IPMilliliiPinPilPiiiPHiM
1
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2007 with funding from
IVIicrosoft Corporation
http://www.archive.org/details/ducdelauzuncourtOOmaugrich
THE DUG DE LAUZUN
THE
DUC DE LAUZUN
AND THE
COURT OF MARIE ANTOINETTE
FROM THE FRENCH OF
GASTON MAUGRAS
LONDON
OSGOOD, McILVAINE & CO.
45, Albemarle Street, W.
1896
\All rights reserved]
^>
^
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I.
1774.
PAGE
Lauzun's residence at Mouzon — His plans for the future —
Mme. de Lauzun is inoculated — The Due's visit to
Auteuil — The new Ministry 1
CHAPTER II.
1774.
Life at Mouzon — Journey to Warsaw — Return to Mouzon —
Studies relating to Poland — A scheme for an alliance
between France and Russia — Again to Warsaw — Visits
to Dresden and Berlin — Frederick of Prussia — Prince
Henry — Mile, von Hatzfeldt — Quarrel with the Princess
— Prince Adam sends for Lauzun to Warsaw — ]S"egotia-
tions with M. de Stackelberg — Letter to M. deYergennes
— Stay at the Court of Warsaw- — A quarrel with the
Grand-General Branecki — Departure for France . .13
CHAPTER III.
1775.
The Court in 1775— The King— The Queen— The Queen's
friends : the Princesse de Lamballe, Mme. Dillon, the
Princesse de Guemenee — ^The Royal Family . .31
CHAPTER IV.
1775.
Lauzun arrives at Versailles — An interview with M. de
Vergennes — Intimacy with Mme. Dillon and Mme. de
Guemenee — The Queen receives him kindly — Corre-
spondence with M. de Stackelberg — Com riots — Lauzun
goes to Sarreguemines — The Coronation — Check to the
negotiations with M. de Vergennes — Rupture with
Princess Czartoriska — Residence at Sarreguemines —
Journey through the Palatinate . . , , ,46
Y
CHAPTER V.
1775.
Lauzun returns to Paris — The influenza — Lady Barrymore —
Her acquaintance with Lauzun — The Queen's partiality
for the Comtesse Jules de Polignac — Mme. de Vaudreuil
and Besenval — The Abbe de Vermond's anxieties . . 66
CHAPTER VI.
1775.
Changes in manners — The taste for English ideas and habits
— Races — Gambling — Opera-balls — Dress . , .78
CHAPTER VII.
1775.
Lauzun in favour — His political plans — He lays them before
the Queen — Correspondence with Catherine of Russia- -
M. de Luxembourg's schemes — Catherine proposes to
Lauzun that he should enter her sei'vice — A conversation
with the Queen — The heron feather — Lauzun visits
Chanteloup — The affair of the Due de Guines — Dis-
missal of Turgot and Malesherbes — Necker as Finance
Minister — M. de Saint-Germain at the War Office —
Reforms — The Order of Perseverance — Death of the
Prince de Conti 91
CHAPTER VIII.
1777.
The Emperor Joseph II.'s visit — Its consequences . .115
CHAPTER IX.
1776—1778.
Lauzun's debts — Difficulties with his wife and family —
Generous offers from M. de Voyer and from Lady Barry-
more — The Queen refuses to intervene — Arrangement
with M. de Guemenee — Mme. de Guemenee slanders
Mme. de Lauzun — Choiseul's indignation — His interview
with Mme. de Guemenco . . . . . .125
vi
I
CHAPTER X.
1778.
Lauzun sets out for Vaucouleurs — He takes a holiday and
visits England — Preliminaries of the American War —
Franklin in Paris — Lauznn recalled to Paris — He
returns to London — Rupture with England — Lauzun
goes to Ardres — Colonel of the foreign Marine forces —
Nominated to go to India — Naval battle — Lauzun's last
interview with the Queen — A visit to Hautefontaine —
Mme. de Martainville — Masquerade at Court . .137
CHAPTER XI.
1778.
The conquest of Senegal — Lauzun returns to Paris . . 162
CHAPTER XII.
1779.
Lauzun is ill received at Versailles — ^A game at faro — Mme.
de Coigny's generous conduct — Lauzun resigns his
commission — He is appointed Inspector-General of
Prisoners of War — Plans for invading England — Lauzun
and M. de Vaux — Camps at Parame and at Vaucieux —
Returns to Paris — Intimacy between Mme. de Coigny
and Mme. Dillon — Creation of the Lauzun Hussars . 174
CHAPTER :x:iii.
1780.
An army to be sent to America — Lauzun and his legion to form
part of it — Fersen also joins — The strange adventure of
M. Dillon — Across the Atlantic — A naval battle — They
reach Rhode Island 190
CHAPTER XIV.
1780.
The Americans receive them badly — The camp at Newport —
Depression of the troops at the delay — August 15 — A
visit from Indians — Rochambeau goes to see Washing-
ton — Life at Newport — Winter quarters — Lauzun and
Fersen — Rochambeau returns to France — Lauzun is sent
to Lebanon 202
vii
CHAPTER XV.
1781.
PAGE
Mutiny in Pennsylvania — Death of M. de Temay — Washing-
ton's visit to M. de Rochambean — Arrival of the Astree
— News from France — M. de Montbarrey's place taken
by M. de Segni* ; M. de Sartines' by M. de Castries —
Marriage of the Due de Montbazon to Mile, de Conflans
— Death of Mme. de Mazarin ; and of Lady Barrymore —
M. de Rochambeau's return — The campaign of 1781 —
Lauzun's distinguished service — The siege of York
(U.S.A.) — Cavalry encounter between Lauzun's hussars
and Tarleton's dragoons — York capitulates — Lauzun is
sent to Versailles with the news . . . . .221
CHAPTER XVI.
1781—1782.
Lauzun's arrival in France — Death of M. Maurepas — M. de
Segur's bad treatment of Lauzun — Mme. de Coigny and
the Guumenees — " Perdita " in Paiis — Birth of the
Dauphin — The dinner at the Hotel de Ville — M. de
Coigny leaves for America — Lauzun is ordered to rejoin
his legion 238
CHAPTER XVII.
1782.
Lauzun sails for America on the Gloire — Mme. de Coigny's
grief — A storm obliges the Gloire to put into Paimboeuf
— Lauzun re-embarks on the Aigle — Detention at the
Azores — Received by the French Consul — Visit to a
Portuguese convent— A sea fight — Lauzun's illness —
Arrival in America — M. de Rochambeau returns to
France 250
CHAPTER XVIII.
1782—1783.
Lauzun in America — News from France — Death of M. de
Voyer, and of Mme. Dillon — M. de Guemenee's in-
solvency — Lauzun returns to France — His Volunteers are
disbanded — The Lauzun Hussars . . . . .275
viii
CHAPTER XIX.
1783—1784:.
PAQB
Mme. de Coigny's pleasure at seeing Lauzun — A journey to
England — Flattering reception by the Prince of Wales
— Return to France — The Palais Royal circle — The Due
de Chartres in opposition — State of Society in 1783 —
The financial situation — The general mania for the super-
natural — Cagliostro — Lauzun interviews the devil — M.
de Caylus and his tragic end ...... 290
CHAPTER XX.
1785.
Birth of the Due de Normandie — The affair of the necklace —
Arrest of the Cardinal de Rohan — Indignation and
intrigues of .the Rohan family — The Cardinal is
acquitted — Scandals about the Queen — Death of the Due
de Choiseul 311
CHAPTER XXI.
1785—1787.
Lauzun and Mme. de Coigny — The Prince de Ligne — Mme.
de Fleury — ^The adventure of the rose— Tv^ro duels — The
King affronts the Marquis de Conflans — M. de Conflans'
death— The Palais Royal faction — The Due d' Orleans
and Mme. de Buffon 821
CHAPTER XXII.
1787—1788.
The first Treaty of Commerce — The English in Egypt —
Lauzun's remarkable foresight — M. d'Ormesson — M. de
Calonne — Assembly of Notables — Mme. de Coigny's parrot
— Lomenie de Brienne — The l!^otables are dismissed —
The Due d' Orleans in banishment — Retrenchments —
Indignation at Court — Mme. de Polignac's ingratitude
— Mme. d'Ossun — Necker succeeds to Brienne — Death
of Marcchal de Biron — Lauzun takes his name as Due
deBiron 333
ix a
CHAPTER XXIII.
1789-1790.
Elections for the States-General— The 14th of Jnly— The
4th of August— The 5th-6th of October— The Due
d'Orleans leaves for London — Speeches in the Assembly
by Mirabeau and Biron — Biron, appointed Governor of
Corsica, declines to go there — Biron advises the Due
d'Orleans to return to Paris — Mirabeau and the Court —
Return of the Due d'Orleans — He is made Admiral and
received by the King — His treatment at the Tuileries . 353
CHAPTER XXIV.
1791.
The so-called revolt of the Lauzun Hussars — Forged bills
signed *' Biron" — Mme. de Lamothe — The Royal
Family plan their flight — The journey to Varennes —
Mme. de Coigny's adventure — She leaves for London —
Her letters to Lauzun — A letter from Mme. de Fleury . 375
CHAPTER XXY.
1792.
Biron is sent to join the army in the North — Narbonne is
Minister of War — Talleyrand goes to London, and with
him Biron — Biron imprisoned for debt — Mme. de
Coigny's despair — M. de Courehamp stands surety for
him — Biron returns to France and to Valenciennes . 390
CHAPTER XXVI.
1792.
Death of the Emperor Leopold — Narbonne is dismissed and
M. de Grave appointed — Mme. de Coigny's alarms —
Duinouriez Minister for Foreign Affairs — Correspondence
with Lauzun — Dumouriez' plan of campaign — Dillon is
assassinated — Biron marches on Mons — His return to
Valenciennes — Rochambeau retires — Biron refuses the
chief command — He is appointed to the Army of the
Rhine .......... 405
CHAPTER XXVII.
1792.
Biion at Strasbourg — August 10 — Letters from Mme. de
Coigny and Mme. de Buffon 427
CHAPTER XXVIII.
1793.
PASB
The trial of the King — The Army of Nice — Arrest of the
Due d' Orleans — Of the Due de Montpensier — B iron's
distress of mind — His generous conduct — He is sent to
join the army at La Rochelle ..... 445
CHAPTER XXIX.
1793.
Biron at Bordeaux — He arrives at Niort — The defeat at
Fontenay — The state of the army — The rout at Saumur
— Rossignol is arrested — Biron resigns his command —
His resignation is refused — Victory at Parthenay —
Release of Rossignol — Biron is dismissed the service —
Called to Paris — ^Imprisoned in the Abbaye . . .471
CHAPTER XXX.
1793.
Biron's defence — The Queen is executed — The Due d'Orleans
— Biron tried and condemned — His execution . .496
EPILOGUE 507
INDEX . . 517
XI
TRANSLATOR'S NOTE.
Some little abridgment in a few passages has been] sanctioned by
the Author.
THE DUG DE LAUZUN
AND THE
COURT OF MARIE ANTOINETTE.
CHAPTER I.
1774.
Lauziin's residence at Mouzon — His plans for the future —
Madame de Lauzun is inoculated — The Due's visit to Auteuil
— The new Ministry.
We left the Due de Lauzun, at the age of twenty-
seven, in the solitude of Mouzon, abandoning himself
more completely than ever to the mad passion that
held him fast ; he had no other idea or purpose than
to consecrate his life to the lovely and delightful
Princess Czartoriska.
Given over entirely to his dreams of love and
schemes for the future, he had completely altered his
mode of life ; he devoted himself almost exclusively
to the care of his regiment and the new studies to
which he had set himself. Ardently desiring to be
within reach of the Princess, he saw no better way
t B
of achieving this end than getting himself sent to
Warsaw as a representative of the French King ;
but for that it was necessary to be up to the mark
in politics, and have a thorough knowledge of the
affairs of Poland, Russia and Prussia. He therefore
collected round him all the documents that could
enlighten him, and proceeded to study them with
the greatest fervour. The first division of Poland,
which had been made in 1772, and all the con-
sequences that followed from it, gave to these studies
immense interest and a living actuality.
He was disturbed in this studious life, so new to
his experience, by a letter from the Duchesse, who
announced that she was about to submit to " the
operation of inoculation." Lauzun was too much
a gentleman to leave his wife alone on so critical an
occasion ; as soon as he knew of her determination
he did not hesitate to leave Mouzon, and spend some
little time in Paris. It was indeed at that time a
very serious step to decide on ; hitherto preventive
measures against small-pox had been regarded with
extreme distrust, and many persons thought them
more dangerous than useful. The names of those
who had braved the ordeal in their o"svn persons or
those of their children were marked.'^
The swift and unexpected death of Louis XV. did
1 In 1756 the Due d'Orleans had had his two children inoculated
by Tronchin; and in the same year the Marechale de Belle-Isle
did the same by her son, the Comte de Gisors. The inoculation
of M. de Chastellux made a great sensation ; in 1775 Buffon, on
welcoming him to the French Academy, complimented him on
having been the first of its Members to venture on submitting to
the operation.
more to promote inoculation than all Tronchin's
promises. It struck people's minds all the more
forcibly because it was followed by other terrible
cases.
Hardly had Louis XY. closed his eyes when
Mesdames, who had nursed him with great de-
votion, fell ill of the same complaint, and for several
days were in great danger. Far from feeling pity
for the fate of the unhappy princesses, who were
paying so dearly for their fidelity, the public only
uttered indecent wishes that they might soon re-
join the deceased King. However, against hope,
Mesdames recovered :
" The exterminating angel has sheathed his sword,"
wrote Madame du DefFant. " We shall see these three
old maids lording it again at the young Court, and
meddling in everything ; and they have become so
interesting that it will be thought that the least that
can be done is to hand them the kingdom to turn
upside down." (June 2nd, 1774.)
After the catastrophe that had fallen on the royal
family, it was decided that all the Princes were to
be inoculated. On June 17, 1774, the King went
to Marly, with tlie Queen, Monsieur, Madame,
the Comte and Comtesse d'Artois ; the operation
was performed by the physician, Richard, who
on the occasion was nicknamed sans peur (the
fearless).
This time the example set by such high rank was
followed unhesitatingly by a great number of persons,
and especially by all about the Court.
3 B 2
Madame de Lauzun had already been inoculated
by Gatti ; but it would seem that she had not
unlimited confidence in the Italian doctor, for
she insisted on its being repeated, and this time
by the Buttons, very famous English physicians,
whom their brethren in Paris naturally regarded
as contemptible quacks. To undergo the opera-
tion and its consequences Madame de Lauzun
came into the neighbourhood of Paris, to the
house of Mme. de Boufflers, at Auteuil. The
inoculation was perfectly successful, and the
amiable Duchesse had a very sufficient number of
spots.
Lauzun, faithful to his functions as sick nurse,
also came to Auteuil. All his friends, happy to
have him once more among them, did him honour,
and everybody complimented him on the good
feeling he had thus shown.
Mme. de Lauzun, however, was not lonely.
While confined to the house she received many
visitors, who offered her the consolations of
friendship. The Mar^chale de Luxembourg and
Mme. du DefFant constantly came to sup with her ;
there they met M. de Gontaut and other intimate
friends. Mme. du Deifant was never tired of the
Due. " What good company he is ! " she would
exclaim ; " he is perpetually inventing some capital
jest."
One of the favourite amusements of the day was
composing epitaphs for the deceased King. They
were for the most part far from flattering. The
4
small circle surrounding Mme. de Lauzun would not
fail to follow the fashion.*
If no regret was felt for the departed monarch,
the enthusiasm for the new occupant of the throne
was almost unexampled. The beginnings of a reign
had never called forth more unanimous expressions
of affection and attachment. The Royal Family had
retired to the Chateau of La Muette during the
illness of Mesdames ; the suburbs of Paris were
crowded with inhabitants. From six in the
morning shouts of " Vive le Roi " were heard, and
continued without interruption till sunset. A
jeweller made a fortune by selling mourning snuff-
boxes, with a portrait of the young Queen set in a
mount of black shagreen, and bearing the punning
legend, " La consolation dansle chagrin " (Consolation
in chagrin or grief).
But at this moment there was one fashion which
swamped all others ; it was the day of " heads,"
1 These are some of tlie shafts sharpened under the groves of
Auteuil : —
" Ci git Louis, ce pauvre roi ;
On dit qu'il fut bon, mais a quoi ? "
'' Here lies Louis, the poor King. They say he was good — but
good for what ? "
" Ci git Louis dit le quinzieme ;
Et des Bien-aimes le deuxieme ;
Dieu nous preserve du troisicme ! "
" Here lies Louis called the fifteenth ; the second named Well-
beloved. God preserve us from the third ! "
Finally this, eloquent in its brevity : —
'* Ci git Louis par la grace de Dieu ! "
" Here lies Louis, by the gi^ace of God I "
A story was told that a Capuchin, who wrote verses, said : '' I
mean to sing the praises of Louis XV." " Oh," was the reply,
" you will have to hiss rather than sing, and emulate the blackbird
rather than the nightingale."
J
monumental head-dressing, amazing structures of
which no idea can be formed in our day. Every
event, political or other, found expression on the
heads of the fine ladies. Hairdressers could give
full liberty to their imagination, however extra-
vagant ; they were sure of shocking no one.
Inoculation having become the rage, of course
there was a coiffure a V inoculation : it was composed
of a serpent, a club, a rising sun, and an olive-tree
loaded with fruit. Who could fail to understand
allusions so self-evident ? The serpent symbolizes
medicine ; the club is the skill it has used in over-
coming the monster of small-pox ; the rising sim is
emblematic of the young King to whom all hopes
turn ; and the olive is taken to mean the peace and
gladness felt in every heart at the successful issue
of the operation to which the Princes have
submitted.
Mme. de Lauzun was too much a woman of the
world not to conform to the new fashion, and during
her convalescence at Auteuil she gaily wore a cap
a V inoculation. After the King's death she, like the
rest of the world, wore an appropriate head-dress : on
the left a tall cypress made of black flowers and tied
with a knot of black crape ; on the right a large
bunch of com lying on a cornucopia, out of which fell
a profusion of figs, melons, grapes, and other fruits.
Nothing could show more clearly that, while
lamenting the dead King, much was expected of the
new one.
These extravagances of fashion, far from shocking
6
Mme. de Lauzun, seem to have pleased her, for as
soon as she was out in the world again she appeared
in Mme. du DeiFant's drawing-room, her head
decorated with a structure which made a sensation.
The admiration of her contemporaries has transmitted
its details to posterity. It presented a whole land-
scape elaborately modelled; first of all a stormy
lake, ducks swimming near the shore, a sportsman
about to fire at them ; at the top a windmill, and an
Abbe flirting with the miller's wife ; below, close to
the ear, the miller leading his ass.^
, Nor was it in fashion only that the accession of
Louis XVI. had produced changes. Lauzun, on
arriving at Versailles, found the whole political
world in a commotion, and Court intrigues seething
furiously. The faction of the Choiseuls was in great
excitement, and making every effort to recover
power. Lauzun gave his uncle every possible mark
of attachment ; but he did not believe in his return
to power, and the event proved him right.
Let us now rapidly see who the new personages
are that have taken the place of those we have
known.
As was the custom at the beginning of every
reign, the Court officials were not merely dismissed
with thanks, but sent away in disgrace. Marie
Antoinette did her best to secure this end, and
had the satisfaction of conducing to the ruin of
all those who had defied her when she was but the
Dauphiness.
1 Journal de Madame d^Moffe.
7
Mme. du Barry, to begin with, was banished to
the Abbey of Pont-aux-Dames, two leagues from
Meaux. The Due d'Aiguillon was the next to be
sacrificed. Mme. du DefFant, quite delighted, wrote
to Mme. de Choiseul : " Well, the impious Ahab
is overthrown : joy is universal. ^ Men, women,
children, all embrace with joy, and bless the Lord
and him whom He may send.' ^
" He, be he who he may, will be welcome. . . .
In short, they are sweeping out the Court, and when
it is thoroughly cleaned, the furniture that is to grace
it will be replaced. I cannot tell you how glad I
am." (June 4, 1774.)
This precious furniture, of course, means M. and
Mme. de Choiseul, who, for nearly four years now,
had been kicking their heels in their magnificent
exile at Chanteloup.
Maupeou and the Abbe Terray shared M.
d'Aiguillon's fate ; the glee caused by their disgrace
was universally displayed. At all the cross streets
in Paris bonfires were piled up, where these objects
of public hatred were burned in effigy ; that there
should be no mistake, the Chancellor was dressed in
his gown, the Deputy as an Abbe. A man named
Bouteille tried to quell the tumult — he was knocked
down. " It is only a broken bottle ! " the people
cried, and were wilder than before. The excitement
was so great that serious riots were apprehended ; the
^ Quoted from Racine : —
"Enfants, femmes, viellards, s'embrassent avec joie.
Benissent le Seigneur et celui qu'il envoie."
8
French guards remained under arms for seven days
and nights.^
Driving out Maupeou did not seem sufficient ; his
work, too, must be overthrown. The Parlement he
had assembled was dissolved, and the old Parlement
recalled, to the great joy of some and the great
indignation of others. " I have enabled the French
crown to win in a lawsuit which has been going on
for many centuries," said Maupeou. " Louis XVI.
chooses to appeal, and he is master ; but he will
regret it bitterly." The Due d'Orleans and the Due
de Chartres refused to recognize the new Parlement.
To clean out the Court and exile ministers was
all very well, but things must be patched up again.
This was the young King's greatest difficulty.
Whom could he choose for his Prime Minister ? All
parties vied in their intrigues ; each one hoped to
^ The following epitaphs were composed for Maupeou : —
" Ci git Maupeou Tabominable.
Au diable il a rendu I'esprit.
Passant, ne crains point son semblable ;
Car jamais monstre n'a produit."
" Here lies the abominable Maupeou. His spirit has returned to
the devil. Reader, fear not that you will meet his like ; no
monster ever produced such another."
These lines were written on the disgrace of the hated ministers,
and entitled : " Vinaigre des quatre voleurs " —
" Amis, connaissez-vous I'enseigne ridicule
Qu'un peintre de Saint Luc fait pour les parfumeurs ?
II met en un flacon, en forme de pilule,
Boynes, Maupeou, Terray, sous leur propres couleurs ;
II y joint D'Aiguillon, et puis il I'intitule :
Vinaigre des quatre voleurs."
" Friends, do you know the absurd sign that a painter of Saint
Luke makes for perfumers ? He shows in a phial, in the form of
a pill, Boynes, Maupeou and TeiTay in their proper colours ; he
adds D'Aiguillon, and he calls the mixture : ' Four thieves'
vinegar.* "
win ; and Louis XVI. was a victim to solicitations
from all sides. The Queen, who had remained
greatly attached to Choiseul, proposed the exile;
but notwithstanding her influence she struck on an
invincible opposition. " Choiseul means extrava-
gance," Louis XVL repeatedly said, remembering
his father's hatred of Choiseul, and nothing could
conquer his objection. However, the Queen so far
succeeded that Choiseul was no longer to remain in
disgrace ; he was allowed to reappear at Court.
She hoped that his wit and his charm would produce
more effect than the most pressing entreaties. The
first time the exile presented himself at Versailles
the King said : " You have groAvn fat. Monsieur de
Choiseul ; you are losing your hair and growing bald."
And that was all. This cold, satirical reception was
a painful blow to the fallen minister ; he under-
stood that his hour was not yet come, and next day
he gloomily set out to return to Chanteloup,
His adherents, however, did not lose courage ;
they all said it was merely a matter of time, and that
the Due would soon be indispensable. How could a
weak and irresolute King long resist the solicitations
of a pretty young wife who was in the habit of
being obeyed ?
Meanwhile, a Prime Minister must be found. By
the advice of Madame Adelaide, the King sent for
M. de Machault, a skilful administrator and a
stem judge, intending to place matters in his hands.
The same courier carried a letter to M. de Maurepas,
who lived in the same neighbourhood, and who was
lO
to be consulted as to the funeral. M. de Maurepas
arrived first, and was at once received by the King.
At this moment the usher came in to announce that
the Council had assembled. The King rose, was
embarrassed, dared not dismiss his visitor, and went
into the council chamber, followed by M. de
Maurepas, who, believing himself to be Prime
Minister, sat down and took part in the business.
To this singular chance he owed his fortune of
governing France for ten years.
When M. de Machault arrived, an hour or two
later, the King made a few commonplace remarks
and allowed him to depart.
Who and what was M. de Maurepas ? In what
hands had chance placed the destinies of France ?
He was a man of seventy, banished some twenty-
five years since for a ballad attacking Madame de
Pompadour. At the age of twenty he had been
minister under Louis XV.^ His light and pleasant
wit, and easy temper, made him a favourite. His
advanced age seemed to promise reassuring ex-
perience ; but, unluckily, his white hairs covered a
strangely frivolous nature and incurable levity.
The only aim of his administration was to avoid
shocks : he only cared to keep his place and end his
days in peace. In this he succeeded, but to the
great detriment of the kingdom.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was given to M.
^ He had from his father, in 1715, the promise of the reversion
to the office of Secretary of State. He held the post from 1725
to 1749, at which date he was exiled to Bourefes. He died in
1781.
II
de Vergennes, a man of honour, but of no great
capacity. M. de Muy was appointed to the War
Office ; M. de Sartines to the Admiralty : M. de
Mirom(^nil took Maupeou's place, and Turgot filled
the Abbe Terray's.
We may now leave the new reign to establish
itself, and return to Lauzun on the road to Mouzon,
whither our hero was hastening, to return as soon
as the health of the Duchesse was so far restored as
to occasion no further anxiety.
12
CHAPTER II.
1774,
Life at Mouzon — Journey to Warsaw — Return to Mouzon —
Studies relating to Poland — A scheme for an alliance between
France and Russia — Again to Warsaw — ^Visits to Dresden and
Berlin — Frederick of Prussia — Prince Henry — Mile, von
Hatzfeldt— Quarrel with the Princess — Prince Adam sends
for Lauzun to Warsaw — Negotiations with M. de Stackel-
berg — Letter to M. de Yergennes — Stay at the Court of
Warsaw — A quarrel with the Grand-General Branecki
— Departure for France.
No sooner was Lauzun at Mouzon once more, than
he began with fresh energy to study the political
situation of Russia and Poland. The letters he
received from the Princess, after being rather frequent,
suddenly ceased altogether. Lauzun, anxious, rest-
less, unable to content himself, decided on sending
a messenger all the way to Warsaw. The news he
brought back was anything rather than satisfactory.
The Princess had had some vehement discussions
with her husband, and had been driven to making
an avowal of her love. Although this delicate con-
fession had been received with magnanimity, and her
husband had behaved like the gentleman that he
was, Mme. Czartoriska was sinking under the
13
burthen of anxiety and distress of mind ; her
strength was broken and crushed.
This sad news quite overset Lauzun. Fully
convinced that his presence would restore to his
ladylove the courage she failed in, he did not
hesitate to start, alone and secretly, to go to see her.
He informed those about him that he was about to
spend three weeks in the country, with friends near
Frankfort, and set out. On reaching Warsaw, after
many delays, he learnt that the Princess was not
there, but at Powonski, a neighbouring place where
the Princes Czartoriski had built, in 1770, a
magnificent palace full of treasures of art.^ He
went on therefore to Powonski ; but, as he would
not on any account be recognized, he was obliged to
resort to cunning to get into the house.
After wandering round the park for a whole day,
he decided on getting in at night, and taking the
risk of scaling the walls. He waited till the Cossack
sentries had all gone to rest, and at eleven o'clock he
boldly climbed the wall. He was received by two
mastiffs, who were making their rounds and prepared
to do their duty by tearing him to pieces. But
Providence, always kind to lovers, would not suffer
so worthy an enterprise to come to such a deplorable
end. What was the Due's amazement on seeing the
story of Androcles repeat itself for his benefit. The
fiercest of the dogs fa^vned at his feet, and covered
him with caresses. He then recognized Caesar, a
noble dog that he had given to the Princess when
* This palace was destroyed during the Polish revolutions.
H
they were in England. The faithful and intelligent
hrute not only protected him against the other dog,
but led the way to the door of the house. There
Lauzun's lucky star led him to see a waiting woman
whom he knew to be devoted to him. By her con-
nivance he was led to the Princess's apartments.
" I expected you," said the lady, simply, and threw
herself into his arms.
Lauzun was, however, well aware of the impru-
dence of his conduct; he could not remain in
Warsaw without being discovered, and exposing the
Princess to serious discomfort. At the end of two
days the Due made up his mind to depart, leaving
his friend more calm and happy in this proof of his
attachment. A strangely romantic scapegrace indeed
was this Lauzun, travelling across Europe in the depth
of winter to spend a few hours at the feet of the
woman he loved. How is it that posterity has
regarded him as a soulless, heartless Lovelace ? how
can it be said that a man who could do this was
incapable of love ?
On his return to Mouzon, Lauzun recommenced
his political studies. The Princess, to whom he had
spoken of them, approved of them highly, and en-
couraged him by the most affectionate letters. As
the result of his studies and meditations, Lauzun
^vTote a long report on the situation of Poland and
the three parties to the division ; his views and
ideas were all favourable to Poland ; but the writer
urged on Russia that she should break with Prussia,
and contract an alliance with France.
^5
This project for an alliance between these two
nations was not new, but hitherto it had never been
carried into effect. Diderot, at the time of his visit
to St. Petersburg, had on several occasions spoken of
it to Catherine.^
Notwithstanding their delicate position towards
each other, Lauzun had remained on very good terms
with Prince Adam Czartoriski, and thinking that
his precis might serve the Prince's secret plans,' he
sent it to him. The Prince, fascinated by this
brilliant scheme, so favourable to his o-svn country,
communicated it to M. de Stackelberg, the Empress's
minister in Poland.^ He too read the paper, and
1 The French Ambassador to Russia writes, under date of
December 31, 1773 : " The conferences between Catherine II. and
Diderot are incessant, and longer every day. He tells me, and I
have reasons for not doubting it, that he has described to her the
dangers of her alliance with the King of Russia and the value of
ours. The Empress, far from blaming this freedom, has encouraged
him by gestures and in words ; but she, on her part, has exactly
described Diderot by saying " that on some points he is a hundred
years old, and on others only ten."
The French Minister writes again to his Government, November
20, 1773 : '' In the last conferences I have held with this minister
(Panin), he talked to me in a very remarkable manner. He told me
that the Empress, on mounting the throne, had formed a project
for making her country independent of other Courts ; that to play
such a part Russia must ally herself with France, with whom she
can never have any immediate quarrel ; that no other alliance
could be so little onerous to the Russian Empire ; and that her
interests would not be antagonistic to the extension of our trade.
He added that he would not trouble himself to discuss the obstacles
that had been urged on the Empress, but that when there should
be peace, he hoped to have health enough to give himself up
entirely to a task so useful to his sovereign.
2 M. de Stackelberg was a Livonian, and had just been
accredited to Warsaw. He was a gentle, cultivated man, and very
fond of France. He was not deficient in enlightenment, was right-
minded, and had great versatility.
i6
being no less pleased with it than Prince Adam, he
forwarded it to the EmjDress at Moscow.
Lauzun did not rest content with this first success,
he also wrote to M. de Vergennes, the new Minister
for Foreign Affairs, addressing to him a long Note on
the affairs of Poland and the Empress's dispositions.^
His wish was to see France play the part of a
mediating power ; he flattered himself with the hope
that an alliance betAveen the two countries might
be the outcome, and that he might be entrusted
with the neo:otiations and the mana2:ement of it.
Pending such a result Lauzun remained at
Mouzon.
Meanwhile some indiscretion had betrayed the
fact of his last journey to Poland. Prince Adam
had expressed himself strongly, and the Princess
implored Lauzun not to repeat his visit as had been
agreed between them. Lauzun, believing that this
urgent request could only be the result of illness or
ill-founded fears, determined, notwithstanding, to set
out at the end of September. At Strasbourg, where
he stopped, a second letter from the Princess de-
sired him on no account to proceed : to this he paid
no heed.^ At Frankfort another letter, even more
^ In the French National archives, T 1527.
^ The following autograph letter to his man of business, again
proves the authenticity of the memoirs : —
" Strasbourg, September 27, 1774.
*' I have a hundred thousand letters to write before leaving Stras-
bourg. I have only time to return your schedule, signed, and
a letter for M. Dunetz. I will write to you from Leipzig, where
I shall stay a few days. You know my regard for you. —
D. Lauzun." (French National archives, T 478^.)
17 C
pressing than the former. But Ijauzun was in
the state of restless anxiety when the voice of
prudence is inaudible ; to remain far from the
woman he adored seemed to him impossible. He
made his way to Warsaw : once more they met. He
remained in hiding and in no small peril in the
environs for some weeks ; but at the end of a month
Mme. Czartoriska told Lauzun that she had found her-
self compelled to confess everything to her husband,
who had insisted that she should never see Lauzun
again. " My tears were my only reply," she added,
^' how could I say I would give you up ? You
know my husband ; ill-natured persons have soured
him. He may be very much annoyed for a time, but
his character is at bottom kind and indulgent. He
is not by nature jealous, and will soon see you again
without any aversion."
On the strength of these comforting assurances
Lauzun consented to follow the lady's advice. It
was agreed that his journey was to be kept a
secret, and that he should go to spend some time
at Dresden and Berlin, whence he might come to
Warsaw apparently by chance, and show himself
publicly.
All being arranged, they parted once more.
Lauzun's stay at Dresden was of short duration.
Received by the Elector with the honour due to his
name and his reputation, he was most popular with
the ladies. But the Electress's attentions were in
fact too pressing, and if we may believe him, he
thought it prudent to escape, and set out post-haste
i8
I
for Berlin. Such a fit of prudery was so rare with
him as to deserve mention.
Frederick of Prussia treated Lauzun kindly ; he
entertained him several times at his table and held
many conversations with him. Lauzun always came
away under the spell of that brilliant talker. '' Fine
arts, war, medicine, literature, and religion ;
philosophy, morality, history and jurisprudence, all
in turn came under review. All that could be said
that was most various and striking flowed from his
lips in a very sweet tone of voice, rather low, and as
pleasant as the movement of his lips, which was
inexpressibly graceful." ^
The King on his part was so delighted with
Lauzun, that he begged him to get himself nominated
Minister from France to Berlin,^ offering indeed to
take all the necessary steps to secure the consent of
the Court of Versailles. Lauzun, whose aims were
different, resisted all his solicitations.
M. de Pons, the French Minister in Prussia, was
away on leave; Lauzun took advantage of this to
send to M. de Vergennes some notes on the political
situation of Prussia. These studies would, as he
conceived, greatly promote the end he had in view,
by showing his aptitude and information.'
'^ I shall not disguise," he says at the beginning,
^ Prince de Ligiie.
^ Frederick would never have an Ambassador sent. " It is an
animal too difficult to deal with," he always said. In fact, it was
a mere question of economy. Not accepting an Ambassador, he
was not obliged to send one.
^ National archives, T 1527.
19 c 2
" the source whence I have derived the observations
and opinions I have brought with me from Prussia.
I owe the best of them to that Prince in whom
nature, study and experience are combined to make
a great man. The esteem and affection he manifests
on every opportunity for the King of France, his
liking for our nation, the interest he takes in our
successes and in our having an army that may be
respected, the particular kindness with which he has
honoured me, have all enabled me, in the course of
a recent stay of two months at his Court, to have
several conversations with him on these interesting
subjects."
During his stay at the Prussian Court, Lauzun
formed a particularly close friendship with Prince
Henry, a man of remarkable powers, and well known
for his military talents. This Prince took a great
liking for the Due. They had long discussions over
the comparative merits of the different armies of
Europe ; and the Prince, seeing how deep an interest
Lauzun took in such matters, advised him to study
the Prussian army very thoroughly.
Lauzun followed his advice; in a short time,
thanks to several interviews with the Prince, and the
counsels of an aide-de-camp who was desired to assist
him in his inquiries, he had dra^vn up a luminous
Memoire on the Prussian army, its complete organiza-
tion, training, promotion, recruiting, etc.^ This
paper was addressed to M. de Muy, Minister of War.
The capital of Prussia was far from offering the
^ National archives, T 1527.
20
resources, from the point of view of fashionable life,
which he was prepared to expect. Social intercourse
was devoid of all charm, and had no resemblance
whatever to the brilliant life of Versailles and Paris.
" There are very few entertainments ; hardly three
houses are thro^vn open to society. The Ministers of
State, whose stipends are very meagre, only give four
or five dinners in the year. Only the foreign Ministers
have supper parties three or four times a week."
The habits of the fashionable world are strange
enough. Evening parties begin at six in the after-
noon, and as soon as you are in the room the master
of the house hands you a card and makes you sit
down to play. The games are Manille, Whist,
Hombre, or Reversi.
" As soon as supper is served the cards are laid
down, and then it is most amusing to see the people
contriving to get placed by the side of those they
like. It must be observed that every liaison is
known, and that the master of the house would have
a quarrel on his hands every day if he were not
careful to put those to play together who are known
to suit each other. As soon as the double doors are
thrown open, each man quietly makes his way towards
the lady of his choice, near enough to give her his
hand. All these delightful couples sit down for
themselves alone, so that the unhappy stranger near
them is left to drink and eat in silence, without a
hope of saying anything on either hand. The master
of the house would not be endured if he neg-lected this
rigorous code of laws.
21
" Fortunes in general are very moderate, but there
is a great love of display, and every one wants to
make a figure in spite of a modest income. To save
for a supper to be given a month, hence they will go
without supper the thirty intervening days, or at any
rate supper will consist only of a slice of bread and
butter with thin morsels of cold roast meat. A
happy expedient has been hit upon, which is to send
out ceremonious invitations to a ' cafe coeffe ; ' that
is to say, you are expected to arrive in full dress.
After coffee, served with a few little cakes, cards are
played, and at about eight o'clock everyone goes
home to eat his bread and butter."
There are several theatres at Berlin, but they are
not very enjoyable. Everything is on official lines,
and the real public go to them but little. The King,
who does not choose that his actors should perform
to empty benches, orders men out to the play as he
does to the parade ground. " There are ridottos and
masked balls at the opera, but they too have no
great charm, especially when the official circles are
commanded to attend and one has to sup with the
Court. These suppers are served amid the greatest
confusion. Only the King s table and that of Prince
Henry are respected. As soon as we rise from table
the disorder is at its height. All the servants, like
so many birds of prey, rush at the tables, hardly
giving us time to leave ; and if one is not careful to
get away immediately there is some risk of finding
oneself among the combatants, and being covered
with splashings from the dishes which they all snatch
22
at and struggle for. What is most horrible is that
even the pages behave like the footmen, and are not
content with rushing at the dishes and bottles ; they
eat with avidity what is left on the plates, and pouring
from one glass into another, drink the leavings of a
dozen persons." *
During his stay at Berlin, Lauzun formed a friend-
ship with two persons — Mr. Harris (afterwards Lord
Malmesbury), the English Minister, an amiable man
with whom he almost constantly lived ; and Mile, von
Hatzfeldt, maid of honour to the Queen of Prussia,
who showed him a very kindly interest. She and
Lauzun became great friends ; they were mutually
confidential, but things went no further. However,
they were somewhat talked about at Berlin, and kind
friends warned the Princess Czartoriska that she was
deserted. Till now the Princess had kept up a very
regular correspondence with Lauzun, and though she
had not yet invited him to go to her again, she at
any rate allowed him to hope that the moment was
near when he might return without arousing Prince
Adam's susceptibility.
The news of the Due's intimacy with Mile, von
Hatzfeldt exasperated the Princess ; she believed
that her lover was false, and wrote to him very
severely to say that she knew all, that nothing would
induce her to see him in Poland again, and that all was
at end between them. Lauzun, in despair, did not
^ These amusing details are derived from a Memoir of the
Chevalier de Gaussen, published by M. Frederic Masson, in the
" Revue d'llisioire Di^ylomatique.^^
23
know what course to adopt. Now he would be off
to Warsaw to exculpate himself, but the fear of
compromising the Princess withheld him ; and again
he determined to throw up all his schemes and return
to France. He was living in the most wretched
uncertainty when an unexpected event relieved him
from his difficulties.
An old French officer came to call upon him, a
M. de RuUecour, who some years since had entered the
Polish service. This gentleman mysteriously handed
to Lauzun a letter from Prince Adam, desiring him
in urgent terms to come and spend twenty-four hours
at Warsaw to discuss political matters of the highest
importance. This pressing invitation, which Lauzun
could not refuse, put an end to his dilemma ; he set
out the same evening.
We may well be surprised at finding Prince Adam
himself calling Lauzun to Warsaw, without any
regard for the dangers in which the Due's presence
might involve his honour. The fact was that the
Prince, who was eaten up with ambition, believed
that the support of France and Russia might be
invaluable to him. He fancied that Lauzun enjoyed
considerable influence at the Court of Versailles, and
he did not hesitate to stifle his jealousy and his fears
in favour of his ambitious views.
Prince Adam had just come into the fortunes left
by his uncle and his father ; all the wealth, power,
and credit of the illustrious house of Czartoriski had
passed into his hands. The Prince, " a man of no
weight, frivolous, incoherent in his ideas, without
24
ballast and inconsequent," was secretly jealous of the
King who had supplanted him on the throne, and
he aspired to turn him out. There were at that
time two parties in Poland. First, that of the
King, which intended to place Count Rzewuski, his
nephew, on the throne. Second, that of Prince
Adam, associated, in case the crown should become
vacant, with the Grand-General Branecki. These
two parties, judiciously fostered and fomented, left
Russia the absolute mistress of the situation.
On the journey from Berlin to Warsaw, Lauzun
was exposed to the most fearful cold ; he was in an
open carriage, but the schemes that agitated his
mind prevented his thinking of the peril to which
he was exposed. He reached Warsaw at the end of
January, 1775, and alighted at M. de RuUecour's
house, where he was concealed from all eyes.
During the night immediately after his arrival
Lauzun had a visit from Prince Adam. The Prince
told him that his papers on the affairs of Russia and
Poland had made the most favourable impression
on the Empress, and that the happiest consequences
might ensue. If only France would consent and
help, Poland might be restored to a great part of the
life and liberty she had lost. Lauzun judiciously
remarked to the Prince that he knew nothing of
M. de Vergennes' views, that he himself had no power,
and that his writings contained simply his own
personal ideas, which it might be hoped would
triumph one day or another. But the Prince was
full of enthusiasm and zeal. He impressed on
25
Lauzun that the situation was critical, and that there
was not a moment to be lost. He insisted that
Lauzun should immediately see M. de Stackelberg,
who was in the most favourable frame of mind. The
Due yielded, and it was agreed that the Russian
minister should come the following night to discuss
the serious matters at stake.
M. de Stackelberg spent almost the whole night
with Lauzun and Prince Adam ; they discussed at
great length the questions that interested them so
passionately. They were able finally to agree, and
it was decided that while M. de Stackelberg should
write to the Empress at Moscow to submit to her
their new schemes, Lauzun, on his part, should send
a long report to M. de Vergennes, to inform him of
the state of affairs, and ask his consent and power
to act. This was at once done.^
While awaiting the return of the couriers, sent off
in great haste to Versailles and to Moscow, Lauzun
saw no use in remaining in concealment, and was
presented at Court ; it was the best, and certainly
the easiest way of meeting with the Princess
Czartoriska. The King granted him a private
audience, and loaded him with distinctions. All
the nobility laid themselves out to please the agree-
able and witty Frenchman.
But he little cared for the civilities of the Polish
nobility ; what he wanted above all was to see the
Princess again, and have the explanation he so much
wished for, which must end in a rupture or a recon-
^ National archives, T 1527.
26
ciliation. Mme. Czartoriska was in the country.
As soon as she returned Lauzun hastened to call on
her, to clear himself of the crime of which he was
falsely accused. He succeeded in seeing her, but
not without difficulty, and he had all the trouble in
the world to persuade her of his innocence. He was
obliged to burn before her eyes the portrait of Mile,
von Hatzfeldt and her letters, to promise not to
write to her, and so on. By these sacrifices he won
forgiveness. " Mile, de Hatzfeldt," he writes, '' is the
only woman I ever treated with discourtesy, which
she certainly did not deserve ; and I have often and
severely blamed myself/'
But the reconciliation so ardently desired by
Lauzun did not restore to him the calm and happy
life he had hoped for. The Princess was obliged to
be diplomatically prudent; a thousand precautions
were necessary to enable her to see him, and she
henceforth, as she told him, regarded him. only as a
brother. Moreover, a new adorer had joined the train
of her admirers. Count Branecki, Grand-General
to the King, expressed ardent sentiments, and though
she treated him but badly, Lauzun found this
vexatious. He had all the more reason for uneasi-
ness, because Prince Adam had made the Grand-
General his greatest friend, and constantly invited
him to his house. Branecki was supposed to be
in high favour with the Empress, and the Prince
counted on his support to help him up the steps to
the throne ; his ambitious views completely blinded
him and prevented his discerning Branecki's passion,
27
which was flagrant to every onlooker. Indeed, the
General made no secret of it, and committed some
fresh extravagance every day.
Lauzun was exasperated by this intimacy ; for
besides the fact that it interfered with his seeing the
Princess as often as he Avished, he foresaw its dangers.
But it was not his business to speak of it to her
husband ; he satisfied himself by hating Branecki,
who reciprocated the feeling with interest.
And at any rate he need not be bored in a town
where everybody feted him, and where he found life
easy and delightful.
" Who," -svrites the Prince de Ligne, " would not
love Poland, the Poles, and especially the Polish
women ? The -wit and bravery of the men, the
grace and beauty of the women, who all, even the
least attractive, have an ease of manner, an elegance,
piquancy, and charm, superior to the women of any
other country.
" Who would not prefer Warsaw to other capitals
— Warsaw, where the best French tone prevails,
united to an oriental style, the taste of Europe and
Asia combined, the urbanity and polish of the
most civilized countries, the hospitality of the
uncivilized ?
" Who does not admire the nation where gentle
or simple manners, politeness or frankness are to be
met with — lightness and grace in conversation, good
education, every kind of accomplishment, liberality,
splendid entertainment, a taste for expenditure and
the fine arts, luxury, gallantry, extraordinary
28
customs, magnificence, easy intercourse, kindness,
delicate feeling, and gratitude ? "
Lauzun appreciated all these delightful qualities ;
and, if he had not had to complain of the Princess's
caprices, would have led the happiest life possible.
Believing that a little jealousy would restore his
pleasant intimacy with Mme. Czartoriska, Lauzun
set up a small flirtation with a young Countess
Potocka, who seemed to be ready to take him into
favour. The Princess overheard a compromising
conversation at a bal masque, which resulted in her
closing her door to the Due next day. Lauzun, to
whom the affair had been but a jest, thought he
was for ever discarded; he was in the depths of
despair, had an attack of fever, grew delirious, and
recovered his wits to find the Princess herself
at his bedside, bathing him with tears and vowing
eternal devotion.
But, in spite of such violent reactions, these
transient crises and frequent quarrels were symptoms
of the end of a passion, only too plain to such ex-
perienced hearts. Count Branecki, meanwhile, was
ferociously jealous of Lauzun ; to such a point, indeed,
that the Due was warned that he was in possible
danger of assassination.
One evening, at the Opera, Branecki was so
quarrelsome that, to put an end to the affair, Lauzun
challenged him to a meeting next morning on the
plain of Vola. This was the usual scene of such
duels, which were held in honour at the Polish
Court. Branecki accepted. But the King inter-
29
fered ; he desired the Grand- General to make a
public ajDology to his adversary, and a reconciliation
was effected.
At this juncture the couriers from the Empress
and M. de Vergennes returned.
The Empress accepted the propositions made to
her, and gave Lauzun ample powers. She could
make no " ministerial overtures," but she authorized
him to inform M. de Vergennes of her private
intentions, and to transmit to her those of the
French Court. Vergennes requested Lauzun to
come to Versailles immediately, to hold a conference
with him.
The business was of the highest imj)ortance and
would admit of no delay; Lauzun's presence at
home was also necessary for the prosecution of a
lawsuit, involving the possession of considerable
sums of money ; ^ but the bad roads, the flooded
rivers, the difficulty of procuring horses during the
carnival, and the inconvenience of the lodgings
on the way, delayed him till the beginning of
Lent.
His parting with the Princess was a touching one ;
they promised to meet again ere long, and for the
thousandth time swore eternal fidelity. But, in
spite of all, a mysterious voice warned Lauzun that
he would never, never again see the woman he had so
devotedly loved.
^ He lost by this lawsuit and its consequences eighty thousand
francs a year.
30
I
CHAPTER IIL
1775.
The Court in 1775— The King— The Queen— The Queen's
friends : the Princesse de Lamballe, Mme. Dillon, the
Princesse de Guemenee — The Royal Family.
Befoee proceeding with our narrative it is indis-
pensable to show in a rapid sketch who were at this
time the principal personages at the French Court,
and what the society was in which Lauzun now
found himself.
Almost all the Court of Louis XV. had dis-
appeared ; some were dead, others had withdra"svn
from Court life. Many had been politely dismissed
— remercies — tJianlced, as the phrase was. A whole
new circle now surrounds us, with which we must
make acquaintance.
First the King and Queen.
The accession of Louis XVI. had given birth to
high hopes ; the future, alas ! gave them the lie.
^' We saw a young jDrince mount the throne," writes
Segur, "who had already made himself known by
his kindness of heart, sound judgment, and simple
manners. He seemed to have no passion but that
31
for doing his duty and making his subjects happy.
He hated pomp, luxury, flattery and pride ; it
might have been said that Heaven had made this
King, not for the courtiers, but for his people."
This portrait is somewhat flattered. What is strictly
true is that the King was kind and virtuous, irre-
proachably upright and full of the best intentions.
But though he seemed to have all the virtues, he had
none of their graces. He was not popular with the
Court, and little known to his people.
If only his kindness of heart is taken into account,
he was an excellent man, but his kindness degene-
rated into weakness. He was afllicted with shyness
so excessive that he could never overcome it, which
sometimes gave occasion to a misapprehension of
his intentions. Often, and without the slightest ill-
feeling, he would go up to a gentleman, obliging him
to step backwards till he was against the wall, and
if no words occurred to him, which frequently was
the case, instead of speaking he would burst into a
loud laugh, turn on his heel and walk off".
His mind was slow and clumsy ; he had no taste
for intellectual exercises, and on various occasions
the coarseness of his pleasantries betrayed the
vulgarity of his mind. In a former volume ^ an
account was given of the ceremonial of the King's
coucher. This ceremony became a scene of real
distress to all who were sincerely attached to
Louis XVI.
The King's coat, waistcoat, and finally his shirt
* The Due de Lauzun and the Court of Louis XV., Chap. v.
32
were taken off; he was naked to the waist, and
would rub himself as though he were alone, in the
presence of all his gentlemen and often of several
strangers of distinction. Then, when some gentle-
man he was familiar with was about to put on his
night-shirt, he thought it funny to play all sorts of
tricks : he would dodge it, slip through it, or even
run away, laughing loudly all the time.
As soon as it was on he put on his dressing-gown.
Three valets unbuckled the waist band and knee
bands of his breeches, which tumbled about his feet.
In this costume, and dragging the breeches at his
heels, the King would make his round of the circle of
courtiers. It was a really pitiable spectacle, but
the bystanders of course did not betray their
feelings.
At other times he would toss his blue riband in a
gentleman's face, or affect to get caught by the
earrings of any one who, like the Prince de Ligne,
happened to wear them. The Due de Laval one
evening was so much disgusted that he boldly
withdrew : " Do not be alarmed. Monsieur," cried
the King, " it has nothing to do with you." And
nothing more came of it.
His sports were always rough and violent : he
would wrestle with certain favourites at Court, such
as M. de Conflans, the Coignys, and others ; he even
fought them pretty hard ; one day he almost
strangled the Prince de Ligne. It was not malignity,
but the need for violent exercise.
It was sheer waste of pains to try to elevate his
33 D
mind by interesting conversation. Nothing was to
be got out of him but nonsense or sporting talk.
M. de Crequi said one day to the Prince de Ligne,
" Do you know what these three brothers are ? — A
burly locksmith ; a provincial cafe wit ; and a
boulevard popinjay."
His passion for violent exercise was carried to
excess. He hunted till he was perfectly exhausted,
and came home in lamentable disorder ; the gentle-
men of his suite could not keep up with him. At
meals he ate grossly. This is the programme of a
morning: At six o'clock the King rings and asks
what there is for breakfast. " A fat fowl, Sir, and
cutlets." — " That is not much ; I will have eggs
with gravy." He himself superintends the prepara-
tions, eats four cutlets, the fowl, six eggs au jus,
and a slice of ham, drinking a bottle and a half of
champagne; he then dresses, goes out hunting,
and comes in with an incredible appetite for
dinner.
These details, emphasized here as bearing on the
events which are to be narrated, in no way detracted
from the King's moral qualities ; his defects were
excusable, both by the bad education he had received
and by his extreme youth ; for it must not be forgotten
that in 1774 he was but twenty years of age.
This, in brief outline, was the King. Now let us
see what Marie Antoinette was, and how the couple
got on together.
It is very difficult to speak freely of this unhappy
her terrible martyrdom imposes silence. It
34
seems to us, however, that after the lapse of a century-
it is not impossible to tell what seems to be the truth,
and that, while exercising all the reserve and respect
due to such unequalled misfortunes, the Queen and
the part she played may be spoken of frankly
without giving rise to bitter recrimination. In the
first place, and unhesitatingly, it must be said Marie
Antoinette was virtuous in the sense nowadays given
to the word. She was guilty only of levity,
recklessness, and imprudence — of a serious character,
it is true. But had she not every excuse ? Who,
in her place, would have done better ?
Because she came to a tragical end it has been the
fashion to crown her with a halo of immaculate virtue.
But is not the halo of martyrdom, of the most cruel
sorrow that any human being can be called upon to
endure, glory enough? Was not the unspeakable
agony which lasted from August 10, 1792, till
October 16, 1793, enough to expiate the follies
which were the stamp of her time ? For it comes to
that: we must study the situation as it was, the
atmosphere and environment in which the Queenlived.
The manners, which have been fully described in
the former volume as prevailing during the later
years of Louis XVth's reign, had not changed ; a
very secondary importance still attached to moral
iveahiesses ; they were mere peccadilloes, and we
shall see among the Queen's immediate friends
women of the highest rank conducting themselves
with perfect independence of morality and absolute
freedom of behaviour.
35 ^ 2
Though the Queen was indiscreet, had she not
excuses? All the ladies of the Court, all her
personal friends, were superior to prejudice ; most of
them had a lover, and made no secret of it. How
should her sovereign rank preserve her from the
manners in vogue? Could a husband, who for
seven years persistently neglected her ? A weak
and narrow-minded man — to such a point, indeed,
that one day in bitter frankness she could not help
exclaiming " That poor man ! '*
Surrounded as she was by the most fascinating
and witty young men, this wife of eighteen must
have been devoid of heart, soul, and intelligence not
to feel the King's obvious inferiority, not to seek to
cheat, by transient and platonic attachments, the
solitude and melancholy that preyed upon her. This
was the secret of all her follies, of her reckless dissipa-
tion, of her impassioned friendships. She tried to
forget the void in her heart, but without success.
When Marie Antoinette came to Paris she was
but fourteen and a half. She was still no more than
a child, idle and pleasure-loving ; her education had
been much neglected.
Maria Theresa, who knew her daughter well,
thought her kind, generous, compassionate, gifted with
natural graces, and anxious to please ; but she was
well aware of the defects of her education and the
faults of her character. She sent her to France
under the gravest apprehension. The Court of
Versailles, frivolous and of evil repute, gave her no
sense of confidence, and she lavished on the young
36
Dauphiness the wisest and tenderest advice : " A
wife must in all things be subject to her husband,"
she told her, " and ought to think of nothing but
him, to please him and fulfil his will. True hap-
piness in this world is to be found in a happy-
marriage ; I speak from experience. Everything
depends on the wife ; she must be obliging, gentle,
and amusing." (May 4, 1770.)
Mercy, too, tried to put the Dauphiness on her guard
against the snares laid for her feet, and to guide her
inexperience. He advised her, among other things,
to converse with the persons of distinction who
might visit the Court : " It is an infallible way
of giving pleasure,'' he told her, " and it will be all
the more appreciated because it will be a new style
of conduct at this Court, where the Royal Family are
apt to receive but ill those who are brought into
contact with them."
Marie Antoinette's position became at once pe-
culiarly delicate, and to get over such difficulties the
young wife would have needed wisdom far beyond
her years. Not to mention the intrigues of a Court
which from the day of her arrival was in constant
agitation to get possession of her mind, the Dauphin
left her strangely to herself. The Prince's good-
nature did not prevent his being afflicted with a
gloomy temper and almost ridiculous timidity. He
thought his wife charming, but persisted in never
showing her that he thought so. A coldness so
insulting to a young, lovely and attractive woman,
gave rise to a state of feeling between the pair which
37
was every day more intolerable, and which might
easily lead to very annoying comments. Marie
Antoinette at first did not seem to remark it much ;
but by degrees it was evidently the cause of strange
fits of dejection.
The Dauphin's unaccountable coolness led at last
to a somewhat lively scene between the Royal
couple, reported to Maria Theresa by her corre-
spondent Mercy. But it was more than seven years
before he could make up his mind to break through
his incomprehensible and insulting reserve. The
situation was a painful one for the young ^vife. The
Empress Maria Theresa was very uneasy about it,
and wrote very judiciously to Mercy : " The more
extraordinary is the Dauphin's coldness, the more
circumspect must my daughter's conduct be." (June,
1771.)
The Dauphin, as we have seen, did not redeem
the singularity of his demeanour by elegance of
manner or charm of wit. He had nothing of a
nature to attract and please a young wife. We
know his tastes and mode of life. He was con-
stantly ill from indigestion brought on by some
excess in eating cakes or pastry. What a treat,
indeed, for a young woman full of grace and fascina-
tion, must a husband have been, platonic in his
regard, caring for nothing but hunting and feeding,
and claiming her attentions only for revolting
indispositions ! The broad witticism of the Prince
de Ligne is very intelligible when he said that
*^ Marie Antoinette had married perhaps the worthiest
38
man in the kingdom, but certainly not the most
appetizing." ^
The Queen on the other hand was in all the
brilliancy of youth ; her beauty was radiant. Wal-
pole, who saw her in 1775 at the Court ball in
honour of the marriage of Madame Clotilde (her sister-
in-law), wrote, '^ It was impossible to see anything
but the Queen ; Hebes and Floras, Helens and Graces
are street- walkers to her. She is a statue of beauty
when sitting or standing ; grace itself when she
moves." (To the Countess of Ossory, Aug. 23, 1775.)
Marie Antoinette on the throne was still what she
had been as Dauphiness, and years, while modifying
what remained child-like in her manner, did not
sensibly alter her character.
She had no great breadth of mind, but her appre-
hension was quick. The lightness of her nature led
her to avoid serious discourse ; she was amused by
trifles, the tittle-tattle and scandal of the day. She
had by nature a marked disposition for mockery ;
to flatter her taste, those about her tried to entertain
her at the expense of others, and she thus made
many enemies. Even in the early days of her reign
an impertinent ballad was circulated at Court, —
*' Little queen of twenty years
Setting people by the ears,
You will be sent home again."
In spite of a mania for pleasure and much levity
and heedlessness, she was genuinely kind-hearted, and
had an eager desire to serve those who applied to her
" Certes pas le plus ragoutant."
39
for help. Nature had lavished on her graces which
were enchanting when she chose to exert them ; no
one could be more captivating, her manners and
speech were amiable and engaging ; but she hated
etiquette, and ceremonial wearied her. She loved
private life and an intimate circle.
In her domestic relations she was very amiable ;
she spent her life in patching up the squabbles which
were constantly breaking out between these or those.
As to the pleasures of familiarity or affection, she
enjoyed few from her own family, and yet her heart
was always craving for friendship. This was the
reason that she formed certain intimacies for which
she was afterwards severely blamed. However,
" female friendships " were the fashion of the time ;
every woman had her bosom friend : " They raise
altars to Friendship, they recite hymns to Friendship.
The portrait of the beloved friend is worn under a
bracelet; they talk of nothing but the joys of
friendship. This display of sentimentality dates from
the same period as Jockeys." (Tableau de Paris.)
The Queen's first great friend was the Princesse de
Lamballe. She led the series of those favourites who
so scandalously abused their mistress's generosity.
Marie Antoinette had remarked her at the balls
given every winter during the carnival by Mme.
de Noailles, to which few persons were invited but
the Royal Family and some intimate friends. At
that time she was still Dauphiness, and lived at
Court in absolute isolation. Mme. de Lamballe,
young, gentle, and amiable, pleased her well ; she
4C
held long conversations with her, and they soon
became exceedingly intimate.
*^Mme. de Lamballe was extremely pretty, and
though her figure was devoid of elegance, and she
had hideous hands, which, by their size, contrasted
strangely with the delicacy of her features, she was
charming without regular beauty ; her temper was
gentle, obliging, equable and cheerful, but she was
absolutely devoid of wit ; her vivacity, sprightliness,
and childlike air very agreeably concealed her want
of brains ; she had never had an opinion of her o'svn,
but in conversation she always adopted the views of
the person who was supposed to be the cleverest. "
(Mme. de Genlis.)
She had a great many little manias ; she fainted
at the sight of a bunch of violets, as of a lobster or a
shrimp ; she would shut her eyes and remain motion-
less for half an hour in spite of all that could be done
for her — though no one believed in these affected
fainting fits. And subsequently, when periodical
attacks of the nerves followed by unconsciousness
had become the fashion, Mme. de Lamballe never
failed to have them twice a week, on the same days
and at the same hour, for a whole year.
The Queen wished to give her friend a handsome
appointment. There had been no Court Superin-
tendent (Surintendante) since Mile, de Clermont.
The place was revived for Mme. de Lamballe, with a
salary of two hundred thousand francs. She fre-
quently received the Queen at supper and card
parties. But the Princess did not long remain in
41
her post. Marie Antoinette could not fail to discover
her lack of intelligence, and was worried by the per-
petual quarrels the Princess stirred up on every
pretext with the ladies-in-waiting. It was easy to
foresee that Mme. de Lamballe's reign would be brief.
However, as long as Mme. de Noailles' balls were
given, that is to say, till the death of Louis XV., no
one but Mme. de Lamballe seemed to be honoured
with Marie Antoinette's friendship. After the
King's death Mme. de Noailles' balls came to an end,
and during the winter of 1774-5 their place was filled
by balls given by the Queen, to which everyone in
any way attached to the Court was invited.
It was at these parties that Marie Antoinette
distinguished by her notice Mme. Dillon, the Arch-
bishop of Narbonne's niece, of whom we have
already spoken at some length, and whom Lauzun
had long admired.
Mme. Dillon had been faithful in her attachment
to the Prince de Gu^mc^nde, with whom she was ex-
tremely intimate. This liaison, which was recog-
nized and condoned, in no way hindered the Queen
from making friends with this lady ; and in order to
bring her within her circle and admit her to the
palace as one of her ladies, Mme. de Lamballe was
neglected and had only the superficial rights of
intimacy.
Mme. Dillon was charming, but her mother, Mme.
de Rothe,^ was considered intriguing, and she was
ere long accused of speculating on the favour shown
* Sometimes written Roothe.
42
to her daughter. This rumour, mischievously spread,
was to the discredit of the new favourite. Notwith-
standing her intimacy with the Prince de Gue-
menee, Mme. Dillon was on the best terms with his
wife, at which no one need be astonished, given the
code of manners that we know prevailed. Mme. de
Guem^n^e, so haughty a fine lady as she was, frequent-
ly visited Hautefontaine to see her friend. " It was
the result of the urbanity of manners which made
the wife always particularly attentive to the lady of
her husband's preference."
At Mme. Dillon's the Queen frequently met Mme.
de Gu^m^nee, and conceived for the Princess a very
warm liking. The Princess, having inherited from
her aunt, Mme. de Marsan, the office of governess to
the Royal children, held one of the highest positions
at Court; and although it was a sinecure till 1778,
she enjoyed all the same its privileges and emolu-
ments.
She was a very singular woman ; very clever, but
employing her cleverness in plunging into the follies
of the illumines. She was always surrounded by a
number of dogs, to which she addressed a sort of
worship, declaring that through them she held
communion with mediatory spirits. In the midst
of a conversation in which she shone by her wit and
judgment, she would suddenly stop short and fall
into a trance.
She lived at Court in great state ; in her rooms all
Choiseul's partisans were wont to meet. In the winter,
in her rooms at the Tuileries, she gave delightful
43
parties where all persons of any pretensions found
themselves together. She had a little theatre built,
where the best actors of the three play-houses then
existing came to act. These performances were gene-
rally preceded by a concert, followed by a splendid
supper and a kind of cafL These entertainments were
the wonder of Paris, but they gradually led to
the financial crash of which we shall presently
have occasion to speak.
Mme. de Gu^menee did not make herself singular
by affecting a virtue which was quite too dowdy;
her recognized lover was the Due de Coigny. Her
circle was on the whole one of much freedom, and
when the passion for gambling had seized the Court,
play at her house was a perfect frenzy.
She was too great a lady to accept the part of
favourite ; she treated the Queen as her equal.
Marie Antoinette was her constant visitor, and gave
her every mark of the greatest regard.
As to the Royal Family, the Queen found in them
but a small resource.
Monsieur, though clever, well informed, and gifted
with a good memory, betrayed great ambitions ; his
uncertain temper made him a person to be feared
rather than loved.
The Comte D'Artois, the Benjamin of the family,
was scatter-brained, elegant, and good looking ; he had
all the tastes and all the faults of the youth of his time,
but his levity and excesses made him a compromising
companion ; he heaped folly on folly ; he it was who
for a long time undertook to organize his sister-in-
44
law's amusements, and he did it with so little
moderation and tact as to give rise to much scandal.
Madame, Monsieur's wife,^ did not lack intelligence
nor a certain grace of manner, though she was so
ugly. Monsieur had lived with her on very good
terms for some years ; but having attached himself
to Mme. de Balbi, he neglected her completely. Her
sister, the Comtesse d' Artois, was even uglier ; she was
moreover silly, sulky and ungracious. Her husband,
whose life was altogether disreputable, left her
entirely to herself.
The little Court held by Mesdames was quite apart ;
it was known as the Old Court. It was extremely
regular and monotonous. The Princesses spent the
summer at Bellevue, where their nephews and nieces
often came to offer to dine with them.
Mesdames, and especially Madame Adelaide, had
great influence over the King ; they tried to extend
it to the Queen, and did their utmost to circumvent
her and use her power to their own advantage.
' She was a princess of Savoy, Vol. I. p. 274.
45
CHAPTER IV.
1775.
Lauzun arrives at Versailles — An interview with M. de Vergennes
— Intimacy with Mme. Dillon and Mme. de Gucmcnee — The
Queen receives him kindly — Correspondence with M. de
Stackelberg — Corn riots — Lauzun goes to Sarreguemines —
The Coronation — Check to the negotiations with M. de
Vergennes — Rupture with Princess Czartoriska — Residence
at Sarreguemines — Journey through the Palatinate.
When Lauzun arrived at Versailles, in the early-
days of March, 1775, all was calm in the political
world ; no storms threatened, and the augurs of the
Court foretold a long course of peaceful times. The
golden age had returned.
/ "All is quiet here,'* writes Mme. du DefFant.
" No visible intrigues are being plotted ; a love of
the public good is loudly professed. Maurepas
possesses in peace the foremost popularity ; the only
person who would dispute it (the Queen) and snatch
it from him, is taken up with balls, head-dresses,
feathers, and the like. Turgot professes virtue ; he
wants to set up the reign of liberty, establish
equality, and practise humanity. It is the reign of
philosophy."
46
It might be supposed that Lauzun s first care, on
stepping out of his post-chaise, would be to go to
M. de Vergennes, and lay before him the important
mission with which he was charged. Nothing of the
kind. No sooner had he arrived than he was told
that some horse-races were to be seen next day, on
the Plaine de Sablons. What a fine opportunity for
showing himself to the world of Paris and announcing
his return. On no account would he miss it. These
races, almost the first that had been held in France,
were an occasion of great ceremony, and brought
together a considerable concourse. The King, the
Queen, the Dues de Chartres and de Bourbon were
present. A grand stand had been erected for the
Royal Family, allowing them to look over the crowd
and watch the course. Heavy bets were laid.^
Lauzun won the prize and was loudly applauded
by the crowd.
This important duty accomplished, he happily
remembered that he was an envoy, and presented
himself before the Minister for Foreign Affairs. M.
de Vergennes received him well, and they held long
1 The first race was run in France, February 28, 1766. This
novelty was started on the Plaine de Sablons, at Neuilly, a place
wonderfully well fitted for this kind of sport. Lauraguais rode
one of his own horses. His opponent was Lord Forbes. All
Paris was afoot by nine in the morning ; the carriages and crowd
thronged to see such a new sight. Lauraguais was beaten.
This race, luckless for the French champion, gave rise to endless
quarrels. Lauraguais' horse died a few days after, and the
surgeons who dissected it declared that it had been poisoned.
The English were of course suspected, and this produced a violent
ill-feeling against them. Another race was to have been run
between the Prince of Nassau and Mr. Forth : the King forbade
it, to avoid a repetition of such scandals.
47
conferences on the subject of Catherine's proposals.
Lauzun explained to the Minister all he had not
been able to say by letter. He emphasized the
Empress's desire for a prompt decision, and the
necessity for the absolute secrecy to be observed
with regard to the negotiations ; she would receive
no envoy unless he came as a private traveller, in no
official character. Lauzun, very naturally, thought
that, having had the merit of opening the negotia-
tion, he would be allowed the glory of bringing it
to an issue.
M. de Vergennes, unfortunately, displayed little
enthusiasm: he seemed to distrust the Empress's
good faith and the sincerity of her purpose. Lauzun,
on his part, did not know her well enough to dare
to answer for her honesty ; but he pointed out to
the Minister that she would find sincerity too greatly
to her advantage to think of deceiving the French.
The truth was that M. de Vergennes had a friend,
M. de Juniez, whom he meant to send as Ambassador
to Russia, and he preferred to leave the negotia-
tions to him.
While these parleys with the Minister were going
on, Lauzun resumed his life of fashion. He was on
intimate terms with Mme. Dillon and Mme. de
Guem^nee. He renewed his familiar friendship with
them immediately on his return, and naturally he
met the Queen almost every evening in the rooms of
her new favourites. His reputation for agreeable-
ness and wit, and his various adventures, were too
well known for Marie Antoinette not to have heard
48
of them ; they had indeed aroused her curiosity, and
had been the subject of conversation with Mme. de
Guemenee. She received Lauzun very graciously.
He was himself at his best, that is to say, clever,
amiable, charming, full of life and gaiety. He
pleased the Queen, who, finding his society amusing
and agreeable, invited him to appear often at
Court.
In a short while he was, in a way, a favourite ;
constantly invited to the private parties at Versailles,
and riding out with Marie Antoinette almost every
day in the woods of Boulogne (the Bois de
Boulogne) and Verrieres. These rides, when the
(Jueen was always accompanied by a lady-in-
waiting and her equerries, could give no umbrage to
public opinion ; but the Sovereign, who could not
endure a bore, sometimes rode ahead with a single
companion, the most agreeable man of the party,
leaving her suite to follow. This heedless behaviour
led to severe strictures.
Lauzun's promotion to favour gave rise to much
jealousy. He did not trouble himself about it, and
gaily led the pleasant life he had taken up since his
return to Paris. He did not, however, neglect the
serious business incumbent on him. He kept up a
brisk correspondence with M. de Stackelberg, from
which we shall give some extracts. Politics
and love affairs are pleasantly mixed up in these
letters.
Lauzun was not quite at ease with regard to the
Princess Czartoriska ; Count Branecki disturbed
49 B
him greatly; Prince Repnine, too, had arrived at
Warsaw, and his presence was an annoyance to
Lauznn, for he aspired to his former pre-eminence.
Stackelberg had warned Lauzun that Repnine had
shown much temper on hearing of his rival's visit to
Poland.
Lauzun replies : — ^
" I am not surprised at the effect my visit pro-
duced on Repnine ; he hates me, and has reason. It
is quite natural that he should have been uneasy at
finding me in a place whither he hoped I never
should come again. I am not surprised that
Princess Czartoriska should have explained that she
had nothing to do with my journey (to Warsaw).
It is the truth. She was not justifying herself to
him for allowing me to go ; she only wished to
prove that she had not deceived him when she said
I was not going there. . . . Prince Repnine's
influence is at an end. ... I am not afraid of him,
but it is important for other reasons to keep him
away from the place where she is, and above all to
hinder his having any employment of whatever kind
to keep him there. Means must be found to give
^ All these letters are part of a correspondence in cypher, pre-
served in the National Archives. I have succeeded in finding the
key to the cypher. These letters are a fresh and indisputable
proof of the genuineness of Lauzun's " Memoirs ; " in fact, in the
original MS. from which the copies were made for the fii^t
edition of the '* Memoirs," Lauzun always wrote Gzartoryska for
Czartoriska, and this spelling was retained in the first edition.
Now, in the autograph letters in the Archives, we find the same
spelling, G for C. In them we also have complete confirmation
of all the facts recorded in the ''Memoirs" relating to Lauzun's
connection with the Princess. Who else could have been so well
informed ?
50
the Princess courage to forbid his remaining, and my
presence alone can give her such courage."
Lauzun and Stackelberg were both guided by
secret motives, in following up their political vicAVS ;
the former wanted to go to Warsaw ; the latter, to
come to Paris ; each was anxious to live near a
woman whom he passionately loved.
Lauzun states the position very clearly when he
writes to Stackelberg : " Our fate is similar : we have
the same results to fear, and our alliance may give
us the means of averting them. You can combine
a legitimate ambition with the sentiment that fills
your heart. When once our Courts are allied
nothing can be easier than for the Princess Radzivil
to come to France for some years. This will add to
the attractions you will find in the country you
know so well, and where you will have the most
agreeable and distinguished post in Europe. My
views are less lofty. If I am but employed for the
nonce at St. Petersburg, in a way useful to Russia
and France ; if I should continue there afterwards
for life, with the consent and under the protection
of H.M. the Empress, I shall spend my life with
those I love and be perfectly happy."
Lauzun was not quite easy as to his really extra-
ordinary position with regard to Prince Adam. It
is amusing enough to watch the details of the
intrigue as related by one of the principal actors : —
" The two main points of the business are to make
sure of him and of her. To this end, as I repeat, my
presence is indispensable ; but it is essential that it
51 E 2
should have a sufficient reason, so as not to scare
Prince Czartoriski, and not to lay him open to the
bad impressions which our common enemies will
certainly endeavour to give him. He must be led to
believe that his own interest and that of his country
require my presence, and leave the question open
till I arrive in Poland, as to whether he shall go to
Russia with me. I think you will do well to speak
to him frequently of the reciprocal relations of our
two Courts, the probable causes which may ally
them and lead them to take views favourable to the
protection of Poland ; you must also show the
greatest confidence in all I have undertaken, and in
the influence I have through my position : tell him
that you hope I may succeed in your country ; and
it would be well, I think, to enlarge on the advan-
tages to Poland from my expected success in Russia.
He will be flattered by your confidence, and you,
better than anyone, know the way to make him
think just what you please.
" If once he really wishes that I should go, and if
you can only keep your eye on him till then, so that
no one else can take possession of him, I answer for it
that Princess Czartoriska's joy will be as great as
mine, and we will manage him absolutely and
invariably. You will then have to take some steps
with the Empress to secure my being sent to St.
Petersburg by my Court, which will be very easy if
it should appear that she prefers me to anyone else.
You must, however, be careful not to damage the
fortunes or the position of M. de Juinez ; on the con-
52
trary, give it out that I could contribute to his being
favourably received. This is important, for M. de
Juinez is the intimate friend of M. de Vergennes.
It would be a great advantage to be found necessary
to that man, who, by all appearance, will be a good
deal embarrassed in Russia."
At this juncture Lauzun learnt from the Princess
that his last visit to "Warsaw had had a bad effect on
Prince Adam. Ill-disposed persons had tried to
provoke the Empress against the Prince. Lauzun
hastened to report this to M. de Stackelberg.
"I have just received a letter from Princess
Czartoriska which greatly vexes me. It tells me of
a shameful trick which I must report to you.
She says that some one has made mischief by throw-
ing blame on Prince Czartoriski for my last jour-
ney to Poland, and has said so to the Empress ; who
is disgusted with the Prince's conduct, believing that
it was he who sent for me to treat with France
without her knowledge; that this has had a
disastrous effect on the Prince's prospects, and might
have had worse consequences if some honest friends
had not succeeded in pacifying the Empress ; and
finally that the plan for an alliance between our two
Courts is regarded in Russia as impossible and of no
importance.
"You will at once understand, Monsieur, that
such an absurd piece of villainy can only come from
M. Branecki. The idea is devoid of all common
sense^ and can therefore only be his. It is, however,
needful to prove what a blunder this piece of spite is ;
53
for, as you know, I saw Prince Czartoriski only by
your desire, I said nothing to him but what you
dictated, and he meddled with absolutely nothing ;
still, in spite of its absurdity, you know there is a
person in Warsaw on whom this story might make
an impression.
" If your Sovereign's religion had been worked
upon, it would be quite easy for you to crush the
calumny. You have of course given her an account
of my system for Poland, and it must have satisfied
her. I think I can frighten the authors of this non-
sense more than they have frightened me.
" I shall have the honour of sending you a letter for
her Majesty by the first safe opportunity. It is to be
wished that she may know these reports, and have the
goodness to crush them by honouring me with a
letter in which Prince Czartoriski should be men-
tioned in a way to be agreeable to him. You cannot
imagine how much easier I should find it to carry
out the Empress's orders if I had leave to show the
letter to Prince Czartoriski and to M. de Vergennes
without her seeming to know of it."
Pending these negotiations, Lauzun carefully
watched the intrigues at Court which were hatching
round the new Ministers ; he thought their position
endangered, and at once warned M. de Stackelberg.
He wrote him this curious letter, which shows beyond
question the influence he already had, or thought he
had, with the Queen : —
" I have been meaning to widte to you for some
time, and if I have delayed it was because I thought
54
I should have to announce some important changes ;
they are certainly very near and no longer doubtful.
I could positively name the people who will replace
those who will go. The Queen can do anything, and
I have the greatest influence with her through a
person who makes her wish whatever he pleases.
The Empress has only to speak ; what she asks will
be done ; she will certainly demand nothing unrea-
sonable, and I answer for it with my head that
everything will gladly be done to please her ; but for
that the Empress must seem to honour me with her
entire confidence, and I must be able to show
unequivocal proof of it. It would indeed not be
amiss that it should be supposed that she wishes to
attract me to her service by special advantages.
That will not compromise her in any way. I am
writing thus confidentially not to the Russian Minister
but to M. de Stackelberg, on whose honour and
friendship I rely. All I wish for in the world is to
be employed in Poland or in Russia. I will stake my
life for such happiness, and I believe I never played
so high nor made so good a bargain."
Meanwhile, negotiations with M. de Vergennes
made no progress. Lauzun, in spite of his urgency,
could get no formal reply; the Minister was still
suspicious, and claimed such a return as the Empress
could not or would not grant.
Further to test the Empress's views, Vergennes
thought it necessary to demand in favour of France
^ Lauzun dares not avow his influence, and imagines the inter-
vention of a third person.
55
an article dealing with Commerce, and he consequently-
begged Lauzun to write to M. de Stackelberg.
" Stackelberg," writes Lauzun, " was extremely-
embarrassed at having to treat on a subject which be-
longed exclusively to Count Panin, and fearing the
rivalry of so powerful a Minister he at once screened
himself behind purely ministerial formulas. He
would only repeat what he had already said ; that
the Empress desired that an envoy should be sent,
without any official position, to learn her wishes and
treat with her ; that he very much wished that I
should be entrusted with this commission, and that I
should certainly have every facility afforded mo for
carrying it out successfully."
Lauzun again communicated Stackelberg' s letters
to M. de Vergennes ; he also warned him that Count
Panin wished to make the Empress sign a treaty
with England, and that she refused solely in the hope
of concluding the agreement with France which she
really had at heart. Still, in spite of his persistency
and efforts, he could extract nothing from the
Minister but procrastinating replies. At this juncture
serious events occurred.
For some little time disturbing symptoms had been
apparent among the populace : there had been local
riots in some provinces, for which the high price of
bread had been the reason or the pretext. The mob
had revolted at Beaumont, at Saint-Germain, and at
Pontoise, and order had not been restored without
bloodshed.
/ By May the excitement had infected the capital.
The police, forewarned of the plots simmering among
the people, told M. de Maurepas that the situation was
ominous, and that the troops must be called out with-
out delay if the riots were to be suppressed with
promptitude. But the old Minister was going to
the opera and postponed all business till the morrow.
He was rash, for the threatened riot broke out, and
the police, outnumbered, were unable to control it.
The mob, excited by the ringleaders, pillaged the
bakers' shops as far as to Versailles. They were not
content to have bread only, but seized everything that
came to hand. At Paris it was the same ; it was
like a town taken by storm. All the vagabonds and
thieves that infested the surrounding country rushed
in to clutch their share, as if at the word of
command.
It was necessary to take energetic measures if the
mob were not to get the upper hand ; the troops in
Paris and the neighbourhood were placed under the
command of Marechal de Biron . He posted the cannon
in batteries on the ramparts by the Seine ; numer-
ous companies patrolled the streets ; the markets were
protected by the French Guards. The Musketeers,
and other Royal regiments, traversed the country
and high roads all round the capital, stopping tramps
and all who could not give an account of themselves.
A number of the ringleaders were hanged with
much formality, and in a few days order was re-
established.
When these Corn riots first broke out the Govern-
ment had moved up the provincial troops to support
57
the garrison in Paris. Also, in view of the grave
state of affairs, all officers on leave had been ordered
to rejoin their regiments.
Lauzun shared the common lot, and made ready to
set out for Mouzon, where the Royal Legion was still
quartered. As soon as the Queen heard of his
imminent departure, she caused proposals to be made
to him that he should take advantage of the general
movement of the troops to have his regiment trans-
ferred to Paris. The Due expressed his thanks, but
refused point blank.
The day before he left he went to Montreuil, to
Mme. de Guemenee's, to take leave of her. This
lady had just built a magnificent residence on her
estate adjoining Versailles, and she liked the place so
well that she spent the greater part of the year there.
The garden was laid out with remarkable taste ;
Paris could be seen in the distance from a little knoll
reached by a path leading to the top and hidden in
a clump of shrubs. Mme. de Guemenee, who had a
passion for flowers, cultivated them with success in
this delightful spot, of which Delille could say —
" The laughing Graces had designed Montreuil."
On reaching Montreuil, Lauzun found the Queen
there. She had come by chance to call, and again
eagerly pressed him to remain at Paris. " Do not go
yet," said she, " the Corn riots make it necessary to
concentrate the regiments ; we will have your corps
brought up." The Due again thanked her, but declared
that the transfer would be to the disadvantage of his
men, and that he would not have it. '' You are an
58
idiot ! " said the Queen, laughing. And as the Baron
de Viom^nil, who was directing the mobilization of
the troops, happened to come in, she added :
" Baron, make the Royal Legion march out, and
bring it near enough so that this foolish fellow need
not leave us, as he intends doing."
But Lauzun would listen to nothing. Next
day he went out hunting in the forest of Boulogne
with the Queen in the morning, and in the evening
he set out to join his regiment.
Marie Antoinette, who regretted his departure,
had offered to ask the King to command his presence at
the Coronation, which was to take place in the course
of the month of May. Lauzun knew that the
Choiseul faction meant to seize that opportunity to
try to return to power ; he foresaw that he would be
the subject of endless importunities ; that every one
would want to take advantage of his growing influ-
ence ; and so, prompted by very honourable feelings of
discretion and reserve, he again refused the Queen's
offers.
The great occasion of the Coronation seemed to
Choiseul' s partisans to be a favourable opportunity
for renewing the attempts which had so signally
failed before, to ingratiate themselves with Louis
XVI., and they neglected nothing that might help
them to gain their end. Choiseul appeared at
Versailles and at Reims ; the courtiers observed his
radiant expression ; his cocked nose seemed to wear
an assertive and conquering air: this was enough
to start a rumour that he was to be recalled to office.
59
The Queen, indeed, renewed her entreaties, but
was not more fortunate than she had been at the
old King's death. The King answered sternly :
" Never let me hear that man's name ! "
Marie Antoinette was tenacious and would not
take a beating ; she was determined to show at
least, by granting him a private audience, that the
fallen Minister was in favour at Court ; and to
achieve her end without risking a prohibition she had
recourse to a trick which she herself has left on
record. " You will never guess," she writes to Count
von Rosenberg, " how cleverly I managed so as not
to seem to be asking leave. I told the King that I
should like to see M. de Choiseul, that the only
difficulty was to name a day. And I did it so well
that the poor man himself fixed the most convenient
time for me to receive him ! I think I made good
use of the rights of woman on this occasion. . . .
There has been so much talk about this audience
that I would not answer for it that old Maurepas
has not been afraid to go home to sleep even."
This audience of the Queen did, in fact, make a
great noise at Versailles, and Choiseul' s adherents,
thinking they were about to triumph, fairly screamed
for joy. But this imprudent confidence reached
Vienna, and gave rise to gi^eat scandal there. Maria
Theresa was outraged by her daughter's indiscreet
levity. The words poor man so flippantly applied
to the King horrified the Empress. In vain did
Mercy try to pacify her, to persuade her that the
offensive words hon liomme had been a mere slip,
60
that she had misunderstood the full purport of the
expression. Maria Theresa was not to be misled;
^' It was not," she severely replied, " the epithet good
man, but ;poor man that she applied to her husband.
What a style ! What a way of thinking ! It con-
firms my fear only too surely. She is hastening to
her ruin, happy if even in her fall she preserves the
virtues of her rank. If Choiseul becomes Minister
she is lost. He will hold her cheaper than he did La
Pompadour, to whom he owed everything, and whom
he was the first to desert.'*
The Coronation took place on the appointed day,
but Lauzun was not present. Enormous sums were
spent on the ceremony. At Soissons one of the city
gates was pulled down because the Royal carriage,
which was eighteen feet high, could not pass under it.
Nothing could be stranger than seeing the high
road to Reims as crowded as the Rue Saint- Honors
— twenty thousand post-horses were constantly
on the road. All the bridges which the King was
to cross were reconstructed. These works were
carried out by gangs of peasants on forced labour,
to their utter despair. "These hapless creatures,"
writes a contemporary, " as soon as they see a
traveller in the distance, kneel down, lifting their
hands to Heaven, and then putting them to their
mouths as if asking for bread " {Bachaumont). In
the church at Reims a complete apartment, with
a guard room, was arranged for the Queen.
On his return from Reims, on May 28, the King
reviewed the French and Swiss guards. There was
6i
an immense crowd ; the high hopes founded on
his accession a year ago had vanished ; disaffection
had begun. He was but little cheered on his
way, and when the Queen passed there was an icy
silence.
The political changes foretold by Lauzun in his
letter to M. de Stackelberg were about to take place.
In July M. de la Vrilliere retired, and his place was
taken by M. de Malesherbes. " Here is our Govern-
ment in the hands of the philosophers," writes Mme.
du Deffant. " This is the reign of virtue, of disin-
terestedness, of love of the public good, and of
liberty." And she adds, with the satisfaction of a
holder of Government stock : " They profess great
economy and punctuality in paying everything they
owe." At the same time instability and uncertainty
seemed to be the rule of the new regime y and Mme.
du Deffant could say, again with good reason : " These
are strange times ; you may bet on everything, for or
against."
Though far enough from Paris, and living at
Sarreguemines, whither his regiment had been re-
moved, Lauzun attentively watched all the political in-
cidents happening at Versailles. He was still anxious
to obtain from M. de Vergennes the much debated
mission to Russia for which he had waited so long.
Before leaving Paris he had called on the Minister, but
had extracted merely more or less evasive answers.
To stimulate his zeal and not suffer it to become
dormant, Lauzun had placed his interests in the
hands of a friend who kept him regularly informed
62
of all that was going on at the Ministry for Foreign
Affairs in Paris. ^
Stackelberg was still most "eager, and hoped more
than ever to effect the alliance. He urged on
Lauzun to hasten the negotiations ; but it was in vain
that the Due had the matter pressed on the Minister's
attention. M. de Vergennes was always for pro-
crastination. He would not take the preliminary
steps, saying that before talking business with
Russia her friendship must be won, and so forth.
Then, suddenly, Lauzun learnt that a certain
M. de Paige had been secretly despatched to Poland
by M. de Vergennes, to study the situation there.
Furious at having been thus deceived, Lauzun wrote
hotly and indignantly to the Minister, complaining of
this unspeakable betrayal. Vergennes, much ashamed
at the discovery of his meanness, answered Lauzun in
a very civil letter to try to exculpate himself. He
explained that Paige had been sent to Russia to nego-
tiate a marriage between the Prince de Lorraine and
Prince Adam's young daughter, and defended himself
against the charge of having given him any special
mission. Lauzun, hurt and offended by M. de
Vergennes' conduct, understood that it was vain to
persist, and that there was not a chance of his
schemes being realized, so for the time at any rate, he
gave up the purpose he had so obstinately followed
up for the last year.
As misfortunes never come singly, he suffered at
^ This correspondence, in cypher, exists at the " Archives
Nationales ;" it is too long to reproduce here,
63
tins time one of the great sorrows of his life.
For some months Mme. Czartoriska's letters had been
shorter and rarer. He also knew through friends at
"Warsaw, that Count Branecki's assiduity was greater
than ever, and that he seemed to be making rapid
progress in her aiFections. Lauzun, deeply anxious
and distressed, wrote letters of resentment, which, as
always happens in such cases, were taken very ill.
He insisted and got angry, and before long a coldness
and tension existed between the lovers, once so tender
and devoted, which soon led to a complete rupture.
And thus ended most prosaically — like so many
similar passions — the eternal loves of Lauzun and
the beautiful Princess Czartoriska.
This checkmate in love consoled Lauzun for the
checkmate in diplomacy which he had till then so pain-
fully felt. The break with the Princess plunged him
in the deepest grief ; he loved her with sincere pas-
sion ; and years later we shall find him trying to effect
a reconciliation, which, however, events interfered
to prevent. But he was not the man to waste life in
barren regrets ; he looked about for such amusements
as might enable him to forget them. He may indeed
be blamed for not remaining longer faithful to the
memory of a woman he had loved so well, and run-
ning after new loves ; all that can be said in excuse
is that he wanted to deaden feeling, and that his heart
was but little engaged in the transient connections
with which he strove to cheat his sadness and ennui.
He was quartered at Sarreguemines, close to the
little principality of Deux-Ponts (Zwei Briicken),
64
where there was some society. Among many adven-
tures too commonplace to be mentioned, the most
serious was a flirtation with a Baroness Dalberg ;
but he tired of it ere long, and after a visit to her
Castle of Hemsheim in the Palatinate, and an intro-
duction to the Electress, at Ockersheim — where he
says the Baroness was pleased to show him off, '' as
well as a cream-coloured pony with a white mane, sent
her from Mecklenburg at the time of my arrival " —
he was glad to get back to Sarreguemines, where he
found his regiment and rest.
Not long after his return Lauzun received a letter
from the Due de Chartres announcing that a great
horse-race was to be run, and pressing Lauzun to
come to Paris for the event. The pretext was a
good one, and our hero gladly availed himself of it ;
he was, in fact, beginning to feel the worse for this
monotonous and idle life. So he returned to the
capital to pursue the brilliant destiny which could
not fail to await him there.
6s
CHAPTER V.
1775.
Lauzun returns to Paris — The influenza — Lady Barrymore — Her
acquaintance with Lauzun — The Queen's partiality for the
Comtesse Jules de Polignac — Mme. de Vaudi'euil and de
Besenval — The Abbe de Vermond's anxieties.
The famous race, which had been able to excite
Lauzun so far as to make him desert his seclusion at
Sarreguemines, took place on October 6th, 1775, on
the Plaine de Sablons. The competitors were the
Comte D'Artois, the Due de Chartres, Lauzun, and
M. de Conflans.
The throng was immense ; all the Court and all the
town were present. A stand had been erected on the
middle of the course for the Queen, " who was as
beautiful as the day — and the day was lovely.'* The
race began at one o'clock and only lasted six minutes,
though the distance to be covered was considerable :
three times round the course. The struggle was an
eager one, and this time again Lauzun was victorious,
and his English jockey carried off the prize.
The Queen seemed delighted vnth the sight ; she
congratulated Lauzun warmly, and made him intro-
duce the jockey who rode the winning horse;
finally she consoled the losers " with infinite grace."
66
In consequence of this exploit Lauzun's jockey was
so much the fashion that Walpole wrote : " The
latter won by the address of a little French postillion,
who is in such fashion that I don't know whether the
Academy will not give him for the subject of an
elogeJ^
After this brilliant reappearance in the capital,
Lauzun, anxious to forget his misadventures, rushed
headlong into fashion and society. He was as intimate
as ever with Mme. Dillon and Mme. de Guem^nee ; he
had the pleasure of finding that he was not forgotten,
and of resuming in that brilliant circle the predomi-
nant place he had filled at the time of his departure.
The Queen treated him with the same confidence,
saw him with the same pleasure, and was always
ready to take an opportunity of showing him in what
high esteem she held him. They frequently rode out
together, and met almost every evening in Mme. de
Guemence's rooms. Lauzun, however, made circum-
spect by the ill-natured reports that had been
circulated, behaved with considerable reserve.
Mme. de Guem^n^e had long been one of his
greatest friends, and she sincerely rejoiced at the favour
he enjoyed, doing her utmost to show him in the most
advantageous light. She constantly sang his praises
to the Queen, and in her presence would expatiate on
his rare merits, his wit, his loyalty, his delightful and
chivalrous character.
Marie Antoinette was sincerely attached to Mme.
de Guemenee and had every confidence in her ; she
was therefore not insensible to these reiterated
67 F 2
remarks, and her esteem and friendship for Lauzun
were steadily increased by them. Nor was it the
Queen alone who welcomed Lauzun' s society ; the
whole Royal Family, the King and the Comte
d'Artois, were especially friendly with him. He often
went out hunting with Louis XVL, who treated him
as civilly as his nature would allow. This, then, is a
fairly complete picture of the position of our chief
personages at the end of the year 1775.
At this period the world of fashion was saddened
by one of the most violent epidemics of influenza
that ever came to Paris from London ; almost every
one was attacked with a violent cold in the head,
accompanied by severe pains in the head and high
fever. The complaint was first known as the grippe,
and afterwards as la piece and lafollette ; finally it was
called the Influenza, and it at once became the subject
of flippant songs. In spite of being laughed at, it killed
a great many people, and the hospitals were crowded.
" I write as I sip my tea," says Mme. du DefFant to
Walpole ; " I am interrupted by my cough, which
my secretary echoes. The whole house has the
grippe ; I know not how long it will go on. It is
your villainous London that has sent us this plague
by its messengers the fogs. Everybody is ill of this
complaint." (December, 1775.)
The wiseheads ascribed the epidemic to the
constant fogs which for some time had "shrouded
the horizon and prevented any elasticity in the air."
As to the doctors, they did not know what to do, and
they limited themselves to advising as a precaution-
68
ary measure that no one should go out of doors
fasting.
It was while Paris was suffering from this fell
complaint that Lauzun met at the opera an English-
woman of family, a certain Lady Barrymore, whom
he had already known in the course of his various
visits to England. She was pretty, full of spirit
and fun ; but she was " utterly devoid of principle,"
and it is amusing enough to find the man accusing
her of it who hoped to profit by it.
Lady Barrymore ^ made a great sensation in
Paris. " She will be glutted with conquests," writes
Walpole. " I never saw anybody so much admired.
I doubt her poor little head will be quite overset."
(To Conway, Paris, Sept. 8, 1775.) Even Mme. du
Deffant had received her graciously; her dog
Tonton alone had not shared her kind feeling, for he
had flown at the pretty Englishwoman, ready to
devour her.
All the most fashionable drawing rooms were
thrown open to Lady Barrymore. Charmed by so
flattering a reception, she determined to remain some
time in Paris, and she took a house.
Lauzun went to see her rather frequently, then he
fell in love with her and paid her his court ; but the
beginning of their acquaintance did not run
smoothly. One day the English lady having had
the kindness to make an assignation in the Bois de
Boulogne, had the inhumanity not to keep it. After
1 Countess of Barrymore : Lady Emily Stanhope, third daughter
of William, second Earl of Harrington.
69
waiting some time, Lauzun went home and wrote
her a very indignant note complaining of her
conduct. In this letter he used the phrase, " Voiis
etes vraiment Men cruelle de m^ avoir fait croquer le
marmot,'^ (" You are really too cruel to make me
kick my heels.") The lady, unfamiliar with the
subtleties of the French language, flew to her
dictionary, found croquer to eat, marmot a child, and
came to the conclusion that her lover had eaten a
baby. "That Lauzun is a monster ! " said she to a
friend who was present, " I will never see him again
as long as I live. Read what he says.'' And
Lauzun had some difficulty in gaining her forgiveness.
An intrigue with Lady Barrymore would fulfil
two ends ; it would occupy his leisure, and it would
have the great advantage of contradicting the
malignant reports as to his attachment to the Queen.
Would not everyone be convinced of their mistake ?
The slander would die a natural death. With this
laudable end in view Lauzun actually made a
declaration to Lady Barrymore. " And how about
the Queen ? " the young woman replied, with a
laugh.
However, their liaison was soon the talk of the
town, to Mme. de Guemenee's great displeasure.
She reproved Lauzun very roundly, and used all the
arguments at her command to put an end to this
fresh intrigue, but she did not succeed. As to the
Queen, she seemed to have no suspicion of what was
going on. Of course she was fully informed, but
from indifference or pride she gave no sign ; Lauzun
70
was as well received as ever, and his favour had not
in any way diminished.
It may be noted that if Lauzun no doubt was in
high favour, and if in his presumptuous dreams he
imagined he could climb yet higher, many others,
who were much less disinterested, aimed at the same
end.
Indeed, it is rather amusing to observe that all the
more conspicuous men about the Court had but one
ruling idea : to dominate the Queen's mind and
direct her conduct. This helpless young woman,
with no one to guide or support her, unhappy in her
maiTiage, seemed to them an easy prey. They
thought here was a place to be besieged and held,
and each in his turn made the attempt. The one
who should succeed would reign in France. Every
coterie that aimed at power had its candidate.
Choiseul's faction set its hopes on Lauzun. The
Noailles family put forward the Comte de Noailles.
Some acted independently, on their o^vn account.
The Chevalier de Luxembourg, a man of parts, at
first seemed to be attractive ; but his reign was of a
day and he disappeared. The Due de Coigny, an
elegant courtier, a proud and loyal man of exquisite
breeding and the rarest discretion, also joined the
ranks. The Prince de Ligne, after some tentative
efforts, laughed at his own folly and mthdrew.
Besenval, an old Celadon, writes in his Memoirs,
with much naivete : " For my part the kindness and
confidence extended to me by the Queen, attached
me to laer unreservedly : while talking to her in the
71
language suited to a woman of twenty, I aimed
only at giving her the consistency proper for her
glory, and at securing her happiness. I regarded
her as the material which I flattered myself I could
work upon.'*
On a sudden a new favourite appeared on the
horizon, and Court oracles pronounced that she
would eclipse all that had preceded her.
The Comtesse Jules de Polignac lived quietly
away from Court ; simple tastes, and a less than
modest fortune, led her to prefer the pleasures of
domestic life.^ She was a charming person ; it was
impossible to see a woman who combined greater
beauty of person with sweetness of expression, charm
of voice, and most amiable qualities of heart and
mind.
The Queen first met her in the month of August,
1775, at a Court fete. Her touching expression of
frankness and sensibility appealed to Marie
Antoinette. She had ahvays dreamed of having a
" bosom-friend " to fill up the void she felt in her life
and sympathies. Mme. de Lamballe, Mme. Dillon,
and Mme. de Guem^n^e had in turn been her
intimate friends, but neither of them had completely
satisfied her aspirations.
The Queen thought she had found in Mme. de
Polignac the trustworthy friend, discreet and
reserved, whom she had hitherto sought in vain;
her simplicity, her lack of fortune and the obscurity
* Nee Polastron. She died in Russia towards tlie end of 1793,
aged forfcy-four.
72
of her existence, seemed to guarantee the sincerity
of her attachment.
The Comtesse Jules' influence was not at first sole
and absolute ; she shared it with Mmes. de
Guemenee, Dillon, and de Lamballe ; but it was soon
very clear that the Queen's preference was wholly
for the new favourite.
Personally Mme. de Polignac cared little for Court
favour, and still less for money. She was simple-
minded to the end, and her even temper was free
from caprice ; modest in her tastes, indiiFerent to
splendour, she preferred obscurity and solitude.
She took no part in the intrigues which were plotted
under the protection of her influence, and though
she received vast sums of money, they were never
for herself. But, as we shall soon see, her family
and friends abused her weakness and the favour she
enjoyed ; their greed was unexampled.
In intimate society the Comtesse was a delightful
companion : without being remarkably clever she
had the grace, refinement and good breeding which
may take the place of wit. The little parties at her
house were charming, and the hours flew swiftly.
Unluckily, she had formed an attachment for the
Comte de Vaudreuil, who had entire dominion over
her and guided her as he would ; the fact was
notorious. M. de Vaudreuil was not a man of parts,
but of the highest connections, very fashionable, and
of the most elegant manner. " There are but two
men who know how to address a woman," said Mme.
d'Henin : " de Kain on the stage, and M. de
73
Vaudreuil in society." He was fond of art and
letters, and loved to affect the Maecenas. But he
was deeply in debt, and, in spite of his agreable
manners, he had a violent, domineering temper, and
unlimited greed for every form of favour. It may
be supposed what a stroke of luck he thought
the Queen's sudden affection for Mme. de Polignac.
Vaudreuil and Mme. de Polignac tried to form a
circle agreeable to the Sovereign, and they succeeded
in gathering about them a pleasant and intimate
group ; the principal figures in it were theJDuc de
Coigny, whom we know, the Baron de Besenval, Comte
d'Adh^mar, the Comte de Guines, and some others.
We have already made mention of Besenval, a
vain, intriguing Swiss, but extremely clever. In
spite of his age — he was nearly fifty — he was
fascinating and witty ; his white hairs inspired
confidence, though he had not, in fact, renounced
gallantry. He had a bright expression, at once
sentimental and gay, which was attractive to women,
and he was notorious for many adventures. " Some-
what morose by nature, and surly at home to his
people," says the Prince de Ligne, "he was the
most lively man with others, and one of the most
amiable that I have ever met." He was very brave,
and a pleasing anecdote is reported of him. After
seeing nearly the whole of his division killed at
Annembourg, he was desired to retire with the few
men he had left ; but suddenly he reappeared on the
field. " What are you doing here, Baron ? " he
was asked, '* your work is done." " What the
74
devil should I do ? " he replied. " It is like being
at an opera ball : it is a bore, and yet you stay as
long as you hear the fiddles going.'*
His agreeable conversation and frank manners
enchanted Marie Antoinette ; he too, in a way,
became a favourite, and was for the moment the
man in fashion. These two, Vaudreuil and Besenval,
led the Polignac set.
The Queen's intimacy with the Comtesse Jules de
Polignac was very severely commented on. Mme,
Dillon and Mme. de Guemenee, to be sure, led some-
what irregular lives, but Mme. de Polignac's liaison
with Vaudreuil was a recognized fact ; and to take her
into friendship with those other two seemed to the
Queen's advisers imprudent to say the least of it.
Moreover, the Comtesse Jules' sister-in-law and
friend was the Comtesse Diane de Polignac, a
canoness whose conduct was a subject of much
scandal. To crown all, Mme. de Polignac was
supposed to have had her religious views poisoned
by the errors of the age, and it was feared lest her
influence should have a pernicious effect on the
Queen's piety.
This new intimacy greatly exercised the Queen's
director, the Abbe de Vermond. He repeated, one
day, to Mercy, a conversation he had had on the
subject with the Queen ; it is a perfect revelation as
to the moral tone of the Court. Marie Antoinette,
alluding to the Queen of Naples' spiritual director,
congratulated herself on not having him for her
confessor, because he would have insisted on the
75
practice of religion. " How would he have achieved
it ? " replied Vermond. " I have never been able
to bring you to reasonable behaviour ; " then, taking
advantage of such an opportunity, he gave the
Queen this uncompromising lecture : —
" You have become very indulgent as to morals
and reputation. I could prove to you that such
indulgence, at your age, and especially towards
women, gives a very bad impression ; however, I
will pass over the fact that you make no inquiry as
to a woman's morals or reputation, and that you
admit her to your society, and make her your friend,
solely because she is lovable. That is not indeed
the morality a priest can sanction. But that mis-
conduct, of whatever kind, indifferent morals, and a
spotted or ruined reputation, should be regarded as a
title to admission into your circle, does you infinite
harm. For some little time, you have not even been
prudent enough to limit your intimacy to such
women as have preserved some credit for sense and
good conduct." " The Queen," added the Abb^,
" listened to this sermon with a smile, and a sort of
approbation and admission. I spoke in a gentle
tone, but with the gentleness of pity and deep
regret. What is to be done ? What can be hoped
for after such a confession as that, without any wish
or intention of amendment ? "
The Polignac party were at first hostile to Lauzun.
In their eyes he was the representative of the
Choiseul faction ; he was moreover the friend of
Mme. Dillon and Mme. de Guemenee, and it was very
76
naturally feared that their rival influence might
detract from that of the fresh favourite. There were
more than enough reasons for his being viewed very-
much askance. The Due de Coigny, the Baron de
Besenval, and the Comtesse Jules organized an
underhand attack, and tried every means to destroy
his position by degrees. Besenval even tried
impertinence ; but bad taste and want of reticence
are not advantageous at Court ; the Baron failed
rather ignominiously in his attempts, and Lauzun
found ways of curing him of them once for all.
Thus the efforts of the new coterie were all in vain,
and Lauzun remained in favour for some time yet.
But though the struggle was apparently dormant,
beneath the surface intrigues and secret cabals were
carried on with greater virulence than ever.
11
CHAPTER VI.
1775.
Changes in manners — The taste for English ideas and habits —
Races — Gambling — Opera balls — Di-ess.
Immediately on the death of Louis XV. great
changes came over the spirit of the Court and of the
nation. Alterations took place in manners, habits,
and tastes — transformations which were to have a
great influence on the fate of the country itself. It
is well to take a brief survey of the new tone of
society, to which Lauzun largely contributed.
From the first days of the new reign there were
two very distinct Courts. The old Court consisted
of every one who had a place and occupied a post
about the throne. They thought that everything
had been quite right in their day and that old
customs should be upheld. The young Court, on the
other hand, laughed all these traditions to scorn, and
scoffed at the haughty reserve of these representa-
tives of a past age ; the vexatious etiquette of the old
regime was the object of its sarcasm ; it clamoured
for innovations and especially for a gay mode of life ;
pleasure was its sole aim ; it rushed into it with a
78
sort of intoxication. There was nothing but sports,
balls, theatricals, hunting, concerts, entertainments
of every description.
One of the first innovations aimed at was a change
in the national costume. Ballets and quadrilles were
devised representing different nations, or personages
of past periods. These were performed by young
people of the highest fashion. MM. de Lauzun, de
Noailles, d'Havre, and de Guemonee figured in them,
as well as MM. Durfort, de Coigny, the two Dillons,
the two S6gurs, La Fayette, and others, with the
prettiest and youngest of the wives.
For these quadrilles they adopted the costumes of
past times : silk capes, feathers in the hat, and
brightly coloured ribands. After this, modern
costume struck these young people as quite absurd,
and they agreed to adopt that which should be best
suited to a warlike Court of chivalry and gallantry.
The period of Henry IV. symbolized in their eyes
the heroic age, and they decided on adopting its
costume. Before long they wanted to compel the
whole nation to wear it ; but the King formally
vetoed the idea, to the great disgust of the Queen
and the Comte d'Artois, who were at the head of the
movement.
This somewhat childish innovation having been
wrecked, a new scheme was devised which was fated
to lead to far more serious consequences.
For some time past the intercourse between
France and England had become much more
frequent. Young French noblemen were constant
79
visitors to London, where they were wonderfully well
received in society. The Due de Lauzun, the Comte
de Lauraguais, the Due de Chartres, the Marquis de
Conflans, and many more, had not only made long
stays on the shores of the Thames, but had come
back full of enthusiastic admiration for English
manners and customs, and possessed by the one idea
of transplanting them to Paris. As they, the
courtiers of fashion, ruled the fashion, nothing could
be easier, and after a few timid attempts, all the
world was bitten by a perfect Anglomania.
They were not satisfied with adopting the close
frock in the place of the full and dignified coats of
the old Court dress, and the light cabriolet instead
of antique coaches ; our parks were to be reformed ;
straight paths, symmetrical beds, trees slipped into
globes, and regular hedges, gave way to " English
gardens." Ladies wore nothing but gowns d
VAnglaise, poplins, tabinets, English cloth and lawn ;
they sold their diamonds to buy steel beads and
English paste. Gobelins tapestry was stowed away
in cupboards, and blue English paper took its place.
The evenings were devoted to tea-drinking, and
eating bread and butter.
But while thus borrowing from our neighbours
their dress and their habits, we could not but be
insensibly led to adopt their customs in more serious
and important matters. The part played by the
peers in the House of Lords, and the members of the
House of Commons, fired the young men who had
been to England, and they came back with their
80
heads full of dangerous innovations. They were not
content to admire the institutions of free England ;
they wanted to ingraft them on France. The
position of the English peers and the influence they
exerted fascinated the French nobility more than the
domestic life of Versailles. " I would rather be the
least of the Members of Parliament," wrote
Mademoiselle de Lespinasse, "than even King
Frederick himself."
The authorities saw only the superficial and
frivolous aspect of all these changes, and did not
seem to suspect the hidden danger that lurked
beneath.
A complete spirit of revolt seemed indeed to have
taken possession of society. From a passion for
English customs they soon proceeded to discussing
the Government and criticizing everything. The
women in their boudoirs, the young men in public,
and even in the King's ante-chamber, uttered the
most seditious speeches. The nobility, far from
opposing a movement which threatened its time-
honoured rights, put themselves at the head of it and
favoured it by all the means in their power. The
"Philosophers" were welcomed and made much of
in the drawing-rooms of the aristocracy. Nay, it
was there that they found their most fervent adepts.
Everybody was carried away by the enthusiasm of
new ideas of reform, improvements, liberty, tolerance,
and legal equality.
The most important modifications were not only
in dress and ideas. There were serious changes in
8i G
the details of daily life ; the Court took the ini-
tiative in dangerous forms of pleasure, such as
gambling and racing, and evil consequences rapidly
ensued.
It was not till the beginning of this reign that a
taste for racing seemed to take a serious hold on
society. Lauzun, who had often owned racers in
England, put himself at the head of the movement ;
he won the interests of the Queen and of a part of the
Court. We have already seen that in March and
October, 1775, he had run horses in the presence of
the Royal Family.
From that date the fashion was set ; races were
frequently held, and almost always graced by the
Queen's presence. Lauzun, whose horses were con-
stantly engaged, attended the Queen.
However, this new amusement gave rise to many
protests. The jockey, starved or doctored to
diminish his weight, was the subject of much satire,
and the severer spirits lamented the ascendency of
such low pleasures over the old spirit of chivalry.
Nevertheless the taste for horse-racing grew and
spread : the Plaine de Sablons became to the French
what Newmarket was to the English. An immense
crowd collected, arriving in coaches, on horseback
or on foot, to be present at these meetings; the
betting was as eager as in England, and the passion for
gambling infected not the nobility alone but even the
humblest citizens.
At last the King was provoked by these
amusements, over which such large sums
82
chaiigod hands, and he prohibited them almost
entirely.^
But Louis XVI. was too good-natured to maintain
the interdict ; the very next year races were as much
in vogue as ever ; indeed, another race-course was
made at Vincennes, and a third at Fontainebleau.
The owners were chiefly the same : the Comte
d'Artois, the Due de Chartres, the Due de Lauzun,
the Marquis de Conflans", the Prince de Gu^menee.
Lauzun was the most constant winner, either because
he had better horses or secured more experienced
jockeys. The Comte d'Artois, on the contrary, was
almost always a loser, and his disappointment,
which he could not conceal, was a delight to the
spectators.
For a variety sleigh races were instituted, which
amused the Queen very much. The luxury of
these little carriages became extravagant ; a
1 The rage for betting had, however, become so great that every-
thing was made the subject of a wager. Thus the Due de Chartres,
Lauzun, and the Marquis de Eitz- James laid a bet of two hundred
louis as to which of them could walk fastest from Paris to Ver-
sailles. M. de Fitz- James won by seven or eight minutes. A
rather droll wager was laid between the Due de Chartres and the
Comte de Genlis. The Comte bet that he would go to f^ontaine-
bleau and back in less time than it would take the Prince to prick
500,000 pin-holes into paper : he won by several hours. The
Comte d'Artois had in the Bois de Boulogne a little subm^-
ban chalet called Bagatelle. He bet the Queen a hundred
thousand francs (=£4000) that he would build a palace there in six
weeks. Nine hundred workmen were employed day and night.
As materials ran short, patrols of the Swiss Guard seized, on the
high roads, carts loaded with building stone, lime, plaster, and the
like ; they were paid for, but the public were nevertheless very
indignant. At the end of the six weeks the Prince entertained
the Queen splendidly in his new residence.
83 G 2
sleigh might cost as much as ten thousand
crowns. Then donkey races were run, which also
gave rise to heavy betting : the winner received a
hundred crowns and a golden thistle.
The success of racing as an amusement for the popu-
lace had become so great that a society was founded
at Paris for establishino: an arena for bull-fif]^hts as in
Spain. A theatre was to be built to accommodate
25,000 persons, and the men and beasts were to be
imported from Andalusia.
But racing was not the only fatal passion that pos-
sessed the Court ; another and more dangerous
fashion was the love of play. Play was indeed no
novelty; it had been a favourite diversion during
former reigns. Mme. de Montespan played bassett
with stakes that might mount up to a million francs.
With her, losses of a hundred thousand crowns were
not uncommon ; it is said that on a certain Christ-
mas night she lost 700,000 crowns ; she staked 150,000
pistoles on three cards. " The passion for play is at
the root of almost every misfortune here," wrote the
Duchesse d'Orleans in 1720. " I am often told, ^ You
are not good for anything, you do not like cards.' "
From the beginning of the Regency this taste had
turned every brain. The streets of Paris were
lighted up at night by the fire-pots in front of the
houses of the greatest gentlemen, which were thrown
open for gambling to all comers.
Walpole had written to "West so early as 1737 : —
" You would not guess their notions of honour. I'll
tell you one : it is very dishonourable for any gentle-
man not to be in the army, or in the King's service
H
as they call it, and it is no dishonour to keep public
gaming-houses; there are at least a hundred and
fifty people of the first quality in Paris who live by
it. You may go into their houses at all hours of the
night and find hazard, faro, etc. The men who
keep the hazard-table at the Duke of Gesvres' pay
him twelve guineas each night for the privilege."
Later than this, play was still the fashion ; but at
Court no games of pure chance had been played ; only
Cavagnole, a sort of lotto, and the like. High play
was to be found in the Mistresses' rooms, but never
in the Queen's.
In the reign of Louis XVI. the rage for play reached
an incredible height. Marie Antoinette first played
at Mme. de Guemenee's and at Mme. de Lamballe's ;
then one day at Fontainebleau she asked leave of
the King to play faro, and to send to Paris for the
bankers. The King, weak as usual, objected that
games of pure chance were forbidden ; at last, as a
great treat, he gave the required permission, but for
once only. So they played for thirty-six hours
without stopping, and for two nights in succession
the Queen sat at the card table till five o'clock in the
morning. Thenceforth card playing was an estab-
lished thing at Court, and many evils were the result,
some of a serious character. The least was the
introduction of men of bad repute, whose sole merit
was their love of gambling.
As soon as such an entertainment was arranged
bankers were sent for from Paris, often mere rogues.
They began by losing to allure their victims, and then
raked in everything laid on the table.
An Englishman of inferior birth named Smith
arrived in Paris, announcing that he had two hundred
thousand louis d'or to lose. He was at once presented
to the Queen and Royal Family. He was admitted
to play cards with her Majesty, and in a very
short time had won more than a million and a half
francs from the princes and noblemen who played
against him. Of course he became familiar and inso-
lent ; he was seen at supper with the Comte d'Artois
and the Due de Chartres, his elbows on the table in
the most free and easy manner.
The Queen frequently lost or won 500 louis d'or in
an evening. Once, at Marly, she gained 7000 louis ;
the same evening the Comtesse d'Artois lost 25,000
crowns, and Madame lost 50,000 ; the Due de Chartres,
at Fontainebleau, lost 30,000 louis, and M. de Chalabrc
42,000 louis in a few hours. On another occasion,
the same M. de Chalabre won 1,800,000 francs in
one evening.
It was chiefly at Marly that the passion for play
was most frankly displayed ; etiquette was there
much relaxed, anyone might present himself at the
Queen's table so long as he had a decent coat on.
The drawing-room was very large, and of octagonal
shape ; it was roofed by a dome with galleries under
it, where ladies who had not been presented could
easily get leave to sit and enjoy the sight of this
brilliant company.
None below the rank of Duchesses had a right to
take a place at the Queen's table to play faro or
lansquenet. The men stood up behind their chairs
86
and handed tlieir money or notes to the ladies to be
staked by them. Rich men and the lovers of high
play never failed to appear on these evenings at
Marly. They rushed there in crowds en poUsson
(like cads), to use the phrase that was applied to them.
This reckless gambling led to the most deplorable
consequences : one day it was discovered that
weighted dice had been introduced. On another
occasion Comte Arthur Dillon came to the Queen s
table with a pocket book full of Exchequer bills ; in
an instant the pocket book had disappeared and it
was impossible to find it. There was a talk of
searching every gentleman in the room. Several
times, at Marly, false louis were substituted for real
coin, and the players dared to suspect the ladies of the
Court ! The passion of play had become such a
mania that no one scrupled to trick the croupiers.
The King was severe on this frenzied play, for he
only cared for lotto and blind man's buff with forfeits,
and by way of games of chance never played any-
thing but backgammon and petit s- ecus. The Queen
meanwhile staked enormous sums, and he dared not
forbid it. Indeed it was done behind his back. High
play never began till after he had retired for the
night. When he spent the evening with the Princess e
de Guemenee, the cards were put away a quarter
of an hour before he came in and taken out again
after his departure.
Nor was it only the habit of gambling that had
upset the customs of society. The Court had acquired
habits of excessive independence and dissipation.
87
Louis XVI. always went to bed at eleven o'clock.
As soon as he withdrew, the Queen and her intimate
circle took wing in search of amusement either at
Versailles or at Paris. But as they were often in a
hurry to be off, some inventive genius hit on the idea
of getting rid of the King by putting the clocks
forward. This was done ; and they had recourse to
this ingenious plan whenever time was pressing.
The Queen was constantly escaping from Versailles
to go to the masked balls at the Opera. " It is con-
sidered very fine when you are crushed there," writes
Mercier. " The greater the mob the more you
congratulate yourself next day on having been there.
Duchesses, bourgeoises, and drabs, all are shrouded
under the same domino." The mixture of ranks was
complete. The Queen spoke to everyone, walked
about Avith a train of young men, and all was done
with a taint of familiar liberty which was excessively
repugnant. " She fancied she was never recognized,'
wrote the Prince de Ligne, " but she always was.
Some ball-intrigue was constantly devised to give her
the pleasure of her incognito. She was especially eager
to puzzle foreigners, which gave rise to much talk.
" I did not like her going to these balls, in the first
place, on that very account, and also because of the
next day. She never was tiresome but on these
occasions, for she had so much to tell about the
masqueraders and what she had said, and what had
been said to her, that it was intolerable. If we had
chosen to do the same it might have been more
amusing than her so-called adventures."
88
When Marie Antoinette went to these balls she did
not get home to Versailles before six in the morning.
One night the King in a fury had all the gates shut,
and the Queen, on returning from Paris with the
Comte d'Artois, could not find admission. The re-
sult was an extremely lively scene between the
husband and wife, and Louis XVI. as usual suc-
cumbed.
Hand in hand with the rage for cards, races, and
betting of every kind, the passion for dress had as-
sumed proportions till now unimagined. Women
ruined themselves in dresses, mantles, caps, etc. The
Queen, who had a great love of dress, set the example
of mad prodigality in such things. The fashion of al-
legorical head-dresses had made yet further progress.
The women's heads were to be seen surmounted with
hill-tops, meadows, windmills, etc.; and an enormous
plume supported the structure from behind.
Old folks were severe on this fashion. Caps d la
bonne maman were at once devised ; they had con-
cealed springs to raise or lower them at will ; in the
presence of ancestral elders the cap was of ordinary
and modest proportions ; out of the reach of a
scolding the springs were released, and the cap was
of due proportion to satisfy the requirements of
fashion and good style. Women of rank wore plumes
two or three feet high ; they could not pass under the
doorways or go into a box at the theatre. As to riding
in a carriage it was only possible by kneeling down.
Their faces were seen in the middle of their figures.
In short, the most extravagant follies were invented,
89
every week saw the advent of some new device in the
way of a head-dress. The outlay on dress exceeded
that on the table and in carriages.
The Queen's love of dress drove her to expenses far
beyond the sum that was allowed her. She had also
a passion for jewels and diamonds, and was constantly
buying new ones; when her money was spent she
took them on credit, and she soon was deeply in debt,
to Mercy's despair.
The report of all that was going on at Versailles
roused the indignation of Joseph II. and Maria
Theresa. Joseph said that the Court of France had
been turned into a gambling hell. He wrote, I\Iay,
1777, that if somebody could not stop or hinder it,
" the revolution would be terrible." ^ The EmjDress
wrote to her daughter that she was rushing to her
ruin.
1 D'Arneth, Marie Antoinette, Joseph II., et Leopold II., p. 1 1.
CHAPTER VII.
1775.
Lauzun in favour — His political plans — He lays tliem before the
Queen — Correspondence with Catherine of Russia — M. de
Luxembourg's schemes — Catherine proposes to Lauzun that
he should enter her service — A conversation with the Queen
— The heron feather — Lauzun visits Chanteloup — The affaii*
of the Due de Guines — Dismissal of Tui'got and Malesherbes
— Necker as Finance Minister — M. de Saint-Germain at
the War Office — Reforms — The Order of Perseverance —
Death of the Prince de Conti.
Lauzun's quarrel with Princess Czartoriska had
naturally led to a cooling of his schemes with regard
to Poland. M. de Vergennes on his part had not
carried out the negotiations tentatively begun
through Lauzun's mediation. The Empress, who
wished to treat with France, had not been pleased at
this check to the affair, but, not choosing to put her-
self forward, she resigned herself to await events.^
Lauzun was fascinated by what he had heard of
Catherine, and dreamed of going to Russia if he
should find no standing ground in France, and it
occurred to him to take advantage of his favour with
1 We shall not dwell on Catherine's schemes, but refer the reader
to M. Wasilewski'a two remarkable volumes, Le Boman d^une
Impcratrice and Autoiir cVun Tr6ne.
91
the Queen to reopen negotiations with Russia, in his
own person, but on a far more serious basis. " I
wanted," he says, "to make Marie Antoinette the
monarch of a great Empire, to see her at the age of
twenty playing a splendid part, which might have
made her for ever famous. In short, I wanted
to see her the arbitrator of the fate of Europe."
What he does not say, but it may easily be guessed,
is that he proposed to play the part himself, the
Queen being no more than an instrument in his hands,
Lauzun needed first of all to make certain of
Catherine's consent. He therefore -wrote to her,
proposing to her a formal treaty to the advantage of
both nations. This treaty, when signed by the
Empress, was to be placed in the hands of Marie
Antoinette, who would persuade the King to give his
adhesion and carry all before her with a high hand.
This settled, there would be nothing more to do but
to convince the Council, who would not dare resist
the Royal will, and the trick would be done ! What
the slow ill-will of the Ministers had so long prevented
would thus become an accomplished fact, thanks to
the audacity and skill of a mere Courtier.
The Empress received Lauzun's proposals with
favour, and gave him full powers to draw up a
scheme for a formal alliance between the two
nations. All that then remained was to get the
Queen's consent. This was the easiest thing in the
world, or so at least Lauzun thought, for he did not
doubt that she would contemplate with rapture the
brilliant future he was preparing to offer her.
92
Unfortunately, wben he laid his schemes and hopes
before her, with all the ardour and spirit of which he
was capable, Marie Antoinette, instead of expressing
great enthusiasm, heard them with extreme reserve ;
without absolutely rejecting the plans proposed to
her, she asked time for reflection. The Due at once
perceived that he had made a mistake, and that the
Queen was not a woman to rush into such vast
political schemes ; her levity and small scope — or
perhaps her good sense — would not allow of it.
Nevertheless, being unwilling to give up dreams
he had so long cherished, Lauzun begged Marie
Antoinette not to reply at once, and not to refuse
her co-operation till after mature reflection.
A short time after, the Chevalier de Luxembourg,
who was considered to be one of the Queen's favourites,
requested a private audience. Again it was to
discuss the aflkirs of Russia and Poland. The
Chevalier expatiated on a complete plan for placing
the Comte d'Artois on the throne of Poland. The
Queen restricted her reply to saying that she would
not, on any account, interfere in aflairs of State.
But she immediately sent for Lauzun and told him
all that the Chevalier de Luxembourg had just said
to her. Lauzun took advantage of the circumstance
to urge upon her once more the treaty with Catherine,
and point out the glory she might derive from it.
But Marie Antoinette was so much terrified at the
idea of rushing into political intrigues, and showed
such a dread of the consequences, that Lauzun under-
stood that his plans were irremediably doomed, and
93
that he must abandon them. This was a keen and
bitter disappointment.
Though Marie Antoinette declined to follow
Lauzun in this dangerous path, she was not the less
touched by the zeal he displayed for her glory, and
the Due was in higher favour than ever. She rode
out with him almost every day, invited him to her
card table, and addressed him constantly, and she
went every evening to Mme. de Guemen^e's rooms,
where she was sure of meeting him.
Before long she became desirous of securing his
future prospects by obtaining for him one of the
high posts at Court, and one evening, at Mme. de
Guemen6e's, she offered him the reversion of the
command of the King's Body Guard, then under the
command of M. de Villeroy. Lauzun, much surprised
and touched by the Queen's thought for him, when
he had asked for nothing, thanked her with effusion
and with every mark of the deepest gratitude, but
would not accept the promotion she offered. As
she asked, in great surprise, the reason for his
refusal, he replied with much gallantry, " I should
wish to be free to quit the Court on the day when
your Majesty may regard me with less favour."
Some time later, and again at Mme. de Guemenee's
rooms, the Princesse de Bouillon was rallying Lauzun
about the passion he was cherishing in his heart.
The more he denied it the more she persisted. At
the end of all arguments Lauzun at last exclaimed :
" But at any rate tell me the name of the lady who
is the object of my devotion ! "
94
" The Queen," replied the Princesse in a whisper,
putting her finger to her lips.
Lauzun, really uneasy as to the possible conse-
quences of such perfidious gossip, went to Marie
Antoinette ; he told her that a base interpretation
was given to his attachment to her, that the kindness
with which she honoured him was blamed, and he
implored her to permit him to present himself less
often in her circle. The Queen, much agitated,
declared that she would never yield to insolent
insinuations, and when Lauzun proposed to leave the
country she forbade it. Lauzun, indeed, in his
Memoirs records a highly emotional scene, which we
think it well not to treat too seriously, since we have
never met with any other document which either
proves or disproves its veracity.-^
Lauzun's negotiations with the Empress Catherine
had meanwhile become talked about. Whether the
Queen had not kept his secret, or by some other
means, M. de Vergennes was informed of all that had
taken place ; he had mentioned it in high ^vrath at a
meeting of the Council, and had even spoken very
seriously of treating Lauzun as a State criminal, and
consigning him to the Bastille. This somewhat high-
handed method of procedure would have had the
^ "Do you think," said the Queen, "that I will not defend
you ? " "I request, I dare even to insist, as the sole reward of my
devotion, that your Majesty must not be compromised by uphold-
ing me. I can defend myself. . . . Ah, Madame, can the private
interests of a mere subject be compared with the great interests
of a Queen ? " ** But such a subject as you, Lauzun ! " Her eyes
were full of tears. {Memoir es de Lauzun.)
95
advantage of bestowing out of the way a too active
personage, whose favour at Court disturbed and in-
convenienced a great many gentlemen.
At this juncture, Lauzun, who had warned
Catherine that she could not count on the Queen's
support, received a most amiable letter from the
Empress, pressing him to enter the Russian service
with exceptional advantages.^
On receipt of this letter Lauzun requested an
audience of the Queen in Mme. de Guemen^e's
rooms. He laid the whole situation before her ; he
told her that in France he was in danger of being
arrested at any moment, and that in Russia a
brilliant position awaited him. " At the same time
I will not quit France as a criminal," he added,
" and I will not give up the King's service without his
permission ; if I am attacked, I will justify myself,
but afterwards I shall go to Russia."
In vain did the Queen endeavour to make him
give up this plan of action ; all she could obtain was
that he would ask the Empress to grant him six
months for his preparations. " Give me a year ? "
said the Queen, " and I hope to find means of keeping
you here." Then in her anxiety to give him a
January lOtb, 1776.
^ Monsieur le Due, — Having for some time formed a plan for
regularizing and disciplining the different Cossacks, Turks, and
Bashkirs in ray service, I hereby offer you the chief command of
those troops as well as of the regiment of horse guards which I
propose to select of those mixed nationalities. You may engage
as many foreign oflficers as you may deem desirable. This
post, one of the most important in the Empire, will secure you
the consideration of my successor' if God should not prolong my
days on earth. (Bibliotheque Nationale, MSS.)
96
j)lace that would make him care to remain in France,
she offered him the reversion of the ajDpointment of
chief Equerry, held by M. de Tesse. Lauzun
replied that such a nomination would seem to justify
the slanders of which he was the subject, and also
cast a doubt on his disinterestedness. He refused,
provisionally, but he consented to wait a year before
accepting the Empress Catherine's proposals.
The Queen as she retired spoke a few words in a
low voice to Mme. de Guemenee.
A few days previously Lauzun had come to the
Princesse's in uniform, wearing the finest white
heron's plume it was possible to conceive of. This
plume was the object of the Queen's desires, and she
had begged the Princesse to ask him to give it her.
Lauzun sent an express messenger to fetch the
precious feather and gave it to Mme. de Guemenee.
Next day, at dinner, the Queen wore the heron's
plume in her head-dress. It needed no more to
show Lauzun that his influence might henceforth be
paramount.
But the Queen's imprudence was talked about ;
it gave rise to much excitement at Court, and the
Due de Coigny especially put himself at the head of
a cabal to overthrow his favoured rival.
Lauzun, not a little uneasy at the turn events
were taking, and anxious not to expose himself to a
notorious fall after a too rapid rise to fortune, was
still planning to get away. He proposed to travel,
to go to Italy for a few months, and give these Court
broils time to calm down. But the Queen and
97 H
Mme. de Guemenee so strongly urged him not to
leave France that he yielded to their opinion, and
contented himself with paying a visit to Chanteloup,
where the Choiseuls still lived in their magnificent
retirement.
He was not fated to find there the peace of mind
he had hoped for. No sooner had he arrived, and
been warmly welcomed by everyone at the Chateau,
than Mme. de Gramont took him in hand, and
very seriously. The Duchesse was thoroughly
informed of all that had been going on at Versailles ;
she knew of all the Court intrigues, and had heard
all the gossip, good and bad ; she, consequently,
knew very well all that had been surmised or
reported with regard to Lauzun, and the splendid
fortunes which were freely predicted on his behalf.
As she was not a person of rigid virtue — for,
indeed, morality for its own sake was a matter to
which she seems to have been indifferent — she was
by no means dismayed at the indiscreet rumours
current as to her young relation's conduct ; she
regarded it as of no consequence, excepting so far
as some benefit might be obtained from such a stroke
of luck.
As Lauzun, by his intimacy with the Queen,
enjoyed so much influence, he must be made to use
it in favour of the Due de Choiseul, and, conse-
quently, to her advantage, since she was her brother's
despotic ruler. Madame de Gramont, eaten up by
ambition, could not reconcile herself to the fact
that she no longer held the reins of power. She
98
thought the moment had come for seizing them
again, and she had a very precise explanation with
Lauzun, in the course of a long interview soon
after his arrival.
After congratulating him on so flattering a con-
quest as that which was attributed to him, she told
him very plainly that in his position nothing was
impossible for him, and that he ought to employ his
influence to secure Choiseul's recall.
Lauzun earnestly protested against the lady's
audacious inferences. He said that the Queen
certainly treated him with distinction, but nothing
more. "And, moreover," he added, "I have no
pretensions to any influence, and am quite deter-
mined never to ask for anything, either for myself or
for others." The Duchesse complimented him on
his discretion, but assured him that she knew what she
knew. " The Queen's liking for you," she said, " is
patent to all, and will no doubt lead to its natural
result. At the propitious moment you must have
M. de Choiseul recalled as Minister."
Lauzun again assured Mme. de Gramont that
there was no ground whatever for her suppositions,
and added, " I am not in a position to attempt such
intrigues, and if I were I would not do it. No one
is more devoted than I am to M. de Choiseul, and I
believe I could do him no worse service than by
helping his return to the conduct of affkirs. No
man in Europe has enjoyed so much consideration
or so high a reputation ; he is the only Minister who
ever saw the King who banished him deserted by
99 H 2
his own courtiers in favour of an exile. He could
only be a loser by a return to power."
The imperious lady flew into a rage, indignant at his
refusal to make his influence subserve the aggrandize-
ment of his family, but Lauzun remained inflexible.
M. and Mme. de Choiseul, being informed of
the ground of quarrel, thought their nephew in
the right. But Mme. de Gramont could never
forgive his opposition, and from that day forth she
was his implacable enemy.
Lauzun stayed a little longer with his relations,
but after these lively disputes he felt less at his ease
than in former days. M. and Mme. de Choiseul were
always delightfully kind to him, but the Duchesse de
Gramont, on the contrar}/, made herself so disagree-
able that he determined on abridging his stay and
returning to the capital.
During the Carnival, Mme. de Guemcnee gave a
ball for the Queen every Saturday. There was
dancing in some of the rooms, and card-]3laying in
others, to suit all tastes. One Saturday evening
Lauzun was seated at the card-table with the Comte
d'Artois, the Due de Chartres, and two others ; they
were playing Fifteens. On a sudden Mme. de
Guemenee came in greatly agitated ; she signed to
Lauzun to rise at once and come to speak with
her. Lauzun thought that his hour had come, and
that he was to be consigned to the Bastille. His
political scheming and the favour he enjoyed might
at any moment bring down such a catastrophe on
him. Happily it was not he who was implicated.
The Comte de Guines was the person in difficulties.
He had just been recalled from London, where he
was Ambassador, in consequence of the scandal caused
by certain revelations made by his secretary, Tort,
who accused him of having introduced smuggled
goods under cover of diplomatic privilege, and also of
having gambled in the funds, by taking advantage
of the information he was enabled to procure.
On arriving from England, M. de Guines had gone
straight to Mme. de Boufflers (the Idol). She was
giving a great supper at which were present the
Prince de Conti, the Due de Choiseul, Mme. de
Gramont, Mme. de Luxembourg, Mme. de Lauzun,
and some others. He informed his friends of his
misfortunes ; all the Choiseul coterie, whose creature
he was, were greatly alarmed, and it was decided that
Lauzun must be warned without loss of time. His
influence alone seemed equal to the task of averting
the storm which threatened the Ambassador.
Mme. de Guemenee, in a few words, explained the
state of affairs ; she implored him to save M. de
Guines, and added that there was not an instant to
be lost.
The Queen was conversing with the Due de Coigny
in an adjoining room. Lauzun did not hesitate ; he
went to her at once and laid the case before her. M. de
Coigny was of opinion that she ought not to interfere
in the matter ; Lauzun on the contrary declared that
she could not desert a man in whom she had sho^vn
her interest, that such neglect would have a very bad
effect, and he finally won the day. ^' I am convinced
lOI
and resolved," said the Queen ; " I ^vill act on M. de
Lauzun's opinion," and she graciously added, turning
to him : "I will gladly do whatever you think best
in the matter." She then went back to the ball-
room.
The Queen's influence was soon perceptible. The
trial was ended, and Tort was condemned to a heavy
penalty for libel. But the rehabilitation of the Am-
bassador was not yet complete. Marie Antoinette
persuaded the King, in spite of his resistance, to
create the Comte, Due de Guines, and the monarch
announced the honour in a letter which the Queen
made him re-"\vrite three times, because she did not
think it sufficiently flattering.
Nor was this all. The Queen demanded the dis-
missal of all who had opposed her action. D'Aiguil-
lon, the hated leader of the old cabal, was the first to
be sacrificed. Malesherbes and Turgot, who had
caused the recall of the Ambassador, shared the
Due d'Aiguillon's fate. *'The Queen would have
liked," Mercy writes to the Empress, "that the
Sieur Turgot should be dismissed and, moreover, put
in the Bastille, the same day when the Comte de
Guines was created Due. Only the strongest and
most urgent representations availed to prevent the
results of her anger."
On hearing of these events Mme. de Choiseul
writes to Mme. du Defiant in the highest spirits :
" I, like you, was transported with joy at M. de
Guines' success ; it seems to me that the disgrace of
the two Ministers, which followed on it, makes him
1 02
seem like a Roman in triumph dragging his slaves in
his train."
The whole Court rejoiced to be rid of Turgot.
" On the day when this Minister was banished," writes
Mercier, " the King was enthusiastically cheered as
he passed along the corridor. This is the highest
praise ever bestowed on Turgot. It was as if an or-
ganized body of highwaymen were rejoicing over the
disbanding of the road-side police. Their joy seemed
so outrageous to the Neapolitan Ambassador that he
said : " I feel as though I were looking on while a
rich man dismissed his honest steward, and the
insolent subordinates dared rejoice in their master's
presence, because the honest steward had kept
a bridle on them." He also said to one of his
friends who spoke with dissatisfaction of these
changes : *^ Basta ! Do not be uneasy, these are the
King's milk-teeth."
Turgot's place was filled by M. de Clugny, M.
Amelot took that of Malesherbes. This very in-
different selection made the Prince de Ligne wittily
exclaim : "In the country where most men of parts
are to be found, the ministers are always chosen
among men who have none."
The most important outcome was the appointment
of M. Necker to be Minister of Finance. It was the
first time since the reign of Henri IV. that a
Protestant had sat on the King's Council. Necker
had the clergy against him on account of his creed,
the lawyers on account of his calling, and the
financiers on account of his schemes; but he was
103
ambitious, and uniquely conceited ; he believed it to
be liis mission to save the State, and by dint of
assertiveness he succeeded for some years in making
the world believe that he was capable of doing it.
Then, after all these changes which disturbed the
administration, came the necessityfor a new War
Minister. In the month of October, 1775, M. de
Muy having died, his place was given to M. de Saint-
Germain, a mediocre and very devout man. He
distinguished himself on taking up his appointment
by considerable alterations, most of them for the
worse. Among other things he declared that he was
about to reform the army ; to this end he took it
into his head to introduce corporal punishment of
soldiers, beating with a stick as was customary in
the German armies. Being anxious to make sure of
the efficacy of the system, he consulted a Major of an
Infantry regiment of Nassau, who had been a soldier
in the ranks, asking him what he thought of the
thrashings. " Monsieur le Comte,'* said the officer,
" I have taken many and I have given many, and I
never was the worse for it.'* Strengthened by this
assurance, M. de Saint-Germain promulgated his
decree, but it gave rise to unanimous remonstrance.
He was bitterly charged with having attempted to
degrade the French military spirit by giving it a
German tone.
Old Marechal de Luckner, a Bavarian Avho had
been a Colonel of Prussian Hussars, said, " They may
do what they will and torture their men : happily
for them they can never make Prussians of them."
T04
At the beginning of 1776, M. cle Saint-Germain,
pursuing his innovations, decided on reforming all
the legions. Lauzun went therefore to join the
Legion under his command. By the Queen's desire
M. de Saint-Germain offered him a regiment of
twelve hundred light horse, then that of the
Schomberg Dragoons, then the Chamborant Hussars ;
but the Minister's ill-will hindered Lauzun' s
acceptance of either of these proposals. Finally M.
de Saint-Germain proposed that he should take the
regiment of Royal Dragoons, which was supposed to
be the most insubordinate of the whole army.
Lauzun, offended at the treatment he had been
subjected to, at once refused, but the King having
sent for him and urged him to accept it, he gave
way. The Minister was to leave him the choice of
a station, and though the price of the regiment was
forty thousand cro^vns, he was to have it for
nothing.
In the spring of 1776 races were again instituted,
to the great delight of the Paris world. Lauzun
spent large sums on his stables, and always had
horses in the field. The Queen, following his ex-
ample, took constantly increasing pleasure in this
form of amusement, and was always present at the
races on the Plaine de Sablons ; she wished to have
a racing establishment of her OAvn, but the King
would not allow it.
In the month of April, a match was run between
Lauzun and the Due de Chartres : enormous sums
were laid in bets. The Queen was aware of this and
105
feared a defeat for her favourite. "I am so afraid
that if you lose I shall cry ! " said she. Lauzun
won, and the populace, who admired his chivalrous
and adventurous character, expressed their satisfac-
tion by hailing him with applause. The Queen on
her part made no secret of her joy.
A few days later, during a hunting party in the
Bois de Boulogne, Marie Antoinette observed a very
pretty horse belonging to Lauzun : " Is it quiet ? "
she asked. "Is it safe for a woman ? " On
receiving an affirmative reply : " Then I should like
to have it, '* said she. Lauzun laughed and said lie
did not wish to part with it. " Then I shall take it, "
she said also laufi^hinn^.
The Due de Coigny, who was charged by the
Polignac faction to keep an eye on the Queen, over-
heard the last words : he immediately repeated them,
and much petty mischief ensued.
Not long after, the Queen heard that Mme. de
Lamballe was ill of the measles at Plombieres. She
was much distressed, for she still had a sincere
attachment to her ; she was afraid that her friend's
real state might be concealed from her, and longed
at any cost for some direct news. Lauzun, seeing
her grief and anxiety, offered to go to Plombieres
and learn the truth himself, so as to send the Queen
exact information as to the progress of the complaint.
She gratefully accepted the offer. He found Mme.
de Lamballe much better, and had the pleasure of
letting the Queen know at once. He then took
advantage of his journey to Lorraine to take leave of
1 06
his old regiment. His soldiers, whom he had always
treated kindly, and who loved his frank and loyal
nature, gave him many touching proofs of affection
and regret.
Having fulfilled this duty, he went to Sarrelouis,
where his new regiment was quartered. He there
had an unpleasant surprise : M. de Saint- Germain,
who had promised him the Colonelcy of the Royal
Dragoons without payment, now demanded forty
thousand crowns. This surprise was all the more
painful, because Lauzun was beginning to be much
straitened for money.
During his stay at Sarrelouis Lauzun received
from Mme. de Gu^menee a long letter telling him
that Mme. de Polignac had begged of the Queen the
reversion to her husband of the post of First Equerry,
then held by the Comte de Tesse. But Marie
Antoinette, who had some time since offered the
prospective appointment to Lauzun, would not
pledge herself without his consent. Somewhat
surprised that she should propose to give away a
place which had been offered to him, and which he
had not positively refused, Lauzun saw clearly how
seriously threatening to his interests the influence of
the Polignacs was becoming. He would not, how-
ever, betray his secret feeling. " I replied, as was
my duty, " he says, " to the Queen and to Mme. de
Gu^men^e, that I had never had the smallest inten-
tion of obtaining the appointment, and that I was
delighted that her Majesty should dispose of it in her
friend's favour. I did my utmost to make my letter
107
express exactly and lightly that the proposed
arrangement was in no way displeasing to me." So
Comte Jules de Polignac was nominated.
Lauzun's apprehensions were only too well founded.
The Queen could refuse her favourite nothing.^ M.
de Vaudreuil was made High Falconer ; the Comtesse
Diane, in spite of the improprieties of her conduct,
became lady-in-waiting to Madame Elizabeth ; M.
d*Adhemar was appointed Minister to the Court of
Brussels.
Lauzun had returned to Versailles by the beginning
of October. He proceeded next day to Choisy, where
the Court then was. The Queen received him very
kindly, expressed great joy at seeing him again, and
conversed with him for a long time in an undertone.
As he withdrew after this audience, he had time to
overhear the Due de Coigny say to the Queen :
*' You have not kept your word, you promised to
speak to him but little, and to treat him like every-
body else."
The Polignac faction watched Lauzun's favour with
daily increasing jealousy, and tried by every means to
undermine his influence. They were always afraid
lest he should so completely overrule the Queen as
to bring about Choiseul's reinstatement. They
therefore organized a complete system of espionage ;
the Queen herself was a victim to their remonstrances,
1 Madame de Polignac grew in favour as time went on. Mercy
tells ns that in the years 1779-1780 she received 400,000 francs to
pay her debts, the promise of an estate worth 35,000 francs a year,
800,000 francs in money for her daughter's marriage portion,
etc.
io8
and their comments. So much so, that feeling her-
self surrounded by malignant eyes — or rather by
friends who kept her in order — at last, for fear of a
scolding, she dared never speak to Lauzun in public.
He often bantered her on the subject, and she
laughingly admitted it.
In the month of November a very interesting race
was to be run by two horses belonging to the
Comte d'Artois and the Due de Chartres. The
Comte d'Artois' horse, called King Pippin, had cost
him seventeen hundred louis, in England. The
Queen bet against the Due de Chartres, and Lauzun
against the Comte d'Artois. King Pippin was beaten,
and the Queen in a first impulse of annoyance ex-
claimed to Lauzun : " Monster ! you were certain
to win ! " This unfortunate speech was overheard,
and the familiar tone was a shock to the Polignacs.
They fancied that Lauzun was in greater favour than
ever, and all redoubled their efforts to effect his ruin.
By degrees they achieved it ; circumventing the
Queen and representing to her the dangers and dis-
advantages of such a liking. The Due had been in
favour for nearly eighteen months — really a long
time for Court favour to endure.
He soon had unmistakable proof that his influence
was fast waning. Two ladies of fashion, Mme. de
Genlis and Mme. Potocka, in a moment of vanity took
it into their heads to found an order of chivalry.
The idea was quite in keeping with the sentiments at
that time fashionable in Society. The idea indeed
was no novelty. At the beginning of the century
109
the Duchesse du Maine had founded the Order of the
Honey-Bee. In 1 770, at Bas-sur- Seine, the Order of
Constancy had been revived, an ancient foundation
of a Comtesse de Champagne. And another Order
of Felicity had been created under the auspices of
the Due de Bouillon.
The Order devised by Mine, de Genlis was called
the Order of Perseverance : to give it some status it
was said to have existed formerly in Poland, where it
was held in high honour.
Mme. de Genlis naturally drew up the statutes.
She chose the handsomest costumes of ancient
chivalry ; she added various romantic details of her
own invention, and some academic practices.
Members were admitted only by ballot ; they passed
certain tests, but all merely intellectual ; they had to
guess enigmas and answer questions in morality
propounded by the president. Subsequently they
had to read or make a speech in praise of some virtue.
The president replied in a little moral homily and
administered the oaths. Members pledged them-
selves on all occasions to defend oppressed innocence
or weakness, and to bring to light every noble
action they could discover. The Knights and Dames
were also obliged to adopt a motto. Each Knight
chose a Brother-in-Arms and each Lady a Sister.
A Lady might choose a Knight or not, as she pleased,
but if she took one, he was always chosen in such a
way as to give no cause for malicious comments.
The uniform was white and light grey, bound with
silver, and a violet scarf. The Knights on being
no
admitted received a gold ring with the motto of the
Order in enamelled letters — " Gandeur et Loyaute,
courage et bienfaisance, vertu, bonte, perseverance,'' ^
There were a number of ceremonies, all remarkably
childish, but they amused the idlers of Paris society.
Lauzun was one of the first Knights enrolled in the
new Order. Among the members were the Duchesse
de Chartres, Mme. de Bourbon, and several ladies of
the Court ; the Comte d'Artois, the Due de Chartres,
etc. The Order became very numerous, very fashion-
able, and included people of the highest rank. Every-
body wished to join ; the idea was even suggested of
getting permission for the members to wear the
violet scarf over their Court uniform, even when
attending on the King.
It then occurred to Lauzun to ask the Queen to join
the little company ; he undertook to get her to do so
as Grand Mistress of the Order.
Marie Antoinette, captivated by the childish
ceremonies of these knights and ladies, accepted
with pleasure. But the Polignac coterie rose in
wrath, protesting against it, and with so much
effect that the Queen, for the sake of peace, gave up
the idea.
This was serious to Lauzun, and unquestionable
proof that his rivals were gaining ground and by
degrees leaving him behind.
He continued, nevertheless, to be one of the most
energetic members of the new order. Indeed, it
* " Candour and loyalty, courage and beneficence, virtue, kind-
ness, perseverance."
Ill
was in the garden of a small house he had taken at
Montrouge that the knights and ladies met, once a
fortnight, to hold high council on the subject of
Honour, and to eat cakes. A large marquee had
been pitched there and called the " Temple of
Honour." The glory of the Order of Perseverance
was brief. Those who had not joined made jokes at
the expense of the initiated, turning them into ridicule
with their tests, emblems, and ceremonies. Before
long it was forgotten. Fashion had played long
enough at chivalry.
In the course of the year 1776, Lauzun had the
sorrow of losing his old friend the Prince de Conti,
with whom he had always remained on intimate
and affectionate terms. The Prince had quarrelled
with the Queen ; hence, since Lauzun had been in
such high favour at Court, he had somewhat
neglected his friend. But in former days he had
paid long visits to 1' Isle- Adam under the kindly
hospitality of the Prince.^
M. de Conti fell ill in June, 1775. Mme. de
Luxembourg, Mme. de Boufflers, her daughter-in-
law, and Mme. de Lauzun never left him, and
nursed him with the tenderest care. His state soon
grew worse, and the end was evidently near. He
died on August 2, at the age of fifty-eight.
The Prince had no religious feeling. Seeing his
chaplain and his treasurer walking together one day,
he remarked, with a laugh, to the friends who were
1 See The Due de Lauzun and the Court of Louis XV.,
cliap. ix.
112
with him : " There go the two certainly most useless
members of my household." However, when his
state was evidently desperate, an attempt was made
to get him to see Mgr. de Beaumont, Archbishop of
Paris. The Prince, startled by this unexpected
visitor, exchanged a few words with the prelate ;
he then showed him the door, and when, on two
occasions, the Archbishop tried to bring the sacra-
ment to the dying man, the gates were pitilessly
closed against him by the porter. The crowd which
collected in the street saw this insult to one of the
heads of the Church, and the scandal was of course
very great. The Archbishop was blamed for not
saving appearances by going into the courtyard at
any rate, closing the gates, and leaving the people
to suppose that he had been admitted to see the
dying man.
Mme. de Boufflers, who had lost a fiiend with
whom she had lived for years, was in the deepest
grief. To her it was real widowhood. She retired
to Auteuil, whither Mme. de Luxembourg like a true
friend accompanied her, with Mmes. de Lauzun, de
Virville and de Barbentane. Somewhat later *' the
Idol " settled at Aries, where she had arranged a
very pleasant residence. From thence she wrote to
Mme. du DefFant, who estimates her letter with the
peculiar warmth we know to be her characteristic !
^' I have had a letter from ' the Idol,' from Aries,
very weU written and very pathetic. I allowed myself
to be touched by it, but then I remembered her
behaviour to the late demoiselle de Lespinasse and
113 I
my heart closed against her. You are right ; we
should be made of stone and ice, and above all never
esteem any one enough to trust them. All that may
be done without either hatred or misanthropy."
fi4
CHAPTER VIII.
1777.
The Emperor Joseph II. 's visit — Its consequences.
In 1777 serious intrigues divided and disorganized
the Court of France. Two powerful families, the
Choiseuls and the Rohans, were waging implacable
war. Trusting to the support given them by the
Queen under all circumstances, the Choiseuls and
their partisans were making more strenuous efforts
than ever to seize the reins of power. A visit to
Paris from the Emperor Joseph was projected, and
the Choiseuls founded high hopes on the sovereign's
presence.
The second centre of intrigue was formed by the
family of Rohan. This cabal was the most virulent
and dangerous at Court, for they hesitated at no means
to secure their aims ; the old Comtesse de Marsan
was at their head. Marie Antoinette had no great
liking for the Rohans, and she did not conceal the
fact ; so Mme. de Marsan was confessedly hostile to
the Queen.
Long ago Louis XV. had promised the Rohan
family that the office of High Almoner of France
115 I 2
Bhoukl be conferred on Prince Louis at the death of
Cardinal de la Roche- Ay men. Louis XVI. on his
accession confirmed the promise. But the Choiseuls
had made a stir, and the Queen, at their instigation,
had induced the King to pledge his word that
Prince Louis de Rohan should never be High
Almoner.
In 1777 Cardinal de la Roche- Ay mon fell seriously
ill, and Mme. de Marsan reminded the King of his
promise. What was her rage on learning that her
enemies had undermined and destroyed the edifice
she had so painfully built up. All the Rohans took
up the matter ; at last they won over M. de Mau-
repas, and persuaded Mme. de Gu6m(^n6e to take
some steps; while Mme. de Marsan, at a private
audience of the King, showed so much determina-
tion, that Louis XVL yielded, and promised to
nominate Prince Louis, but for one year only.
Cardinal de la Roche- Aymon did not disappoint
the hopes of the Rohans. He died of a violent
attack of gout. Although he enjoyed an income of
more than six hundred thousand francs (£24,000) he
left such enormous debts that his estate did not
suffice to pay them all off.
So Prince Louis fell heir to the office of High
Almoner, and was also promised a Cardinal's hat.
A few days later the King, on the road to Fontaine-
bleau with the Comte d'Artois, met the High
Almoner in a carriage ; sitting by his side was a
young Abb6 with a pretty face, his hair carefully
powdered and tied : *' If only he wore rouge I could
ii6
swear it was a woman ! " exclaimed Louis XVI. ^' 1
should think so indeed ! " replied the Comte d'Artois.
" It is the Marquise de Marigny." It was she in fact
— a natural daughter of Louis XV. who had married
Mme. de Pompadour's brother.
Everything seemed to concur to aggrandize the
fortune of the Rohans ; dignities and riches were
heaped on them. The Prince de Guemenee received
from the King, in the course of the year, the investi-
ture of all the fiefs of Alsace, and he won a law- suit
against the Crown which made him owner of the port
of Lorient.
Peace and union prevailed as little between
the Royal couple as they did at Court. Not-
withstanding advice, the Queen grew no less un-
reasonable. Differences of taste and incompatibility
of temper had inevitably led to a complete estrange-
ment of the husband and wife; they lived quite
apart, inhabiting separate rooms, which roused the
wrath of Mercy and of Maria Theresa.
This strained situation suggested to some of the
courtiers who were eager to better their fortunes,
the idea of reviving a Court function which had
lapsed since the death of Louis XV. — that of King's
Mistress. They cast their eyes on Mademoiselle
Contat, who had a pretty face, artless graces, and
a delightful voice ; but they did not know their
ground ; their hints were 'indignantly repelled.
The Queen was not satisfied with devoting herself
to a life of pleasure ; she wished to have the bestowal
of every office in the kingdom. Her favourites of
117
both sexes worked upon her disgracefully, taking
advantage of her influence and power to obtain
scandalous privileges. Such favour, unjustly granted
to a narrow set, the Queen's love of racing, her
passion for games of chance, and her entire contempt
of etiquette, produced deplorable results. The
rumours of the disgraceful scenes which took place
at Versailles or at the King's country residences,
gravitated with exaggerated details to the level of the
populace. The Queen was the object of extreme
disapprobation, and when she appeared in public,
instead of being greeted mth cheers, as at first, she
was received in gloomy silence.
Maria Theresa, much concerned at the accounts
she received, and seeing all her advice absolutely
wasted, determined on sending her son, the Emperor
Joseph II., on a visit to France, that he might try
to remedy a state of things which was becoming
alarming.
Joseph II. reached Paris in April, 1777, under the
name of Count Falkenstein, and preserved a sort of
half incognito.
The ^ French Court was greatly excited by this
visit, especially the Queen, for she foresaw a severe
lecture. Joseph, wishing to form his own judgment
as to the situation, begged his sister to introduce him
to her private circle. The Emperor disapproved
greatly of the Princesse de Lamballe, and made no
secret of it. The Queen, who for the last two years
had seen less and less of her former favourite, con-
fessed that she had been mistaken in her, and
ii8
regretted having given her the post she held ; but
that mischief was done and no change could be
made.
One evening Joseph accompanied his sister to
Mme. de Guemenee*s rooms. Faro was of course
played, and the Emperor was invited to take a place
at the table : " No/' said he stiffly, '' I am not rich
enough ; besides, cards bring into the drawing-room
many persons whose place is in the ante-room."
The gambling went on, and presently, notwithstand-
ing the Queen's presence, one of the players spoke
insultingly to Mme. de Guemenee as to the suspicious
style of her play. The Emperor withdrew in disgust,
and told his sister that the house was nothing better
than a gambling hell, and that the bad style of the
company and general appearance of license had
horrified him. At midnight he took leave of the
Queen, who at once went back to Mme. de
Guemenee's rooms to finish the game.
But it was to Mme. de Polignac that Marie
Antoinette more particularly clung, and she did her
utmost to place her in a favourable light in her
brother's eyes. The Emperor very wisely observed
that he did not dispute the admirable qualities with
which the lady might be gifted ; but, he added, she
was too young, and the persons about her were of
too doubtful a character to make her competent to
advise his sister.
The Emperor, pursuing his inquiries, wished to be
present at a horse-race ; though his presence imposed
some reserve, he was shocked at the prodigality, and
119
the excessive familiarity attending this kind of
amusement. He lectured his sister a good deal on
the unseemliness of her conduct, on the dangers of
such society as she gathered about her, and the con-
sequences to which her levity must inevitably lead.
They had some very stormy altercations. Finally
Marie Antoinette, bowing to her brother's authority,
promised amendment.
Notwithstanding his severe censure, Joseph II. did
not think ill of her ; he did justice both to her good
qualities and to the difficulties of her position : " She
is amiable and charming," he wrote. " I have spent
hours with her without knowing how they had
slipped away. Her virtue is spotless ; she is even
austere, but by instinct rather than from reason.
She is a sweet and virtuous woman, rather young,
rather heedless, but with a foundation of honesty and
virtue which in her position are really admirable.
And with it all an intelligence and clear-sightedness
which often amazed me.'*
If the Queen's immediate circle caused the
Emperor some anxiety, the Royal Family pleased
him but little. " Monsieur is an indescribable
creature," he says, " he is even more deadly cold than
the King. Madame is coarse and ugly ; it is not
for nothing that she is Piemontese, full of intrigue,
etc." ^ Of the Comte d' Artois, whose intimacy with
the Queen he disapproved of: ^* He is a fop in every
sense of the word. His wife, who only has children,
is absolutely idiotic." He told the Queen that this
1 Marie ThSrese und Joseph II. A. d'Arneth, vol. ii. p. 134.
1 20
Prince's reputation was ruined by his debauchery,
his recklessness and his bad manners, and that she
would do herself the greatest mischief by allowing
him to continue on such terms of intimacy.
Of all the Royal Family the King was after all
the personage he liked best. " The man is weak,"
he writes, *^ but not imbecile. He has ideas and
judgment ; but his body and mind are alike
apathetic. He talks rationally, he has no taste for
information, no curiosity ; in short the fiat lux has
never come to him ; matter is still in gloom.''
The Emperor had not, however, been sent to
France merely to take his sister to task ; he was ex-
pected to pronounce thatj^a^ lux and persuade the
King to abandon the platonic attitude he had chosen
to assume with the Queen.
The possible promise of an heir to the throne had,
to be sure, always filled the Empress-mother with
alarm : '* I should always fear for the mother and
the child, " she wrote to Mercy, " both before and
after its birth. The most atrocious crimes are held
of no account in a country where irreligion is carried
to the greatest excess." (October 1st, 1777.) Such a
reflection speaks volumes as to the conduct of the
French Court.
Mercy, however, to reassure her, writes as follows :
"The Court is certainly full of rascals, but at this
juncture they are not of a type to commit great
crimes. For that some courage in wickedness is
needed, and here there are none but mean intriguers."
Joseph II. carried out successfully both the
121
missions entrusted to him, and bad every reason to
congratulate himself on having come to France.
Were the factions which divided the Court ever to
see the hopes realized which the Emperor's visit had
led them to form ? The Choiseuls hoped great things,
and had made every preparation to profit by the
Emperor's stay at the French Court. Unluckily, as
soon as he arrived, Joseph announced that he would
have nothing to do with any questions of politics ; he
met Choiseul with pleasure, but avoided any serious
conversation ; nay, having by chance mentioned the
former Minister to the King, he spoke of him with
little approbation.
A still greater disappointment awaited Choiseul.
Joseph II., on his way from Paris, was to pass very
near Chanteloup. Nobody for a moment doubted
that he would do the owner the honour of visiting
him. Choiseul himself was the first to hope for such
a mark of favour, and he had arranged for a mag-
nificent reception ; relays of fine horses were laid on
the road, and a splendid company were in attendance
at the chateau. Entertainments and fetes had been
prepared. But the Emperor, out of consideration
for the King, for M. de Maurepas and the other
Ministers, did not stop. Choiseul and his party were
in consternation, and the blow was all the greater
because the expected visit had been announced with
much clamour and ostentation.
Choiseul' s enemy, Prince Louis de Rohan, was no
better off. He implored an audience of the Emperor,
to make, as he said, an important communication on
122
matters of the highest interest ; but he did not even
receive a reply.
For a time after her brother's return home, Marie
Antoinette was careful enough as to the reforms he
had enjoined. Not only did she give up her too
flagrant dissipations, her drives to Paris by night,
and Mme. de Guemenee's card parties, but she was
very attentive to the King, accompanying him with
much regularity on his hunting expeditions and
his residences at Saint-Hubert. Unfortunately her
good resolutions were not very lasting. Before long,
not knowing how to spend her days and nights, the
Queen took to gambling again, at first in her own
apartments with her own circle, then at the public
Court drawing-room held three times a week, and
finally, from old habit, at Mme. de Guemenee's once
more.
This passion, with the long late evenings, again
resulted in the King and Queen living apart,
the habit which had so much distressed Maria
Theresa and Mercy. The Queen in vain declared
that the King preferred it ; Mercy says it was not so,
that the truth was that the King loved early hours
and the Queen liked to sit up late.
Then, in spite of her promises, the Queen would
again go to the opera-balls, and this misconduct
brought upon her this severe lecture from her
brother :
" Have the kindness only to think of all the
disagreeable adventures you have already met with
at these balls, and which you yourself related to me.
123
Why these scenes, this vulgarity ? Why mix your-
self up with a mob of libertines, low women and
strangers, and listen to such things as you must
hear, and perhaps say such things yourself?
How unseemly ! I may tell you frankly that this is
the thing which most scandalizes all who love you
and who think respectably. The King is left to
spend the night alone at Versailles while you are
mixing in society, and lost among the riff-raff of
Paris."
In spite of Joseph's remonstrances, the Queen now
took up her life of dissipation where she had left it.
Her folly and recklessness were the same. In 1779
the Queen had the measles. She desired to have for
her attendants MM. de Coigny, de Guines, Esterhazy
and de Besenval. The request was outrageous, but
as the Queen insisted, the King, weak as usual, gave
way ; and there was the strange spectacle of a Queen
of France surrounded by four young men who
waited upon her from seven in the morning till
eleven in the evening. They even tried for permission
to spend the night in her rooms, but Mercy, hearing
of their demand, rebelled and gained his point. At
the same time, on the pretext that the malady was
infectious, the King was not allowed to see the
Queen.
The results were vexatious scandal and pleas-
antries in the worst taste. The Court all laughed,
and the town laughed too. The ladies were named
who might nurse the King if he should fall ill.
124
CHAPTER IX.
1776—1778.
LauzTin's debts —Difficulties with his wife and family — Generous
offers from M. de Voyer and from Lady Barrymore — The
Queen refuses to intervene — Arrangement with M. de
Guemenee — Mme. de Guemenee slanders Mme. de Lauzun —
Choiseul's indignation — His interview with Mme. de
Guemenee.
At the end of the former volume we saw how pre-
carious Lauzun's financial position had become.
From that time there had been no improvement in
his affairs ; he had continued to fling money about
in handfuls, without ever thinking of the future.
His extravagant expenditure, his racing stables, his
constant journeys, had all contributed to add con-
siderably to the schedule of his debts. In 1777 he
was but thirty years of age, and he owed more
than two million francs (£80,000). Several of his
creditors having shown some impatience, it occurred
to Lauzun that it would perhaps be well for him
to see his position clearly, and he desired his man
of business. Pays, to audit the accounts. The
steward made certain of the creditors abate their
claims by threatening them with criminal proceed-
125
ings, and after long disputes the Due's debts were
reduced to the modest total of 1,500,000 francs
(about £60,000).
Lauzun was far from troubling himself about
such a trifle ; he was the heir to a vast fortune, and
he thought it but natural that he should spend it
while he was young, thinking, not without reason,
that our needs diminish with added years, and that
it is only prudent to enjoy the goods of this world
while we are able to appreciate them. As to his
creditors, he was amazed that they should not feel
perfectly secure, as they were certain to be paid
sooner or later.
Unfortunately the persons whose interest it was
to injure him bought up a large proportion of the
bills out against him, and called upon him with
legal formalities to pay without delay. His situation
was critical ; he was in danger of nothing less than
imprisonment for debt, or at the least of outlawry.
The Mardchale de Luxembourg was especially
relentless; she spouted fire and flames, telling
everybody that Lauzun was a wretch, that he was
not content merely to neglect her granddaughter,
but that he had ruined her as well. He had no-
thing to hope for from his family. Mme. de Lauzun
positively refused to help him, so did Mar^chal de
Biron. M. De Gontaut, who had just come into
his brothers, the Abb^ de Biron's fortune, could
have lent him money without inconvenience, but he
did nothing of the kind. The whole family made
it unmistakably plain that they meant to keep
126
quite clear of the whole business. The most ill-
natured reports were spread ; it was said that
Lauzun had devoured his wife's fortune, and he had
also drawn bills in anticipation of his father's death,
of M. de Biron's, Mme. de Choiseul's and Mme. de
Luxembourg's.
At this painful phase of his life our hero not only
did not find in others the helpfulness on which he
had a right to count ; he also met with ingratitude
from some persons to whom he had been of service.
He had the grief of seeing the Choiseuls, their
partisans, and M. de Guines, whom he had saved,
all turn against him. Choiseul and Mme. de
Gramont especially were excessively stem in their
treatment. Indignant at this cold rejection, which
he certainly had not deserved, for he had in various
circumstances shown his strong attachment to his
relations, he broke with them completely. It was
a real grief to him to see no more of his aunt, Mme.
de Choiseul, for whom he had entertained a sincere
affection of many years' standing, and she had
always shown him the greatest interest and been
very indulgent to his follies.
Lauzun was, happily, not forsaken by all ; he had
the comforting satisfaction of finding that some
faithful friends yet were left to him, even in mis-
fortune. M. de Voyer, with whom he had been
intimate from his early youth,^ led a retired life on
his estate of Les Ormes, near Tours ; he did a great
deal of good there, and he also received the most
1 See Lauzun and the Court of Louis XV., p. 72.
127
brilliant society of the Court and of Paris. At the
first news of his friend's disasters he hurried off to
see him, and addressed him in these words :
" My dear Duke, I have an estate called La
Guerche, at about four leagues from Les Ormes. The
house is very comfortable and well enough furnished.
The estate and income are at your service for as long
as you please. If the worth of the land is of more
use to you — I am offered a million francs for it —
I will give it you, and you can do as you like with
it."
Lauzun was deeply touched by so generous an offer,
but he refused it, not needing it, as he declared.
A few days later be received a mark of attachment
of which he was deeply sensible. His connection
with Lady Barrymore had been quite ephemeral.
The fair Englishwoman had returned home. On
hearing that he was ruined she came back to Paris
and sent for him at once. " Listen," said she " and
do not interrupt me. I am told that you are ruined.
I am rich, young and independent. I have come to
offer to share your fate and hand you over my
fortune. I will travel with you wherever and for
as long as you like. Do not fear the levity of my
nature. There is nothing that offers me the prospect
of so much pleasure and happiness as this plan.
You are to assume all the authority of a despotic
husband ; I will never try to evade it."
Lauzun, much moved by an offer he was so far
from expecting, thanked the lady very warmly. He
explained to her that his duty was to stay and defy
128
the storm, and that indeed his position was by no
means so desperate as was reported by malicious
tongues. He therefore declined the offer made to
him with so much heartiness. Lady Barrymore
expressed herself deeply disappointed, and returned
to England.
As to the Due de Chartres, whose fortune was
enormous, and who had for years received from
Lauzun every mark of the most entire devotion, he
seemed to be perfectly unaware of his friend's
embarrassment, and did not make him the smallest
offer of assistance. Lauzun, on his part, was too
proud to ask it ; and he does not seem for an instant
to have thought it the Prince's obvious duty to help
him.
Meanwhile, his imminent ruin caused the greatest
excitement. The most vexatious and exaggerated
misrepresentations were current, and produced a very
bad effect at Court. Not choosing to let them pass
uncontradicted, Lauzun drew up a very exact
statement of his fortune and of his debts, and went
to beseech the Queen to lay this document before
the King that he might not judge him on mis-infor-
mation. But Marie Antoinette had fallen under
the influence of the Polignacs ; they had persistently
and incessantly attacked Lauzun : his urgent need
of money and his disputes with Mme. de Lauzun
had served as the pretext for endless perfidious and
spiteful insinuations, and the Queen had not been
able to hold her own. She received Lauzun coldly,
and expressed some hesitation when he begged her
129 K
to speak to the King for him. However, she seemed
interested in his misfortunes, and offered him her
protection, but with so much haughtiness that the
Due, deeply hurt by a tone he had had no reason to
expect, rose, and without further words took his
leave of the sovereign. " I ask your Majesty's
pardon," said he, ^* for having troubled you with my
private affairs,'* and he withdrew.
Being still anxious that the King should know
the truth as to his pecuniary position, and not be
deceived by calumny, he called on M. de Maurepas,
and begged him to do him the service he had failed
of obtaining from the Queen. The old Minister at
once consented ; laid the statement in question before
Louis, who, always good-natured, offered Lauzun a
pension ; the idea was even mooted of sending
Lauzun as Ambassador to England, as some compensa-
tion for his disasters. But Lauzun, hurt and offended
by the coldness shown him by the Queen, did not
choose to owe anything to the Court, and refused
all that could be offered to him.
To escape from the desperate difficulties with
which he was struggling, Lauzun, by a deed of
April 17, 1777, gave to Pays, his steward and agent,
a power of attorney, authorizing him to administer
his fortune and pay his creditors. He reserved
only 100,000 francs a year ; 40,000 for personal
expenses, and 60,000 for those of Mme. de Lauzun.
Pays set to work, but his efforts to restore order
in his master's affairs were not crowned with
success. The creditors proved refractory, and
Lauzun, to put an end to a state of things which
each day made more inextricable, came to an arrange-
ment with his friend the Prince de Gu^menee ; ^ he
made over to him everything of which he stood
possessed for an income of 80,000 francs (£3,200 a
year).
At the time when his financial difficulties had fallen
on Lauzun, a painful mortification awaited him in
domestic life. Though he always lived apart from
Mme. de Lauzun, and their intimacy was restricted
to certain social amenities, their official union had
never been severed, and they dwelt under the same
roof. In short, they got on no worse together than
many, or most, fashionable couples of that day.
When the Due's creditors made the vexatious public
scandal of which we have heard, Mme. de Lauzun
showed much patience and gentleness, but she
declared that she had had enough of their life
together, and that she meant to take up her residence
with Mme. de Luxembourg. Her husband vehe-
mently opposed this plan. In the first place he
hated the Marechale, who returned the sentiment
1 By a deed signed in the presence of Maitre Lebrun, notary of
Paris, March 11, 1778, Lauzun sold to M. and Mme. de Guemenee
"the lands of Le Chatel, and of Carman, with all their depen-
dencies, the possession of a house at Montmorency, the whole of
his emoluments derived from the Colonel's perquisites in the
regiment of Royal Dragoons, and all the dividends and revenues
accruing from the effects handed over to them by this sale,
3,908,000 francs in all, of which the estates of Le Chatel and of
Carman represented 3,500,000." In return M. and Mme. de
Guemenee undertook to pay all his debts and all pensions and
allowances due from Lauzun to other persons. They were also to
pay him 65,000 francs a year for life, and 15,000 a year to him
and his heirs for ever.
131 K 2
witli interest, and he also thought that Mme. de
Lauzun's departure would do him harm in the eyes
of the public. Unfortunately he had neglected to
pay the rent of the house she occupied, and she ran
the risk, at any moment, of seeing her furniture
seized. Under these circumstances he was obliged
to consent to her going to live with her grand-
mother.
Mme. de Luxembourg received her with joy ;
she was infinitely kind to her, and tried to make
her forget her griefs and her husband's neglect by
the constant affection she showed her. She made a
little society for her, composed of the Comtesse de
BouflBiers, Mme. de Choiseul, Mme. du DefFant, and
some other intimate friends. The Mar^chale, who
till Louis XV. 's death had played so conspicuous a
part, had during the last few years seen her circle
rapidly thinned ; and in the Salon, once so famous,
only the survivors of the old Court now formed a
diminished group. Li this choice but restricted
society the two women lived with quiet dignity.
After this separation, Mme. de Lauzun had no
further intercourse with her husband excepting on
matters of business. Some little time later she sent
him a memorandum relating to the arrangements to
be made in the future, as a result of their separation,
in the event of her inheriting property from any of
her relations. The lawyer employed to treat with
Lauzun constantly repeated in his conmiunications
this same formula : " Mme. de Lauzim's solicitor
does not know why M. de Lauzun should do this or
132
that" — "Mme. de Lauzun's solicitor is surprised
that M. de. Lauzun," etc.
The husband, irritated by this silly iteration,
wrote to the lawyer : " M. de Lauzun informs Mme.
de Lauzun's solicitor in the first place that he is an
impertinent fellow, and in the second that he does not
know what he is talking about, and finally, to be
rid of him once for all, that he, M. de Lauzun, agrees
with all his heart to anything that Mme. de Lauzun
may wish, whatever it may be."
During these painful family quarrels Lauzun's
friends took his part ; those of the Duchesse on the
other hand defended her with vehemence. She was
in general greatly pitied as being the innocent victim
of her husband's prodigality.
Lauzun's friends, however, thought it incumbent
on them to defend him, and they sometimes did it
with an energy and virulence which raised a tornado.
Thus Mme. de Guemen^e, in a moment of vindictive-
ness, so far forgot herself as to say that Mme. de
Lauzun was a disgraced woman. This speech,
maliciously repeated, roused all the family to such a
point that the Due de Choiseul, who was sincerely
attached to his niece, determined to go and demand
an explanation of the Princesse.
Being at Versailles in the month of January,
1778, for some Court ceremony, he requested an in-
terview with Mme. de Guem^nee and went to her the
following morning. Here is their conversation as
reported by Mme. de Gramont, who had it from
her brother : —
133
*' You know the ties which attach me to Mme. de
Lauzun, and which her misfortunes have drawn
closer. It has come to my knowledge that you said
that you had in your pocket evidence enough to dis-
honour her. The idea distresses me deeply. The
more positive the statement the more crushing it
is. Can it be possible that Mme. de Lauzun should
have deceived her family and the world ? It is on
this point, Madame, that I have come to beg you to
enlighten us."
** I see very plainly," said Mme. de Guemen^e,
" that this is to pick some fresh quarrel relating to
M. de Lauzun's bargain with M. de Guemenee."
" It has nothing to do with that bargain ; it con-
cerns only Mme. de Lauzun, and your having said
that you had in your pocket evidence that would
dishonour her."
** But, Monsieur, what is the meaning of all
this?"
" A little patience, Madame. Let us see what it is
that dishonours a woman. She is disgraced — or dis-
honoured — for instance, not by having a lover, I
suppose ? But by having several at once, or in such
rapid succession, that she cannot be supposed to feel
any real attachment. She is dishonoured when she
is rash in her choice, and flaunts them or throws
them over without regard to decency ; when she
does not deserve to retain them as friends or
acquaintances. This, Madame, does indeed disgrace
a woman ; but I can hardly believe that you ascribe
such conduct to Mme. de Lauzun. You cannot
134
even suppose that she has a lover. Still, if you
have the proof in your pocket — "
" It is not that."
^' Again, a woman is dishonoured if she does not
regulate her expenditure by her income, and buys
things on credit ; it is common enough I know, but
it is none the less dishonourable, because it is unjust,
and entails disastrous consequences — does it not,
Madame ? But I do not fancy that Mme. de Lauzun
can be accused of that. Her grandmother gives her
everything she can want — and besides, I hardly
suppose that you have your pockets full of her
tradesmen's bills.
'^ I know of only one other thing that can disgrace
a woman, and that is lying ; but the lying that is
dishonourable is not, I may say, lying for the sake of
an amusing story — that is wrong and silly, but it is
not dishonourable ; it is lying to injure another, to
insult virtue in misfortune, to ascribe her own vices
to those who have none. That, Madame, is what
brings a woman to disgrace and dishonour, from
which she can never rise again ! But Madame de
Lauzun talks so little and is so honest ! It is not of
that that you can accuse her."
Mme. de Guemenee could only find a few em-
barrassed words in reply ; she could only criticize
Mme. de Lauzun for having parted from her husband,
thinking her to blame, and so forth. Finally Choiseul
left her in triumph, saying, —
" I did not come here to defend Mme. de Lauzun,
who is high above anything that spite can invent
135
against her; but I wished to make you feel that
honesty, decency, and even self-interest, should have
made you more careful."
If Choiseul was right to take Mme. de Lauzun's
part against unjust attacks, he had every conceivable
motive on the other hand, to be indulgent to his
nephew's extravagant folly, for he was coming to the
same, and even worse, straits. In fact, in spite of his
years, he was not any wiser, and spent without
reckoning, running daily into enormous debts.
He lived in the Rue de Richelieu, at Paris, in a
mansion built for him by La Borde in the Maison
du Chatel. He there received every Wednesday and
Friday ; from seven to ten in the evening there was
a concert where the best musicians in Paris were the
performers. The whole Court assembled at his
house, where he also welcomed lawyers, men of
letters, and men of business of the first class.
But the life of magnificence led by the Choiseuls
after their return to Paris ended in a catastrophe.
In 1784 their position was such that they were forced
to sell their splendid hotel. Some time later they
were compelled also to part with Chanteloup, and
Louis XVI. was obliged to lend the former Minister
four 'millions of francs to meet his most pressing
calls.
136
CHAPTER X.
1778.
Lanzun sets out for Vaucouleurs — He takes a holiday and visits
England — Preliminaries of the American War — Franklin in
Paris — Lanzun recalled to Paris — He returns to London —
Rupture with England — Lauzun goes to Ardres— Colonel of
the foreign Marine forces — Nominated to go to India —
Naval battle — Lauzun's last interview with the Queen — A
visit to Hautefontaine — Mme. de Martainville — Masquerade
at Court.
As soon as he had settled his private affairs, Lauzun,
much depressed by all the mortifications he had
endured, and saddened by the Queen's attitude, which
he had been far from expecting, made up his mind
to return to his regiment and live in peace, devoting
himself to his military duties. So he set out for
Vaucouleurs, the " dullest spot in all Champagne
and, consequently, in the whole universe." His only
amusement was to go from time to time to Nancy,
either for military manoeuvres, or for more frivolous
reasons.
At this juncture he heard that the post of
French Minister to Warsaw had fallen vacant. His
desire to go to Poland was, no doubt, much less
eager than of yore ; but he lulled himself with
U7
the hope that if he could sojourn there he would
easily recover his former influence over Princess
Czartoriska, and re-unite the ties of which
the memory was still dear to him. He therefore
wrote the follo^ving melancholy letter to M. de
Vergennes, to solicit the appointment at Warsaw : —
" Yaucouleurs, July 3rd, 1777.
" Monsieur le Comte, — I hear that M. de Mont-
morin has just been appointed Ambassador to Spain,
and that consequently he no longer can lay claim
to the post at Warsaw. I venture to beg you to call
to mind all you once did me the honour to say on
this matter. The moment when the King must
name his representative to the King of Poland can-
not be far off; he would wish, no doubt, to send
some one who would be agreeable to him, and to
name the person he might select, if in all respects
suitable. Pray, Monsieur le Comte, have the
kindness to lay before the King the opinion you
have of me, and to ask him, after receiving his com-
mands, whether it would be fitting that I should
approach the King of Poland, and request him to
speak in my favour to the French Court. If the
prejudice which you believe the King to feel against
me proves stronger than the report you would be so
good as to make to him in my favour, I request it of
your kindness that you will let me know. I should
then certainly never regret the fortune and time I
might have spent in his service, since I should have
displeased him, but I shall give up to peace and to
138
the comfort of doing nothing, in perfect independence,
the rest of a life which I had gloried in devoting
wholly to him." ^
M. de Vergennes did not send a favourable answer.
Disgusted with the service, and the injustice of
which he was the victim, Lauzun asked leave of
absence to go to see his friends in England, among
others Edward Dillon, who had married Fanny
Harland.^ He set out in the month of September,
1777. A fresh grief awaited him ; on landing he
received news of the young wife's almost sudden
death. Everything combined to harass him.
Hunted by his creditors, blighted in his prospects,
in his dreams of the future, even in the loss of those
he had loved, he felt that fortune, so long favourable,
had turned against him. He sighed for solitude to
recover himself, and went to Bath, where he lived in
complete seclusion.
Bath was a fine city of picturesque beauty ; built
in part on the side of a high hill, its splendid houses
stood out against the sky with magical effect. From
every part of the lower town beautiful views were to
be seen. At the season when Lauzun went thither
there were no visitors, and he could give free course
to his plans for isolation and solitude.
It was while he was still there that he heard of a
probable outbreak of hostilities between Russia and
Turkey. He at once wrote to the Empress Catherine
1 Foreign Affairs, England, 1778.
2 See The Due de Lauzun and the Court of Louis XV.,
Chap, xxiii.
to ask her for employment, and she confirmed his
appointment to the command of the horse which she
had formerly given him. M. de Maurepas applied
for leave for Lauzun to serve abroad, and the King
granted it.
He was making arrangements to start for Russia
in the course of December when he received a letter
from M. de Maurepas. The old Minister told him
that matters were looking badly in America, and
desired him to remain in England, where he would
ere long be required for employment.
Lauzun replied without delay : —
*' London, January 2Brd, 1778.
^' Monsieur le Comte, — I received with respect-
ful gratitude the letter with which you have
honoured me, and the tokens of kindness which
you never cease to bestow on me. I have the
same wish as ever to go to Russia, but it must
be entirely subordinate to circumstances, and to
the faintest hope of proving my zeal in the King's
service. You know. Monsieur le Comte, that danger
and distance have no terrors for me. Here, there
seem to be some fears of an expedition [French] to
India; I have long been ambitious of being thus
employed. I venture to urge this request if the
occasion should arise. I would stipulate for no con-
ditions ; whatever you approve will meet my views.
I only ask for some opportunity of justifying
the interest you condescend to take in me." ^
1 Foreign AfEairs, England, 1778.
140
What, then, was happening in America and in
England ?
An incident, most trivial in its beginnings, was
about to rouse the clatter of arms, and it proved to
be the prologue to a complete social revolution in
the Old World.
England had laid on her North American colonies
a yoke from which many of them were hoping to free
themselves. In 1765 an Act of the London Parlia-
ment levied a stamp-tax, which the colonists refused
to pay. A congress was held at New York in No-
vember to resist this exaction : the tax was repealed
in the following year, but in its stead a tax was put
on tea, which was not more successful in its working.
Several English vessels with cargoes of tea having
entered the port of Boston, about thirty of the
residents, disguised as savages, got on board the ships
and threw three hundred cases of tea overboard.
This, in its naked simplicity, was the act that led
to the war.
The town of Boston and the neighbouring pro-
vinces rose in arms ; England determined to reduce
its rebellious colonies by force. The English troops
were first defeated in April, 1775. Fired with
enthusiasm by some small successes, the Americans
chose as their leader George Washington, whose
name was to become so famous, and they determined
to break irrevocably with the mother-country.
On the fourth of July, 1776, Congress pro-
claimed the independence of the States of North
America.
141
The news of these great events in America
roused general admiration in France ; the courage
and daring of the " rebels *' electrified men's minds,
more especially those of the young, eager for
novelty and fighting. All the nobility — and such
was the state of the public mind that no one was
surprised — took part with a populace in revolt against
its King ; every one loudly expressed sympathy
with the cause of the '' rebels." The Bostonians, who
had given the signal for revolt, became in a single
day the height of fashion. Whist was supplanted in
every drawing-room by a no less serious game
called Boston.
The American colony very soon perceived that
they could not hope to shake themselves free by
their own unaided strength, and they sent Doctor
Franklin to Paris to interest the French Government
in their cause. He arrived in December, 1776,
with a small party of friends. He was a handsome
old man, with a youthful countenance ; he wore
a sable fur cap which he never took ofi", and
which fell almost as low as his spectacles. His
dress was of rustic simplicity, that of an American
farmer.
His appearance, which at any other time would
have excited curiosity, and perhaps laughter, produced
the wildest enthusiasm. No one else was talked of.
Gowns, caps, stuff's, were all a la Franklin, the
prettiest women of the Court and the town sued
for the favour of being allowed to kiss him — and he,
very gallantly, yielded to their wishes.
142
His friends were not less well received. All the
world was crazy over the '^ rebels," especially the
women ; to wear a Quaker dress was enough to secure
their good graces. They invented a new head-dress
aux Insurgens, in which the struggle between
America and England was symbolized by an ingenious
allegory.
The Doctor, who lived at Passy, was desirous,
although a Protestant, of presenting bread for the
sacrament ; he had thirteen brioches made — the
number then of the United States — the first was
stamped with the word " liberty ; " they had a wild
success and people almost fought for them. The
little house in which he lodged became an object
of pilgrimage ; it was invaded by visitors from
morning till night ; the road was blocked with
carriages ; all Paris must do homage to the illus-
trious stranger.
Franklin's visit transported the aristocratic classes
with joy, and without suspecting that they were
undermining with their own hands the foundations
of the old monarchy, they were ready to give the cue
for the applause which welcomed the Doctor and his
friends. All the young men of fashion only asked
to fly to the support of the Americans ; the repre-
sentatives of the oldest families were ready to
shed their blood for the rebels. Franklin was
overwhelmed with applications to serve in the
American army.
Joseph II. of Austria was more clear-sighted than
the French nobility. During his stay in France he
143
replied very drily to a lady who was crying up the
Americans, " My business, Madame, is to be a
Royalist."
Under his apparent simplicity Franklin had great
shrewdness. He arrived at Paris almost unknown,
and managed so well that in a short time, notwith-
standing the complaints of the English Ambassador,
he was received by all the Ministers and making
terms with them. He showed great art in utilising
the ideas then current in France to the advantage of
his countrymen.
At this moment there was general discontent in
all military circles ; peace had prevailed for many
years, and the army only longed for some fighting.
This further contributed to increase the enthusiasm
in favour of the Americans. And then the French
counted on some glorious revenge for the defeats of
the Seven Years' War and the humiliating treaty of
1763. The American agents, on their part, were not
satisfied with purchasing in France munitions of
war, in spite of the prohibitions of Government and
the expostulations of the English ; they did all they
could to induce French ofiicers to go to America
with or without leave. Several had gone already,
but in secret, and their departure had not been
observed.
The relations between France and England showed
increasing tension, and it could plainly be seen that
a rupture was impending. War had begun indeed
in the papers and in the drawing-rooms.
In 1777 Lord Suffolk, in the House of Lords,
144
spoke in very offensive terms of the quality of the
French troops. A few days later the Marechal de
Biron met Lord Stormont, the English Ambassador,
in the great gallery at Versailles. " Write to his
indiscreet lordship," said he proudly, " that there
are in France twenty thousand gentlemen, and I
glory in being one of them, who are quite ready to
meet you half way, to teach your nation better to
appreciate ours." This same Marechal de Biron
was the hero of an adventure which shows that the
chivalrous spirit of the French had not decayed since
Fontenoy. At this time Admiral Rodney happened
to be imprisoned for debt in Paris. An English
paper did not hesitate to say that we detained him
because we were afraid of his skill. The Marechal,
indignant at such a suspicion, flew to Versailles and
asked the King's permission to pay Rodney's debts.
"I envy you for having thought of it," said the
King. " It is worthy of France and of you."
The Marechal had brought the necessary sum
with him ; he hastened to the prison and released
Rodney. This generous action was to cost France dear.
While the situation was thus growing more and
more serious in England, the struggle was going on
in America. After many vicissitudes of successes
and reverses, the rebels won a decided victory.
An English army commanded by General Burgoyne
was surrounded by the rebel militia and forced to
surrender (1777). The excitement in Europe was
extreme on hearing of the triumph achieved by
planters and farm-hands, whose military inexperience,
H5 ^
destitution and want of discipline had been so much
laughed to scorn.
Lauzun wrote to M. de Vergennes from London,
December 19, 1777 :—
" Monsieur le Comte, — The consternation is exces-
sive here at the defeat of General Burgoyne. But
the King of England maintains his opinion and his
authority with the greatest firmness, and there will be
no change in the ministry, it would seem. Prepara-
tions are being made, on the contrary, for continuing
the American war with greater vigour than ever, and
for making prodigious efforts to open the campaign
of 1 778 with a formidable force. New levies are to be
raised in Scotland and Ireland ; as they certainly will
be insufficient, foreign troops are being everywhere
inquired for, and there is much talk of a treaty with
Russia. I have the honour to send you. Monsieur
le Comte, a report on the present state of affairs ; it
will show you that in my absence I am employed on
the matters that interest you, and that if I have lost
all ambition, I have at any rate preserved the desire
to be of some use.
"You know, Monsieur le Comte, that wherever
the King may order his army, to the Atlantic, to
India, for or against the Turks, nothing will frighten
me, and that I shall undertake anything with zeal ;
but, if there is nothing that can be given me to do, I
beseech you to relieve me from the dismal situation
of a Colonel in time of peace, and obtain the King's
leave for me to go to Russia. When once I am at
Saint Petersburg the Empress will allow me to fight
146
in a campaign with her army, if, as I believe,
hostilities against the Turks recommence next spring,
and this would certainly be refused me if I asked it
in France — I have no object in view but not to
remain in idleness.
" I make bold to beg you not to order me back
to Paris if I can be of use elsewhere. Excellent
reasons make me wish to remain at a distance for
some time." ^
To occupy his leisure, Lauzun had set himself to
study the colonial policy of the English, and he sent
notes very regularly to M. de Maurepas and M. de
Vergennes. In March, 1778, he laid before them a
very full report of the state of the English defences
at home, and in all the English possessions in the
four quarters of the world. ^
These reports at last made their impression on the
Council of State ; Lauzun was ordered to Versailles,
he was listened to, and he even had several inter-
views with the King on this subject.
M. de Maurepas, who had a great affection for
him, recommended him warmly to M. de Vergennes.
They both begged him to return to England to
watch the course of events, and they promised him
that, if matters settled themselves, he should fill the
post of Ambassador to London.
Before taking up his new office Lauzun had to
endure a fresh mortification, and not the least bitter.
It had always been understood that he was to
1 Foreign Affairs, England, 1777.
2 Foreign Affairs, England, 1778.
147 L 2
succeed his uncle, the Marechal de Biron, in the com-
mand of the French Guard ; Louis XV. had formally-
promised him the appointment, and though he had
not been actually nominated to the reversion, that
was solely out of regard for the old Marechal. In
March, 1778, Lauzun was distressed to hear that the
Due du Chatelet would take his uncle's post, and
fill an appointment which had become almost
hereditary in the family of Biron. Certainly his
favour and his good fortune were quite at an end ;
fate pursued him with inexorable harshness.
He had but just got back to London when he
heard, with deep regret, all the details of the
ceremony of his fortunate rival's triumph.
The regiment of the French Guard had been
enroUed by Charles IX., in April, 1563. The
anniversary of the day was chosen for a grand
review by Louis XVI. in the Plaine des Sablons.
The weather was beautiful, and the heat extra-
ordinary for the month of April. The Queen
arrived in a magnificent coach, and wearing a dress
that repeated the uniform of the regiment. The
review was splendid, the crowd immense, and all
went oiF as well as possible. The King granted the
officers all that the Due du Chatelet asked for them ;
he distributed two thousand crowns to the soldiers,
and donations to officers of fortune. Then, turning
to M. du Chatelet, he very graciously said : " I see no
one who has been forgotten but yourself, but I
believe I shall do you pleasure by granting you,
from this time forth, the reversion of the Mardchal de
148
Biron's appointment as Colonel of the French
Guards." 1
Tents had been pitched on the plain and the
Colonel- designate gave a dinner, which cost him
more than a hundred thousand francs, to the King,
the Royal Family, and the Court. That the rank
and file should have their share of the rejoicings, M.
du Ch^telet gave them fifty oxen, and the King, on
his part, sent a turkey, two fowls, and two bottles of
wine for every four soldiers.
The grief and vexation felt by Lauzun on
receiving the account of this ceremony may be
imagined.
He was happily diverted from his dejection and
gloomy thoughts by the mission he had to fulfil, and
the sight of the preparations being made to fight the
French, and punish them for what the English called
their insolent provocations.
In fact, the successes of the rebels had tilted the
scale in their favour, and public opinion asserted
itself so resolutely as to be irresistible ; the French
Government had to follow. In December, 1777,
the preliminaries were signed of a treaty of - com-
merce and friendship with the American delegates,
and France soon after concluded a definite alliance
with America.
On hearing this, the King of England flew into a
violent passion, and bitterly reproached our
Ambassador, M. de Noailles. This functionary had
^ To avoid Imrting tlie old Marechal's feelings, M. dn Chatelet
had to be satisfied with the King's word ; the reversion was not
r^stered with the other gifts.
149
just received instructions to quit London without
taking leave. Lord Stormont, Ambassador from
England to Paris, received similar orders from his
Government.^
The recall of the French Ambassador caused the
greatest excitement in England, and Lauzun gives
an account of it. At the same time he announces to
Vergennes that he will prolong his stay so as to keep
him informed and send him all the news. He writes
on March 18, 1778:—
" I am not such a coxcomb as to believe that I
have contributed to the present state of things, but
it is a great satisfaction to me that I foresaw what
you have carried into effect. Consternation is
general throughout England ; there is no misfortune
that is not apprehended, and this nation, long blind
to the position, at last realizes its horror, and foresees
the disastrous issue without any remedy or consola-
tion."
The greatest joy was felt in France at hearing
that the independence of America was fully recog-
nized. "It could not have been g^reater over our
own salvation," wrote Segur.
to'
^ He had the following strange announcement posted about
Paris: —
Notice to the Public.
As- the English Ambassador is about to leave Paris, he begs all
those who have any claims against him to call at once at the
Embassy, and he hereby formally declares that he will admit no
claims that shall not have been presented by the 20th of this
month.
Paris, Tuesday, March 17, 1778.
Printed and posted by license. — Lenoir.
Franklin was presented to the King on March 20.
For this occasion he consented to abandon his
Quaker's costume and fur cap. He wore a suit of
dull gold-coloured velvet, white stockings, his hair
untied, his spectacles on his nose, and carried a white
hat under his arm. The Comte de Provence, more
clear-sighted than his contemporaries, did not share
the general enthusiasm ; he confessedly regarded
the conduct of the American colonies as rebellion
and revolt. When he heard that Franklin had been
presented at Court : " Here is Mandrin come to
great honour," said he. '' Now it only remains to
raise trophies to Cartouche Washington." ^
Preparations for war were made on both sides.
There was a plan for sending part of the regiment
of French Guards to Dunkirk. M. de Monbarrey
asked the Marechal de Biron : " If I give you a
fortnight's notice, can your regiment be ready to
start?" "It is now one o'clock," replied the
Marechal, looking at his watch. '' If the King com-
mands it, his regiment of guards will march out in
fighting order this afternoon at four."
Lauzun remained yet a month longer in London,
in conformity with M. de Vergennes' instructions.
But out of respect he sent to ask of his Majesty
King George III. whether he objected to his presence
there. The King sent him word with much kindness
that he might remain as long as he chose ; he invited
Lauzun to ride out with him on the Richmond road,
1 Mandrin and Cartouche were famous French highway robbeis
— (Translator).
151
on the following Wednesday at eight in the
morning, to talk over events. The Due attended
punctually.
*^ The King came to meet me," he says, " and told
me that he was glad to assure me of his interest
and good feeling before I should quit England ; that
it rested with me to stay, or to return whenever it
suited my convenience, if I had no fear of its doing
me an injury in my own country ; that I \vas too
well known ever to be regarded with suspicion. He
personally was much offended by the conduct of
France, and saying it was perfidy, he spoke \\dth so
much heat that I had to remind him that I was
a Frenchman. He ended the conversation by telling
me that no one would be more agreeable to him
than myself to discuss terms of peace, or as ambassa-
dor, when circumstances should allow it, and that he
would then, with pleasure, take any steps that I
might think necessary."
After this frank and candid conversation, Lauzun
could not with any decency prolong his stay in
England ; he remained about a month and then set
out for Dover, whence he sailed for France.
From thence, however, he wrote to M. de Ver-
gennes : —
" Dover, April 4, 1778.
"Monsieur le Comte, — I could wish that my
talents, as well as my zeal, might justify the honour
the King does me in reading what I write, his
kindness in being pleased and in permitting you
to tell me so.
152
"I am leaving England with regret, and the
orders you gave me to remain in London as long as I
could, still further increase my grief at departing at
a moment when I still might be of some use ; but
I did not think that I ought to wait to act till I was
an object of suspicion, and by prolonging my stay,
risk the confidence and consideration I enjoy here,
which will some day perhaps not be lost to the
service of the King.
" The Militia are called out, all officers are to join
their regiments. I began to feel out of place among
so many hostile uniforms. All the Ministers without
exception have lost their heads. Each one has been
dishonest as to the state of his own department, and
is anxious to postpone the moment when it will be
proved against him. They live literally from hand
to mouth.
" I am sending a special messenger to receive your
orders the sooner, and shall await at Ardres, with
my regiment, the messenger's return. I shall not
leave my regiment, where my presence is needful,
unless I should be more usefully employed elsewhere
in the King's service."
As he announced in this letter, Lauzun rejoined
his regiment, stationed at Ardres, a small town
near Calais. As war with England seemed inevi-
table, many regiments had been moved to the coast,
and that of Lauzun among the number. Lauzun
did not come from England unaccompanied ; he had
made the acquaintance in London of a certain Miss
Paddock, and the lady's patriotism had not been so
^53
ardent but that she had been willing to follow him
to France. She brought with her a younger sister,
a charming girl, whose grace and innocence Lauzun
respected. He put her to school at Calais, and after-
wards saw her suitably married to a man she loved.
This good deed must be set down to the credit
side of our hero's account, and was indeed rare
enough in his life to deserve mention.
At Versailles, meanwhile, a thousand schemes of
conquest were discussed, each day a new plan saw
the light to be abandoned on the morrow. As
men of courage and determination were indispensable,
Lauzun's name was constantly mentioned, and he
was spoken of for various expeditions. One day
the talk was of seizing Jersey and Guernsey ; the
next, of taking possession of the Isle of Wight and
Portsmouth, and destroying the chief depots of the
English Navy ; then the Bermudas were to be taken,
or St. Helena, and it was always Lauzun who was
to be sent on such expeditions. Towards the end of
May he was ordered to quit Ardres with his troops,
and join the army at the Camp at Vaucieux.
Hardly had he arrived there when he was bidden to
proceed to Versailles without delay. He there learnt
that a fleet was to be sent to the Indies to stir up a
general revolt there. Lauzun was offered the second
command of the army and he accepted it joyfully.
He was also authorized to levy a corps of foreign
soldiery four thousand strong, to be under his orders,
and known as the Foreign Marine Volunteers. He
resigned the regiment of Royal Dragoons, which
by his intervention was given to the Marquis de
Gontaut, and he devoted himself to enlisting the
corps of which he was to have the command.
While he was working energetically at this, hostili-
ties had begun. M. d'Estaing was sent to America
with a vast fleet. On one hand the Comte d'Or-
villiers collected at Brest thirty-two men-of-war and
eight frigates. The Due de Chartres was in command
of one division. When the fleet sailed out of port it
was almost immediately met ofi* Ushant by Admiral
Keppel, who had come out to engage it. The battle
was a hot one and many lives were lost ; but not a
ship was taken, and both sides withdrew without any
decisive result.
The French fleet retired into Brest to repair
damages, and the Due de Chartres went to Versailles
to carry the news of what the French accepted as a
victory. After paying his devoirs to the King, the
Due went back to Paris ; he was hailed by the public
with acclamations. The Court and the town were
in the greatest excitement.
This more than modest victory inspired M. de
Maurepas — younger than ever and ready to laugh at
everything — with this little satire : " Do you know
what is a sea-fight ? I will tell you. Two squadrons
sally forth from two hostile ports ; they manoeuvre,
they find each other ; they fire guns, some masts
are cut down, some sails are riddled, some men are
killed, a great deal of powder and ball is consumed ;
then each of the rival forces retires, asserting itself
master of the field ; each believes itself the conqueror.
155
The Te Deum is sung on both sides — and the sea is
as salt as ever ! "
The enthusiasm which awaited the Due de Chartres
was of no long duration. The Prince was said to have
misunderstood a signal instructing him to cut through
the enemy's line, and epigrams followed hard on
praises. The Prince had hoped to be appointed High
Admiral, but the King refused to name him, and
gave him nothing but a nomination to be Colonel-
General of Hussars. The Due de Chartres was
rancorously offended by this affront.
A most unexpected event, which had been re-
garded as hopeless, became known in the month of
April, to the great joy of the Court. The Queen was
expecting an infant. This happy event made Ver-
sailles gayer and more brilliant than ever. As the
Queen was compelled to lead a sedentary life, little
agreeable to her tastes and habits, every kind of
amusement was devised for her. A theatre was
built at Marly to give her the pleasure of seeing
plays. At Trianon, garden-fetes and allegorical
entertainments were arranged; there was singing
and dancing, with the attributes of fecundity, of
beneficence and of motherly love. Then coffee
parties were invented ; ladies and gentlemen met in
the morning in d^shabill^ ; etiquette was banished.
They sat at little tables and asked for what they
pleased. A fair was held in the park ; the ladies of
the Court held the booths ; the Queen, dressed as a
lemonade seller, had a coffee house ; there were
theatres and processions. This little amusement cost
more than 400,000 francs.
156
So tlie war with England, it may be seen, made no
difference whatever in the imperturbable serenity of
this light-hearted Court, and money was still flung
about in handfuls with the most engaging reckless-
ness.
Lauzun, before leaving France to go so far away,
perhaps for ever, wished to take leave of the Queen,
whom he had not seen for nearly a year ; he had
been a long while absent, and since his return he had
not visited Versailles. He thought, however, that
it would be in bad taste to depart without bidding
her good-bye, and he craved an audience, which was
immediately granted. He told the Sovereign that
he felt it due to the kindness with which she had
formerly honoured him to announce to her in person
his departure for the Indies with M. de Bussy.
Marie Antoinette seemed greatly surprised, and even
distressed ; she tried to induce Lauzun to change his
mind, but he replied that his decision was irrevocable :
" No, Madam, that is impossible," said he ; ^^ I am
bent on this course, whatever it may cost me to carry
it out. I venture to believe that in such a distant
land, my zeal and my small talents will find fewer
adverse circumstances, and meet with more justice ;
that they will have less intrigue and calumny to con-
tend with." The King then came in, and Lauzun
withdrew, after a few usual compliments. That
evening the Queen and Lauzun met at Mme. de
Guemenee's rooms, for she was still in favour. The
Princesse, who had an honest and sincere affection for
Lauzun, had done everything in her power to induce
him to change his purpose, but could not succeed.
^57
In vain did she hold out hopes of a splendid career at
Court if he would remain ; she begged the Queen to
add her entreaties, but without effect. Lauzun, hurt
by the Queen's coldness and almost neglect, after a
period of such distinguished favour, made it a point
of vanity to show that he asked for nothing, and
could well dispense with royal condescension.
While all this was going on, Lauzun was not losing
time. In less than two months he had raised, armed
and equipped a splendid body of two thousand men.
His reputation for courage and daring had brought
him hundreds of volunteers ; men were eager to
serve under him. In a short time his complement
was made up, and with brilliant officers. All the
companies forming the legion were concentrated on
the He d'Oleron.
While awaiting M. de Bussy's departure, Lauzun,
who had nothing to detain him in Paris, and who
found there only subjects of vexation or discourage-
ment, decided on seeking a little solace and true affec-
tion in the beloved precincts of Hautefontaine, where
he formerly had spent so many delightful hours.^
For some years his constant journeys, the care of
his regiment, and Court intrigues had kept him far
away from that pleasing spot, which recalled to him
perhaps the tenderest and most delightful scenes of
his early youth.
He found at Hautefontaine all the party we have
already spoken of in a former volume. There was the
1 See The Due de Lauzun and the Court of Louis XV., chap,
xxii.
158
kind Archbishop of Narbonne, always amiable and
indulgent to human frailty ; Mme. Dillon, Mme. de
Rothe and M. de Guemenee. They were all sincerely
attached to him, all appreciated his worth, his warm
and generous heart, his delightful wit. M. de
Guemenee, bound to him by the ties of true friend-
ship, could not bear to think of his going abroad.
Mme. Dillon, who, though she had not been in love
with him, had always preserved him in her tender
regard, had tears in her eyes whenever she thought
of the long voyage and the dangers that might ensue
from it. All vied with each other in giving their
friend the most affectionate consideration, in showing
him how dear he was to them, and how deeply they
were grieved at the thought of his departure.
Lauzun, greatly touched by these tokens of friend-
ship, felt his resolve melting and his courage
paling in the midst of these many warm and loving
hearts.
To divert his mind from gloomy thoughts, he found
at Hautefontaine a certain pretty and charming Mme.
de Martainville. Seeing all the rest of the company
grow pathetic over the young man's fate, she thought
that she too ought not to be indifferent to this hand-
some youth and the dangers he might run into ; she,
like the rest, expressed her interest ; her heart was
free, and she at once bestowed it on so amiable and
unfortunate a gentleman.
Lauzun spent all the time he could spare at
Hautefontaine. He never reappeared at Court but
on one occasion, and that was in the month of
159
November, when the King gave a grand masquerade
as a surprise to the Queen. Marie Antoinette had
spoken the melancholy reflection : " The Carnival
will be nothing to me this winter ! " The King
wished to give her an agreeable surprise. In twenty-
four hours, and in perfect secrecy, by the help of the
stores of the Menus Plaisirs^ the whole Court was
travestied and in masks. At eleven, the Queen, being
asked whether she would like to see some mas-
queraders, replied, " With great pleasure," and the
King at once came in, in his usual dress, followed by
the Ministers and the gentlemen and ladies attached
to the Court, all in splendid character costumes. M.
de Maurepas appeared as Cupid and Mme. de Maure-
pas as Venus ; M. de Sartines was Neptune wielding
a trident ; M. de Vergennes bore a globe on his head,
a map of America hanging in front of him, and a
map of England over his back ; the Prince de Soubise
was a Chinese Bonze ; the Mar(^chal de Richelieu, as
Cephalus, led in the old Marechale de Mirepoix as a
Huron Indian squaw ; and the couple danced a
minuet with as much grace and lightness as youths of
twenty. The Due de Coigny appeared as Hercules,
the Mar^chal de Biron was a Druid, and the Due de
Lauzun a Sultan. Other ladies and gentlemen formed
quadrilles of Rabbis, soldiers, hussars, sailors, hunts-
men, and so forth. All the pages were dressed as
jockeys. When the clock struck one the King gave
the signal for retiring and conducted the Queen to
her room. Everyone was " refreshed " with chocolate
and iced drinks.
160
This was Lauzun's last appearance at Court. The
entertainment over, he at once took the road to
Hautefontaine, to await, at Mme. de Martainville's
feet, the call of glory to the field of battle.
I6l M
CHAPTER XL
1778.
The conquest of Senegal — Lauzun returns to Paris.
One evening, on reading in his rooms the '' London
Magazine," Lauzun learnt from that journal the state
of the English possessions on the coast of Africa.
The idea struck him that it would be an easy matter
to seize them, and so to ruin an important branch of
English commerce. Captivated by the subject, he
took up his pen to draw up a proposal for destroying
the forts on the Guinea coast, and the numerous
factories which carried on an important trade ; he
proved to demonstration how easy it would be to
snatch these ill-defended settlements from the English,
and the great profit to be derived from success. The
report finished, he took it to M. de Sartines.'
Some days after, in another audience of the
Minister, he further insisted on the advantages of his
scheme ; nothing could be simpler than its execution.
While the squadron sailing to India was taking in
water at the Cape de Verde Islands, a few ships with
1 This report is preserved among the National Archives, T.
1527.
162
Lauzun in command, were to be told off to seize the
Senegal coast and the Gambia, destroying all the
English settlements. M. de Sartines allowed himself
to be persuaded ; it was agreed that Lauzun should
have the command of the expedition, and that if M.
de Bussy should not go to the Indies — for that matter
was again under discussion — Lauzun was to return
to France after the conquest of Senegal. Lauzun was
to be commander-in-chief on land. The fleet was
in charge of M. de Vaudreuil, and he was responsible
for all manoeuvres and operations at sea.
Lauzun and Vaudreuil were not merely to attack
Senegal, they were to get possession of the coast as far
as Sierra Leone, where the English had three impor-
tant factories. Finally they were to drive the English
out of Goree, which had been French, and transport to
Senegal the garrison, the munitions and the negroes.^
Lauzun was full of joy and enthusiasm at the
thought of getting away, and realizing at last those
dreams of glory which he had so long had at heart.
He set out in high hopes at the end of November,
1778, for the Island of Oleron, where his foreign naval
volunteers had assembled ; the troops were a fine
body and ready to embark. From thence he went
to Landerneau. He had not been there more than
three hours when a courier followed him from M. de
Sartines, ordering him to Versailles. He was there
1 These instnictions are to be found in the National Archives,
T. 1527, and in the papers at the Ministry of Marine, B^, 149.
They bear the date November 20, 1778. The instructions to
M. de Vaudreuil are dated November 28, 1778, and are signed by
the King. They are at the Ministry of Marine, B*, 149.
163 M 2
informed that the idea of sending M. de Bussy to
India was abandoned ; but Lauzun nevertheless
obtained permission for the Senegal expedition, and
set out once more. As his mission was a secret one,
and it was important that no one should have
any knowledge of it, he travelled incognito as the
Chevalier de Saint-Pierre.
After more than a hundred hours in a post-chaise
our hero reached Morlaix, November 29. He there
found the officers who were to accompany him — the
Vicomte d'Arrost, Miewkowski, Robert Dillon and
Sheldon. The two last were nephews of the Arch-
bishop of Narbonne. They were to have embarked
at Brest ; but after various delays of no interest,
Lauzun at last joined the fleet at Quiberon. The
squadron was composed of the men-of-war the Fendant
and the Sphinx, two frigates, three corvettes and a
schooner. Lauzun and Vaudreuil were on board the
Fendant. Before they set sail a courier brought
the news of the Queen's having given birth to a
daughter, December 19, 1778. Mme. de Gu^m^n^e, as
governess to the Royal children, had taken charge of
the infant princess, and her position at Court was
more important than ever.
The squadron finally weighed anchor, December
25, 1778, and sailed for Senegal. Lauzun had not
long been on board when he had the vexation
of discovering that, from neglect or dishonesty
on the part of the subordinates, nothing of what
M. de Sartines had promised had been supplied ;
there was not even a pilot to steer them over the bar.
164
The voyage was without mishap. By January 1
they were in the latitude of the Canaries and spoke
with a Spanish vessel. Lauzun could not let the
occasion slip of sending his congratulations to Mme.
de Guemenee, and more especially to the Queen ;
but, not to infringe his orders, which enjoined absolute
secrecy, he sent his letters to be forwarded by the
Minister of Marine.-^
From the day when the flotilla reached the Senegal
Lauzun kept a diary of events as they happened, till
he found himself in France again. This diary cannot
be quoted in extenso on account of its length and the
technical character of the details, but we will give an
abstract of the contents, and base our account of
Lauzun's short campaign on this original and
indisputable docimient.^
On Thursday, January 28, 1779, the squadron
sighted the coast. The Marquis de Vaudreuil hoisted
the English flag on all his ships, hoping that the
garrison of Fort Saint Louis would take them for the
relief they were expecting. At the same time he sent
M. Eyries, in command of the corvette Lively, to go
as close under the fort as possible and make certain
signals agreed upon, that pilots might be sent out to
take the ships over the bar. The only response from
the fort was a blank salute from a cannon. Next day,
at three in the afternoon, the troops to be landed were
placed in fourteen boats, and an attempt was made
to cross the bar of the Senegal river. This operation,
1 Ministry of Marine, B*, 149.
2 The diary is preserved in the National Archives, T. 1527.
165
which would have been attended by great loss of life
if the enemy had opposed it, was achieved with
perfect success. Lauzun, with his aides-de-camp,
Dillon, Sheldon and Miewkowski, were the first to pass
in the launch of the Fendant, Vicomte d'Arrost
immediately followed in that of the Sphinx. Some
of the boats ran a little risk, but all got into the river.
Night meanwhile had come on, and the cold was so
bitter that Lauzun made his men land in order that
they might bivouac for the night and make fires.
On the following day the fishing tribes of negroes,
whose huts were to be seen along the river shore,
came with great demonstrations of joy on hearing that
the new-comers were Frenchmen ; then came several
chiefs to ofi'er their services and to sell cattle ; and
finally an envoy from the King of Cayor, who sent
his brother to compliment Lauzun, and begged to
form an alliance with France. He was escorted by a
numerous train of negroes mounted on horses and
camels.
From the people of the country Lauzun received
the strangest information. Only two days before his
arrival the English troops, having mutinied, had
driven the Governor of the Fort, named Fall, out of
the place ; they had killed or wounded many of the
inhabitants who had taken his part and given the
command to a certain Gilbert Stanton. It was also
said that the mortality during the winter had been
unexampled, that more than a hundred white men
had died of fever, so that there were not above a
Score of English remaining in the town.
1 66
While Lauzun was hearing this, M. de Vaudreuil,
who had returned on board, fired fifty shots on the
fort ; after returning fire the garrison hauled down
their flag, and an envoy was sent out to parley with
the invaders and propose the terms of a capitulation.
Lauzun demanded the surrender of the garrison at
the King's mercy. This was agreed to. The capitu-
lation was signed the same evening, and Lauzun
entered the fort at eight that night ; ^ everything there
was in the greatest confusion, for during the mutiny
the place had been completely pillaged. The soldiers
and non-commissioned officers were transferred, as
prisoners, on board the Fendant,
On Sunday, January 31, Lauzun attended Mass,
escorted by all the French officers. The inhabitants
showed the greatest pleasure at the restoration of the
functions of the Catholic Church. The Due after-
wards received them, and confirmed in their appoint-
ments all who had shown any attachment to the
French rule.
On the same day the frigates sailed with instruc-
tions to destroy every English settlement on the coast.
Lauzun, following his instructions, gave the necessary
orders for the destruction of Fort James and for
evacuating the Island of Goree.
On Monday, February 1, the new governor
received a visit from Sidi Mouctar, the chief inter-
preter to Alicury, the Moorish King, with whom the
French bargained for cattle, slaves, and gum. He
came to assure Lauzun of his chiefs friendship, and
his desire to live on good terms with the French.
167
To do honour to this Embassy, Lauzun would have
offered him refreshment, but in view of the hard
times prevailing, only sugar and water could be
served. The Marabout who accompanied Sidi
Mouctar was bidden to share this banquet.
The visit was, in fact, opportune, for the troops
were in the greatest necessity ; there were no pro-
visions of any description in the fort ; for five months
they had been out of flour; their nourishment
consisted of some remains of mouldy biscuits, millet-
bread, and very bad water. " I owe it in justice to
the King's forces,*' says Lauzun, '^ to state that no
mark of impatience ever escaped them, though they
lacked everything."
On Sunday, April 7, Lauzun had a solemn De
Beum sung in the presence of the whole garrison. A
salute of artillery was fired, and three volleys of
musketry ; then Lauzim had himself officially recog-
nized as Governor in the presence of the troops. At
this juncture, several boats conveying the men ran
aground in crossing the bar, and were wrecked on
the coast ; a considerable number of sailors were
drowned, and all the merchandise, victuals, medicines,
and property were stolen by the negroes, of whom
King Damel was the chief, he asserting that every-
thing that came to shore, whether vessel, cargo, or
fittings, was his by right.
Lauzun demanded an interview with Damel. It
took place in a tent which the Due had prepared
for the occasion. The Chief appeared with his army,
and a following of about two thousand men on horse-
i68
back ; but all the time was spent in compliments and
ceremonial, and it was impossible to get the King to
talk of business. Damel dined with Lauzun ; he ate
and drank in moderation, but the Queens he had
brought with him absorbed great quantities of
brandy.
Next morning at daybreak the " palaver " was held.
For eight hours the Chief held out against Lauzun,
who demanded restitution of all that had been stolen,
and at last, under the threat of an immediate and
ruthless invasion, Damel yielded. Immediately, and
as a sign of rejoicing, the King and his favourite
Queen drank off twenty glasses of brandy. Nor was
this all. '' The Queen," says Lauzun, " sent me as a
present her favourite female slave, assured me of her
liking for white men, and particularly for me ; she
also gave me a fine ox. I responded to these
attentions by sending her a drum, an instrument she
dearly loves."
Next day Lauzun despatched the Lively to France,
instructing M. d'Arrost to carry to the Minister the
news of their conquest, and the official report con-
taining the details here epitomized. We read in the
last lines how modestly the Due speaks of himself,
and with what emphasis he supports the officers
under his command, always effacing himself to give
them the palm, and asking nothing for himself, but
only for them.
" M. le Vicomte d'Arrost will have the honour of
giving you this letter ; he is better able than any one
to enter into all the details that may interest you ; it
169
is rare to find so much intelligence, talent and
activity combined ; to these he adds indefatigable
zeal, and such patience as is of essential use in the
King's service ; he has been most valuable to me,
and I part from him with regret.
" As to myself, Monsieur, you know that only my
attachment to you brought me here ; it is in perfect
good faith that I say I have no pretensions to any-
thing, and do not wish for anything for myself. In-
deed I would perhaps rather obtain no favours than
accept such as may be offered me. I confess that I
set a far higher value on what kindness you may be
able to do to M. Robert Dillon and M. Sheldon,
my aides-de-camp. These two young men, charm-
ing fellows both, whose ardour and activity have
contributed greatly to the rapidity of our operations,
were entrusted to me by their relations, who are the
best and most intimate friends I have in the world,
and there is nothing nearer my heart than the
pleasure it would be to contribute to their advance-
ment and their military prospects. The only
reward I wish for the difficult task I have under-
taken, is that you should give M. Robert Dillon
the rank of colonel, and procure from M. le Prince
de Montbarrey a written promise of a colonelcy for
M. Sheldon on the day when he is three-and-twenty.
I beg you also to bestow the Cross of Saint Louis
on M. Miewkowski, Captain of Hussars, my present
aide-de-camp. This officer is a man of the highest
distinction."
Lauzun also pointed out to the Minister what was
170
necessary to secure possession of the conquered
ground — gunners, bombardiers, victuals, etc.
He wrote by the same opportunity to his father,
to the Marechal de Biron, and to Mme. de Guemenee.
If Lauzun could have heard the comments to which
the reception of his dispatches gave rise he would
have been bitterly mortified. His easy conquest was
laughed to scorn, and that he should have had no
greater difficulties was regarded as his fault. His
own family only tried to decry his achievement, and
M. de Choiseul, who stayed quietly at Paris, living on
the fat of the land and plotting intrigue, thought it
amusing to make fun of his nephew who was trying
to be of use. Mme. du Deffant wrote to Walpole,
March 21, 1779 :—
" M. de Lauzun, with two ships and a very small
body of troops, has taken your Senegal, which was
your emporium for negroes ; M. de Choiseul yester-
day was telling us that M. de Sartines, reading the
report of this expedition to the King, hesitated as to
giving all the details. M. de Maurepas would not
allow him to omit anything ; the King was accord-
ingly informed that the English garrison consisted of
four men, three of them sick, and M. de Choiseul
said that the one who remained surrendered, as it
would seem with a good grace, and that no doubt he
had been granted the honours of war. If, in the
course of this exploit, M. de Lauzun should have
discovered a few gold-mines, that would be as good a
thing for him as any glory he is likely to have
earned."
171
On March 2, M. de Vaudreuil, whose position
was precarious, and who had more than four hundred
sick on board, decided to sail for Saint lago ; he
rejoined M. d'Estaing in time to take part in the
capture of Grenada.^
When Lauzun had organized the colony he con-
sidered that he had no more to do in Senegal ; he
fitted out a merchant- ship with a flag of truce, to
return to France with his prisoners. Before de-
parting he wished to leave some money to pay the
garrison and supply the colony for a little while ;
unfortunately the money he had brought with him
was already spent in the King's service, and he had
none left. He had indeed been provided with a
treasurer, but the supply of treasure had been for-
gotten. The ingenious idea occurred to him to
borrow of the English prisoners, who lent to him
personally all they had.
He took advantage of the last days of his sojourn
in Senegal to conform to his instructions by re-
instating the existing forts ; he had them repaired
as far as possible, as well as the batteries commanding
the bar, which were of the first importance. When
he thought he had done enough to secure the defence
of the country, and reorganized the administration,
he placed the command in the hands of M. d'E5rries,
1 On March 1, Lauzun had from the Chevalier de Pontdevez
news of the taking of Fort James on the river Gambia. The fort
surrendered at discretion, the garrison consisting, however, of only
three officers, twenty-eight soldiers and fifteen marines. M. de
Pontdevez had also wrecked all the forts and English dep6ts on
the Gambia and the Sierra Leone rivers.
172
in obedience to the instructions he had received, and
set sail for France.
After a voyage of thirty- six days he reached
Lorient, on Monday, April 19. It was high time,
for there was neither food nor water left on board.^
1 Lauzun was not alone in his desire to win laurels. Arthur
and Edward Dillon, the Marquis de Coigny, the Yicomte de
ISToailles served under the orders of M. de Bouille and M.
d'Estaing. Bouille conquered Dominica, and took the island of
Saint Lucia by surprise. D'Estaing seized St. Vincent's and
Grenada with three thousand men. (The islands were restored to
England hj the Peace of Versailles, 1783.) The Vicomte de
Noailles and Arthur Dillon distinguished themselves greatly in
the attack on the town. Dillon's arm was broken at the begin-
ning of the engagement, but he fought on till victory was
assured ; his arm was badly set, and had to be broken again eight
times.
When d'Estaing waited on the Queen for the first time after
this campaign, he came in on crutches, accompanied by several
other wounded officers, and the only thing she thought of saying
to him was: "Monsieur le Comte, were you satisfied with
little Laborde?"
173
CHAPTER XII.
1779.
Lanznn is ill-received at Versailles — A game at faro — Mme. de
Coigny's generous conduct — Lauzun resigns his commission
— He is appointed Inspector- General of Prisoners of War —
Plans for invading England — Lauzun and M. de Vaux —
Camps at Parame and at Vaucieux — Returns to Paris —
Intimacy between Mme. de Coigny and Mme. Dillon —
Creation of the Lauzun Hussars.
As soon as he landed at Lorient, Lauzun jumped
into a post-chaise and set out for Versailles to report
the success of the expedition. When he arrived there
the Court was at Marly ; thither he went in hot haste.
If he expected to be complimented on the way in
which he had conducted the expedition entrusted to
him, he was cruelly undeceived. The Minister re-
ceived him very coldly, and the King scarcely spoke
a word to him. The Senegal expedition had not
been approved of, and its author was out of favour
for having undertaken it.
The luckless conqueror had the grief of being even
worse treated by the Queen than by the King. In
the face of such notorious discredit courtiers could
not hesitate. Lauzun found himself alone. He
understood even more clearly the disfavour of which
174
lie was the object when he perceived that his wife
was the close ally of Mme. de Polignac, and of all
the coterie who feared and hated him.
Notwithstanding the difficulties of the situation he
determined to make head against the storm, and in
the evening he appeared as a matter of course in the
Queen's circle. They were playing faro. Lauzun,
not to look too awkward, took his stand behind M.
de Fronsac and staked a few louis ; no one spoke a
word to him, which was extremely embarrassing.
The young Marquise de Coigny was sitting next to
M. de Fronsac, but Lauzun scarcely knew her, and
did not venture to speak to her. But the young
Marquise was touched by the cowardly desertion to
which Royal contempt had brought him ; she pre-
sently turned round and addressed him, and con-
tinued talking to him. Moved beyond expression
by this proof of courage, Lauzun immediately credited
Mme. de Coigny with wit and much grace. Indeed,
her intervention was salvation to him. He recovered
his presence of mind, tried to be charming to the
amiable lady, who had not hesitated to compromise
herself for him, and succeeded. Then, having got
into the vein and feeling himself supported, he
mixed in the general conversation, addressed the
Queen, and was so lively and amusing that Marie
Antoinette could not hold out, and began to chat
with him as in the high days of his favour. The end
of the evening saw his triumph ; he had recovered
all his prestige.
He preserved a tender recollection of this evening
175
at Marly, which had ended so unexpectedly well.
Mme. de Coigny, by her magnanimity, had struck
him to the heart, and that impulse of compassion,
which indeed showed a generous soul, was the first
cause of our hero's last " grand passion." This
charming lady filled his thoughts ; he fancied he
had never seen her like, nothing so perfect.
Who then was Mme. de Coigny, of whom we have
not yet had occasion to speak, and who had given to
the whole Court such signal proof of an independent
and rebellious spirit ?
Louise Marthe de Conflans, the eldest daughter of
Louis Gabriel, Marquis de Conflans, and of Jeanne
Antoinette Portail, was born in 1760. Her mother
hated society ; she never went to Court, and she
inspired in her daughter, from her earliest years,
tastes which led her to sympathize with the citizen
class rather than with the nobility.
The Marquis de Conflans, her father, was remark-
ably handsome, distinguished and tall, and was
skilful in all physical games and exercises. He was
a man of rare acumen, a great deal of intelligence
and wit, and excessively frank in his speech, but he
paraded more vices than he really had ; he was
immoral on principle, and chose to set his face
against everything that he called prejudice ; he told
lies without being false, drank hard without caring
for wine, and was profligate without passion. This
eccentric man was acceptable at Court without ever
gaining anything by it ; everyone spoke ill of him,
and yet was delighted to see him. In excess, as in
176
everything else, he would never allow himself to be
outdone. The Due de L^vis has a story that, at a
mess dinner, seeing an old officer of hussars empty a
glass holding nearly a pint, he took off one of his
boots and filled it with wine, which he drank off to
the officer's health. The Comte de Lautrec had a
wolfs cub to follow at his heels, by way of a dog ;
M. de Conflans at once procured a bear that had been
taught to dance, and made it stand solemnly behind
his chair, in a hussar's jacket, holding a plate in its
fore-paws.
Marthe de Conflans all her life retained traces of
the ideas inculcated in her infancy, and the examples
she had before her eyes. In 1775 she was married
to the only son of the Due de Coigny. The story
goes that at the time of the marriage several family
supper parties were given. When they were being
arranged the Due de Coigny said to the Marquis de
Conflans : " Do you know I feel very awkward." —
" Indeed. Why ? ''—" Well, I never supped with
your wife before." — " Faith ! Nor I neither. We
will go together and support each other." The
anecdote suggests that of the executioner who, as he
led a poor wretch to the gallows, said : " I will do
my best, but it is only fair to tell you that I never
hanged a man in my life." — "And I never was
hanged before," said the patient ; " but we will each
do all we can, and get through it somehow."
The young couple had no affection for each other ;
they lived on terms of cool politeness, not however
neglecting the rules of '^ good form"; for Mme. de
177 N
Coigny in 1778 had a daughter, Antoinette Fran9oise
Jeanne, whom she never called by any name but
Fanny.
The Marquis de Coigny did not present his wife at
Court till 1779. She was soon a brilliant figure
there, in spite of her youth. Tall and well made,
her beauty was dignified and imposing, with an air
of disdainful pride and arrogant self-will : ^^ Hers
was aristocratic beauty in its highest expression."
Her wit was original, biting, and formidable, but
she overflowed too with ingenious ideas, delicate
judgment, and graceful speeches. Every one was
repeating her retorts and sallies, and she at once
made herself a position in society, and that a
brilliant one. We have seen how promptly she
had come to the rescue of Lauzun, whom she hardly
knew.
Lauzun in his memoirs speaks of Mme. de Coigny
in quite a different tone from that he adopts in re-
gard to the other ladies of his adoration. There was
an excellent reason for this ; namely, that he wrote
them for Mme. de Coigny to read. It was therefore
quite natural that he should write but lightly of the
other women he had loved — that could not fail to be
aoreeable to his new friend — and that he should on
the contrary display a respectful reserve when she
herself was in question.
It is indeed quite certain that he loved her as he
had loved no other woman ; his attachment from the
first was both tender and delicate, and it endured for
thirteen years ; that is. till his death. Though for a
178
very long time Mme. de Coigny bestowed on him no
smallest favour, not even a lock of hair, was his affec-
tion at all the less ? Far from it. Between him and
the lady there was a deep affinity of heart and mind ;
they were sister souls, understanding each other, and
linked by the bond of delicate sentiment. And thus
for years Lauzun, the professed roiie^ lived with no
idea in his heart but a romantically pure affection
for the woman to whom he dreamed of devoting his
life.
Meanwhile Lauzun had had various interviews
with M. de Sartines ; the Minister gave him neither
promotion nor increased pay, but he offered him a
sum of money down, which Lauzun very handsomely
refused. Indeed, he asked nothing for himself ; he
only demanded some recompense for his aides-de-
camp. M. de Sartines had broken all his pledges.
In spite of the most express promises, he had scattered
in every direction the corps of Foreign Volunteers
that the Due had so carefully recruited. Lauzun, in
his indignation, declared to the Minister that,- though
he made no complaints, at any rate he would no
longer serve the King, and he sent in his papers.
The King, however, refused to accept his resignation.
" I intend that you shall be well treated and satis-
fied," he said to Lauzun, " and I shall give orders
to that effect."
The Minister did indeed promise to Lauzun that
he should be appointed proprietory and inspecting
Colonel of a legion, consisting of eighteen hundred
foot and six hundred horse ; he also promised him
179 N 2
that he should be made permanent head of the first
foreign cavalry regiment which might fall vacant or
be incorporated by the War Department. This the
Due accepted.-^
He begged, meanwhile, to be appointed Inspector-
Oeneral of Prisoners of War. These prisoners were
treated in France with extreme barbarity, and a
considerable mortality was the result. Lauzun,
touched with pity, wanted to remedy this state of
affairs. The Minister shared his views, and gave
him the necessary authority, not only to amend the
condition of these unfortunate prisoners, but to
check abuses and dishonesty.
While awaiting the moment when he must take
up his new duties, Lauzun went to Hautefon-
taine ; he was gladly welcomed, his return was
celebrated with rejoicings, and pleasure at seeing
a well-beloved friend lighted up every counte-
nance.
Life at Court had not remained unaltered during
Lauzun's absence. The Queen's enforced retirement
had involved considerable changes. Before and
after the birth of the Princess there were no balls
and but little card-playing ; but the Comte d'Artois
had drawn on his fertile imagination for new
amusements, and fresh means of filling up his
useless existence. Among other occupations he
learnt to dance on the tight-rope. He took lessons
^ A decree of Jnne 25, 1779, amalgamates the Foreign Marine
Volunteers with the Volunteer Corps of Nassau; the Nassau
regiment did not alter their uniform, but their buttons were
changed, the arms of Nassau being replaced by an anchor.
1 80
of an acrobat named Placide, and performed some-
times to a select party.
As soon as the weather was warm the evening .
was spent out-of-doors on the terrace at Versailles.
All the Court walked and sat there till one or
two in the morning, listening to the bands of the
French and Swiss Guards. The Prince de Ligne
speaks of these pleasant and innocent evenings^
which looked like an opera-ball : " We listened and
conversed, we made mistakes and were mistaken ;
I often gave the Queen my arm, and she was
charmingly lively. We sometimes had the band
among the shrubs in the orangery, where, high up
in a niche, there is a bust of Louis XIV. M. le
Comte d'Artois would sometimes say as he passed,
' Good evening, grandpapa ! ' One evening I
agreed with the Queen that I would stand behind
the statue and answer him ; but the fear that
they might not bring a ladder for me to get
down, but leave me there all night, made me give
up the notion. There was often more Court intrigue
than love intrigue in all this." .
What the Prince omits to say is that all Versailles
was at liberty to promenade on the terrace ; ladies
of the Court, waiting- maids, citizens' wives, women
of the town, everybody in short, elbowing each other
in the Park. The Royal Family mingled with this
mob, and much annoyance ensued.
Subsequently, and again owing to the Comte
d'Artois' inventive genius, these assemblies altered
in character. Innocent games were introduced, a
i8i
throne of fern was made in an arbour, and they
made-believe King and Queen like children. Then
they played at cross-questions, at soldiers, at blind
man's buff, and above all at descampativos. Paris
adopted the mania, and the rage for playing soldiers
and descamjpativos became general.
Mercy well understood how unsuitable and ill-
considered these amusements were, how rash it was
thus lightly to defy the suspicions of a disaffected
public by lingering in the arbours of Versailles till
two in the morning ! The disastrous affair of the
diamond necklace had its beginnings in this alone.
While Lauzun was away, Mme. de Polignac's
influence, far from diminishing, had constantly
increased. The Queen could not do without her
favourite. " Alone with her I am no longer Queen,*'
said she, " I am myself." At all times and in all
places she loaded her with excessive marks of favour.
She went every evening to her friend's rooms, where
she received the King and the Court. The company
met in a large wainscotted drawing-room at the
further end of the Palace ; in it there was a billiard
table, to the right a piano, to the left a table for
playing ' fifteens.' Here the evenings were spent.
Very often the Queen dined with Mme. de Polignac,
and, to make up for the increased expense, she added
sixty thousand francs to her salary.
Mme. de Polignac was not, by nature, exacting.
But she had about her a sister-in-law, the Comtesse
Diane, an ambitious and greedy woman, who wanted
to secure every favour for herself and her family ;
l82
then there was the Comte de Vaudreuil, drowned in
debt, who took advantage of her influence to rob
the treasury, and who made a scene when Mme. de
Polignac was not -prompt in acceding to his demands.
The favourite at last objected so strongly that she
was reduced to sobs when urged to take such steps.
But she yielded at last, and the Queen, always
kind and easily worked upon, seeing her friend in
tears, at once took measures for checking them.
Mercy declares that for four years the Polignacs
obtained in salaries and in gifts more than 500,000
francs a year (£20,000).
Nor had the Polignacs alone grown in favour
since Lauzun's disappearance from Court, A young
Swedish nobleman. Count Fersen, had taken the
place the Duke had left vacant ; in a short time he
had become a great favourite ; nothing else was
talked of at Court.
Count Axel Fersen was born at Stockholm in
1757/ On finishing his studies he travelled, as did
every Swedish nobleman, through England, Ger-
many, and Italy ; he had then come to France, where
he had been appointed lieutenant (supernumerary) in
the Royal Bavarian regiment. He was tall and well-
built ; his features noble, aristocratic and melancholy,
his temper romantic. " He had," says M. de Levis,
^' more judgment than wit ; " but he concealed ^' a
burning soul under a mask of ice." He was very
well received at the French Court. In 1779 he was
^ His father was field marshal, and had been leader of tho
opposition at the beginning of the reign of Gustavus III.
i«3
high in favour ; he was admitted to the Queen's most
intimate circle ; there were whispered rumours of
assignations, of long interviews at the opera-balls and
the soirees at Trianon ; the Queen had been seen at
the harpsichord, gazing at him while she sang the
impassioned lines from the opera of Dido : —
How happily was I inspired
When I received you at my Court !
But to return to Lauzun, whom we left in pleas-
ant retirement at Hautefontaine. He was about to
begin his tour of inspection of the prisoners of war
when he heard that an army was being assembled
for the purpose of invading England. He at once
applied to the King to be sent on active service, and
was appointed to the vanguard under M. de Vaux,
who was in command of the land forces. Two camps
were formed, one at Param^, in Brittany, and the
other at Vaucieux, in Normandy. The enthusiasm
was indescribable, the War Office was besieged by
young men, by all the Court, eager to be shot at.
It was thought the greatest misfortune to be left in-
active in a garrison ; every one thirsted for danger
and glory.
M. de Vaux' forces, numbering only thirty
thousand men, had an immense staff of officers.
Here are sketches of some of the generals from
Lauzun's own pen : —
" M. de Vaux was, as he always is, pedantic,
dull and second-rate ; under an affectation of
authority the basest adorer of favour.
^' The Marquis de Cr^quy, confidential aide-de-
184
camp to the Commander-in-cliief, abetted him in ^
supplying us with poisonously bad food, and spent
the rest of his time in playing little ill-natured
tricks, some of which were funny enough.
" The Marquis de Langeron, Lieutenant-general,
was a loyally tiresome old fellow, great at small jokes.
In asking you to dinner he would say : ' Will you
come and share with me an egg carved for four on
the back of a tin plate ? If there is not enough, I
will serve myself up in a dish.'
" M. de Rochambeau, Marechal de camp, who was
in command of the van, could talk of nothing but
feats of war ; he was always manoeuvring and plan-
ning military dispositions on the field, in his room,
on the table, on your snuff-box if you took it out of
your pocket ; he thinks of nothing but his business,
and knows it wonderfully well.
" The Comte de Caraman, the trimmest of dandies,
softly, and minutely particular, would stop a man in
the street if his coat were buttoned crooked and give
him some little military instruction with much
interest ; he always showed himself an admirable
officer, full of knowledge and energy.
^^M. Wall, Marechal de camp, fed well, drank
punch all day, always thought others right, and in-
terfered in nothing.
" M. de Crussol, Marechal de camp, had a crooked
neck and not too straight a mind.''
At Parame the days were spent in drilling,
evolutions, sham attacks and defence, landing from
boats, and military reconnoitring. These manoeuvres
185
were in fact great shows ; spectators collected from
all the neighbouring towns ; fine ladies came even
from Paris, and seats were reserved for them to look
on in comfort. When there were no manoeuvres,
there was dancing. Mme. de la Chatre would come,
Mmes. de Simiane, de Navaris, de Coigny, de
Villequier and others. The men danced in boots, and
in the evening capital suppers were given.
The thing most clearly proved by these perform-
ances was that France had no General officers ; they
all betrayed their extreme newness and ignorance.
All these elaborate preparations ended only in a
huge bubble. M. de Maurepas had never been
under any illusion as to the final collapse of M. de
Sartine's project, and was always making fun of the
invasion.
Spain meanwhile had formed an alliance with
France to fight the English. The Spanish fleet of
thirty-four ships joined the French, of thirty- two.
M. d'Orvillers, at the head of this formidable
squadron, sailed in pursuit of Admiral Hardy ; but
the Englishman evaded him very cleverly and
retired into Plymouth.^ M. d'Orvillers was about to
blockade the harbour when a fearful squall dispersed
the ships, and obliged them to make for Brest in all
haste ; he was glad to escape with no worse harm
done. This, however, was not all ; sickness broke
^ A caricature represented M. d'Orvillers as a colossus with one
foot on the Isle of Usshant and the other on the Scilly Isles, look-
ing which way the wind was blowing, while Hardy's fleet sailed
in between his legs.
i86
out in the fleets ; it was evident that no fighting
could be done, and the allies separated.
While the English were conspicuous for the care
taken of their sailors and the admirable standard of
health that resulted, the French were no less
neglected with fatal indifference, and were decimated
by sickness. This was the reason why most of our
naval enterprises failed of success.
Admiral Hardy's fleet was uninjured ; it held
the seas and put any attempt to invade England out
of the question. The scheme had therefore to be
given up ; and the campaign announced with so
much flourish, and prepared so elaborately, ended
contemptibly enough. Indignation was general ; the
two camps rang with recriminations, and the
Ministers were severely blamed. M. de Choiseul is
credited with the bitter remark : " M. de Maurepas is,
it must be admitted, a wise Minister ; but his watch
is six months slow." — " The Due is right, perhaps,"
retorted the witty old man. " But then — his watch
has stopped ! "
The camps at Parame and Vaucieux, being of no
further use, were broken up in the month of
November, and all the coming conquerors, who had
seen their dreams of glory and battle vanish into thin
air, made their way back to the capital somewhat
sheepishly after their discomfiture.
On his return to Paris Lauzun renewed his ac-
quaintance with Mme. de Martainville ; and they
often were together at Hautefontaine ; but Mme.
Dillon and she were no longer on very friendly
187
terms. On the other hand, Mme. Dillon had become
very intimate with Mme. de Coigny, which suffi-
ciently explained Mme. de Martainville's bitterness.
She was, in fact, keen enough to understand that she
was supplanted in Lauzun's affections, and she owed
Mme. Dillon a mortal grudge for her politeness to
her rival.
As a result of her intimacy with Mme. Dillon,
Mme. de Coigny was soon a constant visitor to
Mme. de Gu^men^e, and here too Lauzun frequently
met her.
But Lauzun was now two-and-thirty, and no longer
thought himself irresistible. He even went so far in
his bashfulness as to forbid himself the pleasure of
gazing at her and listening to her. At this juncture
the idea occurred to him of strengthening the ties of
affection which already bound Mme. de Coigny and
Mme. de Gu^m^n^e, by arranging a marriage between
Mme. de Coigny' s sister and the Prince's son. He
spoke of the matter to Mme. de Coigny, who was
enchanted, and entrusted the negotiation to Lauzun.
He had great influence over his friend Guemenee,
and obtained his consent without difficulty. It was
a splendid match for Mademoiselle de Conflans, for
the Due de Montbazon, who was but eighteen years
old, was the future head of the house of Rohan.
Mme. de Marsan and the Cardinal de Rohan highly
disapproved of the marriage and strongly opposed it,
but M. de Guemenee left them to themselves ; the
ceremony was fixed for May 29, 1780.
Lauzun, who ha3 been treated with such cruel in-
i88
justice and ingratitude, at last obtained from M. de
Sartines an appointment as Colonel-proprietory and
Inspector of a corps of eight hundred infantry and
four hundred cavalry, to be designated as '' Lauzun's
Foreign Volunteers." This new corps was enrolled
by royal patent of March 5, 1780, and the same
document disbanded the foreign marine corps of
1778.^
1 The corps was to consist of five companies of infantry, two of
fusiliers, one of grenadiers, one of artillery, and one of light
chasseurs ; and of two squadrons of hussars, each containing one
company. The uniform was to be the same as that fixed by the
regulations of September 1, 1778, for the foreign Marines. The
hussars were to adopt the same uniform as that of the regulars.
The staff of the corps included the Due de Lauzun, Colonel-pro-
prietory and Inspector of the regiment, with twenty thousand
francs a year; Vicomte d'Arrost, Colonel commanding, with
twelve thousand francs ; Comte Dillon, Lieutenant-colonel, with
six thousand francs ; Comte de Podereczky, Major ; d'Exclent,
Captain of hussars ; Le Loing, Captain of grenadiers ; de Blon-
deau. Captain of artillery ; de Trentinian, Captain of chasseurs ; de
Miewkowski, Captain of hussars.
189
CHAPTER XIII.
1780.
An army to be sent to America — Lauzun and his legion to
form part of it — Fersen also joins — ^The strang-e adventnre of
M. Dillon — Across the Atlantic — A naval battle — They reach
Rhode Island.
All this time the Americans, left to their own
resources, saw their affairs looking but badly;
the enthusiasm of the first outbreak was failing,
and the rebellion was not making good progress.
They reproached us, with justice, for having for-
gotten our promises and neglected their interests.
In view of this position the Ministry at last made
up its mind to act, and in the course of the winter of
1780 it was decided that an army corps should be
sent to America to reinforce the troops of the Con-
gress. As soon as it was made known, this news
caused a frenzy of enthusiasm in the French nobility,
always eager and valiant. The younger men es-
pecially, all holding rank in the army, could not
contain themselves for joy at the thought of reap-
ing glory at last on a field of battle. They asked
nothing better than to leave home, pleasure, wives and
190
sweethearts, to rush into peril and danger. Lauzun,
Fersen, the Dillons, Noailles, Segnr, and many more,
vied with each other in imploring to be sent to
fight for American freedom.
It was a strange and a new thing to see a despotic
Government assisting a nation in revolt against its
legitimate sovereign. But it was perhaps even more
extraordinary to see the Government sending forth
all its young aristocracy to imbibe notions of
independence and liberty which they would subse-
quently import into France. The Royal personages
were so completely blinded that, when La Fayette
returned to Versailles in 1779, the Queen said to
him: ''Now give me some news of the good
Americans — of our dear republicans."
The little French army was placed under the com-
mand of the Comte de Rochambeau. Lauzun at
once craved the favour of being sent out with his
little corps of volunteers ; this was immediately
granted, thanks to M. de Rochambeau's intervention.
The Due was to join his regiment at Brest Before
leaving he wished above all things to see Mme. de
Coigny once more ; but he would not go to her
house. He fortunately met her at Mme. de Gon-
taut's ; he asked permission to bid her farewell, and
she laughingly appointed a meeting at the Tuileries
for next day. She kept the appointment, but accom-
panied by her friend the Comtesse de Durfort.
Lauzun writes of her with real feeling : "I under-
stood that day how much I might love her, and ten
times I was on the point of telling her so ; at the
J91
moment when we were parting, perhaps for ever, I
felt that I could risk nothing by opening my heart to
her. I did not value life, and she might have made
it dear to me. But I dared not. The thing we feel
most deeply is often that which it is hardest to utter.'*
Two days later Lauzun left for Brest. It had
been settled that the whole expedition should as-
semble at Brest and sail on April 5. At first it
was proposed to send as many as 12,000 men, to be
augmented possibly to 20,000 ; but the figure was
subsequently reduced to 7500. However, the trans-
ports were not ready ; the resources of the navy had
been exhausted in sending out a considerable force
to the Antilles with M. de Guichen. The indolence
and ineptitude of the officials were beyond anything
that is conceivable. Finally, for lack of transport
ships, hardly five thousand men could be sent oiF.
It was determined that the ten thousand men left
behind should form a second contingent, and follow
the first as soon as possible.
A great deal of artillery was shipped, a consider-
able siege-train, victuals for four months at sea and
as much on land ; but the troops wanted for every-
thing. In some regiments the men had neither
stockings, shoes nor shirts ; all these had to be pro-
vided. There was a great deal of bad feeling among
them, and discipline was ill-maintained.
The fleet was commanded by Vice-admiral Comte
de Temay.^ He wished at all costs to conceal his
1 It consisted of seven line of battle sliips : the Due de
Bourgogne, 80 gnns ; the Neptune, 74 ; the Conquer ant, 74 ; the
192
departure from the English, for he knew that
Admiral Graves was at Portsmouth completing the
armament of a squadron expressly commissioned to
pursue him and give battle.
Lauzun's foreign volunteers had gone to Brest
with their officers in order to embark, but space was
limited ; for lack of room and to Lauzun's deep
chagrin — for he was in despair at seeing his legion
incomplete — it was decided that the two companies of
fusiliers should be left behind to form part of the
second convoy. The troops to go now embarked on
April 5.
Among the officers who went with them may be
named Comte Dillon, the Vicomte d'Arrost, the Baron
de Viomenil, Chastellux, the Vicomte de Noailles,
the Vicomte de Custine, the Due de Castries, the
Marquis de Deux-Ponts, the Marquis de Laval-
Montmorency, the Comte de Saint-Mesmes, M. de
Montesquieu, and the Vicomte de Rochambeau.
• Fersen, handsome Fersen, was also one of the elect.
Perhaps it was prudence that bid him leave, to silence
the rumours caused by his presence at Versailles.
His departure was remarked upon. The Comte de
Creutz wrote to Gustavo III., April 10, 1779 : —
"I confess I cannot help thinking that the
Queen had a weakness for him ; I have seen symp-
toms too certain to doubt. Young Count Fersen' s
conduct has been admirably modest and discreet ;
Jason, 64; the EneilJe, 64; the Provence, 64; the Ardent, 64;
the Surveillante, and the Amazone. There were transports besides,
and the whole convoy made up thirty-four ships.
193
especially wise is his determination to go to America.
By going away he has obviated all risk, but it
evidently needed a firmness beyond his years to resist
temptation. The Queen could not take her eyes
oiF him these last days ; they filled with tears when-
ever she looked at him."
When Fersen's departure was announced the
Duchesse de Fitz James said to him : " What,
Monsieur, can you bear to abandon your conquest ? *'
" If I had made a conquest, I would never abandon
it," replied the young man. ^' I go a free man, and
unfortunately leave no regrets."
The Commander-in-chief, M. de Rochambeau, was
on board the Due de Bourgogne ; Lauzun sailed in
the Provence, All the preparations were made
under great difficulties. Several transports ran
aground by the blundering of the merchant captains,
whose ignorance was complete ; some of the vessels
sprang a leak and were obliged to unload ; the
Conquerant even let in water and had to be pumped
three times a day. There were a number of sick.
The signal for weighing anchor was given several
times, but it was always the moment seized for
going on shore by the ships' officers, and even
the commanders ; they could not be got to sleep on
board.
At last, on April 13, all was ready. Every one
came on board, and anchor was to be weighed on the
15th. But the sea was rough, and the convoy, after
getting to sea to wait outside for the fleet, returned
to the harbour on the 17th.
194
At the last moment Vicomte Dillon, Edouard
Dillon's brother, who was second in command of
Lauzun's legion, was not to be seen. He had gone
on shore in good health and spirits to put some
letters in the post, and had not been seen again.
The whole army could talk of nothing but this
sudden disappearance ; some with ill-nature accusing
the young officer of cowardice ; others, and the
greater number, believing that he had met with
some accident. Lauzun, who was much attached to
Dillon, defended him through thick and thin, living,
however, in mortal anxiety, till after three days'
absence the colonel quietly came on board with a
sword cut in his body and two in his arm. His
absence was then explained.
On joining at Brest he had seen at a post-house a
chaise which he had loudly and severely criticized ;
the proprietor of this vehicle, a retired gendarme,
took offence at his remarks, and called him to
account for them. Dillon politely apologized for his
random remarks and each drew his sword. But the
gendarme on arriving at Nantes boasted of having
put to flight '' a certain Dillon " who was on his way
to embark with his regiment. This was reported to
the Vicomte, who, taking his chance of what might
ensue, followed up his adversary and wounded him
severely, while he himself got three sword cuts.
Dillon, who in spite of his wounds had ridden without
stopping from Nantes, not to miss his ship, was put
under arrest by M. de llochambeau.
This adventure gives some idea of the importance
195 2
attached to such a point of honour, since it was great
enough to make an officer risk being a deserter on
the eve of a campaign.
The wind continued contrary till the end of the
month. At last, on May 2, the fleet and convoy
made sail. All the officers, with the exception of
M. de Rochambeau and M. de Ternay, were in
ignorance of their destination. On the 15th the
fleet had not yet doubled Cape Finisterre, and
already there was much to repair.
We will cross the Atlantic, making the long voyage
in Lauzun's company ; will see what reflections were
suggested to him and to his companions by the
life on board, and the various incidents of the
voyage.
The first thing that struck the officers of the army
was the want of discipline among the naval officers ;
it was beyond anything they had conceived of, and
their pride, too, was unexampled and unjustifiable.
" In this corps everything breathes jealousy and
insubordination ; every one who has not begun as a
naval cadet is hated and despised, and every officer
in particular — even such as have most talent —
is full of prejudices which could never be eradicated
but by entirely reconstructing and reforming the
corps." The captain and officers of the ship on
which Lauzun found himself were full of perfectly
intolerable and odious pride, airs and insubordination,
and they would say the most incredible things : one
of them said : " When a Minister dares to send us
an order that does not suit us, we send it back and
196
do not obey it." In speaking of the supernumerary
officers whom they had been obliged to engage
M. de Basleroi said, to close a discussion : " Besides,
gentlemen, though it may be to the interest of the
State that we should have some, it is not to ours, so
it is not to be endured." The officers, too, hated
each other ; those of Brest called those who had come
from the Mediterranean " fresh-water sailors."
Was this insolence compensated for by solid know-
ledge? By no means. To give some idea of the
ignorance of the naval officers on board the Provence^
we need mention but two facts : one of them mistook
a map of the Black Sea for that of the Mediterranean ;
another asserted that the Tiber passed the walls of
Constantinople ; he was with great difficulty made to
understand that it flows past Rome, and discussed
the matter for more than an hour before he would
believe that this was true.
Life on board was fearful for the men; six or
seven hundred of them packed into a small ship could
scarcely move. They had bad sleeping quarters,
breathed a poisonous atmosphere, and had only vile
food to eat and water gone brown with staleness.
They were devoured by " lice, bugs and fleas." The
sick were at the mercy of an inefficient surgeon,
who had not even the necessary remedies to cure
them.
This is how they took their meals : " All these
poor, ill- clad sailors collected in the galley aft, sat
down on the ground, and the rations were served out
in mangers, as if they were horses ; five times a week
197
hard biscuit in the morning, sometimes uneatable,
and a little wine ; at noon much the same meagre
repast, excepting that a little salt meat was added ;
at five in the evening some broth made of beans or
of sour-crout. It would be far better to give them
these vegetables separately, but this is not the
custom on board ship — besides, it would give the
officers some trouble; so they prefer not to think
about it."
All kinds of amusements were devised to vary the
monotony of the voyage. When the weather was
fine a launch was lowered, and the officers paid visits
to their friends sailing in other ships. Lauzun had
with him the band of his regiment, and he gave a
concert every day on board the Provence to his
companions on the voyage. As soon as the instru-
ments were heard the other ships approached.
This was the chief entertainment, the only thing that
brought a little cheerfulness into the life of these
unfortunate beings during a long voyage, while sick-
ness was beginning to reduce their numbers.
On June 11, a small vessel loaded with hen^ings,
oil and biscuit, was captured. This was a great
event for all the fleet. Each ship of war was licensed
to send for a share of the booty ; it was a horrible
scene of pillage, and the men even fought with each
other, drawing their cutlasses. In the heat of the
fray a sailor fell overboard, and was saved with the
greatest difficulty ; of course he could not swim.
On June 18, an English corvette of eighteen guns
was captured ; the prisoners were completely stripped
198
of everything they had. The evening was fine and
warm, and Lauzun's band played for the delectation
of the fleet.
On June 20, the squadron was south-west of the
Bermudas, when six English ships came in sight.
All hands were called on deck. It would be a pity
not to record here the short and suggestive address
spoken before the fight by the Capuchin father on
board the Frovence : " You have an excellent captain
who has given proof of courage and skill. Confess
your sins ; God forgive you all. Give no quarter."
The battle began. But at dusk, in spite of
superior strength and favouring conditions, M. de
Ternay refused to continue the fight. He allowed
the enemy to get away, and held on his own course.
This conduct on the Admiral's part led to vehement
recrimination, and even to remonstrance on the part
of the ofi[icers and men under his orders. It was
asserted that we might have destroyed the English
ships, and that the commander's incapacity had
robbed us of a certain victory.
This criticism was utterly unjust. It was not
generally known that M. de Ternay 's orders were to
avoid fighting on the high seas, and to escort his
convoy as quickly as possible to America. If he had
lost only a few hours his way would have been
crossed by Admiral Graves' fleet, which was in full
pursuit, and missed the French by only twenty-four
hours.
This affair, which might have brought us glory,
added to the depression which was gradually gaining
199
on the crews and soldiers. They had now been two
months on the seas from Brest; victuals were
running short, and becoming daily worse ; the
number of sick constantly increased — there were 250
down on board the Oonqueranty as many on board
the Jason and the other ships. Most of the cases
were of scurvy.
M. de Temay did nothing to keep up the men's
spirits. Never was so gloomy an Admiral, or with
so little initiative. He never spoke to anyone, and
his dejection had at last infected the officers ; they
were all suffering from melancholy and ennui, and
many of them were on the sick list.
On July 4, in the evening, two English frigates
came in sight, and a few shots were fired, but again
we avoided fighting. On the 6th, a transport, the
Jeanne-Marie, was missing ; it carried the cooks and
bakers for the army.
At last, on July 7, land was sighted. All the
captains of ships were assembled to hold council of
war with M. de Rochambeau and M. de Chastellux ;
it was decided to disembark the men at Rhode
Island.
On the 8th, another transport was missing in the
fog, the Isle de France, with three hundred men on
board from Bourbonnais.
On July 11 the fleet at length cast anchor in
the roadstead of Newport. It was high time ; the
voyage had lasted seventy-two days, and neither food
nor water was left on the ships. The number of
sick was considerable, but above all the men were
200
wearied out : dulness and depression had broken the
spirit of the stoutest.
The sight of land, the smell of earth, the hope of
victory were enough to revive the spirit and courage
of the young officers ; and they were fated to want
them more than ever.
201
CHAPTER XIV.
1780.
The Americans receive them badly — The camp at Newport —
Depression of the troops at the delay — August 15 — A visit
from Indians — Rochambeau goes to see Washirgton — Life at
Newport — Winter quai'ters — Lauzun and Feraen — Rocham-
beau returns to France — Lauzun is sent to Lebanon.
If M. de Rochambeau and his companions expected to
be hailed with enthusiasm, they were soon undeceived.
Hardly had the ships anchored in Newport roads
when the General landed with his staff. He found
no one awaiting them ; the streets were empty, not
a face was to be seen at the windows : the few in-
habitants they met looked sullen and dismayed.
Rochambeau and his suite had to put up at the inn.
This reception, so far from what they had looked
for, threw the French into fresh depression. On the
next day, however, Rochambeau saw the Governor of
the town and the principal inhabitants. He explained
to them that his little force was only the forerunner
of a much larger army, that the King of France had
determined to support them with all his power,
and that, with his help, their ultimate success was
certain. By degrees his hearers warmed up, and the
202
residents proposed to express their satisfaction by
some display of rejoicing. In the evening the houses,
streets and church-towers were illuminated, and
there were even a few fireworks in honour of the
French.
By arrangement with the Governor a place for a
camp was decided on outside the town, so as to
inconvenience the inhabitants as little as possible,
and on the following day the troops were landed.
The sick were carried to the hospital at Newport, and
the sound marched to the camping ground, where
they ran up huts.
But it was not enough to make a camp ; it must
also be placed in a state of defence. An attack from
the English was to be feared at any moment, and
during the first few days would infallibly have been
successful; we had not more than four thousand
men fit to put under arms, and many even of those
were in a very poor state of health. It was therefore
necessary to construct redoubts, and to fortify the
island, to avoid the risk of serious disaster.
Rochambeau placed Lauzun in command of the
coast, and of everything within shot of the spots where
it was possible to land. Lauzim, without a minute's
delay, set to work to construct defences for the part
of the island under his command.
On July 21 an English fleet of twenty-one ships
came in sight in the offing ; the French were not yet
in a position to make effectual resistance, and for
some days they lived in great apprehension. Happily
the English Admiral Arbuthnot was waiting for the
203
co-operation of the land forces before attacking the
camp. When at last he did so, it was too late ;
Lauzun had erected so many earthworks and batteries
that they afforded us perfect protection. But, though
we were in a position to defend ourselves, we kept
very slack watch, as the following anecdote proves.
On August 9 an English officer came off in a launch
with a flag of truce, to discuss an exchange of
prisoners. He got to the Due de Bourgogne without
meeting a single boat on the look-out, and without
his approach being even signalled.
M. de Rochambeau, in anticipation of a probable
attack, had urgently begged Washington to send him
some militia to reinforce him in the fight ; the Ameri-
can General had therefore drafted off four thousand
men, " They are splendid soldiers, and all ready and
willing,'* wrote Lauzun. " There are whole squads of
negroes, and the outposts of black men with white
shirts, such as they wear in this country, look
exactly like the negi'o harlequins on the stage."
Rhode Island, in spite of the devastation of war, of
ruined houses and forests felled, was a lovely spot ;
rye, maize, and every kind of corn grew and ripened
wonderfully, and the trees bore much the same class
of fruit as in France. All the men rejoiced at finding
themselves in this Eden ; but the heat proved excessive
during the month of August, and our soldiers, un-
accustomed to a high temperature, suffered severely.
The town of Newport, the only one on the island,
had but two main streets ; it had been a rather pretty
and busy place before the war. Three-fourths of the
204
houses were small farms of most attractive appearance.
Between Newport and the mainland the straits
were quite a league across, and the passage was not
always very safe. The horses were ferried over on
large, flat boats.
The spot chosen for the French camp was healthy
and well protected. The troops were obedient to
very strict discipline, which astonished and rejoiced
the inhabitants, accustomed as they were to be
pillaged both by the English and by their own troops.
Everything requisitioned was paid for at once, and
in money. M. de Rochambeau was a firm and up-
right man, a great disciplinarian, and by his
example and authority compelled every man to
respect most scrupulously the rights, property,
customs and practice of our allies. " Discipline was
so well maintained that fowls and pigs roamed among
the tents undisturbed, and there was within the
limits of the camp a field of maize, of which not a
leaf was touched."
The good conduct of the troops was all the more
meritorious because they were far from content, they
lacked most necessaries, and were very badly fed. It
is difficult to form an idea of the reckless want of
care with which preparations were even then made
for distant expeditions.
M. de Temay writes to the Minister of Marine to
ask for wine and brandy : " The barrels shipped on
the merchant transports not having been hooped with
iron, almost all leaked." He applies for blankets,
mattresses and clothing for soldiers and sailors. Most
205
of the men of the Picardy regiment have no breeches,
no coat ; nothing but an old cloak. ^
M. de Rochambeau had brought gifts for the wild
Indians from the King, and clothing for the colonists.
Unfortunately, in the confusion of shipping, the bales
had been badly made up and everything was missing.
In the country the distress was very great ; the
island had been laid waste by the English, who had
held it for three years, and then again by the rebel
troops. Paper money was at a discount of sixty per
cent. Rochambeau paid for everything, even rent
for the camping ground. But he had no money and
was forced to borrow, for he could get nothing on
credit. Fersen, in speaking of the colonists, says :
'' Their greed of money is unequalled : money is their
god ; virtue, honour — nothing in the world is of any
account but the precious metal. In all the dealings
we have had with them, they have treated us as foes
rather than as friends .... They sell food to the
English, who pay dear for it." This rapacity did not
tend to make Rochambeau's situation less critical.
Meanwhile the second division of the army — for
which they were impatiently waiting to begin hos-
tilities — did not arrive, nor was there anything to
suggest a hope that it was on its way. Rochambeau
and his force were left absolutely to themselves ;
since leaving Brest they had had no news from home
of any kind.
The General, fully aware of the insurmountable
difficulties of his position, would attempt no action
1 Ministry of Marine, B*, 183.
206
till the second division should arrive. But weariness
was preying on all, and inaction gave rise to dismal
reflections. The ofiicers could but wonder whether
it was worth while to come from France to camp
out for the fun of it at Newport. They had started
for America to win laurels, and not to grow lean in
a useless stockade.
Fersen echoes their feelings when he writes this
delightful letter to his father : —
"You know the French well enough, my dear
father, and what we call men of the Court, to picture
the despair of all our young men of that class who
find themselves compelled to spend the winter quietly
at Newport, away from their mistresses and the
pleasures of Paris ; no suppers, no theatres, no balls ;
they are desperate ; but they need only the word of
command to march against the enemy, to comfort
them."
Dejection fell on all. The season was advancing ;
it would soon be too late to undertake anything.
They began to think that they must winter at New-
port, and there seemed no worse fate possible. Their
situation also was becoming more and more pre-
carious. Sickness spread daily ; it was ascribed to
the foggy climate, which checked perspiration and
caused inflammatory colds on the lungs. M. de
Rochambeau, seeing with grief the disastrous eflfects
on his little army, of inaction, discontent and sickness,
tried by every means in his power to amuse his men
and raise their broken spirits ; unluckily amusements
were few.
207
However, on August 24, the eve of Saint Louis'
day, the forces celebrated the King's name-day. All
the regiments turned out under arms, three volleys
of musketry were fired, all the batteries fired a salute,
and M. de Rochambeau reviewed the troops with
General Heath, Military Governor of Newport. The
Americans were much struck by the splendid drill of
the French. The festival was continued on the
morrow. A dinner was given to the Knights of
Saint Louis. M. de Temay gave a great dinner on
board his flag-ship, healths were drunk to all the great
powers, and salutes fired from every vessel.
On August 30, a deputation of thirty Indians
came to pay their respects to the General. As a rule
they wore no clothes, but in honour of the event they
were in gala costume — a shirt, stockings and shoes.
On entering the presence of M. de Rochambeau they
woi;^ only one shoe as a mark of respect. They were
well received, in the hope of securing their friendship
and preventing their allying themselves with the
English. Presents were given them in the King's
name, humble enough it is true, of a shirt and a
blanket; but the gift was repeated each day. M.
de Rochambeau invited them to a grand meal ; at
first they were astonished and embarrassed, but by
degrees became quite at their ease, and smoked their
pipes very happily. To avoid making them drunk,
they had wine much diluted with water. The
General had ordered for them some of the delicacies
of French cookery. " Well," said he afterwards to
one of the party, " have you had a good dinner ? "
208
— " Very good," said the Redskin ; then laying his
hand familiarly on M. de Rochambeau's arm, he
added : ^' but, believe me, all that was not to com-
pare with the English cook we ate the other day."
After dining they visited the cantonments ; all the
regiments were marched past, but what above all else
excited their admiration was a charge of Lauzun's
hussars. When the Duke rode past at a gallop fol-
lowed by all his men they yelled with delight, uttering
cries " which were more like the howls of beasts than
the voices of men."
One of the things that most astonished the Indians
was seeing apple trees loaded with fruit overhanging
the tents of the soldiers. They, living solely on
rapine, could not understand such respect for the
property of others.
In the evening they performed a dance before the
officers. They might have been taken for wild
beasts ; hideous yells and howls preceded the dance ;
some beat the tattoo on a tub covered with a skin,
for a drum, others rattled pieces of wood together ;
they thus excited each other while others executed
steps and figures in time to the clatter.
On September 1 the Indians went to take leave
of M. de Rochambeau. In the evening they were
taken to see an acrobat performing on a tight rope,
and this amazed them greatly. Next day they left
to rejoin Washington's army. Everybody regretted
their departure, for they had amused the men, and
had afforded valuable entertainment, breaking the
dull and monotonous life of the camp.
209 p
On September 8 a duel was fought about some
trivial difference, between M. Dillon and the Vicomte
de Noailles. M. de Noailles was wounded.
M. de Rochambeau was now very anxious to meet
General Washington, and talk over the situation and
the steps that should be taken. He proposed to meet
him at Hartford ; he set out for that place, escorted
by his son, M. de Ternay, Fersen, and M. de Damas.
They thought the country they travelled through
the finest in the world ; it was well cultivated, the
landscape was picturesque, and the inhabitants
seemed well-to-do.
The party met with a singular adventure. One
night a wheel came off the carriage in which were
Rochambeau and Ternay. Fersen went in search of
a wheelwright ; at a distance of about a mile he
found one, but he was ill with fever. To Fersen's
entreaties he merely replied, " If you were to fill my
hat with guineas you would not get me out of bed
this night." The French General followed in person
to beg the man to come to their assistance, but it was
of no use. "Well," said Rochambeau, "all I can
say is that General Washington expects me, and you
will make me miss my appointment. You must be
responsible to the country." — " Why did not you say
so sooner ? " said the wheelwright. " If it is a matter
of public service I will do it." He got up and
went to mend the wheel, at the risk of his life.
Rochambeau reached Hartford on September 27,
and there found W^ashington. The French ofiicers
had been very anxious to make the acquaintance
2IO
of the famous American General. He made the
deepest impression on them and roused them to the
highest enthusiasm. " He has the look of a hero,"
writes Fersen. " His face is handsome and majestic,
but at the same time kind and benignant ; his smile
is pleasant, his manners are simple without being
familiar." " Everything about him proclaimed him
the hero of a republic," says Segur ; " he inspired
rather than commanded respect. He modestly strove
to evade the homage which it was a pleasure to pay
to him ; at the same time no one better knew how to
receive and reply to it. He listened with obliging
attention to those who addressed him, and his
countenance answered before he spoke."
In the course of this conference with Washington,
M. de Rochambeau positively refused to leave
Newport before he was joined by the second division
of his army. But it was agreed that if by October
15 he should have received no news of it, he was to
send a frigate to France, with an officer charged to
ask for reinforcements, and to explain to the Minister
what superior forces by sea and land held the gallant
little French corps in check.
It was on his return from this meeting that
Washington discovered the treachery of General
Arnold, who was plotting to surrender West Point
to the English, with all the depot of the American
army. A few hours' delay and American indepen-
dence would have been hopelessly at an end.
Washington's army, between two hostile forces, would
have been destroyed, and the French corps must
2I£ P 2
apparently have shared its fate. Arnold escaped
to the English lines and became the most virulent
foe of his countrymen/
All this while the French forces were vegetating in
the most odious and intolerable idleness. The enemy
could be seen, but could not be got at. In another
way, indeed, the service was hard and fatiguing,
for watch had to be kept night and day, and the
force was small. M. de Rochambeau found himself
in a cruel dilemma. If he left Newport, the fleet
would immediately be taken and destroyed. If, on
the other hand, the fleet were sent ofl*, the land force
would be surrounded and attacked by superior
numbers. So long as there were no reinforcements
they could only hold on in this wretched position.
All the army were miserably depressed, and M. de
Temay foresaw the moment when his fleet would be
absolutely without food.
M. de Rochambeau made up his mind to send an
officer home to lay the situation before the Minister.
Since his arrival on the American continent he had
received neither letters nor despatches, nor instruc-
tions of any kind. The other Generals all wished
that he should send Lauzun, whose intimacy with
M. de Maurepas might have been of great service.
However, he preferred to send his son. He gave
^ Till this time Arnold's conduct had been excellent, and in a
previous fight he had been badly wounded in the leg". A story tells
that later in the war, being in Virginia and closely pursued, he
asked an American prisoner of war what his fellow citizens would
have done to him if he had been caught. " We should have cut
off the leg that was wounded in the service of your country," said
the soldier, " and have hanged the rest."
212
him urgent letters to the Minister and the officials.
M. de Ternay also wrote to the Minister a note of
serious complaint. Lauzun, finally, pressingly
insisted that the remainder of his legion, left in
France, should be sent out to join him ; he pointed
out that his men were continually at the outposts
and were harassed with fatigue, etc., and he ended
by demanding fifty recruits to fill the places made
vacant by illness and wounds.^
Pending the arrival of the young Vicomte de
Rochambeau at Versailles, and his success in forward-
ing the cause he had gone to represent, the army
went into winter quarters. Rhode Island, where
the army was established, was well populated, the
resources of society were not lacking ; our young
officers were invited to charming parties where the
American ladies shone with grace and beauty.
There were dances and suppers which delighted the
residents and helped the French officers to endure the
gloom of exile.
Lauzun was the idol of these meetings. Venturing
to be somewhat bold, at least in speech, with one of
the young ladies: "Your words amaze me, M. le
Due," said the damsel, " for I am told that in France
you are married." " Married ! " said the Due with
a laugh. " Yes . . . but so little — so very little that
it is scarcely worth mentioning."
•Lauzun, guided by his good star, found himself
from the first in a very agreeable circle. Mrs.
Hunter, a widow of six-and-thirty, had two charming
1 Ministry of Marine, October 1, 1780.
213
daughters, admirably brought up. They lived in
great retirement and saw no company. Lauzun, by
some accident, had made their acquaintance imme-
diately on landing in Rhode Island, and they took a
great liking for the gay, witty and amusing French-
man. He soon was a constant visitor at the house,
and was treated as one of the family. He fell ill.
Mrs. Hunter took him into the house and took the
kindest care of him. Lauzun himself expressly says
that he never was in love with the Misses Hunter ;
" but if they had been my sisters," says he, " I could
not have been more fond of them."
The elder, without being regularly pretty, had a
bright and intelligent countenance, and much grace
in her movements ; she also dressed very well. Her
sister Nancy " was a perfect rosebud, her temper was
cheerful, her face always smiling, and her teeth
beautiful, a rare thing in America.'*
Mr. Champlein, a wealthy and influential man,
had a rarely beautiful daughter ; she had fine eyes,
a pleasing mouth, a lovely complexion, a pretty
figure and very elegant style ; she dressed her hair
with taste and spoke French well. Fersen was her
particular admirer and paid her great attention.
Miss Sprindly and Miss Silven were also much
admired by the French officers.
And while speaking of the youthful beauties of
Rhode Island we must not omit to mention the
fascinating Polly Leyton. She was not to be seen at
balls and entertainments, for she was a Quakeress, but
she nevertheless made a great impression. " She is
214
the goddess of grace and beauty, Minerva in person,"
says the Prince de Broglie ; "a masterpiece of
nature."
" Never was there such a combination of graces
and simplicity, of so much elegance and propriety,"
writes Segur. " Her dress was as white as herself ;
the muslin of her fuU kerchief, the envious cambric
which scarcely allowed me to see her fair hair, all the
innocent embellishments of a pious maiden, strove in
vain to hide an exquisite figure and conceal the most
bewitching charms. Her eyes, like twin mirrors,
seemed to reflect the gentleness of a pure and tender
soul; she welcomed us with an artless confidence
which delighted me, and the use of ^ thee ' and ^ thou,'
as prescribed by her sect, gave our new acquaintance
the ease of old friendship. In our conversations the
guileless originality of her questions amazed me.
" ' Hast thou then no wife nor children in Europe,'
said she, ' that thou art come from thy native land to
make wicked war ? '
" ^ But it is for your sake,' replied I, ^ that I have
come away from all I love, and it is to defend your
liberty that I am fighting the English.'
" ' The English,' said she, ^ have done thee no harm ;
and as for our liberty, what concern is it of thine ?
It is always wrong to interfere in other people's con-
cerns except to make peace and prevent bloodshed.'
" * Aye,' replied I, ' but my King ordered me to
carry arms for him here against your enemies
and his."
" ' Well,' said she, ' if thy King bid thee do what is
215
unjust, and inhuman, and against God's command-
ments, thee should obey thy God and disobey thy
King, for he is made King to save life, and not to
slay. I am sure that if thy wife has a good heart,
she is of my mind.' " ^
From the time of their arriving at Rhode Island
Lauzun had been on intimate terms with Count
Fersen. So strange a thing is destiny ! Thrown to-
gether by the chances of life in this remote solitude,
they had grown into genuine esteem for each other,
and had become inseparable friends. They had been
mutually attracted by similarly romantic tempera-
ment, and many tastes in common, and they spent all
the time together which was not claimed by their
duties in the service. The conversations between
two such men may be imagined ; both noble,
generous and chivalrous ; both having felt an ardent
devotion to the same woman. If we could doubt the
loftiness of Lauzun's sentiments or the dignity of his
character, these lines from his friend's pen would
surely be convincing. How should Fersen, who
lived with him almost exclusively for so many long
months, have mistaken him, or cheated himself so
greatly ? He was the depositary of all his secrets, he
heard all the griefs, all the disappointments that
* During the American war a Scotchman, as Chamfort tells us,
said to a Frenchman, as he pointed to some American prisoners :
'* You fought for your master ; I for mine. But for whom were
these men fighting ? "
This is as funny as the story of the King of Pegu, who thought
he should die of laughing when he was told that the Venetians
had no King.
2l6
weighed on his mind, and this is what he says of
him: —
" I am on the friendliest terms with the Due de
Lauzun. Opinions differ with regard to him ; you
will hear of him both good and evil ; the former is
right, the evil is in the wrong. If his detractors
could know him, they would change their opinion
and do justice to his good heart." Not long after he
writes again : " I cannot tell you, my dear father, how
greatly I am attached to the Due de Lauzun, and
how truly I love him ; he has certainly the noblest
and most sterling soul I know. I should never have
done if I were to tell you of all the polite and
delicate actions I know of him."
During their long hours of intimacy and conversa-
tion Lauzun had confided to Fersen the story of all
his mortifications, and his determination to quit the
service. Then one day, charmed by the young
Swede's chivalrous temper, he ofibred to give up his
legion in Fersen's favour. Fersen accepted the
proposal with enthusiasm and wanted to come to
some agreement with his friend as to the price he
should pay ; but at the first words Lauzun, smiling
sadly, replied : " I do not sell men, my dear Fersen,
"though I have sometimes bought them." Then,
pressing his hand with afi'ection, he added : " I, for
my part, would rather pay to find a man to whom I
can leave my corps, whom I love as if they were my
children, in such perfect confidence as to you."
Fersen, overcome by so much generosity and
magnanimity, threw his arms round Lauzun's neck,
217
and they both wrote to the Queen requesting her to
use her influence that the transfer might be effected
without difficulty.
In the month of November, as there was no forage
to be had at all, M. de Rochambeau decided on
sending Lauzun's legion to Lebanon in Connecticut,
thirty leagues inland, where they were to spend the
winter. It was not without regret that he left his
friend Fersen behind him, and the amiable Hunter
family, who had received and treated him as one of
themselves.
At Lebanon, as everywhere else, he gained the
liking of the residents by his delightful and elegant
manners; he succeeded to admiration in all the
business he was called upon to transact, either with
the old Governor Trumboldt, or with other members
of the legislative body of the State.
An anecdote is told of him, showing the natural
affability of his character. A worthy American of
Lebanon asked him one day what trade his father
plied in France: "My father," said he, "does
nothing ; but I have an uncle who is a Mar^chal "
(a shoeing-smith), alluding to the Marechal de
Biron. — " That is well," said the American, wringing
his hands as hard as he could, " it's a very honest
calling," and the Due gaily accepted the compliment.
Lebanon was not an agreeable residence ; it could
only be compared to Siberia. The town, one of the
largest in the district, consisted of at least a hundred
houses, but they were scattered far apart at distances
of four or five hundred yards from each other, in
218
the heart of an immense forest. Lauzun faced
ill-luck with a brave heart. He found his chief
amusement in the Governor of the place, an old
fellow named Trumboldt, extremely fussy and full of
his own consequence. " He has all the simplicity of
dress, all the self-importance, the pomposity which
belong to the head of a little republic. The effect
may be imagined when this little old man, in the
costume of the early settlers in this country, bustles
up to a table where a score of hussar officers are
already seated, and without being put out of
countenance or losing the rigidity of his demeanour,
pronounces in a loud voice a long prayer by way of
henedicite. Do not suppose that he excites the
laughter of his audience ; they are far too well bred ;
on the contrary, picture twenty amens spoken at the
end from under twenty moustaches, and you will
have' an idea of this little scene.'* * Lauzun has
endless stories of Trumboldt, whose whimsicalities he
has wittily recorded and whom he loved to laugh at.
Happily for Lauzun he had many visitors.
Chastellux several times spent a few days with him ;
the Due indeed showed him some squirrel-hunts, a
sport very popular in that part. These squirrels
were much larger and had far finer fur than the
European species; but, like them, they were agile
in leaping from tree to tree, and then clinging so
closely to the boughs as to be almost invisible.
They were often wounded without being brought
down ; but that was a trifling difficulty. An
^ Souvenirs de Chastellux.
219
obliging woodsman was called to bring his axe and
the tree was soon felled.
During the winter the young officers travelled
about for amusement. The Comte de Custine, the
Vicomte de Noailles, the Comte de Damas and others
went to pay their respect to Washington, and all
stopped at Lebanon to spend a few days with their
friend.
220
CHAPTER XV.
1781.
Mutiny in Pennsylvania — Death of M. de Temay — Washington's
visit to M. de Rochambeau — Arrival of the Astree — News
from France — M. de Montbarrey's place taken by M. de
Segur; M. de Sartines' by M. de Castries — Marriage of the
Due de Montbazon to Mile, de Conflans — Death of Mme. de
Mazarin; and of Lady Barrymore — M. de Rochambeau's
return — The campaign of 1781 — Lauzun's distinguished
service — The siege of York (U.S.A.) — Cavalry encounter
between Lauzun's hussars and Tarleton's dragoons — York
capitulates — Lauzun is sent to Versailles with the news.
Lauzun remained quietly at Lebanon till the
beginning of January, 1781. On the 11th, General
Knox arrived with a message from Washington,
announcing a mutiny among the militia of
Pennsylvania and New Jersey ; they complained of
being ill-fed, ill-clothed, treated too hardly, and
above all of not getting their pay. The revolt had
assumed serious proportions ; the men had killed
their officers, seized the field guns, and chosen new
leaders by ballot.
The consequences of this outbreak might be
disastrous, for it was known that the English
General Clinton had made the most dazzling oiFers
to the rebels if only they would serve under his
221
flag. Lauzun at once mounted and rode off to
warn M. de Rochambeau of this serious affair. But
it was not in the General's power to go to Washing-
ton's assistance; he himself had no money, and
only procured food with the greatest difficulty.
Happily the mutineers repelled the proposals of
the English with indignation, saying they were not
traitors, but soldiers asking for justice. Congress
intervened, did justice to the legitimate demands
of the men, and all was quiet again. Washington
wrote on this subject to Rochambeau: "I flatter
myself they will continue to put up with the same
inconveniences that they had hitherto endured,
which I cannot help admitting to be beyond the
limits of human patience."
Rochambeau took advantage of Lauzun's visit to
send him to New Windsor with despatches for
Washington. The American General welcomed the
Due cordially ; he detained him for some days,
explaining his plans, his schemes for the future, and
promising him an important post as soon as military
operations should begin. Washington, who was
always obliged to employ an interpreter when
talking to the French officers, was delighted to be
able to converse with Lauzun in his mother-tongue ;
this knowledge of English might be of the greatest
value to Lauzun, and do good service when the
French and American armies should combine.
After a short visit, which Washington had done
his utmost to render pleasant, Lauzun left the
American head-quarters and returned to Lebanon.
222
His journey was not devoid of danger ; he
narrowly escaped drowning when crossing the
North River ; it was covered with ice floes carried
down by the stream at great speed; it was soon
impossible to steer the boat, which was evidently
doomed to destruction. Happily for Lauzun an
enormous floe lay at a short distance ; he and his
companions succeeded in getting on to it, and by
leaping from one block of ice to another they at last
reached the shore, but only with the greatest
difiiculty and at the frequent risk of their
lives.
On arriving at Lebanon Lauzun found his legion
in good order; but he heard of the death of the
Admiral, the Chevalier de Temay. The unhappy
commander had died of grief : his men were almost
naked, and he did not know how to procure food
for them. To all his pressing applications and
entreaties the Minister had not even vouchsafed a
reply. Not a crown had been sent out, not a sack of
com, not a blanket. To be sure the land forces
were in the same plight ; it was ten months since
they had left France, and not a letter had reached
them, nor assistance of any kind. All M. de Roch-
ambeau s demands and urgent representations had
remained unanswered.
It is impossible not to be amazed by such utter
neglect. It would seem that once out of sight the
little army was completely out of mind. At Court
and in the Government Ofiices no one had a care or
a thought for their fate.
223
After spending some clays at Lebanon, and having
taken proper measures for regular supplies to reach
his men, Lauzun placed the command in the hands
of M. d'Arrost and returned to Newport for the rest
of the winter, attracted thither by the pleasant society
of which we have spoken. He had been there but a
few days when General Washington arrived on a
visit to M. de Rochambeau, and took the opportunity
to review the French army. He came on March 6,
and was received with the honours paid to a Marshal
of France. He reviewed the forces and was present
at the rejoicings held in his honour. This interview
was really a great occasion to both the Generals ; the
French were all eager to see the hero of freedom.
His noble presence, the simplicity of his manner and
his gentle gravity, surpassed general expectation and
won him all hearts.
He left on the 13th and returned to head-quarters
at West Point, whither, to do him honour, Rocham-
beau ordered Lauzun and some other officers to
escort him. The first night they arrived at
Providence ; all the population had come out to
meet them beyond the suburbs ; a swarm of children
carrying torches gathered round the General and his
escort, echoing the acclamations of their seniors ;
every one wanted to touch the man whom they
addressed in loud shouts as their father, and crowded
about him till they hindered his progress.
General Washington, much moved, stopped for a
few minutes ; then, turning to the French officers,
he said : " We may be beaten by the English, that,
224
gentlemen, is the chance of war ; but this is the army
they will never conquer."
At last, in the month of April, a ship came in from
France, the frigate Astree ; for ten long months the
little French army had not had a word from the
mother country. But the Astree, unhappily, had
not on board any of the assistance for which the
General had so urgently begged— neither men,
money, nor provisions.
However, the news was various and important.
In the first place Maria Theresa had died on
November 29, 1780, and her death had placed the
French Court in mourning. Then the Queen was
expecting the birth of another child. Finally, MM.
de Montbarrey and de Sartine had retired from
office.
M. de Montbarrey' s downfall had been caused by
the insatiable greed of his mistress. Mile. Renaud,
who blackmailed officers of every rank. She
extorted money for promotions, for the Cross of
Saint-Louis, for commissariat appointments. This
woman was a disgrace to the Minister ; an attempt
was made to force him to get rid of her ; he refused,
and was requested to retire. His successor was the
Comte de Segur, and the choice was a very happy
one. It was partly due to the Queen's influence ;
she was much attached to the Segur family.
M. de Segur, who had lost an arm at the battle of
Minden, was the best of men and excellent company.
His mind was solid and well-graced, and he was a
master of every subject bearing on military matters.
225 Q '
Honest, loyal, and patient, he had all the qualities
needed for reducing the anarchy he found supreme
in the War Office. No man could carry to a higher
pitch both physical and moral courage. Wounded
severely on several occasions, he had faced death in
battle with perfect composure. He was a man of
character, and of noble character.
M. de Sartine's place was given to M. de Castries.
If there was much to be done at the War Office, naval
affairs were, if possible, in still worse confusion. In-
subordination was more than ever rampant. It was
carried to such a point that M. d'Estaing refused to
take a command, saying : "A degree of daring, of
which I am quite incapable, is indispensable for the
conduct of a French squadron of ships." ^
These changes in the Ministries of War and naval
affairs were a real joy to Rochambeau and his
officers ; they hoped that the new men in authority
would be rather more attentive than their prede-
cessors to their duty towards the little French force
abandoned on Rhode Island.
Lauzun had the satisfaction of finding in the
AstrSes mail-bags several letters addressed to him-
self.
First there was one from M. de Maurepas. The
old Prime Minister, in reply to his urgent demands,
1 All the men hated each other. The pride and jealousy of the
officers as regarded their chiefs were unexampled. They would
obey no orders, and were indifferent to a repulse. A captain said
quite unreservedly, in speaking of M. de Grasse : " That man must
be made to feel all the madness, all the despair of a general who
has no one to second him."
226
assured him that it was impossible to send him the
rest of his legion ; as he expressed in the bantering
tone he was so fond of : "I have not been able to
achieve what you wish. You had only the King and
myself on your side ; that is what comes of keeping
such low company ! "
A letter from Mme. de Guemenee announced her
son's marriage to Mile, de Conflans.^ We have seen
how greatly Lauzun was interested in this match,
which was, to some extent, of his making. He was
sincerely glad, regarding it as a link between him-
self and Mme. de Coigny. Then he was informed of
the death of the Duchesse de Mazarin, the eccentric
lady of whom we spoke in the former volume.* She
was one of the handsomest and most profligate women
of the Court, and though she was but forty-two years
old, she had lived at least eighty-four. She had
grown enormously stout, and was compared to the
tun of Heidelberg, but she laced so tight that she
died of it. " She will die to-night or to-morrow,"
wrote the Chevalier de I'lsle. " The worst of it is
that she refuses the Sacraments." In fact, though
the Cure of the parish went to her house several
times, she constantly refused to see him. The family
got^him in by force to prevent a scandal, but the
dying woman dismissed him without listening to
him.
^ Louise Aglae de Conflans. Mairied May 29th, 1781, to
Charles Alain Gabriel, Prince de Rohan-Guemenee, Due de Mont-
bazon et de Bouillon.
' The Due de Lauzun and the Court of Louis XV., chapter
xxi.
. 227 2
By the same opportunity Lauzun also heard of
the death of Lady Barrymore, the beautiful English-
woman with whom he had been in love for a whole
winter, and who, at a critical moment, had given
him such solid proof of her attachment. She had
died at the age of thirty of a cold on the lungs.
But what had become of the Vicomte de Rocham-
beau, who had been sent by his father in the month
of October last to explain to the ministers the
wretched position in which he found himself? The
Astree brought news of him ; unfortunately, not very
satisfactory news. The Vicomte had been well re-
ceived, but when he attempted to discuss business he
found no one to talk to.-^
There the matter ended ; no one troubled them-
selves any further about him or about America. The
appointment of the new ministers made no difference
in the situation. Nothing was to be done for Roch-
ambeau s army ; it must get itself out of the scrape
as well as it could. The General was even refused
the reinforcement of the second division, which had
been waiting at Brest for the last ten months. The
young Vicomte, in despair, sailed in the month, of
April, on board a frigate, the Concorde ; he landed
1 His arrival gave rise to this epigram :
Le roi demande a Rochambeau
*' Qu'apportez vous done de nouveau ? "
*' Sire," ltd dit-il al'oreille,
" Mon pere se porte a merveille.'*
His Majesty asked Rocliambeau
" What recent news have yon to tell ? "
" Sir," he replied, and whispered low,
" I left my father very well."
228
at Rhode Island early in May, and informed his father
of his failure.
Rochambeau forthwith wrote to M. de S^gur this
dejected letter, which, however, bears the stamp of
great dignity.
"Newport, May 13,1781.
" Sir, — My son has returned very forlorn to this
country. Whatever may be the result, the King must
be served according to his wishes, and I am about to
begin this second campaign with all the zeal, I ven-
ture to say the passion, that I feel for his person and
his service, doing my best with the very small means
he places at my command."
The General communicated to Washington the
decision of the French Ministry, and they prepared
to commence operations. It was arranged that the
French forces should advance as far as the North
River and join the American army, and that the
united troops should get forward towards New York
as soon as possible. The French were in great joy
when they were told that at last they were to be
active, and leave the quarters where they had so long
been pining.
The officers, no doubt, had some regrets at leaving
Newport and the amiable residents who had received
them so well ; but they had left their country to
gain glory, and not to linger in barren idleness ; the
idea that they were at length to measure themselves
against the English filled them with joy.
The army quitted Newport in high spirits on June
229
12, and marched on in the most perfect order and
discipline.
Lauzun and his Hussars covered their advance,
and their duty was a hard one. There was no other
cavalry corps, and they were at work without pause
or rest. Lauzun was expected to do everything ; he
was pioneer, he protected the flanks and the rear, he
kept the look out for fear of surprises, he escorted the
baggage train ; he was often required to make long
reconnoitring expeditions ; nothing could exhaust
his energy or his desire to distinguish himself. The
safety of the whole colunm depended on him, on his
activity and constant watchfulness. He was fully
aware of his responsibilities, and showed himself in
every respect worthy of the General's confidence.
Thanks to him and to his Hussars, the march, though
not without risk, was accomplished without misad-
venture ; the French and American armies were at
last united, and encamped on White Plains, not far
from New York, which was the point they aimed
at.
On July 8, Washington reviewed the combined
armies. He was highly satisfied, and addressed the
men and ofiicers in words of warm encouragement.
On the 11th, he inspected Lauzun's Hussars and
legion. He knew that their colonel had distinguished
himself greatly on the march, that they had given
constant proofs of courage and devotion, and done
eminent service ; he bestowed on them many compli-
ments and praises. Lauzun was appointed to the com-
mand of the two corps of the vanguard, and was also
230
made Commissary-General for the supply of forage.
Washington, appreciating his intelligence and inde-
fatigable energy, intrusted to him several important
reconnoitring expeditions ; he acquitted himself
brilliantly, and was always the first in the front when
they met the enemy ; he was always to be seen full
of spirit, keeping up the temper of his troops by his
own courage and energy ; fatigue seemed to have no
effect upon him. The campaign, however, was a hard
one for him ; he got no rest day or night. Wash-
ington on various occasions spoke of him and of his
Hussars in the highest terms.
After lingering on White Plains for six weeks, the
army marched on Philadelphia. Before reaching the
town they had to cross frightful swamps, where they
would certainly have been destroyed if the enemy
had then thought of attacking them. At last, on
September 3, they marched into Philadelphia, where
they were hailed with enthusiasm. The French
brigade was reviewed by Congress. At the moment
when the troops marched past, the President asked
M. de Rochambeau whether he would be expected to
salute them or no. The General replied that when the
troops marched past the King, his Majesty always
kindly condescended to do so. As the same honours
were paid to Congress as to the King, " the thirteen
members composing it lifted their thirteen hats
at each dip of the standard, and each official
salute."
The regiment that was most admired was the
Soissons brigade, with facings of rose-colour, and
231
wearing Grenadiers' hats with a rose and white
feather, " which struck the beauties of the town with
amazement."
Philadelphia was a large town of at least forty
thousand inhabitants, and very gay. The ladies of
the place inspired one of the young officers with the
following reflections : —
" The ladies of Philadelphia, though their clothes
are handsome enough, are not generally dressed with
much taste ; their heads and hair are dressed with less
grace and lightness than those of our French ladies.
Though well made, they lack gracefulness, they cour-
tesy badly, nor do they excel in the dance. But
they know how to make good tea ; they bring up
their children with care ; they pride themselves on
absolute faithfulness to their husbands, and many of
them have a good deal of mother-wit."
At this juncture news was brought that the French
Admiral, M. de Grasse, had come to an anchor in
Chesapeake Bay with more than thirty ships of the
line, and that the Marquis de Saint- Simon had landed
at the head of three thousand men of the land-force.
This unexpected reinforcement made Rochambeau
decide on an attack on the English General Lord
Cornwallis, who held Yorktown with a detachment
cut off from the main army of the English.
Cornwallis, awaiting reinforcement, had entrenched
himself in York ; the town was cut into two parts by
the York river ; one, on the right bank was called
York, 1 that on the left shore was known as Gloucester
and was fortified as an outwork. The Eaglish General
232
had barred the river with moored ships and some
sunken craft.
The town was almost entirely protected by swamps,
and was defended by trenches and palisades covering
a fort with bastions and two redoubts with a wide
abattis in front of them.
Washington and Rochambeau sat down before York,
while Lauzun and M. de Choisy were sent to blockade
Gloucester. Three thousand Militia had taken up
a position in front of Gloucester, under the com-
mand of General Weedon. This officer had been
an innkeeper who, in the course of events, had risen
to be a general.^ He was a very good man, but had
no love of war, and still less of cannon shots. He
allowed Lauzun to direct everything, and remained
quietly in his own camp.
At the beginning of the siege Lauzun covered
himself with glory in a cavalry engagement with
Colonel Tarleton of the English Dragoons. Tarleton
told all comers that he wished above all things to
"shake hands with the French Duke." Lauzun
soon gave him the opportunity he desired. The
English cavalry was three times the more numerous ;
three times Lauzun charged with the greatest
determination at the head of his Hussars ; at the third
charge Tarleton's Dragoons gave way, and, in spite of
the infantry fire which supported them, Lauzun
pursued them into the trenches of Gloucester,
A In the American army rank was conferred on all classes of men,
or, to be accurate, the military profession was not a career ; a shoe-
maker might be a colonel. The Americans often inquired of the
French officers what business they followed in France.
233
Tarleton was severely wounded, and many of his men
killed or taken prisoners/ As Lauzun was returning
with his victorious troopers, he saw one of his
Hussars, who had been left behind and was defend-
ing himself against two of Tarleton's Dragoons,
Without saying a word to any one, Lauzun put his
horse to a gallop, rushed down on the dragoons, beat
them off with two sabre-cuts and rescued his man.
This brilliant skirmish, in which the Due had
shown so much courage, was immensely talked about
at the time; it is still spoken of with respect in
treatises on the use of cavalry.
As a result of this success the outposts were pushed
forward to within a mile of Gloucester. In this new
position the patrols were constantly firing at each
other, and the noise was so great that Lauzun
complained of being unable to sleep. The regular
siege began early in October. During the night of the
6-7th, the trenches were opened above and below the
York river. Washington's army held the right side
of the trenches, Rochambeau defended the left and
centre. A few days later an attack was made on the
redoubts ; more eager emulation, greater ardour and
courage, and better discipline were never seen. The
regiment of Gatinois Grenadiers, seconded by the
Auvergne Regiment, was to lead the attack. M. de
Rochambeau, addressing the soldiers, said : " My
children, I hope you will never forget that we once
1 Three captains of the legion were wonnded, MM, Billy, Dillon
and Dutertre. Robert Dillon and Sheldon distinguish ed th emselves
greatly.
served together in the brave regiment of ^ Blameless
Auvergne.' " The soldiers replied, that if the General
would promise to get them back their old name, they
would stand to be killed to the last man. And they
kept their word, for they charged like lions, and
lost a third of their complement. The King restored
them to the title of " Royal Auvergne."
Comte Charles de Lameth was the first to leap
the ramparts of the English redoubt, and received
two severe wounds. The Marquis de Saint-Simon,
though ill, was carried at the head of the attacking
columns, and was wounded; so also was Comte
Guillaume de Deux-Ponts. MM. de Lauzun, de
Noailles, de Custine, de Chastellux, and Dillon
covered themselves with glory.
The two redoubts were carried and occupied by
the allies.
Lord Comwallis several times attempted to make
a sortie, but was always repulsed. The circle en-
closing him drawing closer and closer, he proposed to
capitulate. Lauzun was sent to treat with the English
as to the terms of their surrender ; he went forward
alone, waving his white pocket-handkerchief. The
chivalrous Due de Lauzun did nothing like other
men.
The garrison marched out, between the allied
armies, with drums beating and carrying arms,
which were subsequently piled, with a score of
flags.
M. de Rochambeau was eager to inform the
Minister at once of the success of the allied armies.
235
For this agreeable errand he chose the man who,
from the beginning of the campaign, had always
been the bravest and most zealous — the Due de
Lauzun. His choice was approved by the whole
army. Comte Guillaume des Deux-Ponts accom-
panied him to give full details.
This is the letter written to the Minister by M. de
Rochambeau : —
" Camp before Yorkto^vn, October 20, 1781.
"Monsieur, — I have the honour of sending to
you the Due de Lauzun to carry to the King the
news of the taking of Lord Comwallis and his army
corps. Comte Guillaume de Deux-Ponts is the
bearer of a duplicate and of the list for honours.
These are the two superior oflB.cers who have
achieved the greatest distinction, as you will
see in the journal, which will inform you of all
the details.
" I have got over my fever, partly in bed, and
partly in the trenches ; but I desire nevertheless to
have papers of leave in my pocket, in case my
health should break down in the climate of this
country.
" I hope His Majesty may give the Due de Lauzun
a good reception. The news of which he is the
bearer is, I believe, of capital importance under
existing circumstances. From the generals down to
the humblest private soldier there has been, night
and day, but one voice to do everything within
possibility in His Majesty's service, and to en-
236
deavour to satisfy a master who is adored by this
little army.
" I have the honour, etc.
" P.S.— We have 8000 prisoners, of which 7000
are regulars and 800 sailors; and 214 pieces of
cannon, 75 of them of cast metal ; also 22 flags."
Lauzun placed the command of his legion in the
hands of Robert Dillon, and embarked in the royal
frigate, la Sicrveillante, with the Comte de Deux-
Ponts and some other officers who wished to spend
the winter at Versailles, and return in the follow-
ing spring, when operations should be begun again.
After a voyage of twenty-two days they landed at
Brest.^
1 The year 1781 was a fortunate one for France. She and
her alHes had won several victories over the English ; M. de
Bouille had taken the island of St. Christopher, and Barras that of
Montserrat [both subsequently restored to England]. — Admiral
Don Salano and General Don Galvez had conquered Florida and
taken possession of Pensacola. [Florida was ceded by Spain
to the United States in 1820-21.]
23;
CHAPTER XVI.
1781—1782.
Lauzan's arrival in France — Death of M. Manrepas — M. de
Segur's bad treatment of Lanzun— Mme. de Coigny and the
Guemenees — '^ Perdita " in Paris — Birth of the Dauphin — The
dinner at the Hotel de Ville — M. de Coigny leaves for
America — Lauzun is ordered to rejoin his legion.
Lauzun went straight to Versailles. No sooner had
he alighted from his post-chaise than he presented
himself at M. de Segur's, and he, after a brief
interview, took him to the King. Louis XVI.
seemed to take the greatest interest in the young
hero's narrative, and after congratulating him
warmly, he desired M. de Segur to conduct him to
see M. de Maurepas, that the old Minister might also
rejoice in this success.
M. de Maurepas was dying ; however, Lauzun
was allowed to see him. When the Duke was
announced : "I am no longer of this world," was
his reply. But he collected all his strength to
receive him, and gave him a touching welcome ; he
desired, he said, to hear from his own lips the details
of the French successes, and as Lauzun proceeded
with his narrative, Maurepas said from time to time :
238
* Good, good ! " But after saying this several times,
he exclaimed, " I am dying, and I do not know to
whom I have the honour of speaking."
On the following day he had again a few lucid
moments, and took advantage of them to recom-
mend Lauzun to the King and the Ministers, im-
pressing on them that he should be liberally
rewarded for all the services he had rendered.
M. de Maurepas did not recover ; a very curious
letter, written by Mme. de Coislin, shows with what
sentiments courtiers looked forward to the ap-
proaching end of an old statesman.
"November 13, 1781.
" M. de Maurepas is going to die, gangrene has
set in and the disease is incurable. There are great
complaints that he is being left to die without the
Sacraments, in the arms of his cousin the Archbishop
of Bourges, and I have been told that Mme. de
Maurepas has been urged to prevent such a scandal.
The poor woman is to be pitied, and does more than
she can ; it is only since yesterday that we have
ceased to delude ourselves as to M. de Maurepas'
condition ; and now there is already a sort of wish
to be rid of him. We talk in a breath of his very
near end, and of the ball to be given next month by
the Body-Guards. What a country is ours ! What
friends, what hearts, what minds ! "
M. de Maurepas died two days after.
His extinction made no serious dilFerence to the
State, but he had still kept the Court together,
239
which gave rise to the saying that when he died " the
world lost more than he was worth.'* No one filled
his place. Vergennes became the acting Prime
Minister, but without ha^dng the title.
However, the news brought by Lauzun caused real
joy at Court. The King showed genuine satisfaction ;
he saw Lauzun again and again, and asked him
many questions — among others whether he pro-
posed to return to America. When the Due said
that he should start in a fortnight : " You may assure
my army," said the King, " that it shall be splendidly
rewarded, better than any other has been yet.
You yourself shall be the bearer of the honours."
M. de Sdgur was present and undertook to have
the lists made out without delay.
But Lauzun had no reason to be satisfied with the
way in which he was treated. The Minister wrote
to him that in consideration of his services he might
keep up his regiment in time of peace on the footing
of a Hussar regiment. This was rather less than he
had been promised before the war, since he was to
have had the connnand and profits of the first foreign
regiment that might fall vacant or be created ; nay,
it was less than he actually had, since he was inspect-
ing officer of his corps. Lauzun was deeply hurt by
the injustice of which he was the victim.
M. de Segur treated the American army no better.
Lauzun, who had bowed in submission when he
alone was concerned, was furious at the mean way in
which his comrades' services were rewarded, and
refused to be the bearer of such honours.
240
He had no better cause for satisfaction with the new
Minister of Marine, M. de Castries. Instead of send-
ing the four hundred men of Lauzun's legion, left at
Brest, to America, he had despatched them to
Africa, to Demerara, and to Annamboo, the most
unhealthy spots on earth. M. de Castries did not
bestow the smallest honour on Lauzun's regiment,
not even on those officers who had most distinguished
themselves.
The public were less ungrateful than the govern-
ment. Lauzun could not show himself without being
hailed with cheers ; but indeed this was the case
with all the officers who had come back from the
New World. This, then, was the whole outcome for
our hero of his first campaign in America. Not-
withstanding his zeal, his courage, his deeds of
daring, a jealous fate seemed to pursue him and turn
to ill everything that ought to have carried him to
the foremost rank.
Let us see if his love affairs were more prosperous
than his military career.
While he was fighting so gallantly for the '* rebels,'*
Mme. de Coigny had almost retired from Court.
Only at rare intervals, when it was a matter of
obligation, did she appear at Versailles or at Marly.
On the other hand, since her sister's marriage to the
Prince de Montbazon, she hardly ever quitted the
Hotel de Soubise, the residence of M. and Mme. de
Gu^m^n^e : there she spent her evenings in the midst
of a delightful circle where her bright, refractory
spirit had free course. She became more and more
241 R
intimate with those who were Lauzun's friends, and
with whom she could talk in full confidence. Lauzun,
who throughout his long absence had never ceased to
think of Mme. de Coigny, found her more amiable
and fascinating than ever; she allowed him to see
the interest she took in him, and it was impossible to
resist the feeling which attracted him to her.
" I never had met with so much wit,'* says he, " so
many charms which were so wholly unlike the wit
and charm of other women. I told myself that to
love her was absurd, that it could only make me
unhappy, but no happiness pleased me so well. I
was constantly told that Mme. de Coigny was a
coquette, that she was frivolous, that she would laugh
most unmercifully at anyone who dared to love her.
I was never for an instant frightened by all this ;
her feeling soul had struck me as quickly as her
cleverness. I did not hope to attract her ; if my heart
were laid bare to her, she could only pity me. I kept
my secret, but the idea of departure began to distress
me, and she could have no difficulty in guessing the
reason."
At this time a famous English actress arrived in
Paris, Mrs. Mary Robinson, well known by the name
of Perdita, as having been the mistress of George,
Prince of Wales. She was wonderfully well received
by Fren ch Society ; fetes were organized for her,
entertainments to which the most illustrious
personages accepted invitations. The Due de
Chartres, Lauzun, all the most attractive men of
fashion about the Court, wished to make the fair
242
foreigner's acquaintance. The Due de Chartres, who
was seriously in love with her, got up some races in
her honour on the Plaine de Sablons. He did more,
he gave a garden party by night in the gardens of
Mousseaux, which were magnificently illuminated.
Coloured lamps, wreathed with leaves and artificial
flowers, were disposed so as to figure on the trees the
fair Perdita's initials. The actress was bright, lively,
straightforward — a good-humoured child.
Lauzun having been introduced to her, as he could
speak English, she was soon on very intimate terms
with him. He laid himself out to attract, and being
at the moment a kind of hero, everyone was praising
his courage and doing him honour. Mrs. Robinson
found him irresistible. Mme. de Coigny was far too
clever a woman to be jealous, but his former ac-
quaintance, Mme. de Martainville, made his intimacy
with Mrs. Robinson the ground of a quarrel. On his
return from America he found that this lady had
broken with her friends Mme. Dillon and Mme. de
Gu^m^n^e : this did not surprise him, as they were
on very distant terms before his departure. But
Mme. de Martainville desired that he too should give
up the society of these two ladies. He absolutely
refused, declaring that he was, and should always
remain, afi*ectionately devoted to them, that nothing
in the world could make him give up his friends ; and
he went more than ever to Mme. Dillon's. Mme. de
Martainville was vindictive, and on hearing of his in-
timacy with Perdita she made a violent scene, which
ended in a rupture. Perdita, however, was obliged
243 B 2
to return to England. She requested Lauzun to
escort her to Calais, and he was too gallant to refuse.
His feeling for Mme. de Coigny was, however, so
completely a thing apart that he writes of her in
these terms of devotion, as genuine as they are
respectful : —
" I saw many men who admired her, and some
were such as I might well be afraid of. I was
well aware of my own disadvantages ; I had neither
the grace nor the liveliness of youth ; but I had a
heart that she knew well, and which had many points
of resemblance with her own. ... I was prudent,
patient, ready to make any sacrifice rather than in
any way compromise her ; and this was not thrown
away on that heavenly nature ; she felt and rewarded
it aU."
Who can call the man a Lovelace who speaks in
these terms of a woman he loves, and from whom he
hopes for nothing ?
Meanwhile, he never went to her house and hardly
ever saw her alone ; he scarcely dared to write that
he loved her ; however, she allowed him to write,
and when they happened to meet he would slip a
note into her hand.
The position of the Gu^m^ndes, with whom Lauzun
was so intimate, was more splendid than ever. The
office of Governess to the Children of France, was no
longer an empty title. The Princess, born in 1779,
had, in accordance with etiquette, been entrusted to
the Governess. From her infancy she was knoA\Ti as
La petite Madame , and she had such a sad little face
244
tliat persons who were on terms of sufficient intimacy
called her Mousseline la serieuse.
On October 22, 1781, shortly before Lauzun s re-
turn from America, a Dauphin was born, to the
great joy of the Court and country, and the child was
baptized by the High Almoner, the Cardinal de
Rohan. Mme. de Guemen^e's duties were now of
the first importance. They required her to sleep in
the Prince's room ; and she had arranged her bed-
room in such a way that from her bed, through a
plate of glass in the wall, she could see into the
infant Dauphin's nursery ; when what was called le
remuer took place — the changing, that is to say, of the
infant's swaddling clothes every morning in the
presence of the physicians — thick curtains were drawn
across this window, and Mme. de Gu^menee began
her night's rest. Until then, after coming very late
to bed, she had remained awake reading and writing.
In the summer she would often dine in her little
house in the Avenue de Paris, and thither the children
accompanied her. One day, when they were return-
ing to the Palace with an escort of the body guard,
someone rashly commented on this splendid display
for a baby in swaddling clothes. Mme. de Guemenee
replied very drily : " It is a matter of course since I
am his Governess."
The Governess of the Royal Children could not
sleep away from Versailles without a permit written
entirely by the King s hand. She never asked leave
but to go to Hautefontaine to see her husband and
Mme. Dillon.
245
For many years M. and Mme. Guemenee had each
led a most sumptuous existence. They had an immense
fortune ; still, considerable as it was, their regal
grandeur, their excessive luxury and extravagance,
had at last made serious inroads on it. The Prince's
affairs had now for some little time been in great
confusion ; then, instead of paying the tradespeople
and the actors, singers and musicians who came to
his house, he thought it would be more economical
to give them annuities. Then, he had borrowed
at high interest or sunk his capital in life
annuities ; and numbers of people, attracted b)^ his
reputation and name, came to lend him their
money. Have we not seen Lauzun giving up his
whole possessions for an annuity for life of eighty
thousand francs ?
The Prince was far too fine a gentleman to trouble
himself about his financial difficulties ; he left .the
care of them to his steward, one Marchand. For his
part he went on leading a reckless life, firmly per-
suaded that by one means or another Pactolus still
would flow into his money-box. Was he not much
too great a man by right of birth for it to be other-
wise? The Princess vied with her husband in
prodigality. She gave magnificent entertainments
to which she invited all the Court, and in her dress
she eclipsed all the ladies of Versailles. The social
obligations of her office necessitated indeed enormous
expenditure ; and finally, being unable to pay
everything out of her income, she, like her hus-
band, met her difficulties by agreements for life
246
annuities, which accumulated till the day of the
great crash.
The birth of the Prince, in October, 1781, was the
occasion of universal rejoicing. All France testified
to the Royal Family an affection which had never
seemed more loyal and sincere. There were several
grand entertainments ; one especially magnificent at
the Hotel de Ville, January 21, 1782. The Queen,
after going to Notre-Dame and Sainte-Genevieve,
went to the Hotel de Ville, where she was received
by the Court. She was radiant with happiness.
Lauzun was present, and so was Mme. de Coigny ;
Lauzun was cheered by the people, as were all the
officers who had returned from America.
The dinner was splendid. Chance, so often kind
to lovers, gave Lauzun the seat next to the lady of
his present adoration. He took advantage of the
opportunity to pay her court. Mme. de Coigny,
who was beautifully dressed, wore a tall black heron's
plume on the right-hand side of her stomacher.
Lauzun, seeing this plume, either from mere fancy
or some reminiscence, at once desired to possess it.
Lover-like, he imagined it to be a talisman that would
bring him luck. " Never," says he, " did a knight-
errant desire anything with purer ardour." But
Lauzun had turned so bashful that he dared not ask
for it, for fear of a refusal which would have driven
him to despair.
Just at this time M. de Coigny applied to be sent
out to America. Mme. de Coigny was deeply dis-
tressed. Lauzun saw her tears, and it was a bitter
247
grief to him to see how truly the lady was attached
to her husband. He was indeed compelled to defend
her before others, for the couple had not been re-
garded as fond, and Mme. de Coigny's regrets were
taxed with exaggeration, affectation and insincerity.
It was even worse when she set out to accompany
her husband to Lorient, so as to be with him till the
last. The Chevalier de I'lsle accompanied them, and
escorted the young wife back to Paris.
The world set upon her, attacking her with pitiless
sarcasm. It was then that she wrote a note to
Lauzun, beginning with these words, " Know how to
defend her whom you so well know how to love."
The injunction was not needed. Lauzun constituted
himself his lady's champion ; he defended her against
every charge, in the face of every accuser, and so
proclaimed to any who still were in ignorance the
mad passion that possessed him.
From this time Mme. de Coigny, gi^ateful for the
devotion he had shown her, allowed Lauzun to
call at her house. Before long he was a daily visitor,
and they spent hours in a delightful intimacy. He
also constantly met her in the drawing-rooms of
Mme. de Guemenee, Mme. Dillon, and Mme. de
Gontaut, and he would always be urging on her his
passion and hopes ; she listened amiably to his
protestations, but never allowed him to cross the
limit line of platonic sentimentality.
Lauzun was, none the less, very happy ; merely
to see her every day and constantly to talk to her
seemed to him supreme felicity. Unfortunately
248
this charming existence could not last. At the
moment when he least expected it, orders came to
him from M. de Segur to set out immediately and
rejoin his troops in America.
249
CHAPTER XVII.
1782.
Lauzun sails for America on the Gloire — Mme. de Coigny's grief
— A storm obliges the Gloire to put into Paimbceuf —
Lauzun re-embarks on the Aigle — Detention at the Azores —
Received by the French Consul — Visit to a Port^iguese
convent — A sea fight— Lauzun's illness — Arrival in America
— M. de Rochambeau returns to France.
Lauzun earnestly wished that his departure might
be postponed. His attachment to Mme. de Coigny
was a very deep feeling, and he did not want to
be sent to a distance from her. But the advances
he made in the hope of procuring a delay were not
well received by the Minister ; M. de Segur thought
that Lauzun's prolonged absence could only be
detrimental to the interests of the army, and he
insisted on the Due's immediate departure. Lauzun
might, however, have brought high influence to bear
and have procured a postponement ; there was a
general feeling of disgust at the way in which the
Ministers had treated him. Moreover, the Gu^menees
urged him to remain for the festivity at the expected
birth of an infant to the house of Montbazon.
But honourable motives led the Due to submit to
M. de Segur's orders, and to set out at once, at
250
whatever cost to his feelings. " I was strongly
tempted to remain for Mme. de Coigny's sake," he says.
" For her sake I went." Fearing the keen eyes of
the world, he thought his real reasons for lingering
in France would become known, and he sacrificed
his happiness to the good repute of the woman he
loved. Mme. de Coigny was sincerely grieved at his
departing; but even on the occasion of their last
meeting, when taking leave, it might be for ever, the
impassioned Lauzun could not conquer her dignified
reserve. Still, he might carry away with him the
belief that at any rate she shared his feelings, though
he could wring from her no such confession. " The
evening we parted," he writes, " I cut off a lock of
her hair ; she asked for it back, and I gave it up with-
out hesitation. She looked at me as she took it, and
I saw the tears in her eyes ; all was not lost ! " He
was heart-broken at leaving her. " She alone could
form any idea of my despair when I had to quit her
presence ; she alone could make me comprehend how
miserable or how blest I could be. I came away ; I
never did anything so hard, my heart was full of love,
despair, and trust in her."
Lauzun reached Brest at the end of April, 1782.
He found several frigates awaiting him, and a numerous
convoy of merchantmen and transport ships, to sail
under their escort. There were also two battalions
of recruits, intended to reinforce Rochambeau's army.
On the very day when Lauzun arrived at Brest,
an English squadron came in sight and cruised
outside the roadstead. A convoy sailing for India
251
thought they might escape the vigilance of the enemy ;
they stole out, but were captured within twenty-
four hours. This vexatious incident suggested
greater prudence to the vessels still in port, and they
waited for better times. This mattered the less
as the wind wa^ contrary.
Lauzun, far from fretting at this delay, was glad
of it. Anything that could keep him near the lady
of his love seemed to him a mercy from Heaven.
He wrote to Mme. de Coigny by every mail, and
these letters, full of burning love, carried her the
expression of his tender passion. He tried to make
them short, but could not succeed ; words overflowed
in spite of himself. Mme. de Coigny as regularly
replied. " I lived on her letters," says Lauzun, " I
never opened one without joy and gratitude beyond
expression."
One day he implored her to give him that heron s
plume which she had worn at the Hotel de Ville, the
plume he had then so longed to possess, and to which
he attached so many dreams of happiness. "I
cannot possibly satisfy your wish," wrote Mme. de
Coigny. " Some day perhaps I may tell you why."
Lauzun was a good deal disappointed by this refusal,
but he could forgive the hand that dealt the blow.
" I was fully convinced that she was sorry not to give
me the souvenir," says he ; " still, I could not console
myself for not possessing it."
At last the wind changed; but as the English
squadron was still cruising in the roads, Lauzun was
ordered to leave the convoy at Brest and embark
252
with the officers of his company on board the Gloire,
a frigate of thirty-two guns. The chief of the
officers about to join Rochambeau's forces, were the
Prince de Broglie, son of the Marshal, Baron de
Montesquieu, grandson of the author of L'Esjprit de
Lois, Alexandre de Lameth, the Comte de Lomenie,
and the Vicomte de Segur, son of the Minister of
War. All the young men of the Court, envious of
the laurels their friends had gathered, were eager to
set out for America ; they all aimed at being " little
La Fayettes."
Just as they were setting sail news was brought of
the defeat of M. de Grasse. This Admiral, with
thirty-three ships of the line, was escorting to Saint-
Domingo some troops intended to reinforce the
Spaniards. Admiral Rodney stopped the way.
The struggle was long and terrible, M. de Grasse
was taken prisoner and eight French vessels were
seized. This was a fearful blow to our navy. But
this disaster, far from quelling the spirit of the
young officers, on the contrary inflamed their ardour.
They all rejoiced in thinking that they were to sail
with Lauzun. " It would be difficult to find a more
delightful travelling companion," says Segur ; " his
temper was easy, his nature generous, his charm quite
original and to no pattern."
The signal to sail was at length given, and the
Gloire weighed anchor on May 17th ; a fresh gale was
blowing, and they had good hopes of escaping the
English. But they were hardly out of the narrows
when a violent storm blew up, and the frigate was
253
in the greatest danger. At last she got out to
sea. Unluckily the English caught sight of her and
gave chase ; she was forced to hug the coast very
closely to escape the enemy. For four days
they lived in this alternative of being taken, or
of being wrecked on the rocks where the Venus
had quite recently gone to pieces. " I confess
for my part," says Lauzun, " that I should have
been delighted to be taken. I should have seen
Mme. de Coigny once more, and no war nor glory is
worth so much as that."
His desires were not fulfilled. The tempest died
away, but the Gloire had suffered serious damage,
and was obliged to run into Paimboeuf. The
officers on board of course made haste to land and
run over to Nantes, to amuse themselves till they
should be able to continue their interrupted voyage.
Lauzun at once wrote to Mme. de Coigny to inform
her of this happy mishap, and besought her to grant
him an interview, were it but for half an hour, to
see her once more and bid her a last farewell. He
begged her to address her reply Poste restante, to
Tours or to Orleans, whither he would go to fetch it.
At the same time, though he asks the favour, he
would not be importunate, and begs her to refuse
unhesitatingly if she sees any objection to his request.
"Ask nobody's advice," he says, "you alone can
command me. Take the wisest course, even if it be
the more cruel."
The Due went to Tours full of hope. Nothing.
He went on to Orleans. Nothing. He waited,
254
eating his heart out with impatience and uneasiness.
At last came a note from the Chevalier de I'lsle,
informing him that " Mme. de Coigny would be
delighted to see him, but thought he would be wiser
not to come to Paris ; however, she left the decision
to him."
This was a heavy blow to her lover. What ! not
a word, not a single word in Mme. de Coigny's hand-
writing ! "It would have been so easy for her to
refuse but to comfort me," he writes. " She would
not even command me ; she had not been kind enough
to say ^ I will not have it.' She employed a third
person ! She had not written to me, and this was
more than enough to rend my soul. I have suffered
many things, but no misfortune have I felt more
keenly." The same obliging correspondent informed
him that Mme. de Coigny had been at Versailles for
a month, nursing her sister, Mme. de Montbazon, who
had given birth to a daughter. He also said that as
soon as the " little sister " was recovered, all the
party — Mme. Dillon, Mme. de Montbazon, and Mme.
de Coigny — would be leaving for Spa, where they
expected to enjoy themselves vastly.
In sincere dejection under the shock of so cruel a
disappointment, for more than a fortnight Lauzun
did not write to Mme. de Coigny ; at last, however,
he broke a silence that was so painful to him, but he
could not control his complaints and grievances.
Her reply was mild and calm — she explained that
she could not sanction an imprudence, but left him
to infer that her sentiments were unchanged. And,
255
by degrees, peace was restored to the impassioned
lover.
After a visit to La Rochelle, where he saw his
old friend M. de Voyer, Lauzun returned to Lorient,
where the Gloire was finishing her repairs. No
sooner was she ready for sea than an order from the
Minister sent him to Rochefort, to embark on the
Aigle, a frigate of forty guns, which had on board
2,500,000 francs in coin for M. de Rochambeau.
The Aigle was under the command of M. de la
Touche, a well-educated man, brave, witty and
amiable, but who had only lately entered the
navy.
They set sail on June 14. Though the Aigle
was much the faster ship, the Gloire had constantly
to take in sail to wait for her. The officers
wondered what could be the cause of so strange a
state of things, when they noticed a merchantman
sailing in the rear, which, as it could not keep up
with a man-of-war, the Aigle had taken in tow.
The mystery was soon explained. M. de la Touche
had a mistress to whom he was greatly devoted;
she had accompanied him to Rochefort. As the
regulations did not allow of her sailing on board a
ship of war, he had not hesitated, whatever might
be said or thought of it, to freight a merchantman
so that she might come with him to America.
This encumbrance, and frequent calms, made their
progress very slow.
One evening in the course of this interminable
voyage, Lauzun, leaning against the bulwarks, was
256
chatting with M. Bozon de Talleyrand. They were
discussing their friends in Paris, the absent world,
and more particularly its absent wife, each giving free
course to his thoughts, when Bozon suddenly and
very innocently mentioned Mme. de Coigny. He
praised her in the highest terms, and Lauzun was
far from contradicting him ; but Bozon presently
hinted that M. de Chabot was very much in love
with her, that she knew it, and had even given him
many marks of favour.
This was a terrible blow. Happily the night was
dark, Lauzun could conceal his feelings. Reflection,
and his perfect confidence in Mme. de Coigny,
presently soothed his mind ; he told himself that she
could not be so false and perverse; he went on
writing to her, intending to forward the letter on the
first opportunity.
One ofiered before long. Sickness broke out among
the crew ; some deaths occurred every day, and water
was running short. They had been three weeks at
sea and were only sighting the Azores. M. de la
Touche decided that they must put in to Terceira,
one of the chief towns of the Archipelago, to get fresh
provisions.
On the day after their arrival M. de la Touche,
escorted by all the officers on board the two frigates,
went to call on the Governor ; he was ill and not
visible, but his son, Don Jose Mendo^a, took his
place and had the officers served with refreshments.
To do honour to his guests he had dressed himself out
in a most eccentric costume : an old scarlet coat,
257 s
worn threadbare but covered with gold lace, a huge
and not less magnificent hat with a broad brim, a
blue waistcoat with long flaps, and a pair of yellow
breeches, making him look grotesque beyond words.
Don Jose, enchanted with the effect he produced^
returned M. de la Touche's visit, accepted an invita-
tion to dinner, asked for a drum to amuse himself^
and to the great delight of the crew thumped it
pitilessly for half an hour, saying it was his favourite
instrument.
Terceira was a place of about twelve thousand
inhabitants, of which six to seven hundred belonged
to religious orders. "Devotion and profligacy are
here mixed in a way as indecent as it is ridiculous,'*
writes the Prince de Broglie, " and nothing is more
common in society than to see the grossest flirtations
of courtezans interrupted by genuflections and
repeated crossing themselves as the Angelus rings.**
The men were supposed to be excessively jealous, and
all the windows were carefully closed with shutters-
and iron bars.
All the officers from the Royal frigates, enchanted
at finding themselves on land for a few days, hurried
on shore to visit the town and the neighbourhood, each
following his fancy or his convenience. The worthy
S^gur thought he could not do better than call on
the representative of his native country, and he
persuaded his comrades to go with him. The French
Consul's name was Perez. Having had occasion as a.
young man to go to Terceira on business, he had
married and settled there. He was delighted to
258
see his fellow countrymen, and invited them to
dinner.
The meal, though simple, seemed excellent to the
young travellers: a very good joint, capital fish,
delicious wine and fresh spring water, delighted them.
To do honour to his guests Perez made his w^ife dine
at table with them — an amiable native of the town
of about five and thirty, and very dark, who had
never in her life eaten in the presence of strangers.
" Her glee was really touching," says M. de Broglie,
" and she expressed herself entirely in Portuguese,
which necessitated much vivacity in the eyes, both
hers and ours." In this style of conversation Lauzun
distinguished himself above his companions, and the
Senhora Perez soon began to favour him with very
languishing looks. After dinner the Consul led the
party to a little house in the midst of a lemon garden,
where they took a siesta, and where new milk and
fruit were served. But the worthy Perez was a man
of limited accomplishments, and soon bored his
guests beyond endurance, particularly Segur, for
whom he took an immense liking, never leaving him
for an instant. Lauzun, hindered by a sudden
indisposition from leaving with his fellow officers,
remained in the town with Mme. Perez.
In the evening Segur returned on board out of
spirits and tired, declaring that he would go on shore
no more for so little fun, when he saw Lauzun looking,
on the contrary, very content. He spoke to him of
the little pleasure he had derived from his visit to
the Consul.
259 s 2
" ' I see/ said tlie Due, laughing,^ ^ that you were
not mucli amused ; but it is your OAvn fault. What
possessed you that you should go to the French Consul?
I went elsewhere and found a better way of driving
out melancholy and gratifying my curiosity. Come
with me and you shall see what is best in Terceira ;
good cheer, a hearty welcome, a merry host eager to
please, smart and pretty women, obliging Sisters,
coquettish school-girls, and a bishop who dances a
fandango to perfection.'
" ' You are mad,' said I. ' Who is this wonderful
man who has displayed on a sudden so much active
and obliging friendliness ? '
" ' The English Consul,' said he.
"'Why!' said I, 'what are you thinking of?
We are at war with the English, and it is to their
Consul's house that you go to take your pleasure ! '
" ' Wait a little,' said he. ' Do not judge too
hastily. Mine host is to be sure English Consul, and
our foe ; but he has a plurality of offices, for he is at
the same time Spanish Consul, and the Spanish are
our own allies ; and to crown all he is neither an
Englishman nor a Spaniard, but a Frenchman and a
Proven9al.'
" ' The only thing lacking,' said I, ' to combine in
him every possible function is that he should be a
familiar of the Inquisition.'
" ' Well, my dear fellow,' said Lauzun, laughing, ' I
believe he lacks nothing.'
" ' If that is the case,' said I, ' I have no further
1 It is Segur who tells the tale.
260
objections to offer. Let us go and see this wonderful
man who wears so many coats and plays so many
parts.'
"So we set out : Lauzun, the Prince de Broglie,
the Vicomte de Fleury and I, with two or three
others of our fellow soldiers, and we were shown into
the English Consul's drawing-room. He kept his
word, for he gave us excellent tea, very good porter,
a capital supper, a pleasant company of amiable
women, and, as we were curious to see the fandango,
famous for being the most gravely indecent and the
most gloomily voluptuous of dances, a young
Portuguese, coadjutor to the Bishop of Agra, was kind
enough to perform it for us without too much pressing.
" The obliging Consul took us next day to a Con-
vent, where we made the acquaintance of some
indulgent nuns and very pretty school-boarders.
Their complexion, though somewhat sallow, did not
detract from the charm of their fine black eyes, their
white teeth and their fine figures. Their appearance
consoled us for the ponderous double grating which
separated the parlour from the inner precincts. The
Mother Superior, with a score or so of boarders, came
solemnly to the inner grating, exactly like the pic-
tures of abbesses of the thirteenth century, in costume,
figure and face ; nothing was wanting, not even
the crozier, for she carried one in her hand with
much dignity. After the first compliments, when
the ladies had seated themselves, our encouraging
Consul told us that we might flirt as much as we
pleased, for that devotion and gallantry had all times
201
gone hand-in-hand in the cloisters of chivalrous
Portugal.
" So each of us chose the damsel we thought most
attractive, and who, as we thought, was most respon-
sive to our glances ; each had soon set up a flirtation,
but very innocently and with strict propriety, in the
presence of the double grating and the Mother Abbess.
It may seem difficult to understand how, when the
ladies knew nothing of French and we nothing of
Portuguese, we could express ourselves at all ; but
nothing was impossible to our officious Consul ; he
undertook the part of interpreter.
" The signal was given by a young lady, the Sen-
hora Dona Maria Emegilina Francisca Genoveva
di Marcellos di Connicullo di Garbo. Struck by
Lauzun's good looks, his intelligent face, and his
uniform — that of a hussar — she smilingly threw him
a rose through the gratings, asked his name, and
offered him a corner of her handkerchief, which he
caught, and which she then pulled tight as if draw-
ing him to her.
*' We all eagerly did the same ; handkerchiefs were
fluttered and flowers thrown on both sides, and as
our young Portuguese friends seemed to long to get
through the screen we felt bound to return the com-
pliment by kissing our hands to them, not without
some fear lest the Abbess should think us over bold.
But the jest did not seem to disturb her gravity or be
too much for her indulgence ; so we continued to
kiss the corners of the fair ones' pocket handkerchiefs,
and they on their part kissed the end they had hold of.
262
*^ Presently the worthy Superior, observing per-
haps that our pleasure was mingled with a good deal
of surprise, made us a little speech, interpreted to us
by the Consul. ^ Pure love,' said she, ' was highly
acceptable to God. These young persons,' she added,
* to whom I am permitting you to pay your court,
having had this practice in pleasing, will by-and-by
be more agreeable to their husbands ; those who enter
a religious life, having exercised the sensibilities of
their soul and the fervour of their imagination, will
love God all the more truly. On your part, such
gallantry, which was held in honour of old, cannot
fail to be useful to youthful warriors. It will fill you
with the spirit of chivalry, and incite you to merit by
noble deeds the hearts of the fair ones you love, and
to do honour to their choice by covering yourselves
with glory.' I know not whether the Consul translated
her faithfully, but the fire of the Lady Abbess's eye,
her dignity, her person and her crozier made me
admire her eloquence, and convinced me that I was
in some old enchanted island of Ariosto's in the good
tiays of the Paladins.
'' Thus encouraged, the handkerchief by which I
<jommunicated with the damsel of my devotion flut-
tered more than ever. She was not so rich in Chris-
tian names as some of her companions, for the Prince
^e Broglie's lady was Dona Eugenia Euphemia
Athanasia Marcellina di Antonios di Mello. Mine
was more simply named Dona Marianna Isabella del
Carmo.
" Presently I ventured on a song, and then the
263
Prince de Broglie followed my example. Whether
the words were improved or spoilt by the Consul's
interpretation I do not know, but they were thought
charming.
*^ It was by this time late ; the Abbess gave the
signal for retiring. We parted tenderly, on both
sides, and we were invited to return on the morrow.
It may be believed that we were punctual.
" On reaching the Convent we found the grating
decorated with flowers of all kinds, and the ladies
more delightful than ever. They gave us some music,
two of them singing very tender airs and accompany-
ing themselves on the guitar. Meanwhile the
damsels to whom Fleury and I had directed our
attentions danced with us. So far as the melancholy
grating between us allowed, we performed the figures
which it hindered so much; but what was most
amusing was to see the Lady Abbess beating time
with her crozier. Then Dona Euphemia sang an im-
provised song alluding to the Passion and to her own
for Lauzun !
^* In love, as in ambition, it is hard to know where
to stop. Their good-nature made us exacting. We
asked for some love-tokens ; our demands were gratified
— locks of hair were passed to us, and scapularies that
we laid over our heart. We, in our turn, made some
presents — rings, locks of hair. Lauzun and the
Vicomte happened to have portraits of themselves in
their pockets, these they offered to the ladies of their
choice. Marianna Isabella gave me a scapulary ; she
assured me it would bring me good luck, and that so
264
long as I wore it about my neck I should be preserved
from accident and sickness.
" These platonic flirtations gave rise, we were told,
to some dismay in the town ; brothers, uncles, and
lovers were alarmed. What might have come of it I
know not ; our romance would perhaps have ended
in the old Spanish and Portuguese manner with
drawn swords, for it is certain that as we went home
we saw several men in long cloaks and slouched hats
who seemed to be watching us ; but be that as it
may, the wind was rising, and M. de la Touche's
prudence soon settled all hopes and all uneasiness.
" The signal for departure was hoisted, three
cannon shot called us on board, and we only had time
to go to say good-bye to our ladies, whom we found
inconsolable. The parlour-gratings were dressed
with wreaths of scabious, which they called flowers of
regret. The good Abbess had a tear in her eye, and
I even think that for the first time in her life she
dropped her crozier. The sefioritas gave each of us
a pansy, which we pinned to our cockades, and a
handkerchief wet with her tears. At last we got
away, bearing their image in our heart." ^
For some days nothing was talked of on board but
the Lady Abbess and her pretty flock. Lauzun even
wrote a little heroic play on the subject of this
strange episode, which he called "The Duke of
Marlborough."
In his Memoirs he devotes but two lines to this
stay at Terceira : " I never saw stranger manners,"
^ Memoirs of the Comfe de Segur.
265
says he, " or the love of God so queerly mingled with
the other kind/' and that is all.
If other proof were lacking, this of itself would be
sufficient evidence of the authenticity of the Memoirs
Lauzun wrote, as has been said, for Mme. de Coigny.
He was not so simple, when he had just left her and
declared himself dying for love of her, as to tell her
the story of his flirtations at Terceira. Under any
other circumstances he would certainly have delighted
to record them. Segur and Broglie had not the
same reasons for discretion ; it is from them — and
their narratives correspond in every detail — that we
know of the pleasant episode the young officers took
part in at the Convent of that town.
Besides the 2,500,000 francs which the Aigle had on
board, M. de la Touche was the bearer of despatches
which he was only to open in the latitude of the
Azores. He now obeyed these instructions, and
opened the sealed orders. What was his dismay on
finding that the utmost speed was enjoined on him ?
The despatches contained a plan of operations for a
fresh campaign, and it was essential that M. de
Rochambeau should receive it as soon as possible, as
also M. de Vaudreuil, in command of our naval forces.
M. de la Touche, in despair at his own conduct and
delay, now cut off the merchant barque he had been
dragging in his wake with the lady on board, and
steered by the straightest line for the American coast.
Meanwhile the assertions of M. de Bozon had made
a deep impression on Lauzun. As he lapsed once
more into the dull routine of life on board, he brooded
266
over what he had heard ; anxiety and distress and
mortal melancholy took complete possession of him.
He soon was obliged to take to his bed with violent
attacks of fever and delirium. Fearing above all
things to betray himself, he shut his cabin door against
everybody but two English servants, who under-
stood only a few words of French. While his illness
lasted Lauzun's only thought was of Mme. de Coigny,
and he wrote to her whenever the fever left him
strength enough. This man, who had so often braved
death, now would not die ; he must once more see
her he loved, he clung to life with all the strength of
his will : " My mind supports me, I shall not die," he
constantly repeated. And in fact the fever yielded.
He was still very ill when, in the neighbourhood
of the Bermudas, on the night of September 4-5,
they came up with an English ship of sixty-four
guns — the Hector, recently taken by Admiral Rodney
from M. de Grasse. Flight was impossible. The
decks were instantly cleared ; every man was up and
at his post, snatching up his weapons; hammocks
were rolled up, port-holes thrown open and guns run
out for action. Lauzun was, by his own orders,
carried up to the quarter-deck ; utterly incapable of
■fighting, he was at any rate bent on being a spectator
of his friends' achievements. " I had tied Mme. de
Coigny 's letters next my heart," he writes, " and
ordered that my body should be thrown overboard
dressed, as I was, in the case of my being killed."
The Aigle and the Gloire fought gallantly ; they
came to such close quarters with the foe that the
267
gunners hit at each other with their ramrods. Not-
withstanding her greater strength the Hector got the
worst of it ; she was so much damaged that she
would have been an easy prize, but at daybreak
sails were seen in the offing, and M. de la Touche, for
fear of a fatality, made all sail, abandoning the
English ship to her fate.^
The officers and crew had shown great bravery.
The army officers on board had had the honour of
taking part in the fight, and inciting the sailors by
their example and valour. Segur relates a remark-
able instance of cool wit. Some few days before,
the Baron de Montesquieu, overhearing the Comte de
Lomenie discussing with M. de Segur Les Liaisons
dangereuses, by Duclos, had asked them what it
was. For a joke they refused to satisfy his curiosity.
In the thick of the fight and general confusion of the
singing of bullets and roar of cannon, a chain shot
splintered the bench on which Alexandre de Lameth,
Lomenie, Montesquieu, and Segur had just been
sitting. ^^ There," said Lomenie coolly to Montes-
quieu, " you wanted to know what Liaisons dange-
reuses might be : there is an example."
On September 11 they sighted land, and sailed
into Delaware Bay. They captured an English cor-
vette on her way out of the river, and sailed on, but
with the greatest caution, for they had no pilot, and
the estuary was dangerous from shifting sand-banks.
At nightfall M. de la Touche cast anchor and
^ The Hector foundered in a storm some days later, but part of
the crew were saved.
268
sent a boat ashore to fetch a pilot. Unfortunately
the wind rose, the water was rough, the boat was
swamped, and the officer in command had to save
himself by swimming. To crown this misfortune, at
dawn they saw the English fleet making all sail in
pursuit ; there was no choice, they must escape ;
the anchor cables were cut and they made for the
river. M. de la Touche, hoping for the best, took
the middle channel ; the English were close behind
him, and having pilots could steer with certainty.
At this juncture the officer who, the evening before,
had swum on shore, brought oiF two pilots : they told
M. de la Touche that he had taken the wrong channel
and was lost beyond rescue. A council of war at
once decided that the land officers must instantly
land in the boats, carrying the despatches. There
was not a minute to lose. Lauzun, still very weak,
Viomenil, Laval, Bozon de Talleyrand, Broglie, Segur
and the rest were taken across the river and landed
on the right bank. They left the ship on the 13th
at six in the evening.
Their situation was not a pleasant one. Without
luggage, servants or horses, having had no food for
four and twenty hours, on an unknown shore, sur-
rounded by dense forests and dangerous swamps, they
knew not what to do nor which way to turn. After
wandering for some time in the woods they came on
a fence indicating a homestead, and found their way
to the house of a Mr. Mandlaw, who told them that
they were in a part of Maryland, and who gave them
some food.
269
But to be out of danger was not everything ; they
must secure help for M. de la Touche and save the
treasure he had on board. Everyone worked with a
will; by three in the morning 1,800,000 francs had
been carried on shore. Suddenly a hostile long-boat
camein sight. M. de Viom^nil, in great alarm, had
the rest of the money thrown overboard. Next day,
when the danger was past, the 1,200,000 francs were
fished up again, with great difficulty, and at an
enormous cost, carts, oxen and horses were procured,
and the precious freight was transported to the little
town of Dover, the nearest at hand.
It was high time. The Gloire, and the corvette
she had taken, succeeded after many efforts in getting
over the sand-bar that stopped the channel, and they
reached Philadelphia without further difficulty.
The Aigle was less happy. The frigate drew more
water than the Gloire; she lay on the sand and
heeled over so much that it was impossible to serve
her guns. Seeing that she was lost beyond redemp-
tion, M. de la Touche cut do^vn her masts, and after
making a show of defence hauled down her flag. To
crown his misfortunes, hardly had he sun^endered to
the English when he heard that the merchantman
with his mistress on board, which he had been
obliged to cut adrift, had been captured as it entered
the bay.
Lauzun remained at Dover a few days to recruit
his strength. Ill as he was, he introduced his com-
panions, Broglie and the others, to the society of the
place, and they were heartily welcomed. Broglie
270
did not know a word of English, but he substituted
for words a most expressive pantomime ; he took tea
with frenzy, " by which means," says he, ^* I had all
the necessary elements of success." By the end of a
few days he could tell a young lady that she was
pretty and a man that he was sympathetic, and then
he was on the high road to triumph.
Segur also frequented the society of Dover, Mary-
land ; but other and more important objects absorbed
his attention. He was much struck by all he saw.
He '' nowhere found," he says, "an extreme either of
magnificence or misery." There was nowhere the
contrast, to be seen in France, of " the luxury of the
upper class and the rags of our swarming crowd of
poor." The -appearance of the people you saw about
told you plainly that you were " in the land of reason,
order and liberty." And in this way our young
officers, astonished by so new a spectacle, became
enthusiastic for the principles of equality and liberty,
and learned to be, in years to come, the ardent
partisans of these new ideas. They were struck by
the hideous contrast between the splendour and
squalor of their own country, and their generous
souls rebelled at the thought of the horrible misery
of so many of their fellow countrymen. This
example had been needed to convince them of the
cruel injustice of the state of society in which they
had lived, giving everything to a few, and to the
rest the right to die of hunger.
As soon as Lauzun was able, he set out for
Philadelphia by easy stages. He there met M. de la
271
Luzerne, the French Minister, who welcomed him
cordially and gave him the care required by his
wretched state of health. He had a persistent fever
and frequent fainting fits ; he saw American and
French physicians, and all these learned leeches
agreed in pronouncing that he could not live through
the autumn. As to joining Rochambeau's army, it
was not to be thought of. Lauzun received this
sentence of death with equanimity ; his only regret
in leaving the world was that he should not see Mme.
de Coigny again.
But, being condemned, he might as well make the
most of the short time left to him ; in this conviction,
and introduced by M. de la Luzerne, he went into
society with his friends. The house they most fre-
quented was that of Mrs. Morris, the wife of the
Controller-General of the newly United States.
"Her home is plain, but regular and well-kept,"
writes the Prince de Broglie ; " the mistress of the
house is tolerably good-looking and tolerably fair ;
everything pleased me greatly; I drank excellent
tea, and should, I believe, be drinking it still if the
Ambassador had not charitably warned me, at my
twelfth cup, that I must lay my spoon across my
cup when I wished that this ordeal by hot water
should cease. ^ For,' said he ^ it is almost uncivil to
refuse a cup of tea when it is offered you, but it
would be indiscreet on the part of the master of the
house to offer you more when the ceremony of the
spoon has signified your wishes in the matter.' "
While Lauzun is trying to cheer his last days, let
272
us see what had become of M. de Rochambeau, from
whom we parted nearly a year ago.
It will be remembered that he had sent Lauzun
and some other officers to Versailles, not only to
carry to the King news of his victory, but also to ask
for reinforcements and a plan of campaign. In the
month of January no one had come back ; in the
month of June, no one yet. The General was at his
wits' end, all his letters and petitions invariably re-
mained unanswered. In July he wrote lamentably
to the Minister : " Here we are on the 1st of July
without my having received any plan of campaign, or
seen the return of one of the officers I sent to ask
his Majesty's instructions after the taking of York-
town."
The season was advancing, something must be
done. On July 1, the troops moved out of Williams-
burg ; they reached Baltimore, and from thence the
€amp at Peek's Hill, where they joined the American
army. Some days later M. de Rochambeau estab-
lished his camp at Providence, a prosperous little
commercial town of about 2000 inhabitants. The
weather broke and the season was a very rough one ;
the troops, though in huts, suffered severely from
almost constant rain and snow. At last M. de
Rochambeau heard that Lauzun and his comrades
had landed after many perils, and had brought the
money he so sorely needed. He at once sent a courier
to Lauzun, begging him to join him at once without
losing a minute, as he had matters to communicate of
the highest importance.
273 T
The Due was enjoying a respite from his malady.
A ship had just sailed for France, and he had been
able to write to Mme. de Coigny. This epistolary
effusion had brought about a happy reaction. On
receiving Rochambeau's letter he did not hesitate
a moment. He had a horse saddled and set out,
with only one servant. " I might as well die on the
road," says he, "as at Philadelphia." But the
journey worked a happy change in his physical and
moral condition ; by the time he reached the camp
he was a new man, or rather he was himself again,
and ready to do whatever he was commanded.
Rochambeau informed him in confidence that he
had received dispatches which put an end to his
tribulations. He was recalled to France and was
taking with him the greater part of his army. The
troops remaining in America were to be under
Lauzun's command.
On November 28, Rochambeau left Providence
with his staff; on December 1, the troops that were
leaving went to Boston, where they embarked on
board the ships of M. de Vaudreuil's squadron.
274
CHAPTER XVIII.
1782—1783.
Lauznn in America — News from France — Death of M. de Yoyer,
and of Mme. Dillon — M. de Guemenee's insolvency — Lauzun
returns to France — His Volunteers are disbanded — ^The Lauzun
Hussars.
Thus Lauzun was left in America with his legion
and the troops which M. de Rochambeau could not
take with him. As soon as he was alone he re-
crossed the river and took up winter quarters in
Delaware county. His health was improving under
the influence of rest ; by degrees it was completely
restored. But his life wore on, lonely and melan-
choly, and no events broke its monotony. He
devoted himself exclusively to his military duties,
and to maintaining the troops committed to his care
in good health and spirits. He scarcely went into
Philadelphia society, where he was very cordially
received ; he avoided rather than sought invitations.
He lived solely in the hopes of letters from Mme. de
Coigny ; but day followed day, week followed week,
and no vessel arrived from France.
At last the frigate Danae brought in a heavy mail.
Alas ! it contained nothing of what Lauzun most
275 T 2
-svished for — not a line from Mme. de Coigny. He
received indeed much news from other friends, but
all sad and heart-breaking.
M. de Voyer — his intimate friend since he was
twenty, whose delicacy and generosity he had proved
again and again — M. de. Voyer was dead in conse-
quence of one of those catastrophes which are so
common at courts.
One day at Marly, Louis XVI., with his usual
blunt rudeness, had, in public, reproached him for
his dissolute life ; M. de Voyer, surprised by the
lecture, could not on the spur of the moment make
any reply. On returning home he went to M. de
Maurepas to beg him to procure him some repara-
tion. He could not have chosen a worse mediator,
for all he got out of the Minister was this
speech : " We shall never be able to teach the King
manners." The word '^ manners " was, under the
circumstances, an insult, and this, with the King's
refusal to grant him the blue riband he had asked
for, and his hard tone towards him, hurt M. de
Voyer so deeply, in spite of the philosophy he pro-
fessed, that he set out for his estate of Les Ormes,
and would not be persuaded to quit it. From that
time his health failed rapidly, and all who were
about him were convinced that he died of chagrin.
Lauzun was greatly grieved by the death of this
faithful old friend, the companion of his youth. But
a far more distressing piece of news was to follow,
and wound his most cherished memories. The
charming Mme. Dillon, whom he had loved so well
276
and, for lack of anything warmer, with faithful and
affectionate friendship, was also dead. Her health
had for a long time been extremely delicate. In
1781 she had spit blood, but she seemed to have
recovered, and it had been thought that the attack
was only temporary. M. de Guemenee, at first ex-
tremely anxious, had, like every one else, hoped she
was cured. But in the course of 1782 the mischief
had developed, and soon no illusion was possible
as to the fatal issue not long distant.
A journey to Naples was planned ; M. de
Guemenee would escort her thither in the hope that
the milder climate of Italy would restore her to
health. But in a few days the invalid's weakness
and wasting made such rapid strides that the
journey was out of the question. All Mme. Dillon's
friends were in the greatest anxiety ; M. de
Guemenee was in despair. She herself alone did
not understand how ill she was, and thought of pre-
parations for the journey, sometimes inquiring as to
the springs of her carriage, sometimes as to the
arrangement of her trunks, sometimes what dress
she could wear that would be most convenient.
Then she made plans for her return : she would
spend the summer at her dear Hautefontaine,
which was full of all the happiest associations
of her life, with her uncle, the kind archbishop,
among faithful friends with her beloved prince.
The Queen, who had always been tenderly attached
to her, wished to see her again, and she came to
spend a day with her. Mme. Dillon, happily
277
ignorant of her approaching end, asked leave of
absence of Her Majesty for a journey to Naples.
Marie Antoinette granted the request with a mute
sign of acquiescence, but her eyes were full of tears,
and sobs choked her voice ; she had only just time
to pull her hat over her face that the invalid might
not see her agitation and grief.
Everybody was sincerely sorry for M. de
Guemen^e ; his despair was so deep and so genuine
that even those who were not his friends could not
help being touched by it. For twelve years he had
loved Mme. Dillon and lived for her alone with
faithful devotion. Mme. Dillon died ; and it was a
happy thing for her, for death spared her the bitter
grief she would have felt at seeing the dire catas-
trophe that before long overwhelmed her friend.
M. de Gu^m^n^e, after the loss that grieved him
so greatly, retired to one of his estates in Touraine,
to mourn in silence and out of the world. But he
was too great a favourite to be left alone with his
sorrow. He was accompanied by the Chevalier de
risle ; Mme. de Montbazon and Mme. de Coigny ere
long followed him, and their kindness and charm and
sympathy brought some balm to the unhappy man s
inconsolable grief.
It was during this visit to the country, in Sep-
tember 1782, when M. de Guem^nee seemed least to
expect it, that the celebrated crash of insolvency
came, which was a fatal blow to the great and illus-
trious house of Rohan.
" M. and Mme. de Guemenee have lost everything,"
278
wrote the Chevalier de 1' Isle, "fortune, living, position,
and a home ; in short everything, without even saving
what our Francis I. boasted that he had saved. This
bankruptcy is enormous ; it would be crushing to the
richest and greatest potentate in Europe ; the number
of persons ruined by it is immense, and the author of
so much calamity is not yet seven and thirty ! " The
Prince had failed for more than thirty million francs
(1,200,000/.). The scandal was the greater for being
incredible. A Rohan insolvent !
Consternation prevailed both in Paris and at
Versailles. Every rank of society was affected by it.
The Due de Coislin, Thomas, F Abbe Delille, servants,
small traders, porters, Breton sailors, a swarm of
humble persons who had been blinded by the Prince's
position and name, lost everything they had possessed.
Mile, Arnould lost thirty thousand francs. " Alas ! "
said she cheerfully, "what came from the flute is
gone back to the drum."
The Rohan family were willing to make the
very greatest sacrifices to secure to the Prince and
his wife the highest offices of the kingdom, but
they had roused too many jealousies ; their fall was
seen with joy. The King, in the first impulse of
indignation, insisted on the Prince's resigning all his
appointments, and forbade his appearing again in
his presence till his debts should be paid. Mme.
de Guemenee met with no greater indulgence.
Louis XVI. wished to leave her in her office out of
regard to Mme. de Marsan, but the Queen was
opposed to it ; indeed, she was pitilessly hard on
279
her old friend. '* The future King of France/* said
she, '' cannot be brought up by a bankrupt's wife.'*
It is difficult to understand how the Queen, who had
for so many years honoured Mme. de Guem6nde with
her greatest intimacy, could so readily and so
suddenly withdraw her confidence from her.^
On hearing this disastrous news Mme. de Marsan
flew to see the King ; she was accustomed to carry
things with a high hand, and she imperiously
demanded for herself her niece's appointment, as-
serting that though she had ceded it to her, she had
reserved the reversion. But Louis XVI., prompted
by the Queen, absolutely refused to grant this. Mme.
de Marsan then desired to see the Queen, who would
not even receive her. The Prince de Soubise was
equally out of favour ; the reign of the Rohans was
at an end.
When his bankruptcy was declared the Prince de
Guemen^e returned from Touraine with the Chevalier
de risle, but the prefect of police assured him he
would be insulted in the streets, and advised him to
leave Paris ; on the following day he ordered him to
go to Navarre, to his uncle's, the Due de BouiUon.
The Princesse was banished to Vigny, an estate
near Pontoise, belonging to M. de Soubise. This was
the dullest and most inconvenient residence possible.^
The chateau had not been inhabited for a century ; a
few old tapestry hangings with ugly figures, formed
1 The Princesse, on her part, owed enormons sums ; 60,0CO
francs to her shoemaker, 16,000 to her paperhanger, and others
in the same proportion.
280
its only decoration. " And there, perhaps, the poor
Princesse, obliged to think of every louis, will have
to spend the rest of her life with two or three foot-
men," wrote M. de I'lsle to the Prince de Ligne.
" Remember, mon prince, the splendour in which we
saw her on December 22 last year, at two in the after-
noon, carrying in her arms M. le Dauphin, cheered by
the people, and her train borne by Mme. Adelaide ;
just think that on such a day, and at the same hour,
she quitted Versailles humiliated and abased, and
then see if you think that any great value is to be
attached to the honours of this world. Not that I
would wish to persuade you to care only for those
of the other world ; I care no more for these than for
those ; but I believe neither to be worth tormenting
ourselves for them." By a curious irony of fate it was
to the Chateau of Vigny that Mme. de Ventadoux had
come — she likewise of the house of Rohan — when she
was appointed Governess to the Royal children ; " and
it was there that Mme. de Guemenee went to be the
Governess no more. And so the wheel goee round."
The Princesse bore this reverse of fortiane with
admirable courage. She lived at Vigny in a style of
simplicity bordering on penury ; but all who went
to see her there found an even greater lady than she
had been amid the pomp of Versailles. A rumour was
promulgated that she would sell her diamonds to
pay her husband's debts ; but she did nothing of the
kind, and it was remembered against her that she
had once pledged them to rescue Lauzun under
similar circumstances.
281
The whole of the Rohan family tried to help the
Gu^menees. Mme. de Marsan behaved with great
dignity. She sold her horses ; she paid out of her
own fortune all she could of her nephew's debts, and
particularly the small interests. The young Duchesse
de Montbazon, the Prince's daughter-in-law, hearing
that the diamonds and jewels given her at her
marriage were not paid for, at once returned them to
the jeweller.
But the Rohans made the most blundering
speeches. The High Almoner seemed to glory in the
bankruptcy. " Only a King or a Rohan could be
insolvent for such a sum ! " he exclaimed. So the
Marquis de Villette spoke of the catastrophe as the
*^ Most Serene bankruptcy." ^
The behaviour of the King and Queen roused the
deepest animosity of the Rohan family. Mme. de
Coigny took her friends' part with excessive violence ;
from that day dated her real hatred of the Queen,
whom she considered responsible for the King's
severity. By refusing to uphold the dignity of the
High Chamberlain, and of his wife as Governess to
the Royal Children, by allowing their name to sink
in the mire of an ignominious failure, Louis XVI.
committed an imprudence for which there are no
words, and himself struck the first blow at the noblesse,
as yet untouched ; the second was to follow ere long, but
then royalty itself received the blow full in the face.
1 Young Yestris, son of the famous dancer, having run heavily
into debt, his father exclaimed in a rage, " I will have you to
know, sir, that I will have no Guemenees in my family ! "
282
The tendency of ideas, the American war, events
in their course, the aberration and blindness of the
governing classes, all combined to undermine the
respect which the populace owed to its rulers, and
the reverence they had paid them for centuries.
As soon as Mme. de Guemen^e's dismissal became
known, several ladies, as may be supposed, put them-
selves forward as claimants for her office ; but the
Queen's choice was made. It was to her bosom
friend, Mme. de Polignac, that she purposed giving
these high functions. Mme. de Polignac, calm, in-
dolent, and used to a peaceful life of independence
among her friends and family, was already often
weary and annoyed by the demands of her position
as favourite. She looked forward only with dread
to a dignity encumbered with so heavy a chain, of
which nothing could ever relieve her. At first she
refused ; great persuasion was needed to overcome
her resistance. And then, even before undertaking
her duties, she tried to evade the most fatiguing part
of them. The Chevalier de I'lsle wrote, " Is Mme.
de Polignac to sleep in the Dauphin's room ? No.
. . . this is expressly stipulated." But a glass
door between her room and his allowed of her seeing
all that went on in the royal nursery. This, how-
ever, was no novelty ; it was the ingenious invention
of Mme. de Guemenee, who thus reconciled her duties
with her own rest.
The deep grief all this news brought to Lauzun
may be imagined. " My unhappy friend had nothing
left in the world," he writes. "His mistress, his
283
honour, his fortune, that of his children and that of
many others — all was lost at once." Lauzun would
fain have embarked forthwith to go to his unfortunate
friend, and offer him such comfort as his generous
heart prompted ; but how could he abandon the
army just left in his charge ?
It will be remembered that at the time when his
own affairs had been settled, Lauzun had handed
over his whole possessions to M. de Guemenee in
consideration of an annual revenue of eighty thousand
francs. This was all that had been left to him ; and
now these eighty thousand francs had sunk in the
general crash of the Guem^n^e insolvency. Lauzun,
with touching generosity and a rare loftiness of spirit,
writes not a word of blame, not a word of complaint
of the man who had ruined him. He thinks only of
his friend's misfortune, of his poverty, and of the
means of succouring him.
But what troubled Lauzun far more than his own
ruin was the want of letters from Mme. de Coigny.
To be so far from her, alone, isolated, lost in a foreign
land, and to have no word from her was really
torture. He did not indeed accuse so sweet a woman
of forgetfulness or negligence, but he thought she
must be ill, and his heart was in anguish. Besides, all
the sad news he had received had cast a gloom over
him. He dreaded unknown misfortunes, and some-
times the thought crossed his mind that the Marquise
might be dead.
A ship was sailing for France ; he took the oppor-
tunity of writing to all those he loved. To Mme. de
284
Coigny he poured out all his love, all the tenderness
he felt for her, all the feelings with which his heart
was overflowing. He begged her to take a solicitous
interest in M. de Guemenee, and not to abandon his
friend in his misfortunes. He also wrote a long letter
tothePrince, doing his utmost to console him, and assur-
ing him that he was at all times and under all circum-
stances a friend whom he might entirely command.
The life of Philadelphia had become intolerable to
Lauzun ; there was too much society ; he longed for
peace and rest. He decided on a journey to Rhode
Island, to see the Hunter family, by whom, two years
before, he had been so kindly received, and who had
remained his very faithful friends. They were glad
to welcome him to Newport, and he spent a quiet
time there, which did him great good both physically
and morally.
Towards the middle of February, 1783, the Wash-
ington arrived from France. Lauzun had the happi-
ness of receiving two letters from Mme. de Coigny,
one dated from Spa, July 26, 1782, and the other
October 18 of the same year. So the dear creature
was alive, and not ill. She had spent part of the
month of July at Spa with her daughter Fanny and
her friend the Comtesse Diane de Polignac. In
October she was at Fontainebleau at the same time
as the Court. But Mme. de Coigny did not write a
mere report of the events of her life ; the senti-
mental side was not forgotten, and it inspired Lauzun
with these reflections : " What letters 1 With
what touching simplicity did they depict her soul !
285
She had never loved M. de Chabot, she pitied me for
having believed it. And she oiFered me, with such
grace, every explanation that could restore my
peace of mind ! "
The war meanwhile had been disastrous for the
belligerent powers ; the English, after many successes
in 1781, had met with serious checks in 1782. The
French and Spanish had not been much more
fortunate; they had, among other things, besieged
Gibraltar, without succeeding in taking it. The
Comte d'Artois had gone thither with twenty
thousand men and forty ships. Two hundred field
guns on the land side, and ten floating batteries, had
opened fire on the citadel, on September 13 ; but
it was admirably defended by its strong position,
and by the bravery of its Governor, General Elliot.
The place might have been forced to surrender,
when some red-hot shot exploded one of the floating
batteries. The fire spread through the fleet, and
the Spaniards destroyed some ships, not to leave
them in the enemy's hands.
The Comte d' Artois, who was giving a foretaste of
his conduct at Quiberon, had taken up a deplorable
attitude all through the siege ; to such a point
that M. de Maillebois, who was in command, went
so far as to give notice to the English batteries that
there would be no fighting when the Prince was
making an inspection. M. de Maillebois was blamed
for this, and he replied : "At any rate that was
better than the wry faces he made the first day."
Everybody was tired of the contest and ready to
286
make peace. The English Ministry retired before
the Opposition. Lord North ceased to be Prime
Minister, and his place was filled by a Whig Minister,
who made proposals to the Cabinet of Versailles for
the cessation of hostilities. They were agreed to, and
peace was signed at Versailles January 20, 1783.
The Americans were not mentioned in the articles,
but a secret provision secured their independence.
Lauzun was still at Newport when he heard that
the war was at an end. It was not without regret
that he parted from the friends who for three years
had shown him so much cordiality and affection,
helping him to endure his long exile. His adieu to
Mrs. Hunter and her daughters was quite pathetic.
The Due subsequently visited General Washington
to take leave of him, and spent some days with him.
He then went to Philadelphia. The frigate Active
soon brought orders for the return to France of the
remainder of the French army ; by the same mail he
had a letter from Mme. de Coigny of September 22,
1782.
He embarked his troops, and on May 11, 1783, he
set sail from Wilmington for France. On June 11
the three frigates, the Astree, the Gloire, and the
Danaej cast anchor in Brest harbour ; they brought
the Due de Lauzun and part of his legion. The
Active followed two days later, and later still came
the Romulus, the Guadeloupe, and the Lauzun, vessels
freighted for transports by Congress. As a delicate
attention in honour of his brilliant conduct Congress
had named one of the ships after our hero.
287
The officers who had taken part in the American
war were received with great demonstrations of joy.
Not only did M. de La Fayette not sink under
the nickname of Gilles le Grand, bestowed on him
by M. de Choiseul, but he inspired, on the contrary,
the greatest enthusiasm.
Fersen was made Colonel of the Royal Swedish
regiment, which formed part of the French army,
and he remained at Versailles till 1788.
The poor gentleman came home looking ten years
older ; anxiety, disappointment, and privations had
almost ruined his handsome face. The Queen, on
seeing him again, was deeply touched at seeing the
wreck caused by an unhappy passion.
Of the officers who had taken part in the American
war not one was forgotten ; some got governorships,
others the Royal Orders, some promotion and some
pensions. Lauzun alone had nothing.^ He, who
more than any one else had sacrificed himself person-
ally, and done eminent service to the army, as was
universally acknowledged, was persistently set aside.
He made no complaint, but the bitterness he felt at
1 His corps of foreign volnnteers was disbanded by an order of
September 14, 1785, and its place filled by a regiment of hussars
for home service, called Lanzun's Hussars. It was numbered as the
Gth. It was made the 5th in 1792, after the depai-ture of the
Saxony regiment. The Lauzun Hussars went from Hennebon to
Lauterbourg in December 1783, and the regiment was there first
regularly organized. At the second restoration it was disbanded,
and the remains amalgamated with the present 6th Hussars,
constituted in 1816 under the name of Upper Rhine Hussars
(Hussars du Haut Rhin). The infantry of Lauzun's legion was
incorporated with the marines, and was especially designated for
service in Senegal.
288
such unmerited injustice may be readily imagined.
Nor was this all ; the hatred felt for him was visited
on those who had served under him. His legion was
not better treated than himself, and he felt the
deepest indignation ; which was shared, indeed, by the
whole of the army.
289
CHAPTER XIX.
1783—1784.
Mme. de Coigny's pleasure at seeing Lauzun — A journey to Eng-
land — Flattering reception by the Prince of Wales — Return to
France — The Palais Royal circle — The Due de Chartres in
opposition — State of Society in 1783 — The financial situa-
tion — The general mania for the supernatural — Cagliostro —
Lauzun interviews the devil — M. de Caylus and his tragic
end.
On returning to France with the little army en-
trusted to his charge, Lauzun had two great joys in
prospect : to see Mme. de Coigny, the mistress he so
tenderly and platonically loved ; and to console his
friend Guemdn^e, who had been so cruelly stricken
in his fondest aiFections and by his loss of fortune.
A few years ago our hero would have thought only
of the Court and the successes he might easily win
there ; but experience had subdued him ; he knew
now the value of those ephemeral conquests and royal
caprices which could raise him one day to the steps
of the throne, and cast him down to nothingness the
next. He would henceforth bow to no gods but
friendship and true love.
No sooner had he landed at Brest than he flew to
see the Marquise. He had the happiness of finding
290
lier just what he had left her, and they had soon re-
established the terms of intimacy which had formerly
given them so many delightful hours together. But
absence, fame, and laurels did not avail to break
down the lady's virtuous resolution. She neverthe-
less took the greatest pleasure in her friend's society,
and sought every opportunity of seeing him.
Not long after Lauzun's return to France, she had
occasion to visit England with her father, the Marquis
de Conflans. She proposed to Lauzun to escort
them, and, as may be imagined, he accepted with joy.
Mme. de Chalons, Mme. d'Andlau, and the Due de
Polignac were of the party, and they set out to spend
a week in London.
The English aristocracy welcomed these amiable
travellers most cordially, and it could scarcely be
otherwise. Lauzun knew English society well, and
was appreciated at his true worth. He had been a
constant visitor for fifteen years and always gladly
received. The Marquis de Conflans was not less well
known nor less liked ; he lived almost as much in
London as in Paris, and, notwithstanding a great
difference in their ages, he was one of the Prince of
Wales' most genial companions ; he was indeed re- ■
garded as the keeper of his conscience in matters of
profligacy, and was blamed, not without reason, for
inculcating in his pupil the very worst morality.^
Mme. de Coigny was introduced by her father to
^ George, Prince of Wales, was at this time about two and twenty,
having been bom in 1762. He was made Regent in 1811, and
came to the throne at his father's death in 1820.
291 U 2
the Prince, who seemed greatly struck by her charm
and wit. He was a judge of such matters ; he was
considered the cleverest prince in Europe, and the
most accomplished courtier. Handsome, smart and
gallant, he was the idol of women. He thought Mme.
de Coigny and all her friends delightful ; he gave
entertainments in their honour, and all the aristocracy
laid themselves out to make London as agreeable to
them as possible. After a week of amusement and
enjoyment the party returned to Paris.
During Lauzun's absence in America many changes
had taken place in society, in its manners and ideas.
We will see how his friends lived — those friends with
whom he spent all his time, and who led him ulti-
mately into the political course he has been so often
blamed for following.
Mme. de Coigny, as we know, had reigned un-
rivalled in the Guem^n^es' circle ; but since the
Prince's disastrous bankruptcy, which had for the
time dispersed all the members of that family, she had
become intimate at the Palais Royal. She was wel-
come there because her father was a great ally of the
Due de Chartres ; he had been the companion of his
pleasures during their wild and profligate youth, and
they had remained on cordial terms ever since. The
introduction of Mme. de Coigny as a member of the
Palais Royal coterie was co-incident with the Due
de Chartres' growing hostility to the Court. The
Marquise, who on her part had, for some years,
gradually been abandoning her ground at Versailles,
found here a society that attracted her, where she
292
could speak lier mind, and where she, ere long, filled
an important position. She then opened an eager
campaign against the Queen's influence.
We have seen in a former chapter, that motives of
fidelity and friendship had prompted the Marquise to
positive hostility against Marie Antoinette. The
Court indeed had not been kind, to her ; her nature
was not one to accommodate itself to its tone ; she
was the object of some jealousy, and abuse of her was
supposed to be acceptable to the Queen. Besides,
she was feared for her arrogance and her biting and
lacerating tongue ; in short she was hated. She her-
self was not at her ease at Court ; she felt herself in
an atmosphere of threatening aversion ; she returned
blow for blow, no doubt, and with interest, but still
she detested this society of courtiers who thought so
ill of her. After M. de Guemenee's insolvency and
the pitiless severity of the sovereign pair, Mme. de
Coigny was completely soured, and was never to be
seen at Versailles but on exceptional occasions of
paramount obligation.
This was not the end. Her superior and perspi-
cuous mind soon discerned the hopeless weakness of
the King's party. On all sides there was a spirit of
revolt against the vices and abuses of the old order of
things ; Mme. de Coigny, with the double motive of
her good sense and of her vindictiveness, became an
ardent advocate of the new ideas ; she dreamed of
reforms, of social changes, and the rest.
From this moment she broke completely with the
aristocracy and the Court nobility ; she aiFected the
293
utmost contempt for the Versailles circle, and neglected
no chance of defying them. On the other hand she
kept all her affections for the middle class and the
people. It was not alone at the Palais Royal that
she reigned supreme ; in every political, literary and
philosophical salon her success was amazing. With
wit, beauty and grace, she had every charm that could
fascinate and enthral those who came within her reach.
" I am Queen at Versailles," said Marie Antoinette^
" but Mme. de Coigny is Queen in Paris."
She was not only possessed by the demon of
politics ; she also had a mania for proselytizing. She
carried away all admirers, and Lauzun, of course, at
their head. He, too, had ample reasons for turning
his back on an ungrateful Court. After being the
favourite of a day he had drunk deep of disappoint-
ment, and had been treated with flagrant injustice.
A very human instinct threw him back on his
nearest friends, Mme. de Coigny and the Due
de Chartres, and he had sought in their society some
comfort in his mortification. Then the way in which
M. and Mme. de Guemenee were treated, his friends
of twenty years' standing, filled him with indignation.
His devotion to Mme. de Coigny did the rest. How,
in the position thus made for him, could he do other-
wise than share his adored lady's rancour, and follow
her even in her errors when his own spirit was so full
of grievances ? He at once threw himself into the
Palais Royal faction, without for an instant foreseeing
the consequences that were to ensue.
" A concurrence of inevitable circumstances
294
dragged M. de Lauzun into the abyss," writes the
Due de Levis ; " but the first cause of his misfortunes
was not, as might be supposed, an ardent love of
liberty and heady ideas of republicanism. Though
wrong-headed he had a sound judgment ; they are
not incompatible. He knew men well, and he also
knew that a democratic government is unsuited to a
great nation, more so to the French than to any other
people. I have heard him say this many times, and
his principles never changed. But by taking part
against the Court he fancied he could be revenged
for a personal grievance, without compromising his
own safety or that of the State. Finally, he was too
ready to think that the days of the Ligue and of the
Fronde could return, when the great nobles could
air their discontent with impunity. This was his
destruction."
The Due de Lauzun was not the only man to blind
himself as to the possible issues of this campaign
against Royal authority. Almost all the members of
that circle were equally shortsighted. His intimate
friend, the Due de Chartres, shared his illusions, and
helped to involve him in the career which was so fatal
to them both.
How was it that the Prince, who by birth and
position should have been the most faithful pillar of
the throne, had become its most inveterate enemy ?
A little knowledge of the human heart is enough to
explain it. The chief feature of his character was its
utter weakness, and in this weakness we may find the
reason for his conduct. It was quite against his will
295
that he meddled with politics at all ; but he was
surrounded by ambitious men who spurred him on.
The Due de Chartres was a mere man of pleasure,
and thought of nothing but pleasure. He went up in
balloons, he dabbled in magic with Cagliostro, Lauzun,
and the Chevalier de Luxembourg, he kept race-
horses, and gave dinners constantly at his Chateau de
Mousseaux to his friends and the prettiest disreput-
ables of Paris ; it was there that orgies were held
which became notorious. But the Prince was kind,
good-natured to all about him, and he had the gift of
inspiring strong attachments, which is not that of a
vulgar soul. Lauzun was unshaken in his devotion
to the end.
In 1777, as has been said, the Queen, on trivial
grounds, had become very cool to the Due d' Orleans.
From that moment he had been spared no humiliation ;
the Queen systematically excluded him from her
intimate circle, and showed him marked antipathy on
all occasions. He was not invited to several of the
great fetes at Trianon. He was to be seen mingling
with the crowd, in the company of certain ladies who
were also out of favour with the Queen, looking on
at the illuminations and revenging himself by sallies
of bitter satire. More serious incidents had added to
his dissatisfaction. After the fight off Ushant, the
Court promulgated accusations against his courage
which, though utterly false, nettled him excessively.
Then, when he asked to be appointed High Admiral,
he was refused, and he never forgave the King.
This series of annoyances led to an intensely hostile
296
feeling between the Due de Chartres and the Court.
The Prince led away a strong following of friends —
everyone who had any complaint against the King.
There were Lauzun, the Due d'Aiguillon, Mathieu
de Montmorency, Sillery, Mirabeau, Talleyrand, the
Vieomte de Noailles, the Comte de la Marck, Laclos,
Merlin de Douai, and others.
It was all the easier to prompt the Due de Chartres
to active opposition, because he had only to follow
the general current of ideas. Nothing was more
fashionable than rebellion, and attacks on the Govern-
ment were rife, even among Courtiers. It was now
in good taste to mock at the solemn etiquette of former
days, and the old monarchical institutions. The
liberty of the new modes of life was highly praised ;
everyone was wild for new ideas, for philosophy,
democracy and equality ; still it was but an affectation,
a game ; they were all firmly convinced that no
change could be made in a state of things which had
lasted for centuries, and which everyone found ex-
tremely comfortable. Superior birth would continue
to secure favours and every kind of pleasure, as it
had hitherto done ; and what amply proves that the
aristocracy did not propose to forego its privileges, is
the fact that the Marechal de Segur chose this
critical moment to enact that the posts of ofiicers in
the army should henceforth be given only to men of
noble birth.^
^ M. de Segur, by thns requiring certificates of nobility, reduced
thousands of ricli men to despair by excluding them from officers'
rank.
297
The heads of the old families thought them-
selves as secure as the monarchy, and un-
hesitatingly supported an opposition of which they
did not foresee the danger. To these young
aristocrats, who were constantly going to England,
and who there saw the action of the parliamentary
system, it seemed quite a simple matter to form an
opposition party. It is too often forgotten that it
was in fact the French nobility that first thrust the
people over the precipice where it was afterwards
impossible to stop them. " It ought not to be said,"
writes the Prince de Ligne, " that philosophy caused
the Revolution. I saw no philosophers in the case,
only gentlemen who had derogated, and common
people who had made themselves fine gentlemen."
No one had an idea where they were going.
Excepting only in a few clear-sighted spirits, reckless
confidence everywhere prevailed. Mme. de Genlis
relates that when the first meeting of the Notables
took place, the Due de Chartres and Lauzun were
discussing events at her house one evening. Lauzun
remarked that the Assembly would probably reform
many abuses, and Mme. de Genlis was of his opinion.
The Due de Chartres, on the contrary, maintained
that they would reform no abuses, not even that of
lettres de cachet, and he was so convinced of it that
he bet Lauzun fifty louis on it. The Prince's views
were those of society in general. A revolution was
considered impossible, and it was an amusement to
play with fire.
Thus everybody became a Freemason. The
298
Candeur Lodge included the most distinguished
names at the Court — the Due and Duchesse de
Chartres, the Comte and Comtesse de Polignac,
the Princesse de Lamballe, the Duchesse de Bourbon.
On February 20, 1781, the Head Scottish Lodge of
Adoption elected Mme. de Lamballe to be Grand
Mistress, and all the Princess's little Court must at
once play at masonic ceremonies/
Marie Christine tried to frighten her sister about
these secret societies. " Everyone belongs to them,"
said the Queen ; " consequently, whatever goes on
becomes known ; where, then, is the danger ? "
Infatuation and blindness had reached such a
pitch even in the highest circles, that, in the
King's private theatre at Versailles, the whole Court
applauded with enthusiasm the tragedy of Brutus,
especially these two lines : —
** I am the son of Brutus ; on my heart
Is graven Liberty, and scorn of Kings."
The French, Avho had come back from America
imbued with the doctrines of equality, contributed
greatly to the diffusion of these ideas ; those dashing
officers who had, as Chateaubriand said, daubed
their orders with republican colours, wanted to see
1 A Lodge of Adoption was one to which women were admitted.
At the ceremony of installation Mme. de Soyecourt represented
her most Serene Highness the Grand Mistress ; Mme. de Tolozan
was the inspectress ; Mme. de Bouille the speaker ; Mme. de
Montalembert the secretary ; Mme. d'Hinnisdal the chancelloress ;
Mmes. de Lostanges and de Boynes were almoners ; Mme. de Berc
was chief mistress of the ceremonies ; and Mme. de Las Cases
played the part of the Terrible Sister.
299
the ideas they had brought with them put into
practice.
There was one matter, which had hitherto always
passed unconsidered, which no one had thought twice
about : the money question. Money had never been
lacking, or, if the coffers of the Treasury were empty,
they had been refilled by a little squeezing of the tax-
paying classes. But now this was changed ; the
ugly word " deficit " had been introduced ; there was
no money, and no one knew how to procure any.
Thus the financial question had come to the front,
and those who were, or who believed themselves,
experts in finance enjoyed the greatest popularity.
Of these Necker was the most famous. When the
Treasury was found to be empty the Swiss banker
came forward as a preserver ; but he only raised
loans instead of levying taxes. He believed himself
called to play a great part ; he gathered about him
philosophers, men of letters, moneyed men and
capitalists ; in their wake came ambitious and
intriguing adventiirers. But Necker was nothing
more than a hsLnker-philosophey by no means equal to
his situation, nor, above all, to the opinion he had of
himself. He contributed largely to the success of
the Revolution. When he was obliged to retire, in
May, 1781, the crash of his downfall was tremendous.
A vast crowd rushed from all parts of the Kingdom
and voted addresses to him. Everywhere, in all
public places, caf^s, and fashionable resorts, nothing
was to be heard but his name. One day, in some
public resort, the Duchesse de Lauzun addressed a
300
perfect stranger in vehement reproof because he was
speaking ill of the fallen Minister.
Necker was not the only man who enjoyed a great
reputation at Paris in financial matters ; there was
another Swiss who upheld a rival school: this was
Panchaud. He had lived for a long time in England ;
then he had come to Paris, where he had founded
a banking house. He spoke with ease, and his
arguments were clear ; he had soon achieved a great
reputation, and everyone ran after him to learn the
science of finance. It was really very amusing to
see this whole generation, who had flung money
away by handfuls, suddenly possessed by the desire
of learning the art of filling the public treasury, and
administering the public moneys. Courtiers, abbes,
magistrates, all wanted to become great financiers.
Panchaud had a seductive fluency which carried
away his hearers. He soon had numbers of pupils,
and the most illustrious personages were to be found
at his house every evening ; Lauzun, Mirabeau, and
Talleyrand zealously attended the learned banker's
lectures, and strove to acquire, for the benefit of
others, the difficult science which they so greatly
needed for their own.
It was not the public treasury alone that had run
dry ; private fortunes were seriously impaired. The
Prince de Gu^m^n^e's fate threatened many noble
names ; even Mile. Bertin, the famous modiste,
failed for two million francs. The reason was, that
while incomes had shrunk and money become
scarce, luxury had not been reduced, and the
301
expenses of persons of fashion were still enormously-
great. The maintenance of the table especially led
to excessive outlay. Grand suppers were no longer
given, but many, like the Due de Choiseul, kept
open house for fifty or sixty persons. This form of
extravagance was contagious ; at first it was con-
fined to those who held appointments at Court, and
then, by degrees, it became general. " Will Mme.
de Polignac entertain all France ? " wrote the Prince
de Ligne to the Chevalier de ITsle, when the
Duchesse was made governess to the Royal children.
" Yes," replied the Chevalier, '' three times a week —
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, from morning
till night. During these seventy-two hours it is a
general scamper, any one may come in, and dine
and sup. The way in which the rabble of the
Court swarm there is a thing to see. During these
three days not only the drawing-room is crowded —
it always is — but the conservatory, which is used
as a corridor with a billiard-room at the end. On
the four days of the week not hereinbefore men-
tioned, the door is opened only to us, the favoured
few."
This frenzied love of luxury had not, as may be
supposed, added to the genial pleasures of intimacy.
The mania for politics had invaded every grade of
society ; ministries were formed and overthroAvn in
every Paris drawing-room. At Mme. de Montes-
son's, Mme. Necker's, Mme. de Beau van's, Mme.
de Polignac's, Mme. de Brionne's, etc., nothing
was talked of but the merits and shortcomings of
302
M. Necker, M. de Calonne, and the rest. All the
salons, where formerly everyone talked so well,
and where love-making was the chief business of the
hour, had vanished from the scene and found no
successors. A drawing-room was now a hot-bed of
political and financial discussion.
The Prince de Ligne, a looker-on at this altera-
tion in the manners and tone of the best society,
deplored it deeply, and vented his laments wittily
enough: "Never was Court society — men and
women alike — less attractive, or less polite, than in
1786. Society was worn out ; people met too often,
and too early in the day. The two sexes were not
seen at their best ; the women were not yet in full
dress ; the men all muddy, stepping out of
their cabriolets with the dull look produced by the
damp Paris atmosphere. There was no more
gallantry, no wish to please, few means of pleasing ;
grace a thing of the past, no distinguished looks, no
elegant figures. Elegance consisted in having none.
Dinners for men alone ; self-styled wits, or military
men who knew nothing of military matters, had
spoiled society. Commonplace remarks on liberty
and abuses made them fancy themselves English ; how
many times have I said in the drawing-room of the
Italian Theatre : " Put down those huge newspapers
which you cannot read ; what to you are Pitt and
Fox, who are always making fun of Anglomaniacs ?
You do not know even the name of the Governor
of your own province ! For lack of accomplishments
these young men, anxious to be profound, have
303
taken to writing, and are as much bored as bores.
This was not characteristic of the young men of
fifty, forty, thirty, twenty years ago. Beyond * I
love you madly, I shall be at your feet between
eleven and midnight,' — the substance of a dozen
circular epistles such as I have seen written for
distribution by Letoriere — they would never have
found time to write more. Locks a Voiseau royal, or
a hundred curls, or ailes de pigeon; the choice
between powder a Vorange and pomatum au jaS'
min, deliberations between sweet water and honey-
water, filled up the rest of the morning with the
coxcombs of my day ; and coxcombs do not make
revolutions."
The new generation was not merely in love with
liberty, independence, politics, finance ; it threw
itself passionately into everything that was connected
with the supernatural. Philosophical scepticism had
killed the little religion that was left, but these
sceptics, as they thought themselves, were infected
with the blindest credulity concerning everything
in the way of evocations, apparitions, divinations
and the rest.
A contemptible empiric, a self-styled prophet,
come no one knew from whence, threw society into
a commotion, and played indirectly a considerable
part as a determining cause of the Revolution.
Cagliostro, after travelling through all the countries
of Europe, suddenly made his appearance at Stras-
bourg. He called himself an Egyptian initiated into
the secrets of nature, knowing various simples to
304
cure diseases and prolong human life. By feeling
the patient's pulse he could divine all the maladies
that affected him, all he had, and all he ever would
have. Various cures, effected almost suddenly, of
sufferers who had been given up, secured him an
incredible reputation. Cagliostro was of middle
height, his complexion was olive, his neck short, his
nose turned up, his round face was lighted up by
large prominent eyes extraordinarily brilliant and
keen. His hair was dressed in a fashion new to the
French; it was divided into several little queues
brought together at the back of the head, and tied
up in what was then called a club. He generally
wore an iron-grey coat of French cut braided with
gold, a scarlet waistcoat with a broad bordering of
Spanish lace, scarlet breeches, and a sword passed
through the skirt of his coat. He had diamonds on
his fingers, in his lace frill, on his watch chains, and a
hat with white feather edging. For ten months in the
year he wore a large blue-fox fur pelisse with a hood.
Cardinal de Rohan was just then at his fine
palace at Saveme. He asked to see the famous
doctor. " If Mgr. the Cardinal is ill," said Cagliostro,
" let him come to me and I will cure him ; if he is
well he does not need me, nor I him." This insolent
reply delighted the Cardinal ; he soon was the
quack's great friend, and Cagliostro knew how to
win his entire confidence and acquire complete
ascendency over him.
This is a detail which exactly characterizes the
period. This Cardinal of the Roman Church, High
305 X
Almoner to the King, was the intimate friend of a
charlatan who pretended to hold discourse with the
angel of light and the demon of darkness.
Such a jewel of a man could not be allowed to re-
main in the provinces. The Cardinal was bent on
introducing him to Paris : he took him there, and
gave him a fine apartment in the palace of the
Rohans. Cagliostro at once drove Paris crazy, and
soon had numbers of proselytes. He talked with an
inspired air of the heavens, the stars, the great
arcanum, of Memphis and the hierophant, of trans-
cendental chemistry ; he announced what was taking
place at the same moment at Vienna, London and
Pekin ; he foretold futurity.
For all his elucubrations he wanted nothing but
a glass globe filled with distilled water. A Dove —
that is to say a girl in a state of innocence, as pure as
the angels and born under a certain constellation —
knelt in front of it ; then, under the imposition of the
Grand Copt's hands, she was inspired with the faculty
of communicating with the spirits of the intermediary
sphere, and saw in the water all that might interest the
person for whose benefit the revelation was encouraged.
Cagliostro called the spirits, the water grew turbid, the
seer was convulsed, and read the future in the water.
This fired the capital with enthusiasm. Nobody
believed in God, but they believed in Cagliostro. Nor
was it the populace only whose heads were turned,
but educated persons, learned men, academicians, and
ministers. The most important men displayed an
enthusiasm and a confidence that are quite incom-
306
prehensible. Lauzun, the Due de Chartres, the
Chevalier de Luxembourg, and hundreds more,
became impassioned adepts of the new sect, and
rushed into all the follies of the illuminati. The
Chevalier de Luxembourg even accepted the title of
Grand Master of the Lodge of Egyptian Freemasonry,
founded by the charlatan, and the greatest names of
France were enrolled among its members.
M. de Caylus was one of Cagliostro's most fervent
disciples. He had even the satisfaction of holding
direct communication once with Beelzebub. Being
anxious that his friends should share in this good
fortune, he carried off with him to the quarries of
Montmartre, Lauzun, the Due de Chartres, M. de
Crequy, and M. de Fronsac ; he solemnly promised
that they should see the devil. As soon as they got
into the quarry the neophytes discerned in the
distance a faintly glimmering lamp, hanging, it would
seem, from the vault of the cave ; but in order to
reach it they had to go through a narrow and very
dark passage ; hardly had they entered it when they
were pelted with blows from cudgels — it was as though
they were being thrashed with flails. That was all
they saw that day ; they were not otherwise ill-used,
and they were not robbed. But they went home
desperately bruised, and were covered with scars and
plaisters for more than a month.
The Gazette de France published the news that
the Due de Chartres had fallen from his horse and
had hurt his head against a rail in the riding house.
The Due de Fronsac only kept to his bed with his
307 X 2
shutters and curtains closed, but was otherwise none
the worse. The Due de Lauzun went about as usual,
but carried his arm in a sling ; his face was black and
blue, and anyone who questioned him got a rough
answer. Still, this unpleasant adventure did not dis-
courage him, and he and his friends continued to
dabble in magic and the like.
One day he called on Mme. de Cr^quy in trium-
phant glee. " Well, aunt, I have seen him — I
have seen the devil."
" At Montmartre again, my dear fellow ? And how
are you after it ? "
" It was on Friday night last, aunt, at the Due de
Chartres', and Mme. de Bouille wept like a water-
spout."
And Lauzun gave his aunt a serious and simple
account of how the thing was done. A crystal
cup was placed on a table, and in it floated a toad
which had been blessed by all the sacraments of the
Church, from Baptism to Extreme Unction.
" Ordination and Confirmation ! What are you
saying? " exclaimed Mme. de Crequy.
" Why, my dear aunt," said Lauzun, with a touch
of bitter and melancholy scorn, *^do you think the
Due de Chartres cannot command the sacred and
sacrilegious hands of a Bishop ? "
A blasphemous ceremony of conjuration ensued ;
everyone was desired to kneel, but Lauzun refused,
saying that kneeling always made him faint. The
Due de Chartres obeyed, and the rest followed his
example.
" Then, at the further end of the room, a naked
figure of a man appeared, without a sound and in an
inexplicable way. It was rather larger than life, mth
a fine pale complexion, wonderfully black eyes, and a
thick curling beard. . . . This diabolic figure had a
scar starting from his forehead and winding in a
spiral down to the left heel, like a skein of bright
crimson silk. The apparition ended with an excla-
mation in a loud and sonorous voice which seemed to
proceed from the demon's wide-open mouth, but no
movement of the lips was to be seen."
Lauzun would never tell Mme. de Crequy what
Satan had said ; but she learned from the Duchesse
de Gesvres, to whom M. de Caylus told everything,
that he spoke these words, with an emphasis that
gave them meaning : " Victory and ruin — Victory
and ruin — ^ruin." ^
The Comte de Caylus fell a victim to his mania
for proselytizing. His friend, the Duchesse de
Gesvres, wished to have an interview with Bertrand
du Guesclin to question him as to a certain
treasure buried in the ground on one of her
estates. But to call up Bertrand du Guesclin, it
was necessary that she should be initiated,
and Mme. de Gesvres had scruples of conscience
as to this ceremony. M. de Caylus at last told
her that he had obtained the permission of the
Grand Copt for Mme. de Gesvres to be present at
the raising of the Spirit of Metals, without compelling
the lady toj take any oaths. The ceremony was to
1 Mme. de Creqny's Souvenirs, vol. iv.
take place in the Rue du Faubourg St. Honor^ at
the house of Mme. du Brunoi, who was at Bareges.
At midnight the Duchesse and M. de Caylus were
admitted with much mystery of pass- words, etc.
Mme. de Gesvres, much alarmed, wished to draw
back and retrace her steps. " Impossible,'* said her
guide. ^^ It is too late ; and above all do not speak ;
it is a matter of life or death." They went into some
splendidly lighted rooms ; in one of these was a meet-
ing of many adepts, but in order to enter, it was
necessary to walk over a large crucifix laid across
the threshold.
A man dressed in a long robe, half of black velvet
and half of sky-blue satin, took Mme. de Gesvres'
hand to lead her in. " What do you take me for ? '*
cried she. ^ Do you suppose that I will trample on
the Crucifix like a Dutch trader ? Do not touch
me ! " and thereupon, seized with horrible fright, she
fled down the corridors and at last reached the
garden and the street, as she happened to know the
house well. That very night she took to her bed
-vnth an attack of fever of which she nearly died.
The adventure ended yet more disastrously for M.
de Caylus. It was known next day that he had
been seized with an apoplectic stroke at the Due de
Lauzun's little house in the Rue du Roule, near the
Champs Elysees, and had died there. He was buried
without any inquiry being made. How had Lauzun
become involved in this miserable business ? What
part had he played ? These are questions we can-
not undertake to answer.
310
CHAPTER XX.
1785.
Birth, of the Due de Normandie — The affair of the necklace —
Arrest of the Cardinal de Rohan — Indignation and intrigues
of the Rohan family — The Cardinal is acquitted — Scandals
about the Queen — Death of the Due de Choiseul.
The year 1785 opened under the happiest auspices.
Everyone rejoiced at the prospect of another birth
in the Royal family. Gaiety prevailed at Court;
the " Barber of Seville " and the " Marriage of
Figaro " were first performed there, and some new
entertainment was daily invented to amuse the Queen.
No anxiety was felt as to the future ; it would be
impossible to rush on a precipice with more complete
heedlessness. On March 27 a prince was bom;
everyone was delighted, and the King, in proof of
his satisfaction, bought the palace of St. Cloud of the
Due d' Orleans for twelve million francs, and made it
a present to the young mother.
This splendid gift, made out of pure good nature,
was ill-timed ; the populace, who for some years had
heard complaints of the emptiness of the treasury,
and had been more and more heavily taxed to fill it,
311
were exasperated at such a moment being chosen for so
useless an outlay. Marie Antoinette was stigmatized
with a nickname which subsequently aggravated
their hatred — that of Madame Deficit. And the year
1785, which had begun so brightly, ended disas-
trously for the unhappy Queen and the monarchy.
An incident, as improbable as it was unexpected,
agitated the Court and town alike in the month of
August. Since his return from Vienna the Cardinal
de Rohan was in utter disfavour ; the Queen espe-
cially missed no opportunity of showing her hostile
feeling.
The Cardinal, who was surrounded by spies, noAv
became the victim of an extraordinary machination.
An adventuress, who announced herself to be a de-
scendant of the Valois, a Mme. de La Mothe, made
him believe that the Queen greatly desired to possess
a diamond necklace which had been offered her at
the price of 1,600,000 francs (£64,000) by Boehmer
and Bossang, Court jewellers, but that she dared not
buy it openly. She assured the Cardinal that if he
would act as go-between, he would certainly be rein-
stated in the Sovereign's good graces. The unsus-
picious prelate agreed to play the part ; he bought
the necklace in the Queen's name, and handed it over
to Mme. de La Mothe. At the same time the adven-
turess arranged meetings at night, in the Park of
Versailles, between the Cardinal and a woman named
Oliva, whom he took to be the Queen herself, as she
somewhat resembled her. When the jewellers, tired
of waiting for their 1,600,000 francs, the price of the
312
necklace, brought their claim to the King, the whole
business was discovered. It was at once supposed to
be a trick on the part of the Cardinal, who was over
head and ears in debt — no one believed that he was
the dupe.
M. de Vergennes advised that the business should
be hushed up, and M. de Rohan compelled to com-
pensate the jewellers. This, of course, was the wisest
plan, the only reasonable course to take. But the
Queen was indignant at the villainous part ascribed
to her ; strong in conscious innocence, she was eager
to assert it before all the world, not reflecting that
the scandal would be all the greater from the publicity
which must be given to the whole affair.
On the day of the Assumption, a high festival, the
Cardinal de Rohan was wending his way at noon to
the Chapel of the Palace, in his rochet and hood,
before assuming his pontifical and official vestments
in the presence of the Royal family, when he was
sent for to the King's private room. There, before
the Queen, M. de Breteuil, and the Keeper of the
Seals, he was compelled to confess himself guilty.
On leaving he was arrested by the Captain of the
guard, and at once taken to the Bastille.
The scandal was terrible. A Rohan, a Cardinal,
arrested in the very palace ! At first everybody
supposed that he had been imprisoned for debt.
What was the public feeling when the truth was
suspected, and the Queen's name was mentioned in
connection with this wretched business, a mere
vulgar and contemptible swindle ! The outcry was
313
universal, and no one approved of the King's
action. The clergy complained of the imprisonment
of a dignitary of the Church, the nobles were
indignant at an outrage on one of their order. As
to the Rohan family, still very powerful, they were
all flame and fury ; Mme. de Marsan " raved like
a devil." The Rohans, the Soubises, and the
Guem^n^es all went into mourning.
At the same time Mme. de La Mothe was also
arrested, at Bar-sur-Aube ; and Cagliostro and his
wife, involved in the business by their intimacy with
the prelate, were thrown into the Bastille.
In the early days of his imprisonment the Cardinal
enjoyed perfect liberty, excepting only that of going
out of the place. He entertained much as he had
done at the Hotel de Soubise ; he continued to govern
his diocese, and performed various ecclesiastical
functions ^vith much splendour, officiating still as
High Almoner. His family and friends, meanwhile,
were not idle ; they neglected nothing that might
influence public opinion and excite interest in the
prisoner. The Abbe Georgel carried audacity so
far as to have a mandate printed and displayed on
the doors of all sacristies and chapels attached to the
High Almoner's charge — even on that of the Chapel
Royal — in which he compared M. de Rohan to Saint
Paul in bondage.
And while they thus endeavoured to make the
Cardinal popular with the public — which he had
never been — the families of Rohan, Soubise, and
Guemenee took every opportunity of attacking the
314
Queen. The populace obeyed the impetus ; ribald
songs were sung in the streets : —
" His Holiness had made him red,
The King and Queen have blackened him,
The Parlement will wash him white ;
Alleluia ! "
At Longchamps straw hats were worn with a
scarlet crown and edged with a ribbon of the same
colour. Cardinal on the straw. Snuff-boxes were
sold, au Cardinal blanchi, of ivory, with a small black
spot in the middle.
To what authority was the Cardinal to be
handed over ? To an Ecclesiastical Court or to the
Parlement ? M. de Vergennes, always well-advised,
pronounced positively for the ecclesiastical tribunal.
But it was decided that he should be tried by the
Parlement, which included a great many of the
Cardinal's friends and relations. From that moment
the Rohans did all they could to bribe those judges
whose opinion they feared ; to this end they
scattered money lavishly and hesitated at nothing to
secure their case. " The women,'' says Mme. de
Campan, " played a part disgraceful to morality ;
through them, and the large sums of money they
had bestowed, the oldest and wisest heads were
corrupted in their judgment."
When the Cardinal came up for the preliminary
inquiry he was dressed in a long violet robe — violet
being Cardinal's mourning — his scarlet cap and
stockings, and displayed all his Orders. Cagliostro
appeared in a green coat embroidered with gold ;
315
his hair plaited from the top of his head fell in
little tails over his shoulders. To the question :
" Who are you ? Where do you come from ? " he
replied, " A noble, travelling." He undertook
his own defence with an air of confidence, in a
mingled jargon of Greek, Arabic, Latin and Italian.
His appearance, his gestures and eagerness, amused
his judges as much as his harangue. On May 30,
1786, the Cardinal stood his trial by the Parlement.
All the families of Rohan, Guem^nee, and Soubise
stood in a row at the door of the Court. When the
judges came in Mme. de Marsan stepped forward
and addressed them : " Gentlemen," said she, '' you
are about to try all of us." The summing up by
the public prosecutor was received with hooting,
for the public was represented solely by the
Cardinal's family and partisans. Sentence was
pronounced on May 31, at nine in the evening. By
a majority of three — twenty-six to twenty- three —
the Cardinal was simply acquitted, as were Cagliostro
and the woman Oliva ; Mme. de La Mothe was
condemned to be whipped and imprisoned at La
Salpetriere.
The Palace of Justice was packed with people. As
soon as the verdict was announced enthusiastic
cheers greeted the judges ; they had such a recep-
tion as they came out that they could scarcely get
through the throng. The mob surrounding the
building made the air ring with applause and shouts
of delight. The Cardinal stepped into a carriage
with the Governor of the Bastille, and was escorted
316
to the prison by an immense crowd cheering him
vociferously. The scene was repeated next day
when he came out of the Bastille. His hotel was
illuminated, he was called out on to the balcony like
a conquering hero ; the market women came to
congratulate him.
It was not that the Cardinal was loved ; but
hatred of the Queen was already so strong that the
slightest pretext was seized on for attacking her.
Every demonstration in the Cardinal's favour was
an insult to Marie Antoinette. For indeed, whereas
the Cardinal was acquitted, there was another
innocent person who suffered, and very cruelly,
under the sentence of the Court ; that was the
Queen, and the blow that struck her struck at the
monarchy.
Marie Antoinette was keenly alive to the insult,
and felt it deeply. She wrote to Mme. de Polignac
these words of anguish : " Come and weep with me,
come and comfort your friend, my dear Polignac.
The verdict just pronounced is an intolerable affront.
I am drowned in tears of grief and despair. It is
impossible to hope for anything where perversity
seems bent on finding every means of galling my
spirit. Such ingratitude ! But I will triumph
over the malignant by doing three times as much
good as I have always tried to do. They will find it
easier to grieve me than to make me revenge myself.
Come, my dear heart."
The Cardinal did not long rejoice in his triumph.
On the day after his return to his episcopal residence
317
he was banished to La Chaise-Dieu. The King
dismissed him from his office of High Almoner, and
stripped him of his appointments and pensions, as
he had formerly done to the Cardinal's nephew, the
Prince de Guemenee. Then the cry arose of
" Tyranny ! " -and the higher nobility was furious at
what it called Royal despotism. It was in vain that
Mme. de Marsan came to throw herself at the
Queen's feet, in vain besought the King to allow the
Cardinal, who was ill, to go to some watering-place ;
she could obtain nothing. She withdrew in ex-
asperation, vowing never to appear again in the
royal presence.
From this time forth the Queen had no more
virulent enemies than the Rohans, and all who were
more or less closely connected with that powerful
family. " The Queen's character is not quit of the
collar ! " — (the necklace — franc du collier) — Mme. de
Coigny said, and the witticism was repeated in the
drawing-rooms of the Palais Royal and throughout
Paris. When the Queen appeared in the capital she
was received so coldly that she could not restrain her
tears, and exclaimed : " Why, what harm have I
done them ? " Animosity ran so high that to avoid
coarse insult her portrait had to be withdrawn from
the exhibition of painting at the Salon,
In the course of the year 1785 a man who has
figured largely in this narrative vanished from the
world. The Due de Choiseul died in the month of
May. He had persisted for many years in his
extravagant style of living, spending without keeping
3i8
any account, and adding every day to the sum total
of his debts. Happily for him a sudden illness
snatched him away in middle life, and prevented his
witnessing his own ruin. In May, 1785, he was
attacked by an inflammation of the lungs which from
the first showed very serious symptoms. Paris was
at once in a state of excitement, all his friends, all his
partisans, all who ever hoped for his reinstatement at
the head of affairs, rushed to inquire after him. The
Comtesse de Brionne, the Due du Chatelet, and the
Prince de Beaumont, with other fine ladies and
gentlemen, were constantly at his bedside. Lauzun,
forgetting their past dissensions, and all his grievances
against his uncle, went at once to show his relations
every mark of attachment and devotion. All the
most distinguished personages of the town crowded
the approaches to the house. "Four secretaries,"
says Bachaumont, " were constantly occupied in
^vriting bulletins ; the throng was immense, and
strict etiquette was necessarily observed : first and
second ante-room, drawing-room, bed-room, each
visitor was admitted in order of privilege to these
different rooms ; only the elect entered the last." The
Queen sent a page several times a day to ask for news.
Unfortunately the crowd of doctors was equally
great : there were eleven of them. The Duchesse
nursed her husband with devoted care, but all in vain.
Feeling his end draw near, Choiseul sent for four
notaries, and to them, with perfect calmness, he
dictated his last wishes. His death was worthy of
his character and of his life ; he saw the final moment
319
at hand without trepidation, and suggested conso-
lation to all about him. "To his dying moment
he had an air of granting an audience, and made a
lordly end."
He died on Sunday, May 9, 1785. The funeral
service was held on the 11th at his parish church
of Saint Eustache. " Never was a more numerous
and splendid following," says Bachaumont. " No
end of blue ribands, and red ribands, and foreign
Orders ; old men bent under the weight of years
seemed about to step into their own graves when
they had paid the last honours to the dead."
The grief at Choiseul's death was not, however,
unanimous. Ministers and men in office were glad
to feel themselves delivered from a powerful presence,
hindering, or publicly disapproving, all they did.
He was the centre of a sphere in which they were not
at their ease.
The King's dislike to him was well-known and
gave rise to this epitaph : —
'' Here Choiseul lies in peace ! ' A happy thing I '
Says in a whisper our most Christian King."
The day after her husband's death the Duchesse de
Choiseul retired to the Convent of the Cordelieres in
the Rue du Bac with a single servant. She gave up
all her splendour, and devoted her whole income to
paying off her husband's debts.^
1 See La Duchesse de Choiseul, by Gaston Maugras, Paris, 1889.
320
CHAPTER XXI.
1785—1787.
Lauziin and Mme. de Coigny — The Prince de Ligne — Mme. de
Fleury — The adventure of the rose — Two duels — The King
affronts the Marquis de Conflans — M. de Conflans' death —
The Palais Royal faction — The Due d' Orleans and Mme. de
Buffon.
Lauzun's love aiFairs with Mme. de Coigny had
meanwhile remained as they were : political intrigue
had done nothing to advance them. Nor was he the
only man to lavish attentions on Mme. de Coigny.
The young Marquise, fascinating, full of charm and
wit, was the centre of such homage as could not fail
to flatter her vanity ; she was far from scorning a
whole Court of adorers ; and though Lauzun was no
doubt the most favoured of them, and she showed him
particular regard, it was not without a pang that he
saw her the object of other men's assiduities ; he feared
lest some happier or bolder rival should find his way
to the heart which he hoped to win, and jealousy often
tormented him cruelly.
Among the gentlemen whose attentions to the
Marquise caused him so much anxiety may be
mentioned the Due de Chartres, the Chevalier de
321 Y
risle, and the Prince de Ligne. M. de Ligne was the
rival he chiefly dreaded, and he was in fact a
dangerous one.
The Prince, himself a man of great wit, loved wit
in others ; he had a genuine passion for the Marquise.
Every time he came to Paris he spent many hours with
her whomhe called his ^c^oree, and our unhappy Lauzun,
though he blushed to let it be seen, was often very
weary of him. During his absence in Russia, and his
long journey in the Crimea with the Empress Catherine,
the Prince wrote the most delightful letters to Mme. de
Coigny, in which he was not chary of flattery and com-
pliments ; but, making due allowance for hyperbole,
these letters give an admirable idea of the charming
woman who played so large a part in our hero's life,
and for that reason they may be quoted from here.
The Prince wrote to his Adoree from Kiov : —
"Do you know why I miss you, Madame la
Marquise ? It is because you are not a woman like
every other ; and I am not a man like every other,
for I appreciate you better than those that are about
you. And do you know why you are not like
every other woman ? It is because you are kind,
though many people do not believe it ; it is because
you are simple, though you are always inventing
something witty, or finding it ready made. That is
your mother tongue. It cannot be said that you are
witty, but that wit is you. You do not hunt for
epigrams ; epigrams come to find you. Fifty years
hence you will rank with Mme. du Defiant for sharp-
ness, with Mme. Geofirin for good sense, and with the
322
Mar Exhale de Mirepoix for good taste. You, at the
age of twenty, have the accumulated results of the
three centuries which make up the age of those ladies.
You have the graces of a woman of fashion without
having made it a profession. You are a superior
woman and alarm none but simpletons. As many-
noble speeches as witticisms of yours are quoted.
^ Never have a lover, it is an abdication,' is a very
deep and very new thought. You are more apt
to be embarrassed than embarrassing ; and when
you have a shy fit you show it in the drollest
possible way, by a little, rapid murmuring flow, as
people who are afraid of thieves sing in the street.
You are the sweetest woman and the most charming
boy, in short the person I most regret."
Another time he reminds her in the wittiest way of
his adoration and the train of admirers he had left
surrounding her : —
" From my Galley.
'^ Such is fate, Madame la Marquise. I left you in
the midst of a dozen adorers who do not understand
you ; I, who do understand you, shall not hear you for
many a day. Here am I, twelve hundred leagues
away from your charms, but always near your bright
wit, which constantly recurs to my memory. I can
see you sending one of those gentlemen to order
your carriage, getting out of patience at the account
another gives you of his own, pelting another
with epigrams and raillery, allowing a fourth to
escort you to the play, encouraging a fifth in his
hopeless devotion, not quenching an ardent suitor
323 Y 2
wlio mistakes his own violence for passion, and who
hopes to captivate you by telling you that he makes
his regiment leap trenches ; I see you laying yourself
out to please one or two who can understand you,
spending your wit to no advantage on others — but in
all this I do not see that your heart is at stake.
Two of your worshippers vainly creep on all fours to
convince you of the love they feel for you ; an ear-
tip betrays them as lovable rather than loving. If by
dint of acting amiability and goodness they do not
ere long get into mischief remember me to them."
These two worshippers who crawl on all fours and
may perhaps get into mischief are, we fear, none
others than Lauzun and the Due de Chartres.
On another occasion, the Prince, to keep up his
part of lover, writes as follows : —
'' I say nothing to you of the state of my heart.
Yours is put up for a lottery. I have taken a ticket.
Who knows ? And even if I had not, might not
chance favour me by prevention ? " M. de Ligne's
letters are full of declarations and compliments ; he
writes to the Marquise of the fire of her eyes, the fire
of her imagination. '^ In all Paris," he says, " you
are the only person to adore ; adore is the word, for
there is not time there for love. You alone know how
to be brilliant without fatiguing, and I ascribe this gift
to no one else, not even to the stars." And his love
for her will cease only with his life , he pledges his
word for it. " Till I step into Charon's bark I can
never cease to love you and to tell you so."
The Prince certainly did not share the new ideas
324
which had fired the French nobility with such rash
enthusiasm. So he was far from approving of Mme.
de Coigny's theories of politics, and on that point
they differed as widely as possible.
^' Ask forgiveness of your pedantic foes to abuses,'
he writes. ^^I am an abuse of this country, and
I am none the worse for it, nor are other folks. Our
abuses of good, genuine monarchies serve a good turn
to many people ; and if they were to be suppressed
you would have Pugatcheffs instead. From which
Heaven preserve you ! "
It is easy to imagine that so effusive a devotion
should cause our hero some anxiety ; but happily M.
de Ligne was almost always absent, sometimes in
Belgium, in Austria, or in Russia, and his tenderness
exhaled itself in letter- writing. Lauzun, though still
very devoted, and though his heart was immutably
given to the fascinating Marquise, began to be tt
little tired of dancing attendance on her, and fate at
this juncture offered him the chance of a more facile
flirtation.
The heroine of this episode was the Marquise de
Fleury, Mme. de Coigny's first cousin.* She had
been married, December 5th, 1784, at the age of
fifteen, to the Marquis de Fleury, who was but
fourteen. The young husband had allowed himself
to be led into such ruinous extravagance that he was
"• Frangoise Aimee Franqnetot de Coigny, daughter of the Comte
de Coigny, the Due's younger brother. Her father-in-law died in
1788, and she then became the Duchessede Fleury. Seethe " Due
de Lauzun and the Court of Louis XY.," chapter xxi.
325
presently put under tutelage. As to his wife, an
eager and romantic creature, she soon was a good
deal talked about.
She was, indeed, singularly beautiful and highly
gifted. No woman could be more bewitching, alike
from her graces of person and of mind. '' Her face
was lovely," writes Mme. Vig^e-Lebrun, " her look a
flame, her figure such as we give to Venus, and her
mind superior." With a lively imagination, and a
lofty soul, she was gentle and natural ; but a certain
dreaminess, and an independent, adventurous spirit,
led her into eccentricities. Among a thousand in-
stances one may be quoted, a breach of etiquette so
audacious as to set all the tongues at Court wagging.
" She was at supper one evening at Versailles in
Mme. de Gu^m^n^e's rooms, where, as usual, there
were a great many people. Mme. de Fleury had just
come from the Queen's circle, and was in full Court
dress. Instead of taking off her train of several ells
in length in the ante-room, she unfastened it in the
drawing-room. Mme. de Guemen^e laughingly ad-
vised her to take ofi* her huge hoops. *By all
means ! ' replied Mme. de Fleury. At this unex-
pected reply several ladies rushed at her to encourage
her to commit this piece of folly ; they took off her
hoops, her skirt of splendid brocade : in the winking
of an eye they had partly undressed her, and she
stood in her long waist and fur cape, and her short
stuff petticoat, with her two pockets hanging from her
waist. All this took place in the presence of fifty
bystanders, and Mme. de Fleury remained in this
326
strange costume the whole evening, from half-past
nine till two in the morning, with the most perfect
unconcern, and as if she had done the most natural
thing in the world." ^
She was known in her family by the name of
Nigretta, on account of her dark complexion and
black hair and eyes. But she did not like it and
assumed another, which better suited her taste and
aspirations. She had taken a passionate delight in
reading the " Lettres d'une Peruvienne," by Mme.
de Graffigny, and the heroine's name, Zilia, daughter
of the Sun, which was worshipped in Peru, so charmed
her romantic fancy, that she adopted it.
At her cousin's house she met Lauzun in a very
dejected frame of mind, and intimated her liking ; he
probably thought that a little jealousy might promote
his interests, and set up a flirtation which she was
very ready to encourage. They met at Lauzun's
house at Montrouge, and both being bitten with
the folly of the illuminati they vowed to worship
the moon, and adored the Queen of the Night at
Montrouge.
Mme. de Coigny did not fail to perceive Lauzun's
intimacy with her cousin, but very wisely, as a clever
woman who after all had no claim on him, she aifected
ignorance. And indeed the attachment, if violent,
was ephemeral. The fair Zilia soon tired of Lauzun
and took up with some new friend.
The Marquis de Coigny had always been on good
terms with his wife, but they lived a good deal apart,
^ Souvenirs de Mme. de Genlis.
for the Marquis had remained faithful to the traditions
of his father and his mother-in-law, who were in the
highest favour with the intimate circle about the
King and Queen : thus he and his wife did not move
in the same society.
Mme. de Coigny had been in the habit of using a
seal representing a full-blown rose surrounded by a
swarm of bees and butterflies, with this motto, " What
it is to be a rose." This rose, she used to say, was
an image of herself, the bees and butterflies were the
legion of admirers in her train. She gave this seal
to Lauzun, and whether, to use the Prince de Ligne's
phrase, he " won the lottery," or no, from 1786 they
were greater friends than ever.
In January, 1786, two duels were fought which
made a great talk, and in which M. and Mme. de
Coigny were concerned.
M. de Coigny had, at the new year, made Mme. de
Valentinois a present of a trained parrot of distin-
guished abilities. Unfortunately Prince Joseph de
Monaco was no less her devoted admirer, and he too
brought her a New Year's gift — a wonderful monkey
who could do everything but talk. But the first
thing the monkey did was to catch the parrot and
pluck it so eflectually that it died. The Marquis de
Coigny, much annoyed, challenged the Prince of
Monaco, and they fought a duel in which the Marquis
was severely wounded. A few days later Mme. de
Coigny was indirectly the cause of the second duel.
Being obliged to appear at Court on some great
occasion, she was walking in the gallery at Versailles
328
when she dropped a rose. Comte Roger de Damas
picked it up and amused himself with pulling off the
petals over a table where a game with dice called crabs
or creps was being played. The Comte de Broglie
begged him not to do it as he was incommoding the
players, and " nothing could be more stupid than what
he was doing." M. de Damas retorted that " nothing
could be more stupid than what he was saying."
They fought, and M. de Broglie was wounded.
New Year's day, 1786, was not lucky for the Coigny
family. The Marquise's father, M. de Confians, had
asked to be decorated with the Royal Orders.^ Not
only did Louis XVI. refuse to bestow them on him ;
he was even so brutal as to say to this venerable
Colonel of Hussars when he claimed this reward :
" It must be admitted, Conflans, that you want the
blue riband, for you look like a locksmith." This was
in allusion to M. de Conflans' dress, consisting of a
plain coat, and hair cut short, without powder or
pomatum. But it was unbecoming in the King to
make such a remark. Mme. de Coigny could not
forgive this fresh and cruel afiront, which aggravated
her detestation of the Court.
M. de Conflans died not long after. He knew him-
self to have a mortal disease and to be liable to die sud-
denly, but, like all the men of his time, he would not
admit that he was ill, and went into society as usual.
On the day of his death he was to dine at Montrouge
with the Due de Lauzun, to meet the Due d'Orleans
— whom we have hitherto known as the Due de
^ The Orders of Saint Michael and of the Holy Ghost.
Chartres ^ — and some other persons. Everybody
had arrived but M. de Conflans. They awaited him
with impatience, especially the Due d'Orleans, who
wished to go to the theatre. Suddenly one of M. de
Conflans' servants arrived in great haste to announce
his master's death. At this unexpected news the
whole party, and Lauzun most of all, were greatly
shocked and upset. Only the Due d'Orleans coolly
said : " Well, Lauzun, since there is no one to wait
for, let us have dinner, that we may get in at the
beginning of the Opera." For five and twenty years
he had been on terms of intimacy with M. de Con-
flans. If the anecdote is true, it is little to the
credit of the Duke's feelings ; but it is told by Talley-
rand, and therefore quite open to suspicion.
Lauzun at once left his friends to themselves and
hurried oiFto ofler Mme. de Coigny the consolations
of faithful and tender friendship. Her father's death
broke the last tie that held Mme. de Coigny to the
Court. From that hour she considered herself re-
leased from all need for reticence ; she became the
irreconcilable foe of the Court circle at Versailles —
what she so haughtily termed the aristocroMc rabhle —
and stirred up a violent opposition. Her pugnacious
temper found satisfaction in this declared hostility,
and she henceforth held a supreme place in every
drawing-room where philosophes, politicians and
economists were to be found. As in the progress of
events matters assumed a more serious aspect, she
^ The old Due d'Orleans died in November, 1785. His son,
hitherto the Due de Chartres, had. succeeded to the title.
became even more violent and aggressive. Her fierce
and pitiless opinions of the Court, her biting and
cruel speeches about the Queen, were the delight of
Paris salonSy and repeated from one to another. One
of her uncles, the Chevalier de Coigny, fearing that
he might be compromised by his niece's indiscretions,
reproved her one day sharply enough. The Mar-
quise only replied disdainfully : " Could you not give
me all that in little pills ? " and turned her back
upon him.
The Palais Royal was still the focus of the most
ardent opposition, the centre to which all rallied who
aimed at undermining Royal authority. Mme. de
Coigny queened it there by her wit and high spirits,
but the Due d' Orleans, who at one time seemed
anxious to lay siege to her aiFections, desisted from
the pursuit ; he found consolation elsewhere, and
his life from 1787 became completely influenced by
a liaison with Mme. de Buffon,-^ who inspired him
with a real passion. She was young and pretty, and
violently in love with him. Though not clever, she
had grace, sweetness, and great charm. She sacri-
ficed to the man she loved her position in the world
by deserting her husband and publicly acknowledg-
ing her connection with the Duke. Her fortune was
very small ; the Due d'Orleans never added to it.
She lived quietly on her modest income. Mme. de
Buffbn's disinterested devotion to the Prince won the
^ Mile, de Cepoy, who had married in 1784 Louis Marie, Comte
de Buff on, Colonel of Cavalry, son of the famous naturalist. M.
de Buffon was guillotined in 1794.
331
esteem and aiFection of all who knew her. As to
the Prince, he thought of no one else ; he took her
out driving every day, and to the theatre every
evening. He loved her sincerely and passionately,
and she had the greatest influence over him. Thence-
forth no disreputable person was ever seen at
Mousseaux ; none were admitted there.
332
CHAPTER XXII.
1787—1788.
The first Treaty of Commerce — The English in Egypt — Lanznn's
remarkable foresight — M. d'Ormesson — M. de Calonne —
Assembly of Notables — Mme. de Coigny's parrot — Lomenie
de Brienne — The Notables are dismissed — The Due d' Orleans
in banishment — Retrenchments — Indignation at Court —
Mme. de Polignac's ingratitude — Mme. d'Ossun — Necker
succeeds to Brienne — Death of Marechal de Biron — Lauzun
takes his namie as Due de Biron.
During the years 1786 and 1787 Lauzun had not
remained idle. He had made frequent journeys to
England on more or less confidential missions. Still,
being desirous of diplomatic advancement, he even
wrote to the King to beg to be appointed as Ambas-
sador to London, but Louis XVI. did not vouchsafe a
reply. This did not hinder the Due from remaining
in correspondence with the Ministers, to whom he did
signal service, for he kept them informed of what was
going on in London. He even took an active part in
drawing up the first treaty of commerce which ever
was concluded.
This treaty, between France and England, was
signed in 1786. It was the economists' permit for the
commerce of the two countries, and was concluded for
333
ten years. It would have proved disastrous for
several of the French industries if the Revolution had
not intervened to break it off. And yet it was very
ill-received by Fox's party in England. To show the
aversion felt for it, Lord George Gordon, at the head of
an immense crowd of people, marched in grand
procession to the French Embassy, in front of which
a copy of the treaty was burned. He had had the
politeness that morning to let the Ambassador know
that there was nothing to be afraid of, as they would
not bum his residence.^
In 1787 fresh difficulties arose between Turkey and
Russia : the Empress Catherine wished to end her
reign on the throne of Constantinople. Many French
courtiers at once applied to be allowed to serve in
the Russian army ; the Due de Richelieu, the Comte
de Damas, the Comte de Bombelles, etc. Napoleon
Bonaparte, a subaltern artiUery officer, wrote to offiir
his services to General Tamara. There was a general
enthusiasm for the Russians.
Though Lauzun had a great admiration for
Catherine, and had several times made plans for
serving in the Russian army, he foresaw with remark-
able perspicuity the dangers in which this war would
involve us.
From August, 1787, till July, 1788, he wrote letter
after letter to M. de Montmorin, the Minister for
Foreign Affairs, to point out the risk to our influence
' No mention is made of this proceeding in the notice of Lord
George Gordon in the '' Dictionary of National Biography," nor have
I found any account of it elsewhere. — Translator.
334
in the East, to explain to him that we ought not to
abandon Egypt, and exhort him to take the necessary
measures. These letters are highly remarkable, and
might have been written yesterday. They are unfor-
tunately too long to be reproduced here, and we can
only give an epitome of their contents.^
The great source of Lauzun's anxiety is the
behaviour of England. He is persuaded of the
duplicity of the English, who are prompting Turkey
to fight, and who, as soon as war is declared, will
lend their aid to Russia. They will then take
advantage of the situation to seize Egypt, and this
must be hindered at any cost. He writes to M. de
Montmorin, August 30, 1787: —
" The possession of Egypt will give England the
command of the shortest route to India, secure to her
the whole trade with the East, and make her ere long
mistress of half the world. If the English were in
possession of India, trade would be so ruinous for all
the other European Powers that they would be
obliged to surrender it. Egypt often attracted the
attention of M. le Due de Choiseul ; the acquisition
of that magnificent and productive country was his
favourite scheme, the political romance which most
often occupied his day-dreams."
Lauzun is not content to point out the danger ; he
also suggests the remedy. In his opinion there is a
very simple way of foref ending the risk that threatens.
It is to uphold the Turks by undertaking to protect
for them, and at their expense, Egypt, Candia, Rhodes,
^ They are to be found in the National archives, T 1527.
335
and Cyprus ; they can then avail themselves of all
their forces to fight the Russians. By acting thus
we risk absolutely nothing; for if the Ottoman
Empire should be conquered, we should keep the
property we have in charge. Lauzun offers to go to
Constantinople and lay this plan before M. deChoiseul-
Gouffier, our Ambassador. That the Turks will
consent is certain.
But, it is objected, supposing this should entail a
war with England ?
'' I venture to assert," he writes, " that we must
rather go to war with England than allow England to
hold Egypt. If you read through the despatches of
M. le Comte de Choiseul-Gouffier, the King's Am-
bassador at Constantinople, you will easily convince
yourself of the enormous importance of Egypt, and
the necessity of rescuing it, at any cost, from the
avidity of the English. It is impossible to doubt
any longer that the English have hidden designs
on Egypt, which they will promote by every imagin-
able intrigue." And he adds this remark, which
has been heard in our ovm. day, in the House of
Commons : —
" England is less formidable than is supposed. Her
vast commerce prevents her ever being ready for
war ; every preparation is ruinous and destructive
to her trade ; and at the beginning of every war, her
sailors — ^her one element of strength — being scattered,
as they are, over every sea, she is for a long time
reduced to ineiFectual efforts " (September 5,
1787).
336
September 16, Lauzun writes again to M. de Mont-
morin. He believes that the permission to occupy
Egypt may be got from England by mere persuasion.
He asks that an envoy extraordinary should be sent
to London, where, at the moment, there was no am-
bassador to discuss the matter. If England should
refuse, we must declare war : this is the delenda
Carthago which invariably recurs in all his letters.
Notwithstanding frequent interviews, and con-
stantly increasing urgency, Lauzun could not
persuade Montmorin to follow his advice. The truth
was that domestic matters of a more pressing kind did
not allow the Ministers to think of foreign affairs or
future issues.
When Necker retired from oJB&ce in 1781 to the
regret of all, his place was filled by Joly de Fleury ;
he, however, did not hold it long ; his successor was
M. d'Ormesson. His tenure of the office of Controller-
Genera] was equally brief. One day there was a
vehement scene between him and M. de Vaudreuil,
on the subject of Mme de Polignac's debts. To M.
d'Ormesson's refusal to pay them M. de Vaudreuil
replied, as he left the room : " Well, Monsieur, if you
will not, somebody else will."
" From this moment M d'Ormesson was attacked,
but mildly," writes the Comte de Cassin to the Due
d'Harcourt, " and even this would not have come at
once but that he also refused to disburse fourteen
millions for Rambouillet, fifteen millions for the
Comte d'Artois, six for the Due de Provence, ^yq or
six more for something else, besides six hundred
337 z
thousand a year to Monsieur, and four hundred
thousand to the Comte d'Artois. His next step was
to pass an Order in Council to reform the system
of farming taxes. The Farmers -General were then
banished ; they were made to render an account ;
the Queen must need interfere, M. de Vaudreuil
followed the matter up, the King got angry, and he
dismissed an honest man who was too clumsy for the
country. M. de Vaudreuil insisted that M. de
Calonne should be appointed ; M. de Polignac's circle
were frantic about it, the Queen would have it, the
King resisted, the Queen had a miscarriage and
M. de Calonne was appointed."
M. de Calonne had all the characteristics of a man
of the world ; he was fickle, brilliant, witty, amiable
and incurably frivolous. With good looks, a keen
and discriminating eye, a fine figure and a pleasant
tone of voice, he was also a man of great elegance.
His powers of work were considerable, but he had no
morals. He was over head and ears in debt. " He
owes money to God, to the devil and to men," ^vrote
a contemporary. He had been for some time on the
watch for this post of Controller- General, which he
thought a tempting morsel. At the time of Necker's
overthrow he hoped to get it, but Maurepas had
said : " What next ; why, he is a madman, a spend-
thrift ! Put the finances into his hands ? The royal
treasury would soon be as empty as his purse."
Then Calonne turned to the Polignac faction, to
whom he promised largesse and marvels, and who
procured his appointment, October 3, 1783. Once
338
safe in his place Calonne proved himself a man of
honour, in so far as that he faithfully kept the
promises he had made. He gave profusely to every
one : to the Queen, to the King's brothers, to the
Queen's favourites. His system was to borrow and
again to borrow, and save the present at the cost of
the future. When the deficit was appalling he
thought he could get out of the scrape by proposing
that an Assembly of Notables should be called.
It was more than a century and a half since a
King of France had been known to convoke so
important a council. The great nobles, the first
judges, the richest landowners, were invited to give
their opinion on the principal questions of adminis-
tration and the reforms to be introduced. The
Notables were of course weeded with jealous care,
and a good deal of fun was made of them. One day
at Mme. de Coigny's, M. de X persisting in
trying to make her parrot talk, " Do not waste
your pains," said she, " he never speaks." — " What !
you have a parrot which cannot speak ! Get one
which can at least say ' Vive le Roi ! ' " — " Heaven
forbid ! " replied the Marquise, " I should lose it at
once ; it would be taken to make a Notable."
There were a hundred and forty-four of these
Notables ; they were divided into sections, each
presided over by a prince of the Royal Family or
a prince of the Blood. In the section presided over
by the Comte d'Artois thirteen voted against two,
for demanding of the King that the deputies of the
third estate {tiers etat) should equal in number
339 z 2
the other two combined. It is well to remember
the names of these bold innovators : first our old
friend the Archbishop of Narbonne, then the Dues
de Mortemart, de La Rochefoucauld, du Chatelet, de
Beauvau, the Comtes de Rochambeau, de Mont-
boissier and a few others.
From the first matters looked badly for the
Controller- General ; he was very soon persuaded to
send in his resignation, April 8, 1787, and was
banished to his estate of Allonville in Lorraine.
Then, the Parlement having condemmed him to be
imprisoned, he escaped to London.
His immediate successor was Lom^nie de Brienne,
the Archbishop of Toulouse. The choice was not a
happy one. Before this, at the death of Mgr. de
Beaumont, he had been spoken of for the Archbishop-
ric of Paris ; but the King would not hear of him, by
reason of his bad reputation and irreligious views :
" The Archbishop of Paris must at least believe in
God," Louis XVI. had very judiciously remarked.
Nevertheless, on May 1, 1787, the Archbishop of
Toulouse was appointed head of the Department
of Finance. He had no views, no solid knowledge,
no ideas, no plan.
By the end of May the Assembly of Notables was
dismissed without having achieved any of the pro-
jected reforms, but the great word States- General
had been spoken, and from that moment it constantly
recurred. Money, meanwhile, must be had by fair
means or foul ; it could only be procured by raising
a loan. This loan must be a legalized act. Nothing
340
could be easier. An attempt was made to pass it by-
surprise. A Royal hunt was announced with much
ceremony for November 19, and a Bed of Justice
was convened with great secrecy for the same day.
On November 1 9, the King came, in fact, to Paris.
He appeared before his Parlement, opened the
sitting, and proposed two edicts : one inviting
Protestants to return to the country; the other
asking a loan of 420,000,000 francs, to be raised
within four years.
Counsellor Freteau and the Abbe Sabatier de
Cabre spoke in succession, both in violent oppo-
sition to the loan. The discussion lasted some time,
till the King simply and uncompromisingly ordered
that the decree should be passed. But then the
Due d' Orleans rose and represented to the King
that an open sitting thus ending in a Bed of Justice
was illegal, and he placed his protest in the hands
of the Parlement.
The honours of the day all fell to the Prince.
When he went back to his carriage, the populace,
who had besieged every street leading to the Palais,
cheered him with frantic applause.
On the following day the Abbe Sabatier was
banished to Mont Saint-Michel, M. Freteau to the
Chateau of Doullens, and the Due d' Orleans to Villers-
Cotterets. The unpleasant task of announcing his
banishment to the Prince was laid on the Baron
de Breteuil ; the Duke, whatever he may have felt,
made no protest ; he ordered his carriage and got
into it. The Baron, who in obedience to his
341
instructions was to accompany him, was about to get
in after him when the Prince stopped him, saying :
''What are you about?" The Baron showed his
warrant. " Very good," said the Prince, '' get up
behind." And he drove oiF. The Baron, not
allowing himself to be put out by this '' light cloud "
(leger image, his own words in relating the incident)^
got into his own carriage and followed as best he
could.
As soon as the Duke's exile became known in
Paris the mob rushed to the Palais Royal ; the
garden and the adjoining streets rang with shouts
of " Vive M. le Due d'Orleans."
The Parlement never ceased its demand for the
reinstatement of the banished rebels ; the public, of
course, supporting it in its revolt against Royal
authority.
To hinder the immense concourse of visitors who
would certainly throng to Villers-Cotterets the
King forbade his banished cousin to receive anybody
but the members of his family ; Lauzun vainly be-
sought permission to be with his friend. The Prince
was miserable at being deprived of his usual society^
and his rage against the Court was aggravated by
isolation. The Queen, especially, was the person he
accused of the brutality with which he was treated.
"These young sovereigns," he said, ''will learn
sooner or later that the first Prince of the Blood is
not to be humiliated with impunity, and I will not
go down to the dead without having made them
feel it." He was bored to death in his exile, but
342
what chiefly grieved him was being parted from
Mme. de BuiFon. He was desperately in love with
her, and in spite of entreaties could not prevail
on the King to allow her to follow him. He
then plotted to escape once a week from Villers-
Cotterets, and to go as far as to Nanteuil, where she
met him.
At last, by dint of importunity and the impor-
tunity of his friends, the Prince was allowed to move
to le Raincy ; but he was not permitted to come
within two leagues of Paris. At the beginning of
1788 he still was in banishment, but in the month
of May, after repeated petitions, he was authorized
to go to England.
As a result of the events thus briefly sketched
the Parlements and the public combined to demand
the convocation of the States- General. To punish
the Parlements it was decided that they should
be suppressed or reconstituted. M. de Lamoignon
was eager to be invested with the dignity of
Chancellor in order to strike this grand blow, but
for fourteen years M. de Maupeou had resisted
every remonstrance and refused to give up his title
as Chancellor.^ Now again entreaties were tried,
his relations and friends were worked upon,
all in vain. He assembled them all and declared
in the most emphatic terms that he would die
Chancellor.
But the Government were forced to yield to the
^ See The Due de Lauzun and the Court of Louis XV.j chap,
xvii.
343
pressure of public opinion, and the States- General
were convoked for the month of May, 1789.
The financial situation, meanwhile, went eveiy
day from bad to worse, and the Controller-General
compelled all the Court to effect considerable
retrenchments. Great changes were introduced into
the households of the King and Queen. The estab-
lishments for hunting the boar and the wolf, the
falconry, the King's private falcons, the guards at
the doors inside the palace, etc., were suppressed.
The Queen dismissed her gambling staff, cut down
the expenses of her stables, of her private table, and
her dress. The Royal pair had now but one
table. Many appointments were abolished, and all
pensions were reduced. The courtiers who thus lost
fat sinecures were excessively wroth. The House of
Noailles, for instance, enjoyed an income of 1,800,000
francs in pensions and royal benefactions ; this was
cut down to one million, and all the Noailles were
deeply annoyed.
These reforms hit everybody, and the outcry was
universal. "WTiat was to become of them all if they
could no longer dip at pleasure into the King's
treasure ? What would be the end when there should
be no more places, nor payments, nor pensions ?
" It is frightful," says Besenval, artlessly, '' to live
in a country where you are not sure of having
to-morrow what you had yesterday. Such things
exist only in Turkey."
Versailles was in despair. The sufferers at Court
made the unhappy Queen responsible for aU this
344
ruin of their fortunes. She was accused of
prodigality and of despotism. Seditious pamphlets
and atrocious posters stirred up the public mind to
detest her. Her name was associated with those of
Fr^d^gonde, of Isabeau of Bavaria, of Catherine de
Medicis. Horrible caricatures were for sale. After
the affair of the diamond necklace, the foulest libels
blackened her name ; they inundated the town and
the Court ; they were posted on the doors of Notre
Dame, and distributed by the palace servants.
There was a perfect flood of calumny and abuse.
Everything she did was shamefully misrepresented.
Marie Antoinette showed some kindness to certain
foreigners ; they were at once spoken of as her
lovers — Lord Strathavon, Lord Fitzgerald, the Duke
of Dorset, Fersen, the Dillons and others.
Our gorge rises with disgust as we see the
treatment of which this unfortunate Queen was the
object. It is impossible to stigmatize too strongly
the odious, contemptible conduct of this Court when
it turned on a woman and did everything in its
power to dishonour and humiliate her. And it
must be clearly stated and never forgotten that
all these infamous attacks came, not from the dregs
of the people, as might be supposed ; they were
not the work of wretches driven to it by hunger and
misery ; they were inspired, composed and uttered
by the Queen's immediate circle, and her own
family.
Here was the Comte de Provence, furious at
seeing his hopes of the throne destroyed, attacking
345
his sister-in-law without respite or mercy ; epigrams,
calumny, slander, all served his purpose ; some
of the atrocious libels which flooded Paris and
Versailles issued from the Luxembourg Palace.
Here was the Comte d'Artois, who, after being for
so long largely responsible for the Queen's dissipa-
tions, had quarrelled with her on political grounds,
and now attacked her on every possible pretext,
without measure or reserve.
Here was Madame Adelaide again, who, in her
retirement at Belleville, hailed with ferocious joy
every pamphlet, satire, double-edged gossip about
her niece, and spread them liberally among the
public.
And then there were the courtiers whom she had
loaded with benefits, and who could never forgive
her for the reforms that had impoverished them.
The Rohans, the Marsans, the Gu^menees, the Due
d'Aiguillon and the Due d'Orl(^ans, fomented public
feeling and unchained its fury on this unhappy
woman. Still, these were confessedly her enemies,
implacable enemies, and though it is difficult to
excuse their conduct, it is at least accounted for.
But the others !
So it was not the mob, let it be clearly under-
stood, that first attacked the Queen. Afterwards,
indeed, the people picked up all this treacherous
vilification out of the mud ; but they were not the
originators of it, and were almost justified in
believing in its authenticity, since it came from the
Court itself. "It is in the malignant lies uttered
346
by the Court from 1785 to 1788 against tlie Queen,"
says the Comte de La Marck, " that we find the
origin of the accusations brought against Marie
Antoinette by the revolutionary tribunal."
The consequences of this detestable campaign were
soon perceptible. In February, 1787, the Queen
was hissed as she went to the Opera. During a
performance of AtJialie, at which she was present,
the audience applauded with equal vehemence and
indecorum these lines spoken by Joad : —
Frustrate, we pray, this cruel Queen's designs,
And shed, God, on Mathan and on her
The spirit of imprudence and neglect
Which warns us to expect the fall of kings. ^
These base libels were current not only at
Versailles and in Paris; they were repeated at
foreign Courts. Catherine of Russia was discussing
the French Court one day with the Prince de Ligne,
and seemed to have some belief in these contemptible
pamphlets. The Prince, much annoyed, answered
with great spirit : " Madame, in the North they tell
lies about the West, and in the West they tell lies
about the North. You must not believe the chair-
men of Versailles ; it is as though the coachmen
of Czarzko-Selo were to write the history of your
Majesty."
Did the Queen in her reverses find some consola-
tion at least among those who were to a great
^ Confonds dans ses desseins cette reine cruelle !
Daigne, daigne, mon Dieu, sur Mathan et sur elle
Repandre cet esprit d'imprudence et d'erreur,
De la chute des rois funeste avant-coureur.
347
extent the cause of her unpopularity ? By no
means.
The Polignacs, who owed everything to her, never
forgave her their loss of of&ce in consequence of
the retrenchments ; they gradually dropped away
from her, and did not spare her in their speech.
The Queen still often spent the evening with her
favourite, but the people she now met there did not
please her ; it was known that she did not like them,
and they were invited all the same. She remarked
upon it gently to Mme. de Polignac, who bluntly
replied : "Because your Majesty condescends to come
to my rooms, that is not a reason, I suppose, for
excluding my friends to please your Majesty." The
Queen, hurt by this ingratitude, by degrees aban-
doned Mme. de Polignac's salon ; she then made it a
habit to go to her lady-in-waiting, the Comtesse
d'Ossun, a woman of no great parts, but perfectly
sweet and kind, and of distinguished virtue. The
Polignac faction were, of course, indignant, and
scattered flames and fury as to the neglect and ingrati-
tude of which the Queen declared herself the victim.
The financial situation grew worse and worse ;
Brienne was obliged to retire. The news was hailed
with great rejoicings. An effigy dressed as an arch-
bishop was burnt on the Place Dauphine ; then the
populace in its excitement set fire to some guard-
houses. The military had to intervene, and there
were wounded on both sides. The Marechal de
Biron was again made commandant of the city, and
required to maintain order.
348
Necker stepped into Brienne's place ; his rein-
statement was hailed with transports of joy ; a
perfect delirium ; now all would be well ! Necker's
only characteristic unfortunately was the most over-
weening conceit. He was incapable of doing any
good ; in fact he contributed greatly to the disasters
that ensued.
During the years 1787 and 1788 there was a
constant succession of deaths, and by swift degrees
the generation which had formed the glory and the
charm of Louis XV.'s Court vanished utterly. And
those who went first were favoured by Heaven, for
they died without witnessing the horrors of the
Revolution.
In January, 1787, the Marechale de Luxembourg
died. She was to the last a delightful old lady, full
of wit and good spirits. This was a cruel loss to
Mme. de Lauzun, who lived with her, and who now
was very forlorn. In the following month she was
followed by M. de Vergennes. Then the old Marechal
de Richelieu went, at the age of ninety-four and a
half.
Not long after the Marechal de Soubise died,
almost suddenly. The magnificent funeral-train
marched all across Paris, at nightfall, and attracted
an enormous crowd. The old man's scandalous life
for years past was well known to all ; the populace
were not respectful, everybody was laughing and
jesting at the expense of the departed. His own
family were not conspicuous for superfluous regrets.
The Prince de Conde, his son-in-law, the Due de
349
Bourbon, his grandson, and the Due d'Enghein, his
great-grandson, followed the bier with laughter.
It was one of the liveliest funerals that had been
seen for a long time.
On October 29, 1788, the old Marechal de Biron
died in his house in the Rue de Varenne, age ninety-
eight, all but three months. He was wonderfully well
preserved, and had kno^vn none of the infirmities of
old age ; he was a splendid old man, who conversed
with grace and ease, and in his attentions to women
his manners recalled those of a past time. He and
his wife had long been separated. When he felt
the hand of death upon him he sent word to the
Mar^chale, that he wished to see her once more before
leaving this world. She was so unkind as to refuse.
The dying man made the best of it : " She is right,"
said he, "I bid her an eternal farewell long ago." He
was buried, November 3, in the church of Saint
Sulpice, his parish church.
The funeral service, performed at night at Notre
Dame, was remarkably fine. All Paris had collected
there ; the church was illuminated, and the number
of troops in full uniform, the orchestra from the
opera house, and the voices of the singers, gave the
ceremony an air of festivity which made it quite an
event. Nothing else was talked about. The regiment
of Guards marched out to the strains of solemn and
melancholy music. The officers, in full uniform, were
attended by the constabulary. All Paris thronged
the Saint- Germain quarter. The funeral eulogy
was spoken by the Abbe de Barral, who ended
by saying: "The Monarch has lost a mainstay,
the Court a model, France a hero, the poor a
benefactor, orphans a father, and his friends their
idol."
As had been settled in 1779, the Due du Chatelet
succeeded him as Colonel of the French Guards.
This regiment, which was regarded with justice as
one of the finest in the army, and renowned for its
perfect order and discipline, soon lost their dis-
tinctions under the Due du Chatelet ; nay, very soon,
for he held the command only ten months, the regi-
giment being disbanded in 1789.
Though Lauzun could be under no misappre-
hension, and had known since 1779 that the com-
mand was to be given to M. du Chatelet, it was
nevertheless a keen grief to him to see these fine
troops — almost an heirloom in his family — thus slip
from his grasp.
To comfort him he fell heir to his uncle's name.
The Due de Gontaut, who inherited his brother's
titles and estates, did not care to change his name
(by letters patent) for that of Due (and peer of
France) de Biron; it thus devolved on his son
Lauzun. Lauzun therefore gave up the name he
had made illustrious, and took that of Due de
Biron.
Fortune showed a sense of fitness in depriving him
at this juncture of the name he had borne during his
happy early years ; thenceforth Lauzun was indeed no
more. Lauzun, as we have known him, light-hearted,
attractive, and brilliant, always content and always
351
beloved, made way for Biron, absorbed in politics,
haunted by chimeras,^ gloomy, ailing, and relentlessly
persecuted by ill-fortune.
* During the years 1787 and 1788 Lanznnwas constantly send-
ing in reports to Ministers on the most dissimilar subjects. Foreign
politics and military reforms chiefly occupied his mind. . In the
National Archives, T. 1527, there is a long paper on the feeding of
the army, and another entitled *' Instructions for Light Troops on
Field Service," with others on the Ottoman Empire, the Indies,
etc.
352
- CHAPTER XXIII.
1789—1790.
Elections for the States -General — The fourteentli of July — The
fourth of August — The 5-6th of October — The Due d'Orleans
leaves for London — Speeches in the Assembly by Mirabeau
and Biron — Biron, appointed Governor of Corsica, declines to
go there — Biron advises the Due d'Orleans to return to Paris
— Mirabeau and the Court — Return of the Due d'Orleans —
He is made Admiral, and received by the King — His treatment
at the Tuileries.
In 1785, after various notorious adventures which
had made him famous, Mirabeau was in Paris in a
state of absolute destitution. Biron had known him
in Corsica during the campaign of 1768 ; they met
again now, and the Due, grieved at his old comrade's
position, tried to assist him. Mirabeau talked of
going to Prussia to start a newspaper, and Biron,
rather uneasy as to what he might say in it, wrote as
follows to M. de Calonne : —
" You know M. de Mirabeau's cleverness, you know
his seductive way of speaking and writing, and how
interesting he will make himself in Prussia, when he
speaks of you. Poverty compels him to start a news-
paper, to which his pride is somewhat averse. The
freedom which he will allow himself in "v^Triting will
353 A a
have its disadvantages for you, and for your Ministry,
in a distant country where you now enjoy particular
consideration ; he must be kept quiet by having
money sent him — not by you, that he may not sup-
pose that he is bribed, but by one of his friends who
will insist on his silence. I can easily manage this
for you."^
This letter was plain enough, and Calonne perfectly
understood it ; still the method suggested for satisfy-
ing Mirabeau's wants was somewhat rough and
ready : a subterfuge was found. The death of
Frederick the Gi'eat was imminent; it would
probably bring about great changes in Prussia. Mira-
beau was to be sent out on a confidential mission and
handsomely paid ; thus appearances were saved. M.
de Vergennes (at Calonne's request), Biron and Talley-
rand lent themselves to this little scheme, and Mira-
beau set out for Berlin. As soon as he arrived, he
opened a regular correspondence with Biron and
Talleyrand ; that is to say, he wrote to them letters in
cypher intended for the Minister ; the two friends
interpreted them, modified them a little, and then
took them to M. de Calonne, who transmitted them to
M. de Vergennes, and he laid them before the King.
This secret mission subsequently gave grounds for
a great commotion. In 1787 Mirabeau returned to
Paris, and a few months later there was published a
Secret History of the Court of Berlin. This consisted
of all the letters he had written during his absence.
Prince Henry happened to be in Paris at the moment,
* Eevolutionnaires, by Cbarles Nauroy. MS., Bib. Nat.
354
and as he was very roughly dealt with in this corre-
spondence, the scandal was great. Talleyrand hurried
to his friend and reproached him smartly. The author
declared his innocence, and said that the manuscript
had been stolen by his mistress, the wife of Lejay the
publisher, who had given it to her husband. This
was the truth. But Talleyrand would not forgive
what he persisted in believing was treachery.
Mirabeau had always been on very friendly terms
with Biron ; he felt sincere sympathy with him, and
no less esteem than affection. As soon as he re-
turned to Paris, they renewed their former intimacy.
Biron was much attached to Mirabeau, and put him
into communication with M. de Montmorin, in the
hope that the Minister might find some employ-
ment for him. He wrote to M. de Montmorin,
September 12, 1787 :—
" M. de Mirabeau, with prodigious talent, has much
method, and amazing energy in any business placed
in his charge. I believe him to be very faithful to
his pledges ; but he is touchy and easily offended at
the idea that his good faith and intentions are
doubted ; he exaggerates the notion, gets hot-headed,
breaks every tie, and becomes an enemy ; not doing
this, however, without due warning, for he has a
great idea of the etiquette of a quarrel and of hon-
ourable warfare. A word, to be sure, is enough to
soothe him, and, more than any one I know, he is
ready to give himself up entirely, and put himself
unreservedly at the service of his employer, if he
holds him in high esteem and can trust him
355 A a 2
mplicitly. It is hardly necessary, I think, to add
that a Minister rarely has men of his stamp in his
employment."
Political events constantly threw Biron and Mira-
beau together, and they met frequently. These two,
with the Prince d'Aremberg and the Comte de La
Marck, formed a most intimate little coterie. Subse-
quently they and their friend Panchaud organized a
group of politicians who met in the Rue du Grand-
Chantier, at the house of Adrien Duport, Counsellor
in the Parl^ment. This assembly was known as the
Constitutional Club {Club constitutionnel), Biron
was one of the most assiduous members, and he intro-
duced M. d'Orleans, Fitz-James, Clermont, Noiseau,
Laclos, Ducrest, Semonville, Lusignan, Saisseval
and Dampierre.
Mirabeau, guided by his keen political instinct, fore-
saw the Revolution, and told all who would listen that
the meeting of the States- General was inevitable.
^^It is impossible to doubt it," he wrote. ''The
Government is in the predicament I foretold so often.
* If you will not have them on foot they will come
on horseback.'" In order to be a member of that
assembly Mirabeau bought, in 1788, a property worth
4800 francs, promising to pay by November 20th.
On the 14th he had not a sou of the money. He
wrote to Biron: "You will do me an immense
service by inducing M. de Montmorin to supply
me with the sum of 4800 francs ; the case is
most urgent ; to me, the only chance is at stake, that
I can have at present of sitting in the States- General.
356
I beg you to pledge me to M. de Montmorin to
anything to which you would pledge yourself in my
place, and to nothing more. I can promise to spare
an individual, I cannot bind myself to respect or
consider any principles but my own. But this much
is perfectly true, and may be believed : that, in the
National Assembly I shall be a zealous Monarchist,
because I know full well how needful it is to scotch
ministerial despotism and restore the royal authority."
On the 16th he writes again, yet more pressingly :
" If to the 4800 francs for the property a hundred
or a hundred and fifty louis could be added, Monsieur
le Due, to convey me to the district where my
election is to be managed,' or to cheer the electors,
it would crown the obligation. I say two or three
thousand crowns ; venture more if you think it pos-
sible. Monsieur le Due ; I confess that I should be glad
of five hundred louis." ^
The negotiation having failed, Mirabeau constantly
renewed his requests for money, and it was always
Biron who was expected to forward them either to
M. de Montmorin or to M. de Vergennes ; to whom
the Due wrote, November 23, 1788 : —
*' I hoped to have the honour of seeing you to-day
at Versailles, and had taken with me the enclosed
letter to you from M. de Mirabeau. The service he
requests of you is urgent, and I really think you
should do what he asks you. I have had proofs that his
conduct is guided by great devotion to you, and the
^ Se hrassera, to be brewed.
* Bevolutionnaires, by Charles Nauroy. MS., Bib. Nat.
357
highest loyalty. He has other resources which it is
to his credit that he refuses to use. He will be
annoyed if he finds himself in difficulties, and it
seems to me that you owe it to him, as a return for
his fidelity to you, not to expose him to the tempta-
tions of cruelly pressing needs. You would then
blame yourself severely for not having spared a loan of
two hundred louis to save from distress and wrong a
man who has a claim on your interest, and on whom
you might then impose scrupulous respect for all whom
you might wish to protect from his often formidable
pen. Give me your instructions in this matter, Mon-
sieur le Comte, and add to the magnitude of this
service the favour of not making him wait for it."
This lack of money, at such a moment, drove
Mirabeau to despair. He wrote to Biron, December
23, 1788 : " By what dire fate do we lack the only
decisive power at this juncture, the power of money ?
Ah ! Monsieur le Due, let us sit in the States-
General at whatever cost ; we will lead them and do
great things, and enjoy such great satisfactions as
outweigh the frivolities of a Court."
Pending the elections, Mirabeau was doing his
utmost to overthrow Necker, whom he hated ; he
spared him neither in his speeches, nor in the
pamphlets he published. One day he heard that
Talleyrand had accused him of coming to terms with
the Genevese banker. Outraged by such a suspicion,
he wrote to Biron : " Next to my regret at having
caused any to the Bishop of Autun, I have not had a
moment of keener pain than when I learnt from
358
Panchaud that my friends suspected me of a leaning
towards Necker. Monsieur le Due, I have long
known that nothing can make up for defection ; but
even if I knew it not, never would I make peace
with the man who killed M. Turgot, and tried to
ruin Panchaud ; who has provoked many of my
friends ; has for twenty years plotted for his own
success at the cost of every principle ; and who has
set charlatanism in the place of talent, intolerant and
fierce pride in the place of dignity, and insolent,
perfidious hypocrisy in the place of virtue." ^
The elections for the States- General took place
during the early months of 1789. Biron was
appointed deputy for Le Quercy.^ With him were
elected the Due d'Orleans, Talleyrand, Mirabeau, the
Cardinal de Rohan, the Chevalier de Boufflers, etc.
The deputies were to assemble at Versailles on April
21 ; the royal sitting was fixed for May 5.
Paris was in the greatest excitement. A paper
merchant and print seller in the Faubourg Saint-
Antoine, one Reveillon, was accused of having abused
the populace and ill-used his workmen. His manu-
factory was attacked and gutted. The regiment of
Guards was called out, and fired on the mob. Peace was
restored, but this bloodshed made the soldiers reflect.
^ Bevolutionnaires. — MS. Bib. N"at.
3 A story is told by Rivarol of himself, and for that reason
doubtfully authentic : At the time of the first sittings of the
States -General, the Due de Lauzun called on him to beg him to
publish a pamphlet on the extravagance of the Court. Rivarol
glanced scornfully at the prospectus and then replied, "Monsieur
le Duo, send your footman to Mirabeau, add a few hundred francs
to your request, and the thing will be done."
359
'* Are you not citizens as we are ? " they were
asked. " How can you shed the blood of your
brethren to make us all slaves alike of the aris-
tocracy?" And this appeal, largely supported by
gold and silver, at last shook the constancy of this
select regiment. Under Mar^chal Biron it had been
a pattern of bravery, fidelity, and military discipline ;
but the Due du Chdtelet, a man of narrow views,
had introduced many innovations which had not been
approved. Protests had been raised, and he had
repressed them by corporal punishment, which had
made ill-blood in the men. The Due du Chdtelet, in
the course of a few months, was as much detested as
the Mar(^chal de Biron had been adored.
A touching instance shows the influence the
Marechal had exercised over the troops he commanded.
A soldier who was being persuaded to be false to his
duty listened in silence, sunk in meditation. He was
urged to a decision. "Not yet," said he. "lam
consulting the shade of Colonel Biron.'*
From the time when the States- General met, there
was a storm of agitation in every mind, and in the
streets ; until the month of July, uneasiness and
alarm increased daily. At the beginning of July
the people broke into riots on hearing that M.
Necker was dismissed.
July 12 was a Sunday. On that day Mrs. Elliott *
1 Mrs. Elliott, a pretty young Englishwoman, wtio had been in
the intimacy of the Prince of Wales, lived in Paris for some
time in the circle of the Due d' Orleans, and has left interesting
reminiscences. Journal of My Life during the French Bevolution^
by Grace Dabymple EUiott. Bentley, 1859.
360
had gone to fish at Le Raincy with the Due d' Orleans,
the Prince d'Aremberg, and a few others. When
she returned in the evening the Revolution had
begun. All was confusion and tumult, fighting was
going on on the Boulevards, the theatres were closed,
and traffic stopped.
On hearing this the Prince seemed surprised and
shocked ; he got into Mrs. Elliott's carriage and was
driven to his house at Monceau. There he found
several friends in great anxiety, for a rumour had got
abroad that he had been taken to the Bastille and
beheaded by the King's order. M. d'Orleans closed
his doors against everyone but Mme. de Buffon and
Biron. He even begged the Prince d'Aremberg to
go at once and bring Biron to him ; but Biron was
not at home, and not to be found that night. He
had gone to Versailles in the evening, thinking he
should find the Due d'Orleans there, or at any
rate have news of him.
On the following morning M. d'Orleans went to
Versailles to attend the King's lever. Louis XVI.
aftected not to see him, but as it was usual for
the first Prince of the blood, when he happened to
be present, to hand the King his shirt, the gentleman-
in -waiting gave it to the Duke to present to the
King.
M. d'Orleans went forward, but the King asked
him what he wanted. " To await your Majesty's
orders." — *' I want nothing of you," replied the
King. " Return from whence you came."
M. d'Orleans, exasperated by this treatment,
361
became a violent adversary of the Court circle, and
especially of the Queen.
On the following day the Bastille was taken.^
Biron distinguished himself during the night of
August 4, among the gentlemen who were most
enthusiastically ready to abandon the privileges of
their order. Then, when the deed was done, he
could not help saying to his friends with a laugh :
" Messieurs, what have we done ? Who really
knows ? " And Condorcet tells us that all those about
him admitted that they did not know.^
In conversing with the Gomte de La Marck and
with Biron, Mirabeau made no secret of his sovereign
contempt for most of the men who were the leaders of
the Revolution. He held both La Fayette and the
Due d' Orleans very cheap, and it was a great mistake
to say that he had sold himself to the Prince's party.
Meanwhile, affairs were becoming more and more
serious. Towards the end of September, 1789,
Mirabeau was very anxious about the situation, and
foresaw with very accurate insight all that was about
to happen. He said to La Marck, in speaking of the
Court, "What are those people thinking of? Do
they not see the gulf yawning at their feet ? " On
^ Biron wrote every week to his constituents a short review of
what had taken place in the National Assembly. These letters
on the States-General have been published, and are not very
interesting ; it is unnecessary to quote from them.
2 Rivarol calls that evening of August 4 *' the night of dupes "
— '* When, just as the point of honour among the Japanese consists
in executing themselves in the presence of their friends, so the
deputies who were nobles struck at themselves and at the same
time at their constituents."
.^62
one occasion even, driven to a more violent pitch of
exasperation than usual, he exclaimed : " All is lost !
The King and Queen will perish in the crash, and,
you will see, the populace will batter their dead
bodies.'* — " He noticed," says La Marck, " with what
horror I heard him use this expression." — "Yes,
yes," he repeated, " they will batter their bodies.
You do not understand the danger of their position.
But it must be explained to them."
On October 4 the excitement in Paris was extra-
ordinary. On the morning of the 5 th the King went
out hunting as usual; when he returned in the
evening it was in the midst of shots ; the mob
were firing on the guards in the great avenue at
Versailles.
Who is unfamiliar with the story of the dreadful
days of October 5 and 6 ? The Due d'Orleans was
accused of having fomented the revolt ; it was said
that he had been seen in disguise, moving among the
populace, exciting them by words and gestures, and
distributing gold in handfuls. It was reported that
with him were the Due de Biron, the Due d' Aiguillon,
and Mirabeau, also disguised, and, like him, inciting
the crowd to march to Versailles. Mirabeau, it was
asserted, had been seen armed with a sabre, in the
midst of the poissardes, and then rushing through the
ranks of the Flanders regiment.
But these accusations were no more true of
Mirabeau than of Biron and d'Orleans. Mirabeau
spent the whole day of the 5th at the house of the
Comte de La Marck. As to the Due d'Orleans, far
363
from being at Versailles, he dined on that day with
Mrs. Elliott and some friends.
It was only natural that, being suspected of
plotting against the King and Court, the Due
d' Orleans should be regarded as the instigator of the
riots. He had a stormy interview with La Fayette
and M. de Montmorin in Mme. de Coigny's house,
Rue Sainte-Nicaise. La Fayette aimed at getting
rid of the Prince at any cost, trying to make him
responsible for the crimes of October 6, which the
Duke had no means of foreseeing or preventing. He
vehemently insisted that the Duke must at once
leave France, and to afford a pretext for his departure,
M. de Montmorin offered him an official mission to
England. The situation was humiliating for the
Prince. If he left, it would be tantamount to an
admission that he had taken some part in the riots of
October. Not knowing how to decide, he desired
Biron to consult Mirabeau, who, at the moment,
was ill at the Hopital de Malte, where he always
stayed when in Paris.
Mirabeau was most desirous that the Due d' Orleans
should remain in France, because his departure must
leave to La Fayette a power and importance which
might imperil the monarchy. He was convinced
that La Fayette's ideas tended to a republic, and he
did not wish that this man, to whom events had just
given a dictatorship, should stand without a rival.
This, then, was his reply to Biron after listening
to him attentively. His express opinion was that
the Prince ought not to yield to La Fayette, who
364
was giving himself all the airs of a Maire du
Palais, and he added : '^ If M. d'Orleans will come to
the National Assembly on the day after to-morrow I
will attack La Fayette, and speak in such a way as
shall unmask all his pretensions. Can M. d'Orleans
abandon the post entrusted to him by his con-
stituents without being condemned ? If he obeys, I
shall denounce him, and oppose it ; if he stays, and
betrays the invisible hand that is trying to push him
away, I shall denounce an authority that supersedes
the law. He has his choice of those two courses."
Biron entirely approved of his friend's views. In
reply he set forth at full length the most chivalrous
feelings, and declared that M. d'Orleans would be
present at the Assembly on the next day but one,
and they parted, agreeing that they would meet on
that day.
Mirabeau went early to the Assembly on the day
named, but had hardly arrived when he received a
despairing letter from Biron — ''a note wearing the
crape of his grief." It announced the Due d'Orleans'
departure for England. " The wretch ! " exclaimed
Mirabeau, in towering indignation. " They say that
I am his partisan, but I would not have him to be
my servant."
La Fayette was not satisfied by the removal of the
Due d'Orleans ; he was anxious also to get rid of
Biron. But this time he ran against a will as firm
as rock. "If I am guilty I will stand my trial,"
said Biron simply. On hearing of this noble conduct
Mirabeau wrote to La Marck : " M. de Biron has
365
just left me. He will not go away. He has refused
because he is a man of honour."
But this was not the last that was heard of the
events of October 6 ; Necker and La Fayette publicly
charged the Due d' Orleans, Biron and Mirabeau
with complicity. A prolonged legal inquiry into the
matter was instituted ; the conclusions were un-
favourable to the accused, though not the smallest
real evidence could be brought against them.
Mirabeau spoke in his own defence from the tribune
of the Assembly, and proved his innocence in a
speech that was hailed with applause. Biron followed
him, and with his usual generosity, without troubling
himself about the charges of which he was the object,
thought only of defending his absent friend, explain-
ing the motives which had caused him to leave
France.
" I wish,'' he said, " to confirm the facts as stated
by M. de Mirabeau, in which I was implicated. I
knew nothing of the proposal submitted by M. de La
Fayette to M. le Due d' Orleans till the moment when
it was made, and M. d'Orleans had decided for himself.
He gave me his confidence ; I know his purity of
purpose. I was deeply afiected by the news ; I
feared that so great a sacrifice would be misinter-
preted, and that he would be accused of imaginary
crimes which would have vanished in his presence. I
therefore opposed his departure. M. d'Orleans replied
that he wished to give the King proof of the purity
of his intentions ; that M. de La Fayette had told
him that his name was made use of to disturb the
366
public peace. I still argued, but in vain. M.
d'Orleans went." Then, hoping to exculpate his
friend, the Due de Biron added : " I will take leave
to go back a little further. M. d'Orleans was the
first partisan of liberty in France ; his instructions,
diffused through the provinces, may perhaps have
contributed to the Revolution from which we all hope
for benefit. His conduct has found support in his
moderation, the proper attribute of the first of his
family, perhaps, who ever conceived the great idea
of liberty. When his bust was carried in procession
he himself hid. When the King gave to the repre-
sentatives of the nation such a proof of confidence as
to come and place his fortunes in the hands of this
Assembly — which already held those of the Empire —
M. d'Orleans would not come to Paris. He may have
been wrong ; the kindly feeling of a great nation is
such a homage as no good citizen should reject, and
M. d'Orleans had a right to receive it."
Finally, in alluding to the legal inquiry, Biron con-
cluded in these words ; " Allow me to make one single
remark on this amazing inquiry. Do we find on the
list of witnesses, members of this Assembly, the name
of one defender of liberty ? Can we suppose that these
would all have been silent if they had known who
were guilty ? In M. d'Orleans' name I pledge my-
self to furnish you with details which will prove his
innocence of the charge, and silence calumny."
' M. Gontaut ' walked from the tribune to his seat
amid loud cheers.
The Assembly had moved to Paris with the King ;
Z^7
it was held there from October 16. The Chevalier
de Boufflers, of whom we heard so much in the
former volume, being a deputy, followed the
Assembly to the capital ; he did not know where to
find a home, and his cousin, the Duchesse de Biron,
offered him hospitality. She was then living at
127, Rue de Bourbon (since called Rue de Lille).
But the events of October had shaken the monarchy
to its foundations. Many persons had taken fright,
and more than one thought it only prudent to seek
refuge abroad. Among these was Mme de Biron.
On October 20 she left her house to her cousin
Boufflers, and escaped to London accompanied by
Mme. de Cambis.
Some days after Boufflers wrote to Mme. de Sabran :
" I have as yet no news of Mme. de Biron since she
left. I only know that she astonished Paris by leav-
ing it ; but I ascribe it entirely to Mme. de Cambis,
who, no doubt, turned her head by frightening her,
and was probably delighted to take advantage of the
opportunity for going to see the Duke of Richmond
on cheap terms." ^
Mme. de Biron remained in England more than
a year. Her conduct, at first so startling, found
many imitators. Several members of the Assembly
having met with insults, many sent in their resigna-
tion and demanded their passports. The situation
was not less critical in the provinces ; nothing was
talked of anywhere but riots and plots.
1 From the curious Corresjpondance de Mme. de Sabran, edited by
M. de Croze.
368
On the day after that when the King was dragged
to the Tuileries, Mirabeau came to see La Marck.
" If you have anyway,'* said he, " of getting the King
and Queen to listen to you, convince them that
France and they are lost if the Royal Family does
not get out of Paris." He declared that if the
Sovereigns remained in the capital fearful scenes
would ensue, that the populace would become the
tool of faction ; that it was impossible to calculate
how far popular fury would rise, in short that a civil
war was the only means left for re-establishing the
King's legitimate authority. And even such a war
was less terrible than the disasters he foresaw.
La Marck pointed out to him that it was impossible
that the King should fight without money. " Civil
war," replied Mirabeau, "is always carried on with-
out money ; besides, in the present circumstances, it
could not last long. All Frenchmen crave for place
or money ; they can be fed with promises ; and soon
you will see the King's party everywhere triumphant."
La Marck got Mirabeau's opinion repeated at
Court ; but the King's helplessness and indecision
were beyond all words. " To give you an idea of
his character," said Monsieur, " imagine oiled billiard-
balls which you were vainly trying to keep together."
In short, Louis XVI. could not make up his mind.
In December, 1789, Biron,^ who was in the way
in Paris, was appointed Governor of the Island of
Corsica. In January, 1790, the Assembly decreed
1 He was tlien living in the Rue de Grenelle.
369 B b
that none of its members could accept employment
under Government. On January 26 Biron appeared
in the tribune ; " It would have been a flattering
mission/' he said to his colleagues, " to carry your
decrees to a population to whom they would give
liberty ; but at this moment I am only too glad to
tell you how highly I applaud the decree laid before
you, and to sacrifice everything to remain a member
of this body." (Loud applause.) M. Salicetti, member
for Corsica, replied that the island was rejoicing at
the idea that Biron was to go there. In the name
of the Corsicans he begged for the appointment
of Biron whom everybody longed for. M. Salicetti
returned to the charge at the meeting of April 29.
But Biron had no wish to go to Corsica. He
thought he could be of greater use in Paris, and he
also wished to remain near Mme. de Coigny, to whom
he was more attached than ever, and to keep an eye
on the progress of events.' He therefore refused the
governorship offered to him.
The Marquise de Coigny was fond of frequenting
the riding-school, where the National Assembly held
its sittings. She never missed one when Biron was
to speak. In fact, she was the chief actor in a
1 Biron took his duties as a deputy very seriously, and dis-
tinguished himself by his zeal and activity. In April, 1790, he drew
up a report on the demands of the post-masters with reference to the
suppression of their privil^es, and obtained them some indemnity.
It was in consequence of this report that the office of Intendant of
Posts was abolished. In May, 1760, when difficulties arose between
England and Spain, he proposed that France should arbitrate
between these two powers, and also moved a vote of approval of
the measures taken by the -King.
singular little scene. One day she was present at
a meeting with the Comtesse Diane de Polignac.
The x\bb6 Maury was speaking, and expressing
opinions quite out of harmony with the ideas of the
time. The two ladies, who did not share the Abbe's
views, manifested their disapprobation in a variety of
ways, by gestures, whispers and smiles ; at last the
Abbe, out of all patience, exclaimed, as he pointed
at them : " Monsieur le president, pray silence those
two sans-culottes ! " The phrase was taken up, and
thenceforth served to designate the zealous par-
tisans of the Revolution.
When the Due d* Orleans left Paris, in October,
1789, he settled in England, with the intention of
remaining there for some time ; he had sold all his
horses, and dismissed most of his servants. A few
days later Mme. de BuiFon followed him. The
Prince, out of heart at the progress of events, and
dreading what the future might bring, proposed to
her that they should set out together for America,
and live there in strict privacy ; but she, fearing
that the Duke might some day regret it, refused to
take so decisive a step. The Prince soon found
exile tedious ; at Paris, too, his adherents clamoured
for his return, and his arrival was constantly being
announced, while his enemies persistently spread the
rumour that he dared not return. Biron, who kept
him regularly informed of the march of events, was
provoked at last by the doubts so incessantly thrown
on his friend's courage ; he wrote to him urgently
entreating him to come back, and so to prove that he
371 B b 2
was not afraid of La Fayette. The Prince at last
yielded, and wrote a long letter to the National
Assembly, asking leave to be present on July 14, and
to resume his seat in the Assembly. He also spoke
of the mission entrusted to him by M. de Montmorin
after the riots of October.
Biron seconded his friend's application : "At a
time of despotic and arbitrary rule," said he, " a mere
suspicion was enough to ruin a good citizen, to drive
him from hearth and home, and banish him from his
native land ; liberty cannot tolerate such excesses.
M. d'Orleans has done much for liberty. For eight
months he has lain under an accusation : for ei^ht
months not one of the persons who accuse him has
revealed himself ; not one fact has proved the charges.
I demand that M. d'Orleans be suffered to come and
account for his conduct, and take part in the national
festival now in preparation."
The Assembly having pronounced that there was
no need for any discussion, the Due d'Orleans came
back to France. He returned on the night of July
13, and was present, as were the King and Queen,
at the famous festival of the Federation, and the Ma s
celebrated by Talleyrand on the Champ de Mars.
That evening he dined at Mrs. Elliott's, with Biron
and some other intimate friends. He made no secret
of his regret at leaving London. He told them that
he wished to show the world, by his presence, that he
was not afraid of La Fayette ; but that if he had
only consulted his tastes he should have remained in
England, where he should have led the life of a
country gentleman.
372
When Mrs. Elliott advised him to break off all
connection with compromising friends, he replied
sadly enough : " That is easier to say than to do ; I
am in the torrent, and must rise or fall with it. I
am no longer the master of myself or of my name,
and you can be no judge of my position, which is
I assure you not a pleasant one."
The King, meanwhile, following Mirabeau's advice,
and anxious to show his good- will, proposed to give
the Prince the rank of Admiral which he coveted.
Bertrand de Molleville was sent to give him the in-
formation. The Duke immediately went to return
thanks to the Minister. He assured him that
he highly valued this mark of the King's favour,
because it would afford him the means of showing to
what degree his loyal feelings had been maligned.
" I am most unfortunate/' he said ; " without having
deserved it, I have been loaded with accusations of
atrocities of which I am perfectly innocent. It was
assumed that I was guilty, simply because I scorned
to justify myselfofcrimes which I hold in abhorrence.
You will, ere long, have a favourable opportunity of
judging whether my conduct in any way belies my
words."
"You should express these sentiments to His
Majesty," said Molleville.
" That is exactly what I should wish to do," replied
the Prince, " and if I could flatter myself that the King
would receive me, I would go and pay my court to him
to-morrow."
On the following day, the King had a conver-
sation of more than half-an-hour's duration with
the Due d' Orleans, and was very much pleased : " I
am of your opinion," he said to Bertrand de Molle-
ville. *' He has returned to us in all sincerity, and will
do everything in his power to repair the mischief
done in his name : it is quite possible that he had not
so large a share in it as we supposed."
On the following Sunday, M. d' Orleans came to
the King's lever. Unfortunately no one knew of the
previous interview. The Prince had scarcely entered
the Tuileries when a courtier of too ardent a spirit
loaded him with abuse, and followed him, addressing
him in the most insulting terms. In the King's ante-
chamber he was crushed and pushed ; his feet were
trodden on, and he was driven to the door in such a
way that he could not get into the room again. He
went down to the Queen's rooms, where breakfast
was laid, and as soon ap he appeared the cry was
raised," Gentlemen, guard the dishes ! "as though they
were convinced that he had his pockets full of poison.
"The insulting mutterings which greeted his
presence obliged him to withdraw without seeing the
Royal Family. He was hustled as far as the Queen's
stairs, and as he went down some one spat on his head,
and others on his coat. Rage and chagrin were
painted in his face ; he left the palace convinced that
the King and Queen had instigated these outrages,
though they had in fact no suspicion of them, and
were indeed very angry on hearing of them."^
From this time all connection was at an end
between the Court and the Due d'Orleans.
^ Memotres de Bertrand de MoUecille.
374
CHAPTER XXIV.
1791.
Tlie so-called revolt of the Lauzun Hussars — Forged bills signed
" Biron " — Mme. de Lamothe — The Royal Family plan their
flight — The journey to Varennes — Mme. de Coigny's adven-
ture — She leaves for London —Her letters to Lauzun — A letter
from Mme. de Fleury.
Eakly in January, 1791, a rumour was promulgated
that the Lauzun hussars were in revolt. The Due
de Biron at once addressed the Assembly, expressing
his deep regret, and requesting condign punishment
for all who were guilty. On inquiry, the informa-
tion was found to be untrue. Biron wrote to the
Assembly, January 26, saying that there was no
foundation for the report, that the regiment was in
perfect order, and that the Constitution had no better
supporters than his brave and faithful comrades-in-
arms.
Graver troubles were impending. For many years
he had so greatly abused the system of credit and of
drawing bills, his signature had been so often recog-
nized by every banker and money-lender in the
capital, that unscrupulous adventurers thought of
forging and selling false bills in his name. The
375
swindle was astonishingly successful, so much so, that
Biron, who kept his accounts very carelessly, paid
the first that were presented. However, he soon
detected the robbery of which he was the victim, and
was forced to take strong measures to put a stop to
it. He caused this notice to be made public at the
sitting of the National Assembly, January 27 : —
" Notice. — An enormous number of promises to
pay are in circulation, to bearer or to order, pro-
fessedly written and signed by le Due de Biron or
A Biron. It is notorious that they are forgeries, as
has indeed been admitted by one of the forgers
against whom the public prosecutor of the Chdtelet
has given judgment, and the public are warned
against accepting any such bills or drafts that may
be offered them."
It was chiefly at the Palais Royal, and particularly
at the Cafe de la Rotonde, that these forged bills
were put in circulation; there were prodigious
numbers of them, and the courtiers had their pocket-
books full of them.^
On Biron's reiterated complaints, the Lieutenant
of Police ordered a constable named Chenu to follow
up the matter and catch the rascals. On Jsmidory 13
he arrested, in the Caf^ de la Rotonde, one Jean
Baptiste Naudin, known as Granis, issuing the bills
^ In the National Archives, box T, 478, there are seven bills
for 10,000 francs dated Paris, March 19, 1790, at fifteen months
date. They are signed : le due de Biron. Again, four bills for
10,000 francs, at fifteen months date, Paris, April 24, 1790, signed
le due de Biron. The signature is witnessed by Languet and
Viard, Rue Saint Sauveur. No. 25.
37^
in question. Naudin took to his heels, and was
pursued by the police ; as he crossed the Pont Neuf
he saw no way of escape but by jumping into the
river, which he did; but some obliging boatmen
fished him out and handed him over to the authori-
ties.
The position of the Royal Family became daily more
precarious. The Queen especially was the object of
the most virulent attacks, and her enemies persecuted
her without respite. At the beginning of 1791 an
attempt was made to revive the scandal of the-
shameless intrigue of the diamond necklace. Mme.
de Lamothe returned to Paris and established her-
self in a fine house in the Place Vendome. A plot
was laid for bringing Mme. de Lamothe before the
bar of the National Assembly to demand a recon-
sideration of her trial ; the point was to make her
appear a victim sacrificed to the Queen's desire for
revenge. It was Mirabeau who warned the Assembly
of what was being plotted in the dark ; the con-
temptible conspiracy had roused his indignation : " I
will snatch this unhappy Queen from her torturers,"
he exclaimed, '' or perish in the attempt." The
scheme, in fact, failed, and Mme. de Lamothe returned
to England.
From the month of October, 1789, all who were
devoted to the Royal Family had been urging on
them that they must get out of Paris. The further
the Revolution progressed the more imminent was
the danger. By dint of constant pressure, Mirabeau
at last persuaded the King to leave. In his opinion
377
it might save the monarchy. But where could they
go ? In what town in France could they take re-
fuge ? At first some place in the northern depart-
ments was thought of; but M. de Rochambeau com-
manded in the north, and the King had no confidence
in him. He suspected him of having brought home
Republican ideas from America. Then M. de
Bouille was thought of, commanding in Lorraine,
with his head-quarters at Metz ; he was to be relied
on. In February, 1791, the Comte de LaMarck was
•sent to sound him, and in case of success to make
arrangements with him. M. de Bouille assured the
Comte of his entire devotion to the King.
Mirabeau took courage, and was already preparing
in his head the proclamations to be issued by I ouis
XVI. to the nation as soon as he should be in
freedom. But the unhappy King still vacillated, and
all was lost.
Not long after, M. de Bouilld received another
visitor. Biron arrived at Metz in April ; he was on
a tour of military inspection in the eastern provinces.
M. de Bouille had long known Biron, who had
served under him. *' I had a great regard for him,"
he says ; ^' not only for his amiable qualities, but for
his loyalty, frankness, and spirit of chivalry." They
had long conversations on the events of the time. If
we may believe Bouille, Biron spoke with great good
sense and truth of the state of the country, with in-
terest of the King's position, with contempt of the
Assembly and the factions that divided it ; he expressed
a wish that the King should be restored to authority.
378
" ^ But/ objected Bouille, ^ if this is your feeling
how can you abet M. d' Orleans in his criminal
conduct ? ' He excused the Due d'OrMans by
declaring that having at first been prompted by a
feeling of revenge against the King, and more par-
ticularly against the Queen, he had then been led
much further than he had believed by unscrupulous
scoundrels ; that he had wished to stop, that he had
desired the King's forgiveness, intending to throw
himself at his feet, and the King had refused it ;
that then, having no further hope of pardon, he had
grown desperate, and broken out of all bounds.
Biron added that he did not approve of all this, but
being the Prince's friend and pledged to his party,
he had thought himself in honour bound not to
desert him,"
Moreover he really believed that this party would
be the salvation of the King and of France.
'^Next day," M. de Bouille goes on, "the Due de
Biron came to my house, and placed in my hands a
written statement of what he had said the day before.
It was an uncompromising confession of the creed of
an aristocrat. * Keep this paper,' said he, ' which
I have signed, and use it against me if I and my
party fail to do what we promise.' I took it. I
have since thrown it into the fire. I saw that he
was in earnest but mistaken, and I was sorry for him."
We have allowed M. de Bouille to tell the story in
his own words, but it must be owned that his state-
ments seem somewhat dubious ; and it is certainly
strange that, having in his hand so curious a con-
379
fession as this of Biron's, he should have valued it so
little as to destroy it.
At length the departure of the Royal Family, so
long planned and postponed, was fixed for June 21st.
They set out, with the deplorable results that are
known to the world.
The journey to Varennes led to consequences for
Biron which he was far from expecting. As soon as
the news of the King's escape became known in
Paris, June 22, 1791, at eight or nine in the
morning, the streets filled with people, rushing and
pushing ; the angry mob muttered insults to all
whom they suspected of royalism, threatening to
hang them a la lanterne. There were shouts of
" Treason ! To arms ! " All the shops were shut.
Mme. de Coigny lived quite close to the Place du
Carrousel, in her house in the Rue Sainte-Nicaise.
Curiosity prompted her to come out and see what
was going on ; she was escorted by her friend M. de
Fontenilles. Notwithstanding her republican opinions
the Marquise was considered suspect e ; the crowd, re-
cognizing her as an aristocrat, handled her and her
companion very roughly, and she was about to be
hanged to a lamp chain, when, happily for her, Silly,
a notary, captain in the National Guard, saw her,
hurried up with some of his men, and rescued her
from the furies who had gathered round her ; to
secure her safety he conducted her to the Tuileries,
where she was locked in the King's private room.
By ten in the morning the palace was broken into,
and the Queen's rooms were pillaged. A fruit-seller
380
took possession of Marie Antoinette's bed as a stall
for her cherries, saying, " To-day it is the nation's
turn to take its ease." The King's room was left un- _
touched, because Mme.de Coigny was imprisoned there.
Biron, meanwhile, was at the Assembly, never
dreaming of the danger his Marquise was in. It was
not till four o'clock that he heard of her adventure ;
he then rushed off to the Tuileries and procured
the release of the lady, whose meditations since the
morning had been of the most melancholy nature.
The disastrous conclusion of the journey to
Varennes gave rise to another exodus. All the
members of the Coigny family set out forthwith to
join the Princes' troops. The Marquis de Coigny
wished to do the same, and go to Coblentz, but his
wife absolutely refused to accompany him. "With her
democratic ideas and past experience, what should
she do in a town where everybody thought only
of reconstituting a Court as like as possible to that
they had left ? " Life at Coblentz," writes Augeard,
"seemed to me just that of Versailles, only more
odious. It was a sink of intrigue and cabals, of folly
and peculation, of mimicry of the old Court." The
reception Mme. de Coigny would have found in such
a society may be imagined.
Her recent misadventure had, however, frightened
her a little ; she feared for her life ; and, grieved as
she was to leave Biron, she agreed to go with her
husband to London. She fancied that her absence
would be brief ; she merely meant to let the worst of
the storm blow over. So Biron was left in Paris,
381
far from the affectionate and faithful friend who gave
a charm to his existence. Painful as the sacrifice
was, he dared not advise her to remain ; the future
seemed to him too alarming. With his native
generosity, he had, on the contrary, done everything
in his power to get Mme. de Coigny away, and to
protect the life which was dearer to him than his own.
The Marquise settled in London. She had not
long been there when she received from the Prince
de Ligne some verses alluding to her escape in the
month of June. He, enchanted to know that she
was safe, could jest lightly enough on the peril
she had been in.
She was welcomed with enthusiasm by the English
aristocracy ; she soon had as many admirers as in
Paris, and was a queen in London drawing rooms ;
Lady Jersey, Lady Melbourne, and Lady Spencer
were her friends, and she was surrounded by all
the most charming and distinguished women in
London. The Prince of Wales, who was sincerely
her friend, showed her the greatest attention.
Notwithstanding the flattering civilities of which
she was the object, Mme. de Coigny was inconsolable
for Biron's absence ; both, indeed, were equally
forlorn, only the hope of meeting again comforted
them at all, and they corresponded frequently.
Every letter bears witness to the attachment and
deep tenderness that united them.^
^ If we shut our eyes to tlie irregularity of their connection,
there is something singulao^ly pathetic in these letters, written in
such circumstances.
382
As soon as she arrived in London, July 27th, the
Marquise wrote to the friend whose absence she
mourned : " Far or near, you are truly the light and
joy of my life. Your pleasantries alone keep up the
cheerfulness of my temper and the intelligence of my
spirits." Then she asks him to advise her as to what
she is to do ; she will submit to his instructions, but
she will not take the responsibility of deciding :
" Give me a positive injunction to stay here or to
return to Paris ; if I can live there in peace, in spite
of rumours of war, I prefer it. London overdoes me
with fatigue and worries."
Biron, at any cost to himself, was of opinion that
it would be more prudent to remain in London.
From that time they corresponded regularly. The
Marquise writes, August 1, 1791 : —
" Your letter found the way to London as straight
as it found the way to my heart. It came to me with
the promptitude, not of an answer, but of a repartee.
I thank you for it as the greatest pleasure I can
know here. If you knew how little interest there is
in my life here, you would be able to judge of the
delight a memory of you can bring into my day.
That is pure happiness to my mind and heart alike,
and both have had but little to enjoy for a long time
past." ^
Biron was not just then at Paris ; he had gone,
on June 23rd, commissioned by the Assembly, with
"^ Mme. de Coigny's letters are all qnoted from the curious book
broaght out by the book-collector, Jacob. Copies of it are very-
rare. In the Bib. Nat. Reserve.
383
Bouille and Alquier to inspect the departments of
the Nord, the Pas-de-Calais and Aisne, and receive
the oath of fidelity of the troops. Many officers were
deserting to the enemy ; it was necessary to demand
their oath, so as to know what force was to be de-
pended on. Biron and his colleagues wrote from
Douai to the President of the Assembly: "The
King s departure revived fresh energy in every soul,
and his arrest has caused almost universal joy. The
people love and bless the Revolution; their con-
fidence in the National Assembly is unlimited ; all
hopes are concentrated in that alone. The dignity
you have shown since the King's flight overwhelms
your enemies, and more than ever you are invincibly
strong in the power of public opinion.
" Perfect tranquility prevails in the departments
we have passed through. The administrative bodies,
the municipalities, and the National Gruard are in-
defatigably active."
Biron was still on his tour when another letter
reached him from Mme. de Coigny : —
" London, September 1, 1791.
"You must know that the Ministers from the
Emperor, from Spain, and so on, visit the Duchesses
of Gloucester and Cumberland ; that the Duchess of
Cumberland is as well bom as half the Princesses in
Germany ^ whom Princes marry, and that she has in
1 The Duke of Cumberland, who died in 1790, had married, in
1771, Anne Luttrell, daughter of Lord Carhampton. The Duke of
Gloucester, who died in 1805, had married in 1766 the widow of
Lord Waldegrave, a natural daughter of Sir Edward Walpole.
384
England a household and such personal considera-
tion as win her esteem and liking. ^What is all
that to me ? ' you are saying. I can hear you from
hence, and I will tell you. It is this to you : you
must try to convince the Minister for Foreign Affairs
that France, being a freer power, ought not therefore
to be too proud, and that it is but seemly that her
representative here should be on the same terms
with the King's brothers as those of all other
nations.
"I am all the more interested in the success of
this little negotiation, because it would make you
very popular in this country, and annoy the Queen
very much in ours. It was she who two years ago
told M. de Luzerne, on her own supreme authority,
that he need not visit those two women. Her
German pride would not brook the idea of coun-
tenancing a marriage not within the rules of every
Chapter.
"Besides, she will never forgive the Duchess of
Cumberland, chiefly for having shown a remark-
able liking for the Revolution. To such a point,
as her sister told me yesterday, that she (the
Queen) wrote to the French at Aix-la-Chapelle
to show the Duchess no civility, her democratic
opinions making her unworthy of any consider-
ation.
" Really, that Marie Antoinette is too insolent and
too vindictive for it not to be a pleasure to set her
down into her own place by turning her out of the
King's, which she has tried to usurp. It is doing
3S5 c c
France a service to ask you, as a good patriot, not to
refuse me this.^
" It is beginning to be difficult for me to get away
from London. Everyone is so kind, and I am
supposed to be so much the fashion that I hardly
know how to tear myself away from the wishes
expressed to keep me here.
" Tell me, I beg, how you spend your day ; what are
the things which occupy if they do not fill it ? I should
like to imagine your life when I have no place in it.
"It is said here that Paris was never so full
of distinguished foreigners nor more reassuringly
quiet. God preserve it so ! Where are the Princes'
hostile intentions? Have you been sent on their
track to make them retrace it ? Good-bye. Let me
know at once what is to become of you, that I may
know too what I am doing. I will not be in Paris
sooner than you. This is settled in my mind by my
heart.
'^ My pierrot ^ has not come, which depresses me
greatly, because my success depends much more on
my elegance than on my excellence."
Life in London was becoming wearisome to Mme.
de Coigny. " I want stir and amusement to take
the place of interests and occupations," she writes to
Biron. But in vain she sought for " stir '^ ; she found
nothing but crushing monotony, and she met with
various annoyances. The behaviour of her political
1 Biron was not on sufficiently good terms with the Minister to
undertake the commission himself ; he entrusted it to Talleyrand.
* A little jacket with faced coat-tails.
386
friends was ill-judged^ and she suiFered from it.
The Prince of Wales had had the portrait of the
Due d' Orleans removed from her room. " I am
provoked with him ! '' she writes. Then she was
a victim to domestic cares and worries ; miserable
money difficulties marred her life. It was always
to Biron, her faithful friend, that she confided her
mortifications.
"October 18, 1791.
" What with the news in the gazettes, the advice
of friends, the warnings of relations, the cheese-
paring of house-keeping, I really do not know
what to do or what will become of me. To stay
here would be most convenient ; but how can I
without the means of living? To return to Paris
would be prudent, but how dare I with so many
reasons for alarm there ? On my honour, on my
honour, I do not know what to do, and I believe that
I, neither more nor less than the King, must stake
my head or my crown on the future ; chance may
perhaps prove a better guide than prudence. Pru-
dence, meanwhile, prompts M. de Coigny to the
strictest economy, so that I languish here in the
most cruel poverty; obliged to live on borrowed
money, and beg of everybody's good nature. Nor
do I see any way of repaying their supplies but
by pledging my diamonds."
Late in the year 1791, which was closing so
disastrously, Biron heard from an old friend to whom
he had been tenderly attached — Mme. de Fleury.
387 c c 2
This lady, frightened by the progress of the Revolu-
tion, had quitted Paris. In 1791, while the Due was
on service with the Prince's army, she went to Italy,
and lived for some time at Rome with other emigres,
such as the Due and Duchesse de Fitz-James, the
Polignacs, and the Princesse Joseph de Monaco.
They were accustomed to spend their evenings in the
rooms of Prince Camille de Rohan, the Maltese
Ambassador, who collected around him all the most
distinguished foreigners in Rome. The conversation
was always lively and interesting, and in taste and
wit the Duchesse de Fleury shone above others.
It was at the Prince de Rohan's that she became
acquainted with Lord Malmesbury ; they fell des-
perately in love and went off together to Naples.
From thence she wrote to Biron, who had kept up a
correspondence with her, and often complained of her
silence : —
" Naples, 1791.
" No, my friend, your Nigretta is not ungi-ateful
nor weak, only very lazy. For two months I have
been here, and always on the point of leaving, and
have constantly put off writing to you tiU I should
be fixed in some place where I should spend the
winter. Finally, I have determined to choose this
town, where the climate and mode of life equally
suit me, not to mention that the moon is a goddess
here more even than elsewhere. The sea seems to
lie there expressly to reflect, to worship her; it
will hardly stir before her, and it is easy to see
that when it moves it is love alone that disturbs it.
388
*' You expect perhaps, friend of mine (and indeed
you deserve it), that I am about to tell you in some
detail about my life and occupations. Well, you
have too good an opinion of me. I feel too torpid
still, to-day. I should think it very sweet, nay,
essential, to see you stretched in that easy chair near
mine ; to talk with you quietly ; to read or to do
nothing, merely to open my window looking on the
sea, and listen to the waves which beat almost on the
wall of my house ; to dream, even to weep ; but as for
writing to you — that incommodes me. In the first
place I must have a light, and I like the darkness
better, to listen to the sea ; and then for a whole
hour I talk to you alone, and you do not even look as
if you heard me. Then I am feeling strongly in one
way and you in another. I am only thinking of
what I feel at this moment, and you are not thinking
the same thing, since you are not here.
** This cursed Revolution absorbs you — I hate it.
I love your letters — all but the politics." ^
1 Mme. de Fleury's letters are quoted from Jacob's volume on
Mme. de Coigny.
389
CHAPTER XXV.
1792.
Biron is sent to join the army in the North — Narbonne is Minister
of War — Talleyrand goes to London, and with him Biron —
Biron imprisoned for debt — Mme. de Coigny's despair — M. de
Courchamp stands surety for him — Biron retm^ns to France
and to Valenciennes.
At the close of 1791, Biron was in great grief at the
death of Mirabeau; and, deeply disgusted with
politics, he urgently begged to be allowed to leave
Paris and to have employment with the army. He
was ordered to Valenciennes, under the command of
M. de Rochambeau, with whom he had already served
in America.
On December 9, he learnt that his friend, the
Chevalier de Narbonne, had been appointed Minister
of War. No man could be livelier or wittier than
Narbonne, but his youth, his levity, his amiability
even, made him little apt to fulfil the difficult func-
tions entrusted to him. Biron, who, notmthstanding
his superior intelligence and military talents, was
vegetating in a second-rate garrison town, might have
expressed some jealousy at seeing a mere Court
390
roue attain to so high a post, but he had too lofty a
soul for such feelings to affect him.
He wrote to Talleyrand from Valenciennes on
December 17, 1791 :—
''I am delighted with Narbonne ; he is doing
good service by proving that energy, cleverness,
and good grace make a very good Minister, worth
more than all the old and worn-out slaves of routine,
who are so constantly allowed to make a mess of
things.''
Narbonne was no sooner appointed, than, carried
away by the desire to make an effect, he decided on
a tour of inspection of all the fortified towns on the
frontier. He took with him his mistress, the Baronne
de Stael, who was already notorious for political
scheming. Biron was delighted at his visit, and
wrote to Talleyrand, December 25th : —
'^Xarbonne is really inconceivably admirable ; he
sees everything, and is kind to everybody. His tour
will make a great and excellent impression on the
army, but he must be of iron to be able to do it, for
he gets no sleep, and tires himself greatly. The
troops are delighted with him."
Narbonne very amiably inquired of Biron how he
would like to be employed. The Due replied that
he would go wherever he could be of use, that he
begged him as a friend not to consider his personal
convenience or dislikes. '^ I will even, if you like,
serve with M. de La Fayette ; it seems as though
we might advantageously keep an eye on each
other."
391
But Biron no longer had the sturdy health he used
to have ; he was constantly falling ill, suffering from
fever, and had to go on just the same. He had but
one wish, and that was to be sent to Corsica as soon
as the fear of war should have blown over ; there
only could he rest and get well.
Thus ended the melancholy year 1791. Early in
1792 Biron had the joy of receiving a delightful
letter from Mme. de Coigny. She too was suffering
greatly from their separation in the midst of the
agitations of her London life. She has neither soul
nor thought ; she cannot be herself again : —
" December 31, 1791.
" I cannot let the year end without telling you
how much I regret beginning another without you.
This bad opening gives me dark presentiments as to
its progress ; I fear dangers and I see a long per-
spective of separation. Ah ! how sad is the prospect
of a future for ever receding, and to which habit can
so little accustom me.
" I swear to you, and you may believe me if you
choose, for it is merely to think aloud that I say it ;
but I swear to you in all truth, that never yet has
four o'clock sounded in my ears without giving me a
pang at my heart. That hour of the day so rarely
passed without you ! You pleased me, interested
me, amused me so much, even with those others who
bored me and provoked me most. Oh ! How
could fear so get the upper hand in my soul of many
tender and sweet impressions ? How could the idea
392
of a possible danger make me forego so many
certain joys ! The more I tliink of it the less can I
forgive myself or explain it to myself.
*' The clouds which shroud my fate grow thicker
as they draw near, and I live in a horrible fog which
saddens me where I am, without letting me see
whither I am going."
While Biron w'as pining at Valenciennes in sickness
and melancholy, he kept up a constant correspon-
dence with Talleyrand on the subject of foreign
politics, and especially on the policy of Prussia.
Our hero's diplomatic schemes having come to
nothing, we need say no more about them ; they are
mentioned only to show his energy and his eager
desire to be of use.
Early in January, 1792, Talleyrand wrote to his
friend that it had been proposed to send some
trustworthy person to London to secure the neu-
trality of England in the war France would have to
carry on against the coalition of Powers, and that he,
Biron, had been mentioned. It had, however, been
objected that, "If it were not for the war, well and
good ; but we have too few trustworthy officers ;
besides, a friend of the Due d'Orleans would not
look well at the present juncture ; the royalists
would be scared. It is well known that M. de Biron
is capable only of noble dealings, but it will not do
to make all the new royalists uneasy."
Finally, Talleyrand confesses that the mission had
been offered to him, and he had accepted it, and
393
lie proposes to Biron to go with him and pay a visit
to Mme. de Coigny.
Biron, not best pleased, replies : —
^'January 7, 1792.
'^ I cannot regret not being appointed ; the com-
mission is not in accordance with the opinion I hold
of the Minister of Foreign AiFairs. And indeed, my
health does not allow of my devoting myself to
business. I have the jaundice and fever, I am ill, I
need to rest, and have make up my mind to it. I
cannot conceal from you that I am deeply vexed by
the criminal consideration shown by the Ministry
for the new royalists, who, as it would seem, are the
new counter-revolutionaries, since, for fear of dis-
pleasing them, the Ministers are afraid of giving
to good citizens who are known to be blameless, the
important commissions for which they are thought fit.
" I will serve no more either in France or in
Corsica till we can devote ourselves to the Constitu-
tion without being regarded with suspicion. I shall
therefore send in to the Assembly my resignation and
my reasons, and I will serve gladly in some corps of
the National Guard till I feel that I can retire
altogether with honour." ^
Talleyrand in consequence wrote to Biron that
he himself was beyond doubt going on the mission to
England, but that he would take him with him to
1 All the letters relating to Biron's journey to England, and the
campaign of the army of the North, are taken from a curious book
by M. Pallain, on Talleyrand's mission to London {La Mission
de Talleyrand a Londres en 1792 : Plon, 1889).
394
buy four thousand horses for the War Department.
He said he would pass through Valenciennes, arriving
on the 18th, to pick him up.
Narbonne, on his part, wrote to Biron on the
10th : " I thought, and with good reason, that a little
trip to England would be very good for your
jaundice. The Bishop will tell you, better than all
the letters in the world, all that we want you to do."
Biron was a great favourite in London, where he
was well known in society ; he could therefore do
the Bishop of Autun the greatest service by intro-
ducing him to persons of every shade of opinion, and
of every party. This consideration alone would have
been enough to account for the desire that he should
accompany Talleyrand. And, though so ill, Biron
accepted the duty imposed on him. The thought of
seeing Mme. de Coigny transported him indeed with
joy, and was enough to made him forget his maladies
and the fatigues of the expedition.
Talleyrand and Biron reached London on Tuesday
evening, January 24 ; but the secret of their errand
had not been kept ; every gazette announced their
arrival, stating that one had come to arrange a
defensive alliance with England, and the other to
purchase horses.
The Due, crazy with joy at rejoining Mme. de
Coigny, rushed at once to see her. It may be
imagined what such a meeting was in the midst of the
tragical and ominous events of the time — events
which made it doubtful whether friends once parted
would ever meet again. But then, the first raptxires
395
over, he set to work with great activity to negotiate
for the purchase of re-mounts for the French King's
army. Unluckily, the publicity so clumsily given
to Biron's errand had put up the prices, and he soon
discovered that it would be impossible to deal on the
terms the French Ministry had hoped for.
He was energetically carrying on the affair when
a most unexpected blow fell on him. He was
arrested for debt at the suit of a horse-dealer named
Foyard, and in spite of all protestations led away at
once to a " sponging house.'* In the course of his
various visits to London, Biron had lost money at play
in the various clubs, and, as was the custom, had
borrowed from the head waiter (?), who, like the
croujpiers in the present day, made advances to
the club members. But most of the bills for
which he was arrested were forgeries.
The English law was explicit and strict : there
was no escape excepting by finding surety to a large
amount. Throughout England a sentence of im-
prisonment for debt was carried out, whatever the
rank of the person owing it. A common citizen
could have had the King arrested if he owed a
sum that he could be sued for and had not paid it.
Well-known cases had shown that the most illustrious
personages were subject to this law, as much as the
humblest commoner. During the emigration the
Comte d'Artois went to England. No sooner had he
arrived in London than the contractors for supjDlies
to Conde's army applied to him for large sums of
money. Monsieur repudiated the debt, never having
396
known anything about it, lie said ; he was neverthe-
less prosecuted, and to avoid imprisonment, by the
advice of the Ministers he fled to Scotland, to
Holyrood Castle, where the English law was not in
force. A bill was then passed declaring that no one
could be arrested in England for debts contracted
abroad. Not till then could the Prince return to
London.
There were two debtors' prisons in London, the
Fleet and the King's Bench. The King's Bench,
where Biron was confined, was extensive and very
comfortable. Standing almost in the fields, it was
like a small town. It included streets, shops,
taverns, a garden, etc. Neither bars nor bolts were
to be seen ; only the entrance was guarded.
Members of the highest aristocracy were to be found
there ; they lived in the grandest style, in fine rooms,
and giving dances and entertainments. Biron was
therefore not too unhappy from a material point of
view ; he was well housed, well fed, and could enjoy
all the conveniences of life ; but, as may be supposed,
his spirits were at the lowest ebb.
He was in fact the victim of an atrocious piece of
treachery. A plan had been mooted for enabling
Louis XVI. to escape and place himself at the head
of the army of the North. Biron's presence at
Valenciennes was an obstacle to those who had
plotted this scheme. Certain French aristocrats,
then living in London, had been informed of Biron's
arrival there, and had devised the ingenious means
we have seen to detain him in England for an
397
indefinite time. The bills came from Paris, where,
as we know, they were issued by the dozen at the
Palais Royal.
In vain did Erskine, one of the greatest and most
eloquent of English pleaders, maintain that his client
had arrived in an official character. The plea was
not admitted. In vain was the fact recalled that
some years since the uncle of the accused, the
Marechal de Biron, had* magnanimously paid the
debts of Admiral Rodney, imprisoned in Paris, so that
he might be free to fight against the French.
As soon as Mme. de Coigny heard of her friend's
misfortune she wrote to make him ofiers of assistance,
and to put herself at his service, with all her friends
and Mr. Pitt. She never for a moment doubts that
the blow emanates from Paris. She suspects Narbonne
of having devised this plot to keep Biron in England.
" And yet I dare wager that his intentions were not
so infernal as his behaviour would imply," she writes.
" He has found this ingenious and original way of
keeping you here, and so proves to me what I already
knew, namely, that want of character in high places
entails all the evils of a malignant nature." She sees
clearly that what is wanted is to be rid of Biron, but
the aristocrats must not be allowed that satisfaction ;
cost what it may, money must be found, and he
must be got out of prison. She thinks of fifty
different plans. " Could you not send a special
messenger to M. d'Orleans ? " she says. " It seems
to me that the little service he could now render you
would not repay all those you did him when he
398
was in England." Finally, she herself offers with
exquisite grace everything she possesses. " I hope,"
she says, " that if the sum is not too exorbitant you
will remember that I have a few diamonds here
which can be sold or pledged or deposited as
security, when and how you please, if you need them."
Meanwhile, she was taking the most active steps to
procure her friend's release. She appealed to
everyone she knew, to the Prince of Wales himself,
but all in vain. She was furious with Talleyrand,
who had letters of credit for large sums and would
not use them to get his friend's discharge. '^ I hope
he does not allow his head to guide him," she wrote.
^^ I believe it to be wicked in purpose and conduct
both."
She insisted on having news of the Due every day,
and thought of him with tender solicitude, making
him hope that she would return to France with him,
as soon as he was free.
M. de Gontaut meanwhile, hearing of his son's
disastrous mishap, desired his London agent, M. du
Tems, to call on Biron in prison and console him :
but he made no offer of money.
"My father has sent to offer me all the Sacra-
ments," wrote Biron. " He is wholly led by aristo-
crats of every degree, whose principal aim I can see
is to keep me out of the way, and altogether out of
the game." A cousin of Biron's came to London,
sent by the family to settle his relation's affairs ; but
it was said the Due de Gontaut had written privately
to secure the detention of his son in prison, whatever
399
might be proposed in order to release him. On
hearing this, Mme. de Coigny, frantic with indigna-
tion, could not help exclaiming : " I hope that
old monster is in his second childhood, if he has
really been capable of giving in to such horrible
perfidy."
At last a generous Frenchman, whom Biron did
not even know, M. de Courchamp, and an English-
man, Lord Rawdon, an old friend of his, touched by
the Due's painful situation, deposited the security
demanded by the law, seventy-five thousand francs
(£3000). Biron was at once discharged from the
King's Bench ; but, on hearing of his release, his
enemies were prepared to produce more bills and
more creditors, real or false ; he had to fiy instantly.
Lord Rawdon gave him shelter, and got him secretly
away to Dover, after ascertaining that he would find
a mail boat ready to carry him across to Boulogne.
Biron returned safe and sound to his native land.
This was his last visit to England, and his last
meeting with Mme. de Coigny.
From this time the Marquise resumed her corre-
spondence with him. As soon as she heard of his
safe landing she wrote : —
"March 6, 1792.
" I am rejoiced that you are in France again, but
I am far from easy till I know you are in Paris.
I must at once positively hear that you are safe in
the Rue Pochet, and then how you have settled
yourself there. I hope matters are not looking
so badly that you have to remain incognito. Your
400
conduct is so invariably admirable that I do not like
anything you do to be concealed ; for you I almost
prefer danger to mystery.
" Your cousin Gontaut went back in all haste aa
he had come, I am told. I heard from him that you
had been arrested for no more than eight hundred
louis. If this is the fact, I will never forgive you for
not having sent for my diamonds. I should have
been so happy and so proud to make such use of
them ; no, I shall never be comforted when I re-
member that you refused me the greatest joy which
even you could ever give me." Then she is furious
at Narbonne's conduct, at M. de Gontaut's, at that of
all the aristocrats, and exclaims : —
" Good God ! "What a diabolical breed are all this
aristocratic rabble ; and how easy it is to defy them
when it is not pleasanter to fly from them. Oh!
I can promise you that on great occasions I come
back to all the pride, the insolence even, of my
nature. We always are true to our first trade."
Imprisonment, sickness, and a thousand vexations
that had befallen him, had not spoilt Biron's good
spirits and cheerfulness. In the midst of all these
annoyances he still wrote to Mme. de Coigny letters
full of wit and charm. She replies : —
" Hertford Street, No. 41.
" Dear Heaven ! What a delightful creature is
your wit, and how happy you are in the midst of
your woes to have that to console you !
" I do not think that, since receiving your two
401 D d
last letters, I am much to be pitied even for your
absence. They are so tender, so full of feeling, that
I am tempted to feel grateful to it. Pray continue
thus to make yourself present to me, not\vithstanding
the distance that divides us. I am tired of trusting
to the future to fill up that gulf ; it recedes as I
advance, and I see very clearly that it is my fate to
go on a long time yet without reaching the end."
She then tells him that M. de Coigny has just set
out for Paris with no hope of returning.^ Finally,
she consults her friend as to what she had better do ;
remain in England or go back to France. " War
and famine, which alternately threaten Paris, frighten
me from going there, and especially from settling
there. Advise me once more, and as wisely as if it
were for the last time."
Biron, meanwhile, as soon as he arrived at Bou-
logne, had sent a courier to Narbonne to report the
results of his mission.
"Boulogne, February 21, 1792.
" The disastrous and fruitless expedition on which
you sent me to England, my dear Narbonne,^ is at
last concluded. I do not reproach you for any
of the misfortunes it led to, nor the tedious and
intolerable results to me ; I will only obser^'^e that
if I were not so well aware of your loyalty and
1 M. de Coigny did not remain long in Paris. In the month of
September he was at Aix-la-Chapelle. He did not return to
France till after the Restoration.
2 Biron uses the familiar and friendly " tu " in addressing
Narbonne.
402
friendship, if in fact I had only to judge you
as a Minister dangerously allied with my enemies,
I might suspect you of the most atrocious treachery,
and should have a right to make my suspicions
public ; I am happy to have only your recklessness
to complain of. . . .
" I will say no more of this ugly business, nor of
some odious details of which the proofs fell into
my hands almost in spite of myself — proofs which I
must at any rate preserve, like ' four-thieves-vinegar,'
in case of accident.
*^It would be most unpleasant to me to go to
Paris just now. Many things there would distress
and disturb me. I am very ill and have not
time to wait to rest myself, for I am worn out. I
therefore am going on at once to A^alenciennes by
slow stages. I cannot go fast, for I suffer dreadfully
from the cold. Adieu, my dear Narbonne ; you
know my aifectionate and unalterable attachment to
you."
Narbonne replies : —
" March 5.
" I was too cruelly grieved by your sufferings, my
friend, to be able to feel anything but gladness to
know that you are back again.
" Your letter, when I show it to you, will, I am
sure, seem to you very unjust ; but here you are and
I do not complain.
" Certainly, you must have a legion. You know
now that it is one of the finest corps you could com-
mand, and you will forgive me, I hope, for insisting
403 D d 2
that you must take it. As to headquarters, the
Mar^chal de Rochambeau will give you the choice
between Valenciennes and Douai, and I propose that
if you like you should accept neither, but command
the troops assembled on the frontier of Pi^mont.
'' I hear that you are ill, that you have the jaun-
dice. Do not let yourself be cast down by an
annoyance which has led to everybody's saying what
they think of you, and that is all that is good.
** Above all I entreat you to talk to me as a friend,
and with all the confidence I have a right to demand
of you, when the matter is one which involves your
interests.
" I love you and embrace you with all my heart."
Biron explained that he preferred to remain under
M. de Rochambeau's orders, and he stayed at Valen-
ciennes.
404
CHAPTER XXVI.
1792.
Death of the Emperor Leopold — Narbonne is dismissed and M. de
Grave appointed— Mme. de Coigny's alarms — Dumouriez
Minister for Foreign Affairs — Correspondence with Lauzun —
Dumouriez' plan for campaign — Dillon is assassinated — Biron
marches on Mons — His return to Valenciennes — Rochambeau
retires — Biron refuses the chief command — He is appointed
to the Armj of the Rhine.
Events were hurrying on. On March 1 the
Emperor Leopold died, and war with Austria be-
came imminent.
On March 9 Narbonne quarrelled with Bertrand
de MoUeville and was obliged to retire ; indeed he
was rudely, almost brutally, dismissed. On hearing
this news Mme. de Coigny wrote to Biron : *' Why
did M. de Narbonne wait to go till he was turned
out by the King ? this is indeed asking the ass
to kick him." Then she expatiates on her friend's
foresight of the future. " Good Heavens ! how
events have justified your predictions. I am sure
that by showing your letter I might destroy the fame
of Nostradamus."
Another day, fancying that Biron might be in
need of money, she tries to give him the benefit of a
405
godsend that she has fallen into, and she writes to
him delightfully : '* I offer you six hundred louis
which my mother has given me, and which I will
undertake to have sent to you as though it were a
debt. Do not let this disturb you either for your
own sake or for mine. The money is not necessary
to either of us, thus it will be agreeable to both. . .
Adieu. Write to accept it. You see I wish to be
repaid in paper." She was all the more disin-
terested in making this offer, because she constantly
complains of her husband's stinginess in allowing her
no more than two thousand five hundred francs a
month (about £100). She was compelled to live by
borrowing.
But Biron was no longer a man of amorous
correspondence ; his military duties absorbed him
entirely, and he often left the Marquise's tender
epistles unanswered.
His position was not an easy one.
" Our troops are being worked 'in every possible
way," he writes. *' The only thing thought of is pre-
paring insurrections. My presence keeps all quiet,
because I am constantly on the watch, informed of
everything, and a great deal with the men. I never
sleep out of Valenciennes. I have given out two or
three times that I intended to stay at Lille or at
Douai for a few days ; I have come back in the
evening and have almost always found that some
mischief was brewing or begun."
Not a single day was quiet ; attempts were made to
tamper with the soldiers ; the officers are accused of
406
treason by their men. At Guise, a regiment of
cavalry had mutinied in a body, and the corn riots
were everywhere fomented to the utmost.
Mme. de Coigny, knowing the danger of the situ-
ation, was very much alarmed, and when her
letters remained unanswered she lost patience and
the darkest fears crossed her mind : —
"April 1, 1792. *
'* What can it be that keeps you so long from
giving me news of you, when you know that I am
equally uneasy about your position and your health ?
Really my brain is dizzy at your silence, and my
heart quakes lest I can no longer reproach you for it.
But, if you are ill, why not make one of your people
write ? You know, however far I am away, a word
will bring me to you if you want or wish for my
care."
Still getting no reply, she wrote again : —
" April 6.
" I am anxious, sad, miserable at your silence, and
only hope I have only that to lament. For pity's
sake do not lose a moment before reassuring me. I
want to hear before I go, and I may not stay here
long."
But Biron had not time to write to Mme. de
Coigny. Every moment was taken up by the in-
cessant watch he had to keep over his troops, as well
as by his military and political correspondence with
General Dumouriez, who had been appointed Minister
407
of Foreign Affairs in the place of Delessart ; and at
the same time the Chevalier de Grave succeeded
Narbonne as Minister of War.
Biron and Dumouriez had long been acquainted ;
they had both served in the Corsican campaign of 1768.
As soon as Dumouriez was appointed, he hastened
to write to Biron in the most flattering terms : —
<* Paris, March 27, 1792.
" Our opinions and sentiments have long been in
agreement ; you, my friend, are one of the strongest
buttresses of my political and military structure.
We, who are strong and honest men, must help each
other if we are to save the country and the con-
stitution. I wish I had a Biron to place in every
post. Above all I would there were one in my
council, and yet more in my place."
Biron and Dumouriez kept up an active corre-
spondence, both on politics in general and on
military operations. But the Minister for Foreign
Affairs had strange illusions as to the temper of the
hostile forces.
On hearing that the Austrians were trying, by
gifts of gold, to tempt the French troops to desert,
he advised Biron to retaliate by the same method.
What a triumph if they could but show some fully
equipped Austrian soldiers in Paris ! It would give
the nation confidence, since they would see that
there might be a hope of melting down that great
army by the attractions of freedom and a sufficiency.
408
Besides, it would make the Austrian officers distrust
their men. " As the Austrian Generals are, for the
most part, brutal and stupid Germans, they will
think that they can stop desertion by increased
severity, and that very severity will add to the
number of deserters."
Biron obeyed the Minister's instructions ; but the
Austrian troops were not to be bribed by either the
principles or the gold of the Revolutionaries ; and it
was not found practicable to send " a company " or
" a squadron " of Austrian deserters to Paris, as
Dumouriez had fondly flattered himself.
Biron had under his command at Valenciennes the
Due de Chartres. The Due d' Orleans had made it
a point that his son should first bear arms under
Biron' s guidance, and had entrusted the youth to
his old friend. M. de Chartres (afterwards Louis-
Philippe, King of the French) was in command of
the 14th Regiment of Dragoons, and fulfilled his
duties with great distinction. Suddenly Biron was
informed that M. de Grave was dispersing this
regiment in small companies throughout the depart-
ment of the Aisne. He was indignant at this
proceeding, and wrote forthwith to Dumouriez : —
^^ In Heaven's name oppose such an absurd
arrangement. M. de Chartres is the most patriotic
Colonel of Dragoons in the whole army, and the
most in earnest about his business. His regiment is
complete, well mounted, and full of zeal. Is it
because M. de Chartres is a Jacobin and the son of
M. d' Orleans that, he and his regiment are subjected
409
to such annoyance ? If it is done to gratify the
Tuileries it is a sure way, and it ought to teach us
patriotic officers what we have to expect. Noailles
joins me in this protest. I am sure that it is through
some criminal intrigue that M. de Chartres and his
regiment have been sent away from Valenciennes,
and I entreat you most emphatically not to allow the
results of such a rascally trick to continue."
The General gained his point, and the Due de
Chartres was left at Valenciennes.
Not long after this the Due d' Orleans came in
person to see Biron, and thank him for the zeal with
which he had defended his son. He had with him his
two other boys, the Dues de Montpensier and de
Beaujolais. The Prince was so much touched by
the General's affection and attachment to his
children, and was, besides, so convinced that they
could have no more chivalrous example to follow,
that, not content with having confided to him M. de
Chartres, he also placed with him M. de Montpensier.
Biron took him as aide-de-camp.
At this time occurred an incident, unimportant
enough, but which had the advantage for Biron
of affording him some diversion and enabling
him to forget for a few days his uneasiness and
anxieties.
One day a phaeton arrived at the camp, drawn by
three horses, and driven by a woman of fine appear-
ance, in the most singular attire. She wore a blue
cloth habit with a tricolour sash, and a beaver hat
coquettishly tilted over one ear. She was asked
410
what she wanted. She wished to speak with General
Biron.
Who was this woman, and whence had she come ?
Her name was Suzanne Giroux, and she was born
in the Rue Saint-Denis, the child of rich merchants.
After marrying a lawyer at Soissons, named Quillet,
she had gone to live with H^rault de Sechelles. She
was a feather-brained, romantic creature, and the
fame of Lauzun's success among women had turned
her head. She made up her mind to see him, and
set out for Valenciennes ; but, thinking the name of
Quillefc much too vulgar for this gay prank, she
called herself Mme. de Morency.
Biron received the adventuress graciously ; he
could not but be touched by her taking this step.
She made an impression on him no doubt, with her
spendid fair hair and brilliant eyes ; for a few days
she seems to have reigned supreme. But Mme. de
Morency was very fond of riding, and would scour
the country, though the roads were by no means safe.
One day she went rather too far, and fell in with a
party of Uhlans who carried her off to the Austrian
camp. The young woman put a good face on ill-
fortune ; she was treated with the consideration
due to her beauty, and she was soon resigned to her
fate.^
1 The Austrian officers had a smart uniform made for her, of sky-
blue cloth, with pale canary-coloured facings ; neat little riding
boots, and a hat with a blue and yellow feather. Ere long she got
tired of her life ; she ran away and returned to the French camp,
but Biron had left. She went to Lille, met with endless adventures,
and became Dumouriez' mistress. At a later period she wrote
romances.
411
But to return to Biron. M. de Rochambeau's
health gave grounds for anxiety ; it was doubtful
whether he could rejoin the army, and Dumouriez
offered his place to Biron.
" He is an irreparable loss," Biron replies, " for
his intentions are pure, and his military talent rare ;
at any rate try to find as his successor a General whose
opinions and patriotism are above suspicion. I
confess that I do not feel that my experience is
sufficient for so important a post, and I fear it might
be too much for me. But I promise you, my good
and loyal friend, to serve most willingly under any
patriot General you may choose, even if he should be
my junior."
Dumouriez urged Biron to accept the command,
and he added : " My friendship has no voice in this
arrangement. I have consulted only the interest of
the country and public opinion.
" Friendship finds things easy when it is so com-
pletely at one with the public good. Let us always
feel thus, my fi^iend, and permit me to seize the
occasion to place in your hands the baton to which
your forefathers did honour. We have always
agreed in our political opinions, we have worked
together, we have together been rejected by the old
regime, and together we will establish the new."
Biron replied very nobly : —
" I am much touched, my friend, by your ambition
for me, but I cannot share it ; that I shall unvary-
ingly repeat. Dispose of me so long as you think I can
be of use, at whatever cost : nothing will repel me,
412
and anything will suit me. I am making much
greater sacrifices than is supposed to my daily
duties."
In fact he was so ill, so tired, so exhausted, that
he had but one wish ; to go to rest in Corsica.
Dumouriez' plans, so favourable to Biron's pros-
pects, were not carried out, for M. de Rochambeau
recovered and was able to return to the army.
By dint of care and effort the army of the North
was at last on a war footing, and fit to undertake a
campaign. The entrance of Brunswick on French
territory was to be the signal for hostilities. As soon
as it was reported, M. de Rochambeau was ordered
to act on the offensive. But he was not consulted
as to the conduct of military operations ; a plan
of campaign was forwarded to him from Paris
ready made, as it had been elaborated in Cabinet
Council.
Three corps d^armee were to march on April 28,
on Mons, Tournay and Furnes. The most im-
portant of the three would start for Mons, from
Valenciennes, under Biron's command. The second,
under Theobald Dillon, was to leave Lille on the same
day and attack Tournay. The third corps was to
march on Furnes. On the 29th, La Fayette was to
make for Namur.
Unfortunately the plan had not been kept secret ;
it was printed in all the public papers.
Rochambeau himself was to play no active part
at the beginning of hostilities ; he was ordered to
remain at Valenciennes to assemble all the troops left
413
behind, and to follow with them later, as a reserve.
He at once proceeded to carry out the orders he
had received ; he collected the forces and necessary
victuals.
Biron, meanwhile, received the most extraordinary
letter from Dumouriez. The Minister for Foreign
Affairs assured him that a revolution was imminent
in Brabant, and that the Austrians would desert in
a body at the sight of the French army. A few
bomb-shells would easily reduce Mons, its walls being
old and built of mud; from thence Biron could
march on Brussels, and as soon as he should enter
the Netherlands a deputation would meet him offer-
ing him money. From Brussels he could go on to
Antwerp, cross the Scheldt, take possession of
Ostend and Niewport. In short it was a triumphal
march rather than a campaign that Dumouriez
sketched for the General ; there would nowhere be
any resistance. The Belgians and the deserters would
in a very short time double the French forces in the
field.
Biron, trusting to Dumouriez^ statements, was
fired with enthusiasm. On April 25 he writes to
the Minister : —
" I received your orders the evening before last.
All will be ready by the evening of the 27th. We
shall carry no tents, nor camp fittings. I shall be at
Quievrain on the 28th, and before Mons on the
29th."
Unluckily all the information supplied by
Dumouriez was false. The Austrian army was fully
414
prepared ; the soldiers had no more idea of deserting
than the Belgians had of a revolution ; and the French
generals soon perceived how inadequate were their
forces to meet the army opposed to them. The dis-
appointment was crushing.
Theobald Dillon set out from Lille on the night of
the 28th-29th, to be before Tournay next morning.
On the way he was told that the garrison had come
out of the town to meet him. Having ascertained
that the hostile force was double his own, he made
his cavalry fall back on the artillery and infantry
which were in the rear. The cavalry manoeuvred
very badly, a few Austrian Hussars made their ap-
pearance, and the French cavalry, before a shot was
fired, took to their heels, carrying away the infantry ;
the whole column faced round in an utter and un-
exampled rout. Dillon tried to rally the fugitives ;
his own soldiers fired on him twice, dragged him
out of a barn where he took shelter, brought him
back to Lille bathed in blood, and butchered him in
the street.
The wretches who murdered him also hanged
his aide-de-camp, Chaumont, Berthois, colonel of
engineers, the venerable cure of the Madeleine, and
four Austrian prisoners.
Before leaving Valenciennes on his first expedition,
Biron had the consolation of receiving a few afi'ec-
tionate lines from Mme. de Coigny.
"It is a fortnight since I heard from you," she
writes, " and it grieves me too much for me to give
you, by my idleness, the same occasion for anxiety
415
and disappointment. I entreat you, give me as many
hours of ease as you can. Remember that instead of
pining in suspense, I should die of it under present
circumstances. I hear from Paris that you are
under orders to attack Mons. I hope you may have
all the success I can wish you.'*
Biron marched out on April 28, and occupied the
camp at Qui^vrain ; the Dues de Chartres and
de Montpensier were with him. On the 29th he took
possession of the village of Quievrain, and marched
on Mons in three columns. Being warned by his
scouts that the Austrians were in great numbers,
he advanced very cautiously. At last his vanguard
of Hussars met the Uhlans and the Tyrolese light
horse. Biron scattered them with his artillery, kill-
ing not a few. But on getting nearer he perceived
that the heights of Berteaumont, in front of Mons,
were held by a considerable force, well entrenched
and defended by batteries ; the position was in
fact almost impregnable. On the other hand his
own troops were fatigued by a long march, and
faint with heat : it was folly to think of attacking
fresh troops. He therefore decided to let them
rest, and wait for news from Mons.
This state of aiFairs was so unlike what Dumouriez
had led him to expect that he could hardly believe
his eyes. " I find the whole country hostile to us,"
he writes dejectedly ; " not a word have I heard of any
patriot, not one has joined us, not a deserter has come
over to us. " Meanwhile musketry fire was exchanged
on both sides, without much harm being done.
416
On a sudden came despatches from M. de Rocham-
beau, announcing tlie disaster at Tournay and the
horrible scenes that had ensued. What was to be
done ? To attack the enemy was certain destruction.
Should he at once beat a retreat ? The troops were
exhausted with fatigue and hunger ; oppressed by
the sultry weather, the men had thrown away the
food they carried, and had now nothing to eat. The
horses, too, had no provender. A retreat during
the night in such a condition, and under the eye
of an alert and very superior enemy, seemed the
height of imprudence. Biron determined on giving
his men a few hours' rest.
Suddenly, at about ten at night, and no one knew
how, a rumour arose that the Austrian cavalry had
surprised the camp. The 5th and 6th regiments
of Dragoons mounted in all haste and rode off at a
gallop by the road to Valenciennes, shouting : " We
are betrayed." Biron leapt on his horse and rode
after the fugitives. The weather was brilliant, it
was a fine moonlight night, but the air was thick
with dense clouds of dust thrown up by the galloping
horses. There was something weird about this race ;
nothing was to be seen, no one knew what was
happening ; the rush bore them on. At last, by
superhuman efforts, at the end of a league, Biron
made himself heard and then obeyed. He cried
shame on his men for their cowardice, and brought
back the two regiments to the camp, with hardly any
missing.
The handful of fugitives who could not be called
417 E e
back reached Valenciennes, still at a wild pace ; of
course they reported that the army had been
betrayed, and even said that Biron had deserted.
On May 3, at daybreak, the army began to retire.
The Due de Biron had entrusted the command of
his rear-guard to the Vicomte de Rochambeau, the
Marechal's son. This zealous and active officer
displayed equal courage and intelligence in this
deplorable retreat, and Biron, in his official report,
did him handsome justice.
At last they reached Quievrain without having
been attacked. There Biron met the troops which
the Marechal de Rochambeau, on hearing the report
of the fugitives, had sent forward in all haste to his
assistance.
The Austrian Uhlans were, however, at their heels,
and harassing them. They were forced to evacuate
Quievrain. In vain did Biron achieve prodigies of
valour, in vain he tried to put heart into his troops
and to recapture the place ; he found none to follow
him but the brave 49th Regiment. With this force
he did in fact get possession of it, but he could not
hold it, and was obliged to abandon the camp and
return to Valenciennes.
Then began the most fearful rout. All fled pell-
mell, infantry, cavalry and artillery ; the roads were
strewn with guns, swords and knapsacks. More than
sixty men died of fatigue and fear ; some who were
suffering from burning thirst drank at filthy pools
and lay down to die. Camp-furniture, waggons,
and several field-pieces were abandoned. The men
418
poured into Valenciennes and crowded the town ;
then the bridges were raised; not a man would
go beyond the shelter afforded by the walls.
In the midst of this disaster Biron escaped the
greatest dangers. He behaved with real heroism,
and escaped Dillon's wretched fate by a miracle.
The Marechal de Rochambeau had moved up with
all his cavalry to the heights of Saint- Sauve, to clear
the way for the retreat. The town was thus empty
of troops under discipline, and there was the greatest
risk that what had happened at Lille might recur at
Valenciennes. Biron did not for an instant hesitate.
'^I thought it my duty," he said, "to use the
remainder of my force to hinder worse disasters, and
not to evade the justice or the anger of the populace
and the soldiery, whose fury was wholly directed
against the General officers."
In the midst of this fierce excitement, and at the risk
of a thousand deaths from his maddened and rebel-
lious men, Biron went alone, on foot, to the Town Hall
to make an effort with the principal authorities to re-
store order and clear the town out. The hapless com-
mander, in the midst of this catastrophe, had the con-
solation of receiving every mark of the highest esteem
from the residents ; even the troops, fascinated and
impressed by his cool courage, at last submitted and
obeyed his commands. He succeeded in reorganizing
the regiments and marching them out of the town.
In his official report Biron speaks of his own share
in the business with wonderful modesty, but he
forgets none of the officers working under his orders ;
419 E e 2
he praises the courage and intelligence of MM. de
Beauharnais, de Foissac, du Pontavice, de Pressac,
and others. Nor does he forget the sons of his
friend, the Due d'Orleans. " MM. de Chartres and de
Montpensier," he says, " marched with me as volun-
teers and have stood fire for the first time and again,
in the calmest and most creditable manner." The
report ends with this sentence, so sad and so simple,
in which we feel the keen emotion which must have
racked the luckless general : "I have nothing to
blame myself for. I do not think that anyone can
attack my conduct. If it gives rise to the smallest
suspicion of wrong-doing, I would urgently beg
to be tried by court-martial ; and at any rate I must
decline to serve, unless as a private soldier so long
as my country is in danger."
Having witnessed the sad end of two columns of
the army, let us now see what had happened to
the third. It had set out from Dunkirk on the
morning of April 26, and entered Fumes without
opposition. But on hearing of the disastrous scenes
at Tournay it had retreated and returned to Dun-
kirk.
As to La Fayette, who was at Givet, ready to
march on Namur and Liege, on receiving the news
from the north he gave up all idea of moving at all.
The rout at Tournay and at Mons had a fatal
effect in deceiving all Europe as to the qualities of
the French army. It was supposed that it would at
any time go to pieces at the first show of fight, and
it was loudly said that postillions' whips would be
420
enough to conquer the famous soldiers of the Revo-
lution.^
Dumouriez, furious at the failure of the scheme he
had devised, at once cast the responsibility on those
who had merely obeyed his orders. He wrote to
Biron that they had marched out like madmen, and
returned no better.
'^To this I cannot agree," Biron very plainly
replies, " for we marched out in the best order and
took up a good position. Even the enemy does us
that justice. As to the retreat from Quievrain, I do
not think it could have been done with greater
honour. You say I cast our misfortunes on you.
My conduct would seem to prove the contrary ; but
I ought not to conceal from you that you have been
grossly, scandalously deceived as to the frame of
mind of the Brabant people, who are unanimously
hostile to us; this we have proof of every
day."
A few days after the deplorable failure at Mons,
Biron had from Mme. de Coigny a letter overflowing
with agitation and aifection ; this was a real comfort
to him in the midst of the misfortunes crowding on
him. It showed him that he was not alone in the
world, but that the woman whom he had loved
1 It is a curious fact that national feeling was often as strong at
Coblentz as in Paris. It is said that after Biron's check at Mons,
old noblemen were seen there shedding tears over the reverses
of their revolutionary fellow-countrymen. The idea of their native
land was not a dead letter in the heart of the emigres. M.
d'Haussonville says that after a meeting of outposts under a flag of
truce, some emigres deserted to join Pichegru, unable to resist the
attraction of the French camp.
421
80 much was faithful to him in evil as well as in
happy days.
"May 7, 1792.
" I am crazed with anxiety. What is this news
from Flanders I hear on all sides to-day ? That you
have been beaten, that M. Dillon has been massacred,
and that you had only just time to escape ? Good
heavens! What scenes of horror are these that
await us, and in what cruel torments I shall pass the
time while this dreadful war lasts ! For pity's sake
send me news of you by every post, if only by a
servant's writing. I want to hear regularly or I shall
die of alarms. I assure you it is quite enough to
have to live on them. And what is this mutiny
that has broken out in your army? What can
occasion this cowardice in souls whose natural cry is
' Liberty or death ! ' How is it possible now to
doubt that the degradation of servitude forms a
better bond of union than the enthusiasm of freedom ?
And how can I help being terrified when I see one I
love exposed to the danger of dying by the hand of
the very men he is defending ?
" Farewell, never have I suffered so cruelly on
your account, never loved you so dearly. Everyone
here wishes you well, as much as they wish your
cause ill. And really, to be just, it defends itself but
badly."
After the disaster at Mons, M. de Rochambeau
resigned his command in writing to the King. He
declared that he could not control an army of which
422
Dumouriez insisted on moving all the pieces from his
council chamber, without regard to his warnings.
The Marechal received permission to retire, and
Biron was named as his successor. It had at once
been understood that the Due was in no way re-
sponsible for the disastrous events that had happened,
but that, on the contrary, he had shown admirable
courage and rare qualities during the retreat.
Biron at once wrote to forefend the honour that
was about to be done him. With rare nobleness of
character he not only refused the appointment
offered to him, but sang the praises of the Marechal,
and begged that he might be retained in office for
the sake of the army. He wrote to Dumouriez,
May 11, "I have never had any special cause to be
grateful to the Marechal, either in America or here.
He has never shown any confidence in me but
when he could not help himself. I have often been
of use to him, and he has never reported of me to
my advantage, nor has he ever said an obliging
word to me, though working me to the utmost. And
it is because I am incapable of any personal con-
siderations that I repeat that he is of all your Generals
the one who best understands the defence of a country,
and who can most advantageously restore a little
order and discipline in an army which he knows."
At the same time he wrote no less explicitly to
the Minister of War. This letter was read to the
Assembly at the sitting of Thursday, May 10 :
^' My honour requires me to declare to you positively
that the army of the North may be considered as lost
423
if M. le G^n^ral de Rochambeau retires ; that a very
large number of distinguished officers, who are the
most useful on service, are fully determined to leave the
army, and that thus it will be in such a state that if
it is attacked it may be regarded as destroyed. I can
get myself killed as a soldier, but less than any other
can I undertake the immense responsibility of an
interim command, at a time when the most disastrous
events may take place. I will go through the cam-
paign under Rochambeau' s orders. I have it at
heart to prove to him once more that the way in
which my superiors treat me has no effect what-
ever on my mode of serving, and that he is mistaken
in proclaiming that we have both lost the confidence
of the troops.*'^
The Chevalier de Grave was replaced at the War
Office by Servan, and Liickner succeeded Rocham-
beau.
Biron's position became more alarming every day.
Not only had he to make head against undisciplined
troops, embittered by reverses and wrought upon by
^ After the affair at Quievrain M. Bei'gnot made a great speecli
in the Assembly. " You shuddered," said he, " at what took place
at Lille, and you will shudder much more when I tell you that,
at your door, sanguinary instructions are being distributed to the
people proposing to murder your generals. I have the pixx)f in
my hand. It is a libel, signed Marat, in which is this passage :
' More than six months ago I predicted that our generals, all
humble Court servants, would betray the Nation, that they woidd
give up the frontier. My hope is that the ar-my will open its eyes,
and feel that its first duty is to massacre its leaders.' Look at
Lille and you will see this frightful theory put into practice. We
are to blame for not having suppressed it sooner. If we want to
know who are the mortal enemies of the country, there they are !
The false friends of the people who preach maxims and distribute
papers dipped in blood."
424
the revolutionary spirit ; he was also the object of
treachery from his enemies, and the most pre-
posterous accusations. This painful state of things
is the theme of Mme. de Coigny's letters.
" Your situation is killing me with impatience and
anxiety," she writes, May 25. "I fear your enemies
as much as I scorn them. This is enough to tell
you the alarms they cause me about you. Believe me,
and distrust their stratagems even more than those of
General Beaulieu and Co." ^
Biron met everything with a brave face ; nothing
crushed him, nothing could exhaust his indomitable
energy. But he was ill, his health was wrecked ;
he asked for some other appointment, urging that he
must come to Paris to defend himself against the
accusations brought against him.
Meanwhile, the news from Paris was daily more
alarming. On June 20, the suburbs had risen
and invaded the Tuileries, and the King had been
compelled to put on the red cap of liberty.
Mme. de Coigny writes to Biron : —
"July 18.
" Well, what have public aiFairs come to ? Are
they still tending no less shamefully than certainly
to an utter fall ? I confess I believe it as surely as I
fear it. The cowardly and savage behaviour of the
army can lead only to reverses and crimes. If
only they spare you in their implacable suspicious-
ness !
" Dear Heaven ! How thankful I should be to see
^ The Austrian General.
you patriotically and honourably safe out of this
labyrinth of danger and perfidy. Ah ! I assure you
that public affairs trouble me very little in com-
parison with that private interest, and that * Salvum
fac legem et regem ' is much neglected in my prayers.
" Only grant this, addressed to you — write to
me regularly, or rather, let me hear of you, for that
is what T mean. Remember, that my soul is so
wholly in you that I feel nothing but anguish and
apprehension when it is not reassured about you.
" Adieu ! love me as much as I think of you, that
s to say always and tenderly."
At last, at the beginning of July, Biron was notified
of the transfer he had requested. He was appointed
Commander-in-c]ii'?f of the army of the Rhine.
Alsace asked to have him, as being the only general
officer whose civil and military qualifications could
make up for the loss of General Luckner. He set
out at once, only passed through Paris, and hastened
to Strasbourg, the headquarters of his new command.
420
CHAPTER XXVII.
1792.
Biron at Strasbourg — August 10 — Letters from Mme. de Coigny
and Mme. de Buffon.
BiRON joined the army of the Rhine on July 18 ; on
the 28th he took the oaths and the command. He
had with him as generals in command Victor de
Broglie, de La Morliere, de Custine, and others.
Marechal de Liickner, who was to have taken
Rochambeau's place with the army of the North, was
sent instead to command the Central army. La
Fayette was sent to the North.
The army of the Rhine, of which Biron now
assumed the supreme command, was in a most un-
satisfactory condition. His first letters to the Minister
are heartbroken in tone. All was wrong in every
department : there were no generals, no superior
officers, no subalterns ; no engineers, gunners or
sappers. Tents were lacking, cooking pots, cans,
muskets, field-pieces, munitions, tools — everything.
No one paid any heed to duty, or thought of any-
thing but jollifications in honour of the new regime.
" And it is not with addresses, petitions, holiday-
427
making and songs that we can meet veteran troops,
well-disciplined, trained in tactics, and commanded
by capital officers," writes Biron sternly. The force
was a good one, nevertheless, but the men had no
confidence in their leaders ; and who could wonder
who saw what went on ?
*' I cannot speak too highly of the men,", wrote
Biron. *^ They are full of ardour and the most
estimable patriotism, ready to undertake anything
under leaders whose principles they can trust. They
have been so constantly betrayed or deceived by the
officers in command, whom they see daily deserting
to the enemy, that their distrust is very natural."
As to the National Volunteers, the General
expresses his opinion of them very plainly : '' They
are capital men, but nine-tenths of them when they
join are absolutely bare, without weapons, equipments
or clothes of any description. They are dressed in
such a scanty fashion that it would be cruel, and
impossible, to make them serve in the winter season.
They are devoid of all training or knowledge of their
drill, and when we have found arms for them they
have to be taught to use them in a way that will not
be a danger to their comrades."
The officers were appointed by election by the men.
" This system," writes the General, "is destructive of
all respect for superiors, and of all firm hold over the
men. The officers rarely meet with proper con-
sideration from their troops, and are scarcely ever
obeyed."
After writing at great length about the forces,
428
Biron praises some of the officers about him — Custine,
Kellermann, Sheldon, and Victor de Broglie. Un-
luckily the staiF was very ill-composed. " I never
saw one/' says the Due, '' less deserving of confidence
either in its principles or its talent. With the
exception of three or four officers, the rest are mere
intriguers, and of no good at all."
While Biron was endeavouring to organize his army
serious events were happening in Paris.
On August 10 the revolutionary army marched
on the Tuileries, and in a few hours the throne
which had stood for ten centuries was in the dust.
The King and Royal Family were prisoners in the
Temple.
At the first news of this fearful catastrophe Mme.
de Coigny, who supposed Biron to be still at Valen-
ciennes, and who feared for his life, wrote to him : —
"August 17, 1792.
" My care for you is the soul of my life, so you
need no more thank me for loving you than for living.
But have pity on my anxiety, to which this tender
feeling leaves me a prey. My spirit was really
frozen with horror and my mind stunned with fears
at the events I have just heard of. As you may
suppose, it is their ulterior consequences chiefly
which distress and absorb me so completely.
"But for the public and individual massacres,
which are horrible to think of, as they are to see, the
direct consequences of the fall of the throne would
leave me very calm, and I should not regard the king-
429
dom as ruined because a king who was suspected of
plotting against it was no longer trusted to protect it.
But what does distress me, breaks my heart, terrifies
me beyond all exaggeration, is the effect this great
fall will have on the army. I fear lest its confidence
in its old head may lead to immediate treason, and
lest you should be the unhappy victim of such
cowardly and shocking perfidy.
" Send me, by every mail, one line — ' I love you
and am well ' — my heart asks for nothing more.
Heaven be my witness ! this is my first and last wish,
and I swear to God I will trouble Him with no other
petitions.
" Oh, Liberty ! what ills hast thou brought us for
the good thou hadst promised ! Good-bye, dear
heart, my soul and mind are wholly yours and in
you."
On the other hand, Mme. de Bufibn, who had
returned to Paris with the Due d'Orleans, wrote to
Biron some details of what was going on. She had
been his great friend for many years, and he felt
equal esteem and affection for her. It is impossible
not to be amazed at the young lady's view of things,
and the sportive tone she can assume at such a
moment : —
" The ' Knights of the poniard ' (so called) have had
the grief of seeing or of knowing that their burly
Chief is locked up in the Temple, where he now is
with his wife, his daughter, and the Prince Royal.
If we knew the King's temper we might take his
43^
indifference for courage. He walks in his garden
calculating how many square feet it measures this
way and that. He eats and drinks well, and plays
at ball with his son. The Queen, they say, is less
composed.
"The Court conspiracy was vile and clumsy, as
usual. It must be owned that we have a protecting
star, and that, with plenty of money, plenty of
cunning, and plenty of means, they have always
hurried on their schemes in such a way that the
success they expected has always been ours. They
say that four thousand persons more or less have
been arrested and compromised in this disastrous
business. The guillotine begins to-morrow on the
Carrousel, and the first, they say, are to be M. de
Poix and M. de La Porte.
" In the midst of all these arrests Paris lis calm for
those who do not intrigue. Not a lady is to be seen
in the streets. I, however, drive about with my
coachman whose hat tickles the street lamps.
" I went to the opera last night. The linkmen ^
were at my sole service. I hadjthe vestibule to
myself, and Eoland, my servant, paced the passage in
solitude. The theatre, however, was full.
" You can read in the papers the things I do not
mention. Everyone runs after M. de La Fayette.
That general's trickery sufBciently^shows -the favour
of the most honest and least ambitious of citizens :
our friend Philippe.^
^ Les ahoyeurs — " the barkers." Men employed by the opera to
call coaches and footmen.
The Due d' Orleans.
431
" I will cease my chatter. I have kept my
promise. With you it is a pleasure. I swore long
ago, and for two, friendship and gratitude towards
you, and the warmest interest. I wish you
happiness, success, health and wealth. C.B.
" I am perfectly well. I hope great things from
this crisis for my friend's happiness and health. He
is not mentioned, even in praise. That is a good
thing. His conduct seems to me perfect, and I hope
that some day he may be appreciated. All his
ungrateful friends are in painful straits ; some indeed
have been so base as to try to cling to him. We are
very kind, but we are not fools."
Biron had heard by August 13 of the events
of the 10th. He wrote to Custine, quartered at
Landau : —
" I feel sure I am not mistaken, my dear general,
in the belief that we shall both remain immovable
at our post, and shall not abandon our country to
the invasion of foreign despots."
Custine immediately replied that he shared these
sentiments.
The events of August 10 disturbed many
consciences, and put the officers on duty with the
forces in a very cruel dilemma. Hitherto, however
ominous and threatening events had been in Paris,
the army had still been the King's army, and the
nobles had still been able to serve and yet remain
faithful to their sovereign. After August 10 this
was no longer the case. The deposition of Louis
XVI. was an accomplished fact ; the deposition of
432
the King who, in the eyes of the nobility, symbolized
the idea of Country. If they continued to hold
their military rank under the new rule, they would
be false to their birth, to their past, to the convictions
of their lifetime.
What must be said to explain the decision of
Biron and those who, like him, continued to serve
under the Revolution, is that the fidelity to the
King which, for centuries, had been the sole duty
of the nobles, and, to them, filled the place of
patriotism and honour, had during the last few years
been rudely shocked. The idea of patriotism, on the
contrary, which until this period had remained in an
almost embryonic state, had just rapidly developed
and struck deep root ; in a few months the feeling
had become such a living power that it was stirring
the whole land of France. Biron, like many others,
had breathed this new and generous air which bore
almost every Frenchman to the endangered frontiers ;
he forgot the King, the monarchy, and past
traditions ; and believing that his only duty
henceforth was to his country, he continued to hold
his command.
The events of August 10 had, of course, pro-
duced a great commotion in the army of the
Rhine. Biron maintained order by the ascendency
his rectitude and courage always gave him over the
minds of his men. On the 1 1th, the National Assembly,
not altogether free from uneasiness as to what might
ensue, had thought it well to send commissioners to
the forces to ascertain the temper of the troops.
433 F f
Camot, Coustard, and Prieur were sent to the Rhine,
and reached Wissembourg, where Biron awaited
them, on Wednesday, August 15.
Next day the commissioners read to the army the
decree enacting the suspension of the King's func-
tions. All the corps proclaimed their devotion to
the Assembly with loud acclamations.
All the officers of the staff were called forward,
and each separately was asked this question : " Do
you submit simply and wholly to the decrees of the
National Assembly, or no ? " Biron was the first to
come forward and said : " Yes, without reservation."
Several officers, among them Victor de Broglie, tried
to evade answering ; others, like the Due d'Aiguillon
and Caffarelli du Falga, flew into abuse of the
Assembly. They were dismissed from their duties.
The commissioners praised Biron in the most un-
qualified terms for the part he had taken.
"We could not fail to see," they wrote to the
Convention, "that General Biron' s army is ex-
tensively worked by the ferment of dangerous
intrigues. General Biron alone preserves it against
disruption by the influence of his honesty, courage,
and unlimited devotion to the cause he has embraced,
and in which he has steadfastly walked without
deviating for an instant."
The commissioners, who were afraid that they
might be ill received at Strasbourg, sent Biron
forward to prepare for their reception. He started a
few days before they did. On Sunday, August 20,
they reviewed the garrison on the Place des Armes.
434
The decree against the King was again read and
received with great applause. The soldiers threw
their hats in the air, shouting : ^'Hurrah for the
nation without a king ! "
Next day Biron received a letter from Servan, the
War Minister, telling him that La Fayette had
emigrated and that Dumouriez held his command.
Biron, whose health was still precarious, and who
could never bear to be alone, had with him at
Strasbourg a certain Mademoiselle Laurent, who
devoted herself to him and served him as housekeeper
and nurse : she was useful to him in many ways, and
made no claims on his fidelity and affection. While
he was doing his utmost to put the army of the
Rhine in a fit state to take the field, he received a
most unexpected visitor who revived many delightful
reminiscences. One day, sitting in his office, he saw
an elegant lady come in who threw her arms round
his neck before he had time to recognize her. It was
^ilia, Nigretta, the charming Duchesse de Fleury,
the divinity of Montrouge. For three weeks the
flighty lady favoured him with her company; but
Mme. de Fleury liked nothing for long, and one fine
morning she flew ofi* again.
Some time after she wrote to him from London : —
'' December, 1792.
" My dear friend, I am still your Nigretta. . . .
Write to me of all your disasters and your successes ;
both will be of interest to me, poisoned only by the
painfulness of your position. I have only time to
435 I' f 2
say Good-bye, Nigretta's friend ! Your sentiments
will always be the joy of my life, and I constantly
please myself by repeating : ^ He is honest, he is
true, he is my friend.'
" P.S. — My address : M. Hermann Home, Frederick
Place, Old Jewry, London."
In September the weather became frightful.
Incessant torrents of rain made residence in camp
quite dreadful ; it was literally living in mud :
" You might think that the cataracts of heaven were
opened," writes Custine.
The Prussians, meanwhile, had come into France.
Dumouriez hastened up from Valenciennes ; Keller-
mann came out of Metz to check the invasion on the
plains of Champagne. As a result of these move-
ments Biron was forced to remain inactive ; Keller-
mann's move had uncovered his left flank, and he was
reduced to observing the Austrian army. But the
audacity of the emigres serving with the enemy
came to Biron' s aid. They persuaded the Austrian
generals to believe that the volunteer corps assembled
on the Rhine were of no account, and that they
might without danger divert the greater part of the
forces at their disposal to march on Thionville, which
had stood out long against a tedious siege. Thus
the Palatinate was ill defended.
Considerable stores were lying at Spires. Custine,
in command of the van, requested Biron's authority
to attack the town, and obtained it. On September
V.O the French force appeared before Spires. The
436
German garrison made a brave defence, but inferiority
of numbers compelled it to retire. Two days later
Worms surrendered to the French. Custine levied
heavy tribute from the inhabitants, and especially
the priesthood.
These rapid and profitable successes filled Paris
and the Convention with joy. The executive at
once proclaimed Custine — whose corps had been but
a detachment from B iron's army — independent of
control, and the title of Commander-in-chief was
forthwith despatched to the fortunate leader. At.
the same time the Minister of War instructed Biron
to place his troops under Custine's orders.
On receipt of this despatch, Biron wrote very
handsomely to his former subordinate officer : —
^•' Strasbourg, November 9, 1792.
'' Year I. of the Republic.
" I am sending you, my friend, a copy of a letter I
have just received from the Minister. It will show
you that all the troops of the army that was under
my command are at your orders ; any you may send
me shall be promptly obeyed. I assure you solemnly
that this arrangement of the Minister's occasions.
me no personal vexation, and that anything I can
do to contribute with you to the success of the
Republican armies will never be otherwise than
convenient or agreeable to me.'*
Biron's magnanimous conduct won him honour
with the Convention and the universal approbation
of the Assembly and of the people.
437
Custine, following up his success, advanced across
the country which he conquered till he reached
Mayence, of which he took possession, as well as of
Frankfort. We can follow him no further in his
brilliant career, which was so soon followed by such
disastrous results.
The Convention, considering that Biron, in conse-
quence of the new arrangements, was left in a
command quite unworthy of his merit and military
capacities, decided on moving him from the Rhine
and giving him the command of the forces in the
Mps, where serious events were pending. The
General received these orders in the month of
November, 1792 ; he took leave sadly of his friends
and his troops, and before going to Nice went to
Paris to consult with the Minister of War.
During the last months of his stay at Strasbourg,
]>iron, who for the last fifteen years had had no
communication whatever with his wife, was required
to intervene to protect her against the decrees of
the Convention against the emigres. This he did
with the dignified generosity that marked all his
actions.
The Duchesse de Biron, from the very beginning
of the Revolution, had not cared to remain in France,
and we have already seen that she sought refuge and
a home abroad, either alone or with friends. After
paying several visits to England, in 1791 she had
set out for Switzerland ; and established herself at
Lausanne with her aunt, Mme. de Boufflers.
In 1782 the decrees of the Assembly against the
438
emigres terrified her ; she saw her property
sequestrated, and her lands sold ; to attempt to
save what was left of her fortune, she bravely re-
solved to return to France.
She wrote to her first cousin, the Duchesse de
Castries : —
"Lausanne, March 28, 1792.
" I will write you only a word, my dear cousin,
not knowing whether it will ever reach you. I
address it to OfFenbur^f^ and take my chance, having
heard that you left with M. de Guines to go to Mme.
de Juigne, about whom you were uneasy. I want
to tell you that I share your anxiety, and to beg
you to give me news of her. Write to me in such a
way as that your answer may be sent on to me in
France without any ill-efi*ects for you. The news I
received yesterday has brought me to a decision.
Women are to suffer the rigour of the law of
sequestration. The duration of this anarchy is so
impossible to foresee, our fate depending on the first
comer, be he what he may, that it is impossible
to discern the end or when it may come ; so
I have made up my mind to go back. Though
creditor's rights are allowed for in the decrees, at the
time of bankruptcy, they will be no better treated
than the creditors of the State, and my mother would
be left penniless. Then it is impossible to pay my
people in France and satisfy the persons pensioned
by Mme. de Luxembourg, who trusted to my word !
I am going, in despair ; still, I am going, since every-
thing commands it."
439
Mme. de Biron returned to Paris, but she did
not stay long. After trying to arrange her business
matters as well as possible, on August 10 she took
fright and fled from the capital in a real attack of
high fever ; through endless dangers and fatigues
she reached England, still pursued by visions of the
scenes that had drenched Paris with blood, and in a
state of delirious excitement. After a few days of
quiet and rest she recovered. She spent some time
with the Duke of Richmond, and she then settled in
the town of Richmond-on-Thames, the favourite
residence of French ladies in exile ; there she lived
on intimate terms with Mme. de Cambis.
Out of danger, and her fever cured, the poor
woman understood how rash her conduct had been.
Again she was on the list of emigres, and her
possessions seized ; and to her woe, at the end of
two months she made up her mind to quit the safe
and peaceful refuge where she had lived undisturbed
to go again to France. Biron had been kept in-
formed by friends of his wife's coming and going,
and had known of her flight to England. As soon
as he heard of her return to Paris he was alarmed for
her ; he thought she would be treated as an
emigree, and at the risk of compromising himself
very seriously, he wrote to the President of the
Convention the following letter, a letter somewhat
rhetorical in style, but full of dignity, in which he
did not hesitate to take the part of the woman who
bore his name : —
440
"Strasbourg, November 18, 1792.
" Year I. of the Republic.
" Citizen President, I venture to ask you with the
utmost urgency to lay before the National Conven-
tion the subjoined appeal : —
" A faithful soldier of the Republic dares entreat
the representatives of the people to take into con-
sideration the frightful position of a woman whom
a moment of delirium^ as she can prove by witnesses,
has exposed to the risk of being outcast from the
bosom of her country. Citizens, that woman is my
wife. Living separate and far from her for the last
fifteen years, I feel now for the first time, with
painful remorse, that, but for the distance set between
us by circumstances, this woman, trusting and com-
posed, proud perhaps of her husband's patriotism,
and at any rate unfortunate rather than guilty,
would never have deserved to be visited with the
severity of the law. It is the part of a nation to be
generous rather than severe, to forgive a woman's
weakness rather than to punish it. Dreadful in its
struggles and judgments for the maintenance of
liberty, it is indulgent whenever it may be. Citizens,
I appeal to your generosity. Destined, as I hope I
am, to bear your arms and carry liberty into
neighbouring countries, no interest on earth can
induce me to forsake the honourable post you have
entrusted to me. I therefore have a right to say,
without giving myself any choice : ' Citizens, let
one of you come forward and be my wife's defender
441
since I cannot defend her myself.' This right I
claim and exercise.
" Citizen and General on service,
" BiRON.'*
The letter was listened to in silence, and the
Assembly proceeded to the order of the day.
Unfortunately, in trying to do too well Biron
committed a great imprudence. Mme. de Biron's
mysterious and sudden departure for England had
been known to few ; her return was as little noticed,
and by attracting the attention of persons in
authority to her conduct she was exposed to perils
of which the confiscation of her property might be
the least. To this eiFect Mme. de Biron wrote shortly
after to M. de Gontaut ; while doing justice to the
chivalrous feeling which prompted her husband's
action, she did not conceal the fact that it might
result in serious annoyance : —
" November, 1792.
" I was much touched by the desire shoAvn by M.
de Biron to be of service to me. I beg you to ex-
press my gratitude to him. His letter showed how
much pains he had taken to ensure success ; but, not
being in Paris, and not knowing the excessive severity
of the Assembly, he could not foresee that the word
' indulgence ' would produce an effect contrary to
that he wished, and would make him fail of his end.
" I have not hitherto been in any way annoyed in
Paris, but M. de Biron's letter, printed in the public
papers, became known at Lyons, and has excited ill-
442
feeling on my estate of Neuville, which is in that
department. Till then no one had heard of my short
absence, and no one had mentioned my certificate of
residence. Now I am asked for one, and as I cannot
give it in consequence of that two months' absence, I
am obliged to invent all sorts of excuses to evade it.
I have said that at the end of the summer I travelled
through some provincial towns, which makes it
difficult to collect certificates from each.
I am constantly in a fright lest they should lose
patience and confiscate my land. In this state of
affairs, as they know I am in Paris, and have not
heard of my journey to England, it is important for me
that M. de Biron should not inform them. If, on his
way to Lyons to join the army of the South, he should
be questioned as to his letter to the Convention, he
will be doing me a service by replying that he was
mistaken as to my position : that he had thought I
was absent ; that I have been in Paris for some time
and am not open to the charge of emigration. This
testimony may mitigate the unfavourable impression
produced by his letter ; for M. de Biron, in command
of the army of the South, must have considerable
influence in the adjacent departments."
Mme. de Biron was not molested nor placed on the
list of emigres. We shall hear of her again.
Before following her husband to Paris, and thence
to join the army, we must speak for the last time of
Mme. de Coigny, the woman who for some years had
held undivided sway in his heart.
44
Since the touching letter she wrote to him after
the disasters of August 10, we have quoted no more
of her delightful letters. Was it that her correspon-
dence with Biron was at an end ? We do not think
so ; but unfortunately they were obliged to take
excessive precautions, and their letters have never
been found. It is certain that it would have been the
height of imprudence for a General of the Republican
army to correspond with an emigree and an outlaw ;
but they had too faithful a regard for each other, an
attachment too strong and too constant, for them to
make up their minds to hear nothing of each other.
They continued, no doubt, to exchange short notes,
more and more sad as events grew more gloomy, till
the day when Biron, being imprisoned, could no
longer keep up the correspondence.
444
CHAPTER XXVIII.
1793.
The trial of the King — The Army of Nice — ^Arrest of the Due
d' Orleans — Of the Due de Montpensier — Biron's distress of
mind — His generous eonduct — He is sent to join the army at
La Rochelle.
Before joining the army at Mce, Biron spent some
time in Paris, This stay was indispensable, to enable
him to settle his private aiFairs and to see the Ministers,
especially the Minister of War; he wished to take his
orders and exact instructions as to what was expected
of him.
He reached Paris in the early days of 1793. As he
had no residence now in the capital, he put up at the
Hotel Saint-Marc, Rue Saint-Marc. There he settled
himself, with the inevitable Mile. Laurent, who now
never left him.
Biron's first visit was to the Due d' Orleans and
Mme. de BufFon. After the first efiusion of feeling,
which was but natural after a long separation in such
times, the Prince told his friend of the terrible events
immediately in prospect. He was a member of the
Convention and inevitably dragged into the most
momentous decisions. Blinded by evil counsel, and
445
unable now to check himself in the path he had entered
on, he had rushed headlong forward. It was with
grief that Biron found him the prey of the Jacobins.^
As soon as Biron was known to be in Paris, the
few friends he had left hastened to visit him. Among
them was Mrs. Elliott, of whom we have already spoken.
Biron knew her well, and she had a great regard for
him. They met frequently while he was there.
Some days before Louis XVI. 's fate was sealed
Biron went one day to call on this lady, and begged
her to tell his fortune. He, like many people at that
time, was, as we know, extremely superstitious ;
Mrs. Elliott had often told his fortune by the cards
before now, and he declared that her predictions had
been fulfilled. But on that day Mrs. Elliott was
not in the mood to exercise her talent ; her anxiety
concerning political events absorbed her entirely.
" Would to God," she exclaimed, " that you and the
Due d' Orleans had believed more firmly the things I
told you ! The King would have kept his crown,
and we should not have come to this pass." Then
alluding to the King's trial, she declared that " it was
the most abominable, cruel event ever heard of : that
the house where the Convention sat ought to be burnt
to the ground with the monsters who were in it, and
the King and Queen delivered from prison."
1 He liad not, however, lost his sense of honour. At the height
of the Revolution Mme. de Genlis asked him why he had left on
the shield over his drawing-room chimney-piece, and the others in
the house, his coat-of-arms — three fleur de Ijs — since such decora-
tions were forbidden by decree, and Jacobins were constantly
coming to his house. " I left them," replied the Piince, "because
it would be cowardly to remove them."
446
*^ I am deeply grieved at the King's trial," replied
Biron. " There are certainly some members of the
Convention who will vote for his death, but they are
not in the majority. The best thing that could happen
would be that they should vote for his seclusion until
affairs are settled. What is to me the greatest
comfort is to be sure that the Due d' Orleans will not
vote, as he had told me so."
" I have never made mention of this subject to
the Prince," said Mrs. Elliott, " but his abstention
does not seem to me enough. He ought to vote for
the King's deliverance."
" You must not count on that," replied the Due,
"as he fears that if the King were sent out of
France he would engage the Powers to invade
France, and that the Due d'Orleans and all his
friends would be lost beyond hope. All you can
expect of the Prince is that he should abstain from
voting."
Then, as the conversation went on, Biron expressed
a wish to meet M. d'Orleans at her house. " When
I see him at home or with Mme. de Buffon, he is so
much surrounded that it is impossible to talk to him,
and yet what serious and important subjects we
have to discuss."
" Very well," said the lady, " the Prince is coming
to call on me to-day. Return at two o'clock and
you win find him here."
At two o'clock Biron was punctual. The Due
d'Orleans presently arrived, and Mrs. Elliott, eager to
know his exact intentions, asked him at once what
447
he thought of the shocking trial that was going on.
" I hope," said she, " that you do not go near such
vile miscreants."
" I am obliged to go as I am a deputy," replied the
Prince.
" How can you sit and see a set of blackguards
who would dare insult him by asking him
questions ! " exclaimed the lady. ** I wish I had
been at the Convention, for I would have pulled oiF
both my shoes and have thrown them at the head
of the President and of Santerre for daring to insult
their King and Master." Mrs. Elliott was very warm
on the subject, and ended by saying to the Prince :
" I hope, Monseigneur, that you ^vill vote for the
King's deliverance."
^' Certainly," said he ironically, "and for my o^vn
death."
The Prince was furious, and Mrs. Elliott not less
exasperated. Biron did all he could to pacify them
both. ^* Compose yourself," he said to Mrs. Elliott,
**the Duke will not vote. The King has used him
very ill all his life ; but he is his cousin, and he will
feign illness to stay at home on Saturday, the day
of the Appel Nominal (voting by name) which is to
decide on the King's fate."
" Then, Monseigneur," said Mrs. Elliott, *^ I am
sure that you will not go to the Convention on
Saturday. Pray don't."
' The Prince replied that he had never intended to go,
and gave her his sacred word of honour that he
would not attend that day ; he added that, though
448
in his opinion the King had been guilty in forfeiting
his word to the nation, yet nothing should induce
him, being his relation, to vote against Louis XVI.
On this solemn assurance the young English lady
grew calmer, and it was possible to talk of less
exciting subjects. Then, a few minutes later, the
Prince, who seemed gloomy and anxious, rose and
withdrew. On Saturday morning Mrs. Elliott re-
ceived a note from Biron asking her to spend the
evening at his house to have earlier and more certain
news. She would meet his aide-de-camp, Rutaut,^
Mile. Laurent, and General Dumouriez. He assured
her of his firm hope that "things would be
softened."
Mrs. Elliott went accordingly to the Hotel Saint-
Marc, and there awaited news with Biron and his
friends. A list of the votes was brought them
every half-hour. It was soon impossible to mistake
their purport ; the votes demanding the King's
death steadily increased in number. But when, at
eight o'clock, they learnt that the Due d'Orleans had
taken his place at the meeting in spite of his
promises, Mrs. Elliott and Biron were agitated
beyond measure. Their excitement became con-
sternation when, at ten o'clock, the news came both
of the Prince's vote and of the King's sentence to
death. Biron was in the depths of despair ; Rutaut,
who had not emigrated out of affection for his
Rutant, Biron's aide-de-camp, had been attached to him since
July 22, 1792. Custine says he had given proof of the most
brilliant courage, the coolest intrepidity, the greatest nobleness, and
a rare intelligence.
449 G g
General, tore off his uniform in his rage ; all were
horror-stricken.
Mrs. Elliott only once again saw the Due
d' Orleans. Not long after the events just recorded,
she had taken refuge at Meudon, ill, distressed,
anxious to get away at any cost. She begged an
interview with the Prince, hoping that he might be
able to procure her a passport for England. When
she went to the Palais Royal she was received by
Romain, the Due's old valet, who had entered his
service on the day of the Prince's birth at Saint Cloud,
and had never left him. On seeing the visitor the
poor old man burst into tears. Presently the Due
came in all in black. Mrs. Elliott, greatly agitated,
was nearly fainting. The Prince asked her what
her trouble was.
" Your black coat," said she, " makes me remember
terrible events. You, I suppose, like me, are in
mourning for the King? "
He forced a smile and said : " Oh ! no. I am in
mourning for my father-in-law, the Due de Pen-
thievre."
" I suppose," said Mrs. Elliott, " that the King's
death hastened his, or perhaps your having voted for
it ? — but you, Monseigneur, like the poor King, will
perish on the scaffold."
" Good God ! What a situation you are in ! The
King has been tried, and he is no more ; I could not
prevent his death."
"But," said she, "you had promised that you
would not vote."
450
On this he rose. "This," he answered, "is a
distressing subject ; you cannot, you must not, judge
for me. I know my own situation. I could not
avoid doing what I have done. I am perhaps more
to be pitied than you can form an idea of. I am more
a slave of faction than anybody in France. But
let us drop the subject. Things are at their worst."
He then promised to do his utmost to procure her
a passport for England, but without concealing the
difficulties of the task.
" Ah ! England ! " he once sadly exclaimed. " I
wish that I had never left it. But now all is over.
I shall never see it again." And they took leave,
as it proved, for ever.^
Since coming to Paris, Biron had had several
interviews with Pache, the Minister of War. On the
occasion of their first interview Biron had reproached
him in strong terms for disorganizing the army of
the Rhine ; but Pache had thrown all the blame
on his subordinates, and the Ministers patriotism
had greatly struck the General; they ended on a
mutual good understanding. Biron was admitted
to the Council, and he then discovered that he was
in fact not appointed to any particular post. Would
he join the army at Nice or that on the western
coast ? Or would he return to the Rhine ? He might
take his choice. He replied, as usual, that he did
not wish to consult his own convenience or re-
pugnance ; he only asked to be employed where he
1 Journal of my Life during the French Revolution^ by Grace
Daliymple EUiott, p. 114 ff. JBentley, 1859.
451 G g 2
could be most useful. He was appointed to Nice, and
Pache promised him all he might ask for.
Before leaving Paris, Biron was called upon by
the Due d' Orleans, who urgently begged him to take
with him his son, M. de Montpensier. He had
already served under Biron's orders in the North ;
and since then, at Valmy and Jemappes, he had
shown brilliant courage. Biron was only too glad to
be of service to his friend d' Orleans, but would not
the young prince's presence be highly compromising ?
To avoid all blame on this score Biron went to
see Pache, to whom he submitted the case. The
Minister saw no objection to M. de Montpensier' s
accompanying the General to Nice, and it was agreed
that he should follow him thither as soon as possible.
While staying in Paris, Biron had endeavoured to
put his private affairs into some sort of order, but
they were so tangled, so complicated, that he himself
could not see daylight. In the cloud of false and
genuine bills in circulation under his signature
he could not tell one from another.^ Before leav-
ing, he placed his interests in the hands of M. de
1 The following note, which I owe to the obliging politeness of
M. de Charavay. confirms this statement, and reminds us of the
disaster in London : —
"Paris, January 20, 1793.
" Year II. of the Republic.
" I beg you, Monsieui', to be so good as to authorize M M . le
Mahe and le Chevalier to annul, if possible, those of the bills for
which I was arrested, and which are proved to be false by the
usual process of verification, and not to pay on them the sum of
176,141 francs 14, for which they have drawn on you, unless they
are condemned to do so by the tribunals.
** General Biron.
" To M. PeiTegaux."
452
I
Quevauvillers, who thenceforth was his man of
business.
A few days after the King was executed, Biron
set out for Nice. Though the Minister had urged
upon him to go forward as quickly as possible, he
joined the army only on February 10. The bad
state of the roads had made it impossible to travel
any faster.
We will sketch in a few words the condition of the
army of Italy, and the enemies it had to contend
with.
In 1792 the Executive Council had prepared to
attack the Pi^montese territory from two sides at
once. Montesquiou, in command of the army, was
to direct the movements ; he was to invade Savoy
from his camp of Cessieux, near Grenoble, while his
lieutenant, d'Anselme, commanding the division in
Le Var, was preparing to march into the district of
Nice.
On September 21, Montesquiou crossed the
Sardinian frontier, and on the 25th entered Chambery
in triumph. D'Anselme was not less successful.
Though the Pi^montese troops were far more
numerous, and amply provisioned, d'Anselme took
advantage of an extraordinary panic which seized
the hostile General, crossed the Var with a very
inferior force, and, September 29, marched into Nice
without a struggle. He there found a large quantity
of stores. D'Anselme' s men were of very inferior
quality, and he thought he could push his advantages
no further. He was thereupon accused of dilatori-
453
ness, incapacity, and malversation, and suspended
from his functions.
On December 15, the division of the Var was
promoted to be the Army of Italy, and General Brunet
placed in command pending General Biron's arrival.
In the interval the King of Sardinia had concluded
an alliance with the Emperor of Austria, and the
French army would now have to fight the Austro-
Sardinian forces, who were constantly being re-
inforced.
At this juncture an incident took place of no im-
portance beyond the interest of the names which
figure in it. At the end of 1792 two young men
who were at Hyeres, and dining in an inn, made the
acquaintance of an army surgeon, Des Genettes, on his
way to join his corps: these were Joseph and
Napoleon Buonaparte.
" Is it true, Monsieur," asked Napoleon, " that
d'Anselme is to be succeeded by Biron ? "
" I know it for certain," said Des Genettes.
" Well, then," said Napoleon to his brother, " he is
the Due de Lauzun, who served in Corsica in 1769.
We shall have a general of the right sort."
Throughout the end of December and the month
of January General Brunet did his utmost to
organize his army and get it into a state to take the
field ; but it was in the greatest disorder and lacked
every necessary. Biron, as we have seen, reached
headquarters at Nice on February 10, 1793. He
was fatigued by the journey, but obliged to set to
work without loss of time and keep his pledge to the
454
Ministers. His indignation was boundless when, the
very first day, he found that nothing of what had
been promised had been done. He wrote next day
to Pache : —
" It is due to my frankness, Citizen Minister, to
have without delay an explanation with you which
ought to be equally satisfactory to your honour and
my own.
" After our interviews at Paris I counted on
your most activa efforts to restore the army to a state
of efficiency ; its wretched condition in every par-
ticular it is impossible to exaggerate, and yet it will
probably have to be the first to fire a shot. We had
agreed together on a scheme of organization as the
first thing needful and indispensable to restore order ;
only your signature was needed to carry it into effect,
and after a whole month this plan of organization
has not yet reached the army.
" You have no doubt made some mistake ; for it
is not in your patriotism, nor in your wisdom, to let
an army lapse, by your delays, into a state of in-
capacity to serve the Republic, or to compel me to
cast on you a responsibility which it would be unjust
to throw upon me, by refusing — or sending too late —
what is indispensable to enable me to defend France
against the incursion of her enemies.
" I must tell you plainly that at this moment you
are compromising, in the most perilous manner, the
territory of Nice and the departments of Le Var, and
Bouches-du-Rhone, by the very least delay. In the
name of your love of liberty, look at what is going on
455
iround you, and do not do your country irreparable
injury by misplaced confidence.
" This letter, which I truly hope will not offend
you, and which, in spite of its severity, is a great proof
of my esteem, is not official, and will be known to no
one but yourself. Believe me, Citizen Minister, I
should be happier than I can express to owe you
gratitude for your service to the Republic, and to
assure you of my unalterable attachment."
The following day, the 12th, Biron, whose reputa-
tion as a " lady-killer " had heralded his approach, re-
ceived a love-letter from a lady of Sospello. But the
letter was more than a declaration : the lady, at the
risk of her life, informed the dashing General that
the town was in the occupation of the Austro-
Piemontese, who were to attack Nice, and she
promised to keep him informed of all the enemy's
movements. Biron did not hesitate an instant. He
decided to act on the offensive ; he sent General
Brunet to attack Sospello. The enemy, taken by
surprise, were repulsed with great loss, and the county
of Nice was entirely evacuated. In these expedi-
tions, planned very skilfully by Biron, and well
carried out by Generals Brunet and Dagobert, the
men had displayed the greatest courage.
But before attempting further operations it was
necessary to complete the organization of the troops,
and give some indispensable care to the various de-
tails of the service. The army lacked baggage-
waggons and beasts of draught or burthen. Stores
there were none either of clothes or of munitions ;
456
J
what little could be found was of inferior quality.
The state of the roads in the department of the Var
was such that transport was slow and difficult.
Biron devoted himself entirely to the reorganiza-
tion of the forces ; he was helped in this task by the
commissioners from the Convention, Gregoire and
Yagot. They were instructed to watch him very
narrowly, and conscientiously fulfilled this duty ; but
at the same time they seconded his efforts, and were
of the greatest use. He was also ably assisted by the
Due de Montpensier, who, as had been agreed, had
joined him without delay, with the rank of Lieutenant-
Colonel, Adjutant-general.
Biron welcomed the young man most warmly, and
treated him as though he had been his own son.
Not a day passed that he did not show him some
token of cordial attachment ; the Prince was a charm-
ing youth, full of liveliness and spirits, and he lived
on a footing of affectionate familiarity with his
General.
Early in May, the Due made a short excursion to
Toulon and Marseilles to soothe the excitement pre-
vailing there. An unfortunate expedition had been
attempted into Sardinia ; the Marseillais troops had
fled, and their behaviour, published in the General's
reports, had roused a terrible animosity against
them.
Biron had established himself at Nice in handsome
style ; he took three floors of a house belonging to
M. Paul de Saint-Pierre ; he occupied the second
floor, the offices and his despatch service filled the
457
other two. And of course he had not come alone ;
Mile. Laurent was with him and did the honours of
the house.
Des Genettes, whom we have mentioned, was
invited to dine with Biron, and he has left this
sketch of him : —
" He was really a man of the ancien regime^ what-
ever he might do to appear as if he belonged to the
new order of things.
" The Commander-in-chief, between forty and
forty-five years of age, had a most handsome and
noble presence, and, like his uncle, the late Mar^chal
de Biron, a most worthily deserved reputation for
bravery, loyalty and kindness. His politeness was
delicate and easy, and at his receptions he was atten-
tive to everybod)\ The lavishness of M. de Biron
was a result, no doubt, of the habits of his life, and
perhaps of the dissipations of his youth." The
general entertained a great deal, and was very popular
at Nice.
Although he lived in rather a grand style Biron was
not in a very brilliant pecuniary position. Of this
we have ample evidence in his correspondence with
his man of business. M. de Quevauvillers wrote,
February 23, 1793 :—
" M. Thomassin will agree to furnish the two
Lieutenant-General's uniforms you desire to have, on
condition of your paying for them as soon as you
receive the account for outlay and making, as you
wrote to me. The two uniforms will be ready early
in March. Find means of getting a place for your
458
porter, who goes about saying tliat you give employ-
ment to M. de Castries' people rather than to your
own.
" With regard to your affair in London, delay is
granted till the 16th of next month.
'' Your wine from Malta has not yet arrived.
" I never doubted your having a good reception,
Monseigneur, but a change of climate gave me fears
for your health : as you say nothing about it I
conclude it is good, and I most sincerely wish you
may long preserve it to enjoy the glory you are daily
gaining." ^
The next day comes another letter from Quevau-
villers, begging the General to give a certificate of
residence to Mme. de Bethune's son-in-law, M. de
Castellane, who wishes to serve under him. Then he
gives the following details with regard to the little
house at Montrouge, so dear to Biron, who must have
felt their purport keenly : ''I will do all that lies in
my power to save your house at Montrouge ; I will
try before I go to pay all the arrears of rent, and will
arrange for the settlement of it as it falls due during
my absence."
During his residence at Nice, Biron heard several
times from the famous Duchesse de Fleury, with
whom he had been so much in love. He had not
seen her since her flying visit to Strasbourg. Mme.
de Fleury had emigrated, and consequently found
herself outlawed by the decrees against all emigres.
In spite of this, her frivolous and capricious nature
1 National Archives, T 478.
459
would never allow her to keep quiet, and in January
1793 she was so rash as to return to France. How-
ever, she did not venture to go to Paris ; she took
refuge on her estate of Mareuil, near Montmort-en-
Brie, which had been her marriage portion. It was
a delightful place ; the gardens especially were beauti-
ful, if we may believe the Chevalier de I'lsle. Her
friendship with Biron was no doubt a strange one.
Nigi^etta had another lover now, and this, his happier
rival, having been arrested, it was to Biron that she
turned to procure his release. The idea was eccentric,
not to say audacious. Nigretta, however, explained
to her old friend in a rather involved effusion that
he should be neither astonished nor annoyed, that in
fact nothing could be more natural. By appealing
to the past and its tender associations she tried to
tone down her confidences, which probably would
not prove agreeable to Biron. It would seem that
these reminiscences did not touch him very deeply.
Whether her confessions displeased him, or whether
he did not care to keep up a correspondence with a
woman known to be under the ban of the law, he did
not reply. She wrote again, but still he kept silence.
At last, when he made up his mind to reply, it was
-with so much ill-humour that Nigretta was greatly
aggrieved. This tone, " without any cause whatever,"
was not to be borne, and she wrote to Biron : —
** The slightest taint of this kind is unendurable,
and I propose as a final test that you should return
my portrait and letters, and that the next time we
meet we assassinate ourselves.
460
" You are my dearest friend, and I cannot bear to
live on such terms. Let us put an end to this uncer-
tain and cross-grained state of things. Let us kill
ourselves and make an end of it, or let us love each
other tenderly without objections or constraint."
And at the same time she asks him to certify that
she had spent three weeks hidden at Strasbourg.
This was obviously to evade the law against the
emigres, and show that she had not quitted Repub-
lican soil since August 10. Finally, she begged her
old friend to lend her the house at Montrouge, and
ends a mad rhapsody with these words : —
" Farewell ! Remember that I love you before
you decide that we must cut our throats."
What answer Biron sent to this crazy charmer we
know not ; but it is certain that he declined to carry
any furfcher a correspondence which might com-
promise him so seriously.
While Biron was endeavouring to restore the
efficiency of the army of Italy, great events were
taking place in the North. Dumouriez abandoned his
army, accompanied by the Due de Chartres, and both
took refuge out of France.
The news produced a terrible ferment. The
National Assembly passed a decree declaring that all
the members of the Bourbon family were to be
arrested at once, as hostages to the Republic. The
Due d'Orleans was not spared any more than the
other members of his family.
The news of the manifesto of which he was the
object reached home when he was at dinner, tete-a-
461
tete with Monville, " a man of wit and pleasure," with
whom he was intimate. "Good God!" cried the
Prince, striking his forehead, " is it possible ? After
all the proofs of patriotism that I have given, after
all the sacrifices I have made, to aim such a decree
at me ! What ingratitude ! What a shame ! What
do you say to it, Monville ? "
" It is appalling, Monseigneur," replied Monville,
without disturbing himself, and finishing squeezing
the juice of a lemon over a sole. '* But what do
you expect ? They have got all they could get out
of your Highness, and they treat you as I treat this
lemon that I have squeezed dry." And Monville
flung the peel into the fire-place, coolly adding that
a sole must be eaten very hot.
In spite of his protests and appeals, the Due
d'Orleans was arrested and conveyed to the Abbaye
with his son, the Comte de Beaujolais, a boy of scarcely
eleven. But the Convention could not decide where
to imprison the Prince and his children ; they were
constantly afraid of a rescue. At last Marseilles was
proposed as a place of detention. Larevelliere-
Lepeaux protested against this selection, remarking
that Biron was in command at Nice and was
d'Orleans' intimate friend. Boyer-Fonfrede and
Marat then asked that the General should be re-
moved, but Danton undertook his defence and stood
surety for his patriotism.
The Due d'Orleans, the Due de Beaujolais, the
Duchesse de Bourbon, and the Prince de Conti were
taken to Marseilles and confined at first in the castle
462
of Notre-Dame de la Garde, and afterward in Fort
Saint-Jean.
Biron as yet knew nothing of all this, neither of
Dumouriez' treason, nor of the arrest of the Bour-
bons; when, on April 8, the commissioners, Gregoire
and Yagot, brought him a despatch marked urgent,
containing the order for the arrest of the Due de
Montpensier.
An hour later the young Prince came in to dine
with his General, as he did almost every day ; not
finding him in the drawing-room, he was going to-
wards his private room when the door was violently
thrown open and Biron appeared, his face bearing
traces of the most painful emotion. On seeing the
Prince he started ; then, controlling himself, he said
in an undertone : " Come in ; I want to speak to
you in private."
When they were alone he said : " You see me in
despair. I have fearful news to give you."
" Is my poor father murdered ? " cried the youth in
horror.
"No," said Biron, sadly. "It concerns you
alone."
"In that case I breathe again. But tell me,
General, what personal misfortune threatens me ? "
" I have just received the order to arrest you and
send you under safe escort to the prisons of the
Abbaye at Paris."
" But does the order apply to me alone ? "
" You alone. The rest of your family is not men-
tioned in it. Here is the order ; read it yourself."
463
The order was signed by the members of the Com-
mittee of Public Safety, and the Due de Montpensier
alone was named in it. " Well then, General, I am
your prisoner," said the young man almost cheerfully,
on finding that he only was implicated.
Biron^s eyes were full of tears, and he walked up
and down the room in the greatest agitation : '' Oh !
Do justice to my attachment," he exclaimed. " It is
sincere, it is boundless. What can I do ? Speak to
me frankly, on my knees I beseech you."
The General's position was critical. His intimacy
with the Due d'Orleans and the love he felt for his
son were too well known ; the least hesitation, the
faintest suspicion of backwardness, and he too would
be arrested.
The unhappy Biron anxiously wondered who could
have dealt this unexpected blow. " Have you
perhaps committed some indiscretion ? *' he asked
the Prince, " something which has prejudiced the
present authorities against you ? "
" No," replied the youth ; " they cannot of course
fail to know the feelings which animate me and
every honest man ; but they do me too much honour
if they are afraid of me."
" And do you think your life is in danger ? "
" It is impossible to believe it to be quite safe when
one falls into such hands."
" My position is awful," said Biron. ^^I would a
thousand times rather be shot through the head than
carry out such an order."
And the General wrung his hands in despair as he
464
thought of the duty before him, and the fate that
perhaps awaited the son of his best friend.
Suddenly a fear flashed through his mind : '' Tell
me, have you not in your rooms some compromising
papers, letters ? Quick ; do not lose a minute ; let
us go to your quarters to destroy them."
Biron and the Prince hurried off, but fate would
have it that they should meet the Commandant of
Nice, Colonel de la Barre, who already knew of the
decree condemning M. de Montpensier ; he thought
it his duty to accompany them. Happily he was a
very good fellow. " Very right," said he, "it is
worse than useless to give such people any hold over
us. Let us weed out the papers and be quick about
it."
The Prince, among other compromising letters, had
some from his brother, in which he expressed violent
disgust at the turn taken by the cause with which
they had become involved. This was more than
enough to destroy the young man. All were burnt.
Some minutes later the commissioners of the Con-
vention came in ; they carefully examined the room,
and set seals on the most insignificant papers — even
on blank paper.
Biron looked on at this search with " death in his
heart." When the officials had left he went up to
the Prince, clasped his hands, and then went out
sobbing, and in such haste that he left his hat and
gloves. The Prince, sending them after him, wrote
him a note repeating his assurances of the warmest
friendship, and telling him how deeply he felt the
465 H h
tokens of great attachment he had just received from
his General.
Biron was about to give the young man a far
greater proof of affection, which again shows the
heroic devotedness of this man who has so often been
calumniated and misimderstood. Before leaving the
Prince's room Biron had placed a sentry at the door.
At the risk of terrible consequences to himself, at the
risk of his life, he sent a man he could trust to tell
the Prince that the sentinel had no orders, that he
did not know the prisoner by sight, nor even that he
was on guard, and that nothing could be easier than
for him to escape. But the Due de Montpensier, on
mature reflection, refused to take advantage of the
opportunity offered to him. He feared lest he should
sacrifice to his own freedom the safety of all his rela-
tions in France, and he bravely awaited the course of
events.
He left Nice the same evening in charge of an
officer. On reaching Aix he was sent south again to
Marseilles, where he was imprisoned first at N6tre
Dame de la Garde, and then in Fort Saint- Jean.
Here his father and his brother soon joined him.
Biron still knew nothing of the reasons for the
arrest of the Due de Montpensier, when, on April
12 til, he received despatches from his friend. General
Valence, informing him that the commissioners of
the Convention of the army of the North had been
arrested, and leading him to expect Dumouriez'
defection. Biron made no move, but when the
decree came proscribing the commander-in-chief of
466
the army of the North he no longer hesitated : he
communicated to the commissioners at Nice the letter
from General Valence, and at the same time wrote
as follows to the Minister for Foreign Affairs : —
^' Nice, April 16, 1793.
" Year II. of the Republic.
" Citizen Minister, — The army of Italy has heard
of Dumouriez' base treason with the deepest indigna-
tion, and without being in the least disheartened.
It is fired with eagerness to prove that nothing
can diminish its courage, and its devotion to the
Republic.^
The attacks of the enemy were meanwhile in-
cessant, and gave them not a moment's rest. Biron
was on horseback night and day ; his health, long
failing, caused him much trouble ; he was in a con-
stant state of fever. Mental suiferings and anxieties
aggravated his condition. In spite of his zeal and
patriotism, and his endeavour to make the best use
of the materials at his command, he was exposed to
constant disappointments of every kind.
He wrote to Xavier Andouin, deputy to the War
Minister, on May 8 : —
" I know you. Citizen, to be too good a patriot
not to take pleasure in assuring you that these
annoyances, and the infamous vexations to which the
best Republicans are exposed, cannot weaken my
zeal for the Republic, nor prevent my consecrating
1 Charavay Collection.
467 n h 2
my last breath to the defence of liberty and
equality."
On the following day he wrote proudly to the
Minister for Foreign Affairs : —
'' Nice, May 9, 1793.
"I learn from the public papers, Citizen Minis-
ter, that Generals Kellermann, La Bourdonnais, Ser-
van, and Berruyer are dismissed the service. As it
would seem that the Convention must have some
strong reasons for no longer employing the com-
manders-in-chief who have hitherto held this post,
and as my bad health needs care and rest, I should
be glad to know whether my fear of being no
longer able to serve the Republic satisfactorily
(to judge from the suspicions so freely cast on the
best citizenz), does not authorize me to resign my
claims to any command whatever, or whether it
will be more respectful to await my dismissal in
silence. I desire too ardently to prove my attach-
ment to the Republic, and to liberty, till the last
hour of my life, for any sacrifice to be too great."
Biron had dreamed of grand schemes ; he wished
to invade Italy, to go to Rome and avenge the
murder of Basville, secretary to the French legation,
who had been massacred by the mob on January
13 ; but Dumouriez' treason overset all his projects,
Biron's intimacy with the Due d'Orl^ans laid him
open to suspicion ; the Committee of Public Safety
decided on removing him from the command of the
army of the South, and sending him to direct opera-
468
tions against the rebels in Poitou and Brittany. He
was appointed Commander-in-chief of the army of
the Rochelle coast, with orders to leave Nice forth-
with, and join at his new headquarters.
If by sending him to the army of the Coast the
Convention aimed at testing his fidelity to the
Republic, they could have found no more certain
means. Biron's feelings may be imagined when he
was snatched from the command of the forces at
Nice, and transferred to La Rochelle. At the head
of the armies in the North, on the Rhine, or by the
Alps, he had to'fight a foreign foe, an invader. Here
it was not so : he was required to fight against his
brethren, his fellow- citizens — nay more, men who
were defending the throne and altar, men who were
fighting for the ideas, sentiments and principles in
which he had been brought up, and to which for
forty years he had been staunch. Nor was this all :
hitherto Biron had been almost always associated
with officers of his own class and equal birth ; even
after August 10 he had seen old comrades about
him. He had been able to indulge in some illusions
as to his position. With the army at La Rochelle
there could be no more illusions ; he would be alone,
quite alone.
However, he obeyed, from a sense of military
discipline, but fully understanding the lot which
awaited him. " I believed I could foresee, without
doing any one injustice, that my ruin was intended,'*
he writes ; " but being accustomed to set the
example of discipline, and submission to the law, I
469
thought that nothing could excuse me from obey-
ing." Also, he did not exactly know what was
expected of him ; he had heard little of what was
going on in the west. He fancied that he was
required chiefly to command an army of observation
along the coast, in anticipation of an invasion of the
English by sea. So he set out, his soul heavy with
the worst fears. They were only too well justified.
He wrote to the Minister, May 14 : —
" I am at this moment starting for Montpellier
with my horses ; the rest of my baggage goes by
sea. The roads have become impassable ; almost all
the post-masters have disappeared, and no post-
horses are to be had, or only with the greatest diffi-
culty, on the road to Aix." He adds with melancholy
resignation : " I know not exactly what my destina-
tion is to be. Whatever may happen I shall never
forget that a Republican must obey, without con-
sideriQg whether his services and his zeal may not
have deserved rather more confidence, and a post of
greater military activity.'*
470
^
■
CHAPTER XXIX.
1793.
Biron at Bordeaux — He arrives at Mort — The defeat at Fontenay
— The state of the army — The rout at Satunur — Rossignol
is arrested — Biron resigns his command — His resignation is
refused — Victory at Parthenay — Release of Rossignol — Biron
is dismissed the service — Called to Paris — Imprisoned in the
Abbaye.
Biron, then, set out for his new headquarters ; he
stayed twenty-four hours at Nismes to rest, and
wrote from thence to Bouchotte, Minister of War : —
"Nismes, May 19, 1793 ; six in the morning.
"I am making all the speed my strength will
allow ; I must husband it a little lest it should fail
me completely when I most need it. I am weak and
ailing, but I hope that my zeal may support me, and
that my health may not prevent my yet doing good
service to the Republic."
He begs the Minister to purchase horses for him,
and strong ones ; for the slight and elegant Lauzun
is no more ; Biron was heavy, very heavy. He
apologizes for troubling his superior with such a
471
commission, and sadly adds these words, which plainly
show his frightful isolation : " I now know nobody
in Paris."
He passed through Toulouse and Agen, and
reached Bordeaux, where he spent two days, May 26
and 27. This rather long stay there, just before the
outbreak at Paris against the Girondins, was liable to
be misinterpreted, and he took care to explain to the
Committee of Public Safety what was going on there
and the excited state of public feeling. " Treat
Bordeaux with consideration," he wrote ; " keep
some one in authority there who commands con-
fidence, who can soothe the excitement, and give
assurance that the peace of the inhabitants is not to
be disturbed, and you will keep the town quiet ; the
people are determined rather than hot-headed ; they
seemed to me quite resolved not to have anything to
do with the concerns of Paris, but even more
resolved to cling to liberty, property and wealth.
Their confidence in their deputies seems to be great
and general. No one wishes for violent action ;
but if Fevere steps should be taken against Bordeaux
there would be a great explosion : they would ask
help from anybody who could give it, and it would
not be refused. They do not wish for a king ; they
wish for a Republic, but a rich and peaceful one.
I will keep you informed of all I hear, and I will try
to be accurately informed by men who, like myself,
desire the Republic one and indivisible. Bordeaux,
at present, is not our least danger. With prudence
it may be saved ; immense resources are to be found
472
in it. Imprudence might have disastrous and
incalculable consequences." ^
Biron reached Niort in the evening of May 28 ; he
found the town in a state of excessive disturbance
and ferment. The Niort division of the army had
suffered a severe defeat at Fontenay, and the regi-
ments had come in utterly disbanded ; at the moment
they were crowded in the city, and no one could
make himself obeyed or restore order. Biron had
no sooner stepped out of his chaise than he made the
drums beat a call to arms ; but at the end of eight
hours he had got together no more than fifteen
hundred men. As soon as possible he wrote to the
Minister to report the state of affairs : —
"Niort, May 31, 1793.
" I arrived here very late on Tuesday, 28.
The inconceivable disorder in which I found this
mass of men — which it is still impossible to call
an army — ^has not allowed of my giving you
details any sooner. This chaos can only be set in
order by unrelaxing activity, and unlimited patience.
No one knows what the numbers were before the
incomprehensible defeat at Fontenay ; no one knows
what the loss was ; it is only certain that it was very
considerable. No one knows any better what really
remains. There is no disaster too great to be
expected from such excessive disorder, and we may
1 National Archives, A F, II., 44. Bordeaux talked of declaring
itself an independent city on the footing of the Hanseatic towns,
and to appeal for aid to the English, who would willingly have
alforded it.
473
be thankful, I assure you, that we got off so
cheaply.
^' From what I can hear of the rebels, of their
means and methods of warfare, they owe their
strength and their existence solely to the appalling
mismanagement which has characterized our discon-
nected and ineffectual efforts to suppress them.
Indeed, they cannot be by any means so dangerous
as they are reported to be, or they would have
profited more by their great advantages and made
more progress.*'
The Republican army was utterly neglected,
absolutely devoid of organization, and of every
military principle. Men were not lacking; there
were indeed too many, but undisciplined and argu-
mentative ; nothing could be done with them. At
any monient, and under any pretext, they would
refuse to march out. New recruits were constantly
pouring in, but they had no weapons, knew no drill,
and only added fresh elements of disorder and con-
fusion.
Biron had nothing ; • neither guns, muskets, nor
waggons. He wrote from Niort, June 1, 1793 : —
" I have not a single artillery officer, not one
officer of engineers, only a hundred artillery horses
in all ; no train waggons, no ambulance nor hospital
equipment, and three hundred Hussars are all the
cavalry in a condition for service.
" We lack food, and that is becoming very serious.
We live from hand to mouth, with the greatest diffi-
474
culty. We cannot secure a day's rations in advance,
and if we attempted a march we should inevitably
have no bread."
The unhappy General was in terrible straits ; he
did not know one of the officers under his command ;
he knew not whom he could trust, and was obliged
to do everything himself ; he worked day and night
without a moment's rest. He, single-handed, by
his energy and prestige over the men, succeeded in
maintaining a little order and discipline, but his
strength was failing, and he could not long hold out
against such a life of toil.
To all his complaints and appeals Bouchotte's only
reply was: *^The public wish to see the troubles
in La Vendue settled once for all. A general who
desires to maintain his reputation as a patriot cannot
display too much activity in his movements." But
he sent nothing that was required.
Biron, left to himself and to his own resources,
did all that was possible to man to do, and showed
amazing activity.
On June 4 he went to Saumur to consult with the
Central Committee of Representatives sitting there.
On the 5 th he held a council of war with them and
the Generals. But the aristocrat had still a certain
courtier-like air which annoyed the " citizens " : a
cane in his hand, a scrap of tricolour riband fastened
to his cockade, and the like.
The commissioners insisted on immediate action.
Biron, who had testified to the incohesion of the
troops and the very insufficient means at his disposal,
475
declared that it would mean a march to inevitable
disaster, and absolutely refused to make the attempt.
His arguments and strong sense at last impressed the
committee ; the General, indeed, was a clever man,
he spoke with exquisite politeness to all, and treated
them with so much respect that he brought them
round to his opinion.
By his advice a plan of attack was laid ; four
columns on four sides at once, by closing in
gradually as they advanced, would effect a junction
without a gap, and end by shutting the rebels into a
narrow circle where they would be starved out. A
fifth division was to keep guard along the coast.
This plan duly carried out would end the war in a
fortnight. Unfortunately, sixteen members were
present at this council, and its scheme was not kept
secret.
On the 6th Biron was at Tours, and detained
there by a serious mutiny among the soldiers ; by
his ascendency, however, he succeeded in reducing it.
On June 8 he was back at Niort ; on the 9th at
La Rochelle, where he inspected the defences of the
coast. He was still there on the 10th when disastrous
news was brought him: the "brigands" — i.e. the
rebels — had taken the Republicans by surprise at
Dou6 and at Montreuil, and had taken Saumur by
storm after a bloody battle. The rout was complete ;
the Republican troops had fired on each other ; several
battalions had taken to flight. Happily night fell
and they were not pursued. The army, or rather
what was left of it, was retiring on Tours.
4/6
The people of Niort, terrified beyond measure,
were shouting for Biron ; and the General, who had
only too surely foreseen the catastrophe, set out in all
haste to organize some resistance.
The Vendeens took more than eleven thousand
prisoners at Saumur ; they released them, after
shaving them close and making them swear to serve
no more "against religion and the King." They
had also seized considerable booty : fifty field-pieces,
fifteen thousand muskets, and quantities of ammuni-
tion and provisions.
On June 12 the " brigands," following up their
success, took Machecoul ; they might have marched
on Tours, and could easily have occupied it ; but, in
spite of the urgency of their royalist leaders, the
conquerors declined to carry on the campaign, and
many of them went home to their harvest and field
labour.
"If Charette and Cathelineau had but taken
advantage of their astonishing success," said Napoleon,
" and had combined their forces, it would have
put an end to the Republic. Nothing could have
checked the triumphant progress of the royalist
armies. The white flag would have floated on the
towers of Notre Dame before the armies of the Rhine
could have come up to the support of their govern-
ment." ^
On reaching Niort, Biron wrote to the Committee
1 The defeat at Samniir caused the greatest consternation.
" You will never subdue this province," was written to the Con-
vention, " till you transport the present inhabitants elsewhere in
France and repeople it with another race of men."
477
of Public Safety a most singular letter. After mention-
ing the causes which brought about these defeats of
the Republican forces, he requested that his post might
be given to an officer who had risen from the ranks,
and whose birth could give occasion to no suspicions
or distrust. He distinctly perceives that, do what he
will, whatever his devotion and self-sacriiice, his
name and birth can never be overlooked : —
"Niort, June 12,1793.
" I have not yet had full details of the fearful rout
at Doue and Saumur. The causes are, and eternally
will be till remedies are available, lack of organiza-
tion and drill, and insubordination. To obey seems
so remote from equality that hardly a man regards it
as a duty : the result is that on many occasions brave
men are of no more real use than cowards.
" Some worthy citizens seem to think that this
disorder had its origin in a want of confidence in the
Generals, and that the soldiers would serve better
under a General chosen from among themselves. I
should dispute this view if there were any Generals
left to us whose military experience and habit of
command in war were such as to inspire confidence.
But most of our military talent is as young as the
Republic itself, and their experience varies but
little. Let us then try this plan, which Jmay have
more effect than any other on the duties of a soldier ;
let us raise a good man from the ranks ; by combin-
ing confidence with sound drill and discipline, and
the experience of the advantages it secures, he may
perhaps establish it. Plans of campaign will be at
his service as much as at ours ; and it will be easy to
relieve him of the correspondence. I will undertake
it if he wishes it ; and if it should suit the new
Commander, I am ready and willing to be his first
aide-de-camp or the humblest soldier in the ranks.''
It is well at this point to note the general
impression produced on the reader by Biron's
military correspondence, whether with the Minister
of War, the Committee of Public Safety, or the
Generals under his command. It is impossible not to
be struck with the zeal, ardour and intelligence
revealed in his letters. They are all remarkable for
their clear and explicit style ; all bear the stamp
of great high-mindedness, blameless honour ; irre-
proachable devotion to the public good, absolute
disinterestedness. It may be said, without any
exaggeration, that they do honour to the writer.
After the defeat at Saumur the Commissioners of
the Executive Council and the Generals assembled at
Tours, eager to act, and without troubling themselves
as to the opinion of the Commander-in-chief, sketched
a plan of campaign of which the first item was
the evacuation of Angers and Nantes. The plan
being drawn up was sent to Biron. He, indignant at
such a proceeding, and regarding the plan as utterly
bad, refused to act upon it. He declared that he
should adhere to that adopted on June 4, as being
the only one that could bring this disastrous war to
a speedy termination.
479
Meanwhile, lie endeavoured by redoubled energy to
reorganize his army. On June 17 he was at
Lugon, the next day at Olonne, then he returned to
Niort, went off to La Rochelle, and came back to
Niort. In spite of wretched health he was indefatig-
able. '' The life I lead," he writes, " would kiU
two men stronger than I am."
Biron, perceiving that his inaction, forced upon him
by having no real army, was exposing him to the
most dangerous accusations, determined to try his
men by an attack on a small place held by the
rebels. The place was taken, but the disorder of the
retreat proved to a demonstration that it was as
yet impossible to undertake a campaign with such
troops.
The soldiers were tired and they fell out, lying
down by the roadside and refusing to march. Biron
had gone forward to inspect the column at about
two leagues from Niort ; on seeing this undisciplined
crowd his rage knew no bounds ; he indignantly
reproved the officers and General Salomon, who was
in command of the column. Seeing Captain
Rossignol — the notorious Rossignol who was become
his successor — riding on his horse, he roughly
exclaimed : " Is that the way, sir, to lead a com-
pany ? " He made him dismount and compelled him
to assemble his men.
At last, with immense difficulty, Biron succeeded
in re-establishing some sort of order, and they got into
Niort by about seven in the evening. The garrison
was under arms, everybody was shouting, '' Vive la
480
Nation I Vive le General Biron / " A few squads
began yelling : " He was not there ! " The General,
mad with rage and indignation, rushed towards the
battalion whence these cries proceeded, and declared
that the first man to speak should be shot. The
silence was absolute.
" I came into the town with the rear-guard," Biron
wrote, " and I had the grief of perceiving that fifty-
hussars could have routed the four battalions who
straggled along the road like a procession, the tail
entering the town twelve hours after the head."
After this retreat, a very characteristic incident
shows the surroundings among which the unhappy
General was condemned to live. A Captain of Hussars,
named Alibert, was parading the town with the head
of a Vendeen stuck on a pike. Biron saw him, and
in his indignation gave orders that he should be
seized and imprisoned. But a few days later Bou-
chotte ordered the General to set him at liberty :
^* that he may continue to show no quarter to our
enemies." It may be imagined what discipline must
have been when such barbarous deeds could go un-
punished, and when the Commander-in-chief found
himself thus put in the wrong by the Minister in
control of the army.
Some days later the representatives of the nation
and the General officers were sitting at a Council
of War when Citizen Rossignol ^ begged to be heard.
^ On July 14, 1789, Rossignol, the son of working people, an idle,
quarrelsome ne'er-do-well, after trying various trades, and among them
that of soldier, was wandering about Paris in search of adventures
when his lucky star took him to the Bastille. He heard a noise
481 I i
" I have come/' said he, " in the name of all my
brave comrades and their men, to announce to you
that we have sworn never to fight excepting all
together, and never to march out in separate divisions.
Since those brigands move in a body we must do
the same ; we are always taken out four thousand
against forty thousand ; the blood of Republicans is
too precious to be thus rashly shed," and he explained
that he and his men would never go out again unless
they were sure of being six to four.
Biron was presiding, his cane in his hand. At
such preposterous sentiments he rose and declared
that none but a coward could say such things, that
he, Biron, would take a gun and show the men how
to meet death. Rossignol persisted in his determina-
tion, and Biron, saying he should put him imder arrest,
ordered him out of the room.
" This act of insubordination," he says, " unex-
ampled in my experience, filled me with pain all the
keener because I had no doubt I should see it
frequently repeated ; it was in real despair that I
implored the representatives of the people to
authorize me in placing the conduct of the army in
other hands."
In fact, Biron flung his sword on the table with the
key of his ofiice-room, declaring that he found it
impossible to continue to command under such
and uproar ; he rushed on, snatched np a gun, fired as best he might,
and was numbered at the end of the day with the Conquerors of
the Bastille. This title, which he aired with much skill, gained
him the post of general- in-command. Meanwhile he was captain
of the 35th division of foot " Gendarmerie Rationale."
482
conditions, and that he retired from office. However,
he ended by yielding to the urgency of the represen-
tatives, who besought him to remain ; and, equally
a-t their request, he consented not to punish
Rossignol, who was guaranteed to be a true and
brave patriot.
From this moment RossignoFs animosity knew no
restraint, and he spoke of Biron in the most offensive
terms. He told the men he was a ci-devant (an
aristocrat), and a traitor like the rest of his class, that
they ought not to obey him, and in fact he everywhere
preached insubordination and rebellion. The General,
when he heard of it, replied that it was a mere
personal matter, and aifected to know nothing. Not
long after, Rossignol and his company were sent to
Tours. On the way, at Saint-Maixent, he spoke with
such revolting insolence of the Commander-in-chief,
that a certain Lieutenant de Westermann, who was
present, and who had less patience than Biron,
had him put under arrest in spite of his protesta-
tions.
We shall see him again ere long.
Biron' s position was daily less tenable. In vain
did the luckless General apply for superior officers,
for reinforcements, for provisions ; nothing was sent.
He wrote nineteen pressing letters to the Minister
without receiving a word in reply. He was obliged
to do everything himself, and worked day and night
without getting through his business for lack of
assistance. The state of the troops was deplorable :
the men were almost naked ; it was with the utmost
483 I i 2
difficulty that they were fed ; on several occasions
there was a lack of bread. Desertions were frequent,
and discipline was maintained with the greatest
difficulty ; among the officers, as well as the men,
insubordination was rampant, dishonesty everywhere
prevailed ; the soldier sold his cartridges, the carters
sold the hay, the straw, the bread which were en-
trusted to them for transport. There was no camp
furniture, no forage, absolutely no means of convey-
ance. They were obliged to requisition the country
carts, heavy waggons drawn by oxen. It was with
such means as these that he was expected to meet
the enemy and quell rebellion.
But even this was not all. There were four
lifferent committees sitting on the army of the
Coast ; one at La Rochelle, one at Niort, one at
Poitiers, and one at Tours. These were appointed
by the Convention, and each severally assumed the
right of giving orders, directing operations, and
keeping an eye on the generals. They were all the
more greedy of authority because they knew nothing
of military affairs. They were always at loggerheads
with contradictory decisions and orders, and Biron,
with all his patience, did not know which to
obey.
And did he gain any credit for his efforts,
his indefatigable energy, his devotion to the
cause he served so loyally ? Was even justice
done him? Not in any way or degree. He was
surrounded only by spies and men who sought his
ruin.
484
His birth, his education, his name, his class, could
not be forgiven. And yet he had sacrificed every-
thing to his country : his health, brains, honour, all
the memories of his life. It all went for nothing ; the
more pledges he gave, the more were asked of him.
Neither his zeal, nor his faultless loyalty, nor his
ardent patriotism could disarm the base jealousy of
the incapable or mean souls that were about him.
Nothing could conquer the want of confidence of
which he was the object ; do what he would, he was
and remained perpetually suspected, he was and
must ever be a ci-devant.
Disgusted, disappointed, soaked in bitterness,
Biron ceased to care for anything and mocked at
everything. To one of the commissioners, who was
lauding the self-styled patriots, he drily replied, " I
fear nothing so much as disorganizers and club men."
To the remark that he would be reported to the
Convention, he replied recklessly : '' Do it ! If you
could only know how little I should mind being
guillotined."
What, in fact, could he care for life ? Would not
death be welcome ? Would it not snatch him from
the wretched existence he was leading, every day
more odious and more loathed ?
He had no delusions as to his ultimate fate.
Meeting General Hugo one day, he said sadly : " You
know me, my dear Hugo ; you know if I have served
my country well, if I have passionately worshipped
glory and patriotism. Well, within two months I
shall have ceased to live ; the axe which seeks the
485
loftiest heads will also fall on mine, and mj death
will be hailed as that of a traitor." ^
At last his patience and resignation came to an
end ; he decided on quitting the hell in which he
lived and asking to retire ; but first he gave
himself the satisfaction of telling the Minister of War
his whole mind, and he wrote, on June 23, a letter
which won him at the moment many compliments,
but, six months later, led him to the scaffold.
After expatiating on the mismanagement perva-
ding the army, the want of organization, the total
absence of superior ofiicers, he does not hesitate to
say what he thinks of the volunteers, cost him what
it may : —
" It has never been my opinion that any military
use can ever be made of agriculturists, fathers of
families. They initiate a defeat long before they
are in danger. I know full well the responsibility I
am incurring in saying this ; but I am persuaded of
the truth that a Republican, when he is sure that he
is doing the right thing, ought to be as ready to risk
his head on the block as to expose it to the
enemy."
With equal daring he expresses his opinion of
Ronsin, colleague to the Minister at Tours — a man
whom Bouchotte had raised in four days from the
rank of Captain to that of Brigadier- General— and
of the agents he employs. He writes of them with
utter contempt.
^^ Add to these causes of disorder that your agents'
^ Memoir es du General Hugo. Vol. i.
486
agents preach insubordination on all hands, with
rebellion and division of property. They will
interfere in everything; they do nothing but
embroil the service. I ought in justice to say that
those I have seen seem to me too incapable and too
inept to be really dangerous, for they hardly know
how to read." And he adds scornfully: "They
were accused of having tried to produce a ferment
in the army against me, but I failed to discover it,
however severe I might be." Finally he closes his
letter by saying : —
" Permit me to point out to you, Citizen Minister,
that by refusing all the special help which I asked of
you, and which it was so easy for you to supply, and
so indispensable to me to have, you have made this
army, already in such a scandalous state, almost im-
possible to command at all.
" If all the inconvenience and vexations I feel were
merely personal, I could endure them without com-
plaint and with truly Republican patience ; but
they are too injurious to the service of the Republic
for me not to regard it as a duty to complain with
an emphasis that is no less fitting in a Republican.
" I therefore urgently request that you will either
place a chief over me, or employ me on some other
service, or discharge me from a responsibility which
it is neither just nor possible to burthen me with
any longer. In fact, my strength cannot stand it,
and if it breaks down before you have found a
substitute, the Republic will suffer to a very
dangerous extent."
487
At Tours, meanwhile, the representatives com-
plained of the General's inaction ; they, who fancied
that in twelve days they had created a complete
military organization, wondered that Biron had not
done as much, and when the General replied that he
had no tents or camp furniture he was told that
Dumouriez had conquered Belgium in winter,
bivouacking all the time.
'^ The brigands whom we have to fight," they
wrote to him, " have no camp furniture any more
than we have, and yet they are constantly attacking
us."
On Jime 23, just when he was writing to the
Minister and to the Committee of Public Safety to
announce his retirement, Biron was called up by the
Central Committee at Tours to go there and discuss
the adoption of a new plan ; this time there was no
idea of evacuating Nantes ; on the contrary, it was
to be rescued. Biron answered that he could not
quit Niort, which was in danger from the rebels, and
refused to move. Without paying any more atten-
tion to the Commander-in-chief than if he simply did
not exist, the Central Committee resolved to march to
the aid of Nantes, and ordered Biron in the name of
the Public Safety to co-operate in their plan.
The General might have been wroth at so unseemly
a proceeding, so contrary to all the rules of rank and
respect, but he had no longer the heart to care ;
had he not, in fact, practically resigned the com-
mand ? He therefore replied that he should put no
obstacle in the way of the plan being carried out ;
488
he agreed that the General commanding at Tours
should march on Nantes ; he consented to tell off
three thousand men of his army to co-operate in the
movement, but he could do no more because it
would involve weakening the defence of the coast.
This done, he wrote to the Minister of War and
the Committee of Public Safety, repeating his
resignation : —
" As my responsibility ceases at the moment when
the Central Committee chooses to influence military
operations by discussing and directing them with a
publicity which must impair their effect, I can
no longer command the army. I beg you there-
fore to tell me at once to whom I am to resign the
command."
The Committee of Public Safety met on June 28
to deliberate on Biron's despatches, and pronounced
him right on every point. They disapproved of the
Council of War held at Tours, and the commissioners
who had sat on it were to be recalled. They then
decided that : General Biron, being possessed of
the confidence of the nation, it is his part to direct
all military operations with perfect freedom, and un-
fettered by influence either private or public. That
he alone is to form the plan he may judge the most
advantageous and useful to the Republic. They
concluded that the interests of the Republic
did not allow of their accepting the General's re-
signation.
This was more than all that Biron asked ; still he
wrote : '' The Committee's decision filled me with
489
regret by requiring me to continue in command of
the army. I obeyed out of respect, but it was not
difficult to foresee that the interests of the Republic
would presently be as nothing compared to that of
slandering and getting rid of the man who had dared
to defy the disorganizing party."
A letter from the Committee of Public Safety
accompanied the official decision ; it did full justice
to Biron's services : —
" Since you were transferred to the departments in
the West you have been constantly engaged in
forming and organizing the army : you drew up a
plan of campaign ; you have justified our hopes.
" The chief difficulties which might have stood in
the way of your success are now removed ; all will
concur in your military projects. You have served
your country because you love it ; you will con-
tinue to serve the Republic ; and it is at the head
of the army you command that you will best serve
it, in circumstances when your successes must have
the greatest influence on liberty.
^'We expect it of your civic zeal and your
devotion to the Republic, General, that you will
remain in command of the army on which the
Republic founds its hopes."
Biron could only bow to such marks of esteem, and
so he did.
Nantes, meanwhile, was seriously threatened by
the Catholic army, numbering nearly 80,000 men.
On July 29 and 30, the town was fiercely attacked,
but it made a vigorous resistance and the rebels were
490
repulsed. They did not, however, raise the siege, but
awaited a favourable moment to repeat the attack.
By the 24th Biron had made a plan for relieving
Nantes. He explained to the generals in command
at Tours that to support their advance the legion of
the North, under Westermann, was to attack
Parthenay. He himself would protect all the points
where he could effect such a diverson as would cover
their advance.
On the 25th Westermann surprised a force of ten
thousand "brigands " ; he killed eight hundred, and
put the rest to rout. Then, continuing his success,
he set fire to the Chateau of La Rochejaquelein and
that of Lescure, and marched on Chatillon to get by
Cholet to Nantes.
The enemy was awaiting him at Chatillon.
Westermann utterly defeated them and took posses-
sion of the town. " Courage, my dear General,"
Biron writes to him, " We should soon end the war
if only you and I were employed."
Unluckily, Westermann, his head turned by
success, was not prepared for the enemy to act
on the offensive. On July 5 he was taken by
surprise, and completely routed in his turn.
On July 2, Biron had gone in person to
take command of the army by Saumur, and to
march on Nantes. "If only five or six thousand
of the Tours contingent will but fight," said he to
Philippeaux, the commissioner from the Convention,
" I will pledge myself to win the battle and end the
war."
491
Just as he was starting, he received an order from
the Minister of War to release Citizen Rossignol and
send him to Paris to give an account of his conduct.
" I placed this order in the hands of the representa-
tives of the nation," says Biron, "saying to them
that, as Citizen Rossignol had not been imprisoned
by my orders, I had no right to let him out of prison."
They undertook the matter.
Biron left Niort on July 4 at three in the after-
noon. He reached Tours and from thence went to
Saumur. On the 7th he was at Angers. He had no
sooner arrived there than he was told that the
" brigands " had retired from the neighbourhood of
Nantes and the town was open. A march on Nantes
was therefore needless. At the same time he learnt
that the Committee of Public Safety, on the strength
of Ronsin's report, had, on July 1, passed a decree
completely neutralizing that of June 28 ; Ronsin and
the National Commissioners, who were to have been
recalled, were on the contrary confirmed, in view of
the usefulness of their services to the army !
This time the cup overflowed. Biron, utterly
disgusted and unable to endure more, determined to
resign his command come what might. He wrote,
July 10, to Bouchotte, to desire him to forward his
resignation at once to the Convention. He was
" in such pain, so ill, that he might at any moment
be compelled to place the command in other hands,
and in fact he should do so at the end of a week if he
received no reply." His resignation stands in these
terms : —
492
'^As my exhausted strength and bad health no
longer permit me to hold the Command-in-chief of
the army of the Coast of La Rochelle, in such a way
as to be serviceable for the defence of the Republic,
I hereby resign my command, with the declaration
that, in all places and in any rank, I willingly
dedicate my remaining strength and days to the
service of the Eepublic. — Angers, July 10, 1793."
At the time when the General's retirement raised
a tempest of denunciation against him, Ronsin, whom
he had violently attacked, wrote as follows to the
Committee of Public Safety : —
" I must frankly own that Biron's conduct is
really appalling in the eyes of the true defenders of
the Republic. His tardiness, his vacillations on the
march, his persecution of the best patriots, and more
than all, his position as a ci-devant and the memory
of his former connections, all give cause to fear
that he will allow our army to perish little by
little.
" This is what all watchful Republicans think ; few
dare ^Yrite it to you, and I regard it as my duty,
being convinced that you are worthy to hear the
truth, and will hasten to recall from this army every
General of noble birth."
In the meantime, Parein, President of the Military
Commission at Saumur, Lachevaudiere, National
Commissioner, and some others, addressed to the
Convention endless appeals, and the most absurd
accusations of Biron. He was said to be surrounded
by Germans only, to be receiving money from
493
England, from Spain, from the Stadhouder, to be
making terms with the Catholic army, and what not I
The truth was, he could not be forgiven for being an
aristocrat : ^' This man is no true sans-culotte,'^
wrote one of his accusers.
The Convention was beginning to pay serious atten-
tion to all these imputations cast on the Commander-
in-chief of the army in the West.
On July 10, the Convention demanded of the
Committee of Public Safety a report on Biron's
proceedings. On the following day the Committee
replied : '' We cannot conceal the fact that there is
no positive allegation of wrong-doing against the
General ; but he is blamed for not having shown all
the activity that was needed. The commissioners
of the Convention are unanimous in their reports,
Biron himself admits that his frequent ailments, his
attacks of gout and his worn-out health, make him
unfit to fulfil the duties entrusted to him by the
Republic."
On July 16, at six in the morning, a courier
brought to Biron the order to place the command in
the hands of General Beysser, and to go to Paris to
give an account of his conduct : at two that after-
noon he set out for Paris. JSTot far from Etampes he
met another post-chaise on the way to Tours. It
conveyed Rossignol, returning triumphant to the
army.
Biron, whose health prevented his travelling by
night, reached Paris only on the 19th. He put up at
the Hotel de la Paix, Rue de la Chauss^e d'Antin.
494
On the 20th he was told by the Minister of War that
the Executive Council intended to examine him that
evening at ten o'clock. His explanations were ill-
received, and the General begged for a few days'
delay to enable him to draw up a full report of his
conduct. This was granted.
But during the interval his enemies were busy ;
on July 25 a warrant of arrest was issued against
him, and that very evening he was arrested and
lodged in the Abb aye.
Biron at once began to prepare his defence.
On the 25th he had written to the Committee of
Public Safety to ask for a copy of the allegations
brought against him.
On the 28th, his report being finished, he gave it
out to be copied. On the 29th his servant Boudray
was arrested with his master's papers, and seals were
affixed to all the papers the General had left at
Montrouge and at the H6tel de la Paix. On that
day the General was imprisoned in Sainte-Pelagie.
495
CHAPTER XXX.
1793.
Biron's defence — ^The Queen is executed — The Due d'Orleans —
Biron tried and condemned — His execution.
No sooner was Biron placed in Sainte-Pdlagie than
he demanded his trial, and he sent to the Committee
of Public Safety the defence he had just composed.^
In this paper the General defends himself with
great skill and frankness ; he shows in the clearest
way what an incredible rabble of peasants had been
placed under his command, and the impossibility of
doing anything whatever with such troops.
" My conscience does not reproach me for any-
thing," he says quite simply ; "I did all that was in
my power, and, in such difficult circumstances, I do
not even believe that anyone else could have done
better in my place. If you will but look back on my
whole life, you will see whether I have ever hesitated
for an instant between my dearest personal interests
and those of my country." And he ends with these
words, so full of noble pride : —
"" I therefore ask that, on the strength of the report
^ This document, too long to be reproduced, exists in the
National Archives, W 305, No. 370, part 2.
496
laid before the Convention, both the Committee of
Public Safety and the provisional Executive Council
should pronounce that I have served the Republic
well and deserved well of my country, and that I
may take with me into the retirement which my
health requires, this satisfaction which is really
worthy of a Republican soldier."
This dignified appeal found no reponse. Fresh
accusations hindered justice, and Biron was left in
Sainte-Pelagie.
His health grew daily worse ; he could scarcely
move for gout and rheumatism.
He sent a letter to the Convention, petitioning to
be tried without delay, so as to go into the country
and restore his broken health. This letter was read
at the sitting of Wednesday, September 4, 1793.
His old friend, Lecomte-Puyraveau, ventured to
speak in support of his request : '^ I desire," said he,
" that the same favour should be extended to Biron
as you have already granted to Anselme and Ferrand,
who lay under no less grave suspicions. At their
request their detention at the Abbaye was mitigated
to confinement to their own dwellings. I think that
in humanity you should do for Biron, who is ill,
what you did for Anselme and Ferrand, and I ask
that Biron should be under arrest in his own house,
under strong and safe keeping."
The Assembly seemed disposed to yield, when a
voice was raised to move the previous question.
" M. Biron is under suspicion by his actions and
feelings," said a member. *^ He ought to be kept in
497 K k
prison like all the rest till sentence is pronounced."
And the previous question was adopted.
Biron had the consolation in prison of the society
of his aide-de-camp, Rutaut, who worshipped him,
and who, at the risk of his life, had insisted in
sharing his chiefs fortunes.^
During his detention Biron beyond a doubt
entertained the idea of bribing his gaolers and
escaping. He sent to ask the Marquis de Gontaut to
procure him a large sum of money, offering him in
return certain moneys he had in the Bank of
England.^ The Marquis consented, all the more
readily because his brother and his sister-in-law had
emigrated to England, and the money might have
been of the greatest service to them there. But at
this juncture the Marquis himself was arrested, with
his wife, and the negotiation came to nothing.^
While Biron was in prison he heard of the trial
and execution of the unhappy Queen. The bitter
reflections this event must have inspired may be
^ After Biron's execution he was released. In 1815 he was
dSpute for the department of the Meurthe.
^ The Marquis de Gontaut had remained on terms of affectionate
intimacy with Biron. When the General retired, as he possessed
nothing after the Guemenee bankruptcy, M. de Gontaut bought for
him a small house at the foot of his park of Montgermont, near
Melun, and was about to offer it to him when Biron was taken to
Sainte-Pelagie.
^ They remained in prison till the death of Robespierre. On
the morning of that memorable day they had heard their sentence
shouted in the streets, and both praying to God Almighty, they
awaited the moment when the cart should carry them away. A
friend, Mme. Dubois de Lamotte, who had agreed to communicate
by signal the most important events, hung a large placard out of
an attic window opposite ; on it they read the words " Kobespierre
is dead." They understood that they were saved.
498
imagined, and his melancholy thoughts of the past.
Not long before, the Princesse de Lamballe had also
perished under circumstances, if possible, even
more tragical. She was at Turin, out of all danger.
When she heard that the Queen's life was threatened,
she voluntarily came back to Paris to try to rescue
her, thus giving a rare and noble example of fidelity
in misfortune. Her dreadful end is too well known
to be related here.
Biron soon learnt that his old friend, the Due
d'Orleans, had likewise forfeited his life to the
Revolution. The Prince and his family were in
prison at Marseilles, in Fort Saint- Jean. On October
20 the commissioners of the Convention took him out
and brought him to Paris. He arrived the day after
the executions of the Girondins, and was confined in
the Conciergerie. On November 4 he was brought
before the Revolutionary tribunal ; tried, sentenced,
and executed, all within two hours. We must render
homage to the firmness of his demeanour to the last.
After hearing the sentence which condemned him to
death, he withdrew, escorted by a dozen gendarmes
with drawn swords. He walked through the yards
and gates of the Conciergerie with a firm and calm
mien. His look was so dignified that he seemed to
command the soldiers who guarded him.
When he had returned to his cell, a priest, the
Abbe Lothringer, came to see him, sent by Fouquier-
Tinville to take his confession. The Prince first
asked him if he were on the right side. The Abbe
confessed that he had taken the oath, but repented
499 K k 2
and wished to retract. The Due then knelt down
and made a general confession of his whole life.
Four unhappy wi^etches were executed at the same
time as the Due d'Orleans ; Coustard, of Nantes, a
member of the Convention ; Goudier, a stockbroker ;
Brousse, a smith, and Nicolas Laroque, a soldier
seventy-three years of age. When this old man saw
the Prince brought into the condemned cell whence
the executioner fetched his victims, he said to him
in a loud voice, " I no longer regret life, since the
man who ruined my country is to get the reward of
his crimes. It only humiliates me to be compelled
to die on the same scaffold. " The Prince heard this
invective and made no reply.
It was some little distance from the Conciergerie
to the Place de la Revolution ; at first few people
were about, as it had not been known that the Due
d'Orleans was of the party. The Prince was hand-
somely powdered and looked very well ; his hands
were tied behind his back, and his coat thrown open
over his shoulders ; the coat was grey, with a black
collar. When the cart came past the Palais Royal,
the wretches who drove it stopped for ten minutes in
the hope that the sight of this palace, where he had
spent so many happy years, would torture the Prince,
and embitter the last moments of his life.
A crowd had collected and hurled abuse and yells
at the prisoner. But the Prince was unmoved. He
held his head high with great gravity, and as he
looked down on the mob not a muscle of his face
quivered.
500
At last the procession moved on and reached the
Place de la Revolution. When he saw the guillotine
the Prince turned pale, but he still held his head
erect, and his eye was steady. He went quickly
up the steps, glanced round at the throng, helped
the executioner to unfasten his cravat, did not
say a word or offer the least resistance.
His head was then held up to the , gaze of the
multitude.
Biron was not long to survive the friend of his
childhood, the man who more than anv one else had
dragged him into the vortex of the Revolution. And
indeed, he only wished that all should be over. He
said to Beugnot, who was his fellow-prisoner,
" These people have worried me too long ; they are
going to cut my head off, but then at any rate
there will be an end." At his trial he would not even
defend himself.
It was not till December 25 that Biron' s indict-
ment was formulated by Robespierre's desire. On
the 9th of Nivose, at ten in the morning, Biron was
brought up '^free and unfettered" before the
Criminal Court of the Revolution.^
^ This is the indictment drawn up against Biron. Antoine
Quentin Fouquier-Tinville, public prosecutor to the Criminal Court
extraordinary, sets forth : —
" That Biron, being honoured with the confidence of the
Republic and in command of its armies, more especially that
charged with the extermination of the brigands of La Vendee,
instead of justifying it by displaying the zeal and activity the
country had a right to expect of him, had by sheer inertia become
almost a part of the hostile army, of which his culpable inaction
had favoured the increase and victory over the brave soldiers of
the Republic whom he ought to have led to triumph, but who
became the victims of the tardiness and negligence of which he had
501
The examination of the accused was short, and
elicited nothing that we do not know. The chief
count against him was his connection with the late
Due d'Oiidans and his sons. The public prosecutor
then summed up, the counsel for the defence was
heard, and the sitting adjourned till next day at
eight in the morning.
On the following day the President summed up.
Twelve witnesses were called for the prosecution;
among them were Grammont, the actor, head of the
general staff of the army. Merlin, Chandieu, etc. ;
there were but four witnesses for the defence. After
they had been examined the following question was
put to the jury : —
so constantly given proof : That Biron, in fact, bom in the class of
privileged ci-devants, and having passed his life in the midst of a
corrupt Court, slavishly cringing to a master, had only assumed
the mask of patriotism — like tho traitors Cnstine, La Fayette,
Dumouriez, and many more — to deceive the nation as to the side he
seemed to espouse, and to take more sure advantage of the con-
fidence it placed in him to cast it again into the iron bondage of
despotism : That he has, moreover, always shown himself to be the
foe of patriots whom he has persecuted, of brave soldiers whom he
has tried to dishearten by calumniating them — a system which
has always been in favour with Dumouriez, Wimpffen, and other
traitors : That he has always preferred to have Germans about
liim with whom he could lay his treacherous plots in a foreign
language.
" In accordance with the above chaises, the public prosecutor
has drawn up this indictment against Biron for having conspired,
against the nnity and indivisibility of the Republic, and the peace
of the internal safety of the French Empire; and for having
betrayed the interests of the RepubHc by abusing his position,
etc.
" FOUQUIER-TINVILLE."
His counsel for the defence was citizen La Fleutrie. The Court
consisted of citizens Armand Martial Herman, President ;
Gabriel Deliege, Etienne Masson, and Pierre Louis Raymey,
judges. Citizen Fleuriot sat for the public prosecutor. There
were five men sworn on the jury.
"Citizen jurymen, there has been a conspiracy
against the internal and external safety of the
Republic. Is Armand Louis Biron, ex-General of
one of the armies of the Republic, proved guilty of
having taken part in that conspiracy ? "
The answer was in the affirmative.
Biron was sentenced to death, and to be executed
within twenty-four hours.
The Due heard his sentence with a smile, and his
courage never for an instant failed him. He pre-
served a smiling air to the last. On being taken to
the condemned cell he asked for a fowl and a bottle
of Bordeaux ; he dined with perfect composure, and
read for the rest of the evening ; then he lay down
on a wretched mattress supplied by Langlois, his
gaoler, and slept as peacefully as if he had been in his
own home.
Next day, before the executioner came for him,
he ordered some oysters and a bottle of white wine ;
he was still eating when he was called out. " Citizen/
said he, " allow me to finish and then I will not keep
you waiting long." Calling the warder, he said to
him, with the civility which characterized all he
said : " Langlois, fetch me a glass." Langlois obeyed.
Biron filled the glass and offered it to the execu-
tioner. " Take this wine," said he, " you must need
it, in your trade." Then, turning to his fellow-
prisoners : " It is all over, gentlemen," he said ; "I
am going on the long journey."
He then left the place and got into the cart. The
weather was gloomy and cold, and day was declining.
503
The crowd on tlie road was not large. How many
of those who saw the dreadful procession pass had
any idea that this man, who looked so calm and
proud, had been one of the creatures who had been
most loved in this world, if not one of the happiest ;
and that, after having tasted, nay exhausted, all
earthly joys, he could be glad to see the hour of
deliverance at hand, and was quitting life with
profound disgust for it ! Biron preserved his
composure even on the scaffold ; his features never
for an instant changed ; he submitted to his fate
without fear and without bravado.^
Thus perished ignominiously and of a horrible
death the man who had united all the charms, graces,
and fascinations of his time.
As was stated at the beginning of these volumes,
this history of the Due de Lauzun has been written
with no other object than that of making the world
better acquainted with a man who has often been
hardly judged. We have shown our hero as he
really was, without endeavouring to palliate his
errors or his misdeeds, but holding an equitable
balance between what he may be justly blamed for,
and what was the outcome of the time he lived in
and the society he belonged to. After closely
following him through a chequered career, we must
^ This is the register of his death : —
*'Onthe 20th of Mvose (January 9, 1794), Tear II. of the
Republic : certificate of the death of Armarid Louis Biron on the
11th of this month (December 31, 1793). Profession: Com-
mander-in-chief of the RepubUcan armies, aged forty-six, native of
Paris and living there, Rue des Piques. Also of Montrouge.
" (Signed) Deltroit. "
504
own that we have never detected in him a single
feeling that was other than chivalrous, noble and
lofty. Our end will be attained if we have shown
that the Due de Lauzun was not, as has too often
been asserted, a common reprobate, but indeed
possessed of admirable qualities of heart and brain,
intelligence, loyalty and courage.
We have endeavoured, at the same time, to restore
the last hours of that eighteenth-century life, frivolous
and trivial indeed, but attractive and delightful
withal. "We hope we may have succeeded.
505
AN INYENTORT OF THE PROPERTY SEIZED AT
MONTROUGE.
LiBE RTfc — i.QAL IT6 — FRATEENma! .
In the month of Prairial, Year II. of the French Republic, one
and indivisible.
Report given in by Dupasqnier and Picault, members of the
Conservatoire and of the temporary Committee of Arts, of the pictures,
furniture, bronzes, marbles and china, confiscated and seized, to be
removed from the house at Montrouge, belonging to the emigre
Biron. To wit ; —
Furniture.
1. A small article in mahogany with mirrors and several shelves.
2. A mahogany table in two parts, one covered with cloth.
3. Another mahogany table of an oval form, or it might serve to
contain a collection of diamonds.
4. An English weighing instniment with scales, weights, and
half-pound standard, complete, and the box,
5. An Indian quiver full of arrows said to be poisoned.
6. A mahogany table with leaves, in three divisions.
China.
7. Twenty-seven dishes of antique porcelain.
8. A bowl and two saucers.
9. Four bowls or saucers with handles.
10. Seven little images in agate (jade ?) .
11. Two large china bowls with blue flowers on a white ground.
12. Another bowl ditto.
Picault.
National archives, F 17, 1190.
506
EPILOGUE.
We must not close this history of the Due de
Lauzun without telling what became of the principal
personages who have figured in our narrative, whom
we have met with most frequently, and to whom we
have become in some sort attached.
First as to the Duchesse de Biron. As we have
seen, she was so rash as to return to France to try
to save the little that remained of her fortune. She
was arrested towards the end of 1793 ^ and confined
in the Convent des Anglaises. There she found the
old dowager Marechale de Biron {nee Laroche-
foucauld de Roye), whose age and infirmities had not
saved her from imprisonment. One day " Citoyenne
Biron " was called to appear before the Revolutionary
tribunal. " Which ? " asked the gaoler, *' There are
two of them." The ofiicial had been ordered to
produce but one Duchesse de Biron, but his hesitation
was of no long duration; for fear of mistake he
carried both the ladies before the Court.
With them were brought up Gabriel de Polastron,
Victor de Broglie, Guignart de Saint-Priest, Linguet,
^ She was then living in the Rue de Lille, near the Fontaine de
Crenelle .
the lawyer, and finally the old Mar^chal Philippe de
Noailles-Mouchy and his wife. When they came to
fetch the old man out of prison he desired the men
to make no noise ; the Marechale was ill, and he did
not wish her to know of his departure. " She must
come too," said the warder, " she is on the list. I
will go to call her."
" Do nothing of the kind,'* cried the Marechal.
" If she must come, I will be the person to tell her."
He went to her room and spoke these noble
words : " Madame, you must come down. It is
God's will, let us adore His ways. You are a
Christian ; I am going with you and will never leave
you."
When the news was known in the prison all the
inmates formed in a line where the venerable couple
must pass, and every face expressed respectful grief.
Someone cried, "Courage, Monsieur le Marechal ! "
and M. de Mouchy replied in a firm voice, " When
I was but fifteen I led a storming party for my King,
now I am near eighty I can mount the scafibld for
my God." '
The Duchesse de Biron showed no less heroism.
Knowing that the atmosphere of the Court was
pestilential from the crowd that attended the trials,
she begged one of her friends to give her a little
cotton wool to put in her nostrils : " You know,"
said she, " how sensitive I am to bad smells, and I
will not risk the chance of feeling faint, for it might
be supposed that I was afraid."
^ Histoire du Tribunal Bevolutionnaire. H. Wallon. '
508
The act accusing her contains only these words :
" The woman Biron, widow of the General whose
treason has met the punishment it deserved, has kept
up a correspondence with the enemies of the
Republic, and had to that end quitted French
territory, to which she returned in contravention of
the law, when she was no longer necessary to her
husband's treason."
The Duchesse de Biron was sentenced and exe-
cuted June 24, 1794:^ with her perished the old
Marechale de Biron, the Due and Duchesse de
Mouchy, and all we have just named. All showed
heroic courage and deep contempt for their
murderers.*
The famous Duchesse de Gramont, who played so
important a part in our narrative, did not escape.
She was brought before the Revolutionary tribunal
with her friend, the Duchesse du Ch^telet, who, after
quitting France, had returned by her advice. When
Mme. de Gramont was asked whether she had not
sent money to various emigres, she haughtily
1 Her motlier, the Duchesse deBoufSers, was still living. " She
is an odious woman," wrote Mme. de Custine, " and was little
touched by her daughter's death. She was amply consoled by
getting her property." Mme. de Boufflers died in 1797.
^ The following is a list of the objects found in the house of
" the woman Boufflers, No. 181, condemned as Biron' s widow " : —
1. Seven small pictures, portraits in the style of Porbus, on
copper, six of them in a silver gilt frame, and another as a minia-
ture in a locket with a silver back ; valued at 72 livres.
2. Six pictures from over the doors, painted by Sauvage ; four
in the drawing room, and two in the bedroom : 24 inches high by
48 wide ; valued at 300 livres.
National Archives, F 7, 1190. These objects were handed over
to " Citoyenne Montmorency, widow Boufflers, mother of the said
widow Biron."
replied : " I was going to say no ; but my life is not
worth a lie."
After that she thought only of saving her friend,
who was present, and who stood with clasped hands
and downcast eyes in perfect silence. " That you
should kill me," said Mme. de Gramont to her judges ;
" me — who scorn and detest you, who would have
stirred up all Europe against you — nothing can be
more natural. But what has this angel done to
harm you ? " and she pointed to Mme. du Chatelet,
"who has suffered without a murmur, and whose
whole life has been spent in acts of gentleness and
humanity."
They were both sentenced and died together on
the scaffold.
The fascinating Duchesse de Fleury was more
fortunate. She escaped the dreadful fate of so many
of her contemporaries. She was arrested as an
emigree and sent to the prison Des Anglaises, where
among many friends she found the Duchesse de
Biron. Walpole writes : "It is said that the poor
Duchesse de Biron is again arrested, and at the
Jacobins, and with her a young feather-brain who
does nothing but sing all day. And who think you
may that be? Only our pretty little wicked
Duchesse de Fleury. By her singing and not
sobbing I suppose she was weary of her Tircis,
and is glad to be rid of him. This new blow will,
I fear, overset Mme. de Biron again." (To the
Miss Berrys, Oct. 15, 1793.)
Mme. de Fleury was not subdued for long by the
510
surroundings amid which she was placed. She
might daily watch the disappearance of some relation
or friend ; her levity and recklessness soon got the
upper hand, and the prospect of a dreadful and
imminent death could not hinder her from singing
and laughing. She was adored by all her fellow-
captives, and Andr^ Chenier, who shared her im-
prisonment, wrote for her the verses called " La Jeune
Captive," too well known to need quoting here, in
which he gives pathetic expression to the hopes of a
youthful prisoner.
"I do not wish to die yet ; '' the graceful poem
ends with these words ; and the wish was fulfilled.
The 9th of Thermidor set her free. She made use of
her liberty to get a divorce ; she then fell in love
with a certain M. de Montrond, a clever man and
something of an adventurer. She married him, and
they left Paris to enjoy their happiness in solitude.
It was not, however, very lasting ; at the end of a
few years Mme. de Montrond was again divorced.
Cured for ever of marrying, she varied her life mth
occasional intrigues. One day having gone to see
the Emperor Napoleon, he roughly asked her : '^ Are
you still so fond of men?" "Yes, Sire," said she,
" when they are civil." She died in Paris, January
17, 1820, aged forty-nine.
Let us now turn to the two women who played
the leading parts in our hero's life. Princess
Czartoriska lived till 1835, but the last fifty years of
her life were darkened by many sorrows. She saw
the destruction of her fatherland and the ruin of her
511
friends. "My tears often flow," she wrote to
Delille in 1794, " when I think of my native land,
the land so dear to my heart, where I lived as a child,
where I was a happy girl, a happy wife, a very
happy mother, a happy friend ! " In 1830 she was
still living at Pulawy with her daughter, the Princess
of Wurtemberg ; ^ her grandson, Adam of Wurtemberg,
at the head of a Russian army, turned her out of the
place. The Chateau was bombarded and sacked,
and then, by order of Nicolas I., became a school
for young ladies. Mme. Czartoriska and her
daughter settled on their estate at Wysock, where
she died in 1835.
What became of Mme. de Coigny, Lauzun's second
and perhaps his truest great passion ?
During the years of emigration she too was
divorced from her husband ; she returned to France
in 1801. She still hated the Bourbons and the
ancien regime, but the excesses of the Revolution
had sickened her. She had a fanatical admiration
for Bonaparte, and set him above all the heroes of
antiquity. "The guardian angel of Napoleon," she
wrote, "is the guardian angel of France." She had
preserved her high spirit and wit ; her repartees and
jests were as popular as ever, but it was evident that
she endured a secret sorrow. She was devout after
her fashion : in the dark she was afraid of the Devil.
^ This Princess was divorced in 1792 ; it was her son, Adam of
Wurtemberg, who tmTied them out of Pulawy. When he offered
to make her an allowance she replied : '* Monsieur, I have not the
honour of knowing jou. I no longer have a son, and I care little
for fortune."
5^2
She had made up her mind to growing old, and
kept u]D no feminine arts and graces ; she was always
dressed plainly but with taste. To the last she
preserved the liveliness of her wit, the serenity and
amiability of her temper. She was carried off by
cholera at the age of seventy-three, dying September
13, 1832, at her little house in the. Rue de la Ville-
TEveque.*^
To conclude, we must devote a few lines to Mme.
de Rothe and the Archbishop of Narbonne, of whom
we have so often spoken.
Even before the revolution the archbishop's affairs
had been greatly entangled : he was up to the ears
in debt notwithstanding his vast revenues, and the
beautiful estate of Hautefontaine had to be sacrificed.
Then, when the political storm burst, Mgr. Dillon
took refuge in London with his niece, Mme. de Rothe.
Before long the poor woman fell into a decline and
rapidly became worse. She showed in the most
touching manner the deep attachment she had felt
for the worthy prelate. She concealed her suffer-
ings to spare him anxiety, and continued to do the
honours of his house that he might see no change and
miss no amusement.
On the last day of her life she invited M. d'Osmond
to dinner that he might talk to the archbishop, who
had become very deaf ; she had not the strength to
1 Her daughter Fanny married General Sebastiani, who went as
Ambassador to Turkey. Mme. de Sebastiani died at Constanti-
nople in 1807 at the bn^ih of a daughter who, in 1825, married the
Due de Choiseul-Praslin [by whom she was murdered in
1847].
513 ^ 1
speak loud enough to be heard by him. Oysters
were served, and she liked them ; the archbishop
pressed her to eat, and she amiably tried to swallow
one. Then she said in an undertone to M. d'Osmond,
with whom she was very intimate, " Do not let
him eat much ; I am afraid his digestion will re-
ceive a shock." She then led the conversation to
subjects which would interest her uncle, saying a
word now and then. At dessert Mgr. Dillon
left the room for a few minutes. As soon as
he had left, " I was waiting for this," she said.
"D'Osmond, lock him into his room — ring the
bell."
A servant came in and she desired him to go to
the archbishop and find some excuse to detain him :
" At his age painful scenes are not good," she added,
" and it will soon be over." M. d'Osmond wanted
to send for a doctor : " What for," said she, " it will
be useless. But send at once for a priest, that
will be better for the archbishop."
Within ten minutes of having locked him out she
had ceased to breathe, and the archbishop was always
convinced that she had died suddenly in high health.
" It is such a comfort to me," he would often say,
** to think that she did not suffer, nor foresee the
end.
>»i
1 Mme. de Rothe's devotion, of which only a woman could be
capable, found an imitator in Louise de Polastron, who lived with
the Comte d'Artois. Having fallen into a consumption, she never
complained, for fear of disturbing Monsieur's convenience, and he
saw and suspected nothing. She was dying, and he never per-
ceived it ; and she had the courage to conceal it from the Prince
almost till her latest breath.
5»4
He himself died in England in 1814.
The devotion shown by Fersen to the Royal
Family during the Revolution is well known.
When the tragedy was over he returned to Sweden,
where he held a high appointment at Court. In
1810 a riot broke out, and Fersen, whose conduct
had always been pure and noble, was assassinated
hj the populace ; he died under the most bar-
l3arous treatment in a public square in Stockholm.
Mme. de BufFon never left Paris throughout the
Revolution. When she saw Mme. de Lamballe's
liead carried round on a pike, she dropped into a
chair, crying, " Oh God ! they will carry my head
like that some day." Even after her royal lover's
execution Mme. de BufFon remained in the capital ;
but, notwithstanding her loudly expressed indigna-
tion at the crimes she had witnessed, she remained
unmolested. She was faithful to the memory of M.
d'Orleans, and at the risk of her life busied herself
about the affairs of his sons, whom she helped to
escape from prison at Marseilles. M. de Talleyrand
subsequently wished to marry her, but she could
not overcome her repugnance to marrying a bishop.
She fell into the greatest poverty. A Swiss gentle-
man, M. Renourd de Bussiere, a very agreeable man,
then paid her his addresses, which she accepted and
became Mme. Renourd.
515 l12
A list of authorities consulted besides the public collections of the
National Archives, the National Library, the papers pre-
served at the offices of the Minister of War, of the Navy, of
Foreign Affairs, etc. : —
Correspondence de la Marquise de Coigny, edited by the collector
Jacob. In the National Library, Paris. Reserve.
Memoires, Souvenirs et Anecdotes par le Comte de Segur.
Paris, 1826.
La Mission de Talleyrand a Londres en 1792. Par M. G.
Pallain. Paris, Plon, 1889.
La Vendee Patriote. Par Ch. L. Chassin. Paris, Paul Dupont,
1893.
Les Revolutionnaires. Par Charles Nauroy. Paris, Savine.
Histoire du Tribunal Revolutionnaire de Paris. Par H. Wallon.
Paris, Hachette, 1882.
Les Mirabeau. Par M. Louis de Lomonie. Paris, Dentu.
Le Comte de Fersen et la Cour de France. Par Le Baron de
Klinckow^strom. Paris, Firmin-Didot, 1878.
Memoires du Due de Montpensier.
Journal of My Life during the French Revolution. By Grace
Dalrymple Elliott. London, Bentley, 1859.
Memoirs of the Duchesse de Gontaut. Translated by IMrs.
Davis. London, 1864.
516
INDEX OF NAMES,
(When a name is printed in italics, refer to that.)
Adelaide, Madame, 10, 45, 281, 346.
Adhemar, Comte d', 74, 108.
Aiguillon, Due d', 8, 102, 297, 363,
434.
Alibert (Captain), 481.
Alicury, 167.
Alquier, 384.
Amelot, 103.
Andlau, Madame d', 291.
Andouin (War Minister), 467.
Anselme, General d', 453, 497.
Arbuthnot, Admiral, 203.
Aremberg, Prince d', 356, 361.
Arnold, General, 211.
Amould, Sophie (actress), 279.
Arrost, Viscomte d', 164, 166, 169,
193, 224.
Artoia, Comte d', 3,44, 66, 68, 83, 86,
93, 100, 109, 111, 116 f., 120,
180, 286, 337 ff., 346, 396,
514 note.
„ Comtesse d', 3, 45, 86.
Augeard (quoted), 381.
Bachaumont (quoted), 61, 319, 320.
Balbi, Madame de, 45.
Barbentane, Madame de, 113.
Barral, Abbe de, 350.
Barras, M. de, 237 note.
Barry (Jeanne Vaubernier), Vicom-
tesse du, 8.
Barry more (Lady Emily Stanhope),
Countess of, 63, 128, 228.
Basleroi, M. de, 197.
Basville, M., 468.
Beauharnais, M. de, 420.
Beaujolais, Due de, 410, 462.
Beaulieu, General, 425.
Beaumont, Prince de, 319.
,, Mgr. de, Archbishop of
Paris.
Belle Isle, Marechale de, 2 note.
Bergnot, M., 424, 501.
Berthois, Colonel, 415.
Bertin, Mile, (modiste), 301.
Besenval, Baron de, 71, 74, 77, 124,
344.
Beysser, 494.
Billy (Captain), 234 note.
Biron, Abbe de, 126.
,, Louis Antoine de Gontaut-
Biron, Marechal and Due de,
57, 126, 127, 145, 148, 151,
169, 17], 218, 348,350, 360,
398, 458.
,, (nee de La Rochefoucauld de
Eoye), Marechale de, 507.
,, Armand Louis Due de, s e
Lauzun.
Boehmer and Bossang (Jewellers),
312.
Bombelles, Comte de, 334.
Bonaparte, Joseph, 454.
„ Napoleon, 334, 454, 477,
511.
Bouchoite (War Minister), 471, 475,
481, 486, 492.
Bouflaers, Amelie de, Duchesse de
Lauzun.
Chevalier de, 359, 368.
,, Comtesse de, 132.
Duchesse de, 4, 101, 112,
113, 438, 509 f.
Bouille, 173 note, 237 note, 378 f .
„ Madame de, 299, 308.
Bouillon, Due de, 110, 280.
„ Princesse de, 94.
Bourbon, Due de, 47, 349.
„ Duchesse de, 111, 299, 462.
Bozon de Talleyrand, M., 257.
Branecki, Grand General of Poland,
25, 27 f., 49, 53 f., 64.
Breteuil, Baron de, 313, 341.
Brienne, Lomenie de. Archbishop of
Toulouse.
Brionne, Comtesse de, 302, 319.
517
Broglie, Comte Victor de, 329, 427,
429, 434, 507.
Prince de, 215, 253, 258 f.,
261, 266, 270, 272.
Brunet, General, 454, 456.
Buffon, Comtesse de, 331 f., 343, 361,
371, 430, 445, 515.
„ M. de, 2 note.
Burgoyne, General, 145.
Bussy, M. de, 157, 163, 164.
Caffarklli du Falga, 434.
Cagliostro, 296, 304 f ., 314 f .
Calonne, M. de, 303, 338 f., 353.
Cambis, Madame de, 368, 440.
Campan, Madame de (quoted), 315.
Caraman, Comte de, 185.
Carignan, Mario Thermae de, PrinceflBe
de Lamhalle.
Caraot, 433.
Cartouche, 151 note.
Casein, Comte de, 337.
Castellane, M. de, 459.
Castries, Dae de, 193, 226, 241.
Cathelineau, 477.
Catherine II., of Russia, 16 f., 25, 30,
48, 53 f , 91 f., 95 f., 139, 146, 322,
334 f., 347.
Caylus, M. de, 307, 309.
Chabot, Comte de, 257, 286.
Chalabre, M. de, 86.
Chalons, Madame de, 291.
Champlein, Miss, 214.
Charette, 477.
Chartres, Louis Philippe Joseph
(Egalite), Due de, after-
wards Due d' Orleans.
,, Louis Philippe, Duo de
(afterwards King of the
French), 409 f., 416, 420,
461.
Chastellax, M. de, 2 note, 193, 200,
219, 235.
Cbatelet, Due du, 148, 319, 340, 351,
360.
„ Duchesse du, 509 f.
Chatre, Madame de la, 186.
Chaumont, M,, 415.
Chenier, Andre, 511.
Choisenl, Etienne Francois de
Choiseul-Stainville, Due
de, 8, 10, 59 f., 71, 98,
100 f., 108, 115, 122, 133
f., 171, 187, 288, 302, 318
f., 335.
,, Louise Honorine, Duchesse
de, 8, 101 f., 127, 132 f.,
319 f.,
Choiseul-Gouffier, Comte de, 336.
Choiseul - Stainville, Beatrice de-
Duchesse de Gramont.
Choisy, M. de, 233.
Clermont, Mademoiselle, 41.
„ M. de, 356.
Clinton, General, 221.
Clugny, M. de, 103.
Coiguy, Chevalier de, 331.
„ Antoinette Fran9ois de, 178^
285, 513 note.
„ Fran(,'ois Aimee de, Duchesse
de Fleury.
„ Due de, 33, 44, 71, 74, 77, 79^
97, 101, 105, 108, 124, 160,
177.
„ Marquis de, 124, 173 note,
247, 381, 387, 402.
„ Louise Marthe (de Conflans),.
Marquise de, 175, 177 f.,^
186f., 191,227,241, 247 ff.,
251 f., 254, 282, 285, 290 f.,
318, 321 f., 339, 364, 370,
380 ff., 392 f., 395, 401 f.,.
405 f , 415, 421, 425, 429.
443, 512.
Coislin, Due de, 279.
„ Duchesse de, 239.
Condo, Prince de, 349.
Condorcet (quoted), 362.
Conflans, Louis Gabriel, Marqtiia de,.
33,66, 80, 83,176 f.,291,
329.
Jeanne du Portail, Mar-
quise de, 176.
„ Louise Marthe, Marquise
de Coirfny.
,, Louise Aglae, Duchesse de
Monthazon.
Contat, Mademoiselle, 117.
Conti, Louis Francois de Bourbon,.
Prince de, 101, 112 f.
„ (his son), 462.
Comwallis, 232 f., 235.
Courchamp, M. de, 400.
Coustard, 434, 500.
Crequi, M. de, 34.
Crequy, Marquis de, 184, 307.
,, Marquise de, 308.
Creutz, Baron de (quoted), 33, 193.
Crussol, M. de, 185.
Cumberland, Anne Luttrell, Duchess
of, 384.
Custine, Yicomte de, 193, 220, 235^
427, 429, 432, 436, 449 note.
Czartorista, Isabelle Fortunee Flem-
ing, Princess, 1, 13, 17, 26 f., 49 f.,
64, 91, 138, 511.
Czartoriski, Adam Casimir, Prince,.
14, 16, 23 f., 51 f., 63.
5i8
Dagobkrt, General, 456.
Dalberg, Baroness, 65.
Damas, Comte de, 210, 220, 328, 334.
Darnel, King, 168 f .
Dampierre, M. de, 356.
Danton, 462.
Dauphin (afterwards Louis XVI.),
38, 45, 77.
Son of Louis XVI., 245.
Dauphiness, Marie Antoinette, after-
wards Queen.
Defiant, Marie de Vichy-Chamrond,
Marquise du (quoted), 3, 4, 7, 8,
46, 62, 68, 69, 113, 132, 171, 322.
Delessart, M., 408.
Delille, Abbe, 279.
Des Genettes (surgeon), 454.
Deux-Ponts, Marquis de, 193.
„ Guillaume, Comte de,
235, 236, 237.
Diderot (writer), 16.
Dillon, Arthur, Comte, 79, 87, 173
note, 193, 345.
„ Edward, 79, 139, 173 note,
191, 345.
„ Kobert, Vicomte, 164, 166,
170, 191, 195, 210, 234 note,
235, 237.
Theobald, 413 f.
„ Archbishop of Narhotme.
„ Comtesse {nee de Rothe),42 f.,
48, 67, 72, 159, 187 f., 243,
255, 276 f.
,, Madame Edward, 139.
Dorset, Duke of, 345.
Douai, Merlin de, 279.
Ducrest, M. de, 356.
Dumouriez, General, 407 ff., 412 f.,
420, 435 f., 449, 461, 467, 488.
Duport, M. Adrien, 356.
Durfort, Comte de, 79.
„ Comtesse de, 191.
„ Louise de, Duchesse de
Mazarin.
Electress of Saxony, 18.
Elizabeth, Madame, 108.
„ Princess, (afterwards
Duchesse d'Angou-
leme), 164, 244.
Elliot, General, 286.
Elliott, Mrs. Grace (nee Dalrymple),
360 f., 364, 372, 446 fP.
Enghein, Due d', 350.
Estaing, Chevalier d', 155, 172, 173
note, 226.
Esterhazy, Prince, 124.
Eyri^g, M., 165.
Fall, Governor, 166.
Fersen, Hans Axel, Count, 183, 191,
193 f., 206 f., 210, 214, 216 f., 288,
345, 515.
FitzGerald, Lord, 345.
FitzJames, Due de, 356.
„ Duchesse de, 194, 388.
„ Marquis de, 83 note.
.Fleury, Francjoise de Coignv
(Marquise), Duchesse de,
325 f., 387, 435, 459 f.,
509 f.
„ Victor, 261.
Fontenilles, M. de, 380.
Forbes, Lord, 47 note.
Fouquier-Tinville, 469, 502 note.
Franklin, Doctor Benjamin, 142, 151.
Frederick Augustus, Elector of
Saxony, 18.
Frederick the Great, of Prussia, 19,
29, 354.
Freteau, 341.
Fronsac, M. de, 175, 307.
Galvez, General Don, 237 note.
Gatti, Doctor, 4.
Gaussen, Chevalier de (quoted), 33.
Genlis, Stephanie Felicie, Comtesse
de, 41, 109 f., 298, 327, 446
note.
„ Comte de, 83 note.
GeofErin, Mme., 322.
George III., of England, 146, 149, 151.
„ Prince of Wales, 291 note,
360 note, 382, 387, 391, 399.
Georgel, Abbe, 314.
Gesvres, Due de, 85.
Duchesse de, 309 f.
Gloucester, Duchess of, 384.
Gontaut, Charles Antoine, Due de, 4,
126, 171, 351.
Marquis de, 191, 399, 401,
498.
Gordon, Lord George, 334.
Gramont (Beatrice de Choiseul-
StainviUe), Duchesse de, 98 f., 101,
127, 133, 509 f.
Grasse, M. de, 226 note, 232, 253, 267,
293.
Grave, Chev. de, 408 f.
Graves, Admiral, 193, 199.
Gregoire, 457, 463.
Guemenee, Henri Louis M. de
Rohan, Prince de, 79,
83, 117, 130, 246,
277 f ., 280, 314.
„ Victoire Armando de
Rohan Soubise, Prin-
oesse de, 43, 48, 58,
67, 72, 85, 94, 97, 100,
519
107, 116, 119, 123,
133 f., 157, 164, 171,
188, 227, 241, 244 f.,
248, 326.
Guichen, 192.
Guines, Due (Cotnte) de, 74, 101, 102,
124, 127, 438.
Harcourt, Duo d', 337.
Hardy, Admiral, 186.
Harland, Miss Fanny, Mme. Edward
Dillon, 139.
Harris, Mr. (Lord Malmeshury) .
Hatzfeldt, Mademoiselle von, 23, 27.
Haussonville M. d' (quoted), 421
note.
Havre, M. d', 79.
Heath, General, 208.
Henry, Prince, of Prussia, 20, 354.
Hugo, General, 485.
Hunter, Mrs., and daughters, 213 f.,
285, 287.
IsLK, Chevalier de 1', 227, 248, 255,
280, 283, 302, 322, 460.
Jersey, Countess of, 382.
Joly de Fleury, 337.
Joseph II., Emperor of Austria, 90,
118 £E., 143.
Juniez, M. de, 48, 52 f.
Kellermann, 429, 436, 468.
Knox, General, 221.
La Barre, Colonel, 465.
La Bourdonnais, General, 468.
Lachevaudi^re, 493.
Laclos, 297, 356.
La Fayette, Marquis de, 79, 191, 362,
364 f., 391, 413, 420, 431, 435.
La Marck, Comte de, 297, 347, 356 f.,
362 f., 369, 378.
Lamballe, Marie Therese de Savoi©
Carignan, Princesse de, 40 f ., 72, 85,
106, 118, 299, 498, 515.
Lameth, Alexandre de, 253, 268.
„ Charles de, 235, 253.
Lamoignon, M. de, 343.
Lamothe, Mme. de, 312 f., 316, 377.
La Morli^re, M. de, 427.
Langeron, Marquis de, 185.
La Porte, M. de, 431.
Laroque, 500.
La Touchp, M. de., 256 f., 266, 268 f.
Lauraguais, M. de, 47 note, 80.
Laurent, Mademoiselle, 435, 445, 449.
Lautrec, Comte de, 177.
Lauzun, Amelie de Boufflers, Duchesse
de, afterwards Duchesse de
Biron, 2, 4, 6, 101, 112, 126
f., 131 f., 349, 368, 438 ff.,
507.
Lauzun, Armand Louis de Gontaut-
Biron, Due de, afterwards
Due de Biron, living at
Mouzon, 1, 13; goes to
Warsaw, 14 ; goes to Ber-
lin, 18 ; at Versailles, 1775,
46 ; negotiates with
Russia, 50 ff . , 63 ; removed
to Sarreguemines, 62 ; in
Paris, 1775, 66; life at
Court, 67 ff.; political
schemes, 90 ff. ; visit to
Chanteloup, 98 ; devotion
to the Queen, 105 ; his
affairs, 1777, 125 f . ; at
Vancouleurs, 137 ; in Lon-
don, 140 ; leaves England,
153 ; authorized to levy a
regiment, 154 ; visit to
Hautefontaine, 158 ; ex-
pedition to Senegal, 162 ;
meets Madame de Coignj,
175 ; goes to America, 193 ;
life at Newport, 213 ;
his friendsl^ip with Fersen,
217 ; sent to Lebanon, 218 ;
cavalry engagement at
Yorktown, 233 ; returns
to France, 238 ; sails again
for America, 256 ; a stay
at Terceira, 258; sick of
fever, 267 ; goes to Phila-
delphia, 271 ; left in com-
mand of the troops, 275 ;
returns home, 287 ;
treated with neglect, 288 ;
a visit to London, 291 ;
joins the "Egalite " party,
294; sees the Devil, 307;
at Montrouge, 327 ; mis-
sions to England, 333;
correspondence with Mont-
morin, 335 ; takes the title
of Due DE Biron, 1788,
351 ; connected with
Mirabeau, 353 ; elected de-
puty to the States- General,
359; refuses to go to
Corsica, 370 ; a tour of
inspection, 383 ; on service,
390 ; a mission to London,
394; imprisoned for debt,
397; returns to France,
402 ; quartered at Valen-
ciennes, 409; fighting in
Flanders, 416; joins the
Army of the Rhine, 427;
520
ordered to Nice, 445 ; in
Paris, 1793, 446 J fighting in
Piemont, 453 ; ordered to
La Rochelle, 469 ; fighting
in the West, 476 ; resigns
his command and goes to
Paris, 494 j arrested, 495 ;
tried and guillotined, 503.
Laval, Due de, 33.
„ Montmorency, Marquis de,
193, 268.
Lecomte-Puyraveau, 497.
Lejay, Madame, 355.
Leopold, Emperor of Austria, 405.
Lespinasse, Mademoiselle, 81, 113.
Levis, Due de (quoted), 177, 183,
295.
Leyton, Polly, 214 £.
Ligne, Charles Prince de (quoted),
19, 28, 33, 38, 71, 74, 88, 103, 181,
280, 298, 302 f., 322 f., 347, 382.
Linguet, 500.
Lomenie, Comte de, 253, 268.
Lorraine, Prince de, 63.
Lothringer, Abbe, 499.
Louis XV., King of France, 2, 5, 115,
117, 148.
Louis XVL, 3, 9 f., 31 f., 60, 68, 82 f.,
87, 89, 116 f., 121, 130, 136, 147 f.,
160, 174 f., 179, 235 f., 238, 276,
279, 293, 311, 320, 333, 338, 340 f.,
361, 363, 369, 372 f., 377 f., 425,
429 f., 449.
Louis XVII., Dauphin.
Louise, Madame, 47.
Liickner, Marecbal de, 104, 424, 426.
Lusignan, M. de, 356.
Luttrell, Anne, Duchess of Cumber-
land.
Luzerne, M. de, 272, 385.
Luxembourg, Chevalier de, 7, 71, 93,
296.
„ Marechale de, 4, 101,
112 f., 126 f., 131 f.,
349,439.
Machault, M., 10 f.
„ Madame, 3, 45, 86, 120.
„ "petite," Princess Eliza-
beth.
Maillebois, M. de, 286.
Maine, Duchesse du, 110.
Malesberbes, 62, 102.
Malmesbury (Harris), Earl of, 23,
388.
Mandlaw, Mr., 269.
Mandrin, 151 note.
Marat, 424, 462.
Maria Theresa, Empress, 36, 38, 60,
90, 117, 121, 123, 225.
Marie Antoinette, Queen, 3, 7, 10,
31 f., 48 f., 54, 58, 60, 66 f., 70 f.,
83 f., 92 f., 102, 106, 111, 115, 117 f .,
124, 129, 148, 156 f., 164, 173 note,
174 f., 180, 191, 193 f., 225, 247,
277, 279, 293, 312, 317, 338, 344 f.,
372, 377, 381, 385, 430, 498.
Marigny, Marquise de, 117.
Marsan, Marie Louise de Rohan- Sou-
bise, Comtesse de, 43, 115, 116, 188,
279 f., 314, 316, 318.
Martainville, Madame de, 159, 161,
187, 243.
Maupeou (Chancellor) 8, 343.
Maurepas, Comte de, 10 f., 57, 116,
122, 130, 140, 147, 155, 160, 171,
186, 212, 226, 238 f., 338.
Maury, Abbe (quoted), 371.
Mazarin, Louise de Durfort, Duchesse
de, 227.
Melbourne, Lady, 382.
Mendoga, Don Jose, 257.
Mercier (quoted), 88, 103.
Mercy, A. Francois de (quoted), 37 f.,
60, 75, 88, 102, 117, 121, 123 f., 182,
183.
Mesdames the Princesses, 3, 5, 45.
Miewkowski, 164, 166, 170.
Mirabeau, Victor liiquetti. Marquis
de, 297, 301, 353 f., 362 f., 369 f.,
377, 390.
Mirepoix, Marechale de, 160, 323.
„ Marquis de, 160.
Miromenil, M. de, 12.
Molleville, Bertrand de, 373, 405.
Monaco, Joseph, Prince de, 328, 388.
Monsieur (The Comte de Provence),
3, 44, 120, 151, 337, 338, 345, 369.
Montbarrey, Chevalier de (quoted),
50, 151, 225.
,, Prince de, 55 note, 170.
Montbazon, Due de, 188.
„ Aglae Louise de Conflans,
Duchesse de, 188, 227,
241, 250, 255, 282.
Montboissier, Comte de, 340.
Montespan, Marquise de, 84.
Montesquieu, Baron de, 193, 253,
268.
Montesquieu, General, 453.
Montesson, Madame de, 302.
Montmorency, Mathien de, 297.
Montmorin, M. de, 334 f., 337, 355 f.,
364, 372.
Montpensier, Duo de, 416, 420, 452,
457, 463 f .
Montrond, M. de, 511.
Monville, M. de, 462.
Morency, Madame de, Suzanne
Quillet.
521
Morris, Mrs., 272.
Mortemart, Due de, 340.
Muy, M. de, 12, 20, 104.
Nakbonne, Chevalier de, 390 £f., 398,
402 f., 405.
Narbonne, Mgr. Dillon, Archbp. of,
159, 340, 513.
Naudin, 376.
Navaris, Mme. de, 186.
Necker, M., 103, 300 f., 337, 349, 358
f., 361, 366.
" Nigretta," Duchesse de Fleury.
Noailles-Monchy, Due de, 508 f .
Duchesse de, 40, 42, 508 f.,
„ Comtede, 71,77, 149, 191,
193.
„ Vicomte de, 173 note, 191,
210, 220, 235, 297.
Family of, 344.
Noiseau, M. de, 356.
Normandie, Due de, Son of Louis
XVI., 311.
North, Lord, 287.
Oliva, 312, 316.
Orleans, Philippe Due d', 2 note, 9,
296.
„ Louis Philippe Joseph (son
of the above. Due de Char-
tres till 1785) " Egalite,"
Due d', 9, 47, 65, 66, 80,
83, 86, 100, 105, 109, 129,
155, 241, 292 f., 296, 298
f., 307, 321, 329 f., 341 f.,
346, 356, 359, 361 ff., 371
f., 379, 387, 410, 430 f.,
445 ff., 449 f., 452, 461 f.,
468, 499 f .
„ Duchesse d', 111.
„ Elizabeth Charlotte, Duch-
esse d' (quoted), 84.
OrmeBSon, M. d', 337.
Orvillierg, Comte d', 155, 186.
Osmond, M. d', 513.
Ossun, Comtesse d', 348.
Pachb (War Minister), 451, 455.
Paddock, Miss, 153.
Paige, M. de, 63.
Panchaud, 301, 356 f., 359.
Panic, Prince, 16 note, 56.
Parein, 493.
Paris, Mgr. de Beaumont, Archbishop
of, 113, 340.
Pays (steward), 125, 130.
Penthievre, Due de, 450.
" Perdita," Mrs. Mary Rolinson.
Perez, M., 258.
Philippeaux (eommissioner), 491.
Pitt, 398.
Placide (acrobat), 181.
Poix, M. de, 65, 431.
Polastron, M. de, 507.
„ Madame de, 514 note.
Polignac, Comtesse Diane de, 72 f.,
107,182,285,371.
„ Comtesse Jules de, 72 f.,
107, 108, 111, 119, 129,
175, 182 f., 283 f., 299,
302, 317 f., 348. 388.
Pons, M. de, 19.
Pontdevez, M. de, 172 note.
Portail, Jeanne du, Marquise de
Conjians.
Potocka, Countess, 29, 109.
Praslin, Due de Choiseul-, 513 note.
Prieur, 434.
Provence, Due de Bourbon- (after-
wards Monsieur), 151, 345.
QuENTiN, 501 note.
Quevauvillers, M. de, 452, 458.
Quillet, Mme. (Mme. Morency),
Suzanne Giroux, 411 f.
Eadziwil, Princess, 51.
Eawdon (Lord), 400.
Renaud, Mile., 225.
Repnine, Prince, 50.
Reveillon, 359.
Richard (Doctor), 3.
Richelieu, Marechal de, 160, 334, 349.
Rivarol (quoted), 359, 362 note.
Robespierre, 498 note, 501.
Robinson, Mrs. Mary ("Perdita"),
242 f.
Rochambeau, Comte de, 185, 191,
194 f., 200, 202 f.,
210 f., 218, 222, 224,
226, 232 f., 235 f.,
253, 273 f., 340, 378,
390, 404, 412 f., 417,
419, 422 f.
„ Vicomte de, 193, 213,
228, 418.
Roche- Ay mon. Cardinal de La, 116.
Rochefoucauld, Due de La, 340.
,, de Roye, Pauline de la,
Duchesse de Biron.
Rodney, Admiral, 145, 253, 267, 398.
Rohan, Louis Rene, Ed., Cardinal de,
116, 122, 188, 245, 305 f.,
312 f., 359.
„ Camille, Prince de, 388.
Ronsin, 493.
Rosenberg, Count von, 60.
Rossignol (Captain), 480 fF., 492,
494.
Rothe, Madame de, 42, 159, 513.
522
Eullecour, M. de, 24.
Rataut, M., 449, 498.
Rzewuski, Count, 25.
Sabatier de Cabre, Abbe, 341.
Sabran, Madame de, 368.
Saint-Germain, M. de, 104 f., 107.
Saint-Mesmes, Comte de, 193.
Saint-Simon, Marquis de, 232, 235.
Saisseval, M. de, 356.
Salano, Admiral Don, 237 note.
Salicetti, M. de, 370.
Salomon, General, 480.
Sartines, M. de, 12, 160, 162, 164, 179,
186, 225.
Segur, Comte de, 31, 79, 1£0, 211,
215, 225, 229, 238, 240,
249 f., 297.
Marechal de, 297.
„ Vicomte de, 191, 215, 253,
259 £f., 266, 268, 270.
Semonville, M. de, 356.
Servan, General, 424, 468.
Sheldon, Captain, 164, 166, 170, 234
note, 429.
Sidi Mouctar, 167 f.
Silly, 380.
Simiane, Madame de, 186.
Smith, Mr., 86.
Soubise, Charles de Rohan, Prince
and Marechal de, 160, 280, 314, 349.
Spencer, Lady, 382.
Stackelberg, M. de, 16, 26, 49 f., 62.
Statil, Baronne de, 391.
Stainville, Beatrice de Choiseul-,
Dnchesse de Oramont.
Stanislaus II., King of Poland, 138.
Stanton, Gilbert, 166.
Stormont, Lord, 145, 150.
Strathavon, Lord, 345.
Suffolk, 144.
Sutton, Doctor, 4.
Talleyrand, Prince de. Bishop of
Autun, 297, 301, 330, 354 f., 358 f.,
372, 386 note, 391, 393 f., 399, 515.
Tamara, General, 334.
Tarleton, Colonel, 233 f .
Ternay, Comte de, 192, 196 f., 199,
205, 208, 210, 212 f., 223.
Terray, Joseph Marie, Abbe, 8, 12.
Tesse, Comte de, 97, 107.
Tort, 102.
Toulouse, Lomenie de Brienne, Arch-
bishop of, 340, 348.
Tronchin, Doctor, 2 note, 3.
Trumboldt, Governor 21
Turgot, M., 12, 46, 102 f., 359.
Valence, General, 466.
Valentinois, Madame de, 328.
Vaubernier, Jeanne, Comtesse du
Barry.
Vaudreuil, Comte de, 73, 75, 108,
163 f., 172, 183, 266, 274, 337 f.
Vanx, Comte de, 184.
Ventadoux, Madame de (nee Rohan),
281.
Vergennes, Comte de, 12, 17, 19 f.,
30, 47 f., 54 f., 62 f., 91, 95, 138 f.,
146 f., 150, 152, 160, 240, 313, 315,
349, 354, 357.
Vermond, Abbe, 75.
Vestris (dancer), 282 note.
Vigee-Lebrun, Mme. (quoted), 326.
Yillequier, Madame de, 186.
Villeroy, M. de, 94.
Villette, Marquis de, 282.
Viomenil, Baron de, 59, 193, 268, 270.
Virville, Madame de, 113.
Yoyer, Marc-Rene, Marquis de, 127,
256, 276.
Vrilliere, Due de la, 62, 69.
Wall, M., 185.
Walpole, Horace (quoted), 39, 67,
84, 171, 510.
Washington, George, General, 141,
204, 210 f., 220 f., 224, 229 f., 233,
287.
Weedon, General, 233.
Westermann, General, 491.
Wurtemberg, Adam, Prince of, 512.
„ (nee Czartoriska) , Prin-
cess of, 512.
" ZiLiA," Duchesse de Fleury.
523
LONDON :
PRINrKD BY GILBERT AND EIVIlfOTOir, LIMITBD
8T, JOHN'S HOU8B. CLEEKKlTWBtt, B.C.
k
GENERAL LIBRARY
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA— BERKELEY
RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED
This book is due on the last date stamped below, or on the
date to which renewed.
Renewed books are subject to immediate recall.
LD 21-lOOni-l, "54(1887816)476
I
PC
Bqmi
THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY
nn
iM
mmmsmmm