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diff --git a/old/cm54b10.txt b/old/cm54b10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..815ee79 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/cm54b10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,15851 @@ +The Project Gutenberg Memoirs of Marie Antoinette, Entire +#8 in our series by Madam Campan +#54 in our series Historic Court Memoirs + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the laws for your country before redistributing these files!!!!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. + +Please do not remove this. + +This should be the first thing seen when anyone opens the book. +Do not change or edit it without written permission. 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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 + + + + + + +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 2. + + +CHAPTER I. + +I was fifteen years of age when I was appointed reader to Mesdames. +I will begin by describing the Court at that period. + +Maria Leczinska was just dead; the death of the Dauphin had preceded hers +by three years; the Jesuits were suppressed, and piety was to be found at +Court only in the apartments of Mesdames. The Duc de Choiseuil ruled. + +Etiquette still existed at Court with all the forms it had acquired under +Louis XIV.; dignity alone was wanting. As to gaiety, there was none. +Versailles was not the place at which to seek for assemblies where French +spirit and grace were displayed. The focus of wit and intelligence was +Paris. + +The King thought of nothing but the pleasures of the chase: it might have +been imagined that the courtiers indulged themselves in making epigrams +by hearing them say seriously, on those days when the King did not hunt, +"The King does nothing to-day."--[In sporting usance (see SOULAIRE, p. +316).] + +The arrangement beforehand of his movements was also a matter of great +importance with Louis XV. On the first day of the year he noted down in +his almanac the days of departure for Compiegne, Fontainebleau, Choisy, +etc. The weightiest matters, the most serious events, never deranged +this distribution of his time. + +Since the death of the Marquise de Pompadour, the King had no titled +mistress; he contented himself with his seraglio in the Parc-aux-Cerfs. +It is well known that the monarch found the separation of Louis de +Bourbon from the King of France the most animating feature of his royal +existence. "They would have it so; they thought it for the best," was +his way of expressing himself when the measures of his ministers were +unsuccessful. The King delighted to manage the most disgraceful points +of his private expenses himself; he one day sold to a head clerk in the +War Department a house in which one of his mistresses had lodged; the +contract ran in the name of Louis de Bourbon, and the purchaser himself +took in a bag the price of the house in gold to the King in his private +closet. + + [Until recently little was known about the Parc-aux-Cerfs, and it + was believed that a great number of young women had been maintained + there at enormous expense. The investigations of M. J. A. Le Roi, + given in his interesting work, "Curiosites Historiques sur Louis + XIII., Louis XIV., Louis XV.," etc., Paris, Plon, 1864, have thrown + fresh light upon the matter. The result he arrives at (see page 229 + of his work) is that the house in question (No. 4 Rue St. Mederic, + on the site of the Pare-aux-Cerfs, or breeding-place for deer, of + Louis XIII) was very small, and could have held only one girl, the + woman in charge of her, and a servant. Most of the girls left it + only when about to be confined, and it sometimes stood vacant for + five or six months. It may have been rented before the date of + purchase, and other houses seem sometimes to have been used also; + but in any case, it is evident that both the number of girls and the + expense incurred have been absurdly exaggerated. The system + flourished under Madame de Pompadour, but ceased as soon as Madame + du Barry obtained full power over the King, and the house was then + sold to M. J. B. Sevin for 16,000 livres, on 27th May, 1771, Louis + not acting under the name of Louis de Bourbon, but as King,--"Vente + par le Roi, notre Sire." In 1755 he had also been declared its + purchaser in a similar manner. Thus, Madame Campan is in error in + saying that the King made the contract as Louis de Bourbon.]--[And + it also possible that Madam Campan was correct and that the house + she refers to as sold for a "bag of gold" was another of the several + of the seraglio establishments of Louis XV. D.W.] + +Louis XV. saw very little of his family. He came every morning by a +private staircase into the apartment of Madame Adelaide. + + [Louis XV. seemed to feel for Madame Adelaide the tenderness he had + had for the Duchesse de Bourgogne, his mother, who perished so + suddenly, under the eyes and almost in the arms of Louis XIV. The + birth of Madame Adelaide, 23d March, 1732, was followed by that of + Madame Victoire Louise Marie Therese on the 11th May, 1733. Louis + had, besides, six daughters: Mesdames Sophie and Louise, who are + mentioned in this chapter; the Princesses Marie and Felicite, who + died young; Madame Henriette died at Versailles in 1752, aged + twenty-four; and finally, Madame the Duchess of Parma, who also died + at the Court.] + +He often brought and drank there coffee that he had made himself. Madame +Adelaide pulled a bell which apprised Madame Victoire of the King's +visit; Madame Victoire, on rising to go to her sister's apartment, rang +for Madame Sophie, who in her turn rang for Madame Louise. The +apartments of Mesdames were of very large dimensions. Madame Louise +occupied the farthest room. This latter lady was deformed and very +short; the poor Princess used to run with all her might to join the daily +meeting, but, having a number of rooms to cross, she frequently in spite +of her haste, had only just time to embrace her father before he set out +for the chase. + +Every evening, at six, Mesdames interrupted my reading to them to +accompany the princes to Louis XV.; this visit was called the King's +'debotter',--[Debotter, meaning the time of unbooting.]-- and was marked +by a kind of etiquette. Mesdames put on an enormous hoop, which set out +a petticoat ornamented with gold or embroidery; they fastened a long +train round their waists, and concealed the undress of the rest of their +clothing by a long cloak of black taffety which enveloped them up to the +chin. The chevaliers d'honneur, the ladies in waiting, the pages, the +equerries, and the ushers bearing large flambeaux, accompanied them to +the King. In a moment the whole palace, generally so still, was in +motion; the King kissed each Princess on the forehead, and the visit was +so short that the reading which it interrupted was frequently resumed at +the end of a quarter of an hour; Mesdames returned to their apartments, +and untied the strings of their petticoats and trains; they resumed their +tapestry, and I my book. + +During the summer season the King sometimes came to the residence of +Mesdames before the hour of his 'debotter'. One day he found me alone in +Madame Victoire's closet, and asked me where 'Coche'[Piggy] was; I +started, and he repeated his question, but without being at all the more +understood. When the King was gone I asked Madame of whom he spoke. She +told me that it was herself, and very coolly explained to me, that, being +the fattest of his daughters, the King had given her the familiar name of +'Coche'; that he called Madame Adelaide, 'Logue' [Tatters], Madame +Sophie, 'Graille'[Mite], and Madame Louise, 'Chiffie'[Rubbish]. The +people of the King's household observed that he knew a great number of +such words; possibly he had amused himself with picking them out from +dictionaries. If this style of speaking betrayed the habits and tastes +of the King, his manner savoured nothing of such vulgarity; his walk was +easy and noble, he had a dignified carriage of the head, and his aspect, +with out being severe, was imposing; he combined great politeness with a +truly regal demeanour, and gracefully saluted the humblest woman whom +curiosity led into his path. + +He was very expert in a number of trifling matters which never occupy +attention but when there is a lack of something better to employ it; for +instance, he would knock off the top of an egg-shell at a single stroke +of his fork; he therefore always ate eggs when he dined in public, and +the Parisians who came on Sundays to see the King dine, returned home +less struck with his fine figure than with the dexterity with which he +broke his eggs. + +Repartees of Louis XV., which marked the keenness of his wit and the +elevation of his sentiments, were quoted with pleasure in the assemblies +of Versailles. + +This Prince was still beloved; it was wished that a style of life +suitable to his age and dignity should at length supersede the errors of +the past, and justify the love of his subjects. It was painful to judge +him harshly. If he had established avowed mistresses at Court, the +uniform devotion of the Queen was blamed for it. Mesdames were +reproached for not seeking to prevent the King's forming an intimacy with +some new favourite. Madame Henriette, twin sister of the Duchess of +Parma, was much regretted, for she had considerable influence over the +King's mind, and it was remarked that if she had lived she would have +been assiduous in finding him amusements in the bosom of his family, +would have followed him in his short excursions, and would have done the +honours of the 'petits soupers' which he was so fond of giving in his +private apartments. + +Mesdames too much neglected the means of pleasing the wing, but the cause +of that was obvious in the little attention he had paid them in their +youth. + +In order to console the people under their sufferings, and to shut their +eyes to the real depredations on the treasury, the ministers occasionally +pressed the most extravagant measures of reform in the King's household, +and even in his personal expenses. + +Cardinal Fleury, who in truth had the merit of reestablishing the +finances, carried this system of economy so far as to obtain from the +King the suppression of the household of the four younger Princesses. +They were brought up as mere boarders in a convent eighty leagues distant +from the Court. Saint Cyr would have been more suitable for the +reception of the King's daughters; but probably the Cardinal shared some +of those prejudices which will always attach to even the most useful +institutions, and which, since the death of Louis XIV., had been raised +against the noble establishment of Madame de Maintenon. Madame Louise +often assured me that at twelve years of age she was not mistress of the +whole alphabet, and never learnt to read fluently until after her return +to Versailles. + +Madame Victoire attributed certain paroxysms of terror, which she was +never able to conquer, to the violent alarms she experienced at the Abbey +of Fontevrault, whenever she was sent, by way of penance, to pray alone +in the vault where the sisters were interred. + +A gardener belonging to the abbey died raving mad. His habitation, +without the walls, was near a chapel of the abbey, where Mesdames were +taken to repeat the prayers for those in the agonies of death. Their +prayers were more than once interrupted by the shrieks of the dying man. + +When Mesdames, still very young, returned to Court, they enjoyed the +friendship of Monseigneur the Dauphin, and profited by his advice. They +devoted themselves ardently to study, and gave up almost the whole of +their time to it; they enabled themselves to write French correctly, and +acquired a good knowledge of history. Italian, English, the higher +branches of mathematics, turning and dialing, filled up in succession +their leisure moments. Madame Adelaide, in particular, had a most +insatiable desire to learn; she was taught to play upon all instruments, +from the horn (will it be believed!) to the Jew's-harp. + +Madame Adelaide was graced for a short time with a charming figure; but +never did beauty so quickly vanish. Madame Victoire was handsome and +very graceful; her address, mien, and smile were in perfect accordance +with the goodness of her heart. Madame Sophie was remarkably ugly; never +did I behold a person with so unprepossessing an appearance; she walked +with the greatest rapidity; and, in order to recognise the people who +placed themselves along her path without looking at them, she acquired +the habit of leering on one side, like a hare. This Princess was so +exceedingly diffident that a person might be with her daily for years +together without hearing her utter a single word. It was asserted, +however, that she displayed talent, and even amiability, in the society +of some favourite ladies. She taught herself a great deal, but she +studied alone; the presence of a reader would have disconcerted her very +much. There were, however, occasions on which the Princess, generally so +intractable, became all at once affable and condescending, and manifested +the most communicative good-nature; this would happen during a storm; so +great was her alarm on such an occasion that she then approached the most +humble, and would ask them a thousand obliging questions; a flash of +lightning made her squeeze their hands; a peal of thunder would drive her +to embrace them, but with the return of the calm, the Princess resumed +her stiffness, her reserve, and her repellent air, and passed all by +without taking the slightest notice of any one, until a fresh storm +restored to her at once her dread and her affability. [Which reminds one +of the elder (and puritanic) Cato who said that he "embraced" his wife +only when it thundered, but added that he did enjoy a good thunderstorm. +D.W.] + +Mesdames found in a beloved brother, whose rare attainments are known to +all Frenchmen, a guide in everything wanting to their education. In +their august mother, Maria Leczinska, they possessed the noblest example +of every pious and social virtue; that Princess, by her eminent qualities +and her modest dignity, veiled the failings of the King, and while she +lived she preserved in the Court of Louis XV. that decorous and dignified +tone which alone secures the respect due to power. The Princesses, her +daughters, were worthy of her; and if a few degraded beings did aim the +shafts of calumny at them, these shafts dropped harmless, warded off by +the elevation of their sentiments and the purity of their conduct. + +If Mesdames had not tasked themselves with numerous occupations, they +would have been much to be pitied. They loved walking, but could enjoy +nothing beyond the public gardens of Versailles; they would have +cultivated flowers, but could have no others than those in their windows. + +The Marquise de Durfort, since Duchesse de Civrac, afforded to Madame +Victoire agreeable society. The Princess spent almost all her evenings +with that lady, and ended by fancying herself domiciled with her. + +Madame de Narbonne had, in a similar way, taken pains to make her +intimate acquaintance pleasant to Madame Adelaide. + +Madame Louise had for many years lived in great seclusion; I read to her +five hours a day. My voice frequently betrayed the exhaustion of my +lungs; the Princess would then prepare sugared water for me, place it by +me, and apologise for making me read so long, on the score of having +prescribed a course of reading for herself. + +One evening, while I was reading, she was informed that M. Bertin, +'ministre des parties casuelles', desired to speak with her; she went out +abruptly, returned, resumed her silks and embroidery, and made me resume +my book; when I retired she commanded me to be in her closet the next +morning at eleven o'clock. When I got there the Princess was gone out; +I learnt that she had gone at seven in the morning to the Convent of the +Carmelites of St. Denis, where she was desirous of taking the veil. +I went to Madame Victoire; there I heard that the King alone had been +acquainted with Madame Louise's project; that he had kept it faithfully +secret, and that, having long previously opposed her wish, he had only on +the preceding evening sent her his consent; that she had gone alone into +the convent, where she was expected; and that a few minutes afterwards +she had made her appearance at the grating, to show to the Princesse de +Guistel, who had accompanied her to the convent gate, and to her equerry, +the King's order to leave her in the monastery. + +Upon receiving the intelligence of her sister's departure, Madame +Adelaide gave way to violent paroxysms of rage, and reproached the King +bitterly for the secret, which he had thought it his duty to preserve. +Madame Victoire missed the society of her favourite sister, but she shed +tears in silence only. The first time I saw this excellent Princess +after Madame Louise's departure, I threw myself at her feet, kissed her +hand, and asked her, with all the confidence of youth, whether she would +quit us as Madame Louise had done. She raised me, embraced me; and said, +pointing to the lounge upon which she was extended, "Make yourself easy, +my dear; I shall never have Louise's courage. I love the conveniences of +life too well; this lounge is my destruction." As soon as I obtained +permission to do so, I went to St. Denis to see my late mistress; she +deigned to receive me with her face uncovered, in her private parlour; +she told me she had just left the wash-house, and that it was her turn +that day to attend to the linen. "I much abused your youthful lungs for +two years before the execution of my project," added she. "I knew that +here I could read none but books tending to our salvation, and I wished +to review all the historians that had interested me." + +She informed me that the King's consent for her to go to St. Denis had +been brought to her while I was reading; she prided herself, and with +reason, upon having returned to her closet without the slightest mark of +agitation, though she said she felt so keenly that she could scarcely +regain her chair. She added that moralists were right when they said +that happiness does not dwell in palaces; that she had proved it; and +that, if I desired to be happy, she advised me to come and enjoy a +retreat in which the liveliest imagination might find full exercise in +the contemplation of a better world. I had no palace, no earthly +grandeur to sacrifice to God; nothing but the bosom of a united family; +and it is precisely there that the moralists whom she cited have placed +true happiness. I replied that, in private life, the absence of a +beloved and cherished daughter would be too cruelly felt by her family. +The Princess said no more on the subject. + +The seclusion of Madame Louise was attributed to various motives; some +were unkind enough to suppose it to have been occasioned by her +mortification at being, in point of rank, the last of the Princesses. +I think I penetrated the true cause. Her aspirations were lofty; she +loved everything sublime; often while I was reading she would interrupt +me to exclaim, "That is beautiful! that is noble!" There was but one +brilliant action that she could perform,--to quit a palace for a cell, +and rich garments for a stuff gown. She achieved it! + +I saw Madame Louise two or three times more at the grating. I was +informed of her death by Louis XVI. "My Aunt Louise," said he to me, +"your old mistress, is just dead at St. Denis. I have this moment +received intelligence of it. Her piety and resignation were admirable, +and yet the delirium of my good aunt recalled to her recollection that +she was a princess, for her last words were, 'To paradise, haste, haste, +full speed.' No doubt she thought she was again giving orders to her +equerry." + + [The retirement of Madame Louise, and her removal from Court, had + only served to give her up entirely to the intrigues of the clergy. + She received incessant visits from bishops, archbishops, and + ambitious priests of every rank; she prevailed on the King, her + father, to grant many ecclesiastical preferments, and probably + looked forward to playing an important part when the King, weary of + his licentious course of life, should begin to think of religion. + This, perhaps, might have been the case had not a sudden and + unexpected death put an end to his career. The project of Madame + Louise fell to the ground in consequence of this event. She + remained in her convent, whence she continued to solicit favours, + as I knew from the complaints of the Queen, who often said to me, + "Here is another letter from my Aunt Louise. She is certainly the + most intriguing little Carmelite in the kingdom." The Court went to + visit her about three times a year, and I recollect that the Queen, + intending to take her daughter there, ordered me to get a doll + dressed like a Carmelite for her, that the young Princess might be + accustomed, before she went into the convent, to the habit of her + aunt, the nun.--MADAME CAMPAN] + +Madame Victoire, good, sweet-tempered, and affable, lived with the most +amiable simplicity in a society wherein she was much caressed; she was +adored by her household. Without quitting Versailles, without +sacrificing her easy chair, she fulfilled the duties of religion with +punctuality, gave to the poor all she possessed, and strictly observed +Lent and the fasts. The table of Mesdames acquired a reputation for +dishes of abstinence, spread abroad by the assiduous parasites at that of +their maitre d'hotel. Madame Victoire was not indifferent to good +living, but she had the most religious scruples respecting dishes of +which it was allowable to partake at penitential times. I saw her one +day exceedingly tormented by her doubts about a water-fowl, which was +often served up to her during Lent. The question to be determined was, +whether it was 'maigre' or 'gras'. She consulted a bishop, who happened +to be of the party: the prelate immediately assumed the grave attitude of +a judge who is about to pronounce sentence. He answered the Princess +that, in a similar case of doubt, it had been resolved that after +dressing the bird it should be pricked over a very cold silver dish; if +the gravy of the animal congealed within a quarter of an hour, the +creature was to be accounted flesh; but if the gravy remained in an oily +state, it might be eaten without scruple. Madame Victoire immediately +made the experiment: the gravy did not congeal; and this was a source of +great joy to the Princess, who was very partial to that sort of game. +The abstinence which so much occupied the attention of Madame Victoire +was so disagreeable to her, that she listened with impatience for the +midnight hour of Holy Saturday; and then she was immediately supplied +with a good dish of fowl and rice, and sundry other succulent viands. +She confessed with such amiable candour her taste for good cheer and the +comforts of life, that it would have been necessary to be as severe in +principle as insensible to the excellent qualities of the Princess, to +consider it a crime in her. + +Madame Adelaide had more mind than Madame Victoire; but she was +altogether deficient in that kindness which alone creates affection for +the great, abrupt manners, a harsh voice, and a short way of speaking, +rendering her more than imposing. She carried the idea of the +prerogative of rank to a high pitch. One of her chaplains was unlucky +enough to say 'Dominus vobiscum' with rather too easy an air; the +Princess rated him soundly for it after mass, and told him to remember +that he was not a bishop, and not again to think of officiating in the +style of a prelate. + +Mesdames lived quite separate from the King. Since the death of Madame +de Pompadour he had lived alone. The enemies of the Duc de Choiseul did +not know in what department, nor through what channel, they could prepare +and bring about the downfall of the man who stood in their way. The King +was connected only with women of so low a class that they could not be +made use of for any delicate intrigue; moreover, the Parc-aux-Cerfs was a +seraglio, the beauties of which were often replaced; it was desirable to +give the King a mistress who could form a circle, and in whose drawing- +room the long-standing attachment of the King for the Duc de Choiseul +might be overcome. It is true that Madame du Barry was selected from a +class sufficiently low. Her origin, her education, her habits, and +everything about her bore a character of vulgarity and shamelessness; but +by marrying her to a man whose pedigree dated from 1400, it was thought +scandal would be avoided. The conqueror of Mahon conducted this coarse +intrigue. + + [It appeared at this period as if every feeling of dignity was lost. + "Few noblemen of the French Court," says a writer of the time, + "preserved themselves from the general corruption. The Marechal de + Brissac was one of the latter. He was bantered on the strictness of + his principles of honour and honesty; it was thought strange that he + should be offended by being thought, like so many others, exposed to + hymeneal disgrace. Louis XV., who was present, and laughed at his + angry fit, said to him: 'Come, M. de Brissac, don't be angry; 'tis + but a trifling evil; take courage.'--'Sire,' replied M. de Brissac, + 'I possess all kinds of courage, except that which can brave + shame.'"--NOTE BY THE EDITOR.] + +Such a mistress was judiciously selected for the diversion of the latter +years of a man weary of grandeur, fatigued with pleasure, and cloyed with +voluptuousness. Neither the wit, the talents, the graces of the Marquise +de Pompadour, her beauty, nor even her love for the King, would have had +any further influence over that worn-out being. + +He wanted a Roxalana of familiar gaiety, without any respect for the +dignity of the sovereign. Madame du Barry one day so far forgot +propriety as to desire to be present at a Council of State. The King was +weak enough to consent to it. There she remained ridiculously perched +upon the arm of his chair, playing all sorts of childish monkey tricks, +calculated to please an old sultan. + +Another time she snatched a packet of sealed letters from the King's +hand. Among them she had observed one from Comte de Broglie. She told +the King that she knew that rascal Broglie spoke ill of her to him, and +that for once, at least, she would make sure he should read nothing +respecting her. The King wanted to get the packet again; she resisted, +and made him run two or three times round the table, which was in the +middle of the council-chamber, and then, on passing the fireplace, she +threw the letters into the grate, where they were consumed. The King +became furious; he seized his audacious mistress by the arm, and put her +out of the door without speaking to her. Madame du Barry thought herself +utterly disgraced; she returned home, and remained two hours, alone, +abandoned to the utmost distress. The King went to her; she threw +herself at his feet, in tears, and he pardoned her. + +Madame la Marechale de Beauvau, the Duchesse de Choiseul, and the +Duchesse de Grammont had renounced the honour of the King's intimate +acquaintance rather than share it with Madame du Barry. But a few years +after the death of Louis XV., Madame la Marechale being alone at the Val, +a house belonging to M. de Beauvau, Mademoiselle de Dillon saw the +Countess's calash take shelter in the forest of St. Germain during a +violent storm. She invited her in, and the Countess herself related +these particulars, which I had from Madame de Beauvau. + +The Comte du Barry, surnamed 'le roue' (the profligate), and Mademoiselle +du Barry advised, or rather prompted, Madame du Barry in furtherance of +the plans of the party of the Marechal de Richelieu and the Duc +d'Aiguillon. Sometimes they even set her to act in such a way as to have +a useful influence upon great political measures. Under pretence that +the page who accompanied Charles I. in his flight was a Du Barry or +Barrymore, they persuaded the Comtesse du Barry to buy in London that +fine portrait which we now have in the Museum. She had the picture +placed in her drawing-room, and when she saw the King hesitating upon the +violent measure of breaking up his Parliament, and forming that which was +called the Maupeou Parliament, she desired him to look at the portrait of +a king who had given way to his Parliament. + + [The "Memoirs of General Dumouriez," vol. i., page 142, contain + some curious particulars about Madame Du Barry; and novel details + respecting her will be found at page 243 of "Curiosites + Historiques," by J. A. Le Rol (Paris, Plon, 1864). His + investigations lead to the result that her real name was Jean Becu, + born, 19th August, 1743, at Vaucouleurs, the natural daughter of + Anne Becu, otherwise known as "Quantiny." Her mother afterwards + married Nicolas Rancon. Comte Jean du Barry met her among the demi- + monde, and succeeded, about 1767, and by the help of his friend + Label, the valet de chambre of Louis XV., in introducing her to the + King under the name of Mademoiselle l'Ange. To be formally + mistress, a husband had to be found. The Comte Jean du Barry, + already married himself, found no difficulty in getting his brother, + Comte Guillaume, a poor officer of the marine troops, to accept the + post of husband. In the marriage-contract, signed on 23d July, + 1768, she was described as the daughter of Anne Becu and of an + imaginary first husband, Sieur Jean Jacques Gomard de Vaubernier," + and three years were taken off her age. The marriage-contract was + so drawn as to leave Madame du Barry entirely free from all control + by her husband. The marriage was solemnised on 1st September, 1768, + after which the nominal husband returned to Toulouse. Madame du + Barry in later years provided for him; and in 1772, tired of his + applications, she obtained an act of separation from him. He + married later Jeanne Madeleine Lemoine, and died in 1811. Madame du + Barry took care of her mother, who figured as Madame de Montrable. + In all, she received from the King, M. Le Roi calculates, about + twelve and a half millions of livres. On the death of Louis XV. + she had to retire first to the Abbey of Pont-aux-Dames, near Meaux, + then she was allowed to go to her small house at St. Vrain, near + Arpajon, and, finally, in 1775, to her chateau at Louveciennes. + Much to her credit be it said, she retained many of her friends, + and was on the most intimate terms till his death with the Duc de + Brissac (Louis Hercule Timoldon de Cosse-Brissac), who was killed at + Versailles in the massacre of the prisoners in September, 1792, + leaving at his death a large legacy to her. Even the Emperor Joseph + visited her. In 1791 many of her jewels were stolen and taken to + England. This caused her to make several visits to that country, + where she gained her suit. But these visits, though she took every + precaution to legalise them, ruined her. Betrayed by her servants, + among them by Zamor, the negro page, she was brought before the + Revolutionary tribunal, and was guillotined on 8th December, 1793, + in a frenzy of terror, calling for mercy and for delay up to the + moment when her head fell.] + +The men of ambition who were labouring to overthrow the Duc de Choiseul +strengthened themselves by their concentration at the house of the +favourite, and succeeded in their project. The bigots, who never forgave +that minister the suppression of the Jesuits, and who had always been +hostile to a treaty of alliance with Austria, influenced the minds of +Mesdames. The Duc de La Vauguyon, the young Dauphin's governor, infected +them with the same prejudices. + +Such was the state of the public mind when the young Archduchess Marie +Antoinette arrived at the Court of Versailles, just at the moment when +the party which brought her there was about to be overthrown. + +Madame Adelaide openly avowed her dislike to a princess of the House of +Austria; and when M. Campan, my father-in-law, went to receive his +orders, at the moment of setting off with the household of the +Dauphiness, to go and receive the Archduchess upon the frontiers, she +said she disapproved of the marriage of her nephew with an archduchess; +and that, if she had the direction of the matter, she would not send for +an Austrian. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +MARIE ANTOINETTE JOSEPHE JEANNE DE LORRAINE, Archduchess of Austria, +daughter of Francois de Lorraine and of Maria Theresa, was born on the +2d of November, 1755, the day of the earthquake at Lisbon; and this +catastrophe, which appeared to stamp the era of her birth with a fatal +mark, without forming a motive for superstitious fear with the Princess, +nevertheless made an impression upon her mind. As the Empress already +had a great number of daughters, she ardently desired to have another +son, and playfully wagered against her wish with the Duc de Tarouka, +who had insisted that she would give birth to an archduke. He lost by +the birth of the Princess, and had executed in porcelain a figure with +one knee bent on the earth, and presenting tablets, upon which the +following lines by Metastasio were engraved: + + I lose by your fair daughter's birth + Who prophesied a son; + But if she share her mother's worth, + Why, all the world has won! + +The Queen was fond of talking of the first years of her youth. Her +father, the Emperor Francis, had made a deep impression upon her heart; +she lost him when she was scarcely seven years old. One of those +circumstances which fix themselves strongly in the memories of children +frequently recalled his last caresses to her. The Emperor was setting +out for Innspruck; he had already left his palace, when he ordered a +gentleman to fetch the Archduchess Marie Antoinette, and bring her to his +carriage. When she came, he stretched out his arms to receive her, and +said, after having pressed her to his bosom, "I wanted to embrace this +child once more." The Emperor died suddenly during the journey, and +never saw his beloved daughter again. + +The Queen often spoke of her mother, and with profound respect, but she +based all her schemes for the education of her children on the essentials +which had been neglected in her own. Maria Theresa, who inspired awe by +her great qualities, taught the Archduchesses to fear and respect rather +than to love her; at least I observed this in the Queen's feelings +towards her august mother. She therefore never desired to place between +her own children and herself that distance which had existed in the +imperial family. She cited a fatal consequence of it, which had made +such a powerful impression upon her that time had never been able to +efface it. + +The wife of the Emperor Joseph II. was taken from him in a few days by +an attack of smallpox of the most virulent kind. Her coffin had recently +been deposited in the vault of the imperial family. The Archduchess +Josepha, who had been betrothed to the King of Naples, at the instant she +was quitting Vienna received an order from the Empress not to set off +without having offered up a prayer in the vault of her forefathers. The +Archduchess, persuaded that she should take the disorder to which her +sister-in-law had just fallen a victim, looked upon this order as her +death-warrant. She loved the young Archduchess Marie Antoinette +tenderly; she took her upon her knees, embraced her with tears, and told +her she was about to leave her, not for Naples, but never to see her +again; that she was going down then to the tomb of her ancestors, and +that she should shortly go again there to remain. Her anticipation was +realised; confluent smallpox carried her off in a very few days, and her +youngest sister ascended the throne of Naples in her place. + +The Empress was too much taken up with high political interests to have +it in her power to devote herself to maternal attentions. The celebrated +Wansvietten, her physician, went daily, to visit the young imperial +family, and afterwards to Maria Theresa, and gave the most minute details +respecting the health of the Archdukes and Archduchesses, whom she +herself sometimes did not see for eight or ten days at a time. As soon +as the arrival of a stranger of rank at Vienna was made known, the +Empress brought her family about her, admitted them to her table, and by +this concerted meeting induced a belief that she herself presided over +the education of her children. + +The chief governesses, being under no fear of inspection from Maria +Theresa, aimed at making themselves beloved by their pupils by the common +and blamable practice of indulgence, so fatal to the future progress and +happiness of children. Marie Antoinette was the cause of her governess +being dismissed, through a confession that all her copies and all her +letters were invariably first traced out with pencil; the Comtesse de +Brandes was appointed to succeed her, and fulfilled her duties with great +exactness and talent. The Queen looked upon having been confided to her +care so late as a misfortune, and always continued upon terms of +friendship with that lady. The education of Marie Antoinette was +certainly very much neglected. With the exception of the Italian +language, all that related to belles lettres, and particularly to +history, even that of her own country, was almost entirely unknown to +her. This was soon found out at the Court of France, and thence arose +the generally received opinion that she was deficient in sense. It will +be seen in the course of these "Memoirs" whether that opinion was well or +ill founded. The public prints, however, teemed with assertions of the +superior talents of Maria Theresa's children. They often noticed the +answers which the young Princesses gave in Latin to the harangues +addressed to them; they uttered them, it is true, but without +understanding them; they knew not a single word of that language. + +Mention was one day made to the Queen of a drawing made by her, and +presented by the Empress to M. Gerard, chief clerk of Foreign Affairs, on +the occasion of his going to Vienna to draw up the articles for her +marriage-contract. "I should blush," said she, "if that proof of the +quackery of my education were shown to me. I do not believe that I ever +put a pencil to that drawing." However, what had been taught her she +knew perfectly well. Her facility of learning was inconceivable, and if +all her teachers had been as well informed and as faithful to their duty +as the Abbe Metastasio, who taught her Italian, she would have attained +as great a superiority in the other branches of her education. The Queen +spoke that language with grace and ease, and translated the most +difficult poets. She did not write French correctly, but she spoke it +with the greatest fluency, and even affected to say that she had lost +German. In fact she attempted in 1787 to learn her mother-tongue, and +took lessons assiduously for six weeks; she was obliged to relinquish +them, finding all the difficulties which a Frenchwoman, who should take +up the study too late, would have to encounter. In the same manner she +gave up English, which I had taught her for some time, and in which she +had made rapid progress. Music was the accomplishment in which the Queen +most delighted. She did not play well on any instrument, but she had +become able to read at sight like a first-rate professor. She attained +this degree of perfection in France, this branch of her education having +been neglected at Vienna as much as the rest. A few days after her +arrival at Versailles, she was introduced to her singing-master, La +Garde, author of the opera of "Egle." She made a distant appointment +with him, needing, as she said, rest after the fatigues of the journey +and the numerous fetes which had taken place at Versailles; but her +motive was her desire to conceal how ignorant she was of the rudiments of +music. She asked M. Campan whether his son, who was a good musician, +could give her lessons secretly for three months. "The Dauphiness," +added she, smiling, "must be careful of the reputation of the +Archduchess." The lessons were given privately, and at the end of three +months of constant application she sent for M. la Garde, and surprised +him by her skill. + +The desire to perfect Marie Antoinette in the study of the French +language was probably the motive which determined Maria Theresa to +provide for her as teachers two French actors: Aufresne, for +pronunciation and declamation, and Sainville, for taste in French +singing; the latter had been an officer in France, and bore a bad +character. The choice gave just umbrage to our Court. The Marquis de +Durfort, at that time ambassador at Vienna, was ordered to make a +representation to the Empress upon her selection. The two actors were +dismissed, and the Princess required that an ecclesiastic should be sent +to her. Several eminent ecclesiastics declined taking upon themselves so +delicate an office; others who were pointed out by Maria Theresa (among +the rest the Abbe Grisel) belonged to parties which sufficed to exclude +them. + +The Archbishop of Toulouse one day went to the Duc de Choiseul at the +moment when he was much embarrassed upon the subject of this nomination; +he proposed to him the Abby de Vermond, librarian of the College des +Quatre Nations. The eulogistic manner in which he spoke of his protege +procured the appointment for the latter on that very day; and the +gratitude of the Abbe de Vermond towards the prelate was very fatal to +France, inasmuch as after seventeen years of persevering attempts to +bring him into the ministry, he succeeded at last in getting him named +Comptroller-General and President of the Council.--[Comte de Brienne, +later Archbishop of Sens.] + +This Abbe de Vermond directed almost all the Queen's actions. He +established his influence over her at an age when impressions are most +durable; and it was easy to see that he had taken pains only to render +himself beloved by his pupil, and had troubled himself very little with +the care of instructing her. He might have even been accused of having, +by a sharp-sighted though culpable policy, purposely left her in +ignorance. Marie Antoinette spoke the French language with much grace, +but wrote it less perfectly. The Abbe de Vermond revised all the letters +which she sent to Vienna. The insupportable folly with which he boasted +of it displayed the character of a man more flattered at being admitted +into her intimate secrets than anxious to fulfil worthily the high office +of her preceptor. + + [The Abbe de Vermond encouraged the impatience of etiquette shown by + Marie Antoinette while she was Dauphiness. When she became Queen he + endeavoured openly to induce her to shake off the restraints she + still respected. If he chanced to enter her apartment at the time + she was preparing to go out, "For whom," he would say, in a tone of + raillery, "is this detachment of warriors which I found in the + court? Is it some general going to inspect his army? Does all this + military display become a young Queen adored by her subjects?" He + would call to her mind the simplicity with which Maria Theresa + lived; the visits she made without guards, or even attendants, to + the Prince d'Esterhazy, to the Comte de Palfi, passing whole days + far from the fatiguing ceremonies of the Court. The Abbe thus + artfully flattered the inclinations of Marie Antoinette, and showed + her how she might disguise, even from herself, her aversion for the + ceremonies observed by the descendants of Louis XIV.-MADAME CAMPAN.] + +His pride received its birth at Vienna, where Maria Theresa, as much to +give him authority with the Archduchess as to make herself acquainted +with his character, permitted him to mix every evening with the private +circle of her family, into which the future Dauphiness had been admitted +for some time. Joseph II., the elder Archduchess, and a few noblemen +honoured by the confidence of Maria Theresa, composed the party; and +reflections on the world, on courts, and the duties of princes were the +usual topics of conversation. The Abbe de Vermond, in relating these +particulars, confessed the means which he had made use of to gain +admission into this private circle. The Empress, meeting him at the +Archduchess's, asked him if he had formed any connections in Vienna. +"None, Madame," replied he; "the apartment of the Archduchess and the +hotel of the ambassador of France are the only places which the man +honoured with the care of the Princess's education should frequent." +A month afterwards Maria Theresa, through a habit common enough among +sovereigns, asked him the same question, and received precisely the same +answer. The next day he received an order to join the imperial family +every evening. + +It is extremely probable, from the constant and well-known intercourse +between this man and Comte de Mercy, ambassador of the Empire during the +whole reign of Louis XVI., that he was useful to the Court of Vienna, and +that he often caused the Queen to decide on measures, the consequences of +which she did not consider. Not of high birth, imbued with all the +principles of the modern philosophy, and yet holding to the hierarchy of +the Church more tenaciously than any other ecclesiastic; vain, talkative, +and at the same time cunning and abrupt; very ugly and affecting +singularity; treating the most exalted persons as his equals, sometimes +even as his inferiors, the Abbe de Vermond received ministers and bishops +when in his bath; but said at the same time that Cardinal Dubois was a +fool; that a man such as he, having obtained power, ought to make +cardinals, and refuse to be one himself. + +Intoxicated with the reception he had met with at the Court of Vienna, +and having till then seen nothing of high life, the Abbe de Vermond +admired no other customs than those of the imperial family; he ridiculed +the etiquette of the House of Bourbon incessantly; the young Dauphiness +was constantly incited by his sarcasms to get rid of it, and it was he +who first induced her to suppress an infinity of practices of which he +could discern neither the prudence nor the political aim. Such is the +faithful portrait of that man whom the evil star of Marie Antoinette had +reserved to guide her first steps upon a stage so conspicuous and so full +of danger as that of the Court of Versailles. + +It will be thought, perhaps, that I draw the character of the Abbe de +Vermond too unfavourably; but how can I view with any complacency one +who, after having arrogated to himself the office of confidant and sole +counsellor of the Queen, guided her with so little prudence, and gave us +the mortification of seeing that Princess blend, with qualities which +charmed all that surrounded her, errors alike injurious to her glory and +her happiness? + +While M. de Choiseul, satisfied with the person whom M. de Brienne had +presented, despatched him to Vienna with every eulogium calculated to +inspire unbounded confidence, the Marquis de Durfort sent off a +hairdresser and a few French fashions; and then it was thought sufficient +pains had been taken to form the character of a princess destined to +share the throne of France. + +The marriage of Monseigneur the Dauphin with the Archduchess was +determined upon during the administration of the Duc de Choiseul. +The Marquis de Durfort, who was to succeed the Baron de Breteuil in the +embassy to Vienna, was appointed proxy for the marriage ceremony; but six +months after the Dauphin's marriage the Duc de Choiseul was disgraced, +and Madame de Marsan and Madame de Guemenee, who grew more powerful +through the Duke's disgrace, conferred that embassy, upon Prince Louis +de Rohan, afterwards cardinal and grand almoner. + +Hence it will be seen that the Gazette de France is a sufficient answer +to those libellers who dared to assert that the young Archduchess was +acquainted with the Cardinal de Rohan before the period of her marriage. +A worse selection in itself, or one more disagreeable to Maria Theresa, +than that which sent to her, in quality, of ambassador, a man so +frivolous and so immoral as Prince Louis de Rohan, could not have been +made. He possessed but superficial knowledge upon any subject, and was +totally ignorant of diplomatic affairs. His reputation had gone before +him to Vienna, and his mission opened under the most unfavourable +auspices. In want of money, and the House of Rohan being unable to make +him any considerable advances, he obtained from his Court a patent which +authorised him to borrow the sum of 600,000 livres upon his benefices, +ran in debt above a million, and thought to dazzle the city and Court of +Vienna by the most indecent and ill-judged extravagance. He formed a +suite of eight or ten gentlemen, of names sufficiently high-sounding; +twelve pages equally well born, a crowd of officers and servants, a +company of chamber musicians, etc. But this idle pomp did not last; +embarrassment and distress soon showed themselves; his people, no longer +receiving pay, in order to make money, abused the privileges of +ambassadors, and smuggled + + [I have often heard the Queen say that, at Vienna, in the office of + the secretary of the Prince de Rohan, there were sold in one year + more silk stockings than at Lyons and Paris together.--MADAME + CAMPAN.] + +with so much effrontery that Maria Theresa, to put a stop to it without +offending the Court of France, was compelled to suppress the privileges +in this respect of all the diplomatic bodies, a step which rendered the +person and conduct of Prince Louis odious in every foreign Court. He +seldom obtained private audiences from the Empress, who did not esteem +him, and who expressed herself without reserve upon his conduct both as a +bishop and as an ambassador. He thought to obtain favour by assisting to +effect the marriage of the Archduchess Elizabeth, the elder sister of +Marie Antoinette, with Louis XV., an affair which was awkwardly +undertaken, and of which Madame du Barry had no difficulty in causing the +failure. I have deemed it my duty to omit no particular of the moral and +political character of a man whose existence was subsequently so +injurious to the reputation of Marie Antoinette. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +A superb pavilion had been prepared upon the frontier near Kehl. It +consisted of a vast salon, connected with two apartments, one of which +was assigned to the lords and ladies of the Court of Vienna, and the +other to the suite of the Dauphiness, composed of the Comtesse de +Noailles, her lady of honour; the Duchesse de Cosse, her dame d'atours; +four ladies of the palace; the Comte de Saulx-Tavannes, chevalier +d'honneur; the Comte de Tesse, first equerry; the Bishop of Chartres, +first almoner; the officers of the Body Guard, and the equerries. + +When the Dauphiness had been entirely undressed, in order that she might +retain nothing belonging to a foreign Court (an etiquette always observed +on such an occasion), the doors were opened; the young Princess came +forward, looking round for the Comtesse de Noailles; then, rushing into +her arms, she implored her, with tears in her eyes, and with heartfelt +sincerity, to be her guide and support. + +While doing justice to the virtues of the Comtesse de Noailles, those +sincerely attached to the Queen have always considered it as one of her +earliest misfortunes not to have found, in the person of her adviser, +a woman indulgent, enlightened, and administering good advice with that +amiability which disposes young persons to follow it. The Comtesse de +Noailles had nothing agreeable in her appearance; her demeanour was stiff +and her mien severe. She was perfect mistress of etiquette; but she +wearied the young Princess with it, without making her sensible of its +importance. It would have been sufficient to represent to the Dauphiness +that in France her dignity depended much upon customs not necessary at +Vienna to secure the respect and love of the good and submissive +Austrians for the imperial family; but the Dauphiness was perpetually +tormented by the remonstrances of the Comtesse de Noailles, and at the +same time was led by the Abbe de Vermond to ridicule both the lessons +upon etiquette and her who gave them. She preferred raillery to +argument, and nicknamed the Comtesse de Noailles Madame l'Etiquette. + +The fetes which were given at Versailles on the marriage of the Dauphin +were very splendid. The Dauphiness arrived there at the hour for her +toilet, having slept at La Muette, where Louis XV. had been to receive +her; and where that Prince, blinded by a feeling unworthy of a sovereign +and the father of a family, caused the young Princess, the royal family, +and the ladies of the Court, to sit down to supper with Madame du Barry. + +The Dauphiness was hurt at this conduct; she spoke of it openly enough to +those with whom she was intimate, but she knew how to conceal her +dissatisfaction in public, and her behaviour showed no signs of it. + +She was received at Versailles in an apartment on the ground floor, under +that of the late Queen, which was not ready for her until six months +after her marriage. + +The Dauphiness, then fifteen years of age, beaming with freshness, +appeared to all eyes more than beautiful. Her walk partook at once of +the dignity of the Princesses of her house, and of the grace of the +French; her eyes were mild, her smile amiable. When she went to chapel, +as soon as she had taken the first few steps in the long gallery, she +discerned, all the way to its extremity, those persons whom she ought to +salute with the consideration due to their rank; those on whom she should +bestow an inclination of the head; and lastly, those who were to be +satisfied with a smile, calculated to console them for not being entitled +to greater honours. + +Louis XV. was enchanted with the young Dauphiness; all his conversation +was about her graces, her vivacity, and the aptness of her repartees. +She was yet more successful with the royal family when they beheld her +shorn of the splendour of the diamonds with which she had been adorned +during the first days of her marriage. When clothed in a light dress of +gauze or taffety she was compared to the Venus dei Medici, and the +Atalanta of the Marly Gardens. Poets sang her charms; painters attempted +to copy her features. One artist's fancy led him to place the portrait +of Marie Antoinette in the heart of a full-blown rose. His ingenious +idea was rewarded by Louis XV. + +The King continued to talk only of the Dauphiness; and Madame du Barry +ill-naturedly endeavoured to damp his enthusiasm. Whenever Marie +Antoinette was the topic, she pointed out the irregularity of her +features, criticised the 'bons mots' quoted as hers, and rallied the King +upon his prepossession in her favour. Madame du Barry was affronted at +not receiving from the Dauphiness those attentions to which she thought +herself entitled; she did not conceal her vexation from the King; she was +afraid that the grace and cheerfulness of the young Princess would make +the domestic circle of the royal family more agreeable to the old +sovereign, and that he would escape her chains; at the same time, hatred +to the Choiseul party contributed powerfully to excite the enmity of the +favourite. + +The fall of that minister took place in November, 1770, six months after +his long influence in the Council had brought about the alliance with the +House of Austria and the arrival of Marie Antoinette at the Court of +France. The Princess, young, frank, volatile, and inexperienced, found +herself without any other guide than the Abbe de Vermond, in a Court +ruled by the enemy of the minister who had brought her there, and in the +midst of people who hated Austria, and detested any alliance with the +imperial house. + +The Duc d'Aiguillon, the Duc de La Vauguyon, the Marechal de Richelieu, +the Rohans, and other considerable families, who had made use of Madame +du Barry to overthrow the Duke, could not flatter themselves, +notwithstanding their powerful intrigues, with a hope of being able to +break off an alliance solemnly announced, and involving such high +political interests. They therefore changed their mode of attack, and it +will be seen how the conduct of the Dauphin served as a basis for their +hopes. + +The Dauphiness continually gave proofs of both sense and feeling. +Sometimes she even suffered herself to be carried away by those +transports of compassionate kindness which are not to be controlled by +the customs which rank establishes. + +In consequence of the fire in the Place Louis XV., which occurred at the +time of the nuptial entertainments, the Dauphin and Dauphiness sent +their, whole income for the year to the relief of the unfortunate +families who lost their relatives on that disastrous day. + +This was one of those ostentatious acts of generosity which are dictated +by the policy of princes, at least as much as by their compassion; but +the grief of Marie Antoinette was profound, and lasted several days; +nothing could console her for the loss of so many innocent victims; she +spoke of it, weeping, to her ladies, one of whom, thinking, no doubt, to +divert her mind, told her that a great number of thieves had been found +among the bodies, and that their pockets were filled with watches and +other valuables. "They have at least been well punished," added the +person who related these particulars. "Oh, no, no, madame!" replied the +Dauphiness; "they died by the side of honest people." + +The Dauphiness had brought from Vienna a considerable number of white +diamonds; the King added to them the gift of the diamonds and pearls of +the late Dauphiness, and also put into her hands a collar of pearls, of a +single row, the smallest of which was as large as a filbert, and which +had been brought into France by Anne of Austria, and appropriated by that +Princess to the use of the Queens and Dauphinesses of France. + +The three Princesses, daughters of Louis XV., joined in making her +magnificent presents. Madame Adelaide at the same time gave the young +Princess a key to the private corridors of the Chateau, by means of +which, without any suite, and without being perceived, she could get to +the apartments of her aunts, and see them in private. The Dauphiness, +on receiving the key, told them, with infinite grace, that if they had +meant to make her appreciate the superb presents they were kind enough to +bestow upon her, they should not at the same time have offered her one of +such inestimable value; since to that key she should be indebted for an +intimacy and advice unspeakably precious at her age. She did, indeed, +make use of it very frequently; but Madame Victoire alone permitted her, +so long as she continued Dauphiness, to visit her familiarly. Madame +Adelaide could not overcome her prejudices against Austrian princesses, +and was wearied with the somewhat petulant gaiety of the Dauphiness. +Madame Victoire was concerned at this, feeling that their society and +counsel would have been highly useful to a young person otherwise likely +to meet with none but sycophants. She endeavoured, therefore, to induce +her to take pleasure in the society of the Marquise de Durfort, her lady +of honour and favourite. Several agreeable entertainments took place at +the house of this lady, but the Comtesse de Noailles and the Abbe de +Vermond soon opposed these meetings. + +A circumstance which happened in hunting, near the village of Acheres, +in the forest of Fontainebleau, afforded the young Princess an +opportunity of displaying her respect for old age, and her compassion for +misfortune. An aged peasant was wounded by the stag; the Dauphiness +jumped out of her calash, placed the peasant, with his wife and children, +in it, had the family taken back to their cottage, and bestowed upon them +every attention and every necessary assistance. Her heart was always +open to the feelings of compassion, and the recollection of her rank +never restrained her sensibility. Several persons in her service entered +her room one evening, expecting to find nobody there but the officer in +waiting; they perceived the young Princess seated by the side of this +man, who was advanced in years; she had placed near him a bowl full of +water, was stanching the blood which issued from a wound he had received +in his hand with her handkerchief, which she had torn up to bind it, and +was fulfilling towards him all the duties of a pious sister of charity. +The old man, affected even to tears, out of respect allowed his august +mistress to act as she thought proper. He had hurt himself in +endeavouring to move a rather heavy piece of furniture at the Princess's +request. + +In the month of July, 1770, an unfortunate occurrence that took place in +a family which the Dauphiness honoured with her favour contributed again +to show not only her sensibility but also the benevolence of her +disposition. One of her women in waiting had a son who was an officer in +the gens d'armes of the guard; this young man thought himself affronted +by a clerk in the War Department, and imprudently sent him a challenge; +he killed his adversary in the forest of Compiegne. The family of the +young man who was killed, being in possession of the challenge, demanded +justice. The King, distressed on account of several duels which had +recently taken place, had unfortunately declared that he would show no +mercy on the first event of that kind which could be proved; the culprit +was therefore arrested. His mother, in the deepest grief, hastened to +throw herself at the feet of the Dauphiness, the Dauphin, and the young +Princesses. After an hour's supplication they obtained from the King the +favour so much desired. On the next day a lady of rank, while +congratulating the Dauphiness, had the malice to add that the mother had +neglected no means of success on the occasion, having solicited not only +the royal family, but even Madame du Barry. The Dauphiness replied that +the fact justified the favourable opinion she had formed of the worthy +woman; that the heart of a mother should hesitate at nothing for the +salvation of her son; and that in her place, if she had thought it would +be serviceable, she would have thrown herself at the feet of Zamor. + + [A little Indian who carried the Comtesse du Barry's train. Louis + XV. often amused himself with the little marmoset, and jestingly + made him Governor of Louveciennes; he received an annual income of + 3,000 francs.] + +Some time after the marriage entertainments the Dauphiness made her entry +into Paris, and was received with transports of joy. After dining in the +King's apartment at the Tuileries, she was forced, by the reiterated +shouts of the multitude, with whom the garden was filled, to present +herself upon the balcony fronting the principal walk. On seeing such a +crowd of heads with their eyes fixed upon her, she exclaimed, "Grand- +Dieu! what a concourse!"--"Madame," said the old Duc de Brissac, the +Governor of Paris, "I may tell you, without fear of offending the +Dauphin, that they are so many lovers." 2 The Dauphin took no umbrage at +either acclamations or marks of homage of which the Dauphiness was the +object. The most mortifying indifference, a coldness which frequently +degenerated into rudeness, were the sole feelings which the young Prince +then manifested towards her. Not all her charms could gain even upon his +senses. This estrangement, which lasted a long time, was said to be the +work of the Duc de La Vauguyon. + +The Dauphiness, in fact, had no sincere friends at Court except the Duc +de Choiseul and his party. Will it be credited that the plans laid +against Marie Antoinette went so far as divorce? I have been assured of +it by persons holding high situations at Court, and many circumstances +tend to confirm the opinion. On the journey to Fontainebleau, in the +year of the marriage, the inspectors of public buildings were gained over +to manage so that the apartment intended for the Dauphin, communicating +with that of the Dauphiness, should not be finished, and a room at the +extremity of the building was temporarily assigned to him. The +Dauphiness, aware that this was the result of intrigue, had the courage +to complain of it to Louis XV., who, after severe reprimands, gave orders +so positive that within the week the apartment was ready. Every method +was tried to continue or augment the indifference which the Dauphin long +manifested towards his youthful spouse. She was deeply hurt at it, but +she never suffered herself to utter the slightest complaint on the +subject. Inattention to, even contempt for, the charms which she heard +extolled on all sides, nothing induced her to break silence; and some +tears, which would involuntarily burst from her eyes, were the sole +symptoms of her inward sufferings discoverable by those in her service. + +Once only, when tired out with the misplaced remonstrances of an old lady +attached to her person, who wished to dissuade her from riding on +horseback, under the impression that it would prevent her producing heirs +to the crown, "Mademoiselle," said she, "in God's name, leave me in +peace; be assured that I can put no heir in danger." + +The Dauphiness found at the Court of Louis XV., besides the three +Princesses, the King's daughters, the Princes also, brothers of the +Dauphin, who were receiving their education, and Clotilde and Elisabeth, +still in the care of Madame de Marsan, governess of the children of +France. The elder of the two latter Princesses, in 1777, married the +Prince of Piedmont, afterwards King of Sardinia. This Princess was in +her infancy, so extremely large that the people nicknamed her 'gros +Madame.' + + [Madame Clotilde of France, a sister of the King, was + extraordinarily fat for her height and age. One of her playfellows, + having been indiscreet enough even in her presence to make use of + the nickname given to her, received a severe reprimand from the + Comtesse de Marsan, who hinted to her that she would do well in not + making her appearance again before the Princess. Madame Clotilde + sent for her the next day: "My governess," said she, "has done her + duty, and I will do mine; come and see me as usual, and think no + more of a piece of inadvertence, which I myself have forgotten." + This Princess, so heavy in body, possessed the most agreeable and + playful wit. Her affability and grace rendered her dear to all who + came near her.--NOTE BY THE EDITOR] + +The second Princess was the pious Elisabeth, the victim of her respect +and tender attachment for the King, her brother. She was still scarcely +out of her leading-strings at the period of the Dauphin's marriage. The +Dauphiness showed her marked preference. The governess, who sought to +advance the Princess to whom nature had been least favourable, was +offended at the Dauphiness's partiality for Madame Elisabeth, and by her +injudicious complaints weakened the friendship which yet subsisted +between Madame Clotilde and Marie Antoinette. There even arose some +degree of rivalry on the subject of education; and that which the Empress +Maria Theresa bestowed on her daughters was talked of openly and +unfavourably enough. The Abbe de Vermond thought himself affronted, +took a part in the quarrel, and added his complaints and jokes to those +of the Dauphiness on the criticisms of the governess; he even indulged +himself in his turn in reflections on the tuition of Madame Clotilde. +Everything becomes known at Court. Madame de Marsan was informed of all +that had been said in the Dauphiness's circle, and was very angry with +her on account of it. + +From that moment a centre of intrigue, or rather gossip, against Marie +Antoinette was established round Madame de Marsan's fireside; her most +trifling actions were there construed ill; her gaiety, and the harmless +amusements in which she sometimes indulged in her own apartments with the +more youthful ladies of her train, and even with the women in her +service, were stigmatised as criminal. Prince Louis de Rohan, sent +through the influence of this clique ambassador to Vienna, was the echo +there of these unmerited comments, and threw himself into a series of +culpable accusations which he proffered under the guise of zeal. He +ceaselessly represented the young Dauphiness as alienating all hearts by +levities unsuitable to the dignity of the French Court. The Princess +frequently received from the Court of Vienna remonstrances, of the origin +of which she could not long remain in ignorance. From this period must +be dated that aversion which she never ceased to manifest for the Prince +de Rohan. + +About the same time the Dauphiness received information of a letter +written by Prince Louis to the Duc d'Aiguillon, in which the ambassador +expressed himself in very free language respecting the intentions of +Maria Theresa with relation to the partition of Poland. This letter of +Prince Louis had been read at the Comtesse du Barry's; the levity of the +ambassador's correspondence wounded the feelings and the dignity of the +Dauphiness at Versailles, while at Vienna the representations which he +made to Maria Theresa against the young Princess terminated in rendering +the motives of his incessant complaints suspected by the Empress. + +Maria Theresa at length determined on sending her private secretary, +Baron de Neni, to Versailles, with directions to observe the conduct of +the Dauphiness with attention, and form a just estimate of the opinion of +the Court and of Paris with regard to that Princess. The Baron de Neni, +after having devoted sufficient time and intelligence to the subject, +undeceived his sovereign as to the exaggerations of the French +ambassador; and the Empress had no difficulty in detecting, among the +calumnies which he had conveyed to her under the specious excuse of +anxiety for her august daughter, proofs of the enmity of a, party which +had never approved of the alliance of the House of Bourbon with her own. + +At this period the Dauphiness, though unable to obtain any influence over +the heart of her husband, dreading Louis XV., and justly mistrusting +everything connected with Madame du Barry and the Duc d'Aiguillon, had +not deserved the slightest reproach for that sort of levity which hatred +and her misfortunes afterwards construed into crime. The Empress, +convinced of the innocence of Marie Antoinette, directed the Baron de +Neni to solicit the recall of the Prince de Rohan, and to inform the +Minister for Foreign Affairs of all the motives which made her require +it; but the House of Rohan interposed between its protege and the +Austrian envoy, and an evasive answer merely was given. + +It was not until two months after the death of Louis XV. that the Court +of Vienna obtained his recall. The avowed grounds for requiring it were, +first, the public gallantries of Prince Louis with some ladies of the +Court and others; secondly, his surliness and haughtiness towards other +foreign ministers, which would have had more serious consequences, +especially with the ministers of England and Denmark, if the Empress +herself had not interfered; thirdly, his contempt for religion in a +country where it was particularly necessary to show respect for it. +He had been seen frequently to dress himself in clothes of different +colours, assuming the hunting uniforms of various noblemen whom he +visited, with so much audacity that one day in particular, during the +Fete-Dieu, he and all his legation, in green uniforms laced with gold, +broke through a procession which impeded them, in order to make their way +to a hunting party at the Prince de Paar's; and fourthly, the immense +debts contracted by him and his people, which were tardily and only in +part discharged. + +The succeeding marriages of the Comte de Provence and the Comte d'Artois +with two daughters of the King of Sardinia procured society for the +Dauphiness more suitable to her age, and altered her mode of life. + +A pair of tolerably fine eyes drew forth, in favour of the Comtesse de +Provence, upon her arrival at Versailles, the only praises which could +reasonably be bestowed upon her. The Comtesse d'Artois, though not +deformed, was very small; she had a fine complexion; her face, tolerably +pleasing, was not remarkable for anything except the extreme length of +the nose. But being good and generous, she was beloved by those about +her, and even possessed some influence so long as she was the only +Princess who had produced heirs to the crown. + +From this time the closest intimacy subsisted between the three young +families. They took their meals together, except on those days when they +dined in public. This manner of living en famille continued until the +Queen sometimes indulged herself in going to dine with the Duchesse de +Polignac, when she was governess; but the evening meetings at supper were +never interrupted; they took place at the house of the Comtesse de +Provence. Madame Elisabeth made one of the party when she had finished +her education, and sometimes Mesdames, the King's aunts, were invited. +The custom, which had no precedent at Court, was the work of Marie +Antoinette, and she maintained it with the utmost perseverance. + +The Court of Versailles saw no change in point of etiquette during the +reign of Louis XV. Play took place at the house of the Dauphiness, as +being the first lady of the State. It had, from the death of Queen Maria +Leczinska to the marriage of the Dauphin, been held at the abode of +Madame Adelade. This removal, the result of an order of precedence not +to be violated, was not the less displeasing to Madame Adelaide, who +established a separate party for play in her apartments, and scarcely +ever went to that which not only the Court in general, but also the royal +family, were expected to attend. The full-dress visits to the King on +his 'debotter' were continued. High mass was attended daily. The +airings of the Princesses were nothing more than rapid races in berlins, +during which they were accompanied by Body Guards, equerries, and pages +on horseback. They galloped for some leagues from Versailles. Calashes +were used only in hunting. + +The young Princesses were desirous to infuse animation into their circle +of associates by something useful as well as pleasant. They adopted the +plan of learning and performing all the best plays of the French theatre. +The Dauphin was the only spectator. The three Princesses, the two +brothers of the King, and Messieurs Campan, father and son, were the sole +performers, but they endeavoured to keep this amusement as secret as an +affair of State; they dreaded the censure of Mesdames, and they had no +doubt that Louis XV. would forbid such pastimes if he knew of them. They +selected for their performance a cabinet in the entresol which nobody had +occasion to enter. + +A kind of proscenium, which could be taken down and shut up in a closet, +formed the whole theatre. The Comte de Provence always knew his part +with imperturbable accuracy; the Comte d'Artois knew his tolerably well, +and recited elegantly; the Princesses acted badly. The Dauphiness +acquitted herself in some characters with discrimination and feeling. +The chief pleasure of this amusement consisted in all the costumes being +elegant and accurate. The Dauphin entered into the spirit of these +diversions, and laughed heartily at the comic characters as they came on +the scene; from these amusements may be dated his discontinuance of the +timid manner of his youth, and his taking pleasure in the society of the +Dauphiness. + +It was not till a long time afterwards that I learnt these particulars, +M. Campan having kept the secret; but an unforeseen event had well-nigh +exposed the whole mystery. One day the Queen desired M. Campan to go +down into her closet to fetch something that she had forgotten; he was +dressed for the character of Crispin, and was rouged. A private +staircase led direct to the entresol through the dressing-room. M. +Campan fancied he heard some noise, and remained still, behind the door, +which was shut. A servant belonging to the wardrobe, who was, in fact, +on the staircase, had also heard some noise, and, either from fear or +curiosity, he suddenly opened the door; the figure of Crispin frightened +him so that he fell down backwards, shouting with his might, "Help! +help!" My father-in-law raised him up, made him recognise his voice, +and laid upon him an injunction of silence as to what he had seen. +He felt himself, however, bound to inform the Dauphiness of what had +happened, and she was afraid that a similar occurrence might betray their +amusements. They were therefore discontinued. + +The Princess occupied her time in her own apartment in the study of music +and the parts in plays which she had to learn; the latter exercise, at +least, produced the beneficial effect of strengthening her memory and +familiarising her with the French language. + +While Louis XV. reigned, the enemies of Marie Antoinette made no attempt +to change public opinion with regard to her. She was always popular with +the French people in general, and particularly with the inhabitants of +Paris, who went on every opportunity to Versailles, the majority of them +attracted solely by the pleasure of seeing her. The courtiers did not +fully enter into the popular enthusiasm which the Dauphiness had +inspired; the disgrace of the Duc de Choiseul had removed her real +support from her; and the party which had the ascendency at Court since +the exile of that minister was, politically, as much opposed to her +family as to herself. The Dauphiness was therefore surrounded by enemies +at Versailles. + +Nevertheless everybody appeared outwardly desirous to please her; for the +age of Louis XV., and the apathetic character of the Dauphin, +sufficiently warned courtiers of the important part reserved for the +Princess during the following reign, in case the Dauphin should become +attached to her. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +About the beginning of May, 1774, Louis XV., the strength of whose +constitution had promised a long enough life, was attacked by confluent +smallpox of the worst kind. Mesdames at this juncture inspired the +Dauphiness with a feeling of respect and attachment, of which she gave +them repeated proofs when she ascended the throne. In fact, nothing was +more admirable nor more affecting than the courage with which they braved +that most horrible disease. The air of the palace was infected; more +than fifty persons took the smallpox, in consequence of having merely +loitered in the galleries of Versailles, and ten died of it. + +The end of the monarch was approaching. His reign, peaceful in general, +had inherited strength from the power of his predecessor; on the other +hand, his own weakness had been preparing misfortune for whoever should +reign after him. The scene was about to change; hope, ambition, joy, +grief, and all those feelings which variously affected the hearts of the +courtiers, sought in vain to disguise themselves under a calm exterior. +It was easy to detect the different motives which induced them every +moment to repeat to every one the question: "How is the King?" At +length, on the 10th of May, 1774, the mortal career of Louis XV. +terminated. + + [Christopher de Beaumont, Archbishop of Paris, the ardent apostle of + frequent communion, arrived at Paris with the intention of + soliciting, in public, the administration of the sacrament to the + King, and secretly retarding it as much as possible. The ceremony + could not take place without the previous and public expulsion of + the, concubine, according to the canons of the Church and the + Jesuitical party, of which Christopher was the leader. This party, + which had made use of Madame du Barry to suppress the Parliaments, + to support the Duc d'Aiguillon, and ruin the Choiseul faction, could + not willingly consent to disgrace her canonically. The Archbishop + went into the King's bedchamber, and found there Madame Adelaide, + the Duc d'Aumont, the Bishop of Senlis, and Richelieu, in whose + presence he resolved not to say one word about confession for that + day. This reticence so encouraged Louis XV. that, on the Archbishop + withdrawing, he had Madame du Barry called in, and kissed her + beautiful hands again with his wonted affection. On the 2d of May + the King found himself a little better. Madame du Barry had brought + him two confidential physicians, Lorry and Borden, who were enjoined + to conceal the nature of his sickness from him in order to keep off + the priests and save her from a humiliating dismissal. The King's + improvement allowed Madame du Barry to divert him by her usual + playfulness and conversation. But La Martiniere, who was of the + Choiseul party, and to whom they durst not refuse his right of + entry, did not conceal from the King either the nature or the danger + of his sickness. The King then sent for Madame du Barry, and said + to her: "My love, I have got the smallpox, and my illness is very + dangerous on account of my age and other disorders. I ought not to + forget that I am the most Christian King, and the eldest son of the + Church. I am sixty-four; the time is perhaps approaching when we + must separate. I wish to prevent a scene like that of Metz." + (when, in 1744, he had dismissed the Duchesse de Chateauroux.) + "Apprise the Duc d'Aiguillon of what I say, that he may arrange with + you if my sickness grows worse; so that we may part without any + publicity." The Jansenists and the Duc de Choiseurs party publicly + said that M. d'Aiguillon and the Archbishop had resolved to let the + King die without receiving the sacrament rather than disturb Madame + du Barry. Annoyed by their remarks, Beaumont determined to go and + reside at the Lazaristes, his house at Versailles, to avail himself + of the King's last moments, and sacrifice Madame du Barry when the + monarch's condition should become desperate. He arrived on the 3d + of May, but did not see the King. Under existing circumstances, his + object was to humble the enemies of his party and to support the + favourite who had assisted to overcome them. + + A contrary zeal animated the Bishop of Carcassonne, who urged that + "the King ought to receive the sacrament; and by expelling the + concubine to give an example of repentance to France and Christian + Europe, which he had scandalised."--" By what right," said Cardinal + de la Roche-Aymon, a complaisant courtier with whom the Bishop was + at daggers drawn, "do you instruct me?"--"There is my authority," + replied the Bishop, holding up his pectoral cross. "Learn, + monseigneur, to respect it, and do not suffer your King to die + without the sacraments of the Church, of which he is the eldest + son." The Duc d'Aiguillon and the Archbishop, who witnessed the + discussion, put an end to it by asking for the King's orders + relative to Madame du Barry. "She must be taken quietly to your + seat at Ruelle," said the King; "I shall be grateful for the care + Madame d'Aiguillon may take of her." + + Madame du Barry saw the King again for a moment on the evening of + the 4th, and promised to return to Court upon his recovery. She was + scarcely gone when the King asked for her. "She is gone," was the + answer. From that moment the disorder gained ground; he thought + himself a dead man, without the possibility of recovery. The 5th + and 6th passed without a word of confession, viaticum, or extreme + unction. The Duc de Fronsac threatened to throw the Cure of + Versailles out of the window if he dared to mention them, but on the + 7th, at three in the morning, the King imperatively called for the + Abbe Maudous. Confession lasted seventeen minutes. The Ducs de la + Vrillilere and d'Aiguillon wished to delay the viaticum; but La + Martiniere said to the King: "Sire, I have seen your Majesty in very + trying circumstances; but never admired you as I have done to-day. + No doubt your Majesty will immediately finish what you have so well + begun." The King had his confessor Maudoua called back; this was a + poor priest who had been placed about him for some years before + because he was old and blind. He gave him absolution. + + The formal renunciation desired by the Choiseul party, in order to + humble and annihilate Madame du Barry with solemnity, was no more + mentioned. The grand almoner, in concert with the Archbishop, + composed this formula, pronounced in presence of the viaticum: + "Although the King owes an account of his conduct to none but God, + he declares his repentance at having scandalised his subjects, and + is desirous to live solely for the maintenance of religion and the + happiness of his people." + + On the 8th and 9th the disorder grew worse; and the King beheld the + whole surface of his body coming off piecemeal and corrupted. + Deserted by his friends and by that crowd of courtiers which had so + long cringed before him, his only consolation was the piety of his + daughters.--SOULAVIE, "Historical and Political Memoirs," vol. i.] + +The Comtesse du Barry had, a few days previously, withdrawn to Ruelle, to +the Duc d'Aiguillon's. Twelve or fifteen persons belonging to the Court +thought it their duty to visit her there; their liveries were observed, +and these visits were for a long time grounds for disfavour. More than +six years after the King's death one of these persons being spoken of in +the circle of the royal family, I heard it remarked, "That was one of the +fifteen Ruelle carriages." + +The whole Court went to the Chateau; the oiel-de boeuf was filled with +courtiers, and the palace with the inquisitive. The Dauphin had settled +that he would depart with the royal family the moment the King should +breathe his last sigh. But on such an occasion decency forbade that +positive orders for departure should be passed from mouth to mouth. The +heads of the stables, therefore, agreed with the people who were in the +King's room, that the latter should place a lighted taper near a window, +and that at the instant of the King's decease one of them should +extinguish it. + +The taper was extinguished. On this signal the Body Guards, pages, and +equerries mounted on horseback, and all was ready for setting off. The +Dauphin was with the Dauphiness. They were expecting together the +intelligence of the death of Louis XV. A dreadful noise, absolutely like +thunder, was heard in the outer apartment; it was the crowd of courtiers +who were deserting the dead sovereign's antechamber, to come and do +homage to the new power of Louis XVI. This extraordinary tumult informed +Marie Antoinette and her husband that they were called to the throne; +and, by a spontaneous movement, which deeply affected those around them, +they threw themselves on their knees; both, pouring forth a flood of +tears, exclaimed: "O God! guide us, protect us; we are too young to +reign." + +The Comtesse de Noailles entered, and was the first to salute Marie +Antoinette as Queen of France. She requested their Majesties to +condescend to quit the inner apartments for the grand salon, to receive +the Princes and all the great officers, who were desirous to do homage to +their new sovereigns. Marie Antoinette received these first visits +leaning upon her husband, with her handkerchief held to her eyes; the +carriages drove up, the guards and equerries were on horseback. The +Chateau was deserted; every one hastened to fly from contagion, which +there was no longer any inducement to brave. + +On leaving the chamber of Louis XV., the Duc de Villequier, first +gentleman of the bedchamber for the year, ordered M. Andouille, the +King's chief surgeon, to open the body and embalm it. The chief surgeon +would inevitably have died in consequence. "I am ready," replied +Andouille; "but while I operate you shall hold the head; your office +imposes this duty upon you." The Duke went off without saying a word, +and the corpse was neither opened nor embalmed. A few under-servants and +workmen continued with the pestiferous remains, and paid the last duty to +their master; the surgeons directed that spirits of wine should be poured +into the coffin. + +The entire Court set off for Choisy at four o'clock; Mesdames the King's +aunts in their private carriage, and the Princesses under tuition with +the Comtesse de Marsan and the under-governesses. The King, the Queen, +Monsieur, the King's brother, Madame, and the Comte and Comtesse d'Artois +went in the same carriage. The solemn scene that had just passed before +their eyes, the multiplied ideas offered to their imaginations by that +which was just opening, had naturally inclined them to grief and +reflection; but, by the Queen's own confession, this inclination, little +suited to their age, wholly left them before they had gone half their +journey; a word, drolly mangled by the Comtesse d'Artois, occasioned a +general burst of laughter; and from that moment they dried their tears. + +The communication between Choisy and Paris was incessant; never was a +Court seen in greater agitation. What influence will the royal aunts +have,--and the Queen? What fate is reserved for the Comtesse du Barry? +Whom will the young King choose for his ministers? All these questions +were answered in a few days. It was determined that the King's youth +required a confidential person near him; and that there should be a prime +minister. All eyes were turned upon De Machault and De Maurepas, both of +them much advanced in years. The first had retired to his estate near +Paris; and the second to Pont Chartrain, to which place he had long been +exiled. The letter recalling M. de Machault was written, when Madame +Adelaide obtained the preference of that important appointment for M. de +Maurepas. The page to whose care the first letter had been actually +consigned was recalled. + +The Duc d'Aiguillon had been too openly known as the private friend of +the King's mistress; he was dismissed. M. de Vergennes, at that time +ambassador of France at Stockholm, was appointed Minister for Foreign +Affairs; Comte du Muy, the intimate friend of the Dauphin, the father of +Louis XVI.[?? D.W.], obtained the War Department. The Abbe Terray in +vain said, and wrote, that he had boldly done all possible injury to the +creditors of the State during the reign of the late King; that order was +restored in the finances; that nothing but what was beneficial to all +parties remained to be done; and that the new Court was about to enjoy +the advantages of the regenerating part of his plan of finance; all these +reasons, set forth in five or six memorials, which he sent in succession +to the King and Queen, did not avail to keep him in office. His talents +were admitted, but the odium which his operations had necessarily brought +upon his character, combined with the immorality of his private life, +forbade his further stay at Court; he was succeeded by M. de Clugny. De +Maupeou, the chancellor, was exiled; this caused universal joy. Lastly, +the reassembling of the Parliaments produced the strongest sensation; +Paris was in a delirium of joy, and not more than one person in a hundred +foresaw that the spirit of the ancient magistracy would be still the +same; and that in a short time it would make new attempts upon the royal +authority. Madame du Barry had been exiled to Pont-aux-Dames. This was +a measure rather of necessity than of severity; a short period of +compulsory retreat was requisite in order completely to break off her +connections with State affairs. The possession of Louveciennes and a +considerable pension were continued to her. + + [The Comtesse du Barry never forgot the mild treatment she + experienced from the Court of Louis XVI.; during the most violent + convulsions of the Revolution she signified to the Queen that there + was no one in France more grieved at the sufferings of her sovereign + than herself; that the honour she had for years enjoyed, of living + near the throne, and the unbounded kindness of the King and Queen, + had so sincerely attached her to the cause of royalty that she + entreated the Queen to honour her by disposing of all she possessed. + Though they did not accept her offer, their Majesties were affected + at her gratitude. The Comtesse du Barry was, as is well known, one + of the victims of the Revolution. She betrayed at the last great + weakness, and the most ardent desire to live. She was the only + woman who wept upon the scaffold and implored for mercy. Her beauty + and tears made an impression on the populace, and the execution was + hurried to a conclusion.--MADAME CAMPAN.] + +Everybody expected the recall of M. de Choiseul; the regret occasioned +by his absence among the numerous friends whom he had left at Court, +the attachment of the young Princess who was indebted to him for her +elevation to the throne of France, and all concurring circumstances, +seemed to foretell his return; the Queen earnestly entreated it of the +King, but she met with an insurmountable and unforeseen obstacle. The +King, it is said, had imbibed the strongest prejudices against that +minister, from secret memoranda penned by his father, and which had been +committed to the care of the Duc de La Vauguyon, with an injunction to +place them in his hands as soon as he should be old enough to study the +art of reigning. It was by these memoranda that the esteem which he had +conceived for the Marechal du Muy was inspired, and we may add that +Madame Adelaide, who at this early period powerfully influenced the +decisions of the young monarch, confirmed the impressions they had made. + +The Queen conversed with M. Campan on the regret she felt at having been +unable to procure the recall of M. de Choiseul, and disclosed the cause +of it to him. The Abbe de Vermond, who, down to the time of the death of +Louis XV., had been on terms of the strictest friendship with M. Campan, +called upon him on the second day after the arrival of the Court at +Choisy, and, assuming a serious air, said, "Monsieur, the Queen was +indiscreet enough yesterday to speak to you of a minister to whom she +must of course be attached, and whom his friends ardently desire to have +near her; you are aware that we must give up all expectation of seeing +the Duke at Court; you know the reasons why; but you do not know that the +young Queen, having mentioned the conversation in question to me, it was +my duty, both as her preceptor and her friend, to remonstrate severely +with her on her indiscretion in communicating to you those particulars of +which you are in possession. I am now come to tell you that if you +continue to avail yourself of the good nature of your mistress to +initiate yourself in secrets of State, you will have me for your most +inveterate enemy. The Queen should find here no other confidant than +myself respecting things that ought to remain secret." M. Campan +answered that he did not covet the important and dangerous character at +the new Court which the Abbe wished to appropriate; and that he should +confine himself to the duties of his office, being sufficiently satisfied +with the continued kindness with which the Queen honoured him. +Notwithstanding this, however, he informed the Queen, on the very same +evening, of the injunction he had received. She owned that she had +mentioned their conversation to the Abbe; that he had indeed seriously +scolded her, in order to make her feel the necessity of being secret in +concerns of State; and she added, "The Abbe cannot like you, my dear +Campan; he did not expect that I should, on my arrival in France, find in +my household a man who would suit me so exactly as you have done. I know +that he has taken umbrage at it; that is enough. I know, too, that you +are incapable of attempting anything to injure him in my esteem; an +attempt which would besides be vain, for I have been too long attached to +him. As to yourself, be easy on the score of the Abbe's hostility, which +shall not in any way hurt you." + +The Abbe de Vermond having made himself master of the office of sole +confidant to the Queen, was nevertheless agitated whenever he saw the +young King; he could not be ignorant that the Abbe had been promoted by +the Duc de Choiseul, and was believed to favour the Encyclopedists, +against whom Louis XVI. entertained a secret prejudice, although he +suffered them to gain so great an ascendency during his reign. The Abbe +had, moreover, observed that the King had never, while Dauphin, addressed +a single word to him; and that he very frequently only answered him with +a shrug of the shoulders. He therefore determined on writing to Louis +XVI., and intimating that he owed his situation at Court solely to the +confidence with which the late King had honoured him; and that as habits +contracted during the Queen's education placed him continually in the +closest intimacy with her, he could not enjoy the honour of remaining +near her Majesty without the King's consent. Louis XVI. sent back his +letter, after writing upon it these words: "I approve the Abbe de Vermond +continuing in his office about the Queen." + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +At the period of his grandfather's death, Louis XVI. began to be +exceedingly attached to the Queen. The first period of so deep a +mourning not admitting of indulgence in the diversion of hunting, he +proposed to her walks in the gardens of Choisy; they went out like +husband and wife, the young King giving his arm to the Queen, and +accompanied by a very small suite. The influence of this example had +such an effect upon the courtiers that the next day several couples, who +had long, and for good reasons, been disunited, were seen walking upon +the terrace with the same apparent conjugal intimacy. Thus they spent +whole hours, braving the intolerable wearisomeness of their protracted +tete-a-tetes, out of mere obsequious imitation. + +The devotion of Mesdames to the King their father throughout his dreadful +malady had produced that effect upon their health which was generally +apprehended. On the fourth day after their arrival at Choisy they were +attacked by pains in the head and chest, which left no doubt as to the +danger of their situation. It became necessary instantly to send away +the young royal family; and the Chateau de la Muette, in the Bois de +Boulogne, was selected for their reception. Their arrival at that +residence, which was very near Paris, drew so great a concourse of people +into its neighbourhood, that even at daybreak the crowd had begun to +assemble round the gates. Shouts of "Vive le Roi!" were scarcely +interrupted for a moment between six o'clock in the morning and sunset. +The unpopularity the late King, had drawn upon himself during his latter +years, and the hopes to which a new reign gives birth, occasioned these +transports of joy. + +A fashionable jeweller made a fortune by the sale of mourning snuff- +boxes, whereon the portrait of the young Queen, in a black frame of +shagreen, gave rise to the pun: "Consolation in chagrin." All the +fashions, and every article of dress, received names expressing the +spirit of the moment. Symbols of abundance were everywhere represented, +and the head-dresses of the ladies were surrounded by ears of wheat. +Poets sang of the new monarch; all hearts, or rather all heads, in France +were filled with enthusiasm. Never did the commencement of any reign +excite more unanimous testimonials of love and attachment. It must be +observed, however, that, amidst all this intoxication, the anti-Austrian +party never lost sight of the young Queen, but kept on the watch, with +the malicious desire to injure her through such errors as might arise +from her youth and inexperience. + +Their Majesties had to receive at La Muette the condolences of the ladies +who had been presented at Court, who all felt themselves called on to pay +homage to the new sovereigns. Old and young hastened to present +themselves on the day of general reception; little black bonnets with +great wings, shaking heads, low curtsies, keeping time with the motions +of the head, made, it must be admitted, a few venerable dowagers appear +somewhat ridiculous; but the Queen, who possessed a great deal of +dignity, and a high respect for decorum, was not guilty of the grave +fault of losing the state she was bound to preserve. An indiscreet piece +of drollery of one of the ladies of the palace, however, procured her the +imputation of doing so. The Marquise de Clermont-Tonnerre, whose office +required that she should continue standing behind the Queen, fatigued by +the length of the ceremony, seated herself on the floor, concealed behind +the fence formed by the hoops of the Queen and the ladies of the palace. +Thus seated, and wishing to attract attention and to appear lively, she +twitched the dresses of those ladies, and played a thousand other tricks. +The contrast of these childish pranks with the solemnity which reigned +over the rest of the Queen's chamber disconcerted her Majesty: she +several times placed her fan before her face to hide an involuntary +smile, and the severe old ladies pronounced that the young Queen had +decided all those respectable persons who were pressing forward to pay +their homage to her; that she liked none but the young; that she was +deficient in decorum; and that not one of them would attend her Court +again. The epithet 'moqueuse' was applied to her; and there is no +epithet less favourably received in the world. + +The next day a very ill-natured song was circulated; the stamp of the +party to which it was attributable might easily be seen upon it. I +remember only the following chorus: + + "Little Queen, you must not be + So saucy, with your twenty years; + Your ill-used courtiers soon will see + You pass, once more, the barriers. + Fal lal lal, fal lal la." + +The errors of the great, or those which ill-nature chooses to impute to +them, circulate in the world with the greatest rapidity, and become +historical traditions, which every one delights to repeat. + +More than fifteen years after this occurrence I heard some old ladies in +the most retired part of Auvergne relating all the particulars of the day +of public condolence for the late King, on which, as they said, the Queen +had laughed in the faces of the sexagenarian duchesses and princesses who +had thought it their duty to appear on the occasion. + +The King and the Princes, his brothers, determined to avail themselves of +the advantages held out by inoculation, as a safeguard against the +illness under which their grandfather had just fallen; but the utility of +this new discovery not being then generally acknowledged in France, many +persons were greatly alarmed at the step; those who blamed it openly +threw all the responsibility of it upon the Queen, who alone, they said, +could have ventured to give such rash advice, inoculation being at this +time established in the Northern Courts. The operation upon the King and +his brothers, performed by Doctor Jauberthou, was fortunately quite +successful. + +When the convalescence of the Princes was perfectly established, the +excursions to Marly became cheerful enough. Parties on horseback and in +calashes were formed continually. The Queen was desirous to afford +herself one very innocent gratification; she had never seen the day +break; and having now no other consent than that of the King to seek, +she intimated her wish to him. He agreed that she should go, at three +o'clock in the morning, to the eminences of the gardens of Marly; and, +unfortunately, little disposed to partake in her amusements, he himself +went to bed. Foreseeing some inconveniences possible in this nocturnal +party, the Queen determined on having a number of people with her; and +even ordered her waiting women to accompany her. All precautions were +ineffectual to prevent the effects of calumny, which thenceforward sought +to diminish the general attachment that she had inspired. A few days +afterwards, the most wicked libel that appeared during the earlier years +of her reign was circulated in Paris. The blackest colours were employed +to paint an enjoyment so harmless that there is scarcely a young woman +living in the country who has not endeavoured to procure it for herself. +The verses which appeared on this occasion were entitled "Sunrise." + +The Duc d'Orleans, then Duc de Chartres, was among those who accompanied +the young Queen in her nocturnal ramble: he appeared very attentive to +her at this epoch; but it was the only moment of his life in which there +was any advance towards intimacy between the Queen and himself. The King +disliked the character of the Duc de Chartres, and the Queen always +excluded him from her private society. It is therefore without the +slightest foundation that some writers have attributed to feelings of +jealousy or wounded self-love the hatred which he displayed towards the +Queen during the latter years of their existence. + +It was on this first journey to Marly that Boehmer, the jeweller, +appeared at Court,--a man whose stupidity and avarice afterwards fatally +affected the happiness and reputation of Marie Antoinette. This person +had, at great expense, collected six pear-formed diamonds of a prodigious +size; they were perfectly matched and of the finest water. The earrings +which they composed had, before the death of Louis XV., been destined for +the Comtesse du Barry. + +Boehmer; by the recommendation of several persons about the Court, came +to offer these jewels to the Queen. He asked four hundred thousand +francs for them. The young Princess could not withstand her wish to +purchase them; and the King having just raised the Queen's income, which, +under the former reign, had been but two hundred thousand livres, to one +hundred thousand crowns a year, she wished to make the purchase out of +her own purse, and not burthen the royal treasury with the payment. She +proposed to Boehmer to take off the two buttons which formed the tops of +the clusters, as they could be replaced by two of her own diamonds. He +consented, and then reduced the price of the earrings to three hundred +and sixty thousand francs; the payment for which was to be made by +instalments, and was discharged in the course of four or five years by +the Queen's first femme de chambre, deputed to manage the funds of her +privy purse. I have omitted no details as to the manner in which the +Queen first became possessed of these jewels, deeming them very needful +to place in its true light the too famous circumstance of the necklace, +which happened near the end of her reign. + +It was also on this first journey to Marly that the Duchesse de Chartres, +afterwards Duchesse d'Orleans, introduced into the Queen's household +Mademoiselle Bertin, a milliner who became celebrated at that time for +the total change she effected in the dress of the French ladies. + +It may be said that the mere admission of a milliner into the house of +the Queen was followed by evil consequences to her Majesty. The skill of +the milliner, who was received into the household, in spite of the custom +which kept persons of her description out of it, afforded her the +opportunity of introducing some new fashion every day. Up to this time +the Queen had shown very plain taste in dress; she now began to make it a +principal occupation; and she was of course imitated by other women. + +All wished instantly to have the same dress as the Queen, and to wear the +feathers and flowers to which her beauty, then in its brilliancy, +lent an indescribable charm. The expenditure of the younger ladies was +necessarily much increased; mothers and husbands murmured at it; some few +giddy women contracted debts; unpleasant domestic scenes occurred; +in many families coldness or quarrels arose; and the general report +was,--that the Queen would be the ruin of all the French ladies. + +Fashion continued its fluctuating progress; and head-dresses, with their +superstructures of gauze, flowers, and feathers, became so lofty that the +women could not find carriages high enough to admit them; and they were +often seen either stooping, or holding their heads out of the windows. +Others knelt down in order to manage these elevated objects of ridicule +with less danger. + + [If the use of these extravagant feathers and head-dresses had + continued, say the memoirs of that period very seriously, it would + have effected a revolution in architecture. It would have been + found necessary to raise the doors and ceilings of the boxes at the + theatre, and particularly the bodies of carriages. It was not + without mortification that the King observed the Queen's adoption of + this style of dress: she was never so lovely in his eyes as when + unadorned by art. One day Carlin, performing at Court as harlequin, + stuck in his hat, instead of the rabbit's tail, its prescribed + ornament, a peacock's feather of excessive length. This new + appendage, which repeatedly got entangled among the scenery, gave + him an opportunity for a great deal of buffoonery. There was some + inclination to punish him; but it was presumed that he had not + assumed the feather without authority.-NOTE BY THE EDITOR.] + +Innumerable caricatures, exhibited in all directions, and some of which +artfully gave the features of the Queen, attacked the extravagance of +fashion, but with very little effect. It changed only, as is always the +case, through the influence of inconstancy and time. + +The Queen's toilet was a masterpiece of etiquette; everything was done in +a prescribed form. Both the dame d'honneur and the dame d'atours usually +attended and officiated, assisted by the first femme de chambre and two +ordinary women. The dame d'atours put on the petticoat, and handed the +gown to the Queen. The dame d'honneur poured out the water for her hands +and put on her linen. When a princess of the royal family happened to be +present while the Queen was dressing, the dame d'honneur yielded to her +the latter act of office, but still did not yield it directly to the +Princesses of the blood; in such a case the dame d'honneur was accustomed +to present the linen to the first femme de chambre, who, in her turn, +handed it to the Princess of the blood. Each of these ladies observed +these rules scrupulously as affecting her rights. One winter's day it +happened that the Queen, who was entirely undressed, was just going to +put on her shift; I held it ready unfolded for her; the dame d'honneur +came in, slipped off her gloves, and took it. A scratching was heard at +the door; it was opened, and in came the Duchesse d'Orleans: her gloves +were taken off, and she came forward to take the garment; but as it would +have been wrong in the dame d'honneur to hand it to her she gave it to +me, and I handed it to the Princess. More scratching it was Madame la +Comtesse de Provence; the Duchesse d'Orleans handed her the linen. All +this while the Queen kept her arms crossed upon her bosom, and appeared +to feel cold; Madame observed her uncomfortable situation, and, merely +laying down her handkerchief without taking off her gloves, she put on +the linen, and in doing so knocked the Queen's cap off. The Queen +laughed to conceal her impatience, but not until she had muttered several +times, "How disagreeable! how tiresome!" + +All this etiquette, however inconvenient, was suitable to the royal +dignity, which expects to find servants in all classes of persons, +beginning even with the brothers and sisters of the monarch. + +Speaking here of etiquette, I do not allude to majestic state, appointed +for days of ceremony in all Courts. I mean those minute ceremonies that +were pursued towards our Kings in their inmost privacies, in their hours +of pleasure, in those of pain, and even during the most revolting of +human infirmities. + +These servile rules were drawn up into a kind of code; they offered to a +Richelieu, a La Rochefoucauld and a Duras, in the exercise of their +domestic functions, opportunities of intimacy useful to their interests; +and their vanity was flattered by customs which converted the right to +give a glass of water, to put on a dress, and to remove a basin, into +honourable prerogatives. + +Princes thus accustomed to be treated as divinities naturally ended by +believing that they were of a distinct nature, of a purer essence than +the rest of mankind. + +This sort of etiquette, which led our Princes to be treated in private as +idols, made them in public martyrs to decorum. Marie Antoinette found in +the Chateau of Versailles a multitude of established customs which +appeared to her insupportable. + +The ladies-in-waiting, who were all obliged to be sworn, and to wear full +Court dresses, were alone entitled to remain in the room, and to attend +in conjunction with the dame d'honneur and the tirewoman. The Queen +abolished all this formality. When her head was dressed, she curtsied to +all the ladies who were in her chamber, and, followed only by her own +women, went into her closet, where Mademoiselle Bertin, who could not be +admitted into the chamber, used to await her. It was in this inner +closet that she produced her new and numerous dresses. The Queen was +also desirous of being served by the most fashionable hairdresser in +Paris. Now the custom which forbade all persons in inferior offices, +employed by royalty, to exert their talents for the public, was no doubt +intended to cut off all communication between the privacy of princes and +society at large; the latter being always extremely curious respecting +the most trifling particulars relative to the private life of the former. +The Queen, fearing that the taste of the hairdresser would suffer if he +should discontinue the general practice of his art, ordered him to attend +as usual certain ladies of the Court and of Paris; and this multiplied +the opportunities of learning details respecting the household, and very +often of misrepresenting them. + +One of the customs most disagreeable to the Queen was that of dining +every day in public. Maria Leczinska had always submitted to this +wearisome practice; Marie Antoinette followed it as long as she was +Dauphiness. The Dauphin dined with her, and each branch of the family +had its public dinner daily. The ushers suffered all decently dressed +people to enter; the sight was the delight of persons from the country. +At the dinner-hour there were none to be met upon the stairs but honest +folks, who, after having seen the Dauphiness take her soup, went to see +the Princes eat their 'bouilli', and then ran themselves out of breath to +behold Mesdames at their dessert. + +Very ancient usage, too, required that the Queens of France should appear +in public surrounded only by women; even at meal-times no persons of the +other sex attended to serve at table; and although the King ate publicly +with the Queen, yet he himself was served by women with everything which +was presented to him directly at table. The dame d'honneur, kneeling, +for her own accommodation, upon a low stool, with a napkin upon her arm, +and four women in full dress, presented the plates to the King and Queen. +The dame d'honneur handed them drink. This service had formerly been the +right of the maids of honour. The Queen, upon her accession to the +throne, abolished the usage altogether. She also freed herself from the +necessity of being followed in the Palace of Versailles by two of her +women in Court dresses, during those hours of the day when the ladies-in- +waiting were not with her. From that time she was accompanied only by a +single valet de chambre and two footmen. All the changes made by Marie +Antoinette were of the same description; a disposition gradually to +substitute the simple customs of Vienna for those of Versailles was more +injurious to her than she could possibly have imagined. + +When the King slept in the Queen's apartment he always rose before her; +the exact hour was communicated to the head femme de chambre, who +entered, preceded by a servant of the bedchamber bearing a taper; she +crossed the room and unbolted the door which separated the Queen's +apartment from that of the King. She there found the first valet de +chambre for the quarter, and a servant of the chamber. They entered, +opened the bed curtains on the King's side, and presented him slippers +generally, as well as the dressing-gown, which he put on, of gold or +silver stuff. The first valet de chambre took down a short sword which +was always laid within the railing on the King's side. When the King +slept with the Queen, this sword was brought upon the armchair +appropriated to the King, and which was placed near the Queen's bed, +within the gilt railing which surrounded the bed. The first femme de +chambre conducted the King to the door, bolted it again, and, leaving the +Queen's chamber, did not return until the hour appointed by her Majesty +the evening before. At night the Queen went to bed before the King; the +first femme de chambre remained seated at the foot of her bed until the +arrival of his Majesty, in order, as in the morning, to see the King's +attendants out and bolt the door after them. The Queen awoke habitually +at eight o'clock, and breakfasted at nine, frequently in bed, and +sometimes after she had risen, at a table placed opposite her couch. + +In order to describe the Queen's private service intelligibly, it must be +recollected that service of every kind was honour, and had not any other +denomination. To do the honours of the service was to present the +service to a person of superior rank, who happened to arrive at the +moment it was about to be performed. Thus, supposing the Queen asked for +a glass of water, the servant of the chamber handed to the first woman a +silver gilt waiter, upon which were placed a covered goblet and a small +decanter; but should the lady of honour come in, the first woman was +obliged to present the waiter to her, and if Madame or the Comtesse +d'Artois came in at the moment, the waiter went again from the lady of +honour into the hands of the Princess before it reached the Queen. It +must be observed, however, that if a princess of the blood instead of a +princess of the family entered, the service went directly from the first +woman to the princess of the blood, the lady of honour being excused from +transferring to any but princesses of the royal family. Nothing was +presented directly to the Queen; her handkerchief or her gloves were +placed upon a long salver of gold or silver gilt, which was placed as a +piece of furniture of ceremony upon a side-table, and was called a +gantiere. The first woman presented to her in this manner all that she +asked for, unless the tirewoman, the lady of honour, or a princess were +present, and then the gradation pointed out in the instance of the glass +of water was always observed. + +Whether the Queen breakfasted in bed or up, those entitled to the petites +entrees were equally admitted; this privilege belonged of right to her +chief physician, chief surgeon, physician in ordinary, reader, closet +secretary, the King's four first valets de chambre and their +reversioners, and the King's chief physicians and surgeons. There were +frequently from ten to twelve persons at this first entree. The lady of +honour or the superintendent, if present, placed the breakfast equipage +upon the bed; the Princesse de Lamballe frequently performed that office. + +As soon as the Queen rose, the wardrobe woman was admitted to take away +the pillows and prepare the bed to be made by some of the valets de +chambre. She undrew the curtains, and the bed was not generally made +until the Queen was gone to mass. Generally, excepting at St. Cloud, +where the Queen bathed in an apartment below her own, a slipper bath was +rolled into her room, and her bathers brought everything that was +necessary for the bath. The Queen bathed in a large gown of English +flannel buttoned down to the bottom;. its sleeves throughout, as well as +the collar, were lined with linen. When she came out of the bath the +first woman held up a cloth to conceal her entirely from the sight of her +women, and then threw it over her shoulders. The bathers wrapped her in +it and dried her completely. She then put on a long and wide open +chemise, entirely trimmed with lace, and afterwards a white taffety bed- +gown. The wardrobe woman warmed the bed; the slippers were of dimity, +trimmed with lace. Thus dressed, the Queen went to bed again, and the +bathers and servants of the chamber took away the bathing apparatus. The +Queen, replaced in bed, took a book or her tapestry work. On her bathing +mornings she breakfasted in the bath. The tray was placed on the cover +of the bath. These minute details are given here only to do justice to +the Queen's scrupulous modesty. Her temperance was equally remarkable; +she breakfasted on coffee or chocolate; at dinner ate nothing but white +meat, drank water only, and supped on broth, a wing of a fowl, and small +biscuits, which she soaked in a glass of water. + +The tirewoman had under her order a principal under-tirewoman, charged +with the care and preservation of all the Queen's dresses; two women to +fold and press such articles as required it; two valets, and a porter of +the wardrobe. The latter brought every morning into the Queen's +apartments baskets covered with taffety, containing all that she was to +wear during the day, and large cloths of green taffety covering the robes +and the full dresses. The valet of the wardrobe on duty presented every +morning a large book to the first femme de chambre, containing patterns +of the gowns, full dresses, undresses, etc. Every pattern was marked, to +show to which sort it belonged. The first femme de chambre presented +this book to the Queen on her awaking, with a pincushion; her Majesty +stuck pins in those articles which she chose for the day,--one for the +dress, one for the afternoon-undress, and one for the full evening dress +for card or supper parties in the private apartments. The book was then +taken back to the wardrobe, and all that was wanted for the day was soon +after brought in in large taffety wrappers. The wardrobe woman, who had +the care of the linen, in her turn brought in a covered basket containing +two or three chemises and handkerchiefs. The morning basket was called +pret du jour. In the evening she brought in one containing the nightgown +and nightcap, and the stockings for the next morning; this basket was +called pret de la nuit. They were in the department of the lady of +honour, the tirewoman having nothing to do with the linen. Nothing was +put in order or taken care of by the Queen's women. As soon as the +toilet was over, the valets and porter belonging to the wardrobe were +called in, and they carried all away in a heap, in the taffety wrappers, +to the tirewoman's wardrobe, where all were folded up again, hung up, +examined, and cleaned with so much regularity and care that even the +cast-off clothes scarcely looked as if they had been worn. The +tirewoman's wardrobe consisted of three large rooms surrounded with +closets, some furnished with drawers and others with shelves; there were +also large tables in each of these rooms, on which the gowns and dresses +were spread out and folded up. + +For the winter the Queen had generally twelve full dresses, twelve +undresses called fancy dresses, and twelve rich hoop petticoats for the +card and supper parties in the smaller apartments. + +She had as many for the summer; those for the spring served likewise for +the autumn. All these dresses were discarded at the end of each season, +unless, indeed, she retained some that she particularly liked. I am not +speaking of muslin or cambric gowns, or others of the same kind--they +were lately introduced; but such as these were not renewed at each +returning season, they were kept several years. The chief women were +charged with the care and examination of the diamonds; this important +duty was formerly confided to the tirewoman, but for many years had been +included in the business of the first femmes de chambre. + +The public toilet took place at noon. The toilet-table was drawn forward +into the middle of the room. This piece of furniture was generally the +richest and most ornamented of all in the apartment of the Princesses. +The Queen used it in the same manner and place for undressing herself in +the evening. She went to bed in corsets trimmed with ribbon, and sleeves +trimmed with lace, and wore a large neck handkerchief. The Queen's +combing cloth was presented by her first woman if she was alone at the +commencement of the toilet; or, as well as the other articles, by the +ladies of honour if they were come. At noon the women who had been in +attendance four and twenty hours were relieved by two women in full +dress; the first woman went also to dress herself. The grandee entrees +were admitted during the toilet; sofas were placed in circles for the +superintendent, the ladies of honour, and tirewomen, and the governess of +the children of France when she came there; the duties of the ladies of +the bedchamber, having nothing to do with any kind of domestic or private +functions, did not begin until the hour of going out to mass; they waited +in the great closet, and entered when the toilet was over. The Princes +of the blood, captains of the Guards, and all great officers having the +entry paid their court at the hour of the toilet. The Queen saluted by +nodding her head or bending her body, or leaning upon her toilet-table as +if moving to rise; the last mode of salutation was for the Princes of the +blood. The King's brothers also came very generally to pay their +respects to her Majesty while her hair was being dressed. In the earlier +years of the reign the first part of the dressing was performed in the +bedchamber and according to the laws of etiquette; that is to say, the +lady of honour put on the chemise and poured out the water for the hands, +the tirewoman put on the skirt of the gown or full dress, adjusted the +handkerchief, and tied on the necklace. But when the young Queen became +more seriously devoted to fashion, and the head-dress attained so +extravagant a height that it became necessary to put on the chemise from +below,--when, in short, she determined to have her milliner, Mademoiselle +Benin, with her whilst she was dressing, whom the ladies would have +refused to admit to any share in the honour of attending on the Queen, +the dressing in the bedchamber was discontinued, and the Queen, leaving +her toilet, withdrew into her closet to dress. + +On returning into her chamber, the Queen, standing about the middle of +it, surrounded by the superintendent, the ladies of honour and tirewomen, +her ladies of the palace, the chevalier d'honneur, the chief equerry, her +clergy ready to attend her to mass, and the Princesses of the royal +family who happened to come, accompanied by all their chief attendants +and ladies, passed in order into the gallery as in going to mass. The +Queen's signatures were generally given at the moment of entry into the +chamber. The secretary for orders presented the pen. Presentations of +colonels on taking leave were usually made at this time. Those of +ladies, and, such as had a right to the tabouret, or sitting in the royal +presence, were made on Sunday evenings before card-playing began, on +their coming in from paying their respects. Ambassadors were introduced +to the Queen on Tuesday mornings, accompanied by the introducer of +ambassadors on duty, and by M. de Sequeville, the secretary for the +ambassadors. The introducer in waiting usually came to the Queen at her +toilet to apprise her of the presentations of foreigners which would be +made. The usher of the chamber, stationed at the entrance, opened the +folding doors to none but the Princes and Princesses of the royal family, +and announced them aloud. Quitting his post, he came forward to name to +the lady of honour the persons who came to be presented, or who came to +take leave; that lady again named them to the Queen at the moment they +saluted her; if she and the tirewoman were absent, the first woman took +the place and did that duty. The ladies of the bedchamber, chosen solely +as companions for the Queen, had no domestic duties to fulfil, however +opinion might dignify such offices. The King's letter in appointing +them, among other instructions of etiquette, ran thus: "having chosen you +to bear the Queen company." There were hardly any emoluments accruing +from this place. + +The Queen heard mass with the King in the tribune, facing the grand altar +and the choir, with the exception of the days of high ceremony, when +their chairs were placed below upon velvet carpets fringed with gold. +These days were marked by the name of grand chapel day. + +The Queen named the collector beforehand, and informed her of it through +her lady of honour, who was besides desired to send the purse to her. +The collectors were almost always chosen from among those who had been +recently presented. After returning from mass the Queen dined every +Sunday with the King only, in public in the cabinet of the nobility, a +room leading to her chamber. Titled ladies having the honours sat during +the dinner upon folding-chairs placed on each side of the table. Ladies +without titles stood round the table; the captain of the Guards and the +first gentleman of the chamber were behind the King's chair; behind that +of the Queen were her first maitre d'hotel, her chevalier d'honneur, and +the chief equerry. The Queen's maitre d'hotel was furnished with a large +staff, six or seven feet in length, ornamented with golden fleurs-de-lis, +and surmounted by fleurs-de-lis in the form of a crown. He entered the +room with this badge of his office to announce that the Queen was served. +The comptroller put into his hands the card of the dinner; in the absence +of the maitre d'hotel he presented it to the Queen himself, otherwise he +only did him the honours of the service. The maitre d'hotel did not +leave his place, he merely gave the orders for serving up and removing; +the comptroller and gentlemen serving placed the various dishes upon the +table, receiving them from the inferior servants. + +The Prince nearest to the crown presented water to wash the King's hands +at the moment he placed himself at table, and a princess did the same +service to the Queen. + +The table service was formerly performed for the Queen by the lady of +honour and four women in full dress; this part of the women's service was +transferred to them on the suppression of the office of maids of honour. +The Queen put an end to this etiquette in the first year of her reign. +When the dinner was over the Queen returned without the King to her +apartment with her women, and took off her hoop and train. + +This unfortunate Princess, against whom the opinions of the French people +were at length so much excited, possessed qualities which deserved to +obtain the greatest popularity. None could doubt this who, like myself, +had heard her with delight describe the patriarchal manners of the House +of Lorraine. She was accustomed to say that, by transplanting their +manners into Austria, the Princes of that house had laid the foundation +of the unassailable popularity enjoyed by the imperial family. She +frequently related to me the interesting manner in which the Ducs de +Lorraine levied the taxes. "The sovereign Prince," said she, "went to +church; after the sermon he rose, waved his hat in the air, to show that +he was about to speak, and then mentioned the sum whereof he stood in +need. Such was the zeal of the good Lorrainers that men have been known +to take away linen or household utensils without the knowledge of their +wives, and sell them to add the value to their contribution. It +sometimes happened, too, that the Prince received more money than he had +asked for, in which case he restored the surplus." + +All who were acquainted with the Queen's private qualities knew that she +equally deserved attachment and esteem. Kind and patient to excess in +her relations with her household, she indulgently considered all around +her, and interested herself in their fortunes and in their pleasures., +She had, among her women, young girls from the Maison de St. Cyr, all +well born; the Queen forbade them the play when the performances were not +suitable; sometimes, when old plays were to be represented, if she found +she could not with certainty trust to her memory, she would take the +trouble to read them in the morning, to enable her to decide whether the +girls should or should not go to see them,--rightly considering herself +bound to watch over their morals and conduct. + + + + +ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + +Carried the idea of the prerogative of rank to a high pitch +Common and blamable practice of indulgence +Dignified tone which alone secures the respect due to power +Etiquette still existed at Court, dignity alone was wanting +Happiness does not dwell in palaces +His seraglio in the Parc-aux-Cerfs +I love the conveniences of life too well +Leave me in peace; be assured that I can put no heir in danger +Most intriguing little Carmelite in the kingdom +Princes thus accustomed to be treated as divinities +Princess at 12 years was not mistress of the whole alphabet +Taken pains only to render himself beloved by his pupil +The Jesuits were suppressed +The King delighted to manage the most disgraceful points +To be formally mistress, a husband had to be found +Ventured to give such rash advice: inoculation +Was but one brilliant action that she could perform + + + + +End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of The Memoirs of Marie Antoinette, v2 +by Madame Campan + + + + + + +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 3. + + +CHAPTER VI. + +During the first few months of his reign Louis XVI. dwelt at La Muette, +Marly, and Compiegne. When settled at Versailles he occupied himself +with a general examination of his grandfather's papers. He had promised +the Queen to communicate to her all that he might discover relative to +the history of the man with the iron mask, who, he thought, had become so +inexhaustible a source of conjecture only in consequence of the interest +which the pen of a celebrated writer had excited respecting the detention +of a prisoner of State, who was merely a man of whimsical tastes and +habits. + +I was with the Queen when the King, having finished his researches, +informed her that he had not found anything among the secret papers +elucidating the existence of this prisoner; that he had conversed on the +matter with M. de Maurepas, whose age made him contemporary with the +epoch during which the story must have been known to the ministers; +and that M. de Maurepas had assured him he was merely a prisoner of a +very dangerous character, in consequence of his disposition for intrigue. +He was a subject of the Duke of Mantua, and was enticed to the frontier, +arrested there, and kept prisoner, first at Pignerol, and afterwards in +the Bastille. This transfer took place in consequence of the appointment +of the governor of the former place to the government of the latter. +It was for fear the prisoner should profit by the inexperience of a new +governor that he was sent with the Governor of Pignerol to the Bastille. + +Such was, in fact, the truth about the man on whom people have been +pleased to fix an iron mask. And thus was it related in writing, and +published by M. ----- twenty years ago. He had searched the archives of +the Foreign Office, and laid the real story before the public; but the +public, prepossessed in favour of a marvellous version, would not +acknowledge the authenticity of his account. Every man relied upon the +authority of Voltaire; and it was believed that a natural or a twin +brother of Louis XIV. lived many years in prison with a mask over his +face. The story of this mask, perhaps, had its origin in the old custom, +among both men and women in Italy, of wearing a velvet mask when they +exposed themselves to the sun. It is possible that the Italian captive +may have sometimes shown himself upon the terrace of his prison with his +face thus covered. As to the silver plate which this celebrated prisoner +is said to have thrown from his window, it is known that such a +circumstance did happen, but it happened at Valzin, in the time of +Cardinal Richelieu. This anecdote has been mixed up with the inventions +respecting the Piedmontese prisoner. + +In this survey of the papers of Louis XV. by his grandson some very +curious particulars relative to his private treasury were found. Shares +in various financial companies afforded him a revenue, and had in course +of time produced him a capital of some amount, which he applied to his +secret expenses. The King collected his vouchers of title to these +shares, and made a present of them to M. Thierry de Ville d'Avray, his +chief valet de chambre. + +The Queen was desirous to secure the comfort of Mesdames, the daughters +of Louis XV., who were held in the highest respect. About this period +she contributed to furnish them with a revenue sufficient to provide them +an easy, pleasant existence: The King gave them the Chateau of Bellevue; +and added to the produce of it, which was given up to them, the expenses +of their table and equipage, and payment of all the charges of their +household, the number of which was even increased. During the lifetime +of Louis XV., who was a very selfish prince, his daughters, although they +had attained forty years of age, had no other place of residence than +their apartments in the Chateau of Versailles; no other walks than such +as they could take in the large park of that palace; and no other means +of gratifying their taste for the cultivation of plants but by having +boxes and vases, filled with them, in their balconies or their closets. +They had, therefore, reason to be much pleased with the conduct of Marie +Antoinette, who had the greatest influence in the King's kindness towards +his aunts. + +Paris did not cease, during the first years of the reign, to give proofs +of pleasure whenever the Queen appeared at any of the plays of the +capital. At the representation of "Iphigenia in Aulis," the actor who +sang the words, "Let us sing, let us celebrate our Queen!" which were +repeated by the chorus, directed by a respectful movement the eyes of the +whole assembly upon her Majesty. Reiterated cries of 'Bis'! and clapping +of hands, were followed by such a burst of enthusiasm that many of the +audience added their voices to those of the actors in order to celebrate, +it might too truly be said, another Iphigenia. The Queen, deeply +affected, covered her eyes with her handkerchief; and this proof of +sensibility raised the public enthusiasm to a still higher pitch. + +The King gave Marie Antoinette Petit Trianon. + + [The Chateau of Petit Trianon, which was built for Louis XV., was + not remarkably handsome as a building. The luxuriance of the + hothouses rendered the place agreeable to that Prince. He spent a + few days there several times in the year. It was when he was + setting off from Versailles for Petit Trianon that he was struck in + the side by the knife of Damiens, and it was there that he was + attacked by the smallpox, of which he died on the 10th of May, + 1774.--MADAME CAMPAN.] + +Henceforward she amused herself with improving the gardens, without +allowing any addition to the building, or any change in the furniture, +which was very shabby, and remained, in 1789, in the same state as during +the reign of Louis XV. Everything there, without exception, was +preserved; and the Queen slept in a faded bed, which had been used by the +Comtesse du Barry. The charge of extravagance, generally made against +the Queen, is the most unaccountable of all the popular errors respecting +her character. She had exactly the contrary failing; and I could prove +that she often carried her economy to a degree of parsimony actually +blamable, especially in a sovereign. She took a great liking for +Trianon, and used to go there alone, followed by a valet; but she found +attendants ready to receive her,--a concierge and his wife, who served +her as femme de chambre, women of the wardrobe, footmen, etc. + +When she first took possession of Petit Trianon, it was reported that she +changed the name of the seat which the King had given her, and called it +Little Vienna, or Little Schoenbrunn. A person who belonged to the +Court, and was silly enough to give this report credit, wishing to visit +Petit Trianon with a party, wrote to M. Campan, requesting the Queen's +permission to do so. In his note he called Trianon Little Vienna. +Similar requests were usually laid before the Queen just as they were +made: she chose to give the permissions to see her gardens herself, +liking to grant these little favours. When she came to the words I have +quoted she was very, much offended, and exclaimed, angrily, that there +were too many, fools ready, to aid the malicious; that she had been told +of the report circulated, which pretended that she had thought of nothing +but her own country, and that she kept an Austrian heart, while the +interests of France alone ought to engage her. She refused the request +so awkwardly made, and desired M. Campan to reply, that Trianon was not +to be seen for some time, and that the Queen was astonished that any man +in good society should believe she would do so ill-judged a thing as to +change the French names of her palaces to foreign ones. + +Before the Emperor Joseph II's first visit to France the Queen received a +visit from the Archduke Maximilian in 1775. A stupid act of the +ambassador, seconded on the part of the Queen by the Abbe de Vermond, +gave rise at that period to a discussion which offended the Princes of +the blood and the chief nobility of the kingdom. Travelling incognito, +the young Prince claimed that the first visit was not due from him to the +Princes of the blood; and the Queen supported his pretension. + +From the time of the Regency, and on account of the residence of the +family of Orleans in the bosom of the capital, Paris had preserved a +remarkable degree of attachment and respect for that branch of the royal +house; and although the crown was becoming more and more remote from the +Princes of the House of Orleans, they had the advantage (a great one with +the Parisians) of being the descendants of Henri IV. An affront to that +popular family was a serious ground of dislike to the Queen. It was at +this period that the circles of the city, and even of the Court, +expressed themselves bitterly about her levity, and her partiality for +the House of Austria. The Prince for whom the Queen had embarked in an +important family quarrel--and a quarrel involving national prerogatives-- +was, besides, little calculated to inspire interest. Still young, +uninformed, and deficient in natural talent, he was always making +blunders. + +He went to the Jardin du Roi; M. de Buffon, who received him there, +offered him a copy of his works; the Prince declined accepting the book, +saying to M. de Buffon, in the most polite manner possible, "I should be +very sorry to deprive you of it." + + [Joseph II, on his visit to France, also went to see M. de Buffon, + and said to that celebrated man, "I am come to fetch the copy of + your works which my brother forgot."--NOTE BY THE EDITOR.] + +It may be supposed that the Parisians were much entertained with this +answer. + +The Queen was exceedingly mortified at the mistakes made by her brother; +but what hurt her most was being accused of preserving an Austrian heart. +Marie Antoinette had more than once to endure that imputation during the +long course of her misfortunes. Habit did not stop the tears such +injustice caused; but the first time she was suspected of not loving +France, she gave way to her indignation. All that she could say on the +subject was useless; by seconding the pretensions of the Archduke she had +put arms into her enemies' hands; they were labouring to deprive her of +the love of the people, and endeavoured, by all possible means, to spread +a belief that the Queen sighed for Germany, and preferred that country to +France. + +Marie Antoinette had none but herself to rely on for preserving the +fickle smiles of the Court and the public. The King, too indifferent to +serve her as a guide, as yet had conceived no love for her, +notwithstanding the intimacy that grew between them at Choisy. In his +closet Louis XVI. was immersed in deep study. At the Council he was +busied with the welfare of his people; hunting and mechanical occupations +engrossed his leisure moments, and he never thought on the subject of an +heir. + +The coronation took place at Rheims, with all the accustomed pomp. At +this period the people's love for Louis XVI. burst forth in transports +not to be mistaken for party demonstrations or idle curiosity. He +replied to this enthusiasm by marks of confidence, worthy of a people +happy in being governed by a good King; he took a pleasure in repeatedly +walking without guards, in the midst of the crowd which pressed around +him, and called down blessings on his head. I remarked the impression +made at this time by an observation of Louis XVI. On the day of his +coronation he put his hand up to his head, at the moment of the crown +being placed upon it, and said, "It pinches me." Henri III. had +exclaimed, "It pricks me." Those who were near the King were struck with +the similarity between these two exclamations, though not of a class +likely to be blinded by the superstitious fears of ignorance. + +While the Queen, neglected as she was, could not even hope for the +happiness of being a mother, she had the mortification of seeing the +Comtesse d'Artois give birth to the Duc d'Angouleme. + +Custom required that the royal family and the whole Court should be +present at the accouchement of the Princesses; the Queen was therefore +obliged to stay a whole day in her sister-in-law's chamber. The moment +the Comtesse d'Artois was informed a prince was born, she put her hand to +her forehead and exclaimed with energy, "My God, how happy I am!" The +Queen felt very differently at this involuntary and natural exclamation. +Nevertheless, her behaviour was perfect. She bestowed all possible marks +of tenderness upon the young mother, and would not leave her until she +was again put into bed; she afterwards passed along the staircase, and +through the hall of the guards, with a calm demeanour, in the midst of an +immense crowd. The poissardes, who had assumed a right of speaking to +sovereigns in their own vulgar language, followed her to the very doors +of her apartments, calling out to her with gross expressions, that she +ought to produce heirs. The Queen reached her inner room, hurried and +agitated; he shut herself up to weep with me alone, not from jealousy of +her sister-in-law's happiness,--of that he was incapable,--but from +sorrow at her own situation. + +Deprived of the happiness of giving an heir to the crown, the Queen +endeavoured to interest herself in the children of the people of her +household. She had long been desirous to bring up one of them herself, +and to make it the constant object of her care. A little village boy, +four or five years old, full of health, with a pleasing countenance, +remarkably large blue eyes, and fine light hair, got under the feet of +the Queen's horses, when she was taking an airing in a calash, through +the hamlet of St. Michel, near Louveciennes. The coachman and postilions +stopped the horses, and the child was rescued without the slightest +injury. Its grandmother rushed out of the door of her cottage to take +it; but the Queen, standing up in her calash and extending her arms, +called out that the child was hers, and that destiny had given it to her, +to console her, no doubt, until she should have the happiness of having +one herself. "Is his mother alive?" asked the Queen. "No, Madame; my +daughter died last winter, and left five small children upon my hands." +"I will take this one, and provide for all the rest; do you consent?" +"Ah, Madame, they are too fortunate," replied the cottager; "but Jacques +is a bad boy. I hope he will stay with you!" The Queen, taking little +Jacques upon her knee, said that she would make him used to her, and gave +orders to proceed. It was necessary, however, to shorten the drive, so +violently did Jacques scream, and kick the Queen and her ladies. + +The arrival of her Majesty at her apartments at Versailles, holding the +little rustic by the hand, astonished the whole household; he cried out +with intolerable shrillness that he wanted his grandmother, his brother +Louis, and his sister Marianne; nothing could calm him. He was taken +away by the wife of a servant, who was appointed to attend him as nurse. +The other children were put to school. Little Jacques, whose family name +was Armand, came back to the Queen two days afterwards; a white frock +trimmed with lace, a rose-coloured sash with silver fringe, and a hat +decorated with feathers, were now substituted for the woollen cap, the +little red frock, and the wooden shoes. The child was really very +beautiful. The Queen was enchanted with him; he was brought to her every +morning at nine o'clock; he breakfasted and dined with her, and often +even with the King. She liked to call him my child, + + [This little unfortunate was nearly twenty in 1792; the fury of the + people and the fear of being thought a favourite of the Queen's had + made him the most sanguinary terrorist of Versailles. He was killed + at the battle of Jemappes.] + +and lavished caresses upon him, still maintaining a deep silence +respecting the regrets which constantly occupied her heart. + +This child remained with the Queen until the time when Madame was old +enough to come home to her august mother, who had particularly taken upon +herself the care of her education. + +The Queen talked incessantly of the qualities which she admired in Louis +XVI., and gladly attributed to herself the slightest favourable change in +his manner; perhaps she displayed too unreservedly the joy she felt, and +the share she appropriated in the improvement. One day Louis XVI. +saluted her ladies with more kindness than usual, and the Queen +laughingly said to them, "Now confess, ladies, that for one so badly +taught as a child, the King has saluted you with very good grace!" + +The Queen hated M. de La Vauguyon; she accused him alone of those points +in the habits, and even the sentiments, of the King which hurt her. +A former first woman of the bedchamber to Queen Maria Leczinska had +continued in office near the young Queen. She was one of those people +who are fortunate enough to spend their lives in the service of kings +without knowing anything of what is passing at Court. She was a great +devotee; the Abbe Grisel, an ex-Jesuit, was her director. Being rich +from her savings and an income of 50,000 livres, she kept a very good +table; in her apartment, at the Grand Commun, the most distinguished +persons who still adhered to the Order of Jesuits often assembled. The +Duc de La Vauguyon was intimate with her; their chairs at the Eglise des +Reollets were placed near each other; at high mass and at vespers they +sang the "Gloria in Excelsis" and the "Magnificat" together; and the +pious virgin, seeing in him only one of God's elect, little imagined him +to be the declared enemy of a Princess whom she served and revered. +On the day of his death she ran in tears to relate to the Queen the +piety, humility, and repentance of the last moments of the Duc de La +Vauguyon. He had called his people together, she said, to ask their +pardon. "For what?" replied the Queen, sharply; "he has placed and +pensioned off all his servants; it was of the King and his brothers that +the holy man you bewail should have asked pardon, for having paid so +little attention to the education of princes on whom the fate and +happiness of twenty-five millions of men depend. Luckily," added she, +"the King and his brothers, still young, have incessantly laboured to +repair the errors of their preceptor." + +The progress of time, and the confidence with which the King and the +Princes, his brothers, were inspired by the change in their situation +since the death of Louis XV., had developed their characters. I will +endeavour to depict them. + +The features of Louis XVI. were noble enough, though somewhat melancholy +in expression; his walk was heavy and unmajestic; his person greatly +neglected; his hair, whatever might be the skill of his hairdresser, +was soon in disorder. His voice, without being harsh, was not agreeable; +if he grew animated in speaking he often got above his natural pitch, +and became shrill. The Abbe de Radonvilliers, his preceptor, one of the +Forty of the French Academy, a learned and amiable man, had given him and +Monsieur a taste for study. The King had continued to instruct himself; +he knew the English language perfectly; I have often heard him translate +some of the most difficult passages in Milton's poems. He was a skilful +geographer, and was fond of drawing and colouring maps; he was well +versed in history, but had not perhaps sufficiently studied the spirit of +it. He appreciated dramatic beauties, and judged them accurately. At +Choisy, one day, several ladies expressed their dissatisfaction because +the French actors were going to perform one of Moliere's pieces. The +King inquired why they disapproved of the choice. One of them answered +that everybody must admit that Moliere had very bad taste; the King +replied that many things might be found in Moliere contrary to fashion, +but that it appeared to him difficult to point out any in bad taste? + + [The King, having purchased the Chateau of Rambouillet from the Duc + de Penthievre, amused himself with embellishing it. I have seen a + register entirely in his own handwriting, which proves that he + possessed a great variety of information on the minutiae of various + branches of knowledge. In his accounts he would not omit an outlay + of a franc. His figures and letters, when he wished to write + legibly, were small and very neat, but in general he wrote very ill. + He was so sparing of paper that he divided a sheet into eight, six, + or four pieces, according to the length of what he had to write. + Towards the close of the page he compressed the letters, and avoided + interlineations. The last words were close to the edge of the + paper; he seemed to regret being obliged to begin another page. He + was methodical and analytical; he divided what he wrote into + chapters and sections. He had extracted from the works of Nicole + and Fenelon, his favourite authors, three or four hundred concise + and sententious phrases; these he had classed according to subject, + and formed a work of them in the style of Montesquieu. To this + treatise he had given the following general title: "Of Moderate + Monarchy" (De la Monarchie temperee), with chapters entitled, "Of + the Person of the Prince;" "Of the Authority of Bodies in the + State;" "Of the Character of the Executive Functions of the + Monarchy." Had he been able to carry into effect all the grand + precepts he had observed in Fenelon, Louis XVI. would have been an + accomplished monarch, and France a powerful kingdom. The King used + to accept the speeches his ministers presented to him to deliver on + important occasions; but he corrected and modified them; struck out + some parts, and added others; and sometimes consulted the Queen on + the subject. The phrase of the minister erased by the King was + frequently unsuitable, and dictated by the minister's private + feelings; but the King's was always the natural expression. He + himself composed, three times or oftener, his famous answers to the + Parliament which he banished. But in his letters he was negligent, + and always incorrect. Simplicity was the characteristic of the + King's style; the figurative style of M. Necker did not please him; + the sarcasms of Maurepas were disagreeable to him. Unfortunate + Prince! he would predict, in his observations, that if such a + calamity should happen, the monarchy would be ruined; and the next + day he would consent in Council to the very measure which he had + condemned the day before, and which brought him nearer the brink of + the precipice.--SOULAVIE, "Historical and Political Memoirs of the + Reign of Louis XVI.," vol. ii.] + +This Prince combined with his attainments the attributes of a good +husband, a tender father, and an indulgent master. + +Unfortunately he showed too much predilection for the mechanical arts; +masonry and lock-making so delighted him that he admitted into his +private apartment a common locksmith, with whom he made keys and locks; +and his hands, blackened by that sort of work, were often, in my +presence, the subject of remonstrances and even sharp reproaches from +the Queen, who would have chosen other amusements for her husband.? + + [Louis XVI. saw that the art of lock-making was capable of + application to a higher study, He was an excellent geographer. The + most valuable and complete instrument for the study of that science + was begun by his orders and under his direction. It was an immense + globe of copper, which was long preserved, though unfinished, in the + Mazarine library. Louis XVI. invented and had executed under his + own eyes the ingenious mechanism required for this globe.--NOTE BY + THE EDITOR.] + +Austere and rigid with regard to himself alone, the King observed the +laws of the Church with scrupulous exactness. He fasted and abstained +throughout the whole of Lent. He thought it right that the queen should +not observe these customs with the same strictness. Though sincerely +pious, the spirit of the age had disposed his mind to toleration. +Turgot, Malesherbes, and Necker judged that this Prince, modest and +simple in his habits, would willingly sacrifice the royal prerogative to +the solid greatness of his people. His heart, in truth, disposed him +towards reforms; but his prejudices and fears, and the clamours of pious +and privileged persons, intimidated him, and made him abandon plans which +his love for the people had suggested. + +Monsieur-- + + [During his stay at Avignon, Monsieur, afterwards Louis XVIII, + lodged with the Duc de Crillon; he refused the town-guard which was + offered him, saying, "A son of France, under the roof of a Crillon, + needs no guard."--NOTE BY THE EDITOR.] + +had more dignity of demeanour than the King; but his corpulence rendered +his gait inelegant. He was fond of pageantry and magnificence. He +cultivated the belles lettres, and under assumed names often contributed +verses to the Mercury and other papers. + +His wonderful memory was the handmaid of his wit, furnishing him with the +happiest quotations. He knew by heart a varied repertoire, from the +finest passages of the Latin classics to the Latin of all the prayers, +from the works of Racine to the vaudeville of "Rose et Colas." + +The Comte d'Artoisi had an agreeable countenance, was well made, skilful +in bodily exercises, lively, impetuous, fond of pleasure, and very +particular in his dress. Some happy observations made by him were +repeated with approval, and gave a favourable idea of his heart. The +Parisians liked the open and frank character of this Prince, which they +considered national, and showed real affection for him. + +The dominion that the Queen gained over the King's mind, the charms of a +society in which Monsieur displayed his wit, and to which the Comte +d'Artois--[Afterwards Charles X.]-- gave life by the vivacity of youth, +gradually softened that ruggedness of manner in Louis XVI. which a +better-conducted education might have prevented. Still, this defect +often showed itself, and, in spite of his extreme simplicity, the King +inspired those who had occasion to speak to him with diffidence. +Courtiers, submissive in the presence of their sovereign, are only the +more ready to caricature him; with little good breeding, they called +those answers they so much dreaded, Les coups de boutoir du Roi.--[The +literal meaning of the phrase "coup de boutoir," is a thrust from the +snout of a boar.] + +Methodical in all his habits, the King always went to bed at eleven +precisely. One evening the Queen was going with her usual circle to a +party, either at the Duc de Duras's or the Princesse de Glumenee's. +The hand of the clock was slily put forward to hasten the King's +departure by a few minutes; he thought bed-time was come, retired, and +found none of his attendants ready to wait on him. This joke became +known in all the drawing-rooms of Versailles, and was disapproved of +there. Kings have no privacy. Queens have no boudoirs. If those who +are in immediate attendance upon sovereigns be not themselves disposed to +transmit their private habits to posterity, the meanest valet will relate +what he has seen or heard; his gossip circulates rapidly, and forms +public opinion, which at length ascribes to the most august persons +characters which, however untrue they may be, are almost always +indelible. + +NOTE. The only passion ever shown by Louis XVI. was for hunting. He was +so much occupied by it that when I went up into his private closets at +Versailles, after the 10th of August, I saw upon the staircase six +frames, in which were seen statements of all his hunts, when Dauphin and +when King. In them was detailed the number, kind, and quality of +the game he had killed at each hunting party during every month, every +season, and every year of his reign. + +The interior of his private apartments was thus arranged: a salon, +ornamented with gilded mouldings, displayed the engravings which had been +dedicated to him, drawings of the canals he had dug, with the model of +that of Burgundy, and the plan of the cones and works of Cherbourg. The +upper hall contained his collection of geographical charts, spheres, +globes, and also his geographical cabinet. There were to be seen +drawings of maps which he had begun, and some that he had finished. He +had a clever method of washing them in. His geographical memory was +prodigious. Over the hall was the turning and joining room, furnished +with ingenious instruments for working in wood. He inherited some from +Louis XV., and he often busied himself, with Duret's assistance, in +keeping them clean and bright. Above was the library of books published +during his reign. The prayer books and manuscript books of Anne of +Brittany, Francois I, the later Valois, Louis XIV., Louis XV., and the +Dauphin formed the great hereditary library of the Chateau. Louis XVI. +placed separately, in two apartments communicating with each other, the +works of his own time, including a complete collection of Didot's +editions, in vellum, every volume enclosed in a morocco case. There were +several English works, among the rest the debates of the British +Parliament, in a great number of volumes in folio (this is the Moniteur +of England, a complete collection of which is so valuable and so scarce). +By the side of this collection was to be seen a manuscript history of all +the schemes for a descent upon that island, particularly that of Comte de +Broglie. One of the presses of this cabinet was full of cardboard boxes, +containing papers relative to the House of Austria, inscribed in the +King's own hand: "Secret papers of my family respecting the House of +Austria; papers of my family respecting the Houses of Stuart and +Hanover." In an adjoining press were kept papers relative to Russia. +Satirical works against Catherine II. and against Paul I. were sold in +France under the name of histories; Louis XVIII. collected and sealed up +with his small seal the scandalous anecdotes against Catherine II., as +well as the works of Rhulieres, of which he had a copy, to be certain +that the secret life of that Princess, which attracted the curiosity of +her contemporaries, should not be made public by his means. + +Above the King's private library were a forge, two anvils, and a vast +number of iron tools; various common locks, well made and perfect; some +secret locks, and locks ornamented with gilt copper. It was there that +the infamous Gamin, who afterwards accused the King of having tried to +poison him, and was rewarded for his calumny with a pension of twelve +thousand livres, taught him the art of lock-making. This Gamin, who +became our guide, by order of the department and municipality of +Versailles, did not, however, denounce the King on the 20th December, +1792. He had been made the confidant of that Prince in an immense number +of important commissions; the King had sent him the "Red Book," from +Paris, in a parcel; and the part which was concealed during the +Constituent Assembly still remained so in 1793. Gamin hid it in a part +of the Chateau inaccessible to everybody, and took it from under the +shelves of a secret press before our eyes. This is a convincing proof +that Louis XVI. hoped to return to his Chiteau. When teaching Louis XVI. +his trade Gamin took upon himself the tone and authority of a master. +"The King was good, forbearing, timid, inquisitive, and addicted to +sleep," said Gamin to me; "he was fond to excess of lock-making, and he +concealed himself from the Queen and the Court to file and forge with me. +In order to convey his anvil and my own backwards and forwards we were +obliged to use a thousand stratagems, the history of which would: never +end." Above the King's and Gamin's forges and anvils was an, +observatory, erected upon a platform covered with lead. There, seated on +an armchair, and assisted by a telescope, the King observed all that was +passing in the courtyards of Versailles, the avenue of Paris, and the +neighbouring gardens. He had taken a liking to Duret, one of the indoor +servants of the palace, who sharpened his tools, cleaned his anvils, +pasted his maps, and adjusted eyeglasses to the King's sight, who was +short-sighted. This good Duret, and indeed all the indoor servants, +spoke of their master with regret and affection, and with tears in their +eyes. + +The King was born weak and delicate; but from the age of twenty-four he +possessed a robust constitution, inherited from his mother, who was of +the House of Saxe, celebrated for generations for its robustness. There +were two men in Louis XVI., the man of knowledge and the man of will. +The King knew the history of his own family and of the first houses of +France perfectly. He composed the instructions for M. de la Peyrouse's +voyage round the world, which the minister thought were drawn up by +several members of the Academy of Sciences. His memory retained an +infinite number of names and situations. He remembered quantities and +numbers wonderfully. One day an account was presented to him in which +the minister had ranked among the expenses an item inserted in the +account of the preceding year. "There is a double charge," said the +King; "bring me last year's account, and I will show it yet there." When +the King was perfectly master of the details of any matter, and saw +injustice, he was obdurate even to harshness. Then he would be obeyed +instantly, in order to be sure that he was obeyed. + +But in important affairs of state the man of will was not to be found. +Louis XVI. was upon the throne exactly what those weak temperaments whom +nature has rendered incapable of an opinion are in society. In his +pusillanimity, he gave his confidence to a minister; and although amidst +various counsels he often knew which was the best, he never had the +resolution to say, "I prefer the opinion of such a one." Herein +originated the misfortunes of the State.--SOULAVIE'S "Historical and +Political Memoirs Of the Reign Of LOUIS XVI.," VOL ii. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +The winter following the confinement of the Comtesse d'Artois was very +severe; the recollections of the pleasure which sleighing-parties had +given the Queen in her childhood made her wish to introduce similar ones +in France. This amusement had already been known in that Court, as was +proved by sleighs being found in the stables which had been used by the +Dauphin, the father of Louis XVI. Some were constructed for the Queen in +a more modern style. The Princes also ordered several; and in a few days +there was a tolerable number of these vehicles. They were driven by the +princes and noblemen of the Court. The noise of the bells and balls with +which the harness of the horses was furnished, the elegance and whiteness +of their plumes, the varied forms of the carriages, the gold with which +they were all ornamented, rendered these parties delightful to the eye. +The winter was very favourable to them, the snow remaining on the ground +nearly six weeks; the drives in the park afforded a pleasure shared by +the spectators. + + [Louis XVI., touched with the wretched condition of the poor of + Versailles during the winter of 1776, had several cart-loads of wood + distributed among them. Seeing one day a file of those vehicles + passing by, while several noblemen were preparing to be drawn + swiftly over the ice, he uttered these memorable words: "Gentlemen, + here are my sleighs!"--NOTE BY THE EDITOR.] + +No one imagined that any blame could attach to so innocent an amusement. +But the party were tempted to extend their drives as far as the Champs +Elysees; a few sleighs even crossed the boulevards; the ladies being +masked, the Queen's enemies took the opportunity of saying that she had +traversed the streets of Paris in a sleigh. + +This became a matter of moment. The public discovered in it a +predilection for the habits of Vienna; but all that Marie Antoinette did +was criticised. + +Sleigh-driving, savouring of the Northern Courts, had no favour among the +Parisians. The Queen was informed of this; and although all the sleighs +were preserved, and several subsequent winters lent themselves to the +amusement, she would not resume it. + +It was at the time of the sleighing-parties that the Queen became +intimately acquainted with the Princesse de Lamballe, who made her +appearance in them wrapped in fur, with all the brilliancy and freshness +of the age of twenty,--the emblem of spring, peeping from under sable and +ermine. Her situation, moreover, rendered her peculiarly interesting; +married, when she was scarcely past childhood, to a young prince, who +ruined himself by the contagious example of the Duc d'Orleans, she had +had nothing to do from the time of her arrival in France but to weep. +A widow at eighteen, and childless, she lived with the Duc de Penthievre +as an adopted daughter. She had the tenderest respect and attachment for +that venerable Prince; but the Queen, though doing justice to his +virtues, saw that the Duc de Penthievre's way of life, whether at Paris +or at his country-seat, could neither afford his young daughter-in-law +the amusements suited to her time of life, nor ensure her in the future +an establishment such as she was deprived of by her widowhood. She +determined, therefore, to establish her at Versailles; and for her sake +revived the office of superintendent, which had been discontinued at +Court since the death of Mademoiselle de Clermont. It is said that Maria +Leczinska had decided that this place should continue vacant, the +superintendent having so extensive a power in the houses of queens as to +be frequently a restraint upon their inclinations. Differences which +soon took place between Marie Antoinette and the Princesse de Lamballe +respecting the official prerogatives of the latter, proved that the wife +of Louis XV. had acted judiciously in abolishing the office; but a kind +of treaty made between the Queen and the Princess smoothed all +difficulties. The blame for too strong an assertion of claims fell upon +a secretary of the superintendent, who had been her adviser; and +everything was so arranged that a firm friendship existed between these +two Princesses down to the disastrous period which terminated their +career. + +Notwithstanding the enthusiasm which the splendour, grace, and kindness +of the Queen generally inspired, secret intrigues continued in operation +against her. A short time after the ascension of Louis XVI. to the +throne, the minister of the King's household was informed that a most +offensive libel against the Queen was about to appear. The lieutenant of +police deputed a man named Goupil, a police inspector, to trace this +libel; he came soon after to say that he had found out the place where +the work was being printed, and that it was at a country house near +Yverdun. He had already got possession of two sheets, which contained +the most atrocious calumnies, conveyed with a degree of art which might +make them very dangerous to the Queen's reputation. Goupil said that he +could obtain the rest, but that he should want a considerable sum for +that purpose. Three thousand Louis were given him, and very soon +afterwards he brought the whole manuscript and all that had been printed +to the lieutenant of police. He received a thousand louis more as a +reward for his address and zeal; and a much more important office was +about to be given him, when another spy, envious of Goupil's good +fortune, gave information that Goupil himself was the author of the +libel; that, ten years before, he had been put into the Bicetre for +swindling; and that Madame Goupil had been only three years out of the +Salpetriere, where she had been placed under another name. This Madame +Goupil was very pretty and very intriguing; she had found means to form +an intimacy with Cardinal de Rohan, whom she led, it is said, to hope for +a reconciliation with the Queen. All this affair was hushed up; but it +shows that it was the Queen's fate to be incessantly attacked by the +meanest and most odious machinations. + +Another woman, named Cahouette de Millers, whose husband held an office +in the Treasury, being very irregular in conduct, and of a scheming turn +of mind, had a mania for appearing in the eyes of her friends at Paris as +a person in favour at Court, to which she was not entitled by either +birth or office. During the latter years of the life of Louis XV. she +had made many dupes, and picked up considerable sums by passing herself +off as the King's mistress. The fear of irritating Madame du Barry was, +according to her, the only thing which prevented her enjoying that title +openly. She came regularly to Versailles, kept herself concealed in a +furnished lodging, and her dupes imagined she was secretly summoned to +Court. + +This woman formed the scheme of getting admission, if possible, to the +presence of the Queen, or at least causing it to be believed that she had +done so. She adopted as her lover Gabriel de Saint Charles, intendant of +her Majesty's finances,--an office, the privileges of which were confined +to the right of entering the Queen's apartment on Sunday. Madame de +Villers came every Saturday to Versailles with M. de Saint Charles, and +lodged in his apartment. M. Campan was there several times. She painted +tolerably well, and she requested him to do her the favour to present to +the Queen a portrait of her Majesty which she had just copied. M. Campan +knew the woman's character, and refused her. A few days after, he saw on +her Majesty's couch the portrait which he had declined to present to her; +the Queen thought it badly painted, and gave orders that it should be +carried back to the Princesse de Lamballe, who had sent it to her. The +ill success of the portrait did not deter the manoeuvrer from following +up her designs; she easily procured through M. de Saint Charles patents +and orders signed by the Queen; she then set about imitating her writing, +and composed a great number of notes and letters, as if written by her +Majesty, in the tenderest and most familiar style. For many months she +showed them as great secrets to several of her particular friends. +Afterwards, she made the Queen appear to write to her, to procure various +fancy articles. Under the pretext of wishing to execute her Majesty's +commissions accurately, she gave these letters to the tradesmen to read, +and succeeded in having it said, in many houses, that the Queen had a +particular regard for her. She then enlarged her scheme, and represented +the Queen as desiring to borrow 200,000 francs which she had need of, but +which she did not wish to ask of the King from his private funds. This +letter, being shown to M. Beranger, 'fermier general' of the finances, +took effect; he thought himself fortunate in being able to render this +assistance to his sovereign, and lost no time in sending the 200,000 +francs to Madame de Villers. This first step was followed by some +doubts, which he communicated to people better informed than himself of +what was passing at Court; they added to his uneasiness; he then went to +M. de Sartine, who unravelled the whole plot. The woman was sent to St. +Pelagie; and the unfortunate husband was ruined, by replacing the sum +borrowed, and by paying for the jewels fraudulently purchased in the +Queen's name. The forged letters were sent to her Majesty; I compared +them in her presence with her own handwriting, and the only +distinguishable difference was a little more regularity in the letters. + +This trick, discovered and punished with prudence and without passion, +produced no more sensation out of doors than that of the Inspector +Goupil. + +A year after the nomination of Madame de Lamballe to the post of +superintendent of the Queen's household, balls and quadrilles gave rise +to the intimacy of her Majesty with the Comtesse Jules de Polignac. This +lady really interested Marie Antoinette. She was not rich, and generally +lived upon her estate at Claye. The Queen was astonished at not having +seen her at Court earlier. The confession that her want of fortune had +even prevented her appearance at the celebration of the marriages of the +Princes added to the interest which she had inspired. + +The Queen was full of consideration, and took delight in counteracting +the injustice of fortune. The Countess was induced to come to Court by +her husband's sister, Madame Diane de Polignac, who had been appointed +lady of honour to the Comtesse d'Artois. The Comtesse Jules was really +fond of a tranquil life; the impression she made at Court affected her +but little; she felt only the attachment manifested for her by the Queen. +I had occasion to see her from the commencement of her favour at Court; +she often passed whole hours with me, while waiting for the Queen. She +conversed with me freely and ingenuously about the honour, and at the +same time the danger, she saw in the kindness of which she was the +object. The Queen sought for the sweets of friendship; but can this +gratification, so rare in any rank, exist between a Queen and a subject, +when they are surrounded, moreover, by snares laid by the artifice of +courtiers? This pardonable error was fatal to the happiness of Marie +Antoinette. + +The retiring character of the Comtesse Jules, afterwards Duchesse de +Polignac, cannot be spoken of too favourably; but if her heart was +incapable of forming ambitious projects, her family and friends in her +fortune beheld their own, and endeavoured to secure the favour of the +Queen. + + [The Comtesse, afterwards Duchesse de Polignac, nee Polastron, + Married the Comte (in 1780 the Duc) Jules de Polignac, the father of + the Prince de Polignac of Napoleon's and of Charles X.'s time. She + emigrated in 1789, and died in Vienna in 1793.] + +The Comtesse de Diane, sister of M. de Polignac, and the Baron de +Besenval and M. de Vaudreuil, particular friends of the Polignac family, +made use of means, the success of which was infallible. One of my +friends (Comte de Moustier), who was in their secret, came to tell me +that Madame de Polignac was about to quit Versailles suddenly; that she +would take leave of the Queen only in writing; that the Comtesse Diane +and M. de Vaudreuil had dictated her letter, and the whole affair was +arranged for the purpose of stimulating the attachment of Marie +Antoinette. The next day, when I went up to the palace, I found the +Queen with a letter in her hand, which she was reading with much emotion; +it was the letter from the Comtesse Jules; the Queen showed it to me. +The Countess expressed in it her grief at leaving a princess who had +loaded her with kindness. The narrowness of her fortune compelled her to +do so; but she was much more strongly impelled by the fear that the +Queen's friendship, after having raised up dangerous enemies against her, +might abandon her to their hatred, and to the regret of having lost the +august favour of which she was the object. + +This step produced the full effect that had been expected from it. A +young and sensitive queen cannot long bear the idea of contradiction. +She busied herself in settling the Comtesse Jules near her, by making +such a provision for her as should place her beyond anxiety. Her +character suited the Queen; she had merely natural talents, no pedantry, +no affectation of knowledge. She was of middle size; her complexion very +fair, her eyebrows and hair dark brown, her teeth superb, her smile +enchanting, and her whole person graceful. She was seen almost always in +a demi-toilet, remarkable only for neatness and good taste. I do not +think I ever once saw diamonds about her, even at the climax of her +fortune, when she had the rank of Duchess at Court. + +I have always believed that her sincere attachment for the Queen, as much +as her love of simplicity, induced her to avoid everything that might +cause her to be thought a wealthy favourite. She had not one of the +failings which usually accompany that position. She loved the persons +who shared the Queen's affections, and was entirely free from jealousy. +Marie Antoinette flattered herself that the Comtesse Jules and the +Princesse de Lamballe would be her especial friends, and that she should +possess a society formed according to her own taste. "I will receive +them in my closet, or at Trianon," said she; "I will enjoy the comforts +of private life, which exist not for us, unless we have the good sense to +secure them for ourselves." The happiness the Queen thought to secure +was destined to turn to vexation. All those courtiers who were not +admitted to this intimacy became so many jealous and vindictive enemies. + +It was necessary to make a suitable provision for the Countess. The +place of first equerry, in reversion after the Comte de Tesse, given to +Comte Jules unknown to the titular holder, displeased the family of +Noailles. This family had just sustained another mortification, the +appointment of the Princesse de Lamballe having in some degree rendered +necessary the resignation of the Comtesse de Noailles, whose husband was +thereupon made a marshal of France. The Princesse de Lamballe, although +she did not quarrel with the Queen, was alarmed at the establishment of +the Comtesse Jules at Court, and did not form, as her Majesty had hoped, +a part of that intimate society, which was in turn composed of Mesdames +Jules and Diane de Polignac, d'Andlau and de Chalon, and Messieurs de +Guignes, de Coigny, d'Adhemar, de Besenval, lieutenant-colonel of the +Swiss, de Polignac, de Vaudreuil, and de Guiche; the Prince de Ligne and +the Duke of Dorset, the English ambassador, were also admitted. + +It was a long time before the Comtesse Jules maintained any great state +at Court. The Queen contented herself with giving her very fine +apartments at the top of the marble staircase. The salary of first +equerry, the trifling emoluments derived from M. de Polignac's regiment, +added to their slender patrimony, and perhaps some small pension, at that +time formed the whole fortune of the favourite. I never saw the Queen +make her a present of value; I was even astonished one day at hearing her +Majesty mention, with pleasure, that the Countess had gained ten thousand +francs in the lottery. "She was in great want of it," added the Queen. + +Thus the Polignacs were not settled at Court in any degree of splendour +which could justify complaints from others, and the substantial favours +bestowed upon that family were less envied than the intimacy between them +and their proteges and the Queen. Those who had no hope of entering the +circle of the Comtesse Jules were made jealous by the opportunities of +advancement it afforded. + +However, at the time I speak of, the society around the Comtesse Jules +was fully engaged in gratifying the young Queen. Of this the Marquis de +Vaudreuil was a conspicuous member; he was a brilliant man, the friend +and protector of men of letters and celebrated artists. + +The Baron de Besenval added to the bluntness of the Swiss all the +adroitness of a French courtier. His fifty years and gray hairs made him +enjoy among women the confidence inspired by mature age, although he had +not given up the thought of love affairs. He talked of his native +mountains with enthusiasm. He would at any time sing the "Ranz des +Vaches" with tears in his eyes, and was the best story-teller in the +Comtesse Jules's circle. The last new song or 'bon mot' and the gossip +of the day were the sole topics of conversation in the Queen's parties. +Wit was banished from them. The Comtesse Diane, more inclined to +literary pursuits than her sister-in-law, one day, recommended her to +read the "Iliad" and "Odyssey." The latter replied, laughing, that she +was perfectly acquainted with the Greek poet, and said to prove it: + + "Homere etait aveugle et jouait du hautbois." + + (Homer was blind and played on the hautboy.) + + [This lively repartee of the Duchesse de Polignac is a droll + imitation of a line in the "Mercure Galant." In the quarrel scene + one of the lawyers says to his brother quill: 'Ton pere etait + aveugle et jouait du hautbois.'] + +The Queen found this sort of humour very much to her taste, and said that +no pedant should ever be her friend. + +Before the Queen fixed her assemblies at Madame de Polignac's, she +occasionally passed the evening at the house of the Duc and Duchesse de +Duras, where a brilliant party of young persons met together. They +introduced a taste for trifling games, such as question and answer, +'guerre panpan', blind man's buff, and especially a game called +'descampativos'. The people of Paris, always criticising, but always +imitating the customs of the Court, were infected with the mania for +these childish sports. Madame de Genlis, sketching the follies of the +day in one of her plays, speaks of these famous 'descampativos'; and also +of the rage for making a friend, called the 'inseparable', until a whim +or the slightest difference might occasion a total rupture. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +The Duc de Choiseul had reappeared at Court on the ceremony of the King's +coronation for the first time after his disgrace under Louis XV. in 1770. +The state of public feeling on the subject gave his friends hope of +seeing him again in administration, or in the Council of State; but the +opposite party was too firmly seated at Versailles, and the young Queen's +influence was outweighed, in the mind of the King, by long-standing +prejudices; she therefore gave up for ever her attempt to reinstate the +Duke. Thus this Princess, who has been described as so ambitious, and so +strenuously supporting the interest of the House of Austria, failed twice +in the only scheme which could forward the views constantly attributed to +her; and spent the whole of her reign surrounded by enemies of herself +and her house. + +Marie Antoinette took little pains to promote literature and the fine +arts. She had been annoyed in consequence of having ordered a +performance of the "Connstable de Bourbon," on the celebration of the +marriage of Madame Clotilde with the Prince of Piedmont. The Court and +the people of Paris censured as indecorous the naming characters in the +piece after the reigning family, and that with which the new alliance was +formed. The reading of this piece by the Comte de Guibert in the Queen's +closet had produced in her Majesty's circle that sort of enthusiasm which +obscures the judgment. She promised herself she would have no more +readings. Yet, at the request of M. de Cubieres, the King's equerry, +the Queen agreed to hear the reading of a comedy written by his brother. +She collected her intimate circle, Messieurs de Coigny, de Vaudreuil, de +Besenval, Mesdames de Polignac, de Chalon, etc., and to increase the +number of judges, she admitted the two Parnys, the Chevalier de Bertin, +my father-in-law, and myself. + +Mold read for the author. I never could satisfy myself by what magic the +skilful reader gained our unanimous approbation of a ridiculous work. +Surely the delightful voice of Mold, by awakening our recollection of the +dramatic beauties of the French stage, prevented the wretched lines of +Dorat Cubieres from striking on our ears. I can assert that the +exclamation Charming! charming! repeatedly interrupted the reader. The +piece was admitted for performance at Fontainebleau; and for the first +time the King had the curtain dropped before the end of the play. It was +called the "Dramomane" or "Dramaturge." All the characters died of +eating poison in a pie. The Queen, highly disconcerted at having +recommended this absurd production, announced that she would never hear +another reading; and this time she kept her word. + +The tragedy of "Mustapha and Mangir," by M. de Chamfort, was highly +successful at the Court theatre at Fontainebleau. The Queen procured the +author a pension of 1,200 francs, but his play failed on being performed +at Paris. + +The spirit of opposition which prevailed in that city delighted in +reversing the verdicts of the Court. The Queen determined never again to +give any marked countenance to new dramatic works. She reserved her +patronage for musical composers, and in a few years their art arrived at +a perfection it had never before attained in France. + +It was solely to gratify the Queen that the manager of the Opera brought +the first company of comic actors to Paris. Gluck, Piccini, and Sacchini +were attracted there in succession. These eminent composers were treated +with great distinction at Court. Immediately on his arrival in France, +Gluck was admitted to the Queen's toilet, and she talked to him all the +time he remained with her. She asked him one day whether he had nearly +brought his grand opera of "Armide" to a conclusion, and whether it +pleased him. Gluck replied very coolly, in his German accent, "Madame, +it will soon be finished, and really it will be superb." There was a +great outcry against the confidence with which the composer had spoken of +one of his own productions. The Queen defended him warmly; she insisted +that he could not be ignorant of the merit of his works; that he well +knew they were generally admired, and that no doubt he was afraid lest a +modesty, merely dictated by politeness, should look like affectation in +him. + + [Gluck often had to deal with self-sufficiency equal to his own. + He was very reluctant to introduce long ballets into "Iphigenia." + Vestris deeply regretted that the opera was not terminated by a + piece they called a chaconne, in which he displayed all his power. + He complained to Gluck about it. Gluck, who treated his art with + all the dignity it merits, replied that in so interesting a subject + dancing would be misplaced. Being pressed another time by Vestris + on the same subject, "A chaconne! A chaconne!" roared out the + enraged musician; "we must describe the Greeks; and had the Greeks + chaconnes?" "They had not?" returned the astonished dancer; "why, + then, so much the worse for them!"--NOTE BY THE EDITOR.] + +The Queen did not confine her admiration to the lofty style of the French +and Italian operas; she greatly valued Gretry's music, so well adapted to +the spirit and feeling of the words. A great deal of the poetry set to +music by Gretry is by Marmontel. The day after the first performance of +"Zemira and Azor," Marmontel and Gretry were presented to the Queen as +she was passing through the gallery of Fontainebleau to go to mass. The +Queen congratulated Gretry on the success of the new opera, and told him +that she had dreamed of the enchanting effect of the trio by Zemira's +father and sisters behind the magic mirror. Gretry, in a transport of +joy, took Marmontel in his arms, "Ah! my friend," cried he, "excellent +music may be made of this."--"And execrable words," coolly observed +Marmontel, to whom her Majesty had not addressed a single compliment. + +The most indifferent artists were permitted to have the honour of +painting the Queen. A full-length portrait, representing her in all the +pomp of royalty, was exhibited in the gallery of Versailles. This +picture, which was intended for the Court of Vienna, was executed by a +man who does not deserve even to be named, and disgusted all people of +taste. It seemed as if this art had, in France, retrograded several +centuries. + +The Queen had not that enlightened judgment, or even that mere taste, +which enables princes to foster and protect great talents. She confessed +frankly that she saw no merit in any portrait beyond the likeness. When +she went to the Louvre, she would run hastily over all the little "genre" +pictures, and come out, as she acknowledged, without having once raised +her eyes to the grand compositions. + +There is no good portrait of the Queen, save that by Werthmuller, chief +painter to the King of Sweden, which was sent to Stockholm, and that by +Madame Lebrun, which was saved from the revolutionary fury by the +commissioners for the care of the furniture at Versailles. + + [A sketch of very great interest made when the Queen was in the + Temple and discovered many years afterwards there, recently + reproduced in the memoirs of the Marquise de Tourzel (Paris, Plon), + is the last authentic portrait of the unhappy Queen. See also the + catalogue of portraits made by Lord Ronald Gower.] + +The composition of the latter picture resembles that of Henriette of +France, the wife of the unfortunate Charles I., painted by Vandyke. Like +Marie Antoinette, she is seated, surrounded by her children, and that +resemblance adds to the melancholy interest raised by this beautiful +production. + +While admitting that the Queen gave no direct encouragement to any art +but that of music, I should be wrong to pass over in silence the +patronage conferred by her and the Princes, brothers of the King, on the +art of printing. + + [In 1790 the King gave a proof of his particular good-will to the + bookselling trade. A company consisting of the first Parisian + booksellers, being on the eve of stopping payment, succeeded in + laying before the King a statement of their distressed situation. + The monarch was affected by it; he took from the civil list the sum + of which the society stood in immediate need, and became security + for the repayment of the remainder of the 1,200,000 livres, which + they wanted to borrow, and for the repayment of which he fixed no + particular time.] + +To Marie Antoinette we are indebted for a splendid quarto edition of the +works of Metastasio; to Monsieur, the King's brother, for a quarto Tasso, +embellished with engravings after Cochin; and to the Comte d'Artois for a +small collection of select works, which is considered one of the chef +d'oeuvres of the press of the celebrated Didot. + +In 1775, on the death of the Marechal du Muy, the ascendency obtained by +the sect of innovators occasioned M. de Saint-Germain to be recalled to +Court and made Minister of War. His first care was the destruction of +the King's military household establishment, an imposing and effectual +rampart round the sovereign power. + +When Chancellor Maupeou obtained from Louis XV. the destruction of the +Parliament and the exile of all the ancient magistrates, the +Mousquetaires were charged with the execution of the commission for this +purpose; and at the stroke of midnight, the presidents and members were +all arrested, each by two Mousquetaires. In the spring of 1775 a popular +insurrection had taken place in consequence of the high price of bread. +M. Turgot's new regulation, which permitted unlimited trade in corn, was +either its cause or the pretext for it; and the King's household troops +again rendered the greatest services to public tranquillity. + +I have never be enable to discover the true cause of the support given to +M. de Saint-Germain's policy by the Queen, unless in the marked favour +shown to the captains and officers of the Body Guards, who by this +reduction became the only soldiers of their rank entrusted with the +safety of the sovereign; or else in the Queen's strong prejudice against +the Duc d'Aiguillon, then commander of the light-horse. M. de Saint- +Germain, however, retained fifty gens d'armes and fifty light-horse to +form a royal escort on state occasions; but in 1787 the King reduced both +these military bodies. The Queen then said with satisfaction that at +last she should see no more red coats in the gallery of Versailles. + +From 1775 to 1781 were the gayest years of the Queen's life. In the +little journeys to Choisy, performances frequently took place at the +theatre twice in one day: grand opera and French or Italian comedy at the +usual hour; and at eleven at night they returned to the theatre for +parodies in which the best actors of the Opera presented themselves in +whimsical parts and costumes. The celebrated dancer Guimard always took +the leading characters in the latter performance; she danced better than +she acted; her extreme leanness, and her weak, hoarse voice added to the +burlesque in the parodied characters of Ernelinde and Iphigenie. + +The most magnificent fete ever given to the Queen was one prepared for +her by Monsieur, the King's brother, at Brunoy. That Prince did me the +honour to admit me, and I followed her Majesty into the gardens, where +she found in the first copse knights in full armour asleep at the foot of +trees, on which hung their spears and shields. The absence of the +beauties who had incited the nephews of Charlemagne and the gallants of +that period to lofty deeds was supposed to occasion this lethargic +slumber. But when the Queen appeared at the entrance of the copse they +were on foot in an instant, and melodious voices announced their +eagerness to display their valour. They then hastened into a vast arena, +magnificently decorated in the exact style of the ancient tournaments. +Fifty dancers dressed as pages presented to the knights twenty-five +superb black horses, and twenty-five of a dazzling whiteness, all most +richly caparisoned. The party led by Augustus Vestris wore the Queen's +colours. Picq, balletmaster at the Russian Court, commanded the opposing +band. There was running at the negro's head, tilting, and, lastly, +combats 'a outrance', perfectly well imitated. Although the spectators +were aware that the Queen's colours could not but be victorious, they did +not the less enjoy the apparent uncertainty. + +Nearly all the agreeable women of Paris were ranged upon the steps which +surrounded the area of the tourney. The Queen, surrounded by the royal +family and the whole Court, was placed beneath an elevated canopy. A +play, followed by a ballet-pantomime and a ball, terminated the fete. +Fireworks and illuminations were not spared. Finally, from a +prodigiously high scaffold, placed on a rising ground, the words 'Vive +Louis! Vive Marie Antoinette!' were shown in the air in the midst of a +very dark but calm night. + +Pleasure was the sole pursuit of every one of this young family, with the +exception of the King. Their love of it was perpetually encouraged by a +crowd of those officious people who, by anticipating the desires and even +the passions of princes, find means of showing their zeal, and hope to +gain or maintain favour for themselves. + +Who would have dared to check the amusements of a queen, young, lively, +and handsome? A mother or a husband alone would have had the right to do +it; and the King threw no impediment in the way of Marie Antoinette's +inclinations. His long indifference had been followed by admiration and +love. He was a slave to all the wishes of the Queen, who, delighted with +the happy change in the heart and habits of the King, did not +sufficiently conceal the ascendency she was gaining over him. + +The King went to bed every night at eleven precisely; he was very +methodical, and nothing was allowed to interfere with his rules. The +noise which the Queen unavoidably made when she returned very late from +the evenings which she spent with the Princesse de Gugmenee or the Duc de +Duras, at last annoyed the King, and it was amicably agreed that the +Queen should apprise him when she intended to sit up late. He then began +to sleep in his own apartment, which had never before happened from the +time of their marriage. + +During the winter the Queen attended the Opera balls with a single lady +of the palace, and always found there Monsieur and the Comte d'Artois. +Her people concealed their liveries under gray cloth greatcoats. She +never thought she was recognized, while all the time she was known to the +whole assembly, from the first moment she entered the theatre; they +pretended, however, not to recognise her, and some masquerade manoeuvre +was always adopted to give her the pleasure of fancying herself +incognito. + +Louis XVI. determined once to accompany the Queen to a masked ball; +it was agreed that the King should hold not only the grand but the petit +coucher, as if actually going to bed. The Queen went to his apartment +through the inner corridors of the palace, followed by one of her women +with a black domino; she assisted him to put it on, and they went alone +to the chapel court, where a carriage waited for them, with the captain +of the Guard of the quarter, and a lady of the palace. The King was but +little amused, spoke only to two or three persons, who knew him +immediately, and found nothing to admire at the masquerade but Punches +and Harlequins, which served as a joke against him for the royal family, +who often amused themselves with laughing at him about it. + +An event, simple in itself, brought dire suspicion upon the Queen. She +was going out one evening with the Duchesse de Lupnes, lady of the +palace, when her carriage broke down at the entrance into Paris; she was +obliged to alight; the Duchess led her into a shop, while a footman +called a 'fiacre'. As they were masked, if they had but known how to +keep silence, the event would never have been known; but to ride in a +fiacre is so unusual an adventure for a queen that she had hardly entered +the Opera-house when she could not help saying to some persons whom she +met there: "That I should be in a fiacre! Is it not droll?" + +From that moment all Paris was informed of the adventure of the fiacre. +It was said that everything connected with it was mysterious; that the +Queen had kept an assignation in a private house with the Duc de Coigny. +He was indeed very well received at Court, but equally so by the King and +Queen. These accusations of gallantry once set afloat, there were no +longer any bounds to the calumnies circulated at Paris. If, during the +chase or at cards, the Queen spoke to Lord Edward Dillon, De Lambertye, +or others, they were so many favoured lovers. The people of Paris did +not know that none of those young persons were admitted into the Queen's +private circle of friends; the Queen went about Paris in disguise, and +had made use of a fiacre; and a single instance of levity gives room for +the suspicion of others. + +Conscious of innocence, and well knowing that all about her must do +justice to her private life, the Queen spoke of these reports with +contempt, contenting herself with the supposition that some folly in the +young men mentioned had given rise to them. She therefore left off +speaking to them or even looking at them. Their vanity took alarm at +this, and revenge induced them either to say, or to leave others to +think, that they were unfortunate enough to please no longer. Other +young coxcombs, placing themselves near the private box which the Queen +occupied incognito when she attended the public theatre at Versailles, +had the presumption to imagine that they were noticed by her; and I have +known such notions entertained merely on account of the Queen's +requesting one of those gentlemen to inquire behind the scenes whether it +would be long before the commencement of the second piece. + +The list of persons received into the Queen's closet which I gave in the +preceding chapter was placed in the hands of the ushers of the chamber by +the Princesse de Lamballe; and the persons there enumerated could present +themselves to enjoy the distinction only on those days when the Queen +chose to be with her intimates in a private manner; and this was only +when she was slightly indisposed. People of the first rank at Court +sometimes requested special audiences of her; the Queen then received +them in a room within that called the closet of the women on duty, and +these women announced them in her Majesty's apartment. + +The Duc de Lauzun had a good deal of wit, and chivalrous manners. The +Queen was accustomed to see him at the King's suppers, and at the house +of the Princesse de Guemenee, and always showed him attention. One day +he made his appearance at Madame de Guemenee's in uniform, and with the +most magnificent plume of white heron's feathers that it was possible to +behold. The Queen admired the plume, and he offered it to her through +the Princesse de Guemenee. As he had worn it the Queen had not imagined +that he could think of giving it to her; much embarrassed with the +present which she had, as it were, drawn upon herself, she did not like +to refuse it, nor did she know whether she ought to make one in return; +afraid, if she did give anything, of giving either too much or too +little, she contented herself with once letting M. de Lauzun see her +adorned with the plume. In his secret "Memoirs" the Duke attaches an +importance to his present, which proves him utterly unworthy of an honour +accorded only to his name and rank + +A short time afterwards he solicited an audience; the Queen granted it, +as she would have done to any other courtier of equal rank. I was in the +room adjoining that in which he was received; a few minutes after his +arrival the Queen reopened the door, and said aloud, and in an angry tone +of voice, "Go, monsieur." M. de Lauzun bowed low, and withdrew. The +Queen was much agitated. She said to me: "That man shall never again +come within my doors." A few years before the Revolution of 1789 the +Marechal de Biron died. The Duc de Lauzun, heir to his name, aspired to +the important post of colonel of the regiment of French guards. The +Queen, however, procured it for the Duc du Chaatelet. The Duc de Biron +espoused the cause of the Duc d'Orleans, and became one of the most +violent enemies of Marie Antoinette. + +It is with reluctance that I enter minutely on a defence of the Queen +against two infamous accusations with which libellers have dared to swell +their envenomed volumes. I mean the unworthy suspicions of too strong an +attachment for the Comte d'Artois, and of the motives for the tender +friendship which subsisted between the Queen, the Princesse de Lamballe, +and the Duchesse de Polignac. I do not believe that the Comte d'Artois +was, during his own youth and that of the Queen, so much smitten as has +been said with the loveliness of his sister-in-law; I can affirm that I +always saw that Prince maintain the most respectful demeanour towards the +Queen; that she always spoke of his good-nature and cheerfulness with +that freedom which attends only the purest sentiments; and that none of +those about the Queen ever saw in the affection she manifested towards +the Comte d'Artois more than that of a kind and tender sister for her +youngest brother. As to the intimate connection between Marie Antoinette +and the ladies I have named, it never had, nor could have, any other +motive than the very innocent wish to secure herself two friends in the +midst of a numerous Court; and notwithstanding this intimacy, that tone +of respect observed by persons of the most exalted rank towards majesty +never ceased to be maintained. + +The Queen, much occupied with the society of Madame de Polignac, and an +unbroken series of amusements, found less time for the Abbe de Vermond; +he therefore resolved to retire from Court. The world did him the honour +to believe that he had hazarded remonstrances upon his august pupil's +frivolous employment of her time, and that he considered himself, both as +an ecclesiastic and as instructor, now out of place at Court. But the +world was deceived his dissatisfaction arose purely from the favour shown +to the Comtesse Jules. After a fortnight's absence we saw him at +Versailles again, resuming his usual functions. + +The Queen could express herself with winning graciousness to persons who +merited her praise. When M. Loustonneau was appointed to the reversion +of the post of first surgeon to the King, he came to make his +acknowledgments. He was much beloved by the poor, to whom he had chiefly +devoted his talents, spending nearly thirty thousand francs a year on +indigent sufferers. The Queen replied to his thanks by saying: "You are +satisfied, Monsieur; but I am far from being so with the inhabitants of +Versailles. On the news of your appointment the town should have been +illuminated."--"How so, Madame?" asked the astonished surgeon, who was +very modest. "Why," replied the Queen, "if the poor whom you have +succoured for the past twenty years had each placed a single candle in +their windows it would have been the most beautiful illumination ever +witnessed." + +The Queen did not limit her kindness to friendly words. There was +frequently seen in the apartments of Versailles a veteran captain of the +grenadiers of France, called the Chevalier d'Orville, who for four years +had been soliciting from the Minister of War the post of major, or of +King's lieutenant. He was known to be very poor; but he supported his +lot without complaining of this vexatious delay in rewarding his +honourable services. He regularly attended the Marechal de Segur, +at the hour appointed for receiving the numerous solicitations in his +department. One day the Marshal said to him: "You are still at +Versailles, M. d'Orville?"--"Monsieur," he replied, "you may observe that +by this board of the flooring where I regularly place myself; it is +already worn down several lines by the weight of my body." The Queen +frequently stood at the window of her bedchamber to observe with her +glass the people walking in the park. Sometimes she inquired the names +of those who were unknown to her. One day she saw the Chevalier +d'Orville passing, and asked me the name of that knight of Saint Louis, +whom she had seen everywhere for a long time past. I knew who he was, +and related his history. "That must be put an end to," said the Queen, +with some vivacity. "Such an example of indifference is calculated to +discourage our soldiers." Next day, in crossing the gallery to go to +mass, the Queen perceived the Chevalier d'Orville; she went directly +towards him. The poor man fell back in the recess of a window, looking +to the right and left to discover the person whom the Queen was seeking, +when she thus addressed him: "M. d'Orville, you have been several years +at Versailles, soliciting a majority or a King's lieutenancy. You must +have very powerless patrons."--"I have none, Madame," replied the +Chevalier, in great confusion. "Well! I will take you under my +protection. To-morrow at the same hour be here with a petition, and a +memorial of your services." A fortnight after, M. d'Orville was +appointed King's lieutenant, either at La Rochelle or at Rochefort. + + [Louis XVI. vied with his Queen in benevolent actions of this kind. + An old officer had in vain solicited a pension during the + administration of the Duc de Choiseul. He returned to the charge in + the times of the Marquis de Montesnard and the Duc d'Aiguillon. He + urged his claims, to Comte du Muy, who made a note of them. Tired + of so many fruitless efforts, he at last appeared at the King's + supper, and, having placed himself so as to be seen and heard, cried + out at a moment when silence prevailed, "Sire." The people near him + said, "What are you about? This is not the way to speak to the + King."--"I fear nothing," said he, and raising his voice, repeated, + "Sire." The King, much surprised, looked at him and said, "What do + you want, monsieur."--"Sire," answered he, "I am seventy years of + age; I have served your Majesty more than fifty years, and I am + dying for want."--"Have you a memorial?" replied the King. "Yes, + Sire, I have."--"Give it to me;" and his Majesty took it without + saying anything more. Next morning he was sent for by the, King, + who said, "Monsieur, I grant you an annuity of 1,500 livres out of + my privy purse, and you may go and receive the first year's payment, + which is now due." ("Secret Correspondence of the Court: Reign of + Louis XVI.") The King preferred to spend money in charity rather + than in luxury or magnificence. Once during his absence, M. + d'Augivillers caused an unused room in the King's apartment to be + repaired at a cost of 30,000 francs. On his return the King made + Versailles resound with complaints against M. d'Augivillers: "With + that sum I could have made thirty families happy," he said.] + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +From the time of Louis XVI.'s accession to the throne, the Queen had been +expecting a visit from her brother, the Emperor Joseph II. That Prince +was the constant theme of her discourse. She boasted of his +intelligence, his love of occupation, his military knowledge, and the +perfect simplicity of his manners. Those about her Majesty ardently +wished to see at Versailles a prince so worthy of his rank. At length +the coming of Joseph II., under the title of Count Falkenstein, was +announced, and the very day on which he would be at Versailles was +mentioned. The first embraces between the Queen and her august brother +took place in the presence of all the Queen's household. The sight of +their emotion was extremely affecting. + +The Emperor was at first generally admired in France; learned men, well- +informed officers, and celebrated artists appreciated the extent of his +information. He made less impression at Court, and very little in the +private circle of the King and Queen. His eccentric manners, his +frankness, often degenerating into rudeness, and his evidently affected +simplicity,--all these characteristics caused him to be looked upon as a +prince rather singular than admirable. The Queen spoke to him about the +apartment she had prepared for him in the Chateau; the Emperor answered +that he would not accept it, and that while travelling he always lodged +at a cabaret (that was his very expression); the Queen insisted, and +assured him that he should be at perfect liberty, and placed out of the +reach of noise. He replied that he knew the Chateau of Versailles was +very large, and that so many scoundrels lived there that he could well +find a place; but that his valet de chambre had made up his camp-bed in a +lodging-house, and there he would stay. + +He dined with the King and Queen, and supped with the whole family. He +appeared to take an interest in the young Princesse Elisabeth, then just +past childhood, and blooming in all the freshness of that age. An +intended marriage between him and this young sister of the King was +reported at the time, but I believe it had no foundation in truth. + +The table was still served by women only, when the Queen dined in private +with the King, the royal family, or crowned heads. + + [The custom was, even supposing dinner to have commenced, if a + princess of the blood arrived, and she was asked to sit down at the + Queen's table, the comptrollers and gentlemen-in-waiting came + immediately to attend, and the Queen's women withdrew. These had + succeeded the maids of honour in several parts of their service, and + had preserved some of their privileges. One day the Duchesse + d'Orleans arrived at Fontainebleau, at the Queen's dinner-hour. The + Queen invited her to the table, and herself motioned to her women to + leave the room, and let the men take their places. Her Majesty said + she was resolved to continue a privilege which kept places of that + description most honourable, and render them suitable for ladies of + nobility without fortune. Madame de Misery, Baronne de Biache, the + Queen's first lady of the chamber, to whom I was made reversioner, + was a daughter of M. le Comte de Chemant, and her grandmother was a + Montmorency. M. le Prince de Tingry, in the presence of the Queen, + used to call her cousin. The ancient household of the Kings of + France had prerogatives acknowledged in the state. Many of the + offices were tenable only by those of noble blood, and were sold at + from 40,000 to 300,000 franca. A collection of edicts of the Kings + in favour of the prerogatives and right of precedence of the persons + holding office in the royal household is still in existence.] + +I was present at the Queen's dinner almost every day. The Emperor would +talk much and fluently; he expressed himself in French with facility, and +the singularity, of his expressions added a zest to his conversation. I +have often heard him say that he liked spectacculous objects, when he +meant to express such things as formed a show, or a scene worthy of +interest. He disguised none of his prejudices against the etiquette and +customs of the Court of France; and even in the presence of the King made +them the subject of his sarcasms. The King smiled, but never made any +answer; the Queen appeared pained. The Emperor frequently terminated his +observations upon the objects in Paris which he had admired by +reproaching the King for suffering himself to remain in ignorance of +them. He could not conceive how such a wealth of pictures should remain +shut up in the dust of immense stores; and told him one day that but for +the practice of placing some of them in the apartments of Versailles he +would not know even the principal chef d'oeuvres that he possessed. + + [The Emperor loudly censured the existing practice of allowing + shopkeepers to erect shops near the outward walls of all the + palaces, and even to establish something like a fair in the + galleries of Versailles and Fontainebleau, and even upon the + landings of the staircases.] + +He also reproached him for not having visited the Hotel des Invalides nor +the Ecole Militaire; and even went so far as to tell him before us that +he ought not only to know what Paris contained, but to travel in France, +and reside a few days in each of his large towns. + +At last the Queen was really hurt at the Emperor's remarks, and gave him +a few lectures upon the freedom with which he allowed himself to lecture +others. One day she was busied in signing warrants and orders for +payment for her household, and was conversing with M. Augeard, her +secretary for such matters, who presented the papers one after another to +be signed, and replaced them in his portfolio. While this was going +forward, the Emperor walked about the room; all at once he stood still, +to reproach the Queen rather severely for signing all those papers +without reading them, or, at least, without running her eye over them; +and he spoke most judiciously to her upon the danger of signing her name +inconsiderately. The Queen answered that very wise principles might be +very ill applied; that her secretary, who deserved her implicit +confidence, was at that moment laying before her nothing but orders for +payment of the quarter's expenses of her household, registered in the +Chamber of Accounts; and that she ran no risk of incautiously giving her +signature. + +The Queen's toilet was likewise a never-failing subject for animadversion +with the Emperor. He blamed her for having introduced too many new +fashions; and teased her about her use of rouge. One day, while she was +laying on more of it than usual, before going to the play, he pointed out +a lady who was in the room, and who was, in truth, highly painted. "A +little more under the eyes," said the Emperor to the Queen; "lay on the +rouge like a fury, as that lady does." The Queen entreated her brother +to refrain from his jokes, or at all events to address them, when they +were so outspoken, to her alone. + +The Queen had made an appointment to meet her brother at the Italian +theatre; she changed her mind, and went to the French theatre, sending a +page to the Italian theatre to request the Emperor to come to her there. +He left his box, lighted by the comedian Clairval, and attended by M. de +la Ferte, comptroller of the Queen's privy purse, who was much hurt at +hearing his Imperial Majesty, after kindly expressing his regret at not +being present during the Italian performance, say to Clairval, "Your +young Queen is very giddy; but, luckily, you Frenchmen have no great +objection to that." + +I was with my father-in-law in one of the Queen's apartments when the +Emperor came to wait for her there, and, knowing that M. Campan was +librarian, he conversed with him about such books as would of course be +found in the Queen's library. After talking of our most celebrated +authors, he casually said, "There are doubtless no works on finance or +on administration here?" + +These words were followed by his opinion on all that had been written on +those topics, and the different systems of our two famous ministers, +Sully and Colbert; on errors which were daily committed in France, in +points essential to the prosperity of the Empire; and on the reform he +himself would make at Vienna. Holding M. Campan by the button, he spent +more than an hour, talking vehemently, and without the slightest reserve, +about the French Government. My father-in-law and myself maintained +profound silence, as much from astonishment as from respect; and when we +were alone we agreed not to speak of this interview. + +The Emperor was fond of describing the Italian Courts that he had +visited. The jealous quarrels between the King and Queen of Naples +amused him highly; he described to the life the manner and speech of that +sovereign, and the simplicity with which he used to go and solicit the +first chamberlain to obtain permission to return to the nuptial bed, when +the angry Queen had banished him from it. The time which he was made to +wait for this reconciliation was calculated between the Queen and her +chamberlain, and always proportioned to the gravity of the offence. He +also related several very amusing stories relative to the Court of Parma, +of which he spoke with no little contempt. If what this Prince said of +those Courts, and even of Vienna, had been written down, the whole would +have formed an interesting collection. The Emperor told the King that +the Grand Duke of Tuscany and the King of Naples being together, the +former said a great deal about the changes he had effected in his State. +The Grand Duke had issued a mass of new edicts, in order to carry the +precepts of the economists into execution, and trusted that in so doing +he was labouring for the welfare of his people. The King of Naples +suffered him to go on speaking for a long time, and then casually asked +how many Neapolitan families there were in Tuscany. The Duke soon +reckoned them up, as they were but few. "Well, brother," replied the +King of Naples, "I do not understand the indifference of your people +towards your great reforms; for I have four times the number of Tuscan +families settled in my States that you have of Neapolitan families in +yours." + +The Queen being at the Opera with the Emperor, the latter did not wish to +show himself; but she took him by the hand, and gently drew him to the +front of the box. This kind of presentation to the public was most +warmly received. The performance was "Iphigenia in Aulis," and for the +second time. the chorus, "Chantons, celebrons notre Reine!" was called +for with universal plaudits. + +A fete of a novel description was given at Petit Trianon. The art with +which the English garden was not illuminated, but lighted, produced a +charming effect. Earthen lamps, concealed by boards painted green, threw +light upon the beds of shrubs and flowers, and brought out their varied +tints. Several hundred burning fagots in the moat behind the Temple of +Love made a blaze of light, which rendered that spot the most brilliant +in the garden. After all, this evening's entertainment had nothing +remarkable about it but the good taste of the artists, yet it was much +talked of. The situation did not allow the admission of a great part of +the Court; those who were uninvited were dissatisfied; and the people, +who never forgive any fetes but those they share in, so exaggerated the +cost of this little fete as to make it appear that the fagots burnt in +the moat had required the destruction of a whole forest. The Queen being +informed of these reports, was determined to know exactly how much wood +had been consumed; and she found that fifteen hundred fagots had sufficed +to keep up the fire until four o'clock in the morning. + +After staying a few months the Emperor left France, promising his sister +to come and see her again. All the officers of the Queen's chamber had +many opportunities of serving him during his stay, and expected that he +would make them presents before his departure. Their oath of office +positively forbade them to receive a gift from any foreign prince; they +had therefore agreed to refuse the Emperor's presents at first, but to +ask the time necessary for obtaining permission to accept them. The +Emperor, probably informed of this custom, relieved the good people from +their difficulty by setting off without making a single present. + +About the latter end of 1777 the Queen, being alone in her closet, sent +for my father-in-law and myself, and, giving us her hand to kiss; told us +that, looking upon us both as persons deeply interested in her happiness, +she wished to receive our congratulations,--that at length she was the +Queen of France, and that she hoped soon to have children; that till now +she had concealed her grief, but that she had shed many tears in secret. + +Dating from this happy but long-delayed moment, the King's attachment to +the Queen assumed every characteristic of love. The good Lassone, first +physician to the King and Queen, frequently spoke to me of the uneasiness +that the King's indifference, the cause of which he had been so long in +overcoming, had given him, and appeared to me at that time to entertain +no anxiety except of a very different description. + +In the winter of 1778 the King's permission for the return of Voltaire; +after an absence of twenty-seven years, was obtained. A few strict +persons considered this concession on the part of the Court very +injudicious. The Emperor, on leaving France, passed by the Chateau of +Ferney without stopping there. He had advised the Queen not to suffer +Voltaire to be presented to her. A lady belonging to the Court learned +the Emperor's opinion on that point, and reproached him with his want of +enthusiasm towards the greatest genius of the age. He replied that for +the good of the people he should always endeavour to profit by the +knowledge of the philosophers; but that his own business of sovereign +would always prevent his ranking himself amongst that sect. The clergy +also took steps to hinder Voltaire's appearance at Court. Paris, +however, carried to the highest pitch the honours and enthusiasm shown to +the great poet. + +It was very unwise to let Paris pronounce with such transport an opinion +so opposite to that of the Court. This was pointed out to the Queen, +and she was told that, without conferring on Voltaire the honour of a +presentation, she might see him in the State apartments. She was not +averse to following this advice, and appeared embarrassed solely about +what she should say to him. She was recommended to talk about nothing +but the "Henriade," "Merope," and "Zaira." The Queen replied that she +would still consult a few other persons in whom she had great confidence. +The next day she announced that it was irrevocably decided Voltaire +should not see any member of the royal family,--his writings being too +antagonistic to religion and morals. "It is, however, strange," said the +Queen, "that while we refuse to admit Voltaire into our presence as the +leader of philosophical writers, the Marechale de Mouchy should have +presented to me some years ago Madame Geoffrin, who owed her celebrity to +the title of foster-mother of the philosophers." + +On the occasion of the duel of the Comte d'Artois with the Prince de +Bourbon the Queen determined privately to see the Baron de Besenval, +who was to be one of the witnesses, in order to communicate the King's +intentions. I have read with infinite pain the manner in which that +simple fact is perverted in the first volume of M. de Besenval's +"Memoirs." He is right in saying that M. Campan led him through the +upper corridors of the Chateau, and introduced him into an apartment +unknown to him; but the air of romance given to the interview is equally +culpable and ridiculous. M. de Besenval says that he found himself, +without knowing how he came there, in an apartment unadorned, but very +conveniently furnished, of the existence of which he was till then +utterly ignorant. He was astonished, he adds, not that the Queen should +have so many facilities, but that she should have ventured to procure +them. Ten printed sheets of the woman Lamotte's libels contain nothing +so injurious to the character of Marie Antoinette as these lines, written +by a man whom she honoured by undeserved kindness. He could not have had +any opportunity of knowing the existence of the apartments, which +consisted of a very small antechamber, a bedchamber, and a closet. Ever +since the Queen had occupied her own apartment, these had been +appropriated to her Majesty's lady of honour in cases of illness, and +were actually so used when the Queen was confined. It was so important +that it should not be known the Queen had spoken to the Baron before the +duel that she had determined to go through her inner room into this +little apartment, to which M. Campan was to conduct him. When men write +of recent times they should be scrupulously exact, and not indulge in +exaggerations or inventions. + +The Baron de Besenval appears mightily surprised at the Queen's sudden +coolness, and refers it to the fickleness of her disposition. I can +explain the reason for the change by repeating what her Majesty said to +me at the time; and I will not alter one of her expressions. Speaking of +the strange presumption of men, and the reserve with which women ought +always to treat them, the Queen added that age did not deprive them of +the hope of pleasing, if they retained any agreeable qualities; that she +had treated the Baron de Besenval as a brave Swiss, agreeable, polished, +and witty, whose gray hairs had induced her to look upon him as a man +whom she might see without harm; but that she had been much deceived. +Her Majesty, after having enjoined me to the strictest secrecy, told me +that, finding herself alone with the Baron, he began to address her with +so much gallantry that she was thrown into the utmost astonishment, and +that he was mad enough to fall upon his knees, and make her a declaration +in form. The Queen added that she said to him: "Rise, monsieur; the King +shall be ignorant of an offence which would disgrace you for ever;" that +the Baron grew pale and stammered apologies; that she left her closet +without saying another word, and that since that time she hardly ever +spoke to him. "It is delightful to have friends," said the Queen; "but +in a situation like mine it is sometimes difficult for the friends of our +friends to suit us." + +In the beginning of the year 1778 Mademoiselle d'Eon obtained permission +to return to France, on condition that she should appear there in female +dress. The Comte de Vergennes entreated my father, M. Genet, chief clerk +of Foreign Affairs, who had long known the Chevalier d'Eon, to receive +that strange personage at his house, to guide and restrain, if possible, +her ardent disposition. The Queen, on learning her arrival at +Versailles, sent a footman to desire my father to bring her into her +presence; my father thought it his duty first to inform the Minister of +her Majesty's wish. The Comte de Vergennes expressed himself pleased +with my father's prudence, and desired that he would accompany him to the +Queen. The Minister had a few minutes' audience; her Majesty came out of +her closet with him, and condescended to express to my father the regret +she felt at having troubled him to no purpose; and added, smiling, that a +few words from M. de Vergennes had for ever cured her of her curiosity. +The discovery in London of the true sex of this pretended woman makes it +probable that the few words uttered by the Minister contained a solution +of the enigma. + +The Chevalier d'Eon had been useful in Russia as a spy of Louis XV. +while very young he had found means to introduce himself at the Court of +the Empress Elizabeth, and served that sovereign in the capacity of +reader. Resuming afterwards his military dress, he served with honour +and was wounded. Appointed chief secretary of legation, and afterwards +minister plenipotentiary at London, he unpardonably insulted Comte de +Guerchy, the ambassador. The official order for the Chevalier's return +to France was actually delivered to the King's Council; but Louis XV. +delayed the departure of the courier who was to be its bearer, and sent +off another courier privately, who gave the Chevalier d'Eon a letter in +his own writing, in which he said, "I know that you have served me as +effectually in the dress of a woman as in that which you now wear. +Resume it instantly; withdraw into the city; I warn you that the King +yesterday signed an order for your return to France; you are not safe in +your hotel, and you would here find too powerful enemies." I heard the +Chevalier d'Eon repeat the contents of this letter, in which Louis XV. +thus separated himself from the King of France, several times at my +father's. The Chevalier, or rather the Chevalaere d'Eon had preserved +all the King's letters. Messieurs de Maurepas and de Vergennes wished to +get them out of his hands, as they were afraid he would print them. This +eccentric being had long solicited permission to return to France; but it +was necessary to find a way of sparing the family he had offended the +insult they would see in his return; he was therefore made to resume the +costume of that sex to which in France everything is pardoned. The +desire to see his native land once more determined him to submit to the +condition, but he revenged himself by combining the long train of his +gown and the three deep ruffles on his sleeves with the attitude and +conversation of a grenadier, which made him very disagreeable company. + + [The account given by Madame Campan of the Chevalier d'Eon is now + known to be incorrect in many particulars. Enough details for most + readers will be found in the Duc de Broglie's "Secret of the King," + vol. ii., chaps. vi. and g., and at p. 89, vol. ii. of that + work, where the Duke refers to the letter of most dubious + authenticity spoken of by Madame Campan. The following details will + be sufficient for these memoirs: The Chevalier Charles d'Eon de + Beaumont (who was born in 1728) was an ex-captain of dragoons, + employed in both the open and secret diplomacy of Louis XV. When at + the embassy in London he quarrelled with the ambassador, his + superior, the Comte de Guerchy (Marquis do Nangis), and used his + possession of papers concerning the secret diplomacy to shield + himself. It was when hiding in London, in 1765, on account of this + business, that he seems first to have assumed woman's dress, which + he retained apparently chiefly from love of notoriety. In 1775 a + formal agreement with the French Court, made by the instrumentality + of Beaumarchais, of all people in the world, permitted him to return + to France, retaining the dress of a woman. He went back to France, + but again came to England, and died there, at his residence in + Millman Street, near the Foundling Hospital, May 22, 1710. He had + been a brave and distinguished officer, but his form and a certain + coldness of temperament always remarked in him assisted him in his + assumption of another sex. There appears to be no truth in the + story of his proceedings at the Russian Court, and his appearing in + female attire was a surprise to those who must have known of any + earlier affair of the sort.] + +At last, the event so long desired by the Queen, and by all those who +wished her well, took place; her Majesty became enceinte. The King was +in ecstasies. Never was there a more united or happier couple. The +disposition of Louis XVI. entirely altered, and became prepossessing and +conciliatory; and the Queen was amply compensated for the uneasiness +which the King's indifference during the early part of their union had +caused her. + +The summer of 1778 was extremely hot. July and August passed, but the +air was not cooled by a single storm. The Queen spent whole days in +close rooms, and could not sleep until she had breathed the fresh night +air, walking with the Princesses and her brothers upon the terrace under +her apartments. These promenades at first gave rise to no remark; but it +occurred to some of the party to enjoy the music of wind instruments +during these fine summer nights. The musicians belonging to the chapel +were ordered to perform pieces suited to instruments of that description, +upon steps constructed in the middle of the garden. The Queen, seated on +one of the terrace benches, enjoyed the effect of this music, surrounded +by all the royal family with the exception of the King, who joined them +but, twice, disliking to change his hour of going to bed. + +Nothing could be more innocent than these parties; yet Paris, France, +nay, all Europe, were soon canvassing them in a manner most +disadvantageous to the reputation of Marie Antoinette. It is true that +all the inhabitants of Versailles enjoyed these serenades, and that there +was a crowd near the spot from eleven at night until two or three in the +morning. The windows of the ground floor occupied by Monsieur and Madame +--[The wife of Monsieur, the Comte de Provence.]-- were kept open, and +the terrace was perfectly well lighted by the numerous wax candles +burning in the two apartments. Lamps were likewise placed in the garden, +and the lights of the orchestra illuminated the rest of the place. + +I do not know whether a few incautious women might not have ventured +farther, and wandered to the bottom of the park; it may have been so; but +the Queen, Madame, and the Comtesse d'Artois were always arm-in-arm, and +never left the terrace. The Princesses were not remarkable when seated +on the benches, being dressed in cambric muslin gowns, with large straw +hats and muslin veils, a costume universally adopted by women at that +time; but when standing up their different figures always distinguished +them; and the persons present stood on one side to let them pass. It is +true that when they seated themselves upon the benches private +individuals would sometimes, to their great amusement, sit down by +their side. + +A young clerk in the War Department, either not knowing or pretending not +to know the Queen, spoke to her of the beauty of the night, and the +delightful effect of the music. The Queen, fancying she was not +recognised, amused herself by keeping up the incognito, and they talked +of several private families of Versailles, consisting of persons +belonging to the King's household or her own. After a few minutes the +Queen and Princesses rose to walk, and on leaving the bench curtsied to +the clerk. The young man knowing, or having subsequently discovered, +that he had been conversing with the Queen, boasted of it in his office. +He was merely, desired to hold his tongue; and so little attention did he +excite that the Revolution found him still only a clerk. + +Another evening one of Monsieur's body-guard seated himself near the +Princesses, and, knowing them, left the place where he was sitting, and +placed himself before the Queen, to tell her that he was very fortunate +in being able to seize an opportunity of imploring the kindness of his +sovereign; that he was "soliciting at Court"--at the word soliciting the +Queen and Princesses rose hastily and withdrew into Madame's apartment.-- +[Soulavie has most criminally perverted these two facts.-MADAME CAMPAN.]- +I was at the Queen's residence that day. She talked of this little +occurrence all the time of her 'coucher'; though she only complained that +one of Monsieur's guards should have had the effrontery to speak to her. +Her Majesty added that he ought to have respected her incognito; and that +that was not the place where he should have ventured to make a request. +Madame had recognised him, and talked of making a complaint to his +captain; the Queen opposed it, attributing his error to his ignorance and +provincial origin. + +The most scandalous libels were based on these two insignificant +occurrences, which I have related with scrupulous exactness. Nothing +could be more false than those calumnies. It must be confessed, however, +that such meetings were liable to ill consequences. I ventured to say as +much to the Queen, and informed her that one evening, when her Majesty +beckoned to me to go and speak to her, I thought I recognised on the +bench on which she was sitting two women deeply veiled, and keeping +profound silence; that those women were the Comtesse du Barry and her +sister-in-law; and that my suspicions were confirmed, when, at a few +paces from the seat, and nearer to her Majesty, I met a tall footman +belonging to Madame du Barry, whom I had seen in her service all the time +she resided at Court. + +My advice was disregarded. Misled by the pleasure she found in these +promenades, and secure in the consciousness of blameless conduct, the +Queen would not see the lamentable results which must necessarily follow. +This was very unfortunate; for besides the mortifications they brought +upon her, it is highly probable that they prompted the vile plot which +gave rise to the Cardinal de Rohan's fatal error. + +Having enjoyed these evening promenades about a month, the Queen ordered +a private concert within the colonnade which contained the group of Pluto +and Proserpine. Sentinels were placed at all the entrances, and ordered +to admit within the colonnade only such persons as should produce tickets +signed by my father-in-law. A fine concert was performed there by the +musicians of the chapel and the female musicians belonging to the. +Queen's chamber. The Queen went with Mesdames de Polignac, de Chalon, +and d'Andlau, and Messieurs de Polignac, de Coigny, de Besenval, and de +Vaudreuil; there were also a few equerries present. Her Majesty gave me +permission to attend the concert with some of my female relations. There +was no music upon the terrace. The crowd of inquisitive people, whom the +sentinels kept at a distance from the enclosure of the colonnade, went +away highly discontented; the small number of persons admitted no doubt +occasioned jealousy, and gave rise to offensive comments which were +caught up by the public with avidity. I do not pretend to apologise for +the kind of amusements with which the Queen indulged herself during this +and the following summer; the consequences were so lamentable that the +error was no doubt very great; but what I have said respecting the +character of these promenades may be relied on as true. + +When the season for evening walks was at an end, odious couplets were +circulated in Paris; the 'Queen was treated in them in the most insulting +manner; her situation ranked among her enemies persons attached to the +only prince who for several years had appeared likely to give heirs to +the crown. People uttered the most inconsiderate language; and those +improper conversations took place in societies wherein the imminent +danger of violating to so criminal an extent both truth and the respect +due to sovereigns ought to have been better understood. A few days +before the Queen's confinement a whole volume of manuscript songs, +concerning her and all the ladies about her remarkable for rank or +station was, thrown down in the oiel-de-boeuf.--[A large room at +Versailles lighted by a bull's-eye window, and used as a waiting-room.]-- +This manuscript was immediately put into the hands of the King, who was +highly incensed at it, and said that he had himself been at those +promenades; that he had seen nothing connected with them but what was +perfectly harmless; that such songs would disturb the harmony of twenty +families in the Court and city; that it was a capital crime to have made +any against the Queen herself; and that he wished the author of the +infamous libels to be discovered and punished. A fortnight afterwards it +was known publicly that the verses were by M. Champcenetz de Riquebourg, +who was not even reprimanded. + + [The author of a great many songs, some of which are very well + written. Lively and satirical by nature, he did not lose either his + cheerfulness or his carelessness before the revolutionary tribunal. + After hearing his own sentence read, he asked his judges if he might + not be allowed to find a substitute.--MADAME CAMPAN.] + +I knew for a certainty that the King spoke to M. de Maurepas, before two +of his most confidential servants, respecting the risk which he saw the +Queen ran from these night walks upon the terrace of Versailles, which +the public ventured to censure thus openly, and that the old minister had +the cruelty to advise that she should be suffered to go on; she possessed +talent; her friends were very ambitious, and longed to see her take a +part in public affairs; and to let her acquire the reputation of levity +would do no harm. M. de Vergennes was as hostile to the Queen's +influence as M. de Maurepas. It may therefore be fairly presumed, since +the Prime Minister durst point out to his King an advantage to be gained +by the Queen's discrediting herself, that he and M. de Vergennes employed +all means within the reach of powerful ministers in order to ruin her in +the opinion of the public. + +The Queen's accouchement approached; Te Deums were sung and prayers +offered up in all the cathedrals. On the 11th of December, 1778, the +royal family, the Princes of the blood, and the great officers of State +passed the night in the rooms adjoining the Queen's bedchamber. Madame, +the King's daughter, came into the world before mid-day on the 19th of +December.--[Marie Therese Charlotte (1778-1861), Madame Royale; married +in 1799 Louis, Duc d'Angouleme, eldest son of the Comte d'Artois.]-- +The etiquette of allowing all persons indiscriminately to enter at the +moment of the delivery of a queen was observed with such exaggeration +that when the accoucheur said aloud, "La Reine va s'accoucher," the +persons who poured into the chamber were so numerous that the rush nearly +destroyed the Queen. During the night the King had taken the precaution +to have the enormous tapestry screens which surrounded her Majesty's bed +secured with cords; but for this they certainly would have been thrown +down upon her. It was impossible to move about the chamber, which was +filled with so motley a crowd that one might have fancied himself in some +place of public amusement. Two Savoyards got upon the furniture for a +better sight of the Queen, who was placed opposite the fireplace. + +The noise and the sex of the infant, with which the Queen was made +acquainted by a signal previously agreed on, as it is said, with the +Princesse do Lamballe, or some error of the accoucheur, brought on +symptoms which threatened fatal consequences; the accoucheur exclaimed, +"Give her air--warm water--she must be bled in the foot!" The windows +were stopped up; the King opened them with a strength which his affection +for the Queen gave him at the moment. They were of great height, and +pasted over with strips of paper all round. The basin of hot water not +being brought quickly enough, the accoucheur desired the chief surgeon to +use his lancet without waiting for it. He did so; the blood streamed out +freely, and the Queen opened her eyes. The Princesse de Lamballe was +carried through the crowd in a state of insensibility. The valets de +chambre and pages dragged out by the collar such inconsiderate persons as +would not leave the room. This cruel custom was abolished afterwards. +The Princes of the family, the Princes of the blood, the chancellor, and +the ministers are surely sufficient to attest the legitimacy of an +hereditary prince. The Queen was snatched from the very jaws of death; +she was not conscious of having been bled, and on being replaced in bed +asked why she had a linen bandage upon her foot. + +The delight which succeeded the moment of fear was equally lively and +sincere. We were all embracing each other, and shedding tears of joy. +The Comte d'Esterhazy and the Prince de Poix, to whom I was the first to +announce that the Queen was restored to life, embraced me in the midst of +the cabinet of nobles. We little imagined, in our happiness at her +escape from death, for how much more terrible a fate our beloved Princess +was reserved. + + +NOTE. The two following specimens of the Emperor Joseph's correspondence +forcibly demonstrate the vigour, shrewdness, and originality of his mind, +and complete the portrait left of him by Madame Campan. + +Few sovereigns have given their reasons for refusing appointments with +the fullness and point of the following letter + + To a Lady. + +MADAM.--I do not think that it is amongst the duties of a monarch to +grant places to one of his subjects merely because he is a gentleman. +That, however, is the inference from the request you have made to me. +Your late husband was, you say, a distinguished general, a gentleman of +good family, and thence you conclude that my kindness to your family can +do no less than give a company of foot to your second son, lately +returned from his travels. + +Madam, a man may be the son of a general and yet have no talent for +command. A man may be of a good family and yet possess no other merit +than that which he owes to chance,--the name of gentleman. + +I know your son, and I know what makes the soldier; and this twofold +knowledge convinces me that your son has not the disposition of a +warrior, and that he is too full of his birth to leave the country a hope +of his ever rendering it any important service. + +What you are to be pitied for, madam, is, that your son is not fit either +for an officer, a statesman or a priest; in a word, that he is nothing +more than a gentleman in the most extended acceptation of the word. + +You may be thankful to that destiny, which, in refusing talents to your +son, has taken care to put him in possession of great wealth, which will +sufficiently compensate him for other deficiencies, and enable him at the +same time to dispense with any favour from me. + +I hope you will be impartial enough to see the reasons which prompt me to +refuse your request. It may be disagreeable to you, but I consider it +necessary. Farewell, madam.--Your sincere well-wisher, + JOSEPH +LACHSENBURG, 4th August, 1787. + + +The application of another anxious and somewhat covetous mother was +answered with still more decision and irony: + + To a Lady. + +MADAM.--You know my disposition; you are not ignorant that the society of +the ladies is to me a mere recreation, and that I have never sacrificed +my principles to the fair sex. I pay but little attention to +recommendations, and I only take them into consideration when the person +in whose behalf I may be solicited possesses real merit. + +Two of your sons are already loaded with favours. The eldest, who is not +yet twenty, is chief of a squadron in my army, and the younger has +obtained a canonry at Cologne, from the Elector, my brother. What would +you have more? Would you have the first a general and the second a +bishop? + +In France you may see colonels in leading-strings, and in Spain the royal +princes command armies even at eighteen; hence Prince Stahremberg forced +them to retreat so often that they were never able all the rest of their +lives to comprehend any other manoeuvre. + +It is necessary to be sincere at Court, and severe in the field, stoical +without obduracy, magnanimous without weakness, and to gain the esteem of +our enemies by the justice of our actions; and this, madam, is what I aim +at. + JOSEPH +VIENNA, September, 1787. + +(From the inedited Letters of Joseph IL, published at Paris, by Persan, +1822.) + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +During the alarm for the life of the Queen, regret at not possessing an +heir to the throne was not even thought of. The King himself was wholly +occupied with the care of preserving an adored wife. The young Princess +was presented to her mother. "Poor little one," said the Queen, "you +were not wished for, but you are not on that account less dear to me. A +son would have been rather the property of the State. You shall be mine; +you shall have my undivided care, shall share all my happiness, and +console me in all my troubles." + +The King despatched a courier to Paris, and wrote letters himself to +Vienna, by the Queen's bedside; and part of the rejoicings ordered took +place in the capital. + +A great number of attendants watched near the Queen during the first +nights of her confinement. This custom distressed her; she knew how to +feel for others, and ordered large armchairs for her women, the backs of +which were capable of being let down by springs, and which served +perfectly well instead of beds. + +M. de Lassone, the chief physician, the chief surgeon, the chief +apothecary, the principal officers of the buttery, etc., were likewise +nine nights without going to bed. The royal children were watched for a +long time, and one of the women on duty remained, nightly, up and +dressed, during the first three years from their birth. + +The Queen made her entry into Paris for the churching. One hundred +maidens were portioned and married at Notre-Dame. There were few popular +acclamations, but her Majesty was perfectly well received at the Opera. + +A few days after the Queen's recovery from her confinement, the Cure of +the Magdelaine de la City at Paris wrote to M. Campan and requested a +private interview with him; it was to desire he would deliver into the +hands of the Queen a little box containing her wedding ring, with this +note written by the Cure: "I have received under the seal of confession +the ring which I send to your Majesty; with an avowal that it was stolen +from you in 1771, in order to be used in sorceries, to prevent your +having any children." On seeing her ring again the Queen said that she +had in fact lost it about seven years before, while washing her hands, +and that she had resolved to use no endeavour to discover the +superstitious woman who had done her the injury. + +The Queen's attachment to the Comtesse Jules increased every day; she +went frequently to her house at Paris, and even took up her own abode at +the Chateau de la Muette to be nearer during her confinement. She +married Mademoiselle de Polignac, when scarcely thirteen years of age, to +M. de Grammont, who, on account of this marriage, was made Duc de Guiche, +and captain of the King's Guards, in reversion after the Duc de Villeroi. +The Duchesse de Civrac, Madame Victoire's dame d'honneur, had been +promised the place for the Duc de Lorges, her son. The number of +discontented families at Court increased. + +The title of favourite was too openly given to the Comtesse Jules by her +friends. The lot of the favourite of a queen is not, in France, a happy +one; the favourites of kings are treated, out of gallantry, with much +greater indulgence. + +A short time after the birth of Madame the Queen became again enceinte; +she had mentioned it only to the King, to her physician, and to a few +persons honoured with her intimate confidence, when, having overexerted +her strength in pulling lip one of the glasses of her carriage, she felt +that she had hurt herself, and eight days afterwards she miscarried. The +King spent the whole morning at her bedside, consoling her, and +manifesting the tenderest concern for her. The Queen wept exceedingly; +the King took her affectionately in his arms, and mingled his tears with +hers. The King enjoined silence among the small number of persons who +were informed of this unfortunate occurrence; and it remained generally +unknown. These particulars furnish an accurate idea of the manner in +which this august couple lived together. + +The Empress Maria Theresa did not enjoy the happiness of seeing her +daughter give an heir to the crown of France. That illustrious Princess +died at the close of 1780, after having proved by her example that, as in +the instance of Queen Blanche, the talents of a sovereign might be +blended with the virtues of a pious princess. The King was deeply +affected at the death of the Empress; and on the arrival of the courier +from Vienna said that he could not bring himself to afflict the Queen by +informing her of an event which grieved even him so much. His Majesty +thought the Abbe de Vermond, who had possessed the confidence of Maria +Theresa during his stay at Vienna, the most proper person to discharge +this painful duty. He sent his first valet de chambre, M. de Chamilly, +to the Abbe on the evening of the day he received the despatches from +Vienna, to order him to come the next day to the Queen before her +breakfast hour, to acquit himself discreetly of the afflicting commission +with which he was charged, and to let his Majesty know the moment of his +entering the Queen's chamber. It was the King's intention to be there +precisely a quarter of an hour after him, and he was punctual to his +time; he was announced; the Abbe came out; and his Majesty said to him, +as he drew up at the door to let him pass, "I thank you, Monsieur l'Abbe, +for the service you have just done me." This was the only time during +nineteen years that the King spoke to him. + +Within an hour after learning the event the Queen put on temporary +mourning, while waiting until her Court mourning should be ready; she +kept herself shut up in her apartments for several days; went out only to +mass; saw none but the royal family; and received none but the Princesse +de Lamballe and the Duchesse de Polignac. She talked incessantly of the +courage, the misfortunes, the successes, and the virtues of her mother. +The shroud and dress in which Maria Theresa was to be buried, made +entirely by her own hands, were found ready prepared in one of her +closets. She often regretted that the numerous duties of her august +mother had prevented her from watching in person over the education of +her daughters; and modestly said that she herself would have been more +worthy if she had had the good fortune to receive lessons directly from a +sovereign so enlightened and so deserving of admiration. + +The Queen told me one day that her mother was left a widow at an age when +her beauty was yet striking; that she was secretly informed of a plot +laid by her three principal ministers to make themselves agreeable to +her; of a compact made between them, that the losers should not feel any +jealousy towards him who should be fortunate enough to gain his +sovereign's heart; and that they had sworn that the successful one should +be always the friend of the other two. The Empress being assured of this +scheme, one day after the breaking up of the council over which she had +presided, turned the conversation upon the subject of female sovereigns, +and the duties of their sex and rank; and then applying her general +reflections to herself in particular, told them that she hoped to guard +herself all her life against weaknesses of the heart; but that if ever an +irresistible feeling should make her alter her resolution, it should be +only in favour of a man proof against ambition, not engaged in State +affairs, but attached only to a private life and its calm enjoyments,--in +a word, if her heart should betray her so far as to lead her to love a +man invested with any important office, from the moment he should +discover her sentiments he would forfeit his place and his influence with +the public. This was sufficient; the three ministers, more ambitious +than amorous, gave up their projects for ever. + +On the 22d of October, 1781, the Queen gave birth to a Dauphin.-- +[The first Dauphin, Louis, born 1781, died 1789.]--So deep a silence +prevailed in the room that the Queen thought her child was a daughter; +but after the Keeper of the Seals had declared the sex of the infant, the +King went up to the Queen's bed, and said to her, "Madame, you have +fulfilled my wishes and those of France:, you are the mother of a +Dauphin." The King's joy was boundless; tears streamed from his eyes; he +gave his hand to every one present; and his happiness carried away his +habitual reserve. Cheerful and affable, he was incessantly taking +occasion to introduce the words, "my son," or "the Dauphin." As soon as +the Queen was in bed, she wished to see the long-looked-for infant. The +Princesse de Guemenee brought him to her. The Queen said there was no +need for commending him to the Princess, but in order to enable her to +attend to him more freely, she would herself share the care of the +education of her daughter. When the Dauphin was settled in his +apartment, he received the customary homages and visits. The Duc +d'Angouleme, meeting his father at the entrance of the Dauphin's +apartment, said to him, "Oh, papa! how little my cousin is!"--"The day +will come when you will think him great enough, my dear," answered the +Prince, almost involuntarily.--[Eldest son of the Comte d'Artois, and +till the birth of the Dauphin with near prospects of the succession.] + +The birth of the Dauphin appeared to give joy to all classes. Men +stopped one another in the streets, spoke without being acquainted, +and those who were acquainted embraced each other. In the birth of a +legitimate heir to the sovereign every man beholds a pledge of prosperity +and tranquillity . + + [M. Merard de Saint Just made a quatrain on the birth of the Dauphin + to the following effect: + + "This infant Prince our hopes are centred in, + will doubtless make us happy, rich, and free; + And since with somebody he must begin, + My fervent prayer is--that it may be me!" + + --NOTE BY THE EDITOR.] + +The rejoicings were splendid and ingenious. The artificers and tradesmen +of Paris spent considerable sums in order to go to Versailles in a body, +with their various insignia. Almost every troop had music with it. When +they arrived at the court of the palace, they there arranged themselves +so as to present a most interesting living picture. Chimney-sweepers, +quite as well dressed as those that appear upon the stage, carried an +ornamented chimney, at the top of which was perched one of the smallest +of their fraternity. The chairmen carried a sedan highly gilt, in which +were to be seen a handsome nurse and a little Dauphin. The butchers made +their appearance with their fat ox. Cooks, masons, blacksmiths, all +trades were on the alert. The smiths hammered away upon an anvil, the +shoemakers finished off a little pair of boots for the Dauphin, and the +tailors a little suit of the uniform of his regiment. The King remained +a long time upon a balcony to enjoy the sight. The whole Court was +delighted with it. So general was the enthusiasm that (the police not +having carefully examined the procession) the grave-diggers had the +imprudence to send their deputation also, with the emblematic devices of +their ill-omened occupation. They were met by the Princesse Sophie, the +King's aunt, who was thrilled with horror at the sight, and entreated the +King to have the audacious, fellows driven out of the procession, which +was then drawing up on the terrace. + +The 'dames de la halle' came to congratulate the Queen, and were received +with the suitable ceremonies. + +Fifty of them appeared dressed in black silk gowns, the established full +dress of their order, and almost all wore diamonds. The Princesse de +Chimay went to the door of the Queen's bedroom to receive three of these +ladies, who were led up to the Queen's bed. One of them addressed her +Majesty in a speech written by M. de la Harpe. It was set down on the +inside of a fan, to which the speaker repeatedly referred, but without +any embarrassment. She was handsome, and had a remarkably fine voice. +The Queen was affected by the address, and answered it with great +affability,--wishing a distinction to be made between these women and the +poissardes, who always left a disagreeable impression on her mind. + +The King ordered a substantial repast for all these women. One of his +Majesty's maitres d'hotel, wearing his hat, sat as president and did the +honours of the table. The public were admitted, and numbers of people +had the curiosity to go. + +The Garden-du-Corps obtained the King's permission to give the Queen a +dress ball in the great hall of the Opera at Versailles. Her Majesty +opened the ball in a minuet with a private selected by the corps, to whom +the King granted the baton of an exempt. The fete was most splendid. +All then was joy, happiness, and peace. + +The Dauphin was a year old when the Prince de Guemenee's bankruptcy +compelled the Princess, his wife, who was governess to the children of +France, to resign her situation. + +The Queen was at La Muette for the inoculation of her daughter. She sent +for me, and condescended to say she wished to converse with me about a +scheme which delighted her, but in the execution of which she foresaw +some inconveniences. Her plan was to appoint the Duchesse de Polignac to +the office lately held by the Princesse de Guemenee. She saw with +extreme pleasure the facilities which this appointment would give her for +superintending the education of her children, without running any risk of +hurting the pride of the governess; and that it would bring together the +objects of her warmest affections, her children and her friend. "The +friends of the Duchesse de Polignac," continued the Queen, "will be +gratified by the splendour and importance conferred by the employment. +As to the Duchess, I know her; the place by no means suits her simple and +quiet habits, nor the sort of indolence of her disposition. She will +give me the greatest possible proof of her devotion if she yields to my +wish." The Queen also spoke of the Princesse de Chimay and the Duchesse +de Duras, whom the public pointed out as fit for the post; but she +thought the Princesse de Chimay's piety too rigid; and as to the Duchesse +de Duras, her wit and learning quite frightened her. What the Queen +dreaded as the consequence of her selection of the Duchesse de Polignac +was principally the jealousy of the courtiers; but she showed so lively a +desire to see her scheme executed that I had no doubt she would soon set +at naught all the obstacles she discovered. I was not mistaken; a few +days afterwards the Duchess was appointed governess. + +The Queen's object in sending for me was no doubt to furnish me with the +means of explaining the feelings which induced her to prefer a governess +disposed by friendship to suffer her to enjoy all the privileges of a +mother. Her Majesty knew that I saw a great deal of company. + +The Queen frequently dined with the Duchess after having been present at +the King's private dinner. Sixty-one thousand francs were therefore +added to the salary of the governess as a compensation for this increase +of expense. + +The Queen was tired of the excursions to Marly, and had no great +difficulty in setting the King against them. He did not like the expense +of them, for everybody was entertained there gratis. Louis XIV. had +established a kind of parade upon these excursions, differing from that +of Versailles, but still more annoying. Card and supper parties occurred +every day, and required much dress. On Sundays and holidays the +fountains played, the people were admitted into the gardens, and there +was as great a crowd as at the fetes of St. Cloud. + +Every age has its peculiar colouring; Marly showed that of Louis XIV. +even more than Versailles. Everything in the former place appeared to +have been produced by the magic power of a fairy's wand. Not the +slightest trace of all this splendour remains; the revolutionary spoilers +even tore up the pipes which served to supply the fountains. Perhaps a +brief description of this palace and the usages established there by +Louis XIV. may be acceptable. + +The very extensive gardens of Marly ascended almost imperceptibly to the +Pavilion of the Sun., which was occupied only by the King and his family. +The pavilions of the twelve zodiacal signs bounded the two sides of the +lawn. They were connected by bowers impervious to the rays of the sun. +The pavilions nearest to that of the sun were reserved for the Princes of +the blood and the ministers; the rest were occupied by persons holding +superior offices at Court, or invited to stay at Marly. Each pavilion +was named after fresco paintings, which covered its walls, and which had +been executed by the most celebrated artists of the age of Louis XIV. +On a line with the upper pavilion there was on the left a chapel; on the +right a pavilion called La Perspective, which concealed along suite of +offices, containing a hundred lodging-rooms intended for the persons +belonging to the service of the Court, kitchens, and spacious dining- +rooms, in which more than thirty tables were splendidly laid out. + +During half of Louis XV.'s reign the ladies still wore the habit de cour +de Marly, so named by Louis XIV., and which differed little from, that +devised for Versailles. The French gown, gathered in the back, and with +great hoops, replaced this dress, and continued to be worn till the end +of the reign of Louis XVI. The diamonds, feathers, rouge, and +embroidered stuffs spangled with gold, effaced all trace of a rural +residence; but the people loved to see the splendour of their sovereign +and a brilliant Court glittering in the shades of the woods. + +After dinner, and before the hour for cards, the Queen, the Princesses, +and their ladies, paraded among the clumps of trees, in little carriages, +beneath canopies richly embroidered with gold, drawn by men in the King's +livery. The trees planted by Louis XIV. were of prodigious height, +which, however, was surpassed in several of the groups by fountains of +the clearest water; while, among others, cascades over white marble, the +waters of which, met by the sunbeams, looked like draperies of silver +gauze, formed a contrast to the solemn darkness of the groves. + +In the evening nothing more was necessary for any well-dressed man to +procure admission to the Queen's card parties than to be named and +presented, by some officer of the Court, to the gentleman usher of the +card-room. This room, which was very, large, and of octagonal shape, +rose to the top of the Italian roof, and terminated in a cupola furnished +with balconies, in which ladies who had not been presented easily +obtained leave to place themselves, and enjoy, the sight of the brilliant +assemblage. + +Though not of the number of persons belonging to the Court, gentlemen +admitted into this salon might request one of the ladies seated with the +Queen at lansquenet or faro to bet upon her cards with such gold or notes +as they presented to her. Rich people and the gamblers of Paris did not +miss one of the evenings at the Marly salon, and there were always +considerable sums won and lost. Louis XVI. hated high play, and very +often showed displeasure when the loss of large sums was mentioned. The +fashion of wearing a black coat without being in mourning had not then +been introduced, and the King gave a few of his 'coups de boutoir' to +certain chevaliers de St. Louis, dressed in this manner, who came to +venture two or three louis, in the hope that fortune would favour the +handsome duchesses who deigned to place them on their cards. + + [Bachaumont in his "Memoirs," (tome xii., p. 189), which are often + satirical; and always somewhat questionable, speaks of the singular + precautions taken at play at Court. "The bankers at the Queen's + table," says he, "in order to prevent the mistakes [I soften the + harshness of his expression] which daily happen, have obtained + permission from her Majesty that before beginning to play the table + shall be bordered by a ribbon entirely round it, and that no other + money than that upon the cards beyond the ribbon shall be considered + as staked."--NOTE By THE EDITOR.] + +Singular contrasts are often seen amidst the grandeur of courts. In +order to manage such high play at the Queen's faro table, it was +necessary to have a banker provided with large, sums of money; and this +necessity placed at the table, to which none but the highest titled +persons were admitted in general, not only M. de Chalabre, who was its +banker, but also a retired captain of foot, who officiated as his second. +A word, trivial, but perfectly appropriate to express the manner in which +the Court was attended there, was often heard. Gentlemen presented at +Court, who had not been invited to stay at Marly, came there +notwithstanding, as they did to Versailles, and returned again to Paris; +under such circumstances, it was said such a one had been to Marly only +'en polisson';--[A contemptuous expression, meaning literally "as a +scamp" or "rascal"]--and it appeared odd to hear a captivating marquis, +in answer to the inquiry whether he was of the royal party at Marly, say, +"No, I am only here 'en polisson'," meaning simply "I am here on the +footing of all those whose nobility is of a later date than 1400." The +Marly excursions were exceedingly expensive to the King. Besides the +superior tables, those of the almoners, equerries, maitres d'hotel, etc., +were all supplied with such a degree of magnificence as to allow of +inviting strangers to them; and almost all the visitors from Paris were +boarded at the expense of the Court. + +The personal frugality of the unfortunate Prince who sank beneath the +weight of the national debts thus favoured the Queen's predilection for +her Petit Trianon; and for five or six years preceding the Revolution the +Court very seldom visited Marly. + +The King, always attentive to the comfort of his family, gave Mesdames, +his aunts, the use of the Chateau de Bellevue, and afterwards purchased +the Princesse de Guemenee's house, at the entrance to Paris, for +Elisabeth. The Comtesse de Provence bought a small house at Montreuil; +Monsieur already had Brunoy; the Comtesse d'Artois built Bagatelle; +Versailles became, in the estimation of all the royal family, the least +agreeable of residences. They only fancied themselves at home in the +plainest houses, surrounded by English gardens, where they better enjoyed +the beauties of nature. The taste for cascades and statues was entirely +past. + +The Queen occasionally remained a whole month at Petit Trianon, and had +established there all the ways of life in a chateau. She entered the +sitting-room without driving the ladies from their pianoforte or +embroidery. The gentlemen continued their billiards or backgammon +without suffering her presence to interrupt them. There was but little +room in the small Chateau of Trianon. Madame Elisabeth accompanied the +Queen there, but the ladies of honour and ladies of the palace had no +establishment at Trianon. When invited by the Queen, they came from +Versailles to dinner. The King and Princes came regularly to sup. A +white gown, a gauze kerchief, and a straw hat were the uniform dress of +the Princesses. + + [The extreme simplicity of the Queen's toilet began to be strongly + censured, at first among the courtiers, and afterwards throughout + the kingdom; and through one of those inconsistencies more common in + France than elsewhere, while the Queen was blamed, she was blindly + imitated. There was not a woman but would have the same undress, + the same cap, and the same feathers as she had been seen to wear. + They crowded to Mademoiselle Bertin, her milliner; there was an + absolute revolution in the dress of our ladies, which gave + importance to that woman. Long trains, and all those fashions which + confer a certain nobility on dress, were discarded; and at last a + duchess could not be distinguished from an actress. The men caught + the mania; the upper classes had long before given up to their + lackeys feathers, tufts of ribbon, and laced hats. They now got rid + of red heels and embroidery; and walked about our streets in plain + cloth, short thick shoes, and with knotty cudgels in their hands. + Many humiliating scrapes were the consequence of this metamorphosis. + Bearing no mark to distinguish them from the common herd, some of + the lowest classes got into quarrels with them, in which the nobles + had not always the best of it.--MONTJOIE, "History of Marie + Antoinette."] + +Examining all the manufactories of the hamlet, seeing the cows milked, +and fishing in the lake delighted the Queen; and every year she showed +increased aversion to the pompous excursions to Marly. + +The idea of acting comedies, as was then done in almost all country +houses, followed on the Queen's wish to live at Trianon without ceremony. + + [The Queen got through the characters she assumed indifferently + enough; she could hardly be ignorant of this, as her performances + evidently excited little pleasure. Indeed, one day while she was + thus exhibiting, somebody ventured to say, by no means inaudibly, + "well, this is royally ill played!" The lesson was thrown away upon + her, for never did she sacrifice to the opinion of another that + which she thought permissible. When she was told that her extreme + plainness in dress, the nature of her amusements, and her dislike to + that splendour which ought always to attend a Queen, had an + appearance of levity, which was misinterpreted by a portion of the + public, she replied with Madame de Maintenon: "I am upon the stage, + and of course I shall be either hissed or applauded." Louis XIV. + had a similar taste; he danced upon the stage; but he had shown by + brilliant actions that he knew how to enforce respect; and besides, + he unhesitatingly gave up the amusement from the moment he heard + those beautiful lines in which Racine pointed out how very unworthy + of him such pastimes were.--MONTJOIE, "History of Marie + Antoinette."] + +It was agreed that no young man except the Comte d'Artois should be +admitted into the company of performers, and that the audience should +consist only of the King, Monsieur, and the Princesses, who did not play; +but in order to stimulate the actors a little, the first boxes were to be +occupied by the readers, the Queen's ladies, their sisters and daughters, +making altogether about forty persons. + +The Queen laughed heartily at the voice of M. d'Adhemar, formerly a very +fine one, but latterly become rather tremulous. His shepherd's dress in +Colin, in the "Devin du Village," contrasted very ridiculously with his +time of life, and the Queen said it would be difficult for malevolence +itself to find anything to criticise in the choice of such a lover. +The King was highly amused with these plays, and was present at every +performance. Caillot, a celebrated actor, who had long quitted the +stage, and Dazincourt, both of acknowledged good character, were selected +to give lessons, the first in comic opera, of which the easier sorts were +preferred, and the second in comedy. The office of hearer of rehearsals, +prompter, and stage manager was given to my father-in-law. The Duc de +Fronsac, first gentleman of the chamber, was much hurt at this. He +thought himself called upon to make serious remonstrances upon the +subject, and wrote to the Queen, who made him the following answer: "You +cannot be first gentleman when we are the actors. Besides, I have +already intimated to you my determination respecting Trianon. I hold no +court there, I live like a private person, and M. Campan shall be always +employed to execute orders relative to the private fetes I choose to give +there." This not putting a stop to the Duke's remonstrances, the King +was obliged to interfere. The Duke continued obstinate, and insisted +that he was entitled to manage the private amusements as much as those +which were public. It became absolutely necessary to end the argument in +a positive manner. + +The diminutive Duc de Fronsac never failed, when he came to pay his +respects to the Queen at her toilet, to turn the conversation upon +Trianon, in order to make some ironical remarks on my father-in-law, of +whom, from the time of his appointment, he always spoke as "my colleague +Campan." The Queen would shrug her shoulders, and say, when he was gone, +"It is quite shocking to find so little a man in the son of the Marechal +de Richelieu." + +So long as no strangers were admitted to the performances they were but +little censured; but the praise obtained by the performers made them look +for a larger circle of admirers. The company, for a private company, was +good enough, and the acting was applauded to the skies; nevertheless, as +the audience withdrew, adverse criticisms were occasionally heard. The +Queen permitted the officers of the Body Guards and the equerries of the +King and Princes to be present at the plays. Private boxes were provided +for some of the people belonging to the Court; a few more ladies were +invited; and claims arose on all sides for the favour of admission. The +Queen refused to admit the officers of the body guards of the Princes, +the officers of the King's Cent Suisses, and many other persons, who were +highly mortified at the refusal. + +While delight at having given an heir to the throne of the Bourbons, and +a succession of fetes and amusements, filled up the happy days of Marie +Antoinette, the public was engrossed by the Anglo-American war. Two +kings, or rather their ministers, planted and propagated the love of +liberty in the new world; the King of England, by shutting his ears and +his heart against the continued and respectful representations of +subjects at a distance from their native land, who had become numerous, +rich, and powerful, through the resources of the soil they had +fertilised; and the King of France, by giving support to this people in +rebellion against their ancient sovereign. Many young soldiers, +belonging to the first families of the country, followed La Fayette's +example, and forsook luxury, amusement, and love, to go and tender their +aid to the revolted Americans. Beaumarchais, secretly seconded by +Messieurs de Maurepas and de Vergennes, obtained permission to send out +supplies of arms and clothing. Franklin appeared at Court in the dress +of an American agriculturist. His unpowdered hair, his round hat, his +brown cloth coat formed a contrast to the laced and embroidered coats and +the powder and perfume of the courtiers of Versailles. This novelty +turned the light heads of the Frenchwomen. Elegant entertainments were +given to Doctor Franklin, who, to the reputation of a man of science, +added the patriotic virtues which invested him with the character of an +apostle of liberty. I was present at one of these entertainments, when +the most beautiful woman out of three hundred was selected to place a +crown of laurels upon the white head of the American philosopher, and two +kisses upon his cheeks. Even in the palace of Versailles Franklin's +medallion was sold under the King's eyes, in the exhibition of Sevres +porcelain. The legend of this medallion was + + "Eripuit coelo fulmen, sceptrumque tyrannis." + +The King never declared his opinion upon an enthusiasm which his correct +judgment no doubt led him to blame. The Queen spoke out more plainly +about the part France was taking respecting the independence of the +American colonies, and constantly opposed it. Far was she from +foreseeing that a revolution at--such a distance could excite one in +which a misguided populace would drag her from her palace to a death +equally unjust and cruel. She only saw something ungenerous in the +method which France adopted of checking the power of England. + +However, as Queen of France, she enjoyed the sight of a whole people +rendering homage to the prudence, courage, and good qualities of a young +Frenchman; and she shared the enthusiasm inspired by the conduct and +military success of the Marquis de La Fayette. The Queen granted him +several audiences on his first return from America, and, until the 10th +of August, on which day my house was plundered, I preserved some lines +from Gaston and Bayard, in which the friends of M. de La Fayette saw the +exact outline of his character, written by her own hand: + + "Why talk of youth, + When all the ripe experience of the old + Dwells with him? In his schemes profound and cool, + He acts with wise precaution, and reserves + For time of action his impetuous fire. + To guard the camp, to scale the leaguered wall, + Or dare the hottest of the fight, are toils + That suit th' impetuous bearing of his youth; + Yet like the gray-hair'd veteran he can shun + The field of peril. Still before my eyes + I place his bright example, for I love + His lofty courage, and his prudent thought. + Gifted like him, a warrior has no age." + + [During the American war a general officer in the service of the + United States advanced with a score of men under the English + batteries to reconnoitre their position. His aide-de-camp, struck + by a ball, fell at his side. The officers and orderly dragoons fled + precipitately. The general, though under the fire of the cannon, + approached the wounded man to see whether any help could be afforded + him. Finding the wound had been mortal, he slowly rejoined the + group which had got out of the reach of the cannon. This instance + of courage and humanity took place at the battle of Monmouth. + General Clinton, who commanded the English troops, knew that the + Marquis de La Fayette generally rode a white horse; it was upon a + white horse that the general officer who retired so slowly was + mounted; Clinton desired the gunners not to fire. This noble + forbearance probably saved M. de La Fayette's life, for he it was. + At that time he was but twenty-two years of age.--"Historical + Anecdotes of the Reign of Louis XVI."] + +These lines had been applauded and encored at the French theatre; +everybody's head was turned. There was no class of persons that did not +heartily approve of the support given openly by the French Government to +the cause of American independence. The constitution planned for the new +nation was digested at Paris, and while liberty, equality, and the rights +of man were commented upon by the Condorcets, Baillys, Mirabeaus, etc., +the minister Segur published the King's edict, which, by repealing that +of 1st November, 1750, declared all officers not noble by four +generations incapable of filling the rank of captain, and denied all +military rank to the roturiers, excepting sons of the chevaliers de St. +Louis. + + ["M. de Segur," says Chamfort, "having published an ordinance which + prohibited the admission of any other than gentlemen into the + artillery corps, and, on the other hand, none but well-educated + persons being proper for admission, a curious scene took place: the + Abbe Bossat, examiner of the pupils, gave certificates only to + plebeians, while Cherin gave them only to gentlemen. Out of one + hundred pupils, there were not above four or five who were qualified + in both respects."] + +The injustice and absurdity of this law was no doubt a secondary cause of +the Revolution. To understand the despair and rage with which this law +inspired the Tiers Etat one should have belonged to that honourable +class. The provinces were full of roturier families, who for ages had +lived as people of property upon their own domains, and paid the taxes. +If these persons had several sons, they would place one in the King's +service, one in the Church, another in the Order of Malta as a chevalier +servant d'armes, and one in the magistracy; while the eldest preserved +the paternal manor, and if he were situated in a country celebrated for +wine, he would, besides selling his own produce, add a kind of commission +trade in the wines of the canton. I have seen an individual of this +justly respected class, who had been long employed in diplomatic +business, and even honoured with the title of minister plenipotentiary, +the son-in-law and nephew of colonels and town mayors, and, on his +mother's side, nephew of a lieutenant-general with a cordon rouge, unable +to introduce his sons as sous-lieutenants into a regiment of foot. + +Another decision of the Court, which could not be announced by an edict, +was that all ecclesiastical benefices, from the humblest priory up to the +richest abbey, should in future be appanages of the nobility. Being the +son of a village surgeon, the Abbe de Vermond, who had great influence in +the disposition of benefices, was particularly struck with the justice of +this decree. + +During the absence of the Abbe in an excursion he made for his health, I +prevailed on the Queen to write a postscript to the petition of a cure, +one of my friends, who was soliciting a priory near his curacy, with the +intention of retiring to it. I obtained it for him. On the Abbe's +return he told me very harshly that I should act in a manner quite +contrary to the King's wishes if I again obtained such a favour; that the +wealth of the Church was for the future to be invariably devoted to the +support of the poorer nobility; that it was the interest of the State +that it should be so; and a plebeian priest, happy in a good curacy, had +only to remain curate. + +Can we be astonished at the part shortly afterwards taken by the deputies +of the Third Estate, when called to the States General? + + + + +ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + +Elegant entertainments were given to Doctor Franklin +Fashion of wearing a black coat without being in mourning +Favourite of a queen is not, in France, a happy one +History of the man with the iron mask +Of course I shall be either hissed or applauded. +She often carried her economy to a degree of parsimony +Shocking to find so little a man in the son of the Marechal +Simplicity of the Queen's toilet began to be strongly censured +The charge of extravagance +The three ministers, more ambitious than amorous +Well, this is royally ill played! +While the Queen was blamed, she was blindly imitated + + + + +End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of The Memoirs of Marie Antoinette, v3 +by Madame Campan + + + + + + +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 4. + + +CHAPTER XI. + +About the close of the last century several of the Northern sovereigns +took a fancy for travelling. Christian III., King of Denmark, visited +the Court of France in 1763, during the reign of Louis XV. We have seen +the King of Sweden and Joseph II. at Versailles. The Grand Duke of +Russia (afterwards Paul I.), son of Catherine II., and the Princess of +Wurtemberg, his wife, likewise resolved to visit France. They travelled +under the titles of the Comte and Comtesse du Nord. They were presented +on the 20th of May, 1782. The Queen received them with grace and +dignity. On the day of their arrival at Versailles they dined in private +with the King and Queen. + +The plain, unassuming appearance of Paul I. pleased Louis XVI. He spoke +to him with more confidence and cheerfulness than he had spoken to Joseph +II. The Comtesse du Nord was not at first so successful with the Queen. +This lady was of a fine height, very fat for her age, with all the German +stiffness, well informed, and perhaps displaying her acquirements with +rather too much confidence. When the Comte and Comtesse du Nord were +presented the Queen was exceedingly nervous. She withdrew into her +closet before she went into the room where she was to dine with the +illustrious travellers, and asked for a glass of water, confessing "she +had just experienced how much more difficult it was to play the part of a +queen in the presence of other sovereigns, or of princes born to become +so, than before courtiers." She soon recovered from her confusion, and +reappeared with ease and confidence. The dinner was tolerably cheerful, +and the conversation very animated. + +Brilliant entertainments were given at Court in honour of the King of +Sweden and the Comte du Nord. They were received in private by the King +and Queen, but they were treated with much more ceremony than the +Emperor, and their Majesties always appeared to me to be very, cautious +before these personages. However, the King one day asked the Russian +Grand Duke if it were true that he could not rely on the fidelity of any +one of those who accompanied him. The Prince answered him without +hesitation, and before a considerable number of persons, that he should +be very sorry to have with him even a poodle that was much attached to +him, because his mother would take care to have it thrown into the Seine, +with a stone round its neck, before he should leave Paris. This reply, +which I myself heard, horrified me, whether it depicted the disposition +of Catherine, or only expressed the Prince's prejudice against her. + +The Queen gave the Grand Duke a supper at Trianon, and had the gardens +illuminated as they had been for the Emperor. The Cardinal de Rohan very +indiscreetly ventured to introduce himself there without the Queen's +knowledge. Having been treated with the utmost coolness ever since his +return from Vienna, he had not dared to ask her himself for permission to +see the illumination; but he persuaded the porter of Trianon to admit him +as soon as the Queen should have set off for Versailles, and his Eminence +engaged to remain in the porter's lodge until all the carriages should +have left the chateau. He did not keep his word, and while the porter +was busy in the discharge of his duty, the Cardinal, who wore his red +stockings and had merely thrown on a greatcoat, went down into the +garden, and, with an air of mystery, drew up in two different places to +see the royal family and suite pass by. + +Her Majesty was highly offended at this piece of boldness, and next day +ordered the porter to be discharged. There was a general feeling of +disgust at the Cardinal's conduct, and of commiseration towards the +porter for the loss of his place. Affected at the misfortune of the +father of a family, I obtained his forgiveness; and since that time I +have often regretted the feeling which induced me to interfere. The +notoriety of the discharge of the porter of Trianon, and the odium that +circumstance would have fixed upon the Cardinal, would have made the +Queen's dislike to him still more publicly known, and would probably have +prevented the scandalous and notorious intrigue of the necklace. + +The Queen, who was much prejudiced against the King of Sweden, received +him very coldly. + + [Gustavus III., King of Sweden, travelled in France under the title + of Comte d'Haga. Upon his accession to the throne, he managed the + revolution which prostrated the authority of the Senate with equal + skill, coolness, and courage. He was assassinated in 1792, at a + masked ball, by Auckarstrum.--NOTE BY THE EDITOR.] + +All that was said of the private character of that sovereign, his +connection with the Comte de Vergennes, from the time of the Revolution +of Sweden, in 1772, the character of his favourite Armfeldt, and the +prejudices of the monarch himself against the Swedes who were well +received at the Court of Versailles, formed the grounds of this dislike. +He came one day uninvited and unexpected, and requested to dine with the +Queen. The Queen received him in the little closet, and desired me to +send for her clerk of the kitchen, that she might be informed whether +there was a proper dinner to set before Comte d'Haga, and add to it if +necessary. The King of Sweden assured her that there would be enough for +him; and I could not help smiling when I thought of the length of the +menu of the dinner of the King and Queen, not half of which would have +made its appearance had they dined in private. The Queen looked +significantly at me, and I withdrew. In the evening she asked me why I +had seemed so astonished when she ordered me to add to her dinner, saying +that I ought instantly to have seen that she was giving the King of +Sweden a lesson for his presumption. I owned to her that the scene had +appeared to me so much in the bourgeois style, that I involuntarily +thought of the cutlets on the gridiron, and the omelette, which in +families in humble circumstances serve to piece out short commons. She +was highly diverted with my answer, and repeated it to the King, who also +laughed heartily at it. + +The peace with England satisfied all classes of society interested in the +national honour. The departure of the English commissary from Dunkirk, +who had been fixed at that place ever since the shameful peace of 1763 as +inspector of our navy, occasioned an ecstasy of joy. + + [By the Treaty of Utrecht (1713) it was stipulated that the + fortifications and port of Dunkirk should be destroyed. By the + Treaty of Paris (1763) a commissary was to reside at Dunkirk to see + that no attempt was made to break this treaty. This stipulation was + revoked by the Peace of Versailles, in 1783.--see DYER'S "Modern + Europe," 1st edition, vol. i., pp. 205-438 and 539.] + +The Government communicated to the Englishman the order for his departure +before the treaty was made public. But for that precaution the populace +would have probably committed some excess or other, in order to make the +agent of English power feel the effects of the resentment which had +constantly increased during his stay at that port. Those engaged in +trade were the only persons dissatisfied with the treaty of 1783. That +article which provided for, the free admission of English goods +annihilated at one blow the trade of Rouen and the other manufacturing +towns throughout the kingdom. The English swarmed into Paris. A +considerable number of them were presented at Court. The Queen paid them +marked attention; doubtless she wished them to distinguish between the +esteem she felt for their noble nation and the political views of the +Government in the support it had afforded to the Americans. Discontent +was, however, manifested at Court in consequence of the favour bestowed +by the Queen on the English noblemen; these attentions were called +infatuations. This was illiberal; and the Queen justly complained of +such absurd jealousy. + +The journey to Fontainebleau and the winter at Paris and at Court were +extremely brilliant. The spring brought back those amusements which the +Queen began to prefer to the splendour of fetes. The most perfect +harmony subsisted between the King and Queen; I never saw but one cloud +between them. It was soon dispelled, and the cause of it is perfectly +unknown to me. + +My father-in-law, whose penetration and experience I respected greatly, +recommended me, when he saw me placed in the service of a young queen, to +shun all kinds of confidence. "It procures," said he, "but a very +fleeting, and at the same time dangerous sort of favour; serve with zeal +to the best of your judgment, but never do more than obey. Instead of +setting your wits to work to discover why an order or a commission which +may appear of consequence is given to you, use them to prevent the +possibility of your knowing anything of the matter." I had occasion to +act on this wise advice. One morning at Trianon I went into the Queen's +chamber; there were letters lying upon the bed, and she was weeping +bitterly. Her tears and sobs were occasionally interrupted by +exclamations of "Ah! that I were dead!--wretches! monsters! What have I +done to them?" I offered her orange-flower water and ether. "Leave me," +said she, "if you love me; it would be better to kill me at once." At +this moment she threw her arm over my shoulder and began weeping afresh. +I saw that some weighty trouble oppressed her heart, and that she wanted +a confidant. I suggested sending for the Duchesse de Polignac; this she +strongly opposed. I renewed my arguments, and her opposition grew +weaker. I disengaged myself from her arms, and ran to the antechamber, +where I knew that an outrider always waited, ready to mount and start at +a moment's warning for Versailles. I ordered him to go full speed, and +tell the Duchesse de Polignac that the Queen was very uneasy, and desired +to see her instantly. The Duchess always had a carriage ready. In less +than ten minutes she was at the Queen's door. I was the only person +there, having been forbidden to send for the other women. Madame de +Polignac came in; the Queen held out her arms to her, the Duchess rushed +towards her. I heard her sobs renewed and withdrew. + +A quarter of an hour afterwards the Queen, who had become calmer, rang to +be dressed. I sent her woman in; she put on her gown and retired to her +boudoir with the Duchess. Very soon afterwards the Comte d'Artois +arrived from Compiegne, where he had been with the King. He eagerly +inquired where the Queen was; remained half an hour with her and the +Duchess; and on coming out told me the Queen asked for me. I found her +seated on the couch by the side of her friend; her features had resumed +their usual cheerful and gracious appearance. She held out her hand to +me, and said to the Duchess, "I know I have made her so uncomfortable +this morning that I must set her poor heart at ease." She then added, +"You must have seen, on some fine summer's day, a black cloud suddenly +appear and threaten to pour down upon the country and lay it waste. The +lightest wind drives it away, and the blue sky and serene weather are +restored. This is just the image of what has happened to me this +morning." She afterwards told me that the King would return from +Compiegne after hunting there, and sup with her; that I must send for her +purveyor, to select with him from his bills of fare all such dishes as +the King liked best; that she would have no others served up in the +evening at her table; and that this was a mark of attention that she +wished the King to notice. The Duchesse de Polignac also took me by the +hand, and told me how happy she was that she had been with the Queen at a +moment when she stood in need of a friend. I never knew what could have +created in the Queen so lively and so transient an alarm; but I guessed +from the particular care she took respecting the King that attempts had +been made to irritate him against her; that the malice of her enemies had +been promptly discovered and counteracted by the King's penetration and +attachment; and that the Comte d'Artois had hastened to bring her +intelligence of it. + +It was, I think, in the summer of 1787, during one of the Trianon +excursions, that the Queen of Naples--[Caroline, sister of Marie +Antoinette.]--sent the Chevalier de Bressac to her Majesty on a secret +mission relative to a projected marriage between the Hereditary Prince, +her son, and Madame, the King's daughter; in the absence of the lady of +honour he addressed himself to me. Although he said a great deal to me +about the close confidence with which the Queen of Naples honoured him, +and about his letter of credit, I thought he had the air of an +adventurer.--[He afterwards spent several years shut up in the Chateau de +l'Oeuf.]--He had, indeed, private letters for the Queen, and his +mission was not feigned; he talked to me very rashly even before his +admission, and entreated me to do all that lay in my power to dispose the +Queen's mind in favour of his sovereign's wishes; I declined, assuring +him that it did not become me to meddle with State affairs. +He endeavoured, but in vain, to prove to me that the union contemplated +by the Queen of Naples ought not to be looked upon in that light. + +I procured M. de Bressac the audience he desired, but without suffering +myself even to seem acquainted with the object of his mission. The Queen +told me what it was; she thought him a person ill-chosen for the +occasion; and yet she thought that the Queen, her sister, had done wisely +in not sending a man worthy to be avowed,--it being impossible that what +she solicited should take place. I had an opportunity on this occasion, +as indeed on many others, of judging to what extent the Queen valued and +loved France and the dignity of our Court. She then told me that Madame, +in marrying her cousin, the Duc d'Angouleme, would not lose her rank as +daughter of the Queen; and that her situation would be far preferable to +that of queen of any other country; and that there was nothing in Europe +to be compared to the Court of France; and that it would be necessary, +in order to avoid exposing a French Princess to feelings of deep regret, +in case she should be married to a foreign prince, to take her from the +palace of Versailles at seven years of age, and send her immediately to +the Court in which she was to dwell; and that at twelve would be too +late; for recollections and comparisons would ruin the happiness of all +the rest of her life. The Queen looked upon the destiny of her sisters +as far beneath her own; and frequently mentioned the mortifications +inflicted by the Court of Spain upon her sister, the Queen of Naples, and +the necessity she was under of imploring the mediation of the King of +France. + +She showed me several letters that she had received from the Queen of +Naples relative to her differences with the Court of Madrid respecting +the Minister Acton. She thought him useful to her people, inasmuch as he +was a man of considerable information and great activity. In these +letters she minutely acquainted her Majesty with the nature of the +affronts she had received, and represented Mr. Acton to her as a man whom +malevolence itself could not suppose capable of interesting her otherwise +than by his services. She had had to suffer the impertinences of a +Spaniard named Las Casas, who had been sent to her by the King, her +father-in-law, to persuade her to dismiss Mr. Acton from the business of +the State, and from her intimacy. She complained bitterly to the Queen, +her sister, of the insulting proceedings of this charge d'affaires, whom +she told, in order to convince him of the nature of the feelings which +attached her to Mr. Acton, that she would have portraits and busts of him +executed by the most eminent artists of Italy, and that she would then +send them to the King of Spain, to prove that nothing but the desire to +retain a man of superior capacity had induced her to bestow on him the +favour he enjoyed. This Las Casas dared to answer her that it would be +useless trouble; that the ugliness of a man did not always render him +displeasing; and that the King of Spain had too much experience not to +know that there was no accounting for the caprices of a woman. + +This audacious reply filled the Queen of Naples with indignation, and her +emotion caused her to miscarry on the same day. In consequence of the +mediation of Louis XVI. the Queen of Naples obtained complete +satisfaction, and Mr. Acton continued Prime Minister. + +Among the characteristics which denoted the goodness of the Queen, her +respect for personal liberty should have a place. I have seen her put up +with the most troublesome importunities from people whose minds were +deranged rather than have them arrested. Her patient kindness was put to +a very disagreeable trial by an ex-councillor of the Bordeaux Parliament, +named Castelnaux; this man declared himself the lover of the Queen, and +was generally known by that appellation. For ten successive years did he +follow the Court in all its excursions. Pale and wan, as people who are +out of their senses usually are, his sinister appearance occasioned the +most uncomfortable sensations. During the two hours that the Queen's +public card parties lasted, he would remain opposite her Majesty. He +placed himself in the same manner before her at chapel, and never failed +to be at the King's dinner or the dinner in public. At the theatre he +invariably seated himself as near the Queen's box as possible. He always +set off for Fontainebleau or St. Cloud the day before the Court, and when +her Majesty arrived at her various residences, the first person she met +on getting out of her carriage was this melancholy madman, who never +spoke to any one. When the Queen stayed at Petit Trianon the passion of +this unhappy man became still more annoying. He would hastily swallow a +morsel at some eating-house, and spend all the rest of the day, even when +it rained, in going round and round the garden, always walking at the +edge of the moat. The Queen frequently met him when she was either alone +or with her children; and yet she would not suffer any violence to be +used to relieve her from this intolerable annoyance. Having one day +given M. de Seze permission to enter Trianon, she sent to desire he would +come to me, and directed me to inform that celebrated advocate of M. de +Castelnaux's derangement, and then to send for him that M. de Seze might +have some conversation with him. He talked to him nearly an hour, and +made considerable impression upon his mind; and at last M. de Castelnaux +requested me to inform the Queen positively that, since his presence was +disagreeable to her, he would retire to his province. The Queen was very +much rejoiced, and desired me to express her full satisfaction to M. de +Seze. Half an hour after M. de Seze was gone the unhappy madman was +announced. He came to tell me that he withdrew his promise, that he had +not sufficient command of himself to give up seeing the Queen as often as +possible. This new determination: was a disagreeable message to take to +her Majesty but how was I affected at hearing her say, "Well, let him +annoy me! but do not let him be deprived of the blessing of freedom." + + [On the arrest of the King and Queen at Varennes, this unfortunate + Castelnaux attempted to starve himself to death. The people in + whose house he lived, becoming uneasy at his absence, had the door + of his room forced open, when he was found stretched senseless on + the floor. I do not know what became of him after the 10th of + August.--MADAME CAMPAN.] + +The direct influence of the Queen on affairs during the earlier years +of the reign was shown only in her exertions to obtain from the King a +revision of the decrees in two celebrated causes. It was contrary to her +principles to interfere in matters of justice, and never did she avail +herself of her influence to bias the tribunals. The Duchesse de Praslin, +through a criminal caprice, carried her enmity to her husband so far as +to disinherit her children in favour of the family of M. de Guemenee. +The Duchesse de Choiseul, who, was warmly interested in this affair, one +day entreated the Queen, in my presence, at least to condescend to ask +the first president when the cause would be called on; the Queen replied +that she could not even do that, for it would manifest an interest which +it was her duty not to show. + +If the King had not inspired the Queen with a lively feeling of love, +it is quite certain that she yielded him respect and affection for the +goodness of his disposition and the equity of which he gave so many +proofs throughout his reign. One evening she returned very late; she +came out of the King's closet, and said to M. de Misery and myself, +drying her eyes, which were filled with tears, "You see me weeping, but +do not be uneasy at it: these are the sweetest tears that a wife can +shed; they are caused by the impression which the justice and goodness of +the King have made upon me; he has just complied with my request for a +revision of the proceedings against Messieurs de Bellegarde and de +Monthieu, victims of the Duc d'Aiguillon's hatred to the Duc de Choiseul. +He has been equally just to the Duc de Guines in his affair with Tort. +It is a happy thing for a queen to be able to admire and esteem him who +has admitted her to a participation of his throne; and as to you, +I congratulate you upon your having to live under the sceptre of so +virtuous a sovereign." + +The Queen laid before the King all the memorials of the Duc de Guines, +who, during his embassy to England, was involved in difficulties by a +secretary, who speculated in the public funds in London on his own +account, but in such a manner as to throw a suspicion of it on the +ambassador. Messieurs de Vergennes and Turgot, bearing but little good- +will to the Duc de Guines, who was the friend of the Duc de Choiseul, +were not disposed to render the ambassador any service. The Queen +succeeded in fixing the King's particular attention on this affair, and +the innocence of the Duc de Guines triumphed through the equity of Louis +XVI. + +An incessant underhand war was carried on between the friends and +partisans of M. de Choiseul, who were called the Austrians, and those who +sided with Messieurs d'Aiguillon, de Maurepas, and de Vergennes, who, for +the same reason, kept up the intrigues carried on at Court and in Paris +against the Queen. Marie Antoinette, on her part, supported those who +had suffered in this political quarrel, and it was this feeling which led +her to ask for a revision of the proceedings against Messieurs de +Bellegarde and de Monthieu. The first, a colonel and inspector of +artillery, and the second, proprietor of a foundry at St. Etienne, were, +under the Ministry of the Duc d'Aiguillon, condemned to imprisonment for +twenty years and a day for having withdrawn from the arsenals of France, +by order of the Duc de Choiseul, a vast number of muskets, as being of +no value except as old iron, while in point of fact the greater part of +those muskets were immediately embarked and sold to the Americans. It +appears that the Duc de Choiseul imparted to the Queen, as grounds of +defence for the accused, the political views which led him to authorise +that reduction and sale in the manner in which it had been executed. It +rendered the case of Messieurs de Bellegarde and de Monthieu more +unfavourable that the artillery officer who made the reduction in the +capacity of inspector was, through a clandestine marriage, brother-in-law +of the owner of the foundry, the purchaser of the rejected arms. The +innocence of the two prisoners was, nevertheless, made apparent; and they +came to Versailles with their wives and children to throw themselves at +the feet of their benefactress. This affecting scene took place in the +grand gallery, at the entrance to the Queen's apartment. She wished to +restrain the women from kneeling, saying that they had only had justice +done them; and that she ought to be congratulated upon the most +substantial happiness attendant upon her station, that of laying just +appeals before the King. + +On every occasion, when the Queen had to speak in public, she used the +most appropriate and elegant language, notwithstanding the difficulty a +foreigner might be expected to experience. She answered all addresses +herself, a custom which she learned at the Court of Maria Theresa. The +Princesses of the House of Bourbon had long ceased to take the trouble of +speaking in such cases. Madame Addlaide blamed the Queen for not doing +as they did, assuring her that it was quite sufficient to mutter a few +words that might sound like an answer, while the addressers, occupied +with what they had themselves been saying, would always take it for +granted that a proper answer had been returned. The Queen saw that +idleness alone dictated such a proceeding, and that as the practice even +of muttering a few words showed the necessity of answering in some way, +it must be more proper to reply simply but clearly, and in the best style +possible. Sometimes indeed, when apprised of the subject of the address, +she would write down her answer in the morning, not to learn it by heart, +but in order to settle the ideas or sentiments she wished to introduce. + +The influence of the Comtesse de Polignac increased daily; and her +friends availed themselves of it to effect changes in the Ministry. +The dismissal of M. de Montbarrey, a man without talents or character, +was generally approved of. It was rightly attributed to the Queen. He +had been placed in administration by M. de Maurepas, and maintained by +his aged wife; both, of course, became more inveterate than ever against +the Queen and the Polignac circle. + +The appointment of M. de Segur to the place of Minister of War, and of +M. de Castries to that of Minister of Marine, were wholly the work of +that circle. The Queen dreaded making ministers; her favourite often +wept when the men of her circle compelled her to interfere. Men blame +women for meddling in business, and yet in courts it is continually the +men themselves who make use of the influence of the women in matters with +which the latter ought to have nothing to do. + +When M. de Segur was presented to the Queen on his new appointment, she +said to me, "You have just seen a minister of my making. I am very glad, +so far as regards the King's service, that he is appointed, for I think +the selection a very good one; but I almost regret the part I have taken +in it. I take a responsibility upon myself. I was fortunate in being +free from any; and in order to relieve myself from this as much as +possible I have just promised M. de Segur, and that upon my word of +honour, not to back any petition, nor to hinder any of his operations by +solicitations on behalf of my proteges." + +During the first administration of M. Necker, whose ambition had not then +drawn him into schemes repugnant to his better judgment, and whose views +appeared to the Queen to be very judicious, she indulged in hopes of the +restoration of the finances. Knowing that M. de Maurepas wished to drive +M. Necker to resign, she urged him to have patience until the death of an +old man whom the King kept about him from a fondness for his first +choice, and out of respect for his advanced age. She even went so far as +to tell him that M. de Maurepas was always ill, and that his end could +not be very distant. M. Necker would not wait for that event. The +Queen's prediction was fulfilled. M. de Maurepas ended his days +immediately after a journey to Fontainebleau in 1781. + +M. Necker had retired. He had been exasperated by a piece of treachery +in the old minister, for which he could not forgive him. I knew +something of this intrigue at the time; it has since been fully explained +to me by Madame la Marechale de Beauvau. M. Necker saw that his credit +at Court was declining, and fearing lest that circumstance should injure +his financial operations, he requested the King to grant him some favour +which might show the public that he had not lost the confidence of his +sovereign. He concluded his letter by pointing out five requests--such +an office, or such a mark of distinction, or such a badge of honour, and +so on, and handed it to M. de Maurepas. The or's were changed into +and's; and the King was displeased at M. Necker's ambition, and the +assurance with which he displayed it. Madame la Marechale de Beauvau +assured me that the Marechal de Castries saw the minute of M. Necker's +letter, and that he likewise saw the altered copy. + +The interest which the Queen took in M. Necker died away during his +retirement, and at last changed into strong prejudice against him. He +wrote too much about the measures he would have pursued, and the benefits +that would have resulted to the State from them. The ministers who +succeeded him thought their operations embarrassed by the care that M. +Necker and his partisans incessantly took to occupy the public with his +plans; his friends were too ardent. The Queen discerned a party spirit +in these combinations, and sided wholly with his enemies. + +After those inefficient comptrollers-general, Messieurs Joly de Fleury +and d'Ormesson, it became necessary to resort to a man of more +acknowledged talent, and the Queen's friends, at that time combining with +the Comte d'Artois and with M. de Vergennes, got M. de Calonne appointed. +The Queen was highly displeased, and her close intimacy with the Duchesse +de Polignac began to suffer for this. + +Her Majesty, continuing to converse with me upon the difficulties she +had met with in private life, told me that ambitious men without merit +sometimes found means to gain their ends by dint of importunity, and that +she had to blame herself for having procured M. d'Adhemar's appointment +to the London embassy, merely because he teased her into it at the +Duchess's house. She added, however, that it was at a time of perfect +peace with the English; that the Ministry knew the inefficiency of +M. d'Adhemar as well as she did, and that he could do neither harm nor +good. + +Often in conversations of unreserved frankness the Queen owned that she +had purchased rather dearly a piece of experience which would make her +carefully watch over the conduct of her daughters-in-law, and that she +would be particularly scrupulous about the qualifications of the ladies +who might attend them; that no consideration of rank or favour should +bias her in so important a choice. She attributed several of her +youthful mistakes to a lady of great levity, whom she found in her palace +on her arrival in France. She also determined to forbid the Princesses +coming under her control the practice of singing with professors, and +said, candidly, and with as much severity as her slanderers could have +done, "I ought to have heard Garat sing, and never to have sung duets +with him." + +The indiscreet zeal of Monsieur Augeard contributed to the public belief +that the Queen disposed of all the offices of finance. He had, without +any authority for doing so, required the committee of fermiers-general to +inform him of all vacancies, assuring them that they would be meeting the +wishes of the Queen. The members complied, but not without murmuring. +When the Queen became aware of what her secretary had done, she highly +disapproved of it, caused her resentment to be made known to the fermiers +-general, and abstained from asking for appointments,--making only one +request of the kind, as a marriage portion for one of her attendants, a +young woman of good family. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +The Queen did not sufficiently conceal the dissatisfaction she felt at +having been unable to prevent the appointment of M. de Calonne; she even +one day went so far as to say at the Duchess's, in the midst of the +partisans and protectors of that minister, that the finances of France +passed alternately from the hands of an honest man without talent into +those of a skilful knave. M. de Calonne was thus far from acting in +concert with the Queen all the time that he continued in office; and, +while dull verses were circulated about Paris describing the Queen and +her favourite dipping at pleasure into the coffers of the comptroller- +general, the Queen was avoiding all communication with him. + +During the long and severe winter of 1783-84 the King gave three millions +of livres for the relief of the indigent. M. de Calonne, who felt the +necessity of making advances to the Queen, caught at this opportunity of +showing her respect and devotion. He offered to place in her hands one +million of the three, to be distributed in her name and under her +direction. His proposal was rejected; the Queen answered that the +charity ought to be wholly distributed in the King's name, and that she +would this year debar herself of even the slightest enjoyments, in order +to contribute all her savings to the relief of the unfortunate. + +The moment M. de Calonne left the closet the Queen sent for me: +"Congratulate me, my dear," said she; "I have just escaped a snare, +or at least a matter which eventually might have caused me much regret." +She related the conversation which had taken place word for word to me, +adding, "That man will complete the ruin of the national finances. It is +said that I placed him in his situation. The people are made to believe +that I am extravagant; yet I have refused to suffer a sum of money from +the royal treasury, although destined for the most laudable purpose, even +to pass through my hands." + +The Queen, making monthly retrenchments from the expenditure of her privy +purse, and not having spent the gifts customary at the period of her +confinement, was in possession of from five to six hundred thousand +francs, her own savings. She made use of from two to three hundred +thousand francs of this, which her first women sent to M. Lenoir, to the +cures of Paris and Versailles, and to the Soeurs Hospitalieres, and so +distributed them among families in need. + +Desirous to implant in the breast of her daughter not only a desire to +succour the unfortunate, but those qualities necessary for the due +discharge of that duty, the Queen incessantly talked to her, though she +was yet very young, about the sufferings of the poor during a season so +inclement. The Princess already had a sum of from eight to ten thousand +francs for charitable purposes, and the Queen made her distribute part of +it herself. + +Wishing to give her children yet another lesson of beneficence, +she desired me on New Year's eve to get from Paris, as in other years, +all the fashionable playthings, and have them spread out in her closet. +Then taking her children by the hand, she showed them all the dolls and +mechanical toys which were ranged there, and told them that she had +intended to give them some handsome New Year's gifts, but that the cold +made the poor so wretched that all her money was spent in blankets and +clothes to protect them from the rigour of the season, and in supplying +them with bread; so that this year they would only have the pleasure of +looking at the new playthings. When she returned with her children into +her sitting-room, she said there was still an unavoidable expense to be +incurred; that assuredly many mothers would at that season think as she +did,--that the toyman must lose by it; and therefore she gave him fifty +Louis to repay him for the cost of his journey, and console him for +having sold nothing. + +The purchase of St. Cloud, a matter very simple in itself, had, on +account of the prevailing spirit, unfavourable consequences to the Queen. + +The palace of Versailles, pulled to pieces in the interior by a variety +of new arrangements, and mutilated in point of uniformity by the removal +of the ambassadors' staircase, and of the peristyle of columns placed at +the end of the marble court, was equally in want of substantial and +ornamental repair. The King therefore desired M. Micque to lay before +him several plans for the repairs of the palace. He consulted me on +certain arrangements analogous to some of those adopted in the Queen's +establishment, and in my presence asked M. Micque how much money would be +wanted for the execution of the whole work, and how many years he would +be in completing it. I forget how many millions were mentioned: M. +Micque replied that six years would be sufficient time if the Treasury +made the necessary periodical advances without any delay. "And how many +years shall you require," said the King, "if the advances are not +punctually made?"--"Ten, Sire," replied the architect. "We must then +reckon upon ten years," said his Majesty, "and put off this great +undertaking until the year 1790; it will occupy the rest of the century." + +The King afterwards talked of the depreciation of property which took +place at Versailles whilst the Regent removed the Court of Louis XV. to +the Tuileries, and said that he must consider how to prevent that +inconvenience; it was the desire to do this that promoted the purchase of +St. Cloud. The Queen first thought of it one day when she was riding out +with the Duchesse de Polignac and the Comtesse Diane; she mentioned it to +the King, who was much pleased with the thought,--the purchase confirming +him in the intention, which he had entertained for ten years, of quitting +Versailles. + +The King determined that the ministers, public officers, pages, and a +considerable part of his stabling should remain at Versailles. Messieurs +de Breteuil and de Calonne were instructed to treat with the Duc +d'Orleans for the purchase of St. Cloud; at first they hoped to be able +to conclude the business by a mere exchange. The value of the Chateau de +Choisy, de la Muette, and a forest was equivalent to the sum demanded by +the House of Orleans; and in the exchange which the Queen expected she +only saw a saving to be made instead of an increase of expense. By this +arrangement the government of Choisy, in the hands of the Duc de Coigny, +and that of La Muette, in the hands of the Marechal de Soubise, would be +suppressed. At the same time the two concierges, and all the servants +employed in these two royal houses, would be reduced; but while the +treaty was going forward Messieurs de Breteuil and de Calonne gave up the +point of exchange, and some millions in cash were substituted for Choisy +and La Muette. + +The Queen advised the King to give her St. Cloud, as a means of avoiding +the establishment of a governor; her plan being to have merely a +concierge there, by which means the governor's expenses would be saved. +The King agreed, and St. Cloud was purchased for the Queen. She provided +the same liveries for the porters at the gates and servants at the +chateau as for those at Trianon. The concierge at the latter place had +put up some regulations for the household, headed, "By order of the +Queen." The same thing was done at St. Cloud. The Queen's livery at the +door of a palace where it was expected none but that of the King would be +seen, and the words "By order of the Queen" at the head of the printed +papers pasted near the iron gates, caused a great sensation, and produced +a very unfortunate effect, not only among the common people, but also. +among persons of a superior class. They saw in it an attack upon the +customs of monarchy, and customs are nearly equal to laws. The Queen +heard of this, but she thought that her dignity would be compromised if +she made any change in the form of these regulations, though they might +have been altogether superseded without inconvenience. "My name is not +out of place," said she, "in gardens belonging to myself; I may give +orders there without infringing on the rights of the State." This was +her only answer to the representations which a few faithful servants +ventured to make on the subject. The discontent of the Parisians on this +occasion probably induced M. d'Espremenil, upon the first troubles about +the Parliament, to say that it was impolitic and immoral to see palaces +belonging to a Queen of France. + + [The Queen never forgot this affront of M. d'Espremenil's; she said + that as it was offered at a time when social order had not yet been + disturbed, she had felt the severest mortification at it. Shortly + before the downfall of the throne M. Espremenil, having openly + espoused the King's side, was insulted in the gardens of the + Tuileries by the Jacobins, and so ill-treated that he was carried + home very ill. Somebody recommended the Queen, on account of the + royalist principles he then professed, to send and inquire for him. + She replied that she was truly grieved at what had happened to M. + d'Espremenil, but that mere policy should never induce her to show + any particular solicitude about the man who had been the first to + make so insulting an attack upon her character.--MADAME CAMPAN] + +The Queen was very much dissatisfied with the manner in which M. de +Calonne had managed this matter. The Abbe de Vermond, the most active +and persevering of that minister's enemies, saw with delight that the +expedients of those from whom alone new resources might be expected were +gradually becoming exhausted, because the period when the Archbishop of +Toulouse would be placed over the finances was thereby hastened. + +The royal navy had resumed an imposing attitude during the war for the +independence of America; glorious peace with England had compensated for +the former attacks of our enemies upon the fame of France; and the throne +was surrounded by numerous heirs. The sole ground of uneasiness was in +the finances, but that uneasiness related only to the manner in which +they were administered. In a word, France felt confident in its own +strength and resources, when two events, which seem scarcely worthy of a +place in history, but which have, nevertheless, an important one in that +of the French Revolution, introduced a spirit of ridicule and contempt, +not only against the highest ranks, but even against the most august +personages. I allude to a comedy and a great swindling transaction. + +Beaumarchais had long possessed a reputation in certain circles in Paris +for his wit and musical talents, and at the theatres for dramas more or +less indifferent, when his "Barbier de Seville" procured him a higher +position among dramatic writers. His "Memoirs" against M. Goesman had +amused Paris by the ridicule they threw upon a Parliament which was +disliked; and his admission to an intimacy with M. de Maurepas procured +him a degree of influence over important affairs. He then became +ambitious of influencing public opinion by a kind of drama, in which +established manners and customs should be held up to popular derision and +the ridicule of the new philosophers. After several years of prosperity +the minds of the French had become more generally critical; and when +Beaumarchais had finished his monstrous but diverting "Mariage de +Figaro," all people of any consequence were eager for the gratification +of hearing it read, the censors having decided that it should not be +performed. These readings of "Figaro" grew so numerous that people were +daily heard to say, "I have been (or I am going to be) at the reading of +Beaumarchais's play." The desire to see it performed became universal; +an expression that he had the art to use compelled, as it were, the +approbation of the nobility, or of persons in power, who aimed at ranking +among the magnanimous; he made his "Figaro" say that "none but little +minds dreaded little books." The Baron de Breteuil, and all the men of +Madame de Polignac's circle, entered the lists as the warmest protectors +of the comedy. Solicitations to the King became so pressing that his +Majesty determined to judge for himself of a work which so much engrossed +public attention, and desired me to ask M. Le Noir, lieutenant of police, +for the manuscript of the "Mariage de Figaro." One morning I received a +note from the Queen ordering me to be with her at three o'clock, and not +to come without having dined, for she should detain me some time. When I +got to the Queen's inner closet I found her alone with the King; a chair +and a small table were ready placed opposite to them, and upon the +table lay an enormous manuscript in several books. The King said to me, +"There is Beaumarchais's comedy; you must read it to us. You will find +several parts troublesome on account of the erasures and references. I +have already run it over, but I wish the Queen to be acquainted with the +work. You will not mention this reading to any one." + +I began. The King frequently interrupted me by praise or censure, which +was always just. He frequently exclaimed, "That's in bad taste; this man +continually brings the Italian concetti on the stage." At that soliloquy +of Figaro in which he attacks various points of government, and +especially at the tirade against State prisons, the King rose up and +said, indignantly: + +"That's detestable; that shall never be played; the Bastille must be +destroyed before the license to act this play can be any other than an +act of the most dangerous inconsistency. This man scoffs at everything +that should be respected in a government." + +"It will not be played, then?" said the Queen. + +"No, certainly," replied Louis XVI.; "you may rely upon that." + +Still it was constantly reported that "Figaro" was about to be performed; +there were even wagers laid upon the subject; I never should have laid +any myself, fancying that I was better informed as to the probability +than anybody else; if I had, however, I should have been completely +deceived. The protectors of Beaumarchais, feeling certain that they +would succeed in their scheme of making his work public in spite of the +King's prohibition, distributed the parts in the "Mariage de Figaro" +among the actors of the Theatre Francais. Beaumarchais had made them +enter into the spirit of his characters, and they determined to enjoy at +least one performance of this so-called chef d'oeuvre. The first +gentlemen of the chamber agreed that M. de la Ferte should lend the +theatre of the Hotel des Menus Plaisirs, at Paris, which was used for +rehearsals of the opera; tickets were distributed to a vast number of +leaders of society, and the day for the performance was fixed. The King +heard of all this only on the very morning, and signed a 'lettre de +cachet,'--[A 'lettre de cachet' was any written order proceeding from the +King. The term was not confined merely to orders for arrest.]--which +prohibited the performance. When the messenger who brought the order +arrived, he found a part of the theatre already filled with spectators, +and the streets leading to the Hotel des Menus Plaisirs filled with +carriages; the piece was not performed. This prohibition of the King's +was looked upon as an attack on public liberty. + +The disappointment produced such discontent that the words oppression and +tyranny were uttered with no less passion and bitterness at that time +than during the days which immediately preceded the downfall of the +throne. Beaumarchais was so far put off his guard by rage as to exclaim, +"Well, gentlemen, he won't suffer it to be played here; but I swear it +shall be played,--perhaps in the very choir of Notre-Dame!" There was +something prophetic in these words. It was generally insinuated shortly +afterwards that Beaumarchais had determined to suppress all those parts +of his work which could be obnoxious to the Government; and on pretence +of judging of the sacrifices made by the author, M. de Vaudreuil obtained +permission to have this far-famed "Mariage de Figaro" performed at his +country house. M. Campan was asked there; he had frequently heard the +work read, and did not now find the alterations that had been announced; +this he observed to several persons belonging to the Court, who +maintained that the author had made all the sacrifices required. M. +Campan was so astonished at these persistent assertions of an obvious +falsehood that he replied by a quotation from Beaumarchais himself, and +assuming the tone of Basilio in the "Barbier de Seville," he said, +"Faith, gentlemen, I don't know who is deceived here; everybody is in the +secret." They then came to the point, and begged him to tell the Queen +positively that all which had been pronounced reprehensible in M. de +Beaumarchais's play had been cut out. My father-in-law contented himself +with replying that his situation at Court would not allow of his giving +an opinion unless the Queen should first speak of the piece to him. +The Queen said nothing to him about the matter. Shortly, afterwards +permission to perform this play was at length obtained. The Queen +thought the people of Paris would be finely tricked when they saw merely +an ill-conceived piece, devoid of interest, as it must appear when +deprived of its Satire. + + ["The King," says Grimm, "made sure that the public would judge + unfavourably of the work." He said to the Marquis de Montesquiou, + who was going to see the first representation, 'Well, what do you + augur of its success?'--'Sire, I hope the piece will fail.'--'And so + do I,' replied the King. + + "There is something still more ridiculous than my piece," said + Beaumarchais himself; "that is, its success." Mademoiselle Arnould + foresaw it the first day, and exclaimed, "It is a production that + will fail fifty nights successively." There was as crowded an + audience on the seventy-second night as on the first. The following + is extracted from Grimm's 'Correspondence.' + + "Answer of M. de Beaumarchais to -----, who requested the use of his + private box for some ladies desirous of seeing 'Figaro' without + being themselves seen. + + "I have no respect for women who indulge themselves in seeing any + play which they think indecorous, provided they can do so in secret. + I lend myself to no such acts. I have given my piece to the public, + to amuse, and not to instruct, not to give any compounding prudes + the pleasure of going to admire it in a private box, and balancing + their account with conscience by censuring it in company. To + indulge in the pleasure of vice and assume the credit of virtue is + the hypocrisy of the age. My piece is not of a doubtful nature; it + must be patronised in good earnest, or avoided altogether; + therefore, with all respect to you, I shall keep my box." This + letter was circulated all over Paris for a week.] + +Under the persuasion that there was not a passage left capable of +malicious or dangerous application, Monsieur attended the first +performance in a public box. The mad enthusiasm of the public in favour +of the piece and Monsieur's just displeasure are well known. The author +was sent to prison soon afterwards, though his work was extolled to the +skies, and though the Court durst not suspend its performance. + +The Queen testified her displeasure against all who had assisted the +author of the "Mariage de Figaro" to deceive the King into giving his +consent that it should be represented. Her reproaches were more +particularly directed against M. de Vaudreuil for having had it performed +at his house. The violent and domineering disposition of her favourite's +friend at last became disagreeable to her. + +One evening, on the Queen's return from the Duchess's, she desired her +'valet de chambre' to bring her billiard cue into her closet, and ordered +me to open the box that contained it. I took out the cue, broken in two. +It was of ivory, and formed of one single elephant's tooth; the butt was +of gold and very tastefully wrought. "There," said she, "that is the way +M. de Vaudreuil has treated a thing I valued highly. I had laid it upon +the couch while I was talking to the Duchess in the salon; he had the +assurance to make use of it, and in a fit of passion about a blocked +ball, he struck the cue so violently against the table that he broke it +in two. The noise brought me back into the billiard-room; I did not say +a word to him, but my looks showed him how angry I was. He is the more +provoked at the accident, as he aspires to the post of Governor to the +Dauphin. I never thought of him for the place. It is quite enough to +have consulted my heart only in the choice of a governess; and I will not +suffer that of a Governor to the Dauphin to be at all affected by the +influence of my friends. I should be responsible for it to the nation. +The poor man does not know that my determination is taken; for I have +never expressed it to the Duchess. Therefore, judge of the sort of an +evening he must have passed!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +Shortly after the public mind had been thrown into agitation by the +performance of the "Mariage de Figaro," an obscure plot, contrived by +swindlers, and matured in a corrupted society, attacked the Queen's +character in a vital point and assailed the majesty of the throne. + +I am about to speak of the notorious affair of the necklace purchased, as +it was said, for the Queen by Cardinal de Rohan. I will narrate all that +has come to my knowledge relating to this business; the most minute +particulars will prove how little reason the Queen had to apprehend the +blow by which she was threatened, and which must be attributed to a +fatality that human prudence could not have foreseen, but from which, to +say the truth, she might have extricated herself with more skill. + +I have already said that in 1774 the Queen purchased jewels of Boehmer to +the value of three hundred and sixty thousand franca, that she paid for +them herself out of her own private funds, and that it required several +years to enable her to complete the payment. The King afterwards +presented her with a set of rubies and diamonds of a fine water, and +subsequently with a pair of bracelets worth two hundred thousand francs. +The Queen, after having her diamonds reset in new patterns, told Boehmer +that she found her jewel case rich enough, and was not desirous of making +any addition to it. + + [Except on those days when the assemblies at Court were particularly + attended, such as the 1st of January and the 2d of February, devoted + to the procession of the Order of the Holy Ghost, and on the + festivals of Easter, Whitsuntide, and Christmas, the Queen no longer + wore any dresses but muslin or white Florentine taffety. Her head- + dress was merely a hat; the plainest were preferred; and her + diamonds never quitted their caskets but for the dresses of + ceremony, confined to the days I have mentioned. Before the Queen + was five and twenty she began to apprehend that she might be induced + to make too frequent use of flowers and of ornaments, which at that + time were exclusively reserved for youth. Madame Bertin having + brought a wreath for the head and neck, composed of roses, the Queen + feared that the brightness of the flowers might be disadvantageous + to her complexion. She was unquestionably too severe upon herself, + her beauty having as yet experienced no alteration; it is easy to + conceive the concert of praise and compliment that replied to the + doubt she had expressed. The Queen, approaching me, said, "I charge + you, from this day, to give me notice when flowers shall cease to + become me."--"I shall do no such thing," I replied, immediately; + "I have not read 'Gil Bias' without profiting in some degree from + it, and I find your Majesty's order too much like that given him by + the Archbishop of Granada, to warn him of the moment when he should + begin to fall off in the composition of his homilies."--"Go," said + the Queen; "You are less sincere than Gil Blas; and I world have + been more amenable than the Archbishop."--MADAME CAMPAN.] + +Still, this jeweller busied himself for some years in forming a +collection of the finest diamonds circulating in the trade, in order to +compose a necklace of several rows, which he hoped to induce her Majesty +to purchase; he brought it to M. Campan, requesting him to mention it to +the Queen, that she might ask to see it, and thus be induced to wish to +possess it. This M. Campan refused to do, telling him that he should be +stepping out of the line of his duty were he to propose to the Queen an +expense of sixteen hundred thousand francs, and that he believed neither +the lady of honour nor the tirewoman would take upon herself to execute +such a commission. Boehmer persuaded the King's first gentleman for the +year to show this superb necklace to his Majesty, who admired it so much +that he himself wished to see the Queen adorned with it, and sent the +case to her; but she assured him she should much regret incurring so +great an expense for such an article, that she had already very beautiful +diamonds, that jewels of that description were now worn at Court not more +than four or five times a year, that the necklace must be returned, and +that the money would be much better employed in building a man-of-war. + + [Messieurs Boehmer and Bassange, jewellers to the Crown, were + proprietors of a superb diamond necklace, which had, as it was said, + been intended for the Comtesse du Barry. Being under the necessity + of selling it, they offered it, during the last war, to the king and + Queen; but their Majesties made the following prudent answer: "We + stand more in need of ships than of jewels."--"Secret Correspondence + of the Court of Louis XVI."] + +Boehmer, in sad tribulation at finding his expectations delusive, +endeavoured for some time, it is said, to dispose of his necklace among +the various Courts of Europe. + +A year after his fruitless attempts, Boehmer again caused his diamond +necklace to be offered to the King, proposing that it should be paid for +partly by instalments, and partly in life annuities; this proposal was +represented as highly advantageous, and the King, in my presence, +mentioned the matter once more to the Queen. I remember the Queen told +him that, if the bargain really was not bad, he might make it, and keep +the necklace until the marriage of one of his children; but that, for her +part, she would never wear it, being unwilling that the world should have +to reproach her with having coveted so expensive an article. The King +replied that their children were too young to justify such an expense, +which would be greatly increased by the number of years the diamonds +would remain useless, and that he would finally decline the offer. +Boehmer complained to everybody of his misfortune, and all reasonable +people blamed him for having collected diamonds to so considerable an +amount without any positive order for them. This man had purchased the +office of jeweller to the Crown, which gave him some rights of entry at +Court. After several months spent in ineffectual attempts to carry his +point, and in idle complaints, he obtained an audience of the Queen, who +had with her the young Princess, her daughter; her Majesty did not know +for what purpose Boehmer sought this audience, and had not the slightest +idea that it was to speak to her again about an article twice refused by +herself and the King. + +Boehmer threw himself upon his knees, clasped his hands, burst into +tears, and exclaimed, "Madame, I am ruined and disgraced if you do not +purchase my necklace. I cannot outlive so many misfortunes. When I go +hence I shall throw myself into the river." + +"Rise, Boehmer," said the Queen, in a tone sufficiently severe to recall +him to himself; "I do not like these rhapsodies; honest men have no +occasion to fall on their knees to make their requests. If you were to +destroy yourself I should regret you as a madman in whom I had taken an +interest, but I should not be in any way responsible for that misfortune. +Not only have I never ordered the article which causes your present +despair, but whenever you have talked to me about fine collections of +jewels I have told you that I should not add four diamonds to those which +I already possessed. I told you myself that I declined taking the +necklace; the King wished to give it to me, but I refused him also; never +mention it to me again. Divide it and try to sell it piecemeal, and do +not drown yourself. I am very angry with you for acting this scene of +despair in my presence and before this child. Let me never see you +behave thus again. Go." Baehmer withdrew, overwhelmed with confusion, +and nothing further was then heard of him. + +When Madame Sophie was born the Queen told me M. de Saint-James, a rich +financier, had apprised her that Boehmer was still intent upon the sale +of his necklace, and that she ought, for her own satisfaction, to +endeavour to learn what the man had done with it; she desired me the +first time I should meet him to speak to him about it, as if from the +interest I took in his welfare. I spoke to him about his necklace, and +he told me he had been very fortunate, having sold it at Constantinople +for the favourite sultana. I communicated this answer to the Queen, who +was delighted with it, but could not comprehend how the Sultan came to +purchase his diamonds in Paris. + +The Queen long avoided seeing Boehmer, being fearful of his rash +character; and her valet de chambre, who had the care of her jewels, made +the necessary repairs to her ornaments unassisted. On the baptism of the +Duc d'Angouleme, in 1785, the King gave him a diamond epaulet and +buckles, and directed Baehmer to deliver them to the Queen. Boehmer +presented them on her return from mass, and at the same time gave into +her hands a letter in the form of a petition. In this paper he told the +Queen that he was happy to see her "in possession of the finest diamonds +known in Europe," and entreated her not to forget him. The Queen read +Boehmer's address to her aloud, and saw nothing in it but a proof of +mental aberration; she lighted the paper at a wax taper standing near +her, as she had some letters to seal, saying, "It is not worth keeping." +She afterwards much regretted the loss of this enigmatical memorial. +After having burnt the paper, her Majesty said to me, "That man is born +to be my torment; he has always some mad scheme in his head; remember, +the first time you see him, to tell him that I do not like diamonds now, +and that I will buy no more so long as I live; that if I had any money to +spare I would rather add to my property at St. Cloud by the purchase of +the land surrounding it; now, mind you enter into all these particulars +and impress them well upon him." I asked her whether she wished me to +send for him; she replied in the negative, adding that it would be +sufficient to avail myself of the first opportunity afforded by meeting +him; and that the slightest advance towards such a man would be +misplaced. + +On the 1st of August I left Versailles for my country house at Crespy; on +the 3d came Boehmer, extremely uneasy at not having received any answer +from the Queen, to ask me whether I had any commission from her to him; I +replied that she had entrusted me with none; that she had no commands for +him, and I faithfully repeated all she had desired me to say to him. + +"But," said Boehmer, "the answer to the letter I presented to her,--to +whom must I apply for that?" + +"To nobody," answered I; "her Majesty burnt your memorial without even +comprehending its meaning." + +"Ah! madame," exclaimed he, "that is impossible; the Queen knows that she +has money to pay me!" + +"Money, M. Boehmer? Your last accounts against the Queen were discharged +long ago." + +"Madame, you are not in the secret. A man who is ruined for want of +payment of fifteen hundred thousand francs cannot be said to be +satisfied." + +"Have you lost your senses?" said I. "For what can the Queen owe you so +extravagant a sum?" + +"For my necklace, madame," replied Boehmer, coolly. + +"What!" I exclaimed, "that necklace again, which you have teased the +Queen about so many years! Did you not tell me you had sold it at +Constantinople?" + +"The Queen desired me to give that answer to all who should speak to me +on the subject," said the wretched dupe. He then told me that the Queen +wished to have the necklace, and had had it purchased for her by +Monseigneur, the Cardinal de Rohan. + +"You are deceived," I exclaimed; "the Queen has not once spoken to the +Cardinal since his return from Vienna; there is not a man at her Court +less favourably looked upon." + +"You are deceived yourself, madame," said Boehmer; "she sees him so much +in private that it was to his Eminence she gave thirty thousand francs, +which were paid me as an instalment; she took them, in his presence, out +of the little secretaire of Sevres porcelain next the fireplace in her +boudoir." + +"And the Cardinal told you all this?" + +"Yes, madame, himself." + +"What a detestable plot!" cried I. + +"Indeed, to say the truth, madame, I begin to be much alarmed, for his +Eminence assured me that the Queen would wear the necklace on Whit- +Sunday, but I did not see it upon her, and it was that which induced me +to write to her Majesty." + +He then asked me what he ought to do. I advised him to go on to +Versailles, instead of returning to Paris, whence he had just arrived; +to obtain an immediate audience from the Baron de Breteuil, who, as head +of the King's household, was the minister of the department to which +Boehmer belonged, and to be circumspect; and I added that he appeared to +me extremely culpable,--not as a diamond merchant, but because being a +sworn officer it was unpardonable of him to have acted without the direct +orders of the King, the Queen, or the Minister. He answered, that he had +not acted without direct orders; that he had in his possession all the +notes signed by the Queen, and that he had even been obliged to show them +to several bankers in order to induce them to extend the time for his +payments. I urged his departure for Versailles, and he assured me he +would go there immediately. Instead of following my advice, he went to +the Cardinal, and it was of this visit of Boehmer's that his Eminence +made a memorandum, found in a drawer overlooked by the Abbe Georgel when +he burnt, by order of the Cardinal, all the papers which the latter had +at Paris. The memorandum was thus worded: "On this day, 3d August, +Boehmer went to Madame Campan's country house, and she told him that the +Queen had never had his necklace, and that he had been deceived." + +When Boehmer was gone, I wanted to follow him, and go to the Queen; my +father-in-law prevented me, and ordered me to leave the minister to +elucidate such an important affair, observing that it was an infernal +plot; that I had given Boehmer the best advice, and had nothing more to +do with the business. Boehmer never said one word to me about the woman +De Lamotte, and her name was mentioned for the first time by the Cardinal +in his answers to the interrogatories put to him before the King. After +seeing the Cardinal, Boehmer went to Trianon, and sent a message to the +Queen, purporting that I had advised him to come and speak to her. His +very words were repeated to her Majesty, who said, "He is mad; I have +nothing to say to him, and will not see him." Two or three days +afterwards the Queen sent for me to Petit Trianon, to rehearse with me +the part of Rosina, which she was to perform in the "Barbier de Seville." +I was alone with her, sitting upon her couch; no mention was made of +anything but the part. After we had spent an hour in the rehearsal, her +Majesty asked me why I had sent Boehmer to her; saying he had been in my +name to speak to her, and that she would not see him. It was in this +manner I learnt that he had not followed my advice in the slightest +degree. The change of my countenance, when I heard the man's name, was +very perceptible; the Queen perceived it, and questioned me. I entreated +her to see him, and assured her it was of the utmost importance for her +peace of mind; that there was a plot going on, of which she was not +aware; and that it was a serious one, since engagements signed by herself +were shown about to people who had lent Boehmer money. Her surprise and +vexation were great. She desired me to remain at Trianon, and sent off a +courier to Paris, ordering Boehmer to come to her upon some pretext which +has escaped my recollection. He came next morning; in fact it was the +day on which the play was performed, and that was the last amusement the +Queen allowed herself at that retreat. + +The Queen made him enter her closet, and asked him by what fatality it +was that she was still doomed to hear of his foolish pretence of selling +her an article which she had steadily refused for several years. He +replied that he was compelled, being unable to pacify his creditors any +longer. "What are your creditors to me?" said her Majesty. Boehmer +then regularly related to her all that he had been made to believe had +passed between the Queen and himself through the intervention of the +Cardinal. She was equally incensed and surprised at each thing she +heard. In vain did she speak; the jeweller, equally importunate and +dangerous, repeated incessantly, "Madame, there is no longer time for +feigning; condescend to confess that you have my necklace, and let some +assistance be given to me, or my bankruptcy will soon bring the whole to +light." + +It is easy to imagine how the Queen must have suffered. On Boehmer's +going away, I found her in an alarming condition; the idea that any one +could have believed that such a man as the Cardinal possessed her full +confidence; that she should have employed him to deal with a tradesman +without the King's knowledge, for a thing which she had refused to accept +from the King himself, drove her to desperation. She sent first for the +Abbe de Vermond, and then for the Baron de Breteuil. Their hatred and +contempt for the Cardinal made them too easily forget that the lowest +faults do not prevent the higher orders of the empire from being defended +by those to whom they have the honour to belong; that a Rohan, a Prince +of the Church, however culpable he might be, would be sure to have a +considerable party which would naturally be joined by all the +discontented persons of the Court, and all the frondeurs of Paris. +They too easily believed that he would be stripped of all the advantages +of his rank and order, and given up to the disgrace due to his irregular +conduct; they deceived themselves. + +I saw the Queen after the departure of the Baron and the Abbe; her +agitation made me shudder. "Fraud must be unmasked," said she; "when the +Roman purple and the title of Prince cover a mere money-seeker, a cheat +who dares to compromise the wife of his sovereign, France and all Europe +should know it." It is evident that from that moment the fatal plan was +decided on. The Queen perceived my alarm; I did not conceal it from her. +I knew too well that she had many enemies not to be apprehensive on +seeing her attract the attention of the whole world to an intrigue that +they would try to complicate still more. I entreated her to seek the +most prudent and moderate advice. She silenced me by desiring me to make +myself easy, and to rest satisfied that no imprudence would be committed. + +On the following Sunday, the 15th of August, being the Assumption, at +twelve o'clock, at the very moment when the Cardinal, dressed in his +pontifical garments, was about to proceed to the chapel, he was sent for +into the King's closet, where the Queen then was. + +The King said to him, "You have purchased diamonds of Boehmer?" + +"Yes, Sire." + +"What have you done with them?" + +"I thought they had been delivered to the Queen." + +"Who commissioned you?" + +"A lady, called the Comtesse de Lamotte-Valois, who handed me a letter +from the Queen; and I thought I was gratifying her Majesty by taking this +business on myself." + +The Queen here interrupted him and said, "How, monsieur, could you +believe that I should select you, to whom I have not spoken for eight +years, to negotiate anything for me, and especially through the mediation +of a woman whom I do not even know?" + +"I see plainly," said the Cardinal, "that I have been duped. I will pay +for the necklace; my desire to please your Majesty blinded me; I +suspected no trick in the affair, and I am sorry for it." + +He then took out of his pocket-book a letter from the Queen to Madame de +Lamotte, giving him this commission. The King took it, and, holding it +towards the Cardinal, said: + +"This is neither written nor signed by the Queen. How could a Prince of +the House of Rohan, and a Grand Almoner of France, ever think that the +Queen would sign Marie Antoinette de France? Everybody knows that queens +sign only by their baptismal names. But, monsieur," pursued the King, +handing him a copy of his letter to Baehmer, "have you ever written such +a letter as this?" + +Having glanced over it, the Cardinal said, "I do not remember having +written it." + +"But what if the original, signed by yourself, were shown to you?" + +"If the letter be signed by myself it is genuine." + +He was extremely confused, and repeated several times, "I have been +deceived, Sire; I will pay for the necklace. I ask pardon of your +Majesties." + +"Then explain to me," resumed the King, "the whole of this enigma. I do +not wish to find you guilty; I had rather you would justify yourself. +Account for all the manoeuvres with Baehmer, these assurances and these +letters." + +The Cardinal then, turning pale, and leaning against the table, said, +"Sire, I am too much confused to answer your Majesty in a way--" + +"Compose yourself, Cardinal, and go into my cabinet; you will there find +paper, pens, and ink,--write what you have to say to me." + +The Cardinal went into the King's cabinet, and returned a quarter of an +hour afterwards with a document as confused as his verbal answers had +been. The King then said, "Withdraw, monsieur." The Cardinal left the +King's chamber, with the Baron de Breteuil, who gave him in custody to a +lieutenant of the Body Guard, with orders to take him to his apartment. +M. d'Agoult, aide-major of the Body Guard, afterwards took him into +custody, and conducted him to his hotel, and thence to the Bastille. But +while the Cardinal had with him only the young lieutenant of the Body +Guard, who was much embarrassed at having such an order to execute, his +Eminence met his heyduc at the door of the Salon of Hercules; he spoke to +him in German and then asked the lieutenant if he could lend him a +pencil; the officer gave him that which he carried about him, and the +Cardinal wrote to the Abbe Georgel, his grand vicar and friend, instantly +to burn all Madame de Lamotte's correspondence, and all his other +letters. + + [The Abbe Georgel thus relates the circumstance: The Cardinal, at + that trying moment, gave an astonishing proof of his presence of + mind; notwithstanding the escort which surrounded him, favoured by + the attendant crowd, he stopped, and stooping down with his face + towards the wall, as if to fasten his buckle, snatched out his + pencil and hastily wrote a few words upon a scrap of paper placed + under his hand in his square red cap. He rose again and proceeded. + on entering his house, his people formed a lane; he slipped this + paper, unperceived, into the hand of a confidential valet de + chambre, who waited for him at the door of his apartment." This + story is scarcely credible; it is not at the moment of a prisoner's + arrest, when an inquisitive crowd surrounds and watches him, that he + can stop and write secret messages. However, the valet de chambre + posts off to Paris. He arrives at the palace of the Cardinal + between twelve and one o'clock; and his horse falls dead in the + stable. "I was in my apartment," said the Abbe Georgel, "the valet + de chambre entered wildly, with a deadly paleness on his + countenance, and exclaimed, 'All is lost; the Prince is arrested.' + He instantly fell, fainting, and dropped the note of which he was + the bearer." The portfolio containing the papers which might + compromise the Cardinal was immediately placed beyond the reach of + all search. Madame de Lamotte also was foolishly allowed sufficient + time after she heard of the arrest of the Cardinal to burn all the + letters she had received from him. Assisted by Beugnot, she + completed this at three the same morning that she was: arrested at + four.--See "Memoirs of Comte de Beugnot," vol i., p. 74.] + +This commission was executed before M. de Crosne, lieutenant of police, +had received an order from the Baron de Breteuil to put seals upon the +Cardinal's papers. The destruction of all his Eminence's correspondence, +and particularly that with Madame de Lamotte, threw an impenetrable cloud +over the whole affair. + +From that moment all proofs of this intrigue disappeared. Madame de +Lamotte was apprehended at Bar-sur-Aube; her husband had already gone to +England. From the beginning of this fatal affair all the proceedings of +the Court appear to have been prompted by imprudence and want of +foresight; the obscurity resulting left free scope for the fables of +which the voluminous memorials written on one side and the other +consisted. The Queen so little imagined what could have given rise to +the intrigue, of which she was about to become the victim, that, at the +moment when the King was interrogating the Cardinal, a terrific idea +entered her mind. With that rapidity of thought caused by personal +interest and extreme agitation, she fancied that, if a design to ruin her +in the eyes of the King and the French people were the concealed motive +of this intrigue, the Cardinal would, perhaps, affirm that she had the +necklace; that he had been honoured with her confidence for this +purchase, made without the King's knowledge; and point out some secret +place in her apartment, where he might have got some villain to hide it. +Want of money and the meanest swindling were the sole motives for this +criminal affair. The necklace had already been taken to pieces and sold, +partly in London, partly in Holland, and the rest in Paris. + +The moment the Cardinal's arrest was known a universal clamour arose. +Every memorial that appeared during the trial increased the outcry. +On this occasion the clergy took that course which a little wisdom and +the least knowledge of the spirit of such a body ought to have foreseen. +The Rohans and the House of Conde, as well as the clergy, made their +complaints heard everywhere. The King consented to having a legal +judgment, and early in September he addressed letters-patent to the +Parliament, in which he said that he was "filled with the most just +indignation on seeing the means which, by the confession of his Eminence +the Cardinal, had been employed in order to inculpate his most dear +spouse and companion." + +Fatal moment! in which the Queen found herself, in consequence of this +highly impolitic step, on trial with a subject, who ought to have been +dealt with by the power of the King alone. The Princes and Princesses of +the House of Conde, and of the Houses of Rohan, Soubise, and Guemenee, +put on mourning, and were seen ranged in the way of the members of the +Grand Chamber to salute them as they proceeded to the palace, on the days +of the Cardinal's trial; and Princes of the blood openly canvassed +against the Queen of France. + +The Pope wished to claim, on behalf of the Cardinal de Rohan, the right +belonging to his ecclesiastical rank, and demanded that he should be +judged at Rome. The Cardinal de Bernis, ambassador from France to his +Holiness, formerly Minister for Foreign Affairs, blending the wisdom of +an old diplomatist with the principles of a Prince of the Church, wished +that this scandalous affair should be hushed up. The King's aunts, who +were on very intimate terms with the ambassador, adopted his opinion, and +the conduct of the King and Queen was equally and loudly censured in the +apartments of Versailles and in the hotels and coffee-houses of Paris. + +Madame, the King's sister-in-law, had been the sole protectress of De +Lamotte, and had confined her patronage to granting her a pension of +twelve to fifteen hundred francs. Her brother was in the navy, but the +Marquis de Chabert, to whom he had been recommended, could never train a +good officer. The Queen in vain endeavoured to call to mind the features +of this person, of whom she had often heard as an intriguing woman, who +came frequently on Sundays to the gallery of Versailles. At the time +when all France was engrossed by the persecution against the Cardinal, +the portrait of the Comtesse de Lamotte Valois was publicly sold. Her +Majesty desired me one day, when I was going to Paris, to buy her the +engraving, which was said to be a tolerable likeness, that she might +ascertain whether she could recognise in it any person whom she might +have seen in the gallery. + + [The public, with the exception of the lowest class, were admitted + into the gallery and larger apartments of Versailles, as they were + into the park.--MADAME CAMPAN.] + +The woman De Lamotte's father was a peasant at Auteuil, though he called +himself Valois. Madame de Boulainvilliers once saw from her terrace two +pretty little peasant girls, each labouring under a heavy bundle of +sticks. The priest of the village, who was walking with her, told her +that the children possessed some curious papers, and that he had no doubt +they were descendants of a Valois, an illegitimate son of one of the +princes of that name. + +The family of Valois had long ceased to appear in the world. Hereditary +vices had gradually plunged them into the deepest misery. I have heard +that the last Valois then known occupied the estate called Gros Bois; +that as he seldom came to Court, Louis XIII. asked him what he was about +that he remained so constantly in the country; and that this M. de Valois +merely answered, "Sire, I only do there what I ought." It was shortly +afterwards discovered that he was coining. + +Neither the Queen herself nor any one near her ever had the slightest +connection with the woman De Lamotte; and during her prosecution she +could point out but one of the Queen's servants, named Desclos, a valet +of the Queen's bedchamber, to whom she pre tended she had delivered +Boehmer's necklace. This Desclos was a very honest man; upon being +confronted with the woman De Lamotte, it was proved that she had never +seen him but once, which was at the house of the wife of a surgeon- +accoucheur at Versailles, the only person she visited at Court; and that +she had not given him the necklace. Madame de Lamotte married a private +in Monsieur's body-guard; she lodged at Versailles at the Belle Image, a +very inferior furnished house; and it is inconceivable how so obscure a +person could succeed in making herself believed to be a friend of the +Queen, who, though so extremely affable, seldom granted audiences, and +only to titled persons. + +The trial of the Cardinal is too generally known to require me to repeat +its details here. The point most embarrassing to him was the interview +he had in February, 1785, with M. de Saint-James, to whom he confided the +particulars of the Queen's pretended commission, and showed the contract +approved and signed Marie Antoinette de France. The memorandum found in +a drawer of the Cardinal's bureau, in which he had himself written what +Baehmer told him after having seen me at my country house, was likewise +an unfortunate document for his Eminence. + +I offered to the King to go and declare that Baehmer had told me that the +Cardinal assured him he had received from the Queen's own hand the thirty +thousand francs given on account upon the bargain being concluded, and +that his Eminence had seen her Majesty take that sum in bills from the +porcelain secretaire in her boudoir. The King declined my offer, and +said to me, "Were you alone when Boehmer told you this?" I answered that +I was alone with him in my garden. "Well," resumed he, "the man would +deny the fact; he is now sure of being paid his sixteen hundred thousand +francs, which the Cardinal's family will find it necessary to make good +to him; we can no longer rely upon his sincerity; it would look as if you +were sent by the Queen, and that would not be proper." + + [The guilty woman no sooner knew that all was about to be discovered + than she sent for the jewellers, and told them the Cardinal had + perceived that the agreement, which he believed to have been signed + by the Queen, was a false and forged document. "However," added + she, "the Cardinal possesses a considerable fortune, and he can very + well pay you." These words reveal the whole secret. The Countess + had taken the necklace to herself, and flattered herself that M. de + Rohan, seeing himself deceived and cruelly imposed upon, would + determine to pay and make the beat terms he could, rather than + suffer a matter of this nature to become public.-"Secret + Correspondence of the Court of Louis XVI."] + +The procureur general's information was severe on the Cardinal. The +Houses of Conde and Rohan and the majority of the nobility saw in this +affair only an attack on the Prince's rank, the clergy only a blow aimed +at the privileges of a cardinal. The clergy demanded that the +unfortunate business of the Prince Cardinal de Rohan should be submitted +to ecclesiastical jurisdiction, and the Archbishop of Narbonne, then +President of the Convocation, made representations upon the subject to +the King; the bishops wrote to his Majesty to remind him that a private +ecclesiastic implicated in the affair then pending would have a right to +claim his constitutional judges, and that this right was refused to a +cardinal, his superior in the hierarchical order. In short, the clergy +and the greater part of the nobility were at that time outrageous against +authority, and chiefly against the Queen. + +The procureur-general's conclusions, and those of a part of the heads of +the magistracy, were as severe towards the Cardinal as the information +had been; yet he was fully acquitted by a majority of three voices; the +woman De Lamotte was condemned to be whipped, branded, and imprisoned; +and her husband, for contumacy, was condemned to the galleys for life. + + [The following extract is from the "Memoirs" of the Abbe Georgel: + "The sittings were long and multiplied; it was necessary to read the + whole proceedings; more than fifty judges sat; a master of requests; + a friend of the Prince, wrote down all that was said there, and sent + it to his advisers, who found means to inform the Cardinal of it, + and to add the plan of conduct he ought to pursue." D'Epremesnil, + and other young counsellors, showed upon that occasion but too much + audacity in braving the Court, too much eagerness in seizing an + opportunity of attacking it. They were the first to shake that + authority which their functions made it a duty in them to respect.- + NOTE BY THE EDITOR.] + +M. Pierre de Laurencel, the procureur general's substitute, sent the +Queen a list of the names of the members of the Grand Chamber, with the +means made use of by the friends of the Cardinal to gain their votes +during the trial. I had this list to keep among the papers which the +Queen deposited in the house of M. Campan, my father-in-law, and which, +at his death, she ordered me to preserve. I burnt this statement, but I +remember ladies performed a part not very creditable to their principles; +it was by them, in consideration of large sums which they received, that +some of the oldest and most respected members were won over. I did not +see a single name amongst the whole Parliament that was gained directly. + +The belief confirmed by time is, that the Cardinal was completely duped +by the woman De Lamotte and Cagliostro. The King may have been in error +in thinking him an accomplice in this miserable and criminal scheme, but +I have faithfully repeated his Majesty's judgment about it. + +However, the generally received opinion that the Baron de Breteuil's +hatred for the Cardinal was the cause of the scandal and the unfortunate +result of this affair contributed to the disgrace of the former still +more than his refusal to give his granddaughter in marriage to the son of +the Duc de Polignac. The Abbe de Vermond threw the whole blame of the +imprudence and impolicy of the affair of the Cardinal de Rohan upon the +minister, and ceased to be the friend and supporter of the Baron de +Breteuil with the Queen. + +In the early part of the year 1786, the Cardinal, as has been said, +was fully acquitted, and came out of the Bastille, while Madame de +Lamotte was condemned to be whipped, branded, and imprisoned. The Court, +persisting in the erroneous views which had hitherto guided its measures, +conceived that the Cardinal and the woman De Lamotte were equally +culpable and unequally punished, and sought to restore the balance of +justice by exiling the Cardinal to La Chaise-Dieu, and suffering Madame +de Lamotte to escape a few days after she entered l'Hopital. This new +error confirmed the Parisians in the idea that the wretch De Lamotte, who +had never been able to make her way so far as to the room appropriated to +the Queen's women, had really interested the Queen herself. + + [Further particulars will be found in the "Memoirs of the Comte de + Beugnot" (London: Hurst & Blackett, 1871), as he knew Madame de + Lamotte from the days of her early childhood (when the three + children, the Baron de Valois, who died captain of a frigate, and + the two Mademoiselles de Saint-Remi, the last descendants of the + Baron de Saint-Remi, a natural son of Henri II., were almost + starving) to the time of her temporary prosperity. In fact, he was + with her when she burnt the correspondence of the Cardinal, in the + interval the Court foolishly allowed between his arrest and her + capture, and De Beugnot believed he had met at her house, at the + moment of their return from their successful trick, the whole party + engaged in deluding the Cardinal. It is worth noting that he was + then struck by the face of Mademoiselle d'Oliva, who had just + personated the Queen in presenting a rose to the Cardinal. It may + also be cited as a pleasing quality of Madame de Lamotte that she, + "in her ordinary conversation, used the words stupid and honest as + synonymous."--See "Beugnot," vol. i., p. 60.] + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +The Abbe de Vermond could not repress his exultation when he succeeded in +getting the Archbishop of Sens appointed head of the council of finance. +I have more than once heard him say that seventeen years of patience were +not too long a term for success in a Court; that he spent all that time +in gaining the end he had in view; but that at length the Archbishop was +where he ought to be for the good of the State. The Abbe, from this +time, in the Queen's private circle no longer concealed his credit and +influence; nothing could equal the confidence with which he displayed the +extent of his pretensions. He requested the Queen to order that the +apartments appropriated to him should be enlarged, telling her that, +being obliged to give audiences to bishops, cardinals, and ministers, he +required a residence suitable to his present circumstances. The Queen +continued to treat him as she did before the Archbishop's arrival at +Court; but the household showed him increased consideration: the word +"Monsieur" preceded that of Abbe; and from that moment not only the +livery servants, but also the people of the antechambers rose when +Monsieur l'Abbe was passing, though there never was, to my knowledge, +any order given to that effect. + +The Queen was obliged, on account of the King's disposition and the very +limited confidence he placed in the Archbishop of Sens, to take a part in +public affairs. While M. de Maurepas lived she kept out of that danger, +as may be seen by the censure which the Baron de Besenval passes on her +in his memoirs for not availing herself of the conciliation he had +promoted between the Queen and that minister, who counteracted the +ascendency which the Queen and her intimate friends might otherwise have +gained over the King's mind. + +The Queen has often assured me that she never interfered respecting the +interests of Austria but once; and that was only to claim the execution +of the treaty of alliance at the time when Joseph II. was at war with +Prussia and Turkey; that, she then demanded that an army of twenty-four +thousand men should be sent to him instead of fifteen millions, an +alternative which had been left to option in the treaty, in case the +Emperor should have a just war to maintain; that she could not obtain her +object, and M. de Vergennes, in an interview which she had with him upon +the subject, put an end to her importunities by observing that he was +answering the mother of the Dauphin and not the sister of the Emperor. +The fifteen millions were sent. There was no want of money at Vienna, +and the value of a French army was fully appreciated. + +"But how," said the Queen, "could they be so wicked as to send off those +fifteen millions from the general post-office, diligently publishing, +even to the street porters, that they were loading carriages with money +that I was sending to my brother!--whereas it is certain that the money +would equally have been sent if I had belonged to another house; and, +besides, it was sent contrary to my inclination." + + [This was not the first time the Queen had become unpopular in + consequence of financial support afforded by France to her brother. + The Emperor Joseph II, made, in November, 1783, and in May, 1784, + startling claims on the republic of the United Provinces; he + demanded the opening of the Scheldt, the cession of Maeatricht with + its dependencies, of the country beyond the Meuse, the county of + Vroenhoven, and a sum of seventy millions of florins. The first gun + was fired by the Emperor on the Scheldt 6th November, 1784. Peace + was concluded 8th November, 1785, through the mediation of France. + The singular part was the indemnification granted to the Emperor: + this was a sum of ten millions of Dutch florins; the articles 15, + 16, and 17 of the treaty stipulated the quotas of it. Holland paid + five millions and a half, and France, under the direction of M. de + Vergennes, four millions and a half of florins, that is to say, nine + millions and forty-five thousand francs, according to M. Soulavie. + M. de augur, in his "Policy of Cabinets" (vol. iii.), says relative + to this affair: + + "M. de Vergennes has been much blamed for having terminated, by a + sacrifice of seven millions, the contest that existed between the + United Provinces and the Emperor. In that age of philosophy men + were still very uncivilised; in that age of commerce they made very + erroneous calculations; and those who accused the Queen of sending + the gold of France to her brother would have been better pleased if, + to support a republic devoid of energy, the blood of two hundred + thousand men, and three or four hundred millions of francs, had been + sacrificed, and at the same time the risk run of losing the + advantage of peace dictated to England." MADAME CAMPAN.] + +When the Comte de Moustier set out on his mission to the United States, +after having had his public audience of leave he came and asked me to +procure him a private one. I could not succeed even with the strongest +solicitations; the Queen desired me to wish him a good voyage, but added +that none but ministers could have anything to say to him in private, +since he was going to a country where the names of King and Queen must be +detested. + +Marie Antoinette had then no direct influence over State affairs until +after the deaths of M. de Maurepas and M. de Vergennes, and the +retirement of M. de Calonne. She frequently regretted her new situation, +and looked upon it as a misfortune which she could not avoid. One day, +while I was assisting her to tie up a number of memorials and reports, +which some of the ministers had handed to her to be given to the King, +"Ah!" said she, sighing, "there is an end of all happiness for me, since +they have made an intriguer of me." I exclaimed at the word. + +"Yes," resumed, the Queen, "that is the right term; every woman who +meddles with affairs above her understanding or out of her line of duty +is an intriguer and nothing else; you will remember, however, that it is +not my own fault, and that it is with regret I give myself such a title; +Queens of France are happy only so long as they meddle with nothing, and +merely preserve influence sufficient to advance their friends and reward +a few zealous servants. Do you know what happened to me lately? One day +since I began to attend private committees at the King's, while crossing +the oiel-de-boeuf, I heard one of the musicians of the chapel say so loud +that I lost not a single word, 'A Queen who does her duty will remain in +her apartment to knit.' I said within myself, 'Poor wretch, thou art +right; but thou knowest not my situation; I yield to necessity and my +evil destiny.'" + +This situation was the more painful to the Queen inasmuch as Louis XVI. +had long accustomed himself to say nothing to her respecting State +affairs; and when, towards the close of his reign, she was obliged to +interfere in the most important matters, the same habit in the King +frequently kept from her particulars which it was necessary she should +have known. Obtaining, therefore, only insufficient information, and +guided by persons more ambitious than skilful, the Queen could not be +useful in important affairs; yet, at the same time, her ostensible +interference drew upon her, from all parties and all classes of society, +an unpopularity the rapid progress of which alarmed all those who were +sincerely attached to her. + +Carried away by the eloquence of the Archbishop of Sens, and encouraged +in the confidence she placed in that minister by the incessant eulogies +of the Abbe de Vermond on his abilities, the Queen unfortunately followed +up her first mistake of bringing him into office in 1787 by supporting +him at the time of his disgrace, which was obtained by the despair of a +whole nation. She thought it was due to her dignity to give him some +marked proof of her regard at the moment of his departure; misled by her +feelings, she sent him her portrait enriched with jewelry, and a brevet +for the situation of lady of the palace for Madame de Canisy, his niece, +observing that it was necessary to indemnify a minister sacrificed to the +intrigues of the Court and a factious spirit of the nation; that +otherwise none would be found willing to devote themselves to the +interests of the sovereign. + +On the day of the Archbishop's departure the public joy was universal, +both at Court and at Paris there were bonfires; the attorneys' clerks +burnt the Archbishop in effigy, and on the evening of his disgrace more +than a hundred couriers were sent out from Versailles to spread the happy +tidings among the country seats. I have seen the Queen shed bitter tears +at the recollection of the errors she committed at this period, when +subsequently, a short time before her death, the Archbishop had the +audacity to say, in a speech which was printed, that the sole object of +one part of his operations, during his administration, was the salutary +crisis which the Revolution had produced. + +The benevolence and generosity shown by the King and Queen during the +severe winter of 1788, when the Seine was frozen over and the cold was +more intense than it had been for eighty years, procured them some +fleeting popularity. The gratitude of the Parisians for the succour +their Majesties poured forth was lively if not lasting. The snow was so +abundant that since that period there has never been seen such a +prodigious quantity in France. In different parts of Paris pyramids and +obelisks of snow were erected with inscriptions expressive of the +gratitude of the people. The pyramid in the Rue d'Angiviller was +supported on a base six feet high by twelve broad; it rose to the height +of fifteen feet, and was terminated by a globe. Four blocks of stone, +placed at the angles, corresponded with the obelisk, and gave it an +elegant appearance. Several inscriptions, in honour of the King and +Queen, were affixed to it. I went to see this singular monument, and +recollect the following inscription + + "TO MARIE ANTOINETTE." + + "Lovely and good, to tender pity true, + Queen of a virtuous King, this trophy view; + Cold ice and snow sustain its fragile form, + But ev'ry grateful heart to thee is warm. + Oh, may this tribute in your hearts excite, + Illustrious pair, more pure and real delight, + Whilst thus your virtues are sincerely prais'd, + Than pompous domes by servile flatt'ry rais'd." + +The theatres generally rang with praises of the beneficence of the +sovereigns: "La Partie de Chasse de Henri IV." was represented for the +benefit of the poor. The receipts were very considerable. + +When the fruitless measure of the Assembly of the Notables, and the +rebellious spirit in the parliaments, + + [The Assembly of the Notables, as may be seen in "Weber's + Memoirs," vol. i., overthrew the plans and caused the downfall + of M. de Calonne. A prince of the blood presided over each of the + meetings of that assembly. Monsieur, afterwards Louis XVIII., + presided over the first meeting. + + "Monsieur," says a contemporary, "gained great reputation at the + Assembly of the Notables in 1787. He did not miss attending his + meeting a single day, and he displayed truly patriotic virtues. + His care in discussing the weighty matters of administration, in + throwing light upon them, and in defending the interests and the + cause of the people, was such as even to inspire the King with some + degree of jealousy. Monsieur openly said that a respectful + resistance to the orders of the monarch was not blamable, and that + authority might be met by argument, and forced to receive + information without any offence whatever."--NOTE BY THE EDITOR.] + +had created the necessity for States General, it was long discussed in +council whether they should be assembled at Versailles or at forty or +sixty leagues from the capital; the Queen was for the latter course, and +insisted to the King that they ought to be far away from the immense +population of Paris. She feared that the people would influence the +deliberations of the deputies; several memorials were presented to the +King upon that question; but M. Necker prevailed, and Versailles was the +place fixed upon. + +The day on which the King announced that he gave his consent to the +convocation of the States General, the Queen left the public dinner, +and placed herself in the recess of the first window of her bedchamber, +with her face towards the garden. Her chief butler followed her, to +present her coffee, which she usually took standing, as she was about to +leave the table. She beckoned to me to come close to her. The King was +engaged in conversation with some one in his room. When the attendant +had served her he retired; and she addressed me, with the cup still in +her hand: "Great Heavens! what fatal news goes forth this day! The King +assents to the convocation of the States General." Then she added, +raising her eyes to heaven, "I dread it; this important event is a first +fatal signal of discord in France." She cast her eyes down, they were +filled with tears. She could not take the remainder of her coffee, but +handed me the cup, and went to join the King. In the evening, when she +was alone with me, she spoke only of this momentous decision. "It is the +Parliament," said she, "that has compelled the King to have recourse to a +measure long considered fatal to the repose of the kingdom. These +gentlemen wish to restrain the power of the King; but they give a great +shock to the authority of which they make so bad a use, and they will +bring on their own destruction." + +The double representation granted to the Tiers Etat was now the chief +topic of conversation. The Queen favoured this plan, to which the King +had agreed; she thought the hope of obtaining ecclesiastical favours +would secure the clergy of the second order, and that M. Necker was sure +to have the same degree of influence over the lawyers, and other people +of that class comprised in the Tiers Dat. The Comte d'Artois, holding +the contrary opinion, presented a memorial in the names of himself and +several princes of the blood to the King against the double +representation. The Queen was displeased with him for this; her +confidential advisers infused into her apprehensions that the Prince was +made the tool of a party; but his conduct was approved of by Madame de +Polignac's circle, which the Queen thenceforward only frequented to avoid +the appearance of a change in her habits. She almost always returned +unhappy; she was treated with the profound respect due to a queen, but +the devotion of friendship had vanished, to make way for the coldness of +etiquette, which wounded her deeply. The alienation between her and the +Comte Artois was also very painful to her, for she had loved him almost +as tenderly as if he had been her own brother. + +The opening of the States General took place on the 4th of May, 1789. +The Queen on that occasion appeared for the last time in her life in +regal magnificence. During the procession some low women, seeing the +Queen pass, cried out "Vive le Duc d' Orleans!" in so threatening a +manner that she nearly fainted. She was obliged to be supported, and +those about her were afraid it would be necessary to stop the procession. +The Queen, however, recovered herself, and much regretted that she had +not been able to command more presence of mind. + +The rapidly increasing distrust of the King and Queen shown by the +populace was greatly attributable to incessant corruption by English +gold, and the projects, either of revenge or of ambition, of the Duc +d'Orleans. Let it not be thought that this accusation is founded on what +has been so often repeated by the heads of the French Government since +the Revolution. Twice between the 14th of July and the 6th of October, +1789, the day on which the Court was dragged to Paris, the Queen +prevented me from making little excursions thither of business or +pleasure, saying to me, "Do not go on such a day to Paris; the English +have been scattering gold, we shall have some disturbance." The repeated +visits of the Duc d'Orleans to England had excited the Anglomania to such +a pitch that Paris was no longer distinguishable from London. The +French, formerly imitated by the whole of Europe, became on a sudden a +nation of imitators, without considering the evils that arts and +manufactures must suffer in consequence of the change. Since the treaty +of commerce made with England at the peace of 1783, not merely equipages, +but everything, even to ribands and common earthenware, were of English +make. If this predominance of English fashions had been confined to +filling our drawing-rooms with young men in English frock-coats, instead +of the French dress, good taste and commerce might alone have suffered; +but the principles of English government had taken possession of these +young heads. Constitution, Upper House, Lower House, national guarantee, +balance of power, Magna Charta, Law of Habeas Corpus,--all these words +were incessantly repeated, and seldom understood; but they were of +fundamental importance to a party which was then forming. + +The first sitting of the States took place on the following day. The +King delivered his speech with firmness and dignity; the Queen told me +that he had taken great pains about it, and had repeated it frequently. +His Majesty gave public marks of attachment and respect for the Queen, +who was applauded; but it was easy to see that this applause was in fact +rendered to the King alone. + +It was evident, during the first sittings, that Mirabeau would be very +dangerous to the Government. It affirmed that at this period he +communicated to the King, and still more fully to the Queen, part of his +schemes for abandoning them. He brandished the weapons afforded him by +his eloquence and audacity, in order to make terms with the party he +meant to attack. This man played the game of revolution to make his own +fortune. The Queen told me that he asked for an embassy, and, if my +memory does not deceive me, it was that of Constantinople. He was +refused with well-deserved contempt, though policy would doubtless have +concealed it, could the future have been foreseen. + +The enthusiasm prevailing at the opening of this assembly, and the +debates between the Tiers Etat, the nobility, and even the clergy, daily +increased the alarm of their Majesties, and all who were attached to the +cause of monarchy. The Queen went to bed late, or rather she began to be +unable to rest. One evening, about the end of May, she was sitting in +her room, relating several remarkable occurrences of the day; four wax +candles were placed upon her toilet-table; the first went out of itself; +I relighted it; shortly afterwards the second, and then the third went +out also; upon which the Queen, squeezing my hand in terror, said to me: +"Misfortune makes us superstitious; if the fourth taper should go out +like the rest, nothing can prevent my looking upon it as a sinister +omen." The fourth taper went out. It was remarked to the Queen that the +four tapers had probably been run in the same mould, and that a defect in +the wick had naturally occurred at the same point in each, since the +candles had all gone out in the order in which they had been lighted. + +The deputies of the Tiers Etat arrived at Versailles full of the +strongest prejudices against the Court. They believed that the King +indulged in the pleasures of the table to a shameful excess; and that the +Queen was draining the treasury of the State in order to satisfy the most +unbridled luxury. They almost all determined to see Petit Trianon. The +extreme plainness of the retreat in question not answering the ideas they +had formed, some of them insisted upon seeing the very smallest closets, +saying that the richly furnished apartments were concealed from them. +They particularised one which, according to them, was ornamented with +diamonds, and with wreathed columns studded with sapphires and rubies. +The Queen could not get these foolish ideas out of her mind, and spoke to +the King on the subject. From the description given of this room by the +deputies to the keepers of Trianon, the King concluded that they were +looking for the scene enriched with paste ornaments, made in the reign of +Louis XV. for the theatre of Fontainebleau. + +The King supposed that his Body Guards, on their return to the country, +after their quarterly duty at Court, related what they had seen, and that +their exaggerated accounts, being repeated, became at last totally +perverted. This idea of the King, after the search for the diamond +chamber, suggested to the Queen that the report of the King's propensity +for drinking also sprang from the guards who accompanied his carriage +when he hunted at Rambouillet. The King, who disliked sleeping out of +his usual bed, was accustomed to leave that hunting-seat after supper; +he generally slept soundly in his carriage, and awoke only on his arrival +at the courtyard of his palace; he used to get down from his carriage in +the midst of his Body Guards, staggering, as a man half awake will do, +which was mistaken for intoxication. + +The majority of the deputies who came imbued with prejudices produced by +error or malevolence, went to lodge with the most humble private +individuals of Versailles, whose inconsiderate conversation contributed +not a little to nourish such mistakes. Everything, in short, tended to +render the deputies subservient to the schemes of the leaders of the +rebellion. + +Shortly after the opening of the States General the first Dauphin died. +That young Prince suffered from the rickets, which in a few months curved +his spine, and rendered his legs so weak that he could not walk without +being supported like a feeble old man. + + [Louis, Dauphin of France, who died at Versailles on the 4th of + June, 1789, gave promise of intellectual precocity. The following + particulars, which convey some idea of his disposition, and of the + assiduous attention bestowed upon him by the Duchesse de Polignac, + will be found in a work of that time: "At two years old the Dauphin + was very pretty; he articulated well, and answered questions put to + him intelligently. While he was at the Chateau de La Muette + everybody was at liberty to see him. The Dauphin was dressed + plainly, like a sailor; there was nothing to distinguish him from + other children in external appearance but the cross of Saint Louis, + the blue ribbon, and the Order of the Fleece, decorations that are + the distinctive signs of his rank. The Duchesse Jules de Polignac, + his governess, scarcely ever left him for a single instant: she gave + up all the Court excursions and amusements in order to devote her + whole attention to him. The Prince always manifested a great regard + for M. de Bourset, his valet de chambre. During the illness of + which he died, he one day asked for a pair of scissors; that + gentleman reminded him that they were forbidden. The child insisted + mildly, and they were obliged to yield to him. Having got the + scissors, he cut off a lock of his hair, which he wrapped in a sheet + of paper: 'There, monsieur,' said he to his valet de chambre,' there + is the only present I can make you, having nothing at my command; + but when I am dead you will present this pledge to my papa and + mamma; and while they remember me, I hope they will not forget + you.'"--NOTE BY THE EDITOR.] + +How many maternal tears did his condition draw from the Queen, already +overwhelmed with apprehensions respecting the state of the kingdom! Her +grief was enhanced by petty intrigues, which, when frequently renewed, +became intolerable. An open quarrel between the families and friends of +the Duc Harcourt, the Dauphin's governor, and those of the Duchesse de +Polignac, his governess, added greatly to the Queen's affliction. The +young Prince showed a strong dislike to the Duchesse de Polignac, who +attributed it either to the Duc or the Duchesse d'Harcourt, and came to +make her complaints respecting it to the Queen. The Dauphin twice sent +her out of his room, saying to her, with that maturity of manner which +long illness always gives to children: "Go out, Duchess; you are so fond +of using perfumes, and they always make me ill;" and yet she never used +any. The Queen perceived, also, that his prejudices against her friend +extended to herself; her son would no longer speak in her presence. She +knew that he had become fond of sweetmeats, and offered him some +marshmallow and jujube lozenges. The under-governors and the first valet +de chambre requested her not to give the Dauphin anything, as he was to +receive no food of any kind without the consent of the faculty. +I forbear to describe the wound this prohibition inflicted upon the +Queen; she felt it the more deeply because she was aware it was unjustly +believed she gave a decided preference to the Duc de Normandie, whose +ruddy health and amiability did, in truth, form a striking contrast to +the languid look and melancholy disposition of his elder brother. She +even suspected that a plot had for some time existed to deprive her of +the affection of a child whom she loved as a good and tender mother +ought. Previous to the audience granted by the King on the 10th August, +1788, to the envoy of the Sultan Tippoo Saib, she had begged the Duc +d'Harcourt to divert the Dauphin, whose deformity was already apparent, +from his, intention to be present at that ceremony, being unwilling to +expose him to the gaze of the crowd of inquisitive Parisians who would be +in the gallery. Notwithstanding this injunction, the Dauphin was +suffered to write to his mother, requesting her permission to be present +at the audience. The Queen was obliged to refuse him, and warmly +reproached the governor, who merely answered that he could not oppose the +wishes of a sick child. A year before the death of the Dauphin the Queen +lost the Princesse Sophie; this was, as the Queen said, the first of a +series of misfortunes. + + +NOTE: As Madame Campan has stated in the foregoing pages that the money +to foment sedition was furnished from English sources, the decree of the +Convention of August, 1793, maybe quoted as illustrative of the entente +cordiale alleged to exist between the insurrectionary Government and its +friends across the Channel! The endeavours made by the English +Government to save the unfortunate King are well known. The motives +prompting the conduct of the Duc d'Orleans are equally well known. + +Art. i. The National Convention denounces the British Government to +Europe and the English nation. + +Art. ii. Every Frenchman that shall place his money in the English +funds shall be declared a traitor to his country. + +Art. iii. Every Frenchman who has money in the English funds or those +of any other Power with whom France is at war shall be obliged to declare +the same. + +Art. iv. All foreigners, subjects of the Powers now at war with France, +particularly the English, shall be arrested, and seals put upon their +papers. + +Art. v. The barriers of Paris shall be instantly shut. + +Art. vi. All good citizens shall be required in the name of the country +to search for the foreigners concerned in any plot denounced. + +Art. vii. Three millions shall be at the disposal of the Minister at +War to facilitate the march of the garrison of Mentz to La Vendee. + +Art. viii. The Minister at War shall send to the army on the coast of +Rochelle all the combustible materials necessary to set fire to the +forests and underwood of La Vendee. + +Art. ix. The women, the children, and old men shall be conducted to the +interior parts of the country. + +Art. x. The property of the rebels shall be confiscated for the benefit +of the Republic. + +Art. xi. A camp shall be formed without delay between Paris and the +Northern army. + +Art. xii. All the family of the Capets shall be banished from the +French territory, those excepted who are under the sword of the law, and +the offspring of Louis Capet, who shall both remain in the Temple. + +Art. xiii. Marie Antoinette shall be delivered over to the +Revolutionary Tribunal, and shall be immediately conducted to the prison +of the Conciergerie. Louise Elisabeth shall remain in the Temple till +after the judgment of Marie Antoinette. + +Art. xiv. All the tombs of the Kings which are at St. Denis and in the +departments shall be destroyed on August the 10th. + +Art. xv. The present decree shall be despatched by extraordinary +couriers to all the departments. + + + + +ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + +Customs are nearly equal to laws +Displaying her acquirements with rather too much confidence +I do not like these rhapsodies +Indulge in the pleasure of vice and assume the credit of virtue +No accounting for the caprices of a woman +None but little minds dreaded little books +Shun all kinds of confidence +The author (Beaumarchais) was sent to prison soon afterwards +Those muskets were immediately embarked and sold to the Americans +Young Prince suffered from the rickets + + + + +End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of The Memoirs of Marie Antoinette, v4 +by Madame Campan + + + + + + +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 5. + + +CHAPTER I. + +The ever-memorable oath of the States General, taken at the Tennis Court +of Versailles, was followed by the royal sitting of the 23d of June. In +this seance the King declared that the Orders must vote separately, and +threatened, if further obstacles were met with, to himself act for the +good of the people. The Queen looked on M. Necker's not accompanying the +King as treachery or criminal cowardice: she said that he had converted a +remedy into poison; that being in full popularity, his audacity, in +openly disavowing the step taken by his sovereign, had emboldened the +factious, and led away the whole Assembly; and that he was the more +culpable inasmuch as he had the evening before given her his word to +accompany the King. In vain did M. Necker endeavour to excuse himself by +saying that his advice had not been followed. + +Soon afterwards the insurrections of the 11th, 12th, and 14th of July-- +[The Bastille was taken on the 14th July, 1789.]--opened the disastrous +drama with which France was threatened. The massacre of M. de Flesselles +and M. de Launay drew bitter tears from the Queen, and the idea that the +King had lost such devoted subjects wounded her to the heart. + +The character of the movement was no longer merely that of a popular +insurrection; cries of "Vive la Nation! Vive le Roi! Vive la Liberte!" +threw the strongest light upon the views of the reformers. Still the +people spoke of the King with affection, and appeared to think him +favourable to the national desire for the reform of what were called +abuses; but they imagined that he was restrained by the opinions and +influence of the Comte d'Artois and the Queen; and those two august +personages were therefore objects of hatred to the malcontents. The +dangers incurred by the Comte d'Artois determined the King's first step +with the States General. He attended their meeting on the morning of the +15th of July with his brothers, without pomp or escort; he spoke standing +and uncovered, and pronounced these memorable words: "I trust myself to +you; I only wish to be at one with my nation, and, counting on the +affection and fidelity of my subjects, I have given orders to the troops +to remove from Paris and Versailles." The King returned on foot from the +chamber of the States General to his palace; the deputies crowded after +him, and formed his escort, and that of the Princes who accompanied him. +The rage of the populace was pointed against the Comte d'Artois, whose +unfavourable opinion of the double representation was an odious crime in +their eyes. They repeatedly cried out, "The King for ever, in spite of +you and your opinions, Monseigneur!" One woman had the impudence to come +up to the King and ask him whether what he had been doing was done +sincerely, and whether he would not be forced to retract it. + +The courtyards of the Chateau were thronged with an immense concourse of +people; they demanded that the King and Queen, with their children, +should make their appearance in the balcony. The Queen gave me the key +of the inner doors, which led to the Dauphin's apartments, and desired me +to go to the Duchesse de Polignac to tell her that she wanted her son, +and had directed me to bring him myself into her room, where she waited +to show him to the people. The Duchess said this order indicated that +she was not to accompany the Prince. I did not answer; she squeezed my +hand, saying, "Ah! Madame Campan, what a blow I receive!" She embraced +the child and me with tears. She knew how much I loved and valued the +goodness and the noble simplicity of her disposition. I endeavoured to +reassure her by saying that I should bring back the Prince to her; but +she persisted, and said she understood the order, and knew what it meant. +She then retired to her private room, holding her handkerchief to her +eyes. One of the under-governesses asked me whether she might go with +the Dauphin; I told her the Queen had given no order to the contrary, and +we hastened to her Majesty, who was waiting to lead the Prince to the +balcony. + +Having executed this sad commission, I went down into the courtyard, +where I mingled with the crowd. I heard a thousand vociferations; it was +easy to see, by the difference between the language and the dress of some +persons among the mob, that they were in disguise. A woman, whose face +was covered with a black lace veil, seized me by the arm with some +violence, and said, calling me by my name, "I know you very well; tell +your Queen not to meddle with government any longer; let her leave her +husband and our good States General to effect the happiness of the +people." At the same moment a man, dressed much in the style of a +marketman, with his hat pulled down over his eyes, seized me by the other +arm, and said, "Yes, yes; tell her over and over again that it will not +be with these States as with the others, which produced no good to the +people; that the nation is too enlightened in 1789 not to make something +more of them; and that there will not now be seen a deputy of the 'Tiers +Etat' making a speech with one knee on the ground; tell her this, do you +hear? "I was struck with dread; the Queen then appeared in the balcony. +"Ah!" said the woman in the veil, "the Duchess is not with her."--"No," +replied the man, "but she is still at Versailles; she is working +underground, molelike; but we shall know how to dig her out." The +detestable pair moved away from me, and I reentered the palace, scarcely +able to support myself. I thought it my duty to relate the dialogue of +these two strangers to the Queen; she made me repeat the particulars to +the King. + +About four in the afternoon I went across the terrace to Madame +Victoire's apartments; three men had stopped under the windows of the +throne-chamber. "Here is that throne," said one of them aloud, "the +vestiges of which will soon be sought for." He added a thousand +invectives against their Majesties. I went in to the Princess, who was +at work alone in her closet, behind a canvass blind, which prevented her +from being seen by those without. The three men were still walking upon +the terrace; I showed them to her, and told her what they had said. She +rose to take a nearer view of them, and informed me that one of them was +named Saint-Huruge; that he was sold to the Duc d'Orleans, and was +furious against the Government, because he had been confined once under a +'lettre de cachet' as a bad character. + +The King was not ignorant of these popular threats; he also knew the days +on which money was scattered about Paris, and once or twice the Queen +prevented my going there, saying there would certainly be a riot the next +day, because she knew that a quantity of crown pieces had been +distributed in the faubourgs. + + [I have seen a six-franc crown piece, which certainly served to pay + some wretch on the night of the 12th of July; the words "Midnight, + 12th July, three pistols," were rather deeply engraven on it. They + were, no doubt, a password for the first insurrection. + --MADAME COMPAN] + +On the evening of the 14th of July the King came to the Queen's +apartments, where I was with her Majesty alone; he conversed with her +respecting the scandalous report disseminated by the factious, that he +had had the Chamber of the National Assembly undermined, in order to blow +it up; but he added that it became him to treat such absurd assertions +with contempt, as usual; I ventured to tell him that I had the evening +before supped with M. Begouen, one of the deputies, who said that there +were very respectable persons who thought that this horrible contrivance +had been proposed without the King's knowledge. "Then," said his +Majesty, "as the idea of such an atrocity was not revolting to so worthy +a man as M. Begouen, I will order the chamber to be examined early to- +morrow morning." In fact, it will be seen by the King's, speech to the +National Assembly, on the 15th of July, that the suspicions excited +obtained his attention. "I know," said he in the speech in question, +"that unworthy insinuations have been made; I know there are those who +have dared to assert that your persons are not safe; can it be necessary +to give you assurances upon the subject of reports so culpable, denied +beforehand by my known character?" + +The proceedings of the 15th of July produced no mitigation of the +disturbances. Successive deputations of poissardes came to request the +King to visit Paris, where his presence alone would put an end to the +insurrection. + +On the 16th a committee was held in the King's apartments, at which a +most important question was discussed: whether his Majesty should quit +Versailles and set off with the troops whom he had recently ordered to +withdraw, or go to Paris to tranquillise the minds of the people. The +Queen was for the departure. On the evening of the 16th she made me take +all her jewels out of their cases, to collect them in one small box, +which she might carry off in her own carriage. With my assistance she +burnt a large quantity of papers; for Versailles was then threatened with +an early visit of armed men from Paris. + +The Queen, on the morning of the 16th, before attending another committee +at the King's, having got her jewels ready, and looked over all her +papers, gave me one folded up but not sealed, and desired me not to read +it until she should give me an order to do so from the King's room, and +that then I was to execute its contents; but she returned herself about +ten in the morning; the affair was decided; the army was to go away +without the King; all those who were in imminent danger were to go at the +same time. "The King will go to the Hotel de Ville to-morrow," said the +Queen to me; "he did not choose this course for himself; there were long +debates on the question; at last the King put an end to them by rising +and saying, 'Well, gentlemen, we must decide; am I to go or to stay? I +am ready to do either.' The majority were for the King staying; time +will show whether the right choice has been made." I returned the Queen +the paper she had given me, which was now useless; she read it to me; it +contained her orders for the departure; I was to go with her, as well on +account of my office about her person as to serve as a teacher to Madame. +The Queen tore the paper, and said, with tears in her eyes, "When I wrote +this I thought it would be useful, but fate has ordered otherwise, to the +misfortune of us all, as I much fear." + +After the departure of the troops the new administration received thanks; +M. Necker was recalled. The artillery soldiers were undoubtedly +corrupted. "Wherefore all these guns?" exclaimed the crowds of women +who filled the streets. "Will you kill your mothers, your wives, your +children?"--"Don't be afraid," answered the soldiers; "these guns shall +rather be levelled against the tyrant's palace than against you!" + +The Comte d'Artois, the Prince de Conde, and their children set off at +the same time with the troops. The Duc and Duchesse de Polignac, their +daughter, the Duchesse de Guiche, the Comtesse Diane de Polignac, sister +of the Duke, and the Abbe de Baliviere, also emigrated on the same night. +Nothing could be more affecting than the parting of the Queen and her +friend; extreme misfortune had banished from their minds the recollection +of differences to which political opinions alone had given rise. The +Queen several times wished to go and embrace her once more after their +sorrowful adieu, but she was too closely watched. She desired M. Campan +to be present at the departure of the Duchess, and gave him a purse of +five hundred Louis, desiring him to insist upon her allowing the Queen to +lend her that sum to defray her expenses on the road. The Queen added +that she knew her situation; that she had often calculated her income, +and the expenses occasioned by her place at Court; that both husband and +wife having no other fortune than their official salaries, could not +possibly have saved anything, however differently people might think at +Paris. + +M. Campan remained till midnight with the Duchess to see her enter her +carriage. She was disguised as a femme de chambre, and got up in front +of the Berlin; she requested M. Campan to remember her frequently to the +Queen, and then quitted for ever that palace, that favour, and that +influence which had raised her up such cruel enemies. On their arrival +at Sens the travellers found the people in a state of insurrection; they +asked all those who came from Paris whether the Polignacs were still with +the Queen. A group of inquisitive persons put that question to the Abbe +de Baliviere, who answered them in the firmest tone, and with the most +cavalier air, that they were far enough from Versailles, and that we had +got rid of all such bad people. At the following stage the postilion got +on the doorstep and said to the Duchess, "Madame, there are some good +people left in the world: I recognised you all at Sens." They gave the +worthy fellow a handful of gold. + +On the breaking out of these disturbances an old man above seventy years +of age gave the Queen an extraordinary proof of attachment and fidelity. +M. Peraque, a rich inhabitant of the colonies, father of M. d'Oudenarde, +was coming from Brussels to Paris; while changing horses he was met by a +young man who was leaving France, and who recommended him if he carried +any letters from foreign countries to burn them immediately, especially +if he had any for the Queen. M. Peraque had one from the Archduchess, +the Gouvernante of the Low Countries, for her Majesty. He thanked the +stranger, and carefully concealed his packet; but as he approached Paris +the insurrection appeared to him so general and so violent, that he +thought no means could be relied on for securing this letter from +seizure. He took upon him to unseal it, and learned it by heart, which +was a wonderful effort for a man at his time of life, as it contained +four pages of writing. On his arrival at Paris he wrote it down, and +then presented it to the Queen, telling her that the heart of an old and +faithful subject had given him courage to form and execute such a +resolution. The Queen received M. Peraque in her closet, and expressed +her gratitude in an affecting manner most honourable to the worthy old +man. Her Majesty thought the young stranger who had apprised him of the +state of Paris was Prince George of Hesse-Darmstadt, who was very devoted +to her, and who left Paris at that time. + +The Marquise de Tourzel replaced the Duchess de Polignac. She was +selected by the Queen as being the mother of a family and a woman of +irreproachable conduct, who had superintended the education of her own +daughters with the greatest success. + +The King went to Paris on the 17th of July, accompanied by the Marechal +de Beauvau, the Duc de Villeroi, and the Duc de Villequier; he also took +the Comte d'Estaing, and the Marquis de Nesle, who were then very +popular, in his carriage. Twelve Body Guards, and the town guard of +Versailles, escorted him to the Pont du Jour, near Sevres, where the +Parisian guard was waiting for him. His departure caused equal grief and +alarm to his friends, notwithstanding the calmness he exhibited. The +Queen restrained her tears, and shut herself up in her private rooms with +her family. She sent for several persons belonging to her Court; their +doors were locked. Terror had driven them away. The silence of death +reigned throughout the palace; they hardly dared hope that the King would +return? The Queen had a robe prepared for her, and sent orders to her +stables to have all her equipages ready. She wrote an address of a few +lines for the Assembly, determining to go there with her family, the +officers of her palace, and her servants, if the King should be detained +prisoner at Paris. She got this address by heart; it began with these +words: "Gentlemen, I come to place in your hands the wife and family of +your sovereign; do not suffer those who have been united in heaven to be +put asunder on earth." While she was repeating this address she was +often interrupted by tears, and sorrowfully exclaimed: "They will not let +him return!" + +It was past four when the King, who had left Versailles at ten in the +morning, entered the Hotel de Ville. At length, at six in the evening, +M. de Lastours, the King's first page, arrived; he was not half an hour +in coming from the Barriere de la Conference to Versailles. Everybody +knows that the moment of calm in Paris was that in which the unfortunate +sovereign received the tricoloured cockade from M. Bailly, and placed it +in his hat. A shout of "Vive le Roi!" arose on all sides; it had not +been once uttered before. The King breathed again, and with tears in his +eyes exclaimed that his heart stood in need of such greetings from the +people. One of his equerries (M. de Cubieres) told him the people loved +him, and that he could never have doubted it. The King replied in +accents of profound sensibility: + +"Cubieres, the French loved Henri IV., and what king ever better deserved +to be beloved?" + + [Louis XVI. cherished the memory of Henri IV.: at that moment he + thought of his deplorable end; but he long before regarded him as a + model. Soulavie says on the subject: "A tablet with the inscription + 'Resurrexit' placed upon the pedestal of Henri IV.'s statue on the + accession of Louis XVI. flattered him exceedingly. 'What a fine + compliment,' said he, 'if it were true! Tacitus himself never wrote + anything so concise or so happy.' Louis XVI. wished to take the + reign of that Prince for a model. In the following year the party + that raised a commotion among the people on account of the dearness + of corn removed the tablet inscribed Resurrexit from the statue of + Henri IV., and placed it under that of Louis XV., whose memory was + then detested, as he was believed to have traded on the scarcity of + food. Louis XVI., who was informed of it, withdrew into his private + apartments, where he was found in a fever shedding tears; and during + the whole of that day he could not be prevailed upon either to dine, + walk out, or sup. From this circumstance we may judge what he + endured at the commencement of the Revolution, when he was accused + of not loving the French people."--NOTE BY THE EDITOR.] + +His return to Versailles filled his family with inexpressible joy; in the +arms of the Queen, his sister, and his children, he congratulated himself +that no accident had happened; and he repeated several times, "Happily no +blood has been shed, and I swear that never shall a drop of French blood +be shed by my order,"--a determination full of humanity, but too openly +avowed in such factious times! + +The King's last measure raised a hope in many that general tranquillity +would soon enable the Assembly to resume its, labours, and promptly bring +its session to a close. The Queen never flattered herself so far; +M. Bailly's speech to the King had equally wounded her pride and hurt her +feelings. "Henri IV. conquered his people, and here are the people +conquering their King." The word "conquest" offended her; she never +forgave M. Bailly for this fine academical phrase. + +Five days after the King's visit to Paris, the departure of the troops, +and the removal of the Princes and some of the nobility whose influence +seemed to alarm the people, a horrible deed committed by hired assassins +proved that the King had descended the steps of his throne without having +effected a reconciliation with his people. + +M. Foulon, adjoint to the administration while M. de Broglie was +commanding the army assembled at Versailles, had concealed himself at +Viry. He was there recognised, and the peasants seized him, and dragged +him to the Hotel de Ville. The cry for death was heard; the electors, +the members of committee, and M. de La Fayette, at that time the idol of +Paris, in vain endeavoured to save the unfortunate man. After tormenting +him in a manner which makes humanity shudder, his body was dragged about +the streets, and to the Palais Royal, and his heart was carried by women +in the midst of a bunch of white carnations! M. Berthier, M. Foulon's +son-in-law, intendant of Paris, was seized at Compiegne, at the same time +that his father-in-law was seized at Viry, and treated with still more +relentless cruelty. + +The Queen was always persuaded that this horrible deed was occasioned by +some indiscretion; and she informed me that M. Foulon had drawn up two +memorials for the direction of the King's conduct at the time of his +being called to Court on the removal of M. Necker; and that these +memorials contained two schemes of totally different nature for +extricating the King from the dreadful situation in which he was placed. +In the first of these projects M. Foulon expressed himself without +reserve respecting the criminal views of the Duc d'Orleans; said that +he ought to be put under arrest, and that no time should be lost in +commencing a prosecution against him, while the criminal tribunals were +still in existence; he likewise pointed out such deputies as should be +apprehended, and advised the King not to separate himself from his army +until order was restored. + +His other plan was that the King should make himself master of the +revolution before its complete explosion; he advised his Majesty to go to +the Assembly, and there, in person, to demand the cahiers, + + [Cahiers, the memorials or lists of complaints, grievances, and + requirements of the electors drawn up by the primary assemblies and + sent with the deputies.] + +and to make the greatest sacrifices to satisfy the legitimate wishes of +the people, and not to give the factious time to enlist them in aid of +their criminal designs. Madame Adelaide had M. Foulon's two memorials +read to her in the presence of four or five persons. One of them, Comte +Louis de Narbonne, was very intimate with Madame de Stael, and that +intimacy gave the Queen reason to believe that the opposite party had +gained information of M. Foulon's schemes. + +It is known that young Barnave, during an aberration of mind, since +expiated by sincere repentance, and even by death, uttered these +atrocious words: "Is then the blood now, flowing so pure?" when M. +Berthier's son came to the Assembly to implore the eloquence of M. de +Lally to entreat that body to save his father's life. I have since been +informed that a son of M. Foulon, having returned to France after these +first ebullitions of the Revolution, saw Barnave, and gave him one of +those memorials in which M. Foulon advised Louis XVI. to prevent the +revolutionary explosion by voluntarily granting all that the Assembly +required before the 14th of July. "Read this memorial," said he; "I have +brought it to increase your remorse: it is the only revenge I wish to +inflict on you." Barnave burst into tears, and said to him all that the +profoundest grief could dictate. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +After the 14th of July, by a manoeuvre for which the most skilful +factions of any age might have envied the Assembly, the whole population +of France was armed and organised into a National Guard. A report was +spread throughout France on the same day, and almost at the same hour, +that four thousand brigands were marching towards such towns or villages +as it was wished to induce to take arms. Never was any plan better laid; +terror spread at the same moment all over the kingdom. In 1791 a peasant +showed me a steep rock in the mountains of the Mont d'Or on which his +wife concealed herself on the day when the four thousand brigands were to +attack their village, and told me they had been obliged to make use of +ropes to let her down from the height which fear alone had enabled her to +climb. + +Versailles was certainly the place where the national military uniform +appeared most offensive. All the King's valets, even of the lowest +class, were metamorphosed into lieutenants or captains; almost all the +musicians of the chapel ventured one day to make their appearance at the +King's mass in a military costume; and an Italian soprano adopted the +uniform of a grenadier captain. The King was very much offended at this +conduct, and forbade his servants to appear in his presence in so +unsuitable a dress. + +The departure of the Duchesse de Polignac naturally left the Abbe de +Vermond exposed to all the dangers of favouritism. He was already talked +of as an adviser dangerous to the nation. The Queen was alarmed at it, +and recommended him to remove to Valenciennes, where Count Esterhazy was +in command. He was obliged to leave that place in a few days and set off +for Vienna, where he remained. + +On the night of the 17th of July the Queen, being unable to sleep, made +me watch by her until three in the morning. I was extremely surprised to +hear her say that it would be a very long time before the Abbe de Vermond +would make his appearance at Court again, even if the existing ferment +should subside, because he would not readily be forgiven for his +attachment to the Archbishop of Sens; and that she had lost in him a very +devoted servant. Then she suddenly remarked to me, that although he was +not much prejudiced against me I could not have much regard for him, +because he could not bear my father-in-law to hold the place of secretary +of the closet. She went on to say that I must have studied the Abbe's +character, and, as I had sometimes drawn her portraits of living +characters, in imitation of those which were fashionable in the time of +Louis XIV., she desired me to sketch that of the Abbe, without any +reserve. My astonishment was extreme; the Queen spoke of the man who, +the day before, had been in the greatest intimacy with her with the +utmost coolness, and as a person whom, perhaps, she might never see +again! I remained petrified; the Queen persisted, and told me that he +had been the enemy of my family for more than twelve years, without +having been able to injure it in her opinion; so that I had no occasion +to dread his return, however severely I might depict him. I promptly +summarised my ideas about the favourite; but I only remember that the +portrait was drawn with sincerity, except that everything which could +denote antipathy was kept out of it. I shall make but one extract from +it: I said that he had been born talkative and indiscreet, and had +assumed a character of singularity and abruptness in order to conceal +those two failings. The Queen interrupted me by saying, "Ah! how true +that is!" I have since discovered that, notwithstanding the high favour +which the Abbe de Vermond enjoyed, the Queen took precautions to guard +herself against an ascendency the consequences of which she could not +calculate. + +On the death of my father-in-law his executors placed in my hands a box +containing a few jewels deposited by the Queen with M. Campan on the +departure from Versailles of the 6th of October, and two sealed packets, +each inscribed, "Campan will take care of these papers for me." I took +the two packets to her Majesty, who kept the jewels and the larger +packet, and, returning me the smaller, said, "Take care of that for me as +your father-in-law did." + +After the fatal 10th of August, 1792,--[The day of the attack on the +Tuileries, slaughter of the Swiss guard, and suspension of the King from +his functions.]--when my house was about to be surrounded, I determined +to burn the most interesting papers of which I was the depositary; I +thought it my duty, however, to open this packet, which it might perhaps +be necessary for me to preserve at all hazards. +I saw that it contained a letter from the Abbe de Vermond to the Queen. +I have already related that in the earlier days of Madame de Polignac's +favour he determined to remove from Versailles, and that the Queen +recalled him by means of the Comte de Mercy. This letter contained +nothing but certain conditions for his return; it was the most whimsical +of treaties; I confess I greatly regretted being under the necessity of +destroying it. He reproached the Queen for her infatuation for the +Comtesse Jules, her family, and society; and told her several truths +about the possible consequences of a friendship which ranked that lady +among the favourites of the Queens of France, a title always disliked by +the nation. He complained that his advice was neglected, and then came +to the conditions of his return to Versailles; after strong assurances +that he would never, in all his life, aim at the higher church dignities, +he said that he delighted in an unbounded confidence; and that he asked +but two things of her Majesty as essential: the first was, not to give +him her orders through any third person, and to write to him herself; he +complained much that he had had no letter in her own hand since he had +left Vienna; then he demanded of her an income of eighty thousand livres, +in ecclesiastical benefices; and concluded by saying that, if she +condescended to assure him herself that she would set about procuring him +what he wished, her letter would be sufficient in itself to show him that +her Majesty had accepted the two conditions he ventured to make +respecting his return. No doubt the letter was written; at least it is +very certain that the benefices were granted, and that his absence from +Versailles lasted only a single week. + +In the course of July, 1789, the regiment of French guards, which had +been in a state of insurrection from the latter end of June, abandoned +its colours. One single company of grenadiers remained faithful, to its +post at Versailles. M. le Baron de Leval was the captain of this +company. He came every evening to request me to give the Queen an +account of the disposition of his soldiers; but M. de La Fayette having +sent them a note, they all deserted during the night and joined their +comrades, who were enrolled in the Paris guard; so that Louis XVI. on +rising saw no guard whatever at the various posts entrusted to them. + +The decrees of the 4th of August, by which all privileges were abolished, +are well known. + + ["It was during the night of the 4th of August," says Rivarol, "that + the demagogues of the nobility, wearied with a protracted discussion + upon the rights of man, and burning to signalise their zeal, rose + all at once, and with loud exclamations called for the last sighs of + the feudal system. This demand electrified the Assembly. All heads + were frenzied. The younger sons of good families, having nothing, + were delighted to sacrifice their too fortunate elders upon the + altar of the country; a few country cures felt no less pleasure in + renouncing the benefices of others; but what posterity will hardly + believe is that the same enthusiasm infected the whole nobility; + zeal walked hand in hand with malevolence; they made sacrifice upon + sacrifice. And as in Japan the point of honour lies in a man's + killing himself in the presence of the person who has offended him, + so did the deputies of the nobility vie in striking at themselves + and their constituents. The people who were present at this noble + contest increased the intoxication of their new allies by their + shouts; and the deputies of the commons, seeing that this memorable + night would only afford them profit without honour, consoled their + self-love by wondering at what Nobility, grafted upon the Third + Estate, could do. They named that night the 'night of dupes'; the + nobles called it the 'night of sacrifices'."--NOTE BY THE EDITOR.] + +The King sanctioned all that tended to the diminution of his own personal +gratifications, but refused his consent to the other decrees of that +tumultuous night; this refusal was one of the chief causes of the +ferments of the month of October. + +In the early part of September meetings were held at the Palais Royal, +and propositions made to go to Versailles; it was said to be necessary to +separate the King from his evil counsellors, and keep him, as well as the +Dauphin, at the Louvre. The proclamations by the officers of the commune +for the restoration of tranquillity were ineffectual; but M. de La +Fayette succeeded this time in dispersing the populace. The Assembly +declared itself permanent; and during the whole of September, in which no +doubt the preparations were made for the great insurrections of the +following month, the Court was not disturbed. + +The King had the Flanders regiment removed to Versailles; unfortunately +the idea of the officers of that regiment fraternising with the Body +Guards was conceived, and the latter invited the former to a dinner, +which was given in the great theatre of Versailles, and not in the Salon +of Hercules, as some chroniclers say. Boxes were appropriated to various +persons who wished to be present at this entertainment. The Queen told +me she had been advised to make her appearance on the occasion, but that +under existing circumstances she thought such a step might do more harm +than good; and that, moreover, neither she nor the King ought directly to +have anything to do with such a festival. She ordered me to go, and +desired me to observe everything closely, in order to give a faithful +account of the whole affair. + +The tables were set out upon the stage; at them were placed one of the +Body Guard and an officer of the Flanders regiment alternately. There +was a numerous orchestra in the room, and the boxes were filled with +spectators. The air, "O Richard, O mon Roi!" was played, and shouts of +"Vive de Roi!" shook the roof for several minutes. I had with me one of +my nieces, and a young person brought up with Madame by her Majesty. +They were crying "Vive le Roi!" with all their might when a deputy of the +Third Estate, who was in the next box to mine, and whom I had never seen, +called to them, and reproached them for their exclamations; it hurt him, +he said, to see young and handsome Frenchwomen brought up in such servile +habits, screaming so outrageously for the life of one man, and with true +fanaticism exalting him in their hearts above even their dearest +relations; he told them what contempt worthy American women would feel on +seeing Frenchwomen thus corrupted from their earliest infancy. My niece +replied with tolerable spirit, and I requested the deputy to put an end +to the subject, which could by no means afford him any satisfaction, +inasmuch as the young persons who were with me lived, as well as myself, +for the sole purpose of serving and loving the King. While I was +speaking what was my astonishment at seeing the King, the Queen, and the +Dauphin enter the chamber! It was M. de Luxembourg who had effected this +change in the Queen's determination. + +The enthusiasm became general; the moment their Majesties arrived the +orchestra repeated the air I have just mentioned, and afterwards played a +song in the "Deserter," "Can we grieve those whom we love?" which also +made a powerful impression upon those present: on all sides were heard +praises of their Majesties, exclamations of affection, expressions of +regret for what they had suffered, clapping of hands, and shouts of "Vive +le Roi! Vive la Reine! Vive le Dauphin!" It has been said that white +cockades were worn on this occasion; that was not the case; the fact is, +that a few young men belonging to the National Guard of Versailles, who +were invited to the entertainment, turned the white lining of their +national cockades outwards. All the military men quitted the hall, +and reconducted the King and his family to their apartments. There was +intoxication in these ebullitions of joy: a thousand extravagances were +committed by the military, and many of them danced under the King's +windows; a soldier belonging to the Flanders regiment climbed up to the +balcony of the King's chamber in order to shout "Vive le Roi!" nearer +his Majesty; this very soldier, as I have been told by several officers +of the corps, was one of the first and most dangerous of their insurgents +in the riots of the 5th and 6th of October. On the same evening another +soldier of that regiment killed himself with a sword. One of my +relations, chaplain to the Queen, who supped with me, saw him stretched +out in a corner of the Place d'Armes; he went to him to give him +spiritual assistance, and received his confession and his last sighs. +He destroyed himself out of regret at having suffered himself to be +corrupted by the enemies of his King, and said that, since he had seen +him and the Queen and the Dauphin, remorse had turned his brain. + +I returned home, delighted with all that I had seen. + +I found a great many people there. M. de Beaumetz, deputy for Arras, +listened to my description with a chilling air, and, when I had finished, +told me that all that had passed was terrific; that he knew the +disposition of the Assembly, and that the greatest misfortunes would +follow the drama of that night; and he begged my leave to withdraw that +he might take time for deliberate reflection whether he should on the +very next day emigrate, or pass over to the left side of the Assembly. +He adopted the latter course, and never appeared again among my +associates. + +On the 2d of October the military entertainment was followed up by a +breakfast given at the hotel of the Body Guards. It is said that a +discussion took place whether they should not march against the Assembly; +but I am utterly ignorant of what passed at that breakfast. From that +moment Paris was constantly in commotion; there were continual mobs, +and the most virulent proposals were heard in all public places; the +conversation was invariably about proceeding to Versailles. The King and +Queen did not seem apprehensive of such a measure, and took no precaution +against it; even when the army had actually left Paris, on the evening of +the 5th of October, the King was shooting at Meudon, and the Queen was +alone in her gardens at Trianon, which she then beheld for the last time +in her life. She was sitting in her grotto absorbed in painful +reflection, when she received a note from the Comte de Saint-Priest, +entreating her to return to Versailles. M. de Cubieres at the same time +went off to request the King to leave his sport and return to the palace; +the King did so on horseback, and very leisurely. A few minutes +afterwards he was informed that a numerous body of women, which preceded +the Parisian army, was at Chaville, at the entrance of the avenue from +Paris. + +The scarcity of bread and the entertainment of the Body Guards were the +pretexts for the insurrection of the 5th and 6th of October, 1789; but it +is clear to demonstration that this new movement of the people was a part +of the original plan of the factious, insomuch as, ever since the +beginning of September, a report had been industriously circulated that +the King intended to withdraw, with his family and ministers, to some +stronghold; and at all the popular assemblies there had been always a +great deal said about going to Versailles to seize the King. + +At first only women showed themselves; the latticed doors of the Chateau +were closed, and the Body Guard and Flanders regiment were drawn up in +the Place d'Armes. As the details of that dreadful day are given with +precision in several works, I will only observe that general +consternation and disorder reigned throughout the interior of the palace. + +I was not in attendance on the Queen at this time. M. Campan remained +with her till two in the morning. As he was leaving her she +condescendingly, and with infinite kindness, desired him to make me easy +as to the dangers of the moment, and to repeat to me M. de La Fayette's +own words, which he had just used on soliciting the royal family to +retire to bed, undertaking to answer for his army. + +The Queen was far from relying upon M. de La Fayette's loyalty; but she +has often told me that she believed on that day, that La Fayette, having +affirmed to the King, in the presence of a crowd of witnesses, that he +would answer for the army of Paris, would not risk his honour as a +commander, and was sure of being able to redeem his pledge. She also +thought the Parisian army was devoted to him, and that all he said about +his being forced to march upon Versailles was mere pretence. + +On the first intimation of the march of the Parisians, the Comte de +Saint-Priest prepared Rambouillet for the reception of the King, his +family, and suite, and the carriages were even drawn out; but a few cries +of "Vive le Roi!" when the women reported his Majesty's favourable +answer, occasioned the intention of going away to be given up, and orders +were given to the troops to withdraw. + + [Compare this account with the particulars given in the "Memoirs" of + Ferribres, Weber, Bailly, and Saint-Priest, from the latter of which + the following sentence is taken: + + "M. d'Estaing knew not what to do with the Body Guards beyond + bringing them into the courtyard of the ministers, and shutting the + grilles. Thence they proceeded to the terrace of the Chateau, then + to Trianon, and lastly to Rambouillet. + + "I could not refrain from expressing to M. d'Estaing, when he came + to the King, my astonishment at not seeing him make any military + disposition. 'Monsieur,' replied he, 'I await the orders of the + King' (who did not open his mouth). 'When the King gives no + orders,' pursued I, 'a general should decide for himself in a + soldierly manner.' This observation remained unanswered."] + +The Body Guards were, however, assailed with stones and musketry while +they were passing from the Place d'Armes to, their hotel. Alarm revived; +again it was thought necessary that the royal family should go away; some +carriages still remained ready for travelling; they were called for; they +were stopped by a wretched player belonging to the theatre of the town, +seconded by the mob: the opportunity for flight had been lost. + +The insurrection was directed against the Queen in particular; I shudder +even now at the recollection of the poissardes, or rather furies, who +wore white aprons, which they screamed out were intended to receive the +bowels of Marie Antoinette, and that they would make cockades of them, +mixing the most obscene expressions with these horrible threats. + +The Queen went to bed at two in the morning, and even slept, tired out +with the events of so distressing a day. She had ordered her two women +to bed, imagining there was nothing to dread, at least for that night; +but the unfortunate Princess was indebted for her life to that feeling of +attachment which prevented their obeying her. My sister, who was one of +the ladies in question, informed me next day of all that I am about to +relate. + +On leaving the Queen's bedchamber, these ladies called their femmes de +chambre, and all four remained sitting together against her Majesty's +bedroom door. About half-past four in the morning they heard horrible +yells and discharges of firearms; one ran to the Queen to awaken her and +get her out of bed; my sister flew to the place from which the tumult +seemed to proceed; she opened the door of the antechamber which leads to +the great guard-room, and beheld one of the Body Guard holding his musket +across the door, and attacked by a mob, who were striking at him; his +face was covered with blood; he turned round and exclaimed: "Save the +Queen, madame; they are come to assassinate her!" She hastily shut the +door upon the unfortunate victim of duty, fastened it with the great +bolt, and took the same precaution on leaving the next room. On reaching +the Queen's chamber she cried out to her, "Get up, Madame! Don't stay to +dress yourself; fly to the King's apartment!" The terrified Queen threw +herself out of bed; they put a petticoat upon her without tying it, and +the two ladies conducted her towards the oile-de-boeuf. A door, which +led from the Queen's dressing-room to that apartment, had never before +been fastened but on her side. What a dreadful moment! It was found to +be secured on the other side. They knocked repeatedly with all their +strength; a servant of one of the King's valets de chambre came and +opened it; the Queen entered the King's chamber, but he was not there. +Alarmed for the Queen's life, he had gone down the staircases and through +the corridors under the oeil-de-boeuf, by means of which he was +accustomed to go to the Queen's apartments without being under the +necessity of crossing that room. He entered her Majesty's room and found +no one there but some Body Guards, who had taken refuge in it. The King, +unwilling to expose their lives, told them to wait a few minutes, and +afterwards sent to desire them to go to the oeil-de-boeuf. Madame de +Tourzel, at that time governess of the children of France, had just taken +Madame and the Dauphin to the King's apartments. The Queen saw her +children again. The reader must imagine this scene of tenderness and +despair. + +It is not true that the assassins penetrated to the Queen's chamber and +pierced the bed with their swords. The fugitive Body Guards were the +only persons who entered it; and if the crowd had reached so far they +would all have been massacred. Besides, when the rebels had forced the +doors of the antechamber, the footmen and officers on duty, knowing that +the Queen was no longer in her apartments, told them so with that air of +truth which always carries conviction. The ferocious horde instantly +rushed towards the oeil-de-boeuf, hoping, no doubt, to intercept her on +her way. + +Many have asserted that they recognised the Duc d'Orleans in a greatcoat +and slouched hat, at half-past four in the morning, at the top of the +marble staircase, pointing out with his hand the guard-room, which led to +the Queen's apartments. This fact was deposed to at the Chatelet by +several individuals in the course of the inquiry instituted respecting +the transactions of the 5th and 6th of October. + + [The National Assembly was sitting when information of the march of + the Parisians was given to it by one of the deputies who came from + Paris. A certain number of the members were no strangers, to this + movement. It appears that Mirabeau wished to avail himself of it to + raise the Duc d'Orleans to the throne. Mounier, who presided over + the National Assembly, rejected the idea with horror. "My good + man," said Mirabeau to him, "what difference will it make to you to + have Louis XVII. for your King instead of Louis XVI.?" (The Duc + d'Orleans was baptised Louis.)] + +The prudence and honourable feeling of several officers of the Parisian +guards, and the judicious conduct of M. de Vaudreuil, lieutenant-general +of marine, and of M. de Chevanne, one of the King's Guards, brought about +an understanding between the grenadiers of the National Guard of Paris +and the King's Guard. The doors of the oeil-de-boeuf were closed, and +the antechamber which precedes that room was filled with grenadiers who +wanted to get in to massacre the Guards. M. de Chevanne offered himself +to them as a victim if they wished for one, and demanded what they would +have. A report had been spread through their ranks that the Body Guards +set them at defiance, and that they all wore black cockades. M. de +Chevanne showed them that he wore, as did the corps, the cockade of their +uniform; and promised that the Guards should exchange it for that of the +nation. This was done; they even went so far as to exchange their +grenadiers' caps for the hats of the Body Guards; those who were on guard +took off their shoulder-belts; embraces and transports of fraternisation +instantly succeeded to the savage eagerness to murder the band which had +shown so much fidelity to its sovereign. The cry was now "Vivent le Roi, +la Nation, et les Gardes-du-corps!" + +The army occupied the Place d'Armes, all the courtyards of the Chateau, +and the entrance to the avenue. They called for the Queen to appear in +the balcony: she came forward with Madame and the Dauphin. There was a +cry of "No children!" Was this with a view to deprive her of the +interest she inspired, accompanied as she was by her young family, or did +the leaders of the democrats hope that some madman would venture to aim a +mortal blow at her person? The unfortunate Princess certainly was +impressed with the latter idea, for she sent away her children, and with +her hands and eyes raised towards heaven, advanced upon the balcony like +a self-devoted victim. + +A few voices shouted "To Paris!" The exclamation soon became general. +Before the King agreed to this removal he wished to consult the National +Assembly, and caused that body to be invited to sit at the Chateau. +Mirabeau opposed this measure. While these discussions were going +forward it became more and more difficult to restrain the immense +disorderly multitude. The King, without consulting any one, now said to +the people: "You wish, my children, that I should follow you to Paris: I +consent, but on condition that I shall not be separated from my wife and +family." The King added that he required safety also for his Guards; he +was answered by shouts of "Vivo le Roi! Vivent les Gardes-du-corps!" +The Guards, with their hats in the air, turned so as to exhibit the. +cockade, shouted "Vive le Roi! Vive la Nation!" shortly afterwards a +general discharge of all the muskets took place, in token of joy. The +King and Queen set off from Versailles at one o'clock. The Dauphin, +Madame, the King's daughter, Monsieur, Madame,--[Madame, here, the wife +of Monsieur le Comte de Provence.]-- Madame Elisabeth, and Madame de +Tourzel, were in the carriage; the Princesse de Chimay and the ladies of +the bedchamber for the week, the King's suite and servants, followed in +Court carriages; a hundred deputies in carriages, and the bulk of the +Parisian army, closed the procession. + +The poissardes went before and around the carriage of their Majesties, +Crying, "We shall no longer want bread! We have the baker, the baker's +wife, and the baker's boy with us!" In the midst of this troop of +cannibals the heads of two murdered Body Guards were carried on poles. +The monsters, who made trophies of them, conceived the horrid idea of +forcing a wigmaker of Sevres to dress them up and powder their bloody +locks. The unfortunate man who was forced to perform this dreadful work +died in consequence of the shock it gave him. + + [The King did not leave Versailles till one o'clock. The Queen, the + Dauphin, Madame Royale, Monsieur, Madame Elisabeth, and Madame de + Tourzel were in his Majesty's carriage. The hundred deputies in + their carriages came next. A detachment of brigands, bearing the + heads of the two Body Guards in triumph, formed the advance guard, + and set out two hours earlier. These cannibals stopped a moment at + Sevres, and carried their cruelty to the length of forcing an + unfortunate hairdresser to dress the gory heads; the bulk of the + Parisian army followed them closely. The King's carriage was + preceded by the 'poissardes', who had arrived the day before from + Paris, and a rabble of prostitutes, the vile refuse of their sex, + still drunk with fury and wine. Several of them rode astride upon + cannons, boasting, in the most horrible songs, of the crimes they + had committed themselves, or seen others commit. Those who were + nearest the King's carriage sang ballads, the allusions in which by + means of their vulgar gestures they applied to the Queen. Wagons, + full of corn and flour,--which had been brought into Versailles, + formed a train escorted by grenadiers, and surrounded by women and + bullies, some armed with pikes, and some carrying long branches of + poplar. At some distance this part of the procession had a most + singular effect: it looked like a moving forest, amidst which shone + pike-heads and gun-barrels. In the paroxysms of their brutal joy + the women stopped passengers, and, pointing to the King's carriage, + howled in their ears: "Cheer up, friends; we shall no longer be in + want of bread! We bring you the baker, the baker's wife, and the + baker's little boy!" Behind his Majesty's carriage were several of + his faithful Guards, some on foot, and some on horseback, most of + them uncovered, all unarmed, and worn out with hunger and fatigue; + the dragoons, the Flanders regiment, the hundred Swiss, and the + National Guards preceded, accompanied, or followed the file of + carriages. I witnessed this heartrending spectacle; I saw the + ominous procession. In the midst of all the tumult, clamour, and + singing, interrupted by frequent discharges of musketry, which the + hand of a monster or a bungler might so easily render fatal, I saw + the Queen preserving most courageous tranquillity of soul, and an + air of nobleness and inexpressible dignity, and my eyes were + suffused with tears of admiration and grief.--"Memoirs of Bertrand + de Molleville."] + +The progress of the procession was so slow that it was near six in the +evening when this august family, made prisoners by their own people, +arrived at the Hotel de Ville. Bailly received them there; they +were placed upon a throne, just when that of their ancestors had been +overthrown. The King spoke in a firm yet gracious manner; he said that +he always came with pleasure and confidence among the inhabitants of his +good city of Paris. M. Bailly repeated this observation to the +representatives of the commune, who came to address the King; but he +forgot the word confidence. The Queen instantly and loudly reminded him +of the omission. The King and Queen, their children, and Madame +Elisabeth, retired to the Tuileries. Nothing was ready for their +reception there. All the living-rooms had been long given up to persons +belonging to the Court; they hastily quitted them on that day, leaving +their furniture, which was purchased by the Court. The Comtesse de la +Marck, sister to the Marechaux de Noailles and de Mouchy, had occupied +the apartments now appropriated to the Queen. Monsieur and Madame +retired to the Luxembourg. + +The Queen had sent for me on the morning of the 6th of October, to leave +me and my father-in-law in charge of her most valuable property. She +took away only her casket of diamonds. Comte Gouvernet de la Tour-du- +Pin, to whom the military government of Versailles was entrusted 'pro +tempore', came and gave orders to the National Guard, which had taken +possession of the apartments, to allow us to remove everything that we +should deem necessary for the Queen's accommodation. + +I saw her Majesty alone in her private apartments a moment before her +departure for Paris; she could hardly speak; tears bedewed her face, to +which all the blood in her body seemed to have rushed; she condescended +to embrace me, gave her hand to M. Campan to kiss, and said to us, "Come +immediately and settle at Paris; I will lodge you at the Tuileries; come, +and do not leave me henceforward; faithful servants at moments like these +become useful friends; we are lost, dragged away, perhaps to death; when +kings become prisoners they are very near it." + +I had frequent opportunities during the course of our misfortunes of +observing that the people never entirely give their allegiance to +factious leaders, but easily escape their control when some cause reminds +them of their duty. As soon as the most violent Jacobins had an +opportunity of seeing the Queen near at hand, of speaking to her, and of +hearing her voice, they became her most zealous partisans; and even when +she was in the prison of the Temple several of those who had contributed +to place her there perished for having attempted to get her out again. + +On the morning of the 7th of October the same women who the day before +surrounded the carriage of the august prisoners, riding on cannons and +uttering the most abusive language, assembled under the Queen's windows, +upon the terrace of the Chateau, and desired to see her. Her Majesty +appeared. There are always among mobs of this description orators, that +is to say, beings who have more assurance than the rest; a woman of this +description told the Queen that she must now remove far from her all such +courtiers as ruin kings, and that she must love the inhabitants of her +good city. The Queen answered that she had loved them at Versailles, and +would likewise love them at Paris. "Yes, yes," said another; "but on the +14th of July you wanted to besiege the city and have it bombarded; and on +the 6th of October you wanted to fly to the frontiers." The Queen +replied, affably, that they had been told so, and had believed it; that +there lay the cause of the unhappiness of the people and of the best of +kings. A third addressed a few words to her in German: the Queen told +her she did not understand it; that she had become so entirely French as +even to have forgotten her mother tongue. This declaration was answered +with "Bravo!" and clapping of hands; they then desired her to make a +compact with them. "Ah," said she, "how can I make a compact with you, +since you have no faith in that which my duty points out to me, and which +I ought for my own happiness to respect?" They asked her for the ribbons +and flowers out of her hat; her Majesty herself unfastened them and gave +them; they were divided among the party, which for above half an hour +cried out, without ceasing, "Marie Antoinette for ever! Our good Queen +for ever!" + +Two days after the King's arrival at Paris, the city and the National +Guard sent to request the Queen to appear at the theatre, and prove by +her presence and the King's that it was with pleasure they resided in +their capital. I introduced the deputation which came to make this +request. Her Majesty replied that she should have infinite pleasure in +acceding to the invitation of the city of Paris; but that time must be +allowed her to soften the recollection of the distressing events which +had just occurred, and from which she had suffered too much. She added, +that having come into Paris preceded by the heads of the faithful Guards +who had perished before the door of their sovereign, she could not think +that such an entry into the capital ought to be followed by rejoicings; +but that the happiness she had always felt in appearing in the midst of +the inhabitants of Paris was not effaced from her memory, and that she +should enjoy it again as soon as she found herself able to do so. + +Their Majesties found some consolation in their private life: from +Madame's--[Madame, here, the Princesse Marie Therese, daughter of Marie +Antoinette.]--gentle manners and filial affection, from the +accomplishments and vivacity of the little Dauphin, and the attention and +tenderness of the pious Princess Elisabeth, they still derived moments of +happiness. The young Prince daily gave proofs of sensibility and +penetration; he was not yet beyond female care, but a private tutor, the +Abbe Davout, gave him all the instruction suitable to his age; his memory +was highly cultivated, and he recited verses with much grace and feeling. + + [On the 19th of October, that is to say, thirteen days after he had + taken up his abode at Paris, the King went, on foot and almost + alone, to review some detachments of the National Guard. After the + review Louis XVI. met with a child sweeping the street, who asked + him for money. The child called the King "M. le Chevalier." His + Majesty gave him six francs. The little sweeper, surprised at + receiving so large a sum, cried out, "Oh! I have no change; you will + give me money another time." A person who accompanied the monarch + said to the child, "Keep it all, my friend; the gentleman is not + chevalier, he is the eldest of the family."--NOTE BY THE EDITOR.] + +The day after the arrival of the Court at Paris, terrified at hearing +some noise in the gardens of the Tuileries, the young prince threw +himself into the arms of the Queen, crying out, "Grand-Dieu, mamma! will +it be yesterday over again?" A few days after this affecting +exclamation, he went up to the King, and looked at him with a pensive +air. The King asked him what he wanted; he answered, that he had +something very serious to say to him. The King having prevailed on him +to explain himself, the young Prince asked why his people, who formerly +loved him so well, were all at once angry with him; and what he had done +to irritate them so much. His father took him upon his knees, and spoke +to him nearly as follows: "I wished, child, to render the people still +happier than they were; I wanted money to pay the expenses occasioned by +wars. I asked my people for money, as my predecessors have always done; +magistrates, composing the Parliament, opposed it, and said that my +people alone had a right to consent to it. I assembled the principal +inhabitants of every town, whether distinguished by birth, fortune, or +talents, at Versailles; that is what is called the States General. When +they were assembled they required concessions of me which I could not +make, either with due respect for myself or with justice to you, who will +be my successor; wicked men inducing the people to rise have occasioned +the excesses of the last few days; the people must not be blamed for +them." + +The Queen made the young Prince clearly comprehend that he ought to treat +the commanders of battalions, the officers of the National Guard, and all +the Parisians who were about him, with affability; the child took great +pains to please all those people, and when he had had an opportunity of +replying obligingly to the mayor or members of the commune he came and +whispered in his mother's ear, "Was that right?" + +He requested M. Bailly to show him the shield of Scipio, which is in the +royal library; and M. Bailly asking him which he preferred, Scipio or +Hannibal, the young Prince replied, without hesitation, that he preferred +him who had defended his own country. He gave frequent proofs of ready +wit. One day, while the Queen was hearing Madame repeat her exercises in +ancient history, the young Princess could not at the moment recollect the +name of the Queen of Carthage; the Dauphin was vexed at his sister's want +of memory, and though he never spoke to her in the second person +singular, he bethought himself of the expedient of saying to her, "But +'dis donc' the name of the Queen, to mamma; 'dis donc' what her name +was." + +Shortly after the arrival of the King and his family at Paris the +Duchesse de Luynes came, in pursuance of the advice of a committee of the +Constitutional Assembly, to propose to the Queen a temporary retirement +from France, in order to leave the constitution to perfect itself, so +that the patriots should not accuse her of influencing the King to oppose +it. The Duchess knew how far the schemes of the conspirers extended, +and her attachment to the Queen was the principal cause of the advice she +gave her. The Queen perfectly comprehended the Duchesse de Luynes's +motive; but replied that she would never leave either the King or her +son; that if she thought herself alone obnoxious to public hatred she +would instantly offer her life as a sacrifice;--but that it was the +throne which was aimed at, and that, in abandoning the King, she should +be merely committing an act of cowardice, since she saw no other +advantage in it than that of saving her own life. + +One evening, in the month of November, 1790, I returned home rather late; +I there found the Prince de Poix; he told me he came to request me to +assist him in regaining his peace of mind; that at the commencement of +the sittings of the National Assembly he had suffered himself to be +seduced into the hope of a better order of things; that he blushed for +his error, and that he abhorred plans which had already produced such +fatal results; that he broke with the reformers for the rest of his life; +that he had given in his resignation as a deputy of the National +Assembly; and, finally, that he was anxious that the Queen should not +sleep in ignorance of his sentiments. I undertook his commission, and +acquitted myself of it in the best way I could; but I was totally +unsuccessful. The Prince de Poix remained at Court; he there suffered +many mortifications, never ceasing to serve the King in the most +dangerous commissions with that zeal for which his house has always been +distinguished. + +When the King, the Queen, and the children were suitably established at +the Tuileries, as well as Madame Elisabeth and the Princesse de Lamballe, +the Queen resumed her usual habits; she employed her mornings in +superintending the education of Madame, who received all her lessons in +her presence, and she herself began to work large pieces of tapestry. +Her mind was too much occupied with passing events and surrounding +dangers to admit her of applying herself to reading; the needle was the +only employment which could divert her. + + [There was long preserved at Paris, in the house of Mademoiselle + Dubuquois, a tapestry-worker, a carpet worked by the Queen and + Madame Elisabeth for the large room of her Majesty's ground-floor + apartments at the Tuileries. The Empress Josephine saw and admired + this carpet, and desired it might be taken care of, in the hope of + one day sending it to Madame--MADAME CAMPAN.] + +She received the Court twice a week before going to mass, and on those +days dined in public with the King; she spent the rest of the time with +her family and children; she had no concert, and did not go to the play +until 1791, after the acceptation of the constitution. The Princesse de +Lamballe, however, had some evening parties in her apartments at the +Tuileries, which were tolerably brilliant in consequence of the great +number of persons who attended them. The Queen was present at a few of +these assemblies; but being soon convinced that her present situation +forbade her appearing much in public, she remained at home, and conversed +as she sat at work. The sole topic of her discourse was, as may well be +supposed, the Revolution. She sought to discover the real opinions of +the Parisians respecting her, and how she could have so completely lost +the affections of the people, and even of many persons in the higher +ranks. She well knew that she ought to impute the whole to the spirit of +party, to the hatred of the Duc d'Orleans, and the folly of the French, +who desired to have a total change in the constitution; but she was not +the less desirous of ascertaining the private feelings of all the people +in power. + +From the very commencement of the Revolution General Luckner indulged in +violent sallies against her. Her Majesty, knowing that I was acquainted +with a lady who had been long connected with the General, desired me to +discover through that channel what was the private motive on which +Luckner's hatred against her was founded. On being questioned upon this +point, he answered that Marechal de Segur had assured him he had proposed +him for the command of a camp of observation, but that the Queen had made +a bar against his name; and that this 'par', as he called it, in his +German accent, he could not forget. + +The Queen ordered me to repeat this reply to the King myself, and said to +him: "See, Sire, whether I was not right in telling you that your +ministers, in order to give themselves full scope in the distribution of +favours, persuaded the French that I interfered in everything; there was +not a single license given out in the country for the sale of salt or +tobacco but the people believed it was given to one of my favourites." + +"That is very, true," replied the King; "but I find it very difficult to +believe that Marechal de Segur ever said any such thing to Luckner; he +knew too well that you never interfered in the distribution of favours. + +"That Luckner is a good-for-nothing fellow, and Segur is a brave and +honourable man who never uttered such a falsehood; however, you are +right; and because you provided for a few dependents, you are most +unjustly reported to have disposed of all offices, civil and military." + +All the nobility who had not left Paris made a point of presenting +themselves assiduously to the King, and there was a considerable influx +to the Tuileries. Marks of attachment were exhibited even in external +symbols; the women wore enormous bouquets of lilies in their bosoms and +upon their heads, and sometimes even bunches of white ribbon. At the +play there were often disputes between the pit and the boxes about +removing these ornaments, which the people thought dangerous emblems. +National cockades were sold in every corner of Paris; the sentinels +stopped all who did not wear them; the young men piqued themselves upon +breaking through this regulation, which was in some degree sanctioned by +the acquiescence of Louis XVI. Frays took place, which were to be +regretted, because they excited a spirit of lawlessness. The King +adopted conciliatory measures with the Assembly in order to promote +tranquillity; the revolutionists were but little disposed to think him +sincere; unfortunately the royalists encouraged this incredulity by +incessantly repeating that the King was not free, and that all that he +did was completely null, and in no way bound him for the time to come. +Such was the heat and violence of party spirit that persons the most +sincerely attached to the King were not even permitted to use the +language of reason, and recommend greater reserve in conversation. +People would talk and argue at table without considering that all the +servants belonged to the hostile army; and it may truly be said there was +as much imprudence and levity in the party assailed as there was cunning, +boldness, and perseverance in that which made the attack. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +In February, 1790, another matter gave the Court much uneasiness; a +zealous individual of the name of Favras had conceived the scheme of +carrying off the King, and affecting a counter-revolution. Monsieur, +probably out of mere benevolence, gave him some money, and thence arose a +report that he thereby wished to favour the execution of the enterprise. +The step taken by Monsieur in going to the Hotel de Ville to explain +himself on this matter was unknown to the Queen; it is more than probable +that the King was acquainted with it. When judgment was pronounced upon +M. de Favras the Queen did not conceal from me her fears about the +confessions of the unfortunate man in his last moments. + +I sent a confidential person to the Hotel de Ville; she came to inform +the Queen that the condemned had demanded to be taken from Notre-Dame to +the Hotel de Ville to make a final declaration, and give some particulars +verifying it. These particulars compromised nobody; Favras corrected his +last will after writing it, and went to the scaffold with heroic courage +and coolness. The judge who read his condemnation to him told him that +his life was a sacrifice which he owed to public tranquillity. It was +asserted at the time that Favras was given up as a victim in order to +satisfy the people and save the Baron de Besenval, who was a prisoner in +the Abbaye. + + [Thomas Mahy, Marquis de Favras, was accused in the month of + December, 1789, of having conspired against the Revolution. Having + been arrested by order of the committee of inquiry of the National + Assembly, he was transferred to the Chatelet, where he defended + himself with much coolness and presence of mind, repelling the + accusations brought against him by Morel, Turcati, and Marquis, with + considerable force. These witnesses declared he had imparted his + plan to them; it was to be carried into execution by 12,000 Swiss + and 12,000 Germans, who were to be assembled at Montargis, thence to + march upon Paris, carry off the King, and assassinate Bailly, La + Fayette, and Necker. The greater number of these charges he denied, + and declared that the rest related only to the levy of a troop + intended to favour the revolution preparing in Brabant. The judge + having refused to disclose who had denounced him, he complained to + the Assembly, which passed to the order of the day. His death was + obviously inevitable. During the whole time of the proceedings the + populace never ceased threatening the judges and shouting, "A la + lanterne!" It was even necessary to keep numerous troops and + artillery constantly ready to act in the courtyard of the Chatelet. + The judges, who had just acquitted M. de Besenval in an affair + nearly similar, doubtless dreaded the effects of this fury. When + they refused to hear Favras's witnesses in exculpation, he compared + them to the tribunal of the Inquisition. The principal charge + against him was founded on a letter from M. de Foucault, asking him, + "where are your troops? in which direction will they enter Paris? + I should like to be employed among them." Favras was condemned to + make the 'amende honorable' in front of the Cathedral, and to be + hanged at the Place de Greve. He heard this sentence with wonderful + calmness, and said to his judges, "I pity you much if the testimony + of two men is sufficient to induce you to condemn." The judge + having said to him, "I have no other consolation to hold out to you + than that which religion affords," he replied, nobly, "My greatest + consolation is that which I derive from my innocence."--"Biographic + Universelle"] + +On the morning of the Sunday following this execution M. de la Villeurnoy +came to my house to tell me that he was going that day to the public +dinner of the King and Queen to present Madame de Favras and her son, +both of them in mourning for the brave Frenchman who fell a sacrifice for +his King; and that all the royalists expected to see the Queen load the +unfortunate family with favours. I did all that lay in my power to +prevent this proceeding. I foresaw the effect it would have upon the +Queen's feeling heart, and the painful constraint she would experience, +having the horrible Santerre, the commandant of a battalion of the +Parisian guard, behind her chair during dinner-time. I could not make +M. de la Villeurnoy comprehend my argument; the Queen was gone to mass, +surrounded by her whole Court, and I had not even means of apprising her +of his intention. + +When dinner was over I heard a knocking at the door of my apartment, +which opened into the corridor next that of the Queen; it was herself. +She asked me whether there was anybody with me; I was alone; she threw +herself into an armchair, and told me she came to weep with me over the +foolish conduct of the ultras of the King's party. "We must fall," said +she, "attacked as we are by men who possess every talent and shrink from +no crime, while we are defended only by those who are no doubt very +estimable, but have no adequate idea of our situation. They have exposed +me to the animosity of both parties by presenting the widow and son of +Favras to me. Were I free to act as I wish, I should take the child of +the man who has just sacrificed himself for us and place him at table +between the King and myself; but surrounded by the assassins who have +destroyed his father, I did not dare even to cast my eyes upon him. The +royalists will blame me for not having appeared interested in this poor +child; the revolutionists will be enraged at the idea that his +presentation should have been thought agreeable to me." However, the +Queen added that she knew Madame de Favras was in want, and that she +desired me to send her next day, through a person who could be relied on, +a few rouleaus of fifty Louis, and to direct that she should be assured +her Majesty would always watch over the fortunes of herself and her son. + +In the month of March following I had an opportunity of ascertaining the +King's sentiments respecting the schemes which were continually proposed +to him for making his escape. One night about ten o'clock Comte +d'Inisdal, who was deputed by the nobility, came to request that I would +see him in private, as he had an important matter to communicate to me. +He told me that on that very night the King was to be carried off; that +the section of the National Guard, that day commanded by M. d'Aumont, +was gained over, and that sets of horses, furnished by some good +royalists, were placed in relays at suitable distances; that he had just +left a number of the nobility assembled for the execution of this scheme, +and that he had been sent to me that I might, through the medium of the +Queen, obtain the King's positive consent to it before midnight; that the +King was aware of their plan, but that his Majesty never would speak +decidedly, and that it was necessary he should consent to the +undertaking. I greatly displeased Comte d'Inisdal by expressing my +astonishment that the nobility at the moment of the execution of so +important a project should send to me, the Queen's first woman, to obtain +a consent which ought to have been the basis of any well-concerted +scheme. I told him, also, that it would be impossible for me to go at +that time to the Queen's apartments without exciting the attention of the +people in the antechambers; that the King was at cards with the Queen and +his family, and that I never broke in upon their privacy unless I was +called for. I added, however, that M. Campan could enter without being +called; and if the Count chose to give him his confidence he might rely +upon him. + +My father-in-law, to whom Comte d'Inisdal repeated what he had said to +me, took the commission upon himself, and went to the Queen's apartments. +The King was playing at whist with the Queen, Monsieur, and Madame; +Madame Elisabeth was kneeling on a stool near the table. M. Campan +informed the Queen of what had been communicated to me; nobody uttered a +word. The Queen broke silence and said to the King, "Do you hear, Sire, +what Campan says to us?"--"Yes, I hear," said the King, and continued his +game. Monsieur, who was in the habit of introducing passages from plays +into his conversation, said to my father-in-law, "M. Campan, that pretty +little couplet again, if you please;" and pressed the King to reply. At +length the Queen said, "But something must be said to Campan." The King +then spoke to my father-in-law in these words: "Tell M. d'Inisdal that I +cannot consent to be carried off!" The Queen enjoined M. Campan to take +care and, report this answer faithfully. "You understand," added she, +"the King cannot consent to be carried off." + +Comte d'Inisdal was very much dissatisfied with the King's answer, and +went out, saying, "I understand; he wishes to throw all the blame, +beforehand, upon those who are to devote themselves for him." + +He went away, and I thought the enterprise would be abandoned. However, +the Queen remained alone with me till midnight, preparing her cases of +valuables, and ordered me not to go to bed. She imagined the King's +answer would be understood as a tacit consent, and merely a refusal to +participate in the design. I do not know what passed in the King's +apartments during the night; but I occasionally looked out at the +windows: I saw the garden clear; I heard no noise in the palace, and day +at length confirmed my opinion that the project had been given up. "We +must, however, fly," said the Queen to me, shortly afterwards; "who knows +how far the factious may go? The danger increases every day." + + [The disturbances of the 13th of April, 1790, occasioned by the + warmth of the discussions upon Dom Gerle's imprudent motion in the + National Assembly, having afforded room for apprehension that the + enemies of the country would endeavour to carry off the King from + the capital, M. de La Fayette promised to keep watch, and told Louis + XVI. that if he saw any alarming movement among the disaffected he + would give him notice of it by the discharge of a cannon from Henri + IV.'s battery on the Pont Neuf. On the same night a few casual + discharges of musketry were heard from the terrace of the Tuileries. + The King, deceived by the noise, flew to the Queen's apartments; he + did not find her; he ran to the Dauphin's room, where he found the + Queen holding her son in her arms. "Madame;" said the King to her, + "I have been seeking you; and you have made me uneasy." The Queen, + showing her son, said to him, "I was at my post."--"Anecdotes of the + Reign of Louis XVI."] + +This Princess received advice and memorials from all quarters. Rivarol +addressed several to her, which I read to her. They were full of +ingenious observations; but the Queen did not find that they, contained +anything of essential service under the circumstances in which the royal +family was placed. Comte du Moustier also sent memorials and plans of +conduct. I remember that in one of his writings he said to the King, +"Read 'Telemachus' again, Sire; in that book which delighted your Majesty +in infancy you will find the first seeds of those principles which, +erroneously followed up by men of ardent imaginations, are bringing on +the explosion we expect every moment." I read so many of these memorials +that I could hardly give a faithful account of them, and I am determined +to note in this work no other events than such as I witnessed; no other +words than such as (notwithstanding the lapse of time) still in some +measure vibrate in my ears. + +Comte de Segur, on his return from Russia, was employed some time by the +Queen, and had a certain degree of influence over her; but that did not +last long. Comte Augustus de la Marck likewise endeavoured to negotiate +for the King's advantage with the leaders of the factious. M. de +Fontanges, Archbishop of Toulouse, possessed also the Queen's confidence; +but none of the endeavours which were made on the spot produced any, +beneficial result. The Empress Catherine II. also conveyed her opinion +upon the situation of Louis XVI. to the Queen, and her Majesty made me +read a few lines in the Empress's own handwriting, which concluded with +these words: + +"Kings ought to proceed in their career undisturbed by the cries of the +people, even as the moon pursues her course unimpeded by the baying of +dogs." This maxim of the despotic sovereign of Russia was very +inapplicable to the situation of a captive king. + +Meanwhile the revolutionary party followed up its audacious enterprise in +a determined manner, without meeting any opposition. The advice from +without, as well from Coblentz as from Vienna, made various impressions +upon the members of the royal family, and those cabinets were not in +accordance with each other. I often had reason to infer from what the +Queen said to me that she thought the King, by leaving all the honour of +restoring order to the Coblentz party,--[The Princes and the chief of the +emigrant nobility assembled at Coblentz, and the name was used to +designate the reactionary party.]--would, on the return of the emigrants, +be put under a kind of guardianship which would increase his own +misfortunes. She frequently said to me, "If the emigrants succeed, they +will rule the roast for a long time; it will be impossible to refuse them +anything; to owe the crown to them would be contracting too great an +obligation." It always appeared to me that she wished her own family to +counterbalance the claims of the emigrants by disinterested services. +She was fearful of M. de Calonne, and with good reason. She had proof +that this minister was her bitterest enemy, and that he made use of the +most criminal means in order to blacken her reputation. I can testify +that I have seen in the hands of the Queen a manuscript copy of the +infamous memoirs of the woman De Lamotte, which had been brought to her +from London, and in which all those passages where a total ignorance of +the customs of Courts had occasioned that wretched woman to make blunders +which would have been too palpable were corrected in M. de Calonne's own +handwriting. + +The two King's Guards who were wounded at her Majesty's door on the 6th +of October were M. du Repaire and M. de Miomandre de Sainte-Marie; on the +dreadful night of the 6th of October the latter took the post of the +former the moment he became incapable of maintaining it. + +A considerable number of the Body Guards, who were wounded on the 6th of +October, betook themselves to the infirmary at Versailles. The brigands +wanted to make their way into the infirmary in order to massacre them. +M. Viosin, head surgeon of that infirmary, ran to the entrance hall, +invited the assailants to refresh themselves, ordered wine to be brought, +and found means to direct the Sister Superior to remove the Guards into a +ward appropriated to the poor, and dress them in the caps and greatcoats +furnished by the institution. The good sisters executed this order so +promptly that the Guards were removed, dressed as paupers, and their beds +made, while the assassins were drinking. They searched all the wards, +and fancied they saw no persons there but the sick poor; thus the Guards +were saved. + +M. de Miomandre was at Paris, living on terms of friendship with another +of the Guards, who, on the same day, received a gunshot wound from the +brigands in another part of the Chateau. These two officers, who were +attended and cured together at the infirmary of Versailles, were almost +constant companions; they were recognised at the Palais Royal, and +insulted. The Queen thought it necessary for them to quit Paris. She +desired me to write to M. de Miomandre de Sainte-Marie, and tell him to +come to me at eight o'clock in the evening; and then to communicate to +him her wish to hear of his being in safety; and ordered me, when he had +made up his mind to go, to tell him in her name that gold could not repay +such a service as he had rendered; that she hoped some day to be in +sufficiently happy circumstances to recompense him as she ought; but that +for the present her offer of money was only that of a sister to a brother +situated as he then was, and that she requested he would take whatever +might be necessary to discharge his debts at Paris and defray the +expenses of his journey. She told me also to desire he would bring his. +friend Bertrand with him, and to make him the same offer. + +The two Guards came at the appointed hour, and accepted, I think, each +one or two hundred louis. A moment afterwards the Queen opened my door; +she was accompanied by the King and Madame Elisabeth; the King stood with +his back against the fireplace; the Queen sat down upon a sofa and Madame +Elisabeth sat near her; I placed myself behind the Queen, and the two +Guards stood facing the King. The Queen told them that the King wished +to see before they went away two of the brave men who had afforded him +the strongest proofs of courage and attachment. Miomandre said all that +the Queen's affecting observations were calculated to inspire. Madame +Elisabeth spoke of the King's gratitude; the Queen resumed the subject of +their speedy departure, urging the necessity of it; the King was silent; +but his emotion was evident, and his eyes were suffused with tears. The +Queen rose, the King went out, and Madame Elisabeth followed him; the +Queen stopped and said to me, in the recess of a window, "I am sorry I +brought the King here! I am sure Elisabeth thinks with me; if the King +had but given utterance to a fourth part of what he thinks of those brave +men they would have been in ecstacies; but he cannot overcome his +diffidence." + +The Emperor Joseph died about this time. The Queen's grief was not +excessive; that brother of whom she had been so proud, and whom she had +loved so tenderly, had probably suffered greatly in her opinion; she +reproached him sometimes, though with moderation, for having adopted +several of the principles of the new philosophy, and perhaps she knew +that he looked upon our troubles with the eye of the sovereign of Germany +rather than that of the brother of the Queen of France. + +The Emperor on one occasion sent the Queen an engraving which represented +unfrocked nuns and monks. The first were trying on fashionable dresses, +the latter were having their hair arranged; the picture was always left +in the closet, and never hung up. The Queen told me to have it taken +away; for she was hurt to see how much influence the philosophers had +over her brother's mind and actions. + +Mirabeau had not lost the hope of becoming the last resource of the +oppressed Court; and at this time some communications passed between the +Queen and him. The question was about an office to be conferred upon +him. This transpired, and it must have been about this period that the +Assembly decreed that no deputy could hold an office as a minister of the +King until the expiration of two years after the cessation of his +legislative functions. I know that the Queen was much hurt at this +decision, and considered that the Court had lost a promising opening. + +The palace of the Tuileries was a very disagreeable residence during the +summer, which made the Queen wish to go to St. Cloud. The removal was +decided on without any opposition; the National Guard of Paris followed +the Court thither. At this period new opportunities of escape were +presented; nothing would have been more easy than to execute them. The +King had obtained leave (!) to go out without guards, and to be +accompanied only by an aide-de-camp of M. de La Fayette. The Queen also +had one on duty with her, and so had the Dauphin. The King and Queen +often went out at four in the afternoon, and did not return until eight +or nine. + +I will relate one of the plans of emigration which the Queen communicated +to me, the success of which seemed infallible. The royal family were to +meet in a wood four leagues from St. Cloud; some persons who could be +fully relied on were to accompany the King, who was always followed by +his equerries and pages; the Queen was to join him with her daughter and +Madame Elisabeth. These Princesses, as well as the Queen, had equerries +and pages, of whose fidelity no doubt could be entertained. The Dauphin +likewise was to be at the place of rendezvous with Madame de Tourzel; +a large berlin and a chaise for the attendants were sufficient for the +whole family; the aides-de-camp were to have been gained over or +mastered. The King was to leave a letter for the President of the +National Assembly on his bureau at St. Cloud. The people in the service +of the King and Queen would have waited until nine in the evening without +anxiety, because the family sometimes did not return until that hour. +The letter could not be forwarded to Paris until ten o'clock at the +earliest. The Assembly would not then be sitting; the President must +have been sought for at his own house or elsewhere; it would have been +midnight before the Assembly could have been summoned and couriers sent +off to have the royal family stopped; but the latter would have been six +or seven hours in advance, as they would have started at six leagues' +distance from Paris; and at this period travelling was not yet impeded in +France. + +The Queen approved of this plan; but I did not venture to interrogate +her, and I even thought if it were put in execution she would leave me in +ignorance of it. One evening in the month of June the people of the +Chateau, finding the King did not return by nine o'clock, were walking +about the courtyards in a state of great anxiety. I thought the family, +was gone, and I could scarcely breathe amidst the confusion of my good +wishes, when I heard the sound of the carriages. I confessed to the +Queen that I thought she had set off; she told me she must wait until +Mesdames the King's aunts had quitted France, and afterwards see whether +the plan agreed with those formed abroad. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +There was a meeting at Paris for the first federation on the 14th of +July, 1790, the anniversary of the taking of the Bastille. What an +astonishing assemblage of four hundred thousand men, of whom there were +not perhaps two hundred who did not believe that the King found happiness +and glory in the order of things then being established. The love which +was borne him by all, with the exception of those who meditated his ruin, +still reigned in the hearts of the French in the departments; but if I +may judge from those whom I had an opportunity of seeing, it was totally +impossible to enlighten them; they were as much attached to the King as +to the constitution, and to the constitution as to the King; and it was +impossible to separate the one from the other in their hearts and minds. + +The Court returned to St. Cloud after the federation. A wretch, named +Rotondo, made his way into the palace with the intention of assassinating +the Queen. It is known that he penetrated to the inner gardens: the rain +prevented her Majesty from going out that day. M. de La Fayette, who was +aware of this plot, gave all the sentinels the strictest orders, and a +description of the monster was distributed throughout the palace by order +of the General. I do not know how he was saved from punishment. +The police belonging to the King discovered that there was likewise a +scheme on foot for poisoning the Queen. She spoke to me, as well as to +her head physician, M. Vicq-d'Azyr, about it, without the slightest +emotion, but both he and I consulted what precautions it would be proper +to take. He relied much upon the Queen's temperance; yet he recommended +me always to have a bottle of oil of sweet almonds within reach, and to +renew it occasionally, that oil and milk being, as is known, the most +certain antidotes to the divellication of corrosive poisons. + +The Queen had a habit which rendered M. Vicq-d'Azyr particularly uneasy: +there was always some pounded sugar upon the table in her Majesty's +bedchamber; and she frequently, without calling anybody, put spoonfuls of +it into a glass of water when she wished to drink. It was agreed that I +should get a considerable quantity of sugar powdered; that I should +always have some papers of it in my bag, and that three or four times a +day, when alone in the Queen's room, I should substitute it for that in +her sugar-basin. We knew that the Queen would have prevented all such +precautions, but we were not aware of her reason. One day she caught me +alone making this exchange, and told me, she supposed it was agreed on +between myself and M. Vicq-d'Azyr, but that I gave myself very +unnecessary trouble. "Remember," added she, "that not a grain of poison +will be put in use against me. The Brinvilliers do not belong to this +century: this age possesses calumny, which is a much more convenient +instrument of death; and it is by that I shall perish." + +Even while melancholy presentiments afflicted this unfortunate Princess, +manifestations of attachment to her person, and to the King's cause, +would frequently raise agreeable illusions in her mind, or present to her +the affecting spectacle of tears shed for her sorrows. I was one day, +during this same visit to St. Cloud, witness of a very touching scene, +which we took great care to keep secret. It was four in the afternoon; +the guard was not set; there was scarcely anybody at St. Cloud that day, +and I was reading to the Queen, who was at work in a room the balcony of +which hung over the courtyard. The windows were closed, yet we heard a +sort of inarticulate murmur from a great number of voices. The Queen +desired me to go and see what it was; I raised the muslin curtain, and +perceived more than fifty persons beneath the balcony: this group +consisted of women, young and old, perfectly well dressed in the country +costume, old chevaliers of St. Louis, young knights of Malta, and a few +ecclesiastics. I told the Queen it was probably an assemblage of persons +residing in the neighbourhood who wished to see her. She rose, opened +the window, and appeared in the balcony; immediately all these worthy +people said to her, in an undertone: "Courage, Madame; good Frenchmen +suffer for you, and with you; they pray for you. Heaven will hear their +prayers; we love you, we respect you, we will continue to venerate our +virtuous King." The Queen burst into tears, and held her handkerchief to +her eyes. "Poor Queen! she weeps!" said the women and young girls; but +the dread of exposing her Majesty, and even the persons who showed so +much affection for her, to observation, prompted me to take her hand, and +prevail upon her to retire into her room; and, raising my eyes, I gave +the excellent people to understand that my conduct was dictated by +prudence. They comprehended me, for I heard, "That lady is right;" and +afterwards, "Farewell, Madame!" from several of them; and all this in +accents of feeling so true and so mournful, that I am affected at the +recollection of them even after a lapse of twenty years. + +A few days afterwards the insurrection of Nancy took place. + + [The insurrection of the troops at Nancy broke out in August 1790, + and was put down by Marechal de Bouille on the last day of that + month. See "Bouille," p. 195.] + +Only the ostensible cause is known; there was another, of which I might +have been in full possession, if the great confusion I was in upon the +subject had not deprived me of the power of paying attention to it. I +will endeavour to make myself understood. In the early part of September +the Queen, as she was going to bed, desired me to let all her people go, +and to remain with her myself; when we were alone she said to me, "The +King will come here at midnight. You know that he has always shown you +marks of distinction; he now proves his confidence in you by selecting +you to write down the whole affair of Nancy from his dictation. He must +have several copies of it." At midnight the King came to the Queen's +apartments, and said to me, smiling, "You did not expect to become my +secretary, and that, too, during the night." I followed the King into +the council chamber. I found there sheets of paper, an inkstand, and +pens all ready prepared. He sat down by my side and dictated to me the +report of the Marquis de Bouille, which he himself copied at the same +time. My hand trembled; I wrote with difficulty; my reflections scarcely +left me sufficient power of attention to listen to the King. The large +table, the velvet cloth, seats which ought to have been filled by none +but the King's chief councillors; what that chamber had been, and what it +was at that moment, when the King was employing a woman in an office +which had so little affinity with her ordinary functions; the misfortunes +which had brought him to the necessity of doing so,--all these ideas made +such an impression upon me that when I had returned to the Queen's +apartments I could not sleep for the remainder of the night, nor could I +remember what I had written. + +The more I saw that I had the happiness to be of some use to my +employers, the more scrupulously careful was I to live entirely with my +family; and I never indulged in any conversation which could betray the +intimacy to which I was admitted; but nothing at Court remains long +concealed, and I soon saw I had many enemies. The means of injuring +others in the minds of sovereigns are but too easily obtained, and they +had become still more so, since the mere suspicion of communication with +partisans of the Revolution was sufficient to forfeit the esteem and +confidence of the King and Queen; happily, my conduct protected me, with +them, against calumny. I had left St. Cloud two days, when I received at +Paris a note from the Queen, containing these words: + +"Come to St. Cloud immediately; I have something concerning you to +communicate." I set off without loss of time. Her Majesty told me she +had a sacrifice to request of me; I answered that it was made. She said +it went so far as the renunciation of a friend's society; that such a +renunciation was always painful, but that it must be particularly so to +me; that, for her own part, it might have been very useful that a deputy, +a man of talent, should be constantly received at my house; but at this +moment she thought only of my welfare. The Queen then informed me that +the ladies of the bedchamber had, the preceding evening, assured her that +M. de Beaumetz, deputy from the nobility of Artois, who had taken his +seat on the left of the Assembly, spent his whole time at my house. +Perceiving on what false grounds the attempt to injure, me was based, +I replied respectfully, but at the same time smiling, that it was +impossible for me to make the sacrifice exacted by her Majesty; that M. +de Beaumetz, a man of great judgment, had not determined to cross over to +the left of the Assembly with the intention of afterwards making himself +unpopular by spending his time with the Queen's first woman; and that, +ever since the 1st of October, 1789, I had seen him nowhere but at the +play, or in the public walks, and even then without his ever coming to +speak to me; that this line of conduct had appeared to me perfectly +consistent: for whether he was desirous to please the popular party, or +to be sought after by the Court, he could not act in any other way +towards me. The Queen closed this explanation by saying, "Oh! it is +clear, as clear as the day! this opportunity for trying to do you an +injury is very ill chosen; but be cautious in your slightest actions; you +perceive that the confidence placed in you by the King and myself raises +you up powerful enemies." + +The private communications which were still kept up between the Court and +Mirabeau at length procured him an interview with the Queen, in the +gardens of St. Cloud. He left Paris on horseback, on pretence of going +into the country, to M. de Clavieres, one of his friends; but he stopped +at one of the gates of the gardens of St. Cloud, and was led to a spot +situated in the highest part of the private garden, where the Queen was +waiting for him. She told me she accosted him by saying, "With a common +enemy, with a man who had sworn to destroy monarchy without appreciating +its utility among a great people, I should at this moment be guilty of a +most ill-advised step; but in speaking to a Mirabeau," etc. The poor +Queen was delighted at having discovered this method of exalting him +above all others of his principles; and in imparting the particulars of +this interview to me she said, "Do you know that those words, +'a Mirabeau,' appeared to flatter him exceedingly." On leaving the Queen +he said to her with warmth, "Madame, the monarchy is saved!" It must +have been soon afterwards that Mirabeau received considerable sums of +money. He showed it too plainly by the increase of his expenditure. +Already did some of his remarks upon the necessity of arresting the +progress of the democrats circulate in society. Being once invited to +meet a person at dinner who was very much attached to the Queen, he +learned that that person withdrew on hearing that he was one of the +guests; the party who invited him told him this with some degree of +satisfaction; but all were very much astonished when they heard Mirabeau +eulogise the absent guest, and declare that in his place he would have +done the same; but, he added, they had only to invite that person again +in a few months, and he would then dine with the restorer of the +monarchy. Mirabeau forgot that it was more easy to do harm than good, +and thought himself the political Atlas of the whole world. + +Outrages and mockery were incessantly mingled with the audacious +proceedings of the revolutionists. It was customary to give serenades +under the King's windows on New Year's Day. The band of the National +Guard repaired thither on that festival in 1791; in allusion to the +liquidation of the debts of the State, decreed by the Assembly, they +played solely, and repeatedly, that air from the comic opera of the +"Debts," the burden of which is, "But our creditors are paid, and that +makes us easy." + +On the same day some "conquerors of the Bastille," grenadiers of the +Parisian guard, preceded by military music, came to present to the young +Dauphin, as a New Year's gift, a box of dominoes, made of some of the +stone and marble of which that state prison was built. The Queen gave me +this inauspicious curiosity, desiring me to preserve it, as it would be a +curious illustration of the history of the Revolution. Upon the lid were +engraved some bad verses, the purport of which was as follows: "Stones +from those walls, which enclosed the innocent victims of arbitrary power, +have been converted into a toy, to be presented to you, Monseigneur, as a +mark of the people's love; and to teach you their power." + +The Queen said that M. de La Fayette's thirst for popularity induced him +to lend himself, without discrimination, to all popular follies. Her +distrust of the General increased daily, and grew so powerful that when, +towards the end of the Revolution, he seemed willing to support the +tottering throne, she could never bring herself to incur so great an +obligation to him. + +M. de J-----, a colonel attached to the staff of the army, was fortunate +enough to render several services to the Queen, and acquitted himself +with discretion and dignity of various important missions. + + [During the Queen's detention in the Temple he introduced himself + Into that prison in the dress of a lamplighter, and there discharged + his duty unrecognised.--MADAME CAMPAN.] + +Their Majesties had the highest confidence in him, although it frequently +happened that his prudence, when inconsiderate projects were under +discussion, brought upon him the charge of adopting the principles of the +constitutionals. Being sent to Turin, he had some difficulty in +dissuading the Princes from a scheme they had formed at that period of +reentering France, with a very weak army, by way of Lyons; and when, in a +council which lasted till three o'clock in the morning, he showed his +instructions, and demonstrated that the measure would endanger the King, +the Comte d'Artois alone declared against the plan, which emanated from +the Prince de Conde. + +Among the persons employed in subordinate situations, whom the critical +circumstances of the times involved in affairs of importance, was M. de +Goguelat, a geographical engineer at Versailles, and an excellent +draughtsman. He made plans of St. Cloud and Trianon for the Queen; she +was very much pleased with them, and had the engineer admitted into the +staff of the army. At the commencement of the Revolution he was sent to +Count Esterhazy, at Valenciennes, in the capacity of aide-de-camp. The +latter rank was given him solely to get him away from Versailles, where +his rashness endangered the Queen during the earlier months of the +Assembly of the States General. Making a parade of his devotion to the +King's interests, he went repeatedly to the tribunes of the Assembly, and +there openly railed at all the motions of the deputies, and then returned +to the Queen's antechamber, where he repeated all that he had just heard, +or had had the imprudence to say. Unfortunately, at the same time that +the Queen sent away M. de Goguelat, she still believed that, in a +dangerous predicament, requiring great self-devotion, the man might be +employed advantageously. In 1791 he was commissioned to act in concert +with the Marquis de Bouille in furtherance of the King's intended escape. + + [See the "Memoirs" of M. de Bouille, those of the Duc de Choiseul, + and the account of the journey to Varennes, by M. de Fontanges, in + "Weber's Memoirs."--NOTE BY THE EDITOR.] + +Projectors in great numbers endeavoured to introduce themselves not only +to the Queen, but to Madame Elisabeth, who had communications with many +individuals who took upon themselves to make plans for the conduct of the +Court. The Baron de Gilliers and M. de Vanoise were of this description; +they went to the Baronne de Mackau's, where the Princess spent almost all +her evenings. The Queen did not like these meetings, where Madame +Elisabeth might adopt views in opposition to the King's intentions or her +own. + +The Queen gave frequent audiences to M. de La Fayette. One day, when he +was in her inner closet, his aides-de-camp, who waited for him, were +walking up and down the great room where the persons in attendance +remained. Some imprudent young women were thoughtless enough to say, +with the intention of being overheard by those officers, that it was very +alarming to see the Queen alone with a rebel and a brigand. I was +annoyed at their indiscretion, and imposed silence on them. One of them +persisted in the appellation "brigand." I told her that M. de La Fayette +well deserved the name of rebel, but that the title of leader of a party +was given by history to every man commanding forty thousand men, a +capital, and forty leagues of country; that kings had frequently treated +with such leaders, and if it was convenient to the Queen to do the same, +it remained for us only to be silent and respect her actions. On the +morrow the Queen, with a serious air; but with the greatest kindness, +asked what I had said respecting M. de La Fayette on the preceding day; +adding that she had been assured I had enjoined her women silence, +because they did not like him, and that I had taken his part. I repeated +what had passed to the Queen, word for word. She condescended to tell me +that I had done perfectly right. + +Whenever any false reports respecting me were conveyed to her she was +kind enough to inform me of them; and they had no effect on the +confidence with which she continued to honour me, and which I am happy to +think I have justified even at the risk of my life. + +Mesdames, the King's aunts, set out from Bellevue in the beginning of the +year 1791. Alexandre Berthier, afterwards Prince de Neufchatel, then a +colonel on the staff of the army, and commandant of the National Guard of +Versailles, facilitated the departure of Mesdames. The Jacobins of that +town procured his dismissal, and he ran the greatest risk, on account of +having rendered this service to these Princesses. + +I went to take leave of Madame Victoire. I little thought that I was +then seeing her for the last time. She received me alone in her closet, +and assured + + [General Berthier justified the monarch's confidence by a firm and + prudent line of conduct which entitled him to the highest military + honours, and to the esteem of the great warrior whose fortune, + dangers, and glory he afterwards shared. This officer, full of + honour, and gifted with the highest courage, was shut into the + courtyard of Bellevue by his own troop, and ran great risk of being + murdered. It was not until the 14th of March that he succeeded in + executing his instructions ("Memoirs of Mesdames," by Montigny, + vol. i.)] + +me that she hoped, as well as wished, soon to return to France; that the +French would be much to be pitied if the excesses of the Revolution +should arrive at such a pitch as to force her to prolong her absence. +I knew from the Queen that the departure of Mesdames was deemed +necessary, in order to leave the King free to act when he should be +compelled to go away with his family. It being impossible that the +constitution of the clergy should be otherwise than in direct opposition +to the religious principles of Mesdames, they thought their journey to +Rome would be attributed to piety alone. It was, however, difficult to +deceive an Assembly which weighed the slightest actions of the royal +family, and from that moment they were more than ever alive to what was +passing at the Tuileries. + +Mesdames were desirous of taking Madame Elisabeth to Rome. The free +exercise of religion, the happiness of taking refuge with the head of the +Church, and the prospect of living in safety with her aunts, whom she +tenderly loved, were sacrificed by that virtuous Princess to her +attachment to the King. + +The oath required of priests by the civil constitution of the clergy +introduced into France a division which added to the dangers by which the +King was already surrounded. + + [The priests were required to swear to the civil constitution of the + clergy of 1790, by which all the former bishoprics and parishes were + remodelled, and the priests and bishops elected by the people. Most + refused, and under the name of 'pretres insermentes' (as opposed to + the few who took the oath, 'pretres assermentes') were bitterly + persecuted. A simple promise to obey the constitution of the State + was substituted by Napoleon as soon as he came to power.] + +Mirabeau spent a whole night with the cure of St. Eustache, confessor of +the King and Queen, to persuade him to take the oath required by that +constitution. Their Majesties chose another confessor, who remained +unknown. + +A few months afterwards (2d April, 1791), the too celebrated Mirabeau, +the mercenary democrat and venal royalist, terminated his career. The +Queen regretted him, and was astonished at her own regret; but she had +hoped that he who had possessed adroitness and weight enough to throw +everything into confusion would have been able by the same means to +repair the mischief he had caused. Much has been said respecting the +cause of Mirabeau's death. M. Cabanis, his friend and physician, denied +that he was poisoned. M. Vicq-d'Azyr assured the Queen that the 'proces- +verbal' drawn up on the state of the intestines would apply just as well +to a case of death produced by violent remedies as to one produced by +poison. He said, also, that the report had been faithful; but that it +was prudent to conclude it by a declaration of natural death, since, in +the critical state in which France then was, if a suspicion of foul play +were admitted, a person innocent of any such crime might be sacrificed to +public vengeance. + + + + + +ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + +Advised the King not to separate himself from his army +Grand-Dieu, mamma! will it be yesterday over again? +Mirabeau forgot that it was more easy to do harm than good +Never shall a drop of French blood be shed by my order +Saw no other advantage in it than that of saving her own life +That air of truth which always carries conviction +When kings become prisoners they are very near death +Whispered in his mother's ear, "Was that right?" + + + + +End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of The Memoirs of Marie Antoinette, v5 +by Madame Campan + + + + + + +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 6. + + +CHAPTER V. + +In the beginning of the spring of 1791, the King, tired of remaining at +the Tuileries, wished to return to St. Cloud. His whole household had +already gone, and his dinner was prepared there. He got into his +carriage at one; the guard mutinied, shut the gates, and declared they +would not let him pass. This event certainly proceeded from some +suspicion of a plan to escape. Two persons who drew near the King's +carriage were very ill treated. My father-in-law was violently laid hold +of by the guards, who took his sword from him. The King and his family +were obliged to alight and return to their apartments. + +They did not much regret this outrage in their hearts; they saw in it a +justification, even in the eyes of the people, of their intention to +leave Paris. + +So early as the month of March in the same year, the Queen began to busy +herself in preparing for her departure. I spent that month with her, +and executed a great number of secret orders which she gave me respecting +the intended event. It was with uneasiness that I saw her occupied with +cares which seemed to me useless, and even dangerous, and I remarked to +her that the Queen of France would find linen and gowns everywhere. +My observations were made in vain; she determined to have a complete +wardrobe with her at Brussels, as well for her children as herself. +I went out alone and almost disguised to purchase the articles necessary +and have them made up. + +I ordered six chemises at the shop of one seamstress, six at that of +another, gowns, combing cloths, etc. My sister had a complete set of +clothes made for Madame, by the measure of her eldest daughter, and I +ordered clothes for the Dauphin from those of my son. I filled a trunk +with these things, and addressed them, by the Queen's orders, to one of +her women, my aunt, Madame Cardon,--a widow living at Arras, by virtue of +an unlimited leave of absence,--in order that she might be ready to start +for Brussels, or any other place, as soon as she should be directed to do +so. This lady had landed property in Austrian Flanders, and could at any +time quit Arras unobserved. + +The Queen was to take only her first woman in attendance with her from +Paris. She apprised me that if I should not be on duty at the moment of +departure, she would make arrangements for my joining her. She +determined also to take her travelling dressing-case. She consulted me +on her idea of sending it off, under pretence of making a present of it +to the Archduchess Christina, Gouvernante of the Netherlands. I ventured +to oppose this plan strongly, and observed that, amidst so many people +who watched her slightest actions, there would be found a sufficient +number sharp-sighted enough to discover that it was only a pretext for +sending away the property in question before her own departure; +she persisted in her intention, and all I could arrange was that the +dressing-case should not be removed from her apartment, and that M. de +charge d'afaires from the Court of Vienna during the absence of the Comte +de Mercy, should come and ask her, at her toilet, before all her people, +to order one exactly like her own for Madame the Gouvernante of the +Netherlands. The Queen, therefore, commanded me before the charge +d'affaires to order the article in question. This occasioned only an +expense of five hundred louis, and appeared calculated to lull suspicion +completely. + +About the middle of May, 1791, a month after the Queen had ordered me to +bespeak the dressing-case, she asked me whether it would soon be +finished. I sent for the ivory-turner who had it in hand. He could not +complete it for six weeks. I informed the Queen of this, and she told me +she should not be able to wait for it, as she was to set out in the +course of June. She added that, as she had ordered her sister's +dressing-case in the presence of all her attendants, she had taken a +sufficient precaution, especially by saying that her sister was out of +patience at not receiving it, and that therefore her own must be emptied +and cleaned, and taken to the charge d'affaires, who would send it off. +I executed this order without any, appearance of mystery. I desired the +wardrobe woman to take out of the dressing-case all that it contained, +because that intended for the Archduchess could not be finished for some +time; and to take great care to leave no remains of the perfumes which +might not suit that Princess. + +The woman in question executed her commission punctually; but, on the +evening of that very day, the 15th of May, 1791, she informed M. Bailly, +the Mayor of Paris, that preparations were making at the Queen's +residence for a departure; and that the dressing-case was already sent +off, under pretence of its being presented to the Archduchess Christina. + + [After the return from Varennes M. Bailly put this woman's + deposition into the Queen's hands.--MADAME CAMPAN.] + +It was necessary, likewise, to send off all the diamonds belonging to the +Queen. Her Majesty shut herself up with me in a closet in the entresol, +looking into the garden of the Tuileries, and we packed all the diamonds, +rubies, and pearls she possessed in a small chest. The cases containing +these ornaments, being altogether of considerable bulk, had been +deposited, ever since the 6th of October, 1789, with the valet de chambre +who had the care of the Queen's jewels. That faithful servant, himself +detecting the use that was to be made of the valuables, destroyed all the +boxes, which were, as usual, covered with red morocco, marked with the +cipher and arms of France. It would have been impossible for him to hide +them from the eyes of the popular inquisitors during the domiciliary +visits in January, 1793, and the discovery might have formed a ground of +accusation against the Queen. + +I had but a few articles to place in the box when the Queen was compelled +to desist from packing it, being obliged to go down to cards, which began +at seven precisely. She therefore desired me to leave all the diamonds +upon the sofa, persuaded that, as she took the key of her closet herself, +and there was a sentinel under the window, no danger was to be +apprehended for that night, and she reckoned upon returning very early +next day to finish the work. + +The same woman who had given information of the sending away of the +dressing-case was also deputed by the Queen to take care of her more +private rooms. No other servant was permitted to enter them; she renewed +the flowers, swept the carpets, etc. The Queen received back the key, +when the woman had finished putting them in order, from her own hands; +but, desirous of doing her duty well, and sometimes having the key in her +possession for a few minutes only, she had probably on that account +ordered one without the Queen's knowledge. It is impossible not to +believe this, since the despatch of the diamonds was the subject of a +second accusation which the Queen heard of after the return from +Varennes. She made a formal declaration that her Majesty, with the +assistance of Madame Campan, had packed up all her jewelry some time +before the departure; that she was certain of it, as she had found the +diamonds, and the cotton which served to wrap them, scattered upon the +sofa in the Queen's closet in the 'entresol'; and most assuredly she +could only have seen these preparations in the interval between seven in +the evening and seven in the morning. The Queen having met me next day +at the time appointed, the box was handed over to Leonard, her Majesty's +hairdresser,--[This unfortunate man, after having emigrated for some +time, returned to France, and perished upon the scaffold.--NOTE BY +EDITOR]--who left the country with the Duc de Choiseul. The box +remained a long time at Brussels, and at length got into the hands of +Madame la Duchesse d'Angouleme, being delivered to her by the Emperor on +her arrival at Vienna. + +In order not to leave out any of the Queen's diamonds, I requested the +first tirewoman to give me the body of the full dress, and all the +assortment which served for the stomacher of the full dress on days of +state, articles which always remained at the wardrobe. + +The superintendent and the dame d'honneur being absent, the first +tirewoman required me to sign a receipt, the terms of which she dictated, +and which acquitted her of all responsibility for these diamonds. +She had the prudence to burn this document on the 10th of August, 1792. +--[The date of the sack of the Tuileries and slaughter of the Swiss +Guard]--The Queen having determined, upon the arrest at Varennes, not to +have her diamonds brought back to France, was often anxious about them +during the year which elapsed between that period and the 10th of August, +and dreaded above all things that such a secret should be discovered. + +In consequence of a decree of the Assembly, which deprived the King of +the custody of the Crown diamonds, the Queen had at this time already +given up those which she generally used. + +She preferred the twelve brilliants called Hazarins, from the name of the +Cardinal who had enriched the treasury with them, a few rose-cut +diamonds, and the Sanci. She determined to deliver, with her own hands, +the box containing them to the commissioner nominated by the National +Assembly to place them with the Crown diamonds. After giving them to +him, she offered him a row of pearls of great beauty, saying to him that +it had been brought into France by Anne of Austria; that it was +invaluable, on account of its rarity; that, having been appropriated by +that Princess to the use of the Queens and Dauphinesses, Louis XV. had +placed it in her hands on her arrival in France; but that she considered +it national property. "That is an open question, Madame," said the +commissary. "Monsieur," replied the Queen, "it is one for me to decide, +and is now settled." + +My father-in-law, who was dying of the grief he felt for the misfortunes +of his master and mistress, strongly interested and occupied the thoughts +of the Queen. He had been saved from the fury of the populace in the +courtyard of the Tuileries. + +On the day on which the King was compelled by an insurrection to give up +a journey to St. Cloud, her Majesty looked upon this trusty servant as +inevitably lost, if, on going away, she should leave him in the apartment +he occupied in the Tuileries. Prompted by her apprehensions, she ordered +M. Vicq-d'Azyr, her physician, to recommend him the waters of Mont d'Or +in Auvergne, and to persuade him to set off at the latter end of May. +At the moment of my going away the Queen assured me that the grand +project would be executed between the 15th and the 20th of June; that as +it was not my month to be on duty, Madame Thibaut would take the journey; +but that she had many directions to give me before I went. She then +desired me to write to my aunt, Madame Cardon, who was by that time in +possession of the clothes which I had ordered, that as soon as she should +receive a letter from M. Augur, the date of which should be accompanied +with a B, an L, or an M, she was to proceed with her property to +Brussels, Luxembourg, or Montmedy. She desired me to explain the meaning +of these three letters clearly to my sister, and to leave them with her +in writing, in order that at the moment of my going away she might be +able to take my place in writing to Arras. + +The Queen had a more delicate commission for me; it was to select from +among my acquaintance a prudent person of obscure rank, wholly devoted to +the interests of the Court, who would be willing to receive a portfolio +which she was to give up only to me, or some one furnished with a note +from the Queen. She added that she would not travel with this portfolio, +and that it was of the utmost importance that my opinion of the fidelity +of the person to whom it was to be entrusted should be well founded. I +proposed to her Madame Vallayer Coster, a painter of the Academy, and an +amiable and worthy artist, whom I had known from my infancy. She lived +in the galleries of the Louvre. The choice seemed a good one. The Queen +remembered that she had made her marriage possible by giving her a place +in the financial offices, and added that gratitude ought sometimes to be +reckoned on. She then pointed out to me the valet belonging to her +toilet, whom I was to take with me, to show him the residence of Madame +Coster, so that he might not mistake it when he should take the portfolio +to her. The day before her departure the Queen particularly recommended +me to proceed to Lyons and the frontiers as soon as she should have +started. She advised me to take with me a confidential person, fit to +remain with M. Campan when I should leave him, and assured me that she +would give orders to M. ------ to set off as soon as she should be known +to be at the frontiers in order to protect me in going out. She +condescended to add that, having a long journey to make in foreign +countries, she determined to give me three hundred louis. + +I bathed the Queen's hands with tears at the moment of this sorrowful +separation; and, having money at my disposal, I declined accepting her +gold. I did not dread the road I had to travel in order to rejoin her; +all my apprehension was that by treachery or miscalculation a scheme, the +safety of which was not sufficiently clear to me, should fail. I could +answer for all those who belonged to the service immediately about the +Queen's person, and I was right; but her wardrobe woman gave me well- +founded reason for alarm. I mentioned to the Queen many revolutionary +remarks which this woman had made to me a few days before. Her office +was directly under the control of the first femme de chambre, yet she had +refused to obey the directions I gave her, talking insolently to me about +"hierarchy overturned, equality among men," of course more especially +among persons holding offices at Court; and this jargon, at that time in +the mouths of all the partisans of the Revolution, was terminated by an +observation which frightened me. "You know many important secrets, +madame," said this woman to me, "and I have guessed quite as many. I am +not a fool; I see all that is going forward here in consequence of the +bad advice given to the King and Queen; I could frustrate it all if I +chose." This argument, in which I had been promptly silenced, left me +pale and trembling. Unfortunately, as I began my narrative to the Queen +with particulars of this woman's refusal to obey me,--and sovereigns are +all their lives importuned with complaints upon the rights of places,-- +she believed that my own dissatisfaction had much to do with the step +I was taking; and she did not sufficiently fear the woman. Her office, +although a very inferior one, brought her in nearly fifteen thousand +francs a year. Still young, tolerably handsome, with comfortable +apartments in the entresols of the Tuileries, she saw a great deal of +company, and in the evening had assemblies, consisting of deputies of the +revolutionary party. M. de Gouvion, major-general of the National Guard, +passed almost every day with her; and it is to be presumed that she had +long worked for the party in opposition to the Court. The Queen asked +her for the key of a door which led to the principal vestibule of the +Tuileries, telling her she wished to have a similar one, that she might +not be under the necessity of going out through the pavilion of Flora. +M. de Gouvion and M. de La Fayette would, of course, be apprised of this +circumstance, and well-informed persons have assured me that on the very +night of the Queen's departure this wretched woman had a spy with her, +who saw the royal family set off. + +As soon as I had executed all the Queen's orders, on the 30th of May, +1791, I set out for Auvergne, and was settled in the gloomy narrow valley +of Mont d'Or, when, about four in the afternoon of the 25th of June, +I heard the beat of a drum to call the inhabitants of the hamlet +together. When it had ceased I heard a hairdresser from Bresse proclaim +in the provincial dialect of Auvergne: "The King and Queen were taking +flight in order to ruin France, but I come to tell you that they are +stopped, and are well guarded by a hundred thousand men under arms." I +still ventured to hope that he was repeating only a false report, but he +went on: "The Queen," with her well-known haughtiness, lifted up the veil +which covered her face, and said to the citizens who were upbraiding the +King, "Well, since you recognise your sovereign, respect him." Upon +hearing these expressions, which the Jacobin club of Clermont could not +have invented, I exclaimed, "The news is true!" + +I immediately learnt that, a courier being come from Paris to Clermont, +the 'procureur' of the commune had sent off messengers to the chief +places of the canton; these again sent couriers to the districts, and the +districts in like manner informed the villages and hamlets which they +contained. It was through this ramification, arising from the +establishment of clubs, that the afflicting intelligence of the +misfortune of my sovereigns reached me in the wildest part of France, +and in the midst of the snows by which we were environed. + +On the 28th I received a note written in a hand which I recognised as +that of M. Diet,--[This officer was slain in the Queen's chamber on the +10th of August]--usher of the Queen's chamber, but dictated by her +Majesty. It contained these words: "I am this moment arrived; I have +just got into my bath; I and my family exist, that is all. I have +suffered much. Do not return to Paris until I desire you. Take good +care of my poor Campan, soothe his sorrow. Look for happier times." +This note was for greater safety addressed to my father-in-law's valet-de +-chambre. What were my feelings on perceiving that after the most +distressing crisis we were among the first objects of the kindness of +that unfortunate Princess! + +M. Campan having been unable to benefit by the waters of Mont d'Or, and +the first popular effervescence having subsided, I thought I might return +to Clermont. The committee of surveillance, or that of general safety, +had resolved to arrest me there; but the Abbe Louis, formerly a +parliamentary counsellor, and then a member of the Constituent Assembly, +was kind enough to affirm that I was in Auvergne solely for the purpose +of attending my father-in-law, who was extremely ill. The precautions +relative to my absence from Paris were limited to placing us under the +surveillance of the 'procureur' of the commune, who was at the same time +president of the Jacobin club; but he was also a physician of repute, and +without having any doubt that he had received secret orders relative to +me, I thought it would favour the chances of our safety if I selected him +to attend my patient. I paid him according to the rate given to the best +Paris physicians, and I requested him to visit us every morning and every +evening. I took the precaution to subscribe to no other newspaper than +the Moniteur. Doctor Monestier (for that was the physician's name) +frequently took upon himself to read it to us. Whenever he thought +proper to speak of the King and Queen in the insulting and brutal terms +at that time unfortunately adopted throughout France, I used to stop him +and say, coolly, "Monsieur, you are here in company with the servants of +Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette. Whatever may be the wrongs with which +the nation believes it has to reproach them, our principles forbid our +losing sight of the respect due to them from us." Notwithstanding that +he was an inveterate patriot, he felt the force of this remark, and even +procured the revocation of a second order for our arrest, becoming +responsible for us to the committee of the Assembly, and to the Jacobin +society. + +The two chief women about the Dauphin, who had accompanied the Queen to +Varennes, Diet, her usher, and Camot, her garcon de toilette,--the women +on account of the journey, and the men in consequence of the denunciation +of the woman belonging to the wardrobe,--were sent to the prisons of the +Abbaye. After my departure the garcon de toilette whom I had taken to +Madame Vallayer Coster's was sent there with the portfolio she had agreed +to receive. This commission could not escape the detestable spy upon the +Queen. She gave information that a portfolio had been carried out on the +evening of the departure, adding that the King had placed it upon the +Queen's easy-chair, that the garcon de toilette wrapped it up in a napkin +and took it under his arm, and that she did not know where he had carried +it. The man, who was remarkable for his fidelity, underwent three +examinations without making the slightest disclosure. M. Diet, a man of +good family, a servant on whom the Queen placed particular reliance, +likewise experienced the severest treatment. At length, after a lapse of +three weeks, the Queen succeeded in obtaining the release of her +servants. + +The Queen, about the 15th of August, had me informed by letter that I +might come back to Paris without being under any apprehension of arrest +there, and that she greatly desired my return. I brought my father-in- +law back in a dying state, and on the day preceding that of the +acceptation of the constitutional act, I informed the Queen that he was +no more. "The loss of Lassonne and Campan," said she, as she applied her +handkerchief to her streaming eyes, "has taught me how valuable such +subjects are to their masters. I shall never find their equals." + +I resumed my functions about the Queen on the 1st of September, 1791. +She was unable then to converse with me on all the lamentable events +which had occurred since the time of my leaving her, having on guard near +her an officer whom she dreaded more than all the others. She merely +told me that I should have some secret services to perform for her, and +that she would not create uneasiness by long conversations with me, my +return being a subject of suspicion. But next day the Queen, well +knowing the discretion of the officer who was to be on guard that night, +had my bed placed very near hers, and having obtained the favour of +having the door shut, when I was in bed she began the narrative of the +journey, and the unfortunate arrest at Varennes. I asked her permission +to put on my gown, and kneeling by her bedside I remained until three +o'clock in the morning, listening with the liveliest and most sorrowful +interest to the account I am about to repeat, and of which I have seen +various details, of tolerable exactness, in papers of the time. + +The King entrusted Count Fersen with all the preparations for departure. +The carriage was ordered by him; the passport, in the name of Madame de +Korf, was procured through his connection with that lady, who was a +foreigner. And lastly, he himself drove the royal family, as their +coachman, as far as Bondy, where the travellers got into their berlin. +Madame Brunier and Madame Neuville, the first women of Madame and the +Dauphin, there joined the principal carriage. They were in a cabriolet. +Monsieur and Madame set out from the Luxembourg and took another road. +They as well as the King were recognised by the master of the last post +in France, but this man, devoting himself to the fortunes of the Prince, +left the French territory, and drove them himself as postilion. Madame +Thibaut, the Queen's first woman, reached Brussels without the slightest +difficulty. Madame Cardon, from Arras, met with no hindrance; and +Leonard, the Queen's hairdresser, passed through Varennes a few hours +before the royal family. Fate had reserved all its obstacles for the +unfortunate monarch. + +Nothing worthy of notice occurred in the beginning of the journey. The +travellers were detained a short time, about twelve leagues from Paris, +by some repairs which the carriage required. The King chose to walk up +one of the hills, and these two circumstances caused a delay of three +hours, precisely at the time when it was intended that the berlin should +have been met, just before reaching Varennes, by the detachment commanded +by M. de Goguelat. This detachment was punctually stationed upon the +spot fixed on, with orders to wait there for the arrival of certain +treasure, which it was to escort; but the peasantry of the neighbourhood, +alarmed at the sight of this body of troops, came armed with staves, and +asked several questions, which manifested their anxiety. M. de Goguelat, +fearful of causing a riot, and not finding the carriage arrive as he +expected, divided his men into two companies, and unfortunately made them +leave the highway in order to return to Varennes by two cross roads. +The King looked out of the carriage at Ste. Menehould, and asked several +questions concerning the road. Drouet, the post-master, struck by the +resemblance of Louis to the impression of his head upon the assignats, +drew near the carriage, felt convinced that he recognised the Queen also, +and that the remainder of the travellers consisted of the royal family +and their suite, mounted his horse, reached Varennes by cross roads +before the royal fugitives, and gave the alarm.--[Varennes lies between +Verdun and Montmedy, and not far from the French frontier.] + +The Queen began to feel all the agonies of terror; they were augmented by +the voice of a person unknown, who, passing close to the carriage in full +gallop, cried out, bending towards the window without slackening his +speed, "You are recognised!" They arrived with beating hearts at the +gates of Varennes without meeting one of the horsemen by whom they were +to have been escorted into the place. They were ignorant where to find +their relays, and some minutes were lost in waiting, to no purpose. The +cabriolet had preceded them, and the two ladies in attendance found the +bridge already blocked up with old carts and lumber. The town guards +were all under arms. The King at last entered Varennes. M. de Goguelat +had arrived there with his detachment. He came up to the King and asked +him if he chose to effect a passage by force! What an unlucky question +to put to Louis XVI., who from the very beginning of the Revolution had +shown in every crisis the fear he entertained of giving the least order +which might cause an effusion of blood! "Would it be a brisk action?" +said the King. "It is impossible that it should be otherwise, Sire," +replied the aide-decamp. Louis XVI. was unwilling to expose his family. +They therefore went to the house of a grocer, Mayor of Varennes. The +King began to speak, and gave a summary of his intentions in departing, +analogous to the declaration he had made at Paris. He spoke with warmth +and affability, and endeavoured to demonstrate to the people around him +that he had only put himself, by the step he had taken, into a fit +situation to treat with the Assembly, and to sanction with freedom the +constitution which he would maintain, though many of its articles were +incompatible with the dignity of the throne, and the force by which it +was necessary that the sovereign should be surrounded. Nothing could be +more affecting, added the Queen, than this moment, in which the King felt +bound to communicate to the very humblest class of his subjects his +principles, his wishes for the happiness of his people, and the motives +which had determined him to depart. + +Whilst the King was speaking to this mayor, whose name was Sauce, the +Queen, seated at the farther end of the shop, among parcels of soap and +candles, endeavoured to make Madame Sauce understand that if she would +prevail upon her husband to make use of his municipal authority to cover +the flight of the King and his family, she would have the glory of having +contributed to restore tranquillity to France. This woman was moved; +she could not, without streaming eyes, see herself thus solicited by her +Queen; but she could not be got to say anything more than, "Bon Dieu, +Madame, it would be the destruction of M. Sauce; I love my King, but I +love my husband too, you must know, and he would be answerable, you see." +Whilst this strange scene was passing in the shop, the people, hearing +that the King was arrested, kept pouring in from all parts. M. de +Goguelat, making a last effort, demanded of the dragoons whether they +would protect the departure of the King; they replied only by murmurs, +dropping the points of their swords. Some person unknown fired a pistol +at M. de Goguelat; he was slightly wounded by the ball. M. Romeuf, aide- +de-camp to M. de La Fayette, arrived at that moment. He had been chosen, +after the 6th of October, 1789, by the commander of the Parisian guard to +be in constant attendance about the Queen. She reproached him bitterly +with the object of his mission. "If you wish to make your name +remarkable, monsieur," said the Queen to him, "you have chosen strange +and odious means, which will produce the most fatal consequences." This +officer wished to hasten their departure. The Queen, still cherishing +the hope of seeing M. de Bouille arrive with a sufficient force to +extricate the King from his critical situation, prolonged her stay at +Varennes by every means in her power. + +The Dauphin's first woman pretended to be taken ill with a violent colic, +and threw herself upon a bed, in the hope of aiding the designs of her +superiors; she went and implored for assistance. The Queen understood +her perfectly well, and refused to leave one who had devoted herself to +follow them in such a state of suffering. But no delay in departing was +allowed. The three Body Guards (Valory, Du Moustier, and Malden) were +gagged and fastened upon the seat of the carriage. A horde of National +Guards, animated with fury and the barbarous joy with which their fatal +triumph inspired them, surrounded the carriage of the royal family. + +The three commissioners sent by the Assembly to meet the King, MM. de +Latour-Maubourg, Barnave, and Potion, joined them in the environs of +Epernay. The two last mentioned got into the King's carriage. The Queen +astonished me by the favourable opinion she had formed of Barnave. +When I quitted Paris a great many persons spoke of him only with horror. +She told me he was much altered, that he was full of talent and noble +feeling. "A feeling of pride which I cannot much blame in a young man +belonging to the Tiers Etat," she said, "made him applaud everything +which smoothed the road to rank and fame for that class in which he was +born. And if we get the power in our own hands again, Barnave's pardon +is already written on our hearts." The Queen added, that she had not the +same feeling towards those nobles who had joined the revolutionary party, +who had always received marks of favour, often to the injury of those +beneath them in rank, and who, born to be the safeguard of the monarchy, +could never be pardoned for having deserted it. She then told me that +Barnave's conduct upon the road was perfectly correct, while Potion's +republican rudeness was disgusting; that the latter ate and drank in the +King's berlin in a slovenly manner, throwing the bones of the fowls out +through the window at the risk of sending them even into the King's face; +lifting up his glass, when Madame Elisabeth poured him out wine, to show +her that there was enough, without saying a word; that this offensive +behaviour must have been intentional, because the man was not without +education; and that Barnave was hurt at it. On being pressed by the +Queen to take something, "Madame," replied Barnave, "on so solemn an +occasion the deputies of the National Assembly ought to occupy your +Majesties solely about their mission, and by no means about their wants." +In short, his respectful delicacy, his considerate attentions, and all +that he said, gained the esteem not only of the Queen, but of Madame +Elisabeth also. + +The King began to talk to Petion about the situation of France, and the +motives of his conduct, which were founded upon the necessity of giving +to the executive power a strength necessary for its action, for the good +even of the constitutional act, since France could not be a republic. +"Not yet, 'tis true," replied Petion, "because the French are not ripe +enough for that." This audacious and cruel answer silenced the King, who +said no more until his arrival at Paris. Potion held the little Dauphin +upon his knees, and amused himself with curling the beautiful light hair +of the interesting child round his fingers; and, as he spoke with much +gesticulation, he pulled his locks hard enough to make the Dauphin cry +out. "Give me my son," said the Queen to him; "he is accustomed to +tenderness and delicacy, which render him little fit for such +familiarity." + +The Chevalier de Dampierre was killed near the King's carriage upon +leaving Varennes. A poor village cure, some leagues from the place where +the crime was committed, was imprudent enough to draw near to speak to +the King; the cannibals who surrounded the carriage rushed upon him. +"Tigers," exclaimed Barnave, "have you ceased to be Frenchmen? Nation of +brave men, are you become a set of assassins?" These words alone saved +the cure, who was already upon the ground, from certain death. Barnave, +as he spoke to them, threw himself almost out of the coach window, and +Madame Elisabeth, affected by this noble burst of feeling, held him by +the skirt of his coat. The Queen, while speaking of this event, said +that on the most momentous occasions whimsical contrasts always struck +her, and that even at such a moment the pious Elisabeth holding Barnave +by the flap of his coat was a ludicrous sight. + +The deputy was astonished in another way. Madame Elisabeth's comments +upon the state of France, her mild and persuasive eloquence, and the, +ease and simplicity with which she talked to him, yet without sacrificing +her dignity in the slightest degree, appeared to him unique, and his +heart, which was doubtless inclined to right principles though he had +followed the wrong path, was overcome by admiration. The conduct of the +two deputies convinced the Queen of the total separation between the +republican and constitutional parties. At the inns where she alighted +she had some private conversation with Barnave. The latter said a great +deal about the errors committed by the royalists during the Revolution, +adding that he had found the interest of the Court so feebly and so badly +defended that he had been frequently tempted to go and offer it, in +himself, an aspiring champion, who knew the spirit of the age and nation. +The Queen asked him what was the weapon he would have recommended her to +use. + +"Popularity, Madame." + +"And how could I use that," replied her Majesty, "of which I have been +deprived?" + +"Ah! Madame, it was much more easy for you to regain it, than for me to +acquire it." + +The Queen mainly attributed the arrest at Varennes to M. de Goguelat; she +said he calculated the time that would be spent in the journey +erroneously. He performed that from Montmedy to Paris before taking the +King's last orders, alone in a post-chaise, and he founded all his +calculations upon the time he spent thus. The trial has been made since, +and it was found that a light carriage without any courier was nearly +three hours less in running the distance than a heavy carriage preceded +by a courier. + +The Queen also blamed him for having quitted the high-road at Pont-de- +Sommevelle, where the carriage was to meet the forty hussars commanded by +him. She thought that he ought to have dispersed the very small number +of people at Varennes, and not have asked the hussars whether they were +for the King or the nation; that, particularly, he ought to have avoided +taking the King's orders, as he was previously aware of the reply +M. d'Inisdal had received when it was proposed to carry off the King. + +After all that the Queen had said to me respecting the mistakes made by +M. de Goguelat, I thought him of course disgraced. What was my surprise +when, having been set at liberty after the amnesty which followed the +acceptance of the constitution, he presented himself to the Queen, and +was received with the greatest kindness! She said he had done what he +could, and that his zeal ought to form an excuse for all the rest. + + [Full details of the preparations for the flight to Varennes will be + found in "Le Comte de Fersen et La Cour de France," Paris, Didot et + Cie, 1878 (a review of which was given in the Quarterly Review for + July, 1880), and in the "Memoirs of the Marquis de Bouille", London, + Cadell and Davis, 1797; Count Fersen being the person who planned + the actual escape, and De Bouille being in command of the army which + was to receive the King. The plan was excellent, and would + certainly have succeeded, if it had not been for the royal family + themselves. Marie Antoinette, it will have been seen by Madame + Campan's account, nearly wrecked the plan from inability to do + without a large dressing or travelling case. The King did a more + fatal thing. De Bouille had pointed out the necessity for having in + the King's carriage an officer knowing the route, and able to show + himself to give all directions, and a proper person had been + provided. The King, however, objected, as "he could not have the + Marquis d'Agoult in the same carriage with himself; the governess of + the royal children, who was to accompany them, having refused to + abandon her privilege of constantly remaining with her charge." See + "De Bouille," pp. 307 and 334. Thus, when Louis was recognised at + the window of the carriage by Drouet, he was lost by the very danger + that had been foreseen, and this wretched piece of etiquette led to + his death.] + +When the royal family was brought back from Varennes to the Tuileries, +the Queen's attendants found the greatest difficulty in making their way +to her apartments; everything had been arranged so that the wardrobe +woman, who had acted as spy, should have the service; and she was to be +assisted in it only by her sister and her sister's daughter. + +M. de Gouvion, M. de La Fayette's aide-de-camp, had this woman's portrait +placed at the foot of the staircase which led to the Queen's apartments, +in order that the sentinel should not permit any other women to make +their way in. As soon as the Queen was informed of this contemptible +precaution, she told the King of it, who sent to ascertain the fact. +His Majesty then called for M. de La Fayette, claimed freedom in his +household, and particularly in that of the Queen, and ordered him to send +a woman in, whom no one but himself could confide out of the palace. +M. de La Fayette was obliged to comply. + +On the day when the return of the royal family was expected, there were +no carriages in motion in the streets of Paris. Five or six of the +Queen's women, after being refused admittance at all the other gates, +went with one of my sisters to that of the Feuillans, insisting that the +sentinel should admit them. The poissardes attacked them for their +boldness in resisting the order excluding them. One of them seized my +sister by the arm, calling her the slave of the Austrian. "Hear me," +said my sister to her, "I have been attached to the Queen ever since I +was fifteen years of age; she gave me my marriage portion; I served her +when she was powerful and happy. She is now unfortunate. Ought I to +abandon her?"--"She is right," cried the poissardes; "she ought not to +abandon her mistress; let us make an entry for them." They instantly +surrounded the sentinel, forced the passage, and introduced the Queen's +women, accompanying them to the terrace of the Feuillans. One of these +furies, whom the slightest impulse would have driven to tear my sister to +pieces, taking her under her protection, gave her advice by which she +might reach the palace in safety. "But of all things, my dear friend," +said she to her, "pull off that green ribbon sash; it is the color of +that D'Artois, whom we will never forgive." + +The measures adopted for guarding the King were rigorous with respect to +the entrance into the palace, and insulting as to his private apartments. +The commandants of battalion, stationed in the salon called the grand +cabinet, and which led to the Queen's bedchamber, were ordered to keep +the door of it always open, in order that they might have their eyes +upon the royal family. The King shut this door one day; the officer of +the guard opened it, and told him such were his orders, and that he would +always open it; so that his Majesty in shutting it gave himself useless +trouble. It remained open even during the night, when the Queen was in +bed; and the officer placed himself in an armchair between the two doors, +with his head turned towards her Majesty. They only obtained permission +to have the inner door shut when the Queen was rising. The Queen had the +bed of her first femme de chambre placed very near her own; this bed, +which ran on casters, and was furnished with curtains, hid her from the +officer's sight. + +Madame de Jarjaye, my companion, who continued her functions during the +whole period of my absence, told me that one night the commandant of +battalion, who slept between the two doors, seeing that she was sleeping +soundly, and that the Queen was awake, quitted his post and went close to +her Majesty, to advise her as to the line of conduct she should pursue. +Although she had the kindness to desire him to speak lower in order that +he might not disturb Madame de Jarjaye's rest, the latter awoke, and +nearly died with fright at seeing a man in the uniform of the Parisian +guard so near the Queen's bed. Her Majesty comforted her, and told her +not to rise; that the person she saw was a good Frenchman, who was +deceived respecting the intentions and situation of his sovereign and +herself, but whose conversation showed sincere attachment to the King. + +There was a sentinel in the corridor which runs behind the apartments in +question, where there is a staircase, which was at that time an inner +one, and enabled the King and Queen to communicate freely. This post, +which was very onerous, because it was to be kept four and twenty hours, +was often claimed by Saint Prig, an actor belonging to the Theatre +Francais. He took it upon himself sometimes to contrive brief interviews +between the King and Queen in this corridor. He left them at a distance, +and gave them warning if he heard the slightest noise. M. Collot, +commandant of battalion of the National Guard, who was charged with the +military duty of the Queen's household, in like manner softened down, +so far as he could with prudence, all, the revolting orders he received; +for instance, one to follow the Queen to the very door of her wardrobe +was never executed. An officer of the Parisian guard dared to speak +insolently of the Queen in her own apartment. M. Collot wished to make a +complaint to M. de La Fayette against him, and have him dismissed. The +Queen opposed it, and condescended to say a few words of explanation and +kindness to the man; he instantly became one of her most devoted +partisans. + +The first time I saw her Majesty after the unfortunate catastrophe of the +Varennes journey, I found her getting out of bed; her features were not +very much altered; but after the first kind words she uttered to me she +took off her cap and desired me to observe the effect which grief had +produced upon her hair. It had become, in one single night, as white as +that of a woman of seventy. Her Majesty showed me a ring she had just +had mounted for the Princesse de Lamballe; it contained a lock of her +whitened hair, with the inscription, "Blanched by sorrow." At the period +of the acceptance of the constitution the Princess wished to return to +France. The Queen, who had no expectation that tranquillity would be +restored, opposed this; but the attachment of Madame de Lamballe to the +royal family impelled her to come and seek death. + +When I returned to Paris most of the harsh precautions were abandoned; +the doors were not kept open; greater respect was paid to the sovereign; +it was known that the constitution soon to be completed would be +accepted, and a better order of things was hoped for. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +On my arrival at Paris on the 25th of August I found the state of feeling +there much more temperate than I had dared to hope. The conversation +generally ran upon the acceptance of the constitution, and the fetes +which would be given in consequence. The struggle between the Jacobins +and the constitutionals on the 17th of July, 1791, nevertheless had +thrown the Queen into great terror for some moments; and the firing of +the cannon from the Champ de Mars upon a party which called for a trial +of the King, and the leaders of which were in the very bosom of the +Assembly, left the most gloomy impressions upon her mind. + +The constitutionals, the Queen's connection with whom was not slackened +by the intervention of the three members already mentioned, had +faithfully served the royal family during their detention. + +"We still hold the wire by which this popular mass is moved," said +Barnave to M. de J----- one day, at the same time showing him a large +volume, in which the names of all those who were influenced with the +power of gold alone were registered. It was at that time proposed to +hire a considerable number of persons in order to secure loud +acclamations when the King and his family should make their appearance at +the play upon the acceptance of the constitution. That day, which +afforded a glimmering hope of tranquillity, was the 14th of September; +the fetes were brilliant; but already fresh anxieties forbade the royal +family to encourage much hope. + +The Legislative Assembly, which had just succeeded the Constituent +Assembly (October, 1791), founded its conduct upon the wildest republican +principles; created from the midst of popular assemblies, it was wholly +inspired by the spirit which animated them. The constitution, as I have +said, was presented to the King on the 3d of September, 1791. The +ministers, with the exception of M. de Montmorin, insisted upon the +necessity of accepting the constitutional act in its entirety. The +Prince de Kaunitz--[Minister of Austria]-- was of the same opinion. +Malouet wished the King to express himself candidly respecting any errors +or dangers that he might observe in the constitution. But Duport and +Barnave, alarmed at the spirit prevailing in the Jacobin Club, + + [The extreme revolutionary party, so called from the club, + originally "Breton," then "Amis de la Constitution," sitting at the + convent of the Dominicans (called in France Jacobins) of the Rue + Saint Honore.] + +and even in the Assembly, where Robespierre had already denounced them as +traitors to the country, and dreading still greater evils, added their +opinions to those of the majority of the ministers and M. de Kaunitz; +those who really desired that the constitution should be maintained +advised that it should not be accepted thus literally. The King seemed +inclined to this advice; and this is one of the strongest proofs of his +sincerity. + +Alexandre Lameth, Duport, and Barnave, still relying on the resources of +their party, hoped to have credit for directing the King through the +influence they believed they had acquired over the mind of the Queen. +They also consulted people of acknowledged talent, but belonging to no +council nor to any assembly. Among these was M. Dubucq, formerly +intendant of the marine and of the colonies. He answered laconically in +one phrase: "Prevent disorder from organising itself." + +The letter written by the King to the Assembly, claiming to accept the +constitution in the very place where it had been created, and where he +announced he would be on the 14th September at mid-day, was received with +transport, and the reading was repeatedly interrupted by plaudits. The +sitting terminated amidst the greatest enthusiasm, and M. de La Fayette +obtained the release of all those who were detained on account of the +King's journey [to Varennes], the abandonment of all proceedings relative +to the events of the Revolution, and the discontinuance of the use of +passports and of temporary restraints upon free travelling, as well in +the interior as without. The whole was conceded by acclamation. Sixty +members were deputed to go to the King and express to him fully the +satisfaction his Majesty's letter had given. The Keeper of the Seals +quitted the chamber, in the midst of applause, to precede the deputation +to the King. + +The King answered the speech addressed to him, and concluded by saying to +the Assembly that a decree of that morning, which had abolished the order +of the Holy Ghost, had left him and his son alone permission to be +decorated with it; but that an order having no value in his eyes, save +for the power of conferring it, he would not use it. + +The Queen, her son, and Madame, were at the door of the chamber into +which the deputation was admitted. The King said to the deputies, "You +see there my wife and children, who participate in my sentiments;" and +the Queen herself confirmed the King's assurance. These apparent marks +of confidence were very inconsistent with the agitated state of her mind. +"These people want no sovereigns," said she. "We shall fall before their +treacherous though well-planned tactics; they are demolishing the +monarchy stone by stone." + +Next day the particulars of the reception of the deputies by the King +were reported to the Assembly, and excited warm approbation. But the +President having put the question whether the Assembly ought not to +remain seated while the King took the oath "Certainly," was repeated by +many voices; "and the King, standing, uncovered." M. Malouet observed +that there was no occasion on which the nation, assembled in the presence +of the King, did not acknowledge him as its head; that the omission to +treat the head of the State with the respect due to him would be an +offence to the nation, as well as to the monarch. He moved that the King +should take the oath standing, and that the Assembly should also stand +while he was doing so. M. Malouet's observations would have carried the +decree, but a deputy from Brittany exclaimed, with a shrill voice, that +he had an amendment to propose which would render all unanimous. "Let us +decree," said he, "that M. Malouet, and whoever else shall so please, may +have leave to receive the King upon their knees; but let us stick to the +decree." + +The King repaired to the chamber at mid-day. His speech was followed by +plaudits which lasted several minutes. After the signing of the +constitutional act all sat down. The President rose to deliver his +speech; but after he had begun, perceiving that the King did not rise to +hear him, he sat down again. His speech made a powerful impression; the +sentence with which it concluded excited fresh acclamations, cries of +"Bravo!" and "Vive le Roi!"--"Sire, "said he, "how important in our +eyes, and how dear to our hearts--how sublime a feature in our history-- +must be the epoch of that regeneration which gives citizens to France, +and a country to Frenchmen,--to you, as a king, a new title of greatness +and glory, and, as a man, a source of new enjoyment." The whole Assembly +accompanied the King on his return, amidst the people's cries of +happiness, military music, and salvoes of artillery. + +At length I hoped to see a return of that tranquillity which had so long +vanished from the countenances of my august master and mistress. Their +suite left them in the salon; the Queen hastily saluted the ladies, and +returned much affected; the King followed her, and, throwing himself into +an armchair, put his handkerchief to his eyes. "Ah! Madame," cried he, +his voice choked by tears, "why were you present at this sitting? to +witness--" these words were interrupted by sobs. The Queen threw herself +upon her knees before him, and pressed him in her arms. I remained with +them, not from any blamable curiosity, but from a stupefaction which +rendered me incapable of determining what I ought to do. The Queen said +to me, "Oh! go, go!" with an accent which expressed, "Do not remain to +see the dejection and despair of your sovereign!" I withdrew, struck +with the contrast between the shouts of joy without the palace and the +profound grief which oppressed the sovereigns within. Half an hour +afterwards the Queen sent for me. She desired to see M. de Goguelat, to +announce to him his departure on that very night for Vienna. The renewed +attacks upon the dignity of the throne which had been made during the +sitting; the spirit of an Assembly worse than the former; the monarch put +upon a level with the President, without any deference to the throne,-- +all this proclaimed but too loudly that the sovereignty itself was aimed +at. The Queen no longer saw any ground for hope from the Provinces. +The King wrote to the Emperor; she told me that she would herself, +at midnight, bring the letter which M. de Goguelat was to bear to the +Emperor, to my room. + +During all the remainder of the day the Chateau and the Tuileries were +crowded; the illuminations were magnificent. The King and Queen were +requested to take an airing in their carriage in the Champs-Elysees, +escorted by the aides-decamp, and leaders of the Parisian army, the +Constitutional Guard not being at the time organised. Many shouts of +"Vive le Roi!" were heard; but as often as they ceased, one of the mob, +who never quitted the door of the King's carriage for a single instant, +exclaimed with a stentorian voice, "No, don't believe them! Vive la +Nation!" This ill-omened cry struck terror into the Queen. + +A few days afterwards M. de Montmorin sent to say he wanted to speak to +me; that he would come to me, if he were not apprehensive his doing so +would attract observation; and that he thought it would appear less +conspicuous if he should see me in the Queen's great closet at a time +which he specified, and when nobody would be there. I went. After +having made some polite observations upon the services I had already +performed, and those I might yet perform, for my master and mistress, he +spoke to me of the King's imminent danger, of the plots which were +hatching, and of the lamentable composition of the Legislative Assembly; +and he particularly dwelt upon the necessity of appearing, by prudent +remarks, determined as much as possible to abide by the act the King had +just recognised. I told him that could not be done without committing +ourselves in the eyes of the royalist party, with which moderation was a +crime; that it was painful to hear ourselves taxed with being +constitutionalists, at the same time that it was our opinion that the +only constitution which was consistent with the King's honour, and the +happiness and tranquillity of his people, was the absolute power of the +sovereign; that this was my creed, and it would pain me to give any room +for suspicion that I was wavering in it. + +"Could you ever believe," said he, "that I should desire any other order +of things? Have you any doubt of my attachment to the King's person, and +the maintenance of his rights?" + +"I know it, Count," replied I; "but you are not ignorant that you lie +under the imputation of having adopted revolutionary ideas." + +"Well, madame, have resolution enough to dissemble and to conceal your +real sentiments; dissimulation was never more necessary. Endeavours are +being made to paralyse the evil intentions of the factious as much as +possible; but we must not be counteracted here by certain dangerous +expressions which are circulated in Paris as coming from the King and +Queen." + +I told him that I had been already struck with apprehension of the evil +which might be done by the intemperate observations of persons who had no +power to act; and that I had felt ill consequences from having repeatedly +enjoined silence on those in the Queen's service. + +"I know that," said the Count; "the Queen informed me of it, and that +determined me to come and request you to increase and keep alive, as much +as you can, that spirit of discretion which is so necessary." + +While the household of the King and Queen were a prey to all these fears, +the festivities in celebration of the acceptance of the constitution +proceeded. Their Majesties went to the Opera; the audience consisted +entirely of persons who sided with the King, and on that day the +happiness of seeing him for a short time surrounded by faithful subjects +might be enjoyed. The acclamations were then sincere. + +"La Coquette Corrigee" had been selected for representation at the +Theatre Francais solely because it was the piece in which Mademoiselle +Contat shone most. Yet the notions propagated by the Queen's enemies +coinciding in my mind with the name of the play, I thought the choice +very ill-judged. I was at a loss, however, how to tell her Majesty so; +but sincere attachment gives courage. I explained myself; she was +obliged to me, and desired that another play might be performed. They +accordingly selected "La Gouvernante," almost equally unfortunate in +title. + +The Queen, Madame the King's daughter, and Madame Elisabeth were all well +received on this occasion. It is true that the opinions and feelings of +the spectators in the boxes could not be otherwise than favourable, and +great pains had been taken, previously to these two performances, to fill +the pit with proper persons. But, on the other hand, the Jacobins took +the same precautions on their side at the Theatre Italien, and the tumult +was excessive there. The play was Gretry's "Les Evenements Imprevus." +Unfortunately, Madame Dugazon thought proper to bow to the Queen as she +sang the words, "Ah, how I love my mistress!" in a duet. Above twenty +voices immediately exclaimed from the pit, "No mistress! no master! +liberty!" A few replied from the boxes and slips, "Vive le Roi! vive la +Reine!" Those in the pit answered, "No master! no Queen!" The quarrel +increased; the pit formed into parties; they began fighting, and the +Jacobins were beaten; tufts of their black hair flew about the theatre.-- +[At this time none but the Jacobins had discontinued the use of +hairpowder.--MADAME CAMPAN.]-- A military guard arrived. The Faubourg +St. Antoine, hearing of what was going on at the Theatre Italien, flocked +together, and began to talk of marching towards the scene of action. The +Queen preserved the calmest demeanour; the commandants of the guard +surrounded and encouraged her; they conducted themselves promptly and +discreetly. No accident happened. The Queen was highly applauded as she +quitted the theatre; it was the last time she was ever in one! + +While couriers were bearing confidential letters from the King to the +Princes, his brothers, and to the foreign sovereigns, the Assembly +invited him to write to the Princes in order to induce them to return to +France. The King desired the Abbe de Montesquiou to write the letter he +was to send; this letter, which was admirably composed in a simple and +affecting style, suited to the character of Louis XVI., and filled with +very powerful arguments in favour of the advantages to be derived from +adopting the principles of the constitution, was confided to me by the +King, who desired me to make him a copy of it. + +At this period M. M-----, one of the intendants of Monsieur's household, +obtained a passport from the Assembly to join that Prince on business +relative to his domestic concerns. The Queen selected him to be the +bearer of this letter. She determined to give it to him herself, and to +inform him of its object. I was astonished at her choice of this +courier. The Queen assured me he was exactly the man for her purpose, +that she relied even upon his indiscretion, and that it was merely +necessary that the letter from the King to his brothers should be known +to exist. The Princes were doubtless informed beforehand on the subject +by the private correspondence. Monsieur nevertheless manifested some +degree of surprise, and the messenger returned more grieved than pleased +at this mark of confidence, which nearly cost him his life during the +Reign of Terror. + +Among the causes of uneasiness to the Queen there was one which was but +too well founded, the thoughtlessness of the French whom she sent to +foreign Courts. She used to say that they had no sooner passed the +frontiers than they disclosed the most secret matters relative to the +King's private sentiments, and that the leaders of the Revolution were +informed of them through their agents, many of whom were Frenchmen who +passed themselves off as emigrants in the cause of their King. + +After the acceptance of the constitution, the formation of the King's +household, as well military as civil, formed a subject of attention. +The Duc de Brissac had the command of the Constitutional Guard, which was +composed of officers and men selected from the regiments, and of several +officers drawn from the National Guard of Paris. The King was satisfied +with the feelings and conduct of this band, which, as is well known, +existed but a very short time. + +The new constitution abolished what were called honours, and the +prerogatives belonging to them. The Duchesse de Duras resigned her place +of lady of the bedchamber, not choosing to lose her right to the tabouret +at Court. This step hurt the Queen, who saw herself forsaken through the +loss of a petty privilege at a time when her own rights and even life +were so hotly attacked. Many ladies of rank left the Court for the same +reason. However, the King and Queen did not dare to form the civil part +of their household, lest by giving the new names of the posts they should +acknowledge the abolition of the old ones, and also lest they should +admit into the highest positions persons not calculated to fill them +well. Some time was spent in discussing the question, whether the +household should be formed without chevaliers and without ladies of +honour. The Queen's constitutional advisers were of opinion that the +Assembly, having decreed a civil list adequate to uphold the splendour of +the throne, would be dissatisfied at seeing the King adopting only a +military household, and not forming his civil household upon the new +constitutional plan. "How is it, Madame," wrote Barnave to the Queen, +"that you will persist in giving these people even the smallest doubt as +to your sentiments? When they decree you a civil and a military +household, you, like young Achilles among the daughters of Lycomedes, +eagerly seize the sword and scorn the mere ornaments." The Queen +persisted in her determination to have no civil household. "If," said +she, "this constitutional household be formed, not a single person of +rank will remain with us, and upon a change of affairs we should be +obliged to discharge the persons received into their place." + +"Perhaps," added she, "perhaps I might find one day that I had saved the +nobility, if I now had resolution enough to afflict them for a time; I +have it not. When any measure which injures them is wrested from us they +sulk with me; nobody comes to my card party; the King goes unattended to +bed. No allowance is made for political necessity; we are punished for +our very misfortunes." + +The Queen wrote almost all day, and spent part of the night in reading: +her courage supported her physical strength; her disposition was not at +all soured by misfortunes, and she was never seen in an ill-humour for a +moment. She was, however, held up to the people as a woman absolutely +furious and mad whenever the rights of the Crown were in any way +attacked. + +I was with her one day at one of her windows. We saw a man plainly +dressed, like an ecclesiastic, surrounded by an immense crowd. The Queen +imagined it was some abbe whom they were about to throw into the basin of +the Tuileries; she hastily opened her window and sent a valet de chambre +to know what was going forward in the garden. It was Abbe Gregoire, whom +the men and women of the tribunes were bringing back in triumph, on +account of a motion he had just made in the National Assembly against the +royal authority. On the following day the democratic journalists +described the Queen as witnessing this triumph, and showing, by +expressive gestures at her window, how highly she was exasperated by the +honours conferred upon the patriot. + +The correspondence between the Queen and the foreign powers was carried +on in cipher. That to which she gave the preference can never be +detected; but the greatest patience is requisite for its use. Each +correspondent must have a copy of the same edition of some work. She +selected "Paul and Virginia." The page and line in which the letters +required, and occasionally a monosyllable, are to be found are pointed +out in ciphers agreed upon. I assisted her in finding the letters, and +frequently I made an exact copy for her of all that she had ciphered, +without knowing a single word of its meaning. + +There were always several secret committees in Paris occupied in +collecting information for the King respecting the measures of the +factions, and in influencing some of the committees of the Assembly. +M. Bertrand de Molleville was in close correspondence with the Queen. +The King employed M. Talon and others; much money was expended through +the latter channel for the secret measures. The Queen had no confidence +in them. M. de Laporte, minister of the civil list and of the household, +also attempted to give a bias to public opinion by means of hireling +publications; but these papers influenced none but the royalist party, +which did not need influencing. M. de Laporte had a private police which +gave him some useful information. + +I determined to sacrifice myself to my duty, but by no means to any +intrigue, and I thought that, circumstanced as I was, I ought to confine +myself to obeying the Queen's orders. I frequently sent off couriers to +foreign countries, and they were never discovered, so many precautions +did I take. I am indebted for the preservation of my own existence to +the care I took never to admit any deputy to my abode, and to refuse all +interviews which even people of the highest importance often requested of +me; but this line of conduct exposed me to every species of ill-will, +and on the same day I saw myself denounced by Prud'homme, in his 'Gazette +Revolutionnaire', as capable of making an aristocrat of the mother of the +Gracchi, if a person so dangerous as myself could have got into her +household; and by Gauthier's Gazette Royaliste, as a monarchist, a +constitutionalist, more dangerous to the Queen's interests than a +Jacobin. + +At this period an event with which I had nothing to do placed me in a +still more critical situation. My brother, M. Genet, began his +diplomatic career successfully. At eighteen he was attached to the +embassy to Vienna; at twenty he was appointed chief secretary of Legation +in England, on occasion of the peace of 1783. A memorial which he +presented to M. de Vergennes upon the dangers of the treaty of commerce +then entered into with England gave offence to M. de Calonne, a patron of +that treaty, and particularly to M. Gerard de Rayneval, chief clerk for +foreign affairs. So long as M. de Vergennes lived, having upon my +father's death declared himself the protector of my brother, he supported +him against the enemies his views had created. But on his death M. de +Montmorin, being much in need of the long experience in business which he +found in M. de Rayneval, was guided solely by the latter. The office of +which my brother was the head was suppressed. He then went to St. +Petersburg, strongly recommended to the Comte de Segur, minister from +France to that Court, who appointed him secretary of Legation. Some time +afterwards the Comte de Segur left him at St. Petersburg, charged with +the affairs of France. After his return from Russia, M. Genet was +appointed ambassador to the United States by the party called Girondists, +the deputies who headed it being from the department of the Gironde. He +was recalled by the Robespierre party, which overthrew the former +faction, on the 31st of May, 1793, and condemned to appear before the +Convention. Vice-President Clinton, at that time Governor of New York, +offered him an asylum in his house and the hand of his daughter, and M. +Genet established himself prosperously in America. + +When my brother quitted Versailles he was much hurt at being deprived of +a considerable income for having penned a memorial which his zeal alone +had dictated, and the importance of which was afterwards but too well +understood. I perceived from his correspondence that he inclined to some +of the new notions. He told me it was right he should no longer conceal +from me that he sided with the constitutional party; that the King had in +fact commanded it, having himself accepted the constitution; that he +would proceed firmly in that course, because in this case +disingenuousness would be fatal, and that he took that side of the +question because he had had it proved to him that the foreign powers +would not serve the King's cause without advancing pretensions prompted +by long-standing interests, which always would influence their councils; +that he saw no salvation for the King and Queen but from within France, +and that he would serve the constitutional King as he served him before +the Revolution. And lastly, he requested me to impart to the Queen the +real sentiments of one of his Majesty's agents at a foreign Court. I +immediately went to the Queen and gave her my brother's letter; she read +it attentively, and said, "This is the letter of a young man led astray +by discontent and ambition; I know you do not think as he does; do not +fear that you will lose the confidence of the King and myself." I +offered to discontinue all correspondence with my brother; she opposed +that, saying it would be dangerous. I then entreated she would permit me +in future to show her my own and my brother's letters, to which she +consented. I wrote warmly to my brother against the course he had +adopted. I sent my letters by sure channels; he answered me by the post, +and no longer touched upon anything but family affairs. Once only he +informed me that if I should write to him respecting the affairs of the +day he would give me no answer. "Serve your august mistress with the +unbounded devotion which is due from you," said he, "and let us each do +our duty. I will only observe to you that at Paris the fogs of the Seine +often prevent people from seeing that immense capital, even from the +Pavilion of Flora, and I see it more clearly from St. Petersburg." +The Queen said, as she read this letter, "Perhaps he speaks but too +truly; who can decide upon so disastrous a position as ours has become?" +The day on which I gave the Queen my brother's first letter to read she +had several audiences to give to ladies and other persons belonging to +the Court, who came on purpose to inform her that my brother was an +avowed constitutionalist and revolutionist. The Queen replied, "I know +it; Madame Campan has told me so." Persons jealous of my situation +having subjected me to mortifications, and these unpleasant circumstances +recurring daily, I requested the Queen's permission to withdraw from +Court. She exclaimed against the very idea, represented it to me as +extremely dangerous for my own reputation, and had the kindness to add +that, for my sake as well as for her own, she never would consent to it. +After this conversation I retired to my apartment. A few minutes later a +footman brought me this note from the Queen: "I have never ceased to give +you and yours proofs of my attachment; I wish to tell you in writing that +I have full faith in your honour and fidelity, as well as in your other +good qualities; and that I ever rely on the zeal and address you exert to +serve me." + + [I had just received this letter from the Queen when M. de la + Chapelle, commissary-general of the King's household, and head of + the offices of M. de Laporte, minister of the civil list, came to + see me. The palace having been already sacked by the brigands on + the 20th of June, 1792, he proposed that I should entrust the paper + to him, that he might place it in a safer situation than the + apartments of the Queen. When he returned into his offices he + placed the letter she had condescended to write to me behind a large + picture in his closet; but on the loth of August M. de la Chapelle + was thrown into the prisons of the Abbaye, and the committee of + public safety established themselves in his offices, whence they + issued all their decrees of death. There it was that a villainous + servant belonging to M. de Laporte went to declare that in the + minister's apartments, under a board in the floor, a number of + papers would be found. They were brought forth, and M. de Laporte + was sent to the scaffold, where he suffered for having betrayed the + State by serving his master and sovereign. M. de la Chapelle was + saved, as if by a miracle, from the massacres of the 2d of + September. The committee of public safety having removed to the + King's apartments at the Tuileries, M. de la Chapelle had permission + to return to his closet to take away some property belonging to him. + Turning round the picture, behind which he had hidden the Queen's + letter, he found it in the place into which he had slipped it, and, + delighted to see that I was safe from the ill consequences the + discovery of this paper might have brought upon me, he burnt it + instantly. In times of danger a mere nothing may save life or + destroy it.--MADAME CAMPAN] + +At the moment that I was going to express my gratitude to the Queen I +heard a tapping at the door of my room, which opened upon the Queen's +inner corridor. I opened it; it was the King. I was confused; he +perceived it, and said to me, kindly: "I alarm you, Madame Campan; I +come, however, to comfort you; the Queen has told me how much she is hurt +at the injustice of several persons towards you. But how is it that you +complain of injustice and calumny when you see that we are victims of +them? In some of your companions it is jealousy; in the people belonging +to the Court it is anxiety. Our situation is so disastrous, and we have +met with so much ingratitude and treachery, that the apprehensions of +those who love us are excusable! I could quiet them by telling them all +the secret services you perform for us daily; but I will not do it. Out +of good-will to you they would repeat all I should say, and you would be +lost with the Assembly. It is much better, both for you and for us, that +you should be thought a constitutionalist. It has been mentioned to me a +hundred times already; I have never contradicted it; but I come to give +you my word that if we are fortunate enough to see an end of all this, I +will, at the Queen's residence, and in the presence of my brothers, +relate the important services you have rendered us, and I will recompense +you and your son for them." I threw myself at the King's feet and kissed +his hand. He raised me up, saying, "Come, come, do not grieve; the +Queen, who loves you, confides in you as I do." + +Down to the day of the acceptance it was impossible to introduce Barnave +into the interior of the palace; but when the Queen was free from the +inner guard she said she would see him. The very great precautions which +it was necessary for the deputy to take in order to conceal his +connection with the King and Queen compelled them to spend two hours +waiting for him in one of the corridors of the Tuileries, and all in +vain. The first day that he was to be admitted, a man whom Barnave knew +to be dangerous having met him in the courtyard of the palace, he +determined to cross it without stopping, and walked in the gardens in +order to lull suspicion. I was desired to wait for Barnave at a little +door belonging to the entresols of the palace, with my hand upon the open +lock. I was in that position for an hour. The King came to me +frequently, and always to speak to me of the uneasiness which a servant +belonging to the Chateau, who was a patriot, gave him. He came again to +ask me whether I had heard the door called de Decret opened. I assured +him nobody had been in the corridor, and he became easy. He was +dreadfully apprehensive that his connection with Barnave would be +discovered. "It would," said the King, "be a ground for grave +accusations, and the unfortunate man would be lost." I then ventured to +remind his Majesty that as Barnave was not the only one in the secret of +the business which brought him in contact with their Majesties, one of +his colleagues might be induced to speak of the association with which +they were honoured, and that in letting them know by my presence that I +also was informed of it, a risk was incurred of removing from those +gentlemen part of the responsibility of the secret. Upon this +observation the King quitted me hastily and returned a moment afterwards +with the Queen. "Give me your place," said she; "I will wait for him in +my turn. You have convinced the King. We must not increase in their +eyes the number of persons informed of their communications with us." + +The police of M. de Laporte, intendant of the civil list, apprised him, +as early as the latter end of 1791, that a man belonging to the King's +offices who had set up as a pastrycook at the Palais Royal was about to +resume the duties of his situation, which had devolved upon him again on +the death of one who held it for life; that he was so furious a Jacobin +that he had dared to say it would be a good thing for France if the +King's days were shortened. His duty was confined to making the pastry; +he was closely watched by the head officers of the kitchen, who were +devoted to his Majesty; but it is so easy to introduce a subtle poison +into made dishes that it was determined the King and Queen should eat +only plain roast meat in future; that their bread should be brought to +them by M. Thierry de Ville-d'Avray, intendant of the smaller apartments, +and that he should likewise take upon himself to supply the wine. The +King was fond of pastry; I was directed to order some, as if for myself, +sometimes of one pastry-cook, and sometimes of another. The pounded +sugar, too, was kept in my room. The King, the Queen, and Madame +Elisabeth ate together, and nobody remained to wait on them. Each had a +dumb waiter and a little bell to call the servants when they were wanted. +M. Thierry used himself to bring me their Majesties' bread and wine, and +I locked them up in a private cupboard in the King's closet on the ground +floor. As soon as the King sat down to table I took in the pastry and +bread. All was hidden under the table lest it might be necessary to have +the servants in. The King thought it dangerous as well as distressing to +show any apprehension of attempts against his person, or any mistrust of +his officers of the kitchen. As he never drank a whole bottle of wine at +his meals (the Princesses drank nothing but water), he filled up that out +of which he had drunk about half from the bottle served up by the +officers of his butlery. I took it away after dinner. Although he never +ate any other pastry than that which I brought, he took care in the same +manner that it should seem that he had eaten of that served at table. +The lady who succeeded me found this duty all regulated, and she executed +it in the same manner; the public never was in possession of these +particulars, nor of the apprehensions which gave rise to them. At the +end of three or four months the police of M. de Laporte gave notice that +nothing more was to be dreaded from that sort of plot against the King's +life; that the plan was entirely changed; and that all the blows now to +be struck would be directed as much against the throne as against the +person of the sovereign. + +There are others besides myself who know that at this time one of the +things about which the Queen most desired to be satisfied was the opinion +of the famous Pitt. She would sometimes say to me, "I never pronounce +the name of Pitt without feeling a chill like that of death." (I repeat +here her very expressions.) "That man is the mortal enemy of France; and +he takes a dreadful revenge for the impolitic support given by the +Cabinet of Versailles to the American insurgents. He wishes by our +destruction to guarantee the maritime power of his country forever +against the efforts made by the King to improve his marine power and +their happy results during the last war. He knows that it is not only +the King's policy but his private inclination to be solicitous about his +fleets, and that the most active step he has taken during his whole reign +was to visit the port of Cherbourg. Pitt had served the cause of the +French Revolution from the first disturbances; he will perhaps serve it +until its annihilation. I will endeavour to learn to what point he +intends to lead us, and I am sending M.----- to London for that purpose. +He has been intimately connected with Pitt, and they have often had +political conversations respecting the French Government. I will get him +to make him speak out, at least so far as such a man can speak out." +Some time afterwards the Queen told me that her secret envoy was returned +from London, and that all he had been able to wring from Pitt, whom he +found alarmingly reserved, was that he would not suffer the French +monarchy to perish; that to suffer the revolutionary spirit to erect an +organised republic in France would be a great error, affecting the +tranquillity of Europe. "Whenever," said she, "Pitt expressed himself +upon the necessity of supporting monarchy in France, he maintained the +most profound silence upon what concerns the monarch. The result of +these conversations is anything but encouraging; but, even as to that +monarchy which he wishes to save, will he have means and strength to save +it if he suffers us to fall?" + +The death of the Emperor Leopold took place on the 1st of March, 1792. +When the news of this event reached the Tuileries, the Queen was gone +out. Upon her return I put the letter containing it into her hands. She +exclaimed that the Emperor had been poisoned; that she had remarked and +preserved a newspaper, in which, in an article upon the sitting of the +Jacobins, at the time when the Emperor Leopold declared for the +coalition, it was said, speaking of him, that a pie-crust would settle +that matter. At this period Barnave obtained the Queen's consent that he +should read all the letters she should write. He was fearful of private +correspondences that might hamper the plan marked out for her; he +mistrusted her Majesty's sincerity on this point; and the diversity of +counsels, and the necessity of yielding, on the one hand, to some of the +views of the constitutionalists, and on the other, to those of the French +Princes, and even of foreign Courts, were unfortunately the circumstances +which most rapidly impelled the Court towards its ruin. + +However, the emigrants showed great apprehensions of the consequences +which might follow in the interior from a connection with the +constitutionalists, whom they described as a party existing only in idea, +and totally without means of repairing their errors. The Jacobins were +preferred to them, because, said they, there would be no treaty to be +made with any one at the moment of extricating the King and his family +from the abyss in which they were plunged. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +In the beginning of the year 1792, a worthy priest requested a private +interview with me. He had learned the existence of a new libel by Madame +de Lamotte. He told me that the people who came from London to get it +printed in Paris only desired gain, and that they were ready to deliver +the manuscript to him for a thousand louis, if he could find any friend +of the Queen disposed to make that sacrifice for her peace; that he had +thought of me, and if her Majesty would give him the twenty-four thousand +francs, he would hand the manuscript to me. + +I communicated this proposal to the Queen, who rejected it, and desired +me to answer that at the time when she had power to punish the hawkers of +these libels she deemed them so atrocious and incredible that she +despised them too much to stop them; that if she were imprudent and weak +enough to buy a single one of them, the Jacobins might possibly discover +the circumstance through their espionage; that were this libel brought +up, it would be printed nevertheless, and would be much more dangerous +when they apprised the public of the means she had used to suppress it. + +Baron d'Aubier, gentleman-in-ordinary to the King, and my particular +friend, had a good memory and a clear way of communicating the substance +of the debates and decrees of the National Assembly. I went daily to the +Queen's apartments to repeat all this to the King, who used to say, on +seeing me, "Ah! here's the Postillon par Calais,"--a newspaper of the +time. + +M. d'Aubier one day said to me: "The Assembly has been much occupied with +an information laid by the workmen of the Sevres manufactory. They +brought to the President's office a bundle of pamphlets which they said +were the life of Marie Antoinette. The director of the manufactory was +ordered up to the bar, and declared he had received orders to burn the +printed sheets in question in the furnaces used for baking his china." + +While I was relating this business to the Queen the King coloured and +held his head down over his plate. The Queen said to him, "Do you know +anything about this, Sire?" The King made no answer. Madame Elisabeth +requested him to explain what it meant. Louis was still silent. I +withdrew hastily. A few minutes afterwards the Queen came to my room and +informed me that the King, out of regard for her, had purchased the whole +edition struck off from the manuscript which I had mentioned to her, and +that M. de Laporte had not been able to devise any more secret way of +destroying the work than that of having it burnt at Sevres, among two +hundred workmen, one hundred and eighty of whom must, in all probability, +be Jacobins! She told me she had concealed her vexation from the King; +that he was in consternation, and that she could say nothing, since his +good intentions and his affection for her had been the cause of the +mistake. + + [M. de Laporte had by order of the King bought up the whole edition + of the "Memoirs" of the notorious Madame de Lamotte against the + Queen. Instead of destroying them immediately, he shut them up in + one of the closets in his house, The alarming and rapid growth of + the rebellion, the arrogance of the crowd of brigands, who in great + measure composed the populace of Paris, and the fresh excesses daily + resulting from it, rendered the intendant of the civil list + apprehensive that some mob might break into his house, carry off + these "Memoirs," and spread them among the public. In order to + prevent this he gave orders to have the "Memoirs" burnt with every + necessary precaution; and the clerk who received the order entrusted + the execution of it to a man named Riston, a dangerous Intriguer, + formerly an advocate of Nancy, who had a twelve-month before escaped + the gallows by favour of the new principles and the patriotism of + the new tribunals, although convicted of forging the great seal, and + fabricating decrees of the council. This Riston, finding himself + entrusted with a commission which concerned her Majesty, and the + mystery attending which bespoke something of importance, was less + anxious to execute it faithfully than to make a parade of this mark + of confidence. On the 30th of May, at ten in the morning, he had + the sheets carried to the porcelain manufactory at Sevres, in a cart + which he himself accompanied, and made a large fire of them before + all the workmen, who were expressly forbidden to approach it. All + these precautions, and the suspicions to which they gave rise, under + such critical circumstances, gave so much publicity to this affair + that it was denounced to the Assembly that very night. Brissot, and + the whole Jacobin party, with equal effrontery and vehemence, + insisted that the papers thus secretly burnt could be no other than + the registers and documents of the correspondence of the Austrian + committee. M. de Laporte was ordered to the bar, and there gave the + most precise account of the circumstances. Riston was also called + up, and confirmed M. de Laporte's deposition. But these + explanations, however satisfactory, did not calm the violent ferment + raised in the Assembly by this affair.--"Memoirs of Bertrand de + Molleville."] + +Some time afterwards the Assembly received a denunciation against M. de +Montmorin. The ex-minister was accused of having neglected forty +despatches from M. Genet, the charge d'affaires from France in Russia, +not having even unsealed them, because M. Genet acted on constitutional +principles. M. de Montmorin appeared at the bar to answer this +accusation. Whatever distress I might feel in obeying the order I had +received from the King to go and give him an account of the sitting, I +thought I ought not to fail in doing so. But instead of giving my +brother his family name, I merely said "your Majesty's charge d'affaires +at St. Petersburg." + +The King did me the favour to say that he noticed a reserve in my +account, of which he approved. The Queen condescended to add a few +obliging remarks to those of the King. However, my office of journalist +gave me in this instance so much pain that I took an opportunity, when +the King was expressing his satisfaction to me at the manner in which I +gave him this daily account, to tell him that its merits belonged wholly +to M. d'Aubier; and I ventured to request the King to suffer that +excellent man to give him an account of the sittings himself. I assured +the King that if he would permit it, that gentleman might proceed to the +Queen's apartments through mine unseen; the King consented to the +arrangement. Thenceforward M. d'Aubier gave the King repeated proofs of +zeal and attachment. + +The Cure of St. Eustache ceased to be the Queen's confessor when he took +the constitutional oath. I do not remember the name of the ecclesiastic +who succeeded him; I only know that he was conducted into her apartments +with the greatest mystery. Their Majesties did not perform their Easter +devotions in public, because they could neither declare for the +constitutional clergy, nor act so as to show that they were against them. + +The Queen did perform her Easter devotions in 1792; but she went to the +chapel attended only by myself. She desired me beforehand to request one +of my relations, who was her chaplain, to celebrate a mass for her at +five o'clock in the morning. It was still dark; she gave me her arm, +and I lighted her with a taper. I left her alone at the chapel door. +She did not return to her room until the dawn of day. + +Dangers increased daily. The Assembly were strengthened in the eyes of +the people by the hostilities of the foreign armies and the army of the +Princes. The communication with the latter party became more active; +the Queen wrote almost every day. M. de Goguelat possessed her +confidence for all correspondence with the foreign parties, and I was +obliged to have him in my apartments; the Queen asked for him very +frequently, and at times which she could not previously appoint. + +All parties were exerting themselves either to ruin or to save the King. +One day I found the Queen extremely agitated; she told me she no longer +knew where she was; that the leaders of the Jacobins offered themselves +to her through the medium of Dumouriez; or that Dumouriez, abandoning the +Jacobins, had come and offered himself to her; that she had granted him +an audience; that when alone with her, he had thrown himself at her feet, +and told her that he had drawn the 'bonnet rouge' over his head to the +very ears; but that he neither was nor could be a Jacobin; that the +Revolution had been suffered to extend even to that rabble of destroyers +who, thinking of nothing but pillage, were ripe for anything, and might +furnish the Assembly with a formidable army, ready to undermine the +remains of a throne already but too much shaken. Whilst speaking with +the utmost ardour he seized the Queen's hand and kissed it with +transport, exclaiming, "Suffer yourself to be saved!" The Queen told me +that the protestations of a traitor were not to be relied on; that the +whole of his conduct was so well known that undoubtedly the wisest course +was not to trust to it; + + [The sincerity of General Dumouriez cannot be doubted in this + instance. The second volume of his Memoirs shows how unjust the + mistrust and reproaches of the Queen were. By rejecting his + services, Marie Antoinette deprived herself of her only remaining + support. He who saved France in the defiles of Argonne would + perhaps have saved France before the 20th of June, had he obtained + the full confidence of Louis XVI. and the Queen.--NOTE BY THE + EDITOR.] + +that, moreover, the Princes particularly recommended that no confidence +should be placed in any proposition emanating from within the kingdom; +that the force without became imposing; and that it was better to rely +upon their success, and upon the protection due from Heaven to a +sovereign so virtuous as Louis XVI. and to so just a cause. + +The constitutionalists, on their part, saw that there had been nothing +more than a pretence of listening to them. Barnave's last advice was as +to the means of continuing, a few weeks longer, the Constitutional Guard, +which had been denounced to the Assembly, and was to be disbanded. The +denunciation against the Constitutional Guard affected only its staff, +and the Duc de Brissac. Barnave wrote to the Queen that the staff of the +guard was already attacked; that the Assembly was about to pass a decree +to reduce it; and he entreated her to prevail on the King, the very +instant the decree should appear, to form the staff afresh of persons +whose names he sent her. Barnave said that all who were set down in it +passed for decided Jacobins, but were not so in fact; that they, as well +as himself, were in despair at seeing the monarchical government +attacked; that they had learnt to dissemble their sentiments, and that it +would be at least a fortnight before the Assembly could know them well, +and certainly before it could succeed in making them unpopular; that it +would be necessary to take advantage of that short space of time to get +away from Paris, immediately after their nomination. The Queen was of +opinion that she ought not to yield to this advice. The Duc de Brissac +was sent to Orleans, and the guard was disbanded. + +Barnave, seeing that the Queen did not follow his counsel in anything, +and convinced that she placed all her reliance on assistance from abroad, +determined to quit Paris. He obtained a last audience. "Your +misfortunes, Madame," said he, "and those which I anticipate for France,. +determined me to sacrifice myself to serve you. I see, however, that my +advice does not agree with the views of your Majesties. I augur but +little advantage from the plan you are induced to pursue,--you are too +remote from your succours; you will be lost before they reach you. Most +ardently do I wish I may be mistaken in so lamentable a prediction; but I +am sure to pay with my head for the interest your misfortunes have raised +in me, and the services I have sought to render you. I request, for my +sole reward, the honour of kissing your hand." The Queen, her eyes +suffused with tears, granted him that favour, and remained impressed with +a favourable idea of his sentiments. Madame Elisabeth participated in +this opinion, and the two Princesses frequently spoke of Barnave. The +Queen also received M. Duport several times, but with less mystery. Her +connection with the constitutional deputies transpired. Alexandre de +Lameth was the only one of the three who survived the vengeance of the +Jacobins. + + [Barnave was arrested at Grenoble. He remained in prison in that + town fifteen months, and his friends began to hope that he would be + forgotten, when an order arrived that he should be removed to Paris. + At first he was imprisoned in the Abbaye, but transferred to the + Conciergerie, and almost immediately taken before the revolutionary + tribunal. He appeared there with wonderful firmness, summed up the + services he had rendered to the cause of liberty with his usual + eloquence, and made such an impression upon the numerous auditors + that, although accustomed to behold only conspirators worthy of + death in all those who appeared before the tribunal, they themselves + considered his acquittal certain. The decree of death was read + amidst the deepest silence; but Barnave'a firmness was immovable. + When he left the court, he cast upon the judges, the jurors, and the + public looks expressive of contempt and indignation. He was led to + his fate with the respected Duport du Tertre, one of the last + ministers of Louis XVI. when he had ascended the scaffold, Barnave + stamped, raised his eyes to heaven, and said: "This, then, is the + reward of all that I have done for liberty!" He fell on the 29th of + October, 1793, in the thirty-second year of his age; his bust was + placed in the Grenoble Museum. The Consular Government placed his + statue next to that of Vergniaud, on the great staircase of the + palace of the Senate.--"Biographie de Bruxelles."] + +The National Guard, which succeeded the King's Guard, having occupied the +gates of the Tuileries, all who came to see the Queen were insulted with +impunity. Menacing cries were uttered aloud even in the Tuileries; they +called for the destruction of the throne, and the murder of the +sovereign; the grossest insults were offered by the very lowest of the +mob. + +About this time the King fell into a despondent state, which amounted +almost to physical helplessness. He passed ten successive days without +uttering a single word, even in the bosom of his family; except, indeed, +when playing at backgammon after dinner with Madame Elisabeth. The Queen +roused him from this state, so fatal at a critical period, by throwing +herself at his feet, urging every alarming idea, and employing every +affectionate expression. She represented also what he owed to his +family; and told him that if they were doomed to fall they ought to fall +honourably, and not wait to be smothered upon the floor of their +apartment. + +About the 15th of June, 1792, the King refused his sanction to the two +decrees ordaining the deportation of priests and the formation of a camp +of twenty thousand men under the walls of Paris. He himself wished to +sanction them, and said that the general insurrection only waited for a +pretence to burst forth. The Queen insisted upon the veto, and +reproached herself bitterly when this last act of the constitutional +authority had occasioned the day of the 20th of June. + +A few days previously about twenty thousand men had gone to the Commune +to announce that, on the 20th, they would plant the tree of liberty at +the door of the National Assembly, and present a petition to the King +respecting the veto which he had placed upon the decree for the +deportation of the priests. This dreadful army crossed the garden of the +Tuileries, and marched under the Queen's windows; it consisted of people +who called themselves the citizens of the Faubourgs St. Antoine and St. +Marceau. Clothed in filthy rags, they bore a most terrifying appearance, +and even infected the air. People asked each other where such an army +could come from; nothing so disgusting had ever before appeared in Paris. + +On the 20th of June this mob thronged about the Tuileries in still +greater numbers, armed with pikes, hatchets, and murderous instruments of +all kinds, decorated with ribbons of the national colours, Shouting, "The +nation for ever! Down with the veto!" The King was without guards. +Some of these desperadoes rushed up to his apartment; the door was about +to be forced in, when the King commanded that it should be opened. +Messieurs de Bougainville, d'Hervilly, de Parois, d'Aubier, Acloque, +Gentil, and other courageous men who were in the apartment of M. de +Septeuil, the King's first valet de chambre, instantly ran to his +Majesty's apartment. M. de Bougainville, seeing the torrent furiously +advancing, cried out, "Put the King in the recess of the window, and +place benches before him." Six royalist grenadiers of the battalion of +the Filles Saint Thomas made their way by an inner staircase, and ranged +themselves before the benches. The order given by M. de Bougainville +saved the King from the blades of the assassins, among whom was a Pole +named Lazousky, who was to strike the first blow. The King's brave +defenders said, "Sire, fear nothing." The King's reply is well known: +"Put your hand upon my heart, and you will perceive whether I am afraid." +M. Vanot, commandant of battalion, warded off a blow aimed by a wretch +against the King; a grenadier of the Filles Saint Thomas parried a sword- +thrust made in the same direction. Madame Elisabeth ran to her brother's +apartments; when she reached the door she heard loud threats of death +against the Queen: they called for the head of the Austrian. "Ah! let +them think I am the Queen," she said to those around her, "that she may +have time to escape." + +The Queen could not join the King; she was in the council chamber, where +she had been placed behind the great table to protect her, as much as +possible, against the approach of the barbarians. Preserving a noble and +becoming demeanour in this dreadful situation, she held the Dauphin +before her, seated upon the table. Madame was at her side; the Princesse +de Lamballe, the Princesse de Tarente, Madame de la Roche-Aymon, Madame +de Tourzel, and Madame de Mackau surrounded her. She had fixed a +tricoloured cockade, which one of the National Guard had given her, upon +her head. The poor little Dauphin was, like the King, shrouded in an +enormous red cap. The horde passed in files before the table; + + [One of the circumstances of the 20th of June which most vexed the + King's friends being that of his wearing the bonnet rouge nearly + three hours, I ventured to ask him for some explanation of a fact so + strikingly in contrast with the extraordinary intrepidity shown by + his Majesty during that horrible day. This was his answer: "The + cries of 'The nation for ever!' violently increasing around me, and + seeming to be addressed to me, I replied that the nation had not a + warmer friend than myself. Upon this an ill-looking man, making his + way through the crowd, came up to me and said, rather roughly, + 'Well, if you speak the truth, prove it by putting on this red cap.' + 'I consent,' replied I. One or two of them immediately came forward + and placed the cap upon my hair, for it was too small for my head. + I was convinced, I knew not why, that his intention was merely to + place the cap upon my head for a moment, and then to take it off + again; and I was so completely taken up with what was passing before + me that I did not feel whether the cap did or did not remain upon my + hair. I was so little aware of it that when I returned to my room I + knew only from being told so that it was still there. I was very + much surprised to find it upon my head, and was the more vexed at it + because I might have taken it off immediately without the smallest + difficulty. But I am satisfied that if I had hesitated to consent + to its being placed upon my head the drunken fellow who offered it + to me would have thrust his pike into my stomach."--"Memoirs of + Bertrand de Molleville."] + +the sort of standards which they carried were symbols of the most +atrocious barbarity. There was one representing a gibbet, to which a +dirty doll was suspended; the words "Marie Antoinette a la lanterne" were +written beneath it. Another was a board, to which a bullock's heart was +fastened, with "Heart of Louis XVI." written round it. And a third +showed the horn of an ox, with an obscene inscription. + +One of the most furious Jacobin women who marched with these wretches +stopped to give vent to a thousand imprecations against the Queen. Her +Majesty asked whether she had ever seen her. She replied that she had +not. Whether she had done her any, personal wrong? Her answer was the +same; but she added: + +"It is you who have caused the misery of the nation." + +"You have been told so," answered the Queen; "you are deceived. As the +wife of the King of France, and mother of the Dauphin, I am a French- +woman; I shall never see my own country again, I can be happy or unhappy +only in France; I was happy when you loved me." + +The fury began to weep, asked her pardon, and said, "It was because I did +not know you; I see that you are good." + +Santerre, the monarch of the faubourgs, made his subjects file off as +quickly as he could; and it was thought at the time that he was ignorant +of the object of this insurrection, which was the murder of the royal +family. However, it was eight o'clock in the evening before the palace +was completely cleared. Twelve deputies, impelled by attachment to the +King's person, ranged themselves near him at the commencement of the +insurrection; but the deputation from the Assembly did not reach the +Tuileries until six in the evening; all the doors of the apartments were +broken. The Queen pointed out to the deputies the state of the King's +palace, and the disgraceful manner in which his asylum had been violated +under the very eyes of the Assembly; she saw that Merlin de Thionville +was so much affected as to shed tears while she spoke. + +"You weep, M. Merlin," said she to him, "at seeing the King and his +family so cruelly treated by a people whom he always wished to make +happy." + +"True, Madame," replied Merlin; "I weep for the misfortunes of a +beautiful and feeling woman, the mother of a family; but do not mistake, +not one of my tears falls for either King or Queen; I hate kings and +queens,--it is my religion." + +The Queen could not appreciate this madness, and saw all that was to be +apprehended by persons who evinced it. + +All hope was gone, and nothing was thought of but succour from abroad. +The Queen appealed to her family and the King's brothers; her letters +probably became more pressing, and expressed apprehensions upon the +tardiness of relief. Her Majesty read me one to herself from the +Archduchess Christina, Gouvernante of the Low Countries: she reproached +the Queen for some of her expressions, and told her that those out of +France were at least as much alarmed as herself at the King's situation +and her own; but that the manner of attempting to assist her might either +save her or endanger her safety; and that the members of the coalition +were bound to act prudently, entrusted as they were with interests so +dear to them. + +The 14th of July, 1792, fixed by the constitution as the anniversary of +the independence of the nation drew near. The King and Queen were +compelled to make their appearance on the occasion; aware that the plot +of the 20th of June had their assassination for its object, they had no +doubt but that their death was determined on for the day of this national +festival. The Queen was recommended, in order to give the King's friends +time to defend him if the attack should be made, to guard him against the +first stroke of a dagger by making him wear a breastplate. I was +directed to get one made in my apartments: it was composed of fifteen +folds of Italian taffety, and formed into an under-waistcoat and a wide +belt. This breastplate was tried; it resisted all thrusts of the dagger, +and several balls were turned aside by it. When it was completed the +difficulty was to let the King try it on without running the risk of +being surprised. I wore the immense heavy waistcoat as an under- +petticoat for three days without being able to find a favourable moment. +At length the King found an opportunity one morning to pull off his coat +in the Queen's chamber and try on the breastplate. + +The Queen was in bed; the King pulled me gently by the gown, and drew me +as far as he could from the Queen's bed, and said to me, in a very low +tone of voice: "It is to satisfy her that I submit to this inconvenience: +they will not assassinate me; their scheme is changed; they will put me +to death another way." The Queen heard the King whispering to me, and +when he was gone out she asked me what he had said. I hesitated to +answer; she insisted that I should, saying that nothing must be concealed +from her, and that she was resigned upon every point. + +When she was informed of the King's remark she told me she had guessed +it, that he had long since observed to her that all which was going +forward in France was an imitation of the revolution in England in the +time of Charles I., and that he was incessantly reading the history of +that unfortunate monarch in order that he might act better than Charles +had done at a similar crisis. "I begin to be fearful of the King's being +brought to trial," continued the Queen; "as to me, I am a foreigner; they +will assassinate me. What will become of my poor children?" + +These sad ejaculations were followed by a torrent of tears. I wished to +give her an antispasmodic; she refused it, saying that only happy women +could feel nervous; that the cruel situation to which she was reduced +rendered these remedies useless. In fact, the Queen, who during her +happier days was frequently attacked by hysterical disorders, enjoyed +more uniform health when all the faculties of her soul were called forth +to support her physical strength. + +I had prepared a corset for her, for the same purpose as the King's +under-waistcoat, without her knowledge; but she would not make use of it; +all my entreaties, all my tears, were in vain. "If the factions +assassinate me," she replied, "it will be a fortunate event for me; they +will deliver me from a most painful existence." A few days after the +King had tried on his breastplate I met him on a back staircase. I drew +back to let him pass. He stopped and took my hand; I wished to kiss his; +he would not suffer it, but drew me towards him by the hand, and kissed +both my cheeks without saying a single word. + +The fear of another attack upon the Tuileries occasioned scrupulous +search among the King's papers + +I burnt almost all those belonging to the Queen. She put her family +letters, a great deal of correspondence which she thought it necessary to +preserve for the history of the era of the Revolution, and particularly +Barnave's letters and her answers, of which she had copies, into a +portfolio, which she entrusted to M. de J----. That gentleman was unable +to save this deposit, and it was burnt. The Queen left a few papers in +her secretaire. Among them were instructions to Madame de Tourzel, +respecting the dispositions of her children and the characters and +abilities of the sub-governesses under that lady's orders. This paper, +which the Queen drew up at the time of Madame de Tourzel's appointment, +with several letters from Maria Theresa, filled with the best advice and +instructions, was printed after the 10th of August by order of the +Assembly in the collection of papers found in the secretaires of the King +and Queen. + +Her Majesty had still, without reckoning the income of the month, one +hundred and forty thousand francs in gold. She was desirous of +depositing the whole of it with me; but I advised her to retain fifteen +hundred louis, as a sum of rather considerable amount might be suddenly +necessary for her. The King had an immense quantity of papers, and +unfortunately conceived the idea of privately making, with the assistance +of a locksmith who had worked with him above ten years, a place of +concealment in an inner corridor of his apartments. The place of +concealment, but for the man's information, would have been long +undiscovered? The wall in which it was made was painted to imitate large +stones, and the opening was entirely concealed among the brown grooves +which formed the shaded part of these painted stones. But even before +this locksmith had denounced what was afterwards called the iron closet +to the Assembly, the Queen was aware that he had talked of it to some of +his friends; and that this man, in whom the King from long habit placed +too much confidence, was a Jacobin. She warned the King of it, and +prevailed on him to fill a very large portfolio with all the papers he +was most interested in preserving, and entrust it to me. She entreated +him in my presence to leave nothing in this closet; and the King, in +order to quiet her, told her that he had left nothing there. I would +have taken the portfolio and carried it to my apartment, but it was too +heavy for me to lift. The King said he would carry it himself; I went +before to open the doors for him. When he placed the portfolio in my +inner closet he merely said, "The Queen will tell you what it contains." +Upon my return to the Queen I put the question to her, deeming, from what +the King had said, that it was necessary I should know. "They are," the +Queen answered me, "such documents as would be most dangerous to the King +should they go so far as to proceed to a trial against him. But what he +wishes me to tell you is, that the portfolio contains a 'proces-verbal' +of a cabinet council, in which the King gave his opinion against the war. +He had it signed by all the ministers, and, in case of a trial, he trusts +that this document will be very useful to him." I asked the Queen to +whom she thought I ought to commit the portfolio. "To whom you please," +answered she; "you alone are answerable for it. Do not quit the palace +even during your vacation months: there may be circumstances under which +it would be very desirable that we should be able to have it instantly." + +At this period M. de La Fayette, who had probably given up the idea of +establishing a republic in France similar to that of the United States, +and was desirous to support the first constitution which he had sworn to +defend, quitted his army and came to the Assembly for the purpose of +supporting by his presence and by an energetic speech a petition signed +by twenty thousand citizens against the late violation of the residence +of the King and his family. The General found the constitutional party +powerless, and saw that he himself had lost his popularity. The Assembly +disapproved of the step he had taken; the King, for whom it, was taken, +showed no satisfaction at it, and he saw himself compelled to return to +his army as quickly as he could. He thought he could rely on the +National Guard; but on the day of his arrival those officers who were in +the King's interest inquired of his Majesty whether they were to forward +the views of Gendral de La Fayette by joining him in such measures as he +should pursue during his stay at Paris. The King enjoined them not to do +so. From this answer M. de La Fayette perceived that he was abandoned by +the remainder of his party in the Paris guard. + +On his arrival a plan was presented to the Queen, in which it was +proposed by a junction between La Fayette's army and the King's party to +rescue the royal family and convey them to Rouen. I did not learn the +particulars of this plan; the Queen only said to me upon the subject that +M. de La Fayette was offered to them as a resource; but that it would be +better for them to perish than to owe their safety to the man who had +done them the most mischief, or to place themselves under the necessity +of treating with him. + +I passed the whole month of July without going to bed; I was fearful of +some attack by night. There was one plot against the Queen's life which +has never been made known. I was alone by her bedside at one o'clock in +the morning; we heard somebody walking softly down the corridor, which +passes along the whole line of her apartments, and which was then locked +at each end. I went out to fetch the valet de chambre; he entered the +corridor, and the Queen and myself soon heard the noise of two men +fighting. The unfortunate Princess held me locked in her arms, and +said to me, "What a situation! insults by day and assassins by night!" +The valet de chambre cried out to her from the corridor, "Madame, it is a +wretch that I know; I have him!"--"Let him go," said the Queen; "open the +door to him; he came to murder me; the Jacobins would carry him about in +triumph to-morrow." The man was a servant of the King's toilet, who had +taken the key of the corridor out of his Majesty's pocket after he was in +bed, no doubt with the intention of committing the crime suspected. The +valet de chambre, who was a very strong man, held him by the wrists, and +thrust him out at the door. The wretch did not speak a word. The valet +de chambre said, in answer to the Queen, who spoke to him gratefully of +the danger to which he had exposed himself, that he feared nothing, and +that he had always a pair of excellent pistols about him for no other +purpose than to defend her Majesty. The next day M. de Septeuil had all +the locks of the King's inner apartments changed. I did the same by +those of the Queen. + +We were every moment told that the Faubourg St. Antoine was preparing to +march against the palace. At four o'clock one morning towards the latter +end of July a person came to give me information to that effect. I +instantly sent off two men, on whom I could rely, with orders to proceed +to the usual places for assembling, and to come back speedily and give me +an account of the state of the city. We knew that at least an hour must +elapse before the populace or the faubourgs assembled on the site of the +Bastille could reach the Tuileries. It seemed to me sufficient for the +Queen's safety that all about her should be awakened. I went softly into +her room; she was asleep; I did not awaken her. I found General de W---- +in the great closet; he told me the meeting was, for this once, +dispersing. The General had endeavoured to please the populace by the +same means as M. de La Fayette had employed. He saluted the lowest +poissarde, and lowered his hat down to his very stirrup. But the +populace, who had been flattered for three years, required far different +homage to its power, and the poor man was unnoticed. The King had been +awakened, and so had Madame Elisabeth, who had gone to him. The Queen, +yielding to the weight of her griefs, slept till nine o'clock on that +day, which was very unusual with her. The King had already been to know +whether she was awake; I told him what I had done, and the care I had +taken not to disturb her. He thanked me, and said, "I was awake, and so +was the whole palace; she ran no risk. I am very glad to see her take a +little rest. Alas! her griefs double mine!" What was my chagrin when, +upon awaking and learning what had passed, the Queen burst into tears +from regret at not having been called, and began to upbraid me, on whose +friendship she ought to have been able to rely, for having served her so +ill under such circumstances! In vain did I reiterate that it had been +only a false alarm, and that she required to have her strength recruited. +"It is not diminished," said she; "misfortune gives us additional +strength. Elisabeth was with the King, and I was asleep,--I who am +determined to perish by his side! I am his wife; I will not suffer him +to incur the smallest risk without my sharing it." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +During July the correspondence of M. Bertrand de Molleville with the King +and Queen was most active. M. de Marsilly, formerly a lieutenant of the +Cent-Suisses of the Guard, was the bearer of the letters. + + [I received by night only the King's answer, written with his own + hand, in the margin of my letter. I always sent him back with the + day's letter that to which he had replied the day before, so that my + letters and his answers, of which I contented myself with taking + notes only, never remained with me twenty-four hours. I proposed + this arrangement to his Majesty to remove all uneasiness from his + mind; my letters were generally delivered to the King or the Queen + by M. de Marsilly, captain of the King's Guard, whose attachment and + fidelity were known to their Majesties. I also sometimes employed + M. Bernard de Marigny, who had left Brest for the purpose of sharing + with his Majesty's faithful servants the dangers which threatened + the King.--"Memoirs of Bertrand de Molleville," vol. ii., p. 12.] + +He came to me the first time with a note from the Queen directed to M. +Bertrand himself. In this note the Queen said: "Address yourself with +full confidence to Madame Campan; the conduct of her brother in Russia +has not at all influenced her sentiments; she is wholly devoted to us; +and if, hereafter, you should have anything to say to us verbally, you +may rely entirely upon her devotion and discretion." + +The mobs which gathered almost nightly in the faubourgs alarmed the +Queen's friends; they entreated her not to sleep in her room on the +ground floor of the Tuileries. She removed to the first floor, to a room +which was between the King's apartments and those of the Dauphin. Being +awake always from daybreak, she ordered that neither the shutters nor the +window-blinds should be closed, that her long sleepless nights might be +the less weary. About the middle of one of these nights, when the moon +was shining into her bedchamber, she gazed at it, and told me that in a +month she should not see that moon unless freed from her chains, and +beholding the King at liberty. She then imparted to me all that was +concurring to deliver them; but said that the opinions of their intimate +advisers were alarmingly at variance; that some vouched for complete +success, while others pointed out insurmountable dangers. She added that +she possessed the itinerary of the march of the Princes and the King of +Prussia: that on such a day they would be at Verdun, on another day at +such a place, that Lille was about to be besieged, but that M. de J-----, +whose prudence and intelligence the King, as well as herself, highly +valued, alarmed them much respecting the success of that siege, and made +them apprehensive that, even were the commandant devoted to them, the +civil authority, which by the constitution gave great power to the mayors +of towns, would overrule the military commandant. She was also very +uneasy as to what would take place at Paris during the interval, and +spoke to me of the King's want of energy, but always in terms expressive +of her veneration for his virtues and her attachment to himself.-- +"The King," said she, "is not a coward; he possesses abundance of passive +courage, but he is overwhelmed by an awkward shyness, a mistrust of +himself, which proceeds from his education as much as from his +disposition. He is afraid to command, and, above all things, dreads +speaking to assembled numbers. He lived like a child, and always ill at +ease under the eyes of Louis XV., until the age of twenty-one. This +constraint confirmed his timidity. + +"Circumstanced as we are, a few well-delivered words addressed to the +Parisians, who are devoted to him, would multiply the strength of our +party a hundredfold: he will not utter them. What can we expect from +those addresses to the people which he has been advised to post up? +Nothing but fresh outrages. As for myself, I could do anything, and +would appear on horseback if necessary. But if I were really to begin to +act, that would be furnishing arms to the King's enemies; the cry against +the Austrian, and against the sway of a woman, would become general in +France; and, moreover, by showing myself, I should render the King a mere +nothing. A queen who is not regent ought, under these circumstances, to +remain passive and prepare to die." + +The garden of the Tuileries was full of maddened men, who insulted all +who seemed to side with the Court. "The Life of Marie Antoinette" was +cried under the Queen's windows, infamous plates were annexed to the +book, the hawkers showed them to the passersby. On all sides were heard +the jubilant outcries of a people in a state of delirium almost as +frightful as the explosion of their rage. The Queen and her children +were unable to breathe the open air any longer. It was determined that +the garden of the Tuileries should be closed: as soon as this step was +taken the Assembly decreed that the whole length of the Terrace des +Feuillans belonged to it, and fixed the boundary between what was called +the national ground and the Coblentz ground by a tricoloured ribbon +stretched from one end of the terrace to the other. All good citizens +were ordered, by notices affixed to it, not to go down into the garden, +under pain of being treated in the same manner as Foulon and Berthier. +A young man who did not observe this written order went down into the +garden; furious outcries, threats of la lanterne, and the crowd of people +which collected upon the terrace warned him of his imprudence, and the +danger which he ran. He immediately pulled off his shoes, took out his +handkerchief, and wiped the dust from their soles. The people cried out, +"Bravo! the good citizen for ever!" He was carried off in triumph. The +shutting up of the Tuileries did not enable the Queen and her children to +walk in the garden. The people on the terrace sent forth dreadful +shouts, and she was twice compelled to return to her apartments. + +In the early part of August many zealous persons offered the King money; +he refused considerable sums, being unwilling to injure the fortunes of +individuals. M. de la Ferte, intendant of the 'menus plaisirs', brought +me a thousand louis, requesting me to lay them at the feet of the Queen. +He thought she could not have too much money at so perilous a time, and +that every good Frenchman should hasten to place all his ready money in +her hands. She refused this sum, and others of much greater amount which +were offered to her. + + [M. Auguie, my brother-in-law, receiver-general of the finances, + offered her, through his wife, a portfolio containing one hundred + thousand crowns in paper money. On this occasion the Queen said the + most affecting things to my sister, expressive of her happiness at + having contributed to the fortunes of such faithful subjects as + herself and her husband, but declined her offer.--MADAME CAMPAN.] + +However, a few days afterwards, she told me she would accept M. de la +Ferte's twenty-four thousand francs, because they would make up a sum +which the King had to expend. She therefore directed, me to go and +receive those twenty-four thousand francs, to add them to the one hundred +thousand francs she had placed in my hands, and to change the whole into +assignats to increase their amount. Her orders were executed, and the +assignats were delivered to the King. The Queen informed me that Madame +Elisabeth had found a well-meaning man who had engaged to gain over +Petion by the bribe of a large sum of money, and that deputy would, by a +preconcerted signal, inform the King of the success of the project. His +Majesty soon had an opportunity of seeing Petion, and on the Queen asking +him before me if he was satisfied with him, the King replied, "Neither +more nor less satisfied than usual; he did not make the concerted signal, +and I believe I have been cheated." The Queen then condescended to +explain the whole of the enigma to me. "Petion," said she, "was, while +talking to the King, to have kept his finger fixed upon his right eye for +at least two seconds."--"He did not even put his hand up to his chin," +said the King; "after all, it is but so much money stolen: the thief will +not boast of it, and the affair will remain a secret. Let us talk of +something else." He turned to me and said, "Your father was an intimate +friend of Mandat, who now commands the National Guard; describe him to +me; what ought I to expect from him?" I answered that he was one of his +Majesty's most faithful subjects, but that with a great deal of loyalty +he possessed very little sense, and that he was involved in the +constitutional vortex. "I understand," said the King; "he is a man who +would defend my palace and my person, because that is enjoined by the +constitution which he has sworn to support, but who would fight against +the party in favour of sovereign authority; it is well to know this with +certainty." + +On the next day the Princesse de Lamballe sent for me very early in the +morning. I found her on a sofa facing a window that looked upon the Pont +Royal. She then occupied that apartment of the Pavilion of Flora which +was on a level with that of the Queen. She desired me to sit down by +her. Her Highness had a writing-desk upon her knees. "You have had many +enemies," said she; "attempts have been made to deprive you of the +Queen's favour; they have been far from successful. Do you know that +even I myself, not being so well acquainted with you as the Queen, was +rendered suspicious of you; and that upon the arrival of the Court at the +Tuileries I gave you a companion to be a spy upon you; and that I had +another belonging to the police placed at your door! I was assured that +you received five or six of the most virulent deputies of the Tiers Etat; +but it was that wardrobe woman whose rooms were above you. + +"In short," said the Princess, "persons of integrity have nothing to fear +from the evil-disposed when they belong to so upright a prince as the +King. As to the Queen, she knows you, and has loved you ever since +she came into France. You shall judge of the King's opinion of you: it +was yesterday evening decided in the family circle that, at a time when +the Tuileries is likely to be attacked, it was necessary to have the most +faithful account of the opinions and conduct of all the individuals +composing the Queen's service. The King takes the same precaution on his +part respecting all who are about him. He said there was with him a +person of great integrity, to whom he would commit this inquiry; and +that, with regard to the Queen's household, you must be spoken to, that +he had long studied your character, and that he esteemed your veracity." + +The Princess had a list of the names of all who belonged to the Queen's +chamber on her desk. She asked me for information respecting each +individual. I was fortunate in having none but the most favourable +information to give. I had to speak of my avowed enemy in the Queen's +chamber; of her who most wished that I should be responsible for my +brother's political opinions. The Princess, as the head of the chamber, +could not be ignorant of this circumstance; but as the person in +question, who idolised the King and Queen, would not have hesitated to +sacrifice her life in order to save theirs, and as possibly her +attachment to them, united to considerable narrowness of intellect and a +limited education, contributed to her jealousy of me, I spoke of her in +the highest terms. + +The Princess wrote as I dictated, and occasionally looked at me with +astonishment. When I had done I entreated her to write in the margin +that the lady alluded to was my declared enemy. She embraced me, saying, +"Ah! do not write it! we should not record an unhappy circumstance which +ought to be forgotten." We came to a man of genius who was much attached +to the Queen, and I described him as a man born solely to contradict, +showing himself an aristocrat with democrats, and a democrat among +aristocrats; but still a man of probity, and well disposed to his +sovereign. The Princess said she knew many persons of that disposition, +and that she was delighted I had nothing to say against this man, because +she herself had placed him about the Queen. + +The whole of her Majesty's chamber, which consisted entirely of persons +of fidelity, gave throughout all the dreadful convulsions of the +Revolution proofs of the greatest prudence and self-devotion. The same +cannot be said of the antechambers. With the exception of three or four, +all the servants of that class were outrageous Jacobins; and I saw on +those occasions the necessity of composing the private household of +princes of persons completely separated from the class of the people. + +The situation of the royal family was so unbearable during the months +which immediately preceded the 10th of August that the Queen longed for +the crisis, whatever might be its issue. She frequently said that a long +confinement in a tower by the seaside would seem to her less intolerable +than those feuds in which the weakness of her party daily threatened an +inevitable catastrophe. + + [A few days before the 10th of August the squabbles between the + royalists and the Jacobins, and between the Jacobins and the + constitutionalists, increased in warmth; among the latter those men + who defended the principles they professed with the greatest talent, + courage, and constancy were at the same time the most exposed to + danger. Montjoie says: "The question of dethronement was discussed + with a degree of frenzy in the Assembly. Such of the deputies as + voted against it were abused, ill treated, and surrounded by + assassins. They had a battle to fight at every step they took; and + at length they did not dare to sleep in their own houses. Of this + number were Regnault de Beaucaron, Froudiere, Girardin, and + Vaublanc. Girardin complained of having been struck in one of the + lobbies of the Assembly. A voice cried out to him, 'Say where were + you struck.' 'Where?' replied Girardin, 'what a question! Behind. + Do assassins ever strike otherwise?"] + +Not only were their Majesties prevented from breathing the open air, but +they were also insulted at the very foot of the altar. The Sunday before +the last day of the monarchy, while the royal family went through the +gallery to the chapel, half the soldiers of the National Guard exclaimed, +"Long live the King!" and the other half, "No; no King! Down with the +veto!" and on that day at vespers the choristers preconcerted to use loud +and threatening emphasis when chanting the words, "Deposuit potentes de +sede," in the "Magnificat." Incensed at such an irreverent proceeding, +the royalists in their turn thrice exclaimed, "Et reginam," after the +"Domine salvum fac regem." The tumult during the whole time of divine +service was excessive. + +At length the terrible night of the 10th of August, 1792, arrived. On +the preceding evening Potion went to the Assembly and informed it that +preparations were making for an insurrection on the following day; that +the tocsin would sound at midnight; and that he feared he had not +sufficient means for resisting the attack which was about to take place. +Upon this information the Assembly passed to the order of the day. +Petion, however, gave an order for repelling force by force. + + [Petion was the Mayor of Paris, and Mandat on this day was + commandant of the National Guard. Mandat was assassinated that + night.--"Thiers," vol. i., p. 260.] + +M. Mandat was armed with this order; and, finding his fidelity to the +King's person supported by what he considered the law of the State, he +conducted himself in all his operations with the greatest energy. On the +evening of the 9th I was present at the King's supper. While his Majesty +was giving me various orders we heard a great noise at the door of the +apartment. I went to see what was the cause of it, and found the two +sentinels fighting. One said, speaking of the King, that he was hearty +in the cause of the constitution, and would defend it at the peril of his +life; the other maintained that he was an encumbrance to the only +constitution suitable to a free people. They were almost ready to cut +one another's throats. I returned with a countenance which betrayed my +emotion. The King desired to know what was going forward at his door; I +could not conceal it from him. The Queen said she was not at all +surprised at it, and that more than half the guard belonged to the +Jacobin party. + +The tocsin sounded at midnight. The Swiss were drawn up like walls; and +in the midst of their soldierlike silence, which formed a striking +contrast with the perpetual din of the town guard, the King informed +M. de J-----, an officer of the staff, of the plan of defence laid down +by General Viomenil. M. de J----- said to me, after this private +conference, "Put your jewels and money into your pockets; our dangers are +unavoidable; the means of defence are nil; safety might be obtained by +some degree of energy in the King, but that is the only virtue in which +he is deficient." + +An hour after midnight the Queen and Madame Elisabeth said they would lie +down on a sofa in a room in the entresols, the windows of which commanded +the courtyard of the Tuileries. + +The Queen told me the King had just refused to put on his quilted under- +waistcoat; that he had consented to wear it on the 14th of July because +he was merely going to a ceremony where the blade of an assassin was to +be apprehended, but that on a day on which his party might fight against +the revolutionists he thought there was something cowardly in preserving +his life by such means. + +During this time Madame Elisabeth disengaged herself from some of her +clothing which encumbered her in order to lie down on the sofa: she took +a cornelian pin out of her cape, and before she laid it down on the table +she showed it to me, and desired me to read a motto engraved upon it +round a stalk of lilies. The words were, "Oblivion of injuries; pardon +for offences."--"I much fear," added that virtuous Princess, "this maxim +has but little influence among our enemies; but it ought not to be less +dear to us on that account." + + [The exalted piety of Madame Elisabeth gave to all she said and did + a noble character, descriptive of that of her soul. On the day on + which this worthy descendant of Saint Louis was sacrificed, the + executioner, in tying her hands behind her, raised up one of the + ends of her handkerchief. Madame Elisabeth, with calmness, and in a + voice which seemed not to belong to earth, said to him, "In the name + of modesty, cover my bosom." I learned this from Madame de Serilly, + who was condemned the same day as the Princess, but who obtained a + respite at the moment of the execution, Madame de Montmorin, her + relation, declaring that her cousin was enceinte.-MADAME CAMPAN.] + +The Queen desired me to sit down by her; the two Princesses could not +sleep; they were conversing mournfully upon their situation when a musket +was discharged in the courtyard. They both quitted the sofa, saying, +"There is the first shot, unfortunately it will not be the last; let us +go up to the King." The Queen desired me to follow her; several of her +women went with me. + +At four o'clock the Queen came out of the King's chamber and told us she +had no longer any hope; that M. Mandat, who had gone to the Hotel de +Ville to receive further orders, had just been assassinated, and that the +people were at that time carrying his head about the streets. Day came. +The King, the Queen, Madame Elisabeth, Madame, and the Dauphin went down +to pass through the ranks of the sections of the National Guard; the cry +of "Vive le Roi!" was heard from a few places. I was at a window on the +garden side; I saw some of the gunners quit their posts, go up to the +King, and thrust their fists in his face, insulting him by the most +brutal language. Messieurs de Salvert and de Bridges drove them off in a +spirited manner. The King was as pale as a corpse. The royal family +came in again. The Queen told me that all was lost; that the King had +shown no energy; and that this sort of review had done more harm than +good. + +I was in the billiard-room with my companions; we placed ourselves upon +some high benches. I then saw M. d'Hervilly with a drawn sword in his +hand, ordering the usher to open the door to the French noblesse. Two +hundred persons entered the room nearest to that in which the family +were; others drew up in two lines in the preceding rooms. I saw a few +people belonging to the Court, many others whose features were unknown to +me, and a few who figured technically without right among what was called +the noblesse, but whose self-devotion ennobled them at once. They were +all so badly armed that even in that situation the indomitable French +liveliness indulged in jests. M. de Saint-Souplet, one of the King's +equerries, and a page, carried on their shoulders instead of muskets the +tongs belonging to the King's antechamber, which they had broken and +divided between them. Another page, who had a pocket-pistol in his hand, +stuck the end of it against the back of the person who stood before him, +and who begged he would be good enough to rest it elsewhere. A sword and +a pair of pistols were the only arms of those who had had the precaution +to provide themselves with arms at all. Meanwhile, the numerous bands +from the faubourgs, armed with pikes and cutlasses, filled the Carrousel +and the streets adjacent to the Tuileries. The sanguinary Marseillais +were at their head, with cannon pointed against the Chateau. In this +emergency the King's Council sent M. Dejoly, the Minister of Justice, to +the Assembly to request they would send the King a deputation which might +serve as a safeguard to the executive power. His ruin was resolved on; +they passed to the order of the day. At eight o'clock the department +repaired to the Chateau. The procureur-syndic, seeing that the guard +within was ready to join the assailants, went into the King's closet and +requested to speak to him in private. The King received him in his +chamber; the Queen was with him. There M. Roederer told him that the +King, all his family, and the people about them would inevitably perish +unless his Majesty immediately determined to go to the National Assembly. +The Queen at first opposed this advice, but the procureur-syndic told her +that she rendered herself responsible for the deaths of the King, her +children, and all who were in the palace. She no longer objected. The +King then consented to go to the Assembly. As he set out, he said to the +minister and persons who surrounded him, "Come, gentlemen, there is +nothing more to be done here." + + ["The King hesitated, the Queen manifested the highest + dissatisfaction. 'What!' said she,' are we alone; is there nobody + who can act?'--'Yes, Madame, alone; action is useless--resistance is + impossible.' One of the members of the department, M. Gerdrot, + insisted on the prompt execution of the proposed measure. 'Silence, + monsieur,' said the Queen to him; 'silence; you are the only person + who ought to be silent here; when the mischief is done, those who + did it should not pretend to wish to remedy it.' . . . + + "The King remained mute; nobody spoke. It was reserved for me to + give the last piece of advice. I had the firmness to say, 'Let us + go, and not deliberate; honour commands it, the good of the State + requires it. Let us go to the National Assembly; this step ought to + have been taken long ago: 'Let us go,' said the King, raising his + right hand; 'let us start; let us give this last mark of self- + devotion, since it is necessary.' The Queen was persuaded. Her + first anxiety was for the King, the second for her son; the King had + none. 'M. Roederer--gentlemen,' said the Queen, 'you answer for the + person of the King; you answer for that of my son.'--'Madame,' + replied M. Roederer, 'we pledge ourselves to die at your side; that + is all we can engage for.'"--MONTJOIE, "History of Marie + Antoinette."] + +The Queen said to me as she left the King's chamber, "Wait in my +apartments; I will come to you, or I will send for you to go I know not +whither." She took with her only the Princesse de Lamballe and Madame de +Tourzel. The Princesse de Tarente and Madame de la Roche-Aymon were +inconsolable at being left at the Tuileries; they, and all who belonged +to the chamber, went down into the Queen's apartments. + +We saw the royal family pass between two lines formed by the Swiss +grenadiers and those of the battalions of the Petits-Peres and the Filles +Saint Thomas. They were so pressed upon by the crowd that during that +short passage the Queen was robbed of her watch and purse. A man of +great height and horrible appearance, one of such as were to be seen at +the head of all the insurrections, drew near the Dauphin, whom the Queen +was leading by the hand, and took him up in his arms. The Queen uttered +a scream of terror, and was ready to faint. The man said to her, "Don't +be frightened, I will do him no harm;" and he gave him back to her at +the entrance of the chamber. + +I leave to history all the details of that too memorable day, confining +myself to recalling a few of the frightful scenes acted in the interior +of the Tuileries after the King had quitted the palace. + +The assailants did not know that the King and his family had betaken +themselves to the Assembly; and those who defended the palace from the +aide of the courts were equally ignorant of it. It is supposed that if +they had been aware of the fact the siege would never have taken place. + + [In reading of the events of the 10th of August, 1792, the reader + must remember that there was hardly any armed force to resist the + mob. The regiments that had shown signs of being loyal to the King + had been removed from Paris by the Assembly. The Swiss had been + deprived of their own artillery, and the Court had sent one of their + battalions into Normandy at a time when there was an idea of taking + refuge there. The National Guard were either disloyal or + disheartened, and the gunners, especially of that force at the + Tuileries, sympathised with the mob. Thus the King had about 800 or + 900 Swiss and little more than one battalion of the National Guard. + Mandat, one of the six heads of the legions of the National Guard, + to whose turn the command fell on that day, was true to his duty, + but was sent for to the Hotel de Ville and assassinated. Still the + small force, even after the departure of the King, would have + probably beaten off the mob had not the King given the fatal order + to the Swiss to cease firing. (See Thiers's "Revolution Francaise," + vol. i., chap. xi.) Bonaparte's opinion of the mob may be judged + by his remarks on the 20th June, 1792, when, disgusted at seeing the + King appear with the red cap on his head, he exclaimed, "Che + coglione! Why have they let in all that rabble? Why don't they + sweep off 400 or 500 of them with the cannon? The rest would then + set off." ("Bourrienne," vol. i., p.13, Bentley, London, 1836.) + Bonaparte carried out his own plan against a far stronger force of + assailants on the Jour des Sections, 4th October, 1795.] + +The Marseillais began by driving from their posts several Swiss, who +yielded without resistance; a few of the assailants fired upon them; some +of the Swiss officers, seeing their men fall, and perhaps thinking the +King was still at the Tuileries, gave the word to a whole battalion to +fire. The aggressors were thrown into disorder, and the Carrousel was +cleared in a moment; but they soon returned, spurred on by rage and +revenge. The Swiss were but eight hundred strong; they fell back into +the interior of the Chateau; some of the doors were battered in by the +guns, others broken through with hatchets; the populace rushed from all +quarters into the interior of the palace; almost all the Swiss were +massacred; the nobles, flying through the gallery which leads to the +Louvre, were either stabbed or shot, and the bodies thrown out of the +windows. + +M. Pallas and M. de Marchais, ushers of the King's chamber, were killed +in defending the door of the council chamber; many others of the King's +servants fell victims to their fidelity. I mention these two persons in +particular because, with their hats pulled over their brows and their +swords in their hands, they exclaimed, as they defended themselves with +unavailing courage, "We will not survive!--this is our post; our duty is +to die at it." M. Diet behaved in the same manner at the door of the +Queen's bedchamber; he experienced the same fate. The Princesse de +Tarente had fortunately opened the door of the apartments; otherwise, the +dreadful band seeing several women collected in the Queen's salon would +have fancied she was among us, and would have immediately massacred us +had we resisted them. We were, indeed, all about to perish, when a man +with a long beard came up, exclaiming, in the name of Potion, "Spare the +women; don't dishonour the nation!" A particular circumstance placed me +in greater danger than the others. In my confusion I imagined, a moment +before the assailants entered the Queen's apartments, that my sister was +not among the group of women collected there; and I went up into an +'entresol', where I supposed she had taken refuge, to induce her to come +down, fancying it safer that we should not be separated. I did not find +her in the room in question; I saw there only our two femmes de chambre +and one of the Queen's two heyducs, a man of great height and military +aspect. I saw that he was pale, and sitting on a bed. I cried out to +him, "Fly! the footmen and our people are already safe."--"I cannot," +said the man to me; "I am dying of fear." As he spoke I heard a number +of men rushing hastily up the staircase; they threw themselves upon him, +and I saw him assassinated. + +I ran towards the staircase, followed by our women. The murderers left +the heyduc to come to me. The women threw themselves at their feet, and +held their sabres. The narrowness of the staircase impeded the +assassins; but I had already felt a horrid hand thrust into my back to +seize me by my clothes, when some one called out from the bottom of the +staircase, "What are you doing above there? We don't kill women." I was +on my knees; my executioner quitted his hold of me, and said, "Get up, +you jade; the nation pardons you." + +The brutality of these words did not prevent my suddenly experiencing an +indescribable feeling which partook almost equally of the love of life +and the idea that I was going to see my son, and all that was dear to me, +again. A moment before I had thought less of death than of the pain +which the steel, suspended over my head, would occasion me. Death is +seldom seen so close without striking his blow. I heard every syllable +uttered by the assassins, just as if I had been calm. + +Five or six men seized me and my companions, and, having made us get up +on benches placed before the windows, ordered us to call out, "The nation +for ever!" + +I passed over several corpses; I recognised that of the old Vicomte de +Broves, to whom the Queen had sent me at the beginning of the night to +desire him and another old man in her name to go home. These brave men +desired I would tell her Majesty that they had but too strictly obeyed +the King's orders in all circumstances under which they ought to have +exposed their own lives in order to preserve his; and that for this once +they would not obey, though they would cherish the recollection of the +Queen's goodness. + +Near the grille, on the side next the bridge, the men who conducted me +asked whither I wished to go. Upon my inquiring, in my turn, whether +they were at liberty to take me wherever I might wish to go, one of them, +a Marseillais, asked me, giving me at the same time a push with the butt +end of his musket, whether I still doubted the power of the people? I +answered "No," and I mentioned the number of my brother-in-law's house. +I saw my sister ascending the steps of the parapet of the bridge, +surrounded by members of the National Guard. I called to her, and she +turned round. "Would you have her go with you?" said my guardian to me. +I told him I did wish it. They called the people who were leading my +sister to prison; she joined me. + +Madame de la Roche-Aymon and her daughter, Mademoiselle Pauline de +Tourzel, Madame de Ginestoux, lady to the Princesse de Lamballe, the +other women of the Queen, and the old Comte d'Affry, were led off +together to the Abbaye. + +Our progress from the Tuileries to my sister's house was most +distressing. We saw several Swiss pursued and killed, and musket-shots +were crossing each other in all directions. We passed under the walls of +the Louvre; they were firing from the parapet into the windows of the +gallery, to hit the knights of the dagger; for thus did the populace +designate those faithful subjects who had assembled at the Tuileries to +defend the King. + +The brigands broke some vessels of water in the Queen's first +antechamber; the mixture of blood and water stained the skirts of our +white gowns. The poissardes screamed after us in the streets that we +were attached to the Austrian. Our protectors then showed some +consideration for us, and made us go up a gateway to pull off our gowns; +but our petticoats being too short, and making us look like persons in +disguise, other poissardes began to bawl out that we were young Swiss +dressed up like women. We then saw a tribe of female cannibals enter the +street, carrying the head of poor Mandat. Our guards made us hastily +enter a little public-house, called for wine, and desired us to drink +with them. They assured the landlady that we were their sisters, and +good patriots. Happily the Marseillais had quitted us to return to the +Tuileries. One of the men who remained with us said to me in a low +voice: "I am a gauze-worker in the faubourg. I was forced to march; I am +not for all this; I have not killed anybody, and have rescued you. You +ran a great risk when we met the mad women who are carrying Mandat's +head. These horrible women said yesterday at midnight, upon the site of +the Bastille, that they must have their revenge for the 6th of October, +at Versailles, and that they had sworn to kill the Queen and all the +women attached to her; the danger of the action saved you all." + +As I crossed the Carrousel, I saw my house in flames; but as soon as the +first moment of affright was over, I thought no more of my personal +misfortunes. My ideas turned solely upon the dreadful situation of the +Queen. + +On reaching my sister's we found all our family in despair, believing +they should never see us again. I could not remain in her house; some of +the mob, collected round the door, exclaimed that Marie Antoinette's +confidante was in the house, and that they must have her head. I +disguised myself, and was concealed in the house of M. Morel, secretary +for the lotteries. On the morrow I was inquired for there, in the name +of the Queen. A deputy, whose sentiments were known to her, took upon +himself to find me out. + +I borrowed clothes, and went with my sister to the Feuillans--[A former +monastery near the Tuileries, so called from the Bernardines, one of the +Cistercian orders; later a revolutionary club.]--We got there at the +same time with M. Thierry de Ville d'Avray, the King's first valet de +chambre. We were taken into an office, where we wrote down our names and +places of abode, and we received tickets for admission into the rooms +belonging to Camus, the keeper of the Archives, where the King was with +his family. + +As we entered the first room, a person who was there said to me, "Ah! +you are a brave woman; but where is that Thierry, + + [M. Thierry, who never ceased to give his sovereign proofs of + unalterable attachment, was one of the victims of the 2d of + September.--MADAME CAMPAN.] + +that man loaded with his master's bounties?"--"He is here," said I; "he +is following me. I perceive that even scenes of death do not banish +jealousy from among you." + +Having belonged to the Court from my earliest youth, I was known to many +persons whom I did not know. As I traversed a corridor above the +cloisters which led to the cells inhabited by the unfortunate Louis XVI. +and his family, several of the grenadiers called me by name. One of them +said to me, "Well, the poor King is lost! The Comte d'Artois would have +managed it better."--"Not at all," said another. + +The royal family occupied a small suite of apartments consisting of four +cells, formerly belonging to the ancient monastery of the Feuillans. In +the first were the men who had accompanied the King: the Prince de Poix, +the Baron d'Aubier, M. de Saint-Pardou, equerry to Madame Elisabeth, MM. +de Goguelat, de Chamilly, and de Hue. In the second we found the King; +he was having his hair dressed; he took two locks of it, and gave one to +my sister and one to me. We offered to kiss his hand; he opposed it, and +embraced us without saying anything. In the third was the Queen, in bed, +and in indescribable affliction. We found her accompanied only by a +stout woman, who appeared tolerably civil; she was the keeper of the +apartments. She waited upon the Queen, who as yet had none of her own +people about her. Her Majesty stretched out her arms to us, saying, +"Come, unfortunate women; come, and see one still more unhappy than +yourselves, since she has been the cause of all your misfortunes. We are +ruined," continued she; "we have arrived at that point to which they have +been leading us for three years, through all possible outrages; we shall +fall in this dreadful revolution, and many others will perish after us. +All have contributed to our downfall; the reformers have urged it like +mad people, and others through ambition, for the wildest Jacobin seeks +wealth and office, and the mob is eager for plunder. There is not one +real patriot among all this infamous horde. The emigrant party have +their intrigues and schemes; foreigners seek to profit by the dissensions +of France; every one has a share in our misfortunes." + +The Dauphin came in with Madame and the Marquise de Tourzel. On seeing +them the Queen said to me, "Poor children! how heartrending it is, +instead of handing down to them so fine an inheritance, to say it ends +with us!" She afterwards conversed with me about the Tuileries and the +persons who had fallen; she condescended also to mention the burning of +my house. I looked upon that loss as a mischance which ought not to +dwell upon her mind, and I told her so. She spoke of the Princesse de +Tarente, whom she greatly loved and valued, of Madame de la Roche-Aymon +and her daughter, of the other persons whom she had left at the palace, +and of the Duchesse de Luynes, who was to have passed the night at the +Tuileries. Respecting her she said, "Hers was one of the first heads +turned by the rage for that mischievous philosophy; but her heart brought +her back, and I again found a friend in her." + + [During the Reign of Terror I withdrew to the Chateau de Coubertin, + near that of Dampierre. The Duchesse de Luynes frequently came to + ask me to tell her what the Queen had said about her at the + Feuillans. She would say as she went away, "I have often need to + request you to repeat those words of the Queen."--MADAME CAMPAN.] + +I asked the Queen what the ambassadors from foreign powers had done under +existing circumstances. She told me that they could do nothing; and that +the wife of the English ambassador had just given her a proof of the +personal interest she took in her welfare by sending her linen for her +son. + +I informed her that, in the pillaging of my house, all my accounts with +her had been thrown into the Carrousel, and that every sheet of my +month's expenditure was signed by her, sometimes leaving four or five +inches of blank paper above her signature, a circumstance which rendered +me very uneasy, from an apprehension that an improper use might be made +of those signatures. She desired me to demand admission to the committee +of general safety, and to make this declaration there. I repaired +thither instantly and found a deputy, with whose name I have never become +acquainted. After hearing me he said that he would not receive my +deposition; that Marie Antoinette was now nothing more than any other +Frenchwoman; and that if any of those detached papers bearing her +signature should be misapplied, she would have, at a future period, a +right to lodge a complaint, and to support her declaration by the facts +which I had just related. The Queen then regretted having sent me, and +feared that she had, by her very caution, pointed out a method of +fabricating forgeries which might be dangerous to her; then again she +exclaimed, "My apprehensions are as absurd as the step I made you take. +They need nothing more for our ruin; all has been told." + +She gave us details of what had taken place subsequently to the King's +arrival at the Assembly. They are all well known, and I have no occasion +to record them; I will merely mention that she told us, though with much +delicacy, that she was not a little hurt at the King's conduct since he +had quitted the Tuileries; that his habit of laying no restraint upon his +great appetite had prompted him to eat as if he had been at his palace; +that those who did not know him as she did, did not feel the piety and +the magnanimity of his resignation, all which produced so bad an effect +that deputies who were devoted to him had warned him of it; but no change +could be effected. + +I still see in imagination, and shall always see, that narrow cell at the +Feuillans, hung with green paper, that wretched couch whence the +dethroned, Queen stretched out her arms to us, saying that our +misfortunes, of which she was the cause, increased her own. There, for +the last time, I saw the tears, I heard the sobs of her whom high birth, +natural endowments, and, above all, goodness of heart, had seemed to +destine to adorn any throne, and be the happiness of any people! It is +impossible for those who lived with Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette not +to be fully convinced, while doing full justice to the King's virtues, +that if the Queen had been from the moment of her arrival in France the +object of the care and affection of a prince of decision and authority, +she would have only added to the glory of his reign. + +What affecting things I have heard the Queen say in the affliction caused +her by the belief of part of the Court and the whole of the people that +she did not love France! How did that opinion shock those who knew her +heart and her sentiments! Twice did I see her on the point of going from +her apartments in the Tuileries into the gardens, to address the immense +throng constantly assembled there to insult her. "Yes," exclaimed she, +as she paced her chamber with hurried steps, "I will say to them +Frenchmen, they have had the cruelty to persuade you that I do not love +France!--I! the mother of a Dauphin who will reign over this noble +country!--I! whom Providence has seated upon the most powerful throne of +Europe! Of all the daughters of Maria Theresa am I not that one whom +fortune has most highly favoured? And ought I not to feel all these +advantages? What should I find at Vienna? Nothing but sepulchres! What +should I lose in France? Everything which can confer glory!" + +I protest I only repeat her own words; the soundness of her judgment soon +pointed out to her the dangers of such a proceeding. "I should descend +from the throne," said she, "merely, perhaps, to excite a momentary +sympathy, which the factious would soon render more injurious than +beneficial to me." + +Yes, not only did Marie Antoinette love France, but few women took +greater pride in the courage of Frenchmen. I could adduce a multitude of +proofs of this; I will relate two traits which demonstrate the noblest +enthusiasm: The Queen was telling me that, at the coronation of the +Emperor Francis II., that Prince, bespeaking the admiration of a French +general officer, who was then an emigrant, for the fine appearance of his +troops, said to him, "There are the men to beat your sans culottes!" +"That remains to be seen, Sire," instantly replied the officer. The +Queen added, "I don't know the name of that brave Frenchman, but I will +learn it; the King ought to be in possession of it." As she was reading +the public papers a few days before the 10th of August, she observed that +mention was made of the courage of a young man who died in defending the +flag he carried, and shouting, "Vive la Nation!"--"Ah! the fine lad!" +said the Queen; "what a happiness it would have been for us if such men +had never left off crying, 'Vive de Roi!'" + +In all that I have hitherto said of this most unfortunate of women and of +queens, those who did not live with her, those who knew her but +partially, and especially the majority of foreigners, prejudiced by +infamous libels, may imagine I have thought it my duty to sacrifice truth +on the altar of gratitude. Fortunately I can invoke unexceptionable +witnesses; they will declare whether what I assert that I have seen and +heard appears to them either untrue or improbable. + + + + +ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + +A man born solely to contradict +Alas! her griefs double mine! +He is afraid to command +His ruin was resolved on; they passed to the order of the day +King (gave) the fatal order to the Swiss to cease firing +La Fayette to rescue the royal family and convey them to Rouen +Prevent disorder from organising itself +The emigrant party have their intrigues and schemes +There is not one real patriot among all this infamous horde +Those who did it should not pretend to wish to remedy it + + + +End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of The Memoirs of Marie Antoinette, v6 +by Madame Campan + + + + + + +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 7. + + +CHAPTER IX. + +The Queen having been robbed of her purse as she was passing from the +Tuileries to the Feuillans, requested my sister to lend her twenty-five +louis. + + [On being interrogated the Queen declared that these five and twenty + louis had been lent to her by my sister; this formed a pretence for + arresting her and me, and led to her death.--MADAME CAMPAN.] + +I spent part of the day at the Feuillans, and her Majesty told me she +would ask Potion to let me be with her in the place which the Assembly +should decree for her prison. I then returned home to prepare everything +that might be necessary for me to accompany her. + +On the same day (11th August), at nine in the evening, I returned to the +Feuillans. I found there were orders at all the gates forbidding my +being admitted. I claimed a right to enter by virtue of the first +permission which had been given to me; I was again refused. I was told +that the Queen had as many people as were requisite about her. My sister +was with her, as well as one of my companions, who came out of the +prisons of the Abbaye on the 11th. I renewed my solicitations on the +12th; my tears and entreaties moved neither the keepers of the gates, nor +even a deputy, to whom I addressed myself. + +I soon heard of the removal of Louis XVI. and his family to the Temple. +I went to Potion accompanied by M. Valadon, for whom I had procured a +place in the post-office, and who was devoted to me. He determined to go +up to Potion alone; he told him that those who requested to be confined +could not be suspected of evil designs, and that no political opinion +could afford a ground of objection to these solicitations. Seeing that +the well-meaning man did not succeed, I thought to do more in person; but +Petion persisted in his refusal, and threatened to send me to La Force. +Thinking to give me a kind of consolation, he added I might be certain +that all those who were then with Louis XVI. and his family would not +stay with them long. And in fact, two or three days afterwards the +Princesse de Lamballe, Madame de Tourzel, her daughter, the Queen's first +woman, the first woman of the Dauphin and of Madame, M. de Chamilly, and +M. de Hue were carried off during the night and transferred to La Force. +After the departure of the King and Queen for the Temple, my sister was +detained a prisoner in the apartments their Majesties had quitted for +twenty-four hours. + +From this time I was reduced to the misery of having no further +intelligence of my august and unfortunate mistress but through the medium +of the newspapers or the National Guard, who did duty at the Temple. + +The King and Queen said nothing to me at the Feuillans about the +portfolio which had been deposited with me; no doubt they expected to see +me again. The minister Roland and the deputies composing the provisional +government were very intent on a search for papers belonging to their +Majesties. They had the whole of the Tuileries ransacked. The infamous +Robespierre bethought himself of M. Campan, the Queen's private +secretary, and said that his death was feigned; that he was living +unknown in some obscure part of France, and was doubtless the depositary +of all the important papers. In a great portfolio belonging to the King +there had been found a solitary letter from the Comte d'Artois, which, by +its date, and the subjects of which it treated, indicated the existence +of a continued correspondence. (This letter appeared among the documents +used on the trial of Louis XVI.) A former preceptor of my son's had +studied with Robespierre; the latter, meeting him in the street, and +knowing the connection which had subsisted between him and the family of +M. Campan, required him to say, upon his honour, whether he was certain +of the death of the latter. The man replied that M. Campan had died at +La Briche in 1791, and that he had seen him interred in the cemetery of +Epinay. "well, then," resumed Robespierre, "bring me the certificate of +his burial at twelve to-morrow; it is a document for which I have +pressing occasion." Upon hearing the deputy's demand I instantly sent +for a certificate of M. Campan's burial, and Robespierre received it at +nine o'clock the next morning. But I considered that, in thinking of my +father-in-law, they were coming very near me, the real depositary of +these important papers. I passed days and nights in considering what I +could do for the best under such circumstances. + +I was thus situated when the order to inform against those who had been +denounced as suspected on the 10th of August led to domiciliary visits. +My servants were told that the people of the quarter in which I lived +were talking much of the search that would be made in my house, and came +to apprise me of it. I heard that fifty armed men would make themselves +masters of M. Auguies house, where I then was. I had just received this +intelligence when M. Gougenot, the King's maitre d'hotel and receiver- +general of the taxes, a man much attached to his sovereign, came into my +room wrapped in a ridingcloak, under which, with great difficulty, he +carried the King's portfolio, which I had entrusted to him. He threw it +down at my feet, and said to me, "There is your deposit; I did not +receive it from our unfortunate King's own hands; in delivering it to you +I have executed my trust." After saying this he was about to withdraw. +I stopped him, praying him to consult with me what I ought to do in such +a trying emergency. He would not listen to my entreaties, or even hear +me describe the course I intended to pursue. I told him my abode was +about to be surrounded; I imparted to him what the Queen had said to me +about the contents of the portfolio. To all this he answered, "There it +is; decide for yourself; I will have no hand in it." Upon that I +remained a few seconds thinking, and my conduct was founded upon the +following reasons. I spoke aloud, although to myself; I walked about the +room with agitated steps; M. Gougenot was thunderstruck. "Yes," said I, +"when we can no longer communicate with our King and receive his orders, +however attached we may be to him, we can only serve him according to the +best of our own judgment. The Queen said to me, 'This portfolio contains +scarcely anything but documents of a most dangerous description in the +event of a trial taking place, if it should fall into the hands of +revolutionary persons.' She mentioned, too, a single document which +would, under the same circumstances, be useful. It is my duty to +interpret her words, and consider them as orders. She meant to say, +'You will save such a paper, you will destroy the rest if they are likely +to be taken from you.' If it were not so, was there any occasion for her +to enter into any detail as to what the portfolio contained? The order +to keep it was sufficient. Probably it contains, moreover, the letters +of that part of the family which has emigrated; there is nothing which +may have been foreseen or decided upon that can be useful now; and there +can be no political thread which has not been cut by the events of the +10th of August and the imprisonment of the King. My house is about to be +surrounded; I cannot conceal anything of such bulk; I might, then, +through want of foresight, give up that which would cause the +condemnation of the King. Let us open the portfolio, save the document +alluded to, and destroy the rest." I took a knife and cut open one side +of the portfolio. I saw a great number of envelopes endorsed by the +King's own hand. M. Gougenot found there the former seals of the King, + + [No doubt it was in order to have the ancient seals ready at a + moment's notice, in case of a counter-revolution, that the Queen + desired me not to quit the Tuileries. M. Gougenot threw the seals + into the river, one from above the Pont Neuf, and the other from + near the Pont Royal.--MADAME CAMPAN.] + +such as they were before the Assembly had changed the inscription. At +this moment we heard a great noise; he agreed to tie up the portfolio, +take it again under his cloak, and go to a safe place to execute what I +had taken upon me to determine. He made me swear, by all I held most +sacred, that I would affirm, under every possible emergency, that the +course I was pursuing had not been dictated to me by anybody; and that, +whatever might be the result, I would take all the credit or all the +blame upon myself. I lifted up my hand and took the oath he required; +he went out. Half an hour afterwards a great number of armed men came to +my house; they placed sentinels at all the outlets; they broke open +secretaires and closets of which they had not the keys; they 'searched +the flower-pots and boxes; they examined the cellars; and the commandant +repeatedly said, "Look particularly for papers." In the afternoon M. +Gougenot returned. He had still the seals of France about him, and he +brought me a statement of all that he had burnt. + +The portfolio contained twenty letters from Monsieur, eighteen or +nineteen from the Comte d'Artois, seventeen from Madame Adelaide, +eighteen from Madame Victoire, a great many letters from Comte Alexandre +de Lameth, and many from M. de Malesherbes, with documents annexed to +them. There were also some from M. de Montmorin and other ex-ministers +or ambassadors. Each correspondence had its title written in the King's +own hand upon the blank paper which contained it. The most voluminous +was that from Mirabeau. It was tied up with a scheme for an escape, +which he thought necessary. M. Gougenot, who had skimmed over these +letters with more attention than the rest, told me they were of so +interesting a nature that the King had no doubt kept them as documents +exceedingly valuable for a history of his reign, and that the +correspondence with the Princes, which was entirely relative to what was +going forward abroad, in concert with the King, would have been fatal to +him if it had been seized. After he had finished he placed in my hands +the proces-verbal, signed by all the ministers, to which the King +attached so much importance, because he had given his opinion against the +declaration of war; a copy of the letter written by the King to the +Princes, his brothers, inviting them to return to France; an account of +the diamonds which the Queen had sent to Brussels (these two documents +were in my handwriting); and a receipt for four hundred thousand francs, +under the hand of a celebrated banker. This sum was part of the eight +hundred thousand francs which the Queen had gradually saved during her +reign, out of her pension of three hundred thousand francs per annum, and +out of the one hundred thousand francs given by way of present on the +birth of the Dauphin. + +This receipt, written on a very small piece of paper, was in the cover of +an almanac. I agreed with M. Gougenot, who was obliged by his office to +reside in Paris, that he should retain the proces-verbal of the Council +and the receipt for the four hundred thousand francs, and that we should +wait either for orders or for the means of transmitting these documents +to the King or Queen; and I set out for Versailles. + +The strictness of the precautions taken to guard the illustrious +prisoners was daily increased. The idea that I could not inform the King +of the course I had adopted of burning his papers, and the fear that I +should not be able to transmit to him that which he had pointed out as +necessary, tormented me to such a degree that it is wonderful my health +endured the strain. + +The dreadful trial drew near. Official advocates were granted to the +King; the heroic virtue of M. de Malesherbes induced him to brave the +most imminent dangers, either to save his master or to perish with him. +I hoped also to be able to find some means of informing his Majesty of +what I had thought it right to do. I sent a man, on whom I could rely, +to Paris, to request M. Gougenot to come to me at Versailles he came +immediately. We agreed that he should see M. de Malesherbes without +availing himself of any intermediate person for that purpose. + +M. Gougenot awaited his return from the Temple at the door of his hotel, +and made a sign that he wished to speak to him. A moment afterwards a +servant came to introduce him into the magistrates' room. He imparted to +M. de Malesherbes what I had thought it right to do with respect to the +King's papers, and placed in his hands the proces-verbal of the Council, +which his Majesty had preserved in order to serve, if occasion required +it, for a ground of his defence. However, that paper is not mentioned in +either of the speeches of his advocate; probably it was determined not to +make use of it. + +I stop at that terrible period which is marked by the assassination of a +King whose virtues are well known; but I cannot refrain from relating +what he deigned to say in my favour to M. de Malesherbes: + +"Let Madame Campan know that she did what I should myself have ordered +her to do; I thank her for it; she is one of those whom I regret I have +it not in my power to recompense for their fidelity to my person, and for +their good services." I did not hear of this until the morning after he +had suffered, and I think I should have sunk under my despair if this +honourable testimony had not given me some consolation. + + + + + + +SUPPLEMENT TO CHAPTER IX. + +MADAME CAMPAN'S narrative breaking off abruptly at the time of the +painful end met with by her sister, we have supplemented it by abridged +accounts of the chief incidents in the tragedy which overwhelmed the +royal house she so faithfully served, taken from contemporary records and +the best historical authorities. + + + The Royal Family in the Temple. + +The Assembly having, at the instance of the Commune of Paris, decreed +that the royal family should be immured in the Temple, they were removed +thither from the Feuillans on the 13th of August, 1792, in the charge of +Potion, Mayor of Paris, and Santerre, the commandant-general. Twelve +Commissioners of the general council were to keep constant watch at the +Temple, which had been fortified by earthworks and garrisoned by +detachments of the National Guard, no person being allowed to enter +without permission from the municipality. + +The Temple, formerly the headquarters of the Knights Templars in Paris, +consisted of two buildings,--the Palace, facing the Rue de Temple, +usually occupied by one of the Princes of the blood; and the Tower, +standing behind the Palace. + + [Clery gives a more minute description of this singular building: + "The small tower of the Temple in which the King was then confined + stood with its back against the great tower, without any interior + communication, and formed a long square, flanked by two turrets. In + one of these turrets there was a narrow staircase that led from the + first floor to a gallery on the platform; in the other were small + rooms, answering to each story of the tower. The body of the + building was four stories high. The first consisted of an + antechamber, a dining-room, and a small room in the turret, where + there was a library containing from twelve to fifteen hundred + volumes. The second story was divided nearly in the same manner. + The largest room was the Queen's bedchamber, in which the Dauphin + also slept; the second, which was separated from the Queen's by a + small antechamber almost without light, was occupied by Madame + Royale and Madame Elisabeth. The King's apartments were on the + third story. He slept in the great room, and made a study of the + turret closet. There was a kitchen separated from the King's + chamber by a small dark room, which had been successively occupied + by M. de Chamilly and M. de Hue. The fourth story was shut up; and + on the ground floor there were kitchens of which no use was made." + --"Journal," p. 96.] + +The Tower was a square building, with a round tower at each corner and a +small turret on one side, usually called the Tourelle. In the narrative +of the Duchesse d'Angouleme she says that the soldiers who escorted the +royal prisoners wished to take the King alone to the Tower, and his +family to the Palace of the Temple, but that on the way Manuel received +an order to imprison them all in the Tower, where so little provision had +been made for their reception that Madame Elisabeth slept in the kitchen. +The royal family were accompanied by the Princesse de Lamballe, Madame de +Tourzel and her daughter Pauline, Mesdames de Navarre, de Saint-Brice, +Thibaut, and Bazire, MM. de Hug and de Chamilly, and three men-servants-- +An order from the Commune soon removed these devoted attendants, and M. +de Hue alone was permitted to return. "We all passed the day together," +says Madame Royale. "My father taught my brother geography; my mother +history, and to learn verses by heart; and my aunt gave him lessons in +arithmetic. My father fortunately found a library which amused him, and +my mother worked tapestry . . . . We went every day to walk in the +garden, for the sake of my brother's health, though the King was always +insulted by the guard. On the Feast of Saint Louis 'Ca Ira' was sung +under the walls of the Temple. Manuel that evening brought my aunt a +letter from her aunts at Rome. It was the last the family received from +without. My father was no longer called King. He was treated with no +kind of respect; the officers always sat in his presence and never took +off their hats. They deprived him of his sword and searched his pockets +. . . . Petion sent as gaoler the horrible man --[Rocher, a saddler +by trade] who had broken open my father's door on the 20th June, 1792, +and who had been near assassinating him. This man never left the Tower, +and was indefatigable in endeavouring to torment him. One time he would +sing the 'Caramgnole,' and a thousand other horrors, before us; again, +knowing that my mother disliked the smoke of tobacco, he would puff it in +her face, as well as in that of my father, as they happened to pass him. +He took care always to be in bed before we went to supper, because he +knew that we must pass through his room. My father suffered it all with +gentleness, forgiving the man from the bottom of his heart. My mother +bore it with a dignity that frequently repressed his insolence." +The only occasion, Madame Royale adds, on which the Queen showed any +impatience at the conduct of the officials, was when a municipal officer +woke the Dauphin suddenly in the night to make certain that he was safe, +as though the sight of the peacefully sleeping child would not have been +in itself the best assurance. + +Clery, the valet de chambre of the Dauphin, having with difficulty +obtained permission to resume his duties, entered the Temple on the 24th +August, and for eight days shared with M. de Hue the personal attendance; +but on the 2d September De Hue was arrested, seals were placed on the +little room he had occupied, and Clery passed the night in that of the +King. On the following morning Manuel arrived, charged by the Commune to +inform the King that De Hue would not be permitted to return, and to +offer to send another person. "I thank you," answered the King. "I will +manage with the valet de chambre of my son; and if the Council refuse I +will serve myself. I am determined to do it." On the 3d September +Manual visited the Temple and assured the King that Madame de Lamballe +and all the other prisoners who had been removed to La Force were well, +and safely guarded. "But at three o'clock," says Madame Royale, "just +after dinner, and as the King was sitting down to 'tric trac' with my +mother (which he played for the purpose of having an opportunity of saying +a few words to her unheard by the keepers), the most horrid shouts were +heard. The officer who happened to be on guard in the room behaved well. +He shut the door and the window, and even drew the curtains to prevent +their seeing anything; but outside the workmen and the gaoler Rocher +joined the assassins and increased the tumult. Several officers of the +guard and the municipality now arrived, and on my father's asking what +was the matter, a young officer replied, 'Well, since you will know, +it is the head of Madame de Lamballe that they want to show you.' +At these words my mother was overcome with horror; it was the only +occasion on which her firmness abandoned her. The municipal officers +were very angry with the young man; but the King, with his usual +goodness, excused him, saying that it was his own fault, since he had +questioned the officer. The noise lasted till five o'clock. We learned +that the people had wished to force the door, and that the municipal +officers had been enabled to prevent it only by putting a tricoloured +scarf across it, and allowing six of the murderers to march round our +prison with the head of the Princess, leaving at the door her body, which +they would have dragged in also." + +Clery was not so fortunate as to escape the frightful spectacle. He had +gone down to dine with Tison and his wife, employed as servants in the +Temple, and says: "We were hardly seated when a head, on the end of a +pike, was presented at the window. Tison's wife gave a great cry; the +assassins fancied they recognised the Queen's voice, and responded by +savage laughter. Under the idea that his Majesty was still at table, +they placed their dreadful trophy where it must be seen. It was the head +of the Princesse de Lamballe; although bleeding, it was not disfigured, +and her light hair, still in curls, hung about the pike." + +At length the immense mob that surrounded the Temple gradually withdrew, +"to follow the head of the Princess de Lamballe to the Palais Royal." + + [The pike that bore the head was fixed before the Duc d'Orleans's + window as he was going to dinner. It is said that he looked at this + horrid sight without horror, went into the dining-room, sat down to + table, and helped his guests without saying a word. His silence and + coolness left it doubtful whether the assassins, in presenting him + this bloody trophy, intended to offer him an insult or to pay him + homage.--DE MOLLEVILLE'S "Annals of the French Revolution," vol. + vii., p. 398.] + +Meanwhile the royal family could scarcely believe that for the time their +lives were saved. "My aunt and I heard the drums beating to arms all +night," says Madame Royale; "my unhappy mother did not even attempt to +sleep. We heard her sobs." + +In the comparative tranquillity which followed the September massacres, +the royal family resumed the regular habits they had adopted on entering +the Temple. "The King usually rose at six in the morning," says Clery. +"He shaved himself, and I dressed his hair; he then went to his reading- +room, which, being very small, the municipal officer on duty remained in +the bedchamber with the door open, that he might always keep the King in +sight. His Majesty continued praying on his knees for some time, and +then read till nine. During that interval, after putting his chamber to +rights and preparing the breakfast, I went down to the Queen, who never +opened her door till I arrived, in order to prevent the municipal officer +from going into her apartment. At nine o'clock the Queen, the children, +and Madame Elisabeth went up to the King's chamber to breakfast. At ten +the King and his family went down to the Queen's chamber, and there +passed the day. He employed himself in educating his son, made him +recite passages from Corneille and Racine, gave him lessons in geography, +and exercised him in colouring the maps. The Queen, on her part, was +employed in the education of her daughter, and these different lessons +lasted till eleven o'clock. The remaining time till noon was passed in +needlework, knitting, or making tapestry. At one o'clock, when the +weather was fine, the royal family were conducted to the garden by four +municipal officers and the commander of a legion of the National Guard. +As there were a number of workmen in the Temple employed in pulling down +houses and building new walls, they only allowed a part of the chestnut- +tree walk for the promenade, in which I was allowed to share, and where I +also played with the young Prince at ball, quoits, or races. At two we +returned to the Tower, where I served the dinner, at which time Santerre +regularly came to the Temple, attended by two aides-de-camp. The King +sometimes spoke to him,--the Queen never. + +"After the meal the royal family came down into the Queen's room, and +their Majesties generally played a game of piquet or tric-trac. At four +o'clock the King took a little repose, the Princesses round him, each +with a book . . . . When the King woke the conversation was resumed, +and I gave writing lessons to his son, taking the copies, according to +his instructions, from the works of, Montesquieu and other celebrated +authors. After the lesson I took the young Prince into Madame +Elisabeth's room, where we played at ball, and battledore and +shuttlecock. In the evening the family sat round a table, while the +Queen read to them from books of history, or other works proper to +instruct and amuse the children. Madame Elisabeth took the book in her +turn, and in this manner they read till eight o'clock. After that I +served the supper of the young Prince, in which the royal family shared, +and the King amused the children with charades out of a collection of +French papers which he found in the library. After the Dauphin had +supped, I undressed him, and the Queen heard him say his prayers. At +nine the King went to supper, and afterwards went for a moment to the +Queen's chamber, shook hands with her and his sister for the night, +kissed his children, and then retired to the turret-room, where he sat +reading till midnight. The Queen and the Princesses locked themselves +in, and one of the municipal officers remained in the little room which +parted their chamber, where he passed the night; the other followed his +Majesty. In this manner was the time passed as long as the King remained +in the small tower." + +But even these harmless pursuits were too often made the means of further +insulting and thwarting the unfortunate family. Commissary Le Clerc +interrupted the Prince's writing lessons, proposing to substitute +Republican works for those from which the King selected his copies. +A smith, who was present when the Queen was reading the history of France +to her children, denounced her to the Commune for choosing the period +when the Connstable de Bourbon took arms against France, and said she +wished to inspire her son with unpatriotic feelings; a municipal officer +asserted that the multiplication table the Prince was studying would +afford a means of "speaking in cipher," so arithmetic had to be +abandoned. Much the same occurred even with the needlework, +the Queen and Princess finished some chairbacks, which they wished to +send to the Duchesse de Tarente; but the officials considered that the +patterns were hieroglyphics, intended for carrying on a correspondence, +and ordered that none of the Princesses work should leave the Temple. +The short daily walk in the garden was also embittered by the rude +behaviour of the military and municipal gaolers; sometimes, however, it +afforded an opportunity for marks of sympathy to be shown. People would +station themselves at the windows of houses overlooking the Temple +gardens, and evince by gestures their loyal affection, and some of the +sentinels showed, even by tears, that their duty was painful to them. + +On the 21st September the National Convention was constituted, Petion +being made president and Collot d'Herbois moving the "abolition of +royalty" amidst transports of applause. That afternoon a municipal +officer attended by gendarmes a cheval, and followed by a crowd of +people, arrived at the Temple, and, after a flourish of trumpets, +proclaimed the establishment of the French Republic. The man, says +Clery, "had the voice of a Stentor." The royal family could distinctly +hear the announcement of the King's deposition. "Hebert, so well known +under the title of Pere Duchesne, and Destournelles were on guard. They +were sitting near the door, and turned to the King with meaning smiles. +He had a book in his hand, and went on reading without changing +countenance. The Queen showed the same firmness. The proclamation +finished, the trumpets sounded afresh. I went to the window; the people +took me for Louis XVI. and I was overwhelmed with insults." + +After the new decree the prisoners were treated with increased harshness. +Pens, paper, ink, and pencils were taken from them. The King and Madame +Elisabeth gave up all, but the Queen and her daughter each concealed a +pencil. "In the beginning of October," says Madame Royale, "after my +father had supped, he was told to stop, that he was not to return to his +former apartments, and that he was to be separated from his family. At +this dreadful sentence the Queen lost her usual courage. We parted from +him with abundance of tears, though we expected to see him again in the +morning. + + [At nine o'clock, says Clery, the King asked to be taken to his + family, but the municipal officers replied that they had "no orders + for that." Shortly afterwards a boy brought the King some bread and + a decanter of lemonade for his breakfast. The King gave half the + bread to Clery, saying, "It seems they have forgotten your + breakfast; take this, the rest is enough for me." Clery refused, + but the King insisted. "I could not contain my tears," he adds; + "the King perceived them, and his own fell also."] + +They brought in our breakfast separately from his, however. My mother +would take nothing. The officers, alarmed at her silent and concentrated +sorrow, allowed us to see the King, but at meal-times only, and on +condition that we should not speak low, nor in any foreign language, but +loud and in 'good French.' We went down, therefore, with the greatest +joy to dine with my father. In the evening, when my brother was in bed, +my mother and my aunt alternately sat with him or went with me to sup +with my father. In the morning, after breakfast, we remained in the +King's apartments while Clery dressed our hair, as he was no longer +allowed to come to my mother's room, and this arrangement gave us the +pleasure of spending a few moments more with my father." + + [When the first deputation from the Council of the Commune visited + the Temple, and formally inquired whether the King had any complaint + to make, he replied, "No; while he was permitted to remain with his + family he was happy."] + +The royal prisoners had no comfort except their affection for each other. +At that time even common necessaries were denied them. Their small stock +of linen had been lent them; by persons of the Court during the time they +spent at the Feuillans. The Princesses mended their clothes every day, +and after the King had gone to bed Madame Elisabeth mended his. "With +much trouble," says Clrry, "I procured some fresh linen for them. But +the workwomen having marked it with crowned letters, the Princesses were +ordered to pick them out." The room in the great tower to which the King +had been removed contained only one bed, and no other article of +furniture. A chair was brought on which Clery spent the first night; +painters were still at work on the room, and the smell of the paint, he +says, was almost unbearable. This room was afterwards furnished by +collecting from various parts of the Temple a chest of drawers, a small +bureau, a few odd chairs, a chimney-glass, and a bed hung with green +damask, which had been used by the captain of the guard to the Comte +d'Artois. A room for the Queen was being prepared over that of the King, +and she implored the workmen to finish it quickly, but it was not ready +for her occupation for some time, and when she was allowed to remove to +it the Dauphin was taken from her and placed with his father. When their +Majesties met again in the great Tower, says Clery, there was little +change in the hours fixed for meals, reading, walking and the education +of their children. They were not allowed to have mass said in the +Temple, and therefore commissioned Clery to get them the breviary in use +in the diocese of Paris. Among the books read by the King while in the +Tower were Hume's "History of England" (in the original), Tasso, and the +"De Imitatione Christi." The jealous suspicions of the municipal +officers led to the most absurd investigations; a draught-board was taken +to pieces lest the squares should hide treasonable papers; macaroons were +broken in half to see that they did not contain letters; peaches were cut +open and the stones cracked; and Clery was compelled to drink the essence +of soap prepared for shaving the King, under the pretence that it might +contain poison. + +In November the King and all the family had feverish colds, and Clery had +an attack of rheumatic fever. On the first day of his illness he got up +and tried to dress his master, but the King, seeing how ill he was, +ordered him to lie down, and himself dressed the Dauphin. The little +Prince waited on Clery all day, and in the evening the King contrived to +approach his bed, and said, in a low voice, "I should like to take care +of you myself, but you know how we are watched. Take courage; tomorrow +you shall see my doctor." Madame Elisabeth brought the valet cooling +draughts, of which she deprived herself; and after Clery was able to get +up, the young Prince one night with great difficulty kept awake till +eleven o'clock in order to give him a box of lozenges when he went to +make the King's bed. + +On 7th December a deputation from the Commune brought an order that the +royal family should be deprived of "knives, razors, scissors, penknives, +and all other cutting instruments." The King gave up a knife, and took +from a morocco case a pair of scissors and a penknife; and the officials +then searched the room, taking away the little toilet implements of gold +and silver, and afterwards removing the Princesses' working materials. +Returning to the King's room, they insisted upon seeing what remained in +his pocket-case. "Are these toys which I have in my hand also cutting +instruments?" asked the King, showing them a cork-screw, a turn-screw, +and a steel for lighting. These also were taken from him. Shortly +afterwards Madame Elisabeth was mending the King's coat, and, having no +scissors, was compelled to break the thread with her teeth. + +"What a contrast!" he exclaimed, looking at her tenderly. "You wanted +nothing in your pretty house at Montreuil." + +"Ah, brother," she answered, "how can I have any regret when I partake +your misfortunes?" + +The Queen had frequently to take on herself some of the humble duties of +a servant. This was especially painful to Louis XVI. when the +anniversary of some State festival brought the contrast between past and +present with unusual keenness before him. + +"Ah, Madame," he once exclaimed, "what an employment for a Queen of +France! Could they see that at Vienna! Who would have foreseen that, +in uniting your lot to mine, you would have descended so low?" + +"And do you esteem as nothing," she replied, "the glory of being the wife +of one of the best and most persecuted of men? Are not such misfortunes +the noblest honours?"--[Alison's "History of Europe," vol. ii., p. 299.] + +Meanwhile the Assembly had decided that the King should be brought to +trial. Nearly all parties, except the Girondists, no matter how bitterly +opposed to each other, could agree in making him the scapegoat; and the +first rumour of the approaching ordeal was conveyed to the Temple by +Clery's wife, who, with a friend, had permission occasionally to visit +him. "I did not know how to announce this terrible news to the King," he +says; "but time was pressing, and be had forbidden my concealing anything +from him. In the evening, while undressing him, I gave him an account of +all I had learnt, and added that there were only four days to concert +some plan of corresponding with the Queen. The arrival of the municipal +officer would not allow me to say more. Next morning, when the King +rose, I could not get a moment for speaking with him. He went up with +his son to breakfast with the Princesses, and I followed. After +breakfast he talked long with the Queen, who, by a look full of trouble, +made me understand that they were discussing what I had told the King. +During the day I found an opportunity of describing to Madame Elisabeth +how much it had cost me to augment the King's distresses by informing him +of his approaching trial. She reassured me, saying that the King felt +this as a mark of attachment on my part, and added, 'That which most +troubles him is the fear of being separated from us.' In the evening the +King told me how satisfied he was at having had warning that he was to +appear before the Convention. 'Continue,' he said, 'to endeavour to find +out something as to what they want to do with me. Never fear distressing +me. I have agreed with my family not to seem pre-informed, in order not +to compromise you.'" + +On the 11th December, at five o'clock in the morning, the prisoners heard +the generale beaten throughout Paris, and cavalry and cannon entered the +Temple gardens. At nine the King and the Dauphin went as usual to +breakfast with the Queen. They were allowed to remain together for an +hour, but constantly under the eyes of their republican guardians. At +last they were obliged to part, doubtful whether they would ever see each +other again. The little Prince, who remained with his father, and was +ignorant of the new cause for anxiety, begged hard that the King would +play at ninepins with him as usual. Twice the Dauphin could not get +beyond a certain number. "Each time that I get up to sixteen," he said, +with some vexation, "I lose the game." The King did not reply, but Clery +fancied the words made a painful impression on him. + +At eleven, while the King was giving the Dauphin a reading lesson, two +municipal officers entered and said they had come "to take young Louis to +his mother." The King inquired why, but was only told that such were the +orders of the Council. At one o'clock the Mayor of Paris, Chambon, +accompanied by Chaumette, Procureur de la Commune, Santerre, commandant +of the National Guard, and others, arrived at the Temple and read a +decree to the King, which ordered that "Louis Capet" should be brought +before the Convention. "Capet is not my name," he replied, "but that of +one of my ancestors. I could have wished," he added, "that you had left +my son with me during the last two hours. But this treatment is +consistent with all I have experienced here. I follow you, not because I +recognise the authority of the Convention, but because I can be compelled +to obey it." He then followed the Mayor to a carriage which waited, with +a numerous escort, at the gate of the Temple. The family left behind +were overwhelmed with grief and apprehension. "It is impossible to +describe the anxiety we suffered," says Madame Royale. "My mother used +every endeavour with the officer who guarded her to discover what was +passing; it was the first time she had condescended to question any of +these men. He would tell her nothing." + + + + + Trial of the King.--Parting of the Royal Family.--Execution. + +The crowd was immense as, on the morning of the 11th December, 1792, +Louis XVI. was driven slowly from the Temple to the Convention, escorted +by cavalry, infantry, and artillery. Paris looked like an armed camp: +all the posts were doubled; the muster-roll of the National Guard was +called over every hour; a picket of two hundred men watched in the court +of each of the right sections; a reserve with cannon was stationed at the +Tuileries, and strong detachments patroled the streets and cleared the +road of all loiterers. The trees that lined the boulevards, the doors +and windows of the houses, were alive with gazers, and all eyes were +fixed on the King. He was much changed since his people last beheld him. +The beard he had been compelled to grow after his razors were taken from +him covered cheeks, lips, and chin with light-coloured hair, which +concealed the melancholy expression of his mouth; he had become thin, and +his garments hung loosely on him; but his manner was perfectly collected +and calm, and he recognised and named to the Mayor the various quarters +through which he passed. On arriving at the Feuillans he was taken to a +room to await the orders of the Assembly. + +It was about half-past two when the King appeared at the bar. The Mayor +and Generaux Santerre and Wittengoff were at his side. Profound silence +pervaded the Assembly. All were touched by the King's dignity and the +composure of his looks under so great a reverse of fortune. By nature he +had been formed rather to endure calamity with patience than to contend +against it with energy. The approach of death could not disturb his +serenity. + +"Louis, you may be seated," said Barere. "Answer the questions that +shall be put to you." The King seated himself and listened to the +reading of the 'acte enonciatif', article by article. All the faults +of the Court were there enumerated and imputed to Louis XVI. personally. +He was charged with the interruption of the sittings of the 20th of June, +1789, with the Bed of Justice held on the 23d of the same month, the +aristocratic conspiracy thwarted by the insurrection of the 14th of July, +the entertainment of the Life Guards, the insults offered to the national +cockade, the refusal to sanction the Declaration of Rights, as well as +several constitutional articles; lastly, all the facts which indicated a +new conspiracy in October, and which were followed by the scenes of the +5th and 6th; the speeches of reconciliation which had succeeded all these +scenes, and which promised a change that was not sincere; the false oath +taken at the Federation of the 14th of July; the secret practices of +Talon and Mirabeau to effect a counter-revolution; the money spent in +bribing a great number of deputies; the assemblage of the "knights of +the dagger" on the 28th of February, 1791; the flight to Varennes; the +fusilade of the Champ de Mars; the silence observed respecting the Treaty +of Pilnitz; the delay in the promulgation of the decree which +incorporated Avignon with France; the commotions at Nimes, Montauban, +Mende, and Jales; the continuance of their pay to the emigrant Life +Guards and to the disbanded Constitutional Guard; the insufficiency of +the armies assembled on the frontiers; the refusal to sanction the decree +for the camp of twenty thousand men; the disarming of the fortresses; the +organisation of secret societies in the interior of Paris; the review of +the Swiss and the garrison of the palace on the 10th August; the +summoning the Mayor to the Tuileries; and lastly, the effusion of blood +which had resulted from these military dispositions. After each article +the President paused, and said, "What have you to answer?" The King, in +a firm voice, denied some of the facts, imputed others to his ministers, +and always appealed to the constitution, from which he declared he had +never deviated. His answers were very temperate, but on the charge, "You +spilt the blood of the people on the 10th of August," he exclaimed, with +emphasis, "No, monsieur, no; it was not I." + +All the papers on which the act of accusation was founded were then shown +to the King, and he disavowed some of them and disputed the existence of +the iron chest; this produced a bad impression, and was worse than +useless, as the fact had been proved. + + [A secret closet which the King had directed to be constructed in a + wall in the Tuileries. The door was of iron, whence it was + afterwards known by the name of the iron chest. See Thiers, and + Scott.] + +Throughout the examination the King showed great presence of mind. +He was careful in his answers never to implicate any members of the +constituent, and legislative Assemblies; many who then sat as his judges +trembled lest he should betray them. The Jacobins beheld with dismay the +profound impression made on the Convention by the firm but mild demeanour +of the sovereign. The most violent of the party proposed that he should +be hanged that very night; a laugh as of demons followed the proposal +from the benches of the Mountain, but the majority, composed of the +Girondists and the neutrals, decided that he should be formally tried. + +After the examination Santerre took the King by the arm and led him back +to the waiting-room of the Convention, accompanied by Chambon and +Chaumette. Mental agitation and the length of the proceedings had +exhausted him, and he staggered from weakness. Chaumette inquired if he +wished for refreshment, but the King refused it. A moment after, seeing +a grenadier of the escort offer the Procureur de la Commune half a small +loaf, Louis XVI. approached and asked him, in a whisper, for a piece. + +"Ask aloud for what you want," said Chaumette, retreating as though he +feared being suspected of pity. + +"I asked for a piece of your bread," replied the King. + +"Divide it with me," said Chaumette. "It is a Spartan breakfast. If I +had a root I would give you half."--[Lamartine's "History of the +Girondists," edit. 1870, vol. ii., p. 313.] + +Soon after six in the evening the King returned to the Temple. "He +seemed tired," says Clery, simply, "and his first wish was to be led to +his family. The officers refused, on the plea that they had no orders. +He insisted that at least they should be informed of his return, and this +was promised him. The King ordered me to ask for his supper at half-past +eight. The intervening hours he employed in his usual reading, +surrounded by four municipals. When I announced that supper was served, +the King asked the commissaries if his family could not come down. They +made no reply. 'But at least,' the King said, 'my son will pass the +night in my room, his bed being here?' The same silence. After supper +the King again urged his wish to see his family. They answered that they +must await the decision of the Convention. While I was undressing him +the King said, 'I was far from expecting all the questions they put to +me.' He lay down with perfect calmness. The order for my removal during +the night was not executed." On the King's return to the Temple being +known, "my mother asked to see him instantly," writes Madame Royale. +"She made the same request even to Chambon, but received no answer. My +brother passed the night with her; and as he had no bed, she gave him +hers, and sat up all the night in such deep affliction that we were +afraid to leave her; but she compelled my aunt and me to go to bed. Next +day she again asked to see my father, and to read the newspapers, that +she might learn the course of the trial. She entreated that if she was +to be denied this indulgence, his children, at least, might see him. Her +requests were referred to the Commune. The newspapers were refused; but +my brother and I were to be allowed to see my father on condition of +being entirely separated from my mother. My father replied that, great +as his happiness was in seeing his children, the important business which +then occupied him would not allow of his attending altogether to his son, +and that his daughter could not leave her mother." + + [During their last interview Madame Elisabeth had given Clery one of + her handkerchiefs, saying, "You shall keep it so long as my brother + continues well; if he becomes ill, send it to me among my nephew's + things."] + +The Assembly having, after a violent debate, resolved that Louis XVI. +should have the aid of counsel, a deputation was sent to the Temple to +ask whom he would choose. The King named Messieurs Target and Tronchet. +The former refused his services on the ground that he had discontinued +practice since 1785; the latter complied at once with the King's request; +and while the Assembly was considering whom to, nominate in Target's +place, the President received a letter from the venerable Malesherbes, + + [Christian Guillaume de Lamoignon de Malesherbes, an eminent French + statesman, son of the Chancellor of France, was born at Paris in + 1721. In 1750 he succeeded his father as President of the Court of + Aids, and was also made superintendent of the press. On the + banishment of the Parliaments and the suppression of the Court of + Aids, Malesherbes was exiled to his country-seat. In 1775 he was + appointed Minister of State. On the decree of the Convention for + the King's trial, he emerged from his retreat to become the + voluntary advocate of his sovereign. Malesherbes was guillotined in + 1794, and almost his whole family were extirpated by their merciless + persecutors.] + +then seventy years old, and "the most respected magistrate in France," in +the course of which he said: "I have been twice called to be counsel for +him who was my master, in times when that duty was coveted by every one. +I owe him the same service now that it is a duty which many people deem +dangerous. If I knew any possible means of acquainting him with my +desires, I should not take the liberty of addressing myself to you." +Other citizens made similar proposals, but the King, being made +acquainted with them by a deputation from the Commune, while expressing +his gratitude for all the offers, accepted only that of Malesherbes. + + [The Citoyenne Olympia Degonges, calling herself a free and loyal + Republican without spot or blame, and declaring that the cold and + selfish cruelty of Target had inflamed her heroism and roused her + sensibility, asked permission to assist M, de Malesherbes in + defending the King. The Assembly passed to the order of the day on + this request.--BERTRAND DE MOLLEVILLE, "Annals," edit. 1802, vol, + viii., p. 254.] + +On 14th December M. Tronchet was allowed to confer with the King, and +later in the same day M. de Malesherbes was admitted to the Tower. "The +King ran up to this worthy old man, whom he clasped in his arms," said +Clery, "and the former minister melted into tears at the sight of his +master." + + [According to M. de Hue, "The first time M. de Malesherbes entered + the Temple, the King clasped him in his arms and said, 'Ah, is it + you, my friend? You fear not to endanger your own life to save + mine; but all will be useless. They will bring me to the scaffold. + No matter; I shall gain my cause if I leave an unspotted memory + behind me.'"] + +Another deputation brought the King the Act of Accusation and the +documents relating to it, numbering more than a hundred, and taking from +four o'clock till midnight to read. During this long process the King +had refreshments served to the deputies, taking nothing himself till they +had left, but considerately reproving Clery for not having supped. From +the 14th to the 26th December the King saw his counsel and their +colleague M. de Size every day. At this time a means of communication +between the royal family and the King was devised: a man named Turgi, who +had been in the royal kitchen, and who contrived to obtain employment in +the Temple, when conveying the meals of the royal family to their +apartments, or articles he had purchased for them, managed to give Madame +Elisabeth news of the King. Next day, the Princess, when Turgi was +removing the dinner, slipped into his hand a bit of paper on which she +had pricked with a pin a request for a word from her brother's own hand. +Turgi gave this paper to Clery, who conveyed it to the King the same +evening; and he, being allowed writing materials while preparing his +defence, wrote Madame Elisabeth a short note. An answer was conveyed in +a ball of cotton, which Turgi threw under Clery's bed while passing the +door of his room. Letters were also passed between the Princess's room +and that of Clery, who lodged beneath her, by means of a string let down +and drawn up at night. This communication with his family was a great +comfort to the King, who, nevertheless, constantly cautioned his faithful +servant. "Take care," he would say kindly, "you expose yourself too +much." + + [The King's natural benevolence was constantly shown while in the + Temple. His own dreadful position never prevented him from sympathy + with the smaller troubles of others. A servant in the Temple named + Marchand, the father of a family, was robbed of two hundred francs, + --his wages for two months. The King observed his distress, asked + its cause, and gave Clery the amount to be handed to Marchand, with + a caution not to speak of it to any one, and, above all, not to + thank the King, lest it should injure him with his employers.] + +During his separation from his family the King refused to go into the +garden. When it was proposed to him he said, "I cannot make up my mind +to go out alone; the walk was agreeable to me only when I shared it with +my family." But he did not allow himself to dwell on painful +reflections. He talked freely to the municipals on guard, and surprised +them by his varied and practical knowledge of their trades, and his +interest in their domestic affairs. On the 19th December the King's +breakfast was served as usual; but, being a fast-day, he refused to take +anything. At dinner-time the King said to Clery, "Fourteen years ago you +were up earlier than you were to-day; it is the day my daughter was born- +-today, her birthday," he repeated, with tears, "and to be prevented from +seeing her!" Madame Royale had wished for a calendar; the King ordered +Clery to buy her the "Almanac of the Republic," which had replaced the +"Court Almanac," and ran through it, marking with a pencil many names. + +"On Christmas Day," Says Clery, "the King wrote his will." + + [Madame Royale says: "On the 26th December, St. Stephen's Day, my + father made his will, because he expected to be assassinated that + day on his way to the bar of the Convention. He went thither, + nevertheless, with his usual calmness."--"Royal Memoirs," p. 196.] + +On the 26th December, 1792, the King appeared a second time before the +Convention. M. de Seze, labouring night and day, had completed his +defence. The King insisted on excluding from it all that was too +rhetorical, and confining it to the mere discussion of essential points. + + [When the pathetic peroration of M, de Seze was read to the King, + the evening before it was delivered to the Assembly, "I have to + request of you," he said, "to make a painful sacrifice; strike out + of your pleading the peroration. It is enough for me to appear + before such judges, and show my entire innocence; I will not move + their feelings.--"LACRETELLE.] + +At half-past nine in the morning the whole armed force was in motion to +conduct him from the Temple to the Feuillans, with the same precautions +and in the same order as had been observed on the former occasion. +Riding in the carriage of the Mayor, he conversed, on the way, with the +same composure as usual, and talked of Seneca, of Livy, of the hospitals. +Arrived at the Feuillans, he showed great anxiety for his defenders; he +seated himself beside them in the Assembly, surveyed with great composure +the benches where his accusers and his judges sat, seemed to examine +their faces with the view of discovering the impression produced by the +pleading of M. de Seze, and more than once conversed smilingly with +Tronchet and Malesherbes. The Assembly received his defence in sullen +silence, but without any tokens of disapprobation. + +Being afterwards conducted to an adjoining room with his counsel, the +King showed great anxiety about M. de Seze, who seemed fatigued by the +long defence. While riding back to the Temple he conversed with his +companions with the same serenity as he had shown on leaving it. + +No sooner had the King left the hall of the Convention than a violent +tumult arose there. Some were for opening the discussion. Others, +complaining of the delays which postponed the decision of this process, +demanded the vote immediately, remarking that in every court, after the +accused had been heard, the judges proceed to give their opinion. +Lanjuinais had from the commencement of the proceedings felt an +indignation which his impetuous disposition no longer suffered him to +repress. He darted to the tribune, and, amidst the cries excited by his +presence, demanded the annulling of the proceedings altogether. +He exclaimed that the days of ferocious men were gone by, that the +Assembly ought not to be so dishonoured as to be made to sit in judgment +on Louis XVI., that no authority in France had that right, and the +Assembly in particular had no claim to it; that if it resolved to act as +a political body, it could do no more than take measures of safety +against the ci-devant King; but that if it was acting as a court of +justice it was overstepping all principles, for it was subjecting the +vanquished to be tried by the conquerors, since most of the present +members had declared themselves the conspirators of the 10th of August. +At the word "conspirators" a tremendous uproar arose on all aides. Cries +of "Order!"--"To the Abbaye!"--"Down with the Tribune!" were heard. +Lanjuinais strove in vain to justify the word "conspirators," saying that +he meant it to be taken in a favourable sense, and that the 10th of +August was a glorious conspiracy. He concluded by declaring that he +would rather die a thousand deaths than condemn, contrary to all laws, +even the most execrable of tyrants. + +A great number of speakers followed, and the confusion continually +increased. The members, determined not to hear any more, mingled +together, formed groups, abused and threatened one another. After a +tempest of an hour's duration, tranquillity was at last restored; and the +Assembly, adopting the opinion of those who demanded the discussion on +the trial of Louis XVI., declared that it was opened, and that it should +be continued, to the exclusion of all other business, till sentence +should be passed. + +The discussion was accordingly resumed on the 27th, and there was a +constant succession of speakers from the 28th to the 31st. Vergniaud at +length ascended the tribune for the first time, and an extraordinary +eagerness was manifested to hear the Girondists express their sentiments +by the lips of their greatest orator. + +The speech of Vergniaud produced a deep impression on all his hearers. +Robespierre was thunderstruck by his earnest and, persuasive eloquence. +Vergniaud, however, had but shaken, not convinced, the Assembly, which +wavered between the two parties. Several members were successively +heard, for and against the appeal to the people. Brissot, Gensonne, +Petion, supported it in their turn. One speaker at length had a decisive +influence on the question. Barere, by his suppleness, and his cold and +evasive eloquence, was the model and oracle of the centre. He spoke at +great length on the trial, reviewed it in all its bearings--of facts, of +laws, and of policy--and furnished all those weak minds, who only wanted +specious reasons for yielding, with motives for the condemnation of the +King. From that moment the unfortunate King was condemned. The +discussion lasted till the 7th, and nobody would listen any longer to the +continual repetition of the same facts and arguments. It was therefore +declared to be closed without opposition, but the proposal of a fresh +adjournment excited a commotion among the most violent, and ended in a +decree which fixed the 14th of January for putting the questions to the +vote. + +Meantime the King did not allow the torturing suspense to disturb his +outward composure, or lessen his kindness to those around him. On the +morning after his second appearance at the bar of the Convention, the +commissary Vincent, who had undertaken secretly to convey to the Queen +a copy of the King's printed defence, asked for something which had +belonged to him, to treasure as a relic; the King took off his neck +handkerchief and gave it him; his gloves he bestowed on another +municipal, who had made the same request. "On January 1st," says Clery, +"I approached the King's bed and asked permission to offer him my warmest +prayers for the end of his misfortunes. 'I accept your good wishes with +affection,' he replied, extending his hand to me. As soon as he had +risen, he requested a municipal to go and inquire for his family, and +present them his good wishes for the new year. The officers were moved +by the tone in which these words, so heartrending considering the +position of the King, were pronounced . . . . The correspondence +between their Majesties went on constantly. The King being informed that +Madame Royale was ill, was very uneasy for some days. The Queen, after +begging earnestly, obtained permission for M. Brunnier, the medical +attendant of the royal children, to come to the Temple. This seemed to +quiet him." + +The nearer the moment which was to decide the King's fate approached, the +greater became the agitation in, Paris. "A report was circulated that +the atrocities of September were to be repeated there, and the prisoners +and their relatives beset the deputies with supplications that they would +snatch them from destruction. The Jacobins, on their part, alleged that +conspiracies were hatching in all quarters to save Louis XVI. from +punishment, and to restore royalty. Their anger, excited by delays and +obstacles, assumed a more threatening aspect; and the two parties thus +alarmed one another by supposing that each harboured sinister designs." + +On the 14th of January the Convention called for the order of the day, +being the final judgment of Louis XVI. + +"The sitting of the Convention which concluded the trial," says Hazlitt, +"lasted seventy-two hours. It might naturally be supposed that silence, +restraint, a sort of religious awe, would have pervaded the scene. On +the contrary, everything bore the marks of gaiety, dissipation, and the +most grotesque confusion. The farther end of the hall was converted into +boxes, where ladies, in a studied deshabille, swallowed ices, oranges, +liqueurs, and received the salutations of the members who went and came, +as on ordinary occasions. Here the doorkeepers on the Mountain side +opened and shut the boxes reserved for the mistresses of the Duc +d'Orleans; and there, though every sound of approbation or disapprobation +was strictly forbidden, you heard the long and indignant 'Ha, ha's!' of +the mother-duchess, the patroness of the bands of female Jacobins, +whenever her ears were not loudly greeted with the welcome sounds of +death. The upper gallery, reserved for the people, was during the whole +trial constantly full of strangers of every description, drinking wine as +in a tavern. + +"Bets were made as to the issue of the trial in all the neighbouring +coffee-houses. Ennui, impatience, disgust sat on almost every +countenance. The figures passing and repassing, rendered more ghastly by +the pallid lights, and who in a slow, sepulchral voice pronounced only +the word--Death; others calculating if they should have time to go to +dinner before they gave their verdict; women pricking cards with pins in +order to count the votes; some of the deputies fallen asleep, and only +waking up to give their sentence,--all this had the appearance rather of +a hideous dream than of a reality." + +The Duc d'Orleans, when called on to give his vote for the death of his +King and relation, walked with a faltering step, and a face paler than +death itself, to the appointed place, and there read these words: +"Exclusively governed by my duty, and convinced that all those who have +resisted the sovereignty of the people deserve death, my vote is for +death!" Important as the accession of the first Prince of the blood was +to the Terrorist faction, his conduct in this instance was too obviously +selfish and atrocious not to excite a general feeling of indignation; the +agitation of the Assembly became extreme; it seemed as if by this single +vote the fate of the monarch was irrevocably sealed. + +The President having examined the register, the result of the scrutiny +was proclaimed as follows + + + Against an appeal to the people........... 480 + For an appeal to the people............... 283 + + Majority for final judgment............... 197 + +The President having announced that he was about to declare the result of +the scrutiny, a profound silence ensued, and he then gave in the +following declaration: that, out of 719 votes, 366 were for DEATH, 319 +were for imprisonment during the war, two for perpetual imprisonment, +eight for a suspension of the execution of the sentence of death until +after the expulsion of the family of the Bourbons, twenty-three were for +not putting him to death until the French territory was invaded by any +foreign power, and one was for a sentence of death, but with power of +commutation of the punishment. + +After this enumeration the President took off his hat, and, lowering his +voice, said: "In consequence of this expression of opinion I declare that +the punishment pronounced by the National Convention against Louis Capet +is DEATH!" + +Previous to the passing of the sentence the President announced on the +part of the Foreign Minister the receipt of a letter from the Spanish +Minister relative to that sentence. The Convention, however, refused to +hear it. [It will be remembered that a similar remonstrance was +forwarded by the English Government.] + +M. de Malesherbes, according to his promise to the King, went to the +Temple at nine o'clock on the morning of the 17th?. + + [Louis was fully prepared for his fate. During the calling of the + votes he asked M. de Malesherbes, "Have you not met near the Temple + the White Lady?"--" What do you mean?" replied he. "Do you not + know," resumed the King with a smile, "that when a prince of our + house is about to die, a female dressed in white is seen wandering + about the palace? My friends," added he to his defenders, "I am + about to depart before you for the land of the just, but there, at + least, we shall be reunited." In fact, his Majesty's only + apprehension seemed to be for his family.--ALISON.] + +"All is lost," he said to Clery. "The King is condemned." The King, who +saw him arrive, rose to receive him. + + [When M. de Malesherbes went to the Temple to announce the result of + the vote, he found Louis with his forehead resting on his hands, and + absorbed in a deep reverie. Without inquiring concerning his fate, + he said: "For two hours I have been considering whether, during my + whole reign, I have voluntarily given any cause of complaint to my + subjects; and with perfect sincerity I declare that I deserve no + reproach at their hands, and that I have never formed a wish but for + their happiness." LACRETELLE.] + +M. de Malesherbes, choked by sobs, threw himself at his feet. The King +raised him up and affectionately embraced him. When he could control his +voice, De Malesherbes informed the King of the decree sentencing him to +death; he made no movement of surprise or emotion, but seemed only +affected by the distress of his advocate, whom he tried to comfort. + +On the 20th of January, at two in the afternoon, Louis XVI. was awaiting +his advocates, when he heard the approach of a numerous party. He +stopped with dignity at the door of his apartment, apparently unmoved: +Garat then told him sorrowfully that he was commissioned to communicate +to him the decrees of the Convention. Grouvelle, secretary of the +Executive Council, read them to him. The first declared Louis XVI. +guilty of treason against the general safety of the State; the second +condemned him to death; the third rejected any appeal to the people; and +the fourth and last ordered his execution in twenty-four hours. Louis, +looking calmly round, took the paper from Grouvelle, and read Garat a +letter, in which he demanded from the Convention three days to prepare +for death, a confessor to assist him in his last moments, liberty to see +his family, and permission for them to leave France. Garat took the +letter, promising to submit it immediately to the Convention. + +Louis XVI. then went back into his room with great composure, ordered his +dinner, and ate as usual. There were no knives on the table, and his +attendants refused to let him have any. "Do they think me so cowardly," +he exclaimed, "as to lay violent hands on myself? I am innocent, and I +am not afraid to die." + +The Convention refused the delay, but granted some other demands which he +had made. Garat sent for Edgeworth de Firmont, the ecclesiastic whom +Louis XVI. had chosen, and took him in his own carriage to the Temple. +M. Edgeworth, on being ushered into the presence of the King, would have +thrown himself at his feet, but Louis instantly raised him, and both shed +tears of emotion. He then, with eager curiosity, asked various questions +concerning the clergy of France, several bishops, and particularly the +Archbishop of Paris, requesting him to assure the latter that he died +faithfully attached to his communion.--The clock having struck eight, he +rose, begged M. Edgeworth to wait, and retired with emotion, saying that +he was going to see his family. The municipal officers, unwilling to +lose sight of the King, even while with his family, had decided that he +should see them in the dining-room, which had a glass door, through which +they could watch all his motions without hearing what he said. At half- +past eight the door opened. The Queen, holding the Dauphin by the hand, +Madame Elisabeth, and Madame Royale rushed sobbing into the arms of Louis +XVI. The door was closed, and the municipal officers, Clery, and M. +Edgeworth placed themselves behind it. During the first moments, it was +but a scene of confusion and despair. Cries and lamentations prevented +those who were on the watch from distinguishing anything. At length the +conversation became more calm, and the Princesses, still holding the King +clasped in their arms, spoke with him in a low tone. "He related his +trial to my mother," says Madame Royale, "apologising for the wretches +who had condemned him. He told her that he would not consent to any +attempt to save him, which might excite disturbance in the country. +He then gave my brother some religious advice, and desired him, above +all, to forgive those who caused his death; and he gave us his blessing. +My mother was very desirous that the whole family should pass the night +with my father, but he opposed this, observing to her that he much needed +some hours of repose and quiet." After a long conversation, interrupted +by silence and grief, the King put an end to the painful meeting, +agreeing to see his family again at eight the next morning. "Do you +promise that you will?" earnestly inquired the Princesses. "Yes, yes," +sorrowfully replied the King. + + ["But when we were gone," says his daughter, "he requested that we + might not be permitted to return, as our presence afflicted him too + much."] + +At this moment the Queen held him by one arm, Madame Elisabeth by the +other, while Madame Royale clasped him round the waist, and the Dauphin +stood before him, with one hand in that of his mother. At the moment of +retiring Madame Royale fainted; she was carried away, and the King +returned to M. Edgeworth deeply depressed by this painful interview. +The King retired to rest about midnight; M. Edgeworth threw himself upon +a bed, and Clery took his place near the pillow of his master. + +Next morning, the 21st of January, at five, the King awoke, called Clery, +and dressed with great calmness. He congratulated himself on having +recovered his strength by sleep. Clery kindled a fire,, and moved a +chest of drawers, out of which he formed an altar. M. Edgeworth put on +his pontifical robes, and began to celebrate mass. Clery waited on him, +and the King listened, kneeling with the greatest devotion. He then +received the communion from the hands of M. Edgeworth, and after mass +rose with new vigour, and awaited with composure the moment for going to +the scaffold. He asked for scissors that Clery might cut his hair; but +the Commune refused to trust him with a pair. + +At this moment the drums were beating in the capital. All who belonged +to the armed sections repaired to their company with complete submission. +It was reported that four or five hundred devoted men, were to make a +dash upon the carriage, and rescue the King. The Convention, the +Commune, the Executive Council, and the Jacobins were sitting. At eight. +in the morning, Santerre, with a deputation from the Commune, the +department, and the criminal tribunal, repaired to the Temple. Louis +XVI., on hearing them arrive, rose and prepared to depart. He desired +Clery to transmit his last farewell to his wife, his sister, and his +children; he gave him a sealed packet, hair, and various trinkets, with +directions to deliver these articles to them. + + [In the course of the morning the King said to me: "You will give + this seal to my son and this ring to the Queen, and assure her that + it is with pain I part with it. This little packet contains the + hair of all my family; you will give her that, too. Tell the Queen, + my dear sister, and my children, that, although I promised to see + them again this morning, I have resolved to spare them the pang of + so cruel a separation. Tell them how much it costs me to go away + without receiving their embraces once more!" He wiped away some + tears, and then added, in the most mournful accents, "I charge you + to bear them my last farewell."--CLERY.] + +He then clasped his hand and thanked him for his services. After this he +addressed himself to one of the municipal officers, requesting him to +transmit his last will to the Commune. This officer, who had formerly +been a priest, and was named Jacques Roux, brutally replied that his +business was to conduct him to execution, and not to perform his +commissions. Another person took charge of it, and Louis, turning +towards the party, gave with firmness the signal for starting. + +Officers of gendarmerie were placed on the front seat of the carriage. +The King and M. Edgeworth occupied the back. During the ride, which was +rather long, the King read in M. Edgeworth's breviary the prayers for +persons at the point of death; the two gendarmes were astonished at his +piety and tranquil resignation. The vehicle advanced slowly, and amidst +universal silence. At the Place de la Revolution an extensive space had +been left vacant about the scaffold. Around this space were planted +cannon; the most violent of the Federalists were stationed about the +scaffold; and the vile rabble, always ready to insult genius, virtue, and +misfortune, when a signal is given it to do so, crowded behind the ranks +of the Federalists, and alone manifested some outward tokens of +satisfaction. + +At ten minutes past ten the carriage stopped. Louis XVI., rising +briskly, stepped out into the Place. Three executioners came up; he +refused their assistance, and took off his clothes himself. But, +perceiving that they were going to bind his hands, he made a movement of +indignation, and seemed ready to resist. M. Edgeworth gave him a last +look, and said, "Suffer this outrage, as a last resemblance to that God +who is about to be your reward." At these words the King suffered +himself to be bound and conducted to the scaffold. All at once Louis +hurriedly advanced to address the people. "Frenchmen," said he, in a +firm voice, "I die innocent of the crimes which are imputed to me; I +forgive the authors of my death, and I pray that my blood may not fall +upon France." He would have continued, but the drums were instantly +ordered to beat: their rolling drowned his voice; the executioners laid +hold of him, and M. Edgeworth took his leave in these memorable words: +"Son of Saint Louis, ascend to heaven!" As soon as the blood flowed, +furious wretches dipped their pikes and handkerchiefs in it, then +dispersed throughout Paris, shouting "Vive la Republique! Vive la +Nation!" and even went to the gates of the Temple to display brutal and +factious joy. + + [The body of Louis was, immediately after the execution, removed to + the ancient cemetery of the Madeleine. Large quantities of + quicklime were thrown into the grave, which occasioned so rapid a + decomposition that, when his remains were nought for in 1816, it was + with difficulty any part could be recovered. Over the spot where he + was interred Napoleon commenced the splendid Temple of Glory, after + the battle of Jena; and the superb edifice was completed by the + Bourbons, and now forms the Church of the Madeleine, the most + beautiful structure in Paris. Louis was executed on the same ground + where the Queen, Madame Elisabeth, and so many other noble victims + of the Revolution perished; where Robespierre and Danton afterwards + suffered; and where the Emperor Alexander and the allied sovereigns + took their station, when their victorious troops entered Paris in + 1814! The history of modern Europe has not a scene fraught with + equally interesting recollections to exhibit. It is now marked by + the colossal obelisk of blood-red granite which was brought from + Thebes, in Upper Egypt, in 1833, by the French Government.-- + ALLISON.] + + + + + The Royal Prisoners.--Separation of the Dauphin from His Family. + --Removal of the Queen. + +On the morning of the King's execution, according to the narrative of +Madame Royale, his family rose at six: "The night before, my mother had +scarcely strength enough to put my brother to bed; She threw herself, +dressed as she was, on her own bed, where we heard her shivering with +cold and grief all night long. At a quarter-past six the door opened; we +believed that we were sent for to the King, but it was only the officers +looking for a prayer-book for him. We did not, however, abandon the hope +of seeing him, till shouts of joy from the infuriated populace told us +that all was over. In the afternoon my mother asked to see Clery, who +probably had some message for her; we hoped that seeing him would +occasion a burst of grief which might relieve the state of silent and +choking agony in which we saw her." The request was refused, and the +officers who brought the refusal said Clery was in "a frightful state of +despair" at not being allowed to see the royal family; shortly afterwards +he was dismissed from the Temple. + +"We had now a little more freedom," continues the Princess; "our guards +even believed that we were about to be sent out of France; but nothing +could calm my mother's agony; no hope could touch her heart, and life or +death became indifferent to her. Fortunately my own affliction increased +my illness so seriously that it distracted her thoughts . . . . +My mother would go no more to the garden, because she must have passed +the door of what had been my father's room, and that she could not bear. +But fearing lest want of air should prove injurious to my brother and me, +about the end of February she asked permission to walk on the leads of +the Tower, and it was granted." + +The Council of the Commune, becoming aware of the interest which these +sad promenades excited, and the sympathy with which they were observed +from the neighbouring houses, ordered that the spaces between the +battlements should be filled up with shutters, which intercepted the +view. But while the rules for the Queen's captivity were again made more +strict, some of the municipal commissioners tried slightly to alleviate +it, and by means of M. de Hue, who was at liberty in Paris, and the +faithful Turgi, who remained in the Tower, some communications passed +between the royal family and their friends. The wife of Tison, who +waited on the Queen, suspected and finally denounced these more lenient +guardians,--[Toulan, Lepitre, Vincent, Bruno, and others.]--who were +executed, the royal prisoners being subjected to a close examination. + +"On the 20th of April," says Madame Royale, "my mother and I had just +gone to bed when Hebert arrived with several municipals. We got up +hastily, and these men read us a decree of the Commune directing that we +should be searched. My poor brother was asleep; they tore him from his +bed under the pretext of examining it. My mother took him up, shivering +with cold. All they took was a shopkeeper's card which my mother had +happened to keep, a stick of sealing-wax from my aunt, and from me 'une +sacre coeur de Jesus' and a prayer for the welfare of France. The search +lasted from half-past ten at night till four o'clock in the morning." + +The next visit of the officials was to Madame Elisabeth alone; they found +in her room a hat which the King had worn during his imprisonment, and +which she had begged him to give her as a souvenir. They took it from +her in spite of her entreaties. "It was suspicious," said the cruel and +contemptible tyrants. + +The Dauphin became ill with fever, and it was long before his mother, +who watched by him night and day, could obtain medicine or advice for +him. When Thierry was at last allowed to see him his treatment relieved +the most violent symptoms, but, says Madame Royale, "his health was never +reestablished. Want of air and exercise did him great mischief, as well +as the kind of life which this poor child led, who at eight years of age +passed his days amidst the tears of his friends, and in constant anxiety +and agony." + +While the Dauphin's health was causing his family such alarm, they were +deprived of the services of Tison's wife, who became ill, and finally +insane, and was removed to the Hotel Dieu, where her ravings were +reported to the Assembly and made the ground of accusations against the +royal prisoners. + + [This woman, troubled by remorse, lost her reason, threw herself at + the feet of the Queen, implored her pardon, and disturbed the Temple + for many days with the sight and the noise of her madness. The + Princesses, forgetting the denunciations of this unfortunate being, + in consideration of her repentance and insanity, watched over her by + turns, and deprived themselves of their own food to relieve her.-- + LAMARTINE, "History of the Girondists," vol. iii., p.140.] + +No woman took her place, and the Princesses themselves made their beds, +swept their rooms, and waited upon the Queen. + +Far worse punishments than menial work were prepared for them. On 3d +July a decree of the Convention ordered that the Dauphin should be +separated from his family and "placed in the most secure apartment of the +Tower." As soon as he heard this decree pronounced, says his sister, "he +threw himself into my mother's arms, and with violent cries entreated not +to be parted from her. My mother would not let her son go, and she +actually defended against the efforts of the officers the bed in which +she had placed him. The men threatened to call up the guard and use +violence. My mother exclaimed that they had better kill her than tear +her child from her. At last they threatened our lives, and my mother's +maternal tenderness forced her to the sacrifice. My aunt and I dressed +the child, for my poor mother had no longer strength for anything. +Nevertheless, when he was dressed, she took him up in her arms and +delivered him herself to the officers, bathing him with her tears, +foreseeing that she was never to behold him again. The poor little +fellow embraced us all tenderly, and was carried away in a flood of +tears. My mother's horror was extreme when she heard that Simon, a +shoemaker by trade, whom she had seen as a municipal officer in the +Temple, was the person to whom her child was confided . . . . The +officers now no longer remained in my mother's apartment; they only came +three times a day to bring our meals and examine the bolts and bars of +our windows; we were locked up together night and day. We often went up +to the Tower, because my brother went, too, from the other side. The +only pleasure my mother enjoyed was seeing him through a crevice as he +passed at a distance. She would watch for hours together to see him as +he passed. It was her only hope, her only thought." + +The Queen was soon deprived even of this melancholy consolation. On 1st +August, 1793, it was resolved that she should be tried. Robespierre +opposed the measure, but Barere roused into action that deep-rooted +hatred of the Queen which not even the sacrifice of her life availed to +eradicate. "Why do the enemies of the Republic still hope for success?" +he asked. "Is it because we have too long forgotten the crimes of the +Austrian? The children of Louis the Conspirator are hostages for the +Republic . . .but behind them lurks a woman who has been the cause of +all the disasters of France." + +At two o'clock on the morning of the following day, the municipal +officers "awoke us," says Madame Royale, "to read to my mother the decree +of the Convention, which ordered her removal to the Conciergerie, + + [The Conciergerie was originally, as its name implies, the porter's + lodge of the ancient Palace of Justice, and became in time a prison, + from the custom of confining there persons who had committed + trifling offences about the Court.] + +preparatory to her trial. She heard it without visible emotion, and +without speaking a single word. My aunt and I immediately asked to be +allowed to accompany my mother, but this favour was refused us. All the +time my mother was making up a bundle of clothes to take with her, these +officers never left her. She was even obliged to dress herself before +them, and they asked for her pockets, taking away the trifles they +contained. She embraced me, charging me to keep up my spirits and my +courage, to take tender care of my aunt, and obey her as a second mother. +She then threw herself into my aunt's arms, and recommended her children +to her care; my aunt replied to her in a whisper, and she was then +hurried away. In leaving the Temple she struck her head against the +wicket, not having stooped low enough. + + [Mathieu, the gaoler, used to say, "I make Madame Veto and her + sister and daughter, proud though they are, salute me; for the door + is so low they cannot pass without bowing."] + +The officers asked whether she had hurt herself. 'No,' she replied, +'nothing can hurt me now." + + + + + The Last Moments of Marie Antoinette. + +We have already seen what changes had been made in the Temple. Marie +Antoinette had been separated from her sister, her daughter, and her Son, +by virtue of a decree which ordered the trial and exile of the last +members of the family of the Bourbons. She had been removed to the +Conciergerie, and there, alone in a narrow prison, she was reduced to +what was strictly necessary, like the other prisoners. The imprudence of +a devoted friend had rendered her situation still more irksome. +Michonnis, a member of the municipality, in whom she had excited a warm +interest, was desirous of introducing to her a person who, he said, +wished to see her out of curiosity. This man, a courageous emigrant, +threw to her a carnation, in which was enclosed a slip of very fine paper +with these words: "Your friends are ready,"--false hope, and equally +dangerous for her who received it, and for him who gave it! Michonnis +and the emigrant were detected and forthwith apprehended; and the +vigilance exercised in regard to the unfortunate prisoner became from +that day more rigorous than ever. + + [The Queen was lodged in a room called the council chamber, which + was considered as the moat unwholesome apartment in the Conciergerie + on account of its dampness and the bad smells by which it was + continually affected. Under pretence of giving her a person to wait + upon her they placed near her a spy,--a man of a horrible + countenance and hollow, sepulchral voice. This wretch, whose name + was Barassin, was a robber and murderer by profession. Such was the + chosen attendant on the Queen of France! A few days before her + trial this wretch was removed and a gendarme placed in her chamber, + who watched over her night and day, and from whom she was not + separated, even when in bed, but by a ragged curtain. In this + melancholy abode Marie Antoinette had no other dress than an old + black gown, stockings with holes, which she was forced to mend every + day; and she was entirely destitute of shoes.--DU BROCA.] + +Gendarmes were to mount guard incessantly at the door of her prison, and +they were expressly forbidden to answer anything that she might say to +them. + +That wretch Hebert, the deputy of Chaumette, and editor of the disgusting +paper Pere Duchesne, a writer of the party of which Vincent, Ronsin, +Varlet, and Leclerc were the leaders--Hebert had made it his particular +business to torment the unfortunate remnant of the dethroned family. +He asserted that the family of the tyrant ought not to be better treated +than any sans-culotte family; and he had caused a resolution to be passed +by which the sort of luxury in which the prisoners in the Temple were +maintained was to be suppressed. They were no longer to be allowed +either poultry or pastry; they were reduced to one sort of aliment for +breakfast, and to soup or broth and a single dish for dinner, to two +dishes for supper, and half a bottle of wine apiece. Tallow candles were +to be furnished instead of wag, pewter instead of silver plate, and delft +ware instead of porcelain. The wood and water carriers alone were +permitted to enter their room, and that only accompanied by two +commissioners. Their food was to be introduced to them by means of a +turning box. The numerous establishment was reduced to a cook and an +assistant, two men-servants, and a woman-servant to attend to the linen. + +As soon as this resolution was passed, Hebert had repaired to the Temple +and inhumanly taken away from the unfortunate prisoners even the most +trifling articles to which they attached a high value. Eighty Louis +which Madame Elisabeth had in reserve, and which she had received from +Madame de Lamballe, were also taken away. No one is more dangerous, more +cruel, than the man without acquirements, without education, clothed with +a recent authority. If, above all, he possess a base nature, if, like +Hebert, who was check-taker at the door of a theatre, and embezzled money +out of the receipts, he be destitute of natural morality, and if he leap +all at once from the mud of his condition into power, he is as mean as he +is atrocious. Such was Hebert in his conduct at the Temple. He did not +confine himself to the annoyances which we have mentioned. He and some +others conceived the idea of separating the young Prince from his aunt +and sister. A shoemaker named Simon and his wife were the instructors to +whom it was deemed right to consign him for the purpose of giving him a +sans-cullotte education. Simon and his wife were shut up in the Temple, +and, becoming prisoners with the unfortunate child, were directed to +bring him up in their own way. Their food was better than that of the +Princesses, and they shared the table of the municipal commissioners who +were on duty. Simon was permitted to go down, accompanied by two +commissioners, to the court of the Temple, for the purpose of giving the +Dauphin a little exercise. + +Hebert conceived the infamous idea of wringing from this boy revelations +to criminate his unhappy mother. Whether this wretch imputed to the +child false revelations, or abused his, tender age and his condition to +extort from him what admissions soever he pleased, he obtained a +revolting deposition; and as the youth of the Prince did not admit of his +being brought before the tribunal, Hebert appeared and detailed the +infamous particulars which he had himself either dictated or invented. + +It was on the 14th of October that Marie Antoinette appeared before her +judges. Dragged before the sanguinary tribunal by inexorable +revolutionary vengeance, she appeared there without any chance of +acquittal, for it was not to obtain her acquittal that the Jacobins had +brought her before it. It was necessary, however, to make some charges. +Fouquier therefore collected the rumours current among the populace ever +since the arrival of the Princess in France, and, in the act of +accusation, he charged her with having plundered the exchequer, first for +her pleasures, and afterwards in order to transmit money to her brother, +the Emperor. He insisted on the scenes of the 5th and 6th of October, +and on the dinners of the Life Guards, alleging that she had at that +period framed a plot, which obliged the people to go to Versailles to +frustrate it. He afterwards accused her of having governed her husband, +interfered in the choice of ministers, conducted the intrigues with the +deputies gained by the Court, prepared the journey to Varennes, provoked +the war, and transmitted to the enemy's generals all our plans of +campaign. He further accused her of having prepared a new conspiracy on +the 10th of August, of having on that day caused the people to be fired +upon, having induced her husband to defend himself by taxing him with +cowardice; lastly, of having never ceased to plot and correspond with +foreigners since her captivity in the Temple, and of having there treated +her young son as King. We here observe how, on the terrible day of long- +deferred vengeance, when subjects at length break forth and strike such +of their princes as have not deserved the blow, everything is distorted +and converted into crime. We see how the profusion and fondness for +pleasure, so natural to a young princess, how her attachment to her +native country, her influence over her husband, her regrets, always more +indiscreet in a woman than a man, nay, even her bolder courage, appeared +to their inflamed or malignant imaginations. + +It was necessary to produce witnesses. Lecointre, deputy of Versailles, +who had seen what had passed on the 5th and 6th of October, Hebert, who +had frequently visited the Temple, various clerks in the ministerial +offices, and several domestic servants of the old Court were summoned.. +Admiral d'Estaing, formerly commandant of the guard of Versailles; +Manuel, the ex-procureur of the Commune; Latour-du-Pin, minister of war +in 1789; the venerable Bailly, who, it was said, had been, with La +Fayette, an accomplice in the journey to Varennes; lastly, Valaze one of +the Girondists destined to the scaffold, were taken from their prisons +and compelled to give evidence. + +No precise fact was elicited. Some had seen the Queen in high spirits +when the Life Guards testified their attachment; others had seen her +vexed and dejected while being conducted to Paris, or brought back from +Varennes; these had been present at splendid festivities which must have +cost enormous sums; those had heard it said in the ministerial offices +that the Queen was adverse to the sanction of the decrees. An ancient +waiting-woman of the Queen had heard the Duc de Coigny say, in 1788, that +the Emperor had already received two hundred millions from France to make +war upon the Turks. + +The cynical Hebert, being brought before the unfortunate Queen, dared at +length to prefer the charges wrung from the young Prince. He said that +Charles Capet had given Simon an account of the journey to Varennes, and +mentioned La Fayette and Bailly as having cooperated in it. He then +added that this boy was addicted to odious and very premature vices for +his age; that he had been surprised by Simon, who, on questioning him, +learned that he derived from his mother the vices in which he indulged. +Hebert said that it was no doubt the intention of Marie Antoinette, by +weakening thus, early the physical constitution of her son, to secure to +herself the means of ruling him in case he should ever ascend the throne. +The rumours which had been whispered for twenty years by a malicious +Court had given the people a most unfavourable opinion of the morals of +the Queen. That audience, however, though wholly Jacobin, was disgusted +at the accusations of Hebert. + + [Can there be a more infernal invention than that made against the. + Queen by Hdbert,-namely, that she had had an improper intimacy with + her own son? He made use of this sublime idea of which he boasted + in order to prejudice the women against the Queen, and to prevent + her execution from exciting pity. It had, however, no other effect + than that of disgusting all parties.--PRUDHOMME.] + +He nevertheless persisted in supporting them. + + [Hebert did not long survive her in whose sufferings he had taken + such an infamous part. He was executed on 26th March, 1794.] + +The unhappy mother made no reply. Urged a new to explain herself, she +said, with extraordinary emotion, "I thought that human nature would +excuse me from answering such an imputation, but I appeal from it to the +heart of every mother here present." This noble and simple reply +affected all who heard it. + +In the depositions of the witnesses, however, all was not so bitter for +Marie Antoinette. The brave D'Estaing, whose enemy she had been, would +not say anything to inculpate her, and spoke only of the courage which +she had shown on the 5th and 6th of October, and of the noble resolution +which she had expressed, to die beside her husband rather than fly. +Manuel, in spite of his enmity to the Court during the time of the +Legislative Assembly, declared that he could not say anything against the +accused. When the venerable Bailly was brought forward, who formerly so +often predicted to the Court the calamities which its imprudence must +produce, he appeared painfully affected; and when he was asked if he knew +the wife of Capet, "Yes," said he, bowing respectfully, "I have known +Madame." He declared that he knew nothing, and maintained that the +declarations extorted from the young Prince relative to the journey to +Varennes were false. In recompense for his deposition he was assailed +with outrageous reproaches, from which he might judge what fate would +soon be awarded to himself. + +In all the evidence there appeared but two serious facts, attested by +Latour-du-Pin and Valaze, who deposed to them because they could not help +it. Latour-du-Pin declared that Marie Antoinette had applied to him for +an accurate statement of the armies while he was minister of war. +Valaze, always cold, but respectful towards misfortune, would not say +anything to criminate the accused; yet he could not help declaring that, +as a member of the commission of twenty-four, being charged with his +colleagues to examine the papers found at the house of Septeuil, +treasurer of the civil list, he had seen bonds for various sums signed +Antoinette, which was very natural; but he added that he had also seen a +letter in which the minister requested the King to transmit to the Queen +the copy of the plan of campaign which he had in his hands. The most +unfavourable construction was immediately put upon these two facts, the +application for a statement of the armies, and the communication of the +plan of campaign; and it was concluded that they could not be wanted for +any other purpose than to be sent to the enemy, for it was not supposed +that a young princess should turn her attention, merely for her own +satisfaction, to matters of administration and military, plans. After +these depositions, several others were received respecting the expenses +of the Court, the influence of the Queen in public affairs, the scene of +the 10th of August, and what had passed in the Temple; and the most vague +rumours and most trivial circumstances were eagerly caught at as proofs. + +Marie Antoinette frequently repeated, with presence of mind and firmness, +that there was no precise fact against her; + + [At first the Queen, consulting only her own sense of dignity, had + resolved on her trial to make no other reply to the questions of her + judges than "Assassinate me as you have already assassinated my + husband!" Afterwards, however, she determined to follow the example + of the King, exert herself in her defence, and leave her judges + without any excuse or pretest for putting her to death.--WEBER'S + "Memoirs of Marie Antoinette."] + +that, besides, though the wife of Louis XVI., she was not answerable for +any of the acts of his reign. Fouquier nevertheless declared her to be +sufficiently convicted; Chaveau-Lagarde made unavailing efforts to defend +her; and the unfortunate Queen was condemned to suffer the same fate as +her husband. + +Conveyed back to the Conciergerie, she there passed in tolerable +composure the night preceding her execution, and, on the morning of the +following day, the 16th of October, + + [The Queen, after having written and prayed, slept soundly for some + hours. On her waking, Bault's daughter dressed her and adjusted her + hair with more neatness than on other days. Marie Antoinette wore a + white gown, a white handkerchief covered her shoulders, a white cap + her hair; a black ribbon bound this cap round her temples .... The + cries, the looks, the laughter, the jests of the people overwhelmed + her with humiliation; her colour, changing continually from purple + to paleness, betrayed her agitation .... On reaching the scaffold + she inadvertently trod on the executioner's foot. "Pardon me," she + said, courteously. She knelt for an instant and uttered a half- + audible prayer; then rising and glancing towards the towers of the + Temple, "Adieu, once again, my children," she said; "I go to rejoin + your father."--LAMARTINE.] + +she was conducted, amidst a great concourse of the populace, to the fatal +spot where, ten months before, Louis XVI. had perished. She listened +with calmness to the exhortations of the ecclesiastic who accompanied +her, and cast an indifferent look at the people who had so often +applauded her beauty and her grace, and who now as warmly applauded her +execution. On reaching the foot of the scaffold she perceived the +Tuileries, and appeared to be moved; but she hastened to ascend the fatal +ladder, and gave herself up with courage to the executioner. + + [Sorrow had blanched the Queen's once beautiful hair; but her + features and air still commanded the admiration of all who beheld + her; her cheeks, pale and emaciated, were occasionally tinged with a + vivid colour at the mention of those she had lost. When led out to + execution, she was dressed in white; she had cut off her hair with + her own hands. Placed in a tumbrel, with her arms tied behind her, + she was taken by a circuitous route to the Place de la Revolution, + and she ascended the scaffold with a firm and dignified step, as if + she had been about to take her place on a throne by the side of her + husband.-LACRETELLE.] + +The infamous wretch exhibited her head to the people, as he was +accustomed to do when he had sacrificed an illustrious victim. + + + + + The Last Separation.--Execution of Madame Elisabeth. + --Death of the Dauphin. + +The two Princesses left in the Temple were now almost inconsolable; they +spent days and nights in tears, whose only alleviation was that they were +shed together. "The company of my aunt, whom I loved so tenderly," said +Madame Royale, "was a great comfort to me. But alas! all that I loved +was perishing around me, and I was soon to lose her also . . . . In +the beginning of September I had an illness caused solely by my anxiety +about my mother; I never heard a drum beat that I did not expect another +3d of September."--[when the head of the Princesse de Lamballe was +carried to the Temple.] + +In the course of the month the rigour of their captivity was much +increased. The Commune ordered that they should only have one room; that +Tison (who had done the heaviest of the household work for them, and +since the kindness they showed to his insane wife had occasionally given +them tidings of the Dauphin) should be imprisoned in the turret; that +they should be supplied with only the barest necessaries; and that no one +should enter their room save to carry water and firewood. Their quantity +of firing was reduced, and they were not allowed candles. They were also +forbidden to go on the leads, and their large sheets were taken away, +"lest--notwithstanding the gratings!--they should escape from the +windows." + +On 8th October, 1793, Madame Royale was ordered to go downstairs, that +she might be interrogated by some municipal officers. "My aunt, who was +greatly affected, would have followed, but they stopped her. She asked +whether I should be permitted to come up again; Chaumette assured her +that I should. 'You may trust,' said he, 'the word of an honest +republican. She shall return.' I soon found myself in my brother's +room, whom I embraced tenderly; but we were torn asunder, and I was +obliged to go into another room.--[This was the last time the brother and +sister met] . . . Chaumette then questioned me about a thousand +shocking things of which they accused my mother and aunt; I was so +indignant at hearing such horrors that, terrified as I was, I could not +help exclaiming that they were infamous falsehoods. + +"But in spite of my tears they still pressed their questions. There were +some things which I did not comprehend, but of which I understood enough +to make me weep with indignation and horror . . . . They then asked +me about Varennes, and other things. I answered as well as I could +without implicating anybody. I had always heard my parents say that it +were better to die than to implicate anybody." When the examination was +over the Princess begged to be allowed to join her mother, but Chaumette +said he could not obtain permission for her to do so. She was then +cautioned to say nothing about her examination to her aunt, who was next +to appear before them. Madame Elisabeth, her niece declares, "replied +with still more contempt to their shocking questions." + +The only intimation of the Queen's fate which her daughter and her +sister-in-law were allowed to receive was through hearing her sentence +cried by the newsman. But "we could not persuade ourselves that she was +dead," writes Madame Royale. "A hope, so natural to the unfortunate, +persuaded us that she must have been saved. For eighteen months I +remained in this cruel suspense. We learnt also by the cries of the +newsman the death of the Duc d'Orleans. + + [The Duo d'Orleans, the early and interested propagator of the + Revolution, was its next victim. Billaud Varennes said in the + Convention: "The time has come when all the conspirators should be + known and struck. I demand that we no longer pass over in silence a + man whom we seem to have forgotten, despite the numerous facts + against him. I demand that D'ORLEANS be sent to the Revolutionary + Tribunal." The Convention, once his hireling adulators, unanimously + supported the proposal. In vain he alleged his having been + accessory to the disorders of 5th October, his support of the revolt + on 10th August, 1792, his vote against the King on 17th January, + 1793. His condemnation was pronounced. He then asked only for a + delay of twenty-four hours, and had a repast carefully prepared, on + which he feasted with avidity. When led out for execution he gazed + with a smile on the Palais Royal, the scene of his former orgies. + He was detained for a quarter of an hour before that palace by the + order of Robespierre, who had asked his daughter's hand, and + promised in return to excite a tumult in which the Duke's life + should be saved. Depraved though he was, he would not consent to + such a sacrifice, and he met his fate with stoical fortitude.-- + ALLISON, vol. iii., p. 172.] + +It was the only piece of news that reached us during the whole winter." + +The severity with which the prisoners were treated was carried into every +detail of their life. The officers who guarded them took away their +chessmen and cards because some of them were named kings and queens, and +all the books with coats of arms on them; they refused to get ointment +for a gathering on Madame Elisabeth's arm; they, would not allow her to +make a herb-tea which she thought would strengthen her niece; they +declined to supply fish or eggs on fast-days or during Lent, bringing +only coarse fat meat, and brutally replying to all remonstances, "None +but fools believe in that stuff nowadays." Madame Elisabeth never made +the officials another request, but reserved some of the bread and cafe- +au-fait from her breakfast for her second meal. The time during which +she could be thus tormented was growing short. + +On 9th May, 1794, as the Princesses were going to bed, the outside bolts +of the door were unfastened and a loud knocking was heard. "When my aunt +was dressed," says Madame Royale, "she opened the door, and they said to +her, 'Citoyenne, come down.'--'And my niece?'--'We shall take care of her +afterwards.' She embraced me, and to calm my agitation promised to +return. 'No, citoyenne,' said the men, 'bring your bonnet; you shall not +return.' They overwhelmed her with abuse, but she bore it patiently, +embracing me, and exhorting me to trust in Heaven, and never to forget +the last commands of my father and mother." + +Madame Elisabeth was then taken to the Conciergerie, where she was +interrogated by the vice-president at midnight,' and then allowed to take +some hours rest on the bed on which Marie Antoinette had slept for the +last time. In the morning she was brought before the tribunal, with +twenty-four other prisoners, of varying ages and both sexes, some of whom +had once been frequently seen at Court. + +"Of what has Elisabeth to complain?" Fouquier-Tinville satirically +asked. "At the foot of the guillotine, surrounded by faithful nobility, +she may imagine herself again at Versailles." + +"You call my brother a tyrant," the Princess replied to her accuser; "if +he had been what you say, you would not be where you are, nor I before +you!" + +She was sentenced to death, and showed neither surprise nor grief. "I am +ready to die," she said, "happy in the prospect of rejoining in a better +world those whom I loved on earth." + +On being taken to the room where those condemned to suffer at the same +time as herself were assembled, she spoke to them with so much piety and +resignation that they were encouraged by her example to show calmness and +courage like her own. The women, on leaving the cart, begged to embrace +her, and she said some words of comfort to each in turn as they mounted +the scaffold, which she was not allowed to ascend till all her companions +had been executed before her eyes. + + [Madame Elisabeth was one of those rare personages only seen at + distant intervals during the course of ages; she set an example of + steadfast piety in the palace of kings, she lived amid her family + the favourite of all and the admiration of the world .... When I + went to Versailles Madame Elisabeth was twenty-two years of age. + Her plump figure and pretty pink colour must have attracted notice, + and her air of calmness and contentment even more than her beauty. + She was fond of billiards, and her elegance and courage in riding + were remarkable. But she never allowed these amusements to + interfere with her religious observances. At that time her wish to + take the veil at St. Cyr was much talked of, but the King was too + fond of his sister to endure the separation. There were also + rumours of a marriage between Madame Elisabeth and the Emperor + Joseph. The Queen was sincerely attached to her brother, and loved + her sister-in-law most tenderly; she ardently desired this marriage + as a means of raising the Princess to one of the first thrones in + Europe, and as a possible means of turning the Emperor from his + innovations. She had been very carefully educated, had talent in + music and painting, spoke Italian and a little Latin, and understood + mathematics.... Her last moments were worthy of her courage and + virtue.--D'HEZECQUES's "Recollections," pp. 72-75.] + +"It is impossible to imagine my distress at finding myself separated from +my aunt," says Madame Royale. "Since I had been able to appreciate her +merits, I saw in her nothing but religion, gentleness, meekness, modesty, +and a devoted attachment to her family; she sacrificed her life for them, +since nothing could persuade her to leave the King and Queen. I never +can be sufficiently grateful to her for her goodness to me, which ended +only with her life. She looked on me as her child, and I honoured and +loved her as a second mother. I was thought to be very like her in +countenance, and I feel conscious that I have something of her character. +Would to God I might imitate her virtues, and hope that I may hereafter +deserve to meet her, as well as my dear parents, in the bosom of our +Creator, where I cannot doubt that they enjoy the reward of their +virtuous lives and meritorious deaths." + +Madame Royale vainly begged to be allowed to rejoin her mother or her +aunt, or at least to know their fate. The municipal officers would tell +her nothing, and rudely refused her request to have a woman placed with +her. "I asked nothing but what seemed indispensable, though it was often +harshly refused," she says. "But I at least could keep myself clean. I +had soap and water, and carefully swept out my room every day. I had no +light, but in the long days I did not feel this privation much . . . . +I had some religious works and travels, which I had read over and over. +I had also some knitting, 'qui m'ennuyait beaucoup'." Once, she +believes, Robespierre visited her prison: + + [It has been said that Robespierre vainly tried to obtain the hand + of Mademoiselle d'Orleans. It was also rumoured that Madame Royale + herself owed her life to his matrimonial ambition.] + +"The officers showed him great respect; the people in the Tower did not +know him, or at least would not tell me who he was. He stared insolently +at me, glanced at my books, and, after joining the municipal officers in +a search, retired." + + [On another occasion "three men in scarfs," who entered the + Princess's room, told her that they did not see why she should wish + to be released, as she seemed very comfortable! "It is dreadful,' + I replied, 'to be separated for more than a year from one's mother, + without even hearing what has become of her or of my aunt.'--'You + are not ill?'--'No, monsieur, but the cruellest illness is that of + the heart'--' We can do nothing for you. Be patient, and submit to + the justice and goodness of the French people: I had nothing more to + say."--DUCHESSE D'ANGOULEME, "Royal Memoirs," p. 273.] + +When Laurent was appointed by the Convention to the charge of the young +prisoners, Madame Royale was treated with more consideration. "He was +always courteous," she says; he restored her tinderbox, gave her fresh +books, and allowed her candles and as much firewood as she wanted, "which +pleased me greatly." This simple expression of relief gives a clearer +idea of what the delicate girl must have suffered than a volume of +complaints. + +But however hard Madame Royale's lot might be, that of the Dauphin was +infinitely harder. Though only eight years old when he entered the +Temple, he was by nature and education extremely precocious; "his memory +retained everything, and his sensitiveness comprehended everything." His +features "recalled the somewhat effeminate look of Louis XV., and the +Austrian hauteur of Maria Theresa; his blue eyes, aquiline nose, elevated +nostrils, well-defined mouth, pouting lips, chestnut hair parted in the +middle and falling in thick curls on his shoulders, resembled his mother +before her years of tears and torture. All the beauty of his race, by +both descents, seemed to reappear in him."--[Lamartine]-- For some time +the care of his parents preserved his health and cheerfulness even in the +Temple; but his constitution was weakened by the fever recorded by his +sister, and his gaolers were determined that he should never regain +strength. + +"What does the Convention intend to do with him?" asked Simon, when the +innocent victim was placed in his clutches. "Transport him?" + +"No." + +"Kill him?" + +"No." + +"Poison him?" + +"No." + +"What, then?" + +"Why, get rid of him." + +For such a purpose they could not have chosen their instruments better. +"Simon and his wife, cut off all those fair locks that had been his +youthful glory and his mother's pride. This worthy pair stripped him of +the mourning he wore for his father; and as they did so, they called it +'playing at the game of the spoiled king.' They alternately induced him +to commit excesses, and then half starved him. They beat him +mercilessly; nor was the treatment by night less brutal than that by day. +As soon as the weary boy had sunk into his first profound sleep, they +would loudly call him by name, 'Capet! Capet!' Startled, nervous, bathed +in perspiration, or sometimes trembling with cold, he would spring up, +rush through the dark, and present himself at Simon's bedside, murmuring, +tremblingly, 'I am here, citizen.'--'Come nearer; let me feel you.' +He would approach the bed as he was ordered, although he knew the +treatment that awaited him. Simon would buffet him on the head, or kick +him away, adding the remark, 'Get to bed again, wolfs cub; I only wanted +to know that you were safe.' On one of these occasions, when the child +had fallen half stunned upon his own miserable couch, and lay there +groaning and faint with pain, Simon roared out with a laugh, 'Suppose you +were king, Capet, what would you do to me?' The child thought of his +father's dying words, and said, 'I would forgive you.'"--[THIERS] + +The change in the young Prince's mode of life, and the cruelties and +caprices to which he was subjected, soon made him fall ill, says his +sister. "Simon forced him to eat to excess, and to drink large +quantities of wine, which he detested . . . . He grew extremely fat +without increasing in height or strength." His aunt and sister, deprived +of the pleasure of tending him, had the pain of hearing his childish +voice raised in the abominable songs his gaolers taught him. The +brutality of Simon "depraved at once the body and soul of his pupil. He +called him the young wolf of the Temple. He treated him as the young of +wild animals are treated when taken from the mother and reduced to +captivity,--at once intimidated by blows and enervated by taming. He +punished for sensibility; he rewarded meanness; he encouraged vice; he +made the child wait on him at table, sometimes striking him on the face +with a knotted towel, sometimes raising the poker and threatening to +strike him with it." + + [Simon left the Temple to become a municipal officer. He was + involved in the overthrow of Robespierre, and guillotined the day + after him, 29th July, 1794.] + +Yet when Simon was removed the poor young Prince's condition became even +worse. His horrible loneliness induced an apathetic stupor to which any +suffering would have been preferable. "He passed his days without any +kind of occupation; they did not allow him light in the evening. His +keepers never approached him but to give him food;" and on the rare +occasions when they took him to the platform of the Tower, he was unable +or unwilling to move about. When, in November, 1794, a commissary named +Gomin arrived at the Temple, disposed to treat the little prisoner with +kindness, it was too late. "He took extreme care of my brother," says +Madame Royale. "For a long time the unhappy child had been shut up in +darkness, and he was dying of fright. He was very grateful for the +attentions of Gomin, and became much attached to him." But his physical +condition was alarming, and, owing to Gomin's representations, a +commission was instituted to examine him. "The commissioners appointed +were Harmond, Mathieu, and Reverchon, who visited 'Louis Charles,' as he +was now called, in the month of February, 1795. They found the young +Prince seated at a square deal table, at which he was playing with some +dirty cards, making card houses and the like,--the materials having been +furnished him, probably, that they might figure in the report as +evidences of indulgence. He did not look up from the table as the +commissioners entered. He was in a slate-coloured dress, bareheaded; the +room was reported as clean, the bed in good condition, the linen fresh; +his clothes were also reported as new; but, in spite of all these +assertions, it is well known that his bed had not been made for months, +that he had not left his room, nor was permitted to leave it, for any +purpose whatever, that it was consequently uninhabitable, and that he was +covered with vermin and with sores. The swellings at his knees alone +were sufficient to disable him from walking. One of the commissioners +approached the young Prince respectfully. The latter did not raise his +head. Harmond in a kind voice begged him to speak to them. The eyes of +the boy remained fixed on the table before him. They told him of the +kindly intentions of the Government, of their hopes that he would yet be +happy, and their desire that he would speak unreservedly to the medical +man that was to visit him. He seemed to listen with profound attention, +but not a single word passed his lips. It was an heroic principle that +impelled that poor young heart to maintain the silence of a mute in +presence of these men. He remembered too well the days when three other +commissaries waited on him, regaled him with pastry and wine, and +obtained from him that hellish accusation against the mother that he +loved. He had learnt by some means the import of the act, so far as it +was an injury to his mother. He now dreaded seeing again three +commissaries, hearing again kind words, and being treated again with fine +promises. Dumb as death itself he sat before them, and remained +motionless as stone, and as mute." [THIERS] + +His disease now made rapid progress, and Gomin and Lasne, superintendents +of the Temple, thinking it necessary to inform the Government of the +melancholy condition of their prisoner, wrote on the register: "Little +Capet is unwell." No notice was taken of this account, which was renewed +next day in more urgent terms: "Little Capet is dangerously ill." Still +there was no word from beyond the walls. "We must knock harder," said +the keepers to each other, and they added, "It is feared he will not +live," to the words "dangerously ill." At length, on Wednesday, 6th May, +1795, three days after the first report, the authorities appointed M. +Desault to give the invalid the assistance of his art. After having +written down his name on the register he was admitted to see the Prince. +He made a long and very attentive examination of the unfortunate child, +asked him many questions without being able to obtain an answer, and +contented himself with prescribing a decoction of hops, to be taken by +spoonfuls every half-hour, from six o'clock in the morning till eight in +the evening. On the first day the Prince steadily refused to take it. +In vain Gomin several times drank off a glass of the potion in his +presence; his example proved as ineffectual as his words. Next day Lasne +renewed his solicitations. "Monsieur knows very well that I desire +nothing but the good of his health, and he distresses me deeply by thus +refusing to take what might contribute to it. I entreat him as a favour +not to give me this cause of grief." And as Lasne, while speaking, began +to taste the potion in a glass, the child took what he offered him out of +his hands. "You have, then, taken an oath that I should drink it," said +he, firmly; "well, give it me, I will drink it." From that moment he +conformed with docility to whatever was required of him, but the policy +of the Commune had attained its object; help had been withheld till it +was almost a mockery to supply it. + +The Prince's weakness was excessive; his keepers could scarcely drag him +to the, top of the Tower; walking hurt his tender feet, and at every step +he stopped to press the arm of Lasne with both hands upon his breast. At +last he suffered so much that it was no longer possible for him to walk, +and his keeper carried him about, sometimes on the platform, and +sometimes in the little tower, where the royal family had lived at first. +But the slight improvement to his health occasioned by the change of air +scarcely compensated for the pain which his fatigue gave him. On the +battlement of the platform nearest the left turret, the rain had, by +perseverance through ages, hollowed out a kind of basin. The water that +fell remained there for several days; and as, during the spring of 1795, +storms were of frequent occurrence, this little sheet of water was kept +constantly supplied. Whenever the child was brought out upon the +platform, he saw a little troop of sparrows, which used to come to drink +and bathe in this reservoir. At first they flew away at his approach, +but from being accustomed to see him walking quietly there every day, +they at last grew more familiar, and did not spread their wings for +flight till he came up close to them. They were always the same, he knew +them by sight, and perhaps like himself they were inhabitants of that +ancient pile. He called them his birds; and his first action, when the +door into the terrace was opened, was to look towards that side,--and +the sparrows were always there. He delighted in their chirping, and he +must have envied them their wings. + +Though so little could be done to alleviate his sufferings, a moral +improvement was taking place in him. He was touched by the lively +interest displayed by his physician, who never failed to visit him at +nine o'clock every morning. He seemed pleased with the attention paid +him, and ended by placing entire confidence in M. Desault. Gratitude +loosened his tongue; brutality and insult had failed to extort a murmur, +but kind treatment restored his speech he had no words for anger, but he +found them to express his thanks. M. Desault prolonged his visits as +long as the officers of the municipality would permit. When they +announced the close of the visit, the child, unwilling to beg them to +allow a longer time, held back M. Desault by the skirt of his coat. +Suddenly M. Desault's visits ceased. Several days passed and nothing was +heard of him. The keepers wondered at his absence, and the poor little +invalid was much distressed at it. The commissary on duty (M. Benoist) +suggested that it would be proper to send to the physician's house to +make inquiries as to the cause of so long an absence. Gomin and Larne +had not yet ventured to follow this advice, when next day M. Benoist was +relieved by M. Bidault, who, hearing M. Desault's name mentioned as he +came in, immediately said, "You must not expect to see him any more; he +died yesterday." + +M. Pelletan, head surgeon of the Grand Hospice de l'Humanite, was next +directed to attend the prisoner, and in June he found him in so alarming +a state that he at once asked for a coadjutor, fearing to undertake the +responsibility alone. The physician--sent for form's sake to attend the +dying child, as an advocate is given by law to a criminal condemned +beforehand--blamed the officers of the municipality for not having +removed the blind, which obstructed the light, and the numerous bolts, +the noise of which never failed to remind the victim of his captivity. +That sound, which always caused him an involuntary shudder, disturbed him +in the last mournful scene of his unparalleled tortures. M. Pelletan +said authoritatively to the municipal on duty, "If you will not take +these bolts and casings away at once, at least you can make no objection +to our carrying the child into another room, for I suppose we are sent +here to take charge of him." The Prince, being disturbed by these words, +spoken as they were with great animation, made a sign to the physician to +come nearer. "Speak lower, I beg of you," said he; "I am afraid they +will hear you up-stairs, and I should be very sorry for them to know that +I am ill, as it would give them much uneasiness." + +At first the change to a cheerful and airy room revived the Prince and +gave him evident pleasure, but the improvement did not last. Next day M. +Pelletan learned that the Government had acceded to his request for a +colleague. M. Dumangin, head physician of the Hospice de l'Unite, made +his appearance at his house on the morning of Sunday, 7th June, with the +official despatch sent him by the committee of public safety. They +repaired together immediately to the Tower. On their arrival they heard +that the child, whose weakness was excessive, had had a fainting fit, +which had occasioned fears to be entertained that his end was +approaching. He had revived a little, however, when the physicians went +up at about nine o'clock. Unable to contend with increasing exhaustion, +they perceived there was no longer any hope of prolonging an existence +worn out by so much suffering, and that all their art could effect would +be to soften the last stage of this lamentable disease. While standing +by the Prince's bed, Gomin noticed that he was quietly crying, and asked +him. kindly what was the matter. "I am always alone," he said. "My +dear mother remains in the other tower." Night came,--his last night,-- +which the regulations of the prison condemned him to pass once more in +solitude, with suffering, his old companion, only at his side. This +time, however, death, too, stood at his pillow. When Gomin went up to +the child's room on the morning of 8th June, he said, seeing him calm, +motionless, and mute: + +"I hope you are not in pain just now?" + +"Oh, yes, I am still in pain, but not nearly so much,--the music is so +beautiful!" + +Now there was no music to be heard, either in the Tower or anywhere near. + +Gomin, astonished, said to him, "From what direction do you hear this +music?" + +"From above!" + +"Have you heard it long?" + +"Since you knelt down. Do you not hear it? Listen! Listen!" And the +child, with a nervous motion, raised his faltering hand, as he opened his +large eyes illuminated by delight. His poor keeper, unwilling to destroy +this last sweet illusion, appeared to listen also. + +After a few minutes of attention the child again started, and cried out, +in intense rapture, "Amongst all the voices I have distinguished that of +my mother!" + +These were almost his last words. At a quarter past two he died, Lasne +only being in the room. at the time. Lasne acquainted Gomin and Damont, +the commissary on duty, with the event, and they repaired to the chamber +of death. The poor little royal corpse was carried from the room into +that where he had suffered so long,--where for two years he had never +ceased to suffer. From this apartment the father had gone to the +scaffold, and thence the son must pass to the burial-ground. The remains +were laid out on the bed, and the doors of the apartment were set open,-- +doors which had remained closed ever since the Revolution had seized on a +child, then full of vigour and grace and life and health! + +At eight o'clock next morning (9th June) four members of the committee of +general safety came to the Tower to make sure that the Prince was really +dead. When they were admitted to the death-chamber by Lasne and Damont +they affected the greatest indifference. "The event is not of the least +importance," they repeated, several times over; "the police commissary of +the section will come and receive the declaration of the decease; he will +acknowledge it, and proceed to the interment without any ceremony; and +the committee will give the necessary directions." As they withdrew, +some officers of the Temple guard asked to see the remains of little +Capet. Damont having observed that the guard would not permit the bier +to pass without its being opened, the deputies decided that the officers +and non-commissioned officers of the guard going off duty, together with +those coming on, should be all invited to assure themselves of the +child's death. All having assembled in the room where the body lay, he +asked them if they recognised it as that of the ex-Dauphin, son of the +last King of France. Those who had seen the young Prince at the +Tuileries, or at the Temple (and most of them had), bore witness to its +being the body of Louis XVII. When they were come down into the council- +room, Darlot drew up the minutes of this attestation, which was signed by +a score of persons. These minutes were inserted in the journal of the +Temple tower, which was afterwards deposited in the office of the +Minister of the Interior. + +During this visit the surgeons entrusted with the autopsy arrived at the +outer gate of the Temple. These were Dumangin, head physician of the +Hospice de l'Unite; Pelletan, head surgeon of the Grand Hospice de +l'Humanite; Jeanroy, professor in the medical schools of Paris; and +Laasus, professor of legal medicine at the Ecole de Sante of Paris. +The last two were selected by Dumangin and Pelletan because of the former +connection of M. Lassus with Mesdames de France, and of M. Jeanroy with +the House of Lorraine, which gave a peculiar weight to their signatures. +Gomin received them in the council-room, and detained them until the +National Guard, descending from the second floor, entered to sign the +minutes prepared by Darlot. This done, Lasne, Darlot, and Bouquet went +up again with the surgeons, and introduced them into the apartment of +Louis XVII., whom they at first examined as he lay on his death-bed; but +M. Jeanroy observing that the dim light of this room was but little +favourable to the accomplishment of their mission, the commissaries +prepared a table in the first room, near the window, on which the corpse +was laid, and the surgeons began their melancholy operation. + +At seven o'clock the police commissary ordered the body to be taken up, +and that they should proceed to the cemetery. It was the season of the +longest days, and therefore the interment did not take place in secrecy +and at night, as some misinformed narrators have said or written; it took +place in broad daylight, and attracted a great concourse of people before +the gates of the Temple palace. One of the municipals wished to have the +coffin carried out secretly by the door opening into the chapel +enclosure; but M. Duaser, police commiasary, who was specially entrusted +with the arrangement of the ceremony, opposed this indecorous measure, +and the procession passed out through the great gate. The crowd that was +pressing round was kept back, and compelled to keep a line, by a +tricoloured ribbon, held at short distances by gendarmes. Compassion and +sorrow were impressed on every countenance. + +A small detachment of the troops of the line from the garrison of Paris, +sent by the authorities, was waiting to serve as an escort. The bier, +still covered with the pall, was carried on a litter on the shoulders of +four men, who relieved each other two at a time; it was preceded by six +or eight men, headed by a sergeant. The procession was accompanied a +long way by the crowd, and a great number of persona followed it even to +the cemetery. The name of "Little Capet," and the more popular title of +Dauphin, spread from lip to lip, with exclamations of pity and +compassion. The funeral entered the cemetery of Ste. Marguerite, not by +the church, as some accounts assert, but by the old gate of the cemetery. +The interment was made in the corner, on the left, at a distance of eight +or nine feet from the enclosure wall, and at an equal distance from a +small house, which subsequently served as a school. The grave was filled +up,--no mound marked its place, and not even a trace remained of the +interment! Not till then did the commissaries of police and the +municipality withdraw, and enter the house opposite the church to draw up +the declaration of interment. It was nearly nine o'clock, and still +daylight. + + + + + Release of Madame Royale.--Her Marriage to the Duc d'Angouleme. + --Return to France.--Death. + +The last person to hear of the sad events in the Temple was the one for +whom they had the deepest and most painful interest. After her brother's +death the captivity of Madame Royale was much lightened. She was allowed +to walk in the Temple gardens, and to receive visits from some ladies of +the old Court, and from Madame de Chantereine, who at last, after several +times evading her questions, ventured cautiously to tell her of the +deaths of her mother, aunt, and brother. Madame Royale wept bitterly, +but had much difficulty in expressing her feelings. "She spoke so +confusedly," says Madame de la Ramiere in a letter to Madame de Verneuil, +"that it was difficult to understand her. It took her more than a +month's reading aloud, with careful study of pronunciation, to make +herself intelligible,--so much had she lost the power of expression." +She was dressed with plainness amounting to poverty, and her hands were +disfigured by exposure to cold and by the menial work she had been so +long accustomed to do for herself, and which it was difficult to persuade +her to leave off. When urged to accept the services of an attendant, she +replied, with a sad prevision of the vicissitudes of her future life, +that she did not like to form a habit which she might have again to +abandon. She suffered herself, however, to be persuaded gradually to +modify her recluse and ascetic habits. It was well she did so, as a +preparation for the great changes about to follow. + +Nine days after the death of her brother, the city of Orleans interceded +for the daughter of Louis XVI., and sent deputies to the Convention to +pray for her deliverance and restoration to her family. Names followed +this example; and Charette, on the part of the Vendeans, demanded, as a +condition of the pacification of La Vendee, that the Princess should be +allowed to join her relations. At length the Convention decreed that +Madame Royale should be exchanged with Austria for the representatives +and ministers whom Dumouriez had given up to the Prince of Cobourg,-- +Drouet, Semonville, Maret, and other prisoners of importance. At +midnight on 19th December, 1795, which was her birthday, the Princess was +released from prison, the Minister of the Interior, M. Benezech, to avoid +attracting public attention and possible disturbance, conducting her on +foot from the Temple to a neighbouring street, where his carriage awaited +her. She made it her particular request that Gomin, who had been so +devoted to her brother, should be the commissary appointed to accompany +her to the frontier; Madame de Soucy, formerly under-governess to the +children of France, was also in attendance; and the Princess took with +her a dog named Coco, which had belonged to Louis XVI. + + [The mention of the little dog taken from the Temple by Madame + Royale reminds me how fond all the family were of these creatures. + Each Princess kept a different kind. Mesdames had beautiful + spaniels; little grayhounds were preferred by Madame Elisabeth. + Louis XVI. was the only one of all his family who had no dogs in his + room. I remember one day waiting in the great gallery for the + King's retiring, when he entered with all his family and the whole + pack, who were escorting him. All at once all the dogs began to + bark, one louder than another, and ran away, passing like ghosts + along those great dark rooms, which rang with their hoarse cries. + The Princesses shouting, calling them, running everywhere after + them, completed a ridiculous spectacle, which made those august + persons very merry.--D'HEZECQUES, p. 49.] + +She was frequently recognised on her way through France, and always with +marks of pleasure and respect. + +It might have been supposed that the Princess would rejoice to leave +behind her the country which had been the scene of so many horrors and +such bitter suffering. But it was her birthplace, and it held the graves +of all she loved; and as she crossed the frontier she said to those +around her, "I leave France with regret, for I shall never cease to +consider it my country." She arrived in Vienna on 9th January, 1796, and +her first care was to attend a memorial service for her murdered +relatives. After many weeks of close retirement she occasionally began +to appear in public, and people looked with interest at the pale, grave, +slender girl of seventeen, dressed in the deepest mourning, over whose +young head such terrible storms had swept. The Emperor wished her to +marry the Archduke Charles of Austria, but her father and mother had, +even in the cradle, destined her hand for her cousin, the Duc +d'Angouleme, son of the Comte d'Artois, and the memory of their lightest +wish was law to her. + +Her quiet determination entailed anger and opposition amounting to +persecution. Every effort was made to alienate her from her French +relations. She was urged to claim Provence, which had become her own if +Louis XVIII. was to be considered King of France. A pressure of opinion +was brought to bear upon her which might well have overawed so young a +girl. "I was sent for to the Emperor's cabinet," she writes, "where I +found the imperial family assembled. The ministers and chief imperial +counsellors were also present . . . . When the Emperor invited me to +express my opinion, I answered that to be able to treat fittingly of such +interests I thought, I ought to be surrounded not only by my mother's +relatives, but also by those of my father . . . . Besides, I said, +I was above all things French, and in entire subjection to the laws of +France, which had rendered me alternately the subject of the King my +father, the King my brother, and the King my uncle, and that I would +yield obedience to the latter, whatever might be his commands. This +declaration appeared very much to dissatisfy all who were present, and +when they observed that I was not to be shaken, they declared that my +right being independent of my will, my resistance would not be the +slightest obstacle to the measures they might deem it necessary to adopt +for the preservation of my interests." + +In their anxiety to make a German princess of Marie Therese, her imperial +relations suppressed her French title as much as possible. When, with +some difficulty, the Duc de Grammont succeeded in obtaining an audience +of her, and used the familiar form of address, she smiled faintly, and +bade him beware. "Call me Madame de Bretagne, or de Bourgogne, or de +Lorraine," she said, "for here I am so identified with these provinces +--[which the Emperor wished her to claim from her uncle Louis XVIII.]-- +that I shall end in believing in my own transformation." After these +discussions she was so closely watched, and so many restraints were +imposed upon her, that she was scarcely less a prisoner than in the old +days of the Temple, though her cage was this time gilded. Rescue, +however, was at hand. + +In 1798 Louis XVIII. accepted a refuge offered to him at Mittau by the +Czar Paul, who had promised that he would grant his guest's first +request, whatever it might be. Louis begged the Czar to use his +influence with the Court of Vienna to allow his niece to join him. +"Monsieur, my brother," was Paul's answer, "Madame Royale shall be +restored to you, or I shall cease to be Paul I." Next morning the Czar +despatched a courier to Vienna with a demand for the Princess, so +energetically worded that refusal must have been followed by war. +Accordingly, in May, 1799, Madame Royale was allowed to leave the capital +which she had found so uncongenial an asylum. + +In the old ducal castle of Mittau, the capital of Courland, Louis XVIII. +and his wife, with their nephews, the Ducs d'Angouleme + + [The Duc d'Angonleme was quiet and reserved. He loved hunting as + means of killing time; was given to early hours and innocent + pleasures. He was a gentleman, and brave as became one. He had not + the "gentlemanly vices" of his brother, and was all the better for + it. He was ill educated, but had natural good sense, and would have + passed for having more than that had he cared to put forth + pretensions. Of all his family he was the one most ill spoken of, + and least deserving of it.--DOCTOR DORAN.] + +and de Berri, were awaiting her, attended by the Abbe Edgeworth, as chief +ecclesiastic, and a little Court of refugee nobles and officers. With +them were two men of humbler position, who must have been even more +welcome to Madame Royale,--De Malden, who had acted as courier to Louis +XVI. during the flight to Varennes, and Turgi, who had waited on the +Princesses in the Temple. It was a sad meeting, though so long anxiously +desired, and it was followed on 10th June, 1799, by an equally sad +wedding,--exiles, pensioners on the bounty of the Russian monarch, +fulfilling an engagement founded, not on personal preference, but on +family policy and reverence for the wishes of the dead, the bride and +bridegroom had small cause for rejoicing. During the eighteen months of +tranquil seclusion which followed her marriage, the favourite occupation +of the Duchess was visiting and relieving the poor. In January, 1801, +the Czar Paul, in compliance with the demand of Napoleon, who was just +then the object of his capricious enthusiasm, ordered the French royal +family to leave Mittau. Their wanderings commenced on the 21st, a day of +bitter memories; and the young Duchess led the King to his carriage +through a crowd of men, women, and children, whose tears and blessings +attended them on their way. + + [The Queen was too ill to travel. The Duc d'Angouleme took another + route to join a body of French gentlemen in arms for the Legitimist + cause.] + +The exiles asked permission from the King of Prussia to settle in his +dominions, and while awaiting his answer at Munich they were painfully +surprised by the entrance of five old soldiers of noble birth, part of +the body-guard they had left behind at Mittau, relying on the protection +of Paul. The "mad Czar" had decreed their immediate expulsion, and, +penniless and almost starving, they made their way to Louis XVIII. All +the money the royal family possessed was bestowed on these faithful +servants, who came to them in detachments for relief, and then the +Duchess offered her diamonds to the Danish consul for an advance of two +thousand ducats, saying she pledged her property "that in our common +distress it may be rendered of real use to my uncle, his faithful +servants, and myself." The Duchess's consistent and unselfish kindness +procured her from the King, and those about him who knew her best, the +name of "our angel." + +Warsaw was for a brief time the resting-place of the wanderers, but there +they were disturbed in 1803 by Napoleon's attempt to threaten and bribe +Louis XVIII. into abdication. It was suggested that refusal might bring +upon them expulsion from Prussia. "We are accustomed to suffering," was +the King's answer, "and we do not dread poverty. I would, trusting in +God, seek another asylum." In 1808, after many changes of scene, this +asylum was sought in England, Gosfield Hall, Essex, being placed at their +disposal by the Marquis of Buckingham. From Gosfield, the King moved to +Hartwell Hall, a fine old Elizabethan mansion rented from Sir George Lee +for L 500 a year. A yearly grant of L 24,000 was made to the exiled +family by the British Government, out of which a hundred and forty +persons were supported, the royal dinner-party generally numbering two +dozen. + +At Hartwell, as in her other homes, the Duchess was most popular amongst +the poor. In general society she was cold and reserved, and she disliked +the notice of strangers. In March, 1814, the royalist successes at +Bordeaux paved the way for the restoration of royalty in France, and +amidst general sympathy and congratulation, with the Prince Regent +himself to wish them good fortune, the King, the Duchess, and their suite +left Hartwell in April, 1814. The return to France was as triumphant as +a somewhat half-hearted and doubtful enthusiasm could make it, and most +of such cordiality as there was fell to the share of the Duchess. As she +passed to Notre-Dame in May, 1814, on entering Paris, she was +vociferously greeted. The feeling of loyalty, however, was not much +longer-lived than the applause by which it was expressed; the Duchess had +scarcely effected one of the strongest wishes of her heart,--the +identification of what remained of her parents' bodies, and the +magnificent ceremony with which they were removed from the cemetery of +the Madeleine to the Abbey of St. Denis,--when the escape of Napoleon +from Elba in February,1815, scattered the royal family and their +followers like chaff before the wind. The Duc d'Angouleme, compelled to +capitulate at Toulouse, sailed from Cette in a Swedish vessel. The Comte +d'Artois, the Duc de Berri, and the Prince de Conde withdrew beyond the +frontier. The King fled from the capital. The Duchesse d'Angouleme, +then at Bordeaux celebrating the anniversary of the Proclamation of Louis +XVIII., alone of all her family made any stand against the general panic. +Day after day she mounted her horse and reviewed the National Guard. She +made personal and even passionate appeals to the officers and men, +standing firm, and prevailing on a handful of soldiers to remain by her, +even when the imperialist troops were on the other side of the river and +their cannon were directed against the square where the Duchess was +reviewing her scanty followers. + + ["It was the Duchesse d'Angouleme who saved you," said the gallant + General Clauzel, after these events, to a royalist volunteer; + "I could not bring myself to order such a woman to be fired upon, + at the moment when she was providing material for the noblest page + in her history."--"Fillia Dolorosa," vol. vii., p. 131.] + +With pain and difficulty she was convinced that resistance was vain; +Napoleon's banner soon floated over Bordeaux; the Duchess issued a +farewell proclamation to her "brave Bordelais," and on the 1st April, +1815, she started for Pouillac, whence she embarked for Spain. During a +brief visit to England she heard that the reign of a hundred days was +over, and the 27th of July, 1815, saw her second triumphal return to the +Tuileries. She did not take up her abode there with any wish for State +ceremonies or Court gaieties. Her life was as secluded as her position +would allow. Her favourite retreat was the Pavilion, which had been +inhabited by her mother, and in her little oratory she collected relics +of her family, over which on the anniversaries of their deaths she wept +and prayed. In her daily drives through Paris she scrupulously avoided +the spot on which they had suffered; and the memory of the past seemed to +rule all her sad and self-denying life, both in what she did and what she +refrained from doing. + + [She was so methodical and economical, though liberal in her + charities, that one of her regular evening occupations was to tear + off the seals from the letters she had received during the day, in + order that the wax might be melted down and sold; the produce made + one poor family "passing rich with forty pounds a year."--See "Filia + Dolorosa," vol. ii., p. 239.] + +Her somewhat austere goodness was not of a nature to make her popular. +The few who really understood her loved her, but the majority of her +pleasure-seeking subjects regarded her either with ridicule or dread. +She is said to have taken no part in politics, and to have exerted no +influence in public affairs, but her sympathies were well known, and "the +very word liberty made her shudder;" like Madame Roland, she had seen "so +many crimes perpetrated under that name." + +The claims of three pretended Dauphins--Hervagault, the son of the tailor +of St. Lo; Bruneau, son of the shoemaker of Vergin; and Naundorf or +Norndorff, the watchmaker somewhat troubled her peace, but never for a +moment obtained her sanction. Of the many other pseudo-Dauphins (said to +number a dozen and a half) not even the names remain. In February,1820, +a fresh tragedy befell the royal family in the assassination of the Duc +de Berri, brother-in-law of the Duchesse d'Angouleme, as he was seeing +his wife into her carriage at the door of the Opera-house. He was +carried into the theatre, and there the dying Prince and his wife were +joined by the Duchess, who remained till he breathed his last, and was +present when he, too, was laid in the Abbey of St. Denis. She was +present also when his son, the Duc de Bordeaux, was born, and hoped that +she saw in him a guarantee for the stability of royalty in France. In +September, 1824, she stood by the death-bed of Louis XVIII., and +thenceforward her chief occupation was directing the education of the +little Duc de Bordeaux, who generally resided with her at Villeneuve +l'Etang, her country house near St. Cloud. Thence she went in July, +1830, to the Baths of Vichy, stopping at Dijon on her way to Paris, and +visiting the theatre on the evening of the 27th. She was received with +"a roar of execrations and seditious cries," and knew only too well what +they signified. She instantly left the theatre and proceeded to Tonnere, +where she received news of the rising in Paris, and, quitting the town by +night, was driven to Joigny with three attendants. Soon after leaving +that place it was thought more prudent that the party should separate and +proceed on foot, and the Duchess and M. de Foucigny, disguised as +peasants, entered Versailles arm-in-arm, to obtain tidings of the King. +The Duchess found him at Rambouillet with her husband, the Dauphin, and +the King met her with a request for "pardon," being fully conscious, too +late, that his unwise decrees and his headlong flight had destroyed the +last hopes of his family. The act of abdication followed, by which the +prospect of royalty passed from the Dauphin and his wife, as well as from +Charles X.--Henri V. being proclaimed King, and the Duc d'Orleans (who +refused to take the boy monarch under his personal protection) +lieutenant-general of the kingdom. + +Then began the Duchess's third expatriation. At Cherbourg the royal +family, accompanied by the little King without a kingdom, embarked in the +'Great Britain', which stood out to sea. The Duchess, remaining on deck +for a last look at the coast of France, noticed a brig which kept, she +thought, suspiciously near them. + +"Who commands that vessel?" she inquired. + +"Captain Thibault." + +And what are his orders?" + +"To fire into and sink the vessels in which we sail, should any attempt +be made to return to France." + +Such was the farewell of their subjects to the House of Bourbon. The +fugitives landed at Weymouth; the Duchesse d'Angouleme under the title of +Comtesse de Marne, the Duchesse de Berri as Comtesse de Rosny, and her +son, Henri de Bordeaux, as Comte de Chambord, the title he retained till +his death, originally taken from the estate presented to him in infancy +by his enthusiastic people. Holyrood, with its royal and gloomy +associations, was their appointed dwelling. The Duc and Duchesse +d'Angouleme, and the daughter of the Duc de Berri, travelled thither by +land, the King and the young Comte de Chambord by sea. "I prefer my +route to that of my sister," observed the latter, "because I shall see the +coast of France again, and she will not." + +The French Government soon complained that at Holyrood the exiles were +still too near their native land, and accordingly, in 1832, Charles X., +with his son and grandson, left Scotland for Hamburg, while the Duchesse +d'Angouleme and her niece repaired to Vienna. The family were reunited +at Prague in 1833, where the birthday of the Comte de Chambord was +celebrated with some pomp and rejoicing, many Legitimists flocking +thither to congratulate him on attaining the age of thirteen, which the +old law of monarchical France had fixed as the majority of her princes. +Three years later the wanderings of the unfortunate family recommenced; +the Emperor Francis II. was dead, and his successor, Ferdinand, must +visit Prague to be crowned, and Charles X. feared that the presence of a +discrowned monarch might be embarrassing on such an occasion. Illness +and sorrow attended the exiles on their new journey, and a few months +after they were established in the Chateau of Graffenburg at Goritz, +Charles X. died of cholera, in his eightieth year. At Goritz, also, on +the 31st May, 1844, the Duchesse d'Angouleme, who had sat beside so many +death-beds, watched over that of her husband. Theirs had not been a +marriage of affection in youth, but they respected each other's virtues, +and to a great extent shared each other's tastes; banishment and +suffering had united them very closely, and of late years they had been +almost inseparable,--walking, riding, and reading together. When the +Duchesse d'Angouleme had seen her husband laid by his father's side in +the vault of the Franciscan convent, she, accompanied by her nephew and +niece, removed to Frohsdorf, where they spent seven tranquil years. Here +she was addressed as "Queen" by her household for the first time in her +life, but she herself always recognised Henri, Comte de Chambord, as her +sovereign. The Duchess lived to see the overthrow of Louis Philippe, the +usurper of the inheritance of her family. Her last attempt to exert +herself was a characteristic one. She tried to rise from a sick-bed in +order to attend the memorial service held for her mother, Marie +Antoinette, on the 16th October, the anniversary of her execution. But +her strength was not equal to the task; on the 19th she expired, with her +hand in that of the Comte de Chambord, and on 28th October, 1851, Marie +Therese Charlotte, Duchesse d'Angouleme, was buried in the Franciscan +convent. + + + + + The Ceremony of Expiation. + +"In the spring of 1814 a ceremony took place in Paris at which I was +present because there was nothing in it that could be mortifying to a +French heart. The death of Louis XVI. had long been admitted to be one +of the most serious misfortunes of the Revolution. The Emperor Napoleon +never spoke of that sovereign but in terms of the highest respect, and +always prefixed the epithet unfortunate to his name. The ceremony to +which I allude was proposed by the Emperor of Russia and the King of +Prussia. It consisted of a kind of expiation and purification of the +spot on which Louis XVI. and his Queen were beheaded. I went to see the +ceremony, and I had a place at a window in the Hotel of Madame de +Remusat, next to the Hotel de Crillon, and what was termed the Hotel de +Courlande. + +"The expiation took place on the 10th of April. The weather was +extremely fine and warm for the season. The Emperor of Russia and King +of Prussia, accompanied by Prince Schwartzenberg, took their station at +the entrance of the Rue Royale; the King of Prussia being on the right of +the Emperor Alexander, and Prince Schwartzenberg on his left. There was +a long parade, during which the Russian, Prussian and Austrian military +bands vied with each other in playing the air, 'Vive Henri IV.!' +The cavalry defiled past, and then withdrew into the Champs Elysees; +but the infantry ranged themselves round an altar which was raised in the +middle of the Place, and which was elevated on a platform having twelve +or fifteen steps. The Emperor of Russia alighted from his horse, and, +followed by the King of Prussia, the Grand Duke Constantine, Lord +Cathcart, and Prince Schwartzenberg, advanced to the altar. When the +Emperor had nearly reached the altar the "Te Deum" commenced. At the +moment of the benediction, the sovereigns and persons who accompanied +them, as well as the twenty-five thousand troops who covered the Place, +all knelt down. The Greek priest presented the cross to the Emperor +Alexander, who kissed it; his example was followed by the individuals who +accompanied him, though they were not of the Greek faith. On rising, the +Grand Duke Constantine took off his hat, and immediately salvoes of +artillery were heard." + + + + +NOTE. + +The following titles have the signification given below during the period +covered by this work: + +MONSEIGNEUR........... The Dauphin. + +MONSIEUR.............. The eldest brother of the King, Comte de Provence, + afterwards Louis XVIII. + +MONSIEUR LE PRINCE.... The Prince de Conde, head of the House of Conde. + +MONSIEUR LE DUC....... The Duc de Bourbon, the eldest son of the Prince + de Condo (and the father of the Duc d'Enghien shot + by Napoleon). + +MONSIEUR LE GRAND..... The Grand Equerry under the ancien regime. + +MONSIEUR LE PREMIER... The First Equerry under the ancien regime. + +ENFANS DE FRANCE...... The royal children. + +MADAME & MESDAMES..... Sisters or daughters of the King, or Princesses +near the Throne (sometimes used also for the wife of Monsieur, the eldest +brother of the King, the Princesses Adelaide, Victoire, Sophie, Louise, +daughters of Louis XV., and aunts of Louis XVI.) + +MADAME ELISABETH...... The Princesse Elisabeth, sister of Louis XVI. + +MADAME ROYALE......... The Princesse Marie Therese, daughter of Louis + XVI., afterwards Duchesse d'Angouleme. + +MADEMOISELLE.......... The daughter of Monsieur, the brother of the King. + + + + +ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + +Allowed her candles and as much firewood as she wanted +Better to die than to implicate anybody +Duc d'Orleans, when called on to give his vote for death of King +Formed rather to endure calamity with patience than to contend +How can I have any regret when I partake your misfortunes +Louis Philippe, the usurper of the inheritance of her family +My father fortunately found a library which amused him +No one is more dangerous than a man clothed with recent authority +Rabble, always ready to insult genius, virtue, and misfortune +So many crimes perpetrated under that name (liberty) +Subjecting the vanquished to be tried by the conquerors + + + + +End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of The Memoirs of Marie Antoinette, v7 +by Madame Campan + + + + + + +ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS FROM THE ENTIRE MARIE ANTOINETTE: + +A man born solely to contradict +Advised the King not to separate himself from his army +Ah, Madame, we have all been killed in our masters' service! +Alas! her griefs double mine! +Allowed her candles and as much firewood as she wanted +Better to die than to implicate anybody +Brought me her daughter Hortense de Beauharnais +Carried the idea of the prerogative of rank to a high pitch +Common and blamable practice of indulgence +Condescension which renders approbation more offensive +Customs are nearly equal to laws +Difference between brilliant theories and the simplest practice +Dignified tone which alone secures the respect due to power +Displaying her acquirements with rather too much confidence +Duc d'Orleans, when called on to give his vote for death of King +Elegant entertainments were given to Doctor Franklin +Etiquette still existed at Court, dignity alone was wanting +Extreme simplicity was the Queens first and only real mistake +Fashion of wearing a black coat without being in mourning +Favourite of a queen is not, in France, a happy one +Formed rather to endure calamity with patience than to contend +Grand-Dieu, mamma! will it be yesterday over again? +Happiness does not dwell in palaces +He is afraid to command +His ruin was resolved on; they passed to the order of the day +His seraglio in the Parc-aux-Cerfs +History of the man with the iron mask +How can I have any regret when I partake your misfortunes +I hate all that savours of fanaticism +I do not like these rhapsodies +I love the conveniences of life too well +If ever I establish a republic of women.... +Indulge in the pleasure of vice and assume the credit of virtue +King (gave) the fatal order to the Swiss to cease firing +La Fayette to rescue the royal family and convey them to Rouen +Leave me in peace; be assured that I can put no heir in danger +Louis Philippe, the usurper of the inheritance of her family +Mirabeau forgot that it was more easy to do harm than good +Most intriguing little Carmelite in the kingdom +My father fortunately found a library which amused him +Never shall a drop of French blood be shed by my order +No one is more dangerous than a man clothed with recent authority +No accounting for the caprices of a woman +No ears that will discover when she (The Princess) is out of tune +None but little minds dreaded little books +Observe the least pretension on account of the rank or fortune +Of course I shall be either hissed or applauded. +On domestic management depends the preservation of their fortune +Prevent disorder from organising itself +Princes thus accustomed to be treated as divinities +Princess at 12 years was not mistress of the whole alphabet +Rabble, always ready to insult genius, virtue, and misfortune +Saw no other advantage in it than that of saving her own life +She often carried her economy to a degree of parsimony +Shocking to find so little a man in the son of the Marechal +Shun all kinds of confidence +Simplicity of the Queen's toilet began to be strongly censured +So many crimes perpetrated under that name (liberty) +Spirit of party can degrade the character of a nation +Subjecting the vanquished to be tried by the conquerors +Taken pains only to render himself beloved by his pupil +Tastes may change +That air of truth which always carries conviction +The author (Beaumarchais) was sent to prison soon afterwards +The Jesuits were suppressed +The three ministers, more ambitious than amorous +The charge of extravagance +The emigrant party have their intrigues and schemes +The King delighted to manage the most disgraceful points +The anti-Austrian party, discontented and vindictive +There is not one real patriot among all this infamous horde +They say you live very poorly here, Moliere +Those muskets were immediately embarked and sold to the Americans +Those who did it should not pretend to wish to remedy it +To be formally mistress, a husband had to be found +True nobility, gentlemen, consists in giving proofs of it +Ventured to give such rash advice: inoculation +Was but one brilliant action that she could perform +We must have obedience, and no reasoning +Well, this is royally ill played! +What do young women stand in need of?--Mothers! +When kings become prisoners they are very near death +While the Queen was blamed, she was blindly imitated +Whispered in his mother's ear, "Was that right?" +"Would be a pity," she said, "to stop when so fairly on the road" +Young Prince suffered from the rickets +Your swords have rusted in their scabbards + + + + +End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of Memoirs of Marie Antoinette, entire +by Madame Campan + |