MADAME ROLAND
A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY
[Illustration:
MADAME ROLAND AT THE CONCIERGERIE.
From a painting by Jules Goupil, now in the museum of Amboise.
]
MADAME ROLAND
_A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY_
BY
IDA M. TARBELL
[Illustration]
NEW YORK
CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS
1896
COPYRIGHT, 1896, BY
CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS
Norwood Press
J. S. Cushing & Co.—Berwick & Smith
Norwood Mass. U.S.A.
TO MY DEAR FRIEND
MADAME CÉCILE MARILLIER
------------------------------------------------------------------------
PREFACE
Some eight years ago I undertook a study of the women of the French
Revolution, my object being merely to satisfy myself as to the value of
their public services in that period. In the course of my studies I
became particularly interested in Madame Roland, and when five years ago
I found myself in Paris for an extended period, I decided to use my
leisure in making a more careful investigation of her life and times
than I had been able to do in America. The result of that study is
condensed in this volume.
Much of the material used in preparing the book is new to the public.
The chapter on Mademoiselle Phlipon’s relations with M. Roland and of
their marriage has been written from unpublished letters, and presents a
very different view of that affair from that which her biographers have
hitherto given, and from that which she herself gives in her Memoirs.
The story of her seeking a title with its privileges in Paris in 1784
has never before been told, the letters in which the details of her
search are given never having been published. Those of her biographers
who have had access to these letters have been too ardent republicans,
or too passionate admirers of their heroine, to dwell on an episode of
her career which seemed to them inconsistent with her later life.
The manuscripts of the letters from which these chapters have been
written are now in the _Bibliothèque Nationale_ of Paris. They were
given to the library in 1888, by Madame Faugère, the widow of M. P.
Faugère, to whom they had been given by Madame Champagneux, only
daughter of Madame Roland, that he might prepare a satisfactory edition
of her mother’s works, and write a life of her father. M. Faugère
finished his edition of Madame Roland’s writings, but he died before
completing his life of M. Roland.
Much of the material used in the book I have obtained from the
descendants of Madame Roland, now living in Paris. My relations with
them came about through that distinguished scholar and gentleman, the
late James Darmesteter. Learning that I was interested in Madame Roland,
he kindly sent me to her great-grandson M. Léon Marillier, a professor
in the _École des Hautes Études_, of Paris. M. Marillier and his wife
were of the greatest service to me, called my attention to the
manuscripts which Madame Faugère had turned over to the _Bibliothèque_,
and which had just been catalogued, and gave me for examination a large
quantity of letters and _cahiers_ from Madame Roland’s girlhood. There
also I met their mother, Madame Cécile Marillier. To her I owe a debt of
gratitude for sympathy and help, which I can never repay. Madame
Marillier gave me freely the family legends of her grandmother, and in
May, 1892, I spent a fortnight at Le Clos, the family home of the
Rolands, where Madame Roland passed her happiest, most natural years.
The old place is rife with memories of its former mistress, and it was
there and afterwards in Villefranche that I found material for Chapters
IV. and V.
I cannot close this introductory word without acknowledging, too, my
indebtedness to the librarians of the _Bibliothèque Nationale_, of
Paris. During three years I worked there almost daily, and I was treated
with uniform courtesy and served willingly and intelligently. Indeed, I
may say the same for all libraries and museums of Paris where I had
occasion to seek information.
I. M. T.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
PAGE
THE GIRLHOOD OF MANON PHLIPON 1