Description
LOUIS-PHILIPPE I (Louis-Philippe d'Orléans, future king). Autograph letter signed with his initials, addressed to a general, [probably Charles-François Dumouriez]. Castle of Neuilly, June 7, 1818. 6 pp. 1/2 in-4. First of all I will thank you from the best of my heart, as well in my name as in that of my wife, for all that you say to me of so good & of so sensitive on the subject of the cruel loss which we made [his daughter Françoise d'Orléans, known as Mademoiselle de Montpensier, had just died]. It was indeed the grief and the worry caused by the loss of our poor child that prevented me from replying immediately to your kind letter of May 10. Although I was well prepared for this misfortune, which for some time I had been considering as inevitable, nevertheless nature has rights over us that no preparation can take away from her, and we have experienced this only too well... IN THE MIDDLE OF OUR AFFLICTION, THE DEATH OF THIS POOR PRINCE OF CONDÉ has been an additional pain and hassle. I WOULD HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU ABOUT THIS WHICH PEGHT THE TIME & CIRCUMSTANCES WHERE WE ARE, BUT ALL THAT CAN BE SAID, CANNOT BE WRITTEN, as you well know, & whatever my confidence in you, I cannot write what I would say... [He then evokes Julie de Montgenêt de Saint-Laurent, mistress of the Duke of Kent, whom the latter had just left with death in his soul to marry]. WE HAVE NOTHING NEW IN POLITICS, EXCEPT THE CONSTITUTION OF BAVIÈRE which is causing a great sensation in Germany & even here [it established a constitutional monarchy]. It is a slap in the face for Prussia. They will all go through it, & had better resign themselves to it willingly, which they do not. IT IS SAID THAT THE DUKE OF WELL [INGTON] IS WORKING HIS BEST TO ARRANGE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SPAIN & PORTUGAL, but this is neither done nor easy to do. Here Mr. de Cazes marries Miss de Sainte-Aulaire, an heiress who possesses 80,000 pounds of income, which is a lot in our country, so poor, even though it is said to be so rich. This makes him a nephew of the prince of Talleyrand. The Duke of Guiche married Miss d'Orsay, daughter of the general of that name, who must have a million dowry from Mr. Crawford. The chronicle claims that Mr. Lafitte [the banker Jacques Laffitte] refused him his daughter. People are busy with all this, as in the past, and they draw the conclusion that we must be in great security. Perhaps they are right. What is certain is that at present no country is more tranquil than this one..."
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LOUIS-PHILIPPE I (Louis-Philippe d'Orléans, future king). Autograph letter signed with his initials, addressed to a general, [probably Charles-François Dumouriez]. Castle of Neuilly, June 7, 1818. 6 pp. 1/2 in-4. First of all I will thank you from the best of my heart, as well in my name as in that of my wife, for all that you say to me of so good & of so sensitive on the subject of the cruel loss which we made [his daughter Françoise d'Orléans, known as Mademoiselle de Montpensier, had just died]. It was indeed the grief and the worry caused by the loss of our poor child that prevented me from replying immediately to your kind letter of May 10. Although I was well prepared for this misfortune, which for some time I had been considering as inevitable, nevertheless nature has rights over us that no preparation can take away from her, and we have experienced this only too well... IN THE MIDDLE OF OUR AFFLICTION, THE DEATH OF THIS POOR PRINCE OF CONDÉ has been an additional pain and hassle. I WOULD HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU ABOUT THIS WHICH PEGHT THE TIME & CIRCUMSTANCES WHERE WE ARE, BUT ALL THAT CAN BE SAID, CANNOT BE WRITTEN, as you well know, & whatever my confidence in you, I cannot write what I would say... [He then evokes Julie de Montgenêt de Saint-Laurent, mistress of the Duke of Kent, whom the latter had just left with death in his soul to marry]. WE HAVE NOTHING NEW IN POLITICS, EXCEPT THE CONSTITUTION OF BAVIÈRE which is causing a great sensation in Germany & even here [it established a constitutional monarchy]. It is a slap in the face for Prussia. They will all go through it, & had better resign themselves to it willingly, which they do not. IT IS SAID THAT THE DUKE OF WELL [INGTON] IS WORKING HIS BEST TO ARRANGE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SPAIN & PORTUGAL, but this is neither done nor easy to do. Here Mr. de Cazes marries Miss de Sainte-Aulaire, an heiress who possesses 80,000 pounds of income, which is a lot in our country, so poor, even though it is said to be so rich. This makes him a nephew of the prince of Talleyrand. The Duke of Guiche married Miss d'Orsay, daughter of the general of that name, who must have a million dowry from Mr. Crawford. The chronicle claims that Mr. Lafitte [the banker Jacques Laffitte] refused him his daughter. People are busy with all this, as in the past, and they draw the conclusion that we must be in great security. Perhaps they are right. What is certain is that at present no country is more tranquil than this one..."
