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hunting; which means that to him these days are of no account:



July 11; 1789; nothing; M。 Necker leaves。



July 12th vespers and benediction; Messieurs de Montmorin; de

Saint…Priest and de la Luzerne leave。



July 13th ; nothing。



July 14th ; nothing。



July 29th; nothing; M。 Necker returns。。。。。



August 4th; stag…hunt in the forest at Marly; took one; go and come

on horseback。



August 13th; audience of the States in the gallery; Te Deum during

the mass below; one stag taken in the hunt at Marly。  。  。



August 25th; complimentary audience of the States; high mass with

the cordons bleus; M。 Bailly sworn in; vespers and benediction; state

dinner。。。。



October 5th; shooting near Chatillon; killed 81 head; interrupted

by events; go and come on horseback。



October 6th; leave for Paris at half…past twelve; visit the H?tel…

de…Ville; sup and rest at the Tuileries。



October 7th nothing; my aunts come and dine。



October 8th; nothing 。  。  。



October 12th; nothing; the stag hunted at Port Royal。



Shut up in Paris; held by the crowds; his heart is always with the

hounds。  Twenty times in 1790 we read in his journal of a stag…hunt

occurring in this or that place; he regrets not being on hand。  No

privation is more intolerable to him; we encounter traces of his

chagrin even in the formal protest he draws up before leaving for

Varennes; transported to Paris; shut up in the Tuileries; 〃where; far

from finding conveniences to which he is accustomed; he has not even

enjoyed the advantages common to persons in easy circumstances;〃 his

crown to him having apparently lost its brightest jewel。





VI。  UPPER CLASS DISTRACTIONS。



Other similar lives。  … Princes and princesses。  … Seigniors of the

court。  … Financiers and parvenus。  … Ambassadors; ministers; governors;

general officers。



As is the general so is his staff; the grandees imitate their

monarch。  Like some costly colossal effigy in marble; erected in the

center of France; and of which reduced copies are scattered by

thousands throughout the provinces; thus does royal life repeat

itself; in minor proportions; even among the remotest gentry。  The

object is to make a parade and to receive; to make a figure and to

pass away time in good society。  …  I find; first; around the court;

about a dozen princely courts。  Each prince or princess of the blood

royal; like the king; has his house fitted up; paid for; in whole or

in part; out of the treasury; its service divided into special

departments; with gentlemen; pages; and ladies in waiting; in brief;

fifty; one hundred; two hundred; and even five hundred appointments。

There is a household of this kind for the queen; one for Madame

Victoire; one for Madame Elisabeth; one for Monsieur; one for Madame;

one for the Comte d'Artois; and one for the Comtesse d'Artois。  There

will be one for Madame Royale; one for the little Dauphin; one for the

Duc de Normandie; all three children of the king; one for the Duc

d'Angoulême; one for the Duc de Berry; both sons of the Comte

d'Artois: children six or seven years of age receive and make a parade

of themselves。  On referring to a particular date; in 1771;'55' I find

still another for the Duc d'Orléans; one for the Duc de Bourbon; one

for the Duchesse; one for the Prince de Condé; one for the Comte de

Clermont; one for the Princess dowager de Conti; one for the Prince de

Conti; one for the Comte de la Marche; one for the Duc de Penthièvre。

…  Each personage; besides his or her apartment under the king's roof

has his or her chateau and palace with his or her own circle; the

queen at Trianon and at Saint…Cloud; Mesdames at Bellevue; Monsieur at

the Luxembourg and at Brunoy; the Comte d'Artois at Meudon and at

Bagatelle; the Duc d'Orléans at the Palais Royal; at Monceaux; at Rancy

and at Villers…Cotterets; the Prince de Conti at the Temple and at

Ile…Adam; the Condés at the Palais…Bourbon and at Chantilly; the Duc

de Penthièvre at Sceaux; Anet and Chateauvilain。  I omit one…half of

these residences。  At the Palais…Royal those who are presented may come

to the supper on opera days。  At Chateauvilain all those who come to

pay court are invited to dinner; the nobles at the duke's table and

the rest at the table of his first gentleman。  At the Temple one

hundred and fifty guests attend the Monday suppers。  Forty or fifty

persons; said the Duchesse de Maine; constitute 〃a prince's private

company。〃'56' The princes' train is so inseparable from their persons

that it follows them even into camp。  〃The Prince de Condé;〃 says M。 de

Luynes; 〃sets out for the army to…morrow with a large suite: he has

two hundred and twenty…five horses; and the Comte de la Marche one

hundred。  M。 le duc d'Orléans leaves on Monday; he has three hundred

and fifty horses for himself and suite。〃'57' Below the rank of the

king's relatives all the grandees who figure at the court figure as

well in their own residences; at their hotels at Paris or at

Versailles; also in their chateaux a few leagues away from Paris。  On

all sides; in the memoirs; we obtain a foreshortened view of some one

of these seignorial existences。  Such is that of the Duc de Gèvres;

first gentleman of the bedchamber; governor of Paris; and of the Ile…

de…France; possessing besides this the special governorships of Laon;

Soissons; Noyon; Crespy and Valois; the captainry of Mousseaux; also a

pension of 20;000 livres; a veritable man of the court; a sort of

sample in high relief of the people of his class; and who; through his

appointments; his airs; his luxury; his debts; the consideration he

enjoys; his tastes; his occupations and his turn of mind presents to

us an abridgment of the fashionable world。'58' His memory for

relationships and genealogies is surprising; he is an adept in the

precious science of etiquette; and on these two grounds he is an

oracle and much consulted。  〃He greatly increased the beauty of his

house and gardens at Saint…Ouen。  At the moment of his death;〃 says the

Duc de Luynes; 〃he had just added twenty…five arpents to it which he

had begun to enclose with a covered terrace。  。  。  。  He had quite a

large household of gentlemen; pages; and domestic of various kinds;

and his expenditure was enormous。  。  。  。  He gave a grand dinner every

day。  。  。  。  He gave special audiences almost daily。  There was no one at

the court; nor in the city; who did not pay his respects to him。  The

ministers; the royal princes themselves did so。  He received company

whilst still in bed。  He wrote and dictated amidst a large assemblage。

。  。  。  His house at Paris and his apartment at Versailles were never

empty from the time be arose till the time he retired。〃 2 or 300

households at Paris; at Versailles and in their environs; offer a

similar spectacle。  Never is there solitude。  It is the custom in

France; says Horace Walpole; to burn your candle down to its snuff in

public。  The mansion of the Duchesse de Gramont is besieged at day…

break by the noblest seigniors and the noblest ladies。  Five times a

week; under the Duc de Choiseul's roof; the butler enters the drawing

room at ten o'clock in the evening to bestow a glance on the immense

crowded gallery and decide if he shall lay the cloth for fifty; sixty

or eighty persons;'59' with this example before them all the rich

establishments soon glory in providing an open table for all comers。

Naturally the parvenus; the financiers who have purchased or taken the

name of an estate; all those traffickers and sons of traffickers who;

since Law; associate with the nobility; imitate their ways。  And I do

not allude to the Bourets; the Beaujons; the St。  Jameses and other

financial wretches whose paraphernalia effaces that of the princes;

but take a plain associé des fermes; M。 d'Epinay; whose modest and

refined wife refuses such excessive display。'60' He had just completed

his domestic arrangements; and was anxious that his wife should take a

second maid; but she resisted; nevertheless; in this curtailed

household;



〃the officers; women and valets; amounted to sixteen。  。  。  。  When M。

d'Epinay gets up his valet enters on his duties。  Two lackeys stand by

awaiting his orders。  The first secretary enters for the purpose of

giving an account of the letters received by him and which he has to

open; but he is interrupted two hundred times in this business by all

sorts of people imaginable。  Now it is a horse…jockey with the finest

horses to sell。  。  。  。  Again some saucy girl who calls to bawl out a

piece of music; and on whose behalf some influence has been exerted to

get her into the opera; after giving her a few lessons in good taste

and teaching her what is proper in French music。  This young lady has

been made to wait to ascertain if I am still at home。  。  。  。  I get up

and go out。  Two lackeys open the folding doors to let me make it

through this eye of a needle; while two servants bawl out in the ante…

chamber; 'Madame; gentlemen; Madame!' All form a line; the gentlemen

consisting of dealers in fabrics; in instruments; jewellers; hawkers;

lackeys; shoeblacks; creditors; in short everything imaginable that is

most ridiculous and annoying。  The clock strikes twelve or one before

this toilet matter is over; and the secretary; who; doubtless; knows

by experience the impossibility of rendering a detailed statement of

his business; hands to his master a small memorandum informing him

what he must say in the assembly of fermiers。〃



Indolence; disorder; debts; ceremony; the tone and ways of the

patron; all seems a parody of the real thing。  We are beholding the

last stages of aristocracy。  And yet the court of M。 d'Epinay is a

miniature resemblance of that of the king。



So much more essential is it that the ambassadors; ministers and

general officers who represent the king should display themselves in a

grandiose manner。  No circu

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