esteem; for, although of high and distinguished rank, he did not
despise the good opinion of the meanest citizen. I speak of the
prince de Deux Ponts, Charles Auguste Christian. This prince, who
chanced to visit France during the zenith of my court favour, was
very desirous of seeing me, and both he and his brother were
presented to me by the comte de la Marche, their friend, and
they quickly requested the honor of my friendship. Auguste
Christian pleased me most by his gentle and amiable manners,
although most persons gave the preference to his brother, Maximilian
Joseph, better known by the name of prince Max. Auguste Christian,
in the fervour of his attachment, speaking openly to me of the
delicacy of the situation, proposed to me, in case of any reverse,
that I should seek an asylum in his dominions; and I must do him
the justice to say, that at the death of the king, far from
forgetting his proffer, he lost no time in reminding me of it.
Fidelity and attachment such as his, is sufficiently rare to
merit a place in my journal. The prince des Deux Ponts was
presumptive heir to an immense inheritance, that of the electorate
of Bavaria, and the electorate Palatine, to the latter of which
he was direct heir after the decease of his cousin, the present
elector. I could almost wish that he had already succeeded to
these possessions: he can never reign too soon for the happiness
of his subjects.

Prince Max had served in France; he was extremely well looked
upon at court both by the king and the princesses. As for the
dauphiness, prejudiced against him as she was by her mother,
she naturally regarded him with an eye of cool mistrust, and
manifested her open dislike by never inviting him to any of her
parties. Prince Max spoke of this pointed neglect to the king,