Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-05-15
WOMEN OF HISTORY.
MARQUISE De POMPA-
OOUR.
172O-l764-The Most Regal
Adventures.
Copyrighted 1912. by Willis J. Abbot,

one cannot write or read intelligently
of the career of Nine de Pompadour
| without Keeping in mind the cynical say
ings: "Other times; other morals and
! Morality is largely a matter of geog-
raphy.'
| For this woman. beautiful. brilliant.
| intellectually able ambitious. and withal
| in sense patriotic. was wholly destitute
| of moral sense. She sought to rule
France through weak and sensual king.
She succeeded. The price she paid was
not merely her own virtue. but the shame
| and ignominy of procuring others to
cater TO the kings vices. Her reward was
almost comp lete power in France and the
| servile adulation of princes and cardi-
mails.
The girl child destined to pass into
| history as Nine. de Pompadour was born
| in Paris in 1929 or 1I22. In later years
she naturally insisted on the latter date.
| Her parentage is as doubtful as the date
! of her birth. Some say her father was
butcher, other historians assert he was
| hanged for frauds Voltaire. whom she
| once patroniZed. describes him as an hon
| est farmer. However, it appears that
| the only father she really knew was
| general of means. who adopted her,
| treated her with fatherly kindness, and
| developed the best qualities of her mind.
Girl Was Made Pet.
At that time the tone of life among
the prosperous people in France was
curious. No society has ever been less
moral; none more intellectual. This
girl by the time she had reached the
age of sixteen had been made pet
of the brilliant men who moved about
| the SALONS of Paris, and by their wit
and caustic pens laid the foundations
of the revolution. Voltaire to mention
| only the sagest of them all, was so
| impressed with her that he noted in his
had a secret presentiment that the king
would fall in love with her and that she
had violent inclination for him.
| Twas a long span from the sItler ia
| Their (perhaps), sentenced to be hanged to
the love of king. but she bridged it. The
| first span of the bridge was her marriage
with Lenorment d'Etoiles. an amiable
young gentleman and joint heir with
Jeanne-Which, by the way, was the name
given her on her adortion-to the farm
er-generais large estate. The marriage
was one of passionate love on his side,
| of calm Calculation on hers. She needed
| the fortune it brought, and even more
the complete freedom which even until
our own day is granted to the married
| woman in France and denied to the
young girl. With money, position and
4
attention of the king. Her home in Paris
was conducted in the stateliest style. Its
| luxury was the talk of the bOulevards
| and of the courts Great ladies and ia
| nous actors, wits, poets. artists and trav-
elers from all parts of the world made
| it their rendezvous. In its halls every
body was seen-except the king. So with
undaunted courage Nine. d'Etoiles pur
| sued him in other ways.
Finally Wins Favor.
1t took two years for the eager and
| aggressive beauty to catch the attention
| of the king. When at last she had won
his royal favor it was only to find her
self cast politely aside after a few hours
| Of dalliance as was the custom of this
most oriental of monarchs But even in
those brief hours her vivacity and her wit
impressed themselves upon him. A spoil
ed child of fortune, Louis XIV suffered
sadly from what we would call bore
dom. "Je suis ennuyed,' Il am bored"
was his constant complaint. In the depths
| of idle gloom one day he complained OF
his sad lot to his valet. Binet, perhaps
coached and bribed. reminded him of the
pretty Nine. dEtoiles whom he had
known month before. Send for her."
said the king. She came and never
again left Versailles until she left In her
! coffin.
The ascendency Of Nine. de Pompadour
over Louis was maintained not merely by
her physical charms and her wit, but by
| the fact that she was consummate poll
| tfcian and an adroit actress. Her control
| of the king enabled her to dispense favors
about court with a right royal hand. but
| every beneficiary was expected to re-
clprocate by singing her praises to Louis
| Voltaire, smoOthest of courtiers. showed
his appreciation of this when she return
| ed with the king from a successful even
glorious military campaign. The other
courtiers flocked to felicitate Louis. but
1 the famous author and wit laid at the
/ feet of the favorite this bit of fulsome
| f1attery:
when Caesar. that charming hero
whom Rome idolized, gained some brill
| liant combat. people complimented on 1t
| the divine Cleopatra: when Louis. the
| charming hero whom Paris makes her
| idol. gains brilliant combat we must
compliment on it the divine d'Etoiles.'
Position That Of Queen.
It was on returning from this campaign
that Louis created Mme d'Etoiles Mar
quise de Pompadour. Her position at
court was, in fact, that Of queen. for
the true queen was a sad-faced, retiring
little woman, to whom no one gave the
least heed. But it is proof of the Pompa-
dours wisdom that she knew her posi-
ton. which seemed to be impregnable.
might be overthrown in minute by the
1 KING Wn1M. Sne naQ TO 90 with DlaSe,
| indolent roue, without ideals or ambi-
| ton. content to let others reign in his
name SO long as he could escape the
black specter of boredom. Wise beyond
womankind, she recognized that her beau
ty would not last forever. and that even
at it's zenith it might pail on the jaded
passions Of the monarch. So she called
on her art as an actress, appearing be-
| fore him now modest, unsOphiSticat-
ed shepherdess. then as q dashing vi
vandiere full Of military dash and in
science as a holy nun with cowled
head and downcast eyes, telling her
beads. 1t was the delight Of the royal
heart TO sit at her dressing table and
watch these metamorphoses.
! But she was too keen to rely wholly
on her own charms. Always she feared
lest some younger favorite should GUST
her from her place. To avert this she
established the notorious Pare au Cerfs
! (Stags Park. a resort for the king
when he was suffering from ennui. Cha
| teaubriand described it as that pillow
of Louis XVs debauchery." The girls
who We're brought to entertain the king
did not always come of their own Volt
| ton. In many households of France,
| from peasant to peer. which had been
violently invaded, the curses of the Pom
padour We're loud and deep.
After Me the Deluge.'
She, however, went serenely on her way.
To the unspeakable orgies of the Pare
All CerfS she added gorgeous fetaS and