c-span.org/localcontent. you are chris this month is the 10th anniversary of our program here wednesday it we're featuring an encore program highlighting authors and historians and policyers and leading thinkers. from 2005, kenneth feinberg's interview. the importance of the african-american experience to u.s. history. from 2007, robert novak and his 50 years of reporting in washington. from 2008, higher education in america. from 2009, conservative commentator. q&a on 10:00, compelling conversation. at 7:00 p.m. on c-span.

>> on the presidency, will here of five years in which thomas jefferson served in paris as the minister of the united dates. author james thompson describes it as a transformative experience with his friendships with french revolutionaries and progressives turns him from a political loner to an activist. mr. thompson is the author. he spoke at the virginia historical society. this is about an hour. >> the summer of 1784, thomas jefferson traveled to paris as minister of the united dates to friends and lived there for 5 -- states to france for five years. he made a series of excursions , an influential member of french society. he appointed johnson not only to the city and its people but when the enlightened ideas of french thought. today speaker will talk to us

about this transform is period and thomas jefferson's life. james thompson studies philosophy as an undergraduate and graduate student at the university of virginia and as an grad student, he lived on a farm of thomas jefferson's eldest -- marthamarker jefferson. during his four years, he began what has been an ongoing investigation into the philosophy of thomas jefferson. mr. thompson developed an interest in the history of ideas, teaching courses on philosophy, religion, and western civilization at strayer university in alexandria. he is the author of several books including "the under the veil of reason." while a fellow at the jefferson center for international studies at monticello. the birth of aristocracy and

thomas jefferson's enlightenment. please join me in welcoming james thompson. [applause] and i consider the virginia historical society on all the truly great and cultural institutions of our country. i would like to thank dr. nelson lankford for making this program possible and mr. lee shepherd friend is kind introduction and thank you, the members of the audience for joining me today. i am going to talk about thomas jefferson in france. i would like to point out that my book has 160 museum quality

images. it is almost as much a picture book as a history. i have some of the same pictures and the program today. my program today has five parts. in parts one, i present a thesis of my book and background information about thomas jefferson. in part two, i present the background information about the french enlightenment. part three, i comment on the idea man who enlightened friend. comment on the salons where their ideas were discussed and debated. in part five, i comment on the sort in which jefferson traveled and his migration into the french reform movement. in which jefferson traveled >> the thesis has two parts.

prices five years in france, thomas jefferson transformed from a circumstance political loner into and engaged political activist who waged and won the second american revolution in 1800. in the second part of my thesis, i contend jefferson did this by digesting fruit concept of process -- french concept of process and becoming a progressive. say thei mean when i author of the declaration of independence was a political loner? that couldeld years harm his personal relationships and his access to political power. heause he understood this, was careful to keep these to himself. what were they? jefferson was a nonbeliever. he was guided by reason and not faith. rescued the concept of rights by nature surprisingly.

she was trained to argue cases in the common law and not speculate in philosophy. independence,g jefferson self-appointed mission was to dismantle virginia's hereditary hierarchy which he undertook to do first in his plan for his state's new government and an active -- and then as a legislator and as a member of the committee of advisors. this picture was painted by in 1901.le our image of jefferson and friends around reports of admiring arthur's. from -- and authors. the three french friends of jefferson. the scene of europe.

thomas jefferson and the rights of man in 1951. howard rice and thomas jefferson , the terrific picture book appeared in 1975. george shackelford and in the travels of your, another lovely book -- of europe, another lovely book. howard adams, the jefferson -- the. here in 1977. in 1970 seven. accounts of jefferson and friends but not surprisingly they present jefferson as a star for performing on a european stage. what did you start did not what was happening on the stage behind him. star did in novel happening on the stage behind him. ranks today. break

i am going to place france on the foreground of the picture and look at jefferson through the changing social object of his enlightened host. bear in mind that franklin has franklin arrived in 70's of the six and had international -- arrived in 1770's and had international admirers. familiar with the agents of the french enlightenment and the reform movement that were restraining. jefferson was not. -- they were or are straight. they share their -- orc hestrating. a change.d during the 15 years prior to jefferson's arrival, france's --ghtest and most daring men

let me go back to that. during the 50 years prior to jefferson's arrival, france's brightest and most daring men intellectual revolutions. they revolutionized their natural sciences, the science of government, they invented a new science of man and morality. they revolutionized the arts and letters and they revolutionized their relationship to god and the church. when jefferson arrived, a new kind of revolution was getting underway. 1788, the84 and intellectual revolutions automated century were passing through a reform movement on the way to a political revolution. knowledge, what had been bad had become insufferable. the monarchy was on the verge of bankruptcy.

the economy was stagnant and corruption was rampant. there was no investment for france's aspiring peti borgia bourgeoisie.it jefferson became aware of these things during the day-to-day interactions with his acquaintances. in my book, i conducted these conversations through pierre, who knew and defended jefferson. picture of pierre in his later years. arguably the best informed man in france. he was a scientist trained in medicine and physiology and the --ool amount earlier

montpelier. he was a companion to benjamin franklin who he called paco. papa. he believes society could be perfected through the application of knowledge and he was a freemason and member of bridget -- benjamin franklin's lodge. when jefferson arrived, french progressives with encouragement from benjamin franklin were focus on reforming their society and government. their objective was to replace francis a backwards, bankrupt monarchy with a constitutional government based on the bill of rights. i contend that during his first years in france, jefferson became familiar with the ideas that propelled the enlightenment -- aiends and of the man

france and the man who friended them. i would notice how these men connected with each other and what they did with their ideas and where jefferson fit into their business. the enlightenment in france voltairementum after returned from a three-year self-imposed exile which took 1729.between 1726 and voltaire energized in a 1934 publication entitled "letters commented on." he english science and philosophy and praised bacon, block, and newton. his comments precipitated a change in french science which became increasingly newtonian and french philosophy which

became increasingly interested in john locke's theory of mind. voltaire became the senator of intellectual network that reshaped france's society and thought. this feature is called "the dinner of the philosophers" and is described as a conversation piece and was painted by jean huber around 1772. here is huber. -- this is father adams, who was well tears -- voltaire's chess partner. a voltaire in the center with

the arrow. besides huber, you can see the top of sophie's head. her companion is the poet. martel is thought to be -- grimm was the lover of the 's sister-in-law. in my opinion, the most influential contemporaries of a was here -- voltaire's russo and franklin. i will make a couple of comments on them.

diderut inspired arts and letters. encyclopedia"an should encompass not only the field already covered by the academy which -- but each every branch of human knowledge. he wrote hundreds of articles himself and recruited dozens of the most brilliant men to write more. among these were russo. everyone was to benefit from the insights. rousseas's reputation was that philosophy were characterized who as the noble savage conducted an enslaved itself by joining society. he later revised his position by claiming that society rest on a social contract which empowers the general will of the people.

society's problems, rousseau, claimed would be as people -- and their general will. led bys underclass lawyers agreed. france's and rousseau's social very -- social theory. discourse on the origin and foundation of the quality which he published in 1775, rousseau his argument for social equality with the jeffersonian claim that "the fruits of the earth belongs to us all and the earth itself to nobody." "men areack to major free but everywhere in chains." chains tothese medieval feudalism which perpetuated and unnatural caste

system. trying glues this day and all the pass was a major terms were of economists throughout europe in the late century and similar concerns inspired other rebellions against virginia's pseudo aristocracy. this is a picture. he framed idea that society is perfectible. he prepared to become a priest originally but chose to serve humanity as agent of the government. became the administrative district which was one of the poorest regions of france. during 13 years of service there, he applied video credit phnciples -- video --

ysciocratic principle. the king appointed him patrol general of france. as friends's chief financial officer, turgot implemented a program to reduce that was the natural economic oracle -- preventted a program to taxes that prevented the free movement. is remembered for is on revolutionary ideas and he argued that human society is progressive. -- remember today for his revolutionary ideas and he argued that human society is progressive. over time, this process would leave society ever closer to a state of perfection. , the manerson arrived

in france and the men and women shared this view of society and history. they were in other words, progressive. is helvetius. ofpioneered a new science man and more relative. he based on the materials of mind which first appeared in john locke's essay and 1689. ocke that is the say that he went on to capacities to learn and manipulate ideas are products of external sensations. and that intelligence is not a natural aptitude but rather determined by personal experience. controversial where his claims that the fundamental law of human behavior is this search for pleasurable

sensations. and that the standard for right behavior is at the good, and act produced in the community. david characterized this idea as utility. remail,th, jeremy, just and their followers -- john meal and their followers embrace. by making pleasure seeking fundamental of the understanding of right behavior, helvetius made it any central component of social reform. french progressives during jefferson's time in france accepted the training of people. to find pleasure and actions was a vital part of perfecting their society. crystallize progress into a law of nature. dorcet was a protege. believed that in

the ever-expanding library of human knowledge contained remedies are all deals that conflict mankind for his he assertedprogress that as men resolve society's afflictions, society will progress to a state of ever-increasing perfection. that diderut and rousseau's revolutions were beneficial. franklin, i've already noted that benjamin franklin was a celebrity in france. said --raised him as franklin persuaded france's that theica's new republic was

ultimate destination and the march of human progress. on to the salon part of my talk. the salons of paris were places where the enlightened ideas of these men, they were discussed and debated. there were 4 celebrated hostesses during the golden age thealons which was in 1750-1780 p.m.. madams.t some of you probably have seen this picture. that's another conversation piece. tout it in today to show, highlight the idea that it does salons were a reinforcing

network to make the golden age of salons memorable. the best and the brightest people of paris and france were all connected. heads showabove the from left to right, rousseau, voltaire, diderut and turgot. the circles are the leading hostesses. she was a personal friend of thomas jefferson's. she was also a friend of thomas jefferson. 1780, the women of the french salons, amelia observed the most remarkable p i

the death ofe with madame du defand. when jefferson arrived, noticeable solos were led by madam helvetius here. she was the widow of claude. 's formeras rousseau flame. and she was the mother of a very close friend who jefferson in his last years in france. , i do not know if you can read this. each hostess had followed her own thing.

progress through advancement of scientific knowledge. 'se followed on rousseau passerby -- followed the lofty station by -- these look a little confusing but i do not expect you to remember everybody's name. picture ofer is a the duchess. it hangs in her home. and 40 miles downstream from paris.

was a form ofalon for economies -- forum for economists and the enlightened gentry. i am going to bill my comment -- lou weuisa 15th advisor.s here, up on the right. famously crystallized these problems saying, poor peasant, poor kingdom. poor kingdom, poor teen. in the course of the conversations, they developed a diagram. -- 14.

he -- poor cane. his protege, dupont, invented rat and measured the technique of an analytical measure of managing the success of the physiocratic policy. turgot followed. dupont collected and analyzed quantified the benefit of turgot proposed. dupont probably formulate the questions that jefferson responded to that appear in the

notes in virginia. notes on virginia. the political salon was known as a gathering place for americanistas. --ced to her friend with this man here. -- who was the son of one of her old friends. returned to france in 1781 after nearly 30 years of living in america. madame welcomes him into the introduced him to members of her circle. [indiscernible] jefferson or franklin and later jefferson enjoyed similar celebrity.

he helped shape their view of america as a wilderness utopia. louisps fascinated king the 16th who was an amateur cartographer. this is a more flattering picture of madame helvetius. niece of thehe great hostess. salons,who attended the was said to have proposed marriage twice. 'sgarding madame helvetius science alone, turgot seem to be --roduced a few months after

commenced his medical studies from by the summer of that year, cabanese moved. , martin laroche, became the editor of the paper's 's husband.elvetius franklintroduced shortly aftercabe -- after cabenese settled in. you probably saw the series that was on public television a few years ago. it portray's the visit that abigail adams paid to madame helvetius's salon. i looked at that and i am

fascinated and jefferson doesn't seem to be present at that event which took place in late august. on madams focuses idiosyncratic personality and her friends. what i find interesting about abigail's on complementary account of the affair and if you remember it, if you read it, the haphazard way that franklin colleagues' wife to the great hostess. madame was completely surprised to find that franklin had brought a guest. and it disappears, franklin probably treated gems of the same ambivalence leaving it to jefferson -- treated jefferson with the same ambivalence. jefferson went to france to replace franklin when the returned home.

jefferson appears to have used and hehworm -- interim left in june of 1885. jefferson mastered his diplomatic duties and to create and publish his notes on virginia. herepicture ordo, freemasonry was a major force. it shows the man who were -- it shows the men who were masons.

i think probably half of jefferson's acquaintances were freemasons. every literate segment of french society were joining the self-improvement place at the forefront of france's reform movement. the lodge of the sisters is one of the most famous and celebrated lodges in friends. madame helvetius helped to found it the year that jefferson arrived. innklin became his master 1778 during his two years and this post. franklin initiated the voltaire to the brotherhood. , also affiliated, jefferson secretary, also affiliated with the lodge. during his six months in paris, jefferson apparently concentrated on the business of

being a diplomat. this is kind of an interesting slide. man, which isby a in paris. you can see it. i've doctored it. i suppose i will be sued by somebody. you will recognize the stanley arthur's portrait of thomas jefferson which is in this museum. short, a portrait by charles peale, maybe rembrandt peale in the art museum of william and mary. in diplomacy,ed jeffs and busy transforming his notes on virginia into a manuscript. kind ofs on virginia mysterious documents. he describes them an

autobiography in his words when "theseved in france memoranda were old newspapers, bond without order and filled with duplications." they were not a manuscript in other words. it is not surprising the project of transforming the pages into a book took nine months to complete and probably would've taken far longer had jefferson -- william short was the cousin of his deceased wife. if we sure had not been there to help him. -- william short had not been there to help him. .his is by a man named ferris but need jefferson's head -- is johnjefferson's head paul jones and i'm taking liberty with it today. franklin asplace

the american ambassador asked -- i believe it was after his elevation that jefferson began to circulate in a parisian society. i am sorry i do not have more room for this map current it is a terrific reproduction and you can blow this up to a huge size and look at the script on the streets. i have circled the relocations. -- three locations. is -- and ofcircle you are most of you know jefferson sent his daughter to a boarding school in paris. this where the boarding school was. somewhere on this street, i am not sure exactly where, but somewhere on the street as were locked i gets -- lafayette's

townhouse was. hotel.ock here was the hotels building is the where dorsett lived. jefferson spent time living -- meeting with laroche in the quarters with his mother. of 1786, her settled into a circle of progressive reformers sustained by of the duke. this continued to be the center of jefferson's intellectual life through the remainder of his time in paris. alexanderconsisted of , do condemn laroche -- duke drink rochefort ep and the first french translation of the declaration of interest ash

laroche.hefort -- de nned the firstd french translation of the declaration of independence. he was a freemason. the second member of the group was the marquee during jefferson's time in france, the marquee was considered the greatest. -- philosoph. secretary perpetual of the royal academy of sciences. he was also a member of the french academy whose members were literary. with -- theiated society which was also the duk

e's lodge. the third member of his inner circle was lafayette. like other members of the group, lafayette was a dedicated opponent, of african slavery and energetic freemason. these men were center forces and -- in therm movement reform movement and the society, friends of the black. -- lafayetted him to the duke after lafayette returned from america in 1785. had corresponded with lafayette during his second term as governor of virginia but did trusted lieutenant until lafayette returned to paris from america. i wish i had more time to talk about these fascinating women.

although, the american ambassador is a welcomed guest at the gatherings of the best and brightest men in friends, he seems to have preferred traveling on his own path. the time he had after his diplomatic engagements and his interactions with the duke's circle of performers, he seemed to enjoy the company of a few distinguished women. these were -- angelica schuyler , this woman here on the right. angelica church was the wife of wealthy -- and the daughter of philip schuyler of upstate new york. choose the wife of wealthy british parliamentarian john barker church and the sister of elizabeth schuyler hamilton, the wife of alexander hamilton.

-- dingham is in the center, the daughter of the first banker of the united states. she was said to be the most beautiful woman of her age. deteste was lafayette's wife. law of the sister scandalous french ambassador to america. who traveled with his offending mostnd proper americans of the day. maria cosway was the wife of richard cosway. nether, over here,

the far right was the wife of a famous financier. closer is of jefferson played prominent roles in the fridge reform movement. on jefferson played prominent roles in the fridge reform movement. friends orf jefferson laid prominent roles in the french reform movement. [indiscernible] cologne advised that these individuals would consent to new levies even though for the first time that would have to share the payment because otherwise they risk losing their privileged status. the king followed the ministers and vice and in late december --

advice and in late december, he had 140 notables. as lafayetteked on and others were sworn in. because of the corruption that played the existing system and the queen, the meeting did not go well for the king. ended when the notables refused to authorize new taxes. the pot simmered for several months after that. on 25 august, 1788, the former's general, who collected the taxes dax suspende king's repayments of the government's debts. -- the regional

parliament refused to authorize new taxes and having no alternative, the king summoned the state general. time in 190 years, i and. it shows how desperate he was. -- i think. jefferson attended the opening session and watched several of -- friends he watched several of his friends take their seats. if you look at this picture, it is versailles, you go to the top of the stairs and you can see it. it is as big as the wall. i have marked out -- and this is sitting up here out of reach. the man who was managing the finances. this is the mc of the program. here on the right are the

notables. where the aristocrats sat. lafayette and laroche were sitting there, blocked by their portraits. you can see jefferson sitting in the audience up there. ,nd then down here in the front these were the comments. -- commons. and including one of madame helvetius' part of her entourage. tracy, part of her entourage and dupont. bowe whod them is became the leader of the first national assembly a few months later. the need to vote separately precipitated an

immediate crisis. this crisis was soft when they -- was resolved when they declared himself a national assembly. when members from the two orders joined them, france had a new government. the first business of the new government was to write and approve a constitution. agreement, this document would be based on a bill of rights which would enumerate the rights of the french people. jefferson went on to -- well, jefferson, lafayette asked jefferson to review drafts he had written to submit for a review of the assembly bill of rights that jefferson was going to fine-tune . johnson prepared a charter of rights and sent it to the king outside of that channel. while he was doing this, he received a copy of the newly

ratified after touche and of the united states of america to which he objected on the grounds that it did not have a bill of rights. the opening shots of the french revolution occurred when 14 july, a few weeks after this assembly. when a hungry, angry mob murdered. louis theteful day, 16th who was in versailles wrote a single word in his diary -- three words -- july 14, nothing. that night, the king was roused from his sleep by the grand master of the ward wrote. de laroche. what is it, the king asked.

the guy still has -- bastille has followed. but is it a revote? no, it is a revolution. on august 25, lafayette arranged host anerson to emergency meeting so 18 members of the national assembly could settle a critical disagreement over the role of the monarchy in france's new government. of the eight men who attended, 4 shared the fraternal bond of freemasonry. lafayette himself. duport. to have been aed silent witness to the negotiations which continued for six hours. the assembly subsequently approved a suspense of you know which allowed the king only to delay implementation of new laws.

on september 17, at the hotel, johnson hosted a farewell dinner for his most intimate friends. they're in attendance were the , jeffersonette himself. on 20's in september, he set sail for home every he took with him and unwavering admiration for the french efforts to reform their government and their society. and a conviction that progress depended on preserving the american republic. and that was the essence of his transformation in friend. so, i think i have a few minutes if anybody has a question. i've gone through a lot of information and wish i had more time to discuss in detail but i would be happy to answer questions. if you would raise your hand, we will have a microphone brought to you.

ok. yes? >> thank you for your lecture. i am a board member. a 1951 graduate of university of virginia. as you know, thomas jefferson 1780 he in 1743, so in was 45 years old. would you like to comment on any relationship that thomas jefferson may have had with sally hemmings? [laughter] >> whole? -- who? kind of a different take on this. i would answer this way. abouts been a lot of -- 25 years ago, this became a focal point of discussions thomas jefferson. -- it's nothave a

really relevant to my conversation. [laughter] for a new is time conversation about thomas jefferson to form around the man france andack from waged the second american revolution. whether johnson had a relationship with sally hemmings -- jefferson had a relationship with sally hemmings, it seems plausible but as far as i see there's no concrete evidence. that is about all i have to say. >> along those lines, how did slavery andew about his relationship with lafayette, how did his views about slavery evolve and change it during this period?

>> he was in an awkward situation when he went to france. i think he went to france to start his life again. his wife had died. his world had collapsed. he made -- she was invited to go to france 4 times and he finally 1774.ed in june of and his purpose was to join the society of the enlightened society. when he got there, he discovered by stages that the people he wanted to be close to where arch anti-slavery advocates. he didn't say much about that. i think in his nose in virginia he had a long passage, i think he wrote that by himself in france after november -- 1785.n november and april

before he entered and began circulating in society. he had a book published before he discovered his friends were arch opponents of slavery. and then i think ebay basically, he kept it to himself. other than that, i am not sure. he tried in many instances to solve the problem of slavery to a certain extent and at the end, he said we have done all the good we have. -- passed on to the next issue. so, i do not have any definitive comments about his final views on slavery unfortunately. >> thank you very much. my question is about the louisiana territory purchase. you mentioned that jefferson was in france watch wrote times and one of those times he would -- >> the only real connection between the louisiana purchase

and france is that the man who for thehe agreement french was the same man that cindy jefferson the questions to answer and 1780. he was a consul of his times. , it would be right to say that jefferson saw this large opportunity but that was not something that was topical during his period in france. it was when he was president of the united states. yeah? >> thank you very much. i am interested in the mechanics of the notes on virginia. someone in france sent him an outline or a series of questions , did he circulate all of those or did he circulate just portions of the people in the

colony are virginia that he thought would know about the questions? >> well, i had the pleasure of seeing the original copy of stairs before the talk. i think it is a very interesting subject. he started working on these in the middle of 1780 when he received shortly the 23 and he sent a -- response. inannot remember if it was the fall of 1781. he continued collecting information about these 23 questions for the next 2.5 years. , i was came to france always under the impression that he had a book ready to print. he makes it sound that way because he's communicating how

he tried to find charles thompson on his way to catch his vote for friends. for friends. boat he decided not to print it in philadelphia what print in france. if you look at it, he said he had a total debts bundle of loose leaves -- loose leaf pages that had no order. in reality what happened was she took this bundle and organize it according to the 23 questions and did that in france. it took them 6-9 months to organize all of that. as i was explaining earlier, you can go online to the massachusetts historical society and they have the document. that one the original galley proofs to this book. his inner linings over where and flap

he added new stuff. this was him revising his notes. he then -- she had to transcribe -- he had to transcribe. of 1785 and the transcription was given to the printer sometime at the end of the winter. to that was produced in 200 original copies. they have been distributed out. i might put out a paper on it. hereody, maybe a historian traced where all those two hundred copies went. 170 of them are pretty much defined and 30 are missing altogether. after he printed adult books and pass them out, he gave one copy

to one man who printed a french translation. then it was pirated a few times. england by john stockdale. and is what most people see now and buy a copy of that transcription. i do not think he had a book before he arrived in france. surprising. yes? >> yes, what for some of the most important results of jefferson's second american revolution and how did they link back to what he learned in france? >> well, i do not want to attend i am wrote knowledgeable about his presidency but he did learn me, the most important thing that he brought back from france was his commitment to the picture of himself.o and him by

writing the declaration of independence. secretive.ry i think he was like the wizard of oz. he was up on monticello mountain beyond the pale doing all of these things nobody was supposed to know. when he came back from france, he was convicted that -- he became her progressive attitudes inclined to be in progressive before he went to france. he was a progressive for when he came back. he sighed as his responsibility to protect the he saw it as his responsibility to protect the republic. he did go through the first national election and put up with quite a bit of criticism and defended himself in certain instances. he stood for election and won the election against what he perceived to be an emerging

monarchist idea that could undermine the republic. maybe you have seen this. jefferson did not attend inauguration.irst when washington died, he did not attend his funeral. there is a comment i read, i think it is correct. hadhought washington worried him surrounding himself with monarchists. he was a dedicated republican. a lot of things he would have promoted now were considered taboo to talk about, states rights and whatnot. he was motivated by the objective of preventing power from pooling in the hands of tyrants. you look at the virginia state emblem. it is liberty standing on the dead tyrant.

idea.as his that is why he waged what i call the other -- his other revolution to dismantle virginia's aristocracy. i think that is what guided him during his election and the second american revolution. >> [indiscernible] >> yes. >> thank you for election. -- thank you for your lecture. it was very informative. in jefferson's circle of friends you have on the screen, did any of them lose their life due to the revolution and the guillotine? >> that is a great question. it is hard for me to understand jefferson in this regard. during the last year he was in france, the last two years he was in france, he wrote the same memo to everybody. the memo was that everything -- things were progressing properly.

everything would turn out well once they instituted a constitution based on the bill of rights. privilegesea was the of the upper classes would be eliminated so they would have the same rights as everyone else. everyone else would have the same rights they have. immediate --n his , thef his closest friends duke was one of the best men. he was brilliant. he was a progressive. he invested money modernizing agriculture, improving conditions. he did all these things to promote improvement in the conditions for everyone in france. he was stoned to death in 1792. cabbanee's

brother-in-law. he was in hiding. he was a moderate but he was in favor of terminating the monarchy and creating a constitutional government free of monarchical rule. if you are familiar with the after the fall of the monarchy, they devolved into the as competition between the groups intensified. he had to go into hiding. i forget exactly what the issue was. he felt he could not stay in hiding for eight months. he finally felt he had to flee because it might be harmful to his protector. he fled. he was captured.

he was taken to one of the prisons to be executed in a day or two. his jailers went into his cell. i have a picture of this in my book. the jailers go into his cell and he is dead. the word is cabanee gave him the poison he used to kill himself. a nice bit of irony. he was finishing his great masterpiece work. his great masterpiece work included this concept of the doctrine of progress. jefferson probably never heard there was a doctrine of progress. but that is what he was writing. he finishes the last line of this paper and then takes the poison. kind of tragic. one more. >> lee's comment on marie antoinette and her bread and

mment and her execution, please. >> i don't think she actually said that, but it is too good not to use. [laughter] referred to the bad press, the bad reputation she had. there was something called the diamond necklace affair. are you familiar with that? the three tiers of french economy had -- they were hierarchical with a very small, thin crust of wealthy and a mass underneath of impoverished individuals. purchased a 130,000 lira necklace he thought the queen would like. she did not ask for it. he gave it to her. it was subsequently stolen and

cut up and sold separately. the poor queen had the reputation of being -- ordering this and having this kind of extravagance surrounding her. she was a nonentity. she was a target for the impoverished underclasses. it is somewhat beyond the scope of my conversation, but i think she might have been able to if one or two small happenstance is might not have occurred. she might not have been beheaded. you can see in the pictures she aged substantially. one final point. you have all heard of madame tussaud, the waxworks queen. the waxworksited in the palais royal when he was there. he saw these exhibits.

there was an assistant to the , andietor of this museum i forget,as madame -- it was a german. it was his niece. she learned his techniques for re-creating wax effigies. during the revolution, she was commandeered. graveyard.go to the she went into the baskets after the day's beheadings and retrieved the head of louis the 16th, marie and for that, and several others. she made their wax faces. you can see them. you can look it up online. isn't that amazing? life is full of strange things. [applause] thank you. at 8:00 andday midnight, you can learn from leading historians about presidents and first ladies.

to watch any of our programs or check our schedule, visit c-span.org/history. you're watching american history tv every weekend on c-span3. at christmasok during wartime with stanley weintraub. he is the author of "pearl harbor christmas." we will hear about how president roosevelt and ritter's foreign minister winston churchill navigated that first christmas after america entered world war ii. americanear about how soldiers marked christmas from the revolutionary war through the korean war. franciscan university hosted this event. it is about one hour.

>> good evening. it is a pleasure to be here. stanley weintraub finished up as thers at penn state professor of arts and humanities. he joined the department of english september 1 1956. i think i was in fourth grade. [laughter] he was an instructor. inbecame a full professor 1965. a research professor in 1970. and the evan pugh professor in 1986. areas ofraub's specialization include biographies and cultural history, and of course 19th and 20th century drama. on the table, we see many of his

books, some of which were devoted to our topic tonight, wartime christmases. during his 43 years at penn weintraub published 45 books. he never stopped when he retired. nobody knows for sure how many he has published, but i think it is up to 60 or thereabouts. on and on. ladies and gentlemen, i would like to present to you my mentor who responded to me when i said what do you want to be after i said my phd from bowling green, and he said words. i have tried my best to give them to him. i present to you one of the dearest friend's and mentors i have ever had. nobody does this alone. this is mine. stanley. [applause]