Lamothe-Langon, Etienne Leon, baron de, 1786-1864
"Memoirs of the Comtesse Du Barry; with intimate details of her entire career as favorite of Louis XV"
The
cost enormous sums. The lowest expense
was calculated at 150,000 livres, to pay only the functionaries
and the domestics, the education and the board of the < eleves >,
etc. This does not include the cost of the ,
the indemnities paid to families, the dowry given with them in
marriage, the presents made to them, and the expenses of the
illegitimate children: this was enormous in cost, at least 2,000,000
livres a year, and yet I make the lowest estimation. The
was kept up for thirty-four years: it cost
annually 4 or 5,000,000 livres, and that will amount to
nearly 150,000,000 (? 6,250,000). If you think I mistake, go
through the calculation.
A short time after my sojourn at Versailles, when I was the
acknowledged mistress of the king, the duc de Richelieu asked me
if I had heard of the ? I asked him, in my turn,
what he meant, and if I could procure any account of the place.
He then told me of the care which madame de Pompadour bestowed
On the place, the advantage she drew from it, and assured me of
the necessity for following her example. I spoke of this to comte
Jean, and begged his advice. My brother-in-law replied:--
"You must do as the marquise de Pompadour did, and as the duc de
Richelieu has advised. They spend a vast deal of money in this
house, and I undertake to look over their accounts.
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