The private life of Marie Antoinette, queen of France and Navarre; with sketches and anecdotes of the courts of Louis XVI.

Contents

Preface by the Author . . . . Page xiii

Memoir of Madame Campan . . . . xix

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER

Chapter I

Birth of Marie Antoinette attended by a memorable calamity — Maria Theresa's character — Education of the Archduchesses — Preceptors provided for Marie Antoinette by the Court of Vienna — Preceptor sent her by the Court of France — Abbe de Vermond — Change in the French Ministry — Cardinal de Rohan succeeds Baron de Breteuil as Ambassador at Vienna — Portrait of that prelate 18-27

CHAPTER H

Arrival of the Archduchess in France — Brilliant reception of the Dauphiness at Versailles— She charms Louis XV. — Madame du Bai-ry's jealousy — Court intrigues — The Dauphin — His brothers and their wives . . . . . 28-43 vi CONTENTS

Chapter III

Death of Louis XV. — Picture of the Court — Madame du Barry dismissed—Departure of the Court to Choisy — M. de Maurepas Minister — Conduct of the Abbe de Vermond . Pages 44-53

Chapter IV

Influence of example upon the courtiers — Enthusiasm raised by the new reign — Mourning at La Muette — The Queen — The King and the Princes, his bi'others, are inoculated — Stay at Marly — Calumnies against the Queen — Boehmer, the jeweller — Mademoiselle Bertin — Changes of fashion — Simplicity of the Court of Vienna — Extreme temperance, decorum, and modesty of Marie Antoinette — The code of service — Public dinners — The Queen's wardrobe — Her toilette — Daily routine — Hearing Mass . . 54*73

Chapter V

Examination of the papers of Louis XV. by Louis XVI. — Man in the iron mask — The late King's interest in certain financial companies — Representation of Iphigenia in Aulis — The King gives Petit Trianon to* the Queen — The Archduke Maximilian's journey to France — Questions of precedence — Misadventure of the Archduke — Accouchement of the Comtesse d' Artois — The poissardes cry out to the Queen to give heirs to the throne — Death of the Due de la Vauguyon — Portrait of Louis XVI. ; of the Comte de Provence ; of the Comte d'Artois — Annex . . . 74-90

Chapter VI

Severe winter — The Princesse de Lamballe appointed superintendent of the household — The Comtesse Jules de Polignac appears at Court — M. de Vaudreuil — Due and Duchesse de Duras — Fashionable games , . . . . 91-102

CONTENTS vii

Chapter VII

The Due de Choiseul returns to Court — The Queen obtains a pension of 1 200 francs for Chamfort — She invites Gluck to France and patronises music — Encouragement given to the art of printing — Turgot — M. de Saint Germain — Amusements at Court — Particulars of the household — Masked balls at the opera — The Queen goes there vciz. fiacre; slanderous reports — The heron plume — The Due de Lauzun — the Queen's attachment to the Princesse de Lamballe and the Duchess de Polignac — Anecdote of the Abbe de Vermond .... Pages 103- 118

Chapter VIII

Joseph XL's visit to France — His reception at the opera — Fite given to him by the Queen at Trianon — The Queen enceinte — Voltaire's return to Paris — Duel between the Comte d'Artois and the Due de Bourbon — Return of the Chevalier d'Eon to France — Particulars relative to his missions, and the causes of his disguise — Night promenades upon the terrace of Trianon — Couplets against the Queen — Indignation of Louis XVI. — Birth of Madame — Annex

119-139

Chapter IX

Public rejoicings — Death of Maria Theresa ; the Queen's affliction — Anecdotes of Maria Theresa — Birth of the Dauphin — Bankruptcy of the Prince de Guemenee — The Duchesse de Polignac is appointed governess of the children of France — ^Jealousy of the Court — Mode of life at Trianon — Presumption of the Due de Fronsac — American War — Franklin — M. de La Fayette — Order for admitting none but gentlemen to the rank of officer — Spirit of the Third Estate . . . . .140-161

Chapter X

Visit of the Grand Duke of Russia and his Duchess to France — Entertainment and supper at Trianon — Cardinal de Rohan — Cold viii CONTENTS reception given to Comte d'Haga (Gustavus III., King of Sweden) — Peace with England — The English flock into France — Conduct to be observed at Court — Mission of the Chevalier de Bressac to the Queen — Court of Naples — Queen Caroline — The Minister Acton — Debates between the Courts of Naples and Madrid — Insolent reply of the Spanish Ambassador to Queen Caroline — Interference of France — MM. de Segur and de Castries appointed ministers through the Queen's influence — Treachery of M. de Maurepas towards M. Necker — Appointment of M. de Calonne — Observations of Marie Antoinette Pages 1 62- 179

Chapter XI

The Queen is dissatisfied with the appointment of M. de Calonne — Acts of benevolence — Purchase of Saint Cloud — Regulations of internal police — State of France — Beaumarchais — Marriage of Figaro — Character of M. de Vaudreuil . . 180-190

CHAPTER Xn

The diamond necklace — Account of Boehmer the jeweller — His interview with Madame Campan — The Cardinal de Rohan interrogated in the King's Cabinet— Particulars relative to Madame de Lamotte and her family— Steps taken by the Cardinal's relations — The prosecution — The dergy remonstrate — Decree of the Parliament — The Queen's grief^Remark of Louis XVI. . 19 1-2 10

Chapter XIII

The Archbishop of Sens is appointed to the Ministry — The Abbe de Vermond's joy on the occasion — The Queen is obliged to take a part in business — Money sent to Vienna contrary to her inclination — Anecdotes— The Queen supports the Archbishop of Sens in office— Public rejoicings on his dismissal — Opening of the States- General— Cries of " Vive leDuc d' Orleans ./"—Their eff'ect upon

CONTENTS IX the Queen — Mirabeau — He requests an embassy — Misfortunes induce the Queen to yield to superstitious fears — Anecdotes — Prejudices of the provincial deputies of the tiers-etat — Causes of these prejudices — Death of the first Dauphin — Anecdotes — Annex

Chapter XIV

"Oath of the Tennis Court" — Insurrection of the 14th of July — The King goes to the National Assembly — Anecdotes — Spectacle presented by the courtyards of the Chateau of Versailles — Report that the National Assembly is threatened — The King's speech rebutting these suspicions — Anecdotes — Disposition of the troops — Departure of the Comte d'Artois, the Prince de Conde, and the Due and Duchesse de Polignac — The latter is recognised by a postilion, who saves her — The King goes to Paris — Alarm at Versailles- — The Queen determines to go to the National Assembly — Speech prepared by her — The King's return — Bailly's speech — Assassination of Messieurs Foulon and Berthier — Plans presented by Foulon to the King for arresting the progress of the Revolution — Remark by Barnave — His repentance . 227-239

Chapter XV

Creation of the national guard — Departure of the Abbe de Vermond — The Queen desires Madame Campan to portray his character — The French guards quit Versailles — Entertainment given by the Body Guards to the regiment of Flanders — The King, the Queen, and the Dauphin are present at it — Proceedings of the 5th and 6th of October — Detestable threats against the Queen — Devotion of one of the Body Guard — The life of Marie Antoinette in danger — The Queen is required to appear on the balcony — The royal family repair to Paris — Residence at the Tuileries — Change of feeling — The Queen applauded with enthusiasm by the women of the populace — Private life — Ingenuous observations of the Dauphin — It is proposed that the Queen shall quit her family and France — Her noble refusal — She devotes herself to the education of her children — Picture of the Court — Anecdote of Luckner — Exasperated state of feeling .... 240-264

CONTENTS

Chapter XVI

Loyalty of M. de Favras — His prosecution and death — His children are imprudently presented to the Queen — Plan laid for carrying off the royal family — Singular letter from the Empress Catherine to Louis XVI. — The Queen is unwilling to owe the re- establishment of the throne to the emigres — Death of the Emperor Joseph 11. — First negotiation between the Court and Mirabeau — Louis XVL and his family inhabit Saint Cloud — New plans for escaping

CHAPTER XVH

First Federation — Attempts to assassinate the Queen — Affecting scene — Account of the affair of Nancy, written by Madame Campan, at night, in the council chamber, by the King's dictation — Madame Campan becomes the subject of calumnious denunciation — Marks of confidence bestowed upon her by the Queen — Interview between the Queen and Mirabeau in the gardens of Saint Cloud — He treats with the Court — Ridicule of the revolutionary party — Stones of the Bastille offered to the Dauphin — The Queen feels her aversion to M. de La Fayette increase — Plan formed by the Princes for re-entering France through Lyons — Imprudence of persons attached to the Queen — Anecdote relative to M. de La Fayette — Departure of the King's aunts— Death of Mirabeau

277-289

CHAPTER XVHI

Preparations for the Journey to Varennes — The Queen watched and betrayed — Madame Campan's departure for Auvergne precedes that of the royal family for Versailles — Madame Campan hears of the King's arrest — Note written to her by the Queen immediately upon her return to Paris — Anecdotes — Measures taken for keeping the King at the Tuileries — Barnave gains the esteem and confidence of Marie Antoinette during the return from Varennes —

CONTENTS XI

His honourable and respectful conduct — She contrasts it with that of Petion — Braveiy of Barnave — His advice to the Queen — Particulars respecting the Varennes journey . Pages 290-314

CHAPTER XIX

Acceptance of the constitution — Opinion of Barnave and his friends approved by the Court of Vienna — Secret policy of the Court— The Legislative Assembly deliberates upon the ceremony to be observed on receiving the King — Offensive motion — Louis XVI. is received by the Assembly with transport — He gives way to profound grief when with his family — Public fetes and rejoicings — M. de Montmorin's conversation with Madame Campan upon the continual indiscretions of the people about the Court — The royal family go to the Theatre Frangais — Play changed — Personal conflicts in the pit of the Italiens — Double correspondence of the Court with foreign powers — Maison Civile — The Queen's misfortunes do not alter the sweetness of her disposition — Method adopted by the Queen respecting her secret correspondence — Madame Campan's conduct when attacked by both parties — Particulars respecting M. Genet, her brother, charge cTaffatres from France to Russia — Written testimony of the Queen in favour of Madame Campan's zeal and fidelity — The King comes to see her, and confirms these marks of confidence and satisfaction — Projected interview between Louis XVL and Barnave — Attempts to poison Louis XVI. — Precautions taken — The Queen consults Pitt about the Revolution — His reply — The hnigres oppose all alliance with the constitutionals — Letter from Barnave to the Queen — Annex ..... 3I5-340

CHAPTER XX

Fresh libel by Madame de Lamotte — The Queen refuses to purchase the manuscript — The King buys it — The Queen performs her Easter devotions secretly in 1792 — She dares not confide in General Dumouriez — Barnave's last advice — Insults offered to the royal family by the mob — The King's dejection — 20th of June — The King's kindness to Madame Campan — Iron closet — xii CONTENTS

Louis XVI. entrusts a portfolio to Madame Campan — Importance of the documents it contained — Procedure of M. de La Fayette — Why it was unsuccessful — An assassin conceals himself in the Queen's apartments . . , Pages 341-359

CHAPTER XXI

Madame Campan's communications with M. Bertrand de Molleville for the King's service — Hope of a speedy deliverance — The Queen's reflections upon the character of Louis XVI. — Insults — Inquiry set on foot by the Princesse de Lamballe respecting the persons of the Queen's household — The loth of August — Curious particulars — Battle — Scenes of carnage — The royal family at the Feuillans ...... 360-384

CHAPTER XXH

Petion refuses Madame Campan permission to be imprisoned in the Temple with the Queen — She excites the suspicions of Robespierre — Domiciliary visits — Madame Campan opens the portfolio she had received from the King — Papers in it, with the seals of State — Mirabeau's secret correspondence with the Court — Destroyed as well as the other papers — The only document preserved — It is delivered to M. de Malesherbes on the trial of the unfortunate Louis XVI. — End of the Memoirs — Annex . 385-450

[PREFATORY.]

MEMOIR OF MADAME CAMPAN.

Jeanne Louise Henriette Genet was born in Paris on the 6th of October 1752. M. Genet, her father, had obtained, through his own merit and the influence of the Due de Choiseul, the place of first clerk in the Foreign Office.

Literature, which he had cultivated in his youth, was often the solace of his leisure hours. Surrounded by a numerous family, he made the instruction of his children his chief recreation, and omitted nothing which was necessary to render them highly accomplished. His clever and precocious daughter Henriette was very early accustomed to enter society, and to take an intelligent interest in current topics and public events. Accordingly, many of her relations being connected with the Court or holding official positions, she amassed a fund of interesting recollections and characteristic anecdotes, some gathered from personal experience, others handed down by old friends of the family.

" The first event which made any impression on me in my childhood," she says in her reminiscences, "was the attempt of Damiens to assassinate Louis XV. This occurrence struck me so. forcibly that the most minute details relating to the confusion and grief

MEMOIR OF which prevailed at Versailles on that day seem as present to my imagination as the most recent events. I had dined with my father and mother, in company with one of their friends. The drawing-room was lighted up with a number of candles, and four card-tables were already occupied when a friend of the gentleman of the house came in, with a pale and terrified countenance, and. said, in a voice scarcely audible, ' I bring you terrible news. The King has been assassinated!' Two ladies in company fainted; a brigadier of the Body Guards threw down his cards, and cried out, ' I do not wonder at it ; it is those rascally Jesuits.' — 'What are you saying, brother?' cried a lady, flying to him; 'would you get yourself arrested?' — ' Arrested ! for what ? for unmasking those wretches who want a bigot for a King?' My. father came in; he recommended circumspection, saying that the blow was not mortal, and that all meetings ought to be suspended at so critical a moment. He had brought a chaise for my mother, who placed me on her knees. We lived in the Avenue de Paris, and throughout our drive I heard incessant cries and sobs from the footpaths. At last I saw a man arrested ; he was an usher of the King's chamber, who had gone mad, and was crying out, ' Yes, I know them ; the wretches ! the villainy !' Our chaise was stopped by this bustle. My mother recognised the unfortunate man who had been seized ; she gave his name to the trooper who had stopped him. The poor usher was therefore merely conducted to the gens d^ urines' guard-room, which was then in the avenue.

" I have often heard M. de Landsmath, equerry and master of the hounds, who used to come frequently to my father's, say, that on the news of the attempt on the King's life he instantly repaired to his Majesty. I cannot repeat the coarse expressions he made use of to encourage his

MADAME CAMPAN

Majesty: but his account of the affair, long afterwards, amused the parties in which he was prevailed on to relate it, when all apprehensions respecting the consequences of the event had subsided. This M. de Landsmath was an old soldier, who had given proofs of extraordinary valour ; nothing had been able to soften his manners or subdue his excessive bluntness to the respectful customs of the Court. The King was very fond of him. He possessed prodigious strength, and had often contended with Marshal Saxe, renowned for his great bodily power, in trying the strength of their respective wrists. ■'• M. de Landsmath had a thundering voice. When he came into the King's apartment he found the Dauphin and Mesdames, his Majesty's daughters, there ; the Princesses, in tears, surrounded the King's bed. ' Send out all these weeping women, Sire,' said the old equerry ; ' I want to speak to you alone.' The King made a sign to the Princesses to withdraw. ' Come,' said Landsmath, ' your wound is nothing ; you had plenty of waistcoats and flannels on.' Then uncovering his breast, ' Look here,' said he, showing four or five great scars, ' these are something hke wounds ; I received them thirty years ago; now cough as loud as you can.' The King did so. ^'Tis nothing at all,' said Landsmath; ' you must laugh at it ; we shall hunt a stag together in four days.' ' But suppose the blade was poisoned,' said the King. ' Old grandams' tales,' replied Landsmath ; ' if it had been so, the waistcoats and flannels would have rubbed the poison off.' The King was pacified, and passed a very good night.

1 One day when the King was hunting in the' forest of St. Germain, Landsmath, riding before him, wanted a cart, filled with the slime of a pond that had just been cleansed, to draw up out of the way. The carter resisted, and even answered with impertinence. Landsmath, without dismounting, seized him by the breast of his coat, lifted him up, and threw him into his cart. — Madame Cainpa7i.

xxil MEMOIR OF

" His Majesty one day asked M. de Landsmath how old he was. He was aged, and by no means fond of thinking of his age ; he evaded the question. A fortnight after Louis XV. took a paper out of his pocket and read aloud : ' On

such a day in the month of one thousand six hundred

and eighty , was baptized by me, Rector of , the

son of the high and mighty lord,' etc. 'What's that?' said Landsmath angrily ; ' has your Majesty been procuring the certificate of my baptism?' 'There it is, you see, Landsmath,' said the King. 'Well, Sire, hide it as fast as you can ; a prince entrusted with the happiness of twenty-five millions of people ought not wilfully to hurt the feelings of a single individual'

"The King learned that Landsmath had lost his confessor, a missionary priest of the parish of Notre Dame. It was the custom of the Lazarists to expose their dead with the face uncovered. Louis XV. wished to try his equerry's firmness. 'You have lost your confessor, I hear,' said the King. — 'Yes, Sire.' — 'He will be exposed with his face bare?' — 'Such is the custom.' — 'I command you to go and see him.' — 'Sire, my confessor was my friend; it would be very painful to me.' — ' No matter; I command you.' — 'Are you really in earnest. Sire?' — 'Quite so.' — ' It would be the first time in my life that I had disobeyed my sovereign's order. I will go.' The next day the King at his levee^ as soon as he perceived Landsmath, said, 'Have you done as I desired you, Landsmath?' — 'Undoubtedly, Sire.' — 'Well, what did you see?' — 'Faith, I saw that your Majesty and I are no great shakes ! '

" At the death of Queen Maria Leczinska, M. Campan,^ then an officer of the chamber, having performed several confidential duties, the King asked Madame Adelaide how he should reward him. She requested him to create an

^ Her father-in-law, afterwards secretary to Marie Antoinette.

MADAME CAMPAN xxiil

office in his household of master of the wardrobe, with a salary of a thousand crowns. ' I will do so/ said the King ; ' it will be an honourable title ; but tell Campan not to add a single crown to his expenses, for you will see they will never pay him.'

" Louis XV., by his dignified carriage, and the amiable yet majestic expression of his features, was worthy to succeed to Louis the Great. But he too frequently indulged in secret pleasures, which at last were sure to become known. During several winters, he was passionately fond of candles' end balls, as he called those parties amongst the very lowest classes of society. He got intelligence of the picnics given by the tradesmen, milliners, and sempstresses of Versailles, whither he repaired in a black domino, and masked, accompanied by the Captain of his Guards, masked like himself. His great delight was to go en brouette} Care was always taken to give notice to five or six officers of the King's or Queen's chamber to be there, in order that his Majesty might be surrounded by people on whom he could depend, without finding it troublesome. Probably the Captain of the Guards also took other precautions of this description on his part. My father-in-law, when the King and he were both young, has often made one amongst the servants desired to attend masked at these parties, assembled in some garret, or parlour cf a public-house. In those times, during the carnival, masked companies had a right to join the citizens' balls ; it was sufficient that one of the party should unmask and name himself.

" These secret excursions and his too habitual intercourse with ladies more distinguished for their personal charms than for the advantages of education, were no doubt the

1 In a kind of sedan chair, running on two wheels, and drawn by a chairman.

xxiv MEMOIR OF means by which the King acquired many vulgar expressions which otherwise would never have reached his ears.

" Yet amidst the most shameful excesses the King sometimes suddenly resumed the dignity of his rank in a very noble manner. The familiar courtiers of Louis XV. had one day abandoned themselves to the unrestrained gaiety of a supper, after returning from the chase. Each boasted of and described the beauty of his mistress. Some of them amused themselves with giving a particular account of their wives' personal defects. An imprudent word, addressed to Louis XV., and applicable only to the Queen, instantly dispelled all the mirth of the entertainment. The King assumed his regal air, and knocking with his knife on the table twice or thrice, ' Gentlemen,' said he, ' here is the King!'

"Those men who are most completely abandoned to dissolute manners are not, on that account, insensible to virtue in women. The Comtesse de Perigord was as beautiful as virtuous. During some excursions she made to Choisy, whither she had been invited, she perceived that the King took great notice of her. Her demeanour of chilling respect, her cautious perseverance in shunning all serious conversation with the monarch, were insufficient to extinguish this rising flame, and he at length addressed a letter to her, worded in the most passionate terms. This excellent woman instantly formed her resolution : honour forbade her returning the King's passion, whilst her profound respect for the sovereign made her unwilling to disturb his tranquillity. She therefore voluntarily banished herself to an estate she possessed called Chalais, near Barbezieux, the mansion of which had been uninhabited nearly a century : the porter's lodge was the only place in a condition to receive her. ' From this seat she wrote to his Majesty, explaining her motives for leaving Court ; and

MADAME CAMPAN she remained there several- years without visiting Paris. Louis XV. was speedily attracted by other objects, and regained the composure to which Madame de Perigord had thought it her duty to sacrifice so much. Some years after, Mesdames' lady of honour died. Many great families solicited the place. The King, without answering any of their applications, wrote to the Comtesse de Perigord : ' My daughters have just lost their lady of honour ; this place, Madame, is your due, as much on account of your personal qualities as of the illustrious name of your family.' "Three young men of the college of St. Germain, who had just completed their course of studies, knowing no person about the Court, and having heard that strangers were always well treated there, resolved to dress themselves completely in the Armenian costume, and, thus clad, to present themselves to see the grand ceremony of the reception of several knights of the Order of the Holy Ghost. Their stratagem met with all the success with which they had flattered themselves. While the procession was passing through the long mirror gallery, the Swiss of the apartments placed them in the first row of spectators, recommending every one to pay all possible attention to the strangers. The latter, however, were imprudent enough to enter the oeil de-boeuf chamber, where were Messieurs Cardonne and Ruffin, interpreters of Oriental languages, and the first clerk of the consul's department, whose business it was to attend to everything which related to the natives of the East who were in France. The three scholars were immediately surrounded anji questioned by these gentlemen, at first in modern Greek. Without being disconcerted, they made signs that they did not understand it. They were then addressed in Turkish and Arabic; at length .one of the interpreters, losing all patience, . exclaimed, ' Gentlemen, you certainly must understand some of the languages in

XXVI MEMOIR OF which you have been addressed. What country can you possibly come from then ? ' ' From St. Germain-en-Laye, sir/ repHed the boldest among them ; ' this is the first time you have put the question to us in French.' They then confessed the motive of their disguise ; the eldest of them was not more than eighteen years of age. Louis XV. was informed of the affair. He laughed heartily, ordered them a few hours' confinement and a good admonition, after which they were to be set at liberty.

" Louis XV. liked to talk about death, though he was extremely apprehensive of it ; but his excellent health and his royal dignity probably made him imagine himself invulnerable. He often said to people who had very bad colds, 'You've a churchyard cough there.' Hunting one day in the forest of Senard, in a year in which bread was extremely dear, he met a man on horseback carrying a coffin. 'Whither are you carrying that coffin?' 'To the

village of ,' answered the peasant. ' Is it for a man

or a woman?' — 'For a man.' — 'What did he die of?' — 'Of hunger,' bluntly replied the villager. The King spurred on his horse, and asked no more questions.

" Weak as Louis XV. was, the Parliaments would never have obtained his consent to the convocation of the States- General. I heard an anecdote on this subject from two officers attached to that Prince's household. It was at the period when the remonstrances of the Parliaments, and the refusals to register the decrees for levying taxes, produced alarm with respect to the state of the finances. This became the subject of conversation one evening at the coucher of Louis XV. 'You will see. Sire,' said a courtier, whose office placed him in close communication with the King, 'that all this will make it absolutely necessary to assemble the States -General.' The King, roused by this speech from the habitual apathy of his character, seized the

MADAME CAMPAN xxvil

courtier by the arm, and said to him, in a passion, 'Never repeat these words. I am not sanguinary ; but had I a brother, and were he to dare to give me such advice, I would sacrifice him, within twenty-four hours, to the duration of the monarchy and the tranquilhty of the kingdom.'

" Several years prior to his death the Dauphin, the father of Louis XVI., had confluent smallpox, which endangered his life ; and after his convalescence, he was long troubled with a malignant ulcer under the nose. He was injudiciously advised to get rid of it by the use of extract of lead, which proved effectual ; but from that time the Dauphin, who was corpulent, insensibly grew thin ; and a short dry cough evinced that the humour, driven in, had fallen on the lungs. Some persons also suspected him of having taken acids in too great a quantity for the purpose of reducing his bulk. The state of his health was not, however, such as to excite alarm. At the camp at Compiegne, in July 1764, the Dauphin reviewed the troops, and evinced much activity in the performance of his duties ; it was even observed that he was seeking to gain the attachment of the army. He presented the Dauphiness to the soldiers, saying, with a simplicity which at that time made a great sensation, ' Mes enfans, here is my wife.' Returning late on horseback to Compiegne, he found he had taken a chill ; the heat of the day had been excessive ; the Prince's clothes had been wet with perspiration. An illness followed, in which the Prince began to spit blood. His principal physician wished to have him bled ; the consulting physicians insisted on purgation, and their advice was followed. The pleurisy, being ill cured, assumed and retained all the symptoms of consumption ; the Dauphin languished from that period until December 1765, and died at Fontainebleau, where the Court, on account of his condition, had prolonged its stay, which usually ended on the 2d of November.