Lives of Celebrated WomenGoodrich, Samuel G. (Samuel Griswold)
History
Lives of Celebrated Women
Goodrich, Samuel G. (Samuel Griswold)
Women -- Biography
"Having always felt an extreme desire of travelling in England, I
separated from my pupils for the first time. My journey was marked by
many distinctions. I received proofs of esteem from many distinguished
persons--Fox, Sheridan, Burke, Miss Burney, &c. The Prince of Wales
invited me to an entertainment, and was full of attention to me. I
passed three days at the country-house of the celebrated Mr. Burke;
here I met Sir Joshua Reynolds. I dined with the queen at Windsor.
Lord Mansfield, the celebrated English judge, came to see me, and gave
me a beautiful moss-rose tree. Horace Walpole invited me to breakfast
in his Gothic priory. After having visited Wales, I returned at length
to France. I arrived at St. Leu, after an absence of six weeks, to the
great joy of my pupils, as well as my own.
"A short time after, the marriage of Mademoiselle d'Orleans with the
Duke of Angouleme was resolved on. An interview took place between
them at Versailles, and the marriage was publicly talked of. The
revolution, which suddenly burst upon us at this time, overthrew all
our plans and projects.
"I was soon called upon to feel the most heart-rending sorrow at the
death of my mother, whom I tended during three whole days and nights,
without ever going to bed, or leaving her for a moment. My pupils
wished, of their own accord, to be present at the funeral, for they
truly loved her, and joined most sincerely and affectionately in grief
for her loss.
"It now became obvious that a melancholy change had taken place in
the conduct of the Duchess of Orleans to me, after twenty years of
the warmest and closest intimacy. In consequence of this, I determined
on retiring from her household altogether. My feelings were still
more aggravated by the want of any specific charge, or any explanation
on the part of the duchess. I wrote a letter to the duke, asking
leave to resign my place; but this he would not grant, promising to
arrange affairs in a few days. In the interval, Mademoiselle, seeing
me sorrowful and dejected, perceived the plan I had in view. One day,
she swooned away in the garden, and the consequence was, a promise
from me, 'that I would not leave her of my own free will.' I then
wrote a long explanatory letter to the duchess, using all possible
arguments to induce her to restore me to her confidence. This she
did not do, but consented to meet me as usual, and to allow her
family to suppose the 'difference' between us adjusted: at the same
time, she desired that not a word should pass between us relative
to our misunderstanding.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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