's admiration as he saw her
making hay at Holland House--Mesdames de Stainville and de Coig and the
rollicking actresses of the Comedie Francaise, or Mrs. Robinson (the
prince of Wales's "Perdita,"), seems to have had universal success. We
except the record that gives him the love of Marie Antoinette. To him
was entrusted in this expedition the legion that bore his name, with
Count Arthur Dillon as coadjutor. The marechals-de-camp were the two
brothers Viosmenil, celebrated for their beauty, and the marquis de
Chastelleux, a member of the Institute and possessed of some literary
merit. He had written a piece called _La Felicite publique_, which drew
from the wits of the day the following epigram:
A Chastelleux la place academique:
Qu' a-t-il donc fait? Un livre bien concu.
Vous l'appelez _La Felicite publique_;
Le public fut heureux, car il n'en a rien su.
He printed twenty-four impressions of his travels in America by the aid
of a printing-press on the squadron, the first record of a book having
been published privately in the colonies. The aides of De Rochambeau
were the handsome Swede Count de Fersen, the marquis de Vauban, Charles
de Lamette (who fought a famous duel in the Bois de Boulogne with the
duc de Castries), De Dumas and De Laubedieres: De Tarli was intendant.
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