dévoilées ou Louis XVII.. . . . (3 vols., Rotterdam, 1846–1848);
O. Friedrichs, Correspondance intime et inédite de Louis XVII.
(Naundorff) 1834–1838 (2 vols., 1904); Plaidoirie de Jules Favre
devant la cour d’appel de Paris pour les héritiers de feu Charles-Guillaume
Naundorff (1874); H. Provins, Le Dernier roi légitime
de France (2 vols., the first of which consists of destructive criticism
of Beauchesne and his followers, 1889); A. Lanne, “Louis XVII. et le
secret de la Révolution,” Bulletin mensuel (1893 et seq.) of the Société
des études sur la question Louis XVII., also La Légitimité (Bordeaux,
Toulouse, 1883–1898). See further the article “Naundorff” in
M. Tourneux, Bibl. de la ville de Paris pendant la Révolution, vol. iv.
(1906).
Williams.—J. H. Hanson, The Lost Prince: Facts tending to prove the Identity of Louis XVII. of France and the Rev. Eleazer Williams (London and New York, 1854).
De Richemont.—Mémoires du duc de Normandie, fils de Louis XVI., écrits et publiés par lui-même (Paris, 1831), compiled, according to Quérard, by E. T. Bourg, called Saint Edme; Morin de Guérivière, Quelques souvenirs . . . (Paris, 1832); and J. Suvigny, La Restauration convaincue . . . ou preuves de l’existence du fils de Louis XVI. (Paris, 1851).
The widespread interest taken in Louis XVII. is shown by the fact that since 1905 a monthly periodical has appeared in Paris on this subject, entitled Revue historique de la question Louis XVII., also by the promised examination of the subject by the Société d’Histoire contemporaine. (M. Br.)
LOUIS XVIII. (Louis le Désiré) (1755–1824). Louis-Stanislas-Xavier,
comte de Provence, third son of the dauphin
Louis, son of Louis XV., and of Maria Josepha of Saxony, was
born at Versailles on the 17th of November 1755. His education
was supervised by the devout duc de la Vauguyon, but his own
taste was for the writings of Voltaire and the encyclopaedists.
On the 14th of May 1771 took place his marriage with Louise-Marie-Joséphine
of Savoy, by whom he had no children. His
position at court was uncomfortable, for though ambitious and
conscious of possessing greater abilities than his brother (Louis
XVI.), his scope for action was restricted; he consequently
devoted his energies largely to intrigue, especially against
Marie Antoinette, whom he hated.[1] During the long absence
of heirs to Louis XVI., “Monsieur,” as heir to the throne, courted
popularity and took an active part in politics, but the birth of
a dauphin (1781) was a blow to his ambitions.[2] He opposed
the revival of the parlements, wrote a number of political
pamphlets,[3] and at the Assembly of Notables presided, like the
other princes of the blood, over a bureau, to which was given the
name of the Comité des sages; he also advocated the double
representation of the tiers. At the same time he cultivated
literature, entertaining poets and writers both at the Luxembourg
and at his château of Brunoy (see Dubois-Corneau, Le Comte de
Provence à Brunoy, 1909), and gaining a reputation for wit by
his verses and mots in the salon of the charming and witty
comtesse de Balbi, one of Madame’s ladies, who had become
his mistress,[4] and till 1793 exerted considerable influence over
him. He did not emigrate after the taking of the Bastille, but,
possibly from motives of ambition, remained in Paris. Mirabeau
thought at one time of making him chief minister in his projected
constitutional government (see Corr. de Mirabeau et La Marck, ed.
Bacourt, i. 434, 436, 442), but was disappointed by his caution
and timidity. The affaire Favras (Dec. 1789) aroused great
feeling against Monsieur, who was believed by many to have
conspired with Favras, only to abandon him (see Lafayette’s
Mems. and Corr. of Mirabeau). In June 1791, at the time of the
flight to Varennes, Monsieur also fled by a different route,
and, in company with the comte d’Avaray[5]—who subsequently
replaced Mme de Balbi as his confidant, and largely influenced
his policy during the emigration—succeeded in reaching Brussels,
where he joined the comte d’Artois and proceeded to Coblenz,
which now became the headquarters of the emigration.
Here, living in royal state, he put himself at the head of the counter-revolutionary movement, appointing ambassadors, soliciting the aid of the European sovereigns, and especially of Catherine II. of Russia. Out of touch with affairs in France and surrounded by violent anti-revolutionists, headed by Calonne and the comte d’Artois, he followed an entirely selfish policy, flouting the National Assembly (see his reply to the summons of the National Assembly, in Daudet, op. cit. i. 96), issuing uncompromising manifestoes (Sept. 1791, Aug. 1792, &c.), and obstructing in every way the representatives of the king and queen.[6] After Valmy he had to retire to Hamm in Westphalia, where, on the death of Louis XVI., he proclaimed himself regent; from here he went south, with the idea of encouraging the royalist feeling in the south of France, and settled at Verona, where on the death of Louis XVII. (8th of June 1795) he took the title of Louis XVIII. At this time ended his liaison with Mme de Balbi, and the influence of d’Avaray reached its height. From this time onward his life is a record of constant wanderings, negotiations and conspiracies. In April 1796 he joined Condé’s army on the German frontier, but was shortly requested to leave the country, and accepted the hospitality of the duke of Brunswick at Blanckenberg till 1797, when, this refuge being no longer open to him, the emperor Paul I. permitted him to settle at Mittau in Courland, where he stayed till 1801. All this time he was in close communication with the royalists in France, but was much embarrassed by the conflicting policy pursued by the comte d’Artois from England, and was largely at the mercy of corrupt and dishonest agents.[7] At Mittau was realized his cherished plan of marrying Madame Royale, daughter of Louis XVI., to the duc d’Angoulême, elder son of the comte d’Artois. From Mittau, too, was sent his well-known letter to Bonaparte (1799) calling upon him to play the part of Monk, a proposal contemptuously refused (E. Daudet, Hist. de l’émigration, ii. 371, 436), though Louis in turn declined to accept a pension from Bonaparte, and later, in 1803, though his fortunes were at their lowest ebb, refused to abdicate at his suggestion and accept an indemnity.
Suddenly expelled from Mittau in 1801 by the capricious Paul I., Louis made his way, in the depth of winter, to Warsaw, where he stayed for three years. All this time he was trying to convert France to the royalist cause, and had a “conseil royal” in Paris, founded at the end of 1799 by Royer-Collard, Montesquiou and Clermont-Gallerande, the actions of which were much impeded by the activity of the rival committee of the comte d’Artois (see E. Daudet, op. cit. ii., and Remâcle, Bonaparte et les Bourbons, Paris, 1899), but after 1800, and still more after the failure of the royalist conspiracy of Cadoudal, Pichegru and Moreau, followed by the execution of the duc d’Enghien (March 1804), and the assumption by Napoleon of the title of emperor (May 1804), the royalist cause appeared quite hopeless. In September 1804 Louis met the comte d’Artois at Calmar in Sweden, and they issued a protest against Napoleon’s action, but being warned that he must not return to Poland, he gained permission from Alexander I. again to retire to Mittau. After Tilsit, however (1807), he was again forced to depart, and took refuge in England, where he stayed first at Gosfield in Essex, and afterwards (1809 onwards) at Hartwell in Buckinghamshire.
- ↑ See Arneth and Geffroy, Corr. de Marie-Thérèse avec le comte de Mercy-Argenteau, vol. i., “Mercy to Maria Theresa, June 22nd, 1771,” also i. 261, ii. 186, 352, 393. Marie Antoinette says (ii. 393): “. . . à un caractère très faible, il joint une marche souterraine, et quelquefois très basse.”
- ↑ See his letters to Gustavus III. of Sweden in A. Geffroy, Gustave III et la cour de France, vol. ii. appendix.
- ↑ Two pamphlets at least are ascribed to him: “Les Mannequins, conte ou histoire, comme l’on voudra” (against Turgot; anon., Paris, 1776) and “Description historique d’un monstre symbolique pris vivant sur les bords du lac Fagua, près de Santa-Fé, par les soins de Francisco Xaveiro de Neunris” (against Calonne; Paris, 1784) (A. Debidour in La Grande Encyclopédie).
- ↑ It has frequently been alleged that his relations with Mme de Balbi, and indeed with women generally, were of a platonic nature. De Reiset (La Comtesse de Balbi, pp. 152-161) produces evidence to disprove this assertion.
- ↑ Antoine-Louis-François de Bésiade, comte, afterwards duc, d’Avaray. In spite of his loyalty and devotion, the effect of his influence on Louis XVIII. may be gathered from a letter of J. de Maistre to Blacas, quoted by E. Daudet, Hist. de l’émigration, ii. 11: “celui qui n’a pu dans aucun pays aborder aucun homme politique sans l’aliéner n’est pas fait pour les affaires.”
- ↑ See Klinckowström, Le Comte de Fersen et la cour de France. Fersen says (i. 7), “Monsieur ferait mieux seul, mais il est entièrement subjugué par l’autre” (i.e. the comte d’Artois, who was in turn under the influence of Calonne). See Daudet, op. cit. vol. i.
- ↑ See E. Daudet, La Conjuration de Pichegru (Paris, 1901).
