Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-08-04
THE DIAMOND NECKLACE
How a Great Scandal Was Fastened
Upon Marie Antoinette.

From the Philadelphia Evening Telegraph
Car Nicholas II and his good wife, Alix,
have one important advantage In their pres
emit situation, which was not possessed by
King Louis XVI and his spouse, Marie An
toinette at the time the revolutionary
storm beat upon the Inflated pair in 17S9.
The reputation Of the czarine Is unsullied
and she Is imbued with the spirit OF her
grandparent, Queen Victoria. who believed
that purity of life was the highest and most
essential quality of a queen.
Marie Antoinette seems to have been
more unfortunate than SHINING. When she
came to the gayest and most corrupt court
In Christendom to marry the dauphin On
ITO she was a mere girl of fifteen. Four
years later, when she mounted the throne
with her dull and decorous husband. her
capricious disregard of the conventions
might have been excusa ble-at some other
time. Her extravaganza and undisguised
love for gambling at cards weighed more
against her among the starving populace
than trips to masked balls and open favors
to profgate young men But these made
1t easy for the people to declare and believe
her guilty when the diamond necklace affair
forever smirched her name in 1875.
The chief actor in this most famous
scandal was the adventures, Madame La
Motto. quondam countess and convict. Trac-
ing descent to Henry II by the bar sinister,
and not destitute of beauty or esprit, she
could reason for not emUlat1ng the
career of Pompadour or Du Barry. One of
her early victims was the Cardinal Rohan.
This splendid but wanton prince of the
church had returned from Vienna disgraced.
His cruel wit, no less than his corrup1ng
luxury had iucensed Maria Theresa against
him. She wrote to her daughter. Marie
Antoinette, and for ten weary years the
ambitious cardinal was not permitted to
appear at Versailles. He was not oblivious
to the charms of the La Motto. as his nu-
merous gifts to her show. but his supreme
and dominating hope was to regain the ia
vor of Queen Marie Anto'nette. rms nope
1t was upon which the adventures built
up her subtle scheme to secure the diamond
necklace ESTIMATED then to be worth $780,
600, and nearly double that In present
values) Boehmer, the court teweler, had
begun to collect the stones for this incom-
parable necklace In the Du Barrys time.
and it is thought for her. Although 1t
was shown, with It's rows. pendants and
tassels Of sparkling stones, to Marie An
toinette, the queen, though somewhat re-
luctantly, declined to buy 1t, for the con-
elusive reason that she had not the money
demanded.
The nature of this declination was known
to the Countess" La Motto, who fitted
about between her admirers at Versailles
and Paris. The sanguine cardinal was led.
chiefly by forged letters. to believe that the
friend, the mysterious Cagliostra. seems to
have aided the subtle countess in implant-
ing this belief. One dark summer evening
august IL, 17S4). the browning trick was
played The cardinal was taken to the park
at Versailles, and in the shadows OF the
OrangerIe, Partisan wanton, CARRIED ike
the queen. whispered a few words to him
and gave him rose. Now the plot was
ripe.
believing he would soon be called to
court, the cardinal signed a document,
guaranteeing payment for the necklace, and
Entrusted 1t to the obliging countess that
she might carry it to the queen. That was
Into its competent jewels. these were car
ried to London, and other cities. For sew
eral months the conspirators disported gay
Iy on the proceeds, not few OF their
debts being paid in diamonds. 1t was not
until July, 1875, that the jewelers. made
the startling discovery that the queen did
not have the necklace. The cardinal was
sent to the bastile; the arrest OF all the
conspirators followed.
But popular sympathy was against the
queen. When the cardinal was tried in
January, 1855, he was triumphantly &C
Quilted and the stigma of the scandal Of
hcially placed upon the queen. Little It
sUfficed to publicly brand the shrieking La
Motto and send her. with the other con-
spirators. to the galleys for llfe. The pub,
lie believed the story Of the Orangerie, and
that there had been collision between
Marie Antoinette and Rohan. Her inno-
cence of any guilty intent and knowledge
ia now well established, but the hatred OF
the people had a most precious morsel to
feed upon. From that time until her exc
cution, in 1873. there were few who did not
believe that the proud austrian was cor
rupt as we'll as cruel The costly necklace
which had been designed for the Du Barry
did more than aught else to send that
proud head to the guillotine.