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10 - Chateau and Country Life in France by Mary King Waddington · Chateau and Country Life in France

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Speaker 1: Section ten of Chateau and Country Life in France. This
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Speaker 1: is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the
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Speaker 1: public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit
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Speaker 1: LibriVox dot org. Chateau and Country Life in France by
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Speaker 1: Mary King Waddington, Chapter five, Ceremonies and Festivals, Part two.
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Speaker 1: I never but once saw the whole neighborhood assembled when
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Speaker 1: the only son of the Baron de l married. The
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Speaker 1: baron and his wife were very good specimens of provincial noblesse.
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Speaker 1: He was a tall, heavily built man, square shouldered, with
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Speaker 1: the weather beaten complexion of a man who spent all
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Speaker 1: his days riding about his fields and woods, a pleasant,
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Speaker 1: jovial manner, quite the type of the country gentleman. They
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Speaker 1: lived in a charming old Louis the fourteenth chateau, almost
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Speaker 1: in the forests of vie Cotterreet, their park touching the
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Speaker 1: line of wood. They went read Paris, lived almost all
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Speaker 1: the year in the country, and were devoted to their place.
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Speaker 1: One just saw the pointed red roof of the chateau
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Speaker 1: in the trees as one passed on the road. It
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Speaker 1: stood high, a very steep road leading up to it.
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Speaker 1: At the foot of the hill were market gardens, which
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Speaker 1: made a very curious effect from a distance, the long
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Speaker 1: rows of glass class making huge white spots. The vegetables
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Speaker 1: always looked very tempting. As we passed in the early summer,
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Speaker 1: they were all premiere the gardens, lying in full sun,
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Speaker 1: and were sent off to the Paris market. Half Way
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Speaker 1: up the slope was a pretty little church, almost hidden
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Speaker 1: in the trees, and a tiny village struggled up the
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Speaker 1: hill and along the road. The bride, dressed in white,
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Speaker 1: a slight girlish figure, was standing near her mother in
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Speaker 1: law and had a pretty smile of welcome for all
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Speaker 1: the guests. It was rather an ordeal for her as
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Speaker 1: she was a stranger in the country. She came from
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Speaker 1: the south of France, and everyone was looking at the newcomer.
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Speaker 1: It was in the first year of my marriage, my
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Speaker 1: first appearance in the country, and I was rather puzzled
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Speaker 1: about my dress for the occasion. We were asked to
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Speaker 1: dinner at seven o'clock. My first idea was to wear
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Speaker 1: full dress, light blue, satin and diamonds. But a niece
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Speaker 1: of Madame Eise, who was staying with us and who
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Speaker 1: had been to some entertainments in that part of the country.
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Speaker 1: Advised me strongly to dress more simply. They would not
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Speaker 1: understand that sort of toilette, and I would be over
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Speaker 1: dressed and probably uncomfortable. So I compromised with a high
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Speaker 1: white dress, no diamonds, and one string of pearls. We
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Speaker 1: had a short hour's drive. It was a clear, cold night,
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Speaker 1: and we saw the chateau from a great distance. It
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Speaker 1: was brilliantly lighted. The lights twinkling through the trees looked
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Speaker 1: like huge fireflies. As we drove into the rather small courtyard,
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Speaker 1: there was quite a stir of carriages arriving and backing out.
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Speaker 1: The hall doors were wide open, a flood of light
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Speaker 1: streaming out over the steps. Baron de l and his
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Speaker 1: son at the door. There was a hum of voices
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Speaker 1: in the drawing room, and there seemed to be a
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Speaker 1: great many people. The rooms were handsome, plenty of light.
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Speaker 1: The old tapestry furniture looked very well, standing straight and
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Speaker 1: stiff against the wall, and the number of people took
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Speaker 1: away the bare, unused look they generally had. All the
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Speaker 1: chateaus of the neighborhood were represented. The Comte de la
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Speaker 1: Boissaque and his sister had come over from their fine
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Speaker 1: place Maucrow. He was a very handsome young man, a
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Speaker 1: great hunter and master of hands of the stag hunting
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Speaker 1: in the forest of Ville Cotterret. His sister, Mademoiselle de Lubissac,
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Speaker 1: most attractive, with the face of a saint. She was
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Speaker 1: very simply dressed in a high black dress. She lived
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Speaker 1: almost the life of a sister of charity, going about
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Speaker 1: all day among the sick and poor. But she had
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Speaker 1: promised her father, who was a great invalid, almost crippled
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Speaker 1: with gout, to remain with him as long as he lived.
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Speaker 1: It was only after his death that she took the
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Speaker 1: vows and entered one of the strictest orders carmelites in France.
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Speaker 1: There were also the chatelaines of Thurient Voivois, a fine
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Speaker 1: chateau and estate not very far from us in the
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Speaker 1: other direction. They had splendid gardens, and their fruit and
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Speaker 1: vegetables were famous all over the country. Madame de Thury
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Speaker 1: was a compatriot, the daughter of an American general, the
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Speaker 1: young Comte de Meloune from Brumet's. Very delicate looking with
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Speaker 1: refined student's face. His father was a great friend of
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Speaker 1: the Marachal MacMahon and one of the LEAs of the
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Speaker 1: Catholic Clerical Party, and the young man was very religious.
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Speaker 1: Their woods touched ours, and once or twice, when we
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Speaker 1: were riding late, we saw him kneeling at a little
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Speaker 1: old shrine, the White Lady, which was almost hidden under
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Speaker 1: the big trees, so little left that the ordinary passer
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Speaker 1: by would have seen nothing. They were also the owners
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Speaker 1: of the colonels, rather an ugly square house, standing low,
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Speaker 1: surrounded by a marsh, but a good property, and three
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Speaker 1: or four men I did not know, the bride's brother,
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Speaker 1: and one or two of her relations. There was hardly
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Speaker 1: time to introduce every one, as dinner was announced almost immediately.
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Speaker 1: We were a large party, about twenty. All the women
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Speaker 1: except the bride and me were dressed in black, high
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Speaker 1: or a very little open, no lace, no jewels. Henriette
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Speaker 1: was right. I would have looked absurd if I had
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Speaker 1: worn a low dress. The dinner was very good, very abundant,
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Speaker 1: and very long. The men said, the wines were excellent.
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Speaker 1: The talk was animated enough. It was principally the men
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Speaker 1: who talked. I don't think the women said much. I
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Speaker 1: listened only, as I was too new in the country
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Speaker 1: to be at all up in local topics. After coffee,
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Speaker 1: the men went off to smoke and we women remained
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Speaker 1: alone for some time. I wasn't sorry, as one had
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Speaker 1: so few opportunities of seeing the neighbors, particularly the women
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Speaker 1: who rarely went out of their own places. One met
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Speaker 1: the men hunting, or in the train, or at the notaries.
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Speaker 1: The notary is a most important person in all small
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Speaker 1: country towns in France. Everybody consults him, from the big
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Speaker 1: landowner when he has discussions with his neighbor over right
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Speaker 1: of way, to the peasant who buys a few meters
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Speaker 1: of land as soon as he has any surplus funds.
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Speaker 1: We were constantly having roused with one of our neighbors
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Speaker 1: over a little strip of wood that ran up into
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Speaker 1: ours whenever he was angry with us, which happened quite often.
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Speaker 1: We never knew why he had a deep, ugly ditch
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Speaker 1: made just across the road, which we always took when
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Speaker 1: we were riding around the property. The woods were so
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Speaker 1: thick and low with plenty of thorns, that we could
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Speaker 1: not get along by keeping on one side, and were
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Speaker 1: obliged to go back and make quite a long detour.
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Speaker 1: The notary did his best to buy it for us,
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Speaker 1: but the man would never sell. Rather enjoyed, I think,
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Speaker 1: having the power to annoy us. Madame de Thury and
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Speaker 1: I fraternized a little, and I should have liked to
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Speaker 1: see more of her. But soon after that evening they
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Speaker 1: had great trouble. They had a great deal of illness,
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Speaker 1: and lost a son. I never saw Thury till after
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Speaker 1: both of them were dead. The chateau had been sold,
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Speaker 1: most of the furniture taken away, and the whole place
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Speaker 1: had a deserted, neglected look that made one feel quite miserable.
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Speaker 1: The big drawing room was piled up with straw over
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Speaker 1: the doors were still too charming to sus de port,
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Speaker 1: the colors quite fresh, not at all faded. Chickens were
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Speaker 1: walking about in another room, and upstairs, in a pretty
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Speaker 1: corner room with a lovely view over Woodson Park, was
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Speaker 1: a collection of photographs, engravings, one the mother of the
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Speaker 1: late owner, a piece of unfinished tapestry, samplers, china, vases, books, papers,
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Speaker 1: two or three knots of faded ribbon, all tossed in
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Speaker 1: a corner like a heap of rubbish. The things had
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Speaker 1: evidently been forgotten in the big move, but it looked melancholy.
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Speaker 1: The chateau must have been charming when it was furnished
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Speaker 1: and lived in quantities of rooms. A long gallery with
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Speaker 1: small rooms on one side. The casonnie or bachelor's quarters,
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Speaker 1: led directly into the church, where many Theiries are sleeping
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Speaker 1: their last sleep. The park was beautiful and there was
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Speaker 1: capital shooting. W had often shot there in the old
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Speaker 1: days when their shooting parties were famous. We ended our
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Speaker 1: evening with music, the bride playing extremely well. Madame de
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Speaker 1: Thury also sang very well. She had learned in Italy
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Speaker 1: and sang in quite Bravia style. The evening didn't last
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Speaker 1: very long after the men came in. Everybody was anxious
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Speaker 1: to get the long cold drive over. I enjoyed myself
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Speaker 1: very much. It was my first experience of a French
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Speaker 1: country entertainment, and it was very different from what I
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Speaker 1: had expected, not at all stiff, and a most cordial welcome.
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Speaker 1: I thought, rather naively, perhaps that it was the beginning
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Speaker 1: of many entertainments of the same kind. But I never
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Speaker 1: dined out again in the country. It is only fair
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Speaker 1: to say that we never asked any one to dine either.
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Speaker 1: It was not the habit of the house, and I
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Speaker 1: naturally fell into their ways. Luncheon was what people liked best,
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Speaker 1: so as not to be too late on the road
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Speaker 1: or to cross the forest after nightfall when the darkness
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Speaker 1: was sometimes impenetrable. Some of the chatelaines received once a week.
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Speaker 1: On that day a handsome and plentiful luncheon was provided,
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Speaker 1: and people came from the neighboring chateaus, and even from
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Speaker 1: Paris when the distance was not too great and the
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Speaker 1: train suited. We had quite an excitement one day at
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Speaker 1: the chateau. Francis was riding with the groom one morning
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Speaker 1: about the end of August, and had hardly got out
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Speaker 1: of the gates when he came racing back to tell
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Speaker 1: us that the maneuvers were to take place very near us,
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Speaker 1: small detachments of troops already arriving, and the village people
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Speaker 1: had told him that quite a large contingent men and
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Speaker 1: horses were to be quartered at the chateau. W sent
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Speaker 1: him strong ate off again to the mayor of Maraul,
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Speaker 1: our big village, to know if his information was correct
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Speaker 1: and how many people we must provide for Frances met
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Speaker 1: the mayor on the road on his way to us,
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Speaker 1: very busy and bustled with so many people to settle.
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Speaker 1: He was billeting men and horses in the little hamlet
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Speaker 1: and at all the farms. He told us we were
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Speaker 1: to have thirty men and horses, six officers, twenty four men,
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Speaker 1: and they would arrive at sundown in time to cook
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Speaker 1: their dinner. Hubert the coachman was quite bewildered at first
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Speaker 1: how to provide for so many, but fortunately the stables
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Speaker 1: and dependencies were very large, and it was quite extraordinary
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Speaker 1: how quickly and comfortably everything was arranged. Men from the
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Speaker 1: farm brought in large bundles of straw, and every body
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Speaker 1: leant a willing hand. They loved soldiers in France and
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Speaker 1: are always proud and happy to receive them. About four thirty,
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Speaker 1: when we had just moved out to the tennis ground
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Speaker 1: for Tea, we saw an officer with his orderly riding
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Speaker 1: up the avenue. He dismounted as soon as he caught
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Speaker 1: sight of us sitting on the lawn and introduced himself.
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Speaker 1: Said he was sent on ahead to see about lodging
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Speaker 1: for himself, his brother officers and his men. They were
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Speaker 1: part of a cavalry regiment chasseurs stationed at a small
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Speaker 1: town in the neighborhood. He asked W if he might
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Speaker 1: see the soldiers quarters. Said they brought their own food
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Speaker 1: and would cook their dinner. Asked if there was a
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Speaker 1: room in the chateau where the Sioux officiers could dine,
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Speaker 1: as they never eat with their men. He, with W
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Speaker 1: and Francis went off to inspect the arrangements and give
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Speaker 1: the necessary orders. We had already seen the officer's rooms,
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Speaker 1: but hadn't thought of a separate dining room for the
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Speaker 1: Sioux officiers. However, it was easily managed. We gave them
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Speaker 1: the children's dining room in the wing near the kitchen
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Speaker 1: and the offices. When W came in, he told us
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Speaker 1: the whole party had arrived, and we started after the
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Speaker 1: command to see what was going on. The stable yard,
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Speaker 1: which is very large, with some fine trees and outbuildings
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Speaker 1: all around, it was filled with blue coated soldiers and
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Speaker 1: small chestnut horses. Some were drinking out of the troughs,
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Speaker 1: some tied to the trees, and rings on the wall
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Speaker 1: were being rubbed down. The men walking about with the officers,
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Speaker 1: valets and their own kits and doing blankets, tin plates
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Speaker 1: and cups. And I should think every man and boy
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Speaker 1: on our place and in the small hamlet standing about,
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Speaker 1: anxious to do something. Our little fox terriers were mad
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Speaker 1: with excitement. Even the dog he seemed to feel there
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Speaker 1: was something different in the air. He brayed noisily and
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Speaker 1: gave little vicious kicks occasionally when some of the horses
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Speaker 1: passed too near. A group of officers were stack at
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Speaker 1: the door of the stables talking to Hubert, who had
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Speaker 1: managed very well putting all the officers horses into a
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Speaker 1: second stable which was always kept for guests, and the
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Speaker 1: others in the various sheds and outhouses, all under cover.
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Speaker 1: Doubly introduced the offices a nice looking lot chasseurs in
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Speaker 1: the light blue uniform, which is so smart. He had
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Speaker 1: asked permission for the men to dine at the chateau.
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Speaker 1: They had their own meat and bread, but our chef
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Speaker 1: was most anxious to cook it for them and make
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Speaker 1: them another substantial dish, So it was agreed that they
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Speaker 1: should dine at six in the servants hall. They all
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Speaker 1: marched up in procession, headed by their sergeants. The blue
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Speaker 1: tunics and red trousers looked very pretty. As they came
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Speaker 1: along the big avenue, the commandant asked doubly if he
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Speaker 1: would go and say a few words to them. When
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Speaker 1: they were having their coffee, they were very quiet. One
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Speaker 1: hardly heard anything, though all the windows were open. W
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Speaker 1: said it was quite interesting to see all the young
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Speaker 1: faces smiling and listening hard. When he made his little speech,
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Speaker 1: he asked them if they had had a good dinner.
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Speaker 1: He hoped his man knew how to cook for soldiers.
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Speaker 1: They all nodded and smiled at the chef, who was
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Speaker 1: standing at the door, looking very hot and very pleased.
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Speaker 1: He had produced a sweet dish. I don't know what
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Speaker 1: with as he didn't habitually have thirty extra people to dinner.
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Speaker 1: But I have always seen that when people want to
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Speaker 1: do anything, it is usually accomplished. Our dinner was very pleasant.
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Speaker 1: We were ten at table, W and I, Henrietta and
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Speaker 1: her niece. The men talked easily, some of them Parisians,
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Speaker 1: knowing every one. They knew that W had remained at
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Speaker 1: the chateau all during the Franco German War, and were
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Speaker 1: much interested in all he told them of the Prussian occupation.
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Speaker 1: Only one of them had as a very young fellow
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Speaker 1: served in eighteen c. Seventy. All the rest were too young,
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Speaker 1: and like all young soldiers who have not been through
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Speaker 1: a war and seen the horrors of it, were rather
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Speaker 1: anxious to have their chance and not spend all the
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Speaker 1: best years of their lives. In a small dull garrison town,
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Speaker 1: we discussed the plans for the next day. They were
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Speaker 1: going to have a sham fight over all the big
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Speaker 1: fields in our neighborhood and advise us to come and
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Speaker 1: see it. They said the best time would be about
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Speaker 1: ten in the morning, when they were to monte A Lassaux,
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Speaker 1: of a large farm with moat and drawbridge near Damarie.
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Speaker 1: They were to make a very early start four o'clock,
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Speaker 1: and they said they would be very pleased to have
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Speaker 1: some hot coffee before mounting, if it could be had
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Speaker 1: at that unearthly hour. They were very anxious about choosing
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Speaker 1: a horse out of their squadron for the general, who
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Speaker 1: was an infantry man, very stout, very rheumatic, and a
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Speaker 1: very bad rider. The horse must be sure footed and
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Speaker 1: easy mouth, easy canter, no tricks, accustomed to drum and bugle,
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Speaker 1: to say nothing of the musket shots, et cetera. Henrietta
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Speaker 1: and I rather amused ourselves after dinner, teaching the Commandant
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Speaker 1: and another officer Halma, which was just then at the
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Speaker 1: height of its popularity. We'd brought it over from London,
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Speaker 1: where the whole society was mad over it. We were
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Speaker 1: staying in a country house one year when there were
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Speaker 1: seven tables of Halma in the long gallery. The gentlemen
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Speaker 1: rather disdained it at first, but as the game went
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Speaker 1: on and they began to realize that there really was
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Speaker 1: some science in it, and that our men were placing
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Speaker 1: themselves very comfortably in their little squares while theirs were
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Speaker 1: wandering aimlessly about the center of the board. They warmed
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Speaker 1: to their task and were quite vexed. When they were
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Speaker 1: badly beaten, they wanted their revoge. W came in and
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Speaker 1: gave a word of advice every now and then the
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Speaker 1: others finished their billiards, came to look on each one,
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Speaker 1: suggesting a different move, which of course only complicated matters,
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Speaker 1: and they lost again. Then some of the others tried,
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Speaker 1: with the same result. I think we played five or
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Speaker 1: six games. They were so much pleased with the game
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Speaker 1: that they asked us to write down the name and
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Speaker 1: where to get it, and one of them afterward told
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Speaker 1: my nephew, also a cavalry officer, that they introduced it
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Speaker 1: at their mess and played every night instead of cards
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Speaker 1: or dominoes. It was really funny to see how annoyed
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Speaker 1: they were when their scientific combinations failed. The next morning
18:38
Speaker 1: was beautiful, a splendid August day, not too hot, little
18:43
Speaker 1: white clouds scurrying over the bright blue sky, veiling the sun.
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Speaker 1: We started about nine w Francis and I riding, the
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Speaker 1: others driving. There are a good many people about in
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Speaker 1: the fields and cross roads. A few farmers ride, and
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Speaker 1: everybody wildly interested telling us which way to go. Janet,
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Speaker 1: my American niece, who was staying in the country in
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Speaker 1: France for the first time, was horrified to see women
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Speaker 1: working in the fields. Couldn't believe that her uncle would
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Speaker 1: allow it on his farm, and made quite an appeal
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Speaker 1: to him when we all got home, to put an
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Speaker 1: end to such cruel proceedings. It seems women never work
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Speaker 1: in the fields in America, except negresses on some of
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Speaker 1: the southern plantations. I have been so long away that
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Speaker 1: I had forgotten that they didn't, and I remember quite
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Speaker 1: well my horror the first time we were in Germany,
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Speaker 1: when we saw a woman and an ox harnessed together.
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Speaker 1: We separated from the carriage at the top of the
19:47
Speaker 1: hill as we could get a nice canter and shorter
19:50
Speaker 1: road across the fields. We soon came in sight of
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Speaker 1: the farm house, standing low with moat and drawbridge in
19:58
Speaker 1: rather an isolated position in the middle of the fields,
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Speaker 1: very few trees around it. There was no longer any
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Speaker 1: water in the moat. It was merely a deep, wide
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Speaker 1: damp ditch, with long, straggling vines and weeds filling it up,
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Speaker 1: and a slippery steep bank. Soldiers were advancing in all directions,
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Speaker 1: the small infantry men moving along with a light quick step.
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Speaker 1: The cavalry apparently had been on the ground some time,
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Speaker 1: as they were all dismounted and their horses picketed. We
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Speaker 1: didn't go very near, as doubly wasn't quite sure how
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Speaker 1: the horses would stand the bugle and firing. They were
20:38
Speaker 1: already pulling hard and getting a little nervous. It was
20:42
Speaker 1: pretty to see the soldiers all mount when the bugle
20:45
Speaker 1: ran at and in a moment the whole body was
20:48
Speaker 1: in motion. The rush of the soldiers over the wide plains,
20:52
Speaker 1: and the drawbridge looked irresistible. The men swarmed down the
20:56
Speaker 1: bank and over the ditch. One saw a confused mass
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Speaker 1: of trousers and KEPPI. The cavalry came along very leisurely,
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Speaker 1: guarding the rear. I looked for the General. He was
21:08
Speaker 1: standing with some of his staff on a small hill
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Speaker 1: directing operations. He did look stout and very red and warm. However,
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Speaker 1: it was the last day, so his troubles were over
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Speaker 1: for the present. One of the officers saw us and
21:23
Speaker 1: came up to pay his respects. Said they wouldn't be
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Speaker 1: back at the chateau until about five. Perhaps the ladies
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Speaker 1: would come to the stable yard and see the parsage.
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Speaker 1: It was quite interesting. All the horses ranged in a semicircle,
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Speaker 1: men scrubbing and combing hard. The Sioux officiers superintending, the
21:44
Speaker 1: officers standing about, smoking and seeing that everything was being
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Speaker 1: packed and ready for an early start the next morning.
21:51
Speaker 1: I was astonished to see how small the horses were.
21:55
Speaker 1: My English horse, also a chestnut, was not particularly big,
22:00
Speaker 1: but he looked a giant among the others. They admired
22:03
Speaker 1: him very much, and one of the officers asked Hubert
22:06
Speaker 1: I bethought I would like to sell him. Our dinner
22:10
Speaker 1: was again very pleasant, and we had more halmer. In
22:13
Speaker 1: the evening. W played once or twice, and as he
22:17
Speaker 1: was a fairly good player, the adversaries had no chance.
22:21
Speaker 1: We broke up early, as they were to start again
22:24
Speaker 1: at some unearthly hour. The next morning. It seems they
22:27
Speaker 1: were very lively in the stables. After dinner. We heard
22:31
Speaker 1: sounds of merriment, singing in choruses, and I fancy dancing. However,
22:37
Speaker 1: it made quite a pleasant break in our summer, and
22:39
Speaker 1: the big place seemed quieter and lonelier than ever after
22:43
Speaker 1: such unusual animation, W said, the war talk was much
22:48
Speaker 1: keener than the first day, when they were smoking in
22:50
Speaker 1: the gallery, all the young ones so eager to earn
22:54
Speaker 1: their stripes, and so confident that the army had profited
22:58
Speaker 1: by its bitter experience during the Franco German War. Election
23:03
Speaker 1: day is always a very important day in France. The
23:06
Speaker 1: village farmers and laborers put on their best clothes, usually
23:10
Speaker 1: a black coat, silk hat and white shirt, and take
23:14
Speaker 1: themselves solemnly to the marie where the voting takes place.
23:19
Speaker 1: For weeks beforehand, agents and lecturers come from Paris and
23:23
Speaker 1: bamboozle the simple village people with newspapers, money and wonderful promises.
23:29
Speaker 1: It is astounding how easily the French peasant believes all
23:33
Speaker 1: that the political agents tell him on all that he
23:36
Speaker 1: reads in the cheap papers. For as a rule, taken
23:40
Speaker 1: en mass they are very intelligent and at the same
23:43
Speaker 1: time suspicious. Mifion manage their own little affairs very well
23:48
Speaker 1: and are rarely taken in, But there is something in
23:52
Speaker 1: the popular orator that carries them away, and they really
23:55
Speaker 1: believe that a golden epoch is coming, when there will
23:59
Speaker 1: be no rich, no poor, and plenty and equality for all.
24:04
Speaker 1: They don't care a bit what form of government they
24:06
Speaker 1: live under, as long as their crops are good and
24:09
Speaker 1: they can have regular work and no war. The political
24:13
Speaker 1: agitators understand that very well. They never lay any stress
24:17
Speaker 1: on royalist or bonapartist or even a military candidate. The
24:22
Speaker 1: people's candidate is always their cry, one of themselves who
24:26
Speaker 1: understands them and will give them all they want. They
24:30
Speaker 1: are disappointed always. The ministers and deputies change, but their
24:35
Speaker 1: lives don't and run on in the same groove. But
24:38
Speaker 1: they are just as sanguine each time there is an election,
24:42
Speaker 1: convince that at last the promised days of high pay
24:46
Speaker 1: and little work are coming. I tried to reason with
24:49
Speaker 1: a nice, respectable man one day, the village mason, one
24:54
Speaker 1: of the most vary orators at the cafe over his dominoes.
24:58
Speaker 1: But in every day life are so a hard working
25:01
Speaker 1: man with a sickly wife and several children, who are
25:04
Speaker 1: all clothed and generally looked after by us. His favorite
25:09
Speaker 1: theme was the owners of chateaus and big houses who
25:12
Speaker 1: lived in luxury and thought nothing of the poor. I
25:15
Speaker 1: said to him, why do you listen to all those
25:18
Speaker 1: foolish speeches that are made in the cafes. You know
25:21
Speaker 1: it isn't true half they say. Whenever you come and
25:25
Speaker 1: ask for anything for your wife and your children, it
25:27
Speaker 1: is always given to you. You know quite well. Whenever
25:31
Speaker 1: any one is ill in the village, they always come
25:34
Speaker 1: here for wine, old linen or bourion. Oh we madame
25:38
Speaker 1: is good. But madame does not understand. But it is you,
25:43
Speaker 1: mon Ami, who don't understand. Once the election is over
25:47
Speaker 1: and they have got your vote, no one will think
25:50
Speaker 1: about you any more. Oh yes, madame, everything will be divided.
25:55
Speaker 1: There will be no more big houses. Every one will
25:58
Speaker 1: have a garden and rabbits, not all for the rich.
26:02
Speaker 1: It is not right. Madame knows it is not right.
26:06
Speaker 1: It was quite useless talking to him. Women in France
26:10
Speaker 1: never take the active part in elections they do in England.
26:13
Speaker 1: It interested me so much when we were living in
26:16
Speaker 1: England to see many of the great ladies doing all
26:19
Speaker 1: they could for their candidate, driving all over the country
26:23
Speaker 1: with his colors on servants and horses, a big bill
26:27
Speaker 1: in the windows of their carriages with vote for A
26:30
Speaker 1: on it. In the drawing room windows of a well
26:33
Speaker 1: known society leader, there were two large bills vote for A.
26:38
Speaker 1: I asked w one day, when he was standing for
26:41
Speaker 1: the Senate if he would like me to drive all
26:43
Speaker 1: about the country with his colors and vote for Waddington
26:47
Speaker 1: on placards in the windows of the carriage. But he
26:50
Speaker 1: utterly declined any such intervention on my part, thought a
26:54
Speaker 1: few breakfasts at the chateau and a quiet talk over
26:57
Speaker 1: coffee and cigars would be more to the perl. He
27:01
Speaker 1: never took much trouble over his elections. The last years,
27:05
Speaker 1: meetings and speeches in all the small towns and banquet
27:09
Speaker 1: d Pompierre were things of the past. He said the
27:12
Speaker 1: people had seen him our Louverre, and that no speeches
27:16
Speaker 1: would change a vote. The only year that we gave
27:19
Speaker 1: ourselves any trouble was during the Boulangeess. Craze w went
27:23
Speaker 1: about a great deal, and I often went with him.
27:27
Speaker 1: The weather was beautiful, and we rode all over the country.
27:30
Speaker 1: We were astounded at the progress Boulancheism had made in
27:34
Speaker 1: our quiet villages. Wherever we went, in the cafes in Yoberge,
27:39
Speaker 1: in the grocer's shop, there was a picture of Boulangeess
27:43
Speaker 1: prancing on his black horse. We stopped one day at
27:46
Speaker 1: a miserable little cottage not far from our place, where
27:50
Speaker 1: a workmen had had a horrible accident, been caught in
27:53
Speaker 1: the machine of one of the sugar mills. Almost all
27:56
Speaker 1: the men in the village worked in W's woods and
27:59
Speaker 1: had always voted as one man for him or his friends.
28:04
Speaker 1: When we went into the poor little dark room, with
28:07
Speaker 1: literally nothing in it but the bed, a table and
28:09
Speaker 1: some chairs, the first thing we saw was the well
28:13
Speaker 1: known picture of Boulangeus on the mantelpiece. We talked a
28:17
Speaker 1: little to the man and his wife the poor fellow
28:20
Speaker 1: was suffering terribly, and then w said, I am surprised
28:24
Speaker 1: to see that picture. Do you know General Boulange? Have
28:28
Speaker 1: you ever seen him? The man's face quite lighted up
28:32
Speaker 1: as he looked at the picture and answered, no, monsieur
28:36
Speaker 1: she les jamesvous may i les cran selvi la. And
28:42
Speaker 1: that was all that he could ever get out of him.
28:44
Speaker 1: I lee cran. I don't know exactly what he meant.
28:48
Speaker 1: I don't think he knew himself, but he was quite
28:51
Speaker 1: excited when he spoke of the hero. Boulange's campaign was
28:56
Speaker 1: very cleverly done. His agent's distributed paper, pictures and money
29:01
Speaker 1: most liberally. One of the curious features of that episode
29:06
Speaker 1: was the quantity of money that was given. Gold flowed
29:09
Speaker 1: freely into the General's coffers from all parts of France,
29:14
Speaker 1: great names, grand dames, giving largely and openly to the cause,
29:20
Speaker 1: a great deal sent anonymously, and a great deal in
29:23
Speaker 1: very small sums. Boulangeus lived in our street, and I
29:27
Speaker 1: was astounded one day when I met him. I did
29:30
Speaker 1: not know him, writing always with a man on each
29:34
Speaker 1: side of him. Almost every one took off his hat
29:37
Speaker 1: to him, and there were a few faint cries of
29:40
Speaker 1: vive Boulangere, proceeding chiefly from the painters and masons who
29:45
Speaker 1: were building a house just opposite ours. Certainly, for a
29:50
Speaker 1: short time he had the game in his hands. Could
29:53
Speaker 1: I think have carried the country. But when the moment
29:57
Speaker 1: to act arrived, his nerve failed him. It is difficult
30:01
Speaker 1: to understand what made his great popularity. Politics had not
30:05
Speaker 1: been satisfactory. The President Greve had resigned under unfortunate circumstances,
30:13
Speaker 1: There had been a succession of weak and inefficient cabinets,
30:17
Speaker 1: and there was a vague feeling of unrest in the country.
30:20
Speaker 1: Boulangees seemed to promise something better. He was a soldier,
30:25
Speaker 1: which always appeals to the French, young and dashing, surrounded
30:30
Speaker 1: by clever and scrupulous people of all classes. Almost all
30:34
Speaker 1: the young element of both parties, radical and conservative. Few
30:39
Speaker 1: of the moderate Republicans had rallied to his programe revision
30:44
Speaker 1: E de solucient. His friends were much too intelligent to
30:48
Speaker 1: let him issue a long manifesto circular promising all sorts
30:52
Speaker 1: of reforms and changes he never could have carried out.
30:56
Speaker 1: While his two catchwords gave hopes to everybody. A revision
31:01
Speaker 1: of the constitution might mean a monarchy, empire, or military dictatorship.
31:06
Speaker 1: Each party thought its turn had come, and dissolving the
31:10
Speaker 1: chambers would of course bring a new one, where again
31:13
Speaker 1: each party hoped to have the majority. The Paris election
31:17
Speaker 1: by an overwhelming majority was his great triumph. The government
31:22
Speaker 1: did all they could to prevent it, but nothing could
31:24
Speaker 1: stop the wave of popularity. The night of the election,
31:29
Speaker 1: Boulanger and his attair Major were assembled at Durrand's, the
31:33
Speaker 1: well known cafe on the corner of the Boulevard and
31:35
Speaker 1: the Rue Royal. As the evening went on and the
31:39
Speaker 1: returns came in, far exceeding anything they had hoped for,
31:44
Speaker 1: there was but one thought in every one's mind, ah Liisee.
31:49
Speaker 1: Hundreds of people were waiting outside, and he would have
31:52
Speaker 1: been carried in triumph to the palace. He could not
31:55
Speaker 1: make up his mind. At midnight, he still wavered his
31:59
Speaker 1: great friend, the poet Deroulede, then took out his watch,
32:04
Speaker 1: waited in perfect silence until it was five minutes past twelve,
32:08
Speaker 1: and then said general to Prisang minute vocher oriole bess
32:15
Speaker 1: Bolanjeou went out by a side door, leaving his friends
32:18
Speaker 1: disappointed and furious to announce to the waiting crowd that
32:22
Speaker 1: the general had gone home. He could have certainly got
32:26
Speaker 1: to the Elize that night. How long he would have stayed,
32:29
Speaker 1: and whom he would have put there, we shall never know.
32:33
Speaker 1: End of Section ten, Recording by Florence