the inhabitants ofVersailles. On the news of your appointment the town should have beenilluminated. "--"How so, Madame?" asked the astonished surgeon, who wasvery modest. "Why, " replied the Queen, "if the poor whom you havesuccoured for the past twenty years had each placed a single candle intheir windows it would have been the most beautiful illumination everwitnessed. "

The Queen did not limit her kindness to friendly words. There wasfrequently seen in the apartments of Versailles a veteran captain of thegrenadiers of France, called the Chevalier d'Orville, who for four yearshad been soliciting from the Minister of War the post of major, or ofKing's lieutenant. He was known to be very poor; but he supported his lotwithout complaining of this vexatious delay in rewarding his honourableservices. He regularly attended the Marechal de Segur, at the hourappointed for receiving the numerous solicitations in his department. Oneday the Marshal said to him: "You are still at Versailles, M. D'Orville?"--"Monsieur, " he replied, "you may observe that by this boardof the flooring where I regularly place myself; it is already worn downseveral lines by the weight of my body. " The Queen frequently stood atthe window of her bedchamber to observe with her glass the people walkingin the park. Sometimes she inquired the names of those who were unknownto her. One day she saw the Chevalier d'Orville passing, and asked me thename of that knight of Saint Louis, whom she had seen everywhere for along time past. I knew who he was, and related his history. "That mustbe put an end to, " said the Queen, with some vivacity. "Such an exampleof indifference is calculated to discourage our soldiers. " Next day, incrossing the gallery to go to mass, the Queen perceived the Chevalierd'Orville; she went directly towards him. The poor man fell back in therecess of a window, looking to the right and left to discover the personwhom the Queen was seeking, when she thus addressed him: "M. D'Orville, you have been several years at Versailles, soliciting a majority or aKing's lieutenancy. You must have very powerless patrons. "--"I have none, Madame, " replied the Chevalier, in great confusion. "Well! I will takeyou under my protection. To-morrow at the same hour be here with apetition, and a memorial of your services. " A fortnight after, M. D'Orville was appointed King's lieutenant, either at La Rochelle or atRochefort. 

[Louis XVI. Vied with his Queen in benevolent actions of this kind. An oldofficer had in vain solicited a pension during the administration of theDuc de Choiseul. He returned to the charge in the times of the Marquis deMontesnard 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 lastappeared at the King's supper, and, having placed himself so as to be seenand heard, cried out at a moment when silence prevailed, "Sire. " Thepeople near him said, "What are you about? This is not the way to speakto the King. "--"I fear nothing, " said he, and raising his voice, repeated, "Sire. " The King, much surprised, looked at him and said, "What do youwant, monsieur. "--"Sire, " answered he, "I am seventy years of age; I haveserved your Majesty more than fifty years, and I am dying forwant. "--"Have you a memorial?" replied the King. "Yes, Sire, Ihave. "--"Give it to me;" and his Majesty took it without saying anythingmore. Next morning he was sent for by the, King, who said, "Monsieur, Igrant you an annuity of 1, 500 livres out of my privy purse, and you may goand receive the first year's payment, which is now due. " ("SecretCorrespondence of the Court: Reign of Louis XVI. ") The King preferred tospend money in charity rather than in luxury or magnificence. Once duringhis absence, M. D'Augivillers caused an unused room in the King'sapartment to be repaired at a cost of 30, 000 francs. On his return theKing 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 beenexpecting a visit from her brother, the Emperor Joseph II. That Princewas the constant theme of her discourse. She boasted of his intelligence, his love of occupation, his military knowledge, and the perfect simplicityof his manners. Those about her Majesty ardently wished to see atVersailles a prince so worthy of his rank. At length the coming of JosephII. , under the title of Count Falkenstein, was announced, and the very dayon which he would be at Versailles was mentioned. The first embracesbetween the Queen and her august brother took place in the presence of allthe Queen's household. The sight of their emotion was extremelyaffecting. 

The Emperor was at first generally admired in France; learned men, well-informed officers, and celebrated artists appreciated the extent ofhis information. He made less impression at Court, and very little in theprivate circle of the King and Queen. His eccentric manners, hisfrankness, often degenerating into rudeness, and his evidently affectedsimplicity, --all these characteristics caused him to be looked upon as aprince rather singular than admirable. The Queen spoke to him about theapartment she had prepared for him in the Chateau; the Emperor answeredthat he would not accept it, and that while travelling he always lodged ata cabaret (that was his very expression); the Queen insisted, and assuredhim that he should be at perfect liberty, and placed out of the reach ofnoise. 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. Heappeared to take an interest in the young Princesse Elisabeth, then justpast childhood, and blooming in all the freshness of that age. Anintended marriage between him and this young sister of the King wasreported 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 privatewith the King, the royal family, or crowned heads. 

[The custom was, even supposing dinner to have commenced, if a princess ofthe blood arrived, and she was asked to sit down at the Queen's table, thecomptrollers and gentlemen-in-waiting came immediately to attend, and theQueen's women withdrew. These had succeeded the maids of honour inseveral parts of their service, and had preserved some of theirprivileges. One day the Duchesse d'Orleans arrived at Fontainebleau, atthe Queen's dinner-hour. The Queen invited her to the table, and herselfmotioned to her women to leave the room, and let the men take theirplaces. Her Majesty said she was resolved to continue a privilege whichkept places of that description most honourable, and render them suitablefor ladies of nobility without fortune. Madame de Misery, Baronne deBiache, the Queen's first lady of the chamber, to whom I was madereversioner, was a daughter of M. Le Comte de Chemant, and her grandmotherwas 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 hadprerogatives acknowledged in the state. Many of the offices were tenableonly by those of noble blood, and were sold at from 40, 000 to 300, 000franca. A collection of edicts of the Kings in favour of the prerogativesand right of precedence of the persons holding office in the royalhousehold is still in existence. ]

I was present at the Queen's dinner almost every day. The Emperor wouldtalk much and fluently; he expressed himself in French with facility, andthe singularity, of his expressions added a zest to his conversation. Ihave often heard him say that he liked spectaculous objects, when he meantto express such things as formed a show, or a scene worthy of interest. He disguised none of his prejudices against the etiquette and customs ofthe Court of France; and even in the presence of the King made them thesubject of his sarcasms. The King smiled, but never made any answer; theQueen appeared pained. The Emperor frequently terminated his observationsupon the objects in Paris which he had admired by reproaching the King forsuffering himself to remain in ignorance of them. He could not conceivehow such a wealth of pictures should remain shut up in the dust of immensestores; and told him one day that but for the practice of placing some ofthem in the apartments of Versailles he would not know even the principalchef d'oeuvres that he possessed. 

[The Emperor loudly censured the existing practice of allowing shopkeepersto erect shops near the outward walls of all the palaces, and even toestablish something like a fair in the galleries of Versailles andFontainebleau, and even upon the landings of the staircases. ]

He also reproached him for not having visited the Hotel des Invalides northe Ecole Militaire; and even went so far as to tell him before us that heought not only to know what Paris contained, but to travel in France, andreside a few days in each of his large towns. 

At last the Queen was really hurt at the Emperor's remarks, and gave him afew lectures upon the freedom with which he allowed himself to lectureothers. One day she was busied in signing warrants and orders for paymentfor her household, and was conversing with M. Augeard, her secretary forsuch matters, who presented the papers one after another to be signed, andreplaced them in his portfolio. While this was going forward, the Emperorwalked about the room; all at once he stood still, to reproach the Queenrather severely for signing all those papers without reading them, or, atleast, without running her eye over them; and he spoke most judiciously toher upon the danger of signing her name inconsiderately. The Queenanswered that very wise principles might be very ill applied; that hersecretary, who deserved her implicit confidence, was at that moment layingbefore her nothing but orders for payment of the quarter's expenses of herhousehold, registered in the Chamber of Accounts; and that she ran no riskof incautiously giving her signature. 

The Queen's toilet was likewise a never-failing subject for animadversionwith the Emperor. He blamed her for having introduced too many newfashions; and teased her about her use of rouge. One day, while she waslaying on more of it than usual, before going to the play, he pointed outa lady who was in the room, and who was, in truth, highly painted. "Alittle more under the eyes, " said the Emperor to the Queen; "lay on therouge like a fury, as that lady does. " The Queen entreated her brother torefrain from his jokes, or at all events to address them, when they wereso outspoken, to her alone. 

The Queen had made an appointment to meet her brother at the Italiantheatre; she changed her mind, and went to the French theatre, sending apage 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. Dela Ferte, comptroller of the Queen's privy purse, who was much hurt athearing his Imperial Majesty, after kindly expressing his regret at notbeing present during the Italian performance, say to Clairval, "Your youngQueen is very giddy; but, luckily, you Frenchmen have no great objectionto that. "

I was with my father-in-law in one of the Queen's apartments when theEmperor came to wait for her there, and, knowing that M. Campan waslibrarian, he conversed with him about such books as would of course befound in the Queen's library. After talking of our most celebratedauthors, he casually said, "There are doubtless no works on finance or onadministration here?"

These words were followed by his opinion on all that had been written onthose topics, and the different systems of our two famous ministers, Sullyand Colbert; on errors which were daily committed in France, in pointsessential to the prosperity of the Empire; and on the reform he himselfwould make at Vienna. Holding M. Campan by the button, he spent more thanan hour, talking vehemently, and without the slightest reserve, about theFrench Government. My father-in-law and myself maintained profoundsilence, as much from astonishment as from respect; and when we were alonewe 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 himhighly; he described to the life the manner and speech of that sovereign, and the simplicity with which he used to go and solicit the firstchamberlain to obtain permission to return to the nuptial bed, when theangry Queen had banished him from it. The time which he was made to waitfor this reconciliation was calculated between the Queen and herchamberlain, and always proportioned to the gravity of the offence. Healso related several very amusing stories relative to the Court of Parma, of which he spoke with no little contempt. If what this Prince said ofthose Courts, and even of Vienna, had been written down, the whole wouldhave formed an interesting collection. The Emperor told the King that theGrand Duke of Tuscany and the King of Naples being together, the formersaid a great deal about the changes he had effected in his State. TheGrand Duke had issued a mass of new edicts, in order to carry the preceptsof the economists into execution, and trusted that in so doing he waslabouring for the welfare of his people. The King of Naples suffered himto go on speaking for a long time, and then casually asked how manyNeapolitan families there were in Tuscany. The Duke soon reckoned themup, as they were but few. "Well, brother, " replied the King of Naples, "Ido not understand the indifference of your people towards your greatreforms; for I have four times the number of Tuscan families settled in myStates that you have of Neapolitan families in yours. "

The Queen being at the Opera with the Emperor, the latter did not wish toshow himself; but she took him by the hand, and gently drew him to thefront of the box. This kind of presentation to the public was most warmlyreceived. The performance was "Iphigenia in Aulis, " and for the secondtime the chorus, "Chantons, celebrons notre Reine!" was called for withuniversal plaudits. 

A fete of a novel description was given at Petit Trianon. The art withwhich the English garden was not illuminated, but lighted, produced acharming effect. Earthen lamps, concealed by boards painted green, threwlight upon the beds of shrubs and flowers, and brought out their variedtints. Several hundred burning fagots in the moat behind the Temple ofLove made a blaze of light, which rendered that spot the most brilliant inthe garden. After all, this evening's entertainment had nothingremarkable about it but the good taste of the artists, yet it was muchtalked of. The situation did not allow the admission of a great part ofthe Court; those who were uninvited were dissatisfied; and the people, whonever forgive any fetes but those they share in, so exaggerated the costof this little fete as to make it appear that the fagots burnt in the moathad required the destruction of a whole forest. The Queen being informedof these reports, was determined to know exactly how much wood had beenconsumed; and she found that fifteen hundred fagots had sufficed to keepup the fire until four o'clock in the morning. 

After staying a few months the Emperor left France, promising his sisterto come and see her again. All the officers of the Queen's chamber hadmany opportunities of serving him during his stay, and expected that hewould make them presents before his departure. Their oath of officepositively forbade them to receive a gift from any foreign prince; theyhad therefore agreed to refuse the Emperor's presents at first, but to askthe time necessary for obtaining permission to accept them. The Emperor, probably informed of this custom, relieved the good people from theirdifficulty by setting off without making a single present. 

About the latter end of 1777 the Queen, being alone in her closet, sentfor my father-in-law and myself, and, giving us her hand to kiss; told usthat, looking upon us both as persons deeply interested in her happiness, she wished to receive our congratulations, --that at length she was theQueen of France, and that she hoped soon to have children; that till nowshe 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 tothe Queen assumed every characteristic of love. The good Lassone, firstphysician to the King and Queen, frequently spoke to me of the uneasinessthat the King's indifference, the cause of which he had been so long inovercoming, had given him, and appeared to me at that time to entertain noanxiety 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 strictpersons considered this concession on the part of the Court veryinjudicious. The Emperor, on leaving France, passed by the Chateau ofFerney without stopping there. He had advised the Queen not to sufferVoltaire to be presented to her. A lady belonging to the Court learnedthe Emperor's opinion on that point, and reproached him with his want ofenthusiasm towards the greatest genius of the age. He replied that forthe good of the people he should always endeavour to profit by theknowledge of the philosophers; but that his own business of sovereignwould always prevent his ranking himself amongst that sect. The clergyalso took steps to hinder Voltaire's appearance at Court. Paris, however, carried to the highest pitch the honours and enthusiasm shown to the greatpoet. 

It was very unwise to let Paris pronounce with such transport an opinionso opposite to that of the Court. This was pointed out to the Queen, andshe was told that, without conferring on Voltaire the honour of apresentation, she might see him in the State apartments. She was notaverse to following this advice, and appeared embarrassed solely aboutwhat she should say to him. She was recommended to talk about nothing butthe "Henriade, " "Merope, " and "Zaira. " The Queen replied that she wouldstill consult a few other persons in whom she had great confidence. Thenext day she announced that it was irrevocably decided Voltaire should notsee any member of the royal family, --his writings being too antagonisticto religion and morals. "It is, however, strange, " said the Queen, "thatwhile we refuse to admit Voltaire into our presence as the leader ofphilosophical writers, the Marechale de Mouchy should have presented to mesome years ago Madame Geoffrin, who owed her celebrity to the title offoster-mother of the philosophers. "

On the occasion of the duel of the Comte d'Artois with the Prince deBourbon the Queen determined privately to see the Baron de Besenval, whowas to be one of the witnesses, in order to communicate the King'sintentions. I have read with infinite pain the manner in which thatsimple 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 uppercorridors of the Chateau, and introduced him into an apartment unknown tohim; but the air of romance given to the interview is equally culpable andridiculous. M. De Besenval says that he found himself, without knowinghow he came there, in an apartment unadorned, but very convenientlyfurnished, of the existence of which he was till then utterly ignorant. He was astonished, he adds, not that the Queen should have so manyfacilities, but that she should have ventured to procure them. Tenprinted sheets of the woman Lamotte's libels contain nothing so injuriousto the character of Marie Antoinette as these lines, written by a man whomshe honoured by undeserved kindness. He could not have had anyopportunity of knowing the existence of the apartments, which consisted ofa very small antechamber, a bedchamber, and a closet. Ever since theQueen had occupied her own apartment, these had been appropriated to herMajesty's lady of honour in cases of illness, and were actually so usedwhen the Queen was confined. It was so important that it should not beknown the Queen had spoken to the Baron before the duel that she haddetermined to go through her inner room into this little apartment, towhich M. Campan was to conduct him. When men write of recent times theyshould be scrupulously exact, and not indulge in exaggerations orinventions. 

The Baron de Besenval appears mightily surprised at the Queen's suddencoolness, and refers it to the fickleness of her disposition. I canexplain the reason for the change by repeating what her Majesty said to meat the time; and I will not alter one of her expressions. Speaking of thestrange presumption of men, and the reserve with which women ought alwaysto treat them, the Queen added that age did not deprive them of the hopeof pleasing, if they retained any agreeable qualities; that she hadtreated the Baron de Besenval as a brave Swiss, agreeable, polished, andwitty, whose gray hairs had induced her to look upon him as a man whom shemight see without harm; but that she had been much deceived. Her Majesty, after having enjoined me to the strictest secrecy, told me that, findingherself alone with the Baron, he began to address her with so muchgallantry that she was thrown into the utmost astonishment, and that hewas 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 beignorant of an offence which would disgrace you for ever;" that the Barongrew pale and stammered apologies; that she left her closet without sayinganother word, and that since that time she hardly ever spoke to him. "Itis delightful to have friends, " said the Queen; "but in a situation likemine it is sometimes difficult for the friends of our friends to suit us. "

In the beginning of the year 1778 Mademoiselle d'Eon obtained permissionto return to France, on condition that she should appear there in femaledress. The Comte de Vergennes entreated my father, M. Genet, chief clerkof Foreign Affairs, who had long known the Chevalier d'Eon, to receivethat 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; myfather thought it his duty first to inform the Minister of her Majesty'swish. The Comte de Vergennes expressed himself pleased with my father'sprudence, and desired that he would accompany him to the Queen. TheMinister had a few minutes' audience; her Majesty came out of her closetwith him, and condescended to express to my father the regret she felt athaving troubled him to no purpose; and added, smiling, that a few wordsfrom M. De Vergennes had for ever cured her of her curiosity. Thediscovery in London of the true sex of this pretended woman makes itprobable that the few words uttered by the Minister contained a solutionof the enigma. 

The Chevalier d'Eon had been useful in Russia as a spy of Louis XV. Whilevery young he had found means to introduce himself at the Court of theEmpress Elizabeth, and served that sovereign in the capacity of reader. Resuming afterwards his military dress, he served with honour and waswounded. Appointed chief secretary of legation, and afterwards ministerplenipotentiary at London, he unpardonably insulted Comte de Guerchy, theambassador. The official order for the Chevalier's return to France wasactually delivered to the King's Council; but Louis XV. Delayed thedeparture of the courier who was to be its bearer, and sent off anothercourier privately, who gave the Chevalier d'Eon a letter in his ownwriting, in which he said, "I know that you have served me as effectuallyin the dress of a woman as in that which you now wear. Resume itinstantly; withdraw into the city; I warn you that the King yesterdaysigned 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 Chevalierd'Eon repeat the contents of this letter, in which Louis XV. Thusseparated 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'sletters. Messieurs de Maurepas and de Vergennes wished to get them out ofhis hands, as they were afraid he would print them. This eccentric beinghad long solicited permission to return to France; but it was necessary tofind a way of sparing the family he had offended the insult they would seein his return; he was therefore made to resume the costume of that sex towhich in France everything is pardoned. The desire to see his native landonce more determined him to submit to the condition, but he revengedhimself by combining the long train of his gown and the three deep ruffleson his sleeves with the attitude and conversation of a grenadier, whichmade him very disagreeable company. 

[The account given by Madame Campan of the Chevalier d'Eon is now known tobe incorrect in many particulars. Enough details for most readers will befound 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 tothe letter of most dubious authenticity spoken of by Madame Campan. Thefollowing details will be sufficient for these memoirs: The ChevalierCharles d'Eon de Beaumont (who was born in 1728) was an ex-captain ofdragoons, employed in both the open and secret diplomacy of Louis XV. When at the embassy in London he quarrelled with the ambassador, hissuperior, the Comte de Guerchy (Marquis do Nangis), and used hispossession of papers concerning the secret diplomacy to shield himself. It was when hiding in London, in 1765, on account of this business, thathe seems first to have assumed woman's dress, which he retained apparentlychiefly from love of notoriety. In 1775 a formal agreement with theFrench Court, made by the instrumentality of Beaumarchais, of all peoplein the world, permitted him to return to France, retaining the dress of awoman. 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 acertain coldness of temperament always remarked in him assisted him in hisassumption of another sex. There appears to be no truth in the story ofhis proceedings at the Russian Court, and his appearing in female attirewas a surprise to those who must have known of any earlier affair of thesort. ]

At last, the event so long desired by the Queen, and by all those whowished her well, took place; her Majesty became enceinte. The King was inecstasies. Never was there a more united or happier couple. Thedisposition of Louis XVI. Entirely altered, and became prepossessing andconciliatory; and the Queen was amply compensated for the uneasiness whichthe King's indifference during the early part of their union had causedher. 

The summer of 1778 was extremely hot. July and August passed, but the airwas not cooled by a single storm. The Queen spent whole days in closerooms, and could not sleep until she had breathed the fresh night air, walking with the Princesses and her brothers upon the terrace under herapartments. These promenades at first gave rise to no remark; but itoccurred to some of the party to enjoy the music of wind instrumentsduring these fine summer nights. The musicians belonging to the chapelwere ordered to perform pieces suited to instruments of that description, upon steps constructed in the middle of the garden. The Queen, seated onone of the terrace benches, enjoyed the effect of this music, surroundedby all the royal family with the exception of the King, who joined thembut, 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 tothe reputation of Marie Antoinette. It is true that all the inhabitantsof Versailles enjoyed these serenades, and that there was a crowd near thespot from eleven at night until two or three in the morning. The windowsof the ground floor occupied by Monsieur and Madame--[The wife ofMonsieur, the Comte de Provence. ]--were kept open, and the terrace wasperfectly well lighted by the numerous wax candles burning in the twoapartments. Lamps were likewise placed in the garden, and the lights ofthe orchestra illuminated the rest of the place. 

I do not know whether a few incautious women might not have venturedfarther, and wandered to the bottom of the park; it may have been so; butthe Queen, Madame, and the Comtesse d'Artois were always arm-in-arm, andnever left the terrace. The Princesses were not remarkable when seated onthe benches, being dressed in cambric muslin gowns, with large straw hatsand muslin veils, a costume universally adopted by women at that time; butwhen standing up their different figures always distinguished them; andthe persons present stood on one side to let them pass. It is true thatwhen they seated themselves upon the benches private individuals wouldsometimes, to their great amusement, sit down by their side. 

A young clerk in the War Department, either not knowing or pretending notto know the Queen, spoke to her of the beauty of the night, and thedelightful effect of the music. The Queen, fancying she was notrecognised, amused herself by keeping up the incognito, and they talked ofseveral private families of Versailles, consisting of persons belonging tothe King's household or her own. After a few minutes the Queen andPrincesses rose to walk, and on leaving the bench curtsied to the clerk. The young man knowing, or having subsequently discovered, that he had beenconversing 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 theRevolution found him still only a clerk. 

Another evening one of Monsieur's body-guard seated himself near thePrincesses, and, knowing them, left the place where he was sitting, andplaced himself before the Queen, to tell her that he was very fortunate inbeing able to seize an opportunity of imploring the kindness of hissovereign; that he was "soliciting at Court"--at the word soliciting theQueen and Princesses rose hastily and withdrew into Madame'sapartment. --[Soulavie has most criminally perverted these twofacts. --MADAME CAMPAN. ]--I was at the Queen's residence that day. Shetalked of this little occurrence all the time of her 'coucher'; though sheonly complained that one of Monsieur's guards should have had theeffrontery to speak to her. Her Majesty added that he ought to haverespected her incognito; and that that was not the place where he shouldhave ventured to make a request. Madame had recognised him, and talked ofmaking a complaint to his captain; the Queen opposed it, attributing hiserror to his ignorance and provincial origin. 

The most scandalous libels were based on these two insignificantoccurrences, which I have related with scrupulous exactness. Nothingcould be more false than those calumnies. It must be confessed, however, that such meetings were liable to ill consequences. I ventured to say asmuch to the Queen, and informed her that one evening, when her Majestybeckoned to me to go and speak to her, I thought I recognised on the benchon which she was sitting two women deeply veiled, and keeping profoundsilence; that those women were the Comtesse du Barry and hersister-in-law; and that my suspicions were confirmed, when, at a few pacesfrom the seat, and nearer to her Majesty, I met a tall footman belongingto Madame du Barry, whom I had seen in her service all the time sheresided at Court. 

My advice was disregarded. Misled by the pleasure she found in thesepromenades, and secure in the consciousness of blameless conduct, theQueen would not see the lamentable results which must necessarily follow. This was very unfortunate; for besides the mortifications they broughtupon her, it is highly probable that they prompted the vile plot whichgave rise to the Cardinal de Rohan's fatal error. 

Having enjoyed these evening promenades about a month, the Queen ordered aprivate concert within the colonnade which contained the group of Plutoand Proserpine. Sentinels were placed at all the entrances, and orderedto admit within the colonnade only such persons as should produce ticketssigned by my father-in-law. A fine concert was performed there by themusicians of the chapel and the female musicians belonging to the. Queen'schamber. The Queen went with Mesdames de Polignac, de Chalon, andd'Andlau, and Messieurs de Polignac, de Coigny, de Besenval, and deVaudreuil; there were also a few equerries present. Her Majesty gave mepermission to attend the concert with some of my female relations. Therewas no music upon the terrace. The crowd of inquisitive people, whom thesentinels kept at a distance from the enclosure of the colonnade, wentaway highly discontented; the small number of persons admitted no doubtoccasioned jealousy, and gave rise to offensive comments which were caughtup by the public with avidity. I do not pretend to apologise for the kindof amusements with which the Queen indulged herself during this and thefollowing summer; the consequences were so lamentable that the error wasno doubt very great; but what I have said respecting the character ofthese promenades may be relied on as true. 

When the season for evening walks was at an end, odious couplets werecirculated in Paris; the 'Queen was treated in them in the most insultingmanner; her situation ranked among her enemies persons attached to theonly prince who for several years had appeared likely to give heirs to thecrown. People uttered the most inconsiderate language; and those improperconversations took place in societies wherein the imminent danger ofviolating to so criminal an extent both truth and the respect due tosovereigns ought to have been better understood. A few days before theQueen's confinement a whole volume of manuscript songs, concerning her andall the ladies about her remarkable for rank or station was, thrown downin the oiel-de-boeuf. --[A large room at Versailles lighted by a bull's-eyewindow, and used as a waiting-room. ]--This manuscript was immediately putinto the hands of the King, who was highly incensed at it, and said thathe had himself been at those promenades; that he had seen nothingconnected with them but what was perfectly harmless; that such songs woulddisturb the harmony of twenty families in the Court and city; that it wasa capital crime to have made any against the Queen herself; and that hewished the author of the infamous libels to be discovered and punished. Afortnight 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 orhis carelessness before the revolutionary tribunal. After hearing his ownsentence read, he asked his judges if he might not be allowed to find asubstitute. --MADAME CAMPAN. ]

I knew for a certainty that the King spoke to M. De Maurepas, before twoof his most confidential servants, respecting the risk which he saw theQueen ran from these night walks upon the terrace of Versailles, which thepublic ventured to censure thus openly, and that the old minister had thecruelty to advise that she should be suffered to go on; she possessedtalent; her friends were very ambitious, and longed to see her take a partin public affairs; and to let her acquire the reputation of levity woulddo 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 PrimeMinister durst point out to his King an advantage to be gained by theQueen's discrediting herself, that he and M. De Vergennes employed allmeans within the reach of powerful ministers in order to ruin her in theopinion of the public. 

The Queen's accouchement approached; Te Deums were sung and prayersoffered up in all the cathedrals. On the 11th of December, 1778, theroyal family, the Princes of the blood, and the great officers of Statepassed 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 ofDecember. --[Marie Therese Charlotte (1778-1861), Madame Royale; married in1799 Louis, Duc d'Angouleme, eldest son of the Comte d'Artois. ]--Theetiquette of allowing all persons indiscriminately to enter at the momentof the delivery of a queen was observed with such exaggeration that whenthe accoucheur said aloud, "La Reine va s'accoucher, " the persons whopoured into the chamber were so numerous that the rush nearly destroyedthe Queen. During the night the King had taken the precaution to have theenormous tapestry screens which surrounded her Majesty's bed secured withcords; but for this they certainly would have been thrown down upon her. It was impossible to move about the chamber, which was filled with somotley a crowd that one might have fancied himself in some place of publicamusement. Two Savoyards got upon the furniture for a better sight of theQueen, who was placed opposite the fireplace. 

The noise and the sex of the infant, with which the Queen was madeacquainted by a signal previously agreed on, as it is said, with thePrincesse do Lamballe, or some error of the accoucheur, brought onsymptoms which threatened fatal consequences; the accoucheur exclaimed, "Give her air--warm water--she must be bled in the foot!" The windowswere stopped up; the King opened them with a strength which his affectionfor the Queen gave him at the moment. They were of great height, andpasted over with strips of paper all round. The basin of hot water notbeing brought quickly enough, the accoucheur desired the chief surgeon touse his lancet without waiting for it. He did so; the blood streamed outfreely, and the Queen opened her eyes. The Princesse de Lamballe wascarried through the crowd in a state of insensibility. The valets dechambre and pages dragged out by the collar such inconsiderate persons aswould not leave the room. This cruel custom was abolished afterwards. ThePrinces of the family, the Princes of the blood, the chancellor, and theministers are surely sufficient to attest the legitimacy of an hereditaryprince. The Queen was snatched from the very jaws of death; she was notconscious of having been bled, and on being replaced in bed asked why shehad a linen bandage upon her foot. 

The delight which succeeded the moment of fear was equally lively andsincere. We were all embracing each other, and shedding tears of joy. TheComte d'Esterhazy and the Prince de Poix, to whom I was the first toannounce that the Queen was restored to life, embraced me in the midst ofthe cabinet of nobles. We little imagined, in our happiness at her escapefrom death, for how much more terrible a fate our beloved Princess wasreserved. 

NOTE. The two following specimens of the Emperor Joseph's correspondenceforcibly 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 thefullness and point of the following letter

To a Lady. 

MADAM. --I do not think that it is amongst the duties of a monarch to grantplaces 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 latehusband was, you say, a distinguished general, a gentleman of good family, and thence you conclude that my kindness to your family can do no lessthan give a company of foot to your second son, lately returned from histravels. 

Madam, a man may be the son of a general and yet have no talent forcommand. A man may be of a good family and yet possess no other meritthan that which he owes to chance, --the name of gentleman. 

I know your son, and I know what makes the soldier; and this twofoldknowledge 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 hisever rendering it any important service. 

What you are to be pitied for, madam, is, that your son is not fit eitherfor an officer, a statesman or a priest; in a word, that he is nothingmore than a gentleman in the most extended acceptation of the word. 

You may be thankful to that destiny, which, in refusing talents to yourson, has taken care to put him in possession of great wealth, which willsufficiently compensate him for other deficiencies, and enable him at thesame time to dispense with any favour from me. 

I hope you will be impartial enough to see the reasons which prompt me torefuse your request. It may be disagreeable to you, but I consider itnecessary. Farewell, madam. --Your sincere well-wisher, JOSEPHLACHSENBURG, 4th August, 1787. 

The application of another anxious and somewhat covetous mother wasanswered with still more decision and irony:

To a Lady. 

MADAM. --You know my disposition; you are not ignorant that the society ofthe ladies is to me a mere recreation, and that I have never sacrificed myprinciples to the fair sex. I pay but little attention torecommendations, and I only take them into consideration when the personin whose behalf I may be solicited possesses real merit. 

Two of your sons are already loaded with favours. The eldest, who is notyet twenty, is chief of a squadron in my army, and the younger hasobtained a canonry at Cologne, from the Elector, my brother. What wouldyou have more? Would you have the first a general and the second abishop?

In France you may see colonels in leading-strings, and in Spain the royalprinces command armies even at eighteen; hence Prince Stahremberg forcedthem to retreat so often that they were never able all the rest of theirlives to comprehend any other manoeuvre. 

It is necessary to be sincere at Court, and severe in the field, stoicalwithout obduracy, magnanimous without weakness, and to gain the esteem ofour enemies by the justice of our actions; and this, madam, is what I aimat. 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 anheir to the throne was not even thought of. The King himself was whollyoccupied with the care of preserving an adored wife. The young Princesswas presented to her mother. "Poor little one, " said the Queen, "you werenot wished for, but you are not on that account less dear to me. A sonwould have been rather the property of the State. You shall be mine; youshall have my undivided care, shall share all my happiness, and console mein all my troubles. "

The King despatched a courier to Paris, and wrote letters himself toVienna, by the Queen's bedside; and part of the rejoicings ordered tookplace in the capital. 

A great number of attendants watched near the Queen during the firstnights of her confinement. This custom distressed her; she knew how tofeel for others, and ordered large armchairs for her women, the backs ofwhich were capable of being let down by springs, and which servedperfectly well instead of beds. 

M. De Lassone, the chief physician, the chief surgeon, the chiefapothecary, the principal officers of the buttery, etc. , were likewisenine nights without going to bed. The royal children were watched for along 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 hundredmaidens were portioned and married at Notre-Dame. There were few popularacclamations, but her Majesty was perfectly well received at the Opera. 

A few days after the Queen's recovery from her confinement, the Cure ofthe Magdelaine de la City at Paris wrote to M. Campan and requested aprivate interview with him; it was to desire he would deliver into thehands of the Queen a little box containing her wedding ring, with thisnote written by the Cure: "I have received under the seal of confessionthe ring which I send to your Majesty; with an avowal that it was stolenfrom you in 1771, in order to be used in sorceries, to prevent your havingany children. " On seeing her ring again the Queen said that she had infact lost it about seven years before, while washing her hands, and thatshe had resolved to use no endeavour to discover the superstitious womanwho had done her the injury. 

The Queen's attachment to the Comtesse Jules increased every day; she wentfrequently to her house at Paris, and even took up her own abode at theChateau de la Muette to be nearer during her confinement. She marriedMademoiselle de Polignac, when scarcely thirteen years of age, to M. DeGrammont, who, on account of this marriage, was made Duc de Guiche, andcaptain of the King's Guards, in reversion after the Duc de Villeroi. TheDuchesse de Civrac, Madame Victoire's dame d'honneur, had been promisedthe place for the Duc de Lorges, her son. The number of discontentedfamilies at Court increased. 

The title of favourite was too openly given to the Comtesse Jules by herfriends. The lot of the favourite of a queen is not, in France, a happyone; the favourites of kings are treated, out of gallantry, with muchgreater 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 fewpersons honoured with her intimate confidence, when, having overexertedher strength in pulling lip one of the glasses of her carriage, she feltthat she had hurt herself, and eight days afterwards she miscarried. TheKing spent the whole morning at her bedside, consoling her, andmanifesting the tenderest concern for her. The Queen wept exceedingly;the King took her affectionately in his arms, and mingled his tears withhers. The King enjoined silence among the small number of persons whowere informed of this unfortunate occurrence; and it remained generallyunknown. These particulars furnish an accurate idea of the manner inwhich this august couple lived together. 

The Empress Maria Theresa did not enjoy the happiness of seeing herdaughter give an heir to the crown of France. That illustrious Princessdied at the close of 1780, after having proved by her example that, as inthe instance of Queen Blanche, the talents of a sovereign might be blendedwith the virtues of a pious princess. The King was deeply affected at thedeath of the Empress; and on the arrival of the courier from Vienna saidthat he could not bring himself to afflict the Queen by informing her ofan event which grieved even him so much. His Majesty thought the Abbe deVermond, who had possessed the confidence of Maria Theresa during his stayat Vienna, the most proper person to discharge this painful duty. He senthis first valet de chambre, M. De Chamilly, to the Abbe on the evening ofthe day he received the despatches from Vienna, to order him to come thenext day to the Queen before her breakfast hour, to acquit himselfdiscreetly of the afflicting commission with which he was charged, and tolet his Majesty know the moment of his entering the Queen's chamber. Itwas the King's intention to be there precisely a quarter of an hour afterhim, 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, "Ithank you, Monsieur l'Abbe, for the service you have just done me. " Thiswas the only time during nineteen years that the King spoke to him. 

Within an hour after learning the event the Queen put on temporarymourning, while waiting until her Court mourning should be ready; she keptherself 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 deLamballe and the Duchesse de Polignac. She talked incessantly of thecourage, the misfortunes, the successes, and the virtues of her mother. The shroud and dress in which Maria Theresa was to be buried, madeentirely by her own hands, were found ready prepared in one of herclosets. She often regretted that the numerous duties of her augustmother had prevented her from watching in person over the education of herdaughters; and modestly said that she herself would have been more worthyif she had had the good fortune to receive lessons directly from asovereign so enlightened and so deserving of admiration. 

The Queen told me one day that her mother was left a widow at an age whenher beauty was yet striking; that she was secretly informed of a plot laidby her three principal ministers to make themselves agreeable to her; of acompact made between them, that the losers should not feel any jealousytowards him who should be fortunate enough to gain his sovereign's heart;and that they had sworn that the successful one should be always thefriend of the other two. The Empress being assured of this scheme, oneday after the breaking up of the council over which she had presided, turned the conversation upon the subject of female sovereigns, and theduties of their sex and rank; and then applying her general reflections toherself in particular, told them that she hoped to guard herself all herlife against weaknesses of the heart; but that if ever an irresistiblefeeling should make her alter her resolution, it should be only in favourof a man proof against ambition, not engaged in State affairs, butattached only to a private life and its calm enjoyments, --in a word, ifher heart should betray her so far as to lead her to love a man investedwith any important office, from the moment he should discover hersentiments 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. --[Thefirst Dauphin, Louis, born 1781, died 1789. ]--So deep a silence prevailedin the room that the Queen thought her child was a daughter; but after theKeeper of the Seals had declared the sex of the infant, the King went upto the Queen's bed, and said to her, "Madame, you have fulfilled my wishesand those of France: you are the mother of a Dauphin. " The King's joy wasboundless; tears streamed from his eyes; he gave his hand to every onepresent; and his happiness carried away his habitual reserve. Cheerfuland affable, he was incessantly taking occasion to introduce the words, "my son, " or "the Dauphin. " As soon as the Queen was in bed, she wishedto see the long-looked-for infant. The Princesse de Guemenee brought himto her. The Queen said there was no need for commending him to thePrincess, but in order to enable her to attend to him more freely, shewould herself share the care of the education of her daughter. When theDauphin was settled in his apartment, he received the customary homagesand visits. The Duc d'Angouleme, meeting his father at the entrance ofthe Dauphin's apartment, said to him, "Oh, papa! how little my cousinis!"--"The day will come when you will think him great enough, my dear, "answered the Prince, almost involuntarily. --[Eldest son of the Comted'Artois, and till the birth of the Dauphin with near prospects of thesuccession. ]

The birth of the Dauphin appeared to give joy to all classes. Men stoppedone another in the streets, spoke without being acquainted, and those whowere acquainted embraced each other. In the birth of a legitimate heir tothe sovereign every man beholds a pledge of prosperity and tranquillity. 

[M. Merard de Saint Just made a quatrain on the birth of the Dauphin tothe following effect:

"This infant Prince our hopes are centred in, will doubtless make ushappy, rich, and free; And since with somebody he must begin, My ferventprayer is--that it may be me!"

--NOTE BY THE EDITOR. ]

The rejoicings were splendid and ingenious. The artificers and tradesmenof Paris spent considerable sums in order to go to Versailles in a body, with their various insignia. Almost every troop had music with it. Whenthey arrived at the court of the palace, they there arranged themselves soas to present a most interesting living picture. Chimney-sweepers, quiteas well dressed as those that appear upon the stage, carried an ornamentedchimney, at the top of which was perched one of the smallest of theirfraternity. The chairmen carried a sedan highly gilt, in which were to beseen a handsome nurse and a little Dauphin. The butchers made theirappearance with their fat ox. Cooks, masons, blacksmiths, all trades wereon the alert. The smiths hammered away upon an anvil, the shoemakersfinished off a little pair of boots for the Dauphin, and the tailors alittle suit of the uniform of his regiment. The King remained a long timeupon a balcony to enjoy the sight. The whole Court was delighted with it. So general was the enthusiasm that (the police not having carefullyexamined the procession) the grave-diggers had the imprudence to sendtheir deputation also, with the emblematic devices of their ill-omenedoccupation. They were met by the Princesse Sophie, the King's aunt, whowas thrilled with horror at the sight, and entreated the King to have theaudacious, fellows driven out of the procession, which was then drawing upon the terrace. 

The 'dames de la halle' came to congratulate the Queen, and were receivedwith the suitable ceremonies. 

Fifty of them appeared dressed in black silk gowns, the established fulldress of their order, and almost all wore diamonds. The Princesse deChimay went to the door of the Queen's bedroom to receive three of theseladies, who were led up to the Queen's bed. One of them addressed herMajesty in a speech written by M. De la Harpe. It was set down on theinside of a fan, to which the speaker repeatedly referred, but without anyembarrassment. She was handsome, and had a remarkably fine voice. TheQueen was affected by the address, and answered it with greataffability, --wishing a distinction to be made between these women and thepoissardes, who always left a disagreeable impression on her mind. 

The King ordered a substantial repast for all these women. One of hisMajesty's maitres d'hotel, wearing his hat, sat as president and did thehonours of the table. The public were admitted, and numbers of people hadthe curiosity to go. 

The Garden-du-Corps obtained the King's permission to give the Queen adress ball in the great hall of the Opera at Versailles. Her Majestyopened the ball in a minuet with a private selected by the corps, to whomthe King granted the baton of an exempt. The fete was most splendid. Allthen was joy, happiness, and peace. 

The Dauphin was a year old when the Prince de Guemenee's bankruptcycompelled the Princess, his wife, who was governess to the children ofFrance, to resign her situation. 

The Queen was at La Muette for the inoculation of her daughter. She sentfor me, and condescended to say she wished to converse with me about ascheme which delighted her, but in the execution of which she foresaw someinconveniences. Her plan was to appoint the Duchesse de Polignac to theoffice lately held by the Princesse de Guemenee. She saw with extremepleasure the facilities which this appointment would give her forsuperintending the education of her children, without running any risk ofhurting the pride of the governess; and that it would bring together theobjects of her warmest affections, her children and her friend. "Thefriends of the Duchesse de Polignac, " continued the Queen, "will begratified by the splendour and importance conferred by the employment. Asto the Duchess, I know her; the place by no means suits her simple andquiet habits, nor the sort of indolence of her disposition. She will giveme 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 thePrincesse 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 theconsequence of her selection of the Duchesse de Polignac was principallythe jealousy of the courtiers; but she showed so lively a desire to seeher scheme executed that I had no doubt she would soon set at naught allthe obstacles she discovered. I was not mistaken; a few days afterwardsthe Duchess was appointed governess. 

The Queen's object in sending for me was no doubt to furnish me with themeans of explaining the feelings which induced her to prefer a governessdisposed by friendship to suffer her to enjoy all the privileges of amother. Her Majesty knew that I saw a great deal of company. 

The Queen frequently dined with the Duchess after having been present atthe King's private dinner. Sixty-one thousand francs were therefore addedto the salary of the governess as a compensation for this increase ofexpense. 

The Queen was tired of the excursions to Marly, and had no greatdifficulty in setting the King against them. He did not like the expenseof them, for everybody was entertained there gratis. Louis XIV. Hadestablished a kind of parade upon these excursions, differing from that ofVersailles, but still more annoying. Card and supper parties occurredevery day, and required much dress. On Sundays and holidays the fountainsplayed, the people were admitted into the gardens, and there was as greata crowd as at the fetes of St. Cloud. 

Every age has its peculiar colouring; Marly showed that of Louis XIV. Evenmore than Versailles. Everything in the former place appeared to havebeen produced by the magic power of a fairy's wand. Not the slightesttrace of all this splendour remains; the revolutionary spoilers even toreup the pipes which served to supply the fountains. Perhaps a briefdescription of this palace and the usages established there by Louis XIV. May be acceptable. 

The very extensive gardens of Marly ascended almost imperceptibly to thePavilion 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 thelawn. 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 ofthe blood and the ministers; the rest were occupied by persons holdingsuperior offices at Court, or invited to stay at Marly. Each pavilion wasnamed after fresco paintings, which covered its walls, and which had beenexecuted by the most celebrated artists of the age of Louis XIV. On a linewith the upper pavilion there was on the left a chapel; on the right apavilion called La Perspective, which concealed along suite of offices, containing a hundred lodging-rooms intended for the persons belonging tothe service of the Court, kitchens, and spacious dining-rooms, in whichmore than thirty tables were splendidly laid out. 

During half of Louis XV. 's reign the ladies still wore the habit de courde Marly, so named by Louis XIV. , and which differed little from, thatdevised for Versailles. The French gown, gathered in the back, and withgreat hoops, replaced this dress, and continued to be worn till the end ofthe reign of Louis XVI. The diamonds, feathers, rouge, and embroideredstuffs spangled with gold, effaced all trace of a rural residence; but thepeople loved to see the splendour of their sovereign and a brilliant Courtglittering 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'slivery. The trees planted by Louis XIV. Were of prodigious height, which, however, was surpassed in several of the groups by fountains of theclearest water; while, among others, cascades over white marble, thewaters of which, met by the sunbeams, looked like draperies of silvergauze, formed a contrast to the solemn darkness of the groves. 

In the evening nothing more was necessary for any well-dressed man toprocure admission to the Queen's card parties than to be named andpresented, by some officer of the Court, to the gentleman usher of thecard-room. This room, which was very, large, and of octagonal shape, roseto the top of the Italian roof, and terminated in a cupola furnished withbalconies, in which ladies who had not been presented easily obtainedleave to place themselves, and enjoy, the sight of the brilliantassemblage. 

Though not of the number of persons belonging to the Court, gentlemenadmitted into this salon might request one of the ladies seated with theQueen at lansquenet or faro to bet upon her cards with such gold or notesas they presented to her. Rich people and the gamblers of Paris did notmiss one of the evenings at the Marly salon, and there were alwaysconsiderable sums won and lost. Louis XVI. Hated high play, and veryoften showed displeasure when the loss of large sums was mentioned. Thefashion of wearing a black coat without being in mourning had not thenbeen introduced, and the King gave a few of his 'coups de boutoir' tocertain chevaliers de St. Louis, dressed in this manner, who came toventure two or three louis, in the hope that fortune would favour thehandsome duchesses who deigned to place them on their cards. 

[Bachaumont in his "Memoirs, " (tome xii. , p. 189), which are oftensatirical; and always somewhat questionable, speaks of the singularprecautions 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 hisexpression] which daily happen, have obtained permission from her Majestythat before beginning to play the table shall be bordered by a ribbonentirely round it, and that no other money than that upon the cards beyondthe ribbon shall be considered as staked. "--NOTE By THE EDITOR. ]

Singular contrasts are often seen amidst the grandeur of courts. In orderto manage such high play at the Queen's faro table, it was necessary tohave a banker provided with large, sums of money; and this necessityplaced at the table, to which none but the highest titled persons wereadmitted in general, not only M. De Chalabre, who was its banker, but alsoa retired captain of foot, who officiated as his second. A word, trivial, but perfectly appropriate to express the manner in which the Court wasattended there, was often heard. Gentlemen presented at Court, who hadnot been invited to stay at Marly, came there notwithstanding, as they didto Versailles, and returned again to Paris; under such circumstances, itwas said such a one had been to Marly only 'en polisson';--[A contemptuousexpression, meaning literally "as a scamp" or "rascal"]--and it appearedodd to hear a captivating marquis, in answer to the inquiry whether he wasof 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 ofa later date than 1400. " The Marly excursions were exceedingly expensiveto the King. Besides the superior tables, those of the almoners, equerries, maitres d'hotel, etc. , were all supplied with such a degree ofmagnificence as to allow of inviting strangers to them; and almost all thevisitors from Paris were boarded at the expense of the Court. 

The personal frugality of the unfortunate Prince who sank beneath theweight of the national debts thus favoured the Queen's predilection forher Petit Trianon; and for five or six years preceding the Revolution theCourt 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 purchasedthe Princesse de Guemenee's house, at the entrance to Paris, forElisabeth. 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 leastagreeable of residences. They only fancied themselves at home in theplainest houses, surrounded by English gardens, where they better enjoyedthe beauties of nature. The taste for cascades and statues was entirelypast. 

The Queen occasionally remained a whole month at Petit Trianon, and hadestablished there all the ways of life in a chateau. She entered thesitting-room without driving the ladies from their pianoforte orembroidery. The gentlemen continued their billiards or backgammon withoutsuffering her presence to interrupt them. There was but little room inthe small Chateau of Trianon. Madame Elisabeth accompanied the Queenthere, but the ladies of honour and ladies of the palace had noestablishment at Trianon. When invited by the Queen, they came fromVersailles to dinner. The King and Princes came regularly to sup. Awhite gown, a gauze kerchief, and a straw hat were the uniform dress ofthe Princesses. 

[The extreme simplicity of the Queen's toilet began to be stronglycensured, at first among the courtiers, and afterwards throughout thekingdom; and through one of those inconsistencies more common in Francethan elsewhere, while the Queen was blamed, she was blindly imitated. There was not a woman but would have the same undress, the same cap, andthe same feathers as she had been seen to wear. They crowded toMademoiselle Bertin, her milliner; there was an absolute revolution in thedress of our ladies, which gave importance to that woman. Long trains, and all those fashions which confer a certain nobility on dress, werediscarded; and at last a duchess could not be distinguished from anactress. The men caught the mania; the upper classes had long beforegiven up to their lackeys feathers, tufts of ribbon, and laced hats. Theynow got rid of red heels and embroidery; and walked about our streets inplain 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 thelowest classes got into quarrels with them, in which the nobles had notalways the best of it. --MONTJOIE, "History of Marie Antoinette. "]

Examining all the manufactories of the hamlet, seeing the cows milked, andfishing in the lake delighted the Queen; and every year she showedincreased aversion to the pompous excursions to Marly. 

The idea of acting comedies, as was then done in almost all countryhouses, 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 evidentlyexcited little pleasure. Indeed, one day while she was thus exhibiting, somebody ventured to say, by no means inaudibly, "well, this is royallyill played!" The lesson was thrown away upon her, for never did shesacrifice to the opinion of another that which she thought permissible. When she was told that her extreme plainness in dress, the nature of heramusements, and her dislike to that splendour which ought always to attenda Queen, had an appearance of levity, which was misinterpreted by aportion of the public, she replied with Madame de Maintenon: "I am uponthe stage, and of course I shall be either hissed or applauded. " LouisXIV. Had a similar taste; he danced upon the stage; but he had shown bybrilliant actions that he knew how to enforce respect; and besides, heunhesitatingly gave up the amusement from the moment he heard thosebeautiful lines in which Racine pointed out how very unworthy of him suchpastimes were. --MONTJOIE, "History of Marie Antoinette. "]

It was agreed that no young man except the Comte d'Artois should beadmitted into the company of performers, and that the audience shouldconsist 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 beoccupied 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 veryfine one, but latterly become rather tremulous. His shepherd's dress inColin, in the "Devin du Village, " contrasted very ridiculously with histime of life, and the Queen said it would be difficult for malevolenceitself to find anything to criticise in the choice of such a lover. TheKing was highly amused with these plays, and was present at everyperformance. Caillot, a celebrated actor, who had long quitted the stage, and Dazincourt, both of acknowledged good character, were selected to givelessons, the first in comic opera, of which the easier sorts werepreferred, and the second in comedy. The office of hearer of rehearsals, prompter, and stage manager was given to my father-in-law. The Duc deFronsac, first gentleman of the chamber, was much hurt at this. Hethought himself called upon to make serious remonstrances upon thesubject, and wrote to the Queen, who made him the following answer: "Youcannot be first gentleman when we are the actors. Besides, I have alreadyintimated to you my determination respecting Trianon. I hold no courtthere, I live like a private person, and M. Campan shall be alwaysemployed to execute orders relative to the private fetes I choose to givethere. " This not putting a stop to the Duke's remonstrances, the King wasobliged to interfere. The Duke continued obstinate, and insisted that hewas entitled to manage the private amusements as much as those which werepublic. It became absolutely necessary to end the argument in a positivemanner. 

The diminutive Duc de Fronsac never failed, when he came to pay hisrespects to the Queen at her toilet, to turn the conversation uponTrianon, in order to make some ironical remarks on my father-in-law, ofwhom, from the time of his appointment, he always spoke as "my colleagueCampan. " 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 Marechalde Richelieu. "

So long as no strangers were admitted to the performances they were butlittle censured; but the praise obtained by the performers made them lookfor a larger circle of admirers. The company, for a private company, wasgood enough, and the acting was applauded to the skies; nevertheless, asthe audience withdrew, adverse criticisms were occasionally heard. TheQueen permitted the officers of the Body Guards and the equerries of theKing and Princes to be present at the plays. Private boxes were providedfor some of the people belonging to the Court; a few more ladies wereinvited; and claims arose on all sides for the favour of admission. TheQueen refused to admit the officers of the body guards of the Princes, theofficers of the King's Cent Suisses, and many other persons, who werehighly mortified at the refusal. 

While delight at having given an heir to the throne of the Bourbons, and asuccession of fetes and amusements, filled up the happy days of MarieAntoinette, the public was engrossed by the Anglo-American war. Twokings, or rather their ministers, planted and propagated the love ofliberty in the new world; the King of England, by shutting his ears andhis heart against the continued and respectful representations of subjectsat a distance from their native land, who had become numerous, rich, andpowerful, through the resources of the soil they had fertilised; and theKing of France, by giving support to this people in rebellion againsttheir ancient sovereign. Many young soldiers, belonging to the firstfamilies of the country, followed La Fayette's example, and forsookluxury, amusement, and love, to go and tender their aid to the revoltedAmericans. Beaumarchais, secretly seconded by Messieurs de Maurepas andde Vergennes, obtained permission to send out supplies of arms andclothing. Franklin appeared at Court in the dress of an Americanagriculturist. His unpowdered hair, his round hat, his brown cloth coatformed a contrast to the laced and embroidered coats and the powder andperfume of the courtiers of Versailles. This novelty turned the lightheads of the Frenchwomen. Elegant entertainments were given to DoctorFranklin, who, to the reputation of a man of science, added the patrioticvirtues which invested him with the character of an apostle of liberty. Iwas present at one of these entertainments, when the most beautiful womanout of three hundred was selected to place a crown of laurels upon thewhite head of the American philosopher, and two kisses upon his cheeks. Even in the palace of Versailles Franklin's medallion was sold under theKing's eyes, in the exhibition of Sevres porcelain. The legend of thismedallion was

"Eripuit coelo fulmen, sceptrumque tyrannis. "

The King never declared his opinion upon an enthusiasm which his correctjudgment no doubt led him to blame. The Queen spoke out more plainlyabout the part France was taking respecting the independence of theAmerican colonies, and constantly opposed it. Far was she from foreseeingthat a revolution at--such a distance could excite one in which amisguided populace would drag her from her palace to a death equallyunjust and cruel. She only saw something ungenerous in the method whichFrance adopted of checking the power of England. 

However, as Queen of France, she enjoyed the sight of a whole peoplerendering homage to the prudence, courage, and good qualities of a youngFrenchman; and she shared the enthusiasm inspired by the conduct andmilitary success of the Marquis de La Fayette. The Queen granted himseveral audiences on his first return from America, and, until the 10th ofAugust, on which day my house was plundered, I preserved some lines fromGaston and Bayard, in which the friends of M. De La Fayette saw the exactoutline 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 UnitedStates advanced with a score of men under the English batteries toreconnoitre their position. His aide-de-camp, struck by a ball, fell athis side. The officers and orderly dragoons fled precipitately. Thegeneral, though under the fire of the cannon, approached the wounded manto see whether any help could be afforded him. Finding the wound had beenmortal, he slowly rejoined the group which had got out of the reach of thecannon. This instance of courage and humanity took place at the battle ofMonmouth. General Clinton, who commanded the English troops, knew that theMarquis de La Fayette generally rode a white horse; it was upon a whitehorse that the general officer who retired so slowly was mounted; Clintondesired 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-twoyears 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 notheartily approve of the support given openly by the French Government tothe cause of American independence. The constitution planned for the newnation was digested at Paris, and while liberty, equality, and the rightsof man were commented upon by the Condorcets, Baillys, Mirabeaus, etc. , the minister Segur published the King's edict, which, by repealing that of1st November, 1750, declared all officers not noble by four generationsincapable of filling the rank of captain, and denied all military rank tothe roturiers, excepting sons of the chevaliers de St. Louis. 

["M. De Segur, " says Chamfort, "having published an ordinance whichprohibited the admission of any other than gentlemen into the artillerycorps, and, on the other hand, none but well-educated persons being properfor admission, a curious scene took place: the Abbe Bossat, examiner ofthe pupils, gave certificates only to plebeians, while Cherin gave themonly to gentlemen. Out of one hundred pupils, there were not above fouror five who were qualified in both respects. "]

The injustice and absurdity of this law was no doubt a secondary cause ofthe Revolution. To understand the despair and rage with which this lawinspired the Tiers Etat one should have belonged to that honourable class. The provinces were full of roturier families, who for ages had lived aspeople of property upon their own domains, and paid the taxes. If thesepersons had several sons, they would place one in the King's service, onein the Church, another in the Order of Malta as a chevalier servantd'armes, and one in the magistracy; while the eldest preserved thepaternal manor, and if he were situated in a country celebrated for wine, he would, besides selling his own produce, add a kind of commission tradein the wines of the canton. I have seen an individual of this justlyrespected class, who had been long employed in diplomatic business, andeven honoured with the title of minister plenipotentiary, the son-in-lawand nephew of colonels and town mayors, and, on his mother's side, nephewof a lieutenant-general with a cordon rouge, unable to introduce his sonsas 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 therichest abbey, should in future be appanages of the nobility. Being theson of a village surgeon, the Abbe de Vermond, who had great influence inthe disposition of benefices, was particularly struck with the justice ofthis decree. 

During the absence of the Abbe in an excursion he made for his health, Iprevailed 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 theintention of retiring to it. I obtained it for him. On the Abbe's returnhe told me very harshly that I should act in a manner quite contrary tothe King's wishes if I again obtained such a favour; that the wealth ofthe Church was for the future to be invariably devoted to the support ofthe poorer nobility; that it was the interest of the State that it shouldbe so; and a plebeian priest, happy in a good curacy, had only to remaincurate. 

Can we be astonished at the part shortly afterwards taken by the deputiesof the Third Estate, when called to the States General?

ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS:

Elegant entertainments were given to Doctor FranklinFashion of wearing a black coat without being in mourningFavourite of a queen is not, in France, a happy oneHistory of the man with the iron maskOf course I shall be either hissed or applauded. She often carried her economy to a degree of parsimonyShocking to find so little a man in the son of the MarechalSimplicity of the Queen's toilet began to be strongly censuredThe charge of extravaganceThe three ministers, more ambitious than amorousWell, this is royally ill played!While the Queen was blamed, she was blindly imitated