XD2/4198
LETTER: Marie Vernet, [2 rue des Ecuries d’Artois, Paris to Viscountess [Hill, née Wynn]. She writes that she has just received the beautiful photograph which Lord Newborough has sent to her and she asks her to express her thanks to him. She comments on how beautiful she [Maria Stella] remained, despite her age. She says the portrait strikingly resembles Madame Adelaide, and that it is easy to see that they were sisters. She says she has found several examples of the Memoirs of M.S.. She says that one of the officers commanded by Louis Philippe to confiscate them had hidden one which he then gave to a printer. She says that the printer took two years to produce a new edition which exactly resembles the edition of 1830 except that it has a different cover and title. She tells how, after many vexations, no doubt from the d’Orléans, the man became bankrupt and the books were dispersed. He managed to keep a few in a booth which he had on the outskirts of Paris, which is where she found him. They talked of the play and she told him that when it was staged he would be sure to be asked to print another edition and that it would sell well. She offers Viscountess Hill copies if she wishes saying that it is in French but very true to the original and it even has a portrait of M.S. though not as fine as the Dulac illustration. She says that one day she will send a copy to General Boulanger and tell him of her attempts and the obstacles which have been created. She explains how she feels General B. would authorise a production if he came to power. He and his friends are pushing for the dissolution of Parliament and the revision of the Constitution which she awaits with impatience as the revision would abolish the Censor and then the play could be staged without difficulty. She believes the death of the German Emperor would expedite matters but she hopes anyway that the play can be staged next winter. She says she is going to see the new ministers and, as they pretend to be radical, it is up to them to prove it. She says she will plague them more than the others because they style themselves defenders of the Republic and she would take care to inform them that the d’Orléans are more dangerous Pretenders than General B. She then states the latter’s qualities and motivations. She says that he is the perfect person to act as an intermediary between the collapse of the Republic and the return of the Rightful; France can only be reborn under the wise and pacific government of the Bourbons. No one wants the d’Orléans, and the Bonaparte faction are too divisive. She says the Republic is in its death-throws and, therefore, the return of the Bourbons is inevitable, but this will not happen until after a huge war. She mentions that she has sent copies of M.S.’s Memoirs to Prince Charles XI and his sister which they liked a great deal. She says that the Prince seems well disposed towards the [Newborough] family and hates the d’Orléans, which is hardly surprising as they are the enemies of his family; she says that if he returns to the throne, he knows well enough how to make them pay for their past injustices. She mentions a book by a distinguished author, M. the Count d’Herisson entitled The Black Cabinet, in which he proves that the Dauphin was rescued from the prison in The Temple and that his descendants are the ?Ranendorffs and he proves this by documents which he has and which are bequeathed to him by Baron Mounier who was very influential under Napoleon I. She says the book has had an immense impact on the whole of France and even in foreign countries and letters of congratulations have been sent to the author. He is going to publish another work about ?Bazaine which has caused a furore and he is preparing the second volume of The Black Cabinet which again deals with Louis XVII. She says that, as she knew several of his close friends, her play has been talked about and she says that the other day he received from Holland a letter from M. Duquesne discussing the M.S. affair. M.D. wrote that he is very interested in this affair and has studied it closely, adding that he is related by marriage to the Bourbons. Louis XVII had a second son, after Prince Charles, the Prince Adalbert who died only this year. He had married Baronness Duquesne and M.D. is the brother of Madame Adalbert, because he states that he is the Uncle of the young Bourbon Princes. She wonders if this is the same man who wrote to Lord Newborough last November. She knows the latter signed himself Cillaershoet, doctor of law, but he had put above Ducquesne de Bruchemont. She says that, unfortunately, M. de Herisson cannot take on the M.S. affair because he is committed to his two works, one on the development of the Italian war, and the other on the Commune. She says that she hopes the play will be produced and that there would be no need for any more books, the effect of a stage play being a million times more valuable than a book. She explains that she has bad continual illnesses but now feels better, helped by the warmer weather. She thanks her for her letter saying that she is always very happy to receive her (Viscountess H.’s) news. She thanks Lord N. again for the beautiful photograph of M.S.. French. [N.L.W. Bodfean 76/28.]
Cyngor Gwynedd