Part 16 (1/2)
The ideas of the philosophers had been gaining ground, and were disseminated through all cla.s.ses. The mere love of pleasure and luxury at first found under Louis XV. gave way to more serious reflections when society was confronted with those all-important questions which finally culminated in the Revolution. The salon of Mme. d'Epinay grew to be the most important and, intellectually, the most brilliant of the time. Rousseau, Diderot, Helvetius, Duclos, Suard, the Abbes Galiani, Raynal, the Florentine physician Gatti, Comte de Schomberg, Chevalier de Chastellux, Saint-Lambert, Marquis de Croixmare, the different amba.s.sadors, counts and princes, were frequent visitors In this brilliant circle her letters from Voltaire, read aloud, were always eagerly awaited. Such dramas as Voltaire's _Tancred_, Diderot's _Le Pere de Famille_, were given under her patronage and discussed in her salon; after the performance she entertained all the friends at supper.
Upon the departure of Abbe Galiani from Paris, Mme. d'Epinay and Diderot were intrusted with the revision and printing of his famous _Dialogues sur les Bles_; Grimm left to them the continuance of his _Correspondance Litteraire_. She was known for her wonderful a.n.a.lytical ability and her keen power of observation--faculties which won the esteem and respect of such men and caused her collaboration to be anxiously sought by them; however, she never attempted to rival them in their particular sphere. In her writings she displayed a reactionary tendency against the educational methods of the day, her chief work of real literary worth being mostly in the form of sound advice to a child. Being a reasonable, careful, and sensible woman,--in spite of the defects in her moral life,--she desired to show the possibilities of a moral revolution against the habits and customs of the time, of which she herself had been a most unfortunate victim. She was relieved of actual want by means of this work, which gained for her a pension from Catherine II. of Russia, who adopted her methods for her own children, and the award of the Montyon prize, which was given her in a compet.i.tion with a large number of aspirants, the most famous of whom was Mme. de Genlis. It was her ability to gain and retain the respect of great men which won that honor for her.
The memoirs of Mme. d'Epinay leave one of the most accurate and faithful pictures of the polished society of the France of about 1750.
”Her salon was the centre about which circled the greatest activity; it was filled with men who ordered events, thinkers whose minds were bent upon untangling the knotty problems of the age; it was her salon, more than any other, that quickened the philosophical movement of the day.” Mme. d'Epinay made her reputation not so much through her _esprit_, intelligence, or beauty, possibly, as through the strength of her affection. Timid, irresolute, and highly impressionable, and amiable in disposition, she was constantly influenced by circ.u.mstances--a quality which led her on to the two princ.i.p.al occupations of her later life, education and philosophy. To-day, her name is recalled princ.i.p.ally for its a.s.sociation with that of Rousseau, whose mistress and benefactress she was; it is to her that the world owes his famous _Nouvelle Helose_.
The last of the great literary and social leaders of the eighteenth century was Mme. de Genlis, a prodigy in every respect, an amateur performer upon nearly every instrument, an authority on intellectual matters as well, a fine story teller, a consummate artist, entertainer, and general charmer. Auth.o.r.ess, governess of Louis-Philippe, councillor of Bonaparte, her success as a social leader established her reputation and places her in the file of great women, although she was not a salon leader such as Mme. Geoffrin or Mme. du Deffand.
She was born in 1746, and at a very early age showed a remarkable talent for music, but her general education was much neglected. At the age of about seventeen she was married to a Comte de Genlis, who had fallen in love with her on seeing her portrait. As his relatives refused to welcome the young girl, she was placed in the convent of Origny, where she remained until 1764, after which her husband took her to his brother's estate, where they lived happily for a short time. When, in 1765, she became a mother, her husband's family became reconciled to his union, and, later on, took her to court.
Before her marriage, upon the departure of her father to San Domingo to retrieve his fortunes, her mother had found an asylum for her at the elegant home of the farmer-general M. de La Popeliniere. This occurred at the time that Paris was theatre mad, and when great actors and actresses were the heroes and heroines of society. At this house the young girl became the central figure in the theatrical and musical entertainments. After pa.s.sing through this schooling, she stood the test of the court without any difficulty, and completely won the favor of her husband's family, as well as that of the court ladies and the members of the other distinguished households where she was introduced. With an insatiable appet.i.te for frolics, quite in keeping with the customs of the time, she plunged into social life with a vigor and an apt.i.tude which soon attracted attention. She played all sorts of roles at the most fas.h.i.+onable houses, ”through her consummate acting and _bons mots_ drawing tears of vexation from her less gifted sisters. She plays nine instruments, writes dramas, recasts others, organizes and drills amateurs, besides attending to a thousand and one other things.”
Through the influence of her aunt, Mme. de Montesson, who was secretly married to the Duke of Orleans, Mme. de Genlis was appointed lady-in-waiting in the household of the d.u.c.h.esse de Chartres, the duke's daughter-in-law, whose salon was celebrated in Paris. She soon won the confidence of the d.u.c.h.ess, and became her confessor, secretary, guide, and oracle, but did not abandon in the least her pursuit of pleasure. She even took possession of the heart of the duke himself, and in 1782 was made ”_gouverneur_” to his children, the Duc de Valois, later Louis-Philippe, the Duc de Montpensier, the Comte de Beaujolais, and Mlle. Adelade; for the education of her pupils she had the use of several chateaux. Many a piquant epigram and chanson were composed for the edification of the ”_gouverneur_.” It is said that she acted as panderer for the princes, especially Louis-Philippe, of a ”legitimate means of satisfying these ardent desires of which I am being devoured,” by leading them to the nuns in the convents by means of a subterranean pa.s.sage. The following pa.s.sages from the journal of Louis-Philippe show the nature of his relations with her:
(December, 1790.) ”I went to dine with my mother and grandfather.
Although I am delighted to dine often with my mother, I am deeply sorry to give only three days out of the seven to my dear Bellecha.s.se [that is, to Mme. de Genlis].”
(January, 1791.) ”Last evening, returned to my friend [Mme. de Genlis]; remained there until after midnight; I was the first one to have the good fortune of wis.h.i.+ng her a 'Happy New Year.' Nothing can make me happier; I don't know what will become of me when I am no longer with her.”
(January, 1791.) ”Yesterday, I was at the Tuileries. The queen spoke to my father, to my brother, and said nothing to me--neither did the king nor Monsieur, in fact, no one. I remained at my friend's until half-past twelve. No one in the world is so agreeable to me as is she.” (February, 1791.) ”I was at the a.s.sembly at Bellecha.s.se, dined at the Palais-Royal, I was at the Jacobins, returned to Bellecha.s.se, after supper went to my friend's. I remained with her alone; she treated me with an infinite kindness; I left, the happiest man in the world.” Such language speaks for itself.
No sons of a n.o.bleman ever received a finer, more typically modern education than did her pupils. She was, possibly, the first teacher to use the natural method system, teaching German, English, and Italian by conversation. The boys were compelled to act, in the park, the voyages of Vasco da Gama; in the dining room the great historical tableaux were presented; in the theatre, built especially for them, they acted all the dramas of the _Theatre d'Education_. She taught them how to make portfolios, ribbons, wigs, pasteboard work, to gild, to turn, and to do carpentering. They visited museums and manufactories, during which expeditions they were taught to observe, criticise, and find defects. This was the first step taken in France in the eighteenth century toward a modern education. Although it was superficial, in consequence of its great breadth, yet this education inculcated manliness and courage.
In 1778 Mme. de Genlis published her moral teachings in _Adele et Theodore_, a work which created quite a little talk at the time, but which eventually brought upon her the condemnation of the philosophers and Encyclopaedists, because in it she opposed liberty of conscience.
When, on the occasion of the first communion of the Duc de Valois, she wrote her _Religion Considered as the Only True Foundation of Happiness and of True Philosophy_, all the Palais-Royal place hunters, philosophers, and her political enemies, in a ma.s.s, opposed and ridiculed her. Rivarol declared that she had no s.e.x, that heaven had refused the magic of talent to her productions, as it had refused the charm of innocence to her childhood.
One of the best portraits of her is in the memoirs of the Baroness d'Oberkirch (it was she who disturbed Mme. de Genlis and the Duc d'Orleans while they were walking in the gardens one night):
”I did not like her, in spite of her accomplishments and the charm of her conversation; she was too systematic. She is a woman who has laid aside the flowing robes of her s.e.x for the costume of a pedagogue.
Besides, nothing about her is natural; she is constantly in an att.i.tude, as it were, thinking that her portrait--physical or moral--is being taken by someone. One of the great follies of this masculine woman is her harp, which she carries about with her; she speaks about it when she hasn't it--she plays on a crust of bread and practises with a thread. When she perceives that someone is looking at her, she rounds her arm, purses up her mouth, a.s.sumes a sentimental expression and air, and begins to move her fingers. Gracious! what a fine thing naturalness is!... I spent a delightful evening at the Comtesse de La Ma.s.sais's; she had hired musicians whom she paid dear; but Mme. de Genlis sat in the centre of the a.s.sembly, commanded, talked, commented, sang, and would have put the entire concert in confusion, had not the Marquise de Livry very drolly picked a quarrel with her about her harp, which she had brought to her. Decidedly, this young D'Orleans has a singular governor. She holds too closely to her role, and never forgets her _jupons_ [skirts] except when she ought most to remember them.”
During her visit to England she was petted by everyone; but even in England there was a widespread prejudice against her--a feeling which the mere sight of her immediately dissipated. An English lady wrote about her:
”I saw her at first with a prejudice in her disfavor, from the cruel reports I had heard; but the moment I looked at her it was removed.
There was a dignity with her sweetness and a frankness with her modesty, that convinced me, beyond all power of contrary report, of her real worth and innocence.”
During the Revolution Mme. de Genlis travelled about Switzerland, Germany, and England. At Berlin, owing to her poverty, she supported herself by writing, making trinkets, and teaching, until she was recalled to France, under the Consulate. In Paris she produced some of her best works--although they were written to order. Napoleon gave her a pension of six thousand francs and handsome apartments at the a.r.s.enal. To this liberal pension, the wife of his brother, Joseph Bonaparte, added three thousand francs.
From Mme. de Genlis, Napoleon received a letter fortnightly, in which epistle she communicated to him her opinions and observations upon politics and current events. Upon the return to power of the Orleans family, she was put off with a meagre pension. Like many other French women, she became more and more melancholy and misanthropic. She was unable to control her wrath against the philosophers and some of the contemporary writers, such as Lamartine, Mme. de Stael, Scott, and Byron. Her death, in 1830, was announced in these words: ”Mme. de Genlis has ceased to write--which is to announce her death.”
Throughout life she was so generous that as soon as she received her pensions, presents, or earnings from her work, the money was distributed among the poor. When she died, she left nothing but a few worn and homely dresses and articles of furniture. The diversity of her works and her conduct, the politics in which she was steeped, the satires, the perfidious accusations that have pursued her, have contributed to leave of her a rather doubtful portrait; however, those who have written bitterly against her have done so mostly from personal or political animosity. She was so many-sided--a reformer, teacher, pietist, politician, actress--that a true estimate of her character is difficult. A woman of all tastes and of various talents, she was a living encyclopaedia and mistress of all arts of pleasing.
She had studied medicine, and took special delight in the art of bleeding, which she practised upon the peasants, each one of whom she would present with thirty sous (thirty cents), after the bleeding--and she never lacked patients. Mme. de Genlis was an expert rider and huntress; also, she was graceful, with an elegant figure, great affability, and a talent for quickly and accurately reading character; and these gifts were stepping-stones to popularity.
She wrote incessantly, on all things, essaying every style, every subject. ”She has discoursed for the education of princes and of lackeys; prepared maxims for the throne and precepts for the pantry; you might say she possessed the gift of universality. She was gifted with a singular confidence in her own abilities, infinite curiosity, untiring industry, and never-ending and inexhaustible energy. She wrote nearly as much as Voltaire, and barely excelled him in the amount of unreadable work, which, if printed, would fill over one hundred volumes.”
”Let us remember,” says Mr. Dobson, ”her indefatigable industry and untiring energy, her kindness to her relatives and admirers, her courage and patience when in exile and poverty, her great talent, perseverance, and rare facility.” In protesting vigorously against the universal neglect of physical development, against the absence of the gymnasium and the lack of practical knowledge in the education of her time, in advocating the study of modern languages as a means of culture and discipline, in applying to her pupils the principles of the modern experimental and observational education, Mme. de Genlis will retain a place as one of the great female educators--as a woman pedagogue, _par excellence_, of the eighteenth century.
A great number of minor salons existed, which were partly literary, partly social. From about 1750 to 1780 the amus.e.m.e.nts varied constantly, from all-day parties in the country to cafes served by the great women themselves, from playing proverbs to playing synonyms, from impromptu compositions to questionable stories, from laughter to tears, from Blind-man's-buff to Lotto. Some of the proverbs were quite ingenious and required elaborate preparations; for example, at one place Mme. de Lauzun dances with M. de Belgunce, in the simplest kind of a costume, which represented the proverb: _Bonne renommee vaut mieux que ceinture doree_ [A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches]. Mme. de Marigny danced with M. de Saint-Julien as a negro, pa.s.sing her handkerchief over her face in the various figures of the dance, meaning _A laver la tete d'un More on perd sa lessive_ [To wash a blackamoor white].