Louis XV.--Prince Louis.--Madame du Barri.--Her dissolute character.--Children of Louis XV.--Anecdote of Madame du Barri.--Madame du Barri's beauty.--Her political influence.--Madame du Barri's pavilion.--The Duke de Brissac.--Madame du Barri's flight.--She is betrayed.--Condemnation of Madame du Barri.--Her anguish and despair.--Execution of Madame du Barri.--Letter from Maria Theresa.--Departure of Maria for Paris.--Emotions of the populace.--Magnificent pavilion.--Singular custom.--Grand procession.--The reception.--Young Louis's indifference.--The marriage.--Insensibility of young Louis.--Acclamations of the Parisians.--Maria shows herself to the populace.--She receives their homage.--The fire-works.--Awful conflagration.--Scene of horror.--Consternation of Maria.--Presents from Louis XV.--Malice of Madame du Barri.--Maria's difficulties.--The Countess de Noailles.--Laws of etiquette.--An illustration.--Countess de Noailles's ideas of etiquette.--An anecdote.--Maria's contempt for etiquette.--The Countess de Noailles nicknamed.--Ludicrous scene.--Rage of the old ladies.--Habits of Maria Theresa.--The dauphiness becomes unpopular.--Dining in public.--How it was done.--Versailles.--Magnificence of the palace.--Gallery of paintings, statuary, etc.--Gorgeous saloons.--Splendid gardens.--Other palaces.--The Great and the Little Trianon.--Gardens, cascades, etc.--Nature of Maria's mind.--Walks in the garden.--Maria's want of education.--She attempts to supply it.--Maria's enemies.--Their malignant slanders.--Visit of Maximilian.--A quarrel about forms.--Unexpected tenderness of Louis. When Maria Antoinette was fifteen years of age, a light-hearted, blooming, beautiful girl, hardly yet emerging from the period of childhood, all Austria, indeed all Europe, was interested in the preparations for her nuptials with the destined King of France. Louis XV. still sat upon the throne of Charlemagne. His eldest son had died about ten years before, leaving a little boy, some twelve years of age, to inherit the crown his father had lost by death. The young Louis, grandchild of the reigning king, was mild, inoffensive, and bashful, with but little energy of mind, with no ardor of feeling, and singularly destitute of all passions. He was perfectly exemplary in his conduct, perhaps not so much from inherent strength of principle as from possessing that peculiarity of temperament, cold and phlegmatic, which feels not the power of temptation. He submitted passively to the arrangements for his marriage, never manifesting the slightest emotion of pleasure or repugnance in view of his approaching alliance with one of the most beautiful and fascinating princesses of Europe. Louis was entirely insensible to all the charms of female beauty, and seemed incapable of feeling the emotion of love.