A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Junot, Laura, Duchess d'Abrantes
JUNOT, LAURA, DUCHESS D'ABRANTES,
Was born in Montpelier, 1785. Constantine Comnena, a scion of the imperial stock, emigrated from the Peloponnesus, in 1676. He was followed by a body of three thousand Greeks. After two years of wandering they settled in the island of Corsica, then a savage and uncultivated region, which they brought to some degree of culture and civilization, although the fierce and restless spirit of the native inhabitants kept them in a state of perpetual, sharp, yet petty warfare. When Corsica was sold to France, under Louis the Thirteenth, another Constantine, a man of approved valour and worth, was at the head of the Comnena family. He was the father of three sons, and a daughter, called Panona, who married a French-man by the name of Pernon. Upon the breaking out of the Corsican revolution, he was driven to seek shelter in France. From this union sprang the Duchess d'Abrantes. Destined to experience the most extraordinary vicissitudes, her very cradle was disturbed by the agitations which convulsed France at that period. In an autobiographical sketch, she speaks of her childish terrors, when, in the absence of her parents, she was placed at a boarding-school among strangers; the terrible days of September (1792) are particularly commemorated.
Her father, for whom she appears to have entertained a particularly tender affection, died while she was still a child: she also lost the sister nearest her own age—to these afflictions were added most straitened pecuniary circumtances. The latter difficulties, after a time, diminished, and Madame Pernon established herself comfortably in Paris, where her house soon became the resort of all the most noted men of that day. The attractions, personal and mental, of her daughter, were not undistinguished. A man of rank and wealth made an offer of his hand: he was old enough to be her grandfather, but this seemed no objection in the eyes of the mother, who with difficulty yielded to Laura's repugnance, and gave up a match which held out so many mercenary advantages. Another matrimonial proposal soon was presented, which came to a more fortunate conclusion. Among the generals who distinguished themselves in the wars of Napoleon, was Junot, who soon after the return of the French expedition from Egypt, was introduced to the house of Madame Pernon; he soon manifested an attachment to the young Laura: and as his military grade, and favour with the first consul were united to personal beauty and pleasing address, he was successful in the suit: they were married in 1800. A very brilliant course awaited this couple, to be terminated with respect to both in a manner singularly unfortunate. Title, riches, and honours, were showered upon them; the Duchess d'Abrantes was attached to the imperial household, and no less favoured by the ladies of the Bonaparte family, than her husband was by its chief Junot, in the very height of his fortunes, became suddenly a raging lunatic. His cure being despaired of, by the consent of the best physicians, he was placed in a celebrated asylum for the insane: here his sole object appeared self-destruction. Taking advantage of a momentary absence of his keeper, he violently wrenched away the window-bolt, and threw himself out: he was taken up in the street below, without a sign of life.
The death of the Duke d'Abrantes was followed by the destruction of the empire, and the unfortunate widow found herself in a state of great distress. It was then that she determined to have recourse to literature to aid her in the maintenance and education of her family. Her first work of importance was "Historical Recollections of Napoleon, the Revolution, the Consulship, the Empire" She has been charged with a blind admiration of the hero of these scenes, perhaps justly; but it was difficult for those who rose through that meteor's course, and partook of its brilliancy, to preserve the judgment cool and unbiassed. We may safely grant the author good faith in all she advances. This production was followed by various successful works of history, biography, travels, and romances. But for the descendant of the Greek emperors, the authoress of fifty volumes, the member of learned societies, what a sad end was reserved! She had been for twenty years troubled by a painful malady, to alleviate which she indulged in the use of opium, and it Is supposed this pernicious drug accelerated the progress of her disease.
Worse than physical pains, a hard-hearted creditor, seeing the increasing illness, and fearing death might step in to withdraw his victim, actually brought an execution to her death-bed, and for the miserable sum of four hundred francs, sold the furniture of her apartment under her very eyes. She had not yet sunk deep enough into misery: it remained for her to be taken to the hospital to die I Removed from splendid apartments, she was cast into a bare, unfurnished cell, and left to the cares of a hireling nurse, whose venal attentions were distributed among many others. But earthly difficulties were fast passing away. On the night of the 7th. of June, 1838, she received the sacrament from the hands of the Archbishop of Paris, who came to this humble couch to administer comfort to one who was the favourite of his flock. She died the next morning, in the arms of her children, in a state of perfect resignation, confiding in the promises of the Saviour. She left four children, two daughters and two sons, all estimable, and worthy of the attention their mother had ever bestowed on them