The Prince was particularly intimate with the Chevalier de l’Isle,[14] the least known member of the little circle. The Chevalier was an excellent officer, an encyclopedist, and a poet, a correspondent of Voltaire[15] and also of the Prince de Ligne, who held him in great esteem. He was a master of song, and reigned supreme in the art of letter-writing. He had never composed a faulty verse, or written a letter that was not both witty and in excellent style; however, in society he was wanting both in good taste and breeding, giving way to ill-temper and familiarity. So as to make believe that he dined with the Queen at the Polignacs on Sundays, he would arrive the first after dinner, that those who came after him should be deceived by this manœuvre. He wrote regularly to the Prince about all that went on at Versailles during his absence. The following is an example of his letters:—
16th January 1780.
“What a turkey we have just eaten at the Comtesse Diane’s! My goodness, what a fine bird! M. de Poix had sent it from the poultry-yard. There were eight of us round it: the lady of the house, Madame la Comtesse Jules, Madame d’Henin, and Madame de la Force; M. le Comte d’Artois, M. de Vaudreuil, the Chevalier de Crussol, and myself.
“While we were eating the turkey, but without reference to it, some one mentioned you, my Prince. Stay, let me recall who it was? A lady——no; a man—yes, certainly a man, for he said Charlot, and our ladies are not given to such familiarities. It was the man who was on Madame la Comtesse Jules’ left hand. Let me see; I was next to the poet; here sat the Chevalier de Crussol, and there M. de Vaudreuil, and then——Ah! now I’ve got it, it was M. le Comte d’Artois; yes, I am sure of it now. He said: ‘By the bye, who can tell me if Charlot has arrived at Brussels?’—‘I can, your Highness, for I have received four lines in his own handwriting, and am myself going to write to him; who has any message to send?’ All immediately answered in a chorus: ‘I have, I have, I have.’ In the confusion I could distinguish these words: ‘I embrace him, I love him; tell him to come, we expect him.’ When the hubbub had subsided the soft voice of Madame la Comtesse Jules commenced more audibly: ‘Tell him that if he had dated his last letter more distinctly, I would not have failed to answer it; but that, although assisted by several experts in the art of deciphering, it was impossible for me even to suspect from what place it had been written, and consequently to what place I should direct my own.’
“Thereupon we conversed about you, and then about Admiral Keppel, then of the turkey, then of the capture of our two frigates, then of the Spanish Inquisition, then of a large gruyere cheese which our ambassador in Switzerland has just sent his children, then of the strange conduct of the Spaniards towards us, and at last of Mademoiselle Théodore, who, upon my life, dances better than ever, and who pleased us yesterday as much by her talent as Mademoiselle Cécile by her youthful charms. To-morrow the Queen will receive for the first time; till now she has only seen those who have the ‘petites entrées’; she is rather thinner, but otherwise her health leaves nothing to be desired. The King is still the good husband, the good father, and the good man he has always been; it is impossible to be near him without admiring him as the personification of honesty, and without being sincerely attached to his person. I assure you we are fortunate in possessing such a royal couple: may God preserve them on the throne where His goodness has placed them!... We are all going to-morrow to Paris to inaugurate the charming little house M. le Duc de Coigny has bought, and in which we shall have——What do you think we shall have?——Our first grand entertainment—a regular house-warming. We shall have farces, proverbs, verses, songs, and pleasures of all kinds; it will be a beautiful ceremony.
“À propos of verses: you have not seen those I wrote the other day for the Queen, threatening to play her the trick she most dreads—that is, to name her at the opera ball. Here it is:—
“Dans ce temple ou l’incognito
Règne avec la folie,
Vous n’êtes grâce au domino
Ni reine in jolie.