Part 16 (2/2)
Among the social salons, the finest was the Temple of the Prince de Conti and his mistress, the Countess de Boufflers. It was a salon of pleasure, liberty, and unceremonious intimacy; his _thes a l'anglaise_ were served by the great ladies themselves, attired in white ap.r.o.ns.
The exclusive and elite of the social world made up his company. The most elegant a.s.sembly was that of the Marechale de Luxembourg; it will be considered later on. The salon of Mme. de Beauvau rivalled that of the Marechale de Luxembourg; she was mistress of elegance and propriety, an authority on and model of the usages of society. A manner perhaps superior to that of any other woman, gave Mme. de Beauvau a particular _politesse_ and const.i.tuted her one of the women who contributed most to the acceptance of Paris as the capital of Europe, by well-bred people of all countries. Her _politesse_ was kind and without sarcasm, and, by her own naturalness, she communicated ease. She was not beautiful, but had a frank and open expression and a marvellous gift of conversation, which was her delight and in which she gloried. Her salon was conspicuous for its untarnished honor and for the example it set of a pure conjugal love.
The salon of Mme. de Grammont, at Versailles, was visited at all hours of the day and night by the highest officials, princes, lords, and ladies. It had activity, authority, the secret doors, veiled and redoubtable depths of a salon of the mistress of a king. Everybody went there for counsel, submitted plans, and confided projects to this lady who had willingly exiled herself from Paris.
The house of M. de La Popeliniere, at Pa.s.sy, was noted for its unique entertainment; there the celebrated Gossec and Gaffre conducted the concerts, Deshayes, master of the ballet at the Comedie-Italienne, managed the amus.e.m.e.nts. It was a house like a theatre and with all the requisites of the latter; there artists and men of letters, virtuosos and _danseuses_, ate, slept, and lodged as in a hotel. With Mme. de Blot, mistress of the Duke of Orleans, as hostess, the Palais-Royal ranked next to the Temple of the Prince de Conti; it was open only to those who were presented; after that ceremony, all those who were thus introduced could, without invitation, dine there on all days of the Grand Opera. On the _pet.i.ts jours_ a select twenty gathered, who, when once invited, were so for all time. The ”Salon de Pomone,” of Mme.
de Marchais, received its name from Mme. du Deffand on account of the exquisite fruits and magnificent flowers which the hostess cultivated and distributed among her friends.
”La Paroisse,” of Mme. Doublet de Persan, was the salon of the sceptics and was under the constant surveillance of the police. All the members arrived at the same time and each took possession of the armchair reserved for him, above which hung his portrait. On a large stand were two registers, in which the rumors of the day were noted--in one the doubtful, in the other the accredited. On Sat.u.r.day, a selection was made, which went to the _Grand Livre_, which became a journal ent.i.tled _Nouvelles a la Main_, kept by the _valet-de-chambre_ of Mme. Doublet. This book furnished the substance of the six volumes of the _Memoires Secrets_, which began to appear in 1770.
Besides these salons of the n.o.bility, there were those of the financiers, a profession which had risen into prominence within the last half century, after the death of Louis XIV. According to the Goncourt brothers, the greatest of these salons was that of Mme.
de Grimrod de La Reyniere, who, by dint of shrewd manoeuvring, by unheard-of extravagances, excessive opulence in the furnis.h.i.+ngs of her salon, and by the most gorgeous and rare fetes and suppers, had succeeded in attracting to her establishment a number of the court and n.o.bility.
The salon of M. de La Popeliniere belonged to this cla.s.s, although he was ranked, more or less, among the n.o.bility. There were the weekly suppers of Mme. Suard, Mme. Saurin, the Abbe Raynal, and the luncheons of the Abbe Morellet on the first Sunday of the month; to the latter functions were invited all the celebrities of the other salons, as well as artists and musicians--it was there that the famous quarrel of the Gluck and Piccini parties originated. The Tuesday dinners of Helvetius became famous; it was at them that Franklin was one of the favorites; after the death of Helvetius, he attempted in vain to put an end to the widowhood of madame. No man at that time was more popular than Franklin or had as much public attention shown him.
There were a number of celebrated women whose reputations rest mainly on their wit and conversational abilities; they may be cla.s.sed as society leaders, to distinguish them from salon leaders.
CHAPTER X
SOCIAL CLa.s.sES
The belief generally prevails that devotion and constancy did not exist among French women of the eighteenth century; but, in spite of the very numerous instances of infidelity which dot the pages of the history of the French matrimonial relations of those days, many examples of rare devotion are found, even among the n.o.bility. Love of the king and self-eliminating devotion to him were feelings to which women aspired; yet we have one countess, the Countess of Perigord, who, true to her wifehood, repels the advances of the king, preferring a voluntary exile to the dishonor of a life of royal favors and attentions. There is also the example of Mme. de Tremoille; having been stricken with smallpox, she was ministered to by her husband, who voluntarily shared her fate and died with her.
It would seem that the highest types of devotion are to be found in the families of the ministers and men of state, where the wife was intimately a.s.sociated with the fortune and the success of her husband.
The Marquis de Croisy and his wife were married forty years; M.
and Mme. de Maurepas lived together for fifty years, without being separated one day. Instances are many in which reconciliations were effected after years of unfaithfulness; these seldom occurred, however, until the end of life was near. The normal type of married life among the higher cla.s.ses still remained one of most ideal and beautiful devotion, in spite of the great number of exceptions.
It must be observed that in the middle cla.s.s the young girl grew up with the mother and was given her most tender care; surrounded with wholesome influences, she saw little or nothing of the world, and, the constant companion of her mother, developed much like the average young girl of to-day. At the age of about eleven she was sent to a convent, where--after having spent some time in the _pension_, where instruction in religion was given her--she was instructed by the sisters for one year.
After her confirmation and her first communion, and the home visits to all the relatives, she was placed in a _maison religieuse_, where the sisters taught the daughters of the common people free of charge. The young girl was also taught dancing, music, and other accomplishments of a like nature, but there was nothing of the feverish atmosphere of the convent in which the daughters of the n.o.bility were reared; these inst.i.tutions for the middle cla.s.ses were peaceful, silent, and calm, fostering a serenity and quietude. The days pa.s.sed quickly, the Sundays being eagerly looked forward to because of the visits of the parents, who took their daughters for drives and walks and indulged them in other innocent diversions. Such a life had its after effects: the young girls grew up with a taste for system, discipline, piety, and for a rigid devotion, which often led them to an instinctive need of doctrine and sacrifice; consequently, in later life many turned to Jansenism.
However, the young girls of this cla.s.s who were not thus educated, because their a.s.sistance was required at home, received an early training in social as well as in domestic affairs; they had a solid and practical, if uncouth, foundation, combined with a worldly and, often, a frivolous temperament. To them many privileges were opened: they were taken to the opera, to concerts and to b.a.l.l.s, to the salons of painting, and it often happened that they developed a craving for the society to which only the n.o.bly born demoiselle was admitted. When this craving went too far, it frequently led to seduction by some of the chevaliers who make seduction a profession.
The marriage customs in these circles differed little from those of to-day. The suitor asked permission to call and to continue his visits; then followed the period of present giving. The young girl was almost always absolute mistress of the decision; if the father presented a name, the daughter insisted upon seeing, receiving, and becoming intimately acquainted with the suitor, a custom quite different from that practised among the n.o.bility. Instead of giving her rights as it did the girl of the n.o.bility, marriage imposed duties upon the girl of the middle cla.s.s; it closed the world instead of opening it to her; it ended her brilliant, gay, and easy life, instead of beginning it, as was the case in the higher cla.s.ses. This she realized, therefore hesitated long before taking the final step which was to bind her until death.
With her, becoming a wife meant infinitely more than it did to the girl of the n.o.bility; her husband had the management of her money, and his vices were visited upon her and her children--in short, he became her master in all things. These disadvantages she was taught to consider deeply before entering the marriage state.
This state of affairs developed distinctive physiognomies in the different cla.s.ses of the middle-cla.s.s society: thus, ”the wives of the financiers are dignified, stern, severe; those of the merchants are seductive, active, gossiping, and alert; those of the artists are free, easy, and independent, with a strong taste for pleasure and gayety--and they give the tone.” As we approach the end of the century, the _bourgeoisie_ begins to a.s.sume the airs, habits, extravagances, and even the immoralities, of the higher cla.s.ses.
Below the _bourgeoise_ was the workingwoman, whose ideas were limited to those of a savage and who was a woman only in s.e.x. Her ideas of morality, decency, conjugal happiness, children, education, were limited by quarrels, profanity, blows, fights. At that time brandy was the sole consolation for those women; it supplied their moral force and their moral resistance, making them forget cold, hunger, fatigue, evil, and giving them courage and patience; it was the fire that sustained, comforted, and incited them.
These women were not much above the level of animals, but from them, we find, often sprang the entertainers of the time, the queens of beauty and gallantry--Laguerre, D'Hervieux, Sophie Arnould. Having lost their virtue with maturity, these women had no sense of morality; in them, nothing preserved the sense of honor--their religion consisted of a few superst.i.tious practices. The const.i.tuents of duty and the virtue of women they could only vaguely guess; marriage itself was presented to them under the most repugnant image of constant contention.
It was in such an atmosphere as this that the daughters of these women grew up. Their talents found opportunity for display at the public dances where some of them would in time attract especial attention.
Some became opera singers, dancers, or actresses, and were very popular; others became influential, and, through the efforts of some lover, allured about them a circle of ambitious _debauches_ or aspirants for social favors. Through their adventures they made their way up in the world to high society.
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