The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1879-04-15
OLD TIME "REMINISCENCES.
LECTURE nv MIR. LEJEUNE ON So
CuETY nv THE EIGHTEENTH
CENTURY.

evening, The Society Of the Eighteenth Gen.
tury" was the chosen subject.
n Ia under the guidance OF art that We should
enter the precincts Of the eighteenth century
in one of those fairy boats which We ind upon
Watteau's immortal canvas.
We first are diettentes. but by degrees more
serious study of the age occupies our atten-
ton. The history OF that time is carefully
searched; the memoirs. pamphlets. letters.
statutes. engravlngs, drawings. all are con-
suited. and all Yield their fruit.
A historical essay OF that age Is composed, as
we would color pastel. with the autbehtio
ashes Of things that were.
Vatican, the most elegant OF tho painters OF
Tint time. depicts upon canvas its feasts and
merry markings, but beneath the semblanes o.
gsiety which we find In his characters there
turks d shade OF melancholy.
The faces seem not to be In keeping With the
rich and splendid costumes, but belong TO peo-
ME who hide M "ennnl" beneath the trappings
IF fastivity. They are as smiling masks which
cover eountenanee In tears, a.
Boucher and FraRouard have panied ,.' .ns
sensuous and vOuptuOus scenes Oh the sge.
while Latour that tnaster OF Frensh pnysioR-
nomy gives US In living pictures all the persons
Upon Chardln's canvas the customs OF pri-
waite life, the domestN scenes OF the bourgeoiae
are handed down to us-that bognrgeGise wfiich
pure in It's tastes and affections untouched ana
nnrufflad by the, license and tho splendor q the
grand monde" ~,
armies Of CBsar. cluster around them bana
OF faithful souls who havs resolved 20 dle M
gether and the sight Of this ms hnsaony wrh
tuty recalls this page Of ancient history.
After gazing some time. upon the picture IN
the Louvre. Ieprs- cutting the people OF the Ugh
teenth century. their customs and their dress,
We seem to be carried back as by Q charm. and
are surrounded BY the powdered marauisss.
the .chsvaiers' In ridiculous head dress Gag
Iosirv. Cazanova. St. German. Nine. do Pom
padour. Sophie Arnoult. Richeieu. all these
ihe misty misty realms Of The past their talent and
wit. their nlumes and their wigs are there,
Here is Voaire with sardo9ie smile. mere mere
tho laos rufflss OF his sleeves.
All that age. with its frivolity and Its wft, IT,
cosmetics and It's lveries. and the little dogs OF
After the reign Of Louis the XIV md Nine.
Maintenon. society, which believes 10 nothlnnha III.
",as fsndgr 9 s Of & The sm he
and die. Love has spread It's wings and u 'wn
away. Intrgues and amorons adventures %
no longer Of their daughters. After birth they
IRE placed with their 'nottrvises,' and from
their breasts the convent claims them. Their
education completed. thsysleaye the scenes 81
quiet and innocence TO enter world 81 hustle
and OF dissipation. Upon their entry Ia society
they arc married to the first conner whose Gre
And thus are they started In life, to alter
wards likewise start their daughters.
But. Notwithstanding tho amusements. er,ant
claims many OF the gay society people. II has
been wrongly said mat .e.n,a was MODERN
Nine. Du Detfaut suffered from that .ineurablle
nlalady aixty years. and L'ennui dams. 10
| monde" has boon proposed MS the title OIL her
| letters.
Whilst Marie de viehy WAS at the Convent Of
| to be educated at that Convent. Massillon tried
| to convert her, and after speaking for two
hours he left. after telling the nuns. She Is
In i7l8 she is married. but aceords to her hus-
band full liberty Of actien. and be, In return.
course oouT Of fashionable dsslpaton. attends The
| feasts of Seeaux. Is a reigning attraction ut the
suppers Of the Regent. and ID the midst Of this
/ life she excaims that she has no need of hapDi-
ness-pleasqre suffiees TOR her. :,
Later In life. when she sees the frivolity Of
life, she, writes: do not desire to be loved:
! know that love does not exist, and know 1t
| through myself. do not insist upon receiving
from others that which I cannot give them. y
society only Of those who might prove useful
counting the queen; and Dr.. Ing his attentions
to Nine. de Ponpadour In order to receive In.
Thus. d high lady without preiudiees and q
man Of the world without scrnpe agree T b.,
not honor him by quitting him,
After thirty years spent together Henanlt dies
and Nine. Dn Deffat writes that SIZE believes
Of her letters filled with all the fashienab Cos
sip Of the day. she adds az post scriptnm:
forgot to tell you the news: your father ID dsadl
Laly had been condemned. she writes &c
enred the confessor. 70 which 'Walpols an
swered that he was happy he had left Paris. fol
he could not have borne such sight.
A Here Is the result Of this civilization suddenly
made so brilliant upon the bantshment ant
death OF barbafism. All this world 80 polite, 81
elegant. SO sarcastic. was fated to soon disap
pear.
In 1850 she becomes widow and enjoys thu
revenues from three different pensions Sh'
enters the convent Of st, Joseph. and occupies
the same room In which Nine. de- Monies pal
had retired. after her Disgrace Here she re-
eigns, and writer's. Beanveau. Beauffremont
Choiseul. Voltaire flock to her retreat; ant
here, she founds. the order Of st. joseph. 0
which she ia Of course, the Grand Mistress
D'Alembert Montesquieu Polignac and Berne
sup with her twice week. on Sunday and Mon
But the Grand Mistress finds no amusemen
in the society OF her guests, and In her letter
there breathes spirit Of bitterness against he
, she says herself: Il do not believe In anothe
world. II such thing exists / fear it."
She becomes blind. but for that does not ceas
: to frequent society. Her life is one of perpe
tual excitement: she does not wish to slseI
and at O'Clock IN the morning Horace Walpol
says that she vi wishes I; to e on the bouleyara
1t cannot be called love. nor can claim the nam
OF friendship.
one mas Ieeilng Oh tenderness for Horac
Wapoie which soon ripens into love. Sh
speaks to him as child:
I desire to never do anything which migt
displease you; wish to be your 'ehere petite
g l forget that | have lived. I am but thrice
: years Of age. Yon will efface my past. and %
! days will only date from that happy time whe
: | first knew you"
Walpole .scolds her: he is harsh and cold /
O ITS he quits Paris and her last year is u Ion
. agony.
. You will regret me. because. after all. one
. always very happy to have baen loved. ANU:
), yourself. my friend as best you cam
r When called upon in her last moments by II
curate Of st. Suiti she asked to spare b,
tioning.
lu this arid age we find Claire de Lespinass
a who Woul bave 5een better suited to the tim
of Margarite de Navarro.
Claire FRANCHISE de Lespinasse was born