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diff --git a/old/cm40b10.txt b/old/cm40b10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..456a38e --- /dev/null +++ b/old/cm40b10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2176 @@ +The Project Gutenberg Memoirs of Louis XV./XVI, by Madame Hausset, v2 +#2 in our series by Hausset, Lamballe and an unknown English Girl +#40 in our series Historic Court Memoirs + + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the laws for your country before redistributing these files!!!!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. + +Please do not remove this. + +This should be the first thing seen when anyone opens the book. +Do not change or edit it without written permission. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.06/12/01*END* +[Portions of this header are copyright (C) 2001 by Michael S. Hart +and may be reprinted only when these Etexts are free of all fees.] +[Project Gutenberg is a TradeMark and may not be used in any sales +of Project Gutenberg Etexts or other materials be they hardware or +software or any other related product without express permission.] + + + + + +This etext was produced by David Widger <widger@cecomet.net> + + + + + +[NOTE: There is a short list of bookmarks, or pointers, at the end of the +file for those who may wish to sample the author's ideas before making an +entire meal of them. D.W.] + + + + + +MEMOIRS OF LOUIS XV. AND XVI. + +Being Secret Memoirs of Madame du Hausset, Lady's Maid to Madame +de Pompadour, and of an unknown English Girl and the Princess Lamballe + + + +BOOK 2. + + +Madame sent for me yesterday evening, at seven o'clock, to read something +to her; the ladies who were intimate with her were at Paris, and M. de +Gontaut ill. "The King," said she, "will stay late at the Council this +evening; they are occupied with the affairs of the Parliament again." +She bade me leave off reading, and I was going to quit the room, but she +called out, "Stop." She rose; a letter was brought in for her, and she +took it with an air of impatience and ill-humour. After a considerable +time she began to talk openly, which only happened when she was extremely +vexed; and, as none of her confidential friends were at hand, she said to +me, "This is from my brother. It is what he would not have dared to say +to me, so he writes. I had arranged a marriage for him with the daughter +of a man of title; he appeared to be well inclined to it, and I, +therefore, pledged my word. He now tells me that he has made inquiries; +that the parents are people of insupportable hauteur; that the daughter +is very badly educated; and that he knows, from authority not to be +doubted, that when she heard this marriage discussed, she spoke of the +connection with the most supreme contempt; that he is certain of this +fact; and that I was still more contemptuously spoken of than himself. +In a word, he begs me to break off the treaty. But he has let me go too +far; and now he will make these people my irreconcilable enemies. This +has been put in his head by some of his flatterers; they do not wish him +to change his way of living; and very few of them would be received by +his wife." I tried to soften Madame, and, though I did not venture to +tell her so, I thought her brother right. She persisted in saying these +were lies, and, on the following Sunday, treated her brother very coldly. +He said nothing to me at that time; if he had, he would have embarrassed +me greatly. Madame atoned for everything by procuring favours, which +were the means of facilitating the young lady's marriage with a gentleman +of the Court. Her conduct, two months after marriage, compelled Madame +to confess that her brother had been perfectly right. + +I saw my friend, Madame du Chiron. "Why," said she, "is the Marquise so +violent an enemy to the Jesuits? I assure you she is wrong. All +powerful as she is, she may find herself the worse for their enmity." +I replied that I knew nothing about the matter. "It is, however, +unquestionably a fact; and she does not feel that a word more or less +might decide her fate."--"How do you mean?" said I. "Well, I will +explain myself fully," said she. "You know what took place at the time +the King was stabbed: an attempt was made to get her out of the Castle +instantly. The Jesuits have no other object than the salvation of their +penitents; but they are men, and hatred may, without their being aware of +it, influence their minds, and inspire them with a greater degree of +severity than circumstances absolutely demand. Favour and partiality +may, on the other hand, induce the confessor to make great concessions; +and the shortest interval may suffice to save a favourite, especially if +any decent pretext can be found for prolonging her stay at Court." I +agreed with her in all she said, but I told her that I dared not touch +that string. On reflecting on this conversation afterwards, I was +forcibly struck with this fresh proof of the intrigues of the Jesuits, +which, indeed, I knew well already. I thought that, in spite of what I +had replied to Madame du Chiron, I ought to communicate this to Madame de +Pompadour, for the ease of my conscience; but that I would abstain from +making any reflection upon it. "Your friend, Madame du Chiron," said +she, "is, I perceive, affiliated to the Jesuits, and what she says does +not originate with herself. She is commissioned by some reverend father, +and I will know by whom." Spies were, accordingly, set to watch her +movements, and they discovered that one Father de Saci, and, still more +particularly, one Father Frey, guided this lady's conduct. "What a +pity," said Madame to me, "that the Abbe Chauvelin cannot know this." +He was the most formidable enemy of the reverend fathers. Madame du +Chiron always looked upon me as a Jansenist, because I would not espouse +the interests of the good fathers with as much warmth as she did. + +Madame is completely absorbed in the Abbe de Bernis, whom she thinks +capable of anything; she talks of him incessantly. Apropos, of this +Abbe, I must relate an anecdote, which almost makes one believe in +conjurors. A year, or fifteen months, before her disgrace, Madame de +Pompadour, being at Fontainebleau, sat down to write at a desk, over +which hung a portrait of the King. While she was, shutting the desk, +after she had finished writing, the picture fell, and struck her +violently on the head.. The persons who saw the accident were alarmed, +and sent for Dr. Quesnay. He asked the circumstances of the case, and +ordered bleeding and anodynes. Just, as she had been bled, Madame de +Brancas entered,, and saw us all in confusion and agitation, and Madame +lying on her chaise-longue. She asked what was the matter, and was told. +After having expressed her regret, and having consoled her, she said, +"I ask it as a favour of Madame, and of the King (who had just come in), +that they will instantly send a courier to the Abbe de Bernis, and that +the Marquise will have the goodness to write a letter, merely requesting +him to inform her what his fortune-tellers told him, and to withhold +nothing from the fear of making her uneasy." The thing was, done as she +desired, and she then told us that La Bontemps had predicted, from the +dregs in the, coffee-cup, in which she read everything, that the, head of +her best friend was in danger, but that no fatal consequences would +ensue. + +The next day, the Abbe wrote word that Madame Bontemps also said to him, +"You came into the world almost black," and that this was the fact. This +colour, which lasted for some time, was attributed to a picture which +hung at the foot of his, mother's bed, and which she often looked at. It +represented a Moor bringing to Cleopatra a basket of flowers, containing +the asp by whose bite she destroyed herself. He said that she also told +him, "You have a great deal of money about you, but it does not belong to +you;" and that he had actually in his pocket two hundred Louis for the +Duc de La Valliere. Lastly, he informed us that she said, looking in the +cup, "I see one of your friends--the best--a distinguished lady, +threatened with an accident;" that he confessed that, in spite of all his +philosophy, he turned pale; that she remarked this, looked again into the +cup, and continued, "Her head will be slightly in danger, but of this no +appearance will remain half an hour afterwards." It was impossible to +doubt the facts. They appeared so surprising to the King, that he +desired some inquiry to be made concerning the fortune-teller. Madame, +however, protected her from the pursuit of the Police. + +A man, who was quite as astonishing as this fortune-teller, often visited +Madame de Pompadour. This was the Comte de St. Germain, who wished to +have it believed that he had lived several centuries. + + + [St. Germain was an adept--a worthy predecessor of Cagliostro, who + expected to live five hundred years. The Count de St. Germain + pretended to have already lived two thousand, and, according to him, + the account was still running. He went so far as to claim the power + of transmitting the gift of long life. One day, calling upon his + servant to, bear witness to a fact that went pretty far back, the + man replied, "I have no recollection of it, sir; you forget that I + have only had the honour of serving you for five hundred years." + + St. Germain, like all other charlatans of this sort, assumed a + theatrical magnificence, and an air of science calculated to deceive + the vulgar. His best instrument of deception was the + phantasmagoria; and as, by means of this abuse of the science of + optics, he called up shades which were asked for, and almost always + recognised, his correspondence with the other world was a thing + proved by the concurrent testimony of numerous witnesses. + + He played the same game in London, Venice, and Holland, but he + constantly regretted Paris, where his miracles were never + questioned. + + St. Germain passed his latter days at the Court of the Prince of + Hesse Cassel, and died at Plewig, in 1784, in the midst of his + enthusiastic disciples, and to their infinite astonishment at his + sharing the common destiny.] + +One day, at her toilet, Madame said to him, in my presence, "What was the +personal appearance of Francis I.? He was a King I should have liked." +--"He was, indeed, very captivating," said St. Germain; and he proceeded +to describe his face and person as one does that of a man one has +accurately observed. "It is a pity he was too ardent. I could have +given him some good advice, which would have saved him from all his +misfortunes; but he would not have followed it; for it seems as if a +fatality attended Princes, forcing them to shut their ears, those of the +mind, at least, to the best advice, and especially in the most critical +moments."--"And the Constable," said Madame, "what do you say of him?"-- +"I cannot say much good or much harm of him," replied he. "Was the Court +of Francis I. very brilliant?"--"Very brilliant; but those of his +grandsons infinitely surpassed it. In the time of Mary Stuart and +Margaret of Valois it was a land of enchantment--a temple, sacred to +pleasures of every kind; those of the mind were not neglected. The two +Queens were learned, wrote verses, and spoke with captivating grace and +eloquence." Madame said, laughing, "You seem to have seen all this."-- +"I have an excellent memory," said he, "and have read the history of +France with great care. I sometimes amuse myself, not by making, but by +letting it be believed that I lived in old times."--"You do not tell me +your age, however, and you give yourself out for very old. The Comtesse +de Gergy, who was Ambassadress to Venice, I think, fifty years ago, says +she knew you there exactly what you are now."--"It is true, Madame, that +I have known Madame de Gergy a long time."--"But, according to what she +says, you would be more than a hundred"--"That is not impossible," said +he, laughing; "but it is, I allow, still more possible that Madame de +Gergy, for whom I have the greatest respect, may be in her dotage."-- +"You have given her an elixir, the effect of which is surprising. +She declares that for a long time she has felt as if she was only four- +and-twenty years of age; why don't you give some to the King?"-- +"Ah! Madame," said he, with a sort of terror, "I must be mad to think of +giving the King an unknown drug." I went into my room to write down this +conversation. Some days afterwards, the King, Madame de Pompadour, some +Lords of the Court, and the Comte de St. Germain, were talking about his +secret for causing the spots in diamonds to disappear. The King ordered +a diamond of middling size, which had a spot, to be brought. It was +weighed; and the King said to the Count, "It is valued at two hundred and +forty louis; but it would be worth four hundred if it had no spot. Will +you try to put a hundred and sixty louis into my pocket?" He examined it +carefully, and said, "It may be done; and I will bring it you again in a +month." At the time appointed, the Count brought back the diamond +without a spot, and gave it to the King. It was wrapped in a cloth of +amianthus, which he took off. The King had it weighed, and found it but +very little diminished. The King sent it to his jeweller by M. de +Gontaut, without telling him anything of what had passed. The jeweller +gave three hundred and eighty louis for it. The King, however, sent for +it back again, and kept it as a curiosity. He could not overcome his +surprise, and said that M. de St. Germain must be worth millions, +especially if he had also the secret of making large diamonds out of a +number of small ones. He neither said that he had, nor that he had not; +but he positively asserted that he could make pearls grow, and give them +the finest water. The King, paid him great attention, and so did Madame +de Pompadour. It was from her I learnt what I have just related. +M. Queanay said, talking of the pearls, "They are produced by a disease +in the oyster. It is possible to know the cause of it; but, be that as +it may, he is not the less a quack, since he pretends to have the elixir +vitae, and to have lived several centuries. Our master is, however, +infatuated by him, and sometimes talks of him as if his descent were +illustrious." + +I have seen him frequently: he appeared to be about fifty; he was neither +fat nor thin; he had an acute, intelligent look, dressed very simply, but +in good taste; he wore very fine diamonds in his rings, watch, and snuff- +bog. He came, one day, to visit Madame de Pompadour, at a time when the +Court was in full splendour, with knee and shoe-buckles of diamonds so +fine and brilliant that Madame said she did not believe the King had any +equal to them. He went into the antechamber to take them off, and +brought them to be examined; they were compared with others in the room, +and the Duc de Gontaut, who was present, said they were worth at least +eight thousand louis. He wore, at the same time, a snuff-box of +inestimable value, and ruby sleeve-buttons, which were perfectly +dazzling. Nobody could find out by what means this man became so rich +and so remarkable; but the King would not suffer him to be spoken of with +ridicule or contempt. He was said to be a bastard son of the King of +Portugal. + +I learnt, from M. de Marigny, that the relations of the good little +Marechale (de Mirepoix) had been extremely severe upon her, for what they +called the baseness of her conduct, with regard to Madame de Pompadour. +They said she held the stones of the cherries which Madame ate in her +carriage, in her beautiful little hands, and that she sate in the front +of the carriage, while Madame occupied the whole seat in the inside. The +truth was, that, in going to Crecy, on an insupportably hot day, they +both wished to sit alone, that they might be cooler; and as to the matter +of the cherries, the villagers having brought them some, they ate them to +refresh themselves, while the horses were changed; and the Marechal +emptied her pocket-handkerchief, into which they had both thrown the +cherry-stones, out of the carriage window. The people who were changing +the horses had given their own version of the affair. + +I had, as you know, a very pretty room at Madame's hotel, whither I +generally went privately. I had, one day, had visits from two or three +Paris representatives, who told me news; and Madame, having sent for me, +I went to her, and found her with M. de Gontaut. I could not help +instantly saying to her, "You must be much pleased, Madame, at the noble +action of the Marquis de ------." Madame replied, drily, "Hold your +tongue, and listen to what I have to say to you." I returned to my +little room, where I found the Comtesse d'Amblimont, to whom I mentioned +Madame's reception of me. "I know what is the matter," said she; "it has +no relation to you. I will explain it to you. The Marquis de ------- +has told all Paris, that, some days ago, going home at night, alone, and +on foot, he heard cries in a street called Ferou, which is dark, and, in +great part, arched over; that he drew his sword, and went down the +street, in which he saw, by the light of a lamp, a very handsome woman, +to whom some ruffians were offering violence; that he approached, and +that the woman cried out, 'Save me! save me!' that he rushed upon the +wretches, two of whom fought him, sword in hand, whilst a third held the +woman, and tried to stop her mouth; that he wounded one in the arm; and +that the ruffians, hearing people pass at the end of the street, and +fearing they might come to his assistance, fled; that he went up to the +lady, who told him that they were not robbers, but villains, one of whom +was desperately in love with her; and that the lady knew not how to +express her gratitude; that she had begged him not to follow her, after +he had conducted her to a fiacre; that she would not tell him her name, +but that she insisted on his accepting a little ring, as a token of +remembrance; and that she promised to see him again, and to tell him her +whole history, if he gave her his address; that he complied with this +request of the lady, whom he represented as a charming person, and who, +in the overflowing of her gratitude, embraced him several times. This is +all very fine, so far," said Madame d'Amblimont, "but hear the rest. The +Marquis de exhibited himself everywhere the next day, with a black ribbon +bound round his arm, near the wrist, in which part he said he had +received a wound. He related his story to everybody, and everybody +commented upon it after his own fashion. He went to dine with the +Dauphin, who spoke to him of his bravery, and of his fair unknown, and +told him that he had already complimented the Duc de C---- on the affair. +I forgot to tell you," continued Madame d'Amblimont, "that, on the very +night of the adventure, he called on Madame d'Estillac, an old gambler, +whose house is open till four in the morning; that everybody there was +surprised at the disordered state in which he appeared; that his bagwig +had fallen off, one skirt of his coat was cut, and his right hand +bleeding. That they instantly bound it up, and gave him some Rota wine. +Four days ago, the Duc de C---- supped with the King, and sat near M. de +St. Florentin. He talked to him of his relation's adventure, and asked +him if he had made any inquiries concerning the lady. M. de St. +Florentin coldly answered, 'No!' and M. de C---- remarked, on asking him +some further questions, that he kept his eyes firmed on his plate, +looking embarrassed, and answered in monosyllables. He asked him the +reason of this, upon which M. de Florentin told him that it was extremely +distressing to him to see him under such a mistake. 'How can you know +that, supposing it to be the fact?' said M. de ------, 'Nothing is more +easy to prove,' replied M. de St. Florentin. 'You may imagine that, as +soon as I was informed of the Marquis de ------'s adventure, I set on +foot inquiries, the result of which was, that, on the night when this +affair was said to have taken place, a party of the watch was set in +ambuscade in this very street, for the purpose of catching a thief who +was coming out of the gaming house; that this party was there four hours, +and heard not the slightest noise.' M. de C was greatly incensed at this +recital, which M. de St. Florentin ought, indeed, to have communicated to +the King. He has ordered, or will order, his relation to retire to his +province. + +"After this, you will judge, my dear, whether you were very likely to be +graciously received when you went open-mouthed with your compliment to +the Marquise. This adventure," continued she, "reminded the King of one +which occurred about fifteen years ago. The Comte d'E----, who was what +is called 'enfant d'honneur' to the Dauphin, and about fourteen years of +age, came into the Dauphin's apartments, one evening, with his bag-wig +snatched off, and his ruffles torn, and said that, having walked rather +late near the piece of water des Suisses, he had been attacked by two +robbers; that he had refused to give them anything, drawn his sword, and +put himself in an attitude of defence; that one of the robbers was armed +with a sword, the other with a large stick, from which he had received +several blows, but that he had wounded one in the arm, and that, hearing +a noise at that moment, they had fled. But unluckily for the little +Count, it was known that people were on the spot at the precise time he +mentioned, and had heard nothing. The Count was pardoned, on account of +his youth. The Dauphin made him confess the truth, and it was looked +upon as a childish freak to set people talking about him." + +The King disliked the King of Prussia because he knew that the latter was +in the habit of jesting upon his mistress, and the kind of life he led. +It was Frederick's fault, as I have heard it said, that the King was not +his most steadfast ally and friend, as much as sovereigns can be towards +each other; but the jestings of Frederick had stung him, and made him +conclude the treaty of Versailles. One day, he entered Madame's +apartment with a paper in his hand, and said, "The King of Prussia is +certainly a great man; he loves men of talent, and, like Louis XIV., he +wishes to make Europe ring with his favours towards foreign savans. +There is a letter from him, addressed to Milord Marshal, + + [George Keith, better known under the name of Milord Marshal, was + the eldest son of William Keith, Earl Marshal of Scotland. He was + an avowed partisan of the Stuarts, and did not lay down the arms he + had taken up in their cause until it became utterly desperate, and + drew upon its defenders useless dangers. When they were driven from + their country, he renounced it, and took up his residence + successively in France, Prussia, Spain, and Italy. The delicious + country and climate of Valencia he preferred above any other. + + Milord Marshal died in the month of May, 1778. It was he who said + to Madame Geoffrin, speaking of his brother, who was field-marshal + in the Prussian service, and died on the field of honour, "My + brother leaves me the most glorious inheritance" (he had just laid + the whole of Bohemia under contribution); "his property does not + amount to seventy ducats." A eulogium on Milord Marshal, by + D'Alembert, is extant. It is the most cruelly mangled of all his + works, by Linguet] + +ordering him to acquaint a 'superieur' man of my kingdom (D'Alembert) +that he has granted him a pension;" and, looking at the letter, he read +the following words: "You must know that there is in Paris a man of the +greatest merit, whose fortune is not proportionate to his talents and +character. I may serve as eyes to the blind goddess, and repair in some +measure the injustice, and I beg you to offer on that account. I flatter +myself that he will accept this pension because of the pleasure I shall +feel in obliging a man who joins beauty of character to the most sublime +intellectual talents." The King here stopped, on seeing MM. de Ayen and +de Gontaut enter, and then recommenced reading the letter to them, and +added, "It was given me by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, to whom it +was confided by Milord Marshal, for the purpose of obtaining my +permission for this sublime genius to accept the favour. But," said the +King, "what do you think is the amount?" Some said six, eight, ten +thousand livres. "You have not guessed," said the King; "it is twelve +hundred livres."--"For sublime talents," said the Duc d'Ayen, "it is not +much. But the philosophers will make Europe resound with this letter, +and the King of Prussia will have the pleasure of making a great noise at +little expense." + +The Chevalier de Courten,--[The Chevalier de Courten was a Swiss, and a +man of talent.]--who had been in Prussia, came in, and, hearing this +story told, said, "I have seen what is much better than that: passing +through a village in Prussia, I got out at the posthouse, while I was +waiting for horses; and the postmaster, who was a captain in the Prussian +service, showed me several letters in Frederick's handwriting, addressed +to his uncle, who was a man of rank, promising him to provide for his +nephews; the provision he made for this, the eldest of these nephews, who +was dreadfully wounded, was the postmastership which he then held." M. +de Marigny related this story at Quesnay's, and added, that the man of +genius above mentioned was D'Alembert, and that the King had permitted +him to accept the pension. He added, that his sister had suggested to +the King that he had better give D'Alembert a pension of twice the value, +and forbid him to take the King of Prussia's. This advice he would not +take, because he looked upon D'Alembert as an infidel. M. de Marigny +took a copy of the letter, which he lent me. + +A certain nobleman, at one time, affected to cast tender glances on +Madame Adelaide. She was wholly unconscious of it; but, as there are +Arguses at Court, the King was, of course, told of it, and, indeed, he +thought he had perceived it himself. I know that he came into Madame de +Pompadour's room one day, in a great passion, and said, "Would you +believe that there is a man in my Court insolent enough to dare to raise +his eyes to one of my daughters?" Madame had never seen him so +exasperated, and this illustrious nobleman was advised to feign a +necessity for visiting his estates. He remained there two months. +Madame told me, long after, that she thought that there were no tortures +to which the King would not have condemned any man who had seduced one of +his daughters. Madame Adelaide, at the time in question, was a charming +person, and united infinite grace, and much talent, to a most agreeable +face. + +A courier brought Madame de Pompadour a letter, on reading which she +burst into tears. It contained the intelligence of the battle of +Rosbach, which M. de Soubise sent her, with all the details. I heard her +say to the Marechal de Belle-Isle, wiping her eyes, "M. de Soubise is +inconsolable; he does not try to excuse his conduct, he sees nothing but +the disastrous fortune which pursues him."--"M. de Soubise must, however, +have many things to urge in his own behalf," said M. de Belle-Isle, "and +so I told the King."--"It is very noble in you, Marshal, not to suffer an +unfortunate man to be overwhelmed; the public are furious against him, +and what has he done to deserve it?"--"There is not a more honourable nor +a kinder man in the world. I only fulfil my duty in doing justice to the +truth, and to a man for whom I have the most profound esteem. The King +will explain to you, Madame, how M. de Soubise was forced to give battle +by the Prince of Sage-Hildbourgshausen, whose troops fled first, and +carried along the French troops." Madame would have embraced the old +Marshal if she had dared, she was so delighted with him. + +M. de Soubise, having gained a battle, was made Marshal of France: Madame +was enchanted with her friend's success. But, either it was unimportant, +or the public were offended at his promotion; nobody talked of it but +Madame's friends. This unpopularity was concealed from her, and she said +to Colin, her steward, at her toilet, "Are you not delighted at the +victory M. de Soubise has gained? What does the public say of it? He +has taken his revenge well." Colin was embarrassed, and knew not what to +answer. As she pressed him further, he replied that he had been ill, and +had seen nobody for a week. + +M. de Marigny came to see me one day, very much out of humour. I asked +him the cause. "I have," said he, "just been intreating my sister not to +make M. le Normand-de-Mezi Minister of the Marine. I told her that she +was heaping coals of fire upon her own head. A favourite ought not to +multiply the points of attack upon herself." The Doctor entered. "You," +said the Doctor, "are worth your weight in gold, for the good sense and +capacity you have shewn in your office, and for your moderation, but you +will never be appreciated as you deserve; your advice is excellent; there +will never be a ship taken but Madame will be held responsible for it to +the public, and you are very wise not to think of being in the Ministry +yourself." + +One day, when I was at Paris, I went to dine with the Doctor, who +happened to be there at the same time; there were, contrary to his usual +custom, a good many people, and, among others, a handsome young Master of +the Requests, who took a title from some place, the name of which I have +forgotten, but who was a son of M. Turgot, the 'prevot des marchands'. +They talked a great deal about administration, which was not very amusing +to me; they then fell upon the subject of the love Frenchmen bear to +their Kings. M. Turgot here joined in the conversation, and said, "This +is not a blind attachment; it is a deeply rooted sentiment, arising from +an indistinct recollection of great benefits. The French nation--I may +go farther--Europe, and all mankind, owe to a King of France" (I have +forgotten his name)--[Phillip the Long]-- "whatever liberty they enjoy. +He established communes, and conferred on an immense number of men a +civil existence. I am aware that it may be said, with justice, that he +served his own interests by granting these franchises; that the cities +paid him taxes, and that his design was to use them as instruments of +weakening the power of great nobles; but what does that prove, but that +this measure was at once useful, politic, and humane?" From Kings in +general the conversation turned upon Louis XV., and M. Turgot remarked +that his reign would be always celebrated for the advancement of the +sciences, the progress of knowledge, and of philosophy. He added that +Louis XV. was deficient in the quality which Louis XIV. possessed to +excess; that is to say, in a good opinion of himself; that he was well- +informed; that nobody was more perfectly master of the topography of +France; that his opinion in the Council was always the most judicious; +and that it was much to be lamented that he had not more confidence in +himself, or that he did not rely upon some Minister who enjoyed the +confidence of the nation. Everybody agreed with him. I begged M. +Quesnay to write down what young Turgot had said, and showed it to +Madame. She praised this Master of the Requests greatly, and spoke of +him to the King. "It is a good breed," said he. + +One day, I went out to walk, and saw, on my return, a great many people +going and coming, and speaking to each other privately: it was evident +that something extraordinary had happened. I asked a person of my +acquaintance what was the matter. "Alas!" said he, with tears in his +eyes, "some assassins, who had formed the project of murdering the King, +have inflicted several wounds on a garde-du-corps, who overheard them in +a dark corridor; he is carried to the hospital: and as he has described +the colour of these men's coats, the Police are in quest of them in all +directions, and some people, dressed in clothes of that colour, are +already arrested." I saw Madame with M. de Gontaut, and I hastened home. +She found her door besieged by a multitude of people, and was alarmed: +when she got in, she found the Comte de Noailles. "What is all this, +Count?" said she. He said he was come expressly to speak to her, and +they retired to her closet together. The conference was not long. I had +remained in the drawing-room, with Madame's equerry, the Chevalier de +Solent, Gourbillon, her valet de chambre, and some strangers. A great +many details were related; but, the wounds being little more than +scratches, and the garde-du-corps having let fall some contradictions, it +was thought that he was an impostor, who had invented all this story to +bring himself into favour. Before the night was over, this was proved to +be the fact, and, I believe, from his own confession. The King came, +that evening, to see Madame de Pompadour; he spoke of this occurrence +with great sang froid, and said, "The gentleman who wanted to kill me was +a wicked madman; this is a low scoundrel." + +When he spoke of Damiens, which was only while his trial lasted, he never +called him anything but that gentleman. + +I have heard it said that he proposed having him shut up in a dungeon for +life; but that the horrible nature of the crime made the judges insist +upon his suffering all the tortures inflicted upon like occasions. Great +numbers, many of them women, had a barbarous curiosity to witness the +execution; amongst others, Madame de P------, a very beautiful woman, +and the wife of a Farmer General. She hired two places at a window for +twelve Louis, and played a game of cards in the room whilst waiting for +the execution to begin. On this being told to the King, he covered his +eyes with his hands and exclaimed, "Fi, la Vilaine!" I have been told +that she, and others, thought to pay their court in this way, and +signalise their attachment to the King's person. + +Two things were related to me by M. Duclos at the time of the attempt on +the King's life. + +The first, relative to the Comte de Sponheim, who was the Duc de Deux- +Ponts, and next in succession to the Palatinate and Electorate of +Bavaria. He was thought to be a great friend to the King, and had made +several long sojourns in France. He came frequently to see Madame. +M. Duclos told us that the Duc de Deux-Ponts, having learned, at Deux- +Ponts, the attempt on the King's life, immediately set out in a carriage +for Versailles: "But remark," said he, "the spirit of 'courtisanerie' of +a Prince, who may be Elector of Bavaria and the Palatinate tomorrow. +This was not enough. When he arrived within ten leagues of Paris, he put +on an enormous pair of jack-boots, mounted a post-horse, and arrived in +the court of the palace cracking his whip. If this had been real +impatience, and not charlatanism, he would have taken horse twenty +leagues from Paris."--"I don't agree with you," said a gentleman whom I +did not know; "impatience sometimes seizes one towards the end of an +undertaking, and one employs the readiest means then in one's power. +Besides, the Duc de Deux-Ponts might wish, by showing himself thus on +horseback, to serve the King, to whom he is attached, by proving to +Frenchmen how greatly he is beloved and honoured in other countries." +Duclos resumed: "Well," said he, "do you know the story of M. de C-----? +The first day the King saw company, after the attempt of Damiens, M. de +C----- pushed so vigorously through the crowd that he was one of the +first to come into the King's presence, but he had on so shabby a black +coat that it caught the King's attention, who burst out laughing, and +said, 'Look at C-----, he has had the skirt of his coat torn off.' M. de +C----- looked as if he was only then first conscious of his loss, and +said, 'Sire, there is such a multitude hurrying to see Your Majesty, that +I was obliged to fight my way through them, and, in the effort, my coat +has been torn.'--'Fortunately it was not worth much,' said the Marquis de +Souvre, 'and you could not have chosen a worse one to sacrifice on the +occasion.'" + +Madame de Pompadour had been very judiciously advised to get her husband, +M. le Normand, sent to Constantinople, as Ambassador. This would have a +little diminished the scandal caused by seeing Madame de Pompadour, with +the title of Marquise, at Court, and her husband Farmer General at Paris. +But he was so attached to a Paris life, and to his opera habits, that he +could not be prevailed upon to go. Madame employed a certain +M. d'Arboulin, with whom she had been acquainted before she was at Court, +to negotiate this affair. He applied to a Mademoiselle Rem, who had been +an opera-dancer, and who was M. le Normand's mistress. She made him very +fine promises; but she was like him, and preferred a Paris life. She +would do nothing in it. + +At the time that plays were acted in the little apartments, I obtained a +lieutenancy for one of my relations, by a singular means, which proves +the value the greatest people set upon the slightest access to the Court. +Madame did not like to ask anything of M. d'Argenson, and, being pressed +by my family, who could not imagine that, situated as I was, it could be +difficult for me to obtain a command for a good soldier, I determined to +go and ask the Comte d'Argenson. I made my request, and presented my +memorial. He received me coldly, and gave me vague answers. I went out, +and the Marquis de V-----, who was in his closet, followed me. "You wish +to obtain a command," said he; "there is one vacant, which is promised me +for one of my proteges; but if you will do me a favour in return, or +obtain one for me, I will give it to you. I want to be a police officer, +and you have it in your power to get me a place." I told him I did not +understand the purport of his jest. "I will tell you," said he; +"Tartuffe is going to be acted in the cabinets, and there is the part of +a police officer, which only consists of a few lines. Prevail upon +Madame de Pompadour to assign me that part, and the command is yours." +I promised nothing, but I related the history to Madame, who said she +would arrange it for me. The thing was done, and I obtained the command, +and the Marquis de V----- thanked Madame as if she had made him a Duke. + +The King was often annoyed by the Parliaments, and said a very remarkable +thing concerning them, which M. de Gontaut repeated to Doctor Quesnay in +my presence. "Yesterday," said he, "the King walked up and down the room +with an anxious air. Madame de Pompadour asked him if he was uneasy +about his health, as he had been, for some time, rather unwell. 'No,' +replied he; I but I am greatly annoyed by all these remonstrances.'-- +'What can come of them,' said she, 'that need seriously disquiet Your +Majesty? Are you not master of the Parliaments, as well as of all the +rest of the kingdom?'--'That is true,' said the King; 'but, if it had not +been for these counsellors and presidents, I should never have been +stabbed by that gentleman' (he always called Damiens so). 'Ah! Sire,' +cried Madame de Pompadour. 'Read the trial,' said he. 'It was the +language of those gentlemen he names which turned his head.'--'But,' said +Madame, 'I have often thought that, if the Archbishop--[M. de Beaumont]-- +could be sent to Rome--'--'Find anybody who will accomplish that +business, and I will give him whatever he pleases.'" Quesnay said the +King was right in all he had uttered. The Archbishop was exiled shortly +after, and the King was seriously afflicted at being driven to take such +a step. "What a pity," he often said, "that so excellent a man should be +so obstinate."--"And so shallow," said somebody, one day. "Hold your +tongue," replied the King, somewhat sternly. The Archbishop was very +charitable, and liberal to excess, but he often granted pensions without +discernment. + + [The following is a specimen of the advantages taken of his natural + kindness. Madame la Caille, who acted the Duennas at the Opera + Comique, was recommended to him as the mother of a family, who + deserved his protection, The worthy prelate asked what he could do + for her. Monseigneur," said the actress, "two words from your hand + to the Duc de Richelieu would induce him to grant me a demi-part." + M. de Beaumont, who was very little acquainted with the language of + the theatre, thought that a demi-part meant a more liberal portion + of the Marshal's alms, and the note was written in the most pressing + manner. The Marshal answered, that he thanked the Archbishop for + the interest he took in the Theatre Italien, and in Madame la + Caille, who was a very useful person at that theatre; that, + nevertheless, she had a bad voice; but that the recommendation of + the Archbishop was to be preferred to the greatest talents, and that + the demi-part was granted."] + +He granted one of an hundred louis to a pretty woman, who was very poor, +and who assumed an illustrious name, to which she had no right. The fear +lest she should be plunged into vice led him to bestow such excessive +bounty upon her; and the woman was an admirable dissembler. She went to +the Archbishop's, covered with a great hood, and, when she left him, she +amused herself with a variety of lovers. + +Great people have the bad habit of talking very indiscreetly before their +servants. M. de Gontaut once said these words, covertly, as he thought, +to the Duc de ------, "That measures had been taken which would, +probably, have the effect of determining the Archbishop to go to Rome, +with a Cardinal's hat; and that, if he desired it, he was to have a +coadjutor." + +A very plausible pretext had been found for making this proposition, and +for rendering it flattering to the Archbishop, and agreeable to his +sentiments. The affair had been very adroitly begun, and success +appeared certain. The King had the air, towards the Archbishop, of +entire unconsciousness of what was going on. The negotiator acted as if +he were only following the suggestions of his own mind, for the general +good. He was a friend of the Archbishop, and was very sure of a liberal +reward. A valet of the Duc de Gontaut, a very handsome young fellow, had +perfectly caught the sense of what was spoken in a mysterious manner. +He was one of the lovers of the lady of the hundred Louis a year, and had +heard her talk of the Archbishop, whose relation she pretended to be. He +thought he should secure her good graces by informing her that great +efforts were being made to induce her patron to reside at Rome, with a +view to get him away from Paris. The lady instantly told the Archbishop, +as she was afraid of losing her pension if he went. The information +squared so well with the negotiation then on foot, that the Archbishop +had no doubt of its truth. He cooled, by degrees, in his conversations +with the negotiator, whom he regarded as a traitor, and ended by breaking +with him. These details were not known till long afterwards. The lover +of the lady having been sent to the Bicetre, some letters were found +among his papers, which gave a scent of the affair, and he was made to +confess the rest. + +In order not to compromise the Duc de Gontaut, the King was told that the +valet had come to a knowledge of the business from a letter which he had +found in his master's clothes. The King took his revenge by humiliating +the Archbishop, which he was enabled to do by means of the information he +had obtained concerning the conduct of the lady, his protege. She was +found guilty of swindling, in concert with her beloved valet; but, before +her punishment was inflicted, the Lieutenant of Police was ordered to lay +before Monseigneur a full account of the conduct of his relation and +pensioner. The Archbishop had nothing to object to in the proofs which +were submitted to him; he said, with perfect calmness, that she was not +his relation; and, raising his hands to heaven, "She is an unhappy +wretch," said he, "who has robbed me of the money which was destined for +the poor. But God knows that, in giving her so large a pension, I did +not act lightly. I had, at that time, before my eyes the example of a +young woman who once asked me to grant her seventy louis a year, +promising me that she would always live very virtuously, as she had +hitherto done. I refused her, and she said, on leaving me, 'I must turn +to the left, Monseigneur, since the way on the right is closed against +me: The unhappy creature has kept her word but too well. She found means +of establishing a faro-table at her house, which is tolerated; and she +joins to the most profligate conduct in her own person the infamous trade +of a corrupter of youth; her house is the abode of every vice. Think, +sir, after that, whether it was not an act of prudence, on my part, to +grant the woman in question a pension, suitable to the rank in which I +thought her born, to prevent her abusing the gifts of youth, beauty, and +talents, which she possessed, to her own perdition, and the destruction +of others." The Lieutenant of Police told the King that he was touched +with the candour and the noble simplicity of the prelate. "I never +doubted his virtues," replied the King, "but I wish he would be quiet." +This same Archbishop gave a pension of fifty louis a year to the greatest +scoundrel in Paris. He is a poet, who writes abominable verses; this +pension is granted on condition that his poems are never printed. I +learned this fact from M. de Marigny, to whom he recited some of his +horrible verses one evening, when he supped with him, in company with +some people of quality. He chinked the money in his pocket. "This is my +good Archbishop's," said he, laughing; "I keep my word with him: my poem +will not be printed during my life, but I read it. What would the good +prelate say if he knew that I shared my last quarter's allowance with a +charming little opera-dancer? 'It is the Archbishop, then, who keeps +me,' said she to me; 'Oh, la! how droll that is!'" The King heard this, +and was much scandalised at it. "How difficult it is to do good!" said +he. + +The King came into Madame de Pompadour's room, one day, as she was +finishing dressing. "I have just had a strange adventure," said he: +"would you believe that, in going out of my wardroom into my bedroom, I +met a gentleman face to face?"--"My God! Sire," cried Madame, terrified. +"It was nothing," replied he; "but I confess I was greatly surprised: the +man appeared speechless with consternation. 'What do you do here?' said +I, civilly. He threw himself on his knees, saying, 'Pardon me, Sire; +and, above all, have me searched: He instantly emptied his pockets +himself; he pulled off his coat in the greatest agitation and terror: at +last he told me that he was cook to -----, and a friend of Beccari, whom +he came to visit; that he had mistaken the staircase, and, finding all +the doors open, he had wandered into the room in which I found him, and +which he would have instantly left: I rang; Guimard came, and was +astonished enough at finding me tete-a-tete with a man in his shirt. He +begged Guimard to go with him into another room, and to search his whole +person. After this, the poor devil returned, and put on his coat. +Guimard said to me, 'He is certainly an honest man, and tells the truth; +this may, besides, be easily ascertained.' Another of the servants of +the palace came in, and happened to know him. 'I will answer for this +good man,' said, he, 'who, moreover, makes the best 'boeuf a carlate' in +the world.' As I saw the man was so agitated that he could not stand +steady, I took fifty louis out of my bureau, and said, Here, sir, are +fifty Louis, to quiet your alarms: He went out, after throwing himself at +my feet." Madame exclaimed on the impropriety of having the King's +bedroom thus accessible to everybody. He talked with great calmness of +this strange apparition, but it was evident that he controlled himself, +and that he had, in fact, been much frightened, as, indeed, he had reason +to be. Madame highly approved of the gift; and she was the more right in +applauding it, as it was by no means in the King's usual manner. M. de +Marigny said, when I told him of this adventure, that he would have +wagered a thousand louis against the King's making a present of fifty, +if anybody but I had told him of the circumstance. "It is a singular +fact," continued he, "that all of the race of Valois have been liberal to +excess; this is not precisely the case with the Bourbons, who are rather +reproached with avarice. Henri IV. was said to be avaricious. He gave +to his mistresses, because he could refuse them nothing; but he played +with the eagerness of a man whose whole fortune depends on the game. +Louis XIV. gave through ostentation. It is most astonishing," added he, +"to reflect on what might have happened. The King might actually have +been assassinated in his chamber, without anybody knowing anything of the +matter and without a possibility of discovering the murderer." For more +than a fortnight Madame could not get over this incident. + +About that time she had a quarrel with her brother, and both were in the +right. Proposals were made to him to marry the daughter of one of the +greatest noblemen of the Court, and the King consented to create him a +Duke, and even to make the title hereditary. Madame was right in wishing +to aggrandise her brother, but he declared that he valued his liberty +above all things, and that he would not sacrifice it except for a person +he really loved. He was a true Epicurean philosopher, and a man of great +capacity, according to the report of those who knew him well, and judged +him impartially. It was entirely at his option to have had the reversion +of M. de St. Florentin's place, and the place of Minister of Marine, when +M. de Machault retired; he said to his sister, at the time, "I spare you +many vexations, by depriving you of a slight satisfaction. The people +would be unjust to me, however well I might fulfil the duties of my +office. As to M. de St. Florentin's place, he may live five-and-twenty +years, so that I should not be the better for it. Kings' mistresses are +hated enough on their own account; they need not also draw upon, +themselves the hatred which is directed against Ministers." M. Quesnay +repeated this conversation to me. + +The King had another mistress, who gave Madame de Pompadour some +uneasiness. She was a woman of quality, and the wife of one of the most +assiduous courtiers. + +A man in immediate attendance on the King's person, and who had the care +of his clothes, came to me one day, and told me that, as he was very much +attached to Madame, because she was good and useful to the King, he +wished to inform me that, a letter having fallen out of the pocket of a +coat which His Majesty had taken off, he had had the curiosity to read +it, and found it to be from the Comtesse de ----- who had already yielded +to the King's desires. In this letter, she required the King to give her +fifty thousand crowns in money, a regiment for one of her relations, and +a bishopric for another, and to dismiss Madame in the space of fifteen +days, etc. I acquainted Madame with what this man told me, and she acted +with singular greatness of mind. She said to me, "I ought to inform the +King of this breach of trust of his servant, who may, by the same means, +come to the knowledge of, and make a bad use of, important secrets; but I +feel a repugnance to ruin the man: however, I cannot permit him to remain +near the King's person, and here is what I shall do: Tell him that there +is a place of ten thousand francs a year vacant in one of the provinces; +let him solicit the Minister of Finance for it, and it shall be granted +to him; but, if he should ever disclose through what interest he has +obtained it, the King shall be made acquainted with his conduct. By this +means, I think I shall have done all that my attachment and duty +prescribe. I rid the King of a faithless domestic, without ruining the +individual." I did as Madame ordered me: her delicacy and address +inspired me with admiration. She was not alarmed on account of the lady, +seeing what her pretentions were. "She drives too quick," remarked +Madame, "and will certainly be overturned on the road." The lady died. + +"See what the Court is; all is corruption there, from the highest to the +lowest," said I to Madame, one day, when she was speaking to me of some +facts, that had come to my knowledge. "I could tell you many others," +replied Madame; "but the little chamber, where you often remain, must +furnish you with a sufficient number." This was a little nook, from, +whence I could hear a great part of what passed in Madame's apartment. +The Lieutenant of Police sometimes came secretly to this apartment, and +waited there. Three or four persons, of high consideration, also found +their way in, in a mysterious, manner, and several devotees, who were, in +their hearts, enemies of Madame de Pompadour. But these men had not +petty objects in view: one: required the government of a province; +another, a seat in the Council; a third, a Captaincy of the, Guards; and +this man would have obtained it if the Marechale de Mirepoix had not +requested it for her brother, the Prince de Beauvan. The Chevalier du +Muy was not among these apostates; not even the promise of being High +Constable would have tempted him to make up to Madame, still less to +betray his master, the Dauphin. This Prince was, to the last degree, +weary of the station he held. Sometimes, when teased to death by +ambitious people, who pretended to be Catos, or wonderfully devout, he +took part against a Minister against whom he was prepossessed; then +relapsed into his accustomed state of inactivity and ennui. + +The King used to say, "My son is lazy; his temper is Polonese--hasty and +changeable; he has no tastes; he cares nothing for hunting, for women, or +for good living; perhaps he imagines that if he were in my place he would +be happy; at first, he would make great changes, create everything anew, +as it were. In a short time he would be as tired of the rank of King as +he now is of his own; he is only fit to live 'en philosophe', with clever +people about him." The King added, "He loves what is right; he is truly +virtuous, and does not want under standing." ` + +M. de St. Germain said, one day, to the King, "To think well of mankind, +one must be neither a Confessor, nor a Minister, nor a Lieutenant of +Police."--"Nor a King," said His Majesty. "Ah! Sire," replied he, "you +remember the fog we had a few days ago, when we could not see four steps +before us. Kings are commonly surrounded by still thicker fogs, +collected around them by men of intriguing character, and faithless +Ministers--all, of every class, unite in endeavouring to make things +appear to Kings in any, light but the true one." I heard this from the +mouth of the famous Comte de St. Germain, as I was attending upon Madame, +who was ill in bed. The King was there; and the Count, who was a welcome +visitor, had been admitted. There were also present, M. de Gontaut, +Madame de Brancas, and the Abbe de Bernis. I remember that the very same +day, after the Count was gone out, the King talked in a style which gave +Madame great pain. Speaking of the King of Prussia, he said, "That is a +madman, who will risk all to gain all, and may, perhaps, win the game, +though he has neither religion, morals, nor principles. He wants to make +a noise in the world, and he will succeed. Julian, the Apostate, did the +same."--"I never saw the King so animated before," observed Madame, when +he was gone out; "and really the comparison with Julian, the Apostate, is +not amiss, considering the irreligion of the King of Prussia. If he gets +out of his perplexities, surrounded as he is by his enemies, he will be +one of the greatest men in history." + +M. de Bernis remarked, "Madame is correct in her judgment, for she has no +reason to pronounce his praises; nor have I, though I agree with what she +says." Madame de Pompadour never enjoyed so much influence as at the +time when M. de Choiseul became one of the Ministry. From the time of +the Abbe de Bernis she had afforded him her constant support, and he had +been employed in foreign affairs, of which he was said to know but +little. Madame made the Treaty of Sienna, though the first idea of it +was certainly furnished her by the Abbe. I have been informed by several +persons that the King often talked to Madame upon this subject; for my +own part, I never heard any conversation relative to it, except the high +praises bestowed by her on the Empress and the Prince de Kaunitz, +whom she had known a good deal of. She said that he had a clear head, +the head of a statesman. One day, when she was talking in this strain, +some one tried to cast ridicule upon the Prince on account of the style +in which he wore his hair, and the four valets de chambre, who made the +hair-powder fly in all directions, while Kaunitz ran about that he might +only catch the superfine part of it. "Aye," said Madame, "just as +Alcibiades cut off his dog's tail in order to give the Athenians +something to talk about, and to turn their attention from those things he +wished to conceal." + +Never was the public mind so inflamed against Madame de Pompadour as when +news arrived of the battle of Rosbach. Every day she received anonymous +letters, full of the grossest abuse; atrocious verses, threats of poison +and assassination. She continued long a prey to the most acute sorrow, +and could get no sleep but from opiates. All this discontent was excited +by her protecting the Prince of Soubise; and the Lieutenant of Police had +great difficulty in allaying the ferment of the people. The King +affirmed that it was not his fault. M. du Verney was the confidant of +Madame in everything relating to war; a subject which he well understood, +though not a military man by, profession. The old Marechal de Noailles +called him, in derision, the General of the flour, but Marechal Saxe, +one day, told Madame that Du Verney knew more of military matters than +the old Marshal. Du Verney once paid a visit to Madame de Pompadour, +and found her in company with the King, the Minister of War, and two +Marshals; he submitted to them the plan of a campaign, which was +generally applauded. It was through his influence that M. de Richelieu +was appointed to the command of the army, instead of the Marechal +d'Estrdes. He came to Quesnay two days after, when I was with him. +The Doctor began talking about the art of war, and I remember he said, +"Military men make a great mystery of their art; but what is the reason +that young Princes have always the most brilliant success? Why, because +they are active and daring. When Sovereigns command their troops in +person what exploits they perform! Clearly, because they are at liberty +to run all risks." These observations made a lasting impression on my +mind. + +The first physician came, one day, to see Madame he was talking of madmen +and madness. The King was present, and everything relating to disease of +any kind interested him. The first physician said that he could +distinguish the symptoms of approaching madness six months beforehand. +"Are there any persons about the Court likely to become mad?" said the +King.--"I know one who will be imbecile in less than three months," +replied he. The King pressed him to tell the name. He excused himself +for some time. At last he said, "It is M. de Sechelles, the Controller- +General."--"You have a spite against him," said Madame, "because he would +not grant what you asked"--"That is true," said he, "but though that +might possibly incline me to tell a disagreeable truth, it would not make +me invent one. He is losing his intellects from debility. He affects +gallantry at his age, and I perceive the connection in his ideas is +becoming feeble and irregular."--The King laughed; but three months +afterwards he came to Madame, saying, "Sechelles gives evident proofs of +dotage in the Council. We must appoint a successor to him." Madame de +Pompadour told me of this on the way to Choisy. Some time afterwards, +the first physician came to see Madame, and spoke to her in private. +"You are attached to M. Berryer, Madame," said he, "and I am sorry to +have to warn you that he will be attacked by madness, or by catalepsy, +before long. I saw him this morning at chapel, sitting on one of those +very low little chairs, which are only, meant to kneel upon. His knees +touched his chin. I went to his house after Mass; his eyes were wild, +and when his secretary spoke to him, he said, 'Hold your tongue, pen. A +pen's business is to write, and not to speak.'" Madame, who liked the +Keeper of the Seals, was very much concerned, and begged the first +physician not to mention what he had perceived. Four days after this, +M. Berryer was seized with catalepsy, after having talked incoherently. +This is a disease which I did not know even by name, and got it written +down for me. The patient remains in precisely the same position in which +the fit seizes him; one leg or arm elevated, the eyes wide open, or just +as it may happen. This latter affair was known to all the Court at the +death of the Keeper of the Seals. + +When the Marechal de Belle-Isle's son was killed in battle, Madame +persuaded the King to pay his father a visit. He was rather reluctant, +and Madame said to him, with an air half angry, half playful: + + --------"Barbare! don't l'orgueil + Croit le sang d'un sujet trop pays d'un coup d'oeil." + +The King laughed, and said, "Whose fine verses are those?"--"Voltaire's," +said Madame ------. + +"As barbarous as I am, I gave him the place of gentleman in ordinary, and +a pension," said the King. + +The King went in state to call on the Marshal, followed by all the Court; +and it certainly appeared that this solemn visit consoled the Marshal for +the loss of his son, the sole heir to his name. + +When the Marshal died, he was carried to his house on a common hand- +barrow, covered with a shabby cloth. I met the body. The bearers were +laughing and singing. I thought it was some servant, and asked who it +was. How great was my surprise at learning that these were the remains +of a man abounding in honours and in riches. Such is the Court; the dead +are always in fault, and cannot be put out of sight too soon. + +The King said, "M. Fouquet is dead, I hear."--"He was no longer Fouquet," +replied the Duc d'Ayen; "Your Majesty had permitted him to change that +name, under which, however, he acquired all his reputation." The King +shrugged his shoulders. His Majesty had, in fact, granted him letters +patent, permitting him not to sign Fouquet during his Ministry. I heard +this on the occasion in question. M. de Choiseul had the war department +at his death. He was every day more and more in favour. + +Madame treated him with greater distinction than any previous Minister, +and his manners towards her were the most agreeable it is possible to +conceive, at once respectful and gallant. He never passed a day without +seeing her. M. de Marigny could not endure M. de Choiseul, but he never +spoke of him, except to his intimate friends. Calling, one day, at +Quesnay's, I found him there. They were talking of M. de Choiseul. "He +is a mere 'petit maitre'," said the Doctor, "and, if he were handsome +just fit to be one of Henri the Third's favourites." The Marquis de +Mirabeau and M. de La Riviere came in. "This kingdom," said Mirabeau, +"is in a deplorable state. There is neither national energy, nor the +only substitute for it--money."--"It can only be regenerated," said La +Riviere, "by a conquest, like that of China, or by some great internal +convulsion; but woe to those who live to see that! The French people do +not do things by halves." These words made me tremble, and I hastened +out of the room. M. de Marigny did the same, though without appearing at +all affected by what had been said. "You heard De La Riviere," said he, +--"but don't be alarmed, the conversations that pass at the Doctor's are +never repeated; these are honourable men, though rather chimerical. +They know not where to stop. I think, however, they are in the right +way; only, unfortunately, they go too far." I wrote this down +immediately. + +The Comte de St. Germain came to see Madame de Pompadour, who was ill, +and lay on the sofa. He shewed her a little box, containing topazes, +rubies, and emeralds. He appeared to have enough to furnish a treasury. +Madame sent for me to see all these beautiful things. I looked at them +with an air of the utmost astonishment, but I made signs to Madame that I +thought them all false. The Count felt for something in his pocketbook, +about twice as large as a spectacle-case, and, at length, drew out two or +three little paper packets, which he unfolded, and exhibited a superb +ruby. He threw on the table, with a contemptuous air, a little cross of +green and white stones. I looked at it and said, "That is not to be +despised." I put it on, and admired it greatly. The Count begged me to +accept it. I refused--he urged me to take it. Madame then refused it +for me. At length, he pressed it upon me so warmly that Madame, seeing +that it could not be worth above forty Louis, made me a sign to accept +it. I took the cross, much pleased at the Count's politeness; and, some +days after, Madame presented him with an enamelled box, upon which was +the portrait of some Grecian sage (whose name I don't recollect), to whom +she compared him. I skewed the cross to a jeweller, who valued it at +sixty-five Louis. The Count offered to bring Madame some enamel +portraits, by Petitot, to look at, and she told him to bring them after +dinner, while the King was hunting. He shewed his portraits, after which +Madame said to him, "I have heard a great deal of a charming story you +told two days ago, at supper, at M. le Premier's, of an occurrence you +witnessed fifty or sixty years ago." He smiled and said, "It is rather +long."--"So much the better," said she, with an air of delight. Madame +de Gontaut and the ladies came in, and the door was shut; Madame made a +sign to me to sit down behind the screen. The Count made many apologies +for the ennui which his story would, perhaps, occasion. He said, +"Sometimes one can tell a story pretty well; at other times it is quite a +different thing." + +"At the beginning of this century, the Marquis de St. Gilles was +Ambassador from Spain to the Hague. In his youth he had been +particularly intimate with the Count of Moncade, a grandee of Spain, +and one of the richest nobles of that country. Some months after the +Marquis's arrival at the Hague, he received a letter from the Count, +entreating him, in the name of their former friendship, to render him the +greatest possible service. 'You know,' said he, 'my dear Marquis, the +mortification I felt that the name of Moncade was likely to expire with +me. At length, it pleased heaven to hear my prayers, and to grant me a +son: he gave early promise of dispositions worthy of his birth, but he, +some time since, formed an unfortunate and disgraceful attachment to the +most celebrated actress of the company of Toledo. I shut my eyes to this +imprudence on the part of a young man whose conduct had, till then, +caused me unmingled satisfaction. But, having learnt that he was so +blinded by passion as to intend to marry this girl, and that he had even +bound himself by a written promise to that effect, I solicited the King +to have her placed in confinement. My son, having got information of the +steps I had taken, defeated my intentions by escaping with the object of +his passion. For more than six months I have vainly endeavoured to +discover where he has concealed himself, but I have now some reason to +think he is at the Hague. The Count earnestly conjured the Marquis to +make the most rigid search, in order to discover his son's retreat, and +to endeavour to prevail upon him to return to his home. 'It is an act of +justice,' continued he, 'to provide for the, girl, if she consents to +give up the written promise of marriage which she has received, and I +leave it to your discretion to do what is right for her, as well as to +determine the sum necessary to bring my son to Madrid in a manner +suitable to his condition. I know not,' concluded he, 'whether you are a +father; if you are, you will be able to sympathise in my anxieties.' +The Count subjoined to this letter an exact description of his son, and +the young woman by whom he was accompanied. + +"On the receipt of this letter, the Marquis lost not a moment in sending +to all the inns in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and the Hague, but in vain--he +could find no trace of them. He began to despair of success, when the +idea struck him that a young French page of his, remarkable for his +quickness and intelligence, might be employed with advantage. He +promised to reward him handsomely if he succeeded in finding the young +woman, who was the cause of so much anxiety, and gave him the description +of her person. The page visited all the public places for many days, +without success; at length, one evening, at the play, he saw a young man +and woman, in a box, who attracted his attention. When he saw that they, +perceived he was looking at them, and withdrew to the back of the box to +avoid his observation, he felt confident that they were the objects of +his search. He did not take his eyes from the bog, and watched every +movement in it. The instant the performance ended, he was in the passage +leading from the boxes to the door, and he remarked that the young man, +who, doubtless, observed the dress he wore, tried to conceal himself, as +he passed him, by putting his handkerchief before his face. He followed +him, at a distance, to the inn called the Vicomte de Turenne, which he +saw him and the woman enter; and, being now certain of success, he ran to +inform the Ambassador. The Marquis de St. Gilles immediately repaired to +the inn, wrapped in a cloak, and followed by his page and two servants. +He desired the landlord to show him to the room of a young man and woman, +who had lodged for some time in his house. The landlord, for some time, +refused to do so, unless the Marquis would give their name. The page +told him to take notice that he was speaking to the Spanish Ambassador, +who had strong reasons for wishing to see the persons in question. The +innkeeper said they wished not to be known, and that they had absolutely +forbidden him to admit anybody into their apartment who did not ask for +them by name; but that, since the Ambassador desired it, he would show +him their room. He then conducted them up to a dirty, miserable garret. +He knocked at the door, and waited for some time; he then knocked again +pretty, loudly, upon which the door was half-opened. At the sight of the +Ambassador and his suite, the person who opened it immediately closed it +again, exclaiming that they, had made a mistake. The Ambassador pushed +hard against him, forced his way, in, made a sign to his people to wait +outside, and remained in the room. He saw before him a very handsome +young man, whose appearance perfectly, corresponded with the description, +and a young woman, of great beauty, and remarkably fine person, whose +countenance, form, colour of the hair, etc., were also precisely those +described by the Count of Moncade. The young man spoke first. He +complained of the violence used in breaking into the apartment of a +stranger, living in a free country, and under the protection of its laws. +The Ambassador stepped forward to embrace him, and said, 'It is useless +to feign, my dear Count; I know you, and I do not come here--to give pain +to you or to this lady, whose appearance interests me extremely.' The +young man replied that he was totally mistaken; that he was not a Count, +but the son of a merchant of Cadiz; that the lady was his wife; and, that +they were travelling for pleasure. The Ambassador, casting his eyes +round the miserably furnished room, which contained but one bed, and some +packages of the shabbiest kind, lying in disorder about the room, 'Is +this, my dear child (allow me to address you by a title which is +warranted by my tender regard for your father), is this a fit residence +for the son of the Count of Moncade?' The young man still protested +against the use of any such language, as addressed to him. At length, +overcome by the entreaties of the Ambassador, he confessed, weeping, that +he was the son of the Count of Moncade, but declared that nothing should +induce him to return to his father, if he must abandon a woman he adored. +The young woman burst into tears, and threw herself at the feet of the +Ambassador, telling him that she would not be the cause of the ruin of +the young Count; and that generosity, or rather, love, would enable her +to disregard her own happiness, and, for his sake, to separate herself +from him. The Ambassador admired her noble disinterestedness. The young +man, on the contrary, received her declaration with the most desperate +grief. He reproached his mistress, and declared that he would never +abandon so estimable a creature, nor suffer the sublime generosity of her +heart to be turned against herself. The Ambassador told him that the +Count of Moncade was far from wishing to render her miserable, and that +he was commissioned to provide her with a sum sufficient to enable her to +return into Spain, or to live where she liked. Her noble sentiments, and +genuine tenderness, he said, inspired him with the greatest interest for +her, and would induce him to go to the utmost limits of his powers, in +the sum he was to give her; that he, therefore, promised her ten thousand +florins, that is to say, about twelve hundred Louis, which would be given +her the moment she surrendered the promise of marriage she had received, +and the Count of Moncade took up his abode in the Ambassador's house, +and promised to return to Spain. The young woman seemed perfectly +indifferent to the sum proposed, and wholly absorbed in her lover, and in +the grief of leaving him. She seemed insensible to everything but the +cruel sacrifice which her reason, and her love itself, demanded. At +length, drawing from a little portfolio the promise of marriage, signed +by the Count, 'I know his heart too well,' said she, 'to need it.' Then +she kissed it again and again, with a sort of transport, and delivered it +to the Ambassador, who stood by, astonished at the grandeur of soul he +witnessed. He promised her that he would never cease to take the +liveliest interest in her fate, and assured the Count of his father's +forgiveness. 'He will receive with open arms,' said he, 'the prodigal +son, returning to the bosom of his distressed family; the heart of a +father is an exhaustless mine of tenderness. How great will be the +felicity of my friend on the receipt of these tidings, after his long +anxiety and affliction; how happy do I esteem myself, at being the +instrument of that felicity?' Such was, in part, the language of the +Ambassador, which appeared to produce a strong impression on the young +man. But, fearing lest, during the night, love should regain all his +power, and should triumph over the generous resolution of the lady, the +Marquis pressed the young Count to accompany him to his hotel. The +tears, the cries of anguish, which marked this cruel separation, cannot +be described; they deeply touched the heart of the Ambassador, who +promised to watch over the young lady. The Count's little baggage was +not difficult to remove, and, that very evening, he was installed in the +finest apartment of the Ambassador's house. The Marquis was overjoyed at +having restored to the illustrious house of Moncade the heir of its +greatness, and of its magnificent domains. On the following morning, as +soon as the young Count was up, he found tailors, dealers in cloth, lace, +stuffs, etc., out of which he had only to choose. Two valets de chambre, +and three laquais, chosen by the Ambassador for their intelligence and +good conduct, were in waiting in his antechamber, and presented +themselves, to receive his orders. The Ambassador shewed the young Count +the letter he had just written to his father, in which he congratulated +him on possessing a son whose noble sentiments and striking qualities +were worthy of his illustrious blood, and announced his speedy return. +The young lady was not forgotten; he confessed that to her generosity he +was partly indebted for the submission of her lover, and expressed his +conviction that the Count would not disapprove the gift he had made her, +of ten thousand florins. That sum was remitted, on the same day, to this +noble and interesting girl, who left the Hague without delay. The +preparations for the Count's journey were made; a splendid wardrobe and +an excellent carriage were embarked at Rotterdam, in a ship bound for +France, on board which a passage was secured for the Count, who was to +proceed from that country to Spain. A considerable sum of money, and +letters of credit on Paris, were given him at his departure; and the +parting between the Ambassador and the young Count was most touching. +The Marquis de St. Gilles awaited with impatience the Count's answer, and +enjoyed his friend's delight by anticipation. At the expiration of four +months, he received this long-expected letter. It would be utterly +impossible to describe his surprise on reading the following words, +'Heaven, my dear Marquis, never granted me the happiness of becoming a +father, and, in the midst of abundant wealth and honours, the grief of +having no heirs, and seeing an illustrious race end in my person, has +shed the greatest bitterness over my whole existence. I see, with +extreme regret, that you have been imposed upon by a young adventurer, +who has taken advantage of the knowledge he had, by some means, obtained, +of our old friendship. But your Excellency must not be the sufferer. +The Count of Moncade is, most assuredly, the person whom you wished to +serve; he is bound to repay what your generous friendship hastened to +advance, in order to procure him a happiness which he would have felt +most deeply. I hope, therefore, Marquis, that your Excellency will have +no hesitation in accepting the remittance contained in this letter, of +three thousand Louis of France, of the disbursal of which you sent me an +account.'" + +The manner in which the Comte de St. Germain spoke, in the characters of +the young adventurer, his mistress, and the Ambassador, made his audience +weep and laugh by turns. The story is true in every particular, and the +adventurer surpasses Gusman d'Alfarache in address, according to the +report of some persons present. Madame de Pompadour thought of having a +play written, founded on this story; and the Count sent it to her in +writing, from which I transcribed it. + +M. Duclos came to the Doctor's, and harangued with his usual warmth. I +heard him saying to two or three persons, "People are unjust to great +men, Ministers and Princes; nothing, for instance, is more common than to +undervalue their intellect. I astonished one of these little gentlemen +of the corps of the infallibles, by telling him that I could prove that +there had been more men of ability in the house of Bourbon, for the last +hundred years, than in any other family."--"You prove that?" said +somebody, sneeringly. "Yes," said Duclos; "and I will tell you how. The +great Conde, you will allow, was no fool; and the Duchesse de Longueville +is cited as one of the wittiest women that ever lived. The Regent was a +man who had few equals, in every kind of talent and acquirement. The +Prince de Conti, who was elected King of Poland, was celebrated for his +intelligence, and, in poetry, was the successful rival of La Fare and St. +Aulaire. The Duke of Burgundy was learned and enlightened. His Duchess, +the daughter of Louis XIV., was remarkably clever, and wrote epigrams and +couplets. The Duc du Maine is generally spoken of only for his weakness, +but nobody had a more agreeable wit. His wife was mad, but she had an +extensive acquaintance with letters, good taste in poetry, and a +brilliant and inexhaustible imagination. Here are instances enough, I +think," said he; "and, as I am no flatterer, and hate to appear one, I +will not speak of the living." His hearers were astonished at this +enumeration, and all of them agreed in the truth of what he had said. He +added, "Don't we daily hear of silly D'Argenson, + + [Rene LOUIS d'Argenson, who was Minister for Foreign Affairs. He + was the author of 'Considerations sur le Gouvernement', and of + several other works, from which succeeding political writers have + drawn, and still draw ideas, which they give to the world as new. + This man, remarkable not only for profound and original thinking, + but for clear and forcible expression, was, nevertheless, D'Argenson + la bete. It is said, however, that he affected the simplicity, and + even silliness of manner, which procured him that appellation. If, + as we hope, the unedited memoirs left by Rene d'Argenson will be + given to the world, they will be found fully to justify the opinion + of Duclos, with regard to this Minister, and the inappropriateness + of his nickname.] + +because he has a good-natured air, and a bourgeois tone? and yet, I +believe, there have not been many Ministers comparable to him in +knowledge and in enlightened views." I took a pen, which lay on the +Doctor's table, and begged M. Duclos to repeat to me all the names he had +mentioned, and the eulogium he had bestowed on each. "If," said he, "you +show that to the Marquise, tell her how the conversation arose, and that +I did not say it in order that it might come to her ears, and eventually, +perhaps, to those of another person. I am an historiographer, and I will +render justice, but I shall, also, often inflict it."--"I will answer for +that," said the Doctor, "and our master will be represented as he really +is. Louis XIV. liked verses, and patronised poets; that was very well, +perhaps, in his time, because one must begin with something; but this age +will be very superior to the last. It must be acknowledged that Louis +XV., in sending astronomers to Mexico and Peru, to measure the earth, has +a higher claim to our respect than if he directed an opera. He has +thrown down the barriers which opposed the progress of philosophy, in +spite of the clamour of the devotees: the Encyclopaedia will do honour to +his reign." Duclos, during this speech, shook his head. I went away, +and tried to write down all I had heard, while it was fresh. I had the +part which related to the Princes of the Bourbon race copied by a valet, +who wrote a beautiful hand, and I gave it to Madame de Pompadour. But +she said to me, "What! is Duclos an acquaintance of yours? Do you want +to play the 'bel esprit', my dear good woman? That will not sit well +upon you." The truth is, that nothing can be further from my +inclination. I told her that I met him accidentally at the Doctor's, +where he generally spent an hour when he came to Versailles. "The King +knows him to be a worthy man," said she. + +Madame de Pompadour was ill, and the King came to see her several times a +day. I generally left the room when he entered, but, having stayed a few +minutes, on one occasion, to give her a glass of chicory water, I heard +the King mention Madame d'Egmont. Madame raised her eyes to heaven, and +said, "That name always recalls to me a most melancholy and barbarous +affair; but it was not my fault." These words dwelt in my mind, and, +particularly, the tone in which they were uttered. As I stayed with +Madame till three o'clock in the morning, reading to her a part of the +time, it was easy for me to try to satisfy my curiosity. I seized a +moment, when the reading was interrupted, to say, "You looked dreadfully +shocked, Madame, when the King pronounced the name of D'Egmont." At +these words, she again raised her eyes, and said, "You would feel as I +do, if you knew the affair."--"It must, then, be deeply affecting, for I +do not think that it personally concerns you, Madame."--"No," said she, +"it does not; as, however, I am not the only person acquainted with this +history, and as I know you to be discreet, I will tell it you. The last +Comte d'Egmont married a reputed daughter of the Duc de Villars; but the +Duchess had never lived with her husband, and the Comtesse d'Egmont is, +in fact, a daughter of the Chevalier d'Orleans.--[Legitimate son of the +Regent, Grand Prior of France.]--At the death of her husband, young, +beautiful, agreeable, and heiress to an immense fortune, she attracted +the suit and homage of all the most distinguished men at Court. Her +mother's director, one day, came into her room and requested a private +interview; he then revealed to her that she was the offspring of an +adulterous intercourse, for which her mother had been doing penance for +five-and-twenty years. 'She could not,' said he, 'oppose your former +marriage, although it caused her extreme distress. Heaven did not grant +you children; but, if you marry again, you run the risk, Madame, of +transmitting to another family the immense wealth, which does not, in +fact, belong to you, and which is the price of crime.' + +"The Comtesse d'Egmont heard this recital with horror. At the same +instant, her mother entered, and, on her knees, besought her daughter to +avert her eternal damnation. Madame d'Egmont tried to calm her own and +her mother's mind. 'What can I do?' said she, to her. 'Consecrate +yourself wholly to God,' replied the director, 'and thus expiate your +mother's crime.' The Countess, in her terror, promised whatever they +asked, and proposed to enter the Carmelites. I was informed of it, and +spoke to the King about the barbarous tyranny the Duchesse de Villars and +the director were about to exercise over this unhappy young woman; but we +knew not how to prevent it. The King, with the utmost kindness, +prevailed on the Queen to offer her the situation of Lady of the Palace, +and desired the Duchess's friends to persuade her to endeavour to deter +her daughter from becoming a Carmelite. It was all in vain; the wretched +victim was sacrificed." + +Madame took it into her head to consult a fortuneteller, called Madame +Bontemps, who had told M. de Bernis's fortune, as I have already related, +and had surprised him by her predictions. M. de Choiseul, to whom she +mentioned the matter, said that the woman had also foretold fine things +that were to happen to him. "I know it," said she, "and, in return, you +promised her a carriage, but the poor woman goes on foot still." Madame +told me this, and asked me how she could disguise herself, so as to see +the woman without being known. I dared not propose any scheme then, for +fear it should not succeed; but, two days after, I talked to her surgeon +about the art, which some beggars practise, of counterfeiting sores, and +altering their features. He said that was easy enough. I let the thing +drop, and, after an interval of some minutes, I said, "If one could +change one's features, one might have great diversion at the opera, +or at balls. What alterations would it be necessary to make in me, now, +to render it impossible to recognise me?"--"In the first place," said he, +"you must alter the colour of your hair, then you must have a false nose, +and put a spot on some part of your face, or a wart, or a few hairs." +I laughed, and said, "Help me to contrive this for the next ball; I have +not been to one for twenty years; but I am dying to puzzle somebody, and +to tell him things which no one but I can tell him. I shall come home, +and go to bed, in a quarter of an hour."--"I must take the measure of +your nose," said he; "or do you take it with wax, and I will have a nose +made: you can get a flaxen or brown wig." I repeated to Madame what the +surgeon had told me: she was delighted at it. I took the measure of her +nose, and of my own, and carried them to the surgeon, who, in two days, +gave me the two noses, and a wart, which Madame stuck under her left eye, +and some paint for the eyebrows. The noses were most delicately made, of +a bladder, I think, and these, with the ether disguises, rendered it +impossible to recognize the face, and yet did not produce any shocking +appearance. All this being accomplished, nothing remained but to give +notice to the fortuneteller; we waited for a little excursion to Paris, +which Madame was to take, to look at her house. I then got a person, +with whom I had no connection, to speak to a waiting-woman of the +Duchesse de Ruffec, to obtain an interview with the woman. She made some +difficulty, on account of the Police; but we promised secrecy, and +appointed the place of meeting. Nothing could be more contrary to Madame +de Pompadour's character, which was one of extreme timidity, than to +engage in such an adventure. But her curiosity was raised to the highest +pitch, and, moreover, everything was so well arranged that there was not +the slightest risk. Madame had let M. de Gontaut, and her valet de +chambre, into the secret. The latter had hired two rooms for his niece, +who was then ill, at Versailles, near Madame's hotel. We went out in the +evening, followed by the valet de chambre, who was a safe man, and by the +Duke, all on foot. We had not, at farthest, above two hundred steps to +go. We were shown into two small rooms, in which were fires. The two +men remained in one, and we in the other. Madame had thrown herself on a +sofa. She had on a night-cap, which concealed half her face, in an +unstudied manner. I was near the fire, leaning on a table, on which were +two candles. There were lying on the chairs, near us, some clothes, of +small value. The fortune-teller rang--a little servant-girl let her in, +and then went to wait in the room where the gentlemen were. Coffee-cups, +and a coffee-pot, were set; and I had taken care to place, upon a little +buffet, some cakes, and a bottle of Malaga wine, having heard that Madame +Bontemps assisted her inspiration with that liquor. Her face, indeed, +sufficiently proclaimed it. "Is that lady ill?" said she, seeing Madame +de Pompadour stretched languidly on the sofa. I told her that she would +soon be better, but that she had kept her room for a week. She heated +the coffee, and prepared the two cups, which she carefully wiped, +observing that nothing impure must enter into this operation. I affected +to be very anxious for a glass of wine, in order to give our oracle a +pretext for assuaging her thirst, which she did, without much entreaty. +When she had drunk two or three small glasses (for I had taken care not +to have large ones), she poured the coffee into one of the two large +cups. "This is yours," said she; "and this is your friends's; let them +stand a little." She then observed our hands and our faces; after which +she drew a looking-glass from her pocket, into which she told us to look, +while she looked at the reflections of our faces. She next took a glass +of wine, and immediately threw herself into a fit of enthusiasm, while +she inspected my cup, and considered all the lines formed by the dregs of +the coffee she had poured out. She began by saying, "That is well-- +prosperity--but there is a black mark--distresses. A man becomes a +comforter. Here, in this corner, are friends, who support you. Ah! who +is he that persecutes them? But justice triumphs--after rain, sunshine-- +a long journey successful. There, do you see these little bags? That is +money which has been paid--to you, of course, I mean. That is well. Do +you see that arm?"--"Yes."--"That is an arm supporting something: a woman +veiled; I see her; it is you. All this is clear to me. I hear, as it +were, a voice speaking to me. You are no longer attacked. I see it, +because the clouds in that direction are passed off (pointing to a +clearer spot). But, stay--I see small lines which branch out from the +main spot. These are sons, daughters, nephews--that is pretty well." +She appeared overpowered with the effort she was making. At length, she +added, "That is all. You have had good luck first--misfortune afterward. +You have had a friend, who has exerted himself with success to extricate +you from it. You have had lawsuits--at length fortune has been +reconciled to you, and will change no more." She drank another glass of +wine. "Your health, Madame," said she to the Marquise, and went through +the same ceremonies with the cup. At length, she broke out, "Neither +fair nor foul. I see there, in the distance, a serene sky; and then all +these things that appear to ascend all these things are applauses. Here +is a grave man, who stretches out his arms. Do you see?--look +attentively."--"That is true," said Madame de Pompadour, with surprise +(there was, indeed, some appearance of the kind). "He points to +something square that is an open coffer. Fine weather. But, look! +there are clouds of azure and gold, which surround you. Do you see that +ship on the high sea? How favourable the wind is! You are on board; you +land in a beautiful country, of which you become the Queen. Ah! what do +I see? Look there--look at that hideous, crooked, lame man, who is +pursuing you--but he is going on a fool's errand. I see a very great +man, who supports you in his arms. Here, look! he is a kind of giant. +There is a great deal of gold and silver--a few clouds here and there. +But you have nothing to fear. The vessel will be sometimes tossed about, +but it will not be lost. Dixi." Madame said, "When shall I die, and of +what disease?"--"I never speak of that," said she; "see here, rather but +fate will not permit it. I will shew you how fate confounds everything" +--shewing her several confused lumps of the coffee-dregs. "Well, never +mind as to the time, then, only tell me the kind of death." The fortune- +teller looked in the cup, and said, "You will have time to prepare +yourself." I gave her only two Louis, to avoid doing anything +remarkable. She left us, after begging us to keep her secret, and we +rejoined the Duc de Gontaut, to whom we related everything that had +passed. He laughed heartily, and said, "Her coffee-dregs are like the +clouds--you may see what you please in them." + +There was one thing in my horoscope which struck me, that was the +comforter; because one of my uncles had taken great care of me, and had +rendered me the most essential services. It is also true that I +afterwards had an important lawsuit; and, lastly, there was the money +which had come into my hands through Madame de Pompadour's patronage and +bounty. As for Madame, her husband was represented accurately enough by +the man with the coffer; then the country of which she became Queen +seemed to relate to her present situation at Court; but the most +remarkable thing was the crooked and lame man, in whom Madame thought she +recognized the Duc de V-----, who was very much deformed. Madame was +delighted with her adventure and her horoscope, which she thought +corresponded very remarkably with the truth. Two days after, she sent +for M. de St. Florentin, and begged him not to molest the fortuneteller. +He laughed, and replied that he knew why she interceded for this woman. +Madame asked him why he laughed. He related every circumstance of her +expedition with astonishing exactness;--[M. de St. Florentin was +Minister for Paris, to whom the Lieutenant of Police was accountable.]-- +but he knew nothing of what had been said, or, at least, so he pretended. +He promised Madame that, provided Bontemps did nothing which called for +notice, she should not be obstructed in the exercise of her profession, +especially if she followed it in secret. "I know her," added he, "and I, +like other people, have had the curiosity to consult her. She is the +wife of a soldier in the guards. She is a clever woman in her way, but +she drinks. Four or five years ago, she got such hold on the mind of +Madame de Ruffec, that she made her believe she could procure her an +elixir of beauty, which would restore her to what she was at twenty-five. +The Duchess pays high for the drugs of which this elixir is compounded; +and sometimes they are bad: sometimes, the sun, to which they were +exposed, was not powerful enough; sometimes, the influence of a certain +constellation was wanting. Sometimes, she has the courage to assure the +Duchess that she really is grown handsomer, and actually succeeds in +making her believe it." But the history of this woman's daughter is +still more curious. She was exquisitely beautiful, and the Duchess +brought her up in her own house. Bontemps predicted to the girl, in the +Duchess's presence, that she would marry a man of two thousand Louis a +year. This was not very likely to happen to the daughter of a soldier in +the guards. It did happen, nevertheless. The little Bontemps married +the President Beaudouin, who was mad. But, the tragical part of the +story is, that her mother had also foretold that she would die in +childbirth of her first child, and that she did actually die in child- +birth, at the age of eighteen, doubtless under a strong impression of her +mother's prophecy, to which the improbable event of her marriage had +given such extraordinary weight. Madame told the King of the adventure +her curiosity had led her into, at which he laughed, and said he wished +the Police had arrested her. He added a very sensible remark. "In order +to judge," said he, "of the truth or falsehood of such predictions, one +ought to collect fifty of them. It would be found that they are almost +always made up of the same phrases, which are sometimes inapplicable, and +some times hit the mark. But the first are rarely-mentioned, while the +others are always insisted on." + +I have heard, and, indeed, it is certainly true, that M. de Bridge lived +on terms of intimacy with Madame, when she was Madame d'Aioles. He used +to ride on horseback with her, and, as he is so handsome a man, that he +has retained the name of the handsome man, it was natural enough that he +should be thought the lover of a very handsome woman. I have heard +something more than this. I was told that the King said to M. de Bridge, +"Confess, now, that you were her lover. She has acknowledged it to me, +and I exact from you this proof of sincerity." M. de. Bridge replied, +that Madame de Pompadour was at liberty to say what she pleased for her +own amusement, or for any other reason; but that he, for his part, could +not assert a falsehood; that he had been, her friend; that she was a +charming companion, and had great talents; that he delighted in her +society; but that his intercourse with her had never gone beyond the +bounds of friendship. He added, that her husband was present in all +their parties, that he watched her with a jealous eye, and that he would +not have suffered him to be so much with her if he had conceived the +least suspicion of the kind. The King persisted, and told him he was +wrong to endeavour to conceal a fact which was unquestionable. It was +rumoured, also, that the Abbe de Bernis had been a favoured lover of +hers. The said Abbe was rather a coxcomb; he had a handsome face, and +wrote poetry. Madame de Pompadour was the theme of his gallant verses. +He sometimes received the compliments of his friends upon his success +with a smile which left some room for conjecture, although he denied the +thing in words. It was, for some time, reported at Court that she was in +love with the Prince de Beauvau: he is a man distinguished for his +gallantries, his air of rank and fashion, and his high play; he is +brother to the little Marechale: for all these reasons, Madame is very +civil to him, but there is nothing marked in her behaviour. She knows, +besides, that he is in love with a very agreeable woman. + +Now that I am on the subject of lovers, I cannot avoid speaking of M. de +Choiseul. Madame likes him better than any of those I have just +mentioned, but he is not her lover. A lady, whom I know perfectly well, +but whom I do not chose to denounce to Madame, invented a story about +them, which was utterly false. She said, as I have good reason to +believe, that one day, hearing the King coming, I ran to Madame's closet +door; that I coughed in a particular manner; and that the King having, +happily, stopped a moment to talk to some ladies, there was time to +adjust matters, so that Madame came out of the closet with me and M. de +Choiseul, as if we had been all three sitting together. It is very true +that I went in to carry something to Madame, without knowing that the +King was come, and that she came out of the closet with M. de Choiseul, +who had a paper in his hand, and that I followed her a few minutes after. +The King asked M. de Choiseul what that paper was which he had in his +hand. He replied that it contained the remonstrance from the Parliament. + +Three or four ladies witnessed what I now relate, and as, with the +exception of one, they were all excellent women, and greatly attached to +Madame, my suspicions could fall on none but the one in question, whom I +will not name, because her brother has always treated me with great +kindness. Madame de Pompadour had a lively imagination and great +sensibility, but nothing could exceed the coldness of her temperament. +It would, besides, have been extremely difficult for her, surrounded as +she was, to keep up an intercourse of that kind with any man. It is true +that this difficulty would have been diminished in the case of an all- +powerful Minister, who had constant pretexts for seeing her in private. +But there was a much more decisive fact--M. de Choiseul had a charming +mistress--the Princess de R------, and Madame knew it, and often spoke of +her. He had, besides, some remains of liking for the Princess de Kinski, +who followed him from Vienna. It is true that he soon after discovered +how ridiculous she was. All these circumstances combined were, surely, +sufficient to deter Madame from engaging in a love affair with the Duke; +but his talents and agreeable qualities captivated her. He was not +handsome, but he had manners peculiar to himself, an agreeable vivacity, +a delightful gaiety; this was the general opinion of his character. He +was much attached to Madame, and though this might, at first, be inspired +by a consciousness of the importance of her friendship to his interest, +yet, after he had acquired sufficient political strength to stand alone, +he was not the less devoted to her, nor less assiduous in his attentions. +He knew her friendship for me, and he one day said to me, with great +feeling, "I am afraid, my dear Madame du Hausset, that she will sink into +a state of complete dejection, and die of melancholy. Try to divert +her." What a fate for the favourite of the greatest monarch in +existence! thought I. + +One day, Madame de Pompadour had retired to her closet with M. Berryer. +Madame d'Amblimont stayed with Madame de Gontaut, who called me to talk +about my son. A moment after, M. de Gontaut came in and said, +"D'Amblimont, who shall have the Swiss guards?"--"Stop a moment," said +she; "let me call my council----, M. de Choiseul."--"That is not so very +bad a thought," said M. de Gontaut, "but I assure you, you are the first +person who has suggested it." He immediately left us, and Madame +d'Amblimont said, "I'll lay a wager he is going to communicate my idea to +M. de Choiseul." He returned very shortly, and, M. Berrier having left +the room, he said to Madame de Pompadour, "A singular thought has entered +d'Amblimont's head."--"What absurdity now?" said Madame. "Not so great +an absurdity neither," said he. "She says the Swiss guards ought to be +given to M. de Choiseul, and, really, if the King has not positively +promised M. de Soubise, I don't see what he can do better."--"The King +has promised nothing," said Madame, "and the hopes I gave him were of the +vaguest kind. I only told him it was possible. But though I have a +great regard for M. de Soubise, I do not think his merits comparable to +those of M. de Choiseul." When the King came in, Madame, doubtless, told +him of this suggestion. A quarter of an hour afterwards, I went into the +room to speak to her, and I heard the King say, "You will see that, +because the Duc du Maine, and his children, had that place, he will think +he ought to have it, on account of his rank as Prince (Soubise); but the +Marechal de Bassompierre was not a Prince; and, by the bye, the Duc de +Choiseul is his grandnephew; do you know that?"--"Your Majesty is better +acquainted with the history of France than anybody," replied Madame. Two +days after this, Madame de said to me, "I have two great delights; M. de +Soubise will not have the Swiss guards, and Madame de Marsan will be +ready to burst with rage at it; this is the first: and M. de Choiseul +will have them; this is the greatest." + + ........................... + +[The whole of this passage is in a different handwriting.] + +There was a universal talk of a young lady with whom the King was as much +in love as it was possible for him to be. Her name was Romans. She was +said to be a charming girl. Madame de Pompadour knew of the King's +visits, and her confidantes brought her most alarming reports of the +affair. The Marechale de Mirepoix, who had the best head in Madame's +council, was the only one who encouraged her. "I do not tell you," said +she, "that he loves you better than her; and if she could be transported +hither by the stroke of a fairy's wand; if she could entertain him this +evening at supper; if she were familiar with all his tastes, there would, +perhaps, be sufficient reason for you to tremble for your power. But +Princes are, above all, pre-eminently the slaves of habit. The King's +attachment to you is like that he bears to your apartment, your +furniture. You have formed yourself to his manners and habits; you know +how to listen and reply to his stories; he is under no constraint with +you; he has no fear of boring you. How do you think he could have +resolution to uproot all this in a day, to form a new establishment, and +to make a public exhibition of himself by so striking a change in his +arrangements?" The young lady became pregnant; the reports current among +the people, and even those at Court, alarmed Madame dreadfully. It was +said that the King meant to legitimate the child, and to give the mother +a title. "All that," said Madame de Mirepoix, "is in the style of Louis +XIV.--such dignified proceedings are very unlike those of our master." +Mademoiselle Romans lost all her influence over the King by her +indiscreet boasting. She was even treated with harshness and violence, +which were in no degree instigated by Madame. Her house was searched, +and her papers seized; but the most important, those which substantiated +the fact of the King's paternity, had been withdrawn. At length she gave +birth to a son, who was christened under the name of Bourbon, son of +Charles de Bourbon, Captain of Horse. The mother thought the eyes of all +France were fixed upon her, and beheld in her son a future Duc du Maine. +She suckled him herself, and she used to carry him in a sort of basket to +the Bois de Boulogne. Both mother and child were covered with the finest +laces. She sat down upon the grass in a solitary spot, which, however, +was soon well known, and there gave suck to her royal babe. Madame had +great curiosity to see her, and took me, one day, to the manufactory at +Sevres, without telling me what she projected. After she had bought some +cups, she said, "I want to go and walk in the Bois de Boulogne," and gave +orders to the coachman to stop at a certain spot where she wished to +alight. She had got the most accurate directions, and when she drew near +the young lady's haunt she gave me her arm, drew her bonnet over her +eyes, and held her pocket-handkerchief before the lower part of her face. +We walked, for some minutes, in a path, from whence we could see the lady +suckling her child. Her jet black hair was turned up, and confined by a +diamond comb. She looked earnestly at us. Madame bowed to her, and +whispered to me, pushing me by the elbow, "Speak to her." I stepped +forward, and exclaimed, "What a lovely child!"--"Yes, Madame," replied +she, "I must confess that he is, though I am his mother." Madame, who +had hold of my arm, trembled, and I was not very firm. Mademoiselle +Romans said to me, "Do you live in this neighbourhood?"--"Yes, Madame," +replied I, "I live at Auteuil with this lady, who is just now suffering +from a most dreadful toothache."--"I pity her sincerely, for I know that +tormenting pain well." I looked all around, for fear any one should come +up who might recognise us. I took courage to ask her whether the child's +father was a handsome man. "Very handsome, and, if I told you his name, +you would agree with me."--"I have the honour of knowing him, then, +Madame?"--"Most probably you do." Madame, fearing, as I did, some +rencontre, said a few words in a low tone, apologizing for having +intruded upon her, and we took our leave. We looked behind us, +repeatedly, to see if we were followed, and got into the carriage without +being perceived. "It must be confessed that both mother and child are +beautiful creatures," said Madame--"not to mention the father; the infant +has his eyes. If the King had come up while we were there, do you think +he would have recognised us?"--"I don't doubt that he would, Madame, and +then what an agitation I should have been in, and what a scene it would +have been for the bystanders! and, above all, what a surprise to her!" +In the evening, Madame made the King a present of the cups she had +bought, but she did not mention her walk, for fear Mademoiselle Romans +should tell him that two ladies, who knew him, had met her there such a +day. Madame de Mirepoix said to Madame, "Be assured, the King cares very +little about children; he has enough of them, and he will not be troubled +with the mother or the son. See what sort of notice he takes of the +Comte de I-----, who is strikingly like him. He never speaks of him, and +I am convinced that he will never do anything for him. Again and again I +tell you, we do not live under Louis XIV." Madame de Mirepoix had been +Ambassadress to London, and had often heard the English make this remark. + +Some alterations had been made in Madame de Pompadour's rooms, and I had +no longer, as heretofore, the niche in which I had been permitted to sit, +to hear Caffarelli, and, in later times, Mademoiselle Fel and Jeliotte. +I, therefore, went more frequently to my lodgings in town, where I +usually received my friends: more particularly when Madame visited her +little hermitage, whither M. de Gontaut commonly accompanied her. Madame +du Chiron, the wife of the Head Clerk in the War-Office, came to see me. +"I feel," said she, "greatly embarrassed, in speaking to you about an +affair, which will, perhaps, embarrass you also. This is the state of +the case. A very poor woman, to whom I have sometimes given a little +assistance, pretends to be a relation of the Marquise de Pompadour. Here +is her petition." I read it, and said that the woman had better write +directly to Madame, and that I was sure, if what she asserted was true, +her application would be successful. Madame du Chiron followed my +advice. The woman wrote she was in the lowest depth of poverty, and I +learnt that Madame sent her six Louis until she could gain more accurate +information as to the truth of her story. Colin, who was commissioned to +take the money, made inquiries of M. de Malvoiain, a relation of Madame, +and a very respectable officer. The fact was found to be as she had +stated it. Madame then sent her a hundred louis, and promised her a +pension of sixty louis a year. All this was done with great expedition, +and Madame had a visit of thanks from her poor relation, as soon as she +had procured decent clothes to come in. That day the King happened to +come in at an unusual hour, and saw this person going out. He asked who +it was. "It is a very poor relation of mine," replied Madame. "She +came, then, to beg for some assistance?"--"No," said she. "What did she +come for, then?"--"To thank me for a little service I have rendered her," +said she, blushing from the fear of seeming to boast of her liberality. +"Well," said the King; "since she is your relation, allow me to have the +pleasure of serving her too. I will give her fifty louis a year out of +my private purse, and, you know, she may send for the first year's +allowance to-morrow." Madame burst into tears, and kissed the King's +hand several times. She told me this three days afterwards, when I was +nursing her in a slight attack of fever. I could not refrain from +weeping myself at this instance of the King's kindness. The next day, +I called on Madame du Chiron to tell her of the good fortune of her +protege; I forgot to say that, after Madame had related the affair to me, +I told her what part I had taken in it. She approved my conduct, and +allowed me to inform my friend of the King's goodness. This action, +which showed no less delicate politeness towards her than sensibility to +the sufferings of the poor woman, made a deeper impression on Madame's +heart than a pension of two thousand a year given to herself. + +Madame had terrible palpitations of the heart. Her heart actually seemed +to leap. She consulted several physicians. I recollect that one of them +made her walk up and down the room, lift a weight, and move quickly. On +her expressing some surprise, he said, "I do this to ascertain whether +the organ is diseased; in that case motion quickens the pulsation; if +that effect is not produced, the complaint proceeds from the nerves." +I repeated this to my oracle, Quesnay. He knew very little of this +physician, but he said his treatment was that of a clever man. His name +was Renard; he was scarcely known beyond the Marais. Madame often +appeared suffocated, and sighed continually. One day, under pretence of +presenting a petition to M. de Choiseul, as he was going out, I said, in +a low voice, that I wished to see him a few minutes on an affair of +importance to my mistress. He told me to come as soon as I pleased, and +that I should be admitted. I told him that Madame was extremely +depressed; that she gave way to distressing thoughts, which she would not +communicate; that she, one day, said to me, "The fortune-teller told me I +should have time to prepare myself; I believe it, for I shall be worn to +death by melancholy." M. de Choiseul appeared much affected; he praised +my zeal, and said that he had already perceived some indications of what +I told him; that he would not mention my name, but would try to draw from +her an explanation. I don't know what he said to her; but, from that +time, she was much more calm. One day, but long afterwards, Madame said +to M. de Gontaut, "I am generally thought to have great influence, but if +it were not for M. de Choiseul, I should not be able to obtain a Cross of +St. Louis." + +The King and Madame de Pompadour had a very high opinion of Madame de +Choiseul. Madame said, "She always says the right thing in the right +place." Madame de Grammont was not so agreeable to them; and I think +that this was to be attributed, in part, to the sound of her voice, and +to her blunt manner of speaking; for she was said to be a woman of great +sense, and devotedly attached to the King and Madame de Pompadour. Some +people pretended that she tried to captivate the King, and to supplant +Madame: nothing could be more false, or more ridiculously improbable. +Madame saw a great deal of these two ladies, who were extremely attentive +to her. She one day remarked to the Duc d'Ayen,--[Afterwards Marechal de +Noaines.] that M. de Choiseul was very fond of his sisters. "I know it, +Madame," said he, "and many sisters are the better for that."--"What do +you mean?" said she. "Why," said he, "as the Duc de Choiseul loves his +sister, it is thought fashionable to do the same; and I know silly girls, +whose brothers formerly cared nothing about them, who are now most +tenderly beloved. No sooner does their little finger ache, than their +brothers are running about to fetch physicians from all corners of Paris. +They flatter themselves that somebody will say, in M. de Choiseul's +drawing-room, "How passionately M. de ------ loves his sister; he would +certainly die if he had the misfortune to lose her." Madame related this +to her brother, in my presence, adding, that she could not give it in the +Duke's comic manner. M. de Marigny said, "I have had the start of them +all, without making so much noise; and my dear little sister knows that I +loved her tenderly before Madame de Grammont left her convent. The Duc +d'Ayen, however, is not very wrong; he has made the most of it in his +lively manner, but it is partly true."--"I forgot," replied Madame, "that +the Duke said, 'I want extremely to be in the fashion, but which sister +shall I take up? Madame de Caumont is a devil incarnate, Madame de +Villars drinks, Madame d'Armagnac is a bore, Madame de la Marck is half +mad.'"--"These are fine family portraits, Duke," said Madame. The Duc de +Gontaut laughed, during the whole of this conversation, immoderately. +Madame repeated it, one day, when she kept her bed. M. de G----- also +began to talk of his sister, Madame du Roure. I think, at least, that is +the name he mentioned. He was very gay, and had the art of creating +gaiety. Somebody said, he is an excellent piece of furniture for a +favourite. He makes her laugh, and asks for nothing either for himself +or for others; he cannot excite jealousy, and he meddles in nothing. +He was called the White Eunuch. Madame's illness increased so rapidly +that we were alarmed about her; but bleeding in the foot cured her as if +by a miracle. The King watched her with the greatest solicitude; and I +don't know whether his attentions did not contribute as much to the cure +as the bleeding. M. de Choiseul remarked, some days after, that she +appeared in better spirits. I told him that I thought this improvement +might be attributed to the same cause. + + + + + +ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + +Air of science calculated to deceive the vulgar +Bad habit of talking very indiscreetly before others +Clouds--you may see what you please in them +Dared to say to me, so he writes +Dead always in fault, and cannot be put out of sight too soon +French people do not do things by halves +Fresh proof of the intrigues of the Jesuits +How difficult it is to do good +I dared not touch that string +Infinite astonishment at his sharing the common destiny +Madame made the Treaty of Sienna +Pension is granted on condition that his poems are never printed +Pleasure of making a great noise at little expense +Sending astronomers to Mexico and Peru, to measure the earth +She always says the right thing in the right place +She drives quick and will certainly be overturned on the road + + + + +End of this Project Gutenberg Etext Memoirs of Louis XV., and XVI., v2 +by Madame du Hausset, and an unknown English girl and Princess Lamballe + |