The Dauphin, the tutor and Diogenes

September 8, 2010

Diogenes looking for an honest man by Caesar van Everdingen

Marie Antoinette’s son had great admiration for his tutor, Father d’Avaux.  After a History lesson, the young prince lit a lantern and began searching the floor for something as he slowly made his way over to his teacher.

Having reached the priest, the Dauphin took his hand and said:  “I’m more fortunate than Diogenes.  I found someone.

Edmond Guérard, Dictionnaire encyclopédique d’anecdotes (Paris: Firmin Didot, 1872), Vol. I, p. 416. (Nobility.org translation.)

Short Stories on Honor, Chivalry, and the World of Nobility—no. 5

 

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