SUNDRIES: An eighteenth century newsletter

GRIVOISERIE: The Ladies Delight

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MONARCHY: The Golden Shower

One reason the Bastille was a relatively comfortable prison was that nobles were often sent there, among them misbehaving young men whose families (or others) felt they could use a "time out". In this case, the unnamed young man (most likely titled) narrowly escaped such a "correction" thanks to the kindness - and sense of humor? - of the German-born Princess Palatine. The Secretary of State, writing to a police officer, was less amused:

PONTCHARTRAIN TO AULMONT LE JEUNE
Versailles, March 8, 1701

The man who had the insolence to piss in the Opera box above that where Madame was, deserves a severe punishment; but since she is glad to pardon him, it must end there; nonetheless, if you can learn where he is, it would be good if you reprimanded him, and that you tell him, were it not for Madame's kindness to him, H. M. would have him punished as he deserves.
Ravaisson, Archives de la Bastille, 1693-1702 (328)

THE OLD REGIME POLICE BLOTTER: Sodomy - Lebel et al

Again, a case involving lackeys and valets. Several individuals are mentioned here, but the story that emerges tends to center on Lebel (who may, given the dates here, have been denounced by Petit). His is the kind of arrest of a minor player that makes numerous more prominent persons nervous. Merely being mentioned in such a case would lead people to draw conclusions. Regarding the letter to Tallard, for instance, Ravaisson notes:

The duke of Saint-Simon said, with no other comment, that M. de Tallard did not get on well with his wife; one sees here the cause of their misunderstandings, and that the wife was not completely in the wrong.

Pontchartrain's concern that Desforges be interrogated secretly grows directly from his concern for any families whose members may be mentioned.

Lebel's very dense deposition does indeed include names of people known from other sources as sodomites (not to mention some rather catty gossip). It should not be forgotten however that he probably thought it was in his best interest to provide as many names as possible.

Overall, this set of documents reads almost like a novel, with a broad sweep including both tragic and comic elements, an unusually comprehensive look at the "sodomite scene" of the period and elements of prostitution and child molestation mentioned alongside of enthusiastically consensual activity. It also includes the literary trick of leaving unexplained holes in the narrative, which in this case were probably due to the chaotic state of the files following the fall of the Bastille.

A few random notes:

• It is amusing to see how Petit's name incrementally grows across successive reports to "Petit de Boution de Coubertin".
• His father's being a "farmer" may refer to a tax farmer, rather than an agriculturalist.
• Though this is probably fortuitous, Lebel - who is described as very good-looking - has a name which translates, if a little archaically, to "the handsome one".
• Chaulot and Chanlot appear to be the same person; one version is obviously a transcription error.
• On the rather tasty sounding meat dishes eaten by Petit and his friends, Ravaisson says, "It was no doubt Lent; we will note as a moral detail that the commissioner seems to find the inobservation of the fast as grave a crime as that he is denouncing to the lieutenant of police."
• In regard to private imprisonment at the home of the police officer Aulmont (and his father), further research confirms that this practice was already outlawed at this point, but exceptions were permitted for certain types of cases. The discretion required here may have been one reason for initially holding Petit apart.
• The Bastille's Tower of the Well, at the northwest corner, looked out over a rear courtyard which included a small well. The Tower of the Chapel once held the old chapel, which was replaced by one on the other side.
• Junca's mention of a "pierced cage" is unusual, and seems to suggest some kind of barred enclosure within the cell itself. No other account of the Bastille I have consulted mentions such a structure.
• Pontchartrain's mention of a "confrontation" refers to a standard stage in the normal (and extremely bureaucratic) procedure when the accused was confronted with his or her accusers. Its absence here is one indication of how separate this case was kept from the normal judicial system.

With that, the contents of this very long file:

PETIT [in April 5, 1702, out April 16 1704]; DESFORGES [April 19, 1702-July 27, 1702]; LEBEL [May 10, 1702-January 11, 1703]; LOUVART [May 12, 1702 (died there June 18)].

Debauche

COMMISSIONER BIZOTON TO M. D'ARGENSON.

Martin and his wife, who maintain a furnished room on the rue de Seine, near the Galley, have come to inform me that for a month, they have rented a room to a young man, named Petit, of about 25-26 years of age, with a handsome face, who receives day and night and brings several young men with which, not only does he make a debauche of meat and other things, but still more prostitutes himself to all the young men who come to find him in his bed, until 3 o'clock in the afternoon, when he gets up and gets dressed. Then goes out to the public games to find other company, whom he brings back to spend the night at his place; that last night, they were again six and ate there a loin of veal and a quarter of lamb; that they having noticed that their bed was all spoiled, and having complained of this to Petit, he threatened to have them killed if they mentioned that to anyone; that he was to leave his room tomorrow, and go lodge very near, above the Galley; that this young man is very criticized for his excesses, and that everywhere he has lodged, he has been put out because of his debauchery; that they have not been able to find out more about his region and his family, than that he was from Beauce, and proud of it; that he frequented a young man who says he has the honor of being your in-law or relation, but could not know the name. As this information seemed to me of great importance, relative to this foul debauchery, I thought myself obliged to inform you of it, in awaiting your orders which I will execute punctually.

March 19, 1702

I have just arrested, executing your orders, Petit de Boution, and taken him to M. Aulmont's. He told us he is a native of Chevreuse, son of a farmer, that he has been in Paris for four years. When I browsed through his papers which I found enclosed in a round trunk, it seemed to me that he had formerly been the personal valet of M. de Gadagne, and I found a sealed letter addressed to M. the count of Tallard, lieutenant general of the King's armies. All these letters are filled with discourse which prove, what is more, the abominable trade which he has long practiced, and yesterday he had a private supper with a man of good family who is highly suspected of this disorder; his papers have been returned to his trunk, locked, and the key in his possession, and the trunk in the hands of M. Aulmont. I believe if you have the goodness to examine this man, you will learn frightful things on his trade.

March 22, 1702

Lebel is a good-looking lad, well made, formerly a lackey, and who at present passes himself off as a man of quality.

This man is in the worst debauchery, and it is a place where one sees enter every day young men with people of quality and even monks, who pass whole days in the greatest debauchery, and it is said that the sin of Sodom is committed there with complete freedom.

Note that this is now two memoirs given against this man regarding this debauche, and that he was driven from the parish of Saint-Sulpice, and from there went to live behind the Capuchins, in a house very suited to this kind of debauchery.

PONTCHARTRAIN TO THE SAME
Versailles, April 5, 1702

You will find enclosed an order to put in the B. Petit de Boution, where you must interrogate him fully on his bad trade, and send me his interrogation with the documents found in his trunk, after which we will see if it is better to put him in Vincennes or some distant castle.

JOURNAL OF M. DU JUNCA
Sunday April 9, at 8 o'clock in the evening, M. Aulmont le jeune brought and delivered M. Petit de Boution de Coubertin, near Chevreuse, etc., who is suspected, and even accused of being a sodomite, the which has been detained more than 15 days at M. Aulmont's, that I received upon his arrival, and had put in the first room, alone, in the Tower of the Well.

PONTCHARTRAIN TO M. D'ARGENSON
H.M. is quite willing to drive Desforges from Paris, as you suggest; but he must first be interrogated on the things of which he is accused. I am sending you for this purpose an order to have him taken to the B., where you will submit him secretly to an interrogation which you will send me, if you please, which being known only by you and the clerk, will cause no prejudice to the families which find themselves involved.

JOURNAL OF M. DE JUNCA
Monday April 24, at 8 o'clock in the morning, M. Aulmont le jeune brought and delivered M. Lilièvre, sir Desforges, claiming to be a gentleman and master clockmaker, etc., who is accused of having talked too much and made bad speeches in society, whom I have received and had put in the third room of the tower of the Chapel, in the pierced cage, well closed.

PONTCHARTRAIN TO M. D'ARGENSON
H. M. is willing to put in the hospital general Lebel and Louvart, but they must first be interrogated about the crimes of which they are accused. As there is no confrontation to be held, this will be a short procedure, and if you want to hide it entirely from public knowledge, you can send them to the B. for a few days.

JOURNAL OF M. De JUNCA.

Friday May 12, at 4 o'clock in the afternoon, M. de Savery, etc., brought in M. Dupressoir-Louvart, said to be the son of a wigmaker, dressed as a marquis, whom the governor has received, and had put in the first room of the tower of the Chapel, locked.

Sunday May 14, at 9 o'clock in the morning, M. de Savery brought in M. Lebel, being in the same affair as Dupressoir, there being one order for both, whom I had put in the fifth calotte [top] room of the Bertaudiere, locked. AUTOGRAPH MEMOIR OF M. D'ARGENSON, INITIALED BY LEBEL
June 2, 1702
[NOTE: This seems to be a secret interrogation of the sort requested by Pontchartrain for Desforges. Given the number of names it mentions, his concern was justified. The note that it is 'autograph' seems to indicate that d'Argenson himself documented the interrogation, which was extremely unusual, unless it is merely a formality indicating that a clerk took notes under his direction. But it seems likely that in the end he did not even trust a clerk to hear what Lebel had to say.]

People with whom Lebel has committed the sin of sodomy.

He is 24 years old and a native of Paris. His father is a personal valet of M. de Chaulot, secretary of commandments of the late M. the Prince, and he studied at the college of the Jesuits until the second level, after having been a choir boy at Saint-Sulpice, for 3 years. Duplessis, notorious sodomite, who lodges in around Saint-Etienne des Grecs, and walks every day in the Luxembourg garden to seduce young schoolboys there, was the first to debauche him, and it was in this same garden that he listened to his foul propositions; he was then only 10 years old, and from then on Duplessis had almost everyday a group of young men whom he successively abused.

He furnished him to Coutel, who lives in the Palais-Royal, and who is not only a sodomite, but impious.

Astier was from the same group; all three go to the Luxembourg and in the billiard halls of the place Saint-Michel, almost every evening, to have parties with young children, attract them to the tavern or in their room, and there commit the worst abominations.

As they have no wealth, and they live only on this scheming, they deliver young men whom they have debauched to people who pay them well, and they share the price.

The abbe of Villefort, who was in the B., and since driven from Paris for similar horrors, also knew him and furnished him to M. de Ch., discharged colonel, who gave him a gold louis, and then pretended he was his soldier; but his friends got him out of this. He knew several other people whose principal study was to corrupt youth and conduct an open traffic of them. Here are their names:

M. Leroux, who lives behind the church of the Madeleine, boasted of this in his presence; the former sends handsome lackeys to lords in the countryside, when asked, and arranges here the conditions of their engagements. Comtois, lemonade-vendor, who maintains his shop in the rue des Bons-Enfans, near the Palais-Royal; M. de Sancerre, de Montpellier, who lodges in the rue Dauphine, across from the hotel d'Anjou; M. de la Guillaumie, abandoned to all sorts of debaucheries, and shut up among the PP. [Pères - fathers] of Charity of Charenton, by order of the King, at the request of his parents; Baptiste, who was in the service of M. de Vendome, and has long abused his confidence, going so far as to boast that he furnished him young men, and that he was well paid for it; M. the abbe of Capistron, who seems to have been charged with the same task; M. the abbe de Larris, formerly in the Sainte-Genevieve quarter; the latter has an agreeable appearance and prostituted himself on his own; the abbé Lecomte, who was driven from the seminary of Saint-Magloire, is a native of Paris, and for a long time has made it his principal study to attract schoolboys to corrupt them; the abbe Dumoutier, good friend of the abbé Lecomte and in the same trade; the abbé Bruneau, who has several relatives in the robe [the judiciary]; the abbé Servien, and it is said that he has in the quarter of Saint-Paul a private house which he only uses for this purpose.

M. the duke of L. [Jean-Francois Paul, duke de Lesdiguières, son-in-law of the Marshal de Duras], who in August 1699, being accompanied by a person of distinction whom he [Lebel] did not know, asked him to come sup with them, although he had never spoken to him, which he did not agree to do.

He knows as well that the people of this abominable trade meet up at Chez Livry, lemonade-vendor of the place of Palais-Royal, but does not think Livery is involved in this.

Has heard said that the last ambassador of Portugal was this way, and that he had in his service a tall page name Louis, whom he had since made his gentleman, and who, after the departure of the ambassador had quite a brilliant carriage in Paris.

It was said then that the duke of Lesiguières loved this page and that he gave him a lot of money, and recalls that a ring of one hundred louis was spoken of.

The son of Alvarez [then a famous diamond merchant] and the abbe Bailly, son of the mistress of the president de Maisons, close friends; Robert or Gobert, closet valet at the duke d'Orleans'.

Suspected the young duke d'Estrées, of having this same leaning, and knows that he wanted to raise up a tall very good-looking lackey, whom he found in the church of the Jacobins, into his service, which caused talk in the evening at the Tuileries, as the most ridiculous thing possible.

Formerly Father Armant, of Paris, capucin, was involved in these abominations. This was before he took orders, and now he lives an exemplary life. He lives in the convent of Saint-Honoré, and he was known in the life under the name of Ville-aux-Bois; he has for uncle M. Amoung, clerk of the great council, and he is about to be ordained a priest.

The respondent offers to uncover in this style the most secret intrigues of Paris, above all in regard to regents and tutors who corrupt the innocence of their schoolboys, and he only asks for all payment to be shut up in Saint-Lazare, on bread and water, while waiting to be considered worthy to take orders at Joyenval, which is a Premontain monastery, fulfilling the vow he has made. M. the bishop of Chartres is the abbot of this abbey, where he was about to be received, when he was arrested and brought to this castle.


JOURNAL OF M. DU JUNCA

Sunday June 18, at 11 o'clock in the morning or thereabout, Dupressoir-Louvart, prisoner locked up alone, in the first room of the tower of the Chapel, with no appearance of sickness or madness, except for a venereal disease, which a despair led him to cut off all his noble parts, entirely removed and thrown by himself into the corner of his fireplace, and seeing that he would not die of this fast enough, and that the hour when he was to be brought his dinner approached, he took his same knife, and cut his throat all the way to the bone. A moment later, M. Lecuyer, captain of the doors, going in his room to bring him his dinner, found Dupressoir on his bed, dying, covered with blood. Having come at once to alert M. the governor, and ask M. Giraud, the confessor, who ran there at once; but having found him incapable of talking, he showed by signs, that he understood everything the confessor told him, and even had enough strength to lift himself up, and indicated that he wanted to write. He was at once brought what was necessary. Who then wrote on a piece of paper: I ask pardon of God with all my heart; it is the despair. He continued to show good signs of a repentant Christian until his death, which was at 8 o'clock in the afternoon. M. the governor having informed M. d'Argenson, he came the evening of the same day, alone, to be informed of this unfortunate event, and what was to be done, having found him dead; it was agreed that he would send the next day Monday, at 7 o'clock in the morning, the commissioner Bizoton, alone, to have the body examined, and a statement of the condition in which he found him, which he did in the presence of MM. Corbé, lieutenant of the company, of Rosarges, officer, of Reil, surgeon, & of R., turn-key [possibly Ru, mentioned in many other connections]. This procedures done in the moring, the priest of Saint-Paul came to remove Dupressoir-Louvart's body, which was buried under the name of Pierre Massuque, in the presence and care of La Coste, sergeant of the company, and of some soldiers - Monday June 19, 1702

POINTCHARTRAIN TO M. DE SAINT-MARS [the Bastille governor, or warden]

June 19, 1702
I have received the letter which you have written me concerning Louvart, who fell into despair; the best way to prevent this sort of accident is to not leave the prisoners any knives or other things they can use to a bad purpose, and to visit and have them visited often; I understand by the word often, the morning, the evening, and 3 or 4 times a day, and even at night, those of whom one might suspect.

THE SAME TO M. D'ARGENSON
Versailles, June 21, 1702

I have read to H. M. the interrogation which you have credited to Lebel; he wants you to fully investigate and in detail all the miseries and abominations of which he began to tell you, in promising to have him received in Saint-Lazare, as he wishes. Work then on this business incessantly, with no concern for whom he could name; you will judge better than anyone of what importance it is to look further into what concerns the regents and tutors who corrupt schoolboys.

Marly, July 1702.
When you have learned form Lebel the names of the young men he has indicated to you, take the trouble to send it to me and to await the orders of the King before having them arrested.

July 28, 1702
I am sending you the order to have Desforges put in the hospital; he will stay there 2 years, after which he will be driven from Paris.

JOURNAL OF M. DU JUNCA

Thursday August 3, at 10 o'clock in the morning, M. Aulmont the elder [l'ainé - the other is the younger, lejeune] came, etc., to take M. Lelievre Desforges, gentleman, who worked on clocks and guns, who being detained here, has been transferred to the hospital general, to be held there until further orders from the King. - Accused of several foul acts.
Desforges was taken to Bicêtre.

PONTCHARTRAIN TO M. D'ARGENSON
Versailles, April 16, 1704

Petit de Boution is to be taken to the hospital, from where he can be sent to the Chartreux, if he finds some convent willing to receive him.

REPORTS OF M. D'ARGENSON
Lelievere, sir Desforges, etc.

In 1702, he was at the B., for several months; he tried to corrupt young girls of 10, and it does not seem appropriate to release him yet.

In 1701, Lebel, his father, being head butler at the hotel of M. de Chanlot, secretary of commandments of M. the Prince, and this young man, perverse since childhood, after having studied in a college of this town, and given himself over to the foulest prostitutions, held at his home a school of abominations and sodomy; he is convicted of every disorder by his own confession; but after having been 9 months in the B., he has asked with insistence to be transferred into this house (Saint-Lazare), there to do a somewhat more volontary penitence; nonetheless, his spirit still seems restless, which makes it to be feared that his conversion is still quite uncertain.

I have even learned that since he has been in Saint-Lazare, he has given new proofs of his perverted and corrupted inclinations, despite the protestations and oaths so often repeated which he has used to fool me. Thus, it is no longer as a favor that he must be left in this house, but by reason for justice and penitence.

Martin Petit, put in Bicêtre.

In 1704, he came from the B., and is a quite unworthy character; sodomy was the principal occupation of his youth, and when the prostitution of his person became useless, he prostituted others and made a revenue from it. Here he wants to be a chartreuse monk, there he wants to be a soldier, and he would be suited enough to it without the perverse habit of which he is possessed.

In 1705. I think even that one could give him to an officer in confidence, in forbidding him to let him come to Paris, where it is to be feared that the sight of his old comrades make him return to his old disorders.
[Pontchartrain's note: Give him for a soldier in the regiment of Noailles, May 31, 1706.]

PONTCHARTRAIN TO M. D'ARGENSON
April 19, 1705
I am sending you the order to release Lebel from Saint-Lazare; see that he immediately goes to the employment M. du Tronchet wants to give him, his freedom being granted him only on that condition.

THE SAME TO M. DE SAINT-MARS
November 28, 1706

You will see by the plea of Louvart's mother, the request she makes for a diamond and the things of the deceased; I do not doubt that you will return to her everything that belonged to him. Thus, I have told this woman to address herself to you and to justify to you that she is her son's heir; because if he had a wife or children, it would be more just to give them his things.

Magasin Pittoresque: No - 18