diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'old')
| -rw-r--r-- | old/cm47b10.txt | 1725 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/cm47b10.zip | bin | 0 -> 40075 bytes |
2 files changed, 1725 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/old/cm47b10.txt b/old/cm47b10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7ae0de5 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/cm47b10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1725 @@ +The Project Gutenberg Memoirs of Marie Antoinette, v1 +#1 in our series by Madam Campan +#47 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. The words +are carefully chosen to provide users with the information they +need about what they can legally do with the texts. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**Etexts Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These Etexts Are Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + +Information on contacting Project Gutenberg to get Etexts, and +further information is included below, including for donations. + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a 501(c)(3) +organization with EIN [Employee Identification Number] 64-6221541 + + + +Title: The Memoirs of Marie Antoinette, v1 + +Author: Madame Campan + +Official Release Date: March, 2003 [Etext #3884] +[Yes, we are about one year ahead of schedule] +[The actual date this file first posted = 07/29/01] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +The Project Gutenberg Etext Memoirs of Marie Antoinette, by Campan, v1 +*********This file should be named cm47b10.txt or cm47b10.zip********* + +Corrected EDITIONS of our etexts get a new NUMBER, cm47b11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, cm47b10a.txt + +This etext was produced by David Widger <widger@cecomet.net> + +Project Gutenberg Etexts are usually created from multiple editions, +all of which are in the Public Domain in the United States, unless a +copyright notice is included. Therefore, we usually do NOT keep any +of these books in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +We are now trying to release all our books one year in advance +of the official release dates, leaving time for better editing. +Please be encouraged to send us error messages even years after +the official publication date. + +Please note neither this listing nor its contents are final til +midnight of the last day of the month of any such announcement. +The official release date of all Project Gutenberg Etexts is at +Midnight, Central Time, of the last day of the stated month. A +preliminary version may often be posted for suggestion, comment +and editing by those who wish to do so. + +Most people start at our sites at: +http://gutenberg.net +http://promo.net/pg + + +Those of you who want to download any Etext before announcement +can surf to them as follows, and just download by date; this is +also a good way to get them instantly upon announcement, as the +indexes our cataloguers produce obviously take a while after an +announcement goes out in the Project Gutenberg Newsletter. + +http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext03 +or +ftp://ftp.ibiblio.org/pub/docs/books/gutenberg/etext03 + +Or /etext02, 01, 00, 99, 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90 + +Just search by the first five letters of the filename you want, +as it appears in our Newsletters. + + +Information about Project Gutenberg (one page) + +We produce about two million dollars for each hour we work. The +time it takes us, a rather conservative estimate, is fifty hours +to get any etext selected, entered, proofread, edited, copyright +searched and analyzed, the copyright letters written, etc. This +projected audience is one hundred million readers. If our value +per text is nominally estimated at one dollar then we produce $2 +million dollars per hour this year as we release fifty new Etext +files per month, or 500 more Etexts in 2000 for a total of 3000+ +If they reach just 1-2% of the world's population then the total +should reach over 300 billion Etexts given away by year's end. + +The Goal of Project Gutenberg is to Give Away One Trillion Etext +Files by December 31, 2001. [10,000 x 100,000,000 = 1 Trillion] +This is ten thousand titles each to one hundred million readers, +which is only about 4% of the present number of computer users. + +At our revised rates of production, we will reach only one-third +of that goal by the end of 2001, or about 4,000 Etexts unless we +manage to get some real funding. + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation has been created +to secure a future for Project Gutenberg into the next millennium. + +We need your donations more than ever! + +As of July 12, 2001 contributions are only being solicited from people in: +Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, +Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, +Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North +Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, +Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, +Wisconsin, and Wyoming. + +We have filed in about 45 states now, but these are the only ones +that have responded. + +As the requirements for other states are met, +additions to this list will be made and fund raising +will begin in the additional states. Please feel +free to ask to check the status of your state. + +In answer to various questions we have received on this: + +We are constantly working on finishing the paperwork +to legally request donations in all 50 states. If +your state is not listed and you would like to know +if we have added it since the list you have, just ask. + +While we cannot solicit donations from people in +states where we are not yet registered, we know +of no prohibition against accepting donations +from donors in these states who approach us with +an offer to donate. + + +International donations are accepted, +but we don't know ANYTHING about how +to make them tax-deductible, or +even if they CAN be made deductible, +and don't have the staff to handle it +even if there are ways. + +All donations should be made to: + +Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +PMB 113 +1739 University Ave. +Oxford, MS 38655-4109 + + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a 501(c)(3) +organization with EIN [Employee Identification Number] 64-6221541, +and has been approved as a 501(c)(3) organization by the US Internal +Revenue Service (IRS). Donations are tax-deductible to the maximum +extent permitted by law. As the requirements for other states are met, +additions to this list will be made and fund raising will begin in the +additional states. + +We need your donations more than ever! + +You can get up to date donation information at: + +http://www.gutenberg.net/donation.html + + +*** + +If you can't reach Project Gutenberg, +you can always email directly to: + +Michael S. Hart <hart@pobox.com> + +hart@pobox.com forwards to hart@prairienet.org and archive.org +if your mail bounces from archive.org, I will still see it, if +it bounces from prairienet.org, better resend later on. . . . + +Prof. Hart will answer or forward your message. + +We would prefer to send you information by email. + + +*** + + +Example command-line FTP session: + +ftp ftp.ibiblio.org +login: anonymous +password: your@login +cd pub/docs/books/gutenberg +cd etext90 through etext99 or etext00 through etext02, etc. +dir [to see files] +get or mget [to get files. . .set bin for zip files] +GET GUTINDEX.?? [to get a year's listing of books, e.g., GUTINDEX.99] +GET GUTINDEX.ALL [to get a listing of ALL books] + + +**The Legal Small Print** + + +(Three Pages) + +***START**THE SMALL PRINT!**FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS**START*** +Why is this "Small Print!" statement here? You know: lawyers. +They tell us you might sue us if there is something wrong with +your copy of this etext, even if you got it for free from +someone other than us, and even if what's wrong is not our +fault. So, among other things, this "Small Print!" statement +disclaims most of our liability to you. It also tells you how +you may distribute copies of this etext if you want to. + +*BEFORE!* YOU USE OR READ THIS ETEXT +By using or reading any part of this PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm +etext, you indicate that you understand, agree to and accept +this "Small Print!" statement. If you do not, you can receive +a refund of the money (if any) you paid for this etext by +sending a request within 30 days of receiving it to the person +you got it from. If you received this etext on a physical +medium (such as a disk), you must return it with your request. + +ABOUT PROJECT GUTENBERG-TM ETEXTS +This PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm etext, like most PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm etexts, +is a "public domain" work distributed by Professor Michael S. Hart +through the Project Gutenberg Association (the "Project"). +Among other things, this means that no one owns a United States copyright +on or for this work, so the Project (and you!) can copy and +distribute it in the United States without permission and +without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth +below, apply if you wish to copy and distribute this etext +under the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark. + +Please do not use the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark to market +any commercial products without permission. + +To create these etexts, the Project expends considerable +efforts to identify, transcribe and proofread public domain +works. Despite these efforts, the Project's etexts and any +medium they may be on may contain "Defects". Among other +things, Defects may take the form of incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other +intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged +disk or other etext medium, a computer virus, or computer +codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment. + +LIMITED WARRANTY; DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES +But for the "Right of Replacement or Refund" described below, +[1] Michael Hart and the Foundation (and any other party you may +receive this etext from as a PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm etext) disclaims +all liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including +legal fees, and [2] YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE OR +UNDER STRICT LIABILITY, OR FOR BREACH OF WARRANTY OR CONTRACT, +INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE +OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE +POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. + +If you discover a Defect in this etext within 90 days of +receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any) +you paid for it by sending an explanatory note within that +time to the person you received it from. If you received it +on a physical medium, you must return it with your note, and +such person may choose to alternatively give you a replacement +copy. If you received it electronically, such person may +choose to alternatively give you a second opportunity to +receive it electronically. + +THIS ETEXT IS OTHERWISE PROVIDED TO YOU "AS-IS". NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ARE MADE TO YOU AS +TO THE ETEXT OR ANY MEDIUM IT MAY BE ON, INCLUDING BUT NOT +LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A +PARTICULAR PURPOSE. + +Some states do not allow disclaimers of implied warranties or +the exclusion or limitation of consequential damages, so the +above disclaimers and exclusions may not apply to you, and you +may have other legal rights. + +INDEMNITY +You will indemnify and hold Michael Hart, the Foundation, +and its trustees and agents, and any volunteers associated +with the production and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm +texts harmless, from all liability, cost and expense, including +legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of the +following that you do or cause: [1] distribution of this etext, +[2] alteration, modification, or addition to the etext, +or [3] any Defect. + +DISTRIBUTION UNDER "PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm" +You may distribute copies of this etext electronically, or by +disk, book or any other medium if you either delete this +"Small Print!" and all other references to Project Gutenberg, +or: + +[1] Only give exact copies of it. Among other things, this + requires that you do not remove, alter or modify the + etext or this "small print!" statement. You may however, + if you wish, distribute this etext in machine readable + binary, compressed, mark-up, or proprietary form, + including any form resulting from conversion by word + processing or hypertext software, but only so long as + *EITHER*: + + [*] The etext, when displayed, is clearly readable, and + does *not* contain characters other than those + intended by the author of the work, although tilde + (~), asterisk (*) and underline (_) characters may + be used to convey punctuation intended by the + author, and additional characters may be used to + indicate hypertext links; OR + + [*] The etext may be readily converted by the reader at + no expense into plain ASCII, EBCDIC or equivalent + form by the program that displays the etext (as is + the case, for instance, with most word processors); + OR + + [*] You provide, or agree to also provide on request at + no additional cost, fee or expense, a copy of the + etext in its original plain ASCII form (or in EBCDIC + or other equivalent proprietary form). + +[2] Honor the etext refund and replacement provisions of this + "Small Print!" statement. + +[3] Pay a trademark license fee to the Foundation of 20% of the + gross profits you derive calculated using the method you + already use to calculate your applicable taxes. If you + don't derive profits, no royalty is due. Royalties are + payable to "Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation" + the 60 days following each date you prepare (or were + legally required to prepare) your annual (or equivalent + periodic) tax return. Please contact us beforehand to + let us know your plans and to work out the details. + +WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO? +Project Gutenberg is dedicated to increasing the number of +public domain and licensed works that can be freely distributed +in machine readable form. + +The Project gratefully accepts contributions of money, time, +public domain materials, or royalty free copyright licenses. +Money should be paid to the: +"Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +If you are interested in contributing scanning equipment or +software or other items, please contact Michael Hart at: +hart@pobox.com + +[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.] + +*END THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.07/27/01*END* + + + + + +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 THE COURT OF MARIE ANTOINETTE, QUEEN OF FRANCE + +Being the Historic Memoirs of Madam Campan, +First Lady in Waiting to the Queen + + + +BOOK 1. + + +PREFACE BY THE AUTHOR. + +Louis XVI. possessed an immense crowd of confidants, advisers, and +guides; he selected them even from among the factions which attacked him. +Never, perhaps, did he make a full disclosure to any one of them, and +certainly he spoke with sincerity, to but very few. He invariably kept +the reins of all secret intrigues in his own hand; and thence, doubtless, +arose the want of cooperation and the weakness which were so conspicuous +in his measures. From these causes considerable chasms will be found in +the detailed history of the Revolution. + +In order to become thoroughly acquainted with the latter years of the +reign of Louis XV., memoirs written by the Duc de Choiseul, the Duc +d'Aiguillon, the Marechal de Richelieu, + + [I heard Le Marechal de Richelieu desire M. Campan, who was + librarian to the Queen, not to buy the Memoirs which would certainly + be attributed to him after his death, declaring them false by + anticipation; and adding that he was ignorant of orthography, and + had never amused himself with writing. Shortly after the death of + the Marshal, one Soulavie put forth Memoirs of the Marechal de + Richelieu.] + +and the Duc de La Vauguyon, should be before us. To give us a faithful +portrait of the unfortunate reign of Louis XVI., the Marechal du Muy, +M. de Maurepas, M. de Vergennes, M. de Malesherbes, the Duc d'Orleans, +M. de La Fayette, the Abby de Vermond, the Abbe Montesquiou, Mirabeau, +the Duchesse de Polignac, and the Duchesse de Luynes should have noted +faithfully in writing all the transactions in which they took decided +parts. The secret political history of a later period has been +disseminated among a much greater number of persons; there are Ministers +who have published memoirs, but only when they had their own measures to +justify, and then they confined themselves to the vindication of their +own characters, without which powerful motive they probably would have +written nothing. In general, those nearest to the Sovereign, either by +birth or by office, have left no memoirs; and in absolute monarchies the +mainsprings of great events will be found in particulars which the most +exalted persons alone could know. Those who have had but little under +their charge find no subject in it for a book; and those who have long +borne the burden of public business conceive themselves to be forbidden +by duty, or by respect for authority, to disclose all they know. Others, +again, preserve notes, with the intention of reducing them to order when +they shall have reached the period of a happy leisure; vain illusion of +the ambitious, which they cherish, for the most part, but as a veil to +conceal from their sight the hateful image of their inevitable downfall! +and when it does at length take place, despair or chagrin deprives them +of fortitude to dwell upon the dazzling period which they never cease to +regret. + +Louis XVI. meant to write his own memoirs; the manner in which his +private papers were arranged indicated this design. The Queen also had +the same intention; she long preserved a large correspondence, and a +great number of minute reports, made in the spirit and upon the event of +the moment. But after the 20th of June, 1792, she was obliged to burn +the larger portion of what she had so collected, and the remainder were +conveyed out of France. + +Considering the rank and situations of the persons I have named as +capable of elucidating by their writings the history of our political +storms, it will not be imagined that I aim at placing myself on a level +with them; but I have spent half my life either with the daughters of +Louis XV. or with Marie Antoinette. I knew the characters of those +Princesses; I became privy to some extraordinary facts, the publication +of which may be interesting, and the truth of the details will form the +merit of my work. + +I was very young when I was placed about the Princesses, the daughters of +Louis XV., in the capacity of reader. I was acquainted with the Court of +Versailles before the time of the marriage of Louis XVI. with the +Archduchess Marie Antoinette. + +My father, who was employed in the department of Foreign Affairs, enjoyed +the reputation due to his talents and to his useful labours. He had +travelled much. Frenchmen, on their return home from foreign countries, +bring with them a love for their own, increased in warmth; and no man was +more penetrated with this feeling, which ought to be the first virtue of +every placeman, than my father. Men of high title, academicians, and +learned men, both natives and foreigners, sought my father's +acquaintance, and were gratified by being admitted into his house. + +Twenty years before the Revolution I often heard it remarked that the +imposing character of the power of Louis XIV. was no longer to be found +in the Palace of Versailles; that the institutions of the ancient +monarchy were rapidly sinking; and that the people, crushed beneath the +weight of taxes, were miserable, though silent; but that they began to +give ear to the bold speeches of the philosophers, who loudly proclaimed +their sufferings and their rights; and, in short, that the age would not +pass away without the occurrence of some great outburst, which would +unsettle France, and change the course of its progress. + +Those who thus spoke were almost all partisans of M. Turgot's system of +administration: they were Mirabeau the father, Doctor Quesnay, Abbe +Bandeau, and Abbe Nicoli, charge d'affaires to Leopold, Grand Duke of +Tuscany, and as enthusiastic an admirer of the maxims of the innovators +as his Sovereign. + +My father sincerely respected the purity of intention of these +politicians. With them he acknowledged many abuses in the Government; +but he did not give these political sectarians credit for the talent +necessary for conducting a judicious reform. He told them frankly that +in the art of moving the great machine of Government, the wisest of them +was inferior to a good magistrate; and that if ever the helm of affairs +should be put into their hands, they would be speedily checked in the +execution of their schemes by the immeasurable difference existing +between the most brilliant theories and the simplest practice of +administration. + +Destiny having formerly placed me near crowned heads, I now amuse my +solitude when in retirement with collecting a variety of facts which may +prove interesting to my family when I shall be no more. The idea of +collecting all the interesting materials which my memory affords occurred +to me from reading the work entitled "Paris, Versailles, and the +Provinces in the Eighteenth Century." That work, composed by a man +accustomed to the best society, is full of piquant anecdotes, nearly all +of which have been recognised as true by the contemporaries of the +author. I have put together all that concerned the domestic life of an +unfortunate Princess, whose reputation is not yet cleared of the stains +it received from the attacks of calumny, and who justly merited a +different lot in life, a different place in the opinion of mankind after +her fall. These memoirs, which were finished ten years ago, have met +with the approbation of some persons; and my son may, perhaps, think +proper to print them after my decease. + +J. L. H. C. + +--When Madame Campan wrote these lines, she did not anticipate that the +death of her son would precede her own. + + + + + + +HISTORIC COURT MEMOIRS. + +MARIE ANTOINETTE. + +MEMOIR OF MADAME CAMPAN. + +JEANNE LOUISE HENRIETTE GENET was born in Paris on the 6th of October, +1752. M. Genet, her father, had obtained, through his own merit and the +influence of the Duc de Choiseul, the place of first clerk in the Foreign +Office. + +Literature, which he had cultivated in his youth, was often the solace of +his leisure hours. Surrounded by a numerous family, he made the +instruction of his children his chief recreation, and omitted nothing +which was necessary to render them highly accomplished. His clever and +precocious daughter Henriette was very early accustomed to enter society, +and to take an intelligent interest in current topics and public events. +Accordingly, many of her relations being connected with the Court or +holding official positions, she amassed a fund of interesting +recollections and characteristic anecdotes, some gathered from personal +experience, others handed down by old friends of the family. + +"The first event which made any impression on me in my childhood," she +says in her reminiscences, "was the attempt of Damiens to assassinate +Louis XV. This occurrence struck me so forcibly that the most minute +details relating to the confusion and grief which prevailed at Versailles +on that day seem as present to my imagination as the most recent events. +I had dined with my father and mother, in company with one of their +friends. The drawing-room was lighted up with a number of candles, and +four card-tables were already occupied, when a friend of the gentleman of +the house came in, with a pale and terrified countenance, and said, in a +voice scarcely audible, 'I bring you terrible news. The King has been +assassinated!' Two ladies in the company fainted; a brigadier of the +Body Guards threw down his cards and cried out, 'I do not wonder at it; +it is those rascally Jesuits.'--'What are you saying, brother?' cried a +lady, flying to him; 'would you get yourself arrested?'--'Arrested! For +what? For unmasking those wretches who want a bigot for a King?' My +father came in; he recommended circumspection, saying that the blow was +not mortal, and that all meetings ought to be suspended at so critical a +moment. He had brought the chaise for my mother, who placed me on her +knees. We lived in the Avenue de Paris, and throughout our drive I heard +incessant cries and sobs from the footpaths. + +"At last I saw a man arrested; he was an usher of the King's chamber, who +had gone mad, and was crying out, 'Yes, I know them; the wretches! the +villains!' Our chaise was stopped by this bustle. My mother recognised +the unfortunate man who had been seized; she gave his name to the trooper +who had stopped him. The poor usher was therefore merely conducted to +the gens d'armes' guardroom, which was then in the avenue. + +"I have often heard M. de Landsmath, equerry and master of the hounds, +who used to come frequently to my father's, say that on the news of the +attempt on the King's life he instantly repaired to his Majesty. +I cannot repeat the coarse expressions he made use of to encourage his +Majesty; but his account of the affair, long afterwards, amused the +parties in which he was prevailed on to relate it, when all apprehensions +respecting the consequences of the event had subsided. This M. de +Landsmath was an old soldier, who had given proofs of extraordinary +valour; nothing had been able to soften his manners or subdue his +excessive bluntness to the respectful customs of the Court. The King was +very fond of him. He possessed prodigious strength, and had often +contended with Marechal Saxe, renowned for his great bodily power, in +trying the strength of their respective wrists. + + [One day when the King was hunting in the forest of St. Germain, + Landemath, riding before him, wanted a cart, filled with the slime + of a pond that had just been cleansed, to draw up out of the way. + The carter resisted, and even answered with impertinence. + Landsmath, without dismounting, seized him by the breast of his + coat, lifted him up, and threw him into his cart.--MADAME CAMPAN. + +"M. de Landsmath had a thundering voice. When he came into the King's +apartment he found the Dauphin and Mesdames, his Majesty's daughters, +there; the Princesses, in tears, surrounded the King's bed. Send out all +these weeping women, Sire,' said the old equerry; 'I want to speak to you +alone: The King made a sign to the Princesses to withdraw. 'Come,' said +Landsmath, 'your wound is nothing; you had plenty of waistcoats and +flannels on.' Then uncovering his breast, 'Look here,' said he, showing +four or five great scars, 'these are something like wounds; I received +them thirty years ago; now cough as loud as you can.' The King did so. +''Tis nothing at all,' said Landsmath; 'you must laugh at it; we shall +hunt a stag together in four days.'--'But suppose the blade was +poisoned,' said the King. 'Old grandams' tales,' replied Landsmath; +'if it had been so, the waistcoats and flannels would have rubbed the +poison off.' The King was pacified, and passed a very good night. + +"His Majesty one day asked M. de Landsmath how old he was. He was aged, +and by no means fond of thinking of his age; he evaded the question. +A fortnight later, Louis XV. took a paper out of his pocket and read +aloud: 'On such a day in the month of one thousand six hundred and +eighty, was baptised by me, rector of ------, the son of the high and +mighty lord,' etc. 'What's that?' said Landsmath, angrily; 'has your +Majesty been procuring the certificate of my baptism?'--'There it is, you +see, Landsmath,' said the King. 'Well, Sire, hide it as fast as you can; +a prince entrusted with the happiness of twenty-five millions of people +ought not wilfully to hurt the feelings of a single individual.' + +"The King learned that Landsmath had lost his confessor, a missionary +priest of the parish of Notre-Dame. It was the custom of the Lazarists +to expose their dead with the face uncovered. Louis XV. wished to try +his equerry's firmness. 'You have lost your confessor, I hear,' said the +King. 'Yes, Sire.'--'He will be exposed with his face bare?'--'Such is +the custom.'--'I command you to go and see him.'--'Sire, my confessor was +my friend; it would be very painful to me.'--'No matter; I command you.' +--'Are you really in earnest, Sire?'--'Quite so.'--'It would be the first +time in my life that I had disobeyed my sovereign's order. I will go.' +The next day the King at his levee, as soon as he perceived Landsmath, +said, 'Have you done as I desired you, Landsmath?'--'Undoubtedly, Sire.' +--'Well, what did you see?'--'Faith, I saw that your Majesty and I are no +great shakes!' + +"At the death of Queen Maria Leczinska, M. Campan,--[Her father-in-law, +afterwards secretary to Marie Antoinette.]--then an officer of the +chamber, having performed several confidential duties, the King asked +Madame Adelaide how he should reward him. She requested him to create an +office in his household of master of the wardrobe, with a salary of a +thousand crowns. 'I will do so,' said the King; 'it will be an +honourable title; but tell Campan not to add a single crown to his +expenses, for you will see they will never pay him.' + +"Louis XV., by his dignified carriage, and the amiable yet majestic +expression of his features, was worthy to succeed to Louis the Great. +But he too frequently indulged in secret pleasures, which at last were +sure to become known. During several winters, he was passionately fond +of 'candles' end balls', as he called those parties amongst the very +lowest classes of society. He got intelligence of the picnics given by +the tradesmen, milliners, and sempstresses of Versailles, whither he +repaired in a black domino, and masked, accompanied by the captain of his +Guards, masked like himself. His great delight was to go 'en brouette'-- +[In a kind of sedan-chair, running on two wheels, and drawn by a +chairman.]--Care was always taken to give notice to five or six officers +of the King's or Queen's chamber to be there, in order that his Majesty +might be surrounded by people on whom he could depend, without finding it +troublesome. Probably the captain of the Guards also took other +precautions of this description on his part. My father-in-law, when the +King and he were both young, has often made one amongst the servants +desired to attend masked at these parties, assembled in some garret, or +parlour of a public-house. In those times, during the carnival, masked +companies had a right to join the citizens' balls; it was sufficient that +one of the party should unmask and name himself. + +"These secret excursions, and his too habitual intercourse with ladies +more distinguished for their personal charms than for the advantages of +education, were no doubt the means by which the King acquired many vulgar +expressions which otherwise would never have reached his ears. + +"Yet amidst the most shameful excesses the King sometimes suddenly +resumed the dignity of his rank in a very noble manner. The familiar +courtiers of Louis XV. had one day abandoned themselves to the +unrestrained gaiety, of a supper, after returning from the chase. Each +boasted of and described the beauty of his mistress. Some of them amused +themselves with giving a particular account of their wives' personal +defects. An imprudent word, addressed to Louis XV., and applicable only +to the Queen, instantly dispelled all the mirth of the entertainment. +The King assumed his regal air, and knocking with his knife on the table +twice or thrice, 'Gentlemen; said he, 'here is the King!' + +"Those men who are most completely abandoned to dissolute manners are +not, on that account, insensible to virtue in women. The Comtesse de +Perigord was as beautiful as virtuous. During some excursions she made +to Choisy, whither she had been invited, she perceived that the King took +great notice of her. Her demeanour of chilling respect, her cautious +perseverance in shunning all serious conversation with the monarch, were +insufficient to extinguish this rising flame, and he at length addressed +a letter to her, worded in the most passionate terms. This excellent +woman instantly formed her resolution: honour forbade her returning the +King's passion, whilst her profound respect for the sovereign made her +unwilling to disturb his tranquillity. She therefore voluntarily +banished herself to an estate she possessed called Chalais, near +Barbezieux, the mansion of which had been uninhabited nearly a century; +the porter's lodge was the only place in a condition to receive her. +From this seat she wrote to his Majesty, explaining her motives for +leaving Court; and she remained there several years without visiting +Paris. Louis XV. was speedily attracted by other objects, and regained +the composure to which Madame de Perigord had thought it her duty to +sacrifice so much. Some years after, Mesdames' lady of honour died. +Many great families solicited the place. The King, without answering any +of their applications, wrote to the Comtesse de Perigord: 'My daughters +have just lost their lady of honour; this place, madame, is your due, as +much on account of your personal qualities as of the illustrious name of +your family.' + +"Three young men of the college of St. Germain, who had just completed +their course of studies, knowing no person about the Court, and having +heard that strangers were always well treated there, resolved to dress +themselves completely in the Armenian costume, and, thus clad, to present +themselves to see the grand ceremony of the reception of several knights +of the Order of the Holy Ghost. Their stratagem met with all the success +with which they had flattered themselves. While the procession was +passing through the long mirror gallery, the Swiss of the apartments +placed them in the first row of spectators, recommending every one to pay +all possible attention to the strangers. The latter, however, were +imprudent enough to enter the 'oeil-de-boeuf' chamber, where, were +Messieurs Cardonne and Ruffin, interpreters of Oriental languages, and +the first clerk of the consul's department, whose business it was to +attend to everything which related to the natives of the East who were in +France. The three scholars were immediately surrounded and questioned by +these gentlemen, at first in modern Greek. Without being disconcerted, +they made signs that they did not understand it. They were then +addressed in Turkish and Arabic; at length one of the interpreters, +losing all patience, exclaimed, 'Gentlemen, you certainly must understand +some of the languages in which you have been addressed. What country can +you possibly come from then?'--'From St. Germain-en-Laye, sir,' replied +the boldest among them; 'this is the first time you have put the question +to us in French.' They then confessed the motive of their disguise; the +eldest of them was not more than eighteen years of age. Louis XV. was +informed of the affair. He laughed heartily, ordered them a few hours' +confinement and a good admonition, after which they were to be set at +liberty. + +"Louis XV. liked to talk about death, though he was extremely +apprehensive of it; but his excellent health and his royal dignity +probably made him imagine himself invulnerable. He often said to people +who had very bad colds, 'You've a churchyard cough there.' Hunting one +day in the forest of Senard, in a year in which bread was extremely dear, +he met a man on horseback carrying a coffin. 'Whither are you carrying +that coffin?'--'To the village of ------,' answered the peasant. 'Is it +for a man or a woman?'--'For a man.'--'What did he die of?'--'Of hunger,' +bluntly replied the villager. The King spurred on his horse, and asked +no more questions. + +"Weak as Louis XV. was, the Parliaments would never have obtained his +consent to the convocation of the States General. I heard an anecdote on +this subject from two officers attached to that Prince's household. It +was at the period when the remonstrances of the Parliaments, and the +refusals to register the decrees for levying taxes, produced alarm with +respect to the state of the finances. This became the subject of +conversation one evening at the coucher of Louis XV. 'You will see, +Sire,' said a courtier, whose office placed him in close communication +with the King, 'that all this will make it absolutely necessary to +assemble the States General!' + +"The King, roused by this speech from the habitual apathy of his +character, seized the courtier by the arm, and said to him, in a passion, +'Never repeat, these words. I am not sanguinary; but had I a brother, +and were he to dare to give me such advice, I would sacrifice him, within +twenty-four hours, to the duration of the monarchy and the tranquillity +of the kingdom.' + +"Several years prior to his death the Dauphin, the father of Louis XVI., +had confluent smallpox, which endangered his life; and after his +convalescence he was long troubled with a malignant ulcer under the nose. +He was injudiciously advised to get rid of it by the use of extract of +lead, which proved effectual; but from that time the Dauphin, who was +corpulent, insensibly grew thin, and a short, dry cough evinced that the +humour, driven in, had fallen on the lungs. Some persons also suspected +him of having taken acids in too great a quantity for the purpose of +reducing his bulk. The state of his health was not, however, such as to +excite alarm. At the camp at Compiegne, in July, 1764, the Dauphin +reviewed the troops, and evinced much activity in the performance of his +duties; it was even observed that he was seeking to gain the attachment +of the army. He presented the Dauphiness to the soldiers, saying, with a +simplicity which at that time made a great sensation, 'Mes enfans, here +is my wife.' Returning late on horseback to Compiegne, he found he had +taken a chill; the heat of the day had been excessive; the Prince's +clothes had been wet with perspiration. An illness followed, in which +the Prince began to spit blood. His principal physician wished to have +him bled; the consulting physicians insisted on purgation, and their +advice was followed. The pleurisy, being ill cured, assumed and retained +all the symptoms of consumption; the Dauphin languished from that period +until December, 1765, and died at Fontainebleau, where the Court, on +account of his condition, had prolonged its stay, which usually ended on +the 2d of November. + +"The Dauphiness, his widow, was deeply afflicted; but the immoderate +despair which characterised her grief induced many to suspect that the +loss of the crown was an important part of the calamity she lamented. +She long refused to eat enough to support life; she encouraged her tears +to flow by placing portraits of the Dauphin in every retired part of her +apartments. She had him represented pale, and ready to expire, in a +picture placed at the foot of her bed, under draperies of gray cloth, +with which the chambers of the Princesses were always hung in court +mournings. Their grand cabinet was hung with black cloth, with an +alcove, a canopy, and a throne, on which they received compliments of +condolence after the first period of the deep mourning. The Dauphiness, +some months before the end of her career, regretted her conduct in +abridging it; but it was too late; the fatal blow had been struck. It +may also be presumed that living with a consumptive, man had contributed +to her complaint. This Princess had no opportunity of displaying her +qualities; living in a Court in which she was eclipsed by the King and +Queen, the only characteristics that could be remarked in her were her +extreme attachment to her husband, and her great piety. + +"The Dauphin was little known, and his character has been much mistaken. +He himself, as he confessed to his intimate friends, sought to disguise +it. He one day asked one of his most familiar servants, 'What do they +say in Paris of that great fool of a Dauphin?' The person interrogated +seeming confused, the Dauphin urged him to express himself sincerely, +saying, 'Speak freely; that is positively the idea which I wish people to +form of me.' + +"As he died of a disease which allows the last moment to be anticipated +long beforehand, he wrote much, and transmitted his affections and his +prejudices to his son by secret notes. + +"Madame de Pompadour's brother received Letters of Nobility from his +Majesty, and was appointed superintendent of the buildings and gardens. +He often presented to her Majesty, through the medium of his sister, the +rarest flowers, pineapples, and early vegetables from the gardens of +Trianon and Choisy. One day, when the Marquise came into the Queen's +apartments, carrying a large basket of flowers, which she held in her two +beautiful arms, without gloves, as a mark of respect, the Queen loudly +declared her admiration of her beauty; and seemed as if she wished to +defend the King's choice, by praising her various charms in detail, in a +manner that would have been as suitable to a production of the fine arts +as to a living being. After applauding the complexion, eyes, and fine +arms of the favourite, with that haughty condescension which renders +approbation more offensive than flattering, the Queen at length requested +her to sing, in the attitude in which she stood, being desirous of +hearing the voice and musical talent by which the King's Court had been +charmed in the performances of the private apartments, and thus combining +the gratification of the ears with that of the eyes. The Marquise, who +still held her enormous basket, was perfectly sensible of something +offensive in this request, and tried to excuse herself from singing. The +Queen at last commanded her; she then exerted her fine voice in the solo +of Armida--'At length he is in my power.' The change in her Majesty's +countenance was so obvious that the ladies present at this scene had the +greatest difficulty to keep theirs. + +"The Queen was affable and modest; but the more she was thankful in her +heart to Heaven for having placed her on the first throne in Europe, the +more unwilling she was to be reminded of her elevation. This sentiment +induced her to insist on the observation of all the forms of respect due +to royal birth; whereas in other princes the consciousness of that birth +often induces them to disdain the ceremonies of etiquette, and to prefer +habits of ease and simplicity. There was a striking contrast in this +respect between Maria Leczinska and Marie Antoinette, as has been justly +and generally observed. The latter unfortunate Queen, perhaps, carried +her disregard of everything belonging to the strict forms of etiquette +too far. One day, when the Marechale de Mouchy was teasing her with +questions relative to the extent to which she would allow the ladies the +option of taking off or wearing their cloaks, and of pinning up the +lappets of their caps, or letting them hang down, the Queen replied to +her, in my presence: 'Arrange all those matters, madame, just as you +please; but do not imagine that a queen, born Archduchess of Austria, can +attach that importance to them which might be felt by a Polish princess +who had become Queen of France.' + +"The virtues and information of the great are always evinced by their +conduct; their accomplishments, coming within the scope of flattery, are +difficult to be ascertained by any authentic proofs, and those who have +lived near them may be excused for some degree of scepticism with regard +to their attainments of this kind. If they draw or paint, there is +always an able artist present, who, if he does not absolutely guide the +pencil with his own hand, directs it by his advice. If a princess +attempt a piece of embroidery in colours, of that description which ranks +amongst the productions of the arts, a skilful embroideress is employed +to undo and repair whatever has been spoilt. If the princess be a +musician, there are no ears that will discover when she is out of tune; +at least there is no tongue that will tell her so. This imperfection in +the accomplishments of the great is but a slight misfortune. It is +sufficiently meritorious in them to engage in such pursuits, even with +indifferent success, because this taste and the protection it extends +produce abundance of talent on every side. Maria Leczinska delighted in +the art of painting, and imagined she herself could draw and paint. She +had a drawing-master, who passed all his time in her cabinet. She +undertook to paint four large Chinese pictures, with which she wished to +ornament her private drawing-room, which was richly furnished with rare +porcelain and the finest marbles. This painter was entrusted with the +landscape and background of the pictures; he drew the figures with a +pencil; the faces and arms were also left by the Queen to his execution; +she reserved to herself nothing but the draperies, and the least +important accessories. The Queen every morning filled up the outline +marked out for her, with a little red, blue, or green colour, which the +master prepared on the palette, and even filled her brush with, +constantly repeating, 'Higher up, Madame--lower down, Madame--a little to +the right--more to the left.' After an hour's work, the time for hearing +mass, or some other family or pious duty, would interrupt her Majesty; +and the painter, putting the shadows into the draperies she had painted, +softening off the colour where she had laid too much, etc., finished the +small figures. When the work was completed the private drawing-room was +decorated with her Majesty's work; and the firm persuasion of this good +Queen that she had painted it herself was so entire that she left this +cabinet, with all its furniture and paintings, to the Comtesse de +Noailles, her lady of honour. She added to the bequest: 'The pictures in +my cabinet being my own work, I hope the Comtesse de Noailles will +preserve them for my sake.' Madame de Noailles, afterwards Marechale de +Mouchy, had a new pavilion constructed in her hotel in the Faubourg St. +Germain, in order to form a suitable receptacle for the Queen's legacy; +and had the following inscription placed over the door, in letters of +gold: 'The innocent falsehood of a good princess.' + +"Maria Leczinska could never look with cordiality on the Princess of +Saxony, who married the Dauphin; but the attentive behaviour of the +Dauphiness at length made her Majesty forget that the Princess was the +daughter of a king who wore her father's crown. Nevertheless, although +the Queen now saw in the Princess of Saxony only a wife beloved by her +son, she never could forget that Augustus wore the crown of Stanislaus. +One day an officer of her chamber having undertaken to ask a private +audience of her for the Saxon minister, and the Queen being unwilling to +grant it, he ventured to add that he should not have presumed to ask this +favour of the Queen had not the minister been the ambassador of a member +of the family. 'Say of an enemy of the family,' replied the Queen, +angrily; 'and let him come in.' + +"Comte de Tesse, father of the last Count of that name, who left no +children, was first equerry to Queen Maria Leczinska. She esteemed his +virtues, but often diverted herself at the expense of his simplicity. +One day, when the conversation turned on the noble military, actions by +which the French nobility was distinguished, the Queen said to the Count: +'And your family, M. de Tesse, has been famous, too, in the field.'-- +'Ah, Madame, we have all been killed in our masters' service!'--'How +rejoiced I am,' replied the Queen, 'that you have revived to tell me of +it.' The son of this worthy M. de Tesse was married to the amiable and +highly gifted daughter of the Duc d'Ayen, afterwards Marechale de +Noailles. He was exceedingly fond of his daughter-in-law, and never +could speak of her without emotion. The Queen, to please him, often +talked to him about the young Countess, and one day asked him which of +her good qualities seemed to him most conspicuous. 'Her gentleness, +Madame, her gentleness,' said he, with tears in his eyes; 'she is so +mild, so soft,--as soft as a good carriage.'--'Well,' said her Majesty, +'that's an excellent comparison for a first equerry.' + +"In 1730 Queen Maria Leczinska, going to mass, met old Marechal Villars, +leaning on a wooden crutch not worth fifteen pence. She rallied him +about it, and the Marshal told her that he had used it ever since he had +received a wound which obliged him to add this article to the equipments +of the army. Her Majesty, smiling, said she thought this crutch so +unworthy of him that she hoped to induce him to give it up. On returning +home she despatched M. Campan to Paris with orders to purchase at the +celebrated Germain's the handsomest cane, with a gold enamelled crutch, +that he could find, and carry it without delay to Mardchal Villars's +hotel, and present it to him from her. He was announced accordingly, and +fulfilled his commission. The Marshal, in attending him to the door, +requested him to express his gratitude to the Queen, and said that he had +nothing fit to offer to an officer who had the honour to belong to her +Majesty; but he begged him to accept of his old stick, saying that his +grandchildren would probably some day be glad to possess the cane with +which he had commanded at Marchiennes and Denain. The known frugality of +Marechal Villars appears in this anecdote; but he was not mistaken with +respect to the estimation in which his stick would be held. It was +thenceforth kept with veneration by M. Campan's family. On the 10th of +August, 1792, a house which I occupied on the Carrousel, at the entrance +of the Court of the Tuileries, was pillaged and nearly burnt down. The +cane of Marechal Villars was thrown into the Carrousel as of no value, +and picked up by my servant. Had its old master been living at that +period we should not have witnessed such a deplorable day. + +"Before the Revolution there were customs and words in use at Versailles +with which few people were acquainted. The King's dinner was called +'The King's meat.' Two of the Body Guard accompanied the attendants who +carried the dinner; every one rose as they passed through the halls, +saying, 'There is the King's meat.' All precautionary duties were +distinguished by the words 'in case.' One of the guards might be heard +to say, 'I am in case in the forest of St. Germain.' In the evening they +always brought the Queen a large bowl of broth, a cold roast fowl, one +bottle of wine, one of orgeat, one of lemonade, and some other articles, +which were called the 'in case' for the night. An old medical gentleman, +who had been physician in ordinary to Louis XIV., and was still living at +the time of the marriage of Louis XV., told M. Campan's father an +anecdote which seems too remarkable to have remained unknown; +nevertheless he was a man of honour, incapable of inventing this story. +His name was Lafosse. He said that Louis XIV. was informed that the +officers of his table evinced, in the most disdainful and offensive +manner, the mortification they felt at being obliged to eat at the table +of the comptroller of the kitchen along with Moliere, valet de chambre to +his Majesty, because Moliere had performed on the stage; and that this +celebrated author consequently declined appearing at that table. Louis +XIV., determined to put an end to insults which ought never to have been +offered to one of the greatest geniuses of the age, said to him one +morning at the hour of his private levee, 'They say you live very poorly +here, Moliere; and that the officers of my chamber do not find you good +enough to eat with them. Perhaps you are hungry; for my part I awoke +with a very good appetite this morning: sit down at this table. Serve up +my 'in case' for the night there.' The King, then cutting up his fowl, +and ordering Moliere to sit down, helped him to a wing, at the same time +taking one for himself, and ordered the persons entitled to familiar +entrance, that is to say the most distinguished and favourite people at +Court, to be admitted. 'You see me,' said the King to them, 'engaged in +entertaining Moliere, whom my valets de chambre do not consider +sufficiently good company for them.' From that time Moliere never had +occasion to appear at the valets' table; the whole Court was forward +enough to send him invitations. + +"M. de Lafosse used also to relate that a brigade-major of the Body +Guard, being ordered to place the company in the little theatre at +Versailles, very roughly turned out one of the King's comptrollers who +had taken his seat on one of the benches, a place to which his newly +acquired office entitled him. In vain he insisted on his quality and his +right. The altercation was ended by the brigade-major in these words: +'Gentlemen Body Guards, do your duty.' In this case their duty was to +turn the offender out at the door. This comptroller, who had paid sixty +or eighty thousand francs for his appointment, was a man of a good +family, and had had the honour of serving his Majesty five and twenty +years in one of his regiments; thus ignominiously driven out of the hall, +he placed himself in the King's way in the great hall of the Guards, and, +bowing to his Majesty, requested him to vindicate the honour of an old +soldier who had wished to end his days in his Prince's civil employment, +now that age had obliged him to relinquish his military service. The +King stopped, heard his story, and then ordered him to follow him. His +Majesty attended the representation in a sort of amphitheatre, in which +his armchair was placed; behind him was a row of stools for the captain +of the Guards, the first gentleman of the chamber, and other great +officers. The brigade-major was entitled to one of these places; the +King stopped opposite the seat which ought to have been occupied by that +officer and said to the comptroller, 'Take, monsieur, for this evening, +the place near my person of him who has offended you, and let the +expression of my displeasure at this unjust affront satisfy you instead +of any other reparation: + +"During the latter years of the reign of Louis XIV. he never went out but +in a chair carried by porters, and he showed a great regard for a man +named D'Aigremont, one of those porters who always went in front and +opened the door of the chair. The slightest preference shown by +sovereigns, even to the meanest of their servants, never fails to excite +observation. + + [People of the very first rank did not disdain to descend to the + level of D'Aigremont. "Lauzun," said the Duchesse d'Orleans in her + "Memoirs," "sometimes affects stupidity in order to show people + their own with impunity, for he is very malicious. In order to make + Marechal de Tease feel the impropriety of his familiarity with + people of the common sort, he called out, in the drawing-room at + Marly, 'Marechal, give me a pinch of snuff; some of your best, such + as you take in the morning with Monsieur d'Aigremont, the + chairman.'"--NOTE BY THE EDITOR.] + +The King had done something for this man's numerous family, and +frequently talked to him. An abbe belonging to the chapel thought proper +to request D'Aigremont to present a memorial to the King, in which he +requested his Majesty to grant him a benefice. Louis XIV. did not +approve of the liberty thus taken by his chairman, and said to him, in a +very angry tone, 'D'Aigremont, you have been made to do a very unbecoming +act, and I am sure there must be simony in the case.'--'No, Sire, there +is not the least ceremony in the case, I assure you,' answered the poor +man, in great consternation; 'the abbe only said he would give me a +hundred Louis.'--'D'Aigremont,' said the King, 'I forgive you on account +of your ignorance and candour. I will give you the hundred Louis out of +my privy purse; but I will discharge you the very next time you venture +to present a memorial to me.' + +"Louis XIV. was very kind to those of his servants who were nearest his +person; but the moment he assumed his royal deportment, those who were +most accustomed to see him in his domestic character were as much +intimidated as if they were appearing in his presence for the first time +in their lives. Some of the members of his Majesty's civil household, +then called 'commensalite', enjoying the title of equerry, and the +privileges attached to officers of the King's household, had occasion to +claim some prerogatives, the exercise of which the municipal body of St. +Germain, where they resided, disputed with them. Being assembled in +considerable numbers in that town, they obtained the consent of the +minister of the household to allow them to send a deputation to the King; +and for that purpose chose from amongst them two of his Majesty's valets +de chambre named Bazire and Soulaigre. The King's levee being over, the +deputation of the inhabitants of the town of St. Germain was called in. +They entered with confidence; the King looked at them, and assumed his +imposing attitude. Bazire, one of these valets de chambre, was about to +speak, but Louis the Great was looking on him. He no longer saw the +Prince he was accustomed to attend at home; he was intimidated, and could +not find words; he recovered, however, and began as usual with the word +Sire. But timidity again overpowered him, and finding himself unable to +recollect the slightest particle of what he came to say, he repeated the +word Sire several times, and at length concluded by paying, 'Sire, here +is Soulaigre.' Soulaigre, who was very angry with Bazire, and expected +to acquit himself much better, then began to speak; but he also, after +repeating 'Sire' several times, found his embarrassment increasing upon +him, until his confusion equalled that of his colleague; he therefore +ended with 'Sire, here is Bazire.' The King smiled, and answered, +'Gentlemen, I have been informed of the business upon which you have been +deputed to wait on me, and I will take care that what is right shall be +done. I am highly satisfied with the manner in which you have fulfilled +your functions as deputies.'" + +Mademoiselle Genet's education was the object of her father's particular +attention. Her progress in the study of music and of foreign languages +was surprising; Albaneze instructed her in singing, and Goldoni taught +her Italian. Tasso, Milton, Dante, and even Shakespeare, soon became +familiar to her. But her studies were particularly directed to the +acquisition of a correct and elegant style of reading. Rochon de +Chabannes, Duclos, Barthe, Marmontel, and Thomas took pleasure in hearing +her recite the finest scenes of Racine. Her memory and genius at the age +of fourteen charmed them; they talked of her talents in society, and +perhaps applauded them too highly. + +She was soon spoken of at Court. Some ladies of high rank, who took an +interest in the welfare of her family, obtained for her the place of +Reader to the Princesses. Her presentation, and the circumstances which +preceded it, left a strong impression on her mind. "I was then fifteen," +she says; "my father felt some regret at yielding me up at so early an +age to the jealousies of the Court. The day on which I first put on my +Court dress, and went to embrace him in his study, tears filled his eyes, +and mingled with the expression of his pleasure. I possessed some +agreeable talents, in addition to the instruction which it had been his +delight to bestow on me. He enumerated all my little accomplishments, to +convince me of the vexations they would not fail to draw upon me." + +Mademoiselle Genet, at fifteen, was naturally less of a philosopher than +her father was at forty. Her eyes were dazzled by the splendour which +glittered at Versailles. "The Queen, Maria Leczinska, the wife of Louis +XV., died," she says, "just before I was presented at Court. The grand +apartments hung with black, the great chairs of state, raised on several +steps, and surmounted by a canopy adorned with Plumes; the caparisoned +horses, the immense retinue in Court mourning, the enormous shoulder- +knots, embroidered with gold and silver spangles, which decorated the +coats of the pages and footmen,--all this magnificence had such an effect +on my senses that I could scarcely support myself when introduced to the +Princesses. The first day of my reading in the inner apartment of Madame +Victoire I found it impossible to pronounce more than two sentences; my +heart palpitated, my voice faltered, and my sight failed. How well +understood was the potent magic of the grandeur and dignity which ought +to surround sovereigns! Marie Antoinette, dressed in white, with a plain +straw hat, and a little switch in her hand, walking on foot, followed by +a single servant, through the walks leading to the Petit Trianon, would +never have thus disconcerted me; and I believe this extreme simplicity +was the first and only real mistake of all those with which she is +reproached." + +When once her awe and confusion had subsided, Mademoiselle Genet was +enabled to form a more accurate judgment of her situation. It was by no +means attractive; the Court of the Princesses, far removed from the +revels to which Louie XV. was addicted, was grave, methodical, and dull. +Madame Adelaide, the eldest of the Princesses, lived secluded in the +interior of her apartments; Madame Sophie was haughty; Madame Louise a +devotee. Mademoiselle Genet never quitted the Princesses' apartments; +but she attached herself most particularly to Madame Victoire. This +Princess had possessed beauty; her countenance bore an expression of +benevolence, and her conversation was kind, free, and unaffected. The +young reader excited in her that feeling which a woman in years, of an +affectionate disposition, readily extends to young people who are growing +up in her sight, and who possess some useful talents. Whole days were +passed in reading to the Princess, as she sat at work in her apartment. +Mademoiselle Genet frequently saw there Louis XV., of whom she has +related the following anecdote: + +"One day, at the Chateau of Compiegne, the King came in whilst I was +reading to Madame. I rose and went into another room. Alone, in an +apartment from which there was no outlet, with no book but a Massillon, +which I had been reading to the Princess, happy in all the lightness and +gaiety of fifteen, I amused myself with turning swiftly round, with my +court hoop, and suddenly kneeling down to see my rose-coloured silk +petticoat swelled around me by the wind. In the midst of this grave +employment enters his Majesty, followed by one of the Princesses. I +attempt to rise; my feet stumble, and down I fall in the midst of my +robes, puffed out by the wind. 'Daughter,' said Louis XV., laughing +heartily, 'I advise you to send back to school a reader who makes +cheeses.'" The railleries of Louis XV. were often much more cutting, +as Mademoiselle Genet experienced on another occasion, which, thirty +years afterwards, she could not relate without an emotion of fear. +"Louis XV.," she said, "had the most imposing presence. His eyes +remained fixed upon you all the time he was speaking; and, +notwithstanding the beauty of his features, he inspired a sort of fear. +I was very young, it is true, when he first spoke to me; you shall judge +whether it was in a very gracious manner. I was fifteen. The King was +going out to hunt, and a numerous retinue followed him. As he stopped +opposite me he said, 'Mademoiselle Genet, I am assured you are very +learned, and understand four or five foreign languages.'--'I know only +two, Sire,' I answered, trembling. 'Which are they?' English and +Italian.'--'Do you speak them fluently?' Yes, Sire, very fluently.' +'That is quite enough to drive a husband mad.' After this pretty +compliment the King went on; the retinue saluted me, laughing; and, for +my part, I remained for some moments motionless with surprise and +confusion." + +At the time when the French alliance was proposed by the Duc de Choiseul +there was at Vienna a doctor named Gassner,--[Jean Joseph Gassner, a +pretender to miraculous powers.]--who had fled thither to seek an asylum +against the persecutions of his sovereign, one of the ecclesiastical +electors. Gassner, gifted with an extraordinary warmth of imagination, +imagined that he received inspirations. The Empress protected him, saw +him occasionally, rallied him on his visions, and, nevertheless, heard +them with a sort of interest. "Tell me,"--said she to him one day, +"whether my Antoinette will be happy." Gassner turned pale, and remained +silent. Being still pressed by the Empress, and wishing to give a +general expression to the idea with which he seemed deeply occupied, +"Madame," he replied, "there are crosses for all shoulders." + +The occurrences at the Place Louis XV. on the marriage festivities at +Paris are generally known. The conflagration of the scaffolds intended +for the fireworks, the want of foresight of the authorities, the avidity +of robbers, the murderous career of the coaches, brought about and +aggravated the disasters of that day; and the young Dauphiness, coming +from Versailles, by the Cours la Reine, elated with joy, brilliantly +decorated, and eager to witness the rejoicings of the whole people, fled, +struck with consternation and drowned in tears, from the dreadful scene. +This tragic opening of the young Princess's life in France seemed to bear +out Gassner's hint of disaster, and to be ominous of the terrible future +which awaited her. + +In the same year in which Marie Antoinette was married to the Dauphin, +Henriette Genet married a son of M. Campan, already mentioned as holding +an office at the Court; and when the household of the Dauphiness was +formed, Madame Campan was appointed her reader, and received from Marie +Antoinette a consistent kindness and confidence to which by her loyal +service she was fully entitled. Madame Campan's intelligence and +vivacity made her much more sympathetic to a young princess, gay and +affectionate in disposition, and reared in the simplicity of a German +Court, than her lady of honour, the Comtesse de Noailles. This +respectable lady, who was placed near her as a minister of the laws of +etiquette, instead of alleviating their weight, rendered their yoke +intolerable to her. + +"Madame de Noailles," says Madame Campan, "abounded in virtues. Her +piety, charity, and irreproachable morals rendered her worthy of praise; +but etiquette was to her a sort of atmosphere; at the slightest +derangement of the consecrated order, one would have thought the +principles of life would forsake her frame. + +"One day I unintentionally threw this poor lady into a terrible agony. +The Queen was receiving I know not whom,--some persons just presented, I +believe; the lady of honour, the Queen's tirewoman, and the ladies of the +bedchamber, were behind the Queen. I was near the throne, with the two +women on duty. All was right,--at least I thought so. Suddenly I +perceived the eyes of Madame de Noailles fixed on mine. She made a sign +with her head, and then raised her eyebrows to the top of her forehead, +lowered them, raised them again, then began to make little signs with her +hand. From all this pantomime, I could easily perceive that something +was not as it should be; and as I looked about on all sides to find out +what it was, the agitation of the Countess kept increasing. The Queen, +who perceived all this, looked at me with a smile; I found means to +approach her Majesty, who said to me in a whisper, 'Let down your +lappets, or the Countess will expire.' All this bustle arose from two +unlucky pins which fastened up my lappets, whilst the etiquette of +costume said 'Lappets hanging down.'" + +Her contempt of the vanities of etiquette became the pretext for the +first reproaches levelled at the Queen. What misconduct might not be +dreaded from a princess who could absolutely go out without a hoop! and +who, in the salons of Trianon, instead of discussing the important rights +to chairs and stools, good-naturedly invited everybody to be seated. + + [M. de Fresne Forget, being one day in company with the Queen + Marguerite, told her he was astonished how men and women with such + great ruffs could eat soup without spoiling them; and still more how + the ladies could be gallant with their great fardingales. The Queen + made no answer at that time, but a few days after, having a very + large ruff on, and some 'bouili' to eat, she ordered a very long + spoon to be brought, and ate her 'bouili' with it, without soiling + her ruff. Upon which, addressing herself to M. de Fresne, she said, + laughing, "There now, you see, with a little ingenuity one may + manage anything."--"Yes, faith, madame," said the good man, "as far + as regards the soup I am satisfied."--LAPLACE's "Collection," vol. + ii., p. 350.] + +The anti-Austrian party, discontented and vindictive, became spies upon +her conduct, exaggerated her slightest errors, and calumniated her most +innocent proceedings. "What seems unaccountable at the first glance," +says Montjoie, "is that the first attack on the reputation of the Queen +proceeded from the bosom of the Court. What interest could the courtiers +have in seeking her destruction, which involved that of the King? Was it +not drying up the source of all the advantages they enjoyed, or could +hope for?" + + [Madame Campan relates the following among many anecdotes + illustrative of the Queen's kindness of heart: "A petition was + addressed to the Queen by a corporation in the neighbourhood of + Paris, praying for the destruction of the game which destroyed their + crops. I was the bearer of this petition to her Majesty, who said, + 'I will undertake to have these good people relieved from so great + an annoyance.' She gave the document to M. de Vermond in my + presence, saying, 'I desire that immediate justice be done to this + petition.' An assurance was given that her order should be attended + to, but six weeks afterwards a second petition was sent up, for the + nuisance had not been abated after all. If the second petition had + reached the Queen, M. de Vermond would have received a sharp + reprimand. She was always so happy when it was in her power to do + good." + + The quick repartee, which was another of the Queen's + characteristics, was less likely to promote her popularity. "M. + Brunier," says Madame Campan, "was physician to the royal children. + During his visits to the palace, if the death of any of his patients + was alluded to, he never failed to say, 'Ah! there I lost one of my + best friends! 'Well,' said the Queen, 'if he loses all his patients + who are his friends, what will become of those who are not?'"] + +When the terrible Danton exclaimed, "The kings of Europe menace us; it +behooves us to defy them; let us throw down to them the head of a king as +our gage!" these detestable words, followed by so cruel a result, formed, +however, a formidable stroke of policy. But the Queen! What urgent +reasons of state could Danton, Collot d'Herbois, and Robespierre allege +against her? What savage greatness did they discover in stirring up a +whole nation to avenge their quarrel on a woman? What remained of her +former power? She was a captive, a widow, trembling for her children! +In those judges, who at once outraged modesty and nature; in that people +whose vilest scoffs pursued her to the scaffold, who could have +recognised the generous people of France? Of all the crimes which +disgraced the Revolution, none was more calculated to show how the spirit +of party can degrade the character of a nation. + +The news of this dreadful event reached Madame Campan in an obscure +retreat which she had chosen. She had not succeeded in her endeavours to +share the Queen's captivity, and she expected every moment a similar +fate. After escaping, almost miraculously, from the murderous fury of +the Marseillais; after being denounced and pursued by Robespierre, and +entrusted, through the confidence of the King and Queen, with papers of +the utmost importance, Madame Campan went to Coubertin, in the valley of +Chevreuse. Madame Auguid, her sister, had just committed suicide, at the +very moment of her arrest. + + [Maternal affection prevailed over her religious sentiments; she + wished to preserve the wreck of her fortune for her children. Had + she deferred this fatal act for one day she would have been saved; + the cart which conveyed Robespierre to execution stopped her funeral + procession!] + +The scaffold awaited Madame Campan, when the 9th of Thermidor restored +her to life; but did not restore to her the most constant object of her +thoughts, her zeal, and her devotion. + +A new career now opened to Madame Campan. At Coubertin, surrounded by +her nieces, she was fond of directing their studies. This occupation +caused her ideas to revert to the subject of education, and awakened once +more the inclinations of her youth. At the age of twelve years she could +never meet a school of young ladies passing through the streets without +feeling ambitious of the situation and authority of their mistress. Her +abode at Court had diverted but not altered her inclinations. "A month +after the fall of Robespierre," she says, "I considered as to the means +of providing for myself, for a mother seventy years of age, my sick +husband, my child nine years old, and part of my ruined family. I now +possessed nothing in the world but an assignat of five hundred francs. +I had become responsible for my husband's debts, to the amount of thirty +thousand francs. I chose St. Germain to set up a boarding-school, for +that town did not remind me, as Versailles did, both of happy times and +of the misfortunes of France. I took with me a nun of l'Enfant-Jesus, to +give an unquestionable pledge of my religious principles. The school of +St. Germain was the first in which the opening of an oratory was ventured +on. The Directory was displeased at it, and ordered it to be immediately +shut up; and some time after commissioners were sent to desire that the +reading of the Scriptures should be suppressed in my school. I inquired +what books were to be substituted in their stead. After some minutes' +conversation, they observed: 'Citizeness, you are arguing after the old +fashion; no reflections. The nation commands; we must have obedience, +and no reasoning.' Not having the means of printing my prospectus, I +wrote a hundred copies of it, and sent them to the persons of my +acquaintance who had survived the dreadful commotions. At the year's end +I had sixty pupils; soon afterwards a hundred. I bought furniture and +paid my debts." + +The rapid success of the establishment at St. Germain was undoubtedly +owing to the talents, experience, and excellent principles of Madame +Campan, seconded by public opinion. All property had changed hands; all +ranks found themselves confusedly jumbled by the shock of the Revolution: +the grand seigneur dined at the table of the opulent contractor; and the +witty and elegant marquise was present at the ball by the side of the +clumsy peasant lately grown rich. In the absence of the ancient +distinctions, elegant manners and polished language now formed a kind of +aristocracy. The house of St. Germain, conducted by a lady who possessed +the deportment and the habits of the best society, was not only a school +of knowledge, but a school of the world. + +"A friend of Madame de Beauharnais," continues Madame Campan, "brought me +her daughter Hortense de Beauharnais, and her niece Emilie de +Beauharnais. Six months afterwards she came to inform me of her marriage +with a Corsican gentleman, who had been brought up in the military +school, and was then a general. I was requested to communicate this +information to her daughter, who long lamented her mother's change of +name. I was also desired to watch over the education of little Eugene de +Beauharnais, who was placed at St. Germain, in the same school with my +son. + +"A great intimacy sprang up between my nieces and these young people. +Madame de Beauharnaias set out for Italy, and left her children with me. +On her return, after the conquests of Bonaparte, that general, much +pleased with the improvement of his stepdaughter, invited me to dine at +Malmaison, and attended two representations of 'Esther' at my school." + +He also showed his appreciation of her talents by sending his sister +Caroline to St. Germain. Shortly before Caroline's marriage to Murat, +and while she was yet at St. Germain, Napoleon observed to Madame Campan: +"I do not like those love matches between young people whose brains are +excited by the flames of the imagination. I had other views for my +sister. Who knows what high alliance I might have procured for her! She +is thoughtless, and does not form a just notion of my situation. The +time will come when, perhaps, sovereigns might dispute for her hand. She +is about to marry a brave man; but in my situation that is not enough. +Fate should be left to fulfil her decrees." + + + [Madame Murat one day said to Madame Campan: "I am astonished that + you are not more awed in our presence; you speak to us with as much + familiarity as when we were your pupils!"--"The best thing you can + do," replied Madame Campan, "is to forget your titles when you are + with me, for I can never be afraid of queens whom I have held under + the rod."] + +Madame Campan dined at the Tuileries in company with the Pope's nuncio, +at the period when the Concordat was in agitation. During dinner the +First Consul astonished her by the able manner in which he conversed on +the subject under discussion. She said he argued so logically that his +talent quite amazed her. During the consulate Napoleon one day said to +her, "If ever I establish a republic of women, I shall make you First +Consul." + +Napoleon's views as to "woman's mission" are now well known. Madame +Campan said that she heard from him that when he founded the convent of +the Sisters of la Charite he was urgently solicited to permit perpetual +vows. He, however, refused to do so, on the ground that tastes may +change, and that he did not see the necessity of excluding from the world +women who might some time or other return to it, and become useful +members of society. "Nunneries," he added, "assail the very roots of +population. It is impossible to calculate the loss which a nation +sustains in having ten thousand women shut up in cloisters. War does but +little mischief; for the number of males is at least one-twenty-fifth +greater than that of females. Women may, if they please, be allowed to +make perpetual vows at fifty years of age; for then their task is +fulfilled." + +Napoleon once said to Madame Campan, "The old systems of education were +good for nothing; what do young women stand in need of, to be well +brought up in France?"--"Of mothers," answered Madame Campan. "It is +well said," replied Napoleon. "Well, madame, let the French be indebted +to you for bringing up mothers for their children."--"Napoleon one day +interrupted Madame de Stael in the midst of a profound political argument +to ask her whether she had nursed her children." + +Never had the establishment at St. Germain been in a more flourishing +condition than in 1802-3. What more could Madame Campan wish? For ten +years absolute in her own house, she seemed also safe from the caprice of +power. But the man who then disposed of the fate of France and Europe +was soon to determine otherwise. + +After the battle of Austerlitz the State undertook to bring up, at the +public expense, the sisters, daughters, or nieces of those who were +decorated with the Cross of Honour. The children of the warriors killed +or wounded in glorious battle were to find paternal care in the ancient +abodes of the Montmorencys and the Condes. Accustomed to concentrate +around him all superior talents, fearless himself of superiority, +Napoleon sought for a person qualified by experience and abilities to +conduct the institution of Ecouen; he selected Madame Campan. + +Comte de Lacepede, the pupil, friend, and rival of Buffon, then Grand +Chancellor of the Legion of Honour, assisted her with his enlightened +advice. Napoleon, who could descend with ease from the highest political +subjects to the examination of the most minute details; who was as much +at home in inspecting a boarding-school for young ladies as in reviewing +the grenadiers of his guard; whom it was impossible to deceive, and who +was not unwilling to find fault when he visited the establishment at +Ecouen,--was forced to say, "It is all right." + + [Napoleon wished to be informed of every particular of the + furniture, government, and order of the house, the instruction and + education of the pupils. The internal regulations were submitted to + him. One of the intended rules, drawn up by Madame Campan, proposed + that the children should hear mass on Sundays and Thursdays. + Napoleon himself wrote on the margin, "every day."] + +"In the summer of 1811," relates Madame Campan, "Napoleon, accompanied by +Marie Louise and several personages of distinction, visited the +establishment at Ecouen. After inspecting the chapel and the +refectories, Napoleon desired that the three principal pupils might be +presented to him. 'Sire,' said I, 'I cannot select three; I must present +six.' He turned on his heel and repaired to the platform, where, after +seeing all the classes assembled, he repeated his demand. 'Sire,' said +I, 'I beg leave to inform your Majesty that I should commit an injustice +towards several other pupils who are as far advanced as those whom I +might have the honour to present to you.' + +"Berthier and others intimated to me, in a low tone of voice, that I +should get into disgrace by my noncompliance. Napoleon looked over the +whole of the house, entered into the most trivial details, and after +addressing questions to several of the pupils: 'Well, madame,' said he, +'I am satisfied; show me your six best pupils.'" Madame Campan presented +them to him; and as he stepped into his carriage, he desired that their +names might be sent to Berthier. On addressing the list to the Prince de +Neufchatel, Madame Campan added to it the names of four other pupils, and +all the ten obtained a pension of 300 francs. During the three hours +which this visit occupied, Marie Louise did not utter a single word. + +M. de Beaumont, chamberlain to the Empress Josephine, one day at +Malmaison was expressing his regret that M. D-----, one of Napoleon's +generals, who had recently been promoted, did not belong to a great +family. "You mistake, monsieur," observed Madame Campan, "he is of very +ancient descent; he is one of the nephews of Charlemagne. All the heroes +of our army sprang from the elder branch of that sovereign's family, who +never emigrated." + +When Madame Campan related this circumstance she added: "After the 30th +of March, 1814, some officers of the army of Conde presumed to say to +certain French marshals that it was a pity they were not more nobly +connected. In answer to this, one of them said, 'True nobility, +gentlemen, consists in giving proofs of it. The field of honour has +witnessed ours; but where are we to look for yours? Your swords have +rusted in their scabbards. Our laurels may well excite envy; we have +earned them nobly, and we owe them solely to our valour. You have merely +inherited a name. This is the distinction between us." + + [When one of the princes of the smaller German States was showing + Marechal Lannes, with a contemptuous superiority of manner but ill + concealed, the portraits of his ancestors, and covertly alluding to + the absence of Lannes's, that general turned the tables on him by + haughtily remarking, "But I am an ancestor."] + +Napoleon used to observe that if he had had two such field-marshals as +Suchet in Spain he would have not only conquered but kept the Peninsula. +Suchet's sound judgment, his governing yet conciliating spirit, his +military tact, and his bravery, had procured him astonishing success. +"It is to be regretted," added he, "that a sovereign cannot improvise men +of his stamp." + +On the 19th of March, 1815, a number of papers were left in the King's +closet. Napoleon ordered them to be examined, and among them was found +the letter written by Madame Campan to Louis XVIII., immediately after +the first restoration. In this letter she enumerated the contents of the +portfolio which Louis XVI. had placed under her care. When Napoleon read +this letter, he said, "Let it be sent to the office of Foreign Affairs; +it is an historical document." + +Madame Campan thus described a visit from the Czar of Russia: "A few days +after the battle of Paris the Emperor Alexander came to Ecouen, and he +did me the honour to breakfast with me. After showing him over the +establishment I conducted him to the park, the most elevated point of +which overlooked the plain of St. Denis. 'Sire,' said I, 'from this +point I saw the battle of Paris'--'If,' replied the Emperor, 'that battle +had lasted two hours longer we should not have had a single cartridge at +our disposal. We feared that we had been betrayed; for on arriving so +precipitately before Paris all our plans were laid, and we did not expect +the firm resistance we experienced.' I next conducted the Emperor to the +chapel, and showed him the seats occupied by 'le connetable' (the +constable) of Montmorency, and 'la connetable' (the constable's lady), +when they went to hear mass. 'Barbarians like us,' observed the Emperor, +'would say la connetable and le connetable.' + +"The Czar inquired into the most minute particulars respecting the +establishment of Ecouen, and I felt great pleasure in answering his +questions. I recollect having dwelt on several points which appeared to +me to be very important, and which were in their spirit hostile to +aristocratic principles. For example, I informed his Majesty that the +daughters of distinguished and wealthy individuals and those of the +humble and obscure mingled indiscriminately in the establishment. 'If,' +said I, 'I were to observe the least pretension on account of the rank or +fortune of parents, I should immediately put an end to it. The most +perfect equality is preserved; distinction is awarded only to merit and +industry. The pupils are obliged to cut out and make all their own +clothes. They are taught to clean and mend lace; and two at a time, they +by turns, three times a week, cook and distribute food to the poor of the +village. The young girls who have been brought up at Ecouen, or in my +boarding-school at St. Germain, are thoroughly acquainted with everything +relating to household business, and they are grateful to me for having +made that a part of their education. In my conversations with them I +have always taught them that on domestic management depends the +preservation or dissipation of their fortunes.' + +"The post-master of Ecouen was in the courtyard at the moment when the +Emperor, as he stepped into his carriage, told me he would send some +sweetmeats for the pupils. I immediately communicated to them the +intelligence, which was joyfully received; but the sweetmeats were looked +for in vain. When Alexander set out for England he changed horses at +Ecouen, and the post-master said to him: 'Sire, the pupils of Ecouen are +still expecting the sweetmeats which your Majesty promised them.' To +which the Emperor replied that he had directed Saken to send them. The +Cossacks had most likely devoured the sweetmeats, and the poor little +girls, who had been so highly flattered by the promise, never tasted +them." + +"A second house was formed at St. Denis, on the model of that of Ecouen. +Perhaps Madame Campan might have hoped for a title to which her long +labours gave her a right; perhaps the superintendence of the two houses +would have been but the fair recompense of her services; but her +fortunate years had passed her fate was now to depend on the most +important events. Napoleon had accumulated such a mass of power as no +one but himself in Europe could overturn. France, content with thirty +years of victories, in vain asked for peace and repose. The army which +had triumphed in the sands of Egypt, on the summits of the Alps, and in +the marshes of Holland, was to perish amidst the snows of Russia. +Nations combined against a single man. The territory of France was +invaded. The orphans of Ecouen, from the windows of the mansion which +served as their asylum, saw in the distant plain the fires of the Russian +bivouacs, and once more wept the deaths of their fathers. Paris +capitulated. France hailed the return of the descendants of Henri IV.; +they reascended the throne so long filled by their ancestors, which the +wisdom of an enlightened prince established on the empire of the laws. + + [A lady, connected with the establishment of St. Denis, told Madame + Campan that Napoleon visited it during the Hundred Days, and that + the pupils were so delighted to see him that they crowded round him, + endeavouring to touch his clothes, and evincing the most extravagant + joy. The matron endeavoured to silence them; but Napoleon said, + 'Let them alone; let them alone. This may weaken the head, but it + strengthens the heart.'"] + +This moment, which diffused joy amongst the faithful servants of the +royal family, and brought them the rewards of their devotion, proved to +Madame Campan a period of bitter vexation. The hatred of her enemies had +revived. The suppression of the school at Ecouen had deprived her of her +position; the most absurd calumnies followed her into her retreat; her +attachment to the Queen was suspected; she was accused not only of +ingratitude but of perfidy. Slander has little effect on youth, but in +the decline of life its darts are envenomed with a mortal poison. The +wounds which Madame Campan had received were deep. Her sister, Madame +Auguie, had destroyed herself; M. Rousseau, her brother-in-law, had +perished, a victim of the reign of terror. In 1813 a dreadful accident +had deprived her of her niece, Madame de Broc, one of the most amiable +and interesting beings that ever adorned the earth. Madame Campan seemed +destined to behold those whom she loved go down to the grave before her. + +Beyond the walls of the mansion of Ecouen, in the village which surrounds +it, Madame Campan had taken a small house where she loved to pass a few +hours in solitary retirement. There, at liberty to abandon herself to +the memory of the past, the superintendent of the imperial establishment +became, once more, for the moment, the first lady of the chamber to Marie +Antoinette. To the few friends whom she admitted into this retreat she +would show, with emotion, a plain muslin gown which the Queen had worn, +and which was made from a part of Tippoo Saib's present. A cup, out of +which Marie Antoinette had drunk; a writing-stand, which she had long +used, were, in her eyes, of inestimable value; and she has often been +discovered sitting, in tears, before the portrait of her royal mistress. + +After so many troubles Madame Campan sought a peaceful retreat. Paris +had become odious to her. + +She paid a visit to one of her most beloved pupils, Mademoiselle Crouzet, +who had married a physician at Mantes, a man of talent, distinguished for +his intelligence, frankness, and cordiality. + + [M. Maigne, physician to the infirmaries at Mantes. Madame Campan + found in him a friend and comforter, of whose merit and affection + she knew the value.] + +Mantes is a cheerful place of residence, and the idea of an abode there +pleased her. A few intimate friends formed a pleasant society, and she +enjoyed a little tranquillity after so many disturbances. The revisal of +her "Memoirs," the arrangement of the interesting anecdotes of which her +"Recollections" were to consist, alone diverted her mind from the one +powerful sentiment which attached her to life. She lived only for her +son. M. Campan deserved the tenderness of, his mother. No sacrifice had +been spared for his education. After having pursued that course of study +which, under the Imperial Government, produced men of such distinguished +merit, he was waiting till time and circumstances should afford him an +opportunity of devoting his services to his country. Although the state +of his health was far from good, it did not threaten any rapid or +premature decay; he was, however, after a few days' illness, suddenly +taken from his family. "I never witnessed so heartrending a scene," M. +Maigne says, "as that which took place when Marechal Ney's lady, her +niece, and Madame Pannelier, her sister, came to acquaint her with this +misfortune.--[The wife of Marechal Ney was a daughter of Madame Auguie, +and had been an intimate friend of Hortense Beauharnais.]--When they +entered her apartment she was in bed. All three at once uttered a +piercing cry. The two ladies threw themselves on their knees, and kissed +her hands, which they bedewed with tears. Before they could speak to her +she read in their faces that she no longer possessed a son. At that +instant her large eyes, opening wildly, seemed to wander. Her face grew +pale, her features changed, her lips lost their colour, she struggled to +speak, but uttered only inarticulate sounds, accompanied by piercing +cries. Her gestures were wild, her reason was suspended. Every part of +her being was in agony. To this state of anguish and despair no calm +succeeded, until her tears began to flow. Friendship and the tenderest +cares succeeded for a moment in calming her grief, but not in diminishing +its power. + +"This violent crisis had disturbed her whole organisation. A cruel +disorder, which required a still more cruel operation, soon manifested +itself. The presence of her family, a tour which she made in +Switzerland, a residence at Baden, and, above all, the sight, the tender +and charming conversation of a person by whom she was affectionately +beloved, occasionally diverted her mind, and in a slight degree relieved +her suffering." She underwent a serious operation, performed with +extraordinary promptitude and the most complete success. No unfavourable +symptoms appeared; Madame Campan was thought to be restored to her +friends; but the disorder was in the blood; it took another course: the +chest became affected. "From that moment," says M. Maigne, "I could +never look on Madame Campan as living; she herself felt that she belonged +no more to this world." + +"My friend," she said to her physician the day before her death, "I am +attached to the simplicity of religion. I hate all that savours of +fanaticism." When her codicil was presented for her signature, her hand +trembled; "It would be a pity," she said, "to stop when so fairly on the +road." + +Madame Campan died on the 16th of March, 1822. The cheerfulness she +displayed throughout her malady had nothing affected in it. Her +character was naturally powerful and elevated. At the approach of death +she evinced the soul of a sage, without abandoning for an instant her +feminine character. + + + + +ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + +Ah, Madame, we have all been killed in our masters' service! +Brought me her daughter Hortense de Beauharnais +Condescension which renders approbation more offensive +Difference between brilliant theories and the simplest practice +Extreme simplicity was the Queens first and only real mistake +I hate all that savours of fanaticism +If ever I establish a republic of women.... +No ears that will discover when she (The Princess) is out of tune +Observe the least pretension on account of the rank or fortune +On domestic management depends the preservation of their fortune +Spirit of party can degrade the character of a nation +Tastes may change +The anti-Austrian party, discontented and vindictive +They say you live very poorly here, Moliere +True nobility, gentlemen, consists in giving proofs of it +We must have obedience, and no reasoning +What do young women stand in need of?--Mothers! +"Would be a pity," she said, "to stop when so fairly on the road" +Your swords have rusted in their scabbards + + + + +End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of The Memoirs of Marie Antoinette, v1 +by Madame Campan + diff --git a/old/cm47b10.zip b/old/cm47b10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..5b53a8c --- /dev/null +++ b/old/cm47b10.zip |