. He gave
her the name of Jeanne-Antoinette. She bore till she was
sixteen years of age this sweet name of Jeanne. From her
infancy, she exhibited a passion for music and drawing. All the
first masters of the day were summoned to the hotel of
Lenormant de Tourneheim. Her masters did not disgust Jeanne
with the fine arts of which she was so fond. Her talent was
soon widely known. Fontenelle, Duclos, and Crebillon, who were
received at the hotel as men of wit, went about every where,
talking of her beauty, her grace, and talent.

"Madame de Pompadour was an example of a woman that was both
handsome and pretty; the lines of her face possessed all the
harmony and elevation of a creation of Raphael's; but instead
of the elevated sentiment with which that great master animated
his faces, there was the smiling expression of a Parisian
woman. She possessed in the highest degree all that gives to
the face brilliancy, charm, and sportive gayety. No lady at
court had then so noble and coquettish a bearing, such delicate
and attractive features, so elegant and graceful a figure. Her
mother used always to say, 'A king alone is worthy of my
daughter.' Jeanne had an early presentiment of a throne! at
first, from the ambitious longings of her mother; afterward,
because she believed that she was in love with the king. 'She
confessed to me,' says Voltaire, in his memoirs, 'that she had
a secret presentiment that the king would fall in love with
her, and that she had a violent inclination for him.' There is
a time in life when destiny reveals itself. All those who have
succeeded in climbing the rugged mountain of human vanity
relate that, from their earliest youth, dazzling visions
revealed to them their future glory.

"Well, how was the throne of France to be reached, the very
idea of which made her head turn? In the mean time, full of
genius, always admired, and always listened to, she
familiarized herself with the life of a beautiful queen; she
saw at her feet all the worshippers of the fortune of her
father; she gathered about her poets, artists, and
philosophers, over whom she already threw a royal protection.

"The farmer-general had a nephew, Lenormant d'Etioles. He was
an amiable young man, and had the character and manners of a
gentl