The favourable and distinguished reception she gave the Duke de Choiseul having been noticed, she pleasantly said to Madame de Noailles: "My mother has talked to us so much "about the Coachman of Europe; that I thought myself "bound to treat him as a friend of my family's." When the Marquis du Châtelet was introduced to her, the Countess of Périgord observed, that he had the honour of being allied to the House of Lorraine. "My brother," said she delicately, "assured me that his family trace the con"nexion for upwards of 600 years. Still there is more merit "in being a good servant of the King's, than in being my "relation." Page 24, line 27, after-she was united. Amidst the Court the Dauphin and Dauphiness led an exemplary life, living for each other. When by themselves, they planned the good they would do, and thought of the unfortunate. They often left the Palace together, and rambled through the adjacent country, liberally distributed alms themselves, visited the cottages of the poor, consoled the distressed, and bestowed their bounty with a nobleness, and a generosity worthy their birth and rank. Inhabitants of the environs of Versailles, Meudon, La Muette, St. Cloud, Trianon, St. Cyr! ye have seen the Dauphin's consort, the object of admiration and of love, steal into the asylums of the poor, and with her own hands assist to comfort the sick. But for her how many families in the lowest state of want would have been reduced to despair! Ye who *The appellation given to Mr. de Choiseul by Catherine II. of Russia, as she ascribed to him the honour of directing all the Cabinets of Europe. for many years were witnesses of her beneficence; ye who perhaps are indebted to her generosity for a happy existence, join your homage to ours: speak again of her virtues, of her bounty; justice and gratitude call upon you. The Dauphin's character was a mixture of mildness and severity. Of pure morals, regular in his conduct, and free from those great passions which are ever dangerous, he already gave an earnest of what he was in time to be, a good father, a good husband, a good King. He delighted to do whatever the Dauphiness wished, and took pleasure in going to the places where she had made people happy: he liked to hear her good actions spoken of; he enquired into the particulars of them, and blessed Heaven for giving him a wife after his own heart, mild, generous, beneficent. One day, as she was walking in the neighbourhood of Versailles, she saw an old woman with five beautiful children about her, whom she was caressing in the tenderest manner. She was too old to be their mother, and her poverty rendered her caresses interesting. The Dauphiness went up and spoke to her, and heard in the accents of truth that the children were orphans, that she supplied the place of a mother to them, and that she endeavoured by her labour to provide them with sustenance. "Your example is so excellent," said MARIA ANTOINETTA, "that I cannot but be eager to follow it, and "I shall take the care of you and your adopted family upon "myself." On her return to Versailles, she related what she had done in her walk to the King and the Dauphin; her humanity was applauded, and her promise realized; the old woman was taken care of, and the children placed out at board, till they could be provided for. MARIA-ANTOINETTA often told the story of her good old woman, and said with admirable grace: "Would to Heaven, all my walks had the same end!—it would be real happiness to go in quest of the unfortunate." 66 A son of Mad. Thibault, first waiting-woman to the Dauphiness, fought a duel in the Park at Compiégne, and killed his antagonist. His mother immediately solicited the influence of the Dauphiness in favour of her son, and by means of that powerful intercession he was saved from the severity of the law. Some person at Court taking the liberty of saying to the Princess that Mad. Thibault had not applied for her interposition till she had been denied that of Madame du Barry, the Dauphiness exclaimed: I would, were I a mother, to save my son, throw myself at the feet of Zamore. Zamore was a little negro of Made. du Barry's. The felicity of the people was her chief occupation, and whatever could soften their lot, became the subject of her thoughts. She wished not to be a Queen but to do good, and said, with her august mother Maria-Theresa, that it was the only mode of reigning that could render the weight of the Crown supportable.. There existed among the French an ancient and gallant custom, which the Queens of France had been desirous of maintaining. The French paid to every new Queen ascending the throne a duty known by the name of the Queen's belt. This tax had its origin from a religious and domestic institution in the first age of the monarchy. When a young maiden was led to the altar of hymen, a belt was provided by the husband's family, which the Priest blessed, and the bridegroom tied round the waist of the bride. This ornament was more or less rich, according to the circumstances of the family. When the children of Clovis founded in Gaul a tripple monarchy, the people to flatter their new masters, and to acknowledge publicly that they were the children of the Monarch who was to be their father, offered the blessed belt to their Queens. The custom was kept up till the accession of Louis XVI, when MARIAANTOINETTA, hearing that this duty bore heavily on the more indigent classes, and that the privileged orders had found means to exempt themselves from it, besought the King to forbid the collecting of it. Louis XVI. was charmed with this generous action, and the whole nation applauded the disinterestedness and beneficence of the young Queen. Poetry was called in to preserve the remembrance of the sacrifice, and the Count de Coutourelle, taking upon himself to be the organ of a grateful people, addressed the following stanza to the Queen : Vous renoncez, charmante Souveraine, Au plus beau de vos revenus ; Mais que vous serviroit la ceinture de Reine? Vous avez celle de Vénus. Renounce, fair Queen, your noblest due! Renounce the bless'd, the regal zone ! Yet, what imports this belt to you, Since that of Venus is your own? Page 27, line 14, after-the new reign. MARIA-ANTOINETTA assisted at Rheims at the ceremony of the coronation. Her modest demeanour, and her respect to all the parts of the church service, proved to the whole Court the sincerity of her religious sentiments. She appeared to glory in the piety of Louis, in his zeal and attachment to the religion of his ancestors. She did not content herself with a few acts of devotion, but shewed herself tender, generous, and compassionate. When, according to custom, some sick people approached the Monarch, who blessed them, MARIAANTOINETTA, regardless of contagion, and the foulness of their clothes, suffered herself to be surrounded, consoled the unfortunate persons, and distributed alms to them. As the multitude came up, she said to those near the carriage? "You "have great pleasure in seeing us, and we assure you that we "have likewise a great deal in seeing your eagerness." To those who were endeavouring to keep off the crowd, she said, "Softly, gentlemen, let these good people come near, they "will do us no harm." She one day saw close to her a poor workman and a woman staring at the King, and crying out, Vive notre bon Roi! Long live our good King! She beckoned to them, took hold of their hands, and presented them to Louis, saying to them, "this is your King." MARIA-ANTOINETTA was proud of the praises bestowed on the virtues of her husband, and of the love of the French towards him. Page 32, line 30, after—all her fav'rites fame declare. The French seemed enchanted with the Dauphiness. Every Muse attempted to celebrate her; all the Theatres sung her praises. The Academies and Lyceums paid homage to her. Her beauty, her virtues, and her wit were by turns the subject of a poem or a song. At the end of an entertainment, where she had been incognito, Dorat presented her the following verses: Quoi! sous un nuage envieux, De son aspect majestueux; Et lorsque vous trompez les yeux, Le cœur des Français vous devine. "What! fair Princess, do you think that you can be con"cealed in this place by an envious cloud? When Venus leaves |