I
The Prince-Bishop and Stanislaus-Augustus—The Diet in 1773—Second dismemberment of Poland—Prince Xavier and his tutor.
We must now return to the Bishop of Wilna, and see what had befallen him since 1772. We left him settled in Paris, as though he intended to remain there for life. Through his amiable disposition, cultivated mind, and taste for science and erudition, he formed many ties there. He was even made an Associated Member of the Academy of Inscriptions and Belles Lettres, and Madame Geoffrin, certain of her influence over him, was persuaded that he no longer meddled with politics. She little understood the changeable and restless mind of her protégé. Since the month of January 1773 the Prince-Bishop had left Paris, and the following is a letter Madame Geoffrin received from the King of Poland:—
16th April 1773.
“The Bishop Massalski, after having urgently requested my uncle to judge his cause, after having refused to give him colleagues, as my uncle had himself proposed, has induced the Austrian minister to interfere by means of the authority, or rather the power, which his Court exercises in Poland, in order to prevent his suit being judged by my uncle, who, if the truth be known, is only too glad to be rid of the whole business. This inconsiderate conduct has greatly discredited the Bishop. It is a pity, for I have always said that there is a great deal of good in this Bishop.”
Madame Geoffrin, although very much embarrassed at having to explain the Bishop’s conduct, endeavoured still to find excuses for him.
Madame Geoffrin to the King.
2d May 1773
“I will at once answer your Majesty about the Bishop of Wilna. It is true that he has an amiable and gentle disposition that becomes him in society; but his character is so weak that he is incapable of keeping the resolutions he makes with the best intentions. The first person who cajoles him, or who raises the least suspicion in his mind, distracts him, so that he does not know on what he can rely. He has written to me, and I could see that he was in a great fright on writing to inform me of the new aspect of his affairs. He fears that this may estrange your Majesty from his cause. I assured him of the contrary, and told him I was certain that your Majesty and also the Prince Chancellor would be very glad to avoid judging this affair, which in all probability never will be tried.
“He has left us the Abbé Baudeau, to whom, as well as to Colonel Saint Leu, he had made the most splendid promises. They are both much attached to his person; and if he forgets them I do not know what will become of them. Saint Leu is perfectly devoted to the Bishop.”
Meanwhile nearly all the exiled senators who had taken part in the Confederation of Bar were restored to favour, and returned to Poland to take their seats in the Senate. The Bishop of Wilna arrived amongst the first.
The King Stanislaus-Augustus to Madame Geoffrin.
“The Bishop of Wilna, when writing to inform you that my uncle would not judge his business, might have informed you also of several other changes in his conduct and in his principles. He is now the intimate friend of those who, not satisfied with having despoiled me of three-quarters of my kingdom, are anxious to deprive me to a very great extent of my royal prerogatives.
“Moreover the appointment of a Permanent Council is contemplated, which will grant pardons instead of the King, and superintend, besides, all the transactions that take place between the Diets.
“Such are their intentions with regard to us. I was only informed of their decision at the opening of the Diet by the three Powers who have dismembered the kingdom.”
The creation of the Permanent Council that the King dreaded was decided in August 1774. The delegations of Poland had resumed their sittings on the 1st of August. The ministers of the three Powers were present at the Assembly, and proposed the plan of a Permanent Council. The scheme met with the most strenuous opposition in the following sittings, especially on the part of the Lithuanian deputies; however, it was reported that the King had already given his consent to the establishment of the council, and deputies were immediately sent to his Majesty in order to hear him confirm this rumour. The report was true: the King with his customary weakness had submitted. Pleading illness, he begged for a delay of several days, during which time he secretly hoped that the Bishop of Wilna would persuade the Lithuanian deputies to consent to the scheme.[90] Some slight modifications were made and urged by the foreign ministers, the King and the delegation were obliged to assent, and on the 7th of August the project was signed.
This may be considered as the date of the overthrowing of the ancient Polish constitution, and of the utter annihilation of the sovereign power.
The Bishop of Wilna had returned to Paris with a portfolio crammed full of schemes: “He had consulted all the philosophers of the time on the state of Poland, and brought back plans borrowed from Rousseau and Mably, etc. He fancied he would find the salvation of his country in the abstract paradoxes of the former, or in the democratic delirium of the latter; and the confused state of his mind, open to every theory, exposed him to numerous delusions.”[91]
He was named a member of the Permanent Council, and the King had little reason to be satisfied with his conduct. In the Warsaw paper called Journal Encyclopédique we find the following: “As for the Bishops of Cajavia and Wilna, they persist in distinguishing themselves by their constant opposition to the King’s wishes.”
Madame Geoffrin also writes to the King:—
19th September.
“As long as the Bishop of Wilna was in Paris, I could see how weak he was and how much he required to be guided.... When I saw him start for Poland, without taking either of his two acolytes, I foresaw all that would occur. I am more than ever convinced that one can have no confidence in weak minds and frivolous characters. The poor man will be his own dupe; others will avenge your Majesty.”
In this case Madame Geoffrin showed herself a true prophet; but in the meantime honours and distinctions were being showered on the head of the Prince-Bishop. The Polish Government had lately constituted a body for the general direction of public instruction. This body received the name of Commissioners of National Education, and the Bishop was appointed president. It proceeded to reorganise the studies which had been completely interrupted by the suppression of the Jesuits, who until then had educated the Polish youth. It was decided that the sale of their possessions should furnish the capital necessary for the founding of schools and universities as well as for the purchase and printing of the students’ books.
While the Bishop of Wilna was busied with the education of his countrymen the tutor he had chosen during his stay in Paris for his own nephew, Prince Xavier, was discharging his functions in the worst possible manner. The Bishop had not wished to send the child to college on account of his delicate state of health. He preferred confiding him to some trustworthy man, who would be exclusively attached to his person. Madame Geoffrin consulted her friends on the subject, and Masson de Pezay,[92] a clever intriguer, a colonel and a poet, proposed his uncle, M. Boesnier-Delorme; he was a commissioner of woods and forests, a talented man and accustomed to good society, but his head was turned by the economists, and he was infatuated with their new theories.
Notwithstanding this, as he was warmly recommended both by the Marquis de Mirabeau and the Abbé Baudeau, for whom the Bishop had a great regard, the offer was accepted. A salary of thirty thousand livres[93] per annum was agreed upon for M. Delorme, including an under-tutor, a gentleman, and a lackey, who were more specially assigned to the child’s service. The same amount was offered to Masson de Pezay on signing the agreement, and a further sum of sixty thousand livres was promised besides to M. Delorme when his pupil’s education should be finished.
It would have been difficult to make a worse choice. M. Delorme spent his time travelling for the benefit of his agricultural affairs, and squandered his money in costly experiments on his property near Blois, situated on the banks of the Loire. During the winter he resided chiefly in Paris, where he faithfully attended the receptions of the Baron d’Holbach and Madame Geoffrin, as well as the political dinners given by the Marquis de Mirabeau. As for his pupil, he dragged him about in his summer travels, and during the winter left him at the mercy of underlings without exercising the slightest supervision. The child, barely seven years old, and an orphan from his birth, was puny and delicate, and would have required a mother’s incessant care. Instead of getting stronger, his health deteriorated from bad to worse; either left to himself, or ill-treated by a brutal and ignorant under-tutor, encouraged in low and precocious instincts by a debauched lackey, the unfortunate child contracted bad habits, and when, at the end of the term fixed for his education, the uncle claimed his return to Poland in 1778, M. Delorme brought back a child of fourteen, half crazy, absolutely ignorant, and in a most deplorable state of health. It is easy to understand the indignation of the Bishop, who had been carefully kept in ignorance of his nephew’s condition. M. Delorme did not dare to face an interview. He sent the young Prince to Wilna accompanied by a servant, and prudently remained himself at Warsaw. He had, nevertheless, the audacity to claim the 60,000 livres promised on the completion of Prince Xavier’s education. The Bishop flatly refused it, and only paid the travelling expenses. But by dint of successful scheming in Warsaw Delorme obtained a sum of 20,000 francs from the family council, and returned in haste to Paris. He had received 30,000 livres during six years—that is, 180,000 plus 3600 at the outset, and 20,000 at the end, which made up a total of 230,000 livres,[94] in payment for so successful an education.[95]
The young Prince was settled at Werky, in the magnificent residence of his uncle, at a short distance from Wilna. He was treated with the most tender care, his uncle never let him out of his sight, and took him with him during his frequent visits to Warsaw. A confidential man named Levert was attached to his person; he was sent by the Marquis de Mirabeau, who, indignant at Delorme’s conduct, and most distressed at having recommended him, had remained on the best of terms with the Prince-Bishop. It was precisely at this period that unforeseen circumstances, in which Hélène was concerned, gave rise to a rather curious correspondence between the Bishop and the Marquis.