The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-08-09
E LOUISE DE FRANCE.

2 Y account of that princess:-
h. Es i5. Iruncess Louise in very early wear, had
ne i1ea OF one day becoming n nun and
s ieu GU pltterly once when an attendant smoke
oI some prince as her intended busbor5 A.
.ne ege Oh fourteen she was removed from the
tpntYehV' t ana TOOK her place at court with all
tne honors of a daughter of France Brt hy
TINS time she had lost all taste Gov t1,. l,,,,ryy
ana glones OF royalty. 1t is toucbin, to read
Vi net endeavors to keep up the habits of de
EoCion and inward life which she had formed
1urlng her sojourn at Fonteyraujt She
loVea her mother intensely. Within of bor
az later period, she says;-'I used io watch
Tne queen, my mother, with greatadmration
iu uoou W WISH 10 beamore with her and to
nave more personal intercourse with her. but
one natural affections are forced to ,ipIl to
Ihe customs and etiquette of court The
Irlncess found the business of court life
Wearsome exceedingly: and from all ac-
counts, the court circle of Marin en- eczinslya
was very dull indeed: huntino and
rlong were the only pleasures Madame Louise
[eaily enjoyed. Her religious feelings grew
dally stronger. The death of a favorite
sister, Madame Henriette made raat inn
preston upon her. She writes to a friand:-
Hennette lived the life of a saint. she was
always praying, even when she was OBLIGED to
go to the theatre" The intimate friend of her
mother, the young Countess de Bussem0nde.
about this time became CarmeGte and her
example gave definite shape to the desire of
the Princess to embrace RELIGIONS Iire thouoh
she shrank at that time from tlo severe
austentes OF the Oarmelite order. A curious
insight Is incidentally given into the want of
all privacy in Court life. The Princess hay-
ing obtained copy of the Carmeite rules she
locked them up in a silver reliquary, and read
them by stealth. An old groom of the chamber,
who had been her attendant, told the Able
E1OOn 4, l. 1,,4t tv-i,a
which so astonished him that long afterwards
he ventured to ask her what he had done; he
had come, she said, into the room where she
was reading this little book and she did not
wish to be discovered She did not dare to tell
her mother of her desire to be a Carmelte;
the Queens health was failing, and she did not
wish to distress her. The health of the Prin-
cess was also delicate and she knew she
could not gain her consent; so she waited,
trying to accustom herself secretly to austeri-
ties that she could practise without discovery,
such as sitting for hours without fire in win
ter, and eating everything she most disliked;
buther grand triumph was in tallow candles,
She detested the smell of tallow; but knowing
the Carmelites burned nothing else, she Sc
cretly obtained packet OF very common tallow
candles At first, she could scarcely bear to
have them in her room; but at length she ven
tured to light one for few moments, and, by
degrees accustomed herself to use them con-
stantly, always lighting them when left alone
for the night; also, she procured hair shirt,
and wore it next her skin, beneath her fine
clothes-the poor Princess! She was thor
oughly sincere, and did the best she knew.
The death of the Queen made the life of
her daughters very dreary. Madame Louise
no longer concealed her ardent desire to be-
come a Carmelite and the Archbishop OF
Paris, the courtly NJ. de BeauGont, under
took to speak to the King. Louis vas Doth
startled and panied; he leaned on the back
of ian armchair, and buried his face
in his hands, saying, ''Ihs is cruel
cruel, indeed!" Then, after a silence,
he said he would give his answer in fort
night. All through this fortnight he never
saw his daughter; in the end he wrote her
his consent in~a very natural and atfectionate
letter. Amongst other things, he says, 81
have made forced sacrifices: this will be
voluntary sacrifice on your part. God will
give you strength to endure your new life;
for, the step once taken, there is no coming
back. 1 embrace you heartily, dear daughter,
and give you my blessing. The Princess
was royally impatient; she sent for the Able
Bertin the Director of the Carmelite COnven
of st. Denis. and said, II am going to be a
Carmelite, and l am coming to the Conven5
of st. Denis, of which you are the Superior.
1 want your permission to 90 there, and
want to 90 there without delay The Able
of St Denis was so poor that,
austere as the rules were the inmates ran
some risk of being starved to death unless
some help came very speedily. The convent
was unusually strict, and many additional Sc
verities had been added to the rules; 1t was
called the ''La Irappe OF Carmel. Ihe
Princess would listen to no arguments; she
would enter this convent, and no other. The
khbe said she must obtain formal consent
So, the King as no one could be accepted
without bringing written consent from tnC
,,orents This she undertook to obtain; anC
the Abbe Berth went away to prepare the
convent for the new inmate. The Princess
had begged, as a sole Indulgence, tina
having been accustomed all her life to very
broad and easy stairs, there should be core
nut to the stairs she would have to use at the
convent to guide her up and down. The
Abbe was quite ready to turn the convent IN
side ont to make it more Commodious for tn
Princess He ordered balustrades to all tn
stairs and the cider to be replaced by vine
he ordered the nuns to give up their boardel
q lady whose payment was heir only source o
ravenue-he made alterations in the apart
ments and the good nuns were driven t
A 5ietraction: for he never said Wor
about the Princess. The King, who wa
of Cboisv. wrote an atfectionate note, an
tbe 1reauired formal permission. In
Princess to avoid leave-takings told her SIS
ters She was going to St. Denis to visit he
Sootber's Grave: and in her ordinary attire, an
attended by her lady and equery IN waiting
sI,a drove to the convent, and arrived WINS
a. Gbhe was in the act of telling the nuns
M ootonishment and indignation OF u