Madame du Barry succeeds in alienating Louis XV from the due de Choiseul--
Letter from madame de Grammont--Louis XV--The chancellor and the countess--
Louis XV and the abbe de la Ville--The marechale de Mirepoix and madame du
Barry
Matters now assumed an air of importance. My struggle with the des Choiseuls
had become a deadly war, which could only be terminated either by his downfall
or my dismissal from court; this latter measure was not very probable; an old
man is not easily detached from a woman whom he loves, and each day only
added to my ascendancy over the mind of the king. It is true, that the same force
of habit which enchained Louis XV to me bound him likewise to M. de Choiseul.
The idea of change terrified him; and so great was his dread of fresh faces, that
he would have preferred dying with his old minister, to creating a younger one
who might witness his end. Happily the duke himself brought on the crisis of his
fate; his power was cramped on all sides, yet, resolved not to lay it down till the
last extremity, he sought to stay his failing credit with the rising influence of the
dauphiness. His enemies were not slow in pointing out to the king his minister's
frequent visits and great assiduities to a foreign princess, and enlarged upon the
fatal effects this new alliance might produce to the monarchy.
Meanwhile the chancellor, threatened by the parliaments, saw only one way of
averting the storm which was about to burst on his head. This was to introduce
into the cabinet persons entirely devoted to himself; but to accomplish his
purpose, it was necessary to exclude the duc de Choiseul and his party. M. de
Maupeou came to me in December, and after having gently scolded me for what
he termed my carelessness, he showed me a letter from the duchesse de
Grammont, which, he said, would wonderfully aid our plans. This letter was
written to one of the presidents of the parliament of Toulous, M. de ----. I cannot
give you his name; for, although I have preserved the original of the letter, I have
mislaid the envelope on which the address was written. I here give you a copy of
this curious and important production:--
"MONSIEUR LE PRESIDENT,-- I promised to give you the exact details of all
that passed in this gay metropolis, and 'tis with much pleasure I sit down to fulfill
my engagement. Things go on much as usual, or, perhaps, I should be speaking
more correctly, were I to say they are rapidly progressing from bad to worse. We
have no longer a king in France; all power is lodged in the hands of one sprung
from the most infamous origin; who, in conjunction with others as intriguing as
herself, seeks only to ruin the kingdom, and to degrade it in the eyes of other
nations.
"The noble firmness of sovereign courts is odious to people of this class; thus
you may imagine the detestation in which they regard the candid and loyal
conduct of the duke. I n the hopes of procuring the dismissal of my brother, they
have chosen for his successor wretch loaded with crimes, a coward, an
extortioner, a murderer--the duc d'Aiguillon. As for you gentlemen, who now
constitute our parliament, your places will soon be filled by a magistracy drawn
