CHAPTER XXVII
The comte de la Marche and the comtesse du Barry-The countess and the prince de Conde-The duc de la Vauguyon and the countess-Provisional minister-Refusal of the secretaryship of war-Displeasure of the king-The marechale de Mirepoix-Unpublished letter from Voltaire to Madame du Barry-Her reply
The comte de la Marche had always evinced the warmest regard for me, and he sought, on the present occasion, to be repaid for his attachment. Both he and the prince de Conde had their ambitious speculations in the present change of ministers; and both fancied, that because their relation, the duke, had governed during the king"s minority, the right to the several appointments now vacant, belonged as a matter of course to their family. The count had already sent to solicit my interest, through the mediation of madame de Monaco, mistress to the prince de Conde; and, as I shrewdly suspect, the occasional chere amie of himself. Finding this measure did not produce all the good he expected, he came, without further preface, to speak to me himself about it. Unwilling to come to an open rupture with him, I endeavoured to make him comprehend, that the policy of the sovereign would never permit his placing any of the administrative power in the hands of the princes of his family; that he had consented, most reluctantly, to investing them with military command, and that it would be fruitless to urge more.
The comte de la Marche appeared struck by the justness of my arguments; he replied,
"Well, madam, since I cannot be a minister, I must e"en give up my wishes; but, for the love of heaven intreat of the king to bestow his favours in the shape of a little pecuniary aid. Things look ill at present; they may take a worse turn, but he may confidently rely on my loyalty and devotion: the supreme courts, driven to the last extremity, will make a stand, and princes and peers will range themselves under the banners. We well know how much this resistance will displease his majesty; I pledge myself never to forsake your cause, but to defend it with my life; that is, if my present pressing necessity for money be satisfied. How say you, madam; can you procure it for me?"
"Very probably I may be enabled to a.s.sist you," replied I; "but you must first inform me how much will satisfy you."
"Oh," answered he, carelessly, "something less than the mines of Peru will suffice; I am not extravagant, and merely ask for so much as is absolutely necessary. In the first place 60,000 livres paid down, and secondly, a yearly payment of 200,000 more."
This demand did not appear to me unreasonable, and I undertook to arrange the matter to the prince"s satisfaction, well pleased on my own side to secure so ill.u.s.trious an ally at so cheap a rate, I procured the a.s.sent of the king and the comptroller-general; the 60,000 livres were bestowed on the comte de la Marche in two separate payments, the pension settled on him, and, still further, an annuity of 30,000 livres was secured to madame de Monaco; and I must do the count the justice to say, that he remained faithful to our cause amidst every danger and difficulty; braving alike insults, opprobrium, and the torrent of pamphlets and epigrams of which he was the object; in fact, we had good reason for congratulating ourselves upon securing such devotion and zeal at so poor a price.
The prince de Conde, surrounded by a greater degree of worldly state and consideration, was equally important to us, although in another way. He had in some degree compromised popularity by attaching himself to me from the commencement of my court favour, and the reception he bestowed on me at Chantilly had completed his disgrace in the eyes of n.o.bility. He visited at my house upon the most friendly footing; and whenever he found me, he would turn the conversation upon politics, the state of affairs, and the great desire he felt to undertake the direction of them in concert with me; he would add, "You might play the part of madame de Pompadour, and yet you content yourself with merely attempting to do so; you are satisfied with possessing influence when you might exercise power and command. Your alliance with a prince of the blood would render you sole mistress in this kingdom; and should I ever arrive, through your means, to the rank of prime minister, it would be my pleasure and pride to submit all things to you, and from this accord would spring an authority which nothing could weaken."
I listened in silence, and, for once, my natural frankness received a check; for I durst not tell him all I knew of the king"s sentiments towards him. The fact was, Louis XV was far from feeling any regard for the prince de Conde; and, not to mince the matter, had unequivocally expressed his contempt for him. He often said to me, when speaking of him, "He is a conceited fellow, who would fain induce persons to believe him somebody of vast importance." Louis XV had prejudices, from which no power on earth could have weaned him; and the princes of the house of Conde were amongst his strongest antipathies: he knew a score of scandalous anecdotes relating to them, which he took no small pleasure in repeating.
However, all the arguments of the prince de Conde were useless, and produced him nothing, or, at least, nothing for himself, although he procured the nomination of another to the ministry, as you will hear in its proper place; but this was not sufficient to allay the cravings of his ambition; and, in his rage and disappointment, when open war was proclaimed between the king and his parliament, he ranged himself on the side of the latter. He soon, however, became weary of his new allies; and, once more abandoning himself to the guidance of interest, he rejoined our party. Well did M. de Maupeou know men, when he said they all had their price; and great as may be the rank and t.i.tle of princes, with plenty of money, they too may be had.
But amongst all the candidates for the ministry, the one who occasioned me the greatest trouble was the duc de la Vauguyon, who insisted upon it that he had done much for me, and complained bitterly of his unrequited services, and of my having bestowed my confidence on others. Up to the moment of the disgrace of the des Choiseuls, he had been amongst the most bitter of the malcontents; but no sooner were they banished from court than M. de la Vauguyon forgot every thing, and hastened to me with every mark of the warmest friendship.
"Ah!" exclaimed he, "I have much to scold you for, but I will forgive you all your past misdeeds, if you will perform your promise to me."
"My dear father," cried I (for I used jestingly to style him so, in the same manner as I designated the bishop of Orleans gros pere), "are you, indeed displeased with me? That is very naughty: for you know I love you with all my heart."
"If it be true that you entertain any regard for me, why have you evinced so little towards me? Am I not of the right materials for making ministers? Why, then, have you never procured my appointment to any of the vacant situations?"
"Stay, stay, my dear father," cried I, "how you run on! To hear you talk, any person would suppose that places and appointments rained down upon me, and that I had only to say to you, my dear duke, choose which you please; then, indeed, you might complain with justice; but you know very well, that all these delightful things are in the hands of the king, who alone has a right to bestow them as he judges best, whilst I am wholly powerless in the business."
"Say, rather," replied the duke, quickly, "that you find it suits your present purpose to put on this want of power. We all know, that your veto is absolute with his majesty, and it requires nothing more to obtain whatsoever you desire."
The duc de la Vauguyon was powerful, and represented the whole of a party-that of the religionists, which was still further supported by the princesses; but for this very reason the triumvirate, consisting of messieurs d" Aiguillon, de Maupeou, and the abbe Terre, would not have accepted his services at any price.
The good duke returned several times to the charge; sometimes endeavouring to move me by gentle intreaties and, at others, holding out threats and menaces; good and bad words flowed from his lips like a mixture of honey and gall, but when he found that both were equally thrown away upon me, he retired offended; and by the expression of his rage and disappointment, succeeded in incensing both the dauphin and dauphiness against me. May heaven preserve you, my friend, from the anger of a bigot!
I think I have detained you long enough with the relation of the intrigues by which I was surrounded upon the dismissal of the des Choiseuls, and I will now return to the morning of the 24th of December. When the exiles were fairly out of Paris, the king found himself not a little embarra.s.sed in the choice of a prime minister. Those who would have suited our purposes did not meet with the king"s approbation, and he had not yet sufficient courage to venture upon electing one who should be disagreeable to us; he therefore hit upon a curious provisional election; the abbe Terray, for instance, was placed at the head of the war department. This measure was excused by the a.s.sertion, that it would require the head of a financier to look into and settle the accounts, which the late minister had, no doubt, left in a very confused state. Upon the same principle, M. Bertin was appointed to the direction of foreign affairs, and M. de Boynes was invested solely with the management of naval affairs. This man, who was counsellor of state, and first president of the parliament of Besancon, knew not a letter of the office thus bestowed upon him, but then he was bound body and soul to the chancellor; and it was worth something to have a person who, it might be relied on, would offer no opposition to the important reforms which were to be set on foot immediately. We required merely automata, and M. de Boynes answered our purpose perfectly well; for a provisional minister nothing could have been better.
The king had at length (in his own opinion), hit upon a very excellent minister of war; and the person selected was the chevalier, afterwards comte de Muy, formerly usher to the late dauphin: he was a man of the old school, possessing many sterling virtues and qualities. We were in the utmost terror when his majesty communicated to us his election of a minister of war, and declared his intention of immediately signifying his pleasure to M. de Muy. Such a blow would have overthrown all our projects. Happily chance befriended us; the modern Cato declared that he should esteem himself most honored to serve his sovereign by every possible endeavour, but that he could never be induced to enter my service upon any pretext whatever. The strangeness of this refusal puzzled Louis XV not a little. He said to me. "Can you make out the real motive of this silly conduct? I had a better opinion of the man; I thought him possessed of sense, but I see now that he is only fit for the cowl of a monk; he will never be a minister." The king was mistaken; M. de Muy became one under the auspices of his successor.
Immediately that the prince de Conde was informed of what had pa.s.sed, he recommenced his attack; and finding he could not be minister himself, he determined, at least, to be princ.i.p.ally concerned in the appointment of one; he therefore proposed the marquis de Monteynard, a man of such negative qualities, that the best that could be said of him was, that he was as incapable of a bad as of a good action; and, for want of a better, he was elected. Such were the colleagues given to M. de Maupeou to conduct the war which was about to be declared against the parliaments. I should tell you, en pa.s.sant, that the discontent of the magistracy had only increased, and that the parliament of Paris had even finished by refusing to decide the suits which were referred to them; thus punishing the poor litigants for their quarrel with the minister.
Meanwhile, the general interest expressed for the duc de Choiseul greatly irritated the king.
"Who would have thought," said he to me, "that a disgraced minister could have been so idolized by a whole court? Would you believe that I receive a hundred pet.i.tions a day for leave to visit at Chanteloup? This is something new indeed! I cannot understand it."
"Sire," replied I, "that only proves how much danger you incurred by keeping such a man in your employment."
"Why, yes," answered Louis XV; "it really seem as though, had he chosen some fine morning to propose my abdicating the throne in favour of the dauphin, he would only have needed to utter the suggestion to have it carried into execution. Fortunately for me, my grandson is by no means partial to him, and will most certainly never recall him after my death. The dauphin possesses all the obstinacy of persons of confined understanding: he has but slender judgment, and will see with no eye but his own."
Louis XV augured ill of his successor"s reign, and imagined that the cabinet of Vienna would direct that of Versailles at pleasure. His late majesty was mistaken; Louis XVI is endowed with many rare virtues, but they are unfortunately clouded over by his timidity and want of self-confidence.
The open and undisguised censure pa.s.sed by the whole court upon the conduct of Louis XV was not the only thing which annoyed his majesty, who perpetually tormented himself with conjectures of what the rest of Europe would say and think of his late determinations.
"I will engage," said he, "that I am finely pulled to pieces at Potsdam. My dear brother Frederick is about as sweet-tempered as a bear, and I must not dismiss a minister who is displeasing to me without his pa.s.sing a hundred comments and sarcastic remarks. Still, as he is absolute as the Medes and Persians, surely he can Have no objection to us poor monarchs imitating him; and allow me the same privilege in mine. After all, why should I need his or any other person"s opinion; let the whole world applaud or condemn, I shall still act according to my own best judgment."
On my side I was far from feeling quite satisfied with the accounts I continued to receive from Chanteloup; above all I felt irritated at the parade of attachment made by the prince de Beauvau for the exiles, and I complained bitterly of it to the marechale de Mirepoix.
"What can I do to help it," said she; "my sister-in-law is a simpleton; who, after having ruined her brother, will certainly cause the downfall of her husband. I beseech you, my dear, out of regard for me, to put up with the unthinking conduct of the prince de Beauvau for a little while; he will soon see his error and amend it." He did indeed return to our party, but his obedience was purchased at a heavy price.
Some days after the disgrace of the duc de Choiseul, I received a letter from M. de Voltaire. This writer, who carped at and attacked all subjects, whether sacred or profane, and from whose satires neither great nor small were exempt, had continual need of some powerful friend at court. When his protector, M. de Choiseul, was dismissed, he saw clearly enough that the only person on whom he could henceforward depend to aid and support him, was she who had been chiefly instrumental in removing his first patron. With these ideas he addressed to me the following letter of condolence or, to speak more correctly, of congratulation. It was as follows:-
"MADAME LA COMTESSE,-Fame, with her hundred tongues, has announced to, me in my retreat the fall of M. de Choiseul and your triumph. This piece of news has not occasioned me much surprise, I always believed in the potency of beauty to carry all before it; but, shall I confess it? I scarcely know whether I ought to congratulate myself on the success you have obtained over your enemies. M, de Choiseul was one of my kindest friends, and his all-powerful protection sufficed to sustain me against the malice of my numerous enemies. May a humble creature like me flatter himself with the hope of finding in you the same generous support? for when the G.o.d Mars is no longer to be found, what can be more natural than to seek the aid of Pallas, the G.o.ddess of the line arts? Will she refuse to protect with her aegis the most humble of her adorers?
"Permit me, madam, to avail myself of this opportunity to lay at your feet the a.s.surance of my most respectful devotion. I dare not give utterance to all my prayers in your behalf, because I am open to a charge of infidelity from some, yet none shall ever detect me unfaithful in my present professions; at my age, "tis time our choice was made, and our affections fixed. Be a.s.sured, lovely countess, that I shall ever remain your attached friend; and that no day will pa.s.s without my teaching the echoes of the Alps to repeat your much-esteemed name.
"I have the honour to remain, malady, yours, etc., etc."
You may be quite sure, my friend, that I did not allow so singular an epistle to remain long unanswered. I replied to it in the following words:-
"SIR,-The perusal of your agreeable letter made me almost grieve for the disgrace of the duc de Choiseul. Be a.s.sured, that to his own conduct, and that of his family, may be alone attributed the misfortune you deplore.
"The regrets you so feelingly express for the calamity which has befallen your late protector do honour to your generous heart; but recollect that your old friends were not the only persons who could appreciate and value your fine talents; to be esteemed worthy the honourable appellation of your patron is a glory which the proudest might envy; and, although I cannot boast of being a Minerva, who, after all, was possibly no wiser than the rest of us, I shall always feel proud and happy to serve you with my utmost credit and influence.
"I return you my best thanks for the wishes you express, and the attachment you so kindly profess. You honour me too much by repeating my name amidst the bosom of the Alps! be a.s.sured, that I shall not be behindhand in making the saloons of Paris and Versailles resound with yours. Had I leisure for the undertaking, I would go and teach it to the only mountain worthy of re-echoing it-at the foot of Parna.s.sus.
"I am, sir, yours, etc., etc."
You perceive, my friend, that I intended this reply should be couched in the wittiest style imaginable, yet, upon reading it over at this lapse of time, it appears to me the silliest thing ever penned; nevertheless, I flattered myself I had caught the tone and manner in which M. de Voltaire had addressed me: he perceived my intention, and was delighted with the flattering deference it expressed. You know the vanity of men of letters; and M. de Voltaire, as the first writer of the age, possessed, in proportion, the largest portion of conceit.
CHAPTER XXVIII
A few words respecting Jean Jacques Rousseau-The comtesse du Barry is desirous of his acquaintance-The countess visits Jean Jacques Rousseau-His household furniture-His portrait-Therese-second visit from madame du Barry to Jean Jacques Rousseau-The countess relates her visit to the king-Billet from J. J. Rousseau to madame du Barry-The two d.u.c.h.esses d"Aiguillon
Spite of the little estimation in which I held men of letters, generally speaking, you must not take it for granted that I entertained an equal indifference for all these gentlemen. I have already, I fear, tired your patience when dwelling upon my ardent admiration of M. de Voltaire; I have now to speak to you of that with which his ill.u.s.trious rival, Jean Jacques Rousseau, inspired me-the man who, after a life so filled with constant trouble and misfortunes, died a few years since in so deplorable a manner. At the period of which I am now speaking this man, who had filled Europe with his fame, was living at Paris, in a state bordering upon indigence. I must here mention, that it was owing to my solicitation that he had been permitted to return from his exile, I having successfully interceded for him with the chancellor and the attorney-general. M. Seguier made no difficulty to my request, because he looked upon Jean Jacques Rousseau as the greatest enemy to a set of men whom he mortally hated-the philosophers. Neither did M. de Maupeou, from the moment he effected the overthrow of the parliament, see any objection to bestowing his protection upon a man whom the parliaments had exiled. In this manner, therefore, without his being aware of it, Rousseau owed to me the permission to re-enter Paris. Spite of the mortifying terms in which this celebrated writer had spoken of the king"s mistresses, I had a lively curiosity to know him; all that his enemies repeated of his uncouthness, and even of his malicious nature, far from weakening the powerful interest with which he inspired me, rather augmented it, by strengthening the idea I had previously formed of his having been greatly calumniated. The generous vengeance which he had recently taken for the injuries he had received from Voltaire particularly charmed me.* I thought only how I could effect my design of seeing him by one means or another, and in this resolution I was confirmed by an accident which befell me one day.
*Jean Jacques Rousseau in his journey through Lyons in June 1770 subscribed for the statue of Voltaire.-author It was the commencement of April, 1771, I was reading for the fourth time, the "Nouvelle Heloise," and for the tenth, or, probably, twelfth, the account of the party on the lake, when the marechale de Mirepoix entered the room. I laid my open volume on the mantel-piece, and the marechale, glancing her eye upon the book I had just put down, smilingly begged my pardon for disturbing my grave studies, and taking it in her hand, exclaimed,
"Ah! I see you have been perusing "La Nouvelle Heloise"; I have just been having more than an hour"s conversation respecting its author."