A WOMAN'S NOTE-BOOK.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13745, 9 May 1908, Page 5 (Supplement)

A WOMAN'S NOTE-BOOK.

THE RECOLLECTIONS OF A FAMOUS FRENCHWOMAN. Miaioiit.> of the CoMTiasK » Boicne—Third Volume : Edited from the original *MSS. by 11. diaries Nicoullaud. • Heinemann, London.— third and concluding volume of these unique memoirs covers the period from 1820 to the revolution of 1850. The decade is historically dull as compared with its predecessors, but a host of celebrities and a veritable panorama of historic incidents are displayed on the stage of the famous Frenchwoman's recollection*, lor example, she tells us a little more of that Queen Caroline who was regarded as a martyr by so many sincere Knelishmen, and for whose sake the London mob 'disturbed the coronation of George IV. — " The carriages of Queen Caroline of England v,ere passing through Aix. XVe were informed that she had been staying in an inn upon the Geneva route, and strange stories reached us from that quarter. Curious to know the ..truth upon these details, I made inquiries a short time afterwards when I was following the same route. I stopped at an inn at RumillvA very- respectable-looking girl was working in the kitchen, and I asked her a few questions about the Queen's stay. She replied, with downcast eyes that she knew nothing. "'The Queen did not stay here then?' "' Oh, yes, madame, but 1 Was not here.' "The mistress of the inn then came up, and told me that the Queen had stayed a week at her house, but that after the first evening' she had hastened to send away her daughters to one of their aunts. "M v.as ashamed, madame, of what I saw; myself, and did not even like sending my servants to wait upon her.' '"It seems that the courier Bergaini had grown too lazy to satisfy , the taste of this immoral princess, although sho still remained under his influence. Under pretext of -a conference with the Kuglish Minister at Berne, to arrange for her journey through Switzerland, she had sent him away, : and had spent the week of his absence in a perpetual orgy with her other servants. . Indignation reached such.a- pitch in the little town which her presence had defiled that upon the day of her departure, when a quarrel broke out between one. of her servants and a postillion, the- Queen attempted to secure silence by -her Royal word, yvhcrcupon there was an explosion, of popular indignation. The whole populace rose, and threatened to stone her.-and she ran some risk of being thus assaulted. Such was the honourable person loudly claimed as sovereign by a large proportion of the English nation, a fact which provides further proof of opposition good faith in every country." Of the attitude of the Parisians on hearing of Napoleon's death we are told: — "The age of'his posthumous popularityhad not yet begun for France. I heard the newspaper sellers in the street crying, ' The death of Napoleon Bonaparte, two sous; His speech to General Bertram!, two sous; despair of Mme. -Bert-rand, two sous;' ' and this produced no more effect in the street than an advertisement for a lost dog. I can still remember that the most thoughtful of us were greatly struck by this strange indifference, and repeated: 'Vanity of vanities, all is vanity!' ' And there is a curious hearsay statement about George IV. 011 the same occasion : — "Lord Castleroag.il went- into the study of George IV. and said to him: Sir, I come to tell your Majesty ,that your mortal enemy is dead.' "'What!' he cried, 'is it possible? Can she be dead?' "Lord Castlereagh was obliged to calm the monarch's joy by explaining to him that ho was not talking of the Queen, his wife, but of Bonaparte." Among the causes which led to the downfall of Charles X., his partiality for the Jesuits is included, and we are told : — " The Revolution left much religion in France, but little consideration for, its ministers, and as soon as an ecclesiastic attempts to add political to religious /influence lie loses all claims to consideration. He is tolerated only at church and at the. bedside of the poor, where he is respected and revered. Whether it be' for better or for worse, that is certainly the effect of the Revolution upon ourselves. The King,. the clergy, and the emigres were no more ready to admit this fact 'than to recognise many changes which Had taken place in their absence." The Comtesse . regarded herself as a grateful friend of the English, so that it is rather interesting to give her views upon the Battle of Navarino: — "Upon this subject I .feel bound to note the pitch to'which; patriotic instincts are pushed in England. Kngland thought that the emancipation of the Spanish colonies was desirable' in the interests of British commerce, and feared that the emancipation of the Greeks would merely increase the importance of' Russia. The newspapers, public meetings, and the sessions of the Houses of Parliament re-echoed with the cruelties and the harrassing intolerance exerted • upon the Spanish-Americans, though everybody knows that they received better treatment than any colonists before or since. On the other hand, that kind of Freemasonry which invariably guides the English entirely changed these sentiments when the special interests of Old England .were at stake, and when the massacres of Parga, of Hydra, and of Chio were discussed. All these Christian women, torn from their families and sold in the markets of Smyrna did not rouse a cry in any single newspaper, while not a sigh was uttered by any member of the Opposition. Although the national vanity is so easily excited by naval success, the Ministry, in the speech from the throne, felt bound to characterise the victory of Navarino as ' toward.' Very different was the impression among ourselves, and as this 'untoward' victory caused great delight throughout a large part, of the country, M'. de Ville'.e proposed to profit by the popularity which was reflected upon the Government- to carry out his resolution to dissolve the Chamber of Deputies." Of the successful revolution of 1830 we are told: — " The only authority generally recognised was that of the pupils of the Polytechnic School, who had been distributed throughout the different posts. Apart from the bravery which they had shown in the combats of the previous evening and morning, they owed their importance to the fact that, they alone wore a uniform. The defenders of the barricades allied them " My little general," and obeyed them the more implicitly as their line of study had made them very useful in directing the rapid construction of barricades. They helped both in making and defending these obstacles. In any case, it is a somewhat remarkable circumstance that the populace at this time should have given so much consideration to people wlio seemed to belong to the upper classes of society. Anybody wearing a coat and willing to join a band could easily secure the command of people in waistcoats. . . . The country population shared the feelings and the confidence of tho Parisian multitude. . . . . At Essonnes the National Guard had seized the powder magazine, and, notwithstanding the risk of such an enterprise, had tilled a large boat with powder and drawn it along the river covered with tricolour ' flags, to cries of 'Long live the Charter!' amid the cheers of all the riverside population. . . . The barricades themselves were very difficult to cross; it was necessary to climb some and to crawl under others. Everywhere, however, those in charge of them offered a ready and obliging assistance, calling up the cleanest of their number in order not to soil the clothes of the ladies. There were no coarse joke's, and never were politeness arid urbanity more paramount in Paris." And while the people held the barricades the King played whist: — "The King was playing at whist with the Duchesse de Berry. When the officer Had delivered his message the Princess asked, him: "'Did the troops lire?' "'Yes, madame.' "'Willingly?' "'Yes, madame.' "'Then I must embrace you for this •rood news.' She rose from the table, and the King said, with a smile, 'Come, come, sit down ; no childishness.'" And within a week the King had abdicated and the revolution of 1830 was accomplished. 5 ,