Anne Lister's diary for 1-2 January 1825

Introduction

At the beginning of 1825 Anne had lived at 24 Place Vendôme, Paris for over three months. Her affair with Maria Barlow had become quite serious, particularly on Maria’s side. Anne, although deeply involved on an emotional level, was unwilling to make the total commitment which Maria desired. Certain factors militated against accepting Maria as a lifelong partner. She was a widow with a young child to educate and launch into the world. She had neither money nor social éclat to bring to the partnership. Anne’s ambitious nature precluded any future permanent liaison with an impecunious woman of a lower social status than her own.

Anne had her escape prepared. Whenever she found herself emotionally or sexually entangled with another woman she would extricate herself from the affair by using the pretext of her long-standing commitment to Mariana. The affair with Maria Barlow was no exception to this rule, much to the heartbreak of the latter.

Politically, Paris was becoming a restive city. Charles X had reigned for approximately three months and, although the élite had welcomed the new king, the bourgeoisie were not so enthusiastic. Sections of the lower ranks of the military and the greater part of the workers, the poorer section of the city, in large part remained loyal to Napoleon Bonaparte. Much of the trouble lay in the fact that Charles X was a reactionary. His predecessor, Louis XVIII, when restored to the throne after the fall of Napoleon in 1814 had been wise enough to grasp that that, after two and a half decades of revolution and war, France needed time to heal its wounds. He had established himself as a moderate, liberal, constitutional monarch, anxious for peace and reconciliation between deeply divided political factions. Charles X and his government displayed no such tact. The old power base of the Catholic Church was restored and the émigré nobility, those who had fled France during the Revolution, were given top posts of power and responsibility. Further reactionary measures followed such as increased censorship of the press. The king was becoming deeply unpopular. The ensuing political unrest gradually gathered force over the next six years, culminating in the July Revolution of 1830 and the overthrow of Charles X in favour of his cousin, the Orléanist, Louis-Philippe, the “citizen king”.

Selected passage

Maria Barlow’s jealousy of Mariana Lawton is evident in the following extract and Anne is beginning to realise that she must choose between them. The year 1825 opens with a fire in Paris, caused by the celebrations of the night before. It is interesting to note that, unlike present day customs, it is the New Year period rather than Christmas Day which is celebrated so lavishly.

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