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AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A POCKET-HANDKERCHIEF by James Fenimore Cooper
{This text has been transcribed, corrected, and annotated from its original periodical appearance in Graham's
Magazine (Jan Apr. 1843), by Hugh C. MacDougall, Secretary of the James Fenimore Cooper Society
(jfcooper@wpe.com), who welcomes corrections or emendations.}
{Introductory Note: "Autobiography of a Pocket-Handkerchief" was James Fenimore Cooper's first serious
attempt at magazine writing, and Graham's Magazine would publish other contributions from him over the
next few years, notably a series of biographic sketches of American naval officers, and the novel "Jack Tier;
or The Florida Reef" (1846- 1848). Though hardly one of Cooper's greatest works, "Autobiography" remains
significant because of: (1) its unusual narrator an embroidered pocket-handkerchief that is surely the first
of its kind; (2) its critique of economic exploitation in France and of the crass commercial climate of
ante-bellum America; and, (3) its constant exploration of American social, moral, and cultural issues. This
said, it must be admitted that the telling of Adrienne's sad plight in Paris becomes a bit overwrought; and that
the inept wooing of Mary Monson by the social cad Tom Thurston is so drawn out and sarcastic as to suggest
snobbery on Cooper's part as well as on that of his elite hanky. Finally, the heroine-handkerchief's protracted
failure to recognize her maker, when she has proved so sensitive to her surroundings in every other fashion, is
simply unbelievable. Still, there is enough to reward today's reader, if only in the story's unique "point of
view" and in the recognizable foibles of Henry Halfacre and his social-climbing daughter.}
{The text is taken from the novelette's original appearance in Graham's Magazine, Vol. XXII, pp. 1-18,
89-102, 158-167, 205-213 (January- April) 1843. "Autobiography" was simultaneously issued as a separate
number of Brother Jonathan magazine (March 22, 1843), under the title "Le Mouchoir: An Autobiographical
Romance." Also in 1843 it was published in London by Richard Bentley as "The French Governess; or, the
Embroidered Handkerchief." A German translation quickly followed, as "Die franzosischer Erzieheren, oder
das gestickte Taschentuch" (Stuttgart: Lieschning, 1845, reprinted 1849). Interest in the book then lapsed. The
Brother Jonathan and Bentley editions divided the story into 18 chapters (as we have in this transcription).}
{At the end of the century a limited scholarly edition (500 copies) appeared, edited by Walter Lee Brown, the
first scholary treatment of any Cooper work, noting variations between the original manuscript and the various
published texts: "Autobiography of a Pocket-Handkerchief" (Evanston, IL: The Golden-Booke Press, 1897).
Another edition, unannotated and taken from the Graham's Magazine version, was printed half a century later
as a Festschrift (farewell testimonial) for retiring Cooper scholar Gregory Lansing Paine of the University of
North Carolina: "Autobiography of A Pocket-Handkerchief" (Chapel Hill: Privately printed, 1949).
"Autobiography" was never included in published collections of James Fenimore Cooper's "Works," and this
scarcity is an important reason for making it available to scholars everywhere through the Gutenberg Project.}
{ Because of the limitations imposed by the Gutenberg Project format, italics used by Cooper to indicate
foreign words are ignored, as are accents; while italics Cooper used for emphasis are usually indicated by
ALL CAPITALS. Unless otherwise indicated, translations are from the French. The spelling and punctuation
of the Graham's Magazine periodical text have generally been followed, except that certain inconsistent
contractions (e.g., "do n't" or "do'nt" for "don't") have been silently regularized.}
Information prepared by the Project Gutenberg legal advisor 5
{I have annotated the edition identified by {curly brackets} to translate most of the French words and
expressions which Cooper frequently employs, to define occasional now-obsolete English words, and to
identify historical names and other references. Cooper frequently alludes, in the beginning of the work, to
events and persons involved in the French Revolution of 1830, which he had witnessed while living in Paris,
and about which the beginning of the plot revolves.}
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A POCKET-HANDKERCHIEF
CHAPTER I.
{
Chapter numbers
inserted from non-periodical editions of "Autobiography."}
Certain moral philosophers, with a due disdain of the flimsy foundations of human pride, have shown that
every man is equally descended from a million of ancestors, within a given number of generations; thereby
demonstrating that no prince exists who does not participate in the blood of some beggar, or any beggar who
does not share in the blood of princes. Although favored by a strictly vegetable descent myself, the laws of
nature have not permitted me to escape from the influence of this common rule. The earliest accounts I
possess of my progenitors represent them as a goodly growth of the Linum Usitatissimum, divided into a
thousand cotemporaneous plants, singularly well conditioned, and remarkable for an equality that renders the
production valuable. In this particular, then, I may be said to enjoy a precedency over the Bourbons,
themselves, who now govern no less than four different states of Europe, and who have sat on thrones these
thousand years.
{Linum Usitatissimum = Linum usitatissimum (Cooper's capitalization varies) is the botanical name for the
variety of flax from which linen is made}
While our family has followed the general human law in the matter just mentioned, it forms a marked
exception to the rule that so absolutely controls all of white blood, on this continent, in what relates to
immigration and territorial origin. When the American enters on the history of his ancestors, he is driven, after
some ten or twelve generations at most, to seek refuge in a country in Europe; whereas exactly the reverse is
the case with us, our most remote extraction being American, while our more recent construction and
education have taken place in Europe. When I speak of the "earliest accounts I possess of my progenitors,"
authentic information is meant only; for, like other races, we have certain dark legends that might possibly
carry us back again to the old world in quest of our estates and privileges. But, in writing this history, it has
been my determination from the first, to record nothing but settled truths, and to reject everything in the shape
of vague report or unauthenticated anecdote. Under these limitations, I have ever considered my family as
American by origin, European by emigration, and restored to its paternal soil by the mutations and
calculations of industry and trade.
The glorious family of cotemporaneous plants from which I derive my being, grew in a lovely vale of
Connecticut, and quite near to the banks of the celebrated river of the same name. This renders us strictly
Yankee in our origin, an extraction of which I find all who enjoy it fond of boasting. It is the only subject of
self-felicitation with which I am acquainted that men can indulge in, without awakening the envy of their
fellow-creatures; from which I infer it is at least innocent, if not commendable.
We have traditions among us of the enjoyments of our predecessors, as they rioted in the fertility of their
cis-atlantic field; a happy company of thriving and luxuriant plants. Still, I shall pass them over, merely
CHAPTER I. 6
remarking that a bountiful nature has made such provision for the happiness of all created things as enables
each to rejoice in its existence, and to praise, after its fashion and kind, the divine Being to which it owes its
creation.
{cis-atlantic = this side of the Atlantic (Latin)}
In due time, the field in which my forefathers grew was gathered, the seed winnowed from the chaff and
collected in casks, when the whole company was shipped for Ireland. Now occurred one of those chances
which decide the fortunes of plants, as well as those of men, giving me a claim to Norman, instead of Milesian
descent. The embarkation, or shipment of my progenitors, whichever may be the proper expression, occurred
in the height of the last general war, and, for a novelty, it occurred in an English ship. A French privateer
captured the vessel on her passage home, the flaxseed was condemned and sold, my ancestors being
transferred in a body to the ownership of a certain agriculturist in the neighborhood of Evreux, who dealt
largely in such articles. There have been evil disposed vegetables that have seen fit to reproach us with this
sale as a stigma on our family history, but I have ever considered it myself as a circumstance of which one has
no more reason to be ashamed than a D'Uzes has to blush for the robberies of a baron of the middle ages. Each
is an incident in the progress of civilization; the man and the vegetable alike taking the direction pointed out
by Providence for the fulfilment of his or its destiny.
{Milesian = slang for Irish, from Milesius, mythical Spanish conqueror of Ireland; Evreux = town in
Normandy, France; a D'Uzes = a member of an ancient noble family in southern France}
Plants have sensation as well as animals. The latter, however, have no consciousness anterior to their physical
births, and very little, indeed, for some time afterwards; whereas a different law prevails as respects us; our
mental conformation being such as to enable us to refer our moral existence to a period that embraces the
experience, reasoning and sentiments of several generations. As respects logical inductions, for instance, the
linum usitatissimum draws as largely on the intellectual acquisitions of the various epochas that belonged to
the three or four parent stems which preceded it, as on its own. In a word, that accumulated knowledge which
man inherits by means of books, imparted and transmitted information, schools, colleges, and universities, we
obtain through more subtle agencies that are incorporated with our organic construction, and which form a
species of hereditary mesmerism; a vegetable clairvoyance that enables us to see with the eyes, hear with the
ears, and digest with the understandings of our predecessors.
{epochas = archaic Latinized spelling of epochs}
Some of the happiest moments of my moral existence were thus obtained, while our family was growing in
the fields of Normandy. It happened that a distinguished astronomer selected a beautiful seat, that was placed
on the very margin of our position, as a favorite spot for his observations and discourses; from a recollection
of the latter of which, in particular, I still derive indescribable satisfaction. It seems as only yesterday it is in
fact fourteen long, long years that I heard him thus holding forth to his pupils, explaining the marvels of the
illimitable void, and rendering clear to my understanding the vast distance that exists between the Being that
created all things and the works of his hands. To those who live in the narrow circle of human interests and
human feelings, there ever exists, unheeded, almost unnoticed, before their very eyes, the most humbling
proofs of their own comparative insignificance in the scale of creation, which, in the midst of their admitted
mastery over the earth and all it contains, it would be well for them to consider, if they would obtain just
views of what they are and what they were intended to be.
I think I can still hear this learned and devout man for his soul was filled with devotion to the dread Being
that could hold a universe in subjection to His will dwelling with delight on all the discoveries among the
heavenly bodies, that the recent improvements in science and mechanics have enabled the astronomers to
make. Fortunately, he gave his discourses somewhat of the progressive character of lectures, leading his
listeners on, as it might be step by step, in a way to render all easy to the commonest understanding. Thus it
Chapter numbers 7
was, I first got accurate notions of the almost inconceivable magnitude of space, to which, indeed, it is
probable there are no more positive limits than there are a beginning and an end to eternity! Can these
wonders be, I thought and how pitiful in those who affect to reduce all things to the level of their own powers
of comprehension, and their own experience in practice! Let them exercise their sublime and boasted reason, I
said to myself, in endeavoring to comprehend infinity in any thing, and we will note the result! If it be in
space, we shall find them setting bounds to their illimitable void, until ashamed of the feebleness of their first
effort, it is renewed, again and again, only to furnish new proofs of the insufficiency of any of earth, even to
bring within the compass of their imaginations truths that all their experiments, inductions, evidence and
revelations compel them to admit.
"The moon has no atmosphere," said our astronomer one day, "and if inhabited at all, it must be by beings
constructed altogether differently from ourselves. Nothing that has life, either animal or vegetable as we know
them, can exist without air, and it follows that nothing having life, according to our views of it, can exist in
the moon: or, if any thing having life do exist there, it must be under such modifications of all our known
facts, as to amount to something like other principles of being." "One side of that planet feels the genial
warmth of the sun for a fortnight, while the other is for the same period without it," he continued. "That which
feels the sun must be a day, of a heat so intense as to render it insupportable to us, while the opposite side on
which the rays of the sun do not fall, must be masses of ice, if water exist there to be congealed. But the moon
has no seas, so far as we can ascertain; its surface representing one of strictly volcanic origin, the mountains
being numerous to a wonderful degree. Our instruments enable us to perceive craters, with the inner cones so
common to all our own volcanoes, giving reason to believe in the activity of innumerable burning hills at
some remote period. It is scarcely necessary to say, that nothing we know could live in the moon under these
rapid and extreme transitions of heat and cold, to say nothing of the want of atmospheric air." I listened to this
with wonder, and learned to be satisfied with my station. Of what moment was it to me, in filling the destiny
of the linum usitatissimum, whether I grew in a soil a little more or a little less fertile; whether my fibres
attained the extremest fineness known to the manufacturer, or fell a little short of this excellence. I was but a
speck among a myriad of other things produced by the hand of the Creator, and all to conduce to his own wise
ends and unequaled glory. It was my duty to live my time, to be content, and to proclaim the praise of God
within the sphere assigned to me. Could men or plants but once elevate their thoughts to the vast scale of
creation, it would teach them their own insignificance so plainly, would so unerringly make manifest the
futility of complaints, and the immense disparity between time and eternity, as to render the useful lesson of
contentment as inevitable as it is important.
I remember that our astronomer, one day, spoke of the nature and magnitude of the sun. The manner that he
chose to render clear to the imagination of his hearers some just notions of its size, though so familiar to
astronomers, produced a deep and unexpected impression on me. "Our instruments," he said, "are now so
perfect and powerful, as to enable us to ascertain many facts of the deepest interest, with near approaches to
positive accuracy. The moon being the heavenly body much the nearest to us, of course we see farther into its
secrets than into those of any other planet. We have calculated its distance from us at 237,000 miles. Of
course by doubling this distance, and adding to it the diameter of the earth, we get the diameter of the circle,
or orbit, in which the moon moves around the earth. In other words the diameter of this orbit is about 480,000
miles. Now could the sun be brought in contact with this orbit, and had the latter solidity to mark its
circumference, it would be found that this circumference would include but a little more than half the surface
of one side of the sun, the diameter of which orb is calculated to be 882,000 miles! The sun is one million
three hundred and eighty-four thousand four hundred and seventy-two times larger than the earth. Of the
substance of the sun it is not so easy to speak. Still it is thought, though it is not certain, that we occasionally
see the actual surface of this orb, an advantage we do not possess as respects any other of the heavenly bodies,
with the exception of the moon and Mars. The light and warmth of the sun probably exist in its atmosphere,
and the spots which are so often seen on this bright orb, are supposed to be glimpses of the solid mass of the
sun itself, that are occasionally obtained through openings in this atmosphere. At all events, this is the more
consistent way of accounting for the appearance of these spots. You will get a better idea of the magnitude of
the sidereal system, however, by remembering that, in comparison with it, the distances of our entire solar
Chapter numbers 8
system are as mere specks. Thus, while our own change of positions is known to embrace an orbit of about
200,000,000 of miles, it is nevertheless so trifling as to produce no apparent change of position in thousands
of the fixed stars that are believed to be the suns of other systems. Some conjecture even that all these suns,
with their several systems, our own included, revolve around a common centre that is invisible to us, but
which is the actual throne of God; the comets that we note and measure being heavenly messengers, as it
might be, constantly passing from one of these families of worlds to another."
I remember that one of the astronomer's pupils asked certain explanations here, touching the planets that it
was thought, or rather known, that we could actually see, and those of which the true surfaces were believed
to be concealed from us. "I have told you," answered the man of science, "that they are the Moon, Mars and
the Sun. Both Venus and Mercury are nearer to us than Mars, but their relative proximities to the sun have
some such effect on their surfaces, as placing an object near a strong light is known to have on its appearance.
We are dazzled, to speak popularly, and cannot distinguish minutely. With Mars it is different. If this planet
has any atmosphere at all, it is one of no great density, and its orbit being without our own, we can easily trace
on its surface the outlines of seas and continents. It is even supposed that the tinge of the latter is that of
reddish sand-stone, like much of that known in our own world, but more decided in tint, while two brilliant
white spots, at its poles, are thought to be light reflected from the snows of those regions, rendered more
conspicuous, or disappearing, as they first emerge from a twelvemonths' winter, or melt in a summer of equal
duration."
I could have listened forever to this astronomer, whose lectures so profoundly taught lessons of humility to
the created, and which were so replete with silent eulogies on the power of the Creator! What was it to me
whether I were a modest plant, of half a cubit in stature, or the proudest oak of the forest man or vegetable?
My duty was clearly to glorify the dread Being who had produced all these marvels, and to fulfil my time in
worship, praise and contentment. It mattered not whether my impressions were derived through organs called
ears, and were communicated by others called those of speech, or whether each function was performed by
means of sensations and agencies too subtle to be detected by ordinary means. It was enough for me that I
heard and understood, and felt the goodness and glory of God. I may say that my first great lessons in true
philosophy were obtained in these lectures, where I learned to distinguish between the finite and infinite,
ceasing to envy any, while I inclined to worship one. The benevolence of Providence is extended to all its
creatures, each receiving it in a mode adapted to its own powers of improvement. My destiny being toward a
communion with man or rather with woman I have ever looked upon these silent communications with the
astronomer as so much preparatory schooling, in order that my mind might be prepared for its own avenir, and
not be blinded by an undue appreciation of the importance of its future associates. I know there are those who
will sneer at the supposition of a pocket-handkerchief possessing any mind, or esprit, at all; but let such have
patience and read on, when I hope it will be in my power to demonstrate their error.
{avenir = future; esprit = soul or vital spirit }
CHAPTER II.
It is scarcely necessary to dwell on the scenes which occurred between the time I first sprang from the earth
and that in which I was "pulled." The latter was a melancholy day for me, however, arriving prematurely as
regarded my vegetable state, since it was early determined that I was to be spun into threads of unusual
fineness. I will only say, here, that my youth was a period of innocent pleasures, during which my chief
delight was to exhibit my simple but beautiful flowers, in honor of the hand that gave them birth.
At the proper season, the whole field was laid low, when a scene of hurry and confusion succeeded, to which I
find it exceedingly painful to turn in memory. The "rotting" was the most humiliating part of the process
which followed, though, in our case, this was done in clear running water, and the "crackling" the most
uncomfortable. Happily, we were spared the anguish which ordinarily accompanies breaking on the wheel,
CHAPTER II. 9
though we could not be said to have entirely escaped from all its parade. Innocence was our shield, and while
we endured some of the disgrace that attaches to mere forms, we had that consolation of which no cruelty or
device can deprive the unoffending. Our sorrows were not heightened by the consciousness of undeserving.
{"rotting" was = to prepare flax for weaving as linen it is softened (technically, "retted") by soaking in
water, separated from its woody fibers by beating ("scutched" this seems to be what Cooper means by
"crackling"), and finally combed ("hatcheled")}
There is a period, which occurred between the time of being "hatcheled" and that of being "woven," that it
exceeds my powers to delineate. All around me seemed to be in a state of inextricable confusion, out of which
order finally appeared in the shape of a piece of cambric, of a quality that brought the workmen far and near to
visit it. We were a single family of only twelve, in this rare fabric, among which I remember that I occupied
the seventh place in the order of arrangement, and of course in the order of seniority also. When properly
folded, and bestowed in a comfortable covering, our time passed pleasantly enough, being removed from all
disagreeable sights and smells, and lodged in a place of great security, and indeed of honor, men seldom
failing to bestow this attention on their valuables.
{cambric = a fine white linen, originally from Cambray in Flanders}
It is out of my power to say precisely how long we remained in this passive state in the hands of the
manufacturer. It was some weeks, however, if not months; during which our chief communications were on
the chances of our future fortunes. Some of our number were ambitious, and would hear to nothing but the
probability, nay, the certainty, of our being purchased, as soon as our arrival in Paris should be made known,
by the king, in person, and presented to the dauphine, then the first lady in France. The virtues of the
Duchesse d'Angouleme were properly appreciated by some of us, while I discovered that others entertained
for her any feelings but those of veneration and respect. This diversity of opinion, on a subject of which one
would think none of us very well qualified to be judges, was owing to a circumstance of such every-day
occurrence as almost to supersede the necessity of telling it, though the narrative would be rendered more
complete by an explanation.
{Dauphine = Crown Princess; Duchesse d'Angouleme = Marie Therese Charlotte (1778-1851), the Dauphine,
daughter of King Louis XVI and wife of Louis Antoine of Artois, Duke of Angouleme, eldest son of King
Charles X she lost her chance to become queen when her father-in- law abdicated the French throne in
1830 Napoleon said of her that she was "the only man in her family"}
It happened, while we lay in the bleaching grounds, that one half of the piece extended into a part of the field
that came under the management of a legitimist, while the other invaded the dominions of a liberal. Neither of
these persons had any concern with us, we being under the special superintendence of the head workman, but
it was impossible, altogether impossible, to escape the consequences of our locales. While the legitimist read
nothing but the Moniteur, the liberal read nothing but Le Temps, a journal then recently established, in the
supposed interests of human freedom. Each of these individuals got a paper at a certain hour, which he read
with as much manner as he could command, and with singular perseverance as related to the difficulties to be
overcome, to a clientele of bleachers, who reasoned as he reasoned, swore by his oaths, and finally arrived at
all his conclusions. The liberals had the best of it as to numbers, and possibly as to wit, the Moniteur
possessing all the dullness of official dignity under all the dynasties and ministries that have governed France
since its establishment. My business, however, is with the effect produced on the pocket-handkerchiefs, and
not with that produced on the laborers. The two extremes were regular cotes gauches and cotes droits. In other
words, all at the right end of the piece became devoted Bourbonists, devoutly believing that princes, who were
daily mentioned with so much reverence and respect, could be nothing else but perfect; while the opposite
extreme were disposed to think that nothing good could come of Nazareth. In this way, four of our number
became decided politicians, not only entertaining a sovereign contempt for the sides they respectively
opposed, but beginning to feel sensations approaching to hatred for each other.
CHAPTER II. 10
{bleaching grounds = open spaces where newly woven linen is spread to whiten in the sun; legitimist = this
paragraph refers to controversies, before the French "July Revolution" of 1830, between rightist ("cote droit"
= right side) legitimists, who read the official "Moniteur" newspaper and supported the absolutist Bourbon
monarchy of King Charles X, and leftist ("cote gauche" = left side) liberals, who read "Le Temps" and argued
for reform or revolution; "nothing good could come of Nazareth" = from the Bible, John, I, 46: "Can any good
thing come out of Nazareth"}
The reader will readily understand that these feelings lessened toward the centre of the piece, acquiring most
intensity at the extremes. I may be said, myself, to have belonged to the centre gauche, that being my
accidental position in the fabric, when it was a natural consequence to obtain sentiments of this shade. It will
be seen, in the end, how prominent were these early impressions, and how far it is worth while for mere
pocket-handkerchiefs to throw away their time, and permit their feelings to become excited concerning
interests that they are certainly not destined to control, and about which, under the most favorable
circumstances, they seldom obtain other than very questionable information.
{centre gauche = center left, i.e., moderate left}
It followed from this state of feeling, that the notion we were about to fall into the hands of the unfortunate
daughter of Louis XVI excited considerable commotion and disgust among us. Though very moderate in my
political antipathies and predilections, I confess to some excitement in my own case, declaring that if royalty
WAS to be my lot, I would prefer not to ascend any higher on the scale than to become the property of that
excellent princess, Amelie, who then presided in the Palais Royal, the daughter and sister of a king, but with
as little prospects as desires of becoming a queen in her own person. This wish of mine was treated as
groveling, and even worse than republican, by the cote droit of our piece, while the cote gauche sneered at it
as manifesting a sneaking regard for station without the spirit to avow it. Both were mistaken, however; no
unworthy sentiments entering into my decision. Accident had made me acquainted with the virtues of this
estimable woman, and I felt assured that she would treat even a pocket- handkerchief kindly. This early
opinion has been confirmed by her deportment under very trying and unexpected events. I wish, as I believe
she wishes herself, she had never been a queen.
{daughter of Louis XVI = the dauphine, Marie Therese Charlotte, Duchesse d'Angouleme, mentioned above;
Amelie = Marie Amelie (1782-1866), daughter of King Ferdinand IV of Naples, sister of King Francis I of
The Two Sicilies reluctantly became queen in France when her husband the Duke of Orleans seized the
throne from Charles X on July 31, 1830, and was proclaimed King Louis Philippe of the French}
All our family did not aspire as high as royalty. Some looked forward to the glories of a banker's daughter's
trousseau, we all understood that our PRICE would be too high for any of the old nobility, while some even
fancied that the happiness of traveling in company was reserved for us before we should be called regularly to
enter on the duties of life. As we were so closely connected, and on the whole were affectionate as became
brothers and sisters, it was the common wish that we might not be separated, but go together into the same
wardrobe, let it be foreign or domestic, that of prince or plebeian. There were a few among us who spoke of
the Duchesse de Berri as our future mistress; but the notion prevailed that we should so soon pass into the
hands of a femme de chambre, as to render the selection little desirable. In the end we wisely and
philosophically determined to await the result with patience, well knowing that we were altogether in the
hands of caprice and fashion.
{Duchesse de Berri = Marie Caroline (1798-1870), wife of Charles Ferdinand of Artois, Duke of Berry,
second son of King Charles X; femme de chambre = lady's maid}
At length the happy moment arrived when we were to quit the warehouse of the manufacturer. Let what
would happen, this was a source of joy, inasmuch as we all knew that we could only vegetate while we
continued where we then were, and that too without experiencing the delights of our former position, with
CHAPTER II. 11
good roots in the earth, a genial sun shedding its warmth upon our bosom, and balmy airs fanning our cheeks.
We loved change, too, like other people, and had probably seen enough of vegetation, whether figurative or
real, to satisfy us. Our departure from Picardie took place in June, 1830, and we reached Paris on the first day
of the succeeding month. We went through the formalities of the custom-houses, or barrieres, the same day,
and the next morning we were all transferred to a celebrated shop that dealt in articles of our genus. Most of
the goods were sent on drays to the magazin, but our reputation having preceded us, we were honored with a
fiacre, making the journey between the Douane and the shop on the knee of a confidential commissionaire.
{Picardie = province of France, north of Evreux; barrieres = gates at the edge of Paris, where local customs
duties were collected; magazin = shop; fiacre = a kind of carriage; Douane = customs house; confidential
commissionaire = special messenger}
Great was the satisfaction of our little party as we first drove down through the streets of this capital of
Europe the centre of fashion and the abode of elegance. Our natures had adapted themselves to
circumstances, and we no longer pined for the luxuries of the linum usitatissimum, but were ready to enter
into all the pleasures of our new existence; which we well understood was to be one of pure parade, for no
handkerchief of our quality was ever employed on any of the more menial offices of the profession. We might
occasionally brush a lady's cheek, or conceal a blush or a smile, but the usitatissimum had been left behind us
in the fields. The fiacre stopped at the door of a celebrated perfumer, and the commissionaire, deeming us of
too much value to be left on a carriage seat, took us in her hand while she negotiated a small affair with its
mistress. This was our introduction to the pleasant association of sweet odors, of which it was to be our
fortune to enjoy in future the most delicate and judicious communion. We knew very well that things of this
sort were considered vulgar, unless of the purest quality and used with the tact of good society; but still it was
permitted to sprinkle a very little lavender, or exquisite eau de cologne, on a pocket-handkerchief. The odor of
these two scents, therefore, appeared quite natural to us, and as Madame Savon never allowed any perfume, or
articles (as these things are technically termed), of inferior quality to pollute her shop, we had no scruples
about inhaling the delightful fragrance that breathed in the place. Desiree, the commissionaire, could not
depart without permitting her friend, Madame Savon, to feast her eyes on the treasure in her own hands. The
handkerchiefs were unfolded, amidst a hundred dieux! ciels! and dames! Our fineness and beauty were
extolled in a manner that was perfectly gratifying to the self-esteem of the whole family. Madame Savon
imagined that even her perfumes would be more fragrant in such company, and she insisted on letting one
drop a single drop of her eau de cologne fall on the beautiful texture. I was the happy handkerchief that was
thus favored, and long did I riot in that delightful odor, which was just strong enough to fill the air with
sensations, rather than impressions of all that is sweet and womanly in the female wardrobe.
{usitatissimum had been left behind = the species name of linen means "most useful"; Madame Savon =
literally, Mrs. Soap; articles = short for "articles de Paris" or Parisian specialties; dieux! = dear me!; ciels! =
good heavens!; dames = my oh my!}
CHAPTER III.
Notwithstanding this accidental introduction to one of the nicest distinctions of good society, and the general
exhilaration that prevailed in our party, I was far from being perfectly happy. To own the truth, I had left my
heart in Picardie. I do not say I was in love; I am far from certain that there is any precedent for a
pocket-handkerchief's being in love at all, and I am quite sure that the sensations I experienced were different
from those I have since had frequent occasion to hear described. The circumstances which called them forth
were as follows:
The manufactory in which our family was fabricated was formerly known as the Chateau de la Rocheaimard,
and had been the property of the Vicomte de la Rocheaimard previously to the revolution that overturned the
throne of Louis XVI. The vicomte and his wife joined the royalists at Coblentz, and the former, with his only
CHAPTER III. 12
son, Adrien de la Rocheaimard, or the Chevalier de la Rocheaimard, as he was usually termed, had joined the
allies in their attempted invasion on the soil of France. The vicomte, a marechal du camp, had fallen in battle,
but the son escaped, and passed his youth in exile; marrying a few years later, a cousin whose fortunes were at
as low an ebb as his own. One child, Adrienne, was the sole issue of this marriage, having been born in the
year 1810. Both the parents died before the Restoration, leaving the little girl to the care of her pious
grandmother, la vicomtesse, who survived, in a feeble old age, to descant on the former grandeur of her house,
and to sigh, in common with so many others, for le bon vieux temps. At the Restoration, there was some
difficulty in establishing the right of the de la Rocheaimards to their share of the indemnity; a difficulty I
never heard explained, but which was probably owing to the circumstance that there was no one in particular
to interest themselves in the matter, but an old woman of sixty-five and a little girl of four. Such appellants,
unsupported by money, interest, or power, seldom make out a very strong case for reparation of any sort, in
this righteous world of ours, and had it not been for the goodness of the dauphine it is probable that the
vicomtesse and her grand-daughter would have been reduced to downright beggary. But the daughter of the
late King got intelligence of the necessities of the two descendants of Crusaders, and a pension of two
thousand francs a year was granted, en attendant.
{Rocheaimard = both the Chateau and the family are fictitious; marechal du camp = general commanding a
brigade; le bon vieux temps = the good old days; late King = Louis XVI, guillotined in 1793; en attendant =
for the time being}
Four hundred dollars a year does not appear a large sum, even to the nouveaux riches of America, but it
sufficed to give Adrienne and her grandmother a comfortable, and even a respectable subsistence in the
provinces. It was impossible for them to inhabit the chateau, now converted into a workshop and filled with
machinery, but lodgings were procured in its immediate vicinity. Here Madame de la Rocheaimard whiled
away the close of a varied and troubled life; if not in absolute peace, still not in absolute misery, while her
grand-daughter grew into young womanhood, a miracle of goodness and pious devotion to her sole surviving
parent. The strength of the family tie in France, and its comparative weakness in America, has been the
subject of frequent comment among travelers. I do not know that all which has been said is rigidly just, but I
am inclined to think that much of it is, and, as I am now writing to Americans, and of French people, I see no
particular reason why the fact should be concealed. Respect for years, deference to the authors of their being,
and submission to parental authority are inculcated equally by the morals and the laws of France. The
conseilles de famille is a beautiful and wise provision of the national code, and aids greatly in maintaining that
system of patriarchal rule which lies at the foundation of the whole social structure. Alas! in the case of the
excellent Adrienne, this conseille de famille was easily assembled, and possessed perfect unanimity. The
wars, the guillotine and exile had reduced it to two, one of which was despotic in her government, so far as
theory was concerned at least; possibly, at times, a little so in practice. Still Adrienne, on the whole grew up
tolerably happy. She was taught most that is suitable for a gentlewoman, without being crammed with
superfluous accomplishments, and, aided by the good cure, a man who remembered her grandfather, had both
polished and stored her mind. Her manners were of the excellent tone that distinguished the good society of
Paris before the revolution, being natural, quiet, simple and considerate. She seldom laughed, I fear; but her
smiles were sweetness and benevolence itself.
{conseille de famille = council of relatives, supervised by a judge, that supervised the care of minors in
France; cure = priest}
The bleaching grounds of our manufactory were in the old park of the chateau. Thither Mad. de la
Rocheaimard was fond of coming in the fine mornings of June, for many of the roses and lovely Persian lilacs
that once abounded there still remained. I first saw Adrienne in one of these visits, the quality of our little
family circle attracting her attention. One of the bleachers, indeed, was an old servant of the vicomte's, and it
was a source of pleasure to him to point out any thing to the ladies that he thought might prove interesting.
This was the man who so diligently read the Moniteur, giving a religious credence to all it contained. He
fancied no hand so worthy to hold fabrics of such exquisite fineness as that of Mademoiselle Adrienne, and it
CHAPTER III. 13
was through his assiduity that I had the honor of being first placed within the gentle pressure of her beautiful
little fingers. This occurred about a month before our departure for Paris.
Adrienne de la Rocheaimard was then just twenty. Her beauty was of a character that is not common in
France; but which, when it does exist, is nowhere surpassed. She was slight and delicate in person, of fair hair
and complexion, and with the meekest and most dove-like blue eyes I ever saw in a female face. Her smile,
too, was of so winning and gentle a nature, as to announce a disposition pregnant with all the affections. Still
it was well understood that Adrienne was not likely to marry, her birth raising her above all intentions of
connecting her ancient name with mere gold, while her poverty placed an almost insuperable barrier between
her and most of the impoverished young men of rank whom she occasionally saw. Even the power of the
dauphine was not sufficient to provide Adrienne de la Rocheaimard with a suitable husband. But of this the
charming girl never thought; she lived more for her grandmother than for herself, and so long as that
venerated relative, almost the only one that remained to her on earth, did not suffer or repine, she herself could
be comparatively happy.
"Dans le bon vieux temps," said the vicomtesse, examining me through her spectacles, and addressing
Georges, who stood, hat in hand, to hearken to her wisdom; "dans le bon vieux temps, mon ami, the ladies of
the chateau did not want for these things. There were six dozen in my corbeille, that were almost as fine as
this; as for the trousseau, I believe it had twice the number, but very little inferior."
{dans de bon vieux temps = in the good old days; corbeille = wedding presents from a bridegroom; trousseau
= wedding outfit}
"I remember that madame," Georges always gave his old mistress this title of honor, "kept many of the
beautiful garments of her trousseau untouched, down to the melancholy period of the revolution."
"It has been a mine of wealth to me, Georges, in behalf of that dear child. You may remember that this
trousseau was kept in the old armoire, on the right hand side of the little door of my dressing-room "
{armoire = cupboard or closet }
"Madame la Vicomtesse will have the goodness to pardon me it was on the LEFT hand side of the
room Monsieur's medals were kept in the opposite armoire."
"Our good Georges is right, Adrienne! he has a memory! Your grandfather insisted on keeping his medals in
my dressing-room, as he says. Well, Monsieur Georges, left or right, THERE I left the remains of my
trousseau when I fled from France, and there I found it untouched on my return. The manufactory had saved
the chateau, and the manufacturers had spared my wardrobe. Its sale, and its materials, have done much
toward rendering that dear child respectable and well clad, since our return."
I thought the slight color which usually adorned the fair oval cheeks of Adrienne deepened a little at this
remark, and I certainly felt a little tremor in the hand which held me; but it could not have been shame, as the
sweet girl often alluded to her poverty in a way so simple and natural, as to prove that she had no false
feelings on that subject. And why should she? Poverty ordinarily causes no such sensations to those who are
conscious of possessing advantages of an order superior to wealth, and surely a well-educated, well-born,
virtuous girl need not have blushed because estates were torn from her parents by a political convulsion that
had overturned an ancient and powerful throne.
CHAPTER III. 14
