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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ae53ee4 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #52003 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/52003) diff --git a/old/52003-0.txt b/old/52003-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 2887520..0000000 --- a/old/52003-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,4688 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Memoirs of the Marchioness of Pompadour -(vol. 1 of 2), by Jeanne Antoinette Poisson Pompadour - -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/license - - -Title: Memoirs of the Marchioness of Pompadour (vol. 1 of 2) - -Author: Jeanne Antoinette Poisson Pompadour - -Release Date: May 5, 2016 [EBook #52003] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MEMOIRS OF THE MARCHIONESS *** - - - - -Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images available at The Internet Archive) - - - - - - - - - - - MEMOIRS - - OF THE - - Marchioness of Pompadour. - - WRITTEN BY HERSELF. - - Wherein are Displayed - - The Motives of the Wars, Treaties of Peace, Embassies, and - Negotiations, in the several Courts of Europe: - - The Cabals and Intrigues of Courtiers; the Characters of Generals, - and Ministers of State, with the Causes of their Rise and Fall; - and, in general, the most remarkable Occurrences at the Court of - France, during the last twenty Years of the Reign of Lewis XV. - - Translated from the French. - - IN TWO VOLUMES. - - VOL. I. - - LONDON: - - Printed for P. VAILLANT, in the Strand; and - W. JOHNSTON, in Ludgate-Street. - - MDCCLXVI. - - - - -THE - -EDITOR’S PREFACE. - - -The following work must be acknowledged highly interesting to these -times; and to posterity will be still more so. These are not the memoirs -of a mere woman of pleasure, who has spent her life in a voluptuous -court, but the history of a reign remarkable for revolutions, wars, -intrigues, alliances, negotiations; the very blunders of which are not -beneath the regard of politicians, as having greatly contributed to give -a new turn to the affairs of Europe. - -The Lady who drew the picture was known to be an admirable colourist. - -They who were personally acquainted with Mademoiselle Poisson, before -and since her marriage with M. le Normand, know her to have been -possessed of a great deal of that wit, which, with proper culture, -improves into genius. - -The King called her to court at a tempestuous season of life, when the -passions reign uncontrouled, and by corrupting the heart, enlarge the -understanding. - -They who are near the persons of Kings, for the most part, surpass the -common run of mankind, both in natural and acquired talents; for -ambition is ever attended with a sort of capacity to compass its ends; -and all courtiers are ambitious. - -No sooner does the Sovereign take a mistress, than the courtiers flock -about her. Their first concern is to give her her cue; for as they -intend to avail themselves of her interest with the King, she must be -made acquainted with a multitude of things: she may be said to receive -her intelligence from the first hand, and to draw her knowledge at the -fountain head. - -Lewis XV. intrusted the Marchioness de Pompadour with the greatest -concerns of the nation; so that if she had been without those abilities -which distinguished her at Paris, she must still have improved in the -school of Versailles. - -Her talents did not clear her in the public eye; never was a favourite -more outrageously pelted with pamphlets, or exposed to more clamorous -invectives. Of this her Memoirs are a full demonstration; her enemies -charged her with many very odious vices, without so much as allowing her -one good quality. The grand subject of murmur was the bad state of the -finances, which they attributed to her amours with the King. - -They who brand the Marchioness with having run Lewis XV. into vast -expences, seem to have forgot those which his predecessor’s mistresses -had brought on the state. - -Madame de la Valiere, even before she was declared mistress to Lewis -XIV. induced him to give entertainments, which cost the nation more than -ever Madame de Pompadour’s fortune amounted to. - -Madame de Montespan put the same Prince to very enormous expences; she -appeared always with the pomp and parade of a Queen, even to the having -guards to attend her. - -Scarron’s widow carried her pride and ostentation still further: she -drew the King in to marry her, and this mistress came to be queen, an -elevation which will be an eternal blot on the Prince’s memory. - -This clandestine commerce gave rise to an infamous practice at court, -with which Madame de Pompadour cannot be charged. All these concubines -having children, to gratify their vanity, they must be legitimated; and, -afterwards, they found means to marry these sons, or daughters, of -prostitution, to the branches of the royal blood; a flagrant debasement -of the house which were in kin to the crown: for though a Sovereign can -legitimate a bastard, to efface the stain of bastardy is beyond his -power. The consequence was, that the descendants of that clandestine -issue aspired to the throne; and, through the King’s scandalous amours, -that lustre which is due only to virtue, fell to the portion of vice. - -It was given out in France, and over all Europe, that Madame de -Pompadour was immensely rich: but nothing of this appeared at her death, -except her magnificent moveables, and these were rather the -consequences of her rank at court, than the effects of her vanity. This -splendor his Majesty partook of, as visiting her every day. - -The public is generally an unfair judge of those who hold a considerable -station at court, deciding from vague reports, which are often the -forgeries of ill-grounded prejudice. Madame de Pompadour has been -charged with insatiable avarice. Had this been the case, she might have -indulged herself at will: she was at the spring-head of opulence; the -King never refused her any thing; so that she might have amassed any -money; which she did not. There are now existing, in France, fifty -wretches of financiers, each of a fortune far exceeding her’s. - -It was also said, that the best thing which could happen to France, was -to be rid of this rapacious favourite. Well; she is no more; and what is -France the better for it? Has her death been followed by one of those -sudden revolutions in the government, which usher in a better form of -administration? Have they who looked on this Lady as an unsurmountable -obstacle to France’s greatness, proposed any better means for raising it -from its present low state? Is there more order in the government? are -the finances improved? is there more method and oeconomy? No, affairs -are still in the same bad ways the lethargy continues as profound as -ever. The ministry, which before Madame de Pompadour’s death was fast -asleep, is not yet awake. Every thing remains in _statu quo_. Some -European governments have no regular motion; they advance either too -fast, or too slow; their steps are either precipitate, or sluggish. - -In this favourite’s time, there was too much shifting and changing in -the ministry; now she is gone, there is none at all, &c. &c. - -I am very far from intending a panegyric on Madame de Pompadour. Faults -she had, which posterity will never forgive. All the calamities of -France were imputed to her, and she should have resigned in compliance -to the public: a nation is to be respected even in its prejudices. With -any tolerable share of patriotism, Madame de Pompadour would have -quitted the court, and thus approved herself deserving of the favour for -which she was execrated; but her soul was not capable of such an act of -magnanimity: she knew nothing of that philosophy which, inspiring a -contempt of external grandeur, endears the subject to the Prince, and -exalts him above the throne. - -There is great appearance that this Lady intended to revise both her -Memoirs and her will, and that death prevented her: she used to write, -by starts, detached essays, without any coherence; and these on separate -bits of paper. These were very numerous and diffuse, as generally are -the materials intended to form a book, if she really had any such -design. - -We were obliged to throw by on all sides, and clear our way through an -ocean of writings, a long and tiresome business. - -It is far from being improbable, that Madame de Pompadour got some -statesman, well versed in such matters, to assist her in compiling this -book: however that be, we give it as it stands in her original -manuscript. - -[Illustration: text decoration] - - - - -MEMOIRS - -OF THE - -Marchioness of Pompadour. - - -The following narrative is not confined to the particular history of my -life. My design is more extensive: I shall endeavour to give a true -representation of the court of France under the reign of Lewis XV. The -private memoirs of a King’s mistress are in themselves of small import; -but to know the character of the Prince who raises her to favour; to be -let into the intrigues of his reign, the genius of the courtiers, the -practices of the ministers, the views of the great, the projects of the -ambitious; in a word, into the secret springs of politics, is not a -matter of indifference. - -It is very seldom that the public judges rightly of what passes in the -cabinet: they hear that the King orders armies to take the field; that -he wins or loses battles; and on these occurrences they argue according -to their particular prejudices. - -History does not come nearer the mark; the generality of annalists being -only the echoes of the public mistakes. - -These papers I do not intend to publish in my life-time; but should they -appear after my death, posterity will see in them a faithful draught of -the several parts of the administration, which were acted, in some -measure, under my eye. Had I never lived at Versailles, the events of -our times might have been an inexplicable riddle to posterity; so -complicated are the incidents, and in many particulars so -contradictory, that, without a key, there is no decyphering them. - -Ministers and other place-men are not always acquainted with the means, -which they themselves make use of for attaining certain ends. A -plenipotentiary very well knows that he signs a treaty of peace, but he -is ignorant of the King’s motives for putting an end to the war. - -Every politician strikes out a system in his own sagacious brain; the -speculatists have often fathered on France what she never dreamed of; -and many refined schemes have been attributed to her ministers, which -never made part of their plan. - -It is not long since a minister of a certain court said to me at -Versailles, That the two last German wars, which cost France so much -blood, and three hundred millions of livres, was the greatest stroke of -policy which the age afforded; as this court had thereby insensibly, and -unknown to the rest of Europe, reduced the power of the Queen of -Hungary: for, added he, if, on the demise of Charles VI. this crown had -openly bent all its forces against the house of Austria, a general -alliance would have opposed it; whereas it has weakened that house by a -series of little battles and repeated losses, &c. &c. - -The inserting such an anecdote in the annals of our age would be -sufficient to disfigure the whole history. The truth is, that they who -were at the head of the French affairs, during these two wars, had no -manner of genius. - -All details not relative to the state I shall carefully omit, as rather -writing the age of Lewis XV. than the history of my private life. The -transactions of a King’s favourite concern only the reign of that -Prince; but truth is of perpetual concern. - -I hope the public does not expect from me a circumstantial journal of -Lewis XV’s gallantries: the King had many transitory amours during my -residence at Versailles; but none of his mistresses were admitted into -the public affairs. The reign of the far greater part began and ended in -the Prince’s bed. These foibles, so closely connected with human nature, -belong rather to a King’s private life, than to the public history of a -Monarch: I may sometimes mention them, but it will only be by the way. I -shall likewise be silent in regard to my family. The particular favour -with which I have been honoured by Lewis XV. has placed my origin in -broad day-light. A Monarch in raising a woman to the summit of grandeur, -of course lays open the blemishes of her birth. The annals of the -universe have been overlooked, to make a singular case of what has been -almost a general practice in the world. - -The Roman Emperors often raised so favour and eminence women of more -obscure birth than mine: but, without going so far backward, the history -of our own Kings abounds with such instances. Though the widow of -Scarron the poet rose a step higher than I, she was not born to such -exaltation. It is true her father was a gentleman; but all women, not -born Princesses, are at a like distance from the throne. - -A multitude of injurious reports have been propagated concerning my -parents. A wretched anonymous writer has gone even farther, by -publishing a scandalous book with the title of the history of my life. -The Count D’Affry wrote to me from Holland, that this production was of -the growth of Great-Britain. The English seem to make it their -particular business to throw dirt at persons of distinguished rank at -the court of France: that government is said to claim such a privilege, -in order to keep up the hatred between the two nations. - -Though my birth had nothing great in it, my education was not neglected. -I was taught dancing, music, and the rules of elocution, by excellent -masters; and those little talents have proved of the highest use to me. -I also read a great deal, and a favourite writer of mine was one Madame -de Villedieu. Her picture of the Roman empire entertained me -exceedingly. I even felt a very lively joy in observing that the -greatest revolutions in the world have been owing to love. - -After bestowing on me all the accomplishments which advantageously -distinguish a young person of my sex, I was married to one whom I did -not love; and a misfortune still greater was, that he loved me. This I -call a misfortune, and indeed I know not a greater on earth; for a woman -not beloved by a man, whom she likewise has married without any -affection, at least comforts herself in his indifference. - -During the first years of my marriage, the King’s gallantries were much -talked of at Paris: his fleeting amours opened a field for all women, -who had beauty enough to put in for his heart. - -The post of mistress to Lewis XV. was often vacant. At Versailles all -the passions had an appearance of debauchery. In that airy region love -was soon exhausted, as consisting wholly in fruition. Nothing of -delicacy was to be seen at court; the whole scene of sensibility was in -the Prince’s bed. This Monarch often laid down with a heart full of -love, and the next morning rose with as much indifference. - -This account made me shudder; for I own I had then formed a design of -winning the heart of that Prince. I was afraid that he was so used to -change, as to be past all constancy. - -I even, then, blushed at the thought of giving myself up to an -inclination of no farther consequence than a momentary gratification of -the senses; but was fixed on my design. - -I had often seen the King at Versailles, without being perceived by him; -our looks had never met; my eyes had a great deal to say, but had no -opportunity of explaining my desires. At length I had an interview with -the Monarch, and, for the first time, talked with him in private. There -is no expressing what passed in me at this first conversation; fear, -hope, and admiration, successively agitated my soul. The King soon -dispelled my confusion; for Lewis XV. is certainly the most affable -Prince in his court, if not in the whole world. In private discourse his -rank lays no restraint, and all ideas of the throne are suspended; an -air of candour and goodness diffuses itself through every part of his -behaviour; in short, he can forget that he is a King, to be the more a -gentleman. - -Our conversation was to me all charming: I pleased and was pleased. The -King has since owned to me, that he loved me from that first interview. -It was there agreed that we should see one another privately at -Versailles: he was very much for my immediately coming to an apartment -in the palace: he even insisted on it; but I begged he would give me -leave to remain still incognito for some time; and the King, being the -most polite man in France, yielded to my request. On my return to Paris, -a thousand fresh emotions rose in my breast. A strange thing is the -human heart! we feel the effects of those passions of which we know not -the cause. I am still at a loss whether I loved the King from this first -meeting: that it gave me infinite pleasure, I know; but pleasure is not -always a consequence of love. We are susceptible of a multitude of -other passions, which may produce the like effect. - -I experienced a thousand delights in our secret intercourse: little do I -wonder that Madame de la Valiere, in the infancy of her amours with -Lewis XIV. was so transported with the sole enjoyment of that Monarch’s -affection: but at length, the King requiring that I should live at -Versailles, I complied with his desire. - -Now was my first appearance at court. Very faint and imperfect are the -descriptions which books give of this grand theatre. I thought myself -amidst another species of mortals: I observed that their manners and -usages are not the same; and that in regard to dress, deportment, and -language, the inhabitants of Versailles are entirely different from -those of Paris. Every courtier, besides his personal character, frames -to himself another, under which he acts his several parts. In town, -virtue and vice are streightened; here both range at large. The -passions are the stronger, as they happen to be at the source of the -means of gratifying them. Private interest, from whence they derive all -their activity, is there in its centre. The Prince’s favour gives life -and motion to the courtier’s soul: without a beam from the throne, it is -all a horrid gloom. - -To appear with dignity on this theatre, where I was an utter stranger, I -saw that it behoved me to make it my first care to examine into the -temper of those actors who played the capital parts. - -Of his Majesty I knew nothing, but by common report; and that, when it -relates to a reigning Prince, is generally wrong; either flattery -attributing too many virtues to him, or malevolence charging him with -too many vices. - -Lewis XV. is endowed with great natural parts, a surprising quickness of -apprehension, and solidity of judgment. He, at once, discerns the -springs which give motion to the most complicated affairs of politics: -he knows all the weaknesses of the general system, and the faults of -each particular administration. This Prince has a noble and exalted -soul: the blood of the legislator, the hero, and the warrior, runs in -his veins; but a narrow education has stifled the effect of these -advantages. Cardinal Fleury, having not one great principle in himself, -trained this Prince to nothing but trifles: yet this unequal education -did not extinguish in him the most amiable qualities which can adorn a -Sovereign. It is impossible to exceed the goodness of Lewis XV’s heart: -he is humane, mild, affable, compassionate, just, delighting in good, a -declared enemy to every thing which does not bear the stamp of honour -and probity, &c. &c. - -Singular likewise are the virtues of the Queen: she has laid all -domestic hardships at the foot of the cross; so far from lamenting a -fate, which would have embittered the whole life of another Princess, -she considers it as a particular favour of Heaven, from a persuasion -that Providence is pleased to try her firmness in this life, in order to -confer the greater reward on her in the next. None of those fretful -words which speak a rankled heart ever came from her: she dwells with -pleasure on the King’s eminent qualities, and draws a veil over his -weaknesses: she never speaks of him but with a sensible respect and -veneration: it is impossible for any lady to carry Christian perfection -to a higher degree, and to concenter so many qualities in a rank, where -the least defects efface the greatest virtues. - -The Dauphin, being at that time very young, did not in the least concern -himself in public affairs. The King had ordered him not to interfere in -politics, and he seemed sufficiently inclined to conform to such -injunctions. - -The young Princesses kept pretty much in their apartments, and read a -great deal. Sometimes, indeed, they went a-hunting, dined with the King -in public, shewed themselves at the balls; then withdrew, without much -minding the intrigues of the court. - -The Duke of Orleans, though first Prince of the blood, seldom came to -Versailles: he had given into devotion, and spent his life in deeds of -charity. - -The Prince of Conti was at that time in the field, and wholly taken up -with military glory. - -Condé was very young, and his uncle Charolois sunk in the most debauched -intemperance. - -The other Princes of the royal blood had little or no share in public -affairs; accordingly they never came to Versailles, but to be present at -a great council, or at the King’s levee. - -Cardinal Tencin bore a great sway at court; the King confided in him -very much; so that they often used to be busy together. The most weighty -concerns of the crown were put into this ecclesiastic’s hands. Many -extolled him as a great minister; but as I scarce knew the man, I shall -say nothing of him: yet, when I think how much France has suffered by -Richelieu, Mazarin, and Fleury, I own I do not like to see people of -that class at the head of affairs. - -The Count de Maurpas excelled all the ministers of that time in genius, -activity, and penetration: he was of as long a standing in the ministry -as Lewis XV. in the sovereignty. To him the kingdom is indebted for -several noble institutions. It was he who re-established the navy, -which, after the death of Lewis XIV. had been most shamefully neglected. -I have been told that the Levant trade was entirely his work. He was -indefatigable in his department; and his dispatches were surprisingly -accurate. I have seen many of his letters; and think it is scarce -possible to comprize so many things in so few words. - -The d’Argensons, who had been introduced lately into the ministry, had -as yet no settled character: they were said not to want either genius or -probity; but that is not always sufficient for a proper discharge of -such a post. I have heard that many qualifications are requisite; and -that, if the least of them be wanting, there is no making any figure in -the ministry. - -The Count de St. Florentin, who managed ecclesiastical matters, was -little considered either at court or in town. He kept himself neuter -amidst the intrigues of Versailles, minding only the business of his own -department. As no great genius is required to issue letters _de cachet_, -and banish priests, he filled his post with all the dignity of a -minister whose only business is to sign. - -Orry, the Comptroller-general, was looked upon as a man of abilities, -from his talent at scheming pecuniary edicts. Within some months after I -had been settled at Versailles, he laid before the King no less than -twenty-five, and these were to bring in two hundred millions. He was -called the _Grand Financier_, from his finding resources for the King, -by impairing those of the state. - -The Prince de Soubise was a man of parts and discernment. He knew a -great deal; but his friends could have wished that he had not embarked -in war. The soldiery had no opinion of him: perhaps in this they were -wrong; yet a great man, who would be useful to his country, must give -way to public prejudice. - -Marshal Noailles had still greater abilities; so that it may be -questioned whether ever any one statesman or general possessed so -extensive a knowlege. The forming of him was an effort of nature. There -is not a science relating to political, civil, and military government, -with which he was not intimately acquainted; but the exertion of these -qualities was limited to the cabinet. His timidity and irresolution, in -a day of action, benumbed his faculties, otherwise so excellent: his -genius was certainly vast and extensive; and I question whether Europe -had his equal in council. - -Marshal Belleisle was then in high reputation: the court and town were -full of his praise. There was not in all France a man who had been at -more pains to acquire a superficial knowlege of useless things: he -pretended to be acquainted with every subject, and he had the art of -making others believe so; hence it was not in the least suspected that -he understood the art of war as little as that of negotiation: his -manners were mild and engaging, and he had an agreeable fluency of -speech; but he was so conceited of his knowlege, that although he -affected a certain degree of modesty, still his deportment was sure to -betray his pride: in short, I never knew a vainer creature. - -The Chevalier Belleisle did not affect to have so much understanding as -his brother, which shewed him to have the more; but he had all the -excessive ambition of the Marshal, and lost his life in attempting to -force an intrenchment, the success of which would have raised him to the -same rank. - -The Duke de Richelieu was still more idolized than Marshal Belleisle. -The King could not be without him. He was sure to be one at the private -suppers, and he superintended all the diversions of Versailles. Never -was any man like him for striking out a party of pleasure, and -enlivening it by little incidents. He made it his business to divert the -King, and was very alert in seizing every opportunity conducive to that -end: but it was not for the King’s sake that he gave himself all that -trouble: his motive of acting was his own aggrandizement; for he is -insatiably greedy of rank and distinctions. Though of no genius for war, -he had the ambition of being created a Marshal of France; and without -any political talents, he was for thrusting himself into the ministry. - -Maurice of Saxony was the hero of France: he was esteemed the kingdom’s -guardian angel. I shall speak of him when I come to treat of the battle -of Fontenoy. - -Monsieur d’Estrées had the reputation of an able general: I shall make -farther mention of him in the sequel. - -The greater part of the other courtiers were subordinate officers: they -used to come from the army to Versailles, and then go back from -Versailles to the army; all their business at court being about -preferments. These were the Dukes of Grammont, Piquigny, Biron, la -Valiere, Boufflers, Luxembourg; the Marquisses of Putange, Maubourg, -Bregè, Langeron, Armentieres, Creil, Renepont; the Counts Coigny, la -Mothe-Houdancourt, Clermont, Estrées, Berenger; Messieurs d’Aumont, -Meuse, Ayou, Cibert, Chersey, Buckley, Segur, Fenelon, St. André, -Varennes, Montal, Balincourt, la Fare, Clermont-Tonnerre, with many more -who were for raising themselves by the sword. - -There was, at that time, scarce a woman at court who aspired at the -King’s affections. Those of a distinguished rank disdained to be the -objects of a transient love; and others, who courted that situation, had -neither beauty nor graces sufficient to obtain it; so that it was only -Parisian Ladies who entered into any of these intrigues: several were -sure to place themselves in sight whenever the King dined in public; and -always attended him to the chace: in short, they were ever dangling -after his Majesty, which was just the very way to come short of their -aim. - -My thoughts were employed to secure myself in the station to which -fortune had raised me. The King was with me as often as the affairs of -the crown would allow; leaving all grandeur behind him, and coming into -my apartment without any thing of that state which attends on him at -other places: for my part, I closely studied his temper. - -Lewis XV. is naturally of a saturnine turn: his soul is shrouded in a -thick gloom; so that, with every pleasure at command, he may be said to -be unhappy. Sometimes his melancholy throws him into such a languor that -nothing affects him, and then he is quite insensible to all -entertainment and pleasure. In these intervals, life becomes an -insupportable burden to him. The enjoyment of a beautiful woman for a -while diverts his uneasiness; but so far is it from being a lasting -relief, that his melancholy afterwards returns upon him with redoubled -weight. - -Another misfortune in this Prince’s life is, the continual conflict -between his devotion and his passions; pleasure drawing him on, and -remorse with-holding him: under this incessant struggle, he is one of -the most unhappy men in his kingdom. - -I perceived that the King’s disposition was not to be changed by love -only: this put me on engaging him by the charms of conversation; which -has a stronger influence with men than the passions themselves. Of this, -history furnished me with an instance in the person of his great -grandfather. Lewis XIV. had so habituated himself to Madame de -Maintenon, that no other woman could make any impression on him; and, -tho’ the court at that time was full of celebrated beauties, Scarron’s -widow, at an age when female influence over man is generally on the -decline, found means so strongly to fix his affection, that her death -only put an end to the charm. - -I planned a series of diversions, which, following close on one another, -got the better of the King’s constitution, and diverted him from -himself. I brought him to like music, dancing, plays, and little operas, -in which I myself used to perform; and private suppers terminated the -festivity. Thus the King lay down and rose in perfect satisfaction and -good humour. The next day, unless detained on some great council, or -other extraordinary ceremony, he would hasten to my apartment, to take, -if I may presume to use the expression, his dose of good humour for the -whole day. He grew fond of me from that instinct which makes us love -what contributes to our happiness. All the favourites before me had -thought only of making themselves loved by the King: it had not come -into their heads to divert him. - -Thus I became necessary to his Majesty; his attachment grew stronger -every day. I could have wished that our union had rested on love only; -but with a Prince accustomed to change, we must do as well as we can. - -After the first moments of surprize, which naturally arises in our minds -upon any great change, I, in my turn, gave myself up to uneasy -reflections. Amidst all the King’s affection, I feared the return of his -inconstancy. I could lay but little stress on my elevation; all bow the -knee to the idol whilst the Prince worships it; but on his -over-throwing the altar, it is trampled under foot. Some days after I -thought I had more reason than ever to fear; for the King, coming to sup -with me, seemed more thoughtful than usual. Instead of that gaiety which -began to be natural to him, his countenance was quite clouded: all his -talk was about politics, the affairs of Europe, and dispatching a -courier to the army; thus, after a short conversation, he withdrew. This -abruptness filled me with alarms: I had not a wink of sleep; and next -morning I sent him an account of my condition in the following note: - - “SIRE, - - “Your politics have quite broke my heart. I was going to say a - thousand pleasant things to you, had not your dispatches - interrupted me. I have not closed my eyes during the whole night; - for God’s sake, Sire, leave Europe to itself, and allow me to lay - open to you the state of my heart, which is on the rack when you - deprive me of any opportunity of telling you that I love you with - an affection, the end of which will be that of my life.” - -The King having read my letter, came in person to my apartment to make -me easy; and he was now more gay than usual. I think I never saw him in -a better temper. He had already given me some insight into the great -events at that time on the carpet, and I was for diving into the truth -of these abstruse mysteries; but not a word did I then understand in -politics. I have heard that the English ladies have every morning ready -laid on their toilet a paper giving them an account of the affairs of -Europe, whereas all that we French women find there is our paint-boxes. - -I applied to Marshal Belleisle. “My Lord, be so kind as to instruct me -in what you call politics, which every body here is continually talking -of.” He answered me smiling, “I cannot bring myself, Madam, to instruct -you in a science which will prove destructive to many.” Yet the veteran -courtier talked to me of systems, and enlarged upon the methods to be -used by a state for its aggrandisement. - -After listening to him for some time, I concluded, though a novice at -court, that this science is not reducible to principles nor general -rules, as totally depending on time, place, and circumstances, and these -almost ever arising from chance. - -In order to get a knowlege of the preceding administrations, I set -myself to read the history of our government; but it was not in books -that I sought for this knowledge, having always looked on them as the -source of public errors. I consulted original manuscripts, which were -put into my hands by the King himself. Here I saw all the former -mistakes, and the original causes of them. - -As it was known both at Paris and Versailles that Lewis XV. was -unsettled in his amours, his favourites had no very regular court. It -often fell out that a lady whom the King had distinguished, lay down in -high favour, and rose in disgrace: for vacant employments and temporary -grants the favourites were practised on; but for the great purposes of -ambition other springs than mistresses were set to work. - -In the first months of my favour scarce any body came near me. The Duke -de Richelieu was the only nobleman who visited me in the King’s absence; -but when, by the Monarch’s order, I made my appearance as Marchioness de -Pompadour, and his Majesty was continually giving me marks of his -esteem, the face of things changed. Envy and ambition formed two -numerous parties. The former blackened me with the most virulent malice; -and the latter as much exceeded in the most fulsome adulation. The -motive in one was hope of preferment, the other acted from a despair of -ever being preferred: both, however, joined in asking favours of me. - -I used my interest with the King in behalf of both. If I raised a person -to a considerable post, or procured him a large pension, I surely drew -on myself a hundred enemies, besides his ingratitude. At length all the -kingdom came to pay their court to me; for the royal favour continued to -shine on me as bright as ever. They who had been the most forward in -reviling my birth, now claimed kindred with me. I shall never forget a -letter I received at Versailles from a gentleman of one of the most -ancient families in Provence, in the following terms: - - “Dear Cousin, - - “I did not know that I was related to you till now that the King - has created you Marchioness de Pompadour: a learned genealogist has - demonstrated to me, that your great-grandfather was fourth cousin - to my grandfather; so you see, dear cousin, our alliance is - indisputable. If you desire it, I’ll send you our pedigree, that - you may shew it to the King. - - “In the mean time, my son, your cousin, who has served with - distinction several years, wants a regiment; and as he cannot hope - to obtain it by his rank, be so good as to ask the favour from the - King.” - -I sent him the following answer: - - SIR, - - “I shall lay hold of the very first opportunity to desire his - Majesty to give your son a regiment. But I likewise have a favour - to ask of you, which is to dispense me from the honour of being - related to you. I have some family reasons which forbid me to - think, that my forefathers have ever been allied to any of the - ancient houses of this kingdom.” - -Half France would hide themselves for shame, were I to give a detail of -all the mean, fawning letters sent to me by persons of the first -families in the kingdom. A Princess could write to me in this manner: - - - - “My dear Friend, - - “I beg you would ask the King for a grant of farmer-general for Mr. - Armand M----, a superannuated clerk, whose fortune I would gladly - make. For this favour I shall hold myself obliged to you as long as - I live. - - I am, my dear, - - With all possible regard, - - Your most humble servant.” - - - - -The public envy, however, increasing with the marks of royal favour, the -world, at any rate, would make me answerable for the events of the -times. It has been in every body’s mouth, that all the misfortunes of -France were owing to me. If there were any grounds for such a charge, -the kingdom must have been in a prosperous and flourishing state when -his Majesty called me to Versailles; whereas it was very far from being -so. The cause of the evil lay deep; so that France, under all its -pressures, was only fulfilling its destiny. The misfortunes of the -administration in this reign are to be considered as flowing from the -former administration. - -At the time of the demise of Lewis XIV. the kingdom was in a dreadful -disorder; the debts of the nation were immense, and the public credit -totally ruined; so that the state then laboured under an evil, which was -not to be cured by temporary remedies. Lewis the Great, by his excessive -fondness for splendor, had impoverished the people. The preceding Kings -were contented with being the stewards or managers of the general -wealth, but he made himself the proprietor of it: he became master of -the nation’s treasure, all the finances were in his hands: he had -augmented the crown revenues beyond all relative proportion: in the -course of three years the whole species of France came into his coffers: -besides, his magnificence had set his subjects the pernicious example -of impoverishing themselves by profuse expences. - -The duke of Orleans, who was at the head of the state after Lewis XIV. -so far from restoring order, increased the confusion. He promoted a -system of finances, which proved their utter ruin. All the riches of the -monarchy changed hands. No such thing as money was to be seen; -foreigners ran away with one part, and domestic stock-jobbers secreted -the other; no plan of administration could be contrived, capable of -putting a stop to evils, unprecedented from the very foundation of the -monarchy. This revolution greatly affected the several branches of the -national strength. Agriculture, trade, arts, and ingenuity, were -sufferers by it, and still suffer: for I have heard very knowing persons -say, that the grand system had given birth to many detrimental systems -in the state. - -Cardinal Fleury succeeded him; and things went still worse: he alone did -more harm to France than all those before him, who had like to have -ruined this realm. His particular qualities were order, oeconomy, and -moderation; virtues excellent in a private person, but in a statesman -often very great vices. All his view was, to fill the treasury, fancying -that if the King were but rich, the state would no longer be poor. Thus -he went on increasing the opulence of the crown, from the people’s -subsistence. Intent upon saving, he let the navy run to ruin, that is, -he deprived France of the only way left for retrieving itself. - -Fleury died; but this produced no amendment in the administration. -France had not a minister capable of setting things to rights. They who -were put at the head of affairs, were very busy, but without any -knowledge. I have been told by a very experienced person, who used to -come and see me at Versailles, that if at the Cardinal’s death the -ministry had been put into the hands of an angel, he could not have done -the crown much good. He added, that all the most able minister could do, -was to prepare materials for a better administration. The government, -said he, has six capital imperfections, and these are not to be amended, -but by casting the constitution in a new mould. - -Another outcry was my being the source of favours, and that I disposed -of every thing in the kingdom; with this addition, that I had brought -the King to such a custom of visiting me, as had made it a kind of law -to him, never to refuse me any thing. To this I answer, that it is an -evil both necessary and natural to absolute government. Sovereigns must -either have a confident or a mistress; and of the two the state -generally suffers most by the former. Men in general have ambitious -views, which a women does not trouble herself about. The confident -studies to avail himself of the prince’s favour in all the means of -raising himself to the highest fortune; he gets the sole management of -the public finances; he engrosses the most lucrative posts, and -distributes among his relations and creatures, those which he does not -take for himself: the consequence of this is a general revolution in the -government. In short, he has schemes of grandeur and elevation quite -foreign to our sex. - -I have read in the annals of our monarchy that Richelieu’s ambition -brought a thousand mischiefs on France: that favourite of Lewis XIII. -sacrificed every thing to a giddy desire of appearing to be the only -person of consequence in the kingdom. He cut the very sinews of the -political power of all other bodies. He annulled the privileges of the -nobility, which alone could make any stand against the despotism of our -Kings; and therein he did more harm to France, than ever it has to fear -from any mistresses. - -Mazarine, the second favourite, had an army in pay, and personally made -war on the state. He imprisoned the princes of the blood, and raised -such animosities and disturbances as in a manner subverted all -government. He got the public treasure into his possession; almost all -the money of the kingdom was in his coffers. He used to sell the -principal state employments: when the King wanted money he was obliged -to apply to him. And our times have seen Count Bruhl, the King of -Poland’s favourite exceed his master, in extravagance. - -There are, at this time, several Dukes in the kingdom[1] who give France -cause to remember that its Kings have had favourites; whereas what great -fortune, what titles or distinctions has my brother Marigni? Die when -he will, he will leave no monuments of the particular favour with which -Lewis the XVth honoured me. - -I have been likewise accused of introducing into the ministry persons of -no turn for business, ignorant, shallow, and superficial fellows: but -where shall I find any other in France? The human mind seems to have -been degenerated among us. - -The French nobility, though most concerned in the public administration, -give no attention to business; their life is a round of indolence, -luxury, and dissipation. They know as little of politics as of finances -and œconomy. A gentleman either spends his life at his seat in rural -sports, or comes to Paris to ruin himself with an opera girl. They who -have an ambition to figure in the ministry, have no other merit than -intrigue and cabal. If they are traversed in their views, or afterwards -superseded, such measure is with them an effect of the prince’s -prejudice. - -The age of able ministers in France seems past. After all my inquiries -for a Colbert and Louvois, I could only meet with Chamillards and -Dubois’s; so that I was forced to commit all the branches of government -to financiers by profession; a set of people void of capacity, and only -skilful in one thing, which is pillaging the state. - -My enemies have farther affirmed, that I put the King on too frequent a -change of his ministers; but that is an invention, which, in no wise, -belongs to me. Before ever I knew the court, placemen were not more -settled in their posts than since. Every day saw such creations and -institutions; and this, perhaps, may still be a necessary evil in -France. Before those gentlemen are in place, nothing can come up to -their plan of government; they have effectual ways and means for -reforming every thing that is amiss; they know the seat of the disease, -and what will remove it: but no sooner have they got the reins of -government in their hands than their incapacity throws every thing into -confusion. On the public misfortunes they scarce bestow a thought; all -they mind is their own personal interest. The ambition of being prime -minister soon gets footing in them; and its continual agitation leaves -no room in their mind for any attention to the kingdom. Ten years of -administration in France make a minister so absolute, that he grows a -mere Pacha; any intimation of his is a peremptory order: the Grand -Signior is not more despotic at Constantinople than a French Secretary -of State, after spending ten years at Versailles. - -It is the same with military affairs: however brave and courageous the -French nobility may be, they have little or no genius for war: the -hardship of a campaign immediately puts them out of conceit. France has -no military school[2]. A young nobleman is made a Colonel before he is -an officer, and then steps into the general command, without any -experience. If two Frenchmen are appointed to command the armies in -Flanders or Germany, immediately the spirit of envy kindles among them, -and they will gratify their private piques and quarrels, whatever -becomes of the state. In the mean time, the enemies profit by these -divisions, and forward their schemes. In the late war, the King was -obliged to commit the safety of his crown to two foreigners: had it not -been for the Counts Saxe and Lowendahl, the enemies of France might have -been at the gates of Paris. - -It is a mistake to think that a woman, who is in distinguished favour -with a Prince, stands in need of weak ministers and bad generals to -support her: incapacity spoils all and answers no purpose. Political -mistakes, at the same time that they throw a shade on the Prince’s -glory, utterly efface the lustre of his favourite. I can truly say, that -most of the vexations I have gone through, since my residence at court, -proceeded from hence. On every advantage gained by our enemies the king -used to be melancholy and full of thought; and though this Prince be -extremely polite, and not one disobliging word came from his mouth, yet -his discomposure, at that time, embittered every other enjoyment of my -life. - -I never made a minister, I never advised the King to confer the command -of an army on any person, of whose abilities I was not certainly -convinced, and whose merit was not universally confessed. The great -used to compliment me on it, and the King himself congratulated me on my -good judgment of men; their fitness was proclaimed by the universal -voice. - -I must here mention the troubles the court laboured under, when the King -gave me an apartment at Versailles; the occurrences of those times -belonging to the plan of these Memoirs. Without that crowd of incidents -which then fell out, and which the King used to communicate to me, my -favour perhaps had never risen to such a height; for the events of this -world are always directed by second causes. - -Ever since the year 1741, France had continued to wage war in Italy, in -Flanders, and in Germany. Charles the VIth, the last male descendant of -the house of Austria by the male side, had an ambition, which was not to -be limited even by death; he was for surviving himself, and -transmitting his power beyond the grave. - -This Prince, after acquiring a very large extent of dominions, had -procured them to be guarantied by the chief powers of Christendom. The -small military force at that time on foot in Europe, had induced the -Christian Princes, to such a weak compliance. Italy was quite spent; all -the petty governments of the empire were under a political slavery; and -the great houses of the North were little better. On the decease of that -Prince all began to breathe, and every one claimed their respective -right. - -The Elector of Bavaria demanded a part of the succession; Augustus King -of Poland set forth his pretensions; the King of Spain likewise put in -for a share: and, what is more, there appeared two pragmatic fanctions; -one giving the Austrian dominions to the Archduchess, spouse to the -Polish Prince; and the other securing them to Maria Theresa, Charles’s -eldest daughter. Such a contrariety of interests must of course give -rise to a general war; but it began from a quarter which policy would -never have apprehended. - -The King of Prussia, almost the only Prince in Europe who had no -pretensions to the Austrian succession, yet made his demands, and, -instead of manifestoes, asserted them by the sword. His troops invaded -the very best province of all the Queen of Hungary’s dominions, and made -themselves masters of it. The crown was of no long standing in the -Brandenburgh family: it had first obtained the title of Majesty from the -Emperor Leopold; and this honour had little added to its real greatness. -The King of Prussia was of little account among the European potentates; -and what claims he had to any of the Austrian effects were merely on a -private account; and turns on the restitution of some duchies, which his -family had been possessed of by right of purchase; yet he invades -Silesia as a sovereign. - -I have heard that Maria Theresa was on the brink of ruin, when her very -enemies saved her. The Hungarians, who for ages past had been -endeavouring to overthrow that family, now, one and all, vigorously rose -in her defence. - -The Duke of Belleisle told me, that this change in the political world -was wrought by that Princess’s haranguing them in Latin; “a great -change, indeed (added he), for had the Hungarians abandoned that -princess, very probably we should have heard no more of the house of -Austria.” - -Lewis XV. joined with the King of Prussia to place the Elector of -Bavaria on the Imperial throne; besides the diversion occasioned in the -North by the election, the King said, that the house of Bourbon was now -discharging an old debt with Bavaria. - -Were gratitude of any weight in the conduct of Sovereigns, France might -indeed be thought to have taken arms in return for its obligations to -the Electors of Bavaria, who have ever been firm allies to this crown, -and had sustained very considerable losses in its cause. - -The house of Bourbon joined with that of Brandenburgh to weaken the -succession of Charles VI; besides, the exaltation of a Prince of the -house of Bavaria to the Imperial throne secured to France an ascendancy -in Germany. - -It has been reported that the King of Prussia, at first, offered Maria -Theresa money and troops to maintain her right against the other powers, -on condition of her ceding Lower Silesia to him. Had she agreed to this, -the affairs of Europe would have taken a different turn. But, from what -I have perceived since my living at Versailles, Princes often make a -tender of what they have no mind to give. This the Marshal de Noailles -called _political compliments_. - -Frederick had a sure game of it; and it is seldom that Princes ask of -others what they can get by themselves. The house of Austria was not -able to make head against his invasion of Silesia; nothing was in -readiness for preventing it; therefore France in a manner could do no -otherwise than declare for the Prussian Monarch. Accordingly the treaty -was made; and to give it the greater weight the King of Poland was made -a party; he then little thought that this same Frederic would one day -invade his dominions. - -This confederacy was the basis of several others: the Palatinate, Spain, -and Italy came into the plan; Spain wanted to procure Parma, Placentia, -and the Milaneze, for Don Philip. - -All the negociations in Germany were committed to the Marshal Belleisle. -The poor Elector of Bavaria, who was to be made Emperor, had not -wherewith to raise six regiments; so that, in the war which we were now -undertaking for his sake, every thing was to be furnished him. France as -it were armed him from head to foot; and made him her Lieutenant General -in Germany: and thus the successor of the Cæsars became a subaltern -officer of the house of Bourbon: however, in consequence of his title, -an army was sent for him to command. - -Whilst one party was forming to overthrow the house of Austria, another -was gathering to prevent its fall. Holland and England, whose common -interest it was that there should be a power in Germany able to cope -with Versailles, were already making preparations for a German war; but -hitherto the house of Austria received only pecuniary aids. - -Prague was taken, and the Elector of Bavaria proclaimed King of Bohemia, -and soon after Emperor. This last title he first received from Marshal -Belleisle: thus a subject of the King of France disposes of a throne, -which anciently, had disposed of all the empires of the world. - -This Marshal has since said to me, that the court of Versailles overshot -itself, and that the war had been begun where it should have ended. The -armies of the King of France and the Elector of Bavaria, together with -the Saxon troops, were not sufficient for keeping the countries which it -was necessary to reduce. - -The victors advanced without ever looking behind them, till Marshal -Belleisle, foreseeing that these victories would soon occasion defeats, -thought it proper to be indisposed, and ask leave to retire. Marshal -Brogolio was dispatched to him, and on taking a view of things, soon saw -into the cause of Belleisle’s indisposition. Six years after, these two -Generals being in my apartment, the latter said to the other concerning -this affair, _faith, Marshal, you played me a scurvy trick there_. - -The Hungarians made good all losses of men; and I have been since told -by connoisseurs in military affairs, that of infantry we sent a -sufficiency, but had forgot cavalry, which, in Germany, is the more -necessary body. - -The King of Prussia’s drift was to profit by the disadvantages of his -allies: he had made conquests, which he carefully kept to himself, -regardless of the losses of his allies; but he still wanted a decisive -victory to make himself dreaded by the house of Austria, with whom he -was already disposed to come to terms. He fought the battle of Czaslaw, -which terminating in a complete victory on his side, he remained -inactive, and soon after struck up a peace with Maria Theresa. - -Every thing now went against France; her troops were driven from their -posts, her convoys intercepted, her magazines seized, and the far -greater part of the army perished by sickness. - -Then it was that the French Generals discovered the Prussian Monarch’s -temper. Marshal Belleisle has often told me, that he had seen into his -way of thinking; but judged that the progress of the French arms in -Germany would force him to be faithful to the alliance. So true is this, -added he, that on the first rumour of our misfortunes, I said to M. de -Broglio, _the King of Prussia now will shift sides_. - -One of the articles of the treaty was, to renounce his alliance with the -house of Bourbon; and thus the French troops were sacrificed. - -For that, said a very knowing man to me, not long since, we may thank -the council of Versailles, which, instead of such a body of troops as -would have been equal to any undertaking, had only sent small armies, -whose sickness ruined them as fast as they came. - -The Emperor, being but ill assisted by France, was flying before his -enemies; he had quitted his capital, and was at a loss where to shelter -himself. His destiny seemed the more melancholy, as he was on the point -of being tumbled down from the highest pitch of human exaltation. - -Of all his mortifications the most severe certainly was his being forced -to become a suppliant to his capital enemy, the Queen of Hungary. He -made her an offer to limit his ambition to the imperial crown, and -desist from all his claims to the Austrian succession. - -But things now went so well with Maria Theresa, that, instead of a -moderate answer to these proposals, she very nearly called him rebel, -and driving him out of Bavaria, signified to him that the only safe -shelter for him in Germany was the territory of the empire. - -England’s hands were tyed; Maillebois, at the head of a large body of -troops, had obliged George II. to sign a treaty of neutrality, and the -Dutch were unable and as little disposed to interfere in the affairs of -Germany. - -Robert Walpole, then the ruling minister in Great Britain, was all for -peace, as understanding nothing of war. Every minister in Europe, (as a -man of great wit, who often came to me at Versailles, pointed out to me) -has his peculiar talents, according to which he gives the bias to public -affairs. Walpole’s system was that the power of Great Britain lay in -trade, and that such a nation is to keep clear of sieges and battles. - -The king shewed me several of that minister’s letters to Cardinal -Fleury. In one he says, - -“_I engage to keep the parliament to a peaceable disposition, if you -will bridle the martial ardour of your people; for a minister in England -cannot do every thing_,” &c. &c. - -In another, - -“_I have a deal of difficulty to keep our people from coming to blows; -not that they are bent on war, but because I am for preserving peace; -for our English politicians must be ever skirmishing, either in the -field or at Westminster._” - -In a third letter he expresses himself thus: - -“_I pension half the parliament to keep it quiet; but as the King’s -money is not sufficient, and they to whom I give none, clamour loudly -for a war, it would be expedient for your Eminence to remit me three -millions of French livres, in order to silence these barkers. Gold is a -metal which here corrects all qualities in the blood. A pension of two -thousand pounds a year will make the most impetuous warrior in -parliament as tame as a lamb. In short, should England break out, you -will, besides the uncertainty of events in war, be under the necessity -of paying larger subsidies to foreign powers, to be on an equality with -us; whereas, by furnishing me with a little money, you purchase peace at -the first hand._” &c. &c. - -But Walpole having been obliged to quit the ministry, Great Britain -sided with the house of Austria. She was already at war with Spain. The -English sent a large army into Flanders, before ever the court of -Versailles had thought of garrisoning its strong places, so that the way -lay open for them into France; and why they did not enter it, will ever -remain a secret. A British minister has since told me, that there were -at that time too many malecontents in the army; and that the invasion of -France was omitted, purely in spight to a party, who had ever -maintained, that the only way to restore the balance of Germany, was to -penetrate beyond Flanders. Thus, added the minister by way of -reflection, our government which is looked on as one of the best modeled -in Europe, is sacrificed to private passions. - -Prague, that city on which France had founded all its hopes, began to be -despaired of; and from thence it was that, some time after, Belleisle -made that fine retreat, with which, every day of his life afterwards I -was sure to be entertained; for the old man was very vain. He used to -say, it was the finest military performance the age had seen. - -All Europe was in a ferment. Italy had taken arms to defend a liberty -which it no longer enjoyed. I have been told that the Pope himself -entered into treaties tending to continue and spread the war. - -The balance of Europe seems to have been the point in question; but all -states aimed at giving France some underhand wounds. - -Cardinal Fleury, though he had avoided war, had not studied peace so -much as he ought. He had, for some years past, perfectly doated through -length of age, and his sticklers took his reveries for so many refined -strokes of policy. - -Some people in France have greatly cried up his order and œconomy, -whereas they were nothing more than the effects of his niggardliness; -for so penurious was he, that he never could prevail on himself to -furnish his house. All the affairs of France savoured of avarice and -parsimony. - -On his death, the King became his own master; for till then Lewis had -been in reality only the second person in the state: but he made not -the least alteration in the tenour of affairs. The same faults went on; -so that a judicious person who, at that time, had a place at court, told -me lately, that things looked as if the Cardinal had been living after -his death, small armies being sent into Germany, by way of œconomy; -which all perished like the former. The Dutch, after many prayers and -threats, had declared themselves. - -I have been told by a person who has made it his business to observe the -policy of every nation, that the Dutch have two maxims from which they -never depart, the first is, whatever wars arise between the great -powers, to be always neuter, that they may engross the whole commerce of -Europe. The second is, to watch the moment of France’s being -over-powered by its enemies, and then declare against it. It was -unquestionably in consequence of the latter, that they joined their -troops to those of England, and took the field. This last alliance was -offensive and defensive, and all Europe found itself in a state of war. - -Germany, Holland, Flanders, Piedmont, and every part of Italy, swarmed -with soldiers. The Count d’Argenson calculated that Europe had then nine -hundred thousand men on foot, ready to cut each others throats, without -any known reason. Particularly France was ruining its finances, and -losing the flower of its people, to no manner of purpose; for, after -all, said an able politician to me one day, on this head, what was an -Elector of Bavaria’s being Emperor of Germany to us; or Don Philip being -Duke of Parma? I shall never forget what I read in Voltaire concerning -this: _It was_, says he, _a game that Princes were playing all over -Europe, hazarding, pretty equally, their people’s blood and treasure_; -_and by a medley of fine actions, faults, and losses, keeping fortune a -long time suspended_. It must be observed that, amidst all this -fighting, no war had been declared; the greater part of the troops -slaughtered each other only as auxiliaries. - -Charles VII. the cause of this general conflagration, had now neither -subjects nor dominions left; he was not allowed so much as to bear the -title of Emperor, the only honour remaining to him; and his election was -declared all over Germany to be null and void; so that he saw himself -reduced to accept of a neutrality in his own cause. This step alone -ought to have put an end to the German war; but, by my own experience, I -have since known, that princes do not make war from any connected -system, but only as coinciding with the motions of second causes. - -The large French armies were now withdrawn out of Germany; indeed most -of the troops left there had been made prisoners of war. The Marshal de -Noailles has several times said to me, that of all the political errors -committed in Europe for these thousand years past, the German war was -the greatest. - -In reading the history of that time, it appeared to me, that of all the -princes engaged in the war, Emanuel King of Sardinia was the only one -who had any shadow of reason for it. France was for settling contiguous -to his dominions, a prince of the house of Bourbon, whose settlement -must have been highly inconvenient to him; accordingly, in order to -exclude this dangerous neighbour, he struck in with the enemies of -France. From the beginning of the war, this prince had assisted the -house of Austria, and now entered into a treaty with it. England -supplied him with money to defray the charges of the war: but the Queen -of Hungary went farther, conferring on him a little state, which did -not belong to her[3]. - -France, in 1744, declared war against England, and the house of Austria; -and soon after this declaration, a great project was taken in hand: -overtures were made to Prince Edward, the Pretender’s son, for -recovering the throne of his ancestors. - -He was a spirited, bold, courageous young man, quite tired of leading an -indolent life at Rome, and impatient to signalize himself. - -The house of Stuart is so unfortunate, that I question, whether it would -be in the power of all Europe joined, to restore it to its antient -rights. There seems something of a fatality annexed to that name. - -France made all the preparatives in his favour, and gave him all the -assistance which the posture of affairs could admit of; but the whole -design miscarried. A long time after, I, one day, asked the King, -whether it had been his real intention, to place the Pretender on the -throne of Great Britain? his answer was, that neither he nor his council -ever thought it practicable; that this restoration depended on a -multitude of second causes, the course of which was no longer under any -political direction. The Marshal de Noailles one day said to him in my -hearing, _Sir, if your Majesty would have had mass said in London, you -should have sent an army of three hundred thousand men to officiate at -it_. - -In the mean time, young Edward, eager of doing something to be talked -of, put to sea, and had a distant view of the kingdom, the possession of -which both fate and policy denied to him. A tempest disappointed his -landing, and scattered his fleet; yet the ardent Pretender would, in -spight of the wind, make his landing good, and fight alone against all -England. Versailles had received the most particular assurances, that he -had a very strong party at London, and it was on this plan that the -expedition had been formed. - -It is not very long since I happened to be at the Marshal Bellisle’s; as -he was looking for some writings in his closet, he put a paper into my -hand, saying, _There, Madam, there is something for you to read; that -letter has cost us a great many millions, which are gone to the bottom -of the sea; it was directed to the court of France, by a party of_ -Jacobites, _as they are called in England_. The words of it were these. - -“_The tabernacle is ready, the holy sacrament need but appear, and we -will go and meet it with the cross. The procession will be numerous, but -the people here being very hard of belief, soldiers and arms will be -necessary; for it is only by powder and ball, that the system of -transubstantiation can be made to go down in England. Depend on it, -that we will do every thing to the utmost of our power; and we can -before hand assure you, that the landing once made, our party will have -nothing to do but to pronounce these words_: ite, Missa est.” - -In this letter were mentioned twenty-two persons, several of whom now -hold a considerable rank in England. Sometime after, he showed me -another, the tenor of which is this. - -“_Whatever people say, the expedition is not difficult: a landing may -easily be made; every tiring favours the revolution; the advantages -religion gives us, will be greatly strengthed by political motives. The -Hanoverian is hated, he is continually oppressing the nation, aiming -both at absolute power, and draining the peoples substance._” - -The attempt on England failing, fresh efforts were made in Italy for -settling Don Philip; but this the King of Sardinia, who has the key of -the Alps, opposed; and the Prince of Conti engaged to make his way -through them. This was in some measure warring against God, who has -separated the two states by inaccessible mountains. I have had several -times read to me in my apartment, the transactions of that Prince in -those impracticable climates; the taking Chateau Dauphin, and his other -successes amidst those rocks and precipices: and the Prince of Conti in -this expedition appears to me greater than many heroes whose fame is -high; but great men have not always justice done them. - -Lewis XV. who never had seen an army, was now for putting himself at the -head of his troops, and determined to make his first campaign in -Flanders. On his arrival, Courtray surrendered; and soon after Menin -followed its example. The King himself, to the great encouragement of -the soldiery, used to be present at the works. - -This first campaign of the King’s having been much talked of in France; -on the peace, I asked his Majesty, whether he had found in himself a -fixed inclination for war. He at first eluded answering me, and talked -in general terms; but a year after, in one of those moments of -confidence, when the heart lays itself open in the arms of friendship, -he told me it would have been his reigning passion; and that, without -the recent example of his great-grand-father, and Cardinal Fleury’s -earnest councils to him, he should totally have given himself up to war; -but that the affection due to his people had got the better of his -passion. Happy government, when the Monarch sacrifices his propensions -to the welfare of his subjects! - -Lewis was obliged to quit his first conquests, and fly to the assistance -of Alsace, Prince Charles having passed the Rhine to invade several of -the French provinces; but upon the King’s approach at the head of his -army, the prince repassed the Rhine. - -All the advantages which France had gained in Flanders did not much -improve its situation. The Queen of Hungary’s alliance with England, -Holland, Sardinia, and Saxony was too great a counterpoize. The king of -Prussia himself made a convention with Great Britain, but had not -included in his agreement that the house of Austria should become so -powerful. In treaties between Sovereigns, it is always understood, that -the party in favour of whom a neutrality is observed, shall not increase -his forces beyond a certain relative proportion: now the house of -Brandenburgh has more to fear from that of Austria than from any other -in Europe; so he kept himself a mere spectator of the war, whilst the -losses of France and the emperor were inconsiderable; but on the queen’s -making a rapid progress, he armed to stop her career. I have since -frequently asked the Marshal de Noailles, one of the greatest -politicians in France, why Sovereign Princes make no scruple to commit -these breaches of faith, which in common life are reckoned intolerable -vices? His constant answer was, that these infractions were necessary, -and that Europe even owed its safety to them: were it not for such -failures, the universal commonwealth would soon be made subject to one -single prince; and this he might compass, only by once bringing the -others to stand neuter. - -The King of Prussia’s first step, after his new alliance with France, -was, to march with a powerful army towards Prague. Whilst all France was -rejoicing at Frederic’s successes, advice came that the King was taken -ill at Metz, and the symptoms were grown very dangerous: this caused a -general affliction; I remember every body was in tears. These cordial -marks of affection are a higher praise, and express his character better -than all the flattering strokes with which writers will disfigure his -history. I have talked with many who were present at the death of Lewis -XIV. and according to them, not a tear was shed in France. Nobody was -afflicted with the news; and his death was quite forgot before he was -buried; heroism being less esteemed than goodness; and Lewis XV. is the -best Prince that ever sat on a throne. - -The beloved Monarch recovered, and then the nation’s joy exceeded its -former consternation. He laid siege to Friburg in Brisgau, and razed its -fortifications, as he had demolished those of other places which had -yielded to his arms: A policy, which, perhaps, may prevent many wars -hereafter. - -M. de Maurepas was saying one day to me on this head, that the Turks and -Persians have scarce any fortified places, and that was the reason of -their seldom making war on one another. I have since heard, that most of -our wars in Europe were owing to this; that states confided too much in -bastions and citadels, which hindered negociations from taking effect. -If so, the famous Vauban, whose genius is so often extolled, must have -done a great deal of mischief to France. - -In the mean time, the King of Prussia, who, by arming in favour of -France, had changed all the German systems, decamped from Prague; his -army fled before that of Prince Charles, who, repassing the Rhine in the -sight of the French, crossed the Elbe to attack the Prussians. I never -could come at a certain knowledge of this Prince Charles, who directed -most of the plans of this war; some speaking so very well of him, and -others so very ill, that I have not been able to form any settled -judgment of his character. - -Marshal Noailles, who knows men, has told me that this Prince wanted -neither talents nor genius, but that the goodness of his heart -frustrated the qualities of his mind. Instead of having a will of his -own, added he, he suffers himself to be directed by those about him; and -these are not always the best head-pieces in the world. For instance, -continued he, Prince Charles is now at Brussels as Governor of the Low -Countries; but there is a German about him, who turns and winds him at -his pleasure, and his pleasure is not always what should be. - -The Austrian power, which had been weakened by the king of Prussia’s -joining with France, now received an increase by an alliance with the -Elector of Saxony, King of Poland. This Monarch changed measures for the -same reason which had induced the King of Prussia to change. - -All parties in these treaties deceived each other. France looked for -mighty advantages from a diversion which the King of Prussia was making -only for himself; and the King of Poland, who had engaged to furnish the -Queen with thirty thousand men, had a part of Silesia given to him, -which now did not belong to her. - -Elevated with this alliance, and especially the assistance of England, -the council at Vienna hoped not only to recover Silesia, but even to -reduce French Flanders. They certainly did not consider that Lewis XV. -had committed the security of it to one, who was most likely to give a -good account of it to the kingdom: This was Count Maurice of Saxony. - -Other officers owe their abilities to age, reflection, and experience, -but he was born a General. His very enemies (and these at Versailles -were not few) have done him this justice, that never man surpassed him -for a quick and comprehensive penetration. He instantly discerned what -other commanders discovered only by time and circumstances. Maurice not -only foresaw events, but also produced them; so that he may in some -measure be said to have determined fate. This general made war -geometrically, never coming to a battle till he had in demonstration -gained it. He was said also to be possessed of the great Turenne’s -distinguishing qualities, that is, to harrass and perplex the enemy by -his dexterity in encamping and decamping; a kind of petty war, which -seldom fails of leading to great advantages. - -This picture, however, is none of my own; I only speak after some of the -trade, who used to talk to me in this manner. - -Whilst the war was prospering abroad, things went wrong at home. The -King was at a loss for ministers. The Count de Maurepas put the marine -in as good a condition as the English and the state of affairs would -allow: but the other departments were in a terrible disorder. The -foreign affairs were offered to one Villeneuve, an old man, who had been -a long time ambassador at the Porte, where, though his merit has been -much cried up, he had ruined the Turky trade, by turning merchant -himself. He came home from his ambassy with immense riches, chiefly -extorted from the merchants of Marseilles. His principal qualities were -management and parsimony. These virtues, so much countenanced by -Cardinal Fleury, were greatly in vogue at Versailles. Niggardliness bore -the sway. The decrepid ambassador declined the post, doubtless as being -attended with more pains than profit. Besides, I have heard those who -knew him personally say, that he was not in the least fit for that -branch of government. His abilities had been much talked of, for having -brought about a peace between the Porte and the house of Austria; but at -Constantinople, these sort of negociations are carried on without a -minister’s having any great share in them. I have it from M. de -Maurepas, that the chief instrument in that affair, was a French -linguist, one de Laria, who was perfectly well acquainted with the -temper of the Turks, and had been employed by Villeneuve in that -negociation. - -In the mean time, affairs in Italy did not go so well as could be -wished; Don Philip had taken and retaken Savoy, but could not make his -way into the country of Placentia. - -The King of Naples, whom only a captain of an English ship had -compelled to a neutrality, because he was not in a condition to arm, -broke it as soon as he had got himself in readiness for war. - -He had advanced as far as Veletri, where Prince Lobkowitz endeavouring -to surprise him, was himself surprised. The loss was great on both -sides, and, as I have heard from very experienced officers, the case was -then as it almost ever is on such occasions, they both weakened -themselves, and without any advantage even to the victor. - -Lobkowitz fled before the King of Naples, who pursued him into the -Ecclesiastical State; so that Rome itself was in a consternation, on -seeing two armies at its gates. - -A small event, which fell out at this time in Germany, shews the great -injustice of war, in making the belligerant powers overlook the very -laws of nations, which should every where be inviolable. - -The King had sent Marshal Belleisle to several German courts in quality -of his ambassador, and, as such, he was negociating the affairs of the -crown; yet this minister, in his way along the skirts of the country of -Hanover, was seized, and sent over to England as a state prisoner. - -This general was treated with great regard, and one of the royal seats -appointed for his residence; but this splendid hospitality only the more -exposed the injustice of that nation. - -The Marshal has since told me, that he was not at all sorry for his -detention, as it had given him an opportunity of studying the temper of -that capricious people in their own country. I have heard him say a -hundred times, that a Briton was the riddle of human nature; he would -say, it is easy to discern what the bulk of the nation is, but there is -no knowing the individuals. According to him, a definition may be given -of the English in general, but it is impossible to say what an -Englishman is. - -Vienna, Berlin, and Versailles, were busied in the same plans which had -been concerted in the council, when an unforeseen event brought on some -change in the dispositions. Charles VII, that unfortunate emperor, who -had not known a moment’s quiet on the august throne of the Cæsars, died. -If it be nature only which can make men happy, he was of all men the -most miserable. He had long laboured under great pains and sufferings -from the badness of his constitution; and ambition, which is ever the -predominant distemper in sovereigns, added to his bodily pains: amidst -his infirmities, all his thoughts were about securing himself on a -throne, which the ill state of his health was soon to deprive him of. -Many were the vicissitudes of his reign. He was once very near being -without a place to hide his head. He has often been obliged to quit his -capital, and shift his abode; so that the successor of the masters of -the world was sometimes without either house or home. - -He was paid by France for being Emperor. He had an allowance of six -millions of livres to support a rank which, for that very reason, did -not belong to him. They who are acquainted with the causes of the rise -and fall of houses, say, that the misfortunes of that of Bavaria were -owing to its alliance with that of Bourbon; and this, it seems, will -ever be the case of petty states uniting with the greater. - -On the decease of Charles VII. France looked out for an Emperor in -Germany; for that Charles’s son could quietly succeed his father, was -impossible. He was not of a proper age; neither had he the means to -maintain himself on the Imperial throne, even had there been an -intention to place him on it: yet was he thought of, but no farther than -in appearance; it was only a feigned scheme. A very sensible man was -lately saying to me, There is a meanness in princes which I cannot -forgive: they feign to wish what they do not intend, and yet act as if -they did intend it. This duplicity has cost the lives of multitudes of -brave men, and ruins the commonwealth. - -Some fruitless strokes were again struck for insuring the Imperial -sceptre to a Prince, who was known not to be able to keep it; but the -young Elector, with more wisdom than his father, renounced a throne on -which his allies could not maintain him, and thereby did more good to -France, than could have accrued to her from the most happy successes of -her policy. - -A tender was then made to the King of Poland; and in this choice, France -had the advantage of detaching from the house of Austria a powerful -Sovereign. It has been said that the Elector of Saxony declined the -empire: but Marshal Belleisle told me, that he could not accept of it, -and that he saw the impracticability of such a thing, on the very first -mention made to him of it. A King of Poland, Emperor of Germany, would -have thrown all the northern courts into a flame; and this double -Monarch would have had as many wars on his hands, as there were then -Sovereigns in Germany. Thus seeing the impossibility of such an -acquisition, he made a merit with the Queen of Hungary of his inability, -entering into a closer alliance with her, for placing the great Duke of -Tuscany, her spouse, on the throne of the Cæsars. Could it be thought -that policy was no motive herein, the King of Poland might be accounted -a Prince of eminent probity. He had a defensive treaty with the Queen of -Hungary, so that he sacrificed his ambition to that alliance; a very -rare procedure in the history of sovereigns! - -The Prince of Soubise, talking over these matters with me, said, that -the irregularity of the treaties in Germany, after the death of Charles -VII. had forced France to be more regular in its conduct relating to the -northern affairs; and ever since it has kept itself to a defensive war, -which certainly was its only proper policy. - -Germany being left to itself, Flanders became the seat of action. -Maurice had prepared every thing there for one of those bold strokes -which determine the destiny of states. He laid siege to Tournay, the -King himself being present in person; this siege endangered Holland, -which on this occasion was eager for coming to blows. - -It was with astonishment I read in the annals of those times, that this -tribe of merchants, who have no thoughts beyond trade and parsimony, -should now have been the first in calling for a battle, the loss of -which might have been fatal to the republic. - -The battle of Fontenoy was fought, and the allies lost it. This victory -has made a great noise in the world; but by the detail which a general -officer at my desire gave me of it, I do not find it to be one of those -events which greatly heighten a nation’s glory. - -The French army was much more numerous than the allies, and both the -King and Dauphin were present; the presence of these two Princes, thus -eye-witnesses of the bravery of their troops, created a second courage, -which in gaining victories goes farther than the first: the magazines -were full; the soldiers wanted for nothing; the household-troops were -there; and the whole was commanded by an experienced general, whom the -troops idolized, as capable of the greatest enterprizes: the Princes of -the blood, the Dukes, Peers, and almost all the nobility of the kingdom, -fought along with the soldiery, sharing their dangers and glory; in a -word, the whole French monarchy was present at Fontenoy. If, with all -these advantages, the allies had got the better, there would have been -an end of the monarchy; for the enemy was marching to the gates of -Paris. I am far from intending here to lessen the glory of Marshal Saxe, -who conducted the action. - -He has often given me an account of it since the peace, and I find that -here, tho’ then very low in health, he surpassed himself. His thoughts -were every where, and he remedied every thing: whatever an able -commander could do, he really performed. Some persons of the trade, -however, have affirmed to me, that very great faults were committed that -day; and that to repair them, it was frequently necessary to disobey the -General’s orders. The Duke de Biron took on himself to keep the post of -Antoin, though he had been expressly ordered to quit it. But in my -opinion, one of the most considerable was, leaving the King and the -Dauphin, during the whole action, on the spot where they had placed -themselves. A general rout, and this rout was two or three times very -near happening, would have exposed France to the worst of misfortunes. - -It has been said in several histories, that the Marshal was so confident -of gaining the battle, that he made no doubt of it; but he has often -told me himself, that two or three times he apprehended it lost, and -that he had always doubted of the victory till the household had -charged. One evident proof of his uncertainty was, his sending two or -three times to the King to withdraw. - -I was extremely uneasy about this important event, when a letter was -brought me from his Majesty. I opened it with trembling hands, and found -it as follows: - - From the camp at Fontenoy, an hour - after the battle. - - “Madam, - - “I saw all lost, till Marshal Saxe retrieved all: he has surpassed - himself in this action; my troops fought with invincible courage; - the houshold especially performed wonders; I owe the victory to - that corps. The French noblesse fought under my eye; it was with - pleasure I beheld their heroic valour.” - - * * * * * - - * * * * * - - * * * * * - -These three lines were in cyphers. - -This letter was very acceptable, and removed all my fears. - -From the time of the King’s departure from France, I had often converse -with the Abbe de Bernis, who had been recommended to me to keep me -company during the King’s absence. - -He had been introduced into the great world by women; for he had all -those little talents with which our sex are so taken, compliance, -affability, genteel ways, suppleness, gaiety, fluency of speech, a -smooth tongue, a pretty knack at versifying, and all those qualities set -off with a very handsome person. - -This Abbe was never at a loss for well turned compliments to the ladies, -so that he was always welcome among the sex. As in our first -conversations he never dropt the least intimation about preferment; I -imagined that, at last, I had met with a truly worthy person, one whose -noble soul soared above riches and honour. But I was mistaken; this Abbe -was eaten up with a desire of court distinction, concealing an unbounded -ambition under a hypocritical disinterestedness. His apartment, as I -have been informed, was, as it were, a perfect warehouse of memoirs; -some related to the farms of the revenues, others to œconomy, some -concerning war, some the navy, and others the finances. He had a -wonderful readiness at forming projects. He could scheme any thing he -had a mind to. - -The action of Fontenoy led the way to other conquests in Austrian -Flanders, and the Flemings every where received Lewis XV. with the -loudest acclamations. I have read in most of the revolutions of the -world, that the people greatly rejoice at a change of masters. - -This victory caused a general revolution; the Germans and English -determined to break into the kingdom. They made their way by Provence -and Bretagne, but they only shewed themselves. The Austrians passed the -Var, and then repassed it. The English landed and returned to their -ships. Our modern history is full of these military follies. Posterity -will ever be at a loss why General Sinclair, who commanded in this -expedition, after bringing a French city to capitulate, moved off -without reaping the fruits of the capitulation. - -They who shall read the annals of our age, will scarce believe that the -cabinets of Europe could have committed so many faults, and that the -Generals of armies could have fallen into so many errors. - -The Genoese, who had introduced the Spaniards into Italy, were forsaken -by them; so that the state of Genoa was invaded by the Austrians, who -even made themselves masters of the capital. They first required of the -Genoese what money they had, and after stripping them, demanded still -more. - -In the mean time the German army was in pursuit of the French and -Spaniards, and crossing the Var after them, took post in Provence. -Botta, in whose care the city had been left, and who was at St. Peter -des Arenes, forgot that he had no army to keep it, and that what -remained in that suburb, was only a sickly half-dead multitude; the -consequence of which was a sudden revolution, too strong for him to -suppress. - -The Genoese, whom a large army had awed into submission, recovered their -freedom on its departure. Here Botta was guilty of a great oversight; he -proposed to the senate to join him against the rebels, as he called -them, not perceiving that they underhand encouraged the insurrection: -they readily promised to act in concert with him; but this was only to -give the people time to gather and unite their strength: it was too late -when the general came to be aware of their design; he fled with such -precipitancy, as to leave all his magazines behind. - -The King shewed me a letter sent to court from a Genoese Senator, giving -a particular account of the whole transaction; the beginning, progress, -and end of the scheme laid for shaking off the Austrian yoke. The great -council had for some time secretly promoted it. It was not setting the -Genoese to draw cannon, which occasioned its revolution; it might indeed -hasten the execution of it; but the plan had been concerted long before: -thus is posterity often misled in histories, attributing to accident -what was the effect of premeditated design. - -This deliverance was attended with another happiness to Genoa; it had at -that time no citizen who could have deprived the Republic of its -liberty. The juncture was extremely favourable; the people had got the -whole power of the state into their hands. Now I have heard our -politicians say, that on such junctures, giving money, and granting -privileges, will carry every point. - -This revolution, which seemed only a private concern, changed the system -of general affairs. The Austrians, who intended to besiege Toulon, and -lay Marseilles under contribution, were obliged to repass the Var, for -want both of shelter and provisions. - -The court of Vienna, inflamed at this event, blocked up Genoa, and -threatened the inhabitants with the severest treatment, if they did not -immediately surrender; but the Genoese, being supported by the French, -made a vigorous resistance, without being intimidated by menaces; and -Boufflers, and afterwards the Duke de Richelieu, were sent to command -there. M. Maurepas has often told me, that it was a great oversight in -the English, who blocked up Genoa by sea, in not having a number of -flat-bottomed boats to hinder any French succours from getting into -Genoa. - -This precaution would have changed the whole disposition of affairs in -Italy. Genoa, then incapable of any further resistance must have -surrendered to the Austrians, and the Infant Don Philip, the subject of -the war, would never have seen Parma and Placentia. - -Lewis XV. after taking seven fine cities in Flanders, returned to Paris; -and it may be said that never was such joy displayed in that city, as at -the sight of this Prince; every street rang with shouts of gladness and -applause. - -Amidst the many checks which England had met with in Flanders, the -Pretender conveyed himself into Scotland. As he had neither armies nor -ships, some courtiers said, _he had swam thither_. It was not very -difficult to foresee the issue of this enterprize, every step and -circumstance of it being irregular. A very intelligent man told me at -that time, that the most fortunate thing which could happen to the -Pretender, would be to get out of Scotland as clandestinely as he got -in: but he was a young man, rather fond of executing his projects in a -singular manner, than concerned about the success of them. - -This enterprize, however ill conducted, had one advantage for -Versailles, that it caused a diversion in England. France has always -made use of the house of Stuart for its private views. I am sorry that -George II. who wanted neither courage nor firmness, should have shewn -any uneasiness at it. An English nobleman told me, that he caused the -London militia to take an oath, that they did not in any-wise believe -that the pope had ever a right of causing Princes to be murdered. He -also had the records of Rochester searched for the form of the -excommunication anciently denounced by the Popes, to stimulate the -English against the see of Rome. I would not have Princes stoop to -trifles, which always betray a weak mind; a prince on the throne should -act with magnanimity. - -The Pretender published a manifesto in vindication of his rights, -addressed to the people of England; but this manifesto contained only -empty words, whilst George had on his side troops and cannon. - -Marshal Belleisle more than once took notice to me of a remarkable -passage in this manifesto. Prince Edward there owns that the house of -Stuart lost the English throne in some measure by its own fault, and -promises amendment. _If_, says he, _the complaints formerly brought -against our family did take their rise from some errors in our -administration; it has sufficiently expiated them_.--Young Edward took -possession of the kingdoms of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland, in -his father’s name, declaring himself regent. For England well and good; -but thus to make a king of France, was too hasty. Those titles, however, -resting on no surer grounds than the possession, as quickly -disappeared. - -At this time France endeavoured to keep the Dutch neuter; both courts -published manifestoes, and the ministers negociated: but this project of -neutrality produced only a fresh paper war. The Abbe de la Ville -presented memorials drawn up with great pomp and accuracy of stile, and -he was answered with an elegant conciseness; but fighting still went on. - -The face of affairs in Germany had changed; the King of Prussia -acknowledged the Great Duke of Tuscany Emperor, and made his peace with -the house of Austria. I have often heard a smart saying of Marshal -Belleisle on this head. _I very well knew_, said he, _that this man, who -is so fond of war, would incline to peace on the first opportunity to -his advantage_. - -M. Soubise more than once said to me, _That Monarch would have owned the -Pope for Emperor, had any Sovereign in Germany given him only a hundred -square acres of land_. This peace was so far advantageous to France, as -it diminished the power of the house of Austria. Apparently Italy alone -would be the sufferer, as it was to be supposed that the Queen of -Hungary, being quite at leisure in Germany, would be for fighting on the -other side the Alps. She sent reinforcements to the Low Countries, -which, however, could not hinder Marshal Saxe from taking Brussels. It -was then that Lewis XV. to compleat the conquest of Austrian Flanders, -set out to command the army in person. - -Our progresses were very rapid; the King’s presence, and the soldiers -confidence in Marshal Saxe’s abilities, made every thing easy. It was -otherwise with the Pretender in Scotland, who fled before the enemy, and -at length lost a decisive battle against the Duke of Cumberland. - -In these circumstances it was that M. d’Argenson wrote, though -indirectly, to the English government, in favour of young Edward. A man -of wit has since shewed me how extremely ridiculous this was; for had -there been a design that Edward should not out-live his temerity, a -better method could not have been invented for having him made away -with. - -That minister represented him to the court as a relation of the King’s, -for whose person and qualities this Monarch had the highest value. He -insisted that King George was a Prince of too much equity, not to -perceive the Pretender’s son’s merit. This manifesto afterwards told the -English, that they ought to admire him for those qualities of an eminent -patriot, which so conspicuously shone in him. It then proceeded to the -dangerous consequences which might result to England, from any severe -treatment to young Edward, &c. They did not see that this declaration -must have produced a quite contrary effect to that proposed. The -Pretender’s crime was not his coming over to Scotland, but in being -France’s ally. Consistent people said, either Prince Edward is a rebel, -or King George is an usurper; and Sovereigns should not countenance -rebels, nor solicit usurpers. - -The invention of this intercessory letter is fathered on a Cardinal, who -being a member of the sacred college, was for securing the Pretender’s -retreat; whereas it was the very way to obstruct it. Accordingly -England, making no account of this manifesto, set a price on his head, -and some Lords who had taken up arms for him, were publicly beheaded. - -Whilst all the Princes of Europe were at war together, their ministers -were repairing to Breda, to negociate a peace. This necessarily -increased the business of cabinets, having both military and pacific -operations on the carpet. The dearth of ministers still continued in -France; none could be found capable of healing the public misfortunes. -M. d’Argenson, who had the foreign affairs, only increased the -confusion. They were committed to M. de Puisieux, who was then at Breda, -where he was ordered to feign great zeal and assiduity in bringing about -a definitive treaty; this was only a feint, he was in reality employed -at Versailles. On his nomination, he said to the King, _Sire, I will do -all I can, but I beg your Majesty to believe that I cannot work -miracles_. - -Marshal Saxe humorously said, _None but a saint or a devil can set the -French administration right_. This gave occasion to a courtier -afterwards to say, that we must be without friends, both in hell and -heaven; this so much warned saint or devil having not yet made his -appearance in France. - -Marshal Belleisle, having driven the Austrians out of Provence, returned -to Versailles, to give the King an account of his operations. He had a -strange passion for signal projects; and he proposed several to his -Majesty, the least of which was to deliver Genoa, to make Spain mistress -of the greater part of Italy, and strip the King of Sardinia of all his -dominions, &c. - -He was sent again to Provence, where the sum of his exploits amounted -only to the taking of the small castle of Saint Margaret’s island. A man -of genius was lately saying to me, that if good chimerical projects, and -imaginary plans, made a man great, M. Belleisle was indisputably the -greatest man in Europe. - -In the mean time Holland, having created a Stadtholder, determined on -the continuance of the war. I saw that Lewis XV. was manifestly -affected with this news, whether from a concern for his people, or that -the elevation of the Prince of Orange disconcerted his projects. He said -in my presence to a courtier, _These Dutchmen are terrible folks; I wish -their republic was a thousand leagues from any of my frontiers; it gives -me more trouble than all the rest of Europe put together_. - -France having now no hopes of bringing the United Provinces to a -neutrality, thought of invading them; and politicians said, that it was -the only way left to restore the balance in Europe, which had been lost -by the continual advantages of the English at sea. - -Effectual measures were taken for the invasion. The King won the battle -of Lafeldt. At the same time it was determined to besiege -Bergen-op-Zoom. This expedition was committed to count Lowendahl, who -merrily promised to make a present of it to the King on St. Lewis’s day. -Bergen-op-Zoom was taken, which threw the Dutch into the greatest -consternation, as they had all imagined the carrying of that place to be -an impossibility. This event shewed, that in war there is no such thing -as certainty, its operations being ever subject to the caprice and -inconstancy of fortune. - -The congress at Breda was removed to Aix-la-Chapelle; but the courts -still continued planning sieges and battles. Whilst the -plenipotentiaries were settling the preliminaries, the levies for fresh -troops went on with all possible vigour, and France prepared for war -more than ever; but the difficulty was to procure soldiers. It has been -affirmed to me, that there were large country-towns in France, which -could not furnish so much as one militia-man, so that it became -necessary to make the married men carry arms, though this was hurting -posterity. All manner of taxes and imposts were also contrived to supply -the want of money. M. Machault, comptroller-general, who had succeeded -M. Orry, proposed expedients, but all of a very destructive tendency. -The parliament clamoured, and openly declared in its representations, -that if all the edicts concerning the finances took place, as proposed, -the kingdom was undone; but it received for answer, that great evils -required great remedies; and this silenced it. - -At length a way being opened into Holland, by taking of Bergen-op-Zoom, -and Marshal Saxe threatening to put an end to the republic; on the other -hand, the southern provinces of France being reduced to a starving -condition; this, with other circumstances, disposed the several powers -to sign preliminaries of peace, which was soon followed by a definitive -treaty. Such a situation of things promoted the public tranquility more -than all the studied harangues of the plenipotentiaries at -Aix-la-Chapelle. - -I had the treaty read to me at Versailles; all the articles appeared -very suitable to the present state of Europe, except that of Canada. It -seemed to me that the appointing commissioners to settle that great -affair, would only perplex it the more. I spoke of it to Marshal -Belleisle, who told me that article was a state secret: we could have -given it another turn, but this is best for us; it leaves things in -America as they are, and we have twenty Savage nations in Canada who -will revenge our loss. This revenge some years after cost us the game. - -The Prince de Soubise told me some time after, that this peace had been -a child of necessity; that there was not one of all the signing Princes, -who could not have wished that the war had continued. Yet I can take -upon me to say, that the King of France was of a different mind. He was -visibly more gay than usual, and the great joy of his heart displayed -itself in his countenance. - -Thus at length the public calamities were suspended. Genoa, which under -the Duke de Richelieu had continued to defend itself against the -Germans, grounded its arms. The Spaniards and French, after being in -continual action to settle Don Philip in Italy, discontinued their -operations; and it was agreed that every thing should remain quiet till -the publication of the definitive treaty. I longed for it more than any -minister in Europe. The King had no quiet; the concerns of his crown and -personal glory kept him in Flanders, and took up all his thoughts, never -returning to Versailles till the campaign was quite over. My private -satisfaction I could have willingly sacrificed to the happiness of the -state, but sieges and battles only encreased the public distresses. - -New lotteries and new taxes were established to raise the means for -signing the peace; thus the public ease began with draining them to the -last drop. - -The Pretender’s son, who seemed quite forgotten, now makes his -appearance again. Concluding, as he well might, that nobody would think -of him at the congress of Aix-la-Chapelle; he began by protesting -against every thing which should be done there. So little regard was -paid to the manifesto which he caused to be set up, that all parties -signed without minding his protestations. To this opposition he added -another still more extravagant at Paris, refusing to comply even with -the King’s express orders. - -One of the first articles laid down between England and France, had -been, that the Chevalier de St. George’s son should quit the kingdom. -Lewis XV. several times signified to him the indispensable necessity he -was under of adhering to the agreement. Prince Edward plainly told those -who first mentioned the King’s pleasure to him, that he would not -comply. I have often heard the excuse he gave for this refractoriness. -_The King of France_, said he, _promised me that I should always find an -asylum in his dominions; for this I have his sign manual in my pocket. A -Prince who has a sense of honour, knows what obligations his word lays -him under, and how greatly he exposes himself in violating it._ - -He treated with the King of France as with a private gentleman. He -forgot that Sovereigns may fail in their word, without any breach in -their honour, the good of their people so requiring. The Pretender’s son -was taken into custody, as he was going to the opera. Strange reverse of -fortune! On his arrival in France, he had been received with great joy, -and marks of consideration. I was something concerned for this young -Prince’s fate, and dropped a word or two about him to the King, who -answered me with some heat, _What would you have me do, Madam? Should I -continue the war with all Europe for Prince Edward? England will not -allow him to be in my dominions; it was only on this condition, that she -came into the peace. Should I have broke off the conference at -Aix-la-Chapelle, and distressed my people more and more, because the -Pretender’s son is for living at Paris?_ - -It must be owned that this Prince shewed an obstinacy beyond example. -The King sent all Paris to represent to him the state of affairs, and -express the concern it gave him, that he was obliged to remove him from -his court. Though these messages were delivered to him in the King’s -name, his answers were so many menaces. The Count de Maurepas spoke to -him on this occasion, in the following words: - -“It is with the greatest grief that the King sees himself obliged to -desire your Highness to quit his dominions. I come in his name to assure -you that no other consideration than the welfare of his subjects would -have prevailed on him to take this step. You would have seen him -inflexibly supporting your claim, had not the unhappy turn of the war -laid him under a necessity of yielding to the present juncture. The -greatest Monarchs cannot always do as they would. There are critical -seasons where policy requires them to be pliant. Your Highness knows -that; since the unhappy time when the Stuart family lost the crown of -England, the Bourbon family has made several efforts for their -restoration. You ought to take his intentions kindly, rather than blame -his inability. I wish you had been witness to his conversation with me, -when he called me into his closet to give me his orders, by which I was -to signify to you his desire that you will quit the kingdom; it must -have affected you. He sincerely laments your situation, but he cannot -turn the tide of fate; and should you force him to take violent -measures, it would give him the deepest concern. - -“Lewis XV. has sent me to you, not as a King, not as a master, but as an -ally, and as a friend; and, what is more, he directed me to ask it of -you as a favour, that you would leave his dominions.” - -Prince Edward was very laconic in his answer, drawing a pistol out of -his pocket, and vowing to shoot the first man that should offer to lay -hands on him. The archbishop of Paris likewise conjured him in the name -of God and the Pope, but with no greater effect; religion had no more -weight with him than politics, so that the extremity which the King -would have avoided, became necessary. The Chevalier de St. George’s son -was arrested as he was going to the opera. - -The enemies of France failed not to exclaim against this violence, -exaggerating it with the most odious appellations. - -On searching his house, it was found turned into an Arsenal. He had arms -enough to stand a siege in form. It was talked at court that he had -determined to fight singly himself against a whole regiment, and then -set fire to a barrel of powder, which communicated with others, and thus -blow up himself, with all that belonged to him. The King, on being told -this, said, “A very ill-timed bravery, indeed!” - -The peace, however, spread an universal joy through all ranks. There -were only two men in the kingdom who were not satisfied with it, the -Marshals Saxe and Lowendahl. The former expressed his discontent to the -secretary of war in this manner: “After the battle of Fontenoy, said he, -we were in a fair way of making ourselves masters of Holland, and -putting an end to that troublesome republic; for these merchants, with -their shipping and their wealth, are the mischief-makers of Europe; they -are the necessary allies of our natural enemies the English. The great -work of their destruction was nearly finished; why did we not go through -with it? If we again give the republicans time to fortify themselves, -they will be as daring as before; and the time may come when France with -all its forces will not be able to bring them to reason. Destroying -Holland is cutting off England’s right arm; and every body knows, that -all France’s policy should center in weakening Great Britain. - -“Of what consequence has the victory of Fontenoy been? What is France -the better for the taking of Bergen-op-Zoom? All those efforts of -courage, all the lives of so many gallant officers who fell in Flanders, -were purely thrown away. If these places were to be restored, and the -Dutch and the house of Austria to be put on the same footing as each of -them was before the war, it had been much better there had been no war -at all. France’s giving back its conquests, was making war against -herself; her very victories have ruined her; her enemies have retained -all their former strength, whilst she alone has weakened herself. Her -subjects are fewer by a million, and her finances reduced to little or -nothing.” - -These speeches reaching the King’s ears, he said, “I understand the -language of those generalissimos; they are for ever dwelling on red-hot -bullets.” - -The count de St. Severin d’Arragon, who had made the peace, undertook to -demonstrate the fallacy of such reasonings; and the King has often -repeated to me his arguments. “Sire, said he, the conquest of Holland -made no part of the plan of this war. All France aimed at, was to keep -the Dutch from declaring. The end of our many sieges and battles, was -not to destroy their republic, but only to bring it to pacific terms; so -that in forcing them to lay aside their arms, the council of state’s -view is fully answered. - -“Your Generals will have it, that after the battle of Fontenoy, and the -taking of Bergen-op-Zoom, the United Provinces might easily have been -overrun, and the States-General have been brought under the dominion of -France. They are mistaken; the weapons of despair are invincible. To -compel a people to the necessity of being conquered, is the ready way to -lose a conquest. The sovereignties once settled, are no longer subject -to destruction; they are reciprocal counterpoizes; should only one fall -under the power of another, the whole balance of Europe would be -destroyed. It is long since war has afforded any of those decisive -blows, which, in the time of the Romans, changed the face of the -political world. A province may be mastered, but the invading of -kingdoms is out of date. - -“Granting, Sir, that the ardour of your troops, breaking through the -common ways, had reduced Holland, it would have been a conquest not only -useless, but have thrown France into fresh troubles; all Europe, in a -body, would have declared war against you. The great powers, jealous of -the house of Bourbon, have long been watching an opportunity of giving -it a decisive blow. - -“Right policy, instead of making a noise, silently takes a bye-way to -its ends; let us insensibly weaken the Dutch, but never think of -destroying them. They are a barrier against the great northern powers. -They secure us from the incursions of the Germans, whom the Romans -themselves could not check, and who at last overthrew the empire of the -Cæsars. - -“But a great deal is said about the easiness of our conquering, and not -a word how easy it was to conquer us. What induced me, Sire, to put the -finishing hand to the great work of the peace, is the disorder of the -finances, the depopulation of the state, and the scarcity of -provisions. - -“The Comptroller-general has acquainted me that he knows not where to -find any more money. The intendants of the provinces have wrote to the -war-office, that it is utterly impossible to raise another militia; to -which the intendant of Guienne adds, that in his province the people are -starving; those, Sire, were my motives for hastening the conclusion of -the peace.” - -These reasons, however, did not prevail with the great men of the army, -who still wanted to be fighting. They were big with hopes, which the -peace seemed to quash. I remember Lewis XV. one day talking on this -subject, said to me, _that he had not a general officer in his troops -who cared what became of the state, if he could but get a Marshal’s -staff_. - -The King, who had rewarded Marshal Saxe, did not forget the Count St. -Severin, making him a minister of state. This Count, though not a great -genius, had good rational sense, which he made to answer as well as a -superior understanding. He was slow in business, but sure; and his -phlegmatic disposition was better adapted to surmount those -difficulties, which ever put fervid and eager minds to a full stand. He -was a stranger to agitations; his passions moved in subordination to -political laws. Resentment, anger, sallies of passion, spirit of party, -with all the other prepossessing foibles which ruled most ministers, -were never seen in him. Those he used to call the reverse of the medal -of plenipotentiaries. In a negociation he moved straight on to his -drift, without stopping by the way. He had a natural love for peace, and -thus the more chearfully applied himself to forward a definitive treaty. - -M. de Belleisle told me, that he found one great fault in him, which was -the want of a proper regard to military men, however illustrious by -their rank or merit; for after all, added he, there is no making a good -peace but by dint of victories; and it is the general, and not the -plenipotentiary, who gains battles. - -France however was quite spent; the means made use of for supporting the -war had been so violent as to break all the springs of power. The -ministers complained greatly of the state of France, and openly said, at -the peace, that they did not know where to begin the administration. - -Paris is not the place where the general distress most manifests itself. -The luxury, such as it is, prevailing there conceals the public -indigence. There poverty itself appears in embroidery and ribbons, -whilst in all the other parts of France it goes quite bare. The court -had written into the provinces for a report of the state of things. M. -de Belleisle has shewn me several memoirs of those times, transmitted -to Versailles by the intendants of the provinces. The tenour of the -first way this: - - “MY LORD, - - “You ask me for a state of the finances in this province; that is - soon done: there are none. I don’t believe that the whole province - could produce a hundred thousand livres in specie: the poverty is - so general, that all distinction of ranks is at an end. The louis - d’ors are like to become scarce pieces, so as soon to be seen only - in the cabinets of the curious.” - -The other is from the intendant of a province naturally very fertile, -but which could not be cultivated for want of money. His report to the -minister was as follows: - - “MY LORD, - - “There is no representing to your Excellency the present distress - of this province; the land yields little or nothing; most of the - farmers, unable to live by the produce of their farms, have quitted - them; some are gone a begging, others have lifted in the army, and - not a few have escaped into foreign countries; the gentry and - nobility are little better off, being put to the utmost difficulty - to answer the taxes and impositions on them. - - “Of fifteen hundred thousand acres of arable land, which used to - support this people, at present six hundred lie fallow; what a - diminution this must be to the general subsistence, your Excellency - readily sees. A village which, before the war, supported fifteen - hundred inhabitants, can now scarce support six hundred; and a - particular family, which was able to feed six children, and as many - labourers, can now provide food only for five. The cattle are - diminished no less than the men, so as not to be sufficient for - tillage; and in most of the villages men do the work of oxen. - - “I have traced this calamity to its source, and I find the evil - proceeds from the general want of cash: to prevent the consequences - of this diminution, I could wish that the court would be pleased to - advance to this province, by way of loan, the sum of fifteen - hundred thousand livres, to be geometrically distributed among the - industrious poor. This, in my opinion, is the only remedy left to - avert greater evils.” - -The third of these memoirs was from another intendant, who paints the -depopulation in these sad colours. - - “MY LORD, - - “The king’s subjects are daily decreasing in this province; it will - soon be without inhabitants. Having directed the parish-priests to - bring in lists of the christenings and burials, I find that the - number of the dead exceeds that of the living; so that, should this - depopulation go on twenty years longer, and God continues my life - during that time, by my calculation, I shall be the only living - creature, of the human species, in this province. Fifteen years - before the last revolution of the finances, this district contained - fifteen hundred thousand souls, and now if there are nine hundred - thousand, it is the most. Yet how, my Lord, can it be otherwise? Of - fifty of the king’s subjects, scarce two have any thing of a - subsistence; the others must necessarily perish. A marriage is - seldom heard of; so that all the new-born children are the fruits - of debauchery. - - “I cannot point out any remedy to these distresses. In the present - crisis of the monarchy, it is God alone who can rescue it out of - the abyss into which the misfortunes of the times have cast it.” - -The fourth was from a sea-port, whose deputy thus delivered himself -before the ministry. - -“Trade, which had been declining for several years, is now fallen into a -total stagnation. Our ships lie in the harbours, useless both to the -state and their owners. We have little or nothing for exportation; the -produce of the country scarce affords a very scanty subsistence; and our -manufactures are at the lowest ebb. All our trade is in the hands of the -English and Dutch. - -“Most of our monied men, who fitted out privateers, have been ruined by -the war; others so reduced, that instead of ten ships, which they used -to have at sea, they find it difficult to have one: both seas are -covered with foreign fleets, so that the white flag begins to be -forgotten. - -“All other nations are carriers to France, whereas France carries for -none. This general stagnation animates others, and throws our marine -into a fatal lethargy, &c. &c. &c.” - -The navy has been utterly ruined, all the ships being taken by the -English, except a few unserviceable ones in the harbours; and the funds -appointed for fitting out a fleet are exhausted; but had there been no -want of money, seamen were wanting; most of them had died in English -prisons, and they who escaped the enemy perished by distress. It was -impossible for France, being thinned of men, to furnish seamen. - -M. Belleisle, who interfered in every branch of government, said one day -to the King, in my hearing, _Sire, should all the powers of Europe -declare war against you, I engage to raise in your dominions a hundred -and fifty thousand soldiers, who should keep them all at bay; but were I -to fight an English fleet of a hundred ships of the line, where I -should get twenty thousand seamen, I know not_. - -Another misfortune, beyond any remedy, was the necessary reduction of -the troops. A hundred and fifty thousand subjects, who had fought for -the crown, at the peace came to want bread: most of them, though they -had been husbandmen before the war, were now no longer so. I have -several times heard the Marshal de Noailles say, that a countryman, -leaving the plough for the musket, is very seldom known to take to it -when discharged; and he used to add, that on a hundred thousand -husbandmen quitting their labour, a hundred thousand others must labour -to provide them bread, otherwise a famine, and the ruin of the state, -must be the consequence. - -Some regulations were made to prevent the disorders to be apprehended -from these reduced troops; but the remedy was more dangerous than the -disease. - -Of all the incumbrances, that of the military rewards were the greatest; -money was required to pay the bravery of the officers in ready cash, for -the military gentlemen are most impatient creditors. Formerly a St. -Lewis’s cross sufficed, but it has since appeared to the officers, that -a yearly sum gives a greater lustre to gallant actions. - -Above ten thousand different pensions were settled on the Exchequer. A -churchman who, at my desire, used sometimes to read to me the memorials -on this head delivered to me for the king, would often say, that the -glory accompanying fine actions must be of very little value in France, -as the gentlemen of the army would not take it for a reward. The -archbishop of Paris likewise used to say, that victories cost the state -more than defeats. - -The claimants would set forth their services with an arrogant modesty, -which gave great offence to the court; especially they who had lost a -limb were quite insupportable. One of these gentlemen (it was indeed -after several journies to court to obtain a pension) said to me before -several foreign ministers, _Madam, since the King cannot give me an arm, -which I have lost in his service, he should at least give me money_. - -Once an officer being come express with the news of the loss of a battle -in Germany, the king said, _Thank God, this time I shan’t be teazed -about rewards_. He was mistaken; for fifteen hundred officers, who had -escaped the slaughter, came to Versailles, clamouring to be paid only -for the great service of their being present at that action. - -A lieutenant of grenadiers, to whom the secretary at war had procured a -Saint Lewis’s cross without a pension, said to him, _Sir, your -Excellency has tied to my button-hole the sign of my courage, but you -have forgot the reality of my bravery_, meaning that he wanted a -pension. - -Some military men in France enjoy considerable incomes only for having -been in five or six battles, whilst the subjects of the state have -ruined themselves in defraying the expences of the war. Thus do abuses -creep into the best foundations. - -After settling the pensions, the next thing taken in hand was to -retrieve the finances from the terrible disorder into which they were -fallen. They who understood the history of France affirmed, that for -twenty reigns past the kingdom had never been so distressed; and the -national debt being immense, a plan for the discharge of them became -absolutely necessary. A sinking fund was projected, but when funds were -to be appointed for the sinking-fund, those of the crown were found to -be all mortgaged. I myself was a witness to his majesty’s great -uneasiness, when the ministers and counsellors of state laid open to him -the condition of things. _Gentlemen_, said he to them, _you had better -have advised me against the war, than to make it on such burthensome -conditions_. Some taxes were taken off; but several imposts, created for -the charges of the war, were continued after the peace, &c. &c. - -Such was the situation of France after the definitive treaty of -Aix-la-Chapelle. The domestic affairs of the crown were in no better -condition. The ministers had, during the war, assumed an unlimited -authority, made themselves despotic in their offices, and behaved -towards the subjects with that austerity which is the result of -uncontrouled power. - -Whilst all Europe was congratulating itself on the general peace, advice -came to Versailles that the English were very angry with George the -Second, for having agreed to the French proposals. The parliament -addressed him for a copy of the overtures for a general pacification, to -be laid before the house. - -Marshal Saxe being present when this was related to the king, said, -_Sir, those Englishmen must be very quarrelsome; they have made a peace -with us, and having now no enemy, they are for quarrelling with their -King_. I have heard very knowing politicians say, that the divisions in -Great Britain between the subjects and the Prince, are the basis of the -general tranquillity of Europe. - -However, on the peace, the face of Versailles was quite changed; that -solicitous look which throws a shade even on diversions was quite -vanished; the hurry of business had ceased, and the king was now come to -himself. This tranquility of the court caused a great agitation in the -city; several women began to form designs on the King’s heart. - -Among these was one Madame la Poupeliniere, married to a financier, who -had raised her from the dirt, from whence he himself likewise sprung. -They had a most delightful and splendid seat at Passy, which was always -crowded with the worst company. - -I have been often told, that this woman would faint away whenever my -name happened to be mentioned. She used to say, that I had thrust myself -into her rank at court, that I held her place about the king, and that -all the honours paid to me at Versailles, of right belonged to her. She -would, at any rate, be Lewis the Fifteenth’s mistress. - -This was a scheme put into her head by the Duke de Richelieu; mean time -he practised on her heart, to give it a turn for tenderness. This -intrigue was carried on with an air of mystery. The Duke used, at -nights, to convey himself into the lady’s chamber through an opening -contrived in the chimney; and this opening Richelieu assured her should, -in no long time, conduct her to the little apartments of Versailles. In -the interim, this creature, to make herself more worthy of the -Sovereign, prostituted herself to one of his subjects; but a -chambermaid, in a fit of resentment, discovered the whole mystery. The -financier, who had for some time wanted to get rid of his wife, gladly -embraced this opportunity; he made the public witness to his infamy, so -that all Paris flocked to see the ungrateful perfidy of this ambitious -woman. - -The gallant perhaps, now no less satiated than the husband, made very -light of the discovery; and came to Versailles, not imagining that the -court as yet knew any thing of the matter; but I had intelligence of his -adventure an hour before it was made public. The King was alone in my -apartment when he came in; _Sir_, (said I to him) _there is not in all -Europe a more close agent in amorous intrigues than his Grace of -Richelieu there before you; for to be the more secret with the ladies -whom he would bring acquainted with your Majesty, he visits them through -the chimney_. The King asked me what I meant; I immediately unfolded the -riddle to him, which set us a laughing, and Richelieu himself laughed as -much as any. - -Other women likewise laid out for the little apartments at Versailles, -and got into them without going under ground. Lewis XV. was very fond of -these flighty amours, of which possession is both the beginning and end. -But his humours did not in the least abate the affection with which he -honoured me, always returning to me more constant than ever. - -Since the peace, the Count de Maurepas took a pleasure in censuring -every thing that was done at court, and giving it a ridiculous turn. -This minister had his private suppers like the King himself; and here it -was where, every night, the crown was turned into drollery. - -Several disputes had passed between us since my living at Versailles, -and in which he had used me with much pride and haughtiness; his passion -made him forget his rank, and use words quite unbecoming such a man as -he. I slightly intimated it to the King, being unwilling to hurt a man -who was of use to the state. - -It has been given out, that my very first design on my coming to -Versailles was to supplant this minister. Now that such a thought should -have come into my mind, is not possible. The King, in giving me a -character of his chief ministers, spoke with great approbation of the -Count de Maurepas, which alone was sufficient to make me take a liking -to him. But a close assiduity in dry and difficult affairs, for above -thirty years successively, had extremely soured his temper, so that at -times no body durst go near him. M. le Guai, his first clerk, told me, -that in those moments he was bristled like a porcupine; his harshness -infected his correspondence, scolding those who were a thousand leagues -from him, and treating them without any regard to their rank and -character. He wrote to the French consul, at one of the Levant ports, in -the following manner: - - “I order you, Sir, to write to me no more, but repair to France in - the first ship; and come to Paris, where you are to wait my orders, - without appearing at court. - -I am, &c.” - - - - -His caustic temper mingled itself even with his feasts, and would break -out even in the midst of pleasure and sociality. It was in these parties -that he was most fluent and licentious in satire. I was one day -informed, that he had spoken against me in very indecent terms, and had -even brought in the King. I at first determined flatly to complain to -his Majesty, but on reflection I chose to write to himself. - - “_Sir, I am informed of your scandalous speeches concerning me, and - even the King your master. As for what you say of me, it gives me - no manner of concern; but I cannot overlook any scurrility on the - King. I value his reputation; and be assured, that if you do not - alter your behaviour toward him, I shall lay it before him, and you - must expect the punishment which such an offence deserves._ - -_I am, &c._” - - - - -All the effect of this letter was, that it increased his malignity -towards me, saying to those who were at supper with him; _Now, -Gentlemen, my disgrace is surely at hand, Pompadour threatens me_: then, -reassuming his gravity, he added, by way of reflection, _See what -Versailles is come to_; _the very women of pleasure pretend to domineer -there_. These words were precisely reported to me; however, I took no -notice of them; but some time after, this minister, amidst his cups, -sang some scandalous couplets against the King himself, and before a -great deal of company. Of this insolence I informed his Majesty, and he -was ordered to quit the court. - -His exile making a great noise in the world, and a construction being -put on it which affected his probity and character, I begged of the King -to declare in public, that he was satisfied with his conduct. His -Majesty did so; and let this serve as a specimen of his temper; a -prince, after being insolently ridiculed by a subject who owed him great -obligations, still vouchsafed to shew tenderness for him. - -The government was at a loss for a person fit to succeed M. Maurepas at -the head of the marine, as now it was become a state mystery. It had -been under Maurepas’s sole management during thirty years. M. Rouillé -was pitched on, though no great genius; but he had formed specious -plans, and assured the King that within three years he should have a -navy of fourscore ships of the line. _I wish_, said the King, _he may -make his words good, but I much fear he will fall very short_. - -Italy was perfectly at ease; the infant Don Philip had made his entrance -into Parma: we heard at Versailles that he lived very gaily there amid -concerts, plays, and balls. _I am afraid_, said the King, _that young -Prince is too fond of balls, and my daughter will be perpetually -dancing_. - -M. de Noailles used to say, that _every country dance of Don Philip, in -Italy, cost Spain a hundred thousand livres; and his mother had paid the -fiddlers before-hand_. - -The Duke of Modena was restored to his dominions, and had all Don -Philip’s passion for splendour and entertainments; but the war had -ruined him: the Duchess used to say openly, in the palace, _his Highness -has not wherewith to make one single minuet step_. She came to court -without shoes, to shew the King the indigence to which the war had -reduced their duchy. _Madam_, said his Majesty to her, _I am not in a -much better condition myself; but I have a shoe-maker, who, if you -please, shall wait on you_. - -Genoa was free, subject only to its own government, now re-established -on its ancient footing. The ambassador from the court of Vienna, meeting -that senate’s envoy in the great gallery of Versailles, said to him; -_Sir, the house of Austria forgives your republic its revolution, only -intends to be up with it_. - -Rome was at rest, the foreign armies which, during the war, had been -such a burden and terror to it, being withdrawn. - -Naples, now no longer under a necessity of exhausting itself of men and -money, was beginning to recover: all it stood in need of, was only quiet -enjoyment of its fertile soil and climate. Concerning this small state, -I remember a foreign minister once said to me, that _if ever he had been -so ambitious as to aim at a sovereignty, it would not be that of -Germany, France, or Spain, but to be King of Naples_. His reason was, -that _there the power was derived directly from heaven; and is the -immediate gift of God the Father himself_. - -The nobility still complained at court of having greatly hurt their -fortunes in the war, and were continually solliciting compensations and -rewards. - -The Prince of Conti, lately created Grand Prior of France, said openly, -that his horses had no hay. _I wonder_, said Marshal Belleisle, _they -are not yet dead, for so long ago as when we were at Coni, his Highness -used to complain of the scarcity of forage_. - -Lewis XV. did all he could to repair the fortunes of the great by posts, -pensions, or governments; but he had a greater concern on his hands, -which was to repair that of the nation. - -I remember once he mildly said to some, who were unbecomingly urgent, -that he would take care of them; _Have a little patience, I will provide -for all as far as possible; but before I attend to private houses, the -great family of the state must be provided for_. Another time he said, -before the whole court, to a groupe of officers who talked much of their -campaigns, and asked rewards: _Gentlemen, you have indeed done me great -services in the war, but it is my desire you will do me still a greater -in peace, which is to allow me first to ease those who have borne the -whole weight of the war. You only lent a hand_, _but they have -exhausted their whole substance in it_, &c. &c. - -Marshal Belleisle was not overlooked; besides pensions, ranks, and -honours heaped on him, all the bodies of the state, as it were, strove -which should pay him the greatest marks of respect. The French Academy -itself, on his leaving Paris to go to his government, composed a formal -harangue, proving him the deliverer of France. A man of wit has called -the members of the French academy _the most elegant liars in Europe_. - -The new naval minister was busily searching for timber, seamen, and -money, all over the provinces; but he looked for what was not to be -found. On his return to Versailles, appeared the following memorial, by -an unknown hand. - - - MEMORIAL on the MARINE. - -“FRANCE should not think of forming a navy gradually; such a plan is -impracticable; for the English, who have an eye to the building of -every ship we put on the stocks, and build additional ships in -proportion, thereby always secure a superiority. - -“Thus Great Britain having, at present, a hundred ships of the line more -than France, will consequently always exceed us by that number, were we -to build three hundred ships of war within ten years. - -“We have often set about forming a navy, but our endeavours have always -been defeated by the Britons. They have taken our ships in times of -profound peace, and declared themselves our enemies by sea, before any -war had commenced; their vigilance in preventing any thing which might -affect the superiority of their navy, pays no regard to justice or good -faith. A King of England would be immediately dethroned by his subjects, -should he be for adhering to the treaties made with France. It is a -tacit maxim with that nation, that a treaty is to subsist only whilst -France builds no ships. - -“Time, which to all other disorders of government brings a remedy, here -renders the disease incurable: building therefore is too slow a way; -they know at London the very day when any ship of war is finished, and -when to be launched. - -“This part of political strength must be formed at once, and unknown to -the admiralty of England. We should without delay apply to Holland, -Denmark, the republic of Genoa, and Venice; and there, at once, purchase -a proper number of ships; and if those states cannot fully supply us, -there is Malta, Algiers, Tripoli, Constantinople, &c. No matter from -what nation we have ships, or how they are built, if they will but hold -men and guns. - -“Herein the strictest secrecy must be observed, and the purchases all -punctually made at one and the same appointed time; for should the -English get any intelligence of our design, they would either by open -force, or negotiation, prevent any such purchase. - -“The want of seamen still remains; but here again we may supply -ourselves by the same method. In time of peace, the Maritime powers have -a great many more seamen than they want; it is only making good offers -to those men; for the sailor, like the soldier, is for the best bidder; -his natural Prince is money, &c. &c.” - -M. Rouillé, on reading this memorial, said, _The author has forgot the -main thing, money. He would have us purchase a navy all at once, but -does not provide wherewith to pay for it at once_. - -A statesman has often observed, that most of the projects offered at the -court of France are deficient in the very foundation. The schemer writes -on in prosecution of his notions, till meeting a rock, when all his -specious reasonings are wrecked. - -M. de Belleisle told me that, in his closet, he had hundreds of memoirs -for increasing the revenue and the national wealth, inscribed to him by -the finest genius’s of the kingdom; and that he might perhaps publish -them with this title, _A collection of very fine, and very useless -projects_. “Idle people, said he, often have thoughts which the business -of placemen does not allow them to have:” and added, “that though -memorial writers do not always make good their points, yet their -strictures often put others on effectual improvements.” - -After the peace, the King had sent the Duke de Mirepoix to London: on -which Marshal Saxe said, that this nobleman was perfectly fit for the -embassy, having a very handsome leg, and dancing prettily, which might -be of good consequence in a court which delighted in balls. The reasons -which induced the King to this choice, have always been unknown to me. -He never so much as mentioned it to me till it was done. A very -intelligent man, whom the king had often employed in state affairs, said -to me, at that time, “that M. de Mirepoix was neither supple nor -complaisant enough for the English; neither was he sufficiently -acquainted with the respective interests of the two nations: besides, -continued he, he has a great defect for an ambassador, he is too honest, -so that the English will impose on him.” He might perhaps have added, -with equal truth, that he had not a capacity equal to that employment. -M. de Mirepoix had spent his youth in diversions, and the latter part of -his life in war; now the science of negotiation is not learnt either at -the play-house or in the camp. - -This minister’s constant note was, that the court of St. James’s was -perfectly pleased with the peace, and all its thoughts turned on the -enjoyment of it. He indeed wrote no more than he believed; for George -the Second made him believe whatever he pleased. - -The English minister at Paris was my Lord Albemarle, like ours, no great -negociator. He had been taught his lesson by heart before he left -London, and when at Versailles only repeated it. On any representation -of the court of France being informed that the British court was making -military preparations, he answered, that it was a mistake. This M. de -Puisieux was continually saying to him, and his answer was ever the -same. English policy is much more easy than the French, having but one -path; so that when once a British minister has got into it, he need but -go straight on. - -I saw this minister sometimes; he spoke our language better than common, -and expressed himself even with energy. He loved expence, and lived -nobleman-like, but he appeared to me to have one fault, though indeed it -is common to all the English; his very prodigalities had somthing of -parsimony in them. George the Second, who had a great kindness for him, -supplied his expences; for though he lived so high, he was very poor: an -Englishman, who had known him at London, speaking of his arrival at -Paris, said, “My Lord will get a mistress there, run in debt, and die by -some accident.” The prophecy was fully accomplished: He lived with a -girl, borrowed large sums, and died suddenly. - -Lewis XV. was more constantly with me than ever; I had brought him to a -custom of seeing me every day, and never spending less than five or six -hours in my apartment: I accompanied him in all the journies, and had my -apartments in all the royal seats. The more I became acquainted with his -Majesty, the more I perceived the exceeding goodness of his heart. - -My husband loudly complained of my living at Versailles, and wrote to me -a very passionate letter, full of reproaches against me, and still more -against the King; amidst other indiscreet terms, calling him tyrant. As -I was reading this letter, the King came into my apartment; I -immediately thrust it into my pocket; the emotion with which I received -his Majesty, shewed me to be under some disorder; I was for concealing -the cause, but on his repeated instances, I put my husband’s letter into -his hands. He read it through without the least sign of resentment: I -assured him that I had no share in his temerity; and the better to -convince him of it, desired that he would punish the writer severely. -_No, Madam_, said he to me, with that air of goodness which is so -natural to him, _your husband is unhappy, and should rather be pitied_. -History does not afford a like passage of moderation in an injured King. -My spouse, on being informed of it, left the kingdom to travel. - -Though the peace had diffused quiet through Europe, it caused violent -agitations in the political bodies of France. The parliament of Paris, -amidst its many remonstrances to Lewis XV. exhorted him in a very fine -speech, to take off the _twentieth denier_. The deputies of that body -expressed themselves in this manner: - -_So many millions of men now in indigence, stand in need of immediate -ease and relief; whereas, should they be still obliged to pay the -twentieth denier, they will be quite unable to lift up their heads -again, and repair their shattered fortune, and hence a general -despondency._ - -_Whole families will be reduced to the most dreadful distress, and thus -be afraid of leaving behind them a numerous issue, which would be a -burden to them whilst living, and to whom they can transmit no other -inheritance than their wretchedness._ - -_The number of children, who are the hope and support of the state, will -be continually decreasing, the villages will be thinned, trade languish, -and the culture of land in a great measure at a stand. The ruin of the -farmers will necessarily be followed by that of the nobility, as their -estates will suffer a very considerable diminution; and thus these -people, and that brave nobility, whose valour is their soul and chief -resource, will be involved in one common ruin._ - -Count Saxe used to call the deputies of the parliament the great-chamber -pedants. _They are for teaching the administration_, says he, _what it -knows better than themselves. They are always harping on the distempers -of the state, without any word of a remedy._ Once, as the first -president was delivering a pathetic harangue before the King, proving -the necessity of lessening the weight of the taxes, his Majesty cut him -short with these words: _Mr. President, let but the parliament enable me -to pay off the state debts, and defray the present expences of the -Monarchy, and very readily will I abolish every, tax, duty, and impost._ - -A man of wit, and who knows the French temper, used to say, that these -useless representations were become necessary, as keeping up the -people’s spirits, who, without a declared Protector, would think -themselves for ever undone. - -In Cardinal de Fleury’s indolent ministry, and the subsequent wars, the -government had not been able to take into consideration an abuse which -manifestly tended to dispeople the monarchy. Religion, in all wise -governments, a source of population, was thinning the human species. All -France was mouldering away in convents: every town and village had -numerous communities of girls, who made vows against having children. -The following letter, which I received from a nun at Lyons, and -communicated to the King, occasioned deliberations for reforming this -abuse. - - “MADAM, - - “I was at first for writing to the Pope, but, on farther - reflection, I thought it would be full as well to apply to you. The - point is this: when I was but seven years of age, my parents shut - me up in the convent where I now am; and on my entering into my - fifteenth year, two nuns signified to me an order to take the veil. - I deferred complying for some time; for though quite a stranger to - every thing but the house I was in, yet I suspected there must be - another kind of world than the convent, and another state than that - of a nun; but the sister of _Jesus’s heart_, our mother, in order - to fix my call, said to me, that all women who married were damned, - because they lie with a man, and bore children: this set me - a-crying most bitterly for my poor mother, as burning eternally in - hell for having brought me into the world. - - “I took the veil; but now that I am twenty years of age, and my - constitution formed, I daily feel that I am not made for this - state, and think I want something; and that something, or I am much - mistaken, is a husband. - - “My talking continually of matrimony sets the community a-madding; - the sister of the _Holy Ghost_ tells me, that I am Jesus Christ’s - spouse; but, for my part, I feel myself much inclined to a second - marriage with a man. - - “On a young girl’s coming into a convent, half a dozen wheedlers - get about her, and never leave her till they have persuaded her to - take the veil. Children are buried every day in monasteries, whilst - their early age does not admit of any solid reflections on the vows - they are drawn to make. - - “Let me intreat you, Madam, to persuade the King to reform this - abuse; it is a reformation which both religion and the prosperity - of the state call for. The sacrificing so many victims to the - avarice of parents, is a great loss of people to the state, and the - kingdom of heaven is not the fuller. God requires voluntary - sacrifices, and these are the fruit of reflection. It is - surprising, that the laws, in settling the age for our sex’s - passing a civil contract, should forget the age for making vows: - is reason less necessary for contracting with God, than with men? - This I submit to yours and his Majesty’s reflections: in the mean - time, give me leave to be, - -Madam, - -Your most humble servant, - -Sister JOSEPH.” - - - - -The King thought that sister _Jesus’s heart_, and sister _Holy Ghost_, -had done wrong in drawing sister Joseph into the state of celibacy, as -with such happy dispositions for marriage, she bid fair to have been a -fruitful mother, and thus have benefited the state. - -To suppress the aforesaid abuse, his Majesty issued an arret, forbidding -all religious communities to admit a novice under twenty-four years of -age and a day. - -Other bodies, besides the parliament, continued setting forth to the -court the impossibility the people were under of paying the _twentieth -denier_. The states of Languedoc, with a peremptory kind of humility, -represented that it was a load the province could by no means bear: the -bishops, who usually employ their pens only in mandates, now wrote -memorials on the public distress. The King ordered them not to meddle -with money matters, and dissolved the assembly. The Duke de Richelieu, -who was then at Montpellier, seconded the court’s injunctions, and -restrained the bishops pens as much as he could. - -On being thus debarred from writing or meeting, they appointed an -extraordinary deputation to lay before the King the condition of the -kingdom. They were admitted to audience; they made their speech, -returned home, and the _twentieth denier_ was levied. - -A minister of state used frequently to say, that these representations -only increased the public charges. Were the provinces to pay at first, -they would save themselves the no small expences of journies, -correspondencies, and deputations, not to mention monopolies, which, on -these occasions, are unavoidable. - -The states of Bretagne likewise offered their difficulties; but all the -effect of the representations of both was, that the court appointed two -intendants of the finances to go and settle the levying of that tax on -those refractory provinces. - -These dictatorial proceedings of the states led the council to take -their meetings into consideration; and, for some days, it was -deliberated, whether they should not be totally laid aside. A counsellor -of state, who was for the dissolution, drew up a memorial, which the -King was pleased to communicate to me. This piece having never been -printed, consequently not known to the public, I shall give it a place -here. - -“The provincial states are of no use to France; such assemblies might -have been necessary in those times, when each province formed a separate -kingdom; but France being now united under one single government, can -regulate its concerns sufficiently for itself, without any need of -assemblies. - -“These provincial states only keep a division between the Prince and the -subject, and are an obstacle to the expeditious levying and collecting -of the imposts. - -“On his Majesty’s ordering a tax, however necessary it be, to defray the -extraordinary expences, these states are sure to oppose it; and -immediately the court is deluged with remonstrances, and Versailles -crowded with deputies: the general affairs must be delayed to issue -fresh orders, and answer those sent by the states, for their writings -are rather orders than memorials. - -“This suspension of ordinances has other very bad effects; the subjects, -become accustomed not to obey, look on the wants of the state with the -coldest indifference, and the public affairs go on heavily. - -“The members of these assemblies are like so many petty sovereigns; -their ascendency over the minds of the people being without bounds. An -Archbishop of Narbonne, on his coming to Montpellier to open the states, -is received with greater pomp than if Lewis XV. was to make his public -entry. - -“In a monarchical state, where the whole authority should proceed only -from one centre, it is dangerous to divide it by subordinate bodies. - -“These provincial states likewise affect morality and religion; those of -Languedoc consist of twenty-four bishops, or archbishops, who thus are -absent from their dioceses three months out of the twelve; leaving in -their stead their vicars, who have neither the like regard or zeal for -their flock; and in this interval, a relaxation in discipline and -manners spreads every where. - -“The luxury of these assemblies is equally scandalous, every bishop -there having his court and courtiers, and keeping open table. Today the -bishop of Alaix has thirty covers on his table; and to-morrow my Lord of -Nismes gives an entertainment, to which fifty persons of distinction are -invited; and so on. - -“The dissolution of the states will be attended with no diminution in -the finances. The free gift, which is the principal business of these -assemblies, may be regulated like a common tax levied from year to -year.” - -The door of the provincial states being thus shut up, that of the -assembly of the clergy immediately burst open: it was still the same -object, but here discussed in great. - -The business, as in the other assemblies, was the _twentieth denier_, -and the free gift: though this body, whenever called on by the King, -pleads indigence, yet it knows that it is so far accounted rich, that -all its studied speeches, on those occasions, cannot bring the public to -think it poor. - -It endeavours therefore to compound with the King, and this time offered -seven millions and a half to be exempted from the impost. I have heard a -person, very well skilled in such affairs, say, that the clergy should -not be allowed to compound for taxes; but that if any composition were -to be admitted, it ought to be with the commonalty; which, as being most -burthened, should be preferred before all the other bodies put -together. - -The affairs of the closet did not interrupt the court entertainments: -the King hunted as usual, came to the plays, and every day supped with -me in the little apartments. A tender and affectionate friendship now -closely united us; desire was superseded by a calm inclination; the -friend had succeeded the mistress; our hearts glowed with all the -complacency arising from passions, without any of the disagreeable -circumstances accompanying them. Several women had inspired Lewis XV. -with love, but not one had he met with of a turn to make him feel the -delights of friendship, which a generous soul will always prefer. The -former is a commerce of pleasures, the gratification of which is almost -ever followed by disgust: the second is a mild settled delight, resident -in the mind, and if it does not minister any relish to the senses, is -more lasting, lively, and refined. The King himself, at this time, -assured me, that had he at first felt the delights of friendship, he -should never have given himself up to those of love. All passion was now -subsided in him; for this name is not to be given to those desultory -gallantries, when the constitution only prompts to pleasure, without any -concurrence of the heart. - -This excellent Prince often said to me, that he was happy in having a -real friend, to whom he could communicate his satisfactions and his -troubles, for kings have theirs like other men; one of his greatest was -the distresses of the people, and the impossibility of relieving them so -speedily as he could have wished. He laid open to me the whole state of -his mind, without any reserved secrets; all his heart was as well known -to me as my own: it was an uneasiness for us to part, and we always met -again with redoubled pleasure. - -The King, as I said in the beginning of these Memoirs, had, soon after -my first appearance at court, made me Marchioness de Pompadour; and, -that I might remain there with the greater decency, created me _a Lady -of the palace_. This new place should have convinced all Europe, that -there was no other commerce between his Majesty and me than what arose -from esteem and friendship. But ill-nature pursues its point, regardless -of all probabilities; and the state-malcontents picked out this passage -of my life to mangle my reputation, &c. - -To return to politics: business went on at Versailles with great -dispatch, that the King might the sooner have the satisfaction he so -passionately desired, of diminishing the imposts, and making his people -enjoy the benefits of peace. - -The marine was the principal point in view: M. Rouillé had hastily got -together a little fleet, which, putting to sea, gave no small umbrage to -the English. The British nation, with all its natural composure, is all -in flames at the bare mention of a French navy: concerning this, I -remember a jest at that time, _that the Britons could not close their -eyes since France had an eye to its maritime concerns; and that were we -to build a hundred ships of the line, not a soul in England would have -any sleep_. - -This navy, however, was but a-beginning, and far short of what was -intended. Yet could England ask France, “what was the destination of -these ships?” M. de Puisieux gave my Lord Albemarle for answer, “that -the King of France was not accountable to any power in Europe; that -France was at peace with Great Britain; and that, consequently, the -latter had nothing to apprehend from those ships.” - -The court of St. James’s seemed satisfied; yet more closely watched our -measures. - -The government’s attention was for some time taken up with books; the -French, than whom perhaps no people in Europe are more restrained in -their speeches, sillily affect to be the first in their thoughts. They -print their notions on what comes uppermost, and the government is ever -the first thing to fall under their pen. It is said that this -licentiousness is owing to the above restraint; and I have heard that -were not so many authors sent to the Bastile, Paris would not swarm with -them as it does. - -Very few of these seditious writings will bear reading, some of them are -not so much as worth a _lettre de cachet_. To make the authors of mere -trash the King’s pensioners, is doing them too much honour. - -Though the assembly of the clergy granted every thing required, it did -not give every thing. On which the court sent a remonstrance to that -body, which it answered with another remonstrance; but herein it so -little observed the bounds of moderation, that the King dissolved the -assembly, and confined the bishops to their dioceses. The next day a -courtier said in the King’s anti-chamber, “that they ought to be sent -out of the kingdom, and priests put in their places:” this act of -prerogative so humbled the prelates, that they offered to comply with -all his Majesty’s pleasure. - -A nobleman said to the King, _Sir, if your Majesty will be no more -troubled with the clergy’s remonstrances, a sure way will be, to forbid -the bishops coming to Paris; they will assent to the free gifts, or to -any terms, only allow them to live there_. - -However, this affair of the bishops disturbed the King; and one day he -said to me, with some emotion, _They are perpetually vexing me. No -sooner have I raised a poor ecclesiastic to a dignity of a hundred -thousand livres a year, than he sets up for a leading man among the -clergy, and votes against the free gift. Sir_, said I to him, _methinks -there is a way of satisfying all. The crown should, on the death of the -present possessor, appropriate to itself half of the revenue of the -larger benefices. This would be no tax on any one. There is not a -subject in France, designed for the church, who would not think himself -under the highest obligations to your Majesty, in conferring on him an -abbey, or a bishopric, with a revenue less, by half, than what the -present possessor makes of it. I take upon me to bring about the -composition; I make no doubt but that I shall find, in the kingdom, two -hundred ecclesiastics, who will gladly set their hands to such an -agreement._ - -_This diminution cannot be accounted unjust, your Majesty having the -nomination to all the large benefices in the kingdom; and the giver is -always master of his gifts. No complaint lies against a Prince, who, -instead of a hundred and twenty thousand livres a year, which he can -bestow on one of his subjects, gives him sixty thousand, &c. &c._ - -These few words, spoken only cursorily, were, a few days after, followed -by an express memorial addressed to the Count de St. Florentine, and -which he presented to the King. - - - MEMORIAL - - On the inequality of the taxes raised on - the Clergy. - -“It is a received maxim in economics, that a geometrical equality in the -levying of taxes lessens the weight of them. A burden borne by all the -members of a body is always light. - -“The uneasiness of the clergy concerning the free-gift, and other -impositions, towards answering the necessities of the state, proceeds -not so much from the impositions, as from the assessments. The -dignitaries, who should pay the most, always pay the least, considering -their incomes. The whole load falls on the poor parish priests, and -other country incumbents, who have scarce a subsistence, and are more -burthened as clergymen than as subjects. - -“That the assembly of the bishops tax themselves, and the whole -ecclesiastical body, is not a privilege belonging to the clergy, but a -mere indulgence of the Kings of France, granted then with a proviso, -that the assessments should be equitable, and that the inferior priests, -who are the King’s subjects no less than the greater ecclesiastics, -should not be overcharged. - -“The tax is rated by the income, which is an iniquitous assessment: a -priest with only a hundred crowns a year, paying a crown, in effect, is -rated much higher than a bishop, who, with a hundred thousand livres a -year, pays a thousand: a yearly income of ninety-nine thousand livres -being ever more or less superfluous; whereas he who has only a hundred -crowns, by being deprived of one, must feel it in the very necessaries -of life. - -“The inferior clergy are the King’s subjects equally with the higher. To -allow the bishops to tax priests, because they are subordinate to them, -is a manifest error in government, the spiritual power having no claims -in temporals. The imposition and assessments of taxes appertains to the -crown, the mitre has nothing to do in it. - -“The whole body of the clergy should be taxed once for all, like the -body of the laity: what tax the clergy can pay may be easily known; it -is only taking an account of the several sums which the clergy has paid -for these last twenty years; the twentieth part of the amount will be a -fair yearly tax, as in twenty years an exact calculation may be made of -the periodical wants of the state. In this interval, all the revolutions -may be reduced to a general sum. - -“It may be left to the clergy’s choice to pay the tax, without holding -an assembly: this might be done by a tarif on the large and small -dignities and benefices, or the tax might be levied by the King’s -officers, as on the other subjects of the state. - -“The latter most comports with the dignity of the crown, and will -likewise be more advantageous. As the church is daily making -acquisitions, and its general opulence is continually increasing by -donations, the clergy’s payments should be raised in proportion to -their aggrandizement. - -“This rise of the clergy’s tax would be no more than what takes place in -the common imposts. Artificers and tradespeople pay more in proportion -to their thriving, though this be by their own labour and industry.” - -The American affairs, of which not a word had been heard since the peace -of Aix-la-Chapelle, now began to employ the court’s attention. The -English complained, by their ambassador, my Lord Albemarle, that the -French countenanced the Indians in their practices, and, underhand -instigated them to molest their settlement in Nova Scotia. M. de -Puisieux told the British minister, that the people at London were -mistaken; “The court of France, said he, knows nothing of this supposed -instigation; and, very probably, it exists only in the suspicious minds -of the English.” - -However, the first sparks of that fire, which was to kindle the war a -fresh, already began to appear. Advice came from Canada, that the -Indians were in motion; and though the cabinet of Versailles did not -give direct orders to the French to oppose any such motion, neither did -it tell them not to do so. This silence left the commanders to guess how -they were to act; accordingly, they did not declare openly, but let -second causes take their course. - -A minister of a foreign court, formerly allied with France, and who, at -that time, was frequently with M. de Puisieux, put into his hands a -memorial on this head, which the King never saw, and it was not till -long after that I read it. - -“France, said that piece, is not yet in a condition to go to war again: -things should be left to remain as they are, till she is able to cope -with England; otherwise every thing will be ruined. The war by sea will -give the turn to that by land: Great Britain will chuse this juncture -for inducing the King of Prussia to declare against France, which thus -will have two weighty wars on its hands, and only for a continent of no -great importance, and which, at last, it will certainly lose, for the -events of this war may be easily foreseen. - -“The English navy is much superior to that of France; and the King of -Prussia has two hundred thousand well disciplined men, ready, at the -first order, to march, and make a powerful diversion in Germany; and, -with the addition of those in England, will unquestionably turn the -scale in the north. France is very well as it is, and should aim at -nothing beyond keeping itself so, till a favourable opportunity shall -enable it to do better. - -“Nothing in America calls for haste; you will always have time enough to -make good your claims there: the Savages are your friends; they cannot -endure the English. At present interfere no farther than fomenting this -variance without promoting it; the time will come when you may make your -own use of it: precipitancy spoils the most promising affairs; whereas -time and patience bring every thing to bear. - -“Don’t imagine that your intrigues with the Americans blind Europe; the -most clandestine practices of courts are always detected. Already, you -are made accountable for the proceedings of the Canadians, though you -appear not to concern yourselves about them. It is known to all Europe, -that the North American savages act without any continued design, when -not spirited up and directed. Every body knows those automata have no -will of their own, saying and doing only just as they are bid to do. - -“Your navy is but in its infancy, scarce begun to be formed, so that a -war only of two years would totally destroy it. Before engaging in a -war, there is a sure way of knowing whether it should be undertaken, -which is to weigh the advantages of the conquests with the disadvantages -of the defeats. - -“Should you beat the English at sea, which is a circumstance out of all -probability, you will retain North America, which you already have; if -beaten, and here the likelihood lies, you will lose America, and perhaps -all your other colonies, for one conquest ever leads to another. - -“The English, though beginning the war only on account of Canada, will -avail themselves of their first victory to enlarge their views: and the -court of St. James’s may afterwards strike out such a scheme of -destruction to France, as perhaps, at present, it does not think of. - -“A great disadvantage to France, is its having no ally who can help it -to recover its losses against the English: the Spanish navy is in no -better condition than that of France; and the Dutch rejoice in a war -between the maritime powers, were it only for the vast advantages -accruing to them from their neutrality. A continental power may retrieve -the loss of a battle by a subsequent victory; a more experienced -general, better disciplined troops, or more favourable circumstances, -will give a turn to a land-war; but the maritime concerns of France are -so situated, that a colony taken from it is lost for ever; its ships, -the only means of bringing it again into the path of victory, being -destroyed.” - -This memorial, however approved by some politicians to whom I have since -shewed it, had not the effect which might have been expected; another, -afterwards presented to the same Minister, set the same object in a very -different light. - -It is said that the members of the English parliament being generally of -contrary opinions, long debates are very frequent in that assembly; and -that these debates produce lights, from which the hearers receive great -improvement, and become better qualified to serve their country. It is -otherwise in France: here the contrariety of opinions only bewilders the -understanding, and increases the confusion. - -“The Canada affair, said the last writer, too nearly concerns the French -monarchy, to be left as it is. Every minute we lose diminishes our -power, and augments that of our enemies. The war ought to have been -continued, had not second causes forced the government into a peace; -but those causes no longer subsisting, we should take up arms again. - -“The English will never keep within the limits assigned by the -commissaries. They will, by skirmishes and secret practices, be ever -endeavouring to come beyond those barriers: they must be prevented in -time, their schemes must be destroyed at their very first appearance, -otherwise it will be too late. - -“The loss of Canada would be an inconceivable detriment to France. It is -that to which England owes its being mistress of the sea, opening to it -numberless branches of commerce, which it would never have known without -being possessed of this continent. - -“Though we have no great navy, yet have we shipping enough; a sea -quarrel is not the point, but a land war. It is enough for us to send -over some troops to Canada; the American affairs have no connection with -those of our country. Should any disturbances happen in Germany, they -will spring from a quite different cause; and if the King of Prussia -declares against France, it will be for some particular views of his -own, quite foreign to our colonies; he would declare himself, if we had -no dispute with the Britons about Canada. - -“It is not the first time of our having several wars on our hands, or, -rather, it is impossible that we should have but one at a time. - -“Our concerns are so closely linked with the other powers of Europe, -that on our arming, five or six princes cannot avoid declaring. - -“The situation of affairs in Canada lays us under a necessity of -renewing the war: we cannot continue in the state we now are in; the -capital effort of our politics should be to recover the advantage which -we lost by means of the English. - -“Amidst all the magnified superiority of the British navy, its successes -are not so certain as supposed. Advantages in war depend on a great -number of unforeseen events. It is often observed, that the certain -expectation of a victory has suddenly turned into the disappointment of -a defeat. - -“England has not had time, since the peace, to increase its marine; its -naval force is, at this day, just as it was at the end of the war. -Before the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, we could defend ourselves at sea, -and still can: but if we defer any longer, the time will be over; for -the British navy now is encreasing every day. Our’s will be so much -inferior, as not to dare to shew its face before them; and then we shall -be obliged to relinquish North America. - -“Let us, without delay, begin the war again, and then we shall drive the -English out of Canada; whereas, by continuing the peace, they will -dispossess us. This is no time for parlying; we must either give up that -part of America to England, or prepare to dispute it. - -“The savage nations are our allies, they mortally hate the English; and -shall we delay availing ourselves of such a favourable disposition? A -people without any fixed laws, is naturally given to change. The -Canadians love war, and despise such nations as live in peace: twenty -years inactivity would give them an ill opinion of the French; whereas, -seeing us at war with a nation whom they hate, they will esteem us, and -come into a closer alliance with us than before, &c.” - -These memorials made no alteration in the general system; both sides -continued to dissemble, and express a desire of cultivating the peace. -England applied itself to increase its navy, and France sent orders to -Brest and Rochfort, for building ships with the utmost dispatch. - -Amidst the most earnest concern to redress the calamities of the state, -no expedients could be found for so great and good an end. The people -could not be relieved but by abolishing the taxes; and the expences of -the state could not be answered but by new imposts: every branch of the -government was embarrassed; so that the King often said to me, with a -painful sense of such a situation, _I know not where to begin_. - -The advantages of the encouragement of tillage, the improvement of -arts, the increase of trade, the discharge of the national debt, were -only in perspective; whereas the people stood in need of present relief. -Observing that the public affairs greatly affected the King’s temper and -constitution, I contrasted them with diversions. I may say, the most gay -and striking conceits of imagination, for pleasing the senses, were now -exhibited at Versailles. In all the entertainments which I gave to the -Monarch, there was little of my own; I had people of taste at Paris who -furnished me with original materials, to which I only gave a few -retouches. - -Amidst all my inventions to draw the court from that mournful state -which the perplexity of affairs shed on it, I perceived that the King -was not so chearful as I could have desired. He had a cloudiness in his -looks, which were naturally sprightly; he was, likewise, more thoughtful -than usual. Alarmed at this lugubrious scene, I took the liberty to ask -his Majesty the cause of so unhappy an alteration. He vaguely answered, -“that he was not sensible of any alteration, and that my company still -was his chief delight:” the revolution, however, was but too certain. - -My enemies having miscarried in their design of inducing the King to -remove me from court, by political motives, set religion to work; and no -less a person than his Majesty’s confessor was put at the head of this -cabal. He was a Jesuit with only morality for his instrument; but as -that, with a Prince, seldom gets the better of pleasure, he contrived a -way which struck my Monarch. - -This reverend father employed one of the best hands in Paris, in a -picture representing the torments of hell. Several crowned heads seemed -chained down in dreadful sufferings; there was no beholding their -contortions without shuddering. This infernal master-piece he made a -present of to Lewis XV. The King having viewed it for some time with a -frown, asked the meaning of the picture, the very thing the son of -Loyola wanted. - -“Sire, said he, the Prince you see there suffering eternal torments, was -an ambitious Monarch, who sacrificed his people to his vain delight in -glory and power. He next to him, whom the devils are insulting, was an -avaricious monarch, who laid up in his coffers immense treasures, -squeezed from his oppressed subjects. This third wretch was an indolent -sovereign, who minded nothing, and instead of governing by himself, left -every thing to his ministers, whose incapacity produced infinite -mischiefs. This fourth, whose sufferings exceed those of the others, his -crime being greater, was a voluptuous King, openly keeping a concubine -at his court; and by this scandalous example had filled his kingdom with -debauchery, &c.” - -The allegory was coarse, and becoming a monk, who, in the want of the -means to attain his ends in this world, has recourse to things of the -other life. Lewis XV. who saw into the drift of the picture, ordered the -moralist to withdraw, but the impression remained. - -This was not the first time that the churchmen had presumed on their -office, and abused the King’s goodness. A prelate had made him perform -an ignominious act of penitence when sick at Metz. - -I used fresh endeavours to relieve the King from this return of languor, -and had in a great measure succeeded, when a family concern brought on a -severe relapse. - -The Dauphin was now in his twenty-second year, which, by the custom of -France, intitled him to be intrusted with the affairs of the crown. This -Prince had always shewn the most submissive deference to the King his -father, but of late had put himself at the head of a party, most of whom -were my enemies: they exposed me with all the venom of scurrility, and -even brought in the King. Lewis XV. knew it, and this was what -occasioned that inward conflict which gave him so much trouble. After -communicating his situation to me, he said, _And what would you do, -Madam, in such a case?_ “Sire, answered I, I would admit his Royal -Highness the Dauphin into every council, and allow him all the honours -due to his rank and birth.” _Well_, said the King, _I will follow your -advice_; and soon after the Dauphin saw himself sent for on every -important deliberation. - -M. de Machault, then at the head of the finances, left no stone unturned -to put them in a good condition: he was urged on every side. M. Rouillé -asked very large sums to form a navy; the payers of annuities were -perpetually at his elbow, and his apartment was never clear of those who -had advanced money in the late war. He one day said to the King, in my -hearing, _Sire, I know not how in the world, I shall answer your -engagements; every body is making demands on me, and no body will give -me any credit_. - -Marshal Belleisle, to whom that laborious minister often used to pour -forth his lamentations, told him, “Sir, I see but one way for you, which -is to make the state a bankrupt. When a machine is out of order, the -only remedy is to stop its motion, and to set it to rights again.” - -This advice, however, was not followed; and instead of stopping the -machine of the finances, in order to set it to rights again, it -remained in all its former disorder. I have somewhere, among my papers, -a scheme for discharging the national debt, in which the author, who was -accounted a very skilful economist, advanced, that, for the settlement -of an invariable order in the finances, the state, every twenty-five -years, should declare itself insolvent; and the creditors compound with -the King, as with a private insolvent. - -“France, said this paper, will not hear of making itself a bankrupt, but -the way it takes to avoid it, is still more burthensome; for when the -King’s debts grow troublesome, does he not lay very onerous imposts on -the people for the payment of them? Now this is a remedy worse than the -disease, because the collecting of a tax, it is known, falls little -short of doubling it. He extorts from one to pay another; a bankruptcy -would ruin only a part of his subjects, whereas the means of payment -impoverishes every body.” - -I am not sufficiently acquainted with finances, to determine whether a -wise King, in order to make his people easy, should begin by forfeiting -the confidence of the wealthy part of his subjects. There are always -some exceptionable things in these kinds of memorials. A person of a -great genius has often told me, “that should all the fine projects, for -making France the most opulent state in Europe, be carried into -execution, it would perhaps make it the very poorest in the universe.” - -The particular favour with which Lewis XV. continued to honour me, drew -great numbers to my apartment, so that I had every morning a full court: -some persons of eminence appeared there purely to please the King; but -the business of the multitude was interest. I had brought the latter to -give me memorials, as otherwise, I could never have recollected so many -different objects. It is impossible for those who live at a distance -from court, to conceive the various classes of askers, and what a number -of favours the throne has the pleasure of bestowing. - -I have read, in an original paper, that Lewis XIV. allowed all his -subjects, who had any demand to make at court, to apply directly to -himself. Had such an indulgence been continued under the present reign, -Lewis XV’s whole life would have been taken up only in giving audiences. -These memorials I had read to me, and afterwards talked them over to the -King. - -Besides those who asked favours, I was likewise teazed with complainers, -and indeed these were usually more in number than the others. - -In so large a kingdom as France, it is scarce possible to prevent all -abuses; some necessarily arise from the very constitution, and the -maintenance of political order. But one complaint so particularly struck -me, that I thought it deserved to be laid before the King. This was the -disregard of the children of officers dying in the service of their -country. - -A general officer, if no gentleman by birth, though, by his courage, he -had secured the privileges both of the throne and nobility, leaving -issue, they were excluded from nobility; and soon coming to intermix -with the commonalty, no trace remained of the families which had -performed the greatest services to the state: a hero’s atchievements -died with him, his posterity were never the better for his exploits. -This I mentioned to the King with a sensible concern, and some time -after his Majesty, ever inclined to what was good and proper, issued an -edict, ennobling military officers and their posterity. The different -degrees of this nobility were specified in the edict, according to the -different ranks of the officers. - -No body in the kingdom apprehended that I had any share in this -resolution; so that, unless my papers should be looked over, posterity -will never know that this establishment, which gave so much -satisfaction, was owing to me. - -The courtiers were in as great a ferment as ever. They who found there -was no pushing their fortune by my means, endeavoured to hurt me. Herein -they often made use of indecent, and even insolent talk, besides the -baseness of calumny. Several cabals had been formed, and these produced -clashing and competitions, which affected the crown, as stirring up -discontent in those who held the principal posts of the state. - -The chancellor de Aguesseau pleaded his great age, and laid down -business, as no longer able to bear the weight of it. A courtier, who -was present when the King received his resignation, said to him, -_Certainly, Sire, M. de Aguesseau must be above a century old, for at a -hundred years one is still young enough to be chancellor of France_. - -Several other placemen quitted, alledging that they could not live in a -court where every thing was ruled by a woman: but this philosophy was of -the latest; they never had any thoughts of retirement, till their -endeavours to raise themselves to the very highest pitch of fortune, had -miscarried; and some, in their voluntary exile, had set instruments to -work, for making their appearance again on the theatre of power, which -they had so lately quitted. - -M. de Machault had the seals. This circulation of posts, diametrically -opposite in practice, and requiring different talents, has been the -subject of much complaint: but the fault lies in ambition. In France -subaltern posts are looked on only as introductory to the more -honourable and lucrative employments. On the vacancy of any great -office, my apartment was crowded with competitors, who all had a genteel -competency; but they wanted profitable posts, to make a show in the -world. - -The round of diversions which I had settled at Versailles, to recover -the King from that lethargic heaviness which was growing constitutional, -did not break in on general affairs. Lewis XV. daily devoted six hours -to business. In the morning he employed himself about the foreign and -domestic affairs. - -The death of Marshal count Saxe now cast a damp on the festivity of the -court. I remember a man of wit, being in my apartment when the news -came, said to me, _Now, Madam, we shall soon have a war, for he was the -only one of all his Majesty’s generals whom the King of Prussia in the -least feared_. - -The frequent conferences between Lewis XV. and this hero gave me an -opportunity of studying his temper; for there is a pleasure in knowing -great men; and his mind was of a singular cast: all his private -behaviour savoured of the common man, great only in the day of action; -then his soul, if I may be allowed the expression, assumed a new form; -it became piercing, noble, and exalted: a new light beaming on his mind, -he had an instantaneous perception of every thing. His imagination had -nothing to do, the military genius which inspired him at those times was -all-sufficient; yet after the battle, all this flame and magnanimity -sunk again into littleness and vulgarity, nothing great remained in him -but the fame of his actions. - -In private life, he addicted himself to sensuality in its most brutish -excesses; he was a stranger to that refined love which distinguishes -noble from vulgar souls, delighting in the company of women only for -debauchery; for all his mistresses were common prostitutes. Whilst he -was disturbing all Europe by his victories, the gallantries of La -Favart, an actress, allowed him no ease. - -They who were often with him say, that he had scarce any tincture of -learning; war was all he knew; and that he knew without learning it. -Some politicians have thought, that his death wrought a change in the -systems of Europe, and particularly, that the King of Prussia would -never have renewed the war, had Maurice been living: it is certain that -one man may change the whole scene of our political world. - -I have read, in original memoirs of Lewis XIV. of surprising -revolutions, brought about only by the ascendency of one mortal. Count -Saxe had long laboured with indefatigable ardour in pursuit of a repose -which he never enjoyed; for scarce had he seen himself in that summit of -grandeur to which his military talents had raised him, than death laid -him in the grave. Besides the royal seat given him by the King, in -reward of his services, with suitable incomes, he was invested with the -highest dignities and honours. - -This general left behind him an incontestable reputation; his very -enemies allow him to have been a consummate warrior; but if he did a -great deal for France, France still did more for him; he never wanted -for any thing. The King’s commissaries constantly furnished him with -plenty of all necessaries; he had large armies, and fought in a country -which has almost ever been the theatre of French victories, and where -the glory of the French name has shone in its greatest lustre. Farther, -Maurice had with him the King’s best troops, impatiently longing to -signalize themselves. I heard one of the trade, and reckoned to -understand it thoroughly, say, that to be a hero, a man should have -passed through all the military paths leading to glory; whereas Maurice, -in the service of France, trod only one, and that smoothed for him; he -was never put to those trials where a commander, being forced to exert -all his abilities, approves himself a general. - -I have read in the manuscript memoirs of Lewis XV. that the great -Condé’s enemies put the Queen-mother on sending him into Catalonia only -with a small body of troops, and those of the very worst. Conde, who -knew his enemies views, wrote thus to his friend Gourville: _I have been -sent here to attack the gods and men, with only shadows to fight them. I -shall miscarry; how can it be otherwise, when the means of beating the -enemy have been all taken away from me?_ Yet this hero, under the -disadvantages both of numbers and the climate, baffled all the efforts -of Spain. - -The death of Marshal Saxe occasioned a revolution in the minds of the -military courtiers. They who hitherto had hid themselves behind his -merit, made their appearance: all put in for this hero’s post, and not -one of them was qualified for it. - -The King, on the first notice of count Maurice’s death, said, _I am now -without any general, I have only some captains remaining_. Lowendahl, -however, was still living; but it is said, the genius of those two men -was formed to be together, and that the heroic virtues of the latter -derived their splendor from the superior qualities of the other. A -courtier said, on this head, _Lowendahl’s exploits are over; his -counsellor is dead_. - -Whilst Versailles was full of this event, the Pope’s nuncio came to -acquaint Lewis XV. that the King of Prussia had granted the free -exercise of the Roman Catholic religion at Berlin; and that even the -religious were allowed to settle, and wear the habit of their respective -orders. A courtier hereupon said to the King, _Sire, that Prince is for -having a little of every thing. Once nothing would go down with him but -soldiers, now he must have some monks_. Another courtier replied, _Since -he begins to fancy gowns, let me advise your Majesty to make him a -present of all the Jesuits in France_. A third added, _That article -should be kept for the next treaty of peace, and let six Loyolites be -exchanged for one soldier_. The systematical people, however, attributed -this indulgence to policy; for when a Prince is looked on to be full of -schemes and designs, every step of his is nicely canvassed, and various -constructions put on it. Some said that the King of Prussia thereby -intended to ingratiate himself with the court of Rome, as, by its -intrigues with weak and superstitious princes, it can amply make up its -want of temporal strength. Some thought it to arise from a new system of -population, to draw Catholics thither from other parts; but the monks -and priests of our faith do not increase population, &c. &c. - -For my part, I attributed it to the humour for new foundations, which -prevails with all the princes of our days. On examining the constitution -of the Prussian government, which is an absolute monarchy, the plurality -of religions will by no means appear suitable to it; at least I have -heard from a very intelligent person, that it is only in republics -where a freedom of religion can be properly allowed. - -For some time the King had been more chearful than usual: after so many -vexations and fatigues, he now began to breathe a little; he was at -leisure to be often with me, and to hunt as much as he could. Never was -a Prince so fond of this exercise. His eagerness in it often fatigued -him beyond all bounds. I one day represented to him, that he made a toil -of that pleasure, and that it would be better for him to be more -moderate in it; that excess in any thing was hurtful: but he answered, -that the more he hunted, the better he found himself. This is a new -medical system; the court-physicians, who are all for motion and -agitation, will have kings to spend half their life on horse-back. - -But a great satisfaction, which that justly beloved Prince now -felt, was the having given some relief to his burthened subjects. He -had remitted three millions of the land-tax, abolished the hundredth -denier, and the pence per livres levied on this impost. Though this was -no great good, it presaged the end of a great evil. - -At the same time, Lewis XV. ordered an inquiry into the nature of the -taxes; of all imposts, the land-tax was found to be the most -burthensome, as not proportioned to the real income. The old tax was -still levied, without considering any decays, or damages of estates and -lands; many a market-town, or village, which had formerly been able to -pay large sums, was now no longer so; yet the same duty was required. - -The government deliberated on ways for abolishing such an unequal tax, -and substitute another of a more proportionate assessment. This had, for -some time past, been often proposed, but always rejected. It was now -again taken into consideration, and after the most minute discussions, -it was found best to leave things as they were, lest worse -inconveniences might ensue. It is said, there are abuses in government, -the reformation of which would do more harm than the very abuse itself. -This was the opinion of the ministers, and of the King himself; but it -was not mine, having always thought that no good can come from evil. We -had often little debates about government, for Lewis XV. as I have said -in the beginning of these Memoirs, has a great deal of wit and -good-sense, and especially a very ready penetration. “You, Madam, would -he say to me, look on the political community as a private family, -whereas it is to be considered as an universal society, consisting of -different bodies, the conjunction of which constitutes the state. Amidst -this immensity of objects, conducted by men of opposite views and -interests; the security and well-being of the state is upheld by those -very things which seem to undermine it. In a private family, there is -only one single plan of administration, the abuses are few, easily -animadverted on, and the reformation of them restores that unity of -government which is the perfection of such a society: but in the general -community, good is to be continually ballanced by evil, and in this -equipoize lies the political order of the state.” - -“If so, Sir, said I to him, how is it that those states, where the most -abuses are reformed, are the best governed. The Muscovites, of all the -European nations, were the least civilized, and consequently the most -unhappy, till Peter the Great appeared, who vigorously suppressing -abuses of all kinds, from his reformation has sprung a powerful nation, -a rich and happy people. - -“Brandenburgh had neither force nor power; the art of war was scarce -known there; it lay in obscurity; it was of no account among the states -of Europe; and this contemptible condition was, in a great measure, -owing to many abuses which its sovereigns either could not or would not -reform. But in our times, one of its sovereigns has suppressed abuses, -introduced political order and military discipline, and this reformation -has enabled him to act a capital part on the theatre of Europe.” - -“England is said once to have been nothing, till the parliament took in -hand to form its power. It has since been continually retouching the -political system, and correcting a number of abuses, which, for several -centuries, hindered this state from emerging into power and reputation; -and now its _bills_ shew the continued system of its greatness. - -“France, Sir, is a home instance of this. Lewis XIII. a weak Prince, and -wholly governed by his ministers, concerned not himself about abuses; he -left the state as he found it, full of mismanagement and disorder. Your -great grand-father changed the whole, and by the reformation he brought -about in all the branches of government, imparted, as it were, a new -genius to his people. - -“France, during the first years of Lewis XIV. rose to a pitch of glory -and grandeur beyond any thing ever seen in the Roman empire.” - -Here the King smiled, and very obligingly said to me, “I own, Madam, I -did not think you had been so well acquainted with these points; it -gives me infinite pleasure that, besides the graces of wit and vivacity, -you are possessed of that knowledge which enlarges and revives the -judgment. The world is often deceived in those matters, continued the -King, and the greatness of Princes is almost ever confounded with the -happiness of the people. A Sovereign may make reformations in his -kingdom, and his subjects be never the better for them; he is the only -gainer by the change. - -“Peter I. made considerable alterations in Muscovy, but did not thereby -make the Russians a whit the happier. The revolution was felt only by -the state. The Monarch became great and powerful, but the people still -continued little and mean; for to have brought them from the abject -state in which they then were, required the suppression of a multitude -of civil abuses and vices, which continued after his time, and still -subsist. The present Muscovites are sordid slaves, with all the -ignorance and superstition of their fore-fathers, who lived before the -reign of that great reformer Peter. And if the empire, once without a -soldier, has now a numerous army; yet this adventitious power depends on -the chance of a battle or two. - -“Prussia, with all the reformations made there, does not find itself -more happy. The people, amidst their Monarch’s victories, groan under -the weight of the military burden laid on them; and its power depends on -the existence of one single man. When Frederick comes to die, its -political state dies with him. - -“It is a question, continued the King, much debated, whether the -English are more powerful, and more happy, than they were before those -volumes of reforming _bills_ were in being: this is a point the nation -itself is not agreed on. There is a party in England which affirms that -the government is intirely ruined, and the political state indebted -beyond what it is able to pay; and that it cannot answer its -necessities. Yet I am inclined to think that England is increased in -strength; but this is rather owing to the inadvertency of other powers, -than to any reformations of its own, which would have profited very -little, had its neighbours followed its example. - -“As to the instance of our own country, I have wished that France had -been in the same situation, at my accession to the throne, that Lewis -XIII. left it in. His successor, what with reformations, splendor, and -glory, reduced it so low, that it will be ages before it is thoroughly -recovered.” - -Our political discussions were always mixed with politeness and -compliments; never did a word come from Lewis XV’s mouth which had any -thing of asperity in it, &c. - -England still kept a watchful eye on the French navy; and, on our side, -the increase of it was the ministry’s chief object. All M. Rouille’s -demands of money were immediately answered, and he lost no time: ships -were daily launched. - -France and England were, indeed, at peace; but acted with the same -mistrust as if at open war; the public expences rose high; yet the -French, who are continually complaining, did not in the least murmur, so -convinced was every one of the absolute necessity of having a navy -capable of facing that of Great Britain. - -In the mean time, all the ministers continued declaring themselves -against me; the very persons who, through my interest with his Majesty, -had been promoted to the object of their wishes, were the most forward -in promoting my disgrace. Since my living at Versailles, I have often -lamented this flagitiousness, which is, as it were, innate in the human -mind. No sooner is a man invested with honour and power, than he studies -to cut off the hand which raised him. It is not my intention to enter -into all the arts and practices of my enemies; there would be no end of -the allusions, tales, stories, and songs, industriously disseminated -over the kingdom to expose me. However, I was always exactly informed of -what was said about me; but of some of my revilers I took no notice; -others I threatened to complain of to the King. All, however, continued -their abuses: I was a thousand times for leaving the court, had I not -apprehended that the King being now habituated to see me daily, it might -shorten his valuable life. - -The Count de Argenson, secretary at war, did not love me, saying, “That -I gave too many military posts; that he had not so much as a lieutenancy -of foot at his disposal.” Now this accusation was so far from being -true, that I never recommended any person to his Majesty, without -previously consulting that Minister. It was purely my favour which -rankled him; he wanted to set the King against me, that he might ingross -the whole royal favour to himself. - -Peace being the season for public foundations, a plan of a military -school, for instructing the French nobility in the art of war, was laid -before his Majesty in the year 1751. _The kingdom_, said the author, -_was full of gentlemen who, unable, conveniently, to put themselves -under masters, led an inactive life in the country, instead of spending -it in the service of the state_. - -In this school five hundred gentlemen were to be boarded and educated: -the King was pleased to shew me the plan, and asked my thoughts on it. - -“Sir, said I, nothing can be better; I could only wish it more -comprehensive. This school will not furnish officers enough for France, -which is so frequently at war. I have heard Marshal Saxe say, That in an -army of two hundred and fifty thousand men, there was seldom less than -twenty thousand officers; so that only one fortieth of that number can -be had from the military-school, which to me appears no small defect in -a foundation, of itself, so excellent.” - -A courtier, on reading the plan for this school, jocularly said, _This -martial convent will afford very good military monks_. - -The great objection made against it, by some discreet persons, was the -exorbitant expence of it, at a time when every resource of the state had -been drained to defray the extraordinary demands of the war. The -expence, indeed, was not to be furnished from the royal treasury; but -from whatever fund sums are taken on such occasions, they are still -burthensome, as tending to keep the people poor. - -It was likewise said, that France stood more in need of a naval than a -military-school; that the King might find a hundred land-officers in his -dominions, for one sea-officer; that the French gentry was naturally -fond of signalizing itself in armies, and had as great an aversion to -fleets; but the plan had been resolved on. - -The powers of Europe were at peace, when religious disputes, breaking -out, disturbed France in its political and domestic quiet. - -Two parties, who, for forty years past, had been contending for the -superiority, now returned to the charge. Being quite ignorant of the -subject of their quarrels, I had it explained to me. Should ever these -Memoirs be made public, the reader will be so kind as to excuse my -tiring him with the following detail. Never had this evil found a place -in these annals, had it not concerned the King; but his interesting -himself in this dispute, and greatly so, is alone sufficient motive for -my giving some account of it. - -A native of Spain, named Molina, in the fullness of his knowledge, took -it into his head to decide, and vindicate, how God acts on mortals, and -in what manner mortals withstand God. The Popes, who know every thing, -and pronounce sentence on every thing, had, till then, been totally -unacquainted with the mechanism of the metaphysical intercourse between -the Creator and creature; and, for their better information, Molina -invented many barbarous words, or scholastic terms, with innumerable -distinctions and divisions. - -To proceed in this dispute with some order, and wrangle theologically, -he distinguished between _preventive_ and _co-operating grace_: one of -these graces could do any thing, and the other little or nothing; but -this not being sufficient for understanding what he himself did not -understand, he farther invented the _mediate knowledge_ and _congruism_. - -According to him, God held a council of state in Heaven, before which -all men were summoned and interrogated, how they will act after -receiving his grace; and, according to the free use which he saw they -were to make of it, he decreed within himself, either to admit them into -Paradise, or call them down into hell. - -Unluckily for the Christian world, this Molina was a Jesuit; an order -little beloved by the others: the Dominicans, especially, raised an -outcry against his congruism. - -These things being transacted in Spain, the Inquisition took cognizance -of the altercation; and had they burned Molina, and a few Dominicans, -there would have been an end of the matter, and, for once, this tribunal -had done a good piece of service to Christendom. _Concomitant -concurrence_ and _co-operating grace_ had a trial at Rome; but the more -the parties disputed, the less understood they one another. A monk -offered his mediation: but this mediator was less intelligible than the -controversists. - -The difficulty was not so much the putting an end to the dispute, as to -know what the dispute was about. Neither party understood themselves or -the other, and, in the mean time, with their free-will, mediate -knowledge, complement of active virtue, &c. they ran themselves more and -more into darkness. - -The bickerings, at length, ceased for want of disputants, there being -times when monks sacrifice every thing to indolence. All remained quiet, -till one Cornelius Jansenius renewed the contest; yet, instead of -inventing any thing, he only disputed behind a huge book, the author of -which was named Baius. The Jesuits sollicited the Pope to condemn -Cornelius, and by the dexterity of their agents at Rome, carried their -point there; but in other parts of Europe, it went against them. The -universities, the parliaments, and chiefly the women, profound judges -of such things, sided with Jansenius. - -A paper war commenced with great acrimony; congruism, by dint of bulky -volumes, worsted predestination in some pitched battles: yet the war -went on undecided; both parties being now grown powerful, and fighting -merely for the honour of victory. - -Till then, only private persons had appeared in the field; but now -universities declaring themselves, the action became general. No -accommodation was so much as talked of, there being no body, or society, -in the state, of a power sufficient to compel the two parties to accept -of its mediation. - -In the mean time, the Molinist bishops drew up a condemnation of -Jansenius’s five articles, though, in the opinion of his party, they -were no more than what St. Augustine himself had advanced. Several -communities of men signed the condemnation; but the nuns, who have -nothing to do, and eagerly catch at every opportunity which may bring -them into the world again, protested against subscribing; and those of -Port Royal distinguished themselves by their firmness, or obstinacy. - -I do not wonder that they refused subscribing, but am surprised that -their subscription should have been required; it was shewing them a -regard, on this affair, which ought not to have been shewn them: on -their pertinacious refusal, they were forcibly removed, and dispersed -into other convents; whereas the real punishment would have been to have -kept them always in the same spot. - -The Popes, likewise, from time to time, issued new formularies, which -gave an air of greater moment to the quarrel; but they had done much -better to have left it to itself, and then Molina and Jansenius would -soon have sunk into oblivion; but the court of Rome is ever for being -absolute. - -In the midst of this war, however, a truce was brought about. Clement -IX. a man of good sense and prudence, drew up a set of articles of -capitulation, had them signed by the Jansenists, and thus, brought about -a peace; but, unhappily, when religion is in the case, war soon kindles -again. - -A father of the oratory, named Quesnel, is said, this time, to have been -the instrument of discord. He wrote a book which, after being applauded -throughout all Europe, France censured. It was not very easy to point -out wherein this book was to be found fault with; but religious cabals -were then in fashion. The Molinist party, in the mean time, carried it -with a high hand, having the King’s ear. - -The confessor to Lewis XIV. was a Jesuit, who formed parties both at -court and in town, against the Jansenists, who keenly revenged -themselves with their pens; thus, though there was a prevailing party, -the war still continued. - -Hitherto no manifestos had passed between the Molinists and the -Jansenists, both parties, in the heat of their zeal, having taken up -arms without any declaration of war. Lewis XIV. procured from Rome a -bull, whereby a fire was kindled, which has not since been quenched. The -Pope, the bishops, the King, the religious orders, in short, people of -all ranks gradually engaged in the quarrel, to the great disturbance of -the nation and families; all plotting and caballing one against the -other. - -The principal object of public hatred was father Le Tellier, who -over-ruled the King’s conscience: this was a hot and ambitious man, who -wanted to revenge some personal offences given him by the Jansenists, -and, in pursuit of his drift, alarmed both the King’s conscience and -the kingdom. - -Lewis XIV. towards the decline of his life, was grown weak and -irresolute, and often harrassed with terrible fears of the devil. The -hard-hearted Jesuit had possessed him with a persuasion, that the affair -of the Molinists was the cause of God. His resentment chiefly aimed at -the cardinal de Noailles, and he had the confidence to move his penitent -to depose him judicially. The death of this Prince brought on a -suspension of this bustle, which was called the constitution. - -The Duke of Orleans, who loved neither popes nor bishops, and despised -bulls, in order to rid himself both of the Molinists and Jansenists, -appointed commissioners for hearing their broils, separately from the -other affairs of the monarchy; with an intent to deprive them of their -public importance: but the wisdom of this precaution was frustrated; -those people still were for figuring in the state. They appealed to a -national council, which was nothing less than throwing off the yoke of -the administration, to erect another independent of it. The regent -banished and exiled both bishops and priests; but this remedy only -inflamed the disease, hardening both parties in their obstinacy. The -Jansenists and Molinists then formed themselves into two factions, under -the names of _acceptants_ and _recusants_. The Acceptants called the -Recusants heretics, and the Recusants gave the appellation of -schismatics to the Acceptants. - -The frenzy for efficacious grace was bursting out with greater violence -than ever, when the Missisippi scheme was set on foot; then avarice did -what neither the Pope nor King could: all the people’s thoughts now ran -only on getting money. The names of Jansenists and Molinists were -almost forgotten, though to this nothing perhaps contributed more than -the contempt and ridicule which the Duke of Orleans put on this -controversy, calling it a trifle; whereas Lewis XIV. had been made to -lay it to heart, as an affair of the greatest concern. - -The subsequent wars under Lewis XV. made the Jansenists and Molinists to -be still farther forgotten, though not without some occasional -skirmishes on predestination; but as there was no general action, they -were not much heeded. - -The dispute, in the mean time, was not totally extinguished, or rather -it was a-fire lurking under embers. In 1750, the Molinists renewed -hostilities, refusing the Sacraments to sick persons of the contrary -party, under pretence of their not having confessional certificates. - -The parliament intervened, and punished the delinquents; by which the -two parties regained the consideration, which they had lost by the Duke -of Orleans’s measures. This rupture gave rise to a new discussion, -whether the parliament could intermeddle with this affair, or had any -right to banish, or inflict punishments on priests, who, in refusing to -administer the sacraments, only conformed to the injunctions of their -bishops. - -The Jansenists said that the civil magistrate has a power legally -superior even to that of the church, the order of a state depending on -such subordination; and they farther added, that the administration of -the Sacraments is the capital branch of the polity exercised by the -civil magistrate. - -The answer of the Molinists was, that in spirituals they acknowledged no -other superiority than that of the Pope and his bishops; that civil -affairs were the parliament’s province, and all it ought to concern -itself in; but that the kingdom of heaven had been committed to pastors, -and not lawyers. - -The subjects, in the mean time, died without the sacraments; the priests -indeed were punished, yet the evil remained, and this affair gave the -King much uneasiness: the Bourbons indeed have always laid to heart -religious disturbances: the court gave itself more concern about these -confessional certificates, than ever it had shewn in the most important -political transactions. It often became necessary to put a violence on -priests, and make use of soldiers to compel them to administer. Never, -from the birth of Christ, had such a thing been seen, as having recourse -to the bayonet for the administration of the most sacred mystery. It was -indeed a horrid scandal; but to see subjects, at the point of death, -begging for the communion, and refused, was something still more -shocking. - -The King, one day, said to me, “These people give me a great deal of -uneasiness; if they go on, I shall be obliged to turn all the priests -out of their livings, and have their functions performed by -Capuchin-friars, who are intirely as I would have them, &c.”[4] - -The court’s attention now came to be taken up with an affair of still -greater importance than the constitution itself; the election of a King -of the Romans. The house of Austria, fond of its greatness, is always -providing for the future security of it. As Charles VI. had engaged the -Sovereigns of Europe to make themselves the instruments of his ambition, -even after his decease; Maria Theresa, in her life-time, took measures -for fixing the Imperial throne in her family. - -It was on a Prince who might be looked on as a Lorrainer, that she was -conferring the title of presumptive heir; for Charles VI. dying without -male-issue, the house of Austria had ended in him. The circles of the -empire accounted this measure a greater act of despotism than that of -the late emperor; as hereby the empire, from an elective constitution, -not only became hereditary, but even escheated to a foreign family: loud -complaints were made, and that was all. It is now about a century, that -the petty princes in Germany have not been able to shew their resentment -against the house of Austria, any farther than by complaints and -murmurs. - -Maria Theresa, knowing how far her forces were superior to any which the -Northern Princes could oppose to her designs, communicated her plan to -the other courts of Europe, and to France one of the first. The King -shewed me the Austrian ambassador’s reasons, digested into writing by M. -de Puisieux, after a conference with that minister. The artful turn -given to them by ambition, makes them worthy of being preserved. - -“The calamities still recent, said that Ambassador, which the vacancy of -the Imperial throne, on the demise of Charles VI. brought on Europe, -should move Christian Princes to prevent the like. The Emperor now -reigning is in full health, and it may be presumed, that God will grant -him length of days: but should one of those many accidents to which -human nature is liable, disappoint the public hopes, and shorten his -valuable life, Christendom would be plunged in the same abysses, as on -the decease of the last Emperor. It is therefore the concern of all the -European powers to prevent a war, that scourge which throws every thing -into confusion, lays waste whole nations, and thins mankind. The -calamities caused by the late vacancy of the empire are not likely to be -brought to a speedy end, and what will it be should new disturbances be -accumulated on the former? - -“Too many precautions cannot be taken against evils, which, when once -happened, cannot be averted, or the issue of them determined. - -“By the election of a King of the Romans, the views of Princes who may -have formed designs, are prevented; and the coronation once over, will -suppress all cabals and intrigues about being head of the empire. When a -sceptre is vacant, a great stir is made after it; but when once -possessed, it is no longer thought of. - -“Archduke Joseph, indeed, should the Emperor die, is not of age to -govern his dominions; but the evils of minority cannot be compared to -those which the want of a head to the empire would occasion. - -“Not that the Queen of Hungary is in the least apprehensive of her heirs -being deprived of a throne, the legal appenage of her family; her -leading motive in this settlement is to prevent the needless effusion of -blood. - -“On the death of Charles VI. it was seen that all Europe cannot make an -Emperor. The Elector of Bavaria, after being placed on that throne by -foreign armies, was always in a tottering condition; so that had not -death deprived him of the crown, he would have been obliged to resign -it, &c.” - -I have observed that ambassadors, in cases of personal interest, -generally overlook the regard due to Princes by the law of nations. -Here the Vienna minister would have France subvert the very foundations -of the Imperial constitution, and make that crown hereditary, which had -always been elective. He surely forgot that the house of Bourbon, as I -have been told, had, at the treaty of Westphalia, made itself a -guarantee of the liberties and privileges of the empire. His court -seemed not to recollect that the election of a King of the Romans -depended on the consent of the electors, in a diet held expressly for -such election. - -The King, on reading this Memoir, asked M. de Puisieux what he thought -of the business. _Sir_, answered the Minister, _you must consent to -every thing; it is no longer worth France’s while to meddle with the -affairs of Germany; at present the King of Prussia is able to keep up -the balance in the North, and hinder the house of Austria from lording -it over yours; so that all we have to do now, is to look on_. The -council, however, was of a different opinion; but it is not the first -time that one man has been wiser than an assembly. - -The court of Vienna was likewise busy in bringing the other courts of -Europe to countenance this election. That of England represented to the -Marquis de Mirepoix, that it was the interest of France to close with -the making a King of the Romans; doubtless, because it was theirs. This -court afterwards went farther, and George the Second affirmed, that the -election of a King of the Romans did not depend on the Electoral -college; that is, that the dignity of presumptive heir to the empire -might be conferred without any deliberation of the electors, which was -making the Imperial crown absolutely hereditary. - -I remember all the memoirs of that time agree in the Archduke’s being -very young, but they all likewise added, that an Emperor under age was -better than a vacancy of the throne, which amounts to an approbation of -a regular succession. - -A politician of our court, with whom I was talking of this election, -told me, that there was an article in the treaty of Westphalia, which -formally settled this affair. It is there expressly said, _That no -election of a King of the Romans shall be entered on, unless the -reigning emperor be out of the empire, and with an intent to be absent a -long time, or for ever; or that age should render him incapable of -government; or there should manifestly appear some great necessity on -which the safety of the empire depended_. But treaties are never -followed, and no more was said of this, than if it had never existed. - -The King of Prussia alone stood up in defence of the Electoral-college; -but he had his reasons for this specious conduct. The election of a King -of the Romans secured the empire to the house of Austria; and it has -been believed by many, that he himself looked that way. There is indeed -no ambition, of which a Prince, so powerful in war as to subdue several -nations, is not susceptible. - -I return to Versailles, from whence the affair of the King of the Romans -has carried me too far. Lewis XV. as I have said elsewhere, was now a -little relieved from the load of business imposed on him by the war; -peace allowed him a leisure, which was the very felicity of my life. -Amidst the confusion of sieges and battles, he had no settled residence. -Flanders had several times deprived me of him; but the treaty of peace -entirely restored him to me, and his confidence in me daily increased; -so that he even imparted to me his uneasiness, for kings have their -troubles both as men and as Princes. - -Lewis XV. would often lament, that he had no friends, and had a thousand -times wished to have been a private person, for the sake of cordial -friendship and sympathy, to the effects of which Kings are always -strangers. - -“No sooner have I distinguished a subject by some considerable post, but -a hundred others, jealous of the favour, grow out of humour with me; -and, at the same time, I do not get the love of him on whom I have -conferred the benefit; he complains that I have not done enough for him, -and they, for my having done nothing for them. All love favour, and care -little for the King. I see about me only sordid souls, slaves to pride -and ostentation, acting only from interest; so that were it not for the -many favours emaning from the throne, they would not move a finger. -Another, and rather worse, inconveniency annexed to the crown, is the -impossibility for kings to distinguish honest men from those of a -different cast. They are so like each other, as to be generally -mistaken; for at court vice and virtue appear in the same colours. The -bulk of those about me, I strongly suspect to be void of any one -generous principle; but when I am for sifting them, my rank will not -allow of the proper measures. Thus they remain impenetrable to me, yet I -must employ them in the service of the state; and hence arise those -public misfortunes, for which I am answerable both to the present time -and to posterity. - -“When some important choice is to be made, and I have pitched on the -person, all France seems to lay their heads together to deceive me. His -talents, his merit and virtue, are cried up to me; not one honest man -do I meet with in the kingdom to mention a word of any fault of his; -they are afraid of incurring the displeasure of him whom I have so -recently distinguished by my favour; and to this mean spirited fear they -sacrifice both me and the state. - -“When, on the other hand, I withdraw my confidence from a minister, or -some other place-man, then I am told that he is deficient in every -political quality: those very persons who could never say enough in his -praise, now draw him in the most contemptible colours; all his faults -and errors, and sinister practices, are laid open to me in full detail. -The terrible accounts given of him from all hands set me against him, so -that I cannot bring myself to employ him, even though, by the -reflections on his past conduct and disgrace, he should afterwards -become thoroughly qualified for a public station. - -“A patriot King is the most unhappy mortal under the sun; he has his -country’s happiness at heart, and is beset by people who cross his good -intentions. The ministers are the first in ruining a state, to save -themselves the labour of reforming abuses: to leave things as they are, -is soonest done; in the mean time, the evils continue, and when a -Monarch, tender of the welfare of his subjects, would remedy them, he -meets unsurmountable impediments; for the habit of a long and bad -administration at length comes to supersede the laws and usages, &c. -&c.” - -Another time Lewis XV. was pleased to open himself to me on the same -subject: “A great misfortune to a King is, that ministers generally -conceal the true state of things from them. Sovereigns are always made -acquainted with the calamities of their dominions the last; and this, -lest such information should put them on taking the reins of government -into their own hands; and every one makes it his study to keep them in -the dark. The immense variety of concerns in a large monarchy, obliges -him to trust to ministers, and these ministers, for the greater part, -play false with him. On the last war, I consulted those who were at the -head of the administration, whether the advantages of victories would -balance the inevitable misfortunes of battles: one and all assured me, -that by no other way could the kingdom be retrieved, than by the glory -of my arms; and that the lustre and advantages derived from the -victories, would be the more lasting and solid, as due only to the -nation’s own strength. - -“At the peace, I found they had deceived me; my subjects are in the -utmost distress, and all owing to the war; so that to recover themselves -must be the work of years; and should fresh disturbances happen, it will -never be done, &c. &c.” - -I likewise had my complaints. “Sir, said I to the King, my grievances, -tho’ of a different nature from yours, are not less painful. The rancour -of all France is pointed at me. The royal family inveighs against me; -his royal Highness the Dauphin takes all opportunities of affronting me: -your ministers look on me as the fatal rock on which all their designs -go to wreck. The chief families of the kingdom treat me with contempt; -and all this because your Majesty has thought me worthy of your esteem. - -“Many carry their malevolence so far, as to impute the disorders of the -finances to me, as if the administration of affairs was lodged in my -hands. I am accused of having all the money in the kingdom; I am changed -with the nation’s debts, as if I myself had contracted them. On any -minister’s failing in his duty, the blame is immediately laid on me. I -am exclaimed against for his being preferred, and his disgrace is -imputed as a crime to me. - -“It is I who bear the blame of all political misfortunes; and if I have -not been directly accused of having declared war against your enemies, -it has been said, that I might have prevented those murderous sieges and -battles, as if the fate of Europe was at my beck, and I could model -foreign courts. - -“I have been reproached with the oversights of your generals; not a -battle has been lost, not a siege has been raised, but it is all owing -to me. So much as their personal variances and quarrels are laid at my -door. - -“The public distresses, though the consequence of a bad administration, -and the misfortunes of the times, have been attributed to me, as if my -doing. The populace has hissed me, and was often for stopping my coach, -and has been near coming to those extremities against me, with which -they only are treated whose notorious malversation has manifestly ruined -a people. - -“Yet, Sire, what gives me most pain, is the ingratitude of those who -have felt the effects of my favour. I have often sollicited your Majesty -for persons, who were no sooner out of the meanness and obscurity from -whence I drew them, than they forgot the kind hand by which they had -been raised. I can reckon, hitherto, about three thousand persons who -owe their subsistence to me. It is through my care that they have been -brought into new stations, where they lost sight of me before they were -well warm in their places. - -“Of such a great number, not one have I found with any due sense of -gratitude: nay, the greater the preferment, the less their -acknowledgment; some have even busily caballed against me: those whom I -thought most my friends, and whom the important services I had done them -should have made such, have been the first in deceiving and injuring me. -I have discovered treacheries at which I shuddered; so that since my -living at court, I am grown sick of mankind. I should have died a -thousand times under the anguish which such injurious treatment has -caused me, had not the kindness with which your Majesty honours me -reconciled me to life, &c.” - -The death of the Prince of Wales,[5] eldest son to George II. and as -such, presumptive heir to the crown of England, made some impression at -Versailles: this Prince is said not to have been remarkable for those -eminent qualities with whose brilliancy the world is so much taken: but -they who knew him personally, perceived in him the more solid virtues: -compassion, goodness, sensibility, tenderness, candour, affability, a -readiness to oblige, and delight in doing good; these were his leading -dispositions: a Prince, in a word, qualified to make a people happy. He -had married a German Princess, intirely deserving to ascend the throne -with him. I have often pitied this Lady’s fate, to lose an affectionate -husband and a powerful crown at once, is one of those events which -elevated souls alone can bear with firmness. His death occasioned a -revolution in political affairs. France had great hopes of things going -better, when that Prince should have come to the throne: there was no -cordial harmony between him and his father King George. The son often -crossed the father’s measures, so that they seldom saw, and seldomer -spoke to each other. From this disposition it was hoped, that a Prince, -who so much disapproved the present system, would be less inveterate -against the house of Bourbon than his predecessors had been. It was -imagined that his accession would prove a happy turn for France, when, -perhaps, it might have only made matters worse. The sons of Kings, at -their entrance on regality, leave their ideas as Princes at the foot of -the throne, and take up those of Kings. - -George II. is said not to have shewn any great concern at the death of -his son, appearing as usual in the drawing-room, and, within a few days, -giving audience to Ambassadors: in this there might be a little -affectation, it being the known character of that Prince to shew himself -firm and unshaken, in the midst of the most unfortunate events. The rest -of the royal family were in the deepest affliction: he was also greatly -lamented by his houshold; and I am told, that his death is still matter -of concern to many. - -The death of this Prince likewise caused a national uneasiness, his -children being very young, and King George advanced in years, which -might be productive of the disorders almost inevitable under a minority. -In order to prevent them, the Princess Dowager of Wales was nominated -guardian to the King’s successor, and regent of the kingdom, till her -son should be of age; but the issue of the deliberation was, that this -Lady, who had come into England to wear the crown, should be neither -Queen nor Regent. - -The French clergy’s affair, though thought to be over, was still going -on. The bishops and wealthy incumbents, amidst the privacy of their -dwellings, to which they had been ordered, disturbed the state; though -ardently desirous of returning to Paris, they were for coming at this -privilege as cheap as they could, haggling a long time with the King, -who, however, would make no abatement. They insisted on their -immunities, they pleaded their solemn promise to the Pope to maintain -their rights. This dispute irritated the court, and not a little soured -the King. At this juncture, a bishop took it into his head to come and -expostulate with me about the clergy’s prerogatives. This certainly was -not taking the right time, for as this affair gave so much displeasure -to his Majesty, it could not be very pleasing to me. The Prelate made a -long-winded harangue, in proof that the church was not to disseize -itself of its wealth. He recurred as far back as St. Peter, and through -an enumeration of those bulls, by which the church is ordered to keep -what it has came down to our times. “My Lord, said I interrupting him, -your prerogatives are what I know nothing of, but I know that your chief -duty, like that of other subjects, is to obey the King. Say what you -will of your bulls and immunities; every body of men declining to -conform to its Sovereign’s orders, is guilty of rebellion, and deserves -the punishment of high treason.” - -A great many bad books came out against the clergy, in vindication of -the King’s cause. Among the several writers who, on these occasions, -take different parts, one wrote a pamphlet with the title of _An -Impartial Inquiry into the Immunities of the Clergy_. This work was full -of very judicious reflections, besides a nervous elegancy of stile: it -was indeed the only one on the subject which deserves reading. - -After all, it became necessary that the plan which had been proposed, -and to which I myself had advised the King, should take place. This was -to draw up a state of the value of every churchman’s preferments, that -each might be taxed in proportion to his real income; and accordingly -the court ordered the intendants of the provinces to oblige all the -beneficed clergy to deliver in an account of the nature of their several -revenues. There was indeed a very hard clause, in case of a refusal; the -intendants being expressly enjoined to seize on the several revenues in -the King’s name, and leave the beneficiaries only an alimentary pension. -This was insuring their compliance; for being used to superfluity, they -could but very indifferently shift with no more than was necessary. - -The clergy of France had already begun to lower their voice, when the -parliament of Paris raised theirs. I could find in my heart to say, that -in France the state is ever out of order; no sooner has the Sovereign -repaired some weak part of his prerogative, than another appears to be -running to ruin. - -The parliament, instead of conforming to his pleasure, according to -their usual way, sent a deputation with remonstrances. These speeches -set out with great protestations of respect and submission, but are -seldom without some term which favours of a republican spirit, tending -to independency; and not seldom they strike at the prerogative of the -crown. - -The King, though naturally irresolute, had his intervals of firmness, in -which he was immoveable. He gave the deputies to understand, that he -would have his edicts enrolled that very day, under penalty of -disobedience and immediate punishment. - -The parliament were sitting when the deputies returned to Paris; being -forbid to deliberate, they registered the edicts. After this act of -duty, which they stiled deference, a second deputation was dispatched to -Versailles. These gentlemen began their harangue in this manner: _Your -Majesty has commanded, and your parliament has obeyed_. - -A courtier said, that there they ought to have stopped, all the -remainder of their long speech being quite useless and superfluous. - -The King was pleased, in the evening, to mention this affair to me; and -his having got the better of the parliament, made him much gayer than -usual; but this extraordinary chearfulness raised in me some misgivings. -To me, a body whose temporary submission excited in its master such a -lively joy, appeared dangerous. - -FINIS - - * * * * * - -FOOTNOTES: - - [1] The dukes of Richelieu, Mazarin, and Fleury. - - [2] The military school was but just instituted. - - [3] The country of Final, which belonged to the Genoese. - - [4] 1751. - - [5] 1751. - - * * * * * - -Typographical errors corrected by the etext transcriber: - -runs in his viens=> runs in his viens {pg 13} - -if the the least=> if the least {pg 17} - -Monsieur d’Etrees=> Monsieur d’Estrées {pg 21} - -Chales VII. the cause of this general=> Charles VII. the cause of this -general {pg 64} - -in those impractiable=> in those impracticable {pg 70} - -being less estemed=> being less esteemed {pg 74} - -the Duke de Richlieu=> the Duke de Richelieu {pg 97} - -to M. de Puysieux=> to M. de Puisieux {pg 105} - -the Duke de Richlieu=> the Duke de Richelieu {pg 111} - -the Marshall de Noailles=> the Marshal de Noailles {pg 132} - -view: M. Rouille=> view: M. Rouillé {pg 173} - -is an inquitous assessment=> is an iniquitous assessment {pg 179} - -frequently with M. de Pusieux=> frequently with M. de Puisieux {pg 183} - -great Conde’s enemies=> great Condé’s enemies {pg 210} - - - - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Memoirs of the Marchioness of -Pompadour (vol. 1 of 2), by Jeanne Antoinette Poisson Pompadour - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MEMOIRS OF THE MARCHIONESS *** - -***** This file should be named 52003-0.txt or 52003-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/2/0/0/52003/ - -Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images available at The Internet Archive) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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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/license - - -Title: Memoirs of the Marchioness of Pompadour (vol. 1 of 2) - -Author: Jeanne Antoinette Poisson Pompadour - -Release Date: May 5, 2016 [EBook #52003] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MEMOIRS OF THE MARCHIONESS *** - - - - -Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images available at The Internet Archive) - - - - - - -</pre> - -<hr class="full" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/cover.jpg" width="296" height="500" alt="" title="" /> -</div> - -<h1> -M E M O I R S<br /> -<small>O F T H E</small><br /> -Marchioness of Pompadour.</h1> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_i" id="page_i"></a>{i}</span></p> -<p class="c">WRITTEN <small>BY</small> HERSELF.<br /> - -<small>Wherein are Displayed</small></p> - -<div class="cls"> -<p class="hang">The Motives of the Wars, Treaties of Peace, Embassies, and -Negotiations, in the several Courts of Europe:</p> - -<p class="hang">The Cabals and Intrigues of Courtiers; the Characters of Generals, -and Ministers of State, with the Causes of their Rise and Fall; -and, in general, the most remarkable Occurrences at the Court of -France, during the last twenty Years of the Reign of Lewis XV.</p> - -<hr /> -<p class="c"> -Translated from the French.</p> -<hr /> - -<p class="c">IN TWO VOLUMES.</p> -<hr /> -<p class="c">VOL. I.</p> -<hr /><hr class="bl" /> -<p class="c">L O N D O N:<br /> -Printed for <span class="smcap">P. V a i l l a n t</span>, in the Strand; and<br /> -<span class="smcap">W. J o h n s t o n</span>, in Ludgate-Street.<br /> -MDCCLXVI.<br /> -</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_ii" id="page_ii"></a>{ii}</span> </p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_iii" id="page_iii"></a>{iii}</span> </p> - -<hr class="bl" /> -<hr /> - -<h2>THE<br /><br /> -EDITOR’<small>S</small> PREFACE.</h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="letra">T</span><b>HE</b> following work must be acknowledged highly interesting to these -times; and to posterity will be still more so. These are not the memoirs -of a mere woman of pleasure, who has spent her life in a voluptuous -court, but the history of a reign remarkable for revolutions, wars, -intrigues,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_iv" id="page_iv"></a>{iv}</span> alliances, negotiations; the very blunders of which are not -beneath the regard of politicians, as having greatly contributed to give -a new turn to the affairs of Europe.</p> - -<p>The Lady who drew the picture was known to be an admirable colourist.</p> - -<p>They who were personally acquainted with Mademoiselle Poisson, before -and since her marriage with M. le Normand, know her to have been -possessed of a great deal of that wit, which, with proper culture, -improves into genius.</p> - -<p>The King called her to court at a tempestuous season of life, when the -passions reign uncontrouled,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_v" id="page_v"></a>{v}</span> and by corrupting the heart, enlarge the -understanding.</p> - -<p>They who are near the persons of Kings, for the most part, surpass the -common run of mankind, both in natural and acquired talents; for -ambition is ever attended with a sort of capacity to compass its ends; -and all courtiers are ambitious.</p> - -<p>No sooner does the Sovereign take a mistress, than the courtiers flock -about her. Their first concern is to give her her cue; for as they -intend to avail themselves of her interest with the King, she must be -made acquainted with a multitude of things: she may be said to receive -her intelligence from the first<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_vi" id="page_vi"></a>{vi}</span> hand, and to draw her knowledge at the -fountain head.</p> - -<p>Lewis XV. intrusted the Marchioness de Pompadour with the greatest -concerns of the nation; so that if she had been without those abilities -which distinguished her at Paris, she must still have improved in the -school of Versailles.</p> - -<p>Her talents did not clear her in the public eye; never was a favourite -more outrageously pelted with pamphlets, or exposed to more clamorous -invectives. Of this her Memoirs are a full demonstration; her enemies -charged her with many very odious vices, without so much as allowing her -one good quality.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_vii" id="page_vii"></a>{vii}</span> The grand subject of murmur was the bad state of the -finances, which they attributed to her amours with the King.</p> - -<p>They who brand the Marchioness with having run Lewis XV. into vast -expences, seem to have forgot those which his predecessor’s mistresses -had brought on the state.</p> - -<p>Madame de la Valiere, even before she was declared mistress to Lewis -XIV. induced him to give entertainments, which cost the nation more than -ever Madame de Pompadour’s fortune amounted to.</p> - -<p>Madame de Montespan put the same Prince to very enormous expences; she -appeared always with<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_viii" id="page_viii"></a>{viii}</span> the pomp and parade of a Queen, even to the having -guards to attend her.</p> - -<p>Scarron’s widow carried her pride and ostentation still further: she -drew the King in to marry her, and this mistress came to be queen, an -elevation which will be an eternal blot on the Prince’s memory.</p> - -<p>This clandestine commerce gave rise to an infamous practice at court, -with which Madame de Pompadour cannot be charged. All these concubines -having children, to gratify their vanity, they must be legitimated; and, -afterwards, they found means to marry these sons, or daughters, of -prostitution, to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_ix" id="page_ix"></a>{ix}</span> branches of the royal blood; a flagrant debasement -of the house which were in kin to the crown: for though a Sovereign can -legitimate a bastard, to efface the stain of bastardy is beyond his -power. The consequence was, that the descendants of that clandestine -issue aspired to the throne; and, through the King’s scandalous amours, -that lustre which is due only to virtue, fell to the portion of vice.</p> - -<p>It was given out in France, and over all Europe, that Madame de -Pompadour was immensely rich: but nothing of this appeared at her death, -except her magnificent moveables, and these were rather the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_x" id="page_x"></a>{x}</span> -consequences of her rank at court, than the effects of her vanity. This -splendor his Majesty partook of, as visiting her every day.</p> - -<p>The public is generally an unfair judge of those who hold a considerable -station at court, deciding from vague reports, which are often the -forgeries of ill-grounded prejudice. Madame de Pompadour has been -charged with insatiable avarice. Had this been the case, she might have -indulged herself at will: she was at the spring-head of opulence; the -King never refused her any thing; so that she might have amassed any -money; which she did not. There are now existing, in France, fifty<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_xi" id="page_xi"></a>{xi}</span> -wretches of financiers, each of a fortune far exceeding her’s.</p> - -<p>It was also said, that the best thing which could happen to France, was -to be rid of this rapacious favourite. Well; she is no more; and what is -France the better for it? Has her death been followed by one of those -sudden revolutions in the government, which usher in a better form of -administration? Have they who looked on this Lady as an unsurmountable -obstacle to France’s greatness, proposed any better means for raising it -from its present low state? Is there more order in the government? are -the finances improved? is there<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_xii" id="page_xii"></a>{xii}</span> more method and oeconomy? No, affairs -are still in the same bad ways the lethargy continues as profound as -ever. The ministry, which before Madame de Pompadour’s death was fast -asleep, is not yet awake. Every thing remains in <i>statu quo</i>. Some -European governments have no regular motion; they advance either too -fast, or too slow; their steps are either precipitate, or sluggish.</p> - -<p>In this favourite’s time, there was too much shifting and changing in -the ministry; now she is gone, there is none at all, &c. &c.</p> - -<p>I am very far from intending a panegyric on Madame de Pompadour.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_xiii" id="page_xiii"></a>{xiii}</span> Faults -she had, which posterity will never forgive. All the calamities of -France were imputed to her, and she should have resigned in compliance -to the public: a nation is to be respected even in its prejudices. With -any tolerable share of patriotism, Madame de Pompadour would have -quitted the court, and thus approved herself deserving of the favour for -which she was execrated; but her soul was not capable of such an act of -magnanimity: she knew nothing of that philosophy which, inspiring a -contempt of external grandeur, endears the subject to the Prince, and -exalts him above the throne.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_xiv" id="page_xiv"></a>{xiv}</span></p> - -<p>There is great appearance that this Lady intended to revise both her -Memoirs and her will, and that death prevented her: she used to write, -by starts, detached essays, without any coherence; and these on separate -bits of paper. These were very numerous and diffuse, as generally are -the materials intended to form a book, if she really had any such -design.</p> - -<p>We were obliged to throw by on all sides, and clear our way through an -ocean of writings, a long and tiresome business.</p> - -<p>It is far from being improbable, that Madame de Pompadour got<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_xv" id="page_xv"></a>{xv}</span> some -statesman, well versed in such matters, to assist her in compiling this -book: however that be, we give it as it stands in her original -manuscript.</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/deco.png" width="70" height="45" alt="text decoration" title="" /> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_1" id="page_1"></a>{1}</span></p> - -<h1>M E M O I R S<br /><br /> -<small>O F T H E</small><br /><br /> -<small>Marchioness of Pompadour.</small></h1> - -<p class="nind"><span class="letra">T</span><b>HE</b> following narrative is not confined to the particular history of my -life. My design is more extensive: I shall endeavour to give a true -representation of the court of France under the reign of Lewis XV. The -private memoirs of a King’s mistress are in themselves of small import; -but to know the character of the Prince who raises her to favour; to be -let into the intrigues of his reign, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_2" id="page_2"></a>{2}</span> genius of the courtiers, the -practices of the ministers, the views of the great, the projects of the -ambitious; in a word, into the secret springs of politics, is not a -matter of indifference.</p> - -<p>It is very seldom that the public judges rightly of what passes in the -cabinet: they hear that the King orders armies to take the field; that -he wins or loses battles; and on these occurrences they argue according -to their particular prejudices.</p> - -<p>History does not come nearer the mark; the generality of annalists being -only the echoes of the public mistakes.</p> - -<p>These papers I do not intend to publish in my life-time; but should they -appear after my death, posterity will see in them a faithful draught of -the several parts of the administration, which were acted, in some -measure, under my eye. Had I never lived at Versailles, the events of -our times might have been an inexplicable riddle to posterity; so -complicated<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_3" id="page_3"></a>{3}</span> are the incidents, and in many particulars so -contradictory, that, without a key, there is no decyphering them.</p> - -<p>Ministers and other place-men are not always acquainted with the means, -which they themselves make use of for attaining certain ends. A -plenipotentiary very well knows that he signs a treaty of peace, but he -is ignorant of the King’s motives for putting an end to the war.</p> - -<p>Every politician strikes out a system in his own sagacious brain; the -speculatists have often fathered on France what she never dreamed of; -and many refined schemes have been attributed to her ministers, which -never made part of their plan.</p> - -<p>It is not long since a minister of a certain court said to me at -Versailles, That the two last German wars, which cost France so much -blood, and three hundred millions of livres, was the greatest stroke of<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_4" id="page_4"></a>{4}</span> -policy which the age afforded; as this court had thereby insensibly, and -unknown to the rest of Europe, reduced the power of the Queen of -Hungary: for, added he, if, on the demise of Charles VI. this crown had -openly bent all its forces against the house of Austria, a general -alliance would have opposed it; whereas it has weakened that house by a -series of little battles and repeated losses, &c. &c.</p> - -<p>The inserting such an anecdote in the annals of our age would be -sufficient to disfigure the whole history. The truth is, that they who -were at the head of the French affairs, during these two wars, had no -manner of genius.</p> - -<p>All details not relative to the state I shall carefully omit, as rather -writing the age of Lewis XV. than the history of my private life. The -transactions of a King’s favourite concern only the reign of that -Prince; but truth is of perpetual concern.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_5" id="page_5"></a>{5}</span></p> - -<p>I hope the public does not expect from me a circumstantial journal of -Lewis XV’s gallantries: the King had many transitory amours during my -residence at Versailles; but none of his mistresses were admitted into -the public affairs. The reign of the far greater part began and ended in -the Prince’s bed. These foibles, so closely connected with human nature, -belong rather to a King’s private life, than to the public history of a -Monarch: I may sometimes mention them, but it will only be by the way. I -shall likewise be silent in regard to my family. The particular favour -with which I have been honoured by Lewis XV. has placed my origin in -broad day-light. A Monarch in raising a woman to the summit of grandeur, -of course lays open the blemishes of her birth. The annals of the -universe have been overlooked, to make a singular case of what has been -almost a general practice in the world.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_6" id="page_6"></a>{6}</span></p> - -<p>The Roman Emperors often raised so favour and eminence women of more -obscure birth than mine: but, without going so far backward, the history -of our own Kings abounds with such instances. Though the widow of -Scarron the poet rose a step higher than I, she was not born to such -exaltation. It is true her father was a gentleman; but all women, not -born Princesses, are at a like distance from the throne.</p> - -<p>A multitude of injurious reports have been propagated concerning my -parents. A wretched anonymous writer has gone even farther, by -publishing a scandalous book with the title of the history of my life. -The Count D’Affry wrote to me from Holland, that this production was of -the growth of Great-Britain. The English seem to make it their -particular business to throw dirt at persons of distinguished rank at -the court of France: that government is said to claim such<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_7" id="page_7"></a>{7}</span> a privilege, -in order to keep up the hatred between the two nations.</p> - -<p>Though my birth had nothing great in it, my education was not neglected. -I was taught dancing, music, and the rules of elocution, by excellent -masters; and those little talents have proved of the highest use to me. -I also read a great deal, and a favourite writer of mine was one Madame -de Villedieu. Her picture of the Roman empire entertained me -exceedingly. I even felt a very lively joy in observing that the -greatest revolutions in the world have been owing to love.</p> - -<p>After bestowing on me all the accomplishments which advantageously -distinguish a young person of my sex, I was married to one whom I did -not love; and a misfortune still greater was, that he loved me. This I -call a misfortune, and indeed I know not a greater on earth; for a woman -not beloved by a man, whom she likewise has married without any -affection,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_8" id="page_8"></a>{8}</span> at least comforts herself in his indifference.</p> - -<p>During the first years of my marriage, the King’s gallantries were much -talked of at Paris: his fleeting amours opened a field for all women, -who had beauty enough to put in for his heart.</p> - -<p>The post of mistress to Lewis XV. was often vacant. At Versailles all -the passions had an appearance of debauchery. In that airy region love -was soon exhausted, as consisting wholly in fruition. Nothing of -delicacy was to be seen at court; the whole scene of sensibility was in -the Prince’s bed. This Monarch often laid down with a heart full of -love, and the next morning rose with as much indifference.</p> - -<p>This account made me shudder; for I own I had then formed a design of -winning the heart of that Prince. I was afraid that he was so used to -change, as to be past all constancy.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_9" id="page_9"></a>{9}</span></p> - -<p>I even, then, blushed at the thought of giving myself up to an -inclination of no farther consequence than a momentary gratification of -the senses; but was fixed on my design.</p> - -<p>I had often seen the King at Versailles, without being perceived by him; -our looks had never met; my eyes had a great deal to say, but had no -opportunity of explaining my desires. At length I had an interview with -the Monarch, and, for the first time, talked with him in private. There -is no expressing what passed in me at this first conversation; fear, -hope, and admiration, successively agitated my soul. The King soon -dispelled my confusion; for Lewis XV. is certainly the most affable -Prince in his court, if not in the whole world. In private discourse his -rank lays no restraint, and all ideas of the throne are suspended; an -air of candour and goodness diffuses itself through every part of his -behaviour; in short, he can<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_10" id="page_10"></a>{10}</span> forget that he is a King, to be the more a -gentleman.</p> - -<p>Our conversation was to me all charming: I pleased and was pleased. The -King has since owned to me, that he loved me from that first interview. -It was there agreed that we should see one another privately at -Versailles: he was very much for my immediately coming to an apartment -in the palace: he even insisted on it; but I begged he would give me -leave to remain still incognito for some time; and the King, being the -most polite man in France, yielded to my request. On my return to Paris, -a thousand fresh emotions rose in my breast. A strange thing is the -human heart! we feel the effects of those passions of which we know not -the cause. I am still at a loss whether I loved the King from this first -meeting: that it gave me infinite pleasure, I know; but pleasure is not -always a consequence<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_11" id="page_11"></a>{11}</span> of love. We are susceptible of a multitude of -other passions, which may produce the like effect.</p> - -<p>I experienced a thousand delights in our secret intercourse: little do I -wonder that Madame de la Valiere, in the infancy of her amours with -Lewis XIV. was so transported with the sole enjoyment of that Monarch’s -affection: but at length, the King requiring that I should live at -Versailles, I complied with his desire.</p> - -<p>Now was my first appearance at court. Very faint and imperfect are the -descriptions which books give of this grand theatre. I thought myself -amidst another species of mortals: I observed that their manners and -usages are not the same; and that in regard to dress, deportment, and -language, the inhabitants of Versailles are entirely different from -those of Paris. Every courtier, besides his personal character, frames -to himself another, under which he acts his several parts. In town, -virtue and<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_12" id="page_12"></a>{12}</span> vice are streightened; here both range at large. The -passions are the stronger, as they happen to be at the source of the -means of gratifying them. Private interest, from whence they derive all -their activity, is there in its centre. The Prince’s favour gives life -and motion to the courtier’s soul: without a beam from the throne, it is -all a horrid gloom.</p> - -<p>To appear with dignity on this theatre, where I was an utter stranger, I -saw that it behoved me to make it my first care to examine into the -temper of those actors who played the capital parts.</p> - -<p>Of his Majesty I knew nothing, but by common report; and that, when it -relates to a reigning Prince, is generally wrong; either flattery -attributing too many virtues to him, or malevolence charging him with -too many vices.</p> - -<p>Lewis XV. is endowed with great natural parts, a surprising quickness of -apprehension, and solidity of judgment.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_13" id="page_13"></a>{13}</span> He, at once, discerns the -springs which give motion to the most complicated affairs of politics: -he knows all the weaknesses of the general system, and the faults of -each particular administration. This Prince has a noble and exalted -soul: the blood of the legislator, the hero, and the warrior, runs in -his veins; but a narrow education has stifled the effect of these -advantages. Cardinal Fleury, having not one great principle in himself, -trained this Prince to nothing but trifles: yet this unequal education -did not extinguish in him the most amiable qualities which can adorn a -Sovereign. It is impossible to exceed the goodness of Lewis XV’s heart: -he is humane, mild, affable, compassionate, just, delighting in good, a -declared enemy to every thing which does not bear the stamp of honour -and probity, &c. &c.</p> - -<p>Singular likewise are the virtues of the Queen: she has laid all -domestic hardships<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_14" id="page_14"></a>{14}</span> at the foot of the cross; so far from lamenting a -fate, which would have embittered the whole life of another Princess, -she considers it as a particular favour of Heaven, from a persuasion -that Providence is pleased to try her firmness in this life, in order to -confer the greater reward on her in the next. None of those fretful -words which speak a rankled heart ever came from her: she dwells with -pleasure on the King’s eminent qualities, and draws a veil over his -weaknesses: she never speaks of him but with a sensible respect and -veneration: it is impossible for any lady to carry Christian perfection -to a higher degree, and to concenter so many qualities in a rank, where -the least defects efface the greatest virtues.</p> - -<p>The Dauphin, being at that time very young, did not in the least concern -himself in public affairs. The King had ordered him not to interfere in -politics, and he seemed sufficiently inclined to conform to such -injunctions.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_15" id="page_15"></a>{15}</span></p> - -<p>The young Princesses kept pretty much in their apartments, and read a -great deal. Sometimes, indeed, they went a-hunting, dined with the King -in public, shewed themselves at the balls; then withdrew, without much -minding the intrigues of the court.</p> - -<p>The Duke of Orleans, though first Prince of the blood, seldom came to -Versailles: he had given into devotion, and spent his life in deeds of -charity.</p> - -<p>The Prince of Conti was at that time in the field, and wholly taken up -with military glory.</p> - -<p>Condé was very young, and his uncle Charolois sunk in the most debauched -intemperance.</p> - -<p>The other Princes of the royal blood had little or no share in public -affairs; accordingly they never came to Versailles, but to be present at -a great council, or at the King’s levee.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_16" id="page_16"></a>{16}</span></p> - -<p>Cardinal Tencin bore a great sway at court; the King confided in him -very much; so that they often used to be busy together. The most weighty -concerns of the crown were put into this ecclesiastic’s hands. Many -extolled him as a great minister; but as I scarce knew the man, I shall -say nothing of him: yet, when I think how much France has suffered by -Richelieu, Mazarin, and Fleury, I own I do not like to see people of -that class at the head of affairs.</p> - -<p>The Count de Maurpas excelled all the ministers of that time in genius, -activity, and penetration: he was of as long a standing in the ministry -as Lewis XV. in the sovereignty. To him the kingdom is indebted for -several noble institutions. It was he who re-established the navy, -which, after the death of Lewis XIV. had been most shamefully neglected. -I have been told that the Levant trade was entirely his work. He was -indefatigable<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_17" id="page_17"></a>{17}</span> in his department; and his dispatches were surprisingly -accurate. I have seen many of his letters; and think it is scarce -possible to comprize so many things in so few words.</p> - -<p>The d’Argensons, who had been introduced lately into the ministry, had -as yet no settled character: they were said not to want either genius or -probity; but that is not always sufficient for a proper discharge of -such a post. I have heard that many qualifications are requisite; and -that, if the least of them be wanting, there is no making any figure in -the ministry.</p> - -<p>The Count de St. Florentin, who managed ecclesiastical matters, was -little considered either at court or in town. He kept himself neuter -amidst the intrigues of Versailles, minding only the business of his own -department. As no great genius is required to issue letters <i>de cachet</i>, -and banish priests, he filled his<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_18" id="page_18"></a>{18}</span> post with all the dignity of a -minister whose only business is to sign.</p> - -<p>Orry, the Comptroller-general, was looked upon as a man of abilities, -from his talent at scheming pecuniary edicts. Within some months after I -had been settled at Versailles, he laid before the King no less than -twenty-five, and these were to bring in two hundred millions. He was -called the <i>Grand Financier</i>, from his finding resources for the King, -by impairing those of the state.</p> - -<p>The Prince de Soubise was a man of parts and discernment. He knew a -great deal; but his friends could have wished that he had not embarked -in war. The soldiery had no opinion of him: perhaps in this they were -wrong; yet a great man, who would be useful to his country, must give -way to public prejudice.</p> - -<p>Marshal Noailles had still greater abilities; so that it may be -questioned whether<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_19" id="page_19"></a>{19}</span> ever any one statesman or general possessed so -extensive a knowlege. The forming of him was an effort of nature. There -is not a science relating to political, civil, and military government, -with which he was not intimately acquainted; but the exertion of these -qualities was limited to the cabinet. His timidity and irresolution, in -a day of action, benumbed his faculties, otherwise so excellent: his -genius was certainly vast and extensive; and I question whether Europe -had his equal in council.</p> - -<p>Marshal Belleisle was then in high reputation: the court and town were -full of his praise. There was not in all France a man who had been at -more pains to acquire a superficial knowlege of useless things: he -pretended to be acquainted with every subject, and he had the art of -making others believe so; hence it was not in the least suspected that -he understood the art of war as little as that of negotiation:<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_20" id="page_20"></a>{20}</span> his -manners were mild and engaging, and he had an agreeable fluency of -speech; but he was so conceited of his knowlege, that although he -affected a certain degree of modesty, still his deportment was sure to -betray his pride: in short, I never knew a vainer creature.</p> - -<p>The Chevalier Belleisle did not affect to have so much understanding as -his brother, which shewed him to have the more; but he had all the -excessive ambition of the Marshal, and lost his life in attempting to -force an intrenchment, the success of which would have raised him to the -same rank.</p> - -<p>The Duke de Richelieu was still more idolized than Marshal Belleisle. -The King could not be without him. He was sure to be one at the private -suppers, and he superintended all the diversions of Versailles. Never -was any man like him for striking out a party of pleasure,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_21" id="page_21"></a>{21}</span> and -enlivening it by little incidents. He made it his business to divert the -King, and was very alert in seizing every opportunity conducive to that -end: but it was not for the King’s sake that he gave himself all that -trouble: his motive of acting was his own aggrandizement; for he is -insatiably greedy of rank and distinctions. Though of no genius for war, -he had the ambition of being created a Marshal of France; and without -any political talents, he was for thrusting himself into the ministry.</p> - -<p>Maurice of Saxony was the hero of France: he was esteemed the kingdom’s -guardian angel. I shall speak of him when I come to treat of the battle -of Fontenoy.</p> - -<p>Monsieur d’Estrées had the reputation of an able general: I shall make -farther mention of him in the sequel.</p> - -<p>The greater part of the other courtiers were subordinate officers: they -used to<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_22" id="page_22"></a>{22}</span> come from the army to Versailles, and then go back from -Versailles to the army; all their business at court being about -preferments. These were the Dukes of Grammont, Piquigny, Biron, la -Valiere, Boufflers, Luxembourg; the Marquisses of Putange, Maubourg, -Bregè, Langeron, Armentieres, Creil, Renepont; the Counts Coigny, la -Mothe-Houdancourt, Clermont, Estrées, Berenger; Messieurs d’Aumont, -Meuse, Ayou, Cibert, Chersey, Buckley, Segur, Fenelon, St. André, -Varennes, Montal, Balincourt, la Fare, Clermont-Tonnerre, with many more -who were for raising themselves by the sword.</p> - -<p>There was, at that time, scarce a woman at court who aspired at the -King’s affections. Those of a distinguished rank disdained to be the -objects of a transient love; and others, who courted that situation, had -neither beauty nor graces sufficient to obtain it; so that it was only<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_23" id="page_23"></a>{23}</span> -Parisian Ladies who entered into any of these intrigues: several were -sure to place themselves in sight whenever the King dined in public; and -always attended him to the chace: in short, they were ever dangling -after his Majesty, which was just the very way to come short of their -aim.</p> - -<p>My thoughts were employed to secure myself in the station to which -fortune had raised me. The King was with me as often as the affairs of -the crown would allow; leaving all grandeur behind him, and coming into -my apartment without any thing of that state which attends on him at -other places: for my part, I closely studied his temper.</p> - -<p>Lewis XV. is naturally of a saturnine turn: his soul is shrouded in a -thick gloom; so that, with every pleasure at command, he may be said to -be unhappy. Sometimes his melancholy throws him into such a languor that -nothing affects<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_24" id="page_24"></a>{24}</span> him, and then he is quite insensible to all -entertainment and pleasure. In these intervals, life becomes an -insupportable burden to him. The enjoyment of a beautiful woman for a -while diverts his uneasiness; but so far is it from being a lasting -relief, that his melancholy afterwards returns upon him with redoubled -weight.</p> - -<p>Another misfortune in this Prince’s life is, the continual conflict -between his devotion and his passions; pleasure drawing him on, and -remorse with-holding him: under this incessant struggle, he is one of -the most unhappy men in his kingdom.</p> - -<p>I perceived that the King’s disposition was not to be changed by love -only: this put me on engaging him by the charms of conversation; which -has a stronger influence with men than the passions themselves. Of this, -history furnished me with an instance in the person<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_25" id="page_25"></a>{25}</span> of his great -grandfather. Lewis XIV. had so habituated himself to Madame de -Maintenon, that no other woman could make any impression on him; and, -tho’ the court at that time was full of celebrated beauties, Scarron’s -widow, at an age when female influence over man is generally on the -decline, found means so strongly to fix his affection, that her death -only put an end to the charm.</p> - -<p>I planned a series of diversions, which, following close on one another, -got the better of the King’s constitution, and diverted him from -himself. I brought him to like music, dancing, plays, and little operas, -in which I myself used to perform; and private suppers terminated the -festivity. Thus the King lay down and rose in perfect satisfaction and -good humour. The next day, unless detained on some great council, or -other extraordinary ceremony, he would hasten to my<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_26" id="page_26"></a>{26}</span> apartment, to take, -if I may presume to use the expression, his dose of good humour for the -whole day. He grew fond of me from that instinct which makes us love -what contributes to our happiness. All the favourites before me had -thought only of making themselves loved by the King: it had not come -into their heads to divert him.</p> - -<p>Thus I became necessary to his Majesty; his attachment grew stronger -every day. I could have wished that our union had rested on love only; -but with a Prince accustomed to change, we must do as well as we can.</p> - -<p>After the first moments of surprize, which naturally arises in our minds -upon any great change, I, in my turn, gave myself up to uneasy -reflections. Amidst all the King’s affection, I feared the return of his -inconstancy. I could lay but little stress on my elevation; all bow the -knee to the idol whilst the Prince worships<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_27" id="page_27"></a>{27}</span> it; but on his -over-throwing the altar, it is trampled under foot. Some days after I -thought I had more reason than ever to fear; for the King, coming to sup -with me, seemed more thoughtful than usual. Instead of that gaiety which -began to be natural to him, his countenance was quite clouded: all his -talk was about politics, the affairs of Europe, and dispatching a -courier to the army; thus, after a short conversation, he withdrew. This -abruptness filled me with alarms: I had not a wink of sleep; and next -morning I sent him an account of my condition in the following note:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"><p> -<span style="margin-left:2em;">“<span class="smcap">Sire</span>,<br /></span> -</p> - -<p>“Your politics have quite broke my heart. I was going to say a -thousand pleasant things to you, had not your dispatches -interrupted me. I have not closed my eyes during the whole<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_28" id="page_28"></a>{28}</span> night; -for God’s sake, Sire, leave Europe to itself, and allow me to lay -open to you the state of my heart, which is on the rack when you -deprive me of any opportunity of telling you that I love you with -an affection, the end of which will be that of my life.”</p></div> - -<p>The King having read my letter, came in person to my apartment to make -me easy; and he was now more gay than usual. I think I never saw him in -a better temper. He had already given me some insight into the great -events at that time on the carpet, and I was for diving into the truth -of these abstruse mysteries; but not a word did I then understand in -politics. I have heard that the English ladies have every morning ready -laid on their toilet a paper giving them an account of the affairs of -Europe, whereas all that we French women find there is our paint-boxes.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_29" id="page_29"></a>{29}</span></p> - -<p>I applied to Marshal Belleisle. “My Lord, be so kind as to instruct me -in what you call politics, which every body here is continually talking -of.” He answered me smiling, “I cannot bring myself, Madam, to instruct -you in a science which will prove destructive to many.” Yet the veteran -courtier talked to me of systems, and enlarged upon the methods to be -used by a state for its aggrandisement.</p> - -<p>After listening to him for some time, I concluded, though a novice at -court, that this science is not reducible to principles nor general -rules, as totally depending on time, place, and circumstances, and these -almost ever arising from chance.</p> - -<p>In order to get a knowlege of the preceding administrations, I set -myself to read the history of our government; but it was not in books -that I sought for this knowledge, having always looked on them as the -source of public errors. I<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_30" id="page_30"></a>{30}</span> consulted original manuscripts, which were -put into my hands by the King himself. Here I saw all the former -mistakes, and the original causes of them.</p> - -<p>As it was known both at Paris and Versailles that Lewis XV. was -unsettled in his amours, his favourites had no very regular court. It -often fell out that a lady whom the King had distinguished, lay down in -high favour, and rose in disgrace: for vacant employments and temporary -grants the favourites were practised on; but for the great purposes of -ambition other springs than mistresses were set to work.</p> - -<p>In the first months of my favour scarce any body came near me. The Duke -de Richelieu was the only nobleman who visited me in the King’s absence; -but when, by the Monarch’s order, I made my appearance as Marchioness de -Pompadour, and his Majesty was continually giving me marks of his -esteem, the face<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_31" id="page_31"></a>{31}</span> of things changed. Envy and ambition formed two -numerous parties. The former blackened me with the most virulent malice; -and the latter as much exceeded in the most fulsome adulation. The -motive in one was hope of preferment, the other acted from a despair of -ever being preferred: both, however, joined in asking favours of me.</p> - -<p>I used my interest with the King in behalf of both. If I raised a person -to a considerable post, or procured him a large pension, I surely drew -on myself a hundred enemies, besides his ingratitude. At length all the -kingdom came to pay their court to me; for the royal favour continued to -shine on me as bright as ever. They who had been the most forward in -reviling my birth, now claimed kindred with me. I shall never forget a -letter I received at Versailles from a gentleman of one of the most -ancient<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_32" id="page_32"></a>{32}</span> families in Provence, in the following terms:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"><p> -<span style="margin-left: 2em;">“Dear Cousin,</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>“I did not know that I was related to you till now that the King -has created you Marchioness de Pompadour: a learned genealogist has -demonstrated to me, that your great-grandfather was fourth cousin -to my grandfather; so you see, dear cousin, our alliance is -indisputable. If you desire it, I’ll send you our pedigree, that -you may shew it to the King.</p> - -<p>“In the mean time, my son, your cousin, who has served with -distinction several years, wants a regiment; and as he cannot hope -to obtain it by his rank, be so good as to ask the favour from the -King.”</p></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_33" id="page_33"></a>{33}</span></p> - -<p>I sent him the following answer:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"><p> -<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><span class="smcap">Sir</span>,</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>“I shall lay hold of the very first opportunity to desire his -Majesty to give your son a regiment. But I likewise have a favour -to ask of you, which is to dispense me from the honour of being -related to you. I have some family reasons which forbid me to -think, that my forefathers have ever been allied to any of the -ancient houses of this kingdom.”</p></div> - -<p>Half France would hide themselves for shame, were I to give a detail of -all the mean, fawning letters sent to me by persons of the first -families in the kingdom. A Princess could write to me in this manner:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 2em;">“My dear Friend,</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>“I beg you would ask the King for a grant of farmer-general for Mr. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_34" id="page_34"></a>{34}</span> -Armand M——, a superannuated clerk, whose fortune I would gladly -make. For this favour I shall hold myself obliged to you as long as -I live.</p> - -<p class="c"> -I am, my dear,<br /> -<br /> -With all possible regard,<br /> -<br /> -Your most humble servant.”<br /> -</p> -</div> - -<p>The public envy, however, increasing with the marks of royal favour, the -world, at any rate, would make me answerable for the events of the -times. It has been in every body’s mouth, that all the misfortunes of -France were owing to me. If there were any grounds for such a charge, -the kingdom must have been in a prosperous and flourishing state when -his Majesty called me to Versailles; whereas it was very far from being -so. The cause of the evil lay deep; so that France, under all its -pressures, was only fulfilling its destiny. The misfortunes of the -administration<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_35" id="page_35"></a>{35}</span> in this reign are to be considered as flowing from the -former administration.</p> - -<p>At the time of the demise of Lewis XIV. the kingdom was in a dreadful -disorder; the debts of the nation were immense, and the public credit -totally ruined; so that the state then laboured under an evil, which was -not to be cured by temporary remedies. Lewis the Great, by his excessive -fondness for splendor, had impoverished the people. The preceding Kings -were contented with being the stewards or managers of the general -wealth, but he made himself the proprietor of it: he became master of -the nation’s treasure, all the finances were in his hands: he had -augmented the crown revenues beyond all relative proportion: in the -course of three years the whole species of France came into his coffers: -besides, his magnificence had set his subjects the pernicious<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_36" id="page_36"></a>{36}</span> example -of impoverishing themselves by profuse expences.</p> - -<p>The duke of Orleans, who was at the head of the state after Lewis XIV. -so far from restoring order, increased the confusion. He promoted a -system of finances, which proved their utter ruin. All the riches of the -monarchy changed hands. No such thing as money was to be seen; -foreigners ran away with one part, and domestic stock-jobbers secreted -the other; no plan of administration could be contrived, capable of -putting a stop to evils, unprecedented from the very foundation of the -monarchy. This revolution greatly affected the several branches of the -national strength. Agriculture, trade, arts, and ingenuity, were -sufferers by it, and still suffer: for I have heard very knowing persons -say, that the grand system had given birth to many detrimental systems -in the state.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_37" id="page_37"></a>{37}</span></p> - -<p>Cardinal Fleury succeeded him; and things went still worse: he alone did -more harm to France than all those before him, who had like to have -ruined this realm. His particular qualities were order, oeconomy, and -moderation; virtues excellent in a private person, but in a statesman -often very great vices. All his view was, to fill the treasury, fancying -that if the King were but rich, the state would no longer be poor. Thus -he went on increasing the opulence of the crown, from the people’s -subsistence. Intent upon saving, he let the navy run to ruin, that is, -he deprived France of the only way left for retrieving itself.</p> - -<p>Fleury died; but this produced no amendment in the administration. -France had not a minister capable of setting things to rights. They who -were put at the head of affairs, were very busy, but without any -knowledge. I have been told by a very experienced person, who used to -come and<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_38" id="page_38"></a>{38}</span> see me at Versailles, that if at the Cardinal’s death the -ministry had been put into the hands of an angel, he could not have done -the crown much good. He added, that all the most able minister could do, -was to prepare materials for a better administration. The government, -said he, has six capital imperfections, and these are not to be amended, -but by casting the constitution in a new mould.</p> - -<p>Another outcry was my being the source of favours, and that I disposed -of every thing in the kingdom; with this addition, that I had brought -the King to such a custom of visiting me, as had made it a kind of law -to him, never to refuse me any thing. To this I answer, that it is an -evil both necessary and natural to absolute government. Sovereigns must -either have a confident or a mistress; and of the two the state -generally suffers most by the former. Men in general<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_39" id="page_39"></a>{39}</span> have ambitious -views, which a women does not trouble herself about. The confident -studies to avail himself of the prince’s favour in all the means of -raising himself to the highest fortune; he gets the sole management of -the public finances; he engrosses the most lucrative posts, and -distributes among his relations and creatures, those which he does not -take for himself: the consequence of this is a general revolution in the -government. In short, he has schemes of grandeur and elevation quite -foreign to our sex.</p> - -<p>I have read in the annals of our monarchy that Richelieu’s ambition -brought a thousand mischiefs on France: that favourite of Lewis XIII. -sacrificed every thing to a giddy desire of appearing to be the only -person of consequence in the kingdom. He cut the very sinews of the -political power of all other bodies. He annulled the privileges of the -nobility, which alone could make any stand against the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_40" id="page_40"></a>{40}</span> despotism of our -Kings; and therein he did more harm to France, than ever it has to fear -from any mistresses.</p> - -<p>Mazarine, the second favourite, had an army in pay, and personally made -war on the state. He imprisoned the princes of the blood, and raised -such animosities and disturbances as in a manner subverted all -government. He got the public treasure into his possession; almost all -the money of the kingdom was in his coffers. He used to sell the -principal state employments: when the King wanted money he was obliged -to apply to him. And our times have seen Count Bruhl, the King of -Poland’s favourite exceed his master, in extravagance.</p> - -<p>There are, at this time, several Dukes in the kingdom<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> who give France -cause to remember that its Kings have had favourites; whereas what great -fortune,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_41" id="page_41"></a>{41}</span> what titles or distinctions has my brother Marigni? Die when -he will, he will leave no monuments of the particular favour with which -Lewis the XVth honoured me.</p> - -<p>I have been likewise accused of introducing into the ministry persons of -no turn for business, ignorant, shallow, and superficial fellows: but -where shall I find any other in France? The human mind seems to have -been degenerated among us.</p> - -<p>The French nobility, though most concerned in the public administration, -give no attention to business; their life is a round of indolence, -luxury, and dissipation. They know as little of politics as of finances -and œconomy. A gentleman either spends his life at his seat in rural -sports, or comes to Paris to ruin himself with an opera girl. They who -have an ambition to figure in the ministry, have no other merit than -intrigue and cabal.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_42" id="page_42"></a>{42}</span> If they are traversed in their views, or afterwards -superseded, such measure is with them an effect of the prince’s -prejudice.</p> - -<p>The age of able ministers in France seems past. After all my inquiries -for a Colbert and Louvois, I could only meet with Chamillards and -Dubois’s; so that I was forced to commit all the branches of government -to financiers by profession; a set of people void of capacity, and only -skilful in one thing, which is pillaging the state.</p> - -<p>My enemies have farther affirmed, that I put the King on too frequent a -change of his ministers; but that is an invention, which, in no wise, -belongs to me. Before ever I knew the court, placemen were not more -settled in their posts than since. Every day saw such creations and -institutions; and this, perhaps, may still be a necessary evil in -France. Before those gentlemen are in place, nothing can come up to -their plan of government;<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_43" id="page_43"></a>{43}</span> they have effectual ways and means for -reforming every thing that is amiss; they know the seat of the disease, -and what will remove it: but no sooner have they got the reins of -government in their hands than their incapacity throws every thing into -confusion. On the public misfortunes they scarce bestow a thought; all -they mind is their own personal interest. The ambition of being prime -minister soon gets footing in them; and its continual agitation leaves -no room in their mind for any attention to the kingdom. Ten years of -administration in France make a minister so absolute, that he grows a -mere Pacha; any intimation of his is a peremptory order: the Grand -Signior is not more despotic at Constantinople than a French Secretary -of State, after spending ten years at Versailles.</p> - -<p>It is the same with military affairs: however brave and courageous the -French nobility may be, they have little<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_44" id="page_44"></a>{44}</span> or no genius for war: the -hardship of a campaign immediately puts them out of conceit. France has -no military school<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a>. A young nobleman is made a Colonel before he is -an officer, and then steps into the general command, without any -experience. If two Frenchmen are appointed to command the armies in -Flanders or Germany, immediately the spirit of envy kindles among them, -and they will gratify their private piques and quarrels, whatever -becomes of the state. In the mean time, the enemies profit by these -divisions, and forward their schemes. In the late war, the King was -obliged to commit the safety of his crown to two foreigners: had it not -been for the Counts Saxe and Lowendahl, the enemies of France might have -been at the gates of Paris.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_45" id="page_45"></a>{45}</span></p> - -<p>It is a mistake to think that a woman, who is in distinguished favour -with a Prince, stands in need of weak ministers and bad generals to -support her: incapacity spoils all and answers no purpose. Political -mistakes, at the same time that they throw a shade on the Prince’s -glory, utterly efface the lustre of his favourite. I can truly say, that -most of the vexations I have gone through, since my residence at court, -proceeded from hence. On every advantage gained by our enemies the king -used to be melancholy and full of thought; and though this Prince be -extremely polite, and not one disobliging word came from his mouth, yet -his discomposure, at that time, embittered every other enjoyment of my -life.</p> - -<p>I never made a minister, I never advised the King to confer the command -of an army on any person, of whose abilities I was not certainly -convinced, and whose merit was not universally confessed. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_46" id="page_46"></a>{46}</span> great -used to compliment me on it, and the King himself congratulated me on my -good judgment of men; their fitness was proclaimed by the universal -voice.</p> - -<p>I must here mention the troubles the court laboured under, when the King -gave me an apartment at Versailles; the occurrences of those times -belonging to the plan of these Memoirs. Without that crowd of incidents -which then fell out, and which the King used to communicate to me, my -favour perhaps had never risen to such a height; for the events of this -world are always directed by second causes.</p> - -<p>Ever since the year 1741, France had continued to wage war in Italy, in -Flanders, and in Germany. Charles the VIth, the last male descendant of -the house of Austria by the male side, had an ambition, which was not to -be limited even by death; he was for surviving himself,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_47" id="page_47"></a>{47}</span> and -transmitting his power beyond the grave.</p> - -<p>This Prince, after acquiring a very large extent of dominions, had -procured them to be guarantied by the chief powers of Christendom. The -small military force at that time on foot in Europe, had induced the -Christian Princes, to such a weak compliance. Italy was quite spent; all -the petty governments of the empire were under a political slavery; and -the great houses of the North were little better. On the decease of that -Prince all began to breathe, and every one claimed their respective -right.</p> - -<p>The Elector of Bavaria demanded a part of the succession; Augustus King -of Poland set forth his pretensions; the King of Spain likewise put in -for a share: and, what is more, there appeared two pragmatic fanctions; -one giving the Austrian dominions to the Archduchess, spouse to<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_48" id="page_48"></a>{48}</span> the -Polish Prince; and the other securing them to Maria Theresa, Charles’s -eldest daughter. Such a contrariety of interests must of course give -rise to a general war; but it began from a quarter which policy would -never have apprehended.</p> - -<p>The King of Prussia, almost the only Prince in Europe who had no -pretensions to the Austrian succession, yet made his demands, and, -instead of manifestoes, asserted them by the sword. His troops invaded -the very best province of all the Queen of Hungary’s dominions, and made -themselves masters of it. The crown was of no long standing in the -Brandenburgh family: it had first obtained the title of Majesty from the -Emperor Leopold; and this honour had little added to its real greatness. -The King of Prussia was of little account among the European potentates; -and what claims he had to any of the Austrian effects were merely<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_49" id="page_49"></a>{49}</span> on a -private account; and turns on the restitution of some duchies, which his -family had been possessed of by right of purchase; yet he invades -Silesia as a sovereign.</p> - -<p>I have heard that Maria Theresa was on the brink of ruin, when her very -enemies saved her. The Hungarians, who for ages past had been -endeavouring to overthrow that family, now, one and all, vigorously rose -in her defence.</p> - -<p>The Duke of Belleisle told me, that this change in the political world -was wrought by that Princess’s haranguing them in Latin; “a great -change, indeed (added he), for had the Hungarians abandoned that -princess, very probably we should have heard no more of the house of -Austria.”</p> - -<p>Lewis XV. joined with the King of Prussia to place the Elector of -Bavaria on the Imperial throne; besides the diversion occasioned in the -North by the election,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_50" id="page_50"></a>{50}</span> the King said, that the house of Bourbon was now -discharging an old debt with Bavaria.</p> - -<p>Were gratitude of any weight in the conduct of Sovereigns, France might -indeed be thought to have taken arms in return for its obligations to -the Electors of Bavaria, who have ever been firm allies to this crown, -and had sustained very considerable losses in its cause.</p> - -<p>The house of Bourbon joined with that of Brandenburgh to weaken the -succession of Charles VI; besides, the exaltation of a Prince of the -house of Bavaria to the Imperial throne secured to France an ascendancy -in Germany.</p> - -<p>It has been reported that the King of Prussia, at first, offered Maria -Theresa money and troops to maintain her right against the other powers, -on condition of her ceding Lower Silesia to him. Had she agreed to this, -the affairs of Europe would have taken a different turn. But,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_51" id="page_51"></a>{51}</span> from what -I have perceived since my living at Versailles, Princes often make a -tender of what they have no mind to give. This the Marshal de Noailles -called <i>political compliments</i>.</p> - -<p>Frederick had a sure game of it; and it is seldom that Princes ask of -others what they can get by themselves. The house of Austria was not -able to make head against his invasion of Silesia; nothing was in -readiness for preventing it; therefore France in a manner could do no -otherwise than declare for the Prussian Monarch. Accordingly the treaty -was made; and to give it the greater weight the King of Poland was made -a party; he then little thought that this same Frederic would one day -invade his dominions.</p> - -<p>This confederacy was the basis of several others: the Palatinate, Spain, -and Italy came into the plan; Spain wanted<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_52" id="page_52"></a>{52}</span> to procure Parma, Placentia, -and the Milaneze, for Don Philip.</p> - -<p>All the negociations in Germany were committed to the Marshal Belleisle. -The poor Elector of Bavaria, who was to be made Emperor, had not -wherewith to raise six regiments; so that, in the war which we were now -undertaking for his sake, every thing was to be furnished him. France as -it were armed him from head to foot; and made him her Lieutenant General -in Germany: and thus the successor of the Cæsars became a subaltern -officer of the house of Bourbon: however, in consequence of his title, -an army was sent for him to command.</p> - -<p>Whilst one party was forming to overthrow the house of Austria, another -was gathering to prevent its fall. Holland and England, whose common -interest it was that there should be a power in Germany able to cope -with Versailles, were already making preparations for a<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_53" id="page_53"></a>{53}</span> German war; but -hitherto the house of Austria received only pecuniary aids.</p> - -<p>Prague was taken, and the Elector of Bavaria proclaimed King of Bohemia, -and soon after Emperor. This last title he first received from Marshal -Belleisle: thus a subject of the King of France disposes of a throne, -which anciently, had disposed of all the empires of the world.</p> - -<p>This Marshal has since said to me, that the court of Versailles overshot -itself, and that the war had been begun where it should have ended. The -armies of the King of France and the Elector of Bavaria, together with -the Saxon troops, were not sufficient for keeping the countries which it -was necessary to reduce.</p> - -<p>The victors advanced without ever looking behind them, till Marshal -Belleisle, foreseeing that these victories would soon occasion defeats, -thought it proper to be indisposed, and ask leave to<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_54" id="page_54"></a>{54}</span> retire. Marshal -Brogolio was dispatched to him, and on taking a view of things, soon saw -into the cause of Belleisle’s indisposition. Six years after, these two -Generals being in my apartment, the latter said to the other concerning -this affair, <i>faith, Marshal, you played me a scurvy trick there</i>.</p> - -<p>The Hungarians made good all losses of men; and I have been since told -by connoisseurs in military affairs, that of infantry we sent a -sufficiency, but had forgot cavalry, which, in Germany, is the more -necessary body.</p> - -<p>The King of Prussia’s drift was to profit by the disadvantages of his -allies: he had made conquests, which he carefully kept to himself, -regardless of the losses of his allies; but he still wanted a decisive -victory to make himself dreaded by the house of Austria, with whom he -was already disposed to come to terms. He fought the battle of<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_55" id="page_55"></a>{55}</span> Czaslaw, -which terminating in a complete victory on his side, he remained -inactive, and soon after struck up a peace with Maria Theresa.</p> - -<p>Every thing now went against France; her troops were driven from their -posts, her convoys intercepted, her magazines seized, and the far -greater part of the army perished by sickness.</p> - -<p>Then it was that the French Generals discovered the Prussian Monarch’s -temper. Marshal Belleisle has often told me, that he had seen into his -way of thinking; but judged that the progress of the French arms in -Germany would force him to be faithful to the alliance. So true is this, -added he, that on the first rumour of our misfortunes, I said to M. de -Broglio, <i>the King of Prussia now will shift sides</i>.</p> - -<p>One of the articles of the treaty was, to renounce his alliance with the -house of Bourbon; and thus the French troops were sacrificed.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_56" id="page_56"></a>{56}</span></p> - -<p>For that, said a very knowing man to me, not long since, we may thank -the council of Versailles, which, instead of such a body of troops as -would have been equal to any undertaking, had only sent small armies, -whose sickness ruined them as fast as they came.</p> - -<p>The Emperor, being but ill assisted by France, was flying before his -enemies; he had quitted his capital, and was at a loss where to shelter -himself. His destiny seemed the more melancholy, as he was on the point -of being tumbled down from the highest pitch of human exaltation.</p> - -<p>Of all his mortifications the most severe certainly was his being forced -to become a suppliant to his capital enemy, the Queen of Hungary. He -made her an offer to limit his ambition to the imperial crown, and -desist from all his claims to the Austrian succession.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_57" id="page_57"></a>{57}</span></p> - -<p>But things now went so well with Maria Theresa, that, instead of a -moderate answer to these proposals, she very nearly called him rebel, -and driving him out of Bavaria, signified to him that the only safe -shelter for him in Germany was the territory of the empire.</p> - -<p>England’s hands were tyed; Maillebois, at the head of a large body of -troops, had obliged George II. to sign a treaty of neutrality, and the -Dutch were unable and as little disposed to interfere in the affairs of -Germany.</p> - -<p>Robert Walpole, then the ruling minister in Great Britain, was all for -peace, as understanding nothing of war. Every minister in Europe, (as a -man of great wit, who often came to me at Versailles, pointed out to me) -has his peculiar talents, according to which he gives the bias to public -affairs. Walpole’s system was that the power of Great Britain lay in -trade,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_58" id="page_58"></a>{58}</span> and that such a nation is to keep clear of sieges and battles.</p> - -<p>The king shewed me several of that minister’s letters to Cardinal -Fleury. In one he says,</p> - -<p>“<i>I engage to keep the parliament to a peaceable disposition, if you -will bridle the martial ardour of your people; for a minister in England -cannot do every thing</i>,” &c. &c.</p> - -<p>In another,</p> - -<p>“<i>I have a deal of difficulty to keep our people from coming to blows; -not that they are bent on war, but because I am for preserving peace; -for our English politicians must be ever skirmishing, either in the -field or at Westminster.</i>”</p> - -<p>In a third letter he expresses himself thus:</p> - -<p>“<i>I pension half the parliament to keep it quiet; but as the King’s -money is not sufficient, and they to whom I give none, clamour loudly -for a war, it would be expedient for your<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_59" id="page_59"></a>{59}</span> Eminence to remit me three -millions of French livres, in order to silence these barkers. Gold is a -metal which here corrects all qualities in the blood. A pension of two -thousand pounds a year will make the most impetuous warrior in -parliament as tame as a lamb. In short, should England break out, you -will, besides the uncertainty of events in war, be under the necessity -of paying larger subsidies to foreign powers, to be on an equality with -us; whereas, by furnishing me with a little money, you purchase peace at -the first hand.</i>” &c. &c.</p> - -<p>But Walpole having been obliged to quit the ministry, Great Britain -sided with the house of Austria. She was already at war with Spain. The -English sent a large army into Flanders, before ever the court of -Versailles had thought of garrisoning its strong places, so that the way -lay open for them into France; and why they did not enter it, will ever -remain a secret. A British<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_60" id="page_60"></a>{60}</span> minister has since told me, that there were -at that time too many malecontents in the army; and that the invasion of -France was omitted, purely in spight to a party, who had ever -maintained, that the only way to restore the balance of Germany, was to -penetrate beyond Flanders. Thus, added the minister by way of -reflection, our government which is looked on as one of the best modeled -in Europe, is sacrificed to private passions.</p> - -<p>Prague, that city on which France had founded all its hopes, began to be -despaired of; and from thence it was that, some time after, Belleisle -made that fine retreat, with which, every day of his life afterwards I -was sure to be entertained; for the old man was very vain. He used to -say, it was the finest military performance the age had seen.</p> - -<p>All Europe was in a ferment. Italy had taken arms to defend a liberty -which it no longer enjoyed. I have been told<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_61" id="page_61"></a>{61}</span> that the Pope himself -entered into treaties tending to continue and spread the war.</p> - -<p>The balance of Europe seems to have been the point in question; but all -states aimed at giving France some underhand wounds.</p> - -<p>Cardinal Fleury, though he had avoided war, had not studied peace so -much as he ought. He had, for some years past, perfectly doated through -length of age, and his sticklers took his reveries for so many refined -strokes of policy.</p> - -<p>Some people in France have greatly cried up his order and œconomy, -whereas they were nothing more than the effects of his niggardliness; -for so penurious was he, that he never could prevail on himself to -furnish his house. All the affairs of France savoured of avarice and -parsimony.</p> - -<p>On his death, the King became his own master; for till then Lewis had -been<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_62" id="page_62"></a>{62}</span> in reality only the second person in the state: but he made not -the least alteration in the tenour of affairs. The same faults went on; -so that a judicious person who, at that time, had a place at court, told -me lately, that things looked as if the Cardinal had been living after -his death, small armies being sent into Germany, by way of œconomy; -which all perished like the former. The Dutch, after many prayers and -threats, had declared themselves.</p> - -<p>I have been told by a person who has made it his business to observe the -policy of every nation, that the Dutch have two maxims from which they -never depart, the first is, whatever wars arise between the great -powers, to be always neuter, that they may engross the whole commerce of -Europe. The second is, to watch the moment of France’s being -over-powered by its enemies, and then declare against it. It was -unquestionably<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_63" id="page_63"></a>{63}</span> in consequence of the latter, that they joined their -troops to those of England, and took the field. This last alliance was -offensive and defensive, and all Europe found itself in a state of war.</p> - -<p>Germany, Holland, Flanders, Piedmont, and every part of Italy, swarmed -with soldiers. The Count d’Argenson calculated that Europe had then nine -hundred thousand men on foot, ready to cut each others throats, without -any known reason. Particularly France was ruining its finances, and -losing the flower of its people, to no manner of purpose; for, after -all, said an able politician to me one day, on this head, what was an -Elector of Bavaria’s being Emperor of Germany to us; or Don Philip being -Duke of Parma? I shall never forget what I read in Voltaire concerning -this: <i>It was</i>, says he, <i>a game that Princes were playing all over -Europe, hazarding, pretty equally, their people’s blood and treasure</i>;<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_64" id="page_64"></a>{64}</span> -<i>and by a medley of fine actions, faults, and losses, keeping fortune a -long time suspended</i>. It must be observed that, amidst all this -fighting, no war had been declared; the greater part of the troops -slaughtered each other only as auxiliaries.</p> - -<p>Charles VII. the cause of this general conflagration, had now neither -subjects nor dominions left; he was not allowed so much as to bear the -title of Emperor, the only honour remaining to him; and his election was -declared all over Germany to be null and void; so that he saw himself -reduced to accept of a neutrality in his own cause. This step alone -ought to have put an end to the German war; but, by my own experience, I -have since known, that princes do not make war from any connected -system, but only as coinciding with the motions of second causes.</p> - -<p>The large French armies were now withdrawn out of Germany; indeed most -of the troops left there had been<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_65" id="page_65"></a>{65}</span> made prisoners of war. The Marshal de -Noailles has several times said to me, that of all the political errors -committed in Europe for these thousand years past, the German war was -the greatest.</p> - -<p>In reading the history of that time, it appeared to me, that of all the -princes engaged in the war, Emanuel King of Sardinia was the only one -who had any shadow of reason for it. France was for settling contiguous -to his dominions, a prince of the house of Bourbon, whose settlement -must have been highly inconvenient to him; accordingly, in order to -exclude this dangerous neighbour, he struck in with the enemies of -France. From the beginning of the war, this prince had assisted the -house of Austria, and now entered into a treaty with it. England -supplied him with money to defray the charges of the war: but the Queen -of Hungary went farther, conferring<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_66" id="page_66"></a>{66}</span> on him a little state, which did -not belong to her<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a>.</p> - -<p>France, in 1744, declared war against England, and the house of Austria; -and soon after this declaration, a great project was taken in hand: -overtures were made to Prince Edward, the Pretender’s son, for -recovering the throne of his ancestors.</p> - -<p>He was a spirited, bold, courageous young man, quite tired of leading an -indolent life at Rome, and impatient to signalize himself.</p> - -<p>The house of Stuart is so unfortunate, that I question, whether it would -be in the power of all Europe joined, to restore it to its antient -rights. There seems something of a fatality annexed to that name.</p> - -<p>France made all the preparatives in his favour, and gave him all the -assistance which the posture of affairs could<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_67" id="page_67"></a>{67}</span> admit of; but the whole -design miscarried. A long time after, I, one day, asked the King, -whether it had been his real intention, to place the Pretender on the -throne of Great Britain? his answer was, that neither he nor his council -ever thought it practicable; that this restoration depended on a -multitude of second causes, the course of which was no longer under any -political direction. The Marshal de Noailles one day said to him in my -hearing, <i>Sir, if your Majesty would have had mass said in London, you -should have sent an army of three hundred thousand men to officiate at -it</i>.</p> - -<p>In the mean time, young Edward, eager of doing something to be talked -of, put to sea, and had a distant view of the kingdom, the possession of -which both fate and policy denied to him. A tempest disappointed his -landing, and scattered his fleet; yet the ardent Pretender would, in -spight of the wind, make his<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_68" id="page_68"></a>{68}</span> landing good, and fight alone against all -England. Versailles had received the most particular assurances, that he -had a very strong party at London, and it was on this plan that the -expedition had been formed.</p> - -<p>It is not very long since I happened to be at the Marshal Bellisle’s; as -he was looking for some writings in his closet, he put a paper into my -hand, saying, <i>There, Madam, there is something for you to read; that -letter has cost us a great many millions, which are gone to the bottom -of the sea; it was directed to the court of France, by a party of</i> -Jacobites, <i>as they are called in England</i>. The words of it were these.</p> - -<p>“<i>The tabernacle is ready, the holy sacrament need but appear, and we -will go and meet it with the cross. The procession will be numerous, but -the people here being very hard of belief, soldiers and arms will be -necessary; for it is only by powder and ball, that the system of -transubstantiation<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_69" id="page_69"></a>{69}</span> can be made to go down in England. Depend on it, -that we will do every thing to the utmost of our power; and we can -before hand assure you, that the landing once made, our party will have -nothing to do but to pronounce these words</i>: ite, Missa est.”</p> - -<p>In this letter were mentioned twenty-two persons, several of whom now -hold a considerable rank in England. Sometime after, he showed me -another, the tenor of which is this.</p> - -<p>“<i>Whatever people say, the expedition is not difficult: a landing may -easily be made; every tiring favours the revolution; the advantages -religion gives us, will be greatly strengthed by political motives. The -Hanoverian is hated, he is continually oppressing the nation, aiming -both at absolute power, and draining the peoples substance.</i>”<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_70" id="page_70"></a>{70}</span></p> - -<p>The attempt on England failing, fresh efforts were made in Italy for -settling Don Philip; but this the King of Sardinia, who has the key of -the Alps, opposed; and the Prince of Conti engaged to make his way -through them. This was in some measure warring against God, who has -separated the two states by inaccessible mountains. I have had several -times read to me in my apartment, the transactions of that Prince in -those impracticable climates; the taking Chateau Dauphin, and his other -successes amidst those rocks and precipices: and the Prince of Conti in -this expedition appears to me greater than many heroes whose fame is -high; but great men have not always justice done them.</p> - -<p>Lewis XV. who never had seen an army, was now for putting himself at the -head of his troops, and determined to make his first campaign in -Flanders. On his arrival, Courtray surrendered;<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_71" id="page_71"></a>{71}</span> and soon after Menin -followed its example. The King himself, to the great encouragement of -the soldiery, used to be present at the works.</p> - -<p>This first campaign of the King’s having been much talked of in France; -on the peace, I asked his Majesty, whether he had found in himself a -fixed inclination for war. He at first eluded answering me, and talked -in general terms; but a year after, in one of those moments of -confidence, when the heart lays itself open in the arms of friendship, -he told me it would have been his reigning passion; and that, without -the recent example of his great-grand-father, and Cardinal Fleury’s -earnest councils to him, he should totally have given himself up to war; -but that the affection due to his people had got the better of his -passion. Happy government, when the Monarch sacrifices his propensions -to the welfare of his subjects!<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_72" id="page_72"></a>{72}</span></p> - -<p>Lewis was obliged to quit his first conquests, and fly to the assistance -of Alsace, Prince Charles having passed the Rhine to invade several of -the French provinces; but upon the King’s approach at the head of his -army, the prince repassed the Rhine.</p> - -<p>All the advantages which France had gained in Flanders did not much -improve its situation. The Queen of Hungary’s alliance with England, -Holland, Sardinia, and Saxony was too great a counterpoize. The king of -Prussia himself made a convention with Great Britain, but had not -included in his agreement that the house of Austria should become so -powerful. In treaties between Sovereigns, it is always understood, that -the party in favour of whom a neutrality is observed, shall not increase -his forces beyond a certain relative proportion: now the house of -Brandenburgh has more to fear from that of Austria than from any other -in Europe;<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_73" id="page_73"></a>{73}</span> so he kept himself a mere spectator of the war, whilst the -losses of France and the emperor were inconsiderable; but on the queen’s -making a rapid progress, he armed to stop her career. I have since -frequently asked the Marshal de Noailles, one of the greatest -politicians in France, why Sovereign Princes make no scruple to commit -these breaches of faith, which in common life are reckoned intolerable -vices? His constant answer was, that these infractions were necessary, -and that Europe even owed its safety to them: were it not for such -failures, the universal commonwealth would soon be made subject to one -single prince; and this he might compass, only by once bringing the -others to stand neuter.</p> - -<p>The King of Prussia’s first step, after his new alliance with France, -was, to march with a powerful army towards Prague. Whilst all France was -rejoicing at Frederic’s successes, advice came<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_74" id="page_74"></a>{74}</span> that the King was taken -ill at Metz, and the symptoms were grown very dangerous: this caused a -general affliction; I remember every body was in tears. These cordial -marks of affection are a higher praise, and express his character better -than all the flattering strokes with which writers will disfigure his -history. I have talked with many who were present at the death of Lewis -XIV. and according to them, not a tear was shed in France. Nobody was -afflicted with the news; and his death was quite forgot before he was -buried; heroism being less esteemed than goodness; and Lewis XV. is the -best Prince that ever sat on a throne.</p> - -<p>The beloved Monarch recovered, and then the nation’s joy exceeded its -former consternation. He laid siege to Friburg in Brisgau, and razed its -fortifications, as he had demolished those of other places which had -yielded to his arms: A policy,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_75" id="page_75"></a>{75}</span> which, perhaps, may prevent many wars -hereafter.</p> - -<p>M. de Maurepas was saying one day to me on this head, that the Turks and -Persians have scarce any fortified places, and that was the reason of -their seldom making war on one another. I have since heard, that most of -our wars in Europe were owing to this; that states confided too much in -bastions and citadels, which hindered negociations from taking effect. -If so, the famous Vauban, whose genius is so often extolled, must have -done a great deal of mischief to France.</p> - -<p>In the mean time, the King of Prussia, who, by arming in favour of -France, had changed all the German systems, decamped from Prague; his -army fled before that of Prince Charles, who, repassing the Rhine in the -sight of the French, crossed the Elbe to attack the Prussians. I never -could come at a certain knowledge of this Prince Charles, who<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_76" id="page_76"></a>{76}</span> directed -most of the plans of this war; some speaking so very well of him, and -others so very ill, that I have not been able to form any settled -judgment of his character.</p> - -<p>Marshal Noailles, who knows men, has told me that this Prince wanted -neither talents nor genius, but that the goodness of his heart -frustrated the qualities of his mind. Instead of having a will of his -own, added he, he suffers himself to be directed by those about him; and -these are not always the best head-pieces in the world. For instance, -continued he, Prince Charles is now at Brussels as Governor of the Low -Countries; but there is a German about him, who turns and winds him at -his pleasure, and his pleasure is not always what should be.</p> - -<p>The Austrian power, which had been weakened by the king of Prussia’s -joining with France, now received an increase<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_77" id="page_77"></a>{77}</span> by an alliance with the -Elector of Saxony, King of Poland. This Monarch changed measures for the -same reason which had induced the King of Prussia to change.</p> - -<p>All parties in these treaties deceived each other. France looked for -mighty advantages from a diversion which the King of Prussia was making -only for himself; and the King of Poland, who had engaged to furnish the -Queen with thirty thousand men, had a part of Silesia given to him, -which now did not belong to her.</p> - -<p>Elevated with this alliance, and especially the assistance of England, -the council at Vienna hoped not only to recover Silesia, but even to -reduce French Flanders. They certainly did not consider that Lewis XV. -had committed the security of it to one, who was most likely to give a -good account of it to the kingdom: This was Count Maurice of Saxony.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_78" id="page_78"></a>{78}</span></p> - -<p>Other officers owe their abilities to age, reflection, and experience, -but he was born a General. His very enemies (and these at Versailles -were not few) have done him this justice, that never man surpassed him -for a quick and comprehensive penetration. He instantly discerned what -other commanders discovered only by time and circumstances. Maurice not -only foresaw events, but also produced them; so that he may in some -measure be said to have determined fate. This general made war -geometrically, never coming to a battle till he had in demonstration -gained it. He was said also to be possessed of the great Turenne’s -distinguishing qualities, that is, to harrass and perplex the enemy by -his dexterity in encamping and decamping; a kind of petty war, which -seldom fails of leading to great advantages.</p> - -<p>This picture, however, is none of my own; I only speak after some of the -trade,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_79" id="page_79"></a>{79}</span> who used to talk to me in this manner.</p> - -<p>Whilst the war was prospering abroad, things went wrong at home. The -King was at a loss for ministers. The Count de Maurepas put the marine -in as good a condition as the English and the state of affairs would -allow: but the other departments were in a terrible disorder. The -foreign affairs were offered to one Villeneuve, an old man, who had been -a long time ambassador at the Porte, where, though his merit has been -much cried up, he had ruined the Turky trade, by turning merchant -himself. He came home from his ambassy with immense riches, chiefly -extorted from the merchants of Marseilles. His principal qualities were -management and parsimony. These virtues, so much countenanced by -Cardinal Fleury, were greatly in vogue at Versailles. Niggardliness bore -the sway. The decrepid ambassador declined the post, doubtless as being -attended with<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_80" id="page_80"></a>{80}</span> more pains than profit. Besides, I have heard those who -knew him personally say, that he was not in the least fit for that -branch of government. His abilities had been much talked of, for having -brought about a peace between the Porte and the house of Austria; but at -Constantinople, these sort of negociations are carried on without a -minister’s having any great share in them. I have it from M. de -Maurepas, that the chief instrument in that affair, was a French -linguist, one de Laria, who was perfectly well acquainted with the -temper of the Turks, and had been employed by Villeneuve in that -negociation.</p> - -<p>In the mean time, affairs in Italy did not go so well as could be -wished; Don Philip had taken and retaken Savoy, but could not make his -way into the country of Placentia.</p> - -<p>The King of Naples, whom only a captain of an English ship had -compelled<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_81" id="page_81"></a>{81}</span> to a neutrality, because he was not in a condition to arm, -broke it as soon as he had got himself in readiness for war.</p> - -<p>He had advanced as far as Veletri, where Prince Lobkowitz endeavouring -to surprise him, was himself surprised. The loss was great on both -sides, and, as I have heard from very experienced officers, the case was -then as it almost ever is on such occasions, they both weakened -themselves, and without any advantage even to the victor.</p> - -<p>Lobkowitz fled before the King of Naples, who pursued him into the -Ecclesiastical State; so that Rome itself was in a consternation, on -seeing two armies at its gates.</p> - -<p>A small event, which fell out at this time in Germany, shews the great -injustice of war, in making the belligerant powers overlook the very -laws of nations, which should every where be inviolable.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_82" id="page_82"></a>{82}</span></p> - -<p>The King had sent Marshal Belleisle to several German courts in quality -of his ambassador, and, as such, he was negociating the affairs of the -crown; yet this minister, in his way along the skirts of the country of -Hanover, was seized, and sent over to England as a state prisoner.</p> - -<p>This general was treated with great regard, and one of the royal seats -appointed for his residence; but this splendid hospitality only the more -exposed the injustice of that nation.</p> - -<p>The Marshal has since told me, that he was not at all sorry for his -detention, as it had given him an opportunity of studying the temper of -that capricious people in their own country. I have heard him say a -hundred times, that a Briton was the riddle of human nature; he would -say, it is easy to discern what the bulk of the nation is, but there is -no knowing the individuals. According to him, a definition may be given -of the English in<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_83" id="page_83"></a>{83}</span> general, but it is impossible to say what an -Englishman is.</p> - -<p>Vienna, Berlin, and Versailles, were busied in the same plans which had -been concerted in the council, when an unforeseen event brought on some -change in the dispositions. Charles VII, that unfortunate emperor, who -had not known a moment’s quiet on the august throne of the Cæsars, died. -If it be nature only which can make men happy, he was of all men the -most miserable. He had long laboured under great pains and sufferings -from the badness of his constitution; and ambition, which is ever the -predominant distemper in sovereigns, added to his bodily pains: amidst -his infirmities, all his thoughts were about securing himself on a -throne, which the ill state of his health was soon to deprive him of. -Many were the vicissitudes of his reign. He was once very near being -without a place to hide his head. He has often been obliged to quit his -capital, and shift<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_84" id="page_84"></a>{84}</span> his abode; so that the successor of the masters of -the world was sometimes without either house or home.</p> - -<p>He was paid by France for being Emperor. He had an allowance of six -millions of livres to support a rank which, for that very reason, did -not belong to him. They who are acquainted with the causes of the rise -and fall of houses, say, that the misfortunes of that of Bavaria were -owing to its alliance with that of Bourbon; and this, it seems, will -ever be the case of petty states uniting with the greater.</p> - -<p>On the decease of Charles VII. France looked out for an Emperor in -Germany; for that Charles’s son could quietly succeed his father, was -impossible. He was not of a proper age; neither had he the means to -maintain himself on the Imperial throne, even had there been an -intention to place him on it: yet was he thought of, but no farther than -in appearance; it was only a feigned scheme. A very<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_85" id="page_85"></a>{85}</span> sensible man was -lately saying to me, There is a meanness in princes which I cannot -forgive: they feign to wish what they do not intend, and yet act as if -they did intend it. This duplicity has cost the lives of multitudes of -brave men, and ruins the commonwealth.</p> - -<p>Some fruitless strokes were again struck for insuring the Imperial -sceptre to a Prince, who was known not to be able to keep it; but the -young Elector, with more wisdom than his father, renounced a throne on -which his allies could not maintain him, and thereby did more good to -France, than could have accrued to her from the most happy successes of -her policy.</p> - -<p>A tender was then made to the King of Poland; and in this choice, France -had the advantage of detaching from the house of Austria a powerful -Sovereign. It has been said that the Elector of Saxony declined the -empire: but Marshal Belleisle<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_86" id="page_86"></a>{86}</span> told me, that he could not accept of it, -and that he saw the impracticability of such a thing, on the very first -mention made to him of it. A King of Poland, Emperor of Germany, would -have thrown all the northern courts into a flame; and this double -Monarch would have had as many wars on his hands, as there were then -Sovereigns in Germany. Thus seeing the impossibility of such an -acquisition, he made a merit with the Queen of Hungary of his inability, -entering into a closer alliance with her, for placing the great Duke of -Tuscany, her spouse, on the throne of the Cæsars. Could it be thought -that policy was no motive herein, the King of Poland might be accounted -a Prince of eminent probity. He had a defensive treaty with the Queen of -Hungary, so that he sacrificed his ambition to that alliance; a very -rare procedure in the history of sovereigns!</p> - -<p>The Prince of Soubise, talking over these<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_87" id="page_87"></a>{87}</span> matters with me, said, that -the irregularity of the treaties in Germany, after the death of Charles -VII. had forced France to be more regular in its conduct relating to the -northern affairs; and ever since it has kept itself to a defensive war, -which certainly was its only proper policy.</p> - -<p>Germany being left to itself, Flanders became the seat of action. -Maurice had prepared every thing there for one of those bold strokes -which determine the destiny of states. He laid siege to Tournay, the -King himself being present in person; this siege endangered Holland, -which on this occasion was eager for coming to blows.</p> - -<p>It was with astonishment I read in the annals of those times, that this -tribe of merchants, who have no thoughts beyond trade and parsimony, -should now have been the first in calling for a battle, the loss of -which might have been fatal to the republic.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_88" id="page_88"></a>{88}</span></p> - -<p>The battle of Fontenoy was fought, and the allies lost it. This victory -has made a great noise in the world; but by the detail which a general -officer at my desire gave me of it, I do not find it to be one of those -events which greatly heighten a nation’s glory.</p> - -<p>The French army was much more numerous than the allies, and both the -King and Dauphin were present; the presence of these two Princes, thus -eye-witnesses of the bravery of their troops, created a second courage, -which in gaining victories goes farther than the first: the magazines -were full; the soldiers wanted for nothing; the household-troops were -there; and the whole was commanded by an experienced general, whom the -troops idolized, as capable of the greatest enterprizes: the Princes of -the blood, the Dukes, Peers, and almost all the nobility of the kingdom, -fought along with the soldiery, sharing their dangers and glory;<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_89" id="page_89"></a>{89}</span> in a -word, the whole French monarchy was present at Fontenoy. If, with all -these advantages, the allies had got the better, there would have been -an end of the monarchy; for the enemy was marching to the gates of -Paris. I am far from intending here to lessen the glory of Marshal Saxe, -who conducted the action.</p> - -<p>He has often given me an account of it since the peace, and I find that -here, tho’ then very low in health, he surpassed himself. His thoughts -were every where, and he remedied every thing: whatever an able -commander could do, he really performed. Some persons of the trade, -however, have affirmed to me, that very great faults were committed that -day; and that to repair them, it was frequently necessary to disobey the -General’s orders. The Duke de Biron took on himself to keep the post of -Antoin, though he had been expressly ordered to quit it. But in my -opinion, one<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_90" id="page_90"></a>{90}</span> of the most considerable was, leaving the King and the -Dauphin, during the whole action, on the spot where they had placed -themselves. A general rout, and this rout was two or three times very -near happening, would have exposed France to the worst of misfortunes.</p> - -<p>It has been said in several histories, that the Marshal was so confident -of gaining the battle, that he made no doubt of it; but he has often -told me himself, that two or three times he apprehended it lost, and -that he had always doubted of the victory till the household had -charged. One evident proof of his uncertainty was, his sending two or -three times to the King to withdraw.</p> - -<p>I was extremely uneasy about this important event, when a letter was -brought me from his Majesty. I opened it with trembling hands, and found -it as follows:<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_91" id="page_91"></a>{91}</span></p> - -<p class="c"> -From the camp at Fontenoy, an hour<br /> -after the battle.<br /> -</p> - -<div class="blockquot"><p> -“Madam,<br /> -</p> - -<p>“I saw all lost, till Marshal Saxe retrieved all: he has surpassed -himself in this action; my troops fought with invincible courage; -the houshold especially performed wonders; I owe the victory to -that corps. The French noblesse fought under my eye; it was with -pleasure I beheld their heroic valour.”</p> - -<p class="astc">***************</p> - -<p class="astc">***************</p> - -<p class="astc">***************</p> - -</div> - -<p>These three lines were in cyphers.</p> - -<p>This letter was very acceptable, and removed all my fears.</p> - -<p>From the time of the King’s departure from France, I had often converse -with the Abbe de Bernis, who had been recommended to me to keep me -company during the King’s absence.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_92" id="page_92"></a>{92}</span></p> - -<p>He had been introduced into the great world by women; for he had all -those little talents with which our sex are so taken, compliance, -affability, genteel ways, suppleness, gaiety, fluency of speech, a -smooth tongue, a pretty knack at versifying, and all those qualities set -off with a very handsome person.</p> - -<p>This Abbe was never at a loss for well turned compliments to the ladies, -so that he was always welcome among the sex. As in our first -conversations he never dropt the least intimation about preferment; I -imagined that, at last, I had met with a truly worthy person, one whose -noble soul soared above riches and honour. But I was mistaken; this Abbe -was eaten up with a desire of court distinction, concealing an unbounded -ambition under a hypocritical disinterestedness. His apartment, as I -have been informed, was, as it were, a perfect warehouse of memoirs; -some related to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_93" id="page_93"></a>{93}</span> farms of the revenues, others to œconomy, some -concerning war, some the navy, and others the finances. He had a -wonderful readiness at forming projects. He could scheme any thing he -had a mind to.</p> - -<p>The action of Fontenoy led the way to other conquests in Austrian -Flanders, and the Flemings every where received Lewis XV. with the -loudest acclamations. I have read in most of the revolutions of the -world, that the people greatly rejoice at a change of masters.</p> - -<p>This victory caused a general revolution; the Germans and English -determined to break into the kingdom. They made their way by Provence -and Bretagne, but they only shewed themselves. The Austrians passed the -Var, and then repassed it. The English landed and returned to their -ships. Our modern history is full of these military follies. Posterity -will ever be at a loss why General<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_94" id="page_94"></a>{94}</span> Sinclair, who commanded in this -expedition, after bringing a French city to capitulate, moved off -without reaping the fruits of the capitulation.</p> - -<p>They who shall read the annals of our age, will scarce believe that the -cabinets of Europe could have committed so many faults, and that the -Generals of armies could have fallen into so many errors.</p> - -<p>The Genoese, who had introduced the Spaniards into Italy, were forsaken -by them; so that the state of Genoa was invaded by the Austrians, who -even made themselves masters of the capital. They first required of the -Genoese what money they had, and after stripping them, demanded still -more.</p> - -<p>In the mean time the German army was in pursuit of the French and -Spaniards, and crossing the Var after them, took post in Provence. -Botta, in whose care the city had been left, and who was<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_95" id="page_95"></a>{95}</span> at St. Peter -des Arenes, forgot that he had no army to keep it, and that what -remained in that suburb, was only a sickly half-dead multitude; the -consequence of which was a sudden revolution, too strong for him to -suppress.</p> - -<p>The Genoese, whom a large army had awed into submission, recovered their -freedom on its departure. Here Botta was guilty of a great oversight; he -proposed to the senate to join him against the rebels, as he called -them, not perceiving that they underhand encouraged the insurrection: -they readily promised to act in concert with him; but this was only to -give the people time to gather and unite their strength: it was too late -when the general came to be aware of their design; he fled with such -precipitancy, as to leave all his magazines behind.</p> - -<p>The King shewed me a letter sent to court from a Genoese Senator, giving -a particular account of the whole transaction;<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_96" id="page_96"></a>{96}</span> the beginning, progress, -and end of the scheme laid for shaking off the Austrian yoke. The great -council had for some time secretly promoted it. It was not setting the -Genoese to draw cannon, which occasioned its revolution; it might indeed -hasten the execution of it; but the plan had been concerted long before: -thus is posterity often misled in histories, attributing to accident -what was the effect of premeditated design.</p> - -<p>This deliverance was attended with another happiness to Genoa; it had at -that time no citizen who could have deprived the Republic of its -liberty. The juncture was extremely favourable; the people had got the -whole power of the state into their hands. Now I have heard our -politicians say, that on such junctures, giving money, and granting -privileges, will carry every point.</p> - -<p>This revolution, which seemed only a private concern, changed the system -of<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_97" id="page_97"></a>{97}</span> general affairs. The Austrians, who intended to besiege Toulon, and -lay Marseilles under contribution, were obliged to repass the Var, for -want both of shelter and provisions.</p> - -<p>The court of Vienna, inflamed at this event, blocked up Genoa, and -threatened the inhabitants with the severest treatment, if they did not -immediately surrender; but the Genoese, being supported by the French, -made a vigorous resistance, without being intimidated by menaces; and -Boufflers, and afterwards the Duke de Richelieu, were sent to command -there. M. Maurepas has often told me, that it was a great oversight in -the English, who blocked up Genoa by sea, in not having a number of -flat-bottomed boats to hinder any French succours from getting into -Genoa.</p> - -<p>This precaution would have changed the whole disposition of affairs in -Italy. Genoa, then incapable of any further resistance<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_98" id="page_98"></a>{98}</span> must have -surrendered to the Austrians, and the Infant Don Philip, the subject of -the war, would never have seen Parma and Placentia.</p> - -<p>Lewis XV. after taking seven fine cities in Flanders, returned to Paris; -and it may be said that never was such joy displayed in that city, as at -the sight of this Prince; every street rang with shouts of gladness and -applause.</p> - -<p>Amidst the many checks which England had met with in Flanders, the -Pretender conveyed himself into Scotland. As he had neither armies nor -ships, some courtiers said, <i>he had swam thither</i>. It was not very -difficult to foresee the issue of this enterprize, every step and -circumstance of it being irregular. A very intelligent man told me at -that time, that the most fortunate thing which could happen to the -Pretender, would be to get out of Scotland as clandestinely as he got -in: but he was a young man,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_99" id="page_99"></a>{99}</span> rather fond of executing his projects in a -singular manner, than concerned about the success of them.</p> - -<p>This enterprize, however ill conducted, had one advantage for -Versailles, that it caused a diversion in England. France has always -made use of the house of Stuart for its private views. I am sorry that -George II. who wanted neither courage nor firmness, should have shewn -any uneasiness at it. An English nobleman told me, that he caused the -London militia to take an oath, that they did not in any-wise believe -that the pope had ever a right of causing Princes to be murdered. He -also had the records of Rochester searched for the form of the -excommunication anciently denounced by the Popes, to stimulate the -English against the see of Rome. I would not have Princes stoop to -trifles, which always betray a weak mind; a prince on the throne should -act with magnanimity.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_100" id="page_100"></a>{100}</span></p> - -<p>The Pretender published a manifesto in vindication of his rights, -addressed to the people of England; but this manifesto contained only -empty words, whilst George had on his side troops and cannon.</p> - -<p>Marshal Belleisle more than once took notice to me of a remarkable -passage in this manifesto. Prince Edward there owns that the house of -Stuart lost the English throne in some measure by its own fault, and -promises amendment. <i>If</i>, says he, <i>the complaints formerly brought -against our family did take their rise from some errors in our -administration; it has sufficiently expiated them</i>.—Young Edward took -possession of the kingdoms of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland, in -his father’s name, declaring himself regent. For England well and good; -but thus to make a king of France, was too hasty. Those titles, however, -resting on no surer grounds than the possession, as quickly -disappeared.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_101" id="page_101"></a>{101}</span></p> - -<p>At this time France endeavoured to keep the Dutch neuter; both courts -published manifestoes, and the ministers negociated: but this project of -neutrality produced only a fresh paper war. The Abbe de la Ville -presented memorials drawn up with great pomp and accuracy of stile, and -he was answered with an elegant conciseness; but fighting still went on.</p> - -<p>The face of affairs in Germany had changed; the King of Prussia -acknowledged the Great Duke of Tuscany Emperor, and made his peace with -the house of Austria. I have often heard a smart saying of Marshal -Belleisle on this head. <i>I very well knew</i>, said he, <i>that this man, who -is so fond of war, would incline to peace on the first opportunity to -his advantage</i>.</p> - -<p>M. Soubise more than once said to me, <i>That Monarch would have owned the -Pope for Emperor, had any Sovereign in Germany<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_102" id="page_102"></a>{102}</span> given him only a hundred -square acres of land</i>. This peace was so far advantageous to France, as -it diminished the power of the house of Austria. Apparently Italy alone -would be the sufferer, as it was to be supposed that the Queen of -Hungary, being quite at leisure in Germany, would be for fighting on the -other side the Alps. She sent reinforcements to the Low Countries, -which, however, could not hinder Marshal Saxe from taking Brussels. It -was then that Lewis XV. to compleat the conquest of Austrian Flanders, -set out to command the army in person.</p> - -<p>Our progresses were very rapid; the King’s presence, and the soldiers -confidence in Marshal Saxe’s abilities, made every thing easy. It was -otherwise with the Pretender in Scotland, who fled before the enemy, and -at length lost a decisive battle against the Duke of Cumberland.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_103" id="page_103"></a>{103}</span></p> - -<p>In these circumstances it was that M. d’Argenson wrote, though -indirectly, to the English government, in favour of young Edward. A man -of wit has since shewed me how extremely ridiculous this was; for had -there been a design that Edward should not out-live his temerity, a -better method could not have been invented for having him made away -with.</p> - -<p>That minister represented him to the court as a relation of the King’s, -for whose person and qualities this Monarch had the highest value. He -insisted that King George was a Prince of too much equity, not to -perceive the Pretender’s son’s merit. This manifesto afterwards told the -English, that they ought to admire him for those qualities of an eminent -patriot, which so conspicuously shone in him. It then proceeded to the -dangerous consequences which might result to England, from any<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_104" id="page_104"></a>{104}</span> severe -treatment to young Edward, &c. They did not see that this declaration -must have produced a quite contrary effect to that proposed. The -Pretender’s crime was not his coming over to Scotland, but in being -France’s ally. Consistent people said, either Prince Edward is a rebel, -or King George is an usurper; and Sovereigns should not countenance -rebels, nor solicit usurpers.</p> - -<p>The invention of this intercessory letter is fathered on a Cardinal, who -being a member of the sacred college, was for securing the Pretender’s -retreat; whereas it was the very way to obstruct it. Accordingly -England, making no account of this manifesto, set a price on his head, -and some Lords who had taken up arms for him, were publicly beheaded.</p> - -<p>Whilst all the Princes of Europe were at war together, their ministers -were repairing to Breda, to negociate a peace.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_105" id="page_105"></a>{105}</span> This necessarily -increased the business of cabinets, having both military and pacific -operations on the carpet. The dearth of ministers still continued in -France; none could be found capable of healing the public misfortunes. -M. d’Argenson, who had the foreign affairs, only increased the -confusion. They were committed to M. de Puisieux, who was then at Breda, -where he was ordered to feign great zeal and assiduity in bringing about -a definitive treaty; this was only a feint, he was in reality employed -at Versailles. On his nomination, he said to the King, <i>Sire, I will do -all I can, but I beg your Majesty to believe that I cannot work -miracles</i>.</p> - -<p>Marshal Saxe humorously said, <i>None but a saint or a devil can set the -French administration right</i>. This gave occasion to a courtier -afterwards to say, that we must be without friends, both in hell and -heaven; this so much warned<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_106" id="page_106"></a>{106}</span> saint or devil having not yet made his -appearance in France.</p> - -<p>Marshal Belleisle, having driven the Austrians out of Provence, returned -to Versailles, to give the King an account of his operations. He had a -strange passion for signal projects; and he proposed several to his -Majesty, the least of which was to deliver Genoa, to make Spain mistress -of the greater part of Italy, and strip the King of Sardinia of all his -dominions, &c.</p> - -<p>He was sent again to Provence, where the sum of his exploits amounted -only to the taking of the small castle of Saint Margaret’s island. A man -of genius was lately saying to me, that if good chimerical projects, and -imaginary plans, made a man great, M. Belleisle was indisputably the -greatest man in Europe.</p> - -<p>In the mean time Holland, having created a Stadtholder, determined on -the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_107" id="page_107"></a>{107}</span> continuance of the war. I saw that Lewis XV. was manifestly -affected with this news, whether from a concern for his people, or that -the elevation of the Prince of Orange disconcerted his projects. He said -in my presence to a courtier, <i>These Dutchmen are terrible folks; I wish -their republic was a thousand leagues from any of my frontiers; it gives -me more trouble than all the rest of Europe put together</i>.</p> - -<p>France having now no hopes of bringing the United Provinces to a -neutrality, thought of invading them; and politicians said, that it was -the only way left to restore the balance in Europe, which had been lost -by the continual advantages of the English at sea.</p> - -<p>Effectual measures were taken for the invasion. The King won the battle -of Lafeldt. At the same time it was determined to besiege -Bergen-op-Zoom. This expedition was committed to<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_108" id="page_108"></a>{108}</span> count Lowendahl, who -merrily promised to make a present of it to the King on St. Lewis’s day. -Bergen-op-Zoom was taken, which threw the Dutch into the greatest -consternation, as they had all imagined the carrying of that place to be -an impossibility. This event shewed, that in war there is no such thing -as certainty, its operations being ever subject to the caprice and -inconstancy of fortune.</p> - -<p>The congress at Breda was removed to Aix-la-Chapelle; but the courts -still continued planning sieges and battles. Whilst the -plenipotentiaries were settling the preliminaries, the levies for fresh -troops went on with all possible vigour, and France prepared for war -more than ever; but the difficulty was to procure soldiers. It has been -affirmed to me, that there were large country-towns in France, which -could not furnish so much as one militia-man, so that it became -necessary to make the married men carry<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_109" id="page_109"></a>{109}</span> arms, though this was hurting -posterity. All manner of taxes and imposts were also contrived to supply -the want of money. M. Machault, comptroller-general, who had succeeded -M. Orry, proposed expedients, but all of a very destructive tendency. -The parliament clamoured, and openly declared in its representations, -that if all the edicts concerning the finances took place, as proposed, -the kingdom was undone; but it received for answer, that great evils -required great remedies; and this silenced it.</p> - -<p>At length a way being opened into Holland, by taking of Bergen-op-Zoom, -and Marshal Saxe threatening to put an end to the republic; on the other -hand, the southern provinces of France being reduced to a starving -condition; this, with other circumstances, disposed the several powers -to sign preliminaries of peace, which was soon followed by a definitive -treaty. Such a situation of things<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_110" id="page_110"></a>{110}</span> promoted the public tranquility more -than all the studied harangues of the plenipotentiaries at -Aix-la-Chapelle.</p> - -<p>I had the treaty read to me at Versailles; all the articles appeared -very suitable to the present state of Europe, except that of Canada. It -seemed to me that the appointing commissioners to settle that great -affair, would only perplex it the more. I spoke of it to Marshal -Belleisle, who told me that article was a state secret: we could have -given it another turn, but this is best for us; it leaves things in -America as they are, and we have twenty Savage nations in Canada who -will revenge our loss. This revenge some years after cost us the game.</p> - -<p>The Prince de Soubise told me some time after, that this peace had been -a child of necessity; that there was not one of all the signing Princes, -who could not have wished that the war had continued.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_111" id="page_111"></a>{111}</span> Yet I can take -upon me to say, that the King of France was of a different mind. He was -visibly more gay than usual, and the great joy of his heart displayed -itself in his countenance.</p> - -<p>Thus at length the public calamities were suspended. Genoa, which under -the Duke de Richelieu had continued to defend itself against the -Germans, grounded its arms. The Spaniards and French, after being in -continual action to settle Don Philip in Italy, discontinued their -operations; and it was agreed that every thing should remain quiet till -the publication of the definitive treaty. I longed for it more than any -minister in Europe. The King had no quiet; the concerns of his crown and -personal glory kept him in Flanders, and took up all his thoughts, never -returning to Versailles till the campaign was quite over. My private -satisfaction I could have willingly sacrificed to the happiness<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_112" id="page_112"></a>{112}</span> of the -state, but sieges and battles only encreased the public distresses.</p> - -<p>New lotteries and new taxes were established to raise the means for -signing the peace; thus the public ease began with draining them to the -last drop.</p> - -<p>The Pretender’s son, who seemed quite forgotten, now makes his -appearance again. Concluding, as he well might, that nobody would think -of him at the congress of Aix-la-Chapelle; he began by protesting -against every thing which should be done there. So little regard was -paid to the manifesto which he caused to be set up, that all parties -signed without minding his protestations. To this opposition he added -another still more extravagant at Paris, refusing to comply even with -the King’s express orders.</p> - -<p>One of the first articles laid down between England and France, had -been, that the Chevalier de St. George’s son<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_113" id="page_113"></a>{113}</span> should quit the kingdom. -Lewis XV. several times signified to him the indispensable necessity he -was under of adhering to the agreement. Prince Edward plainly told those -who first mentioned the King’s pleasure to him, that he would not -comply. I have often heard the excuse he gave for this refractoriness. -<i>The King of France</i>, said he, <i>promised me that I should always find an -asylum in his dominions; for this I have his sign manual in my pocket. A -Prince who has a sense of honour, knows what obligations his word lays -him under, and how greatly he exposes himself in violating it.</i></p> - -<p>He treated with the King of France as with a private gentleman. He -forgot that Sovereigns may fail in their word, without any breach in -their honour, the good of their people so requiring. The Pretender’s son -was taken into custody, as he was going to the opera. Strange reverse of -fortune! On his arrival in<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_114" id="page_114"></a>{114}</span> France, he had been received with great joy, -and marks of consideration. I was something concerned for this young -Prince’s fate, and dropped a word or two about him to the King, who -answered me with some heat, <i>What would you have me do, Madam? Should I -continue the war with all Europe for Prince Edward? England will not -allow him to be in my dominions; it was only on this condition, that she -came into the peace. Should I have broke off the conference at -Aix-la-Chapelle, and distressed my people more and more, because the -Pretender’s son is for living at Paris?</i></p> - -<p>It must be owned that this Prince shewed an obstinacy beyond example. -The King sent all Paris to represent to him the state of affairs, and -express the concern it gave him, that he was obliged to remove him from -his court. Though these messages were delivered to him in the King’s -name, his answers were so many menaces. The Count de Maurepas<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_115" id="page_115"></a>{115}</span> spoke to -him on this occasion, in the following words:</p> - -<p>“It is with the greatest grief that the King sees himself obliged to -desire your Highness to quit his dominions. I come in his name to assure -you that no other consideration than the welfare of his subjects would -have prevailed on him to take this step. You would have seen him -inflexibly supporting your claim, had not the unhappy turn of the war -laid him under a necessity of yielding to the present juncture. The -greatest Monarchs cannot always do as they would. There are critical -seasons where policy requires them to be pliant. Your Highness knows -that; since the unhappy time when the Stuart family lost the crown of -England, the Bourbon family has made several efforts for their -restoration. You ought to take his intentions kindly, rather than blame -his inability. I<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_116" id="page_116"></a>{116}</span> wish you had been witness to his conversation with me, -when he called me into his closet to give me his orders, by which I was -to signify to you his desire that you will quit the kingdom; it must -have affected you. He sincerely laments your situation, but he cannot -turn the tide of fate; and should you force him to take violent -measures, it would give him the deepest concern.</p> - -<p>“Lewis XV. has sent me to you, not as a King, not as a master, but as an -ally, and as a friend; and, what is more, he directed me to ask it of -you as a favour, that you would leave his dominions.”</p> - -<p>Prince Edward was very laconic in his answer, drawing a pistol out of -his pocket, and vowing to shoot the first man that should offer to lay -hands on him. The archbishop of Paris likewise conjured him in the name -of God and the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_117" id="page_117"></a>{117}</span> Pope, but with no greater effect; religion had no more -weight with him than politics, so that the extremity which the King -would have avoided, became necessary. The Chevalier de St. George’s son -was arrested as he was going to the opera.</p> - -<p>The enemies of France failed not to exclaim against this violence, -exaggerating it with the most odious appellations.</p> - -<p>On searching his house, it was found turned into an Arsenal. He had arms -enough to stand a siege in form. It was talked at court that he had -determined to fight singly himself against a whole regiment, and then -set fire to a barrel of powder, which communicated with others, and thus -blow up himself, with all that belonged to him. The King, on being told -this, said, “A very ill-timed bravery, indeed!”</p> - -<p>The peace, however, spread an universal joy through all ranks. There -were<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_118" id="page_118"></a>{118}</span> only two men in the kingdom who were not satisfied with it, the -Marshals Saxe and Lowendahl. The former expressed his discontent to the -secretary of war in this manner: “After the battle of Fontenoy, said he, -we were in a fair way of making ourselves masters of Holland, and -putting an end to that troublesome republic; for these merchants, with -their shipping and their wealth, are the mischief-makers of Europe; they -are the necessary allies of our natural enemies the English. The great -work of their destruction was nearly finished; why did we not go through -with it? If we again give the republicans time to fortify themselves, -they will be as daring as before; and the time may come when France with -all its forces will not be able to bring them to reason. Destroying -Holland is cutting off England’s right arm; and every body knows, that -all<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_119" id="page_119"></a>{119}</span> France’s policy should center in weakening Great Britain.</p> - -<p>“Of what consequence has the victory of Fontenoy been? What is France -the better for the taking of Bergen-op-Zoom? All those efforts of -courage, all the lives of so many gallant officers who fell in Flanders, -were purely thrown away. If these places were to be restored, and the -Dutch and the house of Austria to be put on the same footing as each of -them was before the war, it had been much better there had been no war -at all. France’s giving back its conquests, was making war against -herself; her very victories have ruined her; her enemies have retained -all their former strength, whilst she alone has weakened herself. Her -subjects are fewer by a million, and her finances reduced to little or -nothing.”</p> - -<p>These speeches reaching the King’s<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_120" id="page_120"></a>{120}</span> ears, he said, “I understand the -language of those generalissimos; they are for ever dwelling on red-hot -bullets.”</p> - -<p>The count de St. Severin d’Arragon, who had made the peace, undertook to -demonstrate the fallacy of such reasonings; and the King has often -repeated to me his arguments. “Sire, said he, the conquest of Holland -made no part of the plan of this war. All France aimed at, was to keep -the Dutch from declaring. The end of our many sieges and battles, was -not to destroy their republic, but only to bring it to pacific terms; so -that in forcing them to lay aside their arms, the council of state’s -view is fully answered.</p> - -<p>“Your Generals will have it, that after the battle of Fontenoy, and the -taking of Bergen-op-Zoom, the United Provinces might easily have been -overrun, and the States-General have been brought under the dominion of -France.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_121" id="page_121"></a>{121}</span> They are mistaken; the weapons of despair are invincible. To -compel a people to the necessity of being conquered, is the ready way to -lose a conquest. The sovereignties once settled, are no longer subject -to destruction; they are reciprocal counterpoizes; should only one fall -under the power of another, the whole balance of Europe would be -destroyed. It is long since war has afforded any of those decisive -blows, which, in the time of the Romans, changed the face of the -political world. A province may be mastered, but the invading of -kingdoms is out of date.</p> - -<p>“Granting, Sir, that the ardour of your troops, breaking through the -common ways, had reduced Holland, it would have been a conquest not only -useless, but have thrown France into fresh troubles; all Europe, in a -body, would have declared war against<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_122" id="page_122"></a>{122}</span> you. The great powers, jealous of -the house of Bourbon, have long been watching an opportunity of giving -it a decisive blow.</p> - -<p>“Right policy, instead of making a noise, silently takes a bye-way to -its ends; let us insensibly weaken the Dutch, but never think of -destroying them. They are a barrier against the great northern powers. -They secure us from the incursions of the Germans, whom the Romans -themselves could not check, and who at last overthrew the empire of the -Cæsars.</p> - -<p>“But a great deal is said about the easiness of our conquering, and not -a word how easy it was to conquer us. What induced me, Sire, to put the -finishing hand to the great work of the peace, is the disorder of the -finances, the depopulation of the state, and the scarcity of -provisions.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_123" id="page_123"></a>{123}</span></p> - -<p>“The Comptroller-general has acquainted me that he knows not where to -find any more money. The intendants of the provinces have wrote to the -war-office, that it is utterly impossible to raise another militia; to -which the intendant of Guienne adds, that in his province the people are -starving; those, Sire, were my motives for hastening the conclusion of -the peace.”</p> - -<p>These reasons, however, did not prevail with the great men of the army, -who still wanted to be fighting. They were big with hopes, which the -peace seemed to quash. I remember Lewis XV. one day talking on this -subject, said to me, <i>that he had not a general officer in his troops -who cared what became of the state, if he could but get a Marshal’s -staff</i>.</p> - -<p>The King, who had rewarded Marshal Saxe, did not forget the Count St. -Severin, making him a minister of state.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_124" id="page_124"></a>{124}</span> This Count, though not a great -genius, had good rational sense, which he made to answer as well as a -superior understanding. He was slow in business, but sure; and his -phlegmatic disposition was better adapted to surmount those -difficulties, which ever put fervid and eager minds to a full stand. He -was a stranger to agitations; his passions moved in subordination to -political laws. Resentment, anger, sallies of passion, spirit of party, -with all the other prepossessing foibles which ruled most ministers, -were never seen in him. Those he used to call the reverse of the medal -of plenipotentiaries. In a negociation he moved straight on to his -drift, without stopping by the way. He had a natural love for peace, and -thus the more chearfully applied himself to forward a definitive treaty.</p> - -<p>M. de Belleisle told me, that he found one great fault in him, which was -the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_125" id="page_125"></a>{125}</span> want of a proper regard to military men, however illustrious by -their rank or merit; for after all, added he, there is no making a good -peace but by dint of victories; and it is the general, and not the -plenipotentiary, who gains battles.</p> - -<p>France however was quite spent; the means made use of for supporting the -war had been so violent as to break all the springs of power. The -ministers complained greatly of the state of France, and openly said, at -the peace, that they did not know where to begin the administration.</p> - -<p>Paris is not the place where the general distress most manifests itself. -The luxury, such as it is, prevailing there conceals the public -indigence. There poverty itself appears in embroidery and ribbons, -whilst in all the other parts of France it goes quite bare. The court -had written into the provinces for a report of the state of things. M. -de Belleisle<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_126" id="page_126"></a>{126}</span> has shewn me several memoirs of those times, transmitted -to Versailles by the intendants of the provinces. The tenour of the -first way this:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"><p> -<span style="margin-left: 2em;">“<span class="smcap">My Lord</span>,</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>“You ask me for a state of the finances in this province; that is -soon done: there are none. I don’t believe that the whole province -could produce a hundred thousand livres in specie: the poverty is -so general, that all distinction of ranks is at an end. The louis -d’ors are like to become scarce pieces, so as soon to be seen only -in the cabinets of the curious.”</p></div> - -<p>The other is from the intendant of a province naturally very fertile, -but which could not be cultivated for want of money. His report to the -minister was as follows:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"><p> -<span style="margin-left: 2em;">“<span class="smcap">My Lord</span>,</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>“There is no representing to your Excellency the present distress -of this<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_127" id="page_127"></a>{127}</span> province; the land yields little or nothing; most of the -farmers, unable to live by the produce of their farms, have quitted -them; some are gone a begging, others have lifted in the army, and -not a few have escaped into foreign countries; the gentry and -nobility are little better off, being put to the utmost difficulty -to answer the taxes and impositions on them.</p> - -<p>“Of fifteen hundred thousand acres of arable land, which used to -support this people, at present six hundred lie fallow; what a -diminution this must be to the general subsistence, your Excellency -readily sees. A village which, before the war, supported fifteen -hundred inhabitants, can now scarce support six hundred; and a -particular family, which was able to feed six children, and as many -labourers, can now provide food only for five. The cattle are -diminished no less than the men,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_128" id="page_128"></a>{128}</span> so as not to be sufficient for -tillage; and in most of the villages men do the work of oxen.</p> - -<p>“I have traced this calamity to its source, and I find the evil -proceeds from the general want of cash: to prevent the consequences -of this diminution, I could wish that the court would be pleased to -advance to this province, by way of loan, the sum of fifteen -hundred thousand livres, to be geometrically distributed among the -industrious poor. This, in my opinion, is the only remedy left to -avert greater evils.”</p></div> - -<p>The third of these memoirs was from another intendant, who paints the -depopulation in these sad colours.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"><p> -<span style="margin-left: 2em;">“<span class="smcap">My Lord</span>,</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>“The king’s subjects are daily decreasing in this province; it will -soon be without inhabitants. Having directed the parish-priests to -bring in lists of the christenings and<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_129" id="page_129"></a>{129}</span> burials, I find that the -number of the dead exceeds that of the living; so that, should this -depopulation go on twenty years longer, and God continues my life -during that time, by my calculation, I shall be the only living -creature, of the human species, in this province. Fifteen years -before the last revolution of the finances, this district contained -fifteen hundred thousand souls, and now if there are nine hundred -thousand, it is the most. Yet how, my Lord, can it be otherwise? Of -fifty of the king’s subjects, scarce two have any thing of a -subsistence; the others must necessarily perish. A marriage is -seldom heard of; so that all the new-born children are the fruits -of debauchery.</p> - -<p>“I cannot point out any remedy to these distresses. In the present -crisis of the monarchy, it is God alone who can rescue it out of -the abyss into<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_130" id="page_130"></a>{130}</span> which the misfortunes of the times have cast it.”</p></div> - -<p>The fourth was from a sea-port, whose deputy thus delivered himself -before the ministry.</p> - -<p>“Trade, which had been declining for several years, is now fallen into a -total stagnation. Our ships lie in the harbours, useless both to the -state and their owners. We have little or nothing for exportation; the -produce of the country scarce affords a very scanty subsistence; and our -manufactures are at the lowest ebb. All our trade is in the hands of the -English and Dutch.</p> - -<p>“Most of our monied men, who fitted out privateers, have been ruined by -the war; others so reduced, that instead of ten ships, which they used -to have at sea, they find it difficult to have one: both seas are -covered with foreign fleets, so that the white flag begins to be -forgotten.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_131" id="page_131"></a>{131}</span></p> - -<p>“All other nations are carriers to France, whereas France carries for -none. This general stagnation animates others, and throws our marine -into a fatal lethargy, &c. &c. &c.”</p> - -<p>The navy has been utterly ruined, all the ships being taken by the -English, except a few unserviceable ones in the harbours; and the funds -appointed for fitting out a fleet are exhausted; but had there been no -want of money, seamen were wanting; most of them had died in English -prisons, and they who escaped the enemy perished by distress. It was -impossible for France, being thinned of men, to furnish seamen.</p> - -<p>M. Belleisle, who interfered in every branch of government, said one day -to the King, in my hearing, <i>Sire, should all the powers of Europe -declare war against you, I engage to raise in your dominions a hundred -and fifty thousand soldiers, who should keep them all at bay; but were I -to<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_132" id="page_132"></a>{132}</span> fight an English fleet of a hundred ships of the line, where I -should get twenty thousand seamen, I know not</i>.</p> - -<p>Another misfortune, beyond any remedy, was the necessary reduction of -the troops. A hundred and fifty thousand subjects, who had fought for -the crown, at the peace came to want bread: most of them, though they -had been husbandmen before the war, were now no longer so. I have -several times heard the Marshal de Noailles say, that a countryman, -leaving the plough for the musket, is very seldom known to take to it -when discharged; and he used to add, that on a hundred thousand -husbandmen quitting their labour, a hundred thousand others must labour -to provide them bread, otherwise a famine, and the ruin of the state, -must be the consequence.</p> - -<p>Some regulations were made to prevent the disorders to be apprehended -from these reduced troops; but the remedy<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_133" id="page_133"></a>{133}</span> was more dangerous than the -disease.</p> - -<p>Of all the incumbrances, that of the military rewards were the greatest; -money was required to pay the bravery of the officers in ready cash, for -the military gentlemen are most impatient creditors. Formerly a St. -Lewis’s cross sufficed, but it has since appeared to the officers, that -a yearly sum gives a greater lustre to gallant actions.</p> - -<p>Above ten thousand different pensions were settled on the Exchequer. A -churchman who, at my desire, used sometimes to read to me the memorials -on this head delivered to me for the king, would often say, that the -glory accompanying fine actions must be of very little value in France, -as the gentlemen of the army would not take it for a reward. The -archbishop of Paris likewise used to say, that victories cost the state -more than defeats.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_134" id="page_134"></a>{134}</span></p> - -<p>The claimants would set forth their services with an arrogant modesty, -which gave great offence to the court; especially they who had lost a -limb were quite insupportable. One of these gentlemen (it was indeed -after several journies to court to obtain a pension) said to me before -several foreign ministers, <i>Madam, since the King cannot give me an arm, -which I have lost in his service, he should at least give me money</i>.</p> - -<p>Once an officer being come express with the news of the loss of a battle -in Germany, the king said, <i>Thank God, this time I shan’t be teazed -about rewards</i>. He was mistaken; for fifteen hundred officers, who had -escaped the slaughter, came to Versailles, clamouring to be paid only -for the great service of their being present at that action.</p> - -<p>A lieutenant of grenadiers, to whom the secretary at war had procured a -Saint Lewis’s cross without a pension, said to<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_135" id="page_135"></a>{135}</span> him, <i>Sir, your -Excellency has tied to my button-hole the sign of my courage, but you -have forgot the reality of my bravery</i>, meaning that he wanted a -pension.</p> - -<p>Some military men in France enjoy considerable incomes only for having -been in five or six battles, whilst the subjects of the state have -ruined themselves in defraying the expences of the war. Thus do abuses -creep into the best foundations.</p> - -<p>After settling the pensions, the next thing taken in hand was to -retrieve the finances from the terrible disorder into which they were -fallen. They who understood the history of France affirmed, that for -twenty reigns past the kingdom had never been so distressed; and the -national debt being immense, a plan for the discharge of them became -absolutely necessary. A sinking fund was projected, but when funds were -to be appointed for the sinking-fund, those of the crown were<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_136" id="page_136"></a>{136}</span> found to -be all mortgaged. I myself was a witness to his majesty’s great -uneasiness, when the ministers and counsellors of state laid open to him -the condition of things. <i>Gentlemen</i>, said he to them, <i>you had better -have advised me against the war, than to make it on such burthensome -conditions</i>. Some taxes were taken off; but several imposts, created for -the charges of the war, were continued after the peace, &c. &c.</p> - -<p>Such was the situation of France after the definitive treaty of -Aix-la-Chapelle. The domestic affairs of the crown were in no better -condition. The ministers had, during the war, assumed an unlimited -authority, made themselves despotic in their offices, and behaved -towards the subjects with that austerity which is the result of -uncontrouled power.</p> - -<p>Whilst all Europe was congratulating itself on the general peace, advice -came<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_137" id="page_137"></a>{137}</span> to Versailles that the English were very angry with George the -Second, for having agreed to the French proposals. The parliament -addressed him for a copy of the overtures for a general pacification, to -be laid before the house.</p> - -<p>Marshal Saxe being present when this was related to the king, said, -<i>Sir, those Englishmen must be very quarrelsome; they have made a peace -with us, and having now no enemy, they are for quarrelling with their -King</i>. I have heard very knowing politicians say, that the divisions in -Great Britain between the subjects and the Prince, are the basis of the -general tranquillity of Europe.</p> - -<p>However, on the peace, the face of Versailles was quite changed; that -solicitous look which throws a shade even on diversions was quite -vanished; the hurry of business had ceased, and the king was now come to -himself. This tranquility of the court caused a great agitation in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_138" id="page_138"></a>{138}</span> -city; several women began to form designs on the King’s heart.</p> - -<p>Among these was one Madame la Poupeliniere, married to a financier, who -had raised her from the dirt, from whence he himself likewise sprung. -They had a most delightful and splendid seat at Passy, which was always -crowded with the worst company.</p> - -<p>I have been often told, that this woman would faint away whenever my -name happened to be mentioned. She used to say, that I had thrust myself -into her rank at court, that I held her place about the king, and that -all the honours paid to me at Versailles, of right belonged to her. She -would, at any rate, be Lewis the Fifteenth’s mistress.</p> - -<p>This was a scheme put into her head by the Duke de Richelieu; mean time -he practised on her heart, to give it a turn for tenderness. This -intrigue was carried on with an air of mystery. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_139" id="page_139"></a>{139}</span> Duke used, at -nights, to convey himself into the lady’s chamber through an opening -contrived in the chimney; and this opening Richelieu assured her should, -in no long time, conduct her to the little apartments of Versailles. In -the interim, this creature, to make herself more worthy of the -Sovereign, prostituted herself to one of his subjects; but a -chambermaid, in a fit of resentment, discovered the whole mystery. The -financier, who had for some time wanted to get rid of his wife, gladly -embraced this opportunity; he made the public witness to his infamy, so -that all Paris flocked to see the ungrateful perfidy of this ambitious -woman.</p> - -<p>The gallant perhaps, now no less satiated than the husband, made very -light of the discovery; and came to Versailles, not imagining that the -court as yet knew any thing of the matter; but I had intelligence of his -adventure an hour before<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_140" id="page_140"></a>{140}</span> it was made public. The King was alone in my -apartment when he came in; <i>Sir</i>, (said I to him) <i>there is not in all -Europe a more close agent in amorous intrigues than his Grace of -Richelieu there before you; for to be the more secret with the ladies -whom he would bring acquainted with your Majesty, he visits them through -the chimney</i>. The King asked me what I meant; I immediately unfolded the -riddle to him, which set us a laughing, and Richelieu himself laughed as -much as any.</p> - -<p>Other women likewise laid out for the little apartments at Versailles, -and got into them without going under ground. Lewis XV. was very fond of -these flighty amours, of which possession is both the beginning and end. -But his humours did not in the least abate the affection with which he -honoured me, always returning to me more constant than ever.</p> - -<p>Since the peace, the Count de Maurepas took a pleasure in censuring -every<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_141" id="page_141"></a>{141}</span> thing that was done at court, and giving it a ridiculous turn. -This minister had his private suppers like the King himself; and here it -was where, every night, the crown was turned into drollery.</p> - -<p>Several disputes had passed between us since my living at Versailles, -and in which he had used me with much pride and haughtiness; his passion -made him forget his rank, and use words quite unbecoming such a man as -he. I slightly intimated it to the King, being unwilling to hurt a man -who was of use to the state.</p> - -<p>It has been given out, that my very first design on my coming to -Versailles was to supplant this minister. Now that such a thought should -have come into my mind, is not possible. The King, in giving me a -character of his chief ministers, spoke with great approbation of the -Count de Maurepas, which alone was sufficient to make me take a liking<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_142" id="page_142"></a>{142}</span> -to him. But a close assiduity in dry and difficult affairs, for above -thirty years successively, had extremely soured his temper, so that at -times no body durst go near him. M. le Guai, his first clerk, told me, -that in those moments he was bristled like a porcupine; his harshness -infected his correspondence, scolding those who were a thousand leagues -from him, and treating them without any regard to their rank and -character. He wrote to the French consul, at one of the Levant ports, in -the following manner:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"><p>“I order you, Sir, to write to me no more, but repair to France in -the first ship; and come to Paris, where you are to wait my orders, -without appearing at court.</p> - -<p class="r"> -I am, &c.”<br /> -</p></div> - -<p>His caustic temper mingled itself even with his feasts, and would break -out even in the midst of pleasure and sociality. It was in these parties -that he was most<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_143" id="page_143"></a>{143}</span> fluent and licentious in satire. I was one day -informed, that he had spoken against me in very indecent terms, and had -even brought in the King. I at first determined flatly to complain to -his Majesty, but on reflection I chose to write to himself.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"><p>“<i>Sir, I am informed of your scandalous speeches concerning me, and -even the King your master. As for what you say of me, it gives me -no manner of concern; but I cannot overlook any scurrility on the -King. I value his reputation; and be assured, that if you do not -alter your behaviour toward him, I shall lay it before him, and you -must expect the punishment which such an offence deserves.</i></p> - -<p class="r"> -<i>I am, &c.</i>”<br /> -</p></div> - -<p>All the effect of this letter was, that it increased his malignity -towards me, saying to those who were at supper with him; <i>Now, -Gentlemen, my disgrace is surely at hand, Pompadour threatens me</i>: then, -reassuming his gravity, he added, by way of reflection, <i>See what -Versailles is come to</i>;<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_144" id="page_144"></a>{144}</span> <i>the very women of pleasure pretend to domineer -there</i>. These words were precisely reported to me; however, I took no -notice of them; but some time after, this minister, amidst his cups, -sang some scandalous couplets against the King himself, and before a -great deal of company. Of this insolence I informed his Majesty, and he -was ordered to quit the court.</p> - -<p>His exile making a great noise in the world, and a construction being -put on it which affected his probity and character, I begged of the King -to declare in public, that he was satisfied with his conduct. His -Majesty did so; and let this serve as a specimen of his temper; a -prince, after being insolently ridiculed by a subject who owed him great -obligations, still vouchsafed to shew tenderness for him.</p> - -<p>The government was at a loss for a person fit to succeed M. Maurepas at -the head of the marine, as now it was become a state mystery. It had -been under<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_145" id="page_145"></a>{145}</span> Maurepas’s sole management during thirty years. M. Rouillé -was pitched on, though no great genius; but he had formed specious -plans, and assured the King that within three years he should have a -navy of fourscore ships of the line. <i>I wish</i>, said the King, <i>he may -make his words good, but I much fear he will fall very short</i>.</p> - -<p>Italy was perfectly at ease; the infant Don Philip had made his entrance -into Parma: we heard at Versailles that he lived very gaily there amid -concerts, plays, and balls. <i>I am afraid</i>, said the King, <i>that young -Prince is too fond of balls, and my daughter will be perpetually -dancing</i>.</p> - -<p>M. de Noailles used to say, that <i>every country dance of Don Philip, in -Italy, cost Spain a hundred thousand livres; and his mother had paid the -fiddlers before-hand</i>.</p> - -<p>The Duke of Modena was restored to his dominions, and had all Don -Philip’s<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_146" id="page_146"></a>{146}</span> passion for splendour and entertainments; but the war had -ruined him: the Duchess used to say openly, in the palace, <i>his Highness -has not wherewith to make one single minuet step</i>. She came to court -without shoes, to shew the King the indigence to which the war had -reduced their duchy. <i>Madam</i>, said his Majesty to her, <i>I am not in a -much better condition myself; but I have a shoe-maker, who, if you -please, shall wait on you</i>.</p> - -<p>Genoa was free, subject only to its own government, now re-established -on its ancient footing. The ambassador from the court of Vienna, meeting -that senate’s envoy in the great gallery of Versailles, said to him; -<i>Sir, the house of Austria forgives your republic its revolution, only -intends to be up with it</i>.</p> - -<p>Rome was at rest, the foreign armies which, during the war, had been -such a burden and terror to it, being withdrawn.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_147" id="page_147"></a>{147}</span></p> - -<p>Naples, now no longer under a necessity of exhausting itself of men and -money, was beginning to recover: all it stood in need of, was only quiet -enjoyment of its fertile soil and climate. Concerning this small state, -I remember a foreign minister once said to me, that <i>if ever he had been -so ambitious as to aim at a sovereignty, it would not be that of -Germany, France, or Spain, but to be King of Naples</i>. His reason was, -that <i>there the power was derived directly from heaven; and is the -immediate gift of God the Father himself</i>.</p> - -<p>The nobility still complained at court of having greatly hurt their -fortunes in the war, and were continually solliciting compensations and -rewards.</p> - -<p>The Prince of Conti, lately created Grand Prior of France, said openly, -that his horses had no hay. <i>I wonder</i>, said Marshal Belleisle, <i>they -are not yet dead, for so long ago as when we were at Coni, his<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_148" id="page_148"></a>{148}</span> Highness -used to complain of the scarcity of forage</i>.</p> - -<p>Lewis XV. did all he could to repair the fortunes of the great by posts, -pensions, or governments; but he had a greater concern on his hands, -which was to repair that of the nation.</p> - -<p>I remember once he mildly said to some, who were unbecomingly urgent, -that he would take care of them; <i>Have a little patience, I will provide -for all as far as possible; but before I attend to private houses, the -great family of the state must be provided for</i>. Another time he said, -before the whole court, to a groupe of officers who talked much of their -campaigns, and asked rewards: <i>Gentlemen, you have indeed done me great -services in the war, but it is my desire you will do me still a greater -in peace, which is to allow me first to ease those who have borne the -whole weight of the war. You only lent a hand</i>,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_149" id="page_149"></a>{149}</span> <i>but they have -exhausted their whole substance in it</i>, &c. &c.</p> - -<p>Marshal Belleisle was not overlooked; besides pensions, ranks, and -honours heaped on him, all the bodies of the state, as it were, strove -which should pay him the greatest marks of respect. The French Academy -itself, on his leaving Paris to go to his government, composed a formal -harangue, proving him the deliverer of France. A man of wit has called -the members of the French academy <i>the most elegant liars in Europe</i>.</p> - -<p>The new naval minister was busily searching for timber, seamen, and -money, all over the provinces; but he looked for what was not to be -found. On his return to Versailles, appeared the following memorial, by -an unknown hand.</p> - -<p class="c"> -MEMORIAL on the <span class="smcap">Marine</span>.<br /> -</p> - -<p>“<span class="smcap">France</span> should not think of forming a navy gradually; such a plan is -impracticable;<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_150" id="page_150"></a>{150}</span> for the English, who have an eye to the building of -every ship we put on the stocks, and build additional ships in -proportion, thereby always secure a superiority.</p> - -<p>“Thus Great Britain having, at present, a hundred ships of the line more -than France, will consequently always exceed us by that number, were we -to build three hundred ships of war within ten years.</p> - -<p>“We have often set about forming a navy, but our endeavours have always -been defeated by the Britons. They have taken our ships in times of -profound peace, and declared themselves our enemies by sea, before any -war had commenced; their vigilance in preventing any thing which might -affect the superiority of their navy, pays no regard to justice or good -faith. A King of England would be immediately dethroned by his subjects, -should he be<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_151" id="page_151"></a>{151}</span> for adhering to the treaties made with France. It is a -tacit maxim with that nation, that a treaty is to subsist only whilst -France builds no ships.</p> - -<p>“Time, which to all other disorders of government brings a remedy, here -renders the disease incurable: building therefore is too slow a way; -they know at London the very day when any ship of war is finished, and -when to be launched.</p> - -<p>“This part of political strength must be formed at once, and unknown to -the admiralty of England. We should without delay apply to Holland, -Denmark, the republic of Genoa, and Venice; and there, at once, purchase -a proper number of ships; and if those states cannot fully supply us, -there is Malta, Algiers, Tripoli, Constantinople, &c. No matter from -what nation we have ships, or how they are<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_152" id="page_152"></a>{152}</span> built, if they will but hold -men and guns.</p> - -<p>“Herein the strictest secrecy must be observed, and the purchases all -punctually made at one and the same appointed time; for should the -English get any intelligence of our design, they would either by open -force, or negotiation, prevent any such purchase.</p> - -<p>“The want of seamen still remains; but here again we may supply -ourselves by the same method. In time of peace, the Maritime powers have -a great many more seamen than they want; it is only making good offers -to those men; for the sailor, like the soldier, is for the best bidder; -his natural Prince is money, &c. &c.”</p> - -<p>M. Rouillé, on reading this memorial, said, <i>The author has forgot the -main thing, money. He would have us purchase a navy all at once, but -does not provide wherewith to pay for it at once</i>.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_153" id="page_153"></a>{153}</span></p> - -<p>A statesman has often observed, that most of the projects offered at the -court of France are deficient in the very foundation. The schemer writes -on in prosecution of his notions, till meeting a rock, when all his -specious reasonings are wrecked.</p> - -<p>M. de Belleisle told me that, in his closet, he had hundreds of memoirs -for increasing the revenue and the national wealth, inscribed to him by -the finest genius’s of the kingdom; and that he might perhaps publish -them with this title, <i>A collection of very fine, and very useless -projects</i>. “Idle people, said he, often have thoughts which the business -of placemen does not allow them to have:” and added, “that though -memorial writers do not always make good their points, yet their -strictures often put others on effectual improvements.”</p> - -<p>After the peace, the King had sent the Duke de Mirepoix to London: on -which<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_154" id="page_154"></a>{154}</span> Marshal Saxe said, that this nobleman was perfectly fit for the -embassy, having a very handsome leg, and dancing prettily, which might -be of good consequence in a court which delighted in balls. The reasons -which induced the King to this choice, have always been unknown to me. -He never so much as mentioned it to me till it was done. A very -intelligent man, whom the king had often employed in state affairs, said -to me, at that time, “that M. de Mirepoix was neither supple nor -complaisant enough for the English; neither was he sufficiently -acquainted with the respective interests of the two nations: besides, -continued he, he has a great defect for an ambassador, he is too honest, -so that the English will impose on him.” He might perhaps have added, -with equal truth, that he had not a capacity equal to that employment. -M. de Mirepoix had spent his youth in diversions, and the latter part of -his life in<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_155" id="page_155"></a>{155}</span> war; now the science of negotiation is not learnt either at -the play-house or in the camp.</p> - -<p>This minister’s constant note was, that the court of St. James’s was -perfectly pleased with the peace, and all its thoughts turned on the -enjoyment of it. He indeed wrote no more than he believed; for George -the Second made him believe whatever he pleased.</p> - -<p>The English minister at Paris was my Lord Albemarle, like ours, no great -negociator. He had been taught his lesson by heart before he left -London, and when at Versailles only repeated it. On any representation -of the court of France being informed that the British court was making -military preparations, he answered, that it was a mistake. This M. de -Puisieux was continually saying to him, and his answer was ever the -same. English policy is much more easy than the French, having but one -path; so that when<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_156" id="page_156"></a>{156}</span> once a British minister has got into it, he need but -go straight on.</p> - -<p>I saw this minister sometimes; he spoke our language better than common, -and expressed himself even with energy. He loved expence, and lived -nobleman-like, but he appeared to me to have one fault, though indeed it -is common to all the English; his very prodigalities had somthing of -parsimony in them. George the Second, who had a great kindness for him, -supplied his expences; for though he lived so high, he was very poor: an -Englishman, who had known him at London, speaking of his arrival at -Paris, said, “My Lord will get a mistress there, run in debt, and die by -some accident.” The prophecy was fully accomplished: He lived with a -girl, borrowed large sums, and died suddenly.</p> - -<p>Lewis XV. was more constantly with me than ever; I had brought him to a -custom of seeing me every day, and never<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_157" id="page_157"></a>{157}</span> spending less than five or six -hours in my apartment: I accompanied him in all the journies, and had my -apartments in all the royal seats. The more I became acquainted with his -Majesty, the more I perceived the exceeding goodness of his heart.</p> - -<p>My husband loudly complained of my living at Versailles, and wrote to me -a very passionate letter, full of reproaches against me, and still more -against the King; amidst other indiscreet terms, calling him tyrant. As -I was reading this letter, the King came into my apartment; I -immediately thrust it into my pocket; the emotion with which I received -his Majesty, shewed me to be under some disorder; I was for concealing -the cause, but on his repeated instances, I put my husband’s letter into -his hands. He read it through without the least sign of resentment: I -assured him that I had no share in his temerity; and the better to<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_158" id="page_158"></a>{158}</span> -convince him of it, desired that he would punish the writer severely. -<i>No, Madam</i>, said he to me, with that air of goodness which is so -natural to him, <i>your husband is unhappy, and should rather be pitied</i>. -History does not afford a like passage of moderation in an injured King. -My spouse, on being informed of it, left the kingdom to travel.</p> - -<p>Though the peace had diffused quiet through Europe, it caused violent -agitations in the political bodies of France. The parliament of Paris, -amidst its many remonstrances to Lewis XV. exhorted him in a very fine -speech, to take off the <i>twentieth denier</i>. The deputies of that body -expressed themselves in this manner:</p> - -<p><i>So many millions of men now in indigence, stand in need of immediate -ease and relief; whereas, should they be still obliged to pay the -twentieth denier, they will be quite unable to lift up their heads -again, and repair their shattered<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_159" id="page_159"></a>{159}</span> fortune, and hence a general -despondency.</i></p> - -<p><i>Whole families will be reduced to the most dreadful distress, and thus -be afraid of leaving behind them a numerous issue, which would be a -burden to them whilst living, and to whom they can transmit no other -inheritance than their wretchedness.</i></p> - -<p><i>The number of children, who are the hope and support of the state, will -be continually decreasing, the villages will be thinned, trade languish, -and the culture of land in a great measure at a stand. The ruin of the -farmers will necessarily be followed by that of the nobility, as their -estates will suffer a very considerable diminution; and thus these -people, and that brave nobility, whose valour is their soul and chief -resource, will be involved in one common ruin.</i></p> - -<p>Count Saxe used to call the deputies of the parliament the great-chamber -pedants. <i>They are for teaching the administration</i>, says he, <i>what it -knows better than themselves.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_160" id="page_160"></a>{160}</span> They are always harping on the distempers -of the state, without any word of a remedy.</i> Once, as the first -president was delivering a pathetic harangue before the King, proving -the necessity of lessening the weight of the taxes, his Majesty cut him -short with these words: <i>Mr. President, let but the parliament enable me -to pay off the state debts, and defray the present expences of the -Monarchy, and very readily will I abolish every, tax, duty, and impost.</i></p> - -<p>A man of wit, and who knows the French temper, used to say, that these -useless representations were become necessary, as keeping up the -people’s spirits, who, without a declared Protector, would think -themselves for ever undone.</p> - -<p>In Cardinal de Fleury’s indolent ministry, and the subsequent wars, the -government had not been able to take into consideration an abuse which -manifestly tended to dispeople the monarchy. Religion,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_161" id="page_161"></a>{161}</span> in all wise -governments, a source of population, was thinning the human species. All -France was mouldering away in convents: every town and village had -numerous communities of girls, who made vows against having children. -The following letter, which I received from a nun at Lyons, and -communicated to the King, occasioned deliberations for reforming this -abuse.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"><p> -<span style="margin-left: 2em;">“<span class="smcap">Madam</span>,</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>“I was at first for writing to the Pope, but, on farther -reflection, I thought it would be full as well to apply to you. The -point is this: when I was but seven years of age, my parents shut -me up in the convent where I now am; and on my entering into my -fifteenth year, two nuns signified to me an order to take the veil. -I deferred complying for some time; for though quite a stranger to -every thing but the house I was in, yet I suspected<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_162" id="page_162"></a>{162}</span> there must be -another kind of world than the convent, and another state than that -of a nun; but the sister of <i>Jesus’s heart</i>, our mother, in order -to fix my call, said to me, that all women who married were damned, -because they lie with a man, and bore children: this set me -a-crying most bitterly for my poor mother, as burning eternally in -hell for having brought me into the world.</p> - -<p>“I took the veil; but now that I am twenty years of age, and my -constitution formed, I daily feel that I am not made for this -state, and think I want something; and that something, or I am much -mistaken, is a husband.</p> - -<p>“My talking continually of matrimony sets the community a-madding; -the sister of the <i>Holy Ghost</i> tells me, that I am Jesus Christ’s -spouse; but, for my part, I feel myself much inclined<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_163" id="page_163"></a>{163}</span> to a second -marriage with a man.</p> - -<p>“On a young girl’s coming into a convent, half a dozen wheedlers -get about her, and never leave her till they have persuaded her to -take the veil. Children are buried every day in monasteries, whilst -their early age does not admit of any solid reflections on the vows -they are drawn to make.</p> - -<p>“Let me intreat you, Madam, to persuade the King to reform this -abuse; it is a reformation which both religion and the prosperity -of the state call for. The sacrificing so many victims to the -avarice of parents, is a great loss of people to the state, and the -kingdom of heaven is not the fuller. God requires voluntary -sacrifices, and these are the fruit of reflection. It is -surprising, that the laws, in settling the age for our sex’s -passing a civil contract, should forget the age for<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_164" id="page_164"></a>{164}</span> making vows: -is reason less necessary for contracting with God, than with men? -This I submit to yours and his Majesty’s reflections: in the mean -time, give me leave to be,</p> - -<p class="r"> -<span style="margin-right: 20%;">Madam,</span><br /> - -Your most humble servant,<br /> - -Sister <span class="smcap">Joseph</span>.”<br /> -</p></div> - -<p>The King thought that sister <i>Jesus’s heart</i>, and sister <i>Holy Ghost</i>, -had done wrong in drawing sister Joseph into the state of celibacy, as -with such happy dispositions for marriage, she bid fair to have been a -fruitful mother, and thus have benefited the state.</p> - -<p>To suppress the aforesaid abuse, his Majesty issued an arret, forbidding -all religious communities to admit a novice under twenty-four years of -age and a day.</p> - -<p>Other bodies, besides the parliament, continued setting forth to the -court the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_165" id="page_165"></a>{165}</span> impossibility the people were under of paying the <i>twentieth -denier</i>. The states of Languedoc, with a peremptory kind of humility, -represented that it was a load the province could by no means bear: the -bishops, who usually employ their pens only in mandates, now wrote -memorials on the public distress. The King ordered them not to meddle -with money matters, and dissolved the assembly. The Duke de Richelieu, -who was then at Montpellier, seconded the court’s injunctions, and -restrained the bishops pens as much as he could.</p> - -<p>On being thus debarred from writing or meeting, they appointed an -extraordinary deputation to lay before the King the condition of the -kingdom. They were admitted to audience; they made their speech, -returned home, and the <i>twentieth denier</i> was levied.</p> - -<p>A minister of state used frequently to say, that these representations -only increased<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_166" id="page_166"></a>{166}</span> the public charges. Were the provinces to pay at first, -they would save themselves the no small expences of journies, -correspondencies, and deputations, not to mention monopolies, which, on -these occasions, are unavoidable.</p> - -<p>The states of Bretagne likewise offered their difficulties; but all the -effect of the representations of both was, that the court appointed two -intendants of the finances to go and settle the levying of that tax on -those refractory provinces.</p> - -<p>These dictatorial proceedings of the states led the council to take -their meetings into consideration; and, for some days, it was -deliberated, whether they should not be totally laid aside. A counsellor -of state, who was for the dissolution, drew up a memorial, which the -King was pleased to communicate to me. This piece having never been -printed, consequently not known to the public, I shall give it a place -here.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_167" id="page_167"></a>{167}</span></p> - -<p>“The provincial states are of no use to France; such assemblies might -have been necessary in those times, when each province formed a separate -kingdom; but France being now united under one single government, can -regulate its concerns sufficiently for itself, without any need of -assemblies.</p> - -<p>“These provincial states only keep a division between the Prince and the -subject, and are an obstacle to the expeditious levying and collecting -of the imposts.</p> - -<p>“On his Majesty’s ordering a tax, however necessary it be, to defray the -extraordinary expences, these states are sure to oppose it; and -immediately the court is deluged with remonstrances, and Versailles -crowded with deputies: the general affairs must be delayed to issue -fresh orders, and answer those sent by the states, for their writings -are rather orders than memorials.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_168" id="page_168"></a>{168}</span></p> - -<p>“This suspension of ordinances has other very bad effects; the subjects, -become accustomed not to obey, look on the wants of the state with the -coldest indifference, and the public affairs go on heavily.</p> - -<p>“The members of these assemblies are like so many petty sovereigns; -their ascendency over the minds of the people being without bounds. An -Archbishop of Narbonne, on his coming to Montpellier to open the states, -is received with greater pomp than if Lewis XV. was to make his public -entry.</p> - -<p>“In a monarchical state, where the whole authority should proceed only -from one centre, it is dangerous to divide it by subordinate bodies.</p> - -<p>“These provincial states likewise affect morality and religion; those of -Languedoc consist of twenty-four bishops, or archbishops, who thus are -absent<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_169" id="page_169"></a>{169}</span> from their dioceses three months out of the twelve; leaving in -their stead their vicars, who have neither the like regard or zeal for -their flock; and in this interval, a relaxation in discipline and -manners spreads every where.</p> - -<p>“The luxury of these assemblies is equally scandalous, every bishop -there having his court and courtiers, and keeping open table. Today the -bishop of Alaix has thirty covers on his table; and to-morrow my Lord of -Nismes gives an entertainment, to which fifty persons of distinction are -invited; and so on.</p> - -<p>“The dissolution of the states will be attended with no diminution in -the finances. The free gift, which is the principal business of these -assemblies, may be regulated like a common tax levied from year to -year.”</p> - -<p>The door of the provincial states being thus shut up, that of the -assembly of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_170" id="page_170"></a>{170}</span> clergy immediately burst open: it was still the same -object, but here discussed in great.</p> - -<p>The business, as in the other assemblies, was the <i>twentieth denier</i>, -and the free gift: though this body, whenever called on by the King, -pleads indigence, yet it knows that it is so far accounted rich, that -all its studied speeches, on those occasions, cannot bring the public to -think it poor.</p> - -<p>It endeavours therefore to compound with the King, and this time offered -seven millions and a half to be exempted from the impost. I have heard a -person, very well skilled in such affairs, say, that the clergy should -not be allowed to compound for taxes; but that if any composition were -to be admitted, it ought to be with the commonalty; which, as being most -burthened, should be preferred before all the other bodies put -together.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_171" id="page_171"></a>{171}</span></p> - -<p>The affairs of the closet did not interrupt the court entertainments: -the King hunted as usual, came to the plays, and every day supped with -me in the little apartments. A tender and affectionate friendship now -closely united us; desire was superseded by a calm inclination; the -friend had succeeded the mistress; our hearts glowed with all the -complacency arising from passions, without any of the disagreeable -circumstances accompanying them. Several women had inspired Lewis XV. -with love, but not one had he met with of a turn to make him feel the -delights of friendship, which a generous soul will always prefer. The -former is a commerce of pleasures, the gratification of which is almost -ever followed by disgust: the second is a mild settled delight, resident -in the mind, and if it does not minister any relish to the senses, is -more lasting, lively, and refined. The King himself, at this time, -assured<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_172" id="page_172"></a>{172}</span> me, that had he at first felt the delights of friendship, he -should never have given himself up to those of love. All passion was now -subsided in him; for this name is not to be given to those desultory -gallantries, when the constitution only prompts to pleasure, without any -concurrence of the heart.</p> - -<p>This excellent Prince often said to me, that he was happy in having a -real friend, to whom he could communicate his satisfactions and his -troubles, for kings have theirs like other men; one of his greatest was -the distresses of the people, and the impossibility of relieving them so -speedily as he could have wished. He laid open to me the whole state of -his mind, without any reserved secrets; all his heart was as well known -to me as my own: it was an uneasiness for us to part, and we always met -again with redoubled pleasure.</p> - -<p>The King, as I said in the beginning of these Memoirs, had, soon after -my first<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_173" id="page_173"></a>{173}</span> appearance at court, made me Marchioness de Pompadour; and, -that I might remain there with the greater decency, created me <i>a Lady -of the palace</i>. This new place should have convinced all Europe, that -there was no other commerce between his Majesty and me than what arose -from esteem and friendship. But ill-nature pursues its point, regardless -of all probabilities; and the state-malcontents picked out this passage -of my life to mangle my reputation, &c.</p> - -<p>To return to politics: business went on at Versailles with great -dispatch, that the King might the sooner have the satisfaction he so -passionately desired, of diminishing the imposts, and making his people -enjoy the benefits of peace.</p> - -<p>The marine was the principal point in view: M. Rouillé had hastily got -together a little fleet, which, putting to sea, gave no small umbrage to -the English. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_174" id="page_174"></a>{174}</span> British nation, with all its natural composure, is all -in flames at the bare mention of a French navy: concerning this, I -remember a jest at that time, <i>that the Britons could not close their -eyes since France had an eye to its maritime concerns; and that were we -to build a hundred ships of the line, not a soul in England would have -any sleep</i>.</p> - -<p>This navy, however, was but a-beginning, and far short of what was -intended. Yet could England ask France, “what was the destination of -these ships?” M. de Puisieux gave my Lord Albemarle for answer, “that -the King of France was not accountable to any power in Europe; that -France was at peace with Great Britain; and that, consequently, the -latter had nothing to apprehend from those ships.”</p> - -<p>The court of St. James’s seemed satisfied; yet more closely watched our -measures.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_175" id="page_175"></a>{175}</span></p> - -<p>The government’s attention was for some time taken up with books; the -French, than whom perhaps no people in Europe are more restrained in -their speeches, sillily affect to be the first in their thoughts. They -print their notions on what comes uppermost, and the government is ever -the first thing to fall under their pen. It is said that this -licentiousness is owing to the above restraint; and I have heard that -were not so many authors sent to the Bastile, Paris would not swarm with -them as it does.</p> - -<p>Very few of these seditious writings will bear reading, some of them are -not so much as worth a <i>lettre de cachet</i>. To make the authors of mere -trash the King’s pensioners, is doing them too much honour.</p> - -<p>Though the assembly of the clergy granted every thing required, it did -not give every thing. On which the court<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_176" id="page_176"></a>{176}</span> sent a remonstrance to that -body, which it answered with another remonstrance; but herein it so -little observed the bounds of moderation, that the King dissolved the -assembly, and confined the bishops to their dioceses. The next day a -courtier said in the King’s anti-chamber, “that they ought to be sent -out of the kingdom, and priests put in their places:” this act of -prerogative so humbled the prelates, that they offered to comply with -all his Majesty’s pleasure.</p> - -<p>A nobleman said to the King, <i>Sir, if your Majesty will be no more -troubled with the clergy’s remonstrances, a sure way will be, to forbid -the bishops coming to Paris; they will assent to the free gifts, or to -any terms, only allow them to live there</i>.</p> - -<p>However, this affair of the bishops disturbed the King; and one day he -said to me, with some emotion, <i>They are perpetually<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_177" id="page_177"></a>{177}</span> vexing me. No -sooner have I raised a poor ecclesiastic to a dignity of a hundred -thousand livres a year, than he sets up for a leading man among the -clergy, and votes against the free gift. Sir</i>, said I to him, <i>methinks -there is a way of satisfying all. The crown should, on the death of the -present possessor, appropriate to itself half of the revenue of the -larger benefices. This would be no tax on any one. There is not a -subject in France, designed for the church, who would not think himself -under the highest obligations to your Majesty, in conferring on him an -abbey, or a bishopric, with a revenue less, by half, than what the -present possessor makes of it. I take upon me to bring about the -composition; I make no doubt but that I shall find, in the kingdom, two -hundred ecclesiastics, who will gladly set their hands to such an -agreement.</i></p> - -<p><i>This diminution cannot be accounted unjust, your Majesty having the -nomination to<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_178" id="page_178"></a>{178}</span> all the large benefices in the kingdom; and the giver is -always master of his gifts. No complaint lies against a Prince, who, -instead of a hundred and twenty thousand livres a year, which he can -bestow on one of his subjects, gives him sixty thousand, &c. &c.</i></p> - -<p>These few words, spoken only cursorily, were, a few days after, followed -by an express memorial addressed to the Count de St. Florentine, and -which he presented to the King.</p> - -<p class="c"> -M E M O R I A L<br /> - -On the inequality of the taxes raised on<br /> -the Clergy.<br /> -</p> - -<p>“It is a received maxim in economics, that a geometrical equality in the -levying of taxes lessens the weight of them. A burden borne by all the -members of a body is always light.</p> - -<p>“The uneasiness of the clergy concerning the free-gift, and other -impositions, towards answering the <span class="pagenum"><a name="page_179" id="page_179"></a>{179}</span>necessities of the state, proceeds -not so much from the impositions, as from the assessments. The -dignitaries, who should pay the most, always pay the least, considering -their incomes. The whole load falls on the poor parish priests, and -other country incumbents, who have scarce a subsistence, and are more -burthened as clergymen than as subjects.</p> - -<p>“That the assembly of the bishops tax themselves, and the whole -ecclesiastical body, is not a privilege belonging to the clergy, but a -mere indulgence of the Kings of France, granted then with a proviso, -that the assessments should be equitable, and that the inferior priests, -who are the King’s subjects no less than the greater ecclesiastics, -should not be overcharged.</p> - -<p>“The tax is rated by the income, which is an iniquitous assessment: a<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_180" id="page_180"></a>{180}</span> -priest with only a hundred crowns a year, paying a crown, in effect, is -rated much higher than a bishop, who, with a hundred thousand livres a -year, pays a thousand: a yearly income of ninety-nine thousand livres -being ever more or less superfluous; whereas he who has only a hundred -crowns, by being deprived of one, must feel it in the very necessaries -of life.</p> - -<p>“The inferior clergy are the King’s subjects equally with the higher. To -allow the bishops to tax priests, because they are subordinate to them, -is a manifest error in government, the spiritual power having no claims -in temporals. The imposition and assessments of taxes appertains to the -crown, the mitre has nothing to do in it.</p> - -<p>“The whole body of the clergy should be taxed once for all, like the -body of the laity: what tax the clergy can pay<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_181" id="page_181"></a>{181}</span> may be easily known; it -is only taking an account of the several sums which the clergy has paid -for these last twenty years; the twentieth part of the amount will be a -fair yearly tax, as in twenty years an exact calculation may be made of -the periodical wants of the state. In this interval, all the revolutions -may be reduced to a general sum.</p> - -<p>“It may be left to the clergy’s choice to pay the tax, without holding -an assembly: this might be done by a tarif on the large and small -dignities and benefices, or the tax might be levied by the King’s -officers, as on the other subjects of the state.</p> - -<p>“The latter most comports with the dignity of the crown, and will -likewise be more advantageous. As the church is daily making -acquisitions, and its general opulence is continually increasing by -donations, the clergy’s payments<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_182" id="page_182"></a>{182}</span> should be raised in proportion to -their aggrandizement.</p> - -<p>“This rise of the clergy’s tax would be no more than what takes place in -the common imposts. Artificers and tradespeople pay more in proportion -to their thriving, though this be by their own labour and industry.”</p> - -<p>The American affairs, of which not a word had been heard since the peace -of Aix-la-Chapelle, now began to employ the court’s attention. The -English complained, by their ambassador, my Lord Albemarle, that the -French countenanced the Indians in their practices, and, underhand -instigated them to molest their settlement in Nova Scotia. M. de -Puisieux told the British minister, that the people at London were -mistaken; “The court of France, said he, knows nothing of this supposed -instigation; and, very probably, it exists only in the suspicious minds -of the English.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_183" id="page_183"></a>{183}</span></p> - -<p>However, the first sparks of that fire, which was to kindle the war a -fresh, already began to appear. Advice came from Canada, that the -Indians were in motion; and though the cabinet of Versailles did not -give direct orders to the French to oppose any such motion, neither did -it tell them not to do so. This silence left the commanders to guess how -they were to act; accordingly, they did not declare openly, but let -second causes take their course.</p> - -<p>A minister of a foreign court, formerly allied with France, and who, at -that time, was frequently with M. de Puisieux, put into his hands a -memorial on this head, which the King never saw, and it was not till -long after that I read it.</p> - -<p>“France, said that piece, is not yet in a condition to go to war again: -things should be left to remain as they are, till she is able to cope -with England; otherwise every thing will be<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_184" id="page_184"></a>{184}</span> ruined. The war by sea will -give the turn to that by land: Great Britain will chuse this juncture -for inducing the King of Prussia to declare against France, which thus -will have two weighty wars on its hands, and only for a continent of no -great importance, and which, at last, it will certainly lose, for the -events of this war may be easily foreseen.</p> - -<p>“The English navy is much superior to that of France; and the King of -Prussia has two hundred thousand well disciplined men, ready, at the -first order, to march, and make a powerful diversion in Germany; and, -with the addition of those in England, will unquestionably turn the -scale in the north. France is very well as it is, and should aim at -nothing beyond keeping itself so, till a favourable opportunity shall -enable it to do better.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_185" id="page_185"></a>{185}</span></p> - -<p>“Nothing in America calls for haste; you will always have time enough to -make good your claims there: the Savages are your friends; they cannot -endure the English. At present interfere no farther than fomenting this -variance without promoting it; the time will come when you may make your -own use of it: precipitancy spoils the most promising affairs; whereas -time and patience bring every thing to bear.</p> - -<p>“Don’t imagine that your intrigues with the Americans blind Europe; the -most clandestine practices of courts are always detected. Already, you -are made accountable for the proceedings of the Canadians, though you -appear not to concern yourselves about them. It is known to all Europe, -that the North American savages act without any continued design, when -not spirited up and directed. Every body knows<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_186" id="page_186"></a>{186}</span> those automata have no -will of their own, saying and doing only just as they are bid to do.</p> - -<p>“Your navy is but in its infancy, scarce begun to be formed, so that a -war only of two years would totally destroy it. Before engaging in a -war, there is a sure way of knowing whether it should be undertaken, -which is to weigh the advantages of the conquests with the disadvantages -of the defeats.</p> - -<p>“Should you beat the English at sea, which is a circumstance out of all -probability, you will retain North America, which you already have; if -beaten, and here the likelihood lies, you will lose America, and perhaps -all your other colonies, for one conquest ever leads to another.</p> - -<p>“The English, though beginning the war only on account of Canada, will -avail themselves of their first victory to enlarge their views: and the -court<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_187" id="page_187"></a>{187}</span> of St. James’s may afterwards strike out such a scheme of -destruction to France, as perhaps, at present, it does not think of.</p> - -<p>“A great disadvantage to France, is its having no ally who can help it -to recover its losses against the English: the Spanish navy is in no -better condition than that of France; and the Dutch rejoice in a war -between the maritime powers, were it only for the vast advantages -accruing to them from their neutrality. A continental power may retrieve -the loss of a battle by a subsequent victory; a more experienced -general, better disciplined troops, or more favourable circumstances, -will give a turn to a land-war; but the maritime concerns of France are -so situated, that a colony taken from it is lost for ever; its ships, -the only means of bringing it again into the path of victory, being -destroyed.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_188" id="page_188"></a>{188}</span></p> - -<p>This memorial, however approved by some politicians to whom I have since -shewed it, had not the effect which might have been expected; another, -afterwards presented to the same Minister, set the same object in a very -different light.</p> - -<p>It is said that the members of the English parliament being generally of -contrary opinions, long debates are very frequent in that assembly; and -that these debates produce lights, from which the hearers receive great -improvement, and become better qualified to serve their country. It is -otherwise in France: here the contrariety of opinions only bewilders the -understanding, and increases the confusion.</p> - -<p>“The Canada affair, said the last writer, too nearly concerns the French -monarchy, to be left as it is. Every minute we lose diminishes our -power, and augments that of our enemies. The war ought to have been -continued,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_189" id="page_189"></a>{189}</span> had not second causes forced the government into a peace; -but those causes no longer subsisting, we should take up arms again.</p> - -<p>“The English will never keep within the limits assigned by the -commissaries. They will, by skirmishes and secret practices, be ever -endeavouring to come beyond those barriers: they must be prevented in -time, their schemes must be destroyed at their very first appearance, -otherwise it will be too late.</p> - -<p>“The loss of Canada would be an inconceivable detriment to France. It is -that to which England owes its being mistress of the sea, opening to it -numberless branches of commerce, which it would never have known without -being possessed of this continent.</p> - -<p>“Though we have no great navy, yet have we shipping enough; a sea -quarrel<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_190" id="page_190"></a>{190}</span> is not the point, but a land war. It is enough for us to send -over some troops to Canada; the American affairs have no connection with -those of our country. Should any disturbances happen in Germany, they -will spring from a quite different cause; and if the King of Prussia -declares against France, it will be for some particular views of his -own, quite foreign to our colonies; he would declare himself, if we had -no dispute with the Britons about Canada.</p> - -<p>“It is not the first time of our having several wars on our hands, or, -rather, it is impossible that we should have but one at a time.</p> - -<p>“Our concerns are so closely linked with the other powers of Europe, -that on our arming, five or six princes cannot avoid declaring.</p> - -<p>“The situation of affairs in Canada lays us under a necessity of -renewing<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_191" id="page_191"></a>{191}</span> the war: we cannot continue in the state we now are in; the -capital effort of our politics should be to recover the advantage which -we lost by means of the English.</p> - -<p>“Amidst all the magnified superiority of the British navy, its successes -are not so certain as supposed. Advantages in war depend on a great -number of unforeseen events. It is often observed, that the certain -expectation of a victory has suddenly turned into the disappointment of -a defeat.</p> - -<p>“England has not had time, since the peace, to increase its marine; its -naval force is, at this day, just as it was at the end of the war. -Before the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, we could defend ourselves at sea, -and still can: but if we defer any longer, the time will be over; for -the British navy now is encreasing every day. Our’s will be so<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_192" id="page_192"></a>{192}</span> much -inferior, as not to dare to shew its face before them; and then we shall -be obliged to relinquish North America.</p> - -<p>“Let us, without delay, begin the war again, and then we shall drive the -English out of Canada; whereas, by continuing the peace, they will -dispossess us. This is no time for parlying; we must either give up that -part of America to England, or prepare to dispute it.</p> - -<p>“The savage nations are our allies, they mortally hate the English; and -shall we delay availing ourselves of such a favourable disposition? A -people without any fixed laws, is naturally given to change. The -Canadians love war, and despise such nations as live in peace: twenty -years inactivity would give them an ill opinion of the French; whereas, -seeing us at war with a nation<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_193" id="page_193"></a>{193}</span> whom they hate, they will esteem us, and -come into a closer alliance with us than before, &c.”</p> - -<p>These memorials made no alteration in the general system; both sides -continued to dissemble, and express a desire of cultivating the peace. -England applied itself to increase its navy, and France sent orders to -Brest and Rochfort, for building ships with the utmost dispatch.</p> - -<p>Amidst the most earnest concern to redress the calamities of the state, -no expedients could be found for so great and good an end. The people -could not be relieved but by abolishing the taxes; and the expences of -the state could not be answered but by new imposts: every branch of the -government was embarrassed; so that the King often said to me, with a -painful sense of such a situation, <i>I know not where to begin</i>.</p> - -<p>The advantages of the encouragement of tillage, the improvement of -arts,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_194" id="page_194"></a>{194}</span> the increase of trade, the discharge of the national debt, were -only in perspective; whereas the people stood in need of present relief. -Observing that the public affairs greatly affected the King’s temper and -constitution, I contrasted them with diversions. I may say, the most gay -and striking conceits of imagination, for pleasing the senses, were now -exhibited at Versailles. In all the entertainments which I gave to the -Monarch, there was little of my own; I had people of taste at Paris who -furnished me with original materials, to which I only gave a few -retouches.</p> - -<p>Amidst all my inventions to draw the court from that mournful state -which the perplexity of affairs shed on it, I perceived that the King -was not so chearful as I could have desired. He had a cloudiness in his -looks, which were naturally sprightly; he was, likewise, more thoughtful -than usual. Alarmed<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_195" id="page_195"></a>{195}</span> at this lugubrious scene, I took the liberty to ask -his Majesty the cause of so unhappy an alteration. He vaguely answered, -“that he was not sensible of any alteration, and that my company still -was his chief delight:” the revolution, however, was but too certain.</p> - -<p>My enemies having miscarried in their design of inducing the King to -remove me from court, by political motives, set religion to work; and no -less a person than his Majesty’s confessor was put at the head of this -cabal. He was a Jesuit with only morality for his instrument; but as -that, with a Prince, seldom gets the better of pleasure, he contrived a -way which struck my Monarch.</p> - -<p>This reverend father employed one of the best hands in Paris, in a -picture representing the torments of hell. Several crowned heads seemed -chained down in dreadful sufferings; there was no beholding their -contortions without shuddering.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_196" id="page_196"></a>{196}</span> This infernal master-piece he made a -present of to Lewis XV. The King having viewed it for some time with a -frown, asked the meaning of the picture, the very thing the son of -Loyola wanted.</p> - -<p>“Sire, said he, the Prince you see there suffering eternal torments, was -an ambitious Monarch, who sacrificed his people to his vain delight in -glory and power. He next to him, whom the devils are insulting, was an -avaricious monarch, who laid up in his coffers immense treasures, -squeezed from his oppressed subjects. This third wretch was an indolent -sovereign, who minded nothing, and instead of governing by himself, left -every thing to his ministers, whose incapacity produced infinite -mischiefs. This fourth, whose sufferings exceed those of the others, his -crime being greater, was a voluptuous King, openly keeping a concubine<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_197" id="page_197"></a>{197}</span> -at his court; and by this scandalous example had filled his kingdom with -debauchery, &c.”</p> - -<p>The allegory was coarse, and becoming a monk, who, in the want of the -means to attain his ends in this world, has recourse to things of the -other life. Lewis XV. who saw into the drift of the picture, ordered the -moralist to withdraw, but the impression remained.</p> - -<p>This was not the first time that the churchmen had presumed on their -office, and abused the King’s goodness. A prelate had made him perform -an ignominious act of penitence when sick at Metz.</p> - -<p>I used fresh endeavours to relieve the King from this return of languor, -and had in a great measure succeeded, when a family concern brought on a -severe relapse.</p> - -<p>The Dauphin was now in his twenty-second year, which, by the custom of<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_198" id="page_198"></a>{198}</span> -France, intitled him to be intrusted with the affairs of the crown. This -Prince had always shewn the most submissive deference to the King his -father, but of late had put himself at the head of a party, most of whom -were my enemies: they exposed me with all the venom of scurrility, and -even brought in the King. Lewis XV. knew it, and this was what -occasioned that inward conflict which gave him so much trouble. After -communicating his situation to me, he said, <i>And what would you do, -Madam, in such a case?</i> “Sire, answered I, I would admit his Royal -Highness the Dauphin into every council, and allow him all the honours -due to his rank and birth.” <i>Well</i>, said the King, <i>I will follow your -advice</i>; and soon after the Dauphin saw himself sent for on every -important deliberation.</p> - -<p>M. de Machault, then at the head of the finances, left no stone unturned -to<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_199" id="page_199"></a>{199}</span> put them in a good condition: he was urged on every side. M. Rouillé -asked very large sums to form a navy; the payers of annuities were -perpetually at his elbow, and his apartment was never clear of those who -had advanced money in the late war. He one day said to the King, in my -hearing, <i>Sire, I know not how in the world, I shall answer your -engagements; every body is making demands on me, and no body will give -me any credit</i>.</p> - -<p>Marshal Belleisle, to whom that laborious minister often used to pour -forth his lamentations, told him, “Sir, I see but one way for you, which -is to make the state a bankrupt. When a machine is out of order, the -only remedy is to stop its motion, and to set it to rights again.”</p> - -<p>This advice, however, was not followed; and instead of stopping the -machine of the finances, in order to set<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_200" id="page_200"></a>{200}</span> it to rights again, it -remained in all its former disorder. I have somewhere, among my papers, -a scheme for discharging the national debt, in which the author, who was -accounted a very skilful economist, advanced, that, for the settlement -of an invariable order in the finances, the state, every twenty-five -years, should declare itself insolvent; and the creditors compound with -the King, as with a private insolvent.</p> - -<p>“France, said this paper, will not hear of making itself a bankrupt, but -the way it takes to avoid it, is still more burthensome; for when the -King’s debts grow troublesome, does he not lay very onerous imposts on -the people for the payment of them? Now this is a remedy worse than the -disease, because the collecting of a tax, it is known, falls little -short of doubling it. He extorts from one to pay another;<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_201" id="page_201"></a>{201}</span> a bankruptcy -would ruin only a part of his subjects, whereas the means of payment -impoverishes every body.”</p> - -<p>I am not sufficiently acquainted with finances, to determine whether a -wise King, in order to make his people easy, should begin by forfeiting -the confidence of the wealthy part of his subjects. There are always -some exceptionable things in these kinds of memorials. A person of a -great genius has often told me, “that should all the fine projects, for -making France the most opulent state in Europe, be carried into -execution, it would perhaps make it the very poorest in the universe.”</p> - -<p>The particular favour with which Lewis XV. continued to honour me, drew -great numbers to my apartment, so that I had every morning a full court: -some persons of eminence appeared there purely to please the King; but -the business of the multitude was interest. I<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_202" id="page_202"></a>{202}</span> had brought the latter to -give me memorials, as otherwise, I could never have recollected so many -different objects. It is impossible for those who live at a distance -from court, to conceive the various classes of askers, and what a number -of favours the throne has the pleasure of bestowing.</p> - -<p>I have read, in an original paper, that Lewis XIV. allowed all his -subjects, who had any demand to make at court, to apply directly to -himself. Had such an indulgence been continued under the present reign, -Lewis XV’s whole life would have been taken up only in giving audiences. -These memorials I had read to me, and afterwards talked them over to the -King.</p> - -<p>Besides those who asked favours, I was likewise teazed with complainers, -and indeed these were usually more in number than the others.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_203" id="page_203"></a>{203}</span></p> - -<p>In so large a kingdom as France, it is scarce possible to prevent all -abuses; some necessarily arise from the very constitution, and the -maintenance of political order. But one complaint so particularly struck -me, that I thought it deserved to be laid before the King. This was the -disregard of the children of officers dying in the service of their -country.</p> - -<p>A general officer, if no gentleman by birth, though, by his courage, he -had secured the privileges both of the throne and nobility, leaving -issue, they were excluded from nobility; and soon coming to intermix -with the commonalty, no trace remained of the families which had -performed the greatest services to the state: a hero’s atchievements -died with him, his posterity were never the better for his exploits. -This I mentioned to the King with a sensible concern, and some time -after his Majesty, ever inclined to what was good and proper, issued an<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_204" id="page_204"></a>{204}</span> -edict, ennobling military officers and their posterity. The different -degrees of this nobility were specified in the edict, according to the -different ranks of the officers.</p> - -<p>No body in the kingdom apprehended that I had any share in this -resolution; so that, unless my papers should be looked over, posterity -will never know that this establishment, which gave so much -satisfaction, was owing to me.</p> - -<p>The courtiers were in as great a ferment as ever. They who found there -was no pushing their fortune by my means, endeavoured to hurt me. Herein -they often made use of indecent, and even insolent talk, besides the -baseness of calumny. Several cabals had been formed, and these produced -clashing and competitions, which affected the crown, as stirring up -discontent in those who held the principal posts of the state.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_205" id="page_205"></a>{205}</span></p> - -<p>The chancellor de Aguesseau pleaded his great age, and laid down -business, as no longer able to bear the weight of it. A courtier, who -was present when the King received his resignation, said to him, -<i>Certainly, Sire, M. de Aguesseau must be above a century old, for at a -hundred years one is still young enough to be chancellor of France</i>.</p> - -<p>Several other placemen quitted, alledging that they could not live in a -court where every thing was ruled by a woman: but this philosophy was of -the latest; they never had any thoughts of retirement, till their -endeavours to raise themselves to the very highest pitch of fortune, had -miscarried; and some, in their voluntary exile, had set instruments to -work, for making their appearance again on the theatre of power, which -they had so lately quitted.</p> - -<p>M. de Machault had the seals. This circulation of posts, diametrically -opposite<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_206" id="page_206"></a>{206}</span> in practice, and requiring different talents, has been the -subject of much complaint: but the fault lies in ambition. In France -subaltern posts are looked on only as introductory to the more -honourable and lucrative employments. On the vacancy of any great -office, my apartment was crowded with competitors, who all had a genteel -competency; but they wanted profitable posts, to make a show in the -world.</p> - -<p>The round of diversions which I had settled at Versailles, to recover -the King from that lethargic heaviness which was growing constitutional, -did not break in on general affairs. Lewis XV. daily devoted six hours -to business. In the morning he employed himself about the foreign and -domestic affairs.</p> - -<p>The death of Marshal count Saxe now cast a damp on the festivity of the -court. I remember a man of wit, being in my apartment when the news -came, said to<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_207" id="page_207"></a>{207}</span> me, <i>Now, Madam, we shall soon have a war, for he was the -only one of all his Majesty’s generals whom the King of Prussia in the -least feared</i>.</p> - -<p>The frequent conferences between Lewis XV. and this hero gave me an -opportunity of studying his temper; for there is a pleasure in knowing -great men; and his mind was of a singular cast: all his private -behaviour savoured of the common man, great only in the day of action; -then his soul, if I may be allowed the expression, assumed a new form; -it became piercing, noble, and exalted: a new light beaming on his mind, -he had an instantaneous perception of every thing. His imagination had -nothing to do, the military genius which inspired him at those times was -all-sufficient; yet after the battle, all this flame and magnanimity -sunk again into littleness and vulgarity, nothing great remained in him -but the fame of his actions.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_208" id="page_208"></a>{208}</span></p> - -<p>In private life, he addicted himself to sensuality in its most brutish -excesses; he was a stranger to that refined love which distinguishes -noble from vulgar souls, delighting in the company of women only for -debauchery; for all his mistresses were common prostitutes. Whilst he -was disturbing all Europe by his victories, the gallantries of La -Favart, an actress, allowed him no ease.</p> - -<p>They who were often with him say, that he had scarce any tincture of -learning; war was all he knew; and that he knew without learning it. -Some politicians have thought, that his death wrought a change in the -systems of Europe, and particularly, that the King of Prussia would -never have renewed the war, had Maurice been living: it is certain that -one man may change the whole scene of our political world.</p> - -<p>I have read, in original memoirs of Lewis XIV. of surprising -revolutions,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_209" id="page_209"></a>{209}</span> brought about only by the ascendency of one mortal. Count -Saxe had long laboured with indefatigable ardour in pursuit of a repose -which he never enjoyed; for scarce had he seen himself in that summit of -grandeur to which his military talents had raised him, than death laid -him in the grave. Besides the royal seat given him by the King, in -reward of his services, with suitable incomes, he was invested with the -highest dignities and honours.</p> - -<p>This general left behind him an incontestable reputation; his very -enemies allow him to have been a consummate warrior; but if he did a -great deal for France, France still did more for him; he never wanted -for any thing. The King’s commissaries constantly furnished him with -plenty of all necessaries; he had large armies, and fought in a country -which has almost ever been the theatre of French victories, and where -the glory<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_210" id="page_210"></a>{210}</span> of the French name has shone in its greatest lustre. Farther, -Maurice had with him the King’s best troops, impatiently longing to -signalize themselves. I heard one of the trade, and reckoned to -understand it thoroughly, say, that to be a hero, a man should have -passed through all the military paths leading to glory; whereas Maurice, -in the service of France, trod only one, and that smoothed for him; he -was never put to those trials where a commander, being forced to exert -all his abilities, approves himself a general.</p> - -<p>I have read in the manuscript memoirs of Lewis XV. that the great -Condé’s enemies put the Queen-mother on sending him into Catalonia only -with a small body of troops, and those of the very worst. Conde, who -knew his enemies views, wrote thus to his friend Gourville: <i>I have been -sent here to attack the gods and men, with only shadows to fight them. I -shall<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_211" id="page_211"></a>{211}</span> miscarry; how can it be otherwise, when the means of beating the -enemy have been all taken away from me?</i> Yet this hero, under the -disadvantages both of numbers and the climate, baffled all the efforts -of Spain.</p> - -<p>The death of Marshal Saxe occasioned a revolution in the minds of the -military courtiers. They who hitherto had hid themselves behind his -merit, made their appearance: all put in for this hero’s post, and not -one of them was qualified for it.</p> - -<p>The King, on the first notice of count Maurice’s death, said, <i>I am now -without any general, I have only some captains remaining</i>. Lowendahl, -however, was still living; but it is said, the genius of those two men -was formed to be together, and that the heroic virtues of the latter -derived their splendor from the superior qualities of the other. A -courtier said, on<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_212" id="page_212"></a>{212}</span> this head, <i>Lowendahl’s exploits are over; his -counsellor is dead</i>.</p> - -<p>Whilst Versailles was full of this event, the Pope’s nuncio came to -acquaint Lewis XV. that the King of Prussia had granted the free -exercise of the Roman Catholic religion at Berlin; and that even the -religious were allowed to settle, and wear the habit of their respective -orders. A courtier hereupon said to the King, <i>Sire, that Prince is for -having a little of every thing. Once nothing would go down with him but -soldiers, now he must have some monks</i>. Another courtier replied, <i>Since -he begins to fancy gowns, let me advise your Majesty to make him a -present of all the Jesuits in France</i>. A third added, <i>That article -should be kept for the next treaty of peace, and let six Loyolites be -exchanged for one soldier</i>. The systematical people, however, attributed -this indulgence to policy; for when a Prince is looked on to<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_213" id="page_213"></a>{213}</span> be full of -schemes and designs, every step of his is nicely canvassed, and various -constructions put on it. Some said that the King of Prussia thereby -intended to ingratiate himself with the court of Rome, as, by its -intrigues with weak and superstitious princes, it can amply make up its -want of temporal strength. Some thought it to arise from a new system of -population, to draw Catholics thither from other parts; but the monks -and priests of our faith do not increase population, &c. &c.</p> - -<p>For my part, I attributed it to the humour for new foundations, which -prevails with all the princes of our days. On examining the constitution -of the Prussian government, which is an absolute monarchy, the plurality -of religions will by no means appear suitable to it; at least I have -heard from a very intelligent person, that it is only in republics<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_214" id="page_214"></a>{214}</span> -where a freedom of religion can be properly allowed.</p> - -<p>For some time the King had been more chearful than usual: after so many -vexations and fatigues, he now began to breathe a little; he was at -leisure to be often with me, and to hunt as much as he could. Never was -a Prince so fond of this exercise. His eagerness in it often fatigued -him beyond all bounds. I one day represented to him, that he made a toil -of that pleasure, and that it would be better for him to be more -moderate in it; that excess in any thing was hurtful: but he answered, -that the more he hunted, the better he found himself. This is a new -medical system; the court-physicians, who are all for motion and -agitation, will have kings to spend half their life on horse-back.</p> - -<p>But a great satisfaction, which that justly beloved Prince now -felt,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_215" id="page_215"></a>{215}</span> was the having given some relief to his burthened subjects. He -had remitted three millions of the land-tax, abolished the hundredth -denier, and the pence per livres levied on this impost. Though this was -no great good, it presaged the end of a great evil.</p> - -<p>At the same time, Lewis XV. ordered an inquiry into the nature of the -taxes; of all imposts, the land-tax was found to be the most -burthensome, as not proportioned to the real income. The old tax was -still levied, without considering any decays, or damages of estates and -lands; many a market-town, or village, which had formerly been able to -pay large sums, was now no longer so; yet the same duty was required.</p> - -<p>The government deliberated on ways for abolishing such an unequal tax, -and substitute another of a more proportionate assessment. This had, for -some time past, been often proposed, but always<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_216" id="page_216"></a>{216}</span> rejected. It was now -again taken into consideration, and after the most minute discussions, -it was found best to leave things as they were, lest worse -inconveniences might ensue. It is said, there are abuses in government, -the reformation of which would do more harm than the very abuse itself. -This was the opinion of the ministers, and of the King himself; but it -was not mine, having always thought that no good can come from evil. We -had often little debates about government, for Lewis XV. as I have said -in the beginning of these Memoirs, has a great deal of wit and -good-sense, and especially a very ready penetration. “You, Madam, would -he say to me, look on the political community as a private family, -whereas it is to be considered as an universal society, consisting of -different bodies, the conjunction of which constitutes the state. Amidst -this immensity of objects, conducted<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_217" id="page_217"></a>{217}</span> by men of opposite views and -interests; the security and well-being of the state is upheld by those -very things which seem to undermine it. In a private family, there is -only one single plan of administration, the abuses are few, easily -animadverted on, and the reformation of them restores that unity of -government which is the perfection of such a society: but in the general -community, good is to be continually ballanced by evil, and in this -equipoize lies the political order of the state.”</p> - -<p>“If so, Sir, said I to him, how is it that those states, where the most -abuses are reformed, are the best governed. The Muscovites, of all the -European nations, were the least civilized, and consequently the most -unhappy, till Peter the Great appeared, who vigorously suppressing -abuses of all kinds,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_218" id="page_218"></a>{218}</span> from his reformation has sprung a powerful nation, -a rich and happy people.</p> - -<p>“Brandenburgh had neither force nor power; the art of war was scarce -known there; it lay in obscurity; it was of no account among the states -of Europe; and this contemptible condition was, in a great measure, -owing to many abuses which its sovereigns either could not or would not -reform. But in our times, one of its sovereigns has suppressed abuses, -introduced political order and military discipline, and this reformation -has enabled him to act a capital part on the theatre of Europe.”</p> - -<p>“England is said once to have been nothing, till the parliament took in -hand to form its power. It has since been continually retouching the -political system, and correcting a number of abuses, which, for several -centuries, hindered<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_219" id="page_219"></a>{219}</span> this state from emerging into power and reputation; -and now its <i>bills</i> shew the continued system of its greatness.</p> - -<p>“France, Sir, is a home instance of this. Lewis XIII. a weak Prince, and -wholly governed by his ministers, concerned not himself about abuses; he -left the state as he found it, full of mismanagement and disorder. Your -great grand-father changed the whole, and by the reformation he brought -about in all the branches of government, imparted, as it were, a new -genius to his people.</p> - -<p>“France, during the first years of Lewis XIV. rose to a pitch of glory -and grandeur beyond any thing ever seen in the Roman empire.”</p> - -<p>Here the King smiled, and very obligingly said to me, “I own, Madam, I -did<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_220" id="page_220"></a>{220}</span> not think you had been so well acquainted with these points; it -gives me infinite pleasure that, besides the graces of wit and vivacity, -you are possessed of that knowledge which enlarges and revives the -judgment. The world is often deceived in those matters, continued the -King, and the greatness of Princes is almost ever confounded with the -happiness of the people. A Sovereign may make reformations in his -kingdom, and his subjects be never the better for them; he is the only -gainer by the change.</p> - -<p>“Peter I. made considerable alterations in Muscovy, but did not thereby -make the Russians a whit the happier. The revolution was felt only by -the state. The Monarch became great and powerful, but the people still -continued little and mean; for to have brought them from the abject -state in<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_221" id="page_221"></a>{221}</span> which they then were, required the suppression of a multitude -of civil abuses and vices, which continued after his time, and still -subsist. The present Muscovites are sordid slaves, with all the -ignorance and superstition of their fore-fathers, who lived before the -reign of that great reformer Peter. And if the empire, once without a -soldier, has now a numerous army; yet this adventitious power depends on -the chance of a battle or two.</p> - -<p>“Prussia, with all the reformations made there, does not find itself -more happy. The people, amidst their Monarch’s victories, groan under -the weight of the military burden laid on them; and its power depends on -the existence of one single man. When Frederick comes to die, its -political state dies with him.</p> - -<p>“It is a question, continued the King, much debated, whether the -English<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_222" id="page_222"></a>{222}</span> are more powerful, and more happy, than they were before those -volumes of reforming <i>bills</i> were in being: this is a point the nation -itself is not agreed on. There is a party in England which affirms that -the government is intirely ruined, and the political state indebted -beyond what it is able to pay; and that it cannot answer its -necessities. Yet I am inclined to think that England is increased in -strength; but this is rather owing to the inadvertency of other powers, -than to any reformations of its own, which would have profited very -little, had its neighbours followed its example.</p> - -<p>“As to the instance of our own country, I have wished that France had -been in the same situation, at my accession to the throne, that Lewis -XIII. left it in. His successor, what with reformations, splendor, and -glory, reduced<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_223" id="page_223"></a>{223}</span> it so low, that it will be ages before it is thoroughly -recovered.”</p> - -<p>Our political discussions were always mixed with politeness and -compliments; never did a word come from Lewis XV’s mouth which had any -thing of asperity in it, &c.</p> - -<p>England still kept a watchful eye on the French navy; and, on our side, -the increase of it was the ministry’s chief object. All M. Rouille’s -demands of money were immediately answered, and he lost no time: ships -were daily launched.</p> - -<p>France and England were, indeed, at peace; but acted with the same -mistrust as if at open war; the public expences rose high; yet the -French, who are continually complaining, did not in the least murmur, so -convinced was every one of the absolute necessity of having a navy -capable of facing that of Great Britain.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_224" id="page_224"></a>{224}</span></p> - -<p>In the mean time, all the ministers continued declaring themselves -against me; the very persons who, through my interest with his Majesty, -had been promoted to the object of their wishes, were the most forward -in promoting my disgrace. Since my living at Versailles, I have often -lamented this flagitiousness, which is, as it were, innate in the human -mind. No sooner is a man invested with honour and power, than he studies -to cut off the hand which raised him. It is not my intention to enter -into all the arts and practices of my enemies; there would be no end of -the allusions, tales, stories, and songs, industriously disseminated -over the kingdom to expose me. However, I was always exactly informed of -what was said about me; but of some of my revilers I took no notice; -others I threatened to complain of to the King. All, however, continued<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_225" id="page_225"></a>{225}</span> -their abuses: I was a thousand times for leaving the court, had I not -apprehended that the King being now habituated to see me daily, it might -shorten his valuable life.</p> - -<p>The Count de Argenson, secretary at war, did not love me, saying, “That -I gave too many military posts; that he had not so much as a lieutenancy -of foot at his disposal.” Now this accusation was so far from being -true, that I never recommended any person to his Majesty, without -previously consulting that Minister. It was purely my favour which -rankled him; he wanted to set the King against me, that he might ingross -the whole royal favour to himself.</p> - -<p>Peace being the season for public foundations, a plan of a military -school, for instructing the French nobility in the art of war, was laid -before his Majesty in the year 1751.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_226" id="page_226"></a>{226}</span> <i>The kingdom</i>, said the author, -<i>was full of gentlemen who, unable, conveniently, to put themselves -under masters, led an inactive life in the country, instead of spending -it in the service of the state</i>.</p> - -<p>In this school five hundred gentlemen were to be boarded and educated: -the King was pleased to shew me the plan, and asked my thoughts on it.</p> - -<p>“Sir, said I, nothing can be better; I could only wish it more -comprehensive. This school will not furnish officers enough for France, -which is so frequently at war. I have heard Marshal Saxe say, That in an -army of two hundred and fifty thousand men, there was seldom less than -twenty thousand officers; so that only one fortieth of that number can -be had from the military-school, which to me appears no small defect in -a foundation, of itself, so excellent.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_227" id="page_227"></a>{227}</span></p> - -<p>A courtier, on reading the plan for this school, jocularly said, <i>This -martial convent will afford very good military monks</i>.</p> - -<p>The great objection made against it, by some discreet persons, was the -exorbitant expence of it, at a time when every resource of the state had -been drained to defray the extraordinary demands of the war. The -expence, indeed, was not to be furnished from the royal treasury; but -from whatever fund sums are taken on such occasions, they are still -burthensome, as tending to keep the people poor.</p> - -<p>It was likewise said, that France stood more in need of a naval than a -military-school; that the King might find a hundred land-officers in his -dominions, for one sea-officer; that the French gentry was naturally -fond of signalizing itself in armies, and had as great an aversion<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_228" id="page_228"></a>{228}</span> to -fleets; but the plan had been resolved on.</p> - -<p>The powers of Europe were at peace, when religious disputes, breaking -out, disturbed France in its political and domestic quiet.</p> - -<p>Two parties, who, for forty years past, had been contending for the -superiority, now returned to the charge. Being quite ignorant of the -subject of their quarrels, I had it explained to me. Should ever these -Memoirs be made public, the reader will be so kind as to excuse my -tiring him with the following detail. Never had this evil found a place -in these annals, had it not concerned the King; but his interesting -himself in this dispute, and greatly so, is alone sufficient motive for -my giving some account of it.</p> - -<p>A native of Spain, named Molina, in the fullness of his knowledge, took -it into his head to decide, and vindicate, how<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_229" id="page_229"></a>{229}</span> God acts on mortals, and -in what manner mortals withstand God. The Popes, who know every thing, -and pronounce sentence on every thing, had, till then, been totally -unacquainted with the mechanism of the metaphysical intercourse between -the Creator and creature; and, for their better information, Molina -invented many barbarous words, or scholastic terms, with innumerable -distinctions and divisions.</p> - -<p>To proceed in this dispute with some order, and wrangle theologically, -he distinguished between <i>preventive</i> and <i>co-operating grace</i>: one of -these graces could do any thing, and the other little or nothing; but -this not being sufficient for understanding what he himself did not -understand, he farther invented the <i>mediate knowledge</i> and <i>congruism</i>.</p> - -<p>According to him, God held a council of state in Heaven, before which -all men were summoned and interrogated, how<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_230" id="page_230"></a>{230}</span> they will act after -receiving his grace; and, according to the free use which he saw they -were to make of it, he decreed within himself, either to admit them into -Paradise, or call them down into hell.</p> - -<p>Unluckily for the Christian world, this Molina was a Jesuit; an order -little beloved by the others: the Dominicans, especially, raised an -outcry against his congruism.</p> - -<p>These things being transacted in Spain, the Inquisition took cognizance -of the altercation; and had they burned Molina, and a few Dominicans, -there would have been an end of the matter, and, for once, this tribunal -had done a good piece of service to Christendom. <i>Concomitant -concurrence</i> and <i>co-operating grace</i> had a trial at Rome; but the more -the parties disputed, the less understood they one another. A monk -offered his mediation: but this mediator was less intelligible than the -controversists.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_231" id="page_231"></a>{231}</span></p> - -<p>The difficulty was not so much the putting an end to the dispute, as to -know what the dispute was about. Neither party understood themselves or -the other, and, in the mean time, with their free-will, mediate -knowledge, complement of active virtue, &c. they ran themselves more and -more into darkness.</p> - -<p>The bickerings, at length, ceased for want of disputants, there being -times when monks sacrifice every thing to indolence. All remained quiet, -till one Cornelius Jansenius renewed the contest; yet, instead of -inventing any thing, he only disputed behind a huge book, the author of -which was named Baius. The Jesuits sollicited the Pope to condemn -Cornelius, and by the dexterity of their agents at Rome, carried their -point there; but in other parts of Europe, it went against them. The -universities, the parliaments, and chiefly the women, profound<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_232" id="page_232"></a>{232}</span> judges -of such things, sided with Jansenius.</p> - -<p>A paper war commenced with great acrimony; congruism, by dint of bulky -volumes, worsted predestination in some pitched battles: yet the war -went on undecided; both parties being now grown powerful, and fighting -merely for the honour of victory.</p> - -<p>Till then, only private persons had appeared in the field; but now -universities declaring themselves, the action became general. No -accommodation was so much as talked of, there being no body, or society, -in the state, of a power sufficient to compel the two parties to accept -of its mediation.</p> - -<p>In the mean time, the Molinist bishops drew up a condemnation of -Jansenius’s five articles, though, in the opinion of his party, they -were no more than what St. Augustine himself had advanced. Several -communities of men signed the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_233" id="page_233"></a>{233}</span> condemnation; but the nuns, who have -nothing to do, and eagerly catch at every opportunity which may bring -them into the world again, protested against subscribing; and those of -Port Royal distinguished themselves by their firmness, or obstinacy.</p> - -<p>I do not wonder that they refused subscribing, but am surprised that -their subscription should have been required; it was shewing them a -regard, on this affair, which ought not to have been shewn them: on -their pertinacious refusal, they were forcibly removed, and dispersed -into other convents; whereas the real punishment would have been to have -kept them always in the same spot.</p> - -<p>The Popes, likewise, from time to time, issued new formularies, which -gave an air of greater moment to the quarrel; but they had done much -better to have left it to itself, and then Molina and Jansenius would -soon have sunk into oblivion;<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_234" id="page_234"></a>{234}</span> but the court of Rome is ever for being -absolute.</p> - -<p>In the midst of this war, however, a truce was brought about. Clement -IX. a man of good sense and prudence, drew up a set of articles of -capitulation, had them signed by the Jansenists, and thus, brought about -a peace; but, unhappily, when religion is in the case, war soon kindles -again.</p> - -<p>A father of the oratory, named Quesnel, is said, this time, to have been -the instrument of discord. He wrote a book which, after being applauded -throughout all Europe, France censured. It was not very easy to point -out wherein this book was to be found fault with; but religious cabals -were then in fashion. The Molinist party, in the mean time, carried it -with a high hand, having the King’s ear.</p> - -<p>The confessor to Lewis XIV. was a Jesuit, who formed parties both at -court<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_235" id="page_235"></a>{235}</span> and in town, against the Jansenists, who keenly revenged -themselves with their pens; thus, though there was a prevailing party, -the war still continued.</p> - -<p>Hitherto no manifestos had passed between the Molinists and the -Jansenists, both parties, in the heat of their zeal, having taken up -arms without any declaration of war. Lewis XIV. procured from Rome a -bull, whereby a fire was kindled, which has not since been quenched. The -Pope, the bishops, the King, the religious orders, in short, people of -all ranks gradually engaged in the quarrel, to the great disturbance of -the nation and families; all plotting and caballing one against the -other.</p> - -<p>The principal object of public hatred was father Le Tellier, who -over-ruled the King’s conscience: this was a hot and ambitious man, who -wanted to revenge some personal offences given him by the Jansenists, -and, in pursuit of his drift,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_236" id="page_236"></a>{236}</span> alarmed both the King’s conscience and -the kingdom.</p> - -<p>Lewis XIV. towards the decline of his life, was grown weak and -irresolute, and often harrassed with terrible fears of the devil. The -hard-hearted Jesuit had possessed him with a persuasion, that the affair -of the Molinists was the cause of God. His resentment chiefly aimed at -the cardinal de Noailles, and he had the confidence to move his penitent -to depose him judicially. The death of this Prince brought on a -suspension of this bustle, which was called the constitution.</p> - -<p>The Duke of Orleans, who loved neither popes nor bishops, and despised -bulls, in order to rid himself both of the Molinists and Jansenists, -appointed commissioners for hearing their broils, separately from the -other affairs of the monarchy; with an intent to deprive them of their -public importance: but<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_237" id="page_237"></a>{237}</span> the wisdom of this precaution was frustrated; -those people still were for figuring in the state. They appealed to a -national council, which was nothing less than throwing off the yoke of -the administration, to erect another independent of it. The regent -banished and exiled both bishops and priests; but this remedy only -inflamed the disease, hardening both parties in their obstinacy. The -Jansenists and Molinists then formed themselves into two factions, under -the names of <i>acceptants</i> and <i>recusants</i>. The Acceptants called the -Recusants heretics, and the Recusants gave the appellation of -schismatics to the Acceptants.</p> - -<p>The frenzy for efficacious grace was bursting out with greater violence -than ever, when the Missisippi scheme was set on foot; then avarice did -what neither the Pope nor King could: all the people’s thoughts now ran -only on<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_238" id="page_238"></a>{238}</span> getting money. The names of Jansenists and Molinists were -almost forgotten, though to this nothing perhaps contributed more than -the contempt and ridicule which the Duke of Orleans put on this -controversy, calling it a trifle; whereas Lewis XIV. had been made to -lay it to heart, as an affair of the greatest concern.</p> - -<p>The subsequent wars under Lewis XV. made the Jansenists and Molinists to -be still farther forgotten, though not without some occasional -skirmishes on predestination; but as there was no general action, they -were not much heeded.</p> - -<p>The dispute, in the mean time, was not totally extinguished, or rather -it was a-fire lurking under embers. In 1750, the Molinists renewed -hostilities, refusing the Sacraments to sick persons of the contrary -party, under pretence of their not having confessional certificates.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_239" id="page_239"></a>{239}</span></p> - -<p>The parliament intervened, and punished the delinquents; by which the -two parties regained the consideration, which they had lost by the Duke -of Orleans’s measures. This rupture gave rise to a new discussion, -whether the parliament could intermeddle with this affair, or had any -right to banish, or inflict punishments on priests, who, in refusing to -administer the sacraments, only conformed to the injunctions of their -bishops.</p> - -<p>The Jansenists said that the civil magistrate has a power legally -superior even to that of the church, the order of a state depending on -such subordination; and they farther added, that the administration of -the Sacraments is the capital branch of the polity exercised by the -civil magistrate.</p> - -<p>The answer of the Molinists was, that in spirituals they acknowledged no -other superiority than that of the Pope and his<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_240" id="page_240"></a>{240}</span> bishops; that civil -affairs were the parliament’s province, and all it ought to concern -itself in; but that the kingdom of heaven had been committed to pastors, -and not lawyers.</p> - -<p>The subjects, in the mean time, died without the sacraments; the priests -indeed were punished, yet the evil remained, and this affair gave the -King much uneasiness: the Bourbons indeed have always laid to heart -religious disturbances: the court gave itself more concern about these -confessional certificates, than ever it had shewn in the most important -political transactions. It often became necessary to put a violence on -priests, and make use of soldiers to compel them to administer. Never, -from the birth of Christ, had such a thing been seen, as having recourse -to the bayonet for the administration of the most sacred mystery. It was -indeed a horrid scandal; but to see subjects,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_241" id="page_241"></a>{241}</span> at the point of death, -begging for the communion, and refused, was something still more -shocking.</p> - -<p>The King, one day, said to me, “These people give me a great deal of -uneasiness; if they go on, I shall be obliged to turn all the priests -out of their livings, and have their functions performed by -Capuchin-friars, who are intirely as I would have them, &c.”<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a></p> - -<p>The court’s attention now came to be taken up with an affair of still -greater importance than the constitution itself; the election of a King -of the Romans. The house of Austria, fond of its greatness, is always -providing for the future security of it. As Charles VI. had engaged the -Sovereigns of Europe to make themselves the instruments of his ambition, -even after his decease; Maria Theresa, in her life-time, took measures<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_242" id="page_242"></a>{242}</span> -for fixing the Imperial throne in her family.</p> - -<p>It was on a Prince who might be looked on as a Lorrainer, that she was -conferring the title of presumptive heir; for Charles VI. dying without -male-issue, the house of Austria had ended in him. The circles of the -empire accounted this measure a greater act of despotism than that of -the late emperor; as hereby the empire, from an elective constitution, -not only became hereditary, but even escheated to a foreign family: loud -complaints were made, and that was all. It is now about a century, that -the petty princes in Germany have not been able to shew their resentment -against the house of Austria, any farther than by complaints and -murmurs.</p> - -<p>Maria Theresa, knowing how far her forces were superior to any which the -Northern Princes could oppose to her designs,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_243" id="page_243"></a>{243}</span> communicated her plan to -the other courts of Europe, and to France one of the first. The King -shewed me the Austrian ambassador’s reasons, digested into writing by M. -de Puisieux, after a conference with that minister. The artful turn -given to them by ambition, makes them worthy of being preserved.</p> - -<p>“The calamities still recent, said that Ambassador, which the vacancy of -the Imperial throne, on the demise of Charles VI. brought on Europe, -should move Christian Princes to prevent the like. The Emperor now -reigning is in full health, and it may be presumed, that God will grant -him length of days: but should one of those many accidents to which -human nature is liable, disappoint the public hopes, and shorten his -valuable life, Christendom would be plunged in the same abysses, as on -the decease of the last Emperor.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_244" id="page_244"></a>{244}</span> It is therefore the concern of all the -European powers to prevent a war, that scourge which throws every thing -into confusion, lays waste whole nations, and thins mankind. The -calamities caused by the late vacancy of the empire are not likely to be -brought to a speedy end, and what will it be should new disturbances be -accumulated on the former?</p> - -<p>“Too many precautions cannot be taken against evils, which, when once -happened, cannot be averted, or the issue of them determined.</p> - -<p>“By the election of a King of the Romans, the views of Princes who may -have formed designs, are prevented; and the coronation once over, will -suppress all cabals and intrigues about being head of the empire. When a -sceptre is vacant, a great stir is made after it; but when once -possessed, it is no longer thought of.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_245" id="page_245"></a>{245}</span></p> - -<p>“Archduke Joseph, indeed, should the Emperor die, is not of age to -govern his dominions; but the evils of minority cannot be compared to -those which the want of a head to the empire would occasion.</p> - -<p>“Not that the Queen of Hungary is in the least apprehensive of her heirs -being deprived of a throne, the legal appenage of her family; her -leading motive in this settlement is to prevent the needless effusion of -blood.</p> - -<p>“On the death of Charles VI. it was seen that all Europe cannot make an -Emperor. The Elector of Bavaria, after being placed on that throne by -foreign armies, was always in a tottering condition; so that had not -death deprived him of the crown, he would have been obliged to resign -it, &c.”</p> - -<p>I have observed that ambassadors, in cases of personal interest, -generally overlook the regard due to Princes by the law<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_246" id="page_246"></a>{246}</span> of nations. -Here the Vienna minister would have France subvert the very foundations -of the Imperial constitution, and make that crown hereditary, which had -always been elective. He surely forgot that the house of Bourbon, as I -have been told, had, at the treaty of Westphalia, made itself a -guarantee of the liberties and privileges of the empire. His court -seemed not to recollect that the election of a King of the Romans -depended on the consent of the electors, in a diet held expressly for -such election.</p> - -<p>The King, on reading this Memoir, asked M. de Puisieux what he thought -of the business. <i>Sir</i>, answered the Minister, <i>you must consent to -every thing; it is no longer worth France’s while to meddle with the -affairs of Germany; at present the King of Prussia is able to keep up -the balance in the North, and hinder the house of Austria from lording -it over yours; so that all we<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_247" id="page_247"></a>{247}</span> have to do now, is to look on</i>. The -council, however, was of a different opinion; but it is not the first -time that one man has been wiser than an assembly.</p> - -<p>The court of Vienna was likewise busy in bringing the other courts of -Europe to countenance this election. That of England represented to the -Marquis de Mirepoix, that it was the interest of France to close with -the making a King of the Romans; doubtless, because it was theirs. This -court afterwards went farther, and George the Second affirmed, that the -election of a King of the Romans did not depend on the Electoral -college; that is, that the dignity of presumptive heir to the empire -might be conferred without any deliberation of the electors, which was -making the Imperial crown absolutely hereditary.</p> - -<p>I remember all the memoirs of that time agree in the Archduke’s being -very young, but they all likewise added, that<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_248" id="page_248"></a>{248}</span> an Emperor under age was -better than a vacancy of the throne, which amounts to an approbation of -a regular succession.</p> - -<p>A politician of our court, with whom I was talking of this election, -told me, that there was an article in the treaty of Westphalia, which -formally settled this affair. It is there expressly said, <i>That no -election of a King of the Romans shall be entered on, unless the -reigning emperor be out of the empire, and with an intent to be absent a -long time, or for ever; or that age should render him incapable of -government; or there should manifestly appear some great necessity on -which the safety of the empire depended</i>. But treaties are never -followed, and no more was said of this, than if it had never existed.</p> - -<p>The King of Prussia alone stood up in defence of the Electoral-college; -but he had his reasons for this specious conduct. The election of a King -of the Romans<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_249" id="page_249"></a>{249}</span> secured the empire to the house of Austria; and it has -been believed by many, that he himself looked that way. There is indeed -no ambition, of which a Prince, so powerful in war as to subdue several -nations, is not susceptible.</p> - -<p>I return to Versailles, from whence the affair of the King of the Romans -has carried me too far. Lewis XV. as I have said elsewhere, was now a -little relieved from the load of business imposed on him by the war; -peace allowed him a leisure, which was the very felicity of my life. -Amidst the confusion of sieges and battles, he had no settled residence. -Flanders had several times deprived me of him; but the treaty of peace -entirely restored him to me, and his confidence in me daily increased; -so that he even imparted to me his uneasiness, for kings have their -troubles both as men and as Princes.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_250" id="page_250"></a>{250}</span></p> - -<p>Lewis XV. would often lament, that he had no friends, and had a thousand -times wished to have been a private person, for the sake of cordial -friendship and sympathy, to the effects of which Kings are always -strangers.</p> - -<p>“No sooner have I distinguished a subject by some considerable post, but -a hundred others, jealous of the favour, grow out of humour with me; -and, at the same time, I do not get the love of him on whom I have -conferred the benefit; he complains that I have not done enough for him, -and they, for my having done nothing for them. All love favour, and care -little for the King. I see about me only sordid souls, slaves to pride -and ostentation, acting only from interest; so that were it not for the -many favours emaning from the throne, they would not move a finger. -Another, and rather worse,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_251" id="page_251"></a>{251}</span> inconveniency annexed to the crown, is the -impossibility for kings to distinguish honest men from those of a -different cast. They are so like each other, as to be generally -mistaken; for at court vice and virtue appear in the same colours. The -bulk of those about me, I strongly suspect to be void of any one -generous principle; but when I am for sifting them, my rank will not -allow of the proper measures. Thus they remain impenetrable to me, yet I -must employ them in the service of the state; and hence arise those -public misfortunes, for which I am answerable both to the present time -and to posterity.</p> - -<p>“When some important choice is to be made, and I have pitched on the -person, all France seems to lay their heads together to deceive me. His -talents, his merit and virtue, are cried<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_252" id="page_252"></a>{252}</span> up to me; not one honest man -do I meet with in the kingdom to mention a word of any fault of his; -they are afraid of incurring the displeasure of him whom I have so -recently distinguished by my favour; and to this mean spirited fear they -sacrifice both me and the state.</p> - -<p>“When, on the other hand, I withdraw my confidence from a minister, or -some other place-man, then I am told that he is deficient in every -political quality: those very persons who could never say enough in his -praise, now draw him in the most contemptible colours; all his faults -and errors, and sinister practices, are laid open to me in full detail. -The terrible accounts given of him from all hands set me against him, so -that I cannot bring myself to employ him, even though, by the -reflections on his past conduct and<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_253" id="page_253"></a>{253}</span> disgrace, he should afterwards -become thoroughly qualified for a public station.</p> - -<p>“A patriot King is the most unhappy mortal under the sun; he has his -country’s happiness at heart, and is beset by people who cross his good -intentions. The ministers are the first in ruining a state, to save -themselves the labour of reforming abuses: to leave things as they are, -is soonest done; in the mean time, the evils continue, and when a -Monarch, tender of the welfare of his subjects, would remedy them, he -meets unsurmountable impediments; for the habit of a long and bad -administration at length comes to supersede the laws and usages, &c. -&c.”</p> - -<p>Another time Lewis XV. was pleased to open himself to me on the same -subject: “A great misfortune to a King is, that ministers generally -conceal the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_254" id="page_254"></a>{254}</span> true state of things from them. Sovereigns are always made -acquainted with the calamities of their dominions the last; and this, -lest such information should put them on taking the reins of government -into their own hands; and every one makes it his study to keep them in -the dark. The immense variety of concerns in a large monarchy, obliges -him to trust to ministers, and these ministers, for the greater part, -play false with him. On the last war, I consulted those who were at the -head of the administration, whether the advantages of victories would -balance the inevitable misfortunes of battles: one and all assured me, -that by no other way could the kingdom be retrieved, than by the glory -of my arms; and that the lustre and advantages derived from the -victories, would be the more lasting and<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_255" id="page_255"></a>{255}</span> solid, as due only to the -nation’s own strength.</p> - -<p>“At the peace, I found they had deceived me; my subjects are in the -utmost distress, and all owing to the war; so that to recover themselves -must be the work of years; and should fresh disturbances happen, it will -never be done, &c. &c.”</p> - -<p>I likewise had my complaints. “Sir, said I to the King, my grievances, -tho’ of a different nature from yours, are not less painful. The rancour -of all France is pointed at me. The royal family inveighs against me; -his royal Highness the Dauphin takes all opportunities of affronting me: -your ministers look on me as the fatal rock on which all their designs -go to wreck. The chief families of the kingdom treat me with contempt; -and all this because your Majesty has thought me worthy of your esteem.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_256" id="page_256"></a>{256}</span></p> - -<p>“Many carry their malevolence so far, as to impute the disorders of the -finances to me, as if the administration of affairs was lodged in my -hands. I am accused of having all the money in the kingdom; I am changed -with the nation’s debts, as if I myself had contracted them. On any -minister’s failing in his duty, the blame is immediately laid on me. I -am exclaimed against for his being preferred, and his disgrace is -imputed as a crime to me.</p> - -<p>“It is I who bear the blame of all political misfortunes; and if I have -not been directly accused of having declared war against your enemies, -it has been said, that I might have prevented those murderous sieges and -battles, as if the fate of Europe was at my beck, and I could model -foreign courts.</p> - -<p>“I have been reproached with the oversights of your generals; not a<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_257" id="page_257"></a>{257}</span> -battle has been lost, not a siege has been raised, but it is all owing -to me. So much as their personal variances and quarrels are laid at my -door.</p> - -<p>“The public distresses, though the consequence of a bad administration, -and the misfortunes of the times, have been attributed to me, as if my -doing. The populace has hissed me, and was often for stopping my coach, -and has been near coming to those extremities against me, with which -they only are treated whose notorious malversation has manifestly ruined -a people.</p> - -<p>“Yet, Sire, what gives me most pain, is the ingratitude of those who -have felt the effects of my favour. I have often sollicited your Majesty -for persons, who were no sooner out of the meanness and obscurity from -whence I drew them, than they forgot the kind hand by which they had -been raised. I can<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_258" id="page_258"></a>{258}</span> reckon, hitherto, about three thousand persons who -owe their subsistence to me. It is through my care that they have been -brought into new stations, where they lost sight of me before they were -well warm in their places.</p> - -<p>“Of such a great number, not one have I found with any due sense of -gratitude: nay, the greater the preferment, the less their -acknowledgment; some have even busily caballed against me: those whom I -thought most my friends, and whom the important services I had done them -should have made such, have been the first in deceiving and injuring me. -I have discovered treacheries at which I shuddered; so that since my -living at court, I am grown sick of mankind. I should have died a -thousand times under the anguish which such injurious treatment has -caused me, had not the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_259" id="page_259"></a>{259}</span> kindness with which your Majesty honours me -reconciled me to life, &c.”</p> - -<p>The death of the Prince of Wales,<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> eldest son to George II. and as -such, presumptive heir to the crown of England, made some impression at -Versailles: this Prince is said not to have been remarkable for those -eminent qualities with whose brilliancy the world is so much taken: but -they who knew him personally, perceived in him the more solid virtues: -compassion, goodness, sensibility, tenderness, candour, affability, a -readiness to oblige, and delight in doing good; these were his leading -dispositions: a Prince, in a word, qualified to make a people happy. He -had married a German Princess, intirely deserving to ascend the throne -with him. I have often pitied this Lady’s fate, to lose an affectionate<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_260" id="page_260"></a>{260}</span> -husband and a powerful crown at once, is one of those events which -elevated souls alone can bear with firmness. His death occasioned a -revolution in political affairs. France had great hopes of things going -better, when that Prince should have come to the throne: there was no -cordial harmony between him and his father King George. The son often -crossed the father’s measures, so that they seldom saw, and seldomer -spoke to each other. From this disposition it was hoped, that a Prince, -who so much disapproved the present system, would be less inveterate -against the house of Bourbon than his predecessors had been. It was -imagined that his accession would prove a happy turn for France, when, -perhaps, it might have only made matters worse. The sons of Kings, at -their entrance on regality, leave their ideas as Princes at the foot of -the throne, and take up those of Kings.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_261" id="page_261"></a>{261}</span></p> - -<p>George II. is said not to have shewn any great concern at the death of -his son, appearing as usual in the drawing-room, and, within a few days, -giving audience to Ambassadors: in this there might be a little -affectation, it being the known character of that Prince to shew himself -firm and unshaken, in the midst of the most unfortunate events. The rest -of the royal family were in the deepest affliction: he was also greatly -lamented by his houshold; and I am told, that his death is still matter -of concern to many.</p> - -<p>The death of this Prince likewise caused a national uneasiness, his -children being very young, and King George advanced in years, which -might be productive of the disorders almost inevitable under a minority. -In order to prevent them, the Princess Dowager of Wales was nominated -guardian to the King’s successor, and regent of the kingdom,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_262" id="page_262"></a>{262}</span> till her -son should be of age; but the issue of the deliberation was, that this -Lady, who had come into England to wear the crown, should be neither -Queen nor Regent.</p> - -<p>The French clergy’s affair, though thought to be over, was still going -on. The bishops and wealthy incumbents, amidst the privacy of their -dwellings, to which they had been ordered, disturbed the state; though -ardently desirous of returning to Paris, they were for coming at this -privilege as cheap as they could, haggling a long time with the King, -who, however, would make no abatement. They insisted on their -immunities, they pleaded their solemn promise to the Pope to maintain -their rights. This dispute irritated the court, and not a little soured -the King. At this juncture, a bishop took it into his head to come and -expostulate with me about the clergy’s<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_263" id="page_263"></a>{263}</span> prerogatives. This certainly was -not taking the right time, for as this affair gave so much displeasure -to his Majesty, it could not be very pleasing to me. The Prelate made a -long-winded harangue, in proof that the church was not to disseize -itself of its wealth. He recurred as far back as St. Peter, and through -an enumeration of those bulls, by which the church is ordered to keep -what it has came down to our times. “My Lord, said I interrupting him, -your prerogatives are what I know nothing of, but I know that your chief -duty, like that of other subjects, is to obey the King. Say what you -will of your bulls and immunities; every body of men declining to -conform to its Sovereign’s orders, is guilty of rebellion, and deserves -the punishment of high treason.”</p> - -<p>A great many bad books came out against the clergy, in vindication of -the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_264" id="page_264"></a>{264}</span> King’s cause. Among the several writers who, on these occasions, -take different parts, one wrote a pamphlet with the title of <i>An -Impartial Inquiry into the Immunities of the Clergy</i>. This work was full -of very judicious reflections, besides a nervous elegancy of stile: it -was indeed the only one on the subject which deserves reading.</p> - -<p>After all, it became necessary that the plan which had been proposed, -and to which I myself had advised the King, should take place. This was -to draw up a state of the value of every churchman’s preferments, that -each might be taxed in proportion to his real income; and accordingly -the court ordered the intendants of the provinces to oblige all the -beneficed clergy to deliver in an account of the nature of their several -revenues. There was indeed a very hard clause, in case of a refusal; the -intendants being<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_265" id="page_265"></a>{265}</span> expressly enjoined to seize on the several revenues in -the King’s name, and leave the beneficiaries only an alimentary pension. -This was insuring their compliance; for being used to superfluity, they -could but very indifferently shift with no more than was necessary.</p> - -<p>The clergy of France had already begun to lower their voice, when the -parliament of Paris raised theirs. I could find in my heart to say, that -in France the state is ever out of order; no sooner has the Sovereign -repaired some weak part of his prerogative, than another appears to be -running to ruin.</p> - -<p>The parliament, instead of conforming to his pleasure, according to -their usual way, sent a deputation with remonstrances. These speeches -set out with great protestations of respect and submission, but are -seldom without some term which favours of a republican<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_266" id="page_266"></a>{266}</span> spirit, tending -to independency; and not seldom they strike at the prerogative of the -crown.</p> - -<p>The King, though naturally irresolute, had his intervals of firmness, in -which he was immoveable. He gave the deputies to understand, that he -would have his edicts enrolled that very day, under penalty of -disobedience and immediate punishment.</p> - -<p>The parliament were sitting when the deputies returned to Paris; being -forbid to deliberate, they registered the edicts. After this act of -duty, which they stiled deference, a second deputation was dispatched to -Versailles. These gentlemen began their harangue in this manner: <i>Your -Majesty has commanded, and your parliament has obeyed</i>.</p> - -<p>A courtier said, that there they ought to have stopped, all the -remainder<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_267" id="page_267"></a>{267}</span> of their long speech being quite useless and superfluous.</p> - -<p>The King was pleased, in the evening, to mention this affair to me; and -his having got the better of the parliament, made him much gayer than -usual; but this extraordinary chearfulness raised in me some misgivings. -To me, a body whose temporary submission excited in its master such a -lively joy, appeared dangerous.</p> - -<p> </p> - -<p class="c">F I N I S</p> - -<div class="footnotes"><p class="cb">FOOTNOTES:</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> The dukes of Richelieu, Mazarin, and Fleury.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> The military school was but just instituted.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> The country of Final, which belonged to the Genoese.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> 1751.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> 1751.</p></div> -</div> - -<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="" -style="padding:2%;border:3px dotted gray;"> -<tr><th align="center">Typographical errors corrected by the etext transcriber:</th></tr> -<tr><td align="center">runs in his viens=> runs in his viens {pg 13}</td></tr> -<tr><td align="center">if the the least=> if the least {pg 17}</td></tr> -<tr><td align="center">Monsieur d’Etrees=> Monsieur d’Estrées {pg 21}</td></tr> -<tr><td align="center">Chales VII. the cause of this general=> Charles VII. the cause of this</td></tr> -<tr><td align="center">general {pg 64}</td></tr> -<tr><td align="center">in those impractiable=> in those impracticable {pg 70}</td></tr> -<tr><td align="center">being less estemed=> being less esteemed {pg 74}</td></tr> -<tr><td align="center">the Duke de Richlieu=> the Duke de Richelieu {pg 97}</td></tr> -<tr><td align="center">to M. de Puysieux=> to M. de Puisieux {pg 105}</td></tr> -<tr><td align="center">the Duke de Richlieu=> the Duke de Richelieu {pg 111}</td></tr> -<tr><td align="center">the Marshall de Noailles=> the Marshal de Noailles {pg 132}</td></tr> -<tr><td align="center">view: M. Rouille=> view: M. Rouillé {pg 173}</td></tr> -<tr><td align="center">is an inquitous assessment=> is an iniquitous assessment {pg 179}</td></tr> -<tr><td align="center">frequently with M. de Pusieux=> frequently with M. de Puisieux {pg 183}</td></tr> -<tr><td align="center">great Conde’s enemies=> great Condé’s enemies {pg 210}</td></tr> -</table> - -<hr class="full" /> - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Memoirs of the Marchioness of -Pompadour (vol. 1 of 2), by Jeanne Antoinette Poisson Pompadour - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MEMOIRS OF THE MARCHIONESS *** - -***** This file should be named 52003-h.htm or 52003-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/2/0/0/52003/ - -Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images available at The Internet Archive) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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