New-York tribune., 1882-03-12
gTUDIES IN AUTOBIOGRAPHY.
BY CHARLES T. CoNGDoN.
COUNTESS DE LA MOTTE.

In letter written ny tue Iale luvuido NH'S'N
friend lust published with several others, he
saws; After long period of half idleness, nave
resolved upon putting on paper little piece on the
history of the Diamond Necklace" He asks ms
f,end to procure for him. if possible. The Lie oil
Jane dc st. Remy dc Nalois heretofore Countess
de Ia sIotte Written by Herself. ms oooh y
vols London. i79n have had the fortune 10 hnd'
.oa some account of n not ovcr-reputable adven-
turess may prove interesting, especially as she
contrived TO get her name into the scandalous de-
nart,nent of modern French history. For a sue
cinct story of her not over-tragrant precedehts
prey,ous to the grand explosion. reference may he
made to Chapter V. OF Carlyle's novelette, The
Diamond Necklace" one of the most entertaining
ot his productions He speaks IF this Life rs a
sI.vinu Autobiography" manufactured to cxtort
nancy from French persons in authority, Great
Numbers of the work were sent to Paris, were
boucht up by alarmed authority and nobility, ana
condemned 10 fire. 1t was the burning OF these IN
the Sevres Potteries on the 3oth of May, l'72'
which raised such a smoke. that the Legislative
Assembly took alarm and Investigated the matter
CARLYLE thinks the Memoirs not entirely untruSt-
worthy. save in the affair of the Necklace. They
are certainly amusing.
Mile de St Remy de Yalois claimed to bc de-
scended in a lett hand sort of way from lienri
H. Her -ancestress a certain Ncoie dc
Jeanne proessed to come of tins crooked line IN the
seventh degree. Her ancestors had lived sc well
that there was nothing lett of the estates bestowed
nv the crown Her father had married servant
girl mother of Jeanne; had sQuandered what was
LEFT of the st. Remy property; had drowned NM
self in drink had betalen himself TO sheer vaga-
bondage, travelling to Paris from Bar-sur-Aupe
mostly on foot, with his wife, son and daughter.
Little Jeanne says that her mother treated her
with the utmost cruelty the daughter OF many
kings was compelled to beg especially alter the
arrival in Paris. She was trained to go mp 10 the
carriages and say: Gentlemen or Ladies, take
COMPASSION on poor orphan descended IN direct
line from Henry the Second of Nalols. King oi
France Her father died IN the Hotel Diem.
manner patIent conjunng her never to forget that
she was Nalos. Then came more bcggary, ana
perpetual descent into still lower and lower depths
of disreputabty, and finally she ran away from
starvation and stripes to seek her fortune. She was
caught and carried back to misery and her mother,
who had the grace finally to abscond with scamp
named RamoId leaving little Jeanne to take care OF
herself Begging at carriage door one Day sue
attracted the attention of a charitable Countess
BollaInvilliers who las Carlyle says 81 picked her
ND. had her secured, clothed; reared her IN her
enctuotinc nisre llaneous way tu be abont the age
Of twenty. a nondescript of Mantuamakcr Sou
brette Court begear Fine-lady, Abigail and Scion
of-Royalty" All this the Countess narrates after
long. winded and sometimes entirely unreadablc
fashion The Marquis de B0ulainvllilers had the
i,npudence she says to make love to her aud when
according to her story she resisted he became
her enemy. She was pretty enough as plquant
uortIait of her in the Memoirs still attests AlnoS5
anvhody with skill to push their fortunes could
secure a pension i'll those days. The King gave the
little woman one of 500 liyres tabout t33l per
In, he to have been recOg
nizcd rs of the House of NaloiS--to The extent of
500 Gvres n wear at least. The brother of Jeanne
was also presented Through the intcrpoSitiou OF
Monsieur and Madame Neckarl with an equipment
Of 1000 livres, and the commission Oi ensign Ihe
House of Va.ois was decidedly looking up, after all
those years of mendcity and degradation; might
have looked up permanently but for a natural pro-
pensity to look down and to run down Which I'M
nediately repeated itself money straightway be-
comlng as scarce ever. The wicked De BonIalh-
yilliers Is charged with conspring to keep Jeanne
moor whether Justly not nobody could tell then
or can tell now lie had power enough, however. to
shut her ND with her sister in n cOnvcnt-a retire
ment which she processes to have liked, on account
of her health and the state OF her mind, then as
always distracted She even thought OF " dcVotIng
the remainder of her days to the service OF her
Creator" and it would have been much better for
her if she had carried this idea into practice. Mean
while il must be noticed that the Marquis IS con-
stautly renewing his odiou5 solicitations. Mile de
St Remy admits that she getting little tired OF
her convent aud pined for the gay circles OF
Paris Afterward she is at Bar-sur-Aube. where
she meets VI. de la Motto, whom she married Her
account of the spendOr of her nuptials one cannot
read without distTust. She is such liar IN gram
that when sue becomes magnificent II Is safest lor
the reader to be upon his guard. The fine husband
was in the military way but only private sentinel
in the Gendarmes. She made him otf-hand Connt.
Why not? Was she not herself a Countess
The Couut after the nuptals went off to his garri
SON. the Countess to her convent IN fact to several
converts; ultimately both 10 Paris where the
MARQUIS with no reverence for the matrimonial
sanctities continued his Odious addresses, while
his wife was diving of smallpox. Soon after the
Countess has the misfortune to make the acqualnt
ance of his Emnence Cardinal Commentator
Grand Almoner Archbishop Prince Louis de Rohan
This WAS the beginning of the scamp-eDic Of the
Diamond Necklace The Countess removed TO
Versailles TO he near the Court, and Madame Eliza
beth, who had been kind TO her. She managed also
10 bring herself under the eyes OF the good-natured
Marie Antonettc, alas. then as always too good
natnred Then came donation TO the adven-
tureSs of bag of fifty louis, and soon after
another bag containing n like sum. 80 much
for persisteucy. The Queen her secret
andi,pee and a purse at the end OF it, and q
kiss with the purse-the fatally gOod-natured
Queen Nothing said of the Cardinal, whom
the Queen hated cordially, partly, perhaps. because
he proiessed n passion for her. The Countess be-
came a sort of go-between entirely without the sus-
picion OF the Queen. She carries letters to Marie
Antonette from the CARDINAL; she brings back
letters which ameorate his despair forgeres ali OF
them Nor is it certain that all this story OF hers
about interviews with her Majesty and Of the royal
Kiss at parting be not sheer mendacitles once for
IL =, Ia stotaJ that M assertion made by the