Text extracted from opening pages of book: THE CELEBRATED MADAME
CAMPAN LADY-IN-WAITING TO MARIE ANTOINETTE AND CONFIDANTE OF
NAPOLEON BY VIOLETTE M. MONTAGU AUTHOR OF SOPHIE DA WES, QUEEN OF
CHANTILLY THE ABBE EDGEWORTH AND HIS FRIENDS 1 EUGENE DE
BEAUHARNAIS, THE ADOPTED SON OF NAPOLEON' ETC. ETC. LONDON EVELEIGH
NASH 1914 TO MY MOTHER TO WHOM I OWE THIS BOOK PREFACE Tis but a
mediocre author who needs to apologize for his sins of omission or
commission before the Argus eyed critic has had time to rend the
ewe-lamb to pieces; the apologies, like the tears in Heine's Im
mortal Lyrisches Intermezzo, usually come after the frail bark has
been launched upon the sea of Literature to be wrecked on the sharp
rocks of Criticism, become becalmed in the Arctic Circle of
Oblivion, or per chance sail with the chosen few into the peaceful
harbour of that ultima thule Popularity. I fear it will be said
that I have taken strange liberties with Mme Camparis Memoirs, from
which the first part of my book was gleaned. Why are those
interesting memoirs so little read in England nowa days ? Perhaps
because they fill three Volumes who, in this age of hurry, takes
the trouble or has the leisure to read anything so lengthy ?
perhaps because they are written in a somewhat stilted manner, lack
sequence, and contain too many repetitions of the same fact, and
perhaps because the authoress mentions several persons who are mere
names to the general public, and concludes just at the most
poignant period of the Revolution. And yet the story of her own
adventures during the Reign of Terror is full of exciting
situations. In Part I: At the Court of Marie Antoinette, I have
been careful to omit nofte of the chiefevents mentioned by the
queen's waiting woman, I have furnished explanatory notes and vii
PREFACE biographies of the personages who flit across the stage,
and have endeavoured to keep to the original diapason. The second
part of my book: The Governess of the Bonapartes, is taken from
contemporary memoirs, and contains extracts from Mme Campan's corre
spondence with her favourite pupil, Hortense de Beauharnais, the
wife of Louis Bonaparte, and the mother of Napoleon in, which
letters have never been translated into English; they throw many
side-lights upon the Emperor's home-life, for Mme Campan, both as
waiting-woman to Marie Antoinette, and as governess to the Imperial
family, enjoyed the con fidence of her masters, and heard many
secrets which led to the undoing of more than one of those masters.
So great was Mme Campan's fame, not only in Europe but also in
America and India, as the governess of Pauline, Caroline, and
Charlotte Bona parte and Hortense, Stephanie, and Emilie de
Beauharnais, and of many of the beautiful and witty women who
adorned Napoleon's Court which Mine Campan had helped to form that
when that great Emperor organized the first Imperial Educational
Establishment of the Legion of Honour at Ecouen, he gave Mme Campan
the post of directress. My intention in writing this book has been
to present a faithful picture of the France of the ( Eil de JBceu/
and of that greater France when no educa tion was considered
complete without a sojourn in Paris, that Parnassus whither
Napoleon, the mas. ter mind, invited the world's most gifted
artists, musicians, litterateurs, scientists, and thinkers.
VIOLETTE M. MONTAGU. PARIS, 1914. viii CONTENTS PART I AT THE COURT
OF MARIEANTOINETTE CHAPTER I PAGE Birth of Henrietta Genest The
origin of the Genest family-Education of the future lectrice
Henriette accepts her first situation She makes the acquaintance of
the Rot Bien-Aimt Mesdames de France . . . . / . i CHAPTER II Louis
XV surprises his daughters' lectrice in the act of making cheeses
Madame Louise takes the veil Arrival in France of Marie Antoinette
Henriette loses her heart Mesdames try to find a husband for their
lectrice The origin of the Campan family Marie Antoinette makes
Henriette Campan her waiting-woman Mesdames* hatred for Ma
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