Description:

Directory French 1795 - 1799
Lord Malmesbury visits Paris during the French Directory - incredible content!

3pp bifold AM discussing British diplomat Lord Malmesbury in the third person, and inscribed "Lord Malmesbury" in the docket section of the fourth blank page. Written in English with a few scattered French words and quotations. In near fine condition, with expected paper folds and a few minor ink smears. Each page measures 7.25" x 9.125".

The manuscript is unsigned and unfinished, but packed with amazing content. Seemingly each line contains first-hand observations about French politics, society, religion, economy, and finance in the nation's capital in the late 1790s. The future Lord Malmesbury visited Paris circa 1796-1797, when he tried to negotiate with members of the five-person French Directory. The unknown narrator was clearly an intimate of Lord Malmesbury, and perhaps a diplomatic colleague.

"Poverty is seen in the extreme in all the villages, Towns - apparent, Real Riches among it the Farmers who purchased land cheap of the confiscated Estates have brought it to the highest state of Cultivation. No paper Money at all at Paris rien que l'or & l'Argent [gold and silver] few shops open work ... a frock costs 7 Guineas ... [Lord Malmesbury] neither receives Company or visit[s] which is prudent & awards all Cabal or Intrigue but does not please the Ruling People who wish to see them more in their society. Boissy d'Anglas & Thibadeau said ["Court ambassadors always go into society but those that they must most see don't want to go out"] ...Hackney Coaches & fabrioles to the amount of many Hundred are upon the stand in the old way. The gentry at Paris can not [sic] afford to live well. The Directory never appear ... The great Hotels are deserted many of the old Noblesse living there in fear & trembling ... The Hotel de Salm is litterally [sic] inhabited by a Hairdresser & one servant ... The Beauty of Paris, a Manselle de Sange of the opera kept by a Monsieur Simon, who was formerly a Brussels Coach Maker. The Members of the Two Councils live in wretched Garrets & such places - The Roads good & the Ports remarkably well served with Horses. The Police in Paris better than ever not so in the Environs ---- [unfinished]"

The narrator describes a new, alien, and ever-changing French society. When this manuscript was written, the French Revolution had almost run its course, the king was dead, the Terror was over, and a novel Constitution organized French government around a Directory and a bicameral legislature comprised of the upper house (Council of Ancients or Elders) and a lower house (Council of 500). So many violent political upheavals over a short period had destabilized French society. Poverty was widespread, prices were high, and only hard currency was accepted. Infrastructure was reliable, but some were out of work. The clergy was almost non-existent. Dress and gender roles had changed so that "the women of Paris ... dress in jockey caps & wigs in a morning ... most Women Marry & are Divorced immediately after & in shot live in common with any Man".

Our narrator writes ironically about the upheaval. He refered to a new distribution of wealth, where farmers cultivated the "confiscated Estates" of guillotined aristocrats, a hairdresser lived in a former prince's palace, and important politicians "live in wretched Garrets & such places". The economic structure has been completely upended, and as a result, the "old Nobless liv[e] in fear & trembling". The French, once so eager to kill their king, now shouted "Vive le Roi d'Angleterre" [Long live the King of England!] to his emissary, Lord Malmesbury. "All sentiments tending to Aristocracy & old times are violently applauded - particular marks of disgust are shown when Robespierre's times are alluded to ... "

The Directory ruled between 1795 and 1799, when it was overthrown by Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821). James Harris, 1st Earl of Malmesbury (1746-1820) represented British interests in Spain, Germany, Russia, and France from the late 1760s to late 1790s. He conducted a "peace mission" to Directorate France in 1796-1797, which was largely unsuccessful.

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