In 1756 their son and heir was born. At first he was known as the Duc d’Enghien but this was afterwards changed to Duc de Bourbon. The second child was a daughter, Louise de Condé, subsequently famed for her great intelligence and beauty. The Princess Charlotte de Soubise was a general favourite at Court; but in spite of her many social engagements she never neglected her maternal duties and always showed herself a most devoted wife and mother.

The Prince, notwithstanding his domestic felicity, considered it his duty to add a “sprig of laurel” to the trophies of his glorious ancestor, the Grand Condé. He therefore joined the army and greatly distinguished himself during the Seven Years’ War. In 1762 he gained the victories of Grinningen and Johannesberg.

The sudden death of his wife the Princesse de Condé from an attack of diphtheria put an end to his conjugal happiness; but to Chantilly he always returned after his campaigns, so as to be in the old home and with his children. A highly cultured gentleman, he took intense interest in literature and scientific research, enriching with numerous volumes the library of the Château and adding thereto mineralogical and physiological collections of great value.

His only son, Louis Henri Joseph de Bourbon, when just fifteen was affianced to Louise Marie Thérèse Bathilde d’Orléans, five years his senior and an intimate friend of his sister Louise. Even in those days of early marriages this union was considered abnormal, and it was at first arranged that the young couple should wait for a time. But the youthful pair threatened to elope unless they were allowed to marry that same year, so with “un éclat de rire” the King gave his consent.

When Marie Antoinette as Dauphine visited Chantilly the grace and charm of the young Duchess, who presided over the brilliant fêtes given upon that occasion, were much admired. Louis Joseph, like the Grand Condé, was passionately devoted to the art of the stage, and his daughter-in-law, like so many great ladies of her time, was distinguished for her literary talents. She herself composed the comedies in which she, her husband, and her Royal guests took part.

The theatre at Chantilly, celebrated for its elaborate decorations and beautiful scenery, was approached by a terrace adorned by forty-eight marble vases; whence a double staircase led through the Salon d’Apollon. Palm-trees formed an avenue before its entrance, and the back of the theatre opened upon the garden, where a statue of Diana surrounded by waterfalls stood in the background. Amongst the improvements in the gardens first introduced by this Prince was a “Hameau,” which was erected long before that in the Petit Trianon at Versailles.

From the time of Henri IV Chantilly, as we have seen, had been a favourite pleasure-resort for Royal personages. Louis XV used to combine excursions thither with his visits to Versailles. The King of Denmark, the hereditary Prince of Prussia, and Gustavus III, King of Sweden, were all entertained at the Château; and the latter presented to the Prince de Condé the magnificent cabinet containing many strange and curious minerals now at the Musée Condé.

In 1782 the Comte du Nord, afterwards the Emperor Paul of Russia, with his wife, Dorothea of Wurtemberg, paid a long visit to Chantilly. One of the Russian ladies-in-waiting, the Baroness Oberkirch, gives the following description of their stay: “We joined the Prince at eleven o’clock, which was the dinner-hour. This dinner, which opened the fêtes of the day—we were a hundred and fifty at table—was splendid, and quite in accordance with the traditions of this princely house, so famous for its magnificent hospitality. When we left the dining-hall we found carriages waiting for us. The Prince and the Duke, his son, themselves drove us along the avenues, where a thousand surprises were prepared for us. The trees were hung with flags and decorated with the Russian colours. After the drive we went to the theatre. They played The Friend of the House, The Supposed Poet, and The Fifteen-year-old Lover. The latter piece told the love-story of the Duc and Duchesse de Bourbon and had been played on the eve of their wedding. It ended with a fine ballet. On coming out we found the gardens illuminated and fireworks blazing all round, while the façade of the Château was decorated with the heraldic bearings of the Emperor and Empress. Supper was served on the Isle d’Amour and then followed a ball which was so gay and full of merriment that it seemed to us a quite exceptional thing, since this is not usually the case amongst princes. The next morning a hunting-party was arranged, a diversion of which the Condé princes and princesses are particularly fond. A stag was hunted for three hours, and when at last he went into the water he was followed by the whole pack of hounds. The sight was really superb.”

A picture representing this famous hunting-party was painted by Le Paon and presented to the Russian Emperor. It still hangs in one of the Imperial Palaces in St. Petersburg; but a copy was offered to the Duc d’Aumale by the Grand Duke Wladimir, which is now in the Musée Condé.

Another day the magnificent stables were visited and dinner was served in the central hall beneath the cupola. Much admiration was expressed for the gorgeous hangings which divided this part of the building from the rest. When the Royal party left the table these hangings were lifted on both sides, so as to exhibit the two hundred and forty horses stabled in either wing.

At that time two bronze horses stood beside the great fountain, which was completed in 1782. But they disappeared during the Revolution.

The hostess upon this occasion was the Princesse Louise de Condé, for the Duchesse de Bourbon, after but a few years of married life, separated herself from her gay young husband. This Princess inherited her father’s great qualities. She had been educated in the same convent where a relation of hers, Henriette de Bourbon Condé, was Abbess under the name of Madame de Vermandois—a lady of whom it was rumoured that she had refused to marry Louis XV and had preferred the life of a convent to that of Queen of France! Over the young Princesse de Condé she exercised great influence and Princesse Louise tells us that she looked upon her as a mother, since she had never known her own. Of her father she saw very little; but in her childhood he used to send the Surveyor of the Province to her every Sunday to ask whether she wanted anything. At the age of twelve she left this peaceful life for Paris, where she attached herself to her cousin Princesse Bathilde d’Orléans, who presently became her sister-in-law.

These two Princesses had each a royal household of their own, with maids-of-honour and attendants; and they were permitted to receive the visits of relations and certain selected friends. The Duc de Bourbon, whose attachment to his sister was the one redeeming point in his otherwise unsatisfactory character, often came to see her, and it was during one of these visits that he first met his wife.

The Princesse Louise de Condé at this time was presented at Court, where her beauty and grace created a great sensation; and she then received the title of “Mademoiselle.” The Duc d’Artois, third son of the Grand Dauphin, was greatly attracted by her, and a marriage between them was much discussed in Court circles. It was even said that it was desired by the people; but Louis XV, wishing to revenge himself upon Louis Joseph for having opposed the “pacte de famine,”[14] insisted on his grandson marrying Marie Thérèse of Savoy. This bitter disappointment, coming to her in yet tender years, made a deep impression upon the Princess, and from thenceforth she preferred solitude to worldly pleasure. She continued to reside in the Convent, refusing all other proposals of marriage, and devoting herself to literature. Later on in life she indulged in a platonic friendship with the Marquis de Gervaisais, who is said to have collaborated with her in the drama of Friendman. They often made excursions together from the watering-place of Bourbon d’Archambault, where the Princess had gone for her health, to visit the old Château de Bourbon; and it was during these excursions, amid ruins clad with ivy “as with a Royal mantle,” that the young poet wrote this drama (subsequently acted at Bourbon d’Archambault), wherein he hymned the praises of his adored Princess. “L’âme n’a pas d’âge, comme elle n’a pas de sexe” wrote her admirer.

But Louise de Condé, who at first had given herself up entirely to the joy of meeting with a kindred soul, recoiled suddenly on finding that this friendship was on both sides fast approaching passionate love. At a period of history when princely personages rarely denied themselves anything that attracted their fancy, it is remarkable to find a Princess who held such a high moral standard, and this also at a time when Madame du Barry was the supreme ruler of the Kingdom of France. The Princess went so far as to force herself to give up this friendship, because she became aware that her sentiments towards the poet were after all not wholly platonic, and that she, as a Princess of the Blood, could not marry him.

It is characteristic of the customs of the period that Louis Joseph looked very indulgently upon his daughter’s friendship, and even proposed to secure for the Marquis de Gervaisais means for leaving his regiment at Saumur in order to come to Paris and thus be able to meet the Princess more freely. It was the lady herself who could not be induced to do aught that might bring a stain upon her name; and she wrote a most touching letter of farewell to Gervaisais, imploring him not to answer it, nor to try to meet her again, requests which his unbounded love for her induced him to accede to.

The festivities given in honour of the Russian Grand Duke were the last of the entertainments held at Chantilly; for, although the Princesse Louise in the absence of the Duchesse de Bourbon made a charming hostess, the separation of her brother from his wife, who had returned to her own family, cast an inevitable gloom over Chantilly. The young heir, the Duc d’Enghien, however, became warmly attached to his aunt, who acted as a mother to him. He was highly gifted and very proud of his famous ancestor, the Grand Condé. On taking his seat in the Parlement at the early age of sixteen he made a most able speech; whereupon the President remarked that never before had three members of the Condé family honoured the House of Peers at the same time. This, alas! was not for long; for we now approach that fateful year 1789, and the horrors of the French Revolution.

In July of that year, late in the evening, an adjutant of the Prince de Condé arrived breathless at the Château, bringing tidings of the terrible events which had just occurred in Paris. He told how a bullet aimed at the Royal carriage had killed a woman standing near; and how the King had been applauded when he appeared on the balcony bearing a “cocarde tricolore.” On hearing this, the three Princes de Condé accompanied by Princess Louise departed next day for Versailles. Their advice to Louis XVI was “not to yield”—advice which the King was loth to follow. The three Condés, seeing that they could not prevail upon him to remain firm, determined to quit France so as to be able themselves to remain true to their Royalist principles. In taking leave of the King, Louis Joseph said that he would endeavour to serve the Monarchy abroad, since he could no longer serve it in France.

The three Princes returned to Chantilly for one day only, and then left France for Germany. The youngest, the Duc d’Enghien, was destined never to see his ancestral home again. It must have been a touching spectacle to see the old Prince de Condé, accompanied by his daughter, his son the Duc de Bourbon, and his grandson the Duc d’Enghien, leaving the sumptuous abode of their ancestors, so full of glorious memories. The Comte d’Artois—afterwards Charles X—followed their example; and numerous French officers volunteered to make common cause with Prince Louis Joseph de Condé, whose name was associated so closely with the glories of France.

There still exists a history of Condé’s army written by Bittard des Portes, wherein is related in detail the courage and fortitude with which these French emigrés endured their great privations. The Austrian General Würsmer, we are told, was deeply moved at the sight of Condé’s regiment, which he styled “la vielle France militaire”; and Napoleon, in his Memoirs, when speaking of the Condés and their army abroad, wrote: “La France donna la mort à leur action, mais des larmes à leur courage. Tout dévoûment est héroïque.”

CHAPTER IX

CHANTILLY DURING THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

Throughout the period of the Revolution the Château at Chantilly was used as a prison for political offenders; and the first arrivals were forty-one persons from Beauvais,[15] amongst whom were M. des Courtils de Merlemont, Knight of St. Louis, with his wife and son. On the road thither they were deliberately exposed to the insults of the mob, but they escaped the execution which they anticipated. Arriving at two o’clock in the morning, they were thrust into the Chapel, but later on they were lodged in the Château itself, which had been already demolished to such a degree that none of the rooms were wind or weather tight.

The moats had been allowed to dry up, so that they began to exhale unwholesome odours; and the number of sick persons amongst the prisoners soon amounted to over three hundred. The corpse of a young woman, who was the first to die, was transported on the back of the concierge to one of the still-existing chapels on the Pelouse built by Madeleine de Savoie, wife of Anne de Montmorency. Amongst the prisoners was the Duchesse de Duras, daughter of Philippe de Noailles, who had defended to the last the person of Louis XVI, and who, in consequence, ended his life on the scaffold. In some notes descriptive of her misfortunes, her arrival at Chantilly is most dramatically related: “We were first locked up in the chapel, which was still elaborately gilded, and where in the days of the Condés I had often heard Mass. It was now filled with sacks of flour, on one of which I took my seat, whilst the Commissioner mounted upon the altar. He was accompanied by one Marchand, whom I recognised as the son of my aunt’s chambermaid. This vulgar man concentrated all the insolence of the Committee of Public Safety. He derived much pleasure from saying rude and insulting things regarding the nobles and the clergy, and even expressed a wish that I should be lodged as uncomfortably as possible.” Fortunately he departed soon after this speech and the Commissioner, more humane, apportioned to the Duchess one of the better rooms. From her window she could see into the courtyard, and she descried many of her acquaintances amongst the prisoners and their children there assembled. She describes the food as scanty and of very poor quality. They dined in the gallery, where she could remember the brilliant fêtes given by Prince Louis Joseph de Condé not so long before.

The death-rate amongst the prisoners, to whom even the most necessary relief was denied, after a few months became so great that Chantilly had to be entirely evacuated; and it was then proposed that it should be used as a military hospital—a proposal which was, however, not carried out. Subsequently the Château d’Enghien[16] was converted into barracks, whilst Chantilly with its woods and parks found purchasers amongst the Black Band, who were then buying up the castles and palaces of the hated aristocrats with the sole purpose of demolishing them and profiting by just what could be got out of them as building material, etc. Of the so-called Grand Château, erected by Mansart during the time of the Grand Condé, nothing remained but the foundations; for it was razed entirely to the ground. The adjoining Petit Château of the Montmorencys, however, as already stated, miraculously escaped.

Under Napoleon I, Chantilly in 1805 became the property of the State, but the revenue of its woods was assigned to Queen Hortense, who also figures upon the list of the owners of this famous estate. A military school was presently established in the Château d’Enghien, and the magnificent stables were once again devoted to their proper uses.

Meanwhile Prince Louis Joseph de Condé since he left France had sojourned with the Elector at Worms, as Commander of the army of the French emigrés, whilst the Comte d’Artois had formed his camp at Coblenz. The former subsequently found a refuge for his family and his regiment with the Tsar Paul; but eventually, when he saw that he could no longer serve France and his King, he retired with his son to Wanstead House, near Wimbledon. Over the doorway of this most attractive abode the Seigneur of Chantilly inscribed the motto “Parva domus magna quies.”

Here he married as his second wife Marie Catherine de Brignole, the widowed Princess of Monaco, who had long been his constant and faithful friend, especially during his exile. She shared with him his literary and artistic interests, and she put her whole fortune at his disposition when he was in need. His daughter, Louise de Condé, after many vicissitudes, at last found quiet and rest in a Benedictine convent, where she took the veil. In 1807 she received a terrible shock when the news reached her of the tragic death of her beloved nephew, the Duc d’Enghien, and she felt it to be her duty to leave her seclusion and proceed at once to condole with her father and brother in their overwhelming sorrow. She started immediately for England, where she was received on landing with Royal honours: Pitt, Lord Moore, and the two surviving Condé Princes coming to meet her.

The execution of the Duc d’Enghien has left a stain on Napoleon’s character; it was not only a crime, but what was worse, it was a blunder; for d’Enghien at the time of his arrest was living in strictest seclusion at Ettenheim in Baden with the Princesse Charlotte de Rohan, to whom he was deeply attached, and, it was said, had married. He was therefore absolutely innocent of the conspiracy against the Republic, of which he was accused; and it is affirmed that it was only because Bonaparte could not get hold of the legitimate Princes—Artois and Berry—whose claims to the throne of France he grudged and feared, that he took his revenge upon the Duc d’Enghien. He had tried in vain to entrap these Princes, and failing committed this act of personal revenge on the eve of proclaiming himself Emperor, in order to frighten the Royalists, who, as he declared, were continually conspiring against him. When this dastardly murder became known there was a cry of indignation all over Europe. The Russian Court went into mourning, and Napoleon found it necessary to lay the blame upon Talleyrand and Murat. The grief of the unhappy father at the loss of his only son and the last scion of his race was so great that he became a prey to chronic melancholy; but Louis Joseph, the grandfather, strove bravely to live down his anguish.

More than twelve years had still to elapse before their exile was ended, and then, for a brief period, on the collapse of the Napoleonic Empire, the Bourbon Monarchy was restored in France. At last, in 1815, the two Condés returned to Chantilly from England and found the old place, with the exception of the Petit Château, which they henceforth made their chief abode, a pile of ruins, and themselves almost strangers. The Princess of Monaco had died in England; and the Duc d’Enghien, upon whom all hope had centred, had been ruthlessly slain. In spite of all these misfortunes Louis Joseph remained faithful to the old home and began to repurchase his former possessions acre by acre. Some portions of the property had passed into alien hands; as, for instance, the site of the great waterfall, which had been separated from the original grounds by a wall. One of the alterations made at this time was the filling in of the moat, which hitherto had divided the smaller from the larger Château; and later the present Entrance-Hall was built on that site, whilst two new rooms decorated in the style of the period were added where the covered bridges had formerly stood. These new buildings gave access to the rooms formerly occupied by the Grand Condé, which, by a strange piece of luck, the Revolutionists had not demolished. The old Prince held these apartments in high honour; and they were the first to be redecorated and exquisitely panelled. During the four remaining years of his life he was continually occupied in restoring his ancestral palace to that dignity which he remembered so well in the past. He also succeeded in recovering the larger number of the works of art which the Montmorencys and the Condés had accumulated, not only at Chantilly but also at Ecouen and the Palais Bourbon in Paris. Most of these treasures had fortunately fallen into good hands, for during the worst horrors of the Revolution there had been men in France who had succeeded in preserving the art treasures belonging to the old family mansions which their proprietors had been compelled to abandon. Alexander Lenoir was one of these faithful guardians, and it is certainly due to his efforts that so many of these monuments and works of art in France were not destroyed. Conspicuous amongst them were the valuable collections at Chantilly.

But after the long exile of the owners no more entertainments were held at Chantilly such as had been given so lavishly in happier days. After the great reverses which Louis Joseph and his son had undergone they seemed to indulge in one pleasure only, namely, that of the chase—the single luxury which they allowed themselves. They kept a splendid pack of hounds—the descendants of which still survive and are lodged in a corner of the great stables—and in spite of his great age the Prince himself appeared on horseback almost daily; often alone, but sometimes accompanied by his son, and hunted until quite late in the afternoon. Though past his eightieth year, he still had vigour enough, even on his return from a day’s hunting, to shoot the wild duck which abounded in the moats. He died at Chantilly in his eighty-second year during the absence of both his son and his daughter, and was buried at Saint-Denis. As a true Condé he was very imperious and held strong opinions of his own: but he was tenaciously faithful in his friendships; and it was, no doubt, this fidelity to the Royal cause which characterised his conduct during the Revolution, and made him sacrifice everything rather than give up his Royalist principles.

His son, the Duc de Bourbon, had not the iron nature of his father. He refused to take the title of Prince de Condé on his father’s death, since he knew that this title must die with him. He, who had begun life under such happy auspices, long before his death became a broken man. His wife, the Duchesse de Bourbon, Louise Marie Thérèse Bathilde of Orléans to whom he became reconciled after a long separation, died suddenly whilst attending a patronal festival at Saint-Geneviève. She fainted whilst at her devotions, and on being transported to the Sorbonne died before her husband could be summoned. Her favourite nephew, the Duc d’Orléans—afterwards King Louis Philippe—was the only member of her family present when she expired.

It was at about that time that Louis Philippe’s fifth son was born—a child who eventually became the last Seigneur of Chantilly. He was held at the baptismal font by the last Condé, who from this time formed a great affection for his godson. He used to walk with him in the grounds of Chantilly and narrate to him all the memorable events which had taken place in this ancestral abode; and Henri d’Orléans, then but seven years old, would listen with the greatest attention, and long after remembered the colloquies held with his princely sponsor and benefactor—the last of the line of Condé. He thus refers to him: “When recalling my childhood, I picture to myself M. le Duc de Bourbon, dressed in his habitual grey coat, white silk stockings, and light shoes, walking about in the grounds of Chantilly on cold December days. Leaning on his stick he would sometimes stand still and relate to me what had happened in years gone by at the old place; how he had known it in its splendour during his youth; and how all these sad changes had come upon it. He loved to recall also the grand festivities given by his father to King Louis XV, to Marie Antoinette, and to the Emperor and Empress Paul of Russia.”

In 1830 Marie Amélie, Queen of Louis Philippe of France, visited Chantilly with her son, Prince Henri d’Orléans, and was received by the last of the Condés. A fortnight later the news was brought there that this princely line had come to an end. It has been alleged that the unfortunate liaison which the Duke had contracted with a heartless and low-born woman—one Sophie Dawes, the daughter of a fisherman in the Isle of Wight, and known as the Baronne de Feuchères—contributed greatly to embitter the last days of his life. After pocketing all she could, Madame de Feuchères on the death of the Duke left for England rather suddenly, and from that time was heard of no more.

Louise, Princesse de Condé, died several years before her brother at the Temple as Prioress of the Benedictine Nuns. She had borne with much fortitude great trials; for during the Revolution she had to flee from place to place for safety, until she found at last a shelter within the walls of a convent—thus fulfilling the prophetic words of her friend, Gervaisais, “C’est un front à porter une couronne ... ou un voile de religieuse.”

CHAPTER X

THE DUC D’AUMALE LORD OF CHANTILLY

But Orléans Princes in those days had not so much leisure for mere recreation as had their predecessors. In that same year the Duc d’Orléans started for Algiers, taking with him the Duc d’Aumale, then only eighteen. In spite of his youth on the premature death of his elder brother he was entrusted with the command at Medea, where he distinguished himself greatly, and became so beloved that the tiny little Arab house which was his temporary residence there is still preserved by a grateful nation. Engaging in a variety of operations in Algeria, he brought this campaign to a brilliant ending in 1844 by a victory over Abdul Kader; by which he succeeded in capturing the concealed camp “La Smalah” where this chieftain and his staff had been residing. This victory was principally due to the young Duke’s great energy and powers of endurance. In the Musée Condé there is a room called “La Smalah,” where we may still see numerous paintings and sketches by Bellange and Horace Vernet illustrating this victorious African campaign.

On the Duke’s return from Algiers a marriage was arranged between him and Caroline Auguste de Bourbon, daughter of the Prince of Salerno and the Archduchess Marie Clementine, sister to Napoleon I’s second wife, Marie Louise of Austria. The nuptials were celebrated at Naples, and a few days later the young pair left for France, where they were impatiently expected by Queen Amélie, who was overjoyed to welcome one of her own relatives as her son’s bride.

It had been agreed that Chantilly should be the home of the newly married pair; and in 1843 the architect Duban received instructions to execute the necessary alterations; whilst to Eugène Lami—the same artist who painted the portrait of the young Duchess which now hangs over one of the doors of the Salle Caroline—was entrusted the decoration of the various apartments. The ground-floor apartments of the Petit Château—the same suite which the Grand Condé had selected for his son Henri Jules and his children—were the rooms chosen for the personal occupation of the Duke and Duchess.

In 1845 Louis Philippe paid a visit to his son at Chantilly, and made himself very popular on that occasion by telling his coachman to drive slowly across the Pelouse, because he had heard some ladies complain that if he drove so fast no one could see him.

The title of Condé was conferred upon the Duc d’Aumale’s eldest son, born at Saint-Cloud, in the hope that he would revive so illustrious a name. He was brought to Chantilly at the age of six months and remained there until the Duchess joined her husband at Algiers, where he had been nominated Governor. It was then proposed that extensive alterations at Chantilly should be carried out during the absence of the Duke and Duchess, and it was their intention to return thither in the following summer. Fate, however, decreed otherwise. In February 1848 Louis Philippe was compelled to abdicate in favour of his grandson, the Comte de Paris, then a mere child; and to avoid further difficulties the ex-King left immediately for England, and took up his residence at Claremont under the style of Comte de Neuilly. This unfortunate event obliged the Duc d’Aumale to resign his commission in the French army, to which he had rendered such signal service. He thenceforward resided with his family in England, chiefly at Twickenham, whither the larger part of the artistic furniture and works of art from Chantilly were transported. This was done at the special request of the Duchess, whose desire it was to reconstitute as far as possible her lost home in the land of their adoption. An Imperial Decree next commanded that all the properties of the Royal Family of France should be sold within a year. The sale of Chantilly—of course a fictitious one—was thereupon carried out by the English bankers Coutts & Co., who sent Colonel McCall, a representative of their own, to reside upon the estate. He dwelt in the Château d’Enghien, and administered the whole of the property on behalf of the Duke; whilst the Petit Château was let to Lord Cowley, who made it his summer residence. Later it was successively occupied by the Comte Dûchatel and the Duc de la Trémoille.

Twenty-three years later, after the disaster at Sedan and the fall of the second Empire, the Duc d’Aumale was once more permitted to return to Chantilly. Many changes had occurred during this long interval. The Duchess, overcome with grief at the death of her eldest son, the Prince de Condé, had died in exile. That young Prince was the last to bear this illustrious name. He is said to have been highly gifted, and to have possessed great qualities. He had been educated chiefly in England, and had distinguished himself in his studies at Oxford, where he showed a remarkable talent for languages. It was, however, his noble and affectionate character that specially endeared him to his parents.

Like his father he was filled with a passionate devotion for his native country. When the Crown of Greece was offered to the Duke, subject to a condition that the Heir-Apparent must change his religion and his nationality, although he had decided not to accept the honour, he thought it his duty to communicate the proposal to his son. Whereupon the lad wrote from Switzerland, where he was undergoing his military training, the following reply: “Having had the high fortune to be born a Frenchman and a Roman Catholic, I will ever remain French and Roman Catholic.”

Not long after this incident the young Prince started for a voyage round the world, but before its completion died of typhoid fever at Sydney in Australia.

The Duc d’Aumale on his return to Chantilly was accompanied only by his younger son, the Duc de Guise, and it was not possible even then for him to obtain possession of it. The Château and the Pavillon d’Enghien were still occupied by Prussian officers, whilst in the town of Chantilly there was a garrison of German soldiers who were holding the Mayor and the Vicar as hostages.

It was under such sad circumstances that the heir of the Condés saw once more the heritage from which he had parted so many years before. On attempting to enter the Park unobserved by a side gate his distinguished appearance awoke recognition in one of his old keepers who, bowing low and with tears in his eyes addressed him by name. Whereupon the Duke found it impossible to control his emotion.

As soon, however, as the German troops had departed, His Royal Highness entered upon his property and, in spite of all the sorrows which had fallen upon him since he had left his beloved home, he yet felt happy at being once more on French soil, and able to educate his only surviving son in his native land. The young Duc de Guise was sent to a college in Paris, but spent his holidays at Chantilly; and father and son, as in the time of the last two Condés, were often seen riding and hunting together in the park and woods. From time to time also the Archduchess Marie Clementine, mother of the late Duchess, visited at the Château.

In 1872 all the surviving members of the French Royal Family assembled at Chantilly to celebrate the wedding of Princesse Marguerite, daughter of the Duc de Nemours with Prince Ladislas Czartoysky; and on this occasion the great battle-pieces representing the military glories of the great Condé were replaced in the Gallery.

In the early spring of that year, King Edward and Queen Alexandra—then Prince and Princess of Wales—paid a visit to the Duc d’Aumale; with whom they had contracted a warm friendship during his residence in England.

But just when calm and happiness seemed to have at last returned to Chantilly, another heavy blow fell upon it. The young Duc de Guise was struck down by typhoid fever and died after a few days’ illness. With his sudden death all plans for the improvement of the Château and estate came to an abrupt standstill, for the heart-broken father had now to realise that, as he himself mournfully put it, “la dernière flamme de son foyer était éteinte.”

A new scheme now took shape in the heart of the Lord of Chantilly: a scheme at first kept to himself, and which had revolved in his mind long before he made it public. He intended to take France by surprise. This scheme was a no less magnificent one than to bestow Chantilly with all its appurtenances and contents upon the French nation. Once more the long interrupted design of the architect Duban, made before the exile of the Duke and Duchess, was recommenced: this time by M. Daumet, who undertook also the difficult task of rebuilding the Grand Château. After years of labour there arose once more upon the vaults of this famous fortress the present building, destined to become the Musée Condé, a veritable palace of Literature and Art. Its architecture, in order to harmonise with that of Montmorency’s Petit Château, is directly copied from sixteenth-century designs. But to erect the stately marble staircase with its splendid gilt iron railings, an undertaking which offered the greatest difficulties, it was necessary to pierce the solid rock. The Chapel, adorned by an elegant spire and full of valuable relics of the Montmorency and the Condé families, was also restored at this time. It contains an altar of Senlis marble, the joint work of Jean Bullant and Jean Goujon; and exquisite wood carvings, dated 1548, were brought from Écouen, an old seat of the Montmorency family. In the stained-glass windows (dated 1544) are represented the sons and daughters of Anne de Montmorency, whose effigy and that of his wife, Madeleine of Savoy, are painted on the wall by a modern painter from a cartoon by Lechevallier Chevignard.[17] The fine bronze monument to Henri II de Bourbon by Jacques Sarrazin has also found a permanent abode in this chapel. It was saved by Alexander Lenoir and presented to the Prince de Condé in 1815.

During the execution of these works Chantilly was frequently the scene of very interesting family gatherings. Queen Christina of Denmark, on the occasion of the marriage of her youngest son Waldemar to Princesse Marie, eldest daughter of the Duc de Chartres, made a lengthy stay at Chantilly; and not long afterwards Princess Marie Amélie, daughter of the Comte de Paris, was betrothed here to the Duke of Braganza, afterwards King of Portugal. But in that same year Republican France suddenly pronounced a further sentence of banishment upon all claimants to the French Throne—Royalist and Imperialist; in which order the Duc d’Aumale was included. In his quality of a General in the French Army, he protested against this, but without avail; and once more Chantilly was deserted. But this time it was not for long; for on returning with a heavy heart to his English home at Woodnorton and feeling his end drawing near the Duke resolved to make known immediately the act of munificence upon which he had so long decided. He therefore made public his intention of leaving Chantilly with all its forests, parks and lakes, and all its art-treasures to the care of the Members of the Institut de France, in trust for the French Nation. This was his dignified answer to the French Republic; and it made a deep and lasting impression in France. Nor was this act of generosity without immediate consequences, for shortly after a Decree signed by President Carnot was sent to the Duke with the assurance that France would welcome him back.

On March 9, 1889 he returned to Paris, and his first act was to present his thanks to the President, who seemed much touched by the words which he uttered upon this occasion. A hearty welcome greeted him from the people of Chantilly; and on his arrival at the station he was accompanied by a vast crowd to the door of the Château. A medal was cast in commemoration of this return, upon the obverse of which was a figure contemplating France from afar and the word “Spes”; upon the reverse a figure at the gates of the Château holding an olive-branch and the inscription “À S.A.R. Monseigneur le Duc d’Aumale; en souvenir du 11 mars 1889, les habitants de Chantilly reconnaissants.”

Subsequently an equestrian statue of the Duke was cast and placed near the entrance of the Château by the people of Chantilly, who regarded him and his ancestors as their benefactors. And it was here amongst his art treasures that he spent the last years of his eventful life.

SECOND PART

THE MUSEE CONDE

CHAPTER XI

THE ART TREASURES OF THE MUSÉE CONDÉ AND HOW THEY WERE BROUGHT TOGETHER

The first exhibition of his taste as a pronounced bibliophile was given by his acquiring the celebrated Standish Library, a collection originally bequeathed to Louis Philippe by the English collector Standish but sold by auction in 1851 on the death of that King. This remarkable collection contained numerous Aldine editions and hundreds of Italian and German incunabula. To this famous library the Duke next added that of M. Armand Cigongne, a collection composed almost exclusively of works in French—volumes of prose and poetry, exquisitely bound, and many of them still bearing the coats-of-arms and book-plates of former proprietors.

The most important acquisition, however, (added in 1855), was the famous illuminated MS. known as Les Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, an unique example of primitive French Art, to a description of which we shall return later on.

In course of time other additions were made of great value and interest: such as, for instance, Les Fables de Marie de France, Le Roman d’Aspremont (thirteenth century), a copious selection of ballads and songs of the fourteenth century, and many other works of note, amongst them being a copy in four volumes of the Songs of Laborde, illustrated with original designs by Moreau.

In the year 1861 the Duc d’Aumale, for the moderate sum of 14,000 francs, purchased from the well-known connoisseur M. Reiset a collection of no less than 380 drawings by Italian, Flemish, Dutch, and German masters. Amongst these may be specially noted: A Reading Monk, by Raphael (hung in the Galerie du Logis), and a design, dated approximately 1505, which approaches in execution the St. Catherine in the Gallery of the Louvre.[18] Here are also drawings attributed to Verrocchio: a Warrior on Horseback, five studies of horses, and an interesting drawing of A Man and Woman, all in the style of Pisanello.

La Joconde (also in the Galerie du Logis), a cartoon for the picture attributed to Leonardo da Vinci at St. Petersburg, came from the Reiset Collection, as also did studies for Signorelli’s Last Judgment at Orvieto; studies for Michael Angelo’s Prophets in the Sixtine Chapel; and drawings by Fra Bartolomeo for his great composition in the Pitti. A fine group of eleven figures by Lucas van Leyden, illustrating The Return of the Prodigal Son, is one of the most important items in this series; and a study of a Virgin by Dürer, an interesting Portrait by Holbein the elder, a Mountainous Landscape by Rembrandt, and certain studies of costume attributed to Pisanello, etc., are all worthy of more than a passing notice.

Orléans House was soon found to be far too small to contain all these treasures, and an annexe was built to it. The Duc d’Aumale presently organised an exhibition, to which he invited the members of the Burlington Fine Arts Club. Disraeli, who was present, and was much struck by what he saw on that occasion, referred to him in his speech at the anniversary of the Foundation of the Royal Literary Fund in the following appropriate words: “Happy the prince who, though exiled from his palaces and military pursuits through no fault of his own, finds a consolation in books and an occupation in the rich domain of Art. Happy the prince who, whilst living on terms of equality with the people of a strange country, still distinguishes himself by the superiority of his noble mind and character. Happy the prince who in adverse circumstances can defy fate and make conquests in the kingdom of letters, which cannot, like dynastic authority, be taken away from him.” The great statesman here alluded to the stupendous historical work in seven volumes on the History of the Princes de Condé upon which the Duke was at that time occupied.

It must be remembered that these more recent acquisitions were supplementary to the already existing collection which His Royal Highness had inherited as heir to the last Prince de Condé—a collection which comprised, amongst other things, two fine Van Dycks (the Princesse de Barbançon and the Comte de Berghe), paintings by Christophe Huet, by Desportes and by Oudry, and precious Gobelins and Beauvais tapestries.

Furthermore yet another collection came into the Duke’s possession on the death of his father-in-law, the Prince of Salerno, and with it no less than seventy-two paintings, including works by Andrea del Sarto, Luca Longhi, Giulio Romano, Luca Penni, Perin del Vaga, Daniele di Volterra, Baroccio, Bronzino, Mazzola, Carracci, a Portrait by Moroni, a Guido Reni, a Spada, an Albano, a Portrait of Himself by Guercino, a fine Madonna by Sassoferrato, two landscapes by Gaspar Dughet, and several paintings by Salvator Rosa.

Examples of the Northern Schools in this same collection include portraits of Elisabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia, daughter of James I of England, by Mierevelt and of the Duke of Neubourg by Van Dyck.

In the Salerno Collection is an interesting little work by Ingres representing Paolo Malatesta and Francesca da Rimini in the ecstasy of their first kiss, and also a portrait of a Young Woman by Van Loo and some fine mosaics from Herculaneum and Pompeii.

Although this Salerno Collection is full of interest in itself, compared with later acquisitions it is but of secondary importance. It was French Art that chiefly attracted the Duke, and he consequently missed no opportunity of extending his purchases in that direction. From the well-known firm of Colnaghi in Pall Mall he bought portraits of members of the Valois family, such as, for instance, Henri II as a child (attributed to Clouet), and as King by Primaticcio; the Comte de Cossé Brissac; Madame and Mademoiselle de Longueville, by Beauburn; and other portraits by Mignard, Largillière, etc.

At the Bernal Sale in 1855 he acquired for 6,000 francs the much-discussed portrait of Odet de Coligny; portraits of Queen Eleonore, of Henri II, of Henri III, of Elisabeth of Austria, and of Louis XIV, the last named of these being by Hyacinthe Rigaud.

At the famous Utterson Sale the Prince acquired some of those wonderful sixteenth-century French drawings which formed the nucleus of his unique collection of this branch of art; and at about the same period he also bought a number of engravings, amongst which were fine examples by Marc Antonio Raimondi and Rembrandt.

From the collection of his brother the Duke of Orleans he bought The Assassination of the Duc de Guise by Delaroche, and a painting by Descamps; and at the Lawrence Sale in 1856 secured a portrait of his ancestor Philippe Egalité by Sir Joshua Reynolds. This was apparently a sketch for the life-size portrait commissioned by the Prince of Wales (afterwards George IV) during the French Prince’s exile in England. The larger picture, formerly at Carlton House, was destroyed by fire in 1820, which greatly enhances the value of the sketch at Chantilly.

The portraits of Mazarin and Richelieu by Philippe de Champaigne, now at Chantilly, were formerly at Château d’Eu, and formed part of Louis Philippe’s collection, as also did de Troy’s Déjeuner d’Huîtres and Lancret’s Déjeuner de Jambon. From the same source came two splendid cabinets by Riesener and the Beauvais furniture now in one of the salons of the Petit Château.

The Prince was evidently a great admirer of Poussin, for in 1854 he acquired for 9,175 francs the celebrated Massacre of the Innocents, and in 1860 another work by the same master, Thésée découvrant l’épée de son père, which is typical of that artist’s particular style.

At the Northwick Sale in 1859 yet another Poussin, The Infancy of Bacchus, was added; besides a large panel by Perugino, an early work, once in the Church of San Girolamo at Lucca. An interesting painting representing a Dance of Angels, probably by a Sienese master of the fifteenth century, came also from this same sale. Titian’s Ecce Homo was bought for 15,000 francs from the Averoldi family of Brescia, for whom it is said to have been painted.[19]

The Woman taken in Adultery (attributed to Giorgione), The Martyrdom of St. Stephen by Annibale Carracci, and Mars and Venus by Paolo Veronese were bought in London in 1860 from M. Nieuwenhuys; and in 1864 at a public sale in Paris the celebrated painting by Ingres representing The Story of Antiochus and Stratonice fell, amid general applause, to the lot of the Duc d’Aumale for 92,100 francs.

Rosa Bonheur’s A Shepherd in the Pyrenees, presented by the Duke to his wife, was acquired next, together with Gérome’s Le Duel après le Bal and Protais’ Avant et après le Combat.

From the Soltykoff Sale in Paris, for the sum of 54,000 francs, came the four large portraits in Limoges enamel representing Henri d’Albret, King of Navarre, Antoine de Bourbon, Louis de Bourbon, and Catherine de Lorraine.