CORNELL 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 

 DATE DUE 
 
 
 mm^^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 AUG t 4 
 
 1996 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 — 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 OAYLOBD 
 
 
 
 PRINTEDINU t * 
 
 Cornell University Library 
 
 DC 137.5.L21B54 1901 
 
 Madame de Lamballe 
 
 924 024 292 504 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of tiiis book is in 
 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924024292504 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
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 ^~i y0^r-4 
 
Madame de Lamballe 
 
 BY 
 
 GEORGES BERTIN 
 
 Translated into English by 
 
 ARABELLA WARD 
 
 With Portrait, an Introduction and Historical Notes 
 by the Translator 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 GODFREY A. S. WIENERS 
 1 90 1 
 
< 
 
 Copyright, 1901, by 
 Godfrey A. S. Wieners 
 
 All Rights Reserved 
 
 "qs^ 
 
Introductory Note 
 
 In offering to the public an English version of Mon- 
 sieur Georges Bertin's " Madame de Lamballe," I 
 feel that the title alone will arouse interest. 
 
 The life of Madame de Lamballe is well known. 
 The story of her intimacy with Marie Antoinette, and 
 of her unceasing devotion to the royal family, is one of 
 the most interesting and pathetic chapters in the history 
 of the French Revolution. 
 
 The present volume is largely made up of unpub- 
 lished documents and of articles taken from the news- 
 papers of that day. The French, therefore, from a 
 literary standpoint, is often open to criticism. Al- 
 though I have kept as closely as possible to the orig- 
 inal, I have been obliged, in some places, to deviate 
 slightly, in order to conform to the English idiom. 
 
 For historical references I have consulted Taine's 
 " Ancien Regime," Morris's "French Revolution," 
 Carlyle's "French Revolution," Guizot's "History 
 of France," Madame de Campan, and "Secret Memoirs 
 
INTRODUCTORr NOTE 
 
 of the Royal Family of France," first published from 
 the journal, letters, and conversations of the Princesse 
 de Lamballe, and brought out in Philadelphia in 1826. 
 I should like to avail myself of this opportunity to 
 extend my thanks for the valuable suggestions made to 
 me in regard to the present work, as well as for the 
 gift of the accompanying illustration. 
 
 Arabella Ward. 
 June, 1901. 
 
 VI 
 
Table of Contents 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Nangis. — Preparations of the inhabitants. — Arrival of the 
 Due de Penthi^vre and his suite. — Interview at Montereau. — 
 The Due de Penthievre. — Presentations. — Entrance into Nan- 
 gis. — Celebration of the marriage by the Cardinal de Luynes. 
 — Sojourn at the Chateau of Nangis. — Motives of the Due de 
 Penthievre for marrying the Prince de Lamballe. — Dowry of 
 Mademoiselle de Carignan. — Marriage contract. — Monsieur de 
 Choiseul. — Voyage of Mademoiselle de Carignan. — Supper in 
 the Hotel de Toulouse. — Marriage ode. — Presentation of 
 Madame de Lamballe ........ 3 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 Portrait of Madame de Lamballe. — Hope of the Due de Pen- 
 thievre. — Letter from Lamoignon. — Representation of the 
 " Gouvernante. " — Presentation of the Comte Mniszek. — Re- 
 view on the Plain of Marly. — Change in the conduct of the 
 prince. — Mademoiselle de la Chassaigne. — Grief of the Due de 
 Penthievre. — The prince falls ill. — He sells his wife's diamonds. 
 — Despair of Madame de Lamballe. — She is seized with nervous 
 attacks. — Pittara. — The prince escapes from the Hotel de Tou- 
 louse. — The Due de Penthievre brings him back. — The prince 
 in the home of M. de Wargemont, Chaussee d'Antin. — Search 
 of the Due de Penthievre. — The prince in a deplorable condi- 
 tion. — He is taken to Luciennes. — His death. — Funeral. — 
 
 vii 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Rosalie of the Opera. — Poor health of the princess. — What 
 Lauzun says in his " Memoires." — Plombi^res. — Journey to 
 Nancy. — Toul. — Homage to the princess by " L' Histoire de 
 Lorraine.'' — Return to court. — Increased favor shown Madame 
 de Polignac. — Jealousy of Madame de Lamballe. — Manoeuvres 
 of Madame de Polignac. — JDifficulties in etiquette obviated by 
 Madame de Lamballe 51 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 Arrival of the Due and Duchesse des Deux-Ponts. — Recep- 
 tion and visits. — The queen sups at Madame de Lamballe's.— 
 Importunities of the princess. — Easter. — Arrival in Paris of 
 Joseph II. — Adventure of the carriages. — Account by Bachau- 
 mont. — Letter of Joseph II. to Mercy-Argenteau. — Dinner at 
 the Trianon. — Madame de Lamballe displeases him. — The 
 Princesse de Conti, the Princesse de Lamballe, and the Due de 
 Penthi^vre pay their respects to Joseph II. — Visit at Sceaux. — 
 Adieu of the emperor. — Nervous attack of the queen. — Madame 
 de Lamballe at Plombi^res. — Fontainebleau. — The queen 
 spends her days at Madame de Polignac's. — Public opinion. — 
 "La Grammaire des Dames," by the Chevalier de Prunay. — 
 " Les quatre Heures de la Toilette des Dames." — Card-playing 
 at the queen's and at Madame de Lamballe's. — The queen 
 obliged to establish harmony between Madame de Polignac and 
 the princess. — Ball at the Opera. — The Comte d'Artois. — The 
 friends of the princess urge her to give balls. — Opinion of 
 Mercy-Argenteau on the superintendent. — Triumph of Madame 
 de Polignac. — The Choiseul party. — Madame de Lamballe's 
 trip to Holland. — Error of Madame de Genlis. — Conflict be- 
 tween the superintendent and the Abbe de Vermond. — The 
 princess merely tolerated. — Resignation offered.— Illness of 
 Madame de Polignac. — Madame de Lamballe attempts to win 
 back the favor of the queen. — Death of the mother and the 
 father of Madame de Lamballe. — Letter from Marie Antoinette. 
 — Mourning of the court. — Lines on the queen. — The Prin- 
 cesse Marie-Ther^se Charlotte. — Queen attacked by measles. 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 — Madame de Polignac. — Visit to the Rue de Bourbon, Paris. — 
 Communion. — Madame de Polignac at Spa. — Madame de Lam- 
 balle at Bourbon. — Decreasing favor of Madame de Lamballe. 
 — Increasing favor of Madame de Polignac. — Complaints of 
 the princess. — Accusations against the princess . . .67 
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 Visit of the Due and the Duchesse de Chartres, of the Du- 
 chesse de Bourbon, and of the Princesse de Lamballe to the Loge 
 de la Candeur. — Discourse. — Harmony of the lodge. — Verses. 
 — Dialogue between a M. and a proselyte. — Toasts and canti- 
 cles of the Order of Adoption. — Amusements. — Representation 
 of " L'Ami de la Maison." — Ball. — Different signatures. — 
 French Masonry. — Madame de Lamballe at their ceremonies. — 
 Founding of the Loges d' Adoption about the middle of the 
 eighteenth century. — The Grand Orient takes them under its 
 protection. — The Masonry of Adoption. — General rules. — Model 
 of a certificate. — Quests and great works. — Fires. — Three poor 
 young girls married. — The children of Masons taken into ap- 
 prenticeship. — The Mother Lodge assumes the education of all 
 male children from the Parish of Saint Eustache born the same 
 day as the dauphin. — Banquet. — The Princesse de Lamballe 
 elected January 10, 17S1, Grand Mistress of all the regular 
 Loges Ecossaises of France. — Minutes. — Changes of the Loge 
 of the Contrat Social. — The Chevalier de Bourbon. — The 
 Abbe Bertolio. — A rare pamphlet 83 
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 Trouble of the superintendent. — Mizet and Joseph Loques. 
 ■ — Letter to Madame de Guebriant. — Calumnies. — Letter from 
 Monsieur de Paulmy. — Madame de Lamballe decides to go to 
 Marly. — The queen and Madame de Polignac. — Card-playing. 
 — Useless efforts of Madame de Lamballe to win back the 
 queen's favor. — Marie Antoinette goes once a week to Paris to 
 see Madame de Polignac. — Indifference to Madame de Lam- 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 balle. — Marriage at Saint Malo. — The prince recalled to Turin. 
 — His union annulled in 1780 again celebrated in 1781. — 
 Madame de Polignac has wholly replaced Madame de Lamballe 
 in the queen's affection. — Madame de Polignac. — La Muette. — 
 Marly. — Inconsistency of the queen. — Visits to Madame de 
 Polignac. — Return to court. — Comedy at Trianon. — Claims. — 
 Admission refused Madame de Lamballe. — The Comte de Poli- 
 gnac elected hereditary duke. — The queen at Claye. — Trip to 
 Fontainebleau. — Death of the Prince Victor Ame'dee de Savoie- 
 Carignan. — Visit of the queen to Madame de Lamballe. — 
 Death of Marie-Therese. — Abbe de Vermond. — Mesdames de 
 Lamballe and de Polignac. — Annuity of forty thousand livres 
 to the princess. — Conditions of the rules of ready-money. — 
 Greed of the Polignacs. — Duchesse de Gramont. — Succession 
 of the Due de Villeroy-Maurepas. — Due de Lorges. — Marriage 
 of Mademoiselle de Polignac with the Due de Guiche. — Diary 
 of Louis XVI. — Confinement of the queen. — A dauphin. . 103 
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 Madame de Lamballe sponsor. — Ball to the royal family. — 
 Marriage of Mademoiselle d'Amblimont to the Comte de Lage 
 de Volude. — Presentation of the young comtesse at court. — 
 Fetes by the city of Paris. — Madame de Lamballe attends 
 all ceremonies. — Departure of the queen from La Muette. — 
 Visits to Notre Dame, Sainte Genevieve, and at the Hotel 
 de Ville. — Supper at the Temple. — Ball at the Hotel de 
 Ville. — Ball given by the Body-guard in the Opera House 
 at] Versailles. — Measles attacks the Duchesse de Chartres. — 
 Death of Mademoiselle d'Olreans. — Journey of the Comte and 
 the Comtesse du Nord. — Visit to the Trianon. — Chantilly. — 
 Choisy. — Sceaux. — "Memoires" of the Baronne d'Oberkirch. 
 — Reception to the Comte and Comtesse du Nord. — Collation. 
 — Drive. — Ball at Versailles. — Opinion of the Baronne d'Ober- 
 kirch. — Supper at the princess's. — Death of Louis Samuel de 
 Tascher. — Florian. — Garat. — At the Abbe Espagnac's. — 
 Madame de Gilibert. — Verses. — Description of the f^te at the 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Invalides. — Baptism of the daughter of the Comtesse de Lage 
 de Volude. — Purchase of the house at Passy. — The princess 
 returns to the Due de Penthievre. — Portrait of the duke by 
 Bachaumont. — Opinion of the Comtesse de Lage de Volude. 
 — The Due de Penthi^vre's mode of life. — Verses of Cou- 
 langes. — Belle-Chasse. — Anecdote by Grimme, , , . ii8 
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 The king buys Rambouillet. — Reply to Turgot. — Pamphlets 
 on the court customs. — Approach of Easter. — The Bishop of 
 Saint Papoul. — Visits of the Baronne d' Oberkirch to Madame 
 de Lamballe. — The King of Sweden in Paris ; also Prince 
 Henry of Prussia. — Visits to the Due de Penthievre and to 
 Madame de Lamballe. — Presentation of Monsieur de Fersheim 
 to the duke. — Chevalier du Authiers and Monsieur de Las 
 Cases. — The Princesse de Conti, the Duchesse de Chartres, 
 and the Princesse de Lamballe call on the King of Sweden. — 
 Visit to the Due de Penthievre. — Comte de Haga. — The Du- 
 chesse de Bourbon and Madame de Lamballe in their apart- 
 ments. — Balloon ascent at Versailles. — Chateauvillain. — Verses 
 by Florian in honor of the princess. — Fire in the Hotel de Tou- 
 louse. — Purchase of the Hotel Louvois. — Due de Normandie. 
 — Madame de Lamballe at Deslon's. — The great pill-doctor of 
 France. — Fetes in Paris on the birth of the Due de Normandie. 
 — The queen sups with the superintendent and attends the 
 Comedie Italienne. — Death of the Comte de Villefranche . 132 
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 The Affair of the Necklace. — Arrest of Cardinal de Rohan 
 at Versailles. — Madame de la Motte imprisoned. — The queen an 
 object of hatred. — Baptism of the Due d'Angouleme. — Absence 
 of the Princesse de Lamballe. — Letter from Marie Antoinette 
 to the princess. — The queen sups at the superintendent's. — 
 The Polignacs. — Dismissal of the duke. — Birth of the Prin- 
 
 . xiii 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 cesse Hel^ne Beatrix Sophie. — Princesse de Chimay. — Diary 
 of the Due de Penthi^vre. — Arrival in Paris of the Archiduc 
 Ferdinand and of his wife Marie Beatrix d'Este. — Supper of 
 the Princesse de Conti. — Visit of Madame de Lamballe to the 
 Archiduc and the Archiduchesse. — Presentation of the Com- 
 tesse de Faucigny. — Bois-Robin. — Account of Bachaumont. — 
 Assembly of the Notables. — Meeting of Parliament. — Agita- 
 tion. — Madame de Lamballe absent from court. — Goes to Eng- 
 land. — Morning call of the queen on Madame de Lamballe. — 
 Negotiations with Monsieur de Calonne for the destruction of 
 certain documents. — Absence of the princess caused by ill- 
 health. — Madame de Polignac presents her resignation. — The 
 queen at Trianon. — Exile of the princes of the blood. — Villers- 
 Cotterets. — Madame de Lamballe at the queen's reception. — 
 Protection of Florian. — The queen at the play. — Madame de 
 Lamballe accompanies the queen to service. — The Bishop of 
 Laon. — Baptism of the Dues de Chartres and de Montpensier. 
 — Reception to Florian. — Succession of the Abbe Millot. — 
 Death of the Cardinal de Luynes. — The chair of the Archbishop 
 of Sens. — Address of Florian. — Journeys of a princess. — Fonte- 
 vrault. — Honors rendered by the regiment. — Dinner at the 
 archbishop's .......... 146 
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 Debut of Mademoiselle Charlotte la Chassaigne. — Ill-health 
 of the Due de Penthi^vre. — The queen at service. — Troubled 
 times. — At the Petits Carraes. — The Nobility and the Third 
 Estate. — States-General. — Attitude of the queen. — Comtesse de 
 Lage. — Dauphin's illness. — Opinion of the doctors. — Death of 
 Louis Joseph Xavier Fran9ois, dauphin of France. — Lamballe 
 at Meudon. — Lying in state of the body. — The Due de Nor- 
 mandie, dauphin. — Taking of the Bastille. — Letter from the 
 Due de Penthievre. — The princess in Switzerland. — " Memoires 
 de Fortaire." — Lamballe at Aumale, and at Eu. — Departure of 
 the Comte and the Comtesse d'Artois. — Madame de Polignac 
 offers her resignation as governess of the Children of France. — 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The queen undertakes their education. — Second resignation 
 accepted. — Madame de Tourzel. — Lamballe comes to the royal 
 family. — Return of the king and his family to the Tuileries. — 
 Madame de Lamballe in Paris. — Contrast between her past and 
 present character. — Marie Antoinette at the Trianon. — Louis 
 XVL hunts. — Letter from the king, the queen, and Madame 
 Elisabeth to Madame de Lamballe 162 
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 The royal family at the Tuileries. — Arrival of Madame de 
 Lamballe. — Humiliation of the royal family. — Madame de Lam- 
 balle in the Pavilion de Flore. — Letter from the queen. — The 
 Children of France. — Treasury exhausted. — Decrees of Parlia- 
 ment. — Patriotic gifts. — The Due de Penthievre sends his plate 
 to the mint. — Poisoning of the princess. — Princess wants to 
 rent Passy furnished. — Salary of the surgeon. — The " Courrier 
 Fran9ais." — Repairs at Passy. — The Due de Penthievre at Am- 
 boise. — Letter to the Cardinal de Bernis. — Letter from the 
 queen to Madame de Lamballe. — The king hunts. — Diary of 
 the king. — Visit to the Hotel de Ville. — Madame de Lamballe 
 returns to Paris. — Receptions. — Death of the queen's brother. 
 — The Due de Penthievre at Fontevault. — Visit of the princess 
 to Clermont. — Reception of the Tourangeaux. — Return to Am- 
 boise. — Private life of the Due d'Orleans. — Separation of his 
 money from that of his wife's. — Letter from the Duchesse d'Or- 
 leans the day following the September massacres. — Measures 
 taken by the friends of Lamballe 175 
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 First months of 1791. — The Tuileries. — Restlessness of the 
 people. — Fears at the chateau. — Arrival of the Duchesse d'Or- 
 le'ans at Eu. — The Parisians at Bellevue, etc. — King ill in 
 March. — Death of Mirabeau. — Vicq d'Azyr and Cabanis. — 
 Vote of the clergy. — The king tries to go to Saint Cloud. — 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Stopped by the soldiers.— Plans for flight.— La Fayette.— The 
 troops not warned.— Return to their quarters. — Madame de 
 Lamballe's ignorance of the flight.— Farewell of the queen. 
 —Preparations.— Arrival at Aumale.— Details by Fortaire.— 
 Farewell of Madame de Lamballe. — Orders of the Due de 
 Penthi^vre to start for Eu. — At Boulogne. — At sea. — M. de 
 Fersen. — Comphausbad. — Comte de Ginestous. — Return of 
 the royal family to Paris. — Accusation of Carra. — Advice 
 of friends.— Advice of Madame de Lage de Volude. — Cor- 
 respondence of the comtesse. — Life of Lamballe abroad. — 
 The emigres. — Amusements. — Suffering of the princess. — Her 
 constant thought of the Tuileries. — Correspondence between 
 Marie Antoinette and Madame de Lamballe. — Louis XVI. 's 
 promise. — Dauphin. — Journey to Spa. — Conference with the 
 King of Sweden ^9^ 
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 Spa.— The " Lion Noir." — The Comte de Haga. — Society 
 at Spa. — Return to Aix. — Dinner to the King of Sweden. — 
 Souvenirs of the Comte de Las Cases. — Offers of the King of 
 Italy. — Madame de Lamballe suddenly decides to return to 
 France. — Appreciation of Madame de Tourzel. — Fortaire. — 
 Madame de Lamballe's departure. — Journey. — Return to Paris. 
 — Reception of Lamballe. — Anet. — Ill-health of the Due de 
 Penthi^vre. — His correspondence with the Cardinal de Bernis. 
 — Federation. — Decree of June 19th. — Bamave and Lameth. — 
 The due and his parish of Saint Eustache. — Coat-of-arms torn 
 from the church. — At Eu. — Schism. — Orders of Holy Spirit 
 and the Golden Fleece. — Madame de Lamballe's reception at 
 court. — King's reply. — Queen's reply 208 
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 The princess opens her salon. — M. d'Amblimont sups at the 
 princess's. — Receptions, etc. — Picture of the court. — Madame 
 Elisabeth. — King and queen. — Queen's letter to the Duchesse 
 
 xvi 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 de Polignac. — Spies. — Petion. — Opinion of Madame de Tour- 
 zel. — Anxiety of Madame de Lamballe. — Death of Emperor 
 Leopold. — Order for the arrest of Delessart. — The princess 
 writes to M. de Breteuil. — Plan of putting queen in convent. — 
 Queen's fear. — The Austrian committee. — Orators of the Palais 
 Royal, etc. — Bertrand de MoUeville. — Carra, etc. — Meeting of 
 May 23d. — Speech of Chabot. — Madame de Lamballe still in 
 Paris. — Condition of the duke. — His mode of life. — Letters to 
 the Cardinal de Bernis. — Reception of bishops, aristocrats, 
 horses, and baggage of the Comte d'Artois. — Intervention of 
 the municipal officers of Houdan — Assassination of the King 
 of Sweden. — Death of the Comte de Dillon. — Unexpected ad- 
 venture of the duke's surgeon. — The Comtesse de Joinville. — 
 Weakness of the duke. — Tree of Liberty .... 226 
 
 CHAPTER XVII 
 
 Conflict between the king and the Assembly. — Decree for the 
 deportation of priests, etc. — The Tuileries invaded. — The 
 dauphin. — Courage of Madame de Lamballe. — Petion. — Roe- 
 derer. — Petion and Manuel suspended. — The Mayor of Paris 
 restored to office. — Fete of the Federation. — The king and the 
 royal family at the Champs-de-Mars. — Merlin, Chabot, and 
 other patriots murdered. — Arms in the cellars of the chateau. 
 — The king contemplates flight. — The people wish to attack 
 the Tuileries. — Camp around the chateau. — The battalions of 
 the National Guard hasten to the protection of the king. — The 
 faubourgs in arms. — Preparations for defence at the chateau. 
 — Princesse de Lamballe, Madame de Lage de Volude, and the 
 Comtesse de Ginestous. — Arrival of the Marseillais. — Con- 
 demnation of Girard. — The Comtesse de Lage in Paris. — Visit 
 of the princess. — Situation of the royal family and the princess. 
 — The king resolved to oppose with arms any attack on his 
 house. — Scepticism of Madame de Lage de Volude. — Madame 
 de Lage de Volude leaves Paris. — Agitation in the faubourgs. 
 — The Tuileries about to be attacked. — The Swiss from Cour- 
 bevoie and Rueil. — Officers and soldiers passing through Paris. 
 — The tocsin sounds. — Impressions at the chateau. — Assas- 
 
 xvii 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 PACE 
 
 sination of Mandat. — The princess spends the night with the 
 royal family. — Dejection of Madame de Lamballe. — Review. — 
 Exhortation of the queen. — Colonel Pfyffer. — King seeks refuge 
 in the Assembly, — Deputy from the National Guard. — " If the 
 king goes to the Assembly he is lost." — The National Guard 
 of the chateau makes common cause with the battalions from 
 the faubourgs. — The secretary's box. — Madame de Lamballe 
 has a nervous attack. — Is carried to the Feuillants. — Sounds 
 of cannon, groans, and cries. — Decree of the Assembly. — The 
 royal family at the Feuillants. — Nomination of commissioners. 
 — Attitude of the king and the queen. — Grief of Marie 
 Antoinette. — The Luxembourg. — Manuel. — Transfer to the 
 Temple. — Illuminations. — Installation. — Madame de Lam- 
 balle separated from the other prisoners. — Discussion in the 
 Commune. — Madame de Lamballe arrested. — Arrival of an 
 officer to remove Madame de Tourzel to the Commune. — 
 The queen and Madame de Lamballe. — Heart-breaking 
 parting. — " If we are not fortunate enough to see each 
 other again, take care of Madame de Lamballe " . . . 243 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 The lower rooms of the Temple. — The Hotel de Ville. — 
 Examination. — Billaud-Varennes. — The princess examined at 
 three o'clock in the morning. — Shall the prisoners be taken back 
 to the Temple ? — La Force. — Madame de Lamballe's state of 
 mind. — Grief of Madame de Tourzel. — Her daughter Pauline. 
 — Care of the room, work, and reading. — Plan for a new mode 
 of life. — Account in the " Moniteur." — Seals will be put on 
 the papers. — Smuggled letters. — Uncertainty at La Force. — 
 Visit of Manuel. — A letter from the Due de Penthi^vre. — The 
 prisoners may write and receive letters. — Order for the 
 prisoners to walk in the courtyard. — Colonges. — Health of 
 Madame de Lamballe. — Arrival of the hostile army. — De- 
 parture of Pauline. — Madame de Lamballe's sympathy. — 
 Madame de Tourzel's " Memoires." — Madame de Lamballe 
 burns her letters. — Six armed guests. —Princess climbs to 
 the window ledge.— Is aimed at. — Calm within the court- 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 yard. — Madame de Tourzel refuses to leave the princess. — 
 The courtyard. — Cowardly and insulting mockery of the 
 princess. — Farewell scene. — In the registrar's office. — The 
 tribunal. — Declaration of the princess. — Called on to swear 
 Liberty, Equality, etc. — Order to take the princess to the 
 Abbaye. — Cries of death. — They drag away Madame de Lam- 
 balle. — Blow from a sword. — She is seized by the arms. — 
 Murderers. — Contradictory reports of historians. — The head 
 of the princess at a wine merchant's. — The head carried to 
 the Temple on the end of a pike. — Council at the Temple. 
 — Commissioners. — Plans of defence. — National Guard line 
 up without arms. — Tri-colored scarf. — The crowd ha- 
 rangued. — Marie Antoinette must come to the window. — The 
 commissioners throw themselves before the first gate of the 
 Tower. — " To the Palais Royal ! " — Commissioners from the 
 Assembly. — Petion. — The royal family sent to a rear room. — 
 Santerre .,..,,,.... 262 
 
 CHAPTER XIX 
 
 Accounts of some historians. — Madame de Lamballe's body 
 taken to the District of the Quinze-Vingts. — Trial concerning 
 the removal of the body. — Second trial about the head. — Marie 
 Antoinette's ring. — Opinions of the newspapers. — Ideas of the 
 horrors committed in Paris, etc. — The Comte de Fersen. — 
 Circular of the Vigilance Committee of the Commune. — Dan- 
 ton. — Desforges. — A document bearing his name on the mar- 
 gin. — The circular is the work of Marat. — Billaud-Varennes 
 harangues the murderers. — Note from Maillard. — Panis in- 
 formed of the plans of the murderers. — Address of the National 
 Assembly. — Reaction. — Address of the Mayor of Paris to the 
 Assembly. — Exhortations of Petion to the Parisians. — Letter 
 from Rallaud to the president of the Convention. — Sent back 
 to the Committee of Six. — The decree promulgated. — The 
 
 Convention retracts. — New decree 280 
 
 xix 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER XX 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Reaction and judgment of the September massacres. — Ad- 
 dresses from the districts of the Fraternite and of the Unite. — 
 Account of the Citizen Franconville. — Decree of the Committee 
 of General Safety of the Convention. — Seventeen citizens sent 
 to the Criminal Tribunal of Paris as instigators of the 
 massacres of September. — Motives for the arrest of Gonnord. 
 — Order for the arrest of Gonnord. — Sentence pronounced the 
 22d Flore'al, year IV. — The Amnesty of Brumaire, year IV. — 
 Verses by Lebrun. — M. de Fleurieu. — Robespierre. — Madame 
 de Lamballe as intermediary. — Conditions imposed by the 
 Constitutionalists. — Organization of a newspaper. — Cessation 
 of the duties of public prosecutor. — The king unable to 
 keep his promise. — Abbe Georgel. — Various errors. — Another 
 version of the death of Madame de Lamballe. — Politics of 
 Mirabeau. — Anger of the queen. — Madame de Lamballe's 
 name the first on the list of massacres. — Supper of the 
 triumvirs. — Anniversaries of the death of the princess and of 
 the Due de Penthi^vre. — Funeral oration. — Masses continued 
 under the Empire and the Restoration. — Church of Saint 
 Leu. — Plan for n. monument to the memory of Madame de 
 Lamballe. — Lines by Delille. — Prediction of Nostradamus as 
 applied to Madame de Lamballe ...... 304 
 
 Translator's Notes 325 
 
 XX 
 
Madame de Lamballe 
 
Madame de Lamballe 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 A little town, quaintly nestling on a fertile plateau, 
 boasting no vanity from its choice site, but preserving 
 all the modesty of its surroundings — such is Nangis. 
 
 Nevertheless, like others, it has had its day in the 
 past, and, like them, can claim a place in history. 
 Thus we see it as a frame to the picture which natu- 
 rally has its place in the beginning of the study we are 
 about to undertake. 
 
 Scarcely had day dawned on the 31st of January, 
 1767, a memorable date in its annals, when Nangis 
 broke through its ordinary calm and awoke to active 
 life. 
 
 On that day its inhabitants were to have as guests 
 the Prince de Lamballe and his future wife, the Prin- 
 cesse de Carignan, and this royal union was to be 
 blessed in the old church, of which the town was justly 
 proud, a fine specimen of Gothic architecture, with its 
 beautiful lines and remarkable purity of style. The 
 
 3 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 people on this occasion acted as always under similar 
 circumstances. 
 
 At the entrance of Nangis they erected a triumphal 
 arch on which they raised an enormous escutcheon 
 with the coat-of-arms of the town, the azure shield 
 with six besants of silver. By their hands every house 
 was adorned with flags, and poles to which oriflammes 
 were suspended were placed at equal distances along 
 the streets. 
 
 Notwithstanding the attention demanded by these 
 preparations, anxiety and curiosity reached a high 
 pitch. At the least noise, at the rolling of a carriage, 
 the gates were immediately opened and the windows 
 were filled with heads, eager to question the road from 
 Montereau. 
 
 The agitation was no less apparent in the streets. 
 Citizens went and came, attracted by the unusual 
 presence of horsemen who had passed and repassed at 
 full speed since morning, and whose duty it was to 
 announce the arrival of the Princesse de Carignan's 
 carriages. When the equipage of the Due de Pen- 
 thievre appeared the crowd was in an uproar. The 
 good duke, so universally beloved and respected, was 
 radiant; this marriage carried out his most cherished 
 wishes, and the joy depicted on the face of his son 
 added to his happiness. 
 
 In order to follow a gallant custom, or rather from 
 a very natural feeling of the heart, which in his legit- 
 imate desire to become acquainted at last with her 
 
 4 
 
MJDJME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 who was to be his companion for life he could not 
 resist, the Prince de Lamballe had gone the day before 
 to Montereau, where the princess was staying. He 
 had been introduced as a simple gentleman, and had 
 paid her a compliment in offering her a bouquet in the 
 name of his master. The few moments in which he 
 had been able to look at her had sufficed for him to 
 appreciate mademoiselle's charms, and the infatuation 
 caused by his happiness, but poorly dissimulated, well- 
 nigh disclosed who he really was. 
 
 His emotion was such that upon his return to Nan 
 gis he had no need to acknowledge the state of his 
 affections; every one was convinced that it would be 
 a love match.' 
 
 As soon as the carriages appeared the Due de Pen- 
 thievre stepped out, followed by the Prince de Lam- 
 balle and the Comte and Comtesse de La Marche. 
 Mademoiselle Carignan, with her suite, did likewise, 
 and advanced, escorted by Monsieur de Lastic, her 
 chief usher. 
 
 The presentation took place at once; the duke em- 
 braced the princess, after which it was the turn of the 
 Prince de Lamballe, who held her long in his arms. 
 
 Then all this brilliant assemblage returned to the 
 carriages and went back to Nangis. 
 
 In the Prince de Lamballe Mademoiselle de Cari- 
 gnan had no difficulty in recognizing the gallant mes- 
 senger of the previous evening, who had caused her 
 no little anxiety. Timidly she reproached him for not 
 
 5 
 
MJDAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 having made himself known. During the journey he 
 showed her the most assiduous attention, and the duke 
 did not cease to thank her for the pleasure which he 
 owed to her. On her side, the princess acknowledged 
 every care given her during the journey. 
 
 At the gates of the city the crowd increased, became 
 denser, and the people craned their necks in order to 
 see the better. Raised in the midst of a severe court, 
 which had carefully kept her apart from all luxury, the 
 princess at first seemed confused by the magnificent 
 preparations for her marriage ; but this feeling was only 
 a passing one, and soon disappeared in the joy and 
 happiness which seemed to reign everywhere. 
 
 The clergy were assembled before the church to 
 receive the royal wedding procession and conduct it to 
 the chapel of the Marquis de Nangis. The little 
 chapel, situated at one side of the church, was filled 
 with souvenirs of this noble family; their arms orna- 
 mented the high altar, the frescoes portrayed their 
 deeds of valor. Conducted with perfect art, the ordi- 
 narily severe, even mournful, aspect of the ceremony 
 was lost. Flowers were scattered about in profusion, 
 and, by the diversity of their coloring, added brightness 
 to the whole eiFect. The benediction was pronounced 
 by the Cardinal de Luynes. 
 
 On this point we disagree with Fortaire, who makes 
 the royal couple leave in the afternoon, and who gives 
 the details of a supper which must have taken place 
 the same evening at the Hotel de Toulouse. Fortaire 
 
 6 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 afterwards states that perhaps his memory is at fault, 
 and we cannot prefer his version to the one in the 
 " Gazette de France," a daily paper; the more so, as 
 we think that the recent loss in the Due de Pen- 
 thievre's family would have necessitated a private 
 wedding. 
 
 From the church they went with great pomp to the 
 Chateau de Nangis, kindly put at the disposal of the 
 Due de Penthievre by the Guerchy family. 
 
 Is it necessary to add that the young couple hurried 
 through the collation which was given them ? Before 
 all else they wished to talk without restraint, away 
 from tiresome staring. Nothing could have been more 
 propitious to sweet interchange of thought, nothing 
 could have been better suited to a delightful tete-a-tete 
 than this beautiful estate of Nangis. Thanks to the 
 deep forests everything there was a mystery, and in 
 their then state of feelings might not our lovers have 
 fallen under the charm of the deepest passion ? 
 
 The chateau itself, which was very old and entirely 
 surrounded by vast moats filled with water, and which 
 they saw from afar, lighted by the uncertain rays of 
 winter, like a fantastic tableau, attracted them and 
 added still more to the impression already produced. 
 
 Several days passed in this way, entirely given up to 
 love and poetry, would perhaps have turned the prince's 
 growing passion for his young wife in a very different 
 direction, and shed its happy influence on this union. 
 Had they been ordinary mortals, no thought of eonven- 
 
 7 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 tionality could have hindered them from thus passing 
 those days of happiness; but princes born, princes of 
 the same blood, politics alone presided over their nup- 
 tials, and could not help ruling their life. Their re- 
 turn to Paris had been arranged in advance, and it was 
 impossible to change the plan. 
 
 The day closed with a great feast, to which all the 
 Due de Penthievre's friends had been invited. The 
 fete was held in the large drawing-room of the chateau, 
 which was illuminated by a thousand lights. 
 
 According to Michelin, this same room had been 
 used for the banquets at the wedding of Marie of Sax- 
 ony, daughter of the King of Poland, with the dauphin, 
 and also for that of Joseph de Bourbon-Conti and For- 
 tunee Marie d'Este, Princess of Modena. 
 
 The following day Nangis returned to its wonted 
 calm, the chateau and the park resumed their everyday 
 appearance, and all the lords went back to Paris. 
 
 Of the seven children born from the union of Marie 
 Felicite d'Este with the Due de Penthievre, the Prince 
 de Lamballe and Mademoiselle de Bourbon alone re- 
 mained. So, from his son's childhood, the duke had 
 resolved to marry him, in the sweet hope of seeing 
 him perpetuate his race. Was it not premature ? 
 Was it very prudent to bind in wedlock, somewhat 
 against his will, this youth of nineteen, whose conduct 
 had already caused him more than one pang ? 
 
 The duke, in his wisdom, had certainly weighed all 
 the consequences of his resolution. He himself had 
 
 8 
 
MJDJME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 married at the same age, and the example of his hap- 
 piness was there to strengthen his decision. Was it, 
 then, so rash on his part to believe that the influence 
 of a woman young, full of attractions, and of a pleas- 
 ing personality would be more efficacious than his 
 paternal authority, and that she would succeed in 
 averting unhappy temptations from the prince, whose 
 character was weaker than his disposition was vicious ? 
 
 The Due de Penthievre had not sought in this mar- 
 riage a fortune for his son; his own was sufficient, 
 and he knew that the court of Sardinia was not rich 
 enough for him to aspire to a large dowry. 
 
 The inventory of the possessions of the Princesse de 
 Lamballe gives us a hint as to the marriage contract, 
 signed at Turin, the 17th of January, 1767, before 
 the State minister and royal notary of the king of 
 Sardinia. From this inventory we see that the prin- 
 cess had a dowry of one hundred and fifty thousand 
 livres from the Prince and Princesse de Savoie Cari- 
 gnan, her father and mother, Piedmont money, worth 
 in French money one hundred and eighty thousand 
 livres, with an income at four per cent., besides a 
 trousseau worth eighteen thousand livres. For this 
 the princess gave up all claim of inheritance from her 
 father and mother, in favor of her brothers, or their 
 heirs in the male line. The Due de Penthievre gave 
 to his daughter-in-law seventy-five thousand livres' 
 worth of diamonds and other precious stones. 
 
 Furthermore, it was stipulated that if the princess 
 
 9 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 survived her husband, she should have, in addition to 
 her dowry, sixty thousand livres, in French money, 
 thirty thousand livres income for life, besides sixteen 
 dresses and other articles for her use, to the amount 
 of seventy-five thousand livres. The king, to vi'hom 
 the Due de Penthievre had told his plans, approved of 
 them, and ofFered him the hand of Mademoiselle de 
 Savoie Carignan. 
 
 The preliminaries were arranged according to the 
 following account in the " Gazette de France " : 
 
 "Versailles, January lo, 1767. 
 
 " On the seventh of this month the king announced 
 the marriage of the Prince de Lamballe and Marie 
 Therese Louise, Princesse de Carignan, fourth daugh- 
 ter of Louis Victor Amedee Joseph de Savoie, Prince 
 de Carignan, and of Christine Henriette de Hesse 
 Rheinfiels." 
 
 The following day, the 8th of January, according 
 to the same authority, the French ambassador pre- 
 sented the official announcement in the name of the 
 
 king: 
 
 " Turin, January 14, 1767. 
 
 " Last Thursday, Baron de Choiseul, ambassador 
 of France to this court, had a private audience with 
 the king, in which he presented to his Majesty the 
 request for Princesse Marie Therese de Carignan from 
 the Prince de Lamballe; at the same time he gave the 
 king the letter which her very Christian Majesty wrote 
 to him on this occasion. To-day the king announced 
 the marriage to the royal officers, to the chevaliers of 
 
MJDJME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 the Annonciade, and to the principal courtiers who 
 have admittance to his cabinet ; the signing of the con- 
 tract and the celebration of the marriage are arranged 
 for Saturday, the 17th, and the same day the young 
 princess will leave for France." ^ 
 
 Following is the itinerary of the young princess's 
 journey, by which she took fifteen days to reach Paris: 
 
 "Versailles, February 11, 1767. 
 
 " The Princesse de Lamballe left Turin the 17th of 
 January in the carriage of the Prince de Carignan, her 
 father, and reached the Pont de Beauvoisin the 24th, 
 where she was met by the Chevalier de Lastic, acting 
 for the Due de Penthievre and the Prince de Lamballe, 
 The latter presented to the princess the ladies who 
 were to be in her suite and the officers who were to 
 serve her. On the 25th the princess left the Pont de 
 Beauvoisin, in the Prince de Lamballe' s carriage, and 
 reached Montereau the afternoon of the 30th." 
 
 The Prince and Princesse de Lamballe left Nangis 
 the 1st of February, arrived the same day at Paris, and 
 went to the Hotel de Toulouse. It is probable that 
 in the evening the young couple were presented to the 
 royal princess, and that the supper of thirty covers 
 took place, of which Fortaire speaks. In the mean- 
 time appeared the wedding song dedicated to the Prince 
 de Lamballe : 
 
 " Crown with wreaths thy brow immortal, Hymen, 
 Wave high thy torch that shines with heav'niy hue. 
 Upon my bank a triumph that is new 
 Now summons thee, and Love calls thee again. 
 II 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 Two hearts, each pierced with Cupid-given pain, 
 
 Seek happy union in a lasting chain. 
 
 Why tarry you ? Haste to my banklets low, 
 
 And see increase your ever fair empire 
 
 Of wedded ones, in whom we all admire 
 
 The rarest gifts that Heav'n can e'er bestow." 
 
 Thus spoke the Nymph, the goddess of the Seine, 
 
 To Hymen, God of Wedlock, who replied : 
 
 " Fair Queen of Waters, which forever glide 
 
 About thy sovereign city, not in vain 
 
 You speak ; no other dwelling and no other sun 
 
 Where I receive from mortals homage meet 
 
 Is sought by me, or cherished, but the one 
 
 Which your banks give, and which to me is sweet ; 
 
 Nor elsewhere do I ever see, as here. 
 
 My altars thronged with those I hold most dear ; 
 
 My power invoked most zealously by each, 
 
 And the dependence that my laws must teach. 
 
 The city honors me by greatest zest. 
 
 E'en Love himself, my rival, at my best 
 
 Ne'er throws a shadow o'er my power quite ; 
 
 United, both, we share our strength and might. 
 
 He wishes to be happy but through me ; 
 
 Through him I'd rule, and to his laws agree. 
 
 And yet, alas ! Love's enemy and mine. 
 
 An adversary bold and full of shame, 
 
 Upon thy banks to-day in silence came ; 
 
 He broke my laws, he overstepped their line, 
 
 And left to crime an open path so fine 
 
 That Hymen's lovely Innocence and Peace 
 
 Please less, and direful crimes increase ; 
 
 That, without shame, thy people outrage sore, 
 
 And — " Hymen ceased, and said no more. 
 
 Nor could he, for his voice was choked. 
 
 The Nymph, in pity, thus invoked : 
 
 ' ' Why cherish thus thy every deepest grief ? 
 
 Why vainly add to sorrow's weight ? 
 
 If some wrong mortals find relief 
 
 12 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 In scorning right, if virtuous laws they hate, 
 Yet all the rest still have their firm belief 
 In thee ; they love and know thy rights are great. 
 Thy altar smokes again with incense sweet, 
 
 A Prince, son of Penthi^vrus, doth entreat " 
 
 Then, all beside himself, god Hymen spoke : 
 
 " O sweetest hope, that ever was so fair, 
 
 O best beloved, in my great despair, 
 
 Seek you, O Nymph, with flattery to cloak 
 
 My anger ? Is't true, a son ? " She spoke : 
 
 "Yes, yes, a son, his father's image, he, 
 
 Proud, generous, tender, strong, kind for humanity, 
 
 Who finds the empire sweet that laws from thee must give ; 
 
 Who wishes but by thee in happiness to live." 
 
 Then Hymen's heart rejoiced indeed ; 
 No longer was he weighed with care. 
 To France's fields he longed to speed ; 
 Wave there his torch, his bright crown bear, 
 Call to him Laughter, Joy, and Grace, 
 Who, full of strength, sprang up apace. 
 They all burst forth in merry glee ; 
 They part, take wing, and hither flee 
 To our green banks. Ne'er Love before 
 Began his course on lighter wing, 
 E'en when in mischief he would soar. 
 When fresher thoughts his mother'd bring, 
 Than when, another heart to score. 
 He left Cytheria, Paphos' shore, 
 And sweet repose from two hearts tore. 
 Thus this most faithful, god-sent boy 
 Olympus scales, its mighty height. 
 And, speeding hence on wings of light, 
 Stands on our banks in beaming joy. 
 
 Four days later Madame de Lamballe was presented, 
 by the Comtesse de La Marche, to the king and to 
 the royal family. 
 
 13 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 Louis XVI., who forgot nothing in his diary, men- 
 tions the fact in these words : 
 
 " February 5th, '67, the presentation of Madame 
 de Lamballe." 
 
 The following day the royal family paid a visit to 
 the princess, whereupon Louis XVL again writes: 
 
 " February 6th, visited Madame de Lamballe." 
 
 14 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 Let us now make the acquaintance of her in whom 
 the Due de Penthievre had placed his fondest hopes, 
 whom he considered capable of reforming the Prince 
 de Lamballe, and whose influence his son could not, 
 in his opinion, resist. 
 
 Born at Turin, the 8th of September, 1749, Marie 
 Therese Louise de Savoie Carignan in her eighteenth 
 year was not exactly what we call pretty. Her fea- 
 tures somewhat lacked the regularity which is the ac- 
 companiment of true beauty; but the brilliancy of 
 her complexion was remarkable. Although her large, 
 light blue eyes were rather expressionless, her face 
 was none the less interesting, thanks to her blond hair 
 of an adorable golden hue, which increased still more 
 the sweetness of an ensemble full of charms and attrac- 
 tions. Add to this a remarkably beautiful figure, and 
 it is easy to see that the Princesse de Lamballe was 
 really very charming.' 
 
 Morally, she was good. Nothing of a coquette, she 
 was very sweet and almost ingenuous. Though but 
 little blessed with natural wit, her gayety was none the 
 less frank and full of spontaneity. She was not an 
 enemy to pleasure ; but she preferred it simple and 
 
 15 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 without ostentation. Criticism has often been levelled 
 at the frivolous side of her character, but never did it 
 succeed, even in its sharpest attacks, in citing a wrong 
 action on her part. Such was the delightful child 
 whom politics had united with Louis Alexander Joseph 
 Stanislas de Bourbon Lamballe. 
 
 The Due de Penthievre had therefore good reason 
 for appearing satisfied with this marriage. Not only 
 on this occasion did he receive many congratulations, 
 among others a letter from his old friend De La- 
 moignon, for whom for many years he had professed 
 a special regard, but he could see for himself both 
 the improvement in his son's behavior and the increas- 
 ing influence which the young princess seemed to gain 
 over him. 
 
 On the loth of February our young heroine was 
 present in fiocchi at the representation of * ' La Gou- 
 vernante " given upon the return of Mole. 
 
 Some time after, a wealthy stranger came to Paris 
 and spoke of his various meetings with noble person- 
 ages. He told how he had been presented by the 
 Marquis de Besseville to the Due de Penthievre and 
 to the Prince de Lamballe, while the lady-in-waiting 
 to the princess, the Comtesse de Guebriant, presented 
 him to Madame de Lamballe. 
 
 That which further confirms the good opinion of 
 the duke regarding the improved morals of his son, is 
 this letter from the Prince de Lamballe, written at 
 Versailles, March 25th, in vvhich, doubtless in order to 
 
 i6 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 devote himself wholly to his wife, the prince declares 
 that " the desire which he had had to raise a small 
 pack of hounds for hunting deer was entirely gone." 
 
 We read of the king's holding a grand review on 
 the Field of Marly, July ist. It was a magnificent 
 fete, say the contemporary documents; the queen was 
 there, as well as the Comtes de Provence and d'Artois, 
 Mesdames Adelaide, Victoire, Louise, and Sophie, the 
 Due de Bourbon, Madame de Lamballe, and the entire 
 court. 
 
 The king rode about among the troops, followed by 
 a brilliant cortege^ at the head of which was the Due 
 de Chartres, the Prince de Conde, and the Prince de 
 Lamballe. But marriage, unfortunately, did not suc- 
 ceed in reforming this prince. He was decidedly in- 
 capable of appreciating the charm of his young wife, 
 and the hope that the poor duke had conceived of 
 rescuing his blase son was strangely disappointed. 
 
 In short, only five months after his marriage. Mon- 
 sieur de Lamballe had Mademoiselle de la Chassaigne, 
 from the Comedie Fran^aise, for his mistress. 
 
 Private memoirs tell us of it in the following words : 
 
 " Mademoiselle de la Chassaigne, a young actress 
 of the Comedie Fran^aise, a niece of Mademoiselle de 
 la Mothe, former chorus-leader in this theatre, is to- 
 day the object of the gossip and the jealousy of all her 
 friends. Although not very pretty, and possessed of 
 very little talent, she has been honored with the atten- 
 tion of a young prince (Lamballe), but lately married. 
 2 17 
 
MADAME DE LAMBJLLE 
 
 The father of the young man is very conscientious, 
 and has taken every precaution to prove the necessary 
 facts relating to the truth of the case. He has assured 
 the actress of his protection, and a sum of money has 
 been settled upon her and her prospective child." 
 
 Three months later, the same author tells us, on 
 September 26th a still graver deed was committed, and 
 the prince communicated to his wife the result of his 
 misconduct. He was then intimate with one of the 
 cleverest courtesans of the city, and his need of money 
 made him commit an abominable act, for, not content 
 with deceiving his wife, he carried ofF her diamonds 
 with which to pay for his debaucheries. 
 
 "They have spoken," Bachaumont says further, 
 " of the flight of Mademoiselle La Forest, to the great 
 regret of a young prince but lately married, who had 
 conceived for her a dangerous passion. The motive 
 for this hasty flight is known positively. The lover 
 had made her a present of a rather large share of the 
 princess's diamonds. The woman learned that an in- 
 vestigation was being made, and thought best to dis- 
 appear. Better advised, however, she presented her- 
 self, after a short time, before the Due de Penthievre, 
 the young prince's father, brought back the diamonds, 
 and threw herself on her knees, asking for considera- 
 tion. The duke appeared satisfied with this proceed- 
 ing, and told her that an estimate should be made of 
 the diamonds, and that their value should be paid to 
 her; that she need have no anxiety; that his son alone 
 was to blame; that her child should be cared for, since 
 she said she expected one, and that in any case she 
 
 18 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 should not suffer; but he demanded that she should 
 not see the young prince, her lover, again." 
 
 As a result of the inconstancy of the prince, whom 
 she loved and who so recently had vowed to be faith- 
 ful to her, Madame de Lamballe was taken very ill. 
 
 " A bright, amiable young princess, married last 
 winter to a husband also young, has not been able 
 to suffer his repeated acts of infidelity, and, however 
 disastrous they may have been to her love for this 
 modern Theseus, she could not without a feeling of 
 positive jealousy see his estrangement and desertion. 
 She became envious of the most despicable objects 
 whom the prince honored with his attentions, and has 
 given way to profound melancholy and hysteria. Since 
 the fashionable physicians have been unable to remedy 
 the trouble, which is more mental than physical, she 
 has placed herself in the hands of one Pittara, a charla- 
 tan now in vogue, who applies plasters to his patients. 
 Several ladies of the court have tried him, and the 
 Duchesse de Mazarin having spoken of him to the 
 princess the latter sent for him a short time ago." 
 
 The prince, who had lost every feeling of de- 
 cency, no longer sought to save appearances, and no 
 doubt thinking himself too closely watched in the 
 Hotel at Toulouse, left it. 
 
 " It is said that the Prince de Lamballe went away 
 without letting any one know where he was, and that 
 the Due de Penthievre has sought everywhere for him. 
 He has been found in a furnished hotel, under treat- 
 
 19 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 merit for a severe illness, the result of a too hazardous 
 gallantry. 
 
 " They describe him as being in a most deplorable 
 state, and they add that perhaps he will be sadly muti- 
 lated." 
 
 In spite of the disgust which his son's conduct 
 caused him, the Due de Penthievre strove to save him 
 and had him carried to his own home to be cared for. 
 He had not yet lost all hope of reforming him, but, 
 first of all, he wished to send away Mademoiselle La 
 Cour, and thanks to a large sum which he offered the 
 latter he succeeded. Unfortunately, however, his 
 efforts to help his son were without avail. Insensible 
 to the paternal affection and to the attention of the 
 princess. Monsieur de Lamballe fled again, scarcely 
 one month before his death. 
 
 *' Monsieur le Prince de Lamballe," our inexhausti- 
 ble chronicler again relates, "is on the D'Antin road, 
 at Monsieur de Wargemont's; he is in a most deplor- 
 able state, aggravated by his having hurt himself on 
 horseback." 
 
 For the second time the duke sought his son and 
 had him brought back to Lucienne, where the phy- 
 sicians hoped for a speedy cure in the country air. 
 But the malady only increased ; every day brought a 
 new trouble, and three weeks later the unhappy prince 
 could no longer be deceived as to his condition. Real- 
 izing his wrongdoings, and won over, perhaps, by the 
 example of his family, who did not address a single 
 
 20 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 word of reproach to him, the prince desired to receive 
 the sacraments of the Church. Some days after, his 
 condition became hopeless, and the members of his 
 family could not enter his room. 
 
 " The Prince de Lamballe is completely without 
 hope of recovery, and is living only by fever. The 
 princesses no longer come into his room. He is sure 
 to succumb to the numberless remedies which have 
 been given him. It is known, from an apothecary, 
 that he has taken seven pounds of mercury, not to 
 mention the Keyser pills and other mixtures of the 
 charlatans in whose hands his Highness placed him- 
 self at the beginning of his illness. The Princesse de 
 Conti and the Comtesse de La Marche are at Lucienne 
 with the disconsolate family. For the rest, the prince 
 is ending his life well; Father Imbert, the monk, is 
 his confessor. 
 
 *' The Prince de Lamballe has just died." 
 
 This " ending his life well," from a spiritual point 
 of view at least, as Bachaumont tells us, was none the 
 less terrible, and the last moments of the unhappy 
 man, whose sufferings were frightful, were a cruel 
 atonement for the wrongdoings of his wretched life. 
 
 Doubtless a kindly notice was requested by the Due 
 de Penthievre, for the '* Gazette de France," from 
 which we gather the details of this event, was careful 
 not to pass over in silence the repentance and piety 
 shown by the dying man. 
 
 " Louis Alexander Joseph Stanislas de Bourbon, 
 
 21 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 Prince de Lamballe, first huntsman of France, died at 
 the Chateau de Lucienne, near Versailles, the 6th of 
 this month, at half-past eight o'clock in the morning, 
 aged twenty years and eight months. He was born 
 the 6th of September, 1747. He was married the 
 17th of January, 1767, to Marie Therese Louise de 
 Carignan. We cannot too highly commend the senti- 
 ments of piety and resignation and the courage which 
 this prince showed during his long illness, up to the 
 last moments of his life. On account of his death the 
 court will wear mourning for ten days." 
 
 The funeral took place the next day but one. 
 
 " Last Sunday the funeral of the Prince de Lam- 
 balle was held without ostentation. The procession 
 left Lucienne about half-past eleven o'clock in the 
 evening. It consisted first of three carriages, in one of 
 which was the body of the dead prince; in the second, 
 the minister and the vicar of the parish of Lucienne, 
 with a chaplain ; and in the third the Marquis de Besse- 
 ville and the Viscount de Castellane, first equerries, 
 bearing the crown ; secondly, two gentlemen on horse- 
 back; thirdly, four pages and an outrider; fourthly, a 
 large number of valets on foot bearing torches; and, 
 finally, one hundred poor people. The procession 
 reached Rambouillet at six o'clock in the morning, 
 and was there met by the minister, the vicar, and a 
 large number of the clergy." 
 
 This sad event was a cruel blow to the princess: 
 her sorrow was deep, her grief indescribable. Noth- 
 ing, in short, was more real than the love she had pro- 
 fessed for her unworthy husband, upon whom, in spite 
 
 22 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 of his misconduct, she never ceased to the last mo- 
 ment to lavish the most touching affection. 
 
 Then, alone in her grief, undecided, incapable of 
 reflection, she thought of retiring to the Abbey of 
 Saint Antoine, vi^here, within the shadow of the severe 
 walls of the cloister, she could bury her regrets. 
 
 In what a terrible position this frightful bereavement 
 placed her! What should she do ? How act as a 
 widow, so young, without experience, in the midst 
 of a world with which she was unacquainted, in an 
 adopted country, whose customs were scarcely known 
 to her ? 
 
 It was at this point that the Due de Penthievre 
 appeared, an angel of goodness, endowed with every 
 virtue, and begged the princess not to leave him. 
 
 With a nature so essentially susceptible to generous 
 feelings, the princess could not, without being strongly 
 affected, see the havoc which the son's death had 
 caused in her father-in-law, and she felt that she had 
 duties to fulfil and consolation to render; then, at 
 length, more mistress of herself, in possession of all 
 the reason that had for a time been wandering, she 
 saw in him a guide and support, and his request alone 
 was needed to induce her to go to Rambouillet. 
 
 83 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 It is at Rambouillet that we see her passing the first 
 days of her widowhood, with the Due de Penthievre 
 and Mademoiselle de Bourbon, her sister-in-law, who 
 never ceased to lavish upon her the tenderest care, and 
 who, the following year, by her marriage with the Due 
 de Chartres, brought a healthful diversion to the grief 
 of the family. This country life, to which at first she 
 was only resigned, since at the time quiet and solitude 
 alone suited her state of mind, after a while pleased 
 her immensely, and the beautiful trees of the park, 
 which appealed so strongly to reverie, had a particular 
 charm for her. At Rambouillet she found again the 
 calmness of mind which she sought, and that free and 
 easy life which was one of her favorite dreams; for, 
 although the house was filled with every luxury which 
 the position of her hosts demanded, the Due de Pen- 
 thievre, with his modest tastes, had banished from it 
 formality and etiquette. Could it have been the re- 
 membrance of these happy days which suggested to 
 Marie Antoinette the idea of the beautiful Trianon, 
 where the queen so loved to go, to be free from the 
 obligations of the court ? 
 
 The year 1769 opened with the solemn announce- 
 
 24 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 ment of the marriage of the Due de Chartres with 
 Mademoiselle de Bourbon Penthievre.' This marriage 
 contract had been made over and over again many 
 times by the whims of the Due d' Orleans, but was 
 finally concluded the 4th of January, as we read in 
 the ' ' Gazette de France ' ' : 
 
 " On the morning of day before yesterday, the king 
 announced the marriage of the Due de Chartres, son 
 of the Due d' Orleans, first prince of the blood, and 
 Mademoiselle de Penthievre, daughter of the Due de 
 Penthievre." 
 
 It was in every respect a fine match. Mademoiselle 
 de Penthievre, according to Bezenval, did not have a 
 dowry, it is true, of more than fifty thousand crowns 
 income; but, at the death of the Prince de Lamballe, 
 she would inherit the entire fortune of her father, esti- 
 mated at an income of three millions at least. 
 
 On the other hand. Mademoiselle de Penthievre 
 was deeply in love with the Due de Chartres, who at 
 the time was very attractive, and she did not hesitate 
 to declare that she would never marry any one but 
 him." 
 
 Nevertheless the wedding was not celebrated at Ver- 
 sailles until the 5th of the following April. Why all 
 this delay ? Was it to allow the young prince to be- 
 come fully acquainted with her who loved him after 
 having seen him but once at Madame de Modene's, 
 * ' where the Due de Chartres had offered her his hand 
 
 25 
 
MADJME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 to lead her to her carriage" ? This marriage, which 
 was not announced under more auspicious circum- 
 stances than that of the Princesse de Lamballe, could 
 scarcely be more happy. 
 
 To believe Bachaumont, who tells us a pretty anec- 
 dote about the occupations of the young Jiance, is to 
 suppose that the Due de Chartres gave to Mademoi- 
 selle de Penthievre only a brief courtship. What he 
 mentions on this point is of sufficient interest to have 
 a place in our story : 
 
 " At the wedding of the Comte de Fitz James, the 
 Due de Chartres gave him a supper at his little house, 
 called the Souper des Veuves. There were present the 
 mistresses of this prince, and of different lords who 
 were married or about to become so. Everything was 
 draped in black. The women were in mourning, also 
 the men. The candles of Love were extinguished and 
 were replaced by those of Marriage. These two gods 
 were in a continual state of rivalry at this fete ; in a 
 word, everything there characterized the Fall of Pleas- 
 ures and the Empire of Reason. They say there is a 
 question of renewing this farce in a still more solemn 
 manner on the occasion of the approaching marriage 
 of the Due de Chartres." 
 
 Once married, the Duchesse de Chartres acquired 
 a passion for the theatre, and was often seen there, 
 accompanied by her sister-in-law. Mademoiselle 
 d' Orleans, and by the Comtesse de La Marche. The 
 Prince de Conti gave his niece a pretty fete in the Park 
 d'Issy. "A delightful affair," says Bachaumont. 
 
 26 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 "There was no crowd; it was almost a family 
 gathering." 
 
 In spite of her mourning, the Princesse de Lamballe 
 did not fail to attend a celebration at the end of the 
 year at Saint Denis ; then she returned, without doubt, 
 to her father-in-law. Our gracious princess always 
 became wearied when she was obliged to appear at 
 any court reception. To leave her favorite occupa- 
 tions, even for a few days, seemed to her a cruel ordeal, 
 and it needed much of the Due de Penthievre's gentle 
 and at times even paternal authority to make her do 
 so. She seldom left her father-in-law, especially as, in 
 addition to his kindly acts, he uttered sweet words of 
 sympathy, which came from a heart eminently kind 
 and generous. Nothing can better express his charity 
 than these lines of Florian : 
 
 " Disguised his birth, 'neath g-arments meek, 
 Penthi^vre at times the poor doth seek ; 
 And from his priceless palace rare 
 Renews the widow's scanty fare." 
 
 Thus Madame de Lamballe lived quietly during the 
 last part of that year and the beginning of the follow- 
 ing. But in 1770 a great event occurred, the results 
 of which were seriously to influence the future of our 
 charming heroine. The dauphin married the Arch- 
 duchess of Austria, Marie Antoinette, and the whole 
 court was invited to assist at the magnificent fetes, the 
 splendor of which surpassed, they say, those of all pre- 
 ceding royal marriages. Madame de Lamballe was 
 
 27 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 present at every ceremony, and the dauphiness, to 
 whom she was presented, was charmed with her and 
 overwhelmed her with attentions which the spectators 
 did not fail to notice. More than one saw even then 
 the dawn of an intimacy which later was to give so 
 much trouble to the two friends. 
 
 Probably the princess stayed at Versailles only the 
 necessary time and then returned to her beloved occu- 
 pations in the country. Then, either for distraction 
 or because of her health, which was still somewhat 
 poor, the Due de Penthievre took her to the seashore. 
 
 " The Due de Penthievre has taken Madame de 
 Chartres, Madame de Lamballe, and Madame de La 
 Marche to Havre de Grace. The Due de Chartres 
 is going also; he will probably start the lOth of Sep- 
 tember." 
 
 Unfortunately this trip was postponed, owing to an 
 unexpected illness on the part of the Due de Pen- 
 thievre during a stay in the Chateau of Crecy. Little 
 by little the princess recovered her spirits, and through 
 the soothing influence of her father-in-law she again 
 faced the world, for we see her in February, 177 1, 
 doing the honors of the Hotel de Toulouse for the 
 royal Prince of Sweden and for his brother. Prince 
 Adolphus, as well as for the King of Denmark. 
 
 It was at this time that she became intimate with 
 the dauphiness, a fact of secondary importance at the 
 time, but which Mercy Argenteau, who will be a great 
 
 28 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 help to us, was nevertheless careful to note and report 
 to Marie Therese on the 17th of March, designating 
 the intimacy as "an unusual affection." He foresaw 
 rightly, for this was the beginning of that great friend- 
 ship which later was to be of such interest to Mercy 
 and to his august sovereign. 
 
 At that time Madame de Lamballe was almost con- 
 stantly at court. During the year 1771 we see her 
 assisting at every ceremonial. The " Gazette de 
 France" mentions her presence in the chapel at high 
 mass on Holy Thursday, at which the king was pres- 
 ent accompanied by the royal family, the Due de Bour- 
 bon, and the Due de Penthievre. In May she went 
 to Fontainebleau, was there presented by the king to 
 the future Comtesse de Provence, and attended the 
 supper. Then, in June, she accompanied the Holy 
 Sacrament in the procession of Corpus Christi. 
 
 The Due de Penthievre could not but congratulate 
 himself on his efforts in bringing back calmness of 
 mind to his daughter-in-law and in making her by 
 degrees take up the duties of society. Another happi- 
 ness was in store for him, for his daughter, the 
 Duchesse de Chartres, was about to bear a child, and 
 her husband's attentions, if we may believe Bachau- 
 mont, were more than assiduous. 
 
 ' ' They speak, ' ' he says, ' ' only with the greatest 
 admiration of the care which the Due de Chartres takes 
 of his august wife. He never leaves her and re- 
 doubles his tender attentions. Far from giving him- 
 
 ag 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 self up to the mistakes of his early youth, which would 
 seem more excusable under circumstances in which his 
 passions would be likely to carry him away, he uses 
 the kindest and most deferential manner towards the 
 princess, and this causes great joy to the Due de 
 Penthievre. " 
 
 But, in spite of all the care with which she was sur- 
 rounded, in spite of every attention, the Duchesse de 
 Chartres gave birth to a still-born child on the lOth 
 of October. This was a great grief to the family, 
 a grief shared by the young dauphiness, who wrote to 
 her mother on the 13th of October, 1777 : 
 
 ' ' You surely know, my dearest mother, the sorrow 
 of the Duchesse de Chartres, who has just given birth 
 to a still-born child." 
 
 Then the daughter, knowing the secret longing of 
 her mother, went on to say: 
 
 *' I wish I had some news to tell you concerning 
 myself, but as yet there is apparently none." 
 
 After this event the lack of documents causes us to 
 lose sight of the princess, whom we do not again find 
 until January, 1772, when she is one of a sleighing 
 party. 
 
 We read in the " Gazette de France " that — 
 
 *' Madame the Dauphiness and the Comtesse de 
 Provence, accompanied by the Princesse de Lamballe, 
 took a sleigh ride on the 30th of last month. Mad- 
 ame, the dauphin's wife, afterwards gave a dinner to 
 
 30 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 the Princesse de Lamballe, who had the honor of being 
 with her on this drive." ' 
 
 In August of the same year the Duchesse de Char- 
 tres went to Forges les Eaux. Unfortunately, we can- 
 not analyze the description given by Bachaumont, and 
 which, if we are to believe it, does not lack a certain 
 interest. Was the princess on the trip ? We are not 
 positive. However, we append the paragraph from 
 Bachaumont : 
 
 " At the time of the journey of the Due and Du- 
 chesse de Chartres to the waters of Forges there was 
 edited in Normandy a paper called the ' Gazette Nor- 
 mande.' It was a journal modelled after the supple- 
 ments of the ' Gazette de France ' ; that is to say, it 
 was evil, untruthful, calumnious, with, however, some 
 ievf good points, as it should have." 
 
 The princess does not appear again until the follow- 
 ing year, when her father-in-law saw his dearest hope 
 realized in the person of his little grandson, the Due 
 de Valois, afterward Louis Philippe I., born the 6th 
 of October, 1773. 
 
 It was on the occasion of this great event that the 
 duke received from his young page, Florian, who had 
 not yet reached the age of eighteen, the curious letter 
 signed " Polichinelle," in which he describes minutely 
 the good qualities of his protector : 
 
 " FoNTAiNEBLEAu, October 29, 1773. 
 
 "My Lord: Your serene Highness will receive 
 many compliments on the birth of the Prince de Va- 
 
 31 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 lois. Those who mean the best often express them- 
 selves in the poorest manner and I am of this number, 
 my lord. I have begun a thousand letters before writ- 
 ing one which would express to you all the joy I feel 
 at this happy event. I have had the honor to serve 
 Madame la Duchesse de Chartres, your daughter, and 
 it is only right for me to rejoice at that which surely 
 crowns the happiness of both of your serene High- 
 nesses. I should not dare to reveal to you my senti- 
 ments if you had not allowed me, my lord, to love you 
 and to tell you so, and this, without my losing the 
 deep respect which I should have for your august 
 person, even though you were not a royal prince. It 
 is, therefore, with every reason that I dare to assure you 
 of it, my lord, as well as of the everlasting gratitude 
 with which, throughout my life, I shall be, 
 
 "Your serene Highness' s most humble and most 
 obedient, 
 
 " POLICHINELLE." 
 
 At the head of the letter this note may be found : 
 *' Deliver the subjoined answer; this letter is from 
 little Florian, who has been my page." Below is the 
 answer, written by the hand of the Due de Penthievre. 
 It reads thus : 
 
 *' I was very sure that Polichinelle would share my 
 joy, and I thank him for it. I always wish to empha- 
 size to Polichinelle my desire to be of use to him." 
 
 Both the princess and the Due de Penthievre were 
 presented to the Comtesse d'Artois, and were present 
 at a supper at Choisy the same evening. 
 
 32 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 The year 1774 was an important one, both on ac- 
 count of the death of the old king and of the dauphin's 
 accession to the throne. This same year is the one 
 in which Madame de Lamballe appears to enjoy the 
 entire favor of Marie Antoinette. She became, in 
 truth, from this time, the inseparable companion of 
 the queen, and was perhaps happier than at any other 
 period. 
 
 " Madame the Dauphiness," says the " Gazette 
 de France," "the Comte de Provence, Madame la 
 Comtesse d'Artois, and the Princesse de Lamballe 
 were sleighing together, the 4th of the month, in the 
 park of Versailles, and in the city. Madame the 
 Dauphiness afterwards gave a dinner to the court 
 ladies who had the honor of accompanying her on this 
 drive." 
 
 The princess lost none of the pleasures of the court, 
 and from the moment Marie Antoinette appeared in 
 public, her place was by the side of the dauphiness. 
 Bachaumont, always on the lookout for news, speaks 
 of the representation of " Iphigenia " by Gluck, a 
 favorite of the dauphiness.* This opera made quite a 
 sensation, thanks to the particular attention paid the 
 composei: by the daughter of Marie Therese. Bachau- 
 mont says simply that it was a brilliant spectacle, and 
 that " the dauphin and the dauphiness, the Comte and 
 Comtesse de Provence arrived at half after five. " He 
 adds : ' ' The Duchesse de Bourbon was already pres- 
 ent, as well as the Princesse de Lamballe." 
 3 33 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 The " Nouvelle de Paris et de Versailles," from 
 which we gather these details, is more explicit, and 
 does not hide from us the fact that the dauphiness and 
 her suite sought by their own enthusiasm to awaken 
 the applause of the audience. 
 
 "Yesterday's spectacle — namely, the long-expected 
 representation of the opera of ' Iphigenia ' by Mon- 
 sieur Gluck — was as brilliant as can be imagined. 
 
 " His Highness the Dauphin, Madame the Dau- 
 phiness, the Comte and Comtesse de Provence, the 
 Duchesse de Chartres, the Duchesse de Bourbon, the 
 Princesse de Lamballe, the princes, ministers, and en- 
 tire court were present on this great musical occasion. 
 Madame the Dauphiness never ceased to applaud dur- 
 ing the performance, and those in the boxes followed 
 her example." 
 
 Several days later, the loth of May, Louis XV. 
 died and there began for the dauphin that long ordeal 
 so dreaded on account of his youth and inexperience — 
 an ordeal which was finally to lead to his execution. 
 
 The news of the king's death greatly affected the 
 Duchesse de Chartres, whom Madame de Lamballe 
 brought to the Due de Penthievre with a view to giv- 
 ing her grief some distraction. Was this the real 
 reason for the sorrow of the duchess? Were there not 
 other causes for it ? That which makes us incline 
 toward the latter hypothesis (although in this respect 
 we cannot found our personal impressions on any 
 given historical fact) is that the Baroness Oberkirch, 
 
 34 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 generally to be relied on, tells us that June 6th — that 
 is, less than a month after the event just mentioned — 
 there was a supper given on her estate of Vanves to 
 the Duchesse de Chartres and Madame de Lamballe. 
 
 The great grief of the Duchesse de Chartres did not 
 seem to be shared by those surrounding her, for the 
 young king's first thought, as soon as he vi^as able, w^as 
 to give the queen Trianon, afterwards so much talked 
 about, and already at that time nicknamed " Little 
 Vienna" — Trianon, which the queen had so long 
 wanted, and which she received with good grace, plac- 
 ing, however, certain conditions on her royal husband 
 which another less good-natured man might not have 
 accepted so complaisantly. 
 
 *' The queen, when wife of the dauphin," says our 
 inexhaustible Bachaumont, " made known her wish to 
 have a pleasure-house of her own in which she could 
 do just as she pleased. His Majesty, who had been 
 told of this, said to her a few days ago: ' Madame, 
 I am ready to satisfy your wish. I beg you to accept 
 for your own use the large and the small Trianon. 
 These beautiful palaces have always been the resi- 
 dence of kings' favorites, therefore they should belong 
 to you.' 
 
 " The queen greatly appreciated this gift and espe- 
 cially the gallant compliment which accompanied it. 
 She answered the king, laughingly, that she would 
 accept the Petit Trianon, on condition that he would 
 come there only when invited." 
 
 Marie Antoinette at once began to furnish the Tri- 
 
 35 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 anon according to her tastes and to make it the gay 
 and attractive hiding-place in which the best moments 
 of her life were passed. Mercy even found that this 
 occupation absorbed her too much and wrote to Marie 
 Therese : 
 
 " The queen's time is at present completely given 
 up to the laying out of an English garden." 
 
 Further on he continues : 
 
 ' ' This amusement would be a very harmless one if 
 it left her time for serious thought." 
 
 Marie Therese approved of Mercy, but extravagance 
 was her constant thought and she wrote in reply : 
 
 " I am more and more convinced that I am not de- 
 ceived in my daughter's character, which for a long 
 time I have thought inclined towards frivolities." 
 
 Although giving a large share of thought to the 
 "frivolities" of her daughter, Marie Therese evi- 
 dently occupied herself chiefly with the queen's friend- 
 ships; for Mercy, well trained and fully equal to his 
 task, announced that Madame de Lamballe was greatly 
 in favor and that the queen ' ' often received her in 
 her boudoir." To add piquancy to the affair he 
 traced for his mistress the portrait of her daughter's 
 friend — a portrait which was far from poor, since he 
 said : ' ' She adds to much sweetness and affability 
 a very truthful character, far removed from intrigue or 
 
 36 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 anything unseemly " j he even adds that, " although a 
 Piedmontese, the princess is in no way intimate with 
 madame or with Madame d'Artois " ; in a word, 
 Mercy found " the choice excellent," 
 
 In spite of this fine description, Mercy took care to 
 add that he had made some observations on this in- 
 timacy, in order, he said, to prevent trouble. 
 
 It was not until September, 1775, that the princess 
 became superintendent of the royal household, yet 
 already long before that it was hinted at. Then, after 
 a while, they did not hesitate to speak openly of it; it 
 became the subject of all conversation; intrigue min- 
 gled with it and the report acquired such strength that 
 Madame de Noailles took umbrage and asked Mercy 
 for an explanation. The latter was careful to reassure 
 her, though he realized that the growing favor of 
 Madame de Lamballe would arouse the greatest feel- 
 ings of animosity. For the rest, he did not trouble 
 himself about it, because, in his opinion, the queen 
 dominated Madame de Lamballe, while the latter was 
 without influence. In spite of every effort of this as- 
 tute person, the queen had wished at different intervals 
 to appoint her friend to a position, and especially upon 
 her departure for Brittany. So he did not leave Marie 
 Therese in ignorance of the different phases of this 
 new intimacy, sometimes holding out hope, sometimes 
 humbly acknowledging the futility of his remonstrances. 
 
 37 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 The Due de Penthievre, strongly urged by Louis 
 XVI., who feared the bad result caused by the disso- 
 lution of Parliament and the troubles which this might 
 bring about, accepted the delicate mission of presiding 
 over the Estates of Brittany, No choice could have 
 been happier. Alone, perhaps, of all the gentlemen 
 of France, the duke, by his breadth of view and his 
 upright character, at once firm and dignified, was capa- 
 ble of bringing to a good end so difficult a task, and, 
 by his tact and moderation, of stepping out of one of 
 the most delicate situations with honor. Sure that his 
 daughter-in-law would follow him, that she would help 
 him with her beauty and her affectionate devotion in 
 accomplishing his noble undertaking, and convinced 
 of the usefulness of his services towards the king, 
 Monsieur de Penthievre did not delay his reply and at 
 once prepared to start. 
 
 The separation was very hard for the two friends, 
 but the queen could not feel bitter towards Madame de 
 Lamballe for wishing to accompany her father-in-law. 
 Moreover, it would have been poor taste to oppose her 
 going. Having taken leave of the royal family, the 
 Due de Penthievre started on the 14th of December 
 
 38 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 and on the evening of the 17th our worthy travellers 
 reached their journey's end. Always simple in his 
 tastes, carefully avoiding all ostentation and every- 
 thing that might seem to bring him into notice, the 
 noble duke asked that his entrance into Rennes be incog- 
 nito and without any of the display he might have had. 
 Three days later the Estates opened. We find in 
 the archives of Ille and Vilaine the following reference 
 to our charming princess : 
 
 " Tuesday, 20th December, 1774. 
 
 "The Estates opened at five o'clock this evening. 
 The entrance of Monsieur the Marquis of Serent and 
 Monseigneur the Bishop of Rennes was marked by 
 general applause, as was also the case when the Prin- 
 cesse de Lamballe entered the court." 
 
 The arrival of the duke and his daughter-in-law at 
 Rennes was recognized by all. Every one saw in the 
 Comte de Toulouse's son one who would quell discord 
 and restore confidence.' 
 
 Madame de Lamballe was considered as the most 
 favorable bond of union for the duke's clearly expressed 
 projects of conciliation. 
 
 Nothing better explains the situation at that time 
 than the following words, uttered on the arrival of 
 these illustrious visitors: " Now all politics look smil- 
 ing." Public feeling showed itself in a gift to Mad- 
 ame de Lamballe, intended to keep in perpetual re- 
 membrance her arrival : 
 
 39 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 " Monday, January 9, 1775. 
 
 "The deputies who first welcomed the Due de 
 Penthievre and Madame de Lamballe at the opening 
 of the Estates, offered to his Serene Highness a gift of 
 one hundred thousand livres, and begged the princess 
 to accept a diamond of equal value." 
 
 Neither the duke nor the princess felt that they could 
 receive such gifts and they declined them with one ac- 
 cord, as the records of the following Wednesday show : 
 
 "Wednesday, January 11, 1775. 
 
 " The deputies who offered the gifts to the Due de 
 Penthievre and the Princesse de Lamballe were received 
 with courtesy and thanks, but were asked to beg the 
 Estates to be good enough to allow them to decline 
 the gifts." 
 
 The actors, also, according to Metra, were desirous 
 of celebrating the arrival of our two visitors by pre- 
 senting an allegorical piece, called "The Coronation 
 of a King." The play delighted the audience, but 
 the duke was ill-pleased at the " unkind allusions to 
 the memory of Louis XV.," for whom he " had had 
 a profound veneration." 
 
 At first he thought he would punish the author of 
 the piece, but contented himself by " forbidding a sec- 
 ond representation." 
 
 At the end of about two months, during which time 
 she " won the heart of every one in the province," 
 the princess decided to leave, and returned a few days 
 
 40 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 in advance of her father-in-law. She yielded, no doubt, 
 to the urgent solicitation of Marie Antoinette, 'who, in 
 her impatience to see the princess again, wrote the 
 latter to come immediately to her upon her return, no 
 matter what happened. The princess did so, and was 
 rewarded by the pleasant surprise of seeing, on a mir- 
 ror in the queen's apartment, her portrait, which Marie 
 Antoinette had had painted during her absence. This 
 was, indeed, a touching mark of afFection. To cap 
 the climax, by some strange and perhaps wished-for 
 coincidence, the princess arrived in time to attend a pri- 
 vate fete given by the queen in the Salon d'Hercule, 
 in honor of her brother, the Archduke Maximilian. 
 
 At that time popular ambition was fixed upon the 
 position of superintendent of the royal household, 
 sought after by various persons at court. Every one 
 spoke with envy of the coming nomination of Madame 
 de Lamballe, for the queen had many times made 
 known her intention in the matter. Even the news- 
 papers reported the rumor as a fact, in spite of the 
 claims of real princesses of the blood, as Bachaumont 
 tells us. As yet these were only reports, but they 
 suddenly acquired such strength that Mercy took care 
 to inform Marie Therese of what was going on. 
 
 At the time when the princess left for Brittany he 
 wrote that the queen still had some " vague ideas " of 
 having Madame de Lamballe for superintendent of the 
 royal household. He even pretended that for two years 
 he had kept Marie Antoinette from carrying out the idea. 
 
 41 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 Marie Therese feared undue haste on the part of her 
 daughter in making the appointment, but the faithful 
 ambassador reassured her, and even imagined that he 
 had succeeded, at least for the time being, in dissuading 
 the queen from this idea. One month later he is more 
 explicit, and is no longer doubtful of the success of his 
 measures. 
 
 " The idea of making Madame de Lamballe super- 
 intendent of the royal household," he writes, "has 
 not gained in the last iew weeks. I trust that things 
 will remain as they are; and, indeed, it looks now as 
 if the Duchesse de Cosse would postpone the date on 
 which she had planned to retire from court life." 
 
 In reply to Mercy's letters of reassurance, Marie 
 Therese, who was more skeptical, could not hope that 
 her daughter would do otherwise than carry out her 
 own ideas. Her only consolation was that the date 
 of Madame de Cosse's retirement from court was not 
 yet fixed. In his heart of hearts Mercy knew that 
 Marie Therese was right; but he would not acknowl- 
 edge his defeat and sought again for new arguments 
 to confirm his words. Now it was Madame de Lam- 
 balle's health which was at stake. This was a last 
 straw for the poor drowning diplomat and he caught 
 at it eagerly. 
 
 " The Princesse de Lamballe is subject to a nervous 
 trouble, which often causes weakness and convulsions. 
 If her condition does not alter she runs one less chance 
 
 42 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 of becoming superintendent, and I notice that the 
 queen is still undecided on this point." 
 
 Mercy's scheming did not succeed, however. Marie 
 Therese did not let herself be deceived by it. Natu- 
 rally strong herself, she attached little importance to 
 Madame de Lamballe's nervous attacks, w^hich she 
 called simply " twitchings," and she hoped that Ma- 
 dame de Cosse vv'ould still continue to hold the position 
 which the princess sought. Now, let us leave the 
 empress and Mercy to exchange their hopes and fears, 
 and for a while turn to the family of the princess, 
 which came to Paris in the early part of June, as we 
 see by the " Gazette de France " : 
 
 " The Prince de Carignan with his sons, Prince 
 Victor and Prince Eugene, who have been travelling 
 under the names of the Marquis de Marene, Comte de 
 Salussole, and Comte de Villefranche, were presented 
 on the same day by Comte de Viry, court ambassador 
 from Sardinia, to the king, the queen, and the royal 
 family. They were introduced by Lord La Live de 
 la Briche, court presenter." 
 
 For some time the princess had wished to establish 
 one of her brothers in France, and, prevailing upon her 
 friendship with the queen, she at last obtained the 
 promise that her desire should be fulfilled. The 
 Countess d'Artois also used her influence in bringing 
 this about. 
 
 Marie Therese, on the other hand, blamed her 
 
 43 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 daughter's "enthusiasm" in favoring the establish- 
 ment of the young Prince de Carignan, fearing that 
 he would strengthen the Piedmont party, which was 
 already sufficiently numerous. 
 
 In the meantime, after some remonstrance which he 
 thought it was his duty to offer on this subject, Mercy 
 did not hesitate to draw the queen's attention to the 
 growing power of this party. Marie Antoinette knew 
 that he was right, but excused herself by saying that 
 " she had not been able to blind herself to her personal 
 feelings," which for the future she promised to resist. 
 
 This appointment was refused by the ministers, but, 
 thanks to the queen, was obtained through the usual 
 complaisance of the king. So Marie Antoinette could 
 announce the joyful news to her friend, and thus prove 
 to her that absence had not altered her feelings. 
 
 Without consulting his ministers the king granted 
 to the princess's brother thirty thousand livres income 
 and the command of a regiment of national infantry. 
 The object of the journey of the Princes de Carignan 
 was merely to present the young colonel and to thank 
 the royal family. 
 
 Meanwhile, the coronation took place at Reims. 
 Notwithstanding our investigation, we have not been 
 able to find any mention of the princess at the fetes 
 given at this time. We presume that she spent the 
 time with her sister-in-law, who shortly after gave 
 birth to the Due de Montpensier, and that, as soon as 
 the duchess had sufficiently recovered, the two prin- 
 
 44 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 cesses retired to Anet, to be with the Due de Pen- 
 thievre. A courier was despatched to the Due de 
 Chartres with news of this birth. 
 
 Now to go back to the argus-eyed empress and the 
 indefatigable Mercy, who was all eyes and ears in 
 order to satisfy the smallest wish of Marie Therese. 
 He well knew how to flatter her by telling her every 
 detail, every smallest action, every peccadillo of the 
 queen's. We left the empress satisfied in the belief 
 that Madame de Cosse no longer thought of retiring 
 from court; but the time had come for Mercy to dis- 
 abuse her and to admit to her that, since her return 
 from Reims, Madame de Cosse had begged the queen 
 to dismiss her, both on account of her own health and 
 that of her son. 
 
 Then, more explicit still, he announces definitely 
 the departure of the Comtesse de Noailles, and in spite 
 of his efforts at diplomacy, the secret appointment of 
 the princess. In order to make the best of his failure, 
 and to avoid the reproaches of his mistress for his lack 
 of foresight, he adds that, in spite of Madame de Lam- 
 balle's youth, " it remains to be seen if in her new 
 position she will preserve the sweet and simple dispo- 
 sition she has shown until now." 
 
 In her letter to the Comte de Rosenberg, Marie An- 
 toinette is less positive. In speaking of the changes in 
 her household caused by the retirement of Madame de 
 Cosse and the Marechale de Mouchy, she hints lightly 
 at the fact of her having asked the king for Madame 
 
 45 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 de Lamballe. ' ' Judge of my delight, ' ' she continues ; 
 " I shall make my intimate friend happy, and I myself 
 shall be even happier than she." She recommends 
 the strictest silence as to the news, so far as the em- 
 press is concerned. " The emperor alone knows it. 
 Beg him not to mention it, for you know what the 
 consequences would be." Taken unawares, Mercy 
 resigned himself to advising the queen ; but he saw 
 that promises had been exchanged. Then he turned 
 to the empress, and persisting in his original state- 
 ments told her that " he finds that the arrangement is 
 of no help to him and may even harm him." Finally, 
 as a climax to his efforts at consolation, he says that 
 Madame de Lamballe has lost much of her favor with 
 the queen, whose friendship vacillates between the 
 Comtesse de Dillon and the Comtesse de Polignac." 
 He admits, however, that the latter is, without doubt, 
 the favorite. Mercy is charming at this point: 
 "These various friendships are causing much trou- 
 ble and inconvenience." All this is very plausi- 
 ble. While the scheming and corresponding about 
 Madame de Lamballe was going on, the latter 
 was travelling in Holland with the Duchesse de 
 Chartres. " A most delightful trip," says Madame 
 de Genlis." 
 
 Fearing that her mother might make trouble for her, 
 Marie Antoinette did not tell her of the changes she 
 was making in her household until the 15th of Sep- 
 tember — that is, three days before the official nomina- 
 
 46 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 tion. In this way all interference was impossible on 
 the part of the empress, who was strongly opposed 
 to her daughter's plans. In this letter, in order to 
 save herself trouble, the queen did not refer to all 
 the difficulties she had had to surmount. These 
 she passed over in silence, as she did the opposition 
 of the ministers and that of the king himself. She 
 wrote merely that the king had given her the super- 
 intendent of her choice. Taking the bull by the 
 horns, she says : 
 
 " I hope that what my dear mother hears of Mad- 
 ame de Lamballe will convince her that there is abso- 
 lutely nothing to fear from the latter's association with 
 my sister-in-law. Her reputation has always been 
 good, and she has nothing of the Italian in her. She, 
 as well as her brother, are settled here for life. I 
 trust they will both feel that France is now their 
 country." 
 
 Marie Therese was always incredulous, but was re- 
 assured about Madame de Lamballe by Monsieur de 
 Breteuil, who ' ' greatly praised the good traits of the 
 princess." Even Mercy himself found that this praise 
 conformed to his own ideas. But he made certain 
 qualifications, saying that it was easy for people to 
 hold favorable opinions about one who so lately had 
 attained a position at court. 
 
 The princess was appointed on September i6th, and 
 took the oath on the i8th. We publish in full the 
 official certificate of her appointment : 
 
 47 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 " Provisions for the Superintendent of the Royal Household^ 
 Madame la Princesse de Lamballe : 
 
 " Louis, by the grace of God, King of France and 
 of Navarre, to all who read this : Greeting. 
 
 " The queen, our very dear consort and companion, 
 having made known to us her wish that our very dear 
 and well-loved cousin, the Princesse de Lamballe, should 
 be appointed to the position and the office of chief ad- 
 viser and superintendent of the royal household, our 
 love for the aforesaid queen and our recognition of the 
 admirable qualities of our cousin have induced us to 
 defer to her wishes. Moved by these causes and by 
 other important considerations, we have given and 
 granted, and by this present letter, signed by our hand, we 
 do give and grant to our very dear and well-loved cousin, 
 Marie Therese Louise de Savoie Carignan, widow of 
 our very dear and well-loved cousin, the Prince de 
 Lamballe, the position and office of chief adviser and 
 superintendent of the royal household, in order that our 
 aforesaid cousin may have, hold, and exercise the same, 
 enjoy and make use of the honors, power, func- 
 tions, authority, privileges, prerogatives, and distinc- 
 tions which appertain thereto, to the same degree and 
 in the same manner as the late Mademoiselle de Cler- 
 mont * enjoyed, or had a right to enjoy them, to- 
 gether with the revenues, conditions, maintenance, 
 allowance, decorations, and other rights, revenues, and 
 emoluments appertaining thereto in the court of the 
 aforesaid queen, be the same herein particularly speci- 
 fied or not, and this to continue during our royal 
 pleasure. 
 
 " We notify our very dear and well-beloved cousin, 
 the Sire Comte de Saulx, chevalier of our orders, and 
 gentleman-in-waiting to the aforesaid queen, the first 
 
 48 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 master-in-ordinary and quartermaster in her hotel, the 
 controllers-general of her house, and all others whom 
 it may concern, that after our aforesaid cousin shall 
 have taken the required oath from the hands of the 
 aforesaid queen, they will cause to be registered this 
 letter, the documents in her mansion and apartments, 
 and the revenues, that our said lady cousin may fully 
 and peacefully enjoy the privileges thereof, and we de- 
 sire the aforesaid persons to obey her in all things and 
 to see to it that all concerned may understand the na- 
 ture of the above appointment. 
 
 * ' We notify, also, the treasurer-general of the house- 
 hold of the aforesaid queen, that the said position, 
 remunerations, maintenance, and other rights shall be 
 paid to her at the next term and in the usual manner, 
 following the orders which shall be despatched in re- 
 gard thereto, on her simple receipts, and that they shall 
 return this present letter, or a copy thereof, duly certi- 
 fied once only; and that all that will have been paid 
 to her on this occasion shall be passed on and allowed 
 in the expenses of these accounts by our beloved and 
 faithful councillors. 
 
 ' ' The keepers of our accounts at Paris are ordered 
 to do this without question, for such is our pleasure, 
 in witness whereof we have caused our seal to be put 
 to these presents. 
 
 " Given at Versailles, i6th day of September, the 
 year of grace 1775, and of our reign the second." 
 
 The love with which, by her sweetness of temper and 
 
 her beauty, the gentle princess had inspired the Bretons 
 
 during her stay at Rennes, was still so great that the 
 
 Estates decided to extend to her their warmest congratu- 
 
 4 49 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 lations upon her appointment as superintendent of the 
 
 royal household. 
 
 This is her reply : 
 
 " Paris, October 8, 1773. 
 
 "Gentlemen: I greatly appreciate the mark of 
 attention you have shown me concerning my appoint- 
 ment to the position of superintendent of the royal 
 household. I beg you to accept my thanks. The 
 province of Brittany would not be doing me justice 
 if it doubted my feelings for it. I shall always de- 
 sire to give it proof of my sentiments. I beg you, 
 gentlemen, to believe the sincere esteem I have for 
 you, 
 
 (Signed) " M. L. F. de Savoye. 
 
 " To the Delegates of the Estates of Brittany." 
 
 50 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 As soon as the matter of superintendent had been set- 
 tled, Mercy, 1 who already in his letter of September 
 1 8th had hinted to the empress as to the difficulties 
 which would result from it, considering the fact that 
 " nothing had been decided or determined on, either 
 as to the amount of the salary or the degree of author- 
 ity she was to exercise over the royal household," 
 again expressed his fears as to the trouble and quarrels 
 which the continuation of this position would entail. 
 His first idea was to have a list of rules drawn up which 
 should exactly define the nature of the position, and 
 determine its rights and privileges. The Abbe de Ver- 
 mond " was careful to make a very simple and clear 
 statement, which, because of the suppression of certain 
 abuses and expenditures, would without doubt be ap- 
 proved by the ministry. The queen was pleased to ac- 
 cept it, and with her own hand added a recommendation. 
 Unfortunately, it lost its good qualities in the light of 
 day. The queen had not the necessary strength to 
 impose her wishes, and the result was that Madame de 
 Lamballe "gently and tearfully" told her that the 
 Due de Penthievre refused to have her accept a posi- 
 tion which seemed " to have forfeited a part of its 
 
 51 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 ancient prerogatives." Furthermore, the princess 
 threatened to resign from the position " if it were not 
 made just as it used to be." 
 
 Our unfortunate ambassador had not yet finished 
 with his trouble. For, although the question of salary 
 had not been raised, the superintendent evidently 
 meant that hers should be the same as that of Made- 
 moiselle de Bourbon. And, in Mercy's opinion, it 
 was far from likely, not to say well-nigh impossible, 
 that the ministry, bent on being economical, would 
 grant her fifty thousand crowns. 
 
 However, in spite of everything, the princess re- 
 ceived the salary which had originally been determined 
 on, and the king, unable to refuse the queen anything, 
 signed the order with no apparent objection.' 
 
 " Order for fifty thousand crowns salary for Madame la 
 Princesse de Lamballe : 
 "To-day, the 20th October, 1775. The king, 
 being at Fontainebleau, having chosen Madame la 
 Princesse de Lamballe to fill the position of super- 
 intendent of the royal household, his Majesty wishes 
 at the same time to make known the esteem and 
 special affection with which the queen honors her, by 
 granting to the aforesaid Princesse de Lamballe the 
 means to support herself in this important position 
 with the dignity suitable to a princess of her rank. 
 To this end his Majesty has declared, and does now 
 declare, wish, and intend that, beginning with the first 
 of last September, Madame la Princesse de Lamballe 
 shall enjoy, as superintendent of the royal household, 
 apart from a salary which is due her from the royal 
 
 52 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 estate, so long as she shall occupy the aforesaid posi- 
 tion, the sum of fifty thousand crowns, to be paid an- 
 nually on her simple receipts without any deductions 
 now or in future; the sum to be set aside for this pur- 
 pose by the keeper of the royal treasury, now and in 
 future, according to the conditions or directions which 
 shall be drawn up concerning it, without, however, 
 the granting of this favor, which is a personal one to 
 the Princesse de Lamballe, to those who may succeed 
 her in the aforesaid position ; and, as a pledge of his 
 will, his Majesty has signed with his own hand the 
 present document, and has ordered it countersigned 
 by his secretary of state and of the fiscal board." 
 
 With this warrant for the position of superintendent, 
 Madame de Lamballe reached the highest point in her 
 career. We are about to see her for a time in the ful- 
 ness of favor. Then, by one of those phenomena so 
 often seen in court life, she will enter on her downward 
 path. Before the favorite friend of the queen there 
 arose suddenly an ambitious rival. In short, Madame 
 de Polignac is about to appear. 
 
 But we have not yet reached that point. Let us 
 leave the princess to enjoy unreservedly the brilliant 
 days she had yet to pass with her august mistress. 
 
 " The queen," says Bachaumont, "has the great- 
 est friendship for the young princess, who is perfectly 
 congenial to her. It is known that her Majesty often 
 makes up parties with her to the Petit Trianon or Petit 
 Vienne, and that she admits to her suite only a few 
 ladies and no man. There she abandons herself to all 
 the innocent follies of her age." 
 
 53 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 This sojourn in the Trianon inspired also various 
 kindly acts on the part of the queen. We are glad to 
 note the following: 
 
 *' I shall induce her to come, and, without any sus- 
 picion on her part that we know all her love affairs, we 
 will soften her woes, lessen her anxiety for her mother, 
 and, if it seem wise, speak to the king of our beautiful 
 marriage project for this dear child. Let her come all 
 alone, and we shall enjoy the pleasure of compensating 
 her later. The happiness of others does some good 
 everywhere, but it seems to me that it is still greater 
 among the surroundings of simple nature, far from the 
 noise in which we are condemned to live." 
 
 It was the fashion of the times to find recreation 
 without the society of men. Apropos of this we 
 might well relate an incident which happened to the 
 Duchesse de Chartres and the Princesse de Lamballe 
 at the home of the Duchesse de Bourbon, where, by a 
 trick which disarmed the anger of the ladies, the Due 
 de Chartres, with inordinate curiosity, succeeded, in 
 company with some friends, in obtruding himself upon 
 their cosy gathering of women. 
 
 As we have already stated, Madame de Lamballe 
 was especially fond of outdoor fetes, small parties at 
 which she could do and say what she pleased. But, 
 for all that, there was no lack of official functions, for 
 the " Gazette de France" mentions her presence at 
 a ball in the hall in which plays were given on the 
 occasion of the marriage of the king's sister. 
 
 54 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 One day she and her royal friend set out to walk to 
 Sceaux, and as nothing escaped the vigilant eye of the 
 " parish," Bachaumont is careful to note on his tab- 
 lets: " Her Majesty finally went to Sceaux with the 
 Princesse de Lamballe, and spent the day there alone 
 with her." Another time the court was to pass a few 
 days at Choisy before the removal from Fontainebleau. 
 In the first place, there happened to the two friends 
 one of those adventures which, although tragic for an 
 instant, had no serious results, and to which, for that 
 matter, the princess will henceforth accustom us. 
 
 ' ' At Choisy, ' ' says Mercy, * ' the queen planned a sail 
 on the river. Up to that point nothing had occurred. 
 But some bargemen, seeing the gondoliers from afar, 
 plunged into the river in token of their joy. Think- 
 ing that the imprudent men were drowning, the queen 
 became ill, and was the indirect cause of the princess's 
 fainting. Both women were promptly attended to, 
 and recovered quickly enough to avoid any serious 
 result." 
 
 A similar adventure happened to the princess when 
 she was at Fontainebleau, sailing on the lake. Metra 
 describes the incident to us : 
 
 " The queen experienced an accident which showed 
 how she was loved. She was sailing in one of her 
 gondolas; a window fell in, hit the queen, and caused 
 a slight bruise on the arm of the Princesse de Lam- 
 balle, who fainted. However, thanks to a bleed- 
 ing, all evil consequences were avoided, and the prin- 
 
 55 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 cess discovered how dear she was to our queen, who 
 showed the most tender solicitude for her. " 
 
 It was about this time that Baculard d'Arnaud dedi- 
 cated to Madame de Lamballe his well-known lines 
 accompanying a copy of the " Epreuves du Senti- 
 ment " : 
 
 In a few faithful touches, 
 
 Unspoiled by flatterer's art, 
 Both sentiment and nature 
 
 I deftly could impart. 
 If my brush, bold to venture, 
 Should try (Apelles' shade !) 
 To paint most perfect beauty, 
 I know the model maid. 
 
 Every proof of friendship which Madame de Lam- 
 balle received from the queen led her, if we are to 
 believe Mercy, to attempt to impose a little too much 
 on her Majesty's good will. Thus, on the separation 
 of the Comte and Comtesse de La Marche, is it not 
 curious to see her greatly occupied in having "the 
 countess given the pension of a princess of the 
 blood," which usually was granted only to widows, 
 and only on the pleasure of the king \ 
 
 By her efforts the princess was on the point of 
 accomplishing the undertaking. The king hesitated, 
 and finally almost consented. But Mercy was there 
 on the watch, and he soon convinced the queen how 
 impolitic it would be for her to yield to such a de- 
 mand. Marie Antoinette, it seems, admitted that she 
 realized the danger, but dared not oppose her friend. 
 
 56 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 In the face of such an admission, Mercy made a posi- 
 tive accusation. 
 
 " I have proved," says he, " that the Princesse de 
 Lamballe costs the state annually more than one hun- 
 dred thousand crowns, including the salary her brother 
 obtains here, and the number of additional expenses 
 caused by the revival of the position of superintendent, 
 and that the object of these wholly useless expenses is 
 merely to satisfy an affection of the queen for one for 
 whom she wishes to procure a brilliant and useful posi- 
 tion. But this same person should be circumspect 
 enough not to take advantage of the kindness of the 
 queen, especially on occasions which in no wise affect 
 this superintendent, who exceeds her duties by solicit- 
 ing favors manifestly contrary to the true service of 
 her sovereign, bringing upon herself the odium of 
 making people believe that her credit is used only to 
 effect superfluous expenditures." 
 
 " All my remonstrances," he continued, " have not 
 prevented the queen from almost yielding several times 
 to the reiterated importunities of the Princesse de 
 Lamballe; and yet I have succeeded in so far as 
 her Majesty is still undecided, and at least there will 
 result the advantage of making her see to what 
 point one may go in abusing her kindness and gen- 
 erosity." 
 
 In a letter to her mother Marie Antoinette appears 
 to be defending herself and says : 
 
 " I could not refuse the petition made for the Com- 
 tesse de La Marche, but I have spoken only once of 
 it, and have made no great point of it. ' ' 
 
 57 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 In spite of his every effort, Mercy was obliged to 
 admit that the Comtesse de La Marche would have 
 the pension; but he tried to prove that the influence 
 of the queen would avail nothing in the matter. 
 
 The intrigues with which Mercy concerned him- 
 self, and which he carefully records, have carried us 
 somewhat away from our subject. Let us now return 
 to it. 
 
 As soon as she was appointed superintendent, the 
 princess took possession of a dwelling reserved for the 
 holder of that position. At first she occupied an apart- 
 ment on the first floor of the south wing, facing the 
 Rue de la Surintendance, consisting of twelve rooms, 
 which later she was to give up to the Comtesse de 
 Provence. Then she occupied the four rooms on the 
 ground floor of the Pavilion d' Orleans, below the 
 apartments of the Due de Chartres, Louis Philippe. 
 At the same time she had an apartment of twelve 
 rooms and a suite above the ground floor on the Rue 
 de la Surintendance. 
 
 It was considered fashionable to live outside the 
 chateau when one's term of service had expired, perhaps 
 because, as Madame Campan tells us, * ' one felt at 
 home only when in the simplest dwelling, ornamented 
 with English gardens." The princess wished to have 
 her private house and bought from her father-in-law 
 the Hotel du Maine, which was situated by the side 
 of that of the Due de Penthievre, and for which she 
 paid seventy thousand livres. 
 
 58 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 It was the beginning of a new year. Was it to be 
 as exciting and as full of pleasure as the preceding ? 
 
 This seemed likely, for they were preparing to dance 
 at court. Long ago Bachaumont tells us : 
 
 " The balls of Versailles are to begin again the 4th 
 of next January. They will be held at Madame de 
 Lamballe's, which fact will make them less formal. 
 The queen will dance and sup with whomsoever she 
 pleases." 
 
 The same writer tells us also that the Due de Char- 
 tres gave a superb ball, at which the queen caused a 
 sensation on account of a plume so high that it had to 
 be considerably lowered before she could step into her 
 carriage. 
 
 Bachaumont, who writes somewhat wrongly and at 
 random the reports in circulation, is incorrect in his 
 premature announcement of the receptions of the Prin- 
 cesse de Lamballe, for we read of Mercy's complain- 
 ing because the superintendent did not give balls to the 
 queen and the royal family. 
 
 " The Princesse de Lamballe," he adds, " gave up 
 this advantage in order to avoid a small matter of eti- 
 quette, in accordance with which the princesses of 
 the blood do not issue written or verbal invitations to 
 their homes. Their method is to announce that they 
 may be seen at a certain time, and their ladies-in-waiting 
 then invite those on their visiting-lists." 
 
 All these annoyances wearied the queen, who already 
 -had enough cause of discontent against the princess. At 
 
 59 
 
MADJME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 first it was her love of ceremony, to the observation of 
 which she strictly adhered. This caused Mercy to say : 
 
 " If the Princesse de Lamballe does not calculate 
 more exactly in future, it is probable that the favor 
 she enjoys, which seems to be somewhat diminishing, 
 will die away in the long run." 
 
 In fact, her blindness was such that, instead of les- 
 sening the number of her claims, she increased them, 
 and she was so eager and so haughty in defending 
 these, that a part of the royal household rebelled against 
 her despotism. Then Marie Antoinette, wearied by 
 all the complaints and the interminable dissensions 
 which she was called on to settle, and which interfered 
 with the duties of the superintendent, ended, according 
 to the predictions of the ambassador of the empress, by 
 becoming out of patience with her friend, and almost 
 regretted having revived the position of superintendent; 
 the more so, as the jealousy of the two favorites was a 
 constant source of private quarrels, which caused the 
 princess and Madame de Polignac to offer to the 
 queen petty slights under cover of the tenderest possible 
 feeling. 
 
 In spite of all this trouble, was not Mercy somewhat 
 hard on the princess when he wrote that she had lost 
 much of the favor to which, according to him, her abil- 
 ities gave her no claim .'' 
 
 ' ' I think that she will always be treated well by the 
 queen, but there is no longer any intimacy between 
 
 60 
 
MADAME BE LAMBALLE 
 
 them, and her Majesty realizes that the superintendent 
 has not sufficient depth to share her thoughts." 
 
 At first Mercy thought Madame de Lamballe more 
 dangerous than Madame de Polignac; but afterwards 
 he hesitated, and finally followed the wisest course — 
 namely, he pitted against each other the two influences, 
 thus maintaining equilibrium. Afterwards our clever 
 diplomat returns to the question of the princess, find- 
 ing the influence of Madame de Polignac not to be 
 trusted. In this he was not deceived, for all the mem- 
 bers of the latter family pushed themselves forward, one 
 by one, and strove to find positions for one another, as 
 is shown by the " Gazette de France " : 
 
 " June 23d, Comte Jules de Polignac, camp master 
 and lieutenant of the royal guards, has had the honor 
 to be presented to the king by the Due de Fleury, first 
 gentleman-in-waiting of the chamber, and to acknowl- 
 edge his thanks to his Majesty for the position of first 
 equerry to the queen on the reversion of the office of 
 the Comte de Tesse, of which the king wished greatly 
 to give him the advantage. 
 
 " The following day Comte Jules de Polignac had 
 the honor of taking from the hands of the queen the 
 oath of first equerry." 
 
 One day in the midst of his confidence in the wan- 
 ing of the favor of Madame de Lamballe, Mercy was 
 greatly surprised to see how much the queen was 
 affected on hearing that the former was ill at Plom- 
 
 bieres. 
 
 61 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 "This accident," said he, "awakened all the 
 queen's affection for her superintendent." He in- 
 genuously admits that he had not supposed their affec- 
 tion was so deep. He seems to retrace his steps, but 
 not very far, for he at once begins to prognosticate 
 ' ' the waning of the influence of the Princesse de Lam- 
 balle, and although she has her disadvantages," he 
 fears still more " Madame de Polignac, who is more 
 dangerous on account of her appearance and her 
 views." 
 
 In her reply to her impetuous ambassador, Marie 
 Therese is of the opinion that the princess deserves 
 " more attention because of the resources she finds in 
 the Piedmontese party." 
 
 From afar the empress is a better judge of the situ- 
 ation. For the rest, Bachaumont tells us that Mercy 
 has in mind many occupations which may well influ- 
 ence his judgment, among them " his connection with 
 Mademoiselle Rosalie of the opera, for whom he has 
 conceived a violent passion. Although she is ugly, 
 she is rather lively, and gifted with a certain amount 
 of talent, and he permits her henceforth to call her- 
 self the Baroness de , with a barony of from 
 
 twenty thousand to twenty-five thousand income." 
 
 At this time Madame de Lamballe was in very poor 
 health, which fact caused her " frequently to be absent 
 from court." Her nerves were extremely irritable, 
 and made her disposition uneven and often disagreeable. 
 Moreover, her constant fainting spells continued, and 
 
 62 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 were produced by the slightest cause. Every year the 
 poor woman was obliged to go to watering-places for 
 six weeks or two months in order to recuperate. 
 Mercy announces her departure in May for Plombieres 
 or Vichy, but the journey did not actually take place 
 until June 7th, when the Duchesse de Chartres was 
 travelling in Italy under the name of the Comtesse de 
 Joinville. It was during this sojourn at Plombieres 
 that the princess was attacked with the measles, where- 
 upon the queen ' ' became so extremely anxious and 
 alarmed " that Mercy's eyes were opened. 
 
 In his " Memoirs," Lauzun confirms the anxiety 
 of the queen at this time. Entrusted with a large 
 package of letters addressed to the princess, he joined 
 her at Plombieres, where he found her sufficiently re- 
 covered to reply to the voluminous letters from her 
 sovereign. 
 
 The stay of the princess at Plombieres lasted until 
 the end of August, according to the " Gazette de 
 France," from which we borrow the following inter- 
 esting details : 
 
 ' ' They write from Nancy that the Princesse de 
 Lamballe, who left for Plombieres the 7th of last 
 June, appeared in this city the 26th of August on her 
 return from the watering-place. A detachment of the 
 Company of La Rochefoucault Dragoons met her. 
 As she entered the town the royal troops formed a 
 double line from the Porte Saint Nicolas to the gov- 
 ernment buildings, where she stepped from her car- 
 riage. The princess received the compliments of Par- 
 
 63 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 liament, of the Chamber of Deputies, of the Primatical 
 Chapter of the University, and of the city troops. 
 After dinner she walked through a part of the town, 
 and about six o'clock left to spend the night at Toul. 
 She expects to reach Versailles the 28th." 
 
 On the 13th, the same paper tells us that in passing 
 through a hamlet near Saint Dizier, the chaplain of 
 Prince Charles de Lorraine paid his respects to the 
 princess by presenting her with a copy of " L'Histoire 
 de Lorraine," which she deigned to accept with 
 thanks. 
 
 After an absence of almost three months, Madame 
 de Lamballe expected to find some change at court. 
 So she was not greatly surprised at the progress of the 
 favor won by Madame de Polignac. The husband of 
 this latter lady had just obtained the reversion of Comte 
 de Tesse, a signal favor to which Mercy had been op- 
 posed. Full of anger at the failure of his opposition, 
 he was not afraid to draw a far from flattering picture 
 of Monsieur de Polignac, finding that his one grade of 
 colonel, his twenty-eight years, and his lack of wit 
 were not sufficient claims for the position. The 
 more so as, according to custom, it was usual for the 
 incumbent to present his reversioner, a formality which 
 in the present case had been wholly neglected. The 
 Noailles ' were on the verge of becoming dazzled, for 
 Monsieur de Tesse was the son-in-law of the marshal. 
 
 As always, the remonstrances of the ambassador 
 were without effect. The queen had gone too far to 
 
 64 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 draw back. The real object of her thoughts was else- 
 where. What, in short, would Madame de Lamballe 
 say ? Resolved not to dispense with her entirely, 
 Marie Antoinette received, without great difficulty, 
 and even supported, the demand of this princess in 
 favor of the Due de Chartres for the government of 
 Poitou, left vacant by the death of the Prince de Bour- 
 bon-Conti.' "This request," adds Mercy, "was 
 made by letter, the Princesse de Lamballe still being 
 at Plombieres. " The constant care of the queen to 
 divide the favors equally might, up to a certain point, 
 make one suppose that there was at least a temporary 
 truce between the two favorites. But such was not 
 the case, for the jealousy of Madame de Lamballe 
 showed itself immediately on her return. Mercy, who 
 really took no side in the matter, profited by the occa- 
 sion to malign Madame de Polignac, and describes her 
 as " a young woman who has no position at court, a 
 rather dubious reputation, and not much sense." 
 Finally, reviewing the expense necessitated by these 
 two ladies, he says that Madame de Polignac costs less 
 than the other. 
 
 If the princess was jealous, the Comtesse de Polignac 
 strove to " destroy her rival," and to bring this about 
 by little respectful and tender complaints, demonstra- 
 tions of anxiety and grief, and by dwelling on the petty 
 acts of ridicule attributed to Madame de Lamballe. 
 She almost succeeded in her attempts, and the queen 
 was on the point of becoming angry with the super- 
 5 65 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 intendent, as the result of a " slightly annoying inci- 
 dent." However, during the sojourn at Fontainebleau, 
 the queen preferred the soirees of the Princesse de 
 Lamballe to all other amusement, and Mercy com- 
 plains bitterly of this because of the intriguers who 
 curried favor there and the card-playing for which the 
 queen seemed to have too great a predilection. 
 
 In the month of December the balls began again, 
 but they were less frequent. However, the general 
 complaint was about the small number of hospitable 
 houses. If we believe our guide, who constantly fills 
 in gaps, the real reason for the lack of eagerness with 
 which the court attended these receptions was that 
 " the superintendent, because of her punctiliousness, 
 and still more because of her slight knowledge of the 
 world, attracts few people to her." It seems even, 
 according to Mercy, that, on account of improvements 
 which were being made in her apartments, Madame de 
 Lamballe thought it best not to receive; but, on very 
 just representations made to the queen, the latter desired 
 her to " give suppers on the few days on which there 
 were balls." 
 
 The conclusion drawn by Mercy from all these 
 private troubles is not to the advantage of the princess, 
 who, according to him, " will end by becoming un- 
 necessary, perhaps even wearisome, to the queen. ' ' 
 
 66 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 In order to follow each step of the private life of the 
 court, let us turn from Mercy for a moment, leaving 
 him to engage at will in his investigations, which we 
 will take up later, and let us occupy ourselves with 
 the events of the year 1777. 
 
 In January, the Due and the Duchesse des Deux 
 Fonts arrived in Paris under the name of the Comte 
 and Comtesse de Sponheim. They were received 
 without ceremony, although the duchess, born Prin- 
 cesse de Saxe, was first cousin to the king. They went 
 to the apartments of the princes and princesses, after 
 having informed them by note of their arrival. Fol- 
 lowing are the two letters written by their chamber- 
 lains, regarding a proposed visit to Madame de Lam- 
 balle: 
 
 " Madame la Comtesse de Sponheim arrived, with 
 Madame la Comtesse d'Esbach, at the Hotel d'Yorck, 
 Rue Jacob, and had the honor of seeing Madame de 
 Lascaze, and asking her what day she might pay her 
 respects to Madame la Princesse de Lamballe. 
 
 " Monsieur le Comte de Sponheim arrived, as well 
 as the Baron de Geiting, Chamberlain of Monsieur le 
 Due des Deux Fonts, begged the honor of seeing 
 Madame la Marquise de Lascaze, and asked her to be 
 
 67 
 
MJDJME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 good enough to set a day when he could be presented 
 to Madame la Princesse de Lamballe." 
 
 On the 30th of January, the Due de Chartres gave 
 a magnificent fete, at which the queen was present, 
 and whence she could watch the masked ball of the 
 Opera. This prince was so pleased with the attention 
 of the queen that the following day the "Journal de 
 Paris" inserted this notice: 
 
 "At twelve o'clock last night, his highness Mon- 
 seigneur le Due de Chartres gave a ball at the Palais 
 Royal to which the queen and the royal family were 
 invited." 
 
 A few days later, Bachaumont tells us the queen took 
 supper with the superintendent, and he describes to 
 us the ennui she felt there : 
 
 " Last Thursday, the queen took supper with the 
 Princesse de Lamballe, where there were present twelve 
 ladies, but not a single man. Apparently this greatly 
 wearied her Majesty, who hastened to don her ball 
 gown (that of a sultana), and set out for the Palais 
 Royal." 
 
 Thus the queen, no doubt somewhat disillusioned, 
 ceased to attend the fetes of her intimate friend, who 
 no longer had the faculty of entertaining her. It is 
 true, according to Mercy, that the princess took ad- 
 vantage of every opportunity to obtain from Marie 
 Antoinette some fresh mark of favor, -and this, in the 
 
 68 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 long run, wearied the queen, and not only dispelled her 
 illusions, but spoiled her pleasure as well. 
 
 " The princess," he writes, " having given herself 
 needless troubles and anxiety, is beginning to look 
 more calmly at the advantage gained by her rival. 
 This superintendent tries to gain compensation by 
 obtaining for herself and her relatives small favors 
 which are often a strain on the kindness and the pro- 
 tection of the queen." 
 
 We next see the princess, in company with her 
 Majesty, taking part in the religious ceremonies of 
 Easter. But the principal event of that time, which 
 has to do more especially with Marie Antoinette, was 
 the arrival of her brother, Joseph II.,' in Paris, under 
 the name of the Comte de Falkenstein. Marie 
 Antoinette wished this prince to be received with all 
 possible honor. So in order to have an excuse to go 
 to meet Joseph II. she induced the king to arrange 
 a hunting party for the i8th of April, in the Forest 
 of Bondi. " The queen," says Bachaumont, " drove 
 through Paris with fourteen carriages. ' ' Unfortunately, 
 the weather was frightful. The rain and the wind were 
 incessant, and, as the carriages were open, ' ' all the 
 hats, in the style of Henry IV., and the plumes were 
 soaked, blown topsy-turvy, and completely ruined." 
 " This confusion," he continues, " made the queen 
 laugh, and greatly amused her." 
 
 Marie Antoinette's brother arrived on Friday, the 
 1 8th of April, and did not leave until the 2ist of May. 
 
 69 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 Wishing to preserve the strictest incognito, Joseph IL 
 had refused to stay in the Chateau. " Be kind enough," 
 he wrote Mercy a few days previous to his departure 
 from Vienna, " to secure a couple of rooms for me in 
 Versailles. ' ' 
 
 Realizing the interest attached to the prince's trip 
 to France, Mercy was careful to keep a detailed account 
 of the engagements, visits, and plans made by Joseph, 
 of the general impression produced by him, and of the 
 probable results. All these points are contained in his 
 letter to Marie Therese, dated June i 5th. 
 
 On the 22d of April, it seems, the prince dined at 
 the Trianon. He had a long talk with the queen, and 
 did not hide from her the fact that Madame de Lam- 
 balle had greatly displeased him. " The queen admitted 
 that, through her infatuation, she had been deceived in 
 her favorite, and that she was beginning to repent 
 having placed her in such a position." 
 
 The confidant of Marie Therese maintained that 
 Joseph II. received no one in Paris, and that people 
 came to him " all day long " to beg an interview and ask 
 for an audience. More fortunate than he, or rather dis- 
 posed to hide nothing, we can easily rectify his account, 
 for the National Archives possess a few documents rela- 
 tive to the journey of Joseph II. , from which we quote 
 the following passages, appertaining to our subject : 
 
 " Monday, 12th of May, the Princesse de Conti, 
 Madame de Lamballe, and the Due de Penthievre 
 called on His Majesty. 
 
 70 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 " The Due de Chartres went there before leaving 
 for Holland." 
 
 So, while Mercy says simply in the aforesaid letter: 
 " On the afternoon of May 22d the emperor went to 
 see the house of the Due de Penthievre at Sceaux; 
 he retired early," we find some new documents which 
 show that the reception of the Due de Penthievre had 
 not the essentially simple character which Mercy would 
 have liked to attribute to it. 
 
 ' ' The Comte de Falkenstein went to Sceaux Thurs- 
 day, the 22d of May, and walked through the gardens. 
 
 "Madame la Duchesse de Chartres, Madame la 
 Princesse de Conti, and Madame de Lamballe were at 
 Sceaux, but, instead of walking, they played the game 
 of eavagnole. " 
 
 Fortaire tells us, in regard to this visit, that "Joseph 
 II. arrived after dinner, because he had not accepted 
 an invitation to dine." The afternoon was spent by 
 all in " visiting and sight-seeing." 
 
 The emperor took leave of his sister the 30th of 
 May. Both were deeply affected. The queen even 
 had a nervous attack, and spent the following day at 
 the Petit-Trianon with a small suite, consisting only 
 of Madame de Lamballe, the Comtesse de Polignac, 
 and one lady from the palace. 
 
 As she had done the previous year, the princess 
 went to Plombieres, and did" not return before the end 
 of August. The queen received her with great demon- 
 
 71 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 stration of kindness, which, however, did not deceive 
 Mercy, who saw in it only a "matter of courtesy." 
 During her sojourn at the court at Fontainebleau, 
 Madame de Lamballe accompanied the queen " regu- 
 larly " to the theatre. " On rare occasions " she still 
 received Marie Antoinette, " who almost always spent 
 the day with Madame de Polignac " in the fortress near 
 the apartments of the queen. 
 
 Gambling was indulged in to excess, " from fear of 
 growing bored," and the queen consecrated a part 
 of the night of November 3d to it in the apartments of 
 the princess. 
 
 Mercy, who constantly made entries in his diary in 
 regard to the queen, and who, when necessary, incited 
 the gossip of people more or less informed, was able 
 to appreciate the exact degree of whatever favor or dis- 
 favor was shown to Madame de Lamballe ; while the 
 public, posted as to court affairs only by the official 
 bulletins, continued to bow before her high position, 
 and daily addressed lines or dedicated some new work 
 to her. One day it was the Chevalier de Prunay, 
 captain of the Grenadiers, who sought her protection 
 for the "Grammaire des Dames," a work designed, in 
 the words of the author, "to render easy for young 
 persons the knowledge of the principles of the French 
 language," etc.; later, it was Monsieur de Fabre, "a 
 young poet, who has as yet published nothing," says 
 Metra, " but who has just made his debut on Parnassus 
 by an erotic poem, in four stanzas, entitled: 'Les 
 
 72 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 Quatre Heures de la Toilette des Dames ' " — " a mag- 
 nificent work," he continues, " embellished with every 
 ornament of pen and typography." They gambled 
 three times a week in the queen's apartments, and 
 " occasionally at the Princesse de Lamballe's," writes 
 Mercy, Seeming always to take pleasure in telling 
 the empress of the petty scenes of jealousy on the 
 part of the princess, he continues : 
 
 * ' The queen often feels some embarrassment in 
 maintaining an appearance of harmony between the 
 Princesse de Lamballe and the Comtesse de Polignac, 
 As the favor of the latter increases, that of the former 
 decreases, so that, finally, she is becoming distasteful 
 and wearisome to the queen. However, as it is best 
 not to show this change of feeling too openly, the 
 queen submits to being bored, and now and then spends 
 with the Princesse de Lamballe hours which are very 
 painful to her Majesty." 
 
 Let us not leave the month of January without 
 referring to an incident in which Paris and the entire 
 court was interested. 
 
 " The queen," says Metra, " with the Princesse de 
 Lamballe and Madame, went incognito to the late ball 
 at the Opera in Paris, dressed like an Amazon. Eight 
 other ladies were in dominoes. Her Majesty having 
 noticed a very lively mask, accosted it, and said : 
 ' Who are you, handsome mask ? ' ' Your subject, 
 beautiful Amazon,' replied the latter, removing his 
 mask. It was the Comte d'Artois," who had changed 
 his disguise." 
 
 73 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 The queen was eager for amusement, for Mercy 
 wrote that some friends, whose names, however, he 
 could not give, advised the princess to give balls, 
 and not to leave to the other ladies of the court this 
 means of pleasing the queen. This was one of the 
 duties of the superintendent, but Madame de Lam- 
 balle did nothing about it, on account of the trouble, 
 and especially because of the expense it would entail. 
 This is not the first time Mercy accuses her of avarice, 
 but he attributes the fact of her disgrace to other causes, 
 such as " the wearisome importunities caused by her 
 jealousy." 
 
 Not content with this severe judgment, he becomes, 
 in our opinion, still more unjust when he ventures to 
 maintain that it was especially because the queen per- 
 ceived the lack of affection her favorite had for her. 
 This is a false imputation, which elsewhere he strives 
 to palliate by saying : ' ' The natural goodness of the 
 queen causes her still to hide somewhat her lack of 
 affection ; but her Majesty cannot prevent herself 
 from secretly being thoroughly disgusted with the 
 superintendent, and from regretting having put her in 
 a position for which she is so little fitted." 
 
 It could no longer be doubted that Madame de Poli- 
 gnac was the favorite. If Mercy rejoices at this, he 
 lets Marie Therese puzzle over it. She confides to 
 Mercy her anxiety as to the great intimacy with 
 Madame de Polignac, who she knows is pledged to 
 the Choiseul party. 
 
 74 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 The first news of the queen's dehcate condition 
 occupied Mercy sufficiently to permit him to lay aside 
 for a time his tirades against the superintendent; but 
 he was not yet wholly disarmed, and we find him 
 writing : 
 
 ' ' The Princesse de Lamballe continues to lose more 
 and more of the queen's favor, and it is fortunate that 
 her Majesty's eyes are finally opened as to her super- 
 intendent, who joins to a lack of wit several more 
 serious faults, which until now the queen has not 
 suspected." 
 
 Disheartened by what she saw, and by all the plots 
 against her, the princess made up her mind to go away. 
 In company with the Duchesse de Chartres, she went 
 to Holland, a trip which Madame de Genlis, usually 
 accurate, places in 1775. Very naturally, Mercy does 
 not approve of this departure. He even criticises it, and 
 goes so far as to blame the conduct of the unfortunate 
 princess, which he qualifies as "unbecoming," consid- 
 ering the condition of the queen. He pretends to be 
 sfcandalized by a resolution which he claims is the 
 result of her " disguised ill-humor." But as for us, 
 who have not the same reasons for hatred as Mercy, 
 we frankly declare that, in our eyes, Madame de Lam- 
 balle, unable to face the storm, showed herself, under 
 the circumstances, wise and tactful. Only absence 
 for a certain length of time could disarm her numerous 
 enemies and bring back the calm which her health 
 required. 
 
 75 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 The rumor of an unexpected conflict between the 
 superintendent and the Abbe de Vermond had, in the 
 meanwhile, gained enough strength to reach the ears 
 of the empress, who begged Mercy to keep her in- 
 formed as to this new incident. The ambassador 
 hastened to reply that the rumor, which one might 
 have called " a report as absurd as false," had, indeed, 
 been accredited; but that, in reality, there was no 
 truth in it, since the queen still received her reader, 
 and continued to show him as much confidence as 
 deference; and that, in short, only the Abbe's care of 
 " private affairs" kept him away from court for the 
 time being. He added that the " so-called quarrel" 
 was an " absurd report," which greatly amused the 
 queen when she heard of it. However, he was careful 
 not to omit his usual little note, full of spite about the 
 princess, who " is only tolerated, and almost always with 
 weariness." 
 
 Mercy, who until now has accustomed us to the 
 smallest details, had, no doubt, important reasons this 
 time for hiding a part of the truth from Marie Therese ; 
 but we who, not being influenced by any special motives, 
 have not the same scruples, shall simply turn to Metra, 
 sufficiently well informed on general subjects. Thanks 
 to him, we know that the princess in some way offered 
 to give up her position and hand in her resignation to 
 the queen if the Abbe de Vermond did not go away; and 
 that this step on the part of Madame de Lamballe had 
 for a pretext the lack of deference to the established 
 
 76 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 customs on the part of the queen's reader, who allowed 
 himself to give up some memoirs before they had passed 
 through the hands of the superintendent. That which, 
 after all, might well have vexed Mercy was the necessity 
 of admitting that Madame de Lamballe was justified by 
 precedent, and that she would not see her rights trampled 
 on. At the close of August, Madame de Polignac re- 
 turned to her family and was taken ill there. Madame 
 de Lamballe endeavored to take advantage of this to 
 return to the good graces of the queen. It seems even, 
 according to the statement of Mercy, that, with her 
 ** usual lack of tact," she merely bored the queen by 
 asking impossible favors of her, such as " a part of the 
 estate of Lorraine," with an " annual income of sixty 
 thousand livres." Mercy found that it would be very 
 embarrassing for Marie Antoinette to consent, and suc- 
 ceeded in completely turning her from any such attempt. 
 
 Nowhere else have we found the confirmation of this 
 incident, and we should be inclined to believe that the 
 untimely request of the princess was due to the inven- 
 tive imagination of the grave diplomat, if ,we did not 
 know that at another time Madame de Lamballe sent 
 a petition to the king, asking the concession of the 
 savannas of Leogane at Saint Domingo. 
 
 Two great misfortunes happened, one after another, 
 to Madame de Lamballe. 
 
 To the loss of her mother, who had succumbed to 
 a long illness, was added that of her father, who had 
 been inconsolable. 
 
 77 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 We quote from the " Gazette de France " : 
 
 " Turin, September 2d. 
 
 "Tuesday, the 31st of last month, Princesse Chris- 
 tine Henriette de Hesse Rheinfels, wife of Louis Victor 
 Amedee de Savoie, Prince de Carignan, died in this 
 city, after a lingering and painful illness. She was born 
 the 24th of November, 17 17." 
 
 At this terrible affliction, Madame de Lamballe, in 
 her grief, had, at least, the consolation of receiving from 
 her friend the following tender letters, which the king 
 himself had signed with his own hand : 
 
 '* I have learned, with deep grief, my dear Lamballe, 
 of the death of your mother. The king has come in, and 
 wishes to add a few words: — One word, just one, 
 madame and dear cousin, but it is from the depths 
 of my heart. You know how much we love you. May 
 God be with you." 
 
 Not content with this mark of friendship to the prin- 
 cess, the king and the queen ordered the Court to wear 
 
 mourning for eleven days. 
 
 " Turin, December 9th. 
 " His Serene Highness, Prince Victor de Carignan, 
 died in this city last Sunday (December 6th), in the 
 fifty-seventh year of his age." 
 
 The court again wore mourning for eleven days, 
 Mercy, who is not lenient to the princess, writes, 
 however, that, in spite of the news, received just as the 
 queen was about to be confined, the superintendent did 
 her duty, and " even fulfilled it promptly." 
 
 78 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 He adds that Madame de Lamballe returned shortly 
 after to Paris, to her father-in-law, where she remained 
 " in retirement during the first days of her mourning." 
 At the Hotel de Toulouse she received the visit of the 
 king, who noted the fact in his diary: 
 
 *' December 22, '78, visited Madame de Lamballe 
 on the death of her father. ' ' 
 
 This is short and uninteresting, but, fortunately, we 
 have the "Gazette de France," which gives us fuller 
 details. 
 
 " On the 22d, after the mass of the king, his 
 Majesty went to call on the Princesse de Lamballe, 
 upon the death of her father, the Prince de Carignan. 
 The Due d' Orleans, the Due de Chartres, the Du- 
 chesse de Chartres, the Prince de Conde, the Due de 
 Bourbon, the Duchesse de Bourbon, the Prince 
 de Conti, the Princesse de Conti, Mademoiselle de 
 Conde, and the Due de Penthievre were in the apart- 
 ments of the princess and received his Majesty in the 
 usual manner. Monsieur, Madame, Monseigneur le 
 Comte d'Artois, Madame Elisabeth de France, Mad- 
 ame Adelaide, Madame Victoire, and Madame Sophie 
 de France came in later, and were received in the same 
 way by the princes and princesses of the blood. 
 
 " The same day, the Princesse de Lamballe returned 
 to pay her respects to the king and the royal family." 
 
 During the confinement of the queen, verses of 
 every description poured in constantly. We will cite 
 only that of a poetic lemonade-maker : 
 
 79 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 To THE Queen on Her Confinement, 1778. 
 
 Without consulting the Sibyl, 
 
 Of merest chance a thing, 
 
 To the mother of our King, 
 I told without much skill 
 
 That a prince she was to see ; 
 
 And so it chanced to be. 
 Now, happy at seeing aright 
 The same for you in sight, 
 
 A son I dare predict. 
 And before the dawn, the light ; 
 
 But if my mind is tricked, 
 
 And if I do mistake, 
 The dawn I shall see break 
 Before the morning bright. 
 
 This muse was right in supposing that she was not 
 infallible; for, December 20th, the queen gave birth to a 
 princess, who was christened Marie Therese Charlotte.' 
 
 By January, the queen had recovered, and on the 8th 
 of February the royal family set out with great pomp 
 for Notre Dame. Marie Antoinette was attacked with 
 measles, the end of March. Louis XVI., always so 
 exact, gives us the date of the appearance of the 
 disease. 
 
 " March 31, '79, the queen has measles." 
 
 If we believe Bachaumont, she caught it from Ma- 
 dame de Polignac. What is certam is that the latter 
 was also confined to her bed, for we find the queen, 
 during her illness, greatly pained by the absence of the 
 countess. 
 
 80 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 Mercy wrote that Marie Antoinette " bore with great 
 displeasure the absence of one of whom she was so 
 especially fond." We must state that, in spite of the 
 absence of her favorite, the queen was no less well 
 cared for by Madame, the Comte d'Artois, and the 
 Princesse de Lamballe. 
 
 Separated from her husband, for whom they feared 
 contagion, Marie Antoinette had the society of four 
 of her intimate friends, the Due de Coigny, the Due 
 de Guines, the Comte Esterhazy, and the Baron de 
 Besenval,* who took their places by her side as if they 
 were nurses. 
 
 As soon as she recovered, she wished to see her 
 favorite, and went to Paris, Rue de Bourbon, to dine 
 alone with the Comtesse de Polignac. 
 
 Entirely well again, the queen, whose illness, accord- 
 ing to Mercy, had prevented her from attending to her 
 religious duties, received communion. Madame de 
 Lamballe held the napkin for her. 
 
 A short time after this, Marie Antoinette was alone. 
 Madame de Polignac had gone for her health to Spa, 
 where she was to remain two months. Madame de 
 Lamballe was at Bourbon. 
 
 But the separation had not the same results for the 
 two favorites. Mercy wrote, regarding the absence of 
 the princess, that " her favor has not ceased to decline, 
 more and more, and that now she is much more 
 tolerated than desired by the queen;" while he soon" 
 announced the return of the countess by saying that 
 6 8i 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 he * ' has brought back to the queen the resources of 
 society, the absence of which had been greatly noticed 
 by her." 
 
 As we know that he always kept the most offensive 
 epithets for the princess, who, no doubt, showed him 
 some disdain, we are not surprised that, when Madame 
 de Lamballe returned from Bourbonne les Bains, he 
 wrote : 
 
 ' * The Princesse de Lamballe, who has spent almost 
 three months at the baths, has returned and must notice 
 more than ever the total loss of her favor with the 
 queen. The superintendent has become for her 
 Majesty an object of weariness and displeasure and 
 is now even distasteful to her. The result is that the 
 Princesse de Lamballe complains to her intimate men 
 and women friends, who repeat her words in public. 
 So little interest, however, is taken in the superintend- 
 ent that no one troubles about it or comments on the 
 changed attitude of the queen towards her former 
 favorite. ' ' 
 
 82 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 " In the Year of Adoption, 1778, on the 5th day 
 of the second month," we read in a manuscript of the 
 times, ' ' the Loge de la Candeur was regularly convoked 
 and fraternally assembled. The business was opened 
 in the Orient by the Venerable Brother ' Marquis de 
 Saisseval, accompanied by the Comtesse de Brienne, 
 Grand Mistress ; in the Occident, by the Brother Mar- 
 quis d'Arcambal, and the Sister Marquise d'Havrin- 
 court, Grand Inspectress." 
 
 This 5th of February, 1778, the lodge presented 
 unusual animation. All the Brothers and Sisters were 
 there. They wished to be present at the visit of the 
 Due and the Duchesse de Chartres, the Duchesse de 
 Bourbon, and the Princesse de Lamballe, who had 
 promised to honor the meeting by their presence and 
 to participate in the work of the Assembly. The 
 Marquis de Lusignem, the Comtes de Bethisy and de 
 Salles were charged by the Venerable to give their hands 
 to the illustrious guests and to conduct them to the 
 reception room. On their arrival a deputation of nine 
 Brothers paid their respects, and introduced the visitors 
 to the lodge, in the midst of general acclamation. 
 Immediately after, the speeches began. First came 
 
 83 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 that of the Brother Orator, the Comte de Gouy, 
 addressed to the Grand Master, to the Grand Sister 
 Mistress, and to their Highnesses the other Sisters. 
 
 After him the secretary, Tissot, and the Comte de 
 Sesmaisons spoice in turn. 
 
 "The business," says the manuscript, "was sus- 
 pended to celebrate the Banquet," at which they blew 
 out several lamps of obligation {souffle plusieurs lampes 
 d' obligation): the first toast in honor of Louis XVI., 
 the second in honor of the Grand Master and Grand 
 Mistress of the Loges d' Adoption; finally, the fifth, 
 in honor of the Duchesse de Chartres and of the Prin- 
 cesse de Lamballe. The orchestra of the lodge was 
 then heard, and each amateur recited verses or sang 
 songs. 
 
 ' ' The Marquis de Caumartin sang stanzas composed 
 by the Brother Comte de Saisseval. This proof of 
 the Masonic zeal of these two Brothers was received 
 with well-deserved applause: 
 
 SONG. 
 
 To the air of ' The Vaudeville Epicure.' 
 
 Our eyes alone persuade the fair ; 
 
 Beauty brings loves galore ; 
 But they are faithless, so beware. 
 
 Come, brothers, swear that never more 
 We shall thus fickle be ; 
 
 To virtue, as to every grace, 
 We'll pledge our fealty. 
 84 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 Of wisdom sought I then to speak, 
 
 In sweetest terms to trace ; 
 And likewise simply did I speak 
 
 Of intellect and grace. 
 They very much admired 
 
 These blessings doubly dear ; 
 But I am still. Copy, adieu ! 
 
 The model fair is here. 
 
 "The Sister Comtesse Dessalles sang, with much 
 grace, the following stanzas of the Brother Comte de 
 Sesmaisons, which were received with applause: 
 
 SONG. 
 To the tune of ' Que ne suis-je la Fougire ? ' 
 
 Oh, goddesses kind. 
 
 To whom all joys are due, 
 Whose hearts our glad voices 
 
 Must touch through and through, 
 We know the great lack 
 
 Of our talents so weak ; 
 But when one has feeling. 
 
 Must one always speak ? 
 
 ; In vain would we paint 
 
 Every virtue and charm ; 
 The mind feels constraint. 
 
 The heart knows alarm. 
 It offers you homage, 
 
 And asks of you ruth. 
 And by simple language 
 
 It honors the truth. 
 
 Dear Sisters, whose presence 
 
 Enhances our land, 
 Accept as reward. 
 
 Our joy, now at hand. 
 85 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 Let us strengthen the bond 
 
 That binds us to-day, 
 And ever to love 
 
 Let all things give way. 
 
 It is thus that these goddesses 
 
 Lay aside royalty ; 
 Asking through love alone, 
 
 Purest equality. 
 Some mortals dare tell 
 
 Of the love each one feels ; 
 Comprehension of this 
 
 Inspiration reveals. 
 
 * ' The Brother and the Sister Comtesse de Bethisy 
 then sang couplets in dialogue, upon the reception of 
 the Sister the Comtesse de Roche Chouart, composed 
 by the Brother de la Chevalerie. 
 
 " The eiffbrts of these brothers and sisters were 
 heartily applauded. 
 
 " Dialogue between a M: — : and a Proselyte." 
 
 SONG. 
 To the air of ' Viens, Aurare,je iHmplore.' 
 THE M: — : 
 Come, Julie ! 
 Oh, agree. 
 Come and join our union. 
 Let us show 
 What you must know : 
 The rites of our communion. 
 
 JULIE. 
 No ; the fear 
 I cannot bear 
 Fills my soul with awe ; 
 86 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 Such torture 
 To endure 
 Makes me dread your law. 
 
 THE M: — : 
 
 Our probation 
 
 Of short duration 
 Need not make you fear ; 
 
 Courage 
 
 Is the gage 
 We ought all to bear. 
 
 JULIE. 
 
 Since the story 
 
 Of my glory 
 Lies in danger meeting. 
 
 I, sensitive ! 
 
 You, imperative ! 
 How my heart is beating ! 
 
 THE M: — : 
 
 Thy confidence, 
 
 Thy confidence 
 Adds one delight the more. 
 
 By its charms 
 
 Your alarms 
 Will change to joys galore. 
 
 JULIE. 
 
 Modesty, 
 
 Sagacity, 
 Let them only meet 
 
 Without knowing 
 
 Or bestowing 
 A thought on how they'll greet, 
 87 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 THE m: — : 
 
 Our retreat 
 
 Is gentle, sweet, 
 A shrine of peace alway ; 
 
 The happy age 
 
 Of the true sage 
 Rules our hearts to-day. 
 
 Our life, 
 
 Without strife 
 Flows onward fair and free. 
 
 Our language. 
 
 Our usage. 
 Tell of liberty. 
 
 Glad 
 
 Or sad, 
 This weak humanity 
 
 Claims all ; 
 
 And at its call 
 We yield tranquillity. 
 
 The love we pay 
 
 Of good, to-day, 
 Is our sure guarantee. 
 
 Used for our pleasure, 
 
 Each mystic measure 
 Shows but humanity. 
 
 JULIE. 
 
 Ah ! Julie ! 
 
 Will agree 
 To join you in your union ; 
 
 For I would know 
 
 What you must show : 
 The rites of your communion. 
 88 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 " Immediately after followed the toasts of all the 
 Masons, men and women scattered over both hemi- 
 spheres. This was preceded by a song of the Order 
 of Adoption, rendered by the Brother the Vicomte 
 de Gand and the Comte Maxime de Puisegur. 
 
 ' ' When the Most Serene Grand Master, the Most 
 Serene Grand Mistress, and the August Sisters, the 
 Duchesse de Chartres and the Princesse de Lamballe, as 
 well as the Brother and Sister Visitors who had accom- 
 panied them, had signed the platform, all the business of 
 that day, so memorable and flattering for the Loge de la 
 Candeur and interesting for the Order, was happily ter- 
 minated in the midst of peace and joy and to the sounds 
 of harmony, the fifth day of the month of February, 
 in the Year of Adoption one thousand seven hundred 
 and seventy-eight. 
 
 ' ' To the regular business succeeded several forms of 
 amusement, arranged for the Most Serene Grand Master 
 and Grand Mistress and the illustrious visitors. Among 
 others, the Brothers and the Sisters of the lodge gave 
 a representation of the Ami de la Maison^ a comic 
 opera, the roles of which were filled, in a manner very 
 unusual even among society actors, by the dear Sisters 
 the Comtesse de Brienne, the Comtesse Dessales, and 
 by the Brothers the Vicomte de Gand, the Marquis 
 de Caumartin, and the Comte Maxime de Puisegur. 
 We give below the couplets of the vaudeville, com- 
 posed by the Brother Comte de Gouy. They were 
 enthusiastically applauded and were repeated at the 
 request of the Most Serene Grand Master and of the 
 august Sisters. 
 
 " Couplets composed by the Brother Comte de 
 
 Gouy, Orator. 
 
 89 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 ' ' To the air of the 'Vaudeville de la Laitiere : J'etais 
 gisant a cette place,' etc. 
 
 " Madame la Comtesse Dessalles played the part 
 of Agathe, Monsieur le Vicomte de Gand that of 
 Celicour. 
 
 As a reward of love so true 
 
 Hymen prepares my joy, 
 Wife and mother I shall be — 
 
 Sweetness without alloy. 
 
 To Monsieur le Dug and to Madame 
 
 LA DUCHESSE DE ChARTRES. 
 
 Because of my mother-love, 
 From my love of a lord, 
 Brothers, I choose from you, 
 A happy couple for a model, 
 A happy couple for a model. 
 
 " Monsieur le Vicomte de Gand playing Celicour 
 to Madame la Comtesse Dessalles playing Agathe: 
 
 I win a rank and you, my queen, 
 
 Twice happy in a day ; 
 Behold me captain under Mars 
 
 And under Love, alway. 
 
 To THE Princes. 
 
 O, you of the ceremony 
 
 Both the witnesses and ornament, 
 
 If I win your consent 
 
 I will renounce my company, 
 
 I will renounce my company. 
 
 " Monsieur le Comte Maxime de Puisegur playing 
 
 90 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 Oronte to Madame la Comtesse de Brienne playing 
 Orphise : 
 
 To my friends, to my prudence, 
 
 Our children's joy is due. 
 As to friends, my vigilance 
 Shall guard my sister, too. 
 Many seem so, 
 "Without being so. 
 I refer, Cliton, to you. 
 
 To Monsieur le Due de Chartres. 
 
 The true friends of the house 
 
 Are the Brothers of the Grand Master, 
 
 Are the Brothers of the Grand Master. 
 
 " Monsieur le Marquis de Caumartin playing Cliton 
 in the foreground and somewhat hiding the other 
 actors : 
 
 Without imposition, 
 
 I have passed many an examination 
 
 In words of love ; 
 
 And, in history 
 
 I paint only lovers as heroes. 
 
 To THE Princes. 
 
 But history offers other charms 
 To one who knows your home ; 
 Princes, there lies true heraldry, 
 Where Vict'ry has painted your arms. 
 Where Vict'ry has painted your arms. 
 
 "This illustrious Chief, as well as the Most Serene 
 Grand Mistress and the august princesses, deigned to 
 
 91 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 amuse themselves at the ball which was then given and 
 with which the Most Serene Grand Master wished to 
 close the exercises. 
 
 ' ' These Most Serene Brothers were accompanied by 
 all the Brothers and Sisters of the lodge, whose hearts, 
 long after their eyes had ceased to see them, followed 
 these leaders so beloved and so worthy of being be- 
 loved. Let us now study the Loge de la Candeur 
 in its usual routine. The secretary, Tissot, undertook 
 this task in the discourse he pronounced before the 
 twenty-first meeting. May 3, 1777. He began by 
 saying that, thanks to the zeal of the Sisters, the Mar- 
 quise de Courtebonne de Polignac, the Comtesse de 
 Choiseul, and the Vicomtesse de Foudoas, the organiza- 
 tion of the lodge had taken place the 21st of March, 
 1775. He went on to state that the ' Sister Marquise 
 de Genlis was the first to admire the virtues of our 
 Masons.' " 
 
 The interesting manuscript quoted by us contains, 
 in its written minutes, which number sixty-five, curi- 
 ous details which we must not omit. Thus at the 
 fifth meeting we find, among other things : 
 
 "The Marquise de Genlis having accused the 
 Brother, Prince Salpieha, of having broken the rules of 
 the lodge by leaving the temple without permission 
 (although it was in order to satisfy the demands of 
 nature), there had been a discussion as to whether 
 he should be punished for this fault, and as to the 
 kind of punishment. The Brother Salpieha was brought 
 to the door of the temple; he was led in with his face 
 turned towards the West ; the Venerable then ordered 
 the Brother Master of the Ceremonies to conduct him 
 
 92 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 to a side room, in which he was to be locked during 
 the entire session." 
 
 This same report tells us that the princess was twice 
 present at the meetings, or, at least, that she signed 
 the minutes of two of the meetings. 
 
 At the twenty-sixth meeting, the 5 th of Februaiy, 
 1778, which we have described, the princess signed 
 herself Sceur Princesse de Lamhalle ; at the forty-third, 
 which was held February 24, 1780, and at which she, 
 as well as the Duchesse de Chartres, was cheered, she 
 resumed her usual signature : JH. T. L. de Savoie. 
 
 She did not affix her signature every time, for the 
 minutes of the meeting at which she received the com- 
 pliment paid her for having honored the meeting of 
 the 8th of May, 1778, with her presence do not have 
 it. This is the compliment : 
 
 "The Loge d' Adoption, under the name of la 
 Candeur, the 8th of May, in the year 1778, to the 
 Most Serene Sister, Princesse de Lamballe: 
 
 S: — : and T: — : C: — : S: — : 
 
 "You have deigned to visit our climate, and your 
 presence has awakened in the hearts of all our brothers 
 and sisters that lively and pure sentiment which for 
 many reasons your appearance inspires. 
 
 "To offer you the homage of our meeting is an act 
 of gratitude ; it will be one of kindness on your part if 
 you will deign to accept it. 
 
 93 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 "We are, with the most respectful and fraternal 
 sentiments, 
 
 S: — : and T: — : C: — : S: — : 
 
 "Your very humble subjects and servants, and very 
 affectionate brothers : — : and sisters : — : of the Loge 
 de la Candeur." 
 
 Our illustrious princesses w^ere in good company 
 there, for the list of the Brothers and Sisters composing 
 the Loge de la Candeur shows us the names of almost 
 all the court ladies, as well as those of the illustri- 
 ous military officers of the time.' The majority of 
 readers know but little of the ancient French Order 
 of Masons, and will be surprised to see us refer to the 
 subject in a study of the Princesse de Lamballe. Let 
 us, therefore, assure them, without delay, that we shall 
 touch upon the question only just enough to disclose 
 the part taken by this princess in the mysterious cere- 
 monies toward which her lively imagination impelled 
 her. In acting thus, she merely followed the example 
 given by almost every one around her. 
 
 It will be enough, therefore, for us to say that it 
 was towards the middle of the eighteenth century that 
 the Lodges of Adoption were founded." By the 
 Lodges of Adoption is meant those which admitted 
 women. "The more perfect half of the human race," 
 we read in the ^Esguisse' of the works on Adoption, 
 "could not always be banished from the places she 
 sought to embellish. Is goodness perfect without grace? 
 We, therefore, have admitted sisters to those of our rites 
 
 94 
 
MADJME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 in which they could and should participate; we have 
 recalled to their minds our principle by making them 
 adopt our aims." 
 
 " One doubts," says Bachaumont, "if it is to the 
 French that this happy innovation is due, and whether, 
 in the land of gallantry, there could have existed for so 
 long a time, in all its glory, a society from which the 
 fair sex was totally excluded." 
 
 For its part, from the loth of June, 1771, the Grand 
 Orient took under its protection the Masonry of Adop- 
 tion, but with the expressed condition that a Venerable 
 of the Lodge should be its president or, in his absence, 
 should be replaced by the head Inspector, and that, 
 furthermore, no meeting could be held without the 
 presence of a certain number of regular Masons. 
 
 There were even general rules, in which we notice: 
 
 *'Art. VI. — No woman in a delicate condition or at 
 a critical period can be admitted to the reception. 
 
 "Art. VII. — No one can be admitted before the age 
 of eighteen, unless the whole lodge unanimously gives 
 permission. 
 
 "Art. XXIV. — Propriety is especially requested. 
 
 "Art. XXVI. — When a sister does not feel in a 
 condition to preserve propriety during her reception she 
 shall ask to retire." 
 
 The sisters wore a robe of white stuff, an apron of 
 white kid lined and bordered with blue silk, and white 
 gloves. 
 
 Each wore about her waist a blue-watered belt, pass- 
 
 95 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 ing from the right to the left, at the end of which hung 
 a flaming heart containing an apple. The dignitaries 
 wore the same style of belt crosswise ; but the flaming 
 heart was replaced by a golden trowel. 
 
 Furthermore, all, whether men or women, wore on 
 their left arms the badge of their Order, in white satin 
 lined with blue, with these words embroidered in silk 
 of the same color : Silence and Virtue. 
 
 The Masonry of Adoption at first consisted of three 
 degrees : Apprentice, Fellow Craft, and Mistress. 
 Later, two new grades were established, those of Per- 
 fect Mistress and of Sublime Scottish Mistress Elect. 
 But, adds Monsieur Ragon in his Ritual of Adoption, 
 the last two were given but seldom. However, we 
 have found at the end of the manuscript of the General 
 Rules, a diploma of this degree, which is rather curious. 
 
 Model of the Certificate of the Sublime Scottish Mistress. ' 
 The parchment, or that on which the diploma is 
 
 written, must be in the form of a pentagon. 
 
 The first three letters signify lodge of Masons, and 
 
 the year of grace. 
 
 L. D. M. 
 
 Signed in the Garden of Eden, towards the East, 
 whence comes the first light of the lodge for women, 
 
 under the distinctive title of , by the mysterious 
 
 numbers known only to the Enlightened. 
 
 We, earthly leaders, directing the sublime and 
 respectable lodge for women, have seen the zeal and 
 
 96 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 the energy shown by the Venerable Sister, aged 
 
 years, native of , follower of the Christian 
 
 religion, in her desire to reach the highest degree of 
 Masonic light. We have judged her capacity, life, 
 and morals, with a careful examination of her conduct, 
 as much in the lodge as outside of it, and feeling that 
 she has answered every requirement in her quality of 
 Mason, we make known that we have admitted her 
 to the degree of Apprentice, Fellow Craft, Mistress 
 Mason, Perfect Mistress, and Sublime Scottish Mis- 
 tress, and we recommend all our Bs : — : and Sister 
 Masons to recognize her as such, and to give credence 
 to the present certificate given her for use, in case of 
 need, which we have signed with our own hand, and to 
 which we have affixed the seal of our respectable lodge, 
 the whole to be countersigned by our own secretary. 
 Signed in the Garden of Eden, on the side of the 
 
 Orient, the day of the week of month of 
 
 the Masonic year, five thousand eight hundred , 
 
 and, in vulgar reckoning, the thousand, eight 
 
 hundred . 
 
 XX, Chief Inspector. 
 
 XX, Chief Inspectress. 
 
 S : — : Grand Mistress. 
 Sealed by us, Guardian of the , by order of 
 
 X . . . 
 
 Seals and Archives . . . 
 
 The Very Respectable Lodge, 
 
 Secretary." 
 7 97 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 If the business of these lodges did not seem to be 
 serious, the poor at least profited by them. A meet- 
 ing never broke up without a collection, the proceeds 
 of which, given into the hands of the treasurer, were 
 spent in keeping the unfortunate. "Preference was 
 given to those who shunned the eyes of the public." 
 To the proceeds of the collections were added the 
 fines, and each infringement of the rules was subject to 
 a penalty of from six to twelve cents. Probably the 
 strict punishment for the slightest offence brought in 
 rather large sums. We see, in fact, that, besides some 
 debtors released from prison, acts of courage worthily 
 rewarded, prizes accorded to virtue, there was on the 
 14th of September, 1777, at a meeting of a Lodge of 
 Adoption at Waux Hall, presided over by the Princesse 
 de Lamballe, to celebrate the convalescence of the 
 Due de Chartres, a magnificent fete, at which three 
 poor girls were married and three children of unfor- 
 tunate Masons admitted into apprenticeship. Again, 
 on November 26, 1781, the Mother Lodge, on the 
 occasion of the birth of Monseigneur le Dauphin, 
 ordered sung in the Church of Saint Eustache a musical 
 mass from a composition by Floquet, who directed the 
 orchestra himself. Madame de Lamballe, as well as a 
 large number of lords and ladies of the court, was pres- 
 ent. The Mother Lodge held a meeting in its rooms 
 immediately after, and voted that it would take charge 
 of the education of all the poor male children born the 
 same day as the dauphin, in the Parish of Saint Eustache. 
 
 98 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 All these fetes, as we have shown in this chapter, 
 ended with a banquet, at which the table was in the 
 shape of a horseshoe. The room was lighted by five 
 chandeliers or, in default of these, by candles in clus- 
 ters of five. 
 
 Everything was arranged, in accordance with the 
 Ritual of Adoption, on five lines traced in different 
 colors. The stars were placed in the centre, the dishes 
 on the next outer line, the bottles and decanters on a 
 third line, the glasses on a fourth, and the plates on 
 a fifth along the edge of the table. 
 
 During the repast the serving was done by women 
 who were received into the first degree without having 
 to pay any assessment, and who rarely reached the 
 second degree. By a wise precaution these serving 
 sisters had to be thirty years old, for fear that " their 
 babble might cause scandal in the Order," and they 
 were accepted only after a minute examination and on 
 the proper recommendation of the Sister who presented 
 them. These meetings, which were greatly in vogue 
 for a few years, met with certain criticisms when they 
 were first started as well as when they had become 
 more successful. Did not Bachaumont cry: " French 
 gallantry has caused the Institute of the French Masons 
 to degenerate here to a great extent ' ' ? Another 
 anonymous author claims that they ridiculed women by 
 demanding certain tests in which, according to him, 
 the candidates learned nothing serious. 
 
 On the lOth of January, 1781, the Princesse de 
 
 99 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 Lamballe was nominated Grand Mistress of all the 
 regular Scottish Lodges of France. 
 
 The curious minutes of this meeting, in which the 
 Comtesse d'Affry, the Vicomtesse de Narbonne, the 
 Comtesse de Mailly, Marie de Durfort de Donissan, 
 Victoire de Durfort de Chastellux, Madeleine d'AfFry 
 de Diesbach, and Louise de Broc were received as 
 Mason Apprentices, were offered for sale a few years 
 ago, as well as a catalogue of books containing the 
 report of the R. •. M. •. L. •. Ec, •. of the Social Con- 
 tract from June 24, 1781, to February i, 1786. Un- 
 fortunately for us, in spite of our researches, we have 
 been unable to procure it. We know merely that it 
 contained the following curious minutes : 
 
 " The eighteenth day of the eleventh month of the 
 year of Science 5780, the Reverend Mother-Lodge of 
 the Scottish Rite of Adoption, . . . the Most Serene 
 Sister Louise de Carignan, Princesse de Lamballe, and 
 the Venerable Brother Abbe Bertolio . , , and 
 
 brothers; Marie Constance de Lesbiac, aged {sicY, 
 
 Pauline, Vicomtesse de Narbonne, aged 37, Jeanne 
 Felicite de Narbonne, Comtesse de Mailly, aged 18, 
 Marie de Durfort de Donissan, aged 33, etc., 
 etc., . . ." 
 
 The Lodge of the Social Contract had undergone 
 numerous changes since its foundation, which dates 
 back to the 30th of March, 1766. First reorganized 
 October 9, 1772, by the Grand Lodge, then by the 
 Grand Orient, the 21st of January, 1773, under the 
 
 100 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 name of Saint Lazare, it resumed its original title of 
 Saint Jean d'Ecosse, of the Social Contract, May 21, 
 1776. 
 
 Its Venerable was at that time the T. •. C. •. F. •. 
 de Brommer, Chevalier of the Royal and Military 
 Order of the Merit; and its Director theT. •. C. •. 
 F. •. Abbe Bertolio, advocate of the Parliament, Rue 
 des Masons, near the Sorbonne. 
 
 It was said that this lodge would have endless diffi- 
 culties, for we find the following motion discussed 
 in the meeting of the tenth day of the tenth month, 
 
 5779: 
 
 "The G. •. O. •. declares in the name of the G. •. 
 M. •• that this most serene F. . has refused to sign the 
 constitution of the R. •• L. •. of the Social Contract 
 (called Scottish Mother-L. •.), according to the obser- 
 vation made by him that this title was signed by none 
 of the officers of the G. •. O. •. which appointed a com- 
 mittee to thank the most Serene G. •. M. ■. for that 
 distinguished proof of his love for regularity. 
 
 " The G. •. O. *. announces to all the regular LL. -. 
 that the time accorded to the R. •. L. •. of the Social 
 Contract (called Scottish Mother-Lodge) to put itself 
 into due form, having expired, it is this day crossed 
 out from the list of regular LL. •." 
 
 Finally, to conclude, we should have been glad to 
 be able to give extracts from a very rare pamphlet 
 which would have furnished us with an ample 
 amount of curious information on the initiation of the 
 princess as Grand Mistress, the 20th of February, 
 
 lOI 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 1 78 1. Unfortunately, these special volumes, drawn 
 from a limited number of copies, are, apart from their 
 extreme rareness, to be found in certain libraries of the 
 New World to which it is difficult to obtain access. 
 
 Some of our readers, more fortunate than we, may 
 be sufficiently interested to gain admission to these 
 books, and we are glad to tell them of the pamphlet 
 we have mentioned, under the number 2,142 of the 
 " Bibliographie der Freimaurerei," by Doctor Georg 
 Kloss (Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1844). The title is 
 " Hommage ma^onnique de la Mere-Loge Ecossaise 
 d' Adoption to the Most Serene Sister Marie Therese 
 Louise de Carignan, Princesse de Lamballe, its Grand 
 Mistress, and the Official Sisters, the day of their ini- 
 tiation, February 20th. By the F. \ Robineau de Beau- 
 noir, secretary of the Mere-Loge Ecossaise. Heredon, 
 1781, in-8, 24 pp." 
 
 We will say, in conclusion, that the last Grand 
 Mistress of the Lodges of Adoption was the Empress 
 Josephine. 
 
 102 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 The coldness of Marie Antoinette towards the 
 princess might easily have been attributed to the lack 
 of order in the accounts of the superintendent and to 
 her continued demands in regard to her position. All 
 these facts came to the knowledge of the queen and 
 irritated her against poor Madame de Lamballe, whose 
 want of care in her business affairs perhaps explains 
 the frequent demands. 
 
 About 1778 we see that a certain Mizet, clerk of 
 her secretary, dismissed, no doubt, by his intendant 
 Charles Joseph Loques, had compiled a lengthy 
 memoir to inform the princess of the calumnies 
 brought forward by the aforesaid intendant, and 
 furthermore had cited various instances of abuse. 
 
 At first the princess seemed to attach only a rela- 
 tive importance to this information, but Mizet, who 
 wanted to make trouble, was not afraid to write to 
 Madame de Guebriant: 
 
 " Madame: 
 
 "As perhaps you may have some orders to give me 
 in connection with the memoir I have had the honor 
 of addressing to you, I beg you to be good enough to 
 permit me to affix my address to the present note. The 
 
 103 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 truth of most of the facts mentioned in this memoir is 
 in your hands, and I am ready to prove, even in the 
 presence of the guilty, those facts of which you have no 
 proof. You are too just, Madame, and you hold the 
 interests of the princess too dear for you not to enlighten 
 her highness promptly. My rival does me great injury 
 by the atrocious libels he spreads abroad about me. I 
 have fought in vain against these, but I cannot convince 
 people that he is an impostor, for they think him an 
 honest man. 
 
 " I await with confidence the decision of your jus- 
 tice. I am, with deep respect, Madame, for your 
 illustrious self, your very humble, very obedient, and 
 very submissive servant, ^ 
 
 " Rue de la Vielle Draperie, House of Monsieur 
 Gaillard, Notary." 
 
 Not content with an account of the misdeeds of his 
 chief, an account which does not possess great interest 
 and which deals with trifles, he again appeals to the 
 Marquise de Guebriant to obtain the attention of the 
 princess. 
 
 " It would be interesting for the princess," he con- 
 cludes, in one of his notes, " if they should search 
 Monsieur Loques' apartments without informing him 
 in advance. They would discover, I think, many mys- 
 teries, notably in his red portfolio and in a small case 
 which lies on his coffer. 
 
 " I persist in what I have just stated, and I very 
 humbly beg Madame la Marquise de Guebriant, in 
 whom I have the most perfect confidence, to be kind 
 
 104 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 enough to take prompt measures in regard to all the 
 facts mentioned in the present account, and to permit 
 me to offer proof of them. 
 
 *' I rely on the wisdom and the justice of Madame 
 de Guebriant. Signed Mizet, Clerk of the Secretary of 
 her Highness. Rue Coquilliere, Maison de fayancier." 
 
 This new demand from Mizet, who had not left the 
 service of the princess, does not seem to have had any 
 effect; but the disdain with which his information was 
 received irritated that singular person, who, in order 
 to avenge himself, spread abroad most extraordinary 
 reports as to the private accounts of the superintendent. 
 This made the public suppose that her general accounts 
 were in no better condition. 
 
 Madame de Lamballe, whatever the order in which 
 she kept her private business affairs, nevertheless ener- 
 getically demanded absolute control of those of her 
 mistress, using her office of superintendent for this 
 purpose. 
 
 Monsieur de Paulmy did not intend to be a victim 
 of what he considered an excess of zeal, and com- 
 plained to the queen in the letter we give below : 
 
 " Madame: 
 
 ' ' The fear of importuning your Majesty prevents my 
 asking for an audience; but I owe you an explanation 
 of my conduct, and I will give it in a few words. 
 
 " Madame la Princesse de Lamballe wishes to dis- 
 regard the advice of your Majesty and to settle the 
 accounts of the treasurer-general. She told me of this 
 
 105 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 intention some time ago. I answered nothing, being 
 persuaded that those who told her she had this right 
 were sure of it, 
 
 "And yet the contrary has practically been proven 
 to me. In short, I realized that there had been no 
 rule nor precedent, at least for a hundred years, which 
 authorized the claim of Madame la Superintendent. 
 I had the honor of writing to her. I enclose a copy 
 of my letter and two notes, which prove that Mademoi- 
 selle de Clermont, princess of the blood, although she 
 had the title of chief adviser to the queen, as has 
 Madame de Lamballe, never advanced such a claim. 
 If the king and your Majesty will make a new rule 
 regarding this subject I will submit to it without a 
 word, but since there is no precedent for the claim of 
 Madame de Lamballe a new law will be necessary. 
 After receiving my letter, Madame de Lamballe sent 
 for Monsieur Amelot and begged him to carry out the 
 king's orders in the affair; this is all I ask, and I am 
 ready to conform to them in every way. 
 
 " I am, with the most perfect submission to your 
 Majesty, Madame, your very humble and very obedient 
 servant and your very faithful subject and chancellor, 
 
 " R. DE Paulmy. 
 "Versailles, January 9, 1779." 
 
 The princess, whose star was visibly growing dimmer 
 and dimmer as that of Madame de Polignac bright- 
 ened, was on the point of not accompanying the Court 
 during its sojourn at Marly; but, yielding no doubt 
 to the advice of her friends, and especially to that 
 of the Due de Penthievre, she changed her mind. 
 This year Marly was particularly dull. The weather 
 
 106 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 was frightful; walks and hunting parties suffered. No 
 plays, for economy's sake. The afternoons were ter- 
 ribly long, the evenings interminable. Mercy under- 
 takes to tell us in detail of the occupations of the 
 queen. Marie Antoinette spent several hours of the 
 day with the Comtesse Jules, and Madame de Lamballe 
 was seldom admitted to those " private interviews." 
 Card-playing was indulged in more than ever. The 
 princess sanctioned it to such an extent in her own 
 apartments, it seems, that the Due de Chartres in one 
 evening lost eight hundred louis. The rumor of this 
 reached the queen, who was greatly displeased at it. 
 
 Always very much affected by the coldness of Marie 
 Antoinette, the poor princess sought by every means 
 in her power to approach her friend, took advantage 
 of every circumstance, and carried out her slightest 
 wishes ; but, alas ! it was almost wholly in vain. The 
 health of Madame de Polignac had been uncertain since 
 her attack of measles ; she attended to her duties only 
 now and then. Suddenly she stopped them entirely, 
 and then it was that the queen, completely heart- 
 broken, determined to go once a week to Paris to see 
 her favorite. During this period of enforced separation 
 ' ' the princess appeared more frequently at Versailles, 
 but was no better received." 
 
 The poor woman had already suffered cruelly enough 
 from the indifference of the queen, without need of 
 further cause for grief; but a fresh calamity arose to 
 overwhelm her. Her brother, who, thanks to his credit 
 
 107 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 and to the protection of the queen, had been appointed 
 colonel in IJJS^ married at Saint Malo, where his 
 regiment was garrisoned, a common woman, or rather 
 one belonging to a family so little known that the 
 union was looked on as a mesalliance. We quote the 
 following details from Bachaumonf. 
 
 " A Prince de Carignan," he tells us, " brother to 
 Madame de Lamballe, colonel in the service of France 
 in a regiment of his name, fell in love at Saint Malo 
 with a Mademoiselle Magon, niece of the Magons 
 well known in commerce and finance. She is neither 
 wealthy nor beautiful, but has intelligence and a spirit 
 of intrigue. She induced this weak-minded prince to 
 marry her. The bishop of Saint Malo, satisfied with 
 a vague license from the King of Sardinia, which the 
 prince showed, permitting him to be married in 
 France, gave a dispensation and the ceremony took 
 place before the court could oppose it. It is thought 
 that this marriage, although morally valid, does not 
 exist civilly, and although it has been consummated, 
 steps are to be taken to dissolve it. It is said that, in 
 consequence, the King of Sardinia has recalled the 
 prince to Turin." 
 
 We find also in the " Nouvelle de Paris et de Ver- 
 sailles," dated December 21, 1779, a slight variation 
 of this account. The prince must have received orders 
 to leave the kingdom; and it was even considered 
 doubtful whether the court of Turin would receive 
 him. This marriage, the subject of so much dis- 
 cussion, was in fact annulled in 1780 by a vote of 
 
 108 
 
MJDJME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 parliament, but was again celebrated in 1781, at Saint 
 Malo, as we see by what followed : 
 
 "The Comtesse Jules has completely succeeded her 
 rival in the affection of the queen. It is only at rare 
 intervals that we see the princess making a short stay 
 at court." The correspondence of Mercy, silent on 
 this subject, refers constantly, on the other hand, to 
 Madame de Polignac. The ascendency of the latter 
 was great and finally frightened the empress, who often 
 spoke to her daughter on the subject. 
 
 The queen went but seldom to the Princesse 
 de Lamballe's, " where they continued to play for 
 money," says Mercy. The king never went there. 
 His only visits were for the friend of the moment, for 
 Marie Antoinette seemed to fear for him the society at 
 the superintendent's, which she found too numerous 
 and generally too noisy. 
 
 But Madame de Polignac was about to be confined, 
 and it was a question as to how she could be seen 
 without trouble or fatigue. 
 
 This difficulty was solved by the arrival of the 
 court, which came to La Muette,' whereupon Mercy 
 wrote, April 17th: 
 
 "It is practically decided that during the confine- 
 ment of the Comtesse de Polignac, that is, in May, the 
 court will make a short trip of ten days to La Muette." 
 
 In the meantime the two friends were together as 
 
 much as possible. 
 
 109 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 " There are few people at Marly, where one is 
 greatly bored, although there are three plays each 
 week; the drawing-room is charming. The queen 
 does not sup, she takes a drink of milk with Madame 
 la Comtesse Jules, who has undergone a wonderful 
 change." 
 
 All these imprudent and inconsequential acts of the 
 queen ended by wearying people, and the court began 
 to gossip about this absorbing friendship.'' 
 
 " The Paris public," Mercy tells us, " did not at 
 all approve of it, and regarded it as a demonstration of 
 exaggerated favor; but little cared Marie Antoinette, 
 who reached the young mother at ten o'clock in the 
 morning, dined with her, and spent the day there." 
 
 The queen did not always go alone. During het 
 stay at La Muette the king paid visits to the countess. 
 " This was the only private establishment in Paris," 
 observes Mercy, " which the king had entered since 
 his coronation," ' and it was a great mark of distinc- 
 tion. Once at Versailles Marie Antoinette made only 
 two visits a week to her friend, until the latter again 
 appeared at court. Then the two met daily in the 
 Trianon. Comedy was given there; the women's 
 roles were played exclusively by the Comtesse de Poli- 
 gnac and the Comtesse de Chalons ; those of the men 
 by the Comte Jules, the Comte d'Adhemar, and the 
 Comte Esterhazy. It was decided that the sole spec- 
 tators should be the king and the royal princes and 
 princesses. 
 
 no 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 " Not even the ladies of the palace nor the ladies- 
 in-waiting to the queen were to be made exceptions to 
 this rule." Mercy adds: "If this plan is strictly 
 adhered to it will no doubt keep out many of those 
 who would be in the way." 
 
 Unfortunately, these plays and amusements caused 
 jealousy, and the refusal to make exceptions, which 
 was a source of such pleasure to the ambassador, was 
 a mistake, and gave rise to numerous complaints. 
 They became even wearisome — so Mercy says — and 
 the queen put an end to them. 
 
 The Princesse de Lamballe had the mortification of 
 being refused admission to the Trianon, an act for 
 which public opinion blamed the queen, while in our 
 eyes Madame de Polignac alone was responsible, having 
 evidently asked it of her friend. 
 
 " The Princesse de Lamballe," wrote Mercy, " by 
 right of her position as superintendent, thought an ex- 
 ception to the rule would be made in her favor; but 
 this was not done." 
 
 What proves that this action in regard to the prin- 
 cess did not originate with the queen, who at heart 
 was very kind, is the remembrance of her former 
 friendship, of which she was soon to give proof in 
 regard to the death of Monsieur de Carignan. For 
 the rest, there was no possible doubt about this in the 
 mind of the shrewd observer to whom we have so 
 frequently and profitably had recourse. He says; 
 
 III 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 ** The seclusion of the queen in the Trianon until 
 to-day was suggested by the Comtesse de Polignac. 
 The latter wished all the chief ladies to be excluded; 
 the ladies of the palace and the courtiers. . . ." 
 
 Why this exclusion ? Simply because the Comtesse 
 Jules had a favor to beg, because she feared the influ- 
 ence of the princess, and because she wished to sur- 
 round the queen with her own friends, that she might 
 use them at need to carry out her secret wishes. 
 
 The truth is soon revealed to us. The Comte de 
 Polignac was appointed hereditary duke, and his wife 
 " prit le tabouret a la cour." 
 
 The excessive friendship of the queen blinded her. 
 In spite of all the requests with which she was over- 
 whelmed by the Polignacs she was not able to do with- 
 out this not wholly disinterested friend. 
 
 "The trip to Fontainebleau is postponed from the 
 yth to the nth. The queen and the king leave early 
 in the morning. During the absence of the king the 
 queen goes daily to dine and spend the day at Claye 
 with Madame la Duchesse de Polignac." 
 
 But, as we have just said, Marie Antoinette could 
 not on learning of the death of Prince Victor Amedee 
 de Carignan recall her ancient friendship for the prin- 
 cess without being moved. She went to Paris to see 
 her and spent "some time." We should prefer to 
 think that she strove, by every possible means, to con- 
 sole her unhappy friend, rather than that she limited 
 
 112 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 the visit to simply an ordinary call of condolence, as 
 is the opinion of the faithful servant of the Empire, 
 whose valuable researches come to a stop on the sud- 
 den death of Marie Therese, November 29th. 
 
 The king was so affected by this terrible news that 
 he could not announce it to Marie Antoinette. To 
 the Abbe de Vermond was entrusted this task, and 
 only then could Louis XVI. appear before his wife. 
 " I thank you, Monsieur I'Abbe, for the service you 
 have just rendered me," were the first words, accord- 
 ing to Madame Campan, that the king addressed to the 
 abbe. 
 
 The queen's grief was violent. She shut herself 
 up in her apartments and did not come out for sev- 
 eral days, and then merely to attend mass. The only 
 two friends she consented to see were Mesdames de 
 Lamballe and de Polignac. 
 
 Mercy-Argenteau tells us that in 1778 Madame de 
 Lamballe begged the queen to give her a considerable 
 income from Lorraine; but his subsequent silence on 
 the subject makes us think that this request, like many 
 another, was not granted. The princess, who in- 
 tended to return to the charge at the first opportune 
 moment, was very careful not to forget a promise of 
 the queen, vague though it was; for we see that she 
 obtained an annuity of forty thousand livres from the 
 department of foreign affairs, by order dated January 4, 
 1 78 1. And yet Madame de Lamballe, whose need 
 of money was great, had already some time before 
 8 113 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 obtained quite a considerable increase of salary, accord- 
 ing to the statement of cash accounts. 
 
 *' To the Princesse de Lamballe : The sum of forty- 
 two thousand five hundred livres for the first six months 
 of 1779 of the eighty-five thousand livres given her 
 annually in addition to her salary as superintendent 
 of the royal household, order of September 5, 1779." 
 
 A very small sum for that matter for the ex-favorite, 
 and one which could not be compared to the liberal 
 amounts of which the Polignacs had recently been the 
 recipients. This family, extremely and unsurpass- 
 ingly avaricious, did not cease to plot to obtain favors 
 and privileges; their relatives, or even their allies, 
 equally unscrupulous, acted in the same way. 
 
 For a long time Madame de Gramont' had cherished 
 the hope of having Mademoiselle de Polignac as wife 
 for her son. As soon as she thought of the possibil- 
 ity of this union, a result of her intrigues, she hoped 
 in spite of his youth to obtain for him the succession 
 to the Due de Villeroy, as Captain of the Guards. 
 On the eve of the marriage, thanks to the kindness of 
 Maurepas, but to the great displeasure of the ambassa- 
 dor to Vienna, the Due de Durfort-Civrac, who sought 
 the position for his son, the Due de Lorges, she suc- 
 ceeded in bringing about the nomination. 
 
 "Yesterday, at Saint Sulpice," we read in the 
 ' Journal de Paris,' " was celebrated the marriage of 
 the very high and very powerful Lord Monseigneur 
 Antoine Louis Marie de Gramont, Due de Guiche, 
 
 "4 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 with the very high and very pow^erful Mademoiselle 
 Louise Gabrielle Aglae de Polignac." 
 
 The Comtesse Jules, better informed, more practi- 
 cal and " more settled," according to the strange ex- 
 pression of Marie Therese, obtained as her share on 
 the occasion of the great family event quite a sum, 
 although just enough to pay her debts, and eight hundred 
 thousand livres as dowry for her daughter. 
 
 At the confinement of the queen we again see the 
 Princesse de Lamballe. As superintendent it was upon 
 her that devolved the duty of informing the princes and 
 the princesses of the royal family of the queen's con- 
 dition. 
 
 In his journal, written from day to day, Louis XVL 
 traced briefly, even dryly, the smallest acts of his 
 private life. For him, no details; facts and dates 
 only; statistics were evidently his dominating passion. 
 This once, to our great surprise, he enters into 
 detail, for his delight at having at last an heir makes 
 him loquacious. On account of this effort, which 
 is only a passing one, it would be bad grace on our 
 part not to let him speak: 
 
 * ' The queen passed a very comfortable night the 
 2 1st of October. She felt some slight pain on awaken- 
 ing, but this did not prevent her from bathing; the 
 pain continued, but to no great extent. Until noon 
 I gave no order for the shooting I was to do at Sacle. 
 Between twelve and half-past the pain became greater; 
 the queen went to bed, and just one hour and a quarter 
 
 "5 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 later, by my watch, she gave birth to a boy. There 
 were present only Madame de Lamballe, the Comte 
 d'Artois, my aunts, Madame de Chimay, Madame de 
 Mailly, Madame d'Ossun, Madame de Tavannes, and 
 Madame de Guemenee, who went alternately into the 
 Salon de la Paix, which had been left empty. In the 
 large cabinet was my household, that of the queen and 
 the grand entries, and the under-governesses, who en- 
 tered at the critical moment and who remained at the 
 rear of the chamber so as not to cut off the air. 
 
 " Of all the princes to whom Madame de Lamballe 
 sent at noon to announce the news. Monsieur le Due 
 d' Orleans alone arrived before the critical moment (he 
 was hunting at Fausse Repose). He remained in the 
 chamber or in the Salon de la Paix. Monsieur de 
 Conde, Monsieur de Penthievre, Monsieur le Due de 
 Chartres, Madame la Duchesse de Chartres, Madame 
 la Princesse de Conty, and Mademoiselle de Conde 
 arrived also ; Monsieur le Due de Bourbon in the 
 evening, and Monsieur le Prince de Conty the next 
 day. The following day the queen saw all these 
 in turn. 
 
 *' My son was carried into the large cabinet, where 
 I went to see him dressed, and I laid him in the, hands 
 of Madame de Guemenee, the governess.*^ After the 
 queen had been delivered I told her that it was a boy, 
 and he was brought to her bedside. . . •" 
 
 The birth of the dauphin filled the people with joy. 
 Happiness was universal." From everywhere the king 
 and the queen received congratulations on the happy 
 event. We will quote, in passing, that of the women 
 of La Halle : 
 
 ii6 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 * ' Congratulations of the fishmongers of Paris on the birth 
 of Monseigneur le Dauphin^ pronounced by Dame 
 Houdon^ November 4, 1 7 8 1 . 
 
 " To THE King. 
 
 *■'■ Sire : Heaven owes a son to a king who looks 
 upon his people as his family; m our wishes and our 
 prayers we have long asked for him. These are at 
 last answered. We are sure that our grandsons will 
 be as happy as we are, for this cherished child must 
 resemble you. You will teach him to be good like 
 yourself; we will undertake to instruct our sons how 
 they should love and respect their king. 
 
 " To THE Queen. 
 
 ' ' Madame : All France has already proved to your 
 Majesty its true and lively joy at the birth of Mon- 
 seigneur le Dauphin. We have shown our delight 
 with all the love we have for you ; it is permitted 
 us to-day to lay at the feet of your Majesty the ex- 
 pression of our hearts; this privilege is dearer to us 
 than life. We have loved you, Madame, so long 
 without daring to say so, that it requires all our respect 
 not to abuse the permission to tell you of it. 
 
 " To Monseigneur le Dauphin: 
 
 "Our hearts have long waited for you; they were 
 yours before your birth. You cannot yet hear the 
 vows we make around your cradle, but some day they 
 shall be explained to you; they all amount to seeing 
 in you the image of those to whom you owe life. 
 
 *' Read and approved, this 6th of November, 1781. 
 
 " De Sauvigny. 
 
 *' Permission to have printed this 6th November, 
 1781. Lenoir." 
 
 117 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 In the early part of this year Madame de Lamballe 
 was sponsor to the daughter of the Marquis de Mor- 
 dant de Massiac, with the Due de Penthievre. 
 
 " His serene Highness, Monseigneur le Due de 
 Penthievre, and Madame la Princesse de Lamballe," 
 we read in the 'Journal de Paris,' "the day before 
 yesterday were sponsors at the baptism of the daughter 
 of Monsieur le Marquis de Mordant de Massiac; the 
 ceremony was performed by the curate of Saint Eu- 
 stache in the chapel of the Hotel de Toulouse." 
 
 A few days later the princess gave a ball to the royal 
 family. The king informs us of the fact in the follow- 
 ing terms : 
 
 " First ball at Madame de Lamballe' s, January 12, 
 '82." 
 
 On the 1 6th occurred the marriage of her maid of 
 honor, Mademoiselle Etienne d'Amblimont, to the 
 Comte de Lage de Volude, ensign in the Royal Navy. 
 The contract had been signed on the 13th by the king 
 and the queen. On the 20th the princess herself pre- 
 sented the young countess at court. During the fetes 
 given by the City of Paris in honor of the birth of the 
 
 118 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 dauphin, the princess accompanied the queen to every 
 ceremony. 
 
 In its supplement of Tuesday, January 29, 1782, 
 the " Gazette de France" tells us that Marie Antoi- 
 nette left La Muette, the morning of the 21st, in her 
 "state carriage," accompanied by Madame Elisabeth, 
 Madame Adelaide, the Princesse de Bourbon-Conde, 
 the Princesse de Lamballe, and the Princesse de 
 Chimay. The procession went first to Notre Dame 
 and Sainte Genevieve, and then to the Hotel de Ville, 
 where, later, the king himself arrived. After a mag- 
 nificent banquet of seventy-eight covers the royal 
 family with the same ceremony and in the midst of 
 illuminations returned to the Chateau de la Muette. 
 
 Two days later, having had a very gay supper given 
 them at the Temple, the king and the queen attended 
 the ball at the Hotel de Ville, where unfortunately the 
 crowd was so great that the queen cried out, *' I am 
 suffocating ! " and the king was obliged to " elbow his 
 way through the masses." This fact the " Gazette," 
 with admirable ingenuousness, undertakes to prove to us, 
 
 " The astonishing crowding together of the masquer- 
 aders," it says, "that unconscious pressing forward 
 which impels subjects to draw as near as possible to 
 their sovereigns, made it impossible for their majesties 
 to remain at the ball longer than an hour." 
 
 The Bodyguard also decided to celebrate the birth 
 of the dauphin, and towards the close of December 
 
 119 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 they planned to offer their sovereigns a ball. Un- 
 fortunately postponed on account of the health of 
 the Comtesse d'Artois, the magnificent fete given in 
 the grand hall of the Opera at Versailles could not 
 take place before January 30th. 
 
 The Princesse de Lamballe was the only one of the 
 family present at that time. The Duchesse de Char- 
 tres had measles, from vi^hich disease her four-year-old 
 daughter, Mademoiselle d' Orleans, died a few days 
 afterwards. 
 
 Let us speak now of the connection of Madame de 
 Lamballe with the Grand Duke and the Grand Duchess 
 of Russia, who were travelling incognito, under the 
 title of the Comte and Comtesse du Nord, and who 
 were long remembered for their affability and their 
 knowledge and love of the arts. ' 
 
 Delighted with their reception at court the Comte 
 and Comtesse du Nord, during their stay in Paris, 
 eagerly accepted the various invitations extended them 
 by the members of the royal family, as well as by the 
 princes of the blood, and went successively to Trianon, 
 Chantilly, and Choisy. 
 
 The last of May the Due de Penthievre had the 
 honor of receiving them on his beautiful estates at 
 Sceaux. The Baron ne d'Oberkirch left early in the 
 morning with the Comtesse du Nord and, in her inter- 
 esting memoirs, speaks enthusiastically of the splendid 
 fete, in every detail worthy of its princely hosts, and 
 the brilliancy of which, in the words of Fortaire, was 
 
 120 
 
MJDAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 enhanced by the beautiful spring weather and cloudless 
 
 sky. 
 
 Arrived at Sceaux, the Comte and the Comtesse du 
 Nord were received by the Due de Penthievre, aided 
 by the Duchesse de Chartres and the Princesse de 
 Lamballe, who rivalled each other in grace and amia- 
 bility. Escorted by a numerous suite of highly dis- 
 tinguished guests they strolled through the park among 
 gardens which were perfect wonders of order and 
 beauty, filled with rare and lovely flowers. Later a 
 collation of " exquisite magnificence" was served. 
 
 On leaving the table elegant carriages took the 
 guests for a drive. The Comtesse du Nord, the Prin- 
 cesse de Conti, and the Duchesse de Chartres stepped 
 into the first carriage, wi-hich was driven by the Due 
 de Penthievre. The second, in which were some for- 
 eign ladies with Madame de Lamballe, had for driver 
 the Comte du Nord himself. During the drive our 
 tourists constantly admired the beautiful estate, on 
 which everything had been wisely arranged to please 
 the eye. A number of carriages filled with lords and 
 ladies in beautiful attire drawn thither out of curiosity 
 added to the interest of the scene. 
 
 That day the Comte and Comtesse du Nord must 
 indeed have appreciated the reputed courtesy of the 
 Due de Penthievre, and retained a delightful impres- 
 sion of the charming drive. On Saturday, June 8th, 
 Madame de Lamballe also had the honor of receiving 
 the foreign princes after the ball at Versailles. This 
 
 121 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 fete, if we are to believe Bachaumont, was because of 
 the illumination " still more superb than that of the 
 Bodyguard's, and was no less well conducted." 
 
 In spite of all the splendors described by her, Ma- 
 dame d'Oberkirch could not refrain from admitting 
 that " these formal gatherings are not amusing; when 
 one has seen them he wants to retire." Young, fond 
 of laughter and amusement, the baroness naturally pre- 
 ferred the supper of the superintendent, which she de- 
 scribes to us at length. The circle, composed of all 
 the members of the royal family, was, it seems, small 
 but select. According to his habit, the king left at 
 the close of supper. The gayety was then freer, since 
 " formality did not check their enjoyment." After 
 a game of lotto, at which considerable money was lost, 
 the queen herself gave the signal for the ball by danc- 
 ing a quadrille, and the entertainment did not end until 
 about four o'clock. 
 
 Endeavoring to trace faithfully the daily life of 
 the Princesse de Lamballe and her relatives, we are 
 obliged to pass suddenly from one subject to another, 
 and to relate at random the joys and the sorrows of 
 her life. 
 
 Thus the Hotel de Toulouse was again in mourning, 
 on account of the death of Messire Louis Samuel de 
 Tascher, priest, doctor of the Sorbonne, chief prior of 
 Sainte-Gauburge, and chaplain of his serene Highness 
 Monseigneur the Due de Penthievre, Hotel de Tou- 
 louse, Rue de la Vrilliere. 
 
 122 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 Portunately, it was not a member of the family; 
 nevertheless the loss affected the Due de Penthievre, 
 who felt himself robbed of an old confidant and of 
 a friend of many years' standing. 
 
 In the meanwhile a piece of news, impatiently waited 
 for, brought a happy diversion to the grief of the 
 prince. A young gentleman, from infancy a page in 
 the duke's household and lately appointed captain in 
 his regiment of dragoons, had just "carried off the 
 prize of poetry by a dialogue between Voltaire and a 
 serf of Mont Jura." The duke professed the greatest 
 friendship for this young man, who was essential to 
 his court, but whose first dramatic attempts, in spite 
 of his devotion, he had encouraged because of their 
 absolute morality. 
 
 All of the host's guests congratulated him on the 
 success of Florian, whose pleasant, cheerful ways and 
 frank gayety were appreciated by every one. On 
 August 25th, the day set for crowning the author, the 
 appearance of the Academy was particularly interest- 
 ing; the audience was, to a great extent, composed of 
 the friends of the Due de Penthievre. The latter had 
 promised to come to the gathering with the Duchesse 
 de Chartres and several other personages of the court. 
 Each one had said he would applaud the triumph of 
 the young laureate; moreover (and this was not the 
 smallest attraction, but a real literary treat), Dalembert 
 was to have charge of the reading of the prize poem, 
 and the company counted on his talent and his skill to 
 
 123 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 show ofF the most striking passages, and so assure suc- 
 cess to Florian. 
 
 Why was not Madame de Lamballe, who was a 
 friend of Florian's, present at this family gathering ? 
 We have been unable to discover the real motive for 
 her absence. Perhaps she had gone to the baths, as 
 she usually did at that time of the year. However, 
 we do not see her until a month later at Passy, where 
 she had herself vaccinated ; and afterwards, on the 8th 
 of December, at the presentation of her maid-of-honor, 
 the Marquise de Las Cases ; and then, towards the end 
 of the month, under the following circumstances ; 
 
 Gaerat, that " astonishing genius " even among the 
 " most clever musicians," was beginning to make a 
 name, and the princess, who knew how to give the 
 queen pleasure by speaking to her of a debutant for 
 whose talent she could personally vouch, had readily 
 consented to go to hear him at the Abbe d'Espagnac's. 
 
 Proud of this honor, and anxious to offer the princess 
 a fete worthy of her, the abbe, finding his canonical 
 quarters too limited, had obtained from his father, who 
 was at that time governor of the Invalides, the recep- 
 tion-rooms of that hotel. 
 
 So far all had gone well, and to his reputation as a 
 wit and courtier D'Espagnac would have added that of 
 being an accomplished host, had not an unlucky ban- 
 terer, shocked at seeing the honors done by one of the 
 De Giliberts, a cousin of the D'Espagnacs and a charm- 
 ing woman no doubt, but of a family greatly inferior in 
 
 X24 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 rank to that of the guests, given vent to his ill-humor 
 in the followring lines: 
 
 " 'Neath porticoes with laurel twined, 
 Whom do I see ? Am I now blind ? 
 Near Lamballe, in the warrior's place, 
 At fete, and concert, with bold grace, 
 Doing the honors there. 
 Whom see I ? Gilibert ? 
 Oh, social outrage ! You, the niece. 
 Daughter and sister of police ! " 
 
 On the 7th of January, 1783, there was a fete in 
 the Hotel de Toulouse, on the occasion of the baptism 
 of the daughter of the Comtesse de Lage de Volude, 
 The child was held over the baptismal font by the 
 Due de Penthievre and by Madame de Lamballe, sur- 
 rounded by several friends whom the chapel of the hotel 
 could scarcely contain, so great was the desire to con- 
 gratulate the happy mother, that gentle and amiable 
 Etienne d'Amblimont, loved like a daughter by the 
 princess. 
 
 A few days later Louis XVL, in his diary, tells us 
 that she gave a ball and, as usual, states the date. 
 
 The chief event of that time was the purchase of 
 the house at Passy, which the princess concluded with 
 the Due de Luynes for the price of one hundred and 
 ten thousand livres, on the ist of February. 
 
 What could have been the motive of Madame de 
 Lamballe in making this purchase ? We do not exactly 
 see. Probably the poor princess, feeling that she was 
 
 125 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 kept at a distance by the marked coldness of her sover- 
 eign, did not wish, though yielding ground, to cut her- 
 self ofF entirely from the court, lest she might be re- 
 proached for neglecting her duties. In spite of all the 
 injustice and the mortification she had to endure it never 
 entered her head to resign her position. 
 
 On the other hand two reasons convincing to our 
 mind prevented her from continuing to live in the 
 Hotel de Toulouse. Her father-in-law rarely came to 
 stay in Paris, and, by its deserted appearance, this palace 
 augmented the grief of the unfortunate woman, who 
 needed light and sunshine. 
 
 With its park, its beautiful flower gardens, and its 
 delightful terraces whence one obtained a fine view, 
 Passy would give her the calm and the repose her 
 whole being craved. And the fresh park with its 
 sunny and artistically laid out parterres brought back in 
 part the smile to her face, already faded and overshad- 
 owed by the clouds of a real grief. Besides, she 
 felt herself more than ever drawn to her father-in-law. 
 Extremely sensitive and of an impulsive temperament 
 she had to love and be loved. Repulsed in the great 
 friendship she had given to Marie Antoinette it was on 
 the good duke that she turned the overflow of her soul. 
 Thus it was this venerable prince who profited by all 
 the devotion of which she was capable. And with what 
 touching care, what delicate attention she surrounded the 
 excellent man, who consoled her for the most cruel of 
 misfortunes ! If she could escape for a few days, if she 
 
 126 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 needed to open her heart on the bosom of some friend 
 who understood her, she at once went to him whom she 
 ingenuously called her " dear papa," were he at Eu, at 
 Aumale, at Chateauvillain, Amboise, or elsewhere. She 
 knew beforehand that she would find in that peaceful 
 home the precious joys of a well-filled life; for the 
 Due de Penthievre used his immense fortune, which had 
 caused enough umbrage at court at the time of the death 
 of the Comte d'Eu to arouse the report that in high life 
 they wanted to see the heir of so large a property marry 
 again, in the most lavish charity, and people vied with 
 one another in praising his inexhaustible generosity. 
 
 The duke's kindness of heart was proverbial. To 
 give only one instance of it, a servant never left his 
 employ save by his own free will, and that in his house- 
 hold positions were held from father to son. This is 
 proved by the following: 
 
 '* Philippe Lelong," we read in the ' Gazette de 
 France,' " the pensioned concierge of the Due de Pen- 
 thievre, died at the Hotel de Toulouse, Versailles, the 
 30th of last month, in the eighty-first year of his agej 
 he was the son of Jean Louis Lelong, the prince's con- 
 cierge, who died in the same hotel in November, 1765, 
 in the one hundred and second year of his age." 
 
 Bachaumont traced for us, some years later, in the 
 list of well-known men who met at the assembly of 
 January 29, 1787, a not very flattering portrait of the 
 venerable prince. But we know well enough how 
 this writer allowed himself to be carried away both by 
 
 127 
 
MADAME DE LJMBALLE 
 
 the tendency of the times and by an unreasonable 
 bitterness and rancor. 
 
 " A weak prince," he says, " honest and reserved, 
 who took nothing upon himself, but who did good if 
 the necessity for it were brought forcibly to his notice, 
 and if he did not fear to displease the king." 
 
 Though few people knew the prince well, he was 
 much talked of. Some thought his mode of life sin- 
 gular, and blamed him for the even tenor of his days. 
 Others thought that his home life must be monotonous 
 and tiresome, and wondered how the princess could 
 find pleasure in it; others went so far as to reproach 
 the good man for his great piety. 
 
 We will not pause to consider these various opin- 
 ions, but will give preference to that of the Comtesse 
 de Lage, because she had talked with him, had known 
 him, and had seen for herself what took place around 
 him. We rely on her the much more readily as she 
 was endowed with penetration and was a profound 
 observer. 
 
 " Although unusually pious," she writes, " he [the 
 duke] was lively in his own home, and not at all ex- 
 acting. A thousand times he left his daughter-in-law 
 and myself in his house reading novels together while 
 he went to church. As he passed us he would say : 
 ' I leave you because you are butterflies. Youth must 
 have its day. Some time you will read other things.' " 
 
 If the amusements of the princess were not numer- 
 
 128 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 ous, at least that placid life exempt from care, con- 
 fusion, and display was not displeasing to her, and the 
 absolute liberty she enjoyed, joined to the affectionate 
 regard of the duke, was sufficiently attractive to induce 
 her to prolong her visits. 
 
 And if there were need of further proof in favor of 
 the Due de Penthievre, we could cite this testimony 
 of Madame de Lamballe herself. 
 
 " I tried my best, my dear little one," she wrote, 
 ' ' to read the letter from your sister. I could not 
 reach the end, for her handwriting is not at all like 
 her pretty fingers. ... I should grow very tired 
 here were I not with Monsieur de Penthievre, who 
 treats me with ever-increasing kindness. ... I de- 
 vour letters and books. I have gone through the whole 
 of the little library. The stories of Marmontel seem 
 to me to be very dull." 
 
 Reading, we see, formed their chief distraction. 
 The duke himself, in spite of the austerity with which 
 he was credited and the reproaches so unjustly flung at 
 him, did not scorn it, and willingly commissioned 
 Florian to procure some books for him which he 
 thought he could read. 
 
 There was offered for sale a charming letter of Flo- 
 rian' s, addressed to Monsieur Girod, at the Marais, 
 September 13, 1790, in which the writer gives him 
 several commissions, among others to buy, at any price^ 
 for the Due de Penthievre the " Chansons" of Cou- 
 langes, in a small and well-bound volume. '* They 
 9 129 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 are rare, ' ' said he, ' ' but Monsieur de Bure knows what 
 that means." 
 
 The Due de Penthievre adored his grandchildren 
 and went several times every year to Belle Chasse, 
 says their governess, and overwhelmed them with gifts. 
 
 In his correspondence Grimm tells us in regard to 
 these presents a pleasing story, which must greatly 
 have embarrassed the grandfather, always so punc- 
 tilious as to the choice he made. 
 
 " There were no New Year's gifts this year," says 
 he, " about which more has been said than about those 
 which Monsieur le Due de Penthievre sent to Made- 
 moiselle d' Orleans, his granddaughter. This is the 
 story : Having deigned himself to visit all our great 
 toy-shops, his Highness decided finally on a beautiful 
 little palace, which in every respect seemed worthy of 
 his preference. The idea was a novel one, and its 
 workmanship was as elegant as ingenious ; thanks to 
 the play of a spring, easy to handle, all the windows 
 of the palace opened one after another and there were 
 seen innumerable numbers of the sweetest dolls in the 
 world. This gift, carried to the little princess at the 
 convent of Belle Chasse, soon became an object of 
 admiration to all the nuns, who gathered around to 
 see it. One of the youngest nuns in particular could 
 not keep from looking at it. After examining it in 
 detail and trying all its springs she finally perceived 
 a small secret button which had not yet been touched; 
 her finger quickly pressed it. Great heavens, what a 
 strange surprise ! All the dolls, which until then had 
 appeared, were at once replaced by piquant figures of the 
 Aretin. The scandal throughout the entire community 
 
 130 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 was great, no doubt, but it is said that even the piety 
 of the Mother Superior could not prevent her from smil- 
 ing when she saw what hands the devil had dared to use 
 in order to play such a trick. The toy merchant was 
 deservedly censured, but he protested his innocence, and, 
 impertinent as the whole conception was, it was easily 
 proved that chance alone was to blame." 
 
 131 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 For some time the king, to whom the chase was the 
 most agreeable if not the only pastime, had been anx- 
 ious to obtain Rambouillet, which was near, and 
 included a forest reputed to be full of game. Until 
 then, however, he had not dared to make known 
 his desires openly, either from reasons of economy 
 (for the cost of such an estate was great), or be- 
 cause he feared a refusal on the part of the duke, 
 whom he knew to be but little inclined to give 
 up his property. More than anything else, he had 
 in mind the mortifying reply which Turgot, em- 
 powered to purchase Sceaux for his aunts, brought 
 on himself. 
 
 " Monsieur le Controleur General," the duke an- 
 swered him, " I well knew that you preached liberty, 
 but I did not suppose you were a man to take such a 
 liberty." 
 
 Moreover, Louis XVI. well knew that there was an 
 obstacle to his project very difficult to overcome. Ram- 
 bouillet contained the treasures of the family of the Due 
 de Penthievre, and it seemed improbable that the son 
 of the Comte de Toulouse would consent to give up 
 those precious heirlooms. 
 
 132 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 But such was the kindness of the venerable prince, 
 such was his constant desire to be agreeable to the 
 king, that as soon as he heard of the latter' s wish he 
 consented to everything, and the price was fixed, by 
 common consent, at eighteen millions. 
 
 The removal of the regiments for Dreux took place 
 with great pomp, Tuesday, November 25th. 
 
 Thus, for Madame de Lamballe the whole of the 
 year 1783 slipped by gently and quietly. She kept 
 away from the intrigues of the court; but, in spite of 
 everything, backbiting concerning her went on just the 
 same. Bachaumont would have failed in the task he had 
 evidently imposed on himself of exposing the smallest 
 details if he had not made some allusion to the pam- 
 phlets on the degeneration of the morals at court, 
 " which spare," he adds, " neither the Polignacs, nor 
 the Polastrons, nor Madame de Lamballe." 
 
 Base calumny was hurled against the royal family 
 and all those who had any connection with the court 
 were greatly abused. Bachaumont, always vigilant, 
 takes care to inform us both of the date of the appear- 
 ance of the libel and its title, ' ' Bibliotheque des Dames 
 de la Cour, avec de nouvelles Observations. Decem- 
 bre, 1783," as well as of the title of the article which 
 especially concerns our princess, " La Matiere prefer- 
 able a 1' Esprit," dedicated to Madame la Princesse de 
 Lamballe by the Marquis de Clermont, and reviewed 
 by La Vaupalliere. 
 
 The princess returned to court at the approach of 
 
 133 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 Easter, as at that time the duties of her position called 
 her back to the queen. 
 
 " On the 5th the queen went with ceremony to the 
 church in the parish of Notre Dame, where she re- 
 ceived communion from the hands of the bishop, the 
 Due de Laon, her grand chaplain; the Princesse de 
 Lamballe, superintendent of the royal household, held 
 the napkin, which was also held by the parish chaplain. 
 
 * ' The afternoon of the 8th, Holy Thursday, the 
 queen heard the sermon preached by the Abbe Duvan- 
 cel, canon of Meaux. The bishop of Saint Papoul 
 gave absolution, after which the queen washed the 
 hands of a dozen poor girls and waited on them at 
 table. The Marquis de Talaru, head-master of the 
 hotel of her Majesty, set the table, the plates of which 
 were brought in by Madame Elisabeth of France, the 
 Princesse de Lamballe, superintendent of her Majesty, 
 and by the ladies of the palace, and the ladies-in-wait- 
 ing of the princesses." 
 
 The Baronne d'Oberkirch tells us that she went 
 twice to Madame de Lamballe' s house in the month 
 of June, first on the 13th, after her presentation at 
 court, then on the 27th. 
 
 " Madame de Lamballe," she says, " invited me to 
 supper by order of the queen." 
 
 The baroness insists on the "order." Was it to 
 make herself important, and to show, by the insistence 
 of the queen in inviting her, the esteem which Marie 
 Antoinette felt for her ? 
 
 134 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 Two foreign princes again came to visit Paris in 
 1784, the King of Sweden, travelling incognito under 
 the title of the Conite de Haga, and Prince Henry, 
 brother of the King of Prussia, also incognito, under 
 the title of the Comte d'CEls. Both claim our atten- 
 tion, for both were received by the Due de Penthievre. 
 
 The first of these noble visitors arrived in Paris on 
 Monday, June 7th, and did not leave until July 19th. 
 During his six weeks' sojourn he paid several visits to 
 the Due de Penthievre and to his daughter-in-law. 
 Historians do not agree as to the date of the prince's 
 visit to the Hotel de Toulouse. 
 
 While Fortaire places it on June 27th, Metra assigns 
 it to the 8th. But both are mistaken; we prefer a 
 third version, that of the Due de Penthievre himself. 
 
 " The day after his arrival in Paris," Metra tells 
 us, ' ' he was with the Princesse de Lamballe, and was 
 announced only from the ante-chamber. The princess 
 was greatly surprised, but she had to receive a friend 
 from his court, charged to give her a family kiss. 
 The count asked for the Due de Penthievre, to whom 
 the princess sent word, and the visit took place." 
 
 Another contradiction, for according to Metra it 
 was Madame de Lamballe who received the prince 
 first; and according to Fortaire, it was the contrary 
 which occurred. He makes the Comte de Haga say, 
 on taking leave of the Due de Penthievre: "I am 
 going to pay my respects to Madame la Princesse de 
 Lamballe." To establish the truth, we will give the 
 
 135 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 diaiy of the Due de Penthievre himself, only a few 
 pages of which are in the national archives. 
 
 " On June 9th," we read, " the King of Sweden 
 arrived at the Hotel de Toulouse and asked for Mon- 
 sieur de Penthievre and Madame de Lamballe, who 
 were at home. His Swedish Majesty first ascended 
 to Madame de Lamballe' s rooms (the King of Sweden 
 did not salute Madame de Lamballe, nor did the latter 
 salute the Comte de Haga), Monsieur de Penthievre 
 going there as soon as he was sent for. Madame de 
 Lamballe had chairs brought and the King of Sweden 
 seated himself before the arrival of Monsieur de Pen- 
 thievre. When the latter entered the room the visit took 
 place, the guest and the hosts standing. Monsieur de 
 Penthievre asked the King of Sweden if he wished an 
 arm-chair and his Swedish Majesty replied that etiquette 
 did not give one to the Comte de Haga. Had he 
 accepted, Monsieur de Penthievre would have had one 
 brought for himself and one for Madame de Lamballe. 
 The King of Sweden told Monsieur de Penthievre that 
 he expected to go to the home of the latter; he intro- 
 duced to him Monsieur de Fersheim, who accompanied 
 him ; and Monsieur de Penthievre, in turn, presented to 
 him Monsieur le Chevalier du Authiers, captain of his 
 guards, and Monsieur de Las Cases, who was with 
 him. The Duke said that the latter did not belong to 
 his household, but that he was there a great deal as his 
 wife was lady-in-waiting to Madame de Lamballe. 
 
 " They opened the two folding-doors for the King of 
 Sweden, who wished to be conducted neither by Mon- 
 sieur de Penthievre nor by Madame de Lamballe, both 
 of whom, nevertheless, did go with him as far as the 
 door of Madame de Lamballe' s sleeping-room, in which 
 
 136 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 the visit had taken place. He sent back Monsieur le 
 Chevalier du Authiers, vv^ho had follovi^ed him half-vi^ay 
 to the stairs, still saying that he vi^as only the Comte 
 de Haga. Monsieur de Penthievre and Madame de 
 Lamballe addressed the King of Sw^eden as ' Monsieur 
 le Comte.' The valet who announced Monsieur le 
 Comte de Haga, vi'hile opening the two folding-doors, 
 announced Monsieur de Penthievre in the same w^ay. " 
 
 This document, sufficiently curious in itself, proves 
 hovi^ punctilious the duke wras, how much he observed 
 matters of ceremony, and what care he took to note, 
 from day to day, all that he and his daughter-in-law 
 did. He does not stop at this point, and we return 
 to his diary: 
 
 " On the 1 0th Madame la Princesse de Conti, Ma- 
 dame la Duchesse de Chartres, and Madame la Princesse 
 de Lamballe, who was not with the Comte de Haga on 
 his ' arrival,' went to see the King of Sweden, but did 
 not find him. On the I2th the Due de Penthievre did 
 the same with no better results. On the 13th a gentle- 
 man came to the Hotel de Toulouse, on the part of the 
 king, to invite the duke to a ball to be given in honor 
 of the Comte de Haga on the following Friday. On 
 the 14th there was the opera and the king occupied 
 his box. The Duchesse de Bourbon and Madame de 
 Lamballe occupied the two first boxes on the right and 
 left sides of the house, according to their rank. 
 
 " 1 8th. —Court ball. 
 
 " 23d. — The king sent up a balloon at Versailles in 
 the courtyard of the ministers of state. 
 
 " 30th. — The Due de Penthievre left for Chateau- 
 villain." 
 
 137 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 Balloons were the rage at that time. Every one 
 talked of them ; they were the fad of the day, so we 
 are not surprised to see the novelty of the Due de 
 Chartres mentioned; but we doubt if the princess was 
 of the party, as is stated in the ' ' Nouvelles de Paris et 
 de Versailles " : 
 
 *' The balloon from Saint Cloud, constructed by the 
 Robert brothers, which was to have started this week, 
 has been postponed because of some accident which 
 happened to it during the bad weather of the past few 
 days. It is torn in several places. There is a report 
 that Monsieur le Due de Chartres and Madame de 
 Lamballe will ascend in it with the Robert brothers, 
 and will dine at Villers-Cotterets. " 
 
 After the few documents from which we have quoted, 
 we should be glad to give a bit of verse, composed this 
 time in honor of the princess. To hear her praises 
 sounded at this late day is a matter of such rare 
 occurrence that we cannot afford to omit these lines. 
 
 "The * Six Nouvelles' of Monsieur de Florian," 
 we read in the " Journal de Paris," " have just ap- 
 peared in Paris, from Didot, Senior, Rue Pavee-Saint- 
 Andre, and Debure, Senior, Quai des Augustins, in- 
 i8. 222 pages." 
 
 Monsieur de Florian has chosen for his epigraph this 
 beautiful verse of La Motte's: 
 
 L'ennui naquit un jour de runiformite. 
 (Ennui was one day born of monotony.) 
 138 
 
MADAME DE lAMBALLE 
 
 The epistle, dedicated to her Serene Highness Ma- 
 dame la Princesse de Lamballe, contains a delicate 
 eulogy : 
 
 Your pardon, Princess, if you trace 
 In reading this, by my hand penned, 
 
 The charming features of your face — 
 My volume's fate I thus defend. 
 
 My heroines I would enhance : 
 
 One has your frankness without guile, 
 Another has your charming smile — 
 
 Graces that everywhere entrance. 
 
 Thus, all your charms I've portioned out 
 To Celeste, Felice, Elvire. 
 
 A single charm, without a doubt. 
 Had made each lady doubly fair. 
 
 We will close the year with an event which caused 
 great excitement at the Hotel de Toulouse. A fire 
 broke out in the night above the rooms of Madame de 
 Lamballe. 
 
 " The princess," says Fortaire, " who had just 
 retired, at once arose and joined her father, whom she 
 did not leave until the fire was entirely extinguished." 
 
 According to the same authority It seems that * ' all 
 Paris came or sent to inquire after Monsieur le Due de 
 Penthievre and Madame de Lamballe." Moreover, 
 the king and the queen, at the first news of the fire, 
 despatched pages and equerries to find out about it and 
 to show the duke and his daughter-in-law the interest 
 they took in the circumstance. 
 
 In order to prove the anxiety that followed we 
 
 139 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 cannot do better than to quote the lines the prince in- 
 serted in the " Journal de Paris," under the signature 
 of his secretary : 
 
 "Chateau of Sceaux. 
 
 " December 28, 1784. | 
 "To the Editors of the 'Journal,' 
 
 "Gentlemen: Several persons having written me 
 concerning the accident w^hich happened four days ago 
 in the hotel, I beg you to be kind enough to insert the 
 following announcement in your next edition. 
 " I have the honor to be, etc., 
 
 " (Signed) De Mutrecy, 
 
 " Secretary in ordinary to his Serene Highness Monseigneur 
 le Due de Penthievre,^^ 
 
 " The Hotel de Toulouse caught fire on the night 
 of the 23d of this month, about one hour after mid- 
 night. Flames were first seen in the roof above the 
 ante-chamber of her Serene Highness Madame de 
 Lamballe, in a corner of the building facing the Rue 
 Baillif. By about half-past three in the morning the 
 fire was under control and at seven only a few pieces 
 of wood were smoking. A portion of the roof and a 
 part of the storeroom were destroyed. No one perished 
 in the accident. Monsieur le Lieutenant-General de 
 Police, Monsieur le Prevot des Marchands, and Mon- 
 sieur le Procureur du Roi au Chatelet went to the Hotel 
 de Toulouse as soon as they learned that it was on fire 
 and offered their services. The energy of Monsieur 
 Morat and the zeal of the firemen cannot be sufficiently 
 praised. 
 
 " Members of the Regiment of the French Guards 
 and of the Regiment of the Swiss Guards distinguished 
 themselves as usual on this occasion. 
 
 140 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 " The Augustine monks from the Place des Vic- 
 toires and the reverend Capuchin fathers from the Rue 
 Saint-Honore came to the Hotel de Toulouse and gave 
 active help." 
 
 The following notice appeared three days after the 
 article vi^e have just quoted, and shows that already 
 in the eighteenth century officers did not consider it 
 unpleasant to state publicly the services they had been 
 able to render: 
 
 "We omitted to say in the notice referring to the 
 fire in the Hotel de Toulouse that Monsieur le Chev- 
 alier Dubois rendered great assistance." 
 
 The fire was generally attributed to malice, and 
 Metra tells us that suspicion pointed to a certain Pou- 
 lailler. This man, a famous brigand of the day, had 
 already three times set fire to the forests of the duke 
 in order to avenge himself because, after the murder of 
 one of his guards, the prince had promised the reward 
 of one hundred louis to any one who should arrest 
 Poulailler. Other crimes led the man to the gallows 
 and he was hanged at the Porte Saint-Antoine. 
 
 In February, 1785, the princess purchased for the 
 sum of one hundred thousand livres the Hotel Louvois, 
 in the Rue de Richelieu, opposite the Arcade Colbert, 
 in which she had her horses and coaches stabled. 
 
 On the 26th of March, Marie Antoinette gave birth to 
 the Due de Normandie. According to Bachaumont, 
 there was no change in the formalities which had been 
 
 141 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 adopted at the birth of the dauphin. The * ' Journal 
 de Paris " stated that, contrary to custom, the Prin- 
 cesse de Chimay was summoned by the queen. We 
 think this is a mistake and that its bulletins on the 
 condition of the sovereign are at fault, especially as 
 Lassonne, the court physician, makes this complaint. 
 
 Everything leads us to suppose that Madame de 
 Lamballe w^ent to the queen, and this is confirmed by 
 the " Gazette de France," w^hich usually derived its 
 information from a reliable source. Moreover, the 
 same paper tells us that the princess vi^as present at 
 mass in the chapel of the chateau on Easter. We 
 know^ that it was not her custom to remain at court 
 when her duties to the queen did not detain her. 
 
 The health of Madame de Lamballe demanded the 
 greatest care. For a long time she had had to go to 
 the baths to seek rest from the terrible nervous affec- 
 tion which still troubled her. Discouraged by the 
 results the princess, like every one attacked by a similar 
 malady, tried a little of everything, listened to every 
 one, and hoped to find in the remedies of quacks a cure 
 for her trouble. 
 
 The previous year Dr. Deslon, a celebrated disciple 
 of Mesmer, came to Paris, and was not slow in win- 
 ning an unprecedented reputation as much on account 
 of the widespread though unfounded reports of his mar- 
 vellous cures, as because of the constantly increasing 
 number of his patients, who were almost all women. 
 
 His success had not failed to provoke jealousy and 
 
 142 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 to arouse the interest of even the royal circle. Thus 
 Bachaumont tells us that the king finally appointed a 
 committee consisting of four commissioners from the 
 Faculty, four from the Academy of Sciences, and as 
 many from the Royal Society, and that he had charged 
 it to examine the doctor's methods and his treatment 
 and to give him an account of both. 
 
 Naturally, Madame de Lamballe wished to try the 
 famous remedy, and the same author tells us, in these 
 terms, of the visit she made to the doctor for this pur- 
 pose: 
 
 * ' Finally, Madame de Lamballe, with a lady of her 
 suite, went to Dr. Deslon while he was mesmerizing. 
 It was impossible to refuse a princess, and in spite of the 
 word given by this physician to his patients, her High- 
 ness saw them surrounding the mysterious tub, surren- 
 dering themselves wholly to the influence of Deslon. 
 The women, especially, were greatly outraged by such 
 curiosity, for it was they who underwent most singular 
 convulsions, experiencing intense ecstasies of pleasure. " 
 
 This remedy was no more successful than the others 
 in effecting a permanent cure of the aggravated condi- 
 tion of the princess. We find her a few months later 
 under the care of Dr. SaifFert, consulting physician of 
 the Comte d'Artois, a man of great reputation, who, 
 moreover, left some enjoyable works on his science, 
 especially on the kind of malady that according to his 
 diagnosis afflicted Madame de Lamballe. Bachaumont 
 tells us, in short, when Madame de Lamballe went to 
 
 143 
 
MADJME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 the " great pill doctor of France," and how the queen 
 avenged herself by a bitter speech for the grudge she 
 claimed to have against Beaumarchais. Doctor Seiffer 
 {sic) — a German physician attached to Monsieur le 
 Comte d'Artois in the capacity of consulting physician 
 — says that, while attending Madame la Princesse de 
 Lamballe, the queen came there and asked him if he 
 was, as people said, the physician of the Sire de Beau- 
 marchais. Whereupon the doctor answered her Majesty 
 that he really had charge of the health of that celebrated 
 man, that he had been to Saint-Lazare to see him, and 
 that he was treating him at that time. '* You will 
 purge him in vain," cried the queen; "you cannot 
 remove all his evil habits." 
 
 In the month of May, Paris, as usual, celebrated the 
 birth of the Due de Normandie with fetes which lasted 
 several days. Madame de Lamballe received the queen 
 at Notre Dame the morning of the 23d and accom- 
 panied her as far as the Tuileries. On the 25th 
 Marie Antoinette left La Muette, to take supper 
 with the superintendent and to attend the play at the 
 Comedie Italienne, 
 
 The queen returned to Paris shortly after to sup 
 with the princess again, and to condole with her on the 
 death of her brother, the Comte de Villefranche, colo- 
 nel of the regiment of Savoie-Carignan ; he had suc- 
 cumbed to an attack of quinsy at the chateau of 
 Dommart, near Amiens. 
 
 The prince had been ill for some time, but, at the 
 
 144 
 
MJDJME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 instigation of the queen, his condition had been hidden 
 from Madame de Lamballe. 
 
 Here is an autograph letter from Marie Antoinette 
 to the Comtesse de Lage de Volude regarding this, 
 dated June 28, 1785 — that is, two days before the 
 death of the prince ; 
 
 *' I think that you are right, madame, to hide from 
 Madame de Lamballe her brother's condition. Since 
 you have sent to the Chateau de Domar it is just as 
 well to wait for news before saying anything to her. I 
 shall be delighted to see her this evening and shall tell 
 her nothing. I was at table when I received your 
 courier, but I will not detain him longer. Rest as- 
 sured, madame, of all my friendship." 
 10 
 
 145 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 Madame de Lamballe had scarcely had time to shed 
 more than a few tears for her brother, who had died 
 far away from her in disgrace because of his marriage 
 with Mademoiselle Magon, when a report of the most 
 serious nature concerning the queen suddenly arose. 
 It was early in the month of August when that scan- 
 dalous Affair of the Necklace ' came to light, involving 
 in the most compromising fashion the name of Marie 
 Antoinette. 
 
 On the 15th the Cardinal de Rohan' was arrested 
 at the palace of Versailles, still wearing his priestly 
 robes. Three days later, on her return from a trip 
 to Chateauvillain, where Monsieur de Penthievre had 
 just given a splendid fete, Madame de Lamotte,' the 
 accomplice, was also imprisoned in the Bastille. The 
 court was absolutely panic-stricken and, in addition to 
 all the difficulties by which the throne was endangered, 
 the most complete confusion reigned. The impres- 
 sion was so deep that passion ran away with every one. 
 The police were powerless to prevent the circulation 
 of libellous pamphlets, filled with stories more or less 
 calumniating, which the populace eagerly devoured. 
 
 Every attack was naturally directed against the queen. 
 
 146 
 
MADAME BE LAMBALLE 
 
 She became an object of hatred," From day to day, 
 as the law took its course, her enemies became more 
 numerous. To these were joined the friends of 
 Madame de Lamballe. Then the torrent reached its 
 height and every moment a new pamphlet appeared, 
 containing attacks which, although not always well 
 founded, were none the less cruel. Meanwhile, what 
 was going on at court ? 
 
 The king and the queen were holding the Due 
 d'Angouleme over the baptismal font. 
 
 The absence of the Princesse de Lamballe at that 
 time, wholly unlikely as it may seem, is justified by 
 the conduct of Marie Antoinette towards her, and by 
 the mortification from which she had never ceased to 
 suffer since the ascendency of the Duchesse de Poli- 
 gnac. Now the queen showed her almost indifference, 
 as is proved by this letter that Marie Antoinette ad- 
 dressed to the princess, under the date of May 14, 
 1783: 
 
 " I answer you merely to show you how much I 
 love you, for I am besieged with audiences and busi- 
 ness." 
 
 Formerly when the princess was in favor there 
 had been neither audience nor business to interfere 
 when the amiable and good Lamballe came, or when 
 the queen desired and sought her society. However, 
 appearances were always guarded, as is proved by the 
 formal visit referred to in the following lines: 
 
 147 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 "The queen left Trianon the 3d of this month, 
 and the same day her Majesty reached Paris. She 
 supped with the Princesse de Lamballe and condoled 
 with her on the death of her brother, the Prince de 
 Carignan," 
 
 If the queen was affected by the gossip caused by 
 the scandalous Affair of the Necklace, she did not for- 
 get — and that very thing was perhaps the cause of the 
 estrangement of the princess — to make sure of the 
 emoluments to the Polignacs, always greedy for honors 
 and especially for money. 
 
 Metra tells us that the Due de Polignac, feeling that, 
 because of his age (forty years), he deserved a higher 
 position than that of colonel, had offered his resignation ; 
 but he was not the man to give up thus easily some- 
 thing for nothing, and must surely have had the formal 
 promise of a compensation — if not more honorable, at 
 least more remunerative — which tallied exactly with 
 his ideas. 
 
 In fact the king, by vote of the State Council on 
 October 30th, had granted to the retiring colonel the 
 position of director-general of relays and messenger 
 service, a position created and established solely for the 
 need of the case. 
 
 According to the " Gazette de France," it was not 
 until the 2d of the following August that he was sworn 
 into office by the king. 
 
 In 1786 Madame de Lamballe did not appear at any 
 of the court fetes or ceremonies. Marie Antoinette 
 
 148 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 received communion at Notre Dame, the napkin being 
 held this time by the Duchesses de Luxembourg and 
 de Luynes. At the birth of the Princesse Helene 
 Beatrix Sophie the queen sent for the Princesse de 
 Chimay. 
 
 Certainly one would be led to suppose that the 
 estrangement of Marie Antoinette in regard to her 
 superintendent was the only cause for that absence, 
 and yet we must state that the health of the princess 
 was poor, and that it was all she could do to attend 
 to the honors of the house of her father-in-law during 
 the visit of the Archiduc Ferdinand, as is shown by the 
 following detailed account, taken from the diary of 
 the Due de Penthievre: 
 
 " The Archiduc Ferdinand and his wife, Marie 
 Beatrix d'Este, arrived at Paris May nth, under the 
 titles of the Comte and Comtesse de Nettembourg, and 
 left the 17th of June." 
 
 They were present at a grand dinner of more than 
 eighty covers, given at Sceaux on Wednesday, May 
 24th : ' ' My daughter-in-law dined at a small table 
 because she was indisposed," wrote the duke. 
 
 On Thursday, May i8th, the Princesse de Conti 
 gave a supper to the archduke and the archduchess. 
 Monsieur de Penthievre and Madame de Lamballe 
 were present; " the latter, being indisposed, did iT,ot 
 appear at table." 
 
 On Sunday, May 28th, Madame de Lamballe gave 
 
 149 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 a supper to the archduke and the archduchess in the 
 large hall of the Hotel de Toulouse. It seems that 
 Monsieur deigned to be present. 
 
 The Due de Penthievre, very punctilious as to mat- 
 ters of form, thanked Monsieur on June 3d for the 
 honor he had done the princess by his presence, and 
 a few days after Madame de Lamballe visited them, 
 and thanked the archduke and the archduchess for 
 their kindness in having come to supper vv^ith her. 
 
 How^ever this may be, to whatever causes one wishes 
 to attribute the absence of the princess from the court 
 ceremonies, not a paper nor a journal of that time refers 
 to her as present, and we do not see her again at Ver- 
 sailles until the 24th of December, when she presented 
 the Comtesse de Faucigny. We can merely say that, 
 as usual, she had spent some time at her father-in-law's 
 in company with her sister-in-law, and that all three 
 made a visit on October i6th to Monsieur de Belleval, 
 whose Chateau of Bois-Robin was in the neighborhood 
 of Aumale. This Belleval wrote an account of the 
 visit. 
 
 * ' The friendship which Monsieur le Due de Pen- 
 thievre deigns to show me," he wrote on October 17, 
 1786, " is very dear to me and he never loses an op- 
 portunity to give proof of it. Every time he comes 
 to Aumale, of which he is very fond and where he is 
 venerated and loved beyond description, he makes 
 a point of paying me a visit at Bois-Robin, and as 
 I always know in advance when to expect him I am 
 
 150 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 careful not to be out of the country, and come from 
 Abbeville to meet him. 
 
 " His Serene Highness travels as a simple gentleman, 
 in a coach and four preceded by an outrider. Madame 
 la Duchesse d' Orleans, his daughter, often accom- 
 panies him and sometimes, too, Madame la Princesse 
 de Lamballe. It is a fete day for my children; they 
 always appear, and in spite of my warning want to em- 
 brace the august subjects, who shower a thousand 
 favors on them, as they do on all the other ordinary 
 visitors. His Serene Highness and the two princesses, 
 who arrived at Aumale the day before yesterday, did 
 me the honor of coming yesterday." 
 
 In August, thanks to Bachaumont, still on the watch, 
 we know that Madame de Lamballe went to see the 
 Comtesse de La Motte. We cannot say from what 
 motive she acted, whether by order of the queen, or 
 from pure curiosity. Note in what terms our precious 
 novelist tells us of the singular visit and the reply, 
 quite as extraordinary, which the princess received 
 from the Mother Superior. 
 
 " During the last few days Madame de Lamballe 
 went to visit the general hospital, with which she was 
 unfamiliar. Having examined it in detail she asked to 
 see Madame de La Motte. Sister Victoire, the Mother 
 Superior, made excuses and evaded the request. The 
 princess insisted, taking advantage of being a princess 
 of the blood, which fact gave her the privilege of going 
 everywhere. Sister Victoire, unmoved, continued to 
 state that it was impossible. ' But why can I not see 
 Madame de La Motte ? ' asked her Highness impa- 
 
 151 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 tiently. — ' Madame, because to that she has not been 
 condemned.' " 
 
 We thought, and still think, this reply of Sister Vic- 
 toire extraordinary and we try to believe that it is one 
 of the many shafts of wit let fly from time to time by 
 Bachaumont. 
 
 The Assembly of Notables was the chief event of 
 1787. Originally called together for January 29th, 
 Parliament did not meet again until Thursday, the 22d 
 February. This delay, unfortunate in every respect, 
 aggravated the situation by prolonging the mental anxiety 
 and throwing the country into great trouble. 
 
 The princess appeared but seldom at court. Her 
 duties even to the queen suffered by her absence, which 
 seems to have been voluntary, either from indifference 
 or because of her health, or perhaps from some other 
 motive of. which we are ignorant. 
 
 This year, as during the preceding one, the Du- 
 chesses de Luynes and de Luxembourg again held 
 the napkin when the queen took communion. 
 
 Bachaumont tells us of the departure of the princess 
 for England, whither Madame de Polignac had already 
 gone. She was charged, according to him, with an 
 important mission to Monsieur de Calonne. 
 
 " About a fortnight ago the queen came to Ver- 
 sailles and before nine o'clock in the morning went 
 to the Princesse de Lamballe's; it was supposed that 
 there was business of great importance between her 
 
 152 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 Majesty and the superintendent. Shortly after, it was 
 learned that Madame de Lamballe had started for Eng- 
 land/ Innumerable conjectures arose as to this jour- 
 ney. The general opinion at court was that the prin- 
 cess was going to negotiate with Monsieur de Calonne 
 in order to prevent him from publishing in his ' Me- 
 moire ' articles written for private reading only, such as 
 the mention of loans of money sent the emperor by his 
 august sister, etc., etc. Somewhat of an obstacle to this 
 theory was the fact that Monsieur de Calonne was in 
 Holland, unless it might be that the superintendent 
 first went into that country or for less formality had 
 planned with the ex-comptroller-general a meeting in 
 Great Britain." 
 
 The opinion of Bachaumont, unfortunately, is not 
 always to be trusted; it is far from infallible and his 
 accounts are very often invented. Thus, in the pres- 
 ent case why does he wish to make the princess under- 
 take missions more or less agreeable, more or less deli- 
 cate ? It is so simple and so much more probable 
 to suppose that the journey was necessitated wholly by 
 the wretched state of health of the poor woman, who 
 was soon to be placed under treatment, according to a 
 letter written by her to her " dear little one " — Madame 
 de Lage Volude, no doubt. In this letter she says that 
 she is taking baths and staying in various country houses. 
 She had heard Madame Obart, who had been acting in 
 Paris. This celebrated actress was playing the role of 
 Nina, but in a manner ridiculous enough to make one 
 die of laughter. She took so much trouble in the 
 
 153 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 declamation that she was all in a perspiration. ' ' Adieu, 
 my little one; I am going to bed, in order to get up 
 early in the morning for the baths." 
 
 Madame de Polignac also was at this time in Eng- 
 land for her health. It was no secret that several 
 months before she had offered her resignation to the 
 queen : 
 
 " The resignation of Madame la Duchesse de Poli- 
 gnac is now a settled fact; her poor health obliges her to 
 take the water cure in England; what epigrams and 
 jokes on this retirement! " 
 
 The queen, with Madame Elisabeth, went to Trianon 
 for a month. 
 
 We have no doubt that the princess went to Eng- 
 land on account of her health, but Bachaumont, who 
 clings to his first idea, tells us that Madame de Lam- 
 balle returned with two copies of the " Memoires " of 
 Monsieur de Calonne, one of which was for the queen. 
 
 Madame de Lamballe arrived in France in time to 
 be present at the exile of the princes of the blood, 
 whom Louis XVI., more and more dissatisfied at their 
 conduct, more and more annoyed by their ceaseless 
 opposition, relegated, each to his own estate. 
 
 On Tuesday, November 20th, at six o'clock in the 
 evening the Due d' Orleans received, through the 
 Baron de Breteuil,°a letter from the king ordering him 
 to leave for his estate of Villers-Cotterets before the 
 meeting broke up. The prince was expressly forbid- 
 
 154 
 
MADAME DM LAMBALLE 
 
 den by his sovereign to see any member of his family 
 or his household, and the instructions of Monsieur de 
 Breteuil in this respect were so precise that he had 
 orders not to leave his royal prisoner. At the moment 
 of departure, as anxious about his duty as about the or- 
 ders received, Breteuil looked as if he were about to step 
 into the carriage of the prince, which proceeding drew 
 from the latter, already in a bad humor, the following 
 sharp remark: " Well, get up behind! " 
 
 As always in such a case, royal severity made a 
 victim of the Due d' Orleans, of whom every one 
 thought proper to complain ; complaints, for that 
 matter, which were not of long duration and which, 
 by witty sayings and jokes, promptly became ridicu- 
 lous. "They say," cried Bachaumont, "that, con- 
 trary to the rules of optics-, the duke becomes larger 
 the farther away he goes." 
 
 At the first news of the exile of her brother-in-law, 
 Madame de Lamballe had gone to the queen to beg 
 her to intercede with the king in his behalf, but It 
 seems that she found her friend inflexible. 
 
 Disappointed with her cold reception the princess 
 resolved to betake herself to Villers-Cotterets, where 
 she found the Duchesse d' Orleans and her children. 
 She took to heart the interests of the duke, her brother- 
 in-law. 
 
 But let us leave politics for an instant and turn our 
 attention to an episode in the world of letters. 
 
 On Friday, February 29th, the Theatre Fran^ais 
 
 155 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 gave the first representation of a metrical tragedy in 
 five acts. 
 
 The hero was a young, insignificant author. It 
 was known merely that his father was in the service 
 of the Due de Penthievre, and that his early efforts 
 had been furthered by some powerful aid. Let us now 
 explain the help received by Nepomucene Lemercier, 
 and let him tell how Florian encouraged his first literary 
 steps. 
 
 " I never forget," said he, " that our amiable Flo- 
 rian was the one to give me the first encouragement in 
 my literary vocation. He did not scorn to mount to 
 the third floor of the lodging of a timid scholar, whom 
 he flattered with his praise. He returned later to com- 
 pliment me enthusiastically on my tragic essay, in the 
 name of the Princesse de Lamballe, of whom I was 
 the favorite godson. Moreover, he prevailed on me 
 to read him the tragedy of ' Meleagre,' which my 
 fifteen and a half years excused, and which the prin- 
 cess hastened to have put on the stage by an order 
 obtained from Queen Marie Antoinette." 
 
 In his reception address at the French Academy, 
 Victor Hugo spoke of his predecessor in these eloquent 
 terms : 
 
 " A devoted subject and almost personal servant of 
 Louis XVI., he saw the coach pass by on the 2ist of 
 January ; godson of Madame de Lamballe, he watched 
 the pike pass on September 2d ; the friend of Andre 
 Chenier, he beheld the cart of the Seventh Thermidor. 
 Thus at the age of twenty he had already seen be- 
 
 156 
 
MJDJME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 headed, in the three beings most sacred to him after his 
 father, royalty, beauty, and genius — deity excepted, 
 the three most beautiful attributes of the universe." 
 
 At the close of the play the public demanded the 
 author, and the princess, after she had pressed a 
 motherly kiss on his brow, presented him in the hall. 
 But let the ancient minister of public instruction 
 of the monarchy of July speak. He is much better 
 fitted than are we to describe the early attempts of the 
 future Academician. 
 
 " You have spoken of ' Meleagre.' At the age of 
 fifteen you were writing odes, Lemercier, and trag- 
 edies. The queen wanted ' Meleagre ' to be played. 
 The queen wanted to be present at the performance. 
 The queen wished to have the boy-poet in her box, the 
 better to enjoy a success of which she had no doubt, 
 and which, in short, answered her expectations. The 
 queen, finally, when the audience shouted for the 
 author, had him presented by Madame de Lamballe, 
 his godmother, to the delighted public, which, in turn, 
 wished the princess to embrace the young laureate. 
 This she did with much grace in the midst of the 
 applause of the audience." 
 
 In spite of the ceremony, in spite even of his illus- 
 trious helpers, this first attempt, although it denoted a 
 wonderful gift on the part of the author, did not have 
 the desired success. 
 
 "The play," according to the " Correspondance 
 litteraire," " was heard to the end with attention and 
 
 157 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 good will, but it was not hard to see the feeling which 
 inspired the listeners. The young author and his 
 friends had the good sense to withdraw the piece after 
 the first representation." 
 
 Perhaps this occasion served as a step towards a 
 reconciliation between Marie Antoinette and the prin- 
 cess, or perhaps the health of the latter allowed her to 
 return to her service. We know only that she accom- 
 panied the queen to her devotions. 
 
 " On March 29th the queen formally went to the 
 church of the parish of Notre Dame, where she re- 
 ceived communion from the bishop, the Due de Laon, 
 her grand chaplain ; the Princesse de Lamballe, super- 
 intendent of the royal household, held the napkin." 
 
 Six weeks later we find the princess at the baptism 
 of her nephews, aged respectively fifteen and thirteeri. 
 And it is the "Gazette de France" again, always 
 accurate in such matters, which gives us the most 
 exact details as to the ceremony : 
 
 " On the afternoon of Monday the I2th, the king 
 and the queen held over the baptismal font, in the 
 chapel of the chateau, the Due de Chartres and the 
 Due de Montpensier. Their Majesties were accom- 
 panied by Madame, daughter of the king, Monsieur, 
 Madame, Monseigneur the Comte d'Artois, Madame 
 Elisabeth de France, their Royal Highnesses Mon- 
 seigneur le Due d'Angouleme and Monseigneur le 
 Due de Berri, the Due and the Duchesse d' Orleans, 
 the Prince de Conde, the Due and the Duchesse de 
 
 158 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 Bourbon, the Due d'Enghien, the Prince de Conti, 
 the Due de Penthievre, and the Princesse de Lamballe. 
 
 "The Due de Chartres was christened Louis Phi- 
 lippe, and the Due de Montpensier Antoine Philippe. 
 
 " The baptismal service was performed by the 
 Bishop of Melun, grand chaplain of France, in the 
 presence of the Sire Jacob, curate of the parish of 
 Notre Dame." 
 
 Two days later a reception was given to Florian 
 in the Academy, of which he had been the laureate. 
 For some time the Due de Penthievre had warmly 
 supported this candidate. In 1785 the Duchesse de 
 Chartres and Madame de Lamballe had solicited the 
 position left vacant by the Abbe Millot for the friend 
 and the guest of their house, the faithful confidant of 
 the joys and the sorrows of their father. The prin- 
 cesses had been on the point of succeeding, but the 
 Academy, resisting in the end the pressing solicitations 
 of the two amiable women, gave the preference to the 
 Abbe Morellet, who, because of his age and his works, 
 seemed more worthy in their eyes to replace the pre- 
 ceptor of the Due d'Enghien. 
 
 Florian was, indeed, very young to aspire to such 
 an honor, but his patience and the ardent zeal of his 
 patrons were not long tried, for the death of the Car- 
 dinal de Luynes permitted him, at the age of thirty- 
 three, to realize his ambition. He held at that time 
 the chair of the archbishop of Sens,' who, twenty 
 years before, had blessed the unfortunate union of the 
 Prince de Lamballe. 
 
 159 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 It was, without doubt, the result of chance, but the 
 coincidence was none the less curious. 
 
 The gathering was magnificent and the presence of 
 the Due de Penthievre, whose joy was boundless, of the 
 Duchesse d' Orleans, surrounded by her children, and 
 of Madame de Lamballe, added great brilliancy. Hav- 
 ing paid a just tribute to the memory of his predecessor, 
 Florian spoke in most praiseworthy terms of his illus- 
 trious patron, to whom he was modest enough to 
 attribute his triumph. 
 
 Let us mention, in passing, an event cruel for the 
 Due de Penthievre and his relatives. The Marquise 
 de Lur-Saluces, who for some time had been attached 
 to the house of Penthievre, first as lady-in-waiting to 
 the duchess, and later as governess of Mademoiselle de 
 Penthievre, afterwards Duchesse d' Orleans, died on the 
 15th of June at the Hotel de Toulouse. 
 
 It is probable that the princess passed the close of 
 the year 1788 in travelling with her father-in-law, still 
 busy visiting his estates. Fortaire tells us that the 
 Due de Penthievre made these journeys between 1787 
 and 1789. 
 
 In any case, here is one of the pretty episodes of an 
 excursion to Tours, made by the princess and her charm- 
 ing companion. 
 
 *' This year (1788) the princess and her young friend 
 made a journey to the west of France.^ They stopped, 
 among other places, at Fontevrault, as guests of the 
 Abbess, Madame de Pardoillau d'Antin. I record a 
 
 160 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 little Incident of their trip. The princess, who was 
 travelling incognito and who desired to return promptly 
 to the queen, had left early in the morning and 
 had given orders to pass through Tours as quickly 
 as possible; but the secret of her going had been so 
 poorly kept that on arriving in front of the city she 
 found the whole populace in holiday attire, barring the 
 way, shouting to her ' Long live ! ' and compelling 
 her to stop. The princess was affected, no doubt, by 
 these demonstrations of affection and yet a cloud 
 veiled the joy which she felt at such a welcome. This 
 cloud Madame de Lage took care to note. It was, 
 she said, the shame of wearing short percale skirts 
 and straw hats in the midst of the beautiful ladies 
 covered with diamonds and plumes. 
 
 " During the journey we quickly put on rouge, and 
 tried to improve our appearance. We made a mirror 
 out of the coach windows, back and front, when we 
 saw all those regiments approaching, the city troops, 
 which in the hubbub led us as far as the archbishop's, 
 where we had to remain to dinner. ' ' 
 
 i6i 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 It was during the absence of the princess that 
 Mademoiselle Charlotte la Chassaigne made her debut at 
 the Comedie Fran^aise. She was said to be the daugh- 
 ter of Mademoiselle la Chassaigne and the Prince de 
 Lamballe. Regarding her debut, we quote an article 
 from the " Journal de Paris," but we will state that on 
 this subject the paper was in error, or at least that it was 
 mistaken as to the age of the actress. Granted that 
 she was really the child of the wretched prince, who 
 died in May, 1768, she was at least twenty. But 
 even at that time it was customary to take ofF a few 
 years from debutantes, no doubt in order to make them 
 more interesting. 
 
 " Yesterday a young and new actress, who had 
 been neither announced nor expected, appeared in the 
 role of ' Sophie ' in the ' Bienfait Anonyme.' We refer 
 to Mademoiselle Charlotte la Chassaigne, daughter of 
 an actress who for many years was prominent in this 
 theatre on account of her talent and her energy. For 
 this reason alone the debutante is interesting. Her age 
 (she is only fifteen) and the modesty of an unannounced 
 debut entitled her to indulgence, and in the course of 
 her acting this was justified. She received well-merited 
 applause. The public saw her with pleasure and 
 
 162 
 
MJDJME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 eagerly encouraged her. In an age in which no one 
 shows more than a leaning towards talent or asks more 
 from a debutante, it must be admitted that intelligence, 
 modesty, and truth are very happy auguries. We 
 urge her to perfect them by work and study." 
 
 The first two months of the year 1789 we again 
 lose sight of the princess. Was she at Vernon with 
 her father-in-law ? This is probable. The poor duke 
 was ill and his condition prevented him from attend- 
 ing the court festivities. His correspondence proves 
 his poor health: 
 
 "Vernon, December 29, 1788. 
 * ' We were told that you were to preside over the 
 Order of the Church at the States-General. I would 
 that this news were true ; although I have been troubled 
 the whole year with dizzy spells. For this trouble I 
 wear on my left arm an inconvenient blister, which 
 obliges me to keep out of a crowd. I shall neverthe- 
 less have the pleasure of seeing you for a ie^sr moments. 
 I have asked permission not to go to Versailles next 
 New Year's Day." 
 
 We do not again see Madame de Lamballe at court 
 until Holy Thursday, April 9th, when she went there 
 in order to accompany the queen to service. 
 
 Three days after, a new religious ceremony took 
 place, which concerned her more especially as it had 
 to do with the baptism of her niece. 
 
 " On the afternoon of the 17th, Mademoiselle, who 
 had been presented to the king, the queen, and the 
 
 163 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 royal family, was held over the baptismal font in the 
 chapel of the chateau by their Majesties, accompanied 
 by Monsieur, Monseigneur Comte d'Artois, Madame 
 Elisabeth de France, their Royal Highnesses Mon- 
 seigneur le Due d'Angouleme and Monseigneur le 
 Due de Berry, the Due and the Duchesse d' Orleans, 
 the Due de Chartres, the Due de Montpensier, the 
 Duchesse de Bourbon, the Due d'Enghien, the Prince 
 de Conti, and the Princesse de Lamballe. Mademoi- 
 selle was christened Eugenie Adelaide Louise. The 
 baptismal service was performed by the Cardinal de 
 Montmorency, grand chaplain of France, in the pres- 
 ence of the Sire Jacob, curate of the parish of Notre 
 Dame." 
 
 The times were growing more and more troubled. 
 No one escaped the shafts of the pamphleteers, who 
 aimed particularly at the most prominent. Two ribald 
 notices, specially directed against those who are of 
 interest to us, appeared : 
 
 " New Books. — ' Traite de I'usure et de la lesine ' 
 (' Treatise on Usury and Stinginess '), dedicated to 
 Monsieur le Due de C. by the Due de P., to be had 
 from the curate of Saint Eustache." 
 
 Then this villainous and wicked calumny directed 
 against our unhappy princess, who had no one to 
 defend her: 
 
 " Un petit Morceau de la Chemise de la Chaste 
 Suzanne" ("A Small Fragment of the Chemise of 
 the Chaste Suzanne "). 
 
 " This was olFered in vain to all the court ladies. 
 
 164 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 The Princesse de Lamballe took a part of it; It is 
 suitable for no one but a simple bourgeoise. " 
 
 We are as yet only at the beginning of the Revo- 
 lution, but there was interest in popular questions. 
 Madame de Lamballe acted like others and went to 
 the Petits Carmes to attend an exposition of some 
 new theories which were advanced. 
 
 '* On the 2ist," we read in the " Souvenirs d'Emi- 
 gration," *' Madame de Lage went with Madame de 
 Lamballe to a meeting of the Third Estate at the 
 Petits Carmes. A box had been arranged for Prince 
 George de Hesse, then in Paris, and the prince 
 hastened to make room there for the ladies. These 
 inquisitive dames brought away from the meeting a 
 painful impression akin to fright. On her return the 
 countess wrote to her mother: 
 
 ' ' Did' not we two, on foot, the princess and I, attend 
 the meeting of the Third Estate, at the Petits Carmes, 
 in the box of the prince, without saying a word to 
 any one ? We drew the curtains, for those wretches 
 were wholly capable of driving us away. They show 
 very evil tendencies. We remained there three hours, 
 but left because they were making a frightful up- 
 roar. We saw a poor gentleman arrive who had been 
 raised to the peerage four days before. He had pre- 
 sented himself yesterday at the Assembly of the Nobil- 
 ity, where he had not been received ; he came to-day 
 to that of the Third Estate, but was sent away. I 
 was troubled about him. In the same way Barthes 
 was refused in both the Assembly of the Nobility 
 and the Third Estate, but he withdrew before he was 
 put to the vote. Monsieur de Vemerange likewise; 
 
 165 
 
MJDAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 nowhere would they receive him, and when Monsieur 
 de Simon wished to present himself they cried out, 
 ' No de Simon ! No de Simon ! ' " 
 
 A few days later the States-General opened. All the 
 princesses attended, taking seats in the galleries, which 
 were saved for them. The attitude of the queen was 
 so noticeable that it drew this exclamation from the 
 Comtesse de Lage: 
 
 "How beautiful the queen was that day! Her 
 melancholy air added still more to her noble and digni- 
 fied bearing." 
 
 In addition to this event — the prelude of many 
 others which for more than one reason wise heads 
 feared — the queen had good cause for melancholy. 
 She was taking account of the situation and she saw 
 how day by day the prestige of royalty was lessening. 
 But, before all else, as mother, loving and passionate, 
 the mother of a family that was dying out, had she not 
 already the presentiment that her son, the dauphin of 
 France, alas ! was to be taken from her, that God was 
 soon to reclaim him ? 
 
 Let us leave to the adorable Comtesse de Lage, our 
 invaluable chronicler, the task of showing the progress 
 made by the dread maladv of which the poor child was 
 
 to die : 
 
 "April 8th. 
 " This afternoon we went to see the little dauphin," 
 she wrote. "It is heart-breaking. Such endurance, 
 such consideration and patience go straight to the heart. 
 
 1 66 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 When we arrived some one was reading to him. He 
 had had a fancy for lying on his billiard table where 
 they had placed his mattress. My princess and I 
 looked at it, and it occurred to us both that it re- 
 sembled the mournful state bed after death. Madame 
 de Lamballe asked him what he was reading. ' A very 
 interesting period of our history, Madame : the reign 
 of Charles VII. ; there were many heroes then.' I 
 took the liberty of asking if Monseigneur read con- 
 nectedly or merely the most striking episodes. ' Con- 
 nectedly, Madame. I have not known them long 
 enough to choose; besides, it all interests me. ' These 
 were his very words. His beautiful dying eyes turned 
 towards me as he spoke. He recognized me; he said 
 in a low tone to the Due d'Harcourt that they had been 
 told of the arrival of the princess, and that she had just 
 come. ' It is, I think, the lady who so greatly likes 
 my map of the world, ' Then turning to me, ' This 
 will perhaps amuse you for a moment.' He ordered 
 a valet to turn it around, but I will confess to you that 
 although when I saw it on New Year's Day I had 
 been delighted with the perfection of the immense 
 machine, to-day I was much more interested in listen- 
 ing to that dear and unfortunate child whom we saw 
 hourly growing weaker." 
 
 Finally, here is another very touching visit, in which 
 Madame de Lage gives an account of the gentleness 
 of the child and the mother-love of Marie Antoinette. 
 
 " The poor child," wrote the countess, "is so 
 ill. . , . Everything the little one says is beyond 
 belief; he breaks the queen's heart; he is wonderfully 
 tender to her. The other day he begged her to dine 
 
 167 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 with him in his room. Alas ! she swallowed more 
 tears than bread." 
 
 The doctors had long before given their opinion 
 about this frail, sickly child. Every possible care 
 could not win against fate, and the 4th of the follow- 
 ing June he, who one day would have worn the crown, 
 passed away at Meudon. The fatal news spread 
 rapidly. Some sincere tears were shed, but in silence, 
 almost in secret. Although they dared not pity the 
 queen openly, great and small, noble and plebeian, 
 with common accord wept at the grief of the mother. 
 
 The princess was among the first to reach Meudon, 
 in company with the countess, who, some days after, 
 described to her mother the sad visit : 
 
 " The coffin of Monsieur le Dauphin was open. I 
 was at Meudon with the princess, to sprinkle him with 
 holy water. Everything was white and silver and in 
 the room in which he lay the light was brighter than 
 anything I had ever seen. His crown, his sword, and 
 his orders lay on the small coffin covered with silver 
 cloth, and two rows of monks on each side prayed 
 continually, day and night." 
 
 The Due de Normandie was at once declared dauphin 
 by the king and the court went into mourning for two 
 months and a half. But terrible events were not slow 
 in obliterating the memory of this domestic sorrow. 
 The populace took possession of the Bastille.' Three 
 days later this same populace danced on the still smok- 
 ing ruins of the State prison. 
 
 168 
 
MJDJME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 Information concerning the Princesse de Lamballe 
 during these events is lacking. She was not in Paris 
 and was probably with the Due de Penthievre, whom ill 
 
 health still kept away from court. 
 
 " Paris, July 4, 1789. 
 " I am only passing through here, whence I send 
 this letter. My health, which is still poor, compels 
 me to keep away from a crowd. My jiEsculapius 
 wanted to send me to Italy, thinking that a warmer 
 climate might help me." 
 
 This letter, written a few days before July 14th, 
 evidently proves the absence of the duke. Further- 
 more, we know that in the month of August the prin- 
 cess was travelling in Switzerland with her faithful 
 companion, but without her father-in-law, who wrote 
 on February 26, 1790: 
 
 " My intended journey to Rome is of the same 
 nature as my reported journey to Switzerland last 
 autumn, . . ." 
 
 Fortunately, Fortaire, who kept a diary of the 
 facts and engagements of his master, and who, on 
 the whole, is exact, tells us that Madame de Lamballe 
 came to her father-in-law at Aumale, the 2d of Sep- 
 tember, to go again to Eu, where she spent a month. 
 
 At this time, as dangers began to increase on all 
 sides, examples of devotion became more and more 
 rare. A sort of madness seized many, and turned 
 from the throne those who were its natural support, 
 and who should never have deserted the royal family. 
 
 169 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 The Comte d'Artois, giving the first example of 
 desertion, thought he ought to go away, and left the 
 court to face dangers of every kind. 
 
 Some time after, the Comtesse d'Artois also left. 
 Her departure was variously interpreted. 
 
 " To-day," we read in the "Journal de Versailles," 
 " Madame la Comtesse d'Artois with a suite of about 
 thirty has left to join her husband at Turin. She an- 
 nounces her return for next spring, but it is not sup- 
 posed that it will take place so soon. All the silver- 
 ware, the horses, and the carriages of the prince have 
 been sold and converted into money. He wishes also 
 to dispose of the superb library which he bought from 
 Monsieur de Paulmy for six hundred thousand livres. 
 We do not know how France will regard this prince 
 who converts into money and carries into a strange 
 country, not only his revenues, which are, in part, the 
 sweat of the people, but the stocks he possesses in the 
 kingdom. 
 
 "It is reported that Bagatelle is for sale. They 
 add that the officers of the prince were merely thanked, 
 and received no kind of remuneration. This is not 
 the way to preserve people's good opinion or to repair 
 mistakes." 
 
 A departure still more to be censured was that of 
 Madame de Polignac. This woman, whom the queen 
 had overwhelmed with most signal favors, who had 
 lived on absolutely intimate terms with her, did not 
 hesitate to desert her friend the moment she felt her 
 own safety at stake. Appointed governess of the chil- 
 dren of France in 1782, she had been sworn in Novem- 
 
 170 
 
MJDJME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 ber 3d, but some time previous, under the pretext of 
 the constant care demanded by her failing health, she 
 had, merely to gain her liberty up to a certain point, 
 offered her resignation, which she knew would be re- 
 fused. In her generosity or her blindness, and to 
 keep for a friend, whose pressing need of money she 
 well knew, the salary of her position, Marie Antoi- 
 nette, they said, had declared herself willing to undertake 
 the education of the princes. This modus vivendi had 
 been readily accepted and the duchess would certainly 
 not have thought of changing it had it not been for cir- 
 cumstances. The day after the taking of the Bastille 
 she again offered her resignation, which, formally 
 expressed this time, was finally accepted, the 1 6th of 
 
 July. 
 
 Times had greatly changed. Formerly If a position 
 became vacant, either from a resignation or death, at 
 once every one sought it, exerted himself to obtain it, 
 intrigued, and put forward his claims to it. But now 
 it was not so. The competitors could be counted, and 
 yet the king had the rare good fortune to place over 
 his children a woman of great merit, full of noble senti- 
 ments. The Marquise de Tourzel, although ignorant 
 of none of its dangers, accepted, without fear, the posi- 
 tion of governess, and held it to the end, giving the 
 royal family marks of a disinterestedness, a courage, 
 and a devotion without limit. Presented to the queen 
 soon after her appointment, Madame de Tourzel was 
 sworn in August 2d. 
 
 171 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 During the whole of September, which she spent at 
 Eu with her brother-in-law, sad memories of the past 
 must have haunted the mind of Madame de Lamballe. 
 Already singularly distressed and broken-hearted at 
 the waning popularity of Versailles, the news from 
 court, which she did not fail to receive, could not but 
 augment her scorn for the mob of courtiers. How 
 fortunate, then, she must have thought herself to have 
 lived for so long apart from that class which in happier 
 times was deterred neither by acts of baseness nor by 
 the most degrading humiliations. In our opinion, there 
 is no need to seek for other causes for her temporary 
 estrangement. The princess rose in so great indigna- 
 tion at the flight of Madame de Polignac, who had 
 left without any intention of returning, and so bitterly 
 criticised the conduct of certain other persons, that 
 not for one instant can a similar accusation be brought 
 against her. Her promptness in coming to the humili- 
 ated royal family is sufficient proof of this. 
 
 A courier arrived at the Chateau d'Eu on October 
 7th, at nine o'clock in the evening, and brought to 
 the Due de Penthievre and to Madame de Lamballe 
 the news of what had happened at Versailles, October 
 5th and 6th, and of the return of the king and his 
 family to the Tuileries. 
 
 The first moment of stupefaction over, the prin- 
 cess, whose one idea was to leave, said, still accord- 
 ing to Fortaire : * ' Oh, papa, what a horrible thing ! 
 I must start at once." 
 
 172 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 Such feelings were too strongly shared by the duke 
 for him not to encourage them in her. His health 
 alone prevented him from leaving at once, and his 
 departure did not take place until the following day. 
 
 About two hours after the arrival of the news, in 
 a frightful storm and on the darkest of nights, accom- 
 panied by a single maid and by one of the duke's gentle- 
 men, Madame de Lamballe was rolling along towards 
 Paris. 
 
 Many a woman would have been overcome by fear. 
 The princess, on the contrary, had long before planned 
 her line of action, which was suggested by the feelings 
 of her heart, and hastened to the queen, of whose peril 
 only she now thought. It seems that, by a very nat- 
 ural sentiment, her afFection increased as her friend 
 became more and more deserted and as she saw her 
 abandoned. What a contrast ! In the midst of all 
 these desertions the frivolous woman, considered until 
 then as weak, the woman of pleasure parties, the life 
 and the soul of balls and sleighing parties — in short, 
 the companion of Trianon — through her unselfishness 
 became heroic. In spite of all possible haste, the 
 princess was unable to reach Paris before late in the 
 evening of October 8th. 
 
 Those two October days, so fatal to royalty, showed 
 the people how far insolence could lead them. Never- 
 theless, those men and women who had come to Ver- 
 sailles to protest against the scarcity of bread acted 
 without premeditation. The court was so ill informed 
 
 173 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 as to their coming that Marie Antoinette was at 
 Trianon, absolutely ignorant of what was taking place, 
 while Louis XVI. was quietly hunting in the suburbs. 
 Thus there had been no warning of the event, near as 
 it was. 
 
 As further proof of this, there is a joint letter which 
 was addressed to the princess by the king, the queen, 
 and Madame Elisabeth. The first seven lines are in 
 the king's handwriting, the seventeen following in the 
 queen's, and those remaining in that of Madame Elisa- 
 beth. 
 
 Louis XVL was sending to Madame de Lamballe 
 some papers for which the Due de Penthievre had 
 asked. Marie Antoinette was begging that she would 
 go .at once with Madame Elisabeth to the gardens at 
 Trianon, which Monsieur de Jussieu had come to 
 visit, and where she was making new and extensive 
 plantations. ' ' We are quiet enough here for the pres- 
 ent," she continued; "the bourgeois and the good 
 people are kindly disposed towards us." 
 
 174 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 The royal family had now for good or bad been in- 
 stalled two days in the Tuileries. The " Gazette de 
 France," ' mute as to the 5th and 6th of October, 
 deigns to come out of its enforced silence and tells us 
 this fact: 
 
 " Last Tuesday " (October 6th), it says, '* the king 
 arrived in Paris with the queen, the dauphin, Madame, 
 Madame Elisabeth, Monsieur and Madame." 
 
 The journal carefully refrains from making the 
 smallest comment. 
 
 On her arrival at the Tuileries Madame de Lam- 
 balle was struck by the consternation depicted on every 
 face, and by the universal confusion. In a short time 
 she learned of the terrible events which had just taken 
 place, and heard with surprise, mingled with indigna- 
 tion and anger, through what a humiliating ordeal the 
 royal family had passed. The queen threw herself 
 weeping into her arms, told her how she had been in- 
 sulted, and what fears she had for the future. 
 
 In order that she might the more readily attend to 
 the duties of her service and devote herself wholly to 
 the queen and the royal family, Madame de Lamballe 
 at once settled in the Pavilion de Flore, which she did 
 
 175 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 not leave, except for short visits to her estates at Passy 
 or to her father-in-law, who, Fortaire tells us, was 
 established until the beginning of 1790 on his prop- 
 erty of Chateauneuf-sur-Loire. 
 
 It was no doubt during one of these absences, 
 necessitated by the precarious condition of the Due de 
 Penthievre, that Marie Antoinette addressed to the 
 amiable and devoted princess the following letter, ten- 
 derly reproaching her about her health, of which, so 
 great was her desire to please and to be loved, she did 
 
 not take enough care : 
 
 " To-day, November gth. 
 ' ' You will not take care of your health, and this 
 troubles me. See, my dear Lamballe, I shall be angry 
 with you in earnest. My health is tolerably good, 
 that of my children excellent ; they are almost contin- 
 ually with me, and occupy me much of the time; the 
 dauphin is easier to manage ; he no longer has those 
 attacks of anger. My daughter is very sweet. The 
 poor little thing wants to see you. ... I am sad 
 and greatly worried at the condition of affairs, although 
 the outlook seems to be somewhat better; but one can- 
 not trust anything, for I see even in our friends only 
 a weakness which cannot hold out against the slightest 
 violence of the wicked." 
 
 Meanwhile a report was spread abroad that the re- 
 serve of the treasury was completely exhausted. This 
 fatal error, due partly to foolish extravagance combined 
 with a deplorable management of the finances, al- 
 though long foreseen by the wisest heads, did not fail 
 
 to cause serious alarm. On account of the lack of 
 
 176 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 credit, it was necessary to resort to subterfuges to meet 
 the daily needs. 
 
 In September, Parliament stated that, for the time 
 being at least, it was able to continue payments. 
 
 It was a question of coming to the aid of the coun- 
 try by " patriotic gifts." 
 
 Always animated by the highest sentiments, always 
 eager to set a good example, the Due de Penthievre was 
 one of the first to conform to the suggestion, and, on 
 October 3d, sent to the mint his silver plate, amounting 
 to eighteen hundred and forty-eight marks, sixteen 
 deniers, and twelve grains. 
 
 The princess did not send hers until a month later 
 (November 3d), and her gift, although more modest, 
 was, nevertheless, quite important, since it amounted to 
 six hundred and twenty-five marks, three ounces, six- 
 teen deniers, and twelve grains. At this point we 
 must state that Madame de Lamballe was somewhat 
 reluctant and decided to offer her plate only after hav- 
 ing held with Monsieur Toscan, her treasurer, an im- 
 portant correspondence in which she recommended 
 him to find out, before giving up anything, what her 
 brother-in-law the Due d' Orleans was going to do. 
 This letter, no doubt written in September, bears a 
 seal of red wax, on which is a tree with these words : 
 " Plutot mourir que changer " (die rather than change). 
 
 "To-day, the 25th. 
 *' My brother-in-law, after the edict of' the council, 
 is sending a courier to give orders to take his silver 
 12 177 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 plate to the mint. You must say to Emy to collect 
 all I own, which you will have valued by Auguste and 
 taken to the mint, of course under the conditions stated 
 in the decree of the council. You will first find out 
 from Monsieur Villot, to whom my brother-in-law 
 gives his orders, what Monsieur le Due d' Orleans in- 
 tends to do about this. You will give only as much 
 of my plate as my papa gave of his. Meanwhile you 
 will have it put away, so that it may not appear again 
 in my rooms. It goes without saying that none of the 
 plates or spoons, nor the two or three silver pans 
 which I ordered for the kitchen when I was poisoned, 
 shall be included in the plate taken to the mint. I 
 know all that you can write about my making away 
 with my property, but enough has been said about 
 the matter; it is not necessary to add anything further. 
 The poorer I am, the more necessary it is to show 
 what my position is under the present circumstances; 
 moreover, this sacrifice will not be the most painful 
 of all those which I shall have to make, if my fortune 
 lessens, as I expect it will. When I go to Paris 
 I shall see about getting myself a service of English 
 earthenware. You will let me know what Monsieur 
 Villot says to you and the estimate of my plate." 
 
 A kvf days later, she again wrote (dated October ist) 
 for an exact inventory of the contents of her house. 
 
 " I cannot," said she, " at present explain my ques- 
 tions about the inventory of my house, for it would 
 be too long for Emile. Besides, as it is necessary for 
 Monsieur d'Yanville to have his package, it will be 
 better to wait. I need, also, the old inventories of 
 Monsieur Loques's time, which I have not with me. 
 
 17a 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 So, until my return, patience, although you have none 
 too much. . . ." 
 
 The wretched woman, becoming frightened, coun- 
 termanded the order for her plate and ended by saying 
 that she was going to practise economy and to reform 
 the management of her house; " unfortunately for my 
 servants," she adds. 
 
 Here are further details which show her state of 
 mind. She sacrificed Passy, which she rented fur- 
 nished. Then she recommended to Toscan the great- 
 est secrecy concerning her plans. 
 
 Her treasurer sent her his accounts and, after exam- 
 ining them, the princess tells him of some errors. 
 
 " To-day, the 23d. 
 
 "You have made a mistake in the salary of the 
 surgeon. You give it as twelve hundred and it is 
 only one hundred. Monsieur SaifFert ought to know 
 about the pensions since he has the brevet. . . . 
 
 " Have you given Monsieur Loques ten louis for 
 the pension of my nurse at Turin, which I told you 
 to pay and which I mentioned to my sister ? 
 
 " Tell Mademoiselle Mertins that she had me sub- 
 scribe for Monsieur Gorsas and not for the ' Courier 
 Fran^ais.' " 
 
 " To-day, the 21st. 
 
 '* . . . If the wall had not fallen," she writes again 
 to Monsieur Toscan, " nothing would have been fur- 
 ther from my intention than to have you repair Passy, 
 especially as I knew beforehand that it would be ex- 
 pensive. 
 
 179 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 " However, I hope the cost will be reasonable when 
 all is finished. I want nothing paid until all the 
 accounts have been collected and examined by me. 
 
 I also wish to make an estimate as to the 
 
 cost of my drawing-room. I shall decide nothing as 
 yet in regard to the livery of my servants; for the 
 present those whose duties bring them near me are in 
 uniform, and this must suffice for a time; as there are 
 no longer liveries, neither vests nor trousers need be 
 furnished. There will be a wholly different order of 
 things in future. 
 
 ' ' I am charmed that the house at Passy is destroyed, 
 but you must have seen from the letter I sent you that 
 I never gave permission, and that I never want it given 
 without my consent. Send me the estimate of my 
 
 drawing-room, and that which Monsieur L made 
 
 of my flower garden." 
 
 In spite of the words of Fortaire, in which now and 
 then we find some slight errors, the Due de Penthievre 
 was at Amboise early in the year 1790. The poor 
 prince was still ill with asthma and required great 
 care and attention. And yet, weak as he was, so 
 great was his wish to do his duty that he strove in 
 spite of his invalidism to carry out his obligations. In 
 spite of his suffering, in spite of the difficulty he had 
 in walking, he wished to pay his respects to the king 
 and the royal family. This is what he says on this 
 subject. 
 
 "Amboise, January ig, 1790. 
 " No one could be more sensitive than I," he 
 writes to the Cardinal de Bernis, " of the new proofs 
 
 180 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 of interest which your Eminence is kind enough to 
 show me on the new year. . . . My health has 
 obliged me to ask the king to allow me to spend the 
 winter on the estates I have bought on the banks of the 
 Loire. I have very troublesome attacks of dizziness, 
 which my physicians say are not dangerous, but which 
 prevent my going into society. I have not come to 
 the place whence I am writing this letter without 
 having paid my respects to their Majesties at the 
 Tuileries." 
 
 Were we not right in saying that the excellent 
 prince, although living in retirement, nevertheless ful- 
 filled all the duties of his position — namely, those de- 
 manded by his birth — as well as all those of a French 
 citizen ? 
 
 "To-morrow," he wrote from Amboise the 26th 
 of February, 1790, to his friend and confidant the 
 Cardinal de Bernis, " I shall take the civic oath, before 
 the municipality of the town of Amboise, the castle of 
 which I am occupying. This house is very poorly 
 decorated in comparison with Chanteloup, but the 
 view from it is superb. I will send at once the report 
 of my taking the oath in the district of Saint Honore, 
 within the limits of which is the Hotel de Toulouse. 
 The Commune of Paris seems to set some value on this 
 step of mine. I think I ought to do it, as the king has 
 accepted the new constitution, and as Monsieur has 
 taken the oath they desire of me. I have given an 
 account to his Majesty, as he prescribed, of the course 
 I am following." 
 
 The enforced absence of the Princesse de Lamballe, 
 
 181 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 at this time with the Due de Penthievre, weighed 
 heavily on her. She was anxious about the position of 
 the queen, but Marie Antoinette, without wholly hiding 
 the truth from her, reassured her as much as possible. 
 
 " Dear heart," she wrote the 4th of March, 
 " present circumstances occupy my thoughts so con- 
 stantly that I have not seemed very appreciative of 
 your letter and your sweet friendship. You are of 
 those whose hearts never change and whom misfor- 
 tune renders still more afFectionate. " Then she con- 
 tinues: "You know everything that is taking place 
 here. It is impossible to go out without being insulted 
 a dozen times in an hour, so I walk no more and 
 sometimes I stay in my room for days without think- 
 ing of a change. ' ' 
 
 Once settled in the Tuileries, even suitably, as Ma- 
 dame Campan says, each member of the royal family, 
 in so far as was possible, resumed his ordinary habits. 
 
 The king continued to hunt and to make almost 
 daily entries in his diary, with a calmness and serenity 
 in which it would be hard to believe if one did not 
 read the facts written in his own handwriting. One 
 example will suffice to show us how indifferently he 
 speaks of the events of October and of the return of 
 himself and his family to Paris. His mild tempera- 
 ment must have prevented him from realizing the 
 gravity of his position. 
 
 ' ' Oct. 5th, went shooting near the gate of Chatil- 
 lonj killed eighty-one head; interrupted by events; 
 
 182 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 went and came on horseback. — 6th, left for Paris at 
 half-past twelve, visited the Hotel de Ville, supped 
 and slept at the Tuileries. — 7th, nothing; my aunts 
 come to dine. — 8th, nothing. ..." 
 
 The queen, on the contrary, kept in touch with 
 affairs and was so preoccupied that she could not read, 
 and spent all her time working on tapestry. On her 
 return to Paris Madame de Lamballe, who probably 
 received orders to that effect, for she had no such in- 
 clination, gave some brilliant fetes in her private apart- 
 ments. At first the queen assiduously attended them, 
 but soon ceased going, " evidently convinced," says 
 Madame Campan, " that her position did not permit 
 her to appear at large gatherings." 
 
 The chief lady-in-waiting might also have said that 
 the news of the death of the queen's brother had just 
 reached Paris and that the court was going into 
 mourning for two months. 
 
 "To-day, Friday, March 19th," we read in the 
 " Journal de Paris," " the court will assume mourn- 
 ing for two months on account of the death of Joseph 
 II., Emperor of Germany, King of Hungary and Bo- 
 hemia, Sovereign of the Austrian States, born March 
 13, 1 74 1, died at Vienna, the 20th of last February, 
 in the forty-ninth year of his age. His Majesty will 
 wear violet. 
 
 " First period, from March 19th to April i8th in- 
 clusive, men will wear complete black cloth suits with 
 buttons, sleeves with single fringe, bronze buckles and 
 swords. 
 
 183 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 " Women will wear woollen gowns trimmed with 
 bunting or black crape, crape bonnet (the coeffe for 
 nine days only), gloves,, black fans and hose, and bronze 
 buckles." 
 
 Although the queen felt neither great grief nor intense 
 regret, nevertheless it was good taste for her not to ap- 
 pear at the fetes, which, for that matter, were not official, 
 even after the expiration of the term of mourning 
 adopted by the court. This, to our mind, was probably 
 the reason, and no doubt the only one, which caused 
 Marie Antoinette to give up the gatherings at the 
 superintendent' s. 
 
 Events hastened on. Every day a new pamphlet 
 appeared, the more willingly received by the public 
 as it attacked more prominent personages, and as its 
 violence was tuned to the passions of the moment. 
 
 Madame de Lamballe was too easy a prey to escape 
 their attacks. 
 
 We shall be satisfied to quote two of the best known : 
 
 " ' La Galerie des Dames fran^aises. London, 
 1790,' and the ' Imitateurs de Charles IX., ou Les Con- 
 spirateurs foudroyes. A prose play in five acts, with five 
 characters, by the editor of the Vepres Siciliennes and 
 of the Massacre of Saint Bartholomew. Paris. From 
 the Press of the Clergy and the Nobility. 1790.' " 
 
 The first of these libels, which had for epigraph this 
 passage from Virgil : 
 
 Nullo discrimine habebo, Tros Ratulusve fuat," 
 184 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 was, they said, written by the Marquis de Luchet. It 
 was a violent diatribe against the best-known women. 
 Madame Necker appeared in it under the name of 
 " Statira," her daughter under that of " Marthesie " ; 
 the Comtesse de Beauharnais became " Corylla " ; 
 Madame Lebrun, " Charites " ; the Comtesse Diane 
 de Polignac, " Tenesis " ; the Marquise de Sillery, 
 "Polixene"; Madame Denis, " Fulvia " ; Madame 
 de Montesson, " Olympe " ; Madame du Barry, 
 " Elmire." The pseudonym of the princess was 
 " Balzais." 
 
 The second, attributed to Gabriel Brizard, was no 
 less violent than the first. The same allusions, often 
 the same errors. One of the figures goes so far as to 
 represent the princess on the knees of Marie Antoi- 
 nette. 
 
 Madame de Lamballe left early in August to join 
 the Due de Penthievre, and returned to Paris the end 
 of November. But fortunately for us, thanks to the 
 information of Fortaire, we can follow her, step by 
 step, during this long absence. She spent a month at 
 Amboise; then, in October, while her father-in-law 
 was at Fontevrault with his cousin Madame de Par- 
 daillan, she went to Maine to visit the Marquis de 
 Clermont-Gallerande, a friend of long standing and of 
 sure judgment, whom she liked to consult in times of 
 doubt and whom later she appointed one of the exec- 
 utors of her will. 
 
 Fortaire, who is sometimes tedious because of his 
 
 185 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 attention to details, tells us of the brilliant reception 
 which the Tourangeaux gave her, and the words of 
 gratitude she addressed on this subject to her father-in- 
 law. It is most important to know that she found 
 the Duchesse d' Orleans at Amboise, that later the 
 two princesses accompanied the Due to Chateauneuf, 
 and that they did not return to Paris before November 
 28th. The Due de Penthievre remained there only 
 a few days, leaving December 4th for Eu, where ac- 
 cording to the same author the Duchesse d' Orleans 
 joined him, February 10, 1791, to leave him no 
 more. 
 
 We must explain why and how the Duchesse 
 d' Orleans went to live with her father-in-law. Many 
 seeing that she thus failed in her duties as wife and 
 mother, think themselves authorized to throw out in- 
 sinuations against her, and, although recognizing her 
 noble devotion to her father, seem to blame her for 
 being away from her family at such a time. 
 
 What was there left for the unfortunate mother to 
 do at the Palais Royal ? To watch over her children, 
 to surround them with maternal care, to guide their 
 education. But had they not been placed in charge 
 of a governess who intended neither to give up her 
 position nor to have her duties shared by any one — that 
 Madame de Genlis, who was said, rightly or wrongly, 
 to have dominated completely the Due d' Orleans, and 
 to have the most pernicious influence over him ? 
 Could she reasonably continue to occupy the Palais 
 
 186 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 Royal and to be daily exposed to insults even in her 
 own family ? 
 
 Assuredly not. The private life of the one who 
 some time after added to his name that of " Egalite," 
 must have hurt her as much as his political conduct. 
 
 If their separation was arranged privately the division 
 of money matters was done officially. 
 
 " Monsieur and Madame d'Orleans," we read in 
 the "Journal de Paris," "wishing to keep their ac- 
 counts in order, inform all the merchants and salesmen 
 that from the 6th of the present month of January, 
 1791, they will buy only for cash; that, consequently, 
 no one can claim the price of merchandise furnished 
 to the credit of Monsieur and Madame d'Orleans." 
 
 Already, a year before, the report of a separation had 
 attained sufficient publicity to arouse the interested par- 
 ties, or rather the interested party, to make a correction 
 in the newspapers. 
 
 Here is a curious letter, taken from the ' ' Journal de 
 Paris" dated December 13, 1789: 
 
 " Palais Royal, December 12, 1789. 
 ' ' To the Editors of the ' "Journal ' ; 
 
 "It is with confidence, gentlemen, that I have the 
 honor of addressing you to beg you, in rendering 
 homage to truth, to aid me in refuting a statement as 
 false as it is calumnious, which was boldly published 
 by the ' Gazetier de Leyde ' in the supplement No. 
 97, concerning the assumed separation of the property 
 of her Serene Highness Madame la Duchesse d'Orleans 
 
 187 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 from that of his Serene Highness Monsieur le Due 
 d' Orleans. This was recently granted, it said, as a re- 
 sult of the disorder of the business affairs of this prince. 
 I am authorized, gentlemen, by the princess to refute 
 formally this fresh calumny and to beg you to make 
 known, through the medium of your paper, that the 
 alleged cause for a separation is as groundless as the 
 reported result, and that her Serene Highness signed 
 the day before yesterday an authentic act, in presence 
 of Messieurs Rouen and Brichard, notaries at Paris, 
 whose papers were left with the latter; by which act 
 Madame la Duchesse d' Orleans, to speak the absolute 
 truth, declared that she and the prince, her husband, 
 held their property in common, and that she had filed 
 no petition for a division of said property. 
 
 (Signed) " The Comte de La Touche, 
 
 " Chancellor of his Serene Highness Monseigneur le Due 
 
 d' Orleans." 
 
 The publicity given the affair by this paper was not 
 found sufficient, since, two days later, the " Journal 
 General de la Cour et de la Ville," in No. 88, dated 
 Tuesday, December 15, 1789, published a similar 
 article under the heading " Important News." 
 
 The fact this time is undeniable and the memoirs 
 of the times confirm it by adding some comments very 
 little in sympathy with the one guilty party. 
 
 " The conduct of Monsieur le Due d'Orleans," 
 said Madame de Tourzel, " opened the eyes of Ma- 
 dame la Duchesse. She demanded and justly obtained 
 a division of property, and then went to stay with 
 Monsieur le Due de Penthievre, her father. ' ' 
 
 188 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 And the good Madame de Tourzel even adds a re- 
 flection to which we should not have dared to give 
 expression, it seems to us so serious. 
 
 "Madame de Lamballe," she continues, "whom 
 he accused of having urged the separation, was from 
 this time the object of his hatred. This fact, they 
 say, was one of the causes of the unfortunate end of 
 the unhappy princess." 
 
 Father Lenfant also refers to this separation in his 
 letter of April i6, 1791. We have voluntarily in- 
 sisted on this point, as we have proved that only the 
 constant presence of Madame de Genlis with her chil- 
 dren determined the Duchesse d' Orleans to abandon 
 them. And it should be made known that even under 
 the circumstances the poor victim of such shameful 
 treatment did not cease for a single instant, in spite of 
 her absence, to love her family. This is shown by the 
 following letter, written on the day after the Massacre 
 of September: 
 
 "Your attention touches me deeply. You share, 
 I am sure, my own indignation and my father's, and 
 you may imagine the affliction in which we are plunged. 
 All the circumstances of this death tear my soul. We 
 are heartbroken over it. To my grief is added my 
 maternal anxiety." 
 
 A few days before the return of Madame de Lam- 
 balle the "Journal General de la Cour et de la Ville," 
 in its edition of Thursday, November 8, 1790, pub- 
 
 189 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 lished a letter addressed to its editors, relating to the re- 
 cent duel of Charles Lameth and the Due de Castries. 
 The writer, concealing his identity under the initials 
 F. B., said: 
 
 • ' That Mesdames de B , la Ch , Saint 
 
 Ch , Des , Lamba , the heroines of the 
 
 democracy, who, they say, find that the Revolution 
 has cost very little blood, have been in despair, does 
 not surprise me, . . ." etc. 
 
 The friends of the princess were annoyed at such 
 unfortunate and imprudent remarks, and in order that 
 such an allegation should be at once refuted, took 
 steps against the paper. 
 
 This refutation, as complete as the most particular 
 could desire, appeared the following day. 
 
 " We hasten to explain to the public," we read in 
 the edition of Friday, November 19th, " that the per- 
 son referred to in yesterday's paper by the letters Lamba 
 is not Madame la Princesse de Lamballe, who takes no 
 part in public affairs beyond desiring the happiness of 
 the king and the tranquillity of the public." 
 
 190 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 
 It is difficult, not to say impossible, to follow Ma- 
 dame de Lamballe, step by step, during the first months 
 of 1 79 1. Doubtless she was with the royal family, 
 giving them the greater part of her time, whenever 
 the health of her father-in-law did not require her 
 with him; but we have consulted the " Gazette de 
 France" in vain in regard to this year, as in regard 
 to the preceding one. We have been unable to find 
 mention of the princess. Apart from the religious cere- 
 monies in which the court shared and about which 
 this paper continues to inform us, never was her reserve, 
 no doubt out of devotion to the royal family, more 
 apparent; never was her silence regarding the private 
 life of the chateau more absolute. Determined as we 
 are not to trust to mere conjectures, let us now give a 
 summary of the events which probably took place under 
 the eyes of Madame de Lamballe. We shall hasten, 
 we take pains to state, to bring back the princess as 
 soon as possible upon the scene. For this, important 
 documents or authentic historians will furnish us 
 the means. The Tuileries had assumed a lugubri- 
 ous aspect. No more coming and going of visit- 
 ors anxious to pay court; no more fetes; everywhere 
 
 191 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 reigned an abnormal calm. It seemed as if a resolution 
 had been taken to bring the smallest word and act of 
 the king and his family to the attention of the people. 
 The populace were filled with restlessness and agita- 
 tion, waiting almost continually at a certain distance 
 from the royal residence, as if forming a sort of sani- 
 tary cordon around a plague-stricken community. 
 
 In the chateau not a day passed that some new danger 
 was not feared, some snare laid by ever-increasing 
 hatred, which the faithful and zealous friends hoped 
 to escape. Everywhere they were on the alert, watch- 
 ing, planning. Every one foresaw the coming events. 
 
 In the midst of these agitations, which her nervous 
 nature strongly resented, Madame de Lamballe had 
 at least the consolation, in the early part of Feb- 
 ruary, of hearing of the arrival of her sister-in-law at 
 Eu. Feeling sure that the tenderest care would sur- 
 round the Due de Penthievre, and that the Duchesse 
 d' Orleans would devote her life to the vacillating 
 health of this good prince, Madame de Lamballe could 
 at last devote herself without reservation to the royal 
 family, which was more than ever in need of atten- 
 tion. The aunts of the king, according to the cap- 
 tious words of Delessart to his colleague Duportail, 
 had for some time " formed a plan to travel in Italy." 
 The date for the departure of the daughters of Louis 
 XV. was changed from the 15th to the 25th, in 
 order that they might perhaps profit by the first favora- 
 ble opportunity to baffle the surveillance of which they 
 
 192 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 may have been the object, and thus avoid being detained 
 at the last moment on some trifling pretence. 
 
 " February 19th, departure of my aunts at ten 
 o'clock in the evening." This is all that Louis XVI. 
 vi^rote in his diary. These constant announcements 
 of ' ' journeys ' ' troubled the Parisians, who realized the 
 effect they might produce and wished to put a stop to 
 them. To-day they would go to Bellevue, to-morrow to 
 the Luxembourg, to make sure that Monsieur was among 
 them; afterwards the Tuileries would receive a visit 
 from them, and this time they would not leave until 
 they were sure that the dauphin had not been sent 
 away secretly, as report said. Finally — and this was 
 more serious — they went to Vincennes, with the fixed 
 intention of destroying the donjon, in which it was 
 rumored means of defence had been accumulated. 
 
 This restlessness did not seem to affect the king, 
 who merely referred to it in these terms: 
 
 " February 22d, nothing; populace rushed to the 
 Luxembourg. — 24th, nothing; populace rushed to the 
 Tuileries. — 28th, nothing; populace rushed to Vin- 
 cennes and the Tuileries." 
 
 Nevertheless, during almost the whole of March he 
 was ill, and on the i8th there was a celebration of a 
 Te Deum for his convalescence. The report of the 
 section of the Gravilliers on this date mentions the 
 deputation which was present. 
 
 On the 2d of April Mirabeau died. It was a 
 public loss. The queen herself could not fail to regret 
 13 193 
 
MJDAMR DE LAMBALLE 
 
 this ardent champion, whom Madame Campan desig- 
 nates as a " mercenary democrat ' ' and a ' ' venal roy- 
 aHst." 
 
 His sudden death, after only two days of illness 
 they said, gave rise to the most unfortunate stories 
 and the blackest hypotheses. The term " poison " was 
 uttered and was, unfortunately, at once accepted by the 
 public. This report, which the hesitation and evasive 
 replies of Vicq d'Azyr had helped not a little to 
 strengthen, was openly and energetically contested by 
 Cabanis, the confidant and the friend, much more 
 than the physician, of Mirabeau. Nevertheless, in 
 spite of the efforts and the formal denials of the doctor, 
 the most sensational version spread abroad. 
 
 As soon as the civil constitution of the clergy was 
 voted on, the king, in order to be more master of his 
 actions, Madame de Tourzel tells us, decided to spend 
 the two weeks of Easter at Saint Cloud. 
 
 At the close of mass the royal family stepped into 
 the carriages, but the national guard prevented them 
 from leaving. In vain the king protested, claiming for 
 himself the liberty he had given to the country ; noth- 
 ing could alter the determination of the militia. The 
 king had to give up his plan. 
 
 " April 1 8th. — We were prevented from leaving for 
 Saint Cloud at half-past one o'clock," wrote the un- 
 fortunate Louis XVI. in his diary. 
 
 It was, no doubt, from this time on that the idea 
 
 194 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALIE 
 
 of leaving Paris came into the king's mind; but, as 
 always when he had to decide anything important, he 
 lost precious moments in hesitation and indecision. 
 The whole of May and the first part of June were 
 spent in combining plans and making arrangements 
 which finally were found poor or, at all 'events, 
 impracticable. The departure, originally fixed for 
 Sunday evening, June 20th, was postponed until the 
 evening of the 2ist, on account of the mother of a 
 serving woman whom because of her relations with La 
 Fayette they dared not trust. The following day they 
 started after a slight delay, augmented still more by 
 various incidents on the road. Then an inconceivable 
 blunder which well illustrates the madness, or rather 
 the inexperience, of very devoted friends to whom the 
 king had entrusted his safety and that of his family, 
 occurred. They neglected to inform the troops stationed 
 to protect the royal carriages, so that the regiments, 
 having waited in vain without orders, believed the 
 journey given up or deferred, and in order not to arouse 
 needless suspicion, went back as quickly as possible 
 to their cantonments. 
 
 We shall now return to the princess, whom we shall 
 scarcely leave again during the whole of her stay 
 abroad. 
 
 It is absolutely certain that Madame de Lamballe 
 had in no way been informed of the events which were 
 taking place at court about her. Up to the last mo- 
 ment nothing in the attitude of the queen had caused 
 
 195 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 her to suspect the preparations for flight, and the first 
 inkling she had was a farewell, perhaps more affection- 
 ate than usual, from Marie Antoinette, as they left 
 the card-table Sunday evening, June 20th. 
 
 The Marquis de Clermont-Gallerande gives us, on 
 this point, the most detailed information: 
 
 " The Sunday previous to the departure of the queen, 
 this princess on leaving her game told Madame de 
 Lamballe to go to the country during the week, and 
 taking her by the hand, said adieu. The farewell, 
 uttered in a more tender tone than usual, struck the 
 princess so that, on returning to her apartments, she 
 told me of it. As no one had spoken of the departure 
 of the king we did not pay much attention to the 
 matter." 
 
 In fact, the princess was so little informed of the 
 plans of the flight of the royal family that the queen's 
 courier surprised her at midnight in her house at Passy. 
 Careful to avoid showing the slightest emotion or 
 anxiety, without losing her head she hastened to make 
 her preparations and to give her final orders. At one 
 o'clock she stepped into a post-chaise, accompanied by 
 Mesdames de Ginestous and de Lage^ her ladies-in- 
 waiting, and drove to her father-in-law, having spread 
 among her household to divert suspicion the report that 
 the health of Monsieur de Penthievre was the sole 
 cause of so sudden a decision. 
 
 The journey was made under the best possible con- 
 ditions, for the same day at six o'clock in the evening 
 
 ig6 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 a carriage covered with dust stopped before the modest 
 lodging in Aumale which the Due de Penthievre 
 usually occupied. Fortaire, from whom we borrow 
 these details, was the first to recognize Madame de 
 Lamballe and hastened to inform the prince and pre- 
 pare him for the unexpected visit. 
 
 The duke, followed by the Duchesse d' Orleans, came 
 to meet his daughter-in-law. Madame de Lamballe at 
 once made them understand that she must speak to them 
 alone. ' ' Soon after, they went into a private room, the 
 door of which they locked," adds the faithful servant. 
 
 While the princess was informing her relatives of the 
 flight of the king, and begging them to accompany her, 
 the ladies of the suite descended to recruit their strength 
 as quickly as possible. Finally the door opened and 
 Fortaire perceived the duke writing and giving orders, 
 while the Duchesse d'Orleans wept, and madame 
 counted the moments, urging their flight and saying to 
 him : "I beg you to double your orders if possible ; in a 
 quarter of an hour we must be on our way." 
 
 Fresh horses were harnessed, and when the ladies 
 stepped into the carriages Madame de Lamballe said 
 good-by as calmly as if it were merely a question of 
 a few days' separation. So much so, that Fortaire 
 admits ingenuously that he was deceived by it. But 
 the good man, naturally inquisitive, was soon disabused, 
 and, is careful to tell us that his curiosity, a character- 
 istic peculiar to him, made him find out at once the 
 princess's change of route. 
 
 197 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 On leaving Aumale, the carriage took the road to 
 Abbeville. 
 
 Scarcely recovered from the surprise which this news 
 caused him and still trying to explain the reason for 
 the short stay of Madame de Lamballe, her sudden 
 arrival and her hasty departure, Fortaire received from 
 the Due de Penthievre the order to prepare everything 
 for a return to Eu the following day. 
 
 The carriage of the princess continued on its way 
 and arrived at Boulogne in hot haste on the 22d. 
 Madame de Lamballe at once set out in search of 
 a ship about to sail. Her first step was successful, 
 facilitated as it was by the lieutenant of the Admiralty, 
 for whom, the previous evening, her father-in-law 
 had given her a letter of introduction. 
 
 An English vessel bound for Dover was then in 
 port. The princess made terms with the captain and 
 embarked at once, having taken care, in order to hasten 
 her departure, to have provisions brought and to en- 
 courage the work of the sailors by her presence. 
 
 The coast of France was already presenting to the 
 eyes of our fugitives nothing but uncertain outlines 
 when the sound of a cannon, fired from Boulogne, 
 warned them of the danger in which they had placed 
 themselves by delaying their departure. 
 
 The following day they landed at Dover and at 
 once reembarked for Ostend, which they reached the 
 26th. From there they set out for Brussels, where 
 the wretched travellers, worn out with fatigue, were 
 
 198 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 finally able to enjoy a few days' rest. Monsieur de 
 Fersen, one of the chief actors in the journey of 
 Varennes, dined in that town with the princess and, 
 in passing, notes the conversation he had with her. 
 
 " The 6th of July," he writes, " dined and spent 
 the evening with Sullivan; talked nonsense and gossip 
 with Madame de Lamballe." 
 
 Apparently he was not indulgent and seems to have 
 attached no value to the words of the princess. 
 
 Finally, having made up her mind to stay at Aix-la- 
 Chapelle, the princess left Brussels the lOth and 
 reached the end of her journey July nth. Having 
 decided on the Rue Saint Jacques, Maison Schleiden, 
 with Mesdames de Ginestous and de Lage, the prin- 
 cess inscribed herself under the name of the Comtesse 
 d'Amboise. But the apartment was probably neither 
 sufficiently large nor comfortable, and a few days later 
 she settled permanently in more commodious apart- 
 ments on the Comphausbad, which Madame de Lage 
 has described for us. 
 
 The small circle, already enlarged by the Marquise 
 de Las Cases and the Comte de Ginestous, was in- 
 creased still more by the Marquise de Brunoy. The 
 house was too small to accommodate the new arrivals, 
 and Mesdames de Lage and de Las Cases were obliged 
 to go next door to Houpers a la Botte^ also on the 
 Comphausbad. 
 
 The 26th of June the royal family returned to Paris 
 
 199 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 and that same day the " Chronique de Paris" and the 
 next day the "Journal de la Ville et de la Cour " 
 published the following article : 
 
 " Madame de Lamballe has left for England. It is 
 said she sailed from Montreuil." 
 
 To our mind, this note was inserted without any 
 evil intent or any definite object of harming the prin- 
 cess. Insignificant as it may seem at first glance, 
 since the report of her trip to England, supposedly 
 on a secret mission, was public property, it did not 
 pass unnoticed and a new cause, perhaps the most 
 serious, was furnished for the accusations of which the 
 unfortunate woman was the target. These were made 
 by the journalist Carra, who was in the pay of the ex- 
 Capuchin Chabot and his followers. 
 
 In going abroad, Madame de Lamballe had merely 
 obeyed the formal injunction of the queen. Could 
 she have acted otherwise to Marie Antoinette, who 
 at the last hour had told her of her departure, and had 
 appointed a rendezvous at Montmedy ? But no sooner 
 did she know of the arrest at Varennes and the return 
 of the royal family to the Tuileries, than her energy for- 
 sook her entirely and she knew not what course to 
 follow. Should she return to Paris ? Her friends ad- 
 vised her to do so, counting on her influence and her 
 kindness to help restore them to the favor of the king, 
 whom they had so prematurely abandoned. 
 
 Should she go to Turin to her family ? This de- 
 
 200 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 cision, by far the wisest, was strongly urged by her 
 spoiled child, Madame de Lage. There, in the midst 
 of her relatives, surrounded by the affection of her 
 sisters, she probably would never have returned to 
 France. 
 
 However, the princess could not make up her mind 
 to follow this last suggestion. Her hesitation, de- 
 scribed with much animation by Madame de Lage as 
 greater than ever, kept her where she was, waiting for 
 events. 
 
 Thanks to the correspondence of the countess, care- 
 fully preserved by her family, we are able to initiate 
 the reader into the house on the Comphausbad occu- 
 pied by Madame de Lamballe and her ladies. With- 
 out being luxurious, and leaving much to be desired in 
 the way of comforts, the apartment was situated in the 
 most elegant quarter of the city. Furthermore, the 
 princess had the great advantage of being near her 
 friends, the Marquis de Clermont-Gallerande and Mon- 
 sieur de la Vaupaliere, whose advice was invaluable to 
 her. 
 
 " We are," writes the amiable young woman, " on 
 the principal street, which is very beautiful, in a 
 wide open space, a kind of square called the Comp- 
 hausbad, near the Redoute. This makes it easy to go 
 to play rouge et noire ; it is very near to some beautiful 
 baths and mineral waters, but this is the least interest- 
 ing fact to me in Aix-la-Chapelle. We have a very 
 large drawing-room, long and narrow. I occupy the 
 
 301 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 sleeping-room which opens from this, because my 
 sister (Madame de Lamballe) preferred the one at the 
 rear, although it is unattractive and inaccessible ex- 
 cept by way of a dirty corridor. It has closets however 
 and her women can be lodged near her, while the rooms 
 of the countess and myself have nothing adjoining them ; 
 but we do not need to have our women nearer than the 
 end of the corridor. The room of the countess 
 (Madame de Ginestous) opens into mine ; each has 
 a door into the antechamber. They gave us new beds 
 with snowy white curtains and a good canopy in each 
 room, and, now that we have taken possession of all 
 the tables, we are very comfortable. The brunette 
 occupies the rooms below, in which she settled two 
 months before we arrived. The large lady (the Com- 
 tesse de Las Cases), with her husband and children, is 
 above, as are many others. We have the entire first 
 floor to ourselves. You know that the large lady 
 came away several months before we did, leaving my 
 sister rather informally ; so the latter gave her to under- 
 stand that she would be delighted to have her for a vis- 
 itor, but that while she was at the watering-places their 
 households would be separate ; that she and her hus- 
 band could come and dine as often as they wished, but 
 that when my sister travelled she should not take her. 
 Neddy and the husband of my companion are living in 
 the same house. The Marquis de Clermont occupies 
 the ground floor." 
 
 The description is complete, almost minute; but in 
 order to satisfy our desire to know everything, in order 
 that the picture may not be incomplete, we must be 
 wholly informed as to the life of Madame de Lamballe 
 
 202 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 during her emigration, we must know her habits, the 
 society she frequented — must gain, in a word, a clear 
 idea of her occupations in the midst of her preoccupa- 
 tions. 
 
 This is what the amiable countess seems to have 
 understood, and unconsciously she made herself in 
 her natve account, which is accurate and without need- 
 less detail, the most faithful as well as the most 
 authentic historian of this interesting period, about 
 which we have scarcely anything more than general 
 documents. 
 
 This almost daily correspondence gives a new 
 point of view very different from that which we had 
 thought correct. We believed that these emigres who 
 had gone abroad, fearing the persecutions of which 
 they might be victims, must have broken with the past, 
 and have given up that unhealthful frivolity, the fruit of 
 their more or less prolonged sojourn in Versailles. We 
 pictured them a prey to the most cruel uncertainty, de- 
 ploring the fate of the king and his family, of many 
 of their relatives or friends, and bemoaning their own 
 misfortune; while we find, on the contrary, that they 
 longed only for pleasures and distractions, gave them- 
 selves up to card-playing, and in spite of the difficulty 
 they already had in procuring money, risked in this 
 favorite pastime considerable sums. 
 
 Is there need to say that at the princess's they played 
 in moderation ? ' She always disliked playing, except 
 the game of quinze, with which she loved to pass away 
 
 203 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 the evening; for the rest you can judge for yourself 
 from the following, and if Madame de Lage gave 
 herself up to her little passion, the fact w^as w^holly 
 unknown to Madame de Lamballe. 
 
 "The drawing-room," wrote Madame de Lage, 
 '* is vacant at half-past eleven in the evening. Almost 
 every one rises early for the waters and the baths; 
 moreover, social life begins early. There is much 
 visiting during the day, and always in order to discuss 
 the same thing, which is very tiresome. We lead a rus- 
 tic life. The ground floor as well as the second story 
 of this great hotel, in which we occupy the first floor, 
 is tenanted by society people. I cannot satisfy you as 
 easily about the card-playing. At my sister's they do 
 not play for more than a crown, but the Redoute is 
 very near. We go there from time to time, during 
 hours when we hope to avoid meeting people who will 
 tell my sister of it. I do not go alone, but always 
 with the countess or with my large cousin and a few 
 men who, like ourselves, do not care to have the fact 
 that they go known."' 
 
 Madame de Lamballe might, perhaps, have accepted 
 this kind of life, succumbing to circumstances, had 
 it not been for her cruel anguish of mind, and her 
 constant thought for the miserable fate of the royal 
 family. Her heart continually turned towards the 
 Tuileries, and the poor woman rarely enjoyed real 
 rest. A prey to an indescribably excessive excite- 
 ment, still more augmented by her nervous condition, 
 she imagined she heard the voice of the queen. Now 
 
 204 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 this voice seemed to call her back; then the next instant 
 to beg her to defer her return, in order to avoid the 
 perils which her presence might arouse. 
 
 During the few months of their separation the two 
 friends kept up a more or less regular correspondence. 
 The queen, giving free rein to her most intimate 
 thoughts, described with the greatest sincerity her 
 troubles and griefs. Frequently even she confided to 
 the princess her dearest hopes and her most secret plans. 
 
 One day weeping for her family, her friends, but 
 not for herself, she foretold in her letter the total disso- 
 lution of France. 
 
 "The good people," wrote the daughter of Marie 
 Therese, "do us justice; but they are silent, they 
 droop their heads, and do not know what to do. 
 The villains are strong in this weakness. Ah, if they 
 knew how we loved the people, they would blush 
 at the outrages which we are made to suffer. ..." 
 
 Another day she would be more cheerful, or tried 
 to appear so, in order not to further sadden her 
 " dear Lamballe." But even then she did not forget 
 to speak of the wicked men and the scoundrels. 
 
 "... I showed your letter to the king," she 
 wrote, October 19, 1791, "as you desired; he asked 
 me to tell you that he would be delighted to do any- 
 thing to please you ; he is really quite angry with you 
 for not having spoken sooner. . . . We are so sur- 
 rounded by wicked people, and so hampered, that we 
 
 205 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 cannot answer one day for the next, but the king will 
 do what he can, . . . What is Monsieur de Pen- 
 thievre doing ? . . ." 
 
 It is rather interesting to note that the princess still 
 dared to ask a favor of the king, who probably was at 
 a loss to grant what she wanted. But Louis XVI. 
 gave some sort of promise, at least, since he said he 
 would do " his best." 
 
 The following article proves beyond a doubt that 
 Marie Antoinette, answering the timidly expressed de- 
 sire of the princess to return to France, forced herself 
 to dissuade her ■ from this idea, and admitted that 
 Madame de Lamballe would be throwing herself into 
 the jaws of the tiger. 
 
 " The trouble does not lessen," she said. " I see 
 the boldness of our enemies increasing and the courage 
 of honest men growing less. One can think only 
 from day to day, fearing a frightful to-morrow. ' ' Then 
 she speaks of her daughter, whose health was good. 
 " You know," she continues, " how well this little 
 one loves you, as does my darling who at this moment 
 is on my lap and who wants to write to you." In 
 fact, the unfortunate child signed the letter. 
 
 However, the dangers she might run mattered little 
 to the princess if her presence could be useful to the 
 royal family. No doubt it was in answer to the assur- 
 ance she gave Marie Antoinette, to return as soon as 
 the latter should show a desire for her to do so, that 
 
 206 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 the queen wrote and acknowledged that her friend's 
 generosity had made her weep. 
 
 "I well know," she continued, "that you love 
 me, and I had no need of this new proof. What 
 happiness to be loved for one's self! Your affection, 
 with that of a few other friends, constitutes my entire 
 strength. . . ." 
 
 Did our poor princess have a presentiment that her 
 friend, fearing to frighten her, was voluntarily hiding 
 a part of the truth ? Did she think that La Vaupaliere 
 and Clermont-Gallerande, with whom she lived at 
 Aix, wished, for the same reason, to give her only a 
 partial idea of the actual situation ? Be that as it may, 
 we see her returning to Spa with the Marquise de Las 
 Cases as sole lady-in-waiting, and we can find no 
 more plausible reason for her sudden departure than 
 this state of mind; unless she conferred, entirely in 
 secret, with the King of Sweden, who was residing in 
 that place. 
 
 207 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 
 At Spa the princess went to the Hotel du Lion Noir, 
 on the Grand' Place, already occupied by the Comte 
 de Haga, and the list of foreigners shows us that in 
 this change of residence she still bore the title of 
 Comtesse d'Amboise. 
 
 We have no account as to the sojourn of Madame 
 de Lamballe, but we know from the same paper that 
 Spa was filled with foreigners and that the society 
 there was very select. Madame de Lage, unfortu- 
 nately, was not of the party and therefore could not 
 give us, in her usual animated manner, the charming 
 descriptions in which she excelled. However, that 
 inquiring lady knew how to listen and, thanks to 
 this characteristic, which we are now tempted to 
 regard as an advantage, she draws, according to her 
 information, a picture which cannot fail to be ex- 
 tremely attractive. 
 
 " Spa," she said, " has been more brilliant this year 
 than ever. Seventeen princes or princesses, one might 
 say all brothers and sisters, children or nephews of the 
 king. As for the petty German princes, we do not 
 count them ; the streets are paved with them ; and 
 there is one king worth a thousand of them — namely, 
 
 208 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 the King of Sweden. . . . They claim that It is 
 the only spot in the world in which the Revolution 
 is forgotten." 
 
 In the early days of September the princess returned 
 to Aix-la-Chapelle and lived the same life, surrounded 
 by the same friends. The King of Sweden paid his 
 respects the yth of October and the following day a 
 great dinner was given in his honor; the last, no 
 doubt, for on the 13th there arrived at Aix a mysteri- 
 ous personage, charged with a mission from the queen 
 for Madame de Lamballe. It is again the Comtesse 
 de Lage who tells us this important fact and who 
 describes in so true and lively a manner the make- 
 shifts of the unfortunate princess. 
 
 " . . . In all probability," she wrote, " we will 
 return to Paris in a fortnight, on Friday morning, 
 October 14th. Some one else arrived yesterday; we 
 foresee that my sister will think herself obliged to join 
 my aunt, with whom it is said she is anxious to be, 
 while they tell her that my aunt wants her. They 
 say that rny sister offers to go, and they imply to my 
 aunt that by refusing to have her she would offend her. 
 However, as my sister fears the journey as much as 
 we do, she is vacillating, which fact will do her an 
 injury. Ah, if she only had done as I wanted, and 
 accepted the offers of her relative in Italy ; if she only 
 had not been detained here; if she only had gone at 
 once we should be settled there, and from such a 
 distance one could not easily return ! Besides, there 
 would have been no one there to trouble her. If this 
 
 209 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 return to France would bring me at once to you, not 
 only should I know what to do, but I should be 
 happy. Instead, I shall have to stay in Paris and drain 
 the cup of bitterness to the dregs. If you would only 
 come here ! Every one assures me that, in case 
 anything happens, Paris will be the safest place in 
 France. For the rest, so far as I am concerned, my 
 course is clear: so long as there is danger and she is 
 unhappy, I shall not leave her. Since yesterday my 
 heart has ached for her. . . ." 
 
 Some parts of this letter, which we have quoted 
 almost in its entirety, are of real value. In the first 
 place they show us that the princess, urged on the one 
 hand by some of those about her; influenced on the 
 other by the wish to satisfy the desires of the queen, 
 was incapable of reaching a decision. On the 13th 
 the messenger arrived whom Madame de Lage qualifies 
 as some one else^ thereby showing that he was not the 
 first she had received, but that several times she had 
 been already solicited in the same way. 
 
 At all events, the queen must have been eloquent, 
 since Madame de Lamballe suddenly made up her 
 mind to return to France. 
 
 The Comte de Las Cases, in a passage of the Me- 
 morial de Sainte Helene, dedicated to the sojourn of 
 Madame de Lamballe at Aix-la-Chapelle, wrote : 
 
 " The emperor then passed on to speak of the Prin- 
 cesse de Lamballe, about whom he knew nothing. I 
 could easily satisfy him, as I had known her well. 
 
 210 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 One of my relatives was her maid of honor. When 
 I reached Aix-Ia-Chapelle, at the beginning of my 
 journey, I was received by her as if I were one of her 
 household, and was treated with great kindness. 
 
 " The Princesse de Lamballe, I said, gathered about 
 her in this city much of the atmosphere of Versailles, 
 in courtiers and gentlemen of the old school. Many 
 illustrious strangers came also. I often saw the King 
 of Sweden, Gustavus III., there under the title of 
 Comte de Haga; Prince Ferdinand of Prussia, with 
 his children, the eldest of whom. Prince Louis, was 
 killed a few moments before the battle of Jena; the 
 Duchess of Cumberland, widow of a brother of the 
 King of England, etc. 
 
 "When Louis XVL, accepting the Constitution, 
 reorganized his household, the princess received a 
 formal letter from the queen asking her to resume her 
 duties as superintendent. The princess took the ad- 
 vice of her old councillors, all of whom thought that, 
 considering the fact that the queen was not free, and 
 that there was a possibility of great danger in Paris, 
 the princess need not return there and might regard 
 the letter from the queen as null and void. The 
 princess having asked elsewhere what people thought, 
 some one was ill-advised enough to reply : ' Madame, 
 you have shared the prosperity of the queen, it would 
 be generous to show her fidelity, especially now when 
 you have ceased to be her favorite.' The princess 
 was high-minded, deeply afFectionate, and unconscious- 
 ly romantic ; the next day she announced that she 
 would leave for Paris., So the unfortunate woman 
 returned to the capital, fully realizing the danger; she 
 fell an illustrious victim to her generosity and her 
 feelings. My parents offered me to her; for an instant 
 
 211 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 I might have followed her. Because of my youth 
 and the short time I had been in Paris, I was almost 
 unknown and could have remained near her, and per- 
 haps have been useful to her; but at the moment of 
 departure the princess found obstacles in the way and 
 urged me to give up the idea ; however, I remained 
 her chronicler. Every other day I sent her, with the 
 best intention in the world, stories and all kinds of 
 ridiculous tales by which our illusions were flattered 
 and which we did not fail to accept with the greatest 
 faith. I sent them to her when we were in the 
 country; I sent them to her when she was no longer 
 there. . . . To the heartfelt grief I felt for her 
 pitiful lot was sometimes added the secret fear of 
 having, perhaps, augmented it by my bulletins. And 
 by chance, I added to the emperor, I happen to 
 have here a few lines she wrote some days before the 
 hideous catastrophe of which she has left a terrible 
 reminder. They are dated from the top of my donjon. 
 It was thus she designated the Pavilion de Flore, which 
 she occupied at that time in the Tuileries." 
 
 Although in the words of Madame de Lage and 
 according to the belief of certain fugitives, an opinion 
 spread by them no doubt to serve their purposes, Paris 
 was " the safest spot in France," the princess de- 
 parted with a deep realization of the dangers she must 
 run. Her will, made at Aix-la-Chapelle and dated 
 October 15th, is proof of this. 
 
 The strong determination of the princess was never- 
 theless variously interpreted. If the greater number 
 attributed it to generosity and great-mindedness, others, 
 
 212 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 on the contrary, accused her of another motive, to 
 which we must refer although we refute it with indig- 
 nation. 
 
 Thus does not Madame de Tourzel, whose testi- 
 mony, however, is usually credited, go so iar as to say 
 that the queen, fearing that after the acceptance of the 
 Constitution she would be forced to take from Madame 
 de Lamballe the position of superintendent of the royal 
 household if she continued to remain away from France, 
 induced her to return ? 
 
 In that case it would have been simply for the emolu- 
 ments of the position that Madame de Lamballe ex- 
 posed herself to the dangers which awaited her on her 
 return. 
 
 This is scarcely probable, and the conduct of the 
 princess, considering the gravity of the situation, seems 
 to us to contradict the story of the governess of the 
 children of France.' The dangers to be run were too 
 great for one to attribute her action to motives of self- 
 interest. 
 
 Fortaire, without any reservation, says that the re- 
 turn of the princess was due entirely to the " urgent 
 solicitation" of the queen. He repeats this opinion 
 later when he speaks of a " pressing invitation." 
 
 Did not the Comte d'Allonville attribute to the prin- 
 cess this lofty sentiment, made in response to the 
 supplications of her friends, who were seeking to dis- 
 suade her: "The queen wants me; I must live and 
 die near her ' ' .'' 
 
 213 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 Moreover, the same author returns to this point and 
 again says: 
 
 " We saw this good and devoted Princesse de 
 Lamballe leave an hospitable land, in spite of the 
 prayers of her friends, in order to soften the grief and 
 share the danger of a queen whom she loved as much 
 as she was loved by her." 
 
 This is scarcely what Madame de Lage tells us of 
 the friends of the princess, who counted on her to 
 bring them back to favor and urged her to shorten her 
 stay away from France. 
 
 The departure of Madame de Lamballe, postponed 
 from day to day, actually occurred, according to the 
 Comte de Fersen, on Saturday, October 29th. 
 
 Although it must have cost her dear to be separated 
 from her two ladies-in-waiting, of whom she was 
 particularly fond, the princess, after mature con- 
 sideration, decided to set out alone for France. In 
 fact it was more prudent to travel without a suite and 
 with a modest equipage. We will even add, in sup- 
 port of the delicacy of her feelings, that she did not 
 wish to expose her ladies-in-waiting to the dangers she 
 herself was braving without fear. Moreover, if the 
 words attributed to her by the Comte d'AUonville are 
 true, she did not deceive herself in regard to these 
 dangers. 
 
 The separation was cruel. Only the Comtesse de 
 Ginestous could legitimately cherish the hope of return- 
 
 SI4 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 ing to the princess, for, as a foreigner, she was insured 
 against certain dangers. 
 
 On the 4th of November the papers announced the 
 return of the princess to Paris : 
 
 " Madame de Lamballe has returned." 
 
 " Madame de Lamballe as well as several quondam 
 
 courtiers has returned to Paris," said the "Journal 
 
 de Paris," without further comment. 
 
 On her arrival the princess took rooms m "an 
 apartment, which was separated from that of the queen 
 only by the landing-place of the stairs, on the same 
 floor as that of the queen, at the Pavilion de Flore," 
 says Madame Campan. 
 
 That which she most feared was to see again, after 
 so long and so cruel a separation, the queen whom, 
 a few months before, she had left young and full of 
 attractions. She was not ignorant, however, of the 
 fact that, since the arrest at Varennes, the hair of Marie 
 Antoinette had become almost white; her friend had not 
 hidden this from her in her letters, and had even sent 
 her a proof of it. 
 
 It was none the less a sad moment for her when she 
 saw the queen with entirely white hair, her features 
 worn and sharpened by loss of sleep. 
 
 The royal countenance reflected proud surprise, 
 haughty calm, and feverish courage. Later, to this 
 surprise, to this calm, to this courage was added scorn. 
 
 * ' Always imposing in her bearing, there was no 
 
 215 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 longer seen on her lips that kindly and charming smile 
 which had added to her beauty." 
 
 " Profoundly moved, she still preserved her quiet 
 visage and a bearing full of dignity." 
 
 The loneliness and desolation which the princess 
 felt in the Tuileries affected her no less acutely. 
 Feeling only shame and scorn for those who had not 
 feared at the first danger to flee and irrevocably aban- 
 don the royal family,^ she resolved to devote herself 
 wholly to the king and queen, whose reception of her 
 had been so touching. This was, then, her one 
 thought, her one ambition ; but there remained a duty 
 to be fulfilled, a sacred duty, sweet to her since it was 
 one of gratitude : to go to her father-in-law, whose 
 health was precarious and whom she wished to see 
 again. 
 
 So the princess left for Anet and remained there 
 from November the 14th to the i8th. She could 
 freely discuss her plans with the Due de Penthievre, by 
 whom her course, in spite of the dangers it entailed, 
 could not fail to be approved. 
 
 The poor duke was, in fact, very ill. The quarrels 
 to which he had constantly been exposed had greatly 
 affected his health, although he had preserved excellent 
 spirits. 
 
 We know of no better way to depict his state of 
 mind than to give here some passages from the corre- 
 spondence between him and his faithful friend the 
 Cardinal de Bernis, then in Rome. 
 
 216 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 ' ' We have had, ' ' he wrote from Chateauneuf-sur- 
 Loire, May 30, 1790, " some excitement at Amboise 
 from a cause which in these times is unimportant: the 
 people from one of the parishes of this town wished to 
 reestablish the third fete ot Pentecost, which for sev- 
 eral years has been given up. This excitement came 
 to an end in a touching manner for me. The curate, 
 towards whom they were beginning to use threats, said 
 that the disturbances would end by forcing me to leave 
 Amboise and every one retired without a word." 
 
 " Chateauneuf-sur-Loire, July 4, lygo." 
 "It is very kind in your Eminence (I believe that 
 this title is always correct in Rome) to concern your- 
 self with a poor servant on the eve of becoming royal 
 shoeblack. I do not know, however, what I shall be 
 in France, or how I shall exist under the new order of 
 things; the decree of June 19th is being returned to 
 the hands of the Committee of the Constitution, to 
 undergo a new examination before being promulgated. 
 Some of the gentlemen from Orleans actually have de- 
 sired that the man who carries my letters to the post- 
 office in their city, and the conveyance which is sent 
 thither for my provisions, should be divested of my 
 livery and my coat-of-arms. I have yielded. For 
 that matter, I could not fail to be pleased with the 
 friendship the people show for me. Why should they 
 wish me harm ? I have always thought that the high po- 
 sition I occupy compels me to sacrifice myself for them. 
 " Preserve our country from schism. The Pope is 
 a prudent man in whose wisdom I put great confidence; 
 the form of apostolic instruction by the bishop, together 
 with communion with the successor of Saint Peter, is 
 not unknown. 
 
 217 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 * ' A thousand thanks to your Eminence for the in- 
 terest you have been good enough to take in my health. 
 I have been much better since I have been living on 
 the banks of the Loire, although I am still w^eak. I 
 vi^as troubled by a summons to the act of federation of 
 the 14th of this month, whither it vi^ould have been 
 impossible for me to go. Fortunately, on the decree's 
 being examined further, I found that I w^as not com- 
 pelled to be present. 
 
 ' ' My tender and sincere affection for your Eminence 
 deserves that you keep a small place for me in your 
 thoughts. 
 
 " L. J. M. DE Bourbon. 
 
 " There is no need for me to say how I hope this 
 letter will find you argus-eyed." 
 
 •■ Amboise, August 13, 1790. 
 
 " Monsieur de Bourbon Penthievre (such is the 
 name I now bear) renders a thousand thanks to Mon- 
 sieur le Cardinal de Bernis for the last letter he was 
 kind enough to write him. He is about to try to 
 make use of the means suggested to him concerning 
 the affair of poor Father Denis. Monsieur de Bour- 
 bon Penthievre still uses his own seal, and will con- 
 tinue to use it until the decree of June 19th shall be 
 in force; only he countersigns admiral. His servants 
 wear any color. 
 
 " I came to Amboise for my customary change of 
 air; otherwise my health, which needs care, might have 
 suffered. It has not been possible this year for me to 
 look into my accounts as usual. My ignorance of the 
 means I have left compelled me to begin by curtailing 
 expenses ; moreover, I am very glad to reserve enough 
 
 2l3 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 for a journey to Rome if I cannot settle permanently in 
 my own country. 
 
 " I am in the hands of Monsieur Barnave' and Mon- 
 sieur Charles de Lameth, One of my old farmers to 
 whom my counsel has been refusing for ten years to 
 pay an indemnity of ten thousand crowns at the low- 
 est, has complained to these gentlemen and has been 
 heard by them. Monsieur de Lameth, to whom, at 
 my orders, a secretary had been speaking, said some 
 very kind things about me, but did not cease to re- 
 iterate the fact that he was the friend of the people 
 and the savior of the oppressed. I wrote that they 
 should try to prevent my being decried in the National 
 Assembly. I ask your Eminence not to refuse the 
 continuation," etc. 
 
 Monsieur de Penthievre was not at the end of his 
 troubles. Every instant he feared that the schism 
 would come, and after a time this fear was realized. 
 
 Villenave, in his " Vie du Due de Penthievre," tells 
 us that " while the Princesse de Lamballe had her 
 priedieu under a dais in the choir of Saint Eustache, the 
 prince was on the bench of the church-wardens' pew, 
 in company with the wardens." 
 
 The duke was very fond of his parish of Saint 
 Eustache, near the Hotel de Toulouse. He did much 
 goad there. What a cruel awakening, then, when he 
 learned, early in December, that his coat-of-arms had 
 been torn down from Saint Eustache ! Foreseeing 
 what would occur, he wrote, January i, 1791 : 
 
 " In case we are so unfortunate as to suffer from a 
 
 2ig 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 schism, could you procure me the means of holding 
 service in my rooms, according to the Catholic ritual, 
 without my being forced to expatriate myself? " 
 
 The prince thought of leaving, of exiling himself, in 
 order to escape having to renounce his religious prac- 
 tices; but in the following letter he shows that he is 
 reassured, and has changed his plans, for between times 
 he speaks of the answer of the cardinal, an answer in 
 which the latter tells him that he may continue to fol- 
 low his own religious observances : 
 
 " Eu, February 6, 1791, 
 
 " Monsieur le Cardinal, there can rightly be no 
 schism when the majority of bishops are united; but 
 there can actually be one when the supreme power pre- 
 vents the orthodox ministers from fulfilling their duties, 
 and has them carried on by intruders. I shall have 
 recourse to you if circumstances require it. 
 
 " It is said that your Eminence is about to receive 
 mesdames. I congratulate you for extending your 
 hospitality towards such personages. Perhaps I shall 
 ask you to procure a cabin for me near Saint Paul fort 
 mura^ if I do not confine myself to paying a visit to 
 Madame la Princesse de Conti in Savoy, in case my 
 continued poor health obliges me to travel. 
 
 " I am still in the city of Eu. I do not know how 
 long I shall remain. The four curates of this city 
 have taken the oath; their vicars have joined the oppo- 
 site faction. The curate of Choisy le Roy was ap- 
 pointed bishop of Rouen the beginning of this week. 
 The town of Eu is in this diocese. 
 
 " My tender and sincere aflection," etc. 
 
 220 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 "Eu, March 23, 1791. 
 
 ' ' What I foresaw in regard to the schism has hap- 
 pened. Monsieur le Cardinal. The Church of France 
 is very Catholic, the majority of bishops holding to- 
 gether; but schism does exist in this country, the 
 administrative power binding the hands of the legitimate 
 ministers and committing their duties to the hands of 
 intruders. Your Eminence has told me that it would 
 not be impossible to procure for myself the means of 
 living at home as a Catholic in the midst of heterodoxy. 
 
 " I beg you to pay my respects to mesdames when 
 you have time, and to remember me to Madame de 
 Narbonne. You must always address my letters to 
 the Hotel de Toulouse in Paris, in order that they 
 may surely reach me, because I may change my abode 
 from time to time. 
 
 " I trust that your Eminence will never doubt," etc. 
 
 The health of the poor old man was very wretched. 
 The following letter was written by his secretary. To 
 his physical suffering was added mental pain; the good 
 man had just lost a priest whom he had honored with 
 his friendship. 
 
 " Radepont, September 17, 1791. 
 *' . . . It is very interesting that the health of the 
 Pope undergoes no change. My daughter and I beg 
 you to offer our humble respects to mesdames. My 
 daughter asks me to thank you for the interest you 
 never cease to feel in what concerns her. The con- 
 dition of suffering in which I live is somewhat aug- 
 mented by the loss I have just sustained of the priest 
 in whom I placed my confidence after the death of 
 poor Monsieur d'Appolonie. This loss, which would 
 
 221 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 have affected me at any time, is rendered more painful, 
 if possible, by circumstances. Yesterday I resigned 
 from the Order of the Saint Esprit; perhaps to-day I 
 shall separate myself from the Order of the Golden 
 Fleece, to which the king, according to his latest letters 
 written from Paris, still belongs. I deserve from your 
 Excellency," etc. 
 
 If only the poor duke had known how good a prophet 
 he was in uttering the words Fortaire has handed down 
 to us ! 
 
 " I greatly admire the attachment of my daughter- 
 in-law to the queen. She has made a very great sacri- 
 fice in returning to her. I tremble lest she be a victim 
 to it." 
 
 Even then the unfortunate woman was morally a 
 victim. Her devotion was not slow in exciting the 
 bitterness of the pamphleteers. 
 
 " A long, detailed account of the reception of Ma- 
 dame de Lamballe at court, Wednesday, the 12th of this 
 month, and the pleasant welcome she received from 
 the king and the queen. 
 
 " Also the superb discourse of their Majesties, as 
 well as that of this ci-devant * princess, concerning the 
 emigres and their intentions in regard to France. 
 
 " Madame de Lamballe, admitted to the king, 
 addressed him in these terms : 
 
 " ' Sire, no one has shown more love than I for the 
 sacred person of your Majesty. If I regret that I was 
 separated from you, at least I have the consolation of 
 
 222 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 not having lost the confidence with which you have 
 deigned to honor me. Nothing is dearer to my heart. 
 I shall always preserve the memory of it as well as the 
 joy I now feel. To-day will be so much the more pre- 
 cious to me since I can tell your Majesty that the inten- 
 tion of the French princes is to follow my example. 
 Kindly add to this expression of affection my boundless 
 devotion to the Constitution, to your Majesty, to the 
 queen, and to the royal family. ' 
 
 "the reply of the king 
 
 " ' I, as well as the queen, am greatly pleased by 
 your return to us. I was ignorant of the motives 
 which kept you away, especially as we had told you 
 that you had nothing to fear. Perfect tranquillity 
 reigns here. The French, worthy of our love, have 
 some affection for me, and for all of us. Deep in our 
 hearts we carry this healthful balm, which makes us 
 forget all the ills we have suffered, and all that were 
 feared by those who left. 
 
 " ' I must tell you, my dear cousin, that this mo- 
 ment brings back life to me. What joy ! I cannot 
 forget it, and if ever I felt the sweetness of royalty, it 
 is now when I see all souls united, all members at one 
 with their leader, and all Frenchmen gathered about 
 us. 
 
 " ' A large part of the inhabitants of this vast em- 
 pire, in a burst of regeneration conceived, it is true, 
 some alarm in regard to the purity of our sentiments ; 
 the ill-disposed profited by their anxiety, the flame of 
 discord grew so warm that no power could have averted 
 the incalculable evils of which France would have been 
 the theatre. A great nation having been led away, 
 
 223 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 wrongly interpreted our slightest actions; in a word, 
 caused such anxiety in our soul that we thought we 
 ought to make sure whether there existed a unanimous 
 desire for a constitution, which I as well as the queen 
 have adopted. I assured myself of this desire uncon- 
 ditionally ; consequently, I repeat to you that no con- 
 sideration can outweigh with me the general wish. 
 
 " ' We have obtained from a feeling and generous 
 people the forgetfulness of personal enmity. Those 
 whom you have looked on as your enemies come with 
 open arms to receive you, to guarantee your person 
 and your property. Can you regard such conduct 
 with indifference ? I cannot make myself believe this, 
 especially as we are allied with the blood of the Bour- 
 bons, and as we now form with all Frenchmen one 
 and the same family. 
 
 " ' I flatter myself that you will adopt my plans. 
 I beg you to overlook all mistakes. I ask you also to 
 contemplate with us the lively pleasure of a people 
 pleased with the laws they have dictated for themselves, 
 and to feel that your return makes a part of their joy, 
 of mine, and of the queen's.' 
 
 " REPLY OF THE QUEEN 
 
 " * I share the sentiments of the king in regard to 
 you. I will not recall the cruel remembrance of the 
 motives which have kept you away from me. Resume 
 your rank and the place you have always held in my 
 heart. 
 
 " ' Finally, let us draw a veil across the past; let us 
 turn our thoughts to everything which will contribute 
 to a happier future and let us be forever friends.' 
 
 "At this point the queen embraced Madame de 
 Lamballe with the liveliest affection. 
 
 224 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 " Copy of a letter addressed to the former editors 
 of the ' Courrier des Frontieres ' : 
 
 " ' Gentlemen: The arrival at court of Madame 
 de Lamballe, announced in a very estimable paper 
 (" Le Thermometre du Jour," No. 65), is assuredly 
 not falsely reported. This ci-devant princess, for whom 
 for several days they have been preparing apartments in 
 the Hotel de Toulouse, arrived the night of the loth. 
 On Wednesday, the 12th, she was admitted first to 
 the king and then to the queen. Two of my friends 
 who were present at the ceremony customary under 
 such circumstances told me the chief points. As 
 they are very interesting, it is a real pleasure to me to 
 send them to you, and you may, without doubt, give 
 them the publicity they deserve. 
 
 " ' I have the honor of being your, etc., 
 
 " ' David, 
 " ' Citizen of the District of the Tuileries, Paris ^ ij\.th 
 October, 1791.' 
 
 " From the Press of Pellier, Rue des Prouvaires, 
 No. 61." 
 15 
 
 225 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 
 On her return to Paris, the princess opened her 
 salon to receive " many people," and succeeded in 
 gathering about her all that the capital still contained 
 of the royal suite. 
 
 On November 28th Monsieur d'Amblimont supped 
 with her before going to Aix-la-Chapelle, vi^here he 
 was to join her daughter, the Comtesse de Lage, to 
 give her the final instructions from the princess, who 
 urged patience, and forbade the countess to think of 
 returning, unless she received formal orders to do so. 
 
 Several writers have told us of the efforts of the 
 princess to hide from the eyes of the royal family the 
 void caused by the migration. 
 
 She sought to gather together all those whom fear 
 had not driven away, and solicited their presence at her 
 receptions, even at her informal teas, hoping to find in 
 all these evidences of devotion, neglected for some 
 months, a last support for the tottering royalty. 
 
 Monsieur de Clermont-Gallerande has made of this 
 desertion, which in her solicitude the princess desired 
 to hide, a true and painful picture. We should like 
 to pass it over in silence. 
 
 226 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 " The court of the queen was as little attended as 
 was that of the king. Those holding important offices 
 were either absent or had deserted her. Of the prin- 
 cesses only Madame Elisabeth and Madame de Lam- 
 balle remained; the Duchesse d' Orleans was with her 
 father; the Duchesse de Bourbon never came." 
 
 What a contrast ! How painful it must have been 
 for such a woman to see herself deserted, to find her- 
 self misjudged by those who ought to have known her 
 better, to see herself abandoned by her own house- 
 hold, by those who had received for their families, as 
 well as for themselves, the greatest favors from her 
 hands ! I must say in praise of their Majesties that, 
 although sensitive to this general desertion, they were 
 far from showing any displeasure at it. Never a 
 murmur escaped them, never a complaint, never a 
 single moment of ill-humor or reproach. There was 
 the same kindly welcome, the same graciousness, the 
 same indulgence for all who approached. No doubt 
 they favored those on whom they most could count. 
 They must have done so; but it was in no way em- 
 barrassing for the others, who could neither show 
 offence nor complain of it. 
 
 What patience ! What courage ! What resignation 
 and virtue in these unfortunate sovereigns ! How con- 
 soling must it have been to have shown them devotion 
 in their trouble. Madame de Chimay, maid of honor, 
 unable to follow her own creed at court, had left on 
 account of religious reasons. Fear had led Madame 
 
 227 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 d'Ossun, lady of the bedchamber, to go abroad and 
 join her mother, Madame de Grammont. The Du- 
 chesse de Luxembourg was at Lisbon with her husband. 
 Mesdames de Luynes, de Duras, d'Henin, de Bergues, 
 and de Polastron had left. Of the court ladies, there 
 remained only Mesdames de la Roche-Aimond, de 
 Tarente, de Castellane, and de Maille; and Madame 
 de Lamballe, who filled every position, so to speak, 
 held court every week, and gave several dinners and 
 suppers, which the queen attended. This was the 
 sole diversion Marie Antoinette allowed herself. The 
 household of Madame Elisabeth was likewise scattered; 
 she had with her only Madame de Serent and a few 
 other ladies. Monsieur d'Adhemar had just died, and 
 the Comte de Coigni was in Italy. Of the queen's 
 household, Monsieur de Tesse was in Switzerland, the 
 Due de Polignac at Vienna, and Monsieur de Saulx 
 was dead. 
 
 Following is a letter from the queen, with a few 
 autograph lines from Louis XVL, addressed toward the 
 close of the year to the Duchesse de Polignac. It 
 shows that Marie Antoinette fully realized the value 
 of the devotion of the princess and did not hide it 
 from herself, and that the king, in spite of his unfor- 
 tunate position, continued to devote himself calmly to 
 his favorite pastime.' 
 
 " Your last two letters," wrote the queen, " ar- 
 rived together, dear heart, and it is impossible for me 
 
 228 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 not to reply at once to tell you of my friendship for 
 you. . . . The good L , who seemed only wait- 
 ing for danger to show what she was worth, is slightly 
 ill at not being able to leave the house without over- 
 hearing the most atrocious remarks; for myself, I do 
 not need to go out: I enjoy all that at home, as it suf- 
 fices for me to go to the window. From time to time 
 I find faithful men amongst those on whom I had not 
 counted, but we have about us, and in our own service, 
 others who betray us." 
 
 " I am returning from hunting," continued the king, 
 " where I met your friend, but we were surrounded by 
 so many people whom we could not trust that we did 
 not have a long conversation. The words exchanged, 
 however, were sufficient for your purpose and mine. 
 Know, Madame la Duchesse, that I fully realize the 
 value of your affection. ' ' 
 
 It was in the midst of these events and sorrows, 
 which were nothing in comparison to what we are 
 about to see, that the fatal year 1792 opened. Our 
 princess, whose devotion was limitless, was never more 
 careful to fufil her duties. Thanks to her unflagging 
 zeal, she spared her friend the fatigue with which she 
 was constantly threatened, and averted from her the 
 coldness which was so painful to the queen. She 
 was the first to express good wishes for the new year 
 — " wishes which were as sincere," writes the poor 
 woman, "as the hope I have of her continued 
 kindness." 
 
 In spite of her cares and anxiety, Madame de Lam- 
 
 229 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 balle had perfect control over herself. She was even 
 self-possessed enough to think of her own interests. 
 It was no longer possible for her, at least for the present, 
 to stay in Versailles." So we find that she decided to 
 rent an apartment in her hotel in the city. Madame 
 de Lamballe made every effort to induce her friends 
 to remain near the Throne; at least, this is what 
 Madame de la Rochejaquelein' says in her Memoires. 
 This authority tells us that when she was presented to 
 the queen in February Madame de Lamballe prevailed 
 on her, as well as on Monsieur de Lescure, not to go 
 away. Later, similar overtures were made to Mon- 
 sieur de Marigny by the princess, who still recom- 
 mended the most absolute silence and the most im- 
 penetrable mystery. The court no longer presented 
 its former aspect and the description given of it by 
 Monsieur de Clermont is far from pleasant. 
 
 " The court," he says, " is sad, and painful to 
 look upon. Surrounded by spies, it would be a crime 
 for the royal family to favor any one; the moment 
 one receives a welcome or any mark of preference, 
 he is suspected and watched. The queen has given 
 up the dinners and teas at Madame de Lamballe's, 
 because they displeased Monsieur Petion, and she goes 
 there only in secret to spend a few moments of recre- 
 ation or to summon the princess to her in private." 
 
 Madame de Tourzel on this point is equally pos- 
 itive ; but she attributes the cause of it solely to the 
 princess, saying that it was due to the latter' s constant 
 
 230 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 fear of compromising herself personally, and, conse- 
 quently, of compromising the queen. On the other 
 hand, Madame de la Rochejaquelein, whose relations 
 with Madame de Lamballe were very marked at this 
 time, does not give us the slightest hint of this, although 
 she might well have known and mentioned it, inas- 
 much as, even if not exactly in the intimate circle of 
 the superintendent, she remained near her until the 
 end, visiting the princess as late as the first part of 
 August. This enabled her to sound the truest note as 
 to the high character and cool head shown by our 
 wretched heroine. 
 
 " So far as I am concerned," says the Marquise, 
 " I withdrew from society, going scarcely anywhere 
 except to Madame de Lamballe's. I saw her every 
 anxiety, her every grief; never was any one more 
 bravely devoted to the queen. She sacrificed her life. 
 A short time before August lOth she said to me, ' As 
 the danger increases, the greater I feel is my strength. 
 I am ready to die; I fear nothing.' " 
 
 The court was again thrown into mourning in 
 March on the death of the brother of Marie Antoinette, 
 the Emperor Leopold. 
 
 " March 10, '92, nothing; news of the death of 
 the emperor," the king was satisfied to note. 
 
 But this was not all. In the meantime arrived the 
 order for the arrest of Delessart, an order which was 
 carried out during the night of the loth. The affair, at 
 first considered but slightly important, soon assumed a 
 
 231 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 serious and grave aspect, and the accusation seemed so 
 terrible that no further thought was given to the mourn- 
 ing of the previous night. The Comte de Fersen tells 
 us, in regard to the trial of Delessart, that the princess 
 wrote to Monsieur de Breteuil, to keep him informed of 
 the denunciations of which the queen had been the 
 victim, and to tell him that there had been a question 
 of removing her from the king and of placing her in a 
 convent. The unfortunate queen was accused of giving 
 pernicious counsel to Louis XVI. 
 
 Fortunately, nothing came of this cruel plan, but 
 Marie Antoinette long preserved the remembrance of 
 the horrible idea, which, for the time being, had 
 greatly startled those at court. 
 
 Let us speak now of the Austrian Committee, on 
 which we will dwell in order to prove how great, 
 even at this time, was the hatred against Madame de 
 Lamballe. 
 
 This Committee, we think, never existed except in 
 the feeble imagination of the orators of the Palais 
 Royal and the Tuileries. Their audience, composed 
 for the most part of idlers and of vagrants, had 
 constant need of new food, and to meet the necessities 
 of their cause our public speakers did not fear to organ- 
 ize this gathering of conspirators in the heart of Paris. 
 So long as the accusation was confined to the public 
 streets, none of the persons incriminated thought of 
 protesting against the attacks made on their names. 
 The Minister of Marine, Bertrand de Molleville, did 
 
 232 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 not publish his denial refuting the actions concerning 
 his friends and himself until the journalist Carra, at 
 the meeting of the Friends of the Constitution, held 
 at the Jacobins May yth, allowed himself a violent 
 sally, a real prosecutor's address, full of evil insinua- 
 tions which he took care to reproduce in his " An- 
 nales politiques. " 
 
 Bertrand de Molleville and Montmorin, at whom 
 the attack was principally aimed, commissioned La 
 Riviere, justice of the peace in the so-called Henry 
 IV. district, to prosecute their calumniator. But 
 Carra, far from being embarrassed, replied that he had 
 confined himself to the facts advanced by Bazire, 
 Merlin, and Chabot, all three members of the Vigil- 
 ance Committee, and, furthermore, that these members 
 had before them every proof of the legal existence 
 of this Committee. 
 
 The National Assembly then summoned them to lay 
 before it the evidence concerning the affair. La Riviere 
 subpoenaed both Madame de Lamballe and Regnauld de 
 Saint Jean d'Angely. The latter protested energetic- 
 ally against the allegation of an individual who had 
 dared to testify against him (Regnauld) whom Ma- 
 dame de Lamballe had invited to her apartments. This 
 passionate accusation made the session of Wednesday, 
 May 23d, one of the most stormy they had ever had. 
 Gensonne demanded the arraignment of Montmorin, 
 and Brissot spoke to the same effect, demanding that 
 of Bertrand also. 
 
 233 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 Neither orator, in spite of the talent and the passion 
 he put into his speech, succeeded in moving the audi- 
 ence, Chabot was forced to come to the rescue and to 
 take part in the discussion. Full of rage, with threat- 
 ening words on his lips, he inveighed in turn against all 
 and affirmed at the close of the argument that he had 
 one hundred and eighty-two proofs at hand. " For 
 the rest," he added, perfidiously, " the speeches of 
 Gensonne and Brissot have already driven away Mes- 
 sieurs Montmorin, Caraman, and Madame de Lamballe. 
 They have embarked at Boulogne-sur-Mer ; and we 
 have proof of this in a letter from the municipality of 
 this city." 
 
 A newspaper immediately published the following 
 paragraph : ' ' Monsieur de Montmorin and Madame 
 de Lamballe have left for England." But the follow- 
 ing day it was compelled to contradict this statement, 
 so carelessly accepted. 
 
 "We spoke of the departure of Monsieur Mont- 
 morin and Madame de Lamballe according to a letter 
 from the municipality of Boulogne, which announced 
 it to the National Assembly, and which was sent to 
 the Committee on Research by the municipality of 
 Paris. Monsieur Montmorin is in Paris, where he 
 is awaiting the decision of the Assembly on matters 
 which concern him." 
 
 Thereupon an energetic letter was needed from 
 Montmorin to the Assembly to put an end to the ca- 
 
 234 
 
MJDJME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 lumniating reports brought forward with such grace by 
 the ex-Capuchin Chabot, whose reputation and good 
 faith were, moreover, strongly questioned in the fol- 
 lowing lines: 
 
 Chabot, chaplain of the fair, 
 
 Whose motives are beyond compare. 
 
 Has, with the greatest tact, been thieving — 
 
 So great his method of deceiving — 
 
 Throughout his term of office quite, 
 
 To carry out his schemes aright. 
 
 The nation's deputy forsooth ! 
 
 Unprincipled, unlearned, uncouth! 
 
 One day this sarcerdotal clown. 
 
 On coming to a well-known town, 
 
 Arrested all the rank and file — 
 
 Aristocrats and monks erstwhile — 
 
 And without any rhyme or reason, 
 
 He had them all led forth to prison. 
 
 Each, fearing much the guillotine, 
 
 Made offers to the Capuchin 
 
 (For so it is the story's told) 
 
 Of costly jewels, silver, gold. 
 
 All night they bargained, standing there ; 
 
 At length they yielded to his prayer. 
 
 The prisoners were allowed to go 
 
 For a hundred thousand crowns or so. 
 
 Never was contradiction more evident or irrefutable 
 than the letter from Montmorin. Chabot, however, 
 although unprepared for such a blow, did not appear 
 at all moved. Later, more fully informed and ap- 
 parently convinced that Madame de Lamballe was 
 Still in Paris, he merely stated, with very culpable 
 
 235 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 indifference in the face of so dastardly an accusation 
 lightly made: 
 
 " I was mistaken in saying Madame de Lamballe. 
 I meant the Princesse de Lambesc." 
 
 The accusation had no immediate results, but the 
 blow told, and the princess had to suffer the conse- 
 quences. The bearing of the wretched woman, her 
 least acts already watched, and her short absence at 
 Anet from May 6th to I2th, must have served as a 
 foundation for the accusation of Chabot. These six 
 days at Anet were the last which Madame de Lamballe 
 devoted to her father-in-law. 
 
 What changes she found since her last visit ! The 
 poor duke was scarcely able to rise from his sick- 
 bed and his suffering was frightful. His household, 
 too, was sadder than ever. His last chaplain, the 
 Abbe Lambert, whom Monsieur de Juigne, Bishop of 
 Paris, had sent him, has given in his " Memoires " an 
 interesting picture of the life of his penitent. At five 
 o'clock they entered his room and, shortly after. Mon- 
 sieur de Penthievre prayed and meditated ; then his 
 reader read to him, sent off his letters, and finally the 
 duke breakfasted on a cup of chocolate. He dined at 
 half-past one, remaining three hours at table. The 
 afternoon, until six o'clock, was usually given up to 
 driving. He resumed his correspondence and supped 
 from half-past ten to midnight. Then, retiring to his 
 
 236 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 apartments, he read the Scriptures or prayers, and did 
 not go to bed before two o'clock in the morning. 
 
 He was so precise and punctual that he would have 
 suffered if any of his habits had been the least varied. 
 
 Always very religious, his piety seemed augmented; 
 every day he attended mass and he partook of commun- 
 ion each week. His correspondence with the Cardinal 
 de Bernis shows us how calmly he bore his suffering, 
 which daily became more violent, and the resignation, 
 sometimes joyful and oftener stoical, with which he 
 accepted all the innovations or changes imposed on 
 him. 
 
 " There is really nothing," he wrote, " to prevent 
 me from remaining a member of the Order of the 
 Golden Fleece if I will submit to being called a 
 foreigner, and if I will consent to be deprived of the 
 prerogatives of active citizenship. As the king still 
 continues his membership I shall not resign. I 
 thought I had received an insult lately; the good peo- 
 ple were pleased to spread a report that I was receiving 
 bishops, aristocrats, arms, horses, and baggage from 
 Monsieur le Comte d'Artois. Fortunately, the munici- 
 pal officers of Houdan, a town near Anet, where the 
 explosion was ready to burst, were wise enough to 
 say that they would have to be allowed to verify the 
 facts incognito before acting against me. They carried 
 out their plan and their return calmed everything." 
 
 Under the date of February i6th he complains of 
 his weakness, finding that " the irregular attacks of 
 fever " from which he suffered seem to be " disappear- 
 
 237 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 ing," and laughingly refers to his " state of imbe- 
 cility." 
 
 This happy condition could not have lasted long, 
 for a month later he says : 
 
 " I am still in great pain. A cold I caught several 
 days ago augments the difficulty I have in breathing 
 and the dizziness with which I am troubled." 
 
 The following letter, in which he tells of the assas- 
 sination of the King of Sweden, whose host he had 
 been in 1784, of the death of the Comte de Dillon, 
 and of the unexpected adventure to his surgeon, is 
 written with such spirit that we should like to publish 
 
 it almost in extenso : 
 
 " Anet, June I, 1792. 
 " Neither my daughter nor myself can sufficiently 
 thank your Eminence for the manner in which you have 
 aroused the interest of Mesdames in our favor. We ask 
 that you continue to do so. It was necessary for me 
 to be as stupefied as I have been by the suffering which 
 I undergo every day to have forgotten that you, per- 
 sonally, would mourn the King of Sweden. I am, how- 
 ever, fully aware of the friendship he showed you when 
 you desired a coadjutor. I imagine that you have heard 
 of the sad accident of Monsieur de Dillon, and the 
 story of what occurred at Mons. We hear every day 
 of the slight skirmishes which take place on the frontier 
 of the Netherlands. An armed negotiation might be 
 well, if it is a question of states which would consent 
 to enter into a parley. But I do not feel the need of 
 an assembly, the well-known custom of which is not to 
 treat regarding anything that concerns the Constitu- 
 
 238 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 tion. He who writes for me, since I am unable to do 
 so for myself, says that I sent to your Eminence an 
 account of a slight discussion we had on this subject. 
 If he is not mistaken^ you must be wearied by this rep- 
 etition. My surgeon had the misfortune to drop in a 
 citizen's house at Anet a glass on which was written 
 'Vive la Nation,' and the imprudence to say, 'The 
 nation has fallen.' This aroused our citizens. I was 
 obliged to send my surgeon to the justice of the peace, 
 who, finding no serious charges against him, merely 
 imprisoned him for a iew hours in the town-hall. But 
 that was not enough; when he came out of prison I 
 had to send the guilty man back to his family in Paris. 
 The Commune afterwards begged me to recall him and 
 he has returned. In spite of having to obey my phy- 
 sicians I am still looking forward to my journey. It 
 is not possible for me to have the travelling companion 
 of whom you speak. Her husband has left, with the 
 last of her children. It is said he has gone to Valen- 
 ciennes. 
 
 " I will say nothing of what is going on in Paris. 
 You know this better than I. How could I forget 
 the proofs of friendship your Eminence has not ceased 
 to show me. They are graven on my heart, which is 
 filled with the truest and most sincere affection. Ma- 
 dame la Comtesse de Joinville says that she shares the 
 sentiments of her father." 
 
 A few days later, he relates to the Cardinal an acci- 
 dent, the results of which might have been serious, 
 but at which he was the first to laugh, as he himself 
 tells us : 
 
 ' ' We were overturned last Tuesday in an eight- 
 
 239 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 seated carriage as we passed through the gates at the 
 foot of my garden. These are placed so that the 
 turning is very difficult. The coachman could not 
 control the eight horses he was driving. But no one 
 was seriously hurt, thank God; I ran the most risk; 
 my daughter and a chief officer of my household, who 
 is no light-weight, fell on me. I could neither speak 
 nor move for the short time in which I remained in 
 that position. I was almost suffocated." 
 
 In the following letter he declares that, contrary to 
 the advice of his physicians, he will not go to Italy — 
 "since," he adds, " Madame la Comtesse de Joinville 
 cannot take the trip, as her affairs are progressing so 
 slowly." 
 
 The poor man closes with a remark that shows he 
 scarcely dares to speak of current events : 
 
 " Everything that is occurring is too bad for me to 
 discuss. Moreover, I speak very little of these things, 
 and you know them better than I." 
 
 There is at this point in his correspondence, a lapse 
 greatly to be regretted, for suddenly we jump to the 
 17th of November. It is unfortunate that we have 
 not the letter in which he describes the sad death of 
 his daughter-in-law. 
 
 The last two missives, especially the one dated from 
 Bizi, February 11, 1793, three weeks before his death, 
 show that the condition of the wretched prince was 
 growing worse. He could scarcely utter the following 
 words, yet his mind remained clear enough for him to 
 
 240 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 call the secretary to whom he dictated his letters " the 
 man whose strength replaces the weakness of my hand, 
 or rather of my head." 
 
 " I still suffer greatly. There are moments when 
 an intense trembling, which tortures me, completely 
 undermines my strength. If I were not as feeble as I 
 am the gratitude I owe to my citizens would procure 
 me happiness which my overwhelming misery prevents 
 me from feeling. The soldiers who passed through here 
 on their way from France to the army showed me a 
 touching proof of friendship. The Commune of Ver- 
 non came to plant a tree of liberty before my door, 
 after having attached an inscription to it which I here 
 enclose, not daring to dictate it to him who by his 
 strength replaces the weakness of my hand, or rather 
 of my head. 
 
 ' ' While thanking you for deferring to my wish in 
 the matter of titles, I must ask you not to address letters 
 en sa maison; a sa malson is the correct form. I do not 
 usually assume the title of Citizen, because it is not yet 
 in general use. I limit myself to receiving it from those 
 who wish to give it to me, and to using it in return, 
 humbly following the formula by which they address 
 me." 
 
 The last letter is heartrending. The duke's trou- 
 ble had grown worse, and the constant suffering was 
 greatly augmented by a distaste for every kind of food. 
 His weakness was great. 
 
 "Increased infirmities compel me to do no more 
 than thank your Eminence for the letter I received 
 i6 241 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 from you the 23d of last month. I was not sure of 
 being able to dictate even these few lines. Three days 
 ago I had an attack of fever which has been broken, 
 but which has increased my distaste for food and con- 
 sequently my weakness; meal hour is a time of tor- 
 ture. Besides this I have had a swelling of the feet, 
 occasioned by a night passed in my armchair, because 
 I was unable to bear the pain I felt in bed. My 
 daughter and I ask you not to omit your custom of 
 recalling our names to the two kind friends living 
 with you " 
 
 242 
 
CHAPTER XVII 
 
 A grave conflict arose between the king and the 
 Assembly, a conflict caused by the refusal on the part 
 of Louis XVI., who had been hesitating for several 
 days, to sanction the two decrees for the deportation of 
 the priests and for the formation of a camp of twenty 
 thousand men in Paris. This refusal, due in part to 
 the firmness of Marie Antoinette, brought on the 
 famous 20th of June, when for the first time we see 
 the Princesse de Lamballe taking part with her sov- 
 ereigns in an insurrection and showing that dauntless 
 resolution which was so foreign to her nature, but 
 which she knew how to assume. 
 
 The Tuileries once invaded by the people, the 
 faithful subjects, in spite of the supplications and the 
 tears of Marie Antoinette, were compelled to oppose 
 her wishes to join her royal husband. " Let me go," 
 cried the queen; " my place is with the king." To 
 this Messieurs d'Haussonville and de Choiseul replied, 
 "Your place is with your children." Then, when 
 the crowd filed by her, abusing her with every sort of 
 insult, the queen took refuge in the council hall, hold- 
 ing the dauphin in a red cap in her arms, and sur- 
 rounded by her ladies, Mesdames de Lamballe, de 
 Tarente, de la Roche- Aymon, de Tourzel, etc., etc. 
 
 243 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 Let us now, in regard to the firm and courageous 
 attitude of the princess, quote the passage from the 
 " Souvenirs " of the Comtesse de Lage, giving the 
 testimony of the Comtesse de Ginestous : 
 
 " Madame de Lamballe," said she, " showed great 
 courage, leaning throughout the long scene against the 
 armchair of the queen. She seemed concerned only 
 with the danger surrounding this unhappy woman, and 
 had no thought of herself. " 
 
 That day with its overpowering heat was a horrible 
 one for the defenders of the court, since the chateau 
 was not entirely evacuated until eight o'clock in the 
 evening. Shortly after, reports arose concerning the 
 affair. Almost every one accused the Mayor of Paris, 
 whose conduct was variously interpreted. 
 
 Roederer decided on the innocence of Petion'; the 
 report of the counsel of the Department of Paris, signed 
 by Germain-Garnier, Leveillard, and Demantort, on the 
 contrary, blamed the conduct of the mayor, that of 
 the Procureur of the Commune, as well as that of the 
 Commander-in-chief of the National Guard, and de- 
 manded their suspension. Petion in turn attempted 
 to justify himself, and had his remarks published in 
 the " Moniteur. " He concluded by saying, " No one 
 could ever convince a reasonable man that the entrance 
 into the chateau was premeditated." Not content 
 with this statement, the following day he had a notice 
 published urging the citizens to be calm. 
 
 244 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 In spite of these statements, Petion and Manuel 
 were suspended from office for having on the 20th 
 failed to execute the law. This suspension was how- 
 ever a triumph for the mayor, who was led back to 
 his home by a " numerous following of patriots." 
 Moreover, six days later, the every evening of the 
 fete of the Federation, he resumed his position. That 
 day the king was to take the oath and drove to the 
 Champ de Mars with the queen, their two children, 
 Madame Elisabeth, Mesdames de Lamballe and de 
 Tourzel. Fortunately everything went well ; but this 
 was another real triumph for Petion, whose name 
 alone was constantly cheered during the drive of the 
 royal procession. This same Petion, however, was 
 called on at the close of July to render a signal service 
 to the royal family. At the request of the king he 
 betook himself to a faubourg to quiet the agitation 
 caused by the report, intentionally spread abroad, that 
 Merlin, Chabot, and other patriots had just been mur- 
 dered, and that in the cellars of the chateau was stored 
 a large number of guns. The anxiety of the royal 
 family was such that Louis XVI., convinced of the 
 impossibility of defence, decided to report to the As- 
 sembly. This he did a few days later. 
 
 Times had now become so exciting that every day 
 some fresh report caused new alarms. Once it was 
 that the king was planning to escape, and this rumor 
 was so easily believed that the populace were thinking 
 of attacking the Tuileries. But there again Petion 
 
 245 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 appeared, energetically opposed the idea, and gave pos- 
 itive orders to the commander-general to reinforce 
 every post. We again find Petion -when the people 
 had encamped around the Tuileries. 
 
 "It is suggested," he cried to the sections, " to 
 form a cordon about the Tuileries to protect them and 
 to prevent the abduction of the king. I need not tell 
 you that such an idea is wrong. It would be putting 
 pressure on the National Assembly'' and dictating to it 
 what course to pursue. A simpler and more concili- 
 atory plan would be for all the battalions to hasten to 
 the protection of the king, so that there may be no 
 section which will not have its citizens there. By 
 evening this measure will be partly carried out; there- 
 fore, let the sections not act in an isolated, incoherent 
 manner. . . ." 
 
 "If it were possible," he wrote again in a lofty 
 style full of moderation, " for these walls to bristle 
 with bayonets, instantly the cries of ill-will would rise 
 to say that there is no freedom and that the people 
 have obtained through fear that which only civism 
 should dictate. I have heard it said that they wish to 
 appoint a day and an hour for the decision. This idea 
 is intolerable. One never says to a judge, ' At such 
 an hour you are to decide my case. ' ' ' 
 
 Unfortunately these efforts were useless; once again 
 passion won ascendency over the wisest counsel; and 
 while the faubourgs in a turmoil were hastening to 
 arms in order to march against the Tuileries, watch 
 
 246 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 was kept over the chateau to avoid a surprise, and 
 preparations were going on in silence for a struggle, 
 or at least for forcibly repelling the invaders. 
 
 Now that we have given a rapid sketch of the his- 
 torical side, let us return to our good and gracious 
 princess, and profit by the last days of the unhappy 
 woman's liberty to become well acquainted with her, 
 to analyze her character, her thoughts, or her fears for 
 the future. 
 
 Upon the return of Madame de Lamballe the Com- 
 tesse de Lage, we may remember, as well as Madame de 
 Ginestous, had remained at Aix-la-Chapelle. After- 
 wards the latter, who being a foreigner could serve as a 
 safeguard, returned alone to the princess to resume her 
 duties. The Comtesse de Lage lamented this formal 
 order, even feeling offended at such desertion, without 
 taking into consideration, poor child, that only the 
 deep affection and the very natural fears of the princess 
 for her had dictated a wish, this time so imperiously 
 expressed and wholly contrary to the conciliatory char- 
 acter of Madame de Lamballe. 
 
 Cost what it might, in spite of her impatience she 
 had to remain and await events. However, the health 
 of her mother, who daily grew worse, determined the 
 Comtesse to join her. Going by way of Paris she 
 arrived July 28th, at the same time as the people from 
 Marseilles. 
 
 At once informed of her arrival, Madame de Gines- 
 tous rushed into her arms, told her of the constant 
 
 247 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 fears of the queen and of her faithful companion, and 
 begged her in the name of the princess not to try to 
 go to the Tuileries, in order to avoid bringing on the 
 two wretched women and their surroundings fresh pre- 
 texts for distrust, of which they were already too fre- 
 quently the objects. The princess especially advised 
 her not to send to the Hotel de Toulouse because of the 
 ill-will of its inmates, principally that of the concierge. 
 The anxiety of Madame de Lamballe probably 
 caused her to exaggerate the doubtful sentiments of her 
 house. As proof her outrider was, for injuries to a 
 clerk of the section of 1792, sentenced to five livres' 
 fine, with considerations which at a less sad time 
 would have been positively laughable. 
 
 " Maison Commune of the City of Paris. 
 " Court of the Municipal Palace. 
 
 " Verdict. 
 
 " Which enjoins the Citizen Girard to show honor 
 and respect to public officers in the exercise of their 
 duty ; condemns him to five livres' fine for having injured 
 the Citizen Raffy, Clerk of the District of 1792; 
 forbids him to commit the same offence under penalty 
 of heavier punishment, and orders this printed and pub- 
 lished at his expense. 
 
 " Friday, December 7, 1792. 
 
 *' In the name of the Nation, the Executive Provi- 
 sory Council to all present and future, greeting: The 
 Judges composing the Court of the Municipal Police 
 
 248 
 
MADAME DE LAMB ALL E 
 
 of the City of Paris have given their verdict, which 
 is as follows : 
 
 " Between the Procureur of the Commune, plaintiff 
 for the report of the Commissary of Police from the 
 District of 1792, the 27th of last October, and for the 
 summons made in consequence by Jaffron, Crier in 
 this Court, the 5th of the present month, on the one 
 hand, and the Citizen Girard, outrider to the stables 
 of the late Madame de Lamballe, living in the Rue 
 de Richelieu, defendant for said report and summons, 
 appearing in person and assisted by the Citizen Barre, 
 his legal defender, on the other hand; without injury or 
 prejudice : 
 
 " In this case it was a question of knowing if 
 Citizen Rafly, Commissioner of Police of the Section 
 of 1792, bearer of the order of the executive power, 
 went to the Lamballe stables for some harness to be 
 used for carts in the service of the Nation, and if the 
 Citizen Girard refused it and injured him. 
 
 " Agreed: Vincent OHivault, Counsel for the Com- 
 missary, Solicitor for the Commune, who has con- 
 cluded that it must be enjoined to the said Girard to 
 be more circumspect in future, and to show honor and 
 respect to public officers in the exercise of their duties; 
 and because of not having done this, and because of 
 the certificate delivered to the Solicitor by Citizen 
 Raffy to-day, the 7th of December, stating that the 
 said Girard was a good citizen, he is condemned to 
 such punishment as the tribunal may be pleased to 
 inflict, and is forbidden to repeat the same offence 
 under penalty of more severe punishment, with ex- 
 penses. 
 
 " Agreed, likewise, Citizen Barre, Counsel for 
 Citizen Girard. 
 
 249 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 "Since it is a question of injuries inflicted by Citizen 
 Girard upon a public officer, acting according to the 
 conclusions of the Solicitor of the Commune, the 
 Court enjoins to the said Girard to show honor and 
 respect towards public officers in the exercise of their 
 duties ; and for his having injured Citizen RafFy con- 
 demns him to pay five livres' fine, forbids him to repeat 
 the same offence under penalty of greater punishment, 
 orders that the present verdict to the number of one 
 hundred copies shall be printed at his expense and 
 posted wherever necessary; condemns him, besides, to 
 the payment of five livres, thirteen sols, six deniers, in- 
 cluding those present and the legal notices of the same, 
 
 " Done and approved in the public court of the 
 Tribunal of the Municipal Police of the City of Paris 
 sitting in the town hall, in which were present Citizens 
 la Roux, president; Legneux, Favanne, Legrand, Con- 
 cedille, and Balzac, Friday, December 7, 1792, the 
 First Year of the French Republic. 
 
 " All officers are hereby commanded and ordered 
 to put the present verdict into execution ; all Na- 
 tional Commissioners in the Tribunal to take the 
 matter in hand, and all officers and commanders of the 
 public force to lend help where they shall be so legally 
 required. 
 
 " Given by us. Clerk of the Tribunal of Municipal 
 Police of the City of Paris, to be carried out accord- 
 ing to the present minutes, deposited in our Registry, 
 sitting in the town hall of said city. 
 
 " BOYENVAL. 
 
 " From the Press of C. F. Patres, Press of the 
 Commune, Rue du Faubourg Saint- Jacques Dames 
 Sainte-Marie. " 
 
 250 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 During her sojourn in Paris the Comtesse de Lage 
 saw Madame de Ginestous every day, and often several 
 times a day. But a visit which was valued by her, 
 which was a great surprise to her, and the remem- 
 brance of which she could not efface, was that of 
 the princess, the evening of July 31st. 
 
 " My unfortunate princess," she wrote, " came at 
 nine o'clock the evening of the 31st, in a cab, with 
 Madame Ginestous ; this was probably the first time 
 in her life that the princess had ever gone out in such 
 a way without a servant. She stayed with me far 
 into the night, and that was the last time I ever saw 
 her. Years cannot efface the impression produced on 
 me when I bade her ' Farewell, ' especially as I had 
 to struggle with her determination to leave the next 
 day." 
 
 The conversation then turned upon the situation of 
 the royal family and that of herself. With the latter 
 the princess did not seem to be especially occupied, 
 crediting, as for that matter did all who surrounded 
 her, the wise determination of the king to prevent by 
 arms any attack directed against his dwelling. 
 
 Madame de Lage then observed that at each new 
 episode for the past two years the question had been 
 merely that of the king's energy, and that every time 
 at the last moment he had avoided force under the 
 pretext that he did not wish " to appear armed against 
 the people." The princess was convinced that the 
 king realized his weakness and the evils it had caused. 
 
 251 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 She thought he would certainly show more firmness 
 in future. 
 
 Madame de Ginestous, who saw more clearly than 
 her mistress, was far from sharing her hopes, especially 
 in those which concerned the king. But it was time 
 to part, and the separation was sad and tender. 
 
 " The princess," continued Madame de Lage, 
 " promised to write me often; and, in fact, I received 
 a letter from her dated August 8th, but this did not reach 
 me until after she was in prison." 
 
 The next day, August ist, the Comtesse left. 
 
 For several days the agitation in the faubourgs was 
 alarming; the people wanted to precipitate the downfall 
 which they thought could be obtained only by marching 
 upon the Tuileries, and the Mayor of Paris made every 
 effort to calm them. As a last resort, on August 9th, 
 the very evening before the day on which the ancient 
 monarchy foundered, Petion distributed among the 
 citizens a paper in which he strove to show them that 
 they were being led astray. "The Assembly," said 
 he, "is at present occupied with our greatest Interests. 
 Let calm surround its walls, let it discuss matters in a 
 calm and dignified manner, and let us wait with confi- 
 dence the decree which will emanate from its wisdom. 
 . . . I have heard it said that some wish to set 
 the day and the hour for its edict. This idea is 
 intolerable. ' ' 
 
 In spite of these wise exhortations recommending 
 
 252 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 calm, there was no further doubt but that the Tuileries 
 were to be attacked that evening. 
 
 At first the Swiss, by order of Mandat, and with the 
 permission of Petion, left their barracks at Courbevoie 
 and Rueil to join the defenders of the chateau. These 
 consisted of some battalions of the National Guard, 
 which some courtiers and several officers passing 
 through Paris voluntarily joined. 
 
 At midnight the bell of Notre Dame began to 
 ring; this was the signal agreed on. The tocsin' then 
 resounded on all sides ; everywhere the drum beat. 
 
 The friends of the king were intensely anxious. 
 The nobles and the officers, who had been on duty, 
 seemed resolute. The Swiss, well disciplined, confident 
 of their leaders, sacrificed their lives; some of the 
 National Guard seemed animated by the highest senti- 
 ments; others, on the contrary, whose hostility was 
 beginning to be evident, waited only the issue of 
 events to declare it. 
 
 To cap the climax, Mandat, who had been invested 
 with general command, and who had been given ex- 
 plicit instructions to resist, was assassinated on the 
 steps of the Hotel de Ville, just as he came to give an 
 account of the measures he had taken. 
 
 Deprived of their leader the defenders hesitated; the 
 king did not know what to do. _ Before all else he 
 wished to avoid a rupture. 
 
 Throughout the entire night the Princesse de Lam- 
 balle remained with the royal family, and when at 
 
 253 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 daybreak the king amid loud cheers reviewed the Na- 
 tional Guard and the Swiss, she went for the last time 
 to her rooms. 
 
 " Madame de Ginestous," says the Comtesse de 
 Lage, " told me that about half-past six o'clock in the 
 morning she went with Madame de Lamballe for the 
 last time to her apartments in the Pavilion de Flore, 
 two windows of which looked out from the first story 
 on to the Pont Royal. With Monsieur de Clermont 
 they took a stand before one of these windows to see 
 the movement of the people and the arrival of the 
 troops. For the first time her companion noticed that 
 Madame de Lamballe looked sad and sinister, and to try 
 to keep up her courage she said to the princess, ' Let 
 us hope that we are about to be freed. Do you see the 
 battalion of the Daughters of Saint Thomas? It has 
 come to help us; the king's faction is larger than ever. 
 All goes well, Madame.' " 
 
 Whereupon Madame de Lamballe looked sadly at 
 her and replied : 
 
 " My dear, my dear, nothing will save us. I think 
 we are lost." 
 
 From this conversation it seems clear that our two 
 unfortunate women were not deceived as to the out- 
 come of the struggle; even the princess no longer had 
 in the judgment of the king, in his prudence or in his 
 resolution, that blind confidence which she had been 
 able to inspire in others, or at least of which she had 
 boasted July 31st, in her last interview with the Com- 
 
 254 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 tesse de Lage; for Madame de Ginestous, until then 
 supported by the same belief, seemed greatly surprised 
 at this tardy revelation, and exclaimed : 
 
 " Oh, my God! are you doubting the resolution of 
 the king ? Is he no longer ready to put himself at 
 the head of his party ? Oh, if he weakens, we are 
 indeed lost! " 
 
 After the review the king returned to his apartments, 
 but was still undecided as to his course of action. 
 
 Roederer, who saw the hostile disposition of the 
 National Guard, who heard the cries of ' ' Hurrah for 
 the Nation ! Petion ! The downfall ! ' ' given by the 
 troops massed on the Carrousel, in response to the 
 cheers of the Swiss for the king, dared not take it upon 
 himself to affirm that the lives of the royal family were 
 not in peril ; therefore he advised Louis XVI. to go 
 to the Assembly. 
 
 New and protracted hesitation followed on the part 
 of this weak and incapable monarch, who did not 
 decide until nine o'clock to follow Roederer's sugges- 
 tion, while the queen begged him in mercy to act 
 with energy and exhorted him to resist. 
 
 Seeing that her efforts were of no avail Marie 
 Antoinette, worthy daughter of Marie Therese, felt 
 in her veins the blood of the Caesars, and turning to 
 the deputies said : 
 
 " Monsieur Roederer and gentlemen, will you answer 
 for the person of the king and for that of my son ? " 
 
 255 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 " Madame," replied Roederer, " we will promise to 
 perish at your side; this is all we can guarantee." 
 
 Beautiful words, truly, and for men determined to 
 do their duty in such a situation the only possible 
 reply to so embarrassing a question. What a contrast 
 between this conduct, full of abnegation, and the 
 eternal hesitation of the king ! 
 
 In his thrilling account of the struggle at the 
 Tuileries Colonel Pfyffer tells us, on the contrary, that 
 as soon as the review was over a deputation presented 
 itself to the king, who had returned to the chateau, 
 and that thanks to their persistent efforts they pre- 
 vailed on him to ask refuge for his family and himself 
 in the Assembly ; * the remainder of the account con- 
 firms the queen's heroic and firm conduct. 
 
 " It was then," said he, " that a deputation of the 
 National Guard, led by Monsieur Roederer, Monsieur 
 de Baume, and a third member of the Department of 
 Paris, came to beg the king, who had returned to the 
 chateau, to go to the National Assembly. Monsieur 
 de Bachman, witness of the instances in which they 
 sought to bring the monarch to some decision, turned 
 to Monsieur de Gibelin, saying, ' If the king goes to 
 the Assembly he is lost.' These were the last words 
 the comrades of this virtuous chief heard from him. 
 The queen made futile efforts to prevent the mournful 
 departure, after which the most heroic resistance, since 
 it had become objectless, could have no good result." 
 
 This determination was deplorable from every view- 
 
 256 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 point ; for as soon as it became known the larger part 
 of the National Guard still occupying the interior of 
 the chateau made common cause with the battalions 
 from the faubourgs. 
 
 On their side, the sincere friends of the royal family, 
 those who had rallied around them out of devotion, ready 
 to give their last drop of blood, lost courage, and the 
 confusion became general when the king was seen 
 going on foot to the Assembly, followed by the queen 
 holding her two children by the hand. They were 
 accompanied only by Madame Elisabeth, Madame de 
 Tourzel, and the Princesse de Lamballe. The latter 
 as a relative of their Majesties had obtained permission 
 to follow them. 
 
 On his arrival the king sat down near the president; 
 opposite were the queen, the children, and the royal 
 suite; but upon the observation of one of the members 
 that the presence of the king at the meeting was con- 
 trary to the Constitution, Louis XVI. and his family 
 were obliged to take refuge in the clerk's box, behind 
 the president's chair." 
 
 This narrow, half-dark room, which received light and 
 air only through a thick grating, was intensely hot ; 
 furthermore, the atmosphere was so heavy and over- 
 powering that Madame de Lamballe, who always 
 fainted easily, became nervous and had to be carried to 
 the Feuillants." However, this time her indisposition 
 lasted only a ^qw hours, when in spite of her lack of 
 strength she insisted on returning to resume her place 
 17 257 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 beside the royal family, although Marie Antoinette sent 
 word to her not to come back, advising her to go to her 
 father-in-law until she recovered from her nervousness. 
 
 To the physical suffering of the unfortunate family 
 was added moral suffering which was much more painful. 
 From time to time in the midst of the stormy delibera- 
 tions of the Assembly the sinister firing of the cannon, 
 mingled with groans and cries, reached them in a con- 
 fused way, showing that in spite of the great sacrifice 
 to which the king had at first consented the struggle 
 and the shedding of blood still continued. 
 
 In the midst of frightful confusion the Assembly 
 decreed that until order was reestablished the king 
 and his family should stay in their midst, and gave 
 orders that suitable lodgings be at once prepared at the 
 Fueillants. Commissioners were appointed with power 
 to watch the allotting of these lodgings and to make sure 
 that every one slept in the room assigned to him. 
 
 Madame Elisabeth and Madame de Lamballe, says 
 the Comtesse de Lage, slept in the same room, on 
 mattresses laid on the floor, good Madame Mertins at 
 their feet; the queen, Madame, and Monsieur the 
 dauphin in another room, opening off of this, with the 
 door open; the king in a chamber at the end of the 
 corridor with a valet named Clery. 
 
 The following day Madame Campan went to the 
 Feuillants, and tells us in her " Memoires " interesting 
 details as to the attitude of the king and the queen. 
 Louis XVI. seemed to her completely overwhelmed. 
 
 258 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 She found him occupied in having his hair cut. Better 
 understanding the situation, which she considered des- 
 perate, Marie Antoinette lost courage only at sight of 
 her children. She could not help saying how much she 
 had been troubled by the resignation of the king since 
 his stay at the Feuillants, adding that he had his usual 
 appetite;^ that that had produced a deplorable effect on 
 the devoted deputies; but that no remonstrance had 
 been made. 
 
 The installation of the royal family at the Feuillants, 
 however, was only temporary. The Assembly was 
 not long in perceiving that its inmates were not per- 
 fectly safe. It was absolutely necessary to find a place 
 easy of defence and adapted to resist any surprise. 
 
 The ancient house of Monsieur, the Luxembourg, 
 was suggested, but Manuel had no difficulty in showing 
 the danger this would entail, and spoke of the Temple 
 as the place combining the greatest advantages, 
 where the defence and chiefly the guarding would be 
 more efficacious. His advice prevailed and the trans- 
 fer was made Monday the 13th, at half-past six in the 
 evening, in one of the large court carriages. 
 
 The king took a seat at the back with the queen; 
 the dauphin and Madame, Madame Elisabeth, Ma- 
 dame de Lamballe, and Petion were on the front seat; 
 Madame de Tourzel, whose account is such a valu- 
 able help to us, occupied with her daughter one of the 
 side seats, while Manuel and Colonges, the municipal 
 officer, sat on the other. 
 
 259 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 The procession stopped at the Place Vendome and 
 proceeded the length of the boulevards, amidst shouts, 
 threats, and cries of " Live the Nation! Long live 
 Liberty!" 
 
 At length, after a drive of no less than two hours 
 and a half, a veritable ordeal for the royal family, 
 they arrived at nightfall before that doleful prison 
 which was to be the final dwelling of the unfor- 
 tunate sovereigns, and which by the cruelest irony 
 was illuminated as if for a fete day. 
 
 The small tower of the Temple, although very in- 
 commodious, had been arranged to accommodate the 
 unfortunate family. They had to crowd together, for 
 each floor contained only two small chambers connected 
 by dressing-rooms. The princess occupied one of these, 
 between that of the queen and the dauphin, still feel- 
 ing herself happy in being near Marie Antoinette, to 
 whom she could give care and sympathy. But it 
 was decreed that she was not to have many hours 
 with her friend : their eternal separation was at 
 hand. 
 
 Why this sudden parting ? For what reason? Did 
 the Commune before the large number of friends 
 who in spite of the dangers had decided to follow the 
 king to the end, fear that some method would be 
 arranged outside to facilitate his escape ? 
 
 This hypothesis is probable, for it was decided to 
 leave with the king and his family only those absolutely 
 necessary to them. 
 
 260 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 This order was carried out the night of August 1 8th. 
 Madame de Tourzel tells us of it in the following 
 words : 
 
 "Saturday the i8th," she wrote, " we heard among 
 the municipal guard some talking which made us anx- 
 ious. One of them who did not dare to express him- 
 self openly strove to make us understand that for 
 the time being we were to be separated from the royal 
 family. What he said, however, was so unintelligible 
 that we could make nothing of it. We went to bed as 
 usual, but just as I was falling asleep Madame de Saint 
 Brice awakened me and told me that they were arrest- 
 ing Madame de Lamballe. A moment later we saw 
 an officer enter my room; he ordered us to dress at 
 once, saying that he had received word to conduct us 
 to the Commune to undergo an examination, after 
 which we were to be brought back to the Temple." 
 
 There was nothing to do but to obey, and the poor 
 women went down to Madame de Lamballe's room, 
 which the queen was not slow in reaching. 
 
 The separation of the two friends was heartbreak- 
 ing; the princess on her knees was about to kiss the 
 queen's hand, when " they tore her away, saying that 
 such an act was well enough for a slave toward tyrants, 
 but that in a free nation, in the midst of an equal peo- 
 ple, it was not to be borne." 
 
 261 
 
CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 One may easily imagine the grief of the poor wo- 
 man who saw herself at so critical a moment separated 
 from the family for which she had sacrificed her liberty 
 and even her life. On the other hand, how touching 
 a reward for her devotion were the final words of Marie 
 Antoinette, addressed in a low tone to Madame de 
 Tourzel : 
 
 " If we are not fortunate enough to see one another 
 again, take good care of Madame de Lamballe. On 
 all solemn occasions be spokesman and save her as 
 much as possible from having to answer troublesome 
 and embarrassing questions." 
 
 After traversing the lower passages of the Temple 
 by the light of torches, the princess and a few court 
 attendants entered three cabs, and, accompanied by 
 officers and gendarmes, set out towards the Hotel de 
 Ville. Arrived there, each prisoner was taken to a 
 large room where the examination under the direction 
 of Billaud-Varennes ' and a secretary was at once begun. 
 Messieurs Hue and de Chamilly were called first, then 
 Mesdames Thibaut, Navarre, and Saint-Brice, Not 
 until three o'clock in the morning was the princess 
 
 262 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 sent for to undergo her examination. This was one 
 of the weakest and took only a few minutes. 
 
 These absurd scenes, which lasted fifteen hours, 
 threatened to continue forever on account of a dis- 
 cussion which was brought up concerning the tak- 
 ing back of the prisoners to the Temple. Finally 
 the suggestion of Manuel was followed, and it was 
 decided that the princess as well as each of her 
 faithful attendants, except Hue, who had obtained 
 permission to return to the Temple, was to be sent 
 to La Force. The unfortunate women were not yet 
 at the end of their torture. The cabs in which they 
 were to be driven through the Rue des Ballets did not 
 leave the Commune until noon, and in order to reach 
 their destination they had to traverse streets filled with 
 crowds which hurled at them all sorts of invectives. 
 The formalities of the ordeal once over, the princess 
 was locked in a small room. 
 
 The good woman was so overcome, and her mind so 
 affected, that on crossing the threshold of her prison 
 she felt neither fear nor emotion. The only pain she 
 experienced was at finding herself separated from Ma- 
 dame de Tourzel and her daughter. Incapable of col- 
 lecting her thoughts, in the face of the disasters which 
 overwhelmed the royal family, she was indifferent to 
 everything. However, having taken a greatly needed 
 rest, she set herself to work to consider the terrible 
 position in which she was placed. 
 
 Madame de Tourzel on her part lamented loudly at 
 
 263 
 
MADAME BE LAMBALLE 
 
 being parted from her daughter. On entering her cell 
 the jailer was witness to her violent despair. This man, 
 who was really human, was filled with pity at sight of 
 so motherly a show of feeling, and sought Manuel, no 
 doubt to explain to him how needless was this excess of 
 cruelty. His eloquence prevailed, for a few moments 
 later the Procureur of the Commune sent Pauline back 
 to her mother, and the joy felt by these two poor 
 victims at being together again was such that Manuel 
 himself, in the words of Madame de Tourzel, was 
 moved and proposed to send them at once to Madame 
 de Lamballe. 
 
 The following morning (Monday, the 20th) at eight 
 o'clock, according to his promise of the previous even- 
 ing, Manuel came to take Madame de Tourzel and her 
 daughter to the princess. The poor women had settled 
 themselves among their surroundings as well as they 
 could, and received from the outside world only what 
 was absolutely necessary. Their days were spent in 
 attending to their rooms, in sewing and in reading. 
 Madame de Tourzel, from whom we borrow these 
 details, gives us a most touching picture of the 
 princess, describing her as ' ' gentle, good, and obliging, ' ' 
 always ready to do " the smallest favor in her power." 
 
 ". . . This kind princess," she says farther on, 
 " wished to be spoken to frankly, and on my saying 
 that one who had acted as honorably as herself must 
 not be childish, for that would harm her, but must 
 begin to lead a new life, she replied gently that she had 
 
 864 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 already formed such a resolution, and that she intended 
 resuming her religious duties, which she had somewhat 
 neglected." 
 
 These several arrests had not left Paris unmoved. 
 In his diary, August 20th, John Moore mentions them 
 and gives as a cause " some secret correspondence of 
 which the victims were accused." The " Moniteur " 
 of Monday, August 20th, also refers to the transfer to La 
 Force of Madame de Lamballe, Tourzelle {sic) mother 
 and daughter, of three other waiting women be- 
 longing to the queen, and of the royal prince, besides 
 two valets who had followed the king to the Temple. 
 The paper gives no reasons ; it states, however, that 
 seals were put on their papers. 
 
 The most interesting of all these accounts is without 
 doubt that of the " Chronique de Paris," which we 
 give in full. It will be seen that these letters, which 
 apparently frightened the city so greatly, were the only 
 grievances this sheet could advance, and they were 
 purely imaginary : 
 
 "The Royal Family in the Temple. 
 
 ' ' The face of the queen is greatly altered. The 
 king's is in no way changed, and his appetite is unaf- 
 fected. Madame de Lamballe, Madame de Tourzel 
 and her daughter. Monsieur de Chamilly, and several 
 others are in the Temple with him. Every effort has 
 been made to carry on a correspondence. Already 
 letters have been smuggled between the folds of a 
 
 265 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 chemise, in a child's balloon, in a piece of almond cake, 
 and in a pot of pomade. The municipal officers, in- 
 formed about these details, on Saturday removed Mes- 
 dames de Lamballe and de Tourzel, who left the queen 
 with a show of affection which did honor to their at- 
 tachment ; but they also gave proofs of that servile re- 
 spect which Asiatic slaves have for despots, and this 
 lessens the sympathy their love should inspire : they 
 kissed the hands of the queen without daring to em- 
 brace her. It was two o'clock in the morning; the 
 king awakened and asked what was going on ; on being 
 told that they did not want him, he turned over and 
 again fell asleep. He rose as usual with a large ap- 
 petite, which he promptly satisfied. We give these 
 minute details because they may help to show the char- 
 acters of the prisoners, and history may some day profit 
 by them. 
 
 " Mesdames de Lamballe and de Tourzel and Mon- 
 sieur de Chamilly have been taken to the Hotel de la 
 Force." 
 
 Let us now return to La Force and to the princess 
 and her companions, whom we find saddened by lack 
 of news. Uncertainty as to the fate of the queen 
 especially affected them. From time to time they ven- 
 tured to question their jailer, but the latter had orders 
 to tell them nothing definite. For this reason the 
 anxiety of the wretched women was all the greater. 
 However, one day they received a visit from Manuel, 
 whom they at once questioned on the subject upper- 
 most in their minds. At'first Manuel refused to an- 
 swer, giving as an excuse his feelings of hatred against 
 
 366 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 the royal family; but by degrees becoming softened by 
 their explanations and the loyal confession of their pro- 
 found love for every member of the royal family, he 
 completely reassured them and gave the princess a letter 
 from her father-in-law. Then, not content with what 
 he had already done, and more and more touched 
 by the gratitude of the victims whom he had been sent 
 to watch, Manuel gave them permission to write ' ' a few 
 unsealed words, ' ' to receive letters, and — a still greater 
 favor — ordered the jailer to let them walk in the court- 
 yard. 
 
 Another time Colonges brought some coarse linen 
 and, handing the package to the princess, ordered her 
 to make shirts, under the pretext that it was custom- 
 ary to work in prison. " They are for the use of our 
 brothers-in-arms ; you are surely too loyal a patriot," 
 said he, " not to sew them gladly." — " Nothing that 
 can be useful to our fellow-countrymen," answered 
 Madame de Lamballe gently, " shall be neglected by 
 us." These shirts, however, were at once removed, 
 probably by order of Manuel, and nothing more was 
 heard of them. 
 
 In spite of the change in her mode of life, in spite 
 of the miseries of the prison, never, in the words of 
 the governess, had the princess been in better health ; 
 she was not troubled by the slightest nervous attack 
 and bore her situation with angelic resignation. 
 
 Sunday morning, September 2d, the jailer, with face 
 contorted, entered the cells of his prisoners and told 
 
 267 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 them he would not take them for their usual walk 
 because of the agitation caused by the approach of the 
 enemy's army. Greatly alarmed at this news, the 
 meaning of which they could not understand, the un- 
 fortunate women were beset by various conjectures. 
 Except for the omission of the walk, that day passed 
 like the preceding ones. When the prisoners had re- 
 tired and had fallen asleep, a good-looking individual 
 with rather a kindly face, whom as yet they had not 
 seen, entered their room and ordered Pauline to rise 
 and follow him. The unexpected arrival of this man 
 and the command uttered in a tone which admitted of 
 no reply, so filled the poor mother with terror that she 
 did not even think of rising. Upon the stranger's in- 
 sisting that no time be lost, Madame de Lamballe in 
 spite of her fright began to attend to the preparations 
 for Pauline's departure. The affair was over so quickly 
 that the door was closed before Madame de Tourzel 
 fully realized it all; she was completely overcome, 
 speechless, unable to collect her thoughts. At length, 
 thanks to the care and the kind words of the compas- 
 sionate princess, Madame de Tourzel came to herself 
 and was able to thank Madame de Lamballe for her 
 thoughtfulness. We can do no bettter than quote the 
 entire passage from her " Memoires " in which she 
 gives high praise to the kindness of her companion in 
 misfortune : 
 
 " I shall always be grateful," she said, " to Ma- 
 dame de Lamballe for all her goodness to me and to my 
 
 963 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 daughter. It is impossible to be kinder than she was 
 that dreadful night, or to show more sympathy and 
 courage." 
 
 In short, the princess did not lose her presence of 
 mind on that sad occasion, and did not think of taking 
 the few hours remaining for sleep until after she had 
 burned that part of her correspondence which might 
 compromise her or her companions. Towards six 
 o'clock in the morning the jailer suddenly entered to 
 announce that they were to receive a visit. 
 
 Scarcely had Francois given them this warning be- 
 fore they saw six men enter armed to the teeth, who 
 retired after they had asked the names of the prisoners. 
 After the departure of the visitors the miserable women, 
 filled with the greatest anxiety, incapable of under- 
 standing the real aim of this sudden visit, threw them- 
 selves on their knees and prayed, asking heaven to 
 give them both the strength necessary to meet the dan- 
 ger they feared. At the same time Madame de Lam- 
 balle, wishing to see what was going on in the street, 
 climbed to the window-sill ; but as soon as she was 
 perceived she was aimed at and had to retire at once. 
 She saw, however, that before the gate of the prison was 
 a dense, tumultuous crowd, the sight of which served 
 only to augment her terror. When she raised the 
 window opening upon the interior of the prison there 
 was not the slightest sound. The courtyard was filled 
 with prisoners, calm and resigned. This was so striking 
 a contrast to the outer agitation that she and her com- 
 
 269 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 panion waited to obtain an explanation from the jailer. 
 Not seeing him arrive, and in the hope of diverting their 
 thoughts, they took up their sewing. 
 
 At eleven o'clock in the morning the door again 
 opened; armed men entered the room, asking for Ma- 
 dame de Lamballe. Madame de Tourzel, whom they 
 had not demanded, was unwilling, however, to abandon 
 the princess, and both at once went out. They were 
 ordered to be seated while the other women of the 
 prison were assembled. Madame de Lamballe, who 
 had eaten nothing since the previous evening, asked 
 for some bread and wine to revive her failing strength 
 and enable her to keep up until the end. Shortly after, 
 they received orders to descend to the courtyard, where 
 they found the attendants of the queen. 
 
 Here things looked sinister. Everywhere were men 
 with repellent faces, covered with rags, and for the 
 most part intoxicated. These cowardly brutes had the 
 cruelty to laugh and to heap the most ribald insults 
 upon the unhappy prisoners who were being led out. 
 The arrival of the princess was greeted with redoubled 
 cries and shouts. But weak as she was she succeeded 
 in compelling the respect of the wretches, who recoiled 
 involuntarily to make way for her. 
 
 Madame de Lamballe seated herself in a corner of 
 the court, accompanied by Madame de Tourzel, who 
 did not leave until the princess was summoned to appear 
 in court. 
 
 According to the account left us by her companion 
 
 270 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 in misery the princess showed the greatest courage 
 during the farewell scene. But once separated from 
 her friend, overcome by the efforts made to reassure 
 her, the poor creature's nerve gave way, and, com- 
 pletely exhausted, she lost consciousness on entering 
 the clerk's office. This fainting spell was easily ex- 
 plained by the atmosphere of the revolutionary tribunal.^ 
 
 This improvised tribunal was held in the chamber of 
 Bault the concierge. The room was very small and 
 was filled with a crowd of spectators. The air of this 
 frightful place was atrocious. The vapors arising from 
 the drunken crowd made one ill. Furthermore, the 
 sight of the dreadful creatures who lined the public 
 benches, and the moans of the dying, heard from with- 
 out, were sufficient to shake stronger nerves than those 
 of a woman. The president first plied her with the 
 usual questions, regarding her name and title; then he 
 asked her what she knew of the plots at court, of which 
 she had probably heard, and of that of August loth 
 in particular. 
 
 The princess declared that she had never been 
 informed of these facts. 
 
 In conclusion she was called on to take the oath of 
 liberty and equality, as well as that of hatred toward 
 the king, the queen, and the royal family. 
 
 At this supreme moment, when she was asked to 
 perjure herself and give up those whom she held most 
 dear, the princess seemed to gather herself together. 
 The story is that some one leaned towards her and 
 
 271 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 whispered that she was lost if she did not swear. But 
 moved as by a hidden spring Madame de Lamballe 
 made a violent effort and cried out : 
 
 " I have nothing to answer. Whether I die sooner 
 or later is a matter of indifference to me. I have sacri- 
 ficed my life." 
 
 Under the pretext that she had evaded the question, 
 the president ordered her taken to the Abbaye.^ 
 
 This was the death sentence. At once deafening 
 cries and shouts mingled with cheers burst from all sides. 
 Some of the more courageous ventured to raise their 
 voices and ask the release of the princess, but these 
 were soon deadened by the increasing tumult in the 
 crowd, which was constantly demanding new victims 
 to immolate. 
 
 At that moment some men with haggard eyes and 
 bare arms red with blood, rushed towards the poor crea- 
 ture and dragged the princess away. Scarcely had she 
 crossed the threshold when she received, they say, on 
 the back of her head a blow from a sabre. She was 
 covered with blood ; her hair was loosened ; hands con- 
 tinued to push her; she staggered over corpses with 
 which she was forced to come into contact. She could 
 scarcely stand ; at last she fell back exhausted. She 
 was immediately raised; two men seized her by the 
 arms and compelled her to move on. 
 
 But human endurance has Its limit, and when her 
 strength had completely left her and she had become 
 
 272 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 inert, the men who supported her threw her on a pile 
 of dead bodies. 
 
 Then these murderers, maddened by the dastardly 
 crowd around the victims, were pitiless enough to rush 
 upon this palpitating body and cut ofF its head. 
 
 Having reached this point in the drama, we shall be 
 very reserved. There are in fact numerous accounts 
 of the massacres of September, and particularly of the 
 death of the Princesse de Lamballe. But historians 
 differ, the most of them yielding to their personal feel- 
 ings. As none of them were eye-witnesses, their de- 
 scriptions suffer. Others of still livelier imaginations, 
 and with the confessed object of interesting their 
 readers, have added details of such horror that we can- 
 not even repeat them. 
 
 Consequently, in the face of their lack of historical 
 value, we will refrain even from giving the passages 
 which seem probable, and will merely cite without 
 comment those which seem to us least known. It is 
 generally believed that some men took possession of 
 the head of the princess and carried it to a wine mer- 
 chant's to drink its health. Furthermore, a hairdresser 
 was asked to curl the hair, to paint the cheeks — in a 
 word, to make it beautiful. 
 
 It is absolutely certain that this head and this body 
 were carried through the streets — the one on a pike, the 
 other dragged by means of a rope — as far as the Temple. 
 The object was to exhibit the bloody remains to the royal 
 family. We give an account of the gloomy proces- 
 i8 273 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 sion written by a municipal officer In the Service of the 
 Temple — an account which is, we believe, even if it 
 has been before published, only slightly known : 
 
 *' The following day, September 3d, we learned that 
 there was trouble in the prisons. Shortly after, we 
 heard of the massacre of some of those connected with 
 the court; at last about one o'clock we were told of 
 the death of the Princesse de Lamballe, whose head, 
 they said, they were carrying to be kissed by Marie 
 Antoinette ; then they meant to drag the bodies of both 
 women through the streets of Paris. 
 
 " In the name of the Council of the Temple I 
 wrote both to the Consul-general of the Commune and 
 to the President of the Legislative Body to inform 
 them of the danger which threatened the hostages con- 
 fided to our charge. We asked each to send six 
 commissioners from the bodies which enjoyed most 
 public favor, repeating that whatever happened we 
 expected entire devotion to us. 
 
 " Yet an orderly sent to reconnoitre announced that 
 an immense crowd was rushing to the Temple with the 
 head of the Princesse de Lamballe; that they were drag- 
 ging with them her body and shouting for Marie An- 
 toinette, and that in five minutes they would be at the 
 Temple. 
 
 " Two commissioners were at once despatched to 
 find out the intentions of the people and apparently to 
 make friends with them if circumstances demanded it. 
 Above all the commissioners were to get possession of 
 the pike, for carried according to our directions it 
 would serve as a guide to the crowd, which in this way 
 would be managed more easily. 
 
 " Two other commissioners were charged to go to 
 
 274 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 the suburbs to inform those who seemed most hot- 
 headed that Paris could never recover from so atrocious 
 and needless a crime if it so compromised itself, etc. 
 Several good citizens joined them, promising us to use 
 every effort to bring the most obstinate to reason. The 
 noise increased, and with it the confusion. The Chief 
 of Police asked our orders, adding that he had four hun- 
 dred well-armed men for whom he could answer, but 
 that he would assume nothing himself. We told him 
 that we intended using force only as a final resort; that 
 our duty first compelled us to try persuasion ; that con- 
 sequently he must be careful about using arms, etc. 
 He made his plans accordingly. 
 
 ' ' Already the crowd in the street was dense ; we 
 had the great gate opened in order that those on the 
 outside might become calmed on seeing our peaceful 
 intentions. A portion of the National Guard lined up 
 without arms from the outer gate to the next one con- 
 firmed our attitude. However, all arms, posts, and 
 avenues were well guarded, as we feared a surprise. 
 
 " Uproarious and prolonged cries of ' Here they are ! ' 
 were heard. A tri-colored band hastily fastened out- 
 side the gate on the street was the only rampart with 
 which the magistrate opposed that apparently over- 
 whelming torrent. A chair was placed behind; I 
 mounted it and waited; the bloody procession arrived. 
 
 " At sight of the revered emblem those hearts drunk 
 with blood and wine seemed to cast aside the fury of 
 homicide to give place to national respect. Each one 
 used what strength he had to prevent the desecration 
 of the sacred barrier. To touch it seemed a crime. 
 . . . They wanted to seem what they thought they 
 were — virtuous. So much does opinion, which is the 
 standard of public morals, hold sway over the very man 
 
 275 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 who, while insulting it, renders it glorious homage ! 
 Two men were dragging by the legs a naked, headless 
 trunk slit open to the breast, its back on the ground. 
 They halted before the swaying platform, at the feet of 
 which the body was laid with a show of solemnity, the 
 limbs arranged carefully, and with an indifference that 
 gives to the philosopher much room for thought. 
 
 " At my right, on the end of a pike, was a head 
 which at the gesticulations of the bearer often touched 
 my face. At my left another fiend, more horrible 
 still, was holding in one hand pressed against me the 
 entrails of the victim, and in the other a huge knife. 
 Behind these a great coal-heaver was waving, suspended 
 from a pike above my forehead, the fragment of a 
 chemise soaked in blood and slime. 
 
 " My right arm had been extended since their ar- 
 rival, and without making any sign or movement I 
 awaited silence; I obtained it. 
 
 " I told them that magistrates chosen by them were 
 charged with a trust by the National Assembly, a trust 
 for which they must render account to this Assembly 
 as well as to the whole of France, and that they had 
 sworn to give back this trust in the condition in which 
 they had received it ; that we had been told in vain that 
 complaints had been made against the prisoners as a 
 pretext for the use of arms against them; that this 
 measure had been rejected with horror, persuaded as we 
 were that Frenchmen had only to hear the language of 
 justice to listen to it. I made them realize how impol- 
 itic it would be to get rid of such valuable hostages 
 just as the enemy was master of our frontiers. On 
 the other hand, would not the innocence of these 
 hostages be proven by the fact that we dared not try 
 them ? How much more worthy of a great people it 
 
 276 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 was, I added, to strike on the scaffold a king guilty of 
 treason ! This wholesome example in carrying just 
 terror into the souls of the tyrants would impress on 
 that of the people a sacred respect for our nation, etc. 
 I concluded by inviting them to fortify themselves 
 against the advice of some merchants who wished to 
 lead the Parisians into excess in order afterwards to ca- 
 lumniate them in the minds of their brothers in the 
 departments. To testify to them the confidence the 
 Council had in their wisdom I told them that it had 
 decreed that six of them should be admitted to a tour 
 of the garden, the commissioners at their head. 
 
 " The gate was at once opened and about a dozen 
 of them entered with their spoils. We conducted them 
 with courtesy as far as the tower, but because of the 
 workmen among them, it was difficult to restrain them. 
 Some called Marie Antoinette to come to the win- 
 dows; others said if she did not show herself they 
 must ascend and make her kiss the princess's head. 
 We threw ourselves in front of these madmen, assuring 
 them that they should carry our their frightful ideas 
 only after they had passed over the bodies of their mag- 
 istrates. One of these wretches said that I was play- 
 ing the part of tyrant and came at me with his pike 
 with such fury that I must certainly have fallen under 
 his blows had I shown weakness, and had not a citizen 
 thrown himself between us, saying that in my place he 
 should have been obliged to act as I had done. My 
 calmness impressed him, and on leaving he was the 
 first to embrace me, saying that I was a fine fellow. 
 However, two commissioners had hurled themselves in 
 front of the first gate of the tower, to defend its ap- 
 proach with the courage of devotion. Then, seeing that 
 they could obtain nothing from us, the ruffians swore 
 
 277 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 terrible oaths, giving vent to dreadful shouts in the 
 most obscene and disgusting terms. This was the final 
 gasp of fury, and we let it pass. However, fearing that 
 the scene might lead to a climax worthy of the actors, 
 I undertook to harangue them again. But what could 
 I say ? How reach those unfeeling brutes ? I gained 
 their attention by gestures; they looked and listened. 
 I praised their courage, their deeds. I made heroes of 
 them. Then seeing them soften, by degrees I mingled 
 reproach with praise. I told them that the spoils they 
 brought were the property of all. By what right, I 
 added, can you alone enjoy your conquest ? Does it 
 not belong to all Paris ? And should you deprive the 
 city of the pleasure of sharing your triumph ? Night 
 will soon be here ; hasten therefore to leave this place, 
 which is too narrow for your glory. At the Palais 
 Royal, in the Garden of the Tuileries, where so many 
 times has been trampled under foot the sovereignty of 
 the people, you should place this trophy, an everlasting 
 monument of the victory you have just won. 
 
 " Shouts of ' To the Palais Royal ! ' showed me that 
 my absurd harangue had told. They departed, leaving 
 us covered with blood and wine from their horrible 
 embraces. 
 
 " However, the Legislative Assembly sent the six 
 commissioners we had asked for. They learned with 
 pleasure that the reports already spread abroad were 
 false, and showed us in the name of the legislative 
 body their satisfaction at the way we had acted. 
 
 " Scarcely were the commissioners gone before 
 Mayor Petion arrived. He seemed in despair because, 
 as he thought, we had let the people force Marie An- 
 toinette to kiss De Lamballe's head. ' Never should 
 magistrates,' said he, ' have allowed such a dreadful 
 
 278 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 thing.' He was delighted to learn not only that no 
 one had entered the tower, but that the commissioners 
 who were near the prisoners had not even permitted 
 them to approach the window to see what was the cause 
 of the noise they heard in the garden, but had sent 
 them at once into a rear room. The Commander- 
 general Santerre also came to us." ' 
 
 279 
 
CHAPTER XIX 
 
 Some historians say that from the Temple the pro- 
 cession passed to the Palais Royal and then to the 
 Hotel de Toulouse. It is positive that the body of the 
 unfortunate victim was taken to the district of the 
 Quinze-Vingts. The official account of this, vv'ritten 
 hastily in the midst of the confusion, unfortunately does 
 not indicate the time, while that concerning the head 
 gives the exact hour. It was seven o'clock at night. 
 This second report alone, which is more explicit, 
 proves to us that that beautiful head, covered with its 
 marvellous hair, rests in the cemetery of the Enfants- 
 Trouves. 
 
 We append both accounts. They are fuller than 
 those given by any historian so far, and contain the 
 description of the famous ring of hair which Marie 
 Antoinette sent to her friend during the stay of the 
 latter at Aix-la-Chapelle : 
 
 " Death of the ci-devant Princesse Lamballe. 
 
 " [Extract from the official reports of the district 
 of the Quinze-Vingts.] 
 
 " On the 3d of September, in the year 1792, the 
 fourth year of Liberty and Equality, there appeared 
 
 280 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 before the Permanent Committee of the district of the 
 Quinze-Vingts Sieurs Jacques Charles Hervelin, drum- 
 mer of the gunners of the district of the Halles, former 
 battalion of Saint Jacques de la Boucherie, dwelling 
 number 3 Rue de la Savonnerie, opposite the little street 
 of Avignon au Cadran Bleu ; Jean Gabriel Quervelle, 
 cabinet-maker, at the corner of the Rue du Fauxbourg 
 Saint-Antoine and the Rue Saint Nicolas, Maison a 
 Bouneau ; Antoine Pouquet, gunner of the district of 
 Montreuil, number 25 Rue de Charonne, at Sieur 
 Vicq's; and Pierre Ferrie, dealer in fancy goods, num- 
 ber 39 Rue Popincourt. These men were bearers of 
 the headless body of the ci-devant Princesse de Lam- 
 balje, who had just been killed at the HStel de la Force, 
 and whose head was carried by others on a pike through 
 the principal streets. They stated that in her clothes 
 they had found the following articles — namely, a small 
 volume bound in red morocco with gilt edges, entitled 
 ' Imitation de J.-C. '; a red morocco portfolio; a case 
 containing eighteen national assignats ^ of five livres 
 each ; a gold ring with a bezel of changeable blue stone, 
 in which was some blond hair tied in a love-knot with 
 these words above it : ' Whitened through misery ' ; 
 an English bulb ; a small ivory pencil-holder containing 
 a gold pen with two small gold rings ; a small two- 
 bladed knife, the handle of tortoise-shell and silver; 
 a corkscrew of English steel ; a small pair of pincers of 
 the same metal ; a small card attached to a vignette 
 bearing undecipherable words; a bit of paper on which 
 was written a laundry list; two small glass flasks used 
 for inkstands, with gold tops, and some sticks of 
 different colored sealing-wax ; a sort of double-faced 
 image, on one side representing a bleeding heart sur- 
 rounded with thorns and pierced by a dagger, with 
 
 281 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 these words below: ' Cor Jesu, salva nos, perimur,' on 
 the other a bleeding heart with a fleur-de-lis above, 
 and below the words: ' Cor Marise unitum cordi 
 Christi ' ; a medallion on light blue cloth, on which 
 was painted a bleeding heart pierced by a dagger, em- 
 broidered in blue silk. These articles were verified by 
 us in the presence of the above-named and the under- 
 signed to whom we gave them all, in order that they 
 might be laid before the National Assembly. This the 
 undersigned promised and swore should be done. All 
 this having been arranged they gave us a written re- 
 ceipt and signed with us, commissioners. 
 
 '* Caumont, Borie, Savard, Commissioners. 
 " Renet, Clerk of the Secretary. 
 
 "The same day at seven o'clock a citizen named 
 Jacques Pointel, living in the section of the Halle 
 au Bled, number 69 Rue des Petits Champs, ap- 
 peared before the Committee from the district of 
 the Quinze-Vingts. He asked us to be kind enough 
 to use our authority to have the head of the late 
 Princesse de Lamballe buried, as he had succeeded 
 in obtaining it. Unable to do otherwise than approve 
 the patriotism and the humanity of the aforesaid citizen, 
 we, the undersigned commissioners, went at once to 
 the cemetery of the Enfants-Trouves and had the afore- 
 said head buried there, drawing up for future use the 
 present official account of the burial, which said Pointel 
 signed with us. 
 
 " Desesquelle and Savard, Commissioners. 
 
 " Pointel. 
 
 " Renet, Secretary. 
 
 " At the same time were presented Messieurs 
 Hervelin, Quervelle, Pouquet, Ferrie, and Roussel, 
 
 282 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 named in the above account. They showed us a re- 
 ceipt for all the effects mentioned in the present report, 
 with the exception of ninety livres in assignats, of which 
 no mention is made; consequently we commissioners 
 of the district, because of this omission of the bills, 
 say that one of us accompanied by the Clerk of the 
 Secretary from the district will go at once to the Com- 
 mittee of Vigilance of the National Assembly in order 
 to learn the reason for this omission, and we have 
 signed ourselves 
 
 " Savard, Desesquelle, Commissioners. 
 " Renet, Secretary, 
 
 *' The attestation of the Committee of Vigilance 
 given to the Commissioners and to the Clerk of the 
 Secretary in the presence of the above-named. The 
 Committee of Vigilance declares that it was not bound 
 to account for the ninety livres in assignats, because the 
 citizens had kept them — after having shown them, as 
 three of those present testified immediately in the 
 presence of the Commissioner from the district of the 
 Quinze-Vingts. The Committee sent to the district 
 to find out and judge of the reason for this retention. 
 At the Committee of Public Safety, September 3d, 
 fourth year of Liberty and Equality. 
 
 " Bernard, President. 
 
 *' Basire, Secretary. 
 " Claude, Fauches, Mosson, Vardon, Lomont." 
 
 It may not be wholly useless to know the opinion 
 of the newspapers on the subject of this frightful crime. 
 Their attitude is curious indeed. The papers which 
 dared, deliberately drew a veil over this dreadful page of 
 
 the Revolution. 
 
 283 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 The " Thermometre du Jour" merely related the 
 facts without comment; the " Chronique " did not 
 venture to speak of the event until five days after. 
 Moreover, it vi'as uncertain as to the exact date of the 
 death. 
 
 " Louis XVI.," it says in the article entitled " Va- 
 rietes," "shows a sort of forced composure: he 
 translates Horace and teaches his son verses of tragedy. 
 On the afternoon of the 2nd he was told that he must 
 consent to see Madame de Lamballe's head, which a 
 few men from the immense crowd surrounding the 
 Temple had brought to show him. Marie Antoinette 
 and Louis XVL showed some emotion. The king 
 advanced without hesitation. He has had a good sup- 
 per and the entire family always have fine appetites." 
 
 The " Courrier Fran^ais " is trying to exonerate 
 Manuel, and attributes the massacres to the fear felt by 
 the people at leaving their relatives in the midst of the 
 brigands of the capital while they rushed to the frontier : 
 
 ' ' What a night ! What a day ! The Procureur of 
 the Commune tried in vain to bar with his body 
 the door of the Abbaye. He succeeded no better 
 than did the deputies of the National Assembly. The 
 people made it a duty to purge the city of all criminals 
 so that while they are away fighting the Austrians they 
 need not fear an exodus from the prisons against the 
 women and children. 
 
 " There is no longer at the Chatelet any one but 
 the concierge. They have liberated the innocent and 
 
 284 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 those imprisoned for debt. Twenty-four women also 
 have been spared. Madame de Lamballe has lost her 
 life." 
 
 Thus the paper does not enter into details but merely 
 states that Madame de Lamballe lost her life. Nor is 
 the matter referred to again. Three days later, on the 
 7th of September, the " Courrier " gives a few details 
 of the events that took place that afternoon before the 
 Temple. This was no doubt intentional or in accord- 
 ance with instructions, followed through fear, not to 
 dwell on the dreadful butchery in the Rue des Ballets. 
 
 " The 3d of September the commandants of the posts 
 were informed that an immense crowd was rushing to 
 the Temple with the head of Madame de Lamballe. 
 Only a tri-colored band impeded their mad rush. This 
 band bore the following inscription : ' Citizens, you 
 who to just vengeance can join a love of order, respect 
 this barrier; our care and our responsibility make it 
 necessary.' The people respected the barrier, but 
 they demanded that some commissioners accompany 
 them in order to carry the head of Madame de Lamballe 
 around the tower. ' We desire,' said the spokesman, 
 ' that those who have caused so much trouble may see 
 the sad and fatal result of their conspiracies and their 
 infernal plots.' The commissioners thought they 
 ought to yield to the wishes of the people. Messieurs 
 Chardier, Guichard, an officer of the National Guard, 
 and the patriot Palloi determined to warn the king and 
 his family. Madame Elisabeth showed some fear; 
 Louis XVL appeared at once. ' Tou are wholly in the 
 right. Monsieur,' said he to the speaker." 
 
 28s 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 The following account is no more explicit than the 
 rest: 
 
 " Paris, September 4th. 
 
 " It was absolutely impossible for us yesterday to 
 give an account of the events of the previous evening, 
 the affairs which must have engrossed every good citi- 
 zen. The difficulty of giving positive details in the 
 midst of so many contradictory reports prevented us 
 from so doing, and our readers will prefer us to defer 
 the account which they consider due rather than that 
 it should be inexact. 
 
 " Madame de Lamballe's head was cut off and her 
 body borne through the streets. We are told that 
 Mademoiselle de Tourzel was respected on account of 
 her youth, but her mother was subjected to the same 
 fate as Madame de Lamballe." 
 
 Now that we have indicated the sources from which 
 our readers may find details of the massacres and have 
 given the tone of some important papers of that time, 
 let us name various accounts less known, and absolutely 
 fictitious, which seem to have been written merely to 
 render this atrocious crime still more odious. 
 
 We will commence with M. W. Lindsay, a phleg- 
 matic Englishman, who knows nothing because he saw 
 nothing, but who feels so much horror in relating such 
 infamies that he prefers to keep silent. This is a fine 
 way to write history and one which fortunately for us 
 has not always been followed. 
 
 The account of the Abbe Barruel is a tissue of 
 blunders written for the needs of the cause which 
 
 2S6 
 
MJDJME DE LJMBALLE 
 
 he defends with a tendency towards intentional exag- 
 geration : 
 
 " At the feet of those piles of corpses," we read in 
 his work, "another kind of experience was awaiting 
 an illustrious victim. Madame de Lamballe, that prin- 
 cess so justly celebrated for her attachment to the royal 
 family, preferring danger near her king and queen 
 rather than a place of safety and the homage of Lon- 
 don, was at first taken to the prison of the Temple and 
 then to that of La Force. The Jacobins had to punish 
 her for her fidelity. 
 
 " This victim was a choice bit for their rage. She 
 would have been the first sacrificed, but the massacre 
 had begun at La Force early in the night and it was in 
 broad daylight that they wished to immolate her. 
 About three o'clock in the morning she saw the first 
 signs of her ordeal. One of the murderous duumvirs, 
 the so-called judges of the people, went to the prison 
 of the women shouting to the executioner and to the 
 guards in the courtyard : ' Citizens, the people have 
 sent me to put the Princesse de Lamballe through a 
 first examination; I will return in a moment and tell 
 you the result.' He did return but was silent as to 
 the result. The courage of the princess had covered 
 him with confusion, although it had in no way lessened 
 his rage. About seven o'clock the duumvir, followed 
 by twenty men bearing pikes or bayonets, came back 
 again and shouted : ' Citizens, we are going to get the 
 Princesse de Lamballe.' Before long the princess, 
 dragged by the hair, appeared in the courtyard where 
 the prisoners were awaiting their sentences. Until nine 
 o'clock she saw crowds coming and going, but pre- 
 serving a noble dignity she stood, awaiting sure death, 
 
 287 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 refusing even the comfort of a chair which was offered 
 her. 
 
 " At nine o'clock she was called to the court of the 
 ferocious duumvirs. They reproached her with hav- 
 ing been an accomplice in the crimes of the queen against 
 the nation. She replied, ' I know of no crimes of the 
 queen against the nation.' — ' You were informed of the 
 conspiracy of August loth against the people.' — ' I still 
 protest that I am ignorant of any such conspiracy against 
 the people. ' — ' You have corresponded with the emigres 
 and you have received from the Prince de Conde this 
 letter which is before you. ' — ' To receive letters from a 
 relative is no crime; this letter contains nothing against 
 the nation. ' — ' Swear with us hatred against the king, 
 the queen, and royalty.' — ' No such feeling is in my 
 heart. I cannot swear it.' 
 
 " At this reply the duumvirs pronounced the fatal 
 word ' Discharged. ' The princess was dragged toward 
 the gate. 
 
 " At sight of her shouts of savage joy run along the 
 double line of executioners. Her death is decided on, 
 but it will ill satisfy their rage if they cannot add to it 
 the pleasure of having humiliated her. 
 
 " As she passes the line stretching out to the heap 
 of corpses some executioners rush forward and bar her 
 way ; with ferocious smiles on their lips, with brutal 
 sarcasms in their mouths, with monstrous pride in their 
 hearts they strike with bloody hands the cheeks of their 
 august victim. The plaything of these atrocious bandits, 
 she summons all her strength. She does not lose it even 
 at the sight of the horrible trophy. At the place where 
 the chief of the brigands was accustomed to demand the 
 oath of Liberty and Equality he orders the Princesse de 
 Lamballe to kneel and to ask pardon of the nation. 
 
 288 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 " ' I have not sinned against the nation. I have no 
 pardon to ask of it.' — ' Your forgiveness depends upon 
 your obedience.' — ' I do not ask mercy from brigands 
 such as you who dare to call yourselves the nation.' — 
 ' Once more if you value your life, obey, kneel, and 
 ask pardon.' — ' No, I will not kneel; no, I have no 
 mercy, no pardon to ask. ' 
 
 " Thus this generous soul showed herself firm, un- 
 wearying, determined. A thousand voices from the 
 maddened crowd cried in vain : ' On your knees and 
 ask pardon.' 
 
 " She remains standing. Two enraged execution- 
 ers, one on each side, seize her by the hands and 
 twist with sufficient force to dislocate them. She 
 gathers all her remaining strength and says : ' Pull, 
 hangmen. Never, never will I ask pardon.' 
 
 " With all the madness of fury other executioners 
 spring upon her and with redoubled blows from their 
 sabres slit her open and disembowel her. Her head, 
 remarkable for its long hair, soon appeared on the end 
 of a pike ; her heart torn by the teeth of a brigand was 
 thrown into a basin. 
 
 "This head and heart were carried in triumph 
 through the streets of Paris as far as the Temple, and 
 even before the eyes of the king, who was compelled 
 to look at them. Fortunately the queen had fainted 
 from horror and so was spared the frightful sight. 
 
 " The least of the outrages done to the body of the 
 princess was to strip it and throw it on a heap of 
 corpses. It remained there until the end of the hor- 
 rible massacre, feet and back turned toward the prison. 
 It was still there on the night of the 3d of September, 
 when Monsieur Flaust, curate of the Maisons, was led 
 to the place by the executioners." 
 19 289 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 We have not yet finished with exaggeration, as is 
 shown by the following account : 
 
 "... At last the 2nd of September arrived, the 
 day on which the massacres became general in Paris. 
 All the prisons were broken into and all found there, 
 even though they were for the most part good patriots 
 and zealous partisans of the Constitution, were in- 
 humanly massacred and cut to pieces. The number 
 reached twelve thousand. Monsieur Louvet even stated 
 on the 29th of October, before the National Conven- 
 tion, that twenty-eight thousand had perished. The 
 streets ran with blood. 
 
 " The murder of the charming Princesse de Lam- 
 balle, the intimate friend of the queen, excited general 
 pity. The monsters dragged her from prison, stripped 
 her, maltreated her, insulted her, committed infamous 
 outrages on her, forced her to kiss bloody corpses, cut 
 ofF her breasts and various other portions of her body, 
 slashed her with swords, severed her head, which they 
 carried on a pike through the principal streets of the 
 capital, and dragged her mutilated body through the 
 bloody mire. 
 
 " Truly she died an heroic death. Having obtained 
 permission to make her will she wrote it with the 
 greatest calmness, handed the document to an urchin 
 who stood near by and cried, ' Almighty God, receive 
 roy soul ! Come on, tigers, I am ready. Kill me ! ' 
 One of t'-^e brigands carried on the end of a pike that 
 head from which hung a mass of blonde hair soaked 
 with blood. He was followed by another, who carried 
 in his hand the bloody heart of the princess while her 
 entrails were twisted around his arm. In this way 
 they passed under the windows of the Due de Pen- 
 ago 
 
MADAME DE LAMB ALL E 
 
 thievre, whom they forced to gaze on the mutilated 
 members of his daughter-in-law. From there they 
 proceeded to the Temple, to the royal family. The 
 queen fainted at the horrible sight. All the carriages 
 in the streets were stopped and their occupants com- 
 pelled to kiss the head of the princess. One monster 
 boasted of having made his dinner on the heart of 
 Madame de Lamballe. 
 
 " At the murder of the princess there was in the 
 crowd of spectators a man of some feeling. Seeing the 
 infamous insults which the assassins heaped upon the 
 naked body of the princess, ... he cried out in his 
 indignation, ' Shame, you wretches ! Remember that 
 you have wives and mothers ! ' Instantly he was 
 pierced by a thousand blades and his mutilated body 
 was torn to pieces." 
 
 Finally we will quote the version of the Comte 
 de Fersen,^ who had been abroad since the journey to 
 Varennes. 
 
 " Madame la Princesse de Lamballe," he wrote, 
 " has been tortured most horribly for four hours. My 
 pen refuses to write the details. They tore out 
 her entrails with their teeth and afterwards gave her 
 every possible restorative for two hours to resuscitate 
 her that she might more fully realize the torture of 
 death." 
 
 We will conclude with Retif de la Bretonne, an au- 
 thority seldom consulted perhaps, yet of use in regard to 
 the customs of the end of the eighteenth century. In 
 his work Retif refers three times to these events. 
 First, in " L'Annee des Dames Nationales " in the 
 
 291 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 XI. hors-d' oeuvre^ in which he says in substance that 
 he has sought eye-witnesses: " I have found them," 
 he continues. " I state nothing of which I am not 
 sure. I am unlike many others who far from seeking 
 the truth ignore it when it does not tally with their 
 preconceived ideas." 
 
 Then in " Monsieur Nicolas," in which he attrib- 
 utes to Tallien the honor of having saved Madame 
 aiid Mademoiselle de Tourzel. 
 
 The third and most interesting account, in which 
 Retif assumes the position of eye-witness and in which 
 at the supreme moment he fainted away, shows us the 
 difficulty experienced by this friend of facts in relating 
 an episode which with writers of the Revolution is one 
 of the strong points : 
 
 " I arose dazed with terror. The night had not 
 refreshed me, but had inflamed my blood. I went out. 
 ... I listened, I was among those running to the 
 scene of the disasters, for such was their expression. 
 Passing in front of the Conciergerie I saw an assassin 
 who they told me was a sailor from Marseilles, his 
 wrist swollen from fatigue. ... I passed on. Before 
 the Chatelet lay piles of dead. I started to flee. . . . 
 Yet I followed the crowds. I reached the Rue Saint- 
 Antoine, at the end of the Rue des Ballets, just as a 
 wretched victim, who had seen how they were killing 
 his predecessor, instead of stopping overwhelmed on 
 passing through the gate, started to run at full speed. 
 A man who did not belong to the butchers, but who 
 was one of those numberless unthinking machines, 
 
 292 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 stopped him with his pike. The miserable wretch was 
 attacked by pursuers and murdered. The man who 
 had stopped him said to us coldly, 'I did not know that 
 they wanted to kill him.' This prelude was enough 
 to make me turn back when another scene met my eye. 
 I saw two women come out ; one whom I have since 
 known through the interesting Sainte-Brice as lady-in- 
 waiting to a former royal princess, a young person of 
 sixteen years, Mademoiselle de Tourzel. 
 
 " There was a cessation of the murders: something 
 was taking place within. ... I flattered myself that 
 all was over. At last I saw another woman come out ; 
 she was as pale as her linen and was supported by a 
 jailer. They shouted to her roughly, ' Cry Long live 
 the Nation! ' — ' No, no ! ' said she. 
 
 " They made her mount a pile of corpses. One of 
 the butchers seized the jailer and thrust him aside. 
 ' Oh ! ' cried the unfortunate woman, ' do not hurt 
 him.' Again they bade her cry ''Long live the Nation!' 
 She refused with scorn. Then a butcher seized her, 
 tore ofF her clothes and ripped open her stomach. 
 She fell and was finished by the others. . . . 
 
 " My imagination had never pictured such horrors. 
 I strove to flee, my limbs gave way, I fainted. . . . 
 When I came to myself I saw the bloody head. . . . 
 I was told that they were going to wash it, curl the 
 hair, put it on the end of a pike, and carry it beneath 
 the windows of the Temple. Needless cruelty ! It 
 could not be seen from them. . . . This unfortunate 
 creature was Madame de Lamballe." 
 
 We have now reached the most critical point in our 
 work. Expected to give a decision that we know in ad- 
 vance must be somewhat uncertain because of the numer- 
 
 293 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 ous lapses in the history of that time, our mind hes- 
 itates; it seems unjust, even cruel to the memory of 
 certain individuals to throw the opprobrium of this 
 crime on one rather than on another. 
 
 By their numerous researches some conscientious 
 v/riters have thought it possible to fix the part of each 
 of the instigators and actors in these terrible scenes. 
 But none of them has entirely succeeded in this un- 
 dertaking. History is not content w^ith simple suppo- 
 sitions, and as it is impossible to find any document 
 whatsoever absolutely compromising the accused we do 
 not intend to follow them. Moreover, this impossi- 
 bility has already been recognized doubtless because 
 of the substitution and even of the disappearance of all 
 compromising documents, since at the time of the trials 
 of the authors of the September massacres, of which 
 we are about to speak, they did not follow those who 
 gave the orders, but only those who executed them. 
 
 On the other hand we will give the famous circular 
 sent the 3rd of September by the Committee of Vigil- 
 ance of the Commune to all it departments : 
 
 " The Commune of Paris hastens to inform its 
 brothers and all the departments that some of the fero- 
 cious conspirators shut up in the prisons have been 
 put to death by the people, an act of justice which 
 seemed necessary to terrify, and so to restrain those 
 legions of traitors hidden within the walls at the 
 moment when they themselves were about to march 
 against the enemy j and no doubt the whole nation, 
 
 294 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 after the long continuance of the treacherous acts 
 which led it to the brink of the abyss, would hasten to 
 adopt this means so essential to the public safety, and 
 all Frenchmen would cry out as the Parisians had 
 done: 
 
 " ' We are marching against the enemy, but we will 
 not leave behind us brigands to cut the throats of our 
 wives and children. . . .' " 
 
 What are the signatures to this address ? In the 
 first place Danton, who as Minister of Justice coun- 
 tersigned it; the ten members of the Committee of 
 Vigilance: Panis, Sergent, P.-J. Duplain, Jourdeuil, 
 Leclerc, Lenfant, Cally, Duffort, Guermeur, Defor- 
 gues («V). 
 
 These were the men who consented to shoulder the 
 responsibility of the deed. 
 
 But no ! Desforgues, the thirteenth Thermidor, 
 the third year (Monday, the 17th of August, 1795), 
 protested against the affixing of his signature to the 
 incriminating circular, because the twenty-sixth Ther- 
 midor he was under arrest. 
 
 " I can," said he, "with one word render powerless 
 all the shafts of calumny. I swear that I never signed 
 the celebrated circular in question." 
 
 And he strives to prove that he was not really elected 
 until the 14th of September, and that for this reason 
 he could not be prosecuted on account of the massacres, 
 which began on the 2nd. 
 
 295 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 On the other hand, we give below a document 
 which relates to the same matter, and in which the 
 name of Desforgues occurs on the margin : 
 
 " Department of the Police and the National Guard, 
 Municipality of Paris. 
 
 " We, the undersigned, appointed by the Mayor on 
 the Police and Vigilance Committee by a decree of 
 the Commune which states that one of us (Panis) shall 
 choose three colleagues who with him shall constitute 
 the Committee — we have resolved, considering the 
 crisis of affairs and the various and important works 
 to which we must attend, to appoint as associate ad- 
 ministrators our six citizens : Marat, the friend of the 
 people; Desforgues (Chief of the Bureau of the May- 
 oralty) ; Lenfant, Guermeur, Leclerc, and Duftort, 
 who shall sign with us under our inspection, since we 
 the four undersigned are responsible for the whole. 
 At the Mayoralty, September 2nd, '92, the first year. 
 Administrators of Police and Vigilance Committee, 
 " Pierre Duplain, Panis, Sergent, Jourdeuil." 
 
 In this document, dated September 2nd, the name 
 of Marat appears, and on September 14th it is re- 
 placed by that of Cally. 
 
 Does not this circular tend to prove that the Com*- 
 mittee appointed members without consulting them? 
 
 And what would then become of the Collot-d'Her- 
 bois, the Billaud-Varennes, the Stanislas-Maillard, Tal- 
 lien, and others ? 
 
 The first as president of the section of the Biblio- 
 
 296 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 theque signed August l8, 1792, the following decree 
 stating that " as Monsieur Vesbre (for Weber), foster 
 brother of the wfe of the king^ was about to send away 
 his furniture and go himself, two commissioners went 
 to his home to put it under lock and key and make 
 sure of his person." 
 
 Panis, the brother-in-law of Santerre, in a half- 
 sheet leaflet in-8, 18 14, also protested against his 
 having been implicated in the massacres. This pamph- 
 let was without the name of any printer and was 
 signed " Panis, Attorney for Parliament and Deputy 
 from Paris to the National Convention." 
 
 " The author," says Monsieur Barthelemy Maurice, 
 " died in 1827 poor and unknown, as did most of the 
 Revolutionists. Replying to an article in the ' Gazette 
 de France' October 13, 1814, he attempts to prove 
 that it was the same with Danton and several of 
 his colleagues on the Committee. This is wholly 
 contrary to the contents of this circular. He adds that 
 it was exclusively the work of Marat, who wrote and 
 signed it for all the others and who, when the latter 
 ventured some remonstrances, calmly replied : ' Yes, 
 I have signed it for all of you, and if there is ay — f- — 
 that is not satisfied I will have him strung up to a 
 lamp-post this evening.' " 
 
 For the second, here is what Fabre de I'Aude says : 
 
 " Billaud-Varennes, that monster who the 3rd of 
 September mounted a pile of the dead bodies of vic- 
 tims, thus harangued the murderers; 
 
 297 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 " ' Brave men and good citizens, you are immolat- 
 ing the enemies of" liberty; our grateful country will 
 reward you for the sacrifices you are making for her; 
 the Commune will recompense you in a manner pro- 
 portionate to your services. No doubt the booty and 
 the spoils of these wretches (the victims) belong to 
 those who have delivered the owners into our hands; 
 but you will take into consideration the scarcity of the 
 funds of the Commune : whoever will have worked in a 
 prison will receive a check for a louis payable at the 
 bank. Good citizens, continue vour work and the 
 country will revere you.' " 
 
 As to Stanislas-Maillard, following is the document 
 he wrote; it is without date, but the editor of the 
 " Catalogue " assigns it to September 2nd or 3rd: 
 
 "Gentlemen, the tribunal of the people is final; 
 the head of the accused is desired ; if he is not guilty 
 we will prove his innocence to the people; if he is 
 guilty they have sworn his death, 
 
 " On the part of the people, 
 
 "Signed: Maillard." 
 
 Thus is Panis absolved; but we give a document 
 tending to prove that at least he was informed of the 
 intention of the murderers. It consists of an autograph 
 order signed and dated September 2, 1792: 
 
 ' ' The Concierge of the Abbaye will set free at once, 
 in order to withhold him from the vengeance of the 
 people, who in their fury might forget themselves, and 
 who they say are at this moment approaching, Thuil- 
 lier, etc., ... all the seven gendarmes of Paris," 
 
 298 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 In his " Memoires " Senart boldly accuses Tallien 
 of complicity, stating that the Secretary of the Com- 
 mune signed with Panis and Sergent compromising 
 documents, which were found at Maillard's after his 
 death. He adds that this Maillard, " leader of the 
 cut-throats of Paris, known under the name of Tappe- 
 Durs," was a dangerous sharper, a tool wholly in their 
 pay. 
 
 In a pamphlet on the real perpetrators of September 
 2nd, Mehee de la Touche, who hides himself under 
 the pseudonym of Felhemesi, affirms that, besides 
 Marat, Panis, and Tallien, Billaud-Varennes must be 
 included amongst those most guilty: 
 
 " Let us render to Caesar that which is Caesar's, and 
 to Billaud the things which are Billaud's. " 
 
 He goes so far as to claim that the morning of the 
 3rd Billaud-Varennes entered the council chamber of 
 the Commune, holding amicably by the hand a mur- 
 derer covered with blood whom he introduced as 
 " a brave fellow who has worked well." But Mehee 
 de la Touche, because of his various callings the na- 
 ture of which he could not acknowledge, cannot be 
 taken seriously; therefore we have cited him only as 
 a matter of interest. We are fortunate to be able to 
 offset the manifestoes of the Commune of Paris by the 
 following document from the National Assembly : 
 
 " Address from the National Assembly, September 
 3, 1792, fourth year of Liberty and first of Equality. 
 
 299 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 " Citizens: You are marching against the enemy; 
 glory awaits you ; but beware perfidious suggestions. 
 Your zeal is led astray ; you are robbed in advance 
 of the fruit of your efforts, the price of your blood. 
 You are being set at variance; hatred is being sown. 
 There is an attempt to kindle civil war, to excite disorder 
 in Paris. Your enemies flatter themselves that they 
 will spread throughout the empire and throughout 
 your armies; they flatter themselves that, invincible if 
 you are united, you can by intestinal dissensions be 
 delivered without defence to the foreign armies. 
 
 " Citizens, there is no longer strength where there 
 is no longer union ; there is neither liberty nor country 
 where force takes the place of laws. 
 
 " Citizens, in the name of country, humanity, liberty, 
 be wary of men who arouse discord and provoke excess; 
 listen to the voices of the representatives of the nation 
 who were the first to swear Equality. Fight Austria 
 and Prussia; within a few days the Convention will 
 lay the foundations of public happiness. Work to 
 make them secure by triumphs ; show by your example 
 that the law should be respected. 
 
 " The National Assembly decrees that the present 
 address shall be at once published and posted ; that 
 the municipality shall have it proclaimed to the sound 
 of a trumpet, and that it shall be sent to every depart- 
 ment and to the army. 
 
 " Compared with the original by us, the President 
 and the Secretaries of the National Assembly. 
 
 " Paris, September 3, 1792, fourth year of Lib- 
 erty. 
 
 "Signed: Herault, President; Marant, Secre- 
 tary; G. RoMME, Secretary. 
 
 " Paris: National Press.'* 
 
 300 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 Furthermore, a reaction could not have been long in 
 making itself felt, and on the 6th the Mayor of Paris 
 addressed a letter to the National Assembly. It reads 
 as follows : 
 
 " Permit me," wrote Petion, " to draw a veil over 
 the past to hide from your eyes the scenes which sad- 
 den the soul ; let us hope that they may not be re- 
 peated; let us hope that the harmony which is to exist 
 among the authorities will guarantee the public tran- 
 quillity." 
 
 Not content with this, Petion, who desired order, 
 wrote again September i8th, when the excitement was 
 scarcely calmed, to exhort the inhabitants of Paris to 
 put an end to the repeated disturbances which were 
 disorganizing everything, driving peaceable citizens 
 from the capital, and tending to prevent the National 
 Convention from establishing itself there. " Let 
 those," he continues, " who wish order come forward; 
 let them have the courage to speak boldly; then this 
 handful of agitators who are upsetting everything will 
 be reduced to nothing." 
 
 Following is the substance of a curious letter relating 
 to the massacres and addressed, September 26, 1792, 
 by Roland to the President of the Convention : 
 
 "The bills presented to his predecessors for the 
 expenses of the prison of L'Abbaye Saint Germain were 
 inconsiderable ; but the one given him to-day by the 
 Concierge of this house, from July 1st to September 
 
 301 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 5th inclusive, reaches the sum of nineteen thousand 
 and nineteen francs, and he does not think he should 
 authorize the payment of so enormous a sum. He 
 thinks he should wait for orders from the Convention, 
 especially as the greater number of the prisoners named 
 were taken to the Abbaye on simple warrants from the 
 municipality." 
 
 On the margin of this letter Camus, the Secretary 
 of the Convention, had written : 
 
 " Returned to the Committee of Six to show the con- 
 dition of Paris." 
 
 In this way Roland, by calling attention to the flagrant 
 abuses, hoped to provoke charges against the Com- 
 mune. But calm and indifference were not reestab- 
 lished in spite of the exhortations of Petion, and it was 
 not until three months later that the Convention dared 
 at last to fix officially the blame for these crimes by 
 ordering the prosecution of their authors. Finally the 
 decree demanded by all honest men was promulgated. 
 It was as broad as could be desired, and accorded to 
 the Minister of Justice every latitude so that none of 
 those guilty might escape : 
 
 " Decree relative to the events of September the 
 2nd and August the lOth, 1792. 
 
 " The National Convention decrees as follows: 
 " Article i. It is enjoined on the Minister of Justice 
 to prosecute before the tribunals the authors, accom- 
 plices, and instigators of the massacres and outrages 
 committed during the first days of September. 
 
 303 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 " 2. The Minister of Justice is also charged to pros- 
 ecute those who, the night of the 9th and the day of 
 the loth of August, had gathered together in the 
 Chateau of the Tuileries armed against the people. 
 
 " 3. The Minister of Justice is also charged to pros- 
 ecute the public officers who left their posts to conspire 
 in Paris with the tyrant and his accomplices. He will 
 give an account of the progress of these various pro- 
 ceedings during the eight days. 
 
 " In the name of the Republic the Executive Pro- 
 visory Council commands and orders all administrative 
 bodies and tribunals to enter the present law on their 
 registers; to read, publish, and post it, and to execute 
 it in their departments and respective courts; in token 
 of which we have hereto affixed our signature and 
 the seal of the Republic. 
 
 *' Paris, January 23rd, 1793, second year of the 
 French Republic. 
 
 " Signed: Garat, President of the Executive Pro- 
 visory Council. 
 
 " Countersigned: Garat ; and sealed with the seal 
 of the Republic. 
 
 " Certified as conforming to the original." 
 
 The sane portion of the population began to breathe 
 more freely, hoping that, thanks to this decree, the 
 bandits of September would leave the capital. But 
 this hope was not of long duration, for on the 8th Feb- 
 ruary, 1793, the Convention retracted, recoiling before 
 its self-imposed task, and issued a new decree suspend- 
 ing the proceedings which were already begun. 
 
 303 
 
CHAPTER XX 
 
 At the close of 1794 a violent reaction took place 
 and from all sides was demanded the condemnation of 
 those accused of the crimes of September. 
 
 In support of this we give the address from the sec- 
 tion of the Fraternity to that of the Unity to thank it 
 for having denounced the criminals; for "it is neces- 
 sary for the whole world to know that those days of 
 mourning and of blood belong not to France but to a 
 faction paid by the foreigner." 
 
 ' ' Address from the section of the Fraternity to that 
 of the Unity, pronounced decadi 20 Frimaire, the third 
 year of the French Republic, one, indivisible, and im- 
 perishable, by Citizen Franconville : 
 
 " Citizens, Brothers, and Friends: 
 
 " In paying, as you did, last primidi the tribute of 
 our gratitude to the National Convention for its glori- 
 ous work, we were witnesses of your triumph; it was 
 worthy of you, brave Republicans, to be the ^ rst to 
 demand the denunciation of the criminals who took 
 part in the massacres of the 2nd and 3rd of September, 
 1792. 
 
 " In yielding to your demand the Convention has 
 just proved that in its eyes nothing can excuse the 
 crime of assassination, and that the voice of the 
 
 304 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 public will not ask in vain the vengeance of the 
 law on the heads of the cannibals who in their bloody 
 rage immolated thousands of victims. 
 
 ' ' We swear to you in the name of the Section of the 
 Fraternity that it shares your generous sentiments and 
 that if it succeed in discovering the murderers it will 
 follow your example. 
 
 " We, like you, wish that the pages of history 
 which record to posterity the massacres of the 2nd 
 and 3rd of September may also record the punishment 
 of the assassins; the honor of the French people de- 
 mands this; the whole world must know that those 
 days of mourning and of blood belong not to France 
 but to a faction paid by the foreigner. 
 
 " Incorruptible sentinels, ever ready to cry in unison 
 ^ui vive ! at rogues and assassins ; we shall no longer 
 see flowing the precious blood of innocents; we shall 
 no longer see our laurels mixed with cypress ; united 
 by the same feelings, we will declare war upon the 
 Terrorists and Scoundrels ; we shall reduce the shouters 
 to silence; we shall establish between us an active 
 correspondence; thus we shall unearth all the liberticidal 
 plots. Unity^ Fraternity ^ and Liberty will triumph. 
 
 " Long live the Republic! Long live the Conven- 
 tion ! " 
 
 We wish to rectify certain errors committed by Mon- 
 sieur Mortimer-Ternaux in his excellent " Histoire de 
 la Terreur. " 
 
 According to him the trial of the September murderers 
 
 began as soon as the decree of January 30, 1793, was 
 
 issued, while the Convention, as we have already said, 
 
 suspended proceedings the 8th of the following February. 
 
 20 305 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 He commits still another error when he speaks of only 
 sixteen accused, for we give below a warrant of arrest 
 from the Committee on General Safety of the Con- 
 vention, signed by the Secretary Colombel, and dated 
 Fructidor i6th, the third year, which mentions " seven- 
 teen, and there will be still more." 
 
 " According to information from the section of the 
 Jardin des Plantes (formerly des S>zn5-C\x\ottes)^ seventeen 
 citizens of that section, detained in the prison of Port- 
 Libre, were sent to the criminal court in Paris as 
 accused of having taken part in the massacre of 
 September 2nd." 
 
 In support of other proofs we will give some ex- 
 tracts from a letter addressed to the Minister of Justice 
 by one of the defenders; then the order for the arrest 
 of one of the most guilty in connection with the death 
 of the princess, which does not come up again until 
 the fifth complementaire of the third year (Monday, 
 2 1 St September, 1795). The accused, Gonnord, does 
 not appear among the seventeen prisoners of Port- 
 Libre. Furthermore, Monsieur de Vieil-Castel cites 
 sixty-six prosecuted for that crime. 
 
 " Extract from a letter from Pepin Degrouhette, 25 
 Rue du Santier, one of the defenders of the accused, 
 to the Citizen Minister of Justice: 
 
 " The events of September were tolerated by the 
 Government. They were inspired by the fanaticism of 
 liberty and by the fear of falling under the blows of the 
 
 306 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 royalists who were determined against national repre- 
 sentation and the people, and who were allied with the 
 Prussians and the Austrians then investing and invading 
 our territory. 
 
 " Should one after three years seek the authors of 
 past events and thus give a cause of triumph to the 
 enemies of the country ? " 
 
 It concludes thus : 
 
 " I beg you to remember, Citizen Minister, that in 
 the month of February, 1793, when the Convention 
 was still undivided, when no faction had made any 
 attempt upon its integrity, it issued a decree forbidding 
 prosecution to be made because of the deeds of the 2nd 
 and 3rd of September, and that it ordered the discharge 
 of all those under arrest because of those deeds. This 
 law was never put into execution. Could it have been 
 annulled by a decree issued during the mournful reac- 
 tion which almost overthrew the Republic and caused 
 the massacre of the legislators and all the Republi- 
 cans ? ' ' 
 
 Gonnord, whose name is not found on the list of 
 the seventeen accused, since his arrest did not take 
 place until September 21st, was denounced in May 
 by two citizens, one of whom actually charged him 
 with having taken part in the murder of Madame de 
 Lamballe. 
 
 " Copy of the reasons for the arrest of Gonnord, 
 the 5th Prairial, the third year, by a decree of the 
 section of Unity : 
 
 ' ' Citizen Burel of the School of Public Works, Rue 
 
 307 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 Taranne, at the house of Citizen Maignien, institutor, 
 states : That the said Gonnord, sub-lieutenant of the 
 1 6th company of the army force, in speaking with him 
 
 of subsistence said that he f- the government as 
 
 much as a m , that those who were at the head of 
 
 the government were f- scoundrels. He declared 
 
 that on his observing to Gonnord that he did not think 
 he spoke seriously, the latter replied : ' You do not 
 
 know what I am; I amy^ for opening the body of 
 
 a man and eating his heart.' It seems that these ex- 
 pressions were repeated several times by Gonnord, who 
 was still vociferating against the existing government. 
 This document was signed. 
 
 " The same day the said Citizen Maignien, insti- 
 tutor, declares that he overheard Gonnord say that he 
 had taken part in the massacres at La Force the 2nd 
 and 3rd of September, and that with another he had led 
 the woman Lamballe by the arm, without specifying 
 this place. This statement was repeated several times 
 and was signed. 
 
 " (Conforms to the extract.) 
 " Signed: Fa yard. Clerk of the Secretary. 
 " (Conforms to the copy.) 
 
 "GONORD." 
 
 Citizen Maignien returns to his first declaration and 
 now affirms that he considers Gonnord a brave man 
 and that he knows nothing bad about him. 
 
 This curious letter deserves a place here : 
 
 " Literal copy of a letter written to Gonnord by 
 Maignien, the 15th Fructidor, the third year: 
 
 " Citizen, I repeat that if it is on my declaration 
 that they have imprisoned you I am surprised, for that 
 
 308 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 proves nothing. I thought that it would serve merely 
 to make them inquire after you and that was all ; fur- 
 thermore I am ready to give the most favorable tes- 
 timony in regard to you. I should even like to have 
 an opportunity to shorten your imprisonment; as a 
 good citizen I have declared what I know about you ; 
 as a good citizen I declare that I regard you as an honest 
 man. I should not be one myself were I to say the 
 contrary. Were I convinced of the contrary, and above 
 all were I sure that you had taken part in any massacre 
 whatsoever, I declare to you that I would never com- 
 municate with you directly or indirectly ; but I have 
 no such idea, for I recall that you never spoke to me 
 of the affairs of September except with expressions of 
 disapproval. This, so far as I am concerned, is what 
 I have to say for you. I like to think that all the wit- 
 nesses who may be called for you will be no less 
 favorable ; I hope so. I tell you again not to spare 
 me. I am angry enough that you have been so long 
 imprisoned, even should it prove only temporary; you 
 would have been more useful in a shop and justice 
 would have lost nothing. 
 
 " Greeting and fraternity, 
 
 "Signed: Maignien. 
 " This 15th Fructidor, in the year 3," 
 
 On the address was written : ' ' To Citizen Go- 
 norre at the Bourbe. " 
 
 "This copy conforms to the original, which is in 
 the hands of my wife. Gonord." 
 
 This letter, which fear dictated, nevertheless suc- 
 ceeded in obtaining Gonnord's release; for fresh in- 
 formation concerning him derived from a reliable source 
 
 309 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 necessitated a new inquiry, which a new and perfectly 
 legitimate order of arrest was to close : 
 
 " Extract from the Registry of the Clerk of the 
 Prison of La Force, the fifth complementaire of the 
 year III. of the Republic. 
 
 " In virtue of a warrant of arrest issued by Citizen 
 Faure, Public Prosecutor in the Criminal Court of the 
 Department of Paris. 
 
 " To be confined in said prison Jean Pierre 
 Gonord, aged thirty-eight, a native of Paris, a wheel- 
 wright, living number 528 Rue Taranne, Faubourg 
 Germain. 
 
 ' ' The said Gonord is accused of having taken part in 
 the massacres of September 2 and 3, 1792 (old style). 
 
 " The copy conforms to the registry in said prison, 
 
 Paris, this 6th Vendemiaire, third year of the French 
 
 Republic. < _ 
 
 Signed: Lege, 
 
 " Employe in the Registrar's Office." 
 
 The verdict was not rendered until the 22nd Floreal, 
 fourth year. 
 
 The trial was very long, if we accept the version of 
 Monsieur Mortimer-Ternaux. 
 
 According to the same author only one man was 
 condemned and, thanks to extenuating circumstances, 
 merely to twenty years in chains. This was Raigne, 
 called Nicolas, to whom, moreover, after his execrable 
 work a certificate was given proving his perfect honesty. 
 
 This civil warrant was taken by us in the city library 
 from the copy of the Revolutionary Tribunal issued by 
 Ledru-Rollin : 
 
 310 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 " The 5th Pluviose, third year of the French Repub- 
 lic one and indivisible. 
 
 " Citizen Pierre Nicolas Raigne, called Nicolas, 
 living number — , Rue des Pretres Paul, Maison du 
 Boulanger, vv'hen asked to go to the committee named 
 in execution of the law^ of the 13th Frimaire in order 
 to give it information w^hich would satisfy the law, 
 presented himself there and, besides aiding the com- 
 missioners by his information, gave the following doc- 
 ument : 
 
 " ' Paris Commune, September 12, 1792, fourth 
 year of Liberty and first of Equality. 
 
 " ' We the undersigned municipal officers certify 
 that the said Pierre Nicolas Raigne and Charles Nico- 
 las Michel have been employed in the prison of La 
 Force to transfer the corpses to places indicated, for 
 which service they were paid at the rate of fifty sols a 
 day J we certify moreover that they behaved in such 
 a way as to leave no doubt of their honesty and loy- 
 alty. Given in the Prison of La Force, September 
 1 2th, fourth year of Liberty and first of Equality. 
 
 " ' C. Jams, Municipal Officer; Dange, Munic- 
 ipal Officer; Lesguillon, Municipal Commissary; 
 Va, Clerk of the Committee.' 
 
 " Seen and read in the General Assembly of the 
 Section of the Arsenal, which has never believed in 
 the evil accusations made against Citizen Pierre Nic- 
 olas Reinier, whose patriotism it well knows. 
 
 " This September 13, 1792, fourth year of Lib- 
 erty and first of Equality. 
 
 " CoNADiEU, President. 
 
 " Hany, Assistant Secretary. 
 
 "J. P. Le Dru, Felix, Collin, Petro Depero- 
 RiAN, Vincent. 
 
 3" 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 *' Note. — This document was copied in toto from 
 the Registry of the Committee number four, page 314, 
 dated September 13, 1792. 
 
 " (Copy conforms to the original presented and de- 
 livered on aforesaid day, month, and year.)" 
 
 He was not the only one sentenced, however, if we 
 are to believe the " Decade Philosophique " : 
 
 " As to the murderers of September several have been 
 convicted, but a greater number have been acquitted. 
 Only inferior and blind agents are detained, and although 
 their crime may be atrocious, possibly their sentences 
 will be lightened in favor of extenuating circumstances. 
 However, none of those who took part in the massa- 
 cres can return to society. They would excite horror; 
 they would arouse a desire for vengeance, and hence 
 would be driven again to crime." 
 
 In spite of all these researches, others escaped pros- 
 ecution at the time, and a general amnesty was promul- 
 gated fourth Brumaire, year IV. (Monday, September 
 26, 1795). A year later one of the butchers of the 
 poor princess was condemned to death for murder. 
 
 " Grizon, convicted of having been one of the 
 murderers of Monsieur de I'Aunay, Governor of the 
 Bastille, and for having cut off the head of Madame de 
 Lamballe to please the Due d' Orleans, who was 
 her next heir, has just been condemned to death 
 at Troyes as leader of the brigands who robbed the 
 Department of the Aube. Emery, one of his accom- 
 plices, a native of Lyons, received the same sentence. 
 
 312 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 The latter was the bearer of several letters from Couri- 
 oilles, punished in Paris as assassin of the courier from 
 Lyons." 
 
 This to our knowledge was the only justice done. 
 Let us quote the lines of Lebrun apropos of the mas- 
 sacres of September: 
 
 Lines written September 3, 1792. 
 
 " Thou, whom I adored, O, sad Fatherland ! 
 
 Thy poet, in tears, turns sadly from thee. 
 
 Indignant because of thy fair glory's brand. 
 
 Perjured king and his murderous subjects I flee." 
 
 Was it a question of banter, of derisive verses ? 
 
 In vain have we read the patriotic ode of Lebrun; 
 we have not found this passage there. 
 
 As one must always seek a motive for a crime we 
 wonder why the Princesse de Lamballe was one of the 
 first victims of the Terror. 
 
 Harmand (de la Meuse) claims to know the cause, 
 and tells us that upon his entrance into office the Leg- 
 islative Assembly had resolved to take charge of the 
 education of the dauphin and to give him a tutor of 
 his own choice. In the meantime the Constitutional 
 Monarchists, in order to attach to the court the most 
 influential and the most popular man of the time, had 
 thought of Robespierre in this connection. 
 
 According to the deputies of the Right everything 
 depended on the way the matter was presented to the 
 king; hence they sought a person of some influence 
 
 313 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 and of well-established credit who might with some 
 chance of success suggest the idea. 
 
 They turned their eyes upon the Princesse de Lam- 
 balle. The latter was incensed at such an overture 
 and refused positively. But when they explained to 
 her the value of the combination and the good which 
 might result therefrom for the royal family, she con- 
 sented to speak to the king. 
 
 Louis XVI. stopped her at the first word, saying: 
 " You are not thinking of such a thing, cousin! " 
 
 But Madame de Lamballe it seems knew how to 
 be eloquent, and induced the king to consent to the 
 nomination of Robespierre under the following condi- 
 tions, imposed by the Constitutionalists themselves : 
 
 Robespierre was to be chosen tutor; he was not to 
 fulfil the duties of the office but was to be contented 
 with the title and was to draw the salary. On his 
 part he engaged to establish a paper on the side of the 
 monarchy, to speak in favor of the king at the club 
 of the Jacobins, and finally to hand in his resignation 
 as public prosecutor. 
 
 The result of this arrangement was the founding of 
 the " Defenseur de la Constitution" by Robespierre, 
 who carried out his promise to the letter until the prin- 
 cess informed him that the king could not keep his 
 word in the face of the hostile attitude of the queen. 
 At this unexpected news Robespierre realized that he 
 must regain his popularity. Therefore he changed 
 front, suppressed his paper, and fled August loth. 
 
 314 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 Later he must have arrested the princess and organ- 
 ized the massacres in order to destroy all evidences of 
 his ambition. 
 
 This opinion is somewhat confirmed by the Abbe 
 Georgel," who claims that " if Robespierre had been 
 elected tutor of the dauphin, a position with which he 
 would have been modestly contented, perhaps there 
 would not have occurred those scenes of horror of 
 which we were the sad witnesses, although Robespierre 
 might have edited the ' Defenseur de la Constitution,' 
 a paper started to deceive the court by masking the 
 projects of the faction." He adds that if in his hatred 
 Robespierre did drive the royal family to the scaffold it 
 was from " mortification at not having been elected." 
 
 So according to him there was no nomination, while 
 Harmand affirms that there was. But that is not the 
 only error we wish to correct, for Robespierre did not 
 start his paper until June ist, and Madame de Fleurieu 
 was appointed governess of the dauphin April i8th. 
 
 Following is another version of the causes of the 
 death of Madame de Lamballe. We give it only as 
 a matter of interest, without attaching more importance 
 to it than to that of Harmand. 
 
 " Secret Cause of the Death of the ci-devant 
 Princesse Lamballe. — Terrible Anecdote 
 ABOUT her Hand. 
 
 " Every one knows that the ci-devant Princesse Lam- 
 balle was one of the first victims of the execrable days 
 of September; that after her death her bloody corpse was 
 
 315 
 
MADAME DE LJMBALLE 
 
 dragged through the streets, a target for the most hor- 
 rible outrages ; but that which is not known is the in- 
 visible hand that directed the blows of the butchers. 
 The murder has generally been attributed to her suc- 
 cessor, d' Orleans; motives of interest seem to justify 
 this presumption, but positive information has come to 
 us on this subject, leaving no further doubt as to the 
 true cause of this tragic death. 
 
 " Three members of the National Assembly, who 
 lateral the Convention assumed the leading roles on this 
 revolutionary theatre, some months previous to August 
 the 1 0th, had coveted the places of the Ministers. 
 
 R aspired to the position of Minister of Justice; 
 
 P to that of Minister of the Interior; D to 
 
 that of Minister of Finances. They knew that in 
 order to succeed it was first of all necessary to obtain 
 the consent of the queen ; their names alone were for 
 her a reason for refusal and execration ; what should 
 they do ? The Princesse Lamballe had great influence 
 with Marie Antoinette; they resolved to make her an 
 instrument for their ambition, 
 
 " The three candidates took care to present them- 
 selves. B , who was negotiating for the lOth of 
 
 August, undertook to make the proposition. He 
 showed the princess the advantage that Louis XVI. 
 and the court would derive from the nomination of these 
 men of the people; he dwelt particularly on the advan- 
 tage of arresting all monarchical movement. ' Do not 
 let their names frighten you,' said he; ' they are all the 
 more fitted to serve in the cause of the king; their 
 popularity is the surest safeguard of the monarchy ; 
 Mirabeau at first undermined the foundations of the 
 throne in order to make it all the stronger later.' 
 
 ' ' The Princesse Lamballe listened to his arguments, 
 
 3i6 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 although she felt the same aversion for the solicitor as 
 for the candidates; she promised to propose them to 
 the queen. Scarcely had she suggested their names 
 before Antoinette, turning on her a furious glance, 
 exclaimed, ' Do you wish to give us for ministers our 
 executioners, to introduce into the council of the king 
 the authors of the massacres of the early days of Octo- 
 ber ? Are they not trying to draw nearer to us in order 
 to deal us surer and swifter blows ? ' The princess did 
 not insist, but far from delivering the actual answer of 
 
 the queen she said to B that the king had already 
 
 made his choice and that on no condition whatever 
 could he revoke it. The manner in which she ex- 
 pressed herself seemed to indicate that she had managed 
 the affair with some indifference. They took this 
 refusal as the result of a lack of good-will on her part, 
 and from that moment her death was determined on. 
 
 ' ' The name of this unfortunate woman headed the list 
 of the massacred ; the murderers of September received 
 their instructions from the triumvirate; these instruc- 
 tions were carried out beyond the wildest hopes of their 
 authors. The assassins of the forest contented them- 
 selves with immolating and stripping their victims; 
 those of La Force in the middle of the bloody streets 
 disputed over pieces of flesh torn from the princess, 
 which aroused in them at the same time feelings of 
 cannibalism and something worse. How many times 
 before her last breath did this princess die! In her 
 everything that the sex holds most sacred was shown 
 least respect, and a i&w days after the murderers still 
 showed publicly in the inns bloody remains which 
 modesty will not even allow us to mention. 
 
 " It was not enough to have hacked the princess to 
 pieces alive, to have divided her body among them, 
 
 317 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 and to have dragged it by bits through streams of 
 blood : the assassins had not yet offered a proof 
 of their barbarity to those who were paying for the 
 massacres. The triumvirs were gathered together with 
 some other leaders in a house adjoining La Force. 
 They were at supper; four of their agents arrived and 
 placed on the table the right hand of the princess. 
 They looked at it, passed it from one guest to another; 
 they made about her fingers jokes as atrocious as they 
 
 were lugubrious. R examined the token attentively 
 
 and said with the coolness of scorn: ' It was pretty.' 
 
 " These accounts, which we publish with hesitation, 
 solely in the interests of history, were given us by two 
 persons still living who, although they did not dip their 
 hands in the blood, were nevertheless closely connected 
 with these three men, one of whom has been feted 
 as a martyr of the Terror. ' ' 
 
 The memory of the good princess and of her worthy 
 father-in-law was religiously preserved by their faithful 
 servants; the anniversary of their death was celebrated 
 by a mass even during the darkest days of the Revolu- 
 tion. 
 
 We give in full the funeral oration pronounced in 
 the Church of St. Paul at the beginning of these touch- 
 ing ceremonies : 
 
 " Funeral Oration delivered by Monsieur Sevray, 
 who acted for the institutors of the religious ceremony 
 held in memory of the unfortunate Princesse de Lam- 
 balle in the Church of {sic) Rue Saint-Antoine near 
 the Place de Bastille, and since held in the Church 
 Saint Leu: 
 
 318 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 " O cruel memories, let our hearts beat for one 
 moment ! O days of misery and terror, days, alas, as 
 deplorable as frightful, depart forever from our eyes ! 
 From the midst of this lugubrious scene which recalls 
 to us a sweet and well-loved face, rise sublime virtues 
 which impose on us important duties. 
 
 "O plaintive shade of the purest of mortals! 
 Now that we are gathered together to celebrate her 
 memory her sweet and gentle soul has returned to the 
 bosom of the God of peace whence it came ; it is more 
 affected by our tender regrets than by the horror imposed 
 on it by those cannibals who usurped the name of men 
 only to dishonor the race by the blackest and most 
 cowardly of barbarities. Such is the horror they in- 
 spire that we would not breathe the same air, would 
 not live in the same place; and if a legislation imper- 
 fect until now has withheld them from the just punish- 
 ment that they deserve, the scorn which we forever feel 
 for them will make of what is left of their lives an 
 eternity of remorse and torment, limitless, endless. 
 
 " O virtuous and worthy princess, were you still 
 here among us you would compel us to suffer; and by 
 this example you would teach us to respect and submit 
 ourselves to the will of the strongest, as do your worthy 
 relatives, rich heirs of the love which we bear you. 
 But what am I saying ? Alas ! you exist only in our 
 tender regrets and sad memories. 
 
 " Sensitive Souls! deplore, and let us all deplore the 
 fate of the unfortunate princess who, escaping for a few 
 instants from my care, saw herself in the midst of a 
 crowd; frightened and paralyzed with terror, deserted 
 and pitiably abandoned, even by those who loved her, 
 to the ferocity of scarcely a handful of wretched mur- 
 derers, who in order to kill her subjected her to the 
 
 319 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 cruellest and most dreadful torments — torments so 
 dreadful that pencil and pen refuse to describe them 
 and decency will not allow me to explain. 
 
 " Nobles! and People! learn from this horrible illus- 
 tration to what shameful excesses those who wickedly 
 wish and aspire to act and govern themselves without 
 sovereigns and without laws are capable of yielding. 
 
 " O Almighty God! O God of kindness, divine 
 Providence ! O Holy Trinity for all eternity ! Believ- 
 ing fully in the immortality of the soul we humbly 
 beg Thee to reward Louise de Savoye, the unfor- 
 tunate princess, with the brilliant crown of the martyr, 
 and to admit her into the shining company of the elect, 
 where in her eternal resting-place she may sing forever 
 to the glory of the Father, the Son, and the Holy 
 Ghost. Amen. De Profundis. " 
 
 The commemorative masses were continued during 
 the revolutionary and imperial periods,^ but probably in 
 secret, while from the time of the Restoration they 
 became semi-official in character, for the " Moniteur " 
 newspaper mentions them: 
 
 " Acts of piety leave deep impressions on the heart. 
 The service and the mass for the dead which a faithful 
 servant of Monseigneur le Due de Penthievre had cel- 
 ebrated during the Revolution on the anniversary of 
 the death of this prince and of that of Madame la Prin- 
 cesse de Lamballe attracted a large number of the faith- 
 ful. From the Restoration these two pious ceremonies 
 were much more largely attended under the auspices 
 of the worthy successor to the name and the virtues 
 of the Due de Penthievre. Her royal Highness the 
 
 320 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 Duchesse-dowager d' Orleans went yesterday to the 
 Church of Saint-Leu to attend the mass which was 
 celebrated at noon for the repose of Madame de Lam- 
 balle's soul. The high altar and the door of the 
 church were draped in mourning and bore the coat- 
 of-arms of the princess. In accordance with the wish 
 of the founder only low mass was celebrated." 
 
 The funeral services celebrated respectively the 4th 
 of March and the 3rd of September were kept up 
 until 1819. From the beginning of 1820 the " Mon- 
 iteur " makes no further mention of them. 
 
 Does this mean that the health of the Duchesse 
 d' Orleans, who was soon to die, did not permit her to 
 attend them ? 
 
 The Restoration thought at one time of giving 
 Paris a monument in memory of Madame de Lam- 
 balle. A proposition to this effect was made at a 
 meeting of the Chambre des Pairs, Saturday, January 
 13, 1 8 16. The project was never carried out; and 
 indeed no monument or effigy, were it from the chisel 
 of the most skilful master, would have been able to 
 withstand the political troubles. 
 
 The poet Delille wrote the following epitaph for 
 Madame de Lamballe : 
 
 " Lamballe has succumbed, Lamballe whose great zeal 
 For her queen, by dying, she strove to reveal. 
 And her beautiful hair, her low graceful brow. 
 Ah, Heaven ! in what a sad state are they now ! 
 Shocked Nature cries out, and friendship so dear, 
 Before those loved features recoils as in fear ! " 
 
 21 321 
 
Madame de lamballe 
 
 We will conclude this biography of our unfortunate 
 princess by quoting from the work of Francis Girault — 
 " Le pass'e^ le present et V avenir^ ou Predictions^ verifica- 
 tions et explications de quclques prophetles remarquables de 
 Michel Nostradamus. Paris: Hivert, Gaume, Dentu. 
 Pamphlet in-8, 43 pp., 1839 " — a prediction ingen- 
 iously dedicated to Madame de Lamballe : 
 
 " Death of the Princess de Lamballe. Century II, 
 Sixth, 55. 
 
 " Sooner or later shall pass from earth 
 
 A lady of high degree. 
 Her spirit to God, her body to man, 
 
 By many regretted shall be. 
 All her relations shall mourn her loss, 
 A younger woman shall bear the cross, 
 
 And two others the 'misery." 
 
 " The manner of death, the regrets of the Due de 
 Penthievre and of all the Carignans, the tears of Ma- 
 dame Royale, and the grief which the king and espe- 
 cially Marie Antoinette felt in their hearts — do not all 
 these facts clearly show that this referred to the beau- 
 tiful and unfortunate Princesse de Lamballe ? " 
 
 The prediction, although perhaps not containing 
 every evidence which our author was pleased to attrib- 
 ute to it, nevertheless deserves to be noticed because 
 of its historical interest. 
 
 It is for this reason that we have given it, adding in 
 conclusion only one thing, namely, that the sad priv- 
 ilege of those who suffer greatly, becauje of the impor- 
 
 322 
 
MADAME DE LAMBALLE 
 
 tant place they occupy in the great human drama, is 
 to lend themselves admirably to sombre predictions 
 and very often to realize them. Never, perhaps, has 
 a more sinister prophecy from this point of view had 
 a more gloomy fulfilment. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 323 
 
Translator's Notes 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 ' ' ' Among those who came about me was the bridegroom him- 
 self, whom I had never yet seen. So anxious was he to have his 
 first acquaintance incognito that he set off from Paris the moment 
 he was apprised of my arrival in France and presented himself as 
 the prince's page. . . . What was my surprise when the Due 
 de Penthievre presented me to the prince, and I found in him the 
 page for whom I had already felt such an interest! . . . This 
 was really love at first sight." — "Memoirs of the Princesse de 
 Lamballe." 
 
 " The King of Sardinia, as the head of the house of Savoy and 
 Carignan, said there had been some conversation as to the Princesse 
 de Carignan's becoming a member of his royal family ; but as she 
 was very young at the time, many political reasons might have 
 arisen to necessitate a change in the projected alliance. " If, 
 therefore," said the King, "the Prince Carignan be anxious 
 to settle his daughter's marriage by any immediate matrimonial 
 alliance, I certainly shall not avail myself of any prior engage- 
 ment nor oppose any obstacle in the way of its solemnization." — 
 " Memoirs," p. 82. 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 ' Mesdames Mackau, de Soucie, the Comtesse de Noailles (not 
 duchesse, as Mademoiselle Berlin calls her in her " Memoires") 
 claimed that the Princesse de Lamballe was the most beautiful and 
 accomplished princess at court, adorned with all the grace, virtue, 
 and elegance of manner which so eminently distinguished her 
 through life. Although she had no particularly shining talents, her 
 
 325 
 
TRANSLjtOR'S NOTES 
 
 understanding was sound and she seldom gave her opinion without 
 mature reflection, and never without being called on, or when she 
 distinctly foresaw the danger which must accrue from its being 
 withheld. 
 
 The Princesse de Lamballe was so uniformly eager in contributing 
 to the peace of mind and happiness of every individual who sought 
 her mediation that she was as well known by the appellation of ' ' the 
 peace-maker " as she was by her title. 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 ' Afterwards Due d'Orleans and the celebrated revolutionary 
 Philip Egalite. His son, the grandson of the Due de Penthi^vre, 
 was afterwards Louis Philippe. 
 
 In her diary and letters the Princesse de Lamballe dates her 
 misery and grief from the marriage of her beloved sister-in-law 
 Mademoiselle de Penthi^vre to the Due de Chartres. In revenge 
 for his unrequited passion for the princess, the latter enticed away 
 her young husband, who soon became the prey of every dissipation 
 and debauchery. 
 
 The Due de Chartres was never a favorite of the queen. He 
 was tolerated only on account of his wife, and because of the great 
 intimacy which existed between him and the Comte d'Artois. 
 Louis XVI. had often expressed his disapprobation of the duke's 
 character, which his conduct daily justified. 
 
 "The infamous and recreant Duke of Orleans'"; and, again, 
 "Philippe, Duke of Orleans, born in 1745, was one of the most 
 infamous personages of the Revolution. This prince combined in 
 himself all that was most depraved and bad in the old noblesse, and 
 all that was most odious in the ambitious mob leaders." — See Mor- 
 ris, pp. 24-25, 35. 
 
 " ' ' The Due de Chartres then possessed a very handsome person and 
 most insinuating address." — " Memoirs of Madame de Lamballe." 
 
 ' The queen had been attached to the Princesse de Lamballe long 
 before the sledge parties took place. But see Madame de Campan, 
 vol. i., p. 129. 
 
 * " In her (Marie Antoinette's) happier days of power, the great 
 Gluck was brought, at her request, from Germany to Paris. He 
 
 326 
 
TRANSLATOR'S NOTES 
 
 cost nothing to the public treasury, for her Majesty paid all his ex- 
 penses out of her own purse. . . . She heard all his pieces, 
 at Gluck's. request, before they were submitted to the stage." — 
 " Memoirs," p. no. 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 ' The Prince de Lamballe was the son of the Comte de Toulouse, 
 himself a natural son of Louis XIV. and Madame de Montespan, 
 who was considered the most wealthy of all the natural children in 
 consequence of Madame de Montespan's having artfully entrapped 
 the famous Mademoiselle de Montpensier to make over her im- 
 mense fortune to him as her heir after her death, as the price of 
 liberating her husband from imprisonment in the Bastille, and her- 
 self from a ruinous prosecution for having contracted this marriage 
 contrary to the express commands of her royal cousin, Louis XIV. 
 — Vide " Histoire de Louis XIV.,'' par Voltaire. 
 
 ' The deposed court oracle, the Comtesse de Noailles, had been 
 succeeded as literary leader by the Comtesse Diana Polignac. She 
 was a favorite of the Comte d'Artois, and was the first lady in 
 attendance upon the comtesse his wife. The Comtesse de Poli- 
 gnac had a much better education and considerably more natural 
 capacity than her sister-in-law the duchess, and the queen dis- 
 liked her merely for her prudish affectation. The Comtesse 
 d'Artois grew jealous of the count's intimacy with the Comtesse 
 Diana. . . . But making a merit of necessity she submitted 
 at length to retaining the comtesse, who remained in the family up 
 to the 17th of October, 1789, when she left Versailles in company 
 with the Polignacs and the d'Artois, who all emigrated together 
 from France to Italy, and lived at Stria, on the Brenta, near Venice, 
 for some time, till the Comtesse d'Artois went to Turin. 
 
 ' The Duchesse de Chartres had complained to her father, the 
 Due de Penthi^vre, in the presence of the Princesse de Lamballe, 
 of the very great ascendency Madame de Genlis exercised over her 
 husband, and had even requested the queen to use her influence in 
 detaching the duke from this connection. It was generally under- 
 stood that the duke had, by Madame de Genlis, a daughter who 
 later was married to the late Irish Lord Robert Fitzgerald. 
 
 * An obsolete office was revived in favor of the Princesse de 
 
 327 
 
TRANSLATOR'S NOTES 
 
 Lamballe. In the time of Maria Leckzinska, wife of Louis XV., 
 the office of superintendent, then held by Mademoiselle de Cler- 
 mont, was suppressed when its holder died. The office gave a 
 control over the inclinations of queens by which Maria Leckzinska 
 was sometimes inconvenienced ; and it had lain dormant ever since. 
 Its restoration by one who it was believed could be guided by no 
 motive but the desire to seek pretexts for showing undue favor, 
 was eyed askance, and before long openly calumniated. 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 ' At this time Comte de Mercy was Austrian Ambassador to the 
 court of France. For Mercy, see "Marie Antoinette," by D'Arneth 
 and GeoSroy, ii. 223. 
 
 ' Tutor, secretary, confessor, and unfortunately in many respects 
 the ambitious guide of Marie Antoinette. 
 
 Louis XVI. had no prepossession in favor of the Abbe Ver- 
 mond, and merely tolerated him in order not to wound the feelings 
 of the queen. Marie Antoinette was conscious of this, and is said 
 to have frequently stated the fact that she did not remember the 
 king's ever having held any communication with the abbe during 
 the whole time he was attached to the service, though the abbe 
 always expressed himself with the greatest respect towards the king. 
 
 Neckar's opinion of Vermond was that he was quite as obnox- 
 ious to the people as the Duchesse de Polignac ever had been. 
 
 Vermond enjoyed much influence with regard to ecclesiastical 
 preferments. He was too fond of his situation ever to contradict 
 or thwart her majesty in any of her plans ; too much a courtier to 
 assail her ears with the language of truth ; and by far too much a 
 clergyman to interest himself but for mother church. In short, he 
 was more culpable in not doing his duty than in the mischief he 
 occasioned ; for he certainly of tener misled the queen by his silence 
 than by his advice. 
 
 'One of the popular objections to the revival of the office of 
 superintendent in favor of the Princesse de Lamballe arose from 
 its reputed extravagance. This was groundless. The etiquette of 
 dress, and the requisite increase of every other expense, from the 
 augmentation of every article of the necessaries as well as the 
 
 328 
 
TRANSLJTOR'S NOTES 
 
 luxuries of life, made a treble difference between the expenditure 
 of the circumscribed court of Maria Leckzinska and that of Louis 
 XVI. ; yet the Princesse de Lamballe received no more salary 
 than had been allotted to Mademoiselle de Clermont half a century 
 before. And even that salary she never appropriated to any pri- 
 vate use of her own, being amply supplied through the generous 
 bounty of her father-in-law the Due de Penthi^vre. — " Memoirs of 
 Madame de Lamballe." 
 
 * The laughable title of Madame Etiquette which the dauphiness 
 gave Madame de Noailles clung to her through life ; and though 
 conferred only in merriment, it was never forgiven. 
 
 ' There was an eccentricity in the appearance, dress, and man- 
 ners of the Prince de Conti which well deserves recording. 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 * The queen's favorite brother. It was he who on leaving Italy 
 and coming to Paris interested himself in causing Louis XVI. to 
 settle the differences then subsisting between the court of Naples 
 and that of Spain ; and it was his opinion which some time after- 
 wards influenced the Queen of France to refuse the offer of the 
 Queen of Naples to affiance her daughter, the Duchesse d'An- 
 gouleme, to the son of the Queen of Naples, and to propose as more 
 eligible a marriage which after the Revolution took place between 
 the house of Orleans and that of Naples. 
 
 It was said that the French treasury, which was not overflowing, 
 was still more reduced by the queen's partiality for her brother ; 
 but the finances of Joseph were at that time too superior to those 
 of France to admit of such extravagance or even to render it 
 desirable. 
 
 For further account of Joseph see Madame Campan. 
 
 'Comte d'Artois, afterwards Charles X., one of the first to desert 
 the king and the royal family. 
 
 ' The splendid fetes, balls, and entertainments indiscriminately 
 lavished by all ranks throughout the kingdom on this occasion 
 augmented those of the queen and the court to a pitch of magnifi- 
 cence surpassing the most luxurious and voluptuous times of the 
 great and brilliant Louis XIV. 
 
 329 
 
TRANSLATOR'S NOTES 
 
 The following verses on this occasion written by Metastasio are 
 of interest: 
 
 " lo pudei: I'augusta figlia 
 A pagar, m'a condemnato 
 Ma s'6 ver che a voi somiglia 
 Tutto il mondo ha quadagnato." 
 
 * Baron de Besenval, one of the seconds at the well-known duel 
 between the Comte d'Artois and the Due de Bourbon. 
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 'Venerable is a title of the Master in French lodges, equivalent 
 to Worshipful in English and American lodges. 
 
 Venerable Brother, a title given to each officer of the Grand 
 Orient. 
 
 ' The Masons of Europe are much more addicted to the use of 
 this method of contracting masonic writing than American Masons. 
 The abbreviations among our foreign brethren are usually dis- 
 tinguished by the use of three periods, placed in the form of a 
 triangle — thus .". or thus •.•, as the writer may prefer. This 
 peculiar form of contraction was first introduced by the Grand 
 Orient of France in 1774. 
 
 'Among them were the Duchesse de Bourbon, the Empress 
 Josephine, Lady Montague, Duchess Elizabeth Chesterfield, and 
 the Empress Eugenie. 
 
 * Adoptive Masonry was a name given to certain degrees resem- 
 bling masonry and masonic in spirit which have at times been in- 
 vented for ladies who have claims upon the Order of Freemasonry 
 through relatives who are members of it. 
 
 Adoptive Masonry first made its appearance in France in the 
 early part of the eighteenth century, and there is still a legal and 
 regular branch of the institution in that country. 
 
 The Adoptive Lodges were at first rapidly diffused throughout 
 all the countries of Europe except the British Empire. 
 
 ' Ecossais-e (French), Scotch. A term applied to the Ancient and 
 Accepted Rite, and the name of the fifth degree of the French sys- 
 tem. — "General History of Freemasonry," by Robert McCoy, 33°. 
 
 330 
 
TRANSLATOR'S NOTES 
 
 Ecossais — a French word usually translated Scottish Master or 
 Mistress, and first introduced by the Chevalier Ramsay, whose 
 theory was that Freemasonry originally came from Scotland in the 
 general form it is now practised. For further reference see " The 
 Royal Masonic Cyclopaedia," edited by Kenneth R. H. MacKen- 
 zie, ix". 
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 ' Palace of La Muette, situated in the Bois de Boulogne, very 
 near Paris. 
 
 " To this intimacy of the queen with the governess of her children 
 may be referred the first direct blows at the royal dignity. 
 
 'On the death of Louis XV. the entire court had gone to La 
 Muette. 
 
 * The Duchesse de Gramont was one of the confidential friends 
 of Louis XV. before he took Du Barry under his especial protec- 
 tion. She was noted for her independence and dignity. 
 
 'The Duchesse de Guemenee having been obliged to leave her 
 residence at Versailles in consequence of the duke's dismissal from 
 the king's service on account of the disordered state of his pecuniary 
 circumstances, the situation of governess to the royal children be- 
 came necessarily vacant and was immediately transferred to the 
 Duchesse de Polignac. 
 
 * " At this time their majesties were adored. Marie Antoinette, 
 with all her beauty and amiableness, was a mere cipher in the eyes 
 of France previous to her becoming the mother of an heir to the 
 crown ; but her popularity now arose to a pitch of unequalled en- 
 thusiasm." — " Memoirs." 
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 ' The Due du Nord was afterwards the Emperor Paul. It was 
 during the visit of himself and his wife at court that the Cardinal 
 de Rohan again appeared on the scene. 
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 ' Due de Normandie, afterwards the dauphin. 
 
 331 
 
TRJNSLJTOR'S NOTES 
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 " In her ' ' Memoires," tome ii. , Madame de Campan says the neck- 
 lace was intended for Du Barry. The exact date of its manufacture, 
 however, is not known. Du Barry went into " half pay" May lo, 
 1774, the day her king died. 
 
 "Abbe Georgel, who has given a long solemn narrative of the 
 necklace business, passes for the grand authority on it, but neither 
 will he, strictly taken up, abide scrutiny. He is vague, writing in 
 what is called the ' soaped pig ' fashion. There are hardly above 
 three dates in his whole narrative. He mistakes several times; 
 perhaps . . . misrepresents a little." — Carlyle. 
 
 ' Bette d'Etienville's description of De Rohan is as follows : A 
 handsome man of fifty, with high complexion, hair white-gray and 
 the front of the head bald; of high stature, carriage noble and easy, 
 though burdened with a certain degree of corpulency. (First 
 " Memoire pour.") " On May 31, 1786, sentence was pronounced; 
 about ten at night the Cardinal escaped from the Bastille; large 
 mobs cheered him, angered at the court." See Georgel. See also 
 " Memoires," note, p. 166 et seq.; also Marquis de Valfous, " Me- 
 moires," 60; De Levis, 156; and Madame d'Oberkirk, i. 127, 
 and ii. 360. 
 
 ' See "Vie de Jeanne, Comtesse de Lamotte " (by herself), vol. i. ; 
 also four ' ' Memoires pour " by her in this ' ' Affaire du Collier " — Car- 
 lyle says, "like lawyers' tongues turned inside out." Afterwards 
 one volume, "Memoires justificatifs de la Comtesse de," etc. 
 (London, 1788), with appendix of "Documents" so-called and 
 misdated as to day of month. Also two volumes, " Vie de Jeanne," 
 etc., printed in London, by way of extorting money from Paris. 
 The latter was bought up by French persons in authority. It was 
 the burning of this editio princeps in the Sevres Potteries, May 30, 
 1792, which raised such a smoke that the Legislative Assembly took 
 alarm and had an investigation about it, etc., till the truth came 
 out. Copies of the book were speedily reprinted after August loth. 
 
 Compare Rohan's four "Memoires pour" in the "Affaire du 
 Collier " with Lamotte's four. 
 
 See also Georgel, who dates the affair in 1785; also Comte de 
 Lamotte's narrative in the " Memoires justificatifs." 
 
 332 
 
TRANSLATOR'S NOTES 
 
 In regard to the accounts of above by Madame Campan, Carlyle 
 says: " Madame Campan, in her ' Memoires,' generally, does not 
 seem to intend IsXsthood. She rather, perhaps, intends the producing 
 of an impression, which may have appeared to herself to be the right 
 one. But, at all events, she has ... no notion of historical rigor; 
 she gives hardly any date, or the like ; will tell the same thing, in 
 different places, different ways, etc. There is a tradition that Louis 
 XVIII. revised her ' Memoires ' before publication. She requires 
 to be read with scepticism everywhere, but yields something in that 
 way." — From Carlyle's " Diamond Necklace." 
 
 * See Lamotte's MS. songs in the " Affaire du Collier," etc. 
 Carlyle says : " Nothing can exceed the brutality of these things; 
 
 which nevertheless found believers — increase of believers in the 
 public exasperation, and did the queen incalculable damage.'' 
 
 ' " The princess, though disappointed in some of her main objects 
 with regard to influence and information, became so great a favorite 
 at the British court that she obtained full permission of the king 
 and queen of England to signify to her royal mistress and friend 
 that the specific request she came to make would be complied with. 
 She visited Bath, Windsor, Brighton, and many other parts of Eng- 
 land, and managed so judiciously that the real object of her visit 
 was never suspected." — " Memoires," p. 280. 
 
 " Baron de Breteuil, a sworn enemy of the Cardinal de Rohan. 
 
 ' Lomenie de Brienne, Archbishop of Toulouse and Sens, born 
 1727, died 1794. As minister of Louis XVI. he exiled the Parlia- 
 ment of Paris to Troyes in 1787, and compelled it to register edicts 
 of the king which it had opposed. 
 
 Marie Antoinette persisted in upholding every act of Brienne 
 till his ignorance and unpardonable blunders drew down the gen- 
 eral indignation of the people against her Majesty and her protege, 
 with whom she was identified. 
 
 " The monarchy was seldom guilty of acts more arbitrary, violent, 
 and iniquitous than those sanctioned by Brienne." — Morris, " French 
 Revolution." 
 
 * Abbey of Fontevrault. In this connection it will be of interest 
 to the reader to consult " Architectural Studies in France," new 
 edition, revised by Edward Bell. 
 
 333 
 
TRANSLATOR'S NOTES 
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 * " The French Revolution may date its epoch as far back as the 
 taking of the Bastille." — " Memoires." 
 
 'For journey from Versailles to Paris, see Campan, vol. ii. 313 ; 
 also Bertrand de Molleville. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 ' " Le Gazette de France " was the first French newspaper. It 
 was published in 1631 by Theophraste Renaudot. It appeared 
 once a week, contained the news and gossip, and was very popular. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 ' For card-playing, see " Memoires," p. 143. 
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 ^ Only the children of the king and the heir-apparent were called 
 " Enfants de France." It was for centuries later the rule that only 
 the Enfants de France might ride or drive into the Louvre, Palais, 
 Hotel St. Paul, Tournelies, or any royal palace. Princes of the 
 blood must get down at the door, nobles in the street. See De 
 Sareval. 
 
 ' The Due d'Orleans was the first to abandon the royal family. 
 
 ' Barnave was conspicuous among the reformers of the National 
 Assembly. 
 
 See Morris, p. 56. Also " Memoires," pp. 221, 228, 283, 302. 
 
 * " Ci-devant " means former. It was a term constantly used by 
 Republicans during the first revolution in France, in regard to a 
 noble attached to the former regime by his position. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 ' For this " favorite pastime,'" which was hunting, see " Journal de 
 Louis XVI.," published by Nicolardot. Also De Luynes, ix. 75, 7g, 
 
 334 
 
TRANSLJTOR'S NOTES 
 
 los ; Madame Campan, i. 147; Taine's " Ancien Regime''; Due 
 de Lauzun, " Memoires," 51 ; and Madame de Genlis, " Memoires," 
 chapter xiii. 
 
 ' For Versailles, see Chateaubriand, " Memoires," i. 221. 
 
 'An eye-witness of many stirring scenes. Her husband was the 
 bravest of the royalist generals whom he commanded in La 
 Vendee, 1793-94. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII 
 
 ' A false and artful popularity seeker. 
 See Morris ; also " Memoires," p. 375. 
 
 * See Burke's " Reflections on the Revolution in France, ''which 
 remain the best and most profound commentary on the work of the 
 National Assembly. 
 
 See also Professor Von Sybel's " History," book ii., chap. iv. 
 
 For life and conduct of the royal family at this crisis, see " Let- 
 ters of Louis XVI., Marie Antoinette.'' 
 
 ' It may be of interest to note that the word tocsin in the seven- 
 teenth century was spelt tocquesin, notably by Menage, and is com- 
 pounded of two words — toque (act of striking) and sin (a bell). 
 
 * This was a, desperate step, and equivalent, under the circum- 
 stances, to an abdication of the throne. 
 
 See " Souvenirs de la Terreur," by George Duval, quoted by M. 
 Feuillet de Couches, vol. vi., p. 285. 
 
 See also M. Mortimer Terneaux's " Histoire de la Terreur." 
 
 ' The royal family were placed in a small box or chamber called 
 the logographe. 
 
 ° So called from the club which was held in the convent by the 
 Feuillants, a branch of the Order of St. Bernard. The club was 
 set up to counteract the power of the Jacobins. 
 
 ' So at another critical moment on the arrival of the delegates at 
 Varennes, Louis seemed, it is said, " to have been most anxious 
 about finishing his morning meal." — Morris. 
 
 And again, " the chief of the illustrious race of Bourbon, in sight 
 of the falling throne of his sires, ate, it is said, with seeming con- 
 tent, a dish of peaches ! " — Morris. 
 
 335 
 
TRANSLATOR'S NOTES 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 ' Billaud Varennes was afterwards prosecuted and sent beyond 
 the seas. 
 
 ° The so-called mock judges at the tribunal were Thibaudeau, 
 Hebert, Simonier, etc. 
 
 ^ For graphic description of Lamballe's execution, see p. 380 et 
 seq. of " Memoires.'' 
 
 " The Due de Penthievre set every engine in operation to save 
 his beloved daughter-in-law." He promised Manuel half his for- 
 tune if the princess could be rescued ; and this might have been 
 accomplished had it not been for a misunderstanding in the matter 
 of orders. 
 
 See also M. Thiers' "Histoire de la Revolution Fran9aise,'' vol. 
 ii., p. 335, edit. 1842. 
 
 * Santerre, "who so cruelly ordered the drums to beat, to hasten 
 the execution and prevent the dying king's last words from being 
 heard." — " Memoirs," p. 393. 
 
 Santerre was originally a brewer in the Faubourg Saint Antoine, 
 at Paris. He first made himself conspicuous in the revolt of the 
 famous 14th July, 1789, which ended in the taking of the Bastille. 
 In 1793 he was given command of some battalions sent against La 
 Vendee, but showed himself a worthless general. He was routed 
 by the Royalists before the walls of Coron. He was reported 
 to have been killed, and the following epitaph was composed for 
 him at Paris: 
 
 " Ci git le general Santerre, 
 Qui n'eut de Mars que la Hire" 
 
 a pun on the word Mire, which means both bier and beer, and San- 
 terre, as we have said, was originally a brewer. Bihre de Mars was 
 a very light beer brewed in early spring. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX 
 
 * Paper money, the emission of which was decreed on the 1st of 
 April, 1790, and annulled February 19, 1796. The creation of these 
 
 336 
 
TRANSLATOR'S NOTES 
 
 assignats was the cause of fearful disasters to the commerce, indus- 
 try, and credit of the nation. 
 
 * For Comte de Fersan, see pp. 148, 212, 217, 290 of the " Me- 
 moires." 
 
 ' In the matter of the journey to Varennes, had the Ising been 
 guided by the Comte de Fersan he would have succeeded. 
 
 It is at Varennes that Madame Campan places the beginning of 
 Barnave's sentiments in favor of the royal family. Other historians 
 differ on this point. 
 
 For Varennes, see also Morris's " French Revolution '' and Wat- 
 son's " France." 
 
 CHAPTER XX 
 
 ' " A most assiduous, ever-wakeful Abbe." — Carlyle. 
 
 " The factotum, principal agent, and secretary of the Cardinal de 
 Rohan." And again : " To the Abbe Georgel may be attributed 
 all the artful intrigues of Rohan's disgraceful diplomacy." 
 
 See also Madame Campan: "The Abbe Georgel in his ' Memoires' 
 justifies the conduct of his superior with great ability ; and it was 
 very politic in him to do so, because he thereby exonerates himself 
 from the imputation he would naturally incur from having been a. 
 known party, if not a principal, in all which has dishonored the 
 Cardinal." 
 
 ' " It was reported that Napoleon when he became Emperor of 
 France, respecting the virtues of this illustrious sufferer, ordered in 
 commemoration of this event the funeral rites to be performed 
 in the parish where she had been butchered, on the 3d day of every 
 September. Her birthday would have been on the 8th of the same 
 month;" — " Memoires.'' 
 
 337