Part 1

MEMOIRS

OF THE

Marchioness of Pompadour.

WRITTEN BY HERSELF.

Wherein are Displayed

The Motives of the Wars, Treaties of Peace, Embassies, and Negotiations, in the several Courts of Europe:

The Cabals and Intrigues of Courtiers; the Characters of Generals, and Ministers of State, with the Causes of their Rise and Fall; and, in general, the most remarkable Occurrences at the Court of France, during the last twenty Years of the Reign of Lewis XV.

Translated from the French.

IN TWO VOLUMES.

VOL. II.

LONDON: Printed for P. Vaillant, in the Strand; and W. JOHNSTON, in Ludgate-Street.

M DCC LXVI.

MEMOIRS

OF THE

Marchioness of Pompadour.

Lewis XV. as I have said in another place, visited me habitually. He could not dispense with my company, which was become absolutely necessary to him: but this inclination had not entirely removed a taste for transitory amours. He yielded to them by constitution; but never reflected on them without repentance. After an adventure of gallantry, he was more constant than ever. Remorse brought him back to himself and to me. I may venture to say, that I enjoyed his infidelity; and had he been entirely divested of it, he would have given way to some other passion, that would have separated him from me. I was under apprehensions for some time that his mind would take a warlike turn: I desired Maurice count Saxe, who regularly paid his court to him, after the campaigns in Flanders, not to dwell so much upon battles and sieges: but Lewis assured me, as I have already mentioned, that he had sacrificed this inclination to the welfare of France.

The king had for some time devoted himself to politics; but this study no way interfered with his amusements. He applied himself to it through that beneficent disposition, which naturally prompts him to solace his people. He was desirous of being possessed of the present state of Europe: M. De Belleisle furnished him with it. The king shewed it to me: it was a system of political-topography. The Marshal entered into a minute detail upon the power of each government. He took a review of all Europe, and stipulated the state of the forces of the different people.

M. de Noailles, who saw this state of Europe, said, “That there was too much geometry in it; that the republic of Christendom was subject to so many revolutions, which derived their origin from so many secondary causes, wherewith politics had no kind of connexion, that cabinets frequently obtained honour from what was the mere effect of fortune. France, said he to me, exerted her influence to acquire Lorrain: Cardinal Richelieu could not succeed in the business, and Mazarin miscarried; accident threw it into the hands of France under the administration of cardinal de Fleuri.

“Europe was engaged for near two hundred years in negociation and war, to prevent the crown of Spain devolving to any branch of the house of Bourbon. The will of a weak and languishing prince bequeathed it entirely to France, at a time that Lewis XIV. did not even think of being included in the treaty of partition.

“The English never could have imagined making a conquest of Gibraltar, which gave them an ascendency in the ocean, and made them masters of the Mediterranean; when the same accident that gave Spain to the house of Bourbon, produced them the acquisition of that important fortress, which they have ever since retained, though the reasons that induced them to gain possession of it no longer subsist, &c.

“If we were to recur to the origin of great revolutions, we should find that fortune governed the world, and that policy, which would reduce all events to rule, prevails too much in the cabinet of princes. He added, that these enumerations of the power of the states of Europe are useless, as it is not strength that regulates the fate of governments, but a certain combination of accidents, in opposition to which neither negociations nor armies can prevail.”

I do not at present recollect the precise terms in which this memorial of M. de Belleisle was conceived; I only remember that he concluded with these words: “France cannot be hurt by all the great states of Europe: Prussia only is to be feared, and England dreaded.”

Though the king had for some time been fond of talking of state affairs, he was so polite as to dwell but little upon them in my company. Notwithstanding what I have said of his gravity, there is no man in France so agreeable at _a tête-a-tête_, as Lewis XV. He is some days so happy and vivacious, as even to inspire mirth and joy.

I have frequently mentioned his goodness; I shall now give a little anecdote, which will corroborate what I have said upon that head. One night, after having been pretty late with me in my apartments, he told me he should not dine with me the next day (as he frequently used to do) having resolved to go to Marli, where he should remain till towards the evening. My brother Marigni paid me a morning visit that day, and as I was quite alone, I desired him to stay and dine with me. We conversed together for some time, after which he went to take a turn in Versailles gardens, till it was the hour to go to dinner.

The king altered his mind and did not go a riding. Instead of going to Marli, he came to dine with me. He observed the table laid with two covers, and as he had the day before acquainted me with his intended journey, he testified his surprise, asking me for whom I had intended the second cover. “Sire, I replied, my brother came to see me this morning, and as I was alone, I invited him to dine with me; but as your majesty does me that honour yourself, I shall send to acquaint him that he cannot be a guest.” _No_, replied the king, _your brother is one of the family; instead of removing the cover that was laid for him, only lay another, and we will all three dine together_. My brother returned, and the king behaved to him with all possible politeness. This is not an important anecdote, but it displays this prince’s regard, even in the most minute affairs.

M. Rouillé furnished the king every day with fresh estimates, by which it appeared that the marine was re-established. This minister publickly said in 1751, that he had seventy ships of the line, and thirty frigates; but he said that he had more than there really were. Ministers, in general, increase their plan; they almost constantly confound the establishments already made, with those that still remain to be made, and these latter frequently never take place.

A man of understanding said to me at that time, that if France had a fleet of seventy men of war or frigates, ready to put to sea, the great object of the French marine would be accomplished. This same person averred, that we wanted no more to face the English, who have not a greater number of ships fit for engagement; for, added he, we must not confound the coasting cruizers, and those which are destined for convoys; they are not comprised among the number of ships of the line.

The English embassador was ordered to keep a watchful eye upon M. Rouillé and all his operations, in order to acquaint his court therewith. He no longer asked the administration, as was customary with him, what we intended to do with so many ships, because he had frequently had for answer, that the court of France was not obliged to give Great-Britain an account of what she did.

The king made a promotion of sea officers; commodores were appointed, captains and old lieutenants were promoted, and there was so much bustle made about the state of the marine, that the court of London began to take umbrage at it.

A foreign embassador told me one day upon this occasion, that he discerned a great error in the French government, that is to say, “that we make a shew of ourselves to all Europe and our enemies. He added, there are no secrets of state at Versailles; all Christendom is informed of the designs of France, long before she is in a condition to execute them, whereby they are frustrated.”

An affair that no way related to France, excited the attention of the king for a short time. The Genoese (an unsteady people, and who have never been in a state of tranquility since the foundation of their republic) had carried on a war for a long time against the Corsicans, whom they stiled rebels, whilst the Corsicans gave them the appellation of tyrants. There had been several engagements between them, which served only to protract the war, as peace must ever be the result of a reconciliation of sentiments. Hatred and antipathy had barred all the avenues to a mediation. Their aversion to each other surpassed their reciprocal dread. If religion itself had fomented a division, it could not have been more animated.

Marshal Belleisle, speaking to me of this war, often told me that the Genoese would never be rulers over the Corsicans; for which he assigned this reason; “When the principal state combats with its subjects, the first battle must decide the quarrel, otherwise it will remain for a long time undetermined. Rebels, who by sieges and battles, poise the sovereign authority, no longer bear the name of subjects, but adopt that of enemies; for the force of arms, which destroys all privilege, restores the level.”

Such people as are in subjection to kings, would no longer be so, if they were capable of throwing off their submission; for subordination was not agreed upon by convention, but compelled by violence or open force. So that a people who throw off the yoke, are not rebels any farther than their ill conduct in the revolution, and their ignorance to procure the means of success, give them this title.

The Genoese, after fruitless endeavours to reduce the Corsicans, took a wrong step in addressing themselves to foreign powers; France, of whom they had asked succours, furnished them with some troops and a commander. The Venetian embassador, who was then at Paris, said upon this occasion; “That the Genoese, who were reckoned to be people of great memory, had lost their recollection with regard to France, as they forgot that she bombarded Genoa in the time of Lewis XIV. and that the republic narrowly escaped from destruction through her, in the reign of Lewis XV.”

The Genoese officers, whom the senate had appointed and sent to that island for the defence of their rights, were greater foes to the republic than they were to the Corsicans, seeking disputes with the French mediators, under pretence that they excited those islanders to hold them in contempt. If the allegation had been just, they should have connived at it, and pursued, without interruption, the restoration of peace. But envy, that vice so natural to Italians, and particularly the Genoese, occasioned this dissention. They saw with jealous eyes, foreigners interfering in a peace, all the honour of which they were desirous of keeping to themselves. The republic, equally jealous of their own officers, as these were of the French, took another ill-judged measure, by making application to the court of Versailles, to know how they should act against themselves, and what satisfaction the king required. Any other nation would rather have given up their interest with respect to Corsica, which even France could not bring back to its duty, than to have thus humbled themselves: but the republic of Genoa have been long accustomed to meanness and submission.

“The Genoese, said the King, deserve to be punished, by my interfering no longer with their affairs: but they have paved the way for my son Don Philip into Italy, and I owe them some acknowledgment--this predominates in my heart over the resentment which their conduct deserves.”

Lewis XV. who had appointed M. de Chauvelin plenipotentiary in the island of Corsica, to terminate matters in an amicable manner, gave him fresh instructions to hasten his negociation, and new orders were dispatched to the marquis of Cursai, who commanded the French troops.

These two mediators settled the place for holding a congress, and peace was in appearance concluded. All formalities were observed: Harangues were made at the opening of the assemblies, and flowers of rhetoric were scattered amongst an ignorant and barbarous people. The Corsicans stretched their large ears to these studied orations, but did not understand a syllable. They replied with acclamations, and the orators imagined they had seduced them by their eloquence.

After these speeches, the treaty, or regulation between the Republic and the Corsicans, was brought upon the carpet. Each party thereby retained prerogatives which made them independent of each other; that is to say, the subjects of this republic were treating for their liberty. The Corsicans terminated by negociation, what they could not accomplish by arms.

When the articles of the treaty were sent to Versailles, Marshal Belleisle publickly said, “That the Republic had submitted too much: that they should have granted an amnesty to the rebels, and not have treated with them: that subjects who have thrown off the yoke, in returning to their duty, should obtain nothing but pardon. He added, that the Corsicans should either be punished as guilty of treason, or else abandoned as rebels; for subjects who are sufficiently powerful to oblige their sovereign to treat with them, are not faithful enough to submit long to obedience.”

These reflexions appeared to be the more justly founded, as all these negotiations soon became useless, and a war was presently after rekindled.

Be this as it may, the Genoese were for the present left here, the attention of every one being taken up with news from Asia, which greatly flattered the king’s expectations. We were informed from India, that the Nabob had confidence enough in France, to place his political interest in the hands of a Frenchman, named Dupleix; and that the nation of the Marats, who were subject to the Nabob, had appointed him their commander in chief.

It is said that Lewis XIV. who was animated with every kind of glory, was sensibly struck with the information given him by an embassador from the king of Siam, who was delegated to acquaint him that his name was held in great veneration in those states. He testified more public joy, and was more flattered with this honour, than if he had obtained an important conquest.

The peace concluded with the Nabob, and the confidence which this prince reposed in France, were objects of far greater consequence. They increased the riches of the state, whereas the embassy from Siam had no other effect than flattering the monarch’s vanity.

Dupleix became at once plenipotentiary and generalissimo; he stipulated the terms of the treaty of peace, and received the command. These two posts were preceded by an important negociation, without which he could never have obtained them; he fixed the unsteady disposition of the Marats. This nation had been hitherto divided into various factions, who, in weakening themselves, prevented France deriving any advantage from them. This foreigner upbraided them with their impolitic conduct, and taught them to pursue connected views, and an uniform system.

This Dupleix was not, however, any great genius: but there are people who perform great things with very little capacity. We have since seen him at Paris fallen from the pinnacle of his fame, and at length give up his breath with the reputation of a man, who, so far from having been capable of governing India, had not talents sufficient to regulate his own houshold affairs.

He had a great law-suit with the India company. This quarrel is equally remarkable by the nature of the demand, as by that of the refusal. The Nabob’s general declared, that the directors were indebted to him several millions, and the directors set forth that they owed him nothing. There is, in general, ingratitude on the one side, and but little acknowledgment on the other. The memorials that were published upon this occasion, produced at least this advantage, they opened the eyes of the government with respect to many things relative to India, which they would never have been acquainted with, had not these publications taken place.

I made business, pleasure, and amusements, by turns succeed at Versailles, which still prevented the king’s serious reflexions. Lewis XV. existed, I may say, by a constitution which I communicated to him, and this factitious temperament hindered his own prevailing. I believe he would have been at length overcome without that art which I employed to repress nature. Notwithstanding this precaution, there were moments in which he gave himself up to melancholy. It was then necessary to invent new pleasures, in order to excite fresh sensations. As soon as I perceived these produced no effect, I redoubled my attention to substitute others that might be more prevalent.

Religion was the greatest obstacle I had to surmount, for the King was very devout. He prayed regularly, and went every day to mass, but did not perform his Easter-devotions. This estrangement from the sacraments arose rather from an excess of delicacy, than a contempt for the communion. His transitory amours separated him from the sacrament, which he feared to prophane. The jesuit who enjoyed the title of his confessor, had made various attempts to conquer his delicacy upon this head. His power would then have been more extensive, as his penitent would have been more at his devotion; but Lewis XV. never submitted.

I was judged a proper instrument to hint something to the monarch upon this subject; but it was necessary that I should begin by convincing myself, in order to persuade the King. This was thought an easy matter; people of the first rank, and of considerable dignity in the church, but who shall not be named here, fearing that the Roman catholic religion might appear to lose ground to the enemies of the state, undertook this great work.

I was not much versed in this kind of matters; for the women of Paris have no more religion than what is just necessary to prevent their having none at all.

These able theologists settled it as a principle, “That scandal in a king was the greatest evil he could be guilty of: that he is the mirrour, where every one looks to see himself: that his example carries with it that of the state: that from the time the King did not commune, there were upwards of a million of subjects in France, who no longer partook of the sacraments: that the desertion from the holy table was become general,” &c. &c.

Then speaking of constitutions, they added, “That God had given power to his ministers to absolve past sins; that repentance effaced in heaven crimes committed upon earth: that the Divinity, in forming man, had been obliged to give way to his weaknesses: that we should always fulfil our christian obligations, notwithstanding the continual temptations with which the heart of man is surrounded,” &c. &c.

In a word, I saw through these maxims of the fathers of the church, that the King, in order to be a good catholic, should be regularly guilty of profanation of the sacrament once a year.

I refused taking upon myself this moral commission. I had a glimpse of those consequences which might have affected myself. This prince’s approaching the communion table, must necessarily have caused a revolution in him. I was under less apprehension for the King’s religion, than the intrigues of churchmen. The confessor was particularly to be dreaded. He is always powerful, when the monarch is frequently at his feet.

Neither did I advise the King to absent himself from the holy table. I left things just as they were.

Peace, which had restored political tranquility, of itself produced fresh divisions in the state. Churchmen, the clergy, and the parliament, who in time of war, unite themselves to the administration, to participate of public misfortunes, in their turn create them, when battles and sieges are passed: so that by a fatality, which is, perhaps, derived from the constitution itself, France must always be armed to avoid domestic quarrels; or continually wage war with herself, to prevent that of the enemy. I have heard very able politicians say, that this arises from the government’s not being sufficiently powerful to suppress divisions abroad, nor sufficiently absolute to destroy dissentions at home: a mixed state that will one day make it a prey to its enemies, or a victim to its subjects.

A trifling affair gave rise to a great misunderstanding between the court and the parliament, which was the distribution of the alms collected for the mendicants. The directors of the hospital of Paris had never yet been blamed by either the court or the city, because the war had engaged the attention of the government; but peace being restored, which gave them leisure to inspect into the minutest affairs, they at length took this into consideration.

The archbishop of Paris claimed this jurisdiction by right; the King was of the same opinion; but the parliament judged differently, and henceforward representations and deputations took place. A Prince of the blood royal said upon this occasion, _The parliament of Paris must have very little to do, when they quarrel with the King about beggars_.

Lewis XV. issued an arret in favour of the archbishop; it was to be registered, and now dissention broke out. The parliament went to Versailles and came back--they met, they adjourned; but the King shewed himself absolute. He wrote in these terms to the chambers assembled. “If I have thought proper to allow you to make remonstrances to me upon the edicts and declarations which I send you to be registered, I never gave you the power to annul or alter them, under pretence of modification.--It is my will that my declaration concerning the hospital be registered purely and simply. I shall see that my parliament obey my orders.”

This was speaking like a master: the King was animated at certain moments support all his rights; but the goodness of his heart, his love of peace, and the tranquility of the state, and perhaps more than all, an undetermined character, discouraged by difficulties and opposition, made him yield.

I often complained to him of this disposition, which induced him to grant what he had at first refused. “What would you have me do, madam?” he said to me with that complaisance and sweetness which are so natural to him. “I know I should harden myself against certain bodies, who want to raise their authority upon a level with my throne. But I sacrifice my resentment to the general tranquility. I tremble to think of the misfortunes that the people suffered under the reign of my great grandfather, by the quarrels which arose between the court and the parliament. These quarrels renewed civil wars, which immersed France in the deepest desolation. I would rather be complaisant than ostentatious, as the consequences of the latter might be fatal to my subjects.”

The majority of the members of the council were not of this way of thinking; one of the most penetrating said, that under a firm and absolute government, the laws were restored to their vigour, and abuses reformed; whereas indulgence and relaxation were the effects of a weak and irresolute administration. I acknowledge that I differ much in opinion from this last, and I could have wished that the King had possessed a little more resolution. The affair relating to the hospital terminated, like most of those of the parliament, that is to say, by modifications.