The New Bloomfield, Pa. times. (New Bloomfield, Pa.) 1877-188?, 1880-11-23
A Woman's Intrigues.

treasure house Of art, there Is still hang
ing in the gallery of the Louvre little
crayon drawing done by La Tour,
which possesses rare historic interest
The picture represents q noble lady IN
the prime aud pride Of her youthful
beauty. The slender and elegantly
formed neck rises from superby shaped
shoulders; the head is cast in the finest
mould of classic loveliness the broad
and somewhat severe brow s0ftened by
ewes of tender hue and wonderful bril-
liancy; the nose is as perfect in outline
as If Phidias had chiseled IL; the lips are
slightly compressed and sarcasm rather
than smiles linger about them aud
over the whole c0untenance there is
fung that nameless, indescribable some
thing which betokens daring and un-
scrupulous ambition, coupled with ex-
quisite tact and resistless fascination.
The costume is that of the middle of the
last century; the hair being slightly
powdered, a flowing, elaborately flower
ed brocade robe displaying the prettiest
Oi ittt, bucubhCu III bCu' hCClCO BHOAo VI
quaint yet tasteful design. On the table
upon which she leans are a number of
volumes, among which we see Mont
esquieu's Spirit of Laws and Encyclo-
poedia - and an open album showing
small engraving of an artist plying his
cunning graver in the portrayal OF
sensual liueaments of Louis XIV. For
this stately dame is Jeanne Antoinette
Poisson, better known to fame of a
questionable sort under her courtly title
of Madame de Pompadour. AS per-
sonage who, by her own misdeeds, and
the peInicious influence she exercised
upon her royal paramour, contributed
as much or more than any other one to
the downfall of the Bourbon dynasty,
and the political chaos in which France
has struggled for nearly an hundred
years, she deserves and shall receive
brief attention at our hands.
The father of Pompadour-or, as the
old chronicler wickedly phrases it, !" her
mothers husband''-- was attached to
the commissary department of the
French army though some biographers
assert that he was butcher of the In
valides, condemned to be hung and
Voltaire declares he was a farmer of the
Ferte sous Jowarre. But without dis
cussing the question of paternity, it is
sufficient for our purpose to know that
Jeanne Antoinette was born in Paris in
the year l7l0-she herself always said
in Ireland when quite an infant was
adopted by the Fermier- general, Lenor-
man de Tourneheim, who appears to
have cherished for her most ardent
affection. AS soon as she was old
enough, he gave her every advantage
for intellectual culture; procured the
best music and drawing masters Paris
could furnish, and took the greatest
delight in the rapid development of his
protege.
Her beauty, grace and precocity speed
lily attracted the attention of such liter
AIRY celebrities as Fontenelle, Voltaire,
Duclos and Crebillion, who were regular
visitors at Tourneheim's mansion and
they spread the story of her acquire
ments and her charms far and wide.
Voltaire seems to have been on intimate
terms with her, for in his memoirs he
says "she once owned to me that she
had secret presentiment she would be
loved by the king, and that she cher
ished in secret violent inclination for
him."
This strange idea evidently had gained
a strong hold upon the young girls
mind, and aided in the formation of her
life and we are told, even went SO far as
to familiarize herself with the etiquette
of the palace, and the details of those
ceremonials in which queens take part.
Meanwhile she was only Mile Poisson,
an obscure maiden, upon whom the
dangerous sunshine of royal favor was
never likely to fall.
Monsieur de Tourneheim was bache-
lor and immensely rich; he had a
nephew whom he intended should in.
herit the bulk of his property, while at
the same time his adopted daughter was
to be literally provided for. Naturally
il occurred to him that If the young folks
could intermarry it would save all
trouble in the division of the estate,
increase his own happiness, and be
exceedingly advantageous to them. He
proposed the alliance and met with no
opposition from either. Lenorman
d'Etoiles, an amiable and inoffensive
person, was already madly enamoured
with his prospective bride, who for her
part was thoroughly indifferent-''ac
centinr him y "a aha aaid with rasinna