The Life of Marie Antoinette, Queen of France Part 25

[9] See his letter to Lord North proposing peace, date December 1st, 1780.

Lord Stanhope's "History of England," vol. vii., Appendix, p. 13.

CHAPTER XVI.

[1] "Gustave III. et la Cour de France," i., p. 357.

[2] Chambrier, i., p. 430; "Gustave III.," etc., i., p. 353.

[3] "Gustave III.," etc., i., p. 353.

[4] "Memoires de Weber," i., p. 50.

[5] "On s'arretait dans les rues, on se parlait sans se connaitre."-- Madame de Campan, ch. ix.

[6] L'Oeil de Boeuf.

[7] Madame de Campan, ch. ix.; "Marie Antoinette, Louis XII., et la Famille Royale," p. 238.

[8] "Un soleil d'ete"--Weber, i., p. 53.

[9] La Muette derived its name from _les mues_ of the deer who were reared there. It had been enlarged by the Regent d'Orleans, who gave it to his daughter, the d.u.c.h.ess de Berri; and it, was the frequent scene of the orgies of that infamous father and daughter, while more recently it had been known as the Parc aux Cerfs, under which t.i.tle it had acquired a still more infamous reputation.

[10] "Apres le diner il y eut appartement jeu, et la fete fut terminee par un feu d'artifice."--Weber, i., p. 57, from whom the greater part of those details are taken. For the etiquette of the "jeu," see Madame de Campan, ch. ix., p. 17, and 2 ed. 1858.

CHAPTER XVII.

[1] Mercy to Maria Teresa, June 18th, 1780, Arneth iii., p. 440.

[2] Le tabouret. See St. Simon.

[3] See _infra_, the queen's letter to Madame de Tourzel, date July 25th, 1789.

[4] "Souvenirs de Quarante Ans," by Mademoiselle de Tourzel, p. 20.

[5] "Filia dolorosa."--Chateaubriand.

[6] Napoleon, in 1814, called her the only man of her family.

[7] Madame de Campan, ch. x.

[8] Memoires de Madame d'Oberkirch, i., p. 279

[9] The Marshal Prince de Soubise, whose incapacity and cowardice caused the disgraceful rout of Rosbach, was the head of this family; his sister, Madame Marsan, as governess of the "children of France", had brought up Louis XVI.

[10] "Il [Rohan] a meme menace, si on ne veut pas prendre le bon chemin qui lui indique, que ma fille s'en ressentira."--_Marie-Therese a Mercy_, August 28th, 1774, Arneth, ii., p. 226.

[11] "Ils paraissent si excedes du grand monde et des fetes, qu'avec d'autres pet.i.tes difficultes qui se sont elevees, nous avons decide qu'il n'y aurait rien a Marly."--_Marie Antoinette to Mercy; Marie Antoinette, Joseph II., and Leopold II_., p. 27.

[12] "No fewer than five actions were fought in 1782, and the spring of 1783, by those unwearied foes. De Suffrein's force was materially the stronger of the two; it consisted of ten sail of the line, one fifty-gun ship, and four frigates; while Sir E. Hughes had but eight sail of the line, a fifty-gun ship, and one frigate," See the author's "History of the British Navy," i., p. 400.

[13] Weber, i., p. 77. For the importance at this time attached to a reception at court, see Chateaubriand, "Memoires d'Outre-tombe," i., p.

221.

CHAPTER XVIII.

[1] Joseph to Marie Antoinette, date September 9th, 1783.--_Marie Antoinette, Joseph II., and Leopold II._, p.30, which, to save such a lengthened reference, will hereafter be referred to as "Arneth."

[2] She was again expecting a confinement; but, as had happened between the birth of Madame Royale and that of the dauphin, an accident disappointed her hope, and her third child was not born till 1785.

[3] Date September 29th, 1783, Arneth, p. 35.

[4] Ministre de la maison du roi.

[5] Arneth, p. 38.

CHAPTER XIX.

[1] "Le roi signa une lettre de cachet qui defendait cette representation."--Madame de Campan, ch. xi.; see the whole chapter. Madame de Campan's account of the queen's inclinations on the subject differs from that given by M. de Lomenie, in his "Beaumarchais et son Temps," but seems more to be relied on, as she had certainly better means of information.

[2] See M. Gaillard's report to the lieutenant of police.--_Beaumarchais et son Temps_, ii., p. 313.

[3] "Il n'y a que les pet.i.ts hommes qui redoutent les pet.i.ts ecrits."-- _Act v., scene_ 3.

[4] "Avec _G.o.ddam_ en, Angleterre on ne manque de rien nulle part. Voulez- vous tater un bon poulet gras ... _G.o.ddam_ ... Aimez-vous a boire un coup d'excellent Bourgogne ou de clairet? rien que celui-ci _G.o.ddam_. Les Anglais a la verite ajoutent par-ci par-la autres mots en conversant, mais il est bien aise de voir que _G.o.ddam_ est le fond de la langue."--_Act_ iii., _scene_ 5.

[5] "Gustave III. et la Cour de France," ii., p.22

[6] _Ibid_., p. 35.

CHAPTER XX.

[1] "De par la reine."

[2] Madame de Campan, ch. xi.

[3] "'La legerete a tout croire et a tout dire des souverains,' ecrit tres justement M. Nisard (_Moniteur_ du 22 Janvier, 1886), 'est un des travers de notre pays, et comme le defaut de notre qualite de nation monarchique.

C'est ce travers qui a tue Marie Antoinette par la main des furieux qui eurent peut-etre des honnetes gens pour complices. Sa mort devait rendre a jamais impossible en France la calomnie politique.'"--Chambrier, i., p.

494.

[4] "Memoires de la Reine de France," par M. Lafont d'Aussonne, p. 42.

[5] See her letters to Mercy, December 26th, 1784, and to the emperor, December 31st, 1784, and February 4th, 1785, Arneth, p. 64, _et seq._

[6] "J'ai ete reellement touchee, de la raison et de la fermete que le roi a mises dans cette rude seance."--_Marie Antoinette to Joseph II._, August 22d, 1785, Arneth, p. 93.