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 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924024291977 
 
LAST 4DfMU OF LOUIS XVL AND MARIE 
 ANTOINETTE 
 
 Fhotogravure after a painting hy Meisel. 
 
CopyRroHT, 1901, 
 
 M. WALTER DUNNE, 
 
 PU^l IfiHEft 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 The Last Adieu of Louis XVL and Marie Antoi- 
 nette Frontispiece 
 
 Photogravure after a painting by Meisel. 
 
 Last Days of Louis XVI. and Family 203 
 
 Photogravure after a painting by Benczur. 
 
 (vii} 
 
SPECIAL INTRODUCTION 
 
 MARIE Tni^RfesE Louise de Savoie-Carignan, Princess 
 de Lamballe, was fated to be not only an eye- 
 witness but a victim of the Reign of Terror. She 
 was born in Turin in 1749, was married in 1767 to Stan- 
 islaus, Prince of Lamballe and son of the Duke of 
 Penthifevre, which brought her into the relationship of 
 sister-in-law to the Duke of Orleans. Her husband died 
 within a year, leaving her, as she expresses it, "a bride 
 when an infant, a widow before I was a mother or had a 
 prospect of becoming one." A marriage was proposed 
 between the Princess and Louis XV., but it fell through. 
 In her retirement she gained the friendship of Marie 
 Antoinette, who appointed her superintendent of the royal 
 household on the accession of Louis XVI. This officill 
 connection grew into a sisterly intimacy of the most cor- 
 dial kind. Their youth of brilliant promise was soon 
 overshadowed with ominous troubles. The lighter tem- 
 perament of the Queen was happily balanced by the 
 philosophic gravity of the Princess, who foresaw the bit- 
 ter fruits of the conditions in which her royal mistress 
 had been reared and would not radically change. This 
 journal -record of experiences and reflections is as pathetic 
 a tale as has ever been told. Lit up as it is with gleams 
 of the merriment supposed to be the normal atmosphere 
 of court life, it progresses with the doleful tread of a 
 funeral march, each step lessening the too short space 
 that separates the palace from the dungeon, the glamor 
 of hollow sovereignty from the bloody tyranny of an ir- 
 responsible populace. 
 
 The Princess Lamballe, as will be seen, was as loyal 
 to her own conscience as to her less clear-sighted mis- 
 tress. When the catastrophe was impending the Queen 
 
 (ix) 
 
z MEMOIRS OF LAMBALLE 
 
 and King implored her to leave France and so save her 
 life. The beauty and purity of her character was equaled 
 by her devotion to duty and her courage. She scorned 
 to leave her friends in the hour of peril, "faithful among 
 the faithless " titular nobility who scampered away to 
 safe hiding-places until they might creep back in the re- 
 turning sunshine. She was harassed with repeated 
 attempts at bodily injury, and when arrested, calmly re- 
 fused to forswear her principle of fealty to the monarchy, 
 while cheerfully willing to accept the mandate of the 
 nation. Thereupon the gentle and brave woman was 
 stabbed to death by the fiends who invaded her cell, and 
 who added an exquisite pang to the sufferings of the 
 Queen by parading the head of the Princess, on the point 
 of a pike, before the window where her mistress was ex- 
 pected to see it. 
 
 How the Princess's journal came to light is narrated in 
 the following pages. It is edited and annotated, in a 
 liberal sense of those terms, by the lady who, in her 
 youth, was the confidential secretary and messenger, in 
 fact a diplomatic maid-of-all-work, of the Princess. From 
 the copious diary of the latter, supplemented by the 
 graphic and elaborate additions and comments of the 
 brillantly gifted editor, to whose care the diary was in- 
 trusted, we get a most impressive realization of the life 
 endured by Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette in those 
 appalling years of doom. 
 
 The portraiture of these unconsciously fatalistic royal- 
 ties is eloquently painted in many offhand touches, the 
 force of which has been made clearer by lapse of years. 
 The young Queen owed more grudges than gratitude to 
 her imperial mother for her bringing-up. Conspicuous 
 lack of common sense may more justly be blamed for the 
 failure of her life than any of the faults charged against 
 her. The Princess avers that Marie Antoinette was an 
 unsophisticated country girl at heart, with a natural dis- 
 like for fine dress and jewel display. The artifice and 
 pomposity of the court were alien to her artless nature. 
 She loved genuine jollity, unhampered by stilted conven- 
 
SPECIAL INTRODUCTION xi 
 
 tionalities, and preferred the society of pleasure-loving 
 youth to that of the elderly aunts of the King, who 
 sought to rule her as they dominated him. Add to this 
 wholesome rebelliousness an unfortunate hereditary and 
 exaggerated superstition as to the divinity of royalty, 
 and we have the elements of the hopeless deadlock which 
 culminated in the Revolution. 
 
 Marie Antoinette is here shown as developing an un- 
 expected solidity of character as the need for it became 
 more insistent. In the beginning she made light of na- 
 tional susceptibilities, a fatal folly in ordinary circum- 
 stances, much more serious in those times. As the King's 
 weakness and her own unpopularity increased, she rose 
 to the situation with somewhat of her mother's masterful 
 spirit, unwise, but compelling a qualified admiration. 
 When the Princess Lamballe was the transmitter of out- 
 side opinion and counsel to the King through the Queen 
 she backed it up by candid advice of her own, with the 
 usual result of offending, without influencing, the, object 
 of her solicitude. For a time this intercourse, or at least 
 this faithful remonstrance, ceased, to be resumed when 
 its wisdom had struck home. But it was then too late 
 to undo past follies, and a few lingering stupidities were 
 never given up. The old nobility felt their order had 
 been humiliated by the persistently alien Queen. The 
 common people were incensed against a monarchy that 
 reveled, as they were assured, in wanton luxury while 
 famine threatened the land. The resurrected States Gen- 
 eral were regarded as an audacious attempt to set up the 
 vulgar human against the Lord's anointed. Marie An- 
 toinette made no politic eflEort to veil her sovereign con- 
 tempt for the masses when massed. As individuals no 
 one was at heart more of a "friend of the people." She 
 proudly disdained to exchange thoughts with our Frank- 
 lin or the sages of France on the social convulsions rag- 
 ing around. "I was the only silent individual among 
 millions of infatuated enthusiasts at La Fayette's return 
 to Paris," at the head of the throng he so half-heartedly 
 led. There is a queenly grandeur in this attitude 
 
xii MEMOIRS OF LAMBALLE 
 
 despite its perversity. Of all infatuated enthusiasts she 
 herself was at that supreme moment the queen, and did 
 not know it. Weakness was behind that show of strength, 
 for she was even then dallying with Mirabeau, the man 
 of the people, the man of the hour; friend of republicans, 
 friend of the monarchy. Disguised in monkish robe and 
 cowl he crept into the palace and negotiated for terms 
 as between the dissolving view of the throne and the 
 coming people, and his impecunious but statesmanlike 
 and doubtless honest self. When he was cut off in the 
 critical phase of the struggle, (by disease, or, as here 
 suggested, by poison), the cord was snapped that held up 
 the curtain on the last act but one of the tragedy of a 
 make-believe reign. Then it fell, and in the black gloom 
 of the background was played out the final tableau of 
 horrors on which this book throws so painful a light. 
 
 The sympathies of both the writers are openly ex- 
 pressed. We know where they stand and which view 
 they will take of characters and events. The fact that 
 they are women, with feminine instincts, tastes and lit- 
 erary style, gives special interest to their admirably com- 
 posed pages, whether of narrative or comment. From 
 any point of view this book cannot but win its way 
 among students of history, character, and the strange 
 inner life of the Revolution period. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PAOB 
 
 Special Introduction ix 
 
 Author's Introduction j 
 
 Chapter I. Journal commenced — Empress Maria Theresa, mother 
 of Maria Antoinette — Her political views in all the marriages 
 other daughters — Fate of the Archduchess Joseph — On the 
 death of Josepha, the Archduchess Carolina weds the King of 
 Naples — Maria Theresa's remonstrance with the Court of 
 Naples on her daughter's treatment — The daughter remon- 
 strates more promptly and effectually — Maria Antoinette des- 
 tined for France — Madame Pompadour — French hatred to 
 Austria — Vermond recommended by Brienne as Maria Antoi- 
 nette's tutor — He'becomes a tool of Austria — Limited education 
 of Maria Antoinette — Her fondness for balls and private plays 
 
 — Metastasio — Du Barry — Observations of the Editor on 
 Maria Theresa's sacrifice of her daughters to her policy . . .15 
 
 Chap. II. Editor's remarks on erroneous statements of Madame 
 Campan — Journal resumed — Dauphin on his wedding night 
 and the next morning — Court intrigfues begin — Daughters of 
 Louis XV. — Their influence on the Dauphin, and dislike of his 
 young bride — Maria Antoinette's distaste for etiquette, and love 
 of simplicity — Court taste for hoop-dresses accounted for — 
 Madame de NoaiUes — Her horror at not having been summoned 
 on an occasion of delicacy — Duke de Vauguyon takes a dislike 
 to Maria Antoinette — Cabal between Vermond and Madame 
 Marsan — Du Barry jealous of the Dauphiness — Richelieu — 
 Three ladies leave the supper-table of Louis XV. fromJDu Barry 
 being there — Remonstrance of the Dauphiness to her mother on 
 being made to sup with Du Barry — Answer — Count d'Artois 
 and Monsieur return from traveling — Are charmed with Maria 
 Antoinette — Scandal respecting d'Artois and the Dauphiness 
 
 — Changes wrought by Court marriages — Remonstrance of 
 Maria Theresa to the French Court — Duchess de Grammont — 
 Louis XV. intrigues to divorce the Dauphin and marry the 
 Dauphiness — Diamond necklace first ordered by Louis XV. as 
 a present to his hoped-for bride — Dauphin complains of the 
 distance of his apartment from that of his wife — All parties 
 jnlxigrue to get Maria Antoinette sent back to Austria ... 24 
 
 (xiii) 
 
%lv MEMOIRS OF LAMBALLEj 
 
 PASlt 
 
 Chap. III. Journal continued — Maria Theresa — Cardinal de Ro- 
 han — Empress induced by him to send spies to France — Maria 
 Antoinette dislikes meddling with politics — Deep game of De 
 Rohan — Spies sent to France, unknown to the Cardinal, to dis- 
 cover how far his representations are to ',be trusted — She finds 
 he has deceived her, and resents it — He falls in love with Maria 
 Antoinette — Betrays her to her mother — Indig;nation of Maria 
 Antoinette on the occasion — He suggests the marriage of 
 Maria Antoinette's sister with Louis XV. — His double intrigues 
 with the two Courts of France and Austria — Louis XV. dies — 
 Rohan disgraced 42 
 
 Chap. IV. Journal continued — Accession of Louis XVI. and 
 Maria Antoinette — Happy beginning — Public joy — The new 
 King more affectionate to his Queen — Du Barry and party no 
 longer received at Court — Unsuccessful attempt of the Queen 
 to restore Choiseul to the ministry — Insinuations against the 
 Queen — Vermond and the King — The Queen's modesty re- 
 specting her toilette — Mademoiselle Bertin, the milliner, intro- 
 duced — Anecdote of the royal hairdresser — False charge of 
 extravagance against the Queen — Remarks of the Editor . . 53 
 
 Chap. V. Notes of the Editor — Family of the Princess Lamballe 
 — Journal resumed — Her own account of herself — Duke and 
 Duchess de Penthi^vre — Mademoiselle de Penthievre and 
 Prince Lamballe — King of Sardinia — Ingenious and romantic 
 anecdotes of the Princess Lamballe's marriage — The Duke de 
 Chartres, afterward Orleans, marries Mademoiselle de Pen- 
 thievre — De Chartres makes approaches to the Princess Lam- 
 balle — Being scorned, corrupts her husband — Prince Lamballe 
 dies — Sledge parties — The Princess becomes acquainted with 
 the Queen — Is made Her Majesty's superintendent ... 63 
 
 Chap. VI. Observations of the Editor on the various parties against 
 Lamballe in consequence of her appointment — Its injury to the 
 Queen — Particulars of Lamballe, the duties of her office, and 
 her conduct in it — The Polignacs — Character of the Countess 
 Diana — Journal resumed — Account of the first introduction 
 to the Queen of the Duchess Julia de Polignac -— The Queen's 
 sudden and violent attachment to her — Calumnies resulting 
 from it — Remark on female friendships — Lamballe recedes from 
 the Queen's intimacy — At the Duke's (her father-in-law) is 
 near falling a victim to poison — Alarm of the Queen, who goes 
 to her, and forces her back to Court — Her Majesty annoyed 
 at Lamballe's not visiting the Polignacs — Her reasons — The 
 Abb6 Vermond retires, and returns 75 
 
CONTENTS XV 
 
 PACB 
 
 Chap. VII. Journal continued — Slanders against the Empress 
 Maria Theresa, on account of Metastasio, g^ve the Queen a dis- 
 taste for patronizing literature — Private plays and acting — 
 Censoriousness of those who were excluded from them — The 
 Queen's love of music — Gluck invited from Germany — Anec- 
 dotes of Gluck and his "Armida" — Garat — Viotti — Madame 
 St. Huberti — Vestris 88 
 
 Chap. VIII. Journal continued — Emperor Joseph comes to 
 Prance — Injtirious reports of immense sums of money given 
 him from the treasury — Princess Lamballe presented to him — 
 Anecdotes told by him of his family — The King annoyed by 
 his freedoms — Circumstances that occurred while he was seek- 
 ing information among the common people — Note of the Editor 
 on certain mistakes of Madame Campan 94 
 
 Chap. IX. Journal continued — Pleasure of hearing of the birth 
 of children — The Queen's exultation at finding herself pregnant 
 
 — Favorable change in the public sentiment — The King's aunts 
 annoyed at the Queen's prosperity — Her pregnancy ascribed by 
 Du Barry to d' Artois — Lamballe interferes to prevent a private 
 meeting between the Queen and Baron Besenval — Coolness in 
 consequence — The interview granted, and the result as feared 
 
 — The Queen sensible of her error — The Polignacs — Night 
 promenades on the Terrace at Versailles and at Trianon — 
 Queen's remark on hearing of Du Barry's intrigue against her — 
 Princess Lamballe declines going to the evening promenades 
 
 — Vermond strengthens Maria Antoinette's hatred of etiquette 
 — Her goodness of heart — Droll anecdote of the Chevalier 
 d'Eon 104 
 
 Chap. X. Observations of the Editor — Journal continued — 
 Birth of the Duchess d' Angoultoe — Maria Antoinette delivered 
 of a Dauphin — Increasing influence of the Duchess de Polignac 
 
 — The Abb6 Vermond heads an intrigue against it — Polignac 
 made governess of the royal children — Her splendor and in- 
 creasing unpopularity — Envy and resentment of the nobility 
 
 — Birth of the Duke of Normandy — The Queen accomplishes 
 the marriage of the Duchess de Poligpac's daughter with the 
 Duke de Guiche — Cabals of the Court — Maria Antoinette's 
 partiality for the English — Libels on the Queen — Private com- 
 missions to suppress them — Motives of the Duke de Lauzun for 
 joining the calumniators — Droll conversation between Maria 
 Antoinette, Lady Spencer, the Duke of Dorset, etc., at Versailles 
 
 — Interesting visits of the Grand Duke of the North (afterward 
 the Emperor Paul) and his Duchess — Maria Antoinette's dis- 
 gust at the King of Sweden — Audacity of the Cardinal de Rohan 115 
 
xvi MEMOIRS OF LAMBALLE 
 
 FAOB 
 
 Chap. XI. Editor's observations, and recapitulation of the leading 
 particulars of the diamond necklace plot — Journal resumed — 
 Princess Lamballe's remarks on that dark transaction — Ver- 
 gennes opposes judicial investigation — The Queen's party- 
 prevail in bringing the affair before the council — Groundlessness 
 of the charge against Maria Antoinette — Confusion of Rohan 
 when confronted with the Queen — He procures the destruction 
 of all the letters of the other conspirators — Means resorted to 
 by Rohan's friends to obtain his acquittal — The Princess Cond6 
 expends large sums for that purpose — Her confusion when the 
 proofs of her bribery are exhibited — The King's impartiality — 
 Mr. Sheridan discovers the treachery of M. de Calonne — Ca- 
 lonne's abject behavior, dismissal, and disgrace — Note of the 
 Editor 134 
 
 Chap. XII. Journal continued — Archbishop of Sens made min- 
 ister, dismissed, and his effigy burned — The Queen impru- 
 dently patronizes his relations — Mobs — Dangerous unreserve of 
 the Queen — Apology for the Archbishop of Sens — The Queen 
 forced to take a part in the government — Meeting of the States- 
 General — Anonymous letter to the Princess Lamballe — Signifi- 
 cant visit of the Duchess of Orleans — Disastrous procession — 
 Bamave gives his opinion of public affairs to the Princess Lam- 
 balle, who communicates with the Queen — Briberies by Orleans 
 on the day of the procession — He faints in the Assembly — 
 Necker suspected of an undAstanding with him — Is dismissed 
 — No communication on public business with the Queen but 
 through the Princess Lamballe — Political influence falsely as- 
 cribed to the Duchess de Polignac — Her unpopularity — Duke 
 of Harcourt and the First Dauphin — Death of the First Dau- 
 phin — Cause of Harcourt's harsh treatment of Polignac — Sec- 
 ond interview of Bamave with the Princess Lamballe — He 
 solicits an audience of the Queen, which is refused — Dialogue 
 between Lamballe and the Prince de Conti — Remarks on the 
 Polignacs—" Marriage of Figaro," a political satire . . .152 
 
 Chap. XIII. Journal continued — The populace enraged at 
 Necker's dismissal— Orleans— Mobs — Bastile destroyed — 
 Grief of the Queen — Blames de Launay — The King and his 
 brothers go to the National Assembly — Scene at the palace — 
 The Queen presents herself to the people with her children— 
 Lamballe called for — She appears — Is threatened by an 
 agent of Orleans in the crowd, and faints— The Queen proposes 
 to go on horseback in uniform to join the army with her hus- 
 band — Prepares for her departure — Her anguish on learning 
 the King's resolution to go to Paris — He goes thither— Re- 
 
CONTENTS xvii 
 
 PA6B 
 
 ceives the national cockade from Bailly — Returns — The 
 Queen's delight — ThePolignacs, d'Artois, Cond6, and others emi- 
 grate — The troops withdrawn from Paris and Versailles — 
 Recall of Necker — General observations of the Editor on the 
 influence of the Polignacs, and its effect on the public feeling as 
 to the Queen 173 
 
 Chap. XIV. Journal resumed — Barnave's penitence — Gives the 
 Queen a list of the Jacobins who had emissaries in France to 
 excite an insurrection — Their Majesties insulted in the royal 
 chapel by those belonging to it appearing in the National uni- 
 form — Necker proposes to the Queen the dismissal of Abb6 
 Vermond — Her strange acquiescence — La Fayette causes the 
 guards of the palace of Versailles to desert and join the Na- 
 tional ^Guard — Their Majesties advised to fly to a place of 
 safety — Their feelings on Necker's recommending the abolition 
 of all privileged distinctions — A courier stopped with dis- 
 patches from Prince Kaunitz — Dumourier betrays to the Queen 
 the secret schemes of the Orleans faction — She peremptorily re- 
 fuses his proffered services — Loyalty of the officers of the 
 Flanders Regiment — Effect of this on the National Assembly — 
 Dinner given to this regiment by the body-guards — Military 
 public breakfast — Project to remove the King and confine the 
 Queen in a distant part of Prance — Nefarious famine plot to 
 excite the people against their sovereigns 187 
 
 Chap. XV. Journal continued — March from Paris of a factious 
 mob and the National Guard, with La Fayette at their head — 
 Poissards at the palace gates of Versailles — Dreadful tumult 
 
 — Attempt to assassinate the Queen — Orleans seen encouraging 
 the regicides — La Fayette suspected, from his not appearing 
 to quell the insurrection — The Queen shows herself at the 
 windows of the Palace, with her children — Her heroic address 
 to the King — The royal family depart with the mob for Paris 
 
 — Their situation at the Tuileries — Mirabeau, disgusted with 
 Orleans, deserts him — Orleans, impelled by fear, flies to Eng- 
 land — The King and Queen requested by a deputation from 
 the National Assembly to appear at the theater — Conversation 
 between Her Majesty and Count de Fersen on the Queen's re- 
 fusal — The Queen and the Duchess de Luynes — Dejected state 
 
 of Her Majesty, who ceases to be seen in society .... 204 
 
 Chap. XVI. The Editor relates anecdotes of herself, illustrative of 
 the spirit of the times — Outcry against her at the theater, on 
 account of the colors of her dress — Refused by the guards ad- 
 mission to the Tuileries, from not having the national ribbon — 
 Spy set upon her by the Queen to try her fidelity .... 219 
 
xviii MEMOIRS OF LAMBALLE 
 
 FAGB 
 
 Chap. XVII. Editor in continuation — Extraordinary expedients 
 necessary to evade espionage — Anecdote of boxes sent by the 
 Editor from Paris — Curious occurence respecting Gamin, the 
 King's locksmith — Consternation of the Princess Lamballe 
 when apprized of it — Scheme to avoid the consequences — 
 Kind and interesting conduct of the Queen and royal family . 228 
 
 Chap. XVIII. Editor in continuation — Mr. Burke — His interest 
 for the Queen and royal cause misrepresented — Proposes vari- 
 ous schemes for averting the Revolution — A secret and confi- 
 dential ambassador being deemed necessary to communicate 
 with the Court of England, the Princess Lamballe thought of 
 for the mission — Personages whom she cultivates when in Eng- 
 land — Her mission rendered unavailing, by the troubles in 
 France increasing — Sends the Editor to France for explicit in- 
 structions — Distressed by the papers brought back, she pre- 
 pares for her own return to France — Her account of her 
 reception in England, and what she means to do when in France 
 — Postscript: Public occurrences in France during the absence 
 of the Princess — Necker — His administration and final retire- 
 ment — French clergy — Their heartless conduct . . . .235 
 
 Chap. XIX. Narrative continued by the Editor — Various 
 schemes suggested for the escape of the royal family from 
 France— The Queen refuses to go without her family— Pope 
 Pius VI. the only sovereign who offered his aid— Fatal attempt 
 at last to escape — Causes of its failure — Death of Mirabeau . 246 
 
 Chap. XX. Journal resumed— Ths Princess Lamballe receives a 
 ring from the Queen, set with her own hair, which had whitened 
 from grief — Letter of the Queen to the Princess Lamballe — 
 Joy of the royal family on the return of her Highness to Paris 
 —Meeting with the Queen— Conversation with Her Majesty on 
 the state of the nation, and remedies for its disorders Depu- 
 ties attend the drawing-room of the Princess — Barnave and 
 others persuade her to attend the debates of the Assembly— 
 She hears Robespierre denounce the deputies who caused her 
 attendance — Earnestness of the King and Queen in their be- 
 half — Robespierre bribed to suspend the accusation— Fgtes on 
 the acceptance of the constitution— Insults to the royal party — 
 Agony of the Queen on her "return — Conversation with M. de 
 Montmorin on the plans necessary to be pursued— Determina- 
 tion for the Queen to go to Vienna 252 
 
 Chap. XXI. Journal continued —BiSect on the Queen of the 
 death of her brothers, the Emperors Joseph and Leopold — 
 Change in the Queen's household during the absence of the 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PAGB 
 
 Princess — Causes and consequences — Course pursued by the 
 Princess — Communication from M. Laporte, head of the King's 
 police, of a plot to poison the Queen and royal family — Plans 
 to prevent its accomplishment — Conversation between the 
 Queen and the Princess, and between the King and the Queen 
 upon the subject 266 
 
 Chap. XXII. Editor in continuation — Consequences of the emi- 
 gration of the princes and nobility — Princess Lamballe writes 
 to recall the emigrants — The royal family, and the distinguished 
 friends of the Princess, implore her to quit France — Her mag- 
 nanimous reply — Is prevailed on to go to England on a re- 
 newal of her mission — Finds in England a. coolness toward 
 France — In consequence of increasing troubles in Prance, re- 
 turns thither 273 
 
 Chap. XXIII. Editor in continuation — Attempt on the 20th of 
 June, to set the apartment of the Princess Lamballe on fire — 
 Conversation between the Princess and the Editor — Interrupted 
 by the rush of the mob into the room — The Editor is wounded 
 and swoons — Sent the next day to Passy — Hurried interview 
 there with the Princess — Unable to suppress her curiosity, 
 leaves Passy for Paris — Singular adventure with the driver of 
 a short stage, who turns out a useful friend — Meeting on the 
 way with mobs in actual battle, returns, being afraid of proceed- 
 ing — The driver goes to Paris and brings back the Editor's 
 man-servant — His account of what had passed in Paris — Let- 
 ter of the Princess Lamballe detailing the aSair of the 20th of 
 June — The Editor recalled to Paris 279 
 
 Ckap. XXIV. Journal of the Princess resumed and concluded — 
 La Fayette, in consequence of the events of the 20th of June, 
 leaves his army to remonstrate with the Assembly — Remarks — 
 The King refuses to see him — Deputation arrives, to which he was 
 a party, to urge the King and Queen to consign the Dauphin to 
 the protection of the army — The Queen's refusal -^ Conversa- 
 tion with the King — Disgust of the royal family against La 
 Fayette • 293 
 
 Chap. XXV. The Editor attends debates, and executes confidential 
 employments in various diguises — Becomes intimate with a re- 
 porter — Adventure with Danton in the Tuileries, disguised as a 
 milliner's apprentice — Horrid scene in the gardens — Consterna- 
 tion of the the royal party on seeing her with Danton — She con- 
 trives to be taken by him to the palace — Delight of the Princess 
 Lamballe at her return — Conversation with the Princess upon 
 the state of public affairs and hopelessness of the royal cause . 300 
 
XX MEMOIRS OF LAMBALLE 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Chap. XXVI. Aflfecting interview between the Queen, Princess 
 Elizabeth, Princess Lamballe, and the Editor — Princess Lam- 
 balle communicates the intention of the Queen to send the Edi- 
 tor on a mission to her royal relations — Receives the cipher of 
 the Italian correspondence — Presents given to the Editor pre- 
 vious to her departure — Instructions from the Princess — Sees 
 her for the last time — Quits France — Contrast between the 
 Duchess of Parma and the Queen of Naples on the receipt of 
 Her Majesty's letters — Conversation of the Queen of Naples 
 with General Acton 309 
 
 Chap. XXVII. Tenth of August in Paris — Mandat slain — The royal 
 family escape to the hall of Assembly — Transferred to the Tuil- 
 eries — Imprisoned in the Temple — False information to get 
 the female attendants removed — The Princess Lamballe sees 
 the Queen for the last time — Her examination before the 
 authorities — Is transferred with others to the prison de la 
 Force — Massacre in the prisons — Efforts of the Duke of Pen- 
 thi^vre to preserve the Princess Lamballe, innocently defeated 
 — ^The Princess questioned by the bloody tribunal — Taken out 
 before the mob — Receives the first stab from a mu- 
 latto whom she had brought up — Her head severed from her 
 body and paraded on a pole — The body stripped and exposed 
 to incredible brutality— The head taken by the mob to the 
 Temple — Effect of the circumstance on Her Majesty — A serv- 
 ant maid of the Editor's dies of fright at seeing it — Effectjof the 
 procession on the Duke of Orleans and his mistress — Visit of 
 the Editor to the cemetery of La Madeleine some years after , 321 
 
 Chap. XXVIII. The murder of the Princess Lamballe only pre- 
 paratory to other victims— Death of the King — His character 
 
 — Santerre — Death of the Queen— Her friendships and char- 
 acter— Death of the Princess Elizabeth— Duke of Orleans— 
 His death — The Dauphin — Anecdote of the Duchess d'Angou- 
 ISme — Curious particulars of Robespierre, David, and Carriere 
 
 — Concluding observation _,, 
 
SECRET MEMOIRS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 ROYAL FAMILY OF FRANCE 
 
 AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTION 
 
 I SHOULD consider it great presumption to intrude upon 
 the public anything respecting myself, were there any 
 other way of establishing the authenticity of the facts 
 and papers I am about to present. To the history of my 
 own peculiar situation, amid the great events I record, 
 which made me the depositary of information and docu- 
 ments so important, I proceed, therefore, though reluc- 
 tantly, without further preamble. 
 
 In the title page of this work I have stated that I was 
 for many years in the confidential service of the Princess 
 Lamballe, and that the most important materials, which 
 form my history, have been derived not only from the 
 conversations, but the private papers of my lamented 
 patroness. It remains for me to show how I became 
 acquainted with Her Highness, and by what means the 
 papers I allude to came into my possession. 
 
 Though, from my birth, and the rank of those who 
 were the cause of it (had it not been from political mo- 
 tives kept from my knowledge), in point of interest I 
 ought to have been very independent, I was indebted for 
 my resources in early life to His Grace the late Duke of 
 Norfolk and Lady Mary Duncan. By them I was placed 
 for education in the Irish convent, Rue du Bacq, Faux- 
 
 I 
 
2 AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTION 
 
 bourg St. Germain, at Paris, where the immortal Sacchini, 
 the instructor of the Queen, gave me lessons in music. 
 Pleased with my progress, the celebrated composer, when 
 one day teaching Maria Antoinette, so highly overrated 
 to that illustrious lady my infant natural talents and 
 acquired science in his art, in the presence of her very 
 shadow, the Princess Lamballe, as to excite in Her Maj- 
 esty an eager desire for the opportunity of hearing me, 
 which the Princess volunteered to obtain by going herself 
 to the convent next morning with Sacchini. It was en- 
 joined upon the composer, as I afterward learned, that he 
 was neither to apprise me who Her Highness was, nor to 
 what motive I was indebted for her visit. To this Sacchini 
 readily agreed, adding, after disclosing to them my con- 
 nections and situation, "Your Majesty will be, perhaps, 
 still more surprised, when I, as an Italian, and her Ger- 
 man master, who is a German, declare that she speaks 
 both these languages like a native, though born in Eng- 
 land; and is as well disposed to the Catholic faith, and 
 as well versed in it, as if she had been a member of that 
 Church all her life." 
 
 This last observation decided my future good fortune; 
 there was no interest in the minds of the Queen and 
 Princess paramount to that of making proselytes to their 
 creed. 
 
 The Princess, faithful to her promise, accompanied Sac- 
 chini. Whether it was chance, ability, or good fortune, 
 let me not attempt to conjecture; but from that moment, 
 I became the protigi of this ever-regretted angel. Polit- 
 ical circumstances presently facilitated her introduction 
 of me to the Queen. My combining a readiness in the 
 Italian and German languages, with my knowledge of 
 English and French, greatly promoted my power of being 
 useful at that crisis, which, with some claims to their 
 confidence of a higher order, made this august, lamented, 
 injured pair, more like mothers to me than mistresses, 
 till we were parted by their murder. 
 
 The circumstances I have just mentioned show that to 
 mere curiosity, the characteristic passion of our sex and 
 
AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTION 3 
 
 so often its ruin, I am to ascribe the introduction, which 
 was only prevented by events unparalleled in history from 
 proving the most fortunate in my life as it is the most 
 cherished in my recollection. 
 
 It will be seen in the course of the following pages, 
 how often I was employed on confidential missions, fre- 
 quently by myself, and, in some instances, as the attend- 
 ant of the Princess. The nature of my situation, the 
 trust reposed in me, the commissions with which I was 
 honored, and the affecting charges of which I was the 
 bearer, flattered my pride and determined me to make 
 myself an exception to the rule that "no woman can keep 
 a secret." Few ever knew exactly where I was, what I 
 was doing, and much less the importance of my occupa- 
 tion. I had passed from England to France, made two 
 journeys to Italy and Germany, three to the Archduchess 
 Marie Christiana, Governess of the Low Countries, and 
 returned back to France, before any of my friends in 
 England were aware of my retreat, or of my ever having 
 accompanied the Princess. Though my letters were 
 written and dated at Paris, they were all forwarded to 
 England by way of Holland or Germany, that no clue 
 should be given for annoyances from idle curiosity. It is 
 to this discreetness, to this inviolable secrecy, firmness, 
 and fidelity, which I so early in life displayed to the 
 august personages who stood in need of such a person, 
 that I owe the unlimited confidence of my illustrious 
 benefactress, through which I was furnished with the 
 valuable materials I am now submitting to the public. 
 
 I was repeatedly a witness, by the side of the Princess 
 Lamballe, of the appalling scenes of the bonnet rouge, of 
 murders h la lanterne, and of numberless criminal insults 
 to the unfortunate royal family of Louis XVI., when the 
 Queen was generally selected as the most marked victim 
 of malicious indignity. Having had the honor of so often 
 beholding this much-injured Queen, and never without 
 remarking how amiable in her manners, how condescend- 
 ingly kind in her deportment toward everyone about her, 
 how charitably generous, and withal, how beautiful she 
 
4 AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTION 
 
 was; I looked upon her as a model of perfection. But 
 when I found the public feeling so much at variance 
 with my own, the difference became utterly unaccount- 
 able. I longed for some explanation of the mystery. One 
 day I was insulted in the Tuileries, because I had alighted 
 from my horse to walk there without wearing the na- 
 tional ribbon. On this I met the Princess: the conversa- 
 tion which grew out of my adventure emboldened me to 
 question her on a theme to me inexplicable. 
 
 "What," asked I, "can it be, which makes the people 
 so outrageous against the Queen ? " 
 
 Her Highness condescended to reply in the complimen- 
 tary terms which I am about to relate, but without an- 
 swering my question. 
 
 "My dear friend!" exclaimed she, "for from this mo- 
 ment I beg you will consider me in that light, — never 
 having been blessed with children of my own, I feel there 
 is no way of acquitting myself of the obligations you 
 have heaped upon me, by the fidelity with which you 
 have executed the various commissions intrusted to your 
 charge, but by adopting you as one of my own family. 
 I am satisfied with you, yes, highly satisfied with you, 
 on the score of your religious principles;* and as soon 
 as the troubles subside, and we have a little calm 
 after them, my father-in-law and myself will be present 
 at the ceremony of your confirmation." 
 
 The goodness of my benefactress silenced me ; gratitude 
 would not allow me to persevere for the moment. But 
 from what I had already seen of Her Majesty the Queen, 
 
 I was too much interested to lose sight of my object, 
 
 not, let me be believed, from idle womanish curiosity, 
 but from that real, strong, personal interest which I, in 
 common with all who ever had the honor of being in 
 her presence, felt for that much-injured, most engaging 
 sovereign. 
 
 A propitious circumstance unexpectedly occurred, which 
 gave me an opportunity, without any appearance of 
 
 * I was at that time, by her orders, under examination by Monsieur 
 de Brienne, for being confirmed to receive the sacrament, 
 
AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTION 5 
 
 officious earnestness, to renew the attempt to gain the 
 end I had in view. 
 
 I was riding in the carriage with the Princess Lam- 
 balle, when a lady drove by, who saluted my benefactress 
 with marked attention and respect. There was something 
 in the manner of the Princess, after receiving the salute, 
 which impelled me, spite of myself, to ask who the lady was. 
 
 "Madame de Genlis," exclaimed Her Highness, with a 
 shudder of disgust, ' ' that lamb's face with a wolf's heart, 
 and a fox's cunning." Or, to quote her own Italian 
 phrase which I have here translated, "coUafaccia d'agnello, 
 il cuore d'un lupo, e la dritura della volpe." 
 
 In the course of these pages the cause of this strong 
 feeling against Madame de Genlis will be explained. To 
 dwell on it now would only turn me aside from my narra- 
 tive. To pursue my story, therefore: 
 
 When we arrived at my lodgings ( which were then, for 
 private reasons, at the Irish convent, where Sacchini and 
 other masters attended to further me in the accomplish- 
 ments of the fine arts), "Sing me something," said the 
 Princess, '■'■ Cantate mi quale he cosa, for I never see that 
 woman" ( meaning Madame de Genlis ) "but I feel ill and 
 out of humor. I wish it may not be the foreboding of 
 some great evil ! " 
 
 I sang a little rondo, in which Her Highness and the 
 Queen always delighted, and which they would never set 
 me free without making me sing, though I had given 
 them twenty before it.* Her Highness honored m^, 
 with even more than usual praise. I kissed the hand 
 which had so generously applauded my infant talents, and 
 said, "Now, my dearest Princess, as you are so kind and 
 good-humored, tell me something about the Queen!" 
 
 She looked at me with her eyes full of tears. For an 
 instant they stood in their sockets as if petrified: and 
 then, after a pause, "I cannot," answered she in Italian, 
 
 * The rondo I allude to was written by Sarti for the celebrated Mar- 
 ches!, Lungi da te ben mio, and is the same in which he was so success- 
 ful in England, when he introduced it in London in the opera of " Giulo 
 Sabino. " 
 
6 AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTION 
 
 as she usually did, ' ' I cannot refuse you anything. Non 
 posso negarti niente." It would take me an age to tell you 
 the many causes which have conspired against this much- 
 injured Queen! I fear none who are near her person 
 will escape the threatening storm that hovers over our 
 heads. The leading causes of the clamor against her 
 have been, if you must know. Nature; her beauty; her 
 power of pleasing; her birth; her rank; her marriage; the 
 King himself; her mother; her imperfect education; and, 
 above all, her unfortunate partialities for the Abb^ Ver- 
 mond; for the Duchess de Polignac; for myself, perhaps; 
 and last, but not least, the thorough unsuspecting good- 
 ness of her heart! 
 
 "But, since you seem to be so much concerned for her 
 exalted, persecuted Majesty, you shall have a Journal I 
 myself began on my first coming to France and which I 
 have continued ever since I have been honored with the 
 confidence of Her Majesty, in graciously giving me that 
 unlooked-for situation at the head of her household, which 
 honor and justice prevent my renouncing under any diflS- 
 culties, and which I never will quit but with my life ! " 
 
 She wept as she spoke, and her last words were almost 
 choked with sobs. 
 
 Seeing her so much affected, I humbly begged pardon 
 for having unintentionally caused her tears, and begged 
 permission to accompany her to the Tuileries. 
 
 "No," said she, "you have hitherto conducted yourself 
 with a profound prudence, which has insured you my con- 
 fidence. Do not let your curiosity change your system. 
 You shall have the Journal. But be careful. Read it 
 only by yourself, and do not show it to anyone. On these 
 conditions you shall have it." 
 
 I was in the act of promising, when Her Highness 
 stopped me. 
 
 ' ' I want no particular promises. I have sufficient proofs 
 of your adherence to truth. Only answer me simply in 
 the affirmative." 
 
 I said I would certainly obey her ini,unctions most reli- 
 giously. 
 
[AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTION 7 
 
 She then left me, and directed that I should walk in a 
 particular part of the private alleys of the Tuileries, be- 
 tween three and four o'clock in the afternoon. I did so; 
 and from her own hand I there received her private 
 Journal. 
 
 In the following September of this same year (1792) she 
 was murdered! 
 
 Journalizing copiously, for the purpose of amassing 
 authentic materials for the future historian, was always a 
 favorite practice of the French, and seems to have been 
 particularly in vogue in the age I mention. The press 
 has sent forth whole libraries of these records since the 
 Revolution, and it is notorious that Louis XV. left 
 Secret Memoirs, written by his own hand, of what passed 
 before this convulsion; and had not the papers of the 
 Tuileries shared in the wreck of royalty, it would have 
 been seen that Louis XVI. had made some progress in 
 the memoirs of his time; and even his beautiful and un- 
 fortunate Queen had herself made extensive notes and 
 collections for the record of her own disastrous career. 
 Hence it must be obvious how one so nearly connected 
 in situation and suffering with her much-injured mistress, 
 as the Princess Lamballe, would naturally fall into a 
 similar habit had she even no stronger temptation than 
 fashion and example. But self-communion, by means of 
 the pen, is invariably the consolation of strong, feeling, 
 and reflecting minds under great calamities, especially 
 when their intercourse with the world has been checked 
 or poisoned by its malice. 
 
 The editor of these pages herself fell into the habit of 
 which she speaks; and it being usual with her benefactress 
 to converse with all the unreserve which every honest 
 mind shows when it feels it can confide, her humble 
 attendant, not to lose facts of such importance, commonly 
 made notes of what she heard. In any other person's 
 hands the Journal of the Princess would have been in- 
 complete, especially as it was written in a rambling 
 manner, and was never intended for publication. But 
 connected by her confidential conversations with me, and 
 
? AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTION 
 
 the recital of the events to which I personally bear testi- 
 mony, I trust it will be found the basis of a satisfactory 
 record, which I pledge myself to be a true one. 
 
 I do not know, however, that, at my time of life, and 
 after a lapse of thirty years, I should have been roused 
 to the arrangement of the papers which I have combined 
 to form this narrative, had I not met with the work of 
 Madame Campan upon the same subject. 
 
 This lady has said much that is true respecting the 
 Queen ; but she has omitted much, and much she has mis- 
 represented: not, I dare say, purposely; but from igno- 
 rance, and being wrongly informed. She was often absent 
 from the service, and on such occasions must have been 
 compelled to obtain her knowledge at second-hand. She 
 herself told me, in 1803, at Ecouen, that at a very im- 
 portant epoch the peril of her life forced her from the 
 seat of action. With the Princess Lamballe, who was so 
 much about the Queen, she never had any particular con- 
 nection. The Princess certainly esteemed her for her 
 devotedness to the Queen : but there was a natural reserve 
 in the Princess's character, and a mistrust resulting from 
 circumstances of all those who saw much company as 
 Madame Campan did. Hence no intimacy was encouraged. 
 Madame Campan never came to the Princess without be- 
 ing sent for. 
 
 An attempt has been made since the Revolution utterly 
 to destroy faith in the alleged attachment of Madame 
 Campan to the Queen, by the fact of her having received 
 the daughters of many of the regicides for education into 
 her establishment at Ecouen. Far be it from me to 
 sanction so unjust a censure. Although what I mention 
 hurt her character very much in the estimation of her 
 former friends, and constituted one of the grounds of the 
 dissolution of her establishment at Ecouen, on the restora- 
 tion of the Bourbons, and may possibly in some degree 
 have deprived her of such aids from their adherents, as 
 might have made her work unquestionable, yet what else, 
 let me ask, could have been done by one dependent upon 
 her exertions for support, and in the power of Napoleon's 
 
AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTION 9 
 
 family and his emissaries? On the contrary, I would give 
 my public testimony in favor of the fidelity of her feel- 
 ings, though in many instances I must withhold it from 
 the fidelity of her narrative. Her being utterly isolated 
 from the illustrious individual nearest to the Queen must 
 necessarily leave much to be desired in her record. Dur- 
 ing the whole term of the Princess Lamballe's superin- 
 tendence of the Queen's household, Madame Campan never 
 had any special communication with my benefactress, 
 excepting once, about the things which were to go to 
 Brussels, before the journey to Varennes ; and once again, 
 relative to a person of the Queen's household, who had 
 received the visits of Petion, the Mayor of Paris, at her 
 private lodgings. This last communication I myself par- 
 ticularly remember, because on that occasion the Princess, 
 addressing me in her own native language, Madame 
 Campan, observing it, considered me as an Italian, till, 
 by a circumstance I shall presently relate, she was un- 
 deceived. 
 
 I should anticipate the order of events, and incur the 
 necessity of speaking twice of the same things, were I 
 here to specify the express errors in the work of Madame 
 Campan. SufiBce it now that I observe generally her 
 want of knowledge of the Princess Lamballe; her omis- 
 sion of many of the most interesting circumstances of the 
 Revolution; her silence upon important anecdotes of the 
 King, the Queen, and several members of the first assem- 
 bly; her mistakes concerning the Princess Lamballe's rela- 
 tions with the Duchess de Polignac, Count de Fersen, 
 Mirabeau, the Cardinal de Rohan, and others; her great 
 miscalculation of the time when the Queen's confidence 
 in Barnave began, and when that of the Empress-mother 
 in Rohan ended; her misrepresentation of particulars 
 relating to Joseph II ; and her blunders concerning the 
 affair of the necklace, and regarding the libel Madame 
 Lamotte published in England with the connivance of 
 Calonne: all these will be considered, with numberless 
 other statements equally requiring correction in their turn. 
 What she has omitted I trust I shall supply; and where 
 
lo AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTION 
 
 she has gone astray I hope to set her right; that, between 
 the two, the future biographer of my august benefactresses 
 may be in no want of authentic materials to do full jus- 
 tice to their honored memories. 
 
 I said in a preceding paragraph that I should relate a 
 circumstance about Madame Campan, which happened 
 after she had taken me for an Italian and before she was 
 aware of my being in the service of the Princess. 
 
 Madame Campan, though she had seen me not only at 
 the time I mention but before and after, had always 
 passed me without notice. One Sunday, when in the 
 gallery of the Tuileries with Madame de Stael, the Queen, 
 with her usual suite, of which Madame Campan formed 
 one, was going according to custom to hear mass, her 
 Majesty perceived me and most graciously addressed me 
 in German. Madame Campan appeared greatly surprised 
 at this, but walked on and said nothing. Ever afterward, 
 however, she treated me whenever we met with marked 
 civility. 
 
 Another edition of Boswell to those who got a nod 
 from Dr. Johnson! 
 
 The reader will find in the course of this work that on 
 the 2d of August, 1792, from the kindness and humanity 
 of my august benefactresses, I was compelled to accept a 
 mission to Italy, devised merely to send me from the san- 
 guinary scenes of which they foresaw they and theirs must 
 presently become victims. Early in the following month 
 the Princess Lamballe was murdered. As my history ex- 
 tends beyond the period I have mentioned, it is fitting 
 I should explain the indisputable authorities whence I 
 derived such particulars as I did not see. 
 
 A person, high in the confidence of the Princess, 
 through the means of the honest coachman of whom I 
 shall have occasion to speak, supplied me with regular 
 details of whatever took place, till she herself, with the 
 rest of the ladies and other attendants, being separated 
 from the Royal Family, was immured in the prison of 
 La Force. When I returned to Paris after this dire tempest 
 Madame Clery and her friend, Madame de Beaumont, a 
 
AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTION ii 
 
 natural daughter of Louis XV., with Monsieur Chambon 
 of Rheims, who never left Paris during the time, con- 
 firmed the correctness of my papers. The Madame Clery 
 I mention is the same who assisted her husband in his 
 faithful attendance upon the Royal Family in the Tem- 
 ple ; and this exemplary man added his testimony to the 
 rest, in presence of the Duchess de Guiche Grammont, at 
 Pyrmont in Germany, when I there met him in the suite 
 of the late sovereign of France, Louis XVIIL, at a con- 
 cert. After the loth of August, I had also a continued 
 correspondence with many persons at Paris, who supplied 
 me with thorough accounts of the succeeding horrors, in 
 letters directed to Sir William Hamilton, at Naples, and 
 by him forwarded to me. And in addition to all these 
 high sources, many particular circumstances have been 
 disclosed to me by individuals, whose authority, when I 
 have used it, I have generally affixed to the facts they 
 have enabled me to communicate. 
 
 It now only remains for me to mention that I have 
 endeavored to arrange everything, derived either from 
 the papers of the Princess Lamballe, or from her re- 
 marks, my own observation, or the intelligence of others, 
 in chronological order. It will readily be seen by the 
 reader where the Princess herself speaks, as I have in- 
 variably set apart my own recollections and remarks in 
 paragraphs and notes, which are not only indicated by 
 the heading of each chapter, but by the context of the 
 passages themselves. I have also begun and ended what 
 the Princess says with inverted commas. All the earlier 
 part of the work preceding her personal introduction 
 proceeds principally from her pen or her lips: I have 
 done little more than changed it from Italian into Eng- 
 lish, and embodied thoughts and sentiments that were 
 often disjointed and detached. And throughout, whether 
 she or others speak, I may safely say this work will.be 
 found the most circumstantial, and assuredly the most 
 authentic, upon the subject of which it treats, of any 
 that has yet been presented to the public of Great 
 Britain. The press has been prolific in fabulous writ- 
 
12 AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTION 
 
 ings upon these times, which have been devoured with 
 avidity. I hope John Bull is not so devoted to gilded 
 foreign fictions as to spurn the unadorned truth from 
 one of his downright countrywomen: and let me advise 
 him en passant, not to treat us beauties of native growth 
 with indifference at home; for we readily find compen- 
 sation in the regard, patronage, and admiration of every 
 nation in Europe. * I am old now, and may speak freely. 
 I have no interest whatever in the work I submit but 
 that of endeavoring to redeem the character of so many 
 injured victims. Would to Heaven my memory were less 
 acute, and that I could obliterate from the knowledge of 
 
 *I wish it were in my power to include a certain lady in these 
 kingdoms, who has recently written upon Italy, in my contrast be- 
 tween British accuracy and foreign fable. This lady seems quite 
 unincumbered by the fetters of truth. She has either been deceived, 
 or would herself be the deceiver, respecting the replacing of the famous 
 horses at Venice. I was present at that ceremony, and when I cast 
 my eyes over the fiction of Lady Morgan upon the subject, it made 
 me grieve to see the account of a country so very interesting and to 
 me endeared by a residence of nearly thirty years, among real friends 
 of humanity and general good faith, drawn by a hand so unhesitatingly 
 inaccurate. 
 
 As for her account of the Emperor of Austria and Maria Louisa — 
 Maria Louisa had never been at Venice at the time she mentions. 
 When she did come there it was merely to condole with her imperial 
 father for the loss of her cousin and mother-in-law, the Empress Lodo- 
 vica, daughter of the Archduke of Milan, the third wife of the Emperor. 
 This happened a considerable time after the restoration of the Golden 
 Steeds of Lysippus. Besides, it was the Holy Week, Settimnona 
 Santa, when there are never theatrical performances in any part of 
 Italy. The Court, too, from the event I have stated, was in deep 
 mourning. Sometimes I myself may be misled, and papers which have 
 been thirty years undisturbed, may retain inaccuracies. Still, whenever 
 I assert from hearsay I have been careful — at least, I have endeavored 
 so to do — to save my"bredit under the shield, beneath which all writers 
 have it in their power to take shelter, the never failing salva con dotta, 
 the on dit. But neither the Count nor the Countess Cicognara, what- 
 ever their private reasons may be to be dissatisfied with the conduct of 
 the Austrian government relative to themselves, could ever have 
 asserted such flagrant falsehoods to Lady Morgan; the circumstances 
 being too notorious even to the Ciceroni of the Piazza, whose ignorance 
 has spoiled the books of so many of her ladyship's predecessors. 
 
AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTION 13 
 
 the world and posterity the names of their infamous 
 destroyers; I mean not the executioners who terminated 
 their mortal existence — for in their miserable situation 
 that early martjnrdom was an act of grace — but I mean 
 some, perhaps still living, who with foul cowardice, stab- 
 bing like assassins in the dark, undermined their fair 
 fame and morally murdered them, long before their 
 deaths, by daily traducing virtues the slanderers never 
 possessed from mere jealousy of the glory they knew 
 themselves incapable of deserving. 
 
 Montesquieu says, "If there be a God, he must be 
 just!" That divine justice, after centuries, has been fully 
 established on the descendants of the cruel, sanguinary 
 conquerors of South America and its butchered harmless 
 Emperor Montezuma and his innocent offspring, who are 
 now teaching Spain a moral lesson in freeing themselves 
 from its insatiable thirst for blood and wealth, while God 
 himself has refused that blessing to the Spaniards which 
 they denied to the Americans ! * Oh, France ! what hast 
 thou not already suffered, and what hast thou not yet to 
 suffer, when to thee, like Spain, it shall visit their 
 descendants even unto the fourth generation ? 
 
 To my insignificant losses in so mighty a ruin perhaps 
 I ought not to allude. I should not presume even to 
 mention that the fatal convulsion which shook all Europe 
 and has since left the nations in that state of agitated 
 undulation which succeeds a tempest upon the ocean, 
 were it not for the opportunity it gives me to declare 
 the bounty of my benefactresses. All my own property 
 went down in the wreck; and the mariner who escapes 
 only with his life can never recur to the scene of 
 
 » The constitutional members, who were gloriously fighting in the field 
 of liberty to rescue a rising generation from tyranny and superstitious 
 bigotry (an operation commenced on the foundation of the law of the 
 land, delegated to the nation by its chosen representatives and sacredly 
 guaranteed through the sanction of a constitutional king, who now, 
 with the rest of the Spanish nation, is in jeopardy, a prisoner, and 
 dependent on a foreign sovereign), now expiate in turn the bloody 
 crimes of their ancestors on the nations so long held by them in savage 
 and unnatural bondage 1 
 
14 AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTION 
 
 his escape without a shudder. Many persons are still 
 living, of the first respectability, who well remember my 
 quitting this country, though very young, on the budding 
 of a brilliant career. Had those prospects been followed 
 up they would have placed me beyond the caprice of 
 fickle fortune. But the dazzling luster of crown favors 
 and princely patronage outweighed the slow, though 
 more solid hopes of self -achieved independence. I cer- 
 tainly was then almost a child, and my vanity, perhaps, o/ 
 the honor of being useful to two such illustrious per- 
 sonages got the better of every other sentiment. But 
 now when I reflect, I look back with consternation on 
 the many risks I ran, on the many times I stared death 
 in the face with no fear but that of being obstructed in 
 my efforts to serve, even with my life, the interests dearest 
 to my heart — that of implicit obedience to these truly 
 benevolent and generous Princesses, who only wanted the 
 means to render me as happy and independent as their 
 cruel destiny has since made me wretched and miserable ! 
 Had not death deprived me of their patronage I 
 should have had no reason to have regretted any sacrifice 
 I could have made for them, for through the Princess, 
 Her Majesty, unasked, had done me the honor to promise 
 me the reversion of a most lucrative as well as highly 
 respectable post in her employ. In these august person- 
 ages I lost my best friends; I lost everything — except 
 the tears, which bathe the paper as I write — tears of 
 gratitude, which will never cease to flow to the memory 
 of their martyrdom. 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 Journal Commenced — Empress Maria Theresa, Mother of Maria An- 
 toinette — Her Political Views in All the Marriages of Her Daughters 
 
 — Fate of the Archduchess Josepha — On the Death of Josepha. 
 the Archduchess Carolina Weds the King of Naples — Maria 
 Theresa's Remonstrance with the Court of Naples, on Her Daugh- 
 ter's Treatment — The Daughter Remonstrates More Promptly and 
 Effectually — Maria Antoinette Destined for France — Madame Pom- 
 padour — French Hatred to Austria — Vermond Recommended by 
 Brienne as Maria Antoinette's Tutor — He Becomes a Tool of Austria 
 
 — Limited Education of Maria Antoinette — Her Fondness for Balls 
 and Private Plays — Metastasio — Du Barry — Observations of the 
 Editor on Maria Theresa's Sacrifice of Her Daughters to Her Policy. 
 
 "npHE character of Maria Theresa, the Empress-mother 
 I of Maria Antoinette, is sufficiently known. The 
 same spirit of ambition and enterprise which had 
 already animated her contentions with France in the lat- 
 ter part of her career impelled her to T wish for its 
 alliance. In addition to other hopes, she had been 
 encouraged to imagine that Louis XV. might one day 
 aid her in recovering the provinces which the King of 
 Prussia had violently wrested from her ancient dominions. 
 She felt the many advantages to be derived from an 
 union with her ancient enemy, and she looked for its 
 accomplishment by the marriage of her daughter. 
 
 " Policy, in sovereigns, is paramount to every other con- 
 sideration. They regard beauty as a source of profit, 
 like managers of theaters, who, when a female candidate 
 is offered, ask whether she is young and handsome ? — 
 not whether she has talent. Maria Theresa believed that 
 her daughter's beauty would have proved more powerful 
 over France than her own armies. Like Catharine II., 
 her envied contemporary, she consulted no ties of nature 
 in the disposal of her children; a system more in char- 
 ts 
 
i6 CHAPTER I 
 
 acter where the knout is the logician than among nations 
 boasting higher civilization: indeed her rivalry with 
 Catharine even made her grossly neglect their education. 
 Jealous of the rising power of the North, she saw that 
 it was the purpose of Russia to counteract her views in 
 Poland and Turkey through France, and so totally for- 
 got her domestic duties in the desire to thwart the as- 
 cendency of Catharine that she often suffered eight or 
 ten days to go by without even seeing her children, allowing 
 even the essential sources of instruction to remain un- 
 provided. Her very caresses were scarcely given but for 
 display, when the children were admitted to be shown to 
 some great personage; and if they were overwhelmed 
 with kindness, it was merely to excite a belief that they 
 were the constant care and companions of her leisure 
 hours. When they grew up they became the mere in- 
 struments of her ambition. The fate of one of them will 
 show how their mother's worldliness was rewarded.* 
 
 "A leading object of Maria Theresa's policy was the 
 attainment of influence over Italy. For this purpose she 
 first married one of the archduchesses to the imbecile 
 Duke of Parma. Her second maneuver was to contrive 
 that Charles III. should seek the Archduchess Josepha 
 for his younger son, the King of Naples. When every- 
 thing had been settled, and the ceremony by proxy had 
 taken place, it was thought proper to sound the Prin- 
 cess as to how far she felt inclined to aid her mother's 
 designs in the Court of Naples. 'Scripture says,' was 
 her reply, ' that when a woman is married she belongs to 
 the country of her husband.' 
 
 '"But the policy of State?' exclaimed Maria Theresa. 
 
 "'Is that above religion?' cried the Princess. 
 
 '"This unexpected answer of the Archduchess was so 
 totally opposite to the views of the Empress that she was 
 for a considerable time undecided whether she would 
 allow her daughter to depart, till, worn out by perplexi- 
 
 * The Princess, could she have looked into the book of Fate, might 
 have said the fate of two; but the most persecuted victim was not at 
 that time sacrificed. 
 
CHAPTER I 17 
 
 ties, she at last consented, but bade the Archduchess, 
 previous to setting off for this much-desired country of 
 her new husband, to go down to the tombs, and in the 
 vaults of her ancestors offer up to Heaven a fervent 
 prayer for the departed souls of those she was about to 
 leave. 
 
 "Only a few days before that, a princess had been 
 buried in the vaults — I think Joseph the Second's second 
 wife, who had died of the smallpox. 
 
 " The Archduchess Josepha obeyed her imperial mother's 
 cruel commands, took leave of all her friends and rela- 
 tives, as if conscious of the result, caught the same dis- 
 ease, and in a few days died! 
 
 "The Archduchess Carolina was now tutored to become 
 her sister's substitute, and when deemed adequately 
 qualified was sent to Naples, where she certainly never 
 forgot she was an Austrian nor the interest of the Court 
 of Vienna. One circumstance concerning her and her 
 mother fully illustrates the character of both. On the 
 marriage, the Archduchess found that Spanish etiquette 
 did not allow the Queen to have the honor of dining at 
 the same table as the King. She apprised her mother. 
 Maria Theresa instantly wrote to the Marchese Tenucei, 
 then Prime Minister at the Court of Naples, to say, that 
 if her daughter, now Queen of Naples, was to be con- 
 sidered less than the King her husband, she would send 
 an army to fetch her back to Vienna, and the King 
 might purchase a Georgian slave, for an Austrian Prin- 
 cess should not be thus humbled. Maria Theresa need 
 not have given herself all this trouble, for before the 
 letter arrived the Queen of Naples had dismissed all the 
 ministry, upset the cabinet of Naples, and turned out 
 even the King himself from her bedchamber! So much 
 for the overthrow of Spanish etiquette by Austrian policy. 
 The King of Spain became outrageous at the influence 
 of Maria Theresa, but there was no alternative. 
 
 "The other daughter of the Empress was married, as I 
 have observed already, to the Duke of Parma for the 
 purpose of promoting the Austrian strength in Italy 
 
1 8 CHAPTER I 
 
 against that of France, to which the Court of Parma, as 
 well as that of Modena, had been long attached. 
 
 "The fourth Archduchess, Maria Antoinette, being the 
 youngest and most beautiful of the family, was destined 
 for France. There were three older than Maria Antoi- 
 nette; but she, being much lovelier than her sisters, was 
 selected on account of her charms. Her husband was 
 never considered by the contrivers of the scheme: he 
 was known to have no sway whatever, not even in the 
 choice of his own wife! But the character of Louis XV. 
 was recollected, and calculations drawn from it, upon 
 the probable power which youth and beauty might ob- 
 tain over such a King and Court. 
 
 "It was during the time when Madame Pompadour di- 
 rected, not only the King, but all France with most 
 despotic sway, that the union of the Archduchess Maria 
 Antoinette with the grandson of Louis XV. was pro- 
 posed. The plan received the warmest support of Choi- 
 seul, then Minister, and the ardent co-operation of 
 Pompadour. Indeed it was to her, the Duke de Choiseul, 
 and the Count de Mercy, the whole affair may be as- 
 cribed. So highly was she flattered by the attention 
 with which Maria Theresa distinguished her, in conse- 
 quence of her zeal, by presents and by the title, ' dear 
 cousin,' which she used in writing to her, that she left 
 no stone unturned till the proxy of the Dauphin was sent 
 to Vienna, to marry Maria Antoinette in his name. 
 
 "All the interest by which this union was supported 
 could not, however, subdue a prejudice against it, not 
 only among many of the Court, the cabinet, and the na- 
 tion, but in the Royal Family itself. France has never 
 looked with complacency upon alliances with the House 
 of Austria : enemies to this one avowed themselves as soon 
 as it was declared. The daughters of Louis XV. openly 
 expressed their aversion; but the stronger influence pre- 
 vailed, and Maria Antoinette became the Dauphiness. 
 
 " Brienne, Archbishop of Toulouse, and afterward of 
 Sens, suggested the appointment of the Librarian of the 
 College des Quatre Nations, the Abh6 Vermond, as 
 
CHAPTER I 19 
 
 instructor to the Dauphiness in French. The Abb6 Ver- 
 mond was accordingly dispatched by Louis XV. to 
 Vienna. The consequences of this appointment will be 
 seen in the sequel. Perhaps not the least fatal of them 
 arose from his gratitude to the Archbishop, who recom- 
 mended him. In some years afterward, influencing his 
 pupil, when Queen, to help Brienne to the ministry, he 
 did her and her kingdom more injury than their worst 
 foes. Of the Abbe's power over Maria Antoinette there 
 are various opinions; of his capacity, there is but one — 
 he was superficial and cunning. On his arrival at Vi- 
 enna he became the tool of Maria Theresa. While there, 
 he received a salary as the daughter's tutor, and when 
 he returned to France, a much larger one as the mother's 
 spy. He was more ambitious to be thought a great 
 man, in his power over his pupil, than a rich one. He 
 was too Jesuitical to wish to be deemed rich. He knew 
 that superfluous emoluments would soon have overthrown 
 the authority he derived from conferring, rather than 
 receiving favors; and hence he never soared to any 
 higher post. He was generally considered to be disin- 
 terested. How far his private fortunes benefited by his 
 station, has never appeared; nor is it known, whether 
 by the elevation of his friend and patron to the ministry 
 in the time of Louis XVL, he gained anything beyond 
 the gratification of vanity, from having been the cause: 
 it is probable he did not, for if he had, from the gen- 
 eral odium against that promotion, no doubt it would 
 have been exposed, unless the influence of the Queen 
 was his protection, as it proved in so many cases where 
 he grossly erred. From the first he was an evil to 
 Maria Antoinette; and ultimately habit rendered him a 
 necessary evil.* 
 
 "The education of the Dauphiness was circumscribed; 
 though very free in her manners, she was very deficient 
 in other respects ; and hence it was she so much avoided 
 all society of females who were better informed than 
 herself, courting in preference the lively tittle-tattle of 
 
 • Upon these points more will be said hereafter. 
 
20 CHAPTER I 
 
 the other sex, who were in turn, better pleased with the 
 gayeties of the youth and beauty than the more substan- 
 tial logical witticisms of antiquated Court dowagers. To 
 this may be ascribed her ungovernable passion for great 
 societies, balls, masquerades, and all kinds of public and 
 private amusements, as well as her subsequent attach- 
 ment to the Duchess de Polignac, who so much encour- 
 aged them for the pastime of her friend and sovereign. 
 Though naturally averse to everything requiring study or 
 application, Maria Antoinette was very assiduous in pre- 
 paring herself for the parts she performed in the various 
 comedies, farces, and cantatas given at her private theater ; 
 and their acquirement seemed to cost her no trouble. 
 These innocent diversions became a source of calumny 
 against her ; yet they formed almost the only part of her 
 German education, abcat which Maria Theresa had been 
 particular : the Empress-mother deemed them so valuable 
 to her children that she ordered the celebrated Metastasio 
 to write some of his most sublime cantatas for the evening 
 recreations of her sisters and herself. And what can more 
 conduce to elegant literary knowledge, or be less danger- 
 ous to the morals of the young, than domestic recitation 
 of the finest flights of the intellect ? Certain it is that 
 Maria Antoinette never forgot her idolatry of her master 
 Metastasio; and it would have been well for her had all 
 concerned in her education done her equal justice. The 
 Abb6 Vermond encouraged these studies; and the King 
 himself afterward sanctioned the translation of the works 
 of his Queen's revered instructor, and their publication 
 at her own expense, in a superb edition, that she might 
 gratify her fondness the more conveniently by reciting 
 them in French. * When Maria Antoinette herself becam&. 
 
 * Happy, thrice happy, had it been for Maria Antoinette, happy foi 
 Prance, happy.perhaps, for all Europe.had this taste never been thwarted, 
 The mind, once firmly occupied in any particular pursuit, is guardeu 
 against the danger arising from volatility and ennui. The mind, iu 
 want of an object of occupation congenial to its youth and tendencies 
 often rushes unconsciously into errors, fatal to its peace, its reputatior i 
 and its existence. 
 
CHAPTER I 21 
 
 a mother, and oppressed from the change of circumstances, 
 she regretted much that she had not in early life culti- 
 vated her mind more extensively. 'What a resource,' 
 would she exclaim, ' is a mind well stored against human 
 casualties ! ' She determined to avoid in her own off- 
 spring the error, of which she felt herself the victim, 
 committed by her imperial mother, for whose fault, though 
 she suffered, she would invent excuses. ' The Empress, ' 
 she would say, ' was left a young widow with ten or 
 twelve children; she had been accustomed, even during 
 the Emperor's life, to head her vast empire, and she 
 thought it would be unjust to sacrifice to her own chil- 
 dren the welfare of the numerous family which afterward 
 devolved upon her exclusive government and protection.' 
 " Most unfortunately for Maria Antoinette, her great 
 supporter, Madame de Pompadour, died before the Arch- 
 duchess came to France. The pilot who was to steer the 
 young mariner safe into port, was no more, when she 
 arrived at it. The Austrian interest had sunk with its 
 patroness. The intriguers of the Court no sooner saw 
 the King without an avowed favorite than they sought 
 to give him one who should further their own views and 
 crush the Choiseul party, which had been sustained by 
 Pompadour. The licentious Duke de Richelieu was the 
 pander on this occasion. The low, vulgar Du Barry was 
 by him introduced to the King, and Richelieu had the 
 honor of enthroning a successor to Pompadour, and sup- 
 plying Louis XV. with the last of his mistresses. Ma- 
 dame de Grammont, who had been the royal confidante 
 during the interregnum, gave up to the rising star. The 
 effect of a new power was presently seen in new events. 
 All the ministers known to be attached to the Austrian 
 interest were dismissed; and the time for the arrival of 
 the young bride, the Archduchess of Austria, who was 
 about to be installed Dauphiness of France, was at hand, 
 and she came to meet scarcely a friend, and many foes: 
 — of which even her beauty, her gentleness, and her 
 simplicity, were doomed to swell the phalanx." 
 
91 CHAPTER I 
 
 NOTE. 
 
 "The preceding pages of the Princess Lamballe excite reflections, 
 ■^ which, as editor, I cannot suffer to pass without a commentary 
 of my own. My reflections are gjrounded upon what I know to 
 have been in some degree the apprehensions of Her Highness; but 
 she did not live to see the fearful prophecies accomplished. I have 
 often heard her utter many of the following sentiments, of which I 
 may be deemed in part, therefore, only the transcriber; and the awful 
 result has been a thorough illustration of the precision with which she 
 judged. Some of my observations, it will be apparent, she could not 
 have uttered; but I have every reason to believe that she foresaw, as 
 distinctly as mortal vision can look into futurity, those parts of what 
 I am about to state, which, though her thoughts dwelt upon, her dis- 
 cretion would not let her name. It is this which gives to her un- 
 wavering devoted ness to the Queen, amid a consciousness of the 
 inevitable dinouement, all the grace of martyrdom. 
 
 Maria Theresa was greatly deceived in the speculations she had 
 formed in her private cabinet at Vienna upon her daughter's mar- 
 riage, and the influence she hoped to gain from that event over the 
 cabinet of France. To imagine for a moment that she acted from 
 any view to her daughter's happiness or aggrandisement would be 
 absurd Her real views were built on error. The hostile feeling 
 against Austria was too strong in France to be overcome by State 
 policy, and she was only preparing a scaffold for her child where she 
 meditated a triumph for herself. She sacrificed everything to her 
 ambition, and in her ambition she was punished. Had Maria Theresa 
 been less cruel after the battle of Prague, perhaps the French nation 
 would have been kinder to her child. There may be no rule without 
 an exception; but there is one inculcated by the mystery of religion, 
 instituted by the word of the Supreme Himself, by that primitive food 
 wherewith our intellects are nourished, by that school and guide of 
 our infancy, by that conductor of our youth, by that pilot which steers 
 us with rectitude into the harbor of maturity — that Holy Book declares 
 without reserve. Do as you would be done by, or you shall be 
 
 VISITED TO THE THIRD AND FOURTH GENERATION! HoW SCrUpuloUSly 
 
 just, then, ought the head of a family to be in dealing with others! 
 Not but I conceive it th^ duty of every individual to act righteously; 
 but of parents it is a special duty. And if more awful the responsi- 
 bility upon parents, how tremendous must it be upon rulers! Look 
 at the example Maria Theresa set her children ! What lessons has she 
 
CHAPTER I 33 
 
 given them as a mother ? What as a monarch ? The violent usurpa- 
 tion of Mantua from the princely family of the Gonzagas and the 
 partition of Poland form the answer. But there is a madness in power 
 which prevails even over nature, and often over interest itself, when 
 it seeks the attainment of any specific end. Silesia, in the consider- 
 ation of Maria Theresa, outweighed all others. Of the same stamp 
 was the headlong pertinacity of Louis XIV. He waged war against 
 almost all Europe to destroy the Austrian influence in Spain, and with 
 his own to place Philip V. his grandson on the throne of Iberia. 
 From State policy he as readily agreed to subsidize Great Britain, in 
 order to tear asunder the very crown, which he himself had cemented 
 with the blood and treasures of his subjects; and tried his utmost to 
 hurl from the throne a prince seated on it, at the risk of losing his 
 own! It was for political intrigue Maria Antoinette was sent to 
 France — or rather, a family compact, under which title the true pur- 
 pose is disguised in royal marriages, and by political intrig^ue she fell 
 into snares fatal to her peace. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 Editor's Remarks an Erroneous Statements of Madame Campan— 
 Journal Resumed— Dauphin on His Wedding Night and the Next 
 Morning— Court Intrigues Begin— Daughters of Louis XV.— Their 
 Influence on the Dauphin and Dislike of His Young Bride- Maria 
 Antoinette's Distaste for Etiquette and Love of Simplicity — Court 
 Taste for Hoop-Dresses Accounted for — Madame de Noailles — 
 Her Horror at Not Having Been Summoned on an Occasion of 
 Delicacy — Duke de Vauguyon Takes a Dislike to Maria Antoinette 
 
 — Cabal between Vermond and Madame Marsan — Du Barry Jealous 
 of the Dauphiness — Richelieu— Three Ladies Leave the Supper- 
 Table of Louis XV. from Du Barry Being There — Remonstrance 
 of the Dauphiness to Her Mother on Being Made to Sup with 
 Du Barry — Answer — Count d'Artois and Monsieur Return from 
 Traveling — Are Charmed with Maria Antoinette — Scandal Re- 
 specting d'Artois and the Dauphiness — Changes Wrought by Court 
 Marriages — Remonstrance of Maria Theresa to the French Court 
 
 — Duchess de Grammont — Louis XV. Intrigues to Divorce the 
 Dauphin and Marry the Dauphiness — Diamond Necklace First 
 Ordered by Louis XV. as a Present to His Hoped-For Bride — 
 Dauphin Complains of the Distance of His Apartment from That 
 of His Wife — All Parties Intrigue to Get Maria Antoinette Sent 
 Back to Austria. 
 
 BEFORE I return to the Journal of the Princess Lam- 
 balle, as it falls into the regular chronological 
 
 arrangement, let me give a passing moment to the 
 more recent biographer of Maria Antoinette, Madame 
 Campan. Her description of the first appearance of Her 
 Majesty at Kehl, where the change took place from the 
 Austrian wardrobe to the French, according to the pre- 
 scribed etiquette on those occasions, is so strikingly 
 characteristic of that unfortunate Princess that I cannot 
 avoid referring to it, though I much doubt the authen- 
 ticity of some of its details. The reader, however, will 
 see a glimmer of the bewitching simplicity of its subject 
 through all the errors of the narrative; whence it will 
 
 24 
 
CHAPTER II J5 
 
 be evident how inestimable a gem this Princess would 
 have proved had she been left in her rough German 
 artlessness. 
 
 In page 45, chapter 3, Madame Campan says: "When 
 
 THE DaUPHINESS HAD BEEN ENTIRELY UNDRESSED, EVEN TO 
 HER BODY LINEN AND STOCKINGS, IN ORDER THAT SHE 
 MIGHT RETAIN NOTHING BELONGING TO A FOREIGN CoURT, THE 
 
 DOORS WERE OPENED " : — mark, in a state no less than 
 that of the Lady Godiva, — "the young Princess came 
 forward" — not even en chemise — as the horse jockeys 
 do at Newmarket, I suppose, in order to be weighed 
 before they mount the steed! But let us goon, — "came 
 forward," — coolly, she should have said, — "looking 
 
 ROUND FOR the CoUNTESS DE NoAILLES. " 
 
 Now among Hottentots, or some of those Egyptian 
 females* who conceive the face to be the most sacred 
 part of the human frame, and who, when surprised draw- 
 ing water at the well or fountain to fill their jars do, in 
 order to prevent the men from seeing them, actually 
 throw up their clothing, even to the body linen, to hide 
 their faces! Among these I say such an exhibition might 
 be possible; but that an Austrian princess should, like a 
 maniac, have been thus exposed to the contemplation of 
 some forty or fifty idle gazers ! — can such a thing be 
 credited ? 
 
 " Then," — continues Madame Campan, — " rushing into 
 HER ARMS," — which I dare say she did, if it was cold, — 
 "she implored her" — "implored!" a word that is very 
 seldom in the mouth of princesses, and much less in that 
 of the high-mettled race of an Austrian archduchess like 
 Maria Antoinette. But once more to the text: "im- 
 plored HER, WITH TEARS IN HER EYES, AND WITH A HEART- 
 
 * General Menou, when Governor of Venice, told me among other 
 circumstances that the great hatred of the Egyptians against the 
 French arose from their having violated many Eg^tian females on 
 the exhibition of what other nations generally conceal, and several 
 innocent and respectable persons were thus sacrificed to the brutality 
 of the soldiers. He said he could not pronounce whether the custom 
 was universal, but in some villages he had witnessed it himself. 
 
aS CHAPTER II 
 
 FELT SINCERITY, TO DIRECT HER, TO ADVISE HER, AND TO BE, 
 IN EVERY RESPECT, HER FUTURE GUIDE AND SUPPORT!" 
 
 Upon this, Madame Campan observes, "It was impossi- 
 ble TO REFRAIN FROM ADMIRING HER AERIAL DEPORTMENT; 
 HER SMILE WAS SUFFICIENT TO WIN THE HEART ; AND IN THIS 
 ENCHANTING BEING THE SPLENDOR OF FRENCH GAYETY SHONE 
 
 forth! " 
 
 I have often heard splendor and dignity coupled to- 
 gether, but I do not remember the union of gayety and 
 splendor. No doubt it is correct, however, as a French 
 woman, who has been the instructress of princesses, has 
 written it. 
 
 To proceed with Madame Campan: "An indescriba- 
 ble BUT AUGUST SERENITY, PERHAPS ALSO THE SOMEWHAT 
 PROUD POSITION OF HER HEAD AND SHOULDERS, BETRAYED 
 THE DAUGHTER OF THE C-ffiSARS. " 
 
 However, the word "betrayed" is here misapplied (and 
 I myself should have used portrayed, unfolded, or demon- 
 strated, which I think, with all due submission to the 
 compiler or composer of Madame Campan's work, would 
 have been more appropriate than the word "betrayed"), 
 the remark is thoroughly correct. Such were indeed the 
 head and shoulders of Maria Antoinette. Their beauty 
 was the envy of the one sex, and the source of much abom- 
 inable detraction in those who might not approach it of 
 the other. 
 
 There are no doubt many inconveniencies inseparable 
 from the etiquette of royal marriages, and many more 
 which spring from chance. I have read somewhere of a 
 proxy, who came so near the bride, as to prick her with 
 his spur; which certainly was not the intention of the 
 royal spouse. But I am much disposed to believe, com- 
 paring the forms on the marriage of Maria Antoinette 
 with those observed with others of her husband's family 
 at the same period, as well as with her own excessive 
 modesty, that in this instance, as in many others, she has 
 been misrepresented. I should rather conceive the eti- 
 quette to have been similar to that adopted when the 
 Princess Clotilda, the sister of Louis XVI., was consigned 
 
CHAPTER II 27 
 
 over to the Piedmontese ladies of the Court of Turin. 
 A large wardrobe of different dresses of every kind met 
 her at the last frontier town of France. There she put 
 on the clothes provided for the purpose, returning those 
 she brought to the persons who saw her out of France. 
 No public dressing or undressing was thought of ; and 
 she was by far too fat to run, in puris naturalibus, into 
 the arms of any lady of honor who might not be of the 
 most uncourtly dimensions. Such, also, was the mode 
 pursued when Madame and her sister, the Countess 
 d'Artois, both Princesses of Piedmont, were married to 
 the two brothers of Louis XVI. No indelicate display 
 like that which Madame Campan describes as having 
 taken place under the Countess de Noailles was exacted 
 from either of the brides. And why should such an ex- 
 ception have been made in the case of the young Austrian ? 
 Indeed (and I speak here from the authority of my pa- 
 pers), so scrupulous was Maria Antoinette in her observ- 
 ance of modesty and decorum, that she was laughed at 
 by the young princes and nobles, for withdrawing with 
 her tire-woman to have her hair arranged in private ; be- 
 cause her toilet being the usual morning rendezvous of 
 all belonging to the Court, she could not reconcile it to 
 her feelings, to follow the precedent of all former dau- 
 phinesses and queens, by allowing even this slight ceremony 
 to be performed about her person, pro bono publico. Is 
 it at all likely, then, that she could have consented under 
 any circumstances to the exposure Madame Campan has 
 described? But enough of this : I resume my editorial 
 functions, and return to the more agreeable narrative of 
 the Princess of Lamballe. 
 
 "On the marriage night, Louis XV. said gayly to the 
 Dauphin who was supping with his usual heartiness, — 
 ' Don't overcharge your stomach to-night.' 
 
 " 'Why, I always sleep best after a hearty supper,' re- 
 plied the Dauphin, with the greatest coolness. 
 
 "The supper being ended, he accompanied his Dau- 
 pbiness to her chamber, and at the door, with the greatest 
 
tS CHAPTER II 
 
 politeness, wished her a good night. Next morning, 
 upon his saying, when he met her at breakfast, that he 
 hoped she had slept well, Maria Antoinette replied, 'Ex- 
 cellently well, for I had no one to disturb me ! ' 
 
 "The Princess de Guemenbe, who was then at the head 
 of the household, on hearing the Dauphiness moving 
 very early in her apartment, ventured to enter it, and 
 not seeing the Dauphin, exclaimed, 'Bless me! he is 
 risen as usual ! ' ' Whom do you mean ? ' asked Maria 
 Antoinette. The Princess misconstruing the interroga- 
 tion, was going to retire, when the Dauphiness said, 'I 
 have heard a great deal of French politeness, but I 
 think I am married to the most polite of the nation ! ' 
 'What, then, he is risen?' 'No, no, no!' exclaimed 
 the Dauphiness, 'there has been no rising; he has never 
 lain down here. He left me at the door of my apart- 
 ment with his hat in his hand, and hastened from me 
 as if embarrassed with my person ! ' 
 
 "After Maria Antoinette became a mother, she would 
 often laugh and tell Louis XVI. of his bridal politeness, 
 and ask him if in the interim between that and the 
 consummation he had studied his maiden aunts or his 
 tutor on the subject. On this he would laugh most 
 excessively. 
 
 " Scarcely was Maria Antoinette seated in her new coun- 
 try before the virulence of Court intrigue against her 
 became active. She was beset on all sides by enemies 
 open and concealed, who never slackened their persecu- 
 tions. All the family of Louis XV. consisting of those 
 maiden aunts of the Dauphin just adverted to (among 
 whom Madame Adelaide was specially implacable) were 
 incensed at the marriage, not only from their hatred to 
 Austria, but because it had accomplished the ambition of 
 an obnoxious favorite to give a wife to the Dauphin 
 of their kingdom. On the credulous and timid mind of 
 the Prince, then in the leading strings of this pious 
 sisterhood, they impressed the misfortunes to his country 
 and to the interest of the Bourbon family, which must 
 spring from the Austrian influence through the medium 
 
CHAPTER n 29 
 
 of his bride. No means were left unessayed to steel him 
 against her sway. I remembered once to have heard Her 
 Majesty remark to Louis XVI. in answer to some par- 
 ticular observations he made, ' These, sire, are the senti- 
 ments of our aunts, I am sure. ' And indeed great must 
 have been their ascendancy over him in youth, for up to 
 a late date he entertained a very high respect for their 
 capacity and judgment. Great indeed must it have been 
 to have prevailed against all the seducing allurements of 
 a beautiful and fascinating young bride, whose amiable- 
 ness, vivacity, and wit became the universal admiration, 
 and whose graceful manner of address few ever equaled 
 and none ever surpassed ; nay, even so to have prevailed 
 as to form one of the great sources of his aversion to 
 consummate the marriage! Since the death of the late 
 Queen, their mother, these four Princesses (who, it was 
 said, if old maids, were not so from choice) had received 
 and performed the exclusive honors of the Court. It 
 could not have diminished their dislike for the young 
 and lovely newcomer to see themselves under the neces- 
 sity of abandoning their dignities and giving up their 
 station. So eager were they to contrive themes of com- 
 plaint against her, that when she visited them in the 
 simple attire in which she so much delighted, sans c&^monie, 
 unaccompanied by a troop of horse and a squadron of 
 footguards, they complained to their father, who hinted 
 to Maria Antoinette that such a relaxation of the royal 
 dignity would be attended with considerable injury to 
 French manufactures, to trade, and to the respect due to 
 her rank. 'My State and Court dresses,' replied she, 
 'shall not be less brilliant than those of any former 
 Dauphiness or Queen of France, if such be the pleasure 
 of the King, — but to my grandpapa I appeal for some 
 indulgence with respect to my undress private costume 
 of the morning.'* 
 
 " It was dangerous for one in whose conduct so many 
 prying eyes were seeking for sources of accusation to 
 
 * Trifling, however, as Maria Antoinette deemed these cavils about 
 dress and etiquette, they contained the elements of her future fall. 
 
30 CHAPTER II 
 
 gratify herself even by the overthrow of an absurdity, 
 when that overthrow might incur the stigma of innova- 
 tion. The Court of Versailles was jealous of its Spanish 
 inquisitorial etiquette. It had been strictly wedded to 
 its pageantries since the time of the great Anne of Aus- 
 tria. The sagacious and prudent provisions of this illus- 
 trious contriver were deemed the ne plus ultra of royal 
 female policy. A cargo of whalebone was yearly obtained 
 by her to construct such stays for the maids of honor 
 as might adequately conceal the Court accidents which 
 generally — poor ladies! — befell them in rotation eve:y 
 nine months. 
 
 "But Maria Antoinette could not sacrifice her predilec- 
 tion for a simplicity quite English, to prudential con- 
 siderations. Indeed she was too young to conceive it 
 even desirable. So much did she delight in being un- 
 shackled by finery that she would hurry from Court to 
 fling off her royal robes and ornaments, exclaiming, when 
 freed from them, ' Thank Heaven, I am out of harness ! ' 
 
 "But she had natural advantages, which gave her ene- 
 mies a pretext for ascribing this antipathy to the estab- 
 lished fashion to mere vanity. It is not impossible that 
 she might have derived some pleasure from displaying a 
 figure so beautiful, with no adornment except its native 
 gracefulness; but how great must have been the chagrin 
 of the Princesses, of many of the Court ladies, indeed of 
 all in any way ungainly or deformed, when called to 
 exhibit themselves by the side of a bewitching person 
 like hers, unaided by the whalebone and horsehair pad- 
 dings with which they had hitherto been made up, and 
 which placed the best form on a level with the worst? 
 The prudes who practiced illicitly, and felt the conven- 
 ience of a guise which so well concealed the effect of 
 their frailties, were neither the least formidable nor the 
 least numerous of the enemies created by this revolution 
 of costume; and the Dauphiness was voted by common 
 consent — for what greater crime could there be in 
 France? — the heretic Martin Luther of female fashions! 
 The four Princesses, her aunts, were as bitter against 
 
CHAPTER II 31 
 
 the disrespect with which the Dauphiness treated the 
 armor, which they called dress, as if they themselves 
 had benefited by the immunities it could confer. 
 
 " Indeed, most of the old Court ladies embattled them- 
 selves against Maria Antoinette's encroachments upon 
 their habits. The leader of them was a real medallion, 
 whose costume, character and notions, spoke a genealogy 
 perfectly antediluvian; who even to the latter days of 
 Louis XV., amid a Court so irregular, persisted in her 
 precision. So systematic a supporter of the antique 
 could be no other than the declared foe of any change, 
 and, of course, deemed the desertion of large sack gowns, 
 monstrous Court hoops, and the old notions of append- 
 ages attached to them, for tight waists and short petti- 
 coats, an awful demonstration of the depravity of the 
 time ! * 
 
 "This lady had been first lady to the sole Queen of 
 Louis XV. She was retained in the same station for 
 Maria Antoinette. Her motions were regulated like 
 clockwork. So methodical was she in all her operations 
 of mind and body, that, from the beginning of the year 
 to its end, she never deviated a moment. Every hour 
 had its peculiar occupation. Her element was etiquette, 
 but the etiquette of ages before the flood. She had her 
 rules even for the width of petticoats that the queens 
 and princesses might have no temptation to straddle over 
 a rivulet, or crossing, of unroyal size. 
 
 " The Queen of Louis XV., having been totally subservi- 
 ent in her movements night and day to the wishes of 
 the Countess de Noailles, it will be readily conceived, 
 how great a shock this lady must have sustained on be- 
 ing informed one morning, that the Dauphiness had 
 actually risen in the night, and her ladyship not by to 
 witness a ceremony from which most ladies would have 
 felt no little pleasure in being spared, but which, on 
 this occasion, admitted of no delay! Notwithstanding 
 the Dauphiness excused herself by the assurance of the 
 
 * The editor needs scarcely add, that the allusion of the Princess is 
 to Madame de Noailles. 
 
32 CHAPTER II 
 
 urgency allowing no time to call the Countess, she nearly 
 fainted at not having been present at that, which others 
 sometimes faint at, if too near! This unaccustomed 
 watchfulness so annoyed Maria Antoinette, that, deter- 
 mined to laugh her out of it, she ordered an immense 
 bottle of hartshorn to be placed upon her toilet. Being 
 asked what use was to be made of the hartshorn, she 
 said it was to prevent her first lady of honor from fall- 
 ing into hysterics when the calls of nature were uncivil 
 enough to exclude her from being of the party. This, 
 as may be presumed, had its desired effect, and Maria 
 Antoinette was ever afterward allowed free access at 
 least to one of her apartments, and leave to perform 
 that in private which few individuals except princesses 
 do with parade and publicity. 
 
 "These things, however, planted the seeds of rancor 
 against Maria Antoinette, which Madame de Noailles 
 carried with her to the grave. It will be seen that she 
 declared against her at a crisis of great importance. The 
 laughable title of Madame Etiquette, which the Dau- 
 phiness gave her, clung to her through life ; and, though 
 conferred only in merriment, it never was forgiven. 
 
 "The Dauphiness seemed to be under a sort of fatality 
 with regard to all those who had any power of doing her 
 mischief, either with her husband or the Court. The 
 Duke de Vauguyon, the Dauphin's tutor, who, both from 
 principle and interest, hated everything Austrian, and 
 anything whatever which threatened to lessen his des- 
 potic influence so long exercised over the mind of his 
 pupil, which he foresaw would be endangered were the 
 Prince once out of his leading-strings and swayed by a 
 young wife, made use of all the influence which old 
 courtiers can command over the minds they have formed 
 (more generally for their own ends than those of up- 
 rightness), to poison that of the young Prince against 
 his bride. 
 
 "Never were there more intrigues among the female 
 slaves in the Seraglio of Constantinople for the Grand 
 Signior's handkerchief than were continually harassing 
 
CHAPTER II ^ 
 
 one party against the other at the Court of Versailles. 
 The Dauphiness was even attacked through her own 
 tutor, the Abb6 Vermond. A cabal was got up between 
 the Abb6 and Madame Marsan, instructress of the sisters 
 of Louis XVI. (the Princesses Clotilda and Elizabeth) 
 upon the subject of education. Nothing grew out of this 
 affair excepting a new stimulus to the party spirit against 
 the Austrian influence, or, in other words, the Austrian 
 Princess; and such was probably its purpose. Of course 
 every trifle becomes Court tattle. This was made a 
 mighty business of, for want of a worse. The royal 
 aunts naturally took the part of Madame Marsan. They 
 maintained that their royal nieces, the French Princesses, 
 were much better educated than the German Archduch- 
 esses had been by the Austrian Empress. They attempted 
 to found their assertion upon the embonpoint of the 
 French Princesses. They said that their nieces, by the 
 exercise of religious principles, obtained the advantage 
 of solid flesh, while the Austrian Archduchesses, by 
 wasting themselves in idleness and profane pursuits, 
 grew thin and meager, and were equally exhausted in 
 their minds and bodies! At this the Abb6 Vernlond, as 
 the tutor of Maria Antoinette, felt himself highly offended, 
 and called on Count de Mercy, then the Imperial Ambas- 
 sador, to apprise him of the insult the Empire had re- 
 ceived over the shoulders of the Dauphiness's tutor. The 
 Ambassador gravely replied that he should certainly send 
 off a courier immediately to Vienna to inform the Em- 
 press that the only fault the French Court could find 
 with Maria Antoinette was her being not so unwieldy as 
 their own Princesses, and bringing charms with her to 
 a bridegroom, on whom even charms so transcendent 
 could make no impression ! Thus the matter was laughed 
 off, but it left, ridiculous as it was, new bitter enemies 
 to the cause of the illustrious stranger. 
 
 "The new favorite, Madame du Barry, whose sway was 
 
 now supreme, was of course joined by the whole vitiated 
 
 intriguing Court of Versailles. The King's favorite is 
 
 always that of his parasites, however degraded. The 
 
 3 
 
34 CHAPTER II 
 
 politics of the Pompadour party were still feared, though 
 Pompadour herself was no more, for Choiseul had friends 
 who were still active in his behalf. The power which 
 had been raised to crush the power that was still strug- 
 gling, formed a rallying point for those who hated Austria, 
 which the deposed ministry had supported ; and even the 
 King's daughters, much as they abhorred the vulgarity 
 of Du Barry, were led, by dislike for the Dauphiness, to 
 pay their devotions to their father's mistress. The in- 
 fluence of the rising sun, Maria Antoinette, whose beau- 
 teous rays of blooming youth warmed every heart in her 
 favor, was feared by the new favorite as well as by the 
 old maidens. Louis XV. had already expressed a suf- 
 ficient interest for the friendless royal stranger to awaken 
 the jealousy of Du Barry, and she was as little disposed 
 to share the King's affections with another, as his 
 daughters were to welcome a future Queen from Austria 
 in their palace. Mortified at the attachment the King 
 daily evinced, she strained every nerve to raise a party 
 to destroy his predilections. She called to her aid the 
 strength of ridicule, than which no weapon is more false 
 or deadly. She laughed at qualities she could not com- 
 prehend, and underrated what she could not imitate. 
 The Duke de Richelieu, who had been instrumental to 
 her good fortune, and for whom (remembering the old 
 adage: when one hand washes the other both are 
 MADE clean), she procured the command of the army — 
 this duke, the triumphant general of Mahon and one of 
 the most distinguished noblemen of France, did not blush 
 to become the secret agent of a depraved meretrix in 
 the conspiracy to blacken the character of her victim 1 
 The Princesses, of course, joined the jealous Phryne 
 against their niece, the daughter of the Caesars, whose 
 only faults were those of nature, for at that time she 
 COULD have no other excepting those personal perfections 
 — which were the main source of all their malice. By 
 one considered as an usurper, by the others as an in- 
 truder, both were in consequence industrious in the qui^ 
 work of ruin by whispers and detraction. 
 
CHAPTER II 35 
 
 "To an impolitic act of the Dauphiness herself may be 
 in part ascribed the unwonted virulence of the jealousy 
 and resentment of Du Barry. The old dotard, Louis 
 XV., was so indelicate as to have her present at the first 
 supper of the Dauphiness at Versailles. Madame la 
 Mareschale de Beaumond, the Duchess de Choiseul, and 
 the Duchess de Grammont were there also ; but upon 
 the favorite taking her seat at table they expressed them- 
 selves very freely to Louis XV. respecting the insult 
 they conceived offered to the young Dauphiness, left the 
 royal party, and never appeared again at Court till after 
 the King's death. In consequence of this scene, Maria 
 Antoinette, at the instigation of the Ahh6 Vermond, 
 wrote to her mother, the Empress, complaining of the 
 slight put upon her rank, birth, and dignity, and re- 
 questing the Empress would signify her displeasure to 
 the Court of France as she had done to that of Spain on 
 a similar occasion in favor of her sister, the Queen of 
 Naples. 
 
 "This letter, which was intercepted, got to the knowl- 
 edge of the Court and excited some clamor. To say the 
 worst, it could only be looked upon as an ebullition of 
 the folly of youth. But insignificant as such matters were 
 in fact, malignity converted them into the locust, which 
 destroyed the fruit she was sent to cultivate. 
 
 "Maria Theresa, like the old fox, too true to her sys- 
 tem to retract the policy, which formerly laid her open 
 to the criticism of all the civilized Courts of Europe for 
 opening the correspondence with Pompadour, to whose 
 influence she owed her daughter's footing in France — a 
 correspondence whereby she degraded the dignity of her 
 sex and the honor of her crown — and at the same time 
 suspecting that it was not her daughter, but Vermond, from 
 private motives, who complained, wrote the following la- 
 conic reply to the remonstrance : 
 
 "'Where the sovereign himself presides, no guest can 
 be exceptionable.' 
 
 "Such sentiments are very much in contradiction with 
 the character of Maria Theresa. She was always solicitous 
 
36 CHAPTER II 
 
 to impress the world with her high notion of moral 
 rectitude. Certainly, such advice, however politic, ought 
 not to have proceeded from a mother so religious as Ma- 
 ria Theresa wished herself to be thought; especially to a 
 young Princess who, though enthusiastically fond of ad- 
 miration, at least had discretion to see and feel the im- 
 propriety of her being degraded to the level of a female 
 like Du Barry, and, withal, courage to avow it. This, 
 of itself, was quite enough to shake the virtue of Maria 
 Antoinette ; or, at least, Maria Theresa's letter was of a 
 cast to make her callous to the observance of all its 
 scruples. And in that vitiated, depraved Court, she too 
 soon, unfortunately, took the hint of her maternal coun- 
 selor in not only tolerating, but imitating, the object she 
 despised. Being one day told that Du Barry was the 
 person who most contributed to amuse Louis XV. — 
 'Then,' said she, innocently, 'I declare myself her 
 rival ; for I will try who can best amuse my grandpapa 
 for the future. I will exert all my powers to please and 
 divert him, and then we shall see who can best succeed. ' 
 
 "Du Barry was by when this was said, and she never 
 forgave it. To this, and to the letter, her rancor may 
 principally be ascribed. To all those of the Court party 
 who owed their places and preferments to her exclusive 
 influence and who held them subject to her caprice, she, 
 of course, communicated the venom. 
 
 "Meanwhile, the Dauphin saw Maria Antoinette mim- 
 icking the monkey tricks with which this low Sultana 
 amused her dotard, without being aware of the cause. 
 He was not pleased; and this circumstance, coupled with 
 his natural coolness and indifference for an union he had 
 been taught to deem impolitic and dangerous to the 
 interests of France, created in his virtuous mind that 
 sort of disgust which remained so long an enigma to 
 the Court and all the kingdom, excepting his royal aunts, 
 who did the best they could to confirm it into so decided 
 an aversion as might induce him to impel his grand- 
 father to annul the marriage and send the Dauphiness 
 back to Vienna." 
 
CHAPTER 11 37 
 
 The execution of this diabolical scheme, -vdth many 
 others of a similar nature, was only prevented by the 
 death of Louis XV. They are not treated by the Princess 
 here, but will be found explained by her in their proper 
 place. She seems to feel as if she had already outrun 
 her story, and therefore returns a little upon her steps. 
 The manuscript continues thus: 
 
 " After the Dauphin's marriage, the Count d'Artois and 
 his brother Monsieur* returned from their travels to 
 Versailles. The former was delighted with the young 
 Dauphiness, and, seeing her so decidedly neglected by 
 her husband, endeavored to console her by a marked 
 attention, but for which she would have been totally 
 isolated, for, excepting the old King, who became more 
 and more enraptured with the grace, beauty, and vivacity 
 of his young granddaughter, not another individual in the 
 Royal Family was really interested in her favor. The 
 kindness of a personage so important was of too much 
 weight not to awaken calumny. It was, of course, en- 
 deavored to be turned against her. Possibilities, and even 
 probabilities, conspired to give a pretext for the scandal 
 which already began to be whispered about the Dauphin- 
 ess and d'Artois. It would have been no wonder had 
 a reciprocal attachment arisen between a virgin wife, so 
 long neglected by her husband, and one whose conge- 
 niality of character pointed him out as a more desirable 
 partner than the Dauphin. But there is abundant evi- 
 dence of the perfect innocence of their intercourse. Du 
 Barry was most earnest in endeavoring, from first to 
 last, to establish its impurity, because the Dauphiness 
 induced the gay young Prince to join in all her girlish 
 schemes to tease and circumvent the favorite. But when 
 this young Prince and his brother were married to the 
 two Princesses of Piedmont, the intimacy between their 
 brides and the Dauphiness proved there could have been 
 no doubt that Du Barry had invented a calumny, and 
 that no feeling existed but one altogether sisterly. The 
 three stranger Princesses were indeed inseparable; and 
 
 * Afterward Louis XVIII., and the former the present Charles X. 
 
38 CHAPTER II 
 
 these marriages, with that of the French Princess, Clo- 
 tilda, to the Prince of Piedmont, created considerable 
 changes in the coteries of Court. 
 
 "The machinations against Maria Antoinette could not 
 be concealed from the Empress-mother. An extraordinary- 
 ambassador was consequently sent from Vienna to com- 
 plain of them to the Court of Versailles, with directions 
 that the remonstrance should be supported and backed by 
 the Count de Mercy, then Austrian ambassador at the Court 
 of France. Louis XV. was the only person to whom the 
 communication was news. This old dilettanti of the sex 
 was so much engaged between his seraglio of the Pare 
 aux cerfs and Du Barry, that he knew less of what was 
 passing in his palace than those at Constantinople. On 
 being informed by the Austrian ambassador, he sent an 
 ambassador of his own to Vienna to assure the Empress 
 that he was perfectly satisfied of the innocent conduct of 
 his newly acquired granddaughter. 
 
 "Among the intrigues within intrigues of the time I 
 mention, there was one which shows that perhaps Du 
 Barry's distrust of the constancy of her paramour, and 
 apprehension from the effect on him of the charms of 
 the Dauphiness, in whom he became daily more interested, 
 were not utterly without foundation. In this instance 
 even her friend the Duke de Richelieu, that notorious 
 seducer, by lending himself to the secret purposes of the 
 King, became a traitor to the cause of the King's favor- 
 ite, to which he had sworn allegiance, and which he had 
 supported by defaming her whom he now became anxious 
 to make his Queen. 
 
 ' ' It has already been said, that the famous Duchess de 
 Grammont was one of the confidential friends of Louis 
 XV. before he took Du Barry under his especial pro- 
 tection. Of course, there can be no difficulty in con- 
 ceiving how likely a person she would be, to aid any 
 purpose of the King, which should displace the favor- 
 ite, by whom she herself had been obliged to retire, by 
 ties of a higher order, to which she might prove instru- 
 mental. 
 
CHAPTER II 39 
 
 •" Louis XV. actually flattered himself with the hope of 
 obtaining advantages from the Dauphin's coolness toward 
 the Dauphiness. He encouraged it, and even threw many 
 obstacles in the way of the consummation of the marriage. 
 The apartments of the young couple were placed at op- 
 posite ends of the palace, so that the Dauphin could not 
 approach that of his Dauphiness without a publicity, 
 which his bashfulness could not brook. 
 
 "Louis XV. now began to act upon his secret passion 
 to supplant his grandson, and make the Dauphiness his 
 own Queen, by endeavoring to secure her affections to 
 himself. His attentions were backed by gifts of diamonds, 
 pearls, and other valuables, and it was at this period that 
 Boehmer, the jeweler, first received the order for that 
 famous necklace, which subsequently produced such dread- 
 ful consequences, and which was originally meant as a 
 kingly present to the intended Queen; though afterward 
 destined for Du Barry, had not the King died before the 
 completion of the bargain for it. 
 
 " The Queen herself one day told me, ' Heaven knows 
 if ever I should have had the blessing of being a mother, 
 had I not one evening surprised the Dauphin, when the 
 subject was adverted to, in the expression of a sort of re- 
 gret at our being placed so far asunder from each other. 
 Indeed he never honored me with any proof of his 
 aflEection so explicit as that you have just witnessed' — 
 for the King had that moment kissed her, as he left the 
 apartment — ' from the time of our marriage till the con- 
 summation. The most I ever received from him was a 
 squeeze of the hand in secret. His extreme modesty, 
 and perhaps his utter ignorance of the intercourse with 
 woman, dreaded the exposure of crossing the palace to 
 my bedchamber; and no doubt the accomplishment 
 would have occurred sooner, could it have been effectu- 
 ated in privacy. The hint he gave emboldened me with 
 courage, when he next left me, as usual, at the door of 
 my apartment, to mention it to the Duchess of Gram- 
 mont, then the confidential friend of Louis XV., who 
 laughed me almost out of countenance; saying, in her 
 
40 CHAPTER II 
 
 gay manner of expressing herself, "If I were as young 
 and as beautiful a wife as you are, I should certainly not 
 trouble myself to remove the obstacle by going to him 
 while there were others of superior rank ready to supply 
 his place." Before she quitted me, however, she said: 
 "Well, child, make yourself easy: you shall no longer be 
 separated from the object of your wishes : I will mention 
 it to the King, your grandpapa, and he will soon order 
 your husband's apartment to be changed for one nearer 
 your own.'" And the change shortly afterward took 
 place.* 
 
 " 'Here,' continued the Queen, 'I accuse myself of a 
 want of that courage which every virtuous wife ought to 
 exercise in not having complained of the visible neglect 
 shown me long, long before I did; for this, perhaps, 
 would have spared both of us the many bitter pangs orig- 
 inating in the seeming coldness, whence have arisen all 
 the scandalous stories against my character — which have 
 often interrupted the full enjoyment I should have felt, 
 had they not made me tremble for the security of that 
 attachment, of which I had so many proofs, and which 
 formed my only consolation amid all the malice, that for 
 years has been endeavoring to deprive me of it! So far 
 as regards my husband's estimation, thank fate, I have 
 defied their wickedness! Would to Heaven I could have 
 been equally secure in the estimation of my people — the 
 object nearest to my heart, after the King and my dear 
 children ! ' 
 
 "The present period appears to have been one of the 
 happiest of the life of Maria Antoinette. Her intimate 
 society consisted of the King's brothers, and their Prin- 
 
 • The Dauphiness could not understand the first allusion of the Duch- 
 ess ; but it is evident that the vile intriguer took this opportunity of 
 sounding her upon what she was commissioned to carry on in favor of 
 Louis XV., and it is equally apparent that when she heard Maria An- 
 toinette express herself decidedly in favor of her young husband, and 
 distinctly saw how utterly groundless were the hopes of his secret rival, 
 she was led thereby to abandon her wicked ^project ; and perhaps the 
 change of apartments was the best mask that conld have been devised 
 tP hide the villainy. 
 
CHAPTER II 41 
 
 cesses, with the King's saint-like sister Btlizalieth; and 
 they lived entirely together, excepting when the Dauphin- 
 ess dined in public. These ties seemed to be drawn 
 daily closer for some time, till the subsequent intimacy 
 with the Polignacs. Even when the Countess d'Artois 
 lay-in, the Dauphiness, then become Queen, transferred 
 her parties to the apartments of that Princess, rather 
 than lose the gratification of her society. 
 
 "During all this time, however, Du Barry, the Duke d'- 
 Aiguillon, and the aunts-Princesses, took special care to 
 keep themselves between her and any tenderness on the 
 part of the husband Dauphin, and, from different motives 
 uniting in one end, tried every means to get the object 
 of their hatred sent back to Vienna." 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 Journal Continued — Maria Theresa — Cardinal de Rohan — Empress 
 Induced by Him to Send Spies to France — Maria Antoinette Dislikes 
 Meddling with Politics — Deep Game of De Rohan — Spies Sent to 
 Fratice, Unknown to the Cardinal, to Discover How Par His Repre- 
 sentations Are to be Trusted — She Finds He Has Deceived Her, and 
 Resents It — He Falls in Love with Maria Antoinette — Betrays Her 
 to Her Mother — Indignation of Maria Antoinette on the Occasion — 
 He Suggests the Marriage of Maria Antoinette's Sister with Louis 
 XV. — His Double Intrigues with the Two Courts of France and Aus- 
 tria — Louis XV. Dies — Rohan Disgraced. 
 
 iiryiHE Empress-mother was thoroughly aware of all that 
 2 was going on. Her anxiety, not only about her 
 daughter, but her State policy, which it may be 
 apprehended was in her mind the stronger motive of the 
 two, encouraged the machinations of an individual who 
 must now appear upon the stage of action, and to whose 
 arts may be ascribed the worst of the sufferings of 
 Maria Antoinette. 
 
 ' ' I allude to the Cardinal Prince de Rohan. 
 
 "At this time he was Ambassador at the Court of 
 Vienna. The reliance the Empress placed on him* fa- 
 vored his criminal machinations against her daughter's 
 reputation. He was the cause of her sending spies to 
 watch the conduct of the Dauphiness, besides a list of 
 persons proper for her to cultivate, as well as of those 
 it was deemed desirable for her to exclude from her 
 confidence. 
 
 "As the Empress knew all those who, though high in 
 office in Versailles, secretly received pensions from Vienna, 
 she could, of course, tell without much expense of sagac- 
 
 * Madame Campan (vol. i., page 42) is very much in the dark on this 
 subject and totally misinformed. The Cardinal de Rohan did not be- 
 come obnoxious to Maria Theresa till it was discovered that he had 
 abused her confidence and betrayed that of her ministers. — Ed. 
 42 
 
CHAPTER III 43 
 
 ity, who were in the Austrian interest. The Dauphiness 
 was warned that she was surrounded by persons who 
 were not her friends. 
 
 "The conduct of Maria Theresa toward her daughter, 
 the Queen of Naples, will sufficiently explain how much 
 the Empress must have been chagrined at the absolute 
 indifference of Maria Antoinette to the State policy, which 
 was intended to have been served in sending her to 
 France. A less fitting instrument for the purpose could 
 not have been selected by the mother. Maria Antoinette 
 had much less of the politician about her than either of 
 her surviving sisters ; and so much was she addicted to 
 amusement, that she never even thought of entering into 
 State affairs till forced by the King's neglect of his most 
 essential prerogatives and called upon by the ministers 
 themselves to screen them from responsibility. Indeed, 
 the latter cause prevailed upon her to take her seat in 
 the cabinet council (though she took it with great reluc- 
 tance) long before she was impelled thither by events 
 and her consciousness of its necessity. She would often 
 exclaim to me : ' How happy I was during the lifetime 
 of Louis XV. ! No cares to disturb my peaceful slum- 
 bers ! No responsibility to agitate my mind ! No fears 
 of erring, of partiality, of injustice to break in upon my 
 enjoyments ! All, all happiness, my dear Princess, van- 
 ishes from the bosom of a female if she once deviate 
 from the prescribed domestic character of her sex! Noth- 
 ing was ever framed more wise than the Salique Laws, 
 which in France and many parts of Germany exclude 
 females from reigning, for few of us have that mascu- 
 line capacity so necessary to conduct with impartiality 
 and justice the affairs of State ! ' 
 
 " To this feeling of the impropriety of feminine interfer- 
 ence in masculine duties, coupled with her attachment 
 to France, both from principle and feeling, may be as- 
 cribed the neglect of her German connections, which led 
 to the many mortifying reproaches, and the still more 
 galling espionage to which she was subjected in her own 
 palace by her mother. These are, however, so many 
 
44 CHAPTER III 
 
 proofs of the falsehood of the allegations by which she 
 suffered so deeply afterward, of having sacrificed the in- 
 terests of her husband's kingdom to her predilection for 
 her mother's empire. 
 
 " The subtile Rohan designed to turn the anxiety of 
 Maria Theresa about the Dauphiness to account, and he 
 was also aware that the ambition of the Empress was 
 paramount in Maria Theresa's bosom to the love for her 
 child. He was about to play a deep and more than 
 double game. By increasing the mother's jealousy of the 
 daughter, and at the same time enhancing the importance 
 of the advantages afforded by her situation, to forward 
 the interests of the mother, he, no doubt, hoped to get 
 both within his power: for who can tell what wild ex- 
 pectation might not have animated such a mind as 
 Rohan's, at the prospect of governing not only the Court 
 of France but that of Austria? — the Court of France, 
 through a secret influence of his own ^dictation thrown 
 arotmd the Dauphiness by the mother's alarm; and that 
 of Austria, through a way he pointed out, in which the 
 object, that was most longed for bj'- the mother's ambi- 
 tion, seemed most likely to be achieved! While he en- 
 deavored to make Maria Theresa beset her daughter 
 with the spies I have mentioned, and which were gener- 
 ally of his own selection, he at the same time endea\j)red 
 to strengthen her impression of how important it w ^ to 
 her schemes to insure the daughter's co-operation. Con- 
 scious of the eagerness of Maria Theresa for the reoijvery 
 of the rich province which Frederick the Great of P«^ssia 
 had wrested from her ancient dominions, he pressed upon 
 her credulity the assurance, that the influence, of which 
 the Dauphiness was capable, over Louis XV. by the 
 youthful beauty's charms acting upon the dotard's ad- 
 ihiration, would readily induce that monarch to give such 
 aid to Austria as must insure the restoration of what it 
 lost. Silesia, it has been before observed, was always a 
 topic by means of which the weak side of Maria Theresa 
 could be attacked with success. There is generally some 
 peculiar frailty in the ambitious, through which the art- 
 
CHAPTER III 45 
 
 ful can throw them off their guard. The weak and 
 tyrannical Philip II. whenever the recovery of Holland 
 and the Low Countries was proposed to him was always 
 ready to rush headlong into any scheme for its accom- 
 plishment; the bloody Queen Mary, his wife, declared 
 that at her death the loss of Calais would be found en- 
 graven on her heart; and to Maria Theresa, Silesia was 
 the Holland and the Calais for which her wounded pride 
 was thirsting.* 
 
 " But Maria Theresa was wary, even in the midst of the 
 credulity of her ambition. The Baron de Neni was sent 
 by her privately to Versailles to examine, personally, 
 whether there was anything in Maria Antoinette's con- 
 duct requiring the extreme vigilance which had been 
 represented as indispensable. The report of the Baron 
 de Neni to his royal mistress was such as to convince 
 
 *No doubt if ever Ferdinand of Spain can be made to believe he 
 has lost Spanish America, he may exclaim with equal truth, "I feel 
 it in my head, in every fiber of my racked frame — it g^naws my 
 unrelenting heart!" However ridiculous, it is certainly true, that 
 whenever sovereigns, from their folly, ignorance, oppression, or mis- 
 rule, lose a part of their States, their reason generally follows, at 
 least upon that one theme. Such is the principle which at this mo- 
 ment actuates the Turks for the recovery of Greece! If the Greeks 
 are not Spaniards, and English valor do not degenerate to French 
 poltroonry, the fatalism by which they are guided will soon convince 
 the Turks that they are playing a losing game. The woeful experi- 
 ence of some of the greatest of the European politicians might afford 
 them a useful lesson. How impolitic is the neutrality of my own 
 country upon this interesting subject! Why is it thus reluctant to 
 assist in tearing off the yoke of an intelligent people's barbarous 
 oppressors, who are as uncivilized at this moment as they were cen- 
 turies ago, when they first took possession of Byzantium ? Ought 
 we not to rejoice in the triumph of those whom God himself com- 
 mands to propagate human emancipation 7 For liberty, like religion, 
 must have its martyrs. Its blood is the stamina of its existence. 
 Its opposers may exile, imprison, burn in effigy, and, in fact, hang 
 and shoot; but all these violences only strengthen the creed of the sur- 
 vivors, and must end in the ruin of the unholy cause they would 
 fain streng^en. Nations must be free to be prosperous, and I'rinces 
 liberal to be happy. Liberty is the phcenix that revives from its 
 ashes ! — £d. 
 
46 CHAPTER III 
 
 her she had been misled and her daughter misrepresented 
 by Rohan. The Empress instantly forbade him her 
 presence. 
 
 " The Cardinal upon this, unknown to the Court of 
 Vienna, and indeed, to everyone, except his factotum, 
 principal agent, and secretary, the Ahh6 Georgel, left the 
 Austrian capital, and came to Versailles, covering his dis- 
 grace by pretended leave of absence. On seeing Maria 
 Antoinette he fell enthusiastically in love with her. To 
 gain her confidence he disclosed the conduct which had 
 been observed toward her by the Empress, and, in coU' 
 firmation of the correctness of his disclosure, admitted 
 that he had himself chosen the spies, which had been set 
 on her. Indignant at such meanness in her mother, ano 
 despising the prelate, who could be base enough to com* 
 mit a deed equally corrupt and uncalled for, and even 
 thus wantonly betrayed when committed, the Dauphines^ 
 suddenly withdrew from his presence, and gave order:: 
 that he should never be admitted to any of her parties. 
 " But his imagination was too much heated by a guilty 
 passion of the blackest hue to recede ; and his nature too 
 presumptuous and fertile in expedients to be disconcerted. 
 He soon found means to conciliate both mother and 
 daughter; and both by pretending to manage with the 
 one the self-same plot, which, with the other, he was 
 recommending himself by pretending to overthrow. To 
 elude detection he interrupted the regular correspondence 
 between the Empress and the Dauphiness, and created a 
 coolness by preventing the communications which would 
 have unmasked him, that gave additional security to the 
 success of his deception. 
 
 "By the most diabolical arts he obtained an interview 
 with the Dauphiness, in which he regained her confi- 
 dence. He made her believe that he had been com- 
 missioned by her mother, as she had shown so little 
 interest for the house of Austria, to settle a marriage 
 for her sister, the Archduchess Elizabeth, with Louis 
 XV. The Dauphiness was deeply affected at the state- 
 ment. She could not conceal her agitation. She invol- 
 
CHAPTER III 47 
 
 untarily confessed how much she should deplore such an 
 alliance. The Cardinal instantly perceived his advantage 
 and was too subtle to let it pass. He declared that as 
 \t was to him the negotiation had been confided, if the 
 Dauphiness would keep her own counsel, never commu- 
 nicate their conversation to the Empress, but leave the 
 whole matter to his management and only assure him 
 that he was forgiven, he would pledge himself to ar- 
 range things to her satisfaction. The Dauphiness, not 
 wishing to see another raised to the throne over her 
 head and to her scorn, under the assurance that no one 
 knew of the intention or could prevent it but the Cardi- 
 nal, promised him her faith and favor ; and thus rashly 
 fell into the springe of this wily intriguer. 
 
 " Exulting to find Maria Antoinette in his power, the 
 Cardinal left Versailles as privately as he arrived there, 
 for Vienna. His next object was to insnare the Em- 
 press, as he had done her daughter ; and by a singular 
 caprice fortune, during his absence, had been preparing 
 for him the means. 
 
 "The Abb6 Georgel, his secretary, by underhand ma- 
 neuvers, to which he was accustomed, had obtained ac- 
 cess to all the secret State correspondence, in which the 
 Empress had expressed herself fully to the Count de 
 Mercy relative to the views of Russia and Prussia upon 
 Poland, whereby her own plans were much thwarted. 
 The acqtiirement of copies of these documents naturally 
 gave the Cardinal free access to the Court and a ready 
 introduction once more to the Empress. She was too 
 much committed by his possession of such weapons, not 
 to be most happy to make her peace with him; and he 
 was too sagacious not to make the best use of his oppor- 
 tunity. To regain her confidence, he betrayed some of 
 the subaltern agents, through whose treachery he had 
 procured his evidences, and, in further confirmation of his 
 resources-, i^showed .the Empress several dispatches from 
 her own ministers to the Courts of Russia and Prussia. 
 He had long, he said, been in possession of similar views 
 of aggrandisement, upon which these Courts were about 
 
48 CHAPTER III 
 
 to act; and had, for a while, even incurred Her Impe- 
 rial Majesty's displeasure, merely because he was not in 
 a situation fully to explain ; but that he had now thought 
 of the means to crush their schemes before they could 
 be put in practice. He apprised her of his being aware 
 that her Imperial Majesty's ministers were actively car- 
 rying on a correspondence with Russia, with a view of 
 joining Her in checking the French co-operation with the 
 Grand Signior; and warned her that if this design were 
 SECRETLY pursucd, it would defeat the very views she had 
 in sharing in the spoliation of Poland; and if openly, it 
 would be deemed an avowal of hostilities against the 
 Court of France, whose political system would certainly 
 impel it to resist any attack upon the divan of Constanti- 
 nople, that the balance of power in Europe might be main- 
 tained against the formidable ambition of Catherine, 
 whose gigantic hopes had been already too much realized. 
 
 "Maria Theresa was no less astonished at these disclo- 
 sures of the Cardinal than the Dauphiness had been at 
 his communication concerning her. She plainly saw that 
 all her plans were known, and might be defeated from 
 their detection. 
 
 "The Cardinal, having succeeded in alarming the Em- 
 press, took from his pocket a fabulous correspondence, 
 hatched by his secretary, the Abb6 Georgel. ' There, 
 madam,' said he, 'this will convince your majesty that 
 the warm interest I have taken in your Imperial house 
 has carried me further than I was justified in having 
 gone; but seeing the sterility of the Dauphiness, or, as 
 it is reported by some of the Court, the total disgust the 
 Dauphin has to consummate the marriage^ the coldness 
 of your daughter toward the interest of your Court, and 
 the prospect of a race from the Countess d'Artois, for the 
 consequences of which there is no answering, I have, un- 
 known to your Imperial Majesty, taken upon myself to 
 propose to Louis XV. a marriage with the Archduchess 
 Elizabeth, who, on becoming Queen of France, will im- 
 mediately have it in her power to forward the Austrian 
 interest; for Louis XV., as the first proof of his affection 
 
CHAPTER III 49 
 
 to his young bride, will at once secure to your Empire 
 the aid you stand so much in need of against the ambi- 
 tion of these two rising states. The recovery of your Im- 
 perial Majesty's ancient dominions may then be looked upon 
 as accomplished from the influence of the French cabinet.' 
 
 "The bait was swallowed. Maria Theresa was so over- 
 joyed at this scheme that she totally forgot all former 
 animosity against the Cardinal. She was encouraged to 
 ascribe the silence of Maria Antoinette (whose letters had 
 been intercepted by the Cardinal himself) to her resent- 
 ment of this project concerning her sister; and the de- 
 luded Empress, availing herself of the pretended zeal of 
 the Cardinal for the interest of her family, gave him full 
 powers to return to France and secretly negotiate the 
 alliance for her daughter Elizabeth, which was by no 
 means to be disclosed to the Dauphiness till the King's 
 proxy should be appointed to perform the ceremony at 
 Vienna. This was all the Cardinal wished for. 
 
 "Meanwhile, in order to obtain a still greater ascendancy 
 over the Court of France, he had expended immense sums 
 to bribe secretaries and ministers ; and couriers were even 
 stopped to have copies taken of all the correspondence to 
 and from Austria. At the same crisis the Empress was 
 informed by Prince Kaunitz that the Cardinal and his 
 suite at the palace of the French ambassador carried on 
 such an immense and barefaced traffic of French manu- 
 factures of every description that Maria Theresa thought 
 proper, in order to prevent future abuse, to abolish the 
 privilege which gave to ministers and ambassadors an op- 
 portunity of defrauding the revenue. Though this law 
 was leveled exclusively at the Cardinal, it was thought 
 convenient under the circumstances to avoid irritating 
 him, and it was consequently made general. But, the 
 Count de Mercy, now obtaining some clue to his duplicity, 
 an intimation was given to the Court at Versailles, to 
 which the King replied, ' If the Empress be dissatisfied 
 with the French ambassador, he shall be recalled.' But 
 though completely unmasked, none dared publicly to ac- 
 cuse him, each party fearing a discovery of its own 
 4 
 
50 CHAPTER III 
 
 intrigue. His ofificial recall did not in consequence take 
 place for some time; and the Cardinal, not thinking it 
 prudent to go back till Louis XV. should be no more, 
 lest some unforeseen discovery of his project for supply- 
 ing her royal paramour with a queen should rouse Du 
 Barry to get his Cardinalship sent to the Bastille for 
 life, remained fixed in his post, waiting for events. 
 
 "At length Louis XV. expired, and the Cardinal re- 
 turned to Versailles. He contrived to obtain a private 
 audience of the young Queen. He presumed upon her 
 former facility in listening to him, and was about to betray 
 the last confidence of Maria Theresa; but the Queen, 
 shocked at the knowledge which she had obtained of his 
 having been equally treacherous to her with her mother, 
 in disgust and alarm left the room without receiving a let- 
 ter he had brought her from Maria Theresa, and without 
 deigning to address a single word to him. In the heat of 
 her passion and resentment, she was nearly exposing all 
 she knew of his infamies to the King, when the cool-headed 
 Princess Elizabeth opposed her, from the seeming impru- 
 dence of such an abrupt discovery; alleging that it 
 might cause an open rupture between the two Courts, as 
 it had already been the source of a reserve and coolness, 
 which had not yet been explained. The Queen was de- 
 termined never more to commit herself by seeing the 
 Cardinal. She accordingly sent for her mother's letter, 
 which he himself delivered into the hands of her con- 
 fidential messenger, who advised the Queen not to betray 
 the Cardinal to the King, lest, in so doing, she should 
 never be able to guard herself against the domestic spies, 
 by whom, perhaps, she was even yet surrounded! The 
 Cardinal, conceiving, from the impunity of his conduct, 
 that he still held the Queen in check, through the in- 
 fluence of her fears of his disclosing her weakness upon 
 the subject of the obstruction she threw in the way of 
 her sister's marriage, did not resign the hope of converting 
 that ascendancy to his future profit. 
 
 "The fatal silence to which Her Majesty was thus un- 
 fortunately advised I regret from the bottom of my soul ! 
 
CHAPTER III 51 
 
 All the successive vile plots of the Cardinal against the 
 peace and reputation of the Queen may be attributed to 
 this ill-judged prudence! Though it resulted from an 
 honest desire of screening Her Majesty from the resent- 
 ment or revenge to which she might have subjected her- 
 self from this villain, who had already injured her in her 
 own estimation for having been credulous enough to have 
 listened to him, yet from this circumstance it is that the 
 Prince de Rohan built the foundation of all the after 
 frauds and machinations with which he blackened the 
 character and destroyed the comfort of his illustrious 
 victim. It is obvious that a mere exclusion from Court 
 was too mild a punishment for such offenses, and it was 
 but too natural that such a mind as his, driven from the 
 royal presence, and, of course, from all the noble societies 
 to which it led (the anti-Court party excepted), should 
 brood over the means of inveigling the Queen into a con- 
 sent for his reappearance before her and the gay world, 
 which was his only element, and if her favor should prove 
 unattainable to revenge himself by her ruin. 
 
 "On the Cardinal's return to France,* all his numerous 
 and powerful friends beset the King and Queen to allow 
 of his restoration to his embassy; but though on his 
 arrival at Versailles, finding the Court had removed to 
 Compeigne, he had a short audience there of the King, 
 all efforts in his favor were thrown away. Equally unsuc- 
 cessful was every intercession with the Empress-mother. 
 She had become thoroughly awakened to his worthless- 
 ness, and she declared she would never more even re- 
 ceive him in her dominions as a visitor. The Cardinal 
 being apprised of this by some of his intimates, was at 
 last persuaded to give up the idea of further importunity ; 
 and, pocketing his disgrace, retired with his hey dukes and 
 his secretary, the Abb6 Georgel, to whom may be attrib- 
 uted all the artful intrigues of his disgraceful diplo- 
 macy.! 
 
 * This circumstance is mentioned also by Madame Campan. 
 t The Abb6 Georgel, in his memoirs, justiiies the conduct of his 
 superior with great ability; and it was very politic in him to do so, 
 
52 CHAPTER III 
 
 "It is evident that Rohan had no idea, during all his 
 schemes to supplant the Dauphiness by marrying her 
 sister to the King, that the secret hope of Louis XV. 
 had been to divorce the Dauphin and marry the slighted 
 bride himself. Perhaps it is fortunate that Rohan did 
 not know this. A brain so fertile in mischief as his 
 might have converted such a circumstance to baneful 
 uses. But the death of Louis XV. put an end to all the 
 then existing schemes for a change in her position. It 
 was to her a real, though but a momentary triumph. 
 From the hour of her arrival she had a powerful party 
 to cope with; and the fact of her being an Austrian, 
 independent of the jealousy created by her charms, was, 
 in itself, a spell to conjure up armies, against which she 
 stood alone, isolated in the face of embattled myriads! 
 But she now reared her head, and her foes trembled in 
 her presence. Yet she could not guard against the moles 
 busy in the earth secretly to undermine her. Nay, had 
 not Louis XV. died at the moment he did, there is 
 scarcely a doubt, from the number and the quality of 
 the hostile influences working on the credulity of the 
 young Dauphin, that Maria Antoinette would have been 
 very harshly dealt with ; even the more so from the par- 
 tiality of the dotard who believed himself to be reign- 
 ing. But she has been preserved from her enemies to 
 become their sovereign; and if her crowned brow has 
 erewhile been stung by thorns in its coronal, let me not 
 despair of their being hereafter smothered in yet un- 
 blown roses.* 
 
 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. 
 
 •The vain wish of friendship, that has been cruelly disappointed! 
 Fortunate would it have been for Maria Antoinette had she been 
 sent back to Vienna! What an ocean of blood, what writhingrs of 
 human misery, it might have prevented! Had she been sent back, 
 spotless as the first fallen snow, her life might have passed in that do- 
 mestic bliss which was her sole ambition, and she would have gone 
 down to the peaceful tombs of her august ancestors, leaving, perhaps, 
 the page of history unstained by some of the greatest of its crimesi 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Journal Continued — Accession of Louis XVI. and Maria Antoinette — 
 Happy Beginning — Public Joy — The New King More Affectionate 
 to His Queen — Du Barry and Party No Longer Received at Court — 
 Unsuccessful Attempt of the Queen to Restore Choiseul to the Min- 
 istry — Insinuations against the Queen — Vermond and the King — 
 The Queen's Modesty Respecting Her Toilet — Mademoiselle Ber- 
 tin, the Milliner, Introduced — Anecdote of the Royal Hairdresser — 
 False Charge of Extravagance against the Queen — Remarks of the 
 Editor. 
 
 "rT-<HE accession of Louis XVI. and Maria Antoinette to 
 I the crown of France took place (May lo, 1774) 
 
 under the most propitious auspices ! 
 "After the long, corrupt reign of an old debauched 
 Prince whose vices were degrading to himself and to a na- 
 tion groaning under the lash of prostitution and caprice, 
 the most cheering changes were expected from the known 
 exemplariness of his successor and the amiableness of his 
 consort. Both were looked up to as models of goodness. 
 The virtues of Louis XVI. were so generally known that 
 all France hastened to acknowledge them, while the Queen's 
 fascinations acted like a charm on all who had not been 
 invincibly prejudiced against the many excellent qualities 
 which entitled her to love and admiration. Indeed, I 
 never heard an insinuation against either the King or 
 Queen but from those depraved minds which never pos- 
 sessed virtue enough to imitate theirs, or were jealous of 
 the wonderful powers of pleasing that so eminently dis- 
 tinguished Maria Antoinette from the rest of her sex. 
 
 "On the death of Louis XV. the entire Court removed 
 from Versailles to the palace of La Muette, situate in the 
 Bois de Boulogne, very near Paris. The confluence of 
 Parisians, who came in crowds joyfully to hail the death 
 of the old vitiated Sovereign, and the accession of his 
 adored successors, became quite annoying to the whole 
 
 S3 
 
54 CHAPTER IV 
 
 Royal Family. The enthusiasm with which the Parisians 
 hailed their young King, and in particular his amiable 
 young partner, lasted for many days. These spontaneous 
 evidences of attachment were regarded as prognostics of a 
 long reign of happiness. If any inference can be drawn 
 from public opinion, could there be a stronger assurance 
 than this one of uninterrupted future tranquillity to its 
 objects ? 
 
 "To the Queen herself it was a double triumph. The 
 conspirators, whose depravity had been laboring to make 
 her their victim, departed from the scene of power. The 
 husband, who for four years had been callous to her at- 
 tractions, became awakened to them. A complete change 
 in the domestic system of the palace was wrought sud- 
 denly. The young King, during the interval which elapsed 
 between the death and the interment of his grandfather, 
 from Court etiquette was confined to his apartments. The 
 youthful couple therefore saw each other with less re- 
 straint. The marriage was consummated. Maria Antoi- 
 nette from this moment may date that influence over the 
 heart (would I might add over the head and policy !) of 
 the King, which never slackened during the remainder 
 of their lives. 
 
 "Madame Du Barry was much better dealt with by the 
 young King, whom she had always treated with the greatest 
 levity, than she, or her numerous courtiers, expected. She 
 was allowed her pension, and the entire enjoyment of all 
 her ill-gotten and accumulated wealth: but, of course, 
 excluded from ever appearing at Court, and politically 
 exiled from Paris to the Chateau aux Dames. 
 
 "This implacable foe and her infamous coadjutors being 
 removed from further interference in matters of state by 
 the expulsion of all their own ministers, their rivals, the 
 Duke de Choiseul and his party, by whom Maria An- 
 toinette had been brought to France, were now in high 
 expectation of finding the direction of the Government, 
 by the Queen's influence, restored to that nobleman. But 
 the King's choice was already made. He had been ruled 
 by his aunts, and appointed the ministers suggested by 
 
CHAPTER IV 55 
 
 th«m and his late grandfather's friends, who feared the 
 preponderance of the Austrian influence. The three 
 ladies, Madame la Mar^chale de Beauveau, the Duchess 
 de Choiseul, and the Duchess de Grammont, who were all 
 well known to Louis XVI. and stood high in his opinion 
 for many excellent qualities, and especially for their in- 
 dependent assertion of their own and the Dauphiness's 
 dignity by retiring from Court in consequence of the 
 supper at which Du Barry was introduced, these ladies, 
 though received on their return thither with peculiar 
 welcome, in vain united their efforts with those of the 
 Queen and the Abb6 Vermond, to overcome the prejudice 
 which opposed Choiseul's reinstatement. It was all in 
 vain. The royal aunts, Adelaide especially, hated Choiseul 
 for the sake of Austria, and his agency in bringing Maria 
 Antoinette to France; and so did the King's tutor and 
 governor, the Duke de Vauguyon, who had ever been 
 hostile to any sort of friendship with Vienna; and these 
 formed a host impenetrable even to the influence of the 
 Queen, which was opposed by all the leaders of the pre- 
 vailing party, who, though they were beginning externally 
 to court, admire, and idolize her, secretly surrounded her 
 by their noxious and viperous intrigues, and, while they 
 lived in her bosom, fattened on the destruction of her 
 fame ! 
 
 "One of the earliest of the paltry insinuations against 
 Maria Antoinette emanated from her not counterfeiting 
 deep affliction at the decease of the old King. A few 
 days after that event, the Court received the regular visits 
 of condolence and congratulation of the nobility, whose 
 duty prescribes their attendance upon such occasions; 
 and some of them, among whom were the daughters 
 of Louis XV., not finding a young Queen of nineteen 
 hypocritically bathed in tears, on returning to their abodes 
 declared her the most indecorous of Princesses, and dif- 
 fused a strong impression of her want of feeling. At the 
 head of these detractors were Mesdames de Guem^n^e 
 and Marsan, rival pretenders to the favors of the Cardinal 
 de Rohan, who, having by the death of Louis XV. lost 
 
S6 CHAPTER IV 
 
 their influence and their unlimited power to appoint and 
 dismiss ministers, themselves became ministers to their 
 own evil geniuses, in calumniating her whose legitimate 
 elevation annihilated their monstrous pretensions! 
 
 "The Ahh6 Vermond, seeing the defeat of the 
 party of the Duke de Choiseul, by whom he had 
 been sent to the Court of Vienna on the recommenda- 
 tion of Brienne, began to tremble for his own security. 
 As soon as the Court had arrived at Choisy and he was 
 assured of the marriage having been consummated, he 
 obtained, with the Queen's consent, an audience of the 
 King, for the purpose of soliciting his sanction to his 
 continuing in his situation. On submitting his suit to 
 the King, His Majesty merely gave a shrug of the 
 shoulders and turned to converse with the Duke d'Aiguil- 
 lon, who at that moment entered the room. The Abb6 
 stood stupefied, and the Queen, seeing the crestfallen 
 humor of her tutor, laughed and cheered him by re- 
 marking, 'There is more meaning in the shrug of a 
 king than in the embrace of a minister. The one al- 
 ways promises, but is seldom sincere ; the other is gener- 
 ally sincere, but never promises. ' The Abb6, not knowing 
 how to interpret the dumb answer, finding the King's 
 back turned and his conversation with d'Aiguillon con- 
 tinuing, was retiring with a shrug of his own shoulders 
 to the Queen, when she exclaimed good-humoredly to 
 Louis, laughing and pointing to the Abb6, 'Look! look! 
 see how readily a Church dignitary can imitate the good 
 Christian King, who is at the head of the Church.' The 
 King, seeing the Abb6 still waiting, said dryly, 'Sir, 
 you are confirmed in your situation,' and then resumed 
 his conversation with the Duke. 
 
 "This anecdote is a sufficient proof that Louis XVI. 
 had no prepossession in favor of the Abb6 Vermond, and 
 that it was merely not to wound the feelings of the 
 Queen that he was tolerated. The Queen herself was 
 conscious of this, and used frequently to say to me how 
 much she was indebted to the King, for such deference 
 to her private choice, in allowing Vermond to be her 
 
P-63 
 
 To the Sieur Randon de la Tour 
 Maison Bouche du Roi 
 I s d 
 195,917 <5. 9. 
 
 2d October, 1788. 
 To the Administrator of my Royal Treasury, in charge of the 
 department of general expenditures. Monsieur Francois Louis Joseph la 
 Borde de Mereville: Pay to the account of the Sieur Randon de la Tour, 
 one of the Administrators of my Royal Treasury, in charge of the 
 expenditures of my Household, of that of the Queen, and of other 
 disbursements enumerated in my edict of tKe month of March, 1788, the 
 sum of one hundred and ninety-five thousand nine hundred and seventeen 
 livres, 9 sols, 9 deniers, to be used in paying the cost of general service in 
 the Maison Bouche during the quarter beg^ming October, 17S8. Given at 
 Versailles, the third of March, 1789. 
 
 LOUIS. 
 On account of the 
 
 Royal Treasury 
 
 Approved 
 LOUIS 
 
 Louis Alexander Villedieu 
 
 Document of Louis XVI. 
 
-J 
 
CHAPTER IV 57 
 
 secretary, as she did not remember the King's ever hav- 
 ing held any communication with the Abh6 during the 
 whole time he was attached to the service, though the 
 Ahh6 always expressed himself with the greatest respect 
 toward the King. 
 
 "The decorum of Maria Antoinette would not allow her 
 to endure those public exhibitions of the ceremony of 
 dressing herself which had been customary at Court. 
 This reserve was highly approved by His Majesty; and 
 one of the first reforms she introduced, after the acces- 
 sion, was in the internal discipline of her own apartment. 
 
 "It was during one of the visits, apart from Court eti. 
 quette, to the toilet of the Queen, that the Duchess de 
 Chartres, afterward Duchess of Orleans, introduced the 
 famous Mademoiselle Bertin, who afterward became so 
 celebrated as the Queen's milliner; the first that was 
 ever allowed to approach a royal palace; and it was 
 months before Maria Antoinette had courage to receive 
 her milliner in any other than the private apartment, 
 which, by the alteration Her Majesty had made in the 
 arrangements of the household, she set apart for the pur- 
 poses of dressing in comfort by herself and free from all 
 intruders. 
 
 "Till then the Queen was not only very plain in her at- 
 tire, but very economical; a circumstance which, I have 
 often heard her say, gave great umbrage to the other 
 princesses of the Court of Versailles, who never showed 
 themselves, from the moment they rose till they returned 
 to bed, except in full dress; while she herself made all 
 her morning visits in a simple white cambric gown and 
 straw hat. This simplicity, unfortunately, like many other 
 trifles, whose consequences no foresight would have pre- 
 dicted, tended much to injure Maria Antoinette, not only 
 with the Court dandies, but the nation ; by whom, though 
 she was always censured, she was as suddenly imitated 
 in all she wore, or did. 
 
 " From the private closet, which Maria Antoinette re- 
 served to herself, and had now opened to her milliner, she 
 would return, after the great points of habiliment were 
 
S8 CHAPTER IV 
 
 accomplished, to those who were waiting with memorials 
 at her public toilet, where the hairdresser would finish 
 putting the ornaments in Her Majesty's hair.* 
 
 "The King made Maria Antoinette a present of Le Petit 
 Trianon. Much has been said of the extravagant expense 
 lavished by her upon this spot. I can only declare that 
 the greater part of the articles of furniture which had not 
 been worn out by time or were not worm or moth-eaten, 
 and her own bed among them, were taken from the 
 apartments of former queens, and some of them had 
 actually belonged to Anne of Austria, who, like Maria 
 Antoinette, had purchased them out of her private sav- 
 ings. Hence it is clear that neither of the two Queens 
 were chargeable to the State even for those little indul- 
 gences, which every private lady of property is permitted 
 from her husband, without coming under the lash of 
 censure. 
 
 *The Count de Fersen relates a curious anecdote of an occurrence 
 which caused a great deal of mirth among the visitors of Her Majesty's 
 toilet rendezvous. Mademoiselle Bertin had invented a new head orna- 
 ment of gauze, ribbons, flowers, beads, and feathers, for the Queen ; but 
 the tire-woman, finding it deficient in the dimensions Her Majesty had 
 ordered, by some folds, directed the gauze architect. Mademoiselle Ber- 
 tin, to alter it so as to conform thoroughly to the model. The was exe- 
 cuted ; and Maria Antoinette went to her morning visitors. The royal 
 hairdresser, according to custom, was in attendance there, with an em- 
 bellishment, of which she did not perceive the use. "What are these 
 steps for ? " exclaimed she to the tire-woman. The knight of the comb 
 advanced, and, making a most profound reverence, humbly represented 
 to Her Majesty that. Mademoiselle Bertin having so enormously in- 
 creased the height of the head ornaments, it would be impossible for 
 him to establish them upon a firm foundation, unless he could have a 
 complete command of the head they were to be fixed on ; and, being but 
 of the middle size and Her Majesty very tall, he could not achieve the 
 duty of his office without mounting three or four steps, which he did, to 
 the great amusement of the Queen and the whole party, and thus placed 
 the ne plus ultra of Mademoiselle Bertin's invention, to the best of his 
 own judgment, on the pinnacle of the royal head ! As Hamlet says of 
 Yorick — " Alas! where be your flashes of merriment now?" — Who 
 would have dared, at that toilet, and among those smiles, to have prog- 
 nosticated the cruel fate of the head which then attracted such general 
 admiration ! 
 
CHAPTER IV 59 
 
 "Her allowance as Queen of France was no more than 
 300,000 francs (_;£i2,2So). It is well known that she was 
 generous, liberal, and very charitable; that she paid all 
 her expenses regularly, respecting her household, Tria- 
 non, her dresses, diamonds, millinery, and everything 
 else; her Court establishment excepted, and some few 
 articles, which were paid by the civil list, She was one 
 of the first Queens in Europe, had the first establish- 
 ment in Europe, and was obliged to keep up the most 
 refined and luxurious Court in Europe; and all upon 
 means no greater than had been assigned to many of the 
 former bigoted queens, who led a cloistered life, retired 
 from the world without circulating their wealth among 
 the nation which supplied them with so large a revenue ; 
 and yet who lived and died uncensured for hoarding from 
 the nation what ought at least to have been in part ex- 
 pended for its advantage.* 
 
 "And yet of all the extra expenditure which the dignity 
 and circumstances of Maria Antoinette exacted, not a 
 franc came from the public treasury ; but everything out 
 of her majesty's private purse and savings from the 
 above three hundred thousand francs, which was an in- 
 finitely less sum than Louis XIV. had lavished yearly on 
 the Duchess de Montespan, and less than half what Louis 
 XV. had expended on the two last favorites, Pompadour 
 
 * The Queens of England, who never had occasion to keep a Court 
 like that of France, besides the revenue allowed them, it is said, and 
 with some authority, have sinecures, resulting merely from the insertion 
 of their names in the liturgy of eighty thousand pounds a year; and it is 
 further added, that Madame Schwallemberg was of no little service to 
 herself and others, in exercising the brokership of these ecclesiastical 
 benefices. 
 
 Now, then, for all this outcry against the extravagance of the Court 
 of France, leveled in particular against Maria Antoinette, for having lav- 
 ished the national wealth, uppn which pretext her life was made a scene of 
 suffering, and her death a martyrdom ! Let me take a momentary re-' 
 trospect of the modest expenses of her murderers, the scrupulous sans 
 culottes, who succeeded the Court of Louis XVL and committed all 
 their horrors in the name of national economy ; for here is the record 
 
6o CHAPTER IV 
 
 and Du Barry. These two women, as clearly appeared 
 from the private registers, found among the papers of . 
 Louis XV. after his death, by Louis XVL (but which, 
 out of respect for the memory of his grandfather, he 
 destroyed), these two women had amassed more property 
 in diamonds and other valuables than all the Queens of 
 France from the days of Catherine de Medicis up to 
 those of Maria Antoinette.* 
 
 " Such was the goodness of heart of the excellent Queen 
 of Louis XVI., such the benevolence of her character, 
 that not only did she pay all the pensions of the invalids 
 left by her predecessors, but she distributed in public 
 and private charities greater sums than any of the for- 
 
 taken from the public register of the 500 tyrants, mountebank ragamuffins 
 overthrowers of thrones, king killers, and sworn enemies of royalty, slaves 
 to the five buffoons of leaders, whose only virtue was that of wearing a 
 filthy shirt a month, and then turning it for the comfort and enjoyment 
 of clean linen next their polluted bodies ! 
 
 Ministerial Public Expenses. 
 30 millions of francs au ministre de la justice. 
 goo " " a celui de I'interieur. 
 
 200 " " i celui des finances. 
 
 1200 " " a celui de la guerre. 
 
 50 " " a celui des relations ext&ieures. 
 
 600 " " 4 celui de la marine. 
 
 Nearly three thousand millions, or three milliards, besides two millions 
 of secret service money in that particular year, which sometimes, accord- 
 ing to the quantity and quality of their spies, exceeded this sum, but 
 which never was less during this anarchial government of miscreants. I 
 have appended this trifling account, merely to give the reader an idea of 
 what naturally became the further expenses with which the nation was 
 afterward overburdened to support these regicide sans culottes, when, 
 in the short time which elapsed between the plundering bloody govern- 
 ment of Robespierre and the return to a taste for culottes, no less a sum 
 than 20 louis was expended on the mere embroidery of the flaps of one 
 pair for the public service ! 
 
 *The pensions and private landed property which Du Barry was 
 allowed to enjoy unmolested till the fatal period of the Revolution; 
 besides that of her predecessor; being divided at her death among 
 different branches of her nearest relations, has continued ever since 
 their legitimate inheritance. 
 
CHAPTER IV 6i 
 
 mer Queens, thus increasing her expenses without anj' 
 proportionate augmentation of her resources."* 
 
 ♦Indeed, covild Louis XVI. have foreseen — when, in order not to 
 expose the character of his predecessor and to honor the dignity of 
 the throne and monarchy of France, he destroyed the papers of his 
 grandfather — what an arm of strength he would have possessed in 
 preserving them, against the accusers of his unfortunate Queen and 
 himself, ^he never could have thrown away such means of establish- 
 ing a most honorable contrast between his own and former reigns. 
 His career exhibits no superfluous expenditure. Its economy was 
 most rigfid. No sovereign was ever more scrupulous with the public 
 money. He never had any public or private predilection; no dilapi- 
 dated minister for a favorite; no courtezan intrigue. For gaming he 
 had no fondness; and, if his abilities were not splendid, he certainly 
 had no predominating vices. 
 
62 CHAPTER IV 
 
 NOTE. 
 
 T MUST once more quit the Journal of the Princess. Her highness here 
 ^ ceases to record particulars of the early part of the reign of Louis 
 XVI. and everything essential upon those times is too well known to 
 render it desirable to detain the reader by an attempt to supply the de- 
 ficiency. It is enough to state that the secret unhappiness of the Queen 
 at not yet having the assurance of an heir was by no means weakened 
 by the impatience of the people, nor by the accouchement of the Count- 
 ess d'Artois of the Duke d' AngoulSme. While the Queen continued 
 the intimacy, and even held her parties at the apartments of the Duchess 
 that she might watch over her friend, even in this triumph over herself 
 the poissardes grossly insulted her in her misfortune, and coarsely called 
 on her to give heirs to the throne ! 
 
 A consolation, however, for the unkind feeling of the populace was 
 about to arise in the delights of one of her strongest friendships. I am 
 come to the epoch when Her Majesty first formed an acquaintance with 
 the Princess Lamballe. 
 
 After a few words of my own on the family of her highness, I shall 
 leave her to pursue her beautiful and artless narrative of her parentage, 
 early sorrows, and introduction to Her Majesty, unbroken. 
 
 The Journal of the history of Maria Antoinette, after this slight inter- 
 ruption for the private history of her friend, will become blended with the 
 Journal of the Princess Lamballe, and both thenceforward proceed in 
 their course together, like their destinies, which from that moment never 
 became disunited. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 Notes of the Editor — Family of the Princess Lamballe — Journal Re- 
 sumed — Her Own Account of Herself — Duke and Duchess dc 
 Penthievre — Mademoiselle de Penthievre and Prince Lamballe — 
 King of Sardinia — Ingenious and Romantic Anecdotes of the Prin- 
 cess Lamballe's Marriage — The Duke de Chartres, Afterward Or- 
 leans, Marries Mademoiselle de Penthievre — De Chartres Makes 
 Approaches to the Princess Lamballe — Being Scorned, Corrupts Her 
 Husband — Prince Lamballe Dies — Sledge Parties — The Princess 
 Becomes Acquainted with the Queen — Is Made Her Majesty's Super. 
 intendent. 
 
 MARIA Theresa Louisa Carignan, Princess of Savoy, 
 was born at Turin on the 8th of September, 1749. 
 She had three sisters: two of them were married 
 at Rome, one to the Prince Doria Pamfili, the other to 
 the Prince Colonna; and the third, at Vienna, to the 
 Prince Lobkowitz, whose son was the great patron of the 
 immortal Haydn, * the celebrated composer. She had a 
 
 * The celebrated Haydn was, even at the age of 74, when I last saV' 
 him at Vienna, still the most good-humored bon vivant of his age. He 
 delighted in telling the origin of his good fortune, which he said he en- 
 tirely owed to a bad wife ! 
 
 When he was first married, he said, finding no remedy against do- 
 mestic squabbles, he used to quit his bad half and go and enjoy himself 
 !srith his good friends, who were Hungarians and Germans, for weeks 
 together. Once, having returned home after a considerable absence, his 
 wife, while he was in bed next morning, followed her husband's exam- 
 ple: she did even more, for she took all his clothes, even to his shoes, 
 stockings, and small clothes, nay, everything he had, along with her! 
 Thus situated, he was under the necessity of doing something to cover 
 nis nakedness ; and this, he himself acknowledged, was the first cause of 
 his seriously applying himself to the profession which has since made his 
 same immortal. 
 
 He used to laugh, saying: " I was from that time so habituated to 
 Btndy that my wife, often fearing it would injure me, would threaten 
 me with the same operation if I did not go out and amuse myself; but 
 then," added he, "I was grown old, and she was sick and no longet 
 
 63 
 
64 CHAPTER V 
 
 brother also, the Prince Carignan, who, manying against 
 the consent of his family, was no longer received by 
 them ; but the unremitting and affectionate attention which 
 the Princess Lamballe paid to him and his new connec- 
 tions was an ample compensation for the loss he sustained 
 in the severity of his other sisters.* 
 
 !With regard to the early life of the Princess Lamballe, 
 the arranger of these pages must now leave her to pur- 
 sue her own beautiful and artless narrative unbroken, 
 up to the epoch of her appointment to the household of 
 the Queen. It will be recollected that the papers of 
 which the reception has been already described in the 
 introduction, formed the private journal of this most am- 
 iable princess; and those passages relating to her own 
 early life being the most connected part of them, it has 
 been thought that to disturb them would be a kind of 
 sacrilege. After the appointment of her highness to the 
 superintendence of the Queen's household, her manu- 
 scripts again become confused, and fall into scraps and 
 fragments, which will require to be once more rendered 
 clear by the recollections of events and conversations 
 by which the preceding chapters have been assisted. 
 
 "I was the favorite child of a numerous family, and in- 
 tended, almost at my birth — as is generally the case 
 among princes who are nearly allied to crowned heads — 
 to be united to one of the Princes, my near relation, of 
 the royal house of Sardinia; 
 
 " A few years after this, the Duke and Duchess de Pen- 
 thifevre arrived at Turin, on their way to Italy, for the 
 
 jealous." He spoke remarkably good Italian, though he had never been 
 in Italy, and on my going to Vienna to hear his ' • Creation," he promised 
 to accompany me back to Italy; but he unfortunately died before I re- 
 turned to Vienna from Carlsbad. 
 
 * If I mistake not, the present Prince Carignan, famous in the late 
 history of Piedmont, is a son of that marriage, the same who is now 
 distinguished by the title of " Prince of the Epaulets of a French soldier 
 of the Trocadero." 
 
 The Prince Carignan I speak of has been united to the daughter of 
 the late Grand Duke of Tuscany, and is now the only male heir to the 
 crown of Sardinia, Piedmont, Savoy, etc. 
 
CHAPTER V 6s 
 
 purpose of visiting the different Courts, to make suita- 
 ble marriage contracts for both their infant children. 
 
 "These two children were Mademoiselle de Penthifevre, 
 afterward the unhappy Duchess of Orleans, and their 
 idolized son, the Prince Lamballe.* 
 
 " Happy would it have been both for the Prince who 
 was destined to the former and the Princess who was 
 given to the latter, had these unfortunate alliances never 
 taken place. 
 
 "The Duke and Duchess de Penthifevre became so sin- 
 gularly attached to my beloved parents, and, in particular, 
 to myself, that the very day they first dined at the Court 
 of Turin, they mentioned the wish they had formed, of 
 uniting me to their young son, the Prince Lamballe. 
 
 " The King of Sardinia, as the head of the house of 
 Savoy and Carignan, said there had been some conver- 
 sation as to my becoming a member of his Royal Family; 
 but, as I was so very young at the time, many political 
 reasons might arise to create motives for a change in 
 the projected alliance. 'If, therefore, the Prince Carig- 
 nan,' said the King, 'be anxious to settle his daughter's 
 marriage, by any immediate matrimonial alliance, I cer- 
 tainly shall not avail myself 'of any prior engagement, 
 nor oppose any obstacle in the way of its solemnization. ' 
 
 " The consent of the King being thus unexpectedly ob- 
 tained by the Prince, so desirable did the arrangement 
 seem to the Duke and Duchess that the next day the 
 contract was concluded with my parents for my becom- 
 ing the wife of their only son, the Prince Lamballe. 
 
 *The father of Louis Alexander Joseph Stanislaus de Bourbon Pen- 
 thifevre, Prince Lamballe, was the son of the Count de Toulouse, him- 
 self a natural son of Louis XIV. and Madame de Montespan, who 
 was considered as the most wealthy of all the natural children, in con- 
 sequence of Madame de Montespan, having artfully entrapped the 
 famous Mademoiselle de Montpensier to make over her immense fortune 
 to him as her heir after her death, as the price of liberating her husband 
 from imprisonment in the Bastille, and herself from a ruinous prose- 
 cution, for having contracted this marriage contrary to the express 
 commands of herroyal cousin, Louis XIV. — Vide Histoire de Louis XIV, 
 par- Voltaire. 
 % 
 
66 Chapter V 
 
 " I was too young to be consulted. Perhaps, had I been 
 older the result would have been the same, for it gen- 
 erally happens in these great family alliances that the 
 parties most interested, and whose happiness is most con- 
 cerned, are the least thought of. The Prince was, I be- 
 lieve, at Paris, under the tuition of his governess, and I 
 was in the nursery, heedless, and totally ignorant of my 
 future good or evil destination! 
 
 " So truly happy and domestic a life as that led by the 
 Duke and Duchess de Penthifevre seemed to my family 
 to offer an example too propitious not to secure to me a 
 degree of felicity with a private prince, very rarely the 
 result of royal unions! of course, their consent was given 
 with alacrity. When I was called upon to do homage to 
 my future parents, I had so little idea, from rny extreme 
 youthfulness, of what, was going on that I set them all 
 laughing, when, on being asked if I should like to be- 
 come the CONSORT of the Prince Lamballe, I said, ' Yes, 
 I am very fond of music!' 'No my dear,' resumed the 
 good and tender-hearted Duke de Penthifevre, 'I mean, 
 would you have any objection to become his wife ? ' ' No, 
 nor any other person's ! ' was the innocent reply, which 
 increased the mirth of all the guests at my expense. 
 
 " Happy, happy days of youthful, thoughtless innocence, 
 luxuriously felt and appreciated under the thatched roof 
 of the cottage, but unknown and unattainable beneath 
 the massive pile of a royal palace and a gemmed crown! 
 Scarcely had I entered my teens when my adopted parents 
 strewed flowers of the sweetest fragrance to lead me to 
 the sacred altar, that promised the bliss of blisses, but 
 which, too soon, from the foul machinations of envy, jeal- 
 ously, avarice, and a still more criminal passion, proved 
 to me the altar of my sacrifice! 
 
 *' My misery and my uninterrupted grief may be dated 
 from the day my beloved sister-in-law. Mademoiselle de 
 Penthifevre, sullied her hand by its union with the Duke 
 de Chartres."" From that moment all comfort, all pros- 
 
 *Afterward Duke of Orleass, and the celebrated revolutionary Philip 
 igaliti. 
 
CHAPTER V 67 
 
 pect of connubial happiness, left my young and affection- 
 ate heart, plucked thence by the very roots, never more 
 again to bloom there. Religion and philosophy were the 
 only remedies remaining. 
 
 "I was a bride when an infant, a wife before I was a 
 woman, a widow before I was a mother, or had 
 the prospect of becoming one ! Our union was, per- 
 haps, an exception to the general rule. We became 
 insensibly the more attached to each other the more 
 we were acquainted, which rendered the more severe the 
 separation, when we were torn asunder never to meet 
 again in this world! 
 
 "After I left Turin, though everything for my recep- 
 tion at the palaces of Toulouse and Rambouillet had been 
 prepared in the most sumptuous style of magnificence, 
 yet such was my agitation that I remained convulsively 
 speechless for many hours, and all the affectionate at- 
 tention of the family of the Duke de Penthifevre could 
 not calm my feelings. 
 
 "Among those who came about me was the bridegroom 
 himself, 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. 
 As he had outgrown the figure of his portrait I received 
 him as such; but the Prince, being better pleased with 
 me than he had apprehended he should be, could scarcely 
 avoid discovering himself. During our journey to Paris 
 I myself disclosed the interest with which the supposed 
 page had inspired me. 'I hope,' exclaimed I, *my 
 prince will allow his page to attend me, for I like him 
 much. ' 
 
 "What was my surprise when the Duke de Penthifevre 
 presented me to the Prince and I found in him the page 
 for whom I had already felt such an interest! We both 
 laughed and wanted words to express our mutual senti- 
 ments. This was really love at first sight.* 
 
 * The young Prince was enraptured at finding his lovely bride so su- 
 perior in personal charms to the description which had been given of 
 
68 CHAPTER V 
 
 "The Duke de Chartres, then possessing a very hand- 
 some person and most insinuating address, soon gained 
 the afifections of the amiable Mademoiselle Penthifevre. 
 Becoming thus a member of the same family, he paid me 
 the most assiduous attention. From my being his sister- 
 in-law, and knowing he was aware of my great attach- 
 ment to his young wife, I could have no idea that his 
 views were criminally leveled at my honor, my happiness, 
 and my future peace of mind. How, therefore, was I 
 astonished and shocked when he discovered to me his 
 desire to supplant the legitimate object of my affections, 
 whose love for me equaled mine for him! I did not ex- 
 pose this baseness of the Duke de Chartres out of filial 
 affection for my adopted father, the Duke de Penthifevre ; 
 out of the love I bore his amiable daughter, she being 
 pregnant ; and above all in consequence of the fear I was 
 under of compromising the life of the Prince, my hus- 
 band, who I apprehended might be lost to me if I did not 
 suffer in silence. But still, through my silence he was lost 
 — and oh, how dreadfully! The Prince was totally in the 
 dark as to the real character of his brother-in-law. He 
 blindly became every day more and more attached to the 
 man, who was then endeavoring by the foulest means to 
 blast the fairest prospects of his future happiness in life! 
 
 her, and even to the portrait sent to him from Turin. Indeed she must 
 have been a most beautiful creature, for when I left her in the year 1792, 
 though then five-and-forty years of age, from the freshness of her com- 
 plexion, the elegance of her figpire, and the dignity of her deport- 
 ment, she certainly did not appear to be more than thirty. She had a 
 fine head of hair, and she took great pleasure in showing it unoma- 
 mented. I remember one day, on her coming hastily from the bath, as 
 she was putting on her dress, her cap falling off, her hair completely 
 covered her ! 
 
 The circumstances of her death always make me shudder at the rec- 
 ollection of this incident ! I have been assured by Mesdames Mackau, 
 de Soucle, the Countess de Noailles (not Duchess, as Mademoiselle 
 Bertin has created her in her Memoirs of that name), and others, that 
 the Princess Lamballe was considered the most beautiful and accom- 
 plished Princess at the Court of Louis XV., adorned with all the g^ace, 
 virtue, and elegance of manner which so eminently distinguished h<5r 
 through life 
 
CHAPTER V 69 
 
 But my guardian angel protected me from becoming a 
 a victim to seduction, defeating every attack by that pru- 
 dence which has hitherto been my invincible shield. 
 
 "Guilt unpunished in its first crime, rushes onward, and 
 hurrying from one misdeed to another, like the flood tide, 
 drives all before it! My silence and his being defeated 
 without reproach, armed him with courage for fresh dar- 
 ing, and he too well succeeded in embittering the future 
 days of my life, as well as those of his own affectionate 
 wife, and his illustrious father-in-law, the virtuous Duke 
 de Penthifevre, who was to all a father. 
 
 "To revenge himself upon me for the repulse he met 
 with, this man inveigled my young, inexperienced hus- 
 band from his bridal bed to those infected with the nau- 
 seous poison of every vice! Poor youth! he soon became 
 the prey of every refinement upon dissipation and studied 
 debauchery, till at length his sufferings made his life a 
 burden, and he died in the most excruciating agonies both 
 of mind and body, in the arms of a disconsolate wife and 
 a distracted father — and thus, in a few short months, at 
 the age of eighteen, was I left a widow to lament my 
 having become a wife! 
 
 "I was in this situation, retired from the world and ab- 
 sorbed in grief, with the ever beloved and revered illus- 
 trious father of my murdered lord, endeavoring to soothe 
 his pangs for the loss of those comforts in a child with 
 which my cruel disappointment forbade my ever being 
 blest — though, in the endeavor to soothe, I often only 
 aggravated both his and my own misery at our irretriev- 
 able loss — when a ray of unexpected light burst upon 
 my dreariness. It was amid this gloom of human agony, 
 these heart-rending scenes of real mourning, that the bril- 
 liant star shone to disperse the clouds, which hovered 
 over our drooping heads, — to dry the hot briny tears 
 which were parching up our miserable vegetating exist- 
 ence — it was in this crisis that Maria Antoinette came, like 
 a messenger sent down from Heaven, graciously to offer 
 the balm of comfort in the sweetest language of human 
 compassion. The pure emotions of her generous soul 
 
70 CHAPTER V 
 
 made her unceasing, unremitting, in her visits to two 
 mortals who must else have perished under the weight 
 of their misfortunes. But for the consolation of her warm 
 friendship we must have sunk into utter despair! 
 
 " From that moment I became seriously attached to 
 the Queen of Prance. She dedicated a great portion of 
 her time to calm the anguish of my poor heart, though I 
 had not yet accepted the honor of becoming a member 
 of Her Majesty's household. Indeed, it was a con- 
 siderable time before I could think of undertaking a 
 charge I felt myself so completely incapable of fulfill- 
 ing.* I endeavored to check the tears that were pour- 
 ing down my cheeks, to conceal in the Queen's presence 
 the real feelings of my heart, but the effort only served 
 to increase my anguish when she had departed. Her at- 
 tachment to me, and the cordiality with which she dis- 
 tinguished herself toward the Duke de Penthifevre, gave 
 her a place in that heart, which had been chilled by the 
 fatal vacuum left by its first inhabitant; and Maria An- 
 toinette was the only rival through life that usurped his 
 pretentions, though she could never wean me completely 
 from his memory. 
 
 "My health, from the melancholy life I led, had so 
 much declined that my affectionate father, the Duke de 
 Penthibvre, with whom I continued to reside, was anx- 
 
 *I am under the necessity of correcting an error of Madame Cam- 
 pan's in vol. i., page 129. The Queen had been long attached to the 
 Princess Lamballe before the sledge parties took place, though 
 it was only during that amusement that the superintendence 
 of the household of the Queen was revived in her favor. It 
 is not at all likely, from the unlimited authority and power 
 which the situation gave a superintendent over Her Majesty, 
 that the Queen, who was so scrupulously particular with respect to the 
 meanest of the persons who held any charge in her household, should 
 have placed herself under the immediate control of one whose office 
 might itself be a check upon her own movements without first being 
 thoroughly assured of the principles, morals, character, and general 
 conduct of the individual destined to a post of such importance; 
 Nothing can be more absurd than to believe that the Queen could have 
 been so heedless as to have nominated the Princess Lamballe her super- 
 intendent ex abrupta merely because she was the Princess Lamballe. 
 
CHAPTER V 71 
 
 fous that I should emerge from my retirement for the 
 benefit of my health. Sensible of his affection, and hav- 
 ing always honored his counsels, I took his advice in this 
 instance. It being in the hard winter, when so many 
 persons were out of bread, the Queen, the Duchess of 
 Orleans, the Duke de Penthifevre, and myself introduced 
 the German sledges, in which we were followed by most 
 of the nobility and the rich citizens. This afforded con- 
 siderable employment to different artificers. The first 
 use I made of my own vehicle was to visit, in company 
 of the Duke de Penthifevre, the necessitious poor families 
 and our pensioners. In the course of our rounds we met 
 the Queen. 
 
 '"I suppose,' exclaimed Her Majesty, 'you also are 
 laying a good foundation for my work! Heavens! what 
 must the poor feel ! I am wrapped up like a diamond in 
 a box, covered with furs, and yet I am chilled with 
 cold! ' 
 
 '"That feeling sentiment,' said the Duke, 'will soon 
 warm many a cold family's heart with gratitude to bless 
 your Majesty ! ' 
 
 "'Why, yes,' replied Her Majesty, showing a long 
 piece of paper containing the names of those to whom 
 she intended to afford relief — ' I have only collected two 
 hundred yet on my list, but the cur^ will do the rest 
 and help me to draw the strings of my privy purse ! But 
 I have not half done^my rounds. I dare say before I re- 
 turn to Versailles I shall have as many more, and, since 
 we are engaged in the same business, pray come into my 
 sledge and do not take my work out of my hands! Let 
 me have for once the merit of doing something good ! ' 
 
 "On the coming up of a number of other vehicles be- 
 longing to the sledge party, the Queen added, ' Do not 
 say anything about what I have been telling you ! ' for 
 Her Majesty never wished what she did in the way of 
 charity or donations should be publicly known, the old 
 pensioners excepted, who, being on the list, could not be 
 concealed; especially as she continued to pay all those 
 she found of the late Queen of Louis XV. She was 
 
72 CHAPTER V 
 
 remarkably delicate and timid with respect to hurting the 
 feelings of anyone; and, fearing the Duke de Penthifevre 
 might not be pleased at her pressing me to leave him in 
 order to join her, she said, 'Well, I will let you off, 
 Princess, on your both promising to dine with me at 
 Trianon; for the King is hunting, not deer, but wood for 
 the poor, and he will see his game off to Paris before he 
 comes back.' 
 
 "The Duke begged to be excused, but wished me to 
 accept the invitation, which I did, and we parted, each 
 to pursue our different sledge excursions. 
 
 "At the hour appointed, I made my appearance at 
 Trianon, and had the honor to dine tSte-h-tite with Her Maj- 
 esty, which was much more congenial to my feelings than 
 if there had been a party, as I was still very low-spirited 
 and unhappy. 
 
 "After dinner, 'My dear Princess,' said the Queen to 
 me, 'at your time of life you must not give yourself up 
 entirely to the dead. You wrong the living. We have 
 not been sent into the world for ourselves. I have felt 
 much for your situation, and still do so, and therefore 
 hope, as long as the weather permits, that you will favor 
 me with your company to enlarge our sledge excursions. 
 The King and my dear sister Elizabeth are also much 
 interested about your coming on a visit to Versailles. 
 What think you of our plan ? ' 
 
 "I thanked Her Majesty, the King, and the Princess, 
 for their kindness, but I observed that my state of health 
 and mind could so little correspond in any way with the 
 gratitude I should owe them for their royal favors, that 
 I trusted a refusal would be attributed to the fact of my 
 consciousness how much rather my society must prove 
 an annoyance and a burden than a source of pleasure. 
 
 "My tears flowing down my cheeks rapidly while I 
 was speaking, the Queen, with that kindness for which 
 she was so eminently distinguished, took me by the 
 hand, and with her handkerchief dried my face. 
 
 " ' I am,' said the Queen, 'about to renew a situation, 
 which has for some time past lain dormant ; and I hope. 
 
CHAPTER V 73 
 
 my dear Princess, therewith to establish my own private 
 views, in forming the happiness of a worthy individual.* 
 
 "I replied that such a plan must insure Her Majesty 
 the desired object she had in view, as no individual 
 could be otherwise than happy under the immediate aus- 
 pices of so benevolent and generous a Sovereign. 
 
 "The Queen, with great affability, as if pleased with 
 my observation, only said, 'If you really think as you 
 speak, my views are accomplished.' 
 
 "My carriage was announced, and I then left Her 
 Majesty, highly pleased at her gracious condescension, 
 which evidently emanated from the kind wish to raise 
 my drooping spirits from their melancholy. 
 
 "Gratitude would not permit me to continue long 
 without demonstrating to Her Majesty the sentiments 
 her kindness had awakened in my heart. 
 
 "I returned next day with my sister-in-law, the Duch- 
 ess of Orleans, who was much esteemed by the Queen, 
 and we joined the sledge parties with Her Majesty. 
 
 " On the third or fourth day of these excursions I 
 again had the honor to dine with Her Majesty, when, in 
 the presence of the Princess Elizabeth, she asked me if 
 I were still of the same opinion with respect to the per- 
 son it was her intention to add to her household? 
 
 " I myself had totally forgotten the topic and entreated 
 Her Majesty's pardon for my want of memory, and 
 begged she would signify to what subject she alluded. 
 
 ''The Princess Elizabeth laughed, 'I thought,' cried 
 she, 'that you had jknown it long ago! The Queen, 
 with His Majesty's consent, has nominated you, my dear 
 Princess (embracing me), superintendent of her house- 
 hold.' 
 
 "The Queen, also embracing me, said, 'Yes; it is 
 very true. You said the individual destined to such a 
 situation could not be otherwise than happy; and I am 
 myself thoroughly happy in being able thus to contrib- 
 ute toward rendering you so.' 
 
 "I was perfectly at a loss for a moment or two, but, 
 recovering myself from the effect of this unexpected and 
 
74 CHAPTER V 
 
 unlooked-for preferment, I thanked Her Majesty with 
 the best grace I was able for such an unmerited mark 
 of distinction. 
 
 "The Queen, perceiving my embarrassment, observed, 
 'I knew I should surprise you; but I thought your be- 
 ing established at Versailles much more desirable for 
 one of your rank and youth than to be, as you were, 
 with the Duke de Penthi^vre; who, much as I esteem 
 his amiable character and numerous great virtues, is by 
 no means the most cheering companion for my charm- 
 ing Princess. From this moment let our friendships be 
 united in the common interest of each other's happi- 
 ness. ' 
 
 " The Queen took me by the hand. The Princess Eliz- 
 abeth, joining hers, exclaimed to the Queen, 'Oh, my 
 dear sister! let me make the trio in this happy union 
 of friends!' 
 
 "In the society of her adored Majesty and of her 
 saint-like sister Elizabeth I have found my only balm of 
 consolation! Their graciously condescending to sympa- 
 thize in the grief with which I was overwhelmed from 
 the cruel disappointment of my first love, filled up in 
 some degree the vacuum left by his loss, who was so 
 prematurely ravished from me in the flower of youth, 
 leaving me a widow at eighteen; and though that loss is 
 one I never can replace or forget, the poignancy of its 
 effect has been in a great degree softened by the kind- 
 nesses of my excellent father-in-law, the Duke de Pen- 
 thifevre, and the relations resulting from my situation 
 with, and the never-ceasing attachment of my beloved 
 royal mistress." 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Observations of the Editor on the Various Parties against Lamballe in 
 Consequence of Her Appointment — Its Injury to the Queen — Par- 
 ticulars of Lamballe, the Duties of Her Office, and Her Conduct in 
 It — The Polignacs — Character of the Countess Diana — Journal Re- 
 sumed — Account of the First Introduction to the Queen of the Duch- 
 ess Julie de Poligpiac — The Queen's Sudden and Violent Attachment 
 to Her — Calumnies Resulting from It — Remark on Female Friend- 
 ships — Lamballe Recedes from the Queen's Intimacy — At the 
 Duke's (Her Father-in-law) Is Near Falling a Victim to Poison — 
 Alarm of the Queen, Who Goes to Her and Forces Her Back to Court 
 — Her Majesty Annoyed at Lamballe's Not Visiting the Polignacs — 
 Her Reasons — The Abb6 Vermond Retires and Returns. 
 
 THE connection of the Princess Lamballe with the Queen, 
 of which she has herself described the origin in the 
 preceding chapter, proved so important in its influ- 
 ence upon the reputation and fate of both these illustrious 
 victims, that I must once more withdraw the attention of 
 the reader, to explain, from personal observation and confi- 
 dential disclosures, the leading causes of the violent dis- 
 like which was kindled in the public against an intimacy, 
 that it would have been most fortunate had Her Majesty- 
 preferred through life to every other. 
 
 The selection of a friend by the Queen, and the sud- 
 den elevation of that friend to the highest station in the 
 royal household could not fail to alarm the selfishness of 
 courtiers, who always feel themselves injured by the favor 
 shown to others. An obsolete oifice was revived in favor 
 of the Princess Lamballe. In the time of Maria Leck- 
 zinska, wife of Louis XV., the office of superintendent, 
 then held by Mademoiselle de Clermont, 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 a queen who it was believed 
 
 75 
 
76 CHAPTER VI 
 
 could be guided by no motive but the desire to seek pre- 
 texts for showing undue favor, was of course eyed 
 askance, and ere long openly calumniated. 
 
 The Countess de Noailles, who never could forget the 
 title the Queen gave her of Madame Etiquette, nor for- 
 give the frequent jokes which Her Majesty passed upon 
 her antiquated formality, availed herself of the oppor- 
 tunity offered by her husband's being raised to the dignity 
 of Marshal of France, to resign her situation on the appoint- 
 ment of the Princess Lamballe as superintendent. The 
 Countess retired with feelings embittered against her 
 royal mistress, and her annoyance in the sequel ripened 
 into enmity. The Countess was attached to a very pow- 
 erful party, not only at Court but scattered throughout 
 the kingdom. Her discontent arose from the circumstance 
 of no longer having to take her orders from the Queen 
 direct, but from her superintendent. Ridiculous as this 
 may seem to an impartial observer, it created one of the 
 most powerful hostilities against which Her Majesty had 
 afterward to contend. 
 
 Though the Queen esteemed the Countess de Noailles 
 for her many good qualities, yet she was so much put out 
 of her way by the rigor with which the Countess enforced 
 forms, which to Her Majesty appeared puerile and absurd, 
 that she felt relieved, and secretly gratified, by her re- 
 tirement. It will be shown hereafter to what an excess 
 the Countess was eventually carried by her malice. 
 
 One of the popular objections to the revival of the of- 
 fice of superintendent in favor of the Princess Lamballe 
 arose from its reputed extravagance. This was as ground- 
 less as the other charges against the Queen. The eti- 
 quettes of dress, and the requisite increase of every other 
 expense, from the augmentation of every article of the 
 necessaries as well as the luxuries of life, made a treble 
 difference between the expenditure of the circumscribed 
 Court of Maria Leckzinska and that of Louis XVI. ; yet 
 the Princess Lamballe received no more salary * than had 
 
 * And even that salary she never appropriated to any private use of 
 her own, being amply supplied through th« generous bounty of her 
 
CHAPTER VI J7 
 
 been allotted to Mademoiselle de Clermont in the self- 
 same situation half a century before. 
 
 So far from possessing the slightest propensity either 
 to extravagance in herself or to the encouragement of 
 extravagance in others, the Princess Lamballe was a 
 model of prudence, and upon those subjects, as indeed 
 upon all others, the Queen could not have had a more 
 discreet counselor. She eminently contributed to the 
 charities of the Queen, who was the mother of the father- 
 less, the support of the widow, and the general protect- 
 ress and refuge of sufiEering humanity. Previous to the 
 purchase of any article of luxury, the Princess would call 
 for the list of the pensioners: if anything were due on 
 that account, it was instantly paid, and the luxury dis- 
 pensed with. 
 
 She never made her appearance in the Queen's apart- 
 ments except at established hours. This was scrupulously 
 observed till the Revolution. Circumstances then obliged 
 her to break through forms. The Queen would only re- 
 ceive communications, either written or verbal, upon the 
 subjects growing out of that wretched crisis, in the pres- 
 ence of the Princess; and hence her apartments were 
 open to all who had occasion to see Her Majesty. This 
 made their intercourse more constant and unceremonious. 
 But before this, the Princess only went to the royal 
 presence at fixed hours, unless she had memorials to pre- 
 sent to the King, Queen, or ministers, in favor of such 
 as asked for justice or mercy. Hence, whenever the 
 Princess entered before the stated times, the Queen would 
 run and embrace her, and exclaim: "Well, my dear 
 Princess Lamballe! what widow, what orphan, what suf- 
 fering, or oppressed petitioner am I to thank for this 
 visit? for I know you never come to me empty-handed 
 when you come unexpectedly!" The Princess, on these 
 occasions, often had the petitioners waiting in an adjoin- 
 ing apartment, that they might instantly avail them- 
 
 father-in-law, the Duke de PenthiSvre ; and latterly, to my knowledge, so 
 far from receiving any pay, she often paid the Queen's and Princess 
 Elizabeth's bills out of her own purse. 
 
78 CHAPTER VI 
 
 selves of any inclination the Queen might show to see 
 them. 
 
 Once the Princess was deceived by a female painter 
 of doubtful character, who supplicated her to present a 
 work she had executed to the Queen. I myself after- 
 ward returned that work to its owner. Thenceforward, 
 the Princess became very rigid in her inquiries, previous 
 to taking the least interest in any application, or con- 
 senting to present anyone personally to the King or 
 Queen. She required thoroughly to be informed of the 
 nature of the request, and of the merit and character of 
 the applicant, before she would attend to either. Owing 
 to this caution Her Highness scarcely ever after met 
 with a negative. In cases of great importance, though 
 the Queen's compassionate and good heart needed no 
 stimulus to impel her to forward the means of justice, 
 the Princess would call the influence of the Princess 
 Elizabeth to her aid; and Elizabeth never sued in vain. 
 
 Maria Antoinette paid the greatest attention to all 
 memorials. They were regularly collected every week by 
 Her Majesty's private secretary, the Abb^ Vermond. I have 
 myself seen many of them, when returned from the 
 Princess Lamballe, with the Queen's marginal notes in 
 her own handwriting and the answers dictated by Her 
 Majesty to the different officers of the departments rela- 
 tive to the nature of the respective demands. She al- 
 ways recommended the greatest attention to all public 
 documents, and annexed notes to such as passed through 
 her hands to prevent their being thrown aside or lost. 
 
 One of those who were least satisfied with the appoint- 
 ment of the Princess Lamballe to the office of superin- 
 tendent was her brother-in-law, the Duke of Orleans, who, 
 having attempted her virtue on various occasions and been 
 repulsed, became mortified and alarmed at her situation 
 as a check to his future enterprise. 
 
 At one time the Duke and Duchess of Orleans were 
 most constant and assiduous in their attendance on Maria 
 Antoinette. They were at all her parties. The Queen 
 was very fond of the Duphess. It is supposed that the 
 
CHAPTER VI 79 
 
 interest Her Majesty took in that lady and the steps to 
 which some time afterward that interest led, planted the 
 first seeds of the unrelenting and misguided hostility 
 which, in the deadliest times of the Revolution, animated 
 the Orleanists against the throne. 
 
 The Duke of Orleans, then Duke de Chartres, was 
 never a favorite of the Queen. He was only tolerated at 
 Court on account of his wife and of the great intimacy 
 which subsisted between him and Count d'Artois. Louis 
 XVI. had often expressed his disapprobation of the 
 Duke's character, which his conduct daily justified. 
 
 The Princess Lamballe could have no cause to think of 
 her brother-in-law but with horror. He had insulted her, 
 and in revenge at his defeat, had, it was said, deprived 
 her by the most awful means, of her husband. The 
 Princess was tenderly attached to her sister-in-law, the 
 Duchess. Her attachment could not but make her look 
 very unfavorably upon the circumstance of the Duke's 
 subjecting his wife to the humiliation of residing in the 
 palace with Madame de Genlis, and being forced to re- 
 ceive a person of morals so incorrect as the guardian of 
 her children. The Duchess had complained to her father, 
 the Duke de Penthifevre, in the presence of the Princess 
 Lamballe, of the very great ascendancy Madame de Genlis 
 exercised over her husband; and had even requested the 
 Queen to use her influence in detaching the Duke from 
 this connection.* But she had too much gentleness of 
 nature not presently to forget her resentment. Being 
 much devoted to her husband, rather than irritate him to 
 further neglect by personal remonstrance, she determined 
 to make the best of a bad business, and tolerated Madame 
 de Genlis, although she made no secret among her 
 friends and relations of the reason why she did so. Nay, 
 so far did her wish not to disoblige her husband prevail 
 over her own feelings as to induce her to yield at last to 
 his importunities by frequently proposing to present 
 
 * It was generally understood that the Duke had a daughter by 
 Madame de Genlis. This daughter, when grown up, was married to the 
 late Irish Lord Robert Fitzgerald. 
 
8o CHAPTER VI 
 
 Madame de Genlis to the Queen. But Madame de Genlis 
 never could obtain either a public or a private audience. 
 Though the Queen was a great admirer of merit and was 
 fond of encouraging talents, of which Madame de Genlis 
 was by no means deficient, yet even the account the 
 Duchess herself had given, had Her Majesty possessed no 
 other means of knowledge, would have sealed that lady's 
 exclusion from the opportunities of display at Court, which 
 she sought so earnestly. 
 
 There was another source of exasperation against the 
 Duke of Orleans; and the great cause of a new and, 
 though less obtrusive, yet perhaps an equally dan- 
 gerous foe under all the circumstances, in Madame de Gen- 
 lis. The anonjrmous slander of the one was circulated 
 through all France by the other; and spleen and disap- 
 pointment feathered the venomed arrows shot at the 
 heart of power by malice and ambition! Be the charge 
 true or false, these anonymous libels were generally con- 
 sidered as the offspring of this lady: they were indus- 
 triously scattered Ijy the Duke of Orleans; and their 
 frequent refutation by the Queen's friends only increased 
 the malignant industry of their inventor. 
 
 An event which proved the most serious of all that 
 ever happened to the Queen, and the consequences of 
 which were distinctly foreseen by the Princess Lamballe 
 and others of her true friends, was now growing to maturity. 
 
 The deposed Court oracle, the Countess de Noailles, 
 had been succeeded as literary leader by the Countess 
 Diana Polignac. She was a favorite of the Count d'Ar- 
 tois, and was the first lady in attendance upon the 
 Countess, his wife.* The Queen's conduct had always 
 
 * The Cotintess Diana Polignac had a much better education, and 
 considerably more natural capacity, than her sister-in-law, the Duch- 
 ess, and the Queen merely disUked her from her prudish affectation. 
 The Countess d'Artois grew jealous of the Count's intimacy with the 
 Countess Diana. While she considered herself as the only one of the 
 Royal Family likely to be mother of a future sovereign, she was silent, 
 or, perhaps, too much engrossed by her castles in the air to think of any- 
 thing but diadems ; but when she saw the Queen producing heirs, she 
 grew out of humor at her lost popularity, and began to turn her atten- 
 
CHAPTER VI 81 
 
 been very cool to her. She deemed her a self-sufficient 
 coquette. However, the Countess Diana was a constant 
 attendant at the gay parties, which were then the fash- 
 ion of the Court, though not greatly admired. 
 
 The reader will scarcely need to be informed that the 
 event to which I have just alluded is the introduction by 
 the Countess Diana of her sister-in-law, the Countess Julie 
 Polignac, to the Queen; and having brought the record 
 up to this point, I here once more dismiss my own pen 
 for that of the Princess Lamballe. 
 
 It will be obvious to everyone that I must have been 
 indebted to the conversations of my beloved patroness 
 for most of the sentiments and nearly all the facts I 
 have just been stating ; and had the period on which she 
 has written so little as to drive me to the necessity of 
 writing for her been less pregnant with circumstances 
 almost entirely personal to herself, no doubt I should have 
 found more upon that period in her manuscript. But the 
 year of which Her Highness says so little was the year 
 of happiness and exclusive favor; and the Princess was 
 above the vanity of boasting, even privately in the self- 
 confessional of her diary. She resumes her records with 
 her apprehensions; and thus proceeds, describing the in- 
 troduction of the Countess Julie de Polignac, regretting her 
 ascendancy over the Queen and foreseeing its fatal effects. 
 
 "I had only been a twelvemonth in Her Majesty's 
 service, which I believe was the happiest period of both 
 
 tion to her husband's Endymionship to this new Diana ! When she had 
 made up her mind to get her rival out of her house, she consulted one of 
 the family; but being told that the best means for a wife to keep her 
 husband out of harm's way was to provide him with a domestic occu- 
 pation for his leisure hours at home, than which nothing could be better 
 than a hand-maid under the same roof, she made a merit of necessity 
 and submitted ever after to retain the Countess Diana, as she had been 
 prudently advised. The Countess Diana, in consequence, remained in 
 the family even up to the 17th of October, 1789, when she left Versailles 
 in company with the Polignacs and the d'Artois, who all emig^rated to- 
 gether from France to Italy and lived at Stria on the Brenta, near Ven- 
 ice, for some time, till the Countess d'Artois went to Turin. 
 6 
 
82 CHAPTER VI 
 
 our lives, when, at one of the Court assemblies, the 
 Countess Julie Polignac was first introduced by her 
 sister-in-law, the Countess Diana Polignac, to the Queen. 
 "She had lived in the country, quite a retired life, and 
 appeared to be more the motherly woman, and the do- 
 mestic wife, than the ambitious Court lady, or royal 
 sycophant. She was easy of access, and elegantly plain 
 in her dress and deportment. 
 
 " Her appearance at Court was as fatal to the Queen as 
 it was propitious to herself ! 
 
 "She seemed formed by nature to become a royal 
 favorite; unassuming, remarkably complaisant, possessing 
 a refined taste, with a good-natured disposition, not hand- 
 some, but well formed, and untainted by haughtiness or 
 pomposity. 
 
 " It would appear, from the eifect her introduction had 
 on the Queen, that her domestic virtues were written in 
 her countenance; for she became a royal favorite before 
 she had time to become a candidate for royal favor. 
 
 "The Queen's sudden attachment to the Countess Julie 
 produced no alteration in my conduct, while I saw noth- 
 ing extraordinary to alarm me for the consequences of 
 any particular marked partiality, by which the character 
 and popularity of Her Majesty might be endangered.* 
 
 "But, seeing the progress this lady made in the feel- 
 ings of the Queen's enemies, it became my duty, from the 
 situation I held, to caution Her Majesty against the risks 
 she ran in making her favorites friends; for it was very 
 soon apparent how highly the Court disapproved of this 
 intimacy and partiality: and the same feeling soon found 
 its way to the many-headed monster, the people, who only 
 saw the favorite without considering the charge she held. 
 Scarely had she felt the warm rays of royal favor, than 
 the chilling blasts of envy and malice began to nip it in 
 the bud of all its promised bliss. Even long before she 
 
 * The Princess Lamballe was too virtuous, too handsome, and much 
 too noble in character and sentiment, meanly to nourish jealousy or 
 envy. She was as much above it as her personal and mental qualifica- 
 tions were superior to those of her rival. 
 
CHAPTER VI k3 
 
 touched the pinnacle of her grandeur as governess of the 
 royal children, the blackest calumny began to show itself 
 in prints, caricatures, songs, and pamphlets of every de- 
 scription. 
 
 "A reciprocity of friendship between a queen and a 
 subject, by those who never felt the existence of such a 
 feeling as friendship, could only be considered in a crim- 
 inal point of view. But by what perversion could sus- 
 picion frown upon the ties between two married women, 
 both living in the greatest harmony with their respective 
 husbands, especially when both became mothers and so 
 devoted to their offspring? This boundless friendship did 
 glow between this calumniated pair — calumniated because 
 the sacredness and peculiarity of the sentiment which 
 united them was too pure to be understood by the grov- 
 eling minds who made themselves their sentencers. The 
 friend is the friend's shadow. The real sentiment of 
 friendship, of which disinterested sympathy is the sign, 
 cannot exist unless between two of the same sex, be- 
 cause a physical difference involuntarily modifies the com- 
 plexion of the intimacy where the sexes are opposite, 
 even though there be no physical relations. The Queen 
 of France had love n her eyes and Heaven in her soul. 
 The Duchess of Polignac, whose person beamed with 
 every charm, could never have been condemned, like the 
 Friars of La Trappe, to the mere memento mori. 
 
 "When I made the representations to Her Majesty 
 which duty exacted from me on perceiving her ungov- 
 ernable partiality for her new favorite, that I might not 
 importune her by the awkwardness naturally arising from 
 my constant exposure to the necessity of witnessing an 
 intimacy she knew I did not sanction, I obtained per- 
 mission from my royal mistress to visit my father-in- 
 law, the Duke de Penthifevre, at Rambouillet, his country 
 seat. 
 
 "Soon after I arrived there, I was taken suddenly ill 
 after dinner with the most excruciating pains in my 
 stomach. I thought myself dying. Indeed, I should have 
 been so but for the fortunate and timely discovery that I 
 
S4. CHAPTER VI 
 
 was poisoned: — certainly, not intentionally, by anyone 
 belonging to my dear father's household; but by some 
 execrable hand which had an interest in my death. 
 
 " The affair was hushed up with a vague report that 
 some of the made dishes had been prepared in a stew 
 pan long out of use, which the clerk of the Duke's kitchen 
 had forgotten to get properly tinned. 
 
 "This was a doubtful story for many reasons. Indeed, 
 I firmly believe that the poison given me had been pre- 
 pared in the salt, for everyone at table had eaten of the 
 same dish without suffering the smallest inconvenience.* 
 
 "The news of this accident had scarcely arrived at Ver- 
 sailles, when the Queen, astounded, and in excessive 
 anxiety, instantly sent off her physician, and her private 
 secretary, the Abb6 Vermond, to bring me back to my 
 apartments at Versailles, with strict orders not to leave 
 me a moment at the Duke's, for fear of a second attempt 
 of the same nature. Her Majesty had imputed the first 
 to the earnestness I had always shown in support of her 
 interests, and she seemed now more ardent in her kind- 
 ness toward me from the idea of my being exposed 
 through her means to the treachery of assassins in the 
 dark. The Queen awaited our coming impatiently, and, 
 not seeing the carriages return so quickly as she fancied 
 they ought to arrive, she herself set off for Rambouillet, 
 and did not leave me till she had prevailed on me to 
 quit my father-in-law's, and we both returned together 
 the same night to Versailles, where the Queen in person 
 dedicated all her attention to the restoration of my 
 health. 
 
 "As yet, however, nothing in particular had discovered 
 that splendor for which the Polignacs were afterward so 
 conspicuous. 
 
 * Had not this unfortunate circumstance occurred, it is probable the 
 Duke de Penthifevre would have prevailed on the Princess to have re- 
 nounced her situation at Court. What heart-rending grief -would it 
 not have spared the gray hairs of her doting father-in-law, and what a 
 sea of crime might have been obviated, had it pleased Heaven to have 
 ordained her death under the paternal roof of her, second father! 
 
CHAPTER VI 85 
 
 " Indeed, so little were their circumstances calculated 
 for a Court life, that when the friends of Madame 
 Polignac perceived the growing attachment of the young 
 Queen to the palladium of their hopes, in order to impel 
 Her Majesty's friendship to repair the deficiencies of for- 
 tune, they advised the magnet to quit the Court abruptly, 
 assigning the want of means as the motive of her re- 
 treat. The story got wind, and proved propitious. 
 
 "The Queen, to secure the society of her friend, soon 
 supplied the resources she required and took away the 
 necessity for her retirement. But the die was cast. In 
 gaining one friend she sacrificed a host. By this act of 
 imprudent preference she lost forever the affections of 
 the old nobility. This was the gale which drove her back 
 among the breakers. 
 
 "I saw the coming storm, and endeavored to make my 
 sovereign feel its danger. Presuming that my example 
 would be followed, I withdrew from the Polignac society, 
 and vainly flattered myself that prudence would impel 
 others not to encourage Her Majesty's amiable infatuation 
 till the consequences should be irretrievable. But sov- 
 ereigns are always surrounded by those who make it a 
 point to reconcile them to their follies, however flagrant; 
 and keep them on good terms with themselves, however 
 severely they may be censured by the world. 
 
 "If I had read the book of fate I could not have seen 
 more distinctly the fatal results which actually took place 
 from this unfortunate connection. The Duchess and my- 
 self always lived in the greatest harmony, and equally 
 shared the confidence of the Queen; but it was my duty 
 not to sanction Her Majesty's marked favoritism by my 
 presence. The Queen often expressed her discontent to 
 me upon the subject. She used to tell me how much it 
 grieved her to be denied success in her darling desire of 
 uniting her friends with each other, as they were already 
 united in her own heart. Finding my resolution unalter- 
 able, she was mortified, but gave up her pursuit. When 
 she became assured that all importunity was useless, she 
 ever after avoided wounding my feelings by remonstrance, 
 
86 CHAPTER VI 
 
 and allowed me to pursue the system I had adopted, 
 rather than deprive herself of my society, which would 
 have been the consequence had I not been left at liberty 
 to follow the dictates of my own sense of propriety in a 
 course from which I was resolved that even Her Majesty's 
 displeasure should not make me swerve. 
 
 "Once in particular, at an entertainment given to the 
 Emperor Joseph at Trianon, I remember the Queen took 
 the opportunity to repeat how much she felt herself 
 mortified at the course in which I persisted of never 
 making my appearance at the Duchess of Polignac's parties. 
 
 "I replied, 'I believe, madam, we are both of us dis- 
 appointed; but your Majesty has your remedy, by re- 
 placing me by a lady less scrupulous.' 
 
 "'I was too sanguine,' said the Queen, 'in having 
 flattered myself that I had chosen two friends who would 
 form, from their sympathizing and uniting their senti- 
 ments with each other, a society which would embellish 
 my private life as much as they adorn their public stations.' 
 
 "I said it was by my unalterable friendship and my 
 loyal and dutiful attachment to the sacred person of Her 
 Majesty that I had been prompted to a line of conduct 
 in which the motives whence it arose would impel me to 
 persist while I had the honor to hold a situation under 
 Her Majesty's roof. 
 
 "The Queen, embracing me, exclaimed, 'That will be 
 for life, for death alone can separate us ! ' * 
 
 "This is the last conversation I recollect to have had 
 with the Queen upon this distressing subject. 
 
 "The Abb^ Vermond, who had been Her Majesty's 
 tutor, but who was now her private secretary, began to 
 dread that his influence over her from having been her 
 confidential adviser from her youth upward would suffer 
 from the rising authority of the all-predominant new 
 favorite. Consequently, he thought proper to remonstrate, 
 not with Her Majesty, but with those about her royal 
 
 * Good Heaven! What must have been the feelings of these true, 
 these sacred friends, the shadow of each other, on that fatal Tenth of 
 August, which separated them only to meet in a better world ! 
 
CHAPTER VI 87 
 
 person. The Queen took no notice of these side-wind 
 complaints, not wishing to enter into any explanation of 
 her conduct. On this the Abb6 withdrew from Court. 
 But he only retired for a short time, and that to make 
 better terms for the future. Here was a new spring for 
 those who were supplying the army of calumniators with 
 poison. Happy had it been, perhaps, for France and the 
 Queen if Vermond had never returned. But the Abb6 
 was something like a distant country cousin of an Eng- 
 lish minister, a man of no talents, but who hoped for 
 employment through the power Of his kinsman. * There 
 ii nothing on hand now,' answered the minister, 'but a 
 bishop's miter or a field marshal's staff.' ' Oh, very well,' 
 replied the countryman ; ' either will do for me till some- 
 thing better turns up. ' The Abb€, in his retirement find- 
 ing leisure to reflect that there was no probability of 
 anything 'better turning up' than his post of private 
 secretary, tutor, confidant, and councelor (and that not 
 always the most correct) of a young and amiable Queen 
 of France, soon made his reappearance and kept his 
 jealousy of the Polignacs ever after to himself.* 
 
 "The Abb6 Vermond enjbyed much influence with re- 
 gard to ecclesiastical preferments. He was too fond of 
 his situation ever to contradict or thwart Her Majesty 
 in any of her plans ; too much of 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 
 oftener misled the Queen by his silence than by his 
 advice. " 
 
 * He remained in the same situation till the horrors of the Revolution 
 drove him from it. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Journal Continued — Slanders against the Empress Maria Theresa, 
 on Account of Metastasio, Give the Queen a Distaste for Patronizing 
 Literature — Private Plays and Acting — Censoriousness of Those 
 Who Were Excluded from Them — The Queen's Love of Music — 
 Gluck Invited from Germany — Anecdotes of Gluck and His "Ar- 
 mida" — Garat — Viotti — Madame St. Huberti — Vestris. 
 
 I HAVE already mentioned that Maria Antoinette had no 
 decided taste for literature. Her mind rather sought 
 its amusements in the ballroom, the promenade, the 
 theater, especially when she herself was a performer, and 
 the concert room, than in her library and among her 
 books. Her coldness toward literary men may in some 
 degree be accounted for by the disgust which she took 
 at the calumnies and caricatures resulting from her 
 mother's partiality for her own revered teacher, the great 
 Metastasio. The resemblance of most of Maria Theresa's 
 children to that poet was coupled with the great patron- 
 age he received from the Empress; and much less than 
 these circ'umstances would have been quite enough to 
 furnish a tale for the slanderer, injurious to the reputa- 
 tion of any exalted personage. 
 
 "The taste of Maria Antoinette for private theatricals 
 was kept up till the clouds of the Revolution darkened 
 over all her enjoyments. 
 
 "These innocent amusements were made subjects of 
 censure against her by the many courtiers who were de- 
 nied access to them; while some, who were permitted to 
 be present, were too well pleased with the opportunity 
 of sneering at her mediocrity in the art, which those, 
 who could not see her, were ready to criticise with the 
 utmost severity. It is believed that Madame de Genlis 
 found this too favorable an opportunity to be slighted. 
 Anonymous satires upon ■ the Queen's performances, which 
 88 
 
CHAPTER VII 89 
 
 were attributed to the malice of that authoress, were fre- 
 quently shown to Her Majesty by good-natured friends. 
 The Duke de Fronsac also, from some situation he held 
 at Court, though not included in the private household of 
 Her Majesty at Trianon, conceiving himself highly in- 
 jured by not being suffered to interfere, was much ex- 
 asperated, and took no pains to prevent others from 
 receiving the infection of his resentment. 
 
 "Of all the arts, music was the only one which Her 
 Majesty ever warmly patronized. For music she was an 
 enthusiast. Had her talents in this art been cultivated, 
 it is certain from her judgment in it that she would have 
 made very considerable progress. She sang little French 
 airs with great taste and feeling. She improved much 
 under the tuition of the great composer, her master, the 
 celebrated Sacchini. After his death, Sapio* was named 
 his successor; but, between the death of one master and 
 the appointment of another, the revolutionary horrors so 
 increased that her mind was no longer in a state to listen 
 to anything but the bowlings of the tempest. 
 
 "In her happier days of power, the great Gluck was 
 brought at her request from Germany to Paris. He cost 
 nothing to the public treasury, for Her Majesty paid all 
 his expenses out of her own purse, leaving him the prof- 
 its of his operas, which attracted immense sums to the 
 theater, f 
 
 " Maria Antoinette paid for the musical education of 
 the French singer, Garat, and pensioned him for her pri- 
 vate concerts. 
 
 "Her Majesty was the great patroness of the celebrated 
 Viotti, who was also attached to her private musical 
 
 * The father of Sapio, the tenor singer, who on coming to England 
 was much patronized by the Duchess of York and the late old Duke of 
 Queensbury. 
 
 t To this very day the music of Gluck in France, like the works of 
 our immortal Shakespeare in England, stands the test of time even 
 amid that versatile nation. To outlive French caprice, his compositions 
 must possess, like those of the immortal Sacchini, something strikingly 
 extraordinary. If they are less frequently performed than inferior pro- 
 ductions, it is for want of artists equal to their merit. 
 
go CHAPTER VII 
 
 parties. Before Viotti began to perform his concertos, 
 Her Majesty, with the most amiable condescension, would 
 go round the music saloon, and say: 'Ladies and gentle- 
 men, I request you will be silent, and very attentive, and 
 not enter into conversation, while Mr. Viotti is playing, 
 for it interrupts him in the execution of his fine performance.' 
 
 "Gluck composed his 'Armida' in compliment to the 
 personal charms of Maria Antoinette. I never saw Her 
 Majesty more interested about anything than she was for 
 its success. She became a perfect slave to it. She had 
 the gracious condescension to hear all the pieces through, 
 at Gluck's request, before they were submitted to the 
 stage for rehearsal. Gluck said he always improved his 
 music after he saw the effect it had upon Her Majesty. 
 
 " He was coming out of the Queen's apartment one day, 
 after he had been performing one of these pieces for Her 
 Majesty's approbation, when I followed and congratulated 
 him on the increased success he had met with from the 
 whole band of the opera at every rehearsal. ' O my dear 
 Princess!' cried he, 'it wants nothing ' to make it be ap- 
 plauded up to the seven skies but two such delightful 
 heads as Her Majesty's and your own.' 'Oh, if that be 
 all,' answered I, 'we'll have them painted for you, Mr. 
 Gluck!' 'No, no, no! you do not understand me,' replied 
 Gluck, 'I mean real, real heads."" My actresses are very 
 ugly, and Armida and her confidential lady ought to 
 be very handsome.' 
 
 "However great the success of the opera of 'Armida,' 
 and certainly it was one of the best productions ever ex- 
 hibited on the French stage, no one had a better opinion 
 of its composition than Gluck himself. He was quite 
 mad about it. He told the Queen that the air of France 
 had invigorated his musical genius, and that, after having 
 had the honor of seeing Her Majesty, his ideas were so 
 much inspired that his compositions resembled her, and 
 became alike angelic and sublime! 
 
 * How little did Gluck think, when he was pajdng this compliment, 
 or the Princess, when she recorded it, that these two heads were really 
 to be so cruelly severed from their bodies. 
 
CHAPTER VII 91 
 
 "The first artist who undertook the part of Armida 
 was Madame Saint Huberti. The Queen was very partial 
 to her. She was principal female singer at the French 
 opera, was a German by birth, and strongly recommended 
 by Gluck for her good natural voice. At Her Majesty's 
 request, Gluck himself taught Madame Saint Huberti the 
 part of Armida. Sacchini, also, at the command of Maria 
 Antoinette, instructed her in the style and sublimity of 
 the Italian school, arid Mdlle. Bertin, the Queen's dress- 
 maker and milliner, was ordered to furnish the complete 
 dress for the character. 
 
 "The Queen, perhaps, was more liberal to this lady 
 than to any actress upon the stage. She had frequently 
 paid her debts, which were very considerable, for she 
 dressed like a queen whenever she represented one. 
 
 " Gluck 's consciousness of the merit of his own works, 
 and of their dignity, excited no small jealousy, during 
 the getting up of 'Armida,' in his rival with the public, 
 the great Vestris, to whom he scarcely left space to 
 exhibit the graces of his art; and many severe disputes 
 took place between the two rival sharers of the Parisian 
 enthusiasm. Indeed, it was at one time feared that the 
 success of 'Armida' would be endangered, unless an 
 equal share of the performance were conceded to the 
 dancers. But Gluck, whose German obstinacy would not 
 give up a note, told Vestris he might compose a ballet 
 in which he would leave him his own way entirely; but 
 that an artist whose profession only taught him to reason 
 with his heels should not kick about works like ' Armida' 
 at his pleasure. 'My subject,' added Gluck, 'is taken 
 from the inrmortal Tasso. My music has been logically 
 composed, and with the ideas of my head ; and, of course, 
 there is very little room left for capering. If Tasso had 
 thought proper to make Rinaldo a dancer he never would 
 have designated him a warrior.' 
 
 " Rinaldo was the part Vestris wished to be allotted 
 to his son. However, through the interference of the 
 Queen, Vestris prudently took the part as it had been 
 originally finished by Gluck. 
 
92 CHAPTER VII 
 
 "'The Queen was a great admirer and patroness of 
 Augustus Vestris, the god of dance, as he was styled. 
 Augustus Vestris never lost Her Majesty's favor, though 
 he very often lost his sense of the respect he owed to 
 the public, and showed airs and refused to dance. Once 
 he did so when Her Majesty was at the opera. Upon 
 some frivolous pretext he refused to appear. He was, in 
 consequence, immediately arrested. His father, alarmed 
 at his son's temerity, flew to me and with the most 
 earnest supplications implored I would condescend to 
 endeavor to obtain the pardon of Her Majesty. ' My 
 son,' cried he, 'did not know that Her Majesty had 
 honored the theater with her presence. Had he been 
 aware of it, could he have refused to dance for his most 
 bounteous benefactress ? I, too, am grieved beyond the 
 power of language to describe, by this mal apropos con- 
 tretemps between the two houses of Vestris and Bourbon, 
 as we have always lived in the greatest harmony ever 
 since we came from Florence to Paris. My son is very 
 sorry and will dance most bewitchingly if Her Majesty 
 will graciously condescend to order his release ! ' 
 
 " I repeated the conversation verbatim to Her Majesty, 
 who enjoyed the arrogance of the Florentine, and sent 
 her page to order young Vestris to be set immediately 
 at liberty. 
 
 "Having exerted all the wonderful powers of his art, 
 the Queen applauded him very much. When Her Maj- 
 esty was about leaving her box, old Vestris appeared at 
 the entrance, leading his son. to thank the Queen. 
 
 " ' Ah, Monsieur Vestris,' said the Queen to the father, 
 ' you never danced as your son has done this even- 
 ing !' 
 
 " 'That's very natural, Madame,' answered old Vestris, 
 'I never had a Vestris, please your Majesty, for a 
 master." 
 
 " ' Then you have the greater merit,' replied the Queen, 
 turning round to old Vestris — ' Ah, I shall never forget 
 you and Mademoiselle Guimard dancing the menuet de la 
 cour.' 
 
CHAPTER VII 93 
 
 " On this old Vestris held up his head with that peculiar 
 grace for which he was so much distinguished. The old 
 man, though ridiculously vain, was very much of a gentle- 
 man in his manners. The father of Vestris was a painter 
 of some celebrity at Florence, and originally from Tus- 
 cany. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Journal Continued — Emperor Joseph Comes to France — Injurious Re- 
 ports of Immense Sums of Money Given Him from the Treasury — 
 Princess Lamballe Presented to Him — Anecdotes Told by Him of 
 His Family — The King Annoyed by His Freedoms — Circumstances 
 That Occurred While He Was Seeking Information among the Com- 
 mon People — Note of the Editor on Certain Mistakes of Madame 
 Campan. 
 
 «' ripHE visit of the favorite brother of Maria Antoinette, 
 1^ the Emperor Joseph the Second, to France, had 
 been long and anxiously expected, and was wel- 
 comed by her with delight. The pleasure Her Majesty 
 discovered at having him with her is scarcely credible; 
 and the affectionate tenderness with which the Emperor 
 frequently expressed himself on seeing his favorite sister 
 evinced that their joys were mutual. 
 
 "Like everything else, however, which gratified and 
 obliged the Queen, her evil star converted even this into 
 a misfortune. It was said that the French treasury, 
 which was not overflowing, was still more reduced by the 
 Queen's partiality for her brother. She was accused of 
 having given him immense sums of money; which was 
 utterly false. 
 
 " The finances of Joseph were at that time in a situa- 
 tion too superior to those of France to admit of such 
 extravagance, or even to render it desirable. The cir- 
 cumstance which gave a color to the charge was this: 
 
 " The Emperor, in order to facilitate the trade of his 
 Brabant subjects, had it in contemplation to open the 
 navigation of the Scheldt. This measure would have been 
 ruinous to many of the skippers, as well as to the mtemal 
 commerce of France. It was considered equally danger- 
 ous to the trade and navigation of the North Hollanders. 
 To prevent it, negotiations were carried on by the French 
 
 (94) 
 
CHAPTER VIII 95 
 
 minister, though professedly for the mutual interest of 
 both countries, yet entirely at the instigation and on ac- 
 count of the Dutch. The weighty argument of the Dutch 
 to prevent the Emperor from accomplishing a purpose 
 they so much dreaded was a sum of many millions, which 
 passed by means of some monied speculation in the Ex- 
 change through France to its destination at Vienna. It 
 was to see this affair settled that the Emperor declared 
 in Vienna his intention of taking France in his way from 
 Italy, before he should go back to Austria. 
 
 "The certainty of a transmission of money from France 
 to Austria was quite enough to awaken the malevolent, 
 who would have taken care even had they inquired into 
 the source whence the money came, never to have made 
 it public. The opportunity was too favorable not to be 
 made the pretext to raise a clamor against the Queen for 
 robbing France to favor and enrich Austria. 
 
 "The Emperor, who had never seen me, though he 
 had often heard me spoken of at the Court of Turin, 
 expressed a wish, soon after his arrival, that I should be 
 presented to him. The immediate cause of this let me 
 explain. 
 
 " I was very much attached to the Princess Clotilda, 
 whom I had caused to be united to Prince Charles 
 Emanuel of Piedmont. Our family had, indeed, been 
 principally instrumental in the alliances of the two 
 brothers of the King of France with the two Piedmontese 
 Princesses, as I had been in the marriage of the Pied- 
 montese Prince with the Princess of France. When the 
 Emperor Joseph visited the Court of Turin he was re- 
 quested when he saw me in Paris to signify the King of 
 Sardinia's satisfaction at my good offices. Consequently, 
 the Emperor lost no time in delivering his message. 
 
 "When I was just entering the Queen's apartment to 
 be presented, ' Here, ' said Her Majesty, leading me to 
 the Emperor, 'is the Princess,' and, then turning to me, 
 exclaimed, ' Mercy, how cold you are ! ' The Emperor 
 answered Her Majesty in German, 'What heat can you 
 expect from the hand of one whose heart resides 
 
96 CHAPTER VlII 
 
 with the dead ? ' and subjoined, in the same language, 
 'What a pity that so charming a head should be fixed 
 on a dead body ! ' 
 
 "I aflPected to understand the Emperor literally, and 
 set him and the Queen laughing by thanking His Im- 
 perial Majesty for the compliment. 
 
 "The Emperor was exceedingly afiEable and full of 
 anecdote. Maria Antoinette resembled him in her 
 general manners. The similitude in their easy openness 
 of address toward persons of merit was very striking. 
 Both always endeavored to encourage persons of every 
 class to speak their minds freely, with this difference, 
 that Her Majesty in so doing never forgot her dignity 
 nor her rank at Court. Sometimes, however, I have 
 seen her, though so perfect in her deportment with in- 
 feriors, much intimidated and sometimes embarrassed in 
 the presence of the Princes and Princesses, her equals, 
 who for the first time visited Versailles : indeed, so much 
 so as to give them a very incorrect idea of her capacity. 
 It was by no means an easy matter to cause Her Majesty 
 to unfold her real sentiments or character on a first ac- 
 quaintance. 
 
 "I remember the Emperor one evening at supper when 
 he was exceedingly good-humored, talkative, and amusing. 
 He had visited all his Italian relations, and had a word 
 for each, — man, woman, or child, — not a soul was spared. 
 The King scarcely once opened his mouth, except to 
 laugh at some of the Emperor's jokes upon his Italian 
 relations. 
 
 •'He began by asking the Queen if she punished her 
 husband by making him keep as many Lents in the same 
 year as her sister did the King of Naples. The Queen 
 not knowing what the Emperor meant, he explained him- 
 self, and said, 'When the King of Naples offends his 
 Queen, she keeps him on short commons and soupe maigre 
 till he has expiated the offense by the penance of hum- 
 bling himself; and then, and not till then, permits him 
 to return and share the nuptial rights of her bed.' 
 
 "'This sister of mine,' said the Emperor, 'is a pro- 
 
CHAPTER VIII 97 
 
 ficient Queen in the art of man training. My other sis- 
 ter, the Duchess of Parma, is equally scientific in break- 
 ing-in horses ; for she is constantly in the stables with her 
 grooms, by which she grooms a pretty sum yearly in buy- 
 ing, selling, and breaking-in ; while the simpleton, her hus- 
 band, is ringing the bells with the Friars of Colomo to 
 call his good subjects to mass.' 
 
 " ' My brother Leopold, Grand Duke of Tuscany, feeds 
 his subjects with plans of economy, a dish that costs 
 nothing, and not only saves him a multitude of troubles 
 in public buildings and public institutions, but keeps the 
 public money in his private cofiEers; which is one of the 
 greatest and most classical discoveries a sovereign can 
 possibly accomplish, and I give Leopold much credit for 
 his ingenuity.' 
 
 " ' My dear brother Ferdinand, Archduke of Milan, con- 
 sidering he is only Governor of Lombardy, is not with- 
 out industry; and I am told when out of the glimpse of 
 his dragon the holy Beatrix, his Archduchess, sells his 
 com in the time of war to my enemies, as he does to my 
 friends in the time of peace. So he loses nothing by his 
 speculations!' 
 
 "The Queen checked the Emperor repeatedly, though 
 she could not help smiling at his caricatures. 
 
 '* ' As to you, my dear Maria Antoinette,' continued the 
 Emperor, not heeding her, ' I see you have made great 
 progress in the art of painting. You have lavished more 
 color on one cheek than Rubens would have required 
 for all the figures in his cartoons.' Observing one 
 of the ladies of honor still more highly rouged than 
 the Queen, he said, 'I suppose I look like a death's 
 head upon a tombstone, among all these high-colored 
 furies. ' 
 
 'The Qiieen again tried to interrupt the Emperor, but 
 he was not to be put out of countenance. 
 
 "He said he had no doubt, when he arrived at Brus- 
 sels, that he should hear of the progress of his sister, the 
 Archduchess Maria Christina, in her money negotiations 
 7 
 
98 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 with the banker Valkeers, who made a good stock for her 
 husband's jobs. 
 
 "'If Maria Christina's gardens and palace at Lakin 
 could speak,' observed he, 'what a spectacle of events 
 would they not produce! What a number of fine sights 
 my own family would afford!' 
 
 •"When I get to Cologne,' pursued the Emperor, 
 ' there I shall see my great fat brother Maximilian, in his 
 little electorate, spending his yearly revenue upon an ec- 
 clesiastical procession; for priests, like opposition, never 
 bark but to get into the manger; never walk empty- 
 handed; rosaries and good cheer always wind up their 
 holy work; and my good Maximilian, as head of his 
 Church, has scarcely feet to waddle into it. Feasting and 
 fasting produce the same effect. In wind and food he is 
 quite an adept — puffing, from one cause or the other, 
 like a smith's bellows ! ' 
 
 "Indeed, the Elector of Cologne was really grown so 
 very fat, that, like his Imperial mother, he could scarcely 
 walk. He would so over-eat himself at these ecclesiastical 
 dinners, to make his guests welcome, that, from indiges- 
 tion, he would be puffing and blowing, an hour afterward, 
 for breath! 
 
 "'As I have begun the family visits,' continued the 
 Emperor, 'I must not pass by the Archduchess Mariana 
 and the lady abbess at Clagenfurt; or, the Lord knows, I 
 shall never hear the end of their klagens* The first, I 
 am told, is grown so ugly, and, of course, so neglected by 
 mankind, that she is become an utter stranger to any at- 
 tachment, excepting the fleshy embraces of the disgusting 
 wen that encircles her neck and bosom, and makes 
 her head appear like a black spot upon a large sheet of 
 white paper! Therefore hlagen is all I can expect from 
 that quarter of female flesh, and I dare say it will be 
 leveled against the whole race of mankind for their want 
 of taste in not admiring her exuberance of human craw! 
 
 "'As to the lady abbess, she is one of my best recruit- 
 
 •A German word, which signifies complaining. 
 
CHAPTER VIII 99 
 
 Ing sergeants. She is so fond of training cadets for the 
 benefit of the army that they learn more from her system 
 in one month than at the military academy at Neustadt 
 in a whole year. She is her mother's own daughter. She 
 understands military tactics thoroughly. She and I never 
 quarrel, except when I garrison her citadel with invalids. 
 She and the canoness, Mariana, would rather see a few 
 young ensigns than all the staffs of the oldest field mar- 
 shals! ' 
 
 " The Queen often made signs to the Emperor to de- 
 sist from thus exposing every member of his family, and 
 seemed to feel mortified; but the more Her Majesty en- 
 deavored to check his freedom, and make him silent, the 
 more he enlarged upon the subject. He did not even 
 omit Maria Theresa, who, he said, in consequence of some 
 papers found on persons arrested as spies from the Prus- 
 sian camp, during the Seven Years' War, was reported to 
 have been greatly surprised to have discovered that her 
 husband, the Emperor Francis I., supplied the enemy's 
 army with all kinds of provision from her stores. 
 
 "The King scarcely ever answered excepting when the 
 Emperor told the Queen that her staircase and ante- 
 chamber at Versailles resembled more the Turkish ba- 
 zars of Cpnstantinople * than a royal palace. 'But,' 
 added he,, laughing, ' I suppose you would not allow the 
 nuisance of hawkers and peddlers almost under your 
 nose, if the sweet perfumes of a handsome present did 
 not compensate for the disagreeable effluvia exhaling 
 from their filthy traffic' 
 
 "On this, Louis XVI., in a tone of voice somewhat 
 varying from his usual mildness, assured the Emperor 
 that neither himself nor the Queen derived any advantage 
 ^rom the custom, beyond the convenience of purchasing 
 articles inside the palace at the moment they were wanted, 
 without being forced to send for them elsewhere. 
 
 *It was an old custom, in the passages and staircase of all the royal 
 palaces, for tradespeople to sell their merchandise for the accommoda- 
 tion of the Court. 
 
TOP CHAPTER VIII 
 
 "'That is the very reason, my dear brother,' replied 
 ^ Joseph, * why I should not allow these shops to be where 
 they are. The temptation to lavish money to little pur- 
 pose is too strong; and women have not philosophy 
 enough to resist having things they like, when they can 
 be obtained easily, though they may not be wanted.' 
 
 '"Custom,* answered the King 
 
 '"True,- exclaimed the Queen, interrupting him ; 'cus- 
 tom, my dear brother, obliges us to tolerate in France 
 many things which you, in Austria, have long since 
 abolished; but the French are not to be treated like the 
 Germans. A Frenchman is a slave to habit. His very 
 caprice in the change of fashion, proceeds more from 
 habit than genius or invention. His very restlessness of 
 character is systematic; and old customs and national 
 habits in a nation virtually spirituelle must not be trifled 
 with. The tree torn up by the roots dies for want of 
 nourishment; but, on the contrary, when lopped care- 
 fully only of its branches the pruning makes it more 
 valuable to the cultivator and more pleasing to the be- 
 holder. So it is with national prejudices, which are often 
 but the excrescences of national virtues. Root them out 
 and you root out virtue and all. They must only be 
 pruned and turned to profit. A Frenchman is more eas- 
 ily killed than subdued. Even his follies generally spring 
 from a high sense of national dignity and honor, which 
 foreigners cannot but respect.'* 
 
 "The Emperor Joseph while in France mixed in all 
 sorts ot society to gain information with respect to the 
 popular feeling toward his sister, and instruction as to the 
 manners and modes of life and thinking of the French. 
 To this end he would often associate with the lowest of 
 the common people, and generally gave them a louis tot 
 their loss of time in attending to him. 
 
 "One day, when he was walking with the young 
 
 * Little did she think then that the nation she was eulogizing and so 
 proud of governing would one day cause her to lepent her partiality by 
 barbarously dragging her to an ignominious trial and cruel death. 
 
CHAPTER VIII loi 
 
 Princess Elizabeth and myself in the public gardens at 
 Versailles and in deep conversation with us, two or three 
 of these louis ladies came up to my side and, not know- 
 ing who I was, whispered, ' There's no use in paying such 
 attention to the stranger: After all, when he has got 
 what he wants, he'll only give you a louis apiece and 
 then send you about your business. ' " 
 
102 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 NOTE. 
 
 "TMus far extend the anecdotes which the Princess Lamballe has re- 
 •1 corded of the Emperor Joseph ; but I cannot dismiss this part of the 
 subject without noticing some mistakes which Madame Campan has ad- 
 mitted into her account of His Imperial Majesty and his visit. 
 
 Maria Antoinette, and not the Queen of Naples, was the Emperor's 
 favorite. The Queen of Naples was the favorite of Leopold, Grand 
 Duke of Tuscany, who succeeded the Emperor Joseph in a brief reig^. 
 This assertion is substantiated by the Queen of Naples herself, who 
 could never persuade Joseph II. to allow the two marriages to take place 
 between her two daughters and the present Emperor atd his brother 
 Ferdinand, the late Duke of Tuscany. On the contrary, he married the 
 present Emperor, then King of the Romans, when very young, to his 
 first wife, the Princess of Wirtemberg, sister to the Empress Dowager 
 of Russia, to stop the continued importunities of his sister, the Queen of 
 Naples, on that subject; but this Princess dying at Vienna only a few 
 days previous to the death of the Emperor Joseph II., and Leopold suc- 
 ceeding, the marriages between Francis and Ferdinand and the daugh- 
 ters of the Queen of Naples took place soon after Leopold assumed the 
 imperial diadem, when Carolina and Ferdinand, her husband, the late 
 King of Naples, accompanied both their daughters to their respective 
 husbands. 
 
 Though Joseph II. freely acknowledged his sister Carolina's capacity 
 for governing Naples, he was very much displeased at her instigating 
 Pope Pius VI. to come to Vienna to remonstrate with him on the sup- 
 pression of some of his religious houses. He avoided coming to any 
 explanation with the holy father on this or any other subject by never 
 seeing him but in public ; and though the Pope resided for some months 
 at Vienna, and traveled to that city from the ancient Christian capital of 
 the world for no other purpose, yet His Holiness was unable to get a 
 sight of the Emperor except at public levee days, and was obliged to re- 
 turn to Rome with the mortification of having humiliated himself by an 
 utterly fruitless journey. 
 
 When Joseph II. had been informed that the Queen of Naples had 
 expressed herself hostile to his innovations, he told her Ambassador, 
 " Tutti son padroni a casa sua." 
 
 From these circumstances I think it seems pretty evident that Ma- 
 dame Campan has been led into an error when she says that Joseph II. 
 and the Queen of Naples idolized each other. The very reverse is the 
 fact; but it was their mutual interest to keep up political appearances 
 from the two extreme situations they held in Italy. 
 
CHAPTER VIII 103 
 
 It was Joseph II. , on his leaving Italy and coming to Paris, who in- 
 terested himself with his favorite sister, the Queen of France, to cause 
 the King, her husband, to settle the differences then subsisting between 
 the Court of Naples and that of Spain ; and it was his opinion which 
 some time afterward influenced the Queen of France to refuse the oflfer 
 of the Queen of Naples to affiance her daughter, the present Duchess d' 
 AngoulSme, to the Crown Prince, son of the Queen of Naples, and to 
 propose as more eligible a marriage which, since the Revolution, has 
 taken place between the house of Orleans and that of Naples. 
 
 I know not whether the individuals since united are the same who 
 were then proposed, but the union of the houses was certainly sug- 
 gested by Maria Antoinette, with the consent of the Duke and Duch- 
 ess of Orleans, with whom, or rather with the last of whom, the 
 Queen of France was then upon terms of intimacy. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Journal Continued — Pleasure of Hearing of the Birth of Children — 
 The Queen's Exultation at Finding Herself Pregnant — Favorable 
 Change in the Public Sentiment — The King's Aunts Annoyed at the 
 Queen's Prosperity — Her Pregnancy Ascribed by Du Barry to 
 d'Artois — Lamballe Interferes to Prevent a Private Meeting be- 
 tween the Queen and Baron Besenval — Coolness in Consequence — 
 The Interview Granted, and the Result as Feared — The Queen 
 Sensible of Her Error — The Polig^acs — Night Promenades on the 
 Terrace at Versailles and at Trianon — Queen's Remark on Hearing 
 of Du Barry's Intrigue against Her — Princess Lamballe Declines 
 Going to the Evening Promenades — Vermond Strengthens Maria 
 Antoinette's Hatred of Etiquette — Her Goodness of Heirt — Droll 
 Anecdote of the Chevalier d'Eon. 
 
 «<T REMEMBER an old lady who could not bear to be told of 
 I deaths. ' Pshaw ! Pshaw ! ' she would exclaim. ' Bring 
 me no tales of funerals ! Talk of births and of those 
 who are likely to be blest with them! These are the 
 joys which gladden old hearts and fill youthful ones with 
 ecstasy! It is our own reproduction in children which 
 makes us quit the world happy and contented; because 
 then we only retire to make room for another race, 
 bringing with them all those faculties which are in us 
 decayed; and capable, which we ourselves have ceased to 
 be, of taking our parts and figuring on the stage of life 
 so long as it may please the Supreme Manager to busy 
 them in earthly scenes! .Then talk no more to me of 
 weeds and mourning, but show me christenings and all 
 those who give employ to the baptismal font!' 
 
 "Such also was the exulting feeling of Maria Antoi- 
 nette when she no longer doubted of her wished-for 
 pregnancy. The idea of becoming a mother filled her 
 soul with an exuberant delight, which made the very 
 pavement on which she trod vibrate with the words 'I 
 shall be a mother! I shall be a mother! ' She was so 
 (104) 
 
CHAPTER IX 105 
 
 overjoyed that she not only made it public throughout 
 France but dispatches were sent off to all her' royal rel- 
 atives. And was not her rapture natural ? so long as she 
 had waited for the result of every youthful union, and 
 so coarsely as she had been reproached with her misfor- 
 tune! Now came her triumph. She could now prove to 
 the world, like all the descendants of the house of Austria, 
 that there was no defect with her. The satirists and the 
 malevolent were silenced. Louis XVI., from the cold, 
 insensible bridegroom, became the infatuated admirer of 
 his long-neglected wife. The enthusiasm with which the 
 event was hailed by all France atoned for the partial in- 
 sults she had received before it. The splendid fites, 
 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. Entertainments 
 were given even to the domestics of every description 
 belonging to the royal establishments. Indeed, so gen- 
 eral was the joy that, among those who could do no 
 more, there could scarcely be found a father or mother 
 in France who, before they took their wine, did not first 
 offer up a prayer for the prosperous pregnancy of their 
 beloved Queen. 
 
 "And yet, though the situation of Maria Antoinette 
 was now become the theme of a whole nation's exultation, 
 she herself, the owner of the precious burden, selected by 
 Heaven as its special depositary, was the only one cen- 
 sured for expressing all her happiness ! 
 
 " Those models of decorum, the virtuous Princesses, 
 her aunts, deemed it highly indelicate in Her Majesty to 
 have given public marks of her satisfaction to those de- 
 puted to compliment her on her prosperous situation. To 
 avow the joy she felt was in their eyes indecent and un- 
 queenly. Where was the shrinking bashfulness of that 
 ONE of these Princesses who had herself been so clamorous 
 to Louis XV. against her husband, the Duke of Modena, 
 for not having consummated her own marriage ? 
 
io6 CHAPTER IX 
 
 "The party of the dismissed favorite Du Barry were 
 still working underground. Their pestiferous vapors is- 
 sued from the recesses of the earth, to obscure the bright- 
 ness of the rising sun, which was now rapidly towering to 
 its climax, to obliterate the little planets which had once 
 endeavored to eclipse its beautiful rays, but were now in- 
 capable of competition, and unable to endure its luster. 
 This malignant nest of serpents began to poison the 
 minds of the courtiers, as soon as the pregnancy was ob- 
 vious, by inuendos on the partiality of the Count d'Artois 
 for the Queen; and at length, infamously, and openly, 
 dared to point him out as the cause! 
 
 "Thus, in the heart of the Court itself, originated this 
 most atrocious slander, long before it reached the nation, 
 and so much assisted to destroy Her Majesty's popularity 
 with a people, who now adored her amiableness, her gen- 
 eral kind-heartedness, and her unbounded charity. 
 
 "I have repeatedly seen the Queen and the Count d' 
 Artois together under circumstances in which there could 
 have been no concealment of her real feelings ; and I can 
 firmly and boldly assert the falsehood of this allegation 
 against my royal mistress. The only attentions Maria 
 Antoinette received in the earlier part of her residence 
 in France were from her grandfather and her brothers-in- 
 law. Of these, the Count d'Artois was the only one who, 
 from youth and liveliness of character, thoroughly sym- 
 pathized with his sister. But, beyond the little freedoms 
 of two young and innocent playmates, nothing can be 
 charged upon their intimacy ; no familiarity whatever fur- 
 ther than was warranted by their relationship. I can bear 
 witness that Her Majesty's attachment for the Count d' 
 Artois never differed in its nature from what she felt for 
 her brother, the Emperor Joseph."' 
 
 • When the King thought proper to be reconciled to the Queen after 
 the. death of his grandfather, Louis XV., and that she became a mother, 
 she really was very much attached to Louis XVI., as may be proved 
 from her never quitting him, and suffering all the horrid sacrifices she 
 endured, through the whole period of the Revolution, rather than leave 
 her husband, her children, or her sister. Maria Antoinette might hav« 
 
CHAPTER IX 107 
 
 "It is very likely that the slander of which I speak, 
 derived some color of probability afterward with the 
 million, from the Queen's thoughtlessness, relative to the 
 challenge which passed between the Count d'Artois and 
 the Duke de Bourbon. In right of my station, I was 
 one of Her Majesty's confidential counselors, and it be- 
 came my duty to put restraint upon her inclinations, 
 whenever I conceived they led her wrong. In this in- 
 stance, I exercised my prerogative decidedly, and even so 
 much so as to create displeasure ; but I anticipated the 
 consequences, which actually ensued, and preferred to 
 risk my royal mistress's displeasure rather than her repu- 
 tation. The dispute, which led to the duel, was on some 
 point of etiquette ; and the Baron de Besenval was to 
 attend as second to one of the parties. From the Queen's 
 attachment for her royal brother, she wished the affair 
 to be amicably arranged, without the knowledge either of 
 the King, who was ignorant of what had taken place, or 
 of the parties ; which could only be effected by her seeing 
 the baron in the most private manner. I opposed Her 
 Majesty's allowing any interview with the baron upon 
 any terms, unless sanctioned by the King. This un- 
 expected and peremptory refusal obliged the Queen to 
 transfer her confidence to the librarian, who introduced 
 the baron into one of the private apartments of Her 
 Majesty's women, communicating with that of the Queen, 
 where Her Majesty could see the baron without the ex- 
 posure of passing any of the other attendants. The baron 
 was quite gray, and upward of sixty years of age! But 
 the self-conceited dotard soon caused the Queen to repent 
 her misplaced confidence, and from his unwarrantable 
 impudence on that occasion, when he found himself alone 
 with the Queen, Her Majesty, though he was a constant 
 member of the societies of the Polignacs, ever after treated 
 him with sovereign contempt. 
 
 "The Queen herself afterward described to me the 
 
 saved her life twenty times, had not the King^s safety united with her 
 own and that of her family, impelled her to reject every proposition of 
 self-preservation. 
 
io8 CHAPTER IX 
 
 baron's presumptuous attack upon her credulity. From 
 this circumstance I thenceforward totally excluded him 
 from my parties, where Her Majesty was always a regu- 
 lar visitor. 
 
 " The coolness to which my determination not to allow 
 the interview gave rise between Her Majesty and myself 
 was but momentary. The Queen had too much discern- 
 ment not to appreciate the basis upon which my denial 
 was grounded, even before she was convinced by the re- 
 sult how correct had been my reflections. She felt her 
 error, and, by the mediation of the Duke of Dorset, we 
 were reunited more closely than ever, and so, I trust, 
 we shall remain till death! 
 
 " There was much more attempted to be made of an- 
 other instance, in which I exercised the duty of my of- 
 fice, than the truth justified — the nightly promenades 
 on the terrace at Versailles, or at Trianon. Though no 
 amusement could have been more harmless or innocent 
 for a private individual, yet I certainly disapproved of it 
 for a queen, and therefore withheld the sanction of my 
 attendance. My sole objection was on the score of dig- 
 nity. I well knew that Du Barry and her infamous party 
 were constant spies upon the Queen on every occasion of 
 such a nature ; and that they would not fail to exaggerate 
 her every movement to her prejudice. Though Du Barry 
 could not form one of the party, which was a great source 
 of heartburning, it was easy for her, under the circum- 
 stances, to mingle with the throng. When I suggested 
 these objections to the Queen, Her Majesty, feeling no in- 
 ward cause of reproach, and being sanctioned in what 
 she did by the King himself, laughed at the idea of these 
 little excursions affording food for scandal. I assured Her 
 Majesty that I had every reason to be convinced that Du 
 Barry was often in disguise not far from the seat where 
 Her Majesty and the Princess Elizabeth could be over- 
 heard in their most secret conversations with each other. 
 'Listeners,' replied the Queen, 'never hear any good of 
 themselves.' 
 
 "'My dear Lamballe,' she continued, 'you have taken 
 
CHAPTER IX 109 
 
 such a dislike to this woman that you cannot conceive 
 she can be occupied but in mischief. This is unchari- 
 table. She certainly has no reason to be dissatisfied with 
 either the King or myself. We have both left her in the 
 full enjoyment of all she possessed except the right of 
 appearing at Court or continuing in the society her con- 
 duct had too long disgraced.' 
 
 "I said it was very true, but that I should be happier 
 to find Her Majesty so scrupulous as never to give an 
 opportunity even for the falsehoods of her enemies. 
 
 " Her Majesty turned the matter off, as usual, by say- 
 ing she had no idea of injuring others, and could not be- 
 lieve that anyone would wantonly injure her, adding, 
 ' The Duchess and the Princess Elizabeth, my two 
 sisters, and all the other ladies, are coming to hear the 
 concert this evening, and you will be delighted.' 
 
 " I excused myself under the plea of the night air dis- 
 agreeing with my health, and returned to Versailles with- 
 out ever making myself one of the nocturnal members of 
 Her Majesty's society, well knowing she could dispense 
 with my presence, there being more than enough ever 
 ready to hurry her by their own imprudence into the 
 folly of despising criticisms, which I always endeavored 
 to avoid, though I did not fear them. Of these I cannot 
 but consider her secretary as one. The following cir- 
 cumstance connected with the promenades is a proof: 
 
 '* The Abb6 Vermond was present one day when Maria 
 Antoinette observed that she felt rather indisposed. I 
 attributed it to Her Majesty's having lightened her dress 
 and exposed herself too much to the night air. ' Heav- 
 ens, madame!' cried the Abb6, 'would you always have 
 Her Majesty cased up in steel armor and not take the 
 fresh air without being surrounded by a troop of horse 
 and foot, as a field marshal is when going to storm a for- 
 tress ? Pray, Princess, now that Her Majesty has freed 
 herself from the annoying shackles of Madame Etiquette 
 (the Countess de Noailles), let her enjoy the pleasure of 
 a simple robe and breathe freely the fresh morning dew, 
 as has been her custom all her life (and as her mother 
 
no CHAPTER IX 
 
 before her, the Empress Maria Theresa, has done and 
 continues to do, even to this day), unfettered by anti- 
 quated absurdities! Let me be anything rather than a 
 Queen of France, if I must be doomed to the slavery of 
 such tyrannical rules ! ' 
 
 "•True; but, sir,' replied I, 'you should reflect that if 
 you were a Queen of France, France, in making you 
 mistress of her destinies, and placing you at the head of 
 her nation, would, in return look for respect from you 
 to her customs and manners. I am born an Italian, but 
 I renounced all national peculiarities of thinking and act- 
 ing the moment I set my foot on French ground.' 
 
 " 'And so did I,' said Maria Antoinette. 
 
 "'I know you did, madame,' I answered; 'but I am 
 replying to your preceptor; and I only wish he saw things 
 in the same light I do. When we are at Rome, we should 
 DO AS Rome does. You have never had a regicide Ber- 
 trand de Gurdon, a Ravillac, or a Damiens in Germany; 
 but they have been common in France, and the sover- 
 eigns of France cannot be too circumspect in their main- 
 tenance of ancient etiquette to command the dignified 
 respect of a frivolous and versatile people.' 
 
 " The Queen, though she did not strictly adhere to my 
 counsels or the Abba's advice, had too much good sense 
 to allow herself to be prejudiced against me by her pre- 
 ceptor; but the Abbe never entered on the propriety or 
 impropriety of the Queen's conduct before me, and from the 
 moment I have mentioned studiously avoided, in my 
 presence, anything which could lead to discussion on the 
 change of dress and amusements introduced by Her 
 Majesty. 
 
 "Although I disapproved of Her Majesty's deviations 
 from established forms in this, or, indeed, any respect, 
 yet I never, before or after, expressed my opinion be- 
 fore a third person. 
 
 ' ' Never should I have been so firmly and so long at- 
 tached to Maria Antoinette, had I not known that her 
 native thorough goodness of heart had been warped and 
 misguided, though acting at the same time with the best 
 
CHAPTER IX III 
 
 intentions, by a false notion of her real innocence being 
 a sufficient shield against the public censure of such in- 
 novations upon national prejudices, as she thought proper 
 to introduce; the fatal error of conscious rectitude, en- 
 couraged in its regardlessness of appearances by those 
 very persons who well knew that it is only by appear- 
 ances a nation can judge of its rulers. 
 
 '* I remember a ludicrous circumstance arising from the 
 Queen's innocent curiosity, in which, if there were any- 
 thing to blame, I myself am to be censured for lending 
 myself to it so heartily to satisfy Her Majesty. 
 
 "When the Chevalier d'Eon was allowed to return to 
 France, Her Majesty expressed a particular inclination to 
 see this extraordinary character. From prudential as well 
 as political motives, she was at first easily persuaded to 
 repress her desire. However, by a most ludicrous occur- 
 rence, it was revived, and nothing would do but she 
 must have a sight of the being who had for some time 
 been the talk of every society, and at the period to which 
 I allude was become the mirth of all Paris. 
 
 "The Chevalier being one day in a very large party 
 of both sexes, in which, though his appearance had more 
 of the old soldier in it than of the character he was com- 
 pelled malgr^ lui* to adopt, many of the guests having 
 no idea to what sex this nondescript animal really be- 
 longed, the conversation after dinner happened to turn 
 on the manly exercise of fencing. Heated by a subject 
 to him so interesting, the Chevalier, forgetful of the re- 
 spect due to his assumed garb, started from his seat, and 
 pulling up his petticoats, threw himself on guard. 
 Though dressed in male attire underneath, this sudden 
 freak sent all the ladies and many of the gentlemen out 
 of the room in double quick time. The Chevalier, how- 
 ever, instantly recovering from the first impulse, quietly 
 
 * It may be necessary to observe here that the Chevalier, having 
 from some particular motives been banished from France, was after- 
 ward permitted to return only on condition of never appearing but in 
 the disgruised dress of a female, though he was always habited in the 
 male costume underneath it. 
 
112 CHAPTER IX 
 
 put down his upper garment, and begged pardon in a 
 gentlemanly manner for having for a moment deviated 
 from the forms of his imposed situation. All the gossips 
 of Paris were presently amused with the story, which, of 
 course, reached the Court, with every droll particular of 
 the pulling up and clapping down the cumbrous para- 
 phernalia of a hoop petticoat 
 
 "The King and Queen, from the manner in which they 
 enjoyed the tale when told them (and certainly it lost 
 nothing in the report), would not have been the least 
 amused of the party had they been present. His Majesty 
 shook the room with laughing, and the Queen, the 
 Princess Elizabeth, and the other ladies were convulsed 
 at the description, 
 
 "When we were alone, 'How I should like,' said the 
 Queen, 'to see this curious man- woman!' 'Indeed,' re- 
 plied I, ' I have not less curiosity than yourself, and I 
 think we may contrive to let Your Majesty have a peep 
 at him — her, I mean! — without compromising your 
 dignity, or offending the minister who interdicted the 
 Chevalier from appearing in your presence. I know he 
 has expressed the greatest mortification, and that his wish 
 to see Your Majesty is almost irrepressible.' 
 
 " ' But how will you be able to contrive this without 
 its being known to the King, or to the Count de Ver- 
 gennes, who would never forgive me ? ' exclaimed Her 
 Majesty. 
 
 '"Why, on Sunday, when you go to chapel, I will 
 cause him, by some means or other, to make his appear- 
 ance, en grande costume, among the group of ladies who 
 are generally waiting there to be presented to Your 
 Majesty. ' 
 
 "'Oh, you charming creature!' said the Queen. 'But 
 won't the minister banish or exile him for it ? ' 
 
 '"No, no! He has only been forbidden an audience 
 of Your Majesty at Court,' I replied. 
 
 " In good earnest, on the Sunday following the 
 Chevalier was dressed en costume, with a large hoop, very 
 long train, sack, five rows of ruflfles an immensely high 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 113 
 
 powdered female wig, very beautiful lappets, white gloves, 
 an elegant fan |in his hand, his beard closely shaved, 
 his neck and ears adorned with diamond rings and neck- 
 laces, and assuming all the airs and graces of a fine 
 lady! 
 
 "But, unluckily, his anxiety was so great, the moment 
 the Queen made her appearance, to get a sight of Her 
 Majesty, that, on rushing before the other ladies, his wig 
 and headdress fell off his head; and, before they could 
 be well replaced, he made so ridiculous a figure, by 
 clapping them, in his confusion, hind part before, that 
 the King, the Queen, and the whole suite, could scarcely 
 refrain from laughing aloud in the church. 
 
 " Thus ended the long longed-for sight of this famous 
 man-woman! 
 
 "As to me, it was a great while before I could re- 
 cover myself. Even now, I laugh whenever I think of 
 this great lady deprived of her head ornaments, with her 
 bald pate laid bare, to the derision of such a multitude 
 of Parisians, always prompt to divert themselves at the 
 expense of others. However, the affair passed off un- 
 heeded, and no one but the Queen and myself ever knew 
 that we ourselves had been innocently the cause of this 
 comical adventure. When we met after mass, we were 
 so overpowered, that neither of us could speak for laugh- 
 ing. The bishop who ofi&ciated, said it was lucky he had 
 no sermon to preach that day, for it would have been 
 difficult for him to have recollected himself, or to have 
 maintained his gravity. The ridiculous appearance of the 
 Chevalier, he added, was so continually presenting itself 
 before him during the service that it was as much as he 
 could do to restrain himself from laughing, by keeping 
 his eyes constantly riveted on the book. Indeed, the oddity 
 of the affair was greatly heightened when, in the middle of 
 the mass, some charitable hand having adjusted the wig 
 of the Chevalier, he re-entered the chapel as if nothing 
 had happened, and, placing himself exactly opposite the 
 altar, with his train upon his arm, stood fanning himself 
 it la coquette, with an inflexible self-possession which only 
 8 
 
"4 CHAPTER IX 
 
 rendered it the more difficult for those around him to 
 maintain their composure. 
 
 "Thus ended the Queen's curiosity. The result only 
 made the Chevalier's company in greater request, for 
 everyone became more anxious than ever to know the 
 masculine lady who had lost her wig!" 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 Observations of the Editor — Journal Continued — Birth of the Duch- 
 ess d'AngoulSme — Maria Antoinette Delivered of a Dauphin — In- 
 creasing Influence of the Duchess de Polig^nac — The Abb6 Vermond 
 Heads an Intrigue against It — Polignac Made Governess of the 
 Royal Children — Her Splendor and Increasing Unpopularity — Envy 
 and Resentment of the Nobility — Birth of the Duke of Normandy 
 — The Queen Accomplishes the Marriage of the Duchess de Po- 
 lignac's Daughter with the Duke de Guiche — Cabals of the Court 
 — Maria Antoinette's Partiality for the English — Libels on the 
 Queen — Private Commissions to Suppress Them — Motives of the 
 Duke de Lauzun for Joining the Columniators — Droll Conversa- 
 tion between Maria Antoinette, Lady Spencer, the Duke of Dorset, 
 etc., at Versailles — Interesting Visit of the Grand Duke of the 
 North (Afterward the Emperor Paul) and His Duchess — Maria 
 Antoinette's Disgpist at the King of Sweden — Audacity of the Car- 
 dinal de Rohan. 
 
 FROM the time that the Princess Latnballe saw the ties 
 between the Queen and her favorite Polignac draw- 
 ing closer she became less assiduous in her attend- 
 ance at Court, being reluctant to importune the friends 
 by her presence at an intimacy which she did not ap- 
 prove. She could not, however, withhold her accustomed 
 attentions, as the period of Her Majesty's accouchement 
 approached; and she has thus noted the circumstance of 
 the birth of the Duchess d'Angouleme, on the 19th of 
 December, 1778. 
 
 "The moment for the accomplishment of the Queen's 
 darling hope was now at hand: she was about to become 
 a mother. 
 
 " It had been agreed between Her Majesty and myself, 
 that I was to place myself so near the accoucheur, Ver- 
 mond,* as to be the first to distinguish the sex of the 
 
 * Brother to the Abb6, whose pride was so g;reat at this honor con- 
 ferred on his relative, that he never spoke of him without denomina- 
 ting him Monsffur tnon frire, I'accoucher de sa Majesti, Vermond. 
 
 (115) 
 
Ii6 CHAPTER X 
 
 new-born infant, and if she should be delivered of a 
 Dauphin to say, in Italian, II figlio i nato. 
 
 " Her Majesty was, however, foiled even in this the 
 most blissful of her desires. She was delivered of a 
 daughter instead of a Dauphin. 
 
 " From the immense crowd that burst into the apart- 
 ment the instant Vermond said, the Queen is happily 
 DELIVERED, Her Majesty was nearly suffocated. I had 
 hold of her hand, and as I said La regina k andafo, mis- 
 taking andato for nato, between the joy of giving birth 
 to a son and the pressure of the crowd, Her Majesty 
 fainted. Overcome by the dangerous situation in which 
 I saw my royal mistress I myself was carried out of the 
 room in a lifeless state. The 'situation of Her Majesty 
 was for some time very doubtful till the people were 
 dragged with violence from about her, that she might 
 have air. On her recovering, the King was the first per- 
 son who told her that she was the mother of a very fine 
 Princess. 
 
 '"Well, then,' said the Queen, 'I am like my mother, 
 for at my birth she also wished for a son instead of a 
 daughter; and you have lost your wager': for the King 
 had betted with Maria Theresa that it would be a son. 
 
 " The King answered her by repeating the lines Me- 
 tastasio had written on that occasion: 
 
 " lo perdei: Faugusta figlia 
 A pagar, nia condemnato ; 1 
 Ma s'i ver che a vei somiglia 
 Tutto il mondo ha guadagnato" 
 
 The Princess Lamballe again ceased to be constantly 
 about the Queen. Her danger was over, she was a 
 mother, and the attentions of disinterested friendship 
 were no longer indispensable. She herself about this 
 time met with a deep affliction. She lost both of her 
 own parents; and to her sorrows may, in a great degree, 
 be ascribed her silence upon the eveilts which intervened 
 between the birth of Madame and that of the Dauphin. 
 She was as assiduous as ever in her attentions to Her 
 
CHAPTER X 117 
 
 Majesty on her second lying-in. The circumstances of 
 the death of Maria Theresa, the Queen's mother, in the 
 interval which divided the two accouchements, and Her 
 Majesty's anguish, and refusal to see any but Lamballe 
 and Polignac, are too well known to detain us any longer 
 from the notes of the Princess. It is enough for the 
 reader to know that the friendship of Her Majesty for 
 her superintendent seemed to be gradually reviving in 
 all its early enthusiasm, by her unremitting kindness 
 during the confinements of the Queen; till, at length, 
 they became more attached than ever. But, not to 
 anticipate, let me return to the narrative. 
 
 " The public feeling had undergone a great change 
 with respect to Her Majesty from the time of her first 
 accouchement. Still, she was not the mother of a future 
 king. The people looked upon her as belonging to them 
 more than she had done before, and faction was silenced 
 by the general delight. But she had not yet attained the 
 climax of her felicity. A second pregnancy gave a new 
 excitement to the nation; and, at length, on the zzd of 
 October, 1781, dawned the day of hope. 
 
 "In consequence of what happened on the first ac- 
 couchement, measures were taken to prevent similar dis- 
 asters on the second. The number admitted into the 
 apartment was circumscribed. The silence observed left 
 the Queen in uncertainty of the sex to which she had 
 given birth, till, with tears of joy, the King said to her: 
 ' Madame, the hopes of the nation, and mine, are ful- 
 filled. You are the mother of a Dauphin.' 
 
 " The Princess Elizabeth and myself were so overjoyed 
 that we embraced everyone in the room. 
 
 "At this time Their Majesties were adored. Maria 
 Antoinette, with all her beauty and amiableness, was a 
 mere cipher in the eyes of France previous to her be- 
 coming the mother of an heir to the Crown; but her 
 popularity now arose to a pitch of unequaled enthusiasm. 
 
 " I have heard of but one expression to Her Majesty 
 upon this occasion in any way savoring of discontent. 
 This came from the royal aunts. On Maria Antoinette's 
 
ii8 CHAPTER X 
 
 expressing to them her joy in having brought a Dauphin 
 to the nation, they replied, ' We will only repeat our 
 father's observation on a similar subject. When one of 
 our sisters complained to his late Majesty that, as her 
 Italian husband had copied the Dauphin's whim, she could 
 not, though long a bride, boast of being a wife, or hope 
 to become a mother ' — ' a prudent Princess,' replied Louis 
 XV., 'never wants heirs! ' But the feeling of the royal 
 aunts was an exception to the general sentiment, which 
 really seemed like madness. 
 
 ' ' I remember a proof of this which happened at the 
 time. Chancing to cross the King's path as he was going 
 to Marly and I coming from Rambouillet, my two pos- 
 tilions jumped from their horses, threw themselves on 
 the high road upon their knees, though it was very dirty, 
 and remained there, offering up their benedictions, till he 
 was out of sight.* 
 
 "The felicity of the Queen was too great not to be 
 soon overcast. The unbounded influence of the Polignacs 
 was now at its zenith. It could not fail of being attacked. 
 Every engine of malice, envy, and detraction was let 
 loose; and in the vilest calumnies against the character 
 of the Duchess, her royal mistress was included. 
 
 "It was, in truth, a most singular fatality in the life 
 of Maria Antoinette that she could do nothing, however 
 beneficial or disinterested, for which she was not either 
 criticised or censured. She had a tenacity of character 
 which made her cling more closely to attachments from 
 which she saw others desirous of estranging her; and this 
 firmness, however excellent in principle, was, in her case, 
 fatal in its effects. The Abb6 Vermond, Her Majesty's 
 confessor and tutor, and, unfortunately, in many re- 
 spects, her ambitious guide, was really alarmed at the 
 rising favor of the Duchess; and though he knew the 
 very obstacles thrown in her way only strengthened her 
 resolution as to any favorite object, yet he ventured to 
 
 * These very men, perhaps, but a short time after, were amonjj the 
 regicides who caused him to be butchered on the scaffold! What a 
 lesson for Princes! 
 
CHAPTER X T19 
 
 head an intrigue to destroy the great influence of the 
 Polignacs, which, as he might have foreseen, only served 
 to hasten their aggrandisement. 
 
 '•At this crisis the dissipation of the Duke de Gue- 
 men^e caused him to become a bankrupt. I know not 
 whether it can be said in principle, but certainly it may 
 in property, * It is an ill wind that blows no one any 
 good.' The Princess, his wife, 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 became nec- 
 essarily vacant, and was immediately transferred to the 
 Duchess de Polignac. The Queen, to enable her friend 
 to support her station with all the Mat suitable to its 
 dignity, took care to supply ample means from her own 
 private purse. A most magnificent suite of apartments was 
 ordered to be arranged, under the immediate inspection 
 of the Queen's maitre d'hdtel, at Her Majesty's expense. 
 
 "Is there anything on earth more natural than the 
 lively interest which inspires a mother toward those 
 who have the care of her offspring? What then, must 
 have been the feelings of a Queen of France who had 
 been deprived of that blessing for which connubial at- 
 tachments are formed, and which, vice versd, constitutes 
 the only real happiness of every young female. What 
 must have been, I say, the ecstasy of Maria Antoinette 
 when she not only found herself a mother, but the dear 
 pledges of all her future bliss in the hands of one whose 
 friendship allowed her the unrestrained exercise of ma- 
 ternal affection : a climax of felicity combining not only the 
 pleasures of an ordinary mother, but the greatness, the 
 dignity, and the flattering popularity of a Queen of 
 France. 
 
 "Though the pension of the Duchess de Polignac was 
 no more than that usually allotted to all former govern- 
 esses of the royal children of France, yet circumstances 
 tempted her to a display not a little injurious to her 
 popularity as well as to that of her royal mistress. She 
 
I20 CHAPTER X 
 
 gave too many pretexts to imputations of extravagance. 
 Yet she had neither patronage, nor sinecures, nor im- 
 munities beyond the few inseparable from the office she 
 held, and which had been the same for centuries under 
 the Monarchy of France. But it must be remembered, 
 as an excuse for the splendor of her establishment, that 
 she entered her office upon a footing very different from 
 that of any of her predecessors. Her mansion was not 
 the quiet, retired, simple household of the governess of 
 the royal children, as formerly: it had become the magnifi- 
 cent resort of the first Queen in Europe ; the daily haunt 
 of Her Majesty. The Queen certainly visited the former 
 governess, as she had done the Duchess de Duras and 
 many other frequenters of her Court parties; but she 
 made the Duchess de Polignac's her Court; and all the 
 courtiers of that Court, and I may say, the great person- 
 ages of all France, as well as the ministers and all 
 foreigners of distinction, held there their usual rendezvous ; 
 consequently, there was nothing wanting but the guards 
 in attendance in the Queen's apartments to have made it 
 a royal residence suitable for the reception of the illus- 
 trious personages that were in the constant habit of visit- 
 ing these levees, assemblies, balls, routs, picnics, dinner, 
 supper, and card parties. * 
 
 "Much as some of the higher classes of the nobility felt 
 aggrieved at the preference given by the Queen to the 
 Duchess de Polignac, that which raised against Her Maj- 
 esty the most implacable resentment was her frequenting 
 
 * I have seen ladies at the Princess Lamballe's come from these card 
 parties with their laps so blackened by the quantities of gold received in 
 them, that they have been obliged to change their dresses to go to sup- 
 per. Many a chevalier d'industrie and young military spendthrift has 
 made his harvest here. Thousands were won and lost, and the ladies 
 were generally the dupes of all those who were the constant speculative 
 attendants. The Princess Lamballe did not like play, but when it was 
 necessary she did play, and won or lost to a limited extent ; but the pre- 
 scribed sum once exhausted or gained she left off. In set parties, such 
 as those of whist, she never played except when one was wanted, often 
 excusing herself on the score of its requiring more attention than it was in 
 her power to give to it and her reluctance to sacrifice her partner ; though 
 
CHAPTER X 121 
 
 the parties of her favorite more than those of any other 
 of the haut ton. These assemblies, from the situation 
 held by the Duchess, could not always be the most select. 
 Many of the guests who chanced to get access to them 
 from a mere glimpse of the Queen — whose general good 
 humor, vivacity, and constant wish to please all around 
 her would often make her commit herself unconsciously 
 and unintentionally — would fabricate anecdotes of things 
 they had neither seen nor heard; and which never had 
 existence, except in their own wicked imaginations. The 
 scene of the inventions, circulated against Her Majesty 
 through France, was, in consequence, generally placed at 
 the Duchess's; but they were usually so distinctly and 
 obviously false that no notice was taken of them, nor was 
 any attempt made to check their promulgation. 
 
 "Exemplary as was the friendship between this en- 
 thusiastic pair, how much more fortunate for both would 
 it have been had it never happened! I foresaw the re- 
 sults long, long before they took place; but the Queen 
 was not to be thwarted. Fearful she might attribute my 
 anxiety for her general safety to unworthy personal 
 views, I was often silent, even when duty bade me speak. 
 I was, perhaps, too scrupulous about seeming officious or 
 jealous of the predilection shown to the Duchess. Ex- 
 perience had taught me the inutility of representing con- 
 sequences, and I had no wish to quarrel with the Queen. 
 Indeed, there was a degree of coldness toward me on the 
 part of Her Majesty for having gone so far as I had 
 done. It was not till after the birth of the Duke of Nor- 
 mandy, her third child, in March, 1785, that her friend- 
 ship resumed its primitive warmth. 
 
 I have heard Beau Dillon, the Duke of Dorset, Lord Edward Dillon.and 
 many others say that she understood and played the game much better 
 than many who had a higher opinion of their skill in it. Lord Edward 
 Fitzgerald was admitted to the parties at the Duchess de Polignac's on 
 his first coming to Paris; but when his connection with the Duke of 
 Orleans and Madame de Genlis became known he was informed that 
 his society would be dispensed with. The famous, or rather the in- 
 famous, Beckford was also excluded. 
 
122 CHAPTER X 
 
 "As the children grew, Her Majesty's attachment for 
 their governess grew with them. All that has been said 
 of Tasso's ' Armida ' was nothing to this luxurious temple 
 of maternal affection. Never was female friendship more 
 strongly cemented, or less disturbed by the nauseous 
 poison of envy, malice, or mean jealousy. The Queen 
 was in the plenitude of every earthly enjoyment, from 
 being able to see and contribute to the education of the 
 children she tenderly loved, unrestrained by the gothi<i 
 etiquette, with which all former royal mothers had been 
 fettered, but which the kind indulgence of the Duchess 
 de Polignac broke through, as unnatural and unworthy of 
 the enlightened and affectionate. The Duchess was her- 
 self an attentive, careful mother. She felt for the Queen, 
 and encouraged her maternal sympathies, so doubly en- 
 deared by the long, long disappointment which had pre- 
 ceded their gratification. The sacrifice of all the cold 
 forms of state policy by the new governess, and the free 
 access she gave the royal mother to her children, so un- 
 precedented in the Court of France, rendered Maria 
 Antoinette so grateful that it may justly be said she di- 
 vided her heart between the governess and the governed. 
 Habit soon made it necessary for her existence that she 
 should dedicate the whole of her time, not taken up in 
 public ceremonies or parties, to the cultivation of the 
 minds of her children. Conscious of her own deficiency 
 in this respect, she determined to redeem this error in 
 her offspring. The love of the frivolous amusements of 
 society, for which the want of higher cultivation left 
 room in^her mind, was humored by the gayeties of the 
 Duchess de Polignac's assemblies; while her nobler dis- 
 positions were encouraged by the privileges of the 
 favorite's station. Thus, all her inclinations harmonizing 
 with the habits and position of her friend, Maria Antoi- 
 nette literally passed the greatest part of some years in 
 company with the Duchess de Polignac; either amid the 
 glare and bustle of public recreation, or in the private 
 apartment of the governess and her children, increasing as 
 much as possible the kindness of the one for the benefit 
 
CHAPTER X 123 
 
 and comfort of the others. The attachment of the Duchess 
 to the royal children was returned by the Queen's affec- 
 tion for the offspring of the Duchess. So much was Her 
 Majesty interested in favor of the daughter of the Duchess 
 that, before that young lady was fifteen years of age, she her- 
 self contrived and accomplished her marriage with the 
 Duke de Guiche, then maitre de cirimonie to Her Majesty, 
 and whose interests were essentially promoted by this 
 alliance. * 
 
 "The great cabals, which agitated the Court in con- 
 sequence of the favor shown to the Polignacs, were not 
 slow in declaring themselves. The Countess de Noailles 
 was one of the foremost among the discontented. Her 
 resignation, upon the appointment of a superintendent, 
 
 •The Duke de Guiche, since Duke de Grammont, has proved how 
 much he merited the distinctions he received, in consequence of the at- 
 tachment between the Queen and his mother-in-law, by the devotedness 
 with which he followed the fallen fortunes of the Bourbons till their res- 
 toration, since which he has not been forgotten. The Duchess, his wife, 
 who at her marriage was beaming with all the beauties of her age, and 
 adorned by art and nature with every accomplishment, though she came 
 into notice at a time when the Court had scarcely recovered itself from 
 the debauched morals by which it had been so long degraded by a Pom- 
 padour and a Du Barry, has yet preserved her character, by the strict- 
 ness of her conduct, free from the censorious criticisms of an epoch in 
 which some of the purest could not escape unassailed. I saw her at 
 Pyrmont in 1803 ; and even then, though the mother of many children, 
 she looked as young and beautiful as ever. She was remarkably well 
 educated and accomplished, a profound musician on the harp 
 and pianoforte, gp-aceful in her conversation, and a most charm- 
 ing dancer. She seemed to bear the vicissitudes of fortune with a 
 philosophical courage and resignation not often to be met with 
 in light-headed French women. She was amiable in her man- 
 ners, easy of access, always lively and cheerful, and enthusi- 
 astically attached to the country whence she was then excluded. 
 She constantly accompanied the wife of the late Louis XVIII. during 
 her travels in Germany, as her husband the Duke did His Majesty dur- 
 ing his residence at Mittau, in Courland, etc. I have had the honor of 
 seeing the Duke twice since the Revolution ; once, on my coming from 
 Russia, at General Binkingdroff s. Governor of Mittau, and since, in 
 Portland Place, at the French Ambassador's, on his coming to England 
 in the name of his sovereign, to congratulate the King of England on 
 his accession to the throne. 
 
124 CHAPTER X 
 
 was a sufficient evidence of her real feeling; but when 
 she now saw a place filled, to which she conceived her 
 family had a claim, her displeasure could not be silent, 
 and her dislike to the Queen began to express itself with- 
 out reserve. 
 
 "Another source of dissatisfaction against the Queen 
 was her extreme partiality for the English. After the 
 peace of Versailles, in 1783, the English flocked into 
 France, and I believe if a poodle dog had come from 
 England it would have met with a good reception from 
 Her Majesty. This was natural enough. The American 
 war had been carried on entirely against her wish; though, 
 from the influence she was supposed to exercise in the 
 cabinet, it was presumed to have been managed entirely 
 by herself. This odious opinion she wished personally 
 to destroy; and it could only be done by the distinction 
 with which, after the peace, she treated the whole Eng- 
 lish nation. * 
 
 "Several of the English nobility were on a familiar 
 footing at the parties of the Duchess de Polignac. This 
 was quite enough for the slanderers. They were all 
 
 * The daughter of the Duchess de Polignac (of my meeting with 
 whom I have already spoken in a note), entering with me upon the sub- 
 ject of France and of old times, observed that had the Queen limited her 
 attachment to the person of her moth^-, she would not have given all 
 the annoyance which she did, to the nobility. It was to these partiali- 
 ties to the English, the Duchess de Guiche Grammont alluded. I do 
 not know the lady's name distinctly, but I am certain I have heard the 
 beautiful Lady Sarah Bunbury mentioned by the Princess Lamballe as 
 having received particular attention from the Queen ; for the Princess 
 had heard much about this lady and "a certain great personage" in 
 England ; but, on discovering her acquaintance with the Duke of Lau- 
 zim, Her Majesty withdrew from the intimacy, though not soon enough 
 to prevent its having g^ven food for scandal. "You must remember," 
 added the Duchess de Guiche Grammont, "how much the Queen was 
 censured for her enthusiasm about Lady Spencer." I replied that I did 
 remember the much-ado about nothing there was regarding some Eng- 
 lish lady, to whom the Queen took a liking, whose name I could not ex- 
 actly recall ; but I knew well she studied to please the English in general. 
 Of this Lady Spencer it is that the Princess speaks in one of the follow- 
 ing pages of this chapter. 
 
CHAPTER X 125 
 
 ranked, and that publicly, as lovers of Her Majesty. I 
 recollect when there were no less than five different pri- 
 vate commissioners out, to suppress the libels that were 
 in circulation over all France, against the Queen and 
 Lord Edward Dillon, the Duke of Dorset, Lord George 
 Conway, Arthur Dillon, as well as Count Fersen, the Duke 
 de Lauzun, and the Count d'Artois, who were all not only 
 constant frequenters of Polignac's but visitors of Maria 
 Antoinette. 
 
 " By the false policy of Her Majesty's advisers, these 
 enemies and libelers, instead of being brought to the 
 condign punishment their infamy deserved, were privately 
 hushed into silence, out of delicacy to the Queen's feel- 
 ings, by large sums of money and pensions, which en- 
 couraged numbers to commit the same enormity in the 
 hope of obtaining the same recompense. 
 
 " But these were mercenary wretches, from whom no 
 better could have been expected. A legitimate mode of 
 robbery had been pressed upon their notice by the Gov- 
 ernment itself, and they thought it only a matter of fair 
 speculation to make the best of it. There were some 
 libelers, however, of a higher order, in comparison with 
 whose motives for slander, those of the mere scandal- 
 jobbers were white as the driven snow. Of these, one of 
 the worst was the Duke de Lauzun. 
 
 " The first motive of the Queen's strong dislike to the 
 Duke de Lauzun sprang from ' Her Majesty's attachment 
 to the Duchess of Orleans, whom she really loved. She 
 was greatly displeased at the injury inflicted upon her 
 valued friend by Lauzun, in estranging the affection of 
 the Duke of Orleans from his wife by introducing him to 
 depraved society. Among the associates to which this 
 connection led the Duke of Orleans were a certain Ma- 
 dame Duth^e and Madame Buffon. 
 
 "When Lauzun, after having been expelled from the 
 drawing-room of the Queen for his insolent presumption,"* 
 meeting with coolness at the King's levee, sought to 
 cover his disgrace by appearing at the assemblies of the 
 
 * The allusion here is to the affair of the heron plume. 
 
126 CHAPTER X 
 
 Duchess de Polignac, her grace was too sincerely the friend 
 of her sovereign and benefactress not to perceive the drift 
 of his conduct. She consequently signified to the self- 
 sufficient coxcomb that her assemblies were not open to 
 the public. Being thus shut out from Their Majesties, 
 and, as a natural result, excluded from the most brilliant 
 societies of Paris, Lauzun, from a most diabolical spirit 
 of revenge, joined the nefarious party which had suc- 
 ceeded in poisoning the mind of the Duke of Orleans, 
 and from the hordes of which, like the burning lava from 
 Etna, issued calumnies which swept the most virtuous and 
 innocent victims that ever breathed, to their destruction ! * 
 
 "Among the Queen's favorites, and those most in re- 
 quest at the Polignac parties, was the good Lady Spencer, 
 with whom I became most intimately acquainted when I 
 first went to England; and from whom, as well as from 
 her two charming daughters, the Duchess of Devonshire 
 and Lady Duncannon, since Lady Besborough, I received 
 the greatest marks of cordial hospitality. In consequence, 
 when her ladyship came to France, I hastened to present 
 her to the Queen. Her Majesty, taking a great liking 
 to the amiable Englishwoman and wishing to profit by 
 her private conversations and society, gave orders that 
 Lady Spencer should pass to her private closet whenever 
 she came to Versailles, without the formal ceremony of 
 waiting in the antechamber to be announced. 
 
 "One day. Her Majesty, Lady Spencer, and myself 
 were observing the difficulty there was in acquiring a 
 correct pronunciation of the English language, when Lady 
 Spencer remarked that it only required a little atten- 
 tion. 
 
 » These vicious rivals in killing characters and blackening virtue with 
 imputations of every vice, never lost sight of their victims till fate, cut- 
 ting the thread of their own execrable existence, terminated a long 
 career of crime too horrible to dwell upon! The whole story of the 
 Princess Czartsorinski, to whom I have the honor of being allied, related 
 by Lauzun, is totally destitute of any shadow of truth. This one in- 
 stance will show how much credit is due to the rest of his infamous 
 assertions against the honor and character of many others of the illus. 
 trious persons whom his venomous tongue has traduced. 
 
CHAPTER X 127 
 
 '♦'I beg your pardon," said the Queen, 'that's not all, 
 because there are many things you do not call by their 
 proper names, as they are in the dictionary.' 
 
 "'Pray what are they, please Your Majesty?' 
 
 "'Well, I will give you an instance. For example, 
 les culottes — what do you call them?' 
 
 '"Small clothes," replied her ladyship. 
 
 " ' Ma foi! how can they be called small clothes for one 
 large man ? Now I do look in the dictionary, and I find, 
 pour le mot culottes — breeches.' 
 
 " ' Oh, please Your Majesty, we never call them by 
 that name in England.' 
 
 " ' Voilii done, fat raison ! ' 
 
 "'We say inexpressibles!' 
 
 " 'Ah, c'est mieux ! Dat do please me ver much better. 
 Ily a du bon sens Ih dedans. C'est une autre chose ! ' 
 
 " In the midst of this curious dialogue, in came the 
 Duke of Dorset, Lord Edward Dillon, Count Fersen, and 
 several English gentlemen, who, as thej'^ were going to 
 the King's hunt, were all dressed in new buckskin 
 breeches. 
 
 '"I do not like," exclaimed the Queen to them, 'dem 
 yellow irresistibles ! ' 
 
 "Lady Spencer nearly fainted. 'Vat make you so 
 frightful, my dear lady ? ' said the Queen to her lady- 
 ship, who was covering her face with her hands. ' I am 
 terrified at Your Majesty's mistake." ' Comment? did you 
 no tell me just now, dat in England de lady call de 
 culottes IRRESISTIBLES ? " ' O mercy ! I never could have 
 made such a mistake, as to have applied to that part of 
 the male dress such a word. I said, please Your Majesty, 
 
 INEXPRESSIBLES. ' 
 
 "On this the gentlemen all laughed most heartily. 
 
 " ' Veil, veil," replied the Queen, ' do, my dear lady, dis- 
 compose yourself. I vill no more call de breeches irre- 
 sistibles, but say small clothes, if even elles sont upon a 
 giant!" 
 
 "At the repetition of the naughty word breeches, poor 
 Lady Spencer"s English delicacy quite overcame her. 
 
128 CHAPTER X 
 
 Forgetting where she was, and also the company she was 
 in, she ran from the room with her cross stick in her 
 hand, ready to lay it on the shoulders of anyone who 
 should attempt to obstruct her passage, flew into her car- 
 riage, and drove ofiE full speed, as if fearful of being con- 
 taminated: all to the no small amusement of the male 
 guests. 
 
 "Her Majesty and I laughed till the very tears ran 
 down our cheeks. The Duke of Dorset, to keep up the 
 joke, said there really were some counties in England 
 where they called culottes irresistibles. 
 
 '* Now that I am upon the subject of England, and the 
 peace of 1783, which brought such throngs of English 
 over to France, there occurs to me a circumstance, relat- 
 ing to the treaty of commerce signed at that time, which 
 exhibits the Count de Vergennes to some advantage ; and 
 with that let me dismiss the topic. 
 
 "The Count de Vergennes was one of the most dis- 
 tinguished ministers of France. I was intimately ac- 
 quainted with him. His general character for uprightness 
 prompted his sovereign to govern in a manner congenial 
 to his own goodness of heart, which was certainly most 
 for the advantage of his subjects. Vergennes cautioned 
 Louis against the hypocritical adulations of his privi- 
 leged courtiers. The Count had been schooled in state 
 policy by the great Venetian senator, Francis Foscari, 
 the subtlest politician of his age, whom he consulted during 
 his life on every important matter; and he was not very 
 easily to be deceived. 
 
 "When the treaty of commerce took place, at the pe- 
 riod I mention, experienced Vergennes foresaw — what 
 afterward really happened — that France would be inun- 
 dated with British manufactures; but Calonne obstinately 
 maintained the contrary, till he was severely re- 
 minded of the consequence of his misguided policy, in 
 the insults inflicted on him by enraged mobs of thousands 
 of French artificers, whenever he appeared in public. But 
 though the mania 'for British goods had literally caused 
 an entire stagnation of business in the French manufac- 
 
Chapter it 129 
 
 turing towns, and thrown throngs upon the pave for want 
 of employment, yet M. de Calonne either did not see, or 
 pretended not to see, the errors he had committed. Being 
 informed that the Count de Vergennes had justly at- 
 tributed the public disorders to his fallacious policy, M. 
 de Calonne sent a friend to the Count demanding satis- 
 faction for the charge of having caused the riots. The 
 Count calmly replied that he was too much of a man of 
 honor to take so great an advantage, as to avail himself 
 of the opportunity offered, by killing a man who had only 
 one life to dispose of, when there were so many with a 
 prior claim, who were anxious to destroy him en socM^. 
 'Bid M. de Calonne,' continued the Count, 'first get 
 out of that scrape, as the English boxers do when their 
 eyes are closed up after a pitched battle. He has been 
 playing at blind man's buff, but the poverty to which he 
 has reduced so many of our tradespeople has torn the 
 English bandage from his eyes ! ' For three or four days 
 the Count de Vergennes visited publicly, and showed him- 
 self everywhere in and about Paris; but M. de Calonne 
 was so well convinced of the truth of the old fox's satire 
 that he pocketed his annoyance, and no more was said 
 about fighting. Indeed, the Count de Vergennes gave 
 hints of being able to show that M. de Calonne had been 
 bribed into the treaty." 
 
 The Princess Lamballe has alluded in a former page to 
 the happiness which the Queen enjoyed during the visits 
 of the foreign princes to the Court of France. Her pa- 
 pers contain a few passages upon the opinions Her Majesty 
 entertained of the royal travelers ; which, although in the 
 order of time they should have been mentioned before 
 the peace with England, yet, not to disturb the chain of 
 the narrative, respecting the connection with the Princess 
 Lamballe, of the prevailing libels, and the partiality shown 
 toward the English, I have reserved them for the con- 
 clusion of the present chapter. The timidity of the Queen 
 in the presence of the illustrious strangers, and her agi- 
 tation when about to receive them, have, I think, been 
 9 
 
I30 CHAPTER X 
 
 already spoken of. Upon the subject of the royal travelers 
 themselves, and other personages, the Princess expresses 
 herself thus. 
 
 "The Queen had never been an admirer of Catharine 
 II. Notwithstanding her studied policy for the advance- 
 ment of civilization in her internal empire, the means 
 which, aided by the Princess Dashkoff, she made use of 
 to seat herself on the imperial throne of her weak hus- 
 band, Peter the Third, had made her more understood 
 than esteemed. Yet when her son, the Grand Duke 
 of the North,* and the Grand Duchess, his wife, came to 
 France, their description of Catharine's real character so 
 shocked the maternal sensibility of Maria Antoinette that 
 she could scarcely hear the name of the Empress without 
 shuddering. The Grand Duke spoke of Catharine with- 
 out the least disguise. He said he traveled merely for 
 the security of his life from his mother, who had sur- 
 rounded him with creatures that were his sworn enemies, 
 her own spies and infamous favorites, to whose caprices 
 they were utterly subordinate. He was aware that the 
 dangerous credulity of the Empress might be every hour 
 excited by these wretches to the destruction of himself 
 and his Duchess, and, therefore, he had in absence sought 
 the only refuge. He had no wish, he said, ever to return 
 to his native country, till Heaven should check his moth- 
 er's doubts respecting his dutiful filial affection toward 
 her, or till God should be pleased to take her into his 
 sacred keeping. 
 
 "The King was petrified at the Duke's description of 
 his situation, and the Queen could not refrain from tears 
 when the Duchess, his wife, confirmed all her husband 
 had uttered on the subject. The Duchess said she had 
 been warned by the untimely fate of the Princess d'Arm- 
 stadt, her predecessor, the first wife of the Grand Duke, 
 to elude similar jealousy and suspicion on the part of her 
 mother-in-law, by seclusion from the Court, in a country 
 residence with her husband; indeed, that she had made 
 
 ♦Afterward the unhappy Emperor Paul. 
 
CHAPTER X 13, 
 
 it a point never to visit Petersburg, except on the express 
 invitation of the Empress, as if she had been a foreigner. 
 
 " In this system the Grand Duchess persevered, even 
 after her return from her travels. When she became 
 pregnant, and drew near her accouchement, the Empress- 
 mother permitted her to come to Petersburg for that pur- 
 pose; but, as soon as the ceremony required by the 
 etiquette of the Imperial Court on those occasions ended, 
 the Duchess immediately returned to her hermitage. 
 
 "This Princess was remarkably well educated; she pos- 
 sessed a great deal of good, sound sense, and had profited 
 by the instructions of some of the best German tutors 
 during her very early years. It was the policy of her 
 father, the Duke of Wirtemberg, who had a large family, 
 to educate his children as quietists in matters of reli- 
 gion. He foresaw that the natural charms and acquired 
 abilities of his daughters would one day call them to be 
 the ornaments of the most distinguished Courts in Europe, 
 and he thought it prudent not to instill early prejudices in 
 favor of peculiar forms of religion which might afterward 
 present an obstacle to their aggrandisement.* 
 
 "The notorious vices of the King of Denmark, and his 
 total neglect both of his young Queen, Carolina Matilda, 
 and of the interest of his distant dominions, while in 
 
 •The first daughter of the Duke of Wirtemberg was the first wife of 
 the present Emperor of Austria. She embraced the Catholic faith and 
 died very young, two days before the Emperor Joseph the Second, at 
 Vienna. The present Empress Dowager, late wife to Paul, became a 
 proselyte to the Greek religion on her arrival at Petersburg. The son 
 of the Duke of Wirtemberg, who succeeded him in the Dukedom, was a 
 Protestant, it being his interest to profess that religion for the security 
 of his inheritance. Prince Ferdinand, who was in the Austrian service, 
 and a long time Governor of Vienna, was a Catholic, as he could not 
 otherwise have enjoyed that office. He was of a very superior character 
 to the Duke, his brother. Prince Louis, who held a commission under 
 the Prussian Monarch, followed the religion of the country where he 
 served, and the other Princes, who were in the employment of Sweden 
 and other countries, found no difificulty in conforming themselves to the 
 religion of the sovereigns under whom they served. None of them hav- 
 ing any established forms of worship, they naturally embraced that 
 which conduced most to their aggrandisement, eji}pli;m?i}t, or dig^nity. 
 
132 CHAPTER X 
 
 Paris, created a feeling in the Queen's mind toward that 
 house which was not a little heightened by her disgust 
 at the King of Sweden, when he visited the Court of 
 Versailles. This King, though much more crafty than 
 his brother-in-law, the King of Denmark, who reveled 
 openly in his depravities, was not less vicious. The de- 
 ception he made use of in usurping part of the rights of 
 his people, combined with the worthlessness and duplicity 
 of his private conduct, excited a strong indignation in 
 the mind of Maria Antoinette, of which she was scarcely 
 capable of withholding the expression in his presence. 
 
 "It was during the visit of the Duke and Duchess of 
 the North, that the Cardinal de Rohan again appeared 
 upon the scene. For eight or ten years he had never 
 been allowed to show himself at Court, and had been 
 totally shut out of every society where the Queen visited. 
 On the arrival of the illustrious travelers at Versailles, 
 the Queen, at her own expense, gave them a grand fite at her 
 private palace, in the gardens of Trianon, similar to the 
 one given by the Count de Provence * to Her Majesty, in 
 the gardens of Brunoi. 
 
 "On the eve of the fite, the Cardinal waited upon me 
 to know if he would be permitted to appear there in the 
 character he had the honor to hold at Court. I replied 
 that I had made it a rule never to interfere in the pri- 
 vate or public amusements of the Court, and that his 
 Eminence must be the best judge how far he could ob- 
 trude himself upon the Queen's private parties, to which 
 only a select number had been invited, in consequence 
 of the confined spot where the fite was to be given. 
 
 "The Cardinal left me, not much satisfied at his re- 
 ception. Determined to follow, as usual, his own mis- 
 guided passion, he immediately went to Trianon, disguised 
 with a large cloak. He saw the porter, and bribed him. 
 He only wished, he Isaid, to be placed in a situation 
 whence he might see the Duke and Duchess of the North 
 without being seen; but no sooner did he perceive the 
 porter engaged at some distance than he left his cloak 
 
 ♦Aftprw^d lyouis ^fVJIj:, 
 
CHAPTER X ,33 
 
 at the lodge, and went forward in his cardinal's dress, as 
 if he had been one of the invited gfuests, placing himself 
 purposely in the Queen's path to attract her attention as 
 she rode by in the carriage with the Duke and Duchess. 
 
 " The Queen was shocked and thunderstruck at seeing 
 him. But, great as was her annoyance, knowing the 
 Cardinal had not been invited and ought not to have been 
 there, she only discharged the porter who had been se- 
 duced to let him in; and though the King, on being 
 made acquainted with his treachery, would have banished 
 his Eminence a hundred leagues from the capital, yet the 
 Queen, the royal aunts, the Princess Elizabeth, and my- 
 self, not to make the affair public, and thereby disgrace 
 the high order of his ecclesiastical dignity, prevented the 
 King from exercising his authority by commanding in- 
 stant exile. 
 
 ' ' Indeed, the Queen could never get the better of her 
 fears of being some day, or in some way or other, be- 
 trayed by the Cardinal, for having made him the confi- 
 dant of the mortification she would have suffered if the 
 projected marriage of Louis XV. and her sister had been 
 solemnized. On this account she uniformly opposed what- 
 ever harshness the King at any time intended against the 
 Cardinal. 
 
 " Thus was this wicked prelate left at leisure to pre- 
 meditate the horrid plot of the famous necklace, the ever 
 memorable fraud, which so fatally verified the presenti- 
 ments of the Queen." 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Editor's Observations, and Recapitulation of the Leading Particulars 
 of the Diamond Necklace Plot — Journal Resumed — Princess Lam- 
 balle's Remarks on That Dark Transaction — Vergennes Opposes 
 Judicial Investigation — The yueen's Party Prevail in Bringing the 
 Affair before the Council — Groundlessness of the Charge against 
 Maria Antoinette — Confusion of Rohan When Confronted with the 
 Queen — He Procures the Destruction of All the Letters of the Other 
 Conspirators — Means Resorted to by Rohan's Friends to Obtain His 
 Acquittal — The Princess Cond^ Expends Large Sums for That Pur- 
 pose — Her Confusion When the Proofs of Her Bribery Are Exhibited 
 — The King's Impartiality — Mr. Sheridan Discovers the Treachery 
 of M. de Calonne — Calonne's Abject Behavior, Dismissal, and Dis- 
 grace — Note of the Editor. 
 
 THE production of " The Marriage of Figaro," by Beau- 
 marchais, upon the stage at Paris, so replete with 
 indecorous and slanderous allusions to the Royal 
 Family, had spread the prejudices against the Queen 
 through the whole kingdom and every rank of France, 
 just in time to prepare all minds for the deadly blow 
 which Her Majesty received from the infamous plot of 
 the diamond necklace. From this year, 1785, crimes and 
 misfortunes trod closely on each others' heels in the his- 
 tory of the ill-starred Queen; and one calamity only dis- 
 appeared to make way for a greater. 
 
 The destruction of the papers, which would have thor- 
 oughly explained the transaction, has still left all its es- 
 sential particulars in some degree of mystery; and the 
 interest of the clergy, who supported one of their own 
 body, coupled with the arts and bribes of the high houses 
 connected with the plotting prelate, must, of course, have 
 discolored greatly even what was well known. 
 
 It will be recollected that before the accession of Louis 
 
 XVI. the Cardinal de Rohan was disgraced in consequence 
 
 of his intrigues — that all his ingenuity was afterward 
 
 unremittingly exerted to obtain renewed favor — that he 
 
 (134) 
 
CHAPTER XI 135 
 
 once obtruded himself upon the notice of the Queen in 
 the gardens of Trianon — and that his conduct in so do- 
 ing excited the indignation it deserved, but was left un- 
 punished owing to the entreaties of the best friends of 
 the Queen, and her own secret horror of a man who had 
 already caused her so much anguish. 
 
 With the histories of the fraud everyone is acquainted. 
 That of Madame Campan, as far as it goes, is sufficiently 
 detailed ai d correct to spare me the necessity of expatiat- 
 ing upon tLs theme of villainy. Yet, to assist the read- 
 er's memory, before returning to the Journal of the 
 Princess Lamballe, I shall recapitulate the leading par- 
 ticulars. 
 
 The Cardinal had become connected with a young, but 
 artful and necessitous, woman, of the name of Lamotte. 
 It was known that the darling ambition of the Cardinal 
 was to regain the favor of the Queen. 
 
 The necklace, which has been already spoken of, and 
 which was originally destined by Louis XV. for Maria 
 Antoinette — had her hand, by divorce, been transferred 
 to him, but which, though afterward intended by Louis 
 XV. for his mistress, Du Barry, never came to her in 
 consequence of his death — this fatal necklace was still in 
 existence, and in the possession of the crown jewelers, 
 Boehmer and Bassange. It was valued at eighteen hun- 
 dred thousand livres. The jewelers had often pressed it 
 upon the Queen, and even the King himself had enforced 
 its acceptance. But the Queen dreaded the expense, 
 especially at an epoch of pecuniary difficulty in the state, 
 much more than she coveted the jewels, and uniformly 
 and resolutely declined them, although they had been 
 proposed to her on very easy terms of payment, as she 
 really did not like ornaments. 
 
 It was made to appear at the parliamentary investiga- 
 tion that the artful Lamotte had impelled the Cardinal 
 to believe that she herself was in communication with the 
 Queen; that she had interested Her Majesty in favor of 
 the long slighted Cardinal; that she had fabricated a 
 correspondence, in which professions of penitence on the 
 
136 CHAPTER XI 
 
 part of Rohan were answered by assurances of forgive- 
 ness from the Queen. The result of this correspondence 
 was represented to be the engagement of the Cardinal to 
 negotiate the purchase of the necklace secretly, by a con- 
 tract for periodical payments. To the forgery of papers 
 was added, it was declared, the substitution of the Queen's 
 person, by dressing up a girl of the Palais Royal to rep- 
 resent Her Majesty, whom she in some degree resembled, 
 in a secret and rapid interview with Rohan in a dark 
 grove of the gardens of Versailles, where sh' was to give 
 the Cardinal a rose, in token of her royai approbation, 
 and then hastily disappear. The importunity of the 
 jewelers, on the failure of the stipulated payment, dis- 
 closed the plot. A direct appeal of theirs to the Queen, 
 to save them from ruin, was the immediate source of de- 
 tection. The Cardinal was arrested, and all the parties 
 tried. But the Cardinal was acquitted, and Lamotte and 
 a subordinate agent alone punished. The quack Cagliostro 
 was also in the plot, but he, too, escaped, like his con- 
 federate the Cardinal, who was made to appear as the 
 dupe of Lamotte. 
 
 The Queen never got over the effect of this affair. 
 Her friends well knew the danger of severe measures to- 
 ward one capable of collecting around him strong support 
 against a power already so much weakened by faction 
 and discord. But the indignation of conscious innocence 
 insulted, prevailed, though to its ruin! 
 
 But it is time to let the Princess Lamballe give her 
 own impressions upon this fatal subject, and in her own 
 words. 
 
 " How could Messieurs Bcehmer and Bassange presume 
 that the Queen would have employed any third person 
 to obtain an article of such value, without enabling them 
 to produce an unequivocal document signed by her own 
 hand and countersigned by mine, as had ever been the 
 rule during my superintendence of the household, when- 
 ever anything was ordered from the jewelers by Her 
 Majesty? Why did not Messieurs Bcehmer and Bassange 
 wait on me, when they saw a document unauthorized by 
 
CHAPTER XI 137 
 
 me, and so widely departing from the established forms ? 
 I must still think, as I have often said to the King, that 
 Boehmer and Bassange wished to get rid of this dead 
 weight of diamonds in any way, and the Queen having 
 unfortunately been led by me to hush up many foul li- 
 bels against her reputation, as I then thought it prudent 
 she should do, rather than compromise her character with 
 wretches capable of doing anything to injure her, these 
 jewelers, judging from this erroneous policy of the past, 
 imagined that in this instance, also, rather than hazard 
 exposure. Her Majesty would pay them for the necklace. 
 This was a compromise which I myself resisted, though 
 so decidedly adverse to bringing the affair before the 
 nation by a public trial. Of such an explosion, I foresaw 
 the consequences, and I ardently entreated the King and 
 Queen to take other measures. But, though till now so 
 hostile to severity with the Cardinal, the Queen felt her- 
 self so insulted by the proceeding that she gave up every 
 other consideration to make manifest her innocence. 
 
 "The wary Count de Vergennes did all he could to 
 prevent the affair from getting before the public. Against 
 the opinion of the King and the whole council of min- 
 isters he opposed judicial proceedings. Not that he con- 
 ceived the Cardinal altogether guiltless; but he foresaw 
 the fatal consequences that must result to Her Majesty, 
 from bringing to trial an ecclesiastic of such rank ; for he 
 well knew that the host of the higher orders of the no- 
 bility, to whom the prelate was allied, would naturally 
 strain every point to blacken the character of the King 
 and Queen, as the only means of exonerating their kins- 
 man in the eyes of the world from the criminal mystery 
 attached to that most diabolical intrigue against the fair 
 fame of Maria Antoinette. The Count could not bear 
 the idea of the Queen's name being coupled with those 
 of the vile wretches, Lamotte and the mountebank Cag- 
 liostro, and therefore wished the King to chastise the 
 Cardinal by a partial exile, which might have been re- 
 moved at pleasure. But the Queen's party too fatally 
 seconded her feelings, and prevailed. 
 
138 CHAPTER XI 
 
 "I sat by Her Majesty's bedside the whole of the night, 
 after I heard what had been determined against the 
 Cardinal by the council of ministers, to beg her to use all 
 her interest with the King to persuade him to revoke 
 the order of the warrant for the prelate's arrest. To this 
 the Queen replied, ' Then the King, the ministers, and the 
 people, will all deem me guilty.' 
 
 ' ' Her Majesty's remark stopped all further argument 
 upon the subject, and I had the inconsolable grief to see 
 my royal mistress rushing upon dangers which I had no 
 power of preventing her from bringing upon herself. 
 
 "The slanderers who had imputed such unbounded in- 
 fluence to the Queen over the mind of Louis XVI. should 
 have been consistent enough to consider that with but a 
 twentieth part of the tithe of her imputed power, uncon- 
 trolled as she then was by national authority, she might, 
 without any exposure to third persons, have at once sent 
 one of her pages to the garde-meuble and other royal 
 depositaries, replete with hidden treasures of precious 
 stones which never saw the light, and thence have sup- 
 plied herself with more than enough to form ten neck- 
 laces, or to have fully satisfied, in any way she liked, the 
 most unbounded passion for diamonds, for the use of 
 which she would never have been called to account. 
 
 " But the truth is, the Queen had no love of ornaments. 
 A proof occurred very soon after I had the honor to be 
 nominated Her Majesty's superintendent. On the day of 
 the great fite of the Cordon Bleu, when it was the 
 etiquette to wear diamonds and pearls, the Queen had 
 omitted putting them on. As there had been a greater 
 affluence of visitors than usual that morning, and Her 
 Majesty's toilet was overthronged by princes and princesses, 
 I fancied in the bustle that the omission proceeded from 
 forgetfulness. Consequently, I sent the tire-woman, in 
 the Queen's hearing, to order the jewels to be brought 
 in. Smilingly, Her Majesty replied, ' No, no ! I have not 
 forgotten these gaudy things; but I do not intend that 
 the luster of my eyes should be outshone by the one, or 
 the whiteness of my teeth by the other; however, as you 
 
CHAPTER XI 139 
 
 wish art to eclipse nature, I'll wear them to satisfy you, 
 ma belle dame ! ' 
 
 "The King was always so thoroughly indulgent to Her 
 Majesty with regard both to her public and private con- 
 duct that she never had any pretext for those reserves 
 which sometimes tempt queens as well as the wives of 
 private individuals to commit themselves to third persons 
 for articles of high value, which their caprice indiscreetly 
 impels them to procure unknown to their natural guard- 
 ians. Maria Antoinette had no reproach or censure for 
 plunging into expenses beyond her means to apprehend 
 from her royal husband. On the contrary, the King him- 
 self had spontaneously offered to purchase the necklace 
 from the jewelers, who had urged it on him without 
 limiting any time for payment. It was the intention of 
 His Majesty to have liquidated it out of his private purse. 
 But Maria Antoinette declined the gift. Twice in my 
 presence was the refusal repeated before Messieurs 
 Boehmer and Bassange. Who, then, can for a moment 
 presume, after all these circumstances, that the Queen of 
 France, with a nation's wealth at her feet and thousands 
 of individuals offering her millions, which she never ac- 
 cepted, would have so far degraded herself and the honor 
 of the nation, of which she was born to be the ornament, 
 as to place herself gratuitously in the power of a knot of 
 wretches, headed by a man whose general bad character 
 for years had excluded him from Court and every respectable 
 society, and had made the Queen herself mark him as an 
 object of the utmost aversion. 
 
 " If these circumstances be not sufficient adequately to 
 open the eyes of those whom prejudice has blinded, and 
 whose ears have been deafened against truth, by the 
 clamors of sinister conspirators against the monarchy in- 
 stead of the monarchs ; if all these circumstances, I repeat, 
 do not completely acquit the Queen, argument, or even 
 ocular demonstration itself, would be thrown away. 
 Posterity will judge impartially, and with impartial judges 
 the integrity of Maria Antoinette needs no defender. 
 
 ' ' When the natural tendency of the character of Rohan 
 
140 CHAPTER XI 
 
 to romatic and extraordinary intrigue is considered in 
 connection witli the associates he had gathered around 
 him, the plot of the necklace ceases to be a source of 
 wonder. At the time the Cardinal was most at a loss 
 for means to meet the necessities of his extravagance, 
 and to obtain some means of access to the Queen, the 
 mountebank quack, Cagliostro, made his appearance in 
 France. His fame had soon flown from Strasburg to 
 Paris, the magnet of vices and the seat of criminals. The 
 Prince-Cardinal, known of old as a seeker after every- 
 thing of notoriety, soon became the intimate of one who 
 flattered him with the accomplishment of all his dreams 
 in the realization of the philosopher's stone; converting 
 puffs and French paste into brilliants; Roman pearls into 
 Oriental ones; and turning earth to gold. The Car- 
 dinal, always in want of means to supply the insatiable 
 exigencies of his ungovernable vices, had been the dupe 
 through life of his own credulity — a drowning man catch- 
 ing at a straw ! But instead of making gold of base ma- 
 terials, Cagliostro's brass soon relieved his blind adherent 
 of all his sterling metal. As many needy persons en- 
 listed under the banners of this nostrum speculator, it is 
 not to be wondered at that the infamous name of the 
 Countess de Lamotte, and others of the same stamp, 
 should have thus fallen into an association of the Prince- 
 Cardinal; or that her libelous stories of the Queen of 
 France should have found eager promulgators, where the 
 real diamonds of the famous necklace being taken apart 
 were divided piecemeal among a horde of the most de- 
 praved sharpers that ever existed to make human nature 
 blush at its own degradation ! * 
 
 * Cagliostro, when he came to Rome, for I know not whether there 
 had been any previous intimacy, got acquainted with a certain Marchese 
 Vivaldi, a Roman, whose wife had been for years the chire amie of the 
 last Venetian ambassador, Peter Pesaro, a noble patrician, and who has 
 ever since his embassy at Rome been his constant companion and now 
 resides with him in England. No men in Europe are more constant in 
 their attachments than the Venetians. Pesaro is the sole proprietor of 
 one of the most beautiful and magnificent palaces on the Grand Canal 
 at Venice, though he now lives in the outskirts of Loudon, in a small 
 
CHAPTER XI 141 
 
 "Eight or ten years had elapsed from the time Her 
 Majesty had last seen the Cardinal to speak to him, with 
 the exception of the casual glance as she drove by when 
 he furtively introduced himself into the garden at the 
 fite at Trianoa, till he was brought to the King's cabinet 
 when arrested, and interrogated, and confronted with her 
 face to face. The Prince started when he saw her. The 
 comparison of her features with those of the guilty wretch 
 who had dared to personate her in the garden at Versailles 
 completely destroyed his self-possession. Her Majesty's 
 person was become fuller, and her face was much longer 
 than that of the infamous d'Oliva. He could neither speak 
 nor write an intelligible reply to the questions put to him. 
 All he could utter, and that only in broken accents, was, 
 'I'll pay! I'll pay Messieurs Bassange.' 
 
 " Had he not speedily recovered himself, all the mystery 
 in which this affair has been left, so injuriously to the 
 Queen, might have been prevented. His papers would 
 have declared the history of every particular, and dis- 
 
 house, not so large as one of the offices of his immense noble palace, 
 where his agent transacts his business. The husband of Pesaro's chbre 
 amze, the Marchese Vivaldi, when Cagliostro was arrested and sent to 
 the Castello Santo Angelo at Rome, was obliged to fly his country, and 
 went to Venice, where he was kept secreted and maintained by the 
 Marquis Solari, and it was only through his means and those of the Car- 
 dinal Consalvi, then known only as the musical Abb6 Consalvi, from 
 his great attachment to the immortal Cimarosa, that Vivaldi was ever 
 allowed to return to his native country ; but Consalvi, who was the friend 
 of Vivaldi, feeling with the Marquis Solari much interested for his situ- 
 ation, they together contrived to convince Pius VI. that he was more 
 to be pitied than blamed, and thus obtained his recall. I have merely 
 given this note as a further warning to be drawn from the connections 
 of the Cardinal de Rohan, to deter hunters after novelty from forming 
 ties with innovators and impostors. Cagliostro was ultimately con- 
 demned, by the Roman laws under Pope Pius VI. for life, to the galleys, 
 where he died. 
 
 Proverbs ought to be respected ; for it is said that no phrase becomes 
 a proverb until after a century's experience of its truth. In England, it 
 is proverbial to judge of men by the company they keep. To judge of 
 the Cardinal de Rohan from his most intimate friend, the galley slave, 
 Cagliostro, what shall we say of his dig^nity as a prince, and his purity 
 as a prpl^te ? 
 
142 CHAPTER XI 
 
 tinctly established the extent of his crime and the thor- 
 ough innocence of Maria Antoinette of any connivance at 
 the fraud, or any knowledge of the necklace. But when 
 the Cardinal was ordered by the King's council to be put 
 under arrest, his self-possession returned. He was given 
 in charge to an officer totally unacquainted with the na- 
 ture of the accusation. Considering only the character of 
 his prisoner as one of the highest dignitaries of the 
 Church, from ignorance and inexperienc.;, he left the 
 Cardinal an opportunity to write a German note to his 
 factotum, the Abb6 Georgel. In this note the trusty sec- 
 retary was ordered to destroy all the letters of Cagliostro, 
 Madame de Lamotte, and the other wretched associates 
 of the infamous conspiracy; and the traitor was scarcely 
 in custody when every evidence of his treason had dis- 
 appeared. The note to Georgel saved his master from 
 expiating his offense at the Place de Greve. 
 
 "The consequences of the affair would have been less 
 injurious, however, had it been managed, even as it 
 stood, with better judgment and temper. But it was im- 
 properly intrusted to the Baron de Br^teuil and the Abb6 
 Vermond, both sworn enemies of the Cardinal. Their 
 main object was the ruin of him they hated, and they 
 listened only to their resentments. They never weighed 
 the danger of publicly prosecuting an individual whose 
 condemnation would involve the iirst families in France, 
 for he was allied even to many of the Princes of the 
 blood. They should have considered that exalted per- 
 sonages, naturally feeling as if any crime proved against 
 their kinsman would be a stain upon themselves, would 
 of course resort to every artifice to exonerate the ac- 
 cused. To criminate the Queen was the only and 
 the obvious method. Pew are those nearest the 
 Crown who are not most jealous of its wearers! Look 
 at the long civil wars of York and Lancaster, and the 
 short reign of Richard. The downfall of kings meets less 
 resistance than that of their inferiors. 
 
 " Still, notwithstanding all the deplorable blunders 
 committed in this bnpijiess of Rohan, justice yras npt 
 
CHAPTER XI 143 
 
 smothered without great difficulty. His acquittal cost the 
 families of Rohan and Cond6 more than a million of livres, 
 distributed among all ranks of the clergy ; besides immense 
 sums sent to the Court of Rome to make it invalidate 
 the judgment of the civil authority of Prance upon so 
 high a member of the Church, and to induce it to order 
 the Cardinal's being sent to Rome by way of screening 
 him from the prosecution, under the plausible pretext of 
 more rigid justice. 
 
 "Considerable sums in money and jewels were also 
 lavished on all the female relatives of the peers of France, 
 who were destined to sit on the trial. The Abb^ Geor- 
 gel bribed the press, and extravagantly paid all the lit- 
 erary pens in France to produce the most Jesuitical and 
 sophisticated arguments in his patron's justification. 
 Though these writers dared not accuse or in any way 
 criminate the Queen, yet the respectful doubts, with which 
 their defense of her were seasoned, did infinitely more 
 mischief than any direct attack, which could have been 
 directly answered. 
 
 "The long cherished, but till now smothered, resent- 
 ment of the Countess de Noailles, the scrupulous Ma- 
 dame Etiquette, burst forth on this occasion. Openly 
 joining the Cardinal's party against her former mistress 
 and sovereign, she recruited and armed all in favor of 
 her prot^gi; for it was by her intrigues Rohan had been 
 nominated ambassador to Vienna. Mesdames de Gu6- 
 m6n6e and Marsan, rival pretenders to favors of His 
 Eminence, were equally earnest to support him against 
 the Queen. In short, there was scarcely a family of dis- 
 tinction in France that, from the libels which then in- 
 undated the kingdom, did not consider the King as having 
 infringed on their prerogatives and privileges in accusing 
 the Cardinal. 
 
 "Shortly after the acquittal of this most artful, and, 
 in the present instance, certainly too fortunate prel- 
 ate, the Princess Cond6 came to congratulate me on the 
 Queen's innocence, and her kinsman's liberation from the 
 Bastille. 
 
144 CHAPTER Xl 
 
 "Without the slightest observation, I produced to the 
 Princess documents in proof of the immense sums she 
 alone had expended in bribing the judges and other per- 
 sons, to save her relation, the Cardinal, by criminating 
 Her Majesty. 
 
 "The Princess Cond6 instantly fell into violent hysterics, 
 and was carried home apparently lifeless. 
 
 "I have often reproached myself for having given that 
 sudden shock and poignant anguish to her highness, 
 but I could not have supposed that one who came 
 so barefacedly to impress me with the Cardinal's in- 
 nocence, could have been less firm in refuting her own 
 guilt. 
 
 " I never mentioned the circumstance to the Queen. 
 Had I done so, her highness would have been forever 
 excluded from the Court and the royal presence. This 
 was no time to increase the enemies of Her Majesty, and, 
 the affair of the trial being ended, I thought it best to 
 prevent any further breach from a discord between the 
 Court and the house of Cond6. However, from a cold- 
 ness subsisting ever after between the Princess and my- 
 self, I doubt not that the Queen had her suspicions that 
 all was not as it should be in that quarter. Indeed, 
 though Her Majesty never confessed it, I think she her- 
 self had discovered something at that very time not 
 altogether to the credit of the Princess Cond^, for she 
 ceased going, from that period, to any of the fites given 
 at Chantilly. 
 
 "These were but a small portion of the various instru- 
 ments successfully leveled by parties, even the least sus- 
 pected, to blacken and destroy the fair fame of Maria 
 Antoinette. 
 
 "The document which so justly alarmed the Princess 
 Cond6 when I showed it to her came into my hands in 
 the following manner: 
 
 " Whenever a distressed family, or any particular in- 
 dividual, applied to me for relief, or was otherwise recom- 
 mended for charitable purposes, I generally sent my little 
 English prot^gie, — on whose veracity, well knowing the 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 145 
 
 goodness of her heart, I could rely,* — to ascertain 
 whether their claims were really well grounded. 
 
 ** One day, I received an earnest memorial from a fam- 
 ily, desiring to make some private communications of 
 peculiar delicacy. I sent my usual ambassadress to in- 
 quire into its import. On making her mission known, she 
 found no difficulty in ascertaining the object of the appli- 
 cation. It proceeded from conscientious distress of mind. 
 A relation of this family had been the regular confessor 
 of a convent. With the Lady Abbess of this convent 
 and her trusty nuns the Princess Cond6 had deposited 
 considerable sums of money, to be bestowed in creating in- 
 fluence in favor of the Cardinal de Rohan. The confessor, 
 being a man of some consideration among the clergy, 
 was applied to, to use his influence with the needier mem- 
 bers of the Church more immediately about him, as well 
 as those of higher station, to whom he had access, in 
 furthering the purposes of the Princess Cond6. The 
 bribes were applied as intended. But, at the near ap- 
 proach of death, the confessor was struck with remorse. 
 He begged his family, without mentioning his name, to 
 send the accounts and vouchers of the sums he had so 
 distributed, to me, as a proof of his contrition, that I 
 might make what use of them I should think proper. The 
 papers were handed to my messenger, who pledged her 
 word of honor that I would certainly adhere to the djring 
 man's last injunctions. She desired they might be sealed 
 up by the family, and by them directed to me.f She then 
 hastened back to our place of rendezvous, where I waited 
 for her, and where she consigned the packet into my own 
 hands. 
 
 " That part of the papers which compromised only the 
 Princess Cond^ was shown by me to the Princess on the 
 
 ♦Indeed, I never deceived the Princess on these occasions. She was 
 so generously charitable that I should have conceived it a crime. 
 When I could get no satisfactory information, I said 1 could not trace 
 anything undeserving her charity, and left her highness to exercise her 
 own discretion. 
 
 f To this day, I neither know the name of the convent or the confessor. 
 10 
 
146 CHAPTER XI 
 
 occasion I have mentioned. It was natural enough that 
 she should have been shocked at the detection of having 
 suborned the clergy and others with heavy bribes to avert 
 the deserved fate of the Cardinal. I kept this part of the 
 packet secret till the King's two aunts, who had also 
 been warm advocates in favor of the prelate, left Paris 
 for Rome. Then, as Pius VI. had interested himself as 
 head of the Church for the honor of one of its members, 
 I gave them these very papers to deliver to His Holi- 
 ness for his private perusal. I was desirous of enabling 
 this truly charitable and Christian head of our sacred 
 religion to judge how far his interference was justified by 
 facts. I am thoroughly convinced, that had he been 
 sooner furnished with these evidences, instead of blaming 
 the royal proceeding he would have urged it on, nay, 
 would himself have been the first to advise that the foul 
 conspiracy should be dragged into open day.* 
 
 " The Count de Vergennes told me that the King dis- 
 played the greatest impartiality throughout the whole in- 
 vestigation for the exculpation of the Queen, and made 
 good his title on this, as he did on every occasion where 
 his own unbiased feelings and opinions were called into 
 action, to great esteem for much higher qualities than the 
 world has usually given him credit for. 
 
 " I have been accused of having opened the prison doors 
 of the culprit Lamotte for her escape; but the charge is 
 false. I interested myself, as was my duty, to shield the 
 Queen from public reproach by having Lamotte sent to 
 a place of penitence; but I never interfered, except to 
 lessen her punishment, after the judicial proceedings. 
 The diamonds, in the hands of her vile associates at 
 Paris, procured her ample means to escape. I should 
 have been the Queen's greatest enemy had I been the 
 cause of giving liberty to one who acted, and might 
 
 *But these proofs came too late to redeem the character of her, whom 
 fate, cruel fate ! had written in the book of destinies a victim in this 
 world, for her immortal salvation in the next. Never saint more 
 merited to be ranked in tbr* long list of martyrs than Maria Antoi- 
 nette. 
 
CHAPTER XI 147 
 
 naturally have been expected to act, as this depraved 
 woman did. 
 
 "Through the private correspondence which was car- 
 ried on between this country and England, after I had 
 left it, I was informed that M. de Calonne, whom the 
 Queen never liked, and who was called to the administra- 
 tion against her will — which he knew, and consequently be- 
 came one of her secret enemies in the affair of the necklace 
 
 — was discovered to have been actively employed against 
 Her Majesty in the work published in London by Lamotte. 
 
 "Mr. Sheridan was the gentleman who first gave me 
 this information. 
 
 "I immediately sent a trusty person by the Queen's 
 orders to London, to buy up the whole work. It was 
 too late. It had been already so widely circulated that 
 its consequences could no longer be prevented. I was 
 lucky enough, however, for a considerable sum to get a 
 copy from a person intimate with the author, the margin 
 of which, in the handwriting of 3 M. de Calonne, actually 
 contained numerous additional circumstances which were 
 to have been published in a second edition! This publi- 
 cation my agent, aided by some English gentlemen, ar- 
 rived in time to suppress. 
 
 "The copy I allude to was brought to Paris and shown 
 to the Queen. She instantly flew with it in her hands 
 to the King's cabinet. 
 
 "'Now, sire,' exclaimed she, 'I hope you will be con- 
 vinced that my enemies are those whom I have long con- 
 sidered as the most pernicious of Your Majesty's councilors 
 
 — your own cabinet ministers — your M. de Calonne! 're- 
 specting whom I have often given you my opinion, 
 which, unfortunately, has always been attributed to mere 
 female caprice, or as having been biased by the intrigues 
 of Court favorites I This, I hope. Your Majesty will now 
 be able to contradict!' 
 
 "The King all this time was looking over the differ- 
 ent pages containing M. de Calonne 's additions on their 
 margins. On recognizing the handwriting, His Majesty 
 was so affected by this discovered treachery of his 
 
148 CHAPTER XI 
 
 minister and the agitation of his calumniated Queen that 
 he could scarcely articulate. 
 
 "'Where,' said he, 'did you procure this?' 
 
 '"Through the means, sire, of some of the worthy 
 members of that nation your treacherous ministers made 
 our enemy — from England! where your unfortunate 
 Queen, your injured wife, is compassionated!' 
 
 "'Who got it for you?' 
 
 '"My dearest, my real, and my only sincere friend, 
 the Princess Lamballe ! ' 
 
 " The King requested I should be sent for. I came. 
 As may be imagined, I was received with the warmest 
 sentiments of affection by both Their Majesties. I then 
 laid before the King the letter of Mr. Sheridan, which 
 was, in substance, as follows : * 
 
 " 'Madam: — A work of mine, which I did not choose should be 
 printed, was published in Dublin and transmitted to be sold in London. 
 As soon as I was informed of it, and had procured a spurious copy, I 
 went to the bookseller to put a stop to its circulation. I there met with 
 a copy of the work of Madame de Lamotte, which has been corrected 
 ty some one at Paris and sent back to the bookseller for a second edition. 
 Though not in time to suppress the first edition, owing to its rapid cir- 
 culation, I have had interest enough, through the means of the book- 
 seller of whom 1 speak, to remit you the copy which has been sent as the 
 basis of a new one. The corrections, I am told, are by one of the King's 
 ministers. If true, I should imagine the writer will be easily traced. 
 
 ■" I am happy that it has been in my power to make this discovery, 
 and I hope it will be the means of putting a stop to this most scandalous 
 publication. I feel myself honored in having contributed thus far to the 
 wishes of Her Majesty, which I hope I have fulfilled to the entire satis- 
 faction of your highness. 
 
 " ' Should anything further transpire on this subject, I will give you 
 the earliest information. 
 
 '■ ' I remain, madam, with profound respect, your highness' most de- 
 voted, Very humble servant, 
 
 "'Richard Brinsley Sheridan.' f 
 
 * The letter was, of course, translated in the Journal of the Princess 
 into Italian ; and is thence here restored into English. The original let- 
 ter probably shared the fate of other papers of her highness in the revo- 
 lutionary riots. 
 
 t Madame Campan mentions in her work that the Queen had informed 
 her of the trwcUery of tb? inipist^r, but did not enter iijto particulars, 
 
CHAPTER XI 149 
 
 "M. de Calonne immediately received the King's man- 
 date to resign the portfolio. The minister desired that 
 he might be allowed to give his resignation to the King 
 himself. His request was granted. The Queen was pres- 
 ent at the interview. The work in question was produced. 
 On beholding it, the minister nearly fainted. The King 
 got up and left the room. The Queen, who remained, 
 told M. de Calonne that His Majesty had no further oc- 
 casion for his services. He fell on his knees. He was 
 not allowed to speak, but was desired to leave Paris. 
 
 " The dismissal and disgrace of M. de Calonne were 
 scarcely known before all Paris vociferated that they were 
 owing to the intrigues of the favorite, Polignac, in con- 
 sequence of his having refused to administer to her own 
 superfluous extravagance and the Queen's repeated de- 
 mands on the treasury to satisfy the numerous depend- 
 ants of the Duchess. 
 
 " This, however, was soon officially disproved by the 
 exhibition of a written proposition of Calonne's to the 
 Queen, to supply an additional hundred thousand francs 
 that year to her annual revenue, which Her Majesty re- 
 fused. As for the Duchess de Polignac, so far from hav- 
 ing caused the disgrace, she was not even aware of the 
 circumstance from which it arose; nor did the minister 
 himself ever know how, or by what agency his falsehood 
 was so thoroughly unmasked." 
 
 nor explain the mode or source of its detection. Notwithstanding the 
 parties had bound themselves for the sums they received not to reprint 
 the work, a second edition appeared a short time afterward in London. 
 This, which was again bought up by the French ambassador, was the 
 same which was to have been burned by the King's command at the 
 china manufactory at Sevres. 
 
ISO CHAPTER XI 
 
 NOTE. 
 
 THE work which is here spoken of the Queen kept, as a proof of the 
 treachery of Calonne toward her and his sovereign, till the storming 
 of the Tuileries on the loth of August, 1792, when, with the rest of the 
 papers and property plundered on that memorable occasion, it fell into 
 the hands of the ferocious mob. 
 
 M. de Calonne soon after left France for Italy. There he lived for 
 some time in the palace of a particular friend of mine and the Marquis, 
 my husband, the Countess Francese Tressino, at Vicenza. 
 
 In consequence of our going every season to take the mineral waters 
 and use the baths at Valdagno, we had often occasion to be in company 
 with M. de Calonne, both at Vicenza and Valdagno, where I must do 
 him the justice to say he conducted himself with the greatest circum- 
 spection in speaking of the Revolution. 
 
 Though he evidently avoided the topic which terminates this chap- 
 ter, yet one day, being closely pressed upon the subject, he said forger- 
 ies were daily committed on ministers, and were most particularly so in 
 France at the period in question ; that he had borne the blame of various 
 imprudencies neither authorized nor executed by him ; that much had 
 been done and supposed to have been done with his sanction, of which 
 he had not the slightest knowledge. This he observed generally, with- 
 out specifying any express instance. 
 
 He was then asked whether he did not consider himself responsible 
 for the mischief he occasioned by declaring the nation in a state of 
 bankruptcy. He said, " No, not in the least. There was no other way 
 of preventing enormous sums from being daily lavished, as they then 
 were, on herds of worthless beings ; that the Queen had sought to culti- 
 vate a state of private domestic society, but that, in the attempt, she 
 only warmed in her bosom domestic vipers, who fed on the vital spirit 
 of her generosity. " He mentioned no names. 
 
 I then took the liberty of asking him his opinion of the Princess Lam- 
 balle. 
 
 "Oh, madam! had the rest of Her Majesty's numerous attendants 
 possessed the tenth part of that unfortunate victim's virtues. Her Maj- 
 esty would never have been led into the errors which all France must 
 deplore ! 
 
 "I shall never forget her," continued he, "the day I went to take 
 leave of her. She was sitting on a sofa when I entered. On seeing me, she 
 rose immediately. Before I could utter a syllable, ' Sir,' said the Princess 
 'you are accused of being the Queen's enemy. Acquit yourself of 
 the foul deed imputed to you, and I shall be happy to serve you as far as 
 
CHAPTER XI isi 
 
 lies in my power. Till then, I must decline holding any communication 
 with an individual thtis situated. I am her friend, and cannot receive 
 anyone known to be otherwise.' " 
 
 " There was something," added he, "so sublime, so dignified, and al- 
 together so firm, though mild m her manner, that she appeared not to 
 belong to a race o£ earthly beings !" 
 
 Seeing the tears fall from his eyes, while he was thus eulogizing her 
 whose memory I shall ever venerate, I almost forgave him the mischief of 
 his imprudence, which led to her untimely end. I therefore carefully 
 avoided wounding his few gray hairs and latter days, and left him still 
 untold that it was by her, of whom he thought so highly, that his un- 
 contradicted treachery had been discovered. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Journal Continued — Archbishop of Sens Made Minister, Dismissed, and 
 His Effigy Burned — The Queen Imprudently Patronizes His Rela- 
 tions — Mobs — Dangerous Unreserve of the Queen — Apology for 
 the Archbishop of Sens — The Queen Forced to Take a Part in the 
 Government — Meeting of the States-General — Anonymous Letter to 
 the Princess Lamballe — Significant Visit of the Duchess of Orleans 
 
 — Disastrous Procession — Barnave Gives His Opinion of Public 
 Affairs to the Princess Lamballe, Who Communicates with the Queen 
 
 — Briberies by Orleans on the Day of the Procession — He Faints in 
 the Assembly — Necker Suspected of an Understanding with Him — 
 Is Dismissed — Ko Communication on Public Business with the' 
 Queen But through the Princess Lamballe — Political Influence 
 Falsely Ascribed to the Duchess de Polignac — Her Unpopularity — 
 Duke of Harcourt and the First Dauphin — Death of the First Dau- 
 phin — Cause of Harcourt's Harsh Treatment of Polignac — Second 
 Interview of Bamave with the Princess Lamballe — He Solicits an 
 Audience of the Queen, Which Is Refused — Dialogue between 
 Lamballe and the Prince de Conti — Remarks on thePolignacs — 
 Marriage of Figaro, a Political Satire. 
 
 "^'-XF THE many instances in whicti the Queen's exer- 
 \^ tions to serve those whom she conceived likely 
 to benefit and relieve the nation, turned to the 
 injury, not only of herself, but those whom she patronized 
 and the cause she would strengthen, one of the most un- 
 popular was that of the promotion of Brienne, Arch- 
 bishop of Sens, to the ministry. Her interest in his 
 favor was entirely created by the Abb6 Vermond, him- 
 self too superficial to pronounce upon any qualities, and 
 especially such as were requisite for so high a station. 
 By many, the partiality which prompted Vermond to 
 espouse the interests of the Archbishop was ascribed to 
 the amiable sentiment of gratitude for the recommenda- 
 tion of that dignitary, by which Vermond himself first 
 obtained his situation at Court; but there were others, 
 who have been deemed deeper In the secret, who Impute 
 (152) 
 
CHAPTER XII I S3 
 
 it to the less honorable source of self-interest, to the 
 mere spirit of ostentation, to the hope of its enabling 
 him to bring about the destruction of the Polignacs, Be 
 this as it may, the Abb6 well knew that a minister in- 
 debted for his elevation solely to the Queen would be 
 supported by her to the last. 
 
 "This, unluckily, proved the case. Maria Antoinette 
 persisted in upholding every act of Brienne, till his 
 ignorance and unpardonable blunders drew down the 
 general indignation of the people against Her Majesty 
 and her protigi, with whom she was identified. The 
 iCing had assented to the appointment with no other view 
 than that of not being utterly isolated and to show a re- 
 spect for his consort's choice. But the incapable minister 
 was presently compelled to retire, not only from office 
 but from Paris. Never was a minister more detested 
 while in power, or a people more enthusiastically satisfied 
 at his going out. His effigy was burnt in every town of 
 France, and the general illuminations and bonfires in the 
 capital were accompanied by hooting and hissing the de- 
 posed statesman to the barriers. 
 
 "The Queen, prompted by the Abb6 Vermond, even 
 after Brienne's dismission, gave him tokens of her royal 
 munificence. Her Majesty feared that her acting other- 
 wise to a minister, who had been honored by her confi- 
 dence, would operate as a check to prevent all men of 
 celebrity from exposing their fortunes to so ungracious a 
 return for lending their best services to the state, which 
 now stood in need of the most skillful pilots. Such were 
 the motives assigned by Her Majesty herself to me, 
 when I took the liberty of expostulating with her re- 
 specting the dangers which threatened herself and fam- 
 ily, from this continued devotedness to a minister against 
 whom the nation had pronounced so strongly. I could 
 not but applaud the delicacy of the feeling upon which 
 her conduct had been grounded; nor could I blame her, 
 in my heart, for the uprightness of her principle, in 
 showing that what she had once undertaken should 
 not be abandoned through female caprice. I told Her 
 
1 54 CHAPTER XII 
 
 Majesty that the system upon which she acted was praise- 
 worthy; and that its application in the present instance 
 would have been so had the Archbishop possessed as 
 much talent as he lacked; but thiat now it was quite req- 
 uisite for her to stop the public tlamor by renouncing 
 her protection of a man who had sd seriously endangered 
 the public tranquillity and her own reputation.* 
 
 " As a proof how far my caution was well founded, 
 there was an immense riotous mob raised about this time 
 against the Queen, in consequence of her having ap- 
 pointed the dismissed minister's niece, Madame de Canisy, 
 to a place at Court, and having given her picture, set in 
 diamonds, to the Archbishop himself. 
 
 ''The Queen, in many cases, was by far too com- 
 municative to some of her household, who immediately 
 divulged all they gathered from her unreserve. How 
 could these circumstances have transpired to the people 
 but from those nearest the person of Her Majesty, who, 
 knowing the public feeling better than their royal mis- 
 tress could be supposed to know it, did their own feel- 
 ing little credit by the mischievous exposure. The peo- 
 ple were exasperated beyond all conception. The Abbe 
 Vermond placed before Her Majesty the consequences of 
 her communicativeness, and from this time forward she 
 never repeated the error. After the lesson she had re- 
 ceived, none of her female attendants, not even the 
 Duchess de Polignac, to whom she would have confided 
 her very existence, could, had they been ever so much 
 disposed, have drawn anything upon pviblic matters from 
 her. With me, as her superintendent and entitled by my 
 situation to interrogate and give her counsel, she was 
 not, of course, under the same restriction. To his other 
 representations of the consequences of the Queen's indis- 
 
 * The Princess Lamballe had no particularly shining talents ; but her 
 understanding was -sound, and she seldom gave her opinion without ma- 
 ture reflection, and never without being called upon, or when she dis- 
 tinctly foresaw the danger which must accrue from its being withheld. 
 Would to Heaven the Queen had had more advisers like her, who felt so 
 little for herself and so much for the welfare of her royal mistress I 
 
CHAPTER XII iss 
 
 creet openness, the Abb6 Vermond added that, being 
 obliged to write all the letters, private and public, he 
 often found himself greatly embarrassed by affairs having 
 gone forth to the wor^d beforehand. One misfortune of 
 putting this seal upoii the lips of Her Majesty was that 
 it placed her more thoroughly in the Abba's power. She 
 was, of course, obliged to rely implicitly upon him con- 
 cerning many points, which, had they undergone the dis- 
 cussion necessarily resulting from free conversation, would 
 have been shown to her under very different aspects. 
 A man with a better heart, less Jesuitical, and not so 
 much interested as Vermond was to keep his place, would 
 have been a safer monitor. 
 
 "Though the Archbishop of Sens was so much hated 
 and despised, much may be said in apology for his dis- 
 asters. His unpopularity, and the Queen's support of 
 him against the people, was certainly a vital blow to the 
 monarchy. There is no doubt of his having been a poor 
 substitute for the great men who had so gloriously beaten 
 the political paths of administration, particularly the 
 Count de Vergennes and Necker. But at that time, when 
 France was threatened by its great convulsion, where is 
 the genius which might not have committed itself? And 
 here is a man coming to rule amid revolutionary feelings, 
 with no knowledge whatever of revolutionary principles; 
 a pilot steering into one harbor by the chart of another. 
 I am by no means a vindicator of the Archbishop's 
 obstinacy in offering himself a candidate for a situation 
 entirely foreign to the occupations, habits, and studies of 
 his whole life; but his intentions may have been good 
 enough, and we must not charge the physician with 
 murder who has only mistaken the disease, and, though 
 wrong in his judgment, has been zealous and conscien- 
 tious; nor must we blame the comedians for the faults 
 of the comedy. The errors were not so much in the 
 men who did not succeed, as in the manners of the times. 
 
 " The part which the Queen was now openly compelled 
 to bear in the management of public affairs, increased 
 the public feeling against her from dislike to hatred. 
 
IS6 CHAPTER XII 
 
 Her Majesty was unhappy, not only from the necessity 
 which called her out of the sphere to which she thought 
 her sex ought to be confined, but from the divisions 
 which existed in the Royal Family upon points in which 
 their common safety required a conimon scheme of action. 
 Her favorite brother-in-law, d'Art^is, had espoused the 
 side of d'Orleans, and the popular party seemed to pre- 
 vail against her, even with the King. 
 
 "The various parliamentary assemblies, which had 
 swept on their course, under various denominations, in 
 rapid and stormy succession, were now followed by one 
 which, like Aaron's rod, was to swallow up the rest. Its 
 approach was regarded by the Queen with ominous re- 
 luctance. At length, however, the moment for the meet- 
 ing of the States-General at Versailles arrived. Necker 
 was once more in favor, and a sort of forlorn hope of 
 better times dawned upon the perplexed monarch, in his 
 anticipations from this assembly. 
 
 "The night before the procession of the installment 
 of the States-General was to take place, it being my duty 
 to attend Her Majesty, I received an anonymous letter, 
 cautioning me not to be seen that day by her side. I 
 immediately went to the King's apartments and showed 
 him the letter. His Majesty humanely enjoined me to 
 abide by its counsels. I told him I hoped he would for 
 once permit me to exercise my own discretion ; for if my 
 royal sovereign were in danger, it was then that her at- 
 tendants should be most eager to rally round her, in order 
 to watch over her safety and encourage her fortitude. 
 
 "While we were thus occupied, the Queen and my 
 sister-in-law, the Duchess of Orleans, entered the King's 
 apartment, to settle some part of the etiquette respecting 
 the procession. 
 
 " ' I wish,' exclaimed the Duchess, ' that this procession 
 were over; or that it were never to take place; or that 
 none of us had to be there; or else, being obliged, that 
 we had all passed, and were comfortably at home again.' 
 
 " ' Its taking place, ' answered the Queen, ' never had 
 my sanction, especially at Versailles. M. Necker appears 
 
CHAPTER XII 157 
 
 to be in its favor, and answers for its success. I wish 
 he may not be deceived; but I much fear that he is 
 guided more by the mistaken hope of maintaining his 
 own popularity by this impolitic meeting, than by any 
 conscientious confidence in its advantage to the King's 
 authority. ' 
 
 "The King, having in his hand the letter which I had 
 just brought him, presented it to the Queen. 
 
 "'This, my dear Duchess,' cried the Queen, \' comes 
 from the Palais Royal manufactory, to poison the very 
 first sentiments of delight at the union expected between 
 the King and his subjects, by inuendos of the danger 
 which must result from my being present at it. Look at 
 the insidiousness of the thing! Under a pretext of kind- 
 ness, cautions against the effect of their 'attachment are 
 given to my most sincere and affectionate attendants, whose 
 fidelity none dare attack openly. I am, however, rejoiced 
 that Lamballe has been cautioned.' 
 
 "'Against what?' replied I. 
 
 " 'Against appearing in the procession,' answered the 
 Queen. 
 
 " 'It is only,' I exclaimed, 'by putting me in the grave 
 they can ever withdraw me from Your Majesty. While 
 I have life and Your Majesty's sanction, force only will 
 prevent me from doing my duty. Fifty thousand daggers, 
 Madame, were they all raised against me, would have 
 no power to shake the firmness of my character or the 
 earnestness of my attachment. I pity the wretches who 
 have so little penetration. Victim or no victim, nothing 
 shall ever induce me to quit Your Majesty.' 
 
 "The Queen and the Duchess, both in tears, embraced 
 me. After the Duchess had taken her leave, the King 
 and Queen hinted their suspicions that she had been ap- 
 prised of the letter and had made this visit expressly to 
 observe what effect it had produced, well knowing at the 
 time that some attempt was meditated by the hired mob 
 and purchased deputies already brought over to the 
 Orleans faction. Not that the slightest suspicion of col- 
 lusion could ever be attached to the good Duchess of 
 
158 CHAPTER XII 
 
 Orleans against the Queen. The intentions of the 
 Duchess were known to be as virtuous and pure as those 
 of her husband's party were criminal and mischievous. 
 But, no doubt, she had intimations of the result intended ; 
 and, unable to avert the storm or prevent its cause, had 
 been instigated by her strong attachment to me, as well 
 as the paternal affection her father, the Duke de Pen- 
 thifevre, bore me, to attempt to lessen the exasperation of 
 the Palais Royal party and the Duke, her husband, 
 against me, by dissuading me from running any risk 
 upon the occasion. 
 
 "The next day, May 5th, 1789, at the very moment 
 when all the resources of nature and art seemed ex- 
 hausted to render the Queen a paragon of loveliness be- 
 yond anything I had ever before witnessed, even in her; 
 when every impartial eye was eager to behold and feast 
 on that form whose beauty warmed every heart in her 
 favor; at that moment a horde of miscreants, just as she 
 came within sight of the assembly, thundered in her ears, 
 'Orleans forever i' three or four times,* while she and 
 the King were left to pass unheeded. Even the warning 
 of the letter, from which she had reason to expect some 
 commotions, suggested to her imagination nothing like 
 this, and she was dreadfully shaken. I sprang forward 
 to support her. The King's party, prepared for the 
 attack, shouted ' Vive le roi ! vive la reine .' ' As I turned, 
 I saw some of the members lividly pale, as if fearing 
 their machinations had been discovered ; but, as they passed, 
 they said in the hearing of Her Majesty, ' Remember, you 
 ARE THE DAUGHTER OF Maria Theresa. ' ' True, ' auswercd 
 the Queen. The Duke de Biron, Orleans, La Fayette, 
 Mirabeau, and the Mayor of Paris, seeing Her Majesty's 
 emotion, came up, and were going to stop the procession. 
 All, in apparent agitation, cried out 'Halt! ' The Queen, 
 sternly looking at them, made a sign with her head to 
 proceed, recovered herself, and moved forward in the 
 
 * At that moment her loveliness received its blight. From the instant 
 she heard that cry, her severest sorrows and their eflfects began. It 
 proved her death cry. 
 
CHAPTER XII 159 
 
 train, with all the dignity and self-possession for which 
 she was so eminently distinguished. 
 
 "But this self-command in public proved nearly fatal 
 to Her Majesty on her return to her apartment. There 
 her real feelings broke forth, and their violence was so 
 great as to cause the bracelets on her wrists and the 
 pearls in her necklace to burst from the threads and set- 
 tings, before her women and the ladies in attendance could 
 have time to take them off. She remained many hours 
 in a most alarming state of strong convulsions. Her 
 clothes were obliged to be cut from her body, to give 
 her ease; but as soon as she was undressed, and tears 
 came to her relief, she flew alternately to the Princess 
 Elizabeth and to myself; but we were both too much 
 overwhelmed to give her the consolation of which she 
 stood so much in need. 
 
 "Bamave that very evening came to my private apart- 
 ment, and tendered his services to the Queen. He told 
 me he wished Her Majesty to be convinced that he was 
 a Frenchman; that he only desired his country might be 
 governed by salutary laws, and not by the caprice of weak 
 sovereigns, or a vitiated, corrupt ministry; that the 
 clergy and nobility ought to contribute to the wants of 
 the state equally with every other class of the King's 
 subjects; that when this was accomplished, and abuses 
 were removed, by such a national representation as would 
 enable the minister, Necker, to accomplish his plans for 
 the liquidation of the national debt, I might assure Her 
 Majesty that both the King and herself would find them- 
 selves happier in a constitutional government than they 
 had ever yet been; for such a government would set 
 them free from all dependence on the caprice of minis- 
 ters, and lessen a responsibility of which they now ex- 
 perienced the misery; that if the King sincerely entered 
 into the spirit of regenerating the French nation, he 
 would find among the present representatives many mem- 
 bers of probity, loyal and honorable in their intentions, 
 who would never become the destroyers of a limited le- 
 gitimate monarchy, or the corrupt regicides of a rump 
 
i6o CHAPTER XII 
 
 parliament, such as brought the wayward Charles the First, 
 of England, to the fatal block. 
 
 "I attempted to relate the conversation to the Queen. 
 She listened with the greatest attention till I came to the 
 part concerning the constitutional King, when Her Maj- 
 esty lost her patience, and prevented me from proceed- 
 ing.* 
 
 "The expense of the insulting scene, which had so over- 
 come Her Majesty, was five hundred thousand francs! 
 This sum was paid by the agents of the Palais Royal, 
 and its execution intrusted principally to Mirabeau, 
 Bailly, the Mayor of Paris, and another individual, who 
 was afterward brought over to the Court party. 
 
 "The history of the assembly itself on the day follow- 
 ing, the 6th of May, is too well known. The sudden 
 perturbation of a guilty conscience, which overcame the 
 Duke of Orleans, seemed like an awful warning-. He 
 had scarcely commenced his inflammatory address to the 
 assembly, when some one, who felt incommoded by 
 the stifling heat of the hall, exclaimed, 'Throw open the 
 windows ! ' The conspirator fancied he heard in this his 
 death sentence. He fainted, and was conducted home in 
 the greatest agitation. Madame de Bouff on was at the Palais 
 
 *This and other conversations which will be found in subsequent 
 pages, will prove that Bamave's sentiments in favor of the Royal Family 
 long preceded the affair at Varennes, the beginning of which Madame 
 Campan assigns to it. Indeed, it must by this time be evident 
 to the reader, that Madame Campan, though very correct in 
 relating all she knew, with respect to the history of Maria 
 Antoinette, was not in possession of matters foreign to her 
 occupation about the person of the Queen, and, in particular, that 
 she could communicate little concerning those important intrigues car- 
 ried on respecting the different deputies of the first assembly, till, in 
 the latter days of the Revolution, when it became necessary, from the 
 pressure of events, that she should be made a sort of confidante, in order 
 to prevent her from compromising the persons of the Queen and the 
 Princess Lamballe: a trust, of her claim to which her undoubted fidelity 
 was an ample pledge. Still, however, she was often absent from Court 
 at moments of great importance, and was obliged to take her informa- 
 tion, upon much which she has recorded, from hearsay, which has led 
 her, as I have before stated, into frequent mistakes. 
 
CHAPTER XII i6i 
 
 Royal when the Duke was taken thither. The Duchess 
 of Orleans was at the palace of the Duke de Penthibvre, 
 her father, while the Duke himself was at the Hotel 
 Thoulouse with me, where he was to dine, and where 
 we were waiting for the Duchess to come and join us, 
 by appointment. But Madame de Bouffon was so alarmed 
 by the state in which she saw the Duke of Orleans 
 that she instantly left the Palais Royal, and dispatched 
 his valet express to bring her thither. My sister-in-law 
 sent an excuse to me for not coming to dinner, and an 
 explanation to her father for so abruptly leaving his 
 palace, and hastened home to her husband. It was some 
 days before he recovered ; and his father-in-law, his wife, 
 and myself were not without hopes that he would see in 
 this an omen to prevent him from persisting any longer 
 in his opposition to the Royal Family. 
 
 "The effects of the recall of the popular minister, 
 Necker, did not satisfy the King. Necker soon became 
 an object of suspicion to the Court party, and especially 
 to His Majesty and the Queen. He was known to have 
 maintained an understanding with Orleans. The miscar- 
 riage of many plans and the misfortunes which succeeded 
 were the result of this connection, though it was openly 
 disavowed. The first suspicion of the coalition arose 
 thus: 
 
 "When the Duke had his bust carried about Paris, 
 after his unworthy schemes against the King had been 
 discovered, it was thrown into the mire. Necker passing, 
 perhaps by mere accident, stopped his carriage, and ex- 
 pressing himself with some resentment for such treat- 
 ment to a Prince of the blood and a friend of the people, 
 i)rdered the bust to be taken to the Palais Royal, where 
 (t was washed, crowned with laurel, and thence, with 
 Plecker's own bust, carried to Versailles. The King's 
 aunts, coming from Belvue as the procession was upon 
 the road, ordered the guards to send the men away who 
 bore the busts, that the King and Queen might not be 
 insulted with the sight. This circumstance caused an- 
 other riot, which was attributed to Their Majesties. The 
 
i62 CHAPTER XII 
 
 dismission of the minister was the obvious result. It is 
 certain, however, that, in obe5dng the mandate of exile, 
 Necker had no wish to exercise the advantage he pos- 
 sessed from his great popularity. His retirement was 
 sudden and secret; and, although it was mentioned that 
 very evening by the Baroness de Stael to the Count de 
 Chinon, so little bustle was made about his withdrawing 
 from France, that it was even stated at the time to have 
 been utterly unknown, even to his daughter. 
 
 " Necker himself ascribed his dismission to the influ- 
 ence of the Polignacs; but he was totally mistaken, for 
 the Duchess de Polignac was the last person to have had 
 any influence in matters of state, whatever might have 
 been the case with those who surrounded her. She was 
 devoid of ambition or capacity to give her weight; and 
 the Queen was not so pliant in points of high import as 
 to allow herself to be governed or overruled, unless her 
 mind was thoroughly convinced. In that respect, she 
 was something like Catharine II., who always dis- 
 tinguished her favorites from her ministers; but in the 
 present case she had no choice, and was under the 
 necessity of yielding to the boisterous voice of a faction. 
 
 "From this epoch, I saw all the persons who had any 
 wish to communicate with the Queen on matters relative 
 to the public business, and Her Majesty was generally 
 present when they came, and received them in my 
 apartments. The Duchess de Polignac never, to my 
 knowledge, entered into any of these state questions ; yet 
 there was no promotion in the civil, military, or ministerial 
 department, which she has not been charged with having 
 influenced the Queen to make, though there were few of 
 them who were not nominated by the King and his 
 ministers, even unknown to the Queen herself. 
 
 " The prevailing dissatisfaction against Her Majesty 
 and the favorite Polignac now began to take so many 
 forms, and produce effects so dreadful, as to wring her 
 own feelings, as well as those of her royal mistress, with 
 the most intense anguish. Let me mention one gross 
 and barbarous instance in proof of what I say. 
 
CHAPTER XII 163 
 
 "After the birth of the Queen's second son, the Duke 
 of Normandy, who was afterward Dauphin, the Duke and 
 Duchess of Harcourt, outrageously jealous of the ascend- 
 ancy of the governess of the Dauphin, excited the 
 young prince's hatred toward Madame de Polignac to 
 such a pitch that he would take nothing from her hands, 
 but often, young as he was at the time, order her out of 
 the apartment, and treat her remonstrances with the 
 utmost contempt. The Duchess bitterly complained of 
 the Harcourts to the Queen; for she really sacrificed the 
 whole of her time to the care and attention required by 
 this young prince, and she did so from sincere attach- 
 ment, and that he might not be irritated in his declining 
 state of health. The Queen was deeply hurt at these 
 dissensions between the governor and governess. Her 
 Majesty endeavored to pacify the mind of the young prince, 
 by literally making herself a slave to his childish caprices, 
 which in all probability would have created the confi- 
 dence so desired, when a most cruel, unnatural, I may 
 say diabolical, report prevailed, to alienate the child's af- 
 fections even from his mother, in making him believe 
 that, owing to his deformity and growing ugliness, she 
 had transferred all her tenderness to his younger brother, 
 who certainly was very superior in health and beauty 
 to the puny Dauphin. Making a pretext of this cal- 
 umny, the governor of the heir apparent was malicious 
 enough to prohibit him from eating or drinking anything 
 but what first passed through the hands of his physi- 
 cians; and so strong was the impression made by this 
 interdict on the mind of the young Dauphin that he 
 never after saw the Queen but with the greatest terror. 
 The feelings ^of his disconsolate parent may be more read- 
 ily conceived than described. So may the mortification 
 of his governess, the Duchess de Polignac, herself so 
 tender, so affectionate a mother. Fortunately for him- 
 self, and happily for his wretched parents, this royal 
 youth, whose life, though short, had been so full of suf- 
 fering, died at Versailles on the 4th of June, 1789, and, 
 though only between seven »nd eight years of age at the 
 
i64 CHAPTER XH 
 
 time of his decease, he had given proofs of intellectual 
 precocity, which would probably have made continued 
 life, amid the scenes of wretchedness which succeeded, 
 anything to him but a blessing. 
 
 " The cabals of the Duke of Harcourt, to which I have 
 just adverted, against the Duchess de Polignac, were the 
 mere result of foul malice and ambition. Harcourt wished 
 to get his wife, who was the sworn enemy of Polignac, 
 created governess to the Dauphin instead of the Queen's 
 favorite. Most of the criminal stories against the Duchess 
 de Polignac, and which did equal injury to the Queen, 
 were fabricated by the Harcourts, for the purpose of ex- 
 cluding their rival from her situation. 
 
 "Barnave, meanwhile, continued faithful to his liberal 
 principles, but equally faithful to his desire of bringing 
 Their Majesties over to those principles, and making 
 them republican sovereigns. He lost no opportunity of 
 availing himself of my permission for him to call when- 
 ever he chose on public business; and he continued to 
 urge the same points, upon which he had before been so 
 much in earnest, although with no better effect. Both 
 the King and Queen looked with suspicion upon Barnave, 
 and with still more suspicion upon his politics. 
 
 "The next time I received him, 'Madam,' exclaimed 
 the deputy to me, ' since our last interview I have pon- 
 dered well on the situation of the King; and, as an honest 
 Frenchman, attached to my lawful sovereign, and anxious 
 for his future prosperous reign, I am decidedly of opinion 
 that his own safety, as well as the dignity of the crown 
 of France, and the happiness of his subjects, can only be 
 secured by his giving his country a constitution, whiph 
 will at once place his establishment beyond the caprice 
 and the tjrranny of corrupt administrations, and secure 
 hereafter the first monarchy in Europe from the possibility 
 of sinking under weak princes, by whom the royal 
 splendor of France has too often been debased into the 
 mere tool of vicious and mercenary noblesse, and syco- 
 phantic courtiers. A King, protected by a constitution, 
 can do no wrong. He is unshackled with responsibility. 
 
CHAPTER XII 165 
 
 He is empowered with the comfort of exercising the 
 executive authority for the benefit of the nation, while all 
 the harsher duties, and all the censures they create, 
 devolve on others. It is, therefore, madam, through your 
 means, and the well-known friendship you have ever 
 evinced for the Royal Family and the general welfare of 
 the French nation, that I wish to obtain a private audi- 
 ence of Her Majesty, the Queen, in order to induce her 
 to exert the never-failing ascendancy she has ever pos- 
 sessed over the mind of our good King, in persuading 
 him to the sacrifice of a small proportion of his power, 
 for the sake of preserving the monarchy to his heirs ; and 
 posterity will record the virtues of a prince who has been 
 magnanimous enough, of his own free will, to resign the 
 unlawful part of his prerogatives, usurped by his pred- 
 ecessors, for the blessing and pleasure of giving liberty 
 to a beloved people, among whom both the King and 
 Queen will find many Hampdens and Sidneys, but very 
 few Cromwells. Besides, madam, we must make a merit 
 of necessity. The times are pregnant with events, and 
 it is more prudent to support the palladium of the ancient 
 monarchy than risk its total overthrow; and fall it must, 
 if the diseased excrescences, of which the people complain, 
 and which threaten to carry death into the very heart of 
 the tree, be not lopped away in time by the sovereign 
 himself. ' 
 
 " I heard the deputy with the greatest attention. I 
 promised to fulfill his commission. The better to execute 
 my task, I retired the moment he left me, and wrote 
 down all I could recollect of his discourse, that it might be 
 thoroughly placed before the Queen the first opportunity. 
 
 "When I communicated the conversation to Her Maj- 
 esty, she listened with the most gracious condescension, 
 till I came to the part wherein Bamave so forcibly im- 
 pressed the necessity of adopting a constitutional mon- 
 archy. Here, as she had done once before, when I 
 repeated some former observations of Bamave to her, 
 Maria Antoinette somewhat lost her equanimity. She 
 rose from her seat, and exclaimed : 
 
i66 CHAPTER XII 
 
 " 'What! is an absolute prince, and the hereditary sov- 
 ereign of the ancient monarchy of France, to become the 
 tool of a plebeian faction, who will, their point once 
 gained, dethrone him for his imbecile complaisance ? 
 Do they wish to imitate the English Revolution of 
 1648, and reproduce the sanguinary times of the un- 
 fortunate and weak Charles the First? To make France 
 a commonwealth! Well! be it so! But before I advise 
 the King to such a step, or give my consent to it, they 
 shall bury me under the ruins of the monarchy.' 
 
 "'But what answer,' said I, 'does Your Majesty wish 
 me to return to the deputy's request for a private audi- 
 ence ? ' 
 
 "'What answer?' exclaimed the Queen. 'No answer 
 at all is the best answer to such a presumptuous propo- 
 sition! I tremble for the consequences of the impres- 
 sion their disloyal maneuvers have made upon the minds 
 of the people, and I have no faith whatever in their 
 proffered services to the King. However, on reflection, 
 it may be expedient to temporize. Continue to see him. 
 Learn, if possible, how far he may be trusted; but do 
 not fix any time, as yet, for the desired audience. I wish 
 to apprise the King, first, of his interview with you. 
 Princess. This conversation does not agree with what he 
 and Mirabeau proposed about the King's recovering his 
 prerogatives. Are these the prerogatives with which he 
 flattered the King ? Binding him hand and foot, and ex- 
 cluding him from every privilege, and then casting him 
 a helpless dependant on the caprice of a volatile plebeian 
 faction! The French nation is very different from the 
 English. The first rules of the established ancient order 
 of the government broken through, they will violate 
 twenty others, and the King will be sacrificed, before this 
 frivolous people again organize themselves with any sort 
 of regular government.' 
 
 "Agreeably to Her Majesty's commands, I continued to 
 see Bamave. I communicated with him by letter,* at 
 his private lodgings at Passy, and at Vitry; but it 
 
 • Of these letters I was generally the bearer. 
 
CHAPTER XII 167 
 
 was long before the Queen could be brought to consent 
 to the audience he solicited. 
 
 "Indeed Her Majesty had such an aversion to all who 
 had declared themselves for any innovation upon the ex- 
 isting power of the monarchy, that she was very reluc- 
 tant to give audience upon the subject to any person, not 
 even excepting the Princes of the blood. The Count 
 d'Artois himself, leaning as he did to the popular side, 
 had ceased to be welcome. Expressions he had made use 
 of, concerning the necessity for some change, had oc- 
 casioned the coolness, which was already of considerable 
 standing. 
 
 "One day the Prince of Conti came to me, to complain 
 of the Queen's refusing to receive him, because he had 
 expressed himself to the same effect as had the Count 
 d'Artois on the subject of the Tiers £,tats* 
 
 * I recollect that day perfectly. I was copying some letters for the 
 Princess Lamballe, when the Prince of Conti came in. The Prince lived 
 not only to see, but to feel the errors of his system. He attained a great 
 age. He outlived the glory of his country. Like many others, the first 
 gleam of political regeneration led him into a system, which drove him 
 out of France, to implore the shelter of a foreign asylum, that he might 
 not fall a victim to his own credulity. I had an opportunity of witness- 
 ing in his latter days his sincere repentance ; and to this it is fit that I 
 should bear testimony. There were no bounds to the execration with 
 which he expressed himself toward the murderers of those victims, whose 
 death he lamented with a bitterness, in which some remorse was mingled, 
 from the impression that his own early errors in favor of the Revolution 
 had unintentionally accelerated their untimely end. This was a source 
 to him of deep and perpetual self-reproach. 
 
 There was an eccentricity in the appearance, dress, and manners of 
 the Prince of Conti, which well deserves recording. 
 
 He wore, to the very last — and it was in Barcelona, so late as 1803, 
 that I last had the honor of conversing with him — a white rich stuff 
 dress frock coat, of the cut and fashion of Louis XIV. which, being with- 
 out any collar, had buttons and buttonholes from the neck to the bottom 
 of the skirt, and was padded and stiffened with buckram. The cuffs 
 were very large, of a different color, and turned up to the elbows. The 
 whole was lined with white satin, which, from its being very much moth- 
 eaten, appeared as if it had been dotted on purpose to show the buckram 
 between the satin lining. His waistcoat was of rich green striped silk, 
 bound with gold lace ; the buttons and buttonholes of gold; the flaps very 
 large, and completely covering his small Clothes ; which happened very 
 
i68 CHAPTER XII 
 
 "'And does your highness,' replied I, 'imagine that 
 the Queen is less displeased with the conduct of the 
 Count d'Artois on that head, than she is with you. Prince ? 
 I can assure your highness, that at this moment there 
 subsists a very great degree of coolness between Her 
 Majesty and her royal brother-in-law, whom she loves as if 
 he were her own brother. Though she makes every allow- 
 ance for his political inexperience, and well knows the 
 goodness of his heart and the rectitude of his intentions, 
 yet policy will not permit her to change her sentiments. ' 
 
 "'That may be,' said the Prince, 'but while Her Maj- 
 esty continues to honor with her royal presence the 
 Duchess de Polignac, whose friends, as well as herself, 
 are all enthusiastically mad in favor of the constitutional 
 system, she shows an undue partiality, by countenanc- 
 ing one branch of the party and not the other; particu- 
 larly so, as the great and notorious leader of the opposi- 
 tion, which the Queen frowns upon, is the sister-in-law 
 of this very Duchess de Polignac, and the avowed fa- 
 vorite of the Count d'Artois, by whom, and the councils 
 of the Palais Royal, he is supposed to be totally governed 
 in his political career.' 
 
 "'The Queen,' replied I, 'is certainly her own mis- 
 
 ipropos, for they scarcely reached his knees, over which he wore large 
 striped silk stockings, that came halfway up his thighs. His shoes had 
 high heels, and reached halfway up his legs ; the buckles were small, 
 and set round with paste. A very narrow stifi stock decorated his neck. 
 He carried a hat, with a white feather on the inside, under his arm. His 
 ruffles were of very handsome point lace. His few gray hairs were gath- 
 ered in a little round bag. The wig alone was wanting to make him a 
 thorough picture of the polished age of the founder of Versailles and Marly. 
 
 He had all that princely politeness of manner which so eminently dis- 
 tinguished the old school of French nobility, previous to the Revolution. 
 He was the thorough gentleman, a character by no means so readily to 
 be met with in these days of refinement as one would imagine. He never 
 addressed the softer sex but with ease and elegance, and admiration of 
 their persons. 
 
 Could Louis XIV. have believed, had it been told to him when he 
 placed this branch of the Bourbons on the throne of Iberia, that it would 
 one day refuse to give shelter at the Court of Madrid to one of his family, 
 for fear of offending a Corsican usurper ! 
 
CHAPTER XII 169 
 
 tress. She sees, I believe, many persons more from 
 habit than any other motive; to which, your highness 
 is aware, many princes often make sacrifices. Your 
 highness cannot suppose I can have the temerity to con- 
 trol Her Majesty in the selection of her friends, or in 
 her sentiments respecting them.' 
 
 "'No,' exclaimed the Prince, 'I imagine not. But she 
 might just as well see any of us ; for we are no more enemies 
 of the crown than the party she is cherishing by con- 
 stantly appearing among them; which, according to her 
 avowed maxims concerning the not sanctioning any but 
 supporters of the absolute monarchy, is in direct opposi- 
 tion to her own sentiments.' 
 
 "'Who,' continued his highness, 'caused that infernal 
 comedy, "The Marriage of Figaro," to be brought 
 out, but the party of the Duchess de Polignac ? * The 
 play is a critique on the whole Royal Family, from 
 the drawing up of the curtain to its fall. It burlesques the 
 ways and manners of every individual connected with 
 the Court of Versailles. Not a scene but touches some 
 of their characters. Are not the Queen herself and the 
 Count d'Artois lampooned and caricatured in the garden 
 scenes, and the most slanderous ridicule cast upon their 
 innocent evening walks on the terrace? Does not Beau- 
 marchais plainly show in it, to every impartial eye, the 
 means which the Countess Diana has taken publicly to 
 demonstrate her jealousy of the Queen's ascendancy over 
 the Count d'Artois ? Is it not from the same sentiment 
 that she has roused the jealousy of the Countess 
 d'Artois against Her Majesty?' 
 
 *NoTE OF THE PRINCESS Lamballe. — The Prmce of Conti never 
 could speak of Beaumarchais but with the gfreatest contempt. There 
 was something personal in this exasperation. Beaumarchais had satir- 
 ized the Prince. ' ' The Spanish Barber " was founded on a circumstance 
 which happened at a country house between Conti and a young lady, 
 during the reig^n of Louis XV., when intrigues of every kind were prac- 
 ticed and almost sanctioned. The poet has exposed the Prince by mak- 
 ing him the Doctor Bartolo of his play. The affair which supplied 
 the story was hushed up at Court, and the Prince was only punished by 
 the loss of his mistress, who became the wife of another. 
 
I70 CHAPTER XII 
 
 "'All these circumstances,' observed I, 'the King pru- 
 dently foresaw when he read the manuscript, and caused 
 it to be read to the Queen, to convince her of the nature 
 of its characters and the dangerous tendency likely to 
 arise from its performance. Of this your highness is 
 aware. It is not for me to apprise you that, to avert the 
 excitement inevitable from its being brought upon the 
 stage, and under a thorough conviction of the mischief 
 it would produce in turning the minds of the people 
 against the Queen, His Majesty solemnly declared that 
 the comedy should not be performed in Paris; and that 
 he would never sanction its being brought before the 
 public on any stage in France.' 
 
 '"Bah! bah! madam!' exclaimed Conti. 'The Queen 
 has acted like a child in this affair, as in many others. 
 In defiance of His Majesty's determination, did not the 
 Queen herself, through the fatal influence of her favor- 
 ite, whose party wearied her out by continued importu- 
 nities, cause the King to revoke his express mandate ? 
 And what has been the consequence of Her Majesty's 
 ungovernable partiality for these Polignacs ? ' 
 
 "'You know, Prince,' said I, 'better than I do.' 
 
 '"The proofs of its bad consequences,' pursued his 
 highness, 'are more strongly verified than ever by your 
 own withdrawing from the Queen's parties since her un- 
 reserved acknowledgment of her partiality (fatal partiality!) 
 for those who will be her ruin; for they are her worst 
 enemies.' 
 
 "'Pardon me, Prince,' answered I, 'I have not with- 
 drawn myself from the Queen, but from the new parties 
 with whose politics I cannot identify myself, besides 
 some exceptions I have taken against those who frequent 
 them. ' 
 
 "'Bah! bah!' exclaimed Conti, 'your sagacity has got 
 the better of your curiosity. All the wit and humor of 
 that traitor Beaumarchais never seduced you to cultivate 
 his society, as all the rest of the Queen's party have 
 done. ' 
 
 " ' I never knew him to be accused of treason.' 
 
CHAPTER XII 171 
 
 " ' Why, what do you call a fellow, who sent arms to 
 the Americans before the war was declared, without his 
 sovereign's consent ? ' 
 
 "'In that affair, I consider the ministers as criminal 
 as himself; for the Queen, to this day, believes that 
 Beaumarchais was sanctioned by them; and, you know. 
 Her Majesty has ever since had an insuperable dislike to 
 both De Manrepas and De Vergennes. But I have noth- 
 ing to do with these things.' 
 
 '"Yes, yes, I understand you, Princess. Let her romp 
 and play with the compate vous* but who will compatire\ 
 (make allowance for) her folly. Bah! bah! bah! She is 
 inconsistent, Princess. Not that I mean by this to in- 
 sinuate that the Duchess is not the sincere friend and 
 wellwisher of the Queen. Her immediate existence, her 
 interest, and that of her family, are all dependent on the 
 royal bounty. But can the Duchess answer for the same 
 sincerity toward the Queen, with respect to her innumer- 
 able guests ? No ! Are not the sentiments of the Duchess's 
 sister-in-law, the Countess Diana, in direct opposition to 
 the absolute monarchy ? Has she not always been an 
 enthusiastic advocate for all those that have supported 
 the American war ? Who was it that crowned, at a pub- 
 lic assembly, the democratical straight hairs of Dr. 
 Franklin ? Why the same Madame Countess Diana! Who 
 was capa turpa in applauding the men who were framing 
 the American constitution at Paris ? Madame Countess 
 Diana ! Who was it, in like manner, that opposed all the 
 Queen's arguments against the political conduct of France 
 and Spain, relative to the war with England, in favor of 
 the American Independence ? The Countess Diana! Not 
 for the love of that rising nation, or for the sacred cause 
 of liberty ; but from a taste for notoriety, a spirit of envy 
 and jealousy, an apprehension lest the personal charms 
 of the Queen might rob her of a part of those affections, 
 which she herself exclusively hoped to alienate from that 
 
 * A kind of game of forfeits, introduced for the diversion of the royal 
 children and those of the Duchess de Polignac. 
 f This play upon the words is untranslatable. 
 
172 CHAPTER XII 
 
 abortion, the Countess d'Artois, in whose service she is 
 maid of honor, and handmaid to the Count. My dear 
 Princess, these are facts proved. Beaumarchais has de- 
 lineated them all. Why, then, refuse to see me ? Why 
 withdraw her former confidence from the Count d'Artois, 
 when she lives in the society which promulgates anti- 
 monarchical principles ? These are sad evidences of Her 
 Majesty's inconsistency. She might as well see the Duke 
 of Orleans' 
 
 " Here my feelings overwhelmed me. I could contain 
 myself no longer. The tears gushed from my eyes. 
 
 '"Oh, Prince!' exclaimed I, in a bitter agony of grief 
 '— ' Oh, Prince ! touch not that fatal string. For how 
 many years has he not caused these briny tears of mine 
 to flow from my burning eyes ! The scalding drops have 
 nearly parched up the spring of life!'" 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Journal Continued — The Populace Enraged at Necker's Dismissal — 
 Orleans — Mobs — Bastille Destroyed — Grief of the Queen — Blames 
 De Launay — The King and His Brothers Go to the National Assem- 
 bly—Scene at the Palace — The Queen Presents Herself to the Peo- 
 ple with Her Children — Lamballe Called for — She Appears — Is 
 Threatened by an Agent of Orleans in the Crowd, and Faints — The 
 Queen Proposes to Go on Horseback, in Uniform, to Join the Army 
 with Her Husband — Prepares for Her Departure — Her Angjuish on 
 Learning of the King's Resolution to Go to Paris — He Goes Thither 
 — Receives the National Cockade from Bailly — Returns — The 
 Queen's Delight — The Poligjnacs, d'Artois, Cond^ and Others, 
 Emigrate — The Troops Withdrawn from Paris and Versailles — Re- 
 call of Necker — General Observations of the Editor on the Influence 
 of the Polignacs, and Its Effect on the Public Feeling as to the 
 Queen. 
 
 "rT-»HE dismissal of M. Necker irritated the people be- 
 2 yond description. They looked upon themselves 
 as insulted in their favorite. Mob succeeded mob, 
 each more mischievous and daring- than the former. The 
 Duke of Orleans continued busy in his work of secret de- 
 struction. In one of the popular risings, a saber struck 
 his bust, and its head fell, severed from its body. Many 
 of the rioters (for the ignorant are always superstitious) 
 shrunk back at this omen of evil to their idol. His real 
 friends endeavored to deduce a salutary warning to him 
 from the circumstance. I was by when the Duke de 
 Penthifevre told him, in the presence of his daughter, 
 that he might look upon this accident as prophetic of the 
 fate of his own head, as well as the ruin of his family, 
 if he persisted. He made no answer, but left the room. 
 "On the 14th of July, and two or three days preced- 
 ing, the commotions took a definite object. The de- 
 struction of the Bastille was the point proposed, and it 
 was achieved. Arms were obtained from the old pen- 
 sioners at the Hotel des Invalides. Fifty thousand livres 
 
 (173) 
 
174 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 were distributed among the chiefs of those who influenced 
 the Invalides to give up the arms. 
 
 "The massacre of the Marquis de Launay, comman- 
 dant of the place, and of M. de Flesselles, and the fall of 
 the citadel itself, were the consequence. 
 
 "Her Majesty was greatly affected when she heard of 
 the murder of these officers and the taking of the Bas- 
 tille. She frequently told me that the horrid circum- 
 stance originated in a diabolical Court intrigue, but never 
 explained the particulars of the intrigue. She declared 
 that both the officers and the citadel might have been 
 saved had not the King's orders for the march of the 
 troops from Versailles and the environs of Paris, been 
 disobeyed. She blamed the precipitation of De Launay 
 in ordering up the drawbridge and directing the few 
 troops on it to fire upon the people. ' There, ' she 
 added, 'the Marquis committed himself; as, in case 
 of not succeeding, he could have no retreat, which every 
 commander should take care to secure, before he allows 
 the commencement of a general attack.'* 
 
 "The death of the Dauphin; the horrible Revolution 
 of the 14th of July; the troubles about Necker; the in- 
 sults and threats offered to the Count d'Artois and her- 
 
 * Certainly, the French Revolution may date its epoch as far back as 
 the taking of the Bastille ; from that moment the troubles progressively 
 continued, till the final extirpation of its illustrious victims. 
 
 1 was just returning from a mission to England when the storms be- 
 gan to threaten not only the most violent effects to France itself, but to 
 all the land which was not divided from it by the watery element The 
 spirit of liberty, as the vine, which produces the most luxurious fruit, 
 when abused becomes the most pernicious poison, was stalking abroad 
 and reveling in blood and massacre. I myself was a witness to the en- 
 thusiastic national ball given on the ruins of the Bastille, while it was 
 still stained and reeking with the hot blood of its late keeper, whose 
 head I saw carried in triumph. Such was the effect on me that the 
 Princess Lamballe asked me if I had known the Marquis de Launay. I 
 answered in the negative ; but told her from the knowledge I had of the 
 English Revolution, I was fearful of a result similar to what followed 
 the fall of the heads of Buckingham and Stafford. The Princess men- 
 tioning my observation tp the Puke dg Penthifivrp, they both burst into 
 tears, 
 
CHAPTER XIII 17S 
 
 self; overwhelmed the Queen with the most poignant 
 grief. 
 
 " She was most desirous of some understanding being 
 established between the government and the representa- 
 tives of the people, which she urged upon the King the 
 expendiency of personally attempting. 
 
 " The King, therefore, at her reiterated remonstrances 
 and requests, presented himself, on the following day, 
 with his brothers, to the national assembly, to assure them 
 of his firm determination to support the measures of 
 the deputies, in everything 'conducive to the general 
 good of his subjects. As a proof of his intentions, he 
 said he had commanded the troops to leave Paris and 
 Versailles. 
 
 " The King left the assembly, as he had gone thither, 
 on foot, amid the vociferations of ' Vive le rot ! ' and it 
 was only through the enthusiasm of the deputies, who 
 thus hailed His Majesty, and followed him in crowds to 
 the palace, that the Count d'Artois escaped the fury of an 
 outrageous mob. 
 
 "The people filled every avenue of the palace, which 
 vibrated with cries for the King, the Queen, and the Dau- 
 phin to show themselves at the balcony. 
 
 " ' Send for the Duchess de Polignac to bring the royal 
 children,' cried I to Her Majesty. 
 
 "'Not for the world!' exclaimed the Queen. 'She 
 will be assassinated, and my children too, if she make her 
 appearance before this infuriate mob. Let Madame and 
 the Dauphin be brought unaccompanied.' 
 
 " The Queen, on- this occasion, imitated her imperial 
 mother, Maria Theresa. She took the Dauphin in her 
 arms, and Madame by her side, as that empress had done 
 when she presented herself to the Hungarian magnates; 
 but the reception here was very different. It was not 
 moriamur pro nostra regind. Not that they were ill re- 
 ceived; but the furious party of the Duke of Orleans 
 often interrupted the cries of ' Vive le roi ! Vive la reine ! ' 
 etc., with those of ' Vive la nation ! Vive d' Orleans f ' and 
 many severe remarks on the family of the Polignacs, which 
 
176 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 proved that the Queen's caution on this occasion was ex- 
 ceedingly well judged. 
 
 " Not to wound the feelings of the Duchess de Polignac, 
 I kept myself at a distance behind the Queen; but I was 
 loudly called for by the mobility, and, malgri moi, was 
 obliged, at the King and Queen's request, to come for- 
 ward. 
 
 •'As I approached the balcony, I perceived one of the 
 well-known agents of the Duke of ; Orleans, whom I had 
 noticed some time before in the throng, menacing me, 
 the moment I made my appearance, with his upreared 
 hand in fury. I was greatly terrified, but suppressed my 
 agitation, and saluted the populace ; but, fearful of exhibit- 
 ing my weakness in sight of the wretch who had alarmed 
 me, withdrew instantly, and had no sooner re-entered than 
 I sunk motionless in the arms of one of the attendants. 
 Luckily, this did not take place till I left the balcony. 
 Had it been otherwise, the triumph to my declared 
 enemies would have been too great.* 
 
 "Recovering, I found myself surrounded by the Royal 
 Family, who were all kindness and concern for my sit- 
 uation; but I could not subdue my tremor and affright. 
 The horrid image of that monster seemed still to threaten 
 me. 
 
 "'Come, come!' said the King, 'be not alarmed. I 
 shall order a council of all the ministers and deputies 
 to-morrow, who will soon put an end to these riots ! ' f 
 
 "We were ere long joined by the Prince de Cond6, 
 the Duke de Bourbon, and others, who implored the 
 King not to part with the army, but to place himself, 
 with all the Princes of the blood, at its head, as the only 
 means to restore tranquillity to the country, and secure 
 his own safety. 
 
 ♦Heavens! who could have been that angel's enemy I 
 t Poor, deluded Prince ! How often do we confound our wishes with 
 the logic of circumstances ! The horrid riots that succeeded have been 
 so often described as to render it unnecessary to supply the hiatus of 
 this journal by repeating the afflicting scenes which were the conse- 
 quence. 
 
CHAPTER XIII 177 
 
 "The Queen was decidedly of the same opinion; and 
 added, that if the army were to depart the King and his 
 family ought to go with it; but the King, on the con- 
 trary, said he would not decide upon any measures what- 
 ever till he had heard the opinion of the council. 
 
 "The Queen, notwithstanding the King's indecision, 
 was occupied, during the rest of the day and the whole 
 of the night, in preparing for her intended journey, as 
 she hoped to persuade the King to follow the ad- 
 vice of the Princes, and not wait the result of the 
 next day's deliberation. Nay, so desirous was she of this, 
 that she threw herself on her knees to the King, implor- 
 ing him to leave Versailles and head the army, and 
 offering to accompany him herself, on horseback, in 
 uniform; but it was like speaking to a corpse: he never 
 answered. 
 
 "The Duchess de Polignac came to Her Majesty in a 
 state of the greatest agitation, in consequence of M. de 
 Chinon having just apprised her that a most malicious 
 report had been secretly spread among the deputies at 
 Versailles that they were all to be blown up at their next 
 meeting. 
 
 " The Queen was as much surprised as the Duchess, 
 and scarcely less agitated. These wretched friends could 
 only, in silence, compare notes of their mutual cruel mis- 
 fortunes. Both for a time remained speechless at this 
 new calamity. Surely this was not wanting to be added 
 to those by which the Queen was already so bitterly op- 
 pressed. 
 
 "I was sent for by Her Majesty. Count Fersen ac- 
 companied me. He had just communicated to me what 
 the Duchess had already repeated from M. Chinon to the 
 Queen. 
 
 "The rumor had been set afloat merely as a new pre- 
 text for the continuation of the riots. 
 
 "The communication of the report, so likely to produce 
 a disastrous efifect, took place while the King was with 
 his ministers deliberating whether he should go to Paris, 
 or save himself and family by joining the army. 
 12 
 
178 CHAPTER Xl« 
 
 " His Majesty was called from the council to the Queen's 
 apartment, and was there made acquainted with the cir- 
 cumstance which had so awakened the terror of the royal 
 party. He calmly replied, ' It is some days since this in- 
 vention has been spread among the deputies ; I was aware 
 of it from the first ; but from its being utterly impossible 
 to be listened to for a moment by anyone, I did not 
 wish to afflict you by the mention of an impotent fabri- 
 cation, which I myself treated with the contempt it justly 
 merited. Nevertheless, I did not forget, yesterday, in the 
 presence of both my brothers, who accompanied me to the 
 national assembly, there to exculpate myself from an im- 
 putation at which my nature revolts ; and, from the man- 
 ner in which it was received, I flatter myself that every 
 honest Frenchman was fully satisfied that my religion 
 will ever be an insurmountable barrier against my har- 
 boring sentiments allied in the slightest degree to such 
 actions. ' 
 
 "The King embraced the Queen, begged she would 
 tranquilize herself, calmed the fears of the two ladies, 
 thanked the gentlemen for the interest they took in his 
 favor, and returned to the council, who, in his absence, 
 had determined on his going to the Hotel de Ville at 
 Paris, suggesting at the same time the names of several 
 persons likely to be well received, if His Majesty thought 
 proper to allow of their accompanying him. 
 
 " During this interval, the Queen, still flattering her- 
 self that she should pursue her wished-for journey, ordered 
 the carriages to be prepared and sent off to Rambouillet, 
 where she said she should sleep; but this Her Majesty 
 only stated for the purpose of distracting the attention of 
 her pages and others about her from her real purpose. 
 As it was well known that M. de St. Priest had pointed 
 out Rambouillet as a fit asylum from the mob, she fancied 
 that an understanding on the part of her suite that they 
 were to halt there, and prepare for her reception, would 
 protect her project of proceeding much further. 
 
 ' ' When the council had broken up and the King re- 
 turned, he said to the Queen, ' It is decided.' 
 
CHAPTER XIII 179 
 
 '* ' To go, I hope ? ' said Her Majesty. 
 
 "'No' — (though in appearance calm, the words re- 
 mained on the lips of the King, and he stood for some 
 moments incapable of utterance; but, recovering, added) 
 —'To Paris!' 
 
 "The Queen, at the word Paris, became frantic. She 
 flung herself wildly into the arms of her friends. ' Nous 
 sommes perdus ! nous sommes per dus ! ' cried she, in a passion 
 of tears. But her dread was not for herself. She felt only 
 for the danger to which the King was now going to ex- 
 pose himself ; and she flew to him, and hung on his neck. 
 
 '"And what,' exclaimed she, 'is to become of all our 
 faithful friends and attendants ! ' 
 
 "'I advise them all,' answered His Majesty, 'to make 
 the best of their way out of France; and that as soon as 
 possible.' 
 
 ' ' By this time, the apartments of the Queen were filled 
 with the attendants and the royal children, anxiously ex- 
 pecting every moment to receive the Queen's command 
 to proceed on their journey, but they were all ordered to 
 retire to whence they came. 
 
 "The scene was that of a real tragedy. Nothing broke 
 the silence but groans of the deepest affliction. Our 
 consternation at the counter order cast all into a state of 
 stupefied insensibility. 
 
 "The Queen was the only one whose fortitude bore 
 her up proudly under this weight of misfortunes. Re- 
 covering from the frenzy of the first impression, she 
 adjured her friends, by the love and obedience they had 
 ever shown her and the King, to prepare immediately to 
 fulfill his mandate and make themselves ready for the 
 cruel separation! 
 
 " The Duchess de Polignac and myself were, for some 
 hours, in a state of agony and delirium. 
 
 "When the Queen saw the bodyguards drawn up to 
 accompany the King's departure, she ran to the window, 
 threw apart the sash, and was going to speak to them, 
 to recommend the King to their care; but the Count de 
 Fersen prevented it. 
 
i8o CHAPTER XIII 
 
 "'For God's sake, madam,' exclaimed he, 'do not 
 commit yourself to the suspicion of having any doubts of 
 the people ! ' 
 
 " When the King entered to take leave of her, and of 
 all his most faithful attendants, he could only articulate, 
 'Adieu!' But when the Queen saw him accompanied by 
 the Count d'Estaing and others, whom, from their new 
 principles, she knew to be popular favorites, she had 
 command enough of herself not to shed a tear in their 
 presence. 
 
 " No sooner, however, had the King left the room than 
 it was as much as the Count de Fersen, Princess Eliza- 
 beth, and all of us could do to recover her from the 
 most violent convulsions. At last, coming to herself, she 
 retired with the Princess, the Duchess, and myself to 
 await the King's return ; at the same time requesting the 
 Count de Fersen to follow His Majesty to the Hotel de 
 Ville. Again and again she implored the Count, as she 
 went, in case the King should be detained, to interest 
 himself with all the foreign ministers to interpose for his 
 liberation. 
 
 "Versailles, when the King was gone, seemed like a 
 city deserted in consequence of the plague. The palace 
 was completely abandoned. All the attendants were dis- 
 persed. No one was seen in the streets. Terror pre- 
 vailed. It was universally believed that the King would 
 be detained in Paris. The high road from Versailles to 
 Paris was crowded with all ranks of people, as if to catch 
 a last look of their sovereign. 
 
 *'The Count de Fersen set o£E instantly, pursuant to the 
 Queen's desire. He saw all that passed, and on his re- 
 turn related to me the history of that horrid day. 
 
 "He arrived at Paris just in time to see His Majesty 
 take the national cockade from M. Bailly and place it in 
 his hat. He felt the Hotel de Ville shake with the long- 
 continued cries of ' Vive le rot!' in consequence, which 
 so affected the King that, for some moments, he was 
 unable to express himself. 'I myself,' added the Count, 
 'was so mov^d at the eftect on His Majesty, jij being 
 
CHAPTER Xm i8i 
 
 thus warmly received by his Parisian subjects, which por- 
 trayed the paternal emotions of his long-lacerated heart, 
 that every other feeling was paralyzed for a moment, in 
 exultation at the apparent unanimity between the sovereign 
 and his people. But it did not,' continued the ambassa- 
 dor, 'paralyze the artful tongue of Bailly, the mayor of 
 Paris. I could have kicked the fellow for his malignant 
 impudence; for, even in the cunning compliment he 
 framed, he studied to humble the aiiflicted monarch by 
 telling the people it was to them he owed the sovereign 
 authority. ' 
 
 "'But,' pursued the Count, 'considering the situation 
 of Louis XVI. and that of his family, agonized as they 
 must have been during his absence, from the Queen's 
 impression that the Parisians would never again allow 
 him to see Versailles, how great was our rapture when 
 we saw him safely replaced in his carriage, and return- 
 ing to those who were still lamenting him as lost!' 
 
 "'When I left Her Majesty in the morning,, she was 
 nearly in a state of mental aberration. When I saw her 
 again in the evening, the King by her side, surrounded 
 by her family, the Princess Elizabeth, and yourself, 
 madam,' said the kind Count, ' she appeared to me like a 
 person risen from the dead and restored to life. Her excess 
 of joy at the first moment was beyond description.' 
 
 "Count de Fersen might well say the first moment, 
 for the pleasure of the Queen was of short duration. Her 
 heart was doomed to bleed afresh, when the thrill of de- 
 light, at what she considered the escape of her husband, 
 was past, for she had already seen her chosen friend, the 
 Duchess de Polignac, for the last time.* 
 
 *The LAST, indeed! Little did the Princess Lamballe, when she 
 wrote, conceive the full and prophetic extent of her phrase. At that time 
 the Duchess was still living ; but a little more than three years after- 
 ward, the yueen, the Princess Lamballe, and the Duchess herself had 
 all perished by untimely death. 
 
 The manner of the death of the Duchess speaks friendship — rare, in- 
 deed, except in poets' fancies ! She was residing at the palace of the 
 Prince Esterhazy, having been fortunate enough to escape from the tor- 
 rent of blood then bursting over this horrid country, when informed that 
 
1 82 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 " Her Majesty was but just recovered from the effects 
 of the morning's agitation, when the Duchess, the Duke, 
 his sister, and all his family set off. It was impossible 
 for her to take leave of her friend. The hour was late 
 — about midnight. At the same time departed the Count 
 d'Artois and his family, the Prince of Cond6 and his, the 
 Prince of Hesse d'Armstadt, and all those who were likely 
 to be suspected by the people. 
 
 "Her Majesty desired the Count de Fersen to see the 
 Duchess in her name. When the King heard the request, 
 he exclaimed: 
 
 " 'What a cruel state for sovereigns, my dear Count! 
 To be compelled to separate ourselves from our most 
 faithful attendants, and not be allowed, for fear of com- 
 promising others or our own lives, to take a last fare- 
 well!' 
 
 " 'Ah!' said the Queen, 'I fear so too. I fear it is a 
 last farewell to all our friends!' 
 
 "The Count saw the Duchess a few moments before 
 she left Versailles. Pisani, the Venetian ambassador, and 
 Count Fersen, helped her on the coach box, where she 
 rode disguised. 
 
 "What must have been most poignantly mortifying to 
 the fallen favorite was, that, in the course of her jour- 
 ney, she met with her greatest enemy, Necker, who was 
 returning, triumphant, to Paris, called by the voice of 
 that very nation by whom she and her family were now 
 forced from its territory: Necker, who himself conceived 
 that she, who now went by him into exile, while he him- 
 self returned to the greatest of victories, had thwarted all 
 his former plans of operation, and, from her influence 
 over the Queen, had caused his dismission and tempo- 
 rary banishment. 
 
 "For my own part, I cannot but consider this sudden 
 desertion of France by those nearest the throne as ill- 
 
 her friend and sovereign had been beheaded. Though so long pre- 
 pared, by previous events and previous murders of the Royal Family, 
 for this fatal news, so great was the shock to her that she gave but one 
 shriek and expired ! 
 
CHAPTER Xlir 183 
 
 judged. Had all the Royal Family remained, is it likely 
 that the King and Queen would have been watched with 
 such despotic vigilance ? Would not confidence have cre- 
 ated confidence, and the breach have been less wide be- 
 tween the King and his people ? 
 
 "When the father and his family will now be thor- 
 oughly reconciled, Heaven alone can tell ! " 
 
i84 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 NOTE. 
 
 I CANNOT allow this portiou of the Journal of the Princess Lamballe to 
 pass from under my hands ■without oflfering a few observations upon 
 the intimacy, of which we have now seen the disastrous denouement, be- 
 tween Her Majesty and the Duchess de Polignac. It will not, I trust 
 be deemed impertinent in me to enlarge a little upon a circumstance so 
 important in its effects upon the Queen's character with the nation, 
 and so instrumental in producing the Revolution itself. I must be under- 
 stood as substantially describing the impressions of her highness upon 
 these subjects, confirmed by my own observation. 
 
 To this intimacy of the Queen with the governess of her children may 
 be referred the first direct blows at the royal dignity. It is a fact which 
 cannot be denied, that however Maria Antoinette might have been beset 
 by partial animadversions, the crown had never yet been shorn of its 
 prerogatives, nor had any attempt been made upon them by democratic 
 innovations, until the period of Her Majesty's connection with the family 
 of the Polignacs. The spirit of national independence certainly made 
 rapid strides from the moment of the arrival of the military from America. 
 The enthusiasm with which all ranks hailed the return of La Fayette 
 no doubt promulgated the dangerous overthrow of absolute monarchy ; 
 but a constitutional one would have been firmly established, had not the 
 primitive steps toward it met with a total opposition, while the Queen 
 herself encouraged the very system against which she protested, by being 
 herself the first innovator, in abolishing the old customs of the Court, 
 and placing the provincial family of the new raised nobility of the 
 Polignacs in the situations of those who, from their ancient stem, con- 
 sidered themselves the exclusive palladium of absolute monarchy. The 
 most powerful in the kingdom became, from that time, indifferent to the 
 King, who showed so little hesitation in weakening his own authority, by 
 humbling the old aristocracy for a new race with no quarterings beyond 
 iheir own, but that of favoritism. By remaining neutral, when a strong 
 party was forging its thunderbolts, they left the throne exposed. Their 
 united movement might have interposed a shield, which their disgust 
 influenced them not even to attempt to rear. It is therefore evident how 
 hostile the very heart of the Court must have been to the power of a 
 Queen who valued merit above birth. These selfish and short-sighted 
 censors did not consider that the grave they were digging for their royal 
 mistress would be filled up by themselves, and that every blow leveled 
 at Her Majesty or her favorites shook the throne itself. 
 
 It may be said that Maria Antoinette should have steadfastly avoided 
 the dangers that threatened the monarchy ; yet when it is considered 
 
CHAPTER XIII i8s 
 
 how much she relied upon the authority of the Abb6 Vermond to check, 
 correct, and counsel her inexperience, an authority so often tatal in its 
 silence, her errors will be readily pardoned. They, alone, who had the 
 power of preventing them, should beat the whole weight «; . ^c censure 
 resulting from the consequences of their unpardonable apathy ; and she 
 will then appear in the eyes of an impartial world, less guilty than her 
 sworn enemies have endeavored hitherto to represent her. In justice to 
 the Abb6 it must be owned that he attempted to check the evil ; but 
 never till it had taken too deep a root. He should have prevented the 
 extreme intimacy ; he knew the character of his royal pupil well enough 
 to be aware, that, once formed, she would have conceived herself to be 
 betraying a want of steadiness in her friendship to have retracted any of 
 the purposes to which it gave the impulse. 
 
 The Duke of Dorset and Count Fersen were perhaps the only persons 
 who could have taken the liberty of counseling Her Majesty at this 
 crisis, without their motives being exposed to misconstruction. Though 
 they both were of the parties that constantly attended the drawing-room 
 of the Duchess, and esteemed her and her family as private individuals, 
 yet they, as well as many other of the Queen's friends, were fully per- 
 suaded that the vindictive spirit of all those who became jealous of her 
 intimacy, and the higher orders of the nobility, who would not conde- 
 scend to be put on a level with the new raised favorite, besides the other 
 party whom she had been the means of excluding from a distinction 
 whichithey deemed their due, formed a host of disaffected persons, 
 ready to strike at the heart of those who caused their protracted humili- 
 ation. 
 
 Crosses and ribbons are necessary in a monarchical government, and 
 most essentially so in that of an absolute despotic one, as, in many 
 cases, they enable the sovereign to pay debts without money; for the 
 cross never crosses the king's treasury, nor is the ribbon taken from his 
 purse strings. No provision of any consequence being added to the 
 baubles, many a dirty crossing is trodden under foot, and many a ribbon 
 tarnished by the rain, before the knight who wears it arrives at the pal- 
 ace gate, to get his shoes blacked by the Court shoeblack. But nothing 
 weakens the sovereign power more than the superfluous aristocracy. 
 Queen Elizabeth was so fully persuaded of this that she was the least 
 lavish in that way of any sovereign that ever reigned. Perhaps to 
 that very wisdom alone she owed the continuation of her unlimited power 
 and masculine strength of government. She knew that energies must 
 be weakened by being scattered. 
 
 A sovereign who creates a numerous aristocracy'commits two sub- 
 stantial errors. First, he lessens his own dignity. Secondly, he alien- 
 ates the affections of the bulk of his subjects. Every lord has his 
 followers. This necessarily reduces the direct influence of the ^crown. 
 What were even absolute sovereigns under the feudal system? — sub- 
 servient to their barons ! so are they since to the aristocracy. The only 
 difference produced by the difference of the ages is that a sovereign now 
 
1 86 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 has an anny at his own command. But that army forms the smallest 
 part of his subjects. True, they owe their allegiance exclusively to their 
 sovereign. So ought the sovereign to prefer the majority of his people 
 to a circumscribed number, who very often have little more merit than 
 that of their birth, and who constitute the least respectable part of the 
 community. Besides, the aristocracy which has no means of self sup- 
 port is a degradation to the institution, lessens its consequence, and sub- 
 jects its members to the discretion of its inferiors, who, instead of being 
 respected, often become the ridicule of their own domestics, from the 
 daily shifts resorted to in their economy, to support an empty title ; and 
 fall into the power of their own tradesmen, and far below the level of 
 wealthy merchants. The titled gentry, who are obliged to walk on foot 
 for the want of the means of supporting a carriage, are, vulgarly speak- 
 ing, like a pudding without eggs, and cannot rise above the level. 
 
 This vicious condescension, and, I may say, abuse of the royal power, 
 was one of the many causes of the French Revolution. It was, if I may 
 be allowed the expression, principally that supernumerous plebeian 
 aristocracy, who, jealous of the exclusive prerogatives of the higher 
 classes of nobility, and wishing to humble them and share their im- 
 munities, shook the fabric to its foundation, were crushed themselves by 
 its fall, and with it buried the monarchy under the ruins of the nation ! 
 
 It is only necessary, in proof of the sound policy of this principle 
 respecting the influence of an overflow of the hungry aristocracy, to 
 refer to the primitive factions of the Revolution. These will demon- 
 strate how very few of the ancient nobility were implicated in exciting 
 attacks upon the royal authority, in comparison with the second orders. 
 One only maintained, for a short time, a degree of purchased popularity 
 for a change ; and he wished only for a change of dynasty, which his 
 father before him had vainly sought to establish in his own family; but 
 the vices of the debauched Court of Louis XV.'s minority were by far 
 too deeply implanted and paramount to excite any serious apprehension 
 of a new order of things; becaiise the very vices of the existing govern- 
 ment established its authority; everything was in character; corruption 
 was at its zenith in every branch of the administration ; but when, in the 
 Court of Louis XVI. virtue was feebly blended and interwoven with the 
 old-established vices, the former not vigorously enough enforced to sup- 
 port itself and the latter weakened by contrast, when the two came in 
 contact, the sovereign power was seen to fall — as the rog^e who turns 
 honest loses his character even as a rogue, and never can acquire that 
 of an honest man. Hence it is clear that half measures are the worst of 
 measures, and sure to work their own ruin. 
 
 To attempt to reform a Court without radically reforming the 
 courtiers was, therefore, an absurdity; the proof of which has been 
 written, in France, in characters of blood, 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Journal Resumed — Barnave's Penitence — Gives the Queen a List o£ the 
 Jacobins, Who Had Emissaries in France to Excite an Insurrection — 
 Their Majesties Insulted in the Royal Chapel, by Those Belonging to 
 It Appearing in the National Uniform — Necker Proposes to the 
 Queen the Dismissal of the Abb6 Vermond — Her Strange Acquies- 
 cence — La Fayette Causes the Guards of the Palace of Versailles to 
 Desert and Join the National Guard — Their Majesties Advised to Fly 
 to a Place of Safety — Their Feelings on Necker's Recommending the 
 Abolition of All Privileged Distinctions — A Courier Stopped with 
 Dispatches from Prince Kaunitz — Dumourier Betrays to the 
 Queen the Secret Schemes of the Orleans Faction — She Peremptorily 
 Refuses His Proffered Services — Loyalty of the Officers of the 
 Flanders Regiment — Effect of This on the National Assembly — 
 Dinner Given to This Regiment by the Bodyguards — Military 
 Public Breakfast — Project to Remove the King, and Confine the 
 Queen in a Distant Part of France — Nefarious Famine Plot to Excite 
 the People against Their Sovereigns. 
 
 '< |--jARNAVE often lamented his having been betrayed, by 
 rS a love of notoriety, into many schemes, of which 
 his impetuosity blinded him to the consequences. 
 With tears in his eyes, he implored me to impress the 
 Queen's mind with the sad truths he inculcated. He said 
 his motives had been uniformly the same, however he 
 might have erred in carrying them into action; but now 
 he relied on my friendship for my royal mistress to give 
 efficacy to his earnest desire to atone for those faults, of 
 which he had become convinced by dear-bought experi- 
 ence. He gave me a list of names* for Her Majesty, in 
 which were specified all the Jacobins who had emissaries 
 
 * A few hours after one of her interviews with Barnave, the Princess 
 Lamballe gave me this list to copy, without assigning any reason. I 
 made the copy. Her highness then ordered me to take the original to 
 the Benedictins Anglais. She told me I should there find, near the 
 tomb of the late Suards, a friar, who would be making a drawing of 
 some saint in the church. To this friar the paper was to be delivered, 
 i went to the spot, found the friar, and gave him the paper. 
 
 (187) 
 
1 88 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 throughout France, for the purpose of creating on the 
 same day, and at the same hour, an alarm of something 
 like the Vesparo Siciliano (a general insurrection to mur- 
 der all the nobility and burn their palaces, which, in fact, 
 took place in many parts of France), the object of which 
 was to give the assembly, by whom all the regular troops 
 were disbanded, a pretext for arming the people as a 
 national guard, thus creating a perpetual national fac- 
 tion.* 
 
 "The hordes of every fauxbourg now paraded in this 
 new democratic livery. Even some of them, who were 
 in the actual service of the Court, made no scruple of 
 decorating themselves thus, in the very face of their 
 sovereign. The King complained, but the answer made 
 to him was that the nation commanded. 
 
 "The very first time Their Majesties went to the royal 
 chapel, after the embodying of the troops with the na- 
 tional guards, all the persons belonging to it were ac- 
 coutred in the national uniform. The Queen was highly 
 incensed, and deeply aifected at this insult offered to the 
 King's authority by the persons employed in the sacred 
 occupations of the Church. 'Such persons,' said Her 
 Majesty, 'would, I had hoped, have been the last 
 to interfere with politics.' She was about to order 
 all those who preferred their uniforms to their em- 
 ployments, to be discharged from the King's service; 
 but my advice, coupled with that of Barnave, dissuaded 
 her from executing so dangerous a threat. On being as- 
 sured that those, perhaps, who might be selected to re- 
 place the offenders might refuse the service, if not 
 allowed the same ridiculous prerogatives, and thus expose 
 Their Royal Majesties to double mortification, the Queen 
 
 * This horrible operation cost six hundred thousand francs ! Mira- 
 beau was the paymaster-general, and Orleans the banker. Thousands 
 of wretches from all parts of France received daily, from five francs to 
 a louis and upward, for the outrage and plunder of all those opposing 
 the popularity of the Duke, who, while stooping to mix with the lowest 
 class of society, had no other view than that of dethroning the King, and 
 ruling in his stead. 
 
CHAPTER XIV 189 
 
 seemed satisfied, and no more was said upon the subject, 
 except to an Italian soprano, to whom the King signi- 
 fied his displeasure at his singing a salva regina in the 
 dress of a grenadier of the new faction. The singer took 
 the hint and never again intruded his uniform into the 
 chapel. 
 
 " Necker, notwithstanding the enthusiasm his return 
 produced upon the people, felt mortified in having lost 
 the confidence of the King. He came to me, exclaiming 
 that unless Their Majesties distinguished him by some 
 mark of their royal favor his influence must be lost with 
 the national assembly. He perceived, he said, that the 
 councils of the King were more governed by the advice 
 of the Queen's favorite, the Abb6 Vermond, than by his 
 (Necker's). He begged I would assure Her Majesty that 
 Vermond was quite as obnoxious to the people as the 
 Duchess de PoHgnac had ever been; for it was generally 
 known that Her Majesty was completely guided by him, 
 and, therefore, for her own safety and the tranquillity 
 of national affairs, he humbly suggested the prudence of 
 sending him from the Court, at least for a time. 
 
 "I was petrified at hearing a minister dare presume 
 thus to dictate the line of conduct which the Queen of 
 France, his sovereign, should pursue with respect to her 
 most private servants. Such was my indignation at this 
 cruel wish to dismiss every object of her choice, espe- 
 cially one from whom, owing to long habits of intimacy 
 since her childhood, a separation would be rendered, by 
 her present situation, peculiarly cruel, that nothing but 
 the circumstances in which the Court then stood could 
 have given me patience to listen to him. 
 
 "I made no answer. Upon my silence, Necker sub- 
 joined, ' You must perceive. Princess, that I am actuated 
 for the general good of the nation.' 
 
 "'And I hope, sir, for the prerogatives of the mon- 
 archy also,' replied I. 
 
 "'Certainly,' said Necker. 'But if Their Majesty con- 
 tinue to be guided by others, and will not follow my 
 ftdvjce, I cannot answer for the 9onsec|ueiageg,' 
 
I90 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 "I assured the minister that I would be the faithful 
 bearer of his commission, however unpleasant. 
 
 "Knowing the character of the Queen, in not much 
 relishing being dictated to with respect to her conduct in 
 relation to the persons of her household, especially the 
 Abb6 Vermond, and aware, at the same time, of her 
 dislike to Necker, who thus undertook to be her director, 
 I felt rather awkward in being the medium of the min- 
 ister's suggestions. But what was my surprise, on find- 
 ing her prepared, and totally indifferent as to the privation. 
 
 '"I foresaw, ' replied Her Majesty, ' that Vermond 
 would become odious to the present order of things, 
 merely because he had been a faithful servant, and long 
 attached to my interest ; but you may tell M. Necker that 
 the Abb6 leaves Versailles this very night, by my ex- 
 press order, for Vienna.' 
 
 "If -the proposal of Necker astonished me, the Queen's 
 reception of it astonished me still more. What a lesson 
 is this for royal favorites! The man who had been her 
 tutor, and who, almost from her childhood, never left 
 her, the constant confidant for fifteen or sixteen years, 
 was now sent off without a seeming regret. 
 
 "I doubt not, however, that the Queen had some very 
 powerful secret motive for the sudden change in her con- 
 duct toward the Ahh6, for she was ever just in all her 
 concerns, even to her avowed enemies ; but I was happy 
 that she seemed to express no particular regret at the min- 
 ister's suggested policy. I presume, from the result, that 
 I myself had overrated the influence of the Ahh6 over the 
 mind of his royal pupil; that he had by no means the 
 sway imputed to him; and that Maria Antoinette merely 
 considered him as the necessary instrument of her private 
 correspondence, which he had wholly managed. ' * 
 
 "But a circumstance presently occurred which aroused 
 Her Majesty from this calmness and indifference. The 
 King came in to inform her that La Fayette, during the 
 
 * The truth is, Her Majesty had already taken leave of the Abb6, in 
 the presence of the King, unknown to the Princess, or more properly the 
 Abb6 had taken an affectionate le^ve of thenj. 
 
CriAPTER XlV 191 
 
 night, had caused the guards to desert from the palace 
 of Versailles. 
 
 "The effect on her of this intelligence was like the 
 lightning which precedes a loud clap of thunder. Every- 
 thing that followed was perfectly in character, and shook 
 every nerve of the royal authority. 
 
 " 'Thus,' exclaimed Maria Antoinette, 'thus, sire, have 
 you humiliated yourself, in condescending to go to Paris, 
 without having accomplished the object. You have not 
 regained the confidence of your subjects. Oh, how bit- 
 terly do I deplore the loss of that confidence! It exists 
 no longer. Alas! when will it be restored! ' 
 
 " The French guards, indeed, had been in open insur- 
 rection through the months of June and July, and all that 
 could be done was to preserve one single company of 
 grenadiers, by means of their commander, the Baron de 
 Leval, faithful to their colors. This company had now 
 been influenced by General La Fayette to desert and join 
 their companions, who had enrolled themselves in the 
 Paris national guard. 
 
 " Messieurs de Bouill^ and Luxemburg being inter- 
 rogated by the Queen respecting the spirit of the troops 
 under their immediate command, M. de Bouill^ answered, 
 ' Madam, I should be very sorry to be compelled to under- 
 take any internal operation with men who have been se- 
 duced from their allegiance, and are daily paid by a 
 faction which aims at the overthrow of its legitimate 
 sovereign. I would not answer for a man that has been 
 in the neighborhood of the seditious national troops, or 
 that has read the inflammatory discussions of the national 
 assembly. If Your Majesty and the King wish well to 
 the nation, — I am sorry to say it, — its happiness depends 
 on your quitting immediately the scenes of riot and plac- 
 ing yourselves in a situation to treat with the national 
 assembly on equal terms, whereby the King may be un- 
 biased and unfettered by a compulsive, overbearing mob; 
 and this can only be achieved by your flying to a place 
 of safety. That you may find such a place, I will answer 
 with all my life!' 
 
192 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 " 'Yes,' said M. de Luxemburg, ' I think we may both 
 safely answer that, in such a case, you will find a few 
 Frenchmen ready to risk a little to save all!' And both 
 concurred that there was no hope of salvation for the 
 King or country but through the resolution they advised. 
 
 " 'This,' said the Queen, 'will be a very difficult task. 
 His Majesty, I fear, will never consent to leave France.' 
 
 "'Then, madam,' replied they, 'we can only regret 
 that we have nothing to offer but our own perseverance 
 in the love and service of our King and his oppressed 
 family, to whom we deplore we can now be useful only 
 with our feeble wishes.' 
 
 " ' Well, gentlemen,' answered Her Majesty, ' you must 
 not despair of better prospects. I will take an early op- 
 portunity of communicating your loyal sentiments to the 
 King, and will hear his opinion on the subject before I 
 give you a definitive answer. I thank you, in the name 
 of His Majesty, as well as on my own account, for your 
 good intentions toward us.' 
 
 " Scarcely had these gentlemen left the palace, when a 
 report prevailed that the King, his family, and ministers, 
 were about to withdraw to some fortified situation. It 
 was also industriously rumored that, as soon as they were 
 in safety, the national assembly would be forcibly dis- 
 missed, as the parliament had been by Louis XIV. The 
 reports gained universal belief when it became known 
 that the King had ordered the Flanders regiment to 
 Versailles. 
 
 "The national assembly now daily watched the royal 
 power more and more assiduously. New sacrifices of the 
 prerogatives of the nobles were incessantly proposed by 
 them to the King. 
 
 "When His Majesty told' the Queen that he had been 
 advised by Necker to sanction the abolition of the privi- 
 leged nobility, and that all distinctions, except the order 
 of the Holy Ghost to himself and the Dauphin, were also 
 annihilated by the assembly, even to the order of Maria 
 Theresa, which she could no longer wear — 'These, sire/ 
 answered she, in extreme anguish, 'are trifles, so far as 
 
CHAPTER XIV 193 
 
 they regard myself. I do not think I have twice worn 
 the order of Maria Theresa since my arrival in this once 
 happy country. I need it not. The immortal memory of 
 her who gave me being, is engraven on my heart; that 
 I shall wear forever, none can wrest it from me. But 
 what grieves me to the soul is your having sanctioned 
 these decrees of the national assembly upon the mere ipse 
 dixit of M. Necker.' 
 
 " 'I have only given my sanction to such as I thought 
 most necessary to tranquilize the minds of those who 
 doubted my sincerity; but I have withheld it from others, 
 which, for the good of my people, require maturer con- 
 sideration. On these, in a full council, and in your pres- 
 ence, I shall again deliberate.' 
 
 "'Oh,' said the Queen, with tears in her eyes, 'could 
 but the people hear you, and know, once for all, how to 
 appreciate the goodness of your heart, as I do now, they 
 would cast themselves at your feet, and supplicate your 
 forgiveness for having shown such ingratitude to your 
 paternal interest for their welfare ! ' 
 
 " But this unfortunate refusal to sanction all the de- 
 crees sent by the national assembly, though it preceded 
 from the best motives, produced the worst effects. Du- 
 pont, Lameth, and Barnave well knew the troubles such 
 a course must create. Of this they forewarned His Maj- 
 esty, before any measure was laid before him for ap- 
 proval. They cautioned him not to trifle with the deputies. 
 They assured him that half measures would only rouse 
 suspicion. They enforced the necessity of uniform as- 
 sentation, in order to lull the Mirabeau party, who were 
 canvassing for a majority to set up Orleans, to whose 
 interest Mirabeau and his myrmidons were then devoted. 
 The scheme of Dupont, Lameth, and Barnave was to 
 thwart and wea"ken the Mirabeau and Orleans faction, by 
 gradually persuading them, in consequence of the King's 
 compliance with whatever the assembly exacted, that they 
 could do no better than to let him into a share of the 
 executive power: for now nothing was left to His Majesty 
 but responsibility, while the privileges of grace and 
 13 
 
194 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 justice had become merely nominal, with the one danger- 
 ous exception of the veto, to which he could never have 
 recourse without imminent peril to his cause and to him- 
 self. 
 
 "Unfortunately for His Majesty's interest, he was too 
 scrupulous to act, even through momentary policy, dis- 
 tinctly against his conscience. When he gave way, it 
 was with reluctance, and often with an avowal, more or 
 less express, that he only complied with necessity against 
 conviction. His very sincerity made him appear the re- 
 verse. His adherents consequently dwindled, while the 
 Orleans faction became immeasurably augmented. 
 
 "In the midst of these perplexities, an Austrian cou- 
 rier was stopped with dispatches from Prince Kaunitz. 
 These, though unsought for on the part of Her Majesty, 
 though they contained a friendly advice to her to submit 
 to the circumstances of the times, and though, luckily, 
 they were couched in terms favorable to the constitution, 
 showed the mob that there was a correspondence with 
 Vienna, carried on by the Queen, and neither Austria 
 nor the Queen were deemed the friends either of the 
 people or of the constitution. To have received the let- 
 ters was enough for the faction. 
 
 "Affairs were now ripening gradually into something 
 like a crisis, when the Flanders regiment arrived. The 
 note of preparation had been sounded. ' Let us go to 
 Versailles, and bring the King away from his evil coun- 
 selors,' was already in the mouths of the Parisians. 
 
 "In the meantime, Dumourier, who had been leagued 
 with the Orleans faction, became disgusted with it. He 
 knew ,the deep schemes of treason which were in train 
 against the Royal Family, and, in disguise, sought the 
 Queen at Versailles, and had an interview with Her 
 Majesty in my presence. He assured her that an abomi- 
 nable insurrection was ripe for explosion among the mobs 
 of the fauxbourgs; gave her the names of the leaders, 
 who had received money to promote its organization; and 
 warned her that the massacre of the Royal Family was 
 the object of the maneuver, for the purpose of declaring 
 
CHAPTER XIV 195 
 
 the Duke of Orleans the constitutional King; that he 
 was to be proclaimed by Mirabeau, who had already re- 
 ceived a considerable sum in advance, for distribution 
 among the populace, to insure their support; and that 
 Mirabeau, in return for his co-operation, was to be created 
 a duke, with the office of prime minister and secretary of 
 state, and to have the framing of the constitution, which 
 was to be modeled from that of Great Britain. It was 
 further concerted that d'Orleans was to show himself in 
 the midst of the confusion, and the crown to be con- 
 ferred upon him by public acclamation. 
 
 ' ' On his knees Dumourier implored Her Majesty to 
 regard his voluntary discovery of this infamous and 
 diabolical plot as a proof of his sincere repentance. He 
 declared he came disinterestedly to offer himself as a 
 sacrifice to save her, the King, and her family from the 
 horrors then threatening their lives, from the violence of 
 an outrageous mob of regicides ; he called God to witness 
 that he was actuated by no other wish than to atone for 
 his error and die in their defense; he looked for no re- 
 ward beyond the King's forgiveness of his having joined 
 the Orleans faction; he never had any view in joining 
 that faction but that of aiding the Duke, for the good of 
 his country, in the reform of ministerial abuses, and 
 strengthening the royal authority by the salutary laws 
 of the national assembly; but he no sooner discovered 
 that impure schemes of personal aggrandisement gave 
 the real impulse to these pretended reformers than he 
 forsook their unholy course. He supplicated Her Maj- 
 esty to lose no time, but to allow him to save her from 
 the destruction to which she would inevitably be exposed ; 
 that he was ready to throw himself at the King's feet, to 
 implore his forgiveness also, and to assure him of his 
 profound penitence, and his determination to renounce 
 forever the factious Orleans party. 
 
 "As Her Majesty would not see any of those who of- 
 fered themselves, except in my presence, I availed my- 
 self, in this instance, of the opportunity it gave me by 
 enforcing the arguments of Dumourier. But all I could 
 
196 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 say, all the earnest representations to be deduced from 
 this critical crisis could not prevail with her, even so far 
 as to persuade her to temporize with Dumourier, as she 
 had done with many others on similar occasions. She 
 was deaf and inexorable. She treated all he had said as 
 the effusion of an overheated imagination, and told him 
 she had no faith in traitors. Dumourier remained upon 
 his knees while she was replying, as if stupefied; but at 
 the word traitor he started and roused himself; and 
 then, in a state almost of madness, seized the Queen's 
 dress, exclaiming, ' Allow yourself to be persuaded before 
 it is too late! Let not your misguided prejudice against 
 me hurry you to your own and your children's destruc- 
 tion; let it not get the better, madam, of your good 
 sense and reason; the fatal moment is near; it is at 
 hand ! ' Upon this, turning, he addressed himself to me. 
 
 "'Oh, Princess,' he cried, 'be her guardian angel, as 
 you have hitherto been her only friend, and use your 
 never-failing influence. I take God once more to wit- 
 ness, that I am sincere in all I have said ; that all I have 
 disclosed is, true. This will be the last time I shall have 
 it in my power to be of any essential service to you, 
 madam, and my sovereign. The national assembly will 
 put it out of my power for the future, without becoming 
 a traitor to my country.' 
 
 " 'Rise, sir,' said the Queen, 'and serve your country 
 better than you have served your King! ' 
 
 "'Madam, I obey.' 
 
 "When he was about to leave the room, I again, with 
 tears, besought Her Majesty not to let him depart thus, 
 but to give him some hope, that, after reflection, she 
 might perhaps endeavor to soothe the King's anger. But 
 in vain. He withdrew very much affected.* I even ven- 
 tured, after his departure, to intercede for his recall. 
 
 * I saw him as he left the apartment, but had no idea, at the time, 
 who he was. He was a little, thin man. He wore a high, quaker- 
 like, round, slouched hat. He was covered down to the very shoes 
 by a great coat. This, I imagine, was for the sake of disguise. I 
 saw him put a handkerchief to his eyes. I met him some time after 
 
CHAPTER XIV 197 
 
 "'He has pledged himself,' said I, 'to save you, 
 madam ! ' 
 
 " 'My dear Princess,' replied the Queen, 'the goodness 
 of your own heart will not allow you to have sinister 
 ideas of others. This man is like all of the same stamp. 
 They are all traitors; and will only hurry us the sooner, 
 if we suffer ourselves to be deceived by them, to an ig- 
 nominious death! I seek no safety for myself.' 
 
 '''But he offered to serve the King also, madam.' 
 
 "'I am not,' answered Her Majesty, 'Henrietta of 
 France. I will never stoop to ask a pension of the mur- 
 derers of my husband; nor will I leave the King, my 
 son, or my adopted country, or ever meanly owe my ex- 
 istence to wretches who have destroyed the dignity of 
 the crown and trampled under foot the most ancient 
 monarchy in Europe! Under its ruins they will bury 
 their King and myself. To owe our safety to them 
 would be more hateful than any death they can prepare 
 for us.' 
 
 " While the Queen was in this state of agitation, a 
 note was presented to me with a list of the names of the 
 officers of the Flanders regiment, requesting the honor of 
 an audience of the Queen. 
 
 "The very idea of seeing the Flanders officers flushed 
 Her Majesty's countenance with an ecstasy of joy. 
 
 " She said she would retire to compose herself, and 
 receive them in two hours. 
 
 "The Queen saw the officers in her private cabinet, 
 and in my presence. They were presented to her by me. 
 They told Her Majesty that, though they had changed 
 their paymaster, they had not changed their allegiance to 
 their sovereign or herself, but were ready to defend both 
 with their lives. They placed one hand on the hilt of 
 their swords, and, solemnly lifting the other up to Heaven, 
 
 at Hamburg, and I am confident that all his ntended operations in 
 the royal cause were given up in consequence of the exasperation he 
 felt at the Queen's rejection of his services, though he continued to 
 correspond with the Princess for a considerable time subsequently to 
 the interview. 
 
198 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 swore that the weapons should never be wielded but 
 for the defense of the King and Queen, against all foes, 
 whether foreign or .domestic. 
 
 "This unexpected loyalty burst on us like the beau- 
 teous rainbow after a tempest, by the dawn of which we 
 are taught to believe the world is saved from a second 
 deluge. 
 
 ' ' The countenance of Her Majesty brightened over the 
 gloom which had oppressed her, like the heavenly sun 
 dispersing threatening clouds, and making the heart of 
 the poor mariner bound with joy. Her eyes spoke her 
 secret rapture. It was evident she felt even unusual dig- 
 nity in the presence of these noble -hearted warriors, 
 when comparing them with him whom she had just 
 dismissed. She graciously condescended to speak to every 
 one of them, and one and all were enchanted with her 
 affability. 
 
 ' ' She said she was no longer the Queen who could 
 compensate loyalty and valor; but the brave soldier found 
 his reward in the fidelity of his service, which formed the 
 glory of his immortality. She assured them she had ever 
 been attached to the army, and would make it her study 
 to recommend every individual, meriting attention, to the 
 King. 
 
 " Loud bursts of repeated acclamations and shouts of 
 ' Vive la reine ! ' instantly followed her remarks. She 
 thanked the officers most graciously ; and fearing to com- 
 mit herself, by saying more, took her leave, attended by 
 me; but immediately sent me back, to thank them again 
 in her name. 
 
 " They departed, shouting as they went, ' Vive la 
 reine ! Vive la Princesse ! Vive la roi, le Dauphin, et toute 
 la famille royale ! ' 
 
 " When the national assembly saw the officers going 
 to and coming from the King's palace with such demon- 
 strations of enthusiasm they took alarm, and the regicide 
 faction hastened on the crisis for which it had been long- 
 ing. It was by no means unusual for the chiefs of regi- 
 ments, destined to form part of the garrison of a royal 
 
CHAPTER XIV 199 
 
 residence, to be received by the sovereign on their ar- 
 rival, and certainly only natural that they should be so; 
 but in times of excitement trifling events have powerful 
 effects. 
 
 " But if the national assembly began to tremble for 
 their own safety, and had already taken secret measures 
 to secure it, by conspiring to put an instantaneous end 
 to the King's power, against which they had so long been 
 plotting, when the Flanders regiment arrived, it maj^be 
 readily conceived what must have been their emotions on 
 the fraternization of this regiment with the bodyguard, 
 and on the scene to which the dinner, given to the 
 former troops by the latter, so unpremeditatedly led. 
 
 " On the day of this fatal dinner I remarked to the 
 Queen, 'What a beautiful sight it must be to behold, in 
 these troublesome times, the happy union of such a meet- 
 ing! ' 
 
 " ' It must indeed! ' replied the King; 'and the pleas- 
 ure I feel in knowing it would be redoubled had I the 
 privilege of entertaining the Flanders regiment, as the 
 bodyguards are doing.' 
 
 "'Heaven forbid! ' cried Her Majesty; 'Heaven forbid 
 that you should think of such a thing! The assembly 
 would never forgive us! ' 
 
 "After we had dined, the Queen sent to the Marchion- 
 ess Tourzel for the Dauphin. When he came, the Queen 
 told him about her having seen the brave oificers on their 
 arrival; and how gayly those good officers had left the 
 palace, declaring they would die rather than suffer any 
 harm to come to him, or his papa and mamma; and that 
 at that very time they were all dining at the theater. 
 
 "'Dining in the theater, mamma?' said the young 
 Prince. 'I never heard of people dining in a theater!' 
 
 "'No, my dear child,' replied Her Majesty, 'it is not 
 generally allowed; but they are doing so, because the 
 bodyguards are giving a dinner to this good Flanders 
 regiment; and the Flanders regiment are so brave that 
 the guards chose the finest place they could think of to 
 entertain them in, to show how much they like them; 
 
200 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 that is the reason why they are dining in the gay, painted 
 theater. ' 
 
 "'Oh, mamma!' exclaimed the Dauphin, whom the 
 Queen adored, ' Oh, papa ! ' cried he, looking at the King, 
 * how I should like to see them ! ' 
 
 " 'Let us go and satisfy the child!' said the King, in- 
 stantly starting up from his seat. 
 
 '"The Queen took the Dauphin by the hand, and they 
 proceeded to the theater. It was all done in a moment. 
 There was no premeditation on the part of the King or 
 Queen; no invitation on the part of the officers. Had I 
 been asked, I should certainly have followed the Queen; 
 but just as the King rose, I left the room. The Prince 
 being eager to see the festival, they set off immediately, 
 and when I returned to the apartment they were gone. 
 Not being very well, I remained where I was; but most 
 of the household had already followed Their Majesties. 
 
 "On the Royal Family making their appearance, they 
 were received with the most unequivocal shouts of gen- 
 eral enthusiasm by the troops. Intoxicated with the pleas- 
 ure of seeing Their Majesties among them, and over- 
 heated with the juice of the grape, they gave themselves 
 up to every excess of joy, which the circumstances and 
 the situation of Their Majesties were so well calculated 
 to inspire. ' Oh, Richard ! oh mon roi ! ' was sung, as well 
 as many other loyal songs. The healths of the King, 
 Queen, and Dauphin were drunk, till the regiments were 
 really inebriated with the mingled influence of wine and 
 shouting vivas ! 
 
 "When the royal party retired, they were followed by 
 all the military to the very palace doors, where they 
 sung, danced, embraced each other, and gave way to all 
 the frantic demonstrations of devotedness to the royal 
 cause which the excitement of the scene and the table 
 could produce. Throngs, of course, collected to get near 
 the Royal Family. Many persons in the rush were 
 trampled on, and one or two men, it was said, crushed 
 to death. The Dauphin and the King were delighted; 
 but the Queen, in giving the Princess Elizabeth and 
 
CHAPTER XIV 20I 
 
 myself an account of the festival, foresaw the fatal result 
 which would ensue; and deeply deplored the marked en- 
 thusiasm with which they had been greeted and followed 
 by the military. 
 
 "There was one more military spectacle, a public break- 
 fast, which took place on the 2d of October. Though 
 none of the Royal Family appeared at it, it was no less 
 injurious to their interests than the former. The enemies 
 of the crown spread reports all over Paris, that the King 
 and Queen had maneuvered to pervert the minds of the 
 troops so far as to make them declare against the meas- 
 ures of the national assembly. It is not likely that the 
 assembly, or politics, were even spoken of at the break- 
 fast; but the report did as much mischief as the reality 
 would have done. This was quite sufficient to encourage the 
 Orleans and Mirabeau faction in the assembly to the im- 
 mediate execution of their long-meditated scheme, of 
 overthrowing the monarchy. 
 
 "On the very day. following, Dupont, Lameth, and 
 Barnave sent their confidential agent to apprise the Queen 
 that certain deputies had already fully matured a plot to 
 remove the King, nay, to confine Her Majesty from him 
 in a distant part of France, that her influence over his 
 mind might no further thwart their premeditated estab- 
 lishment of a constitution.* 
 
 "But others of this body, and the more powerful and 
 subtle portion, had a deeper object, so depraved that, 
 even when forewarned, the Queen could not deem it pos- 
 sible; but of which she was soon convinced by their in- 
 fernal acts. 
 
 ' ' The riotous faction, for the purpose of accelerating 
 this denouement, had contrived, by buying up all the 
 corn and sending it out of the country, to reduce the 
 
 * The dinner of the Flanders regiment is generally supposed to have 
 been the immediate cause of the massacres of the 5th and 6th of October. 
 But it is obvious that it was only the immediate pretext. The great 
 alarm seems to have been taken after the first introduction of the officers 
 to the Queen ; although the conversation of Duraourier shows that the 
 whole affair was entirely concerted some time before. 
 
202 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 populace to famine, and then to make it appear that the 
 King and Queen had been the monopolizers, and the ex- 
 travagance of Maria Antoinette and her largesses to 
 Austria and her favorites, the cause. The plot was so 
 deeply laid that the wretches who undertook to effect the 
 diabolical scheme were metamorphosed in the Queen's 
 livery, so that all the odium might fall on her unfortunate 
 Majesty. At the head of the commission of monopolizers 
 was Luckner, who had taken a violent dislike to the 
 Queen, in consequence of his having been refused some pre- 
 ferment, which he attributed to her influence. Mirabeau, 
 who was still in the background, and longing to take a 
 more prominent part, helped it on as much' as possible. 
 Pinet, who had been a confidential agent of the Duke of 
 Orleans, himself told the Duke de Penthibvre that Orleans 
 had monopolized all the corn. This communication, and 
 the activity of the Count de Fersen, saved France, and 
 Paris in particular, from perishing for the want of bread. 
 Even at the moment of the abominable masquerade, in 
 which Her Majesty's agents were made to appear the 
 enemies who were starving the French people, out of 
 revenge for the checks imposed by them on the royal 
 authority, it was well known to all the Court that both 
 Her Majesty and the King were grieved to the soul at 
 their piteous want, and distributed immense sums for the 
 relief of the poor sufferers, as did the Duke de Penthifevre, 
 the Duchess of Orleans, the Prince of Cond6, the Duke 
 and Duchess de Bourbon, and others;* but these acts 
 were done privately, while he who had created the ne- 
 cessity took to himself the exclusive credit of the relief, 
 and employed thousands daily to propagate reports of his 
 generosity, Mirabeau, then the factotum agent of the 
 operations of the Palais Royal and its demagogues, greatly 
 added to the support of this impression. Indeed, till un- 
 deceived afterward, he believed it to be really the Duke 
 of Orleans who had succored the people. 
 
 "I dispensed two hundred and twenty thousand livres 
 
 * The Princess should have included her own name, for she was most 
 munificent, though secretly so, on the occasion. 
 
LAST DA YS OF LOUIS XVL AND FAMILY 
 
 Photogravure after a painting by Benczut 
 
CHAPTER XIV 203 
 
 merely to discover the names of the agents who had been 
 employed to carry on this nefarious plot to exasperate 
 the people against the throne by starvation imputed to 
 the sovereign.* Though money achieved the discovery in 
 time to clear the characters of my royal mistress and the 
 King, the detection only followed the mischief of the 
 crime. But even the rage thus wickedly excited was not 
 enough to carry through the plot. In the fauxbourgs of 
 Paris, where the women became furies, two hundred 
 thousand livres were distributed ere the horror could be 
 completely exposed. 
 
 "But it is time for me to enter upon the scenes to 
 which all the intrigues I have detailed were intended to 
 lead — the removal of the Royal Family from Versailles. 
 
 " My heart sickens when I retrace these moments of 
 anguish. The point to which they are to conduct us yet 
 remains one of the mysteries of fate. 
 
 * Whether the Duke of Orleans had or had not any private motives 
 of rancor against his sister-in-law, the Princess Lamballe, for her at- 
 tachment to the Queen, he, from this moment, when she so completely 
 unmasked him, never ceased to exercise his vengeance against her. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Journal Continued — March from Paris of a Factious Mob and the Na- 
 tional Guard, with La Fayette at Their Head — Poissards at the Pal- 
 ace Gates of Versailles— Dreadful Tumult — Attempt to Assassinate 
 the Queen — Orleans Seen Encouraging the Regicides— La Fayette 
 Suspected, from His Not Appearing to Quell the Insurrection — The 
 Queen Shows Herself at the Windows of the Palace, with Her Chil- 
 dren— Her Heroic Address to the King— The Royal Family Depart 
 with the Mob for Paris — Their Situation at the Tuileries— Mira- 
 beau Disgusted with Orleans, Deserts Him — Orleans, Impelled by 
 Fear, Flies to England — The King and Queen Requested by a 
 Deputation from the National Assembly to Appear at the Theater — 
 Conversation between Her Majesty and Count de Fersen on the 
 Queen's Refusal — The Queen and the Duchess de Luynes — De- 
 jected State of Her Majesty, Who Ceases to be Seen in Society. 
 
 "T TER Majesty had been SO thoroughly lulled into secu- 
 J~J rity by the enthusiasm of the regiments at Versailles 
 that she treated all the reports from Paris with 
 contempt. Nothing was apprehended from that quarter, 
 and no preparations were consequently made for resist- 
 ance or protection. She was at Little Trianon when the 
 news of the approach of the desolating torrent arrived. 
 The King was hunting. I presented to her the com- 
 mandant of the troops at Versailles, who assured Her 
 Majesty that a murderous faction, too powerful, perhaps, 
 for resistance, was marching principally against her royal 
 person, with La Fayette at their head, and implored her 
 to put herself and valuables in immediate safety; partic- 
 ularly all her correspondence with the princes, emigrants, 
 and foreign Courts, if she had no means of destroying 
 them. 
 
 "Though the Queen was somewhat awakened to the 
 
 truth by this earnest appeal, yet she still considered the 
 
 extent of the danger as exaggerated, and looked upon 
 
 the representation as partaking, in a considerable degree, 
 
 (204) 
 
CHAPTER XV 205 
 
 of the nature of all reports in times of popular commo- 
 tion. 
 
 ' ' Presently, however, a more startling omen appeared, 
 in a much milder but ambiguous communication from 
 General La Fayette. He stated that he was on his 
 march from Paris with the national guard, and part of 
 the people, coming to make remonstrances ; but he begged 
 Her Majesty to rest assured that no disorder would 
 take place, and that he himself would vouch that there 
 should be none. 
 
 " The King was instantly sent for to the heights of 
 Meudon, while the Queen set off from Little Trianon, 
 with me, for Versailles. 
 
 "The first movements were commenced by a few 
 women, or men in women's clothes, at the palace gates of 
 Versailles. The guards refused them entrance, from an 
 order they had received to that effect from La Fayette. 
 The consternation produced by their resentment was a 
 mere prelude to the horrid tragedy that succeeded. 
 
 "The information now pouring in from different quar- 
 ters increased Her Majesty's alarm every moment. The 
 order of La Fayette, not to let the women be admitted, 
 convinced her that there was something in agitation, 
 which his unexplained letter made her sensible was more 
 to be feared than if he had signified the real situation 
 and danger to which she was exposed. 
 
 "A messenger was forthwith dispatched for M. la Fa- 
 yette, and another, by order of the Queen, for M. de St. 
 Priest, to prepare a retreat for the Royal Family, as the 
 Parisian mob's advance could no longer be doubted. 
 Everything necessary was accordingly got ready. 
 
 "La Fayette now arrived at Versailles in obedience to 
 the message, and, in the presence of all the Court and 
 ministers, assured the King that he could answer for the 
 Paris army, at the head of which he intended to march, 
 to prevent disorders; and advised the admission of the 
 women into the palace, who, he said, had nothing to 
 propose but a simple memorial relative to the scarcity of 
 bread. 
 
2o6 CHAPTER XV 
 
 "The Queen said to him, 'Remember, sir, you have 
 pledged your honor for the King's safety.' 
 
 "'And I hope, madam, to be able to redeem it.' 
 
 "He then left Versailles to return to his post with the 
 army. 
 
 "A limited number of the women were at length ad- 
 mitted; and so completely did they seem satisfied with 
 the reception they met with from the King, as, in all ap- 
 pearance, to have quieted their riotous companions. The 
 language of menace and remonstrance had changed into 
 shouts of ' Vive le roi ! ' The apprehensions of Their 
 Majesties were subdued; and the whole system of opera- 
 tion, which had been previously adopted for the Royal 
 Family's quitting Versailles, was, in consequence, unfor- 
 tunately changed. 
 
 "But the troops, that had been hitherto under arms 
 for the preservation of order, in going back to their ho- 
 tel, were assailed and fired at by the mob. 
 
 "The return of the bodyguards, thus insulted in going 
 to and coming from the palace, caused the Queen and 
 the Court to resume the resolution of instantly retiring 
 from Versailles; but it was now too late. They were 
 stopped by the municipality and the mob of the city, who 
 were animated to excess against the Queen by one of 
 the bass singers of the French opera.* 
 
 " Every hope of tranquillity was now shaken by the 
 hideous bowlings which arose from all quarters. In- 
 tended flight had become impracticable. Atrocious ex- 
 pressions were leveled against the Queen, too shocking 
 for repetition. I shudder when I reflect to what a de- 
 gree of outrage the poissardes of Paris were excited, to 
 express their abominable designs on the life of that most 
 adored of sovereigns. 
 
 "Early in the evening Her Majesty came to my apart- 
 ment, in company with one of her female attendants. 
 She was greatly agitated. She brought all her jewels 
 and a considerable quantity of papers, which she 
 had begun to collect together immediately on her 
 
 * "La Haise." 
 
CHAPTER XV _ 207 
 
 arrival from Trianon, as the commandant had recom- 
 mended.* 
 
 "Notwithstanding the fatigue and agitation which the 
 Queen must have suffered during the day, and the con- 
 tinued threats, horrible bowlings, and discharge of fire- 
 arms during the night, she had courage enough to visit 
 the bedchambers of her children and then to retire to 
 rest in her own. 
 
 "But her rest was soon fearfully interrupted. Horrid 
 cries at her chamber door of 'Save the Queen! save the 
 Queen! or she will be assassinated!' aroused her. The 
 faithful guardian who gave the alarm was never heard 
 more. He was murdered in her defense ! Her Majesty her- 
 self only escaped the poignards of immediate death by flying 
 to the King's apartment, almost in the same state as she 
 lay in bed, not having had time to screen herself with 
 any covering but what was casually thrown over her by 
 the women who assisted her in her flight; while one well 
 acquainted with the palace is said to have been seen 
 busily engaged in encouraging the regicides who thus 
 sought her for midnight murder. The faithful guards 
 who defended the entrance to the room of the intended 
 victim of these desperadoes took shelter in the room itself 
 
 •Neither Her Majesty nor the Princess ever returned to Versailles, 
 after the 6th of that fatal October ! Part of the papers, brought by the 
 Queen to the apartment of the Princess, were tacked by me on two of 
 my petticoats ; the under one three fold, one on the other, and outside ; 
 and the upper one, three or four fold double on the inside ; and thus 'I 
 left the room with this paper under garment, which put me to no incon- 
 venience. Returning to the Princess, I was ordered to go to Lisle, there 
 take the papers from their hiding place, and deliver them, with others, 
 to the same person who received the box, of which mention will be 
 found in another part of this work. I was not to take any letters, and 
 was to come back immediately. 
 
 As I was leaving the apartment Her Majesty said something to her 
 highness which I did not hear. The Princess turned round very quickly, 
 and, kissing me on the forehead, said in Italian, " Car a mia Inglesina, 
 per caritd, guardatevi bene. lo non mi perdonerb giammai se tarri- 
 vasse qualche disgrazia! My dear little Englishwoman, for Heav- 
 en's sake be careful of yourself, for I should never forgive myself if any 
 misfortune were to befall you. " " Nor I," said Her Majesty. 
 
2o8 CHAPTER XV 
 
 upon her leaving it, and were alike threatened with instant 
 death by the grenadier assassins for having defeated 
 them in their fiendlike purpose; they were, however, 
 saved by the generous interposition and courage of two 
 gentlemen, who, offering themselves as victims in their 
 place, thus brought about a temporary accommodation 
 between the regular troops and the national guard. 
 
 '•AH this time General La Fayette never once appeared. 
 It is presumed that he himself had been deceived as to 
 the horrid designs of the mob, and did not choose to 
 show himself, finding it impossible to check the impetu- 
 osity of the horde he had himself brought to action, in 
 concurring to countenance their first movements from 
 Paris. Posterity will decide how far he was justified in 
 pledging himself for the safety of the Royal Family, 
 while he was heading a riotous mob, whose atrocities were 
 guaranteed from punishment or check by the sanction of 
 his presence and the faith reposed in his assurance. Was 
 he ignorant, or did he only pretend to be so, of the in- 
 calculable mischief inevitable from giving power and a 
 reliance on impunity to such an unreasoning mass ? By 
 any military operation, as commander-in-chief, he might 
 have turned the tide. And why did he not avail himself 
 of that authority with which he had been invested by the 
 national assembly, as the delegates of the nation, for 
 the general safety and guardianship of the people ? for 
 the people, of whom he was the avowed protector, were 
 themselves in peril: it was only the humanity (or rather, 
 in such a crisis, the imbecility) of Louis XVJ. that pre- 
 vented them from being fired on; and they would inevi- 
 tably have been sacrificed, and that through the want of 
 policy in their leader, had not this mistaken mercy of 
 the King prevented his guards from offering resistance to 
 the murderers of his brave defenders! 
 
 "The cry of 'Queen! Queen !' now resounded from 
 the lips of the cannibals stained with the blood of her 
 faithful guards. She appeared, shielded by filial affection, 
 between her two innocent children, the threatened or- 
 phans! But the sight of so much innocence and heroic 
 
CHAPTER XV 209 
 
 courage paralyzed the hands uplifted for their mas- 
 
 sacre 
 
 "A tiger voice cried out, 'No children!' The infants 
 were hurried away from the maternal side, only to wit- 
 ness the author of their being offering up herself, eagerly 
 and instantly, to the sacrifice, an ardent and delighted 
 victim to the hoped-for preservation of those, perhaps, 
 ORPHANS, dearer to her far than life! Her resignation 
 and firm step in facing the savage cry that was thunder- 
 ing against her, disarmed the ferocious beasts that were 
 hungering and roaring for their prey! 
 
 " Mirabeau, whose immense head and gross figure 
 could not be mistaken, is said to have been the first 
 among the mob to have sonorously chanted, ' To Paris ! ' 
 His myrmidons echoed and re-echoed the cry upon the 
 signal. He then hastened to the assembly to contravene 
 any measures the King might ask in opposition. The 
 riots increasing, the Queen said to His Majesty: 
 
 "'Oh, sire! why am I not animated with the courage 
 of Maria Theresa ? Let me go with my children to the 
 national assembly, as she did to the Hungarian Senate, 
 with my imperial brother, Joseph, in her arms and 
 Leopold in her womb, when Charles the Seventh of Ba- 
 varia had deprived her of all her German dominions, and 
 she had already written to the Duchess of Lorraine to 
 prepare her an asylum, not knowing where she should 
 be delivered of the precious charge she was then bear- 
 ing ; but I, like the mother of the Gracchi, like Cornelia, 
 more esteemed for my birth than for my marriage, am 
 the wife of the King of France, and I see we shall be 
 murdered in our beds for the want of our own exer- 
 tions ! ' 
 
 "The King remained as if paralyzed and stupefied, and 
 made no answer. The Princess Elizabeth then threw 
 herself at the Queen's feet, imploring her to consent to 
 go to Paris. 
 
 "'To Paris!' exclaimed Her Majesty. 
 
 "'Yes, madame,' said the King. 'I will put an end 
 to these horrors, and tell the people so.' 
 
2IO CHAPTER XV 
 
 "On this, without waiting for the Queen's answer, he 
 opened the balcony, and told the populace he was ready 
 to depart with his family. 
 
 "This sudden change caused a change equally sudden 
 in the rabble mob. All shouted, ' Vive le roi l Vive la 
 nation ! ' 
 
 "R^-entering the room from the window, the King 
 said, 'It is done. This affair will soon be terminated.' 
 
 " 'And with it,' said the Queen, ' the monarchy ! ' 
 
 " ' Better that, madame, than running the risk, as I 
 did some hours since, of seeing you and my children 
 sacrificed! ' 
 
 " 'That, sire, will be the consequence of our not hav- 
 ing left Versailles. Whatever you determine, it is my 
 duty to obey. As to myself, I am resigned to my fate.' 
 On this she burst into a flood of tears. ' I only feel for 
 your humiliated state, and for the safety of our children.' 
 
 "The Royal Family departed without having consulted 
 any of the ministers, military or civil, or the national 
 assembly, by whom they were followed:* 
 
 * The cruel procession is not mentioned in this journal. The descrip- 
 tions of it are so numerous that they must be fresh in the recollection of 
 all readers. To save the trouble of reference, however, I quote a few 
 words from the accounts of Campan and Bertrand de Moleville. 
 
 " The (King's) carriage was preceded by the heads of two murdered 
 bodyguards, carried upon pikes. It was surrounded by ruffians, who 
 contemplated the royal personages with a brutal curiosity. A few of the 
 bodyguards, on foot and unarmed, covered by the ancient French 
 guards, followed dejectedly; and, to complete the climax, after six or 
 seven hours spent in traveling from Versailles to Paris, Their Majesties 
 were led to the Hotel de Ville as if to make the amende honorable." — 
 Campan, vol. ii., 313. 
 
 " The King did not leave Versailles till one o'clock. The hundred 
 deputies in their carriages followed. A detachment of brigands, bearing 
 the heads of two bodyguards in triumph, formed the advanced guard, 
 and set out two hours earlier. These cannibals stopped a moment at 
 Serres, and carried their cruelty to the length of forcing an unfortunate 
 hairdresser to dress the gory heads; the bulk of the Parisian army fol- 
 lowed them closely. The King's carriage was preceded. by the /i?«- 
 sardes who had arrived the day before from Paris and a whole rabble of 
 prostitutes, the vile refuse of their sex, still drunk with fury and wine. 
 Several of them rode astride upon cannon, boasting in the most horrible 
 
CHAPTER XV 211 
 
 ''Scarcely had they arrived at Paris when the Queen 
 recollected that she had taken with her no change of 
 dress, either for herself or her children, and they were 
 obliged to ask permission of the national assembly to al- 
 low them to send for their different wardrobes. 
 
 "What a situation for an absolute King and Queen, 
 which, but a few hours previous, they had been! 
 
 "I now took up my residence with Their Majesties at 
 the Tuileries: that odious Tuileries which I cannot name 
 but with horror, where the malignant spirit of rebellion 
 has, perhaps, dragged us to an untimely death! 
 
 " Monsieur and Madame had another residence. Bailly, 
 the Mayor of Paris, and La Fayette became the royal jailers. 
 
 " The Princess Elizabeth and myself could not but 
 deeply deplore, when W3 saw the predictions of Dumourier 
 so dreadfully confirmed by the result, that Her Majesty 
 should have so slighted his timely information, and scorned 
 
 songs, all the crimes they had committed themselves or seen others com- 
 mit. Those who were nearest the King's carriage sang ballads, the al- 
 lusions of which by means of their vulgar gestures they applied to the 
 Queen. Wagons, full of corn and flour which had been brought into 
 Versailles, formed a train escorted by grenadiers and surrounded by- 
 women and bullies, some armed with pikes and some carrying long 
 branches of poplar. At some distance this part of the procession had a 
 most singular efiEect: it looked like a moving forest, amidst which shone 
 pike heads and gun barrels. In the paroxysms of their brutal joy the 
 women stopped passengers, and, pointing to the King's carriage, howled 
 in their ears: ' Cheer up, friends ; we shall no longer be in want of bread: 
 we bring you the baker, the baker's wife, and the litte baker boy ! ' Be- 
 hind His Majesty's carriage were several of his faithful guards, some on 
 foot and some on horseback, most of them uncovered, all unarmed and 
 worn out with hunger and fatigue; the dragoons, the Flanders regiment, 
 the hundred Swiss of the national guards preceded, accompanied, or 
 followed the file of carriages. I witnessed this heartrending spectacle ; 
 I saw the ominous procession. In the midst of all the tumult, clamor, 
 and singing, interrupted by frequent discharges of musketry, which the 
 hand of a monster or a bungler might so easily render fatal, I saw the 
 Queen preserving the most courageous tranquillity of soul and an air of 
 nobleness and inexpressible dignity, and my eyes were suffused with 
 tears of admiration and g^ief ." — Bertrand de Moleville. 
 
 With this procession ended the sovereignty of Louis XVI. and Maria 
 Antoinette ! 
 
313 CHAPTER XV 
 
 his penitence. But delicacy bade us lament in silence; 
 and, while we grieved over her present sufferings, we 
 could not but mourn the loss of a barrier against future 
 aggression, in the rejection of this general's proffered 
 services. 
 
 "It will be remembered, that Dumourier m his dis- 
 closure declared that the object of this commotion was 
 to place the Duke of Orleans upon the throne, and that 
 Mirabeau, who was a prime mover, was to share in the 
 profits of the usurpation. 
 
 "But the heart of the traitor duke failed him at the 
 important crisis. Though he was said to have been 
 recognized through a vulgar disguise, stimulating the as- 
 sassins to the attempted murder of Her Majesty, yet, 
 when the moment to show himself had arrived, he was 
 nowhere to be found, The most propitious moment for 
 the execution of the foul crime was lost, and with it the 
 confidence of his party. Mirabeau was disgusted. So 
 far from wishing longer to offer him the crown, he struck 
 it forever from his head, and turned against him. He 
 openly protested he would no longer set up traitors who 
 were cowards. 
 
 " Soon after this event. Her Majesty, in tears, came to tell 
 me that the King, having had positive proof of the agency 
 of the Duke of Orleans in the riots of Versailles, had com- 
 menced some proceedings, which had given the Duke the 
 alarm, and exiled him to Villers Coteretz. The Queen 
 added, that the King's only object had been to assure the 
 general tranquillity, and especially her own security, against 
 whose life the conspiracy seemed most distinctly leveled. 
 
 "'Oh, Princess!' continued Her Majesty, in a flood of 
 tears, 'the King's love for me, and his wish to restore 
 order to his people, have been our ruin! He should 
 have struck off the head of Orleans, or overlooked his 
 crime ! * Why did he not consult me before he took a 
 
 *The Queen was right. The Duke did not lose sight of his pur- 
 pose during his stay at Villers Coteretz. He remained active in his 
 designs against the royal authority, and his hostile spirit still prowled 
 there, in darkness, though he himself was apparently inactive. 
 
CHAPTER XV 213 
 
 step so important ? I have lost a friend also in his wife ! 
 For, however criminal he may be, she loves him.' 
 
 "I assured Her Majesty that I could not think the 
 Duchess of Orleans would be so inconsiderate as to with- 
 draw her affection on that account. 
 
 "'She certainly will,' replied Maria Antoinette. 'She 
 is the affectionate mother of his children, and cannot 
 but hate those who have been the cause of his exile. I 
 know it will be laid to my charge, and, added to the 
 hatred the husband has so long borne me, I shall now be- 
 come the object of the wife's resentment.' 
 
 "In the midst of one of the paroxysms of Her Maj- 
 esty's agonizing agitation after leaving Versailles, for the 
 past, the present, and the future state of the Royal Family, 
 when the Princess Elizabeth and myself were in vain 
 endeavoring to calm her, a deputation was announced 
 from the national assembly and the City of Paris, re- 
 questing the honor of the appearance of the King and 
 herself at the theater. 
 
 " ' Is it possible, my dear Princess,' cried she, on the 
 announcement, ' that I can enjoy any public amusement 
 while I am still chilled with horror at the blood these 
 people have spilled, the blood of the faithful defenders 
 of our lives ? I can forgive them, but I cannot so easily 
 forget it.' 
 
 " Count de Fersen and the Austrian ambassador now 
 entered, both anxious to know Her Majesty's intentions 
 with regard to visiting the theater, in order to make a 
 party to insure her a good reception; but all their per- 
 suasions were unavailing. She thanked the deputation 
 for their friendship; but at the same time told them that 
 her mind was still too much agitated from recent scenes 
 to receive any pleasure but in the domestic cares of her 
 family, and that, for a time, she must decline every other 
 amusement. 
 
 " At this moment the Spanish and English ambassadors 
 came to pay their respects to Her Majesty on the same 
 subject as the others. As they entered. Count de Fersen 
 observed to the Queen, looking around: 
 
214 CHAPTER XV 
 
 "'Courage, madam! We are as many nations as per- 
 sons in this room: English, German, Spanish, Italian, 
 Swedish, and French; and all equally ready to form a 
 rampart around you against aggression. All these nations 
 will, I believe, admit that the French (bowing to the 
 Princess Elizabeth) are the most volatile of the six; and 
 Your Majesty may rely on it, that they will love you, 
 now that you are more closely among them, more ten- 
 derly than ever.' 
 
 "'Let me live to be convinced of that, sir, and my 
 happiness will be concentrated in its demonstration.' 
 
 "'Indeed, gentlemen,' said the Princess Elizabeth, 
 'the Queen has yet had but little reason to love the 
 French. ' 
 
 '"Where is our ambassador,' said I, 'and the Neapol- 
 itan ? ' 
 
 "'I have had the pleasure of seeing them early this 
 morning,' replied the Queen; 'but I told them, also, that 
 indisposition prevented my going into public. They will 
 be at our card party in your apartment this evening, 
 where I hope to see these gentlemen. The only parties, ' 
 continued Her Majesty, addressing herself to the Princess 
 Elizabeth and the ambassadors, 'the only parties I shall 
 visit in future will be those of the Princess Lamballe, 
 my superintendent; as, in so doing, I shall have no oc- 
 casion to go out of the palace, which, from what has hap- 
 pened, seems to me the only prudent course.' 
 
 "'Come, come, madam,' exclaimed the ambassadors; 
 ' do not give way to gloomy ideas. All will yet be 
 well.' 
 
 '"I hope so,' answered Her Majesty; ' but till that hope 
 is realized, the wounds I have suffered will make exist- 
 ence a burden to me ! ' 
 
 "The Duchess de Luynes, like many others, had been 
 a zealous partisan of the new order of things, and had 
 expressed herself with great indiscretion in the presence 
 of the Queen. But the Duchess was brought to her 
 senses, when she saw herself, and all the mad, democrat- 
 ical nobility, under the overpowering weight of Jacobinism, 
 
CHAPTER XV 3IS 
 
 deprived of every privileged prerogative and leveled and 
 stripped of hereditary distinction. 
 
 "She came to me one day, weeping, to beg I would 
 make use of my good offices in her favor with the Queen, 
 whom she was grieved that she had so grossly offended 
 by an unguarded speech. 
 
 '"On my knees,' continued the Duchess, 'am I ready 
 to supplicate the pardon of Her Majesty. I cannot live 
 without her forgiveness. One of my servants has opened 
 my eyes, by telling that the Revolution can make a 
 Duchess a beggar, but cannot make a beggar a Duchess. ' 
 
 "'Unfortunately,' said I, 'if some of these faithful 
 servants had been listened to, they would still be such, 
 and not now our masters; but I can assure you, Duchess 
 that the Queen has long since forgiven -you. See! Her 
 Majesty comes to tell you so herself.' 
 
 "The Duchess fell upon her knees. The Queen, with 
 her usual goodness of heart, clasped her in her arms, 
 and, with tears in her eyes, said: 
 
 '"We have all of us need of forgiveness. Our errors 
 and misfortunes are general. Think no more of the past; 
 but let us unite in not sinning for the future.' 
 
 " ' Heaven knows how many sins I have to atone for,' 
 replied the Duchess, 'from the follies of youth; but 
 now, at an age of discretion and in adversity, oh, how 
 bitterly do I reproach myself for my past levities! 
 But,' continued she, 'has Your Majesty really forgiven 
 me?' 
 
 " ' As I hope to be forgiven ! ' exclaimed Maria Antoinette. 
 ' No penitent in the sight of God is more acceptable 
 than the one who makes a voluntary sacrifice by confess- 
 ing error. Forget and forgive is the language of our 
 Blessed Redeemer. I have adopted it in regard to my 
 enemies, and surely my friends have a right to claim it. 
 Come, Duchess, I will conduct you to the King and 
 Elizabeth, who will rejoice in the recovery of one of our 
 lost sheep; for we sorely feel the diminution of the flock 
 that once surrounded us ! ' 
 
2i6 CHAPTER XV 
 
 "At this token of kindness, the Duchess was so much 
 overcome that she fell at the Queen's feet motionless, 
 and it was some time before she recovered.* 
 
 "From the moment of Her Majesty's arrival at Paris 
 from Versailles, she solely occupied herself with the edu- 
 cation of her children; excepting when she resorted to 
 my parties, the only ones, as she had at first determined, 
 which she ever honored with her attendance. In or- 
 der to discover, as far as possible, the sentiments of cer- 
 tain persons, I gave almost general invitations, whereby, 
 from her amiable manners and gracious condescension, 
 she became very popular. By these means I hope to re- 
 place Her Majesty in the good estimation of her numer- 
 ous visitors; but, notwithstanding every exertion, she 
 could not succeed in dispelling the gloom with which the 
 Revolution had overcast all her former gayety. Though 
 treated with ceremonious respect, she missed the cordial- 
 ity to which she had been so long accustomed, and which 
 she so much prized. From the great emigration of the 
 higher classes of the nobility, the societies themselves 
 were no longer what they had been. Madame Necker 
 and Madame de Stael were pretty regular visitors. But 
 the most agreeable company had lost its zest for Maria 
 Antoinette; and she was really become afraid of large 
 assemblies, and scarcely ever saw a group of persons 
 collected together without fearing some plot against the 
 King. 
 
 "Indeed, it is a peculiarity which has from the first 
 marked, and still continues to distinguish the whole con- 
 duct and distrust of my royal mistress, that it never 
 
 *Ever after, the Duchess remained one of the most sincere friends 
 of that unfortunate Queen. The manner in which Madame Campan 
 speaks of her grief at the murder of Her Majesty proves the sincerity 
 of her professed penitence. 
 
 The Princess Lamballe was so uniformly eager in contributing to the 
 peace of mind and happiness of every individual who sought her media- 
 tion that she was as well known by the appellation of "the peace- 
 maker " as she was by her title. 
 
CHAPTER XV 217 
 
 operates to create any fears for herself but invariably 
 refers to the safety of His Majesty. 
 
 "I had enlarged my circle and made my parties ex- 
 tensive, solely to relieve the oppressed spirits of the 
 Queen; but the very circumstance which induced me to 
 make them so general soon rendered them intolerable to 
 her; for [the conversations at last became soly confined 
 to the topics of the Revolution, a subject frequently the 
 more distressing from the presence of the sons of the 
 Duke of Orleans. Though I loved my sister-in-law and 
 my nephews I could not see them without fear, nor could 
 my royal mistress be at ease with them, or in the midst 
 of such distressing indications as perpetually intruded 
 upon her, even beneath my roof, of the spirit which an- 
 imated the great body of the people for the propagation 
 of antimonarchical principles. 
 
 "My parties were, consequently, broken up; and the 
 Queen ceased to be seen in society. Then commenced 
 the unconquerable power over her of those forebodings 
 which have clung to her with such pertinacity ever since. 
 
 "I observed that Her Majesty would often indulge in 
 the most melancholy predictions long before the fatal 
 discussion took place in the assembly respecting the 
 King's abdication. The daily insolence with which she 
 saw His Majesty's authority deprived forever of the 
 power of accomplishing what he had most at heart for 
 the good of his people gave her more anguish than the 
 outrages so frequently heaped upon herself; but her 
 misery was wrought up to a pitch altogether unutterable, 
 whenever she saw those around her suffer for their at- 
 tachment to her in her misfortunes. 
 
 " The Princess Elizabeth has been from the beginning 
 an unwavering comforter. She still flatters Maria An- 
 toinette that Heaven will spare her for better times to 
 reward our fidelity and her own agonies. The pious con- 
 solations of her highness have never failed to make the 
 most serious impression on our wretched situation. In- 
 deed, each of us strives to pour the balm of comfort into 
 
2i8 CHAPTER XV 
 
 the wounded hearts of the others, while not one of us, in 
 reality, dares to flatter herself with what we all so ar- 
 dently wish for in regard to our fellow-sufferers. Delu- 
 sions even sustained by facts, have long since been 
 exhausted. Our only hope on this side of the grave is 
 in our all-merciful Redeemer! " 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 The Editor Relates Anecdotes of Herself, Illustrative of the Spirit of 
 the Times — Outcry against Her at the Theater, on Account of the 
 Colors of Her Dress — Refused by the Guards Admission to the 
 Tuileries from Not Having the National Ribbon — Spy Set upon 
 Her by the Queen to Try Her Fidelity. 
 
 THE reader will not, I trust, be dissatisfied at reposing 
 for a moment from the sad story of the Princess 
 Lamballe to hear some ridiculous circumstances 
 which occurred to me individually ; and which, though they 
 form no part of the history, are sufficiently illustrative of 
 the temper of the times. 
 
 I had been sent to England to put some letters into 
 the post office for the Prince of Cond6 and had just re- 
 turned. The fashion then in England was a black dress, 
 Spanish hat, and yellow satin lining, with three ostrich 
 feathers forming the Prince of Wales's crest, and bearing 
 his inscription, "/cA dien* I serve." I also brought with 
 me a white satin cloak, trimmed with white fur. 
 
 In this dress, I went to the French opera. Scarcely 
 was I seated in the box, when I heard shouts of, ' ' En 
 bas les couleurs de I'empereur ! En bas ! " 
 
 I was very busy talking to a person in the box, and, 
 having been accustomed to hear and see partial riots in 
 the pit, I paid no attention; never dreaming that my 
 poor hat and feathers, and cloak, were the cause of the 
 commotion, till an officer in the national guard very po- 
 litely knocked at the door of the box, and told me I 
 must either take them off or leave the theater. 
 
 There is nothing I more dislike than the being thought 
 particular, or disposed to attract attention by dress. The 
 moment, therefore, I found myself thus unintentionally 
 
 *This crest and motto date as far back, I believe, as the time of 
 Bdward, the Black Prince. 
 
 ^19) 
 
220 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 the object of a whole theater's disturbance, in the first 
 impulse of indignation, I impetuously caught off the cloak 
 and hat, and flung them into the pit, at the very faces 
 of the rioters. 
 
 The theater instantly rang with applause. The ob- 
 noxious articles were carefully folded up and taken to the 
 officer of the guard, who, when I left the box, at the end 
 of the opera, brought them to me and offered to assist 
 me in putting them on; but I refused them with true 
 cavalier-like loftiness, and entered my carriage without 
 either hat or cloak. 
 
 There were many of the audience collected round the 
 carriage at the time, who, witnessing my rejection of the 
 insulted colors, again loudly cheered me; but insisted on 
 the officer's placing the hat and cloak in the carriage, 
 which drove off amid the most violent acclamations. 
 
 Another day, as I was going to walk in the Tuileries 
 (which I generally did after riding on horseback), the 
 guards crossed their bayonets at the gate and forbade my 
 entering. I asked them why. They told me no one was 
 allowed to walk there without the national ribbon. 
 
 Now, I always had one of these national ribbons about 
 me, from the time they were first worn ; but I kept it in 
 the inside of my riding habit : and on that day, in par- 
 ticular, my supply was unusually ample, for I had on a 
 new riding habit, the petticoat of which was so very long 
 and heavy that I bought a large quantity to tie round 
 my waist, and fasten up the dress, to prevent it from 
 falling about my feet. 
 
 However, I was determined to plague the guards for 
 their impudence. My English beau, who was as pale as 
 death, and knew I had the ribbon, kept pinching my arm, 
 and whispering, "Show it, show it; zounds, madam, show 
 it! We shall be sent to prison! show it! show it!" But 
 I took care to keep my interrupters in parley till a suf- 
 ficient mob was collected, and then I produced my colors. 
 The soldiers were consequently most gloriously hissed, 
 and would have been maltreated by the mob, and sent 
 to the guardhouse by their officer, but for my interces- 
 
CHAPTER XVI 221 
 
 sion; on which I was again applauded all through the 
 gardens as La Brave Anglaise. But my beau declared he 
 would never go out with me again unless I wore the rib- 
 bon on the outside of my hat, which I never did and never 
 would do. 
 
 At that time the Queen used to occupy herself much 
 in fancy needle works. Knowing, from arrangements, 
 that I was every day in a certain part of the Tuileries, 
 Her Majesty, when she heard the shout of La Brave 
 Anglaise! immediately called' the Princess Lamballe to 
 know if she had sent me on any message. Being an- 
 swered in the negative, one of the pages was dispatched 
 to ascertain the meaning of the cry. The Royal Family 
 lived in so continual a state of alarm that it was appre- 
 hended I had got into some scrape; but I had left the 
 Tuileries before the messenger arrived, and was already 
 with the Princess Lamballe, relating the circumstances. 
 The Princess told Her Majesty, who graciously observed, 
 "I am very happy that she got off so well; but caution 
 her to be more prudent for the future. A cause, how- 
 ever bad, is rather aided than weakened by unreasonable 
 displays of contempt for it. These unnecessary excite- 
 ments of the popular jealousy do us no good." 
 
 I was, of course, severely reprimanded by the Princess 
 for my frolic, though she enjoyed it of all things, and 
 afterward laughed most heartily. 
 
 The Princess told me, a few days after these circum- 
 stances of the national ribbon and the Austrian colors 
 had taken place at the theater, that some one belonging 
 to the private correspondence at the palace had been at 
 the French opera on the night the disturbance took place 
 there, and, without knowing the person to whom it re- 
 lated, had told the whole story to the King. 
 
 The Queen and the Princesses Elizabeth and Lamballe 
 being present, laughed very heartily. The two latter 
 knew it already from myself, the fountain head, but the 
 Princess Elizabeth said: 
 
 "Poor lady! what a fright she must have been in, to 
 have had her things taken away from her at the theater. " 
 
322 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 " No fright at all," said the King; "for a young woman 
 who could act thus firmly under such an insolent out- 
 rage will always triumph over cowards, unmanly enough 
 to abuse their advantages by insulting her. She was not 
 a Frenchwoman, I'll answer for it." 
 
 "Oh, no, sire. She is an Englishwoman," said the 
 Princess Lamballe. 
 
 "I am glad of it," exclaimed the King; "for when 
 she returns to England this will be a good personal spec- 
 imen for the information of some of her countrymen, 
 who have rejoiced at what they call the regeneration of 
 of the French nation; a nation once considered the most 
 polished in Europe, but now become the most uncivil, 
 and I wish I may never have occasion to add, the most 
 barbarous! An insult offered, wantonly, to either sex, 
 at any time, is the result of insubordination; but, when 
 offered to a female, it is a direct violation of civilized 
 hospitality, and an abuse of power which never before 
 tarnished that government now so much the topic of 
 abuse by the enemies of order and legitimate authority. 
 The French Princes, it is true, have been absolute; still 
 I never governed despotically, but always by the advice 
 of my counselors and cabinet ministers. If they have 
 erred, my conscience is void of reproach. I wish the na- 
 tional assembly may govern for the future with equal 
 prudence, equity and justice ; but they have given a poor 
 earnest in pulling down one fabric before they have laid 
 the solid foundation of another. I am very happy that 
 their agents, who, though they call themselves the 
 guardians of public order have hitherto destroyed its 
 course, have, in the courage of this English lady, met 
 with some resistance to their insolence, in foolishly oc- 
 cupying themselves with petty matters, while those of 
 vital import are totally neglected." 
 
 It is almost superfluous to mention that, at the epoch 
 of which I am speaking in the Revolution, the Royal 
 Family were in so much distrust of everyone about 
 them, and very necessarily and justly so, that none were 
 ever confided in for affairs, however trifling, without first 
 
CHAPTER XVI 223 
 
 having their fidelity repeatedly put to the test. I was 
 myself under this probation long before I knew that such 
 had ever been imposed. 
 
 With the private correspondence I had already been 
 for some time intrusted ; and it was only previous to em- 
 ploying me on secret missions of any consequence that I 
 was subject to the severer scrutiny. Even before I was sent 
 abroad, great art was necessary to elude the vigilance of 
 prying eyes in the royal circle; and, in order to render 
 my activity available to important purposes, my connec- 
 tion with the Count was long kept secret. Many strata- 
 gems were devised to mislead the Arguses of the police. 
 To this end, after the disorders of the Revolution began, 
 I never entered the palaces but on an understood signal 
 for which I have been often obliged to attend many hours 
 in the gardens of Versailles, as I had subsequently done 
 in that of the Tuileries. 
 
 To pass the time unnoticed, I used generally to take a 
 book, and seat myself, occupied in reading, sometimes in 
 one spot, sometimes in another; but with my man and 
 maid servant always within call, though never where 
 they could be seen. 
 
 On one of these occasions, a person, though not to- 
 tally masked yet sufficiently disguised to prevent my 
 recognizing his features, came behind my seat, and said 
 he wished to speak to me. I turned round and asked his 
 business. 
 
 "That's coming to the point!" he answered. "Walk 
 a little way with me, and I will tell you." 
 
 Not to excite suspicion, I walked into a more retired 
 part of the garden, after a secret signal to my man serv- 
 ant, who followed me unperceived by the stranger. 
 
 "I am commissioned," said my mysterious companion, 
 "to make you a very handsome present, if you will tell 
 me what you are waiting for." 
 
 I laughed, and was turning from him, sa5ring, " Is this 
 all your business?" 
 
 "No," he replied. 
 
 "Then keep it to yourself. I am not waiting here for 
 
224 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 anyone or anything; but am merely occupied in reading 
 and killing time to the best advantage." 
 
 "Are you a poetess?" 
 
 "No." 
 
 "And scarcely a female; for your answers are very 
 
 short. " 
 
 "Very likely." 
 
 "But I have something of importance to communi- 
 cate " 
 
 "That is impossible." 
 
 ' ' But listen to me " 
 
 "You are mistaken in your person.'' 
 
 " But surely you will not be so unreasonable as not to 
 hear what I have to say ? " 
 
 "I am a stranger in this country, and can have noth- 
 ing of importance with one I do not know." 
 
 "You have quarreled with your lover and are in an 
 ill-humor." 
 
 "Perhaps so. Well! come! I believe you have guessed 
 the cause." 
 
 "Ah! it is the fate of us all to get into scrapes! But 
 you will soon make it up; and now let me entreat your 
 attention to what I have to offer." 
 
 I became impatient, and called my servant. 
 
 "Madam," resumed the stranger, " I am a gentleman, 
 and mean no harm. But I assure you, you stand in your 
 own light. I know more about you than you think i do. " 
 
 "Indeed!" 
 
 "Yes, madam, you are waiting here for an august 
 personage. " 
 
 At this last sentence, my lips laughed, while my heart 
 trembled. 
 
 "I wish to caution you," continued he, "how you em- 
 bark in plans of this sort." 
 
 " Sir, I repeat, you have taken me for some other per- 
 son. I will no longer listen to one who is either a ma- 
 niac or an officious intruder." 
 
 Upon this, the stranger bowed and left me ; but I could 
 perceive that he was not displeased with my answers, 
 
CHAPTER XVI 225 
 
 though I was not a little agitated, and longed to see her 
 highness to relate to her this curious adventure. 
 
 In a few hours I did so. The Princess was perfectly- 
 satisfied with my manner of proceeding, only she thought 
 it singular, she said, that the stranger should suspect I 
 was there in attendance for some person of rank; and 
 she repeated, three or four times, "I am heartily glad 
 that you did not commit yourself by any decided answer. 
 What sort of a man was he? " 
 
 "Very much of the gentleman; above the middle 
 stature; and, from what I could see of his countenance, 
 rather handsome than otherwise." 
 
 " Was he a Frenchman? " 
 
 " No. I think he spoke good French and English, 
 with an Irish accent." 
 
 "Then I know who it is," exclaimed she. "It is Dil- 
 lon: I know it from some doubts which arose between 
 Her Majesty, Dillon, and myself, respecting sending you 
 upon a confidential mission. Oh, come hither! come 
 hither!" continued her highness, overwhelming me with 
 kisses. " How glad, how very glad I am, that the Queen 
 will be convinced I was not deceived in what I told Her 
 Majesty respecting you. Take no notice of what I am 
 telling you; but he was sent from the Queen, to tempt 
 you into some imprudence, or to be convinced, by your 
 not falling into the snare, that she might rely on your 
 fidelity." 
 
 "What! doubt my fidelity?" said I. 
 
 "Oh, my dear, you must excuse Her Majesty. We 
 live in critical times. You will be the more rewarded, 
 and much more esteemed, for this proof of your firmness. 
 Do you think you should know him, if you were to see 
 him again ? " 
 
 "Certainly, I should, if he were in the same disguise." 
 
 "That, I fear, will be rather difiicult to accomplish. 
 However, you shall go in your carriage and wait at the 
 door of his sister, the Marchioness of Desmond, where I 
 will send for him to come to me at four o'clock to- 
 morrow. In this way, you will have an opportunity of 
 15 
 
226 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 seeing him on horseback, as he always pays his morning 
 visits riding. 
 
 I would willingly have taken a sleeping draught, and 
 never did I wait more anxiously than for the hour of 
 four. 
 
 I left the Princess, and in crossing from the Carousal 
 to go to the Place Vendome, it rained very fast, and 
 there glanced by me, on horseback, the same military 
 cloak in which the stranger had been wrapped. My car- 
 riage was driving so fast that I still remained in doubt 
 as to the wearer's person. 
 
 Next day, however, as appointed, I repaired to the 
 place of rendezvous ; and I could almost have sworn from 
 the height of the person who alighted from his horse that 
 he was my mysterious questioner. 
 
 Still, I was not thoroughly certain. I watched the 
 Princess coming out, and followed her carriage to the 
 Champs Elys^es and told her what I thought. 
 
 "Well," replied she, "we must think no more about 
 it; nor must it ever be mentioned to him, should you by 
 any chance meet him." 
 
 I said I should certainly obey her highness. 
 
 A guilty conscience needs no accuser. A few days 
 after I was riding on horseback in the Bois de Boulogne, 
 when Lord Edward Fitzgerald came up to speak to me. 
 Dillon was passing at the time, and, seeing Lord Edward, 
 stopped, took ofif his hat, and observed, " A very pleasant 
 day for riding, madam!" Then, looking me full in the 
 face, he added, "I beg your pardon, madam, I mistook 
 j'ou for another lady with whom Lord Edward is often 
 in company." 
 
 I said there was no offense; but the moment I heard 
 him speak I was no longer in doubt of his being the 
 identical person. 
 
 When I had learned the ciphering and deciphering, and 
 was to be sent to Italy, the Queen acknowledged to the 
 Princess Lamballe that she was fully persuaded I might 
 be trusted, as she had good reason to know that my fidelity 
 was not to be doubted or shaken. 
 
CHAPTER XVI 227 
 
 Dear, hapless Princess! She said to me, in one of her 
 confidential conversations on these matters, "The Queen 
 has been so cruelly deceived and so much watched that 
 she almost fears her own shadow; but it gives me great 
 pleasure that Her Majesty had been herself confirmed by 
 one of her own emissaries in what I never for a moment 
 doubted. 
 
 "But do not fancy," continued the Princess, laughing, 
 "that you have had only this spy to encounter. Many 
 others have watched your motions and your conversations, 
 and all concur in saying you are the devil, and they could 
 make nothing of you. But that, mia cara piccola diavo- 
 lina, is just what we want! " 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Editor in Continuation — Extraordinary Expedients Necessary to Evade 
 Espionage — Anecdote of Boxes Sent by the Editor from Paris — 
 Curious Occurrence Respecting Gamin, the King's Locksmith — Con- 
 sternation of the Princess Lamballe "When Apprised of It — Scheme to 
 Avoid the Consequences — Kind and Interesting Conduct of the 
 Queen and Royal Family. 
 
 I AM compelled, with reluctance, to continue personally 
 upon the stage, and must do so for the three ensuing 
 chapters, in order to put my readers in possession of 
 circumstances explanatory of the next portion of the Jour- 
 nal of the Princess Lamballe. 
 
 Even the particulars I am about to mention can give 
 but a very faint idea of the state of alarm in which the 
 Royal Family lived, and the perpetual watchfulness and 
 strange and involved expedients that were found necessary 
 for their protection. Their most trifling communications 
 were scrutinized with so much jealousy, that when any of 
 importance were to be made it required a dexterity almost 
 miraculous to screen them from the ever-watchful eye of 
 espionage. 
 
 I was often made instrumental to evading the curiosity 
 of others, without ever receiving any clue to the gratifi- 
 cation of my own, even had I been troubled with such 
 impertinence. The anecdote I am about to mention will 
 show how cautious a game it was thought necessary to 
 play; and the result of my half -information will evince that 
 over caution may produce evils almost equal to total care- 
 lessness. 
 
 Some time previous to the flight of the Royal Family 
 from Paris, the Princess Lamballe told me she wanted 
 some repairs made to the locks of certain dressing and 
 writing desks; but she would prefer having them done at 
 
 (828) 
 
CHAPTER XVII 229 
 
 my apartments, and by a locksmith who lived at a dis- 
 tance from the palace. 
 
 When the boxes were repaired, I was sent with one of 
 them to Lisle, where another person took charge of it for 
 the Archduchess at Brussels. 
 
 There was something which strongly marked the kind- 
 heartedness of the Princess Lamballe in a part of this 
 transaction. I had left Paris without a passport, and her 
 highness, fearing it might expose me to inconvenience, 
 sent an express after me. The express arrived three hours 
 before I did, and the person to whom I have alluded came 
 out of Brussels in his carriage to meet me and re- 
 ceive the box. At the same time, he gave me a sealed 
 letter, without any address. I asked him from whom he 
 received it, and to whom it was to be delivered. He said 
 he was only instructed to deliver it to the lady with the 
 box, and he showed me the Queen's cipher. I took the 
 letter ; and, after partaking of some refreshments, returned 
 with it, according to my orders. 
 
 On my arrival at Paris, the Princess Lamballe told me 
 her motive for sending the express, who, she said, informed 
 her, on his return, that I had a letter for the Queen. 
 I said it was more than I knew. "Oh, I suppose that is 
 because the letter bears no address," replied she; "but 
 you were shown the cipher, and that is all which is nec- 
 essary. " 
 
 She did not take the letter, and I could not help re- 
 marking how far, in this instance, the rigor of etiquette 
 was kept up, even between these close friends. The 
 Princess, not having herself received the letter, could not 
 take it from my hands to deliver without Her Majesty's 
 express command. This being obtained, she asked me 
 for it, and gave it to Her Majesty. The circumstance 
 convinced me that the Princess exercised much less in- 
 fluence over the Queen, and was much more directed by 
 Her Majesty's authority, than has been imagined. 
 
 Two or three days after my arrival at Paris, my serv- 
 ant lost the key of my writing desk, and, to remedy 
 the evil, he brought me the same locksmith I had 
 
230 CHAPTER XVII 
 
 employed on the repairs just mentioned. As it was neces- 
 sary I should be present to remove my papers when the 
 lock was taken off, of course I saw the man. While I 
 was busy clearing the desk, with an air of great famil- 
 iarity he said, "I have had jobs to do here before now, 
 my girl, as your sweetheart there well knows." 
 
 I humored his mistake in taking me for my own maid 
 and my servant's sweetheart, and I pertly answered, 
 "Very likely." 
 
 "O yes, I have," said he; "it was I who repaired the 
 Queen's boxes in this very room." 
 
 Knowing I had never received anything of the sort 
 from Her Majesty, and utterly unaware that the boxes 
 the Princess sent to my apartments had been the Queen's, 
 I was greatly surprised. Seeing my confusion, he said, 
 " I know the boxes as well as I know myself. I am the 
 King's locksmith, my dear, and I and the King worked 
 together many years. Why, I know every creek and 
 corner of the palace, aye, and I know everything that's 
 going on in them too: — queer doings! Lord, my pretty 
 damsel, I made a secret place in the palace to hide the 
 King's papers, where the devil himself would never find 
 them out, if I or the King didn't tell ! " 
 
 Though I wished him at the devil every moment, he 
 detained me from disclosing his information at the palace, 
 yet I played off the soubrette upon him till he became so 
 interested I thought he never would have gone. At last, 
 however, he took his departure, and the moment he dis- 
 appeared, out of the house I flew. 
 
 The agitation and surprise of the Princess at what I 
 related were extreme. "Wait," cried she; "I must go 
 and inform the Queen instantly." In going out of the 
 room, " Gran Dio, qual scoperta ! Great God, what a 
 discovery!" exclaimed her highness. 
 
 It was not long before she returned. Luckily, I was 
 dressed for dinner. She took me by the hand and, un- 
 able to speak, led me to the private closet of the Queen. 
 
 Her Majesty graciously condescended to thank me for 
 the letter I had taken charge of. She told me that for 
 
CHAPTER XVII 231 
 
 the future all letters to her would be without any super- 
 scription; and desired me, if any should be given to me 
 by persons I had not before seen, and the cipher were 
 shown at the same time, to receive and deliver them my- 
 self into her hands, as the production of the cipher would 
 be a sufficient pledge of their authenticity. 
 
 Being desired to repeat the conversation with Gamin, 
 "There, Princess!" exclaimed Her Majesty, " Non son io 
 il corvo delle cative notizief am I not the crow of evil 
 forebodings? I trust the King will never again be cred- 
 ulous enough to employ this man. I have long had an 
 extreme aversion to His Majesty's familia,rity with him; 
 but he shall hear his impudence himself from your own 
 lips, my good little Englishwoman; and then he will not 
 think it is prepossession or prejudice." 
 
 A few evenings elapsed, and I thought no more of the 
 subject, till one night I was ordered to the palace by 
 the Princess, which never happened but on very particu- 
 lar occasions, as she was fearful of exciting suspicion by 
 any appearance of close intimacy with one so much about 
 Paris upon the secret embassies of the Court. 
 
 When I entered the apartment, the King, the Queen, 
 and the Princess Elizabeth were, as if by accident, in an 
 adjoining room; but, from what followed, I am certain 
 they all came purposely to hear my deposition. I was 
 presently commanded to present myself to the august 
 party. 
 
 The King was in deep conversation with the Princess 
 Elizabeth. I must confess I felt rather embarrassed. I 
 could not form an idea why I was thus honored. The 
 Princess Lamballe graciously took me by the hand. 
 
 " Now tell His Majesty, yourself, what Gamin said to you." 
 
 I began to revive, perceiving now wherefore I was sum- 
 moned. I accordingly related, in the presence of the 
 royal guests assembled, as I had done before Her Maj- 
 esty and the Princess Lamballe, the scene as it occurred. 
 
 When I came to that part where he said, "where the 
 devil himself could never find them out," His Majesty 
 approached from the balcony, at which he had been talking 
 
232 CHAPTER XVII 
 
 v/ith the Princess Elizabeth, and said, "Well! he is very 
 right — but neither he nor the devil shall find them out, 
 for they shall be removed this very night."* 
 
 The King, the Queen and the Princess Elizabeth most 
 graciously said, "Nous sommes bien obliges, ma petite 
 anglaise!" and Her Majesty added, "Now, my dear, tell 
 me all the rest about this man, whom I have long sus- 
 pected for his wickedness." 
 
 I said he had been guilty of no hostile indications, and 
 that the chief fault I had to find with him was his ex- 
 ceeding familiarity in mentioning himself before the 
 King, saying, "I and the King." 
 
 "Go on," said Her Majesty; "give us the whole as it 
 occurred, and let us form our own conclusions." 
 
 "Yes," cried the Princess, " parlate sciolto." " Si, si," 
 rejoined the Queen, "par late tutto — yes, yes, speak out 
 and tell us all." 
 
 I then related the remainder of the conversation, which 
 very much alarmed the royal party, and it was agreed 
 that to avoid suspicion I should next day send for the 
 locksmith and desire him, as an excuse, to look at the 
 locks of my trunks and traveling carriage, and set off in 
 his presence to take up my pretended mistress on the 
 road to Calais, that he might not suspect I had any con- 
 nection with anyone about the Court. I was strictly en- 
 joined by Her Majesty to tell him that the man servant 
 had had the boxes from some one to get them repaired, 
 without either my knowledge or that of my mistress, and, 
 by her pretended orders, to give him a discharge upon 
 the spot for having dared to use her apartments as a 
 workshop for the business of other people. 
 
 "Now," said the Princess Lamballe, "fate la buffona 
 come avete fatta col servo vostro e Gamin — now play the 
 comic part you acted between your servant and Gamin : " 
 which I did, as well as I could recollect it, and the royal 
 
 * Which was done; and these are, therefore, no doubt, the papers 
 and portfolio of which Madame Campan speaks, vol. ii., p. 142, as hav- 
 ing been intrusted to her care after being taken from their hiding place 
 by the King himself. 
 
CHAPTER XVII 233 
 
 audience were so much amused, that I had the honor to 
 remain in the room and see them play at cards. At 
 length, however, there came three gentle taps at the 
 outer door. '■^ Ora k tempo perche vene andata," ex- 
 claimed her highness at the sound, having ordered a per- 
 son to call with this signal to see me out of the palace 
 to the Rue Nicaise, where my carriage was in waiting 
 to conduct me home. 
 
 It is not possible for me to describe the gracious con- 
 descension of the Queen and the Princess Elizabeth, in 
 expressing their sentiments for the accidental discovery 
 I had made. Amid their assurances of tender interest 
 and concern, they both reproved me mildly for my im- 
 prudence in having, when I went to Brussels, hurried 
 from Paris without my passport. They gave me pruden- 
 tial cautions with regard to my future conduct and resi- 
 dence at Paris; and it was principally owing to the 
 united persuasions and remonstrances of these three an- 
 gels in human form that I took six or seven different 
 lodgings, where the Princess Lamballe used to meet me 
 by turns; because had I gone often to the palace, as 
 many others did, or waited for her highness regularly in 
 any one spot, I should, infallibly, have been discovered. 
 
 "Gracious God!" exclaimed Her Majesty in the course 
 of this conversation, ' ' am I born to be the misfortune of 
 everyone who shows an interest in serving me ? Tell my 
 sister, when you return to Brussels again — and do not 
 forget to say I desired you to tell her, our cruel situa- 
 tion! She does not believe that we are surrounded by 
 enemies, even in our most private seclusions! in our 
 prison! that we are even thrown exclusively upon 
 foreigners in our most confidential affairs ; that ip France 
 there is scarcely an individual to whom we can look! 
 They betray us for their own safety, which is endangered 
 by any exertions in our favor. Tell her this," repeated 
 the Queen three or four times. 
 
 The next day I punctually obeyed my orders. Gamin 
 was sent for to look at the locks, and received six- francs 
 for his opinion. The man servant was reproved by me 
 
234 CHAPTER XVII 
 
 on behalf of my supposed mistress, and, in the presence 
 of Gamin, discharged for having brought suspicious things 
 into the house. The man being tutored in his part, 
 begged Gamin to plead for my intercession with our 
 mistress. I remained inexorable, as he knew I should. 
 While Gamin was still by I discharged the bill at the 
 house, got into my carriage, and took the road toward 
 Calais. 
 
 At Saint Denis, however, I feigpied to be taken ill, and 
 in two days returned to Paris. 
 
 Even this simple act required management. I con- 
 trived it in the following manner: I walked out on the 
 high road leading to the capital for the purpose of meet- 
 ing my servant at a place which had been fixed for the 
 meeting before I left Paris. I found him on horseback 
 at his post, with a carriage prepared for my return. As 
 soon as I was out of sight he made the best of his way 
 forward, went to the inn with a note from me, and re- 
 turned with my carriage and baggage to lodgings I had 
 at Passy. 
 
 The joy of the Princess on seeing me safe again brought 
 tears into her eyes; and when I related the scene I 
 played off before Gamin against my servant, she laughed 
 most heartily. "But surely," said she, "you have not 
 really discharged the poor man?" "Oh, no," replied 
 I; "he acted his part so well before the locksmith, that 
 I should be very sorry to lose such an apt scholar." 
 
 "You must perform this buffa scena," observed her 
 highness, "to the Queen. She has been very anxious to 
 know the result; but her spirits are so depressed that I 
 fear she will not come to my party this evening. How- 
 ever, if she do not, I will see her to-morrow, and you 
 shall make her laugh. It would be a charity, for she 
 has not done so from the heart for many a day ! " 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Editor in Continuation — Mr. Burke — His Interest for the Queen and 
 Royal Cause Misrepresented — Proposes Various Schemes for Avert- 
 ing the Revolution — A Secret and Confidential Ambassador Being 
 Deemed Necessary to Communicate with the Court of England, the 
 Princess Lamballe Thought of for the Mission — Personages Whom 
 She Cultivates When in England — Her Mission Rendered Unavail- 
 ing by the Troubles in France Increasing — Sends the Editor to 
 France for Explicit Instructions — Distressed by the Papers Brought 
 Back, She Prepares for Her Own Return to France — Her Account 
 of Het Reception in England, and What She Means to do When in 
 Franc« — Postscript: Public Occurrences in France during the Ab- 
 sence of the Princess — Necker — His Administration and Final Re- 
 tirement — French Clergy — Their Heartless Conduct — Talleyrand 
 — Barras. 
 
 EVERYONE who has read at all, is familiar with the im- 
 mortal panegyric of the great Edmund Burke upon 
 Maria Antoinette. It is known that this illustrious 
 man was not mean enough to flatter; yet his eloquent 
 praises of her as a princess, a woman, and a beauty, in- 
 spiring something beyond what any other woman could 
 excite, have been called flattery by those who never knew 
 her; those who did, must feel them to be, if possible, 
 even below the truth. But the admiration of Mr. Burke was 
 set down even to a baser motive, and, like everything else, 
 converted into a source of slander for political purposes, 
 long before that worthy palladium of British liberty had 
 even thought of interesting himself for the welfare of 
 France, which his prophetic eye saw plainly was the com- 
 mon cause of all Europe. 
 
 But, keenly as that great statesman looked into futurity, 
 little did he think, when he visited the Queen in all her 
 splendor at Trianon, and spoke so warmly of the cordial 
 reception he had met with at Versailles from the Duke 
 
 (235) 
 
236 CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 and Duchess de Polignac, that he should have so soon to 
 deplore their tragic fate! 
 
 Could his suggestions to Her Majesty, when he was in 
 France, have been put in force, there is scarcely a doubt 
 that the Revolution might have been averted, or crushed. 
 But he did not limit his friendship to personal advice. 
 It is not generally known that the Queen carried on, 
 through the medium of the Princess Lamballe, a very 
 extensive correspondence with Mr. Burke. He recom- 
 mended wise and vast plans ; and these, if possible, would 
 have been adopted. The substance of some of the 
 leading ones I can recall from the journal of her highness 
 and letters which I have myself frequently deciphered. 
 I shall endeavor, succinctly, to detail such of them as I 
 remember. 
 
 Mr. Burke recommended the suppression of all super- 
 fluous religious institutions, which had not public semi- 
 naries to support. Their lands, he advised, should be 
 divided, without regard to any distinction but that of 
 merit, among such members of the army and other use- 
 ful classes of society, as, after having served the specified 
 time, should have risen, through their good conduct, to 
 either civil or military preferment. By calculations upon 
 the landed interest, it appeared that every individual un- 
 der the operation of this bounty would, in the course of 
 twenty years, possess a yearly income of from five to 
 seven hundred francs. 
 
 Another of the schemes suggested by Mr. Burke was to 
 purge the kingdom of all the troops which had been cor- 
 rupted from their allegiance by the intrigues growing out 
 of the first meeting of the Notables. He proposed that 
 they should sail at the same time, or nearly so, to be 
 colonized in the different French islands and Madagascar; 
 and, in their place, a new national guard created, who 
 should be bound to the interest of the legitimate Gov- 
 ernment by receiving the waste crown lands to be shared 
 among them, from the common soldier to its generals and 
 field marshals. Thus would the whole mass of rebellious 
 blood have been reformed. To insure an effectual change, 
 
CHAPTER XVIII 237 
 
 Mr. Burke advised the enrollment, in rotation, of sixty 
 thousand Irish troops,* twenty thousand always to remain 
 in France, and forty thousand in reversion for the same 
 service. The lynx-eyed statesman saw clearly, from the 
 murders of the Marquis de Launay and M. Flesselles, and 
 from the destruction of the Bastille, and of the ramparts 
 of Paris, that party had not armed itself against Louis, 
 but against the throne. It was therefore necessary to 
 produce a permanent revolution in the army. 
 
 There was another suggestion to secure troops around 
 the throne of a more loyal temper. It was planned to 
 incorporate all the French soldiers, who had not volun- 
 tarily deserted the royal standard, with two-thirds of Swiss, 
 German, and Low Country forces, among whom were to 
 be divided, after ten years' service, certain portions of 
 the crown lands, which were to be held by presenting 
 every year a flag of acknowledgment to the King and 
 Queen; with the preference of serving in the civil or 
 military departments, according to the merit c ; capacity 
 
 * Mr. Burke was too great a statesman not to be the friend of his 
 country's interest. He also saw that from the destruction of the mon- 
 archy in France, England had more to fear than to gain. He well knew 
 that the French Revolution was not, like that of the Americans, founded 
 on grievances and urged in support of a great and disinterested princi- 
 ple. He was aware that so restless a people, when they had overthrown 
 the monarchy, would not limit the overthrow to their own country. After 
 Mr. Burke's death, Mr. Fox was applied to, and was decidedly of the same 
 opinion. Mr. Sheridan was interrogated, and, at the request of the 
 Princess Lamballe, he presented, for the Queen's inspection, plans 
 nearly equal to those of the above two great statesmen ; and what is 
 most singular and scarcely credible is that one and all of the opposition 
 party in England strenuously exerted themselves for the upholding of 
 the monarchy in France. Many circumstances which came to my 
 knowledge before and after the death of Louis XVI. prove that Mr. Pitt 
 himself was averse to the republican principles being organized so near 
 a constitutional monarchy as France was to Great Britain. Though the 
 conduct of the Duke of Orleans was generally reprobated, I firmly be- 
 lieve that if he had possessed sufiScient courage to have usurped the 
 crown and re-established the monarchy, he would have been treated 
 with in preference to the republicans. I am the more confirmed in this 
 opinion by a conversation between the Princess Lamballe and Mira. 
 beau, in which he said a republic in France would never thrive. 
 
238 CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 of the respective individuals. Messieurs de Broglio, 
 Bouill^, Luxembourg, and others, were to have been 
 commanders. But this plan, like many others, was foiled 
 in its birth, and, it is said, through the intrigues of 
 Mirabeau. 
 
 However, all concurred in the necessity of ridding 
 France, upon the most plausible prAexts, of the foment- 
 ers of its ruin. Now arose a fresh difficulty. Transports 
 were wanted, and in considerable numbers. 
 
 A navy agent in England was applied to for the sup- 
 ply of these transports. So great was the number re- 
 quired, and so peculiar the circumstances, that the agent 
 declined interfering without the sanction of his Govern- 
 ment. 
 
 A new dilemma succeeded. Might not the King of 
 England place improper constructions on this extensive 
 shipment of troops from the different ports of France for 
 her West India possessions ! Might it not be fancied that 
 it involved secret designs on the British settlements in 
 that quarter ? 
 
 All these circumstances required that some communica- 
 tion should be opened with the Court of St. James's, and 
 the critical posture of affairs exacted that such communi- 
 cation should be less diplomatic than confidential. 
 
 It will be recollected, that, at the very commencement 
 of the reign of Louis XVI., there were troubles in 
 Britanny, which the severe governorship of the Duke 
 d'Aiguillon augmented. The Britons took privileges with 
 them, when they became blended with the kingdom 
 of France, by the marriage of Anne of Brittany with 
 Charles VIII , beyond those of any other of its provinces. 
 These privileges they seemed rather disposed to extend 
 than relinquish, and were by no means reserved in the 
 expression of their resolution. It was considered expedi- 
 ent to place a firm, but conciliatory, governor over them, 
 and the Duke de Penthi^vre was appointed to this dif- 
 ficult trust. The Duke was accompanied to his vice- 
 royalty by his daughter-in-law, the Princess Lamballe, 
 who, by her extremely judicious management of the 
 
CHAPTER XVIII 239 
 
 female part of the province, did more for the restoration 
 of order than could have been achieved by armies. The 
 remembrance of this circumstance induced the Queen to 
 regard her highness as a fit person to send secretly to 
 England at this very important crisis; and the purpose 
 was greatly encouraged by a wish to remove her from a 
 scene of such daily increasing peril. 
 
 For privacy, it was deemed expedient that her high- 
 ness should withdraw to Aumale, under the plea of ill 
 health, and thence proceed to England; and it was also 
 by way of Aumale that she as secretly returned, after the 
 fatal disaster of the stoppage, to discourage the impres- 
 sion of her ever having been out of France. 
 
 The mission was even unknown to the French minister 
 at the Court of St. James's. 
 
 The Princess was ordered by Her Majesty to cultivate 
 the acquaintance of the late Duchess of Gordon, who 
 was supposed to possess more influence than any woman 
 in England — in order to learn the sentiments of Mr. 
 Pitt relative to the revolutionary troubles. The Duchess, 
 however, was too much of an Englishwoman, and Mr. 
 Pitt too much interested in the ruin of France, to give 
 her the least clue to the truth. 
 
 In order to fathom the sentiments of the opposition 
 party, the Princess cultivated the society also of the late 
 Duchess of Devonshire, but with as little success. The 
 opposition party foresaw too much risk in bringing any- 
 thing before the house to alarm the prejudices of the 
 nation. 
 
 The French ambassador, too, jealous of the unexplained 
 purpose of the Princess, did all he could to render her 
 expedition fruitless. 
 
 Nevertheless, though disappointed in some of her main 
 objects with regard to influence and information, she be- 
 came so great a favorite at the British Court* that she 
 
 *The Princess visited Bath, Windsor, Brighton, and many other 
 parts of England, and associated Avith all parties. She managed her 
 conduct so judiciously that the real object of her visit was never sus- 
 pected. In all these excursions I had the honor to attend her coniiden- 
 
240 CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 obtained full permission of the King and Queen of Eng- 
 land to signify to her royal mistress and friend, that the 
 specific request she came to make would be complied 
 with. 
 
 In the meantime, however, the troubles in France were 
 so rapidly increasing from hour to hour, that it became 
 impossible for the Government to carry any of their plans 
 into eifect. This particular one, on the very eve of its 
 accomplishment, was marred, as it was imagined, by the 
 secret intervention of the friends of Mirabeau. The 
 Government became more and more infirm and wavering 
 in its purposes; the Princess was left without instruc- 
 tions, and under such circumstances as to expose her to 
 the supposition of having trifled with the good will of 
 Their Majesties of England. 
 
 In this dilemma, I was sent off from England to the 
 Queen of France. I left her highness at Bath, but when 
 I returned she had quitted Bath for Brighton. I am un- 
 acquainted with the nature of all the papers she received, 
 but I well remember the agony they seemed to inflict on 
 her. She sent off a packet by express that very night to 
 Windsor. 
 
 tially. I was the only person intrusted with papers from her highness 
 to Her Majesty. I had many things to copy, of which the origrinals 
 went to Prance. 
 
 Twice during the term of her highness's residence in England I was 
 sent by Her Majesty with papers communicating the result of the se- 
 cret mission to the Queen of Naples. On the second of these two trips, 
 being obliged to travel night and day, I could only keep my eyes open 
 by means of the strongest coffee. When I reached my destination I 
 was immediately compelled to decipher the dispatches with the Queen 
 of Naples in the office of the Secretary of State. That done. General 
 Acton ordered some one, I know not whom, to conduct me, I know not 
 where, but it was to a place where, after a sound sleep of twenty-four 
 hours, I awoke thoroughly refreshed, and without a vestigje of fatigue 
 either of mind or Dody. On waking, lest anything should transpire, I 
 was desired to quit Naples instantly, witiiout seeing the British minis- 
 ter. To make assurance doubly sure, General Acton sent a person from 
 his office to accompany me out of the city on horseback ; and, to screen 
 me from the attack of robbers, this person went on with me as far as 
 the Roman frontier. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII 241 
 
 The Princess immediately began the preparations for 
 her return. Her own journal is explicit on this point of 
 her history, and therefore I shall leave her to speak for 
 herself. I must not, however, omit to mention the re- 
 mark she made to me upon the subject of her reception 
 in Great Britain. With these, let me dismiss the present 
 chapter. 
 
 "The general cordiality with which I have been re- 
 ceived in your country," said her highness, "has made a 
 lasting impression upon my heart. In particular, never 
 shall I forget the kindness of the Queen of England, the 
 Duchess of Devonshire, and her truly virtuous mother, 
 Lady Spencer. It gave me a cruel pang to be obliged 
 to undervalue the obligations with which they overwhelmed 
 me by leaving England as I did, without giving them 
 an opportunity of carrying their good intentions, which I 
 had myself solicited, into effect. But we cannot command 
 fate. Now that the King has determined to accept the 
 constitution (and you know my sentiments upon the arti- 
 cle respecting ecclesiastics), I conceive it my duty to fol- 
 low Their Majesties' example in submitting to the laws 
 of the nation. Be assured, Inglestna, it will be my ambition 
 to bring about one of the happiest ages of French his- 
 tory. I shall endeavor to create that confidence so neces- 
 sary for the restoration to their native land of the 
 Princes of the blood, and all the emigrants who aban- 
 doned the King, their families, and their country, 
 while doubtful whether His Majesty would or would not 
 concede this new charter; but now that the doubt exists 
 no longer, I trust we shall all meet again the happier for 
 the privation to which we have been doomed from ab- 
 sence. As the limation of the monarchy removes every 
 kind of responsibility from the monarch, the Queen will 
 again taste the blissful sweets she once enjoyed during 
 the reign of Louis XV. in the domestic tranquillity of her 
 home at Trianon. Often has she wept those times in 
 which she will again rejoice. Oh, how I long for their 
 return! I fly to greet the coming period of future hap- 
 piness to us all!" 
 16 
 
242 CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 Postscript. 
 
 Although I am not making myself the historian of 
 France, yet it may not be amiss to mention that it was 
 during this absence of her highness that Necker finally 
 retired from power and from France. 
 
 The return of this minister had been very much against 
 the consent of Her Majesty and the King. They both 
 feared what actually happened soon afterward. They 
 foresaw that he would be swept away by the current of 
 popularity from his deference to the royal authority. It 
 was to preserve the favor of the mob that he allowed them 
 to commit the shocking murders of M. de Foulon (who 
 had succeeded him on his first dismission as minister of 
 Louis XVI.) and of Berthier, his son-in-law. The union 
 of Necker with Orleans, on this occasion, added to the 
 cold indifference with which Barnave in one of his speeches 
 expressed himself concerning the shedding of human 
 blood, certainly animated the factious assassin^ to method- 
 ical murder, and frustrated all the efforts of La Fayette 
 to save these victims from the enraged populace, to whom 
 both unfortunately fell a sacrifice. 
 
 Necker, like La Fayette, when too late, felt the absurd- 
 ity of relying upon the idolatry of the populace. The 
 one fancied he could command the Parisian poissardes as 
 easily as his own battalions; and the other persuaded 
 himself that the mob which had been hired to carry about 
 his bust, would as readily promulgate his theories. 
 
 But he forgot that the people in their greatest inde- 
 pendence are only the puppets of demagogues; and he 
 lost himself by not gaining over that class, which, of all 
 others, possesses most power over the million, I mean the 
 men of the bar, who, arguing more logically than the rest 
 of the world, felt that from the new constitution the long 
 robe was playing a losing game, and therefore discouraged 
 a system which offered nothing to their personal ambition 
 or private emolument. Lawyers, like priests, are never 
 overripe for any changes or innovations, except such as 
 tend to their personal interest. The more perplexed the 
 
CHAPTER XVIII 243 
 
 State of public and private affairs, the better for them. 
 Therefore in revolutions, as a body, they remain neuter, 
 unless it is made for their benefit to act. Individually, 
 they are a set of necessary evils ; and, for the sake of the 
 bar, the bench, and the gibbet, require to be humored. 
 But any legislator who attempts to render laws clear, 
 concise, and explanatory, and to divest them of the quib- 
 bles whereby these expounders — or confounders — of 
 codes, fatten on the credulity of states and the miseries 
 of unfortunate millions, will necessarily encounter oppo- 
 sition, direct or indirect, in every measure at all likely to 
 reduce the influence of this most abominable horde of 
 human depredators. It was Necker's error to have gone 
 so directly to the point with the lawyers that they at once 
 saw his scope ; and thus he himself defeated his hopes of 
 their support, the want of which utterly baffled all his 
 speculations.* 
 
 When Necker undertook to re-establish the finances, and 
 to reform generally the abuses in the Government, he 
 was the most popular minister (Lord Chatham, when the 
 great Pitt, excepted) of any in Europe. Yet his errors 
 were innumerable, though possessing such sound knowl- 
 edge and judgment, such a superabundance of political 
 contrivance, diplomatic coolness, and mathematical cal- 
 culation, the result of deep thought aided by great prac- 
 tical experience. 
 
 But h.ow futile he made all these appear when he de- 
 clared the national bankruptcy. Could anything be more 
 absurd than the assumption, by the individual, of a per- 
 sonal instead of a national guarantee of part of a national 
 debt ? an undertaking too hazardous and by far too am- 
 biguous, even for a monarch who is not backed by his 
 kingdom — how doubly frantic, then, f dr a subject ! 
 Necker imagined that the above declaration and his own 
 
 * The great Frederick of Prussia, on being told of the numbers of 
 lawyers there were in England, said he wished he had them in his coun- 
 try. " Why ?" some one inquired. " To do the greatest benefit in my 
 power to society." "How so?" "Why to hang one-half as an example 
 to the other!" 
 
244 CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 quixotic generosity would have opened the coffers of the 
 great body of rich proprietors, and brought them forward 
 to aid the national crisis. But he was mistaken. The 
 nation then had no interest in his financial system. The 
 effect it produced was the very reverse of what was ex- 
 pected. Every proprietor began to fear the ambition of 
 the minister, who undertook impossibilities. The being 
 bound for the debts of an individual, and justifying bail 
 in a court of law in commercial matters, affords no cri- 
 terion for judging of, or regulating, the pecuniary diffi- 
 culties of a nation. Necker's conduct in this case was, 
 in my humble opinion, as impolitic as that of a man who, 
 after telling his friends that he is ruined past redemp- 
 tion, asks for a loan of money. The conclusion is, if he 
 obtains the loan, that "the fool and his money are soon 
 parted. " * 
 
 It was during the same interval of her highness's stay 
 in England, that the discontent ran so high between the 
 people and the clergy. 
 
 I have frequently heard the Princess Lamballe ascribe 
 the King's not sanctioning the decrees against the clergy 
 to the influence of his aunt, the Carmelite nun, Madame 
 Louise. During the life of her father, Louis XV., she 
 nearly engrossed all the Church benefices by her intrigues. 
 She had her regular conclaves of all orders of the Church. 
 From the bishop to the sexton, all depended on her for 
 preferment; and, till the Revolution, she maintained 
 equal power over the mind of Louis XVI. upon similar 
 matters. The Queen would often express her disappro- 
 bation; but the King was so scrupulous, whenever the 
 discussion fell on the topic of religion, that she made it 
 a point not to contrast her opinion with his, from a con- 
 viction that she was unequal to cope with him on that 
 head, upon which he was generally very animated. 
 
 * I prognosticate that all money concerns which may take place in 
 Spain, unless guaranteed by the nation to the nation whose individuals 
 undertake the supply, will end in the ruin of those who may credulously 
 be led, for a momentary advantage, to assist in its promulgation ; that, 
 in short, it will terminate, as the French paper did, from the million to one. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII a4S 
 
 It is perfectly certain that the French clergy, by 
 refusing to contribute to the exigencies of the state, cre- 
 ated some of the primary horrors of the Revolution. 
 They enjoyed one-third of the national revenues, yet they 
 were the first to withhold their assistance from the na- 
 tional wants. I have heard the Princess Lamballe say, 
 "The Princess Elizabeth and myself used our utmost ex- 
 ertions to induce some of the higher orders of the clergy 
 to set the example and obtain for themselves the credit 
 of offering up a part of the revenues, the whole of which 
 we knew must be forfeited if they continued obstinate; 
 but it was impossible to move them." 
 
 The characters of some of the leading dignitaries of 
 the time sufficiently explain their selfish and pernicious 
 conduct; when churchmen trifle with the altar, be their 
 motives what they may, they destroy the faith they pro- 
 fess, and give examples to the flock intrusted to their 
 care, of which no foresight can measure the baleful con- 
 sequences. Who that is false to his God can be ex- 
 pected to remain faithful to his sovereign ? When a man, 
 as a Catholic bishop, marries; and, under the mask of 
 patriotism, becomes the declared tool of all-work to every 
 faction, and is the weathercock, shifting to any quarter 
 according to the wind; such a man can be of no real 
 service to any party; and yet has a man of this kind 
 been by turns the primum mobile of them all, even to the 
 present times, and was one of those great Church fo- 
 menters of the troubles of which we speak, who dis- 
 graced the virtuous reign of Louis XVI. 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Narrative Continued by the Editor — Various Schemes Suggested for 
 the Escape of the Royal Family from Prance — The Queen Refuses 
 to Go without Her Family — Pope Pius VI. the Only Sovereign Who 
 Offered His Aid— Fatal Attempt at Last to Escape — Causes of Its 
 Failure — Death of Mirabeau. 
 
 AMID the perplexities of the Royal Family it was per- 
 fectly unavoidable that repeated proposals should 
 have been made at various times for them to escape 
 these dangers by flight. The Queen had been frequently 
 and most earnestly entreated to withdraw alone ; and the 
 King, the Princess Elizabeth, the Princess Lamballe, the 
 royal children, with their little hands uplifted, and all 
 those attached to Maria Antoinette, after the horrid busi- 
 ness at Versailles, united to supplicate her to quit France 
 and shelter herself from the peril hanging over her ex- 
 istence. Often and often have I heard the Princess 
 Lamballe repeat the words in which Her Majesty uni- 
 formly rejected the proposition. "I have no wish," cried 
 the Queen, "for myself. My life or death must be en- 
 circled by the arms of my husband and my family. With 
 them, and with them only, will I live or die." 
 
 It would have been impossible to have persuaded her 
 to leave France without her children. If any woman on 
 earth could have been justified in so doing, it would 
 have been Maria Antoinette. But she was above such 
 unnatural selfishness, though she had so many examples 
 to encourage her; for, even among the members of her 
 own family, self-preservation had been considered para- 
 mount to every other consideration. 
 
 I have heard the Princess say that Pope Pius VI. was 
 the only one of all the sovereigns who offered the slight- 
 est condolence or assistance to Louis XVI. and his family. 
 "The Pope's letter," added she, "when shown to me by 
 (246) 
 
CHAPTER XIX 247 
 
 the Queen, drew tears from my eyes. It really was in a 
 style of such Christian tenderness and princely feeling as 
 could only be dictated by a pious and illuminated head 
 of the Christian Church. He implored not only all the 
 family of Louis XVI., but even extended his entreaties 
 to me (the Princess Lamballe) to leave Paris, and save 
 themselves, by taking refuge in his dominions, from the 
 horrors which so cruelly overwhelmed them. The King's 
 aunts were the only ones who profited by the invitation. 
 Madame Elizabeth was to have been of the party, but 
 could not be persuaded to leave the King and Queen." 
 
 As the clouds grew more threatening, it is scarcely to 
 be credited how many persons interested themselves for 
 the same purpose, and what numberless schemes were 
 devised to break the fetters which had been imposed on 
 the Royal Family by their jailers, the assembly. 
 
 A party, unknown to the King and Queen, was even 
 forming under the direction of the Princess Elizabeth; 
 but as soon as Their Majesties were apprized of it, it 
 was given up as dangerous to the interests of the Royal 
 Family, because it thwarted the plans of the Marquis de 
 Bouill^. Indeed, Her Majesty could never be brought to 
 determine on any plan for her own or the King's safety 
 until their royal aunts, the Princesses Victoria and Ade- 
 laide, had left Paris. 
 
 The first attempt to fly was made early in the year 
 1 79 1, at St. Cloud, where the horses had been in prepa- 
 ration nearly a fortnight; but the scheme was abandoned 
 in consequence of having been intrusted to too many per- 
 sons. This the Queen acknowledged. She had it often 
 in her power to escape alone with her son, but would 
 not consent. 
 
 The second attempt was made in the spring of the 
 same year at Paris. The guards shut the gates of the 
 Tuileries, and would not allow the King's carriage to 
 pass. Even though a large sum of money had been ex- 
 pended to form a party to overpower the mutineers, the 
 treacherous mercenaries did not appear. The expedition 
 was, of course, obliged to be relinquished. Many of the 
 
248 CHAPTER XIX 
 
 royal household were very ill-treated, and some lives un- 
 fortunately lost. 
 
 At last, the deplorable journey did take place. The in- 
 tention had been communicated by Her Majesty to the 
 Princess Lamballe before she went abroad, and it was 
 agreed that, whenever it was carried into effect, the 
 Queen should write to her highness from Montm^di, where 
 the two friends were once more to have been reunited. 
 
 Soon after the departure of the Princess, the arrange- 
 ments for the fatal journey to Varennes were commenced, 
 but with blamable and fatal carelessness. 
 
 Mirabeau was the first person who advised the King to 
 withdraw; but he recommended that it should be alone, 
 or, at most, with the Dauphin only. He was of opinion 
 that the overthrow of the constitution could not be 
 achieved while the Royal Family remained in Paris. Hit 
 first idea was that the King should go to the seacoast, 
 where he would have it in his power instantly to escape 
 to England, if the assembly, through his (Mirabeau's) 
 means, did not comply with the royal propositions. Though 
 many of the King's advisers were for a distinct and open 
 rejection of the constitution, it was the decided impres- 
 sion of Mirabeau that he ought to stoop to conquer, and 
 temporize by an instantaneous acceptance, through which 
 he might gain time to put himself in an attitude to 
 make such terms as would at once neutralize the act and 
 the faction by which it was forced upon him. Others 
 imagined that His Majesty was too conscientious to avail 
 himself of any such subterfuge, and that, having once 
 given his sanction, he would adhere to it rigidly. This 
 third party of the royal counselors were therefore for a 
 cautious consideration of the document, clause by clause, 
 dreading the consequences of an ex abrupto signature 
 in binding the sovereign, not only against his policy, 
 but his will. 
 
 In the midst of all these distracting doubts, however, 
 the departure was resolved upon. Mirabeau had many 
 interviews with the Count de Fersen upon the subject. 
 It was his great object to prevent the flight from being 
 
CHAPTER XIX 349 
 
 encumbered. But the King would not be persuaded to 
 separate himself from the Queen and the rest of the 
 family, and intrusted the project to too many advisers. 
 Had he been guided by Fersen only, he would have suc- 
 ceeded. 
 
 The natural consequence of a secret being in so many 
 hands was felt in the result. Those whom it was most 
 important to keep in ignorance were the first on the alert. 
 The weakness of the Queen in insisting upon taking a re- 
 markable dressing case with her, and, to get it away un- 
 observed, ordering a facsimile to be made under the 
 pretext of intending it as a present to her sister at Brus- 
 sels, awakened the suspicion of a favorite, but false 
 female attendant, then intriguing with the aid-de-camp 
 of La Fayette. The rest is easily to be conceived. The 
 assembly were apprised of all the preparations for the 
 departure a week or more before it occurred. La Fa- 
 yette himself, it is believed, knew and encouraged it, that 
 he might have the glory of stopping the fugitive himself ; 
 but he was overruled by the assembly. 
 
 When the secretary of the Austrian ambassador came 
 publicly, by arrangement, to ask permission of the Queen 
 to take the model of the dressing case in question, the 
 very woman to whom I have alluded was in attendance at 
 Her Majesty's toilet. The paramour of the woman was 
 with her, watching the motions of the Royal Family or. 
 the night they passed from their own apartments to those 
 of the Duke de Villequie in order to get into the car- 
 riage ; and by this paramour was La Fayette instantly in- 
 formed of the departure. The traitress discovered that 
 Her Majesty was on the eve of setting oS by seeing her 
 diamonds packed up. All these things were fully known 
 to the assembly, of which the Queen herself was after- 
 ward apprised by the Mayor of Paris.* 
 
 In the suite of the Count de Fersen, f there was a 
 
 * See Madame Campan's work, p. 146, vol. ii. 
 
 t Alvise de Pisani, the last Venetian ambassador to the King, who 
 was my husband's particular friend, and with whom I was myself long 
 acquainted, and have been ever since to this day, as well as with all his 
 
250 CHAPTER XIX 
 
 young Swede who had an intrigue purposely with one of 
 the Queen's women, from whom he obtained many im- 
 portant disclosures relative to the times. The Swede 
 mentioned this to his patron, who advised Her Majesty 
 to discharge a certain number of these women, among 
 whom was the one who afterward proved her betrayer. 
 It was suggested to dismiss a number at once, that the 
 guilty person might not suspect the exclusion to be lev- 
 eled against her in particular. Had the Queen allowed 
 herself to be directed in this affair by Fersen, the chain 
 of communication would have been broken, and the 
 Royal Family would not have been stopped at Varennes, 
 but have got clear out of France, many hours be- 
 fore they could have been perceived by the assembly; 
 but Her Majesty never could believe that she had any- 
 thing to. fear from the quarter against which she was 
 warned. 
 
 It is not generally known that a very considerable sum 
 had been given to the head recruiting sergeant, Mirabeau, 
 to enlist such of the constituents as could be won with 
 gold to be ready with a majority in favor of the royal 
 fugitives. But the death of Mirabeau, previous to this 
 event, leaves it doubtful how far he distributed the bribes 
 conscientiously; indeed, it is rather to be questioned 
 whether he did not retain the money, or much of it, in 
 his own hands, since the strongly hoped for and dearly 
 paid majority never gave proof of existence, either before 
 or after the journey to Varennes. Immense bribes were 
 also given to the Mayor of Paris, which proved equally 
 ineffective. 
 
 Had Mirabeau lived till the affair of Varennes, it is not 
 impossible that his genius might have given a different 
 complexion to the result. He had already treated with 
 the Queen and the Princess for a reconciliation; and in 
 the apartments of her highness, disguised in a monk's 
 
 noble family, during my many years' residence at Venice, told me this 
 circumstance while walking with him at his country seat at Strk, which 
 was subsequently taken from him by Napoleon, and made the imperial 
 palace of the viceroy, and is now that of the German reigning prince. 
 
CHAPTER XIX 251 
 
 dress, had frequent evening, and early morning, audiences 
 of the Queen. 
 
 It is pretty certain, however, that the recantation of 
 Mirabeau, from avowed democracy to aristocracy and 
 royalty, through the medium of enriching himself by a 
 salva regina, made his friends prepare for him that just 
 retribution, which ended in a de profundis. At a period 
 when all his vices were called to aid one virtuous action, 
 his thread of vicious life was shortened, and he, no doubt, 
 became the victim of his insatiable avarice. That he 
 was poisoned is not to be disproved ; though it was thought 
 necessary to keep it from the knowledge of the people. 
 
 I have often heard her highness say, ' ' When I reflect on 
 the precautions which were taken to keep the interviews 
 with Mirabeau profoundly secret — that he never con- 
 versed but with the King, the Queen, and myself — his 
 untimely death must be attributed to his oWn indiscreet 
 enthusiasm, in having confidentially intrusted the success 
 with which he flattered himself, from the ascendancy he 
 had gained over the Court, to some one who betrayed 
 him. His death, so very unexpectedly, and at that crisis, 
 made a deep impression on the mind of the Qiieen. She 
 really believed him capable of redressing the monarchy, 
 and he certainly was the only one of the turncoat con- 
 stitutionalists in whom she placed any confidence. Would 
 to Heaven that she had had more in Barnave, and that 
 she had listened to Dumourier! These I would have 
 trusted more, far more readily than the mercenary Mira- 
 beau! " 
 
 I now return, once more, to the Journal of the Prin- 
 cess. 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 Journal Resumed — The Princess Lamballe Receives a Ring from the 
 Queen Set with Her Own Hair, Which Had Whitened from Grief — 
 Letter of the Queen to the Princess Lamballe — Joy of the Royal 
 Family on the Return of Her Highness to Paris — Meeting with the 
 Queen — Conversation with Her Majesty on the State of the Nation 
 and Remedies for Its Disorders — Deputies Attend the Drawing- 
 Roomof the Princess — Barnave and Others Persuade Her to Attend 
 the Debates of the Assembly — She Hears Robespierre Denounce the 
 Deputies Who Caused Her Attendance — Earnestness of the King 
 and Queen in Their Behalf — Robespierre Bribed to Suspend the Ac- 
 cusation — FStes on the Acceptance of the Constitution — Insults to 
 the Royal Party — Agony of the Queen on Her Return — Conversa- 
 tion with M. de Montmorin on Plans Necessary to be Pursued — De- 
 termination for the Queen to Go to Vienna. 
 
 " TN THE midst of the perplexing debates upon the course 
 I most advisable with regard to the constitution after 
 the unfortunate return from Varennes, I sent off 
 my little English amanuensis to Paris to bring me, 
 through the means of another trusty person I had placed 
 about the Queen, the earliest information concerning the 
 situation of affairs. On her return she brought me a 
 ring, which Her Majesty had graciously condescended to 
 send me, set with her own hair, which had whitened like 
 that of a person of eighty, from the anguish the Va- 
 rennes affair had wrought upon her mind, and bearing 
 the inscription, ' Bleached by sorrow. ' This ring was 
 accompanied by the following letter: 
 
 "'My Dearest Friend: 
 
 " ' The King has made up his mind to the acceptance of the constitu- 
 tion, and it will ere long be proclaimed publicly. A few days ago I was 
 secretly waited upon and closeted in your apartment with many of our 
 faithful friends — in particular, Alexander Lameth, Duport, Barnave, 
 Montmorin, Bertrand de Moleville, et csetera. The two latter opposed 
 the King's council, the ministers, and the numerous other advisers of an 
 immediate and unscrutinizing acceptance. They were a small minority, 
 (252) 
 
CHAPTER XX 2S3 
 
 and could not prevail with me to exercise my influence with His Majesty 
 in support of their opinion, when all the rest seemed so confident that a 
 contrary course must re-establish the tranquillity of the nation and our 
 own happiness, weaken the party of the Jacobins against us, and greatly 
 increase that of the nation in our favor. 
 
 " 'Your absence obliged me to call Elizabeth to my aid in managing 
 the coming and going of the deputies to and from the Pavilion of Flora, 
 unperceived by the spies of our enemies. She executed her charge so 
 adroitly, that the visitors were not seen by any of the household. Poor 
 Elizabeth ! little did I look for such circumspection in one so unacquainted 
 with the intrigues of Court, or the dangers surrounding us, which they 
 would now fain persuade us no longer exist. God grant it may be so ! 
 and that I may once more freely embrace and open my heart to the only 
 friend I have nearest to it. But though this is my most ardent wish, 
 yet, my dear, dearest Lamballe, I leave it to yourself to act as your feel- 
 ings dictate. Many about us profess to see the future as clear as the sun 
 at noonday. But, I confess, my vision is still dim. I cannot look into 
 events with the security of others who confound logic with their wishes. 
 The King, Elizabeth, and all of us, are anxious for your return. But it 
 would grieve us sorely for you to come back to such scenes as you have 
 already witnessed. Judge and act from your own impressions. If we 
 do not see you, send me the result of your interview at the precipice.* 
 Vostra car a picciola Inglesina \ will deliver you many letters. After 
 looking over the envelopes, you will either send her with them as soon 
 as possible or forward them as addressed, as you may think most advis- 
 able at the time you receive them. 
 
 " ' Ever, ever, and forever, 
 
 " ' Your affectionate, 
 
 " ' Maria Antoinette.' 
 
 ''There was another hurried and abrupt note from Her 
 Majesty among these papers, obviously written later than 
 the first. It lamented the cruel privations to which she 
 was doomed at the Tuileries, in consequence of the im- 
 peded flight, and declared, that what the Royal Family 
 were forced to suffer from being totally deprived of every 
 individual of their former friends and attendants to con- 
 dole with, excepting the equally oppressed and unhappy 
 Princess Elizabeth, was utterly insupportable. 
 
 " On the receipt of these much esteemed epistles, I re- 
 turned, as my duty directed, to the best of Queens, and 
 
 * The name the Queen gave to Mr. Pitt. 
 
 t The appellation by which the Princess and Her Majesty always con- 
 descended to distinguish me. 
 
254 CHAPTER XX 
 
 most sincere of friends. My arrival at Paris, though so 
 much wished for, was totally unexpected. 
 
 ' ' At our first meeting, the Queen was so agitated that 
 she was utterly at a loss to explain the satisfaction she 
 felt in beholding me once more near her royal person. 
 Seeing the ring on my finger, which she had done me 
 the honor of sending me, she pointed to her hair, once so 
 beautiful, but now, like that of an old woman, not only 
 gray, but deprived of all its softness, quite stiff and dried up. 
 
 ' ' Madame Elizabeth, the King, and the rest of our lit- 
 tle circle, lavished on me the most endearing caresses. 
 The dear Dauphin said to me, 'You will not go away 
 again, I hope. Princess ? Oh, mamma has cried so since 
 you left us! ' 
 
 "I had wept enough before, but this dear little angel 
 brought tears into the eyes of us all. 
 
 "When I mentioned to Her Majesty the affectionate 
 sympathy expressed by the King and Queen of England 
 in her sufferings, and their regret at the state of public 
 affairs in France, ' It is most noble and praiseworthy in 
 them to feel thus, ' exclaimed Maria Antoinette ; ' and the 
 more so considering the illiberal part imputed to us 
 against those sovereigns in the rebellion of their ultra- 
 marine subjects, to which, Heaven knows, I never gave 
 my approbation. Had I done so, how poignant would be 
 my remorse at the retribution of our own sufferings, and 
 the pity of those I had so injured! No. I was, perhaps, 
 the only silent individual among millions of infatuated 
 enthusiasts at General La Fayette's return to Paris, nor 
 did I sanction any of the fites given to Dr. Franklin, or 
 the American ambassadors at the time. I could not con- 
 ceive it prudent for the Queen of an absolute monarchy 
 to countenance any of their new-fangled philosophical ex- 
 periments with my presence. Now, I feel the reward in 
 my own conscience. I exult in my freedom from a self- 
 reproach, which would have been altogether insupportable 
 under the kindness of which you speak.' 
 
 "As soon as I was settled in my apartment, which was 
 on the same iioor with that of the Queen, she conde- 
 
CHAPTER XX 255 
 
 scended to relate to me every particular of her unfortu- 
 nate journey. I saw the pain it gave her to retrace the 
 scenes, and begged her to desist till time should have, in 
 some degree, assuaged the poignancy of her feelings. 
 •That,' cried she, embracing me, 'can never be! Never, 
 never will that horrid circumstance of my life lose its 
 vividness in my recollection. What agony, to have seen 
 those faithful servants tied before us on the carriage, like 
 common criminals! AH, all may be attributed to the 
 King's goodness of heart, which produces want of cour- 
 age, nay, even timidity, in the most trying scenes. As 
 poor King Charles the First, when he was betrayed in 
 the Isle of Wight, would have saved himself, and per- 
 haps thousands, had he permitted the sacrifice of one 
 traitor, so might Louis XVI. have averted calamities so 
 fearful, that I dare not name, though I distinctly forsee 
 them, had he exerted his authority where he only called 
 up his compassion.' 
 
 "'For Heaven's sake,' replied I, ' do not torment your- 
 self by these cruel recollections ! ' 
 
 "'These are gone by,' continued Her Majesty, 'and 
 greater still than even these. How can I describe my 
 grief at what I endured in the assembly, from the studied 
 humiliation to which the King and the royal authority 
 were there reduced in the face of the national represent- 
 atives! from seeing the King on his return choked with 
 anguish at the mortifications to which I was doomed to 
 behold the majesty of a French sovereign humbled ! These 
 events bespeak clouds, which, like the horrid waterspout 
 at sea, nothing can dispel but cannon! The dignity of 
 the crown, the sovereignty itself, is threatened; and this 
 I shall write this very night to the Emperor. I see no 
 hope of internal tranquillity without the powerful aid of 
 foreign force.* The King has allowed himself to be too 
 
 * The only difference of any moment which ever existed between the 
 Queen and the Princess Lamballe as to their sentiments on the Revolu- 
 tion was on this subject Her highness wished Maria Antoinette to rely 
 on the many persons who had offered and promised to serve the cause of 
 the monarchy with their internal resources, and not depend on the 
 
256 CHAPTER XX 
 
 much led to attempt to recover his power through any 
 sort of mediation. Still, the very idea of owing our 
 liberty to a foreign army distracts me for the con- 
 sequences. ' 
 
 " My reinstatement in my apartments at the Pavilion 
 of Flora seemed not only to give universal satisfaction to 
 every individual of the Royal Family, but it was hailed 
 with much enthusiasm by many deputies of the constitu- 
 ent assembly. I was honored with the respective visits of 
 all who were in any degree well disposed to the royal cause. 
 
 "One day, when Bamave and others were present with 
 the Queen, 'Now,' exclaimed one of the deputies, 'now 
 that this good Princess is returned to her adopted coun- 
 try, the active zeal of her highness, coupled with Your 
 Majesty's powerful influence over the mind of the King 
 for the welfare of his subjects, will give fresh vigor to 
 the full execution of the constitution.' 
 
 "My visitors were earnest in their invitations for me 
 to go to the assembly to hear an interesting discussion, 
 which was to be brought forward upon the King's 
 spontaneous acceptance of the constitution. 
 
 "I went; and amid the plaudits for the good King's 
 condescension, how was my heart lacerated to hear 
 Robespierre denounce three of the most distinguished of 
 the members, who had requested my attendance as trai- 
 tors to their country! 
 
 " This was the first and only assembly discussion I ever 
 attended; and how dearly did I pay for my curiosity! I 
 
 Princes and foreigpi armies. This salutary advice she never could en- 
 force on the Queen's mind, though she had to that effect been importuned 
 by upward of two hundred persons, all zealous to show their penitence 
 for former errors by their present devotedness. 
 
 "Whenever," observed her highness, "we came to that point, the 
 yueen (upon seriously reflecting that these persons had been active in- 
 struments in promoting the first changes in the monarchy, for which she 
 never forgave them from her heart) would hesitate and doubt; and never 
 could I bring Her Majesty definitely to believe the profferers to be sin- 
 cere. Hence, they were trifled with, till one by one she either lost them, 
 or saw them sacrificed to an attachment, which her own distrust and 
 indecision rendered fruitless." 
 
CHAPTER XX 257 
 
 was accompanied by my cara Inglesina, who, always on 
 the alert, exclaimed, ' Let me entreat your highness not 
 to remain any longer in this place. You are too deeply 
 moved to dissemble.' 
 
 "I took her judicious advice, and the moment I could 
 leave the assembly unperceived, I hastened back to the 
 Queen to beg her, for God's sake, to be upon her guard ; 
 for, from what I had just heard at the assembly, I feared 
 the Jacobins had discovered her plans with Bamave, La- 
 meth, Duport, and others of the royal party. Her coun- 
 tenance, for some minutes, seemed to be the only sensitive 
 part of her. It was perpetually shifting from a high 
 florid color to the paleness of death. When her first 
 emotions gave way to nature, she threw herself into my 
 arms, and, for some time, her feelings were so overcome 
 by the dangers which threatened these worthy men, that 
 she could only in the bitterness of her anguish exclaim, 
 'Oh! this is all on my account!' And I think she was 
 almost as much alarmed for the safety of these faithful men, 
 as she had been for that of the King on the 17th of July, 
 when the Jacobins in the Champ de Mars called out to 
 have the King brought to trial — a day of which the hor- 
 rors were never effaced from her memory! 
 
 " The King and the Princess Elizabeth fortunately came 
 in at the moment; but even our united efforts were un- 
 available. The grief of Her Majesty at feeling herself 
 the cause of the misfortunes of these faithful adherents, 
 now devoted victims of their earnestness in foiling the 
 machinations against the liberty and life of the King and 
 herself, made her nearly frantic. She too well knew that to 
 be accused was to incur instant death. That she retained 
 her senses under the convulsion of her feelings can only be 
 ascribed to that wonderful strength of mind, which tri- 
 umphed over every bodily weakness, and still sustains her 
 under every emergency. 
 
 "The King and the Princess Elizabeth, by whom Bar- 
 nave had been much esteemed ever since the journey 
 from Varennes, were both inconsolable. I really believe 
 the Queen entirely owed her instantaneous recovery from 
 17 
 
258 CHAPTER XX 
 
 that deadlv lethargic state in which she had been thrown 
 by her griei for the destined sacrifice, to the exuberant 
 goodness of the King's heart, who instantly resolved to 
 compromise his own existence, to save those who had 
 forfeited theirs for him and his family. 
 
 "Seeing the emotion of the Queen, 'I will go myself 
 to the assembly,' said Louis XVI. 'and declare their in- 
 nocence ! * 
 
 "The Queen sprang forward, as if on the wings of an 
 angel, and grasping the King in her arms, cried, 'Will 
 you hasten their deaths by confirming the impression of 
 your keeping up an understanding with them ? Gracious 
 Heaven! Oh, that I could recall the acts of attachment 
 they have shown us, since to these they are now falling 
 victims! I would save them,' continued Her Majesty, 
 ' with my own blood ; but, sire, it is useless. We should 
 only, expose ourselves to the vindictive spirit of the Jac- 
 obins without aiding the cause of our devoted friends. 
 
 "'Who,' asked she, 'was the guilty wretch that ac- 
 cused our unfortunate Barnave? ' 
 
 " ' Robespierre.' 
 
 "'Robespierre!' echoed Her Majesty. 'Oh God! then 
 he is numbered with the dead! This fellow is too fond 
 of blood to be tempted with money. But you, sire, must 
 not interfere! ' 
 
 " Notwithstanding these doubts, however, I undertook, 
 at the King and Queen's most earnest desire, to get 
 some one to feel the pulse of Robespierre, for the salva- 
 tion of these our only palladium to the constitutional 
 monarchy. To the first application, though made through 
 the medium of one of his earliest college intimates. Car- 
 rier, the wretch was utterly deaf and insensible. Of this 
 failure I hastened to apprize Her Majesty. 'Was any sum,' 
 asked she, * named as a compensation for suspending this 
 trial?' 'None,' replied I; 'I had no commands to that 
 effect.' 'Then let the attempt be renewed, and back it 
 with the argument of a check for a hundred thousand 
 livres on M. Laborde. He has saved my life and the 
 King's, and, as far as is in my power, I am determined 
 
CHAPTER XX 259 
 
 to save his. Barnave has exposed his life more than any 
 of our unfortunate friends, and if we can but succeed in 
 saving him, he will speedily be enabled to save his col- 
 leagues. Should the sum I name be insufficient, my 
 jewels shall be disposed of to make up a larger one. 
 Fly to your agent, dear Princess! Lose not a moment 
 to intercede in behalf of these our only true friends ! ' 
 
 " I did so, and was fortunate enough to gain over to 
 my personal entreaties one who had the courage to pro- 
 pose the business; and a hundred and fifty thousand 
 livres procured them a suspension of accusation. All, 
 however, are still watched with such severity of scrutiny 
 that I tremble, even now, for the result.* 
 
 "It was in the tnidst of such apprehensions, which 
 struck terror into the hearts of the King and Queen, that 
 the Tuileries resounded with cries of multitudes hired 
 to renew those shouts of ' Vive le roi! vive la famille 
 royale ! ' which were once spontaneous. 
 
 "In one of the moments of our deepest affliction, mul- 
 titudes were thronging the gardens and enjoying the 
 celebration of the acceptance of the constitution. What 
 a contrast to the feelings of the unhappy inmates of the 
 palace! We may well say, that many an aching heart 
 rides in a carriage, while the pedestrian is happy! 
 
 "The /^tes on this occasion were very brilliant. The 
 King, the Queen, and the Royal Family were invited to 
 take part in this first national festival. They did so, by 
 appearing in their carriage through the streets of Paris 
 and the Champs Elys^es, escorted only by the Parisian 
 guard, there being no other at the time. The mob was 
 so great, that the royal carriage could only keep pace 
 with the foot passengers. 
 
 *And with reason; for all, eventually, were sacrificed upon the scaf- 
 fold. Carrier was the factotum in all the cool, deliberate, sanguinary- 
 operations of Robespierre; when he saw the check, he said to the 
 Princess Lamballe: "Madam, though your personal charms and mental 
 virtues had completely influenced all the authority I could exercise in 
 favor of your protegd, without this interesting argument I should not 
 have had courage to have renewed the business with the/ principal agent 
 of tife and death." 
 
26o CHAPTER XX 
 
 "Their Majesties were in general well received. The 
 only exceptions were a few of the Jacobin members of 
 the assembly, who, even on this occasion, sought every 
 means to afHict the hearts, and shock the ears of Their 
 Majesties, by causing republican principles to be vocifer- 
 ated at the very doors of their carriage. 
 
 "The good sense of the King and Queen prevented 
 them from taking any notice of these insults while in 
 public; but no sooner had they returned to the castle, 
 than the Queen gave way to her grief at the premedi- 
 tated humiliation she was continually witnessing to the 
 majesty of the constitutional monarchy; an insult less to 
 the King himself than to the nation, which had acknowl- 
 edged him their sovereign. 
 
 "When the royal party entered the apartment, they 
 found M. de Montmorin with me, who had come to 
 talk over these matters, secure that at such a moment we 
 should not be surprised. 
 
 "On hearing the Queen's observation, M. de Mont- 
 morin made no secret of the necessity there was of Their 
 Majesties dissembling their feelings ; the avowal of which, 
 he said, would only tend to forward the triumph of 
 Jacobinism, ' which,' added he, * I am sorry to see predomi- 
 nates in the assembly, and keeps in subordination all 
 the public and private clubs."" 
 
 * I recollect a letter from the Princess Lamballe to the Queen upon 
 the subject of the constitution and its supporters, in which her highness 
 observes that she believed Barnave, Duport, Lameth. and the sixty-two 
 other deputies detached by them from the left side of the assembly, to 
 be the only members who entered bona fide into the spirit of the times. 
 The Princess was persuaded that they, and they only, were sincerely dis- 
 posed to uphold the constitutional monarchy; and she earnestly advised 
 Her Majesty to profit by their counsel and warned her against all the 
 rest, whom she deemed actuated by private motives, personal resent- 
 ments, or ambition — treacherous conspirators, looking to their own ag- 
 grandizement, building chAteaux en Espagne, or from more criminal 
 motives injuring alike the royal authority and the progress of the consti- 
 tutional system by disunion among themselves, notwithstanding the im- 
 mense, the incalculable sums expended by the Court for its promulgation. 
 
 One-tenth of the money thus impotently lavished would have been 
 more than sufScient to have secured the assistance of the most effective 
 
CHAPTER XX 261 
 
 "'What!' exclaimed the Princess Elizabeth, 'can that 
 be possible, after the King has accepted the constitu- 
 tion ? ' 
 
 "'Yes,' said the Queen; ' these people, my dear Eliza- 
 beth, wish for a constitution which sanctions the over- 
 throw of him by whom it has been granted.' 
 
 "'In this,' observed M. de Montmorin, 'as on some 
 other points, I perfectly agree with Your Majesty and the 
 King, notwithstanding I have been opposed by the whole 
 council and many other honest constituent members, as 
 well as the cabinet of Vienna. And it is still, as it has 
 ever been, my firm opinion, that the King ought, previous 
 to the acceptance of the constitution, to have been al- 
 lowed, for the security of its future organization, to have 
 examined it maturely ; which, not having been the case, I 
 foresee the dangerous situation in which His Majesty 
 stands, and I foresee, too, the non-promulgation of this 
 charter. Malouet, who is an honest man, is of my opin- 
 ion. Duport, Lameth, Barnave, and even La Fayette are 
 intimidated at the prevailing spirit of the Jacobins. They 
 were all with the best intentions for Your Majesty's pres- 
 ent safety, for the acceptance in toto, but without reflecting 
 
 mercenary military force -which, well directed, would have established 
 the national tranquillity and the constitutional monarchical authority; 
 but the first rational proposers of limited monarchy were considered so 
 criminal in their ideas by all those who have unfortunately suffered on 
 the scaffold for their folly in rejecting it, that they were not only never 
 listened to, but never forgiven ; and had a change taken place in favor 
 of the executive royal authority no measures would have been observed, 
 and one and all would have been exiled from France. This I have heard 
 repeatedly asserted by the Princess Lamballe, who disapproved of it as a 
 maxim, and often told the Queen so ; but it was adopted by all the Princes 
 of the blood, who uniformly counseled the King to adhere rather to the 
 Jacobin party than to the constitutional, from an idea that they would 
 be much more easily got rid of. 
 
 These sentiments were never generally known. They were circum- 
 scribed to those immediately concerned. But if we take a retrospective 
 view of the different stages and maneuvers of the Revolution, it will 
 clearly appear, from the total desertion of the royal party, that there 
 must have been well-founded circumstances of premeditated vengeance, 
 so thoroughly to have paralyzed every operation they attempted. 
 
262 CHAPTER XX 
 
 on the consequences which must follow should the na- 
 tion be deceived. But I, who am, and ever shall be, 
 attached to royalty, regret the step, though I am clear in 
 my impression as to the only course which ought to suc- 
 ceed it. The throne can now only be made secure by the 
 most unequivocal frankness of proceeding on the part of 
 the crown. It is not enough to have conceded, it is nec- 
 essary also to show that the concession has some more 
 solid origin than mere expediency. It should be made 
 with a good grace. Every motive of prudence, as well 
 as of necessity, requires that the monarch himself, and 
 all those most interested for his safety, should, neither in 
 looks, manners, or conversation, seem as if they felt a re- 
 gret for what has been lost, but rather appear satisfied 
 with what has been bestowed.' 
 
 "'In that case,' said the Queen, 'we should lose all 
 the support of the royalists.' 
 
 "'Every royalist, madam,' replied he, 'who, at this 
 critical crisis, does not avow the sentiments of a consti- 
 tutionalist, is a nail in the King's untimely coffin.' 
 
 ' ' ' Gracious God ! ' cried the Queen ; ' that would destroy 
 the only hope which still flatters our drooping existence. 
 Symptoms of moderation, or any conciliatory measures we 
 might be inclined to show, of our free will, to the con- 
 stitutionalists, would be immediately considered as a de- 
 sertion of our supporters, and treachery to ourselves, by 
 the royalists.' 
 
 " ' It would be placed entirely out of my power, madam. ' 
 replied M. de Montmorin, ' to make my attachment to 
 the persons of Your Majesties available for the mainte- 
 nance of your rights, did I permit the factious, overbear- 
 ing party which prevails, to see into my real zeal for the 
 restoration of the royal authority, so necessary for their 
 own future honor, security, and happiness. Could they 
 see this, I should be accused as a national traitor, or 
 even worse, and sent out of the world by a sudden death 
 of ignominy, merely to glut their hatred of monarchy; 
 and it is therefore I dissemble.' 
 
 " ' I perfectly agree with you,' answered the Queen. 
 
CHAPTER XX 263 
 
 'That cruel moment when I witnessed the humiliating 
 state to which royalty had been reduced by the constitu- 
 ents, when they placed the President of their assembly 
 upon a level with the King; gave a plebeian, exercising 
 his functions pro tempore, prerogatives in the face of the 
 nation to trample down hereditary monarchy and legisla- 
 tive authority — that cruel moment discovered the fatal 
 truth. In the anguish of my heart, I told His Majesty 
 that he had outlived his kingly authority.' Here she 
 burst into tears, hiding her face in her handkerchief. 
 
 "With the mildness of a saint, the angelic Princess 
 Elizabeth exclaimed, turning to the King, ' Say some- 
 thing to the Queen, to calm her anguish ! ' 
 
 "'It will be of no avail,' said the King; 'her grief 
 adds to my afHiction. I have been the innocent cause of 
 her participating in this total ruin, aiid as it is only her 
 fortitude which has hitherto supported me, with the same 
 philosophical and religious resignation we must await 
 what fate destines ! ' 
 
 "'Yes,' observed M. de Montmorin; 'but Providence 
 has also given us the rational faculty of opposing immi- 
 nent danger, and by activity and exertion obviating its 
 consequences. ' 
 
 "'In what manner, sir?' cried the Queen; 'tell me 
 how this is to be effected, and, with the King's sanction, 
 I am ready to do anything to avert the storm, which so 
 loudly threatens the august head of the French nation.' 
 
 "'Vienna, madam,' replied he; 'Vienna! Your Maj- 
 esty's presence at Vienna would do more for the King's 
 safety and the nation's future tranquillity, than the most 
 powerful army.' 
 
 '"We have long since suggested,' said the Princess 
 Elizabeth, 'that Her Majesty should fly from France 
 and take refuge ' 
 
 '"Pardon me, Princess,' interrupted M. de MoHtmorin, 
 ' it is not for refuge solely I would have Her Majesty go 
 thither. It is to give efficacy to the love she bears the 
 King and his family, in being there the powerful advo- 
 cate to check the fallacious march of a foreign army to 
 
264 CHAPTER XX 
 
 invade us for the subjection of the French nation. All 
 these external attempts will prove abortive, and only 
 tend to exasperate the French to crime and madness. 
 Here I coincide with my coadjutors, Barnave, Duport, 
 Lameth, etc. The principle on which the re-establishment 
 of the order and tranquillity of France depends, can 
 only be effected by the non-interference of foreign powers. 
 Let them leave the rational resources of our own internal 
 force to re-establish our real interests, which every honest 
 Frenchman will strive to secure, if not thwarted by the 
 threats and menaces of those who have no right to inter- 
 fere. Besides, madam, they are too far from us to afford 
 immediate relief from the present dangers, internally sur- 
 rounding us. These are the points of fearful import. 
 It is not the threats and menaces of a foreign army 
 which can subdue a nation's internal factions. These 
 only rouse them to prolong disorders. National commo- 
 tions can only be quelled by national spirit, whose fury, 
 once exhausted on those who have aroused it, leave it 
 free to look within, and work a reform upon itself.' 
 
 " M. de Montmorin, after many other prudent exhorta- 
 tions and remarks, and some advice with regard to the 
 King and Queen's household, took his leave. He was no 
 sooner gone than it was decided by the King that Maria 
 Antoinette, accompanied by myself and some other ladies, 
 and the gentlemen of the bedchamber, couriers, etc., 
 should set out forthwith for Vienna.* 
 
 *The Princess Lamballe sent tne directions that very evening, some 
 time after midnight, to be at our place of rendezvous early in the morn- 
 ing. I was overjoyed at the style of the note. It was the least mys- 
 terious I had ever received from her highness. I inferred that some 
 fortunate event had occurred, with which, knowing how deeply I was 
 interested in the fate of her on whom my own so much depended, she was 
 eager to make me acquainted. 
 
 But what was my surprise, on entering the church iixed on for the 
 meeting, to see the Queen's unknown confessor beckoning me to come 
 to him. I approached. He bade me wait till after mass, when he had 
 something to communicate from the Princess. 
 
 This confessor officiated in the place of the one whom Mirabeau had 
 seduced to take the constitutional oath. The Queen and Princess con- 
 
CHAPTER XX 26s 
 
 "To say why this purpose was abandoned is unneces- 
 sary. The same fatality, which renders every project un- 
 attainable, threw insuperable impediments in the way of 
 this. 
 
 fessed to him in the private apartment of her highness on the ground 
 floor; though it was never known where, or to whom they confessed, 
 after the treachery of the royal confessor. This faithful and worthy suc- 
 cessor was only known as " the unknown." I never heard who he was, 
 or what was his name. 
 
 The mass being over, I followed him into the sacristy. He told me 
 that the Princess, by Her Majesty's command, wished me to set off im- 
 mediately for Strasburg, and there await the arrival of her highness, to 
 be in readiness to follow her and Her Majesty for the copying of the 
 cipher, as they were going to Vienna. 
 
 When everything, however, had been settled for their departure, 
 which it was agreed was to take place from the house of Count de Fer- 
 sen, the resolution was suddenly changed ; but I was desired to hold my- 
 self in readiness for another journey. 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 Journal Continued — EflEect on the Queen of the Death of Her Broth- 
 ers, the Emperors Joseph and Leopold — Change in the Queen's 
 Household During the Absence of the Princess — Causes and Con- 
 sequences — Course Pursued by the Princess — Communication from 
 M. Laporte, Head of the King's Police, of a Plot to Poison the 
 Queen and Royal Family — Plans to Prevent Its Accomplishment — 
 Conversations between the Queen and the Princess, and between 
 the King and the Queen upon the Subject. 
 
 "rTPiHE news of the death of the Emperor Leopold, in 
 I the midst of the other distresses of Her Majesty, 
 afflicted her very deeply; the more so because 
 she had every reason to think he fell a victim to the ac- 
 tive part he took in her favor. Externally, this monarch 
 certainly demonstrated no very great inclination to be- 
 come a member of the coalition of Pilnitz. He judged, 
 very justly, that his brother Joseph had not only de- 
 feated his own purposes by too openly and violently as- 
 serting the cause of their unfortunate sister, but had 
 destroyed himself, and, therefore, selected what he deemed 
 the safer and surer course of secret support. But all 
 his caution proved abortive. The assembly knew his ma- 
 neuvers as well as he himself did. He died an untimely 
 death; and the Queen was assured, from undoubted 
 authority, that both Joseph and Leopold were poisoned 
 in their medicines. 
 
 "During my short absence in England, the King's 
 household had undergone a complete change. When the 
 emigration first commenced, a revolution in the officers of the 
 Court took place, but it was of a nature different from this 
 last ; and, by destroying itself, left the field open to those who 
 now made the palace so intolerable. The first change to 
 which I refer arose as follows: 
 
 "The greater part of the high offices being vacated by the 
 (266) 
 
CHAPTER XXI 267 
 
 succession of the most distinguished nobility, many places 
 fell to persons who had all their lives occupied very sub- 
 ordinate situations. These, to retain their offices, were 
 indiscreet enough publicly to declare their dissent from 
 all the measures of the assembly; an absurdity, which, 
 at the commencement, was encouraged by the Court, till 
 the extreme danger of encouraging it was discovered too 
 late; and when once the error had been tolerated and 
 rewarded, it was found impossible to check it, and stop 
 these fatal tongues. The Queen, who disliked the char- 
 acter of capriciousness, for a long time allowed the in- 
 jury to go on, by continuing about her those who inflicted 
 it. The error, which arose from delicacy, was imputed 
 to a very different and less honorable feeling, till the 
 clamor became so great, that she was obliged to yield to 
 it, and dismiss those who had acted with so much indis- 
 cretion. 
 
 "The King and Queen did not dare now to express 
 themselves on the subject of the substitutes who were to 
 succeed. Consequently they became surrounded by per- 
 sons placed by the assembly as spies. The most conspicu- 
 ous situations were filled by the meanest persons — not, 
 as in the former case, by such as had risen, though by 
 accident, still regularly to their places — but by myrmidons 
 of the prevailing power, to whom Their Majesties were 
 compelled to submit, because their rulers willed it. 
 All orders of nobility were abolished. All the Court 
 ladies, not attached to the King and Queen personally, 
 abandoned the Court. No one would be seen at the 
 Queen's card parties, once so crowded, and so much 
 sought after. We were entirely reduced to the family 
 circle. The King, when weary of playing with the Prin- 
 cess Elizabeth and the Queen, would retire to his apart- 
 ments without uttering a word, not from sullenness, but 
 overcome by silent grief. 
 
 "The Queen was occupied continually by the extensive 
 correspondence she had to carry on with the foreign sov- 
 ereigns, the princes, and the different parties. Her Maj- 
 esty once gave me nearly thirty letters she had written in 
 
268 CHAPTER XXI 
 
 the course of two days, which were forwarded by my cara 
 Inglesina — cara indeed ! for she was of the greatest serv- 
 ice.* 
 
 " Her Majesty slept very little. But her courage never 
 slackened; and neither her health, nor her general ami- 
 ableness, was in the least a£Eected. Though few females 
 could be more sensible than herself to poignant mortifi- 
 cation at seeing her former splendor hourly decrease, yet 
 she never once complained. She was, in this respect, a 
 real stoic. 
 
 "The palace was now become, what it still remains, 
 like a police office. It was filled with spies and runners. 
 Every member of the assembly, by some means or other, 
 had his respective emissary. All the antechambers were 
 peopled by inveterate Jacobins, by those whose greatest 
 pleasure was to insult the ears and minds of all whom 
 they considered above themselves in birth, or rank, or 
 virtue. So completely were the decencies of life abolished, 
 that common respect was withheld even from the Royal 
 Family. 
 
 " "I was determined to persevere in my usual line of 
 conduct, of which the King and Queen very much ap- 
 proved. Without setting up for a person of importance, 
 I saw all who wished for public or private audiences of 
 Their Majesties. I carried on no intrigues, and only 
 discharged the humble duties of my situation to the best 
 of my ability for the general good, and to secure as far 
 as possible, the comfort of Their Majesties, who really 
 were to be pitied, utterly friendless and forsaken as they 
 were. 
 
 " M. Laporte, the head of the King's private police, 
 came to me one day in great consternation. He had dis- 
 covered that schemes were on foot to poison all the Royal 
 Family, and that in a private committee of the assembly 
 
 * I here copy the very words of that angelic victim, not from vanity 
 to myself, but merely to do justice to the goodness of her heart, which 
 at the moment she was so deeply engrossed in matters of such impor- 
 tance, could divert her attention to the remembrance of the little services 
 it was my duty and my good fortune to perform. 
 
CHAPTER XXI 269 
 
 considerable pensions had been offered for the perpetra- 
 tion of the crime. Its facility was increased, as far as 
 regarded the Queen, by the habit to which Her Majesty 
 had accustomed herself of always keeping powdered sugar 
 at hand, which, without referring to her attendants, she 
 would herself mix with water and drink as a beverage 
 whenever she was thirsty. 
 
 "I entreated M. Laporte not to disclose the conspiracy 
 to the Queen till I had myself had an opportunity of 
 apprizing her of his praiseworthy zeal. He agreed, on 
 condition that precautions should be immediately adopted 
 with respect to the persons who attended the kitchen. 
 This, I assured him, should be done on the instant. 
 
 "At the period I mention, all sorts of etiquette had 
 been abolished. The custom which prevented my ap- 
 pearing before the Queen except at stated hours, had 
 long since been discontinued; and as all the other indi- 
 viduals who came before or after the hours of service 
 were eyed with distrust, and I remained the only one 
 whose access to Their Majesties was free and unsus- 
 pected, though it was very early when M. Laporte called, 
 I thought it my duty to hasten immediately to my royal 
 mistress. 
 
 " I found her in bed. ' Has Your Majesty breakfasted? ' 
 said I. 
 
 " 'No,' replied she; 'will you breakfast with me?' 
 
 " 'Most certainly,' said I, 'if Your Majesty will insure 
 me against being poisoned.' 
 
 "At the word poison Her Majesty started up and 
 looked at me very earnestly, and with a considerable de- 
 gree of alarm. 
 
 "'I am only joking,' continued I; 'I will breakfast 
 with Your Majesty if you will give me tea.' 
 
 "Tea was presently brought. 'In this,' said I, 'there 
 is no danger.' 
 
 " 'What do you mean?' asked Her Majesty. 
 
 " ' I am ordered,' replied I, taking up a lump of sugar, 
 * not to drink chocolate, or coifee, or anything with pow- 
 dered sugar. These are times when caution alone can 
 
270 CHAPTER XXI 
 
 prevent our being sent out of the world with all bur sins 
 upon our heads.' 
 
 "'I am very glad to hear you say so; for you have 
 reason to be particular, after what you once so cruelly 
 suffered from poison. But what has brought that again 
 into your mind just now?' 
 
 " 'Well, then, since Your Majesty approves of my cir- 
 cumspection, allow me to say I think it advisable that 
 we should, at a moment like this especially, abstain from 
 all sorts of food by which our existence may be endan- 
 gered. For my own part, I mean to give up all made 
 dishes, and confine myself to the simplest diet.* 
 
 "'Come, come. Princess,' interrupted Her Majesty; 
 ' there is more in this than you wish me to understand. 
 Fear not. I am prepared for anything that may be per- 
 petrated against my own life, but let me preserve from 
 peril my King, my husband, and my children!' 
 
 "My feelings prevented me from continuing to dissem- 
 ble. I candidly repeated all I had heard from M. Laporte. 
 
 "Her Majesty instantly rang for one of her confiden- 
 tial women. 'Go to the King,' said Her Majesty to the 
 attendant, 'and if you find him alone, beg him to come 
 to me at once; but if there are any of the guards or 
 other persons within hearing, merely say that the Princess 
 Lamballe is with me and is desirous of the loan of a 
 newspaper. ' 
 
 "The King's guard, and indeed most of those about 
 him, were no better than spies, and this caution in the 
 Queen was necessary to prevent any jealousy from being 
 excited by the sudden message. 
 
 "When the messenger left us by ourselves, I observed 
 to Her Majesty that it would be imprudent to give the 
 least publicity to the circumstance, for were it really 
 mere suspicion in the head of the police, its disclosure 
 might only put this scheme into some miscreant's head, 
 and tempt him to realize it. The Queen said I was per- 
 fectly right, and it should be kept secret. 
 
 "Our ambassadress was fortunate enough to reach the 
 King's apartment unobserved, and to find him unattended, 
 
CHAPTER XXI 271 
 
 so he received the message forthwith. On leaving the 
 apartment, however, she was noticed and watched. She 
 immediately went out of the Tuileries as if sent to make 
 purchases, and some time afterward returned with some 
 trifling articles in her hand.* 
 
 "The moment the King appeared, 'Sire,' exclaimed 
 Her Majesty, ' the assembly, tired of endeavoring to 
 wear us to death by slow torment, have devised an ex- 
 pedient to relieve their own anxiety and prevent us from 
 putting them to further inconvenience.' 
 
 "•What do you mean?' said the King. I repeated my 
 conversation with M. Laporte. ' Bah ! bah !" resumed His 
 Majesty, 'They never will attempt it. They have fixed 
 on other methods of getting rid of us. They have not 
 POLICY enough to allow our deaths to be ascribed to acci- 
 dent. They are too much initiated in greaf crimes already. ' 
 
 "'But,' asked the Queen, 'do you not think it highly 
 necessary to make use of every precaution, when we are 
 morally sure of the probability of such a plot ? ' 
 
 '"Most certainly! otherwise we should be, in the eyes 
 of God, almost guilty of suicide. But how prevent it? 
 surrounded as we are by persons, who, being seduced to 
 believe that we are plotting against them, feel justified 
 in the commission of any crime under the false idea of 
 self-defense ! ' 
 
 * This incident will give the reader an idea of the cruel situation in 
 which the first sovereigns of Europe then stood ; and how much they ap- 
 preciated the few subjects who devoted themselves to thwart and mitigate 
 the tyranny practiced by tlie assembly over these illustrious victims. I 
 can speak from my own experience on these matters. Prom the time I 
 last accompanied the Princess Lamballe to Paris till I left it in 1792, 
 what between milliners, dressmakers, flower girls, fancy toy sellers, per- 
 fumers, hawkers of jewelry, purse and gaiter makers, etc., I had myself 
 assumed twenty different characters, besides that of a drummer boy, 
 sometimes blackening my face to enter the palace unnoticed, and often 
 holding conversations analogous to the sentiments of the wretches who 
 were piercing my heart with the remarks circumstances compelled me 
 to encourage. Indeed, I can safely say I was known, in some shape or 
 other, to almost everybody, but to no one in my real character, except 
 the Princess by whom I was so graciously employed. 
 
272 CHAPTER XXI 
 
 " 'We may prevent it,' replied Her Majesty, 'by ab- 
 staining from everything in our diet wherein poison can 
 be introduced; and that we can manage without making 
 any stir by the least change either in the kitchen ar- 
 rangements or in our own, except, indeed, this one. 
 Luckily, as we are restricted in our attendants, we have 
 a fair excuse for dumb waiters, whereby it will be per- 
 fectly easy to choose or discard without exciting suspicion. ' 
 
 "This, consequently, was the course agreed upon; and 
 every possible means, direct and indirect, was put into 
 action to secure the future safety of the Royal Family 
 and prevent the accomplishment of the threat of poison.* 
 
 * On my seeing the Princess next morning, her highness condescended 
 to inform me of the danger to which herself and the Royal Family were 
 exposed. She requested I would send my man servant to the persons 
 who served me, to fill a moderate-sized hamper with wine, salt, choco- 
 late, biscuits, and liquors, and take it to her apartment, at the Pavilion 
 of Flora, to be used as occasion required. All the fresh bread and but- 
 ter which was necessary I got made for nearly a fortnight by persons 
 whom I knew at a distance from the palace, whither I always conveyed 
 it myself. 
 
 Much greater precautions were adopted by the Queen's confidential 
 woman, Madame Campan, who, in her work, speaks more at large upon 
 the subject. 
 
 When the Princess apprized me of the plot, " We have escaped, how- 
 ever," she observed, " the horrid plots of the 20th of June apd of the 14th 
 of July. If they do not attempt another attack on the Tuileries we may 
 possibly still escape assassination — but this I much doubt." 
 
 I was greatly affected at hearing this observation from her highness; 
 and especially at the cool and resigned manner in which it was made, 
 as if she considered it a matter of course. I took the liberty of saying, 
 in answer, that whatever might have been the effect of past calamities, I 
 hoped she had no reasons for her melancholy apprehensions of the future. 
 
 " Sia quel cK Iddio voglia! Let the will of God be done," cried 
 she. " My religion has hitherto strengthened me; but I have still the 
 most cruel forebodings for the fate of the King, the Queen, and their in- 
 nocent offspring. May God continue to protect them, as he has hitherto 
 done, against their unnatural enemies ! As for myself, I am a foreigner ; 
 and if ever a foreign army enters France, I shall be the first to be sacri- 
 ficed — and I am prepared ! " 
 
 This heroic resignation resembles what Bertrand de Molleville de- 
 scribes of the martyred Louis XVL after his escape from the dangers of 
 the 2otb of June. 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 Editor in Continuation — Consequences of the Emigfration of the Princes 
 and Nobility — Princess Lamballe Writes to Recall the Emigrants — 
 The Royal Family and the Distinguished Friends of the Princess Im- 
 plore Her to Quit France — Her Magnanimous Reply — Is Prevailed 
 on to Go to England on a Renewal of Her Mission — Finds in Eng- 
 land a Coolness toward France — In Consequence of Increasing 
 Troubles in France Returns Thither. 
 
 I AM again, for this and the following chapter, compelled 
 to resume the pen in my own person, and quit the 
 more agreeable office of a transcriber for my illus- 
 trious patroness. 
 
 I have already mentioned that the Princess Lamballe, 
 on first returning from England to France, anticipated 
 great advantages from the recall of the emigrants. The 
 desertion of France by so many of the powerful could not 
 but be a deathblow to the prosperity of the monarchy. 
 There was no reason for these flights at the time they 
 began. The fugitives only set fire to the four quarters 
 of the globe against their country. It was natural enough 
 that the servants whom they had left behind to keep their 
 places should take advantage of their masters' pusillanim- 
 ity, and make laws to exclude those who had, uncalled 
 for, resigned the sway into bolder and more active hands. 
 
 I do not mean to impeach the living for the dead; but 
 when we see those bearing the lofty titles of brothers of 
 kings and princesses, escaping, with their wives and fam- 
 ilies, from an only brother and sister with helpless infant 
 children, at the hour of danger, we cannot help wishing 
 for a little plebeian disinterestedness in exalted minds. 
 
 I have traveled Europe twice, and I have never seen 
 any woman with that indescribable charm of person, man- 
 ner, and character, which distinguished Maria Antoinette. 
 This is in itself a distinction quite sufiicient to detach 
 l8 (273) 
 
274 CHAPTER XXII 
 
 friends from its possessor through envy. Besides, she 
 was Queen of France; the first female of a most capri- 
 cious, restless, and libertine nation. The two princesses 
 placed nearest to her, and who were the first to desert 
 her, though both very much inferior in personal and men- 
 tal qualifications, no doubt, though not directly, may have 
 entertained some anticipations of her place. Such feel- 
 ings are not likely to decrease the distaste, which results 
 from comparisons to our own disadvantage. It is, there- 
 fore, scarcely to be wondered at, that those nearest to the 
 throne should be least attached to those who fill it. How 
 little do such persons think that the grave they are thus 
 insensibly digging may prove their own! In this case it 
 only did not by a miracle. What the effect of the royal 
 brothers' and the nobility's remaining in France would 
 have been we can only conjecture. That their departure 
 caused great and irreparable evils we know ; and we have 
 good reason to think they caused the greatest. Those 
 who abandon their houses on fire, silently give up their 
 claims to the devouring element. Thus the first emigra- 
 tion kindled the French flame, which, though for a while 
 it was got under by a foreign stream, was never com- 
 pletely extinguished till subdued by its native current. 
 
 The unfortunate Louis XVI. and Maria Antoinette 
 ceased to be sovereigns from the period they were igno- 
 miniously dragged to their jail at the Tuileries. Prom 
 this moment they were abandoned to the vengeance of 
 miscreants, who were disgracing the nation with unpro- 
 voked and useless murders. But from this moment also 
 the zeal of the Princesses Elizabeth and Lamballe be- 
 came redoubled. Out of one hundred individuals and 
 more, male and female, who had been exclusively occu- 
 pied about the person of Maria Antoinette, few, excepting 
 this illustrious pair, and the inestimable Clery, remained 
 devoted to the last. The saintlike virtues of these Prin- 
 cesses, malice itself has not been able to tarnish. Their 
 love and unalterable friendship became the shield of 
 their unfortunate sovereigns, and their much injured 
 relatives, till the dart struck their own faithful bosoms. 
 
CHAPTER XXII 375 
 
 Princes of the earth! here is a lesson of greatness from 
 the great. 
 
 Scarcely had the Princess Lamballe been reinstated in 
 the Pavilion of Flora at the Tuileries, than, by the special 
 royal command, and in Her Majesty's presence, she wrote 
 to most of the nobility, entreating their return to France. 
 She urged them, by every argument, that there was no 
 other means of saving them or their country from the 
 horrors impending over them and France, should they 
 persevere in their pernicious absence. In some of these 
 letters, which I copied, there was written on the margin, 
 in the Queen's hand, "I am at her elbow, and repeat 
 the necessity of your returning, if you love your King, 
 your religion, your government, and your country. 
 Maria Antoinette. Return! Return! Return!" 
 
 Among these letters, I remember a large envelope di- 
 rected to the Duchess de Brisac, then residing alternately 
 at the baths of Albano and the mineral waters at Val- 
 dagno, near Vicenza, in the Venetian states. Her Grace 
 was charged to deliver letters addressed to Her Majesty's 
 royal brothers, the Count de Provence, and the Count 
 d'Artois, who were then residing, I think, at Strk, on 
 the Brenta, in company with Madame Polcatre, Diana 
 Polignac, and others. 
 
 A few days after, I took another envelope, addressed 
 to the Count Dufour,* who was at Turin. It contained 
 
 *The Count Dufour is the father of the gentleman who was the 
 French ambassador at Florence, under the reign of Louis XVI. who 
 afterward married at Padova a lady of my acquaintance, Miss Seymour, 
 niece of the late Lord Cooper, and sister to Mrs. Bennett. During the 
 residence of the late King Louis XVIII. at Verona, I was present at 
 Venice when this gentleman had all his plate sent to the mint at Venice, 
 to be melted down for the use of Louis. The daughters of the late am- 
 bassador of whom I speak are now at Paris. They also are acquaint- 
 ances of mine. One of them married one of my oldest friends. General 
 Boumonville, who was long in prison with General La Fayette and Alex- 
 ander Lameth, so 'treacherously given up by Dumourier to the Aus- 
 trians, who sent them to Olmutz, where they remained till exchanged 
 for her royal highness the present Dauphiness of France. 
 
 GeneraJ Bournonville I had the pleasure to see in the character of am- 
 bassador under the government of Bonaparte at Berlin ; and some time 
 
276 CHAPTER XXII 
 
 letters for M. and Madame de Polignac, M. and Madame 
 de Guiche Grammont, the King's aunts at Rome, and 
 the two Princesses of Piedmont, wives of His Majesty's 
 brothers. 
 
 If, therefore, a judgment can be formed from the im- 
 pressions of the Royal Family, who certainly must have 
 had ample information with respect to the spirit which 
 predominated at Paris at that period, could the nobility have 
 been prevailed on to have obeyed the mandates of the 
 Queen and prayers and invocations of the Princess, there 
 can be no doubt that much bloodshed would have been 
 spared, and the page of history never have been sullied 
 by the atrocious names which now stand there as bea- 
 cons of human infamy. 
 
 The storms were now so fearfully increasing that the 
 King and Queen, the Duke de Penthifevre, the Count de 
 Fersen, the Princess Elizabeth, the Duchess of Orleans, 
 and all the friends of Princess Lamballe, once more 
 united in anxious wishes for her to quit France. Even 
 the Pope himself endeavored to prevail upon her high- 
 ness to join the royal aunts at Rome. To all these ap- 
 plications she replied, " I have nothing to reproach 
 myself with. If my inviolable duty and unalterable at- 
 tachment to my sovereigns, who are my relations and 
 my friends; if love for my dear father and for my 
 adopted country are crimes, in the face of God and the world 
 I confess my guilt, and shall die happy if in such a cause ! " 
 
 The Duke de Penthifevre, who loved her as well as 
 his own child, the Duchess of Orleans, was too good a 
 man, and too conscientious a prince, not to applaud the 
 disinterested firmness of his beloved daughter-in-law ; yet, 
 foreseeing and dreading the fatal consequences which 
 must result from so much virtue, at a time when vice 
 alone predominated, unknown to the Princess Lamballe, 
 interested the Court of France to write to the Court of 
 
 afterward in the same capacity in Spain. He was very much attached 
 to the English. He procured passports for Lord Holland's family and 
 myself, to travel through France, at a time when no English subjects 
 were allowed to enter the French territories. 
 
CHAPTER XXn 277 
 
 Sardinia to entreat that the King, as head of her family, 
 would use his good offices in persuading the Princess to 
 leave the scenes of commotion, in which she was so much 
 exposed, and return to her native country. The King of 
 Sardinia, her family, and her particular friend, the Princess 
 of Piedmont, supplicated ineffectually. The answer of 
 her highness to the King, at Turin, was as follows: 
 
 "Sire, and most August Cousin: 
 
 "I do not recollect that any of our illustrious ancestors of tho 
 house of Savoy, before or since the great hero Charles Emanuel, of im- 
 mortal memory, ever dishonored or tarnished their illustrious names 
 with cowardice. In leaving the Court of France at this awful crisis, I 
 should be the first. Can Your Majesty pardon my presumption in dif- 
 fering from your rojral counsel ? The King, Queen, and every member 
 of the Royal Family of France, both from the ties of blood and policy 
 of states, demand our united efforts in their defense. I cannot swerve 
 from my determination of never quitting them, especially at a moment 
 when they are abandoned by every one of their former attendants, ex- 
 cept myself. In happier days Your Majesty may command my obedi- 
 ence; but, in the present instance, and given up as is the Coiut of 
 France to their most atrocious persecutors, I must humbly insist on be- 
 ing guided by my own decision. During the most brilliant period of the 
 reign of Maria Antoinette, I was distinguished by the royal favor and 
 bounty. To abandon her in adversity, Sire, would stain my character, 
 and that of my illustrious family, for ages to come, with infamy and 
 cowardice, much more to be dreaded than the most cruel death." 
 
 Similar answers were returned to all those of her 
 numerous friends and relatives, who were so eager to 
 shelter her from the dangers threatening her highness 
 and the Royal Family. 
 
 Her highness was persuaded, however, to return once 
 more to England, under the pretext of completing the 
 mission she had so successfully begun; but it is very 
 clear that neither the King nor Queen bad any serious 
 idea of her succeeding, and that their only object was to 
 get her away from the theater of disaster.* Circum- 
 
 * The Princess set off from Paris and went to England by the way of 
 Calais, not as has been repeatedly supposed by the way of Dieppe. This 
 may be refuted, even at this distant period, by the heir of the late M. 
 Dessin, M. Quillac, the present proprietor of the hotel at Calais, where 
 the Princess and her suite alighted. 
 
278 CHAPTER XXII 
 
 stances had so completely changed for the worst, that, 
 though her highness was received with great kindness, 
 her mission was no longer listened to. The policy of 
 England shrunk from encouraging twenty thousand French 
 troops to be sent in a body to the West Indies, 
 and France was left to its fate. A conversation with 
 Mr. Burke, in which the disinclination of England to 
 interfere was distinctly owned, created that deep-rooted 
 grief and apprehension in the mind of the Queen, from 
 which Her Majesty never recovered. The Princess Lam- 
 balle was the only one in her confidence. It is well 
 known that the King of England greatly respected the 
 personal virtues of Their French Majesties; but upon the 
 point of business, both King and ministers were now 
 become ambiguous and- evasive. Her highness, therefore, 
 resolved to return. It had already been whispered that 
 she had left France, only to save herself, like the rest; 
 and she would no longer remain under so slanderous an 
 imputation. She felt, too, the necessity of her friendship 
 to her royal mistress. Though the Queen of England, 
 by whom her highness was very much esteemed, and 
 many other persons of the first consequence in the 
 British nation, foreseeing the inevitable fate of the Royal 
 Family, and of all their faithful adherents, anxiously en- 
 treated her not to quit England, yet she became insensi- 
 ble to every consideration as to her own situation, and 
 only felt the isolated one of her august sovereign, hei 
 friend, and benefactress. 
 
CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 Editor in Continuation — Attempt on the 20th of June to Set the 
 Apartment of the Princess Lamballe on Fire — Conversation be- 
 tween the Princess and the Editor — Interrupted by the Rush 
 of the Mob into the Room — The Editor is Wounded and Swoons 
 — Sent the Next Day to Passy — Hurried Interview There with 
 the Princess — Unable to Suppress Her Couriosity, Leaves Passy 
 for Paris — Singular Adventure with the Driver of a Short Stage, 
 Who Turns Out a Useful Friend — Meeting on the Way with Mobs 
 in Actual Battle, Returns, Being Afraid of Proceeding — The Driver 
 Goes to Paris, and Brings Back the Editor's Man Servant — His 
 Account of What Had Passed at Paris — Letter of the Princess Lam- 
 balle, Detailing the Affair of the 20th of June — The Editor Re- 
 called to Paris. 
 
 EVENTS seemed molded expressly to produce the state 
 of feeling which marked that disastrous day, the 20th 
 of June, 1792. It frequently happens that nations, 
 like individuals, rush wildly upon the very dangers they 
 apprehend, and select such courses as invite what they 
 are most solicitous to avoid. So it was with everything 
 preceding this dreadful day. 
 
 By a series of singular occurrences I did not witness 
 its horrors, though in some degree their victim. Not to 
 detain my readers unnecessarily, I will proceed directly to 
 the accident which withdrew me from the scene. 
 
 The apartment of the Princess Lamballe in the Pavil- 
 ion of Flora, looked from one side upon the Pont Royal. 
 On the day of which I speak, a considerable quantity of 
 combustibles had been thrown from the bridge into 
 one of her rooms. The Princess, in great alarm, sent in- 
 stantly for me. She desired to have my English man 
 servant, if he were not afraid, secreted in her room, while 
 she herself withdrew to another part of the palace, till the 
 extent of the intended mischief could be ascertained. I 
 assured her highness that I was not only ready to answer 
 
 (379) 
 
38o CHAPTER XXIII 
 
 for my servant, but would myself remain with him, as he 
 always went armed, and I was so certain of his courage 
 and fidelity, that I could not hesitate even to trust my 
 life in his hands. 
 
 "For God's sake, mia cara," exclaimed the Princess, 
 "do not risk your own safety, if you have any value for 
 my friendship. I desire you not to go near the Pavilion 
 of Flora. Your servant's going is quite sufficient. Never 
 again let me hear such a proposition. What! after having 
 hitherto conducted yourself so punctually, would you, by 
 one rash act, devote yourself to ruin, and deprive us of 
 your valuable services ? " 
 
 I begged her highness would pardon the ardor of the 
 dutiful zeal I felt for her in the moment of danger. 
 
 "Yes, yes," continued she; "that is all very well; but 
 this is not the first time I have been alarmed at your 
 too great intrepidity; and if ever I hear of your again 
 attempting to commit yourself so wantonly, I will have 
 you sent to Turin immediately, there to remain till you 
 have recovered your senses. I always thought English 
 heads cool; but I suppose your residence in France has 
 changed the national character of your's." 
 
 Once more, with tears in my eyes, I begged her for- 
 giveness, and on my knees implored that she would not 
 send me away in the hour of danger. After having so 
 long enjoyed the honor of her confidence, I trusted she 
 would overlook my fault, particularly as it was the pure 
 emanation of my resentment at any conspiracy against 
 one I so dearly loved ; and to whom I had been under so 
 many obligations, that the very idea of my being de- 
 prived of such a benefactress drove me frantic. 
 
 Her highness burst into tears. "I know your heart," 
 exclaimed she; "but I also know too well our situation, 
 and it is that which makes me tremble for the conse- 
 quences which must follow your overstepping the bounds 
 so necessary to be observed by all of us at this horrid 
 period. " And then she called me again her cara Inglesina, 
 and graciously condescended to embrace me, and bathed 
 my face with her tears, in token of her forgiveness, and 
 
CHAPTER XXIII 381 
 
 bade me sit down and compose myself, and weep no 
 more. 
 
 Scarcely was I seated, when we were both startled by 
 deafening shouts for the head of Madame Veto, the 
 name they gave the poor unfortunate Queen. An im- 
 mense crowd of cannibals and hired ruffians were already 
 in the Tuileries, brandishing all sorts of murderous 
 weapons, and howling for blood! My recollections from 
 this moment are very indistinct. I know that in an in- 
 stant the apartment was filled; that the Queen, the 
 Princess Elizabeth, all the attendants, even the King, I 
 believe, appeared there. I myself received a wound upon 
 my hand in warding a blow from my face; and in the 
 turmoil of the scene, and of the blow, I fainted, and was 
 conveyed by some humane person to a place of safety, in 
 the upper part of the palace. 
 
 Thus deprived of my senses for several hours, I was 
 spared the agony of witnessing the scenes of horror which 
 succeeded. For two or three days I remained in a state 
 of so much exhaustion and alarm, that when the Princess 
 came to me I did not know her, nor even where I was. 
 
 As soon as I was sufficiently recovered, places were 
 taken for me and another person in one of the common 
 diligences, by which I was conveyed to Passy, where the 
 Princess came to me in the greatest confusion. My com- 
 panion from the palace was the widow of one of the 
 Swiss guards, who had been murdered on the 6th of 
 October, in defending the Queen's apartment at Versailles. 
 The poor woman had been herself protected by Her 
 Majesty, and accompanied me by the express order of 
 the Princess Lamballe. What the Princess said to her 
 on departing, I know not, for I only caught the words 
 "general insurrection," on hearing which the afflicted 
 woman fell into a fit. To me, her highness merely ex- 
 claimed, * ' Do not come to Paris till you hear from me ; " 
 and immediately set off to return to the Tuileries. 
 
 However, as usual, my courage soon got the better of 
 my strength, and of every consideration of personal safety. 
 On the third day, I proposed to the person who took care 
 
282 CHAPTER XXIII 
 
 of me, that we should both walk out together; and, if 
 there appeared no symptoms of immediate danger, it was 
 agreed, that we might as well get into one of the com- 
 mon conveyances, and proceed forthwith to Paris; for I 
 could no longer repress my anxiety to learn what was 
 going on there, and ,the good creature who was with me 
 was no less impatient. 
 
 When we got into a diligence, I felt the dread of another 
 severe lecture like the last, and thought it best not to 
 incur fresh blame by new imprudence. I therefore told 
 the driver to set us down on the high road near Paris 
 leading to the Bois de Boulogne. But before we got so 
 far, the woods resounded with the howling of mobs, and 
 we heard, " Vive le roi" vociferated, mingled with " Down 
 with the King," " Down with the Queen;" and, what was 
 still more horrible, the two parties were in actual bloody 
 strife, and the ground was strewed with the bodies of 
 dead men, lying like slaughtered sheep. 
 
 It was fortunate that we were the only persons in the 
 vehicle. The driver, observing our extreme agitation, 
 turned round to us. "Nay, nay," cried he; "do not 
 alarm yourselves. It is only the constitutionalists and the 
 Jacobins fighting againt each other. I wish the devil had 
 them both." 
 
 It was evident, however, that though the man was de- 
 sirous of quieting our apprehensions, he was considerably 
 disturbed by his own ; for though he acknowledged he had 
 a wife and children in Paris, who he hoped were safe, 
 still he dared not venture to proceed, but said, if we wished 
 to be driven back, he would take us to any place we 
 liked, out of Paris. 
 
 Our anxiety to know what was going forward at the 
 Tuileries was now become intolerable; and the more so, 
 from the necessity we felt of restraining our feelings. At 
 last, however, we were in some degree relieved from this 
 agony of reserve. 
 
 "God knows," exclaimed the driver, " what will be the 
 consequence of all this bloodshed! The poor King and 
 Queen are greatly to be pitied ! " 
 
CHAPTER XXIII 283 
 
 This ejaculation restored our courage, and we said he 
 might drive us wherever he chose out of the sight of those 
 horrors; and it was at length settled that he should take 
 us to Passy. "Oh," cried he, "if you will allow me, I 
 will take you to my father's house there; for you seem 
 more dead than alive, both of you, and ought to go where 
 you can rest in quiet and safety." 
 
 My companion, who was a German, now addressed me 
 in that language. 
 
 " German ! " exclaimed the driver on hearing her. "Ger- 
 man! Why I am a German myself, and served the good 
 King, who is much to be pitied, for many years; and 
 when I was wounded, the Queen, God bless her! set me 
 right up in the world, as I was made an invalid ; and I have 
 ever since been enabled to support my family respectably. 
 D the assembly! I shall never be a farthing the bet- 
 ter for them ! " 
 
 "Oh," replied I, "then I suppose you are not a 
 Jacobin ? " 
 
 The driver, with a torrent of curses, then began ex- 
 ecrating the very name of Jacobin. This emboldened me 
 to ask him how long he had left Paris. He replied, 
 "Only this very morning," and added, that the assembly 
 had shut the gates of the Tuileries under the pretense 
 of preventing the King and Queen from being assassin- 
 ated. "But that is all a confounded lie," continued he, 
 ' ' invented to keep out the friends of the Royal Family. 
 But, God knows, they are now so fallen, they have few 
 such left to be turned away!" 
 
 "I am more enraged," pursued he, "at the ingratitude 
 of the nobility than I am at these hordes of bloodthirsty 
 plunderers, for we all know that the nobility owe every- 
 thing to the King. Why do they not ' rise en masse to 
 shield the Royal Family from these bloodhounds ? Can 
 they imagine they will be spared if the King should be 
 murdered ? I have no patience with them ! " 
 
 I then asked him our fare. "Two livres is the fare, 
 but you shall not pay anything. I see plainly, ladies, 
 that you are not what you assume to be." 
 
284 CHAPTER XXIII 
 
 "My good man," replied I, "we are not; and there- 
 fore, pray take this louis d'or for your trouble." 
 
 He caught my hand and pressed it to his lips, ex- 
 claiming, " I never in my life knew a man who was 
 faithful to his King, that God did not provide for." 
 
 He then took us to Passy, but advised us not to re- 
 main at the place where we had been staying; and for- 
 tunate enough it was for us that we did not, for the 
 bouse was set on fire and plundered by a rebel mob 
 very soon after. 
 
 I told the driver how much I was obliged to him for 
 his services, and he seemed delighted when I promised 
 to give him proofs of my confidence in his fidelity. 
 
 "If," said I, "you can find out my servant whom I 
 left in Paris, I will give you another louis d'or." I was 
 afraid, at first, to mention where he was to look for 
 him. 
 
 "If he be not dead," replied the driver, "I will find 
 him out." 
 
 "What!" cried I, "even though he should be at the 
 Tuileries ? " 
 
 "Why, madam, I am one of the national guard. I 
 have only to put on my uniform to be enabled to go to 
 any part of the palace I please. Tell me his name, and 
 where you think it likely he may be found, and depend 
 upon it I will bring him to you." 
 
 "Perhaps," continued he, "it is your husband dis- 
 guised as a servant; but no matter. Give me a clue, 
 and I'll warrant you he shall tell you the rest himself 
 by this time to-morrow." 
 
 "Well, then," replied I, "he is in the Pavilion of 
 Flora." 
 
 "What, with the Princess Lamballe ? Oh, I would go 
 through fire and water for that good Princess! She has 
 done me the honor to stand godmother to one of my 
 children, and allows her a pension." 
 
 ' ' I took him at his word. We changed our quarters 
 to his father's house, a very neat little cottage, about a 
 quarter of a mile from the town. He afterward rendered 
 
CHAPTER XXIII >»5 
 
 me many services in going to and fro from Passy to 
 Paris; and, as he promised, brought me my servant. 
 
 When the poor fellow arrived, his arm was in a sling. 
 He had been wounded by a musket shot, received in de- 
 fense of the Princess. The history of his disaster was this : 
 
 On the night of the riot, as he was going from the Pont 
 Royal to the apartment of her highness, he detected a group 
 of villains under her windows. Six of them were attempting 
 to enter by a ladder. He fired, and two fell. While he 
 was reloading, the others shot at him. Had he not, in the 
 flurry of the moment, fired both his pistols at the same 
 time, he thinks he should not have been wounded, but 
 might have punished the assailant. One of the men, he 
 said, could have been easily taken by the national guard, 
 who so glaringly encouraged the escape that he could 
 almost swear the guard was a party concerned. The loss 
 of blood had so exhausted him that he could not pursue 
 the offender himself, whom otherwise he could have taken 
 without any difficulty. 
 
 As the employing of my servant had only been pro- 
 posed, and the sudden interruption of my conversation 
 with her highness by the riot had prevented my ever 
 communicating the project to him, I wondered how he 
 got into the business, or ascertained so soon that the apart- 
 ment of the Princess was in danger. He explained that 
 he never had heard of its being so; but my own coach- 
 man having left me at the palace that day, and not hear- 
 ing of me for some time, had driven home, and, fearing 
 that my not returning arose from something which had hap- 
 pened, advised him to go to the Pont Royal and hear what 
 he could learn, as there was a report of many persons 
 having been murdered and thrown over the bridge. 
 
 My man took the advice, and armed himself to be 
 ready in case of an attack. It was between one and two 
 o'clock after midnight when he went. The first objects 
 he perceived were these miscreants attempting to scale 
 the palace. 
 
 He told me that the Queen had been most grossly in- 
 sulted; that the gates of the Tuileries had been shut in 
 
286 CHAPTER XXIII 
 
 consequence ; that a small part alone remained open to the 
 public, who were kept at their distance by a national rib- 
 bon, which none could pass without being instantly ar- 
 rested. This had prevented his apprizing the Princess of 
 the attempt which he had accidentally defeated, and 
 which he wished me to communicate to her immediately. 
 I did so by a letter, which my good driver carried to 
 P^ris, and delivered safe into the hands of our benefac- 
 tress. 
 
 The surprise of the Princess on hearing from me, and 
 her pleasure at my good fortune in finding by accident 
 such means, baffles all description. Though she was at 
 the time overwhelmed with the imminent dangers which 
 threatened her, yet she still found leisure to show her 
 kindness to those who were doing their best, though in 
 vain, to serve her. The following letter, which she sent 
 me in reply, written amid all the uneasiness it describes, 
 will speak for her more eloquently than my praises: 
 
 ' ' I can understand your anxiety. It was well for you 
 that you were unconscious of the dreadful scenes which 
 were passing around you on that horrid day. The 
 Princess de Tarente, Madame de Tourzel, Madame de 
 Mockau, and all the other ladies of the household owed 
 the safety of their lives to one of the national guards 
 having given his national cockade to the Queen. Her 
 Majesty placed it on her head, unperceived by the mob. 
 One of the gentlemen of the King's wardrobe provided 
 the King and the Princess Elizabeth with the same im- 
 penetrable shield. Though the cannibals came for mur- 
 der, I could not but admire the enthusiastic deference 
 that was shown to this symbol of, authority, which in- 
 stantly paralyzed the daggers uplifted for our extermina- 
 tion. 
 
 " Merlin de Thionville was the stoic head of this party. 
 The Princess Elizabeth having pointed him out to me, I 
 ventured to address him respecting the dangerous situ- 
 ation to which the Royal Family were daily exposed. I 
 flattered him upon his influence over the majority of the 
 fauxbourgs, to which only we could look for the extinc- 
 
CHAPTER XXIII 287 
 
 tion of these disorders. He replied, that the despotism 
 of the Court had set a bad example to the people; that 
 he felt for the situation of the royal party as individuals, 
 but he felt much more for the safety of the French na- 
 tion, who were in still greater danger than Their 
 Majesties had to dread, from the Austrian faction, by 
 which a foreign army had been encouraged to invade the 
 territory of France, where they were now waiting the 
 opportunity of annihilating French liberty forever! 
 
 "To this Her Majesty replied, 'When the deputies of 
 the assembly have permitted, nay, I may say, encouraged 
 this open violation of the King's asylum, and, by their 
 indifference to the safety of all those who surround us, 
 have sanctioned the daily insults to which we have been, 
 and still are, exposed, it is not to be wondered at, that 
 all sovereigns should consider it their interest to make 
 common cause with us, to crush internal commotions, 
 leveled, not only against the throne, and the persons of 
 the sovereign and his family, but against the very prin- 
 ciple of monarchy itself.' 
 
 "Here the King, though much intimidated for the 
 situation of the Queen and his family, for whose heads 
 the wretches were at that very moment howling in their 
 ears, took up the conversation. 
 
 " 'These cruel facts,' said he, 'and the menacing situa- 
 tion you even now witness, fully justify our not rejecting 
 foreign aid, though God knows how deeply I deplore the 
 necessity of such a cruel resource ! But when all internal 
 measures of conciliation have been trodden under foot, 
 and the authorities, who ought to check it and protect us 
 from these cruel outrages, are only occupied in daily 
 fomenting the discord between us and our subjects; 
 though a forlorn hope, what other hope is there of safety ? 
 I foresee the drift of all these commotions, and am re- 
 signed; but what will become of this misguided nation, 
 when the head of it shall be destroyed ? ' 
 
 " Here the King, nearly choked by his feelings, was 
 compelled to pause for a moment, and he then pro- 
 ceeded. 
 
288 CHAPTER XXIII 
 
 " ' I should not feel it any sacrifice to give up the 
 guardianship of the nation, could I, in so doing, insure 
 its future tranquillity: but I foresee that my blood, like 
 that of one of my unhappy brother sovereigns,* will only 
 open the floodgates of human misery, the torrent of which, 
 swelled with the best blood of France, will deluge this 
 once peaceful realm.' 
 
 "This, as well as I can recollect, is the substance of 
 what passed at the castle on this momentous day. Our 
 situation was extremely doubtful, and the noise and hor- 
 rid riots were at times so boisterous, that frequently we 
 could not, though so near them, distinguish a word the 
 King and Queen said; and yet, whenever the leaders of 
 these organized ruffians spoke or threatened, the most 
 respectful stillness instantly prevailed. 
 
 " I weep in silence for misfortunes, which I fear are 
 inevitable! The King, the Queen, the Princess Eliza- 
 beth, and myself, with many others under this unhappy 
 roof, have never ventured to undress or sleep in bed, till 
 last night. None of us any longer reside on the ground 
 floor. 
 
 "By the very manly exertions of some of the old of- 
 ficers incorporated in the national army, the awful riot I 
 have described was overpowered, and the mob, with diffi- 
 culty, dispersed. Among these, I should particularize 
 Generals Vomenil,f Mandate, and Roederer. Principally 
 by their means the interior of the Tuileries was at last 
 cleared, though partial mobs, such as you have often 
 witnessed, still subsist. 
 
 * Charles the First of England. 
 
 f This general, the last time I came from Italy to England, on my 
 ■way through Vienna, I had the pleasure of seeing at the house of a par- 
 ticular friend of mine, Madame Peschie, the wife of a banker of that 
 name. I think, also, I saw him once afterward in company, at the house 
 of the Count de Pries, from whom I received the most marked and cor- 
 dial attention during my different visits to that truly hospitable city. 
 
 While I am on the subject of the hospitalities of this city I must not 
 omit to mention some families in particular, such as the Prince Odescal- 
 chi, the family of Baron Arentium, Eskeless, Pierera, and Hanenstein; 
 Gondart, CuMbeck the famous Haydn, Baron Brown, the late Prince 
 
CHAPTER XXIII 289 
 
 " I am thus particular in giving you a full account of 
 this last revolutionary commotion, that your prudence 
 may still keep you at a distance from the vortex. Con- 
 tinue where you are, and tell your man servant how much 
 I am obliged to him, and, at the same time, how much 
 I am grieved at his being wounded! I knew nothiiig of 
 the affair but from your letter and your faithful messenger. 
 He is an old pensioner of mine, and a good honest fel- 
 low. You may. depend on him. Serve yourself, through 
 him, in communicating with me. Though he has had a 
 limited education, he is not wanting in intellect. Re- 
 member that honesty, in matters of such vital import, is 
 to be trusted before genius. 
 
 ' ' My apartment appears like a barrack, like a bear 
 garden, like anything but what it was! Numbers of 
 valuable things have been destroyed, numbers carried off. 
 Still, notwithstanding all the horrors of these last days, it 
 delights me to be able to tell you, that no one in the 
 service of the Royal Family failed in duty at this dread- 
 ful crisis. I think we may firmly rely on the inviolable 
 attachment of all around us. No jealousy, no considera- 
 tions of etiquette, stood in the way of their exertions to 
 show themselves worthy of the situations they hold. The 
 Queen showed the greatest intrepidity during the whole 
 of these trying scenes. 
 
 "At present, I can say no more. Petion, the mayor 
 
 Lobkowitz, Count de Sauron, Prince Throumansdorf, the Prince and 
 Princess Colalto Station, and others too numerous to be particularized 
 here, for whose kindness, though not mentioned, I shall ever retain the 
 most lively gratitude. 
 
 General de Vomenil was private secretary of the late Queen of 
 Naples, who was the sister of Napoleon, and wife of that ill-fated King 
 of Naples, Murat, and who, it is said, has since become the wife of Mar- 
 shal Macdonald, and' lives retired at Hamburg, near Vienna. Her 
 brother, the late King of Westphalia, now Prince Rumford, hves also in 
 retirement, at a country seat he purchased from the friend I have just 
 mentioned. Baron Brown. Neither the deposed brother or sister have 
 any but ancient nobility in their suite. The Countess of Athmis, sister 
 to Mrs. Spencer Smith, wife of the late British Ambassador at Constan- 
 tinople, is one of the ex-queen's ladias of honor. 
 19 
 
290 CHAPTER XXIII 
 
 of Paris, has just been announced; and, I believe, he 
 wishes for an audience of Her Majesty, though he never 
 made his appearance during the whole time of the riots 
 in the palace. Adieu, mia car a Inglesina I " 
 
 The receipt of this letter, however it might have af- 
 fected me to hear what her highness suffered, in com- 
 mon with the rest of the unfortunate royal inmates of 
 the Tuileries, gave me extreme pleasure from the assur- 
 ance it contained of the firmness of those nearest to the 
 sufferers. I was also sincerely gratified in reflecting on 
 the probity and disinterested fidelity of this worthy man, 
 which contrasted him, so strikingly and so advantageously 
 to himself, with many persons of birth and education, 
 whose attachment could not stand the test pf the trying 
 scenes of the Revolution, which made them abandon ant 
 betray, where they had sworn an allegiance, to whici 
 they were doubly bound by gratitude. 
 
 My man servant was attended, and taken the greatest 
 care of. The Princess never missed a day in sending t<f 
 inquire after his health; and, on his recovery, the Queev» 
 herself not only graciously condescended to see him, but, 
 besides making him a valuable present, said many flatter 
 ing and obliging things of his bravery and disintereste(f 
 ness. 
 
 I should scarcely have deemed these particulars — hon 
 orable as they are to the feelings of the illustrious per 
 sonages from whom they proceeded — worth mentioning 
 in a work of this kind, did they not give indications of 
 character rarely to be met with (and, in their case, how 
 shamefully rewarded!), from having occurred at a crisis 
 when their minds were occupied in affairs of such deep 
 importance, and amid the appalling dangers which 
 hourly threatened their own existence. 
 
 Her Majesty's correspondence with foreign courts had 
 been so much increased by these scenes of horror, es- 
 pecially her correspondence with her relations in Italy, 
 that ere long, I was sent for back to Paris. 
 
 Why dost thou intrude, O memory, to tear asunder 
 wounds, to cause them to bleed afresh! It is now thirty 
 
CHAPTER XXm 291 
 
 long years since I beheld these scenes, yet still my 
 blood curdles in my veins when I recall the heart- 
 rending picture which presented itself on my first 
 return to the Princess's apartment at the Pavilion of 
 Flora from Passy! My pen cannot depict my agony. 
 My readers must imagine what I felt, and they will 
 readily pardon my want of ability to describe those 
 feelings, when I refer them to what met my view — a 
 royal palace nearly razed to the ground, gutted apart- 
 ments, costly furniture in fragments amid the ruins, 
 three of the most august personages in Europe standing 
 amid the wreck, totally unmoved by the surrounding 
 desolation, and solely occupied in fervent prayers, invok- 
 ing God for the safety of the journey of an insignificant 
 individual like myself! I was thrilled with horror, with 
 pity, with shame at their suflEerings. If there be a soul 
 within the human breast, no human eye could look on 
 such a scene and not be moved. Fallen majesty, under 
 any circumstances, must be an object of uncommon sen- 
 sation to any reflecting mind ; but there were distinctions 
 in this case, to give it peculiar poignancy. A Queen of 
 the brightest prospects, the gentlest and noblest heart, 
 bereaved of her rights, and execrated by her people; a 
 royal virgin, nipped in the bloom of youth; and an 
 illustrious widowed princess, denied kindness from those 
 whom she had fostered, and now seeking relief from the 
 humble whom she had succored — what an accumulation 
 of misfortune ! Human vicissitude ! what a school art thou 
 for reflection ! what a lesson to the follies of earthly grandeur ! 
 But we do not see it, we do not feel it, nor do we even 
 believe it, till the hour of danger, when, alas! it is too 
 late; and we only awake from torpor to be convinced 
 that we are mere mortals, and may not be heedless with 
 impunity. 
 
 God forbid I should insinuate that these saintlike, 
 martyred victims, ever in the slightest degree deserved 
 that ignominious, unceasing persecution, of which history 
 presents no parallel. But we are apt to be blind to cir- 
 cumstances, by confounding our calculations with our 
 
293 CHAPTER XXIir 
 
 wishes; and, though death stared them in the face, yet 
 no energy was called up to resist it, till the very last 
 moment, when the earthquake had shaken the edifice to 
 its foundation, and no human power could prevent their 
 being buried in its ruins. No resource remained. Like 
 lambs, they submitted to the slaughter. The sacrifice 
 was made before it was performed. " I know that my 
 Redeemer liveth " was the only hope to which they 
 clung; and they were dead to the world, long, long be- 
 fore the thread of life was mercifully cut by the bloody 
 hands, which had already despoiled them of all that made 
 life desirable! 
 
CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 Journal of the Princess Resumed and Concluded— La Fayette, inconse- 
 quence of the Events of the 20th of June, Leaves His Army to Re- 
 monstrate with the Assembly — Remarks— The King Refuses to See 
 Him — Deputation Arrives, to Which He Was a Party, to Urge the 
 King and Queen to Consign the Dauphin to the Protection of the Army 
 —The Queen's Refusal — Conversation with the King— Disgust of 
 the Royal Family against La Fayette. 
 
 ••rnpHE insurrection of the 20th of June, and the uncer- 
 I tain state of the safety of the Royal Family, men- 
 aced as it was by almost daily riots, induced a 
 number of well-disposed persons to prevail on General La 
 Fayette to leave his army and come to Paris, and there 
 personally remonstrate against these outrages. Had he 
 been sincere, he would have backed the measure by ap- 
 pearing at the head of his army, then well disposed, as 
 Cromwell did, when he turned out the rogues who were 
 seeking the Lord through the blood of their King, and 
 put the keys in his pocket. Violent disorders require vio- 
 lent remedies. With an army and a few pieces of cannon 
 at the door of the assembly, whose members were seek- 
 ing the aid of the devil, for the accomplishment of their 
 horrors, he might, as was done when the same scene oc- 
 curred in England in 1668, by good management, have 
 averted the deluge of blood. But, by appearing before 
 the assembly isolated, without ' voilh mon droit,' which 
 the King of Prussia had had engraven on his cannon, he 
 lost the opinion of all parties.* 
 
 * In this instance the General grossly committed himself, in the opin- 
 ion of every impartial observer of his conduct. He should never have 
 shown himself in the capital, but at the head of his army. France, cir- 
 cumstanced as it was, torn by intestine commotion, was only to be intim- 
 idated by the sight of a popular leader at the head of his forces. Usurped 
 authority can only be quashed by the force of legitimate authority. La 
 Fayette being the only individual in France that in reality possessed 
 
 (393) 
 
294 CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 "La Fayette came to the palace frequently, but the 
 King would never see him. He was obliged to return, 
 with the additional mortification of having been deceived 
 in his expected support from the national guard of Paris, 
 whose pay had been secretly trebled by the national as- 
 sembly, in order to secure them to itself. His own safety, 
 therefore, required that he should join the troops under 
 his command. He left many persons in whom he thought 
 he could confide; among whom were some who came to 
 me one day requesting I would present them to the Queen 
 without loss of time, as a man condemned to be shot had 
 confessed to his captain that there was a plot laid to 
 murder Her Majesty that very night. 
 
 " I hastened to the royal apartment, without mentioning 
 the motive ; but some such catastrophe was no more than 
 what we incessantly expected, from the almost hourly 
 changes of the national guard, for the real purpose of 
 giving easy access to all sorts of wretches to the very 
 rooms of the unfortunate Queen, in order to furnish op- 
 portunities for committing the crime with impunity. 
 
 "After I had seen the Queen, the applicants were in- 
 troduced, and, in my presence, a paper was handed by 
 them to Her Majesty. At the moment she received it, 
 I was obliged to leave her for the purpose of watching 
 an opportunity for their departure unobserved. These 
 precautions were necessary with regard to every person 
 who came to us in the palace, otherwise the jealousy 
 of the assembly and its emissaries and the national guard 
 of the interior might have been alarmed, and we should 
 have been placed under express and open surveillance. 
 The confusion created by the constant change of guard, 
 however, stood us in good stead in this emergency. 
 
 such an authority, not having availed himself at a crisis like the one in 
 which he was called upon to act, rendered his conduct doubtful, and all 
 his intended operations suspicious to both parties, whether his feeling^s 
 were really inclined to prop up the fallen kingly authority, or his newly- 
 acquired republican principles prompted him to become the head of the 
 democratical party, for no one can see into the hearts of men ; his popu- 
 larity from that moment ceased to exist. 
 
CHAPTER XXIV 295 
 
 Mv«ch passing and repassing took place unheeded in the 
 hustle. 
 
 "When the visitors had departed, and Her Majesty at 
 one window of the palace, and I at another, had seen 
 them safe over the Pont Royal, I returned to Her Maj- 
 esty. She then graciously handed me the paper which 
 they had presented. 
 
 "It contained an earnest supplication, signed by many 
 thousand good citizens, that the King and Queen would 
 sanction the plan of sending the Dauphin to the army 
 of La Fayette. They pledged themselves, with the as 
 sistance of the royalists, to rescue the Royal Family. 
 They urged that if once the King could be persuaded to 
 show himself at the head of his army, without taking 
 any active part, but merely for his own safety and that 
 of his family, everything might be accomplished with 
 the greatest tranquillity. 
 
 "The Queen exclaimed, 'What! send my child! No! 
 never while I breathe ! * Yet were I an independ- 
 ent queen, or the regent of a minority, I feel that I 
 should be inclined to accept the offer, to place myself at 
 the head of the army as my immortal mother did, who, 
 
 •Little did this unfortunate mother think, that they, who thus pre- 
 tended to interest themselves for this beautiful, angelic prince only a 
 few months before, would, when she was in her horrid prison after the 
 butchery of her husband, have required this only comfort to be violently 
 torn from her maternal arms ! 
 
 Little, indeed, did she think, when her maternal devotedness thus 
 repelled the very thought of his being trusted to myriads of sworn de- 
 fenders, how soon he would be barbarously consigned by the infamous 
 assembly as the footstool of the inhuman savage cobbler, Simon, to be 
 the night-boy of the excrements of the vilest of the works of human 
 nature t 
 
 Is it possible, that such facts — facts known to all the world ! — can be 
 retraced with coolness or in any tone of moderation by one, who, like 
 me, had the honor of knowing this most innocent of all victims. 
 
 Unhappy mother! your religious resignation has made you the heroine 
 of all martyrs ! My hand refuses its functions, my pen drops from my 
 fingers, and my paper is bathed with useless tears ! Memory rests on 
 the wounded mind, which has never been healed, and which bleeds af lesh 
 at the recollection ! 
 
296 CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 by that step, transmitted the crown of our ancestors 
 to its legitimate descendants. It is the monarchy itself 
 which now requires to be asserted. Though Orleans is 
 actively engaged in attempting the dethronement of His 
 Majesty, I do not think the nation will submit to such a 
 prince, or to any other monarchical government, if the 
 present be decidedly destroyed-' 
 
 "'AH these plans, my dear Princess,' continued she, 
 ' are mere castles in the air. The mischief is too deeply 
 rooted. As they have already frantically declared for 
 the King's abdication, any strong measure now, in- 
 competent as we are to assure its success, would at once 
 arm the advocates of republicanism to proclaim the King's 
 dethronement. ' 
 
 " 'The cruel observations of Petion to His Majesty, on 
 our ever memorable return from Varennes, have made a 
 deeper impression than you are aware of. When the 
 King observed to him, "What do the French nation want ?" 
 — "A republic," replied he. And though he has been the 
 means of already costing us some thousands, to crush 
 this unnatural propensity, yet I firmly believe, that he 
 himself is at the head of all the civil disorders fomented 
 for its attainment. I am the more confirmed in this 
 opinion from a conversation I had with the good old man, 
 M. de Malesherbes, who assured me the great siims we 
 were lavishing on this man were thrown away, for he 
 would be certain, eventually, to betray us: and such an 
 inference could only have been drawn from the lips of 
 the traitor himself. Petion must have given Malesherbes 
 reason to believe this. I am daily more and more con- 
 vinced it will be the case. Yet, were I to show the 
 least energy or activity in support of the King's authority, 
 I should be accused of undermining it. All France would 
 be up in arms against the danger of female influence. 
 The King would only be lessened in the general opinion 
 of the nation, and the kingly authority still more weak- 
 ened. Calm submission to His Majesty is, therefore, the 
 only safe course for both of us, and we must wait events.' 
 
 "While Her Majesty was thus opening her heart to 
 
CHAPTER XXIV 297 
 
 me, the King and Princess Elizabeth entered, to inform 
 l\er, that M. Laporte, the head of the private police, had 
 discovered, and caused to be arrested, some of the 
 wretches who had maliciously attempted to fire the palace 
 of the Tuileries. 
 
 "'Set them at liberty!' exclaimed Her Majesty; 'or, 
 to clear themselves and their party, they will accuse us 
 of something worse.' 
 
 '"Such, too, is my opinion, sire,' observed I; 'for how- 
 ever I abhor their intentions, I have here a letter from 
 one of these miscreants which was found among the com- 
 bustibles. It cautions us not to inhabit the upper part 
 of the Pavilion. My not having paid the attention which 
 was expected to the letter, has aroused the malice of the 
 writer, and caused a second attempt to be made from 
 the Pont Royal upon my own apartment; in preventing 
 which, a worthy man* has been cruelly wounded in the 
 arm.' 
 
 "'Merciful Heaven!' exclaimed the poor Queen and 
 the Princess Elizabeth, 'not dangerously I hopel'f 
 
 '"I hope not,' added I; 'but the attempt, and its 
 escaping unpunished, though there were guards all around, 
 is a proof how perilous it will be, while we are so weak, 
 to kindle their rancor by any show of impotent resent- 
 ment; for I have reason to believe it was to that, the 
 want of attention to the letter of which I speak was im- 
 puted.' 
 
 The Queen took this opportunity of laying before the 
 King the above-mentioned plan. His Majesty, seeing it 
 in the name of La Fayette, took up the paper, and, after 
 he had attentively perused it, tore it in pieces, exclaim- 
 ing, "What! has not M. La Fayette done mischief enough 
 yet, but must he even expose the names of so many 
 worthy men by committing them to paper at a critical 
 period like this, when he is fully aware that we are in 
 immediate danger of being assailed by a banditti of 
 
 * My man servant, as elsewhere described. 
 
 fThus were these unfortunate princesses always more anxious for 
 *he safety and welfare of others, than for their own. 
 
398 CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 inhuman cannibals, who would sacrifice every individual 
 attached to us, if, unfortunately, such a paper should be 
 found ? I am determined to have nothing to do with his 
 ruinous plans. Popularity and ambition made him the 
 principal promoter of republicanism. Having failed of 
 becoming a Washington, he is mad to become a Crom- 
 well. I have no faith in these turncoat constitution- 
 alists." 
 
 "I know that the Queen heartily concurred in this 
 sentiment concerning General La Fayette, as soon as she 
 escertained his real character, and discovered that he con- 
 sidered nothing paramount to public notoriety. To this 
 he had sacrificed the interest of his country, and trampled 
 under foot the throne; but finding he could not succeed 
 in forming a Republican Government in France as he had 
 in America, he, like many others, lost his popularity with 
 the demagogues, and, when too late, came to offer his 
 services, through me, to the Queen, to recruit a mon- 
 archy which his vanity had undermined to gratify his 
 chimerical ambition. Her Majesty certainly saw him fre- 
 quently, but never again would she put herself in the 
 way of being betrayed by one whom she considered faith- 
 less to all."* 
 
 Here ends the Journal of my lamented benefactress. 
 I have continued the history, to the close of her career, 
 
 "Thus ended the proflFered services of General La Fayette, who 
 then took the command of the national army, served against that of the 
 Prince Condd, and the princes of his native country, and was given 
 up with General Bournonville, Lameth, and others by General Du- 
 mourier, on the first defeat of the French, to the Austrians, by whom 
 they were sent to the fortress of Olmutz in Hungary, where they re- 
 mained till after the death of the wretch Robespierre, when they 
 were exchanged for the Duchess d'Angoul6me, now Dauphiness of 
 France. 
 
 From the retired life led by General La Fayette on his return 
 to France, there can be but little doubt that he spent a g^at part 
 of his time in reflecting on the fatal errors of his former conduct, as 
 he did not coincide with any of the revolutionary principles which 
 preceded the short-lived reigjn of imperialism. But though Napo- 
 leon too well knew him to be attached from principle to republican- 
 ism—every vestige of which he had long before destroyed— to 
 
CHAPTER XXIV 399 
 
 and that of the Royal Family, especially as her highness 
 herself acted so important a part in many of the scenes, 
 which are so strongly illustrated by her conversation and 
 letters. It is only necessary to add that the papers which 
 I have arranged were received from her highness amid 
 the disasters which were now thickening around her and 
 her royal friends. 
 
 employ him in any military capacity, still he recalled him from his 
 hiding place, in order to prevent his doing mischief, as he polit- 
 ically did every other royalist whom he could bring under the ban- 
 ners of his imperialism. 
 
 Had Napoleon made use of his general knowledge of mankind 
 in other respects, as he politically did in France over his con- 
 quered subjects, in respecting ancient habits, and gradually weaned 
 them from their natural prejudices instead of violently forcing all 
 men to become Frenchmen, all men would have fought for him, 
 and not against him. These were the weapons by which his power 
 became annihilated, and which, in the end, will be the destruction 
 of all potentates who presume to follow his fallacious plan of form- 
 ing individuals to a system instead of accommodating systems to in- 
 dividuals. The fruits from southern climes have been reared in the 
 north, but without their native virtue or vigor. It is more dan- 
 gerous to attack the habits of men than their religion. 
 
 The British constitution, though a blessing to Englishmen, is very 
 ill-suited to nations not accustomed to the climate and its varia- 
 tions. Every country has peculiarities of thought and manners re- 
 sulting from the physical influence of its sky and soil. Whenever 
 we lose sight of this truth, we naturally lose the affections of those 
 whose habits we counteract. 
 
CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 The Editor Attends Debates, and Executes Confidential Employments 
 in Various Disguises — Becomes Intimate with a Reporter — Ad- 
 venture with Danton in the Tuileries, Disguised as a Milliner's 
 Apprentice— Horrid Scene in the Gardens — Consternation of the 
 Royal Party on Seeing Her with Danton — She Contrives to be 
 Taken by Him to the Palace — Delight of the Princess Lamballe 
 at Her Return — Conversation with the Princess upon the State of 
 Public Affairs and Hopelessness of the Royal Cause. 
 
 FROM the time I left Passy till my final departure from 
 Paris for Italy, which took place on the 2d of August, 
 1792, my residence was almost exclusively at the 
 capital. The faithful driver, who had given such proofs 
 of probity, continued to be of great service, and was put 
 in perpetual requisition. I was daily about on the busi- 
 ness of the Queen and the Princess, always disguised, and 
 most frequently as a drummer boy; on which occasions 
 the driver and my man servant were my companions. My 
 principal occupation was to hear and take down the de- 
 bates of the assembly,* and to convey and receive letters 
 from the Queen to the Princess Lamballe, to and from 
 Bamave, Bertrand de Moleville, Alexandre de Lameth, 
 Duport de Fertre, Duportail, Montmorin, Turb^, Mandate, 
 
 * I was by no means a novice in this species of masquerading, as, 1 be- 
 lieve, I have mentioned before. 
 
 I remember one day, long previous to the time I now allude to, the 
 Princess Lamballe told me the Queen had been informed by Mirabeau 
 that the Abb6 Maury was to make a motion in the assembly, which, by 
 a private understanding between the two, Mirabeau was to oppose, for 
 the purpose of the better carrying on the deception of their plans, and 
 thereby ascertaining " how the land lay " with respect to some of the 
 deputies, whom Mirabeau had not yet been able to secure to the interest 
 of the monarchy. "I wish," said the Princess, " you would go in boy's 
 clothes with your servant in the gallery to hear the discussions." I said 
 I would most willingly, as I was desirous of seeing Mirabeau's impetu- 
 osity contrasted with the 'phlegmatic propositions of the Abb6 Maury. 
 It was on that very day, and in consequence of that very argument, that 
 (300; 
 
CHAPTER XXV 301 
 
 the Duke de Brissac, etc., with whom my illustrious pa- 
 tronesses kept up a continued correspondence, to which I 
 believe all of them fell. a sacrifice; for, owing to the im- 
 prudence of the King in not removing their communica- 
 tions when he removed the rest of his papers from the 
 Tuileries, the exposure of their connection with the Court 
 was necessarily consequent upon the plunder of the palace 
 on the loth of August, 1792. 
 
 In my masquerade visits to the assembly, I got ac- 
 quainted with an editor of one of the papers; I think he 
 
 when the Abbd came from the assembly, the mob cried out, •• a la 
 lanterne, M. I'Abb^!" The Abb6, turning round, replied, with the 
 greatest sangfroid; " Will your hanging me to the lamp-post make you 
 see the clearer ? " 
 
 A similar story is related of Mr. Pitt He was once coming across 
 the park from the King's levee, followed by an immense mob, who were 
 pelting his carriage and abusing him most outrageously, till he reached 
 his house, which was in one of the streets leading out of the park. 
 There, seeing them settling in battle array, he turned round in 'the 
 politest manner, took oflE his hat, and made them a low bow. This 
 turned the tide. They instantly became as vehement in their applause 
 as they had been brutally violent in their abuse. 
 
 Oh, what a many-headed monster is a plebeian mob ! During the 
 French Revolution, how often have I seen this change achieved on most 
 serious occasions, whenever the objects of their malice had courage 
 enough to face their brutal assailants. 
 
 A similar circumstance happened to me at my country house near 
 Treviso. I was translating the works of Lady Mary Wortley Montague 
 into Italian. A fellow, after I had accommodated him and his staff 
 with many beds, demanded of me to give up my own bedroom. " Where, 
 then," asked I, "are my husband, my family, and myself to sleep?" 
 " In the stables," replied he. We had nearly five hundred soldiers on 
 our grounds, all their luggage and many iieldpieces, or I would have 
 STABLED him out of the room. I dared not call my husband as he would 
 have stabled him out of the windows in double-quick time, as he had 
 done before in a case of similar violence. However, I told him my mind 
 in language which caused the coward to draw his sword against me. 
 When I saw this, I rose from my seat, advanced toward him, and said, 
 " Give me that weapon, coward, and I will not threaten you, but use it 
 as your unjustifiable insolence deserves ! " I cannot say what my coun- 
 tenance betrayed at the moment, but his became like that of a corpse, 
 and he set off in the night, probably from the fear lest I should put my 
 threat in execution, which, I verily believe, I should have done at the 
 moment had I been mistress of the wet^ion. 
 
302 CHAPTER XXV 
 
 told me his name was Duplessie. Being pleased with the 
 liveliness of my remarks on some of the organized dis- 
 orders, as I termed them, and with some comments I 
 made upon the meanness of certain disgusting speeches 
 on the patriotic gifts, my new acquaintance suffered me 
 to take copies of his own shorthand remarks and reports. 
 By this means the Queen and the Princess had them be- 
 fore they appeared in print. M. Duplessie was on other 
 occasions of great service to me, especially as a protector 
 in the mobs, for my man servant and the honest driver* 
 were so much occupied in watching the movements of the 
 various fauxbourg factions, that I was often left entirely 
 unattended. 
 
 The horrors of the Tuileries, both by night and day, 
 were now grown appalling beyond description. Almost 
 unendurable as they had been before, they were aggra- 
 vated by the insults of the national guard to every pas- 
 senger to and from the palace. I was myself in so much 
 peril, that the Princess thought it necessary to procure a 
 trusty person, of tried courage, to see me through the 
 throngs, with a large bandbox of all sorts of fashionable 
 millinery, as the mode of ingress and egress least liable 
 to excite suspicion. 
 
 Thus equipped, and guarded by my cicisbeo, I one day 
 found myself, on entering the Tuileries, in the midst of 
 an immense mob of regular trained rioters, who, seeing 
 me go toward the palace, directed their attention entirely 
 to me. They took me for some one belongfing to the 
 Queen's milliner, Madame Bertin, who, they said, was fat- 
 tening upon the public misery, through the Queen's ex- 
 travagance. The poor Queen herself they called by 
 names so opprobrious, that decency will not suffer me to 
 repeat them. With a volley of oaths, pressing upon us, 
 they bore us to another part of the garden, for the pur- 
 pose of compelling us to behold six or eight of the most 
 
 * These were two, among the persons in the confidence of the 
 Princess, whose fidelity and attention Madame Campan mentioned 
 to her aug^ist mistress, and to which she bears public testimony in 
 her late work. 
 
CHAPTER XXV 303 
 
 infamous outcasts, amusing themselves, in a state of ex- 
 posure, with their accursed hands and arms tinged with 
 blood up to the elbows. The spot they had chosen for 
 this exhibition of their filthy persons was immediately be- 
 fore the windows of the apartments of the Queen and the 
 ladies of the Court. Here they paraded up and down, 
 to the great entertainment of a throng of savage reb- 
 els, by whom they were applauded and encouraged with 
 shouts of ^^BisJ bis!" signifying in English, "Again! 
 again ! " 
 
 The demoniac interest excited by this scene withdrew 
 the attention of those who were enjoying it from me, and 
 gave me the opportunity of escaping unperceived, merely 
 with the loss of my bandbox. Of that the infuriated 
 mob made themselves masters; and the hats, caps, bon- 
 nets, and other articles of female attire, were placed on 
 the parts of their degraded carcasses, which, for the honor 
 of human nature, should have been shot. 
 
 Overcome with agony at these insults, I burst from 
 the garden in a flood of tears. On passing the gate, I 
 was accosted by a person, who exclaimed in a tone of 
 great kindness, "Qu'as tu, ma bonne f qu'est ce qui vous 
 afflige ? " Knowing the risk I should run in representing 
 the real cause of my concern, I immediately thought of 
 ascribing it to the loss of the property of which I had 
 been plundered. I told him I was a poor milliner, and 
 had been robbed of everything I possessed in the world 
 by the mob. "Come back with me," said he, "and I will 
 have it restored to you." I knew it was of no avail, but 
 policy stimulated me to comply; and I returned with him 
 into the garden toward the palace. 
 
 What should I have felt, had I been aware when this 
 man came up, that I was accosted by the villain Danton! 
 The person who was with me knew him, but dared not 
 speak, and watched a chance of escaping in the crowd for 
 fear of being discovered. When I looked round and found 
 myself alone, I said I had lost my brother in the confu- 
 sion, which added to my grief. 
 
 " Oh, never mind," said Danton; " take hold of my arm; 
 
304 CHAPTER XXV 
 
 no one shall molest you. We will look for your brother, 
 and try to recover your things; " and on we went together: 
 I, weeping, I may truly say, for my life, stopped at every 
 step, while he related my doleful story to all whose curi- 
 osity was excited by my grief. 
 
 On my appearing arm in arm with Danton before the 
 windows of the Queen's apartments, we were observed by 
 Her Majesty and the princesses. Their consternation and 
 perplexity, as well as alarm for my safety, may readily be 
 conceived. A signal from the window instantly apprized 
 me that I might enter the palace, to which my return had 
 been for some time impatiently expected. 
 
 Finding it could no longer be of any service to carry 
 on the farce of seeking my pretended brother, I begged 
 to be escorted out of the mob to the apartments of the 
 Princess Lamballe. 
 
 "Oh," said Danton, "certainly! and if you had only 
 told the people that you were going to that good princess, 
 I am sure your things would not have been taken from 
 you. But," added he, "are you perfectly certain they 
 were not for that detestable Maria Antoinette ? " 
 
 "Oh! " I replied, quite, quite certain! " All this while 
 the mob was at my heels. 
 
 "Then," said he, "I will not leave you till you are safe 
 in the apartments of the Princess Lamballe, and I will 
 myself make known to her your loss: she is so good," 
 continued he, "that I am convinced she will make you 
 just compensation." 
 
 When we entered the palace, he said to the national 
 guard, " Voild,, mes enfans, une pauvre malheureuse qui a 
 mvolie de toutes ses marchandises; mats j'e vats chez la Lam- 
 balle moi mime avec elle" — but he omitted her title of 
 Princess. 
 
 I then told him how much I should be obliged by his 
 doing so, as I had been commissioned to deliver the things, 
 and if I was made to pay for them, the loss would be 
 more serious than I could bear. 
 
 "Bah! bah!" exclaimed he. ''Laisses moi fair e! Lais- 
 sex moi faire !! " 
 
CHAPTER XXV 30S 
 
 When he came to the inner door, which I pretended to 
 know nothing about, he told the gentleman of the cham- 
 ber his name, and said he wished to see his mistress. 
 
 Her highness came in a few minutes, and from her 
 looks and visible agitation at the sight of Danton, I feared 
 she would have betrayed both herself and me. However, 
 while he was making a long preamble, I made signs, 
 from which she inferred that all was safe. 
 
 When Danton had finished telling her the story, she 
 calmly said to me: "Do you recollect, child, the things 
 you have been robbed of? " 
 
 I replied, that if I hkd pen and ink, I could even set 
 down the prices. 
 
 "Oh, well then, child, come in," said her highness, 
 "and we will see what is to be done!" 
 
 "There!" exclaimed Danton, " Did I not tell you this 
 before?" Then giving me a hearty squeeze of the hand, 
 he departed, and thus terminated the millinery specula- 
 tion, which I have no doubt, cost her highness a tolera- 
 ble sum. 
 
 As soon as he was gone, the Princess said, " For 
 Heaven's sake tell me the whole of this affair candidly; 
 for the Queen has been in the greatest agitation at the 
 bare idea of your knowing Danton, ever since we first 
 saw you walking with him! He is one of our most in- 
 veterate enemies." 
 
 I said that if they had but witnessed one-half of the 
 scenes that I saw, I was sure their feelings would have been 
 shocked beyond description. "We did not see all, but we 
 heard too much for the ears of our sex." 
 
 I then related the particulars of our meeting to her 
 highness, who observed : "This accident, howfever un- 
 pleasant, may still turn out to our advantage. This fel- 
 low believes you to be a merchande de modes, and the 
 circumstance of his having accompanied you to my apart- 
 ment, will enable you, in future, to pass to and from the 
 Pavilion unmolested by the national guard." 
 
 With tears of joy in her eyes for my safety, she could 
 not, however, help laughing when I told her the farce I 
 
3o6 CHAPTER XXV 
 
 kept up respecting the loss of my brother, and my band- 
 box with the millinery, for which I was also soon con- 
 gratulated most graciously by Her Majesty, who much 
 applauded my spirit and presence of mind, and conde- 
 scended immediately to intrust me with letters of the 
 greatest importance, for some of the most distinguished 
 members of the assembly, with which I left the palace in 
 triumph, but taking care to be ready with a proper story 
 of my losses. 
 
 When I passed the guardroom I was pitied by the 
 very wretches, who, perhaps, had already shared in the 
 spoils; and who would have butchered me, no doubt, into 
 the bargain, could they have penetrated the real object 
 of my mission. They asked me if I had been paid for 
 the loss I sustained. I told them I had not, but I was 
 promised that it should be settled. 
 
 "Settled! " said one of the wretches. "Get the money 
 as soon as you can. Do not trust to promises of its be- 
 ing settled. They will all be settled themselves soon! " 
 
 The next day, on going to the palace, I found the 
 Princess Lamballe in the greatest agitation, from the ac- 
 counts the Court had just received of the murder of a man 
 belonging to Arthur Dillon, and of the massacres at Nantes. 
 
 "The horrid prints, pamphlets, and caricatures," cried 
 she, "daily exhibited under the very windows of the 
 Tuileries, against His Majesty, the Queen, the Austrian 
 party, and the Coblentz party, the constant thwarting of 
 every plan, and these last horrors at Nantes, have so 
 overwhelmed the King that he is nearly become a mere 
 automaton. Daily and nightly execrations are howled in 
 his ears. Look at our boasted deliverers! The poor 
 Queen, her children, and all of us belonging to the pal- 
 ace, are in danger of our lives at merely being seen; 
 while they by whom we have been so long buoyed up 
 with hope, are quarreling among themselves for the honor 
 and etiquette of precedency, leaving us to the fury of a 
 race of cannibals, who know no mercy, and will have de- 
 stroyed us long before their disputes of etiquette can be 
 settled." 
 
CHAPTER XXV 507 
 
 The utterance of her highness while saying this was 
 rendered almost inarticulate by her tears. 
 
 "What support against internal disorganization," con- 
 tinued she, "is to be expected from so disorganized a 
 body as the present army of diflEerent nations, having all 
 different interests ? " 
 
 I said there was no doubt that the Prussian army was 
 on its march, and would soon be joined by that of the 
 princes and of Austria. 
 
 "You speak as you wish, mia car a Inglesina, but it is 
 all to no purpose. Would to God they had never been 
 applied to, never been called upon to interfere. Oh, that 
 Her Majesty could have been persuaded to listen to 
 Dumourier and some other of the members, instead of 
 ro'^ying on succors which, I fear, will never enter Paris 
 in our lifetime ! No army can subdue a nation ; especially 
 a nation fronzied by the recent recovery of its freedom 
 and independence from the shackles of a corrupt and weak 
 administration. The King is too good; the Queen has 
 no equal as to heart; but they have both been most 
 grossly betrayed. The royalists on one side, the consti- 
 tutionalists on the other, will be the victims of the 
 Jacobins, for they are the most powerful, they are the 
 most united, they possess the most talent, and they act 
 in a body, and not merely for the time being. Believe 
 me, my dear, their plans are too well grounded to be 
 defeated, as every one framed by the fallacious consti- 
 tutionalists and mad-headed royalists has been; and so 
 they will ever be while they continue to form two separate 
 interests. From the very first moment when these two 
 bodies were worked upon separately, I told the Queen 
 that till they were united for the same object the mon- 
 archy would be unsafe, and at the mercy of the Jacobins, 
 who, from hatred to both parties, would overthrow it 
 themselves to rule despotically over those whom they no 
 longer respected or feared, but whom they hated, as con- 
 sidering them both equally their former oppressors." 
 
 "May the All-seeing Power," continued her highness, 
 " grant, for the good of this shattered state, that I may 
 
30* CHAPTER XXV 
 
 be mistaken, and that my predictions may prove different 
 in the result; but of this I see no hope, unless in the 
 strength of our own internal resources. God knows how 
 powerful they might prove could, they be united at this 
 moment! But from the anarchy and division kept up 
 between them, I see no prospect of their being brought 
 to bear, except in a general overthrow of this, as you 
 have justly observed, organized system of disorders, from 
 which at some future period we may obtain a solid, 
 systematic order of government. Would Charles the 
 Second ever have reigned after the murder of his father 
 had England been torn to pieces by different factions? 
 No! It was the union of the body of the nation for its 
 internal tranquillity, the amalgamation of parties against 
 domestic faction, which gave vigor to the arm of power, 
 and enabled the nation to check foreign interference 
 abroad, while it annihilated anarchy at home. By that 
 means the Protector himself laid the first stone of the 
 Restoration. The division of a nation is the surest har- 
 binger of success to its invaders, the death-blow to its 
 sovereign's authority, and the total destruction of that 
 innate energy by which alone a country can obtain the 
 dignity of its own independence." 
 
CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 Affecting Interview between the Queen, Princess Elizabeth, Princess 
 Lamballe, and the Editor — Princess Lamballe Communicates the 
 Intention of the Queen to Send the Editor on a Mission to Her 
 Royal Relations — Receives the Cipher of the Italian Correspond- 
 ence—Presents Given to the Editor Previous to Her Departure 
 — Instructions from the Princess — Sees Her for the Last Time — 
 Quits France — Contrast between the Duchess of Parma and the 
 Queen of Naples on the Receipt of Her Majesty's Letters — Con- 
 versation of the Queen of Naples with General Acton. 
 
 WHILE her highness was thus pondering on the dread- 
 ful situation of France, strengthening her argu- 
 ments by those historical illustrations, which, from 
 the past, enabled her to look into the future, a message 
 came to her from Her Majesty. She left me, and, in a 
 few minutes, returned to her apartment, accompanied by 
 the Queen, and her royal highness the Princess Elizabeth. 
 I was greatly surprised at seeing these two illustrious and 
 august personages bathed in tears. Of course, I could not 
 be aware of any new motive to create any new or extraor- 
 dinary emotion; yet there was in the countenances of 
 all the party an appearance different from anything I had 
 ever witnessed in them, or any other person before; a 
 something which seemed to say, they no longer had any 
 affinity with the rest of earthly beings. I will therefore 
 endeavor to convey some idea of the impression which 
 each, respectively, made on me at the moment. 
 
 The look of the Princess Elizabeth was perfectly celes- 
 tial ; she seemed as if loosened from every mortal tie, and 
 her soul, dwelling far from the polluted state of earthly 
 vegetation, was already consigned to the regions of im- 
 mortal bliss, with no thought of worldly cares, but aspira- 
 tions for the happiness and eternal pardon of those who 
 
 (309) 
 
3IO CHAPTER XXVI 
 
 had made its abode to her and her's so horribly lament- 
 able! 
 
 In the air of Her Majesty the Queen shone all the dig- 
 nity of that heroic spirit, which even the weight of mis- 
 fortune, irremovable on this side the grave, could not 
 ovenyhelm. Though her heavenly blue eyes no longer 
 dazzled with those bursts of fire, which once penetrated 
 into the secret recesses of every heart, and gladdened the 
 soul of every beholder with sympathetic affection ; though 
 they were sunken in their sockets, never more to emerge 
 from earthly grief, and turned toward the asylum of fu- 
 ture tranquillity beyond the earth, yet they still spoke the 
 greatness land supernatural strength of her character; and 
 their splendor, while setting in eternal darkness, was still 
 the brightness of a setting sun. 
 
 The Princess Lamballe seemed a beautiful form ani- 
 mated by some saintlike spirit, with scarcely a conscious- 
 ness of its own existence, and with no thought but that 
 of consoling those around, and no desire but that of 
 smoothing their path to those mansions of eternal peace 
 to which she had already, by anticipation, consigned her- 
 self. She appeared as if, through heavenly revelations, 
 only solicitous to sustain others by the assurances she 
 found so consolatory to herself. Her countenance beamed 
 with a serenity perfectly supernatural, under such cir- 
 cumstances, in one of her weak sex. Her air was elevated 
 and firm, though not presumptuous. The graces that 
 played about her bespoke her already the crowned martyr 
 of Elysium, rather than the exposed victim of earthly 
 assassins. Her voice was like the tones of angels; her 
 looks — Oh! never shall I forget the glance which told 
 me, " I see before me the mansion of peace. If we meet 
 no more, be it your consolation for my untimely end that 
 I am happy!" 
 
 I am conscious of the faintness of my delineation of 
 these three heroic princesses when last I had the honor 
 of seeing them ; and even were my powers of description of 
 the highest order they must have fallen infinitely short 
 of th« indelible impreasion of that ever lamented day! 
 
CHAPTER XXVI 3'i 
 
 After the numberless kindnesses I had received, the infinite 
 condescensions and liberalities, to find them still, in the 
 midst of such miseries of their own, when in hourly peril 
 
 of their lives, so solicitous to screen me from danger . 
 
 But the subject is too painful : let me go on with the in- 
 terview. 
 
 I have already remarked, that the two august person- 
 ages who accompanied the Princess Lamballe were in 
 tears. I soon discovered the cause. They had all been 
 just writing to their distant friends and relations. A 
 fatal presentiment, alas! too soon verified, told them it 
 was for the last time. 
 
 Her highness the Princess Lamballe now approached me. 
 "Her Majesty," observed the Princess, " wishes to give 
 you a mark of her esteem, in delivering to you, with her 
 own hands, letters to her family, which it is her inten- 
 tion to intrust to your especial care. 
 
 "On this step Her Majesty has resolved, as much to 
 send you out of the way of danger, as from the convic- 
 tion occasioned by the firm reliance your conduct has 
 created in us, that you will faithfully obey the orders 
 you may receive, and execute our intentions with that 
 peculiar intelligence which the emergency of the case re- 
 quires. 
 
 "But even the desirable opportunity which offers, 
 through you, for the accomplishment of the mission, 
 might not have prevailed with Her Majesty to hasten 
 your departure, had not the wretch Danton twice in. 
 quired at the palace for the "little milliner," whom h© 
 rescued and conducted safe to the apartments of th? 
 Pavilion of Flora. This, probably, may be a matter of 
 no real consequence whatever; but it is our duty to avoid 
 danger, and it has been decided that you should, at least 
 for a time, absent yourself from Paris. 
 
 "/Vr cio, mia cara Inglesina, speak now freely and 
 candidly: is it your wish to return to England, or gq 
 elsewhere ? For though we are all sorry to lose you, 
 yet it would be a source of still greater sorrow to us, 
 prizing your services and fidelity as we do, should any 
 
312 CHAPTER XXVI 
 
 plans and purposes of ours lead you into difficulty or em- 
 barrassment. " 
 
 '■'■Oh, mon Dieu ! c'est z/ri3:«/ " interrupted Her Majesty, 
 her eyes at the same time filled with tears. 
 
 "I should never forgive myself," continued the Prin- 
 cess, "if I should prove the cause of any misfortune to 
 you. " 
 
 "Nor I!" most graciously subjoined the Queen. 
 
 "Therefore," pursued the Princess, "speak your mind 
 without reserve." 
 
 I was, however, so completely overwhelmed by my 
 feelings, that notwithstanding frequent attempts, I found 
 myself totally incapable, for some time, even to express 
 the gratitude I naturally felt for such unbounded con- 
 descension, which did not fail to produce the greatest 
 sensibility on the illustrious personages who witnessed my 
 embarrassment; and when at last my tears permitted me 
 the faculty of utterance, I could only articulate in broken 
 accents. 
 
 The Princess Lamballe approached me. I took her 
 hand; I bathed it with my tears, as she, at the same mo- 
 ment, was bathing my face with hers. Sobbing all the 
 while, I replied, that I was a stranger to fear, except 
 that of incurring their displeasure; that though to quit 
 Paris and their august personages would be a severe 
 sacrifice at a period so critical, yet it must greatly di- 
 minish my reluctance to know that I had the honor 
 to be considered as useful elsewhere. I sincerely hoped 
 they had not been influenced in their wish to remove me 
 from any doubt of my fidelity, as their confidence in me 
 formed the pride of my life; and, I added, that the 
 poignant regret I felt at being compelled to withdraw 
 myself, in obedience to their royal commands, could only 
 be diminished by the flattering prospect that the missions 
 which occasioned my absence would tend to console and 
 render them more happy on my return; a wish that 
 would everywhere accompany me, and would never be 
 extinguished but with my existence. 
 
 Here my own feelings, and the sobs of the illustrious 
 
CHAPTER XXVI 31 3 
 
 party, completely overcame me, and I could not proceed. 
 The Princess Lamballe clasped me in her arms. "Not 
 only letters," exclaimed she, "but my life I would trust 
 to the fidelity of my vera, verissima, cara Inglesina ! And 
 now, " continued her highness, turning round to the Queen, 
 " will it please Your Majesty to give Inglesina your com- 
 mands? " 
 
 "Here, then," said the Queen, "is a letter for my 
 dear sister, the Queen of Naples, which you must deliver 
 into her own hands. 
 
 " Here is another for my sister, the Duchess of Parma. 
 If she should not be at Parma, you will find her at 
 Colorno. 
 
 "This is for my brother, the Archduke of Milan; this 
 for my sister-in-law, the Princess Clotilda Piedmont, at 
 Turin; and here are four others. You will take off the 
 envelope when you get to Turin, and then put them into 
 the post yourself. Do not give them to, or send them 
 by, any person whatsoever. 
 
 "Tell my sisters the state of Paris. Inform them of 
 our cruel situation. Describe the riots and convulsions 
 you have seen. Above all, assure them how dear they 
 are to me, and how much I love them." 
 
 At the word love, Her Majesty threw herself on a 
 sofa, and wept bitterly. 
 
 The Princess Elizabeth gave me a letter for her sister, 
 and two for her aunts, to be delivered to them, if at 
 Rome ; but if not, to be put under cover and sent through 
 the post at Rome to whatever place they might have 
 made their residence. 
 
 I had also a packet of letters to deliver for the Prin- 
 cess Lamballe at Turin; and another for the Duke de 
 Serbelloni at Milan. 
 
 Her Majesty and the Princess Elizabeth not only al- 
 lowed me the honor to kiss their hands, but they both 
 gave me their blessing and good wishes for my safe re- 
 turn, and then left me with the Princess Lamballe. 
 
 Her -Majesty had scarcely left the apartment of the 
 Princess, when I recollected she had forgotten to give 
 
314 CHAPTER XXVI 
 
 me the cipher and the key for the letters.* The Prin- 
 cess immediately went to the Queen's apartment, and re- 
 turned with them shortly after. 
 
 "Now that we are alone," said her highness, "I will 
 tell you what Her Majesty has graciously commanded me 
 
 * Madame Campan, vol. ii., page 176, alludes to the Queen's cipher, 
 and represents very truly its being impossible to detect it ; for should 
 the cipher or even the correspondence be lost or taken, neither could 
 be understood by any but the two persons so corresponding. 
 
 The cipher, however, which Madame Campan often assisted Her 
 Majesty in copying, and which was selected from " Paul and Virginia," 
 was merely for the Paris correspondence, and principally for that of 
 Bertrand de Moleville ; different altogether from the one I allude to, 
 and which was only used by the Queen in corresponding with her 
 Italian relations. This is still in my possession, and has been so ever 
 since the unfortunate moment I am now describing. 
 
 As this cipher may be a subject of some curiosity to my readers, 1 
 annex it. It can only be applied to the Italian language, which has 
 no K and no double vowels. It is scarcely necessary to observe that 
 Maria Antoinette corresponded almost exclusively in Italian. If well 
 understood beforehand, with the possession of the key, the deciphering, 
 after a little practice, becomes very easy. For instance, take for a key the 
 word Lodovico; and suppose that you wish to write the ciphers for the 
 words "Maria Antonia, Regina di Francia"; set down the whole line, 
 and immediately over each letter write the separate letters of the 
 key, or word Lodovico, successively, thus — 
 
 Key — LoDOVicoLODOvicoLO do VICbLOD 
 
 Subject M ARl A-ANTONIA-REGINA-D I-FRANCIA 
 
 Then, in the first alphabet of the large initials of the cipher (see the 
 beginning of the volume), the letter L must be sought, and on the 
 transversal line being traced for M it will be found on the same square 
 with Q, which must be set down; then in the large initials look for O, 
 and A will be found in the small square with t. Put t down, and pro- 
 ceed, in the same manner, with each letter of the key and subject, 
 and the result will be — 
 
 QTEQY-RAAIFXT-GXTQHT-QQ-QANFTQN 
 
 On receiving this, the person with whom it has been agreed to 
 correspond by the word Lodovico as the key, will apply the sep- 
 arate letters of the word to decipher it, and taking L of the key 
 large initials, will seek on the transversal lines for the cipher q 
 which will be found with m ; in the same manner o and t produce A ; 
 D and e—r; o and q — :; v and y — a; i and r — a, etc., so that the 
 deciphering will be — 
 
 Maria antonia reoina di francia. 
 
CHAPTER XXVI 3«S 
 
 to signify to you in her royal name. The Queen com- 
 mands me to say that you are provided for for life; and 
 that, on the first vacancy which may occur, she intends 
 fixing you at Court. 
 
 " Therefore, mia car a Inglesina, take especial care 
 what you are about, and obey Her Majesty's wishes 
 when you are absent, as implicitly as you have hitherto 
 done all her commands during your abode near her. 
 You are not to write to anyone. No one is to be made 
 acquainted with your route. You are not to leave Paris 
 in your own carriage. It will be sent after you by your 
 man servant, who is to join you at Chalons on the 
 Saone. 
 
 " I have further to inform you that Her Majesty the 
 Queen, on sending you the cipher, has at the same time 
 graciously condescended to add these presents as further 
 marks of her esteem." 
 
 Her highness then showed me a most beautiful gold 
 watch, chain, and seals.* 
 
 "These," said she, placing them with her own hands, 
 "Her Majesty desired me to put round your neck in 
 testimony of her regard." 
 
 At the same time her highness presented me, on her 
 own part, with a beautiful pocketbook, the covers of 
 which were of gold enameled, with the word "Souvenir" 
 in diamonds on one side, and a large cipher of her own 
 initials on the other. The first page contained the 
 names of the Queen and her royal highness the Princess 
 Elizabeth, in their own handwriting. There was a cheque 
 in it on a Swiss banker, at Milan, of the name of 
 Bonny, f 
 
 *It was a very handsome repeater, set round with diamonds and 
 pearls ; and the chain and seals set with beautiful gems. 
 
 f The greater part of the time I resided in Milan I was entertained at 
 the house of this banker, although the cheque was of no use to me. Pay- 
 ment was refused in consequence of what happened in Paris on the loth 
 of August ; but M. Bonny gave me what money I wanted on my own 
 signature, an apartment in his house, and the use of bis table, for all of 
 which be was handsomely remiinerated on my arrival at Naples, through 
 torn vnma* of Sir William Hamilton, upon whose kindness I was thrown 
 
3i6 CHAPTER XXVI 
 
 Having given me these invaluable tokens, her highness 
 proceeded with her instructions. 
 
 "At Chalons," continued she, '' mia cara, your man 
 servant will perhaps bring you other letters. Take two 
 places in the stage for yourself and your femme de chant- 
 bre, in her name, and give me the memorandum, that our 
 old friend the driver may procure the passports. You 
 must not be seen; for there is no doubt that Danton has 
 given the police a full description of your person. Now 
 go and prepare: we shall see each other again before 
 your departure." 
 
 Only a few minutes afterward, my man servant came to 
 me to say that it would be some hours before the stage 
 would set off, and that there was a lady in her carriage 
 waiting for me in the Bois de Boulogne. I hastened 
 thither. What was my surprise on finding it was the 
 Princess. I now saw her for the last time! 
 
 Let me pass lightly over this sad moment. I must not, 
 however, dismiss the subject without noticing the visible 
 changes which had taken place in the short space of a 
 
 by the loss of a trunk containing all my valuables and money. This 
 disaster occurred between Acqua Pendenti and Monte Rosi. My servant, 
 who generally had his feet on the carriage box containing the trunk, bad 
 been sent on before to order horses, that I might reach Rome in the 
 daytime. It was during this interval that the trunk was cut away, that 
 part of the Roman States from the Malaria being only inhabited by 
 notorious assassins and common thieves, under the protection of some 
 cardinal or other, as was the practice then. Had it not been for the 
 kindness of the good Duchess de Paoli, who resided at the Fontana de 
 Trevi, I should have been very much embarrassed, when I arrived at 
 Rome, to have got on to Naples. Indeed, I must do the Italian nobility 
 the justice to say that I generally met with the greatest hospitality from 
 them everywhere ; and even the Duchess de Strozzi, of Florence, when 
 she heard of the accident, wrote to me at Naples, offering her assistajice, 
 which I declined though very grateful for such testimonies of esteem 
 from a mere letter introduction. 
 
 Though Sir William Hamilton used every exertion in his power with 
 the Roman authorities, to regain my property, nothing more was ever 
 heard of the matter, nor did I recover the most trifling article. Yet the 
 two postilions were known as common thieves, having been detected in 
 attempting the same on another English family, only eight days 
 previous. 
 
CHAPTER XXVI 317 
 
 month, in the appearance of all these illustrious princesses. 
 Their very complexions were no longer the same, as if 
 grief had changed the whole mass of their blood. The 
 Queen, in particular, from the month of July to the 2d of 
 August, looked ten years older. The other two princesses 
 were really worn out with fatigue, anxiety, and the want 
 of rest, as, during the whole month of July, they scarcely 
 ever slept, for fear of being murdered in their beds, and 
 only threw themselves on them, now and then, without 
 undressing. The King, three or four times in the night, 
 would go round to their different apartments, fearful they 
 might be destroyed in their sleep, and ask, ' ' Etes vous 
 Ih?" when they would answer him from within, ''Nous 
 sommes encore ici."* Indeed, if when nature was exhausted, 
 sleep by chance came to the relief of their worn out and 
 languid frames, it was only to awaken them to fresh hor- 
 rors, which constantly threatened the convulsion by which 
 they were finally annihilated. 
 
 It would be uncandid in me to be silent concerning 
 the marked difference I found in the feelings of the two 
 royal sisters of Her Majesty. 
 
 I had never had the honor before to execute any com- 
 missions for her royal highness the Duchess of Parma, 
 and, of course, took that city in my way to Naples. 
 
 I did not reach Parma till after the horrors which had 
 taken place at the Tuileries on the ioth of August, 1792. 
 The whole of the unfortunate Royal Family of France 
 were then lodged in the Temple. There was not a feel- 
 ing heart in Europe unmoved at their afflicting situation. 
 
 I arrived at Colorno, the country residence of the Duch- 
 ess of Parma, just as her royal highness was going out on 
 horseback. 
 
 I ordered my servant to inform one of the pages that 
 I came by express from Paris, and requested the honor 
 to know when it would be convenient for her royal high- 
 ness to allow me a private audience, as I was going, post 
 
 • This fact was mentioned to me by a confidential person, who 
 often remained in the apartment during the day, while her high- 
 ness would herself repose upon a couch. 
 
3i8 CHAPTER XXVI 
 
 haste, to Rome and Naples. Of course, I did not choose 
 to tell my business either to my own or her royal high- 
 ness's servant, being in honor and duty bound to deliver 
 the letter and the verbal message of her then truly un- 
 fortunate sister in person and in privacy. 
 
 The mention of Paris I saw somewhat startled and 
 confused her. Meantime, she came near enough to my 
 carriage for me to say to her in German, in order that 
 none of the servants, French or Italian, might understand, 
 that I had a letter to deliver into her own hands, without 
 saying from whom. 
 
 She then desired I would alight, and she soon followed 
 me; and after having very graciously ordered me some 
 refreshments, asked me from whom I had been sent. 
 
 I delivered Her Majesty's letter. Before she opened 
 it, she exclaimed, " O Dio ! tut to d perduto i troppo tardi! 
 Oh, God! all is lost, it is too late!" I then gave her the 
 cipher and the key. In a few minutes I enabled her to 
 decipher the letter. On getting through it, she again 
 exclaimed, ".ff tutto inutile! it is entirely useless! I am 
 afraid they are all lost. I am sorry you are so situated 
 as not to allow of your remaining here to rest from your 
 fatigue. Whenever you come to Parma, I shall be glad 
 to see you." 
 
 She then took out her pocket-handkerchief, shed a few 
 tears, and said, that as circumstances were now so totally 
 changed, to answer the letter might only commit her, 
 her sister, and myself ; but that if affairs took the turn 
 she WISHED, no doubt her sister would write again. She 
 then mounted her horse, and wished me a good journey; 
 and I took leave, and set off for Rome. 
 
 I must confess that the conduct of the Duchess of 
 Parma appeared to me rather cold, if not unfeeling. 
 Perhaps she was afraid of showing too much emotion, 
 and wished to encourage the idea that princesses ought 
 not to give way to sensibility, like common mortals. 
 
 But how different was the conduct of the Queen of 
 Naples! She kissed the letter; she bathed it with her 
 tears! Scarcely could she allow herself time to decipher 
 
CHAPTER XXVI 319 
 
 it. At every sentence she exclaimed, "Oh, my dear, oh, 
 my adored sister! What will become of her! My brothers 
 are now both no more ! Surely she will soon be liberated ! " 
 Then, turning suddenly to me, she asked with eagerness, 
 "Do you not think she will ? Oh, Maria, Maria! why did 
 she not fly to Vienna ? Why did she not come to me in- 
 stead of writing ? Tell me, for God's sake, all you know! " 
 
 I said I knew nothing further of what had taken place 
 at Paris, having traveled night and day, except what I 
 had heard from the different couriers, which I had met 
 and stopped on my route; but I hoped to be better in- 
 formed by Sir William Hamilton, as all my letters were 
 to be sent from France to Turin, and thence on to Sir 
 William at Naples; and if I found no letters with him, 
 I should immediately set off and return to Turin or 
 Milan, to be as near France as possible for my speedy 
 return if necessary. I ventured to add, that it was my 
 earnest prayer that all the European sovereigns would 
 feel the necessity of interesting themselves for the Royal 
 Family of France, with whose fate the fate of monarchy 
 throughout Europe might be interwoven. 
 
 "Oh, God of Heaven!" cried the Queen, "all that dear 
 family may ere now have been murdered! Perhaps they 
 are already numbered among the dead! Oh, my poor, 
 dear, beloved Maria! Oh, I shall go frantic! I must send 
 for General Acton." 
 
 Wringing her hands, she pulled the bell, and in a few 
 minutes the general came. On his entering the apart- 
 ment, she flew to him like one deprived of reason. 
 
 "There!" exclaimed she. "There! Behold the fatal 
 consequences!" showing him the letter. "Louis XVI. is 
 in the state of Charles the First of England, and my sis- 
 ter will certainly be murdered." 
 
 ,"No, no, no!" exclaimed the general. "Something 
 will be done. Calm yourself, madam." Then turning to 
 me, "When," said he, "did you leave Paris?" 
 
 "When all was lost!" interrupted the Queen. 
 
 "Nay," cried the general; "pray let me speak. All is 
 not lost, you will find; have but a little patience." 
 
32© CHAPTER XXVI 
 
 "Patience!" said the Queen. "For two years I have 
 heard of nothing else. Nothing has been done for these 
 unfortunate beings." She then threw herself into a chair. 
 "Tell him!" cried she to me; "tell him! tell him!" 
 
 I then informed the general that I had left Paris on 
 the 2d of August, but did not believe at the time, though 
 the daily riots were horrible, that such a catastrophe 
 could have occurred so soon as eight days after. 
 
 The Queen was now quite exhausted, and General Acton 
 rang the bell for the lady-in-waiting, who entered accom- 
 panied by the Duchess Curigliano Marini, and they as- 
 sisted Her Majesty to bed. 
 
 When she had retired, "Do not," said the general to 
 me, "do not go to Sir William's to-night. He is at Ca- 
 serte. You seem too much fatigued." 
 
 "More from grief," replied I, "and reflection on the 
 fatal consequences that might result to the great person- 
 ages I have so lately left, than from the journey." 
 
 "Take my advice, " resumed he. "You had much bet- 
 ter go to bed and rest yourself. You look very ill." 
 
 I did as he recommended, and went to the nearest 
 hotel I could find. I felt no fatigue of mind or body till I 
 had gotten into bed, where I was confined for several days 
 with a most violent fever. During my illness I received 
 every attention both from the Court, and our Ambassa- 
 dor and Lady Hamilton, who kindly visited me every 
 day. The Queen of Naples I never again saw till my 
 return in 1793, after the murder of the Queen of France; 
 and I am glad I did not, for her agony would have acted 
 anew upon my disordered frame, and might have proved 
 fatal. 
 
 I was certainly somewhat prepared for a difference of 
 feeling between the two princesses, as the unfortunate 
 Maria Antoinette, in the letters to the Queen of Naples, 
 always wrote, "To my much beloved sister, the Queen 
 of the two Sicilies, etc.," and to the other, merely, "To 
 the Duchess of Parma, etc." But I could never have 
 dreamed of a difference so little flattering, under such 
 circumstances, to the Duchess of Parma. 
 
CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 Tenth of August at Paris — Mandat Slain— The Royal Family Es- 
 cape to the Hall of Assembly — Transferred to the Tuileries — Im- 
 prisoned in the Temple — False Information to Get the Female 
 Attendants Removed — The Princess Lamballe Sees the Queen for 
 the Last Time — Her Examination before the Authorities — Is 
 Transferred with Others to the Prison De La Force — Massacre of 
 the Prisons — Efforts of the Duke of Penthifevre to Preserve the 
 Princess Lamballe Innocently Defeated — The Princess Questioned 
 by the Bloody Tribunal — Taken Out before* the Mob — Receives the 
 First Stab from a Mulatto Whom She Had Brought Up — Her Head 
 Severed from Her Body and Paraded on a Pole — The Body Stripped 
 and Exposed to Incredible Brutality — The Head Taken by the 
 Mob to the Temple — Effect of the Circumstance on Her Majesty 
 
 — A Servant Maid of the Editor's Dies of Fright at Seeing It — 
 Effect of the Procession of the Duke of Orleans and His Mistress 
 
 — Visit of the Editor to the Cemetery of La Madeleine Some Years 
 after. 
 
 FROM the moment of my departure from Paris on the 
 2d of August, 1792, the tragedy hastened to its 
 denouement. On the night of the 9th, the tocsin 
 was sounded, and the King and the Royal Family looked 
 upon their fate as sealed. Notwithstanding the personal 
 firmness of His Majesty, he was a coward for others. He 
 dreaded the responsibility of ordering blood to be shed, 
 even in defense of his nearest and dearest interests. 
 Petion, however, had given the order to repel force by 
 force to Mandat, who was murdered upon the steps of 
 the Hotel de Ville. It has been generally supposed that 
 Petion had received a bribe for not ordering the cannon 
 against the Tuileries on the night of the 9th, and that 
 Mandat was massacred by the agents of Petion for the 
 purpose of extinguishing all proof that he was only act- 
 ing under the instructions of the mayor. 
 
 I shall not undertake to judge of the propriety of the 
 King's impression, that there was no safety from the in- 
 surgents but in the hall, and under the protection of the 
 
322 CHAPTER XXVII 
 
 assembly. Had the members been well disposed toward 
 him, the event might have proved very different. But 
 there is one thing certain. The Queen would never have 
 consented to this step but to save the King and her in- 
 nocent children. She would have preferred death to the 
 humiliation of being under obligations to her sworn 
 enemies; but she was overcome by the King declaring, 
 with tears in his eyes, that he would not quit the palace 
 without her. The Princesses Elizabeth and Lamballe fell 
 at her feet — implored Her Majesty to obey the King, and 
 assured her there was no alternative between instant 
 death and refuge from it in the assembly. "Well," said 
 the Queen, "if our lot be death, let us away to receive 
 it with the national sanction." 
 
 I need not expatiate on the succession of horrors which 
 now overwhelmed the royal sufferers. Their confinement 
 at the Feuillans, and their subsequent transfer to the 
 Temple, are all topics sufficiently enlarged upon by many 
 who were actors in the scenes to which they led. The 
 Princess Lamballe was, while it was permitted, the com- 
 panion of their captivity. But the consolation of her sopiety 
 was considered too great to be continued. Her fate had 
 no doubt been predetermined; and, unwilling to await 
 the slow proceedings, of a trial, which it was thought 
 politic should precede the murder of her royal mistress, 
 it was found necessary to detach her from the wretched 
 inmates of the Temple, in order to have her more com- 
 pletely within the control of the miscreants, who hated 
 her for her virtues. The expedient was resorted to of 
 casting suspicion upon the correspondence which her 
 highness kept up with the exterior of the prison, for the 
 purpose of obtaining such necessaries as were required, 
 in consequence of the utter destitution in which the Royal 
 Family retired from the Tuileries. Two men, of the name 
 of Devin and Priquet, were bribed to create a suspicion, 
 by their informations against the Queen's female attend- 
 ant. The first declared that on the i8th of August, 
 while he was on duty near the cell of the King, he saw 
 a female about eleven o'clock in the day come from a 
 
CHAPTER XXVII 3*3 
 
 room in the center, holding in one hand three letters, 
 and with the other cautiously opening the door of the 
 right-hand chamber, whence she presently came back 
 without the letters and returned into the center chamber. 
 He further asserted that twice, when this female opened 
 the door, he distinctly saw a letter half-written, and every 
 evidence of an eagerness to hide it from observation. 
 The second informant, Priquet, swore that while on duty 
 as morning sentinel on the gallery between the two 
 towers, he saw, through the window of the central 
 chamber, a female writing with great earnestness and 
 alarm during the whole time he was on guard. 
 
 All the ladies were immediately summoned before the 
 authorities. The hour of the separation between the 
 Princess and her royal friend accorded with the solemnity 
 of the circumstance. It was nearly midnight when they 
 were torn asunder, and they never met again. 
 
 The examinations were all separate. That of the 
 Princess Lamballe was as follows : 
 
 Q. Your name ? 
 
 A. Marie-Th6rfese-Louise de Savoy, Bourbon Lam- 
 balle. 
 
 Q. What do you know of the events which occurred 
 on the loth of August ? 
 
 A. Nothing. 
 
 Q. Where did you pass that day ? 
 
 A. As a relative I followed the King to the national 
 assembly. 
 
 Q. Were you in bed on the night of the 9th and 
 loth? 
 
 A. No. 
 
 Q. Where were you then ? 
 
 A. In my apartments at the chdteau. 
 
 Q. Did you not go to the apartments of the King in 
 the course of that night ? 
 
 A. Finding there was a likelihood of a commotion, I 
 went thither toward one in the morning. 
 
 Q. You were aware then that the people had arisen ? 
 
 A. I learnt it, from hearing the tocsin. 
 
324 CHAPTER XXVII 
 
 Q. Did you see the Swiss and national guards, who 
 passed the night on the terrace ? 
 
 A. I was at the window, but saw neither. 
 
 Q. Was the King in his apartment when you went 
 thither ? 
 
 A. There were a great number of persons in the room, 
 but not the King. 
 
 Q. Did you know of the Mayor of Paris being at the 
 Tuileries ? 
 
 A. I heard he was there. 
 
 Q. At what hour did the King go to the national 
 assembly ? 
 
 A. Seven. 
 
 Q. Did he not, before he went, review the troops ? 
 Do you know the oath he made them swear ? 
 
 A. I never heard of any oath. 
 
 Q. Have you any knowledge of cannon being mounted 
 and pointed in the apartments ? 
 
 A. No. 
 
 Q. Have you ever seen Messrs. Mandat and d'Affry 
 in the chdteau ? 
 
 A. No. 
 
 Q. Do you know the secret doors of the Tuileries ? 
 
 A. I know of no such doors. 
 
 Q. Have you not, since you have been in the Tem- 
 ple, received and written letters, which you sought to 
 send away secretly ? 
 
 A. I have never received or written any letters, ex- 
 cepting such as have been delivered to the municipal 
 officer. 
 
 Q. Do you know anything of an article of furniture 
 which is making for Madame Elizabeth ? 
 
 A. No. 
 
 Q. Have you not recently received some devotional 
 books ? 
 
 A. No. 
 
 Q. What are the books which you have at the Tem- 
 ple? 
 
 A. I have none. 
 
CHAPTER XXVII 325 
 
 Q. Do you know anything of a barred staircase > 
 A. No. 
 
 Q. What general officers did you see at the Tuileries, 
 on the night of the 9th and loth? 
 A. I saw no general officers ; I only saw M. Roederer. 
 
 For thirteen hours was her highness, with her female 
 companions in misfortune, exposed to these absurd forms, 
 and to the gaze of insulting and malignant curiosity. At 
 length, about the middle of the day, they were told that 
 it was decreed that they should be detained till further 
 orders, leaving them the choice of prisons, between that 
 of la Force and of la Sulpdtrifere. 
 
 Her highness immediately decided on the former. It was 
 at first determined that she should be separated from 
 Madame de Tourzel, but humanity so far prevailed as to 
 permit the consolation of her society, with that of others 
 of her friends and fellow-sufferers, and for a moment the 
 Princess enjoyed the only comfort left to her, that of ex- 
 changing sympathy with her partners in affliction. But 
 the cell to which she was doomed proved her last habita- 
 tion upon earth. 
 
 On the I St of September the Marseillois began their 
 murderous operations. Three hundred persons in two 
 days massacred upward of a thousand defenseless prisoners, 
 confined under the pretext of malpractices against the 
 state, or rather devotedness to the royal cause. The spirit 
 which produced the massacres of the prisons at Paris ex- 
 tended them through the principal towns and cities all 
 over France. 
 
 Even the universal interest felt for the Princess Lam- 
 balle was of no avail against this frenzy. I remember 
 once (as if it were from a presentiment of what was to 
 occur) the King observing to her, ' ' I never knew any 
 but fools and sycophants who could keep themselves clear 
 from the lash of public censure. How is it, then, that 
 you, my dear Princess, who are neither, contrive to steer 
 your bark on this dangerous coast without running against 
 the rocks on which so many good vessels like your own 
 
326 CHAPTER XXVII 
 
 have been dashed to pieces?" "Oh, sire," replied her 
 highness, "my time is not yet come — I am not dead 
 yet!" Too soon, and too horribly, her hour did come! 
 
 The butchery of the prisons was now commenced. The 
 Duke de Penthifevre set every engine in operation to save 
 his beloved daughter-in-law. He sent for Manuel, who 
 was then Procureur of Paris. The Duke declared that 
 half his fortune should be Manuel's if he could but save 
 the Princess Lamballe and the ladies who were in the 
 same prison with her from the general massacre. 
 Manuel promised the Duke that he would instantly set 
 about removing them all from the reach of the blood 
 hunters. He began with those whose removal was least 
 likely to attract attention, leaving the Princess Lamballe, 
 from motives of policy, to the last. 
 
 Meanwhile, other messengers had been dispatched to dif- 
 ferent quarters for fear of failure with Manuel. It was 
 discovered by one of these that the atrocious tribunal* 
 who sat in mock judgment upon the tenants of these 
 gloomy abodes, after satiating themselves with every 
 studied insult they could devise, were to pronounce the 
 word " libre !" It was naturally presumed that the pre- 
 destined victims, on hearing this tempting sound, and 
 seeing the doors at the same moment set open by the 
 clerks of the infamous court, would dart ofif in exultation, 
 and, fancying themselves liberated, rush upon the knives 
 of the barbarians, who were outside, in waiting for their 
 blood! Hundreds were thus slaughtered. 
 
 To save the Princess from such a sacrifice, it was pro- 
 jected to prevent her from appearing before the tribunal, 
 and a belief was encouraged, that means would be de- 
 vised to elude the necessity. The person who interested 
 himself for her safety contrived to convey a letter con- 
 taining these words: "Let what will happen, for God's 
 sake do not quit your cell. You will be spared. Adieu." 
 
 Manuel, however, who knew not of this cross arrange- 
 ment, was better informed than its projector. He was 
 aware it would be impossible for her highness to escape 
 
 •Thibaudeau, Hebert, Simonier, etc. 
 
CHAPTER XXVII 337 
 
 from appearing before the tribunal. He had already re- 
 moved her companions. The Princess Tarente, the Mar- 
 chioness Tourzel, her daughter, and others, were in safety. 
 But when, true to his promise, he went to the Princess 
 Lamballe, she would not be prevailed upon to quit her 
 cell. There was no time to parley. The letter pre- 
 vailed, and her fate was inevitable. 
 
 The massacre had begun at daybreak. The fiends had 
 been some hours busy in the work of death. The pierc- 
 ing shrieks of the dying victims brought the Princess and 
 her ■ remaining companion upon their knees, in fervent 
 prayer for the souls of the departed. The messengers 
 of the tribunal now appeared. The Princess was com- 
 pelled to attend the summons. She went, accompanied 
 by her faithful female attendant. 
 
 A glance at the seas of blood, of which she caught a 
 glimpse upon her way to the court, had nearly shocked her 
 even to sudden death. Would it had! She staggered, 
 but was sustained by her companion. Her courage tri- 
 umphed. She appeared before the gore-stained tribunes. 
 
 After some questions of mere form, her highness was 
 commanded to swear to be faithful to the new form of 
 government, and to hate the King, the Queen, and roy- 
 alty. 
 
 "To the first," replied her highness, " I willingly sub- 
 mit. To the second, how can I accede? There is noth- 
 ing of which I can accuse the Royal Family. To hate 
 them is against my nature. They are my sovereigns. 
 They are my friends and relations. I have served them 
 for many years, and never have I found reason for the 
 slightest complaint." 
 
 The princess could no longer articulate. She fell into 
 the arms of her attendant. The fatal signal was pro- 
 nounced. She recovered, and crossing the court of the 
 prison, which was bathed with the blood of mutilated 
 victims, involuntarily exclaimed, "Gracious Heaven! 
 What a sight is this?" and fell into a fit. 
 
 Nearest to her in the mob stood a mulatto, whom she 
 had caused to be baptized, educated, and maintained, 
 
328 CHAPTER XXVII 
 
 but whom, from ill-conduct, she had latterly excluded 
 from her presence. This miscreant struck at her with 
 his halbert. The blow removed her cap. Her luxuri- 
 ant hair (as if to hide her angelic beauty from the sight 
 of the murderers, pressing tigerlike around to pollute 
 that form, the virtues of which equaled its physical per- 
 fection), her luxuriant hair fell around and veiled her a 
 moment from view.* An individual, to whom I was 
 nearly allied, seeing the miscreants somewhat staggered, 
 sprang forward to the rescue; but the mulatto wounded 
 him.f The Princess was lost to all feeling from the mo- 
 ment the monster first struck at her. But the demons 
 would no.t quit their prey. She expired, gashed with 
 wounds. 
 
 Scarcely was the breath out of her body, when the 
 murderers cut off her head. J One party of them fixed 
 it, like that of the vilest traitor, on an immense pole, and 
 
 * This circumstance was related to me by a person, who knew the 
 Princess from her childhood, long before she left Turin. 
 
 f This person followed her remains for a considerable distance, but 
 the loss of blood prevented him from seeing the horrors which en- 
 sued. He left France very soon after, and died at Naples. He him- 
 self related these particulars to Sir William Hamilton, from whom I 
 had them in 1793. 
 
 t It may not be uninteresting to my readers to learn the peculiar 
 circumstances under which I became possessed of the details which 
 are here recorded. 
 
 When I was residing in Paris, in 1803, I felt a vacuum, I thought 
 something seemed wanting or wrong, whenever I let a day pass 
 without paying my devotions to the Cemetery de la Madeleine, 
 which contained the remains of some of the royal martyrs. 
 
 One day, when I was in this sacred retreat, I was much surprised 
 at being accosted by two men. They asked me what I was doing 
 there. 
 
 I at first looked at them in silence, but with that contemptuous 
 sternness which spoke more plainly than any language could utter. 
 They repeated their question in a tone of more authority. 
 
 It was just at the time when Bonaparte had compelled the 
 Italians to offer him the Consulship of Italy. 
 
 I answered that I did not know what right they had to interrupt 
 the living, who was only seeking a quiet retreat among the dead. 
 
 "Yes," said they, "but you are seeking curiously among the dead, 
 
CHAPTER XXVII 329 
 
 bore it in triumph all over Paris; while another division 
 of the outrageous cannibals were occupied in tearing her 
 clothes piecemeal from her mangled corpse. The beauty 
 of that form, though headless, mutilated and reeking with 
 the hot blood of their foul crime — how shall I describe 
 it? — excited that atrocious excess of lust, which impelled 
 
 which induces us to think all is not as it should be. Who are you? 
 What is your business in Paris?" 
 
 I told them that I wished to know, before I satisfied their imper-- 
 tinent curiosity, what right they had thus to interrogate me. 
 
 " The right of fathoming suspicious appearances," replied they. 
 "We have observed you, madam, often and often. You always 
 come hither alone. Your head and face are invariably concealed." 
 
 " For that very reason you should not have disturbed my privacy. 
 Being alone, what can you fear from me ? My being veiled is to 
 avoid impertinent curiosity, like that which you now exercise." 
 
 Seeing that I was not to be intimidated, they became more tract- 
 able, and said, " We do not come here without orders. We have 
 long watched your motions. You always stand over a particular 
 grave. What do you seek there ? Time has destroyed every vestige ; 
 why, when she was put into the ground, God rest her poor soul! 
 there was a hundredweight of lime cast upon her body, that it 
 might the more rapidly consume itself." 
 
 "Whose body do you mean?" exclaimed I. — "Whose?" answered 
 one of the men. " Why, do you think me so igfnorant as not to 
 know? Ah,'' continued he, putting a handkerchief to his face to dry 
 the tears that were falling. "Ah, I knew that unfortunate Queen! 
 and I knew also her unfortunate friend " 
 
 "The Princess Lamballe?" cried I. 
 
 "To be sure I did!" 
 
 "Can you give me any information, by which I may be enabled to 
 pay that deplored victim the same tribute of devotion which I have 
 offered to this ?" 
 
 "Ah! madam!" answered the man, "if I had been able to have 
 found her precious body, I should not now be a police officer. The 
 Duke de Penthievre offered any money for it, if it could have been 
 found and brought to the curate of the parish, or his chaplain, for 
 burial; but it was impossible to ascertain it from the number of vic- 
 tims that were heaped confusedly one upon another. Manuel, rough 
 as he was, not having succeeded in saving her alive, though the Duke had 
 ■paJA him munificently to do so, exerted all his authority to bring the 
 corpse to burial; and having, by his anxiety for its recovery, nearly 
 committed himself to the bloody tribunal of his companions, he was 
 obliged to give up the pursuit. If the murderers had not stripped her 
 
330 CHAPTER XXVII 
 
 these hordes of assassins to satiate their demoniac pas- 
 sions upon the remains of this virtuous angel! 
 
 Is there a deed in the history of the most savage na- 
 tions, which bears a parallel in brutality ? 
 
 This incredible crime being perpetrated, the wretches 
 fastened ropes round the body, arms, and legs, and 
 dragged it naked through the streets of Paris, till no 
 
 of all her clothes, we should have been able to have identified the 
 body from some part of her linen, but not a rag was left by which she 
 could be distinguished from her fellow-martyrs." 
 
 I was chilled with horror at this description, when one of the men 
 said, "Madam, I was one of the late King's gamekeepers, and after- 
 ward employed by that unfortunate Queen in the grounds of Trianon. 
 Often, very often, have I had the honor of presenting Her Majesty 
 and the Princess of Lamballe with bunches of roses and myrtle ! " 
 
 "Ah!" interrupted the other, the tears standing in. his eyes, "God 
 rest their poor souls! There are no such women now in France!" 
 
 "Do you indeed think so?" 
 
 "Yes, yes," said his companion, "you may believe him, madam. 
 He also was an old servant of the Royal Family." 
 
 While 1 was thus interestingly engaged with these two men, who 
 had completely overcome my first unfavorable impression, the Duke 
 Serbelloni's carriage drew up, and set that nobleman down at the door 
 of the church. 
 
 I should explain that the Duke was a particular friend. I had been 
 indebted to the unfortunate Princess for my introduction to His Grace 
 at Milan, on my first being commissioned to go to Italy. To him, also, 
 I owe the first knowledge of my present husband, to whose family he 
 recommended me, when I visited Venice, on the way to Naples, where 
 I had been thrown into a dangerous illness by the fatal intelligence 
 of her highness's murder. But for this event, by which all my future 
 prospects were annihilated, I should never have changed my condition 
 without her consent, though I have never known aught but happiness 
 in the union for which I asked no sanction but my own. 
 
 But to quit this digression. The Duke, whom I had not long left 
 with my husband and some others at my lodgfing in the Hotel Boston, 
 Rue Vivienne, seemed surprised to find me at such a place, and espe- 
 cially in such company. 
 
 " Cosa maifatte qui?" "What are you doing here ?" cried he in 
 Italian. 
 
 I told him it was one of my daily haunts ; when the two men, who 
 knew the Duke, asked, " Sir, will you be answerable for this lady's 
 appearance to-morrow at the office of the police?" 
 
 The Duke answered in the affirmative; and we left the place and the 
 
CHAPTER XXVII 331 
 
 vestige remained by which it could be distinguished as 
 belonging to the human species; and then left it among 
 the hundreds of innocent victims of that awful day, who 
 were heaped up to putrify in one confused and disgust- 
 ing mass. 
 
 The head was reserved for other purposes of cruelty 
 and horror. It was first borne to the Temple, beneath 
 the windows of the royal prisoners. The wretches who 
 were hired daily to insult them in their dens of misery, 
 by proclaiming all the horrors vomited from the national 
 Vesuvius, were commissioned to redouble their howls 
 of what had befallen the Princess Lamballe.* The Queen 
 sprang up at the name of her friend. She heard subjoined 
 to it, " /« voilti, en triomphe" and then came shouts and 
 laughter. She looked out. At a distance she perceived some- 
 thing like a Bacchanalian procession, and thought, as she 
 hoped, that the Princess was coming to her in triumph 
 
 men, with whom I should have been happy to have had a longer conver- 
 sation. 
 
 This wish was gratified in a few days. FouchS, being satisfied with 
 the Duke Serbelloni's explanation of my churchyard adventure, sent 
 these very men back to me, with a note, signifying that I had no 
 occasion to appear at his office; but at the same time advising me to 
 abstain from visiting la Madeleine ; an advice which, ntalgri mot, I 
 attended to. 
 
 From this second interview with the men, I gleaned the above 
 details of horror. I fainted during the shocking narrative. I could 
 not listen to learn how this most infamous, most atrocious scene ended; 
 and it has too deeply affected me ever since to allow of my making 
 any further inquiries, as to where the insulted form of this transcend- 
 ent loveliness and purity had been deposited. But I have every reason 
 to believe that no inquiries could have been of the least avail. 
 
 * These horrid circumstances I had from the Chevalier Cl^ry, 
 who was ',the only attendant allowed to assist Louis XVI. and 
 his unhappy family, during their last captivity; but who was ban- 
 ished from the Temple as soon as his royal master was beheaded, and 
 never permited to return. C16ry told me all this when I met him at 
 Pyrmont, in Germany. He was then in attendance upon the late 
 Countess de Lisle, wife of Louis XVIII., at whose musical parties I had 
 often the honor of assisting, when on a visit to the beautiful Duchess de 
 Guiche. On returning to Paris from Germany, on my way back to 
 Italy, I met the wife of C16ry, and her friend M. Beaumond, both old 
 
333 CHAPTER XXVII 
 
 from her prison, and her heart rejoiced in the anticipa- 
 tion of once more being blessed with her society. But 
 the King, who had seen and heard more distinctly from 
 his apartment, flew to that of the Queen. That the 
 horrid object might not escape observation, the mon- 
 sters had mounted upon each other's shoulders so as 
 to lift the bleeding head quite up to the prison 
 bars. The King came just in time to snatch Her Maj- 
 esty from the spot, and thus she was prevented from see- 
 ing it. He took her up in his arms and carried her to 
 a distant part of the Temple, but the mob pursued her 
 in her retreat, and howled the fatal truth even at her very 
 door, adding that her head would be the next the nation 
 would require. Her Majesty fell into violent hysterics. 
 The butchers of human flesh continued in the interior of 
 the Temple, parading the triumph of their assassination, 
 until the shrieks of the Princess Elizabeth at the state in 
 which she saw the Queen, and serious fears for the safety 
 of the royal prisoners, aroused the commandant to treble 
 the national guard and chase the barbarians to the out- 
 side, where they remained for hours. 
 
 The head was then taken through the streets. By a 
 singular circumstance it became the cause of immediate 
 death to one who had been in my employ. The strange 
 event happened as follows: 
 
 My English man servant and the young girl who had 
 accompanied me from France to Italy were both taken 
 very ill from the violent heat we had suffered from trav- 
 eUng night and day in the month of August, 1792. I 
 was, therefore, obliged to send them both back for the 
 benefit of their native air. They reached Paris on the 
 
 friends of mine, who confirmed Clary's statement, and assured me they 
 were all for two years in hourly expectation of being sent to the Place 
 de GrSve, for execution. The death of Robespierre saved their lives. 
 
 Madame Cl&y taught Maria Antoinette to play upon the harp. Ma- 
 dame Beaumond was a natural daughter of Louis XV. I had often oc- 
 casion to be in their agreeable society; and, as might be expected, 
 their minds were stored with the most authentic anecdotes and infor- 
 mation upon the topics of the day. 
 
CHAPTER XXVII 333 
 
 very day of the massacre. The first thing the girl saw, 
 on alighting from the diligence, was the head of the well- 
 known benefactress of her mistress. The fellow who was 
 bearing it thrust it so near their faces that the long hair 
 of the victim entangled itself on the button of my man 
 servant's coat, who took a knife and cut the locks to dis- 
 entangle himself from the head. On his return to Italy 
 he gave me the hair which he thus cut oflE. I have kept 
 it by me ever since. The poor girl, at sight of the horrid 
 spectacle, gave but a shriek, and died in six hours after 
 she reached the inn! 
 
 The horrid spectacle was next exhibited within the 
 Palais Royal. Madame BufiEons, the avowed mistress of 
 its royal occupier, was dining with him. They both 
 started up and ran to the window. On discovering the 
 cause of the tumult, Madame Buffons fainted. The Duke 
 of Orleans, it is said, remarked, " Oh, it is Lamballe's 
 head — I know it by the long hair." Madame Buffons 
 reviving, exclaimed, " Heaven knows how soon mine may 
 be struck off and paraded in the same manner! Send it 
 out of sight. Send it out of the palace, or I shall ex- 
 pire ! " 
 
 What further became of these precious remains has 
 never transpired. The probability is that, amid the san- 
 guinary cannibal drunkenness, they were cast among the 
 remains of the other victims; for though immense sums 
 were offered, and repeated efforts made to regain them, 
 no traces ever could be discovered. 
 
 Ah me! What have I lost in this ill-starred Princess! 
 More, more than even a mother! Oh, that I could but 
 strew flowers over her grave ! But even this little conso- 
 lation has been rendered impossible.* 
 
 * It was reported that Napoleon, when he became Emperor of France, 
 respecting the virtues of this illustrious sufferer, ordered, in commemo- 
 ration 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 birth- 
 day would have been on the 8th of the same month. It was certainly 
 doing honor to himself, to cause so just a tribute to be paid to the mem- 
 ory of one who had been the pride and blessing of the country he was 
 callad to govern. 
 
334 CHAPTER XXVII 
 
 Words cannot express what a void I felt on returning 
 some years after these horrible calamities to Paris, to find 
 that no trace of the angelic form of my beloved bene- 
 factress had been suffered to remain; that no clue had 
 ever been discovered to the sod which enwraps her mu- 
 tilated body; that there was not even a tombstone to point 
 out the resting place of her mangled frame. There would 
 have been a happiness even in communing with her spirit 
 over her burial place. Nothing is more calculated to dis- 
 cipline the human heart than the midnight haunts of the 
 churchyard. What a school for royalty and earthly gran- 
 deur! Every sense is there tempered and intellectualized. 
 Love, friendship, paternal and filial sympathies, are all 
 awakened into rational activity by the reflections excited 
 by such a scene. Grief on the green sod knows no de- 
 ception. How often have I left the sons of mirth and 
 gayety paying libations to Bacchus to pass an hour at the 
 grave of Maria Antoinette, lamenting I could not enjoy 
 the same consolation, and unburden the anguish of my 
 soul in solemn prayer, over her martyred friend. But she 
 is above the reach of mortals. She is in Heaven; she 
 dwells where virtues like those of a Lamballe can alone 
 find refuge against earthly venom. I well know I shall 
 be harshly dealt with for my weakness in thus pining 
 after the remains of those who exist no longer; and I 
 anticipate the lash of the literary rod. Yet I cannot 
 withhold the tears of grateful recollection. Often have 
 they lifted a load of oppression from my bosom ; the scald- 
 ing drops which parched my cheeks, as they fell tribu- 
 tary to her cruel fate, have given me as much relief as 
 those which, at other times, have dimmed my eyes with 
 laughter at her repartees. 
 
 But away, busy, intruding memory! Lead me no fur- 
 ther into the fields of melancholy and despair. Long 
 have I trodden on the icy, chilling paths of the neglected 
 tomb — the only remaining solace to my bereavements. 
 Let me withdraw from these dejecting solitudes — if not 
 for my own sake, at least for that of others! 
 
CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 The Murder of the Princess Lamballe only Preparatory to Other Vic- 
 tims—Death of the King— His Character — Santerre — Death of the 
 Queen— Her Friendships and Character — Death of the Princess 
 Elizabeth — Duke of Orleans— His Death— The Dauphin — Anec- 
 dote of the Duchess d'AngoulSme — Curious Particulars of Robes- 
 pierre, David, and Carri^re — Concluding Observation. 
 
 IT NOW only remains for me to complete my record lay 
 a few facts and observations relating to the illustri- 
 ous victims who a short time survived the Princess 
 Lamballe. I shall add to this painful narrative some de- 
 tails which have been mentioned to me concerning their 
 remorseless persecutors, who were not long left unpursued 
 by just and awful retribution. Having done this, I shall 
 dismiss the subject. 
 
 The execrable and sacrilegious modern French Pharisees, 
 who butchered, on the ist, 2d,, and 3d of September, 
 
 1792, all the prisoners at Paris, by these massacres only 
 gave the signal for the more diabolical machinations, 
 which led to the destruction of the still more sacred vic- 
 tims of the 2ist of January, and the i6th of October, 
 
 1793, and the myriads who followed. 
 
 The King himself never had a doubt with regard to 
 his ultimate fate. His only wish was to make it the 
 means of emancipation for the Qufien and Royal Family. 
 It was his intention to have appealed to the national as- 
 sembly upon the subject, after his trial. Such also was 
 the particular wish of his saintlike sister, the Princess 
 Elizabeth, who imagined that an appeal under such cir- 
 cumstances could not be resisted. But the Queen strongly 
 opposed the measure ; and His Majesty said he should be 
 loath, in the last moments of his painful existence, in 
 anything to thwart one whom he loved so tenderly. 
 
 (335) 
 
336 CHAPTER XXVIII 
 
 He had long accustomed himself, when he spoke of 
 the Queen and royal infants, in deference to the temper 
 of the times, only to say, "my wife and children." 
 They, as he told C16ry, formed a tie, and the only one 
 remaining, which still bound him to earth. Their last 
 embraces, he said, went so to his aching heart, that he 
 could even yet feel their little hands clinging about him, 
 and see their streaming eyes, and hear their agonized 
 and broken voices. The day previous to the fatal catas- 
 trophe, when permitted for the last time to see his 
 family, the Princess Elizabeth whispered him, not for 
 herself, but for the Queen and his helpless innocents, to 
 remember his intentions. He said he should not feel 
 himself happy if, in his last hour, he did not give them 
 a proof of his paternal affection, in obtaining an assur- 
 ance that the sacrifice of his life should be the guarantee 
 of theirs. So intent was his mind upon this purpose, 
 said C16ry to me, that when his assassins came to take 
 him to the slaughtering place, he said, " I hope my death 
 will appease the nation, and that my innocent family, 
 who have suffered on my account, will now be released. " 
 
 The ruffians answered, "The nation, always magnani- 
 mous, only seeks to punish the guilty. You may be as- 
 sured your family will be respected. " Events have proved 
 how well they kept their word. 
 
 It was to fulfill the intention of recommending his fam- 
 ily to the people with his dying breath that he com- 
 menced his address upon the scaffold when Santerre* 
 ordered the drums to drown his last accents, and the axe 
 to fall! 
 
 *In the year 1803, the highroads from Italy and Germany to 
 France were in such a horrid state that some parts of the French 
 territory were absolutely impassable. The toll-keepers had most of 
 them fled from their gates, having been repeatedly beaten by the 
 carters, wagoners, postboys, and diligence-drivers, for making them 
 pay, though the roads were so bad that vehicles were upset, limbs 
 broken, carriages crashed, and lives lost. Having experienced some 
 very rough traveling, and not wishing to ruin a. very handsome car- 
 riage, we determined to leave it to be conducted slowly by our serv- 
 ants, and took our Mats in one of the diligances to Rhoims. We 
 
CHAPTER XXVIII 337 
 
 The Princess Elizabeth, and perhaps others of the royal 
 prisoners, hoped he would have been reprieved, till Her- 
 bert, that real Pire du chine, with a smile upon his counte- 
 nance, came triumphantly to announce to the disconsolate 
 family that Louis was no more! 
 
 Perhaps there never was a king more misrepresented 
 and less understood, especially by the immediate age in 
 which he lived, than Louis XVI. He was the victim of 
 natural timidity, increased by the horror of bloodshed, 
 which the exigencies of the times rendered indispensable 
 to his safety. He appeared weak in intellect, when he 
 was only so from circumstances. An overwrought anxi- 
 ety to be just made him hesitate about the mode of over- 
 coming the abuses, until its procrastination had destroyed 
 the object of his wishes. He had courage sufficient, as 
 well as decision, where others were not menaced and the 
 danger confined to himself; but where his family or his 
 people were involved, he was utterly unfit to give direc- 
 tion. The want of self-sufficiency in his own faculties 
 has been his and his throne's ruin. He consulted those 
 who caused him to swerve from the path his own better 
 reason had dictated, and, in seeking the best course, he 
 often chose the worst. 
 
 The same fatal timidity which pervaded his character 
 extended to his manners. From being merely awkward, 
 
 had only traveled a few paces when the diligence stopped and took 
 up an outside passenger. A very heavy storm came on, and the 
 master of the diligence opened the carriage door to let _the outside 
 passenger get in. Two gentlemen, who were seated between us, the 
 moment they saw the stranger's face, started, drew their pistols, 
 jumped out, called the coachman, and swore the passenger should 
 not enter, and that if he even attempted again to take his place in 
 the same vehicle, they would blow out his brains. When the fellow 
 found all resistance vain, he contented himself, after a good drub- 
 bing, to be left behind, and walked to his journey's end. The gen- 
 tlemen having resumed their places in the carriage, we naturally- 
 inquired into the cause of all this bustle. "We then learned that the 
 man who had been expelled from the coach was the wretch Santerre, 
 who commanded the troops at Paris on the occasion above men- 
 tioned, and who so cruelly ordered the drums to beat, to hasten the 
 execution and prevent his dying King's last words from being heard. 
 
338 CHAPTER XXVIII 
 
 he at last became uncouth; but from the natural good- 
 ness of his heart, the nearest to him soon lost sight of 
 his ungentleness from the rectitude of his intentions, 
 and, to parody the poet, saw his deportment in his feel- 
 ings. 
 
 Previous to the Revolution, Louis XVI. was generally 
 considered gentle and affable, though never polished. 
 But the numberless outrages suffered by his Queen, hia 
 family, his friends, and himself, especially toward the 
 close of his career, soured him to an air of rudeness, ut- 
 terly foreign to his nature and to his intention. 
 
 It must not be forgotten that he had lived in a time 
 of unprecedented difficulty. He was a lamb governing 
 tigers. So far as his own personal bearing is concerned, 
 who is there among his predecessors, that, replaced upon 
 the throne, would have resisted the vicissitudes brought 
 about by internal discord, rebellion, and riot, like him- 
 self ? What said he when one of the heterogeneous, plebe- 
 ian, revolutionary assemblies not only insulted him, but 
 added to the insult a laugh? " If you think you can 
 govern better, I am ready to resign," was the mild but 
 firm reply of Louis. How glorious would have been the 
 triumph for the most civilized nation in the center of 
 Europe had the insulter taken him at his word. When 
 the experimentalists did attempt to govern, we all know, 
 and have too severely felt, the consequences. Yet this 
 unfortunate monarch has been represented to the world 
 as imbecile, and taxed with wanting character, firmness, 
 and fortitude, because he has been vanquished! The 
 despot conqueror has been vanquished since! Let the in- 
 dulgent father and affectionate husband put his hand 
 upon hie heart and say, were he now to choose a monarch 
 between the two, whether he would not feel himself safer 
 and happier under a king like Louis ? 
 
 His acquirements were considerable. His memory * was 
 remarkably retentive and well stored; a quality, I should 
 
 * The memories of kings are, like those of players, always in action 
 and vigorous from hard exercise. This faculty in both cases may be 
 independent of the higher powers of intellect. Actors, . though they 
 
CHAPTER XXVIII 339 
 
 infer from all I have observed, common to most sover- 
 eigns. By the multiplicity of persons they are in the 
 habit of seeing, and the vast variety of objects continu- 
 ally passing through their minds, this faculty is kept in 
 perpetual exercise. 
 
 But the circumstance which probably injured Louis 
 XVI. more than any other was his familiarity with the 
 locksmith. Gamin. Innocent as was the motive whence it 
 arose, this low connection lessened him more with the 
 whole nation than if he had been the most vicious of 
 princes. How careful sovereigns ought to be, with re- 
 pect to the attentions they bestow on men in humble 
 life ; especially those whose principles may have been de- 
 moralized by the meanness of the associations consequent 
 upon their occupation, and whose low origin may have 
 denied them opportunities of intellectual cultivation. 
 
 This observation may even be extended to the liberal 
 arts. It does not follow because a monarch is fond of 
 these that he should so far forget himself as to make 
 their professors his boon companions. He loses ground 
 whenever he places his inferiors on a level with himself. 
 Men are estimated from the deference they pay to their 
 own stations in society. The great Frederic of Prussia 
 used to say, "I must show myself a king, because my 
 trade is royalty."* 
 
 know not the difference between topogp:aphy and geography, and 
 cannot tell whether Spain be in Europe or Africa, yet have mem- 
 ories so flexible that they can study apart from morning to night. 
 This makes me fancy the power of retention quite mechanical. The 
 application of memory must, of course, depend on genius and edu- 
 cation; to further prove this, my humble opinion, in the year 1790 
 I had the honor to be in company with the Prince Maximilian, at 
 Paris, then in the French service; when I came to Munich in the 
 year 1819, His Majesty, then King of Bavaria, did me the honor to 
 recollect even a part of the conversation, as well as remember my 
 person. 
 
 * Though Frederic was so passionately fond of music and disting^uished 
 performers, yet he was very particular as to whom he admitted to his 
 private concerts, and even those who obtained the honor were never re- 
 ceived upon terms of personal familiarity. The highest celebrity was 
 the only patsport even to an introduction. Prom this he refused to 
 
340 CHAPTER XXVIII 
 
 It was only in destitution and anguish that the real 
 character of Louis developed itself. He was firm and 
 patient, utterly regardless of himself, but wrung to the 
 heart for others, not even excepting' his deluded mur- 
 derers. Nothing C0UI4 swerve him from his trust in 
 Heaven, and he left a glorious example of how far 
 religion can triumph over every calamity and every insult 
 this world has power to inflict.* 
 
 allow Mademoiselle Schemelling, afterward the famous Madame Mara, 
 to become a candidate, untU one of her patrons, piqued at the denial, 
 caused her to sing to the wind instruments in the King's antechamber. 
 Frederic, much surprised at her voice and execution, asked some one of 
 the band if she understood music. Being answered in the affirmative, 
 he ordered her to be brought into the concert room. There he set 
 before her one of his flute concertos, which he knew she had never seen 
 before. She sung it oflEhand. He instantly engaged her ; and she 
 became afterward that great Mara, whom so many have imitated, but 
 scarcely any have equaled, and certainly none have surpassed. 
 
 * I would not wish] to be understood as underrating the claims of 
 genius, or as wishing to dissuade anyone from conferring the high 
 rewards to which it has a right to aspire. I am only speaking of state 
 policy. Talents can never be too much appreciated and patronized. 
 When a proper distinction is observed between the artist and his pro- 
 tector, the patronage confers honor on the one, . and advantages on the 
 other; and great men of rank and birth seldom lavish such attentions, 
 without calculating upon an equivalent, either in amusement or in pub- 
 lic approbation; but how paltry is the compliment of a dinner, a supper, 
 or wine, for the delight received from superior ability ! Therefore let 
 me rather denounce than encourage reserve in the rewards of merit. 
 Any sovereign can draw his sword over the head of an individual and 
 say, "Rise, Cousin Prince! Cousin Duke! Lord! Knight!" — but he 
 cannot with equal facility say, "Rise, Cousin Homer! Cousin Virgil ! 
 Cousin Horace ! " He would be cozened in the attempt. God only can 
 impart those gifts. If the great Creator has thought proper, in His 
 divine wisdom, to distinguish a small class of men from the great mass 
 of speaking animals, surely mortals cannot dispense with admiring 
 those whom Providence has so eminently marked out for their models. 
 But it seldom happens that political and literary distinctions can be 
 reconciled, and thence the inexpediency of potentates making com- 
 panions and confidants of those whom they admire. Besides, it is rare 
 that the highest desert attains the highest notice. Too often does merit 
 in an humble garb feel the bleak winter in a garret, while the superficial 
 impostor, for a song and a laugh, is gorgeously fed in the sunshine of 
 royal favor, especially if of foreign import. 
 
CHAPTER XXVIII 341 
 
 There was a national guard, who, at the time of the 
 imprisonment of the Royal Family, was looked upon as 
 the most violent of Jacobins, and the sworn enemy of 
 royalty. On that account the sanguinary agents of 
 the self-created assembly employed him to frequent the 
 Temple. His special commission was to stimulate the 
 King and Royal Family by every possible argument to 
 self-destruction. 
 
 But this man was a friend in disguise. He undertook 
 the hateful office merely to render every service in his 
 power, and convey regular information of the plots of the 
 assembly against those whom he was deputed to persecute. 
 The better to deceive his companions, he would read 
 aloud to the Royal Family all the debates of the regicides, 
 which those who were with him encouraged, believing it 
 meant to torture and insult, when the real motive was to 
 prepare them to meet every accusation, by communicating 
 to them each charge as it occurred. So thoroughly were 
 the assembly deceived, that the friendly guard was allowed 
 free access to the apartments, in order to facilitate, as 
 was imagined, his wish to agonize and annoy. By this 
 means, he was enabled to caution the illustrious prisoners 
 never to betray any emotion at what he read, and to rely 
 upon his doing his best to soften the rigor of their fate. 
 
 The individual of whom I speak communicated these 
 circumstances to me himself. He declared also, that the 
 Duke of Orleans came frequently to the Temple during 
 the imprisonment of Louis XVI., but always in disguise; 
 and never till within a few days after the murder of the 
 ' poor King, did he disclose himself. On that occasion he 
 had bribed the men who were accustomed to light the 
 fires, to admit him in their stead to the apartment of the 
 Princess Elizabeth. He found her on her knees, in 
 fervent prayer for the departed soul of her beloved 
 brother. He performed this office, totally unperceived by 
 this predestined victim; but his courage was subdued by 
 her piety. He dared not extend the stratagem to the 
 apartment of the Queen. On leaving the angelic Princess, 
 he waft so overcome by remorse, that he requested my 
 
342 CHAPTER XXVIII 
 
 informant to give him a glass of water, saying, "that 
 woman has unmanned me. It was by this circumstance 
 he was discovered. 
 
 The Queen was immediately apprized by the good man 
 of the occurrence. 
 
 "Gracious God!" exclaimed Her Majesty, "I thought 
 once or twice that I had seen him at our miserable dinner 
 hours, occupied with the other jailers at the outside door. 
 I even mentioned the circumstance to Elizabeth, and she 
 replied, "I also have observed a man resembling Orleans, 
 but it cannot be him, for the man I noticed had a wooden 
 leg." 
 
 "That was the very disguise he was discovered in this 
 morning, when preparing, or pretending to prepare, the 
 fire in the Princess Elizabeth's apartment," replied the 
 national guard. 
 
 "Merciful Heaven!" said the Queen, "is he not yet 
 satisfied? Must he even satiate his barbarous brutality 
 with being an eyewitness of the horrid state into which 
 he has thrown us? Save me," continued Her Majesty, 
 ' ' Oh, save me from contaminating my feeble sight, which 
 is almost exhaiisted, nearly parched up for the loss of my 
 dear husband, by looking on him! — Oh, death! come, 
 come and release me from such a sight ! " 
 
 "Luckily," observed the guard to me, "it was the hour 
 of the general jail dinner, and we were alone; otherwise, 
 I should infallibly have been discovered, as my tears fell 
 faster than those of the Queen, for really her's seemed 
 to be nearly exhausted. However," pursued he, "that 
 Orleans did see the Queen, and that the Queen saw him, 
 I am very sure. From what passed between them in the 
 month of July, 1793, she was hurried off from the Temple to 
 the common prison, to take her trial." This circumstance 
 combined, with other motives, to make the assembly 
 hasten the Duke's trial soon after, who had in the mean- 
 time been sent with his young son to Marseilles, there 
 being no doubt that he wished to rescue the Queen, so 
 as to have her in his own power. 
 
 On the 1 6th of October, Her Majesty was beheaded. 
 
CHAPTER XXVIII 343 
 
 Her death was consistent with her life. She met her 
 fate like a Christian, but still like a queen. 
 
 Perhaps, had Maria Antoinette been uncontrolled in the 
 exercise of her judgment, she would have shown a spirit 
 in emergency better adapted to wrestle with the times 
 than had been discovered by His Majesty. Certain it is 
 she was generally esteemed the most proper to be con- 
 sulted of the two. From the imperfect idea which many 
 of the persons in office entertained of the King's capacity, 
 few of them ever made any communication of importance 
 but to the Queen. Her Majesty never kept a single cir- 
 cumstance from her husband's knowledge, and scarcely 
 decided on the smallest trifle without his consent; but so 
 thorough was his confidence in the correctness of her 
 judgment that he seldom, if ever, opposed her decisions. 
 The Princess Lamballe used to say, ' ' Though Maria An- 
 toinette is not a woman of great or uncommon talents, 
 yet her long practical knowledge gave her an insight into 
 matters of moment which she turned to advantage with 
 so much coolness and address amid difficulties, that I am 
 convinced she only wanted free scope to have shone in 
 the history of princes as a great queen. Her natural 
 tendencies were' perfectly domestic. Had she been kept 
 in countenance by the manners of the times or favored 
 earlier by circumstances, she would have sought her only 
 pleasures in the family circle, and, far from Court intrigue, 
 have become the model of her sex and age." 
 
 It is by no means to be wondered at that, in her peculiar 
 situation, surrounded by a thoughtless and dissipated 
 Court, long denied the natural ties so necessary to such 
 a heart, in the heyday of youth and beauty, and possess- 
 ing an animated and lively spirit, she should have given 
 way in the earlier part of her career to gayety, and been 
 pleased with a round of amusements. The sincere friend- 
 ship which she afterward formed for the Duchess Polig- 
 nac encouraged this predilection. The plot to destoy her 
 had already been formed, and her enemies were too 
 sharp-sighted and adroit not to profit and take advantage 
 of the opportunities afforded by this weakness. The 
 
344 CHAPTER XXVIII 
 
 miscreants had murdered her character long, long before 
 they assailed her person. 
 
 The charge against her of extravagance has been 
 already refuted. Her private palace was furnished from 
 the state lumber rooms, and what was purchased, paid 
 for out of her savings. As for her favorites, she never 
 had but two, and these were no supernumerary expense 
 or encumbrance to the state. 
 
 Perhaps it would have been better had she been more 
 thoroughly directed by the Princess Lamballe. She was 
 perfectly conscious of her good qualities, but Polignac 
 dazzled and humored her love of amusement and dis- 
 play of splendor. Though this favorite was the image 
 of her royal mistress in her amiable characteristics, the 
 resemblance unfortunately extended to her weaknesses. 
 This was not the case with the Princess Lamballe; she 
 possessed steadiness, and was governed by the cool fore- 
 sight of her father-in-law, the Duke de Penthibvre, 
 which both the other friends wanted. 
 
 The unshaken attachment of the Princess Lamballe to 
 the Queen, notwithstanding the slight at which she at 
 one time had reason to feel piqued, is one of the strong- 
 est evidences against the slanderers of Her Majesty. The 
 moral conduct of the Princess has never been called in 
 question. Amid the millions of infamous falsehoods 
 invented to vilify and degrade every other individual 
 connected with the Court, no imputation, from the mo- 
 ment of her arrival in France, up to the fatal one of her 
 massacre, ever tarnished her character. To her opinion, 
 then, the most prejudiced might look with confidence. 
 Certainly no one had a greater opportunity of knowing 
 the real character of Maria Antoinette. She was an eye- 
 witness to her conduct during the most brilliant and 
 luxurious portion of her reign; she saw her from the 
 meridian of her magnificence down to her dejection to 
 the depths of unparalleled misery. If the unfortunate 
 Queen had ever been guilty of the slightest of those 
 glaring vices of which she was so generally accused, the 
 Princess must have been aware of them; and it was not 
 
CHAPTER XXVIII 345 
 
 in her nature to have remained the friend and advocate, 
 even unto death, of one capable of depravity. Yet not 
 a breath of discord ever arose between them on that 
 score. Virtue and vice can never harmonize; and even 
 had policy kept her highness from avowing a change of 
 sentiments, it never could have continued her enthusiasm, 
 which was augmented, and not diminished, by the fall of 
 her royal friend. An attachment which holds through 
 every vicissitude must be deeply rooted from conviction 
 of the integrity of its object. 
 
 The friendship that subsisted between this illustrious 
 pair is an everlasting monument that honors their sex. 
 The Queen used to say of her, that she was thfe only 
 female she had ever known without gall. ' ' Like the 
 blessed land of Ireland," observed Her Majesty, "exempt 
 from the reptiles elsewhere so dangerous to mankind, so 
 was she freed by Providence from the venom by which 
 the finest form in others is empoison-d. No envy, no 
 ambition, no desire, but to contribute Lo the welfare and 
 happiness of her fellow-creatures — and yet, with all 
 these estimable virtues, these angelic qualities, she is 
 doomed, from her virtuous attachment to our persons, to 
 sink under the weight of that affliction, which, sooner or 
 later, must bury us all in one common ruin — a ruin 
 which is threatening hourly." 
 
 These presentiments of the awful result of impending 
 storms were mutual. From frequent conversations with 
 the Princess Lamballe, from the evidence of her letters 
 and her private papers, and from many remarks which 
 have been repeated to me personally by her highness, 
 and from persons in her confidence, there is abundant 
 evidence of the forebodings she constantly had of her own 
 and the Queen's untimely end.* 
 
 *A very remarkable circumstance was related to me when I was 
 at Vienna, after this horrid murder. The Princess of Lobkowitz, 
 sister to the Princess Lamballe, received a box, with an anonymous 
 letter, telling her to conceal the box carefully till further notice. 
 After the riots had subsided a little in France, she was apprised that 
 the box contained all, or the greater part, of the jewels belong- 
 
346 CHAPTER XXVUI 
 
 There was no friend of the Queen to whom the King 
 showed any deference or rather anything like the 
 deference he paid to the Princess Lamballe. When 
 the Duchess de Polignac, the Countess Diana Polignac, 
 the Count d'Artois, the Duchess of Guiche, her hus- 
 band, the present Duke de Grammonte, the Prince 
 of Hesse-Darmstadt, etc., fled from Paris, he and 
 the Queen, as if they had foreseen the awful catas- 
 trophe which was to destroy her so horribly, entreated 
 her to leave the Court, and take refuge in Italy. 
 So also did her father-in-law, the Duke de Penthifevre; 
 but all in vain. She saw her friend deprived of Polignac, 
 and all those near and dear to her heart, and became 
 deaf to every solicitation. Could such constancy, which 
 looked death in its worst form in the face unshrinking, 
 have existed without great and estimable qualities in its 
 possessor? 
 
 The brother-in-law of the Princess Lamballe, the Duke 
 of Orleans, was her declared enemy merely from her at- 
 tachment to the Queen. These three great victims have 
 been persecuted to the tomb, which had no sooner closed 
 over the last than the hand of Heaven fell upon their 
 destroyer. That Louis XVI. was not the friend of this 
 member of his family can excite no surprise, but must 
 rather challenge admiration. He had been seduced by 
 his artful and designing regicide companions to expend 
 millions to undermine the throne, and shake it to pieces 
 under the feet of his relative, his sovereign, the friend 
 of his earliest youth, who was aware of the treason, and 
 who held the thunderbolt, but would not crush him. But 
 they have been foiled in their hope of building a throne 
 for him upon the ruin they had made, and* placed an axe 
 where they flattered him he would find a diadem. 
 
 The Prince of Conti told me at Barcelona, that the 
 
 ing to the Princess, and had been taken from the Tuileries on the 
 loth of Angpist. 
 
 It is supposed that the jewels had been packed by the Princess in 
 anticipation of her doom, and forwarded to her sister through her 
 agency or desire. 
 
CHAPTER XXVIII 347 
 
 Duchess of Orleans had assured him that even had the 
 Duke of Orleans survived, he never could have attained 
 his object. The immense sums he had lavished upon the 
 horde of his revolutionary satellites, had, previous to his 
 death, thrown him into embarrassment. The avarice of 
 his party increased as his resources diminished. The 
 evil, as evil generally does, would have wrought its own 
 punishment in either way. He must have lived sus- 
 pected and miserable, had he not died. But his reckless 
 character did not desert him at the scaffold. It is said 
 that before he arrived at the Place de GrSve he ate a 
 very rich ragout, and drank a bottle of champagne, and 
 left the world as he had gone through it. 
 
 The supernumerary, the uncalled-for martyr, the last 
 of the four devoted royal sufferers, was beheaded the 
 following spring. For this murder there could not have 
 been the shadow of a pretext. The virtues of this victim 
 were sufficient to redeem the name of Elizabeth* from 
 the stain with which the two of England and Russia, 
 who had already borne it, had clouded its immortality. 
 She had never, in any way, interfered in political events. 
 Malice itself had never whispered a circumstance to her 
 dispraise. After this wanton assassination, it is scarcely to 
 be expected that the innocent and candid looks and stream- 
 ing azure eyes of that angelic infant, the dauphin, though 
 raised in humble supplication to his brutal assassins, 
 with an eloquence which would have disarmed the savage 
 tiger, could have won wretches so much more pitiless 
 than the most ferocious beasts of the wilderness, or saved 
 him from their slow but sure poison, whose breath was 
 worse than the upas tree to all who came within its in- 
 fluence. 
 
 The Duchess d'Angouleme, the only survivor of these 
 
 * The eighteen years' imprisonment and final murder of Mary, Queen 
 of Scots, by Elizabeth of England, is enough to stigmatize her forever, 
 independently of the many other acts of tyranny, which stain her 
 memory. The dethronement by Elizabeth of Russia of the innocent 
 Prince Ivan, her near relation, while yet in the cradle, g^ives the Northern 
 Empress a claim to a similar character to the British Queen. 
 
348 CHAPTER XXVIII 
 
 wretched captives, is a living proof of the baleful influ- 
 ence of that contaminated prison, the infectious tomb of 
 the royal martyrs. That once lovely countenance, which, 
 with the goodness and amiableness of her royal father, 
 whose mildness hung on her lips like the milk and 
 honey of human kindness — blended the dignity, grace, 
 elegance, and innocent vivacity, which were the acknowl- 
 edged characteristics of her beautiful mother — lost for 
 some time all traces of its original attractions. The lines 
 of deep-seated sorrow are not easily obliterated. If the 
 sanguinary republic had not wished to obtain by ex- 
 change the Generals La Fayette, Bournonville, Lameth, 
 etc., whom Dumourier had treacherously consigned into 
 the hands of Austria, there is little doubt but that, from 
 the prison in which she was so long doomed to vegetate 
 only to make life "a burden, she would have been sent 
 to share the fate of her murdered family.* 
 
 How can the Parisians complain that they found her 
 royal highness, on her return to France, by no means 
 what they required in a princess ? Can it be wondered 
 at that her marked grief should be visible when amid 
 the murderers of her family ? It should rather be a 
 wonder that she can at all bear the scenes in which she 
 moves, and not abhor the very name of Paris, when 
 every step must remind her of some outrage to herself, 
 or those most dear to her, or of some beloved relative 
 or friend destroyed! Her return can only be accounted 
 for by the spell of that all-powerful amor patriae, which 
 sometimes prevails over every other influence. 
 
 That this passion was paramount in the breast of the 
 Duchess d'Angouleme I am persuaded, from a story re- 
 lated to me of her by her royal highness's aunt, the late 
 Archduchess Maria Christiana, Governess of the Low 
 Countries. "My niece," said the archduchess, "has noth- 
 
 * It is no less singular than true that the wretch Gamin, the King's 
 blacksmith, who had been in the habit of working with Louis XVI., and 
 afterward betrayed him so infamously to the national assembly, was 
 chosen by that assembly, or some of its regicide members, to prepare the 
 locks and other things necessary for his daughter's departure. 
 
CHAPTER XXVIII 349 
 
 ing in her of the House of Austria. She is her father's 
 child — a Frenchwoman every inch of her " ; and, to con- 
 firm the remark, she mentioned the following circumstance. 
 
 The change from the horrible situation from which her 
 royal highness had been so miraculously saved, and the 
 narrow escape, perhaps, from an untimely and ignominious 
 death, to the midst of her mother's imperial relations,* and 
 all the splendors of palaces, would, it was imagined, 
 have lighted up her mind with a rapture, like that which 
 must fill the wearied and woe-worn spirit that suddenly 
 awakes in Paradise. To make the transition still more 
 impressive, every device to amuse a youthful mind was 
 put in action ; and even the Emperor has been seen gam- 
 boling for her diversion, and himself drawing her in a 
 little garden chair round the gardens of Schoubrunn. 
 
 But all was in vain. She was never seen to laugh or 
 even smile during the whole time of her residence there. 
 In her room she kept an urn, with the emblems of death , 
 and much of her time was devoted in prayers before it, 
 to the departed souls of her murdered family. 
 
 When Madame de Mackau, who had brought her into 
 Germany, was obliged to leave her and return to France, 
 the young Duchess was literally inconsolable, and would 
 fain have gone back with her. She was remonstrated 
 with, respecting such superabundant patriotism toward the 
 ungrateful country on which she could only look with 
 execration, upon which she answered: "True, it has been 
 cruel and ungrateful, but still it is my country; and I do 
 not deny that I feel the most poignant grief at having 
 left it, and am overwhelmed at the idea of perhaps never 
 more being able to return to it!" 
 
 Fate has since decreed that she should return to it; 
 and may her native land, to which she has preserved such 
 constancy, through so many cruelties, remember it, and 
 endeavor to atone for what it has inflicted on her. 
 
 *The Emperor and Empress were her first cousins: one the son 
 cf Leopold. Grand Duke of Tuscany, the other daughter of the late 
 Queen Carolina of Naples, and both brother and sister of Maria 
 Antionette. 
 
3SO CHAPTER XXVIH 
 
 Before I dismiss this subject, it may not be uninterest- 
 ing to my readers to receive some desultory anecdotes 
 that I have heard concerning one or two of the leading 
 monsters, by whom the horrors upon which I have expa- 
 tiated were occasioned. 
 
 David, the famous painter, was a member of the san- 
 guinary tribunal which condemned the King. On this 
 account he has been banished from France since the 
 restoration. 
 
 If anyone deserved this severity, it was David. It was 
 at the expense of the Court of Louis XVI. that this un- 
 grateful being was sent to Rome, to perfect himself in 
 his sublime art. His studies finished, he was pen- 
 sioned from the same patrons, and upheld as an artist 
 by the special protection of every member of the Royal 
 Family. 
 
 And yet this man, if he may be dignified by the name, 
 had the baseness to say in the hearing of the unforttmate 
 Louis XVI., when on trial, "Well! when are we to have 
 his head dressed ^ la guillotine f " 
 
 At another time, being deputed to visit the Temple, as 
 one of the committee of public safety, as he held out his 
 snuffbox before the Princess Elizabeth, she, conceiving 
 he meant to offer it, took a pinch. The monster, observ- 
 ing what she had done, darting a look of contempt at 
 her, instantly threw away the snuff, and dashed the box 
 to pieces on the floor. 
 
 Robespierre had a confidential physician, who attended 
 him almost to the period when he ascended the scaffold, 
 and who was very often obliged, malgrd-lui, to dine tite- 
 h-Ute with this monopolizer of human flesh and blood. 
 One day he happened to be with him, after a very extraor- 
 dinary number had been executed, and among the rest, 
 some of the physician's most intimate acquaintances. 
 
 The unwilling guest was naturally very downcast, and 
 ill at ease, and could not dissemble his anguish. He tried 
 to stammer out excuses and get away from the table. 
 
 Robespierre, perceiving his distress, interrogated him 
 as to the cause. 
 
CHAPTER XXVIII 351 
 
 The physician, putting his hand to his head, discovered 
 some reluctance to explain. 
 
 Robespierre took him by the hand, assured him he had 
 nothing to fear, and added, " Come doctor, you, as a pro- 
 fessional man, must be well informed as to the sentiments 
 of the major part of the Parisians respecting me. I en- 
 treat you, my dear friend, frankly to avow their opinion. 
 It may perhaps serve me for the future, as a guide for 
 governing them." 
 
 The physician answered, "I can no longer resist the 
 impulse of nature. I know I shall thereby oppose myself 
 to your power, but I must tell you, you are generally 
 abhorred — considered the Attila, the Sylla, of the age. 
 The two-footed plague, that walks about to fill peaceful 
 abodes with miseries and family mournings. The myriads 
 you are daily sending to the slaughter at the Place de 
 Greve, who have committed no crime, the carts of a cer- 
 tain description you have ordered daily to bear a stated 
 number to be sacrificed, directing they should be taken 
 from the prisons, and, if enough are not in the prisons, 
 seized, indiscriminately in the streets, that no place in 
 the deadly vehicle may be left unoccupied, and all this 
 without a trial, without even an accusation, and without 
 any sanction but your own mandate — these things call 
 the public curse upon you, which is not the less bitter 
 for not being audible." 
 
 "Ah!" said Robespierre, laughing. "This puts me in 
 mind of a story told of the cruelty and tyranny of Pope 
 Sextus the Fifth, who, having, one night, after he had 
 enjoyed himself at a Bacchanalian supper, when heated 
 with wine, by way of a bonne bouche, ordered the first 
 man that should come through the gate of the Strada 
 del popolo at Rome, to be immediately hanged. Every 
 person at this drunken conclave — nay, all Rome — con- 
 sidered the pope a tyrant, the most cruel of tyrants, till 
 it was made known and proved, after his death, that 
 the wretch so executed had murdered his father and 
 mother ten years previously. I know whom I send to 
 the Place de Grive. All who go there are guilty, though 
 
352 CHAPTER XXVIII 
 
 they may not seem so. Go on, what else have you 
 heard ? " 
 
 "Why, that you have so terrified all descriptions of 
 persons, that they fear even your very breath, and look 
 upon you as worse than the plague ; and I should not be 
 surprised, if you persist in this course of conduct, if 
 something serious to yourself should be the consequence, 
 and that ere long." 
 
 Not the least extraordinary part of the story is that 
 this dialogue between the devil and the doctor took 
 place but a very few hours previous to Robespierre's 
 being denounced by Tallien and Carrifere to the national 
 convention, as a conspirator against the republican 
 cause. In defending himself from being arrested by the 
 guard, he attempted to shoot himself, but the ball missed, 
 broke the monster's jawbone only, and nearly impeded 
 his speaking. 
 
 Singularly enough, it was this physician who was sent 
 for to assist and dress his wounds. Robespierre replied 
 to the doctor's observations, laughing, and in the follow- 
 ing language: 
 
 "Oh, poor devils! they do not know their own inter- 
 est. But my plan of exterminating the evil will soon 
 teach them. This is the only thing for the good of the 
 nation, for, before you can reform a thousand French- 
 men, you must first lop off half a million of these vaga- 
 bonds, and, if God spare my life, in a few months there 
 will be so many the less to breed internal commotions, 
 and disturb the general peace of Europe.* 
 
 *When Bonaparte was contriving the Consulship for life, and, in 
 the Irish way, forced the Italian Republic to volunteer an offer of the 
 Consulship of Italy, by a deputation to him at Paris, I happened to 
 be there. Many Italians, besides the deputies, went on the occasion.- 
 and among them, we had the good fortune to meet the Abb^ Fortis, 
 the celebrated naturalist, a gentleman of first-rate abilities, who had 
 traveled three-fourths of the globe in mineralogical research. The 
 Abb6 chanced one day to be in company with my husband, who wa» 
 an old acquaintance of his, where many of the chop-fallen deputies 
 like themselves, true lovers of their country, could not help de- 
 clariug their indignation at its degraded state, and reprobating 
 
CHAPTER XXVIII 353 
 
 The same physician observed that from the immense 
 number of executions during the sanguinary reign of that 
 monster, the Place de Grive became so complete a swamp 
 of human blood that it would scarcely hold the scaffold- 
 ing of the instrument of death, which, in consequence, 
 was obliged to be continually moved from one side of 
 the square to the other. Many of the soldiers and officers, 
 who were obliged to attend these horrible executions, 
 had constantly their half boots and stockings filled with 
 the blood of the poor sufferers; and as, whenever there 
 was any national festival to be given, it generally fol- 
 lowed one of the most sanguinary of these massacres, the 
 public places, the theaters especially, all bore the tracks 
 of blood throughout the saloons and lobbies. 
 
 The infamous Carrifere, who was the execrable agent of 
 his still more execrable employer, Robespierre, was left 
 afterward to join Tallien in a conspiracy against him, 
 merely to save himself ; but did not long survive his 
 atrocious crimes or his perfidy. It is impossible to calcu- 
 late the vast number of private assassinations committed 
 
 Bonaparte for rendering it so ridiculous in the face of Europe and 
 the world. The Abb6 Fortis, with the voice of a Stentor, and 
 spreading his gigantic form, which exceeded six feet in height, ex- 
 claimed: "This would not have been the case had that just and wise 
 man Robespierre lived but a little longer." 
 
 Everyone present was struck with horror at the observation. No- 
 ticing the effect of his words, the Abb6 resumed: 
 
 " I knew well I should frighten you in showing any partiality for 
 that bloody monopolizer of human heads. But you do not know the 
 perfidy of the French nation so well as I do. 1 have lived among 
 them many years. France is the sink of human deception. A French- 
 man will deceive his father, wife, and child; for deception is his 
 element. Robespierre knew this, and acted upon it, as you shall hear." 
 
 The Abb6 then related to us the story I have detailed above, 
 verbatim, as he had it from the son of Esculapius, who himself 
 confirmed it afterward in a conversation with the Abb6 in our 
 presence. 
 
 Having completed his anecdote, "Well," said the Abb4 "was I 
 not right in my opinion of this great philosopher and foreseer of 
 evils, when I observed that had he but lived a few months longer, 
 there would have been so many less in the world to disturb its 
 tranquillity ? " 
 23 
 
3S4 CHAPTER XXVIII 
 
 in the dead of the night, by order of this cannibal, on per- 
 sons of every rank and description. I knew a daughter 
 of this Carrifere very well, who was educated by Madame 
 Campan. She is- married to an Italian, and if ever the 
 hand of God marked "Beware of the descendants of the 
 guilty ! " she, poor woman, and her children, are woeful 
 living examples. Her bodily infirmities, though a young 
 and well-looking woman, are of the most disgusting na- 
 ture, and have baified the art of all the physicians in 
 France and Italy. When attacked, she is distorted in the 
 most frightful and hideous manner. Her children, every 
 one of them, are disgustingly deformed, with scarcely the 
 resemblance of human features. 
 
 My task is now ended. Nothing remains for me but 
 the reflections which these sad and shocking remembrances 
 cannot fail to awaken in all minds, and especially in 
 mine. Is it not astonishing, that in an age so refined, so 
 free from the enormous and flagitious crimes which were 
 the common stains of barbarous centuries, and at an 
 epoch peculiarly enlightened by liberal views — the French 
 nation, by all deemed the most polished since the Christian 
 era, should have given an example of such wanton, 
 brutal, and coarse depravity to the world, under pre- 
 tenses altogether chimerical, and after unprecedented 
 bloodshed' and horror, ending at the point where it began. 
 
 The organized system of plunder and anarchy, exer- 
 cised under different forms more or less sanguinary, pro- 
 duced no permanent result beyond an incontestible proof 
 that the versatility of the French nation and its puny 
 suppleness of character utterly incapacitate it for that 
 energetic enterprize without which there can be no hope 
 of permanent emancipation from national slavery. It is 
 my unalterable conviction, that the French will never 
 know how to enjoy an independent and free consti- 
 tution. 
 
 The tree of liberty unavoidably in all nations has been 
 sprinkled with human blood; but when bathed by inno- 
 cent victims, like the foul weed, though it spring up, it 
 roti in ItB infancy, and becomes loathsome and infectious. 
 
CHAPTER XXVIII 355 
 
 Such has been the case in France; and the result justi- 
 fies the Italian satire: 
 
 " Un albero senza fruta 
 Baretta senza testa 
 Governo eke non resta." 
 
 O France! for what misdeeds hast thou to atone, for 
 what execrable crimes! Within thy cities the earliest 
 rudiments of my education and my first permanent im- 
 pressions were received. Thou art almost my country, 
 the scene of my first interests and attachments. But 
 thy enormities overshadowed my youth, blighted and 
 neutralized my prospects, steeped my riper age in grief, 
 and harassed my maturity with disappointment. Thou 
 hast left me nothing but reminiscences of wrong and in- 
 sult to those to whom thou and I both owed so much; 
 and my present condition amid thy rapacious children 
 convinces me that thou art devoid of liberality, in- 
 capable of justice, saturated with the dregs of the worst 
 species of barbarism, and art only subdued somewhat in 
 thy infernal propensities by the uplifted arm of the 
 nations that surround thee! 
 
 Pardon me, generous reader, if, when I touch on this 
 cruel, cruel subject, I raise a voice too clamorous for the 
 common ear. Grant me your indulgence should I chance 
 to be overswayed by the impetuosity of emotions, neces- 
 sarily kindled by recollections of the dreadful misrule of 
 a lawless horde of plunderers. It were impossible to 
 touch unmoved upon scenes which rise around me in 
 colors of blood and forms of havoc, the most terrific 
 that ever sickened the human mind with deadly horror, 
 even were they disconnected with the angelic Princess, 
 whose condescensions for me began to assume more of 
 the mother than the friend; but when gratitude mingles 
 with the natural excitement of recollections so over- 
 whelming, language can afford no expressions adequate 
 to what I feel. 
 
 But I must endeavor to calm this anguish. I think I 
 hear some one expostulating with me thus: "Oh! after a 
 
356 CHAPTER XXVIII 
 
 lapse of so many years, surely your good sense — the 
 philosophy for which you have been so much prized — the 
 preservation of your health — the duty you owe to a 
 beloved husband and family — ought in some degree to 
 efface these impressions, and restore you to resignation and 
 tranquillity." 
 
 The remonstrance is just. Yet I cannot always exer- 
 cise that fortitude within myself to which I might counsel 
 others. To dwell on such events in terms of calm 
 serenity is a task beyond m)' forbearance, and I trust 
 my fervor will be forgiven. I have no interest in what 
 I have transcribed or stated. I can never be blessed in 
 this world with a sight of the august queen who forms 
 the leading subject of my narrative, and can expect 
 nothing from her relations, who did so little for her dur- 
 ing the last moments of her miserable life. But I have 
 undertaken the task of vindicating her, as far as my 
 humble abilities and authentic information would allow; 
 and posterity will judge between her and the foul 
 -wretches who have steeped themselves in her blood, 
 after having so relentlessly persecuted her before they 
 took her life, and pursued her name with villainous 
 slanders when they had no longer power over her person. 
 
 Of that part of my work which belongs to my illus- 
 trious patroness and most deplored friend, it would be 
 presumptuous in me to speak. Concerning what I myself 
 Tiave written, I have but one word to say. Accuracy has 
 been my sole ambition. I do not court a place in the 
 Temple of Fame, and shall be more than satisfied by 
 being thought worthy of the glorious distinction of 
 admittance into the Temple of Truth. 
 
,.„i| I 11 i! i >: 
 
 ■iii