第39章

Augeard， private secretary， and whose place is set down at 900 livres a year， confesses that it is worth to him 200，000. The head huntsman at Fontainebleau sells for his own benefit each year 20，000 francs worth of rabbits. "On each journey to the king's country residences the ladies of the bedchamber gain eighty per cent on the expenses of moving； it is said that the coffee and bread for each of these ladies costs 2，000 francs a year， and so on with other things." "Mme. de Tallard made 115，000 livres income out of her place of governess to the children of France， because her salary was increased 35，000 livres for each child." The Duc de Penthièvre， as grand admiral， received an anchorage due on all vessels "entering the ports and rivers of France，" which produced annually 91，484 francs. Mme. de Lamballe， superintendent of the queen's household， inscribed for 6，000 francs， gets 50，000.[14] The Duc de Gèvres gets 50，000 crowns[15] by one show of fireworks out of the fragments and scaffolding which belong to him by virtue of his office.[16] - Grand officers of the palace， governors of royal establishments， captains of captaincies， chamberlains， equerries， gentlemen in waiting， gentlemen in ordinary， pages， governors， almoners， chaplains， ladies of honor， ladies of the bedchamber， ladies in waiting on the King， the Queen， on Monsieur， on Madame， on the Comte D'Artois， on the Comtesse D'Artois， on Mesdames， on Madame Royale， on Madame Elisabeth， in each princely establishment and elsewhere， hundreds of places provided with salaries and accessories are without any service to perform， or simply answer a decorative purpose. "Mme. de Laborde has just been appointed keeper of the queen's bed， with 12，000 francs pension out of the king's privy purse； nothing is known of the duties of this position， as there has been no place of this kind since Anne of Austria." The eldest son of M. de Machault is appointed intendant of the classes. "This is one of the employments called complimentary： it is worth 18，000 livres income to sign one's name twice a year." And likewise with the post of secretary-general of the Swiss guards， worth 30，000 livres a year and assigned to the Abbé Barthélemy； and the same with the post of secretary-general of the dragoons， worth 20，000 livres a year， held in turn by Gentil Bernard and by Laujon， two small pocket poets.？ - It would be simpler to give the money without the place. There is， indeed， no end to them. On reading various memoirs day after day it seems as if the treasury was open to plunder. The courtiers， unremitting in their attentions to the king， force him to sympathize with their troubles. They are his intimates， the guests of his drawing-room； men of the same stamp as himself， his natural clients， the only ones with whom he can converse， and whom it is necessary to make contented； he cannot avoid helping them. He must necessarily contribute to the dowries of their children since he has signed their marriage contracts； he must necessarily enrich them since their profusion serves for the embellishment of his court. Nobility being one of the glories of the throne， the occupant of the throne is obliged to regild it as often as is necessary.[17] In this connection a few figures and anecdotes among a thousand speak most eloquently.[18] - "The Prince de Pons had a pension of 25，000 livres， out of the king's bounty， on which his Majesty was pleased to give 6，000 to Mme. de Marsan， his daughter， Canoness of Remiremont. The family represented to the king the bad state of the Prince de Pons's affairs， and his Majesty was pleased to grant to his son Prince Camille， 15，000 livres of the pension vacated by the death of his father， and 5，000 livres increase to Mme. de Marsan." - M. de Conflans espouses Mlle. Portail. "In honor of this marriage the king was pleased to order that out of the pension of 10，000 livres granted to Mme. la Presidente Portail， 6，000 of it should pass to M. de Conflans after the death of Mme. Portail." - M. de Séchelles， a retiring minister， "had 12，000 livres on an old pension which the king continued； he has， besides this， 20，000 livres pension as minister；and the king gives him in addition to all this a pension of 40，000livres." The motives， which prompt these favors， are often remarkable.