Evening star., 1912-12-25

Once upon q time a queen OF France.
when the people Of Paris were literally
starving. was reported to have said. in
nocently: III they have no bread why
don't they eat cake?''
About this same time clever swindler
calling herself Countess de la Motto de
valois and an earlier prototype OF Nine
Humbert used the name Of the queen to
swindle trusting jeweler out Of a dia-
mond necklace. and in the enterprise
duped the Cardinal de Rohan and drag.
ged that proudest OF French names in the
dust.
Queen Marie Antoinette probably neve,
made the heartless jest at the expense
Of starving people. Certainly she was
no party to the diamond necklace swim
die. But the mob Of Paris. maddened by
oppression and privation, believed she
could laugh at their misery. They had
been taught that kings and queens were
more than ordinary mortals, but here
was a queen conspiring with the basest
swindlers to rob a jeweler For the jest
er they had hatred and execration; for
the swindler they lost all reverence and
fear. Save for the temper of the people
the affair would have been trivial. But
it proved all important Mind that ms m
erable affair of the necklace" said Tai
leyrand. Il should not be surprised II
it should overturn the French mon
archy.' The wiliest of European diplo'
mats foresaw correctly.
Marie Antoinette was born I'm 1855. and
was accordingly fifteen years old when ir
ITO she was married to the Dauphin OF
France, who became King Louis XVI
and gave his head as tribute TO the
French revolution. Her mother, Marie
Theresa, was not merely the wife OF
Francis /. and, therefore, Queen OF Aus
tria-she was one OF the great monarchs
of history. a ruler fit to be ranked Will
Isabella Of CASTLE. Elizabeth Of England
and Catherine Of Russia. The daughter
possessed many of the mothers rega
qualities. and had she not been impedet
with a supine and flabby husband migh
have checked the revolution in its incip
iency thus averting an upheaval which
though fatal to her, has been of surpass
ing value to humanity in all succeedins
generations.
The progress of the child-bride acros:
the provinces of France to the grea
palace at Versailles, where the nuptial!
were to be celebrated, was triumphant
The nobility and country folk turned ou
to do her honor. The roads were strewI
with flowers, and her nights were dream
hours of music and poesy. Only wher
she reached Versailles did the air grow
chill Her bridegroom indeed. was en-
raptured with her appearance ana tn'
king cordiality itself. But the ladies o.
the gayest and most intriguant court II
all Europe looked askance upon this new
factor in the life Of the palace. Yer
sailles, today the property of the French
people, is a palace which could house q
whole cityful. In the days Of the las
two Kings Louis it was thronged by
thousands of idle, dissipated, immora
courtiers.
They looked on the prospective dau
phiness as a new power necessary t6
reckon with and most annoyingly likely
to unsettle all their existing combina
tions. Saying she was too free in hel
manners, they turned from her to the
courtesan Du Barry, who at the moment
had the king under her influence, and
whose manners and morals seemed quite
in accord with the requirements OF the
court Marie Antoinette had entered tn.
most artificial society in all Europe: ant
her girlish sense of humOr impelled hel
to laugh at it's follies. Grand dame.
drew comfortable pensions for pulling of
the queens stockings at night or tyins
the ribbons Of her nightcap. To put OF
the kings coat Of a morning required thu
salaried services of four noblemen II
waiting. All this the dauphiness laughed
at, and was correspondingly hated by th'