The Topeka state journal., 1905-05-08

ing herself with him on the sofa. she
warned De Choiseul that she was very
angry, and that if he did not respect
her the king would punish him, but
Just then the pin, destined to play a
great part at critical moments, caught
in his lace cuff and cut a deep cash
across his hand; he uttered an ex-
clamadon of pain, and drew back i'm
petuously. Nine. Du Barry fed with a
precipitation that a bleeding hand
could not arrest.
Two days later De ChoiseuI was ex-
lied to his country seat at Canteloup.
He would give no other reason for his
disgrace than that "a pin had changed
the destinies of France"
Barely had Nine. du Barry arrived
from the interrupted interview with
De Choiseul when the king returned
from hunting. She met him with
more than accustomed demonstrations
of affection, and the king took advant-
age of her amiable mood to ask the
return of the pin. It was gladly sur
rendered. With other heirlooms of
his predecessors it passed to Louis
XVI, in whose possession it remained
until chance subverted it to another
use.
Mile. de Contat, a charming actress
of the French theater had turned the
head of the Count de Narbonne, the
spoiled child of the royal family. She
craved possession of the famous pin
locked in the jewel box of the king,
for she conceived the notion of using
it to fasten the letter to Susanne in
the Marriage de Figaro" which was
to have a first presentation in a few
days De NarbOnne was at his wits
end to discover some way Of securing
the treasure before the first perform
ance of the play, only four days dis
tant. Chance offered a solution of the
difficulty. Quadrilles we're then the
fashion, and of those who took part in
them special costume was required.
The count, by adroit questioning of M.
Ia Borde, the custodian of the king
cabinet, gained a fair knowledge OF its
contents, and then pretended to need
diamonds with which to decorate his
coat for the quadrille at the approach
ing court ball. Louis XVI, who could
refuse nothing to De Narbonne, gave
him permission to draw upon the re-
sources of his jewel box After
brief search he discovered the pin.
The count was just in time; the per-
fOTmance had begun. The pin, after
being put to the use intended, passed
from hand to hand, and when needed
for the second performance was no
where to be found. The actress was
little disturbed by the loss, but the
count was confronted with a periIous
position, for La Borde had discovered
the theft. A large sum of money pur-
chased his silence.
The famous pin was found by a
dancer in the muck of the stage. She
had as a lover NJ. d 'Arlande, the first
person to accompany Pizarre de Ro-
zier in his balloon ascensions. On his
initial voyage in the air d'Arlande
wore upon the breast of his coat a
lock of his mistress hair fastened
with the fated pin. A gust of wind
tore in half the small flag carried by
the aeronauts. The pin was used to
mend it.
Among the spectators present when
the balloon ascended was NJ. Bailli, a
/ celebrated astronomer. De Rozier pre-
I sented him with the flag fastened with
the pin, and it was put away in the
closet of the scientist.
On the memorable day when Louis
/ XVI was conducted by the people from
/ Versailles to Paris, NJ. BailH, named
mayor Of the city by acclamation, was
at his home awaiting the monarch to
/ go to the Hotel de Vile to receive the
/ king, who, arriving sooner than was
4 expected, a messenger on horseback
was dispatched to summon Bailli. In
/ his haste he forgot his official badge.
He returned to. his cabinet to get it,
and not knowing how to attach it to
his coat, he caught sight of the fated
pin which was still on the flag With
/ it he affixed his badge and hurried to
the Hotel de Vile.
Fate was now speeding the pin to its
/ last and predestined end. At the moment
! when as mayor Bailh presented the ma
/ no other way to fasten it to the kings hat
! except with the historic pin, once his prop
] eTtEs nuJ now QeSUnSQ 10 nOIu IN place Lu6
! symbol Of a revolution that was to deprive
/ him Of his throne and of his life.
Again the pin was lost for long time,
/ when an undertaker's assistant, preparing
for burial the body of Mirabeau, the great
orator Of the revolution, in search of
/ something to fasten his winding sheet
found it in the sweepings of room at the
4 Louvre
It's chronology is remarkable. First serv-
! ing on the toilet of Ninon de I IEsnclos,
/ then to close the fchu of De Maintenon,
now in the jewel box of Louis XVI; then
/ to hold the plume in his hat at his last
meeting with James II. Of England; in the
wig of the chancellor of France; to fas-
! ten the bouquet of Nine. du Barry; in the
( jewell box of Louis XIV. and Louis XVI.
! purloined by the Count de Narbonne;
/ given to Nile. Cantat; lost by her and
/ found by a dancer and used to attach a
/ lock Of her hair to her lovers breast: to
mend q torn flag, then hidden in the closet
Of NJ. Bailli; then to pin the revolutionary
( cockade to the hat of Louis XVI and
finally disappeared forever in the grave
Of Mirabeau.