Page:Great Men and Famous Women Volume 6.djvu/59

 MARIE ANTOINETTE 241 MARIE ANTOINETTE By Mrs. Octavius Freire Owen (* 755-* 793) Maria Theresa, the Empress of Austria, was not highly edu- cated ; and she was incapable of di- recting the studies of her children, although by precept and example she laid the foundation of characters, all of which became more or less remarkable. Marie Antoinette, her youngest child, was perhaps the most neglected. She once inno- cently caused the dismissal of her governess, through a confession that all the letters and drawings shown to her mother, in proof of her improve- ment, had been previously traced with a pencil. At fifteen her knowl- edge of Italian, studied under Met- astasio, was the only branch of her education which had been fairly at- tended to, if we except considerable conversance with the " Lives of the Saints " and other legendary lore, the favor- ite fictions of monastic compilers. Nature had, nevertheless, done much for the young archduchess ; she possessed great facility for learning, and was not slow in taking advantage of opportunities for improvement when they were afforded. In person she was most attractive. " Beaming with freshness," says Madame Campan, " she appeared to all eyes more than beautiful. Her walk partook at once of the noble character of the princesses of her house and of the graces of the French ; her eyes were mild, her smile lovely. It was impossible to refrain from admiring her aerial deportment ; her smile was sufficient to win the heart ; and in this enchanting being, in whom the splendor of French gayety shone forth, an indescribable but august serenity perhaps, also, the somewnat proud posi- tion of her head and shoulders betrayed the daughter of the Caesars." Such, according to her affectionate chronicler, appeared Marie Antoinette,. when her nuptials were celebrated at Versailles with the Dauphin of France. Superstitious minds discovered fatal omens from the earliest years of the hap- less dauphiness. She had begun ill by first drawing breath upon the very day of the earthquake of Lisbon ; this made a great impression on the mother, and later 16