The correspondence of Leyden Courant from Paris contained an extensive and shocking description of the punishment of Comtesse de la Motte, that took place on 21st of June 1786. The description shocked mainly because it was full of brutal details. She was punished because the Parliament in Paris found her guilty in the famous Affair of the Diamond Necklace of Queen Marie Antoinette, in which the Cardinal de Rohan was also involved. After the description of the reading of the verdict, previously unknown and surprising even for her, public whipping and branding with a letter V, as well as desperate and frantic attempts to break out from her captivity, the paper described the travel from Conciergerie to Salpétrière. The description of the dungeon in which de la Motte was supposed to spend the rest of her days on Earth instils terror in the readers due to its naturalism. The accompanying guards and janitors, even though they were used to seeing villains such as her were purportedly appalled by the sight of this punished. Never before had the severity of the law left such a strong impression on them. As we can read in Leyden Courant, the witnesses lamented over the fate of this young woman, given to six executors, seeing her delicate body tortured, her pale hands, indicating a woman of higher standing tied up tightly without mercy. The image of the dungeon where she was to end her life as an outcast of the society had a similar effect on the observers. And here again the commentary of this international newspaper describes the contrast between a lady living until this point in a nice house, full of servants and with rich furnishings, and the same lady locked up forever, lying on a dirty pallet, covered with hay, for which she is forced to fight with filthy insects. This image, as the author of the report said, must have had aroused compassion even in people with their hearts made of stone.
The report from the travel of Louis XVI to Cherbourg balances the naturalist description of the usually reserved Leyden Courant. He set off from Rambouillet, where he hunted, on the day of de la Motte’s punishment in Paris. At that point the monarch was in a merry mood, and it did not change for the rest of his travel – the first one since his coronation in Reims. On the way, the King stopped in Houdan, where the royal horses were exchanged for postal horses. It was then that the wife of a local surgeon threw herself at the feet of the King, expressing her deepest gratitude for seeing the monarch himself, and the King helped her back to her feet. The woman embraced the King in response. Louis XVI took this demonstration of naïve affection with kindness and embraced her as well, and the witnesses cheered and clapped with joy. The King then asked the woman whether she wanted anything from him, and she politely declined, saying that the only thing she needs to be happy is to see the monarch. Her neighbour, however, was a destitute mother of twelve children. The King ordered her to send a letter describing the case, so that he could do anything for this poor woman. As the reporter concluded, the King always showed such homeliness and kindness in all the places he visited on his way to Cherbourg to inspect the royal fleet.
This anecdote was not the first account of the kindness of Louis XVI proclaimed by the Leyden Courant. When the King’s mentor and unofficial head of the government, the Count de Maurepas died, the newspaper reported the suffering of the monarch as a proof of the inherent kindness of his heart. The King’s biographer, Jean de Viguerie emphasised this virtue of the French ruler, which he perceived as true. Apart from its natural sources, the historian indicated the way the French monarch was raised and educated. The future king’s personality and style of leadership were mostly impacted by the books, recommended to him in his youth: Les Aventures de Télémaque by Fénelon (1699) and Œuvres du Philosophe bienfaisant by Stanisław Leszczyński, published for the first time in Paris in 1763. The first book told the future king that to be an ideal ruler, he should be good to his subjects, even though sometimes they were spiteful and ungrateful. The role of the monarch described by this book was to sacrifice himself for the good of others, even though it is hard and painful. The second one preached the principle of reciprocity – if the ruler wants to be loved, he should show that he loves his subjects as well, by charitable deeds. It is also worth noting how the work of Fénelon impacted Stanisław August – it is visible not only in the art surrounding the King, but also in his attitude, especially after the events of the Bar Confederation in 1771. From this point in history the King sacrifices himself for the future happiness of his subjects, even though they were hostile to him. I could not find a confirmation that Stanisław August read the work of Stanisław Leszczyński, but I consider it very probable. If it turned out to be true, it would mean that the charitable behaviour and the philosophy of ruling and propaganda of both the Polish and French ruler were inspired by the same literary texts.
The propaganda impact of the description of the meeting between the surgeon’s wife and Louis XVI described by Leyden Courant is clearly visible in the context of news about the Affair of the Diamond Necklace. The reports published by this paper on the sentencing show visible sympathy towards the tribunal that sentenced the Countess – the Parliament. The editors clearly supported the conclusion that the Cardinal was innocent, and the only guilty person, for both the Parliament, as well as for the Dutch newspaper reporters was the Countess de la Motte. However, there is some visible compassion in regard to the latter, stemming from, as I suppose, the editor’s belief in the humanitarian ideas of the Enlightenment. Also, Marie Antoinette is the absent in the articles, it might be therefore cautiously stipulated that the silence was an attempt to point out the Queen as the real perpetrator, even though the disgraced Cardinal de Rohan was acquitted. The silent accusation of Marie Antoinette visibly contrasted with the general belief of the public, expressed in pamphlets, that the Queen played a malicious role in this affair. The international newspaper described the royal disfavour to the victim of the schemer and scammer has some hints of despotism. In the face of such controversy, casting a shadow upon the monarch, the Leyden Courant tried to preserve the positive image of the King, presenting him again as a ruler full of kindness and compassion.
Translation: Lingua Lab
