MOB AT VERSAILLES 151 GRAND AVENUE OF THE TUILERIES 156 PALACE OF ST. CLOUD 184 CAPTURE AT VARENNES 208 THE TUILERIES 221 THE TOWER OF THE TEMPLE 257 THE ROYAL FAMILY IN THE TEMPLE 262 MARIA ANTOINETTE IN THE CONCIERGERIE 296 MARIA ANTOINETTE CHAPTER I. PARENTAGE AND CHILDHOOD. 1740-1770 Maria Theresa.--She succeeds to the throne.--Success of Maria Theresa's enemies.--Her flight to Hungary.--The queen's firmness.--The Hungarian barons.--The queen's appeal.--Enthusiasm of her subjects.--The queen heads her army.--She overthrows her enemies.--Character of Maria Theresa.--Character of her husband.--Crowning of Francis.--Maria Theresa's renown.--Maria Theresa's sternness.--Anecdote.--Fatal result.--Death of Francis.--Plan of the counselors.--Birth of Maria Antoinette.--Maria Antoinette's character.--Affecting scene.--Maria Antoinette's grief.--Maria Theresa as a mother.--Mode of education.--Petty artifices.--Maria's proficiency in French.--She forgets her native tongue.--Maria's taste for music.--Her ignorance of general literature, etc.--The French teachers.--Their character.--The Abbe de Vermond.--He shamefully abuses his trust.--Etiquette of the French court.--Etiquette of the Austrian court.--Precepts of the teacher.--Character of Maria Antoinette.--Maria a noble girl.--Her virtues and her faults.--Palace of Schoenbrun.--The scenes of Maria's childhood.--Personal appearance of Maria.--Description of Lamartine.--Maria's betrothal.--Its motives.--Maria's feelings on leaving Schoenbrun.--Her love for her home. In the year 1740, Charles VI., emperor of Austria, died. He left a daughter twenty-three years of age, Maria Theresa, to inherit the crown of that powerful empire. She had been married about four years to Francis, duke of Lorraine. The day after the death of Charles, Maria Theresa ascended the throne. The treasury of Austria was empty. A general feeling of discontent pervaded the kingdom. Several claimants to the throne rose to dispute the succession with Maria; and France, Spain, Prussia, and Bavaria took advantage of the new reign, and of the embarrassments which surrounded the youthful queen, to enlarge their own borders by wresting territory from Austria.