The Life of Marie Antoinette, Queen of FranceYonge, Charles Duke
History
The Life of Marie Antoinette, Queen of France
Yonge, Charles Duke
Marie Antoinette, Queen, consort of Louis XVI, King of France, 1755-1793
"I must tell my dear mamma that he gave me one thing which I earnestly
begged of him, and which causes me the greatest pleasure: it is a packet
of advice, which he has left me in writing. At this moment it constitutes
my chief reading; and, if ever I could forget what he said to me, which I
do not believe I ever could, I should still have this paper always before
me, which would soon recall me to my duty. My dear mamma will have learned
by the courier, who started yesterday, how well the king behaved during
the last moments of my brother's visit. I can assure you that I thoroughly
understand him, and that he was really affected at the emperor's
departure. As he does not always recollect to pay attention to forms, he
does not at all times show his feelings to the outer world, but all that I
see proves to me that he is truly attached to my brother, and that he has
the greatest regard for him; and at the moment of my brother's departure,
when I was in the deepest distress, he showed an attention to, and a
tenderness for, me which all my life I shall never forget, and which would
attach me to him, if I had not been attached to him already.
"It is impossible that my brother should not have been pleased with this
nation. For one who, like him, knows how to estimate men, must have seen
that, in spite of the exceeding levity which is inveterate in the people,
there is a manliness and cleverness in them, and, speaking generally, an
excellent heart, and a desire to do right. The only thing is to manage
them properly.... I have this moment received your dear letter by the
post. What goodness yours is, at a moment when you have so much business
to think of, to recollect my name day! It overwhelms me. You offer up
prayers for my happiness. The greatest happiness that I can have is to
know that you are pleased with me, to deserve your kindness, and to
convince you that no one in the world feels greater affection or greater
respect for you than I."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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