Francis the First, father of Marie-Antoinette, invited to his table the principal Crown officials, and allowed the most perfect freedom. Marie-Thérèse admitted to her intimacy most of the ladies of her Court; she even during the summer paid frequent visits to several of them. She might be seen, knitting and walking in the gardens, or reading in an arbour, unattended by any of her ladies. Marie-Antoinette had therefore from her infancy been accustomed to those habits of ease and familiarity which she carried to France, and which caused her to be so severely censured.
[47] The Princesse Euphémie de Ligne married, 11th September 1798, Jean-Baptiste Gabriel, the eldest son of the Comte de Palfy.
[48] The guard of Hungarian nobles only escorted the Emperor on great state occasions. It was supported by the Hungarian States, who took great pride in the beauty of the horses and splendour of the uniforms.
The Polish guard, created after the first Polish division (1772), was composed of young noblemen, and vied in brilliancy with the Hungarian guard.
[49] Seventy-two thousand pounds.
[50] Mother-in-law of the Princesse Christine de Ligne.
[51] A small palace built by Prince Eugène in one of the suburbs of Vienna.
[52] Daughter-in-law of the famous Prince de Kaunitz, Chancellor of the Empire under Marie-Thérèse. He had retained office under Joseph, and was one of the most influential persons at Court.
[53] Fragments of the Prince de Ligne’s Unedited Memoirs, published in the Revue Nouvelle, 1840, and by Albert Lacroix at Brussels.
[54] The Princesse Lubomirska was a cousin of the King Stanislaus-Augustus. He frequently mentions her in his correspondence with Madame Geoffrin under the name of Aspasia. She was a Czartoryiska by birth, and alternately resided at Vienna, Warsaw, and at her magnificent estate of Lancut. A large part of the Princess’s lands was situated in Austrian Galicia.