Produced by David Widger
Being the Secret Memoirs of the Mother of the Regent,
MADAME ELIZABETH-CHARLOTTE OF BAVARIA, DUCHESSE D'ORLEANS.
Complete
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The Duchesse d'Orleans, commonly though incorrectly styled the Princessof Bavaria, was known to have maintained a very extensive correspondencewith her relations and friends in different parts of Europe. Nearlyeight hundred of her letters, written to the Princess WilhelminaCharlotte of Wales and the Duke Antoine-Ulric of Brunswick, were foundamongst the papers left by the Duchess Elizabeth of Brunswick at herdeath, in 1767. These appeared to be so curious that the Court ofBrunswick ordered De Praun, a Privy Councillor, to make extracts of suchparts as were most interesting. A copy of his extracts was sent toFrance, where it remained a long time without being published.In 1788, however, an edition appeared, but so mutilated and disfigured,either through the prudence of the editor or the scissors of the censor,that the more piquant traits of the correspondence had entirelydisappeared. The bold, original expressions of the German were modifiedand enfeebled by the timid translator, and all the names of individualsand families were suppressed, except when they carried with them no sortof responsibility. A great many passages of the original correspondencewere omitted, while, to make up for the deficiencies, the editor inserteda quantity of pedantic and useless notes. In spite of all these faultsand the existence of more faithful editions, this translation wasreprinted in 1807. The existence of any other edition being unknown toits editor, it differed in nothing from the preceding, except that thedates of some of the letters were suppressed, a part of the notes cutout, and some passages added from the Memoirs of Saint-Simon, togetherwith a life, or rather panegyric, of the Princess, which bore no slightresemblance to a village homily.
A copy of the extracts made by M. de Praun fell by some chance into thehands of Count de Veltheim, under whose direction they were published atStrasburg, in 1789, with no other alterations than the correction of theobsolete and vicious orthography of the Princess.
In 1789 a work was published at Dantzick, in Germany, entitled,Confessions of the Princess Elizabeth-Charlotte of Orleans, extractedfrom her letters addressed, between the years 1702 and 1722, to herformer governess, Madame de Harling, and her husband. The editor assertsthat this correspondence amounted to nearly four hundred letters. Agreat part of these are only repetitions of what she had before writtento the Princess of Wales and the Duke of Brunswick. Since that period nonew collections have appeared, although it is sufficiently well knownthat other manuscripts are in existence.
In 1820 M. Schutz published at Leipsig the Life and Character ofElizabeth-Charlotte, Duchesse d'Orleans, with an Extract of the moreremarkable parts of her Correspondence. This is made up of the twoGerman editions of 1789 and 1791; but the editor adopted a newarrangement, and suppressed such of the dates and facts as he considereduseless. His suppressions, however, were not very judicious; withoutdates one is at a loss to know to what epoch the facts related by thePrincess ought to be referred, and the French proper names are asincorrect as in the edition of Strasburg.