re called the party of the
_devots_ and were led by Chancellor Maupeau and the Duc d'Aiguillon.
This faction, with the mistress--Mme. du Barry--as the motive power,
soon broke up the power of Choiseul. The young and innocent foreign
princess, unschooled in intrigue and politics, could not escape both
political parties; upon her entrance into the French court, she was
immediately classed with one or the other of these rival factions
and thus made enemies by whatever turn she took, and was caught in a
network of intrigues from which extrication was almost impossible.

Here, in this whirl of social excesses, her habits were formed; hers
being a lively, alert, active nature, fond of pleasure and somewhat
inclined toward raillery, she soon became so absorbed in the
many distractions of court life that little time was left her for
indulgence in reflection of a serious nature. Her manner of life at
this time in part explains her subsequent career of heedlessness,
excessive extravagance, and gayety.

At first her aunts--Mmes. Adelaide and Sophie--succeeded in partially
estranging her from Louis XV., who had taken a strong fancy to his
granddaughter; but this influence was soon overcome--then these aunts
turned against her. Her popularity, however, increased. Innumerable
instances might be cited to show her kindness to the poor, to her
servants, to anyone in need--a quality which made her popular with the
masses. In time almost everyone at court was apparently enslaved by
her attractions and endeavored to please the dauphiness--this was
about 1774, when she was at the height of her popularity.

However, there developed a striking contrast between the dauphiness
and the queen; Burke called the former "the morning star, full of
life and splendor and joy." In fact, she was a mere girl, childlike,
passing a gay and innocent life over a road mined with ambushes and
intrigues which were intended to bring ruin upon her and destined
eventually to accomplish their purpose. By being always prompt in her
charities, having inherited her mother's devotion to the poor, she
won golden opinions on all sides; and the reputation thus gained was
augmented by her animated, graceful manner and her youthful beauty.

Little accustomed to the magnificence that surrounded her, she soon
wearied of it, craving simpler manners and the greater freedom of
private intercourse. When, as queen, she indulged these desires, she
brought upon herself the abuse