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+Project Gutenberg's Louis XIV and La Grande Mademoiselle, by Arvede Barine
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Louis XIV and La Grande Mademoiselle
+       1652-1693
+
+Author: Arvede Barine
+
+Release Date: September 12, 2011 [EBook #37409]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LOUIS XIV AND LA GRANDE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Jane Robins and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+    _By ARVEDE BARINE_
+
+    =The Youth of La Grande Mademoiselle
+    1627-1652=
+
+    Authorized English Version. Octavo. Fully
+    Illustrated. (By mail, $3.25.) Net, $3.00
+
+
+    =Louis XIV. and La Grande Mademoiselle
+    1652-1693=
+
+    Authorized English Version. Octavo. Fully
+    Illustrated. (By mail, $3.25.) Net, $3.00
+
+    =_G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS_=
+
+    =_New York_=              =_London_=
+
+[Illustration: Cliche Braun, Clement & Cie. =MADEMOISELLE DE
+MONTPENSIER= She is holding the portrait of her father, Gaston D'Orleans
+From the painting by Pierre Bourgnignon in the Musee de Versailles. By
+permission of Messrs. Hachette & Co.]
+
+
+
+
+    Louis XIV
+    and
+    La Grande Mademoiselle
+
+    1652-1693
+
+    By
+
+    Arvede Barine
+
+    Author of "The Youth of La Grande Mademoiselle"
+
+    _Authorised English Version_
+
+    G. P. Putnam's Sons
+
+    New York and London
+    The Knickerbocker Press
+    1905
+
+
+
+
+    COPYRIGHT, 1905
+
+    BY
+
+    G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS
+
+    The Knickerbocker Press, New York
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+In the volume entitled _The Youth of La Grande Mademoiselle_ I have
+tried to present the conditions of France during the period in which the
+ancient liberties of the people and the turbulent society which had
+abused its privileges suffered, in the one case death, in the other
+extinction.
+
+As is always the case, a lack of proper discipline had prepared the way
+for absolute rule, and the young King who was about to assume full power
+was an enigma to his subjects. The nearest relatives of Louis had always
+found him impenetrable. The Grande Mademoiselle had been brought up side
+by side with her cousin, but she was entirely ignorant of his real
+character, knowing only that he was silent and appeared timid. In her
+failure to understand the King, Mademoiselle showed herself again a true
+child of her century.
+
+At the moment in which the Prince assumed full power, his true
+disposition, thoughts, and beliefs were entirely hidden from the public,
+and Saint-Simon has contributed to this ignorance by prolonging it to
+posterity. Louis XIV. was over fifty when this terrible writer appeared
+at Court. The _Memoires_ of Saint-Simon present the portrait of a man
+almost old; this portrait however is so powerful, so living that it
+obliterates every other. The public sees only the Louis of Saint-Simon;
+for it, the youthful King as he lived during the troubled and passionate
+period of his career, the period that was most interesting, because most
+vital, has never existed.
+
+The official history of the times aids in giving a false impression of
+Louis XIV., figuring him in a sort of hieratic attitude between an idol
+and a manikin. The portraits of Versailles again mask the Louis of the
+young Court, the man for whose favour Moliere and the Libertines fought
+with varying chances of success.
+
+In the present volume I have tried to raise a corner of this mask.
+
+The _Memoires_ of Louis XIV., completely edited for the first time
+according to any methodical plan in 1860, have greatly aided me in this
+task. They abound in confessions, sometimes aside, sometimes direct, of
+the matters that occupied the thoughts of the youthful author. The
+Grande Mademoiselle, capable of neither reserve nor dissimulation, has
+proved the next most valuable guide in the attempt to penetrate into the
+intimate life of Louis. As related by her, the perpetual difficulties
+with the Prince throw a vivid light upon the kind of incompatibility of
+temper which existed at the beginning of the reign between absolute
+power and the survivors of the Fronde.
+
+How the young King succeeded in directing his generation toward new
+ideas and sentiments and how the Grande Mademoiselle, too late carried
+away by the torrent, became in the end a victim to its force, will be
+seen in the course of the present volume, provided, that is, that I have
+not overestimated my powers in touching upon a subject very obscure,
+very delicate, with facts drawn from a period the most frequently
+referred to and yet in some respects the least comprehended of the
+entire history of France.
+
+                                                                A. B.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+                                                                  PAGE
+
+Exile--Provincial Life--Conversation at Saint-Fargeau--Sentiment
+towards Nature in the Seventeenth Century--Differences
+between Mademoiselle and her Father--Mademoiselle Returns
+to Court                                                          1-57
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+The Education of Louis XIV.--Manners--Poverty--Charity--Vincent
+de Paul, a Secret Society--Marriage of Louis XIV.--His
+Arrival at Power on the Death of Mazarin--He Re-educates
+Himself                                                         58-119
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+Mademoiselle at the Luxembourg--Her Salon--The "Anatomies"
+of the Heart--Projects of Marriage, and New Exile--Louis
+XIV. and the Libertines--Fragility of Fortune in Land--_Fetes
+Galantes_                                                      120-184
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+Increasing Importance of the Affairs of Love--The Corrupters of
+Morals--Birth of Dramatic Music and its Influence--Love
+in Racine--Louis XIV. and the Nobility--The King is
+Polygamous                                                     185-236
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+The Grande Mademoiselle in Love--Sketch of Lauzun and their
+Romance--The Court on its Travels--Death of Madame--Announcement
+of the Marriage of Mademoiselle--General Consternation--Louis
+XIV. Breaks the Affair                                         237-303
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+Was Mademoiselle secretly Married?--Imprisonment of Lauzun--Splendour
+and Decadence of France--_La Chambre Ardente_--Mademoiselle
+Purchases Lauzun's Freedom--Their Embroilment--Death
+of the Grande Mademoiselle--Death of Lauzun--Conclusion        304-377
+
+
+INDEX                                                              379
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+                                                                  PAGE
+
+MADEMOISELLE DE MONTPENSIER                _Frontispiece_
+    She is holding the portrait of her father, Gaston d'Orleans.
+      From the painting by Pierre Bourguignon in the
+      Musee de Versailles. By permission of Messrs. Hachette
+      & Co.
+
+ANNE MARIE LOUISE D'ORLEANS, DUCHESSE DE MONTPENSIER                 4
+    From the enamel by Petitot in the South Kensington Museum.
+
+CARDINAL DE RETZ                                                    24
+    Showing him in his coadjuteur days. After the painting
+      by Deveria.
+
+JULIUS HARDOUIN MANSART                                             26
+    After the painting by Vivien.
+
+JEAN DE LA FONTAINE                                                 54
+    From an engraving by Grevedon.
+
+LOUIS XIV. AS A BOY, DEDICATING HIS CROWN                           62
+    After the painting by Greg Huret.
+
+
+LOUIS XIV. AS A YOUNG MAN                                           72
+    From a chalk drawing in the British Museum Print Room.
+
+
+FRANCOIS DE LA ROCHEFOUCAULD                                       130
+    From the engraving by Hopwood after the painting by Petitot.
+
+HELENE LAMBERT, MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE                               150
+    After the painting by De Largilliere.
+
+LOUISE DE LA VALLIERE                                              154
+    From the engraving by Flameng after the painting by
+      Petitot.
+
+JEAN BAPTISTE COLBERT                                              170
+    After the painting by Champaign.
+
+"PLEASURES OF THE ISLAND OF ENCHANTMENT."
+   SCENE ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE PLAY, BEFORE
+   THE KING AT VERSAILLES                                          172
+       From the engraving by Israel Silvestre.
+
+"PLEASURES OF THE ISLAND OF ENCHANTMENT." SECOND DAY               174
+    From the engraving by Israel Silvestre.
+
+GENERAL VIEW OF THE CHATEAU OF VERSAILLES                          176
+    From the engraving by Israel Silvestre, 1664.
+
+THE FRONT OF THE LOUVRE IN COURSE OF ERECTION                      178
+    From the engraving by S. le Clerc, 1677.
+
+JEAN BAPTISTE POQUELIN MOLIERE                                     180
+    After the painting by Noel Coypel.
+
+MADAME HENRIETTE D'ORLEANS                                         194
+    From the painting by Mignard in the National Portrait
+      Gallery. (Photograph by Walker, London.)
+
+MADAME DE MONTESPAN                                                200
+    From the engraving by Flameng after the painting by Mignard.
+
+LA VOISIN                                                          206
+    From a print in the Bibliotheque Nationale.
+
+JEAN BAPTISTE DE LULLI                                             216
+    After a contemporary print by Bonnart.
+
+BOILEAU                                                            220
+    After the painting by H. Rigaud.
+
+Duc de Lauzun                                                      244
+    By permission of Messrs. Hachette & Co.
+
+MADAME DE SEVIGNE                                                  282
+    From the painting by Pietro Mignard in the Uffizi Gallery,
+      Florence. (Photograph by Alinari.)
+
+VIEW OF THE PALACE AND GARDENS OF THE TUILERIES                    330
+    From an engraving by Israel Silvestre, 1673.
+
+VIEW OF THE RESIDENCE OF COLBERT, SHOWING ALSO HIS SEAL            332
+    From an engraving by Israel Silvestre, 1675.
+
+VIEW OF THE CHATEAU OF VERSAILLES, SHOWING THE
+  FOUNTAIN OF THE DRAGON                                           334
+    From an engraving by Israel Silvestre, 1676.
+
+DUCHESSE DE LA VALLIERE AND HER CHILDREN                           336
+    From the painting by P. Mignard in the possession of the
+      Marquise d'Oilliamson.
+
+LOUISE DE LA VALLIERE, IN THE GARB OF THE ORDER
+  OF THE CARMELITES                                                338
+    After the painting by D. Plaats.
+
+MADAME DE MAINTENON                                                340
+    After the painting by P. Mignard in 1694.
+
+
+
+
+LOUIS XIV. AND LA GRANDE MADEMOISELLE
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+     Exile--Provincial Life--Conversation at
+     Saint-Fargeau--Sentiment towards Nature in the Seventeenth
+     Century--Differences between Mademoiselle and her
+     Father--Mademoiselle Returns to Court.
+
+
+The Fronde was an abortive revolution. It was condemned in advance, the
+leaders having never clearly known what ends they were seeking. The
+consequences of its failure proved to be of profound importance to
+France. The civil disorders existing between 1648 and 1652 were the last
+efforts of the French against the establishing of absolute monarchy, to
+the strengthening of which the entire regency of Anne of Austria had
+tended. The end of these disorders signified that the nation, wearied
+and discouraged, had accepted the new regime. The result was a great
+transformation, political and moral, so great that the Fronde may be
+considered as clearly marking a separation between two periods of French
+history--a deep abyss as it were between the times which precede and
+those which follow.
+
+The leaders of the Fronde had been dispersed by the return of the King
+to his capital on October 21, 1652. When the exiles returned, some
+sooner, some later, the last after the Peace of the Pyrenees (November
+7, 1659), so great a change had taken place in ideas and customs that
+more than one exile felt himself in a strange land.
+
+It was necessary to adjust oneself to the new atmosphere. It was very
+much the same situation--though the Frondeurs were under much lighter
+accusations--as that experienced by the _emigres_ returning under the
+Consulate. The Princess, the events of whose heroic years have been
+related, offers an excellent example of this condition.
+
+When the Grande Mademoiselle, who had urged on the civil war in order to
+force Louis XIV. into marriage with herself, obtained at the end of five
+years, permission to return to Court, she brought with her the old
+undisciplined habits which were no longer in fashion, and in the end
+incurred much that was disagreeable. Exile had not weakened her pride.
+According to a celebrated formula, she had learned nothing, she had
+forgotten nothing; she remained that person of impulse of whom Mme. de
+Sevigne said, "I do not care to mix myself with her impetuosities."[1]
+
+Far be it from me to reproach Mademoiselle! All honour be to her who
+stood firm in the age of servility which succeeded the Fronde! In other
+respects exile had been most healthful for her. She had been obliged to
+seek in herself resources the finding of which surprised her.
+Mademoiselle naively admires herself in her _Memoires_[2] for never
+having experienced a single moment of ennui "in the greatest desert in
+the world," and surely she deserves praise, as her first experiences at
+Saint-Fargeau would have crushed most women.
+
+The reader will be convinced of this if he imagines himself in her
+company the night of arrival in the early days of November, 1652. At the
+end of _The Youth of La Grande Mademoiselle_ we left her weeping without
+shame before her entire suite. Her dream of glory had evaporated.
+Anne-Marie-Louise d'Orleans would never be queen of France. She would
+take no more cities; pass no more troops at review to the sound of
+trumpet and cannon. Three weeks previous, the great Conde had treated
+her as a companion in arms. She rejoiced the soldiers by her martial
+carriage, and any one of them would have been not only surprised but
+very indignant if it had been suggested that she was capable of being
+almost as cowardly as her father, the "_triste_ Gaston."
+
+Now all that was finished, even the romantic flight. While playing
+hide-and-seek with imaginary pursuers, the Grande Mademoiselle had
+fallen into a state of physical and moral prostration. The heroine of
+Orleans and of Porte Saint-Antoine sobbed like a little child because
+she "had too much grief" and was "too afraid"[3]; the aspect of her
+future home had taken away the last remnants of courage.
+
+The Chateau of Saint-Fargeau, begun under Hugh Capet and often repaired,
+particularly during the fifteenth century, seemed more like a fortress
+than a peaceful dwelling. Its heavy mass dominated the valley of the
+Loing, a region of great and dense forests, with few clearings. Itself
+enveloped with brushwood and protected by deep moats, the chateau
+harmonised well with the surroundings. Its windows opened at a great
+height above the ground, and its towers were strong. The body of the
+building was massive and bare, united by strong ramparts forming an
+_enceinte_ irregular with severe appearance.
+
+The _ensemble_ was imposing, never smiling. Saint-Fargeau, long
+uninhabited, was almost a ruin filled with rats at the time when
+Mademoiselle presented herself as a fugitive. She was shown into a room
+with a prop in the centre. Coming from the palace of the Tuileries, this
+sight overwhelmed her, and made her realise the depth of her fall. She
+had an access of despair: "I am most unfortunate to be absent from
+Court, to have only a dwelling as ugly as this, and to realise that this
+is the best of my chateaux." Her fear became terror when she discovered
+that doors and windows were lacking. A report came from a valet that she
+was sought for imprisonment, and she was too confused to reflect that
+if the King had ordered her arrest locks would have been useless.
+
+[Illustration: =ANNE MARIE LOUISE D'ORLEANS, DUCHESSE DE MONTPENSIER=
+From the enamel by Petitot in the South Kensington Museum]
+
+She continued her journey to reach a little chateau, situated two
+leagues from Saint-Fargeau, which was reported safer. "Imagine," says
+she, "with what pleasure I made the extra journey. I had risen two hours
+before daylight; I had ridden twenty-two miles upon a horse already worn
+out with previous travel. We arrived at our destination at three in the
+morning; I went to bed in haste." The crisis was short. The next day it
+was explained to Mademoiselle that Saint-Fargeau had two exits in case
+of alarm. She returned in consequence on the fourth day, and there was
+no more question of grief, nor even ill-temper; from that moment the
+place was "good and strong."
+
+The Princess adapted herself to the glassless windows, the broken
+ceilings, the absence of doors, and all the rest. The great ladies of
+the seventeenth century were fortunately not too particular.
+Mademoiselle encamped in a cellar while the apartment above was being
+repaired, and was forced to borrow a bed. She recovered all her gaiety
+before the comicality of the situation: "for the first cousin of the
+King of France." "Happily for me," wrote she, "the bailiff of the
+chateau had been recently married; therefore he possessed a new bed."
+The bed of Madame the Bailiff was the great resource of the chateau. It
+was returned as soon as the Princess received her own from Paris, but it
+was again used to give a resting-place to the Christmas guests, many of
+whom appeared--a fact to the credit of the French nobility--as soon as
+it was known where the illustrious unfortunate was passing her period of
+banishment.
+
+Mademoiselle did not know how to provide for these guests and the most
+important were lodged with the bailiff. The Duchess of Sully and her
+sister, the Marquise of Laval, came together for a prolonged sojourn and
+performed the office of shuttle between the cellar in which the Grande
+Mademoiselle held her court and "the new bed of the city of
+Saint-Fargeau." Ladies of quality arriving at this time lodged where
+they could with small regard to comfort, and this condition lasted until
+the chateau was put in order. Every one suffered but nobody complained.
+There was a certain elegance in this haughty fashion of ignoring
+comfort, the importance of which in our own days seems in comparison
+rather bourgeois, in the worst sense of the word.
+
+Gradually all was arranged. The chateau was restored, the apartments
+enlarged.[4] The overgrowth of the approaches gave place to a terrace
+from which to the surprise of all a charming view was discovered. The
+Saint-Fargeau of the Capets and of the first Valois, "a place so wild,"
+says Mademoiselle, "that when I arrived, only herbs fit for soup were to
+be found," became a beautiful residence, hospitable and animated.
+
+The mistress of the place loved open air and movement, as did all the
+French nobility before an absolute monarchy, in the interest of order
+and peace, had trained them to rest tranquilly in the salons of
+Versailles. Muscular decadence commenced with the French at the epoch
+when it became the fashion to pass the days in silk stockings and
+practising bows, under punishment of being excluded from all society.
+Violent exercises were abandoned or made more gentle.[5] Attention was
+paid only to what gave majestic grace to the body in harmony with the
+Versailles "Galerie of Mirrors."
+
+The bourgeoisie were eager to imitate the people of quality, and the
+higher classes paid for their fine manners or their attempts at fine
+manners with the headaches and nervous disorders of the eighteenth
+century. The taste for sport has only reappeared in France during our
+own times. We are now witnessing its resurrection.
+
+This taste, however, was still lively immediately after the Fronde, and
+Mademoiselle abandoned herself to it with passion. She ordered from
+England a pack of hounds and hunters. She possessed many equipages. With
+a game of marl before the chateau, indoor games for rainy days, violins
+from the Tuileries to play for dancing, it would be difficult to find a
+court more brisk, more constantly in joyous movement.
+
+Mademoiselle, whom nothing tired, set an example, and seasoned these
+"games of action" with _causeries_, some of which happily have been
+preserved for us by Segrais,[6] her Secretary of the Commandments.
+Thanks to him, we know, even admitting that he may have slightly
+rearranged his reports, what they talked about at the court of
+Saint-Fargeau, and one cannot fail to be somewhat surprised. He tells us
+all sorts of things of which we never should have dreamed, things that
+we have never imagined as subjects of interest in the seventeenth
+century. In this age which believed itself entirely indifferent towards
+nature, conversation nevertheless fell ceaselessly upon the beauties of
+landscape. People paused to admire "points of view," sought them, and
+endeavoured to explain why they were beautiful. The reasons given were,
+that those who knew how to enjoy a large forest and "the beautiful
+carpet of moss at the feet," actually preferred landscapes made more
+intelligible through the intervention of man. A desert pleased them less
+than an inhabited country, a wild landscape less than sunny collections
+of cultivated fields and orchards symmetrically planted, recalling "the
+agreeable variety of parterres made by the ingenuity of man."
+
+Mademoiselle praises in her _Memoires_ the view from the end of the
+terrace. She attempts to describe it and fails. Segrais also tries in
+vain. It was impossible at that epoch. The vocabulary did not exist
+which could furnish words to describe a landscape. The creation of our
+descriptive vocabulary is one of Bernardin de Saint-Pierre's[7] greatest
+glories. In compensation, Segrais knew very well how to explain why the
+beauty of the view, about which he had so ineffectively written, pleased
+him and his companions. He said that, arranged by chance, it conformed
+to the rules of classic pictures and in no way appeared the sole work of
+nature. Neither the valley of the Loing nor the immense marsh which
+closed this side of the chateau, nor the island in the midst of this
+marsh, with clumps of trees, nor the church and small height which could
+be perceived, seemed placed without human intervention. "And this,"
+writes Segrais, "is so well represented in those excellent landscapes of
+the great artists, that all who look upon it believe that they have seen
+the marsh, church, and little island in a thousand pictures."
+
+Literature, imaginative literature at least, also held a considerable
+place in the conversation. Mademoiselle, who had read nothing before her
+sojourn at Saint-Fargeau, was anxious to make up for lost time. "I am a
+very ignorant creature," writes she, at the beginning of her exile,
+"detesting reading and having seen only the gazettes. Henceforth I am
+going to apply myself and see if it be possible to like a thing from
+deliberate determination."
+
+Success surpassed her hopes; she conceived a passion for reading. In the
+winter of 1652-1653, during which there were few distractions, and the
+chateau was given over to workmen; when the bad weather and the rough
+roads rendered Saint-Fargeau unapproachable, and left the castle
+solitary, she read, or listened to reading while plying her needle,
+without being bored.
+
+     I laboured from morning till night at my work and descended
+     from my chamber only to dine or to be present at mass. The
+     winter weather was so bad that walking was impossible. If there
+     ever was a moment of fine weather I rode, or if the ground was
+     too frozen I walked a little to watch my workmen. While I sewed
+     some one read to me, and it was at this period that I began to
+     love reading as I have done ever since.
+
+At the end of some years of banishment her "erudition" struck Dr. Huet,
+who met her at the baths of Forges. "She loves history passionately,"
+says he in his _Memoires_, "but above all, romances, so-called. While
+her women were dressing her hair, she desired me to read aloud, and no
+matter what the subject, it provoked a thousand questions on her part.
+In this I well recognised the acuteness of her mind."
+
+The fashionable romances easily pleased a Princess who had a grandeur of
+soul and loved to meet it in others. They were the works of
+Gomberville,[8] of La Calprenede, and of Mlle. de Scudery, in which the
+sheepfolds and dove-cotes of l'Astree had yielded to the heroic
+adventures and grand sentiments of princes warlike and proud, who,
+notwithstanding their exotic names, were the same who resisted under
+Richelieu, and lead the Fronde under Mazarin. The generations born in
+the first third of the century were charmed with the resemblance to
+their own heroes which these tales offered them. They went wild with
+delight over Scythe, Oroondate, or the Grand Cyrus, as they were
+fascinated with Saint-Preux and Lelia, and many readers remained
+faithful till death to these writers who had so well expressed the
+ideals of their youth.
+
+At sixty, La Rochefoucauld re-read La Calprenede. Mme. de Sevigne was a
+grandmother when she found herself "glued" to _Cleopatre_. "The beauty
+of the sentiments," writes she, "and the violence of the passions, the
+grandeur of the events, and the marvellous successes of the redoubtable
+swords, all enchain me as if I were still a little child. The sentiments
+are of a perfection which satisfy my conception of beautiful souls."[9]
+
+Realism and Naturalism have in the present day destroyed the capacity
+for enthusiasm for heroes of romance. One's imagination can hardly be
+kindled by a Coupeau or a Nana, nor even by a Madame Bovary, whatever
+may be the literary value of the works in which they figure. For the
+little court of Saint-Fargeau it was hardly possible to speak calmly of
+the favourite heroes. One day, followed by a numerous assemblage,
+Mademoiselle drove in the fresh valley of the Loing and descended from
+her chariot under the tall willows which bordered the little river. It
+was spring and the sun was radiant. The new grass and the growing leaves
+offered a picture so "laughing" that nothing else could at first be
+spoken of. While walking, the conversation finally turned upon romance,
+and each fought for the favourite hero. The discussion was waxing warm
+when the Princess, who had hardly spoken, intervened to moderate its
+ardour. After avowing that she had read but little, she gave an eulogium
+upon Roman history, or rather what it might become, better comprehended
+in the hands of a learned writer, and criticised the custom of giving
+French manners to Greeks, Persians, or Indians.
+
+Mademoiselle desired greater "historic truth" and what might be
+designated as more local colour. Why not frankly take characters from
+French contemporaries? "I am astonished," she said in ending, "that so
+many people of intelligence who have created for us such worthy
+Scythians and such generous Parthians have not taken the same pleasure
+in imagining as accomplished French cavaliers or princes: whose
+adventures would not have been less pleasing." After a moment's
+silence, objections were advanced. The idea of writing a romance upon
+the "war of Paris" seemed very daring. One young lady very naively urged
+that the author would not know how to name his characters. "The French,"
+said she, "naturally love foreign names. Arabaze, Iphidamante, Crosmane,
+are beautiful names; Rohan, Lorraine, Montmorency, are nothing of the
+kind."
+
+The old Mme. de Choissy, with the authority given by her noted
+intelligence, tried to prove that in an imaginative recital both time
+and space must be distant. One Marquise appeared wearied of the kings
+and emperors of romance, and desired heroes taken from the middle class.
+Another, Mme. de Mauny, who was supposed[10] to have invented the
+expression "_s'encanailler_" asserted that it was forbidden to heroes of
+romance to do or say anything derogatory to pure sentiment, which was
+possible to those of "high birth only." Mademoiselle maintained the
+necessity of observation and truth for the tale, but she admitted that
+the author of a great romance, writing as a "poet," had the right to
+imagine events, instead of servilely copying them. "The tale," said she,
+"relates things as they are, the romance as they should be."
+
+This distinction neither lacks acuteness nor a certain justice, and we
+should like to know how much Segrais had contributed to it. No one
+having replied to this last remark, the Princess remounted her carriage,
+and gave the order to follow the pack of hounds, which had just started
+a hare a few steps off. She was obeyed, in spite of the obstacles which
+the country presented, and she returned to the chateau, very well
+satisfied with her afternoon.
+
+At Saint-Fargeau they talked more frequently of love than of either
+literature or the beauties of nature. Love is a subject of which women
+never weary, and about which they always have something to say.
+Mademoiselle lent herself completely to such conversation; it was she
+who one day posed a question the subtlety of which the Hotel Rambouillet
+might have enjoyed. "Whose absence causes the greater anguish, a lover
+who should be loved or one who should not be?"
+
+She consented to admit the ideas of l'Astree upon the fatality of
+passion, on the condition that the effects should be limited to
+personages of romance, or in real life to those of humble birth. Segrais
+makes her say without protest in a tale[11] ascribed to her "Man is not
+free to love or not to love as he pleases." In the depths of her soul,
+in her most intimate thoughts, Mademoiselle had never been further from
+comprehending love, never had she more energetically refused for it any
+beauty, any grandeur. One of her ladies, the gracious Frontenac, with
+her eyes "filled with light," had made a marriage of inclination, an act
+absurd, base, and shameful in the judgment of Mademoiselle, her
+mistress. The marriage turned out badly. M. de Frontenac was eccentric.
+His young wife at first feared, then hated him, and at Saint-Fargeau
+there passed between the couple tragi-comic scenes, of which no one
+could be ignorant.
+
+Mademoiselle had just commenced her _Memoires_.[12] She eagerly relates
+the conjugal quarrels of M. and Mme. de Frontenac with more details than
+it would be suitable to repeat, and this was the opportunity for an
+outburst against the folly of trying to found marriage upon the most
+fickle of human feelings. She writes:
+
+     I have always had a strong aversion for even legitimate love.
+     This passion appears to me unworthy of a noble soul; but I am
+     now confirmed in this opinion, and I comprehend well that
+     reason has but little to do with affairs of passion. Passion
+     passes quickly, is never, in fact, of long duration. One may be
+     unhappy for life in entering upon marriage for so transient a
+     feeling, but on the other hand, happy if one marries for reason
+     and other imaginable considerations, even if physical aversion
+     exists; for I believe that one often loves more with this
+     aversion conquered.
+
+The principle may be sage, but the Grande Mademoiselle is too sure of
+her fact. This "even if aversion exists" is difficult to digest. The
+Princess was nearing her thirtieth year, when she treated love with
+contempt, and nothing had yet warned her of the imprudence of defying
+nature; so she believed herself well protected.
+
+In the spring of 1683, the rumour had spread that she and M. le Prince
+de Conde had promised to marry, in the expectation and hope of being
+soon relieved of the Princess de Conde, now a hopeless invalid, and that
+the imagination of Mademoiselle, for lack of heart, pressed her
+"furiously" in this affair. The Parisian salons had discovered no other
+explanation for the hostile attitude which she persisted in maintaining
+towards the Court of France, which she had so much interest in
+conciliating. It was inconceivable that without some reason of this kind
+she should compromise herself as she did, for a Prince who had become an
+alien and whom she might never again see. Why betray news through
+letters which always fell into the hands of Mazarin? Why leave to Conde,
+now a Spanish General, the companies raised under the Fronde with the
+funds of Mademoiselle and bearing her name? Either she had lost her
+senses or one might expect some romantic prank, which could only be
+unravelled by marriage.
+
+"Have you told everything?" demanded Mademoiselle of the old Countess de
+Fiesque, her former governess, one morning, when this last poured out
+the comments of the world. "No," said the good woman. Her mistress let
+her proceed, then expressed herself as indignant that she should have
+been believed capable of marrying on account of a sudden passion; the
+other reproaches had not touched her.
+
+She declared that M. le Prince had never spoken of marriage, that it
+would be time to think of this if Madame la Princesse should die, when
+M. le Prince should be pardoned, when he should formally demand her
+hand, and the King should approve the affair.
+
+     I believe [continued she] that I should marry him finding in
+     his personality only what is grand, heroic, and worthy of the
+     name I bear. But that I should marry like a young lady of
+     romance, that he should come to seek me upon a palfrey
+     destroying all barriers in the road; and on the other hand that
+     I should mount another palfrey like Mme. Oriane[13]; I assure
+     you this would not suit my temper, and I am very indignant
+     against those people who have thought it possible.
+
+At this point the Princess was silent. It would have been the moment to
+confess the true key to her conduct; but one must avow that, in spite of
+her fine words and her expressed contempt for lovers, she was after all
+a true Princess of romance, led by her imagination.
+
+The idea of making war upon the King from the bottom of a cellar had
+amused her, and still more the thinking of herself as the price of peace
+between her cousin and Conde, and she had not wished to look further.
+
+While the tempest gathered over her head, the great preoccupation of
+Mademoiselle was the installation of a theatre in her dilapidated
+chateau, in which the country workmen had not yet succeeded in arranging
+a suitable bedroom for her. She could no longer live without the comedy;
+the theatre must come first. It was ready in February, 1653, and
+inaugurated immediately by a wandering troop, engaged for the season.
+The hall was commodious, but very cold. The court of Saint-Fargeau
+descended from its garrets entirely muffled, the ladies in fur hoods.
+The country people, only too delighted to be invited to shiver in such
+good company, hastened from distances of ten leagues. Mademoiselle was
+perfectly contented: "I listened to the play with more pleasure than
+ever before."
+
+We no longer understand what it means to love truly the theatre.
+According to the gazette of Loret, the opening piece was a pastoral,
+"half gay, half moral." Mademoiselle loved this sort, slightly out of
+fashion; Segrais has preserved an agreeable reminiscence of a summer's
+evening passed in the forest, with the natural background of high trees,
+listening to an ancient "Amaryllis" repolished and arranged for the
+stage by some penny-a-liner.
+
+Mademoiselle loved, what is more, everything pertaining to the theatre
+from tragedy to trained dogs. One reads in a little squib written by her
+as a pastime,[14] and printed for the diversion of her friends,
+"Comedians are essentials--at least for the French and Italians.
+Jugglers, rope dancers, _buveurs d'eau_, without forgetting marionettes
+and bell players, dogs trained to leap, and monkeys as examples to our
+own; violins and merry-andrews and good dancers." This skit should not
+be taken too seriously, but it well accords with the account left us by
+an eye-witness of one of the representations at Saint-Fargeau. The piece
+was called _Country Pleasures_, an operetta. The greatest applause fell
+neither to the Goddess Flora, nor to the "melancholy lover," but to two
+children disguised as monkeys, and executing songs with the "cadence
+which belongs to those animals."
+
+Twice a week, the pleasures and cares of Saint-Fargeau were varied by
+the arrival of messengers bringing letters and gazettes. News not to be
+trusted to the post was received through guests from Paris or by special
+messengers. The news consisted mainly of political events, but it fell
+to the exiles to discover the springs and to draw the morals from the
+facts. This talent of divining, possessed in a high degree by the
+Parisians, has never passed the _banlieue_. It cannot be carried away.
+
+Mademoiselle herself had never attained the art. Even at the Tuileries
+she used to say: "I can never guess anything." Once in her place of
+refuge, she comprehended nothing of the real significance of passing
+events. For those who were not Provincials there was nothing clearer
+than the conduct of the Court of France, after its return to the
+capital. Mademoiselle had fled from the Tuileries October 21, 1652. The
+next day the young King held a _Lit de Justice_, in which the Parliament
+was forbidden to occupy itself with the general affairs of the kingdom.
+Banishments and pursuits immediately commenced, but the gazettes hardly
+referred to them. From their pages one might have gathered that Paris
+was entirely absorbed in its pleasures.
+
+The post of November brought to Saint-Fargeau description of the first
+Court ball and some lines on a new _Lit de Justice_ (November 13th), in
+which the Prince de Conde and his adherents had been declared criminals
+"de lese majeste." The December number of the _Gazette_ gave news of the
+arrest of Retz, who had rallied before the end of the Fronde, and the
+account of a great marriage with enumeration of gifts and names of
+donors, exactly as in our modern journals. The January number was made
+interesting by the accounts of the several successes of Turenne over
+Conde and the Spanish troops, and by the news of the death of an ancient
+aunt of Mademoiselle who had been in retreat for seven or eight years.
+The necrological article took a larger space in the gazette of Loret
+than that absorbed by the warlike and political news together.
+
+The third of the following month the revolutionary era was closed by the
+triumphal return of Mazarin. Louis XIV. travelled three leagues to meet
+him,
+
+    _Encor qu'il fait un temps etrange
+    Temps de vent, de pluie et de fange_,
+
+and took him back in his own carriage to the Louvre, where a sumptuous
+festival, fireworks, and homage, more or less sincere, from the crowds
+of courtiers, awaited him.
+
+The attention of the Parisians was at once directed to a grand ballet
+with mechanical devices and changes of scene, danced three times by the
+King and the flower of his nobility,[15] before a public analogous to
+that of the free representations of July 14th in Paris. Places were
+reserved for the Court and its guests, who really made part of the
+spectacle, but otherwise all entered who desired. The crowd besieged the
+doors to see what will probably never again be witnessed: a monarch
+sufficiently sure of his prestige to dare to pirouet, costumed as a
+mythological divinity, or stagger as a thief who had drunk too much,
+before the _canaille_ of his capital.
+
+The following day, a journalist bitterly bewails in his paper having
+seen nothing at all, although he had stood in line three hours and
+waited eight hours in the hall. This journalist exacted and obtained
+consideration; at the second representation, the chronicler before
+carelessly treated was lead in ceremony to the "reserved places." He was
+not yet content, not being in front. He showed himself, however, a good
+fellow and wrote an article admiring all, even a scene in which the joke
+to-day seems somewhat inhuman. It was a dance of cripples, the
+contortions of these miserable beings causing much laughter.
+
+Of the abuses which gave rise to the Fronde, no living soul breathed a
+word. Not one of these abuses had disappeared. For the most part they
+had been aggravated by the general disorder; but France resembled an
+invalid who had so far found only charlatans for physicians; it was
+weary of remedies. "The people of Paris," wrote Andre d'Ormesson, "were
+disgusted with Princes and did not longer wish to feed upon war."
+
+One might say the same of the Provinces. They remained for the most part
+troubled and miserable, their hate now turning against the nobility,
+with whom the four years of anarchy had brought back the manners of the
+feudal brigands. Deceived on all sides, betrayed by all its pretended
+saviours, the country began again to put its faith in the central power.
+It was only necessary that this last should regain its strength day by
+day, and it was clear to the Parisians as well as to the Provinces that
+the first use royalty would make of convalescence would be to cripple
+the nobility so that a revival of the Fronde would be impossible.
+
+The period had passed in which the King could be aided by the nobles
+according to their own methods not his, as at the time in which they had
+fought against him, to deliver him from his first minister. Louis XIV.
+wished now to be served in his own way, which was to be obeyed, and he
+felt the strength to impose obedience. It required all the naivete of
+Mademoiselle to be able to imagine that she could make the King as an
+old Frondeur admit the distinctions between M. le Prince whose success
+one had the right to desire, and the Spanish soldiers led by this same
+Prince in whom one must not be interested. She had so little realisation
+of the change which had taken place in sentiments, from the date of her
+exile, that she did not even attempt to conceal her grief at the news of
+the victory at Arras brought back by Turenne, August 27, 1654.
+
+The Grande Mademoiselle believed herself in accord with her King and
+country when she wrote in her _Memoires_: "I have not desired the
+Spaniards to gain advantage over the French, but I do wish that M. le
+Prince might do so and I cannot persuade myself that this is against the
+service of the King." It was then four months since the young monarch
+had entered, whip in hand, into his Parliament and forbade it to mix
+itself with his affairs; but his cousin had no more comprehended this
+warning than the others which had preceded it. It had not once occurred
+to her that the cadet branches of the royal family were amongst the
+vanquished and that the relations of the King of France, very far from
+being in a position to dictate to him, would henceforth be the most
+strictly held in leash of all his subjects. Only the approach of the
+great revolution gave them an opportunity to regain their importance and
+we know how much Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette were able to
+congratulate themselves over this fact.
+
+Monsieur Gaston undertook to bring his daughter to a realisation of the
+truth. It had been said that as long as he lived bitter experiences
+would come to Mademoiselle through this dangerous Prince.
+
+Gaston d'Orleans had disappeared from the stage at the end of the
+Fronde, like a true hero of comedy. His wife said, half weeping, half
+laughing, that he seemed to her a Tewlin, a celebrated comic actor who
+filled the role designated to-day as the "king of operetta."
+
+The return of the Court to Paris had been announced to the Luxembourg by
+a letter from Louis XIV. This news had entirely upset Monsieur and he
+blustered with so much appearance of truth that Mademoiselle had once
+more been convinced. "He was so completely beside himself," relates de
+Retz, "that one would judge from his manner of speaking, that he was
+already on horseback, completely armed and ready to cover with blood the
+plains of St. Denis and Grenelle."
+
+Madame was terrified; she endeavoured to pacify him, but the more she
+tried the more vigorously he threatened to annihilate everything. His
+martial ardour vanished when he received a decree of banishment (October
+21, 1652). It was at the date the King was entering Paris, and cannon
+were heard on all sides, the populace, according to the custom of the
+times, firing in the air as a sign of joy. Nothing, however, could
+persuade Monsieur, old Parisian as he was, that these charges did not
+come from the King's guards, and that the palace was not being besieged.
+
+[Illustration: =CARDINAL DE RETZ= Showing him in his Coadjuteur days.
+After the painting by Deveria.]
+
+He was overcome with terror; moved to and fro with agitation; sent
+constantly to inquire what was going on, and finally hastened his
+departure, which should not have taken place till the next day before
+dawn. He drew a free breath only upon arriving at the valley of
+Chevreuse. No one dreamed of retaining him--on the contrary, Mazarin,
+who governed France from the depths of his exile, was resolved to have
+no more trouble with him. "Let his Royal Highness depart with his
+appanage,"[16] wrote he. His Royal Highness having arrived at the
+Chateau of Limours, Michel Le Tellier, Secretary of State and War,
+hastened to find him, and it was a repetition of the former scenes with
+Richelieu.
+
+In his final adieus to public life, Gaston d'Orleans denounced Retz as
+before he had denounced Chalais, Montmorency, Cinq-Mars, and many
+others. When he had said all that he wished, thus preparing the arrest
+of the Cardinal, who was to astonish Mademoiselle by arriving at
+Saint-Fargeau, the King permitted him to retire to Blois.[17] Monsieur
+obeyed with ill-grace; he felt that they were burying him alive.
+
+This was not the first time that he had dwelt at Blois in spite of
+himself. The forced sojourn made at that place under Louis XIII. had not
+been disagreeable, constraint aside, because he was not definitely
+limited, and he succeeded, being young and gay, in living like "a little
+king of Yvetot." He had rebuilt according to his own taste (1635-1638)
+a portion of the chateau after the plans of Francois Mansard, "the
+cleverest architect of his times,"[18] the uncle of the builder of the
+Palace of Versailles.
+
+Chambord served him for a country-seat, near at hand, and fruitful for
+the kitchen garden, with forests teeming with game for hunting-grounds,
+and amiable people for subjects, who had guarded a monarchical faith and
+considered themselves much honoured when the brother of the King deigned
+to flatter them and their daughters.
+
+Saint-Fargeau was steep and gloomy; Blois, on the contrary, with its sky
+full of caresses, showed itself the worthy forerunner of the Angevine
+gentleness:
+
+    Coteaux riants y sont des deux cotes,
+    Coteaux non pas si voisins de la nue,
+    Qu'en Limousin, mais coteaux enchantes,
+    Belles maisons, beaux parcs et bien plantes,
+    Pres verdoyants donc ce pays abonde,
+    Vignes et bois, tant de diversites
+    Qu'on croit d'abord etre en un autre monde.[19]
+
+It is a tourist of the time who so speaks, La Fontaine, who visited
+Blois in 1663, and described it to his wife in a letter half prose, half
+verse. The city had charmed him on account of its beautiful situation
+and the amiable manners of its inhabitants: "Life is very polished
+here, possibly has always been so, the climate and the beauty of the
+country contributing to its charm; probably the sojourn of Monsieur or
+the number of pretty women has caused this politeness."
+
+[Illustration: =JULIUS HARDOUIN MANSART= After the painting by Vivien]
+
+As a man of taste, La Fontaine had admired the portion of the chateau of
+Francis I., without regularity and order; as a good liver he had
+appreciated the excellent breakfast at the inn. As a good traveller, he
+had gossiped sufficiently with the people of the place to realise how
+happy they were under the gentle reign of Gaston.
+
+The traces of the civil wars had been quickly effaced in these fertile
+and populous provinces. La Fontaine gaily retook his route towards
+Amboise; he saw the smile of France, and he was made to enjoy it.
+
+In this first time of peaceful enjoyment one of the great pleasures of
+Monsieur was to pass through his domains as an idle prince; descending
+here from his carriage to chase a stag, stopping there his boat to dine
+upon the grass, inviting himself into any dwellings belonging to either
+nobles or bourgeoisie in which he found pretty women.
+
+He embarked one day on one of those covered boats which the pictures of
+the seventeenth century show us. They were called "galiotes," and were
+used in voyaging upon rivers and canals. "Monsieur," relates an
+eye-witness, "had commanded a second boat in which he put a quantity of
+provisions, and the officers of his _menage_, those of the kitchen as
+well as the wardrobe; the horses were led along the bank."
+
+He took ten or twelve of his suite with himself, and when he reached
+some beautiful and agreeable island, he disembarked and ordered dinner
+and supper to be served under the shade.
+
+"Certainly one might say that all cares were banished from our society,
+that life went on without restraint, playing, drinking, eating, sleeping
+at will, that time meant nothing; at last the master, although son and
+brother of great kings, had put himself in the rank of his
+servants."[20]
+
+Thus they drifted down the stream as far as Brittany. The weather was
+perfect. The chateaux of the Loire defiled before the galiote. These
+people travelled as if they were poets.
+
+As soon, however, as Richelieu permitted, Gaston rushed to Paris and
+again plunged into politics; which meant to him only cowardice and
+betrayals, but which nevertheless fascinated him. This was his favourite
+vice which nothing would have induced him to correct, for politics gave
+him a round of new sensations. To hold the life of a friend in one's
+hand, knowing in advance that he will be delivered to the executioner,
+and at the same time bitterly to bewail his loss; to realise also that
+the present grief will surely vanish and that one can joyously take
+another life in the hand,--such events evidently make days most
+interesting, when neither conscience nor heart are tender. These
+excitements had filled the public career of Gaston, and when he found
+himself again in his chateau of Blois, almost twenty years after the
+radiant voyage down the Loire, for ever deprived, according to all
+probabilities, of the strong emotions whose savour Le Tellier had
+permitted him to taste for the last time in the interview at Limours,
+existence appeared to him intolerably pale and empty.
+
+The good which he could do and actually was doing, did not interest him;
+he bitterly regretted the evil no longer in his power.
+
+No one, even amongst his enemies, has ever accused him of being wicked.
+Only physicians can analyse such morbid natures. Monsieur had commenced
+by struggling against ennui. He had collected a fine library and had
+attracted literary people to his court, in the hopes of refinding the
+taste for literature which had animated his youth. He recalled his
+collections of objects of art and curiosities, continued them and began
+new. Nothing, however, really interested him, except a botanical garden
+with which he occupied himself with pleasure.
+
+Everything seemed infinitely puerile to a man who had contributed so
+long to the making of history; it had become impossible for him to
+attach any importance to the little verses of his "beaux esprits," or to
+become impassioned over impaled birds or even an antique medal.
+
+Weary of war, he threw himself into devotion. The gazette of Loret made
+this fact part of the official news of France and kept the country
+informed of his progress in the path of piety. The first sign which he
+gave of his conversion was to correct himself of a fault which had
+formerly brought from Richelieu useless remonstrances. This Prince with
+so refined a taste, cursed and swore abominably. The habit had been
+caught by those near him; we know that Mademoiselle herself used lively
+words in moments of irritation. In December, 1652, oaths and blasphemies
+were severely forbidden at the court of Blois, and Monsieur insisted
+upon obedience.
+
+To-day, reports the gazette[21]:
+
+    Aucun de ceux qui sont a lui,
+    Quelque malheur qui lui survienne,
+    N'oserait jurer la mordienne.
+
+One learns, afterwards, that these fine beginnings were not belied, and
+that Monsieur was now "less often at home than in the church." The
+Parisians and the Court of France had much difficulty in believing that
+repentance should have come to a spirit so free and so skeptical. His
+piety would have been entirely estimable "if his laziness had not in
+some portion aided his virtue." But however this may be, the devotion of
+Gaston was not the less sincere. He reformed his life, and succeeded in
+finding, at the foot of the altar, not perhaps contentment, but some
+patience and resignation.
+
+This did not come, however, for a long time; the beginning of his
+definite exile was filled with miserable agitations and complaints
+without dignity. Madame rejoined him with their little flock of
+daughters.[22] This Princess did not add to the animation of the
+chateau. Entirely occupied with her own health, she lived shut up,
+without any other distraction than that of eating from morning till
+night, "in order to cure her melancholies," relates the Grande
+Mademoiselle, "but which really increases her ills." She gave no orders,
+only sent for her daughters ten minutes in the morning and evening,
+never spoke to them except to say "Hold yourselves erect, raise your
+head"; this was her sole instruction. She never saw them again during
+the day and never inquired what they were doing.
+
+The governess in her turn neglected her pupils, who were abandoned to
+the care of inferiors. Their father found nothing to criticise in these
+educational methods; Anne of Austria had not brought up her sons very
+differently. Besides, Monsieur was a submissive husband. He considered
+his wife's judgment good, and that she possessed much more intelligence
+than was indicated by her large, frightened eyes.
+
+"This one," said Tallemant, "is a poor idiot, who nevertheless has
+intelligence." Mme. de Motteville judged her exactly the same. Madame
+was not loved because she was not amiable, but no one was astonished at
+her ascendancy over her husband.
+
+Gaston's court, contrary to that of his daughter, was almost deserted.
+Disgrace for this couple had been the signal for general abandonment.
+During the first years, Gaston took the trouble to entertain his guests;
+he became again, for some hours, the incomparable talker, who knew a
+thousand beautiful tales and found charming methods of telling them.[23]
+Chapelle and Bachaumont were received at the chateau on their passage to
+Blois in 1656, and brought back the pleasantest remembrances of the
+dinners of the Duc d'Orleans.
+
+    La d'une obligeante maniere,
+    D'un visage ouvert et riant,
+    Il nous fit bonne et grande chere,
+    Nous donnant a son ordinaire
+    Tout ce que Blois a de friand.
+
+"The table arrangements were the neatest possible, not even a crumb of
+bread was allowed on the table. Well polished glasses of all sorts stood
+upon the buffet, and ice was abundant. The hall was prepared for the
+evening dance, all the beauties of the neighbouring cities invited, all
+the violins from the provinces collected."[24] After a short time,
+however, the effort of entertaining became a burden upon Monsieur. He
+cared for nothing but repose, and he would have passed the remainder of
+his days in sleeping with open eyes, if it had not been for his daughter
+of Saint-Fargeau, the terrible Mademoiselle, from whom he had separated
+at Paris after a painful explanation, and who had never left him in
+peace since that time.
+
+She had commenced by coming to seek him in spite of frequent commands,
+to which she paid not the least attention. The Grande Mademoiselle,
+openly allied to Conde, was a compromising guest for a Prince possessed
+at this epoch with the desire to retake his place near the throne. In
+vain she declared that she had recalled her troops from the army of the
+Prince, her father knew very well that she was mocking him, and received
+her coldly on the evening of her first arrival (December, 1652). "He
+came to meet me at the door of his room, and said, 'I do not dare to
+come out because I have a swollen cheek.'" A moment after Monsieur heard
+from afar a joyous voice; it was Mademoiselle relating the adventures
+during her flight to Saint-Fargeau. Monsieur could hold out no longer.
+He approached, made her recommence, and laughed with the others. The ice
+was broken. The fourth day, however, he said to Prefontaine, the man of
+confidence of Mademoiselle, while walking in the park of Chambord, "I
+love my daughter very much, but I have many obligations, and shall be
+easier if she stays here but little."
+
+Mademoiselle departed the next day. The following month (January, 1653),
+Monsieur and Madame made a sojourn at Orleans. In spite of new orders,
+Mademoiselle came to pass a day with them. "I did not wait for escort,"
+wrote she, "I departed suddenly from Saint-Fargeau and went to
+Orleans."
+
+This determination to impose herself upon people whom she saw with but
+little pleasure, is difficult to explain. Monsieur and Madame, who
+feared her, welcomed her, and her father said in bidding her farewell,
+"The affairs of your minority have never been settled. I wish to close
+this business. Give orders for this to your people."
+
+Mademoiselle did not wait for a second request. "In consequence I wrote
+to Paris, then to Blois, a host of writings which were somewhat
+wearisome." Monsieur had his own projects. It was the single opportunity
+to extract a little money for the daughters by his second wife.
+
+These young princesses had nothing to expect from their own mother, and
+very little from their father, whose pensions and appointments were
+destined to disappear with him. Madame was preoccupied with this
+situation.
+
+     For a long time [reports one of their intimates][25] Madame has
+     skilfully urged Monsieur to think of his affairs, and to put
+     some solid property aside for her children, telling him that he
+     possessed nothing in the world not reversible to the crown in
+     case he had no male children, and that their daughters would be
+     left to the mercy of the court and the ministers for their
+     subsistence.
+
+Until Gaston's disgrace, Madame had obtained nothing, and for cause. Her
+husband ruined himself at play; he had been seen to lose a half-million
+francs to the famous Chevalier de Gramont. He reformed only at Blois,
+too late to begin to save; his debts crushed him, and his pensions were
+paid most irregularly. The fortune of Mademoiselle presented itself as
+the sole means of floating the House of Orleans, and the accounts of her
+minority were the troubled waters in which it was proposed to fish.
+Monsieur did not suspect how much the exile and the influence of
+Prefontaine had changed his daughter.
+
+The Prefontaine type has disappeared with the ancient regime. There is
+no place in our democratic society for these men at once servants and
+friends; friends however who remained in the background. Persons of this
+kind were frequently met with in the great families of former times, and
+nothing appeared more natural than the dog-like devotion to their
+masters, always exacting and often ungrateful. The Grande Mademoiselle
+was not ungrateful but she was violent, and it was always upon the
+patient Prefontaine that she vented her anger. He was the counsellor,
+the factotum shrewd and firm, to whom all affairs came, the confidant
+who knew her most secret projects of marriage without ceasing to be the
+domestic of no account.
+
+His mistress could do nothing without him, and she does not even tell
+us--she who loses herself in the smallest details when they concerned
+people of quality in her suite--at what date this precious man entered
+her service. She mentions him for the first time in 1651, without
+saying who he is or where he comes from. From that date she never ceased
+to speak of him as long as the troubled times lasted, but left him in
+the shadow nevertheless in her _Memoires_. When we have said that he was
+a gentleman, that there was no reason for his devotion to Mademoiselle
+but his own choice, we have told all we know about him. He had found the
+affairs of his mistress in a very bad condition, and so he warned her;
+Monsieur, her father, had been a negligent guardian and what is more an
+untrustworthy one. At first Mademoiselle would not listen to
+Prefontaine. It was at Paris in the midst of the fire of the Fronde, and
+she had other things to think of.
+
+Prefontaine returned to the charge at Saint-Fargeau, where time
+abounded, and was better received. A new sentiment had awakened in
+Mademoiselle. She commenced to love money. She took interest in her
+affairs, and skilfully applied herself to economising with so much
+success that she would have soon risen to be a Countess Pimbesche.
+
+Ideas of order and economy, rarely found with princesses of this epoch,
+occurred to her. "It is not sufficient," said she one day to
+Prefontaine, "to have an eye upon my legal affairs and the increase of
+my revenues; but it is also necessary to supervise the expenses of my
+house. I am convinced that I am robbed, and to prevent this, I wish to
+be accounted to as if I were a private person."
+
+This was not beneath a great Princess. Examination proved that she _was_
+robbed by her people. After being assured of this, she took upon herself
+the duty of supervising all the accounts twice a week, "even to the
+smallest."
+
+She knew the price of everything; "who could have predicted when I lived
+at Court, that I should ever know how much bricks, lime, plaster,
+carriages cost, what are the daily wages of the workmen, in fine all the
+details of a building, and that every Saturday I should myself settle
+the accounts: every one would have been skeptical." And still more the
+people at large; it was really almost incredible. She quickly perceived
+that Monsieur had not taken his duties as guardian very seriously. It
+was in his belief both the right and duty of the chief of the Orleans
+family to advance the general interests of the House, even at the
+expense of individual members. The daughter by the first marriage was
+enormously rich. What could be more just than to use her fortune for the
+common good? What more natural than to throw upon her the burden of
+debts contracted to add to the eclat of the family? or to give a little
+of her superfluity to her young sisters in view of their establishment?
+
+Gaston sent to his daughter for signature an act conceived in this
+spirit, and received the clearest refusal. Very respectfully but with
+firmness Mademoiselle assured him that henceforth she intended to hold
+to her legal rights, which guaranteed the integrity of her fortune.
+Monsieur threw himself into a great rage, but knew not what more to do.
+Politics gave him unexpected aid. A gentleman sent as courier by Conde
+into France had just been arrested. Among other letters was found one
+without address, but evidently destined for Mademoiselle and most
+compromising for her.
+
+Mazarin charged the Archbishop of Embrun to take a copy of this to
+Gaston. The dispatch in which the prelate renders account of his mission
+has been preserved. Here is one of the significant passages:
+
+
+                                              BLOIS, March 31, 1653.
+
+    MONSEIGNEUR:
+
+     I arrived Sunday evening in this city where I was received most
+     warmly by Monsieur.... Immediately upon arrival I had a
+     conference of an hour with him alone in his cabinet. I pointed
+     out to him through the letter addressed to Mademoiselle her
+     relations to M. le Prince, the Spaniards, and M. de Lorraine,
+     which were all visibly marked in the letter. He declared
+     himself very ill satisfied with Mademoiselle, but that the
+     Queen knew that they had never been eight hours at a time
+     together: and that at this moment she was trying to cause
+     trouble in demanding account of his care of her wealth when he
+     was guardian, and that it was thus impossible to doubt his
+     anger. I told him that I had orders to beseech his Royal
+     Highness to make two observations upon the letter; the first:
+     that Mademoiselle as long as she enjoyed the free possession of
+     her immense wealth could assist any party she pleased, and that
+     the King in order to check this had resolved to place
+     administrators or a commission over her property to preserve it
+     for her own use, but without permitting its abuse. His Royal
+     Highness should be left the choice of these commissioners.
+
+     The second remark was, that it was to be feared, according to
+     the news in the letter, that if M. le Prince advanced,
+     Mademoiselle would join him, and that the King in this
+     difficulty demanded counsel of him as the person most
+     interested in the conduct of Mademoiselle. Gaston replied: that
+     he had ordered his daughter to join him at Orleans, Tuesday of
+     Holy Week; and he would bring her back to Blois, and keep her
+     near him.
+
+     I have also, my Lord, talked over the same subjects with Madame
+     as with Monsieur, knowing that she was very intelligent, and
+     also that Monsieur deferred much to her opinions.
+
+Mazarin took no action upon this communication of the Archbishop of
+Embrun.
+
+It was sufficient to intimate to Monsieur that he was authorised not to
+worry himself about a rebel, and Gaston on his side asked nothing
+better.
+
+Sure of being for the present under Court protection, he poured forth
+bitter words and threats against this disobedient and heartless
+daughter, who forgot her duty. Sometimes he wrote to her that "if she
+did not willingly give everything he demanded he would take possession
+of all the property and only give her what he pleased."
+
+Sometimes he cast fire and flame between her and the public: "She does
+not love her sisters; says they are beggars; that after my death she
+will see them demand alms, without giving a penny. She wishes to see my
+children in the poor-house," and other sentiments of the same kind,
+which were repeated at Saint-Fargeau.
+
+Mademoiselle herself dreamed one day that Monsieur thought of enclosing
+her in a convent, "that this was the intention of the King," and that
+she must prepare for his coming. At the same time she was warned from
+Paris that her father had promised the Court to arrest her as soon as
+she arrived at Blois. Things reached such a pass that Gaston could no
+longer hear the name of his daughter without flying into a passion.
+
+The Princess had at first showed herself fearless. Knowing that the
+letter of Conde did not have any address, she denied that it was meant
+for her and took a high hand with her father; "I assert that they cannot
+take away my property unless I am proved either mad or criminal and I
+know very well that I am neither one nor the other."
+
+Reflection, however, diminished her assurance. The idea of "being
+arrested" terrified her, and it was this fate, in the opinion of her
+ladies, which awaited her at Blois--for which reason Monsieur, having
+previously forbidden her to come, now ordered her to meet him.
+
+She wept torrents of tears; she was ill when she was obliged to obey and
+she confesses that on arriving at Blois she quite lost her head from
+terror. It was the story of the hare and the frogs. The projects of
+Gaston, whatever they may have been, vanished at sight of this agitated
+person and he had no other thought than of calming his daughter and
+avoiding scenes.
+
+For this he exerted all his grace, which was much, and forced
+Mademoiselle, reassured and calmed, to acknowledge that her father could
+be "charming."
+
+The days rolled by and the question of their differences was not touched
+upon. "I wanted one day to speak to him about my affairs and he fled and
+would pay no attention."
+
+Mademoiselle felt the delights of a country covered with superb chateaux
+in which she was feted, and amiable cities which fired cannon in her
+honour. She made excursions during a large part of the summer (1653) and
+finally separated from her father most amicably. Eight days after, the
+situation however was more sombre than before her departure for Blois.
+The demands of Monsieur had not diminished, his language became still
+more hard and menacing.
+
+These differences lasted many years. Mademoiselle lets it be understood
+that it was a question of considerable sums. She relates sadly the
+progress of the ill-will of her father; how painful her sojourn at Blois
+had been, so that she wept from morning till night; how without the
+influence of Prefontaine she would have retired into a Carmelite
+convent; "not to be a religieuse, God having never given me that
+vocation, but to live away from the world for some years." The ennui of
+the cloister life would have been compensated by the thought that it was
+an economical one. "I should save much money," said she; and this
+thought consoled her. Once it was believed that an amicable solution was
+imminent. The father and daughter had submitted themselves to the
+arbitration of the maternal grandmother of Mademoiselle, the old Mme.
+de Guise, who had made them promise in writing to sign "all that she
+wished without reading the stipulations."
+
+The only result was a more definite embroilment. Mme. de Guise[26] "was
+devoted to her House,"[27] that ambitious and intriguing House of
+Lorraine into which she had married, and with which she was again
+connected through the second wife of Gaston, sister of the Duke
+Henri.[28] When Mademoiselle, after "signing without reading," realised
+the force of the "transaction" into which she had been led by her
+grandmother, she declared that Mme. de Guise had despoiled her with
+shocking bad faith, in order that her half-sisters, the little
+Lorraines, should no longer be menaced with the "poor-house." The love
+of family had extinguished with Mme. de Guise, as with Monsieur, all
+considerations of justice and sense of duty towards her own
+granddaughter. All this happened at Orleans in the month of May, 1655.
+Mademoiselle, indignant, ran to her grandmother:
+
+     I told her that it was evident that she loved the House of
+     Lorraine better than the House of Bourbon; that she was right
+     in seeking to give money to my sisters, that they would have
+     little from Madame, and this showed me, indeed, to be a lady of
+     great wealth, enough to provide for others, and that
+     the fortune of my family should be established upon what could be
+     seized from me; but as I was so much above them that they could
+     receive my benefactions, it would serve them better to depend upon
+     my liberality rather than to attempt to swindle me; that this would
+     be better before both God and man.
+
+This scene lasted three hours. The same day Monsieur was warned that
+Mademoiselle refused to be "duped." He gave a precipitate order for
+departure, and declined to receive his daughter. In the disorder that
+ensued Madame almost went dinnerless and appeared much disconcerted.
+
+The attendants intervened to save appearances at least, and a formal
+leave was taken, but this was all; the complete rupture was consummated.
+Upon the return to Saint-Fargeau, Mademoiselle at once learned that
+Monsieur had taken away her men of business, including the indispensable
+Prefontaine, and had left her without even a secretary. This gives a
+vision of the authority possessed by the chief of a family, and its
+limitations, with the princely houses of this epoch. We perceive how
+much better the fortune of Mademoiselle was defended against her father
+than her person and her independence. Monsieur did not dare to take away
+her money without a free and formal assent; he knew that if things were
+not done regularly "in a hundred years the heirs of Mademoiselle could
+torment the children of Monsieur." In revenge for this disability he
+tyrannised over her household. And here he was in his full right.
+
+He could shut her up in a convent or in the Chateau of Amboise, as many
+counselled him to do, and this again would be within his legal powers.
+If he did nothing of the kind, it was only because, being nervous and
+impressionable, he dreaded feminine tears.
+
+Mademoiselle realised that she was at his mercy; it did not occur to her
+to contest the parental authority--outside of the question of money. She
+wept, "suffered much," but she did not attempt to save Prefontaine.
+
+The years which followed were sad ones for her. Until this time she had
+had but two days of grief a week, those upon which the courier arrived,
+on account of the business letters which must be read and answered. She
+confined herself to her study to conceal her red eyes, but her
+correspondence once sent off, "I only thought," says she, "of amusing
+myself."
+
+Conditions changed when she was forced to understand that Monsieur, that
+father so contemptible, from whom she had suffered so much since her
+infancy, but so amiable that she admired and loved him notwithstanding,
+had no kind of affection for her. Very sensitive, in spite of her
+brusqueness, Mademoiselle experienced a profound grief at this
+reflection. Her temper gave way in a moment in which the young ladies of
+her suite, commencing to find the exile long, and to regret Paris, were
+ill-disposed to patience. There was coldness, frictions, and finally
+that domestic war, the account of which fills a large space in the
+_Memoires_ of Mademoiselle.
+
+Petty griefs, small intrigues, and much gossip rendered insupportable to
+one another persons condemned to daily intercourse. Affairs became so
+strained between some of the parties that communication was impossible,
+and this state of things lasted until the most discontented, Mmes. de
+Fiesque and de Frontenac, had formed the determination to return to
+Paris.
+
+These quarrels had the effect of spoiling for Mademoiselle
+Saint-Fargeau, inclining her to submission to the Court; but mere
+mention is sufficient, and we shall not again refer to them.
+
+Mademoiselle commenced to be convinced of the imprudence of being at
+odds with the Court and her father at the same time. Her obstinacy in
+sustaining Conde had ended by seriously vexing Mazarin. The nobility
+felt this attitude and showed less fondness for the Princess. In 1655
+she approached to six leagues from Paris. She counted much upon
+visitors; very few appeared. "I was responsible for so many illnesses,"
+says she wittily, "for all those who did not dare to confess that they
+feared to embroil themselves with the Court, feigned maladies or
+accidents in extraordinary numbers."
+
+The third day she received an order to "return." This misadventure
+enlightened her; Mademoiselle admitted the necessity of making peace
+with royalty. Just at this period the Prince de Conde grew less
+interesting to her, as his chances of becoming a widower diminished.
+Mme. la Princesse became gradually re-established in health, and each of
+her steps towards recovery made Mademoiselle a little less warm for M.
+le Prince. This latter perceived the change, and at once altered his
+tone. "There is no rupture," says the Duc d'Aumale, "but one can
+perceive the progress of the coolness and its accordance with _certain_
+news."
+
+A letter from Conde, received after the journey to the environs of
+Paris, gave warning of the end of a friendship which on one side at
+least was entirely political.
+
+                                           BRUSSELS, March 6, 1655.
+
+... As to this change which you declare to perceive in me, you do me
+much injustice and it seems to me that I have more right to reproach you
+than you me. Since your long silence the tone of your letters plainly
+indicates how different your present sentiments are from those of past
+times. This is not true of my own; they remain always the same and if
+you believe otherwise and if you lend faith to the rumours which my
+enemies start, it is my misfortune, not crime; for I protest there is
+nothing in them, that affairs are not in this state, and if they were I
+should never listen to a proposition without full consideration for your
+interests and satisfaction, also not without your consent and
+participation.
+
+You will recognise the truth of this statement through my conduct and
+not one of my actions will ever give the lie to the words which I now
+give you, even if you should have forgotten all the fine sentiments you
+had when you came to see our army, which I can hardly consider possible
+for a generous person like you.
+
+I knew that you came to Lesigny and that, the Court disapproving
+of this, you received orders to return, which fact gave me much
+displeasure.
+
+Mademoiselle did not longer want a pretext for withdrawing her pin from
+the game. The embroilment with her father furnished it. She immediately
+prayed Conde to write to her no more. "It is necessary to hold back,"
+said she to herself, "and if I am able without baseness to come into
+accord with the Cardinal Mazarin, I will do it in order to withdraw
+myself from the persecutions of his Royal Highness."
+
+Some days later the Comte de Bethune transmitted to the Cardinal
+overtures of peace from the Grande Mademoiselle. The Cardinal desired
+pledges. She sent a recall for the companies from the Spanish army, upon
+which M. le Prince without warning "held the soldiers and put the
+officers in prison."
+
+In vain the indignation of Mademoiselle. "It is seven or eight years,"
+wrote Conde to one of the agents, "since I have really had the favour of
+Mademoiselle; I formerly possessed her good graces, but if she now
+wishes to withdraw them I must accept, without desperation."[29] Here is
+a man liberated rather than grieved.
+
+Thus failed, one after the other, the menaces directed by the Fronde
+against royalty. The project of alliance between the two cadet branches
+of the House of Bourbon had been inspired in Mademoiselle by the desire
+to marry. Few of the ideas of all those which menaced the throne which
+had entered into the brain of the revolutionary leaders seemed so
+dangerous and caused so much care to Mazarin. We must recollect that he
+would have been ready, in order to appease the cadet branches, to marry
+the little Louis XIV. to his great cousin.
+
+Reassured at length by the promises of Mademoiselle, who engaged herself
+to have nothing more to do with M. le Prince, Mazarin took the trouble
+to overcome his wrath and permitted her to expect the recompense for her
+submission.
+
+In general, Mazarin had shown himself easy with the repentant Frondeurs.
+The Prince de Conti had been feted at the Louvre in 1654. It is true
+that he accepted the hand of a niece of Mazarin in marriage, Anne Marie
+Martinozzi, on conditions which put him in bad odour with the public.
+"This marriage," wrote d'Ormesson,[30] "is one of the most signal marks
+of the inconsistency of human affairs and the fickleness of the French
+character to be seen in our times."
+
+After Conti, another Prince, Monsieur, in person, entirely submerged as
+he was in laziness and devotions, exerted himself sufficiently to come
+to Court. The welcome involved conditions which contained nothing hard
+nor unusual for Gaston d'Orleans; it cost him nothing but the
+abandonment of some last friends. In truth, he received but little in
+exchange. When he came to salute the King everyone made him feel that he
+was already "in the ranks of the dead," according to the expression of
+Mme. de Motteville. The ill-humour caused by this impression quickly
+sent him back to Blois, which was precisely what was wished.
+
+It was the men of business who profited above all by this
+reconciliation. They had greater freedom to harass Mademoiselle, and
+left her neither time nor repose. Their end was to make her execute the
+transaction signed at Orleans, but she held her own, without counsel or
+secretary. She only suffered from an enormous labour, of which her
+minority accounts were only a chapter, and not the most considerable.
+The administration of the immense domains had fallen entirely upon
+herself. It was now Mademoiselle who opened the mass of letters arriving
+from her registers, foresters, controllers, lawyers, farmers, and single
+subjects--in short, from all who in the principalities of Dombes or of
+Roche-sur-Yonne, in the duchies of Montpensier or of Catellerault, had
+an account to settle with her, an order to demand of her, or a claim to
+submit.
+
+It was Mademoiselle herself who replied; she who followed the numerous
+lawsuits necessitated by the paternal management; she who terminated the
+great affair of Champigny, of which the echo was wide-spread on account
+of the rank of the parties and of the remembrances awakened by the
+pleaders.
+
+Champigny was a productive territory situated in Touraine, and an
+inheritance of Mademoiselle. Richelieu had despoiled her of it when she
+was only a child, through a forced exchange for the Chateau of
+Bois-le-Vicomte, in the environs of Meaux.
+
+Become mistress of her own fortune, Mademoiselle summoned the heirs of
+the Cardinal to give restitution, and had just gained her suit when
+Monsieur took away Prefontaine. The decree returning Champigny to her
+allowed her also damages, the amount to be decided by experts, for
+buildings destroyed and woods spoiled. Mademoiselle estimated that these
+damages might reach a large sum; she knew that with her father at Blois
+the rumour ran that she had been placed in cruel embarrassments and that
+it would be repeated to all comers that she had obtained almost nothing
+from this source. This report excited her to action. The moment arrived;
+Mademoiselle went to Champigny, and remained there during several weeks,
+spending entire days upon the heels of eighteen experts, procurers,
+lawyers, gentlemen, masons, carpenters, wood merchants, collected
+together to value the damages. She had long explanations with that "good
+soul Madelaine," counsellor of the Parliament, and charged with
+directing the investigation, who was confounded at the knowledge of the
+Princess. He said to her: "You know our business better than we
+ourselves, and you talk of affairs like a lawyer." Operations finished,
+Mademoiselle had the pleasure of writing to Blois that this doubtful
+affair from which she was supposed to receive only "50,000 francs,
+really amounted to 550,000." She came out less generously from her
+litigation with her father. Mazarin rendered Mademoiselle the bad
+service of having her suit introduced by the King's counsellor. A decree
+confirmed the decision of Mme. de Guise, and there was nothing to do but
+to obey. Mademoiselle signed, "furiously" weeping, the act which
+despoiled her, and submitted with despair to the departure for Blois.
+
+She was going to visit her father, after having the thought flash
+through her mind that he could order her assassination. It is said there
+had been some question of this at Blois. "Immersed in melancholy
+reveries, I dreamed that his Royal Highness was a son of the Medicis,
+and I even reflected that the poison of the Medicis must have already
+entered my veins and caused such thoughts."
+
+Her father, on the other hand, was going to overwhelm her with
+tenderness after having permitted it to be said without protest that
+Mademoiselle was preparing a trap, with the purpose of poisoning one of
+his gentlemen.
+
+Considering the times and the family, this was a situation only a little
+"strained"; but Mademoiselle was so little a "Medicis" that she made her
+journey a prey to a poignant grief, which was plainly to be read upon
+her countenance by the attendants at her arrival at Blois.
+
+"Upon my arrival I felt a sudden chill. I went directly to the chamber
+of Monsieur; he saluted me and told me he was glad to see me. I replied
+that I was delighted to have this honour. He was much embarrassed."
+Neither the one nor the other knew what more to say. Mademoiselle
+silently forced back her tears. Monsieur, to give himself composure,
+caressed the greyhounds of his daughter, La Reine and Madame Souris.
+Finally he said: "Let us go to seek Madame."
+
+"She received me very civilly and made many friendly remarks. As soon as
+I was in my own chamber, Monsieur came to see me and talked as if
+nothing disagreeable had passed between us." A single quarter of an hour
+had sufficed to bring back to him his freedom of spirit, and he made an
+effort to regain the affections of his daughter.
+
+She had never known him to continue to be severe; Monsieur counted upon
+this fact. He was attentive, flattered her weaknesses great and small,
+amused her with projects of marriage, and treated her greyhounds as
+personages of importance; he could be seen at midnight in the lower
+court in the midst of the dunghill, inquiring about Madame Souris, who
+had met with an accident. He did still better; he wrote to Mazarin
+asking for an accommodation with Mademoiselle.
+
+After the rupture with Conde, it was evident from signs not to be
+mistaken that the hour was approaching in which the all-powerful
+minister would pardon the heroine of Orleans and of Porte Saint-Antoine.
+In the month of July, 1656, Mademoiselle went to the baths of Forges, in
+Normandy. She had passed in sight of Paris; had sojourned in the suburbs
+without anxiety, and her name this time had not made "every one ill."
+
+Visitors had flocked. Mademoiselle had entertained at dinner all the
+princesses and duchesses then in Paris; and she drew the conclusion,
+knowing the Court and the courtiers, that her exile was nearing an end.
+"In truth," says she, "I do not feel as much joy at the thought as I
+should have believed. When one reaches the end of a misery like mine,
+its remembrance lasts so long and the grief forms such a barrier against
+joy that it is long before the wall is sufficiently melted to permit
+happiness to be again enjoyed."
+
+Nevertheless the news of the letter from her father to Mazarin put her
+in a great agitation. The Court of France was then in the east of France
+where Turenne made his annual campaign against M. le Prince and the
+Spaniards. Mademoiselle resolved to approach in order to sooner receive
+the response of the Cardinal.
+
+She quitted Blois as she had arrived there, a stranger. One single thing
+could have touched her: the recall of Prefontaine and of her other
+servitors struck down for having been faithful. This Monsieur had
+absolutely refused; his exaggerated politeness and his grimaces of
+tenderness had only the result of alienating his daughter. She felt
+that he detested her and she no longer loved him.
+
+Upon the route to Paris she doubled the length between her
+stopping-places. Impatience gained as she neared the end and the
+"barrier of grief" permitted itself gradually to be penetrated by joy.
+
+She again saw, in passing, Etampes[31] and its ruins, which already
+dated back five years and were found untouched by La Fontaine in 1663.
+So long and difficult in certain regions was the uplifting of France,
+after the wars of the Fronde, never taken very seriously by historians,
+doubtless because too many women were concerned in them.
+
+"We looked with pity at the environs of Etampes," wrote La Fontaine.[32]
+"Imagine rows of houses without roofs, without windows, pierced on all
+sides; nothing could be more desolate and hideous." He talked of it
+during an entire evening, not having the soul of a heroine of the
+Fronde, but Mademoiselle had traversed with indifference these same
+ruins in which the grass flourished in default of inhabitants to wear it
+away. No remorse, no regret, however light, for her share in the
+responsibility for the ruin of this innocent people, had touched her
+mind, and yet she was considered to possess a tender heart.
+
+[Illustration: =JEAN DE LA FONTAINE= From an engraving by Grevedon]
+
+She learned at Saint-Cloud that she had been invited to rejoin the Court
+at Sedan. Mademoiselle took a route through Reims. She thus traversed
+Champagne, which had been a battle-field during the more than twenty
+years of the wars with Spain[33]; and which appeared the picture of
+desolation. The country was depopulated, numbers of villages burned, and
+the cities ruined by pillage and forced contributions of war.
+
+More curious in regard to things which interest _la canaille_,
+Mademoiselle might have heard from the mouths of the survivors that of
+all the enemies who had trampled upon and oppressed this unfortunate
+people, the most cruel and barbarous had been her ally, the Prince de
+Conde, with whom were always found her own companies. She would not the
+less have written in her _Memoires_, entirely unconsciously, apropos of
+her trouble in obtaining pardon from the Court: "I had really no
+difference with the Court, and I was criminal only because I was the
+daughter of his Royal Highness."
+
+We have hardly the right to reproach her with this monstrous phrase. To
+betray one's country was a thing of too frequent occurrence to cause
+much embarrassment. The only men of this epoch who reached the point of
+considering the common people[34] and attaching the least importance to
+their sufferings were revolutionary spirits or disciples of St. Vincent
+de Paul.
+
+Mademoiselle had no leaning towards extremes. Neither her birth nor the
+slightly superficial cast of her mind fostered free opinions. During her
+journey in Champagne, she was delighted to hear again the clink of arms
+and the sound of trumpets. Mazarin had sent a large escort. The
+skirmishers of the enemy swept the country even to the environs of
+Reims. A number of the people of the Court, seizing the occasion, joined
+themselves to her, in order to profit by her gens d'armes and light
+riders.
+
+Colbert also placed himself under her protection with chariots loaded
+with money which he was taking to Sedan, and this important convoy was
+surrounded by the same "military pomp, as if it had guarded the person
+of the King."
+
+The great precautions were, perhaps, on account of the chariots of
+money; the honours, however, were for Mademoiselle, and they much
+flattered her vanity. The commandant of the escort demanded the order
+from her. When she appeared the troops gave the military salute. A
+regiment which she met on her route solicited the honour of being
+presented to her. She examined it closely, as a warlike Princess who
+understood military affairs, and of whom the grand Conde had said one
+day, apropos of a movement of troops, that "Gustavus Adolphus could not
+have done better." A certain halt upon the grass in a meadow through
+which flowed a stream left an indelible impression. Mademoiselle offered
+dinner this day to all the escort and almost all the convoy. The sight
+of the meadow crowded with uniformed men and horses recalled to her the
+campaigns of her fine heroic times. "The trumpets sounded during dinner;
+this gave completely the air of a true army march." She arrived at Sedan
+intoxicated by the military spectacle of her route, and her entry showed
+this. Considering her late exile the lack of modesty might well be
+criticised. The Queen, Anne of Austria, driving for pleasure in the
+environs of Sedan, saw a chariot appear with horses at full gallop
+surrounded by a mass of cavalry: "I arrived in this field at full speed
+with gens d'armes and light riders, their trumpets sounding in a manner
+sufficiently triumphant."
+
+The entire Court of France recognised the Grande Mademoiselle before
+actually seeing her. Exile had not changed her, and this entrance truly
+indicated her weaknesses.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 1: Letter of January 19, 1689.]
+
+[Footnote 2: _Memoires de Mademoiselle de Montpensier._ Edited by
+Cheruel.]
+
+[Footnote 3: _Memoires de Mademoiselle de Montpensier._ Edited by
+Cheruel.]
+
+[Footnote 4: The Chateau of Saint-Fargeau still exists, but the interior
+has been transformed since a great fire which occurred in 1752; the
+apartments of Mademoiselle no longer remain. Cf. _Les Chateaux
+d'Ancy-le-Franc, de Saint-Fargeau_, etc., by the Baron Chaillou des
+Barres.]
+
+[Footnote 5: Cf. _Les Sports et jeux d'exercice dans l'ancienne France_,
+by J. J. Jusserand.]
+
+[Footnote 6: LES NOUVELLES FRANCAISES, ou _Les divertissements de la
+princesse Aurelie_, by Segrais, Paris, 2 vols., 1656-1657. The last of
+the "Nouvelles francaises," _Floridon, ou l'amour imprudent_, is the
+history of the intrigues in the harem which led to the death of Bajazet.
+Racine had certainly read it when he wrote his tragedy.]
+
+[Footnote 7: See _Bernardin de Saint-Pierre_, in the Collection of
+Grands ecrivains. Paris, Hochette.]
+
+[Footnote 8: His _Polexandre_ had appeared, 1629-1637; his last romance,
+_La Jeune Alcidiane_, in 1651; _Cassandre_ and _Cleopatre_, by La
+Calprenede, in 1642-1647. _Arlamene, ou le Grand Cyrus_, by Mlle. de
+Scudery, was published 1649-1653.]
+
+[Footnote 9: Letters of the 12th and 15th of July, 1671, to Mme. de
+Grignan.]
+
+[Footnote 10: See _Le dictionnaire des Precieuses_, by Somaize.]
+
+[Footnote 11: _Eugenie, ou la force du destin._]
+
+[Footnote 12: Mademoiselle commenced her _Memoires_ shortly after her
+arrival at Saint-Fargeau. She interrupted them in 1660, resumed them in
+1677, and definitely abandoned them in 1688, five years before her
+death.]
+
+[Footnote 13: Oriane was the mistress of Amadis.]
+
+[Footnote 14: _La relation de l'Isle imaginaire_, printed in 1659, also
+_L'histoire de la Princesse de Paphlagonie_. We shall again refer to
+them.]
+
+[Footnote 15: These representations took place in the grand hall of the
+Petit Bourbon, near the Louvre. (Cf. _L'Histoire de Paris_, by
+Delaure.)]
+
+[Footnote 16: Letter of October 12th, to the Abbe Foucquet.]
+
+[Footnote 17: _Memoires de Montglat._]
+
+[Footnote 18: _Memoires du Marquis de Sourches._ Cf. _L'Histoire du
+chateau de Blois_, by La Saussaye.]
+
+[Footnote 19: Letter of September 3, 1663.]
+
+[Footnote 20: Nicolas Goulas, _Memoires_.]
+
+[Footnote 21: Gazette of August 22, 1654.]
+
+[Footnote 22: Four, but the last died at an early age.]
+
+[Footnote 23: _Memoires de Bussy-Rabutin._]
+
+[Footnote 24: _Voyage de Chapelle et de Bachaumont._]
+
+[Footnote 25: _Memoires de Nicolas Goulas._]
+
+[Footnote 26: Saint-Simon, _Ecrits inedits_.]
+
+[Footnote 27: Henriette-Catherine, Duchesse de Joyeuse, first married to
+Henri de Bourbon, Duc de Montpensier, by whom she had Marie de Bourbon,
+mother of Mademoiselle; married for the second time to Charles de
+Lorraine, Duc de Guise, by whom she had several children.]
+
+[Footnote 28: Henri de Lorraine reigned from 1608 to 1624.]
+
+[Footnote 29: Letter of August 10, 1657, to the Comte d'Auteuil.]
+
+[Footnote 30: Andre d'Ormesson died in 1665, dean of the Council of
+State. Some fragments of his memoirs have been published by Cheruel, in
+the course of the Journal of his son, Olivier d'Ormesson.]
+
+[Footnote 31: Turenne had conquered the troops of the Prince at Etampes
+(May, 1652), upon the occasion of a review in honour of Mademoiselle and
+of the disorder which resulted. See _The Youth of La Grande
+Mademoiselle_. Some weeks later, he besieged the town.]
+
+[Footnote 32: Letter to his wife, August 3, 1663.]
+
+[Footnote 33: Richelieu had declared war with Spain March 26, 1635.]
+
+[Footnote 34: The phrase is by Bussy-Rabutin.]
+
+
+
+
+Chapter II
+
+     The Education of Louis XIV.--Manners--Poverty--Charity--Vincent
+     de Paul, a Secret Society--Marriage of Louis XIV.--His Arrival
+     at Power, on the Death of Mazarin--He Re-educates himself.
+
+
+The remembrance of the Fronde was destined to remain a heavy weight
+during the remainder of the reign of Louis XIV. Its shadow dominated for
+more than half a century interior politics and decided the fate, good
+and bad, of the great families.
+
+The word "Liberty" had become synonymous with "Licence, Confusion,
+Disorder,"[35] and the ancient Frondeurs passed the remainder of their
+lives in disgrace, or at least in disfavour. The Grande Mademoiselle was
+never pardoned, although she did not wish to avow this, even to herself.
+She might have realised the fact at once upon her return to Court, if
+she had not decided to believe the contrary. Warnings were not wanting.
+The first was her encounter with the Queen Mother in the field of Sedan.
+
+When Anne of Austria saw arrive to sound of trumpets, with manner at
+ease and triumphant, this insolent Princess who had drawn her cannon
+upon the King, hardly embracing her niece, the Queen Mother burst into
+reproaches, and declared that after the battle of Saint-Antoine, "if she
+had held her, she would have strangled her."[36] Mademoiselle wept; the
+Court looked on. "I have forgotten everything," said the Queen at
+length, and her niece was eager to believe her. The meeting with the
+King was still more significant. He arrived on horseback, soaked and
+muddy, from the city of Montmedy, taken that same day from the Spaniards
+(August 7, 1657).
+
+His mother said to him, "Behold a young lady, whom I present to you and
+who is very sorry to have been so naughty; she will be 'very good' in
+future." The young King only laughed and replied by talking of the siege
+of Montmedy.
+
+Mademoiselle nevertheless departed from Sedan filled with joyous
+thoughts. She imagined reading in all eyes the news of marriage with the
+brother of the King, the little Monsieur. He was seventeen, she thirty,
+with hair already partially white.
+
+Some months ensued, passed in a half retreat, and the Grande
+Mademoiselle remained with the Court during the years of transition in
+which the personal government of Louis XIV. was maturing. A new regime
+was being born and a new world with it.
+
+One could gradually see this new formation relegating to the shadow of
+the past the old spirit of independence, and stifling the confused
+aspirations of the country towards any legal liberties. Mazarin
+incarnated this great political movement. On the eve of disappearance,
+this unpopular minister had become all France.
+
+He was master; no one thought any longer of resisting him; but he was
+always detested, never admired. France having at this date neither
+journals nor parliamentary debates, the foreign policy of Mazarin, which
+in our eyes did him so much honour, remained very little known even at
+Paris. This explains why his glory has been in large part posthumous. It
+has increased in measure as it has been possible to judge of his entire
+policy, from documents contained in our national archives or in those of
+other countries. His correspondence displays so fine a diplomatic
+genius, that the historians have turned aside from the evil side of the
+man, his littlenesses, in order to give full weight to his services as
+minister. Precisely a contrary course had been taken in the seventeenth
+century. Little besides the Cardinal's defects, open to all eyes, were
+realised. Bad fortune had redoubled his rapacity. Mazarin had guarded in
+his heart the experience of poverty at the time in which he was expelled
+from the kingdom. He had sworn to himself that he would not again be
+taken without "ammunition." He had worked industriously since his return
+in putting aside millions in safe keeping. Everything aided him in
+raising this kind of war treasure. He sold high functions of State, and
+also those belonging to low degree, even to that of laundress to the
+Queen. He shared the benefits with the corsairs to whom he gave letters
+of marque. He undertook contracts for public service, pocketed the
+money, left our ambassadors without salaries, our vessels and
+fortifications without means of subsistence. The army was crying with
+hunger and thirst as soon as he made himself its sutler and its
+commissariat. He furnished bread of diminished purity and even found
+means, said the courtiers, to make the soldiers, so rarely paid
+themselves, pay for the water they drank. Turenne once broke up his
+plate to distribute the pieces to his troops, who were perishing from
+want.
+
+Comical scenes mingled with these tragic ones. Bussy-Rabutin, who served
+in the army of Turenne, had been fortunate at play. The Cardinal had
+learned of this, and ordered it to be represented to Bussy that his pay
+which had been pledged in the game would be guarded by the Cardinal as
+his portion of the gain. He had extended his traffic into the royal
+palace. It was he who furnished furniture and utensils. He undertook to
+provide the Court mourning, and costumes for the fetes: when the King
+danced a ballet, his first minister gained by the decorations and
+accessories. The housekeeping accounts passed through his hands. During
+the campaign of 1658, he suppressed the King's cook, in order to
+appropriate to himself what the table would have cost. Louis XIV. was
+forced to invite himself to dine with this one and that one. Mazarin
+touched even his pocket money and the young King permitted it with a
+patience which was a constant source of astonishment to the courtiers.
+His mother was neither better treated nor less submissive.
+
+The Cardinal was as jealous of his authority as of his money. The King
+had no voice in his council; when he accorded a pardon, however trivial,
+his first minister revoked it, "scolding him like a schoolboy."[37]
+
+It was said of the Queen Mother that her influence was only worth a
+hundred crowns, and she agreed. Still more, she was scolded from morning
+till night. Age had rendered Mazarin insupportable. He had no delicacy
+with the King, still less with the King's mother: the courtiers shrugged
+their shoulders in hearing him speak to Anne of Austria "as to a
+chambermaid."[38]
+
+The Queen was not insensible to this rudeness. She confessed to the
+faithful Motteville "that the Cardinal had become so bad tempered and so
+avaricious that she did not know how in the future it was going to be
+possible to live with him." But it did not seem to occur to her that it
+might be possible to live without the Cardinal. Can it be believed that
+Anne of Austria and Mazarin were married, as La Palatine,[39] mother of
+the Regent, asserted? As they gradually grew old, one is tempted to
+believe it, so strongly the spectacle offered by these illustrious
+persons, he so disagreeable, she so submissive, gives the impression
+of two destinies "united together," according to the expression of the
+Cardinal himself,[40] "by bonds which could not be broken." The question
+to be solved is, could Mazarin marry? According to tradition he was not
+a priest. According to the Euridite that point is open to
+discussion.[41] Until this matter is fixed, the marriage of Anne of
+Austria with her minister will remain among historical enigmas, for
+everything said will be words in the air.
+
+PRIERE DU ROY.
+
+     Jesus-Christ Roy du Ciel et de la Terre, ie vous adore et
+     reconnois pour le Roy des Roys. C'est de vostre Majeste Diuine
+     que ie tiens ma Couronne: mon Dieu ie vous l'offre, pour la
+     Gloire de la tres Saincte Trinite, et pour l'honneur de la
+     Reine des Agnes la Sacree Vierge Marie que iay choisy pour ma
+     Protectrice, et des Estats que vous m'auez donne; Seigneur
+     baillez moy vostre crainte et une si grande Sagesse et
+     humilite, que ie puisse deuenir un homme selon vostre coeur; en
+     sorte que ie merite efficacement le tiltre aimable de Louis
+     Dieu donne le Pacifique pour maintenir vostre Peuple en Paix,
+     afin qu'il vous serve avec tranquilite, et l'acomplissement de
+     toutes les Vertus.
+
+
+VOEU ET PRIERE DES PEUPLES POUR LE ROY.
+
+     Adorable Redempteur Jesus-Christ, qui estes le distributeur des
+     Couronnes, receuez la piete du Roy tres-Crestien, et exaucez
+     ses Prieres respectueses faites par l'entremise de vostre
+     Saincte Mere Vierge, que linfluence des Graces du St. Esprit
+     luy soit donnee, afin croissant en aage, it croisse aussi en
+     telle Sagesse, qu'il puisse maintenir vostre peuple in Paix,
+     pour mieux obseruer vos saincts commandemens.
+
+
+(Translation of the above.)
+
+PRAYER OF THE KING.
+
+     Jesus Christ, King of the Heavens and the Earth, I adore Thee
+     and recognize Thee for the King of Kings, the divine majesty
+     from whom I receive my crown, which I offer to Thee for the
+     Glory of the Most Holy Trinity, and for the honor of the Queen
+     of Angels, the blessed Virgin Mary, whom I have chosen as my
+     Protector, and also of the States which Thou hast given me.
+     Lord grant me due reverence and that I may possess so much
+     wisdom and humility that I may become a man after Thine own
+     heart, so that I may truly merit the title of the Beloved
+     Louis, the God-given and peaceful, and be able to maintain Thy
+     people in peace that they may live in tranquillity and
+     virtuously serve Thee.
+
+
+VOW AND PRAYER OF THE PEOPLE.
+
+     Adorable Redeemer Jesus Christ; who art the giver of crowns;
+     regard the piety of the most Christian King and listen to his
+     prayers for the intervention of the most blessed Mother Virgin;
+     and grant that the influence of the Holy Spirit may so be
+     poured out upon him that as he increases in years he may also
+     grow in wisdom; and that he may keep Thy people in peace that
+     they may better be able to preserve Thy commands.
+
+[Illustration: =LOUIS XIV. AS A BOY, DEDICATING HIS CROWN= After the
+painting by Greg Huret]
+
+The patience of Louis XIV. can only be explained by his entire bringing
+up and by the state of mind which had been its fruit.
+
+Louis's cradle had been surrounded by a crowd of servitors charged to
+watch over his least movement. His mother adored him and, for a queen,
+occupied herself much with him. Nevertheless, there could hardly a child
+be found throughout the entire kingdom so badly cared for as the son of
+the King.
+
+Louis XIV. had never forgotten this neglect and spoke of it all his life
+with bitterness.
+
+"The King always surprises me," relates Mme. de Maintenon at Saint Cyr,
+"when he speaks to me of his education. His governesses gossiped the
+entire day, and left him in the hands of their maids without paying any
+attention to the young Prince." The maids abandoned him to his own
+devices and he was once found in the basin of the fountain in the Palais
+Royal. One of his greatest pleasures was to prowl in the kitchens with
+his brother, the little Monsieur. "He ate everything he could lay his
+hands on without paying attention to its healthfulness. If they were
+frying an omelette, he would break off a piece, which he and Monsieur
+devoured in some corner."[42] One day when the two little Princes thus
+put their fingers into the prepared dishes, the cooks impatiently drove
+them away with blows from dishcloths. He played with any one. "His most
+frequent companion," again relates Mme. de Maintenon, "was the daughter
+of the Queen's own maid." When he was withdrawn from such surroundings,
+to be led to his mother, or to figure in some ceremony, he appeared a
+bashful boy who looked at people with embarrassment without knowing what
+to say, and who cruelly suffered from this shyness.
+
+One day after they had given him a lesson, his timidity prevented him
+from remembering the right words and he burst into tears with rage and
+anger. The King of France to make a fool of himself!
+
+At five and a half years, they gave him a tutor and many masters,[43]
+but he learned nothing. Mazarin for reasons known to himself would not
+force him to work; and circumstances favoured the views of the first
+minister. The Fronde came, and rendered any study impossible on account
+of the complete upsetting of the daily life of the Court of France,
+which was only encamped when it was not actually on the move. Louis XIV.
+was fourteen at the date of the reinstallation of the Court at the
+Louvre and there was no question of making him recover the lost time; he
+thenceforth passed his days in hunting, in studying steps for the
+ballet, and in amusing himself with the nieces of the Cardinal. The
+political world believed that it divined the reason for this limited
+education and severely expressed its opinion about it. "The King," wrote
+the Ambassador from Venice,[44] "applies himself the entire day to
+learning the ballet.... Games, dances, and comedies are the only
+subjects of conversation with the King, the intention being to turn him
+aside from affairs more solid and important." The Ambassador returns to
+the same subject upon the occasion of an Italian opera,[45] in which the
+King exhibited himself as Apollo surrounded by beautiful persons
+representing the nine muses:
+
+     Certain people blame this affair, but these do not understand the
+     politics of the Cardinal, who keeps the King expressly occupied
+     with pastimes, in order to turn his attention from solid and
+     important pursuits, and whilst the King is concerned in rolling
+     machines of wood upon the stage, the Cardinal moves and rolls at
+     his good pleasure, upon the theatre of France, all the machines of
+     state.
+
+Some few observers, of whom Mazarin himself was one, divined that this
+youth, with his air of being absorbed in tomfooleries, secretly
+reflected upon his profession of King, and upon the means of rendering
+himself capable of sustaining it. Nature had endowed him with the
+instinct of command, joined to a very lively sentiment of the duties of
+his rank. Louis says in his _Memoires_, "even from infancy the names
+alone of the kings _faineants_ and mayors of the palace gave me pain if
+pronounced in my presence."[46]
+
+His preceptor, the Abbe of Perefixe, had encouraged this sentiment, at
+the same time, however, permitting his pupil, by a contradiction for
+which perhaps he was not responsible, to take the road which leads in
+the direction of idleness, and thus making it possible for Louis to
+become a true King _faineant_ himself.
+
+Perefixe had written for the young King a history of King Henry the
+Great in which one reads
+
+     that royalty is not the trade of a do-nothing, that it consists
+     almost entirely of action, that a King should make a pleasure
+     of his duty, that his enjoyment should be in reigning and he
+     only should know how to reign, that is, he should himself hold
+     the helm of the state. His glory is interested in this.
+     In truth, who does not know that there can be no honour in bearing
+     a title whose functions one does not fulfil--
+
+a doctrine which would suppress the first ministers and by which Louis
+XIV. profited later.
+
+Chance came to the aid of the preceptor. On June 19, 1651, the ancient
+governess of the King, Mme. de Lansac, disturbed him in the midst of a
+lesson, in order to make a gift of "three letters written by Catherine
+de Medicis to Henry III.,[47] her son, for his edification." Perefixe
+took the letters and read them aloud, the King listening "with much
+attention." One of them was almost a memorial.[48] In it, Catherine gave
+to her son the same precept as Perefixe to his pupil: "a king must
+reign," that is to say, carry out the functions belonging to his title.
+In order to "reign," one must begin to work at once upon awakening, read
+all the dispatches and afterwards the replies, speak personally to the
+agents, receive every morning accounts of receipts and expenditures;
+pursue this course from morning till night, and every day of one's life.
+It was the programme for a slave to power. Louis XIV. made it his own,
+in the bottom of his soul; he was not yet thirteen.
+
+Such beautiful resolutions however, were destined to remain dead so long
+as Mazarin lived. They could only be executed to the detriment of his
+authority, and the idea of entering into a struggle with the Cardinal
+was repugnant to the young King, partially on account of old affection,
+partially on account of timidity and the habit of obedience.
+
+The mind of Louis XIV. had however been awakened and the fruits of this
+awakening were later visible, but for a time he was content to find good
+excuses for leaving affairs alone. He explains in his _Memoires_ that he
+was arrested by political reasons; as he had too much experience also
+(however strange this word may appear when applied to a child so
+foolishly brought up) not to realise the danger of a revolution in the
+royal palace in the present condition of France after the devastations
+of the civil wars.
+
+In default of the science which one draws from books, Louis XIV. had
+received lessons in realities from the Fronde: The riots and barricades,
+the vehement discourse of the Parliament to his mother, the humiliating
+flights with the Court, the periods of poverty in which his servants had
+no dinner and he himself slept with his sheets full of holes, and wore
+clothes too short, the battles in which his subjects fired upon him, the
+treasons of his relations and of his nobility and their shameful
+bargains; nothing of all this had been lost upon the young King.
+
+With a surface order re-established, he perceived how troubled the
+situation remained at bottom, how precarious, and he judged it prudent
+to defer what he both "wished" and "feared," says very clearly his
+_Memoires_. He queries if this were an error:
+
+     It is necessary [says he] to represent to one's self the state
+     of affairs: Agitations throughout the entire kingdom were at
+     their height; a foreign war continued in which a thousand
+     advantages had been lost to France owing to these domestic
+     troubles; a Prince of my own blood and a very great name at the
+     head of my enemies; many cabals in the state; the Parliaments
+     still in possession of usurped authority; in my own Court very
+     little of either fidelity or interest, and above all my
+     subjects, apparently the most submissive, were as great a care
+     and as much to be suspected as those most openly rebellious.
+
+Was this the moment in which to expose the country to new shocks?
+
+Louis XIV. had remained convinced[49] to the contrary, avowing, however,
+that he had much to criticise in the fashions of Mazarin,
+
+     a minister [pursued he] re-established in spite of so many
+     factions, very able, very adroit, who loved me and whom I
+     loved, and who had rendered me great services, but whose
+     thoughts and manners were naturally very different from mine,
+     and whom I could not always contradict nor discredit without
+     anew exciting, by that image, however erroneous, of disgrace,
+     the same tempests which had been so difficult to calm.
+
+The King had also to take into consideration his own extreme youth, and
+his ignorance of affairs. He relates in regard to this point his ardent
+desire for glory, his fear of beginning ill, "for one can never retrieve
+one's self"; his attention to the course of events "in secret and
+without a confidant"; his joy when he discovered that people both able
+and consummate shared his fashion of thinking.
+
+Considering everything, had there ever been a being urged forward and
+retarded so equally, in his design to take upon himself "the guidance of
+the state"?
+
+This curious page has no other defect than that of having been dictated
+by a man matured, in whose thoughts things have taken a clearness not
+existing in the mind of the youth, and who believes himself to recollect
+"determinations" when there existed in reality only "desires."
+
+Louis XIV. would be unpardonable if full credit were given to his
+_Memoires_. Why, if he saw so clearly, did he grumble at any kind of
+work? When Louis was sixteen, Mazarin had arranged with him some days in
+which he might be present at a council. The King was bored and retired
+to talk of the next ballet and to play the guitar with his intimates.
+Mazarin was obliged to scold him to force him to return and remain at
+the council.
+
+With a capacity for trifling, he cared for nothing serious, and there
+was much laziness contained in his resolution to leave all to his
+minister. The Court had formed its own opinion: it considered the young
+King incapable of application. It was also said that he lacked
+intelligence, and in this belief there was no error. Louis himself
+alluded to this and said with simplicity, "I am very stupid."
+
+The libertine youth who surrounded him, and whom his solemn air
+restrained, did not conceal the fact that they found him a great bore,
+as probably did also Madame de Maintenon a half-century later. The
+Guiche and the Vardes believed him doomed to insignificance and did not
+trouble themselves much about him. The city was less convinced that he
+was a cipher, perhaps because otherwise it could not so easily have
+taken his part. Paris was commencing to fear those princes with whom,
+for one reason or another, first ministers were necessary, and the
+Parisian bourgeoisie was on the watch for some proof of intelligence in
+the young monarch. "It is said that the mind of the King is awakening,"
+wrote Guy Patin in 1654; "God be thanked!"
+
+This first light not having an apparent development, Paris, whilst
+waiting for something better, admired the looks of the sovereign. "I
+have to-day seen the King on his way to the chase," again wrote Guy
+Patin four years later. "A fine Prince, strong and healthy; he is tall
+and graceful; it is a pity that he does not better understand his
+duties."[50] His serious air was also lauded, his dislike to debauchery
+in any form, and the modesty which made him bravely reply before the
+entire Court, to a question about a new play: "I never judge a subject
+about which I know nothing."[51]
+
+This was not the response of a fool.
+
+In fine, as he was very cold, very capable of dissimulation, as he spoke
+little, through calculation as much as through instinct, and generally
+confined his conversation to trifles, this youth upon whom all France
+had its eyes fixed remained an unknown quantity to his subjects.
+
+In September, 1657, two strangers crossing the Pont Neuf found
+themselves in the midst of a pressure of people. The crowd precipitated
+itself with cries of joy towards a carriage whose livery had been
+recognised.
+
+It was the Grande Mademoiselle returning from exile, and coming to take
+possession of the palace of the Luxembourg, in which her father
+permitted her to lodge, feeling certain that he himself should never
+return to it. The two strangers noted in their _Journal de Voyage_[52]
+that the Parisians bore a "particular affection" for this Princess,
+because she had behaved like a "true amazon" during the civil war.
+
+The Court had resigned itself to the inevitable. Mademoiselle had
+remained popular in Paris, and her exploits during the Fronde and her
+fine bearing at the head of her regiment were remembered with
+enthusiasm. She only passed through the city at this time, having
+affairs to regulate in the Provinces. Upon her definite return on
+December 31st, the Court and the city crowded to see her. The Luxembourg
+overflowed during several days, after which, when society had convinced
+itself that Mademoiselle had no longer a face "fresh as a fully blown
+rose,"[53] its curiosity was satisfied and it occupied itself with
+something else.
+
+[Illustration: =LOUIS XIV. AS A YOUNG MAN= From a chalk drawing in the
+British Museum Print Room]
+
+Mademoiselle herself had much to do. The idea of marrying the little
+Monsieur had not left her mind since the meeting at Sedan. She was
+assured that the Prince was dying of desire for her, and Mademoiselle
+naively responded that she very well perceived this. "This does not
+displease me," adds she; "a young Prince, handsome, well-made, brother
+of the King, appears a good match."
+
+In expectation of the betrothal, she stopped her pursuits of the happy
+interval at Saint-Fargeau in which she had loved intellectual pleasures,
+in order to make herself the comrade of a child only absorbed in
+pastimes belonging to his age, and passed the winter in dancing, in
+masquerading, in rushing through the promenades and the booths of the
+fair of Saint-Germain.[54]
+
+The public remarked that the little Monsieur appeared "not very gay"
+with his tall cousin, and troubled himself but little to entertain
+her,[55] and that he would have preferred other companions better suited
+to his seventeen years.
+
+Mademoiselle did not perceive this. Philip, Duke of Anjou, had a face of
+insipid beauty posed upon a little round body. He did not lack _esprit_,
+had not an evil disposition, and would have made an amiable prince if
+reasons of state had not tended to reduce him to the condition of a
+marionette.
+
+His mother and Mazarin had brought him up as a girl, for fear of his
+later troubling his elder brother, and this education had only too well
+succeeded. By means of sending him to play with the future Abbe de
+Choisy, who put on a robe and patches to receive him; by means of having
+him dressed and barbered by the Queen's maids of honour and putting him
+in petticoats and occupying him with dolls, he had been made an
+ambiguous being, a species of defective girl having only the weaknesses
+of his own sex. Monsieur had a new coat every day and it worried him to
+spot it, and to be seen with his hair undressed or in profile when he
+believed himself handsomer in full face. Paris possessed no greater
+gossip; he babbled, he meddled, he embroiled people by repeating
+everything, and this amused him.
+
+Mademoiselle considered it her duty to "preach" to him of "noble deeds,"
+but she wasted her time. He was laziness and weakness itself. The two
+cousins were ill-adapted to each other in every way.
+
+When they entered a salon together, Monsieur short and full, attired in
+the costume of a hunter, his garments sewed from head to foot with
+precious stones, Mademoiselle a little masculine of figure and manner
+and negligent in her dress, they were a singular couple. Those who did
+not know them opened their eyes wide, and they were often seen together
+in the winter at least, for the society was at this date most mixed,
+even in the most elite circles.
+
+From Epiphany to Ash-Wednesday, the Parisians had no greater pleasure
+than to promenade masked at night, and to enter without invitation into
+any house where an entertainment was taking place. Louis XIV. gladly
+joined in these gaieties. Upon one evening of Mardi-Gras, when he was
+thus running the streets with Mademoiselle, they met Monsieur dressed as
+a girl with blond hair.[56] Keepers of inns sent their guests to profit
+by this chance of free entry. A young Dutchman related that he went the
+same night "with those of his inn" to five great balls, the first at the
+house of Mme. de Villeroy, the last with the Duchess of Valentinois, and
+that he had seen at each place more than two hundred masks.[57]
+
+The crowd would not permit that entrance should be refused on any
+pretext.
+
+The same Dutchman reports with a note of bitterness that on another
+evening it had been impossible to penetrate into the house of the
+Marechal de l'Hopital, because the King being there, measures had been
+taken to avoid too great a crowd. Custom obliged every one to submit to
+receiving society, choice or not. At a grand fete given by the Duc de
+Lesdiguieres, which in the bottom of his heart he was offering to Mme.
+de Sevigne, "The King had hardly departed when the crowd commenced to
+scuffle and to pillage every thing, until, as it was stated, it became
+necessary to replace the candles of the chandeliers four or five times
+and this single article cost M. de Lesdiguieres more than a hundred
+pistoles."[58]
+
+Such domestic manners had the encouragement of the King, who also left
+his doors open upon the evenings on which he danced a ballet. He did
+better still. He went officially to sup "with the Sieur de la
+Baziniere," ancient lackey become financier and millionaire, and having
+the bearing, the manners, and the ribbon cascades of the Marquis de
+Mascarille. He desired that Mademoiselle should invite to the
+Luxembourg, Mme. de l'Hopital, ancient laundress married twice for her
+beautiful eyes; the first time by a _partisan_, the second by a Marshal
+of France. These lessons were not lost upon the nobility. Mesalliances
+were no more discredited, even the lowest, the most shameful, provided
+that the dot was sufficient. A Duke and Peer had married the daughter of
+an old charioteer. The Marechal d'Estrees was the son-in-law of a
+_partisan_ known under the name of Morin the Jew. Many others could be
+cited, for the tendency increased from year to year.
+
+In 1665, the King having entered Parliament,[59] in order to confirm an
+edict, a group of men amongst whom was Olivier d'Ormesson were regarding
+the Tribune in which were seated the ladies of the Court. Some one
+thought of counting how many of these were daughters of parvenues or of
+business men; he found three out of six. Two others were nieces of
+Mazarin, married to French nobles.[60] The single one of aristocratic
+descent was Mlle. d'Alencon, a half-sister of the Grande Mademoiselle.
+One could hardly have anticipated such figures, even allowing for
+chance.
+
+The King, however, approved of this state of affairs and the nobility
+was ruined; every one seized on what support he could. The general
+course of affairs was favourable to this confusion of rank. From the
+triumphal re-entry of Mazarin in 1653, until his death in 1661, a kind
+of universal freedom continued at the Court which surprised the ancient
+Frondeurs on their return from exile. The young monarch himself
+encouraged familiarities and lack of etiquette.
+
+It was the nieces of the Cardinal who were largely responsible for these
+changes in manners and who gained their own profit through the
+additional freedom, since Marie, the third of the Mancini, was soon to
+almost touch the crown with the tip of her finger. Mademoiselle had some
+trouble in accustoming herself to the new manners towards the King.
+
+     For me [says she], brought up to have great respect, this is
+     most astonishing, and I have remained long time without
+     habituating myself to this new freedom. But when I saw how
+     others acted, when the Queen told me one day that the
+     King hated ceremony, then I yielded; for without this high
+     authority the faults of manner could not be possible with others.
+
+The pompous Louis XIV. wearing the great wig of the portraits did not
+yet exist, and the Louvre of 1658 but little resembled the particular
+and formal Versailles of the time of Saint-Simon.[61]
+
+The licence extended to morals. Numbers of women of rank behaved badly,
+some incurred the suspicion of venality, and no faults were novelties;
+but vice keeps low company and it was this result which proud people
+like Mademoiselle could not suffer.
+
+When it was related to her that the Duchesse de Chatillon, daughter of
+Montmorency-Boutteville, had received money from the Abbe Foucquet[62]
+and wiped out the debt by permitting such lackey-like jokes as breaking
+her mirrors with blows of the foot, she was revolted. "It is a strange
+thing," wrote she, "this difference of time; who would have said to the
+Admiral Coligny, 'The wife of your grandson will be maltreated by the
+Abbe Foucquet'?--he would not have believed it, and there was no mention
+at all of this name of Foucquet in his time."
+
+In the mind of Mademoiselle, who had lived through so many periods, it
+was the low birth of the Abbe which would have affected the Admiral.
+"Whatever may be said," added she, "I can never believe that persons of
+quality abandon themselves to the point which their slanderers say. For
+even if they did not consider their own safety, worldly honour is in my
+opinion so beautiful a thing that I do not comprehend how any one can
+despise it."
+
+Mademoiselle did not transgress upon the respect due to the hierarchy of
+rank; for the rest, she contented herself with what are called the
+morals of respectable people, which have always been sufficiently
+lenient. She understood, however, all the difference between this
+morality and Christian principles.
+
+The _Provinciales_ (1656) had made it clear to the blindest that it was
+necessary to choose between the two. Mademoiselle had under this
+influence made a visit to Port Royal des Champs[63] and had been
+entirely won by these "admirable people" who lived like saints and who
+spoke and wrote "the finest eloquence," while the Jesuits would have
+done better to remain silent, "having nothing good to say and saying it
+very badly," "for assuredly there were never fewer preachers amongst
+them than at present nor fewer good writers, as appears by their
+letters. This is why for all sorts of reasons they would have done
+better not to write."
+
+Seeing Mademoiselle so favourably impressed, one of the Monsieurs of
+Port Royal, Arnauld d'Andilly, said upon her departure, "You are going
+to the Court; you can give to the Queen account of what you have
+seen."--"I assure you that I will willingly do this."
+
+Knowing her disposition, there is but little doubt that she kept her
+word; but this was all. The worthy Mademoiselle, incapable of anything
+low or base, did not dream for a second of allowing the austere
+morality, ill fitted for the needs of a court, to intervene in
+influencing her judgments upon others, or in the choice of her friends.
+She blamed the Duchesse de Chatillon for reasons with which virtue,
+properly named, had nothing to do. We see her soon after meeting Mme. de
+Montespan, because common morality has nothing to blame in a King's
+mistress.
+
+Mme. de Sevigne agreed with Mademoiselle and they were not alone. This
+attitude gave a kind of revenge to the Jesuits.
+
+Tastes became as common as sentiments; those of the King were not yet
+formed, and the pleasure taken in the ballet in the theatre of the
+Louvre injured the taste for what was, in fact, no longer tragedy.
+Corneille had given up writing for the first time in 1652, after the
+failure of his _Pertharite_. The following year, Quinault made his debut
+and pleased. He taught in his tragi-comedies, flowery and tender, that
+"Love makes everything permissible," which had been said by Honore
+d'Urfe in _l'Astree_, a half-century previous, and he retied, without
+difficulty, after the Corneillian parenthesis, the thread of a doctrine
+which has been transmitted without interruption to our own days.
+
+Love justifies everything, for the right of passion is sacred, nothing
+subsists before it.
+
+    Dans l'empire amoureux,
+    Le devoir n'a point de puissance.
+
+    L'eclat de beaux yeux adoucit bien un crime;
+    Au regard des amants tout parait legitime.[64]
+
+The idea which this verse expresses can be found throughout the works of
+Quinault. He has said it again and again, with the same langourous,
+insinuating sweetness, for a period which lasted more than thirty years,
+and in the beginning no one very seriously divided with him the
+attention of the public.
+
+At the appearance of his first piece in 1653, Racine was fourteen;
+Moliere did not return to Paris until 1658. Corneille, in truth, was
+preparing his return to the theatre; but he found when his last
+tragedies were played, that he had done well to study Quinault, and in
+doing this he had not wasted his time;--a decisive proof of the echo to
+which souls responded,[65] and of the increasing immorality of the new
+era.
+
+Thus the Court of France lost its prestige. The eclat cast by the Fronde
+upon the men and women seeking great adventures had been replaced by no
+new enthusiasms. The pleasures to which entire lives were devoted had
+not always been refining, as we have seen above, and people had not
+grown in intelligence. The bold crowd of the Mazarins gave the tone to
+the Louvre, and this tone lacked delicacy. The Queen, Anne of Austria,
+groaned internally, but she had loosed the reins; except in the affair
+of her son's marriage she had nothing to refuse to the nieces of
+Cardinal Mazarin.
+
+Because the Court was in general lazy and frivolous, a hasty opinion of
+the remainder of France should not be formed. The Court did not fairly
+represent the entire nation; outside of it there was room for other
+opinions and sentiments. It was during the years of 1650 to 1656, which
+appear to us at first sight almost a moral desert, that private charity
+made in the midst of France one of its greatest efforts, an effort very
+much to the honour of all concerned in it.
+
+I have noticed elsewhere[66] the frightful poverty of the country during
+the Fronde. This distress which was changing into desert places one
+strip after another of French territory, must be relieved, and amongst
+those in authority no one was found capable of doing it.
+
+It is hardly possible to represent to one's self to-day the condition
+left by the simple passage of an army belonging to a civilised people,
+through a French or German land, two or three hundred years ago.
+
+The idea of restricting the sufferings caused by war to those which are
+inevitable is a novel one. In the seventeenth century, on the contrary,
+the effort was to increase them. The chiefs for the most part showed a
+savage desire to excite the mania for destruction which is so easily
+aroused with soldiers during a campaign. Towards the end of the Fronde,
+some troops belonging to Conde, then in the service of the King of
+Spain, occupied his old province of Bourgogne. If any district of France
+could have hoped to be respected by the Prince, it was this one; his
+father had possessed it before him and it was full of their friends.
+Ties of this kind, however, were of no advantage. March 23, 1652, the
+States of Bourgogne wrote to M. de Bielle, their deputy at Court:
+
+     The enemies having already burned fourteen villages [the names
+     follow], besides others since burned, these fire-fiends are
+     still in campaign and continuing these horrible ravages, all
+     which has been under the express order of M. le Prince, which
+     the commandant [de la ville] de Seurre has received, to burn
+     the entire Province if it be possible. The same Sieur de Bielle
+     can judge by the account of these fires, to which there has so
+     far been no impediment presented, in what state the Province
+     will be in a short time.
+
+The common soldier troubled himself little whether the sacked region was
+on the one or the other side of the frontier. He made hardly any
+difference.
+
+Some weeks after the fires in Bourgogne, two armies tortured the Brie.
+The one belonged to the King, the other to the Duc de Lorraine, and
+there was only a shade less of cruelty with the French forces than with
+the others. When all the troops had passed, the country was filled with
+charnel houses, and there are charnel houses and charnel houses.
+
+That of Rampillon,[67] particularly atrocious, must be placed to the
+account of the Lorraines: "at each step one met mutilated people, with
+scattered limbs; women cut in four quarters after violation; men
+expiring under the ruins of burning houses, others spitted."[68] No
+trouble was taken to suppress these hells of infection.
+
+It would be difficult to find any fashion of carrying on a war both more
+ferocious and more stupid. Some chiefs of divisions, precursers of
+humanitarian ideas, timidly protested, in the name of interest only,
+against a system which always gave to campaigning armies the plague,
+famine, and universal hatred. A letter addressed to Mazarin, and signed
+by four of these, Fabert at the head, supplicates him to arrest the
+ravages of a foreigner in the services of France, M. de Rosen. Mazarin
+took care to pay no attention to this protest: it would have been
+necessary first to pay Rosen and his soldiers. If it is expected to find
+any sense of responsibility in the State, in the opinion of
+contemporaries, for saving the survivors, left without bread, animals,
+nor harvests, without roof and without working tools, there is
+disappointment; the State held itself no more responsible for public
+disasters than for the poor, always with it.
+
+The conception of social duty was not yet born. Public assistance was in
+its infancy, and the little which existed had been completely
+disorganised by the general disorders; like everything else. Each city
+took care of its beggars or neglected them according to its own
+resources and circumstances. On the other hand, the idea of Christian
+charity had taken a strong hold upon some circles, under the combined
+influence of the Jansenism which exacted from its devotees a living
+faith; of a secret Catholic society whose existence is one of the most
+curious historical discoveries of these last years[69]; and of a poor
+saint whose peasant airs and whose patched _soutane_ caused much
+laughter when he presented himself before the Queen. Vincent de Paul is
+easily recognised. Relations with great people had not changed him. It
+was said of him after years of Court society, "M. Vincent is always M.
+Vincent," and this was true: men of this calibre never change, happily
+for the world.
+
+He became the keynote of the impulse which caused the regeneration of
+provincial life, almost ruined by the wars of the Fronde. Even after the
+work was ended it would be difficult to decide upon the share of each of
+these bodies in this colossal enterprise. The society to which allusion
+has been made was founded in 1627, by the Duc de Ventadour, whose
+mystical thought had led him, as often happens, to essentially practical
+works. The name of Compagnie du Saint Sacrement was given it, and
+without doubt its supreme end was "to make honoured the Holy Sacrament."
+
+Precisely on account of this, the society sought to "procure" for itself
+"all the good" in its power, for nothing is more profitable to religion
+than support, material as well as spiritual and moral, distributed under
+its inspiration and as one might say on its own part.
+
+One passes easily from the practice of charity, a source of precious
+teaching, to the correction of manners. After comes the desire to
+control souls, which naturally leads to the destruction of heresies,
+with or without gentleness.
+
+This programme was responsible for many admirable charitable works, two
+centuries in advance of current ideas, and, at the same time, for
+cruelties, infamies, all the vices inseparable from the sectarian spirit
+in which the end justifies the means.
+
+Once started, the society rapidly increased, always hidden, and
+multiplying precautions not to be discovered, since neither clergy nor
+royalty were well disposed towards this mysterious force, from which
+they were constantly receiving shocks without being able to discover
+whence came the blows.
+
+It was an occult power, analogous in its extent and its intolerance, and
+even in the ways and means employed, to the Free Masonry of the present.
+
+The Compagnie du Saint-Sacrement had links throughout France and in all
+classes. Anne of Austria was included in its sacred band and a shoemaker
+played in it an important role. Vincent de Paul enrolled himself in the
+ranks towards the year 1635, contributed to the good, and probably was
+ignorant of the evil to be found in its folds. Dating from his
+affiliation, his charitable works so mingled with those of the society
+that it was no longer to be recognised. The society brought to the Saint
+powerful succour, and aided him effectively in finding the support of
+which he had need; it would be difficult to say from whom came the first
+idea of many good works.
+
+As for what at present concerns us, however, the point of departure is
+known. It was neither Vincent de Paul nor the Compagnie du
+Saint-Sacrement which conceived and put in train the prodigious work of
+relieving the Provinces. The first committee of relief was founded in
+Paris, in 1649, by a Janseniste, M. de Bernieres, who was also
+responsible for the invention of the printed "Relations" which were
+informing all France of the miseries to be relieved. It was the first
+time that Charity had aided itself through publicity. It soon found the
+value of this. M. de Bernieres and his committee, in which the wives of
+members of Parliament dominated, were soon able to commence in Picardie
+and Champagne the distribution of bread, clothing, grain, and working
+implements. Hospitals were established. They put an end to the frightful
+feeling of desolation of these unfortunate populations, pillaged during
+so many years by mercenaries of all races and tongues. But the number of
+workers was small even if their zeal was great, and the Janseniste
+community was not equipped for a task of this dimension. From the end of
+the following year, the direction of the enterprise passed entirely into
+the hands of Vincent de Paul, who led with him his army of sisters of
+charity, his mission priests, and an entire contingent of allies, secret
+but absolutely devoted.
+
+It does not seem as if at first there was any conflict. Mme. de
+Lamoignon and the Presidente de Herse were the right arms of M. Vincent
+as they had been of M. de Bernieres. When the Queen of Poland,[70] a
+spiritual daughter of Port-Royal and brought up in France, wished to
+subscribe to the work, she sent her money to the Mother Angelique,
+telling her to communicate with M. Vincent. But this harmony was of
+short duration. The members of what the public were going to baptise
+with the sobriquet of "Cabale des Devots," not being able to discover
+the real name, could not suffer the Janseniste concurrence in charitable
+works. They showered upon M. de Bernieres a mass of odious calumnies and
+denunciations which resulted in the exile of this good man.
+
+This was one of the most abominable of the bad actions to which a
+sectarian spirit has pushed human beings.
+
+The "Relations" were continued under the direction of Vincent de Paul.
+One knows through them and through the documents of the time, the
+details of the task undertaken. The first necessity for the public
+health was the clearing the surface of the ground, in the provinces in
+which there had been fighting, of the putrifying bodies, and of the
+filthiness left by the armies. There was one village from which such an
+odour exhaled that no one would approach it. A "Relation" of 1652
+describes in these terms the environs of Paris:
+
+     At Etrechy, the living are mingled with the dead, and the
+     country is full of the latter. At Villeneuve-Saint-Georges,
+     Crosne, Limay, one hundred and seventy-four ill people were
+     found in the last extremity, with neither beds, clothes, nor
+     bread.
+
+     It was necessary to commence by taking away the seeds of
+     infection which increased the maladies, by interring the
+     corpses of men, of dead horses and cattle, and removing the
+     heaps of dirt which the armies had left behind. The cleansing
+     of the soil was the specialty of M. Vincent and one of his most
+     signal benefits. He employed for this work his mission priests
+     and his sisters of charity. The missionaries placed themselves
+     at the head of the workmen, the sisters sought the abandoned
+     sick. Cloth and cap died at need "the arms in the hand," said
+     their chief, but their work was good; and finally the work was
+     taken hold of in the right way.
+
+After the dead the living:
+
+     The cure of Boult[71] [reports another "Relation"] assures us
+     that he buried three of his parishioners dead from hunger;
+     others were living only upon cut-up straw mixed with earth, of
+     which was composed a food called bread. Five tainted and
+     decaying horses were devoured; an old man aged seventy-five years
+     had entered the presbytery to roast a piece of horse-flesh, the
+     animal having died of scab fifteen days previously, was infected
+     with worms, and had been found cast into a foul ditch.... At
+     Saint-Quentin, in the faubourgs, in which the houses had been
+     demolished, the missionaries discovered the last inhabitants in
+     miserable huts, "in each of which," wrote one of them, "I found one
+     or two sick, in one single hut ten; two widows, each having four
+     children, slept together on the ground, having nothing whatever,
+     not even a sheet." Another Ecclesiastic, in his visit, having met
+     with many closed doors, upon forcing them open discovered that the
+     sick were too feeble to open them having eaten nothing during two
+     days, and having beneath them only a little half rotten straw; the
+     number of these poor was so great that without succour from Paris,
+     the citizens under the apprehension of a siege, not being able to
+     nourish them, had resolved to cast them over the walls.
+
+Millions were needed to relieve such distress, but Vincent de Paul and
+his associates had a better dream; they wished to put these dying
+populations in a condition to work again and to undertake the reparation
+of the ruins themselves. The enterprise was organised in spite of
+obstacles which appeared insurmountable, the exhaustion of France and
+the difficulty of communication being the principal. The Parisians
+raised enormous sums and sent gifts of all kinds of materials, and found
+the means of transporting provisions. The committee divided the environs
+of Paris; Mme. Joly took the care of one village; the Presidente de
+Nesmond, four villages; and so on. Missionaries were sent outside the
+boundaries. One of the later biographers of Vincent de Paul[72] values
+at twelve millions of francs, at this date worth about sixty millions,
+the sums distributed, without counting money spent directly for the work
+of piety nor for the support of those engaged in it. However this may
+be, this latter body certainly consumed a large portion. The immensity
+of the enterprise, and its apparent boldness, gives us an idea of the
+wealth and power of the middle classes of the seventeenth century. After
+Vincent de Paul and M. de Bernieres, the honour for this work of relief
+belongs to the parliamentary world and the Parisian bourgeoisie; the
+aristocracy only playing a very secondary role. The middle classes
+provided for this enormous effort, at a period in which all revenues
+failed at once. We are told that many were forced to borrow, that others
+sold their jewels and articles of silver; still this supposes luxury and
+credit. In one way or another, the citizen was in a position to give,
+while the small noble of Lorraine or of Beauce was obliged to receive;
+and this emphasises an historic lesson. Gentlemen as well as peasants
+lacked bread. After remaining two days without eating, one is ready to
+accept alms; at the end of three days, to demand them on account of the
+children. The decadence of the one class, the ascension of the other
+until their turn comes; it has always been the same since the world
+began.
+
+One last detail, and perhaps the most significant:
+
+There is no reference in the Memoirs of the times[73] to the principal
+work of Vincent de Paul. Their authors would have made it a matter of
+conscience not to forget a Court intrigue or a scandalous adventure; but
+what can be interesting in people who are naked and hungry? One avoids
+speaking of them. It is even better not to think of them. In 1652, the
+year in which poverty was at its height in oppressed Paris, the Mother
+Angelique wrote from Port-Royal, to the Queen of Poland (June 28th):
+
+     With the exception of the few actually engaged in charity, the
+     rest of the world live in as much luxury as ever. The Court and
+     the Tuileries are as thronged as ever, collations and the rest
+     of the superfluities go on as always. Paris amuses itself with
+     the same fury as if its streets were not filled with frightful
+     spectacles. And, what is more horrible, fashion will not suffer
+     the priests to preach penitence (Letter of July 12th).
+
+The lack of pity for the poor was almost general among the so-called
+higher classes. There is no need of too carefully inquiring as to what
+is passing in hovels.
+
+Vincent de Paul and his allies struggled six years. Not once did the
+government come to their aid, and the war always continued; for one ruin
+relieved, the armies made ten others. The group of the "good souls" who
+had made these prodigious sacrifices was at length used up, as one might
+say, and was never reinforced, in spite of the inexhaustible source of
+devotion offered by the Compagnie du Saint-Sacrement. This body had been
+composed of men and women so exceptional in character, as well as in
+intelligence, that its ranks, emptied by death, and by the exhaustion of
+means and courage, could not be filled up. In 1655, the receipts of the
+committee were visibly diminished. Two years later, the resources were
+entirely exhausted and the work of relief remained unfinished.
+
+It was well that it was attempted; a leven of good has remained from it
+in the national soul.
+
+The actual benefits however, were promptly effaced; the famine of 1659
+to 1662, especially in the latter year, counts amongst the most
+frightful of the century, perhaps in our entire history. The excess of
+material poverty engendered immense moral misery, particularly in the
+large cities, in which luxury stood side by side with the most frightful
+conditions, and Paris became both excitable and evil, as always when it
+suffers.
+
+The Carnival of 1660 was the most noisy and disorderly which old
+Parisians had ever known. Great and small sought amusement with a kind
+of rage, and dissensions and quarrels abounded from the top to the
+bottom of the social scale. Public places were noisy with riots and
+affrays. During the nights, masks were masters of the streets, and as
+has been seen above, no security existed with these composite crowds,
+which stole candles from the houses into which they had surged.
+
+One ball alone received in a single evening the visit of sixty-five
+masks, who ran through the city three nights in succession. These
+hysterics in Paris, while France was dying with hunger, are so much the
+more striking, inasmuch as the Court was not there to communicate to the
+outer world its eternal need of agitation and amusement. Louis XIV.
+spent a large portion of these critical years in journeying through his
+kingdom. One of the first journeys, lasting from October 27th to the
+following January 27th, had for its end the meeting of the Princess of
+Savoie at Lyons. There had been some question of marrying this Princess
+to the young King. On passing to Dijon, the Court stopped more than
+fifteen days. Mademoiselle tells us the reason for this delay; it is not
+very glorious for royalty. The Parliament of Dijon refused to register
+certain edicts which aggravated the burdens of the province. Le Tellier,
+"on the part of the King," promised that there should be no more
+difficulty if the states of Bourgogne would bring their subsidy to a sum
+which was indicated. "Upon which they agreed to what was demanded and
+presented themselves to account to the King."
+
+Upon the next day, with a cynical contempt for the royal promise, "Her
+Majesty went to the Dijon Parliament to register the deeds."[74]
+Mademoiselle had the curiosity to be present at the session. The first
+president did the only thing in his power. He courageously expressed his
+"regrets" and was praised by all those who heard him.
+
+The Court hastily departed the following day, leaving Dijon and the
+entire province "in a certain consternation." Mademoiselle blamed only
+the manner of action. At the bottom of her heart, she had the belief of
+her times: that the sovereign owed only control to his people, and that
+there was no question of giving them happiness.
+
+Some weeks after the incident at Lyons, the vicinity of the principality
+of Dombes[75] gave her the desire to visit this place, which she had
+never seen. Dombes did not pay any impost to the King, and this fact
+alone sufficed to render it prosperous. Mademoiselle was scandalised at
+this prosperity. The peasants were well clothed, "they ate meat four
+times a day," and there were "no really poor people" in the country;
+"also," pursued Mademoiselle, "they, up to this time, have paid no
+duties, and it would perhaps be better that they should do so, for they
+are do-nothings, taking no interest in either work or trade."
+
+The people had left everything and dressed themselves in their fine
+clothes to receive Mademoiselle. In order to thank them, Mademoiselle
+drew from them all the money she could. It is necessary to recollect,
+however, that in the eyes of the great, even those of the better sort, a
+peasant was hardly a man. It would hardly be worth while for us to be
+indignant at this attitude. We now admit that the so-called superior
+races have the right to exploit those considered inferior, and thus at
+need destroy them. It was the habit of our fathers to treat a lower
+class as to-day we treat a less advanced race; the sentiment is
+precisely the same.
+
+Upon her return from Dombes, Mademoiselle found the Court again at
+Lyons. Every one was all eyes and ears for a spectacle which might
+derange the admitted ideas of kings. Marie Mancini was trying to make
+Louis XIV. marry her, and the attempt had not so absurd an air as might
+be imagined. The Savoie project had failed under painful conditions,
+which gave subject of thought to the courtiers. The King had conducted
+himself like an ill-bred man to the Princess Marguerite.
+
+People were demanding whether the Spanish marriage was also going to
+fail, and with it the so greatly desired peace, because it pleased two
+lovers, one of whom ought not to have forgotten his kingly duties, to
+proclaim the sovereign rights of passion. Anne of Austria became uneasy.
+Mazarin, yielding to temptation, left the field to his niece, who "took
+possession" of the young King with looks and speech. She fascinated him,
+and he swore all that she wished. The contest was not an equal one
+between the passionate Italian and the timid and somewhat unformed Louis
+XIV.
+
+On his return from Lyons, Louis knelt down before his mother and
+Mazarin, supplicating them to permit him to marry the one he loved. He
+found them inflexible. The Queen realised that such a _mesalliance_
+would cast disrepute on royalty. The Cardinal was torn by conflicting
+emotions, but in the end sent away his niece.
+
+A second journey lasted more than a year. The Court set out on June 29,
+1659, and passed through Blois. It stopped with Gaston. We owe to the
+_Memoires_ of Mademoiselle a last glimpse of this Prince, formerly so
+brilliant, now become a lazy good-for-nothing in his provincial life,
+where nothing of Parisian fashion was found; neither toilettes nor
+cooking, nor household elegance, nor even Monsieur himself, who no
+longer knew how to receive, and was vexed that the King should kill his
+pheasants. He permitted it to be seen that he was put out, and this
+became so plain that every one was eager to depart, and there was a
+sudden scattering.
+
+The eldest of his daughters by his last marriage, Marguerite d'Orleans,
+had a great reputation for beauty. Her parents had for a long time
+anticipated seeing her Queen of France.
+
+On the night of the King's arrival at Blois, this damsel was disfigured
+with mosquito bites. Her dancing was much extolled, but on this special
+evening, she danced very badly. Gaston had announced that this little
+girl of ten "would astonish every one with her brilliant conversation."
+No one could draw a single word from her. In short, nothing succeeded.
+Mademoiselle was not especially vexed at this failure; she had trembled
+at the thought of seeing her younger sister "above her."
+
+Hardly had the Court remounted their carriages, before the royal
+cavalcade, according to the universal custom, commenced to mock its
+hosts. The King joked at the sight of his uncle's face on seeing the
+pheasants fall dead. Mademoiselle laughed with the others. She had,
+however, been moved by a tender scene played by her father.
+
+He had come to awaken her at four o'clock in the morning:
+
+     He seated himself on my bed and said: "I believe that you will
+     not be vexed at being waked since I shall not soon have the
+     chance of again seeing you. You are going to take a long
+     journey. I am old, exhausted; I may die during your absence. If
+     I do die, I recommend your sisters to you. I know very well
+     that you do not love Madame: that her behaviour towards you has
+     not been all it should be; but her children have had nothing to
+     do with this, for my sake take care of them. They will have
+     need of you; as for Madame, she will be of little help to
+     them."
+
+     He embraced me three or four times. I received all this with
+     much tenderness; for I have a good heart. We separated on the
+     best terms, and I went again to sleep.
+
+Mademoiselle believed that at length they again loved each other. Six
+weeks later a scandal broke out at the Court of France, then at
+Bordeaux.
+
+The Duc de Savoie had refused to marry the Princess Marguerite
+d'Orleans, and Mademoiselle was accused of having secretly written to
+him that her sister was a humpback. The accusation came from Gaston
+himself, who said that he had proof of it. This was a most disagreeable
+incident for Mademoiselle and further illusion was impossible; Gaston
+was always Gaston, the most dangerous man in France.
+
+From Bordeaux, the Court went to Toulouse; there it was rejoined by
+Mazarin, who had just signed the peace of the Pyrenees (November 7, 1659).
+
+All histories give the articles of this peace. The results for Europe
+have been summed up in some brilliant lines written by the great German
+historian, Leopold Ranke, who had been struck with the advantages which
+this treaty gave France over Germany:
+
+     If it were necessary to characterise in a general fashion the
+     results of this peace ... we would say that the importance of
+     the treaty consisted in the formation and extension of the
+     great (geographically) military system of the French monarchy.
+     On all sides, to the Pyrenees, to the Alps, above all, to the
+     frontiers of the German Empire and of the Netherlands, France
+     acquired new fortified points ... many positions as important
+     for defence as favourable for attack. The position of France
+     upon the upper Rhine, which it owes to the peace of Westphalia,
+     received by this new treaty its greatest extension.[76]
+
+Mazarin found that he had done well in himself following the
+campaigning armies. He knew the military importance of most of the
+places. The Spanish negotiator could not have said as much. In the
+interior, the first comer could easily comprehend the political benefits
+of a treaty which should as far as possible abolish the past. Conde had
+been included in the terms of the peace and returned to France, well
+resolved to keep quiet. He rejoined the Court at Aix, January 27, 1660,
+and found there was a certain curiosity exhibited as to how he would be
+received.
+
+Mademoiselle hastened to Anne of Austria: "My niece," said the Queen to
+her, "return to your own dwelling; M. le Prince has especially asked
+that I should be absolutely alone when I first receive him."
+
+     I began to smile with vexation, but said: "I am nobody; I
+     believe that M. le Prince will be very astonished if he does
+     not find me here." The Queen insisted in a very sharp tone; I
+     went away resolved to complain to M. le Cardinal; this I did on
+     the following day, saying that if such a thing happened again,
+     I should leave the Court. He made many excuses. This was
+     Mazarin's system. He poured forth explanations but in no way
+     changed his methods in the future.
+
+It is known that M. le Prince demanded pardon on his knees, and that he
+found before him in Louis XIV. a judge grave and cold, who held himself
+"very straight."[77] To fight against the King was decidedly no more to
+be considered a joke; it could not be overlooked, even if one were the
+conqueror of Rocroy.
+
+Mademoiselle did not succeed in comprehending the real situation. Conde,
+surprised and deceived, felt his way. One evening at a dance, when
+talking with Mademoiselle, the King joined them. The conversation fell
+upon the Fronde. On the part of a man of as much _esprit_ as M. le
+Prince, one can well believe that this was not by chance: "The war was
+much spoken of," relates Mademoiselle, "and we joked at all the follies
+of which we had been guilty, the King with the best grace in the world
+joining in these pleasantries. Although I was suffering with a severe
+headache, I was not in the least bored." Mademoiselle had laughed
+without any second thoughts. Conde, clearer sighted, trembled during the
+remainder of his days, before this monarch so capable of dissimulation,
+and so perfectly master of himself.
+
+Almost at the same moment there expired another of those belated feudal
+ideas, which neither royalty nor manners could any longer suffer among
+the nobility. Gaston d'Orleans died at Blois, February 2nd,[78] his
+death being caused by an attack of apoplexy. They had heard him murmur
+from his bed regarding his wife and children, _Domus mea domus
+desolationis vocabitur_ ("My house will be called the House of
+Desolation"). He spoke better than he knew. Madame surpassed herself in
+blunders, and still more. She went to dinner while her husband was
+receiving the last unction, sent away the servants of Monsieur
+immediately after the final sigh, locked up everything, and concerned
+herself no more. Her women refused a sheet in which to wrap the body; it
+was necessary to beg one from the ladies of the Court. Some priests came
+to sit up with the dead, but finding neither "light nor fire" they
+returned, and the corpse remained alone, more completely abandoned than
+had been that of his brother, the King, Louis XIII. The body was borne
+without "pomp or expense"[79] to Saint-Denis, and the widow hastened to
+Paris, to take possession of the Palace of the Luxembourg, in the
+absence of Mademoiselle.
+
+The Court did not take the trouble to feign regrets. The King gave the
+tone in saying to his cousin, gaily, after the first formal compliments:
+"You will see my brother to-morrow in a training mantle. I believe that
+he is delighted at the news of your father's death. He believes that he
+is heir to all his belongings and state; he can talk of nothing else;
+but he must wait awhile."
+
+Anne of Austria heard this, and smiled. "It is true," pursues
+Mademoiselle, "that Monsieur appeared the next day in a wonderful
+mantle." Mademoiselle had great difficulty in keeping her own
+countenance. Her grief was, however, very real, notwithstanding the
+past, or rather, perhaps, on account of what had gone before; it was,
+however, only an impulse affected by the impression of the moment. She
+exhibited this sorrow a little too effectively:
+
+     I wished to wear the most formal and deepest mourning. Every
+     one of my household was clad in black, even to the cooks, the
+     servants, and the valets; the coverings of the mules, all the
+     caparisons of my horses and of the other beasts of burden.
+     Nothing could be more beautiful the first time we marched than
+     to see this grand train, expressive of grief. It had an air
+     very magnificent and of real grandeur. Everybody says how much
+     wealth she must possess!
+
+The mules' mourning is well worth the training mantle of the little
+Monsieur. This magnificent funeral pomp had the one inconvenience of
+recalling to all comers that Mademoiselle must resign other pleasures.
+At the end of some weeks, she would have willingly resumed her share in
+Court gaieties; Anne of Austria kindly commanded her to return to life.
+
+The summer was, however, approaching. The Court continued to drag itself
+from city to city, waiting until it should please the King of Spain to
+bring his daughter, and the time seemed long. Mazarin shut himself up to
+work. Louis drilled the soldiers of his guard. The Queen Mother spent
+long days in convents. Mademoiselle wrote, or worked tapestry. A large
+number of the courtiers, no longer able to stand the ennui, had returned
+to Paris; those who remained, lived lives of complete idleness. The King
+had at this time a fine occasion to study the condition of his
+provinces; but he did not possess an investigating mind. He spent long
+months in front of the Pyrenees, without seeking to know anything of
+their formation, showing an unusual indifference to knowledge, even for
+this period. One of the few persons who risked themselves in the
+Pyrenees, Mme. de Motteville, relates her astonishment at discovering
+valleys, torrents, cultivated fields, and inhabitants. She had believed
+that she should only find a great wall of rock, "deserted and untilled."
+
+The journey went on; but nature had not yet the right of entrance into
+literature, and society spoke but rarely of its charms. Of the vast
+world, only what came directly under the eyes of the individual was
+known.
+
+At length, on June 2d (1660), the Court of France, "kicking its heels"
+at Saint-Jean-de-Luz during an entire month, received news of the
+arrival at Fontarabia of Philip IV. and of the Infanta Marie Therese.
+The next day, the marriage ceremonies commenced.
+
+Six long days and the best intentions on both sides were needed to
+consummate this great affair without offending etiquette. The problem
+presented was this: How to marry the King of France with the daughter of
+the King of Spain, without permitting the King of France to put his foot
+on Spanish territory, nor the King of Spain on that belonging to France,
+and at the same time not to allow the Infanta to quit her father before
+the ceremony had actually taken place?
+
+On the side of the French Court, whose discipline left much to be
+desired, difficulties of detail arose constantly to complicate affairs.
+The little Monsieur wept for desire to go to Fontarabia to see a Spanish
+ceremony; but etiquette made it necessary to consider this brother of
+the King the present heir presumptive to the crown, and, alleged Louis
+XIV., "the heir presumptive of Spain could not enter France to see a
+ceremony."[80]
+
+After consideration of this point, the heir was forbidden to pass the
+frontier. Then Mademoiselle arrived, who wished to be of the party. She
+represented that the order was not applicable to her, and cited the
+Salic law which gave her the right to traverse the Bidassoa: "I do not
+inherit," said she; "I should have some compensation. Since daughters
+are of no value in France, they should at least be permitted to enjoy
+spectacles."
+
+Mazarin convoked the ministers to submit this argument. The discussion
+lasted "three or four hours." Finally, Mademoiselle gained her cause,
+although the King himself was rather against her. The important question
+of "trains" gave also some embarrassment to the Cardinal. A duke had
+offered to bear the train of Mademoiselle in the nuptial cortege.
+Mazarin was obliged to seek two other dukes for the younger sisters of
+Mademoiselle, two children whom the lady of honour of their mother had
+led to the marriage. He could only find a marquis and a count; the dukes
+hid themselves. The lady of honour uttered loud protests; "her
+Princesses must have 'tail-bearers' as titled as those of their tall
+sister, or they should not go at all." "I will do what I can," replied
+the Cardinal; "but no one wishes the task."
+
+Mademoiselle had the good grace to sacrifice her duke, and Mazarin
+believed the affair terminated, when the Princess Palatine[81] caused a
+novel incident, upon the day of the ceremony, and even when the last
+moment was approaching. She appeared in the Queen's chamber, wearing a
+train, to which, being a foreign Princess, she had no right. La Palatine
+had counted upon the general confusion to smuggle herself in and to
+create a precedent. It was needful to delay matters. The train had been
+reported to Mademoiselle, and no marriage should prevent her protest.
+The Cardinal and after him the King were forced to listen to a discourse
+upon the limitations of foreign princesses. "I believe," writes
+Mademoiselle, "that I was very eloquent." She proved herself at least
+very convincing, for La Palatine received the order to take off her
+train.
+
+But it is necessary to retrace our steps; trains have carried us too
+far. The relations between the two monarchs had been regulated with a
+minutia worthy of Asiatic courts. They met only in a hall, built
+expressly for the purpose upon the Isle des Faisans, and on horseback
+upon the frontier. The building was half in French, half in Spanish
+territory. The decorations of the two sides were different. Louis XIV.
+must walk upon French carpets, Philip IV. upon Spanish ones. The one
+must only sit upon a French chair, write only upon a French table with
+French ink, seek the time only from a French clock, placed in his half
+of the hall; the other guarded himself with the same care from every
+object not Spanish. Two opposite doors gave passage at precisely the
+same instant. An equal number of steps led them to the place where the
+red carpet of France joined the gold and silver one of Spain; and the
+two Kings addressed each other and embraced over the frontier. Thus
+demanded the laws of ceremonial monarchy. Their rigour commenced to
+astonish the good people of France. The interviews upon the Isle des
+Faisans became legendary. La Fontaine has alluded to them in one of his
+last fables, _Les Deux Chevres_,[82] in which he has found no better
+comparison for the solemnity with which the two goats, equally "tainted"
+with their rank, equally curbed, advanced towards each other upon the
+fragile and narrow bridge.
+
+      Je m'imagine voir, avec Louis le Grand,
+    Philippe quatre qui s'avance
+    Dans l'isle de la Conference[83]
+      Ainsi s'avancaient pas a pas,
+      Nez a nez, nos aventurieres.
+
+When all was arranged, on June 3rd, neither the bride and bridegroom nor
+their parents having seen each other, the King of France, represented by
+Don Luis de Haro, was married by proxy in the church of Fontarabia to
+the Infanta Marie-Therese.
+
+This was the expedient which saved the dignity of the two crowns. After
+the ceremony, the new Queen returned to her father. She wrote the next
+day a letter of official compliment to her husband. We possess the
+response of Louis XIV., in which he has well performed a somewhat
+difficult task.
+
+    SAINT-JEAN-DE-LUZ, June 4, 1660.
+
+     To receive at the same time a letter from your Majesty, and the
+     news of the celebration of our marriage, and to be on the eve
+     of seeing you, these are assuredly causes of indelible joy for
+     me.
+
+     My cousin, the Duke of Crequi, first gentleman of my chamber,
+     whom I am sending expressly to your Majesty, will communicate
+     to you the sentiments of my heart, in which you will remark
+     always increasingly an extreme impatience to convey these
+     sentiments in person.
+
+     He will also present to you some trifles on my part.
+
+The same day, in the afternoon, Anne of Austria met for the first time
+with her brother and niece together. The interview took place in the
+hall of the Isle des Faisans. Philip IV. astonished the French,
+decidedly less bound up in tradition than the Spanish. Philip dwelt so
+immobile in his gravity that one would have hardly taken him for a
+living man.[84]
+
+Anne of Austria wishing to embrace her brother, whom she had not seen
+for forty-five years, he decided to make a movement, but it was only "to
+withdraw his head so far that she could not catch it."[85] The Queen
+Mother had forgotten the customs of her own land. To embrace in Spain
+was not to kiss; it only consisted in giving a greeting without touching
+the lips, as we see done at the Comedie Francaise by personages of the
+classic repertoire. Kissing was, as we read in Moliere only permitted in
+certain rare cases. In the _Malade Imaginaire_, Thomas Diafoirus
+consults his father before kissing his fiancee: "Shall I kiss her?"
+"Yes," replies M. Diafoirus.
+
+The evening of the interview, June 4th, Mademoiselle was curious to know
+whether the King of Spain had kissed the Queen Mother. "I asked her; she
+told me 'no'; that they had embraced according to the fashion of their
+own country."
+
+How was this strange fashion established at the Court of France, and
+from there transferred to our theatres? Was it after the marriage of
+Louis XIV.? I leave to the amateurs of the theatre the solving of this
+little problem in dramatic history.
+
+They brought a French chair for the Queen Mother, a Spanish one for
+Philip IV., and they seated themselves nearly "upon the line which
+separated the two kingdoms."[86]
+
+Marie-Therese, Infanta of Spain and bride by proxy of the King of
+France, was still to be seated. Should this be done in France or Spain?
+upon a Spanish or French chair? They brought one Spanish and two French
+cushions; piled them upon Spanish territory, and the young Queen found
+herself seated in a mixed fashion, suitable to her ambiguous situation.
+
+Louis XIV. did not accompany his mother. Etiquette did not yet permit
+the new couple to address a word to each other. It had been arranged
+that the King of France should ride along the banks of the Bidassoa and
+that the Infanta should regard him from afar through the window. A
+romantic impatience which seized the husband with longing to become
+acquainted with his wife caused this part of the programme to fail.
+Louis XIV. looked at Marie-Therese through a half-open door. They
+regarded each other some seconds, and then returned, she to Fontarabia,
+he to Saint-Jean-de-Luz.
+
+On Sunday, the sixth, they saw each other officially at the Isle des
+Faisans. Affairs were but little further advanced; Philip IV. had
+declared that the Infanta must conceal her impressions until she arrived
+on French territory. On the seventh, Anne of Austria brought her
+daughter-in-law to Saint-Jean-de-Luz, where the young people could at
+length converse together, awaiting the definite celebration of the
+marriage, which took place June 9th in the church of Saint-Jean-de-Luz.
+
+Some days later, the Court retook the road to Paris. Marie-Therese made
+her solemn entrance into the capital, August 20th. The procession
+departed from Vincennes. "It was necessary to rise at four o'clock in
+the morning," reports Mademoiselle, who had a frightful sick headache.
+At five o'clock, every one was in gala costume, and they reached the
+Louvre at seven in the evening. Mademoiselle was at the end of her
+endurance; but a Princess of the blood had no right to be ill on the day
+of a Queen's entrance. Sometimes ridiculous and sometimes ferocious;
+such appears ancient etiquette to our democratic generation. Monarchs
+formerly felt the value of its services too keenly to shrink from
+submitting to its dictates. They knew that a demi-god never descends
+with impunity from his pedestal. It is impossible to witness his efforts
+at remounting without laughter. To-day the Princes themselves desire
+less etiquette. The monarchical sentiment is not sufficiently strong to
+make them willing to support the ennui of ceremonial; they are capable
+of any sacrifice of dignity to escape it. We see them resign to others
+their rank and privileges in the hope of finding in obscurity the
+happiness which they have missed in the King's palace.
+
+The present lack of form makes it difficult for the mass to take royalty
+seriously, and thus vanish together the respect for formal courtesies
+and for aristocracies. Louis XIV. and Philip IV. in spite of La
+Fontaine, were in the right in attaching capital importance to the
+placing their feet upon the right carpets. This precision of etiquette
+prolonged the existence of the monarchy.
+
+Life retook its habitual course in the Palace of the Louvre. The King
+was studying a new ballet. Very few persons remarked that he found time
+also to make long visits upon Mazarin. The Cardinal, feeling himself in
+the clutches of death, was preparing his pupil for his "great trade" of
+sovereign. He made him acquainted with affairs, spoke to him in
+confidence of the people connected with the administration of the
+kingdom; discussed political questions, and recommended him to have no
+longer a first minister.[87] The one thing which he could not yet
+resolve to do was to permit the King to give a direct order. His dying
+hands would not let fall a half-crown or relax an atom of authority.
+
+The young Queen was astonished at the money restrictions which had
+oppressed her since her sojourn in France; Mazarin supervised her
+household through the intermediary of Colbert, "who saved upon
+everything,"[88] and he (Mazarin) pocketed the savings. On New Year's
+day, he absorbed for himself three-fourths of the gifts of
+Marie-Therese. The Queen Mother having shown some discontent, "the poor
+Monsieur the Cardinal," as she called him, cried out boldly, "Alas! if
+she knew from whence comes this money and that it is the blood of the
+people, she would not be so liberal."
+
+In vain Mazarin hastened; he did not have time to finish his task.
+February 11, 1661, the King, realising that his minister was lost, began
+to weep and to say that he did not know what he should do. All France
+experienced the same fears. It did not occur to any that the King was
+capable of governing, or that he would take the trouble to do so. The
+doubt was only as to the name of the one who should take the helm in
+place of the Cardinal. Anne of Austria believed in chance; Conde had one
+party amongst the nobility. The Parisian bourgeoisie said to itself that
+Retz was perhaps going to return from over sea "for necessity."[89] The
+ministers admitted that there was only one man fitted for the position.
+
+While these various intrigues were progressing, Mazarin expired (March
+6th), and some hours later there came that _coup de theatre_ of which
+one reads in all histories. Louis XIV. signified to his ministers and
+grandees his intention of himself governing. Those who knew him well,
+beginning with his own mother, did nothing but laugh, persuaded that it
+was only a fire of straw. Louis at first shut himself up entirely alone
+during two hours, in order to establish a "rule of life"[90] as an
+effective monarch. The programme resulting from this meditation
+surprisingly resembles the one given by Catherine de Medicis in the
+letter already cited. It exacts the qualities of a great worker. From
+that day, Louis showed these qualities. "For above all," says he in his
+_Memoires_, "I resolved not to have a first minister, and not to permit
+to be filled by another the functions belonging to the King, as long as
+I bear the title."
+
+The passage in which he describes his "wedding" with the joy of work is
+moving and beautiful. It is even poetical.
+
+     I felt immediately my spirit and courage elevated. I found
+     myself a different individual. I discovered in myself a mind
+     which I did not know existed, and I reproached myself for
+     having so long ignored this joy. The timidity which judgment at
+     first gave caused me pain, above all when it was necessary to
+     speak in public a little lengthily. This timidity, however, was
+     dissipated little by little.
+
+     At length it seemed to me I was really King and born to rule. I
+     experienced a sense of well-being difficult to express.
+
+Louis would now have need of all his courage. In measure as his mind
+became "elevated," shame for his gross ignorance overcame him. "When
+reason," says he, "commences to become solid, one feels a cutting and
+just chagrin in finding oneself ignorant of what all others know."
+
+The practical utility of his neglected studies was realised by him. Not
+to know history with his "trade" was a difficulty felt every instant.
+Not to be capable of deciphering alone a Latin letter when Rome and the
+Empire wrote their dispatches only in Latin, was an insupportable
+slavery to others. Never to have read anything upon the "art of war"
+when the ambition was aroused to become an expert in this art and to
+acquire glory through it, "was to put brakes on one's own wheels." The
+young King's education must be remade; the only difficulty was the
+finding sufficient leisure. He would not allow himself to be hindered by
+other difficulties, of which the principal one was the danger of
+hazarding the newly acquired authority by returning to the schoolroom.
+
+Louis XIV. braved public opinion with remarkable courage. This is one of
+the finest periods of his life. He proved himself truly great by his
+sentiment of professional duty, and by his empire over himself, the day
+upon which he dared to say to himself as the bourgeois gentleman of
+Moliere was forced to say, knowing well the ridicule to which he was
+exposed: "I wish ... to be able to reason among intelligent people."
+
+In order to do him full justice, it is necessary to remember the foolish
+effect at that date produced by a scholar of twenty-three.[91] Classes
+were then finished at fifteen or sixteen, and the memory of them was
+inseparably connected with birch rods, without whose aid there was no
+teaching in the seventeenth century. When it was known that the King was
+again taking Latin lessons from his ancient preceptor, and that he
+passed hours in writing themes, the courtiers might easily have had it
+upon the end of their tongues to demand as Mme. Jourdain of M. Jourdain:
+"Are you at your age going to college to be whipped?"
+
+He did not console himself with the illusion that his rank would save
+him from such railleries. He confesses _a propos_ of history, which he
+wished to study again, how keenly sensitive he was to the thought of
+what might be said. "One single scruple embarrassed me, which was, that
+I had a certain shame, considering my position in the world, of
+redescending into an occupation to which I should earlier have devoted
+myself." Everything had yielded to the desire "not to be deprived of the
+knowledge that every worthy man should have."
+
+In spite of these efforts, Louis was never educated; he never knew
+Latin, which was deemed the real knowledge of the seventeenth century,
+in which century the language was well taught. Too much business or too
+many pleasures prevented the young King from pursuing his design during
+a sufficiently long period. It is possible, also, that his lack of
+natural facility may have discouraged him. Louis XIV. had memory and
+judgment, but his intelligence was slow. In short, he abandoned his
+studies too soon; he felt, and repeated till the day of his death the
+confession, "I am ignorant."
+
+But Louis never relaxed the labours belonging to him as chief of the
+State. His days were regulated once for all. Mme. de Motteville tells
+the arrangement the day following the death of Mazarin. Saint-Simon
+gives it again a half-century later, and it is identical. Apart from
+extraordinary and unexpected business, and formal functions, so numerous
+and important at this epoch, the King regularly devoted six to eight
+hours daily to ordinary business. Add to these hours the time for
+sleeping and eating, for seeing his family and taking the fresh air, and
+but little time would have been left for diversion if the King had not
+had the capacity of doing without sleep almost at will. It was this
+physical gift which permitted him to provide as largely for pleasure as
+for work. Nevertheless, the Court had trouble in adapting itself to the
+new regime. It did not know what to do while the King worked.
+
+"It is more wearisome here than can be imagined," wrote the Duc
+d'Enghien, son of the great Conde, in 1664. "The King is shut up almost
+the entire afternoon."[92] Outside the Court, the people could have
+cried with joy. It had been a delightful surprise to discover a great
+worker in this ballet dancer. Paris was ready to permit him to indulge
+in his little weaknesses, provided that he would govern, that he himself
+would use his power. The bourgeoisie Frondeuse was disarmed.
+
+     It is necessary [wrote Guy Patin to a friend] that I should
+     share with you a thought which I find very amusing. M. de
+     Vendome has said that our good King resembles a young doctor
+     who has much ardour for his profession, but who demands some
+     _quid pro quo_. I know those who see him intimately, who have
+     assured me that he has very good intentions and, that as soon
+     as he is _completely the master_, he will persuade all the
+     world of them. Amen.[93]
+
+The italicised words are significant of the opinion of Guy Patin. In
+establishing absolute monarchy, Louis XIV. had the good wishes of all.
+Other testimony quite as remarkable exists to confirm this statement.
+After the death of Mazarin, Olivier d'Ormesson, who had been of the
+opposition party in the Parliament, and whose independence would soon
+cost him his career, let three entire years roll by before admitting any
+statement in his journal to the detriment of the King. This writer also
+believes in Louis, and, on the whole, approves of the compensations
+(_quid pro quo_) demanded by the governing novice.
+
+After the first astonishment, the sudden change in Louis's methods
+provoked but few commentaries in the immediate surroundings of the King.
+Anne of Austria had a fit of vexation in realising that she would never
+again have any influence; after which, indolence aiding, her course was
+taken. The Queen Mother had no objection on principle to absolute
+monarchy: she had always favoured it. She could not, as a Spanish
+Princess, conceive of royalty being the least limited. Once resigned to
+the new situation, she became a truly maternal old Queen, who preached
+virtue to youth, and endeavoured to lighten the monotony of her
+daughter-in-law's life.
+
+Marie-Therese had only one single political opinion; good government was
+that under which a king could pass much time with his wife. This poor
+little wife died without having ever really lived with her husband.
+
+Mademoiselle had no reason to regret the first ministers; there had been
+too little reason to enjoy the two with whom she had had intercourse.
+She imagined herself liberated from all dependence through the death of
+the Cardinal, succeeding that of her father, and this thought was most
+agreeable to her. She did not perceive that she had only changed
+masters, and that the new one would prove himself infinitely more
+difficult to please, more exacting, than that sceptical Italian who
+confined himself to watching that she did not carry away her millions to
+strangers and who simply mocked at everything else.
+
+Mademoiselle finally passed through the state of apprenticeship to
+absolute monarchy. Her eyes were opened only on the day on which the
+thunder cloud burst upon her.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 35: See the _Memoires de Louis XIV._, edited by Charles
+Dreyss. The _Memoires_ of Louis XIV. were not written by himself. He
+dictated them to his secretaries afterward adding notes in his own
+handwriting and correcting the proofs. See the _Introduction_ by M.
+Dreyss.]
+
+[Footnote 36: _Memoires de Mademoiselle de Montpensier. Memoires de
+Montglat._]
+
+[Footnote 37: Montglat.]
+
+[Footnote 38: _Id._]
+
+[Footnote 39: Letters of January 3, 1717, of September 27, 1718, and of
+July, 1722. Madame adds in this last: "Now, all the circumstances are
+known."]
+
+[Footnote 40: Letter to the Queen, Anne of Austria, October 27, 1651.]
+
+[Footnote 41: March 23, 1865, Pere Theiner, Guardian of the Secret
+Archives of the Vatican, replied to some one who had pressed the
+question: "Our acts of December 16, 1641, in which Jules Mazarin was
+created Cardinal, do not say whether or not he was a priest. How could
+he then have been admitted to the order of Cardinal-priest? No doubt he
+was a priest." The letter of Pere Theiner has been published by M. Jules
+Loiseleur in his _Problemes historiques_.]
+
+[Footnote 42: _Letters of Madame de Maintenon_ edited by Geoffroy.]
+
+[Footnote 43: For further details see the excellent volume of M.
+Lacour-Gayet, _L'education politique de Louis XIV._]
+
+[Footnote 44: December 24th, _Relations des ambassadeurs venitiens_.]
+
+[Footnote 45: The letter is dated April 21, 1654. Louis XIV. was then
+fifteen and a half years of age.]
+
+[Footnote 46: Mme. de Motteville had heard him express the same idea.
+_Cf._ his _Memoires_, v., 101, ed. Petitot.]
+
+[Footnote 47: _Les fragments des memoires inedits_ by Dubois, valet of
+Louis XIV., published by Leon Aubineau in the _Biblotheque de l'Ecole
+des Chartes_, and in his _Notices litteraires_ upon the 17th century.]
+
+[Footnote 48: _Cf._ Lacour-Gayet, p. 203.]
+
+[Footnote 49: M. Dreyss dates the writing of this portion of the
+_Memoires_ about 1670.]
+
+[Footnote 50: Letters of June 9, 1654, and April 9, 1658.]
+
+[Footnote 51: _Segraisiana._ Louis XIV. was seventeen when he made this
+remark.]
+
+[Footnote 52: _Journal de voyage de deux jeunes Hollandais a Paris_
+(1656-1658).]
+
+[Footnote 53: _Memoires de Mme. de Motteville._]
+
+[Footnote 54: The fair of Saint-Germain was held between Saint-Sulpice
+and Saint-Germain-des-Pres, from February 3d to the evening before Palm
+Sunday. The Court and the populace elbowed each other there.]
+
+[Footnote 55: _Journal de deux jeunes Hollandais._]
+
+[Footnote 56: _Memoires_ of Mademoiselle.]
+
+[Footnote 57: _Journal de deux jeunes Hollandais._]
+
+[Footnote 58: _Journal de deux jeunes Hollandais._]
+
+[Footnote 59: April 29th.]
+
+[Footnote 60: To the Duc de Bouillon and to the son of the Marshal Duc
+de La Meilleraye, who took the title of Duc de Mazarin.]
+
+[Footnote 61: It must not be forgotten that Saint-Simon was presented at
+Court in 1692. Louis XIV. was then fifty-four, and had reigned
+forty-nine years. Saint-Simon only knew the end of the reign.]
+
+[Footnote 62: Brother of the Superintendent of Finances.]
+
+[Footnote 63: In the summer of 1657.]
+
+[Footnote 64: _Vers d'Atys_, opera played in 1676, and _d'Astrate_,
+tragedy of 1663.]
+
+[Footnote 65: The phrase is M. Jules Lemaitre's.]
+
+[Footnote 66: See _The Youth of La Grande Mademoiselle_. For this
+chapter _cf._ _La misere au temps de la Fronde et Saint-Vincent de
+Paul_, by Feillet; _La cabale des devots_, by Raoul Allier;
+_Saint-Vincent de Paul_, by Emanuel Broglie; _Saint-Vincent de Paul et
+les Goudi_, by Chantelauze; _Port-Royal_, by Sainte-Beuve.]
+
+[Footnote 67: Village of the arrondissement of Provins.]
+
+[Footnote 68: Feillet, _La misere au temps de la Fronde_.]
+
+[Footnote 69: See the volume of Raoul Allier, _La cabale des devots_.]
+
+[Footnote 70: Marie de Gonzague.]
+
+[Footnote 71: En Picardie.]
+
+[Footnote 72: M. Emanuel de Broglie.]
+
+[Footnote 73: Saul in the _Journal des guerres civiles de
+Dubuisson-Aubenay_. He mentions the date of December 2, 1650, upon which
+"large donations" were sent into Champagne, by Mmes. de Lamoignon and de
+Herse, Messieurs de Bernieres, Lenain, etc.]
+
+[Footnote 74: The Parliament of Dijon had a bad reputation with the
+ministers, who accused it of refusing all reform. This does not excuse
+such a lack of good faith.]
+
+[Footnote 75: Dombes was a small independent principality which had only
+been definitely united to France on March 28, 1782; its capital was
+Trevoux.]
+
+[Footnote 76: _Histoire de France._ Tr. by Jacques Porchat and Miot.
+Paris, 1886.]
+
+[Footnote 77: _Memoires de Montglat; Memoires de Mme. de Motteville._]
+
+[Footnote 78: The ball took place on the 3rd. Several days elapsed
+before the news of the death reached Aix.]
+
+[Footnote 79: _Memoires_ of Mademoiselle.]
+
+[Footnote 80: _Memoires_ of Mademoiselle.]
+
+[Footnote 81: Anne de Gonzague.]
+
+[Footnote 82: This appeared in 1691.]
+
+[Footnote 83: Isle des Faisans was also called _Isle de la Conference_,
+since Mazarin had there discussed the treaty of the Pyrenees with Luis
+de Haro.]
+
+[Footnote 84: _Memoires de Montglat._]
+
+[Footnote 85: _Memoires de Mme. de Motteville._]
+
+[Footnote 86: _Ibid._]
+
+[Footnote 87: There exists in the _Archives d'Affaires etrangeres_ a
+fragment of the instructions of Mazarin to Louis XIV., written under the
+dictation of the King. M. Chantelauze, who discovered it, published it
+in the _Correspondant_ of August 10, 1881.]
+
+[Footnote 88: Motteville.]
+
+[Footnote 89: Guy Patin. Letter of January 28, 1661.]
+
+[Footnote 90: Motteville.]
+
+[Footnote 91: He was even twenty-four when he asked Perefixe again to
+give him Latin lessons.]
+
+[Footnote 92: Letter of June 27th to the Queen of Poland (_Archives de
+Chantilly_). The King dined at one o'clock.]
+
+[Footnote 93: Letter of July 15, 1661.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+     Mademoiselle at the Luxembourg--Her Salon--The "Anatomies" of
+     the Heart--Projects of Marriage, and New Exile--Louis XIV. and
+     the Libertines--Fragility of Fortune in Land--_Fetes Galantes_.
+
+
+With the approach of her thirty-fifth year, the Grande Mademoiselle
+perceived by diverse signs that she was no longer young. She was forced
+to recognise that her strength had its limitations, which fact had never
+before been forced upon her. On February 7, 1662, Louis XIV. danced for
+the first time a grand ballet entitled the "Amours of Hercules," and his
+cousin of Montpensier took part. She was ill from fatigue. Another kind
+of weariness overcame her; she became bored with fetes. She had been
+present at so many gala occasions since her entrance into the world, and
+had seen so many festivals and fireworks, garlands of flowers and
+allegorical chariots, that she was now quickly satiated.
+
+The King still loved this kind of abundant pleasure; those which he
+offered to his Court sometimes lasted successive days and nights,
+without giving time to breathe, and all being expected to feel continued
+amusement. Mademoiselle was no longer capable of this. She was beginning
+to long for the repose of home. Her sick headaches contributed to this
+disability; age had increased them, and all women know that it is better
+to suffer a headache in solitude. After a lively struggle, she had
+returned to the palace of the Luxembourg and was lodging under the same
+roof as her stepmother. The old Madame would have gladly relinquished a
+neighbour whose presence presaged nothing good, but no one had sustained
+the contention as no one was in the least interested in her welfare. One
+reads in a fugitive leaf of the times issued on July 21, 1660: "This
+affair was deliberated upon in the Court, and it was found that
+Mademoiselle had the right to demand one of the apartments free, and
+that Madame could not refuse it." It is said that the King wrote to
+Madame in order to soften the blow; it was necessary to drain the bitter
+cup to the dregs, and at a time in which Madame had great need of
+tranquillity to install at her very door this tempestuous stepdaughter,
+with whom no peace was possible.
+
+Madame had "vapours," otherwise called a nervous malady. She was afraid
+of noise, of movement, and of being forced to speak, and Mademoiselle
+insisted upon making "scenes." "I teased her often," says the Princess
+in her _Memoires_, "and very much despised her (in which I was wrong),
+and she always responded as one who feared me, and with much
+submission." The public did not consider it worth while to waste pity
+upon Madame, because she bored every one; a fault never pardoned. Anne
+of Austria, herself a very amiable woman, when not opposed, could never
+suffer her inoffensive sister-in-law. The Queen Mother said to
+Mademoiselle, who did not need this encouragement: "Her person, her
+temper, and her manners are odious to me." The public was fundamentally
+right in its antipathy. Madame was one of those people who render virtue
+hateful, and in thus doing are very injurious to humanity.
+
+The Luxembourg was commodious and gay. Mademoiselle enjoyed it, and it
+pleased her to arrange for herself a grand existence as a Princess, rich
+and independent. Nothing could be more displeasing to the Court. As soon
+as Louis XIV. had assumed full power, he let it be seen that he wished
+no social centre in his kingdom other than his own palace. His cousin
+did not take this fact into account. This was not bravado. It was due to
+the impossibility of comprehending that "a person of her quality" could
+be reduced to the role of satellite.
+
+It is certain that nature had not prepared her for this role. "I would
+rather pass my life in solitude," wrote she, "than restrain in any way
+my proud humour, even at the expense of my fortune. I have no
+complaisance, and I demand a great deal from others."[94] She also adds:
+"I do not willingly praise others and very rarely blame myself." With
+this avowed disposition, it would perhaps have been wiser not to go too
+often to the Louvre. It was a great imprudence to attract the crowd to
+herself as she had done at the time in which she was openly opposing the
+Tuileries.
+
+The salon of Mademoiselle became the first in Paris, the most
+interesting and select. Since Paris had tasted the pleasures of clever
+conversation and discovered, under the direction of Mme. de Rambouillet,
+the genius of this delicate art, it could not do without it. The
+initiator was still living, but she was old and ill, and her circle had
+long been dispersed.[95]
+
+Mlle. de Scudery had collected together as many of the remnants of her
+first salon as she could, and had thus laid the foundation for the
+famous Saturdays, at which wit and knowledge were dispensed in
+abundance. Nevertheless, it was not the same. The Saturdays of "Sapho"
+brought back the literary people to the pedantry from which Mme. de
+Rambouillet had more or less delivered them. They were left too much to
+themselves, and, thus isolated, they had lost a certain intellectual
+grace acquired by the friction between the aristocrats and the
+blue-stockings.
+
+The mind as well as the body has its own manners, and they may be bad or
+good. In 1661, the Court alone had breeding. There existed no other
+society in which the first comer understood how to speak a language easy
+and _galant_, well adapted to plumed hats and elegant bows. These
+belonged to the traditions of the place. Such courtesies were lacking
+with the learned friends of Mlle. de Scudery, who no longer felt
+themselves spurred on by the fine gentlemen, so alert, capable of such
+light railleries, and detesting pedants.
+
+The feminine society of the Saturdays had also too little intercourse
+with duchesses and marquises to replace the Hotel Rambouillet. Mlle.
+Bocquet, who filled a large place in the chronicles of the Saturdays,
+was very amiable and played the lute "marvellously,"[96] but she
+belonged to the small bourgeoisie. Mlle. Dupre, another intimate, was an
+intelligent and educated girl, who had made a special study of
+philosophy. She quoted Descartes too often to have "the air _galant_" in
+conversation. As much could be said of others. Mlle. de Scudery herself,
+who had been received in the best company and who had formally combated
+the "Blue-stockingism" with admirable good sense, had not written
+thirty-two octavo volumes with impunity. There still remained a little
+ink on the end of her fingers. It seemed as if all the pedants of France
+held their classes in her house. Plays upon words filled the papers
+scattered about, upon which "Prosecutions" were held. The "Illustrious
+Sapho" had truly inspired Moliere when he wrote _Les Precieuses
+Ridicules_; in vain, M. Cousin refuses to believe it.[97] I do not
+myself think that she escaped.
+
+Mademoiselle rendered to the wits of the day the service of sending them
+back to the Court for lessons in language and manners. We are well
+informed of this, thanks to the fantasy of a Princess which produced a
+little literature upon the model offered by the Luxembourg.
+
+In 1657, Mademoiselle, being at Champigny for the Richelieu lawsuit, the
+Princess of Tarente[98] and Mlle. de la Tremouille[99] showed her their
+literary portraits written by themselves.[100] These were imitations of
+those which Mlle. de Scudery, creator of the kind, gave in her
+romances,--the personalities to be divined with a key. "I had never
+before seen anything of the kind; I found them very _galants_, and wrote
+my own." After her own, she made others, and exacted them from those
+about her.
+
+From this resulted a repertoire unique of its kind, in which noble
+personages, of both sexes and all ages, have been so obliging as not to
+leave us ignorant of themselves, from the state of their teeth to their
+opinions upon love, nor have they omitted to present similar details
+concerning their friends.
+
+The collection of these _Portraits_[101] reveals to us how the
+aristocracy then viewed itself, or, at least, how it wished to be
+estimated by others. The ordinary beginning was to picture the face and
+bearing. The fashion was to do this with sincerity, which by no means
+indicates modesty. The famous Duchesse de Chatillon warned readers that
+she was going to speak with a naivete "the greatest possible."
+
+     This is why [continues she] I can say that I have the most
+     beautiful and best formed figure which has ever been seen.
+     There is none so regular, so free, so easy. My bearing is
+     entirely agreeable, and in all my actions I have an air
+     infinitely _spirituel_. My face is a most perfect oval,
+     according to all standards; my forehead is slightly elevated,
+     which aids the regularity of the oval. My eyes are brown, very
+     brilliant, and very deeply set; the gaze is very gentle and, at
+     the same time, full of fire and spirit. I have a well-made
+     nose, and as for the mouth, it is not only fine and well
+     coloured, but infinitely agreeable, made so by a thousand
+     little natural expressions not to be seen in any other mouths.
+     My teeth are very beautiful and regular. I have a very small
+     chin. I have not a very white skin. My hair is a clear
+     chestnut, and very lustrous. My neck is more beautiful than
+     ugly. As for my arms and hands, I am not proud of them; but the
+     skin is very soft and smooth. It would be impossible to find a
+     thigh better made than mine or a foot better turned.
+
+The description of the physique was a rule of the Portraits, not even
+the _religieuses_ believing that it should be dispensed with.
+
+Among the Portraits is found one of an Abbess who visited Mademoiselle,
+the inspiring Marie-Eleonore de Rohan, a person much esteemed on account
+of her mother, the famous Duchesse de Montbazon, but very disconcerting,
+notwithstanding, for our modern ideals of monastic life.
+
+She divided herself between the cloister and the world, sufficiently
+edifying when it was needful, lively and brilliant the remainder of the
+time, and as natural in the one role as in the other. The Abbess
+composed works of piety for her nuns,--among others _La Morale de
+Salomon_, many times re-edited, and the _Paraphrases des sept Psaumes de
+la Penitence_. The lady of society placed herself before her mirror and
+wrote without a shade of embarrassment: "I have some haughtiness in my
+physiognomy and some modesty. I have too large a nose, a mouth not
+disagreeable, lips suitable, and teeth neither beautiful nor ugly." This
+"nose too large" shocked the savant Huet. In reproducing the portrait of
+Mme. l'Abbesse, he wrote: "As the beauty of the nose is one to which I
+am very sensitive, permit, Madame, that I should begin with yours. It is
+large; it is white, slightly aquiline, and gives something _spirituel_
+to your smile."
+
+Another phrase of Huet's gives us a vision of how these
+pseudo-religieuses, whose species was destined to disappear with the
+reform of convents, a not regrettable fact, accommodated the convent
+garb with coquetry: "One cannot imagine," pursued the future bishop,
+"more beautiful hair than yours; it is ash colour, blond, curls in a
+very agreeable manner, and admirably suits your face, as far as I have
+been able to judge, when it has escaped by chance, in spite of your care
+to conceal it."
+
+After the body comes the temper, tastes, qualities, and defects of the
+mind. Here lies the lasting interest of the Portraits. It is valuable to
+know from first hand, through its own confidences, that this
+aristocratic society, from which the King exacted the complete sacrifice
+of its independence, hated nothing more than restraint, and did not
+hesitate to say so. Men and women, speaking for themselves, return
+constantly to this point, and always in the same terms: "I hate
+restraint. Restraint is insupportable to me." "I have an aversion for
+all that is called restraint." "I suffer oppression impatiently and I
+passionately love liberty."
+
+From the point of view of absolute monarchy and the discipline which it
+wished to impose upon the Court, the French nobility had very bad
+habits. This nobility professed love of the chivalric virtues, and
+hatred of anything resembling baseness or disloyalty. In this, it was
+sincere, only we must admit that opinions are constantly changing even
+in relation to morals, and that to-day, we might have difficulty in
+agreeing with a gentleman of 1660 as to what is loyal or base and what
+is not. Honour commanded the gentleman to avenge offences against
+himself without too closely examining into the methods of so doing.
+Custom authorised him to be unjust and to act with bad faith towards the
+lowly, common, and feeble, in particular when money was owed. Honesty
+was a bourgeois virtue. Mademoiselle considered it unworthy that people
+of quality should abuse their authority to "ruin miserable creditors,"
+but she was an exception.
+
+The obligations of "honour" were extending to all conditions. Vatel was
+praised for having killed himself because the fish did not rise. "It
+was said," wrote Mme. de Sevigne, "that this sort of honour was a
+strength."
+
+It was not the same with another sentiment which filled the plays of
+Corneille and which is constantly referred to in all the writings of the
+time. General consent reserved for people of quality the privilege of
+having ideas of "Glory and of the 'Beautiful' or the True," which led,
+according to Huet's definition, to the desire for grand things. The
+desire for "true glory," which is carefully distinguished from what he
+called the "halo of glory," was the aristocratic sentiment "par
+excellence." Even among the authors of the _Portraits_, every one was
+not considered to possess the high capacity for strongly feeling this
+longing.
+
+In spite of the prevailing licentiousness of the Court, there still
+remained in this brilliant society many pure women. At the same time,
+virtue was not particularly honoured. It was a matter of personal taste,
+the nobility only attaching a secondary and conventional importance to
+its practice. The women "pure," or those who were supposed so to be,
+received praise from friendly pens. The others were not looked at
+askance, except by the Jansenists and other sombre spirits.
+
+The young Comtesse de Fiesque, with whom Mademoiselle had been embroiled
+at Saint-Fargeau, had a well-established reputation for gallantry. The
+anonymous author of her Portrait makes allusion to this, and hastens to
+add, "Truly this does her no harm." No harm at all! Mademoiselle did
+not think of it when Mme. de Fiesque came to demand pardon for her
+impertinences: "She threw herself on her knees before me; I raised her
+up and embraced her; she wept with joy. She is a worthy woman, only too
+easily led away, but good at heart."
+
+Naturally men spoke very freely of women; it was like the crowing of
+cocks. An anonymous writer, who might have been the poet Racan,[102]
+represents himself as "very ugly, very stammering, and very
+disagreeable, very grumbling besides and untruthful," and goes on, "I am
+very bold with women and quite as successful as if I were good-looking
+and possessed the most agreeable qualities in the world to make myself
+well received. I have indeed found myself sometimes as you see me..."
+There is still greater contempt expressed for women in the following
+passage from the Portrait of La Rochefoucauld by himself: "Formerly I
+was a little _galant_; now not at all, although still youthful. I have
+renounced all flirtations. I am only astonished that there should still
+be so many worthy people who occupy themselves in culling these 'little
+flowers.'" Considering Mme. de Longueville, this statement is rather
+hard. I would remark in passing, that La Rochefoucauld was
+forty-five[103] at the moment in which he found himself somewhat
+"young to renounce flirtations." Moliere, however, was soon to make all
+Paris laugh at the expense of Arnolphe,[104] who indulged in love
+affairs at the age of forty-two. Shall we conclude that Moliere
+attempted to lessen the limit of the age of love, or was it only in the
+theatre that fashion exacted young lovers? I leave this question to the
+clever. It is not without importance in the history of sentiments.
+
+[Illustration: =FRANCOIS DE LA ROCHEFOUCAULD= From the engraving by
+Hopwood after the painting by Petitot]
+
+The fashion of Portraits lasted but little more than two years with
+those who were its sponsors; as soon as the custom reached the
+bourgeoisie, the people of quality abandoned it. The very lively taste
+developed in the middle class, in their turn, for this diversion proved
+of real service to literature. The imitators of the "Galerie" learned,
+as previously the creators of the game had done, to know the "interior
+of people."[105] "The anatomies" of their own hearts, imperfect as they
+were, habituated them to discern the "qualities and temper of
+people,"[106] and thus a large public was prepared to comprehend the
+women of Racine.
+
+Mademoiselle was one of the first to profit by the "soul studies" which
+she had brought into favour. There remains a little passage in a portion
+of her _Memoires_, written after 1660, which clearly indicates this.
+Progress is equally marked in a little romance with a key, entitled
+_Histoire de la Princesse de Paphlagonie_, which was composed and
+printed at Bordeaux in 1659, during the prolonged sojourn of the Court
+at that place.
+
+This is not the only imaginative work for which this facile pen[107] is
+responsible, but it is the only one worthy of notice. The subject is
+without interest; Mademoiselle has incorporated in a literary tale the
+absurd quarrels of her household: "I made a little history which was
+finished in three days, by writing in the evening after returning from
+the Queen." In compensation, there are in the _Princesse de Paphlagonie_
+some sketches after nature, written with a firm and live touch, a
+novelty with Mademoiselle. A passage upon the blue room of Mme. de
+Rambouillet will prove a great aid in any attempt to reconstruct an
+elegant interior under Louis XIV., if the experiment should ever be made
+as has been suggested of playing the comedies of Moliere in the true
+"chamber" of Philaminte or of Celimene. Others have spoken of the rooms
+in which Mme. de Rambouillet received. The harmonious decoration and the
+scholarly disorder have been before described, yet no one but
+Mademoiselle has given us the intimate atmosphere of the sanctuary, with
+its measured and discreet light, its luxury of flowers, its objects of
+art, and its small but choice library betraying the tastes and the
+preferences of the divinity of the place. The description resembles
+more nearly the salon of an intelligent woman of the twentieth century
+than a suite of the Chateau of Versailles.
+
+The guests of Mademoiselle profited also by the refinement of her
+tastes. She enforced one single rule in her salon: cards were banished.
+No one was exposed to the danger of being ruined, as was the case in the
+circle of the King, who encouraged heavy play. It did not displease
+Louis XIV. to be the Providence of the losers, this again being a method
+of keeping his nobles in hand. His cousin in no way shared in such
+considerations. She said: "I hate to play cards," and only played when
+it was impossible to avoid doing so. She did not at all like to lose. It
+was remarked that the Luxembourg had gained in gaiety with the exclusion
+of gambling games. "There is a hundred times as much laughter," relates
+the Abbe de Choisy,[108] at this date very young and a frequent guest at
+the palace of the Luxembourg, where he met numerous companions of his
+own age.
+
+The three daughters of the old Madame, Mlles. d'Orleans, d'Alencon, and
+de Valois,[109] were always with their step-sister. They escaped from
+their deserted apartment to run towards the noise and movement; their
+life was too sad with Madame and her eternal "vapours." Relegated to
+their chambers as at Blois, with some childish companions, among whom
+was Louise de La Valliere,[110] still unknown, they lived in a state of
+distrust of their almost invisible mother, who never addressed a word to
+them except in scolding.
+
+At least, with Mademoiselle one had the right to move. Young people had
+great freedom. Little games were organised. Parties of hide and seek and
+blind-man's-buff were enjoyed. "As I had violin players, it was easy to
+dance in any room sufficiently distant from Madame." The Abbe de Choisy
+adds a gracious detail: "There were violinists, but ordinarily they were
+silent and we danced to singing. It is so charming to dance to the sound
+of the voice." While the young moved gaily about, their elders had also
+their little games.
+
+Everything yielded, however, to the unequalled pleasure of conversation.
+Among those who gave eclat to the Luxembourg, the names of La
+Rochefoucauld, Segrais, Mme. de Lafayette, and Mme. de Sevigne may be
+mentioned. Mademoiselle herself often led the conversation, beating the
+drums a little, her fashion in everything, but also with a certain
+spontaneity which she always displayed.
+
+Conversation was, during more than a century, even to the time of the
+Revolution, to be the great delight of intelligent France, and this
+pleasure rendered incomparable service to the French language, which had
+rather deteriorated during the first periods of the seventeenth century.
+It was immediately perceived that the worst fault for a talker was to
+speak like a book, and the French owe to this simple observation the
+lesson which taught them to become the first in the world for vivacity
+and naturalness in the art of conversation. The habitues of the
+Luxembourg only regretted that the conversation did not oftener turn
+upon love. But, in this respect, Mademoiselle was not as complaisant as
+at Saint-Fargeau. We have seen that, in practice, she closed her eyes;
+this simplified life. For her own pleasure, she preferred other topics;
+this particular one became at length insupportable to her. "I am much
+criticised," says she in her _Portrait_, "because the verses I like the
+least, are those which are passionate, for I have not a tender soul."
+Besides, she had really nothing more to say upon the subject of love.
+She had just made her profession of faith in a correspondence with Mme.
+de Motteville, who, while awaiting something better, circulated a
+manuscript in which one reads, "Its conditions are shameful; it is
+robbery and unjust, without faith and without equity. It is an impiety;
+it mocks the holy sacrament. Marriage adjusts nothing: everything is
+given to man."
+
+"Let us escape from slavery," cried Mademoiselle. "Let there be at least
+one corner of the globe in which one can say that women are their own
+mistresses." Every one has the right to despise love and marriage,
+provided only that one does not insist on applying this sentiment only
+to others. The youth of the Luxembourg knew too well that Mademoiselle
+sought with an increasing ardour that "slavery" against which in
+conversation or in writing she called her sex to revolt. Her intimate
+friends realised that she was inventing illusions, under the influence
+of a possible possession which induced a belief in their reality. She
+had believed in an eager tenderness on the part of the little Monsieur
+who had married some one else. After the restoration of the Stuarts
+(April, 1660), she imagined (the recital is fully given in her
+_Memoires_) that the King, Charles II., whom she had refused with
+disdain when he was only a poor pretender, had no other intention in
+remounting the throne than again to demand her hand, and that she would
+nobly respond: "I do not deserve this, having rejected your suit when
+you were in disgrace. The remembrance of this would always rest on our
+two hearts and would prevent true happiness." This fine response has
+been quoted a hundred times. Unfortunately, it is very clearly proved
+through the testimony of English documents[111] that Mademoiselle had no
+occasion to make it.
+
+Advances, alas! had come from one side only and had been ill received.
+"I very much desire the marriage of Mademoiselle," wrote Lady
+Derby[112] to her sister-in-law, Mme. de la Tremouille, through whom
+passed the "insinuations," "but the King has a great aversion to it on
+account of the contempt which she has shown him. I have spoken of her to
+Marquis d'Ormond, but I have met with little encouragement." In another
+letter: "I have proposed Mademoiselle, but I have little hope. If the
+King looks for wealth, we can hardly expect greater than with
+Mademoiselle. But I fear that having been despised in his poverty, he
+may be little disposed to regard such a marriage." Charles II. would
+listen to nothing; he had guarded a grudge against his cousin. On the
+other hand, there is every appearance of truth when she states that the
+old Duc Charles III. de Lorraine,[113] had demanded her "on his knees"
+for a youth of eighteen, Prince Charles de Lorraine, his nephew, who
+became afterwards one of the most famous Austrian generals. It was a
+question, as can well be understood, of a political combination.
+
+Unfortunately, Prince Charles himself had another project, better suited
+to his age. He was in love with the eldest daughter of Madame,
+Marguerite d'Orleans, who returned his affection with all her heart. The
+youthful society of the Luxembourg accuses Mademoiselle of having,
+through jealousy, caused this project to fail. "The affair had been
+advanced," relates that gossip, the Abbe de Choisy, "but the old
+Mademoiselle had talked and cackled so much that she spoiled
+everything." She was desperate at the thought of her younger sisters,
+beggars compared to herself, marrying under her very eyes. Marguerite
+d'Orleans made, out of spite, a marriage which turned out badly,[114]
+but through which Mademoiselle in no way profited. Owing to a singular
+change of desire, from the day on which it had depended upon herself to
+marry Prince Charles, she had only felt contempt for this little prince
+"_sans forts_."[115]
+
+These caprices made the King impatient, who ended by making negotiations
+with Lorraine without any longer occupying himself with his cousin.
+Louis XIV. still retained the old monarchical principles in relation to
+the marriage of princesses. He regarded them simply from the point of
+view of politics; questions to be settled by governments and into which
+sentiments must not be permitted to intrude. The idea that every human
+being has a right to happiness did not belong to his times, and if it
+had been suggested, the King would have surely condemned it, for it
+insisted upon individual interests as opposed to those of the community,
+the rights of which appeared specially sacred to the people of the
+seventeenth century.
+
+Louis XIV. did not believe for himself that he had the right to accept
+only the agreeable duties belonging to his "trade of king," since he had
+undertaken an existence devoted to strenuous labour, when it would have
+been so pleasant to do nothing. According to his principle, the higher
+the position of an individual, the more it was fitting that he should
+sacrifice his own desires to the public good. Mademoiselle had the
+honour of being his first cousin; he had firmly resolved to marry her,
+or not to marry her, to bestow her hand upon a hero or a monster,
+according as he should judge it useful to "the service of the King."
+There was a certain grandeur in this fashion of recognising
+relationship.
+
+It had not occurred to the King that Mademoiselle would ever have the
+audacity to resist him. It can be said that any real understanding
+between the two was an impossibility. Mademoiselle had lived too long in
+the midst of the opposition to yield to the notion of absolute royal
+power without limitations and including all possible persons. Louis XIV.
+had a too profound faith in the doctrine of the divine right of kings to
+refuse for himself any of the prerogatives devolving upon him. Both
+these opinions represented Frenchmen at large; but for the moment
+Mademoiselle was being borne along by the ebbing tide, Louis XIV. by the
+rising one.
+
+This Prince had entered the world at an opportune moment to profit by a
+doctrine which, according to a happy expression, seemed made for him as
+he for it. After the Reform, the enforcing the old theory of the divine
+origin of power had a beneficial result. The populace in many a country
+and province had found themselves as much interested as the sovereigns
+in suppressing the political power of the Pope outside of his own
+States, and resenting his interference in the affairs of other
+countries.
+
+In France, in the sixteenth century, one meets with Calvinist
+theologians amongst the writers who claimed that princes received their
+power directly from God, and from God alone. The immediate consequence
+of this doctrine was to heighten the eclat of royalty. Princes became
+images of divinity, and even something more; Louis XIV., not yet five,
+heard himself spoken of as the "Divinity made visible." Two years later,
+the Royal Catechism[116] explained to him that he was "Vice-Dieu."
+Twenty years later Louis XIV. was "Dieu," without any qualification, and
+Bossuet himself declared it from the pulpit. On April 2, 1662, preaching
+at the Louvre and speaking of the duties of kings, Bossuet cried: "O
+Gods of nations and of lands, you must die like mortals; nevertheless,
+until Death, you are Gods."
+
+When a man hears such statements without shrinking, he is quite ready to
+accept all the consequences. "Kings," writes an anonymous person, "are
+absolute lords of all who breathe in any portion of their empire."[117]
+
+Louis XIV. has very clearly formulated the same thought in his
+_Memoires_: "The one who has given kings to men has wished that they
+should be respected as his lieutenants, reserving for himself alone the
+right to examine their conduct. It is the divine wish that any one born
+a subject should obey without question."[118] It must be added that
+Louis had arrived at these conclusions under a pressure of public
+opinion, which had become impatiently desirous of giving to monarchy the
+strength needed to place the shattered land again in a condition of
+order.
+
+On the death of Mazarin, France resembled a large establishment whose
+cupboards, confided to a negligent steward, had not during an entire
+generation been put in order. A flash of vivid hope passed through
+France on seeing its young monarch, vigorously aided by Colbert, put the
+broom to the mass of abuses and inequities which bore the name of
+administration, and show himself resolved, in spite of resistance, to
+introduce into the great public services order and moral cleanliness.
+
+This was not finished without tears and grinding of teeth, not without
+some injustice also, as in the case of Foucquet, assuredly culpable, but
+paying for many others, of whom Mazarin was the first. But this
+cleansing _was_ accomplished. First, the finances were attacked, with
+the happy result that people paid less and that the imposts returned
+more; then justice,--law reform was commenced in 1665, and the "grands
+jours" of Auvergne were opened the same year; the army,--the soldiers,
+paid regularly, committed fewer disorders, and the nobility learned,
+willingly or not, military obedience.
+
+At the same time, industry and commerce increased to such an extent
+that, from 1668, orders flooded Paris "from the entire world" for a vast
+number of articles which ten years previous had been imported. The
+ambassador from Venice, Giustiniani, writes this statement to his
+government.
+
+The strong will of the master had put the country in motion. Louis XIV.
+was confirmed in his high opinion of absolute monarchy. The same year in
+which Bossuet had encouraged him to believe himself above ordinary
+humanity, the King decided, with a perfectly equable conscience, to
+marry the Grande Mademoiselle to a veritable monster, in the interest of
+a political combination which he held at heart, for he returns to it
+several times in his _Memoires_. His father-in-law, Philippe IV.,
+menaced the independence of Portugal.[119] Louis XIV. hesitated to
+assist Portugal openly, on account of the treaty of the Pyrenees.[120]
+On the other hand, he considered double-dealing more honest to the
+Spaniards than their conduct might be to him if opportunity permitted.
+"I cannot doubt that they would have been the first to violate the
+treaty of the Pyrenees on a thousand points, and I should believe myself
+failing in my duty to the State, if, through being more scrupulous, I
+should permit them freely to ruin Portugal, and to fall back upon me
+with their entire strength."
+
+It seemed to him that he could conciliate all by aiding Portugal
+secretly, and Turenne had no repugnance to this course. This kind of
+action was then called, and is often still designated, sagacious
+statesmanship.
+
+Such being the situation, Turenne came one afternoon to seek
+Mademoiselle in her cabinet. The account of this interview has been
+preserved for us by the Princess, and we can this time trust her
+accuracy. Her _Memoires_ are in accord with contemporary witnesses. It
+was towards the end of the winter of 1662. Turenne seated himself at the
+corner of the fireplace and began with tender protestations. "As I am
+somewhat brusque, I at once demanded of him, 'What is the question?' He
+replied: 'I wish to marry you.' I interrupted him, saying: 'That is not
+easy; I am content with my condition.'
+
+"'I will make you Queen. Listen to me. Let me tell you everything, and
+afterward you can speak. I wish to make you Queen of Portugal.' 'Fi!'
+cried I to myself, 'I do not wish it.' He went on: 'Maidens of your
+quality have no desires; they must act as the King wills.'"
+
+The monarch whose mention makes Mademoiselle cry "Fi!" was called
+Alphonse VI., and was not yet twenty. At twenty-three, the Abbe de
+Saint-Romain,[121] our envoy to Portugal, reported that he could
+neither read nor write. In compensation, he pulled the ears and tore out
+the hair of those who approached him, and this was in his "good days";
+in the bad ones, he struck, indifferently with his feet, hands, or
+sword, any one who vexed him. His subjects no longer dared to pass
+through the streets at night, because one of his diversions was to
+charge at them suddenly in the "darkness and to try to spit them."
+
+In person, Alphonse VI. was a fat little barrel, paralysed in one limb,
+"gluttonous and dirty," almost always drunk, and vomiting after his
+meals. He wore six or seven coats one over the other, amongst which "a
+petticoat of three hundred taffetas, embroidered with pistol shots";
+upon his head, a hood falling over his eyes, several caps over this, one
+of which covered the ears, and an "English bonnet" over all. "His body,"
+pursues the Abbe, "smells horribly, and he has always bad ulcers in the
+softer portions ... and these offences could not be supported if he did
+not bathe once daily in winter, twice in other seasons." Fear obliged
+him to make "seventeen people always sleep in his chamber."
+
+Turenne, however, forced himself to gild this rather bitter pill. He
+pointed out to Mademoiselle how useful it would be and for what reasons
+to have a French princess on the throne of Portugal. He promised her,
+knowing her special weakness, that she should be absolute mistress of
+the "great and powerful army"; that the King would give it entirely
+over to her by degrees. Without doubt, Alphonse VI. was a paralytic,
+"but," asserted Turenne, "this does not appear when he is dressed; he
+only slightly drags one leg, and is a little awkward with his arm. So
+much the better, if his intelligence also is a little slow. It is not
+known whether or not he has any wit; after all, it is only good form for
+husbands to be gay."
+
+"But," replied Mademoiselle, "to be the link of a perpetual war between
+France and Spain seems to me a very undesirable position." The situation
+would be still worse if, as she was convinced would be the case, the two
+crowns should arrive at an accommodation.
+
+"A truly beautiful future: to have a drunken and paralytic husband, whom
+the Spaniards would chase from his kingdom, and to return to France to
+demand alms, when all my wealth has been dissipated, and to remain only
+the queen of some little village. It is good to be Mademoiselle in
+France with five hundred thousand francs of income, and nothing to
+demand of the Court. Thus placed, it is foolish to move. If the Court
+becomes weariness, one can retire to one's chateau in the country, in
+which a little private court of one's own can be held. It is very
+diverting also to build new houses. Finally, as mistress of one's own
+wishes one is happy, for one does what one wills."
+
+"But," returned Turenne, "remaining Mademoiselle, even admitting all
+that you have said, you are still subject to the King. He commands what
+he wills; when his wishes are refused, he scolds; a thousand
+disagreeable things are felt at Court; often the King goes farther, he
+chases people away. When they are content in one place, he sends them to
+another. He orders journeys from one end of the kingdom to the other.
+Sometimes, he imprisons recalcitrants in their own homes, or sends them
+into convents, and in the end, obedience must come. What can you reply
+to this?"
+
+"That people of your station do not menace those of mine," cried
+Mademoiselle in anger; "that I know what I must do; that if the King
+says anything contrary, I will see what I shall respond to him."
+
+She forbade Turenne to mention this affair again, and withdrew. "Five or
+six days later, he again addressed me." At this time, some common
+friends were present. Mademoiselle grew anxious. How far was Turenne the
+authorised messenger of the King? She wrote to the latter to provoke an
+explanation. No response. She confided her trouble to the Queen Mother,
+who confined herself to these words: "If the King wishes this, it is a
+terrible pity; he is master; as for me, I have nothing to say in the
+matter."
+
+"I was in frightful haste," adds Mademoiselle, "that the time for the
+Baths of Forges should come, and that I might go away." The season
+arrived. It was needful to take leave of the King. She wished to have
+the Court plainly understand her intention: "'Sire, if your Majesty is
+thinking of my establishment, here is M. de Beziers, who will go to
+Turin; he can negotiate my marriage with M. de Savoie.'--'I will think
+of you when it suits me, and marry you when it will be of service to
+me,' in a dry tone which much frightened me. After this, he saluted me
+very coldly, and I went away and I took my waters."
+
+Mademoiselle had the imprudence both to talk and write. Bussy-Rabutin
+even pretends that "she had written a letter to the King of Spain, which
+was intercepted," suggesting a fete in his neighbourhood; but this is
+difficult to believe, however inconsiderate Mademoiselle sometimes was.
+
+From Forges, Mademoiselle went to the Chateau d'Eu, which she had bought
+a short time before. It was at this place, October 15, 1662, that she
+received from the King commands to return to Saint-Fargeau, "until new
+orders." Upon the route she met letters from every one.
+
+To be banished for having refused to marry Alphonse VI.,--the country
+was not yet ready for these consequences of the new regime. It was soon
+known that Mademoiselle had ordered from Paris "needles, canvas, and
+silk," as if she expected to have on her hands plenty of spare time. But
+if affairs remained at this point, she was not paying too dearly for the
+pleasure of escaping being made Queen of Portugal. This was her own
+opinion, and she became very amiable.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The departure of Mademoiselle did not leave a large vacuum in the young
+Court; there was at the official ceremonies one princess the less, and
+this was all. For the new generation had passed with the King to the
+front ranks; the Grande Mademoiselle was now only the "old
+Mademoiselle," as Abbe de Choisy called her. The youthful loves and the
+pleasures belonging to twenty years had nothing to do with her, nor,
+what is more, with the Queen Mother, who had in old age become a
+preacher, and who now belonged to the "devots" grouped under her
+protection.
+
+Moliere by his impiety scandalised these pious people who considered it
+wicked for the King to have mistresses.
+
+The question still waiting to be solved was, on which side the master
+would definitely range himself. For the moment, Louis XIV. leaned very
+strongly towards the friends of good-nature and of his joyous freedom.
+Would he be gained over by these? Would the logic of events and ideas
+lead him to shake off the trammel of religious practices, then that of
+belief, in the fashion of Hugues de Lionne, of the Bussy-Rabutins, of
+the Guiche, of the Roquelaure, of the Vardes, and a hundred other
+"Libertins," who only saw in the practices of religion a collection of
+silly tricks? The obtaining an answer to this query was really the
+important affair of the year 1662, a much more serious interest than any
+preoccupation in regard to the chronicle of the doings at the Luxembourg
+or at Saint-Fargeau.
+
+The young Queen was anxious; she scented danger, but she knew only how
+to groan and weep, without comprehending that red eyes and a grumbling
+tone were not the best attractions for retaining a husband. She had not
+even the consolation of being pitied, having only made the one friend,
+Anne of Austria, who in default of something better, forced herself to
+preserve some illusions upon the melancholy of the little Queen's
+destiny.
+
+It would have been hard to find a better creature than Marie-Therese,
+fresh and round, who leapt with joy the day following her marriage, and
+related ingenuously to Mme. de Motteville her little romance.
+Marie-Therese had always remembered that her mother,[122] who died when
+she was only six, had repeated that she desired to see her Queen of
+France; that this was the only possible happiness, or, if not attained,
+nothing remained but a convent. The little Princess had grown up with
+the thought of France. Louis XIV. had been the _Prince Charmant_ of her
+infant dreams. When she knew that a French lord came "post haste" to
+demand her hand for his master, it seemed to her entirely natural. She
+had spied from a window the arrival of M. de Gramont.[123] He had passed
+by very quickly, followed by many other Frenchmen, decorated with gold
+and silver, and covered with feathers and ribbons of all colours. One
+might have said, "a _parterre_ of flowers, bearing the royal demand,"
+related the young Queen, becoming poetical for the first and last time
+in her life.
+
+Once married, Marie-Therese had demanded of her husband the promise that
+they should never be separated, either by day or night, if it possibly
+could be avoided. Louis XIV. promised and kept his word, but it was a
+useless precaution.
+
+According to Mme. de Motteville and Mme. de Maintenon,[124] the Queen
+did not know how to conduct herself toward her husband. She was stupid
+in her manner of showing her devotion; if the King wanted her, she would
+refuse to sacrifice a prayer in order to be with him. She had also an
+"ill-directed" jealousy; if the King did not desire her company, she did
+not sufficiently distinguish, in her complaints, against those who wiled
+him away, between Mlle. de La Valliere and the Council of Ministers. Her
+ill temper was discouraging. If the King led her with him, she
+complained of everything; if he did not, there were floods of tears. If
+the dinner was not to her taste she sulked; if it pleased her, tormented
+herself: "Everything will be eaten, nothing will be left for me." "And
+the King jeered at her," added Mademoiselle, having the honour,
+through her birth, of being often found amongst those who "eat
+everything."
+
+[Illustration: =HELENE LAMBERT, MADAME DE MOTTEVILLE= After the painting
+by De Largilliere]
+
+Marie-Therese was good, generous, virtue itself, she had a violent
+passion for her husband, and with all this she was a person to be
+avoided. Mme. de Maintenon summed up the situation in saying that "the
+Queen knew how to love but not how to please; the reverse of the King,
+who possessed qualities for pleasing all, without being capable of a
+strong affection. All women except his own wife were agreeable to him."
+
+Free-thinkers and debauchees did not have to consider Marie-Therese; she
+had not a shadow of influence over her husband. For different reasons,
+neither Monsieur, the brother of the King, nor the wife of Monsieur were
+any obstacles. Much has been said of the seductive power of Mme.
+Henrietta of England[125]; of her irresistible grace, her delicate
+beauty, and her special charm. These characteristics, very rare with a
+great princess, had proved of great value during her youth of
+humiliating poverty, when she was reduced to living as a "private
+person." She had then met with "all celebrities, all civility, and all
+humanity, even upon ordinary conditions,[126] and nothing perhaps had
+contributed more to make her love men and adore women." Her faults were
+great, but they were not weighed against her, on account of that gift of
+pleasing which was in her and which circumstances had developed. Madame
+was a hidden evil influence, and an openly dangerous one. She could
+become the centre of low Court intrigues, without losing, or even
+risking, the loss of her empire over hearts. To this first good fortune
+was united that of having Bossuet to shelter her memory.
+
+Henrietta of England has traversed "centuries protected by his
+[Bossuet's] funeral oration," as she passed through her life protected
+by the fascination with which nature endows certain women, by no means
+always the best ones.
+
+Monsieur since our last encounter with him had not improved. He had, as
+might be said, publicly and without shame, established himself in vice,
+and in vice of the worst kind. Marriage had done nothing for him. "The
+miracle of inflaming the heart of this prince," discreetly explains Mme.
+de La Fayette, "was reserved for no woman belonging to the social
+world."[127] Delivered over to a crowd of very exacting favourites who
+never left him a moment free from domestic complications, Monsieur had,
+according to the expressive word of his mother, become indisputably an
+intriguer. Between Madame and himself, their court was a place of
+inconceivable agitation, a sink of lies and calumnies, of small
+perfidies, and little treasons, which make one sick, even when related
+by Mme. de La Fayette.
+
+Truly, I hardly know whether or not in writing her _Histoire de Madame
+Henriette_ this latter has rendered a service to her dear Princess.
+With the exception of the first pages, before the marriage, and of the
+beautiful death scene at the end, the rest is a tissue of nothings so
+contemptible in every respect that the book falls from one's hands: and
+this is all that the author of the _Princesse de Cleves_ has found to
+say about a person so prominent; of a sister-in-law to whom Louis XIV.
+confided political secrets and whom he loved almost _too_ dearly.
+
+Among all the personages belonging to the royal family, the Libertins
+had only to consider the Queen Mother, their declared enemy, and the
+King himself, as yet too reserved for it to be divined how he
+contemplated accommodating pleasure and religion. It had not taken long
+to perceive that he would not restrain himself in pleasure. He was
+married, June 9, 1660. A year later commenced the series of mistresses
+imposed upon the royal household and upon France, they and their
+children, in a fashion which recalls Oriental polygamy rather than the
+manners of the Occident. Louis XIV. had felt himself incapable of a
+virtuous life. One day, when his mother, profiting by the tenderness
+awakened by a reconciliation--they had not spoken for some time to each
+other--represented the scandal of his liaison with Mlle. de La Valliere,
+he responded cordially with tears of grief which proceeded from the
+bottom of his heart, where were still some remains of his former
+piety,--"that he knew his wrong; that he felt sometimes the pain and
+shame of it; that he had tried his best not to offend God and not to
+yield to his passions, but he was forced to confess that they were
+stronger than his reason, that he could not resist their violence, and
+that he no longer felt any desire so to do."[128]
+
+This conversation took place in July, 1664. The following autumn, the
+King having found the Queen, his wife, in tears in her oratoire on
+account of a too-well founded jealousy, he gave her the hope of finding
+him at thirty "a good husband,"--a somewhat cynical suggestion.
+
+He not only had "violent passions," but he had not discovered any
+reasons for restraining himself in regard to women. One reads in his
+_Memoires_, which were written for the dauphin to see, a passage worthy
+of Lord Chesterfield, in which he gives his son his ideas upon the
+subject of kings' mistresses.
+
+The page referred to relates to the year 1667, in which commenced the
+war of the _Devolution_:[129]
+
+     Before departing for the army, I sent an edict to Parliament. I
+     raised to a Duchy the territory of Vaujours in favour of Mlle.
+     de La Valliere and recognised a daughter of mine by her. For,
+     resolving in accompanying the army not to remain apart from
+     possible perils, I thought it just to assure to the child the
+     honour of her birth, and to give to her mother an establishment
+     suitable to the affection which since her sixth year I had felt
+     for her. I might have done well not to mention this attachment,
+     the example of which is not good to follow; but having drawn
+     much instruction from the failings
+     of others, I have not wished to deprive you of the lessons you may
+     learn from mine.
+
+[Illustration: =LOUISE DE LA VALLIERE= From the engraving by Flameng
+after the painting by Petitot] [Blank Page]
+
+The first instruction to draw from his failings was that it was not
+needful to waste time on women; "that the time devoted to love should
+never be taken to the prejudice of other duties." The second
+consideration was that in abandoning the heart it was necessary to
+remain absolute master of one's mind: that the tenderness of a lover
+should be separated from the resolutions of a sovereign; that the fair
+one who gives pleasure should never be permitted to speak of affairs, or
+of those who serve us, and that the two portions of life should be kept
+entirely apart. "You will remember how I have warned you on various
+occasions of the harmful influence of favourites; that of a mistress is
+still more dangerous."
+
+Louis XIV. insisted at length upon the mental weakness which makes women
+dangerous. He had studied them from an intimate point of view, and he
+judged "these animals" almost as did Arnolphe. "They are," said he to
+the Dauphin, "eloquent in their expressions, pressing in their prayers,
+obstinate in their sentiments. No secret can be safe with them. They
+always act with calculation, and consequently use 'cunning and
+artifice.' However much it may cost to a loving heart, a Prince cannot
+take too many 'precautions' with his mistresses. This is a duty imposed
+upon him by the throne itself."
+
+Poor La Valliere, so disinterested, so little of an intriguer! What
+grief if she had read these cruel pages!
+
+The counsels we have just read are very politic, very prudent; they have
+nothing to do with either morality or religion. The royal _Memoires_, in
+another part indeed, add that "the Prince should always be a perfect
+model of virtue," and also that it is a Christian duty to abstain from
+all illicit commerce, "which is _almost never innocent_."
+
+As a matter of fact, Louis XIV. had not extracted much in regard to
+moral discipline from a cult of which he knew only the forms. During his
+infancy, his mother had reserved to herself his religious education. She
+had led him at an early age into the churches, where she passed a
+portion of each day, and she had communicated to him a little of her
+narrow and mechanical piety. Louis XIV. never understood any other kind.
+He knew his catechism but little better than his Latin grammar. This
+ignorance was, perhaps, aggravated by the fact of his realising the need
+of a knowledge of Latin in order to read diplomatic despatches, while he
+could see no use whatever in knowing the facts of religion.
+
+He never changed in this respect; Mme. de Maintenon herself made vain
+efforts. The second Madame, La Palatine, did not succeed better. She
+wrote: "If he only believed that he should listen to his confessor and
+recite his _Pater Noster_, all would go well and his devotion would be
+perfect."[130]
+
+Holding these ideas, the King was very vexed, deified as he was by a
+crowd of adulators, to meet among his subjects men sufficiently bold to
+blame his conduct and to frankly tell him so. Some prelates showed
+severity. It belonged to their profession to do so. But that courtiers,
+and even, as it was related, a simple bourgeois of Paris, should dare to
+address remonstrances to their sovereign,--this could not be
+tolerated,--especially as their reproaches excited his mother against
+him,--at the risk of an embroilment, which in fact occurred.
+
+As good politics, if for no other reason, Louis XIV. was resolved not to
+permit any interference in his affairs. He felt somewhat vaguely that
+all these people were uniting to teach him a lesson. He suspected a
+considerable organised force behind this _Cabale des Devots_, who
+represented austerity at Court, and whom the Libertins of the Louvre
+ridiculed.
+
+We know this organised force. We have seen it at work in a former
+chapter under the name of _The Compagnie du Saint Sacrement_, when it
+was engaged with Vincent de Paul in the great charitable undertakings of
+the century.[131] The malevolent nickname of _Cabale des Devots_ had
+been given, towards the year 1658, by the many who abominated the
+society without knowing its true title or its organisation, simply
+because it disturbed the course of their own existence.
+
+Since the date at which we last saw the organisation at work, the
+management had been offering the same mixture of good and evil.
+
+Everything that it had done for the relief of the poor, the prisoners,
+the galley slaves, and other miserable beings, to protect them against
+abuse and tyranny, and to raise them morally, had been above all praise;
+as had also its efforts to assure a certain amount of decency in the
+streets, or to combat in the higher classes the two curses of the time,
+duels and gambling. As much cannot be said of the narrow and fanatical
+opinions which rendered it a persecutor and police agent, of its taste
+for spying or accusing, of its barbarity in regard to heretics and men
+of genius. It easily became dangerous and malignant, and it was
+difficult to find defence against this occult power which had "eyes and
+ears everywhere." Mazarin, whom it secretly tormented through anonymous
+letters, had sought and pursued it with eagerness, and during the last
+months of his life the society was forced to hide itself. After the
+death of the Cardinal, the _Compagnie_ again put itself in motion, and
+it is evident that it had regained confidence, for with only the Queen
+Mother for its friend it dared to attack the King.
+
+At this epoch, Anne of Austria is a very interesting person. The
+_Compagnie du Saint Sacrement_ had become a political party since it
+tried to make sure of the King, and if it had succeeded, the history of
+the entire reign would have been altered. Delivered to its influence,
+the State would not have delayed until the Great Revolution to trouble
+its conscience about the duties towards the people at large.
+
+The imprudence of the conduct of the society towards the King, and his
+indiscretions, gave the game to the Libertins. They did not despair,
+considering the discontent of the King, of attracting him to themselves,
+to their incredulity, their lack of docility towards religious belief,
+and in truth, without going to the point of regretting their final
+check, we can hardly be sorry that this "routine intelligence" should
+have received a slight shock.
+
+The mind of Louis XIV., so remarkable for its justice and solidity, was
+the opposite of the modern mind in its total absence of curiosity and in
+the difficulty of changing its point of view. The King had need of
+skeptical reading. As he never read, the assaults of the Libertins
+rendered him the service of slightly moving his ideas; they deranged him
+in his habits of mechanical practices.
+
+Olivier d'Ormesson, who was of the _Compagnie du Saint Sacrement_,
+wrote, after the Pentecost of 1664, "that the King had not performed his
+devotions at the fete, and that Monsieur having demanded if he intended
+to 'practice,' he had replied that he was no longer going to be a
+hypocrite like himself, who was confessing only to please the Queen
+Mother."[132]
+
+The conscience of the King was passing through a crisis; every one felt
+this. In the presence of an event of such importance, the misfortunes
+of the Grande Mademoiselle, already but little in the thoughts of the
+rising generation, completely lost interest. Everything was forgotten.
+
+During the first months of her exile, Mademoiselle was occupied in
+opposing the King. Louis XIV. had not abandoned the idea of marrying her
+to Alphonse VI., and Turenne was endeavouring to make her "reasonable,"
+from which resulted an "interchange of letters" and of official visits
+which had the good side of breaking the monotony at Saint-Fargeau. This
+time, the life there was very dull. The old animation had not returned.
+Too proud to avow it, Mademoiselle expressed herself cheerfully in her
+letters. On November 9, 1662, she wrote to Bussy-Rabutin: "I believe
+that the sojourn which I shall make here will be longer than you desire.
+If I were not afraid of appearing too indifferent, I should say that I
+care but little. Perhaps this would be true; but it is not well to
+always speak the truth."[133]
+
+Her _Memoires_ are more sincere. She relates that at the end of five
+months, she wrote to the King that she should die if she remained
+longer; that it was an unhealthy place on account of the marshes by
+which the chateau was surrounded; that she "did not believe herself to
+have done anything which merited death, and such a death, ... and if he
+wished her to make a long penitence for the crimes which she had _not_
+committed, she supplicated him to permit her to go to Eu." Louis XIV.
+permitted Eu, but made Mademoiselle understand that he had not renounced
+the project of marriage with the King of Portugal, and that he hoped to
+lead her, through his kindness, "to the sentiments she should have." She
+did not delay to discuss the matter. "I departed at once and quitted
+Saint-Fargeau without regret." This was a final adieu.
+
+Mademoiselle had just bought the Comte d'Eu, under circumstances which
+show how the landed and manorial estates of the ancient regime, which
+from a distance appear so solid, were in reality held by the most
+fragile tenure and at the mercy of any accident. The Comte d'Eu was the
+property of the illustrious and powerful family of Guise. In 1654, the
+proprietor of the moment, Louis de Lorraine, duc de Joyeuse, was killed
+at the siege of Arras, leaving an only son of youthful age, Louis Joseph
+de Lorraine, Prince de Joinville. This child had for guardian his aunt,
+Mlle. de Guise, an intelligent and important person, the oracle of the
+family, says Saint-Simon. He had also two other guardians, one of whom,
+Claude de Bourdeville, Comte de Montresor, had secretly married Mlle. de
+Guise. These three guardians soon perceived that they were powerless to
+defend the interests confided to them. The Comte d'Eu was burdened with
+two million francs of debt, a figure which would not have led to
+disaster if the Duc de Joyeuse had been there to make his rights
+respected and to reclaim his share of the monarchical manna; such as
+pensions, gratifications of the King, benefices, governments, Court
+charges. But he was dead, and the property of the minor had been put to
+the quarry, by the people of affairs on the one hand, and the Norman
+peasants on the other. Against these business sharks, the guardians were
+obliged, after years of struggle, to invoke the aid of Parliament. They
+addressed a petition[134] in which they stated that their ward, because
+he was a child "destitute of the powerful means" which his father would
+have possessed, had become the victim of usurers and rogues. The two
+million debt of the Comte d'Eu had been largely bought up by artificial
+and suspicious creditors, with whom it was impossible to arrive at any
+settlement.
+
+These fishers in troubled waters had brought the disorder to its height
+in practising seizures. The entire revenue was exhausted by expenses.
+The guardians besought Parliament to extricate them from this slough in
+ordering a replevin "of all the seizures and judgments, and in according
+that there should be a reprieve from all prosecutions and executions
+against them during two years." They hoped with this respite to arrive
+at a general liquidation.
+
+Against the Norman peasants no one saw anything to do but quickly to
+outwit them through the sale of the Comte d'Eu to a master capable of
+overawing them. The difficulty, under the conditions in France at that
+time, was to find a person of quality able to dispose of several
+millions.
+
+Mademoiselle, who always had money, had at once been thought of. At
+first, she was too occupied in fighting her father, but the idea struck
+her favourably, and as soon as her hands were free she remembered the
+suggestion. The bargain was concluded in 1657. This affair did not suit
+the pettifoggers. There were so many opposing clauses, so many legal
+complications, so many lawsuits, and so many decrees needed in order to
+place Mademoiselle in power, and to make it possible for her to possess
+Eu in due form, that years rolled by, as the petition of the two
+guardians testifies, before the peasants of Eu were deranged in their
+work of moles. During the delay, they had continued to devour the
+substance of the princely orphan, aided it must be said by other Normans
+not peasants, who did not show themselves more scrupulous or less
+avaricious.
+
+How both gentles and peasants acted can be exactly known through the
+Archives of Eu. At the time of the guardian petition, Mademoiselle had
+sent one of her men to take account of the state of affairs.
+
+The report of the agent, completed by other business papers,[135]
+establishes that the Comte of Eu drew more than half its revenue from
+its forest. This forest, which still exists, contains from ten to eleven
+thousand acres,[136] is eight to nine leagues long, and should have been
+formed of trees of all ages, if the inhabitants had not worked so
+industriously that it was difficult to find a "piece of timber." It was,
+at the date of which we are speaking, only underwood, and often only
+scrub bushes, on account of the cattle which "damaged it." The entire
+neigbourhood had contributed to this extraordinary destruction of a
+forest of eight leagues.
+
+The inhabitants of twenty villages, several abbeys, gentlemen, priests,
+simple private people had come, under pretext of "ancient rights," to
+take the wood as if it belonged to them. The guards of the forest and
+their relatives and friends had likewise helped themselves. The
+officials of the domain had cut, wrongly or rightly, what the public had
+left, and to complete the ruin of the woods, every one had sent cows or
+pigs to run through the young bushes.
+
+The agent of Mademoiselle concluded that it was absolutely needful to
+stop this pillage, or even "fifty thousand francs' worth of wood could
+never be secured annually." He pointed out other abuses; in the absence
+of a firm hand the nature of seignorial privilege rendered these
+inevitable. I have myself seen many tables of the revenues of the Comte
+Eu in the seventeenth century. The frauds must have been easy and
+tempting, the collecting of imposts most costly. One notes a payment
+due at Christmas, in money and material, by inhabitants, possessors of
+any real estate, "house or hovel," field or garden:
+
+     "Francis Guignon of the village of Cyrel owes 40 sols 2 capons,
+     on account of a house in the said Cyrel." "Francois de Buc ...
+     owes 8 sols a third of a capon, on account of a house."
+     "Guillaume Fumechon ... owes 43 sols and 2 capons on account of
+     half an acre of land." "The heirs of Jean Dree owe 8 sols and
+     the half of a capon." "Jean Rose 31 sols, 2 fowls and 11 eggs,
+     on account of meadow lands." "The Sieur de Saint-Igny of Mesnil
+     at Caux owes 4 francs 9 sols, 10 bushels of wheat and the same
+     quantity of oats." "Alizon owes 3 sols, 6 deniers and one third
+     of a capon." A cultivator owes "78 quarts of wheat, 15 bushels
+     of oats and a fowl." Another "2 bushels 1 quart of oats and a
+     quarter of a goose." Another "5 quarters of a goose,"
+
+and so on through 350 folio pages.
+
+The impost called "_du travers_" was enforced upon merchandise entering
+Eu by the gate of Picardy. So much was paid by chariot or loaded horse.
+Butchers paid for "every head of cattle, sow, or pig, one denier, for
+each white beast, an obole"; vendors of fish for each basket borne upon
+the arm, "2 deniers"; furriers for each skin, an obole.
+
+Then comes the impost "upon the 'old clothes,' or 'dyed materials' for
+which is due for every bed sold in the city of Eu, new or old, 4
+deniers; and for each robe, doublet, or pair of stockings, or any other
+article for the use of man or woman, when sold, 1 denier."
+
+The linen merchant also owed one denier, upon pain of amend, for each
+cut sold. There was levied a tax upon the measuring of grain and the
+weighing of merchandise. The mills were the property of the Lord of Eu,
+and grinding was not permitted except for him. The agent of Mademoiselle
+recommended the enforcing of this, which had been neglected, with the
+result of diminished revenue.
+
+The fishers of Treport paid 500 herrings at each drawing of the nets;
+outsiders who came to fish in the Treport, 100 herrings. All stray
+animals not reclaimed before one year belonged to the Lord of Eu, and
+all royal fish, like sturgeons, whales, porpoises, 8 "_oues de mer_,"
+and other large fish.
+
+This is not all, but it is sufficient to explain the rapidity with which
+the revenue of a seignorial property melted away when the master was not
+there to make the little world afraid, to solicit judges, in case of
+lawsuits, according to the usage, and to apply to the King in need, for
+an important person, having, according to the popular expression, "the
+long arm."
+
+Both evil and possible remedy were known. The deplorable state in which
+affairs had been found had not at all disturbed the agent of
+Mademoiselle. Knowing his mistress, he did not doubt that she would get
+the better of the Normans, and he predicted success. "When everything is
+put in order," said he, "(as appears will easily be accomplished) the
+Comte of Eu will be a profitable estate yielding a great revenue." The
+use of the word "easily" was a slight exaggeration. The Comte of Eu was
+finally "adjudged" to Mademoiselle de Montpensier, by "decree" of the
+Parliament of Paris, August 20, 1660, for the sum of 2,550,000 francs.
+She undertook at once to save the remnants of the forest and found the
+population leagued against her to guard its prey.
+
+At the end of six months, Mademoiselle felt that she was hardly strong
+enough for the task, and addressed herself to the King.[137] She
+explained to him that for the surveillance of her forest she had
+established a numerous guard which "cost much to support," but that the
+inhabitants had
+
+     formed the habit of entering boldly into the said forest and of
+     committing all sorts of misdemeanours, boasting that they would
+     continue so to do; that they had just killed with a gun shot in
+     his stomach, one of her guards for having tried to prevent a
+     theft of wood; that they were threatening others to have them
+     appointed collectors of imposts, which would leave them no time
+     to guard; that they taxed them as peasants, also with other
+     impositions; that, in one word, the best was done to render the
+     position of guard untenable.
+
+Mademoiselle consequently begged the King that he would particularly
+forbid the inhabitants to carry arms or to have them in their homes,
+and, on the other hand, that he would permit her guards to be armed. She
+reclaimed for them also certain privileges which would enable them to
+punish delinquents. Louis XIV. accorded all, and it proved possible to
+stop the depredations. On the death of Mademoiselle, the forest of Eu
+was again filled with full-grown trees.
+
+As to suppressing the "rights," it was useless to be first cousin to the
+King; this could not be accomplished. All that could be done was to
+prevent these rights multiplying and to limit as far as practicable
+their exactions. Between the possessors of these "rights" and the
+proprietor, there was a chronic state of hostility.
+
+There still exist special "rights" in France; every one can for himself
+observe the inconvenience of the system. The only one of those
+interested who derived no profits from the game was the little Prince de
+Joinville, his creditors having continued their man[oe]uvres to avoid
+any settlement.
+
+On March 27, 1661, the Parliament of Paris rendered a decree which
+obliged them to accept payment. Eight years had elapsed since the death
+of the Duc de Joyeuse. The budget of debts had reached the sum of two
+millions of francs.[138] When all was finally settled, instead of having
+a balance for their ward, the guardians found themselves in face of a
+deficit of more than 150,000 francs.
+
+We have already seen how Gaston, in his position as chief of the House,
+had boldly pillaged the fortune of his minor daughter. In the present
+case, on the contrary, it was the loss of the father which had given
+opportunity for the spoliation of a child. Mazarin had left Gaston
+alone as a punishment to Mademoiselle for her conduct during the Fronde.
+Louis XIV. seems to have taken little interest in the offshoot of the
+turbulent and ambitious family of Guise. In both cases, the favourable
+or unfavourable attitude of royalty had decided the issue of an affair
+of money.
+
+Mademoiselle took official possession of Eu on August 24, 1661. An entry
+such as she loved had been arranged, with procession, banners, Venetian
+lanterns, speeches, musket salutes, and the firing of cannon from all
+the artillery in the city[139]--one dozen pieces of cannon and forty
+_boetes_ upon the ramparts and eight cannon and forty _boetes_ upon the
+terrace of the chateau. Mademoiselle returned the following year, but
+only actually installed herself at Eu in 1663 after having obtained
+permission to leave Saint-Fargeau: "I am resolved to pass my winter
+here, without any chagrin at the thought." She watched her workmen,
+walked a great deal, and busied herself in the domestic offices. She
+also received visits: "There were many provincial people, reasonable
+enough; a number of persons of rank; but my heart was heavy. Comedians
+came to offer themselves; but I was in no humour for them. I began to be
+discouraged. I read; I worked; days were occupied in writing; all these
+things made the time pass insensibly."
+
+This page of the _Memoires_ permits a glimpse of a rather restricted
+life. A letter from Mademoiselle to Bussy-Rabutin confirms and
+accentuates the impression:
+
+    EU, November 28, 1663.
+
+     Here is the single response to your letters. I claim that you
+     should write four to my one, and I believe that this will be
+     better for you; for what can one send from a desert like this,
+     in which one sees no one all winter, the roads being
+     impracticable for people from a distance, from Paris for
+     instance, and the winds being so strong on the plains through
+     which neighbours must pass that the north-west wind is feared
+     by all as a furious beast.
+
+The situation of the Chateau d'Eu is melancholy enough, the sea wind
+truly "ferocious" in the environs. The gazettes from Paris were filled
+with descriptions of fetes and visions of glory, which contrasted with
+the mediocrity of a provincial court. Mademoiselle had in vain decided
+not to be bored. She discovered that she, like the rest of France, had
+no life far from the King; there was nothing left but shadow.
+
+In the memorable conversation in which Louis XIV. avowed to his mother
+that he was no longer master of his passions, Anne of Austria had warned
+him that he was "too intoxicated with his own grandeur."[140] She spoke
+truly; the infatuation had been rapid. The excuse for the King was the
+fact that the entire world shared in his self-admiration. It is not our
+plan to give any account of the internal government, or of diplomatic
+action, which relates to the early attempts of Louis XIV., so
+fruitful in great results and so glorious for himself. We limit
+ourselves to stating the fact. The superiority of France is manifested
+in the first contact with England and Spain, and was not less clearly
+felt on the other side of the Rhine. Louis, says a German historian,
+possessed an influence in the German Empire, at least in its western
+portions, equal if not superior to the authority of the Emperor.[141]
+
+Strangers were almost always struck by the solicitude of his government
+for artisans and commercial people.
+
+[Illustration: =JEAN BAPTISTE COLBERT= After the painting by Champaign]
+
+Without doubt, sentimental reasons did not count for much; when Colbert
+forbade the collectors of taxes to take the cattle from the labourers,
+he was simply applying in the name of the King the principles of a good
+business man who considers his debtor. But the benefit was no less
+great. From whatever point of view one looked, France gave to other
+nations the impression of a progressive people. It was recognised that
+she had taken the position of head of Europe. The country at large felt
+this. It very justly considered this upward flight due to the personal
+efforts of its young King, and was grateful for his enormous labour.
+
+Louis well understood this. It was a "party cry" to insist on all
+occasions upon the trouble which he took in his "trade of King" and the
+great fatigues which he endured for the public good. The _Gazette_, as
+an official journal, never failed to emphasise this. Every event was
+coloured to this end.
+
+Apropos of a trip of eight days, the journal wrote[142]: "This Prince,
+as indefatigable as Hercules in his labours," etc. It justified the
+royal ballets, which were most costly, by the excuse of the excessive
+brain work of the chief of state.
+
+"On the eighth [January, 1663], the King, wearied with the pains with
+which His Majesty works so indefatigably for the welfare of his
+subjects, enjoyed in the palace of the Cardinal the diversion of a
+ballet of seven acts, called the _Ballet des Arts_."
+
+Louis XIV. danced in the _Ballet des Arts_ three times; Mlles. de
+Valliere, de Sevigne, and de Mortemart had a lively success in it; the
+latter was on the eve of becoming Mme. de Montespan.[143] The accounts
+of the representations of the new ballet alternate in the _Gazette_ with
+the funeral ceremonies in honour of a daughter of the King and Queen,
+who died at six weeks of age on December 30th.
+
+Louis XIV. had wept over his loss with that superficial sensibility in
+which he resembles, strange as it seems, the philosophers of the
+seventeenth century. He could have given points to Diderot in regard to
+the facility of pouring out torrents of tears, and he often astonished
+the Court by his emotion. He deceived the Queen from morning till
+evening, and he cried to see her weep when he quitted her. He brought
+forth crocodile tears for the death of his father-in-law.[144] In a turn
+of the hand, again like Diderot, he forgot his existence, and lost on
+his account neither a step in the dance nor a _galant rendezvous_.
+
+[Illustration: ="PLEASURES OF THE ISLAND OF ENCHANTMENT." SCENE ON THE
+FIRST DAY OF THE PLAY, BEFORE THE KING AT VERSAILLES= From the engraving
+by Israel Silvestre
+]
+
+To the ballet succeeded other "relaxations," and it is curious to see
+the _Gazette_ taking the pains to explain that the King had well earned
+a simple trip for pleasure (April 7, 1663): "This week the King, in
+order to gain some relief from the continual application for the
+establishing the felicity of his subjects, has enjoyed the diversion of
+a little journey to Saint-Germain-en-Laye and to Versailles."
+
+The mundane chronicles[145] falling into line, Louis XIV. saw his
+"glory" as a great worker ascending into the clouds, together with his
+"glory" as a man of war, and in one word as "universal hero." He could
+not even exercise his musketeers without the _Gazette's_ issuing an
+extra leaf upon the "admiration of all spectators."[146]
+
+All France struck the same note. When he went to take possession of
+Dunkerque,[147] he passed before a plaster Olympus, fabricated for the
+occasion. "He witnessed Neptune, who respectfully lowered his trident;
+the spirits of the Earth and Sea prostrated before this mighty
+Prince"--that is to say, himself, and he permitted his official journal
+to regale the country with these follies; it was clear in his eyes that
+Neptune and his Court only did their duty. Every one was prepared to
+deify him, and he received this homage with pleasure. This atmosphere of
+worship was very harmful to a man born with much good sense and with
+many superior parts. The brilliancy of his Court, for which he was
+considered responsible, contributed also to the general dazzle.
+
+The surging crowd of twenty years later did not yet exist, when the
+Chateau of Versailles was finished, and Louis XIV. held his nobility
+lodged under his own hand,[148] only moving from his side to make a
+campaign. The young Court was only numerous at intervals. It will
+shortly be seen how much it had increased in May, 1664. On the 27th of
+the following month, the Duc d'Enghien wrote from Fontainebleau: "There
+are almost no women here, and but few men. Never has the Court been so
+small."[149] On August 16th, also at Fontainebleau, the Queen Mother gave
+a ball; she had only sixteen ladies and as many men.[150] In October,
+the Court is at Paris, and the King gives a fete: "The ball was not
+fine," writes the grand Conde, "the greater number of the ladies
+being still in the country. In all Paris, only fourteen could be
+found."[151]
+
+[Illustration: ="PLEASURES OF THE ISLAND OF ENCHANTMENT." SECOND DAY=
+From the engraving by Israel Silvestre]
+
+During these first years, the nobility was not yet encouraged to leave
+all, to come to live under the shadow of the throne. Those having
+provincial charges "obtained with difficulty leave of absence."[152]
+Those lacking money to appear with fitting magnificence had little aid
+to expect from royalty; the shower of gold did not begin to fall until
+later, and Louis XIV. even passed for being close-fisted.
+
+"Besides his natural temperament," said Conde, "which is not given to
+lavishness, he is held back by M. Colbert, who is still less given to
+spending, particularly when he is not persuaded of the advantage of the
+affair for which money must be scattered."[153] It is well known that
+Colbert did not love waste; but he did know how to be liberal, even for
+expenses of luxury. No one was more convinced of the advantage of
+display for a sovereign, and he spared neither pains nor state pennies
+in making the grand festivals with which his master entertained the
+Court and city, unrivalled in Europe. And they were unparalleled,
+especially in the early years when tastes, like everything else, were
+young. Even the faults, by which perhaps the tastes were benefited, were
+youthful.
+
+What is called impulse with the very young man takes the name of vice
+with the mature, and, whatever may be said, the one is much uglier than
+the other.
+
+Louis XIV. was only twenty-three when he fell in love with Mlle. de La
+Valliere, and the festivities which he offered in her honour expressed
+this freshness. There were exquisite fairy scenes with the light
+decorations of flowers and leaves. The most famous, on account of
+Moliere's partial authorship, was called the _Plaisirs de l'Ile
+enchantee_, which was given at Versailles in May, 1664. It lasted three
+days, and was prolonged three days more, in spite of the great number of
+invitations and the difficulties occasioned by the immense crowd. The
+Court, says a "Relation,"[154] arrived the fifth of May, and the King
+entertained till the fourteenth six hundred guests, beside a quantity of
+people needed for the dance and comedy, and of artisans of all sorts
+from Paris, so numerous that it appeared a small army.
+
+All now known of Versailles must be forgotten if we wish to picture it
+in 1664. Versailles was then a small village surrounded on three sides
+by fields and marshes.[155] The fourth side was occupied by a chateau
+which would have been spacious for a private person, but which meant
+little for a court; a few dependencies; the beginning of a garden
+planted by Le Notre. That was all.
+
+[Illustration: =GENERAL VIEW OF THE CHATEAU OF VERSAILLES= From the
+engraving by Israel Silvestre, 1664]
+
+Colbert considered Versailles already too large, as soon as Louis XIV.
+decided to offer anything more to his guests than the four walls of
+their chambers. It will be remembered[156] that when Mademoiselle came
+to Saint-Germain to visit the Queen Mother she brought her own furniture
+and cook. Not even food was provided. This was the general rule.
+
+Louis XIV. aspired to great hospitality, and commenced his reform at
+Versailles. "What is very peculiar in this house," wrote Colbert in
+1663, "is that his Majesty has desired all apartments given to guests to
+be furnished. He also orders every one to be fed and provided with all
+necessities, even to the wood and candles in the chambers, which has
+never been the custom in royal establishments."
+
+Colbert was evidently in a bad humour. There were, however, but few
+apartments to offer in the Chateau of Versailles; the 600 guests soon
+perceived this fact themselves.
+
+The journal of Olivier d'Ormesson contains on the date of May 13 the
+following lines: "This same day, Mme. de Sevigne has related to us the
+diversions of Versailles, which have lasted from Wednesday till
+Sunday[157]: courses of bague, ballets, comedies, fireworks, and other
+beautiful inventions; but all the courtiers were enraged, for the King
+took no care of them, and Monsieurs de Guise and d'Elbeuf could hardly
+find a hole in which to shelter themselves." It is to be noted that the
+Duc de Guise must costume himself and all his lackeys.
+
+The theme of the fete had been drawn from _Roland furieux_, and had been
+made to accord with up-to-date episodes, by a courtier expert in this
+kind of work, the Duc de Saint-Aignan. During three days and three
+nights, a volunteer company, composed of Louis XIV., Moliere, and the
+greatest nobles of France, with the prettiest actresses of Paris,
+embellished the imaginations of Ariosto, in the presence of two queens
+and of an immense Court which seemed, says the _Gazette_, to have
+"exhausted the Indies"[158] in order to cover itself with precious
+stones. Halls of verdure, arches of flowers, and the vault of heaven
+formed the frame in which deployed the mythological processions, the
+games of chivalry, the ballets, the festivities for the "little army,"
+and the first two representations of Moliere, of which one was to be the
+striking literary event of the century. In the evening, lamps hung upon
+the trees were lighted and the fete continued during the night. Gentle
+and tender music softened this apotheosis of love, of which the
+heroine--and this gave an added charm--remained hidden in the crowd;
+Louise de La Valliere was still neither "recognised" nor duchess.
+
+The first of the great days of the fete was open to all. The King of
+France and the flower of the nobility as Paladins of Charlemagne,
+clothed and armed "a la grecque," according to the seventeenth century
+ideas of local colour, took part in a tournament before a sumptuous
+assembly who, at the appearance of the master, uttered "cries of joy and
+admiration."[159]
+
+[Illustration: =THE FRONT OF THE LOUVRE IN COURSE OF ERECTION= From the
+engraving by S. le Clerc, 1677]
+
+Louis XIV. sought these exhibitions. He shone in them and attributed to
+them an importance which in his _Memoires_ he explains to his son. He
+believed them very efficacious for binding together the affections of
+the people, above all those of high rank, and the sovereign. The
+populace have always loved spectacles, and for the nobility, the more
+closely the King keeps it at Court, the more pains he must take to show
+that there is no aversion between sovereign and subject, but simply a
+question of reason and duty. Nothing serves better for this than
+carrousels and other diversions of the same nature: "This society of
+pleasure, which gives to the courtiers an honest familiarity with us,
+touches and charms them more than can be told."
+
+The partakers in the "Tournament" of 1664 had in reality been very proud
+of the honour done them. They appeared covered with gold, silver, and
+jewelry, escorted by pages and gentlemen gallantly equipped. After them,
+defiled allegorical chariots, personages of fable, and strange animals,
+Moliere as the god Pan, one of his comrades mounted upon an elephant,
+another upon a camel.
+
+At the supper in the open air, which terminated the day, the royal table
+was served by the _corps de ballet_, who, dancing and whirling bore in
+the different dishes. The cavaliers of the tournament, with their
+helmets covered with feathers of various colours, and wearing the
+mantles of the course, stood erect behind the guests. Two hundred masks,
+bearing torches of white wax illumined this admirable living picture,
+worthy of the great poet who inspired it.
+
+The next day was occupied in giving to the two hundred guests a lesson
+in natural philosophy, no longer symbolical and veiled, but clear and
+direct; it was perfectly comprehended and the spectators were convinced.
+The lesson was from Moliere, who had written his _Princesse
+d'Elide_[160] in the design well formed of "celebrating" and
+"justifying" the loves of the King and La Valliere. The _Recit de
+l'Aurore_ will be recalled which opens the piece.
+
+    Dans l'age ou l'on est amiable,
+    Rien n'est si beau que d'aimer.
+
+    Soupirer librement pour un amant fidele,
+    Et braver ceux qui voudraient vous blamer.
+
+It will also be recollected that the five acts which follow are only the
+development, full of insistence, of that invitation to the ladies of the
+Court not to merit the "name of cruel." After serious affairs,
+innocent pleasures followed, the most applauded of which was a piece of
+fireworks which embraced "the heavens, the earth, and the waters."
+
+[Illustration: =JEAN BAPTISTE POQUELIN MOLIERE= After the painting by
+Noel Coypel]
+
+Every one was already thinking of departure, when on Monday, May 12th,
+Moliere presented the first act of _Tartuffe_.
+
+The connivance of the King appears well established. Father Rapin
+relates that the "sect of the _Devots_" had, since the time of Mazarin,
+rendered itself so insupportable by its indiscreet advice, that the
+King, "in order to ridicule them, had permitted Moliere to represent
+them on the stage." The _Devots_ had seen the blow coming, and did their
+best to avoid it; the annals of the _Compagnie du Saint Sacrement_
+affirm this.[161] They report that there was "strong talk" in the seance
+of April 17th, in the attempt to accomplish the suppression of the
+wicked comedy _Tartuffe_.
+
+Each member of the _Compagnie_ charged himself to speak to any friends
+who had credit at Court, "begging aid in preventing its representation."
+The effort was vain. _Tartuffe_ was acted. The spectators divined
+without difficulty whom Moliere had in view, and the _Devots_ heard with
+emotion this openly significant expression of contempt of religious
+forms, in less than one week after the _Princesse d'Elide_ had thrown
+its weight upon the side of questionable morals.
+
+From the point of view of a general principle, the two pieces naturally
+followed each other; they were two chapters of the same gospel. The King
+had the air of being about to pass to the enemy and of uniting himself
+with the Libertins. The Cabal made a desperate effort and _Tartuffe_ was
+forbidden; at the same time no one imagined that the battle was
+terminated.
+
+An extraordinary agitation around the King might have been seen during
+the weeks which followed the fetes of Versailles. The Court at once
+departed for Fontainebleau; the two parties disputed the entire summer
+over the young monarch.
+
+Louis himself had skirmished with both. The King felt at the same time a
+personal revolt against the constraints of the Church, and the need of a
+politic catholicity which would sustain the practices of religion for
+State reasons, because he could not do without their aid. These two
+fashions of thinking can easily be accommodated together, and the King
+was in train to learn how to do this. After a little delay, the
+conciliation between the two points of view was completed in his mind.
+
+While waiting, he lived in the midst of floods of tears. The summer was
+a very troubled one.
+
+Such events held the attention of Paris, but the poor Mademoiselle,
+forgotten in the Chateau d'Eu, fretted so much that at length her pride
+was conquered. "Upon the news of the pregnancy of the Queen," says the
+_Memoires_, "I decided to write, dreaming that perhaps the King wished
+to be besought," and she abased herself to do this. She at first
+expressed the hope that the child might be a son. "I exaggerated with
+good faith the desire which I had, and I showed the grief I felt in
+being forced to remain so long without the honour of seeing him [the
+King]. I said everything I could to oblige him to permit me to return."
+
+She wrote at the same time to Colbert, who was considered the powerful
+man of the ministry:
+
+    EU, March 23, 1664.
+
+    MONSIEUR COLBERT:
+
+     In bearing testimony to the King of the joy which I have in the
+     pregnancy of the Queen, I am daring to command his good graces,
+     and the permission for an audience to ask them in person.
+
+     I trust that you will assist me with your good offices to
+     obtain so precious a favour. If I cannot succeed in obtaining
+     this, I beg to be permitted to pass through Paris before
+     May,[162] having three considerable lawsuits at this date. I
+     look, on this occasion, for the continuation of your good
+     offices.
+
+    ANNE-MARIE-LOUISE D'ORLEANS.
+
+The King waited two months before responding:
+
+    TO MY COUSIN MADEMOISELLE, ELDEST DAUGHTER OF THE
+    LATE MONSEIGNEUR DUC D'ORLEANS
+
+    MY COUSIN:
+
+     It consoles me much to find you in the state of mind which your
+     letter shows. I willingly forget the past and permit you not
+     only to pass through Paris, but also either to dwell there, or
+     to choose any other place of residence which may be agreeable
+     to you, and even to come here in case you wish it, if you
+     assure me that your conduct will always give me reason for
+     cherishing you and for treating you properly as a personage so
+     nearly related.
+
+     I thank you for the affection with which you write to me of the
+     Queen's pregnancy and pray, etc.
+
+    LOUIS.
+
+Some days later Mademoiselle was _en route_ for Fontainebleau, well
+resolved to show herself. She was transported with joy at having
+recovered liberty of movement, but the Court at this time inspired her
+with terror. The ground had become too slippery for a person of her
+temperament, loving so much her independence and rebellious to all
+discipline.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 94: "_Portrait de Mademoiselle fait par elle-meme_" (Nov.,
+1657) in _La Galerie des Portraits de Mademoiselle de Montpensier_,
+edited by Eduard de Barthelemy (Paris, 1860).]
+
+[Footnote 95: Mme. de Rambouillet died very aged in 1665. Her influence
+ended in 1650.]
+
+[Footnote 96: _Le Grand Cyrus._ The greater part of the friends of Mlle.
+de Scudery are given assumed names. Mlle. Bocquet is called Agelaste.]
+
+[Footnote 97: Cf. _La Societe francaise au XVII{e}. siecle_, vol., ch.
+xv.]
+
+[Footnote 98: This is the friend of Mme. de Sevigne.]
+
+[Footnote 99: Sister-in-law of the preceding. She married, in 1662,
+Bernard, Duke of Saxe-Jena.]
+
+[Footnote 100: Mademoiselle says in her _Memoires_ that they "_had_" them
+written. This is an error.]
+
+[Footnote 101: _La Galerie des Portraits._]
+
+[Footnote 102: M. de Barthelemy, editor of the _Galerie des Portraits_,
+called Honorat de Bueil, marquis de Racan; born in 1589, died in 1670.]
+
+[Footnote 103: Or forty-six, depending upon the date of the Portrait,
+1658 or 1659.]
+
+[Footnote 104: _L'Ecole des Femmes_ was issued in 1662.]
+
+[Footnote 105: The expression is from the beautiful Marquise de Mauny,
+who formed part of the little Court of Saint-Fargeau.]
+
+[Footnote 106: From Mme. de Sainctot, wife of the master of ceremonies
+and introducer of ambassadors under Louis XIV. She was a friend of
+Voiture.]
+
+[Footnote 107: The others are, _Vie de Madame de Fouquerolles_, supposed
+autobiography of a lady mixed up with Fronde intrigues (MS. exists in
+the library of the Arsenal), and _La Relation de l'Isle imaginaire_
+(1658), badinage upon an episode in _Don Quixote_.]
+
+[Footnote 108: _Memoires._ Francois-Timoleon de Choisy was born in 1644.
+There is some question as to who was his mother.]
+
+[Footnote 109: Marguerite Louise d'Orleans was born July 28, 1645;
+Elisabeth, called Mlle. d'Alencon, December 26, 1646;
+Francoise-Madeleine, called Mlle. de Valois, October 13, 1648.]
+
+[Footnote 110: Born at Tours in 1644. Her father, Laurent de La Baume Le
+Blanc, Seigneur de La Valliere, dying in 1654, her mother remarried
+Jacques de Courtavel, marquis de Saint-Remi, maitre d'hotel de Gaston
+d'Orleans.]
+
+[Footnote 111: Cf. _Madame, Memoirs of Henrietta, Duchess of Orleans_,
+by Julia Cartwright (London, 1894).]
+
+[Footnote 112: Lady Derby was a La Tremouille. The sister-in-law to whom
+the letters are addressed was the sister of Turenne.]
+
+[Footnote 113: Or Charles IV.; there are two methods of counting the
+Dukes of Lorraine.]
+
+[Footnote 114: See the very curious volume by M. Rodocanachi, _Les
+Infortunes d'une petite-fille d'Henri IV._ The marriage of the Princess
+Marguerite with the Duke of Tuscany took place April 19, 1661.]
+
+[Footnote 115: _Memoires_ of Mademoiselle.]
+
+[Footnote 116: Par Fortin de la Hoguete (1645).]
+
+[Footnote 117: _L'Image du Souverain_ (1649).]
+
+[Footnote 118: _Memoires pour 1667._ Ed. by Charles Dreyss.]
+
+[Footnote 119: Portugal had again become independent in 1640.]
+
+[Footnote 120: _Memoires_ for the year 1661.]
+
+[Footnote 121: Mignet, _Negociations relatives a la succession
+d'Espagne_.]
+
+[Footnote 122: Elisabeth de France, daughter of Henry IV., born in 1602.
+She married Philip IV., in 1615, gave birth to Marie-Therese in 1638,
+and died in 1644.]
+
+[Footnote 123: This was the Marshal de Gramont, father of the Comte de
+Guiche. The "magnificence" and the "_galanterie_" of his journey to
+Madrid to demand the Infanta have left lively memories.]
+
+[Footnote 124: _Souvenirs de Madame de Caylus_, _Memoires de Mme. de
+Motteville_, _Souvenirs sur Madame de Maintenon_, published by the Comte
+de Haussonville and M. G. Hanotaux.]
+
+[Footnote 125: Married on April 1, 1661, at seventeen. Monsieur
+(Philippe de France, duc d'Orleans) was then twenty-one.]
+
+[Footnote 126: _Histoire de Madame Henriette d'Angleterre_, by Mme. de
+La Fayette.]
+
+[Footnote 127: _Histoire de Madame de Henriette_, etc.]
+
+[Footnote 128: _Memoires de Mme. de Motteville._]
+
+[Footnote 129: War between relations in regard to property.]
+
+[Footnote 130: Letter of July 9, 1749, and _passim_, in his
+correspondence.]
+
+[Footnote 131: Cf. _La Cabale des Devots_, by M. Raoul Allier.]
+
+[Footnote 132: _Journal d'Olivier Lefevre d'Ormesson._]
+
+[Footnote 133: _Memoires de Bussy-Rabutin._]
+
+[Footnote 134: _A nos Seigneurs de Parlement._--Archives of the Chateau
+of Eu. Mgr. le Duc d'Orleans has thrown open to me the Archives of Eu
+with a liberality for which I here heartily express my gratitude.]
+
+[Footnote 135: _Declaration par le Menu du Comte d'Eu_ (May 8, 1660),
+and _Inventoire general du Comte d'Eu_ (July 1, 1663).]
+
+[Footnote 136: The Norman acre contains 81 acres and 71 _centiares._]
+
+[Footnote 137: Her request to the King was dated February 9, 1661
+(Archives of Eu).]
+
+[Footnote 138: The debts amounted exactly to 2,700,718 frs. 18 sols.
+(_Liste des Creanciers_ in Archives of the Chateau of Eu). It will be
+remembered that Mademoiselle paid for Eu 2,550,000 frs.]
+
+[Footnote 139: The account of the entry of Mademoiselle is in the
+Archives of the Chateau of Eu.]
+
+[Footnote 140: Motteville.]
+
+[Footnote 141: _Histoire de France_, by Leopold Ranke.]
+
+[Footnote 142: _Numero_ of September 14, 1663.]
+
+[Footnote 143: The marriage took place on January 28th.]
+
+[Footnote 144: Philippe IV. died September 17, 1665.]
+
+[Footnote 145: Cf. _La Relation des Divertissements que le Roi a donnes
+aux Reines_, etc., by Marigny (June, 1664).]
+
+[Footnote 146: Number of July, 21, 1663, and _passim_.]
+
+[Footnote 147: Louis XIV. had bought Dunkerque from the King of England.
+The city was delivered November 27, 1662. For account of the entrance of
+the King, see the _Gazette_.]
+
+[Footnote 148: Louis XIV. was installed at Versailles, as a residence,
+May 6, 1682.]
+
+[Footnote 149: Letter to the Queen of Poland, Marie de Gonzague
+(Archives of Chantilly). The Duc d'Enghien had married, December 11,
+1663, Anne de Bariere, daughter of the Princess Palatine and niece of
+Marie de Gonzague.]
+
+[Footnote 150: _Journal d'Olivier d'Ormesson._]
+
+[Footnote 151: Letter of October 31st to the Queen of Poland (Archives
+of Chantilly).]
+
+[Footnote 152: Cf. _De La Valliere a Montespan_, by Jean Lemoine and
+Andre Lichtenberger.]
+
+[Footnote 153: Letter dated December 28, 1663, to the Queen of Poland
+(Archives of Chantilly).]
+
+[Footnote 154: See the _Moliere_ of the _Grands Ecrivains_, v., iv.]
+
+[Footnote 155: See the contemporary engravings. Some reproductions will
+be found in the beautiful work of M. de Nolhac, _La Creation de
+Versailles_.]
+
+[Footnote 156: See the _Youth of La Grande Mademoiselle_.]
+
+[Footnote 157: From the 7th to the 11th of May, the first two days and
+the last two not counted.]
+
+[Footnote 158: Number of February 3, 1663, apropos of a ball given at
+the Louvre by the King on January 31st.]
+
+[Footnote 159: For this portion, see the _Gazette_ of May 17th, the
+letters from Loret of the 10th and 17th, various _Relations du temps_,
+the _Moliere_ of the _Grands Ecrivains_, etc.]
+
+[Footnote 160: _Louise de La Valliere_, by J. Lair.]
+
+[Footnote 161: See _La Cabale des Devots_, by M. Raoul Allier.]
+
+[Footnote 162: A doubtful phrase.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+     Increasing Importance of the Affairs of Love--The Corrupters of
+     Morals--Birth of Dramatic Music and its Influence--Love in
+     Racine--Louis XIV. and the Nobility--The King is Polygamous.
+
+It was neither through compassion nor through friendship that Louis XIV.
+had recalled from exile a second time his cousin Mlle. de Montpensier.
+He had renounced the idea of marrying her to Alphonse VI. since she
+persisted in her refusal, but he pursued the plan of giving her in
+marriage "where it would be useful to his service."
+
+And there was reason for entertaining another project. While she was in
+penitence at Eu, one of the little sisters, Mlle. de Valois, had married
+the Duc de Savoie, Charles Emmanuel II., and had died (January 14,
+1664), at the end of some months of wedded life. The widowhood of
+princes is rarely a matter of long duration. The King had immediately
+arranged to offer the millions of the Grande Mademoiselle to the Duc de
+Savoie, it being of first importance to bring back this territory to
+France, and to recompense the King of Portugal by giving him one of the
+princesses of Nemours.[163]
+
+The new combination was well known in the political world. One reads in
+the journal of Olivier d'Ormesson on the date of June 4, 1664: "M. Le
+Pelletier[164] tells me of the return of Mlle. d'Orleans, and that the
+King had written to her with his own hand, permitting her to come back,
+without saying anything to the Queen Mother; but this was with the
+Savoie marriage in sight." Louis XIV. had not resigned himself without
+effort to the idea of procuring so fine an establishment for an ancient
+Frondeuse. It may be seen through a letter from the grand Conde to the
+Queen of Poland that the royal rancour had yielded for reasons of State:
+
+    Fontainebleau, June 3, 1664.
+
+     Mademoiselle having written to the King about the pregnancy of
+     the Queen, his Majesty has himself responded, which is a mark
+     of softened feelings, and every one believes that she will
+     return and that his Majesty will consent to her marriage with
+     M. de Savoie, which up to this time he has not desired, because
+     he preferred that of Mlle. d'Alencon[165]: but as she is very
+     ugly, and as an additional distinction is badly marked with
+     small-pox, he has reason to believe that M. de Savoie will not
+     be willing to espouse her; and he fears that there may be a
+     question of a union with the Austrian House, and thus I
+     believe, in spite of his own dislikes, he will wish to hasten
+     the marriage of Mademoiselle which, however, is not so certain
+     as it appears.[166]
+
+There was no danger of pouts in regard to this prospective husband;
+this the King well understood. Mademoiselle arrived at Fontainebleau
+during the first fortnight of June, 1664. The entire Court had met her
+upon the highway.
+
+Mademoiselle was the first to whom the King had yielded since assuming
+the reins of government. This was a glory; she, indeed, felt it and held
+her head high. Louis XIV. had the good taste to ignore this attitude. He
+greeted her graciously and limited his vengeance to teasing her during
+the few days she passed with him. "Confess," said he to her, "that you
+are very bored." She cried, "I assure you not at all, and I often think
+that the Court is very much deceived if it believes me disenchanted, for
+I have not experienced a moment's dulness."
+
+The King, however, believed only what pleased him. One evening, after
+the play, he led her upon a little terrace and spoke in these terms:
+"The past must be forgotten. Be persuaded that you will receive all good
+treatment from me in the future, and that I am contemplating your
+establishment. Naturally, M. de Savoie is a better match than formerly;
+his mother is dead. He will recognise the difference between your sister
+and yourself. Thus you will be very happy and I shall work seriously to
+accomplish this." The King's discourse was followed by an exchange of
+effusions. "We embraced each other, my cousin and I," said the King in
+reappearing before his Court, and the signal word was at once
+comprehended.
+
+The Grande Mademoiselle passed an almost triumphal week at Fontainebleau.
+The repose of provincial life was hard to bear in comparison. The King,
+the ministers, and the ambassadors all worked for the marriage. There
+was nothing to do but to leave them to act. Mademoiselle wished to aid.
+To commence she undertook to reduce to silence the old Madame, who was
+outraged by her eagerness to replace her younger sister.
+
+Dissatisfactions grew into quarrels and Louis XIV. was forced to
+intervene, and to silence all these women. He wrote to Mademoiselle:
+
+    TO MY COUSIN
+
+    MY COUSIN:
+
+     I cannot prevent my aunt's people from talking, but I hardly
+     believe that she would say that I have promised her protection
+     against you.
+
+     I love you and consider you, as much as the most pressing
+     desires which pass through your brain are capable of inspiring
+     me, and assuredly it is my intention to give you pleasure in
+     every degree possible. I only avow that you can do much on your
+     part in facilitating things a little; this is my only request,
+     and having nothing to add to so sincere an explanation of my
+     sentiments, I finish this letter, praying God, etc.
+
+     Written at Fontainebleau, July 12, 1664.
+
+    Signed: Louis.[167]
+
+It was beyond the strength of Mademoiselle to abstain from interference.
+Her anxiety to be the fly on the wheel drew upon her a new letter from
+the King. The tone is that of a very impatient man.
+
+    TO MY COUSIN
+
+    MY COUSIN:
+
+     I see clearly by your last letter that you are not accurately
+     informed of what is passing in Piedmont; for I have been
+     obliged to be very badly satisfied with my ambassador, in that
+     he has executed my orders with so much warmth that the Duc de
+     Savoie complains through his despatches to Count Carrocio of
+     apparently being forced into an action which should be the
+     freest, even to the smallest particular. Judge by this fact if
+     the conduct proposed and suggested to you is wise?
+
+     I perceive even malice in those who give you such advice; for
+     their desire is to put you in such a state of mind that if the
+     affair fail it is I who am to blame.
+
+     I see that you are already persuaded that success depends upon
+     my simple wish expressing my desire on one side or the other,
+     but I am not resolved to conduct myself according to the
+     caprices of those people.
+
+     I have told you that I sincerely wish your satisfaction and I
+     again affirm it. The friendship alone which I have for you
+     would give me this feeling, and I realise also that the scheme
+     is beneficial for me.
+
+     You must not doubt, therefore, that I will do all which will be
+     really useful in furthering the affair; as for the means, it is
+     not too much to say that I see better what should be done than
+     those who speak and write to you. However, I pray God, etc.
+
+     At Vincennes, September 2, 1664.
+
+    Signed; Louis.
+
+The King spoke the truth: the Duc de Savoie did not want the Grande
+Mademoiselle. Charles Emmanuel had never digested the affront received
+upon the journey to Lyons, from which he had seen his sister return
+Duchess of Parma when he had imagined to receive her as Queen of
+France.[168] He was not averse to revenging himself on Louis XIV. by
+refusing a princess of his family whose age above all "made him afraid,
+for he desired children."[169]
+
+He had also an account to regulate with Mademoiselle, who had disdained
+him at the time in which she was young and beautiful. At this distant
+date, Charles Emmanuel, although her junior by seventeen years, had not
+concealed the fact that he would have been ready to marry her, "so much
+did he esteem her person and also her great wealth."[170]
+
+But it was with the Duc de Savoie as with the Prince of Wales, and later
+with the Prince de Lorraine:
+
+    Quoi? moi! quoi? ces gens-la! l'on radote, je pense,
+    A moi les proposer! helas! ils font pitie:
+        Voyez un peu la belle espece.[171]
+
+Having become less exacting with years, Mademoiselle at length found a
+man who did not disdain to play the part of substitute for his betters.
+
+The Duke remained firm, and it was again a Nemours,[172] sister of the
+Queen of Portugal, who inherited the husband destined for the Grande
+Mademoiselle.
+
+Equally difficult, the same fate fell upon Mademoiselle as upon the
+marriageable daughter in La Fontaine: she was to be reduced to wed a
+cadet of Gascony, the _malotru_ of the fable. I believe that La
+Fontaine had Mademoiselle in his mind when writing _La Fille_. It has
+been queried whether this subject was not borrowed from the _Epigram_ of
+Martial. There is no need for so distant a search. On July 8, 1664, La
+Fontaine had been appointed "gentleman-in-waiting to the dowager
+Duchesse d'Orleans."[173] He was, therefore, in a position to be well
+informed concerning the projects for marriage which failed, and the
+ridiculous actions of the daughter of the house. We possess his
+confidences upon the household of the Luxembourg, on the one side of the
+apartments of Madame, on the other those of Mademoiselle, in an epistle
+dedicated to Mignon, the little dog of his mistress.
+
+For La Fontaine, the Luxembourg was the palace in which there was no
+place for lovers. The tender passion was forbidden _chez_ Madame, where
+it was necessary to be contented with the "pious smiles" of Mme. de
+Crisse, the original of the Countess de Pimbesche, and to bear in mind
+the presence of an old Capuchin become Bishop of Bethleem in
+Nivernais,[174] who supervised the conversations. "Speak low," says the
+letter _Pour Mignon_.
+
+    Si l'eveque de Bethleem
+      Nous entendait, Dieu sait la vie.
+
+There was not even the resource of fleeing to the "Divinity" opposite.
+Under that shelter, lovers were less well regarded year by year, and La
+Fontaine divined why: the antipathy always evinced by Mademoiselle was
+now doubled by envy.
+
+The check in regard to the Savoie marriage had brought on a painful
+crisis in the life of this poor unattached heroine. For the first time,
+she had been made to feel that she had passed the marriageable age, and
+she was one of those unfortunates who cannot easily resign themselves to
+the fall from the purely feminine portion of existence.
+
+The revolt against nature frequently causes whimsicalities; a terrible
+injustice toward those doleful creatures who often have asked no better
+than to obey nature's laws in becoming wives and mothers. Nervous
+maladies give to the soul-tragedy a burlesque outside, and the world
+laughs without comprehending. Mademoiselle was one of these
+unfortunates. La Fontaine had well discovered it when he wrote:
+
+    Son miroir lui disait: "Prenez vite un mari."
+    Je ne sais quel desir le lui disait aussi:
+    Le desir peut loger chez une precieuse.
+
+It is very difficult to relate the decline of the Grande Mademoiselle
+without provoking a smile at least, and it would be a pity, however, if
+this proud figure should leave the even slight impression of that of
+Belise. She was left disabled, without aim in life, at the very moment
+in which women in general were being excluded from action, after having
+been slightly intoxicated with power under Anne of Austria. Men had at
+that time encouraged women to enter into public life. Thanks to
+masculine complicity, feminine influence and power had mounted high, and
+the weaker sex enjoyed one of the most romantic moments of its entire
+history.
+
+The habit of treating women as the equals of men had been fully formed
+when the will of a monarch who distrusted them precipitated the sex from
+its giddy height.
+
+It has been seen _a propos_ of La Valliere with what contempt Louis XIV.
+spoke of women in his _Memoires_. Upon this subject he had truly
+Oriental ideas, approaching those held by his Spanish ancestors,
+inherited by them from the Moors. Louis could not do without women, but
+he wanted them only for amusement. He did not really believe them
+capable of giving anything else, judging them inferior and dangerous,
+perhaps in remembrance of Marie Mancini, who had almost enticed him into
+a crime against royalty.
+
+Hardly had the King come to power when all who had issued from their
+sphere must re-enter it. Love was the only affair of importance in which
+women were permitted to share. Louis XIV. made no exception in favour of
+his mistresses. Mme. de Montespan tyrannised a little over him in spite
+of his fine theories. The others, however, were looked upon only in the
+light of beautiful and amusing creatures.
+
+When, towards the end of the reign, Mme. de Maintenon had the glory of
+again raising the sex to the position of being esteemed by the King,
+she alone benefited. In general, nothing was gained for women at large;
+the impression in regard to their true position had been too deep.
+Suddenly reduced to an existence with a narrow horizon, women found it
+colourless and mean. They demanded love, since this was all that was
+left to them to supply those violent emotions to which they had become
+accustomed in the camps and councils. As the result of this new attitude
+many strange events occurred, but they were little noticed as long as
+the Queen Mother remained of this world. Anne of Austria succeeded in
+saving appearances, if in nothing else. Once dead, there came the
+downfall, and strange things became frightful ones.
+
+It was at Versailles in the midst of the Bengal fires of the "Ile
+enchantee" that the Queen Mother felt the first pangs of the cancer
+which finally caused her death.
+
+Paris followed with grief the course of her illness. Anne of Austria,
+remaining without influence, had again become popular. "She preserves
+harmony," wrote d'Ormesson, "and although she cannot be credited with
+much good, she still prevents much that is evil" (June 5, 1665). It is
+known that it was owing to her that a certain decency was maintained at
+the Court of France; that without her, Louis XIV. and his sister-in-law
+Henrietta would not have perceived in time that they already cared too
+much for each other and that the rumour of this was "making much noise
+at Court."[175]
+
+[Illustration: =MADAME HENRIETTE D'ORLEANS= From the painting by Mignard
+in the National Portrait Gallery (Photograph by Walker, London)]
+
+The Queen Mother was forced to open eyes which wished to remain closed.
+She had spoken frankly, and her plainness had perhaps saved the kingdom
+of France from an ineffaceable stain. Such service cannot be forgotten
+by honest people. To gratitude was added a sincere admiration for her
+courage under suffering. The poor woman endured without complaint, and
+with an incredible tranquillity, nine months of sharp pain increased by
+the barbarous remedies applied by a crowd of quacks.
+
+In the royal family, the sentiments were mixed. Louis XIV., as Mme. de
+Motteville had well remarked, was a man full of "contradictions." He
+cherished his mother. During a previous malady, a short time before the
+cancer declared itself, he had cared for her night and day with a
+devotion and also a skill which astonished the attendants.
+
+The thought of now losing her gave him seasons of stifling sobs. At the
+same time, his mother was a little too much of a personage. She troubled
+him by her clairvoyance. He experienced a certain relief at the
+knowledge that the time was approaching when she would no longer be able
+to watch his course of life. In all probability, he was himself ignorant
+of this feeling, but it was apparent to observers. When she was actually
+dying, affection bore away all other considerations, and the King almost
+fainted. Hardly was she interred when the pleasure of feeling himself
+entirely free again became ascendant.
+
+The attachment of Monsieur for his mother was his best emotion. His
+grief possessed no hidden relief and forced him to be always near the
+invalid's bed. "The odour was so frightful," reports Mademoiselle, "that
+after seeing the wound dressed it was impossible to sup." Monsieur
+passed all his time in the chamber and tried to demonstrate his
+tenderness. Sometimes most ridiculous ideas occurred to him; but he was
+not the less touching, through his never-failing tears, on account of
+his sincerity.
+
+At length, Anne of Austria herself sent her son away. Monsieur returned
+to his pleasures and forgot his grief in them; he would not have been
+Philippe Duc d'Anjou if he had acted differently. When the end drew
+near, timid and submissive as he was, he would not be sent away. The
+King withdrew, obeying the custom which forbids princes, as formerly
+gods, to witness death. Louis twice told his brother not to remain
+longer, and only received the response "that he could not obey him in
+this, but he promised that it was the only point, during his entire
+life, on which he would ever disobey."[176]
+
+A cry of Monsieur piercing the walls announced to Louis that the end had
+come.
+
+The young Queen Marie-Therese, who was losing all, justified the
+reputation of "fool" which the Court gave her. She permitted herself to
+be persuaded that her position would be made higher, through all the
+privileges left to her by the death of the Queen Mother, and she was
+more than half consoled by this chimera.
+
+Mademoiselle scrupulously observed the proprieties; which is all that
+can be said. Anne of Austria had emphasised in a solemn hour the
+tenacity of the rancour against her niece. The evening before death, she
+took farewell of all. Two only appeared forgotten; "I was astonished,
+after all that had passed," relates Mademoiselle, "that she did not say
+a word to M. le Prince or to me, who were both there, especially
+slighting me who was brought up near her." It was precisely on account
+of "all that had passed." Anne of Austria gave a good example to the
+King: she expired without pardoning the leaders of the Fronde.
+
+Great changes followed this death. Louis XIV. lost his mother January
+20, 1660; on the 27th of the same month, a deputation came from
+Parliament "to pay their compliments to the King." d'Ormesson was of
+this body. "I went afterwards," says his Journal, "to mass with the
+King, at which there were present the Queen, M. le Dauphin, Monsieur and
+Mlle. de La Valliere, whom the Queen has taken near her, through
+complaisance for the King, in which she shows her wisdom." Louis XIV.
+officially presented his mistress to the people, and assigned her rank
+immediately below that of his legitimate wife. During his mother's life
+he would not have dared to do this.
+
+Two months later he was delivered from the _Cabale des Devots_, and
+from its intrusive observations, through the disappearance of the
+_Compagnie du Saint Sacrement_. It does not appear impossible that the
+death of the Queen may have slightly hastened this event. Anne of
+Austria had been acquainted with the society for a long period,[177] and
+had testified for it during many years of absolute devotion. She had
+guarded it from Mazarin. She did more: there is proof that she deceived
+her minister for the sake of the _Compagnie_. The situation changed with
+the death of the Cardinal. There is nothing to warrant the belief that
+Anne of Austria, whether restrained by fear or by some scruple, was
+willing, after the death of Mazarin, to deceive Louis XIV. for the sake
+of a secret society.
+
+Actively pursued by Colbert, who divined an occult force behind the
+adversaries to his power, the _Compagnie_ fell back upon its habitual
+protector, and had the bitter disappointment of beseeching in vain. The
+devotion of Anne of Austria was henceforth to be a silent one. As long
+as she remained on earth, all hope was not lost; she might be brought
+back to the bosom of the fold, and better success might be looked for
+another time. Her death caused the final disorganisation. The society
+had not, during a long period, dared to reunite. Deprived of the mother
+of the King, it practically yielded. It dissolves and vanishes into thin
+air. Its register stops April 8, 1666. Have the records of the various
+prosecutions been destroyed or scattered? Have all the documents been
+destroyed through prudence? Suppositions are free. It is with this
+mysterious brotherhood as with those water-courses which disappear under
+the ground. Their traces are lost. It even happens that they bear
+another name when they again spring to the surface. Such without doubt
+has been the fate of the "Compagnie du Saint Sacrement," for the
+sectarian spirit which has been its most significant mark has never lost
+its rights in the land; in our own days we still see it placing itself
+in France at the service of very different schools of thought and
+belief.
+
+In this beginning of April (1666) in which the _Cabale des Devots_ had
+avowed itself vanquished, the Court was struck with the animation of the
+King.
+
+"A journey was made to Mouchy," wrote Mademoiselle, "where three days
+were passed in reviews. The King ordered a quantity of troops to be
+assembled; he also invited many ladies. All these were in mourning.
+There was much diversion; the King was in gay spirits; he sang and made
+verses during the progress." Although these were not the only ones,
+Louis did not compose many songs during his life.
+
+He enjoyed feeling free from those wearisome persons who had abused the
+patronage of his mother in creating themselves censors of their
+sovereign. No one except his confessor and his preachers concerned
+themselves further with his sins. When Bossuet and Bourdaloue were
+appointed Court preachers they restrained themselves but little; but
+Louis XIV. bore their reproaches with equanimity. It was their duty, and
+Christians of that date, even bad ones, recognised what they owed to the
+Church, and bent their heads before the pulpit. Bossuet cried out in the
+presence of the entire Court that "immoral manners are always bad
+manners," and that "there is a God in heaven who avenges the sins of the
+people, and who, above all, avenges the sins of Kings."[178] He launched
+apostrophies at Mlle. de La Valliere: "O creatures, shameful idols,
+withdraw from this Court. Shadows, phantoms, dissipate yourselves in the
+presence of the truth; false love, deceitful love, canst thou stand
+before it?"
+
+Bourdaloue, who found Mme. de Montespan in the place of Mlle. de La
+Valliere, reproached the King for his "debauches," and openly demanded
+of him in his sermon if he had kept his promise of rupture: "Have you
+not again seen this person fatal to your firmness and constancy? Have
+you no more sought occasions so _dangerous_ for you?"
+
+Mme. de Sevigne went one day to hear him at Saint-Germain, where he
+preached a Lenten sermon before the King and Queen. She returned
+confounded and angry at his boldness: "We heard after dinner the sermon
+of Bourdaloue, who speaks with all his force, launching truths with
+lowered bridle, attacking adultery on every side; regardless
+of all, he rides straight on."[179] Louis XIV. accepted these
+public reproaches without protest; there was, however, but little
+result.
+
+[Illustration: =MADAME DE MONTESPAN= From the engraving by Flameng after
+the painting by Mignard]
+
+One effect of the death of the Queen Mother was that rivals to Mlle. de
+La Valliere were free to appear; also there was a great increase in the
+number of charlatans and alchemists, who found more easily an
+aristocratic clientele. Diviners and sorcerers also played an important
+role in the love life of this society--the most polished in the world.
+
+The practice of the magic arts was at that date considered one of the
+most flourishing Parisian industries. The inhabitants of the streets
+little frequented, or of the suburbs, were accustomed to the movement
+which took place in the early morning, or in the evening at dusk, around
+certain isolated houses.[180] People of all ranks, on foot, in carriages
+or in chairs, women masked or muffled, succeeded each other before a
+closed door, which only opened at a particular sign.
+
+The state of mind which led this crowd to the clairvoyant was to be
+found in all classes of society, from the highest to the lowest. Public
+credulity was passing through a period of expansion, apparently very
+much at odds with the splendid intellect of France at that date, at
+which, however, those who believe the simple formulas of history will
+not be astonished. Two of our grand classic writers have left pages
+which bear witness to the extent of the evil, existing at the very
+moment in which France became the actual head of Europe.
+
+Moliere mocks at occult science and its adepts, through a long play, or
+rather a libretto for a ballet,[181] which he wrote for the King in
+1670, named as we already know, _Les Amants Magnifiques_. The _dramatis
+personae_ are divided into two camps according to a rule of his own, in a
+fashion very unpleasant for the grandees of this world, Moliere allowing
+them the precedence in folly. It was sufficient for his heroes to be
+illustrious through rank, to endow them with a blind faith in all
+conjurers. "The truth of astrology," says the Prince Iphicrate, "is an
+incontestable fact, and no one can dispute against the certitude of its
+predictions." This is also the opinion of the Prince Timocles: "I am
+sufficiently incredulous in regard to many things, but as for astrology,
+there is nothing more certain and more constant than the success with
+which horoscopes may be drawn." The Princess Aristione also agrees, and
+is anxious in finding that her daughter is less convinced.
+
+This is a commencement of a freedom of thought, and one cannot know to
+what it may lead: "My daughter," says the mother, "you have a little
+incredulity which never leaves you."
+
+Disbelief in astrology and sorcery is represented in the play of
+Moliere, figuring in the name of "Clitidas, court jester," and of
+another person of obscure birth, "Sostrate, general of the army," who
+takes the part of Clitidas against the calmer prophets and other
+exploiters of human folly.
+
+     There is nothing more agreeable [says he] than all the great
+     promises of this sublime knowledge. To transform everything
+     into gold; to find immortal life; to heal by words; to make
+     oneself beloved by the person of one's desires; to know all the
+     secrets of the future; to call down from the sky at will
+     impressions upon metals which bear happiness to mortals[182];
+     to command demons; to render armies invisible and soldiers
+     invulnerable--all this is doubtless charming, and there are
+     people who have no trouble in believing in the possibility; it
+     is the easiest thing in the world for some men to be convinced,
+     but for me, I avow that my grosser mind has some difficulty in
+     comprehending and in believing.
+
+La Fontaine has treated the same subject in three of his fables. It is
+in one of these, _Les Devineresses_, published in 1678, consequently
+before the famous drama _Les Poisons_, in which he shows himself very
+well acquainted with what the police had not yet been sufficiently
+clever to discover. He knew marvellously well the existence of the
+_poudre de succession_ and of the _poudre pour l'amour_:
+
+      Une femme, a Paris, faisait la pythonisse.
+    On l'allait consulter sur chaque evenement;
+    Perdait-on un chiffon, avait-on un amant,
+    Un mari vivant trop, au gre de son epouse,
+    Une mere facheuse, une femme jalouse,
+      Chez la Devineuse on courait,
+    Pour se faire annoncer ce que l'on desirait.
+
+The warning was not heeded, and it needed the "burning chamber" of 1680
+to make honest people comprehend that "clairvoyant" was too often
+another name for "seller of poisons." La Fontaine had, however, given no
+new information about the confidence inspired. This fact was already too
+well known.
+
+This dangerous agency, of which we have already had a glimpse on the
+occasion of the first search for Lesage and Mariette, merits some
+descriptive details. In Paris, during a period of twenty years, it was
+so mixed up with intrigues and crimes that it exercised a real influence
+over the morals of the Parisian world and through it over the affairs at
+Court.
+
+Like a wave of madness it swept over the heads especially of the women.
+Many of these, even those not directly mingling in political life, were
+in a state of revolt, inconsolable for having lost the importance
+acquired during the civil troubles.
+
+Women had been emancipated by the force of affairs. During the actual
+fighting and the general disorders which ensued, the habit of remaining
+in the shade of obedience was lost; also the considering themselves only
+as objects of luxury.
+
+Louis XIV. had undertaken the task of bringing the sex back to the
+playing of a decorative or utilitarian role. It was almost as if to-day
+we should demand of our daughters, so free, so mingled with the general
+movement, to return suddenly to the self-effacement and the thousand
+restraints of our own youth. They would be transported with rage.
+
+In 1666, the larger portion of the clients of the necromancer sought
+above everything else a secret by the aid of which they might shake off
+the yoke that had again fallen upon their shoulders. The husband was the
+natural incarnation of this yoke. It was therefore against him that the
+revolt was habitually directed. The wives addressed themselves to a
+clairvoyant. The first consultation was generally innocent enough.
+
+The clairvoyant counselled new-comers to go to the good Saint Denis,
+always a succour for women unhappy in their domestic life, and to the
+indefatigable Saint Antoine de Padua. She reserved until later the
+giving of certain powders, only hinting at their existence, the secret
+of which had been brought from Italy and which were sought at Paris by
+both provincials and strangers.
+
+It is now known through contemporaneous documents that arsenic was an
+element in these powders, and that so many persons accused themselves in
+confession of having "poisoned some one" that the priests of Notre-Dame
+at length gave warning to the authorities (1673). Did the penitents,
+especially the women, always speak the truth? Popular imagination is so
+quickly fired when poisoning is suggested, that it may well be queried
+whether a portion of the unfortunates were not rather hysterical and
+victims of hallucinations. It is probable that the true answer will
+never be known. Physicians at that time were the doctors of Moliere, and
+the science of chemistry did not exist.
+
+With the husband softened or suppressed, the women demanded love to
+replace emotion in their contracted and faded existence. The task of the
+necromancer thus consisted in interesting God or the devil in the heart
+pangs of her client and of arousing an affection in the breast of the
+man she designated. This was the beginning for the new clients; the end
+was the black mass with its obscene rites or the bloody mass, for which
+a small infant was strangled.
+
+All the forms of conjuration were used between the two, every charm,
+every talisman and many "kinds of powders," not always inoffensive. The
+consultations were paid for according to the rank or fortune of the
+clients. In default of money, a jewel was given or even a signed note,
+the imprudence of which last proceeding it is hardly needful to point
+out.
+
+In the year of the death of Anne of Austria, one of the clairvoyants
+most frequented was the wife of a hosier named Antoine Montvoisin, whose
+shop was situated upon the Pont Marie, which to-day still unites the
+right bank of the Seine with the isle Saint-Louis. The Pont Marie, as
+almost all the bridges of Paris at that date, had a double row of
+houses, with shops beneath, which formed a very animated street. The
+affairs of Montvoisin, however, had not prospered. He had tried several
+commercial undertakings without success. He had been dry-goods merchant
+and jeweller, and had always "lost his shops," according to the
+expression of his wife, Catherine Montvoisin, familiarly called "the
+neighbour."
+
+[Illustration: =LA VOISIN= From a print in the Bibliotheque Nationale]
+
+It is under this latter name that she became celebrated in the annals of
+crime. La Voisin the fortune-teller is the same as La Voisin the
+poisoner. At the date of the hosiery shop, she had not yet attracted the
+attention of justice, in spite of her installation, but ill-assured, on
+the Pont Marie, which obliged her to have a double domicile, or to give
+rendezvous at the house of her confrere. She gained large sums of money.
+The price for consultation varied from a single piece to several
+thousand francs, or from an old rag to a necklace of precious stones,
+and again she drew something from the acolytes of both sexes who
+assisted in her wicked works. It was known from herself that her
+property was held in her own right, her husband having been always
+unfortunate in business. In spite of this precaution, the money slipped
+through her fingers. It is true that she had expenses, children to bring
+up and relatives to support. She said: "I have ten persons to feed," but
+she was economical for others. La Voisin gave a crown a week to her
+mother and brought up her daughter as a small shop-keeper. It was she
+herself who, in company with other miserables of her own kind, spent
+madly. The position of husband of a poisoner seems to have been a
+precarious one. Antoine Montvoisin was familiar with the nature of his
+wife's industry, but his conscience did not forbid his profiting by it
+for his own comfort. His conscience also permitted him to appropriate
+to himself money entrusted to him by his wife to execute the orders for
+the _neuvaines_. He was as much a free-thinker as any of the Vardes or
+Guiches, and convinced that the _neuvaines_ were absolutely useless. As
+to going further, to putting his own "paw in the dish," he was
+successfully prudent. He was never anxious; but he was actually daily in
+danger of being poisoned, for La Voisin could not suffer this coward.
+She would have liked to replace him by a veritable associate, and
+between the pair, there were perpetual fights for pre-eminence in
+deceit.
+
+The good man Antoine would certainly have died through poisoning in
+spite of all his care, if he had not conceived the ingenious idea of
+uniting himself with an executioner, to whom he confided the situation.
+It was agreed between the two that, if Montvoisin should die before his
+wife, the hangman should speak and demand an autopsy. La Voisin became
+afraid. She tried to poison her husband on a journey, but did not
+succeed, and finally considered it safer to keep him with her.
+
+She had benefited, as had also the entire corporation, by the hopes
+awakened in the breasts of many of the pretty women among the
+aristocracy by the death of the Queen Mother.
+
+Anne of Austria had taken so ill the first digression of her son from
+the paths of virtue that the aspirants for the succession to Mlle. de La
+Valliere had preserved a certain discretion. When the rebuffs of the old
+Queen were no longer to be feared, the passions were unchained and a
+flock of youthful, ambitious women addressed themselves to the "duties
+of fashion" in order to arrive at the good graces of the King.[183] The
+boldest demanded at the same time "something against Mlle. de La
+Valliere." Amongst these young women was found the Marquise de
+Montespan, who loved neither her husband nor the King, but who was
+harrassed by her creditors, was very conscious of her own value, and
+determined to be "recognised mistress," since this was now a position
+admitted and classified.
+
+She was as "beautiful as the day," says Saint-Simon, without being
+"perfectly agreeable";--the correction is by Mme. de La Fayette. She had
+all the wit possible, was delicious in eccentricities and courtesies. In
+spite of so much brilliancy, the King rather avoided her and she was
+reduced to amusing Marie-Therese, who admitted her freely, having full
+confidence in her virtue. The Queen had been deceived by the pious
+austerities of the young Marquise, by her frequent communions, and by a
+mass of religious practices which were really actuated by a sincere
+sentiment, and which Mme. de Montespan preserved as far as she could,
+notwithstanding the scandals of her after life. Understood in this
+manner, a sense of duty towards religion did not prevent resorting to
+sorceresses. It rather led in this direction in giving to the perverse
+soul "the vague consciousness of something beyond."[184]
+
+Mme. de Montespan became one of the best clients of La Voisin, regarding
+neither the expense nor the decency of the ceremonies, provided that the
+devil would make her the beloved of Louis XIV. Faring better than her
+rivals, she received the value of her money. She began her campaign in
+the course of the year 1666. The _Memoires_ of Mademoiselle, very full
+on this subject, and elsewhere confirmed, inform us that in the spring
+of 1667, Mme. de Montespan had supplanted La Valliere; it was the young
+Queen alone who was ignorant of this fact.
+
+Less than two years after, La Voisin had the imprudence to make a
+disturbance because two of her aids had not acted honestly toward her.
+One of these was a priest, called Mariette, attached to the Church of
+Saint Severin. La Voisin made use of him in sacrilegious practices. The
+other, Lesage, was a sort of Jack of all trades, who recoiled before no
+abomination. La Voisin accused them of having assaulted one of her
+clients, Mme. de Montespan, a fact true enough, but useless to proclaim
+from the housetops.
+
+"The quarrel having made some noise," reports La Reynie, "and the King,
+having learned that these people were practising impieties and
+sacrileges, had them watched." Mariette and Lesage were arrested. The
+examinations have been preserved for us. Here is an essential passage:
+Mariette avowed without hesitation to having spoken the Gospels "over
+the heads of various persons," a form of conjuration relatively
+innocent. The names were demanded. "Over the heads of the Lady de Bougy,
+Mme. de Montespan, la Duverger, M. de Ravetot, all of which persons
+Lesage had led to him."[185]
+
+With this information secured, Louis XIV. ordered prosecution:
+
+    SAINT-GERMAIN, August 16, 1668.
+
+     I write this letter to tell you that it is my intention to have
+     the said Mariette and Dubuisson[186] conducted from my chateau
+     to the Chatelet of the City of Paris, for the continuation of
+     their prosecution.
+
+One may be sure that the King did not lose this inquest from view. Louis
+XIV. was most eager for police details and this affair touched him too
+nearly to be forgotten.
+
+At the beginning of the investigation, it was discovered that Mariette
+was first cousin to the wife of the judge. On account of this
+connection, the Chatelet estimated that it was for the honour of the
+magistracy to stifle the affair. He brought every effort to accomplish
+this and evidently met with practical approbation from the powerful of
+this world, for history permits us to see numerous irregularities.
+
+La Voisin, returning to her senses, heartily seconded the Justice in his
+efforts to obtain succour from those in high positions. Mariette and
+Lesage, after a period of trials and difficulties, were left in peace to
+occupy themselves with their ambiguous trade. Both of these men figured
+again in the monster process of 1680, in which they were among those who
+spread details concerning the abominable practices with which the Mme. de
+Montespan had been connected during long years. It does not matter here
+whether these details are additions to the truth or not, for it is only
+Louis XIV. who interests us, not Mme. de Montespan.
+
+The letter cited above proves all that is necessary, that the King knew,
+from the year 1668, that his new mistress had connection with the
+criminal world, and that she had intimate interviews with ignoble
+persons, submitted to degrading contact, and had practised in their
+company sacrilegious rites. This monarch who passed for being so
+delicately keen in matters of punishment showed himself singularly
+little moved.
+
+Surrounded by free-thinkers without prejudices, himself more or less of
+a free-thinker, he resembles so little, either morally or physically,
+the bewigged figure of the end of the reign, and of the _Memoires_ of
+Saint-Simon, that he appears as another individual. How easily both
+proprieties and punishments are put on one side when passion reigns,
+but how much more alive, how much more of a natural human being,
+compared to the wooden figure of the portraits of Versailles, is the
+King as now seen; Louis XIV. is decidedly an enigmatical quantity.
+
+It would be inexact to state that passions had become more lively than
+they were during the wars of the Fronde, an epoch especially ardent; but
+they had certainly changed their character, as had the tastes, ideas,
+literature, and fashions in general. This is the usual course of events,
+and, as we have seen, the movement was precipitated under the influence
+of a monarch all-powerful, determined to efface the past.
+
+An artistic event which should not be overlooked had favoured the
+designs of Louis XIV., in opening unknown perspectives to the curious
+after new sensations, already numerous in the seventeenth century.
+Dramatic music made its entry into the modern world. It brought with it,
+according to the phrase of one of its historians, M. Romain
+Rolland,[187] an "unlimited power for expressing passion, and with
+passionate emotion all that remains incommunicable through the medium of
+language alone." We may or may not love music, but it must be admitted
+that a creation of this nature will certainly exercise a strong
+influence over the refined portion of a nation.
+
+French society could not escape. The new art was in train to modify the
+nervous system, if I dare thus speak, of the world in which flourished,
+under the royal protection, those rather perilous ideas upon the rights
+of nature and the fatality of passion. Day by day, new chords were
+struck upon impressionable hearts. Dramatic music was born in Italy; as
+might well be. In the year 1597, upon a carnival evening, a rich
+Florentine entertained a choice audience with a musical tragedy called
+_Dafne_, of which the score is lost. According to one of the guests,
+"the pleasure and astonishment which seized the soul of the auditors
+before so novel a spectacle could hardly be expressed."
+
+M. Romain Rolland confirms this testimony: "It was like a thunderbolt.
+All felt themselves in the presence of a new art." In ten years Italian
+opera reached its full growth, thanks chiefly to a composer of genius,
+Monteverde, whose _Ariane_ caused an audience of more than six thousand
+persons to burst into sobs on its first representation.
+
+The art of singing had marched side by side with dramatic music and
+attained its height almost at once. A famous soprano, Vittori, threw the
+public into almost inconceivable transports. "Many persons were suddenly
+forced to loosen their garments in order to breathe, so suffocated were
+they with emotion."
+
+Everywhere musical theatres were erected. The large cities built
+several; Venice alone had five, and this number was not sufficient. The
+opera was given in palaces and private salons; "Bologna possessed more
+than sixty private theatres, without mentioning the convents and
+colleges." The clergy were caught in the whirlwind; monks and nuns
+chanted operas, cardinals became stage managers of scenes, a future pope
+wrote librettos. It was an epidemic, a frenzy, and Italy did not go mad
+with impunity. In its beginning, the opera is responsible for grave
+disorders, both nervous and moral; it became _too_ much of a passion.
+Mazarin already possessed this taste before his establishment in France.
+He wished to initiate his adopted country into the joys, almost to be
+dreaded, which had so suddenly enriched human life, and he brought from
+Italy one after the other four Italian troupes, the first in 1645, the
+last a short time before his death.
+
+The result was easy to predict. A spectacle patronised by the Cardinal
+became a matter of politics. Applauded by the partisans of the minister,
+derided by his adversaries, the Italian opera met with so strong an
+opposition that it was necessary to renounce it for the time, but the
+lesson was not lost.
+
+French composers heretofore devoted to ballets and masquerades had not
+received unheedingly the revelation of the dramatic style; their
+ambition was also aroused to express the tempests of the soul, and they
+began to grope along the new path.
+
+The attempt was not at once successful; but their efforts familiarised
+the public with the idea of a musical language of passion. In 1664, the
+song was considered the natural interpreter of love. Moliere fixes the
+date in his _Princesse d'Elide_, in which Moron does not succeed in
+gaining the ear of Philis because he speaks, instead of singing his
+declaration. Philis flees and Moron cries out: "Behold how it is: if I
+had been able to sing, I should have done better. Most women of to-day
+only let themselves be courted through the ears; this is the reason that
+the entire world has become musical, and one can succeed with the fair
+only by making them listen to little songs and verses. I must learn to
+sing like others."
+
+It was indeed somewhat different in 1671, when French opera arrived
+on the scene.[188] It had hardly seen the light when it became, as a
+result of the association of Quinault with Lulli, a counsellor of
+voluptuousness.
+
+While the decorations and the dances charmed the eyes, as the "machines"
+amused by their complications, the words and music, outdoing the
+_Princesse d'Elide_,[189] murmured unceasingly with the same caressing
+languor that no youthful beings have the right, for any motive whatever,
+to deny to themselves the duty of loving. "Yield, give yourselves up to
+transports," chants a chorus of _Amadis_. The thirteen "lyrical
+tragedies" given by Quinault and Lulli from 1673 to 1686 are all
+constructed upon this one theme. They gave expression to the one
+single idea; "Yield! surrender yourselves!" and resulted in producing a
+certain eloquence from their monotony. When these lyrics are played on
+the piano,[190] a better means of hearing them failing, one cannot but
+feel that in spite of their insipidity the continuous appeal to the
+senses might produce in the end, particularly in the atmosphere of a
+theatre, a strong effect.
+
+[Illustration: =JEAN BAPTISTE DE LULLI= After a contemporary print by
+Bonnart]
+
+Moralists recognised this. All will remember the violent attack of
+Boileau upon the opera. To-day we consider this attack as having been
+too narrowly virtuous, even a little ridiculous. It can be explained,
+however, in considering what a novelty it was to see people seized with
+nervous attacks and fits of weeping while listening to singing. Was it
+the "loose morals" of Quinault which caused these? Was it the new music?
+In either case, the worthy Boileau was excusable for his alarm.
+
+France had not yet reached the point of excitability which existed in
+Italy. The French are not a sufficiently musical race for this; but in a
+less degree, the country submitted to the extraordinary power of the
+dramatic style. It is known through Mme. de Sevigne that if the French
+listeners did not invariably "burst into sobs" or "suffocate with
+emotion," more than one auditor, including herself, wept silently in
+hearing the fine passages.
+
+Fashion also swayed affairs, and we know of what fashion is capable in
+France.
+
+Saint Evremond has written a comedy entitled _The Operas_. In the list
+of _dramatis personae_, one reads: "Mlle. Crisotine become mad through
+the hearing of operas. Tirsolet, a young man from Lyons, also became mad
+through operas." A third person relates that "nothing else is spoken of
+in Paris. Women and even young children knew the operas by heart, and
+there is hardly a house in which entire scenes are not sung." How nearly
+France and Italy are approached in this. The Louvre party caught the
+fashion, the courtiers, being eager to imitate the King, a great admirer
+of Lulli.
+
+It had happened that Louis remarked during the rehearsals of _Alceste_
+"that if he were at Paris when the opera should be played, he would go
+every day." "This phrase," adds Mme. de Sevigne "is worth a hundred
+thousand francs to Baptiste."[191] This was no affectation on the part
+of the King; he really loved music, as can be recognised through
+unmistakable signs. Louis XIV. had throughout his life the taste and
+more than a taste for music; to which he added a longing to be himself a
+performer, a desire that can never be satisfied with the most skilled
+professional entertainments. As a youth, he played the guitar and took
+part in ensemble playing. As a man, he found that he had a good voice,
+and knew how to use it in amateur reunions.
+
+It can even be said that he sang not only at suitable but also at
+unsuitable moments: the day after the death of his son, the Grand
+Dauphin, the ladies of the Palace heard with surprise the King singing
+opera prologues. During his later years, when it was difficult to amuse
+him, Mme. de Maintenon organized musicales in her salon and Louis always
+enjoyed these. One evening when she substituted vespers[192] for the
+scores of Lulli, the King made no criticism and even intoned the
+vespers. Provided it was music, all kinds were good; but the King showed
+a certain predilection for the kind which he had seen created, already
+so rich in new emotions and which bore rare promise for the future of
+the artistic world, and the monarch possessed all the qualities needed
+to enjoy it profoundly.
+
+The reader cannot fail to perceive through the witness of his frequent
+bursts of tears that Louis was of a nervous disposition, somewhat
+concealed under the cold and calm exterior which he had imposed upon
+himself. In advancing age, this tendency to tears became almost a
+malady. Mme. de Maintenon, in a letter dated 1705, writing to a friend
+of the "vapours" of the King and of his sombre humour, makes the remark
+that he is "sometimes overcome with weeping which he cannot restrain."
+
+He was a sensualist to whom themes of love were always attractive.
+"Yield! Surrender!" the King never ceased to repeat on his own behalf
+to the pretty women of his Court. For the rest, Quinault and Lulli made
+him choose the subjects for their operas; and Louis had therefore a
+responsibility for the voluptuousness which exhaled from their works.
+
+Dramatic music has now established itself. The civilised world discovers
+with delight that this art has an unlimited capacity for expressing
+passion, and all the passions, even the highest, the purest, and this
+latter includes love. It has also been recognised that music can speak
+in its own words outside of the theatre, in a symphony, in a simple
+sonata, and that there exists no art so benevolent, so reposeful, and so
+reassuring to troubled souls. In spite of this, in spite of all,
+moralists have never been willing to throw down their weapons before
+music. Emanuel Kant was clearly hostile to it; he said, "It enervates
+man,"[193] and he turned away his disciples from its joys. Tolstoi has
+been unkind to it in the _Kreutzer Sonata_.
+
+All forces can become dangerous; it depends on the "use made of
+them,"[194] and also upon the souls which receive the impulse; they must
+be of the calibre to support its force.
+
+The action of music upon French society has never, so far as I know,
+been methodically studied in relation to its effects, both physical and
+moral. If a historian be found, he will issue from the psychological
+laboratories, scientifically equipped, in which the observer conceals
+the physician: on this condition only can he speak with authority.
+
+[Illustration: =BOILEAU= After the painting by H. Rigaud]
+
+The Grande Mademoiselle cared but little for music. Nevertheless she
+extols Lulli in her _Memoires_: "He makes the most beatific airs in the
+world." The glory of Baptiste touched her because he was "her own,"
+arriving from Italy some time before the Fronde. "He came to France with
+my late uncle the Chevalier de Guise. I had prayed him to bring me an
+Italian, with whom I could speak and learn the language."
+
+Lulli was only a boy of thirteen at the time that he was brought to
+France. Between the Italian lessons, he filled the office of cook.
+Later, admitted among the violins of Mademoiselle, it is related that he
+was chased away for having satirised his mistress in song. This recalls
+other events:
+
+     I was exiled: he did not wish to live in the country: he
+     demanded leave to go away: I accorded it, and since he has made
+     his fortune, for he is a great merry-andrew.
+
+Lulli always remained a buffoon in the mind of Mademoiselle, although
+she assisted at his triumphs and survived him.
+
+Mademoiselle preserved the taste for literature formed at Saint-Fargeau.
+Her name is associated with several incidents, great and small, of the
+literary history of the times. In 1669, when _Tartuffe_ was definitely
+authorised, she wished to have it performed in her salon. This fact is
+noteworthy as the Church still forbade its representation. On August
+21, Mademoiselle gave a fete. When most of the guests had departed,
+"_Tartuffe_, the fashionable piece, was played before twenty women and
+numbers of men."[195] Did the end of the phrase contain a slight
+excuse--"which was the fashionable piece"? However this may be,
+Mademoiselle could boast to her confessor that she had been "economical"
+with Moliere. The entertainment at the Luxembourg was paid for with
+three hundred francs given to the actors, the current price being for
+such a performance five hundred and fifty francs. Thus the virtuous
+homes evidenced their piety!
+
+On another occasion, Mademoiselle had the honour, if the Abbe d'Olivet
+may be believed, of supplying Moliere with an entire scene ready made:
+and what a scene! Among the _habitues_ of the salon figured one of the
+victims of Boileau, the impudent Abbe Cotin, who not finding himself
+sufficiently _etrille_ (thrashed) had provoked new retaliations in
+gossiping about Moliere.
+
+One day he brought some verses of his own composition to the palace of
+the Luxembourg to read them to Mademoiselle. In the midst of her
+admiration another writer, supposed to be Menage, entered. Mademoiselle
+committed the error of showing the verses of the Abbe and, without
+mentioning the name of the author, of defending the expressed opinions.
+The result was the scene between Vadius and Trissotin (at first named
+"Tricotin" lest one should be deceived). It was only needful for
+Moliere to give the touch of genius as in the sonnet to the Princess
+Uranie and in the verses upon the _Carosse Amarante_. In these two
+cases, it is well known that the lines are copied word for word from a
+volume written by the Abbe Cotin.[196]
+
+Many echoes of the grand literary battle of the century[197] still
+resounded in the Luxembourg. The success of the first tragedies of
+Racine irritated that portion of the public, always large, which has a
+horror of being disturbed in its habits of thought by importunate
+novelties. Such a disturbance is a punishment to many persons, whether
+the moving force comes from literature, science, or art. There are many
+examples of this fixed state of mind to be found in the past century: it
+will suffice to recall the struggles hardly yet quieted between Pasteur
+and Wagner.
+
+Racine appeared on the scene as a revolutionary force. He and Moliere,
+sustained by their friend Boileau, presented a dramatic art absolutely
+new, which was separated by a gulf from that of Corneille and for which
+nothing had prepared the way. Corneille's predecessors were Mairet, the
+du Ryers and many others: Racine stood alone. He was the first and the
+last to make tragedy realistic, with the subject simple, the characters
+scrupulously true to nature, and the language often audaciously
+familiar.
+
+Louis XIV. applauded. Racine and the King well comprehended each other.
+Heinrich Heine has given the reason for this in one of those phrases
+which throw light upon an entire period: "Racine is the first modern
+poet, as Louis XIV. was the first modern King."
+
+The young Court applauded cordially with the King. It also belonged to
+the new regime; but for the old Court, for the survivors of the Hotel
+Rambouillet, the tragedy of Racine was as shocking, as displeasing, as
+were the first realistic romances to the faithful adherents of
+romanticism, and for the same reasons. In spite of the difficulty so
+many have, of sympathising with the ideas of the one called a little
+disdainfully "the gentle Racine," "the elegant Racine," this writer
+appeared neither gentle nor elegant to three-fourths of the salon, to
+the "old Court" of the Grande Mademoiselle. The _Pyrrhus_ seemed to them
+"brutal," the Phedre, a "madwoman" "the blackness" of Nero or Narcisse
+entirely beyond what should be permitted on the stage.
+
+Not that the personages of Corneille or of his predecessors acted less
+wickedly, but their brutes and villains were nevertheless "heroes" and
+that made all the difference. The personages created by Racine were only
+"men," simple men, who used words "low and grovelling," bourgeois
+words, expressions such as "Quoi qu'il en soit, que fais je, que
+dis-je!"[198] and did not even realise the sense: more than three
+hundred improper terms have been counted in _Andromaque_. Racine would
+have fared better if his poetic methods had not been in some way a
+criticism upon the cleverness of Corneille. This was the real grievance,
+obliging the adorers of the old poet to condemn the insolent one.
+
+Mme. de Sevigne, who could not always prevent herself, although "mad
+with Corneille," from admiring Racine, or from letting him perceive it,
+hastened to correct herself when this happened. She wrote to her
+daughter, "_Bajazet_ is beautiful," and added six lines further on, as a
+person who has a reproach to make, "Believe me, nothing will approach (I
+do not say surpass) some divine passages of Corneille." Having thus
+regulated her conscience, she returned to _Bajazet_ to avow that she had
+"wept more than twenty tears" (letter dated January 15, 1672), but her
+letter evidently left her with a slight feeling of discomfort. Two
+months later, she attenuated the praise of the new piece, to which she
+now accorded only "agreeable things," and declared Corneille to be
+another order of genius: "My daughter, let us take care not to compare
+Racine with him, let us well perceive the difference!"
+
+Almost all of Mademoiselle's generation showed themselves as jealous as
+Mme. de Sevigne for the glory of Corneille. To the admiration inspired
+by his genius is added the tender gratitude that we guard for works in
+which live again the ideals of our youth. It is our own thoughts, our
+fine dreams of early days, that we love in these productions.
+
+The tragedy of Racine signified that the day of Corneille had passed;
+its success indicated the inroad of new ideas and pointed definitely to
+the fact that those faithful to the ancient worship had really been
+relegated to the position of old fogies. This is never an agreeable
+position when one feels still alive and with no very active realisation
+that old age is approaching. People of letters are the first to suffer
+from these revolutions of taste which leave surviving only works of the
+first rank while the rest are cast away into oblivion.
+
+As we know, the _litterateurs_ who frequented the salon of Mademoiselle
+were all enemies of Racine, half on account of loyalty to Corneille,
+half on their own behalf, through an instinct of self-preservation.
+Besides Menage and the Abbe Cotin, whom we have lately encountered
+speaking frankly to each other, besides the amiable Segrais whose
+literary powers were too light to lead him far, there was the Abbe
+Boyer, whose tragedies Segrais desired to be pardoned, because he was a
+"sufficiently good academician," and that worthy old man De Chapelain,
+illustrious until the day upon which his verses went to press. There was
+some reason for accusing Mademoiselle of having been the "centre of the
+opposition to the new poetry."[199] To say this is, however, to
+exaggerate her role. We shall see later that she was far too occupied in
+living through her own tragedy to be actively interested in those being
+enacted upon the boards. Loaded with injuries and calumnies by the
+Vadius and the Trissotins, menaced with thrashings by the aristocratic
+protectors of these great men of the salon, Racine ran the risk of being
+crushed, and was saved only by the signal favour of the King. Neither he
+nor Moliere would have accomplished their work if Louis XIV. had not
+sustained them against all critics. This is a service for which we
+should not limit our gratitude. The reflection upon this great debt
+arouses a tenderness towards a Prince with whom we are otherwise not
+always sympathetic.
+
+It is possible that there was some politics in his attitude. The success
+of writers so new fell in well with his design of making a _tabula rasa_
+of the detested past: but after all the main reason for which protection
+was accorded was affection.
+
+When Louis XIV. laughed "even till his sides ached"[200] over the _Ecole
+des Femmes_, at which amusement the devots and prudes were indignant,
+when he saved the _Plaideurs_, almost hissed in the Hotel de Bourgogne,
+by "bursts of laughter, so great that the Court was astonished,"[201]
+there was no calculation: he was honestly amused, like any one else. It
+was also a true and frank admiration which caused him to dry his tears
+at _Iphigenie_, and to order the repetition of _Mithridate_. He loved
+the "new" for two reasons: because he had good taste, and because the
+heroes of the later writers were of the kind needful for his generation.
+It has been seen how marvellously Moliere and the King understood each
+other, and the mention of Racine recalls to us the profound phrase of
+Heine. Racine revealed himself in the _Andromaque_ as the "first modern
+poet." Hermione and Oreste have only a distant relationship with the
+heroes of Corneille. They are already "those possessed by love, the
+great passionates with whom love becomes a malady, who love to the brink
+of crime, and even till death."
+
+With these characters, it can be said that modern love, profound,
+tender, melancholy, impregnated with soul, and at the same time troubled
+by the obscure influences of the nervous life, makes its entrance into
+French literature. Oreste shows a sadness, a despair, a madness, which a
+century and a half later burst forth in love romances. Louis XIV. had
+not waited for Racine for his education in passion. When Marie Mancini
+fascinated him, he was one of the first examples of the modern type of
+those "possessed by love," and he had never forgotten this crisis; in
+fact he never forgot anything. This episode in the life of the young
+King had been a good apprenticeship for the comprehending of the love of
+Oreste or of Phedre as the true love malady, as a fatality against which
+our single will is only a feeble weapon.
+
+Around the King, Mme. Henriette, Mme. de Montespan, all the young Court
+and some shrewd spirits of the old, with Conde at the head, rendered
+justice to the truth of the "anatomies of the heart," in the tragedy of
+Racine. Mademoiselle was incapable of this; she believed too firmly in
+the superhuman strength of the heroes of Corneille, with whom the will
+laughs at resistance, whether the opposition arises in the soul or in
+the exterior world, to admit the fatality of passion. Nevertheless, it
+was the Grande Mademoiselle herself who was going to demonstrate clearly
+to all France that it was impossible to escape fate, when this fate
+points to love. Here we meet the great misfortune of her life!
+
+An atmosphere of passion, and an intimacy with people whose sole
+occupation was to render themselves attractive, was somewhat dangerous
+for an old maid, sensitive without realising it. Mademoiselle had the
+singular desire, which later cost her dearly, to make an ally of Mme. de
+Montespan and thus to form a part of the chosen society of the Court.
+
+She sought the company of the mistress and received service from her.
+Mme. de Montespan was her interpreter with the King. In return
+Mademoiselle endeavoured to calm M. de Montespan who, for serious or for
+trivial reasons[202] "flew into passions," like a "madman" or "wild
+person," against Madame his wife. "He is my relative and I scolded
+him," says the _Memoires_ of Mademoiselle. As a connoisseur,
+Mademoiselle hugely enjoyed the original wit of Mme. de Montespan. The
+pleasure found in returning the ball in conversation was the foundation
+of the intimacy.
+
+With the growing idleness of the Court, pleasure in pure cleverness
+increased. The play of the mind was the sole resource against ennui.
+Wit, no matter at whose expense, became the enjoyment. The wise and
+prudent Mme. de Maintenon succumbed like Mademoiselle, when her turn
+came, to the irresistible charm of a conversation which "renders
+agreeable the most serious matters, and ennobles the most trivial."[203]
+
+During the sharpest quarrel between Mademoiselle and Mme. de Montespan,
+the enjoyment of the opponent's wit was so keen that they parted with
+pain. "Mme. de Montespan and I," wrote Mme. de Maintenon in 1681,[204]
+"have to-day taken a walk, holding each other's arms and laughing
+heartily; we are not more in accord for this." There can never be too
+much cleverness, but there is an inconvenience in there being nothing
+behind the wit, and this is one of the rocks towards which Louis XIV.
+was pushing the French nobility. He made it impossible for those pacing
+his antechambers to indulge in any intellectual effort other than that
+of seeking pretty phrases to amuse the listeners.
+
+A gentleman of quality commences his day at eight in the morning
+standing in waiting before the door of the king. Salutes are given and
+returned. The elegants comb their locks, glancing out of the corner of
+their eyes at those entering. Moliere permits us to be present at the
+"final assault" through verses but little known:
+
+    Grattez du peigne a la porte[205]
+    De la chambre du Roi;
+    Ou si, comme je prevoi,
+    La presse s'y trouve forte,
+    Montrez de loin votre chapeau,
+    Ou montez sur quelque chose
+    Pour faire voir votre museau,
+    Et criez sans aucune pause,
+    D'un ton rien moins que naturel;
+    "Monsieur l'huissier, pour le marquis un tel"
+    Jetez-vous dans la foule, et tranchez du notable,
+    Coudoyez un chacun, point du tout quartier,
+    Pressez, poussez, faites le diable
+    Pour vous mettre le premier.[206]
+
+M. le Marquis enters. The chamber is already crowded. He "gains ground
+step by step," succeeds in seeing the King put on his shoes, for Louis
+performs this act with his own royal hands, and thus passes the first
+hour. The exciting event is repeated in the evening when the King takes
+off his shoes. The Marquis had already, at one o'clock, witnessed the
+consumption of the royal soup, and two or three times in the course of
+the day had delighted his eyes with the sight of the King passing to
+and fro on his way to mass or to take the fresh air.
+
+During the intervals, the courtiers were charged with certain puerile
+occupations. The round of homages were made to the various members of
+the royal family and the prominent personages of the day, and there was
+gambling and other pleasures. The only relief for this complete idleness
+was to be found in an active campaign if there happened to be a war on
+hand. Let the courtier be admired for being able under such adverse
+circumstances to keep his wit awake and alert for attack and response,
+and also for the capacity of finding the military virtues when again
+called upon to exercise them.
+
+Fortunately, the latter virtues were deeply ingrained in the breasts of
+the French gentlemen of this period, and it is not to their discredit if
+the other faculties, mental and physical, the exercise of which was
+plainly discouraged by the King, should have so fallen into disuse that
+their children suffered. The final descendants of four or five
+generations of those living this absurd life were the _emigres_ of the
+great Revolution, all heroes, almost all clever, or at least appearing
+so, and in general people of wit, but without character. This fact can
+hardly be too much emphasised: never has a monarch laboured with greater
+skill and method than Louis XIV. in the successful attempt to annihilate
+the nobility and to ruin its reputation. This is one of the most serious
+souvenirs of the wars of the Fronde.
+
+It was with the women as with the men--the same subjection, the same
+emptiness of life, from which arose the weakness of Mademoiselle for
+Mme. de Montespan. The situation of recognised mistress "affects
+nothing"; Mademoiselle had never considered that the virtue of others
+concerned her. The novelty of the situation, the unexpected prerogatives
+accruing to the new position, and the habits resulting, gave rise to
+some of the most curious incidents of the reign, and also strengthened
+an intimacy which survived many shocks.
+
+As soon as Louis XIV. formally established his mistresses at Court, it
+had been needful to frame new rules of etiquette. At first these rules
+were understood rather than formulated, but contemporary writers give
+evidence of their existence. It was the new regulations which gave
+scandal, rather than the fact of a weakness too common to all men of all
+times. The people had found the phrase suitable enough when it ran to
+gaze on "the three queens" in one carriage; Mlle. de La Valliere and
+Mme. de Montespan were publicly at the same time occupying the rank of
+secondary wives to the King. When the royal family made its solemn
+visits to any of its members who were mortally ill, these two ladies
+arrived after the King and Queen. Mademoiselle met them at the death-bed
+of Mme. Henriette; "Mme. de Montespan and La Valliere came." She met
+them again over the cradle of a daughter of Louis XIV. and of
+Marie-Therese, who died as an infant. "I found her in the last
+extremity.... We staid almost the entire night watching her die; Mme.
+de Montespan and Mme. de La Valliere were also there." The latter
+escaped from such honours as often as she could. Mme. de Montespan liked
+them better, and added to them. She had placed herself upon the footing
+of the Queen in regard to ordinary visits, which she never returned.
+"Never," says Saint-Simon, "not even to Monsieur or Madame or to the
+Grande Mademoiselle, or to the Hotel de Conde."
+
+The same hauteur was displayed in the manner of receiving the princes
+and princesses of the blood, and this "exterior of Queen" followed her
+into the retreat! All were accustomed to it.
+
+"The habit of respect was preserved without murmur," says again
+Saint-Simon, who recalled Mme. de Montespan, disgraced and passing her
+time in penitence, nevertheless continuing to hold court in her
+convent,[207] with as royal an etiquette as at Saint-Germain or
+Versailles:
+
+     The back of her armchair was formed by the foot-piece of the
+     bed, and there was no other chair in the room. Monsieur and the
+     Grande Mademoiselle had always loved her, and often went to see
+     her; for these, chairs were brought, and also for Madame la
+     Princesse; but Mme. de Montespan did not dream of deranging
+     herself for her own people nor for those they brought with
+     them.... One can judge by this how she received "all the
+     world."
+
+The "all the world," which included some of the most distinguished,
+contented themselves with small "chairs with backs," or simple camp
+stools. No one was offended, and "all France came"; I do not know by
+what fantasy it was considered a duty to make visits from time to
+time. She spoke to each like a queen holding her court, who honours in
+"addressing." Marie-Therese herself, in the time in which Mme. de
+Montespan was the actual sovereign, had submitted to the long empire of
+custom. In 1675, the fourth year of the war in Holland, Louis XIV. being
+with the army while Mme. de Montespan was at her chateau at Clagny, one
+of their sons was "slightly ill."[208] The Queen considered it her duty
+to visit the child and to comfort the mother. She went to seek Mme. de
+Montespan, and led her one day to the Trianon, another to dine in some
+favourite convent, an example which brought the crowd to Clagny and made
+an end of hesitancy. "The wife of her firm (_solide_) friend," wrote
+Mme. de Sevigne, "visited her, and afterward the entire family in turn.
+She takes precedence of all the Duchesses." (July 3, 1675.)
+
+There had been a time in which this fashion of ignoring rank would have
+excited the indignation of Mademoiselle; but this time was far distant,
+farther than she herself realised. In 1667 she had cried very loud
+because her second sister, Mademoiselle d'Alencon, had made a
+_mesalliance_ in marrying a simple seigneur, the Duc de Guise, and she
+had looked very gloomily at the pair. The time had passed for such
+pride, as the poor woman was herself ready for a worse _mesalliance_.
+Her patience was at an end. Her agitation while Louis XIV. was
+attempting marriage negotiations with the Duc de Savoie must not be
+forgotten. No prince had thought of her since this affront. She was
+considered too old. She would not confess this to be the case, but she
+felt it, and a tempest gathered in the depths of her heart. The storm
+burst in 1669. It is impossible to say in what measure nature alone was
+responsible, and what was due to the atmosphere of moral disorder and
+voluptuousness which Mademoiselle was now inhaling at the Court in the
+frequent companionship of the favourite. One thing is certain, the
+Grande Mademoiselle did not try to struggle against the passion which
+seized her; her attitude was rather that of a person who sought its
+sway.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 163: The Mlles. de Nemours were daughters of Elisabeth de
+Vendome, sister of the Duc de Beaufort, and of Henri de Savoie, Duc de
+Nemours, who was killed in a duel by his brother-in-law (July 30, 1652).
+The younger sister married Alphonse VI. June 28, 1666.]
+
+[Footnote 164: Claude Le Pelletier, then President of Inquests. After,
+he was Minister of State and Controller-General of Finances.]
+
+[Footnote 165: Mlle. d'Alencon, the second of the half-sisters of
+Mademoiselle.]
+
+[Footnote 166: _Archives de Chantilly._]
+
+[Footnote 167: _[OE]uvres de Louis XIV. Lettres particulieres_, Paris,
+1806.]
+
+[Footnote 168: _L'ambassadeur de la Fuente au roi d'Espagne_; Paris,
+January 27, 1664. (_Archives de la Bastile._) The Princesse de Savoie
+refused by Louis XIV; had decided to marry the Duc de Parma.]
+
+[Footnote 169: _Memoires de Mme. de Motteville._]
+
+[Footnote 170: The Archbishop of Embrun to Father Brienne; Turin Aug. 1,
+1659.]
+
+[Footnote 171: La Fontaine: _La Fille_, fable, published for the first
+time in the edition 1679.]
+
+[Footnote 172: Marie-Jeanne-Baptiste de Nemours married Charles Emmanuel
+II., May 11, 1665.]
+
+[Footnote 173: And not Madame Henriette, as has been said in error.]
+
+[Footnote 174: Bethleem was a suburb of Clamecy.]
+
+[Footnote 175: Mme. de La Fayette, _Histoire de Madame Henriette_.]
+
+[Footnote 176: _Memoires de Mme. de Motteville._]
+
+[Footnote 177: See Raoul Allier, _La Cabale des Devots_.]
+
+[Footnote 178: Lenten sermons for the year 1662.]
+
+[Footnote 179: Letter of March 29, 1680.]
+
+[Footnote 180: _Archives de la Bastille_, by Francois Ravaisson, vols.
+iv., v., and vi., _passim_.]
+
+[Footnote 181: See the review of the play in _Moliere_ of the _Grands
+Ecrivains de la France_ (Hachette).]
+
+[Footnote 182: Allusion to certain talismans.]
+
+[Footnote 183: _Archives de la Bastille_: Rapport de la Reynie,
+lieutenant-general of police, a Louvois (1680, no other date).]
+
+[Footnote 184: _La Magie dans l'Inde antique_, by Victor Henry.]
+
+[Footnote 185: Interrogatory of June 30, 1668. Mme. de Bougy was the
+widow of the Marquis of this name, lieutenant-general. La Duverger was
+occupied with magic. The Marquis de Ravetot had married Catherine de
+Grammont, daughter of the Marshal.]
+
+[Footnote 186: Another name for Lesage.]
+
+[Footnote 187: _Histoire de l'Opera en Europe_, by M. Romain Rolland.
+Cf. _Histoire de la Musique dramatique en France_, by Chouquet, _Les
+Origines de l'Opera francais_, by Nuitter and Thoinan.]
+
+[Footnote 188: The first opera worthy of the name was _Pomone_, by
+Cambert. It will be learned in special works how French opera differed
+from Italian and through what a chain of circumstances it occurred that
+a Florentine, Baptiste Lulli, was the true founder.]
+
+[Footnote 189: See above.]
+
+[Footnote 190: A selection of the operas of Lulli, for piano and voice,
+has appeared in the Collection Michaelis.]
+
+[Footnote 191: Letter dated December 1, 1673.]
+
+[Footnote 192: _Introduction par M. le Comte d' Haussonville, aux
+Souvenirs sur Mme. de Maintenon._]
+
+[Footnote 193: _Kant als Mensch_, by Erich Adickes.]
+
+[Footnote 194: Romain Rolland.]
+
+[Footnote 195: _Memoires_ of Mademoiselle.]
+
+[Footnote 196: _OEuvres galantes en vers et en prose_, by M. Cotin.]
+
+[Footnote 197: For this see _Les Ennemis de Racine_, by F. Deltour; _Les
+Epoques du Theatre francais_, and _Les Etudes critiques sur l'Histoire
+de la Litterature francaise_ by M. F. Brunetiere; the memoirs and
+correspondence of the times; the collection of _Mercure galant_; _les
+prefaces de Racine_, etc.]
+
+[Footnote 198: Criticism by Boursault.]
+
+[Footnote 199: Deltour, _Les Ennemies de Racine_.]
+
+[Footnote 200: _Gazette de Loret_, January 13, 1663.]
+
+[Footnote 201: _Memoires sur la vie et les ouvrages de Jean Racine_, by
+Louis Racine.]
+
+[Footnote 202: See the volume by MM. Jean Lemoine and Andre
+Lichtenberger, _De La Valliere a Montespan_.]
+
+[Footnote 203: _Souvenirs sur Mme. de Maintenon._--_Les Cahiers de Mlle.
+d'Aumale_, with an _Introduction_ by M. G. Hanotaux.]
+
+[Footnote 204: May 27, to M. de Montchevreuil.]
+
+[Footnote 205: "_Frappez_" would have been misunderstood.]
+
+[Footnote 206: _Remerciement au Roi_ (1663).]
+
+[Footnote 207: The Convent of Saint-Joseph, rue Saint Dominique; Mme. de
+Montespan had constructed in it an apartment for herself.]
+
+[Footnote 208: The Comte de Vexin, who died young.--Mme. de Sevigne,
+letter dated June 14, 1675.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+     The Grande Mademoiselle in Love--Sketch of Lauzun and their
+     Romance--The Court on its Travels--Death of
+     Madame--Announcement of the Marriage of Mademoiselle--General
+     Consternation--Louis XIV. Breaks the Affair.
+
+
+In the spring of 1669, Louis XIV. one day was listening to the Comtesse
+de Soissons sing. She was the second of the Mazarin nieces, and the only
+really wicked one in the family. She sang a new song containing many
+naughty couplets, in which mud was thrown upon some of the courtiers.
+Men and women received their packet under the guise of mock praise,
+according to a fashion much in vogue. The phrase "mock praise" had
+become the name of a form of satire, which made an almost unique
+literature. The King permitted the couplets to pass in silence. He did
+not even protest at this one:
+
+    Et pour M. Le Grand,[209]
+    Il est tout mystere;
+    Quand il est galant,
+    Il a comme La Valliere
+    L'esprit penetrant.
+
+The Countess then arrived at a couplet on Puyguilhem, better known under
+the name of Lauzun.[210]
+
+    De la cour
+    La vertu la plus pure
+    Est en Peguilin....
+
+At this place the King interrupted: "If it is wished to vex him, they
+are wrong, but when people act as he has done, they must be let alone;
+as for others, they are badly treated." The sudden displeasure of the
+King at the mention of Puyguilhem caused a general silence, and the song
+stopped at this point.
+
+The Grande Mademoiselle was present at this scene, and was surprised to
+discover that she was not indifferent to its import. Up to this time,
+she had scarcely known Lauzun, who did not belong to her coterie. "It
+pleased me," says her _Memoires_, "to hear the manner in which the King
+spoke of him; I felt some instinct of the future." This was the first
+warning of the passion which had already insinuated itself into the
+depths of her heart; but she did not yet comprehend it. The idea came to
+her, however, of seizing an occasion to converse with Lauzun. She felt
+an inclination for this at once. "He has," said she, "a manner of
+explaining himself which is very extraordinary." Mademoiselle was
+interested, but she still believed that it was only the conversational
+capacity which pleased her in the little cadet of Gascony. She began to
+query, however, why, having been sufficiently content during her five
+years of exile, she was now so willing to remain a fixture. The year had
+ended before she found a satisfactory response to this question: "I went
+in the month of December (the 6th) to Saint-Germain, from which I did
+not depart. I soon accustomed myself to it. Ordinarily, I only stayed
+three or four days, and my present long sojourn surprised every one."
+
+On the 31st, she decided at length to return to Paris: "I was very bored
+there, and could not discover what I had done at Saint-Germain which had
+so much diverted me." She hastened to rejoin the Court, without knowing
+why, and commenced again her conversations with Lauzun, but still
+remained unconscious of any sentiment. She only knew that she was
+troubled and agitated, and discontented with her condition, and that she
+felt a desire to marry. The desire dated back a long time, but of late
+it had become so insistent that Mademoiselle was forced to examine
+herself seriously.
+
+The passage in which she relates her discovery is charmingly natural and
+significantly true:
+
+     I reasoned with myself (for I did not speak to any one) and I
+     said, 'this is no longer a vague thought; it must have some
+     object.' I did not discover who it was. I sought, I dreamed,
+     but could not find out. Finally, after some days of anxiety, I
+     perceived that it was M. de Lauzun whom I loved, who had glided
+     into my heart. I thought him the most worthy man in the world,
+     the most agreeable; nothing was lacking to make me happy but a
+     husband like him, whom I should love and who would love me
+     devotedly; that heretofore I had never been loved; that it was
+     necessary once in life to taste the sweetness of being adored by
+     some one, which would make worth while the sufferings caused by
+     the pangs of love.
+
+This explanation of her own heart was followed by days of intoxication.
+Mademoiselle lived in a dream, and all was easy, all was arranged: "It
+appeared to me that I found more pleasure in seeing him and in talking
+to him than heretofore; that the days in which he was absent, I was
+bored, and I believe that the same feeling came to him; that he did not
+care to confess this, but the pains he took to come wherever he was
+likely to meet me made the fact clear." In the absence of Lauzun, she
+sought solitude in order to think of him freely. "I was delighted to be
+alone in my chamber; I formed plans of what I could do for him which
+would give him a higher position."
+
+One single thought, characteristic of her generation, came to trouble
+her happiness; she queried of herself if the great princesses of the
+theatre of Corneille would have married a cadet of Gascogne. Assuredly,
+passion blows where it listeth. Corneille had never denied this; but he
+had maintained that the will should render us masters of our affections,
+and his plays bear witness that love, even when founded in a just
+feeling of admiration, can efface itself before the sentiment of the
+duty owed to rank. Happily, poets, even when they are named Corneille,
+sometimes contradict themselves, and Mademoiselle, who had seen plays
+since the days of swaddling clothes, well knew her _repertoire_. She now
+recalled for her comfort a passage in the _Suite du Menteur_ which
+clearly established the "predestination of marriage, and the foresight
+of God," so that it was a Christian duty to submit without resistance to
+sentiments sent to us "from the sky."
+
+Although sure of her own memory, which was indeed excellent,
+Mademoiselle sent in great haste to Paris to secure a copy of the play,
+and found the page (Act IV.) in which Melisse confides to Lise his love
+for Dorante:
+
+    Quand les ordres du ciel nous ont faits l'un pour l'autre,
+    Lise, c'est un accord bientot fait que le notre.
+    Sa main entre les c[oe]urs, par un secret pouvoir,
+    Seme l'intelligence avant que de se voir;
+    Il prepare si bien l'amant et la maitresse,
+    Que leur ame au seul nom s'emeut et s'interesse.
+    On s'estime, on se cherche, on s'aime en un moment;
+    Tout ce qu'on s'entredit persuade aisement;
+    Et, sans s'inquieter de mille peurs frivoles,
+    La foi semble courir au-devant des paroles.
+
+How was it possible to doubt for a single instant after having read
+these verses that there is impiety in disobeying the "commands" to love
+which come to us from on high? Nevertheless, serious conflicts took
+place in the soul of the royal pupil of Corneille. Sometimes she
+represented to herself with vivacity the joys of marriage, among the
+keenest of which would be the witnessing the vexation of her heirs, who
+were already beginning to find that she was making them wait too long,
+and whom she longed to disappoint. Sometimes her mind could only dwell
+upon the scandal which such a _mesalliance_ would cause, the reprobation
+of some, and the laughter of others, and then her pride rose in arms.
+She thus on one day desired the marriage eagerly, while on the next she
+detested the thought of it, the vacillation depending upon the fact of
+her having between times seen or not seen M. de Lauzun.
+
+This struggle between the head and the heart was prolonged during
+several weeks;
+
+     finally, after having often passed and repassed the pro and con
+     through my brain, my heart decided the affair, and it was in
+     the Church of Recollects in which I took my final resolution.
+     Never had I felt so much devotion in church, and those who
+     regarded me perceived that I was much absorbed; I believe that
+     God surprised me with His commands. The next day, which was the
+     second of March, I was very gay.
+
+If Mademoiselle had been of the age of Juliet, this would have been a
+pretty romance. But she was perhaps slightly too mature to play with the
+grand passion.
+
+The man who was the cause of these agitations is one of the best-known
+figures of his times. Traces of him are found in all the contemporary
+writings. The singularity of his personality joined to the prodigies of
+his luck, good and bad, had made him an object of interest to his
+contemporaries. It was of him that La Bruyere said: "No one can guess
+how he lives."[211] The political world, the ministers at the head,
+observed him with an anxious attention, because he had accomplished the
+miracle of becoming the favourite of the King, while possessing
+precisely the defects which Louis XIV. feared the most. Lauzun did not
+attain the position of such a favourite as the Constable de Luynes under
+Louis XIII., but he secured sufficient influence to accumulate offices
+and honours.
+
+Antonin Nompar de Caumont, Marquis de Puyguilhem, later Comte de Lauzun,
+was born in 1633 (or 1632) of an ancient family of Perigord. His parents
+had nine children and nothing to give to the younger ones; but their
+birth assured to this youthful throng access to the Court and hope of
+aid from it. The third of the boys resembled Poucet in form and also
+possessed his keenness of mind. It was decided to send him to seek his
+fortune, not in the forest, as with the hero of the tale, but in the
+vicinity of the Court of France, the parents being convinced that with
+his acuteness he would not permit himself to be eaten by the ogre, but
+would rather succeed in devouring others.
+
+The Marechal de Gramont, first cousin of the old Lauzun, saw arrive at
+his mansion a very little man, with the face of "a flayed cat,"[212]
+surrounded with flaxen hair, who claimed to be fourteen years of age.
+This grotesque person was as lively as a sparrow and Gascon to the tips
+of his fingers.
+
+The Marshal kept him and provided for his education. In winter the
+little man went to the "academy" to learn to dance, to shoot, and to
+ride. In the summer he campaigned with a cavalry regiment belonging to
+his uncle. There was apparently no plan for serious study of any kind,
+nor even any attention paid to making the youth read. Complete ignorance
+was still accepted among the nobility without remark; there had been
+little change for the better in this respect since the previous century.
+The parents of Lauzun had well judged. In a short time the boy had
+wormed himself into the most imposing mansions, the most sacred
+chambers. He was seen with the King, he was met in the company of
+beautiful ladies. The Court and the city became familiar with his
+furtive and impudent physiognomy, which soon grew haughty and insolent.
+At eighteen, his father gave him his first military charge. At
+twenty-four, he possessed a regiment; then suddenly, when the King came
+to power, he received advancements, favours, an always increasing and
+inexplicable credit, which aroused for him the hatred of Louvois, for in
+the frequent discussions in relation to the service, "the favourite
+always conquered." One of his tricks, which was unparalleled for
+impudence, and the discovery of which might well have crushed him for
+ever, ended in proving his strength.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+Cliche Braun, Clement & Cie.
+
+=DUC DE LAUZUN=
+
+By permission of Messrs. Hachette & Co.]
+
+At about the time when he attracted the attention of the Grande
+Mademoiselle, the insatiable little man extracted from his master (under
+the condition of secrecy for fear of Louvois) the promise of being
+shortly made Grand Master of Artillery. Lauzun was foolish enough not to
+be silent. Louvois, once warned, made such strong and convincing
+opposition that the King was aroused, and the favourite heard no more of
+the appointment. In his anxiety he appealed to Mme. de Montespan. She
+was his great friend and promised her aid; but he was distrustful and
+wished to "have his mind clear"; then occurred a scene which outraged
+Saint-Simon himself, as he related it long after. This writer avows in
+his _Memoires_ that it would have been incredible "if the truth had not
+been attested by all the Court."
+
+Like most great workers, Louis XIV. was orderly and methodical in
+everything. He had fixed hours for his ministers and for appearing in
+public, hours for his wife and for his mistresses. It could always be
+known where he was and what he was doing. Mme. de Montespan's hour was
+in the afternoon. With the complicity of a chambermaid Lauzun was
+introduced into the room, concealed himself under the bed, and by
+keeping his ears open soon "cleared his mind." Mme. de Montespan did not
+forget him in her conversation, but he heard himself severely criticised
+and his bad character exploited; the slight dependence which could be
+placed upon him and his arrogance towards Louvois were also emphasised.
+All these charges were made with so much wit that the King, carried
+away, replied with almost as little charity.
+
+The listener under the bed, through rage and constraint, was thrown into
+a "great perspiration." Finally the King returned to his own affairs and
+Mme. de Montespan to hers, which were to attire themselves for a ballet.
+After her toilet, Madame found Lauzun at her door. He offered
+his hand and demanded if he dared flatter himself that she had
+remembered him with the King. She assured him that she had not failed to
+do so, and expatiated upon "all the services which she had just rendered
+him." M. de Lauzun permitted her to finish, only forcing her to walk
+slowly, and then softly in a low voice repeated, word for word, all that
+had passed between the King and herself, without leaving out a single
+phrase; and always retaining the sweet and gentle voice, he proceeded to
+call her the most infamous names, assured her that he would "spoil her
+face," and led her most unwillingly to the ballet, more dead than alive,
+and almost without consciousness.
+
+The King and Mme. de Montespan both believed that it was only the devil
+himself who could have so accurately reported what had been said.
+Royalty and the mistress were in trouble, and in a "horrible rage"; they
+had not yet recovered their equanimity when the favourite recommenced
+his intrigues.
+
+Three days after this apparently inexplicable event, he came to break
+his sword before the King, declaiming that he would no longer serve a
+prince who forswore his word for a ---- (the word cannot be repeated).
+The conduct of Louis XIV. at this juncture has remained famous. He
+opened the window and threw out his cane, saying that he should regret
+having struck a gentleman.
+
+The next day Lauzun found himself in the Bastile, and it might have been
+supposed for a long sojourn, under a monarch who never as a child had
+pardoned a lack of respect. The public was still more astonished to
+learn, at the end of the second month, that it was the King who sought
+pardon, and Lauzun who held his head high, refusing recompense and
+asserting that the prison was preferable to the Court.
+
+The feelings of Louvois and others can be imagined during the strange
+interchange of visits between Saint-Germain and the Bastile, for the
+purpose of obtaining from this dangerous personage the acceptance of the
+much-desired charge of Captain of the Body Guard; also the alarm at the
+prompt[213] return of the favourite, more of a spoiled child than before
+the punishment.
+
+Whence came this credit with a prince so little susceptible to
+influence, who had always pretended to be as opposed to the rule of
+favourites as of prime ministers? In what did this little Lauzun show
+special merit? and what attracted women who pursued and sought his
+favour through cajoleries and gifts? Little Poucet he still was; for he
+had not increased in stature. "He is," wrote Bussy-Rabutin, "one of the
+smallest men God has ever made."[214] He had not become more beautiful.
+We can on this point believe the testimony of Mademoiselle herself.
+However strong her passion, she is yet able to paint Lauzun in these
+terms, writing to Mme. de Noailles: "He is a small man. No one can say
+that his figure is not the straightest, prettiest, most agreeable. The
+limbs are fine; he has good presence in all that he does; but little
+hair, blond mixed with grey, ill-combed, and often somewhat greasy; fine
+blue eyes, but generally red; a shrewd air; a pretty countenance. His
+smile pleases. The end of his nose is pointed and red; something
+elevated in his physiognomy; very negligent in attire; when, however, it
+appeals to him to be careful, he looks very well. Behold the man!"
+
+This is not an alluring picture. There was but little to attract. It was
+murmured that he possessed secret methods of making himself beloved. "As
+for his temper and manners," continues Mademoiselle, "I defy any one to
+understand them, to explain or to imitate them." The world was not
+entirely of this opinion. It could recognise at least that M. de Lauzun
+was "the most insolent little man born in the century,"[215] also the
+most malicious. Many cruel traits were ascribed to him, and his fashion
+of turning on his heel and plunging into the crowd before his victims
+had regained their composure was well known.
+
+The world was also well assured that the favourite was an intriguer.
+Lauzun was always occupied with some machination, even against those to
+whom he was indifferent; this kept his hand in. For the rest,
+Mademoiselle was right; he was _not_ understood. He was very
+intelligent. His clever phrases were repeated. For example, his response
+to the wife of a minister who said rather foolishly, in emphasising the
+trouble her husband gave himself: "There is nothing more embarrassing
+than the position of the one who holds _la queue de la poele_, is
+there?" "Pardon, Madame, there are those who are within."
+
+But Lauzun also loved to play the imbecile and to utter with the tone of
+a simpleton phrases without sense; he indulged in this singular taste
+even before the King. The contrast was great between his pretensions to
+the "haughty air" and the desire to be imposing and the habit of
+adorning himself in grotesque costumes in order to see whether any one
+dared to laugh at M. de Lauzun. He was once found at home arrayed in a
+dressing gown and great wig, his mantle over the gown, a nightcap upon
+his wig, and a plumed hat above all. Thus attired, he walked up and down
+scanning his domestics, and woe to him who did not keep his countenance.
+
+He was at once avaricious and lavish, ungrateful and the reverse,
+delighting in evil but at the same time loyal as relative or friend
+while not ceasing to be dangerous. He undertook at one time to advance
+in the world his nephew, lately come from Perigord. He furnished him
+with a purse and took the trouble to present him at Court, at which
+their apparition was an event. They were pointed out to every one, and
+no one, not even the King, composed as he was by profession, could help
+laughing; Lauzun had indulged in the fantasy of dressing his nephew in
+the costume of his grandfather. The poor lad felt so ridiculous that he
+almost died from shame, and fled from Paris without daring to show
+himself again.
+
+In this freak, his uncle had not acted maliciously: he had simply
+disregarded consequences. There was certainly a strain of madness in
+Lauzun. If not too large, a tinge of this kind often gives to people a
+certain fascination. It had captivated Mademoiselle, who in trying to
+define her attraction for Lauzun was forced to conclude, "Finally, he
+pleased me; and I love him passionately."
+
+The King had also not been insensible to this indefinable charm, but it
+must be said that he had been slightly dazzled by the perfection of the
+qualities of a courtier which were shown by this half-madman. The Court
+of France possessed no more servile being bowing down before the master
+than "the most insolent little man seen during the century." This Gascon
+played comedies of devotion for the benefit of Louis XIV. and flattered
+him in the most shameful manner, which succeeded only too well.
+
+The King was persuaded that M. de Lauzun loved him alone, lived but for
+him, and had no thought apart, and the King was touched by this
+illusion. He found such absolute devotion delightful, and was ready to
+pardon much to the man who gave so good an example to other courtiers.
+
+But even in giving full weight to the originality and the
+unscrupulousness of this man, which undoubtedly added to his force, and
+also bearing in mind that Louis XIV. did not entirely escape a certain
+terror which his favourite inspired, it is still difficult to account
+for a success so disproportioned to the merit. Lauzun had almost reached
+the heights when the mad strain became ascendant and ruined him. Once
+decided upon her desires, Mademoiselle became completely absorbed in
+finding the best means of satisfying these. The first steps appeared to
+be the most difficult. Considering her rank, the advances must be made
+by her, and it fell to the Grande Mademoiselle to demand the hand of M.
+de Lauzun. Everything had been prepared and the Princess did not
+anticipate a refusal. But it was not sufficient to be married; she
+wished to live her romance, to be loved, and to be told so, and this
+delight was not easy to attain. "I do not know," says she, "if he
+perceived what was in my heart. I was dying of desire to give him an
+opportunity to tell me what his feelings were to me. I knew not how to
+accomplish this."
+
+Probably in all the Court there did not exist another woman so naive as
+Mademoiselle in regard to the manipulation of a lover! After having
+seriously thought over the matter, she decided upon a classic expedient.
+She resolved to tell Lauzun that it was a question of an alliance, and
+that she wished to ask his advice. If he loved her, he would certainly
+betray himself. She entered upon the attempt, on the same second of
+March on which she had awakened so gaily, and met her lover in the
+palace of the Queen, at the time when that lady retired to her
+_oratoire_ to "pray God."
+
+While Marie-Therese was prolonging her devotions a certain freedom was
+permitted in the anteroom.
+
+"I went to him and led him near a window. With his pride and his haughty
+air, he appeared to me the Emperor of all the world. I commenced: 'You
+have testified so much friendship for me during so long a time, that I
+have the utmost confidence in you, and I do not wish to act without your
+advice.'" Lauzun protested, as was fitting, his gratitude and his
+devotion, and Mademoiselle continued: "It is plainly to be seen that the
+King wishes to marry me to the Prince de Lorraine; have you heard this
+mentioned?" No, he had "heard nothing of it." Mademoiselle poured out
+some confused explanations as to her reasons for wishing to remain in
+France, in the hope of finding at length true happiness. "For myself,"
+concluded she, "I cannot love what I do not esteem." Lauzun approved
+all and demanded: "Do you think of marrying?" She responded naively, "I
+become enraged when I hear people calculating upon my succession." "Ah,"
+said he, "nothing would give me greater delight than to marry." At this
+moment, the Queen came out of the _oratoire_ and it was necessary to
+part. Lauzun had betrayed nothing. Nevertheless, Mademoiselle felt very
+happy: "I thought, there is one important step taken, and he can no
+longer mistake my sentiments; on the first occasion, I will learn his. I
+was well content with myself and with what I had done."
+
+Lauzun had in fact really comprehended that the Grande Mademoiselle was
+throwing herself at his head, and he was well pleased to enter into the
+game at all risks, in order to gain what he could. Without actually
+reaching the marriage ceremony, the love of a grand princess can be of
+advantage in many ways. He took pains, therefore, to renew the
+conversation, and employed all his art, all his wit, in default of
+feeling, in keeping the flame alight in the breast of the old maid and
+in flattering the weaknesses which united with the movements of her
+heart in increasing the desire for marriage. Mademoiselle could not
+support the vision of the heirs always on the watch; Lauzun accentuated
+and sympathised with her annoyance at overhearing such phrases as "This
+one will have that territory, another will inherit this land." "I find
+your vexation very reasonable," said he, "for one should live as long
+as possible and not love those who desire our death."
+
+Mademoiselle could not resign herself to growing old. This was not
+coquetry, of which she could not be accused; it was the conviction that
+on account of her high birth she was a privileged creature. She said
+very seriously, "People of my quality are always young," and she dressed
+as at twenty, and continued to dance.
+
+Lauzun attacked this delicate subject and did not hesitate to speak
+unpleasant truths before offering the soothing balm held in reserve. It
+was his habit to treat women brutally in order to make them submissive,
+and in this case there were double reasons for doing so. "His maxim,"
+relates Saint-Simon, "was that the Bourbons must be rudely treated and
+the rod must be held high over their heads, without which no empire
+could be preserved over them." This system had succeeded tolerably well
+with Louis XIV. Lauzun could well believe, in these early times, that it
+would also be successful with his cousin, so humbly did she accept his
+harshness.
+
+He said to her: "I find that you are right to take a husband, nothing in
+the world being so ridiculous, no matter what may be the rank, as to see
+a woman of forty wrapped up in the pleasures of the world, like a girl
+of fifteen, who thinks of nothing else. At this age, a woman should be a
+nun or at least a _devote_, or she should remain at home modestly
+dressed."
+
+He admitted that Mademoiselle, on account of her high rank, might
+constitute an exception, and that she might be permitted at long
+intervals to hear one or two acts of the opera; but her duty as old maid
+was "to attend vespers, and to listen to sermons, to receive the
+benediction, to go to assemblies for the poor, and to the hospitals." Or
+else to marry; this was the alternative which pointed his moral. "For
+once married," continued he, "a woman can go anywhere at any age; she
+dresses like others, to please her husband, and goes to amusements
+because he wishes his wife not to appear peculiar."
+
+Every word impressed itself on the mind of the loving Princess. When
+Saint-Simon, who was intimate with Lauzun, read the _Memoires_ of
+Mademoiselle, he found the account of this adventure so true and lively
+that he renounced the attempt to relate it himself. "Whoever knew Lauzun
+will at once recognise him in all that Mademoiselle relates, and his
+voice can almost be heard." Through a very natural contradiction, the
+Grande Mademoiselle, even at the height of her passion, preserved "some
+regret that she would no longer be queen in foreign lands." Lauzun tried
+to banish this regret. He represented to her that the trouble of playing
+at royalty
+
+     surpassed the pleasure. If you had been really Queen or Empress
+     you would soon have been bored.... You can now dwell here all
+     your life.... If you desire to marry you can raise a man to be
+     the equal in grandeur and power to sovereigns. Above all, he
+     will realise that you have taken pleasure in bringing him to
+     prominence; he will be deeply grateful. It would not be needful
+     to describe the man who may possess so much honour; for in pleasing
+     you and in being your choice, he must of necessity be an estimable
+     being. He will lack nothing; but where is he?
+
+This language, so clear in its import to the reader, did not entirely
+satisfy Mademoiselle. The poor Princess was ever expecting an avowal or
+caresses which never came. Lauzun acted the disinterested friend, the
+person who was entirely out of the running, and he detailed all the
+reasons which made an unequal marriage distasteful to him. Far from
+seeking her, he held himself at a respectful distance when he met her.
+"It was I," says she, "who sought him." His reserve and his reticence
+added fuel to the flames, and this diverted him, but for the moment he
+did not dare to promise himself anything more than greater credit at
+Court.
+
+In the meantime, the Duchesse de Longueville[216] wished to establish
+the Count de Saint-Paul, the one of her sons who resembled "infinitely"
+La Rochefoucauld. In spite of the great difference in age--her son was
+only twenty--she thought of Mademoiselle, who remained by far the best
+match in the kingdom, and commenced overtures. These were eluded, but
+with a gentleness which astonished the social world. Mademoiselle had
+her reasons: "For myself, who had my own desires buried in my heart, it
+did not at all vex me that the report should be spread that there was
+question of marrying me to M. de Longueville.[217] It occurred to me
+that this might in some measure accustom people to my future action."
+
+For once, the diplomacy of Mademoiselle did not prove a failure, and her
+calculations were found to be justified. Some days later, when the
+affair was being discussed before Lauzun, one of his friends, who had
+perceived that the Princess was listening with pleasure, asked him why
+he did not try his fortune.[218] Others joined in the suggestion and all
+assured him that nothing was impossible for a man so advanced in the
+good graces of the King. Lauzun expressed himself shocked at the idea of
+an alliance with Mademoiselle; but on returning to his lodging, he
+ruminated the entire night upon this conversation, and from that time
+the thought did not appear to him so chimerical. It was necessary,
+however, to delay the assurance; the King led the Court into Flanders
+and gave the command of the escort to his favourite.
+
+This was a political journey. Spain had been vanquished almost without
+resistance in the war of Devolution[219] (1667-1668). Louis XIV. deemed
+it useful to display French royalty in all its pomp to the populations
+lately united with his kingdom, by the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (May 2,
+1668), and all prepared to make a fine figure in a spectacle whose
+strangeness finds nothing analogous in modern life.
+
+In 1658, Loret the journalist had valued at about twelve hundred souls
+(the servitors were not included) the convoy formed by the Court at its
+departure for Lyons. This figure was certainly surpassed in 1670, when
+the royal family alone, more than complete, since it included Mme. de
+Montespan and Mlle. de La Valliere, took in their train a suite of
+several thousand persons, not counting the army of escorts.
+
+This suite was composed of ladies and maids of honour, gentlemen, pages,
+domestics of all orders and of both sexes, footmen and valets of valets.
+The King even brought his nurse with him. On the other hand, the
+nobility were better disciplined than in the times of Mazarin and Anne
+of Austria, and no one had dared to remain behind. The departure was
+from Saint-Germain, April 28. Pellison wrote the next day to his friend
+Mlle. de Scudery: "It is impossible to tell you how numerous the Court
+is; it is much larger than at Saint-Germain or Paris. Every one has
+followed."[220]
+
+The quantity of luggage gave to this crowd the appearance of a wandering
+nomadic tribe. All the personages of high rank took with them complete
+sets of furniture. Louis XIV. had on this journey "a chamber of crimson
+damask," for ordinary use, and another "very magnificent" where greater
+accommodation would be had. The bed of the last was "of green velvet
+embroidered with gold, immensely large, which could of itself fill
+several small rooms." There were also entire suites of needful furniture
+when the King lodged at his ease, and the same for the Queen, beautiful
+Gobelin tapestries and a quantity of silver plaques,[221] chandeliers of
+silver, and other pieces.
+
+The commissary department carried a monster cooking apparatus and
+necessary utensils to supply, morning and evening, several large tables
+with food served on plated dishes. When all was unpacked, their
+Majesties were "almost as at the Tuileries."
+
+Monsieur could not do without pretty things nor infinite variation of
+toilet; he was much encumbered on a journey. Mademoiselle, demanding
+little, had nevertheless her rank to maintain, and her "campaign
+chamber" was imposing. On one journey, she was obliged to lodge ten days
+in a peasant's hut where the ceilings were so low that it was necessary
+to increase the height of the room by digging out the ground which
+formed the floor, in order to erect the canopy of her bed. Those of the
+courtiers obliged, from their rank as chiefs of _Commandments_, to keep
+open table led with them a staff of domestics and enough material for an
+itinerant inn. Others wished to make themselves conspicuous by the
+fineness of their equipage. That of Lauzun had been much admired at his
+departure from Paris. "He passed through the St. Honore," wrote
+Mademoiselle, who had come across him by chance; "he was very splendid
+and magnificent." The most modest carried at least a camp-bed, under
+pain of sleeping upon mother earth during the entire trip.
+
+The train of chariots, carts, and horses, or mules with pack-saddles,
+which rolled along the route to Flanders in 1670, can be pictured; also
+the difficulty of uniting luggage and owner when the resting-places were
+scattered over an entire village or group of villages; the accidents of
+all sorts which happened to the caravan, on roads almost always in a
+frightful condition, and in traversing rivers often without bridges; the
+indifference of some, the impatience of others, and the universal
+disorder; the anguish of losing one's cooks if one were a Marie-Therese,
+the desolation of not finding the rouge and powder if one were Monsieur
+or some pretty woman! Surely those who preserved their equanimity
+through such trials and under excessive fatigue deserve praise.
+
+Louis XIV. was a good traveller, arranged everything for himself, and
+expected others to do as much. He detested groans, timid women, and
+those to whom a bed was important. The Queen Marie-Therese began to
+grumble before actually stepping into her coach, and the fact that she
+was in a placid frame of mind during a trip was spread far and wide as
+a piece of good news. The frugal suppers and the nights passed in a
+waggon, while awaiting the carriage which had missed the way, appeared
+to her frightful calamities. The bad condition of the roads made her
+weep, and she uttered loud cries in traversing fords. She was once found
+in tears, stopping the horses in the open plain and refusing to go on or
+to turn back. An intelligent interest in new surroundings did not give
+her compensation for her woes, for she possessed no curiosity. The
+conferences with which the King entertained the ladies along the route,
+upon military tactics and fortifications, mortally bored and wearied the
+poor Queen, and she did not know how to conceal her feelings.
+
+To tell the truth, among all the women who pressed behind the King upon
+the ramparts of the cities or on the fortifications of old
+battle-fields, appearing to absorb his words and explanations,
+Mademoiselle was the only one who really listened with pleasure. Since
+the exploits during the Fronde, the Princess had always considered
+herself as belonging to the profession of arms.
+
+Monsieur had one great resource in travelling. When he joined the King,
+he brought with him some choice bits of gossip which entertained the
+entire coach. In the evening, when the beds were being anxiously
+awaited, he started games, or ordered the King's violins and gave a
+dance. If no other place offered, the company would use a barn for the
+impromptu ball. Monsieur, however, was much annoyed at any mishaps which
+might interfere with his toilet, and could never take accidents of this
+kind lightly.
+
+The journey of 1670 was made more difficult by torrents of rain, and the
+one who was generally drenched was the Commander-in-chief of the troops,
+who was obliged to stand with uncovered head to receive the King's
+orders. Monsieur looked with a sort of indignation upon the piteous
+countenance of Lauzun, his hair uncurled and dripping, and once said:
+"Nothing would induce me to show myself in such a condition. He does not
+look at all well with his wet hair; I have never seen a man so
+hideous."[222]
+
+Mademoiselle was more indignant than Monsieur; chiefly over the fact
+that any one could consider M. de Lauzun ugly "in any state," and that
+the King should gaily expose him to the risk of catching cold. "M. de
+Lauzun is always without a hat and has his head drenched. I said to the
+King, 'Sire, command him to cover his head; he will be ill.' I said this
+so repeatedly that I was afraid my solicitude would be noticed."
+
+Mademoiselle cared but little on her own account for the discomforts of
+the journey. No woman made fewer grimaces at a bad supper, or for being
+forced to make a bedchamber of her carriage, and sometimes to sleep upon
+a chair. She did not, however, enjoy the reputation of being a good
+traveller, on account of the insurmountable terror which water
+inspired. During a ford, she cried out as loudly as the Queen; the signs
+of the King's impatience could not restrain her; "as soon as I see it,"
+said she, of the water, "I no longer know what I am doing."
+
+The rest of the party belonging to the caravan resigned themselves to
+the discomforts of camping through "the grace of God." It was realised
+that any expression of discontent caused the danger of incurring the
+royal displeasure, and discomfort was expected as a necessary
+accompaniment of a royal progress.
+
+In 1667, Court had passed one night at the Chateau of Mailly near
+Amiens. The Abbe de Montigny, Almoner of the Queen, wrote the next day
+to some friends, "Mailly, ladies, is a caravansary. There was such a
+crowd that Mme. de Montausier slept upon a heap of straw in a cupboard,
+the daughters of the Queen in a barn on some wheat, and your humble
+servant on a pile of charcoal."[223] In 1670 the account of the night of
+the 3d of May filled many letters. May 3d had been a painful day. The
+immense convoy had departed from Saint-Quentin for Landrecies at an
+early hour, during a beating rain, which had visibly increased the
+water-courses and swamps. Hour by hour the vehicles sank deeper in the
+mud and the roads were encumbered with horses and mules, dead or
+overcome, with carts sunk in the mire, and with overturned baggage. It
+was not long before the chariots met the same fate. The Marechal de
+Bellefonte was forced to abandon his in a slough, and make the remainder
+of his way to the resting-place on foot, in the company of Benserade and
+two others. M. de Crussol[224] met the water above the doors of the
+carriage in traversing the Sambre, and M. de Bouligneux,[225] who
+followed him, was forced to unharness in the middle of the stream and to
+save himself on one of the horses. When it came to the Queen and
+Mademoiselle, it was in vain to promise to conduct them to another ford
+reported as "very safe." Their cries and agitation were such that the
+attempt was abandoned. They sought shelter in the single habitation on
+the bank. It was a poor hut composed of two connecting rooms with only
+the ground for floor; on entering, Mademoiselle sank up to the knees in
+a muddy hole. Landrecies was upon the other bank of the Sambre. The
+night fell and all were dying with hunger, for there had been no meal
+since Saint-Quentin. The King, very discontented, declared that no
+further attempt should be made to proceed and the night should be passed
+in the carriages. Mademoiselle remounted into hers, put on her nightcap
+and undressed. She could not, however, close her eyes; "for there was
+such a frightful noise." Some one said, "The King and Queen are going to
+sup." Mademoiselle ordered herself borne through the mud into the hut,
+and found the Queen very sulky. Marie-Therese had no bed and was
+lamenting, saying "that she would be ill if she did not sleep," and
+demanding what was the pleasure in such journeyings.
+
+Louis XIV. added the last touch to her vexation in proposing that the
+entire royal family and some intimates should sleep in the largest of
+the two rooms, letting the other serve as a military headquarters for
+Lauzun. "Look," said the King, "they are bringing mattresses;
+Romecourt[226] has an entirely new bed upon which you can sleep."
+"What!" cried the Queen, "sleep all together in one room? that will be
+horrible!" "But," rejoined the King, "you'll be completely dressed.
+There can be no harm. I find none." Mademoiselle, chosen as arbitrator,
+found no impropriety, and the Queen yielded.
+
+The city of Landrecies had provided their sovereigns with a "bouillon
+very thin," the distasteful appearance of which alarmed Marie-Therese.
+She refused it with disgust. When it was well understood that she would
+not touch it, the King and Mademoiselle, aided by Monsieur and Madame,
+devoured it in an instant; as soon as it was all gone, the Queen said,
+"I wanted some soup and you have eaten it all." Every one began to
+laugh, in spite of etiquette; when there appeared a large dish of
+chicken cutlets, also sent from Landrecies, which was eaten with
+avidity, soothing the injured feelings of the Queen. "The dish
+contained," relates Mademoiselle, "meat so hard that it took all one's
+strength to pull a chicken apart."
+
+When the company retired for the night, those not yet prepared arrayed
+themselves in nightcaps and dressing-gowns,[227] and French royalty for
+this memorable night must be represented in the apparel of Argan.
+
+In the corner of the chimney, upon the bed of Romecourt, lay the Queen,
+turned so that she might see all that was passing. "You have only to
+keep open your curtain," suggested the King; "you will be able to see us
+all."
+
+Near to the Queen, upon a mattress, lay Mme. de Bethune, the lady of
+honour, and Mme. de Thianges, sister of Mme. de Montespan, pressed
+together for lack of space. Monsieur and Madame, Louis XIV. and the
+Grande Mademoiselle, Mlle. de La Valliere, and Mme. de Montespan, a
+duchess and a maid of honour were crowded on the remaining mattresses,
+placed at right angles and proving a most troublesome obstruction to the
+officers going and coming on official business to the headquarters in
+the other room. Happily, the King at length ordered Lauzun to use a hole
+in the outer wall for his commands. The royal dormitory was at last left
+in peace, and the occupants could slumber.
+
+At four in the morning, Louvois gave warning that a bridge had been
+built. Mademoiselle awakened the King and all got up. It was not a
+beautiful spectacle. Locks were hanging in disorder and countenances
+were wrinkled. Mademoiselle believed herself less disfigured than the
+others, because she felt very red, and she rejoiced, as she found it
+impossible to avoid the glance of Lauzun. The royal party mounted into
+their carriages and attended mass at Landrecies, after which these
+august personages went to bed and reposed a portion of the day.
+
+The same evening Mademoiselle, only half aroused, was severely scolded
+by Lauzun for her ridiculous dread of the water. This was very sweet to
+her; it being the first time he had taken such a liberty, and the most
+passionate women in the early days of love adore the masterful tone. The
+two saw each other less often than at Saint-Germain, but with more
+freedom. The chances of travel gave, from time to time, the opportunity
+for long tete-a-tetes, by which they profited; she, to become more
+pressing, he, to make himself more keenly desired.
+
+Lauzun said one day that he thought of retiring from the world. "I am
+having a vision of such beautiful and great hopes; and if they are only
+delusions I shall die of grief."
+
+"But," said Mademoiselle, "do you never think of marrying?"
+
+"The one thing of importance in marriage," replied he, "would be belief
+in the virtue of the lady, for if there had been the slightest lapse I
+would have none of her; even if it were a question of yourself, far
+above others as you are!"
+
+He said this because there was a rumour that the King had the plan of
+marrying Mlle. de La Valliere to his favourite.
+
+Mademoiselle cried out ingenuously: "But you would wish me; for I am
+good. 'Do not talk even delightful nonsense, when we are speaking
+seriously.' But return then to me."
+
+This was precisely what he did not wish. He recollected all at once that
+the Venetian Ambassador was expecting him.
+
+On another occasion, Mademoiselle said to him, in confessing the fact
+that she was "entirely resolved to marry," and that her choice was made:
+"I intend to speak to the King, and to have the wedding in Flanders;
+that will make less stir than at Paris."
+
+"Ah, I beseech you not to do this!" cried Lauzun alarmed, for he did not
+consider the ground sufficiently prepared, "I do not wish it; ... I am
+absolutely opposed to it." Some days after, they were together looking
+through a window and exchanging impressions upon the persons of quality
+who were passing, "their forms, their bearing, their appearance, their
+wit." At length, Lauzun remarked, "Judging by what I hear, none of these
+would suit you?" "Assuredly not," replied Mademoiselle, "I wish that the
+person of my choice might go by, that I could point him out to you."
+
+As every one had now passed, she continued: "He must be sought, there is
+still some one else." After this, relates her _Memoires_, "he smiled and
+we talked of something else."
+
+They had arrived at the point of smiles and mutual intelligence.
+Nevertheless the Court returned to Saint-Germain (June 7th) without
+Mademoiselle having obtained the decisive word for which she was meekly
+begging. Lauzun opposed some barriers to every advance. Acting through
+prudence or calculation, he was to have cause to congratulate himself.
+
+Fifteen days elapsed in _detours_ and feigned flights. Mademoiselle was
+exasperated. Comprehending perfectly well that a Gascony cadet could not
+say bluntly, "Take me!" she still was so little capable of subterfuge
+that she found the "manners of M. de Lauzun towards her extraordinary."
+Lauzun was too subtle for one so simple. La Bruyere himself was going to
+renounce the hope of penetrating into his motives, and to avow it in the
+passage in which he paints him under the name of Straton: "A character
+equivocal, unintelligible; an enigma; a problem never solved."
+
+Persuaded that her lover held back through respect, Mademoiselle
+resolved to attack affairs boldly. On June 20th, she went to enjoy the
+diversions of the fine season[228] at Versailles. Monsieur and Madame
+were at their chateau at Saint-Cloud. Mademoiselle followed the Court.
+Lauzun was absent, but he took pains from time to time to appear in the
+Queen's salon. One evening, when he had met Mademoiselle and when he was
+chaffing her on the subject of the Duc de Longueville, the Princess said
+to him vivaciously: "Assuredly I shall marry; but it will not be with
+that person. I pray that I may speak with you to-morrow, for I am
+resolved to address the King and I desire that all should be finished
+before July 1st." He replied: "I am going to-morrow to Paris, and Sunday
+without fail I shall be here, and we will then talk over everything; I
+begin also to desire to have all ended."
+
+On Sunday (June 29th), towards evening, Lauzun had not yet arrived.
+Mademoiselle was notified that the Queen was awaiting her for the daily
+drive. She went out quickly, and ran across the Comte d'Ayen,[229] who
+had also an appearance of being in haste, and who said to her in
+passing, "Madame is dying; I am seeking M. Vallot,[230] whom the King
+has commanded me to lead to her!" Below in her carriage the Queen
+related the tale of the glass of chicory water and the fact that Madame
+believed herself to be poisoned. All were astonished and exclaimed, "Ah,
+what a horror!" People looked at each other and did not know what to do.
+Marie-Therese descended from her carriage and was peacefully entering a
+boat on the grand canal, when a gentleman arrived in haste; Madame was
+in extremity and besought the Queen not to delay if she wished to see
+her alive. The chateau was speedily regained, where the confusion
+recommenced. The Queen demanded every instant: "What shall I do? What
+shall I do?" She could not decide to go herself, and she prevented
+Mademoiselle from departing without her. Finally, the King appeared. He
+took the Queen in his coach with Mademoiselle and the Comtesse de
+Soissons. Mlle. de La Valliere and Mme. de Montespan followed. It was
+eleven o'clock when the royal family descended at the gate of the
+Chateau Saint-Cloud.
+
+The spectacle which awaited it has been described a hundred times. A
+poor little dishevelled figure, pathetic from suffering, and already
+drawn by the approach of the dying agony, lay upon the bed. The
+unfastened chemise permitted her emaciation to be seen, and she was so
+pale that if it had not been for her cries it might have been thought
+that the end had already come. We know through Mme. de La Fayette[231]
+that the first sentiments of the spectators had been those of pity,
+natural in such a case, and here doubled by the sight of the frightful
+sufferings and the gentleness of this young and charming being in the
+presence of death. The state of Madame had touched even her husband, so
+embittered against her by her frivolities, and only the sound of
+"weeping was heard in the chamber."
+
+With the entrance of the sovereigns and their suite the aspect of the
+room was at once altered. Louis was indeed sincerely affected,
+Mademoiselle much moved, and many of the others felt "that they were
+losing with Madame all the joy, all the agreeableness, all the pleasures
+of the Court."[232] But egotism and intrigue marched on the heels of
+their Majesties. Even while weeping, each began to dream over the
+consequences of this death. Who would inherit the prestige of Madame?
+Whom would Monsieur marry? Would it be the Grande Mademoiselle? How
+would this affect the interests of each? The dying woman felt a sudden
+chill in the atmosphere. "She perceived with pain the tranquillity of
+every one," reports Mademoiselle, "and I have never seen any sight so
+pitiable as her state when she realised the real attitude of those
+surrounding her bed. The crowd kept on talking, moving about in the
+room, almost laughing."
+
+Monsieur was only "astonished" at what was happening. Mademoiselle
+having urged him to send for a priest, he said, "Whom shall we call?
+Whose name will appear well in the _Gazette_?" This preoccupation truly
+reveals Monsieur.
+
+After the departure of the King, who took away others in his train, the
+scene again changed. Monsieur had sent for Bossuet, who, in a letter to
+one of his brothers, has related details of these last hours. To judge
+from this letter, it appears that the presence of the priest at the
+bedside of Madame turned all minds from terrestrial preoccupations and
+banished all thoughts except those impressed by the grandeur of death.
+Madame herself gave the example, proving with her last sigh that she
+felt she was accomplishing "the most important action of life."[233] "I
+found her fully conscious," said Bossuet, "speaking and acting without
+ostentation, without effort, without violence; but so well, so suitably,
+with so much courage and piety, that I was completely overcome." Thus
+God had the last word!
+
+On returning to Versailles, the Queen quietly ate her supper.
+Mademoiselle perceived Lauzun among those present. "In rising from
+table, I said to him, 'This is very disconcerting.' He replied, 'Very,
+and I am afraid that it may spoil our plans.' I responded, 'Ah, no. No
+matter what may happen.'"
+
+The poor woman could not sleep during the night: how rid herself of
+Monsieur, if the King should wish "the marriage"? At six in the morning,
+word came from Saint-Cloud that Madame was dead. "At this news,"
+continues Mademoiselle, "the King resolved to take medicine," and
+Mademoiselle, arriving with the Queen, found him in a dressing-gown,
+weeping bitterly over the loss of Madame, and very tenderly pitying his
+own woe. He said to Mademoiselle: "Come, watch me take medicine; let us
+make no more fuss; better act as I am doing." After his draught he
+retired, and the morning was passed in his bedchamber speaking of the
+dead.
+
+In the afternoon, the King dressed and went to consult Mademoiselle, as
+the great authority in matters of Court etiquette, upon the proper
+arrangements for the funeral ceremony. After these details had been
+discussed, the King spoke the word she was expecting and dreading: "'My
+cousin, here is a vacant place, will you fill it?' I became pale as
+death, and said, 'You are the master, your wish is mine.' He urged me to
+speak frankly. I said, 'I can say nothing about this.' 'But have you any
+aversion to the idea?' I was silent; he went on, 'I will further the
+affair and report to you.'"
+
+In the salons, the crowd of courtiers was busily engaged in remarrying
+Monsieur. The question was, "To whom?" and every one looked at the
+Grande Mademoiselle. Lauzun bore the situation like a man of spirit,
+without troubling himself with useless regrets or feigning a loving
+despair which was very foreign to his nature. His manner was free, very
+gay, too easy to please Mademoiselle when he congratulated her and
+refused to listen to her protestations that "it would never be." "The
+King said that he wished you would marry Monsieur; it will be necessary
+to obey." He besought her not to hesitate, and dilated on the joys of
+grandeur, and the happiness she might have with Monsieur. She responded,
+"I am more than fifteen, and I do not propose to accept a life fit only
+for children."
+
+Of all the honours attached to the rank of sister-in-law to the King,
+one alone appealed to her,--that she would then have a good place in the
+royal carriage, instead of being always on the basket seat, and she
+represented to Lauzun that the "good place would not long remain
+vacant." It would be assigned to the children of the King as soon as
+they should be grown up. Once he added: "The past must be forgotten. I
+remember nothing of what you have told me; I have lately forgotten all."
+
+Another time, he showed that he was not ignorant of what he was losing.
+She had just repeated, "Ah, this shall never be!" "But yes," rejoined
+Lauzun, "I shall be glad; for I prefer your grandeur to my own joy and
+fortune; I owe you too much to feel otherwise." "He had never before
+admitted as much," remarks Mademoiselle. After such delightful
+conversations, she shut herself up to weep. The idea of marrying
+Monsieur was odious to her, for other reasons besides the desires
+aroused by her passion.
+
+Not that she suspected him of having poisoned his wife. Mademoiselle
+considered her cousin incapable of such a crime. But she could not bear
+the thought of the many favourites of Monsieur and of their power. One
+of these, M. de Beuvron,[234] had confirmed this repugnance by coming
+insolently and inopportunely to assure her of his protection and of that
+of the Chevalier de Lorraine. He frankly told her: "It will be more to
+our advantage to have you than a German princess without a sou, who
+would only be an expense, while you have so much that the allowance of
+Monsieur can be spent for his liberalities; thus we shall come off
+better." This was not a clever address to a princess who sincerely loved
+money. The following displayed even less tact: "If we aid in making your
+marriage, you will be under obligation to us, and you will realise our
+power."
+
+Mademoiselle heard all and recounted the conversation to the King. "He
+has spoken like a fool," said Louis with his shrewd common-sense.
+Mademoiselle could not resign herself to this alliance, and Lauzun
+trembled lest he should be held responsible. He came once again, to find
+the Princess with the Queen, and said to her:
+
+     I come very humbly to supplicate, that you will speak no more
+     to me. I am most unhappy at displeasing Monsieur. He might
+     believe that all the difficulties you are making come from me.
+     Thus I shall no longer enjoy the honour of addressing you. Do
+     not summon me, for I shall not respond. Do not write to me, nor
+     address me in any way. I am in despair to be forced to act in
+     this fashion; but I must do so for love of you.
+
+She equivocated, tried to retain him. He repeated to her his accustomed
+refrain that he must obey, and coldly took leave while she cried out:
+"Do not go away! What, shall I speak to you no more?" From that day
+Lauzun carefully avoided her. One day, when Mademoiselle requested him
+to re-knot her muff ribbon, he replied "that he was not sufficiently
+adroit," and yielded to Mlle. de La Valliere. He even avoided glancing
+in her direction.
+
+Louis XIV. had found his brother well convinced of the advantage of
+marrying many millions; Monsieur only demanded delay, not wishing, with
+the rumours which were circulating, to appear too eager to replace the
+dead. Mademoiselle also on her side was endeavouring to hinder the
+progress of affairs. Success crowned the efforts of both, and the month
+of September was well advanced when the King said to his cousin in the
+presence of the Queen: "My brother has spoken to me; he wishes in case
+you have no children that you should make his daughter your heir,[235]
+and he says he will be well content not to have any more offspring,
+provided he is assured that my daughter shall marry his son. I
+counselled him to desire children, because this could not be a
+certainty."
+
+Monsieur was thirteen years younger than Mademoiselle, and the latter
+very well understood the significance of words. She began to laugh. "I
+have never heard persons on the brink of marriage say that they did not
+wish children, and I hardly know whether this is a courteous
+proposition. What does your Majesty think?" The King also laughed. "My
+brother has said so many ridiculous things on this subject that I have
+advised silence."
+
+The joking continued in spite of the Queen, who cried out, "This is
+really disagreeable!" Finally, Mademoiselle concluded in a serious tone:
+"Although I am no longer young, I have not reached the age at which
+children are impossible.... Such suggestions are most disagreeable to
+me." The King also became serious, and warned his cousin that she could
+never expect from him the gift of any government or any appointment
+which would permit the exercise of power, but only precious stones and
+furniture and other playthings. This again was a lesson from the Fronde,
+and in his _Memoires_[236] Louis confirms this same resolution.
+Mademoiselle thanked her cousin somewhat ironically for what he had done
+to render Monsieur desirable, and, realising by the questions of the
+King that some hints had reached his ears, she pictured in covered words
+the future of which she had had a glimpse. The Queen demanded her
+meaning, but the King remained silent. "I do hope," observed
+Mademoiselle in ending, "that I may be permitted to act as I wish and
+that the King will not force me against my desires." "No, surely,"
+replied Louis, "I will leave you free and will never constrain any one";
+he added an instant after, "Let us go to dinner," and they separated.
+Some weeks rolled by. The favourites of Monsieur were cold about an
+alliance which the temper of Mademoiselle might make somewhat difficult,
+and which might in the end prove _not_ to their advantage.[237]
+
+Events moved quietly enough when the Princess one evening in October
+supplicated the King that there should be no more said of the project.
+Louis XIV. appeared to be indifferent. Monsieur was at first vexed and
+then dismissed the subject from his thoughts. Marie-Therese alone,
+interested neither in her brother-in-law nor in her cousin, "was in
+despair," relates Mademoiselle, "for she wishes that we should marry and
+have children." But no one paid much attention to the despair of
+Marie-Therese. Lauzun approved the course of Mademoiselle and ceased to
+avoid her. That was all. For an ambitious man, he was not a really
+clever schemer; he had too great a fear of being duped. He again assumed
+a sombre attitude and refused to hear the name of the one chosen by
+Mademoiselle. On a certain Thursday evening, when she had menaced him
+with the threat of breathing against the mirror and of writing the name
+of the man she loved, midnight sounded during this contest. "Nothing
+more can be said," observed Mademoiselle, "for it is already Friday."
+The next day, taking a sheet of paper, she wrote distinctly, "It is
+you," and sealed it. "That day I met him only on the way to supper. I
+said: 'I have the name in my pocket, but I do not wish to give it to you
+on Friday.' He responded: 'Give it to me! I promise that I will put it
+under my pillow and that I will not open the paper until midnight has
+passed.'" She did not trust him, and it did not occur to him to
+sacrifice a race that had been arranged for the Saturday. "Ah, well, I
+will wait until Sunday," said Mademoiselle with inconceivable patience,
+and her only vengeance was to let herself be implored a little, before
+giving up the paper. The couple were alone in a corner of the fireplace,
+in the salon of the Queen. "I drew forth the leaf, upon which only a
+single word was written, which, however, told much; I showed it to him,
+and then replaced it in my pocket, afterward in my muff. He urged me
+very strongly to give it to him, saying that his heart was beating
+rapidly.... Before yielding I said, 'You will reply on the same
+leaf.'"... In the evening she did not dare to raise her eyes; he
+declared that she was mocking him, that "he was not sufficiently foolish
+to be deceived," and this was the theme of the letter which he remitted
+to her. At the same time, he thought of the prodigious elevation which
+he was beginning to realise was a possibility before him. He was at last
+aroused, and could not always refrain from responding seriously to
+Mademoiselle. She spoke of the happiness which awaited them, and of her
+plans to make him the greatest lord in the kingdom. He counselled her
+always to bow before fate, but one day he added: "In marrying, the
+temperament of those throwing their fates together should be known. I
+will disclose mine." He said that he possessed a nature bizarre and
+unsociable, being able to live only in the wake of the King; "thus I
+shall be a peculiar and not very diverting husband." Later, he amplified
+a little, affirming that he was cured of desire for women, and had no
+more ambition. "When a post was proposed to me I refused it. After all,
+do you really want me?"--"Yes; I wish you."--"Do you find nothing in my
+person which is disgusting?" This question was reasonable enough. Lauzun
+was decidedly "unclean"[238]--but it roused the indignation of
+Mademoiselle: "When you say that you are afraid of not pleasing, you are
+simply mocking; you have pleased too easily in your life; but now about
+me, do you find anything unpleasant in my face? I believe that my only
+exterior fault is my teeth, which are not fine. That is a defect of my
+race, which fact bears its own compensations." "Assuredly" replied he,
+and she could not extract the expected compliment.
+
+In the course of these events, the Court returned to the Louvre and the
+Tuileries, Mademoiselle to the Luxembourg. After much hesitation Lauzun
+consented that Mademoiselle should write a letter in which she should
+supplicate the King to forget all that he had said against mixed
+marriages, and permit her to be happy. The contemporaneous opinion was
+that Lauzun had made the first move. The Spanish _Charge d'Affaires_
+wrote from Paris, December 21: "It is certain, as every one says, that
+he has arrived at this point with the authorisation and permission of
+the King."[239] The public voice, whose echo has been preserved for us
+by the novelists of the period, added that Mme. de Montespan had been
+mixed up in the affair, a version which two of her letters to Lauzun
+confirm,[240] and that she had obtained the consent of the King by
+saying: "Ah, Sire, let him alone. He has merit enough for this."[241]
+
+There was evidently some secret bond between the mistress and Lauzun
+which united them when any mischief was at hand. The King had responded
+to Mademoiselle without actually saying yes, or no; he confessed that
+her letter had astonished him and asked her to reflect again. He
+repeated the advice three days later, during a _tete-a-tete_ which took
+place behind closed doors at two o'clock in the morning. "I neither
+counsel you nor forbid you; but I pray you to consider well." He added
+that the affair was being discussed and that many people disliked M. de
+Lauzun. "Think over this fact and take your own measures."
+
+[Illustration: =MADAME DE SEVIGNE= From the painting by Pietro Mignard
+in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence (Photograph by Alinari)]
+
+The couple profited by the warning. On Monday, December 15, 1670, in the
+afternoon, the Ducs de Montausier and de Cregny, the Marechal d'Albret
+and the Marquis de Guitry presented themselves before Louis XIV., and
+demanded the hand of the Grande Mademoiselle for M. de Lauzun, "as
+deputies from the French nobility, who would consider it a great
+honour and grace if the King would permit a simple gentleman to marry a
+Princess of the blood."[242] This proceeding was a plan of Lauzun's. It
+succeeded with the King, and after he had been thanked in the name of
+the entire nobility of the kingdom, Mademoiselle, who was apparently
+listening to the reading of a sermon, behind the chair of the Queen, was
+notified that M. de Montausier was asking for her. The Duke reported the
+good reception which they had received and ended in these terms: "Your
+affair is accomplished, but I counsel you not to let things lag; if you
+follow my advice, you will marry this very night."
+
+"I was convinced that he was right" adds Mademoiselle, "and I prayed him
+to give the same advice to M. de Lauzun if he should see him before I
+did."
+
+There is no clearer fact in history than the evidence of the
+consternation into which France was thrown by the news that the Duchesse
+de Montpensier, granddaughter of Henri IV., was to marry the Comte de
+Lauzun, "a simple (qualified) gentleman." To-day, an alliance of this
+kind, provided it does not concern the heir to the throne, is only a
+piece of society gossip, even in lands still profoundly loyal to
+monarchical sentiments. In the seventeenth century such an event touched
+so nearly the social hierarchy upon which all rested that Mademoiselle,
+in thus confusing social ranks, appeared to have failed seriously in
+her duty as Princess.
+
+Louis, as King, had not considered it his duty to oppose. The criticism
+was more severe inasmuch as custom, encouraged by illustrious examples,
+offered to lovers separated by birth easy means for completing their
+private happiness, sustaining at the same time public decorum.
+"Marriages of conscience" had been invented for such cases; why not be
+content with this means of doing your duty and of satisfying at the same
+time conscience and passion? Paris sought a reply to this question, and
+the whole city was whispering and busying itself in a manner not easily
+to be forgotten.
+
+Ten years later, when the trials of the "Corrupters" disturbed the
+community, some one wrote to Mme. de Sevigne that "the last two days
+have been as agitated as during the time when the news of the projected
+marriage between the Grande Mademoiselle and M. de Lauzun was announced.
+All were seeking news and, eager with curiosity, were running from one
+house to another to gather details."[243]
+
+The princes and princesses of the blood considered themselves insulted,
+and rebelled, a boldness so unexpected, on account of their habitual
+submission, that even Louis XIV. was somewhat moved. The timid
+Marie-Therese gave the example. Mademoiselle came to announce formally
+the proposed marriage. "I entirely disapprove," said the Queen in a very
+sharp tone, "and the King will never sanction it." "He does approve it,
+Madame, that is settled." "You would do better never to marry, to keep
+your wealth for my son Anjou."[244] Anger gave the Queen courage to
+address the King, who was vexed, and the result was a scene, tears, a
+night of despair; but also nothing gained, and finally the Queen was
+forced into a public declaration that she would sign the contract.
+
+Monsieur loudly protested. He heaped abuses on the "deputies of French
+nobility," reproached Mademoiselle in the presence of the King for being
+"without heart," and said that she was a person who should be "placed in
+an insane asylum,"[245] and also declared that he would _not_ sign the
+contract. The gravest accusation made by Monsieur was a statement,
+repeated to all, that Mademoiselle had said that the King had himself
+counselled the marriage. In vain Mademoiselle asserted that she had said
+nothing of the kind; the charge made a great impression upon Louis, and
+he expressed his first regret over the affair. The Prince de Conde,
+sometimes taunted with having become, somewhat late in life, an
+accomplished courtier, remonstrated respectfully but firmly with the
+King.
+
+The old Madame, forgotten in her corner of the Luxembourg, never really
+felt the wave of disgust and protest, but she was sufficiently aroused
+from her apathy to sign a letter to the King, written in her name by M.
+Le Pelletier, President of the Department of Inquests. Outside the Court
+circle, Louis XIV. felt himself blamed by all classes of society. The
+nobles in general refused to ratify the "Mandate" that the deputies had
+given in their name. Without doubt, the honour of this marriage would be
+great: the permission given to a princess of the blood to marry so far
+beneath her rank, a most unexpected favour from a monarch who had worked
+so systematically to undermine the power of the aristocracy; but the
+larger portion of the French nobility was so much impressed with the
+danger of insulting royalty, and weakening the sentiment of the sanctity
+of the Heaven-sent rulers, that it joined in the criticism of the rest
+of the nation.
+
+The Parliamentary world and the society of the higher middle class were
+equally outraged. It was plain that the marriage could be made only with
+the King's consent, and the giving of this was considered a "shame." The
+bourgeoisie showed an inconceivable irritation; Segrais heard Guilloire,
+Intendant of Mademoiselle, say to his mistress in an excited tone,
+knowing very well that he was risking his position, "You are derided and
+hated by all Europe." As to the common people, their attitude was
+touching. "They were," reports a witness,[246] "in a state of
+consternation." They grieved as if their Prince had deceived them.
+
+The enemies of Lauzun increased the discontent and endeavoured to gain
+time. Louvois was credited with having persuaded the Archbishop of Paris
+to forbid the bans. The minister felt himself directly menaced, and this
+was also the opinion of the political world, in which many believed that
+the projected marriage was a stroke directed "against M. de Louvois, an
+avowed enemy of M. de Lauzun,"[247] by Colbert and Mme. de Montespan.
+
+While the tempest was gathering, the friends of the two lovers pressed
+them to hasten the end. "In the name of God," said Rochefort, Captain of
+the Guards, "Marry to-day rather than to-morrow!" Montausier "scolded"
+them for dallying. Mme. de Sevigne represented to Mademoiselle that they
+"were tempting God and the King."[248]
+
+Nothing can be done for people who are walking in the clouds. Lauzun,
+"intoxicated with vanity,"[249] believed himself already safe in port,
+sheltered from all trouble, with the King and Mme. de Montespan on his
+side. Mademoiselle, "dazzled by love," permitted herself to be guided.
+Her first desire had been to marry upon the evening of the deputation to
+the King, without saying anything about it, but Lauzun refused. "He was
+persuaded that Mme. de Montespan would not fail him, and that nothing
+could now turn the King against him, and considered everything secure,
+saying, "I distrust only you." To marry thus clandestinely would not
+satisfy his vanity. He wished that the deed should be done as "from
+crown to crown, openly and with all forms observed." He desired the
+chapel of the Tuileries, pomp, a crowd, rows of astonished and envious
+faces, "rich livery" that he had hastened to order for the occasion. In
+short, he longed for the moon and he did not succeed in seizing it.
+
+Tuesday, December 16th, was passed in talking, in expressing
+astonishment, in paying compliments. A multitude came to the Luxembourg,
+among whom the Archbishop of Reims, brother of Louvois, who said to
+Mademoiselle: "Would you do me the injury of choosing any other than
+myself to perform the marriage ceremony?" Another had already solicited
+the honour, a proof that so far a rupture had not been thought of.
+Mademoiselle replied: "M. the Archbishop of Paris has said that he
+desired the office."
+
+Wednesday, there was a fresh crowd, Louvois in person and all the
+ministers; but there was no longer the same cordiality, and Mademoiselle
+herself perceived the difference. "They made low bows, they conversed,
+but no longer about the affair." The evening of the same day, the
+Princess gave to Lauzun ("awaiting something better," said Mme. de
+Sevigne), the Comte of Eu, which represented the first peerage of
+France, assuring the first rank, the Principality of Dombes and the
+Duchy of Montpensier, of which last Lauzun assumed the title and name.
+It was agreed that the ceremony should take place the next day at noon.
+On Thursday, the 18th, the contract was not yet prepared; the lawyers
+had delayed on purpose. Towards evening, Lauzun, who was losing his
+assurance, offered to break with Mademoiselle.
+
+She was offended and tried once more to make him declare his love, but
+he responded, "I will say I love you only when we issue from church."
+There was no longer question of the Tuileries chapel, nor even of
+dazzling the Parisians, and Friday found a new delay, Mademoiselle
+having herself wavered.
+
+After consideration, a rendezvous was arranged at Charenton, in the
+house of a friend, where the wedding was to be secretly solemnised the
+next evening at midnight, without even an archbishop. The Parisian offer
+began to inspire distrust: "The cure of the place would do well enough."
+
+When all was settled, Mademoiselle amused herself with showing to her
+intimates the chamber that she had arranged for the future Duc de
+Montpensier. "It was magnificently furnished," relates the Abbe de
+Choisy. "'Do not you think,' said Mademoiselle to us, 'that a Gascony
+cadet will be sufficiently well lodged?'" Lauzun took leave early to
+pass the night in a "bath house," as was the custom before a wedding.
+Mademoiselle opposed this, because he was suffering from a bad cold. He
+had also "trouble with his eyes." I said to him, "Your eyes are very
+red." He replied, "Do they make you ill?" I said, "No; for they are in
+no way disgusting." It may be noticed that these illustrious lovers did
+not possess the light graces of conversation; their phrases were
+singularly heavy. "These ladies are mocking us," pursued the Princess.
+"I do not know, however, what caused me to have a presentiment. I began
+to weep in seeing him depart; he, too, was sad; we were ridiculed. The
+ladies also departed, only Mme. de Nogent remaining."
+
+This last was the sister of Lauzun, and Mademoiselle had, during the
+past months, been very intimate with her.
+
+While time was thus being wasted at the Luxembourg, Louis submitted to
+the almost universal antagonism and withdrew his authorisation to the
+alliance. "The Queen and the princes of the blood redoubled their
+entreaties; the Marechal de Villeroy[250] threw himself upon his knees,
+with tears in his eyes; the ministers and all those approaching the King
+expressed the voice of the people. At length God touched the King's
+heart."[251] God? No, but a creature of flesh; Mme. de Montespan for the
+second time betrayed Lauzun.
+
+La Fare affirms the statement that it was the counsel of Mme. de
+Maintenon (still only Mme. Scarron) painfully earning her bread in
+bringing up in obscurity the children of Mme. de Montespan and the
+King. Mme. Scarron had cleverness and prudence, and at that time was far
+from any thought of rivalry; the King could not suffer her. She said
+later that he had taken her for a "learned woman," only caring for
+"sublime things"[252]; and Louis distrusted Philimantes. It was,
+therefore, as a disinterested friend that she "pointed out to Mme. de
+Montespan the tempest which she would draw down upon her head in
+sustaining Lauzun in this affair; that the royal family and the King
+himself would reproach her for the steps she had urged. Mme. Scarron
+succeeded so well that the one who urged the marriage was responsible
+for preventing it."[253]
+
+Louis XIV. yielded to the urgency of Mme. de Montespan and sent to the
+Luxembourg for Mademoiselle. It was eight o'clock in the evening.
+Mademoiselle uttered a cry on hearing that the King commanded her
+presence. "I am in despair; my marriage is broken." On reaching the
+Tuileries, the Princess was led to the King by the back staircase, and
+quickly perceived that something was being concealed from her. In fact,
+Louis had hidden Conde behind a door, that he might listen and be
+witness to what passed.
+
+     The door was closed behind me. I found the King alone, moved
+     and sad. "I am in despair at the thought of what I must tell
+     you. I am told that the world is saying that I am
+     sacrificing you to make Lauzun's fortune; that this would injure me
+     in foreign lands, and that I must not permit the affair to be
+     consummated. You are right in complaining of me; beat me if you
+     wish. I will bear the weight of any expression of anger in which
+     you may indulge, and feel that I merit your indignation." "Ah!"
+     cried I, "Sire, what do you tell me? What cruelty!"
+
+She mingled protestations with reproaches, sobbed out her despair on her
+knees, and pleaded to know the fate of Lauzun. "Where is he, Sire, M. de
+Lauzun?" "Do not be troubled! No harm shall come to him."
+
+True sorrow is always eloquent, and Louis XIV. let his own emotion be
+visible without shame:
+
+     He threw himself on his knees and embraced me. We wept together
+     three quarters of an hour, his cheek pressed against mine, he
+     weeping bitterly as I did: "Ah! why have you wasted time in
+     reflection? why did you not hasten?"--"Alas, Sire! who could
+     have distrusted your Majesty's word? You have never failed any
+     one before, and you now begin with me and M. de Lauzun! I shall
+     die, and be happy in dying. I had never loved any one before in
+     all my life; I now love, and love passionately and in good
+     faith, the most worthy man in your kingdom; my only joy and
+     pleasure will be in his elevation. I hoped to pass the
+     remainder of my days agreeably with him, and in honouring and
+     loving you as warmly as my husband. You gave him to me; you now
+     take him away; it is tearing out my heart."
+
+Some one coughed behind the door. "To whom are you betraying me, Sire?
+Can it be M. le Prince?" Mademoiselle grew bitter, and the King wished
+to end the scene; but she continued to supplicate him: "What, Sire, will
+you not yield to my tears?" He replied, raising his voice so that he
+might be heard, "Kings must satisfy the public"; and added, an instant
+after, "It is late; I can say no more nor differently, even if you
+remained longer." "He embraced me and conducted me to the door."
+
+Such is the recital of Mademoiselle. Another account of the interview
+exists, dictated the same evening by Louis to his Minister of Foreign
+Affairs, as the following letter, written the next morning, testifies.
+Before the King had risen, M. de Lyonne wrote in haste to M. de
+Pomponne, the French Ambassador to Holland:
+
+     I am overwhelmed with business, and have no time for details,
+     but I do not doubt that every letter from Paris has brought
+     news of the projected marriage of the Grande Mademoiselle with
+     Comte de Lauzun. I must now warn you that the King broke this
+     off yesterday at eleven o'clock in the evening, so that few
+     people could be aware of the fact before the departure of the
+     post. I have already outlined a circular letter from his
+     Majesty, to be sent to all the Foreign Ministers, to inform
+     them of what has passed in regard to this affair during the
+     past seven or eight days; but as the King does not wake before
+     nine o'clock, and as the courier will by that time have
+     departed, his Majesty will not be able to sign in time for the
+     letters to be forwarded to-day, and you must be contented with
+     the simple news, that the affair is ended. I pray you to send a
+     copy of this note to M. le Chevalier de Terlon and to the Sieur
+     Rousseau,[254] and to advise them that I have requested you so
+     to do.
+
+Before referring to the circular letter of His Majesty upon the subject
+which caused the cries and tears of his poor cousin, it should be noted
+that it seemed perfectly natural, to judge by the documents of the
+times, to advise officially foreign powers of events with which they
+were actually but little concerned. In the opinion of the seventeenth
+century, the man was inseparable from the sovereign, and France was
+deeply impressed with the universal importance of Louis XIV. and by
+consequence of the obligations devolving upon him. "He must account to
+all Europe for his actions," says, in regard to the "Affair Lauzun," the
+"relation" already quoted.[255]
+
+It is also well to recollect, in order to understand the text of the
+letter, that one of the half-sisters of Mademoiselle had married the Duc
+de Guise, cadet of the House of Lorraine; an alliance hardly less
+unequal in the eyes of the French aristocracy than that of Lauzun with
+the Princess. This marriage had excited but little attention, there
+being a wide difference between the importance of the sisters. Referring
+to this event, the "Deputies of the nobility of France" had not failed
+to assert that the nobles of France and the officers of the Crown were
+quite equal to foreign princes, and in particular to the "Lorraines" in
+spite of their pretensions. With this explanation, the text of the long
+despatch addressed to the ambassadors is given. It begins in these
+terms:
+
+     As what has taken place during the past five or six days in
+     regard to a plan formed by my cousin for marrying the Comte de
+     Lauzun, one of the Captains of the Body Guard, will probably make a
+     great noise everywhere, and as my conduct in the matter is liable
+     to be interpreted malignantly, and to be blamed by those who may be
+     incorrectly informed of the facts, I believe it a duty to instruct
+     all my Foreign Ministers."
+
+The King then explains in detail the affair, and this explanation
+exactly accords with the recital of Mademoiselle, save that Louis XIV.
+states that he was opposed to the marriage from the beginning, and only
+yielded because he was weary of the discussion, being constantly
+harassed by his cousin and the Deputies of the nobility: "She
+[Mademoiselle] continued ... through notes and every other available
+means to press me urgently to give the consent she demanded of me, as
+this alone could, as she said, give the happiness and repose of her
+life." The Deputies had also represented to him
+
+     that after having consented to the marriage of my cousin de
+     Guise, not only without making the least difficulty but with
+     pleasure, I should resist this, so ardently desired by her
+     sister, I should clearly show that I made a great distinction
+     between the cadets of royal houses and the Officers of my
+     Crown. Such a distinction Spain did not make, but on the other
+     hand, gave precedence to its own Grandees over any foreign
+     Princes, and it was impossible that the making of this
+     difference in France should not greatly mortify the entire
+     nobility of the kingdom. In conclusion, the urgency of these
+     four persons was so strong, and their reasons so convincing,
+     especially that emphasising the danger of insulting the French
+     nobility, that I yielded, and gave consent to the marriage,
+     shrugging my shoulders at the folly of my cousin, and only
+     saying that as she was forty-three, she might do as she pleased.
+
+He continued, "From this moment it was considered that the affair was
+concluded." Then follow the details already known, preparations for the
+ceremony, the crowd at the Luxembourg; rumours "very injurious" that the
+King was responsible for the marriage, wishing to favour Lauzun; and
+finally, the resolve to break off the affair.
+
+This is the single point on which Louis XIV. believed it to be his duty
+to restrict his confidences to the universe. He passes over in silence
+the supplications of Mme de Montespan and the fact of Conde being hidden
+behind the door:
+
+     I sent for my cousin. I declared to her, that I would not
+     suffer her to cross the frontier for marriage, and that I could
+     not consent that she should marry any Prince who was my
+     subject,[256] but that she might choose among the (qualified)
+     nobles of France, with the exception of Lauzun, and that I
+     myself would conduct her to church.
+
+It is superfluous to tell you with what grief she received this
+announcement, how she wept and sobbed. She threw herself upon her knees.
+"I had pierced her heart with a hundred dagger strokes; she wished to
+die"; I remained firm.
+
+The King added that he made the same communication to Lauzun, "and I may
+say that he received it with all the self-control, submission, and
+resignation which I could desire."[257] It is with the unfavourable
+comparison to Mademoiselle that this curious document terminates. Louis
+displayed but little generosity before a grief so deep.
+
+The Princess regained her chamber in a pitiable state. She went into
+hysterics and broke the windows of the carriage. At the Luxembourg, the
+salon was filled with a curious crowd awaiting her return. "Two of her
+footmen entered into the room, saying in loud voices, 'Depart at once,
+by degrees.' Every one scattered immediately; but I remained the last,
+and saw Mademoiselle advance from the hall of the Guards like a
+dishevelled fury, menacing heaven and earth with extended arms." She had
+barely time to regain a slight degree of calm, when Lauzun entered,
+accompanied by Messieurs de Montausier, Crequi, and Guitry. "On seeing
+him, I uttered loud cries, and he could hardly restrain himself from
+weeping." The nobles of France came at the command of the King to thank
+the granddaughter of Henri IV. for the honour that she wished to confer
+upon them. M. de Montausier bore the address.
+
+Mademoiselle sobbed. M. de Lauzun had, with full understanding, taken
+the expected attitude, of a man who blesses the most cruel blows coming
+from the hand of his King. "M. de Lauzun," wrote Mme de Sevigne, "has
+played his role to perfection; he has sustained his misfortune with
+firmness and courage, and has nevertheless displayed a grief, mingled
+with profound respect, which has won the admiration of all."[258]
+
+The Princess would have been contented with something less admirable.
+She said to him: "'You show such strength of mind, that all will believe
+you to be indifferent to me. What do you say?' and I sobbed with each
+word." He responded very coolly: "If you take my counsel, you will go
+to-morrow to dine at the Tuileries, and will thank the King for the
+honour that he has done you, in having prevented an action of which you
+would have repented all your life." She led her lover aside and had the
+pleasure of seeing him weep. "He could not speak, nor could I. I could
+only say: 'What! I am never to see you more? I shall certainly die.'
+Then we turned around.... These gentlemen departed; I went to bed; I
+remained twenty-four hours almost without consciousness." She forbade
+any one to be admitted. Her door was, however, opened on Friday morning
+for Mme. de Sevigne. Just twenty-four hours had elapsed since
+Mademoiselle had overflowed with joy before her friend and despised any
+warnings. "I found her in bed[259]; she redoubled her cries on seeing
+me; called me, embraced me, and deluged me with her tears. She said:
+'Alas! do you remember what you said yesterday? Ah! what cruel
+prudence!' I wept through sympathy with her woe." A little later the
+King was announced. "When he entered," reports Mademoiselle, "I began to
+cry with all my strength; he embraced me and placed his cheek against
+mine. I said, 'Your Majesty acts like monkeys who stifle their children
+embracing them.'" As he was promising all kinds of wonderful things to
+console her, among others "that he would do fine things for M. de
+Lauzun," she had the presence of mind, in spite of her anguish, to
+demand if she might not see her friend again. The reply of the King
+should be remembered, as it brought serious results for his cousin. He
+said: "I do not forbid you to see him; ... and assuredly you cannot take
+advice of a worthier man in regard to any of your affairs than Lauzun."
+She hastened to confirm the permission. "It is my intention, Sire, and I
+am very happy that you desire that he should continue to be my best
+friend; but at least, Sire, you will not change as you did before? I
+cannot help reproaching you."
+
+The succeeding days she was obliged to reopen her doors, and the same
+crowd which had feigned to rejoice with her now pretended to pity her.
+It was necessary to see again the same faces, to submit to curious
+looks, glances filled with raillery, and to reply to _banal_ remarks.
+There was much joking in Paris at her having received condolences in
+bed, after the fashion of widows. "I have heard in the salon of Mme. de
+Maintenon," relates Mme. de Caylus,[260] "that she cried out in her
+despair, 'He should be there beside me!'"
+
+A grand Princess, to be dying of love and for a simple cadet from
+Gascogne, almost a country fellow; this was a novel spectacle, which so
+shocked all ideas of decorum that the public could not take to heart
+very seriously this slightly theatrical grief. It was pretended that
+Louis had said, "This is only a fantasy born in three days and which
+will pass as rapidly." True or false, the King wished to believe this,
+and the phrase received general approbation. It relieved the fashionable
+world from the duty of sympathising with the unfortunate, who was eating
+out her own heart, and visibly fading away.
+
+"I grew thin, with hollow cheeks, as a person who neither eats nor
+sleeps, and I wept the minute that I was alone, or when I met any
+friends of M. de Lauzun and they talked of events which had any
+connection with him. I always desired to speak of him." The hope of a
+speedy death was her sole consolation, for no one, she was convinced had
+so deeply suffered. "My state was pitiable, and it must have been
+experienced to be appreciated, for such feelings cannot be expressed. It
+is necessary to know one's self, in order to judge, and no one can have
+felt a grief equal to mine; there is nothing which can compare with it."
+This is the universal language of disappointed lovers; but the
+expressive phrase below is not at the disposal of all souls. It is only
+applicable to moments in which the excess of grief renders it almost
+unconscious: "On account of feeling too much, I felt nothing."
+
+The fifth day, etiquette exacted that she should find herself consoled.
+Her duties as Princess were recalled to her. "It was needful to go to
+Court, it was not well to pass eight days without seeing the King."
+
+In vain she fought against such cruel exactions; she was forced to make
+a spectacle of herself, still with "discomposed face, red and swollen
+eyes, with constant floods of tears, at proper or improper moments, with
+sharp cries at sight of Lauzun."
+
+Lauzun opened his eyes wide upon her as upon a naughty child, and
+severely menaced her: "If you act in this manner, I will never be found
+again in the same room with you!" But she could not compose herself. One
+evening, at a great Court ball, she stopped in the middle of a dance and
+began to weep. The King rose and placed his hat before her face, leading
+her out of the room and explaining, "My cousin has vapours." The public
+did not pity her. It would have liked to celebrate her defeat. "All have
+praised the King for this action," wrote Olivier d'Ormesson.
+
+Louis XIV. was again popular, a transient popularity which lasted only a
+few days. "It may be said that not only the Court, but the entire
+kingdom has rejoiced in the rupture of the proposed marriage."[261] The
+sentiment of approval was unanimous. As to the Princess, who was guilty
+of asserting the right to "personal happiness," opinion judged her
+severely. The seventeenth century did not admit, as has been seen, that
+individual sentiments or the interests of the heart could predominate
+over the exactions of rank or society, and the age of the lovers and
+disparity of their appearance, she so tall, he almost a dwarf, aroused
+ridicule instead of sympathy. The Grande Mademoiselle was suddenly
+rewarded "with contempt," "for," says La Fare, "if this contemplated
+alliance appeared extraordinary as soon as the news was made public, it
+became ridiculous as soon as it was broken."
+
+It is agreeable to meet among these people, who were right in the main,
+but who were malicious and uncharitable, one good Samaritan.
+
+While Mme. de Sevigne wrote gaily, "All is finished,"[262] the tears of
+Mademoiselle inspired kind and courageous words from a person
+comparatively obscure, and who excused herself from corresponding
+because she did not have enough "wit." A letter, dated January 21, 1671,
+addressed to Bussy-Rabutin by Mme. de Scudery, sister-in-law of the
+illustrious Madeleine, contains this paragraph:
+
+     I will say nothing of the affair of Mademoiselle. You are no
+     doubt acquainted with all that has passed. I will only add
+     that, if you realise what a great passion can be, in the heart
+     of a pure woman like the Princess, you will not wonder, but
+     will have sympathy. For myself, who know nothing of love
+     through experience, I comprehend that Mademoiselle is much
+     to be pitied; for she has become sleepless. During the day she
+     is agitated and weeps, and in fact is leading the most miserable
+     existence possible.[263]
+
+Bussy-Rabutin replied (A Chaseu, January 29, 1671):
+
+     I comprehend what passion means in a woman of the age and
+     temperament of Mademoiselle, who has preserved her heart
+     hitherto untouched, and I confess that this tale arouses my
+     pity. Love seems to me a malady like the small-pox; the later
+     it attacks the victim, the more severe the illness.
+
+The writer had indeed well understood the characteristics of late love
+on only its displeasing side. But his attitude was, unfortunately, the
+one adopted by almost every one.
+
+Regarded half-pityingly, but with an undercurrent of ridicule, the
+Grande Mademoiselle ceased to be interesting to the fickle French
+public. The fall from favour was very definite. The heroine of the
+Fronde was effaced in the eyes of contemporaries, and remained only a
+ridiculous old maid, whose woes amused the gallery.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 209: The Grande Equerry, Louis de Lorraine, Comte d' Armagnac.]
+
+[Footnote 210: The Marquis de Puyguilhem (written Peguilin) had taken
+the name of Comte de Lauzun the following January. The latter title will
+be used in this volume.]
+
+[Footnote 211: See the portrait of Straton in the chapter entitled "De
+la Cour."]
+
+[Footnote 212: Saint-Simon, _Ecrits inedits_.]
+
+[Footnote 213: Lauzun became Captain of the Body Guard in July, 1669.]
+
+[Footnote 214: Letter to Mme. de Sevigne, dated February 2, 1669.]
+
+[Footnote 215: _Memoires et Reflexions_ of the Marquis de la Fare.]
+
+[Footnote 216: The sister of the Grand Conde. Upon her part in the
+Fronde, see _The Youth of La Grande Mademoiselle_.]
+
+[Footnote 217: M. de Saint-Paul began toward this time to bear the name
+of de Longueville.]
+
+[Footnote 218: This conversation, which gives the key to the conduct of
+Lauzun, is reported in _Le Perroquet or Les amours de Mademoiselle_, an
+anonymous recital printed by M. Livet following the _Histoire amoureuse
+des Gaules_ (Paris, Jannet, 1857); and in the _Histoire de Mademoiselle
+et du Comte de Losun_ (Bibl. Saint-Genevieve MS. 3208), not always
+sources to be relied on, but to be trusted here.]
+
+[Footnote 219: War between relatives for the succession.]
+
+[Footnote 220: _Lettres historiques._ Pellison accompanied the Court as
+historiographer.]
+
+[Footnote 221: Plaques: pieces of embossed silver, at the lower part of
+which was placed a chandelier.]
+
+[Footnote 222: _Memoires_ of Mademoiselle.]
+
+[Footnote 223: _De La Valliere a Montespan_, by Jean Lemoine and Andre
+Lichtenberger.]
+
+[Footnote 224: Emmanuel II. de Crussol, Duc d'Uzes. He married the
+daughter of the Duc de Montausier and of Julie d'Angennes.]
+
+[Footnote 225: Probably the uncle by marriage of Bussy-Rabutin.]
+
+[Footnote 226: Romecourt was Lieutenant of the King's Guards.]
+
+[Footnote 227: It is evident that these last were carried in the private
+carriages, ready for any accident.]
+
+[Footnote 228: _Gazette de Renaudot._]
+
+[Footnote 229: Captain of the Body Guard. Afterward, Duc de Noailles,
+and Marshal of France.]
+
+[Footnote 230: First physician to the King.]
+
+[Footnote 231: _Histoire de Madame Henriette d'Angleterre._]
+
+[Footnote 232: Mme. de Sevigne to Bussy-Rabutin. Letter of July 6,
+1670.]
+
+[Footnote 233: Mme. de Sevigne to Bussy-Rabutin (letter dated January
+15, 1687), speaking of Conde's death.]
+
+[Footnote 234: Charles d'Harcourt, chevalier, afterward Comte de
+Beuvron, was one of those whom rumour accused of having contributed to
+the death of Madame.]
+
+[Footnote 235: Monsieur had two daughters by his first marriage;
+Marie-Louise d'Orleans, who married, in 1679, Charles II. of Spain, and
+Anne-Marie de Valois, married, in 1684, to Victor-Amedee II., Duc de
+Savoie.]
+
+[Footnote 236: Cf. _Memoires de Louis XIV_. "for the year 1666." Edited
+by Charles Dreyss.]
+
+[Footnote 237: Cf. _Segraisiana._]
+
+[Footnote 238: _Memoires de l'Abbe de Choisy._]
+
+[Footnote 239: Don Miguel de Iturrieta to Don Diego de la Torre.
+_Archives de la Bastille._]
+
+[Footnote 240: _Mme. de Montespan et Louis XIV._, by P. Clement.]
+
+[Footnote 241: _Histoire_ etc. (Bibl. Sainte-Genevieve, MS. 3208). The
+same version is found with slight variations in _Le Perroquet_, etc.]
+
+[Footnote 242: _Memoires de la Fare._]
+
+[Footnote 243: Letter dated January 26, 1680.]
+
+[Footnote 244: Second son of Louis XIV. He died young.]
+
+[Footnote 245: _Cf._ for this chapter, the _Melanges_ of Philibert
+Delamare (Bibl. Nationale, French MS. 23,251), the _Journal_ of
+d'Ormesson, and generally the memoirs, correspondences, pamphlets, and
+songs of the period.]
+
+[Footnote 246: Philibert Delamare, _loc. cit._]
+
+[Footnote 247: _Journal_ of Olivier d'Ormesson.]
+
+[Footnote 248: Letter to Coulanges, December 31st. The letter announcing
+the marriage, too well known to quote, is dated the 15th.]
+
+[Footnote 249: _Memoires de la Fare._]
+
+[Footnote 250: Ancient Governor of the King, who had kept a strong
+affection for his pupil.]
+
+[Footnote 251: Philibert Delamare, _loc. cit._]
+
+[Footnote 252: Mme. de Maintenon, _Lettres historiques et edifiantes_;
+_cf. Memoire de Mlle. d'Aumale_, published by M. le Comte
+d'Haussonville.]
+
+[Footnote 253: The Abbe de Choisy relates the same scene, but attributes
+it to the Princesse de Carignan (Marie de Bourbon-Soissons,
+1666-1692).]
+
+[Footnote 254: The French Charge d'Affaires in Sweden and Germany,
+_Archives de la Bastille_.]
+
+[Footnote 255: Philibert Delamare, _loc. cit._]
+
+[Footnote 256: This exclusion probably refers to the Prince de Conde,
+with whom an alliance would have been considered a danger to the peace
+of France.]
+
+[Footnote 257: _La Correspondance de Pomponne_ (Bibl. de l'Arsenal,
+4712, 1598, 11. F.), fol. 373. M. Cheruel in the appendix to volume iv.
+of _the Memoires de Mademoiselle_, and M. Livet in _l'Histoire amoureuse
+des Gaules_, have published this letter after an inexact copy.]
+
+[Footnote 258: Letter dated December 24, 1670.]
+
+[Footnote 259: Letter dated December 31, ----.]
+
+[Footnote 260: _Souvenirs et Correspondance._]
+
+[Footnote 261: Philibert Delamare, _loc. cit._]
+
+[Footnote 262: Letter dated December 24, 1670.]
+
+[Footnote 263: _Correspondance de Bussy-Rabutin_, published by Ludovic
+Lalanne.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+     Was Mademoiselle secretly Married?--Imprisonment of
+     Lauzun--Splendour and Decadence of France--_La Chambre
+     Ardente_--Mademoiselle purchases Lauzun's Freedom--Their
+     Embroilment--Death of the Grande Mademoiselle--Death of
+     Lauzun--Conclusion.
+
+
+Many of the events remaining to be recorded are very obscure. If they
+had any importance, they would have figured in the collections of
+historic enigmas and problems waiting to be solved; but they hardly
+merit the honour, as few of them have had any such influence over the
+destinies of France as had, for instance, the fact of the subjection of
+Anne of Austria to Mazarin. Nor do any possess the romantic attraction
+which attached to the legend of the "Man with the Iron Mask" before its
+explanation. Petty details, however, bring the French society of this
+period near to us, and the fact that events cannot always be interpreted
+makes them seem more like real life. It is only in romances that all is
+explained.
+
+The most obscure of these smaller problems is the question of the
+marriage of Mademoiselle with the "little man," as she herself called
+him.
+
+Contemporary opinion has been almost unanimous in its belief in this
+marriage. Neither date nor place nor names of the possible witnesses
+have ever been satisfactorily established, as was done in the case of
+the union of Louis XIV. and Mme. de Maintenon. There is no written proof
+of the fact; Mademoiselle had the habit of burning her letters, and made
+no exception in favour of those from Lauzun. She states this fact with
+regret, in her _Memoires_. We are thus reduced to moral proofs. It is
+true that these are strong in favour of the event having taken place;
+but they are not altogether unanswerable.
+
+The belief that a secret bond had remained, after the official rupture,
+rested in the mind of most people interested. One of the
+correspondents[264] of Bussy-Rabutin wrote to him, February 17, 1671:
+"Mademoiselle sometimes still weeps when she reflects, but often she
+laughs and is at her ease. Her lover continues to see her and no one
+opposes it. I do not know what will happen." Three weeks later, Mme. de
+Scudery made allusion to the same rumour (Paris, March 6, 1671):
+"Mademoiselle is always conversing with M. de Lauzun. Their
+conversations begin and end with tears. I assure you, however, that
+there will be no result." Bussy was among those who believed that it
+"would come to something." He replied on the 13th to Mme. de Scudery: "I
+am convinced that the affair of Mademoiselle and Lauzun will have a
+happy issue, not in the manner they at first hoped, but in a more secret
+method to which the King will consent."
+
+Would Mademoiselle accept this other way? Doubt is permissible.
+_Marriages of conscience_, if fashionable in the seventeenth century,
+created false situations, sometimes very humiliating ones, to a person
+not an absolute sovereign accountable to no one, and in a position to
+let the truth come out or not as it pleased him. For the rest of
+mortals, secret marriages must actually remain concealed, or there would
+result endless difficulties. On this account, the married pair could
+only meet through a happy chance, which is not agreeable, while it was
+also almost impossible to escape suspicious commentaries and the
+uncomfortable dependence upon the fidelity of servants. Segrais would
+never believe that Mademoiselle had married Lauzun, and one of the
+reasons given was "that she sent away Madelon, her chambermaid, and she
+would not have done this if Madelon had been able to gossip." Segrais
+might have added that his mistress had always severely criticised the
+equivocations arising from _marriages of conscience_.
+
+But all was changed after the serious conversation between the King and
+Mademoiselle behind the closed doors. Mademoiselle encouraged Lauzun to
+assume airs of authority, and she was meekly submissive. "He regarded me
+with such a look that I no longer dared to weep, the power that he had
+over me retaining my tears. It is much wiser not to lose self-control!"
+
+It was by his advice that she cleared her palace of all who had blamed
+their first plan. M. de Montausier and Mme. de Sevigne tried in vain to
+save Segrais, who "was their special friend." "She cannot be touched,"
+wrote Mme. de Sevigne, "upon a subject which approaches to within nine
+hundred leagues of a certain cape."[265] It was Lauzun who designated
+the successor of Guillore, her Intendant, and who submitted the choice
+to the King. This might give rise to remark. Lauzun warned Mademoiselle
+of this danger. "It may be said in the world that I wish to rule you
+completely." She responded: "Please God that you should; that is what I
+profoundly desire." Mademoiselle had confirmed through new acts the
+lavish gifts assured by the contract, and the King rivalled his cousin
+in generosity. If the courtiers can be believed, Louis had promised
+Lauzun that he should lose nothing by _not_ marrying Mademoiselle. In
+any case, he heaped favours upon him. The first gift was the government
+of Berri, with fifty thousand francs to pay his debts and the hope that
+Fortune would continue her benedictions. Louvois grew anxious and
+amassed shiploads of hatred against the favourite.
+
+The winter passed in this manner. In the spring, the Court returned to
+Flanders. During a sojourn at Dunkerque so much was said of the intimacy
+of the "dwarf" with the Grande Mademoiselle, that the report reached the
+ears of the Princess: "The rumour is circulating that we were married
+before leaving Paris, and the _Gazette de Hollande_ confirms this. Some
+one brought the paper to me; I showed it to Lauzun, who laughed." Two
+pages further on, another conversation proves that the news was at least
+premature; but the public had the right to be deceived, so tender and
+familiar was the intercourse between the couple.
+
+There was a question in this same spring of a trip to Fontainebleau:
+
+     I said to M. de Lauzun, "Take care to wear a cap when you are
+     in the forest; the evening dew is bad for the teeth, and
+     further you are subject to weak eyes and to catching cold. The
+     air of Fontainebleau makes the hair fall out." He replied: "I
+     certainly must try to preserve my teeth. I also fear cold; but
+     as for the red eyes with which you are constantly reproaching
+     me, they are caused by wakefulness, with which I have been
+     troubled for some time. As for my hair, I have too little left
+     to take further pains about it."
+
+She preached neatness to him. "If you are slovenly, it will be said that
+I have bad taste. For my sake, you must be careful." Lauzun only
+laughed. Indeed, she scolded him through jealousy, fearing that he was
+escaping from her influence and going she did not know where, and
+perceiving this, he cajoled her. "As soon as he saw that I wished to
+scold him, he had unequalled methods for putting me in a good humour."
+All this folly resembled a honeymoon, and the _Memoires_ of Mademoiselle
+for this same year include a passage which is almost a confession. "It
+is still said that we are married. We neither of us say anything, it
+being only our particular friends who would dare to address us, and it
+is easy to laugh at them, only saying, 'The King knows all.'"
+
+The conduct of Mademoiselle during the ten years following being a
+perpetual and striking confirmation of this half-confession, the fact of
+the secret marriage would seem to be assured, and the date would be
+placed between May and November, 1671, if it were not for a last
+quotation, to be given at its proper date, which again throws doubt upon
+the event.
+
+Whatever the truth may be, it would appear that Mademoiselle had known
+how to reunite the broken fragments of her happiness; but Lauzun, for a
+second time, lost everything. He had easily learned that he owed the
+rupture of the first plan to Mme. de Montespan, and had conceived so
+furious a hate against this false friend that he lost his head.
+
+After a scene worthy of fishwives, in which he had called her names
+impossible to print, he would proceed to declaim against her in the
+salons, with the utmost violence, and sometimes at only a few steps from
+her ears. The courtiers marvelled at the excessive insolence on the one
+side and the curious patience on the other, for Mme. de Montespan
+endured these outrages without whispering a single protest. It was
+rumoured that she had once been his mistress, and that his power was
+derived from this fact.
+
+It is to this enforced penitence of the all-powerful favourite that Mme.
+Scarron alluded when at a supper, the account of which is given by Mme.
+de Sevigne[266]: "she dilated upon the horrible agitations in a country
+very well known, the continual rage of the little Lauzun, and the black
+chagrin or the sad boredom of the ladies of Saint-Germain; and suggested
+that the most envied was perhaps not always exempt." Mme. Scarron had
+seen the "horrible agitations" very near, for it was she who had
+intervened against Lauzun; it was upon her representations that Mme. de
+Montespan had ended by saying to the King that "she did not believe that
+her life was safe as long as this man was free."[267]
+
+Lauzun was arrested at Saint-Germain, in his chamber, the evening of
+November 25, 1671. The evening previous, Mademoiselle had departed for
+Paris declaring: "I do not know what is the matter; I am in such
+dreadful apprehension that I cannot remain here." She wept on the way.
+She very well knew the cause. One of her friends had been asked, "if M.
+de Lauzun had been arrested," and this query had worried her.
+
+Delayed by chance or by precaution, the news of the arrest did not reach
+the Luxembourg until twenty-four hours later. Lauzun was already on the
+road to Pignerol. Before him hastened M. de Nallot, a man of confidence
+despatched by Louvois, who certainly felt a ferocious joy in the action,
+to bear the instructions of his master to the Sieur de Saint-Mars,
+governor of the prison of Pignerol, and of those enclosed within its
+walls. Foucquet had been during seven years under the care of
+Saint-Mars, who had followed orders with such fidelity that Louvois did
+not doubt that he would be obeyed as blindly in any commands it might
+please him to give regarding Lauzun. The instructions gave orders to
+imprison him with one valet, and never to permit him to leave the
+fortress nor to have any communication with the outer world.
+
+Saint-Mars thus responded:
+
+
+    PIGNEROL, December 9, 1671.
+
+     Monseigneur, M. de Nallot arrived here on the fifth instant,
+     conveying the note of instructions you have been pleased to
+     send me.... He will report to you my haste in preparing the
+     apartment for M. de Lauzun; he will tell you, Monseigneur, that
+     I will lodge him in the two low vaulted chambers which are over
+     those of M. Foucquet: these are the ones with the barred
+     windows you yourself[268] examined. From the way in which I
+     have arranged the place, I can respond with my life for the
+     safety of the person of M. de Lauzun, and also the certainty of
+     intercepting any news sent or received.
+
+     I engage upon my honour, Monseigneur, that as long as this
+     gentleman is under my care you will hear no further word about
+     him, it will be as if he already lay _in pace_.
+
+     The place prepared is so constructed that I can have holes
+     made, through which I can spy into the apartment. I shall also
+     know all that he does and says through the reports of a valet
+     whom I will furnish as you have ordered; I have found one with
+     much trouble, because the clever ones do not wish to pass their
+     life in prison. You order that mass shall be celebrated for M.
+     de Lauzun only on fete days and Sundays and I will scrupulously
+     follow the letter of your instructions.... The Confessor of M.
+     Foucquet will attend the new prisoner on Easter and at no other
+     time, whatever may happen. My only desire is to carry out exactly
+     the orders with which you have honoured me: I shall always endeavour
+     to do this with zeal, passion, and fidelity, so I trust that you
+     may be content with my small services.[269]
+
+All the officials of the citadel had written to Louvois after the
+arrival of his agent, so great an impression had been made. It was said
+that M. de Lauzun was a great criminal and a very dangerous one to
+necessitate such precautions. Each wished to show his special zeal.
+Louis XIV. was also well informed about the prison destined for his old
+favourite.
+
+Louvois showed the King the plan he had received. The apartment
+consisted of two low vaulted rooms facing a deserted court, through
+which no one ever passed. The windows were darkened by iron bars and
+were covered with a sort of basket-work used in prisons, to prevent the
+occupant seeing or being seen. Noises from without, even those from the
+guards and the kitchen, did not penetrate into this remote place, the
+most "noiseless" of all the citadel, on account of the enormous
+thickness of the walls and of the vaulting. "Never," said one of the
+letters, "will M. Foucquet know that he has a companion." The
+correspondents of Louvois unanimously insisted upon the necessity of
+preventing any risk of escape. A screen of iron was placed in the
+embrasure of the windows and a _vissante_ inserted in the chimney to
+prevent M. de Lauzun and M. de Foucquet from communicating with each
+other.
+
+When this new command left Saint-Germain, Lauzun was already locked up
+at Pignerol. He appeared very sad and depressed during the journey. His
+grief was changed into fury at sight of the dungeon which awaited him.
+Saint-Mars wrote to Louvois (December 22, 1671): "Monseigneur, my
+prisoner is in so profound a grief, that I can hardly describe it. He
+said to me that I had made him a lodging _saecula saeculorum_." Lauzun
+declared that he would lose his reason, and his agitation seemed to
+point to this danger.
+
+     [December 30] I do not believe, Monseigneur, that I can send
+     you any news of my prisoner's being more tranquil; he is in so
+     profound a grief that he does nothing but sigh and beat the
+     ground with his feet. He asked me once if I knew the cause of
+     his detention; I replied that I never received any news of this
+     sort lest I should be tempted to tell it.
+
+Lauzun had well divined the cause of his arrest, but he had not been
+told. All explanation had been refused at Saint-Germain, and the
+condemning him to such a dungeon with the most rigorous secrecy, with no
+declared reason, seemed a crying and tyrannical act of injustice.
+Saint-Mars began to fear a tragic ending.
+
+     [January 12, 1672] Monseigneur ... he is overwhelmed with so
+     extraordinary a grief that I fear he may lose his reason, or
+     kill himself, which last he has threatened several times.... As
+     I do not stop to listen to his ravings, he accuses me of having
+     grown hard and pitiless through my long occupation as jailer;
+     and repeats that he has never been judged and that his worst
+     suffering is caused by the fact that he is ignorant of his
+     crime.
+
+He had never been judged! This was the refrain during ten long years!
+Foucquet, his neighbour, had judges, _independants_ or not; he had known
+the cause of his accusation, and his defence had been heard. Lauzun was
+in his vault through the good pleasure of the King without having had a
+chance to justify himself, and this grievance caused his revolt.
+
+When Mademoiselle was told of the arrest of Lauzun, she was so overcome
+that she was astonished "that she did not die." She remained in a most
+pitiable state until the next day. She was counselled not to delay an
+appeal to the King, and it was needful to form some plan. If there had
+been only herself to consider, Mademoiselle would have been ready to bid
+adieu to the world; but there was Lauzun, who was, according to the
+custom then legal, to be accused when he could not defend himself, and
+there was only herself to plead his cause with the King.
+
+It was impossible to abandon her lover, and Mademoiselle found strength
+to rise and to go to Saint-Germain. She only reached the King in the
+evening at supper. "He regarded me with a sad and embarrassed air. I
+looked at him with tears in my eyes, but said nothing; I know what he
+said in returning after to the ladies[270]: 'My cousin has been very
+courteous, she has been silent.' He would have been imprudent to address
+me, as I was prepared to reply to all."
+
+The Court of France was at that date very gay and animated. Monsieur had
+just remarried (November 16), with Elisabeth Charlotte de Baviere,
+Princess Palatine, famed for the originality of her mind and the
+freshness of her language. The King, who, without wit, had good taste,
+was charmed with his new sister-in-law, and was lavish with fetes in her
+honour. At first, Mademoiselle considered it a duty to be present. She
+pathetically relates the history of an abominable evening during which
+she was obliged to appear to be enjoying the spectacle of a ballet,
+while her thoughts were far distant, following a coach surrounded by
+musketeers:
+
+     To think that he was absent; that it was bitterly cold and was
+     snowing heavily, and that my dear one was on the open road on
+     his way to prison; to picture his sufferings and his pitiable
+     appearance made my heart ache. I believe that it would deceive
+     those who should have been there with him to see me here, not
+     realising the torture it gives me. My single consolation is
+     that these constant sacrifices I am making for the King,
+     may in the end arouse his pity for M. de Lauzun and renew his
+     tenderness, for I am not able to persuade myself that he no longer
+     loves him. I should be only too content if my sacrifices can
+     accomplish any results. This is my motive for remaining near the
+     Court since Lauzun's imprisonment, and forces me from a sense of
+     duty to do many things which I should have avoided if I had only
+     consulted my inclinations. With a heart pierced with tender grief,
+     I should have so willingly remained at home in solitude rather than
+     to drag myself through the gay scenes of the Court festivities."
+
+After each effort, she allowed herself slight relaxation and retired to
+weep in some corner, then returning to the King with red and swollen
+eyes. "I am persuaded" wrote she, apropos of a trip with the Court,
+"that my presence has recalled the memory of M. de Lauzun; this is the
+reason why I wish to be always before the eyes of the King.... I cannot
+believe that he will not feel that my looks are ever supplicating him."
+Mademoiselle was very ingenious in her efforts to refer constantly to
+the absent one. If a grated window was passed she began to sigh and to
+pity those in prison. If there was a rumour that Lauzun was ill, she
+solicited by letter the softening of the regime. Louis never responded,
+but he did not show any displeasure. The enemies of the disgraced one
+endeavoured to detach the Princess from her lover. They knew her
+weakness; she was very jealous, and there might easily be occasion in
+regard to Lauzun, known as the greatest libertine of this licentious
+Court. At the moment of arrest his papers had been seized. There were
+many letters; locks of hair and other love tokens, carefully ticketed,
+and a sort of secret museum enclosing portraits that Louis XIV. ordered
+to be destroyed,--not promptly enough, however, as many persons enjoyed
+a glimpse of them, and were able to identify the originals.
+
+The "caskets" of Lauzun were the great social scandal of the winter, and
+there were people enough to exploit the contents to Mademoiselle. They
+gained nothing for their pains; she had the wisdom not to listen. They
+belonged to the past. The same kind friends endeavoured to open her eyes
+to the fact that she had been deceived in giving her heart to a man who
+only desired her millions. They said: "He did not love you; when he was
+promised wealth, appointments, he readily left you; the day on which the
+King broke the marriage, Lauzun gambled all the evening with the
+greatest tranquility; he cares nothing about you." Mademoiselle allows
+in her _Memoires_ that she began to be disturbed when she was forced to
+hear such statements from morning till night during a series of years.
+Her own remembrances only too well confirmed the truth. She had never
+received a word of tenderness from Lauzun, not even a truly gracious
+word. But misfortune is an invincible safeguard with generous souls.
+Mademoiselle relates that her heart "fought against itself" in favour of
+her lover, and the heart conquered, since each new year found her still
+devoted, still indefatigable in her efforts to obtain his release.
+
+At the end of eight years there could be no more doubt. Contemporaries
+and those of the next generation have tried in vain to discover why
+Louis XIV. attached so serious an importance to preventing Lauzun from
+receiving news. Of what was he afraid? Was it essential for the safety
+of France to insist upon such minute precautions?
+
+One day, fresh linen was to be forwarded to Lauzun from Saint-Germain.
+Louvois wrote to Saint-Mars (February 2, 1672): "Have this washed two or
+three times before giving it to him." Saint-Mars signified that he
+comprehended and replied (February 20):
+
+     I shall not fail to have the linen you are sending to Lauzun
+     thoroughly wet after having every seam examined, any writing
+     which may be upon the linen will thus vanish. Everything which
+     is brought out of his room is put at once in a tub of water
+     after being examined, and the laundress bringing it from the
+     river dries it before the fire in the presence of my officers,
+     who take turn at this duty, week by week. I also take the same
+     precautions with the towels, napkins, etc.
+
+Another time, an ancient servant of Lauzun was arrested near Pignerol,
+who, realising that he was a prisoner, killed himself, and letters were
+found on the body. Had there been any intercourse with the prisoner?
+This thought cast Louvois into an inconceivable agitation. He wished at
+every cost to clear up the affair, and he found time even during the war
+with Holland to write letter after letter to Pignerol to order that
+trace of accomplices should be sought.
+
+Men, presumably companions of the dead, were arrested. Two of them, who
+had fled to Turin, were delivered up through diplomatic action. It was
+necessary to make them speak "through any means, no matter what"; the
+question as to whether M. de Lauzun had received news must be solved.
+The attendants at Pignerol were much perturbed. An officer wrote to
+Louvois to "conjure" him to denounce the suspected among the soldiers
+under his orders, that I may arrest them and attach them as villains."
+And if his two nephews, who were in the citadel, should be found to be
+the guilty ones he "would be their first executioner." Saint-Mars was
+humiliated and offended that he should be suspected of being hoodwinked.
+He became ferocious against the "miserable beings" who had drawn down
+upon him this insult, and he willingly put them to the torture; "for, to
+tell the truth," wrote he to Louvois, "I have only to find the smallest
+charge against a soldier or domestic, and I would hang him at once"
+(August 20). Some weeks later he summed up the result of the inquest in
+these terms (October 7): "I cannot swear that an attempt has not been
+made to communicate with Lauzun, but I can pledge my life in the
+assurance that the effort has not been successful."
+
+Saint-Mars had another grief. Louvois recommended to him incessantly to
+make his prisoner talk and to report every word, even the most trivial,
+but Lauzun would not utter a syllable. "I do not know why," wrote
+Saint-Mars, naively, "but he distrusts me, and hardly dares to speak to
+me" (February 10, 1672). On March 19: "He is always in a state of
+extraordinary distrust of me." Louvois insisted, and received
+discouraged letters. (March 30:) "When I make a visit, our conversation
+is so dry and difficult that we often pace the room a hundred times
+without interchanging a word." Saint-Mars in vain sought innocent
+topics. He tried to converse about the weather. M. de Lauzun interrupted
+him under the pretext that the state of the weather was a matter of
+indifference to him, since, from his dungeon, he could see "neither moon
+nor sun."
+
+Saint-Mars inquired about his health. M. de Lauzun cut him short, in
+declaring that "his health was a matter of no consequence to any one,
+and that he was really only too well." Saint-Mars did not know what more
+to say. He became furious. Lauzun perceived this, and grew even more
+taciturn. It was a fair and even fight. At the end of a year, Saint-Mars
+had not advanced an inch.
+
+     [January 7, 1673] When I said good morning or good evening, and
+     when I asked him how he felt, he made low bows, saying that he
+     was well enough to offer his most humble respects; after having
+     thanked him, we walked some time together without speaking to
+     each other, and, as I wished to retire, I asked him if he had
+     anything to demand. He made again a very low bow and conducted
+     me to the door of the room; this is the point at which we have
+     arrived, and I am afraid that we shall make no further
+     progress.
+
+Saint-Mars tried to force the situation. It was he who furnished the
+prisoner with everything; who gave him clothes, furniture, bought his
+eye-glasses, or ordered a wig. He thought that a method of making him
+speak would be to give him nothing that he did not demand. Lauzun
+invented a mute language.
+
+Saint-Mars would perceive, in entering, some wornout or broken object
+placed in a conspicuous position, having the air of saying something.
+"Sometimes," wrote the governor of the citadel, "I feign not to notice,
+and in order to oblige me to speak, Lauzun will direct his steps so as
+to pass the object again and again until I am forced to comprehend."
+(May 6, 1672.)
+
+The valet was almost as close as his master. Saint-Mars did not cease to
+lament the trouble which "these people" gave him. Prisoners' valets
+shared the fate of their masters. Once confined, they passed the sill of
+the prison only with the culprit; that is to say, in many cases never,
+which fact rendered it extremely difficult to procure servants. The one
+with Lauzun was a "wicked rascal" who had been bribed, but who at the
+end of three months refused to do his duty as spy.
+
+Saint-Mars was indignant (February 20, 1672): "With your permission, I
+will put him [the valet] in a place that I reserve, which makes the dumb
+speak after a month's sojourn. I shall learn all from him, and I am
+certain that he will not forget the least trifle." Upon reflection,
+however, Saint-Mars ended by being patient. How was he to replace the
+fellow? "No one of the valets attached to the citadel would enter this
+dungeon if I paid him millions. They have noticed that those whom I have
+placed with M. Foucquet never come out." Louvois never knew, in spite of
+earnest desire, what thoughts the fallen favourite was conceiving in his
+prison.
+
+There was a slight recompense, however, on the days on which Lauzun fell
+into a rage, which often happened. The prisoner could not digest the
+fact that his questions remained unanswered. This might be reasonable
+enough if he asked if France were at war, or if Mademoiselle were
+married; but why refuse news of his own affairs? Why conceal from him
+the fact of his mother being alive or dead? His vexation became rage. He
+poured out a torrent of imprecations and bitter complaints, and Louvois
+had the pleasure of hearing by the next mail that silence did not
+indicate absence of suffering.
+
+One day (January 28, 1673), after giving an account of one of these
+explosions, Saint-Mars added: "He said all this, weeping hot tears and
+crying that he detested his miserable life; he complained loudly of the
+horrible dungeon which I have given him, where he has lost his sight and
+his health." The wails of grief echoed even through Paris, leaking out
+from the cabinet of Louvois and the chamber of Mme. de Montespan, and
+the public demanded with curiosity what Lauzun had done to deserve a
+punishment so rigorous. "I can never believe," wrote Mademoiselle,
+"that it is by the orders of the King." It was easily guessed that
+Louvois was avenging his frights and Mme. de Montespan her humiliations;
+but why did the King permit such severity? for Louis had never appeared
+to take very much to heart the entanglements of these two Court powers
+with his favourite.
+
+It is needful to recollect that the seventeenth century had no greater
+respect for human liberty than for human life. Only rank and birth were
+of value, and these were honoured in a greater degree than it is
+possible now to comprehend. This same Louvois, who was tormenting Lauzun
+almost to the point of insanity, had hastened to send him a
+silver-service, and had asked him to complain if his guards were
+impolite.
+
+"M. de Saint-Mars," wrote the Minister, "has orders never to fail in
+according the respect due to your birth and to the position which you
+have held at Court" (December 12, 1672). From like considerations, the
+birth of Lauzun had brought him new furniture, but not a single object
+of any kind which could aid him in inventing occupation or employment.
+
+This was the real punishment: a complete inaction with not a single echo
+from the outer world which might prevent his mind from continually
+turning inward upon itself. Lauzun only obtained a few books at long
+intervals, and always with great difficulty, after every page had been
+examined in detail; messages written in invisible ink were feared, and
+phrases which might throw light upon the events of the day. When the
+choice of literature was left to Saint-Mars, he confined himself to _Le
+Tableau de la Penitence_ or the _Pedagogue chretien_. The contents of
+these were well known and, also, "they might be useful to lighten his
+despair."
+
+It will be remembered that Mademoiselle had scolded the "little man" to
+make him take greater care of his person and toilet. In prison, Lauzun
+had grown very careless. (April 20, 1672:) "He grows so negligent that
+for three weeks he has worn a handkerchief knotted around his neck in
+place of a cravat." From note of July 30, 1672, more than seven months
+after his arrival: "He has not had his room swept, nor his glass rinsed;
+he is extremely negligent." Lauzun had permitted his beard to grow,
+which contributed to his neglected appearance. Saint-Mars declared that
+it was a half-yard long. (February 11, 1673:) "He is as disorderly at
+his meals as in his person and in his apartment."
+
+Years passed. In 1673, they pruned the trees which cut off the light.
+This was the only change. In 1674, the prisoner almost died. His health
+was shattered and his temper changed. He became tranquil, except for an
+occasional access of anger, and was very polite to his jailer, who
+attributed this metamorphosis to the effects of the books of piety and
+the holy water freely supplied. Saint-Mars found him "very often" on his
+knees, saying his prayers before an image of the Virgin, and had much
+joy in the change.
+
+In 1676, in the month of February, Louvois received a letter,[271] the
+contents of which passed through Paris like a flash of lightning. M. de
+Lauzun had almost succeeded in effecting his escape; and neither by door
+nor window, the ordinary method in romances. He had made a hole in the
+dungeon of Pignerol by scratching with old knives, pieces of kitchen
+utensils, etc., and had succeeded in piercing the thick vault below his
+chamber. Lauzun rolled through this opening, and found himself between
+four walls, before a barred window. He began again to scrape; he
+demolished one of the corners of the window, unfastened one of the bars,
+and saw that he was several fathoms above the ground. His foresight had
+caused him to collect a quantity of napkins, from which he made a rope
+ladder; "the best made in the world," wrote Mademoiselle, with
+admiration for the sample sent to Louvois.
+
+He descended by this ladder to the moat surrounding the fortress,
+"pierced the wall on the side of the moat,"[272] encountered a rock, and
+recommenced at a short distance from the place of the first attempt";
+the new passage led into a court of the citadel. Lauzun reached the
+ground one morning at daybreak. He had passed three days in scraping; it
+was this occupation which had kept him tranquil. Only an open door, and
+he would have been saved. He would well have deserved success as a
+reward for his industry and patience. But all was firmly closed, and he
+was stopped by an incorruptible sentinel.
+
+The poor prisoner was brought back to his dungeon, and Louvois stormed
+at the authorities of Pignerol, who permitted walls and windows to be
+demolished without perceiving that anything strange was occurring.
+Repairs and numerous new measures of precaution were ordered, and
+Saint-Mars, very much abashed, swore by all the gods that such a thing
+should never again happen.
+
+In spite of these oaths, many of the prisoners succeeded in gaining
+access to their neighbours, according to the account of
+Saint-Simon.[273] It seems that the open chimneys of ancient times had
+become an ordinary means of communication between the dungeons of
+Pignerol. "A hole was made in the pipe, which was carefully closed
+during the day," and with mutual aid the prisoners ascended and
+descended. Lauzun was placed in relation with various prisoners, of whom
+one was Foucquet, who believed him to be mad when listening to his
+account of the failure of the plan of marriage with the Grande
+Mademoiselle. These gentlemen must have resembled chimney sweeps.
+
+Saint-Mars, however, only knew of these practices after the death of
+Foucquet; the troubles of Lauzun were then at an end. The death of the
+eldest brother, which occurred in 1677, had brought new conditions.
+Lauzun became head of the family. His sister, Mme. de Nogent,
+represented to the King that it was needful for the preservation of the
+"House" that M. de Lauzun should be permitted to put his affairs in
+order, and she had no difficulty in obtaining a hearing. Although the
+individual counted for little, the "House" was a thing sacred, even in
+the eyes of Louis XIV. Saint-Mars was ordered to receive Mme. de Nogent,
+another of the brothers, Chevalier de Lauzun, and their advocate, M.
+Isarn, and to permit them to meet with his prisoner, exacting the
+promise that only business should be discussed. He forbade a single
+word, "under any pretext whatever," of Mlle. de Montpensier. An account
+of these interviews, sketched by Isarn, remains. It must not be
+forgotten in reading this document that Lauzun had a great interest in
+inspiring a lively pity in the hearts of these people who were returning
+to Paris. After long preliminaries, Isarn arrived for the first
+interview with Lauzun, whom no one had seen for six years.
+
+     [October 29, 1667] Two o'clock having come, M. de Saint-Mars,
+     after sending away all the attendants, asked M. Isarn to enter
+     his room where six chairs were arranged around a table, and M.
+     de Saint-Mars retiring, returned after a moment leading M. le
+     Comte de Lauzun, supporting him by the arm, for the Comte could
+     hardly sustain himself, it may be on account of the open air,
+     the bright light, or the weakness caused by his illness.
+
+     At this sight, I confess, Monsieur, that we were moved with
+     pity, for we remarked his haggard face and the extreme pallor
+     of the countenance, as much as could be seen under the long
+     beard and moustaches, the eyes subdued with sadness and
+     languor, so that it would be impossible not to be moved with
+     compassion. I can hardly express the grief of Madame his sister
+     and Monsieur his brother. A chair near the fire was given to
+     him, facing the window, but he shrank back, saying in a low
+     voice, and coughing, that the bright light made his eyes and
+     head burn. M. de Saint-Mars turned his prisoner away from the
+     window, placing himself on one side and M. the Commissioner on
+     the other. I was at the side of M. de Saint-Mars, having my
+     papers before me on the table. Mme. de Nogent could not
+     restrain her tears, and we remained some time without speaking.
+
+When they were all somewhat composed, Isarn entered into a summary of
+the affairs to be regulated. At the first pause, Lauzun interrupted. "He
+said coldly, that having been kept for six years and a portion of a
+seventh in a very restricted prison, and not having heard any business
+details for so long a time, and having met no one, his mind had become
+so 'sealed,' and his intelligence so clouded, that it was impossible for
+him to comprehend anything I was saying." He added affectionate words
+for his sister, touching sentiments upon his grief at having displeased
+the King, and, as if overcome by the remembrance of his much-loved
+master, he carried his handkerchief to his eyes, "where it remained a
+long time."
+
+This spectacle provoked such an outburst of tears and groans that it was
+impossible to continue the conference. Lauzun "withdrew with Saint-Mars
+without speaking." The sister was carried away in a dead faint. The
+Chevalier de Lauzun, ill with emotion, retired for the night, and Isarn
+shared in the general affliction. At the following sessions, Lauzun
+repeated that he comprehended nothing that his advocate said, but he
+gave him at the same time some instructions, "with much judgment and
+clearness." Touching scenes followed. One day, after having obtained
+permission, the prisoner asked if his mother were living, and there was,
+in this case, no need of pretence to make the scene impressive. At the
+last interview, he charged his sister to implore the pity of the King
+and the pardon of Louvois, in humble and submissive terms, which showed
+a man conquered, crushed, and henceforth inoffensive.
+
+It may be through compassion, it may be, as was hinted, through some new
+and mysterious combination, that this appeal produced a relaxation in
+the prison discipline, which ended in a half-freedom. Lauzun was
+permitted to give dinners, to buy saddle horses, "to ride in the court
+and on the bastions."[274] At length arrived a detachment of musketeers,
+charged to conduct him to the baths of Bourbon, under pretext that he
+was suffering with one of his arms.
+
+He quitted Pignerol April 22, 1681. Foucquet had died March 23, 1680.
+This left to Saint-Mars only a single man of note; the Man with the Iron
+Mask had been in the fortress some time at this date.
+
+Robinson Crusoe, leaving his island, was not more of a stranger to the
+course of events than a state prisoner after years of life in a dungeon.
+Foucquet had believed in listening to Lauzun that he was mentally
+deranged. When it was the fate of the latter to again come in contact
+with ordinary life, he found much difficulty in placing himself in the
+current. The history of France had been lengthened by a chapter while he
+was raging in his dungeon. The intimate story of Court life, the most
+important for an ancient favourite desirous of regaining a foothold,
+would have filled a volume with its tragi-comic complications. At first
+glance, the chapter of national history was dazzling. The war with
+Holland had given to France, Franche-Comte; to Louis XIV., a glory and
+power which had raised him in European opinion above all other
+sovereigns.
+
+In the eyes of strangers, he was more than a king, he was _the_ King,
+the incarnation of the monarchical idea, the Prince who had made France
+the mistress of the civilised world.
+
+     Never, in modern Europe [says a German historian[275] who
+     always considers the interests of France as opposed to those of
+     Germany] has there been a development of military power over
+     land and sea, for attack and defence, so extraordinary as that
+     to which France had attained during the war, and preserved
+     during the ensuing peace; never before had a single will
+     exercised so extended a command over troops so well trained and
+     yet so submissive.
+
+[Illustration: =VIEW OF THE PALACE AND GARDENS OF THE TUILERIES= From an
+engraving by Israel Silvestre, 1673]
+
+France was admired and feared. "Louis XIV.," says Ranke again, "reduced
+several of the German princes individually, and the Empire at large, to
+a degree of abasement to which they had not fallen during centuries."
+Spain itself was menaced with the loss of its independence. Europe
+recognised that in "the history of the world there were few periods in
+which civilisation had so rapidly advanced and literature was so
+brilliant as that under Louis XIV."
+
+Such was France viewed from without, during the years which separated
+the peace of Nimeguen (1679) from the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes
+(1685). This brilliant picture showed, however, some shadows; the
+vanquished guarded a deep resentment, and the former allies were
+detached without always being replaced by new ones; but the country
+considered itself sufficiently strong to support its isolation.
+
+Seen from within, France presented to the superficial observer an
+appearance of prosperity. Upon a closer examination, however, it could
+be predicted that the lean years were approaching. Many provinces had
+fallen back into misery. There was a general discontent, the
+disaffection made rapid progress; the idea of centralised and absolute
+power, so well received at first, was beginning to pall upon the
+community. Four years after the death of Mazarin and the arrival to
+power of Louis XIV. keen-sighted men became anxious.
+
+Olivier d'Ormesson, like all the world at first under the influence of
+the charm of the young King, wrote in 1665 (March): "No one dares
+protest, although all suffer and have their hearts filled with despair;
+every one says that it is impossible for this state of things to last,
+the conduct of affairs being too unjust and violent."[276] Olivier
+d'Ormesson had personal griefs. He had been disgraced for having shown
+himself too independent at the time of the prosecution of Foucquet, and
+he was also one of those old politicians, liberal after their own
+fashion, who held firmly to the privileges belonging to their class, and
+who were not accustomed to see criticisms of the King punished more
+severely than blasphemies against the Deity. In 1668, a poor old man
+from Saint-Germain was accused "of having said that the King was a
+tyrant, and that there still existed some Ravaillacs and people of
+courage and virtue." He was condemned to have his tongue cut out and to
+be sent to the galleys. "It is said," adds d'Ormesson, "that
+cutting out the tongue is a new punishment, and that it was formerly the
+custom simply to pierce the tongue of blasphemers." From the point of
+view of the times, the opinion of d'Ormesson is a little
+too advanced.
+
+But the same criticism cannot be made of Colbert, then enjoying great
+favour and naturally a man of severity. In 1666 Colbert warned Louis
+XIV., in an almost brutal memorial, that through his extravagances he
+was leading France to ruin.
+
+[Illustration: =VIEW OF THE RESIDENCE OF COLBERT, SHOWING ALSO HIS SEAL=
+
+From an engraving by Israel Silvestre, 1675]
+
+The memorial commenced by declaring that he (Colbert) did not wish
+stinginess where it was a matter concerning a good army or fleet, or in
+sustaining the suitable magnificence of his master in foreign lands, or
+in any useful expenditures, among which he included the proper
+representation of a great sovereign. He affirmed that in all these
+matters he would rather urge a certain lavishness, and this was the
+truth. But he could not share in the responsibility for the enormous
+leakage by which the public wealth was being exhausted, for the millions
+squandered in fantastic camps, in fetes costing incredible sums,[277]
+and in insane gambling debts.[278]
+
+The memorial mentions also pensions and other gratifications given out
+freely, and makes other specifications, of which one merits some
+details, for it is curious, but rarely referred to, and according to
+Colbert led to the most dangerous consequences. As will be understood,
+nothing other than actual war cost France so dearly under Louis XIV., as
+the monarch's passion for playing at soldier in the presence of
+beautiful ladies. This mania at first glance appears innocent enough,
+only rather childish.
+
+Colbert pointed out the inevitable effects. The King assembled armies to
+afford to the "_ladies_" the spectacle of a camp or the simulation of a
+siege, or the troops were reviewed in places agreeable for women,
+instead of awaiting him in their barracks.
+
+The result was, that the perpetual marching of troops to and fro was
+causing the exhaustion of the provinces, for "it is sufficient to say
+that such a city or halting-place has suffered within six months a
+hundred different impositions of troops, and that there are but few
+places which have not been obliged to stand at least fifty."
+
+The troops lived as they liked, entering and departing from their
+various lodging-places. "It can be affirmed distinctly that these places
+were left in a condition to which they would have been brought by a long
+war." If the King knew "how many peasants of Champagne, and the other
+provinces lying near the frontier, are passing and arranging to pass to
+other countries," he would comprehend that this state of affairs could
+not last.
+
+The most delicate reproof was yet to be made, and Colbert approached it
+courageously. Serious ridicule had fallen upon the great monarch for
+these fantastic games for the benefit of his "_ladies_," not only with
+the French, but also among foreigners only too ready to seize an
+occasion for unfriendly comment.
+
+[Illustration: =VIEW OF THE CHATEAU OF VERSAILLES, SHOWING THE FOUNTAIN
+OF THE DRAGON=
+
+From an engraving by Israel Silvestre, 1676]
+
+Louis had just installed a camp at Moret, motley and smart, with pretty
+tents for the Amazons. "It is said," wrote d'Ormesson, "that the siege
+of Moret will be made in due form, in order to show the '_ladies_' the
+method of taking places by assault. People in general, disgusted and
+annoyed, treat this review as childish trifling for a King, and it is
+badly thought of in foreign countries."
+
+Olivier d'Ormesson did not display great merit in writing his comments
+in his journal for his eyes alone, but Colbert wrote for the King and
+had still many criticisms to add.
+
+"It is further advisable for your Majesty to know two things which no
+one has before dared to report: one that there has been a poster in
+Paris, bearing the words _Louis XIV. will give an exhibition of
+Marionettes in the plain at Moret_; the other, the publication of a
+libel, still more bitter, upon the distinguished deeds of the fantastic
+captains." The King read the memorial and re-read it in the presence of
+Colbert, but the following year saw a new camp, in which the royal tent,
+composed of six sumptuous rooms, "was filled with cavaliers gorgeously
+attired, and better fitted to attract the enemy than to make him
+flee."[279] Colbert did not succeed, even in time of war, in preventing
+a single trip to the frontier with a long train of women in rare
+apparel, and mistresses for whose accommodation it was necessary to put
+masons at work at every halting-place.
+
+From Louvois, March 7, 1671:
+
+"Arrange chamber marked V for Mme. de Montespan, opening a door in the
+place marked 1.... Mme. de La Valliere will lodge in the chamber marked
+Y, in which a door must be made in the place marked 3N...." The expense
+of the numerous doors, with many others equally irregular, entered into
+the budget of the Minister of War.
+
+How was it possible to keep the budget accounts? How reduce unnecessary
+expenses? Colbert himself was obliged in his budget of the Marine to
+give space to the "_ladies_." In 1678, Mme. de Montespan conceived the
+fantasy of fitting out a privateer, a vessel belonging to the King, be
+it understood, manned with the royal sailors. Some weeks later, a second
+and third vessel were sent out in the same manner as privateers, always
+at the King's expense, "by Mme. de Montespan and the Comtesse de
+Soissons."[280] Including everything, the taste of Louis XIV. for
+conversation and the society of women, without mentioning the rest of
+his follies, probably cost France more than all the buildings erected by
+the Grand Monarch, but the one outlay can be calculated, and the other
+not.
+
+The large expenses of Versailles and of Marly are often alluded to,
+while the unfortunate peasants, who fled across the frontier after every
+military spectacle offered to the "_ladies_," are forgotten. Louis XIV.
+was incapable of keeping accounts; that is his sole excuse. It is
+strange, however, that a man so methodical, having a mind so steady, so
+well regulated, had never been able to comprehend that figures are
+figures, and that no one is able to make two crowns out of one. Colbert
+never succeeded in controlling the waste of his master, even in cases
+when the added profusion in no way increased the pleasure, and appears
+to us as a mere barbarous lavishness.
+
+[Illustration: =DUCHESSE DE LA VALLIERE AND HER CHILDREN=
+
+From the painting by P. Mignard in the possession of the Marquise
+d'Oilliamson]
+
+It is known that in the seventeenth century the repasts were abundant.
+Those of Louis XIV. were excessively so. In 1664, the King, having
+invited the Pope's legate to dine with him _tete-a-tete_, those in
+attendance counted the dishes; there were eighty, not including
+thirty-eight for dessert. This was certainly excessive, and Colbert had
+said in the Memorial of 1660, "I declare to your Majesty ... that a
+useless meal, costing a thousand crowns, gives me an incredible pain."
+
+But the lavishness of fifteen years later was far greater. On January
+16, 1680, the King married Mlle. de Blois, his daughter by La Valliere,
+to Prince Louis-Armand de Conti, nephew of the great Conde. "The wedding
+festival was royal," wrote Bussy-Rabutin; "there were seven hundred
+dishes on a single table, served in five courses, that is to say, one
+hundred and forty dishes to each course." Mme. de Sevigne points the
+moral. "The young husband was ill the entire night. It would be a
+temptation to say 'Well deserved!'"
+
+If, from the incensed and suffering people, the attention is turned
+towards the Court, the difference between without and within is perhaps
+as clearly marked, although more difficult to define. Without, there is
+splendour, adulations given and received; within, a profound moral
+misery; with some, debauch and poverty; with others, discouragement and
+bitterness. Mme. de Sevigne, in a letter of 1680, has unconsciously
+painted, in six lines, the state of degradation to which the King had
+systematically reduced the nobility of France, lined up, as it were, to
+catch purses thrown to them January 12: "The King is enormously liberal
+in truth; it is not needful to despair; one may not be a valet, but in
+making one's court, something may fall upon one's head. What is certain
+is that far from him [the King], all seems valueless; formerly it was
+otherwise."
+
+If souls were debased under Louis, he must be held in large part
+responsible. The same can be said in regard to the deterioration of
+manners and morals. France, before the time of Louis XIV., was
+accustomed enough to both mistresses and bastards, but not to the
+prerogatives of second wives conferred on the first, nor the
+legitimatising of adulteries which encouraged his subjects to consider
+no longer seriously either law or morality. The example of the master
+ended in deadening consciences already somewhat feeble, and husbands
+might be seen encouraging their wives, the mothers of their daughters,
+to imitate La Valliere and de Montespan.
+
+[Illustration: =LOUISE DE LA VALLIERE, IN THE GARB OF THE ORDER OF THE
+CARMELITES=
+
+After the painting by D. Plaats]
+
+Louis had been in some degree punished for having played sultan.
+Polygamy cannot exist without some discomfort, in a land in which women
+have any position. Few men, even upon the stage, have had so many
+quarrels with their mistresses, quarrels often violent, humiliating, as
+well as painful, as this majestic monarch, before whom the universe
+trembled. Royalty does not exist before a jealous mistress, and Louis
+XIV. was faithful only to one, Mme. de Maintenon.
+
+The young King had been spoiled by Louise de La Valliere, who was
+gentleness itself, and whom love inclined to pardon all. None of the
+other mistresses really loved Louis, except perhaps Marie Mancini. Louis
+did not really please women; it was only the King for whose favour they
+disputed.
+
+Mlle. de La Valliere had entered the Carmelite convent in 1674. Left
+alone upon the "breach," Mme. de Montespan defended the situation like a
+lioness. She was naturally sharp-tempered, and her fits of anger were
+often ungovernable,[281] as witnesses say, and Louis did not possess the
+force which innocence alone gives. Among the rivals who contended with
+Mme. de Montespan, many, in spite of her efforts, succeeded in enjoying
+their year, or at least their day. When she became enraged, and the King
+was forced to bend his neck under the tempest, "she often scolded him
+and he did not assert himself."[282] This was his method of expiation.
+The ephemeral reign of Mlle. de Fontanges came. She also was
+passionate, and she treated the King with "more authority than the
+others."[283] Louis called Mme. de Maintenon to his aid, and charged her
+to appease these furies. Stormy scenes began to weary him.
+
+It had been remarked since 1675 that Louis aspired to moments of "repose
+and of liberty." Mme. de Montespan, with all her intelligence, could not
+comprehend that there comes a time of life at which men can no longer
+live in the midst of tempests, and this error was the cause of her ruin.
+
+The King acquired the habit of fleeing for refuge to Mme. de Maintenon,
+where he found an atmosphere of peace and enjoyed refreshing
+conversation.
+
+It was the first time that an intelligent woman had spoken seriously to
+him, without seeking to attract a declaration of love, nor to divert him
+with trifles, but to distract him agreeably from his work, and also to
+make him reflect upon certain subjects which did not always appeal to
+him. For example, what the sinner who had taken the wife of another
+might expect in the next world. She recalled to him the fact that there
+was a police in heaven as in the palaces of the King of France, and she
+asked him: "What would you say if some one should tell your Majesty that
+one of the musketeers you love had seduced a married woman, and that
+this woman was actually living with him? I am certain that before
+evening this man would depart from the palace, never to return,
+however late it might be."[284]
+
+[Illustration: =MADAME DE MAINTENON=
+
+After the painting by P. Mignard in 1694]
+
+The King laughed. He had never been more in love with Mme. de
+Montespan,--this happened in 1675, before the Jubilee, which separated
+them three or four months,--but he was not vexed with Mme. de Maintenon;
+already he "could not live without her."[285] One may or may not feel
+sympathy with this last, but it is certain that without her, without the
+empire that she knew how to gain over a prince ardent for pleasure, but
+by no means a veritable libertine, Louis XIV. might have ended
+shamefully. To every one their deserts. The Queen Marie-Therese was
+right in according her friendship to Mme. de Maintenon, who secured for
+her, somewhat late it is true, a certain consideration and some
+affectionate demonstration to which the poor Queen was not accustomed.
+
+When the King had passed forty, tranquillity became a need. He believed
+he had assured it by giving to Mme. de Montespan her official dismissal
+as the recognised mistress. The date of this event is known. March 29,
+1679, the Comtesse de Soissons was prayed to yield to the ancient
+favourite her charge as superintendent of the palace of the Queen, a
+position which afforded a kind of regulated retreat. The next day, Mme.
+de Montespan wrote to the Duc de Noailles to announce to him this
+arrangement, and she added: "Truly this is very bearable. The King only
+comes into my room after mass and after supper. It is much better to see
+each other rarely with pleasure than often with boredom." The world was
+not deceived: "I really believe," wrote Bussy (April 11th), "that the
+King, just as he is, has given this position for past favours."
+
+From Mme. de Scudery to Bussy, October 29, 1679: "A diversion has been
+established for Mme. de Montespan for this winter, and provided that she
+can do without love, she will retain the consideration of the King. This
+is all that an honest man can do when he ceases to love." Bussy
+responded, November 4th: "If Mme. de Montespan is wise she will dream
+only of cards and will leave the King in peace on the subject of love;
+for it is impossible through complaints and scoldings to lure back
+unfaithful lovers."
+
+Mme. de Montespan was _not_ wise. In the hope of bringing the King back
+to her arms by force, she redoubled the disagreeable scenes. At this
+moment, an obscure past, filled with vague and frightful events, rose
+against her, and the expiation for having too much loved became almost
+tragic in its character.
+
+La Voisin, the poisoner, cannot be forgotten, nor the prosecution in
+1668, which had revealed to the young King the connection of his new
+mistress with the world of malefactors. This affair was stifled, but the
+evil continued in its subterranean influence. The merchants of love
+philters and of poisons and the priests of satanic rites saw their
+clients increasing in number year by year. When the crimes finally came
+to the surface, and Louis established (March 7, 1679) the "_Chambre
+ardente_" to purify France from the gangrene, so many Parisians were
+connected in one way or another with the accused that the King had
+against him a powerful current of opinion. This is, perhaps, the most
+significant feature of the sad affair. Instead of being crushed with
+shame in learning how many were compromised, the higher classes were
+indignant against the equal justice which refused to give them special
+consideration. They murmured loudly, and for once the people were with
+them, for the populace remained staunch to the sorcerers. The clamours
+were so menacing that the judges of the "_Chambre ardente_" felt
+themselves in danger: "I know," wrote Bussy-Rabutin on April 1st, "the
+chamber instituted to examine the 'corrupters,' and also know that
+Messieurs de Bezons and de La Reynie do not pass from Paris to Vincennes
+without an escort of the Kings Guards."[286] Louis XIV. was obliged
+several times to strengthen the resolution of these judges; sometimes in
+openly commanding them to "judge truly"[287] without any distinction of
+person, condition, or sex; sometimes by assuring them through official
+letter of his "protection."[288]
+
+The first executions before the _Chambre ardente_ took place in
+February, 1679, and the list of the names of those arrested or of those
+to whom notices of warrants to appear as witnesses had been served, a
+list which made so great an excitement on account of the aristocrats
+included,[289] is dated January 23, 1680. It had been at least four
+months before,[290] that there had come to the ears of the King, as some
+one was reading to him the account of the last examinations, two
+familiar names. Who is Mlle. des [OE]illets, ancient "follower" of Mme.
+de Montespan? Who is Cato, her maid, and what had they to do with La
+Voisin and with those like her? These same names again appearing in the
+list of January 6, 1680, the King, while declaring that the witnesses
+must certainly have lied,[291] ordered the Procurer-General, M. Robert,
+"to pay strict attention to this particular case."
+
+This was done, with the result that Louis was forced to ask himself if
+the woman whom he adored above all others, and who had borne him seven
+children, was a vile "corrupter"; if this perfect body for which he had
+risked the safety of his soul had taken part in the ignoble ceremonies
+of the infamous Guibourg? If, discontented with the thought of sharing
+his favours with rivals, she might not in an access of jealousy have
+tried to poison him, the King? He sought the truth, but did not find it.
+In waiting further developments, Louis led his mistress with him
+wherever he might go, and she was always making a disturbance of some
+sort. The King grew less patient; that was the only difference.
+
+From Bussy-Rabutin, May 18, 1680:
+
+"The King ... as he was mounting into his carriage with the Queen had
+some rough words with Mme. de Montespan, about the scents with which she
+deluged herself, which made his Majesty ill. The King at first spoke
+politely, but as she responded sharply, his Majesty grew warm." On the
+25th, Mme. de Sevigne noted another "serious embroilment." This time
+Colbert succeeded in reconciling them. The situation grew painful. A
+long series of letters and _memoires_ have been found in which La Reynie
+discusses for the King the charges accumulated against Mme. de
+Montespan. The picture is given of the doubts and fluctuations of an
+honest man whose responsibilities somewhat rankle in his breast, and who
+sees an equal peril in dishonouring the throne and in permitting a
+guilty woman to remain near the King. Louis passed through many
+successive stages of conviction during the prosecution. The further the
+examination proceeded, the stronger became the presumption of guilt,
+without, however, bringing positive proofs.
+
+On July 12, 1680, La Reynie summed up for his master the history of the
+"petition to be used in poisoning the King." On October 11th he declared
+that he should be ruined in the affair, and supplicated his Majesty to
+reflect whether it would be for the "welfare of the State," to make
+these "horrors" public. In the month of May following, he avowed that he
+had erred on some points and that there was more evil than at first
+appeared. The marvellous control that Louis possessed over himself
+prevented outward betrayal; but certainly these uncertainties, these
+inferior conflicts, and it is to be hoped some sense of shame and
+remorse, became chastisements for his faults. On her side, Mme. de
+Montespan, in spite of the secret of her possible guilt being well
+guarded both at Court and by the judges and police, could not be
+ignorant that Mlle. des [OE]illets had been interrogated, confronted
+with witnesses, and imprisoned for life in the general Hospital at
+Tours.[292] Mme. de Montespan then knew that she had been denounced, but
+with what proof? What did the King think? What curious meetings between
+these two beings must have taken place. What conversations during which
+the King and his mistress were closely observing each other.
+
+Court life, nevertheless, pursued its monotonous course, and Mme. de
+Montespan continued to figure in positions of honour. In March, 1689,
+she goes to meet the Dauphin[293] with the rest of the Court, and it is
+she who has charge of the choice and arrangement of the wedding
+presents, "being the woman in the world," wrote Mademoiselle, "who knows
+the best forms." In July, the King led her to Versailles with her
+sister, Mme. de Thianges, and her niece, the beautiful Duchesse de
+Nevers. This lady the mother and aunt were cynically offering to the
+Monarch.[294] In February, 1681, "a lottery was opened at Mme. de
+Montespan's, of which the largest prize was one hundred thousand francs,
+and there were a hundred others offered of one hundred pistoles each."
+In July, 1682, the _Chambre ardente_ was suddenly suppressed. Of the
+three hundred accused, thirty-six people of no importance had been
+executed, one hundred sent to the galleys, or to prisons, or convents,
+or exiled; the noted among them always gaining some concessions. The
+dungeons of Paris and Vincennes were crowded. The smaller fry were
+released, and the remainder were scattered, without any other trial,
+through the provincial prisons, to await a death rarely slow in coming
+to relieve their misery.
+
+From Louvois to M. de Chauvelin, Intendant, December 16, 1682,
+announcing the arrival of one of these convoys:
+
+     Above all, please take care to prevent any of these gentlemen
+     from proclaiming aloud, a thing which has already occurred, any
+     of the absurd statements connected with Mme. de Montespan,
+     which have been proved to be absolutely without foundation.
+     Threaten a punishment so severe at the first utterance that
+     they will not dare to breathe a word further.
+
+This letter ended the connection of Mme. de Montespan with the affair of
+the "corrupters of morals" or the poisoners. She was saved, but was this
+due to proofs of innocence or to reasons of State, to the refusal of
+Louis to credit the testimony of an Abbe Guibourg or Lesage, or to the
+remnants of an old tenderness? The few men with whom it had been
+necessary to share the secrets which would respond to these questions
+were so perfectly mute that contemporaries suspected nothing. They saw
+the ancient favourite a little neglected, but always dreaming of the
+possibility of reasserting herself, as the many pages of the _Memoires_
+of Mademoiselle testify. All this was in the natural course of events.
+
+One single indication of what Louis XIV. thought at the bottom of his
+soul is possessed; a letter from the King to Colbert, who knew all.
+Mademoiselle had prayed Mme. de Montespan to solicit some favour for
+Lauzun. The King charged Colbert to reply for him (October, 1681): "You
+will politely explain to her that I always receive the marks of her
+friendship and confidence with pleasure, and that I am very vexed when
+it is not possible to do what she desires, but at this time I can do no
+more than I have already done."[295] Did he believe the mistress
+innocent or had he pardoned her?
+
+The first preoccupation of Lauzun, in returning to the world, must have
+been to make clear to himself through legitimate or illegitimate means
+the chronology of the King's love affairs, a history so essential for
+the comprehension of the interior life of the Court.
+
+The main facts for this record have been already given in the preceding
+chapter. The returned prisoner had afterwards to learn all that
+Mademoiselle had accomplished for him during his captivity, and of what
+the public thought of her efforts, and he recognised that no one in
+France except Segrais doubted the fact of their marriage. That the
+marriage had taken place before his imprisonment was the prevalent
+belief, which was never really shaken. It again came to light in the
+eighteenth century. The historian Anquetil saw at Treport, in 1744, an
+old person of more than seventy years of age, who resembled the
+portraits of the Grande Mademoiselle and did not know from whence came
+her pension.[296] This person believed herself to be the daughter of the
+Duchesse de Montpensier, and local tradition confirmed this conviction.
+There were, however, no absolute proofs, and it will be seen further on
+how this question of the marriage with Lauzun is brought up over and
+over again in the biography of the Grande Mademoiselle, with a monotony
+slightly fatiguing and without it being possible to ever obtain a clear
+response.
+
+Whatever the fact may be, the Princess gave a very fine example of
+constancy and fidelity. She lived for ten years absorbed in a single
+thought. The _Memoires_ for the year 1673 say: "I remember nothing which
+has taken place during the past winter. My grief occupies me so much
+that I have but little interest in the actions of others." To liberate
+Lauzun had become a fixed idea, and she attached herself to the steps of
+the King and to those of Mme. de Montespan, without permitting herself
+to remember the ill that they had committed, as it was they alone who
+could loosen the bonds. The more they showed themselves inexorable, the
+more Mademoiselle redoubled her assiduities. In 1676 she enjoyed for the
+brief space of two hours the delusion that Louis XIV. at length, at the
+end of ten years, was moved with a feeling of compassion. The news of
+the attempted escape of Lauzun had just been received. "I learned that
+the King had listened to the account with some sign of humanity, I can
+hardly say of pity. If he had felt this, would he [Lauzun] still be
+there?"
+
+The Princess wrote to the King, but received no response; and again four
+years rolled by. Mme. de Montespan was no longer favourite. The
+courtiers considered it shrewd to neglect her. Better inspired,
+Mademoiselle continued to stand fast by her, and the result proved the
+wisdom of this course, in the dramatic moment, for Louis, of the affair
+of the corrupters. It was in the spring of 1680, while denunciations
+were falling upon the fallen favourite as upon all those connected with
+La Voisin, that Mademoiselle remarked by certain movements and a change
+of tone that something was stirring between Mme. de Montespan and the
+fortress of Pignerol:
+
+     I went to her daily and she appeared touched by the thought of
+     M. de Lauzun.... She often said to me: "But think how you can
+     make yourself agreeable to the King, that he may accord to you
+     what you desire so dearly." She threw out such suggestions from
+     time to time, which advised me that they were thinking of my
+     fortune.
+
+The phrase of a friend came back to her: "But you should let them hope
+that you will make M. de Maine your heir." She recalled other hints
+which at first had passed unnoticed, and understood that a bargain was
+offered.
+
+The monarch and his ancient favourite had agreed between them to sell to
+Mademoiselle the freedom of the man she loved so deeply. What was to be
+the price? This was not yet disclosed. It was some time before
+Mademoiselle comprehended, and then she was so disconcerted that she
+said nothing. She felt that the combat was not an equal one between
+herself, from whom passion had taken away all judgment, and Mme. de
+Montespan, who was perfectly calm, and she hesitated, fearing some
+snare: "Finally, I resolved to make M. de Maine my heir, provided that
+the King would send for Lauzun and consent that I should marry him."
+Some third person brought these conditions to Mme. de Montespan and was
+received with open arms. Louis XIV. thanked his cousin graciously
+without making any allusion to the condition; he could always assert
+that he had made no promise.
+
+Mademoiselle wished that he would at least give her some news of Lauzun.
+Mme. de Montespan responded to her insistence: "It is necessary to have
+patience," and affairs remained at this point.
+
+At the end of some weeks, Mademoiselle perceived that she was no longer
+free. She had counted upon taking her time and having sureties before
+proceeding further. An immediate execution of the deed of gift was
+insisted upon, and she was so harassed that she no longer felt at
+liberty to breathe freely.
+
+"The King must not be played with," declared Mme. de Montespan; "when a
+promise is made it must be kept." "But," objected Mademoiselle, "I wish
+the freedom of M. de Lauzun, and suppose that after what I have done I
+should find myself deceived, and my friend should not be liberated?"
+Louvois was then sent to frighten her, or Colbert in order to compass
+some concession. It was no longer a matter of testament.
+
+A donation while living[297] was exacted, of the Principality of Dombes
+and of the Comte of Eu without reference to the rest, and this
+assignment was obtained, in spite of complaints and the bitterest tears;
+"for they were demanding precisely what had been given to Lauzun, and
+Mademoiselle could not without difficulty resolve to despoil her lover."
+She finally comprehended that the King would not cease persecuting her
+until she consented, and, feeling no hope of diminishing the
+demands,[298] she yielded.
+
+The gift to the Duc de Maine was signed February 2, 1681. It gave some
+agreeable days to Mademoiselle. The King assured her of his gratitude.
+"At supper he regarded me pleasantly and conversed with me; this was
+most charming." Nevertheless, Lauzun did not appear. One day Mme. de
+Montespan informed the Princess that the King would never permit Lauzun
+to be Duc de Montpensier, and that it would be necessary to have a
+secret marriage. The Princess cried out: "What! Madame, I am to permit
+him to live with me as my husband with no marriage ceremony! Of what
+will the world think me capable?"
+
+This passage in the _Memoires_ apparently fixes the date of marriage
+after the return of Lauzun from his captivity. There exist, however, a
+number of moral proofs against this later date.
+
+Some time after this conversation, in the beginning of April, 1681, the
+Court being at Saint-Germain, Mme. de Montespan announced to
+Mademoiselle the immediate departure of Lauzun for the Baths of
+Bourbon, and she then drew her, slightly against her will, to the end of
+the terrace, far from indiscreet ears. "When we were in the Val, which
+is a garden at the end of the Park of Saint-Germain, she said to me,
+'The King has asked me to tell you that he does not wish you to dream of
+ever marrying M. de Lauzun, at least, officially.'"
+
+Mademoiselle had been tricked.
+
+"Upon this, I began to weep and to talk about the gifts I had made, only
+on the one condition. Mme. de Montespan said, 'I have promised nothing.'
+She had gained what she wished, and was willing enough to bear anything
+I might say." In the evening it was necessary to assume a delighted air
+and thank the King for Lauzun's freedom; a single sign of ill-humour and
+Mademoiselle ran the risk of receiving nothing in exchange for her
+millions.
+
+There remained the task of forcing Lauzun to renounce the gifts formerly
+presented to him. Mme. de Montespan took the route to Bourbon, where
+"she found greater difficulty than she had anticipated." Her demands so
+surpassed the expectations of the late prisoner that he revolted. There
+were many disputes, many despatches, and many delays,[299] at the end of
+which the obstinate one, having been reimprisoned,[300] was so harassed
+with threats and promises that he finally yielded. His signature was
+given; he believed himself free. Instead of liberty, he received an
+order of exile to Amboise. He also had been duped. This affair is
+odious from beginning to end.
+
+Mademoiselle was Lauzun's resource and providence. She compensated him
+as far as might be with a fresh devotion, in which Saint-Fargeau figured
+as an item, and found means to pay him nearly 300,000 francs[301] over
+what the King would have been obliged to give him if he had not been
+sent to Pignerol. With much difficulty, the importunities of
+Mademoiselle obtained the desired permission for the ex-prisoner to
+salute the King and afterward to dwell where it pleased him, on the
+single condition that he would not approach the Court. Access to this
+was strictly forbidden; but what would it have mattered, when he would
+have humbled himself before his master?
+
+Alas! the charm was broken, and for ever. In March, 1682, at the single
+interview granted, Lauzun threw himself ten times, consecutively, at the
+feet of Louis XIV.--the King himself relates this--and employed all his
+grace, all his flatteries, without succeeding in breaking the ice.
+
+Received coolly and dismissed without delay, there was nothing left but
+to fall back upon Mademoiselle. They had not yet met, and it is a
+terrible test of devotion to meet after eleven years, and to endeavour
+to again open the page closed by misfortune. The Grande Mademoiselle of
+the time previous to the imprisonment at Pignerol singularly resembled
+the Hermione of Racine, in her jealousy and violence. The one of 1682
+was not yet a tranquil person, but Hermione was an old woman, and
+Pyrrhus a licentious greybeard, who was endeavouring to recompense
+himself for the time lost in prison.
+
+Years had not made Lauzun in love with his benefactress, and he arrived
+to meet her well resolved to finish simply with expressions of gratitude
+and of love. Mademoiselle was well aware of his infidelities. The grief,
+mingled with irritation, which she felt displayed itself in a sort of
+stiffness and embarrassment. The great joy she had anticipated in again
+seeing her lover, she did not realise.
+
+She had existed ten long years for this moment, and when it came, she
+desired to escape. She went to await Lauzun at Mme. de Montespan's, a
+first piece of absurdity. "M. de Lauzun," say her _Memoires_, "arrived
+after his interview with the King; he wore an old undress uniform with
+short waistcoat, almost in rags, and a very ugly wig.[302] He sank at my
+feet with much grace. Then Mme. de Montespan led us into a cabinet, and
+said, 'You will be glad to speak together.' She then went away, and I
+followed her." A second ridiculous action! Lauzun profited by the delay
+to salute the rest of the royal family. On returning, he found his
+Princess with Mme. de Montespan and did not see her an instant alone:
+"He told me that he had been cordially received, and that this he owed
+to me; that I was his only source of good, the one from which he
+received all. He made certain amiable propositions, and in thus acting
+he was only wise. I was silent; I was astonished."
+
+This interview finished, Lauzun considered himself free from his
+obligations and returned to Paris with a peaceful conscience.
+Mademoiselle dared not follow him too quickly. The fourth day they were
+at Choisy, a new mansion that Mademoiselle had built two leagues from
+Sceaux. Lauzun regarded the Princess while she was having her head
+adorned with flame-coloured ribbons. "He said, 'I was astonished to see
+the Queen with many-coloured ribbons on her head.' 'You must find it
+wrong, then, that I should wear them, who am older?' He did not reply. I
+told him that rank permitted the decoration for a longer period."
+Mademoiselle had at first written, "People of my rank are always young,"
+but had effaced the phrase. Lauzun knew well how to restore her to a
+good-humour, and he let himself be scolded, escaping towards evening to
+return to his pleasures.
+
+The fifth day they again disputed. Lauzun was in the wrong; he had
+spoken of his visits to Choisy as duties. Mademoiselle, however, injured
+her cause with sharpness. "I see clearly," said she, "that in this world
+people who do good are mocked, as they are bores." Lauzun, vexed,
+demanded, "How much longer is this pleasantry to last?" "As long as I
+please; I have the right to say all I wish, and you are bound to
+listen." Lauzun showed "much impatience to depart," and this was not
+altogether unnatural, considering the nature of man. At another
+interview, it was the lover who was the first to show irritation. To be
+no longer of any importance in the world of society, to be two steps
+from the Court without being free to enter, this was more than he could
+bear. He accused Mademoiselle of having managed very badly and having
+only done harm; "if she had not interfered with his affairs," he would
+have come out of prison under better conditions. Mme. de Montespan
+overheard the accusation and was very indignant at this injustice and
+ingratitude, and the Princess united with her in reproaches. It would be
+difficult to find a clear moment in the midst of these frequent
+quarrels, in which the pair would have desired to marry, if they had not
+done so before Pignerol. Here is again a moral proof to add to the
+others.
+
+About every two days, Lauzun became metamorphosed, and was again for
+some hours, or at least minutes, for Mademoiselle the former "little
+man" whose eccentricities gave an indescribable charm, difficult to
+explain, but impossible to deny. He had not the least trouble in again
+captivating his mistress. As soon as he assumed the sweet and submissive
+air and the enigmatical smile which she had so dearly loved (even
+combined with the manners which she sometimes distrusted, "of being
+acquainted with everything without speaking or copying"), Mademoiselle
+fell anew under the charm and could refuse nothing. But this happy state
+of affairs never lasted. The time to obtain from her some new
+concession, another service, and the exaggerated manner of the convict
+dragging his chain reappeared. He loved to exasperate her jealousy. If
+nothing better offered, "he amused himself with grisettes,"[303] even
+after the royal family had received him as cousin "understood," if not
+avowed, and when all Paris was congratulating Mademoiselle on his happy
+release.
+
+Other serious difficulties arose from the fact of Lauzun considering the
+money of Mademoiselle as his own. Choisy appeared to him a useless
+expense; he found much fault with its management. "The terraces cost
+immense sums," said he one day while walking in the grounds; "what good
+are they?" The Princess had sold in his absence a chain of pearls.
+"Where is the money?" demanded Lauzun. He wished to hold the purse
+strings, and no longer to be a "beggar." It astonished him that
+Mademoiselle had not thought of preparing for him, before his arrival,
+"a beautiful apartment," of organising his establishment, of placing one
+of her carriages at his disposal.
+
+He complained openly in the social world that she left him without a
+penny; that she had only given him some diamonds, worth perhaps one
+thousand pistoles in all--and what stones, so "ugly"!--and that he had
+immediately sold them to obtain means of "subsistence." This is the
+perpetual complaint of the youthful husband, who wishes to be
+recompensed for the devotion lavished upon an elderly wife. The
+"beautiful apartment" existed and awaited him, but it was at the Chateau
+of Eu; the King would not tolerate his presence at the Luxembourg.
+
+Those who had the good fortune to visit Eu before the fire of 1902 will
+not have forgotten the flight of Loves on the ceiling of a chamber
+situated above that belonging to Mademoiselle. The Chamber of the Loves
+was the one designed for Lauzun, who failed, however, to honour the
+symbol. After a delay of three weeks, he no sooner arrived than he
+committed the unpardonable imprudence of running after the village
+girls, under the very eyes of Mademoiselle. This was too much. The
+mistress of the chateau beat Lauzun, scratched his face, and turned him
+out of doors. There he should stay. He was sufficiently shrewd to desire
+an accommodation. The Comtesse de Fiesque served as intermediary.
+
+In the Chateau of Eu there was a long gallery filled with family
+portraits. Mademoiselle appeared at one end; "he [Lauzun] was at the
+other, and he crept along on his knees the entire length of the gallery,
+till he reached the feet of Mademoiselle."[304] Possibly they forgave
+each other sincerely, but when friction once exists between married
+couples it continues, whether in the palace of princes or in the huts of
+charcoal burners. Such scenes, more or less stormy, occurred again in
+the future. Lauzun grew weary of being beaten, and in his turn used
+force with the Princess, and this happened several times. In the end,
+disgusted with each other, they fought for the last time and separated,
+never to meet again.
+
+The final quarrel is related in detail in the _Memoires_ of
+Mademoiselle. It happened in the spring of 1684. France was at war with
+Spain. On April 22d the King departed to join his army, refusing to
+permit Lauzun to accompany him, who imagined, rightly or wrongly, that
+Mademoiselle was responsible for the prohibition, and was indignant. He
+went to the Luxembourg, where a reception of raillery exasperated him
+still further:
+
+     I met him laughing, and said: "You must retire to
+     Saint-Fargeau; you will be a laughing stock if you remain at
+     Paris, as you were not permitted to go with the King, and I
+     shall be very vexed if it is believed that it is I who have
+     caused you to remain behind." He replied: "I am going away, and
+     bid you farewell; I shall never see you again." I said: "It
+     would have been better if we had never met; but better late
+     than never." "You have ruined my career," replied he; "you
+     might as well have cut my throat; it is your fault that I am
+     not with the King; you asked him to leave me behind." "Oh, that
+     is false; he will tell you so himself." Lauzun grew more and
+     more angry, and I remained very calm. I said to him: "Adieu,
+     then"; and I entered my boudoir. I remained there some time; on
+     returning, I found him still there. The ladies present said:
+     "Do you not wish to play cards?" I approached him,
+     saying: "This is too much; keep your promise;
+     go away." He finally withdrew.
+
+This rupture made a great scandal. Dangeau, who had followed the King to
+the frontier, noted on May 6th, in his journal: "The news comes from
+Paris that Mademoiselle has forbidden M. de Lauzun to appear again
+before her." Thus ends meanly and miserably, with a scene worthy of
+Dickens, the most famous passion of the century, after that of Chimene
+and Rodrigue. The first interest in the affair abated, the hero of the
+romance sank into obscurity. Mademoiselle cast herself into an ecstasy
+of pious devotion, from which the virtue of pardoning the offences of
+others was apparently excluded.
+
+Lauzun sought some support to which to attach himself, and did not
+easily find it. He realised too late that one could not quarrel with
+impunity with a princess of the blood. He made attempts at
+reconciliation, which Mademoiselle repulsed; she had loved with too much
+ardour not to be capable of furious hate. The career of both lovers
+appeared to be finished, when the fantastic star which had guided Lauzun
+towards so many adventures, marvellous if not always agreeable, led him
+to England during the autumn of 1688. He sought a more hospitable court,
+he found a revolution and glory. "I admire the star of M. de Lauzun,"
+wrote Mme. de Sevigne, "which again brings its light over the horizon
+when it was supposed to be for ever extinguished" (December 24, 1688).
+
+The name of Lauzun was actually again on the lips of all. He had saved
+the Queen of England and her son, and had brought them to Calais at
+great risk, and suddenly assumed the pose of a true hero, wrongly
+despised and persecuted. "It is long," at once said Louis, "since Lauzun
+has seen my writing. I believe that he will rejoice at receiving a
+letter from me." The royal missive bore to the former favourite more
+than the pardon for the past; it spoke of "impatience to see him
+again."[305] Mademoiselle considered this an outrage against herself;
+the ministers and courtiers, a menace. (December 27th): "He [Lauzun] has
+found the road again to Versailles by way of London; but he alone is
+joyful." The Princess is indignant at the thought that the King is again
+content with him, and that he can return to Court.[306]
+
+In vain the King sent Seignelay to say to his cousin, as a sort of
+excuse and consolation: "After such services rendered by Lauzun, it is
+my duty to see him." Mademoiselle grew angry, and said, "This is then
+the gratitude I receive for having despoiled myself for the sake of the
+King's children." One of the friends of M. de Lauzun was charged to
+present her with a letter. She threw it into the fire unread.[307] When
+it was realised that she was not to be appeased, people ceased to
+concern themselves with her and her bad temper. Lauzun re-entered in
+triumph the Court of France, and Bussy-Rabutin, in a letter to Mme. de
+Sevigne,[308] summed up the record of his career (February 2, 1689): "We
+have seen him in favour, we have seen him submerged, and now behold he
+is again riding the waves. Do you remember a childish game in which one
+says, 'I have seen him alive, I have seen him dead, I have seen him
+alive after his death'? This tells his history."
+
+The "second volume of the romance" offers to those interested an account
+of the solemn conferring upon the little Lauzun, in the church of Notre
+Dame, by King James II., of the Order of the Garter. To this chapter
+succeeds one less brilliant. Lauzun received the appointment as
+commander of the French troops sent to Ireland to sustain the cause of
+legitimate monarchy. He lacked the necessary qualifications for this
+post. He astonished his officers with his incapacity, and made them
+blush by displaying "a longing to return to France,"[309] which was not
+heroic.
+
+Louis XIV. consented to make Lauzun Duke, upon "the urgent prayer"[310]
+of their Britannic Majesties, but his opinion once formed never changed.
+The King never again employed the new Duke in any official capacity, and
+this omission was always bitterly resented.
+
+As a result of many years of reflection, Mademoiselle at length arrived
+at the conviction, an accepted commonplace, that happiness is not for
+the prominent upon this earth. Without actually compensating her for her
+troubles, this discovery brought a certain consolation. She had, at this
+period, as neighbour in Normandy, a young and charming woman called the
+Comtesse de Bayard, who became in the following century the godmother of
+Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, and who furnished her godson with
+material[311] afterwards woven into tales made charming by his
+delicately sentimental language. One of these tales by Saint-Pierre is
+founded upon the romance of the Grande Mademoiselle. Mme. de Bayard
+liked to recall how, in their lonely walks, the Princess would linger to
+make the villagers relate the tales of their loves and marriages; how
+her eyes would fill with tears, and how, returning into the Chateau of
+Eu, she would say that she would have been happier in a hut.
+
+To tears succeeded a certain childishness; the execrable Court life had
+educated her only for a puerile old age, and she hastened to Versailles
+from time to time, fearing to miss a tournament or some spectacle of
+this kind. On March 15, 1693, she was seized at Paris with a disease of
+the bladder which rapidly increased in severity.[312] The Luxembourg
+was besieged with seekers after news; the fear of losing the Grande
+Mademoiselle had aroused anew her popularity. Monsieur and Madame, who
+loved her, came to nurse her. Lauzun begged to be admitted, but was
+refused. The condition grew rapidly worse, and the physicians, not
+knowing what to do, administered five doses of an emetic, the
+fashionable remedy that winter for all diseases, with the result that
+she soon saw the mournful procession of the royal family defile around
+her bed, the sure sign that all hope had passed.
+
+The Princess died on April 15th, at the age of sixty-six years, and was
+buried at Saint-Denis with much pomp. In the midst of the ceremony, an
+urn, in which through a curious arrangement the entrails were enclosed,
+"broke with a frightful noise and emitted a sudden and intolerable
+odour."[313] Some women fainted, while the rest of those present gained
+the open air by running. "All was soon perfumed and decorum was
+re-established," but this occurrence became the jest of Paris. It was
+fated that the Grande Mademoiselle should always arouse a little
+ridicule, even at her interment.
+
+Lauzun went into deep mourning, and made, on the day of the funeral, an
+offer of marriage, to prove that he was really a widower. Having, on
+this occasion, been refused, he married (1695) the younger daughter of
+the Marechal de Lorges and became the brother-in-law of Saint-Simon.
+
+Mme. de Lauzun was a child of fourteen,[314] to whom Lauzun, with his
+sixty-three years, appeared so old that she had accepted him in the
+expectation of being quickly a widow.
+
+She flattered herself that at the end of "two or three years at
+most"[315] she would find herself independent, rich, and, above all, a
+duchess, and this idea captivated her. But Lauzun could never be counted
+upon. His wife was obliged to endure him for nearly thirty years, passed
+in suffering torments from morning till night from the loving husband.
+The King had said to the Marechal de Lorges, in learning of the marriage
+of his youngest daughter: "You are bold to take Lauzun into your family;
+I trust that you may not repent it." Repentance was prompt and bitter.
+Mademoiselle was right, it was impossible to live with Lauzun. It was
+through miracles of patience that his new wife bore to the end, and
+miracles should never be exacted in wedded life. The mean little
+calculation at the beginning had been amply expiated by the time that
+Mme. de Lauzun finally became a widow. Even to the end, Lauzun had
+remained one of the ornaments and curiosities of the Court of France,
+noted for his grand manner, the eccentricities of his habits, the
+splendour of his habitation, and for the indescribable elegance and ease
+of conversation and bearing, which at that time was not to be acquired
+at Versailles.
+
+At ninety he himself drove, and sometimes with fiery animals. One day,
+when he was training a fresh colt in the Bois de Boulogne, the King,
+Louis XIV., passed. Lauzun executed before him a "hundred capers" and
+filled the spectators with admiration, by his "address, his strength,
+and his grace."[316] He still often enjoyed "pretty" moments. But there
+was a reverse side to the medal: the malignant dwarf "frightened all who
+approached him with his wicked wit and his hateful tricks." From afar,
+Lauzun is very amusing under this aspect; he excelled in buffoonery. In
+extreme age, he suffered from a malady which almost killed him. One day,
+when he was very ill, he perceived reflected in a mirror the forms of
+two of his heirs who entered the chamber on tiptoe, fancying themselves
+concealed behind the curtains, to ascertain with their own eyes how long
+they were to be forced to wait. Lauzun feigned to perceive nothing and
+began to pray in a loud voice as one who believes himself alone. He
+demanded pardon of God for his past life, and lamented that his time for
+repentance was so short. He exclaimed that there was only a single way
+to secure his safety, which was to devote the wealth which God had given
+him to paying for his sins, and this he engaged to do with all his
+heart. He promised to leave to the hospital all that he possessed,
+without abstracting a single penny. He made this declaration with so
+much fervour and with so penetrating an accent that his heirs fled away
+in despair, to relate the misfortune to Mme. de Lauzun. This scene
+properly terminates the career of this extraordinary personage,
+unscrupulous and malignant to the last. Lauzun died in 1723, at over
+ninety years of age.
+
+Mademoiselle was the last to disappear of the grand figures belonging to
+the time of the Fronde. Retz, Conde, Turenne, La Rochefoucauld, Mme. de
+Chevreuse, Mme. de Longueville, had departed before her.
+
+The only one of the ancient rebels which could not perish, the Hotel de
+Ville of Paris, had been suppressed from history by royal ordinance for
+the period corresponding to the Fronde. The accounts of the prosecutions
+of the Council recorded the revolutionary sentiments which prevailed at
+the capital during the civil war. The King ordered all the
+registers[317] to be destroyed, and the destruction included every
+record relating to public affairs for the years 1646-1653.
+
+It may be said without too much calumniating the heart of Louis XIV.
+that the death of his cousin afforded a certain relief. She was too
+lively a reminder of the execrable period which he did his best to
+banish from his own memory as well as from that of the public.
+Saint-Simon, newly arrived at the Court at the date of the death of
+Mademoiselle, had time to convince himself that she was in the eyes of
+the King always the unpardoned and unpardonable heroine of the combat of
+the Porte Saint-Antoine. "I heard him reproach his cousin once at
+supper, joking it is true, but a little roughly, for having turned the
+cannon of the Bastile upon his troops."
+
+The royal rancour extended to the city of Paris, eternal cradle of
+French revolutions. Not being able to suppress the capital, Louis XIV.
+banished himself from its gates. On May 6, 1682, unfortunate date for
+the French monarchy, the Court installed itself definitely at
+Versailles, and henceforth left this place only for sojourns at the
+various country seats, as Fontainebleau and Marly. Paris was abandoned,
+left to do penance. Not only did Louis XIV. desert this city as a place
+of residence, but he visited it rarely. It was remarked that he often
+made long detours rather than to pass through Paris. The nobility and
+ministers followed the King to Versailles. Royalty and the capital
+turned their backs on each other.
+
+Another important event influenced the ideas of Court decorum and
+propriety. The Queen Marie-Therese dying in 1683 (July 30), Louis XIV.
+in the course of the winter following formally married Mme. de
+Maintenon. The physiognomy of the Court, what Saint-Simon would have
+called the bark (_ecorce_), entirely changed its character. At the
+moment of ending this long study it is, then, a different world to which
+adieu must be said from the one which was found at the beginning, and
+the transformation did not end with the "bark." The principal cause of
+the change, the establishment of absolute monarchy, had acted violently
+upon France in shaking the nation to its depths, as do all changes not
+developing from national tradition.
+
+Absolute monarchy was not a French tradition. It was an importation from
+Spain. Anne of Austria, who did not understand any other regime, had
+educated her son to accept her ideas and habits of thought, and the
+substitution of king for minister was, at the death of Mazarin,
+accomplished without shock. It was, however, a real _coup d'etat_.
+
+Before Louis XIV. the royal power, without being submitted to precise
+limitations, from time to time hurled itself against certain rights,
+themselves often loosely defined. There existed privileges of the
+Parliament, others of the State, together with those of the nobles, and
+others belonging to bodies and individuals, which when united left the
+King of France in a situation resembling that in which Gulliver found
+himself, when the Liliputians bound him with hundreds of minute threads.
+Each single thread was of no consequence; through the compression of all
+together every movement was paralysed. Louis XIV. resolutely broke the
+numerous threads which had trammelled the power of his predecessors. He
+freed himself in suppressing the ancient liberties of France. No student
+of history can be ignorant of the material results, so splendid at
+first, so disastrous in the end; but certain moral consequences of his
+government have been perhaps less clearly remarked.
+
+The French aristocracy ceased from the second generation to be a nursery
+for men of action. This was the result desired from the policy of
+keeping it chained to the steps of the throne. The end had been attained
+at the date of the King's death. Saint-Simon, who cannot be suspected of
+hostility towards the nobility, certifies to this. When the Duke arrived
+at power under the Regent, his brain swarming with projects for
+replacing the aristocrats in positions of importance, and when he sought
+great names with which to fill great posts, he realised that he was too
+late. The "nursery" was empty. The difficulty, say the _Memoires_
+
+     lay in the ignorance, the frivolity, and the lack of
+     application of a nobility which had been accustomed to lives of
+     frivolity and uselessness; a nobility that was good for nothing
+     but to let itself be killed, and that reached the battle-field
+     itself only through the force of heredity. For the remainder of
+     the time, it was content to stagnate in an existence without a
+     purpose. It had delivered itself over to idleness and felt keen
+     disgust for all education, excepting that relating to military
+     matters. The result was a general incapacity and unfitness for
+     affairs.
+
+It is proper to render to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. The effacement of
+the French aristocracy is not to be laid at the door of the great
+Revolution, which acted only upon an accomplished fact; it was the
+personal work of Louis XIV.
+
+The higher classes also, contrary to the generally received opinion,
+suffered from a serious moral abasement. This fact is the more striking,
+as at no other period has France possessed so many elements for giving
+to life decorum and dignity. Through a deplorable misfortune, social
+groups which ought, through their solid principles, to have served as
+the support of public morality had incurred, one after the other, the
+serious displeasure of royalty. Among the Catholics, the disciples of
+Berulle and of Vincent de Paul had compromised themselves in the affair
+of the _Compagnie du Saint Sacrement_. No government worthy of the name
+can suffer itself to be led by a secret society, whatever the purpose or
+character of such society may be. The Jansenists had shared with the
+reformers in the discontent that the least expression of a desire for
+independence, no matter in what domain, inspired in Louis XIV.
+
+His distrust even reached the interior life of his subjects. Every one,
+under penalty of being considered a rebel, must feel and think like the
+King. This was with Louis a fixed idea, and during his reign gave a
+peculiar character to the religious persecutions. Jansenists and
+Protestants were pursued much oftener as enemies of the King than as
+enemies of God.
+
+The hostility of the Prince to the three principal seats of the French
+conscience, and the destruction of two of these, left the field clear
+for the licentiousness which marked the end of the reign. Excessive
+dissipation is always supposed to belong particularly to the time of
+the Regency, but the abscess had existed for a long time before the
+death of Louis XIV. caused it to break. A letter as early as 1680
+states, "Our fathers were not more chaste than we are; but ... now the
+vices are decorated and refined."[318] The evil had made rapid progress
+under the mantle of hypocrisy, which covered the Court of France from
+the time of the rule of Mme. de Maintenon. This last well perceived the
+danger and groaned over it to no purpose. Strangers were struck with the
+conditions. "All is more concentrated," wrote one of them in 1690, "more
+reserved, more restrained, than the peculiar genius of the nation can
+bear."[319]
+
+The real misfortune was that Louis, who had been brought up and matured
+in an entirely formal religion, had permitted himself to be imposed upon
+by scoffers, who came disguised as believers, in order to make their
+court. The King, who had permitted the representation of _Tartuffe_, had
+not sufficiently meditated upon its import.
+
+A final misdeed, and not the least for which the absolute regime is
+responsible, was the launching of the nation in pursuit of one of the
+most dangerous of political chimeras, that of the need of spiritual
+unity. Louis XIV. revoked the Edict of Nantes in the name of the fetich
+that a good Frenchman must be of his King's faith. A century later, the
+Terror cut off heads in the name of a unity of opinion, because a
+Frenchman ought to be virtuous in the fashion of Rousseau and of
+Robespierre. The reader may continue for himself the series, and count
+the acts of oppression committed in the nineteenth century, while even
+the twentieth century, young as it still is, presents examples of the
+attempt to enforce upon the nation a uniformity of thought which, if
+once attained, would signify intellectual death. For in politics, as in
+religion, as in art, in literature, in all, diversity is life.
+
+It is through this capital error that the reign of Louis XIV., so
+glorious in many respects, was the precursor of the great Revolution and
+really made its coming inevitable. The Jacobins are in some measure the
+heirs of the great King. Fundamentally, the mania for spiritual and
+moral unity is simply, under a less odious name, the horror of liberty;
+a sentiment old as the world, but which in the earlier portion of the
+seventeenth century had been far from dominant. The word "liberty"
+occurs again and again in the writings of many people of that period,
+theorists, jurists, and great nobles, at every point in which they touch
+politics. The expression contained for them nothing revolutionary. What
+they were demanding was rather a return to past methods, and, above all,
+it did not enter their thoughts to associate with liberty the word
+"equality." It is the eighteenth century, more philosophical, if perhaps
+less reasonable, that first conceived the idea of uniting two really
+incompatible things, without perceiving that one of the two was destined
+to annihilate the other.
+
+If absolute royalty had remained at Paris, it would have clearly
+realised the point at which the nation no longer was in sympathy with
+its rule. At Versailles it saw nothing; it shut itself up in its own
+tomb. The divorce was consummated between the Court and the Capital, one
+contenting itself with being figurative and ornamental, the other
+actively controlling opinions, since royalty had renounced the office of
+directing the public mind and thoughts.
+
+It will be recollected that the role of universal arbitrator was played
+by the "young Court," the youthful King at its head, at the time in
+which there was daily contact with Paris, and when the Court was always
+in the advance in ideas as in fashions. The residence at Versailles
+ended the possibility of these times ever returning; there was no longer
+any bond between the King of France and the merchant of the rue St.
+Denis. In consequence, Paris employed itself in the eighteenth century
+in the evolution of minds. The Court had decided upon the success of the
+plays of Moliere, the Parisian parquet criticised those of Beaumarchais.
+
+If it be considered that the interior politics of Louis XIV. were
+constantly dominated by a horror of the Fronde, it will be recognised
+that this abortive revolution brought in its train consequences almost
+as grave as if it had been successful. This is the reason it has seemed
+permissible to make the history of the ideas and sentiments existing
+during the wars of the Fronde and the succeeding forty years circle
+around the incidents in the life of the Grande Mademoiselle. She was a
+truly representative figure of this generation, and on this account will
+always merit the attention of historians, and by a double claim, through
+the interest in her proud conception of life, and through the importance
+of the evil for which she was partly responsible and by the results of
+which she was herself overwhelmed. No one possessed in a higher degree
+than this Princess the great qualities belonging to her epoch, and no
+one preserved them so intact without thought of the danger after the
+retaining of such opinions had become a cause of disgrace.
+
+Neither Retz nor the great Conde showed signs in their old age of their
+characteristics displayed under the Fronde; both had become calmed. The
+Grande Mademoiselle remained always the Grande Mademoiselle, and this
+steadfastness, while sometimes a difficulty, was more often her real
+title to glory.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Footnote 264: M. du Honsett, Ancient Intendant of Finance. He had just
+purchased the office of Chancellor of Monsieur.]
+
+[Footnote 265: Letter dated April 1, 1671.]
+
+[Footnote 266: Letter dated January 13, 1672.]
+
+[Footnote 267: _Memoires de La Fare._ _Cf._ the _Memoires de Choisy,
+Segraisiana_, etc.]
+
+[Footnote 268: Louvois had visited Pignerol the preceding year.]
+
+[Footnote 269: The authorities quoted in this and the following chapter,
+upon the captivity of Lauzun, are in part unpublished and drawn from the
+Archives of the Minister of War, in part borrowed from the _Archives de
+la Bastille_, by M. Ravaisson. See also a collection of historic
+documents of 1829: _Histoire de la Detention des Philosophes_, by J.
+Delort.]
+
+[Footnote 270: Mme. de Montespan and Mlle. de La Valliere were
+designated briefly "_les Dames_."]
+
+[Footnote 271: This letter has been lost or destroyed.]
+
+[Footnote 272: Louvois to Saint-Mars, March 2, 1676.]
+
+[Footnote 273: The letter from Saint-Mars (March 23, 1680) giving an
+account of the communications between the dungeons has never been found,
+any more than that telling of the flight of Lauzun.]
+
+[Footnote 274: Louvois to Saint-Mars, November 28, 1679.]
+
+[Footnote 275: Leopold von Ranke, _Histoire de France_.]
+
+[Footnote 276: _Journal d'Olivier Lefevre d'Ormesson._]
+
+[Footnote 277: Two years after this warning Louis XIV. gave at
+Versailles, in honour of Mme. de Montespan, a fete for which special
+buildings were created. The ballroom, only used _one night_, was marble
+and porphyry; the rest in accordance.]
+
+[Footnote 278: A loss of more than 100,000 crowns was not rare at the
+gaming table of the King. March 6, 1670, Mme. de Montespan lost 400,000
+pistoles in one night; at eight in the morning she regained 500,000. The
+pistole is worth about ten francs. In 1682, three years after her
+disgrace, she lost at one time 700,000 crowns which she did not regain.
+The King paid her debts.]
+
+[Footnote 279: Letter of Mme. de Chatrier, attached to the House of
+Conde; _De La Valliere a Montespan_, by Jean Lemoine and Andre
+Lichtenberger.]
+
+[Footnote 280: Letter from Colbert to the Intendant de Rochefort (April
+16, 1678).]
+
+[Footnote 281: _Memoires de la Fare._]
+
+[Footnote 282: _Memoires de Mlle. de Montpensier._]
+
+[Footnote 283: _Memoires de l'Abbe de Choisy._]
+
+[Footnote 284: _Souvenirs sur Mme. de Maintenon._--_Les Cahiers de Mlle.
+d'Aumale_, with an introduction by M. G. Hanotaux.]
+
+[Footnote 285: _Ibid._]
+
+[Footnote 286: Letter to the Marquis de Trichateau.]
+
+[Footnote 287: Note by La Reynie (December 27, 1679). The documents of
+the _Affaire des poisons_ form more than 1300 pages of the _Archives de
+la Bastille_, and they are not complete. Certain especial depositions,
+particularly compromising for Mme. de Montespan, are lacking, and were
+probably burned by order of Louis XIV.]
+
+[Footnote 288: Louvois to Boucherat, President of the _Chambre_,
+February 4, 1680.]
+
+[Footnote 289: It included the Comtesse de Soissons, the Marquise
+d'Alluye (the King saved both), the Duc de Luxembourg (victim of an
+error), the Vicomtesse de Polignac, the Marquis de Feuquieres, the
+Princesse de Tingry, the Marechale de la Ferte, the Duchesse de
+Bouillon, etc.]
+
+[Footnote 290: Cf. _Archives de la Bastille_, the "_Note autographe_" of
+La Reynie, dated September 17, 1679. Was this the first time that these
+names had appeared? The destruction of portions of the testimony through
+the orders of the King does not permit the real truth to be disclosed.]
+
+[Footnote 291: Louvois to M. Robert, January 15, 1680.]
+
+[Footnote 292: She died there September 8, 1686. Cato seems to have been
+dismissed, although she had been placed with Mme. de Montespan by La
+Voisin.]
+
+[Footnote 293: Marie-Anne-Christine de Baviere, coming to marry the
+Grand Dauphin.]
+
+[Footnote 294: Cf. _Les souvenirs de Mme. de Caylus_ and--among
+others--the letter of Mme. de Sevigne dated July 17, 1680.]
+
+[Footnote 295: _Mme. de Montespan et Louis XIV._]
+
+[Footnote 296: _Louis XIV., sa Cour et le Regent_, by Anquetil (Paris,
+1789).]
+
+[Footnote 297: The gift to be enjoyed only after the death of
+Mademoiselle.]
+
+[Footnote 298: _Memoires de Saint-Simon._]
+
+[Footnote 299: Saint-Simon, _Ecrits inedits_.]
+
+[Footnote 300: At Chalon-sur-Saone.]
+
+[Footnote 301: Exactly, according to the official figures, 284,940
+francs.]
+
+[Footnote 302: The coat called a _brevet_, because it could only be worn
+with a _brevet_ from the King, was changed every year. It was thus very
+out of fashion at the end of twelve years. Lauzun had worn a wig at
+Pignerol, to protect his head against the dampness of his dungeon.]
+
+[Footnote 303: _Ecrits inedits_, Saint-Simon.]
+
+[Footnote 304: Saint-Simon, _Memoires_. Saint-Simon takes his details
+from an eye-witness.]
+
+[Footnote 305: Saint-Simon, _Ecrits inedits_.]
+
+[Footnote 306: Sevigne.]
+
+[Footnote 307: _Memoires de la Cour de France_, by Mme. de La Fayette.]
+
+[Footnote 308: Sevigne, January 6, 1689.]
+
+[Footnote 309: Letter of M. d'Amfreville, general-officer of the marine
+to Seignelay, in the _Histoire de Louvois_, by Camille Rousset.]
+
+[Footnote 310: Saint-Simon, _Ecrits inedits_.]
+
+[Footnote 311: _[Oe]uvres completes_, of Bernardin de Saint-Pierre
+(Paris, 1830), vol. i.; _Essai sur la Vie_ by Aime-Martin.]
+
+[Footnote 312: Cf. the _Gazette_ for 1693, and the series of the
+_Mercure Galant_ monthly periodical, founded in 1672 by Donneau de
+Vise.]
+
+[Footnote 313: Saint-Simon, _Memoires_.]
+
+[Footnote 314: Saint-Simon says fifteen. He is mistaken; the act of
+marriage says fourteen.]
+
+[Footnote 315: _Memoires_, Saint-Simon.]
+
+[Footnote 316: Saint-Simon, _Memoires_.]
+
+[Footnote 317: The royal ordinance is dated July 7, 1668. Louis XIV. was
+ever ignorant of the fact that the councillors of the Hotel de Ville had
+passed nights in copying what was to be burned, so that the documents
+supposed to be destroyed still exist.]
+
+[Footnote 318: From La Riviere to Bussy-Rabutin.]
+
+[Footnote 319: _Relation de la Cour de France_, by Ezechiel Spanheim,
+envoy extraordinary from Brandenbourg.]
+
+
+
+
+INDEX
+
+
+A
+
+Absolute monarchy, establishment of, in France, 7, 118, 142;
+  a Spanish importation, 371
+
+Adickes, Erich, _Kant als Mensch_ by, 220
+
+Aime-Martin, _Essai sur la Vie_, by, 365
+
+Aix, Court at, 100-102
+
+Aix-la-Chapelle, treaty of, 258
+
+Albret, Marechal d', 282
+
+_Alceste_ (Lulli), 218
+
+Alencon, Elisabeth, Mlle, d', daughter of Monsieur, 77, 133, 186;
+  marriage of, 235, 294
+
+Allier, Raoul, _La Cabale des Devots_, by, 83, 85, 157, 181, 198
+
+Alluye, Marquise d', 344
+
+Alphonse VI., King of Portugal, 142-145, 160, 185
+
+_Amadis_, 216
+
+_Amants Magnifiques, Les_ (Moliere), 202
+
+_Amaryllis_, 18
+
+_Ambassadeur de la Fuente au roi d'Espagne, L'_, 189
+
+Amboise, Chateau of, 27, 44, 354
+
+Amfreville, M. d', 364
+
+Amiens, 263
+
+"Amours of Hercules," 120
+
+Andilly, Arnauld, d', 79
+
+_Andromaque_ (Racine), 225, 228
+
+Angelique, Mother, 88, 92
+
+Angennes, Julie d', 264
+
+Anjou, Philippe, Duc d' (the little Monsieur), proposed marriage of,
+    with Mademoiselle, 59, 73, 272-278;
+  character of, 74, 102, 105, 152, 196, 261, 262, 271, 272;
+  becomes Duc d'Orleans, 102;
+  marries Henrietta of England, 136, 151, 152;
+  marries Princess Palatine, 156, 315;
+  daughters of, 277;
+  opposed to mesalliance of Mlle., 285
+
+Anjou, son of Louis XIV., 285
+
+Anne of Austria, regency of, 1;
+  education of her sons, 31, 63-65, 74, 371;
+  relations of, with Mazarin, 62, 63, 82, 112, 304;
+  reception of Mademoiselle, 57-59, and lack of Court etiquette, 76-79,
+    82;
+  member of Compagnie du Saint-Sacrement, 87, 103, 148, 158, 198;
+  prevents marriage of Louis and Marie Mancini, 82, 97;
+  receives Conde, 100;
+  interview of, with Philip IV., 108-110;
+  favours absolute monarchy, 118, 146, 371;
+  be friends Marie-Therese, 118, 149;
+  detests Madame, 122;
+  reproaches Louis, 153, 170;
+  influence of, 153, 159, 192, 194, 195, 208;
+  illness and death of, 194-197;
+  effect of death of, 195, 197, 200, 201, 206, 208, 209
+
+Anquetil, _Louis XIV., sa Cour et le Regent_, by, 349
+
+_Archives de la Bastille_ (Ravaisson), 189, 201, 209, 282, 293, 312,
+  343, 344
+_Archives de Chantilly_, 117, 174, 175, 186
+
+_Archives_ of Eu. _See_ Eu
+
+_Ariane_ (Monteverde), 214
+
+Armagnac, Louis de Lorraine, Comte d', 237
+
+Arras, siege of, 23, 161
+
+_Artamene, ou le Grand Cyrus_ (Scudery), 11
+
+_Astrate_, 81
+
+_Astree, L'_(d'Urfe), 11, 14, 80
+
+Aubineau, Leon, 67
+
+Aumale, Duc d', 46
+
+Aumale, Mlle. d', _Memoires_ of, 291
+
+Auteuil, Comte d', 47
+
+Ayen, Comte d' (Duc de Noailles), 270
+
+
+B
+
+Bachaumont, 32
+
+_Bajazet_ (Racine), 8, 225
+
+_Ballet des Arts_, 172
+
+Bartelemy, Eduard de (Honorat de Bueil, Marquis de Racan), editor
+ _La Galerie des Portraits_, etc., 122, 130
+
+Bastile, the, 247, 370
+
+_Bastille, Archives de la._ _See Archives_
+
+Baviere, Anne de. _See_ Palatine
+
+Baviere, Elisabeth Charlotte de (Madame). _See_ Palatine
+
+Baviere, Marie Anne Christine de, 347
+
+Bayard, Comtesse de, 365
+
+Baziniere, Sieur de la, 76
+
+Beaufort, Duc de, 185
+
+Bellefonte, Marshal of, 264
+
+Bernieres, M. de, 87, 88, 91, 92;
+  _Relations_ of, 87-90
+
+Berri, government of, 307
+
+Berulle, 373
+
+Bethleem, Bishop of, 191
+
+Bethune, Comte de, 47
+
+Bethune, Mme. de, 266
+
+Beuvron, Charles d'Harcourt, Comte de, 275
+
+Beziers, M. de, 147
+
+Bezon, M. de, 343
+
+Bidassoa, river, 105, 110
+
+Bielle, Sieur de, 83
+
+Blois, forced sojourn of Monsieur at, 25-35, 39-41, 49-53, 97, 98, 134;
+  court at, 97
+
+Blois, Mlle. de, marriage of, 337
+
+Bocquet, Mlle. (Agelaste), 124
+
+Boileau, 217, 222, 223
+
+Bois-le-Vicomte, Chateau of, 50
+
+Bologna, theatres in, 215
+
+Bordeaux, Court at, 98, 99, 132
+
+Bossuet, Court preacher, 140, 142, 200;
+  funeral oration of, 152;
+  at death-bed of Madame, 272, 273
+
+Boucherat, 344
+
+Bougy, Lady de, 211
+
+Bouillon, Duc de, 77
+
+Bouillon, Duchesse de, 344
+
+Bouligneux, M. de, 264
+
+Boult, 89
+
+Bourbon, Baths of, 329, 354
+
+Bourbon, Henri de. _See_ Montpensier
+
+Bourbon, House of, 42, 47
+
+Bourbon, Marie de, 42
+
+Bourdaloue, Court preacher, 200
+
+Bourgogne, Hotel de, 227
+
+Bourgogne, province of, 83, 94
+
+Boursault, 225
+
+Boyer, Abbe, tragedies of, 226
+
+Brandenbourg, 374
+
+Brie, province of, 83, 84
+
+Brienne, Father, 190
+
+Broglie, Emmanuel de, _Saint Vincent de Paul_, by, 82, 91
+
+Brunetiere, M. F., _Les Epoques du Theatre francais_;
+  _Les Etudes critiques sur l'Histoire de la Litterature francaise_,
+     by, 223
+
+Bussy-Rabutin, _Memoires_ of, cited, 32, 55, 61, 147, 148, 160, 248, 337,
+    342, 343, 345;
+  letters to, 272, 273, 302, 305, 342, 374;
+  _Correspondance de_, 303, 364
+
+
+C
+
+_Cabale des Devots, La_ (Allier), 83, 85, 88, 148, 157, 181, 198, 199
+
+_Cahiers de Mlle. d'Aumale, Les_, 230, 341
+
+Cambert, _Pomone_, opera by, 216
+
+Carignan, Princesse de, 291
+
+Carrosse _Amarante_, 223
+
+Cartwright, Julia, _Madame, Memoirs of Henrietta, Duchesse of Orleans_,
+   by, 136
+
+_Cassandre_ (La Calprenede), 11
+
+Cato, Mme. de Montespan's maid, 344, 346
+
+Caylus, Mme. de, _Souvenirs et Correspondance_ of, 300;
+  _Souvenirs de_, 150, 347
+
+Chaillou des Barres, Baron, _Les Chateaux d'Ancy-le-France,
+    de Saint-Fargeau_, etc., by, 6
+
+Chalais, 25
+
+Chalon-sur-Saone, 354
+
+Chambord, 26, 33
+
+_Chambre ardente_, established by Louis, 204, 343, 344;
+  suppression of, 347
+
+Champagne, province of, 55, 56, 87, 92, 334
+
+Champigny lawsuit, 49, 50, 125
+
+Chantelauze, _Saint Vincent de Paul et les Gondi_, by, 82, 112
+
+Chantilly, _see Archives_ of
+
+Chapelle, 32
+
+Charenton, 289
+
+Charles II. (of England), 136
+
+Charles II. (of Spain), marriage of, 277
+
+_Chateaux d'Ancy-le-France, de Saint-Fargeau_, etc., _Les_
+   (Chaillou des Barres), 6
+
+Chatelet, the, 211
+
+Chatellerault, duchy of, 49
+
+Chatillon, Duchesse de, 78, 80, 126
+
+Chatrier, Mme. de, 335
+
+Chauvelin, M. de, 347
+
+Cheruel, editor, 3, 48, 297
+
+Chevreuse, Mme. de, 369
+
+Choisy, Mlle.'s mansion at, 357, 359
+
+Choisy, Francois-Timoleon, Abbe de, _Memoires_ of, 74, 133, 134,
+  138, 281, 289, 291, 310, 340
+
+Choisy, Mme. de, 13
+
+Chouquet, _Histoire de la Musique dramatique en France_, by, 213
+
+Cinq-Mars, 25
+
+Clagny, Chateau of, 235
+
+Clairvoyants, 201-207
+
+Clamecy, 191
+
+Clement, P., _Mme. de Montespan et Louis XIV._, by, 282
+
+_Cleopatre_ (La Calprenede), 11
+
+Colbert, protected by Mademoiselle's escort, 56;
+  reorganises finances, 141, 171, 177;
+  letters to, 183, 348;
+  enemy of _Compagnie du Saint Sacrement_, 198;
+  opposes Louvois, 287;
+  protests against King's extravagance, 332-337;
+  mediation of, 345, 352
+
+Coligny, Admiral de, 78
+
+Comedie Francaise, 109
+
+Conde, Prince de (the Great), 3, 56, 117, 256, 377;
+  alliance of, with Mademoiselle, 3, 16, 17, 33, 45, 56, 369;
+  defeat of, 20, 23, 54;
+  letters of, 38-40, 46, 147, 174, 186;
+  rupture of, with Mlle., 46, 47, 52;
+  cruelty of army of, 55, 83;
+  pardoned, 100, 101, 113;
+  son of, 117;
+  appreciation of Racine, 229;
+  opposes Mlle.'s marriage, 285, 291, 292, 296
+
+Conde, Princesse de, 16, 17, 46
+
+Conti, Louis Armand, Prince de, marriage of, 48, 337
+
+Corneille, 80, 81, 129, 223-226, 228, 240, 241
+
+_Correspondance de Bussy-Rabutin_, 303
+
+_Correspondance de Pomponne, La_, 297
+
+_Correspondant_, the, 112
+
+Cotin, Abbe, _[OE]uvres galantes en vers et en prose_, by, 220, 223, 226
+
+Coulanges, 287
+
+_Country Pleasures_, operetta, 19
+
+Court of France, Mademoiselle returns to, 2, 57-59, 72;
+  in disgrace with, 16, 19, 45, 55;
+  returns to Paris, 19-21, 65, 110, 281;
+  Monsieur under protection of, 39, 40, 48;
+  journeys of, 53, 68, 94-104, 108, 110, 132, 257, 258, 307;
+  manners and morals of, 76-79, 81, 82, 123-125, 128-131, 338;
+  etiquette of, 78, 104-111, 233;
+  occupations of, 103, 230-232;
+  the young, 148, 174, 224, 229, 376;
+  brilliancy of, 174, 258-260, 315;
+  size of, 174, 175, 258;
+  at Versailles, 174, 176-182, 333, 365, 370, 376;
+  at Fontainebleau, 182, 184;
+  literary tastes of, 224, 227, 229, 376;
+  at Saint-Germain, 269, 353, 354;
+  changed character of, 370, 371, 374
+
+Court of Saint-Fargeau, 6-10, 17-20, 129-131, 135
+
+Cousin, _La Societe francaise au XVIIeme siecle_, by, 124
+
+_Creation de Versailles, la_ (de Nolhac), 176
+
+Cregny, Duc de, 282
+
+Crequi, 297
+
+Crisse, Mme. de, original of Countess de Pimbesche, 191
+
+Crosne, 89
+
+Crussol, Emmanuel II., de. _See_ Uzes
+
+
+D
+
+_Dafne_, musical tragedy, 214
+
+_Dames, les_ (the "ladies"), 315, 334-336
+
+Dauphin, the Grand, 154, 155, 179;
+  marriage of, 347;
+  death of, 219
+
+De Chapelain, 226
+
+_Declaration par le Menu du Comte d'Eu_, 163
+
+Delamare, Philibert, _Melanges_, by, 285, 286, 290, 294, 301
+
+Delaure, _Histoire de Paris_, by, 21
+
+_De La Valliere a Montespan_ (Lemoine and Lichtenberger), 175, 229,
+    263, 335
+
+Delort, J., _Histoire de la Detention des Philosophes_, by, 312
+
+Deltour, F., _Les Ennemis de Racine_, by, 223, 226
+
+Derby, Lady, 137
+
+_Deux Chevres_ (La Fontaine), _Les_, 107
+
+_Devineresses, Les_ (La Fontaine), 203
+
+_Devolution_, war of the, 154, 257
+
+Diafoirus, Thomas, 109
+
+_Dictionnaire des Precieuses, Le_ (Somaize), 13
+
+Diderot, 172
+
+Dijon, Court at, 94, 95
+
+Divine Right of Kings, doctrine of, 139-142
+
+Dombes, principality of, 49, 95;
+  given to Lauzun, 288;
+  demanded for Duc du Maine, 352
+
+Dreyss, Charles, editor of _Memoires_ of Louis XIV., 58, 69, 141, 278
+
+Dubois, _Les Fragments des Memoires inedits_, by, 67
+
+Dubuisson (Lesage). _See_ Lesage
+
+Dubuisson-Aubenay, _Journal des Guerres civiles_, by, 92
+
+Dunkerque, 173, 307
+
+Dupre, Mlle., 124
+
+
+E
+
+_Ecole des Femmes_ (Moliere),131, 227
+
+_Ecrits inedits_ (Saint-Simon), 354, 359, 363, 364
+
+_Education politique de Louis XIV., L'_ (Lacour-Gayet) 64
+
+Elbeuf, M. d', 178
+
+Elisabeth de France, mother of Marie-Therese, 149
+
+Embrun, Archbishop of, 38, 39 190
+
+Enghien, Duc d', 117;
+  marriage of, 174
+
+_Ennemis de Racine, Les_ (Deltour), 223, 226
+
+_Epoques du Theatre francais, Les_ (Brunetiere), 223
+
+_Essai sur la Vie_ (Aime-Martin), 365
+
+Estrees, Marechal d', 76
+
+Etampes, 54
+
+Etrechy, 89
+
+_Etudes critiques sur l'Histoire de la Litterature francaise,
+   Les_ (Brunetiere), 223
+
+Eu, Chateau d', 147, 170;
+  _Archives_ of, 162, 163, 167-169;
+  Mademoiselle at, 169, 182, 183, 360-363, 365
+
+Eu, Comte d', property of the Guise, 161;
+  sale of, 161-167;
+  revenue from, 162-166;
+  given to Lauzun, 288;
+  given to Duc du Maine, 352, 353
+
+_Eugenie, ou la force du destin_, 14
+
+
+F
+
+Fabert, 84
+
+Famine of 1659-1662, 93
+
+Feillet, _La misere au temps de la Fronde et Saint Vincent de Paul_, by,
+   82, 84
+
+Ferte, Marechale de la, 344
+
+Feuquieres, Marquis de, 344
+
+Fiesque, Comtesse de, 16, 45, 129, 360
+
+_Fille, la_, fable of (La Fontaine), 190-191
+
+Flanders, Court in, 257, 307
+
+Fontainebleau, Court at, 174, 182-188, 308
+
+Fontanges, Mlle. de, 339, 340
+
+Fontarabia, marriage of Louis XIV. at, 104, 105, 110
+
+Forges, Baths of, 10, 53, 146
+
+Foucquet, Abbe, 25, 78;
+  punishment of, 141;
+  imprisonment of, 311-313, 326, 330;
+  death of, 326, 329
+
+_Fragments des Memoires inedits, Les_ (Dubois), 67
+
+France, failure of Fronde important to, 1;
+  fondness for sport in, 7;
+  results of absolute monarchy in, 7, 371, 372;
+  wars of with Spain, 16, 20, 55, 59, 145, 361;
+  famine and misery in, 54, 55, 82-94, 331, 334;
+  advantages to, from peace of the Pyrenees, 99;
+  conversation, the delight of intelligent, 123, 135;
+  reforms of Louis and Colbert in, 141, 142, 171;
+  increase of industry and commerce, 142;
+  "rights" in, 168;
+  growing power and influence of, 171;
+  influence of women in, 193, 194;
+  belief in astrology and sorcery, 201-212;
+  introduction of dramatic music into, 213-217;
+  war of, with Holland, 235, 318, 330;
+  consternation in, over projected marriage of Mademoiselle, 283, 284,
+    286, 290, 292, 294, 295, 297;
+  mistress of the world, 330, 331;
+  moral deterioration of, 338, 372-374
+
+France, Court of. _See_ Court
+
+Franche-Comte, 330
+
+Francis I., 27
+
+Fronde, the, failure of, 1, 47;
+  effect of, 1, 58, 65, 68, 376;
+  leaders of, 2, 11, 81, 369;
+  Mademoiselle the heroine of, 3, 53, 59, 72, 370;
+  wars of, 16, 20, 36, 54, 82-85, 213, 221, 232, 377;
+  abuses giving rise to, 21, 22
+
+Frondeurs, the, 2, 47, 58, 77, 369
+
+Frontenac, Mme. de, 14, 15, 45
+
+
+G
+
+_Galerie des Portraits de Mlle. de Montpensier, la_, 122, 125-127,
+   129-131, 135
+
+Gaston, Duc d'Orleans. _See_ Orleans
+
+_Gazette de Hollande_, 307
+
+_Gazette_ of Loret, 18, 20, 30, 171-174, 178, 179, 227, 272, 365
+
+_Gazette de Renaudot_, 269
+
+Geoffroy, editor of _Letters of Mme. de Maintenon_, 64
+
+Germany, peace of the Pyrenees unfavourable to, 99;
+  humiliated by Louis XIV., 171, 331
+
+Giustiniani, Venetian Ambassador, 142
+
+Gomberville, works of, 11
+
+Gonzague, Anne de. _See_ Palatine
+
+Gonzague, Marie de. _See_ Poland
+
+Goulas, Nicolas, _Memoires_ of, 28, 34
+
+Gramont, Catherine de, 211
+
+Gramont, Chevalier de, 35
+
+Gramont, Marechal de, 149, 211
+
+_Grand Cyrus, Le_ (Scudery), 11, 124
+
+Grignan, Mme. de, 11
+
+Guibourg, Abbe, 345, 348
+
+Guiche, Comte de, 71, 148, 149
+
+Guilloire, 286, 307
+
+Guise, Charles de Lorraine, Duc de, 42
+
+Guise, Chevalier de, 221
+
+Guise, Duc de, 177, 178;
+  married Mlle. d'Orleans, 294, 295
+
+Guise, Duchesse de (grandmother of Mademoiselle), 42, 51
+
+Guise, family of, 161. _See also_ Lorraine
+
+Guise, Mlle. de, marriage of, 161
+
+Guitry, Marquis de, 282, 297
+
+
+H
+
+Hachette, 202
+
+Hanotaux, M. G., 150, 230, 341
+
+Haro, Don Luis de, 107, 108
+
+Haussonville, Comte d', 150, 219, 291
+
+Heine, Heinrich, 224, 228
+
+Henrietta of England (Madame) wife of Philippe, Duc d'Orleans, 130,
+   151-153, 191;
+  relations of, with Louis XIV., 194, 228;
+  death of, 233, 270-273, 275;
+  daughters of, 277
+
+Henry III., 67
+
+Henry IV., 149, 283
+
+Henry, Victor, _La Magie dans l'Inde antique_, by, 210
+
+Herse, Presidente de, 88, 92
+
+_Histoire amoureuse des Gaules L'_, 297
+
+_Histoire du Chateau de Blois, L'_, (La Saussaye), 26
+
+_Histoire de France_ (Porchat and Miot, trs.), 99
+
+_Histoire de France_ (von Ranke), 330
+
+_Histoire de Louvois_ (Rousset), 364
+
+_Histoire de Madame Henriette d'Angleterre_ (La Fayette), 151-153, 194,
+    271
+
+_Histoire de Mlle. et du Comte de Losun_, 257
+
+_Histoire de la Musique dramatique en France_ (Chouquet), 213
+
+_Histoire de l'Opera en Europe_ (Rolland), 213
+
+_Histoire de Paris, L'_ (Delaure), 21
+
+_Histoire de la Princesse de Paphlagonie_ (Mademoiselle), 132
+
+_Histoires de la Detention des Philosophes_ (Delort), 312
+
+Hoguete, Fortin de la, 140
+
+Holland, war between France and, 235, 318, 330
+
+Honsett, M. du, 305
+
+Hopital, Marechal de l', 75
+
+Hopital, Mme. de l', 76
+
+Hospitals, establishment of, 87
+
+Hotel Rambouillet, 14, 124
+
+Hotel de Ville, the, 369
+
+Huet, Dr., _Memoires_ of, 10, 127, 129
+
+
+I
+
+_Image du Souverain, L'_, 140
+
+_Infortunes d'une petite-fille d'Henri IV., Les_ (Rodocanachi), 138
+
+_Inventaire general du Comte d'Eu_, 163
+
+_Iphigenie_ (Racine), 227
+
+Isarn, M., 327-329
+
+Isle des Faisans (_Isle de la Conference_), 106-110
+
+Isle Saint-Louis, 206
+
+Iturrieta, Don Miguel de, 282
+
+
+J
+
+Jacobins, the, 375
+
+Jansenism, 85
+
+Jansenists, 87, 88, 129, 373
+
+Jesuits, the, 79, 80, 83
+
+_Jeune Alcidiane, La_ (Gomberville), 11
+
+Joinville, Prince de. _See_ Lorraine
+
+Joly, Mme., 90
+
+Jourdain, Mme., 115
+
+_Journal des Guerres civiles_ (Dubuisson-Aubenay), 92
+
+_Journal d'Olivier Lefevre d'Ormesson_, 159, 174, 177, 186, 194, 197,
+   285, 287, 301, 332, 335
+
+_Journal de Voyage de deux jeunes Hollandais a Paris_, 72, 73, 75, 76
+
+Joyeuse, Duc de. _See_ Lorraine
+
+Joyeuse, Henriette Catherine, Duchesse de. _See_ Montpensier
+
+Jusserand, J. J., _Les sports et jeux d'exercice dans l'ancienne France_,
+   by, 7
+
+
+K
+
+Kant, Emanuel, 220
+
+_Kant als Mensch_ (Adickes), 220
+
+_Kreutzer Sonata_ (Tolstoi), 220
+
+
+L
+
+La Bruyere, 269
+
+La Calprenede, _Cassandre_ and _Cleopatre_, by, 11
+
+Lacour-Gayet, _L'Education politique de Louis XIV._, by, 64, 67
+
+La Duverger, 211
+
+La Fare, Marquis de, _Memoires et Reflexions_ of, 248, 283, 287, 290,
+   302, 310, 339
+
+La Fayette, Mme. de, 134;
+  _Histoire de Madame Henriette d'Angleterre_, 151-153, 194, 271;
+  _Princesse de Cleves_, by, 153;
+  _Memoires de la Cour de France_, 209, 363
+
+La Fontaine, letters of, 26, 27, 54;
+  fables of, 107, 111, 109, 203;
+  appointment of, 191
+
+Lair, J. _Louise de La Valliere_, by, 180
+
+Lalanne, Ludovic, 303
+
+Lamoignon, Mme. de, 88, 92
+
+Landrecies, 263-265
+
+Lansac, Mme. de, 67
+
+La Reynie, Lieut.-General of Police, 209, 210, 343-346
+
+La Riviere, 374
+
+La Rochefoucauld, 11, 130, 134, 256, 369
+
+La Saussaye, _L'Histoire du Chateau de Blois_, by, 26
+
+Lauzun, Antonin Nompar de Caumont, Marquis de Puyguilhem, Comte de, 238;
+  career of, 243-247;
+  intrigues of, 245, 246, 249-251;
+  relations of with Mme. de Montespan, 245, 246, 282, 287, 290, 309;
+  description of, 243, 244, 248, 262, 324, 356;
+  in the Bastile, 247;
+  character of, 248-251, 269, 287, 356-359, 367-369;
+  projected marriage of Mademoiselle with, 251-257, 267-270, 276,
+   279-281, 284, 293;
+  tacit consent of Louis to marriage, 281-283;
+  generous gifts of Mademoiselle to, 288, 289, 355;
+  marriage broken off, 290-297, 317, 326;
+  question of secret marriage with Mlle., 304-308, 349;
+  arrest and imprisonment of, 310-324, 350;
+  the "caskets" of, 317;
+  attempted escape of, 325, 326, 350;
+  communicates with Foucquet, 326;
+  interview of, with his family, 327-329;
+  released from prison, 329, 349, 354, 359;
+  forced to renounce gifts of Mlle., 353, 354;
+  reimprisoned, 354;
+  forbidden to return to Court, 354, 355, 360, 361;
+  saves Queen of England, 363;
+  Order of the Garter and title conferred upon, 364;
+  marriage of, 366;
+  death of, 369
+
+Lauzun, Chevalier de, 327
+
+Lauzun, Mme. de, married life of, 366-369
+
+Laval, Marquise of, 6
+
+La Valliere, Laurent de La Baume Le Blanc, Seigneur de, 134
+
+La Valliere, Louise de, youth of, 134;
+  relations of, with Louis XIV., 150, 153-156, 172, 176, 178, 193;
+  made Duchess, 154;
+  position of, officially recognised, 197, 233, 234, 258, 315, 334, 336;
+  attacked by Bossuet, 200;
+  successor to, 208-210;
+  marriage of daughter, 337;
+  character of, 339;
+  retires to convent, 339
+
+La Voisin, the poisoner, 207, 208, 210, 212;
+  clients of, 207, 208, 210-212, 342, 344-346, 351
+
+Lemaitre, Jules, 81
+
+Lemoine, Jean, and Andre Lichtenberger, _De La Valliere a Montespan_, by,
+   175, 229, 263, 335
+
+Le Notre, 176
+
+Le Pelletier, Claude, 186, 286
+
+Lesage (Dubuisson), 204;
+  arrest and trial of, 210-212, 348
+
+Lesdiguieres, Duc de, 75, 76
+
+Lesigny, 46
+
+Le Tellier, Michel, 25, 94
+
+_Lettres historiques et edifiantes._ _See_ Maintenon
+
+Libertins, the, 148, 153, 157, 159, 182
+
+Lichtenberger, Andre. _See_ Lemoine
+
+Limay, 89
+
+Limours, Chateau of, 25
+
+Lionne, Hugues de, 148
+
+_Lit de Justice_, 19, 20
+
+Livet, 257, 297
+
+Loing, valley of the, 4, 9, 12
+
+Loire, the, 28, 29
+
+Loiseleur, Jules, _Problemes historiques_, by, 63
+
+Longueville, Duc de (Count de Saint-Paul), 256, 257, 270
+
+Longueville, Duchesse de, 256, 369
+
+Loret, _Gazette_ of, 18, 20, 30, 171-174, 178, 179, 227, 258, 272, 365
+
+Lorges, Marechal de, daughter of, marries Lauzun, 366-369
+
+Lorraine, Charles III., Duc de, 137
+
+Lorraine, Chevalier de, 275
+
+Lorraine, Duc de, cruelty of army of, 38, 84
+
+Lorraine, Henri de, 42
+
+Lorraine, House of, 42, 294
+
+Lorraine, Louis de, Comte d'Armagnac, 237
+
+Lorraine, Louis de, Duc de Guise, 294, 295
+
+Lorraine, Louis de, Duc de Joyeuse, death of, 161, 168
+
+Lorraine, Louis Joseph de, Prince de Joinville, 161, 168
+
+Lorraine, Marguerite de (Madame). _See_ Orleans
+
+Lorraine, Prince Charles de, 137
+
+Lorraine, Prince de, 252
+
+Louis XIII., 25, 243;
+  death of, 102
+
+Louis XIV., returns to Paris, 2, 19, 24;
+  occupations of Court of, 7, 230-232;
+  dictates to Parliament, 19, 23;
+  holds _Lit de Justice_, 19, 20;
+  escorts Mazarin to Paris, 20;
+  fondness of, for fetes and ballets, 21, 75, 120, 172, 176, 178-181,
+   315;
+  growing power of, 22-24, 59, 170, 171;
+  education of, 31, 63-68, 371;
+  proposed marriages of, 48, 77, 94, 96;
+  permits Mademoiselle to return to Court, 57-59;
+  effect of Fronde upon, 58, 65, 68, 278, 370;
+  character of, 68-72, 101;
+  lack of etiquette at Court, in youth of, 77, 78;
+  infatuation of, for Marie Mancini, 77, 97, 193, 228;
+  cruelty of armies of, 84;
+  journeys of, 94, 97-100, 103, 104, 199, 257;
+  pardons Conde, 100, 101;
+  ignorance of, 103, 104, 112-116;
+  marriage of, with Marie-Therese, 103-111;
+  interviews of, with Philip IV., 106, 107;
+  letters of, 108, 183, 184, 188, 189;
+  begins to govern without minister, 113, 114;
+  systematic regulation of his time, 116, 117;
+  growth of absolute monarchy, 118, 119, 128, 138-142, 371;
+  fondness of, for gaming, 133, 333;
+  reforms abuses with Colbert, 141, 142;
+  proposes marriage of Mlle. with King of Portugal, 142-146, 160, 185;
+  banishes Mlle. for refusing marriage, 147, 148, 161;
+  Queen's lack of influence over, 149-151, 154;
+  passionate temperament of, 153-155, 170, 193, 219, 220;
+  relations of, with Madame, 153, 194, 228;
+  strained relations with his mother, 153, 157;
+  relations of, with La Valliere, 153-156, 172, 176, 193, 197;
+  _Memoires_ written for Dauphin, 154-156, 179;
+  opinion of women, 155, 193, 194;
+  conduct of, disapproved, 157-159;
+  religious opinions of, 156, 212, 213, 374;
+  influence of Mme. de Maintenon upon, 156, 193, 219, 339;
+  acquires Dunkerque, 173;
+  takes up permanent residence at Versailles, 174, 370;
+  size of Court, 174, 175, 258;
+  hospitality of, 175-177;
+  plans Savoie marriage for Mademoiselle, 185-190, 236;
+  effect of mother's death on, 195-197, 199;
+  relations of, with Mme. de Montespan, 193, 209, 210, 212, 229, 333,
+    338-342;
+  frames rules of etiquette relating to position of mistresses, 197,
+    233-235, 315, 334-336;
+  boldness of Court preachers, 200, 201;
+  orders prosecution of Mariette and Lesage, 210-212;
+  lover of music, 218-220;
+  sustains Racine and Moliere, 224, 227, 228;
+  death of infant daughter, 233;
+  with the army, 235, 361;
+  Lauzun a favourite of, 243-247, 250, 251, 254, 257;
+  discomforts of travelling in 1670, 258-267;
+  plans marriage of Mlle. with Monsieur, 274, 276-278;
+  tacitly consents to marriage of Mademoiselle with Lauzun, 282, 283,
+   286;
+  withdraws consent, 290-293, 295, 296;
+  treatment of Mademoiselle, 299-301;
+  Lauzun's imprisonment, 312-315, 323;
+  charmed with new sister-in-law, 315;
+  brilliancy of reign of, 330, 331, 375;
+  power and importance of, 330-332;
+  extravagance of, 332-339;
+  love of martial display, 333-336;
+  marriage of Mlle. de Blois, 337;
+  responsible for deterioration of manners and morals, 338-341, 372;
+  finds presumptive proof of guilt of Madame de Montespan, 343-347, 349;
+  orders destruction of records, 343, 344, 369;
+  turns to Mme. de Maintenon, 339-341;
+  dismisses Mme. de Montespan, 341, 342;
+  establishes the _Chambre ardente_, 343;
+  suppresses the _Chambre ardente_, 347;
+  marriage of, with Mme. de Maintenon, 305, 370;
+  effect of reign of, upon France, 371-373;
+  _Memoires_ of, 58, 66, 68-70, 114, 141, 142, 154-156, 179, 193, 278,
+   355
+
+_Louise de La Valliere_ (Lair), 180
+
+Louvois, letters to, 209, 311, 325;
+  enemy of Lauzun, 244, 245, 247, 287, 288;
+  instructions of, concerning Lauzun, 310-313, 318-323, 325;
+  letters of, 344, 347;
+  sent to coerce Mademoiselle, 352
+
+Louvre, Palace of the, Mazarin returns to, 20;
+  Court at, 65, 78, 82, 111, 112, 122;
+  fete at, 178
+
+Lulli, Baptiste, operas of, 216, 217, 218, 220, 221
+
+Luxembourg, Duc de, 344
+
+Luxembourg, palace of the, Monsieur at, 24;
+  Mademoiselle returns to, 72, 76, 121;
+  Madame occupies, 102, 121, 191, 285;
+  salon of Mademoiselle at, 122, 123, 125, 133-136, 148, 222, 223, 288,
+   296, 297, 361
+
+Luynes, Constable de, 243
+
+Lyonne, M. de, 293
+
+Lyons, Court at, 94, 96, 258
+
+
+M
+
+Madame. See Orleans, Henrietta, and Palatine
+
+_Madame de Montespan et Louis XIV._ (Clement), 282, 349
+
+_Madame, Memoirs of Henrietta, Duchess of Orleans_ (Cartwright), 136
+
+Madelaine, 50
+
+Mademoiselle, La Grande. See Montpensier
+
+_Magie dans l'Inde antique, La_ (Henry), 210
+
+Mailly, Chateau of, 263
+
+Maine, Duc du, 351, 352
+
+Maintenon, Mme. de (Mme. Scarron), _Letters of_ (Geoffroy, ed.), 63, 64;
+  _Souvenirs sur_, 150, 151, 230;
+  influence of, over Louis XIV., 71, 156, 193, 219, 339-341, 374;
+  governess to King's children, 290, 309, 310;
+  _Lettres historiques et edifiantes_, of, 291;
+  King marries, 305, 370
+
+Mairet, 223
+
+_Malade Imaginaire_ (Moliere), 109
+
+Mancini, Marie, niece of Mazarin, 77, 96, 193, 228, 339
+
+"Mandate," the, 286
+
+Mansard, Francois, 26
+
+Man with the Iron Mask, the, 304, 329
+
+Marie Antoinette, 23
+
+Marie Therese, Infanta of Spain, marriage of, with Louis XIV., 103-111;
+  political opinions of, 118;
+  unhappy married life of, 149-151, 154, 172;
+  character of, 149-151, 196, 252, 260, 261, 264-266, 271;
+  friendly relations of, with Mme. de Montespan, 209, 210, 233-235;
+  friendship of, for Mme. de Maintenon, 341;
+  death of, 370
+
+Mariette, priest, 204, 210;
+  arrest and trial of, 210-212
+
+Marigny, _La Relation des Divertissements que le Roi a donnes aux
+   Reines_, by, 173
+
+Marly, 336
+
+Martinozzi, Anne Marie, niece of Mazarin, 48
+
+Mascarille, Marquis de, 76
+
+Mauny, Marquise de, 13, 131
+
+Mazarin, Cardinal, power of, 11, 16, 25, 38, 39, 45, 47;
+  triumphal return of, 20;
+  obtains pardon for Mademoiselle, 48, 52, 53, 56;
+  detestation of, 60, 61;
+  rapacity of, 60-62, 112;
+  relations of, with Anne of Austria, 62, 63, 304;
+  created Cardinal, 63;
+  treatment of Louis XIV., 65-67, 69, 70, 74;
+  nieces of, 77, 82, 96, 97, 237;
+  letter of protest to, 84;
+  signs peace of Pyrenees, 99, 107;
+  difficulties of, in settling points of etiquette relating to King's
+   marriage, 105, 106;
+  instructions of, to Louis, 112, 113;
+  death of, 113, 116, 141;
+  opposition of, to _Compagnie du Saint Sacrement_, 158, 198;
+  introduces Italian opera into France, 215
+
+Medicis, Catherine de', 67, 113
+
+Meilleraye, Duc de la (Duc de Mazarin), 77
+
+_Melanges_ (Delamare), 285
+
+_Memoires._ _See_ Aumale, Bussy-Rabutin, Choisy, Goulas, Huet, La Fare,
+  La Fayette, Montpensier, Motteville, Saint-Simon, Sourches, etc.
+
+_Memoires_ of Louis XIV. _See_ under Louis (editors, Dreyss and Petitot).
+
+_Memoires de Montglat_, 25, 59, 62, 100, 108
+
+_Memoires-Relations du temps_, 179
+
+_Memoires sur la Vie et les Ouvrages de Jean Racine_ (Racine), 227
+
+Menage, 222, 226
+
+_Mercure Galant_, 365
+
+Mignet, _Negociations relatives a la succession d'Espagne_, by, 143
+
+Miot. _See_ Porchat.
+
+_Misere au temps de la Fronde et Saint Vincent de Paul, La_ (Feillet),
+   82, 84
+
+_Mithridate_ (Racine), 228
+
+Moliere, returns to Paris, 81;
+  plays of, 109, 124, 131, 132, 180, 181, 202, 216, 231, 374, 376;
+  representations of, given at Versailles and the Luxembourg, 178, 180,
+   181, 221, 222;
+  opposition to Racine and, 223-227;
+  King sustains, 227, 228
+
+"Moliere," of the _Grands Ecrivains de la France_ (Hachette), 176, 179,
+   202
+
+Monsieur, _See_ Orleans, Gaston, Duc d'.
+
+Monsieur, the little. _See_ Anjou, Philippe, Duc d'.
+
+Montausier, Duc de, 264, 282, 287, 297, 306
+
+Montausier, Mme. de, 263
+
+Montbazon, Duchesse de, 126
+
+Montchevreuil, M. de, 230
+
+Montespan, Marquis de, 229
+
+Montespan, Marquise de, supplants La Valliere, 80, 193, 209, 210;
+  marriage of, 172, 209, 229;
+  description of, 209, 230;
+  client of La Voisin, 210, 212, 342;
+  criminal charges against, 212, 344-348;
+  position of, 233, 258-271, 315, 334-336;
+  assumes habits of royalty, 233-235;
+  relations of, with Lauzun, 245, 246, 282, 287, 354;
+  betrays Lauzun, 290, 291, 296, 309, 310, 322, 323;
+  children of, 290, 344, 351, 352;
+  extravagance of, 333, 336;
+  character of, 339, 340, 342;
+  dismissal of, 341, 342, 350, 351;
+  evidence against destroyed, 343
+
+Monteverde, _Ariane_, by, 214
+
+Montigny, Abbe de, 263
+
+Montmedy, 59
+
+Montmorency-Boutteville, 78
+
+Montmorency, 25
+
+Montpensier, Anne Marie Louise d'Orleans, Duchess of, La Grande
+   Mademoiselle,
+  possible marriage of, with Louis XIV., 2, 48;
+  character of, 2, 56, 59, 184
+
+Montpensier, Mlle., alliance of, with Conde, 3, 16, 17, 33, 38, 45,
+   55, 56;
+  exiled to Saint-Fargeau, 3-20, 32-39, 43-48;
+  heroine of Porte Saint-Antoine, 3, 53, 58, 59, 72, 261, 370;
+  amusements at court of St.-Fargeau, 7-10, 17-20, 148;
+  literary tastes of, 8-10, 15, 18, 73, 132, 221, 224-226, 229;
+  begins her _Memoires_, 15;
+  rumoured marriage of, with Conde, 16;
+  litigation of, with father, 34, 37, 41-44, 51-54;
+  wealth of, 35-38, 145, 163, 185, 256;
+  skilful management of her affairs, 36, 37, 49;
+  breaks with Conde, 46, 47, 52;
+  makes overtures to Mazarin, 47, 48;
+  wins Champigny lawsuit, 49-51, 125;
+  permitted to return to Court, 54, 55, 57-59;
+  never fully forgiven, 58, 59, 101, 169, 186, 197, 370;
+  proposed marriage of, with little Monsieur, 59, 73, 272-278;
+  takes up residence in the Luxembourg, 72, 121, 122;
+  popularity of, in Paris, 72, 366;
+  description of, 72-74;
+  astonished at lack of etiquette at Court, 75-79;
+  visits Port-Royal, 79, 80;
+  visits Dombes, 95, 96;
+  Monsieur's duplicity towards, 98, 99;
+  grieves at death of Monsieur, 102, 103;
+  present at marriage of Louis XIV., 105-111;
+  ill-health of, 120;
+  salon of, 122-125, 131-136, 148, 223, 224, 226;
+  describes blue room of Mme. de Rambouillet, 132, 133;
+  letters of, 160, 170, 183;
+  letters to, 183, 188, 189, 348;
+  proposed marriages of, 136-138;
+  grudge of Charles II. against, 136, 137;
+  King plans marriage of, with King of Portugal, 142-146, 160, 161;
+  refuses to marry Alphonse, 145-147, 160, 185;
+  second exile of, 147, 160-170, 182, 184;
+  proposed marriage of, with Duc de Savoie, 147, 185-190, 236;
+  buys Comte d'Eu, 161-168;
+  installed at Eu, 169, 170;
+  recalled to Court, 184-187;
+  failure of proposed marriages of, 189-192;
+  patroness of Lulli, 221;
+  cultivates Mme. de Montespan, 229, 230, 233-236;
+  change in sentiments of, 235;
+  advancing age of, 236, 254, 277, 278;
+  infatuation of, for Lauzun, 238-242, 250, 262, 279-281, 359, 360;
+  describes Lauzun, 248;
+  makes proposals of marriage to, 251-256, 267-270, 279, 280;
+  Lauzun's treatment of, 253-256, 261, 275-277, 279, 281, 357-360;
+  proposed de Longueville marriage of, 256, 257, 270;
+  as a traveller, 262-267;
+  at death-bed of Madame, 270-272;
+  King's tacit consent to marriage with Lauzun, 281-283, 286;
+  criticism of projected marriage by all classes, 285, 286;
+  bestows principalities and titles upon Lauzun, 288, 307;
+  preparing for marriage, 289, 290, 296;
+  King refuses consent, 290-293, 295, 296, 353, 354;
+  marriage with Lauzun broken off, 291-293, 296, 297, 317, 326;
+  appeals in vain to King, 291-293, 315, 316;
+  grief and despair of, 296-303;
+  wide-spread belief in secret marriage of, 304-309, 349, 353, 358;
+  learns of Lauzun's arrest and imprisonment, 310-314;
+  efforts of, to obtain release of Lauzun, 317, 318, 348-352;
+  traditional daughter of, 349;
+  price demanded from, for liberation of Lauzun, 351, 352;
+  makes Duc du Maine her heir, 351, 352;
+  tricked by Louis and Mme. de Montespan, 354;
+  Lauzun forced to renounce gifts of, 354;
+  compensates Lauzun, 355;
+  devotion of, to Lauzun after his liberation, 356-360;
+  constant quarrels with Lauzun, 357-361;
+  final break with Lauzun, 362, 363, 366;
+  illness and death of, 365, 366;
+  burial of, at St. Denis, 366;
+  last of actors in the Fronde, 369;
+  great qualities of, 377
+
+Montpensier, Mlle., _Memoires_ of, 3, 4, 8, 15, 23, 36, 45, 55, 59,
+  79, 97, 98, 102, 105, 106, 121, 125, 131, 136, 138, 143, 160, 169,
+  182, 210, 221, 222, 230, 238-240, 255, 256, 262, 269, 297, 305, 308,
+  315-317, 339, 347, 348, 350, 353, 356, 361
+
+Montpensier, duchy of, 49;
+  given to Lauzun, 288
+
+Montpensier, Henri de Bourbon, Duc de, 42
+
+Montpensier, Henriette Catherine de Joyeuse, Duchesse de, 42
+
+Montresor, Claude de Bourdeville, Comte de, 161
+
+Montvoisin, Antoine, 206-208
+
+Montvoisin, Catherine "La Voisin" the poisoner, 207, 208, 210, 212
+
+_Morale de Salomon, La_, 127
+
+Moret, mock siege of, 334, 335
+
+Morin the Jew, 76
+
+Mortemart, Mlle. de (Mme. de Montespan), 172
+
+Motteville, Mme. de, 31, 49, 62, 66, 116, 135, 149, 150, 195;
+  _Memoires_ of, 73, 100, 104, 109, 112, 113, 116, 135, 149, 150, 154,
+  170, 190, 195
+
+Mouchy, 199
+
+
+N
+
+Nallot, M. de, 310, 311
+
+Nantes, Revocation of Edict of, 331, 374
+
+Necromancy, 202-207
+
+_Negociations relatives a la succession d'Espagne_ (Mignet), 143
+
+Nemours, Henri de Savoie, Duc de, 185
+
+Nemours, Marie-Jeanne Baptiste de, 190
+
+Nemours, the Mesdemoiselles de, 185, 190
+
+Nesmond, Presidente de, 90
+
+Nevers, Duchesse de, 347
+
+Nimeguen, peace of, 331
+
+Noailles, Duc de(Comte d' Ayen), 270
+
+Noailles, Mme. de, 248
+
+Nogent, Mme. de, 290, 327-329
+
+Nolhac, M. de, _La Creation de Versailles_, by, 176
+
+_Nouvelles Francaises, Les_ (Segrais), 8
+
+Nuitter and Thoinan, _Les Origines de l'Opera Francais_, by, 213
+
+
+O
+
+Oeillets, Mlle. des, 346
+
+_Oeuvres completes_ (Saint-Pierre), 365
+
+_Oeuvres galantes en vers et en prose_ (Cotin), 223
+
+_Oeuvres de Louis XIV. Lettres particulieres_, 188
+
+Olivet, Abbe d', 222
+
+Opera, Italian, birth of, 214-216;
+  French, 215, 216
+
+_Origines de l'Opera Francais, Les_ (Nuitter and Thoinan), 213
+
+Orleans, city of, 33, 34, 39, 42, 49, 53
+
+Orleans, House of, 35, 37
+
+Orleans, Gaston, Duc d' (Monsieur), character of, 3, 23-25, 28-30,
+   44, 52, 97-99;
+  exiled to Blois, 24-33;
+  piety of, 29, 30;
+  children of, 31, 34, 37, 39, 42, 77, 97-99, 105, 106, 133, 134, 137,
+   138, 186, 235, 294;
+  pillages daughter's fortune, 35-37, 39-44, 168;
+  under Court protection, 38-40, 48, 49;
+  litigation of, with Mademoiselle, 37, 41-44, 51-54;
+  death and burial of, 101, 102
+
+Orleans, Henrietta of England (Madame), wife of Philippe Duc d'.
+   _See_ Henrietta
+
+Orleans, Marguerite de Lorraine (Madame), second wife of Gaston, Duc d',
+   24, 43, 191, 285, 286;
+  daughters of, 31, 34, 37, 39, 42, 77, 97-99, 105, 106, 133, 134, 137,
+   138, 186, 188, 235, 294;
+  character of, 101, 102, 121, 122, 133, 134
+
+Orleans, Marguerite Louise, Mlle. d', daughter of Monsieur, 97, 98, 133;
+  marriage of, 137, 138
+
+Orleans, Marie Louise d', daughter of little Monsieur, 277;
+  marriage of, 277
+
+Orleans, Mgr. Duc d', 162
+
+Orleans, Philippe, Duc d'. _See_ Anjou
+
+Ormesson, Andre d', 22, 48
+
+Ormesson, Olivier Lefevre d', _Journal_ of, 48, 76, 118, 159, 174,
+  177, 186, 194, 197, 285, 287, 301, 331, 332, 335;
+  disgrace of, 118, 332
+
+Ormond, Marquis d', 137
+
+
+P
+
+Palatine, Anne de Baviere, Princesse, 174
+
+Palatine, Anne de Gonzague, Princesse, 106
+
+Palatine, Elisabeth Charlotte de Baviere, Princesse (Madame), second
+  wife of Philippe Duc d'Orleans, 62, 156, 315
+
+_Paraphrases des sept Psaumes de la Penitence_, 127
+
+Paris, Archbishop of, 287, 288
+
+Paris, King and Court return to, 2, 19-21, 24, 65, 110, 174, 281;
+  opinion of King in, 71;
+  committee of relief founded in, 87-93;
+  carnival in, 93, 94;
+  Queen's entrance into, 111;
+  commerce in, 142;
+  magic arts in, 201-206, 342-344;
+  bridges of, 206;
+  lampoons against Louis in, 335;
+  dungeons of, 347;
+  cradle of French revolutions, 370, 376
+
+Parliament, the, Louis XIV. dictates to, 19, 20, 23, 76;
+  dictates to royalty, 68, 69;
+  petition to, 162;
+  decrees of, 167, 168;
+  privileges of, 371
+
+Parma, Duc de, 189
+
+Patin, Guy, letters of, 71, 113, 117
+
+_Pedagogue chretien_, 324
+
+Pellison, _Lettres historiques_, by, 258
+
+Perefixe, Abbe de, 66, 67, 115
+
+_Perroquet ou Les Amours de Mademoiselle_, Le 257, 282
+
+_Pertharite_ (Corneille), 80
+
+Petitot, editor _Memoires_ of Louis XIV., 66
+
+_Phedre_ (Racine), 224
+
+Philip IV. of Spain, 103, 104, 142, 149;
+  interviews of, with Louis XIV. and Anne of Austria, 106-110;
+  death of, 173
+
+Picardy, 87, 165
+
+Pignerol, fortress of, 310, 311, 318, 319, 325, 329, 351, 355, 356, 358
+
+Pimbesche, Countess of, original of, 36, 191
+
+_Plaideurs_ (Racine), 227
+
+_Plaisirs de l'Ile enchantee_, 176
+
+_Poisons, Les_ (La Fontaine), 203
+
+Poland, Marie de Gonzague, Queen of, and Port-Royal, 88, 92;
+  letters to, 117, 174, 175, 186
+
+_Polexandre_ (Gomberville), 11
+
+Polignac, Vicomtesse de, 344
+
+Pomponne, M. de, 293, 297;
+  _La Correspondance de Pomponne_, 297
+
+Pont Marie, 206
+
+Porchat, Jacques, and Miot, _Histoire de France_, tr. by, 99
+
+Porte Saint-Antoine, heroine of, 3, 53, 59, 72, 370
+
+Port Royal des Champs, 79, 88, 92
+
+_Port-Royal_ (Sainte-Beuve), 82
+
+Portugal, independence of, threatened, 142;
+  King of, 143-145, 160, 185
+
+Portugal, Queen of, 190
+
+_Precieuses Ridicules, Les_ (Moliere), 124
+
+Prefontaine, 33, 35, 36, 41, 43, 44, 50, 53
+
+_Princesse de Cleves_ (La Fayette), 153
+
+_Princesse d'Elide_ (Moliere), 180, 216
+
+_Problemes Historiques_ (Loiseleur), 63
+
+_Provinciales_, the, 79
+
+Provins, 84
+
+Puyguilhem, Marquis de. See Lauzun
+
+Pyrenees, peace of the, 2, 99, 100, 107
+
+_Pyrrhus_ (Racine), 224
+
+
+Q
+
+"Queens, the three," 233
+
+Quinault, tragedies of, 80, 81, 216, 217, 220
+
+
+R
+
+Racan, Honorat de Bueil, Marquis de. _See_ Barthelemy
+
+Racine, Jean, tragedies of, 8, 81, 223-229;
+  and Corneille compared, 223-227;
+  King's appreciation of, 224, 227, 228
+
+Racine, Louis, _Memoires sur la Vie et les Ouvrages de Jean Racine_,
+  by, 227
+
+Rambouillet, Hotel, 14, 224
+
+Rambouillet, Mme. de, salon of, 123
+
+Rampillon, 84
+
+Ranke, Leopold von, _Histoire de France_, by, 99, 330
+
+Rapin, Father, 181
+
+Ravaisson, Francois, _Archives de la Bastille_, by, 201, 312
+
+Ravetot, Marquis de, 211
+
+Regent, the, 62, 372, 374
+
+Reims, 55, 56
+
+Reims, Archbishop of, 288
+
+_Relation de la Cour de France_ (Spanheim), 374
+
+_Relation des Divertissements que le Roi a donnes aux Reines,
+  La_ (Marigny), 173
+
+_Relation de l'Ile imaginaire, La_ (Mademoiselle), 18, 132
+
+_Relations des Ambassadeurs Venitiens_, 65
+
+_Relations_ of de Bernieres, 87-90
+
+_Remerciement au Roi_ (Moliere), 231
+
+Retz, Cardinal de, 20, 24, 25, 113, 369, 377
+
+Richelieu, 11, 25, 28, 30, 50, 55
+
+Robert, Procurer-General, 344
+
+Robespierre, 375
+
+Rochefort, 287, 336
+
+Roche-sur-Yon, 49
+
+Rocroy, 101
+
+Rodocanachi, M., _Les Infortunes d'une petite-fille d' Henri IV._, by,
+ 138
+
+Rohan, Marie-Eleonore de, Abbess, 126, 127
+
+_Roland furieux_, 178
+
+Rolland, Romain, _Histoire de l'Opera en Europe_, by, 213, 220
+
+Romecourt, 265, 266
+
+Roquelaure, 148
+
+Rosen, de, 84
+
+Rousseau, Sieur, 293
+
+Rousset, Camille, _Histoire de Louvois_, by, 364
+
+
+S
+
+Sainctot, Mme. de, 131
+
+Saint-Aignan, Duc de, 178
+
+Saint Antoine de Padua, 205
+
+Saint-Cloud, Chateau of, 54, 269
+
+Saint-Cyr, 63
+
+Saint-Denis, burial of Monsieur at, 102;
+  burial of Mademoiselle at, 366
+
+Sainte-Beuve, _Port-Royal_, by, 82
+
+Saint Evremond, _The Operas_, by, 218
+
+Saint-Fargeau, Chateau of, Mademoiselle exiled to, 3-6, 36, 73;
+  Mademoiselle's Court at, 6-10, 12, 17-20, 129-131, 135;
+  Mademoiselle again exiled to, 147, 148, 160, 169
+
+Saint-Genevieve MS., 257
+
+Saint-Germain-des Pres, 73
+
+Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Court at, 173, 177, 239, 247, 258, 269, 310,
+  313, 318, 353, 354
+
+Saint-Jean-de-Luz, Court at, 104, 108;
+  marriage of Louis XIV., at, 110
+
+Saint-Joseph, Convent of, 234
+
+Saint-Mars, Sieur de, 310, 311;
+  letter of, 313;
+  letters to, 318-321, 325-327, 329
+
+Saint-Paul, Comte de (Duc de Longueville), 256, 257
+
+Saint-Pierre, Bernardin de, 9;
+  _[OE]uvres completes_ of, 365
+
+Saint Quentin, 263
+
+Saint-Remi, Jacques de Courtavel, Marquis de, 134
+
+Saint-Romain, Abbe de, 143
+
+_Saint Sacrement, Compagnie du_, founding of, 85-87, 93;
+  charitable work of, 157, 158;
+  nicknamed, 157;
+  disapproves of King's conduct, 157-159, 373;
+  blow aimed at, 181;
+  disorganisation of, 198, 199
+
+Saint-Severin, Church of, 210
+
+Saint-Simon, Duc de, at Court, 78, 116, 369, 370, 372;
+  _Memoires_ of, 116, 161, 209, 212, 234, 245, 255, 326, 353, 360,
+   366-368, 372;
+  _Ecrits inedits_ of, 354, 359, 363, 364
+
+Saint-Sulpice, 73
+
+Saint Vincent de Paul, character and influence of, 85;
+  joins _Compagnie du Saint Sacrement_, 87, 373;
+  head of relief work, 88-90, 157
+
+_Saint Vincent de Paul_ (Broglie), 82, 91
+
+_Saint Vincent de Paul et les Gondi_ (Chantelauze), 82
+
+Salic law, the, 105
+
+Sambre, the, 264
+
+Savoie, Charles Emmanuel II., Duc de, marriages of, 99, 147, 185,
+   186, 190, 236;
+  revenges himself on Louis and Mlle., 189, 190
+
+Savoie, Marguerite, Princesse de, Louis XIV. refused to marry, 94,
+   96, 189;
+  marries Duc de Parma, 189
+
+Savoie, Victor-Amedee II., Duc de, marriage of, 277
+
+Saxe-Jena, Bernard, Duke of, 125
+
+Scarron, Mme. de. _See_ Maintenon
+
+Sceaux, 357
+
+Scudery, Madeleine, Mlle. de, 258, 302;
+  _Artamene ou le Grand Cyrus_, by, 11, 125;
+  Saturdays of, 123, 124
+
+Scudery, Mme. de, 302, 342
+
+Sedan, 55-59, 73
+
+Segrais, Mademoiselle's secretary, 8, 9, 13, 134, 226, 286, 306, 307,
+   349;
+  _Les Nouvelles Francaises_, by, 8, 9
+
+_Segraisiana_, 71, 279, 310
+
+Seignelay, 363, 364
+
+Seine, the, 206
+
+Sevigne, Mme. de, 75, 80, 134, 177, 200;
+  letters of, 2, 11, 129, 217, 218, 225, 235, 287, 288, 307, 310, 337,
+   338, 345, 347, 362;
+  letters to, 248, 284, 364
+
+Soissons, Comtesse de, 237, 271, 336, 341, 344
+
+Soissons, Marie de Bourbon-, 291
+
+Somaize, _Le Dictionnaire des Precieuses_, by, 13
+
+Sourches, Marquis de, _Memoires_ of, 26
+
+_Souvenirs de Mme. de Caylus_, 150, 347
+
+_Souvenirs et Correspondance_ of Mme. de Caylus, 300
+
+_Souvenirs sur Mme. de Maintenon_, 150, 219, 230, 341
+
+Spain, wars of, with France, 16, 20, 23, 38, 55, 59, 83, 361;
+  King of, 103, 104, 142, 149, 173;
+  etiquette of Court of, 104-111;
+  absolute monarchy an importation from, 118, 371;
+  war of Devolution in, 154, 257;
+  marriage of Infanta of,--_see_ Marie-Therese;
+  power of France over, 171, 331
+
+Spanheim, Ezechiel, _Relation de la Cour de France_, by, 374
+
+_Sports et jeux d'exercice dans l'ancienne France, Les_ (Jusserand), 7
+
+_Suite du Menteur_ (Corneille), 241
+
+
+T
+
+_Tableau de la Penitence, Le_, 324
+
+Tallemant, 31
+
+Tarente, Princess of, 125
+
+_Tartuffe_ (Moliere), 181, 182, 221, 222, 374
+
+Terlon, Chevalier de, 293
+
+Theiner, Pere, 63
+
+_The Operas_ (Saint Evremond), 218
+
+Thianges, Mme. de, 266, 347
+
+Thoinan. _See_ Nuitter
+
+Tingry, Princesse de, 344
+
+Tolstoi, _Kreutzer Sonata_, by, 220
+
+Torre, Don Diego de la, 282
+
+Toulouse, Court at, 99
+
+Tourraine, 50
+
+Tours, 346
+
+Tremouille, Mlle. de la, 125, 137
+
+Treport, 166, 349
+
+Trevoux, 95
+
+Trianon, 235
+
+Trichateau, Marquis de, 343
+
+Tuileries, palace of the, 4, 19, 123
+
+Turenne, 20, 23, 53, 54, 61, 137, 369;
+  visits and letters of, to Mademoiselle, 143-146, 160
+
+Turin, 147, 319
+
+Tuscany, Duke of, 138
+
+
+U
+
+Urfe, Honore d', _l'Astree_, by, 14, 80
+
+Uzes, Emmanuel II. de Crussol, Duc d', 264
+
+
+V
+
+Valentinois, Duchess of, 75
+
+Vallot, 270
+
+Valois, Anne Marie de, daughter of the little Monsieur, 277;
+  marriage of, 277
+
+Valois, Francoise-Madeleine, Mlle. de, daughter of Monsieur, 133;
+  marriage and death of, 185, 188
+
+Vardes, 71, 148
+
+Vatel 128
+
+Vaujours, duchy of, 154
+
+Vendome, Elisabeth de, 185
+
+Vendome, M. de, 117
+
+Venice, opera houses of, 214
+
+Ventadour, Duc de, 85, 86
+
+Versailles, palace of, 26;
+  Louis XIV. takes up residence at, 174, 370, 376;
+  fetes, 176-182, 269, 333, 365, etc.;
+  expenses of, 336, 337
+
+_Vers d'Atys_, 81
+
+Vexin, Comte de, 235
+
+_Vie de Madame de Fouquerolles_ (Mademoiselle), 132
+
+Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, 89
+
+Villeroy, Marechal de, 290
+
+Villeroy, Mme. de, 75
+
+Vincennes, 111, 347
+
+Vise, Donneau de _Mecure Galant_, 365
+
+Vittori, 214
+
+Voiture, 131
+
+_Voyage de Chapelle et de Bachaumont_, 32
+
+
+W
+
+Westphalia, peace of, 99
+
+
+
+
+_A Selection from the Catalogue of_
+
+G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Complete Catalogues sent on application [Blank Page]
+
+
+By ARVEDE BARINE
+
+The Youth _of_ La Grande Mademoiselle
+
+1627-1652
+
+_Authorized English Version_
+
+Octavo. With 25 illustrations from contemporaneous sources. Net, $3.00.
+(By mail, $3.25.)
+
+"A book that is decidedly interesting and that is well worth reading.
+The subject and the heroine is enough to make the volume attractive....
+The volume is handsomely printed, and the illustrations are
+representative as well as accurate."--_The London Spectator._
+
+"This brilliant biography sparkles and intoxicates with literary
+vivacity. In connection with the career of the astonishing heroine, the
+author presents a picture that has hardly been surpassed of Court life
+and politics in France in the seventeenth century. The illustrations
+from contemporary prints add greatly to the attractiveness of this
+fascinating volume."--_Chicago Evening Post._
+
+
+Louis XIV _and_ La Grande Mademoiselle
+
+1652-1693
+
+_Authorized English Version_
+
+Octavo. With 30 illustrations. Net, $3.00. (By mail, $3.25)
+
+(Uniform with "The Youth of La Grande Mademoiselle")
+
+"A new work on La Grande Mademoiselle by Arvede Barine is a promise of
+delight to all who love wit and wisdom.... It is bewildering to think of
+the many crowns and coronets that might have rested on the brow of the
+dramatic heroine, a heroine who appears and disappears in clouds of
+dust, with regiments of cavalry wheeling and whirling around her to the
+sound of the trumpets--the stern devotee of reason who dismissed one of
+her maids because she married for love--the philosopher who debated in
+her mimic court whether an accepted lover is more unhappy than a
+rejected lover in the absence of the beloved.... The story of this
+heroine is told by Barine with that art which conceals art.... It forms
+a fitting supplement to the equally delightful volume which preceded it
+describing "The Youth of La Grande Mademoiselle."--_London Times._
+
+
+_New York_ . G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS . _London_
+
+
+
+
+    Portraits of
+    the Seventeenth Century
+
+    By C. A. Sainte-Beuve
+
+    TRANSLATED BY KATHARINE P. WORMELEY
+
+    Two Parts. Octavo. With about 30 Illustrations
+    Sold separately. Each, $2.50 net
+
+
+_CONTENTS OF PART ONE_
+
+    Cardinal Richelieu
+    Duc de Rohan
+    Cardinal Mazarin
+    Duc de la Rochefoucauld
+    Duchesse de Longueville
+    Cardinal de Retz
+    Ninon de l'Enclos
+    Bussy-Rabutin
+    Tallemant des Reaux
+    Abbe de Rance
+    La Grande Mademoiselle
+    Comtesse de la Fayette
+    Duchesse d'Orleans
+    Louis XIV.
+    Louise de la Valliere
+
+
+_CONTENTS OF PART TWO_
+
+    History of the French Academy
+    Corneille
+    Mlle. de Scudery
+    Moliere
+    La Fontaine
+    Pascal
+    Mme. de Sevigne
+    Bossuet
+    Boileau
+    Racine
+    Mme. de Caylus
+    Fenelon
+    Comte Antoine Hamilton
+    The Princesse des Ursins
+
+"The translator is a true servant and friend, not the proverbial
+traducer; none but Miss Wormeley could have been selected for the task,
+and she has given of her best, her indefatigable, conscientious,
+intellectual best, which has made her the mistress of a difficult
+art."--_The N. Y. Evening Mail._
+
+=Send for Descriptive Circular=
+
+
+            =G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS=
+    =New York=                   =London=
+
+
+
+
+Little French Masterpieces
+
+Representative Tales by the Best
+French Authors
+
+Edited by
+=ALEXANDER JESSUP=
+
+Translations by
+=GEORGE BURNHAM IVES=
+
+ With portraits in Photogravure. Issued in a small
+ and attractive form
+
+_Six volumes, 16{o}, in a box, cloth, $6.00_
+             _Limp leather, $7.50_
+_Also sold separately_       _Cloth, $1.00_       _Leather, $1.25_
+
+  =I. Prosper Merimee.= Introduction by Grace King.
+
+ =II. Gustave Flaubert.= Introduction by Frank Thomas
+          Marzials.
+
+=III. Theophile Gautier.= Introduction by Frederic-Cesar de
+          Sumichrast.
+
+ =IV. Alphonse Daudet.= Introduction by William P. Trent.
+
+  =V. Guy de Maupassant.= Introduction by Arthur Symons.
+
+ =VI. Honore de Balzac.= Introduction by F. Brunetiere.
+
+"A capital idea is here admirably carried out. The supremacy of the
+French in the delicately finished short story is undisputed, and the six
+authors here represented are the finest flowers of this development of
+French literature. The little volumes are all that is charming in
+outward appearance, are literally volumes for the pocket, have portraits
+of the authors, and each is introduced by a competent critic. The
+stories themselves are well chosen and carefully translated."--_The
+Outlook._
+
+
+            =G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS=
+    =New York=                   =London=
+
+
+
+
+By ELIZABETH W. CHAMPNEY
+
+
+=Romance of the French Abbeys=
+
+     Octavo. With 2 Coloured, 9 Photogravure, 50 other
+     Illustrations, and Ornamental Headpieces
+
+     "A delightful blending of history, art and romance.... Many of
+     the stories related are thrilling and none the less exciting
+     because they belong to history."--_Chicago Dial._
+
+     "The book fully carries out the suggestion of Guizot, 'If you
+     are fond of romance, read history.'"--_Boston Transcript._
+
+
+=Romance of the Feudal Chateaux=
+
+     Octavo. With 40 Photogravure and other Illustrations
+
+"The author has retold the legends and traditions which cluster about
+the chateaux and castles, which have come down from the Middle Ages,
+with the skillful touch of the artist and the grace of the practiced
+writer.... The story of France takes on a new light as studied in
+connection with the architecture of these fortified homes."--_Christian
+Intelligencer._
+
+
+=Romance of the Renaissance Chateaux=
+
+     Octavo. With 40 Photogravure and other Illustrations
+
+"The romances of those beautiful chateaux are placed by the author on
+the lips of the people who lived in them. She gives us a feeling of
+intimacy with characters whose names belong to history."--_N. Y. Mail
+and Express._
+
+"A book of high merit.... Good history, good story, and good
+art."--_Hartford Courant._
+
+
+=Romance of the Bourbon Chateaux=
+
+     Octavo. With Coloured Frontispiece and 47 Photogravure and
+     other Illustrations
+
+"Told with a keen eye to the romantic elements, and a clear
+understanding of historical significance."--_Boston Transcript._
+
+"It is a book that will be read with interest this year or ten or twenty
+years hence."--_Hartford Courant._
+
+=Four volumes. Illustrated. Each, in a box, net, $3.00 (By mail, $3.25.)
+The set, 4 volumes in a box, net, $12.00=
+
+
+            =G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS=
+    =New York=                   =London=
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+  Note: Tags that surround the word =G. P.= indicate bold.
+  Tags that surround the word _Hartford Courant._ indicate italics.
+  ----------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+  Transcriber's notes:
+
+  Letters surrounded with {e} represent supertext.
+
+  P.26. 'Qu'en croit' should be .Qu'on croit'.
+  P. 62. cammandemens should be commandemens. Changed.
+  P.62. 'voster' should be 'vostre'. Changed.
+  P.91. 'bourgeosie' should be 'bourgeoisie'. Changed.
+  Fontainbleau changed with Fontainebleau throughout the text.
+  P.187. vengance should be vengeance. Changed.
+  Footnote [187] < index. 'l'Opera' should be Histoire de 'l'Opera'.
+  P.132. Footnote 107: 'l'Ile' shoulde be 'l'Isle', changed.
+  Took out 'Court of France continued' in index. P. 382.
+  P.212, 'de' Mme. de changed to 'the' Mme. de.
+  P.229 'trival'. changed to 'trivial'.
+  Footone [269]. 'Historie' should be 'Histoire'.
+  P.329, 'Lauzon' should be 'Lauzun'.
+  P.347, 'suddently'should be 'suddenly'.
+  P.379. Arras, 'seige' of, should be 'siege'.
+  P.383. conversation, the delight of intelligent,
+  P.369. arrived 'a' the court should be 'at'.
+
+  These correction are not indicated.
+
+  Fixed multiple instances of:
+
+  Fontainbleau to Fontainebleau.
+  d'Ormesson.
+  d'Aumale
+  d'Haussonville
+  d'Ormesson
+  Blois, Mlle. de
+  Princesse
+
+  Accents that have been fixed:
+
+  HELENE.
+  SEVIGNE.
+  Pres.
+  Perefixe.
+  Angelique.
+  Problemes.
+  Beziers.
+  evenement
+  Phedre
+  Conde
+  Litterature
+  notre
+  Opera
+  Marie-Therese
+  independants
+  Pedagogue
+  Ecrits
+  Moliere
+  misere
+  edifiantes
+  Pedagogue
+  Saint-Genevieve
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Louis XIV and La Grande Mademoiselle, by
+Arvede Barine
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LOUIS XIV AND LA GRANDE ***
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