登陆注册
5288200000088

第88章 CHAPTER XIII.(7)

The procureur-general's conclusions, and those of a part of the heads of the magistracy, were as severe towards the Cardinal as the information had been; yet he was fully acquitted by a majority of three voices; the woman De Lamotte was condemned to be whipped, branded, and imprisoned; and her husband, for contumacy, was condemned to the galleys for life.

[The following extract is from the " Memoirs" of the Abbe Georgel:

"The sittings were long and multiplied; it was necessary to read the whole proceedings; more than fifty judges sat; a master of requests; a friend of the Prince, wrote down all that was said there, and sent it to his advisers, who found means to inform the Cardinal of it, and to add the plan of conduct he ought to pursue." D'Epremesnil, and other young counsellors, showed upon that occasion but too much audacity in braving the Court, too much eagerness in seizing an opportunity of attacking it. They were the first to shake that authority which their functions made it a duty in them to respect.-

NOTE BY THE EDITOR.]

M. Pierre de Laurencel, the procureur general's substitute, sent the Queen a list of the names of the members of the Grand Chamber, with the means made use of by the friends of the Cardinal to gain their votes during the trial. I had this list to keep among the papers which the Queen deposited in the house of M. Campan, my father-in-law, and which, at his death, she ordered me to preserve. I burnt this statement, but I remember ladies performed a part not very creditable to their principles; it was by them, in consideration of large sums which they received, that some of the oldest and most respected members were won over. I did not see a single name amongst the whole Parliament that was gained directly.

The belief confirmed by time is, that the Cardinal was completely duped by the woman De Lamotte and Cagliostro. The King may have been in error in thinking him an accomplice in this miserable and criminal scheme, but I have faithfully repeated his Majesty's judgment about it.

However, the generally received opinion that the Baron de Breteuil's hatred for the Cardinal was the cause of the scandal and the unfortunate result of this affair contributed to the disgrace of the former still more than his refusal to give his granddaughter in marriage to the son of the Duc de Polignac. The Abbe de Vermond threw the whole blame of the imprudence and impolicy of the affair of the Cardinal de Rohan upon the minister, and ceased to be the friend and supporter of the Baron de Breteuil with the Queen.

In the early part of the year 1786, the Cardinal, as has been said, was fully acquitted, and came out of the Bastille, while Madame de Lamotte was condemned to be whipped, branded, and imprisoned. The Court, persisting in the erroneous views which had hitherto guided its measures, conceived that the Cardinal and the woman De Lamotte were equally culpable and unequally punished, and sought to restore the balance of justice by exiling the Cardinal to La Chaise-Dieu, and suffering Madame de Lamotte to escape a few days after she entered l'Hopital. This new error confirmed the Parisians in the idea that the wretch De Lamotte, who had never been able to make her way so far as to the room appropriated to the Queen's women, had really interested the Queen herself.

[Further particulars will be found in the "Memoirs of the Comte de Beugnot" (London: Hurst & Blackett, 1871), as he knew Madame de Lamotte from the days of her early childhood (when the three children, the Baron de Valois, who died captain of a frigate, and the two Mademoiselles de Saint-Remi, the last descendants of the Baron de Saint-Remi, a natural son of Henri II., were almost starving) to the time of her temporary prosperity. In fact, he was with her when she burnt the correspondence of the Cardinal, in the interval the Court foolishly allowed between his arrest and her capture, and De Beugnot believed he had met at her house, at the moment of their return from their successful trick, the whole party engaged in deluding the Cardinal. It is worth noting that he was then struck by the face of Mademoiselle d'Oliva, who had just personated the Queen in presenting a rose to the Cardinal. It may also be cited as a pleasing quality of Madame de Lamotte that she, "in her ordinary conversation, used the words stupid and honest as synonymous." --See "Beugnot," vol. i., p. 60.]

同类推荐
  • 忠义集

    忠义集

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 客座偶谈

    客座偶谈

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 佛说国王不黎先尼十梦经

    佛说国王不黎先尼十梦经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 率性篇

    率性篇

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 全唐五代诗格

    全唐五代诗格

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 25分之1秒的智慧:瞬间的心灵穿越

    25分之1秒的智慧:瞬间的心灵穿越

    尽管微表情稍纵即逝,但只要你掌握窍门,细心观察,仍然可以锁定这1/25秒的瞬间,让对手无处遁形。《1/25秒的智慧:瞬间的心灵穿越》收集了各种微表情,并结合实际情况加以说明,手把手地教你捕捉、分析、研判陌生人的微表情,交给你一个“阅读放大器”。而此时你就会发现,读懂人心不再是难事!这不是教你做“心灵神偷”,而是要将你打造成“读心达人”。
  • 藏心剑之苏绿衣

    藏心剑之苏绿衣

    绿兮衣兮,绿衣黄里。心之忧矣,曷维其已?绿兮衣兮,绿衣黄裳。心之忧矣,曷维其亡?绿兮丝兮,女所治兮。我思古人,俾无訧兮。絺兮绤兮,凄其以风,我思古人,实获我心。????????????????????????——《诗经》之《绿衣》当司徒昊写下《绿衣》时,他明白,他误会了苏绿衣,误会了这个对她情根深种的女子。可是,世间事,“情”最难解,痴情终被多情误。红尘往事,终究桥归桥,路归路,明月当空,一声叹息!
  • 替嫁狂妃惹邪王

    替嫁狂妃惹邪王

    新婚之夜,她昏了过去,再次醒来,灵魂重生,狂女归来!她踢了残暴夫君,撕毁装逼情敌的假面;毁了庶姐的容颜,与亲爹断绝父女关系,这些非她所愿,她只想过安静日子,怎奈美男纠缠,阴谋丛生……
  • 动画电影叙述艺术

    动画电影叙述艺术

    从动画电影艺术的内部角度纵观其故事的构成问题,分析传统的几大叙事元素,即人物、情节、时间、空间和修辞等,以求对动画电影故事产生和创作的范式进行系统的梳理分析。在解析带有人类集体无意识和具有普遍经验意义故事模式的同时,寻求其中的差异性与独特性,力求呈现一个相对全面的、客观的动画电影叙述研究。
  • 大汉王朝4

    大汉王朝4

    本书为《大汉王朝》第四卷,以通俗的笔触和富于细节化的阐述,呈现历史最鲜活的一面。
  • 降落远古

    降落远古

    活了20多岁,踏过万年,认真生活的人,谁的身上不带斑斑驳驳的伤?守着我的善良,等待它变成坚强,狗血的初见化成泣血的灵堂,再用爱孵化出自由的新生,宇宙间纵横来往……
  • 假面天后:妖孽校草独家宠制

    假面天后:妖孽校草独家宠制

    【皇家学院:邪魅校花VS妖孽校草】姊妹篇,加强版。他是狂放不羁的妖孽校草,她则是携恨而来的假面公主。一个阴谋将她推入他的怀中,从此她便被牢牢的捆绑住。“你也有爱吗?”某天,她略带讽刺的说道。他却是邪肆一笑:“真正爱你的人不会说许多爱你的话,却会做许多爱你的事。”而他爱她的方式则是不断吞噬她的思想,不断占据她的心。她以为这是她精心策划的一场计谋,却反被一张密实的大网所擒获。这是一场爱与被爱的角逐,赢了,放光无限,败了,满盘皆输。在这场爱情与权谋的游戏中,到底谁先失了心?!【泣洛洛读者群:171863163】
  • 马桥词典

    马桥词典

    本书是“韩少功作品系列”第七卷。此书彻底颠覆了传统长篇叙事文本,处发时招致各种非议,并因此引发官司。《马桥词典》后来荣获“上海市第四届中长篇小说优秀作品奖”中的长篇小说一等奖。1998年获台湾最佳图书奖。2010年获美国第二届纽曼华语文学奖。
  • 人间失格

    人间失格

    本书的主人公叶藏是一个谨小慎微、害怕世间所有情感的人,他对人类复杂的思想一无所知,进而通过搞笑的方式,讨好别人,让别人开心,把真实的自己隐藏起来。从青少年到中年,为了躲避这个世界,他开始走向自我放逐的道路,整日饮酒作乐,通过酒精、女人和药物来让自己终日生活在浑浑噩噩中,并最终走向了自我毁灭。他的一生都在寻找爱,躲避爱,并希望自己得到爱,内心的苦闷可想而知,而最终他只能走向自我毁灭的终点。
  • N道贩子康采恩

    N道贩子康采恩

    汉唐有我的商店,宋明有我的商船,春秋与三国更是有我的军队!你问我一个商人要军队做什么?岂不知:下贾贾粮、中贾贾丝、上贾贾国。且看康采恩如何打造一个时空贸易帝国?!