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Memoirs of
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MEMOIRS OF
MARSHAL DUKE DE RICHELIEU
BY
M. F. BARRIERE
2081618
Table of Contents.
VOLUME III.
CHAPTER LXXII.
History of Mme. la marquise de Pompadour, mistress of Louis
XV. n6e Poisson, wife of M. le Normand d'Etioles. — Binet,
a relative of hers, procures her for the king. — Uneasiness of
Boyer and of the pious party. — Two parties were produced
at the court, that of the favorites and that of the dauphin. —
Their reciprocal views and interests. — Portrait of M. d'Eti-
oles, husband of the favorite. — His society in Paris and that
of his wife before the declaration of the king's love. — Con-
duct of the queen toward Madame d'Etioles, who had be-
come mistress of the king, and Marquise de Pompadour. —
First quarrels of the favorite. — The manners of " the grt-
sette " at the court. — The ceremonial which she Displaced
there. — Her solemn presentation. — The courtiers make re-
searches concerning her father and mother. — Her father
condemned to be hung ; she had him raised to the rank of
nobleman. — She causes Orri, minister of the finances, to be
discharged. — Portrait of Machault, his successor. — The Mar-
quis d'Avant-hier, brother of Mme. de Pompadour. — Fortune
of Mme. de Pompadour and of her parents. — She buys La
Selle, Cressy, Aulnay, Brinborion, Marigny, Saint Remy,
Bellevue, several other possessions and mansions in Paris,
Fontainebleau, Versailles and Compiegne. — Anecdote of the
castle of Bellevue. — Flower garden of porcelain.
ii TABLE OF CONTENTS.
CHAPTER LXXIII.
Attempted assassination of Louis XV. on the $th of January,
1757. — Difficulty in discovering the causes of this event. —
Parliament attributes it to the Jesuits. — The Jesuits attribute
it to parliament. — The court appears neutral in the mutual
accusations concerning this affair. . . . -31
CHAPTER LXXIV.
Details of the negotiations of Maria-Theresa in France to unite
her house to that of the Bourbons to the prejudice of the
smaller powers. — Mme. de Pompadour sells the kingdom of
France to her. — She loses the ministers who were partisans
of the old principles against Austria. — Anecdotes of Mme.
de Pompadour. — Secret negotiations with the empress. . 53
CHAPTER LXXV.
First treaty, the pth of March, 1756, between France and Aus-
tria.— The Abbes of Bernis principal negotiator of this treaty.
— Portrait of the Abbe de Bernis. — His connections with
Mme. de Pompadour. — Secret intentions of the Queen of
"Hungary when allying herself with France. — Her pretexts.
— Signatures. . . . . . . -65
CHAPTER LXXVI.
The Marshal de Richelieu is appointed to command at Mahon. —
Siege and conquest of the fort. . . . . 70
CHAPTER LXXVII.
The Marshal de Richelieu takes the place of the Marshal d'Es-
trees. — He makes rapid progress in the Electorate of Han-
over.— Being troubled by the cabinet of Versailles, he is
obliged to enter into new negotiations. — He loses his advan-
tage but forces Prince Ferdinand to withdraw. . . 79
CHAPTER LXXVIII.
The Marshal de Richelieu takes possession of his government. —
He has a great display in Bordeaux. — New intrigues with
women. — He sends love letters by a guard of the Capuchin
monks to a widow. 88
TABLE OF CONTENTS. Ill
CHAPTER LXXIX.
Tableau of the deer-park. — Shameful old age of Louis XV. — His
mistresses and secret adventures. — Mme. de Maille-Breze,
Mile, de Romans, Mile. Tiercelin, and other favorites. . 96
CHAPTER LXXX.
The Count du Barry shows to the marshal his mistress, Mile.
Lange. — He gives a supper in his pavilion of the boulevard.
— Du Barry informs the marshal of his projects. — He en-
deavors with all means to introduce Mile. Lange to Lebel. —
She becomes the mistress of the king. — They try to make
her hate M. de Choiseul. — Death of Lebel produced by an
outburst of Louis. ...... 101
CHAPTER LXXXI.
Mme. du Barry is introduced. — She makes the people wait the
day of her introduction. — The king is much disquieted. — M.
de Choiseul is disgraced. — Richelieu wishes to enter into the
council but cannot succeed ; he wishes, at least, that a man
of his family be in the ministry and he names M. d'Aiguillon.
— The marshal becomes one of the most zealous servants of
the favorite. . . , . . . .109
CHAPTER LXXXII.
Continuation of the details of the court. — Death of Louis XV. —
Richelieu goes to his governorship. . . . .123
CHAPTER LXXXIII.
Louis XV. dies of a complication of three diseases. — Intrigues
to prevent his confession. — A fearful illness takes him away.
— The people are satisfied. — His epitaph. — Mme. du Barry's
judgment about the reign of Louis XVI. . . .134
CHAPTER LXXXIV.
Trial of Mme. de Saint- Vincent ; details concerning the affair. —
The commandment of Guienne is taken away from the mar-
shal, and the king does not wish him to go to his governorship
unless the Marshal de Mochi be there also. — Richelieu writes
IV TABLE OF CONTENTS.
to the king. — Re-establishment of the parliaments. — Judg-
ment in the trial of the marshal. — The story of " Colin." . 144
CHAPTER LXXXV.
Richelieu succeeds in making some friends at court, he is seen
with more favor by the king and limits his ambition to man-
aging the Comedie Italienne ; details of his pleasures. — He
sees Voltaire again in Paris. — He marries for the third time
and takes Mme. de Rothe for his wife. — The event which
determined this marriage. . . . . . 159
CHAPTER LXXXVI.
The marshal occupies himself entirely with the tribunal and the
comedy. — He makes his year of service at the court. — He is
for sometime the only one of the first gentlemen of the
chamber able to comply with his functions. — He is unfaithful
to his last wife. — A former mistress makes him her sole heir.
— Affair with M. de Noe and d'Arthur. — The marshal be-
comes insane ; the tribunal is taken from him ; he dies. . 171
Extract from the Memoirs of Madame the Countess de Genlis. .191
Hi8t of Illustrations;
PAGE
MADAME SOPHIE ..... Frontispiece
PLAY AT THE COURT . .... 92
MADAME DU BARRI . . . . . .108
DUKE DE CHOISEUL ...... 14°
MOLIERE ... .... 218
BOSSUET ..... 29O
Memoirs of the Duke de Richelieu.
VOLUME III.
CHAPTER LXXII.
History of Mme. la marquise de Pompadour, mistress of Louis XV.
nee Poisson, wife of M. le Normand d'Etioles. — Binet, a relative
of hers, procures her for the king. — Uneasiness of Boyer and
of the pious party. — Two parties were produced at the court, that
of the favorites and that of the dauphin. — Their reciprocal views
and interests. — Portrait of M. d'Etioles, husband of the favorite.
— His society in Paris and that of his wife before the declaration
of the king's love. — Conduct of the queen toward Madame
d'Etioles, who had become mistress of the king, and Marquise de
Pompadour. — First quarrels of the favorite. — The manners of
" the grisette " at the court. — The ceremonial which she displaced
there. — Her solemn presentation. — The courtiers make researches
concerning her father and mother. — Her father condemned to be
hung ; she had him raised to the rank of nobleman. — She causes
Orri, minister of the finances, to be discharged. — Portrait of Ma-
chault, his successor. — The Marquis d'Avant-hier, brother of
Mme. de Pompadour. — Fortune of Mme. de Pompadour and of
her parents. — She buys La Selle, Cressy, Aulnay, Brinborion,
Marigny, Saint Remy, Bellevue, several other possessions and
mansions in Paris, Fontainebleau, Versailles and Compiegne. —
Anecdote of the castle of Bellevue. — Flower garden of porcelain.
UP to this point these Memoirs have spoken of some
persons with praise and of others with much blame.
The time approaches when we can say only much evil
of the statesmen who are about to govern France. A
favorite, Mme. de Pompadour, unworthy of the kind-
nesses of the king, is raising to dignities and to offices
2 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
men without virtue and without talents, and is thereby
preparing for the future the disorganization of the
French government, and is bringing to the court a degree
of depravity unknown in its annals until then. It was at
the time of her entrance into the court that the total
degradation of the government began.
Binet, a relative and friend of Mme. d'Etioles, and,
perhaps something more, had secretly prepared the
mind of the king for this lady. At the court everything
was known, and what was not known was guessed ; first,
it happened that this Binet, valet-de-chambre of the
dauphin, was persecuted from that moment by the de-
vout Boyer, who called him " the corruptor of Louis
XV." ; but as Binet did not see a very decided love be-
tween the king and the lady, he answered Boyer that
people slandered him, insisting that if Mme. d'Etioles
had come to the court it was only for the purpose of
obtaining a situation as farmer-general for her husband,
that this having been granted to her, she would not
appear there any more.
Boyer intrigued secretly, however, to bring the love
of Louis to naught; he said to Binet that he would
cause him to be sent away by the dauphin if there was
the slightest foundation for the things that were said of
him. Binet and Mme. de Tencin held a council for the
success of the project of giving Mme. d'Etioles to the
king, and Mine, de Tencin put herself in accord with
Mme. d'Etioles, and with her brother, the cardinal. From
this moment one could see arising at the court two fac-
tions, that of the politicians and that of the devotees.
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. 3
The first was secretly and afterwards openly conducted
•f'
by Mme d'Etioles, the second by Boyer, and afterwards
by the dauphin. The politicians said first of Boyer, that
he had brought up the dauphin as a bigot ; but the king,
who was very religious, did not enjoy having Boyer at-
tacked by such means. It was added that the dauphin,
young and without guile, showed the king but an indiffer-
ent affection, and absolutely refusing to enter into his
private apartment on account of the very plain talk against
the reputation of the king which was openly going on
at the dauphin's. This more specious tattle affected the
prince. He would even have forgotten Mme. d'Etioles, of
whom he did not speak after his first fruitless meeting ;
but he believed that he ought not to submit his ow»n in-
clinations to the prejudices of others, so he determined
to call back Mme. de Pompadour.
The party of the devotees and of the dauphin had no
lack of reasons for preventing the king from loving Mme.
le Normand d'Etioles. It was known that she had very
little religion, and that she had received at her house
Voltaire, Fontenelle, Cahusac, Montesquieu, Maupertius,
and the young Abbe de Bernis, who, little loved by the
Jesuits, had recently escaped from a seminary of Sul-
picians. Such was the society where laughter and the
follies of philosophical reasoning presided in turn, and
much gayety was always dangerous to the Jesuitic princi-
ples which Fleury had introduced at the court. Boyer,
who wished to maintain those principles in the mind of
the king, who was then only thirty-six years old and who
was so well established in the privacy of the apartments
4 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
of the queen, did everything that was necessary to per-
petuate it in that of the dauphin also, and he feared es-
pecially that the king would lose, by the suggestions of
the favorite, his religious opinions, his respect for wor-
ship, and that he would imbibe principles contrary to the
interests of the clergy of France and to the education that
he wished to give the dauphin. Therefore, it happened
that before Mme. d'Etioles was finally installed, the
party of the favorite and the party of the dauphin found
themselves definitely formed.
It was nevertheless observed, before Mme. le Normand
d'Etioles was declared mistress, that several weeks had
gone by since her first interview with the king. This
prince had not been satisfied at the first meeting which
he had had with her ; he had even almost forgotten her ;
but Binet, a relative of Mme. d'Etioles reawakened the
passion of the prince with great success, assuring him
that she was in love with him, and that since her husband
had learned of her first fault, nothing remained for her
but to die in despair in order not to survive the neglect
of the king and not to expose herself to the resentment
of the deceived husband by whom she had been wor-
shiped. The king, touched by so much passion, gave
orders for her to come on the 22d of April, 1745, to take
supper in his little cabinet. Luxembourg and Riche-
lieu took part in this supper, and she never pardoned the
latter for having spoken coolly at that time about her
charms.
The supper of the two lovers was very gay. She was,
however, much pained at being obliged to hide herself
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. 5
till the following day in the former apartment of Mme.
de Mailly ; but she had recourse to such dexterity, she
was so eloquent, she appealed so well to the heart of the
king, who dined there with her, that she made the prince
finally promise to restrain the resentment of her hus-
band, to declare her his mistress, to change her name
and to support her against the machinations of the
dauphin. Finally in order to subdue the party of his
son, the king decided that she should be installed and
recognized as his mistress in Easter week, in order to
show his absolute independence of the principles of the
dauphin.
When Mme. le Normand was declared mistress of the
king, nothing could equal the sufferings of her husband,
M. le Normand d'Etioles. M. de Savalette having
invited him in this year to pass the feast of Easter with
him at his estate, De Magnanaville, M. de Tourneham,
while bringing him back to Paris informed him of the
abduction of his wife, already declared mistress of the
king. He worshiped his wife and being overwhelmed
by extreme anguish, they found it necessary to take all
weapons out of his reach for fear he would do some
harm in his despair. He was watched constantly, for he
attempted at times to get his wife from the castle at
Versailles and at other times he proposed other wild
expedients.
In his extreme torture he composed a letter which he
charge Tourneham, his uncle, to carry to his wife, to
call her back to her duty. The favorite put it under the
eyes of the king, who said with his ordinary coolness :
6 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
" You have a very honest man for a husband, Madame."
M. le Normand was not badly described by this. He
not only professed in the highest degree this quality,
honesty, but he really possessed it and showed it also in
his face. He maintained perfect conduct, observed the
tone of the best society, the religion of honest people,
and had a heart for love and to be loved. Worthy of a
wife more virtuous than his, he would have been capable
of making his wife feel the attractions of virtue and of
bringing her back to him, but he married a woman who
had learned from her mother the art of dissimulation. An
old plan had destined her to become the mistress of the
king and she had received an education to this end.
Binet and Mine, de Tencin, who had united a long while
before to prepare this dastardly intrigue, had not been
successful during the favor of Mme. Chateauroux, when
Mme. d'Etioles at the age of seventeen and beautiful as
the day roved through the forest of Senart in a rose-
colored dress and in lightly built phaetons in order to be
better observed by the king.
Mme. d'Etioles lived with her husband four years and
became the mistress of the king at the age of twenty-
one. She was tall and well built ; she had a handsome
white skin and what is called a very beautiful face. She
had had two children during her marriage. One of them
died when six months old, the other was little Alexandrine
who, dying at ten years old, was still the source of
several intrigues of which we shall speak further oh. I
have said " during her marriage " because she understood
the art of deceiving her husband. The mistress of Binet
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. /
had arranged several meetings between Mme. d'Etioles
and the king to settle matters with him before she was
finally installed. When M. d'Etioles was not at home, a
carriage of the king came to take her and she went out
by the gate of the garden so that it was impossible to have
the least knowledge at her home of the intrigue. Before
her liaison with the king it was known that she had been
loved by M. de Br. (who lived in 1792); she had also
been suspected of having other lovers ; this shows that
she had been born unscrupulous and with very little
appreciation of the sweetness of a marriage as happy as
that into which she had entered with a virtuous, amiable
and gallant man.
Le Normand de Tourneham, uncle of M. d'Etioles,
had also had a hand in this business ; he loved the
mother of the favorite and had lived for a long time with
her. It was he who caused his nephew to travel in Nor-
mandy at Easter, which was the time agreed upon for
the announcement of the king. He was rewarded by re-
ceiving the place of director-general of the buildings of
the king which at all times was a confidential position.
The nephew, too earnest and too little experienced to
see that he was the instrument of his uncle's ambition,
had married the wife which his benefactor chose for him,
to whom he owed a part of his fortune, his place of
under-lessee, and finally that of farmer-general. The
favorite once installed, and well advised by Binet, Mme.
de Tencin, and by many other bright people who were
interested to see her in the place, laid down for herself
principles of conduct which she never would have been
8 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
able to work out or to sustain alone. First she resolved
to strengthen herself against any attempt of Boyer, of
the dauphine or of the dauphin ; she affected at the
same time towards the queen, who was hardly capable of
thwarting her, a deep respect. By degrees the king
allowed herself to be prejudiced by her against his son,
and even against the dauphine, who was candid and true
in her talk ; and Louis who originally had been pleased
with the character of his daughter-in-law, did not receive
her any longer with the same intimacy ; he enjoyed her
embarrassment, her timidity, and the state of fear which
allowed her only to stammer and tremble in the presence
of the king. Then, when he had enjoyed for sometime
the state to which he had reduced his daughter-in-law,
he tried to bring her back to him by caresses ; he made
a friendly proposition to her at the end of April, 1745, to
come and see him in his little apartment and assured her
that he desired very much to receive her there. The
young Spanish lady did not wish to offend the king,
nor to disobey her husband ; so she asked the king the
hour and presented herself at a time when she knew
that she could not enter.
Boyer had himself alone to reproach for the disagree-
ments which were being stirred up in the royal family ;
he began to believe he should see, in the establishment
of a mistress who was reputed not to be pious, the eclipse
of his influence, of his ministry, of his party, and of his
principles. He remembered that Mme. de Chateau-
roux, Mme. de Tencin and others had delivered him
over to the sarcasms of Voltaire, and he felt himself
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. 9
ridiculed in the party of the unbelievers, and in that of
the philosophers which was coming out more and more
and which censured the priesthood with a loud voice ; and
also in the party of the Jansenists, whom he persecuted
and from whom he withdrew his good will. Naturally
inflexible and eager to sustain his principles, he did not
understand the art of making friends at the court. For
instance, he offended the Duke de Richelieu, by unbecom-
ing refusals, when he might cause him to lose the confi-
dence of Louis. We will give here an anecdote : —
Mme. de Richelieu, sister of the duke, was abbess du
Trtfsor, in the diocese of Rouen, and desired ardently to
come nearer her family and to obtain the abbey aux Bois.
The king had given Mme. de Richelieu this abbey in
the year 1745 at the death of Mme. de Carignan ; — but
Boyer who had the privilege of the appointment an-
swered the king that he did not know the sister of the
Duke de Richelieu, and that he would get information
concerning her habits and her character.
There was no lack of devout people ready to say that
she had lovers, that she wrote poems, novels and love
songs ; thus Boyer triumphed over the Duke de Riche-
lieu. He caused to be published by his confidential
priests a list of the gallantries of the abbess invented for
the purpose, and in this way took revenge for the poems
which he believed the Duke de Richelieu had had com-
posed against him by Voltaire. He did even more ; he
persuaded the king to declare to his favorite that his
sister should never get the abbey. Let us go back to
Mme. d'Etioles.
IO MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
Hardly was this favorite installed when she boasted
that she was useful to the queen. She said that there
was always in the mind of Louis a disposition and prej-
udice that were very unfavorable to the princess, and
added that some people tried continually to increase
these prejudices by speaking ill about her to the king,
while she was convinced herself that the queen had no
other desire than to please her husband. To these
indiscretions so ill-suited to a court, which is an abode
of caution and of lies, Mme. d'Etioles added others ; she
believed, or affected to believe, that some one had tried
to hurt her in the estimation of the queen. In order to
learn what opinion she had of her, Mme. de Luynes,
having the confidence of the princess, Mme. d'Etioles
intended to make her the instrument of an investigation.
She stopped her one day and with a look of uneasiness
she said to her that she was in a painful situation, since
she knew well that she had been slandered to the queen,
and begged Mme. de Luynes to inform herself about it.
Mme. de Luynes, who spoke of this to the queen,
replied to her shortly in the following terms : " The
queen has answered me in the best way, madame ; that
she has nothing against you and that she is very sensi-
ble of the intention that you have of pleasing her on
every occasion ; she has even desired that I inform you
of this. I do so with pleasure, madame, very well under-
standing your sentiments."
Mme. de Pompadour answered this letter by another
worthy of her heart and her mind. "You give me back
my life, Mme. la Duchesse," she saM ; " for three days
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. II
I have been in agony, they have slandered me dread-
fully before M. and Mme. the Dauphin ; but they have
had kindness enough to allow me to prove to them
the falsity of the horrors of which I was accused. It
was said some time before this, that the queen had been
excited against me. Judge of my despair, I who would
give my life for her. It is certain that the more kind-
ness she has for me the more the jealousy of the mon-
sters of this country will be exercised. If she will have
the kindness to be on her guard against them and to
have me informed of what I am accused, it will not be
difficult for me to justify myself."
Mme. d'Etioles, indeed, had recently irritated the
party of the dauphin and of the queen by obtaining from
the king well marked favors. It was the duty of the
nobility to make the nation forget that she was Mme. le
Normand d'Etioles when she arrived at the court, and
obtained from the king the privilege of having the title
Marquise de Pompadour. She gave up at the same
time the coat-of-arms of her husband, and substituted
for it three towers and gave herself a great livery. The
king left her to join the army of Flanders, but every
day he sent her couriers. Voltaire was one of her
devotees, and the ministers began to wish to please her.
Maurepas alone, jealous of the favor that was granted to
her, having a delicate sense concerning the decorum of
the court, and being wounded by her decided tone,
which he called that of a " grisette" could not hide his
antipathy for any other other mistress nor could he
hide it against Mme. le Normand. He ridiculed the
12 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
presentation of this " grisette /" he complained about
her manners ; he learned the art of imitating her bourgeois
speech, and he heaped upon her all that ridicule which
he handled with so much facility and grace.
Hardly was Mme. de Pompadour installed than she
desired to be informed of all the favors which the mis-
tresses of the kings who were predecessors of Louis had
enjoyed. She had heard it said that Dangeau and the
Duke de Saint-Simon had preserved the details of them
in their memoirs ; she had extracts given her, and ob-
tained a promise from Louis that she should be treated
as they were.
Louis XIV. had had for Mme. de Maintenon the
most distinguished consideration, because he wanted to
prove that she was his wife, without telling it. Mme.
de Pompadour exacted, as mistress, what Mme. de
Maintenon had obtained as an undeclared wife. Being
the first who had mixed herself up in the affairs of the
government, she had wished to govern France ; Mme. de
Pompadour wished to have the same influence, and sub-
mit the whole court to the same ceremonial. She read
in the manuscripts of Saint-Simon that the favorite of
Louis XIV., being seated upon an elegant easy chair,
hardly rose when monseigneur or monsieur entered ;
she did not go out of her way for princes or princesses,
and admitted them only after they had asked an audi-
ence, or when she commanded them to see her for a
reprimand. Mme. de Pompadour imitated her as much
as she could in all this and permitted herself great
impertinences with the princes of the blood. They
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. 13
nearly all submitted with meekness, except the Prince
de Conti, who spoke to her with coldness, and the
dauphin, who openly despised her. In order to enjoy
the ceremonial and the privilege of a favorite, she had
begun by being presented at the court, notwithstanding
the resentment of the ladies of the queen, who at one
time when the king was still at the army, burst out
against her, but Louis, who was informed of it, compen-
sated her for what she had to suffer from the jealousy
of the court, by writing love letters to her every day.
On the Qth of July, 1745, she had already received eighty
such letters from her lover, with a seal on which were
inscribed the words : Discret et FidHe. She was well
indemnified when, after the campaign, the Princess de
Conti desired to have the honor to present herself, and
declared so to the queen, assuring her that the king
wished it to be so.
This scandalous ceremony took place on the i$th of
September, 1745, at six o'clock in the evening. Vile and
cringing courtiers, devoted to servitude, filled all the
apartments and rooms that day. The king blushed on
account of it, but " the grisette" carried out her part
with impudence.
Curiosity attracted many people to the queen's apart-
ments, and it was indeed very interesting to see this
virtuous and amiable princess obliged to receive with
good grace the public concubine of her husband. The
whole city of Paris, which was informed beforehand of
this presentation, was in great anxiety to know with
what words the queen would address her. It was agreed
14 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
beforehand in the capital, that nothing would be dis-
cussed at the home of the princess except the dresses
of Mme. de Pompadour, a common subject of conver-
sation amongst women, when they have nothing else
to say to one another. But the queen, being informed
that they had already arranged their conversation, had
the kindness to say something more flattering to Mme.
de Pompadour ; but this obliged the favorite to speak
of some illustrious lady with whom the queen was ac-
quainted but whom Mme. d'Etioles did not know ; the
good queen said to her : " Give me if you please news
about Mme. de Saissac. I was so glad to see her some-
time ago in Paris." Mme. de Pompadour, who had
, learned only a few speeches by heart, was unable to ad-
just them to this delicate attention of the queen ; she
stammered and then said abruptly : " Madame, I have
the greatest desire to please you."
A few days afterwards, when the king had become ill
at Choisy, the queen, obliged to go there to get informa-
tion about his health, had still the kindness, against all
rules, to dine with Mme. de Pompadour. The fear of
being ill-treated, the certainty of showing by this con-
duct, resignation to the will of God and also her reso-
lution to suffer in silence the little bourgeoise, to use the
expression of the times, who had robbed her of the hus-
band whom she still loved, were the motives of the
queen's conduct. All the ladies who were in Choisy
dined with the queen and the concubine, the example of
the princess having blunted their delicacy.
This great favor however brought upon Mme. de
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. 15
Pompadour the jealousy of all the gentlemen of the
court. They wanted to know who she was, who her
husband was, and what right she had to take part in these
affairs. The genealogy of " the grisette " was searched,
and it was discovered that her father had been one of the
principal clerks of the brothers Paris, who was persecuted
by Fagon, intendant of the finances, who, not being
strong enough to fight against them, attacked Poisson,
their principal clerk, and presided, himself, over the com-
mission which was established in the year 1726 to judge
the affair. This Poisson was condemned to be hanged ;
but as such decrees were never carried out when one had
influence and money, especially of the sort that these
four brothers had, Poisson had an opportunity to escape
to Hamburg.
It has been mentioned above how the Commander de
Thianges was situated in regard to Stanislaus in the year
1733. Poisson, watchful for an opportunity to return,
related to him his adventure at Hamburg, and begged
of him to take an interest in him and to ask the
comptroller-general to permit him to appeal. Efforts
had been made several times with the Cardinal de Fleury
without success. Grevenbrock, representative of the
Elector of the Palatinate, a friend of Mme. de Saissac,
busied himself also with this as much as he could ; and
Mme. de Saissac herself used so much influence with the
Cardinal de Fleury to get him to permit the revision of
this affair that in the end the cardinal-minister allowed
him to be examined. The sentence, from the result of
many intrigues, solicitations, and the money of the
l6 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
brothers Paris, was repealed in the year 1741 by another
commission. Thus the daughter of an employee con-
demned to be hanged for having stolen from the king,
was called to share his couch with him, and Mme. de
Pompadour, who obtained letters of nobility for her
father, took care to have inserted in these letters, in
order to white-wash him, that the king had granted
them to him for having rendered services in the pro-
vision department. While the jealousy caused by the
raising of Mme. de Pompadour brought out these anec-
dotes, Mme. de Modena, Madame the Princess de Conti,
and Mile, de Sens considered it an honor to appear in
public as her satellites. After such examples the court
of the favorite could only increase every day ; the titled
ladies did all they could to please her although they de-
tested her. The queen endeavored to show her kindness
by some new slight attentions which were full of deli-
cacy, and the king tried also to please her by increasing
every day the presents which he made her, and these
were so great that in the year 1745 on the 3Oth of Octo-
ber it was known that she already had at that time
180,000 livres of income, outside of the income of her
estate, de Pompadour.
She brought the king to such a pass that he came to
call on her every morning; remained there until mass;
then he returned after her and took a soup and a cut-
let in her company; for in the month of October, 1745,
the king did not take any regular dinner. He remained
until six o'clock and on the days of hunting or of the
council, he came before and returned afterwards. How-
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. 17
ever, the king did not really love her ; she had one of
those minds and characters which subjugate men. She
understood the art of speaking with authority and of
submitting feeble minds to herself, and though she had
but recently arrived at a court where another kind of
language was spoken, and though she employed those
common expressions which wounded the delicacy of
Louis, she had, nevertheless, the art of dominating him
entirely as soon as she thoroughly understood his nature.
She affected, for example, to speak of the Poissons,
her parents, in order not to appear proud, but the king
felt offended by it. One day she even asked a monk, a
cousin of hers, to call on her ; he was a most stupid fool of
the Order of St. Francis. Mme. de Pompadour intended
to raise him above his position ; but having found him
without ambition and without merit, she said publicly :
" He's a nice tool this cousin ! Let them take away this
engine from under my eyes." The " engine " and the
" tool " were not forgotten and the court, secretly scan-
dalized and jealous of the favor of Mme. de Pompadour,
did not cease talking about the " tool " and the " engine "
for many a day.
The king was really grieved on account of it ; and
when the Duke de Richelieu, the Count de Maurepas
and other intimate courtiers spoke to him, he answered :
" An education must be given her and I shall entertain
myself in giving it." Mme. de Lauraguais, who talked
about everything and who didn't like to be supplanted by
a handsomer woman of lower birth, pointed out all the
mistakes of "the grisette /" therefore she incurred her
ft
1 8 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
hatred and the new favorite took care to keep her away
from the little apartments, as much as she could. She also
endeavored to take away from the king the intimate con-,
fidence that he had in the Duke de Richelieu, and she
united herself with Soubise, who had a softer character ;
but the king, who had need of the duke was never
willing to sacrifice him entirely for the sake of pleasing
his mistress.
Her ambition for wealth and desire to prosper her
own creatures carried her soon so far as to drive away
the most honest of the ministers in order to have a suc-
cessor for him, who would be devoted to her. Orri,
comptroller-general, did not come, like Monmartel, to lay
at her feet the treasures of the government ; so she re-
solved to have him sent away, and, though it was difficult
to cause this disgrace because Orri was loved and
esteemed by the king and by the nation on account of
his scrupulous honesty, she succeeded, or at least had a
great influence, in bringing about his dismissal. Happily
the king who had not yet lost the principles which
Fleury had inculcated didn't allow her to bring in one of
her own choice. Orri was reproached for making his
brother-in-law first minister of the King of Poland at
LuneVille, and one of the brothers of this latter he had
made envoyd of the king at the court of this same prince ;
he was further reproached for having procured the regi-
ment of Lorraine for a third brother, and giving an abbey
to one of the sons of the first prince, who was only twelve
years old. He was reproached with much more justice for
having given the intendance of Paris to his nephew, Berth-
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. 19
ier de Sauvigny, a man without experience and too young ;
but no fraudulent practices were charged to him, nor
any want of knowledge. And therefore he ought to have
been pardoned for having given away subaltern places or
such as were foreign to the affairs of the finances, or he
should have been left in his situation and his relatives
been dismissed ; but it had been resolved that he should
be sent away and even the will of Louis would have been
set aside if such a step had been necessary. The brothers
Paris, bankers of the court, who were able to put disor-
der into the finances by acting with the favorite, went so
far as to say that they would not do any more business as
long as he was kept in his place. Knowing that -they
were necessary they had decided to fortify themselves
well and to hold out firmly against the minister, if he did
not leave his place. He had refused to sign the contracts
for them concerning the supplies of the army and in the
end he was sacrificed for them.
The good Frenchmen, though few, who observed
the progress of events at Versailles, judged henceforth
that the king had neither any character nor will, since he
allowed his most useful and most valuable minister to be
sent away by his mistress. Indeed, the prince wrote
Orri a letter full of expressions of esteem ; he gave him
permission to retire on account of his health, but in such
away, however, as to make him understand that this per-
mission was a very much softened royal order. The
minister was neither angry nor astonished on account of
this ; he sustained his disgrace like an honest man, and
had the courage to tell the king that his ruin had been
2O MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
resolved upon in order to rob the royal treasury. Then,
taking advantage of the emotion of the king, he excluded
from his place all the masters de requites, all the in-
tendants, all the councilors of state who were intriguing
in order to get his place, and whose dishonesty he had
discovered while he held his high office. He himself had
worked only for the prosperity of France, and while car-
ing neither for the honors nor the power attached to his
place, he feared the misfortunes which were threatening
the royal treasury. But neither the concubine, nor the
priests had influence enough to appoint any one to take
his place; the king, himself, chose and appointed De
Machault intendant of Valenciennes (who was still alive
in July, 1/92), who had rendered to the Count de Saxe
great service during the war, and was protected by him.
Orri approved of the choice, and said to the king that he
had merit, intelligence, honesty and courage. Orri had
been minister of the finances for sixteen years, and
offered the king his services to initiate De Machault ; but
Mme. de Pompadour hastened his dismissal, while the
public, becoming indignant on account of this summary
disgrace, began to curse Mme. de Pompadour, and
every honest man about the court went to call on Orri
at Bercy, whither he had withdrawn.
As to M. de Machault, here are the verses which ap-
peared in his honor in the year 1749 : —
Par un choix imprevu charge du mtnistere,
Joseph fut pour 1'Egypte un ange tut61aire ;
LeNil de tous ses dons se plut a le combler ;
II fut juste, prudent, et plein de vigilance,
Pur, desinteresse, tel qu'on le voit en France,
Ce sage qui devait un jour lui ressembler.
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. 21
M. de Machault preserved France from the famine
with which it was threatened in the year 1749; he had
ordered grain from Barbary, in expectation of the short-
age in the crop and he carried himself in his ministry
with the strictest integrity.
In order to indemnify his favorite who was thus
thwarted of having one of her own creatures in the
ministry of finances, the king gave to her brother, the
Marquis de Vandieres, who was called le Marquis
d'Avant-hier, the reversion of the charge of general
director of the buildings. A few days afterwards on the
24th of December, 1745, her mother, Madame Poisson,
died very suddenly, and the king, to please his favorite,
proposed to postpone the voyage to Marly, for which the
ladies of the court had incurred much expense. Mme.
de Pompadour knew the consequences of stopping the
court for the sake of Mme. Poisson and obtained from
the king the promise that the voyage should not be sus-
pended ; but the prince, being bewitched — to make use
of an expression which is found in the letters of the
time — did not stop until he had shown his attachment by
generosity such as was never before shown in any such
degree to his former favorites. The king often took
supper with the Marquise de Pompadour, and when he
met the Marquis de Vandieres at her house, he asked
him to take supper with him. One evening he gave
him the reversion of the direction of the buildings, of
which Tourneham was the titulary possessor.
Concerning the fortune of the favorite it is well known
how much she must have cost the state. We have
22 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
mentioned that six months after the declaration of the
love of the king she already had 180,000 livres of income,
an apartment at the court, another in each of the royal
palaces, and the Marquisat of Pompadour. In the year
1746, she bought from Roussett, the estate of La Selle for
the sum of 150,000 livres, and spent 60,000 at the castle.
In the year 1746, the king gave her 750,000 livres more
to acquire the castle and the estate of Cre"cy, and he
gave her besides 500,000 livres from the increase of the
charge of treasurer of the stables, which had been until
then but 100,000 e"cus, and he created a second of
500,000 livres to her profit. These acquisitions had
already brought public reproof upon him ; it was said
that his concubine must be very accomplished in the
art of seduction to change to such an extent a prince
who was naturally stingy and who had for several years
made use of the fortune of the first of his mistresses.
The first of January, in the year 1747, it was noticed
that the king gave madame a handsome collar of dia-
monds, and Christmas presents to the dauphine and Mme,
Adelaide. Mme. de Pompadour had handsome tablets
garnished with diamonds, in the centre of which was
the coat-of-arms of the king and in the corners, one of
the three towers which Mme. de Pompadour had chosen
for her coat-of-arms. In the tablets she found a check
for 1 50,000 livres payable to bearer.
The 5th of March following, Vandieres obtained from
the king the captaincy of Crenelle and 100,000 livres of
reserve commission which belonged to his charge.
In the year 1749, Mme. de Pompadour asked for a
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. 23
mansion at Fontainebleau ; the king gave her 100,000
£cus for this purpose. The same year she asked the
king for the castle of Aulnay, in order to increase the
charms of Cr£cy, and the prince added to that a gift of
400,000 francs. In the year 1750, she wished to acquire
Brimborion, above Bellevue ; the king bought it, and this
cost the treasury 200,000 ecus, for the castle and the outfit.
In the month of March, 1751, Mme. de Pompadour,
having first provided for herself, decided to give her
father, Poisson, the estate of Marigny. La Peyronie had
bequeathed it to Saint-Come. The king acquired it, and
gave Saint-Come 10,000 livres compensation, and the es-
tate passed to M. Poisson.
In 1752 the insatiable favorite wished to have the es-
tate of Saint-Remi, adjoining that of Crecy. This new
acquisition increased her fortune only by 12,000 livres of
income ; but on the 24th of July in the same year the
king gave her 100,000 £cus for the purpose of acquiring
a mansion at Compiegne.
In 1753 the splendid mansion of the Count d'Evreux
in Paris, in the faubourg Saint-Honore, pleased Mme. de
la Pompadour ; she spoke of it to the king, who gave
her on the first of April 500,000 livres to buy it. Not
finding it worthy of her, she had repairs and new furni-
ture made, all of which doubled the sum. The Parisians
burst out this time against the courtesan, and during the
night covered the walls of the mansion with pasquinades.
The poor people who were sweating their blood to feed
the ambition and pomp of " the grisette" did still more
the following day. Seeing that, in order to make the
24 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
garden of this mansion larger, a little portion of that
space, which was then called le Cours, and which has
been named since the Champs-Ely s^es was taken, they
gathered together and fell with fury upon the workmen.
We should never finish if we gave in detail the cost of
all the mansions which she had in Paris, in Fontaine-
bleau, in Versailles, and the castle Bellevue ; one of these
places alone has since satisfied princes of the blood of
France ; in a word the fortune of Mme. de Pompadour
had become so immense that it was incalculable.
One can estimate by these details what appreciation
she had for artists and what to think of the protection
she accorded the arts. Incapable of feeling that art
offers an inspiration to elevated souls, she never saw in
the interesting men who were moved by genius, anything
more than decorators of her palaces. Artists served her
for two purposes : first for the decoration of her palaces,
and then for the establishment of the reputation, which
she was eager to acquire of loving the arts, and of know-
ing the value of them and of protecting them. It is well
known that her heirs made scandalous profits with the
immortal works of Vernet and Pigale and the most illus-
trious artists of her time. She had bought them at an
ordinary price ; they were sold again for double and
treble, and often these artists, who were attached to their
work, bought them back.
La Tour alone paid treble the common price for that
beautiful portrait, which was six feet high, a masterpiece
of pastel-painting and which the connoisseurs of the time
went to admire in the salon of the Louvre.
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. 25
The masterpieces of the most famous artists were pro-
cured for " the grisette" until her surroundings rivalled
the palaces of many of the crowned heads. Callous, in
the bosom of her immense wealth, to the lot of the poor
and unfortunate, it dawned upon her for the first time,
in the year 1746, that she had not as yet performed any
act of charity, and she then had a hospital built for the
poor. The king, being in Choisy in the month of Sep-
tember, went to Crecy with the Abb6 de Bernis, the
comptroller-general, and Berrier, a lieutenant of the
police, to see this hospital. There were accommodations
for forty-eight patients who were nursed and cared for
by the Soeurs Grises. The newspapers reported this
charitable act, and some courtiers spread the report that
in her enthusiasm Madame de Pompadour had sold her
precious stones to help the unfortunate. Indeed it is
true she had taken a thousandth part of her fortune
for their relief.
An anecdote of Bellevue deserves mention here. One
day Madame Pompadour waited for the king in the en-
chanted castle of Bellevue, which had cost so much, and
as he entered she received him in an apartment at one
end of which there was an immense hot-house and a
terrace filled with most beautiful flowers ; this in the
midst of a very severe winter. Since fresh roses, lilies
and pinks prevailed there, the king, in ecstasies, enthu-
siastically admired the beauty of this flower garden, and
upon learning that these vases, these roses, pinks, lilies,
and their stems, in fact, everything was of porcelain, and
the odor of these different flowers was produced by vola-
20 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
tilized essences, could hardly express his admiration for
the fruitful and happy imagination of madame. At length
she was accused of wishing to buy from the King of
Prussia the principality of Neufchatel, that she might re-
tire thither in case she should fall into disgrace, or in
case of Louis' death. It is even affirmed that she had
consulted this prince as to the price of the sovereignty,
which, as she said, she intended to assure for the king-
dom of France after her death. The Princess des Ursins
had previously entertained a similar ambition.
The fear of the king's death and her own disgrace were
her greatest torments. She saw the first mistress, Mme.
de Mailly, respected throughout Paris, because by her
acts of charity she caused the people to forget her former
disgrace. Madame de Pompadour, on the contrary,
foresaw, in case of her own disgrace, the disdain of the
courtiers who now cringed before her at the court, and the
just revenge of the aroused people of Paris, even more
bitter than the disdain of the courtiers. The illness of
the king at Metz, the attitude of the priest who stood
at his bedside, the hatred of the dauphin and Louis'
affectation of remorse, were, for her, sources of a lasting
anxiety. She had indeed subjugated the king ; but when
she showed a too decidedly expressed ascendency over
him, he resented it angrily.
To arose the king from his natural melancholy, Mme.
de Pompadour sought to find some congenial occupation
for him. The favorite of Louis XIV. had found one in
the details of ecclesiastic affairs, in the Jesuitic quarrels,
and in the rivalries of the legitmate and legitimatized
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. 2/
princes ; the favorite of Louis XV. at length conceived
an original idea. She sought to interest the king in
comedies, found plays which pleased him, and chose
comedians from among the courtiers. By this means
she warded off dangerous intrigues; kept the prince
busy, and assigned the parts to courtiers whose sole de-
sire was to please her. Mme. de Pompadour herself
who was naturally an actress, and who had constantly
practiced deceit in her own life, played the principal
parts, and won the greatest applause.
In the month of January, 1747, le Tartufe was given,
and several other pieces. Mme. de Sassenage, Mme. de
Pons, Mme. de Brancas assisted her, and the Duke de
Nivernais (living still in the year 1792), Meuse, d'Ayen,
La Valliere, and Croissy were the comedians.
At first only a small number of spectators were ad-
mitted to these comedies. Vandieres and Tournham
came there to admire the favorite in silence. The Mar-
shal de Saxe, the two Champcenetz, Mme. de Estrades
and Mme. de Roure, were also admitted. When Tartufe
was played in 1747 it was given almost secretly. The
Marshal de Noailles had expressed an earnest desire to
be present, but together with the Duke de Gesvres and
the Prince de Conti he was refused. Neither could the
Count de Noailles obtain admission.
In that play of Dufr£ny's entitled le Mariage fait et
rompu, the Count de Maillebois succeeded wonderfully in
his role of president. The Marquis de Voyer, Croissy,
Clermont-d'Amboise, and Duras also received great
28 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
applause, and the Duke of Nivernais excelled The
Duke de La Valliere directed these little theatricals.
Comedy was soon an effective instrument in the hands
of the favorite ; the gentlemen and ladies exerted their
best efforts to please. La Valliere, for example, was
found to play the bailiffs wonderfully, and also the Duke
de Duras. Mme. de Brancas succeeded well in the part
of the miller's wife, and Mme. de Pompadour in that of
Collet. The Ladies de Livri and de Pons were very
pleasing in their part as the miller's daughters. Cler-
mont-d'Amboise, Courtanvaux, Luxembourg, d'Ayen,
and Villeroy sang beautifully.
On the 4th of February, the Duke de Chartres, d'Argen-
son, Coigny, Croissy, the Marquis de Gontaud, De
Guerchy, and Champcenetz were admitted. The Abb6
de Bernis was sometimes seen there, but seldom did the
President Renault, Ogier, the Marshals de Saxe and De
Duras, Grimberghan and the Marshals de Coigny and
De Noailles attend. It is interesting to read in the
diaries of Richelieu and other courtiers how jealousy
resulted from the issuing of these invitations.
Mme. de Pompadour was wont to invite those whom
she desired to accompany her on her journeys to her
estates or on sleighing parties. In the month of February,
1751, the king and Mme. de Pompadour had invited the
dauphin, Mme. Adelaide, Mme. Victoire, Mme. Sophie,
Mme. Louise, the Duke de Chartres, the Prince de
Turenne, the Duke d'Ayen, Maillebois, the Marquis de
Villeroy, Tallaru and the Count de Lorges. For the
trip to Crecy in the month of June 1751, they invited
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. 29
the Ladies de Choiseul-Romanet, d'Estrades and de
Livri and M. the Duke de Chartres, the Count de Cler-
mont, de Turenne, de Brionne, de Sponheim, de Soubise,
de Belle-Isle, de Saint-Florentin, d'Argenson, de Puisieux,
de Chevreuse, de Luxembourg, de La Valliere, de Duras,
de Chaulnes, de Villeroy, d'Estissac, d'Ayen, de Tho-
mond, de Castries, de Gontaud, d'Armentieres, de
Croissy, de Segur, de Sorches, de Langeron, de Pons, de
Basehy, and de Frise.
In the year 1752, Mme.de Pompadour resumed her
interest in private theatricals, when Vtnus et Adonis, an
heroic ballet of Collet, — music by Mondonville — was
given. The dancers were Mme. de Hesse, de Beuvron, de
Courtanvaux, and Melfort. The Chevalier de Clermont
played the part of Mars, Mme. de Pompadour that of
Venus ; the Vicomte de Chapot that of Adonis, and
Mme. Marchais impersonated Carite.
This play, which pleased the king, was often repeated ;
Mme. de Pompadour playing the part of Venus ; Mme.
Marchais (living still in the year 1792), that of love ; the
Duchess de Brancas, Diane, and the Duke d'Ayen that
of Adonis.
The people grumbled on account of these entertain-
ments, which put the state to an immense expense on
account of the extraordinary feasts which they occa-
sioned, and because of the construction of a play-house
in the year 1748, for the private pleasures of the king.
In the year 1753, Le Mercure galant was given at
Fontainebleu and the queen resented the expressions
referring to herself and to mesdames. The Duke de
3O MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
Richelieu pretended to attribute this discontentment to
the reflections of Mme. de Villars, and had copied upon
separate tickets each of the passages of this comedy which
were disapproved by the queen.
After the feats, hunting parties and gaming, the king
was wont to enter the apartments of the madame and
amuse himself making his coffee or reading the news
which came to him from the bureau where the seals
were broken. When pressing affairs of government
came up and he was obliged to follow the movements of
his army, not even this interfered with his pleasure. If
the minister, read a memorandum of affairs in general he
would turn towards Mme. de Pompadour and laugh ;
and when the minister paused the king would add,
" Speak on, I hear you very well."
CHAPTER LXXIII.
Attempted assassination of Louis XV. on the 5th of January, 1757. —
Difficulty in discovering the causes of this event. — Parliament
attributes it to the Jesuits. — The Jesuits attribute it to parlia-
ment.— The court appears neutral in the mutual accusations
concerning this affair.
THE terror which the crime of Damiens spread sud-
denly over Paris was still rife when the enemies of the
Jesuits, or to speak more correctly, the majority of the
capital of France, said, " It is a crime committed by the
clergy and the Jesuits."
The king wavered between the parliament and the
Jesuits ; there was no person so decidedly in favor of
the latter party as the dauphin, a devout and fanatic
prince.
The Jesuits, accused in France of regicide, and of hav-
ing taught the doctrine of tyrannicide, said just the op-
posite. " They cannot say this time that the Jesuits
had anything to do with the crime of Damiens. We
love the king ; he is a Christian king. Parliament, which
has always opposed the royal will, having been exiled
and dissolved, could alone have instigated this criminal
attempt."
From that time the people of France divided them-
selves into two parties, each accusing the other of the
attempted assassination.
32 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
The court, which had evaded the clergy and the mag-
istracy, and which had demanded silence from every-
body, chastising sometimes the one, and sometimes the
other party, according to circumstances, did not change
its opinion with regard to the crime ; it resolved to
consider Damiens either a fanatic or a man who had
been led astray ; the crime should be punished but the
cause hidden ; and while the grand chamber asked to
"judge the criminal"; while the exiled magistrates
were eager to unravel the mystery, while Machault
worked hard to learn the exact truth, and the Jesuits
employed underhand means to produce evidence to
avert the storm with which they believed themselves
threatened, the court left to Maupeau the first president,
who belonged to the grand chamber, composed of peace-
ful magistrates and courtiers, the delicate judgment of
this affair. Maupeau, the father, had orders to skillfully
evade the secret causes, to discard everything that could
lead to them, to repress indiscreet curiosity, but to prove
the crime and to punish the criminal. It was then that
in France this third party sprang up, that of the court-
iers, which resolved to regard Damiens as a man who
had been misled rather than a conscious villain. The
Bastille was filled with citizens who spoke with too much
freedom concerning this event.
Impartial historians cannot adopt these views of the
court ; they are ready to prove that Damiens, instead of
acting spontaneously had prepared himself for a long
time for this crime ; and, moreover, that it was the work
of the clergy and of the Jesuits.
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. 33
Not without reason were the Jesuits accused of being
the secret authors of this attempted assassination.
Their ambition to rule France as in the time of the
former king ; the influence of their principles and of
Fleury ; their still more powerful reign during the minis-
try of Boyer ; the decadence of their authority and of the
ministry of the Cardinal de La Rochefoucauld, minister
of the feuille des btntfices, who tempered their quar-
relsome and fanatic minds, and who died afterwards from
the effect, as it is said, of a Jesuitic poison ; the hope of
ruling soon in the name of the dauphin, who was so
devoted to the order of the Jesuits ; the fear, if the king
should live, of seeing him abandoned to Mme. de Pom-
padour, who was detested by all the Jesuits: all these
are convincing evidences that the Jesuits were the real
authors of the crime.
Every day during the course of the proceedings,
new circumstances were brought to light which con-
firmed the idea that this assassination should be laid to
the charge of the Jesuits. Father Latour, a Jesuit, was a
director of the father of Damiens ; another Jesuit named
Delaunay, his protector, had procured him a place. The
regicide had been received as a boarder in the college of
the Jesuits in Bethune, and had been educated by them.
He entered their college as valet of Louis le Grand in
Paris in the year 1735, remained there fifteen months and
heard the political and theological debates of the Jesuits,
who were at that time stirring up the first fanatic quar-
rels under the ministry of Fleury. The Jesuits, who had
expelled him on account of insubordination, took him
34 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
back for fifteen months in the year 1739, where he re«
mained until his marriage in the year 1740.
When asked, during the course of the proceedings, why
he had served the Jesuits whose orders were so severe for
such a long time, to declare what he understood by their
doctrine and whether it was to become familiar with its
teachings that he had entered the house, he replied to
his interrogators, " I have nothing to say." There were
found upon the regicide at the time of the offense a
prayer-book and the instrument of his crime. " My
soul is in safety," he said to the duchess who spoke to
him concerning the darkness of his deed. When asked
what he understood by this, he added, " I have nothing
to answer, I will tell it to my confessor," and he asked
for an oratorian. It is well known that the oratoire was
a body hostile to the Jesuits ; such a confessor was
denied him. It was said among the oratorians and all the
enemies of the Jesuits that they had given the commu-
nion to Damiens before he left Assas.
During the excitement which this desperate event
created, the Jesuits were anxious that the crime be laid
to the officers of the parliament. They even had the
cleverness to introduce into the prison cell of the assassin,
Belot, one of their followers, who, having gained his
confidence and captured his good will, gave him a rule
of conduct to follow during his trial.
From this very moment Damiens was no longer the
same man. " Look out for the dauphin, see that he
does not go out," he shouted when he was taken. " His
life is not in safety ; the same fate is reserved for him,
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. 35
yes I have accomplices," he said, " they are very far
away. I would like to speak to the dauphin, I would re-
veal many things. I have assassinated the king on
account of religion, and because the people perish ; " he
also said to a working man who asked him the names of
his accomplices : " If I should name them, how many
people would be accused ! "
But after the examination of Belot, exempt of the
guardes de la Pre'vdte', Damiens showed only a false char-
acter. Before the proceedings there were in his expres-
sions fanaticism and traits of a desperate character; but
during the trial he manifested remarkable shrewdness,
was often sarcastic and especially careful to reveal only
what he wished. The great question as to the source of
the crime lay between the Jesuitic clergy and the parlia-
ment. Damiens had laid the event to both. Belot
made him write to Louis that famous letter in which
Damiens declares that the king's life and that of his son
are both in danger if the king does not take the part of
the people.
Let us analyze this sentiment. Its object is to free the
dauphin of every suspicion of complicity, since it threat-
ens him also ; but what had the king's son to fear from
the people, whose reign they most eagerly desired.
Damiens declared further that his crime was the result
of the discharge of the officers of the parliament. He
added on the other hand that if the priest should con-
tinue to refuse the sacraments their lives would be in
danger. " The archbishop," he said, " is the cause of the
whole trouble, because he has refused the sacraments to
36 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
the people." Damiens involved also officers of the par-
liament in this affair, namely, Lambert, Clement, Guilla-
umie, three other councilors and the presidents De
Rieux and De Massi.
The enemies of the Jesuits rose against Belot when this
letter was published, and declared the absurdity of sup.
posing that magistrates spontaneously dismissed should
have found a murderer all ready for their purpose. They
affirmed, on the contrary, what was very true, that a
Jesuit was Damien's confessor, that he went often to
their house for communion, and that they could have
prepared the blow far ahead, and chosen a favorable mo-
ment in order to hide a crime which they considered
necessary for an absolute return of their power. Hence
came their resolution not to absolutely attribute the
crime to the parliament, since the Jesuits found them-
selves implicated by circumstantial evidence, but to
attribute it to both the Jesuits and the parliament
in order to hide the true cause, offering two channels
for public suspicion. Belot saw Damiens several times,
and during his second visit mentioned the name of the
councilors in the parliament in order to balance the
opinions of the two causes which ostensibly had to be
alleged in order to account satisfactorily for this attack.
There are, however, ample proofs that the dismissed
officials were not the accomplices of Damiens, since be-
fore the dismissals Damiens had said in the Netherlands
in the year 1756 : " I shall go back to France ; I shall die
there ; the greatest man on earth will also die there, and
he will hear of me."
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. 37
The Jesuits, secretly in despair at finding themselves
still accused of this assassination, made every possible
effort to turn the accusations against the parliament.
All the Jesuits in the kingdom and their intimate parti-
sans seemed to unite with one another in attributing to
the legislature the crime of Damiens. The court and
Damiens appeared, on the contrary, to be tacitly in league
to persuade the public that parliament had no complicity
in the assassination. Notwithstanding his deceit and
his resolution to constantly practice evasion, Damiens,
who confided more to the people of his class, and who
was very reserved with his judges, said one day to one
of the sergeants who guarded him : " I could make
your fortune." " My fortune ! " answered this sergeant,
" what could you do in your present condition to make
my fortune ? "
" I should only have to tell you my secret," answered
Damiens. The sergeant rendered an account of this to
the Duke de Biron, who spoke of it afterwards in the
fourth meeting of the peers, after having ordered the
sergeants to keep record of his words. Upon another
occasion he asked one of the sergeants if it were he who
would torture him. The sergeant answered him that he
should only be present. " Well ! " answered Damiens,
" you will see that suffering will not make me speak."
On the 26th of February Damiens asked what day of
the month it was, and upon being told that it was the
26th, continued : " Then they have broken their word."
He also said : " Could I have reached my horses, they
would not have known who made the attack."
38 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
During the fifth session of the peers on Wednesday,
March 9, 1757, it was decided to examine the persons who
were arrested for the crime. The princes of the blood,
the peers, the grand'-chambre of the parliament were
charged with the judgment. The Prince de Conti said
that he believed it absolutely necessary to discover the
underlying cause of the assassination. He said that he
was eager to discover the mystery of this affair since he
had observed what transpired at the trial ; he reminded
them of the words which Damiens had spoken in the
prison, — that he could make a fortune by revealing his
secret ; he made the observation that fanaticism of any
kind could go so far as to inspire dissimulation in order
to save accomplices ; he said that a man born with a
firm character was prepared for torture. Conti con-
cluded from that that it would be necessary to gather
together all the proofs of which the Duke de Biron had
kept a record, to have the record communicated, and to
hear what information his guards could give in order to
form judiciary proofs. He said that it was necessary to
study the character of Damiens before analyzing his
crime ; to examine his inconsistencies, his tricks under
the present circumstances, and to question the servants
of the houses where he had lived and with whom he had
been on intimate terms. " These investigations," said
the prince, " can only produce a proof of complicity or
non-complicity, but they surely will calm the king, the
excited people, and the whole nation. A continued con-
spiracy would be fearful to think of. I am very much
distressed to see the chamber so little advanced in
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. 39
knowledge of a conspiracy, and so little inclined to take
proper measures to discover whether or not it exists in
this case."
Though this was a sensible speech, Biron, who had
received instructions from the court, and the other
gentlemen did not approve of it. Biron said that his
sergeants who had guarded Damiens owed account to
the king alone, or to himself as their colonel. The
Prince de Conti answered that the point was not to
gather military facts and that his authority as colonel
was not in question ; that as soldiers they were under
his orders, but as common citizens they must submit to
justice, which exercised in this question the rights of the
king; and that they must render an account of any
remarks which might escape the criminal whom they
were guarding ; he said that in the record of the obser-
vations of the guards there might be points that would
strike others, though M. de Biron might not be influ-
enced by them. Biron replied that in this record there
were blasphemies, and profligate curses, which were
little in accordance with the respect due such a high
assembly as the parliament, and that he would com-
municate to the procureur-general the important remarks
entered in the record ; but the Prince de Conti, who had
great presence of mind, replied that he would be satis-
fied if the articles in accordance with decency should be
read, observing that indecencies which were connected
with the trial could be heard by the judges personally.
There were only seven votes in favor of reading this
record ; and this proved that the parliament, which was
4O MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
then composed of the princes, the peers, and the grand' -
chambre, who were all interested in following the ideas
of the court which desired that the causes of the crime
be enshrouded in mystery, did not wish to make con-
clusive discoveries, but to keep within the limits of
the proof of the crime and, later, of the punishment.
A vote was then taken as to whether the persons who
were intimate with Damiens should be heard. Not one
affirmative vote was cast and the Prince de Conti, when
his turn came to give his opinion, said smilingly that he
would give it against himself, so that it could be said
that the proposal which he had made to examine those
who might be able to discover accomplices, had been
rejected unanimously. However, he persisted that his
proposal was in perfect order and that he was very sorry
it did not pass.
All Paris was disgusted upon learning that parliament
intended to- limit itself to the proof of the crime and
its punishment without going to the bottom of the
cause ; but parliament was as reserved during the pro-
ceedings against Ravaillac as it was during those
against Damiens. The same interests seem to have
guided the parliament in the year 1757 as in the year
1610. In order to confuse the rumors of the capital,
Pasquier, reporter of the trial, who was devoted to the
court in this affair, asked to have a confessor sent to
Damiens, notwithstanding the law that he should be
given only one and that after judgment had been ren-
dered. " One should be sent him," said Pasquier, " in
order to soften his heart, and to influence him to make
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. 41
the avowal of a conspiracy which we must have from
him." The assembly consented to this, and the Prince
de Conti, in accepting it, said that he agreed the more
readily to this means, since all other means of discover-
ing the motive of the attempt of murder being excluded,
it was essential that this method be employed. A priest
of Saint-Paul was sent, a man sold to the Jesuits and
well known for his fanaticism against the parliament.
They also ordered to be fetched from Avignon a ter-
rible machine under torture of which but one criminal
had been known to maintain silence. It was about this
circumstance that President de Meynieres, who has pre-
served valuable notes concerning Damiens, says, " The
more one meditates over the proceedings, the more one
is convinced that no explanatory facts were brought to
light. But one cannot help feeling convinced that,
while the mystery remained, there were suspicions which
may in time be cleared up."
The confrontation of Damiens and Belot was read in
the parliament. Damiens firmly maintained before
Belot that he had never mentioned the seven magistrates
as accomplices but as magistrates with whom he was
acquainted, and reproached Belot for having deceived
him, while torturing him, in order to make him name the
councilors with whom he was acquainted. This was
sufficient to have issued a writ of arrest against Belot,
but this is precisely what the parliament wanted to
avoid by giving Jesuit confessors to Damiens and clear-
ing the slanderers of the magistracy. The Prince de
Conti, having proposed to deliberate about a crime of
42 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
this importance in view of the danger of letting Belot
escape, the first president answered that the time had
not yet come, and that it would be necessary to wait
until the report was finished, promising that after the
report they would deliberate about it. But when the
report was finished the magistrate still insisted, that he
could not deliberate about the affair until the reading
of the conclusions and the examination. This desire to
spare Belot gave rise to much talk ; it was said openly in
Paris that this happened because he had named the
seven magistrates by superior order. It was affirmed
even that Pasquier had spoken in the same way.
The reading of the report at Damien's trial lasted
twenty-six hours, but presented no new facts to the
judges so far as the motives of the offender were con-
cerned. The same discrepancies were noticed concern-
ing the stay of the criminal at Flanders ; the same mys-
tery was observed, the same lies about the action of
Damiens in Paris on January 3rd, during the five hours
that he had been there after having left his wife ; the
same in regard to his actions in Versailles on the 4th
from three to eleven o'clock in the evening, when he went
to take supper; and his actions on the 5th from the time
that he went out until half past three, when a little man
came to speak to him under the arch. There was always
the same doubt as to the reasons of the attack and
Damien's motive, who said sometimes that he had mur-
dered the king on account of religious designs, and at
other times that he had no religious sentiments what-
ever ; he claimed sometimes that it was zeal for the
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. 43
cause of the priests who were persecuted by the arch-
bishops ; sometimes that it was on account of the exiled
magistrate ; and finally, solely on account of the welfare
of the people. Thus he appeared at times to have
secrets, and at other times to conceal nothing. From
this time on the tacit connivance of the court, of par-
liament, and of Damiens was noticed. They maintained
profound silence as to the motive. The Prince de Conti,
who alone showed strength of character during the
judgment, observed that the judges did not wish the
sergeant to be heard regarding the words which had es-
caped Damiens ; and that they affected to draw no con-
clusions from the words of the regicide who had said :
" I could make your fortune by telling you my secret."
The Prince de Conti, seeing that his advice to investi-
gate the cause of the crime was not followed, though its
worth was recognized, wished cleverly to introduce
Pasquier's admission about the accident befalling the
two horses which were in Versailles near Damiens when
the affair happened. Pasquier, who saw the snare,
believed he could evade it by saying that commissioners
need not render account of the sources from which they
obtain their information, and the first president added
that it was sufficient to say that it came from the procur-
eur-general.
The Prince de Conti replied to Pasquier, saying that
the judges had as much right to be informed of every-
thing as those whom they had sent as commissioners, and
that it was unreasonable for employees to claim equal
rights with their employers.
44 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
The first president, who believed his dignity compro-
mised by this title of delegate or employer and who had
done everything to find out the cause of the assassina-
tion, said that he was not a delegate of the assembly ;
that he could only be a delegate of the king. " This pre-
tension is news for me," answered the Prince de Conti ;
"you will do me the pleasure of showing me your
license." " Continue reading," added the first president,
addressing himself to Pasquier. " What the Prince de
Conti says cannot be maintained, and is best forgotten."
" No, Sir," answered this prince, " I do not agree with
you that truths should be forgotten. I criticise your
words ; they seem to me very careless."
Pasquier did not probe deeper to ascertain the cause
of the assassination.
During the session of the princes and of the peers on
the 26th of March, 1757, the four councilors' clerks went
out ; but the Count de Clermont remained, though he
was Abb£ of Saint-Germain des Pr£s. Damiens appeared
surrounded by four men and attached by straps to rings
which had been sunk into the flooring. In order to
satisfy the public, he was questioned in regard to the
causes of the assassination but he was too shrewd to be
led astray. The sight of the princes of the blood and of
the peers failed to move him ; he fixed his eyes upon
them all with great calmness and said, " Here is M.
d'Uzes, whom I have had the honor to serve at his table ;
there is M. Turgot. I also have served him, likewise M.
de BoufHers." He remarked to the Marshal de Noailles :
" You cannot be very warm with your white stockings,
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. 4$
you should sit near the fire-place." He maintained this
free and almost familiar manner when replying to his
interrogators. M. de Biron said to him : " You should
have told us who your accomplices were." " Perhaps
you," answered Damiens. When the first president ques-
tioned him about his travels in Flanders he said bluntly:
" Monseigneur, I have told you that twenty times ; that
is not the question in this trial."
When Pasquier pressed him to reveal the identity of
his accomplices, Damiens answered : " No doubt M.
Pasquier speaks well; he talks like an angel; the king
ought to make him chancellor." He was also urged to
tell where he had been at a certain moment, to which
question Damiens answered haughtily, " At a place which
must not be named in such good company whither I had
been conducted by an engaging woman, who attracted me
and whose hair was dressed a la courtoisie" He after-
wards said in regard to a robbery that he had formerly
committed : " I am not a good thief for I left six or
seven hundred livres in gold in a pocket-book."
The examination lasted six hours and a quarter, during
which the first president talked almost incessantly,
hardly allowing time for Damiens to answer. The
questions followed close upon each other. It was gen-
erally thought that it would have been much more prof-
itable had Damiens occupied the time, but that is just
what Maupeau did not wish. The fact that Damiens
lied concerning his whereabouts and actions on the 3rd of
January, before taking the coach for Versailles, proved
conclusively that these five hours were very important.
46 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
They evidently did not wish to discover either what
he had done on the 4th of January at Versailles or on
the following day before the assault.
Concerning " the little man " who was said to have re-
marked to him, " Well ! " and to whom he was said to
have answered, " I wait," Damiens said this was the man
with the machine. About the two horses, he said that
had any been ready they would have been found.
Concerning his accomplices, he had said at Versailles :
" I have some ; I will not denounce them now. They are
far away ; I will name them to my judge. Allow me to
speak with the dauphin ; I would reveal to him a great
many things. If I should declare my accomplices how
many people would be embarrassed ! If the king con-
sents to grant me my life, I will explain myself more
clearly."
At other times he persistently denied having had ac-
complices.
" Then you believe that your action was meritorious? "
" Of course, since I have done it," he said. " But your
obstinacy proves that you are engaged by a terrible
oath to reveal nothing." " I have nothing to reveal."
Another time Damiens admitted : " If my hat had
known my thought, I would have thrown it in the fire.
I left Flanders and Paris, and I remained two days at
Versailles the sole possessor of my secret. I knew I
should be condemned to death ; for one can hardly save
one's self after having committed so great a crime as this.
It was, therefore, with no special object that I had that
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. 47
gold on my person, and that I strove to conceal my
movements."
At one time he would say that he held no religion ;
another time that he had committed this crime to
avenge his religion ; again, that it was on account of the
refusal of the sacraments, or on account of the dis-
missal of the gentlemen of the parliament. He said that
he had served councilors, and that what he had heard
had fired his brain.
At another time he said: "A spell has been thrown
over me. I left France to rid myself of this idea, but I
was forced to come back. I asked the inn-keeper to
bleed me on January 5th, and had he consented, this
misfortune would not have befallen me."
When he was hard pressed concerning his actions, he
answered : " I have nothing at all to say," or, " I have
answered."
Once he said : " I regret not having put myself under
the guidance of these Jansenist priests of Saint-Omer ;
I should not have committed my crime." Still Damiens
did confess to Jesuits.
Damiens denied having dictated the seven names of
the councilors that he knew best. He was told that if
he had only named these councilors as persons with
whom he was acquainted, he would not have dictated
these words : " Let the king have his parliament come
together; let him uphold it with the promise not to do
anything to the above-mentioned company." Damiens
answered that he had not read that addition before
signing it.
48 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
Damiens was asked what he understood by these
words of his letter : " The affair comes from their side
only," he answered ; " if I had written my letter myself,
that would not be there. I intended to say that the par-
liament was right in what it did against the archbishop ;
but Belot put it down in writing as he wished to put it,
and he took this expression from his own head."
The Prince de Cbnti remarked that he was forgetting
something ; the first president answered : " That is true ;
Damiens knows well that he forgets something, but he
will not tell it." This shows the resolution of the first
president to unveil nothing concerning the cause. The
Duke of Orleans said that he remembered it well but
that he would not tell it either. So that part of the
sentence was not written.
In the evening when the question on Belot came up
this omission was again taken up. Belot was still spared ;
that part of the sentence which concerned him in the
protocol was passed in silence.
The Duke de la Force had the courage, before the
judgment of Damiens, to issue a writ against Belot.
The first president had promised that he would, and the
Prince de Conti reminded the first president of the word
that he had given ; but the latter evaded the question ;
Pasquier even spoke for his discharge. He said that
Belot had made a proposal which had two parts ; first to
name his accomplices and secured the councilors with
whom he was acquainted ; that Damiens had pretended
to answer only the second, and Belot by a mistake could
have understood that he answered the first or both to-
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. 49
gather. Forty-seven voices were still favorable for Belot
and concluded that nothing should be done against him.
The parliament was then exhausted with fatigue, the
session having lasted twelve hours.
The conduct of the first president and of Pasquier
concerning Belot was such that the rule was adopted
that when the commissioners had declared that a trial
was going on, no opinion could be given on anything
until after the final report was made.
This report finished, a new rule again saved Belot,
namely that they could not deliberate on anything, until
after the reading of the conclusions, and after the exam-
inations before the judge, unless they deliberated sepa-
rately.
During the examination Damiens was only questioned
for the benefit of Belot ; Le was harassed in order to
vindicate him and after this was done, another rule was
brought to light ; that nothing could be discussed except
the judgment of the principal defendant at any one
sitting.
On February 5, Damiens had declared in his examina-
tion that his soul was in safety. He added on March 18,
that he believed that religion did not oppose his putting
his hand upon the king when misfortunes justified it ;
that he had thought wrong in this but he had neverthe-
less thought it ; and the doctrine of the Jesuits concern-
ing this question was well known. He was asked from
whence he had taken this doctrine ; and he answered,
" nowhere ; " and when he was pressed hard he said, " I
have nothing to answer."
5O MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
They showed him his different accounts concerning
the time when he said he formed this project, and his
admission at Versailles that he had accomplices ; he
answered on the first point that he had nothing to reply
and on the last point that he must have been out of his
senses, if he had said all that.
After all these proceedings the torture was applied to
Damiens. He admitted that as early as the month of
August, 1756, he had said to Poperinghe that he would
come back to France, that he would murder the head of
the state and that he would perish himself. When the
cords which were on his legs in the stocks were tightened,
his only answer, when he was asked for the name of his
accomplices, was: "Rascal of an archbishop, your
refusals are the cause of everything."
While the death preparations were being made, the
police informed the ministry that they would look out
for the security of the condemned man because they
feared that something might happen. This showed how
they still feared that he might by rescued by accomplices
before he could be put to death. The police even took
possession of the keys of all the back doors of the houses
on the streets which led towards the Greve. The prep-
arations for his death were terrible. In the midst of
the square of Greve a scaffold was erected three feet
high, surrounded with three circuits of iron which, by
means of hinges, were closed with screws ; they were
intended to hold back the body of the unfortunate man
who was to be fastened upon the table by the loins, the
chest and the neck. Damiens looked at the instrument
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. 51
with which he was to be killed and at the spectators
very quietly. The knife was fastened to his hand which
was burned, while he uttered fearful shrieks and raised
his head in order to see the operation.
With sharp pincers pieces of flesh were torn away from
his arm, his calves, his upper leg and his chest ; every
tearing made him utter fearful groans, but without swear-
ing or imprecations. Melted lead was poured into his
wounds, which made the unfortunate man shriek. These
operations lasted three-quarters of an hour.
Then his arms and feet were fastened to the traces of
four horses and the pulling began. With every effort
Damiens uttered wild cries ; but all the pullings failed
to rend him. Then they attached the horses to his legs,
but this also failed of the desired effect. His nerves and
sinews, which had lengthened without breaking, and had
resisted the pulling of the horses, had to be cut. The
executioner cut, or, rather, chopped off his limbs, while
Damiens was still lifting his head in order to witness it.
He died in losing the last arm after one hour and a
quarter of pulling by the horses. The king was informed
that certain gentlemen of his court had hired rooms at
the Greve in order to witness the execution. The king
stopped the courtier who was going to relate it, and
said with great sorrow that he did not want to know
their names. The most delicate of the ladies of the
court hired windows, and paid as high as twenty-five
louis.
The father, the wife and the daughter of Damiens
were banished forever from the kingdom, and prohibited
52 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
from coming back under penalty of being hanged. His
brothers, his sisters, his sisters-in-law, all his relatives were
obliged to change their names under the same penalty.
Every family in the whole kingdom which happened to
be called Damiens changed its name.
A few days afterwards there appeared the Lettre d'un
patriote, which wounded cruelly some of the commis-
sioners on account of the allegations contained in it.
These were burned, and a resolution was adopted to ask
from the king a declaration of the penalty of death
against the authors and distributors of certain pamphlets
which were being spread in opposition to public peace.
The king and his council and chancellor thought the
death law too severe; they satisfied themselves with
throwing into prison anybody who talked about the
affair of Damiens. However, the Jesuits, Dr. Marcilly
and the priest of Saint-Paul announced what Damiens
had declared with a loud voice when he was executed,
that by this assassination he had proposed to vindicate
the honor and glory of parliament, and that he hoped by
these attempts to render a great service to the state.
They said that " he was without accomplices " ; but they
added that Damiens had exclaimed : " I should not be
here if I had not served councilors of the parliament."
CHAPTER LXXIV.
Details of the negotiations of Maria-Theresa in France to unite her
house to that of the Bourbons to the prejudice of the smaller
powers. — Mme. de Pompadour sells the kingdom of France to
her. — She loses the ministers who were partisans of the old prin-
ciples against Austria.— Anecdotes of Mme. de Pompadour. —
Secret negotiations with the empress.
IN order to unite France and Austria, France needed
a weak king and a sovereign as able as Maria-Theresa in
Austria ; there was also needed a scheming favorite at
Versailles, and at Vienna as deep a minister as Kaunitz.
Louis XV. proposed to give Mme. de Pompadour an
education, but he received one from his mistress. He
had been born avaricious, but she made him prodigal.
Like Louis XIII. and Louis XIV., Louis XV. detested
Austria, but his mistress reconciled him with that power.
Most of the courtiers were introduced to her in his secret
committees ; and this monarch who loved Maurepas and
many worthy persons of his court was induced to deprive
them of his good graces. In the strength of his youth
the king had not been very debauched ; in a more ad-
vanced age she prepared for him the pleasures of youth,
and instilled in him an inclination for change and variety.
When she saw that her charms no longer had the same
power over the king, she created a department for his
pleasures, and placed herself at the head of his secret
54 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
affairs in order to govern them, and those of France and
the whole of Europe also.
This woman in Paris, could facilitate the union of two
powers that were such great rivals as France and Austria,
and which were so far from possessing the same views
and interests, that when M. de Kaunitz, Austrian min-
ister at Aix-la-Chapelle, made the first advances to Saint-
Severin whom Mme. de Pompadour had sent to that city
in order to conclude peace at any price, Saint-Severin re-
fused to pay any attention to the project.
Mme. de Pompadour, sought after with much eager-
ness by the Queen of Hungary, and already resolved to
sell her the king and the kingdom, saw in Maria-Theresa,
who called her " her princess " and " her cousin " such a
protection, and such a powerful resource, that she en-
deavored to keep herself in her favor. She had recourse
to two means for success in this ; the first was to send
away the old ministerial heads who still held the prin-
ciples of Louis XIV. ; then to put at the head of foreign
affairs ministers who were of no account, or who were
devoted to her.
The Count de Maurepas, the deacon of the ministers
in the year, 1748, who had been an eye-witness during
the Regency of the revolution which Spain attempted to
bring about in France when the regent allied with
Austria, was the one most to be feared. He saw the
king when he wished, he had his confidence, he knew
the art of pleasing the monarch, and drew upon himself
on that account the jealousy of the favorite. She had
him exiled in the month of April, 1749, and she placed
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. 55
at the head of the navy, which had been directed by M.
de Maurepas ever since the Regency, Roullier, a man
without will, without character, and without talent,
whom she made an instrument of her own will, rather
than a minister of the great kingdom. After two years
of administration in the navy department she raised her-
self to that of foreign affairs for the fulfillment of her
designs.
In leaving M. de Maurepas in the ministry there was
another inconvenience: he held the friendship of the
dauphin, a declared enemy of Austria, and she feared
that this minister, who was very capable in secret in-
trigues, would frustrate the views that she had had for a
long time about France and Austria. His famous
verses also strengthened her determination to dethrone
him. We give these verses here because they give a
natural picture of the king, of Mme. de Pompadour, and
the courtiers, and because they should pass as a historical
document rather than a satire of the times. The song
is meant for the melody of the Trembleurs of the opera
Isist and the favorite attributed it to Maurepas.
Les grands seigneurs s'avillissent,
Les financiers s'enrichissent,
Les Poissons s'agrandissent :
C'est le regne des vauriens.
On epuise la finance
En bailments en depense ;
L'£tat tombe en decadence,
Le roi ne met ordre a rien, rien, rien, rien.
Une petite bourgeoise,
Elevee a la grivoise,
$6 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
Mesurant tout a sa toise,
Fait de la cour un taudis.
Le roi, malgre son scrupule,
Pour elle fortement brule.
Cette flamme ridicule
Excite dans tout Paris, ris, ris, ris.
Cette catin subalterne
Insolemment le gouverne,
Et c'est elle qui decerne
Les honneurs 4 prix d'argent.
Devant 1'idole tout plie,
Le courtesan s'humilie ;
II subit cette infamie,
Et n'est que plus indigent, gent, gent, gent.
La contenance eventee
La peau jaune et maltraitee,
Et chaque dent tachetee,
Les yeux froids et le cou long,
Sans esprit, sans caractere,
L'ame vile et mercenaire,
Le propos d'une commere,
Tout est bas chez la Poisson, son, son, son.
Si dans les beautes choisies
Elle etait des plus jolies,
On passerait les folies
Quand 1'objet est un bijou ;
Mais pour si sotte creature,
Pour si plate figure
Exciter tant de murmures,
Chacun juge le roi fou, fou, fou, fou,
Ce n'est pas que pour lui plaire
Le beau soit bien necessaire :
Vintimille sut lui faire
Trouver son minois joli.
On dit meme que d'Estrade,
Si vilaine et si maussade,
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. $7
Aura bientot la passade ;
Elle en 1'air tout bouffi, fi, fi, fi.
Mme. de Pompadour, having succeeded in exiling
Maurepas, detained him at Bourges until 1752, when he
was allowed to come to Plessis near Dammartin, ten
miles from Paris, to a castle belonging to his mother-in-
law. Mme. de Maurepas also came to Paris to the child-
bed of Mme. d'Agenois, and her husband arrived in the
night at Clichy at the house of Mme. de Pontchartrain,
passed through Paris during the night without stopping
on the 29th of June and arrived on the 3Oth at Plessis.
After M. de Maurepas, the most renowned heads
which Mme. de Pompadour struck were Machault and
d'Argenson. In order to get rid of them she used as a
pretext certain affairs in which Machault and d'Argenson
had taken the most important part. She substituted
for these men who had made a deep study of the problem
of administration, Roullier, Saint-Contest, Paulmy,
Moras, Cr£mille, Massiac, Berrier and other persons who
were in obscurity before they became ministers, and
who have been known since by their incapacity and
their malversation in public office. Among the multi-
tude of statesmen whom she intrusted with the handling
of the administration, the Abb6 de Bernis, who had
talent, genius, honesty, and character, was alone dis-
tinguished. We shall speak of him later.
Concerning Machault and d'Argenson, who were sent
away on the same day, her jealousy against the first who
had the confidence of the king, and the hatred which she
58 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
had conceived against the second, who was openly at
variance with her, had prepared their disgrace. Out-
rageous caricatures determined her, besides, to ask the
exile of d'Argenson, which she obtained the same day.
Thus although she nearly always was carried along by a
motive of hatred, still a specific act was necessary to
determine her ; for she resolved to send away d'Argen-
son only when one of her friends, who went to see this
minister and happened to see a letter that he was writ-
ing, perceived that it was about an engraving which was
then being given publicity. It represented d'Argenson
in a coach, Machault in the coachman's place and the
king dressed as a lackey behind. The letter which con
tained the caricature began with these words : " My
lackey has just sent away my coachman." The king
who had just sent away Machault with flattering testi-
monials, felt himself outraged and sent d'Argenson away
with indignation.
In the same way that Mme. de Maintenon and all the
shrewd ministers knew how to employ at the right times
punishment and rewards, the favorite aimed to dispose
even of the offices of the Bastille and to have them
occupied by her own creatures. The old De Launay,
who died at the age of seventy-six in the year 1749, had
governed this prison well and to the profit of the minis-
ters ; but she wished to make use of this prison in order
to maintain her influence. To inspire terror and by that
to preserve her situation entered into her plan, especially
since her beauty had begun to disappear. She therefore
placed a man by the name of Baile, a creature of hers, in
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. 59
charge of the Bastille, and took him into her house in
order to immediately transmit her commands to him.
This Baile had received his education as jailor, in the
castle of Vincennes, and since he imprisoned poets, peo-
ple who had made witticisms, and all those who were
wanting in respect for the Marquise de Pompadour, mis-
tress of the king, the governor of the Bastille was for
her, the first and most important of her business men.
Mme. de Pompadour took advantage of her great in-
fluence to place her parents in embassies ; Baschi was
made ambassador of France and Portugal. She had
regularly more courtiers than the king, the queen, and
the dauphin, and she received them all seated, they
meanwhile standing. The princes of the blood were ob-
liged to submit to this humiliating etiquette, and always
to appear content in order to preserve favor. She spoke
then with the tone of a sovereign woman ; and, without
having either good manners, or that tone which education
gives, she had all of a sovereign's firmness, or, rather, its
stubbornness, having " never having been able," as the
court said, " to get rid of her tone of petite bourgeoise" It
was in the presence of a great company at her toilet that
Dag£, the most celebrated hair-dresser of the century,
gave her a laconic answer, worthy of a man of his occu-
pation who did not himself know the whole value of it.
All the women wished to have their hair dressed by this
Dag£, who made twenty thousand livres of income. The
princesses of the blood, the ladies of the court, all the
rich people of good taste at Versailles, begged Dag6 to
dress their hair; and when Mme. de Pompadour one day
60 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
asked Dage" in the presence of the highest society where his
great renown at the court came from, Dage" answered : —
" It is, madame, because I dressed the hair of the
other" Dag£ was speaking of Mme. de Chateauroux.
Mme. de Pompadour had a little daughter by the
name of Alexandrine, who had been brought up in the
convent of the Assomption, and who was secretly asked
in marriage by the greatest gentlemen of the court.
Coigny was one of those ; but madame desired very much
to marry her to the son of the Marshal de Richelieu,
who answered her very quickly that he would write about
it to the empress-queen, to whom his son had the honor
to belong. The Marshal de Richelieu had indeed mar-
ried an heiress of the name of Guise, who was of German
origin. So this project of marriage was thwarted and
the favorite never forgave the Marshal de Richelieu for
preventing its consummation.
The influence of Mme. de Pompadour had risen under
these circumstances to the highest point ; if she could
not please the king by the beauty of her face, she occu-
pied his leisure with so much success that she became
necessary to him. She took the foreign affairs into her
own hands, and also those of the wars and those of the
other ministers. All became her clerks, and she pos-
sessed the power to send them away or to bring them to
disaster when they attempted to manage independently
of her. In order to please the king, she disguised herself
in the small houses of pleasure around Versailles, some-
times as a countrywoman, sometimes as a shepherdess,
and served breakfast to the king in those costumes. She
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. 6l
devoted herself also to more unworthy offices. She
brought up in secret little girls destined for the pleasures
of the king, prepared them for his couch, placed them
there, and looked for the kind of beauty that it was nec-
essary to procure for the king, instructing these unfortu-
nate children in the tastes of this lewd old man, and what
was necessary to be done in order to succeed in amusing
him.
Mme. de Pompadour satisfied with pleasing the king
appeared indifferent to the sentiments of the nation in
regard to her. Satisfied in inspiring fear the sentiment
of being loved or considered, touched her very little.
Being detested by the royal family she appeared to de-
sire from them only exterior considerations ; but she felt
affronts so deeply that she complained to the king as if
the offence were personal to the monarch and always ob-
tained redress from him. " Beaufremont has taken a
seat in my presence," she said one day to the king, with
much emotion. Louis did not take any notice of it.
To appease her it was said that the case of M. de Beau-
fremont was of no consequence, and that in the old pious
court of the deceased king, they had always joked about
the factious ways of the marquis who had a caustic and
naturally eccentric character, to which nobody paid any
attention. His old anecdotes and witticisms were re-
peated to her. His beautiful title of Comte de Donavert
which was given to him after the battle of that name
was recalled to her and this seemed to appease her anger.
The devout ladies of the old court of France, the Duch-
ess of Orleans herself had preserved this name for Beau-
62 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
fremont, and during the winter of 1705 all the women,
greatly taken with it, had vied with one another in ac-
cording him their favors. The Count de Tressen has
thus given the anecdote of Beaufremont who showed all
kinds of masculine courage a moment before the battle
of Donavert, and who wished the soldiers whom he com-
manded to be witnesses of it.
A Donavert on a vu Beaufremont,
Tel que Priape avec sa tete altiere,
En s'ecriant : C'est ainsi qu'un dragon
Des ennemis doit franchir la barriere.
By these incidents it is easily seen how powerful Mme.
de Pompadour was at the court of France, how much con-
sideration they had there for her and how skillful Maria-
Theresa was in using her for her own interests. Only a
woman of this character was capable of preparing such a
revolution as an alliance of the Austrians with the
French, even the mere proposal of which was revolting.
The peace of 1748 was neither negotiated nor con-
cluded when Maria-Theresa looked to Mme. de Pompa-
dour to forestall the other powers. Resolved to make an
armistice, only, of the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle in order
to deceive Frederick, and then to surprise him at a favor-
able moment and to conquer back Silesia, she formed
three plans : first, to finish the war of 1740 by a treaty ;
second, to stir up enemies against Frederick, and third,
to make an alliance with France. Towards the end of
the year 1750 the Count de Kaunitz, her plenipotentiary
minister, arrived at Paris and made proposals for an alli-
ance.
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. 63
The reasons of the Count de Kaunitz were specious ;
we had at that time no navy. England could raise a
formidable one in a few weeks. The Queen of Hungary
insinuated that the King of England would respect the
alliance proposed by her, in consideration of his elector-
ate of Hanover, and demanded that France sliould unite
with Austria against Prussia, a small but enterprising
power, which was always ready to disturb the peace of
Europe in order to increase its possessions after the
quarrel, as was the King of Sardinia and other smaller
powers.
He quoted, for example, the last treaties and the most
recent wars where these princes had been the greatest
curse to Europe, and had disturbed the cabinets by their
political schemes ; and he promised France, whose finances
were in the greatest disorder, a lasting peace when they
would be free to indulge in pleasures and gaming. All this
especially opened the eyes of Mme. de Pompadour, who
saw how painful secret negotiations to obtain subsidies
would be to the king, who was then involved in
serious troubles with parliament, as we have mentioned
above.
The arguments of M. de Puysieux, minister of foreign
affairs, in favor of avoiding such projects, should have
dismissed forever the idea of such an alliance. To a
friend of Tiquet, first clerk of foreign affairs, a man of
merit, who had the full confidence of the ministry, and
who was esteemed by the king, Puysieux observed that
France was a protector of public liberty both in Ger-
many and in Italy, and that if we entered into an alii-
64 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
ance with Maria-Theresa, we should lose our prestige
in these two countries in favor of this princess, who,
having nothing more to fear from our rivalry, would ex-
ercise such power there as she should deem wise.
CHAPTER LXXV.
First treaty, the 9th of March, 1756, between France and Austria. —
The Abbess of Bernis principle negotiator of this treaty. — Por-
trait of the Abbe" de Bernis. — His connections with Mme. de
Pompadour. — Secret intentions of the Queen of Hungary when
allying herself with France. — Her pretexts. — Signatures.
WHEN Maria-Theresa found obstacles in the way of
allying herself with us, she only increased her caresses
and flatteries with Mme. de Pompadour, in order to
eventually succeed in her project. If the ministers showed
an invincible resistance she managed secretly to oppose
to them ambitious candidates. The Abbe" de Bernis
cleverly conducted the affair.
Coming from Paris while yet a mere lad, he won the
affection and esteem of those with whom he came in con-
tact by the frankness and openness of his character and
the attractiveness of his personal appearance.
Born of a poor and obscure family at Saint-Marcel
d'Ardeche en Vivarais, near Le Pont-Saint-Esprit, he pos-
sessed that brilliant and poetic imagination which the
beautiful sky of Low- Vivarais, Languedoc and Provence
inspires.
These qualities, so rare in the Sulpician character, dis-
pleased the directors of the assembly of his diocese, and
he was obliged to leave his country w"hile still very
young. He came to Paris; even there he was still fol-
lowed by the gloomy hatred of the Sulpicians which
66 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
pursued him to Rome, where he was invested with his
dignities. The Jesuits allied themselves with these
priests, and Boyer, who was attached to the favorite, kept
him, so far as he could, from receiving ecclesiastic favors ;
but the abbe ended by attaching himself to the favorite
of the king and thereby outwitted them.
The Abb6 de Bernis had connected himself with Mme.
d'Estra and with Mme. d'Etioles before her promotion
and took advantage of their friendship at court. The
Baron de Montmorency, having lodged him at his house
when he was poor, allied himself to the favorite at this
time; and just as soon as Mme. de Pompadour enjoyed
the favor of the king, the Abbe de Bernis influenced her
to distinguish the House of Montmorency. The baron
was made the " menin " (a kind of companion) of the
dauphin.
The marquise eagerly desired that the Abbe de Bernis
should obtain documental privileges, but the young abb£
was a poet, and clever withal, and as Boyer combined
materialism and vulgarity with poetry this was not
practical. Boyer harshly denounced his pleasure-parties
which were a little too free, and declared to the king
that he could not burden his conscience by granting priv-
ileges to the Abb6 de Bernis. The king, however,
granted a pension from his private purse, for their con-
tinuance.
The Abb6 de Bernis was already famous for im-
promptu poetry. One day when he was at the Countess
de Forcalquier's and saw her pouring coffee into a set of
Saxony china, he recited the following lines : —
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. 6/
La maitresse du cabaret
Merite bien qu'on la depeigne :
Qui voit Hebe voit son portrait ;
L'enfant aile lui sert d'enseigne.
Bacchus, assis sur son tonneau,
La prend pour la fille de 1'onde.
Elle ne verse que de 1'eau
Et salt enivrer tout le monde.
Upon another occasion while dining with the king and
Mme. de Pompadour he composed the following song: — •
Le plasir couronne de fleurs
Vient voler sur la table.
II n'attend, pour charmer nos coeurs,
Qu'un moment favorable.
Belle Cephise ou tu n'es pas
Pourrait-il nous s6duire ?
II a besoin de tes appas
Pour fonder son empire.
Viens reveiller sous ce berceau
L'esprit et la saillie ;
Us t'attendent sous un tonneau
Qu'a perce la folie.
Le Champagne est pret de pavtir ;
Dans sa prison il fume,
Impatient de te couvrir
De sa bouillante ficume.
Sais-tu pourquoi ce vin brillant,
Des que ta main 1'agite,
Comme un eclair etincelant
Vole et se precipite ?
En vain Bacchus dans le flacon
Retient 1'Amour rebelle ;
L'Amour sort toujours de prison
Sous la main d'une belle.
Such was the character of the Abbe" de Bernis whom
68 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
Mme. de Pompadour employed to upset the policy of
the House of Bourbon with Austria. But De Richelieu
was the instigator of this policy. His profound schem-
ing was brought to naught, and the interminable system
of dismemberment was ended, thereby frightening Maria-
Theresa, and causing her to seek help from various
sources.
Richelieu, who disapproved an alliance with Austria,
was not initiated. Every man, who might have opposed
the views of Maria-Theresa, was kept in the dark.
The favorite, the Abbe" de Bernis and Staremberg,
minister of the Queen of Hungary, agreed to meet
secretly in country houses or in isolated places. During
the latter part of October, 1755, a larger committee was
proposed in order to secure the sympathy of the king ;
the proposals of Maria-Theresa were then read. " She
proposed to make a cession of the Netherlands, giving
them to a neutral prince of the House of Bourbon, the
Duke de Parma. Bourbon was to drive the Englishmen
from Holland. Poland was to be declared free and its
crown hereditary. Sweden would absorb Pomerania,
and Denmark would be admitted to the union. Russia
would be included in the contract, and as France was
de facto at war with England, though war had not been
declared, this league of the great powers of the con-
tinent would naturally weaken England's naval power."
The Queen of Hungary was naturally decided and
firm of character while Louis XV. possessed neither of
those qualities. This stupendous plan was not under-
stood in its entirety, neither was it accepted. Maria.
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. 69
Theresa sought a way whereby she might ally herself
with us under any plan whatsoever, provided she could,
by allying herself with an equal, repress the ambition of
the small states. This was her purpose, and the founda-
tion of the plan which she followed so cleverly. The
Abbe" de Bernis proposed " a reciprocal guaranty " of
the states of the two houses, whereby Prussia was in-
cluded an J England excluded. The old plan was compli-
cated ; the simplicity of this one was approved.
Peace was ostensibly the object of this union, but
Maria-Theresa had other designs than those of peace.
France and Prussia had taken from her Silesia ; she
wanted to make use of us in order to regain this large
province. The fatal treaty was signed, and then
began the misfortunes which occurred during the latter
part of the king's reign. The flattery of Maria-Theresa,
the vanity and the influence of Mme. de Pompadour,
the interests of the Abbe de Bernis, the ill-humor of the
king towards the King of Prussia, and finally the inca-
pacity of the ministry to foresee the consequences, de-
termined the drawing up of this treaty. Rouille" and the
Abb6 de Bernis signed it on the Qth of May, 1756.
France and Austria promised reciprocally .24,000 men in
case one of the two powers should be attacked. We
shall soon see what happened to us on this account.
In the meantime they humiliated England which,
without warning, had swooped piratically down upon us.
CHAPTER LXXVI.
The Marshal de Richelieu is appointed to command at Mahon.—
Siege and conquest of the fort.
IT was still uncertain whither the French forces would
be directed, but the marshal decided that it would be
best to begin by besieging Mahon. He made a memo-
randum in which he set forth the advantages of con-
quering this stronghold and the importance of the place,
in case expeditions should be made to America. He
showed, moreover, that the island of Minorca cut off all
communication between England and the King of Sar-
dinia and enabled us to intercept their commerce with
the Orient and Italy ; and he showed, also, that those
seas could not be navigated without a great squadron.
He opposed, moreover, the plans of those politicians
who attempted to dispose of the island by giving it back
to the Spaniards. He agreed with them that the union
of the two crowns was greatly to be desired, but it was
necessary to carefully consider the matter before making
such a sacrifice,
Mme. de Lauraguais, who constantly sought an oppor-
tunity to aid her lover; invited all the ministers to attend
a private supper at her home at which the Abb£ de
Bernis, who had joined the council, was present.
The marshal maintained that the only means of punish-
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. /I
ing the Englishmen for the stand they had taken was to
capture Mahon. The undertaking seemed very difficult
to the abb6. Richelieu asked for 30,00x3 men, and guar-
anteed success. Mme. de Lauraguais begged the abbe
to propose the affair to the council ; the following day
he fulfilled the commission. The king had already
mentioned the project to the Prince de Conti who had
asked for 50,000 men, without answering for its success.
He inquired who the general was who was so certain of
victory. Richelieu was named. " He is very presumptu-
ous to have boasted thus," continued the king, " and
fortunate indeed if his hopes are realized. Well ! he
shall command." Mme. de Lauraguais hastened to the
marshal to announce the news.
Mme. de Pompadour was incensed at this news and
told everywhere that Richelieu was a braggart ; however,
she consoled herself with the hope that he would not
succeed ; she even pretended to be pleased with his
nomination, and congratulated him with every appear-
ance of friendship for the compliment he had received
from the monarch. These two persons feared each other
and consequently spared each other ; they were like two
lovers who are constantly quarreling and becoming
reconciled. When they were supposed to be angry with
one another, people were astonished to see them appar-
ently on very familiar terms.
Richelieu was invariably invited to be present at the
feasts given by the king. Mme. de Pompadour had
1 tried many times to embarrass him but was as often
unsuccessful. Their conduct was an interesting study
72 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
and the marshal had to summon all his canning to with-
stand her thrusts.
He expected to find that all necessary preparations
had been made at Toulon, but the marquise and her
agents had taken great care to give contrary orders.
They wanted to avenge themselves at any cost, and the
honor of the state, the blood of the people, and financial
losses were not to enter into consideration. They were
determined that the marshal should be covered with
shame, and that his expedition should appear ridiculous.
MM. de Belle-Isle and d'Argenson sympathized with
the marquise in every respect ; they were glad before
when they witnessed Richelieu's ignominous retreat.
He arrived at Toulon the 1st of April, 1756, and saw at
once that he had been deceived in his expectations.
His vigilance and activity repaired the evil however.
He was supported by the people of Marseilles who
helped him to procure what he needed. His troops hav-
ing embarked on transport vessels, he himself went on
board, and the signal of departure was given the follow-
ing day.
On the I2th a tempest scattered the squadron, but on
the 1 8th he landed on the island of Minorca, where
he met with no resistance from the enemy who had
abandoned the town of Citadella. Here the marshal re-
mained over night. When the French approached, the
English left the city of Mahon and withdrew to the Fort
Saint-Philippe, which was considered impregnable. On
the 22nd the marshal received a drummer who came
from General Blakeney, governor of the fort, to inquire
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. 73
why the Frenchmen had disembarked on the island of
Minorca ; Richelieu answered that it was for the same
reason that the English squadrons had attacked the ships
of the king.
The marshal went in person to reconnoitre the camp
which he wished his army to occupy, and which they en-
tered that very afternoon. In the meantime, M. de la
Gallissonniere remained with his squadron in sight of the
port. He then set sail, and directed his course to the
port of Mahon.
We will not enter into the details of this remarkable
siege. Suffice it to say, the marshal exposed himself
there as a common soldier, showing rare presence of mind
and remarkable courage, and that he was supported by
M. de la Gallissonniere, who prevented the English from
receiving any help by sea. The engagement which took
place quite near to the island of 1'Aire on the igth of
May, between the squadron of M. de la Gallissonniere
and that of Admirals Byng and Bouel, and in which M.
de la Gallissonniere was victorious, shattered the hopes
which the besieged had hitherto entertained of receiving
aid, and they at once surrendered the fort.
Up to this time, notwithstanding their numerous suc-
cesses, a speedy victory was not expected. The fire of
the enemy was still heavy, and they were rejoicing at
Versailles, where it was reported that the marshal began
to despair of the success of the expedition. He went
every day to observe the enemy and the effect of the bat-
teries from a miller's house situated upon a hill. The
enemy, wishing to interfere with these observations, often
74 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
fired upon the house ; in fact, it was several times
pierced with cannon shots while the marshal was there.
However, he did not despair of the success of his en-
terprise ; he was confident of the good will of his troops,
and took advantage of every favorable opportunity. He
saw that final success required the overcoming of a
thousand difficulties. The soldiers willingly repaired the
damages which the bombs and batteries of the enemy
wrought. The marshal, convinced that advantage should
be taken of the first fire of the French, waited impa-
tiently to return the assault. He went every day to visit
the most advanced posts. A sentinel of one of the
forts was wont to amuse himself by firing at him, and
one day Richelieu, hearing a ball whistle near his ears,
approached a gunner and asked him if he could not rid
him of that scoundrel who might be more skillful another
time. This gunner, whose name was Thomas, a deserter
from the regiment of Nizza, had served for three days in
his battery without asking to be relieved. His regiment
had arrived first at Mahon, and knowing that he would
be shot if recognized, he attempted to take his own life,
but was unsuccessful, and was, moreover, the only one
who had escaped the murderous fire of the enemy. He
was very skillful and active, and never was a battery
better served than his, though it was the most exposed.
Blackened with powder, covered with sweat and dust,
and deprived of nourishment for two days, he dragged
himself towards the general, and promised that if he
missed the soldier with his first cannon shot he would
certainly not escape the second.
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. 75
Straightway he chose a moment when this soldier was
the least protected ; the shot was fired, and his hat was
seen flying through the air. The marshal, who was
charmed with his skill, asked why he had seen him three
days in succession, but the unfortunate Thomas, ex-
hausted and overcome by hunger, had already fallen in a
swoon near the cannon which he had served so well.
The marshal was then convinced that he did not wish
to be relieved ; he had him carried to the hospital and
charged an officer to inquire as to the motives which
had prompted this gunner to conduct himself thus ; but
Thomas said he would speak only to his general. Upon
his recovery he obtained permission to present himself
to Richelieu, when he fell at his feet and acknowledged
his fault, admitting that he deserved punishment but
pleading in extenuation thereof his desire to remain at
the battery where all his comrades had been killed.
He begged to be spared the death penalty and to be
given the most dangerous post, which he promised to
guard faithfully, content to die if he could save the life
of one of his fellow soldiers.
The marshal, touched by the repentance of so brave a
man, assured him that he could quietly resume his duties.
He then required a detailed account of his conduct. All
the testimonials were in favor of the gunner. Soon after
Richelieu visited the same battery which the soldier
continued to serve with incredible skill and intrepidity.
Advancing towards him he presented him with a commis-
sion of second lieutenant, saying, " Take this, my friend ;
it is a reward for your services." This man who was a
76 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
brave officer as he had been a faithful soldier was after,
wards made captain. His body was covered with scars
when in the year 1777 he came to Versailles for a pen-
sion. He had served thirty-eight years. Surprise was
expressed that he did not ask for the cross of Saint-Louis
but he was equally astonished that they considered him
deserving of it. The Marshal de Richelieu who knew
better than any one else the value of his services ob-
tained this military reward for him and received the
brave Thomas as chevalier.
Another anecdote of this siege, quoted many times,
but one which cannot be repeated too often, shows
clearly how perfect a knowledge the marshal had of
the human heart. He knew that Frenchmen were
prompted to action by a sense of honor and this incite-
ment had more power over them than any punishment.
Most of the soldiers, drinking freely of the good Mahon
wine, became intoxicated every day. The prison was
found too small to accommodate them and fearing
insubordination, a council of war was proposed to the
general at which it was suggested that some of the most
guilty ones be hanged, as an example to the others.
Richelieu answered that he would reserve this as a last
resort and when the army assembled, he passed through
the ranks shouting : " Soldiers, grenadiers, I declare that
those among you who continue to drink so much shall
not have the honor of taking part in the assault which I
am about to make."
This speech produced the desired effect. The soldiers
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. 77
no longer drank to excess ; each was overwhelmed by
fear of the punishment which threatened him.
The place was stormed and although the ladders
were found to be too short by several feet, the soldiers
raised themselves upon the shoulders of their comrades
and scaled the wall. Notwithstanding the terrible fire
of the enemy they climbed over the rocks and the French
came out victorious. Old General Blakeney and the
garrison, very much disheartened at this incredible
audacity, proposed a capitulation.
The marshal granted the enemy most generous con-
ditions, and when he discovered the number of their
troops and their immense store of provisions, could
not understand why they surrendered so quickly ; while
the French, considering what they had accomplished,
felt gratified at their success.
Richelieu despatched his son and his brother-in-law,
the Count d'Egmont, to inform the king and the court.
The court was then at Compiegne and the marshal's
enemies were much surprised at the news which covered
him with glory. The Duke de Fronsac received as a
reward the cross of Saint-Louis and the king gave him
the reversion of the charge of first gentleman of the
chamber.
Mme. de Lauraguais, who was overcome with pleasure
at the praises showered upon her lover, could hardly con-
tain herself for joy. Mme. de Pompadour, even, sur-
prised at the turn of affairs, composed songs in his honor
and called him her dear " Minorcan."
The ministers who disliked Richelieu were for a long
78 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
time opposed to his coming to Paris to enjoy his glory.
They gave as a pretext that he was needed in Provence
in order to protect his posts from the incursions of the
enemy. However he finally came.
D'Argenson, minister of war, devoured by jealousy,
and the courtiers, who feared this first interview with the
king, retarded his return and invented a thousand false
stories to impair the king's gratitude towards him. The
marshal, who had been informed of this, complained that
his health was not good and the permission was sent
him to come back. He arrived August 3ist, 1756, and
was followed to his hotel by a great crowd of people
who proclaimed him to be le dtfenseur de Mahon.
Feasts were given in his honor both in city and country,
but at the court he was coldly received. Mme. de Pom-
padour mocked him, and Louis, a selfish man and a
most ungrateful prince, received him coolly and addressed
him thus : " Ah, you are here, M. le Mare"chal. How did
you find the figs of Minorca? They are said to be very
good." Richelieu lowered his eyes and ignored the
king's remark, while the whole court believed him to
have fallen into disgrace.
CHAPTER LXXVII.
The Marshal de Richelieu takes the place of the Marshal d'Estrees.—
He makes rapid progress in the Electorate of Hanover. — Being
troubled by the cabinet of Versailles, he is obliged to enter into
new negotiations. — He loses his advantage but forces Prince
Ferdinand to withdraw.
THE Marshal de Richelieu, covered with laurels from
his success at Mahon and famed throughout France,
expected to be employed in the next campaign. He
had fulfilled that year the functions of his charge near
the king, but he was soon to be disappointed. The first
days of his service were remarkable on account of the
crime of Damiens. The $th of January, 1757, the king
was stabbed by this criminal who, wrought up over
religious matters and the affairs of the time, pretended
to have no other object in attacking Louis than to force
him to repentance.
This assault created the greatest excitement through-
out the whole kingdom. Suspicion attached to the
most illustrious men.
Mme. de Pompadour was sent away ; but Richelieu,
reassured of his master's safety, as he was but slightly
wounded, was clever enough to foresee that she would
soon come back and exert a greater influence than ever.
He left the bedside of the king to console the favorite
and his conduct certainly contributed to bring about a
reconciliation.
80 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
The return of Mme. de Pompadour was followed by
the exile of the keeper of seals M. de Machault and M.
d'Argenson. The marquise, believing she had cause for
complaint against them, sent one to his castle d'Arnou-
ville and the other to Ormes.
It was at this same time that the marshal, who desired
to be nearer his daughter, Mme. d'Egmont, bought the
mansion d'Antin. There he built that pavilion which
was afterwards called " The Pavilion of Hanover."
At length the campaign began, still Richelieu remained
inactive. The Marshal d'Estr£es, who went to Vienna
to persuade the king to sign a paper in which he agreed
to have his army cross the Wesei and enter the Elector-
ate of Hanover, had been appointed general of the army.
The Prince de Soubise, an intimate friend of the favorite,
headed the French troops, who were to join the Prince
of Saxe-Hildburghausen near the Main.
The Marshal d'Estrees, who was opposed against
the Duke of Cumberland, was content to annoy him
by marches and counter-marches. He forced him to
give up his camp at Bielefeld in order to recross the
Weser and cover the Electorate of Hanover.
This slow march did not satisfy the impatient French-
men. They murmured. They thought it strange that
a general in command of a hundred thousand men made
so little progress. At the court they intrigued ; the
Duchess de Lauraguais availed herself of every oppor-
tunity to serve M. Richelieu. The king favored her on
account of her sister Mme. de Chateauroux, and soon
he saw her efforts crowned with success. Mme. de
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. 8l
Pompadour complained of the Marshal d'Estrees, who
being a severe disciplinarian had had one of her proteges,
hanged. In this way she hastened Richelieu's appoint-
ment. They resolved that the secret should be well
kept. However, it leaked out and M. de Puisieux,
father-in-law of M. d'Estrees, wrote him as follows .
" You are going to lose your office ; your conduct is
criticised ; it is said that you are timid. Your successor
is already chosen. Fight a battle; it is absolutely
necessary. If you win it you will be appreciated ; if
you are defeated you will lose nothing."
This letter decided the battle of Hastembeck at which
d'Estrees was victorious. It was in this battle that
Count de Maillebois, an excellent general, was criticised
by all good citizens for not having advanced at the right
time. He was jealous of the marshal and wanted him
to lose the battle. This affair, long afterwards was
brought before the tribunal of the marshals of France,
who declared him unworthy of obtaining his degree of
honor. This, however, was his only punishment. The
unfortunate Byng had been shot in England for a lesser
crime.
What M. de Puisieux had foreseen, happened ; the
people who had blamed Marshal d'Estrees, and who had
considered him a faint-hearted man, had scarcely re-
ceived the news of his victory and his recall, when their
anger towards the ministry subsided. They deeply
regretted the withdrawal of d'Estrees which they had
eagerly sought a few days before and regarded the same
as foreboding dire misfortune.
82 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
The nomination of the Marshal de Richelieu was
ignored, even by the majority of those who composed
the council. Their carriages were already on the road
to Strasburg when the surgeon of the Marshal de Belle-
Isle informed them at Compiegne, of Richelieu's de-
parture. They thought him stupid and ignorant and
ignored his assertion. However, his statement was con-
firmed that evening.
Richelieu went to Strasburg. For a long time he
had desired to measure himself against the King of
Prussia, and he hoped to take the place of the Prince de
Soubise who, it was said, would succeed M. d'Estrees.
Voltaire, with whom he corresponded, having compli-
mented him on his nomination, advised him to challenge
the King of Prussia, who, he said treated the French
generals like marquises of the stage.
It was at Strasburg that the marshal learned that he
was to be commander of the army of M. d'Estrees.
When he arrived he was accorded every conceivable
honor.
We already know what rapid progress Richelieu made.
He marched against the Duke of Cumberland, forced
him to withdraw, and prevented his remaining at Stade.
He concluded the war in that part in one month. The
army of the enemy became prisoners of war. The Count
de Linar proposed, under the guaranty of the King
of Denmark, the too renowned convention of Closter-
Seven, which would have been more useful than a
victory had the protocol been drawn up more clearly.
It was signed by the marshal. All the troops of Hesse,
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. 83
Brunswick, etc., agreed to serve no longer in this war
against France. The marshal was reproached for not
having forced them to surrender their arms, but he had
despatched a courier to Versailles with the request to
send him new instructions as quickly as possible, and
this courier was detained for a long time. Either the
articles contained in this convention had occasioned long
discussions in the council, or, what is more probable,
Mme. de Pompadour and the ministers were jealous of
the brilliant glory with which the marshal was covering
himself ; the fact is, the decision was given only a few
days before the battle of Rosbach. These ministers
from their cabinet pretended to know better what should
be done than the man who was on the spot and could'
take advantage of existing circumstances.
Moreover, the Duke of Cumberland had been recalled,
and the one commanding during his absence had no
power to treat. They were obliged to await the arrival
of Prince Ferdinand, who succeeded him. This combi-
nation of events caused the failure of the operation, and
gave the troops, who were already dispersing, time to
gather themselves together.
Impartial historians will not fail to state that the cor-
respondence which passed between Richelieu and the
Prince de Soubise shows plainly that the latter would
not have been defeated had he followed the advice of
the marshal. He never tired of warning him to distrust
the King of Prussia, who would overtake him at the very
moment when he least expected it. He begged him to
be prepared to withstand him, and expressed his inten-
84 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
tion of joining him, when they together would follow
him up as far as Magdeburg. This was the marshal's
project. His letters are still in existence, and we have
stated nothing which cannot be fully substantiated.
It is known that the King of Prussia had spies at Ver-
sailles, for he knew that the marshal had received orders
to put his army into winter quarters before Richelieu
knew it himself. Ficher, disguised as a coal-seller, heard
this prince say in Magdeburg : " To-morrow M. de Rich-
elieu will receive orders to evacuate Halberstadt. I
shall have to fight against this little Soubise, and I will
settle his business."
The Marshal de Belle-Isle was suspected of correspond-
ing with him, because he passed a courier with a pass-
port of the marshal without questioning his movements,
and it was afterwards discovered that his courier went to
the camp of the King of Prussia.
However that may be, the loss of the battle of Ros-
bach was the principal cause of the inexecution of the
convention of Closter-Seven. Mme. de Pompadour, who
was miserable on account of the disaster which had be-
fallen the prince whom she protected, expressed her sor-
row to M. de Richelieu ; the king wrote to him also, and
bade him cherish his friends in misfortune, and he would
help to unite with his own army the remnant of M. de
Soubise's troops.
It was at Stervik, after having left Halberstadt that
M. de Richelieu learned that M. de Soubise had just
been defeated. The enemy rallied ; those who were upon
the Lair, and others ready to pass the Elbe, united.
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. 85
The marshal thought best to march against him with
the remnant of his army, in order to see if the enemy
was willing to execute the compact of the convention.
Though he had received the order of the court too late
to accept the interpretation which the enemy had made
of the terms of the capitulation, he thought that with
the rest of his troops he could insist upon its execution
and remove all obstacles ; but the enemy had had time
to unite near Stade and the marshal saw that it would
be imprudent to become involved in a strange country
especially in the winter season and opposed to a
force which outnumbered his own. He occupied an
advantageous position where he awaited the troops
which were to join him, then went to Dresden and to
Zel where his army guarded the city and the castle.
The rest of his troops were posted to the right and left
along the Lair.
Prince Ferdinand, who had taken the command of the
army of the enemy, was not slow in marching against
the marshal, who took all the necessary precautions
to defend himself well. The two armies camped on
either side of the Lair within gunshot distance until
Christmas eve. The marshal, having received the rein-
forcements which he expected notwithstanding the cold
weather, determined to pass the Lair and fight the Prince
Ferdinand. The troops crossed the river gayly, but
Ferdinand broke up camp during the night and retired
upon the Elbe. The marshal could not follow him as he
was wholly unprepared and the cold continued severe
However he made a plan of campaign for the winter
85 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
which he was obliged to submit to the court. He then
came back to Paris and was replaced by the Count de
Clermont.
We do not doubt that had the marshal been supported
by the ministers, this would have been the most brilliant
campaign of the war.
Richelieu is justly accused of having permitted his
army to commit depredations without number at the
time of his incursions into the principality of Halber-
stadt.
He believed that by so doing he would punish the
enemy for violating a treaty ; but he was, nevertheless,
wrong in authorizing these disorders. His troops forced
the King of Prussia to have the following letter written to
the marshal by his brother, Prince Henry ; it bears the
date of Jan. 3oth, 1758.
"MONSIEUR: —
" After the horrible disorders and depredations
which the French troops have committed in their last
incursion, which was made into the principality of Hal-
berstadt, I have an order from the king to inform you
that we shall act with the same inhumanity and barbar-
ity in the lands of the allies of the king of France ; and
that henceforward we shall let the French officers, pris-
oners of war, suffer the degrading treatment which your
troops have inflicted upon the subjects of His Majesty.
"These are the very words in which the king bids me
inform you of his intentions.
" I am with the most perfect esteem and consideration,
your affectionate friend,
" HENRY OF PRUSSIA."
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. 8/
This letter is very different from the one written to
him sometime before by the King of Prussia ; but it is
true he had not yet won the battle of Rosbach. It
is well known how he made Richelieu mediator of the
peace, and how he told him that a nephew of the Grand
Cardinal de Richelieu should sign treaties as well as win
battles, and that he who had won a statue at Genoa, who
had conquered the Isle of Minorca notwithstanding
immense obstacles and who was upon the point of sub-
jugating lower Saxony, could do nothing more glorious
than procure peace to Europe.
But now the great deeds of the marshal came to an
end ; henceforth he interested himself in petty intrigues
of the court, in theatricals, and spent much of his time
in the society of women.
Had Louis XV. not survived his illness at Metz, how
many tears would have been spared ! France would
have pronounced him their best king ! An eulogy upon
him would have been transmitted to our children and
when the details of his illness and death were recounted,
they would have been moved to tears !
Had Richelieu been killed after the agreement made
at the Abbey of Closter-Seven, how many disasters
would have been averted ! People would have attributed
their misfortunes to his death !
How many kings, generals and ministers have left a
great reputation and sacred memory simply because they
died at the right time.
CHAPTER LXXVIII.
The Marshal de Richelieu takes possession of his government. He
has a great display in Bordeaux. — New intrigues with women. —
He sends love letters by a guard of the Capuchin monks to a
widow.
The Marshal de Richelieu, having come to Paris, and
exonerated at the court even by the letters of the min-
isters, but accused in nearly the whole kingdom of allow-
ing himself to be bribed by the enemy, believed he could
not divert himself better from the annoyances which he
felt, than by going to Bordeaux and installing himself
there in the capacity of governor. He was sensible of
the fact that he was expected with impatience and his
self love was flattered by the honors that he was about
to receive. He brought to this ceremony all the
splendor that he could muster, and he consulted the
most ancient archives to find out what were the rights
and prerogatives attached to the place. He arrived by
way of Blaye, where vessels, which the city of Bordeaux
had richly decorated, conducted him into port. When
he appeared, all the ships, foreign as well as French,
fired salutes, and the Castle Trompette answered them.
Military music preceded his ship and on arriving at the
Place Royale he found a triumphal arch, where the par-
liament was to greet him. Then he mounted his horse,
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. 89
passed through the*whole city, followed by the nobility
of the province and of his house, who were also on
horseback, magnificently dressed, and betook himself
to the cathedral, where the archbishop and the clergy
came to meet him. After the Te Deum he was con-
ducted back, in the same style, to the Palace of the
Government, which had been prepared by the city for
his reception.
Never had a governor so magnificent a reception. He
seemed to wish to revive the imposing pomp which had
impressed him in early childhood at the court of Louis
XIV. Invested with a portion of the authority of his
successor, he believed he ought to represent in a worthy
manner, his master ; he stood in the king's place in Bor-
deaux. He was preceded by a guard, of which the
captain was a very good gentleman. He neglected no
occasion to appear with pomp. When he went to
church, musicians in his pay awaited to salute his arrival.
Guards surrounded his prie Dieu; everywhere there was
seen the most imposing pageantry.
A few days after his arrival, he gave in his garden a
supper of four hundred covers, where the handsomest
women were, together with the nobility and the law
magistracy. A great masked ball was also given, where
a certain mask came often to talk with him. The un-
known expressed himself with grace, and seemed to have
much intelligence. The marshal begged him to make
himself known, as he followed him everywhere. The
mask disappeared, but came back afterwards with a
paper which he gave to the marshal and escaped with-
90 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
out leaving any trace of his flight. He read the follow,
ing verses : —
Quoique sous ce deguisement,
Tu peux me connaitre aisement
Aux seuls sentiments de mon ame ;
Si je te crains, je suis Anglais ;
Si je t'aime, je suis Francais ;
Si je t'adore, je suis femme.
So the marshal received everywhere proofs of love
and respect. If the campaign of Hanover offered some
reasons for blame, the victor of Mahon made them
disappear ; they were still repeating the songs so well
known to the whole of France, and Richelieu received in
Bordeaux only the wildest acclamations. But the
aristocracy, who did so little to be loved, did still less to
cause this love to continue. These tributes, this homage,
all seemed to them as something which was simply their
due. Satisfied with the exterior signs which constraint
imposed, they did not take any care to retain the hearts
that gave themselves up to them at first but were after-
wards repelled by their injustice and their pride.
Hardly did they ever take a step to be loved, but they
took hundreds to be hated.
Such was Richelieu at Bordeaux. At first there were
nothing but fetes and pleasures ; nearly every evening
he gave a supper with a hundred covers. He was gen-
erally the only man at his table surrounded by twenty-
nine handsome women. He was gallant with all;
addressed to them agreeable words and if he preferred
one, he hid his choice with so much art that he did not
arouse jealousy in the others. He managed events so
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. 9!
well that he found himself soon tete & tete with the one
who had made the greatest impression on him. What
do not the women accomplish in such circumstances ?
His measures were so well taken that the most honest
women remained, without wishing it, alternately alone
with the marshal, who, not believing in virtue, rarely
missed his triumph.
Soon those, who preserved some principle, refused the
honor of being admitted to the table of the governor,
and by degrees he found himself surrounded by those
only whom the absence of good principles rendered the
easiest. His palace became a house, which modesty
could hardly pass without blushing.
We know that the people of Bordeaux loved with
passion the dice pools, which parliament had several
times prohibited ; they found at Richelieu's what was
necessary to satisfy their tastes. In his drawing-room,
they sacrificed often a hundred victims to this terrible
passion. Rich' merchants exposed their fortunes to the
chances of the dice-box ; women ruined their households
to run the chance of the dice, and young people, carried
away by their example, did not blush to rob their parents
in order that they might take part in this ruinous game.
The taste for gambling which he stimulated, formed one
of the reproaches which decent people had against him.
And the luxury which he displayed created the desire of
imitating him. We are all inclined to follow examples
which are set before us, and nothing seduces so much as
the aspect of wealth and the attraction of pleasure.
Expenses increased in every family ; the women, who are
92 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
always tormented with the desire of pleasing, studied
very particularly the refined and costly art of the toilet ;
fashions followed one another, and lewd women, being
attracted to Bordeaux by the reputation of the governor
and admitted even into his palace, soon set the fashion
for the other woman at the parties and in the theatres.
The number of fast women grew prodigiously, and the
scandals in proportion. If a favorite were handsome, all
the evil that she could do remained unpunished ; she
tried her charms upon the marshal and always came out
victorious, and by so doing was encouraged to defy anew
the law. Decent people were indignant ; virtuous
women avoided appearing in public and the popularity
which Richelieu had inspired quickly vanished.
They had, besides, soon to reproach him with acts of
arbitrary authority. He had quarrels with parliament
for having made troublesome use of lettres de cachet.
Thence came the hatred that he showed against members
of the council, and the pleasure that he exhibited in
executing the orders of the king which abolished this
body in the year 1771.
They were very dissatisfied with the tyranny with
which he maintained the right of carrying arms and with
the boldness of his agents. He was a feared despot
serving only the lost women, and detested by the whole
middle class ; for it was always upon that class that his
despotism fell with the least consideration. He im-
prisoned many persons merely for daring to blame his
conduct.
He estranged from himself all hearts ; the women even,
PLAY AT THE COURT
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. 93
except the lowest class, saw nothing more in the gov-
ernor than an unchangeable debauchee, who passed his
time in low pleasures. They were especially incensed by
an answer that he made to the intendant, who com-
plained to him about the great quantity of low girls in
the city. He represented to the marshal that it would
be well to make an example and to lock up those who
conducted themselves the worst, so as to restrain the
others. " Why exceptions?" he answered, " all deserve
an equal punishment, and I will have them all locked up.
To do that I will order that the gates of the city be
closed."
This sarcasm, so indecent in the mouth of the repre-
sentative of authority, naturally incensed respectable
women, and they were furious, with good reason, to see
themselves classed with the despicable protegees of the
marshal. However, even now, while he was earning the
execration of the inhabitants of Bordeaux, he still had
the talent to conciliate them, when he had occasion to
speak to them. Those that he did not love, while
severely treated, had no occasion to change their man-
ner of thinking ; but his friends, in spite of his vices,
were forced to acknowledge his amiability. When he had
need of them, he was a chameleon, who changed his form
every moment to please them. He upheld the nobility,
and they were nearly all for him. The parliament, which
struggled continually against his authority, — indeed not
for the interest of the people, but for the preservation of
its own prerogatives, — counted also amongst its members
a number of friends of the governor, and that at a time
94 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
when several of them were disposed to indict him. In
short, Richelieu, hated as he was, had only to try in or-
der to recover all the love that he had lost.
We have said that he gave great suppers, and that he
was nearly always at a special table with twenty-nine
women. One evening he desired that this number be
composed only of those who had shown favors to him ;
it seemed to him funny to assemble them all together at
supper. He alone could point them out ; he gave the
list, and the choice was kept within the charmed circle.
None of the invited ladies suspected her neighbor to
have any particular claims upon the governor, and every
word he said was interpreted by each one of them in her
own favor. Since there were many traits of resemblance
between them, and their history was about the same, at
least as far as he was concerned, it was easy for Richelieu
to make each believe that he spoke only of her, and all, at
the same time, fixed their eyes upon him with a wise smile.
The meal was punctuated with equivocal sayings, which
amused him very much ; but at the end of dessert, when
the servants had retired, the hero of the fete conducted
himself with less reserve.
He related adventures that had happened to him with
many of these women, and it gave him pleasure to ob-
serve the movements upon the faces of those of whom he
spoke. He then said to them that he had had, the night
before, a most agreeable dream. " I was," he continued,
" with twenty-nine women, about whose beauty and
merit it was difficult to come to a decision. None of
them needed any art to please me, and I have been
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. 95
happy enough to fasten for awhile their inclination. I
was intoxicated by the luck of uniting them together,
and being unable to inclose them all in my heart, I could
not resist the pleasure of making them understand how
happy I had been by their possession. I did not wish
that my indiscretion could wound any of them ; however,
I was glad that they all would know their peculiar merits
and the extent of the favors which had been given to
me. Admit for a moment that it be you, ladies, and I
will tell to each one of you what I addressed to these
women whom my dream gave me so generously."
Then he reminded them, each one in turn, what had
passed between them, what he had observed to be particu-
larly attractive in them, and what each one of them had
done in their tete-a-tete, and in general what he had then
remarked. The whole was accompanied by compliments
analogous to the subject. Some of the ladies dropped
their eyes ; others laughed. However, the silence which
lasted a long time was interrupted by Richelieu, who
asked them what they thought of his dream. " I think,"
said a woman on leaving the table, " that you are a great
impertinent, and that these twenty-nine women were still
more foolish than you were indiscreet."
This sally brought back the good humor. Many of
them vied with one another in politeness in leaving the
dining hall ; none wished to leave first, and all said,
" The honor is due to the oldest ; we must look for the
date of the marriage."
CHAPTER LXXIX.
Tableau of the deer-park. — Shameful old age of Louis XV. — His
mistresses and secret adventures. — Mme. de Maille-Breze1, Mile.
de Romans, Mile. Tiercelin, and other favorites.
WE have arrived at the most shameful part of the
modern history of our kings. While the ambitious views
or envy of the courtiers condemned to death the prin-
cipal heads of the kingly family ; while our generals be-
trayed the country, and the ministers signed dishonorable
treaties, and the finances were in the greatest disorder,
the indolent Louis XV. occupied himself only with his
secret pleasures. No business of the government was
agreeable to him"; that of the finances " made him lose
his wits" ; he preferred that of the etiquette of his court,
of which the details were immense ; and he occupied
himself more with that of foreign affairs, provided that
there was in the secret correspondence of Broglie, a
plenty of scandalous anecdotes concerning the princes
and especially the princesses of his contemporaries.
Concerning the state of finances, the fast life of the king
augmented their disorder. A considerable dowry was
given to his illegitimate children ; they were married to
officers whom he afterwards advanced. The education
of his children was not only very burdensome, but he
had also, afterwards, to provide for their establishment.
A courtier who followed with as much exactitude as
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. 9/
possible, the scandalous chronicle of the time, assured
the author of these Memoirs that Louis XV. had estab-
lished, in his life, more than eighteen hundred young
ladies. They were given beautiful little houses in the
park, of which Liebel, first valet-de-chambre, had the
superintendance, at the charge of the public treasury.
Let us go through some of these houses ; the most par-
ticular Memoirs of the time have brought down to us the
description of some of the favorites of Louis.
Liebel did not always choose the women to be devoted
to the pleasures of Louis. This prince, who threw without
ceasing his curious looks upon everybody that surrounded
him, often chose, himself, in his trips to Paris, those who
attracted him. Various private persons devoted them-
selves to serve his inclination, amongst others the finan-
ciers Beaujon, Bertin, etc.
MADEMOISELLE DE ROMANS.
Louis, having fallen in love with Mile, de Romans,
could never bear to be without this new favorite, who
followed him in his journeys to Bellevue, Compiegne,
and in his other travels. He loved her natural kindness
and her great affection, which he had not found in other
women. She had such a handsome figure and such a
handsome face that she was called one of the marvels of
nature. Mile, de Romans, who was aware that she was
loved by the king, took advantage of this weakness of
the prince, and caused her child to be declared child of
the king. Hardly was the son born, who was afterwards
Abbe de Bourbon, than she wished that it should bear
98 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
all the distinct marks of his birth ; she put on him a blue
ribbon, and nourished him herself. Mme. de Pompadour,
devoured with jealousy because she was observing the
well marked attachment of the king for Mile, de Romans,
took advantage of a moment of indifference of the king
to cause the child to be taken away from her rival, and
sent out of the country, so that, if possible, all traces of
him should be lost. The child was taken away by the
police. Sartine who had charge of him gave him to one
of his clerks, to whom he paid a thousand louis a year,
for keeping him.
When Louis XV. died, Mile, de Romans, disheartened
at her double loss, had no other evidence of the birth of
her child than a series of letters that she had received
from the king which gave proof of his origin. She sent
them to Louis XVI. with a copy of the act of baptism,
and the king desired that this child be introduced to him.
He was found at Longjumeou in a linen blouse, the
clerks having appropriated the pension to their own use.
Never a child more resembled his father as to the face
and habits. The Abb6 de Bourbon was as indolent, as
voluptuous and as fast as Louis XV. The portrait of
the one was very often taken for that of the other.
Mme. de Romans had the handsomest hair that was
ever seen ; it descended to her knees; she had in 1765
such a great quantity that she covered herself with it as
with an overcoat. Louis XV. called her his beautiful
Madeline ; he admired the beauty of her figure and her
bewitching poses. Mme. de Romans, who lived still in
the year 1792, preserved at that time much of her beauty.
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. 99
She was Mme. de Cavanhac, widow of a soldier. No
bad action could be ascribed to her while she was in
favor ; she was interesting, handsome and always kind.
MADEMOISELLE TIERCELIN.
The king, on coming one day to the Tuileries, followed
by an immense multitude, noticed with interest a child
nine years old, who was very tall for her age and had an
angelic face. The king looked at her much, praised
several times her face and seemed curious to know who
she was.
Lebel, entirely devoted to the pleasures of his master,
did not appear as if he noticed the impression that she
made upon him ; but the following day he came back to
Paris, took information and gave orders to Sartine to
put his spies in motion.
The question was to know who was the father of a
child of great beauty, nine years old, who was led the
evening before by a governess to the Tuileries. Sartine,
the most able of the police lieutenants and perhaps the
greatest scoundrel, discovered her. There was a bargain
made with the governess, who disappeared after having
received for the child fifty louis.
It seemed pleasing to the old Louis XV. to educate
this child for his pleasures ; he destined for this infamous
education several of his small rooms and was pleased to
serve her as teacher, servant and governess. He brought
her her meals with exactness, he advanced all her de-
sires ; he studied her tastes and did not allow anybody
to approach his pupil, to whom he did not make himself
IOO MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
known. " I detest you," said Mile. Tiercelin to Louis
XV. her jailer ; " you are as ugly as a beast." She con-
fided her strange adventures to Mme. de B., from whom
we have a part of these strange anecdotes.
The king by care and attentions succeeded in having
himself loved by this child, when she had come to a more
advanced age. He gave her a pension of thirty thousand
livres and paid her debts every year.
It is difficult to follow the loves or rather the clandes-
tine enjoyments of Louis XV. We may recall his
passing attachments with Mme. de Choiseul-Romanet,
with the Baroness de Salis, from whom he obtained
favors by force and who, in despair, committed suicide ;
with Mme. de Martinville ; Mile. Grandi ; Mile, de Ville,
a lost girl and Mme. de Beaun, author of some plays.
There could be written a book upon each one of these
women, especially upon their relations with the ministers
or with the courtiers who procured them for the king.
CHAPTER LXXX.
The Count du Barry shows to the marshal his mistress, Mile. Lange.
— He gives a supper in his pavilion of the boulevard. — Du Barry
informs the marshal of his projects. — He endeavors with all
means to introduce Mile. Lange to Lebel. — She becomes the
mistress of the king. — They try to make her hate M. de Choiseul.
— Death of Lebel produced by an outburst of Louis.
SINCE the death of Mme. de Pompadour, Louis, given
up to all kinds of debauches, had no longer any particu-
lar mistress. The marshal, who at first had blamed his
taste for Mme. d'Etioles, because she was not of the
nobility, wished the king to make a choice amongst the
ladies that had been introduced. He thought it beneath
a sovereign to descend into a lower class, pretending that
the title of mistress of the king was important enough to
be given only to a woman of the highest nobility. The
Duchess of Grammont, sister of the Duke de Choiseul,
had made all the necessary advances to catch the king ;
but her harsh ways and her disagreeable manners caused
her to be soon excluded from that position ; besides the
title of sister of a minister was motive enough for her to
be an object of intrigue.
Richelieu, who was sometimes in very bad company,
had spoken of his desire of having the king make the
acquaintance of the Count du Barry, a man too well
known to lose any time in speaking about his reputation.
Immediately the brain of this intriguer, fertile in projects,
102 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
brought forth the idea that he should rid himself, in
favor of the sovereign, of the mistress of whom he was
tired and whom he was in the habit of turning over to
his friends, whenever he was unable to pay his debts
to them.
It is true that this woman, called Mile. Lange, was
very handsome, and it was especially upon her charming
figure, and her still more seducing looks, that Du Barry
based his hopes. He conducted this great speculation
at M. de Richelieu's, who knew her already and who gave
her several suppers in his pavilion of the boulevard. Du
Barry was resolved to enable the duke to judge per-
sonally of the attractions of which boasted, and said that
he destined her for Louis. Richelieu smiled with pity,
and assured him that if he had no other projects with
which to make his fortune, he would not do it very soon.
Du Barry, filled with this notion which sustained his
confidence, maintained on the contrary that he would
succeed, and that he would be clever enough to bring
Mile. Lange, himself, into the arms of the king, even if
nobody else were willing to conduct her there. The
marshal related twenty times, that he was much amused
at this supper, on account of the many foolish acts of
Du Barry, and that he had said jokingly, " Well, go to
see Lebel, perhaps by his influence your favorite will
obtain for one day the honors of the Louvre. On the
following day, Du Barry went in the early morning to
the first valet-de-chambre, and, since he already had
made several proposals to Lebel, this latter was not
long in guessing the motive of this visit. Indeed, hardly
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. IO3
were they alone when he said to this agent of the pleas-
ures of the master, that he came to speak with him
about a goddess, about an angel, to whom none of the
women, who were under consideration for the king,
could compare. Lebel, accustomed to exaggerations,
asked the name of such a rare beauty, but unfortunately
the reputation of Mile. Lange destroyed all the praises
that he had sounded about her divinity. Lebel left
Du Barry disturbed, but not without hope ; the latter
flattered himself that he would be luckier in the future
and dared a second attempt. But Lebel's door re-
mained closed to him.
Du Barry, accustomed to insults, was not scared on
account of the one which he received and those that
followed, for Lebel remained always invisible to him ;
he knew that tenacity is a surer means of success, than
merit and intelligence, and he did not give in. He
finally met Lebel, and at last obtained, by being im-
portunate, a rendezvous for the following day.
Feeling encouraged by this first step, Du Barry did not
forget, in order to give more importance to his visit, to
bring with him Mile. Lange ; he introduced her to the
valet-de-chambre. " I leave her to you," he said, " look
and examine, and if she is not an angel, I consent to
lose the honor ! " He knew very well that in this
respect he had been for a long time on the safe side.
Mile. Lange, being alone with the examiner, first posed
as very timid, and this embarrassment enhanced the
charms, which the severe judge could not observe with-
out being greatly moved. Finally she cast her hand-
104 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
some eyes on him, and by an apparently involuntary
motion uncovered a very handsome neck as white as
alabaster. The old valet-de-chambre could not with-
hold himself from applying a kiss. Mile. Lange, who
had learned her lesson, did not oppose any resistance to
Lebel ; she contented herself with saying, " If it were
not you ! " The old man, carried away, agreed that
Du Barry was right, and that never anything as hand-
some had offered itself to his eyes. Everything was
arranged and Du Barry, informed of what had passed,
hastened to Richelieu to announce to him that Lebel
was in ecstasies, and that his own mistress would pass
soon from the apartment of the valet-de-chambre into
that of the monarch himself.
However, this man, though he was seduced, had some
scruples. He had promised to place the new candidate
in the way of his majesty, but he judged by her past
life that this woman was not too worthy to be offered to
the king. However, his promise bound him ; he im-
agined that Louis, if he gave any attention to Mile.
Lange, would only have a moment of caprice for her,
and he determined to submit her to the gaze of his
master.
The first time the king gave no attention at all. Mile.
Lange, always directed by her intriguer, redoubled her
entreaties to Lebel, that he should show her off to more
advantage. Chance served her ; the king perceived her,
fixed his eyes a long time upon her, and asked Lebel in
the evening, who that woman was of whom he had
remarked the carriage and the figure. Lebel carried
o o
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. IO5
away by friendship gave a favorable report, and soon it
was decided that she would have a private meeting with
the prince.
Du Barry, intoxicated with joy, hastened a second time
to relate his good fortune to the marshal, who now be-
lieved that this fool would be lucky enough to accom-
plish his purpose. The roud (everybody knows that this
was the name given to Du Barry) affirmed to the marshal
that it was a moment for playing all or nothing. Every-
thing is lost, he said, if she should not produce a great
sensation, and I must risk everything to produce it.
Mile. Lange, taught anew and well disposed to try her
fortune, betook herself to the place which had been
designated to her. No one was ignorant to what a high
degree the king was charmed with his new conquest.
What Du Barry had foreseen was about to happen. It
was an entirely new enjoyment for his majesty. The
prince found, what was very precious for him, a woman
who possessed the art of reviving his desires, and he found
himself transported into an unknown world.
The fairy who produced such great miracles grew dearer
to him from day to day. This taste, which was believed
to be a passing one, became a kind of passion ; every
time there came new discoveries which seemed admirable
to a used-up man, and everybody was astonished at the
rapid ascendancy of a woman, who, according to appear-
ances, ought not to have held him longer than a moment.
It was then that the mind of Du Barry became puffed
up ; his dreams seemed about to be realized. M. de
Richelieu, himself, astonished by these adventures, be-
106 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
lieved that after what had happened, everything was
possible. He called on the new favorite, and saw her
secretly in his pavilion, not any longer as a grisette, but
as a woman who was to become of importance. He
gave her advice, instructed her as to the court, and
warned her especially that she had to fear M. de Choiseul,
who would not see her being raised without jealousy,
and his sister who had ridiculous pretensions to take the
place of the favorite. Richelieu saw with sorrow that a
woman of such low rank was on the point of playing
such a great role ; but as he was accustomed to take ad-
vantage of everything, he did not wish to miss an occa-
sion such as that to help himself.
The roue", after having dreamed a long time, believed
that his dream would be imperfect if his precious Lange
should not become the acknowledged mistress. He con-
sulted his oracle, M. de Richelieu, who was scared by the
enterprise, and who, in the bottom of his soul, did not
wish to let things go so far as that. Du Barry, not being
accustomed to be held back by any consideration, as-
sured him that the obstacles were easy to overcome ;
that he had a stupid brother, who was so much in pursuit
of money that he would marry his female cow-tender in
order to get it ; that this man was specially cut out for
the affair, and that before two months would pass, Mile.
Lange would be a countess ; once having a title, the in-
troduction would become a question of right, and every-
thing would be arranged by this happy marriage. He
agreed that the new favorite was not yet ripe for the
role which he destined for her ; but, at the same time, he
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. IO/
congratulated himself on having in his own family all
that was necessary to insure his success. Mile, du Barry
was a mentor, who could teach the most stupid woman
to become an intriguer ; she could animate marble, and
she would be the spring that should moved the statue
which he intended to set up.
The passion of the king for Mile. Lange increased ; it
was a delirium, which took away even his reasoning
power ; he wished that everybody should render homage
to the beauty whom he adored, and he seized eagerly the
proposal of marriage with the Count du Barry. We
shall not relate the well-known facts : it will be sufficient
for us to say that Lebel, being frightened by the too
constant love of his master, and still more by the intro-
duction of a girl that he hardly had dared to offer him,
and fearing the reproaches that could be made him in the
future, took the liberty of representing to the king,
that, charming as his protegee might be, he had im-
agined that she would be only a flitting fancy, and that
he loved his master too much not to inform him that the
introduction at court of such a woman would cause mur-
muring through the whole of France.
" My poor Dominic," answered the king, (he called him
always by this name) " I am sorry if that troubles you ;
but your prote"ge"e is splendid ; I am foolish with her; I
wish to give her a public proof of my tenderness ; she
will be introduced and no one will say a word." The
servant insisted, and, being carried away a little too much
by his zeal, he dared to point out to him what wrong he
would do himself in the mind of his subjects ; Louis, be-
108 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
coming impatient, took the tongs, and, raising them
over his confidant, told him, with a strong expression,
to hold his tongue, or he would strike him.
Lebel, being accustomed to say everything to his mas-
ter, was seized with terror by this savage behavior. He
was subject to bilious attacks ; as a result of this scene
a violent illness beset him, and two days afterwards he
died. This death was natural ; he did not take poison
as they represent in the life of Louis XV., where, as we
have already said, one finds statements of all kinds that
are easily disproved.
Mile. Lange did not regret the man who wished to
oppose himself to the king's marks of tenderness for her.
He was soon forgotten, though he helped her to take
the first step, which conducted her to honors and fortune.
She had a more dangerous enemy in M. de Choiseul, who
seemed to have greater talents for persuading : but the
king, fatigued by all the remonstrances and carried away
by a passion which he could not control, answered him,
that when he summoned him or had him work with him,
that it was to treat of the general affairs of the kingdom,
and not to annoy him with discussing those of his heart.
MADAME DU BARRI
ETCHED BY MERCIER
CHAPTER LXXXI.
Mme. du Barry is introduced. — She makes the people wait the day of
her introduction. — The king is much disquieted. — M. de Choiseul
is disgraced. — Richelieu wishes to enter into the council but can-
not succeed ; he wishes, at least, that a man of his family be in
the ministry and he names M. d'Aiguillon. — The marshal be-
comes one of the most zealous servants of the favorite.
MLLE. LANGE having become Countess du Barry by
her marriage (everybody knows how this sort of a mar-
riage is made. The husband on receipt of money agrees
that he will not even dine that day with his wife and that
he will not approach within four leagues of her res-
idence,) with the brother of her old lover, redoubled her
efforts to hold the king in captivity. She saw in the
king only a simple private man ; she acted without con-
straint, and the tone of familiarity, which she brought
about between him and her, seemed always new to the
sovereign ; he could not be without the woman who in-
spired in him sentiments or sensations of which, up to
then, he had had no idea. All the Du Barrys came to
the favorite and established themselves there. They re-
garded her as belonging to them. They arrogated the
right to give her advice, and from this moment the royal
treasury actually became their private purse. The
young countess, still astonished at being placed so near
the throne, not understanding the customs, new to every-
thing that surrounded her, with exception of her royal
1 10 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE UE RICHELIEU.
lover, little adapted for knowing how to conduct herself
in court, listened eagerly to the lessons which were given
to her. It was in this particular study that M. de Rich-
elieu was useful to her. He saw very well that Mme. du
Barry was going to rule, and the man, who had hardly
taken notice of Mile. Lange, became the very humble
slave of Mme. du Barry.
He was then in the service of the king ; he ap-
proached him continually. He was a witness of his
weakness and of his infatuation, but he took care not to
make him the least reproach ; on the contrary, he pre-
tended to find as the king himself, that Mme. du Barry
was a goddess, and he said to him that it was very just
that she receive particular marks of affection from his
majesty. He had already conceived the project of mak-
ing use of the ascendancy of this woman by ousting
from the ministry M. de Choiseul, of whom he was very
jealous, whom he considered a disturber in business, and
whom he accused loudly of corrupting the military.
The family claim, which the friends of this minister
pressed with so much emphasis, seemed to him a puerility
in politics, because he said sovereigns had no longer
parents or friends when particular interests commanded
them. It would be better, he said, to have disciplined
armies, and money in the coffers ; that is the only means
to insure the quietness of a kingdom, and to make the
monarch powerful at home and feared abroad.
It was without doubt, less for the welfare of the state
than on account of personal hatred, that he desired to
upset this colossus, which seemed to be invulnerable and
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. Ill
the arms of which appeared to enwrap the whole king-
dom. Up to that time Richelieu, too politic to declare
himself the enemy of a powerful man by whom he was
not loved, had employed with him the vain demonstra-
tions, the language, and the style, always empty of sense,
of which the people of the courts seemed to have the
exclusive possession. He had developed in himself the
highest art of the courtier, who, without ever having the
courage to appear what he really is, expects in the de-
cisive moment either to fall at the feet of the idol, or
else to pull it down. He believed that the favor of
Mme. du Barry would forward the moment, which had
been expected so long, and he watched the smallest cir-
cumstances to take advantage of them.
While people occupied themselves with the fall of M.
de Choiseul, he, proud of the power which he was enjoy-
ing, counted too much upon the laziness of the monarch
whom he freed by his activity from all work ; and was
persuaded that he was absolutely necessary to him, while
boasting about the alliance that he had just made with
the House of Austria. Choiseul therefore did not occupy
himself with the secret councils of the favorite ; his self
love made him believe that he was safe from all reverses.
Besides, he could not imagine that the triumph of
Mme. du Barry would last for long. His creatures, who
always held up before his eyes what he had done for
France, assured him at the same time, that this woman
would soon fall back into the class from which she had
been drawn, and the king would recognize sooner or later
the indecency of her conduct, while he would be unable
112 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
to forget how much he owed to such a minister as he
was.
M. de Choiseul, disposed to credit all these opinions
notwithstanding his intelligence, notwithstanding the
knowlege that he had concerning the court, trusted too
much to his credit. He not only treated the favorite
without common politeness, but even on several occasions
with disdain. Finally he conducted himself so impru-
dently that Mme. du Barry, who had no motive for hating
him but who followed, mechanically, the impulses which
were given to her, became finally the personal enemy of
him who showed her so little consideration. So we may
say that M. de Choiseul was the victim of his presump-
tion ; that he lost the ministry not from the creditable
reason of having been unwilling to make a step towards a
woman that he despised, but because he was altogether
too certain of the need that the master had of him ; and
because he was persuaded that neither this woman nor
any other, would ever have enough power to make him
lose his place.
This security was observed by Richelieu and he
believed himself then sure of success. He saw the
minister oftener and one would have said that a sincere,
though without doubt astonishing, friendship was grow-
ing between them. The returning of the courtier made
M. Choiseul smile and, while distrusting him, he scorned
the idea that his powerless envy could hurt him ; he fore-
saw, indeed, some little trouble, which he expected
quietly, as the rock which sees without apprehension the
wave which is going to break itself at its feet.
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. 11$
Finally the much talked of day, which three-quarters
of the court could not believe would arrive, was appointed
for the introduction of Mme. du Barry. The alarm be-
came general in the opposition party ; M. Choiseul was
himself dazed by the shock. He made some useless rep-
resentations to the king, but was obliged to submit
himself to the necessity. However, he always believed
that the humiliating introduction would not take place
and that his master would still recede from this incon-
siderate step.
But the minister forgot that Richelieu, calculating his
interests and his vengeance, hardly ever left the monarch.
His charge as first gentleman, of which he filled the func-
tions, gave him great opportunities. He was an old con-
fidant of the sovereign, and it was natural enough that he
would be consulted in an affair of the heart. The mar-
shal, notwithstanding his desire for seeing the place of
the favorite occupied by a woman of high standing,
believing himself able to count upon Mme. du Barry,
and seeing the king bewitched by her, never ceased
talking to him about her grace and beauty. He beguiled
the king's time in relating histories of the kings and
emperors, who had followed the impulses of their hearts in
marrying even women of the lowest rank, and he added
that a King of France could well afford to give distinc-
tion to a woman that he preferred over any other. Louis
listened with avidity to his favorite and thereby was
blind to the sorrow of his children. She on her side,
beseeched the monarch, and, notwithstanding his irreso-
lutions, the presentation was decided upon.
114 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
The great day arrived. The whole court was at
Versailles ; notwithstanding all that had been done,
there were wagers made that Mme. du Barry would not
be presented. The appointed hour arrived, but Mme.
du Barry did not appear. M. de Choiseul and Richelieu
were in the chamber of the king, who seemed to be very
agitated ; he looked, every moment, at his watch. He
was very uneasy as the time flew by, with no news. At
this moment all the remonstrances which had been made
came back into his mind ; he seemed to recognize the
absurdity of the scene which was about to take place.
M. de Choiseul was triumphant ; he believed that the
ceremony would not take place ; and Richelieu, in a
corner of the window, no longer knew what to expect.
During this delay, so trying for both sides, Mme. du
Barry was detained in Paris by her hair-dresser, not
knowing the consequences of the long waiting which she
occasioned, and occupied in trying to increase her
charms. She wished to force even her enemies to find
her handsome. An hour more or less seemed to her a
trifle in finishing her toilet.
At last, Richelieu perceived a carriage, and hastened
to announce to the monarch the arrival of the favorite.
Immediately the agitation of the king disappeared ; the
pleasure which he felt chased away all his black thoughts.
He had made up his mind to scold her but when she
was announced he found her so handsome, so celestial,
so radiant, that he could only admire her.
Richelieu, in his turn, enjoyed the discomfiture of the
minister. He looked then at Mme. du Barry, and struck
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. 11$
by her elegant figure and the noble mien that she bore,
he recognized no longer the insignificant Lange, who
had come once to implore his assistance. Even the
people who felt despair on account of this presentation
were forced to admit that, if beauty and elegance entitle
one to approach the throne, Mme. du Barry ought to
enjoy that privilege.
We will not enter into the well-known details. This
day was the declared triumph of libertinism and from
this moment the king lost what small amount of self-
esteem he had possessed. Although Mme. du Barry
was not a mischievous woman, the choice of her was
really unworthy of a sovereign ; afterwards this woman,
to whom the court was an unknown country, was
obliged to allow herself to be led by perverted people,
who deceived her continually, in order to get wealthy or
to procure places for the bad persons who were devoted
to them. Therefore Mme. du Barry must not be too
much blamed ; all those around her led her astray, and
abused her good nature, in order to commit injustice.
The first fault lay in the king, the second in the dull
and eager courtiers who surrounded both.
M. de Choiseul finally perceived that he had made a
mistake in not following the chariot of Mme. du Barry,
but he could no longer retrace his steps. He believed
that by increasing his activity, he would make himself
more necessary than ever to the sovereign, and he was
not altogether deceived in his expectations. The king,
being accustomed to his exact manner in presenting
business, to the clearness of his ideas, which, avoiding
Il6 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
all discussions, gave him only the trouble of making his
signature, gave at first little attention to the complaints
of his mistress against this minister.
The very decided disgust which Louis had for war,
was well known ; he could not avoid hearing that M. de
Choiseul, in order to have more consideration and power,
did not handle carefully enough the Englishmen, and
that he was only studying how to give them occasion
again to begin hostilities. These complaints made some
impression on the king, who, fatigued by the disasters of
the war in 1756, had sworn that he would not have any
more war ; however, they were not important enough to
decide him to send away his minister. It was not
friendship, but habit which carried him along ; he feared
that he might not meet again an able minister that
would save him all the work, and, notwithstanding all
the accusations, he was resolved to keep him.
Richelieu, who knew Louis well, foresaw that he
would not have strength of character enough to resist at-
tacks. Careful beforehand in naming a minister who
would be convenient for him, he was not indisposed
to allow the choice to fall upon himself. Up to that
time he had contented himself with ruling in his own
government, and with seducing women ; he had been an
enemy of steady work ; it has been seen that he neglected
to take advantage of the intrigues of Mme. de Laura-
guais, who wished him to follow M. de Belle-Isle. This
lady was no more, but he remembered what she had in-
tended to do for him. Feeling the infirmities of age, he
knew that he could no longer occupy himself merely in
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. 1 1/
pleasing, and that what he was losing on one side he
must gain on the side of ambition. If he could not be
minister, he resolved to obtain at least his entrance into
the council.
He had a competitor in his relative, the Duke d'Aiguil-
lon, so well known by his association with M. de la
Chalotais, and who owed to the impression that he made
upon the mind of Mme. du Barry, and to the friendship
of Richelieu, that he was not condemned by the parlia-
ment of Paris. The marshal, seeing the animosity of
that body which intended to be avenged for the wrongs
done to one of the members of the parliament of Bre-
tagne, and which considered his affair as its own ; fear-
ing, besides, the consequences of this revenge for his
relative, had engaged the king (who was already in-
formed by his mistress) to withdraw all the papers from
this trial, which was in the hands of the parliament ;
the monarch, usually weak, but spurred by a personal
repulsion against the magistracy, went out of his charac-
ter to do an act which wounded justice ; M. d'Aiguillon,
without being absolved, was withdrawn from the power
of the law.
This duke, though perhaps not guilty of desiring to
maintain his authority as commander of the province of
Bretagne to the disadvantage of parliament, thought
only of taking advantage of the king's favor. He was
ambitious to get the place of the Duke de Choiseul, and,
following the lead of Richelieu and Mme. du Barry, he,
also, allied himself with the chancellor to make one more
enemy for the minister, whom he wished to oust.
Il8 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
The chief justice intended to destroy the parliament.
The king, who desired the success of this operation, be-
lieved he would not be able to reign quietly unless he
was spared further interference from the troublesome
courts. He was made to believe that the minister was one
of their strongest pillars, and that as long as he remained
in office, his influence would delay the ruin of the parlia-
ment. So Mme. du Barry and Richelieu got the better
of it in the end, and the king decreed the exile of M. de
Choiseul.
It was then that Richelieu, freed of M. de Choiseul's
opposition, employed all his means to obtain entrance to
the council. He had declined the ministry ; but he was
much pleased that a man of his family had a department
in order to enjoy more easily the advantages which de-
pended on it. He only wished to enter into the council
to give his advice, and to be informed of its operations.
He thought he deserved this favor at least as much as M.
de Soubise ; but he did not wish to ask for it himself.
The favorite demanded it from her royal lover, who an-
swered that M. de Richelieu was too giddy to treat about
serious affairs, and that he was better fitted to carry on a
love intrigue than to give wise advice in a council. He
forgot without doubt that he had conducted himself
very well in all his negotiations, and this refusal can be
attributed only to a moment of ill-will. The marshal,
furious at seeing his hopes destroyed, did all he could to
have his relative succeed. M. d'Aiguillon, by his pro-
tection, and still more by that of Mme. du Barry, suc-
ceeded, therefore, to M. de Choiseul's position. The
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. IIQ
marshal had great difficulty in consoling himself for the
refusal ; what humbled him the most was that the same
favor that was refused to him was granted to M. de
Soubise.
Nearly always lucky in negotiations as in war, he
could be reproached only with his passionate fondness
for the women ; M. de Soubise, with the same faults, was
chiefly known by his having suffered a great defeat.
Richelieu had been the slave of the mistress of the king ;
M. de Soubise had been the fawner. A friend of Mme.
de Chateauroux, he had hardly taken time to regret her,
before attaching himself to the chariot of Mme. de Pom-
padour ; he had offered her a bed with the king in his
castle of Saint-Ouen ; he gained notoriety on account of
his prodigalities with the girls of the opera and all that
he had obtained as general was due merely to his inti-
macy with the mistresses of the king and to the favor
which he enjoyed amongst them. Richelieu could not
bear to see this preference, indeed, the balance should
have weighed on his side.
These unexpected disagreements with a sovereign, who
seemed very much attached to him, undermined his
health. It was believed that he was attacked with stop-
page ; and the President de Gascq wrote him on the sub-
ject that, " Having been accustomed for a long time by
the temper of his soul and by the manifold events of his
life to the greatest excitements, he had, perhaps, not
perceived that for two years he had given himself up to a
state of mind, very liable to procure to him all those
troublesome consequences of chronic disease ; he advised
120 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU
him to take care of himself or he would be obliged to
suffer his whole life through."
But time allayed the mental disquietude of the mar-
shal and once the mental part was cured, the physical
part soon followed. He used a water which did him a
great deal of good ; it was merely distilled opium, fer-
mented with beer-yeast and water. This compound he
gave to Voltaire in the year 1778, but since it had not
the strength to bring back to life a man who was dying,
the talk was then, that the marshal had killed him with
his opium.
The marshal, who for a long time had given no
proofs of tenderness for his son, the Duke de Fronsac,
and who at his marriage with Mile. d'Hautefort had
generously given him two thousand £cus of pension to
maintain his rank as duke and peer (a pension that he
soon stopped, however,) moved finally by a more fatherly
sentiment, tried to serve himself with the credit that he
had with Mme. du Barry to increase the fortune of his
son. The problem was to obtain the government of the
castle of Trompette, whteh was worth forty thousand
livres of income ; but M. de Fumel obtained, on account
of his marriage, the place which Richelieu had asked, and
which he might reasonably have expected, as it was under
his governorship.
He complained bitterly, and the favorite, to compensate
him got the king to give from the royal treasury thirty
thousand livres of pension to the Duke de Fronsac, he to
make use of it until he should receive a government
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. 121
appointment, of which the proceeds would be at least
equivalent to that sum.
The marriage of the dauphin suspended for a moment
the bickerings of the court, and excessive expenses were
incurred to celebrate the marriage. It was on this
occasion that the depredations on the " pocket money "
reached their climax. The representation of the opera
" Castor et Pollux " alone cost one million ; they had
constructed for it a beautiful hall, perhaps the most
handsome in Europe and certainly the richest. All the
'people who had charge of these operations and even those
who worked for them became wealthy. Money was
spent as if there had been an overabundance in the king-
dom. A journey to Fontainebleau cost more than two
millions ; there were employed for the show and the pre-
tended service of the king three hundred thousand livres
worth of carriages of the court. At all the parties there
was the same extravagance ; it was a universal robbery.
We will not dwell any longer upon subjects as sad as these
which will give testimony forever against a reign where
nothing was sacred, and during which the sovereign was
always led by scoundrels or intriguers.
Louis having chosen Mile, de Lorraine, immediately
after the princesses of blood, to dance at the marriage
of the dauphin, the high nobility, alarmed on account
of this distinction, showed how much it stuck at child-
ish etiquette, while it evinced shameful negligence for
really important affairs. The House of Lorraine pre-
tended to pass, in all the ceremonies immediately after
the princes of blood, and it was this pretension which
122 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
the titled people wished to overset. They believed that
this preference at a ball would have great consequences.
Notes without number were immediately presented to
the king. During a long time this great affair was the
only topic discussed, and the nobility that never was
known to make any claims for the general welfare, was
more than one month in convulsions because a princess
of a foreign house had danced before they were invited.
It is true that the king affirmed that it was without
" consequences ; " but at the marriage of monsieur the
notes were renewed. The reason being the same, the
monarch had the kindness to answer to his faithful
nobility that the first woman who danced would not
have, on account of that, more privileges.
Such were almost the only occupations of the court-
iers.
CHAPTER LXXXII.
Continuation of the details of the court. — Death of Louis XV. —
Richelieu goes to his governorship.
Du BARRY having become an important person by
the favor of his former mistress, appeared then as a
protector, who pretended to govern the whole kingdom.
If we are to believe him, he was the principal of all
events ; without his foresight, his penetration, his stead-
fastness, things would not have been as they were ; the
little woman Lange would have remained unknown, and
Choiseul would still have been in his place ; the parlia-
ment would still have existed, and religious bigots
probably would have controlled the mind of the king.
The monarch owed to him the good luck that he did not
die of ennui ; the people of the provinces owed it to
him that they were no longer obliged to travel so far,
in order to obtain justice ; the courtiers owed it to him,
that they had a fixed means of obtaining pardon ; every-
body, according to him, owed him thanks and he could
not have been rewarded enough for the good that he
had done.
Therefore he talked like a master. I shall give, he
said, such a government to this one, such an intendancy
to that one ; and in the midst of his dream he did not
forget to give himself much. One day, intoxicated by
124 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
his glory and his happiness, he told the marshal that
there was only one thing missing ; that was that his own
brother should die. " If my sister-in-law becomes a
widow, I will cause her to be married by the king ; that
will not be a long affair ; Louis XIV. married the stupid
and bigot De Maintenon. I shall have the pleasure of
giving to the king my mistress for a wife ; that will be
very piquant." The marshal laughed much about this ;
after all that had passed, he nearly believed that the
intriguer might be right.
Mme. du Barry, who had been a great novice at the
court, had accustomed herself to the ways of grandeur
and opulence which surrounded her ; she had given up
the slang of the country, and did not any longer seem
ridiculous, even to her enemies. The past time was
nothing to her, but a disagreeable dream, which she tried
to forget. Women were almost always ready to flatter
her, and entertained her, without ceasing, by artful
speeches about her careful education. Mme. du Barry
accustomed herself so much to their speeches that she
seemed almost to persuade herself that from the first
years of her life she had been what she was at present.
Having climbed so high, it was natural enough that her
head began to be turned a little. The king came to see
her at morning and evening. When by accident some
affairs, or a slight indisposition prevented him from doing
so, he wrote to her, and it was a man, called Serras, who
formerly had known Mile. Lange, and whom the Marshal
de Richelieu had attached to her, who was the bearer of
these love letters. At the same time he reported to
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. 12$
Richelieu what happened in the house of Mme. du
Barry ; he told him who was at her house, what she did,
and what way the king had spoken to her ; and in order
to recompense this messenger for his care, he made him
governor of the pages of the chamber of the king.
It was this agent, who made Mme. du Barry under-
stand that nobody was better fitted to enter into the
council than M. de Richelieu, and this woman wished to
recompense her benefactor by obtaining for him this
favor. The refusal of the king only temporarily put her
out, but the marshal incensed by the answer of his
master sent word to the favorite, by this same man, that
he renounced the favor.
But Serras at about this time had the misfortune to
lose a note which he was charged by the king to deliver.
M. de Maupeou found the note accidentally in the
gallery. As it was not sealed, he opened it, and rec-
ognized the hand writing of the king, and not seeing to
whom it was addressed, brought it to his majesty, who
got angry at the loss of his note, and who would not
make use any longer of a messenger, who was so careless.
The marshal was very angry on account of this acci-
dent. Though he was well received at Mme. du Barry's
it was convenient to have also a spy near her. He had
found out through him that the Duke d'Aiguillon went
often to see her while she was in bed, which made Rich-
elieu conjecture that his cousin played with this favorite
the same role that formerly M. de Choiseul played with
M. de Pompadour, a circumstance which did not hurt his
advancement. He hoped that Mme. du Barry would not
126 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
be less unfavorable to his relative, and he was not mis-
taken.
The king, in the midst of all the pleasures which were
procured for him, sometimes felt ennui and even re-
morse. One evening, when he was feeling more de-
pressed than usual, he asked Richelieu what he could do
to restore himself to his former strength, after so many
adventures. " The number of mine was not so great as
yours," he added, " yet I feel my forces diminishing
every day." " A little rest, sire," answered the courtier,
" will give you back what you have lost. It is my rem-
edy and it certainly will be good for you." Then they
talked about their younger years ; and the marshal who
reported this conversation to Mme. de Mauconseil as-
sured her that the king was loath to get old, especially
at a time when he had the most amiable mistress that he
had known. He told her also that his children had not
all the considerations for him that he deserved, and that
those, which were rendered to him, were forced. This
conversation led them, by degrees, to speak of the gen-
eral affairs of the kingdom. The king agreed that they
were not in such a good state as they might be, and
sighed several times. " What do you want," he said ;
" when people are foolish they do not listen. After all
it is their fault and not mine. They do what they wish
to ; that must not concern me any longer."
When the king was more affected than usual, they in-
creased their eagerness to distract him ; the journeys to
Saint-Hubert and to Choisy, were multiplied. The lat-
ter ones rarely passed by without exhibitions, which
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. 1 27
were designed alone for Mme. du Barry. There were
hardly any pieces performed in Paris which were not
done in homage to her ; no debuts were authorized with-
out having been submitted first to her censorship.
Mme. Raucourt, who appeared on the French stage with
all the pretensions of a woman who united in herself the
rarest talents and the purest virtue, was obliged to sub-
mit her plans to the whims of the favorite, who had
made her a present from her private purse of ten thou-
sand livres. It charmed Mme. du Barry to have played
in her house, by a queen of the stage, unimportant parts
in the role of a man. The actress at first was in great
favor with her ; but afterwards, either fearing her fresh-
ness and her youth which might call the attention of the
king to her, or getting tired of her company, she decided
to dismiss her, so that Mile. Raucourt did not remain a
long time in her good graces.
The marriage of the Count d'Artois, at which the same
prodigality was remarked as in the preceding ones, hav-
ing given occasion for long feasts, served to distract the
monarch a little, who, excepting the moments when he
rallied himself to assure his mistress of his tenderness,
was morose and testy. This lady wished to outshine the
wife of the heir of the throne, and diamonds without
number ornamented her most magnificent court dress.
At the opera she had a box above that of Mme. la
Dauphine, where she enjoyed the pleasure of being more
radiant even than the princess.
One day as she passed through a courtyard at Fon-
tainebleau, the sound of merriment reached her. She
128 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
lifted her head, and saw at a window of the castle the
dauphine and madame, who burst out with laughter.
She looked at them proudly and stopped a moment,
when either by the force of her haughty countenance in-
dicating that they should withdraw, or because these
princesses feared to displease their grandfather by con-
tinuing the scene, they disappeared.
Everything gave way to the ascendancy of Mme. du
Barry. The princes, who had returned to the court
should be condemned on account of their flatteries, be-
cause at the beginning, at least, they intended to play
an independent role, while afterwards they thought
themselves honored by being admitted to the intimacy
of the favorite. The Prince de Cond6, sitting near her
in his private theatricals, watched for all the allusions
which could be applied to her favorably in order to ap-
plaud them with ecstasy. The king, who was often
present at these comedies, threw upon him a look of
satisfaction ; the favorite made him a sign with her
handsome hand and the prince left, pleased to have
made such an impression. One day there was performed
a vaudeville, called " Annette et Lubin," with couplets
in honor of Mme. du Barry ; it was an empty flattery, for
these couplets were worth absolutely nothing and had
no merit except that of being sung by actors of the
" Comedie Italienne " ; but the prince cried out in ecstasy
telling them that they were much more excellent than
the piece itself.
It was easy to lead astray the imagination of a woman,
to whom everybody was burning incense with such zeal.
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. 1 29
She cannot be blamed for having allowed herself to be
intoxicated by the fumes ; the best organized head
could not have resisted that. She certainly did not do
as much evil as Mme. de Pompadour, who believed her-
self to have enough genius and intelligence to govern the
kingdom ; and who brought on the most disastrous events.
Mme. du Barry limited her ambition to an exquisite
toilet ; she had no pretensions nor even taste for mixing
herself up with the affairs of the state, which annoyed
her much. Only intriguers who had succeeded in domi-
nating her, forced her to enter into statecraft. We must
render her the justice that she merited ; like nearly all the
women of her class she had a good heart and only in the
belief that she was doing a good action, which would
make her loved by the whole of France, did she cause
her lover to commit an injustice.
The king was no longer anything but a kind of phan-
tom ; every minister was more king than he ; nobody was
ignorant of this fact, and this conviction was so strong, it
was so well forced into the minds of the court, that it
was said that if these gentlemen were to try to have the
sovereign sign his own abdication they would succeed.
Mme. du Barry, whose reign they were interested to
prolong, was advised not to wait until the monarch
should get tired of her, but procure him other enjoy-
ments. She was made acquainted with the proceedings
of Mme. de Pompadour; and since it was indifferent to
her whether the king remained faithful to her, provided
she could glitter at her ease, she followed the plan that
was traced out for her. The Marshal de Richelieu
130 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
assured her that he had known the king for a long time
and that change was necessary for his majesty. Imme-
diately she found in Mile, de Tournon, who had become
her niece, an object worthy of fastening the gaze of the
old sultan, and she let her pass into his arms without fear
or jealousy ; on the contrary, a close friendship formed
itself between them. It is said that Mme. du Barry,
knowing her superiority in an art which nobody possessed
more completely than she herself, was certain that no
association could be detrimental to her. Indeed, her
lover carried away by inconstancy came back to her soon
afterwards much more eager to present her with the apple.
All the means of distracting the king were looked for
and when nature put limits to his faculties, they revived
his imagination by the recital of love adventures.
Richelieu then became the essential man ; no one was bet-
ter able than he to furnish a long succession of episodes,
each one more piquant than the other. He varied his
narratives in every sort of manner. In one of these con-
ferences Louis, who laughed very much, said, in speaking
of the marshal : " He is an old acquaintance of my family ;
for he was found hidden under the bed of my mother."
Richelieu answered that it was but fun ; that he had indeed
had too much respect for the Duchess de Bourgogne.
" Good ! good ! respect," answered the king, " that is
passed over when one is young and loved. Besides you
do well to be discreet ; for I would be obliged for de-
cency's sake to get angry, since she was my mother."
However, sometimes he showed a little firmness. The
Count de Maillebois, having been judged by the Marshals
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. 131
of France and absent for a long time from the court, had
reappeared in Compiegne and did not dare to make the
entrance into the chamber, of which he had had the
privilege. The Marshal de Richelieu, favoring M. de
Maillebois, presented to the king the following note on
behalf of his friend : —
" The Count de Maillebois represents to your majesty
that he does not know any example when those who had
enjoyed the grandes entrees have lost them. Even M. de
Lauzun, after disgrace, and an imprisonment of fourteen
years, got them from the deceased king, and kept them
until his death. All those who hold charters are inter-
ested in the plea of M. de Maillebois, who begs your
majesty to consider with kindness that it was on account
of respect that, when reappearing in Compiegne, he had
not made the entrance, though after having consulted the
whole court in this respect, he believed that nobody could
ever lose his right to it."
The king wrote at the foot of this note, which he re-
turned to the marshal : " Refused. Do not speak to me
any more of it." Some time afterwards he was more
indulgent.
Convinced that his word would have no weight in the
council when the affairs of his kingdom were discussed,
he signed, blindly, a quantity of edicts, each more absurd
and more tyrannical than the other. In the smallest
questions the will of the ministers was more powerful
than his.
A man called Boiscaillau, surgeon of his armies, had
reached him with a statement in which he asked, with
132 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
justice, for the payment of some money which was due to
him from former times. The king, surprised that it had
not been paid, put with his own hand at the foot of the
statement : " My comptroller-general will pay within one
month, the amount of the above mentioned statement
to Boiscaillau, to whom it is really due, and who has need
of it."
The surgeon, provided with this order, hastened to
the comptroller-general, and succeeded after much trouble
in seeing Abbot Terrai. He presented his note to him,
countersigned with the hand of the master. The abbot
looked at it, and threw it back to him. " But, mon-
seigneur, when shall I be paid ? " " Never." " But the
signature of the king?" "It is not mine." "But the
majesty of the king." " He may pay you, since you
have addressed yourself to him. Leave here ! I have
not the time to be troubled any longer."
This man, petrified, no longer knew what to do. He
addressed himself to the captain of the guard, who put
,him off; he went to the Marshal de Richelieu. Not be-
ing able to see him, he begged his secretary to speak for
him, and to have the marshal give a new statement to
the king ; he showed him the former one upon which his
majesty had written. This secretary, still a novice with
the nobility, believing that a word of the king should be
equivalent to an absolute order, promised De Boiscaillau
to arrange the affair. He saw the marshal, and told him
that the Abbot Terrai had just done a thing, which, if it
were known by the king, would expose him to the great-
est trouble ; then he related to him what had occurred.
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. 133
Richelieu laughed in his face, and said : " You are a great
fool not to know yet that the worst protection is that of
the king. Since the abbe' has spoken, tell Boiscaillau
that he will not get anything, and do not mix yourself
up any more with such business."
CHAPTER LXXXIII.
Louis XV. dies of a complication of three diseases. — Intrigues to pre-
vent his confession. — A fearful illness takes him away.— The
people are satisfied. — His epitaph. — Mme. du Barry's judgment
about the reign of Louis XVI.
NOBODY ever feared death more than the religious
Louis XV., and none of those whom the theologians
called "old sinners," or impenitents, ever looked at
death with more terror. The priests wished to convert
him and send away Mme. du Barry. They had so well
fostered this terror that the Abbe de Bauvis in preaching
the holy scene at the court had told him to his face :
" Still forty days, sire, and Nineveh will be destroyed."
The king, who was frightened half to death, said to
the Marshal de Richelieu : " I will be quiet only when
the forty days have passed." He died precisely on the
the fortieth day. The almanac of Liege had predicted
that in the month of April of this year one of the most
favored ladies would play her last role, and Mme. du
Barry was never tired of saying : " I, also, would like to
have this bad month of April passed."
Since this threat of the preacher and of the almanac,
several events happened which increased still further the
terror of Louis ; Sorba, ambassador of Genoa, whom he
saw frequently, was struck by sudden death ; the Marquis
de Chauvelin, a companion of his pleasures, fell to his feet
while playing with him ; the Marshal d'Armentieres was
struck by the same death ; the Abb£ de la Ville, while at
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. 135
his levee to thank him for the place of director of foreign
affairs, was stricken with apoplexy in his presence, and
died a short time afterward by a second attack. Finally,
while on a hunt in the forest of Compiegne, a bolt of
lightning struck near the king.
This prince hardly ever pitied those of his acquaint-
ances who died after a confession, but he regretted very
much when they died without the assistance of a priest,
the Cardinal de Fleury, having brought him up in all
the principles of the Christian faith. In order to free
the king from his apprehension the Du Barrys, their
friends, and his companions of pleasure, engaged him to
go to divert himself at the Trianon, where they had pre-
pared orgies of a new kind. The king went there, and
was attacked by the illness, of which he died a few days
afterwards in Versailles, whither they had transported
him. For a long time he had had a secret illness, which
was attributed to his libertinism. A young country
woman who had the beginning of smallpox, and who
had been engaged for his pleasures at the Trianon, gave
it to him ; and Louis found himself attacked with small-
pox and at the same time with a sickness of which we
do not care to mention the name.
The 29th, the first eruption was observed on him ; an
ugly fever manifested itself, and the three maladies com-
bined. The Archbishop of Paris hastened to him the
following day ; but Mme. du Barry, getting frightened,
disappeared from his apartments. The Bishop of Senlis,
the Marshal de Richelieu, the Duke d'Aumont, and
Mme. Adelaide, having opposed themselves to the
136 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
entrance of this prelate, obtained from him the promise
that he would not speak to the king about sacraments.
The king would not listen to him, so that Mme. du
Barry appeared once more to delay, if it were possible,
their administration, which might be followed by a
general dismissal of them all.
However, the illness went from bad to worse, and its
symptoms became still more frightful. Tormented by
the fear of losing his mistress and by the desire of recon-
ciling himself with God, Louis called back Mme. du
Barry and then had her sent away again. He spoke one
moment about the supreme moment and the next when
Mme. du Barry reappeared he fondled her still. The
Archbishop of Paris, ashamed of his first defeat, re-
turned again to Versailles to influence the king to con-
fess, and taking residence with the lazarist priests,
watched for the favorable moment ; while the king
begged Mme. d'Aiguillon to conduct without noise Mme.
du Barry to her house, to avoid, he said, the scenes of
Metz, which he had never forgotten. The favorite did
not offer any resistance. She was easy, giddy, good-
natured, amiable, light and handsome as love itself.
She asked nothing better in 1768 than to be with Louis ;
and she did not abuse her power over much ; she was
not such a scourge as the mischievous women who had
preceded her.
Mme. du Barry had hardly withdrawn when the king
asked for her again ; she was refused to him ; he had
then fallen into the hands of the priests, who had no
other purpose than to prevent an old son of the church
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. 137
from dying without confession. Louis asked again
several times for Mme. du Barry. " She has gone," they
said to him. " Ah ! she has gone, I then must leave.
Let them at least pray at Sainte-Genevieve." La Vril-
liere wrote to the parliament which, considering the
dangers of the country at that time, had the right to open
or close the old relic at their pleasure.
The shrine was therefore opened, but the people kept
their word to the king, and the memoirs of the priests
of the archbishopric observe truthfully that the peo-
ple prayed very weakly and without much emphasis.
During his illness at Metz, on the contrary, they seemed
to have been upset ; the churches were full day and
night, and all of them resounded with the vows of the
people who still loved their king in 1744. The remark
of the Abb6 Sainte-Genevieve, the day following after
the death of Louis, was not forgotten. When they joked
with him about the powerlessness of the shrine, he said :
" What do you complain of ? Did he not die ? "
The illness of the king, however, became worse at
every moment, and it was necessary that he should
make his confession. The more Richelieu and Fronsac
opposed themselves to the administration of the. Holy
Eucharist and of the oil, the more the prelate of Paris
and the bigots increased their efforts. The Duke de
Fronsac threatened the priest of Versailles that he would
throw him out of the window, if he should speak about
confession to the king. " If you do not kill me," an-
swered him the priest, " I shall come back by the door,
because this is my right."
138 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
The following day, on the 7th of May, the king him-
self offered to confess. Nobody answering his demand,
he asked half an hour afterwards whether his confessor
had arrived. One hour later he asked whether he was
there; then the Duke of Duras sent for him ; the king
tried still to avoid this step, but Lamartiniere, his first
surgeon, said to him : " Sire, I have seen your majesty in
very interesting circumstances ; I have never admired
you more than this day. If your majesty believes what
I say to you, you should finish to-day what you have so
well begun." The king called back the Abb£ Maudoux,
and believed himself absolved by means of four words,
after a shameful reign which soiled our history during
fifty years.
Having received absolution, the sick king found him-
self easier. The royal family went to receive, at the foot
of the staircase, the holy sacrament which was brought to
them. The great chaplain approached the king, received
his orders, and said to those present : " Though your
majesty owes nobody any account, you gave me orders
to declare that you are repentful of the bad example
which you have given to your people. If the Lord pro-
longs your days you will employ them to alleviate those
evils."
Louis XIII., at his death, had used the same language,
and Louis XIV. also repented. Louis XV. had confessed
everything in 1744; he confessed everything in 1774.
" See," he said to the Bishop de Senlis, " having received
the Host, see that by misfortune it does not mix itself
with the matter of my sores."
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. 139
The young dauphin, educated by the Jesuits, separated
from his grandfather, because he had not had the small-
pox, was very much frightened. He wrote to Terray :
" Monsieur le controleur-general : — I beg you to have dis-
tributed to the poor of the parishes of Paris two hundred
thousand livres, in order to have them pray for the king.
If you find that that is too much, retain the sum from
the pensions belonging to Mme. la Dauphine and my-
self." (Signed), LouiS-AuGUSTE.
The daughters of the king rendered to their father the
service of a paid guard ; they never had had the small-
pox ; they sacrificed themselves.
The Qth of May the symptoms were still more fearful,
the malady made ravages to such an extent that they can-
not be described. The fever hastened a general mortifi-
cation. They had opened the relic of Sainte-Genevieve,
and new orders arrived to have the shrine let down.
Beaumont and his clergy went on foot to kiss it in the
church, after having disputed for two hours whether it
would be appropriate to go there in black or in violet
dress. The king demanded, in the meanwhile, the holy
balm, otherwise called extreme unction, and energetically
made all the responses. His remorse increased at the
same time. Maudoux was obliged to appear every mo-
ment. The king was confessed twenty times during this
last illness.
Death was expected at every moment, and nothing
can describe the infection of the apartments of the king.
Valets fell suddenly down and died. His daughters
alone had humanity and courage. General mortification
140 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
set in ; his legs fell into pieces, and the patient died the
loth of May, 1774. They had to inclose the corpse at
once in a lead coffin, and to call for this dangerous office
the cesspool cleaners of Versailles, and in order not to
spread the plague to inclose the leaden coffin in a box of
wood filled with bran and aromatics. A second box, pro-
tected in the same way, to cover the whole, was ordered,
since nothing could neutralize the horrible stench. So
died Louis XV., King of France.
The people of Paris, all the French people, delivered
from Louis XV., enjoyed the day of the loth of May,
1774. Thousands of verses, pasquinades, epitaphs and
songs against him were then composed. The following
epitaph has been preserved, because it says better than
any of the others what was Louis XV : —
Remplissant ses honteaux destins,
Louis a fini carriere.
Pleurez, coquins ; pleurez, paraeque
Vous avez perdu votre p£re.
The priests and the women were in general more favor-
able to the memory of the king than the rest of the
Frenchmen ; the women, because he always had loved
them, and the priests because, notwithstanding his vices,
they had always seen him submissive and a believer.
And the policy of the church is to pardon everything,
provided one believes. With regard to his ministers the
Duke de Choiseul, whom he had loaded with kindness,
wrote horrible stories about him in his Memoirs, and
even theatricals of bad taste, which are found in the
second volume of his printed Memoirs.
DUKE DE CHOISEUL
0-ETCH1NG FROM AN OLD P
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^P,Ci| t*tw> J& France tChevalier dtJ Onbw aHa, R.#t a^ tfc /a. Teuton d-'Or-^,
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MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. 141
The magistracy of the kingdom, that he had exiled,
had no occasion to bless his memory. Bretagne had
struggled during his whole reign against his despotism
and Languedoc remembered always that he had dissolved
the legislature of the province.
Among the literary men, some writers and poets were
perhaps indifferent ; but the philosophers, who despised
him, in forgiving him, could not forget that they were
persecuted by him and deprived of their liberty.
The City of Paris was in general so disgusted with the
reign of the king that for several years the prince had
avoided showing himself there. The whole of France,
that still loved the government of the kings and the
House of Bourbon, felt itself dishonored in having been
obliged to submit for so long a time to such a master.
All the years of the reign of Louis XV. were not as
despicable as those which immediately preceded his
death. This prince governed well or ill according to his
ministers. As long as he was dominated by Fleury, or
by Mme. de Chateauroux, who had a lofty mind, courage
and insight, France was well governed. After the death
of Mme. de Chateauroux affairs went always from
bad to worse. Philosophy alone progressed without ever
going backwards and without being stopped by any cir-
cumstances ; the obstacles which were opposed to it by
the court and the priests rendered it only the more
audacious and interesting. Its sway was, it is true, only
speculative at that time, but it became active in the fol-
lowing generation.
Louis, who detested it, favored science, art and
142 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
literature. To his reign are due those splendid roads
which lead to the capitol, the canals, an increase of in-
dustry and trade, special progress in surgery, the edicts
concerning substitutions, testaments, mortgages, suitable
allowances, but no progress in the matter of liberty. It
was reserved for those whom he called his people and his
subjects, to attain freedom under the reign of his grand-
son by revolution. The king refused even, towards the
end of his days when he had become softened and his
views somewhat changed, to give the protestants any law
of tolerance, though he had made several laws at the
beginning of his reign which were worthy of Louvois, le
Tellier and the reign of Louis XIV., laws, which he
refused to cancel afterwards. Instead of adopting the
ideas of his century, the king constantly opposed them.
Throughout his reign he maintained all the inflexibility
of a devotee.
Richelieu was thunderstruck when he heard of the
return of M. de Maurepas. He knew this old secretary
of state and had neither esteem nor love for him ; he was
furious that unexpected circumstances had replaced
him ; and assured his friends that he would be no better
as prime minister than he had been as minister of the
marine.
M. de Maurepas, while very young, had obtained this
place from the regent who wished to recognize in him
what he owed to the Chancellor de Pontchartrain, his
uncle, who had secretly informed him of the testament of
Louis XIV. Richelieu said that M. de Maurepas, instead
of applying himself to the performance of his duties, had
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. 143
only tried to appear as a wit ; that he had spent millions
without placing the marine upon a suitable footing ; that
he was superficial, irrational, ready to laugh at every-
thing, and that they would soon repent the favor they had
bestowed upon him. However, the marshal hastened to
compliment the new minister upon his happy return.
Richelieu, who added himself to the number of
courtiers of M. de Maurepas, believed that he should
show himself, also, to the new king ; he did not see the
king ; neither was he rejected. The queen received him
even more coolly. Nevertheless he hastened to Versailles.
After some unsuccessful attempts to see the king,
Richelieu made up his mind to leave for Bordeaux. All
his friends were convinced that he would not survive his
humiliation and that the death of Louis XV. would
hasten his own ; they thought him already stricken and
believed this year to be his last. But the marshal soon
allayed their fears. He was seen to be as calm and as
quiet as before. He occupied himself with the new
theatre that he had constructed at Bordeaux ; it was
learned with surprise that he gave great suppers where
handsome women came to console him. Girls, theatri-
cals, everything distracted him ; he gave more attention
than ever to all these. He spoke of the death of his
former master as a natural event and the regrets which it
caused him did not stop him from indulging himself in
all pleasures which came in his way.
This conduct was in conformity with his principles of
egotism, as he himself acknowledged in a paper which he
left concerning the adventures of his youth.
CHAPTER LXXXIV.
Trial of Mme. de Saint-Vincent ; details concerning the affair. —
The commandment of Guienne is taken away from the marshal,
and the king does not wish him to go to his governorship unless
the Marshal de Mochi be there also. — Richelieu writes to the
king. — Re-establishment of the parliaments. — Judgment in the
trial of the marshal. — The story of " Colin."
WHILE M. de Richelieu resumed in his government
his former habits and, being far from the court, thought
only of how to amuse himself, a woman-intriguer pre-
pared for him trouble of a singular kind in Paris. Mme.
de Saint-Vincent, of whom we have already spoken,
being put in a convent by her husband, and being
transferred from one place to another, and finally to a
convent at Poitiers, had given circulation in Paris to a
hundred thousand 6cus of notes signed by the marshal.
Many of these had been discounted and Rubis, a
dealer in old clothes, presented one to the intendant of
the marshal for payment. Since he had no knowledge
of the debt, he refused to pay it until he had written
about it to his master. In the meantime there came to
the intendant still another man who presented a note
asking if it would be paid. A third, a fourth, all un-
known, came also, presented notes and made the same
inquiry. This business manager of the marshal, being
frightened at the multitude of these debts, wrote again
to M. de Richelieu to tell him what was going on.
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. 145
Richelieu answered that all the people who had presented
themselves were scoundrels, that they should all be put
into a dungeon, and that he would come to Paris for
the purpose of punishing them.
He arrived, indeed, and never returned to Bordeaux.
Instead of simply saying that he had not signed any
notes, that those which were presented were forgeries,
having the public prosecuter look for the authors of the
forgeries, the marshal, ill advised by his business agent,
who had his own interest in entangling this affair, trusted
too much to him and insisted upon getting at the
source of the notes, issued under his name. Immedi-
ately the police discovered that Mme. de Saint-Vincent
was the first agent of their circulation. She was sum-
moned, and Richelieu obtained an order of arrest
against the accused woman and a man, called Cauron,
who had been under secretary of the duke, and lived
with Mme. de Saint- Vincent. They were conducted to
For-1'Eveque. The police, being always sold to the
powerful, though Richelieu did not enjoy any longer
his old influence, thought it well to refuse nothing to
a Marshal of France, so all those who were pointed out
by him were imprisoned.
Vebel, Benevent, Abb6 de Trans and others were
arrested or decreed to be personally liable. Richelieu
had to find guilty ones, and he conducted himself in this
affair with the same precipitation as on many other
occasions.
After this beginning, it was necessary to prove the
crime of forgery, of which he accused Mme. de Saint-
146 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
Vincent. This necessity was very difficult to fulfil ;
when one forges a signature he does not generally pro-
vide witnesses to the crime. It was no easier to prove
that the accused were accomplices of Mme. de Saint-
Vincent, and necessarily, this trial became very long.
The public, with whom Richelieu had for a long time
been growing unpopular, did not fail to take the part
of the unfortunate woman, whom the influence of the
marshal left languishing in prison. The family of the
woman, being exasperated by the treatment to which
she was submitted, took up her side in the affair, and
Richelieu appeared everywhere to be wrong.
To this day there are people who are convinced that
the marshal himself was the author of the notes, and
that he was discharged of the responsibility by favor-
itism. We have promised to tell the truth, and certainly
our pen will not be soiled by a lie in order to honor the
memory of a man, of whom we relate indiscriminately
the vices and the good qualities ; we are not related to
him and our testimony cannot be suspected. We have
no other purpose, no other interest, than to relate exactly
the facts.
When the Marshal de Richelieu received the first let-
ters of Mme. de Saint- Vincent, she was in the convent,
where her husband had her put on account of bad con-
duct ; he only saw her a long time afterwards, and by her
demand. Having heard of his arrival in the city where
she dwelled, she had begged of him to make her a visit ;
this visit was very short. Mme. de Saint-Vincent was
then neither fresh nor very young.
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. 147
She wrote to M. de Richelieu, who answered her sev-
eral times ; finally he obtained for her permission to go
to the convent of Poitiers. It was in this city that acci-
dent made her acquainted with De Vedel, a major of in-
fantry, to whom she talked much and boastingly about
her intimacy with M. de Richelieu. Knowing that the
marshal had to pass through Poitiers to go to Bordeaux,
she expressed a great desire to have him come to see
her. Richelieu, who was easy with women, accepted her
invitation. Being alone with her and without desire to
obtain any favor, he was almost compelled to give way
to her advances. He compared her jestingly with Mme.
Bouvillon in the " Roman comique," who wished to
seduce her dear 1'Etiole. The result of the conversation
was that she spoke of her great distress, and Richelieu
gave her twelve louis.
The marshal maintained that it was the first and the
last time that he had been honored by her favors, and
twenty times he had reproached to himself for his weak-
ness with a woman who had nothing in her to please
him. From this time she believed herself authorized to
write him oftener, and the marshal, pestered with letters,
sent her from time to time some help.
It is probable that she did not find it sufficient to sat-
isfy the cupidity of her lover, for whom she was crazy,
and who was staying with her rather for the useful than
the agreeable. Vedel certainly played in this whole
affair a very bad part ; either he took part in the forger-
ies of Mme. Saint- Vincent, or he persuaded her to take
advantage of the influence which she said she had over
148 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
the mind of M. de Richelieu. At least, he received
money continually for the attention which he paid her.
Finally this woman had recourse to imitating hand-
writing through a pane of glass ; she had already done
this at Milhaud, where she forged a letter of a doctor, but
she treated this attempt at forgery as a mere joke. She
had in the letters of the marshal plenty of signatures,
and she traced from these letters the words which were
necessary to put together a note of one hundred thou-
sand £cus.
Soon the death of Louis XV. enabled her to realize
her project. She believed that the marshal had been
left without friends, and that he would sacrifice money
to avoid the unpleasantness of an affair that would injure
him before the public. We have forgotten to say that
being unable to dispose of a note of one hundred thou-
sand £cus, she had made several notes, which, taken to-
gether, formed even more than that sum. She waited
until the marshal was in Bordeaux to discount the notes,
which was done with much loss, as is usual, though M.
de Richelieu's financial standing was good.
This is the true story of the affair, which may seem
singular, but we defy the most incredulous to refuse the
proofs which we shall give, concerning the forgery. We
ourselves have had a prejudice against the marshal, and
only by investigating the facts, have we arrived at the
truth.
In the first place, it is not true, as has been said, that
M. de Richelieu had procured Mme. de Saint-Vincent
for the king, who had given a hundred thousand £cus to
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. 149
the marshal to pay for her complaisance, and that the
latter had kept them for himself. Mme. de Saint-Vin-
cent was neither young nor handsome when she came to
Paris ; so this imputation falls down by itself, and with-
out going into long details.
It is also foolish to advance the idea that Richelieu,
in order to obtain her good graces, had given her that
sum. Those who believed this, we repeat it, did not
know the marshal ; he was very far from being liberal,
and he was not in sufficient need of women to pay them
so high. He had plenty of very handsome ones, and
there is not known one single act of generosity in respect
to them. Mme. Rousse is the only one to whom he had
given a hundred thousand francs, and that was when he
married Mme. de Rothe ; but he had lived a very long
time with her ; she was his regular mistress, and further
than that, this grant was paid only after his death.
Then, again, it was decided by experts that the notes
were traced, because, in placing them one upon the other,
the same distances were seen between the several letters
of the signature ; the same stroke, the same position of
the dots ; it has been demonstrated that it is physically
impossible to sign one's own name several times without
there being some difference, be it even the slightest,
in the spaces between the letters, or in some other char-
acteristics of the signature. But in the notes attributed
to Richelieu the signatures were in every respect exactly
identical.
Mme. de Saint-Vincent showed a note of one hundred
thousand ecus to several persons, who said that she
150 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
could not get rid of it, if it were not accepted by his
banker. She knew Peixotto was the marshal's banker,
and soon his name appeared also upon the note.
Being questioned concerning the genuineness of the
signature of this banker, she admitted that she had
blotted it. But who in the world would amuse himself
by making a blot upon a note of one hundred thousand
ecus.
She then divided up this note into several smaller ones,
and since it was easy for her to increase the liberality of
the marshal, she made three, amounting together to the
sum of four hundred and twenty thousand livres. The
deposition of the witnesses showed that she then was
still in possession of the original note.
Even if it be possible to believe that the marshal had
increased his gift by one hundred and twenty thousand
livres, can one reasonably think that he would be foolish
enough to leave in the hands of his creditor the original
note, with such a considerable addition besides?
Mme. de Saint-Vincent changed anew the note into
ten notes of thirty thousand livres each, amongst which
there were found some dated May 8th, while she main-
tained, herself, that the undivided note was made in
March or April. Then she had them discounted with
great loss, and, through a false letter of M. de Richelieu,
she informed her agents at the same time about new
notes which he had promised to sign. Some reason had
to be given for such liberalities, so Mme. de Saint-Vin-
cent gave them to understand that some very peculiar
things had transpired in her first interview with M. de
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. !$!
Richelieu ; and, since it was difficult to attach such a
great value to an adventure so giddily decided, she ad-
mitted that, as a result of it, she had become enceinte.
Not satisfied with this story, she manufactured a letter
from the marshal admitting that he was the father of the
child in question, and engaging himself never to abandon
the mother, nor the precious bond of their tenderness.
She had this letter read to many persons, believing
that in giving to these notes such an origin, she would
insure them more authenticity. Unfortunately for her
the date of this supposed letter was not in accordance
with her story. In her interrogatory she took great
pains to withdraw the letter from the judges, and to say
that it was the play of her imagination, that she had
never had a child, and that this lie had only been em-
ployed to draw money from M. de Richelieu.
When she was first arrested, her despair, the attempts
that she made to kill herself, her repeated exclamation,
" I am lost ! " did not evidence innocence ; all her acts
pointed to guilt.
All of these facts appear in the answers of Mme. de
Saint-Vincent. Her avowals even are proofs of what
we have advanced. Now I ask the greatest enemy of
M. de Richelieu, if the owner of a note for such a big
amount would amuse himself by putting upon it a
forged acceptance. It was Cauron under-secretary of
the marshal who had been discharged by him, who
forged this acceptance, because he knew very well the
handwriting of Peixotto.
I ask a man inclined to believe Richelieu guilty, if a
I$2 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
woman, admitting that she imitated the writing of the
marshal in order to amuse herself, may not reasonably
be accused of having forged the signature of the note,
when everything goes to prove that it was a forgery ?
The report of the experts, the proofs above given, every-
thing shows, as clear as the day, that Richelieu never
was the author of the notes, which caused this astonish-
ing affair. It became thus complicated, because the
marshal, accustomed to act like a despot, had thrown
into prison several private people, against whom he had
hardly any evidence. We have already said that the
manner in which this trial was begun was irrational and
very superficial.
While we oppose ourselves to public opinion, by de-
fending the marshal, we shall also show our love for
truth. We shall accuse him of a much more odious
action, in our opinion, than that of denying his signature,
if really he had made the note of Mme. de Saint-Vincent.
He had given the position of janitor of his pavilion of
the Boulevard to a man, Colin, who had been valet of
M. de Seignelay. This man had a recognized reputation
for honesty. Unfortunately for him, he went away a
moment while there was work done on this pavilion,
allowing time enough for one of the workingmen to
take two very handsome vases of porcelain, garnished
with gold, which had been given to the marshal, by
Mme. de Lauraguais, who had just died.
This unfortunate man discovered the robbery, which
had been committed, and led by the people of the
house, who gave testimony as to his innocence, he
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. 153
threw himself at the feet of the marshal, to whom he
gave information about the loss of the vases. This
latter, furious, accustomed to disbelieve in honesty,
claimed that Colin was the robber, and immediately
wrote to the police-lieutenant to have him arrested.
Colin was led the very same evening to the Chatelet,
where the marshal promptly began his trial. The
unfortunate man, from the depths of his prison, pro-
tested his innocence, and as he could not be convicted
of theft, the judgment remained suspended. Deprived
of all assistance, he was obliged to sell everything that
he possessed to mitigate this misfortune, and soon was
left to misery and despair.
Eight months after his incarceration, there was
arrested at a jeweler's a lattice-maker, who came there
to sell a considerable amount of gold, upon which there
still remained, notwithstanding all the pains which had
been taken to destroy it, traces of the arms of the
marshal. He was led to a police captain and admitted
that, working in the palace of Richelieu, he had taken
advantage of the absence of the janitor, and had taken
the vases, and buried them in a corner of the garden,
Being conducted to the palace by the justice the two
vases were found again in the garden at the very spot,
which he had indicated. Nothing could prove better
the innocence of Colin.
The marshal did not, however, take one step to set
him free, but when the unfortunate man presented him-
self at his house, he did not even wish to see him, find-
ing it beneath him to make good the wrong that he had
154 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
done. Colin carried on a conversation with him through
his valet-de-chambre and told about the state in which
he was ; that he was in want of everything ; the marshal
sent him an answer that he would have him put in the
Asylum of Bicetre if he continued to importune him
further.
This unluckiest of men, deprived of all resources, at a
loss to get a situation, was reduced to accept the posi-
tion of errand man in a lodging-house. At last he had
occasion to carry letters to a certain woman ; she learned
that he had been in the service of the Marshal de Riche-
lieu and hastened to ask him, whether he did not know
any adventures of his former master. Colin, who was, of
course, entirely taken up by his own adventure, related
his story to the lady, who was very indignant on account
of it. She was intelligent ; she took an interest in the
unfortunate man, and when the affair of Mme. de Saint-
Vincent came out, she wanted Colin to enter a complaint
against the marshal, to sue him for damages. Colin
dared not attempt it himself ; the woman reassured him,
and said that she had an excellent lawyer to follow up
such an affair, that he need not trouble himself about
anything, that she would pay all the expenses herself,
and that she desired only one thing, and that was that
the old marshal be known for what he really was.
Richelieu was summoned. His business manager carried
a bribe to the procureur to keep him from prosecut-
ing, but, guided by this generous woman, whom indigna-
tion had made implacable, he said that it was not for him
to decide. Finally the marshal, who feared public
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. 155
opinion, offered to give three hundred livres of life in-
come to Colin, who, rather than run the risk of a trial,
accepted it at once, and promised to keep quiet.
However, in the midst of all these incidents the mar-
shal remained calm. He saw his trial going on well ;
sure of his innocence, and of the favor that he was to find
amongst the members of the new parliament, he waited
for judgment without any anxiety to trouble his pleasures.
His son, who then seemed to be on better terms with
him, wished to celebrate his reconciliation by giving his
father a fete at Gennevilliers, of which we have already
spoken, which he had bought from the Duke de Choiseul,
when he was in disgrace.
The tastes of the father and of the son were about the
same. They needed a great many gay beauties to ani-
mate their repasts. Mile. Raucourt and Virginie, of the
Opera, were chosen to be goddesses of this fete. The
marshal, who was seventy-eight years old, felt as young
on that day as when he was twenty-five ; he danced,
played a thousand games with these divinities, and, as
work was going on at this pavilion, which he had had
constructed formerly, he wished to admire the improve-
ments together with Mile. Raucourt. She was not any
longer that severely virtuous woman whom her father
escorted with pistols in his pockets ; she had become
entirely emancipated.
The marshal hastened to the pavilion ; the actress had
a hard time to follow him. They remained together
more than half an hour in contemplation, and Mile.
Raucourt admitted on her return that the most astonish-
ing thing she had seen was the marshal himself.
156 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
Delighted by this admission of a woman who should
be well qualified to judge, Richelieu became still gayer,
and wished earnestly that Mile, de Virginie should come
with him and make the same promenade. Only after
earnest solicitations was he willing to put off this pilgrim-
age to another day.
It is said that the Duke de Fronsac, while seeming
amused at the follies of his father, reflected that with a
man as strong as he, his inheritance was still far off.
After these dissipations there followed new humilia-
tions for the marshal. M. Berlin said to him, by order
of the king, that he should not have his governorship
any more, unless the Marshal de Mouchi was there also ;
this officer having been named to the command, which
Richelieu had held for some time. He protested imme-
diately to the king, but his protest had no effect.
He believed, at least, that he would be more fortunate
in his trial ; he was on the point of being judged, when he
learned that the king was re-establishing the suppressed
parliament. First he raved against M. de Maurepas,
whom he regarded as the author of this plan. He as-
serted that it was only the desire of making them sub-
ordinate to himself which could have determined the
king to take such an inconsiderate step, and that it would
turn to his disadvantage as well as to that of the nation.
It was, however, necessary to submit. Richelieu, not-
withstanding his antipathy against the parliament, con-
stantly visited his new judges. Nearly every day he
stepped into his carriage at six o'clock in the morning in
order to solicit them. He succeeded in being favorably
considered by several, but was obliged to endure unkind
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. 1 57
remarks from the others. One day a councilor told
him clearly that he would bring judgment against him,
and that no one owed any consideration to a man who
had carried bribery into the sanctuary of the laws.
Richelieu answered him quietly : " You speak so in this
moment, sir, but you are too just not to act differently
when you are in the palace."
Nobody is ignorant of the debates of the parliament
in this affair, and its personal animosity against the
marshal ; this went to such a point that in a session the
Prince de Conti, now deceased, who by no means loved
Richelieu, was obliged to say, " Gentlemen, we are not
gathered here to find faults in M. de Richelieu, but to
judge whether the notes of Mme. de Saint-Vincent are
genuine or false, and I declare that I denounce all those
who deviate from this the only point of the business
at issue."
We only quote these facts to put in evidence that the
marshal was not treated with indulgence by the parlia-
ment, that, on the contrary, this company humiliated
him on every possible occasion.
The notes, evidently false, were declared so, and Mme.
de Saint-Vincent was condemned to repay those which
had been discounted. She did not get any damages nor
interest, though she had been put into prison by the
influence of the marshal ; she was even condemned to
pay costs, and this proves well that the parliament saw
in her the author of these forgeries. The order of the
court enjoined Vedel and Benevent to be more careful
in the future, and condemned the marshal to pay the
expenses of the case against them, a curious kind of con-
158 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
tradiction ; but there followed a still greater one. The
order convicted Cauron of forging the acceptance of
Peixotto and, enjoined him to be more careful in the fu-
ture, and not to change any more notes by forged signa-
tures, but it condemned the marshal for damages and
interest and to pay costs in the suit.
If he were guilty, why did they accord him these dam-
ages and interest ? It was recompensing a man for hav-
ing committed a forgery.
The other accused were acquitted ; the marshal was
also condemned in their respect to damages and interest,
and to the cost. Nothing was more just; he had had
them imprisoned, without being able to prove that they
were accomplices of Mme. de Saint- Vincent.
Permission was given to print fifty copies of the judg-
ment, of which ten should be posted ; the whole at the
expense of the marshal. It is clear, that he only wort
that which he could not lose. It is true that it was the
essential thing for him that the notes were declared
forgeries ; but he lost as much as if he had paid the
hundred thousand £cus. TJie expenses, for the hunting
up of witnesses, whom he had brought from great dis-
tances, were excessive ; damages and interest were not
spared ; the addition of the costs amounted to very
much; so that if Mme. de Saint-Vincent would have
promised him not to offend again, in the beginning, he
would have done much better to pay the notes of this
woman-forger, since he would have saved for himself
three years of troubles and anxieties and would not have
afforded amusement for a public which did not incline in
his favor.
CHAPTER LXXXV.
Richelieu succeeds in making some friends at court, he is seen with
more favor by the king and limits his ambition to managing the
Comedie Italienne ; details of his pleasures. — He sees Voltaire
again in Paris. — He marries for the third time and takes Mme. de
Rothe for his wife. — The event which determined this marriage.
THE Marshal de Richelieu saw that he was not fit
for the new court, but had not courage enough not to
appear in it. His experience showed that one succeeds
often by being obtrusive, and he hoped, in braving un-
pleasantness, to put a stop to it. Though he was
persuaded that he was not well judged in the mind of
the king he, however, went to make his honors without
caring about the reception that he received. He went
to see the ministers ; he showed them so much attach-
ment, such great consideration, he was so clever with
them, that he was admitted gradually to their intimacy.
M. de Maurepas himself ceased to see an enemy, in an
old man, still amiable, who tried to inform him about
everything ; the queen looked at him less severely, and
the king got accustomed by degrees to seeing him.
The marshal, satisfied with his first success, devoted
himself with much more pleasure to details of the drama,
which always had amused him much. Deprived of going
into his governorship or taking part in the intrigues of
the court, which became to him nearly foreign, he soon
had no occupation, except the " Comedie Italienne." He
l6o MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
must command somewhere, and he became a despot
with the actors. His political correspondence with his
daughter, Mme. d'Egmont, had ceased in the year 1773
by the death of this charming woman, who possessed the
amiable qualities of her father without having his vices,
and who was regretted by all who knew her. Mme. de
Mauconseil, notwithstanding her taste for intrigue, had
no influence in the court ; she was reduced, as was her
former lover, to intrigue in the theatre, and neither of
them wasted their time. The marshal, having won
his trial, found more time to give to his pleasures. He
was not affected any longer by the insulting and defama-
tory songs which had been spread against him, songs in
which he was dragged in the mud in all kinds of ways.
But if, on the one hand, he was treated with much harsh-
ness, he had, on the other, the consolation of seeing that
in England more justice was rendered to him. The mar-
shal, who was accustomed to look on the best side in all
circumstances, saw only the eulogies that he really de-
served, and forgot quick enough the insults and satires.
His faculties seemed always the same, and the divini-
ties, looking at this old man, attempting to renew his
youth, were much astonished to discover that he needed
not the aid of their charms. All the debutantes were in-
structed of the sacrifice which he demanded ; so that the
marshal was occupied nearly every morning with giving
and receiving.
Though Mme. Rousse was his recognized mistress, he
was not impeded by that from adding to her a multitude
of women of all kinds. Sometimes in the evening when,
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. l6l
he was not busy, he put on a common coat, and went
out on foot by his pavilion of the boulevard to make
visits to those street-walking beauties, who are so often
met in Paris. At other times, he had them come to his
house, and the lackies were surprised to see coming out
from monseigneur's women, who, the evening before,
had not seemed worthy of their attention. One even-
ing, after one of these nightly promenades, the valet-
de-chambre, who was on guard, saw him put his sword
under his coat, and again take the same road to the boule-
vard. Since it was dangerous to question him, or to
follow him, he waited for his return with anxiety. Prob-
ably he had had some quarrel, but it was never known
how it ended, for he came back quietly without giving
any sign of what had happened.
These giddy acts must not surprise us ; he had said
twenty times during the course of his trial with Mme. de
Saint- Vincent, when the family of this latter had circu-
lated such fearful stories against him, that he would
prefer a hundred times that that Provengale woman
should choose a champion of her family in order to end
with him their troubles upon the field. And though he
was seventy-eight years old, he was confident and brave
enough to fight with a young man.
Notwithstanding his taste for change, a taste which
went on increasing with age, Mile. Colombe, the elder,
seemed to be the woman whom he distinguished most.
Whenever this actress was desired by the public or her
comrades (which was not a rare occurrence) he answered
to the complaints that were made to him : " What do
1 62 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
you want to tell her? That she is handsome?" He
had a scandalous diary of all that happened to the ac-
tresses, and amused himself very much with the tricks
that they played on their lovers. When he heard that
some of these had been imposed upon, he said very
wittily that it was necessary ; that the priest must live
by the altar.
One day he met at his house a debutante of the
Theatre Francais. She had talent, but spoke with a lit-
tle difficulty and was small, which made the marshal say
that her tongue was too long and her legs too short.
Notwithstanding these faults the public seemed very
much pleased with her. M. de Richelieu in paying her
his compliments had something to say about her manner
of elocution ; she was simple and monseigneur loved a
little emphasis. He assured her that good taste in
tragedy was lost ; that Mile. Lecouvreur did not play as
the actresses of his own time, that it was necessary to
make one feel each verse ; and he declared that he would
give her a lesson, himself.
He then went to declaiming the role of Emilie, in the
tragedy of Cinna. The marshal had a high head-voice,
so that, in reciting, his voice produced sharp and dis-
cordant sounds. He gesticulated to give warmth to his
declamation ; he multiplied his gestures which, in order
to reproduce the pantomime scene, he accompanied
with grimaces and contortions still more ridiculous.
He was, however, pleased with his own elocution, and
told the actress to observe him well ; that that was the
way to recite the verses of Baron, of Dufrene, Lecouv-
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. 163
reur and Champmele' ; that that was talent. The un-
fortunate debutante was upon thorns ; she nearly burst
out with laughter and bit her lips to resist the tempta-
tion. Fortunately her lesson came to an end and M. de
Richelieu believed that there was due him a double sal-
ary, first as gentleman of the chamber and second as
master of declamation.
He did not miss going to the comedy the first day
that this actress was announced ; he went into her box
after the representation, assured her that she had made
progress, that she had well profited by his advice, and
that he wished he had the time to give her lessons
oftener. We have this anecdote from the actress herself.
If wrinkles increased upon the face of the marshal he
did not, however, lose his amiability toward women ;
none approached him who were not carried away by his
gallantry and his agreeable repartees.
The wife of the councilor of the parliament of Rouen
came to see Paris and of all the curiosities that she
hoped to see, the Marshal de Richelieu, of whom she had
heard so very much, tempted her the most. It was not
difficult to show her in the theatre this illustrious man.
"What," said she, "is it this doll, this wrinkled counte-
nance, the one which makes gossip among the women
and make them run after it ! My God ! One of my
desires has quickly left me ! "
However, if her hero gave her such an unfavorable
impression, she was assured that his palace, which con-
tained a thousand precious things, would be more agree-
able to her. The day was settled, and a person, who
164 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
knew the secretary, undertook to conduct her there with
a lady friend.
They were led into the highest apartments of which
the magnificence astonished them. Having descended
into that of the marshal, who had just gone out, they ad-
mired at their leisure the beauties which it contained,
but on entering into a large cabinet, near the library, the
first object which they saw was the marshal himself,
who had come back by a secret door without being ob-
served. The ladies retired ; the marshal followed, telling
them : " I see, ladies, that you were guided only by the
curiosity of seeing my rooms ; I had hoped that another
motive conducted you here. I trouble you, I retire ; I
never put an obstacle in the way of beauty. Be free at
my home, examine all ; I will depart." At the same time
he opened a garden-gate and disappeared with the celer-
ity of a young man.
" Indeed he is still charming," cried out the stranger.
" I see that he could have upset many heads ; when he
speaks it is not noticed that he is old."
Another time he paid a visit to a marchioness, at
whose house he had not been before. His messenger
made a mistake and announced him at another woman's
house whose apartments were opposite that of the
marchioness. On entering, the marshal saw that a mis-
take had "been made. He saluted the woman with grace,
and said to her : " I beg your pardon, madame, for the
foolishness of my servant. I was going to see a hand-
some woman, and he only made a mistake., in the name.
Accept my excuses on account of my sudden visit, and
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. l6$
at the same time believe that I shall never forget in my
life that I owe thanks to the error that has procured me
such an agreeable sight." He went on in this strain, and
left the woman very much surprised to see an old man
so gallant. She had detested M. de Richelieu on ac-
count of his trial, but we are witnesses that from that
moment she radically changed her opinion.
If M. de Richelieu was always a worshipper of women,
he was, nevertheless, often ungrateful to them. He had
without doubt contributed to the advancement of Mme.
du Barry, but at the same time he had taken advantage
of her influence ; he owed her more than she owed him,
since he was not the first cause of her good fortune.
• However, though he had given himself out as being her
champion, he forgot her as soon as she was in the con-
vent, and hardly made her any visits when she returned
to Luciennes.
The arrival of Voltaire brought him new pleasures.
For a long time this patriarch of the new literature had
not seen the French stage upon which his works had so
often been applauded. They were playing there one of
his last tragedies, " Irene," where one could still perceive
sparks of his genius ; it captivated everybody, and they
made up their minds that an old man so near his end
should, notwithstanding the decrees out against him,
come without fear into the midst of his worshippers
and be a witness of his last successes.
The marshal hastened to see his old friend ; they
spoke of their youthful errors and follies, and both got
younger again for the moment by recalling them.
166 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
There was preparing for the poet that grand moment
when he was to be crowned in the Theatre de la Nation.
It was indeed not favoritism but public intoxication
which gave him the palm. A most beloved and worthy
sovereign could never have received more varied homage.
Richelieu, who shared the triumph of his old friend,
came to assure him of the pleasure he felt in the recep-
tion which the public had given him ; he believed that
Voltaire's head was as excitable as his own, and was not
astonished to find him seeking to mitigate the joy that
he felt. Both shouted rather than spoke. We will give
their conversation, which well illustrates the character of
Voltaire.
"Well, my dear Voltaire," said the marshal, "you
must be very much pleased." " They killed me with
their wreaths ; I had a few more than the others, and
that is all ! " " But, my friend, this universal enthusiasm,
this general intoxication, all this must have given you a
very great pleasure ! " " M. le Marshal, it is a triumph
of harlequin in comparison with yours." " What do you
say? If /have a little corner in history, you will have
the first place in it." " I will not be more than Clement
and the scribblers of his class." " My dear Voltaire,
such as Clement and his kind do not count ! This day
must prove to you how much you are loved ; how much
appreciation is paid to your talents. Did you see the
crowd that followed your carriage? That enthusiasm
sprang from the heart ; it was not fictitious ? It was not
alone a desire to applaud which made us clap our hands ;
it was an imperious need, which ordered us to look at
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. l6/
you ; it was the great man who tore from us a proof of
admiration. Enjoy, my friend, this beautiful moment :
it is an honor for you, and also for the Parisians." " I
know how to appreciate all that, M. le Marshal. Did
they not do the same for that unfortunate " Siege of
Calais f "
It can be seen to what an extent this truly extraordi-
nary man, who left so far behind him all those who
wished to follow the same career, who carried everywhere
the torch of philosophy, who knew how to amuse while
he instructed, and, finally, who succeeded in all fields
of literature, poisoned the moments of enjoyment which
his triumph procured for him.
The marshal passed few days without seeing his friend ;
they had so many things to say that their conversation
was always interesting. Voltaire constantly showed re-
gret that he was not summoned by the court, where he
believed he should have received recognition ; it was
hard also for him to console himself for the death of
De Lekain, who was buried the day of his arrival.
"Tragedy has died with him," he said, "we must not
attempt to write any more."
Everybody knows that Voltaire did not long enjoy his
glory, and that Richelieu believed that he could call him
back to health by sending him his preparation of opium.
The remedy remained without effect ; but the public
believed, as we have already mentioned, that it hastened
the end of his days.
The marshal was perhaps as sensitive to his loss, as a
man who cared little about anything could be. What
l68 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
revolted him most was the refusal of the priests of Saint-
Sulpice to render the last honors to his friend.
M. de Richelieu spoke bitterly against this occurrence,
but diverted by pleasure, he soon forgot his friend and
the priests. He learned that in Bordeaux cannons were
fired for the intendant. A severe observer of etiquette,
he brought complaints before the Marshal de Mouchi,
who answered him that he thought the cannonading as
extravagant as Richelieu thought it ; that if it came
from the Chateau Trompette, he would give a scolding
to M. de Funel ; but that it came from the ships, where
a private man may fire salutes for a chamber-maid if he
chose. " Your protege Louis," he added, " intended to
cajole, in order to get money for the building of the
building of the comedie, and has therefore cannonaded
' Monseigneur, the Intendant.' "
However, in the midst of these pleasures, he found
himself isolated ; he had often talked of marrying again ;
and there were rumors about the Presidente Portail ;
afterwards he decided to choose a young princess from
Germany ; but all these projects came to naught. What
he found the most piquant in his last marriage was, that
he had contracted three marriages in three different
reigns ; for he was always fond of unusual things.
A very grave indisposition determined him finally to
choose a companion to watch over his old age. An at-
tack of indigestion brought him to death's door ; it was
believed that his last moments had come. A man
mounted on horseback hastened to inform his son, who
was hunting in the plain of Gennevilliers ; his friends
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. 169
looked at him already as a new heir, and the duke has-
tened to receive the last instruction of his father. He
found him unconscious, pale, disfigured, and with drawn
features ; he spoke to him in vain ; the marshal was
nearly gone. The son could not bear the heartrending
spectacle, and went to his brother-in-law, the Count
d'Egmont, to wait until his father had died. Though
almost prostrated by the shock, he could not refrain
from reflecting on the immense advantages which
awaited him, and in spite of himself these ideas of for-
tune diminished not a little the sorrow which he exper-
ienced. He expected every moment the fatal news; but
Heaven brought the father to life again ; it was an-
nounced that he was much better; he went to see him;
and the first remark which the marshal made was : " I
am not dead yet ; you will not inherit this time."
When Richelieu became conscious, he was informed
of the visit of the Duke de Fransac, and since, amongst
the people that surrounded him, there were some that
had little affection for Fronsac, they made the father
understand that he had appeared with all the eagerness
of an heir ; this troubled the old man a little, and he
immediately afterwards visited Paris.
He had the habit of visiting Mme. de Rothe, the
widow of an Irish colonel, who lived in the Tulleries.
Though her rooms were on a very high floor, this did
not deter M. de Richelieu, who was much pleased at
finding true friendship in this elevated retreat. The in-
cident which just had happened made him feel more
than ever the need of an agreeable woman, who would
I/O MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
give herself up to the care of his old age ; he saw in this
lady the being that was necessary to him, and soon he
offered her his hand,
Mme. de Rothe thought she ought not to refuse and
the quiet life she led did not offset the brilliant existence
which was offered to her and the enjoyment of being
the wife of a peer, the senior Marshal of France. The
marriage was resolved upon and the marshal hastened
immediately to his son to inform him of it.
This news surprised him greatly ; he believed that his
father was joking ; but the marshal assured him that he
had made a choice which would be the charm of his old
age ; he added that he previously married according to
his own fancy and that he could do the same thing
again ; that, besides, he did not fear the arrival of chil-
dren ; that if he should have a son he would make a
cardinal of him, and that he might rest assured that it
would never do any harm to their family.
The marriage took place, to the great satisfaction of
the marshal and Mme. de Rothe ; and the bridegroom,
eighty-four years old, conducted himself better that day
than he had done with his first wife, although then he
was but sixteen years old.
CHAPTER LXXXVI.
The marshal occupies himself entirely with the tribunal and the com-
edy.— He makes his year of service at the court. — He is for
some time the only one of the first gentlemen of the chamber able
to comply with his functions. — He is unfaithful to his last wife. —
A former mistress makes him her sole heir. — Affair with M. de
Noe and d'Arthur. — The marshal becomes insane ; the tribunal
is taken from him ; he dies.
THE house of M. de Richelieu took on another ap-
pearance after he was married. The multitude of girls
did not make their abode there any longer ; the actresses
alone had the right to approach their superior, and
Mme. Richelieu, amazed by the situation in which she
found herself, became mediatrix of the favors that he
granted. The Opera-Comique, the child adopted by the
Comedie Italienne, which, having run from fair to fair,
and from stage to stage, had obtained a stable existence,
had just abandoned its mother in order to associate
itself with the new Comedie Franchise. The whole of
Paris wished to have another company, and seconded at
first the attempts of that which was established in the
Theatre Italienne ; but the choice of plays was so badly
made that the public was soon disgusted with the theatri-
cals which they would have desired to see united to the
Opera, if they had been better conducted.
The comedians, always sure of being masters of their
superior, who could not refuse anything to a handsome
1/2 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
woman, made regulations according to their fancy, which
the marshal signed as if they had been his own. The
intendants of the details, more powerful than the first
gentlemen whom they led along according to their ca-
prices, upheld these unjust regulations, which favored
their mistresses and their protegees. The authors, alone,
were not considered at all ; they were submitted to these
laws, without even knowing them. All the authors to-
gether had not the pay that the three chief comedians
drew; and still the latter refused to divide the little
boxes of which the product was four hundred thousand
livres a year. The authors complained loudly, but their
complaints received no attention ; they had no women
to go as deputies to enforce their demands. They were
annoyed by a double reading, which this theatre alone
demanded, because they were inconvenienced by it
through the annoyances caused by the distributions and
repetitions, and finally by the insufficient pay which
they drew from it — pay which was fixed without refer-
ence to the income or the expenses of the day, and was
presented upon a piece of paper by a comptroller.
When by accident an author, who was worse treated
than the others, succeeded in gaining a hearing from the
marshal, the latter answered him : " What do you wish?
They are not rich. They have only had a share this
year of eight thousand livres." And the author unsatis-
fied was obliged to withdraw.
Besides, every complainant was led astray by a former
Italian Comedian, who had been clever enough to escape
the general proscription, who had remained a comedian
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. 1/3
without being one, since he did not play any more, and
who, knowing his uselessness, had made himself neces-
sary by mixing himself up in everything. More Italian
still than the others, insidious, obsequious if there was
need, he had been kept through pity but became a despot
when he found himself backed by his superior. This
clever man knew the weak spot of the marshal ; he went
every day to relate to him the scandalous stories of the
Com£die ; what such and such an actress had done, and the
result of the assembly ; and the old man, who always loved
adventures, took such pleasure in the recitals of this char-
latan that he became absolutely needful to him, and was
as necessary every morning as his tea, which he had
been in the habit of taking for a great many years. We
may well judge that such an agent was very influential,
and that before him every author had to humiliate him-
self before his production was played.
The marshal, notwithstanding the amount of time
he spent at the Come"die Italienne, did not neglect the
affairs of the tribunal. On the one hand he found pleas-
sure, and on the other he had to satisfy his tastes for
luxury and ostentation. He insisted on having paid to
him, with display, all the honors which were due to his
position ; he was flattered to see a new court reappear
around him, and believed himself enjoying once more
those happy moments when everybody pandered to his
vanity. Always gorgeous, he had a glittering household,
and it is a reproach against his new wife that she allowed
more than one hundred thousand livres to be spent for
his table alone, and for the rest in proportion. He ought
1/4 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
rather to have paid his creditors, whom he had owed for
a long time. It ought to have been easy for him to pay
a million of debts within eight years, and instead of hear-
ing the complaints of these same creditors she should
have enjoyed the happiness of knowing them satisfied.
The marshal had more than four hundred and fifty thou-
sand livres income ; in giving up fifty thousand ecus for
such an object, there would have remained an income
ample for living splendidly, and the old servants of the
marshal would not have felt the cruel uncertainty of
getting the legacies which were made to them.
M. de Richelieu, who, through the affairs of the tribu-
nal, found himself in association with all the ministers,
went frequently to Versailles and found occasion to be
useful there. He was no longer a courtier almost ex-
cluded from the court ; he was considered as an extraor-
dinary man who defied all the infirmities of age. He
came to fulfill his year of service. He divided with his
wife all the advantages of his place ; he received the min-
isters, he went to them, and might almost have believed
himself still under the reign of the deceased king by the
influence that he had. Louis XVI. received him with
kindness, and often reminded the court that if this old
man was sometimes wrong he had few courtiers who
had done so many beautiful things as he.
Afterwards, when the deafness of the marshal became
more pronounced, the king was indulgent enough not to
tell him to leave a young court which was not suitable
for a man^of his age. Some slight passing humor gave
him sometimes a suggestion of it; but M. de Richelieu,
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. 1/5
who wished to hold on, did not take any notice of these
little annoyances. The nature of his service should have
decided him to give it up ; he had to remain standing
for long at a time ; but the pleasure which he felt in be-
ing near the king kept him from perceiving that he was
tired and gave him strength to keep up.
Sometimes the fatigue must have been great, however.
One evening he presented, according to usage, the robe
de chambre to the king. His majesty, occupied with
speaking about hunting, did not notice him, but con-
tinued speaking with a huntsman, who was at the other
side of the room ; the marshal with outstretched arms
followed him staggering; the king, full of his subject,
came back to the place whence he had started. The
marshal, always with the robe de chambre, followed the
steps of his master, who made still a few turns without
seeing him. Even this scene, which resembled that of
Hector in the " Joueur," and lasted several minutes, was
not enough to determine M. de Richelieu to renounce
the honors of presenting a shirt and hat.
He felt it glorious to have been called near the king
because all his comrades were ill ; he alone, notwithstand-
ing his age, found himself able to do his office. His son
lay in bed suffering with gout and ennui ; he went to see
him, and thought it strange that a young man should be
subjected to the ills of old age. He told him that he
must have courage, and that he should keep himself upon
the other foot when he had the gout in the one ; in order
to prove it to him he remained standing more than a
minute upon one leg. The Duke de Fronsac had not
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
only to bear his own sufferings, but had also to be tor-
tured by this beautiful experiment, a proof that his in-
heritance was still a long way off.
The marshal often talked about the Com£die at M. de
Maurepas's, and as this minister liked to give attention
to agreeable things as well as to affairs, he was well re-
ceived. In his office, as first gentleman, he endeavored
to have played the pieces which suited him, and he often
obtained favors in payment therefor. There was a plan
one day to arrange a supper with Mile. Contat, who had
made a great sensation at the court in several roles and
especially in that of the " Folies Amoureuses " ; M. de
Maurepas was apparently smitten with her, and they
tried to make him pay her debts. But the minister
found the debts too high, and was not sufficiently in love
to pay them. The Count d'Artois took charge of them
some time afterwards.
Richelieu was governed in his household affairs by
his wife whose care he greatly appreciated. The most
precise housekeeper could have carried attention no
further ; she even chased away the flies that tormented
her husband; she took precautions that he should not
give himself up to his former predilection for the women,
which he had gratified so often ; she feared with reason
that by impairing his forces he would hasten, the end of
his career.
However, her aged husband found means to escape
her anxious vigilance. Though Mme. la Marechale was
nearly always a witnese of the audiences which he gave
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. I//
to the actresses, he knew how to seize favorable mo-
ments.
He received several letters from a woman who lived
in the square of the Come'die Italienne. She was a
young beauty, neither a vestal virgin nor entirely a bad
girl, who, after having written him about the advance-
ment of a relative whom she had in the connttablie ;
asked him to grant her a meeting at his house. The
last letter was very pleasantly written ; it raised desires
in the marshal to see the one who made the claim upon
his kindness. He charged his confidential lackey,
Quosimo, who knew how to carry out such details, to
fetch an answer to this lady, to examine her at the same
time and report whether she was handsome and if she
was, to tell her that he would come to-morrow at noon
to see her.
The report was favorable. Richelieu went out at the
prescribed hour saying he would make a visit to Marshal
de Biron, with whom he had had a quarrel because the
latter in his office as colonel of the garde s franfaises had
pointed out a distinctive place for his own carriage at
the gates of all the theatres and refused to fix one for
that of the first gentleman. But this affair troubled
him little in that moment ; he had himself conducted to
the lady who waited for him.
He saw that his man had not deceived him, he found
a young blonde of twenty years, well-built, who united
beautiful eyes to the best formed mouth and the mar-
shal, who was then more than eighty-six years old, felt
that he was getting younger by her side. He promised
1/8 MEMOI5.S OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
to advance her relative and assured her that he had
nothing to refuse to such a charming person ; but at the
same time he begged of her to have pity on a poor old
man. The lady believed that M. de Richelieu was
accustomed to such extravagant expressions. She joked
with him ; but the marshal insisted and demanded ser-
vice for service. Brought to such an extremity the
young lady imagined that she would not have great risks
to run and half from curiosity she acquiesced, convinced
that the infidelity, which she was committing, would not
be very great. What was her astonishment ! The met-
amorphosis was complete ; it was a young man that ad-
ored her and gave her repeated proofs of it and who left
her surprised and enchanted by such an unexpected tete-
a-tete. We have this from one of her friends to whom she
said : " That at the age of twenty a man could not have
conducted himself better than the marshal did."
It is certain that he had none of the infirmities of age ;
he was a little deaf which increased from time to time
but that was the only sign of decrepitude. Besides he
still rode on horseback ; he rode to Conflans for dinner
and to the Archbishop of Paris, M. de Beaumont, and
came back galloping. He did extraordinary things to
the very end of his life.
It was still reserved to the marshal to be made a legatee
of a woman, who remembered with pleasure some mo-
ments which had formerly been given her. This lady
called Gayac, who lived at Compiegne, probably believed
that she was honoring herself in leaving about one hun-
dred thousand livres, without counting furniture, to a
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
grand seigneur, who did not need this increase of fortune,
and by disinheriting a nephew without means, who was
an apprentice at a workman's shop.
The marshal had no trouble in succeeding to this for-
tune except to arrange a difference which sprung up on
account of the inheritance between him and his son.
The good lady willed a part of her property to the Duke
de Fronsac and this latter, who desired nothing more than
to inherit as quickly as his father, wished to accept it
at once ; he contested the delivery of the legacy. This
little altercation was ended by a compromise between
the lawyers.
But in the midst of the contentions, the poor nephew
was heard from ; he claimed the fortune that of right
belonged to him ; he painted his misery, and his need of
help, and petitioned the legatee, who was swimming
in opulence. But his complaints were unheard ; the
law was against him and the appeal for justice was
refused. Many persons said then, that they would be
very sorry to be grands seigneurs if they were so mean
as that.
Prince Henry of Prussia came to Paris and the
marshal, always ready to show off, gave him a splendid
fete in his palace. He talked to him about his former
campaigns, and about the mistakes which had been
made, and that with a memory, which astonished the
Prussian general. Richelieu, for whom the King of
Prussia had much consideration, seized every occasion
to maintain a correspondence with this sovereign ; he
wrote him about many different subjects and the last
I So MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
letter was for the purpose of recommending to him, the
Count de Chinon, (afterward M. de Fronsac) who was
about to travel in Germany. He had a particular pre-
dilection for this grandson, he made him his universal
legatee ; he was pleased with his happy disposition and
said continually that he would have all his grandfather's
good qualities without his faults.
The answer, that the King of Prussia made to the
Count de Chinon, proved how highly he admired the
Cardinal de Richelieu and that he also esteemed the
talents of the marshal. He questioned the young count,
asking him his name, and after he had told him that it
was Chinon, the monarch replied : " What is Chinon ?
I do not know it. Monsieur, when one has a name such
as De Richelieu he must not change it for another."
We can well imagine that the marshal was highly satis-
fied, when he was informed of this anecdote.
Old age affected him gradually ; and he soon experi-
enced mental shortcomings, that showed the ravages of
years. This was noticed the first time in the Come"die
Italienne, where he asked for : " On ne savise jamais de
tout," played by Mme. la Ruette et Cailleau, who had
retired from the theatre a long time before ; and yet,
while growing weak in mind he did not abate in haughti-
ness. Although far from Bordeaux he always wished to
have influence there. He obtained permission to return
there, and every spring planned to go and see the theatre
which had been erected there by him. His wife, who
feared that the trip would be hurtful to him, found ways
to distract him from the notion ; but the marshal still
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. l8l
occupied himself, as formerly, with the details of his
governorship.
He gave orders relating to the theatre. He prohib-
ited the aldermen from going to his box ; he gave
orders to the janitor, only to allow those to go to the
theatre who had some business there, and desired to
have rigidly executed all the regulations that he gave.
M. de No6, mayor of the city, claimed on the other
hand, that he had some rights, especially the right to
give orders to the janitor, whom the City of Bordeaux
was paying. Consequently he attempted to enter the
theatre accompanied by some aldermen ; the janitor
refused to allow it ; the mayor threatened him with im-
prisonment, and notwithstanding the janitor's resistance,
forced his way into the theatre.
Complaint was made to the marshal, who, believing his
authority encroached upon, determined to have revenge.
He claimed that the janitor was a military sentinel, who
had been interfered with in the performance of his
duty. Being chief of the tribunal, he had M. de Noe
summoned to render account of his conduct. M. de
Noe, who considered that it was simply a police matter,
refused to obey and wrote to the minister on the
subject.
The contest was brought before the council, composed
of people to whom the marshal had rendered some ser-
vice, and the affair was consequently sent back to the
tribunal to decide. M. de Noe was, in this way, in the
hands of his opponent, who used his whole authority to
punish him ; it was a question of revenge and the
1 82 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
marshal was implacable. As M. de Noe would not
appear before the judges, the most stringent orders
were given to the mounted police to arrest him wher-
ever he should be found and to convey him bound to
Paris. To save himself he left the country and reap-
peared only after the death of his persecutor.
Arthur, the paper manufacturer, had bought from M.
d'Angivilliers a piece of land upon the boulevard. Be-
lieving himself free to dispose of property which
belonged to him, he started to build a house there.
The marshal, while taking a walk, saw this building in
process of erection. He had always influence enough to
prevent the cutting off of his outlook, but this building
did not trouble him at all ; still he did not like it that
any one should build a house on the other side of his
street without his permission.
Richelieu had always about him men who were ready
to execute his desires whatever they might be. Arthur
was summoned ; he answered that M. d'Angivilliers,
having sold him the real estate, he could do with it what
he wanted, that the building would not hurt M. de
Richelieu at all and that Richelieu was too just to ask
him to suspend the work, the retarding of which would
cause much loss to his business.
Richelieu, furious at being resisted, brought the affair
before the council. He was sure to find friends there,
M. de Vergennes and Bertin being sold to him.
During all this time the works of Arthur were sus-
pended ; eighteen months passed without his being able
to placate the marshal. He tried to reach him through
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU. 183
all those whom he believed to have influence ; he pro-
posed to him a compromise, demonstrating that he did
him the greatest wrong for the mere pleasure of so
doing. But old Richelieu remained inflexible ; he de-
manded a considerable amount of money or that a judg-
ment be rendered because he knew the latter would be
favorable to him.
He was not mistaken ; the council, always devoted to
the powerful, gave a verdict in favor of the senior Mar-
shal of France, who was pleading against a manufac-
turer of paper. The public protested ; but then, who
were the public? Arthur in despair, yet not daring to
make known his dissatisfaction, had recourse first to the
friends of the marshal and implored their mediation.
Finally they succeeded in making Richelieu understand
that he would become the talk of Paris, if he continued
to ill-treat such a well-known manufacturer. The fear of
seeing reappear the libels and the satires which the trial
of Mme. de Saint-Vincent had caused was the only
motive which made him consent to an arrangement.
Richelieu, who had recovered his mental faculties, in
order to be a despot, had not the same energy, when
it was proposed that he should reform abuses. He
knew that sometimes his favors were sold, but he did
not trouble himself any further about it. He received,
continually, complaints concerning the administration of
the Come'die Italienne but answered, laughingly, that the
Com£die Franchise was worse off and that it would be
worse still when his son should have the 'administration
of the theatre. He entrusted his wife with the details
1 84 MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
which she believed she understood, and things became
worse and worse. The public was obliged to accept
comedies pleasing to the first gentleman only. Talent
was of little account ; it was intrigue that brought suc-
cess. The first actors played, when they wished, and
said insolently : " You may arrange the spectacle of
to-morrow because I go into the country," or " I shall go
on a hunting party." The public counted upon a piece
when it was announced, but the actors and actresses
snapped their fingers at their expectations. The authors
asked for enforcement of the rules, for the regulations
were only followed when they were convenient to the
comedians. At the last the authors were not any
more listened to than the ushers in the theatre. Some
comedians said : " About what does this author com-
plain? He is ungrateful ! We let him earn twenty ecus
a month ago."
The memory of M. de Richelieu was now weakened
to such a degree that he was continually absent minded ;
he could no longer speak connectedly. He was subject
to fainting fits. Soon, it was proposed that the tribunal
should not be held by a man who could no longer con-
trol his mind. M. de Duras was first to ask that it
should be transferred to somebody else ; the marshal,
knowing it, wrote a savage protest to show that he was
not yet deprived of all energy. But that did not change
the matter and the tribunal was passed over to M. de
Contades, as M. de Biron did not wish to have it.
But the public still continued to surround him with
vain honors ; he always had guards in his antechamber
MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU 185
and, like another Dandin, he believed every day that he
was to preside. There were moments, when he regained
his memory ; then he spoke with fluency and was still
very amiable ; but his ideas soon got mixed up, he hes-
itated, and showed impatience and astonishment that he
was no longer what he had been.
Chance, which had done so much for him, marked
finally the moment of his death ; a catarrh, which he
could not relieve by expectoration, was the immediate
cause of his end ; but he was happy to the last moment,
and suffered none of the horrors of death. He did not
realize the state he was in, and died in peace.
The horoscope which made him fear the month of
March, his whole life through, did not realize itself, since
it was August, 1788, that saw the end of his career.
END OF THE MEMOIRS OF THE DUKE DE RICHELIEU.
Introductory Note.
As a conclusion to these three volumes, and in connec-
tion with the Memoirs of the Duke de Richelieu, the
editors of this series have appended a portion of the
Memoirs of Mme. the Countess de Genlis. This
memoir has been placed here not because it relates par-
ticularly to the Marshal de Richelieu and his personal
life, but because it vividly illustrates one current of the
social atmosphere which pervaded France toward the
latter end of the reign of Louis XV.
In reading the foregoing portions of this volume and
the two volumes which precede it in the series, the
inference is almost unavoidable that every citizen of the
French nation, high and low, was sunk then in moral
iniquity. This was very far from being the true state
of the case, however, and this memoir of Mme. de Gen-
lis affords an interesting glimpse of the reverse of the
false moral coinage which passed current in high places
at that time. It contains within itself ample evidence
of its entire sincerity and truth. It shows conclusively
that although the dominant tone of the French court
and the French nobility considered as a whole was one of
corruption, still there did exist at the same time a strata
of that same society which was pure, that is, if it be re-
garded with due reference to standards of morals which
then prevailed in other parts of the world. Mme. de
Genlis gives a story from which can easily be gathered a
picture of the daily life, amusements, occupations, and so
forth of that strata toward the end of the i8th century.
Its very triviality, the importance which it gives to insig-
nificant happenings, are, in the opinion of the editors, its
greatest merits for this purpose.
Extract from the Memoirs of
Madame the Countess de Genlis.
THE same chance, which in the course of my life has
brought under my eyes so many various and singular
scenes, led me to witness at this time a spectacle equally
terrible and extraordinary. The chateau of Genlis was
surrounded by immense ditches : we had an aged neigh-
bor, the Countess of Sorel, whose house was also sur-
rounded with ditches and whose chateau was situated
upon an elevated ground, so that the ditches belonging
to it were over ours. The Countess of Sorel, through
avarice, having refused to make some necessary repara-
tions to the trenches, in spite of the repeated representa-
tions of M. de Genlis, their waters, swelled by the rains,
suddenly broke through the delapidated dykes, and ran
over into our ditches, which thus overflowed also. Both
the Messieurs de Genlis were hunting, and I was alone at
the chateau. Hearing piercing cries, and a great move-
ment through all the house, I opened my window, which
looked out upon the court-yard ; what was my horror at
seeing that immense court totally filled with water,
which rolled in waves with the sound of boiling water ; it
had already reached the middle of the high windows of
the ground floor. The porter, accompanied with several
192 MADAME DE GENLIS.
of the servants, ran into my chamber, telling me that I
must immediately mount to the garrets, which I did with
great precipitation. The bell was rung, the alarm was
given, and all the village assembled in a moment, in order
to make trenches in the ground to carry off the water,
which, however, swept away several houses which were
built on a causeway on the border of the ditches. The
water ascended from the court up to the first floor ; in
the garden it rose to the height of eight feet, as might
be seen next day by the marks of clay which it had left
on the trees in the alleys. The gardner had sixty bee
hives, which he had not time to save ; they were carried
away and lost. I saw distinctly from the garret window
the whole of this imposing spectacle. No lives were lost
but the damages done were tremendous. Madame de
Sorel lost all her fish, which in great part swam into and
remained in our ponds ; some remained on the ground
and in the meadows, and were picked up there by the
peasants during several days. Madame de Sorel, besides
this loss, was obliged to pay twelve thousand francs as
damages to the proprietors of the houses which were
swept away. My brother-in-law, notwithstanding the
heritage of her fish, might have also claimed damages ;
and if he had enforced it she would have been ruined by
this accident, which was entirely caused by her own
avarice. I have since seen at Hanbury another inunda-
tion. I had witnessed in my childhood, at St. Aubin,
a year before quitting it, a great fire, caused by lightning,
which struck the barns and farm-houses of Sept Fonts,
and consumed them in half an hour. I saw distinctly
MADAME DE GENLIS. 193
this great fire, which took place directly opposite the
great court of our chateau, and from which we were only
separated by the Loire. I have seen the lightning fall
very near the ponds of Genlis. At Villers Cobrets one
evening, I saw, along with a hundred other persons, the
famous globe of fire which caused so much terror that
year. I saw at St. Leu, for the second time in my life
an extraordinary storm of hail, and at the arsenal, a
column of earth thrown up, which lifted from the ground
a young man of fifteen, and threw him five hundred feet
forward without killing him. I have suffered a storm at
sea ; I have seen at Origny a real eclipse of the sun, and
I have witnessed two comets. I was sort of a practical
course of natural history, in which nothing was wanting
but an earthquake and an eruption of Vesuvius.
In the beginning of the autumn, we went to the house
of the Marchioness de Sailly, cousin of M. de Genlis,
and daughter of the Marquis de Souvre, brother of M.
de Puisieux. The chateau was ten leagues from Genlis,
and I was received with all possible cordiality. I there
met M. de Souvr£, whom I had seen in my childhood at
Madame de Bellevau's. He showed me a thousand
marks of friendship, and greatly contributed to hasten
the reconciliation of M. de Puisieux and M. de Genlis.
From Sailly, we went to Fr6toy to the Countess d'Es-
tourmelle's, another relation of M. de Genlis, where we
met with the same friendly reception. But, an hour after
my arrival, I met with a very disagreeable adventure.
Madame d'Estourmelle, then fifty-seven, had an only son,
five years old. The Isaac of this modern Sarah, was, of
194 MADAME DE GENLIS.
all spoiled children, the most insufferable I ever met
with. Everything was permitted him, nothing was
refused him ; he was the absolute master of the drawing-
room and of the chateau. M. Emmanuel de Boufflers is
the only instance I have seen since to recall to me this
singular kind of education. I arrived at Fre"toy two
hours after dinner ; there was a large party from Paris.
I had a cottage bonnet, as it was then styled ; it was
quite new, covered with beautiful flowers, and fastened on
the left side of the head with a great many pins. I was
scarcely seated, when the terrible tyrant of the chateau
came and snatched out of my hands a superb fan and
broke it in pieces. Madame d'Estourmelle gave her son
a slight reprimand, not for having broken my fan, but for
not having asked for it politely. An instant after the
child went and whispered to his mother that he wanted
my bonnet. " Very well, my child," replied Madame
d'Estourmelle, very gravely, " go and ask for it very
politely." He immediately ran up to me crying, " I want
your bonnet." He was told that he must not say, " I
want;" and this was what his mother called "passing
over none of his faults." She then dictated to him his
formula of demand ; " Madame, will you have the good-
ness to lend me your bonnet." Every one in the room
cried out against this fancy, but the mother and the son
persisted. M. de Genlis ridiculed it with some bitterness,
and I saw that Madame d'Estourmelle was about to get
angry ; I then rose up and generously sacrificing my
pretty bonnet, I went and begged Madame d'Estour-
melle to unpin it, which she did in great haste, for the
MADAME DE GENLIS. 1 95
child began to get very violent and impatient. Madame
d'Estourmelle embraced me and praised excessively my
mildness, my complaisance and my fine hair. She
insisted that I looked a hundred times better without my
bonnet, though my curls were all deranged, and I looked
a very ridiculous figure in full dress, with my hair in
disorder. My hat was delivered to the child, on condi-
tion of his not spoiling it. But in less than ten minutes,
the bonnet was torn, crushed and rendered unfit ever to
be worn again. I took care, afterward, to dress my hair
simply and to wear neither bonnet nor flowers. But, un-
fortunately, this spoiled child was grateful for what I had
done ; he attached himself to me with unmeasured vio-
lence and refused to quit my side ; as soon as I entered
the room he would place himself on my knees ; he was
very fat and heavy, and not only fatigued me unmerci-
fully, but crumpled my gowns and even tore them by
placing upon them loads of playthings. I could neither
speak to any one nor hear a syllable of any kind of
conversation ; and it was even impossible for me to get rid
of him so long as to play a game at cards. In all my
little journeys I carried my harp with me ; but here, if
any one wished to hear me play, it was impossible, while
I sat at the harp, to prevent the child (who kept continu-
ally near it) from playing also on the bass strings, which
formed a very indifferent accompaniment to my perfor-
mance. When I had finished and any one came to take
away my harp, the child opposed it with the most horri-
ble cries. The harp was then left, and he played upon it
in his own fashion ; he scratched some of the chords,
196 MADAME DE GENLIS.
broke others and soon put the harp completely out of
tune. When any one told Madame d'Estourmelle that
her child must annoy me excessively, she would ask me,
" If that were the case ? " and she intended to take my
polite negative in its literal sense, adding, that at my age
one must be charmed to amuse one's self in an infantine
manner, and that I formed with her son a delicious group.
In fact, the child was not so disagreeable as people
imagined ; not that I loved his frolics, but his person in-
terested and amused me. He was pretty, coaxing and
droll and he had nothing bad in his disposition. With a
tolerable education, he might have been easily made a
delightful child. His poor mother has largely paid the
forfeit of his bad education ; the year following this, the
child, for the first time in his life had a little fever ; he
refused all sorts of drink and demanded with violence all
kinds of improper food ; a slight indisposition became a
serious disease, and soon a fatal one ; for it was impossi-
ble to make him take medicine of any description and all
attempts of this kind threw him into fits of passion, that
went even to convulsions. He died at the age of six,
though he was naturally very stout and of an excellent
constitution.
In returning to Genlis by Peronne, my brother-in-law
fell dangerously ill in that town of a putrid fever. M.
de Genlis immediately called in the most celebrated
physician of the place, who desired to have a consulta-
tion with another physician of Peronne ; and the result
of this consultation was, that the one declared that, if
the patient were not bled within twenty-four hours, his
MADAME DE GENLIS. 197
death was certain ; and the other maintained that bleed-
ing would be fatal. As his brother, and the heir to two
hundred thousand francs a year, (the estate of Genlis,
and the reversion of that of Sillery,) M. de Genlis was in
a terrible predicament. He made up his mind on the
step to be taken without hesitation ; my brother-in-law
had no confidence in any physician but a German named
Weiss ; he was at Paris, but we calculated that we could
have his answer in twenty-four hours. M. de Genlis,
under the dictation of the physicians, wrote an account
of the patient's state, and the result of the consultation,
and entreated Weiss to come to Peronne, or at least
to send him his opinion. He then ordered one of his
servants, who was the swiftest courier, to take post
horses, to hasten to Paris at full speed, and to return in
the same manner. M. Weiss would not undertake the
journey to Peronne, but he forwarded an excellent con-
sultation, which expressly prohibited bleeding. The
courier returned in nineteen hours ; the Marquis de Gen-
lis was saved, and owed his life to his brother. We re-
mained twenty-two days at Peronne, at the inn of the
Post. I rode out daily ; the ladies of the neighboring
chateaus sent me fruits, fish, vegetables, and flowers ;
before quitting Peronne, I went to return them thanks.
I ate here excellent pears and peaches. A short time
after our return to Genlis, my brother-in-law, scarce yet
recovered, went to Paris, and M. de Genlis and I pro-
ceeded to Arras, where the regiment of French grena-
diers was then stationed. The Count de Guines (after-
ward Duke de Guines) had a superb house there, which
198 MADAME DE GENLIS.
he lent for my use. I remained there three weeks, and
was much amused ; they gave me charming entertain-,
ments. The officers of the French grenadiers acted to
amuse me at the theatre of the town ; and I was invited
to several dress and masked balls. One of the ensigns,
M. de St. P , whom I have since met in society,
paid me a great deal of attention ; he seized the occa-
sion of a masked ball to approach me without being re-
marked, and assumed the character of a dumb person ;
he never quitted me during the evening, saying only ha,
ha, ha, and pointing to his mouth to make me under-
stand that he was dumb. I left Arras at two o'clock in
the morning, in order to save a deserter, who was to be
shot the same day at ten. The Chevalier de Monchat,
major in the French grenadiers, was much interested
about this unfortunate man ; he found means in concert
with M. de Genlis, without compromising himself, to let
him escape from prison, at eleven at night, and to bring
him into our house, where he was concealed in the closet
belonging to M. de Genlis. The Count of Audick gave
me a ball and supper, during which my mind was con-
tinually absent, and I could think of nothing but our
deserter, whom I dreaded might be retaken. I left the
ball at half past twelve. We had asked permission of
the governor of the town to let us pass at two ; for the
gates of a fortified town could not be opened at that
hour without a special order. M. de Genlis made the
deserter put on one of his servant's liveries ; we set off
at half past one ; the deserter was behind the carriage.
In passing the gates of the town, I felt the blood freeze
MADAME DE GENLIS. * 199
in my veins, so great was my sympathy with the situa-
tion of the poor deserter. At four leagues from Arras,
he found a horse on the high road ; we stopped, and he
came to the carriage door to return his thanks ; I wept
with joy at having saved him ! M. de Genlis desired me
to salute him, which I did most readily. To have con-
tributed to save the life of a fellow-creature is a happiness
which is never to be forgotten.
On arriving at Genlis, letters from Paris informed us
that my brother-in-law had relapsed into a dangerous ill-
ness. M. de Genlis proceeded immediately to Paris.
He promised to write to me, but two posts came with-
out bringing me any intelligence. I then told M.
Blanchard that I was very uneasy, and that I was deter-
mined to go to Paris. All the carriages were gone, and
there only remained a little hunting cart, much broken
and in bad condition, and which besides was in use at
the chateau. I promised only to take it as far as Noyon,
(four leagues from Genlis,) saying that I hoped to find
in that town a conveyance to hire. M. Blanchard gave
me ten louis for my journey, and I set off immediately
with Mademoiselle Victoire, and a servant on horseback.
The fact is, that it was much less through uneasiness
than a desire to go to Paris, that I undertook this
journey. I did not, in reality, expect to find any con-
veyance at Noyon, but I was determined to go from
thence on horseback to Paris, and for that purpose I put
on a riding habit and petticoat, which I proposed to quit
on arriving at Noyon. On reaching Noyon, at four in
the afternoon, in the month of November, the post-
200 MADAME DE GENLIS.
master told me there were no coaches, at which I was
secretly delighted. I demanded three post horses, one
for myself, one for my servant, and one for my maid.
At this demand Mademoiselle Victoire burst out into a
laugh, supposing that I asked the horses in jest ; but I
assured her, in a tone so decided, that I was in earnest,
at least for my own part, that she could no longer doubt
it ; she seemed stupified by the news. I told her, how-
ever, that she might take her choice about accompany-
ing me, but that I was determined to go in this manner.
She had been on horseback at parties of pleasure several
times, and had been constantly accustomed to ride on
an ass; she was strong and courageous, and I had little
difficulty in persuading her that she would make an ad-
mirable horsewoman. Lemire, my servant, who was the
most serious and the least thinking person in the world,
proposed two things, to which I consented ; the one was
to lend Mademoiselle Victoire a pair of breeches and a
great coat, that she might ride, as he said, decently, the
other, that I should wear horseman's boots. He lent me
his ; but as they were far too large, he filled up the legs
with straw very adroitly ; then, transported with joy,
while Mademoiselle Victoire was dressing, I sent for the
postmaster and acquainted him with my intention ; the
man, who was exceedingly attached to M. de Genlis, was
alarmed at this resolution ; and in order to give it a
color, I assured him that an affair of the utmost conse-
quence called me to Paris, and I begged him to let the
horses be saddled without delay ; he told me that he
was going to find an excellent one for me, but that it
MADAME DE GENLIS. 2OI
was not in the house. He searched throughout the
town to find me a carriage, and to my great vexation he
at last found one, but which had neither windows nor
curtains in front. I regretted my large boots, and the
glory of riding twenty-five leagues on horseback. Mad-
emoiselle Victoire remained in her male dress ; I took
off my petticoat, and we traveled thus all night. At
each post where we got out, I was delighted at being
taken always for a man, and I asked always for ham, in
order to make the maidservants get up, to whom I talked
all sorts of nonsense. Mademoiselle Victoire was not in
particularly good humor; it rained in torrents and she
had no hat ; I wrapped up her head in a red silk hand-
kerchief. At the first post she got out along with me to
warm herself ; and, in order to imitate me, she chucked
one of the maids under the chin, who bluntly said, " You
are too ugly." Yet Mademoiselle Victoire was rather
handsome : but the dye of the silk handkerchief had
come off upon her face, and had given her skin a scarlet
color, which rendered her quite frightful.
M. de Genlis was strangely surprised on my arrival ;
his brother was out of danger, but still required his at-
tentions, and it was decided that we should remain six
weeks at Paris. I saw there, my mother, Madame de
Montesson, Madame de Boulainvilliers, the cousin of M.
de Genlis, and the Marchioness of Saint Chamant, sister
of Madame de Sillery. I went also to a dress ball given
by the Spanish ambassador. But Madame de Puisieux
and her daughter, the Marechale d'Etre"e, still unrecon-
ciled to M. de Genlis, persisted in refusing to receive us.
202 MADAME DE GENLIS.
In five weeks my brother-in-law was entirely recovered,
and began to negotiate his marriage with Mademoiselle
de Vilmeur, an orphan and rich, the niece of the Cheva-
lier Courten, a Swiss, of whose fortune she was the
heiress. We went from time to time to sup at the house
of my aunt de Sarcey, who still lived in the Rue de
Rohan. One evening as my husband, my brother, and I,
were returning home at half past twelve with hired
horses, and as we were going slowly up the Rue des
fosses M. de Prince, a man came and threw himself be-
fore the carriage, crying, that the coachman had thrown
him down, which was false and impossible ; he stopped
the coachman, and loaded him with abuse, and immedi-
ately three men came out from an alley and joined him.
At this sight our two servants took flight, and M. de
Genlis, drawing his sword, sprang out of the carriage,
desiring his brother to remain with me ; but I entreated
the marquis to go to the assistance of his brother, and
seeing him hesitate, I leaped out of the coach, crying to
M. de Genlis, " Let no blood be shed — do not strike
with the point ! " My greatest terror was that this affray
should end in becoming a bloody combat. My brother-in-
law drew his sword also ; and the robbers fled. If I had
been alone in the coach I must have been robbed. This
adventure which M. de Genlis loved to repeat, height-
ened my character for courage, which was already cele-
brated by my exploits on horseback.
We returned to Genlis to pass the rest of the winter ;
and I left it five months gone with child, in the beginning
of spring, when we returned to Paris to celebrate the
MADAME DE GENLIS. 2O3
marriage of my brother-in-law. He married Mme. de
Vilmeur, who was then fifteen ; the Marquis de Puisieux
consented to give away the bride and my brother-in-law
determined that I should stand in the place of her
mother, which was singular enough, not only because I
was but three years older than the bride, but because it
was necessary I should, on that occasion, meet for the
first time the head of a family, which had till then
treated me with so much rigor. He had to lead me
into the church, which he did in a very handsome man-
ner ; he was very elegantly dressed, with his blue ribbon
passed over his coat ; he appeared to me equally dazzling
and terrible. As he gave me his hand, he perceived that
I trembled. " You are cold, Madame," said he ; to which
I ingenuously replied, " It is not with cold that I trem-
ble. " He has since told me that the tone, in which I
pronounced these words, affected him almost to tears.
The nuptial dinner was celebrated with great magnifi-
cence in the country, at the planchette, the seat of the
Chevalier Courten ; almost all the family was present.
Madame de Puisieux, her daughter, the Mar£chal
d'Etree, the Princess of Benting, Monsieur and Madame
deNoailles, the Duke of Harcourt, and several others.
My friends, M. and Madame de Balincour, and Madame
de Sailly were not there, nor M. de Souvr6 ; I regretted
their absence much. I was treated with great politeness,
but coldly, by all the ladies ; I maintained a profound
silence. They were all extremely occupied with my
sister-in-law, and praised her beauty ; Madame de Pui-
sieux and the Mar6chale caressed her excessively. I
2O4 MADAME DE GENLIS.
thought I observed that there was a little affectation in
all this ; and this belief soon removed my timidity. Al-
ways, when any one has had an intention of affronting
me, a feeling of honest pride has elevated me constantly
above the insult intended to be offered, by inspiring me
with a perfect indifference to it. There happened at
this marriage an incident which has been much talked of,
and on which has been founded an anecdote, entirely
false, which I have seen printed in many shapes. The
Count d'Herouville was the relation and friend of the
Chevalier Courten ; he had received a card of invitation,
but for himself, only. He had been married ten years
to the famous Lolotte, who had conducted herself ex-
tremely well since her marriage, but who was visited by
none of her own sex. She was then thirty-six years of
age, and was still very handsome, and very agreeable ;
she had a great deal of wit, and her manners were
charming. The Count d'Herouville was foolish enough
to bring her along with him ; he would have acted more
wisely in not coming himself, since his wife was not in-
vited. She was very rudely received, except by the
Chevalier Courten, and Messieurs de Genlis ; and during
dinner many stinging things were said, of which she
could not fail to make the application to herself.
Nothing ever distressed me more ; she behaved with
great propriety.
After dinner, my sister-in-law offered her, as well as
the other ladies, a bag and a fan, and saluted her. At
this action which was indispensable, two ladies shrugged
their shoulders, and the others showed their astonish-
MADAME DE GENLIS. 20$
ment in their faces. All the men then declared for the
fair sufferer, and from that moment paid her marked at-
tention. The other women were in turn offended, and
the whole scene was very singular. The Chevalier
Courten was in torture, as well as M. d'Herouville, who
went away early. As soon as he had quitted the room
with his wife, M. de Genlis cried out, " What a beautiful
woman Madame d'Herouville is ! " All the other gen-
tlemen then began to eulogize her ; every one felt a de-
sire to avenge the treatment she had received. Next
day it was said throughout Paris, that at the moment
Madame d'Herouville arrived, the lap-dog of Madame de
Puisieux, called Lolotte, having come into the room,
Madame de Puisieux said aloud, " Go along, Lolotte,
you are not fit to come among good company. " This is
absolutely false ; Madame de Puisieux did not bring her
dog with her, and nothing of the kind was ever said.
All the company remained until eleven o'clock at
night. The new-married couple, M. de Genlis, and I,
passed six days at the house. This short time was suf-
ficient to make me contract a great friendship for my
sister-in-law. She was handsome, and her face would
have been faultless, but for an unfortunate laugh, which
showed teeth by no means beautiful, and gums which
were always swelled ; but when she did not laugh her
face was beautiful, and its expression agreeable, which
made M. de Villepaton say of her, that, " seriously
speaking, she was extremely pretty." Her education
had been much neglected ; but she was never idle ; she
loved work, embroidered to perfection, and was as dex-
206 MADAME DE GENLIS.
terous as a fairy. She was very violent and contradic-
tory in her humor, and had the obstinacy of a child,
but at bottom, she was good-natured, obliging, ingenious,
and very lively. We never had the slightest dispute ;
and I was delighted to have a companion so amiable and
so young.
The Chevalier Courten, the master of the 'house, and
uncle of my sister-in-law, was a witty and agreeable old
gentleman of seventy-seven. He had served with much
distinction in the army, and in various negotiations ; he
had seen many things, and related them with a charm
peculiar to himself. I have never found in any one of
his age, more gayety, mildness, strength of memory, and
pleasantness of manner. He joined to a great acquaint-
ance with society, and the tone of the French court,
great simplicity, and a sort of naivete, which seemed to
belong to the manners of Switzerland, his native coun-
try ; and this gave to his conversation and to his wit an
air of youth and originality, which rendered him the
most interesting and amiable of all possible old men.
On quitting La Planchette, we all returned to Genlis.
My brother passed that year at Genlis. He had just
been received into the engineers, and had undergone his
examination in Bezout, with the utmost credit to him-
self ; in fact, he showed a decided genius for the mathe-
matics. I was transported with joy at seeing him again ;
he was handsome and ingenuous, and he had a sort of
childish gayety which suited my humor exactly. One
evening, when there was company at the chateau, and
while my sister-in-law and Messieurs de Genlis were play-
MADAME DE GENLIS. 2O/
ing after supper at reversis, my brother proposed to me
a walk in the court which was spacious, covered with
sand, and planted all round with flowers, to which I con-
sented. When we reached the court, he expressed a wish
to take a walk in the village. I was as willing as he. It
was ten o'clock ; all the public houses were lighted ; and
we saw, through the windows, peasants drinking cider. I
observed with surprise that they all wore a very grave
air.
My brother was seized with a fit of frolicsome gayety,
and he knocked at a window, crying out, " Good people,
do you sell any sacr£ chien ? " and after this exploit he
dragged me after him, as he ran into a little dark street,
where we both hid ourselves, ready to die with laughter.
Our delight was increased by hearing the tavern-keeper
at a door of his house, threatening " to cudgel the little
blackguards " who had knocked at his window. My
brother explained to me that, sacr6 chien meant brandy.
I thought all this so pleasant that I insisted on going to
another little tavern adjoining, to make the same polite
inquiry, which met with the same success ; we repeated
several times that agreeable pastime, trying which of us
should say, " sacr£ chien," and ending by shouting it to-
gether, and every time running off to hide ourselves in
the little street, where we burst into fits of laughter till
we could hardly stand. Happy age ! at which we are so
easily transported with gayety ; when nothing has yet
exalted the imagination or troubled the heart.
My brother remained six weeks with us. M. de Gen-
lis, with much kindness, made him a present of every-
2O8 MADAME DE GENLIS.
thing which could be useful or agreeable to him in a
garrison in which he was to remain a long time. He
went to Mezieres ; we promised to write regularly to
each other, and we both kept our word.
M. de Genlis returned to Paris in the month of Au-
gust, and went to live in a pretty house with a garden in
the Culde-sac Saint Dominique, of which my brother-in-
law had hired the ground floor, and we the first. There
I awaited the time of my accouchement. The idea that
I was about to become a mother rendered me much
more staid. I had commenced, several months before, a
work which I entitled, " Reflections of a Mother Twenty
Years of Age," though I was then but nineteen. This
work, which I lost twenty-five years after, with so many
other manuscripts, had nothing romantic in it ; I after-
ward extracted from it many thoughts and ideas which I
transferred to Adele and Theodore. I continued to read
history with great application ; and for my recreation, I
occasionally read poetry and plays. I undertook, at this
time, the reading of the voluminous voyages edited by
the Abb£ Prevost ; and I read them all through without
missing a line, even of the double narrations.
On the 4th of September I was brought to bed of my
dear Caroline, that angelic creature, who was for twenty-
two years my happiness and my pride, and whose irrepar-
able loss has caused me the deepest sorrow, and has
been the greatest misfortune of my life. She was born
beautiful as an angel, and that enchanting face of hers
was, from her cradle to her tomb, the most faultless the
world ever saw. I did not suckle her, for it was not then
MADAME DE GENLIS. 2OO,
the fashion ; besides, I could not have done so in my sit-
uation, as we were always obliged to pay visits and un-
dertake little journeys. She was nursed at two short
leagues from Genlis, at a village called Comanchon.
How many sentiments, till then unknown, sprang up in
my breast with the blessings of being a mother! How I
loved my child ! how dear life became to me ! and with
what an anxious interest I cast my eyes to the future, to
which my thoughts had never before turned ! I discov-
ered in my child a new existence, a thousand times pref-
erable to my own.
Nine days after my confinement, the Marechale
d'Etr£e came to see me and brought me as a present
some very fine Indian stuffs. She assured me that her
father and mother would receive me with pleasure, and
that Madame de Puisieux, whom I dreaded extremely,
would present me at court as soon as I should be able to
leave my room. In five weeks after I went to pay a
visit to Madame de Puisieux, and, as during my whole
life" I have never made advances to any one who has
treated me with coldness or indifference, I was very
silent and cold in my turn. I did not make a very
favorable impression on her at this interview. Eight
days after, she carried me to Versailles ; and, to complete
the tortures of the journey, it was tete-a-tete with her in
her own carriage. She talked to me of nothing but the
manner in which my head was to be dressed, advising
me, with a critical air, not to wear my hair so high as I
usually did, assuring me, that it would be very disagree-
able to the princesses and the old queen. I replied
2IO MADAME DE GENLIS.
merely, " It is enough, Madame, that it is displeasing to
you.'' This answer appeared to be agreeable to her ;
but immediately after I relapsed into my former silence ;
and I saw that it annoyed her extremely. At Versailles,
we resided in the splendid apartments of the Marshal
d'Etre"e ; I was delighted with the marshal ; I looked
upon him with a lively interest ; I knew that he had
achieved numerous victories in the field and that he was
one of the wisest statesmen at the councilboard. He
joined to his honors the most unaffected simplicity and
perfect goodness of heart. Mesdames de Puisieux and
d'Etr£e really persecuted me the day following, which
was that of my presentation ; they made me dress my
hair three different times, and fixed upon the mode
which became me the least, and which was the most
Gothic of them all. They obliged me to wear a great
deal of rouge and powder, two things which I detested ;
they insisted upon my wearing my full dress body for
dinner, in order, as they said, to accustom me to it ;
these bodies left the shoulders uncovered, cut the arms,
and were horribly tight ; besides this, in order to show
my shape, they made me lace myself till I could scarcely
suffer the pressure.
The mother and daughter had next a bitter dispute on
the subject of my ruff, and on the manner in which it
should be fastened ; they were seated and I was standing
up quite worn out and provoked during their debate.
The ruff was fastened on and taken off at least four
times ; at last the mare'chale carried the day by the de-
cision of the three waiting maids, which gave great
MADAME DE GENLIS. 211
offence to Madame de Puisieux. I was so exhausted
that I could scarcely support myself when I had to go to
dinner. I was allowed to go without my large hoop,
though the ladies had at one time thought of making me
wear that too in order to accustom me to it. When the
marshal saw me, he cried out, " She is far too much
powdered and rouged ; she was a hundred times hand-
somer yesterday." Madame de Puisieux appealed to
him about my ruff, which he approved of ; and all dinner
time nothing was discussed but my dress. I ate almost
nothing, for I was so tight laced that I could hardly
breathe. On quitting the table, the marshal passed into
his closet and I was left to Madame de Puisieux and the
mar^chale, who made me finish my toilette, that is to
say, put on my hoop and train, then rehearse my
courtesies, for which I had taken a master ; it was
Gardel, who at that time taught the court. The ladies
were extremely well pleased with my performance ; but
Madame de Puisieux forbade me to push back the train
of my gown by sliding my foot gently under it, as I with-
drew backwards, saying that it had a theatrical air. I
represented to her that if I did not push back my long
train, my feet would get embarrassed in it, and that I
should fall down ; she only repeated, in a dry and im-
perious tone, that it was theatrical, to which I replied
not a word. Afterward the ladies began to dress them-
selves and I availed myself of this to remove adroitly
some of my rouge, but unfortunately, just as we were
setting out, Madame de Puisieux perceived it, and said,
" Your rouge has come off, but I shall put on more ; " and
212 MADAME DE GENLIS.
taking from her pocket a patch box, she plastered my
face with rouge more deeply than before. My presenta-
tions went off very well, and the day was well-chosen, as
a great many ladies were at this levee. Louis XV. spoke
a good deal to Madame de Puisieux and said many flat-
tering things about me. Though no longer young, he
appeared to me very handsome ; his eyes were of a deep
blue, royal blue eyes, as the Prince of Conti said ; and
his look was the most imposing that can be imagined.
In speaking he had a laconic manner and a particular
brevity of expression, in which there was nothing harsh
or disobliging ; in short, there was about his whole per-
son something majestic and royal, which completely dis-
tinguished him from all other men. A handsome exte-
rior in a king is by no means a matter of indifference ; the
people and the great bulk of the nation can see but by
stealth, as it were, the great potentates of the earth ;
they regard them with eager curiosity ; the impression
they receive from that examination is indelible, and exer-
cises the greatest influence over all their sentiments. A
noble air, a frank expression of countenance, a serene
aspect, an agreeable smile, mild and polished manners,
are precious gifts to princes, which education may confer
but to a certain degree. Brutal or contemptuous man-
ners produce the hatred of their subjects ; if they have
a gloomy or anxious air they inspire mistrust and dread ;
if they have a mean or ridiculous appearance, they are
despised — especially in France, where the lowest individ-
uals of the populace have the finest and truest tact for
MADAME DE GENLIS. 213
seizing all the shades which express, by the tone, the
gestures, or the look, the various emotions of the mind.
The dauphin, the son of Louis XV., was just dead,
and the court was in deep mourning. I was presented
to the old queen, the daughter of Stanislaus, King of
Poland ; that princess, already attacked with the disease
(a decline) of which she died fifteen or eighteen months
after, was reclining on a sofa. I was much struck at
seeing her wear a lace night-cap, with large diamond ear-
rings. She interested me extremely because it was said
to be the death of her son which was carrying her to the
tomb. She was a charming old woman ; she had still a
very pretty face, and a ravishing smile. She was
gracious and obliging, and the soft tone of her voice,
which had a langor in it, went directly to the heart.
Her whole conduct had ever been distinguished by irre-
proachable purity ; she was pious, good, and charitable ;
she loved literature, and was a discriminating patroness
of men of letters. She had great quickness of talent ;
and many exquisite sayings of hers have been quoted.
I was afterward presented to the princesses, and to the
rest of the royal family ; and in the evening I went to
the card room of the princesses. I was also introduced
to Madame de Civrac, the maid of honor to the Princess
Victoire. Her husband was under great obligations to
M. de Puisieux, who had caused him to be appointed
ambassador to Vienna, where he then was. Madame de
Civrac was delightful, from her frankness and her good-
nature. In spite of extreme timidity, I soon found my-
self at my ease with her; and I cultivated her friendship
214 MADAME DE GENLIS.
up to the period of her death. A few days after my
presentation we returned to Genlis. I there passed the
summer very agreeably ; we acted plays at the theatre,
decorated by the Chevalier Don Tirmane, where we had
already played several pieces. In the course of that sum-
mer we acted " Nanine," "The Pre"cieuses Ridicules,"
"The M6chant," and "The Countesse d'Escarbagnas; "
the best performers were Monsieur de Genlis and myself ;
my sister-in-law, notwithstanding all my lessons, could
not act well, but she made no pretention to this kind of
talent. We had the neighbors and the peasants for
audience. The sentimental scene of gratitude with
Nanine and her father produced shouts of laughter
when the spectators discovered in the person of Philippe
Humbert, one of our neighbors of thirty-five or thirty-six
years of age, whose white wig, which he had assumed to
give him the appearance of an old man, seemed to them
the most comical thing in the world. M. le Pelletier de
Morfontaine, the superintendent of Soissons, came to
our performances. I had just then heard of the institu-
tion of the Rosiere of Salency ; I spoke of it with enthu-
siasm to M. de Morfontaine, and it was decided that we
should go to Salency to crown the Rosiere. I presented
the Rosiere with a dress and a cow, and M. de Morfon-
taine gave her an annuity for life. He had sent for
musicians, and gave a very charming ball in a barn,
beautifully decorated with colored lamps, leaves, and
garlands of roses. Messieurs de Sauvigny, Feutry, and
De Genlis, wrote some pretty couplets upon the fete ;
those of Monsieur de Genlis were sent to Paris, where
MADAME DE GENLIS.
they were found so agreeable that they were inserted in
the Mercury. There was one of them which was ad-
dressed to me ; and I confess that when I saw it in print,
I was much more flattered than when I heard it sung in
the barn of Salency.
As M. de Genlis had caused my harp to be carried to
Salency, I played on it in the barn before the ball, which
produced among the worthy inhabitants of Salency, and
its musicians, an inexpressible enthusiasm. M. Feutry
wrote, on this occasion, the following couplet, which I
only quote, because it was really an impromptu : —
Sur L'air : De tous les capucins du monde.
Genlis, votre harpe magique
Afface 1'instrument antique
Dont on nous vante les succes.
Par lui Saul vit disparoitre
Et ses transporte et ses acces,
Et vous en faites ici naitre.
In consideration of the song, the fete, and the appro-
priateness of the time chosen for the compliment, I for-
gave M. Feutry that eternal comparison about Saul and
David, which caused me in general so much annoyance.
There are moments when everything pleases ; we should
seize them when we may. All which belongs to that
day's amusement has left behind it a delicious recollec-
tion, on which I love to dwell !
M. de Sauvigny wrote a poem in prose, called the
Rosiere of Salency, which he dedicated to me ; afterward
I wrote a comedy on the same subject, which is to be
found in my Theatre of Education. Seven or eight
2l6 MADAME DE GENLIS.
years afterward, the Rosiere of Salency had a law suit
with the lord of the manor, who unreasonably refused to
give his hand to lead the Rosiere to church, and furnish
the crown of roses and the blue sash, in memory of that
which Louis XIII., when at Varennes, near Salency,
sent to the Rosiere by a captain of his guards. The
virtuous prior of Salency made a journey to Paris about
this absurd lawsuit ; he called upon me and related the
story ; upon which I wrote a memorial, which I gave the
prior; this memorial was presented to the council, and
the Rosieres gained their plea. The memorial was
written in the name of the prior ; he presented it to the
queen, who interested herself warmly in the affair. In
gratitude for what M. de Morfontaine had done for the
Rosieres I promised to go and visit him at Soissons ; I
went there with M. de Genlis ; and we passed a fortnight
at the house of M. de Morfontaine, amidst a constant
round of entertainments. I saw there, for the first time,
Dorat, with whom I was extremely taken, not because
he wrote beautiful verses about me, but because he had,
in reality, agreeable and elegant manners, and because
he spoke sensibly, the rarest thing in the world among
men of wit. M. de Morfontaine did a great deal of good
among the persons under his management : his senti-
ments were generous, he was a man of talent, he was
polite, and magnificent; he loved the arts, and persons
of ability ; but he had the mania of making verses, and
the misfortune always to compose bad ones.
From Soissons we returned to Genlis, where I recom-
menced my occupations with fresh ardor. As Mes-
MADAME DE GENLIS. 217
sieurs de Genlis went almost daily on shooting parties, my
sister-in-law and I were often alone ; we went constantly
to Comanchon to see my dear little Caroline ; my sister-
in-law in a cabriolet, and I on horseback. My sister-in-
law did not prove enceinte, and so far from being jealous
of my having a charming infant, she was fond of my
Caroline even to folly ; a sentiment which she has always
preserved, and which, of itself, would have been sufficient
to attach me to her. When we were alone at the
chateau, which often happened, we both worked at em-
broidery ; and the steward, M. Blanchard, read to us
aloud. He read to us in this way a part of the Roman
History of Laurent Echard, and the Spectacle de la
Nature of Pluche, which began to give me a taste for
natural history. I made a little girl gather for me all the
insects that she found in the fields. She brought us a
large box, which we unluckily opened in my bed-room,
and out of it crawled enormous spiders, large earth-
worms, frogs, toads, etc. At the sight of these mon-
sters, we took flight, extremely discouraged in our pur-
suit of the study of natural history. For more than a
fortnight, though great pains had been taken to remove
all these insects from my room, I still found some now
and then ; however, we continued the reading of the Spec-
tacle de la Nature. M. Blanchard next read to us the
Theatre of Fagan, an ingenious and witty author, whose
comedies pleased us exceedingly. Besides these read-
ings aloud, I read in my room, while they combed my
hair, which was a long operation, and while my head was
being dressed, the Ancient History of Rolin, the lively
2l8 MADAME DE GENLIS.
comedies of Dufreshy, and afterward those of Maurivaux,
for the second time. I confess that I was excessively
fond of that author; he was perfectly acquainted with the
secrets of the human heart, and he has unfolded them with
a delicacy and a grace which are to be found in no other
male author. He is inimitable when he paints the
caprices, the inconsistencies, and the violence of a woman
agitated by vexations arising out of a little affection and
a great deal of self-love ; this was all he knew, but he
knew it well. Nevertheless, Moliere, who has observed
everything, has depicted something of the same sort in
his Princesse Elide, which is also a surprise of affection.
The style of Maurivaux is often full of mannerism ; but
by a dexterity of wit, which was peculiar to him, it be-
comes not so much affection as originality ; and often,
also, in his dialogue, which is always ingenious and
sparkling, there are charming touches, at once fine, nat-
ural, and full of a certain piquant ingenuousness. Ten
years after the period to which I allude, I was wo longer
the same passionate admirer of Maurivaux that I
then was ; I thought he had spoiled a great number of
writers ; but I thought him then, and I think him still,
an author far above mediocrity. He has admirably
caught the most delicate shades of various sentiments
and various habits, and in the art of observing things,
and in depicting them well he has infinitely surpassed
Sterne, and many authors who have been since admired,
both in France and in England. Without mentioning the
comedies of Maurivaux, we may safely assert that in
his novels — his Mariane and his Paysan Parvenu, there
MOLIHRE
ETCHED BY LA!
**tdet+rt
MADAME DE GENLIS. 219
are many scenes far superior to any parts, even the best,
of the Sentimental Journey.
I had still preserved my taste for teaching, and I
exerted it for the benefit of a little girl called Rose,
daughter of the dairymaid of the chateau ; I took her
into my service, and as she seemed to have a taste for
music, I taught her to play upon the harp ; but my in-
strument was enormously large, and in the course of six
months, I perceived that my pupil was becoming hump-
backed : I therefore renounced my plan of giving
her this accomplishment ; and I ordered for her from
Paris a pair of whalebone stays, with a little plate of lead
placed on the side of the shoulder which threatened to
be crooked. In three months her shape was perfectly
restored, and even became in the end very handsome, I
also gave my sister-in-law lessons of singing ; but she had
no voice : I was more fortunate in giving her lessons of
spelling, with which she was but indifferently acquainted :
I taught her orthography completely in three months.
On her side, she taught me to embroider, an art in all its
branches of which she excelled ; in her it was a real
talent, and I have never been able to come near the per-
fection of her work ; she was also very skillful in working
tapestry. She had nothing of what is called wit ; she did
not say fine things ; but she was far from being stupid :
she had even naturally a very fair capacity ; for example,
she calculated, for her age, in a remarkable manner, and
with a facility to which I could never attain ; and in the
end she showed very great intelligence in matters of bus-
iness. She had naturally a very good disposition ; with-
220 MADAME DE GENLIS.
out any other defects than a childishness, which led her
to be somewhat obstinate and contradictory. At the
same time she took an interest, and with warmth, in
everything in which others were interested, whether it
was a serious matter, or a frolic of gayety. Our readings
interested her greatly, at the same time if I proposed to
her a school girl's frolic, she would join in it with all her
heart. There was at Genlis the largest bathing machine
I ever saw; four people could easily have bathed in it.
One day I proposed to my sister-in-law that we should
both bathe ourselves in it in milk, and that we should
go into the neighborhood, and buy all the farmers' milk.
We dressed ourselves in the disguise of peasant girls,
and mounted on asses, led by John, the carman, my first
riding master ; we left Genlis at six in the morning, and
went to the distance of two leagues all round to be-
speak all the milk at the little farm-houses, desiring them
to bring it next morning to the chateau of Genlis. In
the cottages where we were afraid of being recognized,
we waited for John at a little distance, and entered into
all the others. We took a milk bath which is the most
delightful thing in the world ; we had caused the surface
of the bath to be strewed over with rose leaves, and we
remained two hours in that charming bath. I com-
posed at this time a little novel, entitled, " The Dangers
of Celebrity : " four or five years after I lost the manu-
script: the idea of it was moral, but as far as I can
remember it, the novel was tiresome.
I had been very happy at Genlis, especially from the
time of my brother-in-law's marriage ; but my brother
MADAME DE GENLIS. 221
insisted upon paying him a small annual sum ; and I
could not have been more absolute mistress, if the
chateau had been my own, thanks to the attentions of
my brother-in-law and his wife. My sister-in-law at an
age when a young woman loves to act the mistress of
the house, had nothing of that passion : she desired, with
all the kindness of a good disposition, that I should
command in her chateau as freely as herself ; she never
suffered the servants, in speaking of her, to call her
merely madame; she made them mention her by her
title, and me by mine. These are little matters, but
they deserve to be mentioned ; for they are proofs of
noble and delicate sentiments. My sister-in-law had re-
ligious principles, and a taste for occupation ; she was
incapable of envy or malice ; with a very handsome face
she was not a coquette ; she sincerely loved her hus-
band ; and she wanted nothing to make her a person of
merit and of exemplary conduct, but a more moral and
faithful husband.
I constantly practised medicine at Genlis, with my
Tissot in my hand, and in concert with M. Racine, the
village barber, who always came gravely to consult me
when he had any patients. We went to visit them to-
gether; all my prescriptions were confined to simple
drinks, and to broth, which I regularly sent from the
chateau. My practice served at least to moderate M.
Racine's rage for emetics, which he prescribed for almost
all kinds of diseases. I was perfect in the art of bleed-
ing ; the peasants often came to beg me to let blood of
them ; but when it became known that I always gave
222 MADAME DE GENUS.
them twenty-four or thirty sous after bleeding, I had
very soon a great number of patients, who were attracted,
I began to suspect, by the thirty sous. I then ceased
to bleed, but took the prescription of M. Milett, the
surgeon of La Fere, who came every eight or ten days.
The only property which M. Genlis then had was the
estate of Sissy, five leagues from Genlis ; it was worth
ten thousand francs a year, which are equal to twenty
thousand at present ; we did not spend five thousand out
of this, so that we were completely at our ease, and M<
de Genlis, who was full of goodness and humanity, did a
vast deal of good in the village ; my brother-in-law and
his wife were also extremely generous, and were in
return adored by the peasants.
One morning, when sitting alone in my room, I was
told that a pretty young woman belonging to Sissy
wished to speak with me. I desired her to be brought
in, and I saw in reality, a young country girl of sixteen,
beautiful as an angel. She threw herself in tears at my
feet, but refused to explain what she wanted. I lifted
her up, and kissed her with a tenderness which gave her
confidence, and she then confessed that she had been
seduced by our gamekeeper, who was forty-five years
old, and who had promised to marry her ; that she was
with child, and that he now refused to keep his word
because she had nothing; and she added with sobs, " I
have now nothing to do, but to throw myself into the
river! " I consoled her as well as I could, and made her
remain at the chateau. I went and related the history
to my sister-in-law, and we both spoke about it to my
MADAME DE GENLIS. 223
husband, who, in anger, wished to discharge his game-
keeper. We made him perceive that this would be the
ruin of the poor girl, and it was finally agreed that he
should give her a marriage-portion ; that I should give
her bride-clothes and a little outfit ; that my sister-in-law
should give her a lace cap and a gold cross, and my
brother-in-law, three pair of coarse sheets. M. de Genlis
immediately sent for his gamekeeper, who was quite un-
prepared. . . . We were curious, my sister-in-law and I,
to see the seducer. He appeared to us very old, but he
was tall ; he had a good air, and wore a green dress laced
with silver ; he had also a military look, which was suf-
ficient to give him an advantage over all the youths of
the village. M. de Genlis, on seeing him, felt his anger
rise, and without any preamble, he bluntly addressed
him thus : — " You are a scoundrel. . , . I give you three
hundred francs and a cow. . . ." This singular opening
gave us a great inclination to laugh ; the gamekeeper
grew pale with surprise, fear, and joy ; and when the
affair was explained to him, and all that had been done
for the girl, he appeared in an ecstasy of pleasure. I
have never seen anything more touching than the grat-
itude and the joy of the poor girl. M. de Genlis sent
them back to Sissy, to have the banns published, and
fixed their marriage day at three weeks from thence,
promising to come with me to the nuptials, which we
did. On the day appointed, we quitted Genlis on horse-
back, at daybreak ; on arriving at Sissy, we were received
by a cavalcade, which came to meet us, composed of the
notables of the village ; and they almost killed me by
224 MADAME DE GENUS.
firing in honor of me a gun which was over-charged.
The discharge threw me backwards, but luckily the gun
did not burst. I was not wounded, however, and the
accident did not prevent me from dancing at the wed-
ding. We did not return to Genlis until night had com-
pletely set in.
The Chevalier de Barbantane came to Genlis this year;
he was the brother of the Marquis of Barbantane, of the
Palais Royal, and was as amiable as his brother was dis-
agreeable. To a great deal of wit, he joined a frank and
rallying gayety, a delightful manner of telling a story,
and a most estimable disposition. His sallies, always,
always lively and pleasant, contrasted singularly with his
grave and stately air, and with his features, which had
something severe about them. He was then thirty-six
or thirty-seven. He was a great lover of music ; my
harp enchanted him, and this commenced between us a
friendship which lasted up to the revolution.
About the second or third of August, M. de Genlis
and I went to Rheims on a visit to my grandmother,
the Marchioness of Dromenil, who, knowing that M. de
Genlis was reconciled with M. and Madame de Puisieux,
consented at last to receive us. Madame de Puisieux
was this year at Vaudreuil, at the house of the president
Portail, so that we did not go to Sillery. Madame de
Dromenil had acquainted her grandson, in her letter,
that she could not let us stay with her longer than a
week. I met the respectable grandmother of my hus-
band with equal tenderness and respect ; she was eighty-
seven years of age, extremely small, but perfectly well
MADAME DE GENLIS. 225
proportioned ; her little hands and feet seemed to be-
long to a child of six ; her features equally delicate ; and
her mouth so small, that she had a spoon, knife and
fork for her own peculiar use ; all the articles of furniture
she used were made on purpose for her ; she had her
little tongs, her little arm-chair, her high chair on which
she sat at table ; and the sweet little tones of her voice
were suited to this interesting miniature. She had once
been very pretty and she still preserved a very sweet
and good-humored physiognomy. She was not deaf;
her sight was good ; she walked well, and had no kind of
infirmity ; her memory was excellent ; she was lively ; she
had a delicate and agreeable kind of wit, and an
admirable heart. She looked to me like a good and
beneficent fairy ; on seeing me she rose up, and stretched
out her arms to me ; I was touched with the tenderest
emotions ; I ran towards her, and, to receive her embrace,
I knelt upon my knees, and in that position, I reached
her head ; she embraced me several times ; and then,
turning towards M. de Genlis, she said, " My dear grand-
son, you have made a good choice, she is charming." I
soon found myself at my ease with her. I sat down by
her, and held her little hands in mine ; I caressed her
with the same feeling as if I were caressing an infant,
mingled with the veneration which such an age inspires.
After dinner my harp was unpacked, and I played upon
it as much as she pleased. She had received on a visit the
year preceding, her two granddaughters, Mesdames de
Belzance, and De Noailles, daughters of the Marquis
of Drom£nil, brother of the late Marchioness of Genlis,
226 MADAME DE GENLIS.
my mother-in-law ; she told me that I was infinitely
more agreeable to her than those ladies : yet Madame de
Belzance, who died very soon after of consumption, was
lovely as an angel, and mild and charming in her man-
ners and disposition. In the evening Madame de Drom-
£nil made me the same present she had made her two
granddaughters ; she gave me one hundred louis in a
beautiful purse, which I received with pleasure, in order
to give them to M. de Genlis. She became so much at-
tached to me that, in place of a week, she kept me with
her two months, which I passed very agreeably. Madame
de Dromenil received at her house all the best society of
Rheims, among whom I found many agreeable persons ;
she was also invited by many of the canons of the cathed-
ral ; and as she was very proud of my talent for the
harp, she made me play what she called a little air at
each visit. I was at several balls given in the town ; and
Madame de Dromenil gave two at her own house. Al-
most every morning she carried me to the promenade in
the public walk ; she rode in her carriage and I on horse-
back ; I kept by the door of the coach, and talked quan-
tities of nonsense to her, which made her laugh till the
tears came into her eyes ; all the childishness which I
had naturally in my disposition seemed charming to her.
Often at her own house I took her in my arms, and car-
ried her like a child into my room, and through all the
house, for she was as light as a feather ; all that I did
pleased and enlivened her. She showed me everything
interesting and curious that the town contained ; its fine
MADAME DE GENLIS. 22/
churches, the shaking pillar, and its splendid manufac-
tories.
At the end of two months I took leave of Madame de
Dromenil. She was so grieved to lose me, and I loved
her so affectionately, that I would have remained with
her a month longer, had I not promised to Madame de
Boulainvilliers that I would go and pass the autumn
at her chateau of Grisolles in Normandy. I wept
much on quitting this best and most amiable of grand-
mothers. M. de Genlis gave her his word that he would
bring me back the following spring. I shall never forget
that Madame de Dromenil made my coach to be loaded
with gingerbread and pears. I left Rheims full of grati-
tude for her kindness and affection for herself.
In going to Grisolles the axletree of our carriage broke.
The shock was very violent ; my maid, who was on the
front seat of my coach, fell heavily upon M. de Genlis,
and with her head, which struck against M. de Genlis,
she blackened his eye in a most horrid manner, and re-
ceived no accident herself. M. de Genlis was exceed-
ingly vexed about his black eye ; for it had been agreed
that we were to act plays on our arrival at Grisolles, and
he had to perform two parts of lovers, which he had
thoroughly studied. M. de Boulainvilliers, son of
Samuel Bernard, so famous for his immense wealth, had
just been appointed provost of Paris, which was a very
excellent place. He had married a cousin of M. de Genlis.
Madame de Boulainvilliers was then thirty-five or thirty-
six, she had been very pretty, and her face was still very
elegant and agreeable ; she had a spotless reputa-
228 MADAME DE GENLIS.
tion, a graceful wit and a most generous and feeling
heart. She had three daughters ; the eldest, afterward
Baroness de Crussol, was at that time fourteen or fifteen ;
she had neither the talent nor the agreeable manner of her
mother; she was considered handsome by her family:
she had one of those faces which seem lovely in descrip-
tion, but which are only beautiful because in describing
them we suppress everything depreciatory. She was tall
and thin ; she was very fair ; she had large eyes and a
small mouth ; but her figure was stiff, and her shape
somewhat twisted ; her complexion was pale and white,
her eyes round and staring, her face entirely void of ex-
pression, and her whole physiognomy, of grace. Her
second sister, who married M. de Faudoas, was ugly.
The third, who married M. de Tonnere, and who was
then six years old, was quite charming, and has always
been remarkable for her beauty, talents and excellent dis-
position. As for M. de Boulainvilliers, he was by no
means beloved in society ; but he always seemed to be a
very worthy man, who did the honors of his house ex-
tremely well. He was said to be a splendid miser ; which
generally signifies a person who is believed to combine
saving habits and regularity in his house-keeping, with
an appearance of show and magnificence.
M. de Genlis, who had, as I have stated, got a violent
blow on the head when the axletree broke, felt next day
such a sensation of heaviness and burning about it that
he sent for the surgeon of the place and had himself
bled. He had a room next to mine ; the next day he
called me early, and made me feel his head, which was
MADAME DE GENLIS. 22Q
quite as hot as before ; and he desired me to bleed him
a second time, because the surgeon had made two punc-
tures the preceding night before succeeding in drawing
blood. I replied that I should be afraid to bleed him,
and that I was sure my emotion would render my hand
unsteady. Being extremely uneasy, I felt the crown of
his head again, where all the heat seemed to be ; and in
doing so, I touched the wall against which the head of
the bed stood, and burnt my hand ; or, at least, I felt as
if it were burnt, so great was the heat. It was a warm
stove which passed by the wall, and which was lighted
very early every morning, it being extremely cold, though
it was but the beginning of October ; and this was the
sole cause of the sensation of pain in the head, for which
M. de Genlis was about to make himself be bled a second
time.
We proceeded to act our plays. I played Lisette in
" Les Jeux de 1'Amour et du Hasard " ; and Madame de
Boulainvilliers played Silvia very agreeably. The parts
of Dorants and Bourguignon were ably filled by Mes-
sieurs de Genlis ; my brother and sister-in-law arrived at
Grisolles a few days after us. All the gentry of the
neighborhood, many inhabitants of the neighboring
towns, and a great number of officers in garrison, com-
posed our audience, which was very numerous ; our
theatre contained five hundred persons, and was always
full. We played for our afterpiece, Z6ne"ide ; my sister-
in-law played that part, and I, Olinde, which is a charac-
ter which a woman may impersonate, as it is quite
developed in a long domino. We gave three representa-
230 MADAME DE GENLIS.
tions, which were all followed by balls. At this chateau
I first became acquainted with M. de Chambray, who had
an estate five leagues off. M. de Chambray was a man
of great learning and information, an excellent naturalist,
and well versed in natural philosophy ; he lived retired
on his estate, where he occupied himself solely with his
studies, and the education of his daughter, a charming
girl of sixteen, and his son who was in his sixteenth year.
I became much attached to Mademoiselle de Chambray,
whose information was astonishing for her age. She in-
spired me in this respect with a lively desire of emula-
tion, for she surpassed me infinitely. She confirmed me
in my nascent tastes for the study of natural history. I
rode on horseback a good deal at Chambray. On the
1 5th of November, my brother-in-law and his wife, with
M. and Madame Boulainvilliers returned to Paris; M. de
Genlis and I went to Chambray, where we passed five
weeks in the most agreeable solitude. I arrived there
more than three months enceinte, but through a pecu-
liarity of constitution I was not at all aware of it ; and
what was equally singular, I met with no ill consequences
from riding out daily in a magnificent forest of fir trees.
I played a great deal on the harp ; and passed whole
hours with Mademoiselle de Chambray in her cabinet of
natural history, of which the collecting had occupied her
father ten years; she explained everything to me in the
most luminous manner. She had also made a peculiar
study of geography; had read a prodigious number of
voyages ; and her conversation, which was free from all
kind of pedantry, was as agreeable as instructive to me.
MADAME DE GENLIS. 23!
We passed the winter at Paris ; I was then twenty. I
went once a week to dine at my aunt's, Madame de
Montesson, or with the Marchioness de la Haie, my
grandmother. These latter dinners were by no means to
my taste ; my grandmother treated me with extreme
coldness ; and as she wore on her face an enormous
quantity of red and white, and painted her eyebrows and
dyed her hair "to conceal the irreparable ravages of
years," her appearance was far from respectable in my
eyes. She had with her an unmarried sister, Madame
Desaleux, who was as good and kind as my grandmother
was imperious and haughty ; yet these two sisters were
models of perfect friendship. Madame de Montesson
treated me with great kindness, and caressed me exces-
sively, but never endeavored to show me to advantage in
the eyes of my grandmother, who, on her side never
asked me to sing or to play on the harp. Besides these
dinners, I went from time to time to my grandmother's
in the morning, while she was at her toilette ; it was the
hour she allotted for receiving me ; and I always found
her before her glass and surrounded by her women ; she
treated me with the most fatiguing sermons I have ever
heard ; as she had nothing to say on the present, she
preached to me about the future ; I never answered a
word, and when she had exhausted all the commonplaces
which she was constantly in the habit of repeating, and
the last pin of her head-dress was fixed, she used to rise
up and dismiss me. At my grandmother's I met a cele-
brated man of letters, who was already attacked with the
disease (consumption) of which he died a few years after-
232 MADAME DE GENLIS.
ward ; this was Colardeau, who, in my opinion, has left
behind him a reputation infinitely above his merits as a
poet. A middling tragedy, and a pretty translation of a
fine English epistle, (that of Eloisa to Abelard,) were not
sufficient to raise him to the high reputation which the
world, as if by common consent, has agreed to allow him.
But he had many friends among persons in high life ; he
had a mild and pliant disposition, and his talents were
not brilliant enough to excite envy ; he had just enough
of talent to please, and this is the kind of ability which
commands universal success. His translation of the
Epistle of Eloisa to Abelard is vastly inferior to the origi-
nal of Pope ; it even contains some absurd lines, such as
these : —
" Quoi ! faudra-t-il toujours aimer, se repentir,
Desirer, esperer, desesperer, sentir," etc.
This translation, in general, is remarkable for harmo-
nious versification ; but we have had since a thousand
pieces in verse which are as good as this, and which are
forgotten. Colardeau was mild in his manners in com-
pany, but his conversation was commonplace ; he was
sombre, and somewhat dull. The day of the week on
which I dined with my aunt, or my grandmother,
Madame de Montesson took me to pay visits in the
evening to the Princesses de Chimay ; the one who was
afterward 'maid of honor to the queen was still handsome,
and an angel in point of mildness and character ; we also
visited the Duchess of Mazarin, Madame de Gourgue, the
Marchioness de Livri, the Duchess of Chaulnes, and the
MADAME DE GENLIS. 233
Countess de la Massais, a lady of great wit and amiabil-
ity ; our day always finished by going to sup with one of
the three last named ladies, or with Madame de la Rey-
niere, the wife of the farmer-general. She was a person
thirty-five years old, full of vapors, extremely annoyed
at not having married a courtier, but handsome, obliging
and polite ; always complaining of her health, but never
complaining of any person, and doing the honors of her
house with great liberality and grace. My aunt, though
she was always very well received by this lady, was not
by any means fond of her ; and I perceived that almost
all the ladies of the court, about her own age, who went
to Madame de la Reyniere's, endeavored to make her
appear ridiculous ; I tried to discover the reason of this,
and though as yet I had so little experience, I found it
out. All these ladies were, in their hearts, envious of
the beauty of Madame de la Reyniere, of the extreme
magnificence of her establishment, and of the elegant
splendor of her toilette. This discovery grieved my
heart and led me to make melancholy reflections on the
conduct of the world. Madame de la Reyniere saw the
best company ; she had a very intimate friend, the
Countess of Melfort, a very handsome person, by whom
she was esteemed. She was also in habits of strict
friendship with the Marchioness of Tess6 : the latter,
who is still alive, has some wit but knows it too well, and
is too fond of showing it ; and in order to give her
hearers a higher opinion of it, she speaks a language
peculiar to herself which, to understand, sometimes re-
quires an interpreter; she, and the younger Madame
234 MADAME DE GENLIS.
d'Egmont, are the last of the race of affectedly nice
ladies, whom I have seen in the great world ; affected
airs and patches were already out of fashion among wo-
men of my age. M. de Tess£ was the coldest and most
taciturn person I have ever met with. He built a fine
chateau at Cheville, between Paris and Versailles ; and
a few years after the period to which I allude, he wore
constantly a snuff-box, decorated with a miniature, repre-
senting the chateau at Cheville ; beneath which was this
verse from the tragedy of Phedre : —
" Je lui Batis un temple ut pris soin de 1'orner ; "
— which signified that he had built Cheville for Madame
de Tess£ ; thus comparing himself to Phaedra, agitated
with the transports of love, and Madame de Tesse", who
was forty, and who was anything but handsome, to
Venus, toute entiere & sa proie attachte. This inscription
excited much laughter, especially from its being chosen
by M. de Tess£, a man of fifty, who certainly had never
been in love. As for M. de la Reyniere, he was an ex-
cellent man, who loved talent and the arts, kept an ele-
gant establishment, and gave the best suppers in Paris ;
but he had some oddities, which, however, have been
greatly exaggerated. Of all the persons to whom my
aunt introduced me, those to whose houses I liked best
to go were Madame de la Rayniere and Madame de la
Massais ; I commenced a friendship with them, which
lasted till my removal to Belle Chasse. I met at
Madame de la Reyniere's several very agreeable men.
One was the Abb6 Arnauld, whose Provencal accent,
MADAME DE GENLIS. 235
open air, his vivacity, and his gayety, rendered his con-
versation very amusing and gave a natural tone to all he
said, though he had a good deal of affectation in his
language as well as his writings ; but he had many ex-
cellent qualities, a great equality of temper, and an in-
violable secrecy as to all that passed in society ; but he
was violent in his enmities, and wrote the most bitter
epigrams against his enemies. The Count d'Albaret was
also a particular friend of Madame de la Reyniere.
Madame Necker, in her Souvenirs, has most unjustly
ridiculed him ; in the first place, because he had nothing
ridiculous about him ; he was good-humored, pleasant,
witty, and had a great number of agreeable accomplish-
ments ; he loved the arts passionately, and was a good
judge of them ; he was extremely gay ; he was a person
who seemed always determined to amuse himself, and to
please his friends, and succeeded, by means of his talents,
his good temper, and his great complaisance in society ;
but his complaisance never went further than it ought.
He had the happiest possible disposition, both for him-
self and others ; he never sought the acquaintance of any
persons but those whose company was agreeable to him ;
his gayety of humor never led him to say anything ma-
lignant ; and he never committed a mean action. He
was a person of fortune, and gave at his own house little
concerts, which were delicious ; he received none but the
best company ; his morals were perfectly pure. This
was styled a frivolous kind of existence ; as for me, I
think it far happier and more amiable than a life devoted
to the acquisition of wealth, or the intrigues of ambition.
236 MADAME DE GENLIS.
I saw this year, (1766), the Abbe Delille, who had just
published his beautiful translation of the Aeneid. I
thought him ingenuous and amiable ; he had a face of a
certain intelligent ugliness, which it was amusing to ex-
amine ; at this time he recited verses in a manner that
was quite charming, and which belonged exclusively to
himself. I was very intimate with Madame de Louvois,
who introduced me to her sister, Madame de Custines.
The conduct of Madame de Logny, widow of one of
the richest financiers, had been marked with something
even worse than levity ; and the scandal which ensued
appeared to have been a lesson to her two daughters,
who both became two perfectly virtuous and irreproach-
able women ; the eldest, who married M. de Louvois,
was the smallest woman I ever saw ; but she had a beau-
tiful shape, delicate little hands, a fine complexion, a
pretty face, and an infantine air, which rendered this
little person quite charming.
M. and Madame de Louvois lived with Madame de
Logny; this was even made one of the conditions of the
marriage ; as Madame de Logny would not consent to
be separated from her beloved daughter, whom she loved
far more than the other, who afterward married M. de
Custines. M. de Louvois conducted himself in some-
what of a levity towards his mother-in-law ; Madame de
Logny was offended and displeased with her daughter,
because she did not partake her resentment. Madame
de Louvois adored her husband ; but this tenderness
was so unworthily returned, that it may almost be re-
garded as weakness on her part ; but it was the duty of a
MADAME DE GENLIS. 237
mother to respect it, and Madame de Logny did not.
In her malice against her son-in-law, she showed so little
sense and principle, as to acquaint her daughter with the
infidelities and the licentious conduct of her husband.
By this unworthy behavior, she entirely lost the confi-
dence of Madame de Louvois, whom she thus afflicted
with a misfortune which she could not remedy. The
reciprocal dislike augmented ; annoyances of all kinds,
and treacherous explanations multiplied daily. At
length, one day, when Madame de Logny was gone to
dine in the country, M. de Louvois, who had secretly
hired a house, quitted that of his mother-in-law, without
giving her any notice of it ; he removed all his furniture
in a few hours, and carried his wife along with him.
This rude and extraordinary behavior carried the rage
and resentment of Madame de Logny to its height. In
vain did Madame de Louvois write the most submissive
letters to her mother, or waited upon her at her house ;
her letters were sent back unopened, and her mother's
door remained shut against her. Madame de Logny
sent word that she would never either pardon her, or see
her face again ; and unfortunately she kept her threat.
She resisted with an extravagant and barbarous firmness
all the representations of her friends, and the tears and
supplications of Mademoiselle de Logny, who interceded
with ardor and perseverance for her unfortunate sister.
But Madame de Logny became the victim of her own
harshness, and suffered a change of health,- which soon
became a very dangerous chronic disease. In proportion
as her strength decreased, her . resentment seemed to
238 MADAME DE GENLIS.
augment, or rather, her unnatural hate appeared to be
destroying in her the principles of life. Can an implaca-
ble mother exist? When her end approached, those
about her mentioned the name of Madame de Louvois ;
she desired them to be silent. They endeavored but
fruitlessly to awaken in her breast some sentiments of
religion. The curate of the parish came without being
sent for ; he spoke to her of the sacraments, but
she replied not a word. At last he pronounced the name
of Madame de Louvois, and Madame de Logny said in
a terrible voice, " Leave my house, Sir ! " He withdrew
and remained in a closet adjoining the bed-room.
Mademoiselle de Logny had brought her sister secretly
into the house, and had her concealed from her mother's
view. At what she thought a favorable moment, she
threw herself on her knees at her mother's bed-side, and
bathed in tears, she implored her sister's pardon.
" Hold your tongue ! " was the only reply she obtained.
Madame de Louvois passed four days and four nights on
a rush-bottomed chair, in her cruel mother's antecham-
ber. Madame de Logny admitted no one into her room
but Perigny and her youngest daughter. The latter col-
lected from several words that dropped from her mother
that she meditated a vengeance which would survive her.
The fifth day Madame de Logny who was at her
last extremity, though still perfectly sensible, sent for
her notary, and was shut up with him more than two
hours ; during this time, Mademoiselle de Logny re-
quested a private interview with Perigny, and addressed
him thus: " You, Sir, are the person whom I esteem the
MADAME DE GENLIS. 239
most in the world ; and I wish to open my heart to you.
I have no knowledge of business ; but I know there are
means of eluding the laws, and that by employing them
my mother can disinherit my sister, which I believe to
be her design. My intentions are good ; but I am only
seventeen ; at that age I may draw back, or follow bad
advice ; I therefore wish to bind myself to my resolution
by an irrevocable vow. I beg you, Sir, whom I revere
as a father, to receive the word of honor which I here
solemnly pledge you, to give up to my sister, if she
is disinherited, not merely a part of my mother's
property but the entire half, which is her right.
Now, (added she) I am easy upon this point ; it is
now impossible for me to fail in my duty."
P£rigny was deeply touched by this conduct, but what
struck him most in the behavior of the young person,
who had all her life been remarkable for decision of
character, was the modest and virtuous distrust of her-
self, and the precaution which she thought it necessary
to take, of binding herself so as to render herself incapa-
ble of changing her determination. This trait of charac-
ter is, indeed, admirable, and proves the soul of an angel,
and a virtue truly worthy of a Christian. On the even-
ing of the same day, Mademoiselle de Logny and the
president made a last effort in favor of Madame de Lou-
vois ; they ventured to declare that she had been in the
antechamber for the last five days ; upon this Madame
de Logny, raising her voice, pronounced in fury these
terrible words : " I curse her ! " Her unhappy daughter,
placed against the half open door of her room, heard
240 MADAME DE GENLIS.
them and fainted. After this last effort of unnatural
hatred, Madame de Logny fell into a long and terrible
agony, and died at the break of day. If she had had any
sense of religion, and had received the sacraments, she
would have opened her arms to her daughter, and, in
spite of her inconceivable hardness of heart, she would
have pardoned her ! . . . . On her death Mademoiselle
de Logny went into the convent of Pantemont.
By her will, Madame de Logny gave to the President
de Perigny all her fortune (about one hundred thousand
francs a year), her lands, revenues, furniture, diamonds,
in short, all she possessed. M. de Perigny accepted the
trust, and, agreeably to the intention of the testatrix, he
gave up the whole fortune to Mademoiselle de Logny,
who divided it with her sister, so scrupulously, that in
sharing the plate, she broke in two a silver-gilt spoon,
which had not a fellow, in order to send one half of it to
Madame de Louvois. The latter died without children
two or three years afterward, and her whole fortune re-
turned to the pure and generous hands which bestowed
it. Mademoiselle de Logny, a year after her mother's
death, married the Count de Custines. No young per-
son ever entered into life with a more enviable reputa-
tion, or was received in a manner more distinguished,
and more flattering. Her conduct towards her sister, of
which Perigny had published all the details, excited the
well-founded admiration of every one, and inspired me
with the greatest anxiety to become acquainted with
her. She was a very handsome woman, with a counte-
nance imposing and somewhat severe ; but her features
MADAME DE GENLIS. 241
were perfectly regular. She was tall ; all her features
were handsome, especially her eyes, which, for size, form,
and expression, were quite admirable. I threw myself
on her neck with a naivete which touched her extremely.
From this time I date the friendship we conceived for
each other, and which lasted till the death of this admira-
ble woman. At her house, I met a young lady of our
own age, who became my friend, and whose friendship I
have had the good fortune to preserve. This was the
Countess d'Harville ; she had a pretty face, she was
intelligent, mild, and lively ; I never knew any one more
sincere, or whose company was more agreeable. At my
own house, also, I saw the Marchioness de Bre"hant, a
perfect beauty in miniature : she was extremely little.
I sometimes visited the Marchioness of Ronce, an old
friend of the late Princess of Cond£ ; she had a party
every Saturday, where there was conversation and music ;
I played on the harp there several times. At her house
I met M. de Chamfort, who had already published his
" Young Indian Girl " ; he had a handsome face, and was
a great coxcomb. At Madame de Boulainvilliers' I be-
came acquainted with another poet, Lemierre, who was
an excellent man ; he read his own tragedies with ridicu-
lous vehemence, but he had a great deal of talent and
right feeling. He was surprisingly ugly, but his ugliness
was not revolting ; he had a high opinion of his own
merit, and he showed it frankly and without any arro-
gance. It was rather an opinion than a pretention, and
as he did not seem to be offensively vain of it, every one
took it in good part. I supped from time to time with
242 MADAME DE GENLIS.
the Marchioness of Cr£ne, with the young Duchess of
Liancourt, and the Marchioness of Beuvron ; we dined
or supped once a week with Madame Puisieux, and once
or twice a month with the Marchioness d'Etree ; but the
persons whom I loved most to see were Madame de Bal-
incour, Madame de Custines, and Madame d'Harville.
I was now enceinte of Madame de Valence, who was
born, (as well as my first child) in the Cul-de-sac St.
Dominique. After my accouchement, I experienced a
real fright. As soon as the infant was examined I re-
marked on the features of M. de Genlis and all the other
persons who were in the room, an air of consternation,
which led me to fancy that I had brought a deformed
child into the world ; at the same time I heard a mys-
terious whispering, which confirmed my fears. I inter-
rogated every one so anxiously, that they were at last
obliged to answer me. M. de Genlis, with a visage of
preparation which made me shudder, told me that my
poor little girl was in fact born with a deformity ; but he
advised me to be tranquil, and that next day I should
know all. I was by no means disposed to be tranquil ;
but burst into tears, crying, that I insisted on seeing my
infant, to bless it, and love it all alone were it even a
carp. M. de Genlis scolded me, for what he called my
unbridled imaginations, and at last they brought me the
monster, which turned out such a charming young wo-
man, and showed me below her chin a strawberry in half
relief, very red, and marked with little spots, like that
fruit ; of the same shape, and exactly resembling a beau-
tiful garden-strawberry. On discovering that this was
MADAME DE GENLIS. 243
all, my joy was unbounded ; I thought, and I said, that
such a singular mark was even very pretty, and that I
hoped it would not wear off ; but M. de Genlis, vexed
about this poor strawberry, tried all imaginable means of
flattening and removing it, and at last succeeded in effac-
ing the mark entirely.
As soon as I was recovered from my confinement, I
went in the spring to Isle-Adam, where the Prince of
Conti resided. I had already come out, as the phrase is,
but I had never been at the Isle-Adam, and for a young
person this was a kind of first appearance. The Count-
ess de Bouffiers, and the Mar£chale de Luxembourg, both
remarkable for the excellent taste of their style and
manners, and intimate friends of the Prince of Conti,
passed all the fine part of the year at the Isle-Adam ;
and there, as well as at Paris, they reigned the supreme
judges of all who appeared in the great world. I had
never visited these ladies ; I had only met them in com-
pany, and was merely known to them by sight. Up to
this time, I had spoken but little in company ; I reserved
all my conversation for my intimate friends ; my face
and my harp alone were the themes of eulogy ; for my
reserve and timidity led people to judge unfavorably of
my understanding. When my aunt was interrogated on
the subject, she used merely to reply, that I was a good
creature, and as naive as Madame de D This was
a person thirty-five years old, and famous for retaining
at that age all the childishness of manner which she
had at fifteen ; which was very properly considered the
rarest example of folly ever exhibited in fashionable
244 MADAME DE GENLIS.
life. It was my aunt who took me to the Isle-Adam.
The very first day, Mesdames de Luxembourg and De
Boufflers made her some 'questions about my talents.
My aunt made her usual answer. " That is singular,"
said the marechale, " for she is an exception to the prov-
erb, which says, that round faces have no character in
them ; there is a great deal of quick meaning in hers."
The marechale de Luxembourg had made amends for
all the errors of her youth, by her sincere devotion, and
by the excellent education she had bestowed upon her
granddaughter, the Duchess de Lauzun, a young person
of eighteen, of a truly angelic disposition. The mar6-
chale had read little, but she had a fine natural under-
standing, remarkable for quickness, delicacy and grace.
She attached too much importance to elegance of lan-
guage, to manners and to the knowledge of the habits
of high life. She decided irrevocably upon an expres-
sion which was in bad taste ; and, strange to say, this
frivolous manner of judging almost always turned out tc
be just. But she applied this test only to persons who
lived much in t*he society of the capital, and not to
people from the country, or to foreigners. " A person,"
said she, "who has opportunities of seeing what is
elegant, and what is not, and adopts any mode contrary
to the tone of good society, must be destitute of taste,
tact and delicacy." She affected to have discovered in
the usages of high life, as they then existed, an admir-
able mixture of cleverness and good sense; and indeed,
when any one questioned her on that subject, she had
always a ready reply, which was equally ingenious and
MADAME DE GENLIS. 245
witty. Her disapprobation, never expressed otherwise
than by a laconic kind of mockery, was a sentence from
which there was no appeal. Any one, on whom it was
inflicted, lost generally that sort of personal respect,
which caused his company to be thought desirable in so-
ciety or which procured him an invitation to the charm-
ing petit soupers, which only persons remarkable for
their agreeable talents, and their fashion, were admitted.
This sort of consideration was, at that time, very desir-
able and much sort after.
The marechale's censures were not always levelled at
frivolous things ; she condemned, with equal rigor,
anything insolent or dogmatic in the tone, all presumptu-
ous confidence, and everything which discovered in con-
versation either coxcombry or ill-feeling. The mar£chale
was truly the instructress of all the youth of the court ,
and persons belonging to the court, in turn, placed a
high value on rendering themselves agreeable to her. I
made a study of all she said ; she showed an attachment
to me, and allowed me to interrogate her about things
of which I was ignorant, and especially on the habits of
high life, of which she had studied the spirit ; this
assisted me much in the composition of a work which I
have now in my portfolio, entitled — " The Spirit of the
Usages and Etiquettes of the Eighteenth Century." I
intend to give it another form, and to publish it as a
dictionary.
The Countess de Boufflers, an old and intimate friend
of the Prince of Conti, and who had preserved a prodi-
gious influence over him, was one of the most amiable
246 MADAME DE GENLIS.
persons I have ever known ; she had a love of paradoxes,
which disposed her to perpetually maintain the most
singular and extravagant opinions ; she was, perhaps,
too great an enemy of commonplaces. This aversion
to ordinary themes, which was joined in her to a great
deal of wit, rendered her conversation extremely piquant,
but gave her the reputation, very erroneously, of judging
ill ; her talk was highly amusing and agreeable. She
loved to show others off to the best advantage, and she
did this in a natural and graceful manner, which was
altogether peculiar to herself. The Countess Amelia,
her daughter-in-law, to whom she was passionately at-
tached, then seventeen years old, had nothing remark-
able about her. Her mother-in-law repeated bon mots,
which she attributed to her, but which she alone had
heard ; however, since the death of Madame de Boufflers
no one else has cited any.
There resided constantly at the Isle-Adam a very
amiable old man, M. du Pont-de-Vesle. Every evening
after supper, the Prince of Conti requested him to sing
impromptus upon all the young ladies who were at table.
He sang these couplets in blank verse. There were, in
these couplets, gallantry without insipidity, and infinite
grace ; but this practice was embarrassing for the ladies ;
it was difficult to preserve an easy air during these eulo-
gies, though they had in them a little touch of the
epigrammatic.
M. de Conti was the only one among the princes of
the blood who had a taste for literature and the sciences,
or who could speak in public. His face, person, and
MADAME DE GENLIS. 247
manners, were imposing ; no man could say obliging
things with more delicacy and grace ; and in spite of his
successes among the women, there was not, in his man-
ner, the slightest trace of coxcombry. He was, more-
over, the most magnificent of our princes ; at his house,
you felt as if you were in your own. At the Isle-Adam,
each lady had a carriage and horses at her command ;
and not being obliged to go down into the saloon, till an
hour before supper, she was at liberty to ask parties
to dinner daily in her own apartments. As the prince
did not dine, he wished to save the ladies the trouble of
going down into the dining-room and sitting at table
where a hundred other persons dined. Ceremony was
reserved for the evening; but during the day you en-
joyed perfect liberty, and all the charms of private so-
ciety. What a pity, that so amiable a prince should
have had the singular passion of affecting sometimes an
air of despotism and harshness, which, by no means be-
longed to his disposition ! I shall here mention an in-
stance, of which I was witness one day, as we quitted
our room to go into a neighboring one, to hear mass
celebrated. M. de Chabriant stopped the Prince of
Conti, to request his orders relative to a poacher, who
had just been apprehended. At this question, the Prince
of Conti, raising his voice very high, replied coldly, " A
hundred blows, and three months' imprisonment ; " and
then pursued his way with the most tranquil air possible.
Such coldness, joined to such cruelty, made me shudder.
In the afternoon, meeting with M. de Chabriant, I could
not refrain from mentioning the poor poacher, and the
248 MADAME DE GENLIS.
barbarous sentence pronounced by the prince. " Oh ! "
said M. de Chabriant, laughing, " this was only addressed
to the audience. I know him well ; none of his tyranni-
cal orders, given in public, are ever executed ; as for the
poacher, for whom you are so much interested, he will
merely be banished from the Isle-Adam for two months ;
and, during that time monseigneur will secretly take
care of his family, which is very numerous. Such were
the orders he gave me on leaving mass." " What ! " re-
joined I ; "is it not then a first emotion of anger, which
makes him pronounce such odious sentences ? " " No,"
he replied, " it is merely done for effect ; he wishes,
from time to time, to appear formidable and terrible."
The Prince of Conti has been too much praised for
what was then called his firmness. Such an eulogy
must have been highly flattering to a prince of the house
of Bourbon ; it is the only praise (since the time of the
regency) which flattery could not venture on ; and, in
order to merit it, the Prince of Conti affected the tyrant,
while his heart overflowed with sentiments of humanity.
The Prince of Conti had an imposing exterior, a hand-
some and majestic expression of face, and a great deal
of talent ; but I could never accustom myself to his
manner, nor get rid of the embarrassment with which his
presence affected me ; he had something scrutinizing in
his air, which disconcerted me. Notwithstanding that
he had been prejudiced in my favor by Mesdames de
Luxembourg and De Boufflers, he thought me but a very
middling person ; and when M. de Done"zan told him
that I acted proverbs in an extraordinary style, he re-
MADAME DE GENLIS. 249
fused to believe it. It was afterward determined that
we should act proverbs. A little portable stage was
erected in the dining-room, and we played " The Cob-
bler" and "The Financier"; there were but three
persons, the financier, the cobbler, and his wife ; I
played the latter, and M. Donezan, the cobbler, in a
style of perfection which was quite inimitable. My aunt
had never seen me act proverbs, for I had only played
once with M. Donezan at Madame de la Reyniere's, and
in the presence of not more than four or five persons.
We were prodigiously applauded ; the silent timidity,
which I had hitherto manifested, gave my success the air
of a miracle ; in the last scene, I excited both the tears
and the laughter of my auditory : the prince's surprise
was extreme. He made M. de Genlis promise to have
my portrait painted in my costume of the cobbler's wife
holding up my apron full of onions. I was so painted ;
but I do not know what afterward became of the picture.
We were made to perform this little piece four days suc-
cessively. The Marechale and Madame de Boufflers
were delighted upon this occasion ; they seemed to
triumph in my success, and repeated continually, that in
order to play so well, from my own ideas of the part, I
must have prodigious ingenuity and talent ; what the
part principally wants is a feeling of nature. The Prince
of Conti tried anew to converse with me, but in vain ;
my embarrassment in his company was invincible. All
the women, and particularly my aunt, insisted also upon
acting proverbs, and asked M. Donezan to give them
lessons ; but he assured them that he had never given
MADAME DE GENLIS.
me any, and that I had played the part from the first as
I represented it in public.
Several proverbs were rehearsed. Madame de Montes-
son and Madame de Sabran (lady of honor to the Prin-
cess of Conti) chose parts in them, and played not even
tolerably, but in the most absurd and ridiculous manner.
They felt this and their vexation was extreme. Madame
de Sabran showed hers like an infant ; after the play she
cried with vexation. This scene surprised and confounded
me. Madame de Sabran, who had hitherto shown me
much good-will, from this time became my enemy. I
have had many since from as frivolous a cause. The
proverbs were stopped to the great regret of the Prince
of Conti, the marechale, Madame de Boufflers, and
Monsieur de Don6zan. We acted comedies, in which I
had only two significant parts — that of a lover in the
Imprompt de Campagne, and Isabella in the Plaideurs.
But in order to hear me sing and play the harp, M. du
Pont-de-Vesle wrote a little piece called the Nuptials
of Isabella, in which I played a sonata for the harp, and
sang several pretty verses.
Madame de Montesson, in my opinion, played very ill
in comedy, because in that, as in every thing else, she
wanted natural feeling. But she had a great deal of
dexterity, and the sort of talent that a country actress
possesses, who has succeeded, from her age to play the
principal parts, though she plays them only by rote.
The count, afterwards Duke of Guignes, was of this
party ; he passed for being one of the most brilliant and
agreeable persons about the court ; there was nothing
MADAME DE GENLIS. 2$ I
remarkable about his person, but an extraordinary affec-
tation of nicety about his hair, and magnificence in his
dress. All his reputation for wit was founded on a sort
of espionage, which he exercised over all little matters,
that were either ridiculous or in bad taste ; these he
characterized in a few words, and in a very pleasant
manner denounced them to Madame de Luxembourg,
and sneered at them in a very piquant way with her and
Madame de Boufflers. But this kind of mockery never
fell upon reputations, but only upon trifling follies. The
Duke of Guignes had some agreeable accomplishments ;
he was a good musician, and played well upon the flute.
Another gentleman of this period, who was a great
favorite among the women, was the Count de Chabot ;
he was neither handsome nor very young ; he never
spoke loud, but he stammered — a defect which in him
seemed a grace ; he practised a kind of mysterious gal-
lantry, only expressed by a few piquant words, always
whispered in an undertone. It was, however, somewhat
common, being addressed to almost all the young ladies ;
but it did not appear so, because it was always confided, as
it were, in a whisper to the ear, and with an air of feeling
and truth which had something very seducing in it.
His brother, the Count de Jarnac, was the most polished
gentleman of the court ; he had a passion for the fine
arts, and was very magnificent ; his manners were noble,
and his face rather handsome, but he wanted grace. I
met again, at the Isle-Adam, with great pleasure, the
Countess de Coigny, formerly Mademoiselle de Roissy,
with whom I had been very intimate at the convent of
252 MADAME DE GENLIS.
the Precieux Sang. She was somewhat singular in her
manners, but she had much talent and good feeling ; we
renewed our acquaintance and she told me that she was
fond of studying anatomy — a strange taste for a young
female of eighteen. As I had studied medicine and
surgery a little, Madame de Coigny loved to converse
with me. I promised to go through a course of anatomy,
but not like her on dead human bodies. The celebrated
Mademoiselle de Biron, who lived at the Estrepade, near
the Cul-de-sac Saint Dominique, was the first who in-
vented entire anatomical subjects, made up of wax and
rags ; she executed them with astonishing perfection ;
and it was at her house that I began, and continued at
different times, a course of anatomy. She modeled her
imitations upon corpses which she kept in a glass-cabinet
in the middle of the garden. I never ventured to enter
this cabinet, which was her favorite spot, and which she
called her little boudoir.
The younger Countess of Egmont, daughter of the
Marshal de Richelieu, at whose house I had supped sev-
eral times with Madame de Montesson, came this year
to the Isle-Adam ; she had still a charming face notwith-
standing her ill health ; she was then but twenty-eight,
or twenty nine, and had the prettiest features I have
ever seen. She gave herself far too many airs of face ;
but all her airs were graceful. Her understanding was
like her face, full of mannerism but elegant withal. I
am of the opinion that Madame d'Egmont was only
singular and not affected ; her manner was natural to
her. She had formed many violent attachments, and
MADAME DE GENLIS. 253
she has been reproached with a romantic passion which
continued long ; but her conduct has always been pure.
The women did not love her ; they envied the seducing
charms of her face, and rendered no justice to her good-
ness and mildness of disposition ; and as she was open
to reprehension in many respects, she was not spared in
anything in which she could be blamed. I have never
seen any one made the subject of so many little mock-
eries as she was ; but this neither prevented me from
seeking her acquaintance nor from loving her society,
nor from thinking her charming. The last time my aunt
and I supped with her, before going to the Isle-Adam,
M. de Lusignan, who was called Thick-head, was present.
M. de Lusignan was not quite destitute of understand-
ing, but he never reflected a moment, and had a habit
of openly saying whatever was uppermost in his imagi-
nation. As he was not malignant, this characteristic
was overlooked in favor of the air of originality it gave
him. At the supper I allude to, when we seated at
table in the dining-room, his eyes fixed upon a large
picture opposite him, which represented a very beautiful
woman in a sitting posture, with the air of one occupied
with melancholy thoughts. He interrogated M. d'Eg-
mont as to the subject of the picture ; and M. d'Egmont
replied, that the melancholy figure was that of one of
his ancestors, the wife of a Count of Egmont, who, hav-
ing discovered her infidelity to him, cut off her head.
" My God ! madame," cried M. de Lusignan, addressing
himself to Madame d'Egmont, " does not such an ex-
ample frighten you ? . . . but " (added he) " thank heaven
254 MADAME DE GENLIS.
the Egmonts of the present day are not so ferocious."
During these interesting remarks, all the company
looked at each other, Madame d'Egmont pretended to
laugh, and the subject was speedily changed. My aunt
related this scene to several persons, through whom it
reached the ears of Madame d'Egmont, who was told
that it was I who had told the story. When Madame
d'Egmont came to the Isle-Adam, I was extremely sur-
prised to find her very cold in her manner with me ; I
was told that she said, that notwithstanding my mild
and timid air, I was very malicious ; I begged my aunt
to ask her why she had taken up this opinion of me after
having shown me so much friendship. My aunt called
upon her one morning, and Madame d'Egmont told her
what had been reported to her; upon this my aunt did
what was highly honorable to her — she confessed herself
to be the person to blame. I cannot doubt of this hand-
some conduct on the part of my aunt, for from this time
Madame d'Egmont was particularly attentive to me on
all occasions, and I remarked that she was very cold
with Madame de Montesson — to whom she has ever
since borne a dislike.
We remained six weeks at the Isle- Adam ; afterward
I passed a few days at Paris, and then I went with my
aunt to Villers-Coterets, for the first. We had studied
parts, in order to play acts there, and even to perform
operas. We played " Vertumnus " and " Pomona." I
performed Vertumnus, who takes the shape of a woman
and my aunt played Pomona ; she dressed for the part
in a gown decorated with apples and other fruits •,
MADAME DE GENLIS. 255
Madame d'Egmont said she looked like a walking green-
house. The dress was heavy and my aunt was short,
and her shape far from handsome ; her voice, too, was
far too weak for taking a part in an opera ; she failed
completely in this one. The Marquis of Clermont, after-
ward ambassador to Naples, played the god Pan very
well. My success in " Vertumnus " was unbounded.
We had all the opera dancers in our ballets, the piece
was to have been presented three times, but was played
only once ; as well as the " Isle Sornante," a comic
opera, of which the words were by Coll£, and the music
by Monsigny. I played a sultana, and the scene opened
with a grand air, which I sang, accompanying myself on
the harp. Monsigny wrote the part and the air on pur-
pose for me. I wore a splendid dress, dazzling with gold
and jewels ; when the curtain drew up, I had three
rounds of applause, and my air had a double encore. It
was impossible for me not to perceive, after the per-
formance, that my aunt was in very ill humor. We
acted " Rose " and " Colas " ; my aunt, who was thirty,
performed Rose, and I the part of the old mother Robi.
We played, besides, " The Deserter," in which Madame
de Montesson had the best part ; I played that of the
young girl ; the Countess de Blot, who had been maid
of honor to the late Duchess of Orleans, and who was
then thirty-four, played the principal parts in " The
Misanthrope " and the " Legacy," and with the greatest
success. She really had infinite grace, and the talent of
playing very cleverly. The Count de Pont performed
the part of the Misanthrope to perfection, without imita-
256 MADAME DE GENLIS.
ting any actor of the Theatre Francois ; he had a real
talent for acting, and an air of nobility in his manners
and behavior, which no actor by profession can have.
M. de Vandreuil was much in fashion ; his talents were
not very considerable, but his manners were of the high-
est elegance. Madame d'H6nin said, that the only two
persons who could talk to women were Le Kain on the
stage, and M. de Vandreuil in a saloon. The latter had
a number of pretty little talents, middling enough, but
agreeable in company. He sang a little, danced tolera-
bly, and appeared to love all the fine arts ; even if this
were no more than pretence, it is useful to the arts and
creditable to the amateur. He was gentle and polite in
his manners ; no one dreaded his malignity ; all loved
his society.
The celebrated comic actor, Grandval, superintended
the repetition of our parts, and even acted with us. The
Duke of Orleans played very broadly the part of a peas-
ant. I met at our rehearsals Colle and Sedaine, neither
of whom were amiable persons. Carmontel, the reader
of the Duke of Orleans, entered the room always after
dinner, with a large book, in which he put the portraits
of all the persons who arrived at Villers-Coterets ; all
these portraits were in profile, and somewhat caricatured ;
but they were like the originals, and formed a curious
collection. He gave us only one sitting ; I was repre-
sented as very ugly, and in the attitude of playing on the
harp ; I had a small forehead which he drew a great deal
too large and thus took away all resemblance. The Duke
of Orleans wished to see me act proverbs with Carmontel,
MADAME DE GENLIS. 257
who played to perfection the part of a brutal or ill-tem-
pered husband ; these he played with inimitable nature
and spirit but he could play nothing else. M. de Done"-
zanand M. d'Albaret acted with us ; my aunt refused to
play, but we excited such an enthusiasm, that we agreed
to act every evening. My aunt, towards the end of our
stay here, met with a signal and brilliant success. This
history is sufficiently singular to deserve a full narration
of all the particulars.
From the time of my marriage, my aunt had shown
great friendship for me ; and I, in my turn, had become
so much attached to her, that I no longer preserved any
of my old recollections of her conduct, or the dislike I
had once felt for her. I ascribed her harshness towards
my mother, partly to her levity of character, and partly
to the avarice which I could not fail to discover, and
which was, in fact, her ruling passion ; indeed, I saw no
other fault in her ; she had a very even temper, and some
gayety ; I thought her candid and feeling, and she seemed
extremely fond of me. I was convinced that she had
the utmost confidence in me, and I was profoundly
attached to her; she told me that the Duke of Orleans
was in love with her, and that he was jealous of the
Count de Guines. Madame de Montesson had not pre-
tended to disavow this mutual attachment, but she pro-
tested it had always been platonic, and that the
sentiments she felt could only be altered by the change
of those of the Count de Guines. She told me all these
matters, as well as the Duke of Orleans, and I believed
them as he did. I forgot to say that before we left the
258 MADAME DE GENLIS.
Isle-Adam, the Duke of Orleans had come to pass seven
or eight days there ; during this time, the Count de
Guines seemed to be entirely occupied with the Countess
Amelie de Boufflers ; my aunt pointed this out to me,
adding that she was dying of grief at the sight. I sug-
gested to her mildly, that she should do all in her power
to triumph over a passion, which was always blamable,
notwithstanding the purity of her behavior, especially
as she was married as well as the count. M. de Mon-
tesson was eighty, but the Countess de Guines was
young. My aunt talked exceedingly well about virtue ;
I even thought I discovered in her some sentiments of
religion ; she lamented her weakness, and I pitied her
sincerely, supposing her to be in a state of mind the most
distressing possible. As for the Duke of Orleans, she
told me she felt for him only a tender friendship, and
that she did all in her power to cure him of an unhappy
passion. I confess I did not believe this, for the contrary
was quite evident ; but I ascribed her conduct with the
duke to her natural coquetry, and I never suspected her
of any ambitious design. Monsigny, one of the best
men I have ever known, and who had a great deal of
natural talent, became quite transported with my voice
and my harp, and came every day to have some music
with me in my room. I acquired a friendship for him ;
we talked while we played ; he related to me a great
many curious things, and, among others, one that sur-
prised me. It was, that my aunt had privately requested
him, as well as Sedaine, to give her acting eulogies only
at the rehearsals, (at which the Duke of Orleans was al-
MADAME DE GENLIS. 259
ways present,) and to reserve his advice and instructions
for her private ear ; she said that this would encourage her.
Monsigny and Sedaine judged that this was a contrivance
to exalt her in the eyes of the Duke of Orleans ; and, in
this respect, they seconded her admirably, for they were
truly prodigal of their eulogies. This contrivance suc-
ceeded perfectly ; the Duke of Orleans was convinced
that her talents were miraculous. This very weak prince,
who was by no means endowed with the decision and
talent of Henry the Great, never judged for himself; he
saw everything with the eyes of others. All the old fe-
male friends of the Duke of Orleans, without being at all
fond of Madame de Montesson, entered perfectly into her
views, for each had a private interest in doing so. The
constancy of the Duke of Orleans, for several years, to a
courtesan, called Marquise, (afterward styled Madame de
Villemonble,) had completely withdrawn the prince from
the enjoyment of the best female society ; Mesdames de
Segur, (the mother and daughter-in-law,) Mesdames de
Beauvau, De Grammont, De Luxembourg, thus lost all the
pleasure which the intimate society of princes always
affords. For a long time, these ladies never went to
Villers-Coterets ; there Marquise reigned ; and the Duke
of Orleans never invited any but men. We owed the
brilliant party, which was then at Villers-Coterets, to
Madame de Montesson ; for this reason all the ladies
wished that my aunt should succeed in inspiring the
prince with a vivid passion ; it was far more desirable to
them that the mistress of the prince should be a person
of rank than a courtesan, for, in the former case, they
200 MADAME DE GENLIS.
could again enjoy his society. I do not know whether
they were penetrating enough to discover that my aunt,
instead of consenting to be the prince's mistress, aspired
to be his wife. But, even in this case, the latter event
could not be disagreeable to them ; on the contrary, all
the women of quality must have been flattered by it,
as it gave them hopes of an alliance to royalty.
My aunt, who, as I have already mentioned, wished to
finish her residence here with something brilliant, be-
thought herself of a singular idea. She thought that the
Duke of Orleans had a high admiration of her accom-
plishments, but he could not have the same opinion of
her talents ; she wished suddenly to acquire a reputation
for the latter, which should eclipse that of Mesdames de
Boufflers, De Beauvau and De Grammont. But how was
this to be accomplished ? My aunt was extremely ig-
norant, and during her whole life had read nothing -what-
ever, except a few romances. She spelt very badly,
and wrote letters very ill. Yet she took it into her
head to become an author ; and being incapable of in-
vention herself, she resolved to dramatize Maurivaux's
novel of " Mariane ; " the numerous dialogues in that work
furnished her with a great many scenes ready made ; and,
besides, the subject pleased her, — " Love triumphing
over the prejudices of high birth, and placing both ranks
on a level." But my aunt was not unaware, that, by
producing the work under her own name, she would
have to combat pretentions, of which no interest can
persuade the abandonment ; and that the women who
had so long passed by general consent, for the most
MADAME DE GENLIS. 26 1
ingenious and brilliant persons in society, would not
easily give up their places to her. My aunt extricated
herself from this difficulty in the most ingenious manner
I have ever known. She wrote the piece in prose and in
five acts ; it was a performance below mediocrity, with-
out being very absurd, in which there were some pretty
phrases, and several agreeable conversation-scenes, lit-
erally copied from Maurivaux's novel. She told no one
of this work but the Duke of Orleans ; she concealed it
from me as well as from everybody else. When the
piece was finished, she read it tete-a-tete with the Duke
of Orleans, and though he was no great judge of the
matter, assured her that he thought it charming. " Well,"
said my aunt, " I give it to you ; I shall enjoy your
success more than my own ; and, besides, I don't wish
that any one should know that I am the author of the
piece. Read the comedy as if it were your own, and if it
succeeds, do not declare me the author ; let it be always
thought to be written by you, and we will perform it at
our last representation." The Duke of Orleans was
moved, even to tears, by this generosity, but would not
profit by it, until, at her earnest entreaties, he consented.
I learnt, iri the sequel, all this detail from himself. The
Duke of Orleans avowed then, that he had written a
comedy, which avowal produced no small degree of sur-
prise, in which Madame de Montesson appeared to join,
persuading all the world that she was ignorant of it, and
expressing with great naivete, much anxiety respecting
the work. Every one asked, in secret, how the duke
had been able to write a comedy, and it was generally
262 MADAME DE GENLIS.
thought that Colle, perhaps, had formed the plot of it,
and corrected the language. Nobody, however, exhib-
ited any suspicion as to the real author. The Duke of
Orleans announced that he would have the play read ;
the day was named, and every one, both male and fe-
male invited, who passed in society for persons of wit —
the curiosity was extreme. At length the wished-for day
arrived. I was admitted to the reading, but not without
some difficulty, my aunt not caring that I should be
there. We were then assembled, quite determined, be-
forehand, to find the work excellent, unless it should be
quite detestable and ridiculous. The success was com-
plete. Never was the reading of one of Moliere's plays
productive of equal eclat — all were in ecstasies. Every
scene was greeted with plaudits the most exagger-
ated, and nothing heard but acclamations. In the midst
of this enthusiasm, I kept a modest silence, but I
observed, and assuredly nothing could be more curious.
When the .reading was finished, all the company hast-
ened to surround the duke ; several ladies, quite beside
themselves, asked permission to embrace him ; all spoke
at once ; nothing could be heard, at least, nothing dis-
tinguished, except these phrases, a thousand times re-
peated, " ravishing — sublime — perfect ! " My aunt, pale,
and red by turns, and weeping, expressed herself in no
other way than by her emotion and tears. Suddenly,
the Duke of Orleans demanded, in a tone the most ex-
pressive, a moment's silence. All were immediately
quiet ; when with a voice agitated, but very resolute, he
uttered these words : " In spite of my promise, I can no
MADAME DE GENLIS. 263
longer usurp so much glory — This fine work is not mine ;
its author is Madame de Montesson." Upon this, my
aunt cried, with a languishing voice, " Ah, Monseigneur ! "
She could say no more ; her modesty overwhelmed her,
and she sank, almost fainting into a chair. All the
assembly was petrified ; it is impossible to give an idea
of the effect of this coup de theatre and of the change
which became visible in almost every face. The vexa-
tion of many ladies was very perceptible ; but the evil
was without remedy ; there was no retracting these com-
mendations, bestowed with so much exaggeration ; they
could not but persevere in their extravagant flattery, and
continued to assert, that the comedy of Mariane was a
chef-d'ceuvre. This triumph sufficed to complete the
enthusiasm of the Duke of Orleans for my aunt, who
from this time he regarded as a prodigy of talent. I was
deeply hurt that my aunt had kept this secret from me,
and with so much duplicity ; this distrust convinced me,
to what extent I might calculate on her friendship. I did
not show her all the chagrin I felt on the subject ; I
made some complaint, indeed, and she gave me in expla-
nation, several very insufficient reasons, with which,
however, I pretended to be contented. We acted
Mariane, my aunt enacting the part of the heroine ; the
representation had, by no means, the success of the read-
ing, and was, therefore, not repeated.
It was on this excursion that I was present, for the
first time, at a stag-hunt on horseback. At Genlis, I had
only hunted, the boar ; hunting the deer appeared to me
delightful, especially as every one admired the grace
264 MADAME DE GENLIS.
with which I rode. From Villers-Coterets, M. de Genlis
and I went to Sillery, which I visited for the first time.
Madame de Puisieux, who had always been cool to me,
received me, nevertheless, politely, though with some-
what of dryness, which redoubled my natural timidity.
She spoke to me of the applauses I had received at
Villers-Coterets, and at last requested me to let her hear
my performance on the harp. This was six days after
my arrival. I played and sang ; and she appeared to be
enchanted, as well as M. de Puisieux. " It must be al-
lowed," said she, " that^she is seducing." I do not know
why this phrase should have offended me, but I replied,
in the first impulse of my displeasure, with some degree
of warmth, " However, madame, I have never seduced,
nor desired to seduce any person whatever." She was
exceedingly astonished at my reply, for till this time I
had scarcely said anything but yes and no. She looked
at me steadily, but said nothing. In the evening, M. de
Genlis reprimanded me for my reply, and the next day
I trembled to meet Madame de Puisieux, with whom I
happened in the morning, to be thrown tete-a-tete in the
saloon. Madame de Puisieux, reclining on the sofa as
usual, was engaged with her knitting, and I with my em-
broidery ; we were both silent for about ten minutes.
At last Madame de Puisieux, taking off her spectacles,
and turning towards me, said, " Madame have you made
a vow to be always thus with me?" I replied in a
trembling voice, " How, madame ? " " Yes," she re-
joined, " I am told you are gay and agreeable in general,
and for the last eight days you have preserved an obsti-
MADAME DE GENL1S. 265
nate silence ; may I presume to ask you the reason ? "
At this pressing question, I immediately resolved to re-
ply frankly, because the tone in which it was asked had
something lively and obliging in it. " Madame," said I,
" it is from fear of displeasing you ; you wear an air of
seventy which intimidates and distresses me." " You
are quite wrong to be afraid of me," replied she, " I am
exceedingly disposed to become attached to you ; what
do you wish me to do, to put you at your ease with me ? "
" What are you now doing," cried I, throwing my arms
about her neck ; tears of tenderness stopped my words ;
she was herself strongly affected ; took me in her arms,
held me there, and kissed me several times with the
most touching sensibility. From this time, I vowed in
my heart a lasting and tender attachment to her ; and
she deserved it, for the excellence of her heart and her
principles, and the charm of her talents. We talked
together with complete freedom, she said a thousand
kind things to me, and I promised that I should, in
future, behave towards her as if I had known her from
my infancy. An hour afterward, M. de Puisieux re-
turned from walking with M. de Genlis and six or seven
other persons. I begged Madame de Puisieux to say
nothing of what had passed between us, as I had thought
of a pretty manner of communicating it. A few minutes
after the company was seated, I said with a careless air,
that not having taken a walk that day, I wished to ex-
ercise my limbs ; I ran and made two or three leaps
about the room, and then threw myself into Madame de
Puisieux's chair, uttering, at the same time, a great quan-
266 MADAME DE GENLIS.
tity of nonsense ; she burst into fits of laughter and
every one of the company seemed petrified with surprise.
M. de Puisieux was enchanted, and told his wife, that he
had always predicted that she would love me to excess.
All this evening was a delightful one to me, and the days
that succeeded it were the happiest of my life. Madame
de PuLsieux became exceedingly attached to me. She
made me change my room in order to be near her. I
rode out on horseback every morning with M. de
Puisieux, on some of his fine English horses. In the
evening, instead of walking, I remained tete-a-tete with
Madame de Puisieux, who sauntered with me up and
down the court of the garden for half an hour; we passed
the rest of the time in conversation in the drawing-room.
Her conversation was animated, sparkling and charming.
She had lived under a part of the regency, and her hus-
band became, afterward, minister for foreign affairs ; she
was the granddaughter of the great Louvois, and had
her memory full of a number of interesting and curious
anecdotes, which she told admirably. Before supper my
harp was brought into the saloon, and I played upon it
for an hour ; after supper I played on the guitar or the
harpsichord for half an hour; then I played at piquet
with Madame de Puisieux, against her husband, who
held cards against us both, and then I retired to bed. I
did not in general remain in my room, except from half
past ten till two, on my return from my ride with M. de
Puisieux. While my hair was dressing, I read ; a habit
which I have always preserved in all places where I have
resided. At this time it was the custom, both at Paris
MADAME DE GENLIS. 267
and in the country, to receive gentlemen's visits at the
toilette ; but this I never did, in order to reserve that
time for reading ; so that, since my marriage, I have
never spent a single day without passing a good part of
it in reading. After dressing, I played on the harp for
an hour, and wrote for three quarters of an hour. I was
then engaged in re-writing my first comedy, " False Deli-
cacy," and I finished it on this excursion. Besides this, I
made extracts from the books I read. Madame de Pui-
sieux, in our evening meetings, often used to make me
read aloud, while she worked at her tapestry ; we had an
excellent library at Sillery. Here I also read the " Treaty
of Westphalia," by Father Bougeant ; " The Manner of
Judging of Works of Talent," by Father Bouhours; and
" The Dialogues of Aristus and Eugenius," by the same
author, which gave me the taste for devices I have since
always possessed. I read also the poems of Pavilion ;
" The History of Malta," by the Abbe de Vertot ; and
works of St. Evremond. On rainy days everybody re-
mained in the drawing-room, by which means I gained
three or four additional hours of study.
Madame de Puisieux, knowing that I was constantly
writing, begged me one day to write her portrait, of
which I made two the same day, to the measure of a
song, the one a pretended portrait, the other a real like-
ness. In the evening I sang the first, and then the
second, accompanying them with my harp. These
couplets received the applause with which her goodness
always rewarded whatever I did for her. I subjoin the
verses : —
268 MADAME DE GENLIS.
A PRETENDED PORTRAIT OF MADAME DE PUISIEUX.
To the air, Si ton ardeur est mutuelle : —
Point d'esprit, point de caractere,
Point d'agrement,
Ni gaite, ni desir de plaire ;
Un ton pedant,
Des prejuges, une humeur noire ;
Ne sachant rien,
Pas meme un simple trait d'histoire,
La voila bien.
THE REAL PORTRAIT OF THE SAME.
Du piquant dans le caractere
Et dans 1'esprit
Un d£sir obligeant de plaire
Qui reussit ;
Du savoir, mais sans y pr£tendre ;
N'affichant rien,
Pas meTne un coeur sensible et tendre,
La voila bien.
We went three or four times to Rheims, simply to pay
a visit to Madame de Drom6nil. We also went two or
three times to Louvois, to dine with the Marquis de
Souvr6, the brother of Madame de Puisieux. One day
a person belonging to Rheims brought us a young mu-
sician, who played on the dulcimer in an astonishing
style ; Madame de Puisieux regretted that I could not
play on that instrument. I remembered this remark ;
and that very evening I agreed in secret with the musi-
cian that he should come every day, at half past six in
the morning, to give me a lesson ; these instructions I
took regularly in the wardrobe, at the top of the house,
for a fortnight ; and, moreover, on returning from my
rides in the morning, I used to play on the dulcimer
MADAME DE GENUS. 269
alone for at least three hours ; so that, in three weeks I
could play as well as my teacher two airs ; the one, the
Exaudet minuet, and the other, the Furstemberg, with
several variations. M. de Genlis, who was in the secret,
had had made for me a pretty scarlet dress, in the Alsa-
tian fashion, which fitted closely to the shape. I put on
this one morning, and twisted my long hair round my
head, without powder as it was worn by the Strasburg
women ; above this head-dress, I put a bathing cap to
hide it, and over my dress I wore a morning gown, and a
mantle of black taffeta ; in this double costume I went
to dinner, pretending that I had a violent headache.
After dinner a footman announced that a young Alsacian
girl, who played on the dulcimer, begged to be allowed
to enter. Madame de Puisieux desired her to be admit-
ted, and I rose up from the table saying, that I would go
and bring her in. I ran into the next room, threw upon
the table my cap and my gown, took my dulcimer, and re-
turned quickly into the dining room ; the surprise of
everybody at table was extreme, and was still further
augmented by hearing me play on the dulcimer. M.
and Madame de Puisieux came and embraced me with a
tenderness which amply rewarded me for all the pains
I had taken in my study of the instrument. I was made
to wear my Alsacian costume for twelve or fifteen days,
in order to give every person who came to Sillery a rep-
resentation of that little scene. It is not without reflec-
tion that I enter into all these little details, they will,
perhaps, be useful to the young women who may here-
after read this work. I wish them to understand, that
2/O MADAME DE GENLIS.
youth is only happy when it is amiable ; that is to say,
when the young are docile, modest and attentive to all ;
and that the principal duty of a young person is to be
pleasing in the circle of her own family, and to diffuse
among all its members, gayety, amusement and joy.
When in the most brilliant part of their existence, we
find instances among the young of the contrary, we may
be sure they are always blamable. If we examine the
characters and habits of young females who are insipid or
tiresome, we shall generally find them indolent, lazy, and
selfish, thinking only of themselves and never of others.
These girls, who are thus destitute of the graces of
youth, are consequently without its mildness and its
modesty ; they are possessed with a puerile and passive
vanity, that renders them disgusted with the counsels of
experience, which they always regard as reprimands ;
they are ciphers in society, because no one can be either
useful to them, nor experience, on their part, any of the
agreeable attentions which one expects from good com-
pany. My sister-in-law had no talents ; nevertheless, as
I have already stated, she was by no means insipid ; she
loved employment, and was never idle ; she was obliging,
and always took a part in the gayety and the amusements
of others; and this is what may be expected from every
young person — even those whose education has been the
most neglected.
Madame de Puisieux really loved me to excess, and
for that reason she did not spoil me. I was the only
person whom she ever reprimanded, and this happened
continually ; for my vivacity, often degeneraring into
MADAME DE GENLIS. 2/1
riotous gayety, made me fail in many little points ; on
these occasions, Madame de Puisieux would reprimand
me immediately, aloud, and in the presence of all the
company. I have never had to make an effort on myself
to enable me to receive these little lessons with humil-
ity ; I felt the utility of them and was grateful ; they
gave Madame de Puisieux in my eyes, an air truly ma-
ternal, and rendered her still more dear to me ; some-
times I used to beg her to leave me some little faults,
because, if she succeeded in making me quite perfect,
and she had nothing else to reprove me for, I feared I
should feel less how I loved her, and how much I ought
to esteem her.
The birthday of M. de Puisieux approached, and I
determined to celebrate it. I wrote a kind of piece, in
which all M. de Puisieux's valets-de-chambre were to
perform. I introduced into it M. de Puisieux himself,
and the moment I chose was the time he was engaged in
dressing. I performed the part of M. de Puisieux. He
was of short stature ; I wore one of his dressing gowns
and his night-cap ; I imitated all his peculiarities ; I pre-
tended to shave with a pasteboard razor, and during this
operation, one of the valets read to me a little story of
my own composition, as M. de Puisieux had the Arabian
Knights, or other stories, read to him while he shaved.
I rose up from time to time to pass into my closet; I
went out through one door, threw into the side-scene
my night-cap and dressing gown, and came on the
stage a moment after in my own character, in a morning
gown, with my hair in disorder as if I had just risen from
2/2 MADAME DE GENLIS.
my toilette ; I inquired for M. de Puisieux, and after a
little scene, I went off again. I next resumed the dress-
ing gown and night-cap, and reappeared as M. de Puis-
ieux ; many other unconnected scenes followed, and
brought on the denouement, in which bouquets of flow-
ers were presented to M. de Puisieux, and verses sung
in his honor. I succeeded in making the four valets play
extremely well ; and very naturally ; M. de Genlis had
also a part, and we rehearsed the piece twice a day. The
Marquis and Marchioness de Genlis arrived ten days be-
fore the fete, and I added to the piece a short part for
my sister-in-law. In order to show off her handsome
face and figure, I brought her on the stage, first as an
Amazon, afterward as a shepherdess, and lastly as a lady
in full dress, wearing all her own diamonds and those
of Madame de Puisieux. The latter used always a
work-bag, embroidered at Besancon, made of dyed horse-
hair, and worked in relief ; the bag was very pretty ; but
she had only one, and that was already faded, and she
wished to order another to be made. . I advised my sister-
in-law to copy the old work bag. At Rheims horse-hair was
very well dyed ; and she achieved this bag which was quite
a new sort of work for her, and exceedingly difricult,with
astonishing perfection. She worked at it earnestly for a
week ; and in order to finish it, after several attempts,
she passed three or four nights in this dutiful employ-
ment. We had a pretty little theatre erected in the large
wing, which was called the royal apartment ; and in
which, by the way, during the time of the Chancellor de
Sillery, Henry IV. had actually slept. The evening be-
MADAME DE GENLIS. 273
fore the fete, I met with a fortunate adventure, from
which I procured an admirable situation for my piece.
The Duke of Civrac Durfort was the intimate friend of
M. de Puisieux, who had obtained for him the embassy
of Vienna. The duke, after passing eight years at
Vienna, returned to France. All that M. de Puisieux
knew from his last letter was, that he was then on his
road, and that, before his return to Paris, he would pass
by Sillery ; but he was not expected for four or five days.
He arrived, as I have stated, the day before the fete, at
ten in the morning ; M. de Puisieux was two or three
leagues off, on a visit to one of his neighbors ; Madame
de Puisieux was still in bed, and I had just got up. I
ran instantly with M. de Genlis to receive M. de Civrac,
who was just getting out of his coach ; we talked to him
as if we had been his oldest acquaintances, though we
had never seen him before ; however we soon became ac-
quainted ; we explained our project to him with all pos-
sible speed, and it was agreed that he should remain con-
cealed in M. de Genlis's room, which was over mine, and
that he should not make his appearance till next day,
when he was to present a bouquet to his old friend.
We gave directions on the subject to all the house ; all
the servants were secret as the grave ; we did not ac-
quaint even Madame de Puisieux with our plan, and I
can assert, that never was secret so well kept. The Duke
of Civrac, who was about forty-seven, had a genteel face,
elegant and agreeable manners, and a good humor, which
gained all hearts. He told us that he was dying with
hunger; and my sister-in-law and I undertook the care of
274 MADAME DE GENLIS.
his meals. We thought nothing could be better for him
than plums, sweetmeats and orgeat, which we according-
ly carried to him. He knelt upon one knee to re-
ceive this breakfast at our hands ; at the same time
confessing he was vulgar enough to feel the want of
some meat and wine besides, with which taste of his he
were obliged to comply. He acknowledged that he had
no memory, and begged, therefore, that his part might
be very short. I promised that he should have only one
sentence to repeat ; and the following is the manner in
which I determined to bring him on the scene.
My waiting-maid, Mademoiselle Victoire, had a pretty
voice ; she was, at most, thirty years of age, very stout,
and fresh colored ; I brought her into my piece as Ma-
dame Milot, portress of the residence of M. de Sillery at
Paris. M. de Puisieux had from his earliest youth a
passion for fine horses ; and I learned from Madame de
Puisieux, that he was so careful of them, that he had
formerly given up a mistress for no other reason but
that she lived in a part of the town very distant from his
residence, and that the length of the road fatigued his
horses. Upon this anecdote I composed a verse, which
met with great success, notwithstanding the irregularity
of one of the rhymes. In my piece Madame Milot was
supposed to arrive at Paris in a female costume, but with
large boots, a horsewhip in one hand, and a bouquet of
flowers in the other. She was to advance to the front of
the stage, and, addressing M. de Puisieux, was to sing
this verse : —
MADAME DE GENLIS. 2/5
J'accours, mais tout en nage,
Vous offrir ce bouquet,
Voila de mon voyage
Le seul facheux effet ;
Pour vous prouver mon zele
J'ai pris le mords aux dents,
Jamais pour une belle
Vous n'en files autant.
In addition to this scene, I represented M. de Civrac
giving his arm to Madame Milot; the former had only
three or four words to say, which he could never recol-
lect at the rehearsals, but which he promised to repeat
to himself often before going to bed. The next morn-
ing, the day of the fete, my sister-in-law placed on the
work-frame of Madame de Puisieux, the pretty work-
bag she had wrought, and I placed in the bag a song I
had composed, which consisted chiefly of praises of the
bag, and of the ingenuity of my sister-in-law. Madame
de Puisieux was the best person in the world for receiv-
ing and acknowledging a mark of attention ; she was
delighted both with my sister-in-law and with me.
There was a large party at dinner, and nothing was
talked of but her work-bag and my song.
The windows of the dining-room of Sillery, which is on
the ground floor, look out upon large moats filled with
water. On leaving table, the Marchioness of Genlis and
I dressed ourselves as shepherdesses, and entered a boat
prettily decorated with flowers, rowed by M. de Genlis,
dressed as a shepherd ; I had my bagpipe, on which no
one of the chateau had yet heard me play ; on hearing the
sound of it at a distance, everybody went to the win-
2/6 MADAME DE GENLIS.
dows, and perceiving us there was a general burst of ac.
clamation as we arrived under the windows where we
stopped. The Marchioness of Genlis had a net in her
hand ; I stopped playing, and M. de Genlis begged his
sister-in-law to throw her net ; upon this she turned her
back a moment, and, dropping the net into the water,
she left it there and pulled out another full of bouquets
and flowers. This little trick, which she performed very
prettily and dexterously, was much applauded ; and on
the performance of this miracle, I sang, to an accompani-
ment of my bagpipe, six charming verses written by M.
de Genlis. We next took our bouquets out of the net,
and arranging them in a basket, we announced our inten-
tion of carrying them into the dining-room ; the company
came to receive us on our disembarkation, and in half
an hour afterward all the party was invited to enter the
room where the theatre was erected. My piece, in com-
mon with all pieces on such occasions, was prodigiously
applauded, the only part, which Madame de Genlis has
ever played well, was that which I wrote for her in this
piece; she looked beautiful as an angel when she ap-
peared in full dress ; she was applauded several minutes
for her charming appearance ; in general she dressed
badly, but on this occasion I superintended her toilette,
and I never saw her look so handsome. The denoue-
ment was very effective ; on the appearance of M. de
Civrac, M. and Madame de Puisieux uttered a cry of sur-
prise and joy ; M. de Civrac himself was so touched, that
it was sometime before he could utter a word ; at last,
still holding Madame Milot by the hand, he advanced to
MADAME DE GENLIS. 277
the front of the scene, but, instead of saying as the part
demanded, " that he had ridden to Sillery behind Madame
Milot," he cried, in a voice of thunder, " I am1 come on
the back of Madame Milot." .... The shouts of laugh-
ter, which sounded through the saloon, did not permit
him to finish the phrase. He turned to me saying that
he had made a slip of the tongue. I was in a great pas-
sion, and when the noise and laughter had a little sub-
sided, I obliged him to repeat the phrase as I had written
it. The fete was terminated by a round, which we all
sang as we danced ; the words, which were extremely
pleasant and lively, were composed by M. de Genlis.
The next morning, as we rode out on horseback, M.
de Puisieux desired me to tell M. de Genlis, that he gave
up to him the place of governor of Epernay, worth 7,000
francs a year. This was a splendid and honorable pres-
ent, totally unexpected by us ; and it caused us both
great pleasure. There was a large company from Paris
on this excursion ; among others was the Comte de
Rochefort, a relation of M. de Puisieux and Messieurs
de Genlis ; he was found of literature and corresponded
with M. de Voltaire, who was very anxious to make part-
isans among persons belonging to the court. M. de
Rochefort, who was extremely flattered at receiving let-
ters from Voltaire, never failed, when there was no
other company than the family, to read them to us. I
discovered in these letters, flattery the most extravagant,
and impiety the most revolting; M. and Madame de
Puisieux were equally disgusted with them. What as-
tonished us most was the tone in which M. de Voltaire
2/8 MADAME DE GENLIS.
complimented M. de Rochefort upon his philosophy and
his philosophical understanding ; a phrase which meant
his want of religion ; now, M. de Rochefort had the
deepest sense of religion ; he protested to us (and he was
sincerity itself) that he had made a resolution through-
out this correspondence never to touch on the subject of
religion. But it has since been discovered that this was
one of M. de Voltaire's methods to drag people of rank
into his set. In this same excursion, I met with an ad-
venture, which did great credit to my memory. M. de
Rochefort was a friend of a very agreeable poet called
M. Desbordes, wh© had sent him a manuscript fable of
his, entitled " Dapane and the Butterfly." There were in
it one hundred and thirty lines of eight syllables each ; M.
de Rochefort, after dinner, read it to us aloud ; I thought
it charming, and begged to be allowed to read it once
more ; I then returned it, saying that I knew it by heart,
which was perfectly true. I have never since forgotten
it ; the poem has since been printed in several collections.
I read a great deal at Sillery. M. de Puisieux had an
excellent library, and I made a good use of it. I read
aloud very well ; the sound of my voice was pleasing,
and in the afternoon, when the rest of the company was
gone to walk, I read aloud, as I have already mentioned,
to Madame de Puisieux ; and my readings were almost
always from books of history or plays. The reflections
of Madame de Puisieux enhanced greatly to me the value
and the interest of what I read. I brought away from
Sillery a great quantity of extracts. I loved to enlarge
my collection ; nothing attached me more to my books
MADAME DE GENLIS. 279
than the enormous collection of notes, extracts, and re-
marks I had collected, and which filled already a vast
number of portfolios. Before leaving Sillery, I made
Madame de Puisieux a present which delighted her. She
had begged me to give her in writing a little list of all the
airs I could play on my harp, the guitar, the harpsicord,
etc., of which the number was prodigious. A copyist of
Rheims wrote out for me the whole collection, in a pretty
little volume, bound in morocco, to which I added all
my sonatas, variations, rondos, etc., which I played on
these instruments, giving a new name to each of the
pieces of music ; for example, my favorite sonata of
Alberti, I styled the Puisieux ; I gave that of which M.
de Puisieux was most fond and which he asked me for
the oftenest, the name of his favorite riding horse ; and
to all this I added a dedicatory epistle, addressed to
Madame de Puisieux, which I hear quote : —
Quand on veut reussir et plaire,
Qu'on n'est sophiste ni mediant,
Qu'on veut instruire en amusant,
Qu'un livre est difficile a faire !
Vous, en qui Ton voit tant d'esprit,
Du mien daignez etre 1'arbitre,
Vous le trouverez bien ecrit
Si vous en exceptez 1'epitre ;
Qu'il ne soil connu que de vous,
A vous seule j'en faishommage ;
S'il merite votre suffrage
Combien il fera de jaloux !
L' auteur saura braver les coups
De 1'envie et de la satire,
Si, malgre tout leur vain courroux,
A son livre il vous voit sourire !
28o MADAME DE GENLIS.
I presented this little volume to Madame de Puisieux
the evening before we left Sillery ; she received this
trifling mark of affection with her usual expressions of
pleasure, that is to say, with real transports of joy.
Madame de Puisieux, on quitting Sillery, after Christ-
mas, took me with her to Paris ; we remained a fortnight
at Braine, the residence of the Dowager Countess of Eg-
mont, mother-in-law of the young and pretty countess,
who was also resident there. The Countess of Egmont
had formerly been the intimate friend of M. le Due, first
minister of state during the youth of Louis XV. I col-
lected from her conversation with Madame de Puisieux
many curious anecdotes of this period particularly relative
to the beautiful Mademoiselle de Clermont, sister of the
duke, and of whom Madame de Puisieux had been the
friend. I met at this house the old Marquis of Croi, who,
at the age of fifty, appeared to be eighty ; he had been a
great favorite among the women, and could not overcome
his regret at being no longer beloved by them. He still
preserved all his coxcombical habits, and continued to
dress in the most ridiculous style of elegance. This was
the gentleman whom the old queen styled The Invalid of
Cuthera ; but what a melancholy spectacle is that of an
invalid without glory, whose infirmities recall nothing to
our minds but the remembrances of disgraceful excesses !
This premature old man was full of ill humor and whims ;
and being unable any longer to look amiable in the eyes
of young women, he hated them. He affronted me ; and I
revenged myself in a manner which delighted Madame
d'Egmont the younger. I affected to have for him the
MADAME DE GENLIS. 28 1
profound respect which one would have for a person of a
hundred ; he was enraged at this beyond measure, and
his vexation produced the most comical scenes imagin-
able. At last he asked Madame d'Egmont, of what age
I thought he was ? She replied, that she amused herself
with my simplicity, and allowed me to think him ninety
years of age. This opinion did not tend to raise me in
his favor ; he declared that I was something worse than
simple ; and gave her to understand that he had never
met in society with a young person so extremely stupid.
Towards the end of my stay at Braine, I met a real old
man, but who was exceedingly agreeable, the Marshal de
Richelieu, father of the younger Madame d'Egmont. I
looked upon him with great curiosity, as a person who
had seen Louis XIV., and lived in habits of intimate
friendship with Madame de Maintenon. The marshal
was agreeable in his manners, and full of goodness and
mildness : he had gained successes in the field, which
honored his old age, and he was no way humbled at the
thought, of having ceased to acquire successes of a more
frivolous description. It was on this occasion that I
heard him state that he had in vain declared to Voltaire
that the testament of the Cardinal de Richelieu was per-
fectly authentic, and that the original existed in his own
house ; Voltaire refused to retract any of the falsehoods
he had written upon this subject. I had already heard
the something from Madame d'Egmont. I thought on
hearing this, that the marshal ought to have given a
public contradiction in writing, to that historic falsehood.
But he did not wish to quarrel with Voltaire, who styled
282 MADAME DE GENLIS.
him his hero ; and besides, like all public persons, he
dreaded public ridicule, public scandal, and above all the
pen of Voltaire ; and thus it is, that small considerations,
and the dread of a coalition of encyclopedists, have a
thousand times in our days, been the means of concealing
multitudes of useful truths. The Marshal de Richelieu,
however, had sufficient good sense and understanding to
enable him to see the danger of the maxims and the doc-
trines of these pretended philosophers ; he always ex-
pressed the same opinions in society, and there are
proofs of it in several letters which he has left behind.
I passed this winter in a round of dissipation. I went
seldom to the theatres, it is true, and only twice to the
ball at the opera ; but private balls, dinners at Madame
de Puisieux's, or my aunt's large supper parties and
visits occupied a great deal of my time. Every Satur-
day there were suppers at the Countess de Custines',
which were charming ; the party was entirely composed
of women ; all our husbands having gone that day to
sleep at Versailles, to be present at the king's hunting
party on the following morning. We met at eight
o'clock, and continued in conversation until one in the
morning, with a gayety which never relaxed. We were
six in number ; Mesdames de Custines and De Louvois,
both charming in different ways ; Madame d'Harville,
equally distinguished by her beauty, her talents, and her
disposition ; the Countess de Vaubecourt, who was ex-
tremely pretty, and very amusing in company by her sal-
lies of what seemed naivete, though she was anything but
ingenuous ; she was the cousin of Madame de Custines.
MADAME DE GENLIS. 283
There were, as yet, no scandalous stories published
about her behavior ; her husband's gravity had hitherto
preserved her reputation ; but the year following a no-
torious adventure obliged M. de Vaubecourt to demand
a lettre-de-cachet, which he obtained ; he then shut her
up in a convent, where she passed the rest of her days.
Our fifth lady was the Countess of Cr6ny ; she was the
only one of the party who was not pretty. She was but
twenty though she looked forty ; her behavior was always
irreproachable, and her disposition excellent ; but she
used to divert us with relating all the declarations of
love she received, especially at supper at the house of
her mother, the Countess de la Tour du Pin. Madame de
Custines insisted on knowing the names of these unfor-
tunate lovers ; and they always turned out to be people
whose names were utterly unknown to us, or persons of
forty of fifty years of age, who must have been mortally
tiresome even at thirty. As Madame de Creny told us
that she perpetually found love letters in her reticule
when she left it in the drawing-room during supper,
Madame de Custines and I determined on writing her a
most passionate letter, which we slipped into her bag
one evening. * This letter was so extravagant and so
pleasant, that I am sorry I have not preserved it.
Madame de Cre"ny had an elegant establishment ; and
though she was too fat and too tall to dance, she was ex-
cessively fond of dancing ; she gave some delightful balls
that winter, to all of which I was invited ; I danced there
several quadrilles, and invented one which made rather
too great a sensation. The fashion of acting proverbs
284 MADAME DE GENLIS.
still continued ; I called my quadrille The Proverbs, in
which each couple formed a proverb, as they marched
two and two before beginning the dance. Every one had
selected his proverb. We had given Madame de Lauzin
this one, "A good name is better than a golden girdle ; "
she was dressed with the greatest simplicity, and wore a
gray girdle, quite plain. She danced with M. de Bel-
zunce. The Duchess of Liancourt danced with M. de
Boulainvilliers, who wore the costume of an old man ; their
proverb was, " The old cat gets always a young mouse."
Madame de Marigni danced with M. de St. Julien,
who was dressed as a negro ; she passed her handkerchief
from time to time over his face, as if to say, " It is diffi-
cult to wash an Ethiop white." I do not remember
either the proverb or the cavalier of the Marchioness de
Genlis, my sister-in-law ; my partner was the Viscount
de Laval, who was splendidly dressed, and covered with
jewels ; I was dressed as a peasant girl ; our proverb was,
"Contentment is better than riches;" my air was gay
and animated ; the viscount's, without trying to make it
so, was gloomy and melancholy. We were ten in num-
ber. I composed the air of the quadrille which was very
pretty and bounding. Gardel composed the figure of the
dance, which, according to my motion, was also to repre-
sent a proverb, " Run backwards before you leap ; " Gar-
del made out of this idea the liveliest and prettiest coun-
try dance I have ever seen. We had a great many re-
hearsals ; and our quadrille was so much admired, that
we resolved on dancing it at the ball of the Opera ; but
unfortunately, this quadrille had excited a good deal of
MADAME DE GENLIS. 285
jealousy, among some gentlemen of the Palais Royal,
who had been unsuccessful in their endeavors to be of the
set. They knew three or four days before hand of our
intentions to dance it at the Opera, which was then
held in the saloon of the Palais Royal ; and a conspiracy
was formed, to prevent us from dancing it. We entered
the ball-room at one in the morning, and all six were
without masks. We walked round the saloon, which re-
sounded with acclamations, repeated until the time we
stood up to dance ; every one moved as if to make way
for us ; when, just as we were leading off, a gigantic cat
leaped suddenly, with a purring noise, into the midst of
us. This was meant as an antagonistic proverb, " Take
care not to wake the sleeping caL" A young Savoyard,
wrapped in fur, resembling cat-skin, played the part ;
our partners did not take the thing amiss at first, but
pushed the cat out of the way softly enough ; this en-
couraged the cat who seemed resolved not to allow us to
dance ; upon this, our cavaliers, in spite of all our en-
treaties, gave the cat a great many kicks ; and the spec-
tators who wished to see our quadrille, took our part,
and the unfortunate cat was seized, and carried out of
the room. This malignant joke spoiled, in my mind, all
the amusement of the evening, for I feared it would have
some unlucky results. Our quadrille met with unbound-
ed success, and was applauded to the echo ; I was
charmed with this, as it restored our cavaliers to their
former good humor. Three of them, Messieurs de Boul-
ainvilliers, De Belzunce, and De St. Julien, our best
dancers, were in a violent rage against the unlucky cat ;
286 MADAME DE GENLIS.
it was in vain I told them that the animal had been ill
enough treated to prevent it from returning, for a " scalded
cat dreads even cold water ; " they wished to question
him about the authors of this malicious scheme. We
dissuaded them from making these inquiries. We heard,
some days afterward, that it was a certain young prince
and his friends ; but as the triumph had been on our side,
our cavaliers were easily calmed, and our lady dancers
escaped with no other misfortune than the fright. M. de
St. Julien, who was the most annoyed about the cat, was
a charming young man ; it was said of him that it seemed
as if nature, in giving him a beautiful face, had done so
in sport ; his fine complexion was exactly like rouge,
and he had on his chin two black moles, placed precisely
as patches then worn on most of the women's faces ; so
that his pretty male face looked like a frolic of nature.
He had once fought a duel about these misplaced
graces ; he was brave and clever, and had not the slight-
est touch of coxcombry about him.
I amused myself a great deal at home, also, this
winter ; my saloon was large, and we not only per-
formed proverbs in it, but a comic opera, of which my
friend, Mademoiselle Baillon (afterward Madame Louis,
wife of the celebrated architect,) composed the music ;
M. de Sauvigny wrote the opera, and introduced into it
a part for me, in which I played on the harp, the guitar
and the bagpipe. We played also a pretty comedy,
called, " The Miser in Love." Mademoiselle Baillon was
a charming young person ; she was handsome, mild, mod-
est, prudent and clever; she was a pianist of the first
MADAME DE GENLIS. 287
order; she composed music admirably and with aston-
ishing facility ; she composed a comic opera, (Fleur
d'Epine,) which was played with applause ; it would
have been still more successful if the words had been
better written ; but the poet had completely spoiled
Count Hamilton's charming tale. Our little perfor-
mance which took place between two screens, always
terminated by a delicious concert, which was led by the
famous Cramer, who passed that winter at Paris ; he was
the finest violin player I ever heard ; Jarnovitz was the
second violin ; Duport played the violincello, and Ma-
demoiselle Baillon the piano ; I sang and played on the
harp ; Friseri, who, though blind, played on the mando-
line in an astonishing style, assisted also at these con-
certs, as did Albaneze, the Italian singer. Our perform-
ers in comedies and proverbs were the Count d'Albaret,
Coqueley and the President de P£rigny ; (the most cele-
brated male performers in proverbs of the day ;) our
women were the Marchioness of Ronce, Mademoiselle de
Baillon and myself. We had for audience about fifteen
people ; M. de Sauvigny, the Abb£ Arnaud, the author ;
the Chevalier de Talleyrand, brother of the Baron, a
friend of M. de Genlis ; the Chevalier de Barbantane ;
M. de V£rac, afterward ambassador to Copenhagen ; his
wife, in whom I admired the union of two qualities,
very rarely found together, extreme vivacity and ex-
treme mildness : her conduct has been always admirable ;
she followed her husband into Denmark, where she died.
The rest of our audience was composed by turns
of the Count and Countess of Brancas, Madame de
288 MADAME DE GENLIS.
Custines, her husband and her brother-in-law, etc. My
aunt never came to these little parties ; however, I in-
vited her, well knowing that she would refuse the* invita-
tion ; my friends were not hers ; besides she had no de-
sire to see me act proverbs, nor to hear me play on the
harp. This winter M. d'Albaret proposed to me the idea
of a little piece which delighted me. He used to visit
Madame de Bocage, and related to us all that passed at
her little suppers to the wits. M. d'Albaret had been
several times at Ferney and imitated M. de Voltaire's
manner to perfection. It was agreed that we should
act the little suppers of Madame du Bocage ; and that
we should suppose M. de Voltaire at Paris. M. d'Albaret
took this part ; M. de Genlis, the Chevalier de Barban-
tane and four or five other persons, assumed the char-
acters of other wits. I wore the costume of a woman of
fifty, and from the instructions of Monsieur d'Albaret, I
played with great success Madame du Bocage ; I spoke of
my travels in Italy ; I was complimented on my Colum-
biad and my former beauty ; then every one's attention
was turned to M. de Voltaire, who performed his part
with consummate skill, and without any caricature. He
related anecdotes and repeated verses, among which
were a great many impromptus in my praise — or rather
in praise of Madame de Bocage. We had five Suppers
of Madame du Bocage, without becoming tired of the
kind of pleasantry which predominated in them. M.
d'Albaret was inimitable in Voltaire. We all engaged to
keep the secret of these suppers, and it was so well kept,
that they were never alluded to in society. Amidst
MADAME DE GENLIS. 289
all this dissipation I still found occasion to cultivate my
talents for all sorts of music, as I was continually asked
to play ; but besides this, I regularly read an hour a day
during the time I was at my toilette, and I found means
of securing as much time for making extracts. There
were always at least two days in the week that we did
not go out : on these days I read five or six hours, and
wrote two or three ; besides this, I copied the memorials
which M. de Genlis was continually composing for the
ministers, relative to the army or navy ; and I had to
write these out very neatly from dreadfully blotted
copies ; I never was employed in anything more fatigu-
ing to me. I trembled when I saw him come into my
room with his huge sheets of paper in his hands ; how-
ever my complaisance in this respect has not been use-
less to me, as it regarded my literary occupations. M.
de Genlis had a great deal of talent, and wrote beautiful
verses ; but when he composed in prose he was exceed-
ingly diffuse. In reading his memorials, which were full
of good ideas well expressed, I saw that they might be
much abridged, and that they would be improved by
doing so. This was a delightful discovery to me. I
suggested these abridgements to him ; he rejected them
at first, and ridiculed my ideas on the subject, but I
persevered. I proposed M. de Sauvigny as arbiter ; who
pronounced in my favor. It was necessary to alter some
phrases, as is always the case when you have to abridge.
I offered a little specimen of my plan, which was ac-
cepted. I had now ample authority to cut and carve ; I
abridged all the memorials with great care, and some-
290 MADAME DE GENLIS.
times rewrote them from beginning to end. I gained
nothing by my new scheme but the saving of paper ; but
I could boast that the writing was my own, and this feel-
ing of self-love encouraged me, and took away all sense
of ennui from my labor ; and I thus acquired a habit of
arranging my ideas in a luminous manner, and of writing
with precision. It was this year that I Avrote my first
historical novel, founded on an anecdote in the life of
Tamerlane. This novel was entitled " Parisatis, or the
New Medea ; " it was horribly tragical, and written in a
volume which contained two hundred pages of my writ-
ing. M. de Morfontaine and M. de la Reyniere lent me
books in the most obliging manner, and allowed me to
keep them as long as I pleased. This winter I read with
inexpressible delight " Pascal's Thoughts," the " Funeral
Orations of Bossuet " and the " Sermons for Lent " of
Massillon. I had already read these immortal works ;
but apparently my understanding was now formed ; for I
appeared to feel as if I read them for the first time, so
strong were the sentiments of astonishment and admira-
tion which their perusal caused me. I read these three
sublime writers in the following manner ; first, the pro-
found Pascal occupied my mind for half an hour, and
fortified my faith by his admirable reasonings ; then
Bossuet raised me above the earth and all my own con-
cerns ; and lastly, I rested entranced in the heavens with
Massillon. The majestic flow of his eloquence, and the
sweetness and harmony of his language, have something
about them which is truly divine. How I pity those who
have no love of reading, of study, or of the fine arts ! . . . ..
BOSSUET
ETCHED BY LALAUZE
Jf
\
MADAME DE GENLIS. 29!
I have passed my youth amidst amusements and in the
most brilliant society ; but I can assert with perfect truth,
that I have never tasted pleasures so true as those I have
found in the study of books, in writing or in music.
The days that succeed brilliant entertainments are always
melancholy, but those which follow days of study are
delicious ; we have gained something, we have acquired
some new knowledge, and we recall the past day not
only without disgust and without regret, but with con-
summate satisfaction.
About the middle of winter I read with enthusiastic
admiration the Natural History of M. de Buffon ; the
perfection of his style enchanted me and I studied it in-
tensely. I discovered that it was impossible to add any-
thing to the sentences and paragraphs of this splendid
work, and that it was equally impossible to retrench any-
thing from it ; I thence concluded that it was written
with the most luminous clearness and the most admirable
precision. Massillon, who was the first to initiate me
somewhat into the secrets of harmony, as well as the au-
thor of " Telemachus," qualified me in some measure to
feel the melody of that admirable prose. I endeavored
also to displace some words, and to change others by
substituting synonyms for them ; but I saw that the
slightest alteration marred the harmony, or injured the
sense ; this proved to me that no author was ever so per-
fectly acquainted with the value and propriety of words
and expressions. After a long and diligent examina-
tion of these styles, I read over again towards the end
of the winter all my compositions and my historic novel;
292 MADAME DE GENLIS.
and except my " Reflections of a Mother Twenty Years
Old," and my comedy of " False Delicacy," which I de-
termined to retouch, I burned the whole ; and I had
good reason to do so for the rest was extremely ill-
written. M. d'Albaret persuaded me to learn Italian,
and sent me an old teacher called Fortunati, under
whom I made great progress in a short time.
This year my aunt was seized with a fancy which occa-
sioned me a great deal of annoyance ; she insisted on
playing on the harp and making verses. I gave her les-
sons on the instrument every day I went to dine with
her ; but she is a scholar who has never done me great
honor. As for verse-making, her attempts at it were
by no means fortunate. She was in every respect ex-
tremely ignorant. I do not think she had ever read two
pages of a good book ; she did not even read roman-
ces. It was she who some years after said, speaking of
M. de Saint Priest, the Turkish ambassador, that he had,
near Constantinople, a charming country house, on the
shores of the Baltic. With this fund of erudition she
began to compose verses. Her first piece of poetry was
her own portrait, which was neither insipid nor flattered ;
there was some gayety and even wit about the ideas, but
there was not a single verse in measure, and there were
several feet wanting in each line ; I corrected this singu-
lar production. I was far from thinking then that my
aunt, who was thirty years old, would, seven or eight
years afterward, compose tragedies ; to be sure she never
would have written them, bad as they were, without the
aid of M. Lefevre. The Duke of Orleans was still en-
MADAME DE GENLIS. 293
amoured to her. M. de Montesson was then eighty-
seven, and my aunt seriously looked forward to the high
rank which she afterward attained. There was but one
obstacle in the way — and this was her platonic affection,
which every one knew, for the Count de Guines. But
ambition inspired my aunt with many marvelous inven-
tions ; I shall soon have to relate them in detail, and
they will be found very curious. First, however, I shall
speak of her friends. Her most intimate friend was
Madame de Gourgues, wife of the president, and sister
of M. de Lamoignon. This lady was always sick, and
almost always reclining on a sofa, and suffering an un-
happy passion for the Chevalier de Jaucour, who was
called Moonlight. Madame de Gourgues was remarkably
pale, and wore no rouge ; her paleness suited the style of
her face ; her person offered several strange contrasts ;
she had a sentimental air, but her manners were cold :
simplicity in her disposition, and pedantry in her under-
standing ; she was very religious, and had a great admir-
ation for the encyclopedists. She was not amiable, but
she had many virtues ; and she was thought to have a
great deal of talent and reading, because she understood
English — a thing very rare at that period. We often
went to sup at her house ; there never was any man pres-
* ent but the Chevalier de Jaucour ; and besides my aunt
and myself, two other ladies ; we were never more than
six at table. Madame de Gougues did not please me ;
she regarded me and treated me as a child, and I kept
always a profound silence in her company. My aunt
was always amiable and gay at this house, and was the
294 MADAME DE GENLIS.
charm of these little suppers ; in her behavior on these
occasions there was neither any motive of interest or de-
sire of conquest ; and when ambition or interest did not
oppose it, my aunt's disposition was delightful.
The Chevalier de Jaucour had an agreeable counte-
nance, a round face, full and pale, black eyes, handsome
features, and brown hair, which he wore in disorder, and
without powder; he really deserved his soubriquet of
Moonlight. His shape was noble, and he had a good
air ; his disposition was excellent, full of sincerity and
honor. He had served in several campaigns ; he entered
the army at the age of twelve, and had shown as much
military knowledge as courage. His understanding was
like his disposition, solid and reasonable. At one of
these suppers my aunt happened to say that I was afraid
of ghosts. Upon this Madame de Gourgues begged the
Chevalier de Jaucour to relate his grand story about the
tapestry. I had always heard of this adventure as being
perfectly true, for the Chevalier de Jaucour gave his
word of honor that he added nothing to the story, and
he was incapable of telling a lie, in which, besides, in such
a case there would have been no pleasantry. The ad-
venture became prophetic at the period of the revolution.
I can repeat it with scrupulous fidelity, because, know-
ing the Chevalier de Jaucour intimately, I have heard '
him relate it five or six times in my presence.
The chevalier, who was born in Burgundy, was edu-
cated at the college of Autun. He was twelve years of
age when his father, who wished to send him to the army
under the care of one of his uncles, brought him to his
MADAME DE GENLIS. 295
chateau. The same evening, after supper, he was con-
ducted to a large room, where he was to sleep ; on a
stool in the middle of the room was placed a lighted
lamp, and he was left alone. He undressed himself, and
went immediately into bed leaving the lamp burning.
He had no inclination to sleep, and as he had scarcely
looked at his room on entering it, he now amused him-
self with examining it. His eyes were attracted by an
old curtain of tapestry wrought with figures, which hung
opposite to him ; the subject was somewhat singular ; it
represented a temple, of which all the gates were closed.
At the top of the staircase belonging to the edifice stood
a kind of pontiff or high priest, clothed in a long white
robe, holding in one hand a bundle of rods, and in the
other a key. Suddenly the chevalier, who gazed earn-
estly on the figure, began to rub his eyes, which, he
thought, deceived him ; then he looked again, and his
surprise and wonder rendered him motionless ! . . . .
He saw the figure move, and slowly descend the steps of
the staircase ! .... At last it quitted the tapestry, and
walked into the room, crossed the chamber, and stood
near the bed ; and addressing the poor boy, who was
petrified with fear, it pronounced distinctly these words :
" These rods will scourge many — when thou shalt see
them raised on high, then stay not, but seize the key of
the open country and flee." On pronouncing these
words, the figure turned round, walked up to the tap-
estry, remounted the steps, and replaced itself in its
former position. The chevalier, who was covered with a
cold sweat, remained for more than a quarter of an hour
296 MADAME DE GENLIS.
so bereft of strength, that he had not the power to call
for assistance ; at last some one came ; but not wishing
to confide his adventure to a servant, he merely said that
he felt unwell, and a person was set to watch by his bed-
side during the remainder of the night. The following
day, the Count of Jaucour his father, having questioned
him on his pretended malady of the preceding night, the
young man related what he had seen. In place of
laughing at him, as the chevalier expected, the count
listened very attentively, and then said : " This is very
remarkable ; for my father, in his early youth, in this
very chamber, and with the same personage represented
in that tapestry, met with a very singular adventure."
.... The chevalier would very glady have heard the
details of his grandfather's vision, but the count refused
to say any more upon the subject, and even desired his
son never to mention it again ; and the same day the
count caused the tapestry to be pulled down and burnt
in his presence in the castle courtyard.
Such is the detail of this story in all its simplicity.
Mrs. "Radcliffe would have been glad to have heard it ;
and I dare say the Chevalier de Jaucour thought of it at
the time of the revolution ; for the fact is that when he
saw the rods raised, he seized the key of the open coun-
try, and fled. He quitted France.
To return to my aunt's society. Her best friend, next
to Madame de Gourgues, was the Duchess of Chaulnes,
daughter of the Duke of Chevreuse. She was handsome,
but totally destitute of talent and feeling, and she had a
thousand ridiculous affectations. She is the only woman
MADAME DE GENLIS. 297
whom I have ever known, who could be justly charged
with the fault of certain persons of the other sex — cox-
combry. There was coxcombry in her air, in her manners,
in her tone, and in all her conversation. Her conduct,
however, was irreproachable ; she had been married when
very young to a sort of fool, who, the very day after his
marriage, set off suddenly for Egypt. He remained there
several years, and on his return refused to see his wife.
Another of my aunt's friends was the dowager Princess
of Chimay, a very insignificant personage, who had
neither the merit nor the beauty of the other Princess of
Chimay, so very interesting by her behavior, her piety, and
her virtues, and who has been already mentioned as maid
of honor to the queen. The rest of my aunt's acquaint-
ances were Madame de la Massais, who has been already
spoken of, and the Marchioness of Livri. The latter was
young, good tempered, and whimsical ; she was so gay,
and so frank, that she continually forgot all the usages of
society ; she was thirty-four or thirty-five years of age.
The women of that time of life then wore, instead of shoes,
what were called, mules, which were a kind of shoes with-
out quarters, only covering the point of the foot, and
standing upon high heels which we all wore at that period.
I could never conceive how anybody could walk in these
little slippers. One evening at Madame de Livri's, where
I was supping with my aunt for the first time, and in a
large party, Madame de Livri had a dispute with the
Marquis of Hautefeuille, who was at the other end of the
room ; she got warmer by degrees, and at last grew so
angry, that she suddenly drew off one of her slippers,
298 MADAME DE GENLIS.
and threw it at his head. It was really a shoe for Cin-
derella, for she had the prettiest little foot in the world.
I never was more surprised in my life ; yet this piece of
thoughtlessness brought about a warm friendship be-
tween us. I have seen her do a thousand foolish things
of the same description, which were all charming in her,
because they were always perfectly natural ; yet this
very woman, so indifferent about what she said or did in
her private circle, was unlike all others, and was remark-
able for her propriety in all important matters, as she
was for the want of these qualities in small matters.
She kept an excellent house, and gave delightful suppers,
but she went out but rarely, and scarcely ever to parties,
though she received a great deal of company at her own
house.
The gentlemen my aunt saw most frequently were the
Count de Chabot, who was nicknamed Mimi (Puss,) I
could never discover for what reason ; he was much in
fashion, and had a handsome face ; he was thought to be
witty ; I have often seen him, but I have never heard him
converse ; but at each visit he made anywhere, he left be-
hind him some witticism, good or bad, as it might hap-
pen, which was always quoted ; when his joke was said,
he spoke no more ; he had an absent and indifferent air,
and was, at the same time, extremely hair-brained and
wild. I thought I discovered in him a great deal of cox-
combry, a false and affected gayety, and an air of irony,
which he never left off, even when he was desirous of
pleasing. The Duke of Coigny, his elder brother, was
mild, amiable, and polite, and his excellent disposition
MADAME DE GENLIS. 299
made him generally beloved and esteemed. The Mar-
quis of Lusigan, who was called Thickhead, another ac-
quaintance of my aunt's, was the confidant of all the
women ; the only requisite for this office were good nature
and discretion, and pretending to believe that all the
intrigues were only platonic affections. Many gentle-
men of this period, who were deficient in the requisite
talents of success with women, took the modest office of
confidant, which gave them in society a certain air of im-
portance, which has sometimes turned out to be useful
to several of them. The Marquis of Estr£han, who was
now an old man, was then the supreme confidant of
the ladies. He had acquired this confidence as a sort of
right, and to fail in it would have been an impolite pro-
ceeding in his eyes. His advices on this subject were
(it is said) excellent ; he was the director of all the ladies
who had lovers. M. Don6zan, brother of the Marquis of
Husson, was a perfectly amiable person, and the only
good narrator of a story whom I have ever known ; he
was always amusing ; M. de Pont, superintendent of
Moulins, also a very amiable man, who, a few years after,
married a charming young woman, mother of the pres-
ent Madame de Fontanges ; the Marquis of Clermont,
since ambassador to Spain and Naples celebrated for his
wit, his amiable disposition and his numerous accom-
plishments ; and the Count d'Albaret ; these were the
persons who composed her intimate acquaintances.
She received, however, many others ; but these were
only simple visitors. I have several times seen at her
house M. and Madame de Boulainvilliers, the Count de
3<X> MADAME DE GENLIS.
la Marche, afterward Prince of Conti, who died in Spain ;
he was blunt, but obliging ; he was at once odd and in-
sipid — a character of which he is the only example that I
have ever seen. From time to time I went, as I have
said, to dine or sup with my grandmother, who behaved
still with the same coldness to me. One day, when we
arrived too early for dinner, we found nobody in the
room but her sister, Mademoiselle Dessaleux, my grand-
aunt, who was an excellent person. My grandmother
was from home, and was not to return till the hour of
dinner. Mademoiselle Dessaleux proposed showing
me my grandmother's private cabinet, which was full of
fine pictures and engravings ; first, I looked at an enor-
mous picture representing my grandmother in her youth,
and her son then an infant, who was afterward killed at
Minden ; Madame de la Haie had been much celebrated
for her beauty, but I was struck only with the affecta-
tion of the portrait ; my grandmother was represented as
Venus, and her son as Cupid. I looked longer at a
charming little exquisite painting, the subject of which
was Europa; and I remarked in it a pretty idea; the
bull, who is carrying her off, turns round his head, as if
to kiss the pretty little naked foot of Europa. I said, I
thought Europa handsome but too fat ; Mademoiselle
Dessaleux smiled, and said, that it was not an historical
picture, but a portrait of Madame de Berry, daughter of
the regent ; she further told me that the princess, dur-
ing her armour with the late Marquis de la Haie, the hus-
band of my grandmother, had caused this portrait to be
painted for him, and had herself presented it to him. I
MADAME DE GENLIS. 30 1
thought in my own mind that if M. de la Haie's mistress
had been only a private individual, my austere grand-
mother would have thought this picture disgraceful,
and would certainly not have kept it so preciously in her
cabinet ; such a false color vanity can give to objects !
.... Madame de la Montesson, after the death of my
grandmother, became the proprietor of this picture, and
presented it to the Duke of Orleans, who placed it in his
apartments, where it remained till the revolution ; I do
not know what became of it afterward.
I did not go this year to Sillery, because I was with
child ; but I went with my aunt to the Isle-Adam, where
I acted notwithstanding my pregnancy. My aunt per-
formed in an opera, of which the music was by Mon-
signy ; this opera has neither been played nor printed ;
afterward Monsigny burnt it. The opera was called
Baucis and Philemon, and the music was charming,, My
aunt was Baucis, and was dressed as an old woman
through the two first acts ; the part suited her voice, she
had studied it well, and the costume of the old woman
made her look quite young ; she appeared not more than
twenty ; she met with great applause in the part, and de-
served it.
While on this subject, I shall relate a little incident,
which seems to me curious, as it shows to what lengths
self-love, even in the most positive matters, may deceive
us. At the first representation of the opera, my aunt re-
tired, after the two first acts, to dress as a young shep-
herdess, and I followed her into a room near the stage,
where she was to change her costume. She was not de-
302 MADAME DE GENLIS.
formed, but she had one shoulder much larger than the
other, which rendered her back very ill-shaped, when she
wore nothing to conceal or disguise the defect, and her
shepherdess's bodice left it entirely exposed. I told her
of this, but her waiting maid, through a habit of flattery,
assured her that her dress became her to perfection. As
my aunt appeared to believe this, I placed another mir-
ror behind her, and let her see in the looking glass her
own back, which looked quite ridiculous ; she examined
it, and to my great surprise, was quite of the opinion of
Mademoiselle Legrand, her waiting-woman. She played
in this dress, which every one thought very strange.
After the play, Madame de Boufflers, who was always
very attentive to me, took me aside to scold me for not
having told my aunt of the bad shape of her back ; I justi-
fied myself, by saying, that the opinion of her maid had
prevailed over mine ; but I concealed the circumstance of
the mirror, because that would have made my aunt ap-
pear truly ridiculous. This opera was performed three
times. We acted proverbs. I played a great deal, and
often played to dancing parties ; our excursion was very
brilliant. The Princess of Beauvau and Madame de
Poix passed several days there. The former, the sister
of Messieurs de Chabot and de Jarnac, was then, I think,
thirty-five or thirty-six years of age, and, in my opinion,
she was the most elegant person in society, in point of
talent, fashion, manners, and the tone of frankness and
openness, which was peculiar to herself. Her politeness
was at once obliging and noble ; her superiority was at
once evident, but none ever found it embarrassing. In
MADAME DE GENLIS. 303
her whole conduct there was a communicative easiness
of manner ; and I have often felt, after having passed
half an hour in her company, that I had lost the half of
my natural reserve. She had married M. de Beauvau
for love ; and I have never known in society a husband
and wife more remarkable for an example of conjugal
affection, more perfect, or in better taste. The Princess
of Poix was only the daughter of the Prince of Beauvau,
but her step-mother, in point of affection was a real
mother to her. I have never seen any cruel step-mothers
among persons belonging to the court ; they were only
to be found in the middling and lower classes. The
revolution may have introduced some of these into the
higher ranks, but the feeling which inspires these cruel
persons is so ignoble that it cannot last long.
Madame de Poix was charming ; there was no defect
in her shape, but she was not handsome ; and she walked
lame. She had a beautiful face and complexion. She
was gay, frank, witty and piquant. All these advantages
which are in general so dangerous to women, have only
served to add their charm to the life of Madame de Poix,
whose reputation has been always spotless. At the Isle-
Adam I also saw the Princess of H£nin, whom I had al-
ready met in society ; she was young, and had a charming
face ; but her beauty did not last long ; the following
winter her complexion was spoiled, and she looked no
longer pretty. She had in her person and manner some-
thing that seemed too much formed for a person of
eighteen ; she was said to possess wit, and her reputation
in that way is now well established. I have never been
304 MADAME DE GENLIS.
able to judge of this, though I knew her for twelve years ;
she was of that number of persons, then pretty numer-
ous, who never speak aloud in company, and only with
their friends at table, where they always place themselves
near each other ; or, when not at table, in the recesses of
windows ; persuading themselves that they can never be
appreciated out of the circle of their intimate acquaint-
ances. Thus their wit remains buried in the breast of
friendship, and is, for the rest of the world, only a tradi-
tion.
We found still resident at the Isle-Adam the Mar£chale
de Luxembourg and Madame de Lauzun. I was never
tired of contemplating the latter, who had the most
interesting face, and the noblest and sweetest air I have
ever seen ; she was extremely reserved, without being
insipid ; she was uniformly good natured and obliging,
without being tiresome ; and in her whole manner there
was a piquant and original mixture of wit and ingenuous-
ness. The mare'chale, as I have already stated, Avas the
oracle of fashion. Her decisions in everythin-g in high
life were without appeal. She had made, on such matters,
reflections at once witty and ingenious, but from which
she often generalized very improperly. Here is a droll
instance of this. One morning (it was on a Sunday) we
waited only for the Prince of Conti's arrival to celebrate
mass ; we were all seated about a round table in the
drawing-room, on which lay our prayer-books, which the
mare'chale amused herself by turning over. All at once
she stopped at two or three prayers, which seemed to her
to be in the worst taste, and of which, in fact, the ex-
MADAME DE GENLIS. 305
pressions were somewhat singular. She made some very
bitter remarks on these prayers ; upon which I suggested
to her, that it was enough if they were repeated with
sincere piety, and that God certainly paid no attention
to what we call good or bad taste. " Oh, Madame/ cried
the mar£chale very gravely, " don't take such a notion as
that into your head ! " . . . .A general burst of laughter
interrupted her speech. She was not displeased ; but she
was still persuaded that the supreme judge of all that is
good disdains not to judge also of our habits and our
manners ; and that, even in deeds which are equally
meritorious he always prefers those which are performed
with the most grace and elegance.
On this occasion, the Count de Guine's made no secret
whatever of his sentiments (as the phrase then was for
the Countess Amelia; and my aunt had frequent attacks
of cholic, but they never came on until she retired to
rest, which deprived her of none of the pleasures of so-
ciety. As, before quitting the drawing-room, she com-
plained of this in a whisper to her friends, and especially
to the Duke of Orleans, we accompanied her to her room.
There she laid herself down in bed, and groaned for ex-
actly three-quarters of an hour, neither more nor less.
During this time Madame Choisi, one of her friends and
I were employed in heating cloths in an adjoining room ;
the Duke of Orleans, with tears in his eyes, remained
beside her. The Count de Guines was sent out of the
room in the course of ten minutes. At last I discovered
the plot of this farce ; my aunt was sick from the infidel-
ity of the Count de Guines. She frankly laid open all
306 MADAME DE GENLIS.
her sensibility to the Duke of Orleans, and at the same
time allowed him to hope that the extraordinary conduct
of the Count de Guines would cure her of a passion which
was as unfortunate as it was pure. Everything succeeded
to her wish. The Duke of Orleans, in spite of his in-
terests of his passion, was so touched with her sufferings
and her sentiments, that he conceived a strong dislike to
the Count de Guines. It was very amusing to see the
looks of indignation with which he regarded the count,
when he returned with my aunt and us into her room,
and when the count followed the countess's steps every-
where about the drawing-room, and seemed to be over-
whelmed with love for her. On these occasions I saw the
Duke of Orleans shrug his shoulders several times, and
seem ready to break out. I have never been able rightly
to discover whether the spectators were the dupes of this
plot, which appeared to me somewhat coarse ; I remarked
that several of the men occasionally smiled, but all the
women seemeed to pity the victim of inconstancy. The
behavior of my aunt amidst all this was, to my eyes,
the most comical thing possible, especially on the day
following her attack of cholic. The melancholy and
mysterious airs of the ladies who inquired about her
health, the half-suppressed sighs of my aunt, and her lan-
guishing airs, are things which are impossible to describe.
I shall soon mention the private views which induced
the Count de Guines to second so well the interests of
my aunt. It will be seen that he had a real motive in
doing so. Madame de Montesson made me no positive
disclosures, but she often gave me vague hints that she
MADAME DE GENLIS. 307
was suffering from an unhappy passion ; I never ques-
tioned her on the subject, and things rested thus until
the end of our excursion.
From the Isle-Adam I went to Balincour, where I
passed three months in the most quiet and agreeable
manner ; there was scarcely ever any one but the family,
for we saw very little company., M. and Madame de
Balincour kept a large establishment at Paris, but at
their country house they received only their intimate
friends. The Countess de Balincour had talents, an
amiable disposition, and an excellent heart. She has
always been one of the friends in whose society I have
taken the most pleasure. Though naturally of a serious
disposition, and forty years of age, she seemed to me
still young, because she was neither pedantic nor sermon-
izing. M. de Balincour, at the age of forty-two, was of
so riotous a gayety, that it was impossible to discover
through his frolics, his tricks and his playfulness, whether
or not he was a person of talent. But there was in his
whole behavior something so original and natural that he
was quite amusing. He never behaved in a reasonable
manner, except with the Mare"chal de Balincour, his
uncle and his benefactor. Never was an old man so
happy as the mar£chal or deserved more to be so, for his
piety, his goodness and his mildness. I have spoken of
him at length in my Souvenirs. He had still preserved
his memory completely, he was not deaf, he read fre-
quently without spectacles and had his teeth till the age
of eighty, at which period I saw him. The old curate of
Balincour used sometimes to come to dine at the chateau ;
308 MADAME DE GENLIS.
he was a saint in his behavior, but of a simplicity which
it was wonderful to meet with nine leagues from Paris.
The first day after my arrival, he attached himself to me
in a manner that surprised me ; he followed me every-
where— in the drawing-room, in our walks and in my
room ; and his theme was always the truth of the
Apostolic Roman religion, of which he recapitulated all
the proofs. He ended by fatiguing me. This plot
lasted a fortnight ; it was a frolic of M. de Balincour's,
who made the worthy curate believe that I was a Luth-
eran, (though I concealed the fact,) and that he had
charged him with my conversion. M. de Genlis was with
his regiment ; on arriving from Paris I found a note from
my aunt, informing me that she was ill and confined to
bed ; I had left her at the Isle-Adam, from whence she
was to have gone two days after to Paris ; and where, in
fact, she went and passed a week ; she then went to
Villers-Coterets, where she remained for six weeks ; and
then returned to the Isle-Adam with the Duke of Or-
leans. She found the Count de Guines there, and the
scenes which I have related above recommenced. I sup-
posed the malady of Madame de Montesson was senti-
mental and I did not disquiet myself much about it.
The following morning I called upon her, and found her
alone and in bed ; she told me at once, placing my hand
on her heart, that her disease was there and that it
would cause her death ; I gave her some common-place
topics of consolation. She then showed me a letter from
the Count de Guines, who, at the same time that he
made a long eulogy of her virtues and the strongest pro-
MADAME DE GENLIS. 309
testations of esteem, admiration and attachment, de-
clared that he no longer felt any love for her, that he
was enamoured of another. My aunt added, that she
had not concealed from the Duke of Orleans either the
letter or her own grief on the occasion ; (this I easily be-
lieved ;) that the Duke of Orleans had conducted himself
admirably towards her, and that by his behavior towards
her on this occasion, he had acquired a right to her
affections. I still continued to repeat the same common-
places— that I hoped she would recover all this, etc. She
said, that if it had not been for the abominable conduct
of the Count de Guines, she would have carried her fatal
passion to the grave ; but that she still had need
of a long separation from the count, and that she
had stated this to the Duke of Orleans, entreating him
to obtain for the count the embassy to Prussia. I now
comprehended why the count had lent himself to her
plots ; he had very little love, and a good deal of ambi-
tion, and had long ardently desired an embassy ; with-
out this farce he might have waited a long time ; but it
was very certain that the duke would now solicit the
favor with so much earnestness, that he could not fail to
obtain it. I kept up my part, an ignorant spectator of
the comedy, saying only to my aunt that I feared the new
passion of the count might hinder him from accepting
the embassy. She replied to this, that, in fact, the count
left France with regret, but that the Duke of Orleans
had spoken to him so decidedly on the subject, that he
had been compelled to comply. He obtained the em-
bassy, and quitted France two months after.
3IO MADAME DE GENLIS.
In order to finish here all that relates to the count, I
shall relate an anecdote, which is perfectly characteristic of
his cunning. On his arrival at Berlin he was very unfavor-
ably received by the King of Prussia. This prince played
on the flute, and was passionately fond of music ; the
great abilities of the count on this instrument persuaded
him that the Court of France had sent him such an am-
bassador for no other reason. This idea displeased the
king ; and in the great Frederick, it showed a littleness of
mind. The count, seeing that the king continued to treat
him with a coolness which was almost insulting, discovered
the motive, but feigned to be ignorant of it. He some-
times met a person, who was said to be one of the king's
private spies, and one day, in presence of this person, he
said, in a tone of the greatest levity and carelessness,
that he had now discovered the reason why the king
never invited him to his intimate society, at the same
time adding, "The king has correspondents at Paris,
who must have informed him that I am of a mocking and
epigrammatic turn." Some one remarking, " how un-
justly any one had given him that character to the king."
— " No," said the count, coolly, " some one may easily
have given me that character without meaning any harm ;
at Paris, this kind of wit is but the habitual tone of
society ; we do not fear it there."
This conversation, as the count anticipated, was re-
ported to the king, who at first said, that he was neither
afraid of ridicule or epigrams. He thenceforth treated
the Count de Guines very well ; invited him to his par-
ties, conversed with him, was charmed with his talents
MADAME DE GENLIS. 311
4
and manners, often played duos on the flute with him,
and constantly after showed him marks of the highest
favor.
Three weeks after my aunt's confidence, I was deliv-
ered of my son ; I was then twenty-two ; M. de Genlis re-
turned from his regiment two days before my confine-
ment. I recovered, at least I went to church in a fort-
night. My health was never better at any period.
I had read a great deal of Balincour, and had written a
prodigious number of notes and extracts ; as I had, be-
sides this, a great number of correspondents, I composed
nothing. The succeeding winter passed away like the
preceding. I wrote, in imitation of Fontenelle Dia-
logues of the Dead, but they were more moral ; the first
was between Constantine the great and Charlemagne ; the
second, between Elizabeth, Queen of England and Chris-
tina of Sweden ; the third, between Louis XL and Henry
IV. The Abb£ Delille visited me several times this
winter ; he recited some beautiful verses, and certainly
no one could recite them better than he. This year M.
de St. Lambert published his poem, "The Seasons " ; M.
and Madame de Beauveau esteemed the author, and
were his warm protectors ; they were seconded by all
their own coterie, and the work met with a most favor-
able reception from the public ; but the best judges,
though they agreed that the language of the poem was
elegant, thought it dull, destitute of imagination, and
very tiresome. There is, from the beginning to the end
of this work a sombre and monotonous coloring, which
renders the reading of it extremely fatiguing ; you feel
312 MADAME DE GENLIS.
that the author has purposely adopted this tone of color-
ing, that he has wished to be thought a thinker, and that
he has mistaken dullness for depth. It is this poem which
first introduced into France the philosophic, romantic,
and German affectations of melancholy ; and besides this,
the taste for description, to which personages, passions,
sentiments, and virtues are made merely accessory :
while forests, plants, rocks, caverns, waters, precipices,
and ruins, are made the materials of the subject. It
was otherwise once, but nous avons changt tout cela.
This alteration is the natural consequence of material-
ism ; in withering the heart it has withered along with
it our imagination and our literature. In spite of all its
defects, however, "The Seasons" is a poem which will al-
ways hold an honorable place in French libraries, be-
cause its language is elegant, and this is a merit which
of itself is sufficient to ensure the existence of a work.
Like every other person I read the poem, and I thought
then of it as I now write. Another author of the same
period excited equal enthusiasm in another department ;
this was Thomas, and I shared the general admiration,
though my opinion has been very considerably changed
since. His orations are distinguished by their false em-
phasis, their florid style, and their forced ideas ; but
there occurs frequently in them at the same time a true
elevation of style and loftiness of thought, and at that
time I saw nothing but these qualities. M. de Sauvigny,
by means of his arguments against the style of Thomas,
enabled me to discover all his defects. It is singular,
that with my feelings for nature, I should have been
MADAME DE GENLIS. 313
always a great admirer of Marivaux, in spite of
his artificial manner and of Thomas, in spite of
his emphasis ; but this must have arisen from my
persuasion that their style was not affected, and that
their manner of writing was natural to them. Their de-
fects are exaggerated excellencies. Thomas saw things
in too grand a light and Maurivaux carried his niceties
and his delicacies too far. Nothing should be carica-
tured in writing ; this is the true criterion of taste ; and
without taste there can be no perfection in literature or
in the arts. There are two authors, St. Lambert, and be-
fore him Fontenelle, who have done much injury to liter-
ature ; in favor of their talents, we may excuse their own
defects, but how shall we pardon them for having raised
so many bad imitators of them ? A pedantic tone, an af-
fected emphasis, and a false brilliancy, have disgraced
all the works that have been published from that time to
this. Rousseau himself was not exempt from these de-
fects ; but in him they were only deviations from good
taste ; they do not characterize his general style of writ-
ing, which is beautiful, because it is frank, harmonious,
and natural. As a writer, however, he is still inferior to
M. de Buffon and our other great prose writers ; for be-
sides his affected and emphatic passages, there are in his
works many detestable modes of expression, and many
faults of language.
The history of my first interview with J. J. Rousseau
is not very creditable either to my understanding or to
my discernment, but it is altogether so singular and lud-
icrous, that I shall amuse even myself while I recall it
314 MADAME DE GENLIS.
to mind in the following account of my acquaintance
with him.
It was about six months after Rousseau's arrival at
Paris ; I was then eighteen years of age, and although I
had never read a single line of his works, I felt a great
wish to see a man so celebrated, and who particularly in-
terested me, as being the author of the " Devin du Vil-
lage ; " this delightful work which will ever please those
who admire simplicity of style and manner, is dis-
tinguished by a musical expression perfectly suited to
the words, and in a degree scarcely to be met with in
any subsequent work, except the comic operas of Mon-
signy, and the grand operas of Gluck. But to return to
Rousseau. He was very shy and unsociable, refusing
either to receive or to pay visits ; and as I did not feel
courage enough to take any steps to make his acquaint-
ance, I expressed a wish to know him, without thinking
it was possible to find the means of gratifying my wish.
One day M. de Sauvigny, who sometimes saw Rousseau,
told me in confidence that M. de Genlis intended to play
me a trick, by bringing me some evening under the dis-
guise of J. J. Rousseau, Preville, and presenting him to
me as Rousseau himself. This idea made me laugh
very much, and I promised to appear entirely deceived
by this joke, which was called a Mystification, a practice
much in fashion at that time. I very seldom went to
the play, and had only seen Preville two or three times,
from boxes at a great distance from the stage. Preville
possessed the art of mimicry, and of entirely altering
the expressions of his countenance : he was of about the
MADAME DE GENLIS. 315
same height as Rousseau, (for every one knew that
Rousseau was short), and M. de Genlis had really
formed the plan that had been confided to me, but had
forgotten it almost immediately. M. de Sauvigny had
also forgotten it, and I alone remembered the circum-
stance.
I remained three weeks without seeing M. de Sauvigny,
but at the end of that time he came and told me, with
an air of marked satisfaction, in presence of M. de Gen-
lis, that Rousseau was extremely desirous of hearing me
perform on the harp, and that if I would have the kind-
ness to play before him, he would bring him to me the
next day. Believing it quite certain that I should only
see Preville, I had great difficulty in replying without
losing my gravity ; I, however, kept a tolerably demure
countenance, whilst I assured him that I should certainly
play as well as I could for J. J. Rousseau.
The next day I waited with impatience for the ap-
pointed hour, thinking that the metamorphosis of a
Crispin into a philosopher would be highly ludicrous
and entertaining. I was in high spirits whilst expecting
his arrival, at which M. de Genlis, who knew that I was
naturally very timid, was much surprised, being unable
to understand how the idea of receiving so grave a per-
sonage could possibly produce that impression upon me,
and when he observed that I laughed the moment
Rousseau was announced, my behavior appeared to him
quite unaccountable.
I must confess that nothing ever appeared to me so
odd and fantastical as his figure and appearance, which I
316 MADAME DE GENLIS.
merely considered as a masquerade. His coat, his ma-
roon-colored stockings, his little round wig, the whole of
this costume, his manners and deportment, seemed to
me a scene of comedy most ludicrous, and perfectly well
acted. I, however, made a prodigious effort, assumed a
tolerably appropriate countenance, and after having
stammered out two or three words of politeness, sat
down. The conversation began, and unfortunately for
me in a rather lively strain ; I remained silent, and now
and then burst into a fit of laughter, but so naturally
and so heartily, that this extraordinary display of mirth
did not displease Rousseau. He said several pretty
things respecting youth in general ; I thought Preville
witty, and that Rousseau himself would not have been
so entertaining, as he would have been displeased at my
laughing. Rousseau spoke to me, and as I did not feel
the least embarrassed, I answered very unceremoniously
the first thing that occurred to me. He thought me a
very odd person, and I thought he acted with a degree
of perfection which I could not sufficiently admire. Car-
icatures have never made me laugh, but what delighted
me in this instance was the simplicity, the natural and
unaffected 'manner of him whom I looked upon as an
actor, and who consequently appeared much superior in
private, to what I had seen of him on the stage. I how-
ever, could not help thinking that he represented Rous-
seau as too indulgent, good-natured and cheerful. I
played on the harp, and sang some of the songs of the
" Devin du Village," Rousseau looking at me all the
while, smiling with that kind of pleasure which is pro-
MADAME DE GENLIS. 317
duced by genuine infantile simplicity ; and in taking his
departure he promised to come the next day to dine
with us. I had been so much entertained by his com-
pany, that this promise delighted me, and I jumped for
joy, and accompanied him to the door, saying all the
pretty things and all the odd things imaginable. When
he was out of the house, I ceased to constrain myself,
and began to laugh most heartily ; M. de Genlis, struck
with astonishment, looked at me with an air of severity
and displeasure which redoubled my mirth. " I see very
well," said I, " that you acknowledge at last that you
have not deceived me, and you are piqued ; but indeed
how could you suppose that I should be simple enough
to take Preville for J. J. Rousseau." " Preville ! "
" Yes ; it is in vain to attempt to deny it, I shall not be-
lieve you." "Are you mad?" "I confess that Preville
has been most entertaining, and has acted most naturally
and without exaggeration ; in short, that nothing could
be better as a performance, but I am persuaded, that
with the exception of the dress, he has not imitated
Rousseau. He has personified a good old man, very
amiable, and not Rousseau, who would certainly have
thought my conduct very strange, and would have been
seriously offended at such a reception." I had no sooner
pronounced these words, than M. de Genlis, and M. de
Sauvigny began to laugh so immoderately that I began
to feel surprised ; an explanation ensued, and to my
great confusion I heard that it was certainly J. J. Rous-
seau I had received in that singular manner. I declared
that I would never receive him again if he were to be in-
318 MADAME DE GENLIS.
formed of my stupidity, and was promised that he
should never know what had occurred : a promise which
was strictly kept.
The most singular circumstance in all this is, that by
this conduct, silly and inconsiderate as it was, I gained
the good opinion of Rousseau. He told M. de Sauvigny,
that I was a young person the most unaffected, cheerful,
and devoid of pretentions he had ever met with, whereas
but for the mistake which had inspired me with so much
confidence and good humor, he would have seen nothing
in me but excessive timidity. I therefore owed this
success to an error, and could not possibly feel the least
proud at it. Knowing all the indulgence of Rousseau, I
met him again without any feeling of embarrassment,
and have always been perfectly at my ease with him.
I never knew a literary character more agreeable or
with less affectation. He spoke simply of himself, and
without spite of his enemies. He rendered full justice
to the talents of M. de Voltaire. He even said that the
author of " Zaire " and " Merope " could not be without
a soul full of sensibility, but he added that he had been
corrupted by pride and flattery. He spoke to us of his
confessions, which he had read to Madame d'Egmont.
I was too young, he told me, to obtain the same proof of
confidence. While on this subject, he thought fit to ask
me if I had read his works ; I replied, with some embar-
rassment, that I had not. I was still more confused,
when he wished to know why, and looked fixedly at me.
His eyes were small, and though deep set, were very
piercing, and as if they would penetrate and pry into the
MADAME DE GENLIS. 319
very soul of the individual he was interrogating. It
seemed to me that he would have instantly discovered a
falsehood or evasive reply ; I therefore had no merit in
frankly telling him that I had not read his works, because
it was said, that there were many things in them against
religion. " You know," replied he, " that I am not a
Catholic ; but no one has spoken of the gospel with
more conviction and feeling." These were his very
words. I thought he had done with his questions ; but
he asked me again with a smile, why I blushed in telling
him what I have related above. He highly praised my
reply, because it was unpretending. He liked above all
things simplicity and unaffectedness. He told me that
his works were not suited to my time of life ; but that I
would do well to read " Emile " in a few years. He
often talked to us of the manner in which he had com-
posed the " Nouvelle Heloi'se." He told us that he
wrote all the letters of " Julie " on beautiful small letter-
paper with vignettes, that he afterward folded them like
letters, and read them in his walks with as much trans-
port as if he had received them from an adored mistress.
He recited his " Pygmalion " to us by heart, making a
few gestures, the whole, as I thought, in the most ener-
getic, true, and perfect manner. He had a most agree-
able smile, full of mildness and finesse, was talkative,
and, as far as I found, very gay. He talked admirably
of music, and was a real connoisseur ; yet, amidst the
heap of romances of his own that he gave me, there was
not one that was pretty, or even fit for singing. He
made a very bad air for the romance of " Nice de Metas-
320 MADAME DE GENLIS.
tase," which one of my friends, M. de Monsigny, has
since set to music for me ; the air is now worthy of the
words, which are really charming.
He gave me all his romances with the music ; the
whole together would have formed a very precious vol-
ume, for it was all in his own handwriting, and of his own
composition, words and music. But the mania of recol-
lections did not prevail then as it does now ; his friends
were not forgotten, and little importance was given to
what may be called his acquaintances, even the most cel-
ebrated of them : I scattered and lost this collection,
which was neither bound nor stitched together, and I
have often regretted it since. Rousseau copied music
with singular perfection ; I was extremely sorry when he
told me that this was his sole means of subsistence.
Rousseau came almost daily to dine at our house, and
during five months I had neither noticed caprice in him
nor morbid sensibility when we had quarreled on a very
singular account. He was very fond of a kind of Sillery
wine, of the color of onion skin, and M. de Genlis asked
the liberty of sending him some, adding, that he had re-
ceived it himself as a present from his uncle. Rousseau
answered that he would be very happy if he would send
him two bottles of it. The next morning M. de Genlis
sent to him a basket containing twenty-five bottles of the
wine, which so inflamed Rousseau, that he sent back the
basket with all its contents, along with a most singular
laconic epistle, breathing nothing but anger, disdain, and
implacable resentment. M. de Sauvigny completed our
astonishment and consternation by telling us Rousseau
MADAME DE GENLIS. 321
was absolutely furious, and declaring that he never would
see us again. Wondering how so simple an attention
could have given such offence, M. de Genlis asked M. de
Sauvigny the reason Rousseau gave for his caprice ; he
replied, that Rousseau said it was evident they thought
that he had modestly asked for two bottles, only to have
a present ; that the idea was offensive, etc., M. de Genlis
told me, that as I was not involved in his impertinence,
Rousseau might perhaps consent to return in favor of my
innocence. Our regrets were sincere, for we loved him.
I therefore wrote a rather long letter, which I sent along
with two bottles in my name. Rousseau yielded at last
and returned, but though very agreeable with me, he was
dry and distant towards M. de Genlis, whose talents and
conversation he had hitherto been fond of, and M. de
Genlis was never really wholly reinstated in his good
graces.
Two months after M. de Sauvigny had a play to be
performed at the Theatre Francais, entitled the Persif-
fleur. Rousseau had told us that he did not frequent
the theatre, and that he carefully avoided showing him-
self in public ; but as he seemed very fond of M. de
Sauvigny, I urged him to go along with us on the first
night of the play and he consented, as I had obtained
the loan of a grated box, with a private staircase and
entrance. It was agreed that I was to take him to the
theatre, and that if the play succeeded, we should leave
the house before the afterpiece, and return to our house
to supper. The plan rather deranged the usual habits of
Rousseau, but he yielded to the arrangement with all
322 MADAME DE GENLIS.
the ease in the world. The night of the play, Rousseau
came to me a little before five o'clock, and we set out.
When we were in the carnage, Rousseau told me, with a
smile, that I was very richly dressed to remain in a
grated box. I answered, with the same good humor,
that I had dressed myself for him. Now I had flowers
in my hair, and my head-dress was in the usual fashion of
young ladies, but everything else was as simple as could
be ; — I mentioned these particulars on account of the
importance given to them in the sequel. We reached
the theatre more than half an hour before the play be-
gan. On entering the box, I began to put down the
grate, but Rousseau was strongly opposed to it, saying
that he was sure I should not like it. I told that the con-
trary was the fact, and that we had agreed upon it besides.
He answered that he would place himself behind me, that
I should conceal him altogether, which was all he wished
for. I still insisted, but Rousseau held the grate strongly
and prevented me putting it down. During this little
discussion we were standing ; and the box was a front
one near the orchestra, and adjoining the pit. I was
afraid of drawing the attention of the audience towards
us ; to put an end to the dispute, I yielded and sat
down. Rousseau placed himself behind me, but a mo-
ment afterward put forward his head betwixt M. de
Genlis and myself, so as to be seen. I told him of it.
He twice made the same movement again, and was per-
ceived and known. I heard several persons, looking
towards our box, and calling out, "There is Rousseau !"
"My God," said I, "you have been seen!" He an-
MADAME DE GENLIS. 323
swered me drily, " That cannot be." Yet the words,
" There is Rousseau ! There is Rousseau ! " passed from
one to another, and all eyes were fixed on our box, but
nothing further was done. The noise disappeared with-
out producing any applause. The orchestra began,
nothing was thought of but the play, and Rousseau was
forgotten. I had again proposed to him'to put down the
grate, when he answered me in a very peevish tone, that
it was too late. " That is not my fault," said I. " No,
surely," he replied with a forced and bitter smile. I was
much hurt at this answer, it was so unjust. I was in
great confusion, and notwithstanding my want of ex-
perience, I saw pretty clearly how the truth lay. I flat-
tered myself, however, that this strange peevishness
would quickly disappear, and I saw that the best thing
I could do was to seem not to observe it. The curtain
rose, and the play began. I thought of nothing but the
new play which succeeded. The author was several
times called for, and his success was complete.
We left the box. Rousseau gave me his hand ; but
his face was frightfully sombre. I told him the author
must be well pleased, and that we should have a delight-
ful evening. Not a word in reply. On reaching my
carriage I mounted ; M. de Genlis came after Rousseau
to let him pass first, but the latter turning round, told
him he should not return with us. M. de Genlis and I
protested against this ; but Rousseau, without replying
a word, made his bow, turned his back, and disappeared.
The next day M. de Sauvigny was commissioned to
question him about this freak, but was strangely sur-
324 MADAME DE GEN LI S.
prised at his asserting, with eyes sparkling with rage,
that he would never see me as long as he lived for that
I had taken him to the play to show him off in the way
that wild beasts are exhibited at the fair. M. de Sauvigny
answered, that from what he had heard me say the
evening before, I had been desirous of putting the grate
down. Rousseau maintained that I had made a very
feeble effort, and that at any rate, my splendid dress and
the choice of the box were proofs sufficient that I never
had the intention of concealing myself. It was useless
to tell him that my dress was in no wise remarkable, and
that a borrowed box could not be one of choice : —
nothing' could bend him. I was so hurt at this account
of his conduct, that I would not take the slightest step
to pacify one who had acted so unjustly. Besides this,
I knew that there was no sincerity in his complaints ; the
fact is, that with the hope of producing a lively sensa-
tion, he desired to show himself, and his ill-humor was
excited by not finding his presence produce more
effect. I never saw him afterward. Two or three years
later learning, by Mademoiselle Thouin, of the king's
garden, (the Jardin des Plantes) whose brother he saw
frequently, that he was sorry that tickets were necessary
to obtain admission into the gardens of Mouceaux, which
he was very fond of, I obtained a key of the garden for
him, with the liberty of walking in it whenever he
pleased ; and I sent the key by Mademoiselle Thouin.
He returned me thanks; nothing more occurred, and I
was pleased at doing him a service, but felt no desire for
further intimacy.
MADAME DE GENLIS. 325
The same year M. de Sauvigny brought forward his
tragedy, or rather his drama, of Gabrielle d'Estr^e,
which contains some fine verses and eloquent passages,
and some interesting scenes — it was successful. The
author possessed talent, and a very sound judgment in
general ; but he never had any plan, and never produced
a perfect dramatic work.
During this winter, I several times went with Madame
de Puisieux into a variety of companies, amongst others,
into that of the house of the Countess de Brione, who
still retained proofs of her renowned beauty ; she had the
figure of Minerva, which perhaps might be admired, but
which never could have been agreeable.
Madame de Brione was highly accomplished, with
manners full of dignity and mildness. The most
remarkable person in the society of Madame de Puisieux
and Marechale d'Estr^e, was the Duke d'Harcourt,
brother of the Marquis de Beuvron ; he was talented,
worthy, and good natured. He was the only man that I
ever knew, who, after obtaining the greatest success with
women, still preserved the utmost simplicity in his man-
ners and conversation. I likewise frequently supped
with Prince Louis de Rohan, afterward the too famous
Cardinal de Rohan ; though not a very useful clergy-
man, he was very handsome, and was gay, and graceful
in his manners ; his conversation was amusing, but so
full of frivolity and thoughtlessness, that it was ex-
tremely difficult to judge of the qualities of his mind.
All that we knew of it was this, that no one endowed
with small judgment could have more agreeable manners.
326 MADAME DE GENLIS.
I everywhere met with the younger Madame de Segur.
so called, to distinguish her from her mother-in-law.
Madame de S£gur was then two or three and thirty
years of age ; her face was not pretty, but her teeth were
very fine ; her look mild, her shape charming, and there
was great elegance in her carriage and in her dress.
Sweetness and good nature were the chief feature's in her
disposition ; she was universally beloved, and deserved to
be so. Her husband, M. de Segur, (afterward a minister
of state and a Marshal of France,) who had lost an arm at
the battle of Minden, was one of the best of men, and
most excellent company ; he was fond of me from my
childhood, often gave me useful advice, and when he
was minister, immediately granted my mother the pen-
sion which I asked for her as widow of a lieutenant-
general of the king's armies — her second husband, the
Baron d'Andlau. The memory of M. de S£gur will al-
ways be dear to me. His mother, a natural daughter of
the regent, (Duke of Orleans,) was at that time very
aged, but possessed charming wit and gayety, was very
fond of young ladies, and was beloved by them for her
lively and amusing conversation.
Though I am naturally inclined to think well of
others, and am of a good-natured disposition, yet there
were two persons in society at that time for whom I felt
a decided antipathy. One was the Count de Coigny,
brother of the duke and chevalier of that name : he fol-
lowed me wherever I went, and the more I saw him, I
detested him more and more. His face might be reck-
oned handsome, if any face can be so with wide nostrils,
MADAME DE GENLIS. 327
and an ill-natured look ; his eyes were fixed, inquisitive,
and prying — such a look I have always detested. A
look that seems to pry into your soul, naturally excites
fear and distrust, even when you have nothing to con-
ceal. The Comte de Coigny had what is called a fine
carnation (complexion,) and his healthy color, along
with the roughness of his look, gave him, in my eyes,
the appearance of a man who blushes from rage. He
was not deficient in wit, but it was well suited to his dis-
position, dry, satirical and severe. The Comte de Coigny
became my enemy, and I gained this advantage at least,
that I met him much less frequently. The other person
whose disposition was repulsive to me, was Madame de
Cambis, the sister of the Prince de Chimay and Madame
de Caraman ; she was four or five and thirty years of age,
and full of affectation. She was strongly marked with the
smallpox, her features were common, her height good,
with the most disdainful and impertinent carriage that
any one ever dared to assume in society. Her friends
said that she was very witty, and that she made the
most ingenious bon mots. One of them was the follow-
ing: somebody praising my liveliness in her presence,
she replied, " Yes, a gayety of pretty teeth," ( une gaiett
de Jolies dents ; ) as much as to say, that I laughed only
to show my teeth, a supposition highly unjust, for I
never had the slightest affectation, and that was one of
the most disagreeable any one could have. Madame de
Cambis wrote, it is said, very pretty verses ; but I never
knew anything of her composition, except two verses she
made on my aunt and the Due de Guines, and they
328 MADAME DE GENLIS.
were very ill natured, very insipid, badly rhymed, and
badly expressed.
I became acquainted with a lady very remarkable for
her talents and charming disposition, the Countess de la
Marck, sister of the Duke of Noailles ; she was old and
religious, and never did piety appear in a more lovely
form. At her house, I saw the beautiful Madame de
Newkerque, afterward Madame de Champcenetz ; her
beauty was on the wane, but she was still charming. It
might be said of her what Madame de Sevign£ said
of Madame Dufresnoy, the mistress of M. de Louvois,
" that she was concentrated in her beauty," (toute recue-
illie dans sa beaut^ It was too evident that she thought
of nothing but showing her little feet, her pretty hands,
and of attitudinizing — if she had possessed particularly
handsome teeth, she would have had the gayety des
jolies dents. There were some very handsome women at
court at this time ; amongst others, the Viscountess de
Laval, and the Countess Jules, afterward Duchess of
Polignac. The shape of the latter was bad, straight but
small, without elegance or delicacy ; her face would have
been faultless, had her forehead been good, but it was
large, ill-shaped and rather dark, though the rest of her
face was very fair. When the fashion came in of letting
the hair fall down over the forehead, almost as low as the
eyebrows, her face was really enchanting ; there was such
a pleasing frankness as well as humor in her expression,
and her look and smile were altogether angelic. The
portraits of her which are extant, are very ugly, and give
not the slightest idea of her charming face. She was of
MADAME DE GENLIS. 329
a sweet and good-natured disposition, of simple, and
consequently agreeable manners, and the favor she en-
joyed afterward never in the least altered her demeanor.
She was said to be without talent ; in the intercourse of
society I found her neither silly nor incapable.
The Princess of Monaco was then thirty-two years of
age ; she still looked handsome, principally from her fine
complexion ; but her face was too wide and her features
heavy. One of the finest young ladies of the time was
Madame de Marigny, the wife of the brother of the
favorite, Madame de Pompadour. She was introduced
into society under the auspices of Madame de Serrant,
whose husband had been governor of the pages of the
Duke of Orleans. There was a rough expression in her
face, and something common in her shape, as well as in
her whole person ; her language was also vulgar and
affected ; yet she was a woman of talent.
I believe it was this year the King of Denmark visited
France. I went to almost all the fetes that were given
to him, and these were of the most magnificent kind.
All the ladies were covered with diamonds ; those who
had none, borrowed them, or hired them from the jewel-
ers. I never saw so many diamonds at one time, partic-
ularly at the fete given by the Duke de Villars, and at
that of the Palais Royal. At the latter, there were
more than twenty ladies whose dresses were trimmed
with them. A singular incident relating to this happened
to Madame de Berchini. She had a great many dia-
monds, all borrowed, and amongst the rest, an enormous
quantity of chatons, large and small. These were dia-
33O MADAME DE GEMLIS.
monds set close to each other, but so detached as to be
threaded in the setting under them ; they were then put
as a border to ribbons, or formed into necklaces with
double rows. On her way to the supper-room, amidst a
crowd of ladies, Madame de Berchini did her best to re-
strain an unlucky fit of sneezing, with which she was
attacked. She burst the necklace, and though she
caught a few of the chatons, the greater part fell on the
floor, and were swept along by the majestic trains of the
dresses and dominoes. It was impossible to stop for a
moment to pick up the scattered diamonds ; she was
obliged to follow the procession, at the head of which
were the King of Denmark and the Duke of Orleans.
Poor Madame de Berchini, whose fortune was very
small, was wretched at the thought of having to buy
diamonds instead of those she had lost ; and her mis-
fortune became the subject of conversation during
supper. The Duke of Orleans gave orders that a search
should be made for the diamonds ; and five or six were
brought, but the greater part were missing. The duke
promised that early next morning a very careful search
should be made ; but Madame de Berchini had no hopes
from the measure, and went away cursing the ball, and
all that belonged to it. When she rose next morning, one
of the domestics of the Palais Royal brought her all the
chatons found in the gallery, the three antechambers,
and the dining-room; and she found not only all she
lost, but seven small chatons besides, that other ladies
had lost, and that were never claimed, though for more
than eight days she related this restitution to every one
she met.
MADAME DE GENLIS. 331
I had now taken my eldest daughter from nurse, and
kept her at home; she delighted me by her beauty,
sweetness and charming ways. I went daily to see her
asleep in her cradle. There I enjoyed the sweetest
meditations I ever made in my life, and formed the
most beautiful pictures of imagination ; of these she
was always the heroine. How many thoughts one has
lost at the end of a long life, a thousand times more
worthy of preservation than those that have been com-
mitted to writing. How cold are the ideas calmly
formed, compared to those inspired by the heart alone !
Eloquence is only fitted to make others enjoy our
thoughts and feelings ; but it is an art, and the applica-
tion it requires always cools down all that we experience.
In a long reverie, caused by a profound and legitimate
feeling the heart only acts ; we are inspired solely by
that divine aspiration, that will never die ; we are ani-
mated solely by a portion of the supreme intelligence ;
within ourselves, the notion of the language of men is
gradually effaced, and finally disappears — all our thoughts
are changed into vivid images and deep-felt emotions —
and to reduce them into words and sentences, they must
be transformed, and how many are there which it would
be impossible to find terms to express ! — Do the blessed
converse in heaven? I cannot think it. There all is
infinite, every feeling is unbounded ; the praises of the
Eternal are only the perfect agreement of the divine and
supreme harmony ; that of terrestrial music is formed of
three sounds given by nature ; (each sonorous sound
contains them ;) that of heaven is formed by three senti-
332 MADAME DE GENLIS.
ments, which are mingled and confounded, and, like the
Trinity, form but one life, gratitude and admiration
carried to an extreme pitch, of which our most ardent
enthusiasm can form no idea. That is the celestial con-
cord— it is all expressive. That is the immortal language
of the angels, and of the elect ; that is the mark of
happiness for eternity ! — Here I am far removed from the
earth ; — but I write these memoirs rapidly and carelessly
just as the ideas rise in my imagination ; in reading them
it must not be forgotten that this is not a literary work.
At the end of the winter my grandmother died ; not
only did she not leave me a single token of remembrance
in her will, but she carried to the tomb the just rights of
my mother. M. de Montesson died a short time after-
ward. He was of the most extraordinary size ever seen.
He always seemed to me a very good sort of man,
though my aunt amused us by telling innumerable
instances of his avaricious disposition, amongst the rest,
that at her fete, and on New Year's Day, his only gal-
lantry consisted in giving her a quarter's pin-money in
advance. In other respects he kept an excellent house,
and was not troublesome in it, for he only appeared at
meals, scarcely ever spoke, and withdrew immediately
afterward. He gave my aunt four horses, of which she
had the sole disposal, and he left her the most full and
perfect liberty. He was seventy-eight years of age, with
eighty thousand livres a year, when my aunt, in her
nineteenth year, preferred him to every other man.
During his illness, which lasted eight days, my aunt paid
him the utmost attention, but it was all fruitless ; he was
MADAME DE GENLIS. 333
ninety years of age, and quietly but religiously breathed
his last. I did not leave my aunt during the whole of
this time and the three last days I slept in her bed.
During these eight days I saw a lady who really was not of
this earth, but who, from her earliest infancy, had elevated
herself to heaven ; this was the sister of M. de Montes-
son. She was then seventy-two years of age, and must
have been very beautiful for she was still handsome, with
delicate features and a most wonderfully fair complexion
for her age. She never wished to marry ; by a sublime
vocation, she had, at the age of twelve years, consecrated
all her possessions to the poor ; when she became of age,
she had thirty-six thousand francs a year, and of this she
reserved twelve hundred for herself, and gave away all
the rest. She had only two rooms to live in, on the
third floor, and kept only a servant girl ; she never went
out but to go to church, to visit the unfortunate pris-
oners, or the sick. She was commonly on foot, or, if it
rained, took a chair. As she never paid visits, I only
knew her by reputation, but my aunt had mentioned her
to me a thousand times with high veneration. During
the eight days of her brother's illness, she passed all her
time with us, and I was never weary in regarding her.
She was highly agreeable, and I saw something tender
in her look and manners ; she found that I loved her,
(for can we highly revere without affection ?) and was
greatly affected ; she pressed my hand, I kissed hers — I
would have kissed her feet. When I asked her one day,
why she had not become a nun, she replied : " Because I
am fond of prisoners ; " this answer made me smile, and
334 MADAME DE GENLIS.
filled me with admiration. I saw that she had pre-
served her freedom, for the purpose of consoling those
who were deprived of it, or to procure their liberation.
Every pious soul has its peculiar vocation ; it is a celes-
tial inspiration, which no individual, no government
should oppose.
The night before the death of M. de Montesson, he
seemed so calm, that my aunt and I went to bed at ten
o'clock, as we had been up all the preceding night ; we
left along with him a priest, his nurse and M. de Genlis,
who perceived that he had not many hours to live.
Being greatly fatigued, my aunt fell asleep the moment
she got into bed. A sort of terror kept me awake ; we
were directly over the dying man's room, and every
noise I heard made me tremble ; I now and then crossed
my hand over my aunt's face, and asked her if she were
asleep, which she thought very teasing. At last, at a
quarter to one o'clock, I heard a great noise in the house,
the room door opens, and we see M. de Genlis appear,
who at once informs my aunt that she is a widow. He
at the same time gives her notice, that the heirs, aware
that M. de Montesson would not survive that night, had
placed lawyers in waiting round that house, who had
already learned his decease, and were about to seal up
everything — that in fact they were now in the dead
man's apartment. M. de Genlis requested my aunt
to rise immediately but told her to remain in bed,
as the legal forms would not take up much time ;
my aunt rose in haste, put on a gown, while I remained
in bed, only opening the curtains a little to see what was
MADAME DE GENLIS. 335
going on. The commissaire, in a large black robe, enters
the room with two or three men and puts on the seals ;
at the very moment they were concluding, my aunt and
M. de Genlis went to another apartment, and I began to
be a little troubled with the fear of being left alone in this
vast chamber ; but when the assistants of the commis-
saire suddenly leave it, and the commissaire himself is
about to follow, I become desperately afraid, jump out
of bed, lay hold of his robe and scream out, " Monsieur le
Commissaire, do not abandon me ! " In a moment I was
confounded at being in my shift, but I instantly folded
myself in the long train of the commissaire, who had not
observed me till now, and was terribly afraid ; he
thought I was a mad woman, and he had cause to think
so. M. de Genlis, my aunt, and every one in the house
hastened towards the room, and on seeing my singular
plight, burst into a loud fit of laughter — never were
things sealed up so gayly. I put on my dress while
wrapped up in the cloak of the commissaire, for I would
not come out of it till I got a petticoat and gown. Some
time afterward, M. de Thiars made a very pretty song
about this adventure.
We set out for Vincennes, where we spent ten days
with my grand-aunt, Mademoiselle Dessaleux, who, after
my grandmother's death, had obtained large and magnifi-
cent apartments in the castle. The Duke of Orleans
came to Vincennes to see my aunt, but I perceived a
slight shade of coolness in his manner, which evidently
did not escape her notice. I believe that he was afraid
of her schemes after the death of M. de Montesson, and
336 MADAME DE GENLIS.
she herself was convinced that some one had warned
him to beware of her ambitious views. As she had no-
body here with whom she could talk of her conjectures,
she at last made me her confidant, but, in her usual
way, trying to deceive me as to a thousand circumstances.
Since I had read " Mariane " I perfectly knew her mind,
and was nowise her dupe. When once we have the key
of fictitious characters, with very little talent we can
find out their views more easily than those of others, for
with them everything is a matter of calculation : to as-
certain their intentions, we have only to think of the
interests that occupy their minds. My aunt assured me
that she was totally devoid of ambition, and was anxious
for nothing but quiet and independence ; that being
young possessed of an agreeable rank in society, and of
forty thousand livres a year, were she, with her disposi-
tion, to commit the folly of marrying again, all the sac-
rifices would be on her side, and she would never make
such enormous sacrifices but to a very strong passion, or
to snatch from the depths of despair an honorable man,
whose previous constancy she had perfectly experienced.
Such was exactly her language. From all her rambling
talk, I could only obtain the assurance that she was firmly
resolved to try everything, and to execute everything in
her power for the purpose of marrying the Duke of Orleans.
She spoke with great spite of the embarrassed air he had
shown : " I am sure," said she," that some one at the Palais
Royal is trying to keep him from me — I suspect Madame
Barbantane and M. de Pont (she was not mistaken) I am
supposed to have plans which I am incapable of forming.
MADAME DE GENLIS. 337
All these people would have been delighted at seeing
me his mistress, that was better than marquise ; but they
cannot bear the idea of seeing me at an elevation that
would put them all in my dependence — yet they wit-
nessed the frankness of my conduct toward the Duke of
Orleans, and that I did not conceal from him my senti-
ment for the Due de Guines, — if that has not cured him,
it is not my fault. Finally, I will prove that I have no
designs on him — I will give him up to his own manage-
ment— I am going to Barrege."
In thus forming her resolution, my aunt imagined that
the Duke of Orleans could not bear her absence, that the
trial would teach him that he could not do without her ;
and that finally, she could say on her return, that she
was altogether cured of her unfortunate passion. In all
this scheming my aunt ran much greater risks than she
imagined ; and in the result she was more fortunate than
skillful. Nothing could be more ridiculous than the
way in which she talked to me of the whole of this busi-
ness. With any other confidant she would have em-
ployed infinitely more cunning, but to me she spoke
nearly as openly as if she had been alone, with the ex-
ception of two or three phrases declarative of her being
without schemes or ambition. In other respects, she
showed me all her ill-will against the persons she im-
agined opposed to her views ; and did not take the
trouble of concealing her anxiety and agitation. She
did not find me devoid of sense ; but without reflecting
that I had been married at seventeen, and was now
twenty-two, she saw nothing in me but my childish live-
338 MADAME DE GENLIS.
liness of mind, my simplicity in several ways, my ap-
pearance, that was more girlish than my age, my timid-
ity in high circles, my wild gayety when at my ease, my
fear of ghosts — in a word, she considered me only as
a pretty child, an Agnes a little altered in manners by
intercourse with society. As she never read herself, she
asked me no questions about my studies, and I never
said a word to her on the subject. Thus she could form
no idea of the knowledge I might have acquired. She
knew only that I had written songs at Sillery, and that I
was acquainted with the rules of poetry, but she held
this kind of success de societ/ in little esteem. We re-
turned to Paris, whence she was to set out for Barrege.
The simplicity of my manners led my aunt to make
me a constant witness of her artifices which were some-
times of the most refined, sometimes of the most child-
ish kind. One of the latter amused me too much for me
ever to forget the slightest particular connected with it.
She was trying to convince the Duke of Orleans that her
unfortunate sentiment deprived her of sleep and appe-
tite ; that she could no longer either eat or sleep. In his
presence she was certainly rigorously abstemious — but
she made amends in his absence. It is true, that she
never sat down to table in her own house ; but though
she had no regular formal meals, she partook of food five
or six times a day. One evening that I was with her,
whilst we were certainly not expecting the duke, Made-
moiselle Legrand, her waiting maid, entered the room
with a large silver porringer holding some roast meat
prepared with wine. In a careless and unwilling manner
MADAME DE GENLIS. 339
my aunt put the porringer on her lap, and by an effort
of reason began to eat the roast meat, not a third of
which remained when a carriage was heard entering the
court. I hastened to the window, and said that it was
the Duke of Orleans. My aunt rang the bell with vio-
lence, but Mademoiselle Legrand did not hurry herself,
and when she came, said, that the duke was immediately
behind her. My aunt thinks of nothing but of getting
rid of the remains of the rotie, hastily orders it to be
taken away, and then, thinking the servants would meet
the duke, she calls back Mademoiselle Legrand, and
sharply bids her put the fatal porringer, cover and all,
under the bed. She is obeyed ; but at the same moment,
the folding-door opens wide and the duke appears. He
perceived the odor of the wine, and my aunt admitted
that she had taken a small spoonful of it. Her worn out
and languid look during the visit so inclined me to
laughter, that I had great difficulty in restraining myself.
Such is the excessive abasement and childishness to
which people of talent may be led by ambitious schemes
when they consider these means useful to their advance-
ment.
My aunt wished to keep me with her until she set out
for Barrege. She gave me the apartment of M. de
Montesson, and told me that my waiting-maid should
have a mattress placed beside my bed. This was in the
beginning of April, and M. de Genlis had just set out to
join his regiment. We returned from Vincennes at
night. My aunt wished immediately to put me in pos-
session of my apartment, which was on the ground floor.
340 MADAME DE GENLIS.
She asked me if I was afraid ; I said that I was not, and
to show my courage, I told her she had only to follow
me, for I would go in first, and without a light. The
footman was behind me with two lights, and I advanced
boldly into the open antechamber, but scarcely had I put
one foot in, than I leaped back with a frightful scream,
for I had felt distinctly, a large, cold and bony hand
spread against my face, and pushing me back. I almost
swooned away in the arms of my aunt, who was greatly
frightened at my dreadful agitation. She saw that
something very strange must have happened and in-
quired what it was. I told her, with trembling accents,
that a skeleton hand had pushed me back. The footman
entered with the lights, and immediately saw the cause
of the pretended prodigy. It was a withered orange
tree, that had been placed near the door, and one of the
branches, stiff and dry, spread itself out before the door
so as to come against my face. To the touch this branch
really produced the illusion of a skeleton hand. Every
one tried it and they admitted that in a dead man's
apartment, a person possessed with the fear of ghosts,
would be as much terrified at this branch pressing
against him as by the most horrible apparition.
My aunt set out for Barrege, but informed me that
the Duke of Orleans would often come to see me till
Madame de Puisieux took me to Sillery, and added, that
at his age, and with his well-known attachment for her,
there was nothing wrong in me receiving him. He had
never come to my house but once, at my last confine-
ment, and then he came with the prince, his son. My
MADAME DE GENLIS. 341
aunt desired me to speak often to him about her, and to
mention all our conversations in my letters. She again
said that she wished he were quickly cured of his pas-
sion, if he were not such as he had first imagined, for it
was terrible to afflict one's self so much as she did for
troubles that perhaps were imaginary after all. I asked
her what she would do if the passion were incurable.
" Ah ! " said she, " who can foresee? I only know that
my fate will be altered." I knew what she meant, and
promised to follow her intention, by relating the whole
to the Duke of Orleans, for she had allowed me to tell
him frankly the state of her heart. I was desirous that
all these manoeuvres might be successful, first, because
I knew that it was my aunt's ardent wish ; secondly, be-
cause I was not indifferent to the pleasure of having an
aunt married to a prince of the blood; and lastly, be-
cause I was proud of being in some sort a negotiator in
the business, at least during my aunt's absence at Bar-
rege.
I returned with great joy to my house in the Rue
Saint Dominique, where I found my charming Caroline,
whom I left to my mother's care, during my absence.
The Duke of Orleans came to see me the day after my
aunt's departure. I felt pretty well at my ease, because
I had constantly seen him at my aunt's, but he had never
heard me converse, and only knowing me by her account,
he considered me a lively, open-hearted, and agreeable
young woman, but totally incapable of observation or
reflection. For my own part, the idea of these private
conversations rather embarrassed me ; I was not very
342 MADAME DE GENLIS.
sure how I should succeed. His first address made me
smile, for he brought me a great quantity of sugar candy
of Fontainebleau, and told me that he remembered that
I had often asked him for some. However, in about a
quarter of an hour's time, he remembered that he was
afflicted by my aunt's departure, and spoke much about
her, but I did not perceive any very lively passion in his
heart, nor even a real attachment. His visit lasted only
three quarters of an hour, and on leaving me, he said he
would return in two days. His second visit was spirited ;
we first talked of my aunt ; I praised her attachment to
him, and he listened to me with a look of surprise at
hearing me reason so seriously. I talked alone for a
long time, and in such a romantic style as seemed won-
derful to him. At last I stopped to receive his compli-
ments on my eloquence. He then told me, with a
mournful look, that he had never been loved for himself.
I was greatly surprised at this, but he often repeated it
afterward. I opposed his notion, but made no great im-
pression. He gradually changed the subject of conver-
sation, and all at once began to relate to me his good
fortune with the ladies ; but his stories were always
jumbled with the adventures of the Baron de Bezenval.
His details, though very decorous in language, were hor-
ribly full of scandal, and were told with such simplicity,
that I listened to them with great curiosity, unmixed
with embarrassment. I am certain that the whole was
true, for it was not boasting, but merely talkativeness
and indiscretion. My astonishment was expressed in my
looks, and highly diverted the duke ; I must confess that
MADAME DE GENLIS. 343
I even asked the names of the parties, and, after promis-
ing secrecy, (which I have never broken,) the whole was
confided to me. It may be necessary to state that all
the heroines of these stories were women of very bad
character, and that there were some of them even who
had been hooted out of good company ; but still there
were a few to be met with in society and at court.
During a month, the duke regularly returned every
two days to refresh my memory with these topics, and
at last had such confidence in me, that he told me all his
troublesome adventures with the late duchess. At the
age of nineteen he had married her for love, and their
love was mutual and unbounded until the birth of his
son, which for a time still added to its force. She even
displayed so little modesty in the violence of her affec-
tion, that the Duchess de Tollard said, " That she had
succeeded in rendering the marriage union indecent."
Hitherto the Duchess of Orleans had been the most lov-
ing and irreproachable wife imaginable ; but, all of a
sudden, she desired the duke to give her all the letters
she had written to him, which were all equally tender.
She wished, she said, to have the pleasure of reading
them over with the answers, which she carefully pre-
served. The duke gave them, but desired her to take
great care of them, and return 'them quickly; but her
only object in asking for them was to destroy the whole,
for her heart was changed, and she wished to annihilate
the proofs of a sentiment which no longer survived. In
this retrograde inconstancy, desirous of destroying the
remnants of the past, in this shame of a legitimate at.
344 MADAME DE GENLIS.
tachment, and in the whole of this proceeding, there was
such a combination of perfidiousness and depravity, that
I was more struck with it than by the recital of his ad-
ventures. The duke likewise told me how he had be-
come in love with my aunt, which was more singular
than romantic. He told me that he found her charming,
but they were very ceremonious in their intercourse ;
and far from being in love with her, his mind was then
occupied with another lady — that was at the time of his
first journey to Villers-Coterets. One day, while deer
hunting in the forest, Madame de Montesson was on
horseback, and the duke happened to be close beside
her at the very moment that the chase had become con-
fused, and when the other lady, who was likewise on
horseback, was far off in another avenue. One of the
huntsmen proposed to the duke to wait there a few min-
utes, whilst he went forward to learn what had become
of the stag and the hounds ; he agreed, and dismounting
from his horse at the same time with my aunt, went to
sit down in a pretty little spot under the shade. The
duke was fat, and the weather sultry ; being excessively
tired, and in the most violent perspiration, he requested
the liberty of taking off his neckcloth, unbuttoned his
coat, stretched himself, puffed and breathed in such an
unceremonious and ludicrous manner, that my aunt burst
out into a fit of laughter, and called him a gros pere with
such a charming liveliness and gayety, that his heart was
instantly taken by surprise and he became in love with
her. Nothing produces a more certain effect on princes
than unexpected familiarity, gracefully succeeding re-
MADAME DE GENLIS. 345
spectful and reserved demeanor in their presence. This
rise of a great passion was not less singular however.
The manner certainly did not belong to the age of Louis
XIV., but taste had at this period lost much of its purity
and elegance.
The letters of the Duke of Orleans to my aunt during
her journey were not at all satisfactory ; one of them
so displeased her, that she wrote to me that she saw
clearly he had none of the sentiments with which she
thought him inspired. In this letter she could not con-
ceal her spite ; and in speaking of the duke, called him
that light man (cet homme leger — inconsiderate). I
could not help laughing at the expression, so inappropri-
ate whether we consider his mental or his physical qual-
ities. The duke treated a love-affair as an amusement,
and never was the first to break it off. As long as the
lady was near him, or listening to his conversation, he
was constant ; in fact, he was in love like a good soldier
at his post, he entered into another service without cha-
grin or regret. He was never truly in love in the whole
course of his life. If, at the time I am speaking of, an
agreeable woman had been desirous of occupying the
vacant place, nothing could have been easier. I wrote
to my aunt to tell her that she was. still adored, and to
press her to hasten her return. She followed my advice.
During more than a month, I received regular visits
from the duke. In this interval, there was a fete at
court, a grand masked ball, but I forget the occasion of
it. The duke requested me to get Madame de Puisieux
to take my to it, where he agreed to meet me. I never
346 MADAME DE GENLIS.
saw such a large company as at this ball. I went in a
dress domino, with only a small mask, (called a loup),
that concealed nothing but my eyes and nose. Besides
myself, Madame de Puisieux took with her, her niece,
Madame de St. Chamand and the Marquis de Bouzoles,
to give us his arm. We sat down on a bench in the
least crowded room we could find. In half an hour the
duke arrived, concealed in a mask and domino ; it was
not difficult to recognize him, for he looked like a huge
tower. He offered to take me into the other rooms, and
promised to bring me back in an hour. I put myself
under his protection, and while we were moving forward,
one of the masqueraders turned towards him, and ex-
claimed, " Make room for the cathedral of Rheims,"
which made every one laugh, even the duke himself, who
said, that such a respectable similitude was excellent
in so great a crowd. We passed through two large
rooms without accident, but about the middle of the
third, immediately adjoining that in which was the royal
family, I was suddenly snatched from the duke's arm. I
was pulled backwards and forwards, according to the
current, for many were going back ; I was pushed for-
wards, driven back, squeezed, and lifted off my feet. In
this crisis, I looked around me for the duke, but I had
quite lost sight of him, and my fear was extreme, when
all at once, a person in a blue domino, very tall and thin,
pushed every one aside, flew towards me, and laying
hold of me as if I had been a puppet, pulled me away
with the most violent impetuosity and finally carried me
into the royal apartment. I had given up every idea of
MADAME DE GENLIS. 347
dancing or seeing sights. I leaned against the wall, and
felt extremely unwell. At last I began to breathe freely,
and to express my gratitude to my liberator ; when he
spoke, and I recognized my friend's brother-in-law, the
Viscount de Custine, only eight days returned from Cor-
sica, where he had shown the most distinguished bravery.
The moment at which this discovery was made, was
highly disagreeable to me, and I shall state my reasons.
It is the only incident of the kind which I shall relate,
but the story is too moral to be omitted ; and at any
rate, it will appear by the way in which it ended, that
vanity could not excite me to repeat the particulars.
When I had somewhat recovered from my fright, I re-
quested to be led back to Madame de Puisieux, but we
did not return by the way we came, as the viscount took
me round by private passages. In them we found a
very pretty lady from Bourdeaux, named Madame
Rousse de Corse, who had been carried out wounded
and insensible ; as if from a field of battle, from the hor-
rible crowd we had traversed. The poor lady had fallen,
and been trampled on ; she was in a most pitiable state.
A surgeon was sent for, and she was bled on the spot.
I shuddered when I looked at her, and greatly pleased
the viscount, who wished to prevent me stopping, by
telling him that I wished to look at all I had been saved
from by his kindness.
The Duke of Orleans set out for Villers-Coterets on
the 6th of May, and a few days afterward Madame de
Puisieux took me thither to spend a fortnight. We
found a large company collected ; amongst others, was
348 MADAME DE GENLIS.
the Marquise de Boufflers, mother of the celebrated
Chevalier de Boufflers; she was witty and satirical, but
her daughter, Madame de Cusse, afterward called
Madame de Boisgelin, was neither the one nor the other,
which seemed very singular in such a family. The
Count de Maillebois was likewise of the party ; he was
thought to be a man of talent ; I never perceived it, but
found him very tiresome. We had M. de Castries, after-
ward Marshal of France, whose manners and conversation
I greatly liked. His talents were solid as well as agree-
able ; his wish to please, mild, calm, without pertness, or
forwardness, unruffled by vanity, springing solely from
good-nature, and not from self-love that wished to dazzle
and to carry everything before it. Another guest, the
Baron de Bezenval, whom I had already seen a thousand
times in society. He was of the same age as the Duke
of Orleans, but his person was still charming, and he was
a great favorite with the ladies. So excessively ignorant
was he, that he could scarcely write a card, yet he had
just that kind of talent necessary for 'telling trifles grace-
fully and politely. He was said to be bad-hearted, he
was certainly thoughtless and dissipated ; his demeanor
was pleasing, where his interest did not clash, and his
conversation sensible, when there was nobody present
whom he could ridicule ; to us, his frank ways, unaffected
disposition, and lively gayety, made him highly agree-
able. The Marquis du Chatelet and his lady were like-
wise of the party. The marchioness was one of the
worthiest persons at court, and the same may be said of
her husband. If we had believed the story told about
MADAME DE GENLIS. 349
his birth, we might have been surprised at his mild dis-
position and not very bright mind ; but his judgment
was sound, his heart excellent, and the constancy of his
friendship for the Due de Choiseul offered a splendid ex-
ample to the courtiers. Monsieur and Madame de Vau-
paliere were likewise at Villers-Coterets all the time we
remained. The husband would have been very agree-
able, had it not been for his propensity to play, which
formed not only his happiness, but sole occupation. He
would have disgusted our romantiques with reverie, but
he thought only of play. His lady was charming,
though more than forty ; she had those graces that do
not become old, an unaffected disposition, lively wit,
original character, and the most even and agreeable
temper ever seen.
It was here that I learned all the advantage of having
for a mentor a person really desirous of displaying the
accomplishments of the lady she introduces into society.
I was highly successful, not only with my harp, singing,
and the making of proverbs, but I was much praised for
my talent and conversation, though they were both com-
mon enough. When I wished to withdraw at eleven
o'clock, as usual, I was forcibly detained ; what I said
was repeated and praised, and words of it quoted next
day, and most commonly these pretended bon mots
were not worth the trouble. For this success I was
wholly indebted to Madame de Puisieux and the Duke
of Orleans, who were always talking of my agreeable
ways. They would scarcely let us go at the end of
twelve days. I had often spoken to the Duke of Orleans
35O MADAME DE GENLIS.
about my aunt, in our walks on the terrace of the cha-
teau of Villers-Coterets. I remarked that a letter an-
nouncing her return in three weeks had renewed his
flame ; he was in love again, for fear of being pouted ; he
promised to write me, and kept his word.
On leaving Villers-Coterets we did not go to Sillery,
as Madame de Puisieux wished to make me acquainted
with Vaudreuil, the finest estate in Normandy ; or rather,
she wished to show me off in a castle where agreeable
accomplishments and fetes were esteemed, and with the
society of which I was not acquainted, because it was
not one which she generally frequented. We were to
stay only eight days at Vaudreuil, but we remained five
weeks, and they were the pleasantest I ever spent in my
life. The master of the chateau was the President Por-
tal, an old gentleman, witty, gay and good-natured. We
found most excellent company, fond of amusement, and,
among the rest, a relation of the president, formerly very
celebrated for her beauty. She was then fifty ; her first
husband was M. Amelot, minister of foreign affairs ; when
she became a widow, she swore that she would preserve
her freedom, and she kept it long ; at last she saw at
Vaudreuil, M. Damezague, fifteen years younger than her-
self. She was so greatly prepossessed against him, that
she wished to leave the house the moment he arrived ;
but in eight days he was able to overcome all her pre-
possessions, and to make her in love with him — within
that time the proud widow married him in the chapel of
the castle. They had been three years married when we
found them at Vaudreuil, and they lived together like
MADAME DE GENLIS. 351
two turtle-doves. Madame Damezague was extremely
beautiful ; her husband was handsome, and one of the
tenderest and affectionate of partners. He had the most
lively, juvenile way I ever saw; thought of nothing but
amusement, was always playing tricks or giving fetes,
and had always some plan of diversion in his mind.
After a day of the most delightful amusement, he would
ask in the evening, " What shall we do to-morrow morn-
ing? " It was necessary to tell him to keep him quiet ;
without a fixed plan of the kind, he could not have slept.
Of the singular marriage of Madame Damezague, I
formed the novel entitled " Les Preventions d'une Fem-
me," which M. Radet has turned into a very pretty vau-
deville.
Amidst the gay society of Vaudreuil, I particularly re-
marked a young lady, whose lovely form and pleasing
manners struck me with admiration. This was the Com-
tesse de Merode, (afterward Comtesse de Lannoy,) she
was three years older than me, with a most beautiful
shape, a fine face, clever disposition, most lively imagina-
tion, and a thousand engaging qualities. She inspired
me with a strong affection at first sight, and this I have
always felt for every person I have ever loved. On her
I produced the same effect, and the same evening she
took me to her room, where we sat up together until
three in the morning. It would seem that such lively
impressions, such quick friendships, would belong only to
the period of youth, yet I have always preserved them,
and never love any one for whom I do not feel an im-
mediate attachment. Next morning, M. Damezague
MADAME DE GENLIS.
came to ask what we would do in the evening, when I
proposed to make proverbs, but he affirmed that no one
in the chateau could do them, and added, with a smile,
that I ought to make out one by myself to give them a
lesson. I answered that the thing was not impossible.
I tried, and invented my famous scene of La Cloison,
which I performed so often afterward, and out of which
I subsequently made two little plays, that have been im-
itated on the stage, particularly in Aucassin and Nico-
l£tte. My Cloison was so successful, that it was played
five or six days successively, as an afterpiece we gave a
burlesque song, very drolly given by M. Damezague, with
the accompaniment of the harp. I formed a small com-
pany for the purpose of making up proverbs, and Ma-
dame de Merode did great credit to my lessons. We had
charming walks and rides in the park, which was of im-
mense extent and admirable beauty. We heard often of
a neighboring mountain called the Montagne des deux
Amans, famous for its immense height, extensive pros-
pect, the difficulty of ascending it, and, above all, by the
tradition that explains its title of " The Two Lovers'
Mountain." The tale goes, that in olden times, it was
called the " Inaccessible Mountain," on account of the
supposed impossibility of reaching its summit. A young
shepherd of the valley could only obtain the hand of a
girl with whom he was in love by carrying her thither
on his shoulders; and this condition, it was thought,
would put an end to the connection ; but love hesitates
at nothing, and the lovers accepted the condition, to the
great astonishment of the inhabitants of the valley.
MADAME DE GENLIS. 353
The lover places his beloved on his shoulders, thinks he
could carry her thus to the world's end, and that so sweet
a load would reanimate him were his strength to fail.
He laughs at the mortal anxiety of his relations and
friends, sets out in triumph, and climbs the mountain ;
but, at the top of the highest ridge, while making the
last step which raises him to the summit — he breathes
his last ! Such is the tradition which looks like an alle-
gory ; for, in fact, does not love promise everything, un-
dertake everything, and, having obtained everything,
immediately expire ! The tale adds, that the young
girl, in her despair, leaped into the river that flows at
the foot of the rugged mountain, which, henceforth, was
called the Montagne des deux Amans. On this roman-
tic foundation, I wrote out, in two days, a drama which I
read to Madame de Merode, the Comte de Caraman,
(brother of the marquis and nephew of the President
Portal,) and M. Damezague. They found the play excel-
lent, and we settled that it should be performed ; while
Comte de Caraman had a charming little theatre erected
in the orangerie. In the meantime, Madame de Merode
and I determined on climbing the mountain ; but as the
president's postillion had broken his leg on it only two
months before, I knew that Madame de Puisieux would
be opposed to our undertaking, so we kept it secret, and
agreed to have it done before she rose in the morning.
The mountain is noways inaccessible, but only very tedi-
ous and fatiguing to climb. We knew that there was a
hermitage on the top, so that we were very sure that we
could do what had been done by hermits, or rather, by
354 MADAME DE GENLIS.
monks, for it was a small convent. We rose at daylight,
and by five o'clock Madame de Merode, M. de Caraman,
M. Damezague and I had reached the foot of the moun-
tain. We were forced to stop half way, for Madame de
Merode, not much accustomed to walking, was quite
worn out. At last we reached the top, and found some
good-natured monks, who were delighted at seeing us, and
who gave us some goats' milk for breakfast, which we
found delicious. Their little convent was placed amidst
the tableland of the mountain, and was really charming..
The most delightful was to be seen on every side. These
pious hermits still hovered over the world they had left
— they only saw on its surface its most virtuous features,
the labors of the fields. I envied their dwelling and
their tranquillity ; for even amidst the tumult of society
and dissipation, I have never, without the profoundest
emotion, caught a glimpse of unbroken solitude and un-
interrupted repose. I did not then foresee, that twenty
years afterward, this convent would be destroyed, and its
virtuous inhabitants dispersed — perhaps put to death !
The theatre was finished in a week, for the works were
carried on night and day, and decorations ready made
were brought from Rouen. I distributed the characters
of my play in the interval ; mine was that of an old en-
chanter, two hundred years old, supposed to be placed
on the inaccessible mountain, where he was to remain
until the arrival of two perfect lovers, whom he had been
looking for for more than a hundred and fifty years; I
was delighted with the character, because I had a white
beard and a wig. Madame de Merode and M. de Cara-
MADAME DE GENLIS. 35 £
man were the two lovers. My play ended happily, for
the lovers survived, to serve as models to the lovers of
future ages, and the perfection of their mutual love re-
moved the enchantment from the old hermit of the
mountain. The play was full of agreeable illusions to
the master of the house, and every one of the party. It
may be supposed that nothing was wanting to its com-
plete success, and that the author was loudly called for ;
we were required to perform it again, but Madame de
Puisieux found the play too short, and desired me to-
lengthen it. Every one called on me to perform Roxe-
lane in the " Trois Sultanes," for I was so often com-
pared to Roxelane in my youth, that I was as much tired
of this kind of compliment, as with hearing it said that I
certainly played better on the harp than King David.
As we had not a copy of the " Trois Sultanes," M. de
Caraman sent a messenger to Paris for one, and for sev-
eral other things, amongst the rest for bagpipes, for mine
were at Sillery with my trunks. But I told our perform-
ers that I would write a comedy of the " Trois Sultanes "
with the same incidents, but an entirely different plot.
I wrote it in six or seven days, in three acts, and in
prose, with interludes. It was learned in proportion as.
I wrote it. It was quite different from Favart's play ; I
do not think it was good, but I believe the dialogue was
pretty and there certainly was some action and interest
in the plot, entirely wanting in Favart. I took a very
brilliant character, in which I sang, danced, played on
the harpsichord, the harp, the guitar, the bagpipes, the
tabor, and the viol. The last two instruments we got
356 MADAME DE GENLIS. '
from Rouen, and nothing but the top of my viol was
wanting, but I had not played on it for more than three
years, and my mandoline would not have done well after
my guitar, on which I played infinitely better. M. de
Nedonchel, who came to join us from Paris, took a char-
acter, while Madame de Merode played extremely well
in the part of a Spanish lady in love with a young
Frenchman, performed by M. de Caraman. A young
man from a small town adjoining (Pont-de-1'Arche)
played charmingly the character of the Grand Seigneur.
With the new play we again performed my " Montague
des deux Amans." The whole was so successful, that
the tumult of applause made Madame de Puisieux burst
into tears, and this was the true success I wished for.
After supper, I accompanied her to her room, while
Madame de Merode was vainly waiting for me, for I re-
mained with Madame de Puisieux till daybreak. How
she loved me ! — as I have since loved ! — how grateful I
felt for her kindness ! how dear to me was this virtuous
and affectionate guide ! Her features, her smile, her
dress, the sound of her voice, and all our private conver-
sations, are unalterably engraved in my remembrance —
and above all, the conversation of that night, in which
she showed so much tenderness towards me ! She held
my hands in hers, looked to me with inexpressible affec-
tion, and often repeated these memorable words: "Yes,
you will have an extraordinary destiny ! — but what will
it be? " Her tone indicated alarm for my future happi-
ness— alas ! it was a presentiment.
We performed our little play three times over, with
MADAME DE GENLIS. 357
only a day of interval between each performance ; people
came to see it not only from Pont-de-1'Arche, but from
Rouen, and the crowd was very great at the two last
performances. We then put a plan into execution, the
thought of which alone delighted me — that was to go to
Dieppe to see the ocean, which I had never seen. The
only difficulty was to get Madame de Puisieux to take
us thither, for she would not have let me gone without
her. One morning I told Madame de Merode and M. de
Caraman that I would try the negotiation in the course
of the day. They thought I would do so in private,
and, to their great surprise, it was in the drawing-room
after dinner, and before all the company. I approached
Madame de Puisieux, and called out to her to be on her
guard, for I had resolved to employ all my cunning to
circumvent her : she laughed, and replied gracefully as
usual. I then told her that I was passionately desirous
of seeing the sea, when she interrupted me at once, and
exclaimed, " Very well, we shall go to Dieppe to-mor-
row." I was so much affected by her kindness that my
eyes were instantly filled with tears, but ashamed of my
weakness, I inclined my face in her hand to conceal my
emotion ; she felt the tears falling on her hand, and said,
" Come, lift up your head." I obeyed, and the com-
pany saw that I was crying. She affectionately em-
braced me again and again. " See," said she, " if I can
refuse you anything." There was nobody present but
persons well inclined towards me, and this scene greatly
affected them.
Madame de Puisieux, Madame de Merode, M. de Car-
358 MADAME DE GENLIS.
aman, and I set out next day at twelve o'clock, in a her-
line. We were escorted by Messrs. Dam£zague and M.
de Nedonchel, who during the whole way got to the
post-houses before us for the purpose of playing off the
wildest stratagems, that kept us in a roar of laughter.
Our stay at Dieppe was equally gay. My surprise, ad-
miration, and awe were extreme at the aspect of the
ocean, seen for the first time from the pier of Dieppe,
whence it is seen in all its majesty. I missed only one
circumstance — that of being alone. I confess that the
noisy gayety of my companions was highly disagreeable
to me on this occasion. Whilst contemplating this won-
derful sight, I was hurt at hearing laughter and ridicule
around me, as if we were in a drawing-room or by the
fireside ; and they were equally astonished with my
grave looks, and agreed that I was very dull on the sea-
shore. I took a little voyage which did not turn out
well, for I became so terribly sick that we were obliged
to gain the shore after having been out no further than a
league. We visited the shops, which were full of pretty
articles in ivory, and Madame de Puisieux gave me an
immense quantity. With fish we made excellent cheer ;
spent a whole day at Dieppe ; and, delighted with our
journey, returned to Vaudreuil, where new fetes were in
preparation.
While in the drawing-room after dinner, the day after
our return, the president received a letter which he read
aloud informing him that pirates had seen Madame de
Merode and me at sea, and intended to carry us off to
take us to the Grand Seigneur's seraglio. We were not
MADAME DE GENLIS. 359
greatly alarmed at this ; however we asked him how we
could preserve ourselves from so imminent a danger, and
he replied that he saw no other way than to get our-
selves received as vestals in the temple of the petit bois.
This was a charming hut formed like a temple, and
placed in a part of the garden near the castle ; it was
called the convent, was surrounded with walls, and com-
pletely secluded, for it was in the president's private gar-
den which he carefully kept under lock and key, and
which nobody entered but in his company. He had
taken us thither several times to breakfast. It was set-
tled that at eight o'clock next evening we should be re-
ceived into the temple of Vesta. M. de Caraman led us
thither, and immediately disappeared. We found the
temple adorned with flowers, and all the ladies of the
party dressed as vestals, with Madame de Puisieux at
their head as high priestess, and the president as high
priest. He was the only man present within the en-
closure. A harangue was delivered, and Madame de
Vougny recited some very pretty verses. The ceremony
of our reception was gone through. Daylight was fast dis-
appearing, when we heard, all at once, very noisy music
in the Turkish style, and messengers came around us on
all hands to say that the Grand Seigneur was coming in
person, with a great escort, to carry off all the vestals
from the temple. Our high priest showed on this occa-
sion a firmness worthy of his rank, for he declared that
the gates should not be opened. Meanwhile the terrible
music was approaching with alarming rapidity, and the
Turks soon made thundering knocks at the gates. To
360 MADAME DE GENLIS.
avoid a scene that I disliked beforehand, I advised that
the gates should be opened, and that we should surren-
der at discretion ; but the president was firmly attached
to his own plan, and fond of the pantomime, so that he
reproached me with cowardice, and made the sultan be
informed that the spot was consecrated ground. There-
upon, though the walls were pretty high, all the Turks
jumped over immediately, several among them (who
were servants or peasants) carrying torches ; the gates
were opened ; more than three hundred Turks entered
the garden ; the gentlemen of the party carried off the
ladies ; the rest carried off about a dozen waiting-maids,
who had been mingled with us to increase our number.
I always hated confusion and tumult, even in games,
and this noisy party both displeased and frightened me,
for I was afraid there might be some legs broken ;
and at seeing some Turks approach the vestals rather
roughly, I thought the whole plan abominable. While
in this bad humor, by the light of the torches I per-
ceived M. de Caraman all glittering with gold and jewels,
(but who did not look well in his turban,) and approach-
ing me with an air of triumph, that roused my anger. I
absolutely refused to be carried off, and this in such a
rude way that he was greatly hurt. He laid hold of me,
I resisted, pinched, scratched, and kicked his legs until
he got into a passion, and then carried me off in spite of
all my resistance. I was placed on a magnificent palan-
quin, while the sultan followed me on foot, and re-
proached me bitterly. Seeing, however, that I ought
not to spoil the fete by teasing him who really gave it,
MADAME DE GENLIS. 361
and who had become the hero only to make me queen, I
endeavored to laugh it off, and succeeded in appeasing
him. All the ladies were placed in charming d. /
quins, and the Turks followed on foot with a banii ~6i'
music playing. In this manner we traversed throughout
the whole length of these magnificent gardens which
were brilliantly illuminated. The prospect was delight-
ful. We found, at the extremity of the park, a splendid
ball-room, with plenty of orange-trees, garlands of
flowers, designs and refreshments. The Grand Seigneur
declared me his favorite sultana, and we danced all
night. I have had many fetes given me in the course of
my life, but I never saw any so ingenious and delightful
as this.
Three or four days afterward we set out for Sillery.
Though I had spent at Vaudreuil the most dissipated
five weeks of my life, yet I never omitted reading every
morning during my toilette. I took with me the " Revo-
lutions de Suede " of the Abbe" de Vertot ; and as the
president had some books, I read also the " Conjuration
de Bedmar contre Venise," and again read over the " Pen-
sees du Comte Orenstiern," which I had formerly read.
Our adieus at parting were very affectionate ; we . prom-
ised to meet again at Paris, and to become inseparable
— but in the confusion of high society, each was carried
in a different direction, and we saw each other no more.
This was not the case with Madame de Merode and me,
for Madame de Puisieux invited her to Sillery, which
she promised and performed.
In going through Rheims, Madame de Puisieux agreed
362 MADAME DE GENLIS.
to let me spend eight days with my kind and charming
grandmother, Madame de Drom£nil. I then went to
t» ^ery where I found a large company assembled. There
were M. de la Roche Aimon, Archbishop of Rheims, a
prelate of haughty look, virtuous, austere, of great tal-
ents; his coadjuteur, M. de Talleyrand, who was de-
signed for a clergyman, and already en soutane, though
only twelve or thirteen years of age. He was a little
lame, was pale and silent, but his countenance was agree-
able, and indicative of a talent for observation. There
were likewise at Sillery the Due d'Aumont, an excellent
and sensible man, said not to be very clever in society,
but this is always said of those who do not possess ex-
ternal accomplishments, who do not shine in conversa-
tion, and who are always judicious in their opinions :
the Marechal d'Etr£e and his lady ; M. Damecourt, a
very witty lawyer, who with rather a ludicrous shape,
was a man & bonnes fortunes ; the old Princess de Ligne,
who had the ugliest face of a woman of fifty I ever saw ;
a fat, shining countenance, without rouge, lividly pale,
and adorned with three chins, one below the other ;
Monsieur and Madame d'Egmont, Mademoiselle de Sil-
lery, sister of M. de Puisieux, a real saint, as witty and
amiable as she was pious, kind and virtuous ; my brother-
in-law and his lady ; Monsieur and Madame de Louvois,
the latter in bad health ; the Marquis de Souvre, with
his daughters, the nieces of Madame de Puisieux; Mes-
dames de Sailly and de St. Chamand ; the Comte de
Rochefort ; M. Conway, son of the Marquis of Hertford,
formerly English ambassador at the court of France;
MADAME DE GENLIS. 363
and the old Duke of Villars, who rouged, painted his
eyebrows, and kept little cotton balls in his mouth
for the purpose of swelling out his cheeks.
This journey, like the former, was full of amusements
and fetes of my inventing. We performed the two plays
I had written at Vaudreuil, the Deux Sultanes and Mon-
tagne des deux Amans, along with the Folies Amour-
euses of Regnard. In July, M. de Genlis returned from
his regiment, and two days afterward I was highly de-
lighted with the arrival of Madame de Merode, who was
a useful and agreeable addition to our projected fetes.
She remained till the middle of September, after which I
went to Louvois for ten days and then returned to
Sillery.
I have not yet mentioned an individual who was es-
tablished in the house of M. de Puisieux, who neverthe-
less requires particular notice. This was M. Tiquet, who
had formerly been secretary of embassy to M. de Pui-
sieux and had preserved a most exclusive and passionate
attachment to his master. He was about fifty years of
age, of great probity, well informed and a very worthy
man, but had the most ridiculous appearance imaginable.
He was very tall, very thin, with square, flat shoulders of
the most singular kind, and a neck for length out of all
bounds. Above this neck appeared a bloated face, with
a huge nose, small round bluish eyes, without eyelids
or eyebrows and an enormously large mouth, the whole
surmounted with a light colored wig, covered with poma-
tum and slightly powdered. He always wore a tight
gray coat buttoned from top to bottom — and never was
364 MADAME DE GENLIS.
a more singular picture of finished ugliness. But though
I was surprised at his way, I did not dislike him ; for
there was nothing ill-natured or concealed in his look,
and his smile indicated humor and single-mindedness.
In truth, M. Tiquet smiled but seldom, for he was of a
grave, silent and solemn disposition ; and having never
been a favorite of ladies, though he did not absolutely
hate them, he teased them always, particularly when
they were young and goodlooking. As for the old ladies
he delighted in contradicting them. He did this even to
Madame de Puisieux, who was not backward in answer-
ing him, though she often thought him perfectly insuffer-
able. Their discussions were never violent, deference
being paid on one hand and politeness on the other ; but
still there was a great degree of tartness displayed on
both sides. During my first stay at Sillery, M. de Pui-
sieux told me one morning, whilst riding out with him,
that I had made, if not a very brilliant, certainly a very
wonderful conquest — of M. Tiquet ; and that I was in-
debted for it to the correct nature of my studies, for he
alone was acquainted with them, as he kept the key of
the library, and lent me the books I asked for. M. de
Puisieux added, that M. Tiquet had said, that when my
youthful vivacity had gone by, I should become a woman
of great merit. But he did not tell M. de Puisieux a
circumstance, for which, in his own mind he prized me
more highly than for my correct studies, I mean, that in
his disputes with Madame de Puisieux, I never said
he was in the wrong, when she asked my opinion, for I
thought she often pressed him too hard and very often
she decided in his favor.
MADAME DE GENLIS. 365
In this, as in many other circumstances, I greatly ad-
mired the excellent temper of Madame de Puisieux, who
never became angry on this account. When M. de Pui-
sieux told her, in my presence that I had completely sub-
jugated the flexible heart of M. Tiquet, she replied,
with a smile, that I had used plenty of coquetry for
the purpose. Two days afterwards I actually did
make use of some coquetry. I asked him for the
" Traite de Westphalie," a book he held in the high-
est esteem, which he knew by heart, and was continually
quoting. My credit with him, from that moment, was
unbounded, his eye constantly followed me in the draw-
ing-room and when he saw me playing tricks, he smiled,
and more than once was actually seen to laugh. What
gave me great pleasure was, that Madame de Puisieux,
in seeing the strong interest he displayed for me, lost all
her ill-will towards him ; he perceived the change, and
became much more agreeable in his intercourse with her.
Besides the kindness of Madame de Puisieux, what
most contributed in rendering Sillery dear to me, was
that during the three successive years I made such pro-
tracted visits, I never had the smallest difference with the
inmates, nor perceived the slightest feeling of envy
towards me. Madame and M. de Puisieux himself had
shown me kindness they had never shown to any one and
this preference, displayed on all occasions, often in spite
of my remonstrances, never raised the slightest invidious
feeling. It is true that the Marechale d'Etree, and the
niecee of Madame de Puisieux, so kind to me at all
times, were .fifteen or twenty years older than me ; but
366 MADAME DE GENLIS.
my sister-in-law and Madame de Louvois were about my
own age, and had a right to be equally caressed ; yet
they thought it quite natural that their caresses should
be exclusively bestowed on what they called my gentil-
lesse. I was the real sovereign of Sillery, nothing was
done without consulting me, all my desires were fore-
seen and provided for, and the very domestics of the
house served me with a zeal they scarcely displayed for
their masters. But I did not abuse my power, for I only
employed it for the enjoyment of the company. I was
happy at my situation, and affected by the kindness
shown me, but I was not vain on that account. I was al-
ways in good humor and showed such deference to others,
that they could never form the idea that I was desirous
of ruling. In all the plans I formed for our amusement I
took particular care to form previous arrangements with
Mesdames de Louvois, de Sailly, de St. Chamand and
my sister-in-law, to mingle their ideas with my own and
to give them all the credit afterward ; — and thus was I
beloved. In after times, in other situations, I preserved
the same disposition, but I was not equally fortunate.
During my stay here, I wrote a great many literary
trifles and a song en pot-pourri, in eighteen couplets, to
all kinds of common airs. I wrote eight of them and M.
de Genlis the remainder. We sang them together, each
stanza alternatively. I ardently pursued my studies in
literature and natural history and made a great many
extracts, for I was extremely fond of increasing my
stores of this kind. The close of our residence here
was troubled by a most dangerous and unaccountable
MADAME DE GENLIS. 367
incident. On returning from a ride with M. de Puisieux
one day at twelve o'clock, I entered the dinner-hall,
where two buckets were always prepared before dinner,
one with iced water, the other not iced, and called M.
de Puisieux's water, as he drank no other ; but though
this was not my favorite, I was warm and thirsty and at
the same time afraid of the iced water, so that I drank of
M. de Puisieux's with wine and then returned to my
room. I felt sick immediately, and only obtained relief
after the most violent vomiting. This over, I felt no
further effects, dressed, thought no more of it, nor did I
even mention it before dinner. There I drank nothing
but iced water. M. de Puisieux being rather indisposed
took nothing but a little tisane, made in the kitchen and
stayed in the drawing-room with his lady, who never sat
down to table. While at dinner, the old Abbe de St.
Pouen, a relation of Madame de Puisieux, left the table,
complaining of a severe colic. Immediately after dinner,
the Coadjuteur of Rheims, M. Tiquet and M. Genlis
complained of heart-burn and they were the only persons
who drank of the water that was not iced. They retired
to the salon, but were obliged to leave it to relieve them-
selves. Suspicion fell on verdigris as the cause and all
the saucepans were examined, but were found perfectly
clean ; and, at any rate, those who had not been attacked
had partaken of every dish like the rest. As M. de
Puisieux ate little himself and for more than fifteen
years kept a very strict regime, he always thought that
others ate too much and attributed the present symptoms
of illness to previous indigestion ; so that, instead of
368 MADAME DE GENLIS.
consoling with the sick, he preached sobriety to them.
In the meantime, M. de Genlis had a most violent fit of
vomiting and poor Abb6 de St. Pouen, who was seventy-
four years old, was put to bed very ill ; M. de Puisieux
would have them to take nothing but warm water, while
his lady sent to Rheims for a doctor. After much suffer-
ing, M. de Genlis would actually return to the drawing-
room ; in spite of me, but he was much altered and looked
very poorly. A servant entered while M. de Puisieux
was lecturing him on the sin of gormandizing and related
that M. de Renac, (who had not been at dinner and was
just returned that moment from hunting) had drank a
glass of M. de Puisieux's water, which instantly made
him ill, and that the same thing had happened to his
servant. It was now evident that the water must have
have been impregnated with poison and Madame de
Puisieux ordered it to be thrown away immediately,
which was done, while it ought to have been kept to be
analysed. The doctor arrived and found poor Abb£ de
St. Pouen very badly, as well as Paul, M. de Puisieux's
attendant, who, in passing through the dinner-hall, had
twice drank of the dangerous liquid. The abb6 took all
the sacraments during the night, but he survived, not-
withstanding. The doctor positively assured us that
poison had been administered. For myself, I felt no
further effects; M. de Tiquet drank so little water with
his wine that he was very slightly indisposed ; M. de
Renac and his servant were more so, but not badly ; the
Coadjuteur and M. de Genlis suffered greatly and the
abb6 and M. de Puisieux's attendant were dangerously
MADAME DE GENLIS. 369
ill. None of the company but them had drank of the
water. The sick were ordered to drink tau thtriacle and
then to take nothing but milk for three days. We were
busy only in imagining whence the poison came — but we
thought it could not be accidental and the idea was
terribly alarming. The maitre d'hotel, the faithful
Milot, who had been almost frantic at the suspicion
thrown on his saucepans, was ordered into the salon and
asked how this horrible mystery could be cleared up ;
for we thought that some of the servants might have
thrown something into the water, merely out of ill-will
to one of the valets who were continually going back-
wards and forwards in the hall and drinking out of the
buckets. M. de Puisieux told Milot to learn who had
been in the hall, and Milot went out for the purpose.
Each of the company then mentioned his servant's
character and M. de Genlis said he was sure of his, but
my brother-in-law owned that he could not say the same
of his own, which made M. de Puisieux exclaim, " I be-
lieve you — you mind nothing but their size." In fact,
he had a new one at that very time, called the giant
on account of his height, which was about six feet.
When Milot came back, he addressed himself to my
brother-in-law, — " Monsieur le Marquis," said he, " I be-
lieve it is the scoundrel of a giant who has done the
deed." — " In this case," exclaimed my brother-in-law,
" we must not let him escape ; " and he indicated what
precautions were necessary to prevent him disappearing,
which M. de Tiquet went to put into execution. Milot
continued his story, and said, that a cook was in the
37° MADAME DE GENLIS.
court at eleven o'clock, and saw the giant come out of
the hall ; that having come up to him, to ask if he would
play a game at quoits, he perceived that one of his ruf-
fles was wet, and told him he had been dabbling in the
buckets, which he denied, and said that he did not even
know that there was water in the hall. " The villain ! "
exclaimed my brother-in-law, " it must be him — we must
examine him ourselves, and then I will give him up to
justice."
Let any one reflect on this incident. My brother-in-
law was heir to the magnificent estate of Sillery, but his
claim was set aside, and one of his servants poisons the
water usually drank by the actual owner ; and if M. de
Puisieux, at his time of life, and with his delicate con-
stitution had not that day been actually unwell, but had
sat down to dinner and drank of the water, he who never
took wine but with the dessert, it is most certain that
death would immediately have ensued, and my brother-
in-law would that evening have been possessor of Sillery.
Yet such were the unsuspicious feelings of those times,
that there was not, I will not say the slightest suspicion,
but not even the idea that he could for a moment be af-
fected by the consequences of the accident. Not a look
was to be seen, not a word was heard that had any ref-
erence to him. No one thought he ought to be more
uneasy or embarrassed than the rest of the company,
and he never thought of it himself, which shows the high
esteem in which he held the master of the castle. He
examined the giant in the chamber of M. de Puisieux, in
presence of that gentleman, M. Tiquet, and my husband.
MADAME DE GENLIS. 371
The scoundrel denied everything, but my brother-in-law
threatened to give him up to the vengeance of the law,
if he did not instantly make a full confession. He then
owned that he had put an emetic into the water, but de-
nied putting poison. When strictly interrogated as to
his motives, and why he had chosen the water that was
not iced, he answered, that he had no intention of injur-
ing his master. When his master strongly urged him to
tell why he had acted thus towards others, he had the
impudence to exclaim that it was not he who was heir to
the estate. My brother-in-law was determined upon de-
livering him up to the police, but M. de Puisieux would
not allow it ; so that he was only turned away, with
orders to leave the province immediately, and not to
think of becoming anything but a soldier, for if he took
service, he would be instantly reported. My brother-in-
law made his livery be torn from his back, and burned
before him, in the little wood called le Menil, for no ser-
vant, he told him, would wear it — he was then driven
with ignominy from the house. We got over the acci-
dent, and had only to drink great quantities of milk for
three days. The doctor always maintained that it was
poison and not an emetic. At any rate, whoever cpuld
have given such a violent emetic, was equally capable of
giving poison ; or, perhaps, he thought, that an emetic
would not leave such strong proofs of the crime. This
singular event was much talked of in Paris, but produced
not the slightest suspicion against my brother-in-law.
In the meantime Milot put a padlock to the water buck-
ets, and this precaution filled me with sadness, made me
372 MADAME DE GENLIS.
always think of poison, so that the latter part of out
stay was highly disagreeable.
We spent two or three days with Madame d'Egmont,
at Braisne, on our way to Paris, where we stayed at the
end of October.
During my stay at Sillery, I received several very af-
fectionate letters from the Duke of Orleans. My aunt
had returned from Barrege, and the waters had cured
her of her unfortunate passion for the Due de Guines.
She did not say so, but she wrote me that solitude had
restored her peace of mind — which I understood to sig-
nify that there was no longer anything to oppose her
union with the Duke of Orleans.
I flew to my aunt immediately on my arrival, and she
showed me as much confidence as her disposition would
allow, for there was always some artifice and conceal-
ment in all her confidential communications. The duke
offered to marry her secretly, but she displayed a re-
luctance, prompted, as she said, by her delicacy, which
duped me for a time, but which was nothing else but a
plan to increase her influence. She told the duke, that
she was determined not to marry him, unless he had the
consent of his son, the Duke de Chartres. This resolu-
tion she announced in such a dignified manner, that the
duke was enchanted, and spoke of it to me with admira-
tion. He was reckoned an excellent father, and whether
this character be merited or not, those who enjoy it, like
to preserve it as much as possible. Besides, the duke
loved his son aa much as a weak-headed man can love
any one. He told him the secret immediately, and
MADAME DE GENLIS. 373
strongly panegorized the magnanimity of Madame du
Montesson. At this epoch they thought only of a con-
scientious, and consequently, a very private marriage.
But the Due de Chartres did not like her, for he thought
her too affected, too forward, and too insinuating ; and
he saw the schemes she laid to entrap him, by flattery
and a show of affection. To please him, she tried fits of
extravagant gayety, bursts of laughter, and those child-
ish and caressing ways, which he called des mievreries
ridicules. This prince had a defect very injurious to a
man of his rank — that of absolutely hating, not what was
w*orthy of contempt and indignation, but what had not
sufficient gracefulness and taste, or which he fancied
ridiculous. His tact in this respect was very fine and
correct. He respectfully but coldly answered the Duke
of Orleans, that a son had no consent to offer to his
father, and he went not beyond this. My aunt deter-
mined on speaking to him herself, and greatly embarrassed
him by the affection she displayed, but, as she still per-
sisted in asking his consent, he answered at length that
he would give it with great pleasure, if he were sure his
father's resolution was really fixed, which time only
could show. She immediately exclaimed, that nothing
would please her better than this certainty and a long
trial, and proposed two years. The Due de Chartres did
not expect so long a delay would have been yielded, but
he gracefully accepted the offer, adding that the whole
must previously be approved of by his father. He told
Madame de Montesson on leaving her, that he was going
to the country for a few days, and requested him to
374 MADAME DE GENLIS.
write to her the decision of the Duke of Orleans. He
perceived that he wished her to bind herself by a written
engagement. With the consent of the duke she wrote
to him, and, in her letter (which I have seen) gave a sol-
emn promise not to marry his father within the two
years. The Due de Chartres always preserved the letter,
and eight months afterward wrote a note on the margin
of the first page that gave my aunt great uneasiness.
Madame de Montesson pretended to be perfectly
pleased with the Due de Chartres, and told her confi-
dants, that he had agreed to her marriage with his
father, but she said nothing about the conditions.
When the whole plan had been properly arranged, she
lost no time in announcing to the Duke of Orleans, that
she had formed another resolution, namely, that she
would not marry him without the king's written con-
sent, with a promise that the marriage should be kept
private, and that she should not go to court, an illusive
promise if she had children. The duke was not only
surprised, but actually thunderstruck at this new pre-
tension ; he fruitlessly opposed it, but was forced to
yield. My aunt was quite right on this point, for a clan-
destine marriage is really odious, when it springs, not
from mutual love : I do not esteem the ambition by
which she was guided, but in the whole of this affair, I
find nothing very worthy of blame except the innumer-
able artifices she employed.
The dauphin (afterward the unfortunate Louis XVI.)
had just been married ; the marriage of monsieur was spok-
en of, and M. de Puisieux asked from the king the prom.
MADAME DE GENLIS. 375
ise of a place for me as lady of honor to the future prin-
cess. The king promised, the Marechal d'Etree returned
thanks, and I received the usual compliments on such
occasions. My aunt made this an excuse to be present
at court, where she had never been, though her birth
gave her the privilege ; but Mme. de Montesson would
not allow it. She said, that since I was destined, by the
situation promised me, to spend the greater part of my
life at Versailles, she wished to go to court to see me
oftener. This was done at the beginning of November,
on my arrival in Paris, and long before what I have been
stating. I went the day my aunt was presented, and
was highly amused, for it was the very same day on
which Madame du Barri was presented. We found her,
in all quarters, splendidly and tastefully attired. In
daylight, her face had lost all expression, and her com-
plexion was spoiled by red colored stains. Her carriage
was disgustingly impudent, and her features far from
handsome ; but she had beautiful fair hair, pretty teeth,
and a pleasing physiognomy. She looked extremely
well in the evening. We reached the evening card
tables a few minutes before her. At her entrance, all
the ladies near the door rushed forward in an opposite
direction, so as not to be seated near her, so that, be-
twixt her and the last lady in the room, there was an
interval of more than four or five empty places. She
looked with the utmost coolness at this marked and
singular movement, and nothing disturbed her unalter-
able impudence. When the king appeared at the end of
the games, she looked to him with a smile, his eyes
376 MADAME DE GENLIS.
rolled round the room in quest of her, but he seemed in
ill humor and almost instantly retired. Public indigna-
tion was altogether unbounded at Versailles, for never
had anything so openly indecent been heretofore dis-
played, not even the triumphs of Madame de Pompa-
dour. It was certainly very strange to see the Marquise
de Pompadour at court, while her husband, M. le Nor-
mant d'Etioles, was only a farmer-general ; but it was in-
finitely more abominable to see a common prostitute
pompously presented to the whole of the royal family.
This, and many other instances of unparalleled inde-
cency, powerfully assisted in degrading royalty in
France, and, consequently, contributed to bring about
the revolution.
We must go back to my aunt and the Duke of Or-
leans. The latter sincerely believed in the two years'
delay, and saw nothing very pressing in the steps neces-
sary to be taken with the king ; he reckoned on not be-
ing called on to do anything for a long time, but my
aunt told him that it was absolutely necessary, he
should have the consent safely deposited in his pocket-
book. Before taking this step, the duke confessed he
had fears he had never displayed till now, and said, he
was sure the king would not be favorable to his pro-
posal, and, in fact, would positively refuse his consent.
She maintained the contrary, and said, that when the
king learned that the Due de Chartres had highly ap-
proved of the private marriage, and his consent was
strongly solicited by the Duke of Orleans, he could not
possibly refuse. She thus made the duke answerable
MADAME DE GENLIS. 377
for the result ; and this ought always to be done when
an important commission is entrusted to persons of a
weak mind, or of an indolent and sluggish disposition.
Terribly afraid of my aunt's reproaches and ill-humor,
the duke became determined out of sheer timidity. In
fact, the king refused him very angrily at first, but when
he insisted with much animation to obtain his object, he
succeeded, after a long conversation, in obtaining his
written consent, under the conditions that my aunt
should not change her name, should never appear at
court, and should claim none of the rights of a princess
of the blood.
The duke returned in triumph to Paris, where we ex-
pected him with the utmost impatience. His look, at
his arrival, announced such distinguished success, that I
believe my aunt expected something a great deal better
than had actually taken place. She had herself pro-
posed the conditions ; yet, when the duke enumerated
the whole, I saw she was completely disappointed. Ambi-
tious views make fancy take wilder flights even than
love itself. Bernard, following Tasso, says that love
Desire tout, pretend peu, n'ose rien.
But in sober prose, we may justly assert that ambi-
tion desires everything, aspires after everything, dares
everything.
My aunt was thoughtful and absent the whole of the
day. She told him in the evening, that if the duke had
known how to profit by the king's good will, he would
have obtained the public declaration of his marriage,
3/8 MADAME DE GENLIS.
with the single condition of her not appearing at court,
that she might not have precedence of the princesses of the
blood, as she had a right to have. Mentioning the duke,
she spitefully said — " Everything must be hammered into
him."
The duke thought Madame de Montesson's ill-humor
a proof of strong sensibility, and nothing occurred to dis-
turb his satisfaction. When we three were together, he
never called me by any other name than his niece, and
this title he did me the honor of giving me in three or
four notes which he addressed to me. My aunt formed
a plan she did not wish to entrust to me, and the particu-
lars of what I am about to relate, I obtained solely from
her other confidants, the Vicomte de La Tourdu Pin and
Monsigny, to whom the Duke of Orleans told all his
secrets.
Madame de Montesson never intended seriously to
wait two years ; and the written promise she had given
the Due de Chartres had no effect on her plans. She had
particularly warned the Duke of Orleans not to mention
this circumstance to the king, for this single fact would
have shown that the Due de Chartres had only consented
with regret to his father's marriage. After some hasty
reflections, she told the duke that the king's consent was
nothing, if he delayed to make use of it, that Louis XIV.
had broken the promise he gave to Mademoiselle de
Montpensier, and that still greater dangers might arise
during such a long interval. The duke displayed a well-
founded fear of his son's displeasure ; but she answered
that she would take every precaution to conceal the se-
MADAME DE GENLIS. 379
cret from him, and at length it was settled that a private
marriage should be concluded immediately. The arch-
bishop was shown the king's consent, and it was he who
gave them the nuptial blessing privately, in his chapel,
at twelve o'clock at night. The witnesses were the Vi-
comte de la Tour du Pin and M. de Damas, the duke's
chamberlains. They were pledged to secrecy, which
they kept for three weeks, and broke only when Madame
de Montesson's vanity had told the matter to several in-
dividuals, and when she had betrayed it in a thousand
ways besides.
In imitation of Madame de Maintenon, who justly
considered every title beneath her, and would have none
after her marriage with Louis XIV., my aunt rejected
the title of marquise she had hitherto borne, while she or-
dered her servants, and requested her friends, never to
call her by any other name than simple Madame de
Montesson. She persuaded the duke that there was
great dignity in not concealing her real rank, and he
caused his chamberlains to pay her the same homage as
to a princess. The Due de Chartres soon learned the
truth, and as he was himself incapable of breaking his
word, his anger was great ; he had an interview with his
father, in which he displayed so much indignation and
resentment, that he put his father in a passion, and they
were a fortnight without seeing each other. Madame de
Montesson thought that no one could resist her insinuat-
ing talents, and obtained a private interview with the
Due de Chartres. She displayed abundance of fine feel-
ing that was all to no purpose, and then endeavored to
380 MADAME DE GENLIS.
show him that their common interest required their
union ; but the duke always replied with the most pro-
voking coolness that he would always think it inexcusa-
ble for any one to give his word of honor voluntarily, and
then break it in every point. He added, that such con-
duct destroyed every idea of future confidence, and on
leaving her, said he should always preserve her written
engagement, to which he would merely add an historical
note. This he actually did ; and though the note did not
contain those insults or defamatory reflections attributed
to it, it was sufficiently satirical. Hence arose Madame
de Montesson's violent resentment against the Due de
Chartres, which had a very fatal influence over the des-
tiny of that unfortunate prince.
I am anticipating events, for the Duke of Orleans did
not marry my aunt till a month after my entry into the
Palais Royal ; but since I have already broken the order
of time, I shall now finish all I have to say concerning
the consequences of their marriage. The duke was very
sorry at his son's displeasure, and told his deep chagrin
to the faithful Monsigny, whom he justly esteemed, and
who, under pretence of receiving orders for the duties
connected with his office, had long interviews with him
every morning, when the duke showed more confidence
in him than he did in the most important individuals
connected with his household. Monsigny went often also
to visit my aunt, who required him to assist in repeating
music ; on leaving her he went to the duke, who always
kept him to have some conversation. When setting out
for Villers-Coterets, whither we were to go in eight days,
MADAME DE GENLIS. 381
the duke desired Monsigny to intimate to me, that if I
could engage the Duke de Chartres to be reconciled to
my aunt, and to treat her affectionately she would settle
the estate of Sainte-Assise upon my children, along with
her splendid house in Paris, the whole of which might be
worth from seventy to eighty thousand livres a year.
Next morning Monsigny called, and gave me a note from
the duke, merely desiring me to believe implicitly what-
ever should be said in his name, and to perform with zeal
all he expected from my attachment towards him, and
which he merited by his sincere and ardent friendship.
He ended by asking for my answer in writing, which
Monsigny would bring to Villers-Coterets three days
after his arrival. Monsigny then told me all. This
statement, I mean the proposal of this bargain, greatly
hurt me, and I was highly offended at such stupid con-
duct on the part of the duke. I considered it a personal
insult, and time has not changed my opinion ; but I was
indignant, and my reply but too clearly displayed it. My
first impressions and feelings have always been kind and
generous, but the vivacity of my ideas, and the liveliness
of my imagination, have always mingled with my best
actions something lofty, violent, and even extravagant,
that has diminished their value, and has been (must, in
fact, have been) exceedingly injurious to my interest
and happiness. When greatness of mind alone prompts
to a good action, calmness and simplicity predominate in
the manner ; but when vanity interferes with this sublime
feeling, an unnatural display is given to its operation, and
the whole is destroyed. I answered the Duke of Orleans
382 MADAME DE GENLIS.
in a way that was not only not suitable to his rank, but
that was really impertinent. After beginning, properly
enough, my letter went on to say that I did not know any
right I had to influence the mind of the Due de Chartres ;
that, at any rate, he wanted no extraneous aid to show his
respect and attachment to his father. But after disdain-
fully rejecting the very rude offer of securing me my
aunt's inheritance, I added this phrase ; I would not con-
sider as lawful, nor would I accept any part of my aunt's
property, except the family inheritance. I could not
have said any thing more severe if my aunt had been the
mistress of the Duke of Orleans ; instead of that, she had
become his wife with the king's consent, and had been
married by the Archbishop of Paris ! But though she
was really the Duchess of Orleans, she could not assume
the title ; and I felt that in her place, with no rank to
sustain, I should have gloried in being satisfied with forty
thousand livres a year; should have refused all the ex-
travagant gifts of the duke, two hundred thousand livres
a year, and a splendid mansion, built for her, besides in
the Chaus£e d'Antin, diamonds, plate, and other valua-
bles. Madame de Maintenon would accept of nothing
from Louis XIV., but my aunt was governed by different
feelings, was excessively proud and avaricious ; and so in-
dignant was I at her extravagance and cupidity, that my
dislike at her conduct assisted me not a little in making
out a letter in so arrogant a tone. I firmly resolved that
this letter, which I thought quite sublime, should never
be employed in increasing my credit with the Due de
Chartres, and I faithfully kept my resolution, though
MADAME DE GENLIS. 383
there was little merit in doing so, for he thought so littte
of people showing themselves off, and not acting from
principle, that I would have lost his esteem had I boasted
of this action, which it was also my duty to conceal from
him, to prevent him becoming more and more irritated
at his father. Hence, he never had the least idea of the
subject. Desirous, however, of having a respectable wit-
ness of my conduct on this occasion, I showed the letter
to the Duchess of Chartres, having first made her give
me her word of honor that she would never say a word
on the subject to the duke ; and I knew that I could
place implicit reliance on her word. This princess is six
years younger than me, and should naturally survive me ;
she must certainly remejnber a fact that so greatly sur-
prised her at the time.
The Duke of Orleans and my aunt were enraged at my
letter, and neither of them ever pardoned it, yet without
expecting any result, all my cares were devoted, along
with those of the duchess, to soften the Due de Char,
tres. He had declared that he would never again set
foot in Madame de Montesson's house ; yet he returned
to it, and during several years supped there twice or three
times every winter. This behavior (which I venture to
say he never would have shown without my exertions)
ought to have sufficed, for it was just and reasonable, but
did not at all satisfy my aunt, who wished to be followed
by admirers and flatterers. It is true, that the Due de
Chartres was not very fond of the coquetry and affection-
ate displays she occasionally played off before him. She
irritated his father more and more against him. Mean-
384 MADAME DE GENLIS.
while, she was continually complaining of him to her
confidential friends, never mentioning a single positive
instance, but sighing and using ambiguous language, so
that her hearers might think what they pleased ; this was
her plan. It was thus she always made her complaints of
me in a most sentimental tone, but without being able to
bring forward a single incorrect proceeding. But the
greatest fault of the Due de Chartres was that he never
had even the semblance of wrong in his conduct towards
her; not even when his friend, M. de Fitz-James, among
the rest, gave him notice that she took every opportun-
ity of abusing his character and conduct. The most fatal
prepossessions formed against this unfortunate prince,
were raised by her machinations. Her resentment was
so violent that many have thought it could only have
arisen from a strong sentiment in his favor having been
disdained ; but this I believe to be wholly untrue. The
Due de Chartres was not a Hippolyte, nor did my aunt
resemble Phedre, for she was only vehement in her self-
love. To all this hatred, the duke opposed nothing but
calmness, patience, and indifference. The two facts I
am about to mention, I witnessed myself, as well as every
one at the Palais Royal. One day at dinner we per-
ceived that the silver covers were all different, and every
one recognized his own arms on some of them. The
duke asked the comptroller, Joli, what was the meaning
of this, and in reply, he whispered something into his ear.
After dinner, the duke told us that all the plate had been
carried off to Sainte-Assise by order of the Duke of Or-
leans, because Madame de Montesson's were sent to the
MADAME DE GENLIS. 385
jewelers to be altered, as they were old-fashioned. It is
true, that the plate at 'the Palais Royal belonged to the
Duke of Orleans, but this was an odd way of deposing of
it without notice. One morning, the winter after, orders
came to take away from theDuke and Duchess of Char-
tres all the diamonds called the family jewels, for the
purpose of adorning a velvet dress, in which Madame de
Montesson appeared several times during the winter.
Such conduct was highly indecorous, yet the Due de
Chartres bore it with admirable patience and good temper.
I had several griefs of my own before I left my resi-
dence in the Rue Saint Dominique. The one that affected
me most was the death of my kind and beloved grand-
mother, the Marquise de Drom£nil, for this worthy lady
was really so in my affection and grateful remembrance.
She was eighty-six years of age, yet I bewailed her, as if
I could have expected to preserve her much longer. In
her will she made no disposition in favor of any of her
grandchildren in particular, but she left me the estate of
Bouleuse, near Rheims, with a fine country-house, worth
seven thousand livres a year. She added this clause :
" In making this gift to the Comtesse de Genlis, I wish,
on account of the affection I bear toward her, to be in-
terred in the parish church of the estate." This will, so
kind and honorable to me, was of no benefit, for it was
set aside by M. de Noailles, the husband of Madame de
Drom£nil's granddaughter. It had been drawn up by a
notary, but there was some error in form, and M. de
Noailles litigated the question and gained it. It was this
M. de Noailles who afterward paid my marriage settle-
386 MADAME DE GENLIS.
ment, that is to say, a hundred and twenty thousand
francs, by giving two thousand francs' worth of assignats
to the nation. M. de Genlis only obtained, like Madame
de Noailles and Madame de Belzunce, his own portion,
and we lost together the estate of Bouleuse, which, inde-
pendent of right, had been bequeathed to me ; but I al-
ways preserved the same grateful feeling for the donor,
and Madame de Drome'nil will ever live in my remem-
brance as a mother and a benefactress.
At this time occurred an incident which shows the
great utility of M. Tissot's book (Avis au peuple sur sa
sant^ We kept in the house an Italian abbe", who read
Tasso with me, was an excellent musician, and played
extremely well on the piano. On returning home one
evening we were told that he was dangerously ill of the
cholera-morbus, and that the physician he had sent for (a
M. Soulier) had prescribed wine and treacle mixed to-
gether. As I had often practiced medicine at Genlis,
and even at Sillery, I knew M. Tissot's book by heart,
and said I was sure that it condemned such a prescription.
We took the book, and saw with great alarm, that M.
Tissot said it was sometimes given by ignorant physi-
cians, but that it was the same thing as firing a pistol at
the patient's head. It is wonderful that a physician
should be so brutally ignorant, and should not have
read Tissot. But such was the case ; the poor abb£
called for the sacraments, and took extreme unction at
ten o'clock that night. M. de Genlis and I were pres-
ent. He died half an hour afterward. I was so struck
with his look, that I told M. de Genlis I could not think
MADAME DE GENLIS. 387
of passing the night under the same roof, and he agreed
to let me go to sleep at the house of Madame de Balin-
cour. Horses were put to the carriage, and I set off
immediately. The family of M. de Balincour were
delighted though surprised at seeing me, and he
gave me up his own room, where I went to bed
at half past twelve o'clock. I had fallen asleep in
a few minutes, but was awakened by the merry
voice of M. de Balincour, who had entered my room in
the dark (for I kept no light in my room at night, ) and
was singing a very gay and laughable couplet to the air
of La Baronne, while I heard the whispering of five or
six persons who had glided in likewise. As we never
forget what has highly amused us, I recollect perfectly
the whole of the couplet : —
Dans mon alcove
Je m'arracherai les cheveux, (bis)
Je sens que je deviendraie chauvre
Si je n'obtiens ce que je veux
Dans mon alcove.
After a moment's reflection, I replied by the following
impromptu, to the same tune — but to understand it, I
ought to mention that M. de Balincour had nearly lost
all his hair : —
Dans votre alcove,
Moderez 1'ardeur de vos feux
Car enfin pour devenir chauvre
II faudrait avoir des cheveux
Dans votre alcove.
My reply caused a general laugh, and delighted them
greatly. When lights were brought, Madame de Balin-
388 MADAME DE GENLIS.
cour and Madame de Ranchd, her husband's sister, a
handsome, charming woman, rushed toward my bed,
while M. de Balincour and the rest of the company
formed a circle around it. We conversed, and said a
thousand amusing things till three in the morning, when
M. de Balincour went out, and came back in a moment
dressed like a pastry cook, with a large basket full of
sweetmeats, fruits and preserves. We kept up the frolic
till five in the morning, forM. de Balincour detained us
more than half an hour in proposing all kinds of amuse-
ments, as violins, magic lanterns, and puppet shows ;
but at last they allowed me to sleep, which I did till
twelve o'clock, and was only awakened by further tricks
on the part of M. de Balincour. When M. de Genlis
came for me he was also detained, and they would not
let us go for five whole days. M. de Genlis entered fully
into M. de Balincour's views, wrote twenty couplets of
songs, and dressed in all kinds of characters ; while we
had balls, went to the theatres, to the fair, the halle, played
at childish games, had concerts, and enjoyed an uninter-
rupted series of amusements. Never in the course of my
life were five days so noisily spent. The Marechal de
Balincour was about seventy years of age, though
he did not appear to be more than fifty-five. His
height was majestic, his shape very fine, and his look
stern and noble. Brutus was said to be the last of the
Romans; and the marshal might be said to be the last
fanatic of royalty in France, for he never gave a thought
to politics or forms of governments in the course of his
life. His real vocation lay in making a figure at court,
MADAME DE GENLIS. 389
in being decorated with a blue ribbon, in speaking with
grace and dignity to a king, in being acquainted with,
and in feeling the different degrees of respect to be paid
to the sovereign, and the princes of the blood, and
the attentions due to a man of quality, as well as the
dignified manner appropriate to a man of high
rank. All his fine taste ; all his knowledge of
etiquette, all his graces, would have been des-
troyed by the system of equality. He worshipped
the king, because he was king ; he might have said what
Montaigne said to his friend, la Boetie, "I love him be-
cause I love him, because he is what he is and I am
what I am." The marshal, in different language, gave
the same explanation of his strong attachment to the
king. It was mosfc amusing, even then, to hear him
speaking of republics, for he considered republicans as a
sort of barbarians. In other respects he was a man of
great good sense, of an upright and open disposition, ev-
idently marked in his fine features, had shown the most
distinguished gallantry in war, and was adored by the
Gardes Franchises, whose colonel he was.
THE END.
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