B 440941
THE
ALPHEUS FELCH HISTORICAL LIBRARY
BEQUEATHED
TO THE
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
BY THE
HON. ALPHEUS FELCH.
1596.
DC
125
1933
1779
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1 Paris Capital of France
2 Battle of Denis 1567
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28 Dunkirk 10101058
26 Furnes 1658,1607 29 Gravelines
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8 Cambrai besieged 1650
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17 Franc
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An
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comprehending the
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THE
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G
E
O F
63622
LOUIS XIV.
TO WHICH IS ADDED, AN
ABSTR
AGE of
OF THE
ACT
LOUIS XV.
TRANSLATED FROM THE LAST GENEVA EDITION OF
transois ma.
M. DE VOLTAIRE,
C
WITH
NOTES, CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY,
By R. GRIFFITH, Efq.
VOL. II.
LONDON:
PRINTED FOR FIELDING AND WALKER, PATERNOSTER•ROW.
MDCCLXXX.
17530
1888
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TAB L
B LE
O F
CONTENTS
OF THE
SECOND VOLUM E.
Chap. XVII.
T
Chap. XVIII.
Chap. XIX.
Chap. XX.
Chap. XXI.
REATY with Savoy. Mar-
riage of the Duke of Burgundy.
Peace of Ryfwick. State of France
and Europe. Death and Laft Will
of Charles II. King of Spain.
The memorable War for the Succeffion
of the Monarchy of Spain. Condu&Z
of the Minifters and Generals, till
the Year 1703.
Lofs of the Battle of Hochftet, ór
Blenheim, and its confequences.
Loffes in Spain. Lofs of the Battles
of Ramillies and Turin, and their
confequences.
Continuation of the Disgraces of
France and Spain. Louis XIV.
fends his principal Miniſter to fue
fir Peace, in vain. battle of Mal-
paquet.
1
30
52
61
74
Chap.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Chap. XXII:
Chap. XXIII.
Chap. XXIV.
Chap. XXV.
Chap. XXVI.
Louis XIV. continues to folicit
Peace, and to defend himself.
The Duke of Vendôme fecures
the King of Spain on his Throne 98
Victory of Marshal Villars at
Denain. The Affairs of France
retrieved. The General Peace 110
The State of Europe from the
Peace of Utrecht, to the Death
of Louis XIV.
Private Memoirs and Anecdotes
of the Reign of Louis XIV.
Continuation of the Private Me-
moirs and Anecdotes
124
129
165
Chap. XXVII.
Continuation of the Private Me-
moirs and Anecdotes
187
Chap. XXVIII.
Chap. XXIX.
Conclufion of the Private Memoirs
and Anecdotes
Of the interior Government,
Juſtice, Commerce, Policy,Laws,
Military Difcipline, Marine,
&c.
209
230
Chap. XXX.
The Finances and Regulations
255
Chap. XXXI.
Of the Sciences
272
Chap. XXXII.
Of the Fine Arts
278
Chap. XXXIII.
Sequel of the Arts
299
Chap. XXXIV.
Of the Fine Arts in Europe, in the
Time of Louis XIV
304
Chap. XXXV.
Ecclefiaftical Affairs, and memo-
rable Disputes
312
Chap. XXXVI.
Of Calvinism, in the Time of
Louis XIV.
328
Chap. XXXVII.
Of Janfenifm
357
Chap. XXXVIII. Of Quietifm.
Cnap. XXXIX.
Difputes on the Ceremonies of the
Chinese
404
THE
A
THE
GE
O F
LOUIS XIV.
CHAP.
XVII.
Treaty with Savoy. Marriage of the Duke of Burgundy.
Peace of Ryfwick. State of France and Europe. Death
and laft Will of Charles II. King of Spain.
F
RANCE ftill maintained her fuperiority over all
her enemies; fome fhe had cruſhed, as the Duke
of Savoy and the Elector-Palatine, and ſhe car-
ried the war to the frontiers of the others.
She
was like a powerful and robuft body fatigued
with a long refiftance, and exhauſted by its victories
a well-directed blow would have made her ftagger.
Whoever has a number of enemies at once, can at laft
find his fafety only in their divifion, or in a peace.
Louis XIV. obtained both the one and the other.
Victor-Amadeus, Duke of Savoy, was a Prince, of
all others, the moſt eaſily perfuaded to break his en-
gagements, when his intereft was concerned. To him
the Court of France addreffed itfelf. The Count de
Teffé, afterwards Marſhal of France, an amiable and
able man, of a genius formed for pleafing, which is the
VOL. II.
• B
firſt
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
first qualification of a negociator, had begun a private
treaty at Turin; and Marſhal Catinat, who was equally
capable of making peace and war, concluded it. There
did not want two fuch able men to determine the Duke
of Savoy to accept of what was to his advantage. They
reftored him his country, gave him a fum of money, and
propoſed a marriage between the young Duke of Bur-
gundy, fon to Monfeigneur, the heir to the crown of
France, and his daughter.
1696.
Matters were foon agreed upon. The Duke and
July, Catinat figned the contract at Our Lady of Lo-
retto, whither they went under pretence of a pil-
grimage of devotion; which, however, impofed upon
no one. The Pope (Innocent XIV.) entered heartily
into this negociation. His view was to deliver Italy at
once from the invafions of the French, and the taxes
which the Emperor was continually levying to pay his
troops. He would have the Imperialiſts evacuate Italy,
and leave it neuter. This the Duke of Savoy engaged
himſelf by the treaty to obtain. The Emperor gave a
denial at first; for the Court of Vienna rarely came to
a determination, but at the laft extremity. Upon the
Emperor's refufal, the Duke joined his troops to the
French army, and, from Generaliffimo to the Emperor,
became, in leſs than a month, Generaliffimo to Louis
XIV. His daughter, who was only eleven years
of age, was carried into France to be married to
the Duke of Burgundy, who was thirteen.
1697.
After the defection of the Duke of Savoy, it happen-
ed, as at the peace of Nimeguen, that each of the Allies
thought proper to treat. The Emperor agreed to leave
Italy neuter. The Dutch propoſed the Caſtle of Ryf-
wick, near the Hague, as the place for holding the con-
ferences for a general peace. Four armies, which the
King had on foot, contributed to bring matters to a
ſpeedy conclufion. There were eighty thoufand men
in Flanders under Villeroi; the Marfhal de Choifeul
had forty thouſand men on the banks of the Rhine; Ca-
tinat had another army in Piedmont; and the Duke of
Vendôme, who had at length attained the rank of Ge-
neral,
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
3
neral, after having paffed through all the degrees, from
that of the King's guard, like a private foldier of for-
tune, commanded a body of troops in Catalo-
nia, where he gained a battle, and took Barce- Auguft,
1697.
1697.
lona. Theſe new efforts and new fucceffes
proved the moſt effectual mediation. The Court of
Rome again offered its arbitration, which was re- Sept.
fuſed, as at Nimeguen. Charles XI. King of
Sweden, was the mediator. At length the peace Oct.
was concluded; not with that haughty fuperiority
and thoſe advantageous conditions which had be-
fore fignalized the greatnefs of Louis XIV. but with a
condefcenfion and conceffion of rights on his fide, that
equally amazed the French and the Allies. It was a
long time imagined, that this peace had been concerted
with the deepeſt policy.
It was pretended that the French King's grand deſign
was, what it certainly ought to have been, to prevent the
entire fucceffion of the vaſt Spaniſh Monarchy from de-
volving upon the other branch of the Houfe of Auſtria.
It was faid, he entertained hopes that the House of Bour-
bon might at leaſt come in for a fhare in the difmember-
ment, and perhaps one day fucceed to the whole. The
authentic renunciations made by the wife and mother
of Louis XIV. were deemed but matters of form,
which ought to give way to new conjunctures. In this
view, which was to aggrandize France, or the Houſe
of Bourbon, it was neceffary to fhew fome moderation,
in the eyes of Europe; and not to incenfe fo many
Powers, who were ftill full of fufpicions. The peace
afforded time to form new alliances, to improve the
finances, to gain over thoſe who might be neceſſary,
and to form new bodies of militia in the kingdom.
Something must be given up, in hopes of obtaining
confiderably more.
#
Theſe were thought to be the private motives of the
peace of Ryfwick, which in the event actually procur-
ed the Throne of Spain for the grandfon of Louis XIV.
This notion, probable as it may appear, is not however
true, Neither Louis XIV. nor his Council had con-
B2
ceived
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
ceived thoſe views that feemed likely to have occurred
to them at that time. This is a ſtrong inftance of that
concatenation of events in the world, which is merely
incidental to the very men by whom they feem to be
conducted. The obvious intereft of foon poffeffing
Spain, or at leaſt a part of that Monarchy, had not the
leaft influence in the peace of Ryfwick. This is ac-
knowledged by the Marquis de Torcy, in his Manu-
fcript Memoirs *. They made peace becauſe they were
weary of the war, and this war itſelf had been carried
on without any particular object. On the fide of the
Allies, at least, it was only the indeterminate defign of
humbling the grandeur of Louis XIV. and in that
Monarch but the confequence of that fame grandeur,
which would not make conceffions.
King William had drawn over to his cauſe the Em-
peror, the Empire, Spain, the United Provinces, and
Savoy; Louis XIV. found himſelf too far engaged to
recede. The fineſt part of Europe had been laid wafte,
becauſe the French King made ufe of the advantages he
had gained by the peace of Nimeguen, in too haughty
a manner. The league was formed rather againſt his
perſon, than the kingdom of France. The King thought
himſelf fecure of the reputation he had gained by arms,
and was now defirous of adding that of moderation:
and the decay which began to be fenfibly felt in his
finances, inclined him the more readily to adopt ſuch a
conduct.
The political fituation of affairs was debated in the
Council, and the refolutions were there taken. The
Marquis de Torcy, then young, was only charged with
the execution of them. The whole Council was for
peace. The Duke de Beauvilliers, particularly, there
fet forth the miferies of the people with fuch energy,
that Madame de Maintenon was affected by it, and the
King himſelf appeared not infenfible; and it made the
Thefe Memoirs of Torcy have been fince printed, and prove how
well the Author of the Age of Louis XIV. was informed of all he ad-
vances. Voltaire.
more
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
S
more impreffion, as the nation had fallen from that
flouriſhing ſtate to which the Miniſter Colbert had raiſed
it. The great eſtabliſhments of all kinds had coſt
immenfe fums, and no œconomy had been uſed to re-
trieve the confufion occafioned by thefe extraordinary
expences. This inward calamity aſtoniſhed every one,
becauſe it had never been felt fince Louis XIV. had
governed alone. Theſe were the true caufes of the
peace of Ryfwick*, though doubtlefs fome virtuous
fentiments had an influence in it. Thoſe who think
that Kings and Minifters ever, and without bounds, fa-
crifice every thing to their ambition, are no lefs mif-
taken, than they who think they always facrifice to the
happineſs of the world.
The King then reftored to the Spaniards all thoſe
places that he had taken from them near the Pyrenees,
and likewife the conquefts he had made in Flanders,
during the laſt war; as Luxemburg, Mons, Ath, and
Courtray. He acknowledged William III. lawful King
of England, whom he had till then treated as Prince of
Orange, a tyrant and an ufurper. He promiſed not to
affiſt his enemies for the future; and King James, whofe
name was left out in the treaty, remained at St. Ger-
main, with the empty title of King, and a penſion from
Louis XIV. Thus facrificed by his protector to the
neceffity of the times, and already forgotten in Europe,
he ceaſed to publiſh any more manifeſtos.
The fentences which the Chambers of Brifac and
Metz had awarded againſt fo many Sovereigns, and
the reunions made at Alface, monuments of a dangerous
power and pride, were abolished, and the bailiwicks
that had been juridically feized upon, were reftored to
their rightful maſters,
"A peace precipitated from the fole motive of relieving the di
ftreffes of the kingdom." Memoirs of Torcy, vol. I. page 50. Fir
Edition.
Giannoné, fo celebrated for his ufeful History of Naples, fays,
that theſe Tribunals were eſtabliſhed at Tournay. He is often miſ-
taken in all the things which relate not to his own country. He fays,
for inftance, that at the treaty of Nimeguen, Louis XIV. made peace
with Sweden. But Sweden was his Ally. Veltaire.
B 3
Befides
6
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
Befides theſe conceffions, Friburg, Brifac, Kheil, and
Philipfburg, were furrendered to the Empire. The King
even fubmitted to deftroy the fortrefs of Straſburg on
the Rhine, Fort-Louis, Traerbach, and Mount-Royal;
works on which the great Vauban had exhauſted his
art, and the King his treafury. Europe was furpriſed,
and the French diſpleaſed, to fee Louis XIV. make
peace as if he had been conquered. Harlai, Creci, and
Calliéres, who figned this peace, durft not fhew them-
felves either at Court or in the City. They were loaded
with reproaches and derifion, as if they had taken a
fingle ſtep without the orders of the Miniftry. They
were reproached by the Court with having betrayed the
honour of the French nation; and afterwards they were
applauded for having, by this treaty, prepared the way
for the fucceffion to the Spanish Monarchy: but, in
truth, they deſerved neither the cenfure nor the praiſe.
It was by this peace that France at length reſtored
Lorrain to the family which had been in poffeffion of it
above ſeven hundred years. Duke Charles V. the
prop of the Empire, and conqueror of the Turks, was
dead. His fon Leopold, at the peace of Ryfwick, took
poffeffion of his fovereignty, with the lofs indeed of his
real privileges, it not being allowed him to have ram-
parts to his capital; but they could not deprive him of
à much more noble privilege, that of doing good to his
fubjects; a privilege which no Prince ever made a bet-
ter uſe of than himſelf.
It were to be wifhed, that lateft pofterity may be in-
formed, that one of the leaft powerful Sovereigns in
Europe, was one who did the moft good to his people*.
He found Lorrain a defert wafte; he repeopled and
enriched it, and preferved it in peace, while the rest of
Europe was defolated by war. He had always the pru-
dence to keep well with France, and to make himſelf
beloved in the Empire; happily preferving that juft
medium, which hardly any Prince without power has
ever been able to maintain between two great potentates.
* Then he was the greateſt Prince in Europe; and none of the reſt
deſerved their power, if they did not deſerve his character. Transl.
.
He
&
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
7
He procured his people plenty, to which they had been
long ſtrangers. His nobleffe, reduced to the laſt degree
of wretchedneſs, were raiſed to a ſtate of opulence folely
by his benefactions. If he faw the family-feat of a gen-
tleman in ruins, he rebuilt it at his own expence: he
paid their debts, portioned out their daughters, and la-
viſhed prefents with that art of giving, which raiſed
them even above munificence; beftowing his gifts with
the magnificence of a Prince, and the politenefs of a
friend. The Arts, which were held in the higheſt ho-
nour throughout his little Province, produced a new
circulation, which makes the riches of a State. His
Court was formed after the model of that of France, and
the traveller hardly perceived a change of place in paf-
fing to Luneville from Verfailles. After the example
of Louis XIV. he advanced the Belles-Lettres. He efta-
bliſhed a kind of Univerſity without pedantry at
Luneville, where the young German Nobility came to
be formed. The real Sciences were there taught in
fchools, where the theory of Natural Philofophy was
demonſtrated to the eye by the most curious apparatus.
He fought out men of talents, even in the fhops and in
the woods, to bring them forward, and to be himfelf
their patron. In a word, the whole buſineſs of his reign
was to procure his nation tranquility, riches, know-
ledge, and pleaſure. "I would quit my fovereignty
to-morrow, (faid he) if I could no longer do good.
Accordingly he tafted the fatisfaction of being beloved;
and I myfelf faw, long after his death, his fubjects fhed
tears on mentioning his name. When he died, he left
an example to be followed by the greateft Kings, tho'
he had not been able to prepare the way for his fon to the
Throne of the Empire.
At the time that Louis XIV. was negociating the
peace of Ryfwick, which was to bring about the Spa-
nifh fucceffion, the Throne of Poland became vacant.
This was the only `regal Crown in the world that was
then elective. Natives and foreigners had equally a
right to pretend to it; but to retain it required either a
merit fufficiently ſtriking, and properly fupported by
intrigues
B 4
F
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
1
intrigues to fecure the fuffrages, (as was the cafe with
John Sobieski, the late King), or elfe money enough to
buy the kingdom, which is almost always put up to
auction.
The Abbé, afterwards Cardinal Polignac, had at
first the addreſs to engage the fuffrages in favour of the
Prince of Conti, known by the valiant actions he had
performed at Steinkirk and Nervinde. He had never
the command in chief, nor was he admitted into the
King's Councils. The Duke of Bourbon had an equal
reputation as a warrior, the Duke of Vendôme a ſtill
greater; and yet his fame furpaffed them both, by the
great art of pleafing, and rendering himſelf of confe-
quence, which no one poffeffed in a more eminent de-
gree than he did. Polignac, whofe talent lay in per-
fuafion, firft determined the minds of the people in his
favour; and, by dint of eloquence and promifes, coun-
terbalanced the money which Auguftus, Elector of
Saxony, laviſhed among them. Louis-Fran-
June 27,
· 1697.
cis, Prince of Conti, was elected King, by
the majority of the nation, and proclaimed by
the Primate of the kingdom. Auguftus was elected
two hours afterwards by another party, inferior in
numbers; but he was a Sovereign Prince, and power-
ful, and had a body of troops in readineſs on the fron-
tiers of Poland. The Prince of Conti was abfent, de-
ftitute of money, men, and power, and had nothing on
his fide but his name and Cardinal Polignac. It re-
mained that Louis XIV. fhould either prevent his ac-
cepting the Crown, or furnish him with proper affift-
ance to get the better of his competitor. It was thought
that the French Miniftry did too much, in fending the
Prince of Conti over; and too little, in furniſhing him.
with only a ſmall ſquadron of ſhips, and a few bills of
exchange, with which he arrived in the harbour of
Dantzick this was acting with that lukewarm policy,
which begins an affair only to quit it again. They
would not even receive the Prince at Dantzick, and his
bills of exchange were protested. The intrigues of the
Pope and the Emperor, with the money and troops of
Saxony,
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
9
Saxony, having already fecured the crown on his rival's
head, he returned with the glory of having been choſen
King, and France had the mortification of having made
that ſhe was not fufficiently powerful to make
a King of Poland.
it appear,
1695.
This difgrace of the Prince of Conti did not inter-
rupt the peace of the North between the Chriftian
powers; the South of Europe was foon afterwards re-
ftored to tranquility, by the peace of Ryfwick; and
there remained no longer any war, but that which the
Turks carried on againſt Germany, Poland, Venice, and
Ruffia. And here the Chriftians, though badly coa-
ducted, and divided among themſelves, had the fupe-
riority. The battle of Zanta, in which
Prince Eugene beat the Grand Seignior in
perfon, and remarkable by the deaths of the Grand Vi-
zir, feventeen Bafhaws, and upwards of twenty thouſand
Turks, humbled the Ottoman pride, and brought about
the peace of Carlowitz, in which the Turks
fubmitted to the laws impofed by the con-
querors. The Venetians had the Morea, the Mufco-
vites Afoph, the Poles Kaminiek, and the Emperor
Tranfilvania. All Chriftendom was then happy and
tranquil, the found of war was no longer heard either
in Afia or Africa, and the whole world was at peace
during the two laft years of the feventeenth century;
an epocha of too fhort a duration !
1699.
The public calamities were foon renewed again. The
peace of the North was diſturbed in the year 1700, by
two men, the moſt extraordinary that were then in the
world. One was Czar Peter Alexowitz, Emperor of
Ruffia, the other young Charles XII. King of Sweden,
Czar Peter, a man fuperior to his age, or nation, by his
genius and furpriſing labours, became the reformer, or
rather the founder, of his empire. Charles XII. more.
magnanimous than the Czar, and yet lefs ferviceable to
his fubjects, formed to command foldiers, but not na-
tions, was the first hero of his age, but died with the
character of a very bad King. The defolation which
the North underwent, during a war of eighteen years,
owed
•
ΙΟ
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
owed its rife to the ambitious politics of the Czar and
the Kings of Denmark and Poland, who wanted to take.
advantage of the youth of Charles XII. to defpoil him
of part of his dominions. But Charles, at the age of
fixteen, conquered them all three. He was
1700. the terror of the world, and already efteemed
a hero, at an age in which other men have hardly finiſh-
ed their exercifes. He was for nine years the moft for-
midable monarch in the world, and for nine years more
the most unfortunate.
The troubles of the South of Europe arofe from an-
other caufe. The King of Spain lay at the point of
death, and it was in difpute who fhould fhare the fpoils
he was to leave behind him. The Powers who already
devoured in imagination this immenfe fucceffion, did
what we fee frequently practifed during the illneſs of a
rich old man who has no children. The wife, the rela-
tions, the prieſts of the fick King, and even the officers
appointed to receive the last commands of the dying,
beſet him on all fides to get a favourable word from him.
Some of the inheritors agree to divide the fpoils, and
others prepare to diſpute them.
Louis XIV. and the Emperor Leopold were in the
fame degree of confanguinity: they were both defcended
from Philip III. by the female line; but Louis was
fon of the eldest daughter. The Dauphin had, befides,
a greater advantage over the fons of the Emperor;
which was, that he was grandfon of Philip IV. and the
children of Leopold were no defcendants of his. All
the rights of nature were then on the fide of France.
One need only caft his eye on the following table.
1
PHILIP
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
II
PHILIP III. KING OF SPAIN.
FRENCH BRANCH GERMAN BRANCH.
PHILIP IV.
Anna-Maria, the eldest daughter, | Maria-Anna, the youngest daugh-
married to Louis XIII. in 1615. ter, married to Ferdinand III.
Emperor, in 1631.
CHARLES II.
Louis XIV. married, in 1650, |
Maria Terefa, eldest daughter
of Philip IV.
Monfeigneur.
The Duke of Burgundy.
The Duke of Anjou, King of
Spain.
The Duke of Berry.
Leopold, fon of Ferdinand III.
and of Maria-Anna, married
in 1666, Margaretta - Tereſa,
youngest daughter of Philip IV.
by whom he had,
I
Maria-Antoinetta-Jofepha, mar-
ried to the Elector of Bavaria
Maximilian Emmanuel, who had
by her,
I
Jofeph-Ferdinand-Leopold of Ba-
varia, named heir to all the Spa-
nish Monarchy, at four years of
age.
But the Houſe of the Emperor reckoned for its
rights, firft, the authentic renunciations to the Crown
of Spain made and ratified by Louis XIII. and by
Louis XIV.; then the name of Auftria; the blood of
Maximilian, whence Leopold and Charles II. were de-
fcended; the almoft conftant union between thefe two
Auſtrian branches; the enmity, ftill more conſtant, of
thefe two branches againſt the Bourbon race; the aver-
fion that the Spanish nation had then to the French;
and lastly, the fecret fprings of a policy it had long
been in poffeffion of, of governing the Council of Spain.
Nothing, at that time, feemed more natural than to
perpetuate the Throne of Spain in the Houſe of Auftria.
All Europe expected this, before the peace of Ryfwick;
but the weakneſs of Charles II. had diſturbed this order
of fucceffion from the year 1696, and the Houſe of
Auſtria had been already facrificed in ſecret.
The King
of Spain had a grand nephew, fon to Maximilian-Maria,
Elector of Bavaria. The King's mother, who was ſtill
living, was great-grandmother to this young Prince of
Bavaria
12.
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
Bavaria, who was then about four years old; and this
Princefs, notwithſtanding that fhe herfelf was of the
Houſe of Auſtria, being daughter of the Emperor Fer-
dinand III. prevailed on her fon to difinherit the Impe-
rial family, in confequence of a pique fhe had conceived
againſt the Court of Vienna. She therefore caft her
eyes on the Prince of Bavaria, though hardly out of his
cradle, and deftined him to the Spanish monarchy, and
that of the New World. Charles II. who was then en-
tirely governed by her *, made a private will in the
year 1696, in favour of the Electoral Prince of Bava-
ria; but having afterwards loft his mother, he was go-
verned by his wife Mariana, of Bavaria-Newbourg.
This Bavarian Princefs, who was fifter-in-law to the
Emperor Leopold, had as great an attachment to the
Houſe of Auftria, as the Auftrian Queen-mother had to
that of Bavaria. Thus the natural courfe of things was
all along inverted in this affair, which concerned the
moft extenſive monarchy in the world. Mariana of Ba-
varia procured that will to be deſtroyed, by which the
young Prince of Bavaria was called to the fucceffion,
and obtained a promife from the King, that he would
never have any other heir than a fon of the Emperor Leo-
pold, and would not injure the Houſe of Auſtria. Mat-
ters were on this footing, at the peace of Ryfwick. The
Houſes of France and Auftria were equally fearful and
fufpicious of each other, and had likewife Europe to
fear. England and Holland, then powerful, whofe in-
tereſt it was to maintain the balance between the States,
would never fuffer that the fame head which wore the
crown of Spain, fhould likewife wear that of France, or
of the Empire.
What is moſt extraordinary, is, that the King of Por-
tugal, Peter the Second, entered the lift of pretenders
to this fucceffion. This was indeed abfurd; for he
could only deduce his claim from John I. natural fon
to Peter the Juft, in the fifteenth Century. However,
this chimerical pretenfion was fupported by the Count
See de Torcy's Memoirs, Vol, I. Page 15,
d'Oropeza,
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
13
d'Oropeza, of the Houſe of Braganza, who was a mem-
ber of the Spaniſh Council. He ventured to propoſe it
there, but was difgraced and expelled.
Louis XIV. would not fuffer that a fon of the Em-
peror fhould obtain the fucceffion, and could not de-
mand it himself. It is not certainly known who it was
that first conceived the notion of making the premature
and unheard-of partition of the Spanish monarchy, du-
ring the life-time of Charles II. Moft probably it was
the miniſter Torcy; for it was he who firft opened it to
Bentinck, Earl of Portland, Ambaſſador from Wil-
liam III. to Louis XIV.
1698.
King William entered with great alacrity in-
to this new project; and, in concert with the
Count de Tallard at the Hague, difpofed of the Spaniſh
fucceffion. To the young Prince of Bavaria they gave
Spain and the Weft - Indies, without knowing that
Charles II. had before that bequeathed him all his do-
minions. The Dauphin, fon of Louis XIV. was to
have Naples, Sicily, and the Province of Guipufcoa,
together with fome few towns. The Archduke Charles,
fecond fon to the Emperor Leopold, had only the
Dutchy of Milan appointed to him; and nothing was
allotted for the Archduke Jofeph, Leopold's eldeſt ſon,
and heir to the Empire.
The deſtination of a part of Europe, and the half of
America, thus fettled, Louis engaged by this treaty of
partition, to renounce the entire fucceffion to the Spa-
nih dominions. The Dauphin promiled and figned the
fame thing. France was fatisfied with making an ad-
dition to its territories; England and Holland had in
view to fettle the peace of part of Europe; but all theſe
politics were vain. The dying King being informed
that they were tearing his monarchy in pieces, during
his life-time, was filled with indignation. It was gene-
rally expected, that upon hearing this news, he would
declare either the Emperor, or one of his fons, his fuc-
ceffor, as a reward for his not having intermeddled in
this partition; and that the greatnefs and intereſt of
the House of Auftria would induce him to demife in its
favour.
14
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
favour. He did indeed make a will, but he
November,
a fecond time declared the Prince of Bavaria
1698.
fole heir to his dominions. The Spanish na-
tion, which dreaded nothing fo much as the difmem-
bering of its monarchy, applauded this difpofition. It
feemed calculated to bring about a peace. But this
hope likewife proved as vain as the treaty of partition.
The Prince of Bavaria, the intended King, died at
Bruffels *.
The Houſe of Auftria was unjustly charged with the
fudden death of this Prince, merely from the probability
that thofe will be guilty of crimes, to whom thofe crimes
are uſeful. New intrigues began to be revived again at
the Courts of Madrid, Vienna, Verſailles, London, the
Hague, and Rome.
Louis XIV. King William, and the States-General,
diſpoſed once more of the Spaniſh monarchy in idea,
March,
1700.
and affigned to Archduke Charles, the Em-
peror's youngeſt ſon, that part which they
had before given to the infant lately dead.
The fon of Louis XIV. was to poffefs Naples and Sicily,
and all that had before been affigned to him by the former
convention.
They gave Milan to the Duke of Lorrain; and Lor-
rain, fo often invaded, and ſo often rettored again by
France, was to be annexed to it for ever,
This treaty,
which fet the politics of all the Princes at work to
thwart or fupport it, proved as ufelefs as the firſt.
* The Author of the Hiftory of Louis XIV. had mentioned the moſt
of theſe particulars, then new and very interefting, a long time before
the Memoirs of the Marquis de Torcy had made their appearance;
and theſe Memoirs have at length confirmed all the facts alledged in
this Hiftory.
The fcandalous reports which were propagated on the death of the
Electoral Prince of Bavaria, are no longer repeated by writers of any
authority. In the pretended Memoirs of Mad. de Maintenon, vol. v.
pag. 6. we meet with thefe words; "The Court of Vienna, which
had always been tainted with Machiavelian maxims, and was ſuſpected
of employing poifoners to retrieve the mistakes of its Minifters."
would feem by this expreffion, that the Court of Vienna had always
kept poiſoners in a kind of office, the fame as their huffars and dra-
goons. It is a duty to reprobate fuch indecent expreffions, and con-
tradict fuch calumnies. Voltaire.
I
1
It
Europe
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
15
Europe was again deceived in its forecaſt, as almoſt al-
ways happens.
When this treaty of partition was offered to the Em-
peror to be figned, he refuſed, becauſe he was in hopes of
having the intire fucceffion. The French King, who had
preffed the figning it, waited in uncertainty for the event.
When this new affront was known at the Court of
Madrid, the King was overpowered with refentment, and
the Queen his wife was fo tranfported with rage, that ſhe
broke fome of the furniture of her apartment to pieces,
particularly the glaffes and other ornaments that had
come from France; fo much alike are the paffions in
all ranks of mankind. This fcheme of partition, theſe
intrigues, theſe quarrels, were all but a perfonal con-
cern. The Spanish nation itfelf was quite out of the
queſtion. It was never confulted, nor even aſked what
King it would chooſe. It was propoſed to affemble Las
Cortes, the ftates - general; but Charles trembled at
their very name.
This unhappy Prince, who faw himfelf dying in the
flower of his age, was then for beſtowing all his domi-
nions on the Archduke Charles, his wife's nephew, and
fecond fon to the Emperor Leopold. He could not venture
to leave them to the eldeſt fon, fo prevalent was the fyf-
tem of a balance of power in all minds; and ſo certain
it was, that the apprehenfion of feeing Spain, Mexico, Peru,
both the Indies, the Empire, Hungary, Bohemia, and
Lombardy, in the fame hands, would have armed the
reft of Europe. He wanted the Emperor Leopold to
fend his fecond fon Charles to Madrid, at the head of
ten thouſand men; but neither France, England, Hoi-
land, nor Italy, would have fuffered it. They were all
for the partition. The Emperor would not fend his
fon alone, to be at the mercy of the Spanish Council,
and he could not tranfport ten thouſand men thither :
he only wanted to march troops into Italy, to fecure
that part of the Auftrian-Spaniſh monarchy.
There now happened in the moſt important concerns
between two great Princes, what happens every day be-
tween private perfons, in the moſt trifling matters: they
difputed, they grew warm; the Caftilian haughtiness
was
•$6
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
was offended by the German pride. The Countess of
Perlipz, who governed the wife of the dying King,
alienated the minds of thoſe in Madrid whom the ought
to have conciliated, and the Court of Vienna difgufted
them ftill more by its arrogance.
The young Archduke, who was afterwards the Em-
peror Charles VI. ufed never to mention the Spaniards
but with ſome opprobrious appellation. He then expe-
rienced how incumbent it is on Princes to weigh well
their words. The Biſhop of Lerida, who was Ambaffa-
dor from the Court of Madrid to Vienna, on fome oc-
cafion of diſlike against the Germans, collected theſe
expreffions, and tranfmitted them with exaggerations
in his diſpatches, and treated the Auftrian Council
more injuriouſly in his letters, than the Archduke had
done the Spaniards in his expreffions. " Leopold's
Minifters, faid he, have underſtandings like the horns
"of the goats in my country, ſmall, hard, and crooked."
This letter was made public. The Bishop of Lerida
was recalled, and, at his return to Madrid, he doubly
encreaſed the averfion of his countrymen againſt the
Germans.
While the Auſtrian party made itſelf thus hated by
the Court of Madrid, the Marquis, afterwards Marſhal
Duke of Harcourt, the French Ambaſſador, gained all
hearts by his extreme magnificence, his dexterity, and
perfect knowledge in the art of pleafing. Received at
firſt but coldly at Madrid, he ſuſtained all the flights
he met with without complaining. Three intire months
paffed without his being able to obtain an audience of
the King *. He employed this vacation in gaining the
• Reboulet fays that this Ambaffador was magnificently received, at
the first. He gives a pompous defcription of his liveries, of his fuperb
gilt coach, and the gracious reception he met with from his Majefty.
But the Marquis himfelf, in his difpatches, affirms, that he was not
treated with any manner of civility, and that he was only fuffered to
fee the King for a minute in a dark chamber, by the light of but two
fmall bougies, for fear he should perceive that he was dying. In fine,
the Memoirs of Torcy fhew, that there is not a word of truth in all
that Reboulet, Limiers, and the other hiftorians have faid upon this
fubject.
2
+
affections
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
17
cr
Affections of the people. He was the firft who changed
into benevolence that antipathy which the Spaniſh na-
tion had nouriſhed againſt the French, ever fince the
reign of Ferdinand the Catholic; and his prudent con-
duct laid the foundation for that period, when France
and Spain renewed the ancient bonds by which they
were united before the time of that Ferdinand, of
crown with crown, nation with nation, and man with
"man." He brought the Spanish Court by degrees
to have an affection for the Houfe of France; its Mini-
fters not to have the leaft diffidence with regard to the
renunciations made by Maria-Therefa and Anne of Au-
ftria, and the King himfelf to waver between his own
Houſe and that of Bourbon. He was therefore the
primum mobile of the greateft revolution both in the ad-
miniſtration and the minds of the people. But this
change was as yet at a confiderable diftance.
The Emperor employed entreaties and threats. The
King of France reprefented his rights, but without ven-
turing to ask the intire fucceffion for his grandfon. His
only meaſure was to flatter the dying King. The Moors
befieged Ceuta. Immediately the Marquis of Harcourt
made an offer of fhips and troops to Charles, who ſeemed
fenfible of the kindneſs, but the Queen, his wife, was
alarmed at it; ſhe feared left her huſband might be too
grateful for the favour, and coldly declined the proffer.
The Council of Madrid were as yet undetermined
which fide to take; and Charles II. who was every day
drawing nearer to his grave, was in equal uncertainty.
Leopold in a pique recalled his Ambaffador, the Count
d' Harrach, but foon afterwards fent him back again;
and the hopes in favour of the Houfe of Auftria began
to be revived. The King of Spain wrote to the Empe-
ror, that he would chufe the Archduke for his fucceffor,
upon which the French King menacing in his turn, affem-
bled an army on the frontiers of Spain, and the Marquis
of Harcourt was recalled from his embaffy to command
thefe forces. There remained then only an Officer of
foot at the Court of Madrid, who had ferved as Secre-
tary to the embaffy, and was now appointed Refident,
VOL. II.
C
as
18
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
as De Torcy tells us. Thus the dying King, threatened
alternately by thofe who pretended to the fucceffion, and
perceiving that the hour of his death would be that of a
war, and that his dominions were likely to be foon torn
in pieces, drew towards his end comfortlefs, irrefolute,
and involved in difquietudes.
In this violent crifis of affairs, Cardinal Portocarrero,
Archbishop of Toledo, the Count of Monterey, and
others of the Spanish grandees, determined to fave their
country, and joined together to prevent the difmember-
ing of the monarchy. Their hatred to the Auftrian go-
vernment fortified in their breafts the reafons of ftate,
and rendered the Court of France effential fervice,
without her knowing it. They perfuaded Charles II.
to prefer the grandfon of Louis XIV. to a Prince at fo
great a diftance, and incapable of defending them. This
was not an invalidation of the folemn renunciations of
the Spaniſh crown made by the mother and wife of
Louis XIV. becaufe thefe had been made only to pre-
vent the elder fons of their defcendants from uniting the
two kingdoms under one head; and here it was not an
elder fon that was chofen. It was at the fame time do-
ing juftice to the rights of blood, and preferving the
Spaniſh monarchy from a partition.
The fcrupulous King caufed his Divines to be con-
fulted, who were all of opinion with the Council; and,
ill as he was, he wrote a letter with his own hand to
Pope Innocent XII. propofing the fame cafe to him.
The Pope, who thought the liberty of Italy depended
upon the weakening of the Houfe of Auftria, wrote
back to the King, "That the laws of Spain, and the
"policy of Christendom, required of him to give the
66
preference to the Houfe of France." This letter of
the Pope's was dated July 16, 1700. He treated this
cafe of confcience propofed by a Sovereign, as an affair
of ftate; while the King of Spain made a cafe of con-
fcience of an important affair of ſtate.
Louis XIV. was informed of thefe tranfactions by
Cardinal Janfon, who then refided at Rome, and this
was all the fhare the Court of Verlailles had in this event.
Six
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
19
Six months had paffed without there being any Ambaſ
fador at the Court of Madrid. This was perhaps a
fault; but perhaps alfo this very neglect fecured the
Spaniſh monarchy to the Houfe of France. The King of
Spain then made his third will, which was
for a long time thought to be the only one,
and by which he bequeathed all his dominions.
to the Duke of Anjou *.
O&t. 2,
1699.
It was generally thought in Europe, that this will of
Charles II. had been dictated at Ve:failles. The dying
King confulted only the intereft of his kingdom, and
the withes and even fears of his people; for the French
King had ordered his troops to advance to the frontiers,
in order to fecure to himſelf a part only of the inherit-
ance, at the time the dying King determined to leave
him the whole. Nothing is more true, than that the
reputation of Louis XIV. and the dread of his power,
were the only negociators that confummated this great
revolution.
Nov. 1,
1700.
Charles of Auftria, after having figned the ruin of
his houfe, and the aggrandizement of that of France,
languifhed about a month longer, when he ended at
length, at the age of thirty-nine, the obfcure life he had
led on the throne. It may perhaps not be
altogether uſeleſs towards giving an infight
into the human mind, to mention, that this
monarch, a few months before his death, cauſed the
tombs of his father, his mother, and his first wife,
Maria-Louifa of Orleans, to the poifoning of whom he
was fufpected to have been privy t, to be opened at the
Efcurial, and kiffed the remains of their dead bodies.
In this he either followed the example of fome of the
* Some memoirs tell us that Cardinal Portocarrero prevailed on the
King to fign this will when he was dying, and give us a long ſpeech
which the prolate made to this monarch, to engage him to comply
with his requett. But it is eafily perceived that every thing had been
prepared and difpofed for this, in the month of July preceding. Lefides,
who could know what Cardinal Portocarrero faid to the King, when
they were in priva e together? Voltaire.
† See the Chapter of Anecdotes. Ibid.
C 2
ancient
20
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
ancient Kings of Spain, or was willing to accuftom
himſelf to the horrors of death, or from a fecret fuper-
ftition thought that opening theſe tombs would retard
the hour in which he was to be carried to his own.
This prince was born as weak in mind as body; and
this weakneſs had ſpread itſelf throughout his dominions.
It is the fate of monarchies to have their profperity
depend upon the character of a ſingle man. Charles II.
had been brought up in fuch profound ignorance, that
when the French were befieging Mons, he thought that
place had belonged to the King of England. He neither
knew whereabouts Flanders lay, nor what part of it
belonged to himſelf +. This King left the Duke of
Anjou all his dominions, without knowing what he
had bequeathed him.
His will was kept fo fecret, that the Count d' Har-
rach, the Emperor's Ambaffador, ftill flattered himſelf
that the Archduke would be acknowledged his fucceffor.
He waited a long time for the iſſue of the great Council
which was held immediately upon the King's death. At
length feeing the Duke of Abrantes coming towards him
with open arms, he immediately concluded that the
Archduke was King, when the Duke embracing him,
accofted him thus: Vengo ad defpedirme de la cafa de
Auftria: "I am come to take my leave of the Houſe
"of Auftria.
Thus, after two hundred years of war and negocia-
tions for fome few frontier towns of the Spaniſh domi-
nions, the House of France, by the fingle ſtroke of a
pen, was put in poffeffion of the whole monarchy, with-
out treaties, without intrigues, and even without having
entertained hopes of the fucceffion. We thought our-
felves obliged to bring to light the fimple truth of a fact
which has till now been obfcured by fo many ſtateſmen
and hiſtorians, led away by their own prejudices, and
by appearances that are almoſt always fallacious. What
we find related in a number of books, concerning the
fums of money diftributed by the Marshal d'Harcourt,
• See Torcy's Memoirs, vol. I. page 12.
and
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
21
and the bribing of the Spanish Minifters to get this will
figned, may be ranked in the number of political lies
and popular errors. But the King of Spain, in chufing
for his fucceffor the grandfon of a King who had fo long
been his enemy, had always in view the confequences
that naturally follow from a notion of a general equili-
brium of power. The Duke of Anjou, Louis XIV's
grandfon, was called to the Spanish fucceffion, only
becauſe he could never pretend to the crown of France;
and in this very will, by which, in default of younger
children of the blood of Louis XIV. the Archduke
Charles (afterwards the Emperor Charles VI.) is called
to the fucceffion, it is exprefly declared, that the Empire
and Spain ſhall never be united under one fovereign.
1700.
Louis XIV. might ftill have abided by the treaty of
partition, which was advantageous to France, or he
might have accepted the will, which was to the intereft
of his family. This matter was actually in Nov. !!,
debate, in an extraordinary Council. The
Chancellor Pontchartrain and the Duke of
Beauvilliers were of opinion to abide by the treaty, as
foreſeeing the dangers of having a new war to fupport.
Louis forefaw them alfo; but he was accustomed not to
fear them. He therefore accepted the will; and as he
was coming out of the Council, meeting the Prince's of
Conti with Madame the Dutchefs, "Well," faid he to
them, fmiling, "on which fide are you?" and then,
without giving them time to reply," Which-foever
"fide I take, added he, I am fure to be blamed *."
*Notwithstanding the just contempt in which the pretended Memoirs
of Madame de Maintenon are held throughout France, we think it
neceffary to acquaint firangers that every thing there faid relating o
this will, is intirely falle. The author pretends, that when the Spanish
Ambaffador prefented the will of Charles II. to Louis, that Prince replied,
"We shall confider of it." Certainly the King never made ute of fa
extraordinary an expreffion; fi. ce by the Marquis de Torcy's confeffion,
the Spanish Ambaffador had not his audience of Louis XIV, till after
the holding of the Council in which the will was accepted.
The Minitter who then refided in Spain from the French Court,
was named Blécour, and not Belcour; and the Spaniſh Ambaffador's
name wis Caftel dos Rios, and not Rius. The aufwer made by the
King to this Ambaffador, never had exiftence but in this idle romance.
Voltaire.
C 3
time
23
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
The actions of Kings, though often flattered, are
likewife fo liable to ftrictures, that the King of England
himſelf underwent the reproaches of his Parliament, and
his Miniſters were profecuted, for having been concerned
in the treaty of partition. The English, who reafon
better than any other nation, but who frequently
fuffer the rage of party fpirit to extinguifh their
judgment, exclaimed at once both against William,
who had made this treaty, and againſt Louis, who
broke it.
Europe at firft, feemed ftruck with a lethargy of
furprize and inaction, when it faw the Spanish monarchy
become fubject to France, whofe rival it had been for
above three hundred years. Louis XIV. feemed the
moſt fortunate and powerful monarch in the world. He
faw himſelf, at the age of fixty-two, furrounded with a
numerous pofterity, and one of his grandfons going to
rule under his guardianfhip the kingdom of Spain,
America, one-half of Italy, and the Low Countries.
The Emperor as yet could do nothing but complain.
King William, now fifty-two years of age, become
infirm and feeble, no longer appeared the formidable
enemy he had been. He could not make war, without
the confent of his Parliament; and Louis had taken care
to fend fums of money over to England, with a view
to obtain an influence in that affembly. William and
the Dutch, not being ftrong enough to declare them-
felves, addreſſed Philip V. as lawful King of Spain.
Louis XIV. was fecure of the Elector of Bavaria, father
the young Frince lately deceated, who had been ap-
pointed to this fucceffion. This Elector, who governed
the Netherlands in the name of the deceaſed King,
Charles I. immediately fecured the poffeffion of Flan-
ders to Philip V. and left a paffage open for the French
army through his lectorate to the capital of Germany,
in cafe the Emperor thould venture to declare war. The
Elector of Cologne, brother to the Elector of Bavaria,
was as intimately connected with France as his brother
and theſe two princes feemed to adopt the most prudent
meaſure, the party of the Houfe of Bourbon being at that
;
time
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV
22
•
time without compariſon the ſtrongeſt. The Duke of
Savoy, already father-in-law to the Duke of Burgundy,
was going to be the fame to the King of Spain, and was
to have the command of the French forces in Italy. It
was hardly imagined then, that the father of the Dutch-
efs of Burgundy and the Queen of Spain would ever
make war upon his two fons-in-law....
The Duke of Mantua, who had been fold to France.
by his Minifter, now fold himself, and received a French
garrifon into Mantua. The Dutchy of Milan acknow-
ledged Louis's grandfon without heſitation; and even
Portugal, who was naturally the enemy of Spain, imme-
diately joined with it. In a word, from Gibraltar to
Antwerp, and from the Danube to Naples, all feemed
to be at the devotion of the Bourbons. The King was
fo elated with his profperity, that talking with the Duke
of Rochefoucault, one day, on the fubject of the propo-
fals which the Emperor made him at that time, he
expreffed himself thus: "You will find them ftill more
"infolent than you have been told *."
King William, who to the hour of his death continued
an enemy to the aggrandifement of Louis XIV. promifed
the Emperor to arm England and Holland in his caufe:
he likewife engaged the Court of Denmark in his intereft;
and at length figned at the Hague that league which
had been already fet on foot againſt the Houle
of France. The King, however, was not much Sept. 16,
furpriſed at this; and depending upon the divi-
fions he hoped to caufe in the English Parliament by
the money he had fent over, and ſtill more on the united
forces of France and Spain, feemed to defpife his enemies.
1701.
At this time King James died at St. Germain's.
Louis might on this occafion have paid what appeared
due to decency and good politics, in not too haftily ac-
knowledging the Prince of Wales + for King of England,
after having already acknowledged William's title by
* At least this is what we find related by Mr. Dangeau, in his
manefcript Memoirs, though they are not always ftri&ly true.-
Voltaire.
†The Pretender.
C 4
"
the
24
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
the peace of Ryfwick. He was at firft determined, from
an emotion of pure generofity, to give the fon of King
James the confolation of a title and dignity which his
unfortunate father had bore till the hour of his death, and
which the treaty of Ryfwick had not deprived him of.
The principal members of the Council, however, were of
a different opinion. The Duke of Beauvilliers efpecially
fet forth, in the moſt eloquent manner, the many mi-
ſteries of war which were likely to be the confequence of
fo dangerous a magnanimity. This nobleman was Go-
vernor to the Duke of Burgundy, and in every thing
thought like that Prince's Preceptor, the famous Arch-
bishop of Cambray, fo well known by his humane max-
ims of government, and the preference he gave to the
inrerefts of the people over the grandeur of the monarch.
The Marquis de Torcy enforced as a politician, what the
Duke de Beauvilliers had advanced as a citizen.
reprefented how impolitic it was to incenfe the Engliſh
nation by fo rafh a ftep. Louis yielded to the opinion
of his Council, and reſolved not to acknowledge the fon
of James 11. as King.
He
The fame day Mary of Modena, widow to the de-
ceafed James, went to Madame de Maintenon's apart-
ment, to ſpeak with Louis XIV. She with a flood of
tears conjured him not to treat her fon, herſelf, and the
memory of a King he had protected, with fo much in-
dignity as to refufe an empty title, the only remains of
all their former greatnefs; adding, that as her fon had
always received the honours of a Prince of Wales, he
ought to be treated as King, after the death of his father;
and that even William himſelf could not complain of
this, provided he was left to enjoy his ufurpation. Thefe
arguments the ftrengthened with another which con-
cerned the glory of Louis XIV. by reprefenting to him,
that whether he acknowledged the fon of James II. or
not, the English would neverthele's declare war againſt
France, and that he would only feel the mortification
of having facrificed the noblenefs of his fentiments to a
fruitlefs precaution. Thefe reprefentations and tears
were feconded by Madame de Maintenon. The King
refumed
}
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
25
refumed his former fentiments, and the noble refolution
of protecting diftreffed Kings to the utmost of his power.
In a word, James III. was acknowledged, the fame day
that it had been determined in Council not to acknow-
ledge him.
*
The Marquis de Torcy has frequently owned this re-
markable anecdote. He has not indeed inferted it in his
manufcript memoirs, becaufe (as he himself obferves) he
thought it was not to the honour of his mafter, to be pre-
vailed upon by two women to alter a refolution which had
been taken in his Council. Some English gentlemen
have told me, that had it not been for this ſtep, their
Parliament might not perhaps have taken part in the dif-
pute between the Houfes of Auftria and Bourbon; but
that the acknowledging as their King a perfon pro-
ſcribed by them, appeared an infult offered to the na-
tion, and an attempt towards exercifing an abfolute au-
thority over Europe +. The inftructions given by the
City of London to its Repreſentatives, contain the fol-
lowing violent expreffions: "The King of France
"has created a Viceroy for himſelf, in conferring the
"title of our Sovereign on a pretended Prince of Wales.
“Our condition would be unhappy, indeed, if we were
to be governed by the will of a Prince, who has em-
"ployed fire, fword, and the gallies, to deftroy the Pro-
66
* Among others, my Lord Bolingbroke, who in his Memoirs has
fince juftified all that the Author of the Age of Louis XIV. advances,
See his Letters, Vol. II. page 56. M. de Torcy is of the fame opinion
in his Memoirs: he fays, Vol. I. page 164," The King's refolution
to acknowledge the Prince of Wales for King of England, wrought a
change in the difpofitions which a great part of the nation fhewed
"towards preferving the peace, &c." Lord Bolingbroke fays, in his
letters, that Louis XIV. acknowledged the Pretender " through fe-
"
male importunities." Thefe are fufficient proofs how induftriouſly
the Author of the Age of Louis XIV. has fought after the truth, and
with what candour he has related it. Voltaire.
Madame de Caylus, niece to Madame de Maintenon, tells the fame
fory in her Memoirs. Tranflator.
† It was fomewhat Papal, to be fure. Ibid.
Were they not juftifiable, both from their own refentments, and
the chara&er of Louis? Ibid.
❝ teftants
25
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
"teftants of his own kingdom. Would he have more
humanity for us than for his own fubjects ?"
William expreffed himfelf to his Parliament with the
fame ftrength. The new King James was declared guilty
of high-treafon; a Bill of Attainder was enacted againſt
him, that is to fay, he was condemned to death, as his
grandfather was; and it was in virtue of this Act that
a price was afterwards fet upon his head. Such was the
fate of this unhappy family, whofe misfortunes were
not yet exhaufted! It must be acknowledged, that this
was oppofing barbarity to the generofity of the King of
France*.
It appears more probable, that the Engliſh would have
declared war against Louis XIV. even though he had re-
fufed the empty title of King to the fon of James II.
His grandfon being in poffeffion of the Spaniſh monar-
chy, feemed alone fufficient to arm all the Maritime
Powers against him. A few Members of the Houfe of
Commons bribed to favour his caufe, could never have
oppofed the torrent of the nation. It remains to be de-
cided, then, whether Madame de Maintenon did not
judge better than the French Council, and whether
Louis XIV. was not in the right to indulge the pride
and fenfibility of his foul?
The Emperor Leopold firft began this war in Italy,
in the fpring of the year 1701. Italy has always been
the favourite object in all the concerns of the Emperors.
He knew his arms could more easily penetrate here
through the Tirolefe and the Venetian State; for Ve-
nice, though neuter in appearance, ftill inclined more
to the Houſe of Auftria than to that of France; and
being alfo obliged by treaties to allow a paffage to the
German troops, fhe only fulfilled her engagements with
the lefs reluctance.
The Emperor, before he ventured to attack Louis
XIV. on the fide of Germany, waited till the Germanic
body began to ftir in his favour. He had correfpond-
*It must not be acknowledged that there was either barbarity or
generefity in the whole affair. Tranflator.
ents
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
27
ents and a party in Spain; but thefe advantages could
turn to no account, unlefs one of the fons of Leopold
was on the spot to avail himself of them, and he could
not be tranfported thither but with the affiftance of the
Engliſh and Dutch fleets. King William haftened the
preparations. His foul, more active than ever in a feeble
and almoſt lifeless body, fet every thing in motion; not
fo much to ferve the Houfe of Auftria, as to humble
Louis XIV *.
March 16,
1702.
He was to have headed the armies himſelf, at the be-
ginning of the year 1702: but death prevented his de-
fign. A fall from his horfe completed the
diforder of his enfeebled organs, and a flight
fever carried him off. He died without ma-
king any reply to what the Engliſh clergymen † who
attended at his bed-fide faid to him in relation to their
religion, and fhewed no other concern but for the af-
fairs of Europe.
He left behind him the character of a great politician,
though he was never popular, and a formidable Gene-
ral, though he had loft fo many battles. Always circum-
ſpect in his conduct, and fpirited only in the day of
battle, he reigned peaceably in England, merely be-
caufe he did not attempt to be abfolute. He was called
the Engliſh Stadtholder, and the Dutch King. He un-
derftood all the European languages, but fpoke none
of them well, as he had a much greater fhare of
* What an invidious motive is given here! A fpice of French mo-
rality this. Tranflater.
+ Our author is mistaken. Instead of ewing any folicitude about
the affairs of Europe, he paid little or no attention to the Earl of al-
bema le, jail arrived from Holland, when he explained to him in pri-
vate the poîture of affa is upon the Continent: all the answer he made
was, Jetire vers ma fin, “ My life draws near a clole.” He conferred
ca fiul marters with Archbishop Tennifon and Bishop Burnet,
and received the Sacrament with great devotion.
As this is a fact upon record, the above affertion appears rather a
mifeprefentation than a mitt ke. Perhaps M. Voltaire might ima-
gine that infidelity would receive a fanction, by having a monarch
ranked under its banners. Eut Kings may Sometimes be as weak and
wicked as any of their fubjects. Ibid.
I
reflection
1
a8
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
reflection than imagination. His character was in every
thing the very reverſe of that of Louis XIV;
gloomy, reſerved, ſevere, dry, and filent, as much as
Louis was affable. He hated women * as much as
Louis loved them. Louis made war like a King; Wil-
liam like a foldier. He had fought againſt the Great
Condé and againſt Luxemburg, leaving the victory
doubtful between Condé and him at Senef; and quickly
repairing his defeats at Fleurus, Steinkirk, and Nervinde.
He was as proud as Louis; but his pride was of that
harsh and fupercilious kind, which rather difgufts than
awes. If the fine arts flourished in France by the patron-
age of the King, they were neglected in England, where
they addicted themfelves to nothing but a harsh and reſt-
lefs fort of politics, agreeable to the nature of the
Prince.
Thoſe who admire moft the merit of having defended
his country, and the advantage of having acquired a king-
dom without any natural right to it, and of maintaining
a rule over a people without being beloved by them
of having governed Helland with all the authority of a
Sovereign, without enflaving it; of having been the
foul and head of one-half of Europe; of poffeffing the
talents of a General with the courage of a foldier; of
never having perfecuted any one on the ſcore of religion;
of having a contempt for the fuperftitions of mankind;
of having been fimple and moderate in his manners;
fuch, I fay, will doubtleſs give the title of Great to Wil-
liam, rather than to Louis. But thofe who are more
delighted with the pleafures and gaiety of a brilliant
Court, with magnificence, with the protection given to
the
* Burnet hints the reafon.
The Memoirs of M. Dangeau are quoted for King William's hav.
ing faid once," The King of France ought not to hate me, for I
• imitate him in many things, I fear him in more, and admire him in
all." But fuch a fpeech is not of the character of King William.
It is not to be found in any of the English memoirs or anecdotes relat-
ing to that Prince; nor is it poffible he could ever have faid he had
copied Louis; he whofe manners, tafte, and conduct, both in war and
peace, were in every thing oppofite to thoſe of that monarch. Fole
taire.
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
29
the arts, with a zeal for the public good *, a thirſt for
glory, and a talent for reigning; who are more ftruck
with that authoritative manner with which his Minifters
and Generals added whole Provinces to France, on an
order from their King; who are befides aftoniſhed to fee
a fingle State make head againſt ſo many Powers; who
have greater efteem for a King of France that procures
the kingdom of Spain for his grandfon, than for a fon-
in-law who dethrones his father-in-law; in a word, thoſe
who admire more the protector, than the perfecutor, of
King James; fuch will give Louis the preference.
* In what fenfe Louis XIV. could be faid to be zealous for the pub-
lic good, I cannot conceive; he whofe criminal ambition impove-
rifhed his kingdom, and reduced his fubjects to mifery. As to his
talent for reigning, we fhall only obferve, that, after Richelieu had
reduced the power of the nobles, and Colbert had enriched the king-
dom with commerce, as well as eftabliſhed the plan of internal govern-
ment, it was a very eafy matter to maintain authority and order in a
nation of flaves, over-awed by a ftanding army of above four hundred
thoufand banditti, inured to blood and rapine. Tranflator.
CHAP.
{
30
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
CHA P. XVIII.
The memorable war for the fucceffion of the Monar.by of
Spain. Conduct of the Minters and Generals till the
year 1703.
Td
O William III. 'fucceeded the Princefs Anne,
daughter to King James by the daughter of
Counsellor Hyde, afterwards Chancellor, and one of
the principal men of the kingdom. She was married
to the Prince of Denmark, who ranked but as the
firſt ſubject of the realm. As foon as he came to
the crown, fhe adopted all the meaſures of King
William, though he had been at open variance with
him during his life. Thefe meafures were thofe of the
nation. In other kingdoms, a Prince obliges his people
to enter implicitly into all his fchemes; but in England
King must enter into thofe of his people.
The difpofitions made by England and Holland for
placing, if poffible, the Archduke Charles, fon to the
Emperor, on the throne of Spain, or at leaft to oppofe
the eſtabliſhment of the Bourbon family, merits, perhaps,
the attention of all ages.
The Dutch on their part were to keep an army of
one hundred and two thoufand men in pay, either in
garrifon or in the field. This was much more than the
whole Spanish monarchy could furnish at that time. A
province of merchants, who, thirty years before, had
been almoſt totally fubdued in the fpace of two months,
could now do more than the mafters of Spain, Naples,
Flanders, Peru, and Mexico. England promifed to
furnish forty thoufand men, befides its fleets. It happens
in moſt alliances, that, in the continuance of them, the
parties concerned fall fhort of their ftipulations; but
England, on the contrary, furnished fifty thousand men,
the ſecond year, inftead of forty; and, towards the
latter part of the war, kept in pay, on the frontiers of
France, in Spain, Italy, Ireland, America, and on boa d
her fleet, near two hundred thousand fighting men,
foldiers
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
31
foldiers and failors, partly her own troops, partly thofe
of her allies; an expence almoſt incredible to thoſe who
reflect, that England, properly fo called, is not above
one-third fo large as France, and has not one-half
of the current coin; but which will appear probable in
the eyes of thofe who know what commerce and credit
can do. The English always bore the greateft fhare of
the burthen in this alliance, while the Dutch infenfibly
leffened theirs: for, after all, the Republic of the States-
General is only an illuftrious trading company; whereas
England is a fertile country, a commercial and a war-
like nation.
The Emperor was to furniſh ninety thouſand men,
exclufive of the fuccours of the Empire, and thoſe allies
which he hoped to detach from the Houfe of Bourbon;
and yet the grandfon of Louis XIV. already reigned
peaceably at Madrid, and Louis, at the beginning of
the century, was at the zenith of his power and glory.
But those who penetrated into the political fprings of the
feveral Courts of Europe, and efpecially that of France,
began to fear fome reveife. Spain, enfeebled under the
lat Kings of the race of Charles V. became ftill more fo
during the early part of the reign of the Bourbons. The
Houſe of Auſtria had partifans in feveral provinces of
this monarchy. Catalonia feemed ready to shake off the
new yoke, and acknowledge the Archduke Charles. It
was impoffible but that Portugal mult, fooner or later,
take part with the Houſe of Auftria. Its obvious policy
was to foment a civil war among the Spaniards, its
natural enemies, which must turn to the advantage of
Lifbon. The Duke of Savoy, lately become father-in-
law to the new King of Spain, and linked to the Bourbons
by the ties of blood as well as treaties, feemed already
difpleafed with his fons-in-law. Fifty thoufand crowns
a-month, afterwards encreafed to two hundred thoufand
franks, did not appear a fufficient confideration to bind
him to their intereft. He wanted at leaft Montferrat,
Mantua, and a part of the Dutchy of Milan. The
haughty behaviour he met with from the French Ge-
nerals, and from the Miniftry at Verfailles, made him
appre-
1
32
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
apprehenfive, and not without reaſon, that he ſhould foon
be thought of little confequence by his two fons-in-law,
who kept his dominions furrounded on every fide. He
had already fuddenly broke off his connections with the
Empire in favour of France; and it ſeemed more than
probable, that, finding himſelf fo little regarded by the
latter, he would change fides the first opportunity.
As to the Court of Louis XIV. and his kingdom, per-
fons of a quick difcernment already perceived a change
in them, which is only visible to duller intellects when
the decline is far advanced. The King, now past three-
fcore, was grown more retired, and confequently knew
leſs of mankind; he faw things at too great a diſtance,
with eyes lefs difcerning, and dazzled with a long
veries of profperity. Madame de Maintenon, with all
the eftimable qualities fhe was miftrefs of, had neither
the ftrength, courage, nor greatnefs of mind, requifite
for fupporting the glory of a State. She was inftrumental
in procuring the management of the finances in 1698,
and the department of war in 1701, for her creature
Chamillard, who was more of the honeft man than the
Minifter, and had ingratiated himfelf with the King by
his difcreet conduct, when employed at St. Cyr. But,
notwithſtanding this outward appearance of modefty, he
had the misfortune to think himfelf capable of bearing
thoſe two burdens at once, which Colbert and Louvois
had with difficulty fupported feparately. The King,
depending upon his own experience, thought that he
could fuccefsfully direct his Minifters; and when Lou-
vois died, he faid to King James, "I have loft a good
"Minifter; but neither your affairs nor mine fhall go the
"worfe for it." When he made choice of Barbefieux to
fucceed Louvois, as Secretary of War, he ſaid to him, “I
"formed your father, and will form you *." He faid as
much to Chamillard. A King who had conducted public
affairs fo long, and with fuch fuccefs, feemed to have
'
* See the manufcript memoirs of M. Dangeau. They are referred
to here, becauſe this anecdote, which is mentioned there, has been
often confirmed by Marefchal Feuillade, fun-in-law to Chamiliard,
Secretary of State. Voltaire.
2
a right
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
33
a right to ſpeak in this manner. But a confidence in his
abilities deceived him.
In regard to the Generals whom he employed, they
were frequently limited by the ftrict orders they received
from him; like Ambaffadors who must not depart from
their inftructions. He and Chamillard directed the
operations of the campaign in Madame de Maintenon's
clofet. If a General was defirous of executing any great
undertaking, he was frequently obliged to diſpatch a
courier to Court for permifion, who at his return found
the opportunity loft, or the General beaten
Military rewards and dignities were profufely laviſhed,
under Chamillard's adminiftration. Numbers of young
perfons, hardly fit to be taken from fchool, were allowed
to purchaſe regiments, which, with the enemy, was the
reward of twenty years fervice. This difference was
very fenfibly felt on many occafions, in which an ex-
perienced Officer might have prevented a defeat. The
Croffes of the Knights of St. Louis, a reward invented
by the King in 1693, and then the object of emulation
among the Officers, were expofed to fale, in the begin-
n ng of Chamillard's Miniſtry, and were to be bought for
fitry crowns a-piece, at any of the War-offices. Military
difcipline, the foul of fervice, which had been fo ftrictly
kept up by Louvois, had degenerated into a fatal re-
miffnels: the companies were not complete in their
number of men, nor the regiments in their Officers. The
facility with which fuch deficiencies might be compro-
miſed with the Commiffaries, and the inattention of the
Miniſter, produced this diſorder. Hence arofe a defect,
which, fuppofing an equality in other refpects, muft
infallibly occafion the lofs of all their battles. For, to
have an equal extent of front with that of the enemy,
they were obliged to oppofe weak battalions to ftrong
The magazines were no longer fo well provided,
nor at fuch convenient diftances, nor were the arms fo
wel tempered as formerly Thofe therefore who per-
ceived thefe defects in the adminiftration, and knew what
Generals France had to deal with, trembled for her, even
VOL. II.
ones.
D
in
34
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
in the midst of thofe first advantages which feemed to
promife her greater fuccefs than ever *.
O&.
1663.
The firſt General who gave a check to the fuperiority
of the French arms, was a Frenchman, for fo we ſhould
call Prince Eugene, though he was the grandfon of
Charles Emanuel, Duke of Savoy. His father, the
Count de Soiffons, had fettled in France, where he was
Lieutenant-General of the King's armies, and Governor
of Champagne, and married Olimpia Mancini, one of the
nieces of Cardinal Mazarin. From this match,
fo unfortunate in other refpects, was born at Paris
this Prince, who afterwards proved fo dange-
rous an adverſary to Louis XIV, and was fo little known
to him in his youth. He was called at firft in France
by the name of the Chevalier de Carignan. He after-
wards took the petit-collet, and was ftiled the Abbé of
Savoy. It is faid that he aſked the King for a regiment,
and met with a denial, accompanied with fome con-
tumely. Not being able to fucceed with Louis XIV. he
went to ferve the Emperor againſt the Turks, in Hun-
gary, in 1683, together with the two Princes of Conti.
The King fent an order to the Princes of Conti, and all
thoſe who had accompanied them in the expedition, to
return home. The Abbé of Savoy was the only one
*The compiler of the Memoirs of Madame de Maintenon fays,
that, towards the end of the foregoing war, the Marquis de Nangis,
Colonel of the King's regiment, told him, that he had no way to
ftop the deſertion of his foldiers, but by knocking the deferters on the
head. It is worth while to remark, that this Marquis de Nangis,
afterwards a Marſhal, was not Colonel of the King's regiment till the
year 1711. Voltaire.
The fame author abuſes the regiment of guards, whom he calls
Pierrots he feems not to know how they diftinguished themſelves at
Valcour, Steinkirk, Nervinde, and at almost every fiege. Hiltory
fhould not be a fatire against any body of men, or private perfons.
Tranflator.
All thefe circumstances imply, that the former profperity of
Louis was not owing to his own perfonal talents, but entirely to the
great abilities of his old Minifters and Generals, who were now no
more. Ibid.
who
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
35
who refuſed to obey the mandate *. He had before de-
clared that he had renounced France for ever. The
King, when he was told of this, faid to his Courtiers,
"Don't you think I have had a great lofs ?" and they
gave it as their opinion, that the Abbé of Savoy would
always be a wild fellow, and fit for nothing. They
founded their judgments on certain fallies of youth, by
which we are never to judge of men.
This Prince, who was held in fo much contempt at
the Court of France, was born with all the qualifica-
tions which form the hero in war, and the great man in
peace: he had a found judgment and a lofty mind, and
that refolution which is requifite both in the field and
the cabinet. He was guilty of faults, as all Generals
have been, but thefe were loft in the number of his
great actions.
He ſhook the greatnefs of Louis XIV.
and the Ottoman Power: he governed the Empire; and,
in the courſe of his victories and miniſtry, fhewed an
equal contempt for vain-glory and riches. He cheriſh-
ed, and even protected learning, as much as could be
done at the Court of Vienna. At this time he was about
thirty-feven years of age, and had the experience of his
own victories over the Turks, and the faults which he
had feen committed by the Imperialifts in the late wars,
in which he had ſerved againſt France.
He entered Italy by the city of Trent, in the territo-
ries of Venice, with thirty thouſand men, and with full
liberty to employ them as he pleaſed. The Court, at
* There were at that time feveral young Lords of the Court, who
wrote indecent letters to the Princes of Conti, in which they were
wanting in the reſpect they owed the King, and in complaifarce to
Madame de Maintenon, who was then only a favourite. Theſe let-
ters were intercepted, and the young people difgraced for fome time.
The compiler of the Memoirs of Maintenon is the only one who aí-
ferts, that the Duke de la Rocheguion faid to his brother, the Mar-
quis de Liancourt, "Brother, you deferve death, if your letters' are
intercepted." In the first place, no one deferves death for having
an offenfive letter intercepted, but for having wrote it; and in the
next place, no one deferves death for writing a jeft. It is evident that
thefe young Lords did not deferve death, becauſe they were all taken
into favour again. All thefe fuppofititious fpeeches, which are fo lightly
repeated in the world, and afterwards collected and published by ob-
fcure and mercenary writers, are undeferving of belief. l'oltaire.
D 2
firſt,
36
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
firft, forbad Marshal Catinat to oppoſe the paffage of
Prince Eugene, either becauſe they would not commit
the first act of hoftility, which is bad policy when one
is properly prepared, or elſe becauſe they would not
difoblige the Venetians, who were however lefs to be
feared than the German army.
This firit mistake in the Court occafioned Marfhal
Catinat to commit others. A perfon rarely fucceeds,
who follows a plan not his own. Befides, 'tis well known
how difficult à matter it is, in a country cut through
with rivers and ftreams of water, to prevent a fkilful
enemy from paffing them. Prince Eugene to a great
depth of defign added a promptitude of execution.
The nature of the ground likewife on the banks
of the Adige, occafioned the enemy's army to be drawn
up more compact, while that of the French was more.
extended. Catinat was for marching to meet the ene-
my; but the Lieutenants-General raifed difficulties, and
formed cabals against him. He had the weakneſs not to
make himſelf be obeyed. The mildneſs of his diſpoſition
led him to commit this great error.
1701.
Eugene began by forcing the poſt of Carpi,
July 9, near the White Canal, which was defended by
St. Fremont, who, by neglecting the General's
orders in fome refpects, occafioned his own defeat. Af-
ter this fuccefs, the German army had the command of
all the country between the Adige and the Adda, and
penetrated into the Breffan, while Catinat retreated be-
hind the Oglio. Several good Officers approved of this
retreat, which, in their opinion, was a very prudent
one; to which we may further add, that the failure of
the proviſions and ammunition promifed by the Mini-
itry, rendered it abfolutely neceffary. The Courtiers,
and eſpecially thofe who had hopes of fucceeding Cati-
na: in the command, reprefented his behaviour as a
icandal to the French name. Marthal Villeroi perfuad-
ed them that he could retr.eve the honour of the nation.
The confidence with which he ſpoke, and the affection
the King had for him, procured him the command in
Italy; and Marfhal Catinat, notwithitanding his former
victoris
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
37
victories of Staffarde and Marfailles, was obliged to ferve
under him.
The Marſhal Duke de Villeroi was fon to the King's
Governor, had been brought up with his royal mafter,
and always enjoyed a principal fhare of his favour: he
had been with him in all his campaigns, and made one
in all his parties of pleaſure : he was of an agreeable and
engaging figure, extremely brave, a very worthy man,
a good friend, fincere in his connections, and magnifi-
cent in all his actions *. But his enemies faid he was
more taken up, after he came to be General, with the
honour and pleaſure of commanding, than with the
fchemes of a great Captain; and reproached him with
being fo much wedded to his own opinion, as never to
liften to the advice of others.
He now repaired to Italy, to give his orders to Cati-
nat, and difguft the Duke of Savoy. His behaviour
fhewed that he thought a favourite of Louis XIV. at the
head of fo powerful an army, was infinitely fuperior to
a Prince. He never called the Duke by any other
name than Monfieur de Savoy, and treated him like a com-
mon General in the pay of France, and not like a fove-
reign, and mafter of the barriers which Nature has
placed be:ween France and Italy. In a word, the
friendship of this Prince was not regarded fo much as
was neceffary. The Court thought that fear was the fure ft
knot to bind him; and that a French army furround-
* The Author, who in his younger days had frequently the honour
of feeing this Nobleman, thinks himself authorifed to declare, that
the above is his real character. La Beaumelle, who abufes both Mar-
ſhal Villeroi and Marshal Villars, and many others, in his notes on
the Age of Louis XIV. fpeaks thus of the late Marſhal Duke of Vil-
leroi, page 102, vol. III. of the Memoirs of Madame de Maintenon :
Villeroi the vain-glorious, who uſed to amufe the women with fo
eaſy an air, and would ask his fervants with fo much arrogance,
"Is there any money put into my pockets ?" How can any perfon
put into the mouth, I will not fay of a great Nobleman, but even of
any well-bred man, words which were be ore faid to have been spoken
by a Financier? How can he pretend to talk of fo many great men of
the patt age, as if he had ſeen them all? Or, how can any one have
the affurance to commit to writing fuch falfe, fcurrilous, and abfurd
reports? Foltaire,
D 3
ing
38
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
ing about fix or ſeven thouſand Piedmontefe, was a ſuf-
ficient pledge for his fidelity. Marſhal Villeroi behaved
to him as his equal in common intercourſe, and his
fuperior in the command.
/
The Duke of Savoy had the empty title of Genera-
liffimo, but Marfhal Villeroi was fo in fact. He im-
mediately gave orders for attacking Prince Eugene in
the poft of Chiari, near the Oglio. The General Of-
ficers were of opinion, that it was against all the rules
of war to attack this poft, for thefe effential reaſons;
that it was of no confequence; that the intrenchments
were inacceffible; that nothing could be gained by
forcing them; and that, if they failed, the reputation
of the whole campaign would be loft. Villeroi, how-
ever, told the Duke of Savoy that he muſt march, and
fent an Aid-de-camp to order Marthal Catinat, in his
name, to begin the attack. Catinat made the meffen-
ger repeat the order to him three different times; then
turning towards the Officers who were under his com-
mand, Come on then, Gentlemen," faid he, "we
"must obey." They marched directly up to
Sept. 11, the intrenchments, and the Duke of Savoy, at
1701. the head of his troops, fought like a perfon
who had no fubject of complaint againft France. Ca-
tinat fought death every-where. He was wounded;
nevertheleſs, on feeing the King's troops repulfed,
and Marſhal Villeroi iffuing no order, he made a retreat;
after which he quitted the army, and returned to Ver-
failles, to give an account of his conduct to the King,
without complaining of any one.
Prince Eugene always maintained his fuperiority
over Marſhal Villeroi. At length, in the heart of
the winter, 1702, one day that the Marſhal was fleeping
in full fecurity in Cremona, a pretty ftrong town, and
1702.
provided with a very numerous garrifon, he
Feb. 2, found himſelf awakened with the noife of a dif-
charge of fimall-arms. He rofe in hafte, mounted
his horfe, and the first thing he met with was a fquadron
of the enemy.
The Marſhal was immediately made
prifoner, and led out of the town, without knowing
any
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
39
any thing that had paffed there, and unable to conceive
the cauſe of ſo extraordinary an event. Prince Eugene
was already in the town of Cremona. A Prieít, named
Bazzoli, Provoſt of St. Mary la Nova, had introduced the
German troops through a common ſewer. Four hun-
dred men having been conveyed through this paſs into
the Priest's houſe, immediately flew the guards at the
two gates, which were flung open, and Prince Eugene
entered the city with four thousand men.
All this was
done before the Governor, who was a Spaniard, had the
leaft fufpicion, or Marſhal Villeroi was awake. The
whole affair was conducted with the greateft fecrecy, or-
der, and diligence. The Spaniſh Governor, on the firſt
alarm, appeared in the ſtreet with a few foldiers, but
was preſently ſhot dead with a muſket: all the General
Officers were either killed or made prifoners, excepting
Lieutenant-General Count de Revel, and the Marquis
du Praflin. Chance, however, confounded the prudent
meaſures of Prince Eugene.
It happened that the Chevalier d'Entragues was that
day to review the regiment of marines, of which he was
Colonel; and the foldiers were affembled by four o'clock
in the morning at one of the extremities of the city, ex-
actly at the time that Prince Eugene had entered at the
other. D'Entragues began to run through the ſtreets
with his foldiers. He makes head againit thoſe of the
enemy that came in his way, and by this means gives the
reft of the garrison time to repair thither. The streets
and fquares were now filled with officers and foldiers, con-
fufedly mingled together; fome badly armed, and others
half naked, without any commander, without order.
They fight in confufion, and entrench themfelves from
ftreet to street, and from fquare to fquare. Two Irish
regiments, which formed part of the garrifon, checked the
efforts of the Imperialifts. Never was greater art fhewn
in the furprize of a town, nor more valour in defending
it.
The garrifon confifted of about five thousand men.
Prince Eugene had as yet introduced only four thouſand.
A large detachment of his army was to have joined them
D 4
by
40
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
by the bridge over the Po: the measures were well
concerted, but another ftroke of chance rendered them
all fruitless. This bridge, which was guarded only by an
hundred French foldiers, was to have been ſeized upon
by the German cuiraffiers, who were ordered to go and
make themſelves mafters of it, the inftant Prince Eugene
entered the town. For this purpoſe, as they came in by
the fouth gate, next to the common fewer, they were to
go out into the country of Cremona, at the north part of
the city, through the Po-gate, and then immediately
make the beſt of their way to the bridge. As they were
going through the city, the guide who conducted them
was killed by a mufket-fhot from a window: the cuiraf-
fiers miſtake one ſtreet for another, and wander out of
their way. During this fmall interval of time, the Irish
affemble at the Po-gate, attack and repulfe the cuiraf-
fiers; and the Marquis du Praflin, feizing this lucky
moment, orders the bridge to be broken down the
fuccours which the enemy expected cannot arrive, and
the town is faved.
Prince Eugene, after having fought the whole day,
and ſtill keeping poffeffion of the gate by which he en-
tered, at length retired, carrying with him Marfhal Vil-
leroi, and moft of the General Officers, prifoners; but
difappointed of taking Cremona, which his activity and
prudence, together with the negligence of the Generals,
had once made him mafter of; and which chance, and
the valour of the French and Iriſh troops, had fnatched
from him again.
Marthal Villeroi, who was extremely unhappy on
this occafion, was condemned by the Courtiers at Ver-
failles with all the feverity and acrimony that his fhare
of the royal favour, and the haughtiness of his charac-
ter, which appeared to be vanity, could infpire. The
King, who blamed without condemning him, provok-
ed to find his choice fo highly cenfured, fuffered thefe
words to escape him: "They abuse him becauſe he is
my favourite *;" a term that he never before made ufe
* See Dangeau's Memoirs.
of
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
40
of in regard to any one. The Duke of Vendôme was
immediately appointed to go and take the command in
Italy.
The Duke of Vendôme, grandfon to Henry IV. was,
like him, intrepid, mild, beneficent, and humble; a
ftranger to hatred, envy, or revenge: he was haughty
only among Princes, but condefcending to every one elfe.
He was the only General under whom the common fʊl-
diers were not led to fight from a ſenſe of military`duty,
and that inſtinctive bravery, merely animal and mecha-
nical, which obeys the orders of their Officers: they
fought for the Duke of Vendôme; and would have laid
down their lives to extricate him out of any difficulty
into which his fiery genius fometimes hurried him. He
was thought not to equal Prince Eugene in the cool-
nefs and depth of his defigns, and the art of fubfifting
his troops. He was too apt to neglect little matters, and
fuffered military difcipline to languiſh in his army: he
facrificed too much of his time to fleep and the plea-
fures of the table, as well as his brother. Theſe indul-
gences put him more than once in danger of being taken
prifoner but on a day of action, he made amends for all
thefe faults, by a prefence of mind and difcernment
which feemed to be infpired by danger. Thefe opportu-
nities he was continually feeking, being not fo well qua-
lified for a defenfive war as Prince Eugene, but fully
equal to him in the offenfive part.
:
The fame diforder and negligence that he introduced
into the army, were vifible to a furprising degree in his
houfhold, and even in his own perfon. From his great
averſion to thew, he contracted a cynical flovenlinels al-
moſt unparalleled; and his difintereſtednefs, the moſt no-
ble of all virtues, became in him a fault, by making him
lofe more through neglect of economy, than he would
have expended in acts of bounty. He has been often
known to want even common neceffaries. His brother,
the Grand Prior, who commanded under him in Italy,
had all his faults, which he carried to a ftill greater ex-
cefs, and alfo made amends for by the fame valour. It was
furpriſing to fee two Generals never rifing from bed till
four
42
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
four o'clock in the afternoon; and two Princes, grand-
fons to Henry IV. neglecting their perfons in a manner
that the meaneft foldier would have been aſhamed of.
What is still more furprifing is, that mixture of acti-
vity and indolence with which Vendôme carried on fo
vigorous a war againft Eugene; a war of artifice, fur-
prizes, marches, croffing of rivers, petty fkirmishes
often as fruitlefs as bloody, and murderous battles, in
which both fides claimed the victory; fuch as that of
Luzara, for which Te Deum was fung both at
Aug. 15, Paris and Vienna. Vendôme always came off
1702. conqueror, when he had not to contend with
Prince Eugene in perfon; but as foon as he appeared at
the head of his troops, the French had no longer the
advantage.
June 5,
1703.
In the midft of thefe battles, and the fieges of fo
many towns and cities, private intelligence was brought
to Verſailles, that the Duke of Savoy, grandſon
to a fifter of Louis XIII. father-in-law to the
Duke of Burgundy and Philip V. was going
to quit the Bourbon intereft, and then actually in treaty
with the Emperor. Every one was aftoniſhed, that
he ſhould at once leave two fons-in-law, and give up
what appeared to be his true intereft. But the Emperor
had promiſed him all that his fons-in-law had refuted
him; Montferrat Mantua, Alexandria, Valencia, and
the countries between the Po and the Tanaro, with
more money than he received from France. This mo-
ney was to be furnished by England, for the Emperor
had hardly fufficient to pay his troops. England, the
richeft of all the alles, contributed more than any of
thein towards the common caufe.
Whether the Duke of Savoy fhewed any regard to
the laws of nature and nations, is a queſtion in morality
which has very little to do with the conduct of
fovereigns*. The event, however, proved in the end,
The law of nations will justify any Frince in renouncing an alli-
ance, when he finds himself ill ufed by his Ally. Our author owns
tha: the Duke of Savoy was treated with infolence by the Generals of
France;
and that the advantage of his kingdom was better confulted
in his engagements with the Emperor. Tranflater.
that
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
43
that he was not at all wanting to the laws of policy, in
the treaty he made; but he was deficient in another very
effential point, in leaving his troops at the mercy of the
French, while he was treating with the Emperor. The
Duke of Vendôme ordered them to be difarmed.
They were indeed no more than five thousand men,
but this was no inconfiderable object to the Duke
of Savoy.
Aug. 10
1703.
No fooper had the Houfe of Bourbon loft this ally,
than he heard that Portugal had likewife declared
againſt her. Peter, King of Portugal, acknowledged
the Archduke Charles for King of Spain. The impe-
rial Council, in the name of this Archduke, difmember-
ed in favour of Peter II. a Monarchy, in which he
was not as yet mafter of a fingle town; and, by one of
thofe treaties which were never executed, ceded to him
Vigo, Bayonne, Alcantara, Badajox, a part of Eftra-
madura, all the countries lying to the weft of the river
la Plata in America; in a word, he fhared what he had
not, in order to acquire what he could in Spain.
The King of Portugal, the Prince of Darmstadt,
Minifter to the Archduke, and the Admiral of Caftile,
his creature, implored even the affittance of the King of
Morocco. They not only entered into a treaty with
thefe barbarians for horfes and corn, but ftipulated like-
wife for a body of troops. The Emperor of Morocco,
Muley Ifinael, the moft warlike and politic tyrant at
that time in the Mahometan nation, would not fend his
troops but on fuch terms as were dangerous to Chriften-
dom, and fhameful to the King of Portugal: he de-
manded a ſon of that King's as an hostage, together with
a certain number of towns. The treaty did not take
place; and the Chriftians tore one another to pieces
with their own hands, without calling in the aid of bar-
barians. The affiftance of Africa would not have done
the Houſe of Auftria fo much fervice as England and
Holland did.
Churchill, Earl, and afterwards Duke, of Marlbo-
rough, declared General of the Corfederate Armies of
England and Holland, in the year 1702, proved as fa-
tal
44
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
tal to the French greatnefs, as any man that had appear
ed for many ages. He was not one of thofe Generals
to whom a Minifter delivers the plan of the campaign
in writing, and who, after having followed the orders
he has received from the Cabinet at the head of his
army, returns home to folicit the honour of being
employed again. He at that time governed the Queen
of England, both by the occafion fhe had for his fer-
vices, and by the authority his wife had over her mind.
He managed the Parliament by his powerful intereft,
and by that of the Treafurer Godolphin, whofe fon
married one of his daughters. Thus having the direc-
tion of the Court, the Parliament, the War, and the
Treafury, more a King than ever William had been, as
great a Politician, and a much greater General, he ex-
ceeded the moſt fanguine hopes of the Allies. He pof
feffed in a fuperior degree to any General of his time,
that tranquil courage in the midſt of tumult, and fere-
nity of foul in danger, which the Engliſh call a cool
head. It is perhaps to this qualification, the principal
gift of Nature for a Commander, that the Engliſh were
formerly indebted for their victories over the French
in the fields of Poitiers, Creffy, and Agincourt.
Marlborough, who was indefatigable as a warrior,
during the campaign, was no lefs active a negociator in
the winter. He went to the Hague, and viſited all the
Courts of Germany. He perfuaded the Dutch to drain.
themſelves to humble France. He roufed the refentment
of the Elector. Palatine. He flattered the pride of the
Elector of Brandenburg, who wanted to be King,
by holding the napkin to him at table, by which
he drew from him a fupply of between feven and eight
thouſand men. Prince Eugene, on his fide, had no
fooner finished one campaign, than he went to Vien-
na to make preparations for another. An army is cer-
tainly better fupplied, where the General is likewiſe the
Minifter.
Theſe two great men, who had fometimes the com-
mand jointly, fometimes feparately, acted always in
concert with each other. They had frequent confer-
ences at the Hague with the Grand Fenfionary Hein-
fius,
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
45
fius, and the Secretary Fagel, who governed the Unit-
ed Provinces with equal abilities, and better fuccefs,
than the Barneveldts and De Wits. They, in conjunc-
tion, continually fet the fprings of one-half of Europe
in play againſt the Houſe of Bourbon; and the French
Miniftry was at that time too weak to oppoſe thoſe com-
bined forces long. The plan of their operations for
the campaign was always kept an inviolable fecret be-
tween them. They fettled their defigns amongst them:
felves, and did not intret them even to thofe who were
to ſecond them, before the very inftant of execution.
Chamillard, on the contrary, being neither a politician,
a warrior, nor even a good financier, and who yet acted
as Prime-Miniſter, unable to form any plans of his own,
was therefore obliged to apply to inferior people for their
affiftance. His fecret was often divulged, even before
he himſelf knew exactly what was to be done. Of this
the Marquis de Feuquieres accufes him, with great juſ
tice; and Madame de Maintenon acknowledges in
her letters, that he had made choice of a man who was
not fit for the Miniftry. This was one of the principal
cauſes of the misfortunes which befel France.
Marlborough, as foon as he came to the command of
the allied army in Flanders, hewed that he had learnt
the art of war from the great Turenne, under whom he
had formerly made his first campaigns as a volunteer.
He was then known in the army only by the name of the
handſome Engliſhman; but Turenne foon perceived
that this handfome Englishman would one day be a
great man. He began his command by raifing ſeveral
fubaltern Officers in whom he difcovered merit, and
who were till then unknown, without confining himſelf
to the order of military rank, which we in France cail
the Order of the Roll*. He was fenfible, that when
preferment is only the consequence of feniority, all
emulation muſt perifh and that an Officer is not al-
ways the better, for being the older. He prefently
formed men. He gained ground upon the French, with-
A lift of the Army, in which the dates of Commiffions are note.
out
t
3
1
}
46
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
out hazarding a battle. Ginkel, Earl of Athlone, the
Dutch General, difputed the command with him the
firſt month, and, before fix weeks were at an end, was
obliged to yield to him in every refpect. The King of
France fent his grandſon the Duke of Burgundy againſt
him, a wife and upright Prince, born to make a peo-
ple happy. The Marfhal de Boufflers, a man of inde-
fatigable courage, commanded the army under the young
Prince. But the Duke of Burgundy, after having feen
feveral places taken before his face, and being obliged
to retreat by the fkilful marches of the English, returned
to Verfailles before the campaign was half over, leaving
Boufflers to be a witnefs to Marlborough's fucceffes,
who took Venlo, Ruremonde, and Liege, and continu-
ed advancing, without lofing the fuperiority a moment.
When Marlborough returned to London, at the cloſe
of this campaign, he received all the honours that could
be beſtowed either in a Monarchy or a Republic. He
was created Duke by the Queen; and, what was ftill
more flattering, received the thanks of the two Houſes
of Parliament, who fent deputies to compliment him at
his own houſe.
However, there now arofe a perfon who feemed likely
to reſtore the fortunes of France. This was the Mar-
fhal Duke de Villars, then Lieutenant-general, and
whom we have fince feen, at the age of eighty-two,
commander in chief of the armies of France, Spain, and
Sardinia: a foldier full of bravery and confidence, who
had himself been the architect of his own fortune, by
his forwardneſs in tranfcending the mere line of his duty.
He fometimes offended Louis XIV. and, what was ftill
more hazardous, his Minifter Louvois, by fpeaking to
them with the fame boldneſs with which he ferved.
was accuſed of not having a modefty becoming his cou-
rage. But at length it was feen that he had a genius
formed for war, and to command Frenchmen. He had
been greatly advanced within a few years, after having
been left a long time unnoticed.
He
Never was there a man whofe preferment created more
jealoufy, and with lefs reafon. He was Marſhal of
France,
2
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
47
France, Duke and Peer, and Governor of Provence:
but then he had faved the ftate; and others who had
ruined it, or had no other claim but that of being cour-
tiers, had met with as great rewards. He was even up-
braided with the riches, though moderate, acquired
by contributions in the enemy's country; a juft reward
for his valour and conduct; while thofe who had amaffed
fortunes of ten times the value, by the moft fcandalous
methods, continued to poffefs them with the approbation
of the Public. He did not begin to enjoy his fame till
he was near eighty. It was neceffary that he fhould
have outlived the whole Court to have enjoyed it un-
diſturbed.
It may not be amifs to acquaint the world with the
reafon of this injuftice in mankind: it was owing to
the want of addrefs in Marfhal Villars. He had not
enough to make himfelf friends, though he poffeffed
both integrity and underſtanding; nor to make himſelf
efteemed, though he only fpoke of himfelf as he deferved
that others fhould fay of him.
One day, when he was taking leave of the King to go
and command the army, he faid to him before the whole
Court, "Sre, I am going to fight your Majeſty's ene-
"mies, and leave you in the midft of mine." He faid
to the Courtiers of the Duke of Orleans, Regent of the
Kingdom, who were all grown rich by that fubverſion
of the State called Syftem, "For my part, I never got
any thing but by the enemies of my country." Thefe
expreffions, in which there appeared the fame courage
as in his actions, were too humbling to thoſe who were
already fufficiently mortified at his good fortune.
66
At the beginning of the war he was one of the Lieu-
tenant-generals who had the command of the detach-
ments in Alface. The Prince of Baden, at the head of
the Imperial army, came to take Landau, defended by
Melac for four months. The Prince made fome pro-
grefs. He had the advantages of numbers, of the ground,
and the commencement of a fuccefsful campaign, His
army was at that time in the Mountains of Brifgaw,
which border upon the Black Foreft; and this immenfe
Forcit
!
48
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
}
Foreft feparated the Elector of Bavaria's army from the
French. Catinat, who commanded in Strafburg, had
too much circumfpection to think of attacking the
Prince of Baden at fuch a diſadvantage; as in caſe of a
repulſe the French army muft infall bly be loft, and Al-
face laid open. Villars, who had refolved to be Mar-
fhal of France, or die in the attempt, hazarded what
Catinat did not dare to undertake. He wrote to Court
for permiffion; and then marched towards the Impe-
rialifts at Friedlingen with an inferior force, and fought
the battle of that name.
oa. 14,
1702.
-
The horſe engaged in the plain: the French infantry
climbed up to the top of the hill, and attacked the Ger-
man foot entrenched in the woods. I have
more than once heard Marſhal Villars himſelf
fay, that after the battle was won, and he
was marching at the head of his infantry, a voice was
heard crying out, "We are cut off!" upon which the
whole body immediately took flight. He ran up to
them, crying out, "What is the matter, friends? We
"have gained the victory. Long live the King !" The
földiers, all pale and trembling, repeated, "
Long live
"the King!" but began again to fly, as before. He
declared that he never met with more difficulty than in
rallying the conquerors, and that if only two of the
enemy's regiments had fhewed themfelves at that in-
ftant of general panic, the French would have been
beaten to frequently does the fate of battles depend
upon chance.
The Prince of Baden, though he loft three thouſand
men, with all his cannon, was driven out of the field of
battle, and purſued for two leagues through woods
and defiles, while, as a proof of his defeat, the fort
of Friedlingen capitulated: nevertheless, he wrote
the Court of Vienna that he had gained the victory,
and ordered Te Deum to be lung, which was more
thameful to him than even the lols of the battle.
to
The French, recovered from their panic, proclaimed
Villars Marſhal of France on the field of battle; and
the
3
ca
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
49
the King, a fortnight afterwards, confirmed the title
which the foldiers had conferred on him.
April,
Marſhal Villars having afterwards joined the Elec-
tor of Bavaria with his victorious army, found him like-
wife a conqueror, gaining ground of the enemy,
and in poffeffion of the Imperial City of Ra-
tifbon, where the Diet of the Empire had
lately vowed his deftruction.
17030
in
Villars was better qualified to ferve his country
following his own genius, than in concert with a Prince.
He carried, or rather dragged, the Elector acroſs the
Danube; but no fooner had they paffed the river, than
the Elector began to repert of what he had done, per-
ceiving, that upon the leaft check he fhould be obliged
to leave his dominions at the enemy's mercy. The
Count of Styrum, at the head of near twenty thouſand
men, was in march to join the grand army under the
Prince of Baden, near Donawert. The Marthal told
the Elector that this must be prevented, by marching
directly and attacking Styrum. The Elector, willing to
temporize, replied, that he must confer with his Mini-
fters and Generals. "Am not I your Minifter and Ge-
"neral ?" anſwered Villars: "Do you want any other
"council but me, when you are to give battle ?" The
Prince, full of the danger which threatened h´s domi-
nions, ftill kept back, and even grew angry with the
General. "Well then, faid Villars, if your Electoral
56
Highness will not embrace this opportunity with
"your Bavarians, I will begin the battle with the
"French;" and immediately gave orders for the at-
tack. The Prince was incenied, and looked upon
Villars as a madman, but was obliged to fight againſt
his will. This was in the plains of Hochftet, near Do-
nawert.
*All this may be found in the memoirs of the Marſhal de Villars
in manufcript, where I
where I my felf have feen every cirðumítance. The
first volume of thefe men oirs in print are really his; the two others
are by another hand, and ſomewhat different. Voltaire.
VOL. II.
E
After
50
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
Sept. 20,
1703.
The
After the firft charge, there appeared another
inftance of the effect of chance in battles.
enemy's army and that of the French were both
feized at the fame time with a panic, and fled; and
Marihal Villars faw himſelf left alone for fome minutes
on the field of battle: however, he rallied his troops,
led them back to the charge, and gained the victory.
Three thouſand of the Imperialifts were left dead on the
field, and four thousand taken prifoners, with their can-
non and baggage. The Elector made himſelf maſter of
Augfburg. The road to Vienna was open, and it was
even debated in the Emperor's Council, whether he
fhould quit his capital.
The Emperor was excufable for his apprehenfions;
he was beaten every where. The Duke of Burgundy,
with the Marſhals Tallard and Vauban under him, had
just taken Old Brifac; and Tallard had not only taken
Landau, but had alfo defeated the Prince of Heffe, af-
terwards King of Sweden, near Spires, as he was at-
tempting to relieve the town. If we believe the Mar-
quis de Feuquieres, (a moft excellent Officer and com-
plete judge in the military art, though rather too fevere
in his judgments) Marthal Tallard won the battle by
a fault and a mistake. However, he wrote thus to the
King from the field of battle: "Sire, your Majefty's
army has taken more ftandards and colours, than it
has loft of private men."
•
In this action there was more execution done by the
bayonet, than in any other during the war. The French
have a fingular advantage in the ufe of this weapon, en
account of their natural impetuofity; but it is now be-
come more menacing than fatal: the quick and cloſe
firing has prevailed in its ftead. The English and Ger-
mans were accuftomed to fire in divifions with greater
order and readiness than the French. The Pruffians
were the firſt who loaded with iron rammers. The fe-
cond King of Pruffia taught his troops fuch an exercife,
that they could fire fix times in a minute with great
eale. Three ranks difcharging their fire at once, and
.then advancing brifkly up, decide the fate of battles at
prefent.
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
51
€
prefent. The field-pieces likewife produce a no lefs for-
midable effect. The battalions who are ftaggered with
the fire, do not wait to be attacked with the bayonet, and
are completely routed by the cavalry; fo that the bayonet
frightens more than it flays, and the fword is become
abfolutely uſeleſs to the infantry. Strength of body,
fkill, and courage, are no longer of any fervice to a
combatant. The battalions are become great machines,
and thoſe which are beſt formed naturally bear down all
that ſtand in their way. This was the very thing which
gave Prince Eugene the victory over the Turks, in
thoſe famous battles of Temefwar and Belgrade; while
the latter would in all probability have had the advantage
from their fuperiority of numbers, had theſe battles been
what we call clofe fights. Thus the art of deftroying
each other is not only entirely different from what it was
before the invention of gun-powder, but even what it
was a century ago.
As the French arms maintained their reputation with
ſuch ſucceſs at firft in Germany, it was prefumed that
Marſhal Villars would carry it ftill farther, by an impe-
tuofity which would difconcert the German phlegm: but
the fame character which made him a formidable chief,
rendered it impoffible for him to act in concert with the
Elector of Bavaria. The King would not ſuffer his Ge-
nerals to fhew haughtinefs to any but his enemies; and
the Elector of Bavaria, unhappily for himſelf, wrote for
another Marſhal of France.
Villars himself, quite tired with the intrigues of a fac-
tious and interefted Court, of the irrefolution of the
Elector, and ftill more with the letters of the Minifter
of State, Chamillard, full of prejudices againſt him, a-
rifing from his ignorance, requeſted leave from the King
to retire. This was the only recompence he required
for all his fkilful operations in war, and a battle won.
But Chamillard, for the misfortune of France, fent
him into the midft of the Cevennes, to make peace with
the fanatical peaſants; and fo deprived the armies of
* The French word is melée. It means a clofe fight, where men
are perfonally engaged fword in hand. Tranflator.
E 2
France
$2
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
France of the only General, except the Duke of Ven
dôme, who was then capable of infpiring them with an
invincible courage.
courage. We ſhall ſpeak of theſe fanatics in
the Chapter of Religion. Louis XIV. had at this time.
enemies that were more formidable, fucceſsful, and ir-
reconcileable, than the inhabitants of the Cevennes.
CHA P. XIX.
Lofs of the Battle of Hochftet, or Blenheim, and its
THE
confequences.
'HE Duke of Marlborough was returned to the Low
Countries, in the beginning of 1703, with the
fame conduct and the fame fuccefs. He had taken
Bonn, the refidence of the Elector of Cologne. From
thence he marched and retook Hui and Limburg, and
made himſelf mafter of all the Lower Rhine. Marſhal
Villeroi, now returned from his confinement, command-
ed in Flanders, where he had no better fucceſs againſt
Marlborough, than he had had againſt Prince Fugene.
Marſhal Boufflers, with a detachment of his army, had
indeed gained a ſmall advantage in the fight of Eckeren,
over the Dutch General Opdam; but a fuccefs which
has no confequences, is of no account at all.
The House of Auftria, notwithstanding, feemed to be
undone, if the English General did not march to the
affiftance of the Emperor. The Elector of Bavaria was
maſter of Paffau. Thirty thoufand French, under the
command of Marſhal Marfin, who had fucceeded Villars,
over. ran the countries on the other fide the Danube.
There were feveral flying parties in Auftria. Vienna
itſelf was threatened on one fide by the French and
Bavarians, and on the other by Prince Ragotfki, at the
head of the Hungarians, fighting for their liberty, and
ſupplied with money from the French and the Turks.
In this fituation of affairs, Prince Eugene haftened from
Italy to take the command of the armies in Germany,
and
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
53
and had an interview with the Duke of Marlborough,
at Heilbron. The English General, whofe hands were
at full liberty, being left to act as he pleaſed by his
Queen and the Dutch, marched with fuccours into the
heart of the Empire. Taking with him, for the preſent,
ten thouſand English foot, and twenty-three fquadrons
of horſe, he makes forced marches, and arrives on the
banks of the Danube, near Donawert, oppofite to the
Elector of Bavaria's lines, where about eight thouſand
French and as many Bavarians lay entrenched, to guard
the country they had conquered. After an engagement
of two hours, Marlborough forces the lines, at the head
of three battalions of English, and routs the Bavarians.
and French. It is faid that he killed fix thouſand of the
enemy, and loſt as many himfelf. A General
concerns himſelf little about the number of flain, July 2,
provided he fucceeds in his enterprize. He
then took Donawert, paffed the Danube, and laid Ba-
varia under contribution.
1794.
Marshal Villeroi, who attempted to follow him in his
first marches, loft fight of him on a fudden, and knew
not where he was, till he heard the news of his victory
at Donawert.
Marſhal Tallard, who with a corps of thirty thouſand
men had marched by another route to oppofe Marlbo-
rough, came and joined the Elector. At the ſame time
Prince Eugene arrives, and joins Marlborough.
At length the two armies met, within a fmall diſtance
of the fame Donawert, and nearly in the fame plains,
where Marthal Villars had gained a victory, the year
before. He was then in the Cevennes; and I know,
that having received a letter from Tallard's army,
written the night before the battle, acquainting him
with the difpofition of the two armies, and the manner
in which Marfhal Tallard intended to engage, he wrote
to his brother-in-law, the Prefident de Maiſons, telling
him, that if Mahal Tallard gave the enemy battle in
that pofition, he must infallibly be beaten. This letter
was hewn to Louis XIV. and afterwards became public.
E 3
The
54
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
1
The French army, including the Bavarians, conſiſted
of eighty-two battalions, and one hundred and fixty
fquadrons, which made in all near fixty thouſand men,
the corps being then not quite complete. The enemy
had fixty-four battalions, and one hundred and fifty-two
fquadrons, in all not above fifty-two thouſand men; for
armies are always made more numerous than they really
are. This battle, that proved fo bloody and decifive,
deferves a particular attention.
The French Generals were accufed of a number of
errors; the chief was, the having brought themſelves
under a neceffity of accepting battle, inſtead of letting
the enemy's army wafte itſelf for want of forage, and
giving time to Marfal Villeroi, either to fall upon the
Netherlands, then in a defenceleſs ſtate, or to penetrate
farther into Germany. But it fhould be confidered, in
reply to this accufation, that the French army, being
fomewhat ftronger than that of the Allies, might hope to
defeat it, and that the victory would have dethroned
the Emperor. The Marquis de Feuquieres reckons up
no less than twelve capital faults committed by the
Elector, Marlin, and Tallard, before and after the bat-
tle. One of the moft confiderable was, the not having
placed a large body of foot in their centre, and having
feparated the two bodies of the army. I have often
heard Marſhal Villars fay, that this difpofition was un-
pardonable.
Marſhal Tallard was at the head of the right wing,
and the Elector, with Marfin, at the left. Tallard had
all the impetuous and fprightly courage of a Frenchman,
an active and penetrating underftanding, and a genius
fruitful in expedients and refources. It was he who had
concluded the partition treaties. He had attained to
glory and fortune by all the ways of a man of genius
and courage. The battle of Spires had gained him great
honour, notwithstanding the animadverfions of Feu-
quieres; for a victorious General never appears culpable
in the eyes of the Public, while he who is beaten is
always in the wrong, however juft or prudent his conduct
may have been.
But
1
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
55
But Mahal Tallard laboured under a malady of very
dangerous confequence to a General; his fight was fo
weak, that he could not diftinguiſh objects at the diſtance
of twenty paces from him. Thofe who were well ac-
quainted with him have told me, moreover, that his im-
petuous courage, quite the reverſe of the Duke of
Marlborough's, growing ftill warmer in the heat of the
action, deprived him fometimes of the neceffary prefence
of mind. This defect was owing to a dry and inflam-
matory ſtate of the blood. It is known that the quali-
ties of the mind are intirely influenced by the conftitu-
tion of the body *. V
This was the first time that Marshal Marfin had ever
commanded in chief. With a great fhare of wit and a
good underſtanding, he is faid to have had rather the ex-
perience of a good Officer, than of a General.
As to the Elector of Bavaria, he was looked upon lefs
as a great General, than as a valiant and amiable Prince,
the darling of his fubjects, and one who had more mag-
nanimity than application.
At length the battle began, between twelve and one
o'clock in the afternoon. Marlborough with his Engliſh,
having paffed a final rivulet, began the attack upon
Tallard's cavalry. That General, a little before, had
rode towards the left wing to obferve its difpofition. It
was no ſmall diſadvantage to Tallard's corps at the onſet,
to be obliged to fight without its General at its head.
The corps commanded by the Elector and Marfin, had
not yet been attacked by Prince Eugene. Marlborough
was engaged with the French right wing near an hour,
before Eugene could come up to the Elector at the left.
As foon as Marfhal Tallard heard that Marlborough
had attacked his wing, he immediately poſted thither,
where he found a furious action begun. The French
cavalry rallied three times, and was as often repulfed.
He then went to the village of Blenheim, where he had
M. Voltaire has here rendered man a machine, by one roke of
his pen. The Marquis d'Argens has written a treatise on this hint.
Such redoubted authorities mult certainly exhauſt our fouls out of our
bodies, like an air-pump. Tranflater.
E 4
poſted
56
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
poſted twenty-seven battalions, and twelve fquadrons:
This was a little detached army, that kept a continual
fire on Marlborough's troops. After giving his orders
in this village, he haftens back to the place where the
Duke with a body of horſe, and battalions of foot be-
tween the fquadrons, was driving the French cavalry
before him.
Mr. de Feuquieres is certainly miſtaken in ſaying that
Marſhal Tallard was not there at this time, but was
taken priſoner as he was returning from Marlin's wing to
his own. All accounts agree, and it was but too true
for him, that he was actually prefent. He received a
hurt in the action, and his fon was mortally wounded by
his fide. His cavalry was routed before his face. The
victorious Marlborough forced his way between the two
bodies of the French army, on one fide; while, on the
other, his General Officers got between the village of
Blenheim and Tallard's divifion, which was alfo feparated
from the little army in that village.
In this unhappy fituation, Marfhal Tallard flew to
rally fome of the broken fquadrons; but the badneſs of
his fight made him miftake a fquadron of the enemy
for one of his own, and he was taken prifoner by the
Heffian troops that were in the English pay. At the
very inftant that the General was taken, Prince Eugene,
after having been three times repulfed, at length gained
the advantage. The rout now became total in Tallard's
divifion; every one fled with the utmost precipitation;
and fo great was the terror and confufion throughout
that whole wing, that officers and foldiers ran headlong
into the Danube, without knowing whither they were
going.
There was no General Officer to give orders for a
retreat; no one thought of faving thofe twenty feven
batalions and tw Ive fquadrons of the belt troops of
France, that were fo unfor unately fhut up in Blenheim,
er of bringing them into action. At last Marſhal
Maron ordered a e reat. The Count du Bourg, after-
words Mathal of France, faved a imali part of the in-
fantry, by dehling through the marshes of Hochſtet ;
but
THE AGE OF LOUI8 XIV.
57
but neither he, Marfin, nor any one elfe, thought of this
little army, which ftill remained in Blenheim, waiting
for orders which they never received. It confifted of
eleven thouſand effective men, from the oldeſt corps.
There are many examples of lefs armies that have beaten
others of fifty thousand men, or at leaſt made a glorious
retreat; but the nature of the poft determines every
thing. It was impoffible for them to get out of the
narrow ſtreets of a village, and range themſelves in order
of battle, in the face of a victorious army, that would
have overwhelmed them at once with a fuperior front,
with its artillery, and even with the very cannon of the
beaten army, which were then in the poffeffion of the
conqueror.
The General-Officer who commanded there, the Mar-
quis of Clairambault, fon to the Marfhal of that name, was
haftening to receive orders from Marſhal Tallard, when
he was told that he was taken prifoner; and ſeeing no-
thing but fugitives, he fled with them, and was drowned
in the Danube.
:
Brigadier Sivières, who was pofed in this village,
ventured upon a bold ſtroke. 'He called aloud to the
Officers of the regiments of Artois and Provence to fol-
low him feveral officers even of other regiments obeyed
the fummons, and rufhing out of the village, like thofe
who make a fally from a town that is befieged, tell upon
the enemy; but after this fally they were to retreat back
again. One of thefe Officers, named Des-Nonvilles, re-
turned fome few moments afterwards on horfeback, with
the Earl of Orkney †. As foon as he entered the village,
the reſt of the Officers flocked round him, enquiring if it
was an Engliſh prifoner he had brought in?" No,
"Gentlemen, replied he, I am a prifoner myſelf, and
am come to tell you, that you have no meaſure left
but to furrender yourfelves prifoners of war. Here
"is the Earl of Orkney, who is come to offer you
66
66
terms."
At hearing this, all thefe old bands fhuddered with
horror: the regiment of Navarre tore its colours, and
* Hamilton.
buried
60
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
King of the
Nov. 19, and
23, 1704.
Romans, eldeſt fon of the Emperor Lec-
pold, came to be prefent at this fiege.
Landau was taken, and afterwards Traer-
bach.
The
The lofs of an hundred leagues of country did not
yet ftraiten the frontiers of France. Louis XIV. fup-
ported his grandfon in Spain, and his arms were victoriousi
in Italy. It required great efforts to make head againſt
the victorious Marlborough in Germany, which however
hedid. The fcattered remains of the army were gathered
together, the garrifons were ordered to furnish men, and
the militia were commanded to take the field.
Miniſtry borrowed money every where. At length an
army was got together; and Marshal Villars was recalled
from the centre of the Cevennes, to take the command.
upon him. He came and joined the army at Triers,
where he found himfelf in view of the English General,
with an inferior army. Both fides were defirous of
giving battle, but the Prince of Baden not coming up
foon enough to join his troops to thofe of the Engliſh,
Villars had the honour of obliging Marlborough
May, to decamp. This was doing a great deal, at
that time. The Duke of Marlborough, who
had a fufficient reſpect for Marſhal Villars to wish to be
efteemed by him again, wrote him the following billet,
while he was decamping: "Do me the juftice, Sir, to
66
1705.
believe, that my retreat is entirely the Prince of
"Baden's fault, and that I efteem you even more than
"I am angry with him."
The French had ftill fome barriers in Germany. The
enemy had not yet attempted any thing in Flanders,
where Marthal Villeroi, now at liberty, had the con-
mand. In Spain, King Philip V. and the Archduke
Charles were both in expectation of the crown; the
former, from the powerful affiftance of his grandfather,
and the good-will of the greater part of the Spaniards;
the latter, from the affiftance of the English, and the
partifans he had in Catalonia and Arragon. This Arch-
duke, afterwards Emperor, and at that time fecond fon
to the Emperor Leopold, went, towards the latter part
1
of
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
61
}
of 1703, without any retinue, to London, to implore
the affiftance of Queen Anne.
At this crifis the English power appeared in all its
glory. This nation, which had fo little intereft with this
quarrel, furnished the Auftrian Prince with two hundred
tranfport-fhips, thirty fhips of war joined to ten ſail of
the Dutch, nine thousand men, and a fum of money, to
go and conquer a kingdom. But notwithstanding the
fuperiority which power and benefits confer, the Em-
peror, in his letter to Queen Anne, which the Archduke
prefented, did not give this Princefs, his benefa refs,
the title of Majefty, but only that of Serenity*, agree-
ably to the file of the Court of Vienna, which cuftom
alone could juſtify, and which reafon has fince changed,
when pride has been obliged to ſtoop to neceffity.
CHA P. XX.
Loffes in Spain. Lofs of the battles of Ramillies and Terin,
and their confequences.
ONE
NE of the firſt exploits performed by theſe Engliſh
troops was the taking of Gibraltar, a place jully
de med impregnable. A long chain of fteep rocks for-
bad all approach to it by land; it had no harbour, but
only a long bay, very wild and unfate, where fhips lay
expoſed to ſtorms and the artillery of the fortrefs and
mole: the inhabitants of the town were alone fufficient to
defend it againſt a fleet of a thousand thips, and an hun-
dred thousand men. But this very ftrength was the caule
of its being taken. There were only an hundred men
in garrison, but thefe were more than fufficient, had
they not neglected a duty which they looked upon as
ufelels. The Prince of Heffe had landed with eighteen
hundred men on the ifthmus to the northward, behind
*Reboulét fays that the German Chancery gave the title of Dilec-
tion to Kings, but this is the title given to Electors. Voltaire.
2
the
62
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
the town; but the fteepnefs of the rock made an attack
upon the place impracticable on that fide. The fleet
in vain fired upwards of fifteen thousand difcharges of
cannon; but at length a body of failors, in one of their
extravagant moods, happened to row in their boats cloſe
under the mole, the cannon of which muſt infallibly
have funk them; but not a gun was fired. They
Aug. 4, mount the mole, make themfelves mafters of it,
1704. and fresh troops flocking in on all fides, this
impregnable town was at length obliged to furrender.
It is ftill in poffeffion of the English, at the time I am
now writing *. Spain, now again become a formidable
power under the adminiftration of the Princeſs of
Parma, fecond wife to Philip V. and lately victorious.
in Africa and Italy, beholds, with an impotent grief,
Gibraltar in the hands of a northern nation, that had
hardly a fhip in the Mediterranean two centuries ago.
Immediately after the taking of Gibraltar, the Engliſh
fleet, now miſtreſs of the fea, attacked the Count de
Toulouſe, Admiral of France, in view of the caſtle of
Malaga. This battle, though not decifive,
Aug. 26, was the laft epocha of the maritime power of
1704. Louis XIV. His natural fon the Count de Tou-
loufe, Admiral of the kingdom, had fifty fhips of the
line, and twenty-four galleys, under his command. He
made a glorious retreat, with very little lofs. But the
K ng having afterwards fent thirteen fhips to attack Gib-
raltar, while Marſhal de Teffé laid fiege to it by land,
this double rafhnefs proved the ruin of both
army and fleet. Some of the fhips were de-
ſtroyed by a ftorm, others were boarded and
taken by the Engliſh, after a moſt noble reſiſtance, and
another part of them burnt on the coaft of Spain. From
that day the French had no longer any large fleets, either
on the Ocean, or in the Mediterranean.The marine
returned nearly to the fame ftate from whence Louis XIV.
March
1705.
}
*This was written in the year 1740. Voltaire.
And we are yet in poffeffion of it, at the time I am now tranſlating,
in September 1779. Tranflator.
I
had
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
63
:
had raiſed it, as well as many other glorious things which
rofe and fet under his reign.
The Engliſh, who had taken Gibraltar for themſelves,
in less than fix weeks conquered the Kingdom of Valentia
and Catalonia for the Archduke Charles. They took
Barcelona by an event of chance, which was owing to
the raſhneſs of the beſiegers.
The Engliſh were at that time commanded by one of
the moſt fingular men that was ever produced by that
country, fo fruitful in noble, valiant, and irregular
geniufes. This was the Earl of Peterborough, a man'
who, in every reſpect, reſembled thoſe heroes with whoſe
exploits the imagination of the Spaniards has filled fo
many volumes. At fifteen years of age he left London,
to go and make war against the Moors in Africa. At
twenty, he commenced the revolution in England, and
was the first who went over to Holland to the Prince of
Orange; but, left the true reafon of his voyage fhould
be fufpected, he took fhipping for America, and from
thence went to the Hague in a Dutch veffel. He loft,
and gave away all his fortune, and eſtabliſhed it again
more than once. He was now carrying on the war in
Spain almoſt at his own expence, and maintained the
Archduke and all his houfhold. It was this extraordinary
man, who, with the Prince of Heffe Darmstadt *, was
then laying fiege to Barcelona. He propofed to the
Prince to make a fudden attack on the entrenchments
which covered Fort Montjoy and the town. Thefe en-
trenchments were carried fword in hand, and the Prince
of Darmſtadt fell in the attack. A bomb falling upon
a magazine of powder in the fort, blew it up. The
fort was taken, and the town capitulated. The Viceroy
came to one of the gates to confer with Lord Peter-
borough; but the articles were not yet figned, when
their ears were fuddenly ftruck with loud cries and
fhrieks." You have betrayed us," ſaid the Viceroy to
Peterborough. "We made a fair capitulation, and yet
* Reboulet, in his hiftory, calls this Prince the head of the rebels, as
if he had been a Spaniard who had rebelled against Philip V. Voltaire.
66
your
64
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
66
your Engliſh have entered the city over the ramparts,
"and are killing, plundering, and violating." "You are
miftaken, replied Lord Peterborough, it muſt certainly
"be the Prince of Darmstadt's troops. I here is no other
66
way left to fave your town, but to let me enter imme-
"diately with my English. I will make every thing quiet,
"and return again to the gate to fign the capitulation."
He spoke this with fuch an air of frankneſs and fpirit,
that, added to the prefent danger, entirely perfuaded the
Governor, who immediately fuffered him to enter.
He then flew through the streets with his Officers,
where he found the Germans and Catalans plundering
the houſes of the principal citizens; he drove them off,
and made them quit their booty. He happened to
meet with the Dutchefs of Popoli in the hands of fome
foldiers, who were going to difhonour her: he reſcues
her, and delivers her to her husband. At length, having
appeafed the tumult, he returns to the gate according
to his promife, and figns the capitulation. The
Spaniards were confounded to find fuch magnanimity
in the English, whom the populace had always been
taught to look upon as mercilefs barbarians, becauſe
they were heretics.
To the lofs of Barcelona fucceeded the mortification
of a fruitless attempt to retake it. Philip V. though he
had the greater part of Spain in his intereft, had neither
Generals, engineers, or hardly any foldiers. France
fupplied them all. The Count of Toulouſe returned to
block up the harbour with twenty-five fhips of war,
the whole remains of the French navy; Marfhal Teffe
formed the fiege by land, with thirty-one fquadrons of
horle, and thirty-feven battalions of foot: but the
Engliſh fleet appearing †, that of France was obliged
to retire, and Teffé railed the fiege with pre-
May 2. cipitation, leaving an immenfe quantity of pro-
vifions behind him in his camp, and one
1706.
* There was a good faith in this, above the common maxim of
war-Dolus, an virtus, quis in hofte requirat? The ftory of Regu-
lus is more famous; but then this one is all true, and fome historical
fceptics doubt the other. Tranflator.
Commanded by Sir John Leake.
Ibid.
thou-
?
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
65
thousand five hundred wounded, to the mercy of Lord
Peterborough. Thefe were heavy loffes; and it could
hardly be faid whether it had coft France more to con-
quer Spain, than it now did to affift it. Nevertheleſs,
the grandſon of Louis XIV. ftill kept his ground, through
the affection of the Caftilians, whofe greateft pride is
their fidelity, and who, on this occafion, continued firm
to the choice they had made.
1703.
April 19,
1706.
In Italy affairs wore a better afpect. Louis was re-
venged of the Duke of Savoy. The Duke of
Vendôme had, in the beginning, repulfed Aug. 16,
Prince Eugene, with fome glory, in the battle
of Caffano, near the Adda: this proved a bloody day,
and one of thoſe drawn battles for which both fides fing
Te Deum, and which only ferve to deſtroy men, without
advancing the intereſts of either party. After the battle
of Caffano he gained a complete victory at
Caffinato *, in the ablence of Prince Eugene;
and that Prince, arriving next day, ſaw an-
other detachment of his army intirely routed. In fhort,
the Allies were obliged to give ground, every where,
before the Duke of Vendôme. Turin alone remained to
be taken. They were already in march to inveſt it, and
there appeared no poffibility of relieving it. Marſhal
Villars pushed the Prince of Baden in Germany. Ville-
roi commanded an army of eighty thouſand men in
Flanders, and was in hopes to retrieve against Marlbo-
rough the ill fuccefs he had met with againſt Prince
Eugene. His too great confidence in his own abilities,
proved now more fatal than ever to France.
Marſhal Villeroi's army was encamped near the river
Mehaigne, towards the fources of the little Ghette. His
center was at Ramillies, a village fince as famous as that
of Blenheim. It was in his power to have avoided a
* It was the Count de Reventlau, a native of Denmark, who com-
manded at the battle of Caffinato, but the troops were all Imperialists.
Voltaire.
La Beaumelle obferves on this occafion, in his notes on the Age of
Louis XIV. "That the Danes are as little worth abroad as at home."
It is very extraordinary to ſee a writer thus abufing every nation. Ibid.
VOL. II.
battle.
F
>
66
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
1
battle. He was adviſed to do fo by his General Officers;
but a blind paffion for glory prevailed over every other
confideration. It is faid that the difpofition he made for
the battle, was fuch, that every one of the leaft experience
forefaw the fatal confequence. His center was compofed
of new-raifed troops, neither compleat nor difciplined.
He left the baggage between the lines, and poiled his
left wing behind a morafs, as if he intended to prevent it
from coming near the enemy*
66
..
1706.
Marlborough, who obferved all theſe miſ
May 23, takes, drew up his army, in fuch a manner as
to take advantage of them. He perceived that
the left wing of the French army could not come up to
attack his right; he therefore made draughts from that
part in order to fall upon the enemy's center, at Ramil-
lies, with a fuperior force. Monfieur de Gaffion, the
Lieutenant-General, obferving thefe motions of the
enemy, cried out to the Marſhal, "You are undone, Sir,
66 if
you do not inftantly change the order of battle.
"Make a draught from your left wing, that you may
"have an equal force to oppofe to the enemy. Clofe
your lines more. If you loſe a minute, you are ir-
recoverably loft." This falutary advice was feconded
by feveral of the other Officers; but the Marthal paid
no regard to them. Marlborough began the attack, and
had only to engage an army drawn up in the very manner
in which he himſelf would have potted it for a defeat.
This was what was faid by all France; and history is
partly a relation of the opinions of men: but may it not
be alſo as juftly faid that the troops of the Confederates
were better difciplined, and that the confidence they had
in their Generals, and their paſt fucceffes, inſpired them
with fuperior confidence? Were there not fome of the
French regiments who did not do their duty? And do
we not know that thoſe battalions who can belt ſtand
fire, decide the deftiny of States? The French army did
not maintain its ground for half an hour. At Blenheim
the fight lafted for eight hours, and the French killed
* See Feuquieres's Memoirs.
1
4
the
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
7467
the victor above eight thouſand men; but at the
battle of Ramillies, they killed them only two thouſand
five hundred. The defeat was general: the French loſt
twenty thousand men, together with the honour of their
nation, and every hope of recovering the advantage.
Bavaria and Cologne had been loft by the battle of Blen-
heim, and all Spaniſh Flanders was now loft by this of
Ramillies. Marlborough entered victorious into Ant-
werp and Bruffels, took Oftend, and Menin furrendered
to him.
Marſhal Villeroi, in defpair, did not dare to acquaint
the King with this defeat. He continued five days with-
out diſpatching a courier. At length he wrote a con-
firmation of the news, which had already filled the Court
of France with confternation; and when he returned to
Verſailles to prefent himſelf to the King, that monarch,
inftead of reproaching him, only faid, "Monfieur le Ma-
"réchal, people at our time of life are not fortunate.*?
The King immediately fent for the Duke of Vendôme
out of Italy, where he thought his prefence not neceffary,
in order to fend him into Flanders, and repair, if
poffible, this difgrace. He ftill entertained hopes, and
with juft reafon, that the taking of Turin would make
him amends for all thefe loffes. Prince Eugene was at
too great a diſtance to come to its relief. He was on the
other fide the Adige, and a long chain of intrenchments
that lined the river on this fide, feemed to make a paf-
fage impracticable. Forty-fix fquadrons and an hundreḍ
battalions formed the fiege of this great city.
The Duke de Feuillade, who commanded this army,
was the gayeft and moft amiable man in the kingdom;
and, though fon-in-law to the Minifter, was the darling
of the people. He was fon to that Marfhal de la Feuil-
lade who erected the ſtatue of Louis XIV. in the fquare
des Victoires. He appeared to have as much courage
as his father; the fame ambition, the fame magnificence,
* There is fomething very amiable in this mildnefs of Louis, upon
fo very trying an occafion. He deferved the title of Le Grand, for this
fui vi&oria, more than for all his conquefts. Translator.
F 2
and
68
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
and more underſtanding. He expected the ftaff of
Marſhal of France as a reward for his taking Turin.
Chamillard, his father-in-law, who loved him tenderly,
had left nothing undone to fecure him fuccefs. The
imagination ftands appalled at the detail of the prepa-
rations made for this fiege. Thoſe readers who have it
not in their power to inform themſelves of theſe matters,
may perhaps not be diſpleaſed to meet here with an ac-
count of this immenfe and fruitless apparatus.
There were an hundred and forty pieces of cannon;
and it is to be obſerved, that each large cannon, mounted
on its carriage, cofts about two thouſand crowns; one
hundred and ten thoufand balls; one hundred and fix
thouſand cartridges of one form, and three hundred
thouſand of another; twenty-one thouſand bomb-fhells,
twenty-feven thouſand feven hundred hand-grenades ;
fifteen thousand fand-bags; thirty thoufand pioneering-
tools, and twelve hundred thousand pounds weight of
powder; befides lead, iron, tin, cordage, with every
thing proper for the miners, fulphur, falt-petre, and
implements of all kinds. It is certain that the expence
of all theſe preparations for deftruction, was more than
fufficient to have founded a numerous colony, and put
it into a flouriſhing condition. Every fiege of a great
town requires the fame prodigious expence, and yet
when a ruined village is to be repaired at home, it is
neglected.
The Duke de la Feuillade, full of ardour and activity,
inferior to none in undertakings where courage alone was
fufficient, but incapable of conducting thofe that re-
quired ſkill, reflection, and time, hurried the fiege againſt
all the rules. Marſhal Vauban, the only General per-
haps who loved his country better than himſelf, had
propoſed to the Duke de la Feuillade to come and direct
the fiege as an engineer, and to ferve in his army as a
volunteer; but the pride of la Feuillade made him take
this offer for ſelf-ſufficiency, concealed beneath the ap-
pearance of modefty. He was piqued that the beſt
engineer in France fhould prefume to give him advice.
He answered him in a letter which I have feen, "I hope
'
C6 to
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
€9
•
"to take Turin by Cohorn." This Cohorn was the
Vauban of the Allies, an excellent engineer, and a good
General, who had taken ſeveral places that had been
fortified by Vauban. After fuch a letter there was a
neceffity to take Turin; but having begun the attack by
the citadel, which was the ftrongeſt part, and the city
not being completely furrounded, an opening was left
for men or provifions to be thrown in, or for the Duke
of Savoy to fally out; and the greater impetuofity the
Duke de la Feuillade fhewed in his repeated and fruitless
attacks, the more tedious was the fiege *.
The Duke of Savoy came out of the town with fome
fquadrons of horfe, in order to amufe the Duke de la
Feuillade. The latter immediately quitted the direction
of the fiege to run after the Prince, who, being better
acquainted with the ground, baffled his purfuit. Thus
la Feuillade miffed the Duke, and the buſineſs of the
fiege fuffered by it.
Moſt of our hiftorians affert, that the Duke de la
Feuillade had no intention to take Turin, and pretend
that he had fworn to the Duchefs of Burgundy, to reſpect
her father's capital: they likewiſe tell us that this Princefs
prevailed upon Madame de Maintenon, to cauſe ſuch
meaſures to be taken as would fave the town. It is
certain, that almoſt all the Officers in that army were
During this fiege, which continued from May to September, a
fimple corporal facrificed his life for the good of his country, with a
Spirit equal to that of a Curtius or a Scævola. The French had made
a lodgement in one of the fubterraneous galleries of the Citadel, from
whence they could have penetrated into the body of the place. A
corporal of miners, whofe name was Mica, being at work under the
gallery, in finishing a mine which was not yet primed, and foreſeeing
that the enemy could not fail to have poffeffion of the Citadel, unleis
they were immediately deſtroyed, devoted his life to the fafety of his
fellow-citizens. He forthwith primed the mine, and defired one of
his companions to tell the King he implored his Majesty's protection for
his wife and children; then ordered his pioneers to retire, and make
a fignal of their being in a place of fafety, by firing a muſket, which
he no fooner heard, than he fet fire to the mine, and perifhed with
two hundred grenadiers, who had taken poffeffion of the gallery. The
King expreffed a fenfe of this action by making a very ample provision
for Mica's wife and children, and fettling an annual penfion of fix
hundred livres for ever on his defcendants. Smollet.
for
F 3
70
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
for a long time perfuaded of the truth of this; but it
was only one of thofe popular rumours which are the
difgrace of the novellift, and the difhonour of the hif
torian. Befides, how contradictory was it, that the fame
General who would not take Turin, fhould endeavour
to feize on the perfon of the Duke of Savoy?
From the 13th of May to the 20th of June the Duke
of Vendôme had been pofted on the banks of the Adige,
to cover the fiege; and thought himſelf able with feventy
battalions and fixty fquadrons to ftop all the paffages
againſt Prince Eugene.
The Imperial General was in want of men and money.
The Mercers Company of London lent him about fix
millions of our livres*: he then fent for a ſupply of
men from the Circles of the Empire. The flowneſs of
thefe fuccours might have proved the ruin of Italy; but
the flowness of the fiege of Turin was ftill greater.
Vendôme was already appointed to go and repair the
loffes in Flanders; but, before he left Italy, he ſuffered
Prince Eugene to cross the Adige, to paſs the White
Canal, and even the Po itſelf, a river larger, and in ſome
places more difficult of paffage, than the Rhine and
before he himſelf left the banks of the Po, he ſaw Prince
Eugene in a condition to advance even to Turin. Thus
he left affairs in the most dangerous crifis in Italy,
while in Flanders, Germany, and Spain, they appeared
delperate.
The Duke of Vendôme then went to Mons, to affem-
ble Villeroi's fcattered forces; and the Duke of Orleans,
nephew of Louis XIV. was fent to command his army
on the banks of the Po. He found theſe troops in as
much diforder as if they had fuffered a defeat. Eugene
had paffed the Po, in fight of Vendôme: he now croffed
the Tanaro, in view of the Duke of Orleans; took Carpi,
Corregio, and Reggio; ftole a march upon the French,
and at length joined the Duke of Savoy, near Aſti.
All that the Duke of Orleans could do was to march
and join la Feuillade in his camp before Turin. Prince
* Or nearly 263300l. fterling, at 10d to the livre. Smollet.
Eugene
1
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV,
71
Eugene followed him with the utmoft diligence. The
Duke of Orleans had now two meaſures in his choice;
either to wait for Prince Eugene in the lines of cir-
cumvallation, or to march and meet him while he was
yet on the other fide of Veillana +. He called a council
of war, at which were prefent Marſhal Marfin, the ſame
who had loft the battle of Blenheim, the Duke de la
Feuillade, Albergoti, St. Fremont, and other Lieute-
nant-generals, to whom he thus addreffed himself:
"Gentlemen, if we remain in our lines, we loſe the battle.
"The circuit of our circumvallation is above five leagues
"in extent; it will be impoffible for us to cover all theſe
"entrenchments. On one hand, here is the regiment of
"marines, that is not above two men deep; and on
"the other hand, there are many places left intirely
"naked. The Doire, which runs through our camp,
"will prevent our men from marching readily to the
"affiftance of one another. Befides, when the French
"wait to be attacked, they lofe one of their principal
"advantages; that impetuofity and inftantaneous ar-
"dour which fo frequently decide the fate of battles.
"Believe me, we ſhould march directly to the enemy.
The Lieutenant-generals immediately cried out, one
and all, "Let us march." Then Marshal Marfin drew
the King's order out of his pocket, which left every
thing to his decifion, in cafe of an action; and his opi-
nion was to remain in the lines,
The Duke of Orleans was not a little incenfed to find
that he was fent to the army only as a Prince of the
blood, and not as a General: however, he was obliged
to follow Marfin's advice, and made the neceffary pre-
parations for this difadvantageous meafure.
The enemy feemed at firft to intend to make ſeveral
attacks at once; and the variety of their movements
threw the French camp into confufion. The Duke of
Orleans propofed one thing, Marfin and la Feuillade
another; they difputed, and concluded upon nothing;
till at length they fuffered the enemy to pass the Doite,
About fifteen miles from Turin. Transl.
F 4
who
72
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
"
who advanced towards them in eight columns of twenty-
five men deep each. There was an immediate neceffity
of oppofing them with battalions of equal depth.
Albergoti, who was pofted at a distance from the
main army, on the Capuchins hill, had twenty thouſand
men with him, and only a body of the enemy's militia
to oppofe, who did not dare to attack him. They fent
from the camp for a detachment of twelve thouſand men;
but he returned for anfwer, that he could not weaken his
divifion, and gave ſome ſpecious reafons. They liftened
to him, and time was loft. Prince Eugene attacks the
intrenchments, and in two hours time forces
Sept. 7, them. The Duke of Orleans was wounded,
and had retired to be dreffed; but he was ſcarce
got to the ſurgeon's tent, when word was brought him
that all was loft, that the enemy was mafter of the camp,
and that the defeat was become general. Nothing re-
mained but immediate fight; the lines and trenches were
abandoned, and the whole army difperfed. All the bag-
gage, provision, and ammunition, together with the
military cheft, fell into the hands of the conquerors.
1706.
Marſhal Marfin himself was wounded in the thigh,
and made prifoner. One of the Duke of Savoy's fur-
geons cut off his thigh, and he died a few minutes after
the operation. Sir Paul Methuen, Ambaffador from
England to the Court of Turin, the moſt generous,
affable, and brave man that his country had ever em-
ployed in her embaſſies, fought by the Duke of Savoy's
fide, during the whole action. He was preſent when
Marſhal Marfin was taken prifoner, and was near him
in his last moments; and he told me, that the Marſhal,
when he was dying, fpoke to him in theſe very terms:
"Be perfuaded, Sir, that it v as contrary to my opinion
"that we waited for you in our lines." Theſe words
feem expressly to contradict what paffed at the council
of war, and may nevertheless be true; for Marfin, when
he took leave of the King at Verſailles, reprefented to
his Majesty that it would be proper to march and attack
the enemy, in cafe they ſhould appear to relieve Turin,
but Chamillard, intimidated by fo many former defeats,
had
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
73
had afterwards prevailed that the army fhould wait in
the lines, and not offer battle: and this order given at
Verfailles occafioned the defeat of fixty thouſand men.
The French had not above two thouſand men killed
in this engagement; but we have already feen, that a
panic does more than even flaughter. The impoffibility
of finding fubfiftence, which would make an army retire
after a victory, brought back the troops to Dauphiny
after their defeat. Every thing was in fuch diſorder,
that the Count of Medavy-Grancei, who was at that
time in the Mantuan, with a body of troops, and had
beaten the Imperialifts at Caftiglione, under the com-
mand of the Prince of Heffe, afterwards King of Sweden,
gained only a fruitless victory, though it was
complete *. In a word, the Dutchy of Milan, Sept. 9,
1706.
Mantua, Piedmont, and laftly the Kingdom of
Naples, were all loft, within a very little time of one
another.
* This Officer furpriſed the Prince of Heffe in the neighbourhood
of Castiglione, and obliged him to retreat to the Adige, with the lofs
of two thouſand men; but this action was attended with no other
confequence. Smo let.
想去
​CHAP.
74
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
CHA P. XXI.
Continuation of the difgraces of France and Spain. Louis XIV.
fends his principal Minister to fue for peace, in vain.
Battle of Malplaquet loft, &c.
TH
THE battle of Hochftet, or Blenheim, coft Louis
XIV. a fine army, with the whole country from the
Danube to the Rhine; and the Elector of Bavaria all his
dominions. All Flanders was loft, to the very gates of
Lifle, by the fatal day of Ramillies; and the defeat at
Turin drove the French out of Italy, which had always
happened to them in every war fince the time of Charle-
magne. They had ftill fome troops left in the Dutchy
of Milan, and the little victorious army under the Count
of Medavy. They were alfo ftill in poffeffion of fome
frong places. They offered to give up all theſe to the
Emperor, provided he would permit these troops, which
amounted to about fifteen thousand men,
to retire.
The Emperor accepted of the propofition, and the Duke
of Savoy gave his affent. Thus the Emperor, with a
dafh of his pen, became peaceable poffeffor of Italy.
The conqueft of the Kingdom of Naples and Sicily was
guarantied to him, and every thing that had formerly
been confidered as feudal, was now treated as fubject to
a fupreme power. He impofed a tax of one hundred
and fifty thouſand piftoles upon Tufcany; forty thouſand
upon the Dutchy of Mantua; and Parma, Modena,
Lucca, and Genoa, notwithſtanding they were free ſtates,
were included in thefe impofitions.
The Emperor, who had all theſe advantages on his
fide, was not that Leopold, the antient rival of Louis
XIV. who, under a fhew of moderation, had fecretly
cheriſhed the most ambitious views. It was the fiery,
lively, and paffionate Jofeph, his eldeft fon, who was
not, however, a better foldier than his father. If ever
there was an Emperor who feemed formed to enſlave Ger-
many and Italy, it was Jofeph. His dominions ſtretched
beyond the Alps: he laid the Pope under contribution ;
I
and,
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
75
and, by his fole authority, in 1706, had the Electors of
Bavaria and Cologne put under the ban of the Empire,
and then tripped them of their dominions. He kept
Bavaria's children in prifon and deprived them even of
their name. Their father had nothing left but to retire
covered with diſgrace to France and the Low Countries.
Afterwards, in 1712, Philip V. ceded to him all Spaniſh
Flanders *. If he could have kept this Province, it
would have been a better fettlement for him, than even
Bavaria, and have freed him from his fubjection to the
Houſe of Auftria; but he could get poffeffion only of the
cities of Luxemburg, Namur, and Charleroi, the reft
being in the hands of the conquerors.
Every thing now ſeemed to threaten Louis XIV. who
had fo lately been the terror of all Europe. There was
nothing to oppoſe the Duke of Savoy's entering France,
England and Scotland were lately become one Kingdom,
by the Union: or, rather, Scotland, now become a Pro-
vince of England, increafed the power of its antient
rival. Towards the end of 1706, and at the com-
mencement of 1707, all the enemies of France feemed
to have acquired new ftrength, and that Kingdom
to be on the verge of ruin. She was preffed on all
fides, both by fea and land. Of the formidable
fleets which Louis XIV. had raifed, fcarcely five-and-
thirty fhips were left remaining. Strafburg ftill conti-
nued to be the barrier town towards Germany; but by
the lofs of Landau, all Alface lay expofed. Provence
was threatened with an invafion by fea and land, and the
loffes already fuftained in Flanders, made her tremble
for what was left; and yet, notwithſtanding all theſe
difafters, the body of the Kingdom had not yet been at-
tacked; and, unfuccefsful as the war had been, ſhe had
loft nothing but her conquefts.
Louis XIV. ftill oppofed his enemies; and though
defeated almoft every-where, he continued to refilt,
protect, and even attack on all fides. But affairs were
It is faid in Reboulet's History, that he had this fovereignty as
early as 1700; but at that time he poffeffed only the Viceroyalty.
Voltaire.
as
26
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
}
as unſucceſsful in Spain, as in Italy, Germany, and
Flanders. It is faid that the fiege of Barcelona was ftill
worle condu&ed than that of Turin.
The Count of Thouloufe had hardly made his appear-
ance with his fleet, when he was obliged to fail back
again to Toulon. Barcelona was relieved, the fiege
raifed, and the French, after having loft half their army,
were forced, without ammunition or proviſions, to march
back into Navarre, a little Kingdom that they kept for
the Spaniards, and of which our Kings take the title by
a cuftom that feems beneath their dignity.
To theſe diſaſters was added yet another, which feemeḍ
to be decifive. The Portuguefe, together with a body
of English, took every place they prefented themfelves
before, and were advanced even into the Spanish Eftra-
madura, different from the Portugueſe province of the
fame name. They were commanded by a Frenchman,
who had been created a Peer of England ; namely,
Lord Galway, before Count of Ruvigny; while the
Duke of Berwick, an Engliſhman, and nephew to the
Duke of Marlborough, who commanded the troops of
France and Spain, in vain attempted to ſtop their
grefs.
pro-
Philip V. uncertain of his fate, was in Pampeluna ;
while his competitor, Charles, was increafing his party,
and augmenting his forces in Catalonia. He was mafter
of Arragon, of the Province of Valentia, Carthagena, and
part of the Province of Granada. The Engliſh took
Gibraltar for themſelves, and gave him Minorca, Ivica,
and Alicant: befides, the road of Madrid was open to
* In the beginning of April 1706, King Philip, at the head of a
numerous army, undertook the fi: ge of Barcelona, which was defended
by
his rival Charles, in perfon. It was at the fame time blocked up
by fea, by the Count de Thouloufe, and in all probability muft have
furrendered, had it not been relieved by the English fleet. Sir John
Leake failed from Lifben with thirty fhips of the line, and on the
eighth day of May arrived in fight of Barcelona. The French Admiral
at his app:oach made the belt of his way to Toulon; and in three days
after his departure, Philip retired in great diforder, leaving his tents
behind, together with his fick and wounded. Smollet.
This is a mistake; he was only an Irish Peer. Iranflator.
him,
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
77
him, and Lord Galway entered that city without any
refiſtance, and proclaimed the Archduke Charles
King. A fingle detachment alſo proclaimed him June 26,
in Toledo.
1706.
In fine, Philip's affairs feemed fo defperate, that
Marſhal Vauban, the firſt of engineers, and the beit of
citizens, a man continually engaged in fchemes, ſome
ufeful, others impracticable, but all of them fingular,
propoſed to the French Court to fend Philip over t
America, to reign there; and the Prince himself confented
to it. In this cafe, all the Spaniards in Philip's intereft
would have quitted their country to follow him. Spain
would have been left a prey to civil factions. The
French would have had the whole commerce of Peru
and Mexico; and even by this reverſe of fortune in
Louis XIV's family, France would have received an ag-
grandifement of its monarchy. This project was in
confideration at Verfailles; but the perfeverance of the
Caftilians, and the overfights of the enemy, preferved the
crown to Philip V. The people loved him, as the King
of their choice; and his Queen, the Duke of Savoy's
daughter, had gained their affections by the pains the
took to pleaſe them, by an intrepidity above her fex,
and an active fortitude under misfortunes. She went
in perſon from city to city, animating the minds of her
fubjects, roufing their zeal, and receiving the donations
which they brought in on all fides; fo that in three
weeks time ſhe remitted her huſband above two hundred
thouſand crowns. Not one of the grandees who had
taken the oath of fidelity proved falfe. When Lord
Galway proclaimed the Archduke in Madrid, the
people cried out, "Long live King Philip!" and at
Toledo they rofe in tumult, and put to flight the officers
who proclaimed the Archduke.
The Spaniards had till then made very few efforts in
fupport of their King; but when they faw him thus dif-
treffed, they exerted themſelves in a diftinguifhed manner;
and on this occafion fhewed an example of a courage
quite the reverſe of that of other nations, who generally
commence with vigour, but afterwards relax. It is very
dif.
78
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
difficult to impofe a King upon a nation, against its will.
The Portugueſe, the English, and Auftrians, that were in
Spain, were miferably harraffed wherever they came, fuf-
fered much for want of provifions, and were guilty of
errors almoſt unavoidable in a ftrange country; fo that
they were beaten in detached parties. In fhort, Philip V.
three months after his leaving Madrid like
Sept. 22, a fugitive, entered it again in triumph, and
was received with as much joy and acclamations
as his rival had met with coldneſs and averfion.
1706.
Louis XIV. redoubled his efforts, when he faw the
Spaniards exert themſelves; and though he was obliged
to provide for the fafety of the fea-coalis of the Weftern
Ocean and the Mediterranean, by ftationing militia all
along the fhore; and had one army in Flanders, another
at Strafburg, a body of troops in Navarre, and one in
Rouffillon; yet he fent a fresh reinforcement to Marfhal
Berwick in Caftile.
1707.
It was with theſe troops, feconded by the Spaniards,
that Berwick gained the important battle of Al-
April 25, manza*, against Galway. Almanza, a city built
by the Moors, is on the frontier of Valencia; and
that fine Province was the prize of this victory. Neither
Philip nor the Archduke were prefent at this action,
on which the famous Earl of Peterborough, who was
fingular in every thing, obferved, "That it was excel-
"lent, indeed, to fight against one another for them."
This was what he wrote to Marthal Teffé, and what I
heard him fay, myfelf; to which he added, that none
but flaves ſhould fight for a man, and that one ſhould
only fight for a nation. The Duke of Orleans, who
was to have the command in Spain, and who was de-
firous of being prefent, dd not arrive till the day after
the battle: however, he made all poffible advantage of
*This was fought on the fourteenth day of April 1707, and was
altogether a decifive action. The Alies were totally defeated, with
the iofs of ten thousand men taken prifoners, with all their colours
and artillery. The defeat was in a great inealure owing to the
cowardice of the Portugueſe troops on the right, who fled on the firit
onfet. Smollet.
the
THE AGE OF LOUIS YIV.
79
the victory, by taking feveral places, and among others
Lerida, the rock on which the Great Condé had fplit.
On the other hand, Marſhal Villars, now replaced at
the head of the armies, merely becauſe Government could
not do without him, made amends for the fatal defeat
at Hochftet. He forced the lines at Stolhof-
1707.
fen, on the other fide the Rhine, difperfed the May 22,
enemies troops, levied contributions for fifty
leagues round, and advanced as far as the Danube.
This momentary fuccefs gave time to breathe, on the
frontiers of Germany; but in Italy all was loft. The
Kingdom of Naples, intirely defencelefs, and accuſtomed
to a change of matters, was under the yoke of the con-
querors; and the Pope, unable to refuſe a paffage to
the German troops through his dominions, faw, with-
out daring to murmur, the Emperor make him his vaf
fal against his will. It is a ftrong inftance of the force
of received opinions, and the power of cuftom, that
Naples may always be feized upon without confülting
the Pope, and yet that the poffeffor is always obliged to
do him homage for it.
While the grandſon of Louis XIV. was thus deprived
of Naples, the grandfather was on the point of loſing
Provence and Dauphiny. The Duke of Savoy and
Prince Eugene had already entered thofe Provinces by
the narrow paſs of Tenda. Thoſe frontiers are not de-
fended as Flanders and Alface are, that conſtant theatre
of the war, fet thick with citadels, which the danger of
their ſituation had rendered it neceffary to provide them-
felves with. There were none of thefe precautions taken
towards the war; none of theſe fortified places to avert
the progrefs of an enemy, and afford time to affemble
an army. This frontier has been neglected even to our
days, without its being poffible to give any other reafon
for it, except that men cannot attend to every thing.
Louis XIV. had the mortification to fee that very Duke
of Savoy, who a twelvemonth before had hardly any
thing left but his Capital, and Prince Eugene, who had
been brought up at his Court, on the point of ftrip-
ping him of Toulon and Marfeilles.
Toulon
80
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
Auguft,
Toulon was befieged, and in danger of
being taken the Engliſh Fleet, miſtreſs of
1707. the fea, lay before the harbour, and bom-
barded the town. A little more diligence, precaution,
and unanimity, would have carried Toulon. Marſeilles,
then left defencelefs, could have made no refiftance, and
France feemed likely to lofe two Provinces. But what
feems probable does not always happen. There was
time to fend fuccours. A detachment had been made
from Marſhal Villars's army, as foon as thefe Provinces.
were threatened; and the advantages in Germany were
made to give way to the fafety of a part of France.
That part of the country by which the enemy entered,
was dry, barren, and hilly; provifions were fcarce, and
a retreat difficult. A fickneſs, which made great havock
in the enemy's army, proved a moſt favourable circum-
ftance for Louis XIV. The fiege of Tou-
Auguſt 22, lon was raifed*, and foon afterwards the
1707. enemy evacuated Provence, and Dauphiny
was out of danger: fo feldom does an invafion prove
fucceſsful, unleſs there is an intelligence with the people
of the country. Charles V. failed in the fame defign;
and of late days the Queen of Hungary's troops have
been likewiſe diſappointed in their attempts upon this
country +.
*This attempt upon Toulon might have fucceeded, if the Emperor,
notwithſtanding the repeated remonftrances of the Maritime Powers,
had not divided his army in Italy, by detaching a confiderable part of
it towards Naples; and detained ten thouſand recruits in Germany,
from an apprehenfion of the King of Sweden, who was then in Saxony,
and on very indifferent terms with the Conrt of Vienna. Smollet.
" it."
+ A regard for truth, even in the moft trifling matters, obliges onc
to challenge the fpeech that the compiler of Madame Maintenon's Me-
moirs imputes to Charles XII. King of Sweden, as fpoken to the
Duke of Marlborough. "If Toulon is taken, I will go and retake
This English General was not near the King of Sweden, du-
ring that fiege. He faw him at Altranſtadt, in April 1707, and the
fiege of Toulon was ra fed in Auguft. Befides, Charles XII. never
interfered in that war, and conftantly refufed to fee any of the French
deputies that were fent to him. One meets with nothing in theſe Me-
moirs but converſations which never were, nor ever could have been
held ; and that book ought only to be confidered as an ill-digeſted
novel. Voltaire.
2
How.
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
81
However, this invaſion, which coft the Allies fo dear,
proved of equal injury to the French. Their country
had been ravaged, and their forces divided.
Europe little expected that while the French nation,
thus exhauſted, thought itſelf happy in having eſcaped
an invaſion, Louis XIV. was fufficiently great and fer-
tile in reſources, to attempt himſelf an invafion of
Great-Britain, in fpite of the weak ftate of his mari-
time forces, and the powerful fleets of the Engliſh that
covered the feas. This expedition was propofed by
fome of the Scotch in the intereft of the fon of James II.
The fuccefs was doubtful; but Louis thought the very
attempt ſufficiently glorious; and actually declared af-
terwards, that he was determined as much by this motive,
as by his own political intereſt.
To carry the war into Great-Britain at a time when
he could with difficulty fupport the burthen of it in fo
many other places, and to endeavour to replace the fon
of James II. at least on the throne of Scotland, while
he could hardly fupport Philip V. on that of Spain,
was a great idea, and, after all, not quite deftitute of
probability.
Thofe of the Scotch who had not fold themfelves to
the Court of London, were grieved to fee themſelves
reduced to a ſtate of dependence on the Engliſh, and
privately with one accord called upon the defcendant of
their ancient Kings, driven in his infancy from the thrones
of England, Scotland, and Ireland, and whofe very birth
had been conteſted by his enemies. They promifed to
join him with thirty thouſand men in arms to fight his
cauſe, if he would only land at Edinburgh with fome
few fuccours from France.
Louis XIV who in the times of his paſt profperity
had made fuch efforts in behalf of the father, now did
the fame for the fon, though his fortunes were on the
decline. Eight ſhips of war and feventy tranfports were
got ready at Dunkirk, and fix thousand men
put on board. The Count de Gacé, afterwards
Marſhal Matignon, had the command of the
troops, and the Chevalier de Forbin-Janfon, one of the
VOL. II.
G
March,
1708.
beit
3
82
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
beſt failors of his time, was Admiral of the fleet. The
conjuncture feemed favourable for their defign: there
were but three thoufand regular troops in Scotland.
England was left defencelefs, its foldiers being all em-
ployed in Flanders, under the Duke of Marlborough.
The difficulty was to get thither, for the Engliſh had
a fleet of fifty fhips of war cruifing at fea. This ex-
pedition was exactly like the late one in 1744, in favour
of the grandfon of James II. It was difcovered by the
Government, and impeded by feveral unlucky accidents,
which afforded the English Miniftry fufficient time to
fend for twelve battalions out of Flanders. Several of
the most fufpected perfons were feized in Edinburgh. At
length, the Pretender having fhewed himfelf upon the
Scotch coaft, and not feeing the fignals which had been
agreed upon, the Chevalier Forbin could do nothing
more but conduct him back again to Dunkirk. He
faved the French fleet, but the expedition was intirely
fruftrated*. Matignon was the only one who gained
any thing by it. Having opened his orders after he came
out to fea, he there found a patent for Marſhal of
France; a reward for what he meant to do, but could not
perform.
Some hiftorians have fufpected that Queen Anne
had a correfpondence with her brother in this affair. It
is
Louis XIV. is faid to have had other aims than thoſe our author
mentions. His chief defign was to make a diverfion from the Nether-
lands, and excite a revolt in Great-Britain, which might give employ-
ment to the Engliſh Miniltry, and hinder Queen Anne from exerting
herſelf again France on the Continent. The fcheme was defeated by
the vigilance of Sir George Byng, Commander of the Engliſh fqua-
dion, who reached the Fith of Edinburgh timè enough to prevent
the Pretender's landing. He gave chace to the French fquadron, one
of the ſhips of which he took, and Forbin efcaped with great dif-
Aculty. Smollet.
Among the reft, Reboulet fays fo, vol. VIII. p. 238. He founds
his fufpicions upon thofe of the Chevalier Forbin. The author who
has given fo many faltities to the public under the title of Memoirs
of Madame de Maintenon, and wh, in 1752, printed at Frankfort a
furreptitious edition of the Age of Louis XIV. afks, in one of his
Botes, Who are the hiftorians that have pretended that Queen Anne
afted in concert with her brother? It is a phantoni, tays he, Bur one
1
may
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
83
is great folly to fuppofe that fhe would invite her com-
petitor to come and dethrone her. They have con-
founded the time, and imagined that the favoured him
then, becauſe ſhe afterwards looked upon him in private
as her heir: but who would chufe to be driven from a
throne by a fucceffor?
While the affairs of France were every day growing
worſe and worſe, the King thought, that by fending the
Duke of Burgundy, his grandfon, to head the army in
Flanders, the prefence of the prefumptive heir to the
Crown would excite the emulation of the troops, which
began to droop. This Prince was of a refolute and
intrepid difpofition, pious, juft, and philofophic. He
was formed to command wife men. The pupil of Fenelon,
Archbiſhop of Cambray, he loved his duties, he loved
mankind, and endeavoured to render them happy.
Though verfed in the art of war; he confidered it rather
as the fcourge of human kind, and an unhappy ne-
ceffity, than the fource of real glory. This philofophical
Prince was the perfon fent to oppofe the Duke of Marle
borough, and they gave him the Duke of Vendôme for
an aflitant. It now happened, as it too frequently does:
the experienced Officer was not fufficiently liftened to,
and the Prince's Council frequently carried it over the
General's reaſons. Hence arofe two parties; whereas,
in the enemy's army there was but one, that of the
public good. Prince Eugene was at that time on the
Rhine; but when he and Marlborough were together,
they never had but one opinion.
The Duke of Burgundy had the fuperiority in num-
bers: France, which Europe looked upon as exhauſted,
had furniſhed him with an army of near a hundred
thouſand men; and the Allies at that time had not quite
eighty thouſand. He had moreover the advantage of
intelligence, on his fide, in a country which had been fo
long under the Spanish dominion, was tired out with
Dutch garrifons, and where a great part of the inha-
may here fee clearly that it was no phantom, and that the author of the
Age of Louis XIV. has advanced nothing without a proof in hand.
History ought never to be written otherwife. Foltaire,
G 2
bitants
84
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
bitants were inclined to favour Philip V. By his cor-
reſpondence in Ghent and Ypres, he became mafter of
theſe two places; but the fchemes of the foldier foon
rendered fruitless thofe of the politician. The diſagree-
ments in the Council of War already began to di-
ſtract their operations; ſo that now they marched to-
wards the Dendre, and two hours afterwards turned
back again towards the Scheld, to go to Oudenarde. In
this manner did they lofe time, while the Duke of Marl-
borough and Prince Eugene were making the beſt of
theirs, and acting in concert with each other. The
French were routed near Oudenarde. This
was not a great battle *; but it proved a fatal
retreat. Error was added to error. The re-
giments were fuffered to wander at random, without
receiving any orders, and above four thouſand men were
made priſoners on the road, by the enemy's army, a few
miles diſtant only from the field of battle.
July 11,
1708.
The army in defpondency retreated without any order,
part under Ghent, part under Tournay, and part under
Ypres; and quietly fuffered Prince Eugene, now maſter
of the country, to lay fiege to Lifle with an inferior
army.
To fit down before fo large and well-fortified a town
as Lifle, without being mafter of Ghent, obliged to fend
for provifions and ammunition as far as Oftend, and
thefe to be brought over a narrow caufeway, at the
hazard of being every moment furprifed, was what
Europe called a rafh action; but which the miſunder-
ſtanding and irrefolution that prevailed in the French
army, rendered very excufable, and was juftified in the
end by the fuccefs. The grand convoys, which might
have been intercepted, arrived fafe. The troops that
eſcorted them, and which ought to have been defeated
by a fuperior number, proved victorious +. The Duke
of Burgundy's army, that might have attacked the
* If the night had not interpofed, the whole French army would
have been deſtroyed. Smollet.
+ Alluding to the battle of Wynendale, in which Major-General
Webb, with fix thouſand of the Allies, defeated two-and-twenty thou-
fand French, commanded by the Count de la Motte. Ibid.
enemies
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV;
35
08. 23,
enemies entrenchments before they were complete, re-
mained inactive; and Lifle was taken, to the aſtoniſh-
ment of all Europe, who thought the Duke of
Burgundy rather in a condition to befiege
Marlborough and Eugene, than thofe Generals
to befiege Lifle. Marſhal Boufflers defended the place
near four months.
1708.
The inhabitants became fo familiar with the noiſe of
cannon, and all the horrors which attend a fiege, that
public diverfions were carried on as frequent as in time
of peace; and though a bomb one day fell very near
the play-houſe, it did not interrupt the entertainment.
Marſhal Boufflers had made fuch judicious diſpo-
fitions, that the inhabitants of this great city remained
perfectly fecure in his vigilance. The defence he made
gained him the eſteem even of his enemies, the hearts
of the inhabitants, and a reward from the King. Thoſe
hiftorians, or rather the Dutch writers, who affect to
blame him, fhould remember, that to contradict the
public voice, a perfon muſt have been a witneſs, and an
intelligent one, or prove what he advances *.
In the mean time, the army that had looked on while
Lifle was taken, began to diminish by little and little,
and ſuffered Ghent to be taken next, and then Bruges,
Of this nature is a hiſtory which a Bookfeller, called Van Duren,
pretends to have been written by the Jefuit La Motte, when concealed
in Holland, under the name of La Hode, and continued by Martiniere;
the whole founded only on the pretended Memoirs of a Count de
Secretary of State.
The Memoirs of Madame de Maintenon, ftill fuller of falfities, fay,
vol. IV. p.119, that the befiegers threw into the town little billets con-
taining thefe words: Raffurez-vous, Français, la Maintenon ne fera
pas votre Reine ; nous ne leverons pas le fiege. "Be comforted, ye
French, Maintenon fhall not be your Queen; for we ſhall not raiſe
"the fiege. It was believed (he adds) that Louis, in a tranſport of
joy, which the certainty of an unexpected victory had thrown him
into, had offered or promiſed the throne to Madame Maintenon.'
How, in a transport of impertinence, could any one commit to paper
fuch stuff? How could the dunce carry his affurance fo far, as to ſay,
that the Duke of Burgundy had betrayed the King, his grandfather,
and ſuffered Prince Eugene to take Lifle, for fear that Madame Main-
tepon fhould be declared Queen ? Voltaire,
G 3
$
and
86
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
and all the poſts one after another. Few campaigns
have proved more fatal than this. The Officers in the
Duke of Vendôme's intereft laid all thefe faults to the
Duke of Burgundy's Council, who retorted them back.
upon the Duke of Vendôme. All minds were foured
with misfortune. One of the Duke of Burgundy's
Courtiers faid, one day, to the Duke de Vendôme,
"Thus it is never to go to mafs; you fee how mif-
"fortunes attend us *." "Do you think then, replied
"the Duke de Vendôme, that Marlborough goes there
❝oftener than I?" The Emperor Jofeph was puffed up
with the rapid fucceffes of the allied army. Abfolute in
the Empire, and mafter of Landau, he faw the road to
Paris in a manner open to him by the taking of Lifle. A
party of the Dutch had the boldnefs to advance as far
as Verfailles, from Courtrai, and carried off the King's
Maſter of the Horfe, almoft from under the caſtle win-
dows, thinking it had been the Dauphin, the Duke of
Burgundy's father +. Paris was filled with terror.
The Emperor entertained as ftrong hopes of fet-
tling his brother Charles on the throne of Spain, as
Louis XIV. did to keep his grandfon in poffefſion of it.
This fucceffion, which the Spaniards wanted to have
rendered indivifible, was already fplit into three parts,
The Emperor had taken Lombardy and the Kingdom
of Naples to himſelf. His brother Charles was ftill in
poffeffion of Catalonia, and a part of Arragon. The
Emperor at that time obliged Pope Clement XI. to ac-
knowledge the Archduke for King of Spain. This
* The Marquis d'O.
+ They were not Dutch, but a parcel of Officers in the Dutch fer-
vice moftly French, whom the fatal Revocation of the Edict of Nantes
had driven out of the kingdom. They mistook the chariot of the
Marquis de Beringhen for that of the Dauphin, becauſe it bore the
fcutcheon of France. Having carried him off, they put him on horſe-
back; but as he was old and infirm, they had the kindness to look out
for a poft-chaife, themſelves, on the road, which occafioned fo much
lofs of time, that they were overtaken on a purfuit; the Mafter of the
Horfe was reſcued, and they were made prifoners in turn. Some mi-
putes later they might have taken the Dauphin, who followed foon af-
ter Beringhen, with a fingle eſcort. Voltaire.
Pope,
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV,
87
Pope, who was faid to refemble St. Teter, becauſe he
owned, denied, repented, and wept, had, after the ex-
ample of his predeceffor, acknowledged Philip V. and
was attached to the Houfe of Bourbon. The Emperor,
to punish him, declared feveral fiefs which at that time
were held from the Popes, fubject to the Empire, par-
ticularly Parma and Placentia; laid waſte ſeveral lands
belonging to the Holy See; and feized on the town of
Comacchio...
'In former times, a Pope would have excommunicated
any Emperor who had attempted to difpute with him
the moſt trifling privileges; and that excommunication
would have driven the Emperor from his throne. But
the power of the King being now reduced within its
proper bounds, Clement XI. who at the inftigation of
France had ventured to unfheath the fword for fome
ſhort time, had no fooner taken up arms than he re-
pented of it. He perceived that the Romans were in-
capable of wielding the fword under a facerdotal Go-
vernment; he therefore laid down his arms, left Co-
macchio in the Emperor's hands as a pledge, and con-
fented to write to the Archduke with the ftile of "Our
"dearest fon, the Catholic King in Spain." A fleet of
Engliſh ſhips in the Mediterranean, and a German army
in his dominions, foon made him glad to write, “To our
dearest fon Charles King of Spain." It was thought
that this fuffrage of the Pope's, though of no fervice in
the German Empire, might have fome effect on the
Spanish populace, who had been made to believe that
the Archduke was unworthy to reign, becauſe he was
protected by the heretics who had taken Gibraltar.
1708.
There yet remained to the Spanish Monarchy,
beyond the continent, the two Iflands of Sar- Auguft,
dinia and Sicily. An English fleet gave Sar-
dinia to the Emperor Jofeph; for the English were not
willing that the Archduke fhould have any thing more
than Spain. At that time they made treaties of partition
with their arms. The conqueft of Sicily they referved
for another time, chufing rather to employ their fhips.
at fea in cruifing for the Spaniſh galleons, fome of which
G4
they
88
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
1
+
they took, than in conquering new territories for the
Emperor.
France was now as much humbled as Rome, and
more in danger: its refources began to fail, credit was
at a ſtand, and the people, who had idolized their Mo-
narch in his profperity, began to murmur againſt him
when unfortunate.
A ſet of men to whom the Miniſtry had fold the na-
tion for a little ready money to fupply the immediate
calls, grew fat on the public calamity, and infulted the
ſufferings of the people by their luxurious manner of
living. The money they had advanced was ſpent; and
had it not been for the bold induſtry of certain traders,
particularly thoſe of St. Malo, who made a voyage to
Peru, and brought home thirty millions, half of which
they lent to the Government, Louis XIV. would not
have had money to pay his troops. The war had ruin-
ed the kingdom, and the merchants faved it. This was
the cafe in Spain, likewife. The galleons, which had
eſcaped being taken by the Engliſh, helped to ſupport
Philip V.; but this reſource, which was only of a few
months duration, did not facilitate the raifing of re-
cruits. Chamillard, who had been Treaſurer, and Se-
cretary at War, refigned the Finances in 1708*, which
he left in fuch diforder, that nothing could repair them,
during that reign; and in 1709, he alfo refigned the
poſt of Miniſter for the War Department, which had
become not lefs difficult than the former. Many faults
were objected to him. The Public, generally more fe-
vere than indulgent, never confidered that there are of-
ten certain unhappy times when errors are unavoidable.
Monfieur Voifin, who fucceeded him as Secretary of
War, and Monfieur Deſmarêts, who was appointed to
the Treafury, could not frame more fuccefsful plans of
war, nor reſtore an annihilated credit.
The Hiftory of the Fx-Jefuit La Motte, digefted by La Marti-
piere, fays, that Monfieur de Chamillard was removed from the Trea-
fury in 1703, and that Marshal Harcourt was called by the public
voice to fucceed him. The blunders of this writer are numberlefs.
Voltaire.
IN
The
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
;
The fevere winter of 1709 compleated the defpair
of the nation. The olive-trees, which are a great
refource in the fouth of France, were all deftroyed;
almoſt all the fruit-trees were killed with the froft
there were no hopes of an harveft, and there was very
little corn in the granaries; and what could be brought
at a very great distance from the fea-ports of the Levant
and of Barbary, was liable to be taken by the enemies
fleets, to which we had hardly any fhips of war to oppoſe.
The fcourge of this dreadful winter was general all over
Europe; but the enemies had more refources; efpecially
the Dutch, who had been fo long the factors for other
nations, had magazines fufficiently ſtored to, fupply the
ſtrongeſt armies the Allies could bring into the field, in
a plentiful manner, while the French troops, diminiſhed
and disheartened, ſeemed ready to periſh for want.
The King fold his gold plate for four hundred thou-
fand franks; and all the Nobility ſent their filver plate
to the public mint. Nothing but brown bread was
eaten in Paris for feveral months; and many families,
even at Verſailles, lived upon oaten bread. Madame
Maintenon fet the example.
Louis XIV. who had already made fome advances to-
wards a peace, determined, under thefe fatal circum-
ftances, to propofe it to thofe very Hollanders formerly
fo ill-treated by him.
The States-General had chofen no Stadtholder fince
the death of King William; and the Dutch Magif-
trates, who already began to call their families "the
patrician families," were fo many petty Kings. The
four Dutch Commiffaries who attended the army, be-
haved with the utmoſt infolence to thirty German
Princes in their pay. "Send Holftein hither," faid
they; "bid Heffe come and fpeak to us*." In this
manner did a fet of merchants exprefs themſelves, who,
*This is what the Author had from the mouths of twenty perfons
who heard them ſpeak in this manner, in Lifle, after the taking of that
town. However, it is poffible that fuch expreffions might have been
pot fo much the effect of infolence, as of that laconic ftile ufual in the
army. Voltaire.
all
go.
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
C
all plain in their garb, and abftemious in their way!
of
living, took a pleafure in mortifying the haughtiness of
the German mercenaries, and the pride of a great King
who had formerly been their conqueror. They had fold
their alliance to Louis XIV. at a low price, in 1665;
fuftained their misfortunes in.1672, and repaired them
with intrepid courage; and now they were refolved to
ufe the benefit of their good fortune. They were not
contented with fhewing the world, by thefe external
marks of fuperiority, that power is the only real great-
nefs; they likewife infifted upon having ten towns in
Flanders given them up in fovereignty; and, among
others, Lifle, which was already in their hands, and
Tournai, which was not yet taken. Thus the Dutch
wanted to reap all, the fruits of the war, not only at the
expence of France, but at that of the Houſe of Auſtria
likewife, whofe caufe they had been fighting, juft as
Venice had formerly augmented its territories with thoie
of all its neighbours. The Republican fpirit is upon
the whole full as ambitious as the Monarchical.
This plainly appeared a few months afterwards; for
when this fhadow of a negociation was vanifhed, and
the allied army had gained fome freſh advantages, the
Duke of Marlborough, at that time more abfolute, in
England than his Miſtreſs, having been gained over by
the Dutch, concluded with the States-General, in 1799,
the famous Barrier-treaty, by which they were to keep
poffeffion of all the frontier towns which fhould be taken
from the French; were to have garrifons in twenty for-.
trefes in Flanders, to be maintained at the expence of
the country, in Huy, in Liege, and in Bonn; and to
have Upper Gueldres in perpetual fovereignty. By
this treaty they would have become, in effect, fove-
reigns of the feventeen Provinces of the Netherlands,
and have had the fupreme rule in Liege and Cologne,
In this manner did they want to aggrandize themſelves
by the ruin even of their allies. They were full of thefe
lofty projects, when the Prefident Rouillé was fent pri-
vately by the King to endeavour to bring them into a
treaty.
This
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
91
This negociator first met at Antwerp with two Bur
gomaſters of Amfterdam, Buys and Vanderduffen, who
fpoke to him in the ftile of conquerors, and behaved to-
wards the Envoy of the proudest Prince in Europe with
all that haughtinefs which had been uſed towards them-
felves in 1672. They afterwards held a conference with
him in one of thofe villages that the Generals of Louis
XIV. had formerly ravaged with fire and fword. When
they had ſported with him thus for a confiderable time,
they declared to him that the King of France ſhould
oblige his grandfon to relinquish the Crown of Spain,
without the leaft compenfation; and that the Elector
of Bavaria, Francis-Maria, with his brother, the Elector
of Cologne, fhould make a fubmiflion, or that the for-
tune of war fhould conclude the treaty.
The hopeleſs difpatches of the Prefident Rouillé ar-
rived, ftroke after ſtroke, to the Council at the time of
the moſt deplorable mifery, in which the kingdom had
been reduced to its moft wretched ftate. The winter of
1709 had left the moft fhocking traces, and the people
were periſhing of famine. The troops were without pay
and the defolation was univerfal. The groans and the
terrors of the Public ftill augmented the malady.
•
The Council was compofed of the Dauphin, the Duke
of Burgundy his fon, the Chancellor of France Pont-
chartrain, the Duke of Beauvilliers, the Marquis de
Torcy, the Secretary of War Chamillard, and the
Comptroller-General Defmarêts. The Duke of Beau-
villiers gave fo moving a defcription of the condition to
which France was reduced, that the Duke of Burgundy
wept, and the whole Council fhed tears along with him.
The Chancellor declared for peace, at whatever price it
might be purchaſed. The Minifters of the war and the
finances acknowledged, that they were both without re-
fources. "A fcene fo melancholy," faid the Marquis
of Torcy, "would be difficult to defcribe, even though
"one was at liberty to reveal the fecret that was the moſt
"touching part of it." This fecret was the circum-
ftance of the tears which were then flowing.
The
Σ
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
The Marquis de Torcy, in this crifis, offered to go
himſelf and ſhare the infults offered to the King in the
perſon of the Preſident Rouillé. But what hopes could
he have to obtain what the conquerors had already re-
fuſed? He could not expect it but upon ftill harder con-
ditions.
May 22,
The Allies then opened the campaign. Tor-
1709. cy went under a borrowed name to the Hague.
The Grand Penfionary Heinfius was much aſtoniſhed
when he was told that the perſon who was regarded by
foreigners as the principal Miniſter of France, was in
his anti-chamber. Heinfius had been formerly ſent to
France by King William, to diſcuſs his rights upon the
Principality of Orange. He addreffed himſelf to Lou-
vois, Secretary of State, having the department of Dau-
phiny, which borders on Orange, under his charge.
William's Minifter fpoke fpiritedly, not only for his
maſter, but for thoſe of the reformed religion in Orange.
But can it be believed, that Louvois fhould threaten to
fend him to the Baftile ?* Such an expreffion uſed to a
meer fubject would have been odious; but to a foreign
Miniſter was an infolent outrage againſt the law of na-
tions. One may judge whether or no this treatment had
not left a deep impreffion in the heart of a Magiftrate of
a free people.
There have been but few examples of ſo much pride
followed by ſuch great humiliations +. The Marquis
de Torcy, a fuppliant at the Hague, in the name of
Louis XIV. addreffed himſelf to Prince Eugene and the
Duke of Marlborough, after having loft his time with
Heinfius. But they were all three for continuing the
war. The Prince confidered in it his greatneſs, and his
revenge; the Duke his glory, and immenfe riches, of
which he was equally fond, and the third, who was go-
verned by the other two, looked upon himſelf as a Spar-
tan humbling the pride of a Perfian King. They con,
* See the Memoirs of Torcy, Volume III. Page 2. They confirm
all that is advanced here. Voltaire.
More is the pity! Tranflator.
fented,
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
93
いい
​fented, not to a peace, but only a truce; during which
full fatisfaction was to be made to all their allies, with-
out taking any notice of the King's; with theſe further
conditions, that the King fhould affift his enemies to
drive his own grandſon out of Spain, in the ſpace of
two months; and that, by way of fecurity, he ſhould
commence by ceding to the States-General, for-ever, ten
towns in Flanders, reftore Strafburg and Brifac, and re-
nounce the fovereignty of Alface.
Louis little expected, fome years before, when he re-
fuſed a regiment to Prince Eugene, when Churchill was
not yet a Colonel in England, and the name of
Heinfius was hardly known to him, that one day theſe
three men fhould impofe fuch laws on him. In vain did
Torcy attempt to bribe Marlborough with an offer of
four millions; for the Duke, who loved glory as much
as money, and who, from the vast gains produced by
his victories, had amaffed above four millions already,
left the Miniſter of France only the mortification of
having made a fhameful and an uſeleſs offer.
Torcy reported to the King the conditions, or rather
the commands, of his enemies. Louis XIV. now did
what he had never before done with his fubjects. He
juſtified himſelf to them: he addreffed to the Governors
of the Provinces, and to the Corporations of the Towns,
a circular letter, by which, in communicating to his
people the further burden he was obliged to impofe upon
them, he excited their indignation, their honour, and
even their compaffion*.
*The author of the Memoirs of Madame Maintenon fays, vol. V.
p. 92 and 93, that "the Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene
had gained over Heinfius," as if Heinfius required to be brought over.
He puts into the mouth of Louis XIV. inftead of the fpirited exprellion
he made ufe of in full Council, thefe low and flat words, Alors, com-
me alors (a). He alfo cites the Author of the Age of Louis XIV.
and reprehends him for having faid that Louis XIV. had the circular
letter pofted up in the streets of Paris. We have examiued all the edi-
tions of the Age of Louis XIV. and could not find a ſingle word of the
paffage here quoted, not even in the furrep itious edition that he
printed himself at Frankfort, in 1752. Voltaire.
(a) Theſe words are but the beginning of the fentence he imputes to Louis XIV.,
and having no meaning by themſelves, cannot be tranflated. Tranflator.
The
94
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
eyes
of
The politicians faid, that Torcy went to the Hague in
that fuppliant manner, only to throw the whole blame
upon the enemy, to juftify Louis XIV. in the
Europe, and animate the French to a juft refentment;
but the fact is, that he went there folely to fue for peace.
The Preſident Rouillé was even left fome days longer at
the Hague, to endeavour to get more favourable con-
ditions; but all the anfwer he received was an order
from the States-General to depart Holland in twenty
four hours*.
66
Louis XIV. when he heard the rigorous terms impof-
ed upon him, ſaid in full Council, "Since I muſt make
war, I would rather it fhould be against my enemies,
"than my children." He then made preparations to try
his fortune once more in Flanders. The famine, which
had laid waſte the countries round, proved a reſource
for the war. Thoſe who wanted bread enlifted for fol-
diers. Many lands lay untilled; but an army was
raiſed. Marſhal Villars, who had been fent the pre-
ceding year into Savoy, to command a few troops, whoſe
ardour was revived by his prefence, and who had
met with fome little fucceffes, was recalled into Flan-
ders, as the perfon in whom the State placed all her
hopes.
Marlborough had already taken Tournay; and with
Prince Eugene, who had covered the fiege, marched to
inveft Mons. Marſhal Villars advanced to prevent
them, having with him Marſhal Boufflers, a fenior Of-
ficer, but who had defired to ferve under him. Bouf-
flers had a true affection for his King and Country; and
proved, on this occafion (notwithſtanding what has
been faid by a great Genius +), that there are virtues in
a Monarchical State, eſpecially under a good maſter.
There are doubtlefs as many as in a Republic, with
Torcy had actually agreed to preliminaries which Louis rejected;
and it was in confequence of this rejection, that Rouillé was ordered to
quit Holland in four-and-twenty hours. Smellet.
+ Moatefquieu.
lefs
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
93
lefs enthuſiaſm, perhaps, but with more of what is called
honour *
As foon as the French advanced to oppoſe the inveſt-
ing of Mons, the Allies advanced to attack them near
the wood of Blangies and the village of Malplaquet.
The army of the Allies confifted of about eighty
thousand men, and that of the French of about feventy
thousand. The French brought eighty pieces of can-
This paffage deferves to be examined. The celebrated Author of
The Spirit of Laws fays, that honour is the principle of Monarchical
Governments, and virtue that of Republican nes.
Theſe are but vague and confufed ideas, which our Author has as
vaguely and confufedly queftioned; becaufe men are feldom agreed in
the definition of terms, and indeed rarely underſtand them. Honour
is the defire to be honoured, to be efteemed; from whence arifes the
habit of avoiding every action of which a man ought to be ashamed.
Virtue is the performance of all our duties in life, independent of the
defire of eſteem; from whence it comes, that honour is common, vir-
tue rare.
<
The principle, therefore, of a Monarchy, or of a Republic, is
neither honour nor virtue. A Monarchy is founded on the power of a
fingle perfon; and a Republic is founded on the power of a number of
perions to oppoſe the power of any fingle one. Monarchies are gene-
rally established by the Chiefs of Armies; Republics by a Convention
of Citizens. Honour is common to mankind, and virtue ſcarce in all
Governments. The ſelfiſhneſs of each individual of a Republic watches
over the ſelfiſhneſs of others; each would be fupreme, and therefore
no one is fo. The ambition of each Member is a general reftraint,
and an equality is thereby preferved.
In an established Monarchy ambition cannot fucceed, but by gaining
the favour of the King, or of thoſe who rule under him. There is not
in theſe firſt reſources either honour or virtue, on one fide or the other.
Intereft only prevails. Virtue is in all countries the refult of educa-
tion and of character. It is faid in The Spirit of Laws, that virtue is
more neceffary in a Republic; but in one fenfe 'tis quite the reverſe.
There requires much more virtue in a Court, to enable one to reſiſt ſo
many feductions.
The Duke of Montaufier and the Duke of Beauvilliers were both
men of a rigid virtue. Marſhal Villeroy joined milder manners to a
probity not lefs incorruptible. The Marquis de Torcy was one of the
honefteft men in Europe, in a fituation where politics permits a relax-
ation of morals. The Comptrollers-General le Pelletier and Chamil-
lard were reckoned lefs kilful than virtuous.
It muſt be acknowledged, that Louis XIV. in this unfortunate war,
was fcarcely furrounded by any but men of irreproachable characters.
This is an obfervation very true and very important, in a History
where the manners of the times take up fo great a part. French Note.
non
96
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
non into the field, the Allies one hundred and forty.
The Duke of Marlborough commanded the right wing,
compoſed of the Engliſh, and German troops in Engliſh
pay; Prince Eugene was in the center; Tilly and a
Count of Naffau at the left, with the Dutch.
Marshal Villars took the command of the
Sept. 1, left wing of his army, and left the right to
1709-
Marshal Boufflers. He had entrenched his
army in hafte; a method perhaps moft fuitable to his
troops, that were inferior in numbers, had been a long
time unſucceſsful, and confifted of one half freſh re-
cruits it was moft fuitable likewife to our condition at
that time; as an intire defeat would have compleated
the ruin of the nation. Some Hiftorians have found
fault with the difpofition made by the Marſhal: "He
ought (fay they) to have paffed a large hollow, inſtead
"of having it in his front." Is it not being rather too
difcerning to judge thus from our cloſet of what paſſes
in a field of battle?
66
All that I know is, what the Marſhal himſelf ſaid,
that the foldiers, who had had no bread for a whole day,
and had juſt their allowance diſtributed among them,
threw half of it away, to come the lighter to action.
There never was, for many ages, a longer or more ob-
ftinate battle; none more bloody. I fhall fay nothing
of this action but what has been univerfally acknowledg-
ed. The enemies left wing, where the Dutch fought, was
almoſt intirely cut to pieces, and purfued with bayonets
fixed. Marlborough, at the right, made and withſtood
furpriſing efforts. Marfhal Villars had occafion to thin
his center to oppofe Marlborough; at that very inſtant
the center was attacked, the entrenchments which co-
vered it were carried, the regiment of guards who de-
fended them making no refiftance. The Marſhal, in
riding from his left wing to his center, was wounded,
and the day was loft. The field of battle was covered.
with the bodies of thirty thouſand men, killed or dy-
ing.
They marched over heaps of flain, eſpecially in the
Dutch quarter. The lofs of the French in this battle,
did
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
97
did not amount to more than eight thouſand men; the
enemy left near twenty-one thoufand killed and wound-
ed; but the center being forced, and the two wings cut
off, thofe who had made the greateſt flaughter lost the
day.
Marfhal Boufflers* made a retreat in good order,
with the affiftance of the Prince of Tingri-Montmo-
renci, fince Marfhal Luxemburg, inheritor of the valour
of his anceſtors. The army retired between Quefnoi
and Valenciennes, carrying with them feveral ftandai ds
and colours taken from the enemy. Louis XIV.com-
forted himself with thefe fpoils, and it was eſteemed a
victory to have difputed the day ſo long, and to have
loft only the field of battle. Marſhal Villars, at his re-
turn to Court, affured the King, that if he had not been
wounded, he fhould have gained the victory. I know
the General himfelf was perfuaded of this, but I know
very few people befides who believe it.
It may feem furprifing, that an army, which had killed
the enemy near two-thirds more men than it loft itfelf,
fhould not endeavour to prevent thofe who had gained
no other advantage but that of lying in the midft of their
dead, from going to lay fiege to Mons. The Dutch
were fearful for the fuccefs of this enterprize, and heſi-
tated about it; but the conquered are frequently im-
pofed upon and difheartened, by the name of having
loft a battle. Men never do all that they might do, and
* In a book entitled Memoirs of Marshal Berwick it is faid, that
Marshal Berwick made this retreat. In this manner are a number of
Memoirs written.
One reads in thofe of Madame Maintenon, by La Beaumelle, vol.
V. page 99, that the Allies accuſed Marthal Villars of having wounded
himself, and that the French reproached him for having retreated too
Joon. Theſe are two very ridiculous charges. This General had re-
ceived a mufket-fhot under the knee, which broke the bone, and
obliged him to limp, all the rest of his lite. The King fent him the
Sieur Marechal. his first furgeon, who folely prevented the curting
off the limb. This is what I received myfelt from the mouth of Mer
fhal Villars, and of that great furgeon: 'tis what al his Officers
knew, and what Marshal Villars condeicended to confirm to me in
his letters. He only treated with contempt the infolent and calumni-
ous afperfions of La Beaumelle. Voltaire.
VOL. II.
H
WorM
the
98
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
the foldier who is told he is beaten, fears to be beaten
again. Thus Mons was befieged and taken,
Oct. 11, and all for the Dutch, who kept poffeffion of
it, as they had done of Liſle and Tournai.
1709.
CHA P.
XXII.
Louis XIV. continues to folicit Peace, and to defend Himself.
The Duke of Vendôme fecures the King of Spain on kis
Throne.
THE
HE enemy not only continued thus advancing by
degrees, and levelling all the barriers of France,
on this fide; but they undertook, with the affiſtance of
the Duke of Savoy, to furprife Franche Comté, and
penetrate at once by both ends into the heart of the
kingdom. General Merci, who was charged with fa-
cilitating this enterprize, by entering into Upper Alface
1709.
by the City of Bafil, was happily stopped near
Aug. 26, the Ifle of Newburg on the Rhine, by the Count,
fince Marſhal Dubourg. By I know not what
unaccountable fatality, all thofe of the name of Merci
have been always as unfucceſsful as they were eſteemed.
This one was defeated in the completeft manner. No-
thing was undertaken on the fide of Savoy, but much
was apprehended in regard to Flanders; and the domeſtic
affairs of the kingdom were in fo languid a ftate, that
the King once more folicited peace like a fuppliant. He
offered to acknowledge the Archduke for King of
Spain; to withdraw all affiftance from his grandfon,
and leave him to his fate; to deliver up four places as
fecurities; to reſtore Strafburg and Brifac; to refign
the fovereignty of Alface, referving only the prefecture;
to raze all the fortified places between Bafil and Philipf-
burg; to fill up the long-formidable harbour of Dun-
kirk, and demoliſh its fortifications; and to leave Lifle,
Tournay, Ypres, Menin, Furnes, Condé, and Mau-
beuge in the hands of the States-General. Theſe were
in
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
99
in part the articles propofed to ferve as a bafis for the
peace which he implored.
The Allies, determined to have the triumph of dif-
cuffing the fubmiffive propofals of Louis XIV. permitted
his Plenipotentiaries to come to the little town of Ger-
truydenberg, in the beginning of the year 1710, to pre-
fent their mafter's fupplications. Louis made choice of
Marfhal d'Uxelles, a man of great coolness and tacitur-
nity, and of a difpofition rather prudent than elevated
or bold. With him was joined the Abbé, afterwards
Cardinal, Polignac, one of the brighteft wits and moſt
eloquent orators of his age, and of a moft engaging per-
fon and addreſs. But wit, prudence, and eloquence, are
of no fervice in a Minifter, when the Maſter is unſuc-
cefsful. It is conqueft that makes treaties. The Am-
baffadors of Louis XIV. were rather confined in Ger-
truydenberg, than received there. The Deputies came
to hear their propoſals, which they tranfmitted to the
Hague to Prince Eugene, the Duke of Marlborough,
and Count Zinzendorf, Ambaffador from the Emperor.
Theſe propoſals were always received with contempt.
The Plenipotentiaries were infulted by the moft abufive
libels, the work of French refugees, who were become
more inveterate enemies to the glory of Louis XIV. than
even Prince Eugene or the Duke of Marlborough*.
Though the French Plenipotentiaries carried their
fubmiffion fo far as to promife for the King, that he
ſhould furnish money to dethrone Philip V. they were
not liftened to. It was infifted upon as a preliminary,
that Louis XIV. fhould engage alone to drive his grand-
fon out of Spain, in two months, by force of arms.
This abfurd piece of inhumanity, much more infolent
than a refufal, arofe from frefn fucceffes.
While the Allies were thus treating Louis XIV. like
mafters irritated against his pride and greatnefs, now
equally humbled, the city of Douay was taken by them;
and foon afterwards they took Bethune, Aire, and St.
Venant; and Lord Stair propofed to fend troops to the
gates of Paris.
* And they bad more reaſon to be ſo. Smellet.
H 2
Almoft
100
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
Aug. zo,
1710.
$5
Almoft at the fame time the Archduke's army, com-
manded by Guy Staremberg, the neareſt in military re-
putation to Prince Eugene of all the German
Generals, gained a compleat victory near Sa-
ragoffa over that army in which Philip V.
and his adherents had placed their hopes, and which was
commanded by the Marquis de Bay, an unfortunate
General. Here again it was obferved, that the two
rival Kings, though within reach of their armies, were
not prefent at this battle. Of all the Princes for whom
Europe was then up in arms, the Duke of Savoy was the
only one who fought his own battles. It was a melan-
choly thing, that he could acquire his glory only by
fighting againſt his two daughters, one of whom he en-
deavoured to dethrone, in order to gain a ſmall ſpot of
ground in Lombardy, about which the Emperor Jofeph
already began to make fome difficulties, and which he
would have been ftript of, the very firft opportunity.
This Emperor was ſucceſsful every-where, but fhewed
no moderation in his good fortune. By his own meer
authority he difmembered Bavaria, and beftowed the
fiefs of it on his relations and creatures. He defpoiled
the young Duke of Mirandola of his dominions in Italy,
and the Princes of the Empire maintained an army for
him on the Rhine, without thinking that they were la-
bouring to ftrengthen a power which they ought to fear;
fo much did the old prevailing hatred to the name of
Louis XIV. occupy every mind, as appearing to be the
principal concern. Jofeph had likewife the good for-
tune to fupprefs the Hungarian male-contents. The
Court of France had fet up Prince Ragotſki againſt him,
who came armed with his own pretenfions and thoſe of
his country. Ragotſki was beaten, his towns taken,
and his party ruined. Thus Louis XIV. was equally
• The whole cavalry of Philip were defeated at Almenara, by the
Allied horſe, commanded by General Stanhope, who, with his own
hand, flew General Am:ffaga, commander of the Spanish Guards.
General Staremberg followed Philip's army to Saragefla, where they
gave him battle, on the 9th day of Auguft, and were totally defeated.
Smollet. Hou
unfortunate,
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
101
unfortunate abroad and at home, by fea and land, in
his public negociations and his private intrigues.
It was believed by all Europe, at that time, that the
Archduke Charles, brother to the fortunate Jofeph,
would reign without a competitor in Spain. Europe
was threatened with a power more formidable than
that of Charles V.; and the English, fo long the de-
clared foes of the Auftrian-Spaniſh branch, and the
Dutch, its revolted flaves, were thoſe who exhaufted
themſelves to eſtabliſh it. Philip V. who had taken re-
fuge in Madrid, quitted it again, and retired to Valla-
dolid, while the Archduke Charles made his entry as a
conqueror into the capital.
The French King could no longer fupply his grand-
ſon with fuccours; he had been obliged to do that, in
part, which the Allies had exacted of him at Gertruy-
denberg, to abandon the cauſe of Philip, by recalling,
for his own defence, thofe troops that were yet in Spain;
being hardly able to ſtand his ground againſt Savoy, on
the Rhine, and in Flanders, where the ftrefs of the war
chiefly lay.
Spain was in a ftill more deplorable fituation than
France. Almoſt all its Provinces had been laid wafte
by its enemies and its friends. It was attacked by Por-
tugal. Its commerce was deſtroyed. There was a ge-
neral dearth throughout the kingdom; but this, indeed,
was more ſeverely felt by the victors, than by the van-
quifhed; becauſe, throughout a large extent of country,
the affection of the people gave all in their power to
Philip, and refufed every thing to the Auftrians. Phi-
lip had no longer either a General or troops from France.
The Duke of Orleans, by whom his drooping fortunes
had been a little raifed, inftead of commanding his army,
was then confidered as his enemy. It is certain, that not-
withstanding the affection the inhabitants of Madrid had
for Philip, and the fidelity of many of the Grandees,
and of all Caftile, he had ftill a powerful party against
him in Spain. The Catalonians, a warlike and head-
ftrong nation, were obftinately attached to his rival.
One-half of Arragon had likewife been game over.
H 3
.
One
102
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV:
One party of the people waited the event of affairs,
and another hated the Archduke more than they loved
Philip. The Duke of Orleans, the namefake of Philip,
diſguſted beſides with the Miniſtry of Spain, and dif-
pleaſed with the Princefs Urfini, who governed there,
began to conceive hopes that he might fecure for himſelf
the country which he had come to defend; and when
Louis XIV. him felf propofed to give up his grandfon,
and an abdication was already talked of in Spain,
the Duke of Orleans thought himfelf worthy of filling
the throne which Philip V. would be obliged to refign.
He had fome pretenfions to that Crown, which had been
left unnoticed in the King of Spain's will, but which
his father had maintained his claim to by a proteft.
By means of his agents, he made a league with ſome
of the Grandees, who engaged to place him on the
throne, in caſe Philip V. fhould quit it. Upon this event,
he would have found many of the Spaniards ready to liſt
under the ftandard of a Prince who was fo compleat a
warrior. This fcheme, had it fucceeded, could not
have diſpleaſed the Maritime Powers, as there would
have been lefs apprehenfion of feeing the kingdoms of
France and Spain united in one perfon, and fewer ob-
ftacles would then have remained to the peace. The
project was dilcovered at Madrid, about the beginning
of 1709, while the Duke of Orleans was at Verlailles,
and his agents in Spain were imprifoned. Philip V.
never forgave his coulin, for thinking him capable of
abdicating, and endeavouring to fucceed him. In
France, the whole kingdom cried out against the Duke
of Orleans. The Dauphin, father to Philip V. propofed
in Council to bring the offender to justice as a criminal;
but the King chofe rather to bury in filence this abor.
tive and pardonable project, than to puniſh his nephew,
at the time that his grandfon was on the verge of ruin.
In fine, about the time of the battle of Saragoffa, the
Spaniſh Council and moft of the Grandees, finding they
had no leader to oppoie to Staremberg, whom they
looked upon as a fecond Eugene, wrote in a body to
Louis V, requesting him to fend them the Duke de
Vendôme.
3
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
103
Vendôme. This Prince, who had retired to Anet, fet
out immediately, and his prefence was as good as an
army. The Spaniards were ftruck with the great repu-
tation he had gained in Italy, which the unfortunate
campaign of Lifle had not been able to impair. His
affability, openneſs, and liberality, which latter quali-
fication he carried to a degree of profufion, and his love
for his foldiers, won him all hearts.
Auguft,
1710.
The moment he fet his foot in Spain, there happened
to him what had formerly happened to Bertrand du
Guefclin his name alone drew a croud of volunteers.
He wanted money: the Corporations of the towns and
villages, and the religious communities, fupplied him.
The nation was feized with a ſpirit of enthuſiaſm. The
fcattered troops left after the battle of Sara-
goffa, affembled together under him at Valla-
dolid. Every place exerted itfelf in furnish-
ing recruits. The Duke de Vendôme, without allowing
time for this freſh ardour to cool, goes in purſuit of the
conquerors, brings the King back to Madrid, obliges
the enemy to retire towards the frontiers of Portugal,
follows them thither, makes his army fwim over the
Tagus, takes General Stanhope prifoner in
Brihuega with five thouſand Engliſh, comes
up
Dec. 9,
1710.
with General Staremberg at Villa Viciofa,
and gives him battle the next day. Philip V. who had
not accompanied any of his former Generals to the field,
animated with the Duke of Vendôme's fpirit, put him-
felf at the head of the right wing, while that General
took the left. A complete victory was gained over the
enemy *,
*, and, in leſs than four months time, this great
H 4
Gene-
Stanhope was ſurpriſed, furrounded, and, after a very obftinate
refiftance, obliged to fuirender himself and all his forces, amounting
to two thousand men, including three Lieutenant-generals, one Major-
general, and one Brigadier. At Villa Viciofa, Staremberg fought
againf double his number. His left wing was utterly defeated: but
with the remainder of his troops he maintained his ground till night,
when the enemy retired in diforder, leaving him raafter of the field
and all their artillery, after having lot above fix thousand men, who
were killed on the fpot. Staremberg had fuffered ſo much in the
bat le,
1C4
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
General, who had been called in when things were at
the laft extremity, retrieved all, and fecured the crown
for ever on the head of Philip V.*
While the Allies remained aftonifhed at this furprifing
revolution, one of a more ſecret kind, and not lefs de-
cive, was preparing in England. A German † had by
his ill conduct loft the Houſe of Auftria all the fuccef-
fion of Charles V. and was therefore the first author of
the war; an Englishwoman by her indifcretion brought
about the peace.
Sarah Jennings, Dutchefs of Marlborough, governed
Queen Anne; and the Duke, her huſband, governed
the ſtate. He had the Treafury at his command, thro'
the means of the Lord-High-Treafurer Godolphin, whofe
fon had married one of his daughters. His fon-in-law,
Sunderland, Secretary of State, fubmitted every thing
in the cabinet to him; and the Queen's houfhold, where
his wife had an abfolute authority, was at his devotion,
I was alle mafter of the army, as he had the difpofal
of all poſts.
If two parties, the Whigs and the Tories, divided
Engiand, the Whigs, at whofe head he was, did every
thing that could contribute to his greatnels; and the
Tories had been forced to admire him, and be filent. It
js not unworthy of hiftory to add, that the Duke and
Dutchefs were the two handſomeft perfons of their time;
and that this advantage contributes not a little to im-
poſe upon the multitude, when accompanied with dig-
nities and glory.
He had more intereft at the Hague than the Grand
Penfionary; and had great influence in Germany. As
a Negociator and General, he had ever been fuccefsiul,
battle, that he could not pretend to maintain his ground any longer;
he therefore ordered their cannon to be nailed up, and retired to Ca-
talonia. Smollet.
* It was reported that after the battle, Philip V. having no bed,
the Duke of Vendôme faid to him, I fhall prepare for you the richeſt
*bed that ever Monarch repofed in ;" upon which he had one con -
Aructed of all the tandards and colours taken from the enemy.
Voltaire.
The former Emperor Leopold,
and
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
105
and enjoyed a more extenfive ſhare of power and reputa-
tion, than had ever fallen to the lot of any fingle perfon.
He could likewiſe ſtrengthen his power by the immenfe
riches he had acquired during his having the command.
I have heard his widow fay, that, after he had given
fortunes to his four children, he had remaining, inde-
pendent of any gifts from the Crown, feventy thousand
pounds per ann. which makes about one million five
hundred thousand of our livres. Had not his parfimony
been equal to his greatneſs, he might have formed a
party in the kingdom that Queen Anne could not eaſily
have overthrown, and had his wife been a little more
complaifant, the Queen would never have broken her
chains. But the Duke could never get the better of his
thirst for riches, nor the Dutchefs of her capricious tem-
per. The Queen loved her with a tendernefs that went
even to fubmiffion, and the having no will but hers.
In attachments of this nature, it is generally on the
fide of the Sovereign that arifes the difguft, the ca-
price, the haughtinefs, and abuſe of fuperiority; theſe
are the things which first make the yoke felt: but all
theſe the Dutchefs of Marlborough heaped upon her mif-
trels with a heavy hand. The Queen, who could not live
without a favourite, turned her eyes upon Lady Mafham,
her Miftrels of the Robes. The jealoufy of the Dutchefs
broke out. A pair of gloves of a particular faſhion
which the refuſed the Queen, and a glaſs of water that
fhe let fall in her prefence upon Lady Mafham's gown,
by a purpoſed carelessnefs, changed the face of affairs
in Europe. Matters grew warm between the two par-
ties. The new favourite's brother asked the Duke for
a regiment; the Duke refufed it, and the Queen gave
it to him herfelf. The Tories laid hold of this con-
juncture to free the Queen from her domeftic flavery,
humble the power of the Duke, change the Ministry,
make peace, and if poffible replace the Stuart family on
he throne of England *,
If
* We can affirm, on the very best authority, that the Tories nover
harboured any fuch defign. There might indeed be fome Jacobites.
among
A
J06
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
If the difpofition of the Dutchefs would have allowed
her to have made fone conceflions, fhe might ſtill have
retained her power. The Queen and fhe had been uſed
to write to each other, every day, under feigned names.
This myfterious familiarity always left the way open for
a reconciliation; but the Dutchefs made ufe of this re-
furce only to make things worfe. She wrote to the
Queen with the greateft infolence; fhe faid in her letter,
"Do me juſtice, and make me no anfwer." She foon
repented of what he had done: fhe went to aſk pardon
of the Queen, and wept; but her Majefty made her
only this reply: "You have ordered me not to anſwer
you, and I fhall not anfwer you."
་
r
After this the breach was irreparable. The Dutcheſs
appeared no more at Court, and fome time afterwards
Sunderland, the Duke's fon-in-law, was removed from
the Miniſtry, as the firft ftep towards turning out Go-
dolphin, and then the Duke himſelf. In other king-
doms this is called a difgrace; in England it is only a
change of meaſures; but this was a revolution yet very
difficult to be brought about.
The Tories, though mafters of the Queen, were not
fo of the kingdom, They found themielves obliged to
have recourfe to religion. At prefent there is little more
religion in Great-Britain than what is juft fufficient to
diftinguish factions. The Whigs inclined to Prefbyte-
rianiin. This was the faction that had dethroned
James II. perfecuted Charles II. and brought Charles I.
to the block. The Tories were in the epifcopal inte-
reft, who favoured the Houfe of Stuart, and wanted to
eſtabliſh paſſive obedience to Kings, becaufe the Biſhops
hoped by that means to have more obedience paid to
themſelves. A Clergyman was procured to preach up
this doctrine in St. Paul's Cathedral, and to fet forth
zmong them, who fecretly entertained notions of that kind; but thefe
they carefully concealed from the party with which they affociated.
Some too were driven into Jacobitifm by hard ufage: but the Tories
in general had no intention to alter that fucceffion which they had
themfelves eftablished. Smollet.
Dr. Smollet was miftaken, if we may give credit to more authentic
tellimony. Tranflator.
in
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
107.
in the moſt odious light the adminiftration of Marlbo-
rough, and the party which had given the Crown to King
William *. But notwithſtanding the Queen fecretly fa-
voured this preacher, ſhe could not prevent his being
filenced, for three years, by the two Houfes of Parlia-
ment, nor his fermon from being burnt by the hands of
the common hangman. She felt her want of power ftill
more fenfibly, in not being able to indulge the fecret ties
of blood in opening a way for her brother to the throne,
which the Whigs had barred against him. Thoſe writers
who fay that Marlborough and his party fell, the inſtant
the Queen ceaſed to ſupport them with her favour, know
nothing of the affairs of England. The Queen, though
now defirous of peace, did not dare to remove Marlbo-
rough from the command of her armies; and, in the
fpring of 1711, he was ftill purſuing his conquefts over
France, though in difgrace at his own Court.
About the latter end of January, in this fame year
1711, arrived at Verfailles an unknown Prieft, named
the Abbé Gautier, who had formerly been coadjutor to
the Almoner of Marſhal Tallard, in his embaffy to
King William. He had from that time always remained
in London, without any other employment than that of
faying Mafs in the private Chapel of the Count de Ga-
las, Ambaffador from the Emperor in England. Some
chance or other had happened to introduce this man to
the confidence of a nobleman, a friend to the new Mini-
fter who oppofed the Duke of Marlborough. This
unknown perfon prefented himſelf to the Marquis de
Torcy, and faid to him, without any other preamble,
"Would you have peace? Sir, I am come to offer you
"the means of obtaining it." "This is, replied
* The Marquis de Torcy calls him, in his Memoirs, a Calvinift
Preacher; but he was miltaken; this is a title that is only given to
the Prefbyterian clergy. Henry Sacheverell, who is here meant, was
a Doctor of Divinity at Oxford, and of the Epifcopal party. He
preached at St. Paul's in favour of paffive obedience, and againſt tole.
ration. Thefe tenets were cenfured by the Parliament; but his invec-
tives againſt the Marlborough faction were more fo. Voltaire.
1
" M.
1c8
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
"Mr. de Torcy, to aík a dying man if he would be
"cured *."
A fecret negotiation was then immediately fet on foot,
with Lord Oxford, High-Treaſurer of England, and
St. John, fince Lord Bolingbroke, Secretary of State.
Theſe two perfons had no other intereft in giving peace
to France, but that of depriving the Duke of Marlbo-
rough of the command of the army, and to build up
their credit upon the ruin of his. The meaſure was
dangerous; it was betraying the common caufe of the
Allies; it was to break through all engagements, and to
expoſe themſelves, without any manner of excuſe, to the
refentment of the greateſt part of the nation, and to a
Parliamentary inquiry, which might have coft them their
heads. It is very doubtful whether they would have
been able to have carried this point, or no; but an un-
foreſeen event happened to facilitate this great work.
The Emperor Jofeph died, and left the do-
minions of the Houfe of Auftria, the Ger-
man Empire, and the pretenfions upon Spain
and America, to his brother Charles, who was elected
Emperor, fome months after +.
April 27,
1711.
On the first news of this death, the prejudices which
had armed fo many nations, began to be diffipated
in England by the fuggeftions of the new Miniftry.
• Memoirs of Torcy, Vol. III. page 33.
Lord Bolingbroke fays in his letters, that at that time there were
great cabals at the Court of France; and that he did not doubt but
that there were formed in the Cabinet there, frange proje&s of parti
cular ambition, Vol. II. page 24. He judged fo from a converfation
he fince held at fupper with the Dukes of Feuillade and of Mortemar.
"You had it in your power to have crushed us, and why did you
not?"
Bolingbroke, notwithſtanding his fenfe and philofophy, has fallen
here into the error of fome Minifters, who fuppofe that every thing
faid to them has fome meaning. The flate of the Court of France, and
of the two Dukes, is fufficiently known to render it certain, that at the
time of the peace of Utrecht, there were neither fchemes nor cabals,
nor any individual perfon in a condition to have undertaken any
thing. Voltaire.
I have tranflated the note, though the feuſe of it is not very clear.
Tranflator,
The
1
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
fog
The war, faid they, was begun, to prevent Louis XIV.
from governing Spain, America, Lombardy, and the
Kingdom of Naples and Sicily, in the name of his
grandfon; why then fhould we endeavour to unite all
theſe kingdoms under the dominions of Charles VI. ?
Why muſt the English nation exhauft its treaſures? She
has paid more to the war, than Germany and Holland
together. The expences of this year alone, amount
to ſeven millions fterling; and is the nation to ruin it-
felf for a cauſe it has no concern with, and to procure a
part of Flanders for the Dutch, its rival in trade? All
theſe arguments emboldened the Queen, and opened the
eyes of a great part of the nation; and a new Parlia-
ment being called, the Queen was at liberty to prepare
matters for the peace of Europe.
But in doing this privately, fhe could not yet pub-
lickly break with her allies; fo that while they were ne-
gociating in the cabinet, Marlborough was carrying on
the ſervice in the field. He ſtill continued advancing
in Flanders, where he forced the lines that Marſhal Vil-
lars had drawn from Montreuil to Valenciennes,
took Bouchain; advanced as far as Quefnoi; Sept.
and from thence to Paris there was hardly a
fingle rampart to oppofe him.
1711.
It was at this unfortunate period that the famous Du
Gué-Trouin, who had not as yet any rank in the fea-fer-
vice, and owed every thing to himſelf, by his own cou-
rage, and the affistance of fome merchants who furniſhed
him with money, fitted out a fmall fleet, and failed to
the Brafils, where he took one of the princi-
pal cities, called St. Sebaftian de Rio Janeiro.
Sept. and
0&. 1711.
He and his crew returned home loaded with
riches; and the Portugueſe loft even more than he had
gained. But the milchief that had been done in the
Brafils, did not alleviate the miſeries of France.
}
CHAP.
18
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV,
CHA P. XXIII.
Villory of Maral Villars at Denain.
TH
The Affairs of
France retrieved. The general Peace.
HE negociations which were now openly fet on
foot in London, proved more falutary. The
Queen fent the Earl of Strafford Ambaffador to Holland,
to communicate to the States the propofals made by
Louis XIV. Marlborough's leave was no longer aſked.
The Earl of Strafford obliged the Dutch to name Pleni-
potentiaries, and to receive thofe of France.
Three private perfons ftill continued to oppoſe the
peace. Theſe were Marlborough, Prince Eugene, and
Heinfius, who perfifted in their intention of crufhing
Louis XIV. But when the Engliſh General returned to
London, at the clofe of the campaign in 1711, he was
deprived of all his employments. He found a new Houſe
of Commons, and had no longer a majority in the Houſe.
of Lords. The Queen, by creating a number of new
Peers, had weakened the Duke's party, and ftrengthened
the Crown-intereft. He was now accufed, like Scipio,
of malverfation; and, like that hero, extricated himfelf
by his glory and his retreat. He was ftill powerful,
though in diſgrace. Prince Eugene went over to London,
to ſtrengthen his party. This Prince met with the re-
ception due to his birth and renown, but his propofals
were rejected. The Court-intereft prevailed, Prince
Eugene returned to end the war alone; and the hope of
freſh victories, without a partner to divide the honour,
was a new incitement to him.
While the Congrefs was affembling at Utrecht, and
the French Plenipotentiaries, who had been fo ill ufed
at Gertruydenberg, now returned to treat upon more
equal terms, Marfhal Villars lay behind his lines to
cover Arras and Cambray. Prince Eugene took the
town of Quefnoy, and overfpread the country with an
army of an hundred thoufand men. The Dutch had
exerted
}
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
111
exerted themſelves; and though they had never before
furnished their whole quota towards the neceflary ex-
pences of the war, they had this year exceeded their
contingent. Queen Anne could not as yet openly dif-
engage herſelf from them; the had fent the Duke of
Ormond to join Prince Eugene's army with twelve thou-
fand Engliſh, and ſtill kept in pay a number of German
troops. Prince Eugene, after burning the fuburbs of
Arras, advanced towards the French army, and pro-
pofed to the Duke of Ormond to give them battle; but
the English General had been fent with orders not to
fight. The private negociations between England and
France drew towards a conclufion. A fufpenfion of arms
was proclaimed between the two Crowns. Louis XIV.
put Dunkirk into the hands of the English, as a fecurity
for the performance of his engagements. The Duke of
Ormond then retired towards Ghent. He endeavoured to
take with him, along with the troops of his own nation,
thoſe that were in the Queen's pay; but none would
follow him, except four fquadrons of the regiment of
Holftein, and one regiment of Liege. The troops of
Brandenburg, of the Palatinate, of Saxony, Heffe, and
Denmark, remained with Prince Eugene, and were paid
by the Dutch. The Elector of Hanover himself, who
was to fucceed Queen Anne, notwithanding her re-
monftrances, continued his troops in the pay of the
Allies; which plainly fhewed, that the pretenfions of his
family to the Crown of England did not depend upon
Queen Anne's favour.
Prince Eugene, though deprived of the affiftance of
the English, was ftill fuperior, by twenty thousand men,
to the French army; he was likewife fuperior by his
pofition, by the great plenty of his magazines, and by
nine years of continued victories.
Marshal Villars could not prevent him from laying
fiege to Landrecy. France, exhaufted of men and
money, was in confternation, and people placed no great
dependence on the conferences at Utrecht, which might
be all overthrown by the fucceffes of Prince Eugene.
Several confiderable detachments had already ravaged
Cham-
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
Champagne, and advanced as far as the gates of
Rheims.
The alarm was now as great at Verſailles, as in the
reft of the kingdom. The death of the King's
February only fon, which fell out this year; the Duke of
1712.
Burgundy, the Dutchefs his wife, and their
eldeſt fon, all carried off within a few months, and laid
in the fame tomb; and the only remaining child at the
point of death; all thefe domeftic misfortunes, added
to thoſe from without, and the fufferings of the people,
made the cloſe of Louis XIV.'s reign confidered as a
time pointed out for calamities, and every one expected
to ſee more difafters than they had formerly feen of
greatneſs and of glory.
Preciſely at this period, the Duke de Vendôme died
in Spain. The general difpiritednefs which feized upon
the French nation on this occafion, of which I
June 11, remember to have been myſelf a witnefs, filled
them with apprehenfions, left Spain, which had
been ſupported by the Duke de Vendôme, fhould fall
with him.
1712.
As Landrecy could not hold out long, it was debated
at Verſailles, whether the King fhould retire to Cham-
bord on the Loire. On this occafion he told the Marſhal
d'Harcourt, that, in cafe of any fresh misfortune, he
would affemble the Nobility of his kingdom, lead them
in perfon against the enemy, notwithstanding his age of
feventy-four, and die fighting at their head.
An error committed by Prince Eugene delivered the
King and kingdom from theſe dreadful inquietudes. It
is faid, that his lines were too much extended; that his
magazines flored at Marchiennes were at too great a
diſtance; and that General Albemarle, who was poſted
between Denain and the Prince's camp, was not within
reach of affifting him foon enough, in cafe he ſhould be
attacked. I have been affured, that a beautiful Italian
woman, whom I faw fome time afterwards at the Hague,
and whom Prince Eugene then kept, lived in Mar-
chiennes; and that it was on her account this had been
made a place for the magazines, It is doing injuftice to
Prince
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
H3
Prince Eugene, to fuppofe that a woman could have
any ſhare in his military arrangements; but when we
know that a Curate, and a Counſellor of Douay, named
Le Fevre d'Orval, walking together in thofe quarters,
firft conceived the idea that Denain and Marchiennes
might eaſily be attacked, this will better ferve to prove,
by what fecret and weak ſprings the great affairs of this
world are often actuated.
1712.
Le Fevre communicated his notion to the Intendant of
the province, and he to Marſhal Montefquiou, who com-
manded under Marſhal Villars: the General approved
of the ſcheme, and put it into execution. To this ac-
tion, in fact, France owed her fafety, more even than
to the peace with England. Marfhal Villars uſed a
fineffe towards Prince Eugene. A body of dragoons was
ordered to advance in fight of the enemy's camp, as if
going to attack it; and while thefe dragoons
retired towards Guife, the Marfhal marched to July 24,
wards Denain, with his army drawn up in five
columns, forced General Albemarle's intrenchments,
defended by ſeventeen battalions, who were all killed or
made prifoners. The General himſelf furrendered pri-
foner of war, with two Princes of the Houſe of Naffau,
the Prince of Holftein, the Prince of Anhalt, and all
the Officers of the detachment. Prince Eugene marched
in hafte to their affiftance, but did not come up till the
action was over; and, in endeavouring to get poffeffion
of a bridge that led to Denain, he loft a number of his
men, and was obliged to return to his camp, after having
been witneſs of this defeat.
All the poſts along the Scarpe, as far as Marchiennes,
were carried, one after another, with the utmoſt rapidity.
The army then puthed directly for Marchiennes, which
was defended by four thousand men; the fiege of
which was carried on with fo much vigour, that in three
days time the garrifon were made prifoners of war; and
all the ammunition and provifions that the
enemy had laid up for the whole campaign, July 30,
fell into their hands. The fuperiority was now
wholly on the fide of Marfhal Villars. The enemy dif
VOL. II.
I
1712.
couraged,
114
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
1
Sept. and
Oct. 1712.
couraged, raiſed the fiege of Landrecy, and
foon afterwards faw Douay, Quefnoi, and
Bouchain, retaken by our troops. The fron-
tiers were now in fafety. Prince Eugene drew off his
army, after having loft near fifty battalions; forty of
which were made prifoners between the action of Denain
and the end of the campaign. The moft fignal victory
could not have produced greater advantages.
Had Marſhal Villars been poffeffed of the fame fhare
of popular favour with fome other Generals, he would
have been publicly called "the Reftorer of France;" in-
ftead of which they hardly acknowledged the obligations
they had to him, and envy prevailed over the public joy
for this unexpected fuccefs *.
Every ſtep of Marſhal de Villars haftened the peace
of Utrecht. Queen Anne's Miniſtry, as anſwerable to
their Country and to Europe for their actions, neglected
nothing that concerned the intereft of England and its
allies, and the fafety of the public weal. In the firft
place, they infifted that Philip V. now fettled on the
throne of Spain, fhould renounce his right to the
* Marſhal Villars had at Verfailles a lodging in the apartment that
was occupied by Monfeigneur, and the King came to fee him shere.
The author of the Memoirs of Maintenon, who confounds all time,
faye, vol. V. page 119 of thofe Memoirs, that Marshal Villars, af-
ter the late action, appeared in the gardens of Marly, and that the
King having faid to him, that " he was very well fatisfied with him,”
the Marhal turning to the Courtiers, faid, Gentlemen, I hope you
"underſtand him." The story told upon this occafion, must appear a
cold reception to a man who had juft returned from having performed
fuch fignal fervices. It could not be at fuch a crifis of glory that he
would have remarked to the Courtiers, that the King was barely fatif-
fied. This bungled anecdote belongs to the year 1711.
The King
had in that campaign commanded him not to attack the Duke of
Marlborough. The English took Bouchain, which raifed a murmur
among the people against Marthal Villars. It was after that event
the King uſed this expreffion to him, and then it might have been
proper in a General to filence the cenfures of the Court, by taking
notice that his fovereign was fatisfied with his conduct, though un-
fuccessful.
This matter is not of much confequence; but one fhould refpect
truth in the moft trifling circumftance. Voltaire.
3
Crown
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
115
crown of France, which he had hitherto conftantly
maintained; and that the Duke of Berry, his brother,
prefumptive heir to that crown, after the only remaining
great-grandfon of Louis XIV. then at the point of death,
thould likewiſe renounce all pretenfions to the crown of
Spain, in cafe he fhould come to be King of France.
They likewife exacted the fame, on the part of the Duke
of Orleans.
The late twelve years war had fhewn how little men
are to be bound by fuch acts, There is no one known
law that obliges the defcendants of a Prince to give up
their right to a throne, becaufe their father may have
renounced it. Theſe renunciations are of no effect, ex-
cept when the common intereft is in concert with
them however, they ferved to calm, for the prefent, a
twelve years ſtorm; and it is probable, that one day
feveral nations may join to fupport thefe renunciations,
that are now the bafis of the balance of power, and of
the tranquility of Europe.
By this treaty the Iland of Sicily was given to the
Duke of Savoy, with the title of King; and on the con-
tinent, the towns of Feneftrelles, Exiles, with the valley
of Pragelas; fo that they took from the Houfe of Bour-
bon, to aggrandize him.
The Dutch had a confiderable barrier given them,
which they had always been aiming at; and if the Houte
of Bourbon was defpoiled of fome territories in favour
of the Duke of Savoy, the Houfe of Auftria was, on
the other hand, ftript to fatisfy the Dutch; who were
become, at its expence, the guarantees and mafters of
the ſtrongeſt cities of Flanders. Due regard was paid to
the interelt of the Dutch, with refpect to trade; and
there was an article ftipulated likewife in favour of the
Portuguefe.
The fovereignty of eight Provinces, and half of the
Spanish Netherlands, was referved for the Emperor,
together with the advantageous Lordship of the barrier-
towns. They likewife guarantied to him the Kingdom
of Naples and Sicily, with all his poffeffions in Lom-
bardy, and the four ports on the Coaft of Tufcany. But
I 2
thử.
116
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
4
the Court of Vienna would not fubfcribe to thefe con-
ditions, as thinking ſhe had not fufficient juftice done
her.
As to England, her glory and intereft were fufficiently
fecured. She had obtained the demolition of the harbour
and fortifications of Dunkirk, which had been the object
of fo much jealoufy. She was left in poffeffion of Gi-
braltar, and the Iſland of Minorca, by Spain. France
ceded to her Hudſon's Bay, the Iſland of Newfoundland,
and Acadia; and the procured greater privileges for her
American trade, than had been granted even to the
French, who placed Philip V. on the throne. We muſt
likewife reckon among the glorious acts of the Engliſh
Miniſtry, its having engaged Louis XIV. to confent to
ſet at liberty thofe of his fubjects who were confined in
prifon on account of their religion. This was dictating
laws, but laws of a very reſpectable nature.
Laftly, Queen Anne, facrificing the rights of blood,
and the fecret inclinations of her heart, to the good of
her country, fecured the fucceffion of the crown of Great
Britain to the Houfe of Hanover.
As to the Electors of Bavaria and Cologne, the for-
mer was to keep the Dutchy of Luxemburg, and the
County of Namur, till his brother and himſelf ſhould
be restored to their Electorates; for Spain had ceded
thoſe two fovereignties to the Elector of Bavaria, as a
confideration for his loffes, and the Allies had taken nei-
ther of them during the war.
As to France, who demolished Dunkirk, and gave
up fo many places in Flanders that her arms had formerly
conquered, and which had been ſecured to her by the trea-
ties of Nimeguen and Ryfwick, fhe got back Lifle, Aire,
Bethune, and Saint-Venant.
Thus did the Engliſh Ministry appear to do juftice to
all the parties: but this merit was denied them by the
Whigs; and one-half of the nation reviled the memory
of Queen Anne, for having done the greateft good
that a fovereign poffibly could do, in giving peace to
fo many nations. She was reproached with not having
dif-
!
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
[17
difmembered France, when it was in her power to do
fo*.
All theſe treaties were figned, one after another, in
the courſe of the year 1713: but whether it was owing
to the obstinacy of Prince Eugene, or to the bad politics
of the Emperor's Council, that monarch did not enter
into any of thefe negociations. He would certainly have
had Landau, and perhaps Strafburg, had he at first
fallen in with the views of Queen Anne; but he was
bent upon continuing the war, and fo got nothing.
Aug. 20,
1713.
Marſhal Villars, having fecured the reft of French
Flanders, marched towards the Rhine, and,
after making himſelf maſter of Spires,
Worms, and all the circumjacent country, he
took Landau, which the Emperor might have had, by
acceding to the peace; forced the lines that
Prince Eugene had drawn in Brifgau; defeated
Marſhal Vaubonne, who defended thofe lines;
ly, befieged and took Friburg, the capital of
Upper Auftria.
Sept. 20.
and laft-
O&. 30.
The Council of Vienna preffed the Circles of the
Empire to fend the fuccours they had promiſed, but
none came. They now began to be fenfible that the
Emperor, without the affiftance of England and Holland,
could never prevail againſt France, and refolved upon
peace, when it was too late.
Marſhal Villars, after having thus put an end to the
war, had the additional honour of concluding the peace
with Prince Eugene, at Raftad. This was perhaps the
first time that two Generals of oppofite parties had been
Queen Anne, in the month of Auguft, fent her Secretary of State,
Lord Viſcount Bolingbroke, to confummate the negotiation. The
Marquis of Torcy has made a panegyric on this Minifter, and fays
that Louis XIV. gave him the reception he deſerved. And indeed he
was received at Court as a man who came to give peace; and when he
appeared at the Opera, the whole audience roſe to do him honour. It
is then a great calumny in the Memoirs of Maintenon to fay, vol. V.
page 115, "The contempt that Louis XIV. fhewed for Lord Boling-
broke, is no proof that he had been one of his penfioners." It is
ridiculous to hear fuch a man ſpeak in this manner of the greatest men.
Voltaire.
I 3
known
113
1714.
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
known to meet together at the clofe of a campaign, to
treat in the names of their maſters. They both brought
with them that openne's of character for which
March 6, they were diftinguiſhed. I have heard Marſhal
Villars relate, that one of the first things he faid
to Prince Eugene, was this: " Sir, we do not meet as
"enemies; yours are at Vienna, and mine at Verfailles."
In fact, both of them had always cabals to combat at
their respective Courts.
There was no notice taken, in this treaty, of the pre-
tenfions which the Emperor ftill maintained to the
Spaniſh monarchy, nor of the empty title of Catholic
King, which he continued to bear, after Philip V. was in
quiet poffeffion of the kingdom. Louis XIV. kept
Straſburg and Landau, which he had before offered to
give up; Huningen, and New Brifac, which he had
himſelf propofed to demolifh; and the fovereignty of
Alface, which he had offered to renounce. But what
was ſtill more honourable for him, he procured the
Electors of Cologne and Bavaria to be reinftated in their
ranks and dominions.
It is a very remarkable circumstance, that France, in
all her treaties with the Emperors, has conftantly pro-
tected the rights of the Princes and States of the Empire.
She laid the foundation of the Germanic liberties by the
peace of Munfter; and caufed an eighth Electorate to
be erected in favour of this very Houfe of Bavaria.
The treaty of Weftphalia was confirmed by that of
Nimeguen. By the treaty of Ryfwick fhe procured all
the eſtate of Cardinal Furftemberg to be restored to him.
Laftly, by this peace of Utrecht, fhe obtained the re-
eſtabliſhment of the two Electors. It muſt be acknow-
ledged, that throughout the whole negociation, which
put an end to this long contention, France received laws
from England, but impofed them on the Empire.
The hiftorical memoirs of thole times, from which fo
many histories of Louis XIV. have been compiled, fay
that Prince Eugene, when he had finished the con-
ferences, defired the Duke de Villars to embrace the
knees of Louis XIV. for him, and to prefent that mo-
narch,
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
119
narch, in his name, with affurances of the most profound
reſpect of "
a fubject towards his fovereign." In the
first place, it is not true that a Prince, the grandfon of
a fovereign, can be the fubject of another Prince, becauſe
he was born in his dominions; and in the ſecond place,
it is ftill leſs fo that Prince Eugene, Vicar-general of
the Empire, ſhould call himſelf the ſubject of the King
of France.
And now each State took poffeffion of its new rights.
The Duke of Savoy got himſelf acknowledged in Sicily,
without confulting the Emperor, who complained of it
in vain. Louis XIV. had his troops received into Lifle.
The Dutch feized on their barrier-towns, and the States
of the country gave them one million two hundred and
fifty thouſand florins per annum to remain maſters of
Flanders. Louis XIV. filled up the harbour of Dun-
kirk, razed the citadel, and demoliſhed the fortifications
towards the fea, under the eye of the Engliſh Com-
miffary. The inhabitants, who faw their whole trade
ruined thereby, fent a deputation over to London, to
implore the clemency of Queen Anne. It was a mor-
tifying circumftance to Louis XIV. that his fubjects
fhould go to aſk favours of a Queen of England; but
it was ftill more melancholy for thefe poor people, that
the Queen was obliged to refufe them.
The King, fome time afterwards, enlarged the canal
of Mardyke, and by means of fluices formed an har.
bour there, which was thought already to equal that of
Dunkirk. The Earl of Stair, Ambaffador from Eng-
land, complained of this in warm terms to the King.
It is faid in one of the most popular books we have, that
Louis XIV. made him this reply: "Mr. Ambaffador,
"I have always been mafter in my own kingdom,
"fometimes in thofe of others: do not put me in re-
ść membrance of it." I know, of my own certain know-
ledge, that Louis XIV. never made fo improper a re-
ply. He had never been mafter in England; very far
from it. He was indeed mafter in his own kingdom:
but the point in queftion was, whether he was master of
eluding a treaty to which he owed his repole, and per-
I 4
naps
120
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
haps the greateſt part of his kingdom *.
of his kingdom *. The clauſe
of the treaty that related to the demolition of the port
of Dunkirk and its fluices, had not ftipulated that there
fhould be no port at Mardyke. It has been boldly
faid, in print, that Lord Bolingbroke, who had drawn
up the treaty, was bribed to this omiffion at the price
of a million of money +. This baſe calumny is to be
found in the hiſtory of Louis XIV. under the name of
La Martiniere; and it is not the only one that diſho-
nours the work. Louis XIV. appeared to have a
right to take advantage of the negligence of the Engliſh
Miniſtry, and to ſtick to the ftrict letter of the treaty ;
but he choſe rather to fulfil the Spirit of it, folely for
the fake of peace and fo far from faying to Lord Stair,
"He fhould not oblige him to remember that he had
"been formerly mafter in other kingdoms," he was
very ready to attend to his reprefentations, which he
might have difputed. He ordered the works at Mar-
dyke to be diſcontinued, in the month of April 1714.
They were foon after demoliſhed, under the Regency,
and the treaty was fulfilled in all its articles.
Notwithſtanding the peace of Utrecht and Raftad,
Philip V. was not yet in poffeffion of all Spain; he had
ftill Catalonia to conquer, and the Iſlands of Majorca
and Ivica.
It ſhould be here mentioned, that the Emperor
Charles VI. having left his wife at Barcelona, and find-
ing himſelf unable to carry on a war in Spain, and yet
unwilling to give up his claim, or accept of the peace of
Utrecht, had nevertheleſs made an agreement with Queen
Anne, for a fquadron of Engliſh fhips to bring away
the Empreſs and the troops, now ufelefs in Catalonia.
In fine, Catalonia was evacuated; and Staremberg,
Lord Stair never fpoke to the King, but in the prefence of the
Secretary of Stare, Torcy, who has declared that he never heard this
pretended converfation. It would have been a very humiliating one.
to Louis XIV. if, after all, it had obliged him to have put a ſtop to
the works of Mardyke. Voltaire.
+ It is not faid whether this fum was of English or French currency.
Tranflator.
when
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
121
when he quitted that Province, refigned his title of Vice-
roy. But he left behind him all the feeds of a civil
war, with the hopes of a ſpeedy fuccour, on the part
of the Emperor, and even of England. Thoſe who had
the moſt credit in that Province, imagined that they
might be able to form a Republic under a foreign pro-
tection; and that the King of Spain would not be ſtrong
enough to oppofe them. On this occafion, they dif
played that character which Tacitus gave them fo long
fince: "An intrepid people, fays he, that count their
"lives for nothing, when not employed in fighting."
Catalonia is one of the moſt fertile countries, and the
moft happily fituated, of any in the world. As well
watered by fine rivers, by ftreams and fprings, as Old
and New Caftille are void of theſe advantages, it pro-
duces all that is neceffary to the wants of man, and all
that can flatter his wishes, in trees, corn, fruits, and
vegetables of every kind. Barcelona is one of the fineft
ports in Europe, and the country round it furniſhes
every thing requifite for fhip building. Its mountains
are enriched with quarries of marble, of jafper, and of
rock-cryſtal; and fome precious ftones are fometimes
found among them. Mines of iron, tin, lead, alum,
and vitriol, there abound; and the eaſtern coaft pro-
duces coral. In fine, Catalonia might difpenfe with the
whole univerfe; but its neighbours could not do with
out it.
This abundance, and thefe delights, have been fo far from
rendering the natives effeminate, that they have been al-
ways warriors, and the mountaineers eípecially are fierce.
Yet notwithſtanding their bravery, and their extreme paf-
fion for liberty, they have ever been a fubjugated na-
tion. The Romans, the Goths, the Vandals, and the
Saracens, have been fucceffively their mafters.
They hook off the yoke of the Saracens, and put
themſelves under the protection of Charlemagne. They
were ſubject to the Houſe of Arragon, and afterwards
to that of Auftria. We have already feen that under
Philip IV. being driven to extremities by the Count
d'Olivares, Prime Miniſter, they transferred themſelves
under
L'122
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
#
I
under the dominion of Louis XIII. in 1640 *. All
their privileges were preferved to them, fo that they
were rather to be confidered as wards, than fubjects.
They returned under the fovereignty of Auftria, in
1652; and in the war of the Succeffion, they took part
on the fide of the Archduke Charles, againſt Philip. By
the obftinate refiftance they made, they proved that
Philip, though delivered from his competitor, was
not able to reduce them by his own power. Louis XIV.
who, during the latter part of the war, had not been able
to affift his grandfon with either fhips or foldiers againſt
his rival, Charles, now fent him fuccours against his re-
bellious fubjects. A feet of French fhips blocked up
the harbour of Barcelona, and Marshal Berwick laid fiege
to it by land.
The Queen of England, more faithful to her treaty
than to the intereſts of her Country, would not aſſiſt this
city. The Engliſh refented it, and made the ſame re-
proach to their nation, that was objected to the Romans
for fuffering Saguntum to be deftroyed. The Emperor
made a vain promife of fuccours. The befieged defended
themſelves with a courage that was fortified by fanaticifm.
The Priests and Monks ran to arms, and mounted the
trenches as if it had been a religious war. A phantom
of liberty rendered them deaf to all the advances made
to them by their mafter. Above five hundred ecclefiaf-
tics died during this fiege, with their arms in their hands.
We may judge whether by their ſpeeches and examples
they helped to animate the people.
They hung out a black enfign upon the breach, and
ftood feveral affaults. At length the befiegers having
made their way into the town, the befieged difputed
ftreet after ftreet; and having retreated into the new
town, after the old one was taken, they offered to capi-
tulate, on condition of being allowed all their privileges:
but they only obtained their lives and eftates. Moft
part of their privileges were taken from them; but of
all the Monks who had raiſed the infurrection, and
Io the Effay on the Manners, &c.
fough
J
1
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
123
fought againſt their King, there were only fixty punish-
ed; and they were only condemned to the gallies.
Philip V. had, during the war, treated the little town of
Xativa much more feverely *, by ordering it to be razed
from the foundation, as an example; but though he
might do this to a town of no importance, he would not
deftroy a large city that had a fine fea-port, and which
was of uſe to the State.
This fury of the Catalans, that had not exerted itſelf
while Charles VI. was among them, and which tranf
ported them to fuch extremes, when they were left
without affiftance, was the laſt ſpark of that flame which
had been lighted up by the will of Charles II. King of
Spain, and had fo long laid waſte the moſt beautiful part
of Europe.
* The town of Xativa was razed in 1707, after the battle of Al
manza; and Philip V. built another town upon its ruins, now called
St. Philip. Voltaire.
}
CHAP.
124
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
CHA P.
A P. XXIV.
The State of Europe from the Peace of Utrecht, to the
Death of Louis XIV.
I
+
MAY ftill venture to call this long war a civil one *.
The Duke of Savoy was here armed againſt his two
daughters. The Prince of Vaudemont, who had ef-
pouſed the caufe of the Archduke Charles, was near
taking his own father prifoner, in Lombardy, who fided
with Philip V. All Spain was fplit into factions. Whole
regiments of French Proteftants ferved againſt their
country. It was, in fhort, for a fucceffion among rela-
tions, that the general war had been commenced; to
which may be added, that the Queen of England exclu-
ded her brother from the throne, whom Louis XIV.
protected, and whom he was obliged to profcribe.
Human prudence and expectations were deceived in
this war, as they always are. Charles VI. though twice
acknowledged in Madrid, was driven out of Spain.
Louis XIV. on the brink of deftruction, was retrieved
by the unexpected diffentions in England. The Council
of Spain, which had only called the Duke of Anjou to
the throne in order to prevent the monarchy from being
diſmembered, faw many of its parts lopped off. Lom-
bardy and part of Flanders + remained to the Houſe
of Auftria; the Houfe of Pruffia had alſo a ſmall part
of Flanders; the Dutch had the dominion of another
portion, and the French were left in poffeffion of the
reft. Thus was the inheritance of the Houſe of Bur-
gundy divided between four Powers, and the one that
feemed to have the greateft right did not preferve
even a fingle acre of it. Sardinia, an uſeleſs poffeffion
to the Emperor, remained to him for a time. For fome
* See vol. I. page 221, paragraph laft, the two laſt lines. Tranf.
†The Provinces of the Low Countries, which belong to the Houſes
of Austria, are what is generally called Flanders, and the feven United
Provinces are called Holland. Voltairę.
years
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
1:5
years he enjoyed Naples too, that grand fief of Rome,
which is ſo often and fo eaſily wreſted from her. The
Duke of Savoy held Sicily for four years, only to
maintain againſt the Pope the fingular, but ancient,
right, of being Pope himſelf, in that lfland; that is, of
being, except in the Church tenets, abfolute mafter in
all ecclefiaftical matters.
The weakneſs of politics appeared yet more remark-
able after the peace of Utrecht, than during the war. It
is certain that the new Miniſtry of Queen Anne form-
ed a ſcheme in fecret for the eſtabliſhing the fon of
James II. on the throne *. The Queen herſelf began
to listen to the voice of nature, through that of her
Miniſters, and entered into the defign of procuring the
fucceffion to that brother on whoſe head ſhe had before
fet a price, in fpite of herself.
Softened by the pleadings of her favourite, Lady
Mafham, and intimidated by the reprefentations of the
Tory Biſhops, the reproached herſelf with that unnatural
profcription. I know the Dutchefs of Marlborough
was perfuaded that the Queen received her brother,
* The Whigs, indeed, taxed them with fuch a defign; though with
all their industry they were never able to adduce a fingle proof to fup-
port the charge. It is well-known, that at this period, the Ministry
was divided in itfelf; and that Oxford and Bolingbroke took all the me-
thods in their power to recommend themſelves to the Elector of Hanover,
and the Duke of Marlborough. The Queen repeatedly declared to
her Parliament her inviolable attachment to the Proteftant fucceffion;
which both Houfes voted to be out of danger. Oxford made advances
towards a reconciliation with the leaders of the Whig party, and took
particular opportunities of affuring the Elector of his attachment to
the House of Hanover. Lord Bolingbroke propofed a Bill to make it
high-treafon in any perfon to lift or be inlifted in the Pretender's fer-
vice; which motion was carried, and the Bill paffed into a law. The
fame Lord held a fecret correfpondence with the Duke of Marlborough:
and it was from this quarter, that, after the acceffion of George I. he
received timely intimation that a defign was formed to bring him to
the block. If we allow this Miniftry had any regard to their own
fafety, we cannot fuppofe they would harbour and feek to promote a
defign fo repugnant to the inclinations of the people. Smollet.
This laft argument proves rather too much; for the peace was more
univerfally repugnant to the inclinations of the people. There would be
neither brave nor bad men, in the world, if danger was to deter.
Tranflator.
pri.
126
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
privately; that ſhe embraced him; and that if he would
have renounced the Roman Catholic religion, which
was regarded in England, and among all Proteftants, as
the mother of tyranny, fhe would have had him ap-
pointed her fucceffor. Her averfion to the Houfe of
Hanover augmented ftill her affection for the blood of
the Stuarts. It has been affirmed that the night before
fhe died, fhe cried out, feveral times, "Oh, my brother!
my dear brother!" She died of a ftroke of an apoplexy,
at the age of forty-nine, the 22d of Auguft 1714 *.
&C
Both her friends and enemies agree in this character
of her, that he was a woman of but very middling
talents; and yet, fince the days of Edward III. and
Henry V. there has been no reign fo glorious; never
fo great Commanders on land or fea; never more fupe-
rior Minifters; nor Parliaments better informed, nor
more eloquent Orators.
Her death prevented all her ſchemes. The Houſe of
Hanover, which fhe looked upon as alien, and which
fhe loved not, fucceeded her; and her Miniſters were
perfecuted +.
Lord Bolingbroke, who had before come to give peace
to Louis XIV. with a grandeur equal to that Monarch,
was obliged now to feek an aſylum in France, and repair
thither again as a fuppliant himſelf. The Duke of
Ormond, the foul of the Pretender's faction, chofe the
fame refuge. Harley, Earl of Oxford, had more re-
folution. He was the principal object of the new Mi-
niftry's refentment. He ftood his ground with con-
fidence; he defied the prifon where he was confined,
and the death with which he was threatened. He was
poffeffed of a calm mind, inacceffible to envy, to a
Queen Anne died Auguſt 1; but Mr. Voltaire ſeems to be ſo
fond of her, that he has bestowed on her ten days life more than nature
permitted her. In this calculation I make allowance for the difference
of the file; which I confe's I had not attended to, in my laft note,
page 46, of the former volume, upon his date of the martyrdom, as
it is called, of Charles I. Yet even with this abatement he has mif-
taken a day, which is fufficient to fhew his inaccuracy in dates. Tranf.
+ The words perfecution and profecution are fo near in found, that
they are fometimes miſtaken for each other. Tranflator.
defire
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
127
defire of riches, or the fear of ſuffering. His very cou-
rage faved him, and his enemies in the Parliament
eſteemed him too much to pronounce his fentence.
Louis XIV. now drew near his end. It is difficult to
believe that at the age of feventy-feven*, and in the diſtrels
to which his kingdom was reduced, he ſhould venture to
expoſe himſelf to a new war againſt England in favour
of the Pretender, acknowledged by him for King, and
who was called at that time the Chevalier St. George;
and yet the fact is very certain. It muſt be allowed that
Louis had ever in his foul an elevation of fentiment
which prompted him to great actions, of every kind. The
Earl of Stair, Ambaffador from England, had braved him.
He was forced to fend James III. out of France, as in his
younger days he had been obliged to banish Charles II.
and his brother. This Prince was incog. at Commercy
in Lorraine. The Duke of Ormond and Lord Boling-
broke intereſted the glory of the King of France; they
promiſed him a rifing in England, and eſpecially in
Scotland, againſt George I. The Pretender need only
appear; all that was neceffary would be a fingle fhip, a
few Officers, and a little money. The fhip and the Of-
ficers were fupplied, without the leaft deliberation; but
it could not be a man of war, for the treaties would
not permit it. Mr. L'Epine d'Anican, a famous privateer,
fitted out the tranfport, with cannon and arms; but
as to money, the King had none. They afked only for
four hundred thoufand crowns, and they were not to be
had. Louis XIV. wrote with his own hand to the
King of Spain, Philip V. his grandfon, who advanced
them. It was with thefe fuccours that the Pretender
paffed fecretly into Scotland. He there met with a
confiderable party to fupport him, but he happened to
be defeated by the English army of King George *.
Louis was then dead; and the Pretender returned to
hide in Commercy the deftiny which purfued him all his
* The last year of his life. Translator.
† At Presion, by General Willis, and on the fame day at Sheriff
Moor, by the Duke of Argyle. Ibid.
life,
128.
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
life, while the blood of his partiſans was ſhed upon the
fcaffold.
We fhall fee, in the Chapters referved for the private
life and anecdotes of Louis XIV. how he died in the
midſt of the moft odious cabals of his Confeffor, and the
moft contemptible theological difputes that had ever
diſturbed the minds of ignorant and reſtleſs fpirits. But
here I fhall confider the ſtate in which he left Europe,
at the time of his death.
The power of Ruffia was eſtabliſhing itfelf daily, in
the North; and this creation of a new people and a new
empire, was then little attended to in France, in Italy,
or in Spain.
Sweden, the ancient ally of France, and formerly
the terror of the Houſe of Auſtria, could no longer
defend herſelf againſt Ruſſia; and there remained nothing
of Charles XII. except his glory.
A fimple Electorate of Germany began to be a pre-
ponderating power. The fecond King of Pruffia, Elec-
tor of Brandenburg, with economy and an army, laid
the foundation of a greatnefs till then unknown.
Holland ſtill retained that importance which fhe had
acquired in the laft war againſt Louis XIV.; but the
weight the threw into the fcale became every day lefs
confiderable.
England, though agitated by factions in the begin-
ning of the reign of an Elector of Hanover, ftill pre-
ſerved all her power, and all her influence.
In Germany, the Empire languifhed under Charles VI.;
but the generality of the Princes of the Empire rendered
their ſtates flouriſhing.
Spain began to draw breath under Philip V. who
owed his throne to Louis XIV.
Italy enjoyed tranquility, to the year 1717. There
was no ecclefiaftical quarrel in Europe that could afford
the Pope any pretence for renewing his ancient claims,
or that could deprive him of the prerogatives which he
had ſtill preferved. Janfenifm was the only difpute that
difturbed France, but without making any fchifm, or
exciting a civil war.
CHAP.
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
129
CHA P. XXV.
Private Memoirs and Anecdotes of the Reign of Louis XIV.
A
NECDOTES are a fort of contracted field, where
we glean after a plentiful harveft, of hiſtory ;
they are ſmall details a long time kept private, from
whence they receive the name of anecdotes*; and when
they relate to illuftrious perfonages, the Public feel an
intereft in them.
Plutarch's Lives of Great Men, are but a collection
of anecdotes, more entertaining than authentic. How
could he have procured faithful memoirs of the private
life of Thefeus, or Lycurgus? Moſt of the maxims he
puts into the mouths of his heroes contain, moral truths
rather than hiftorical ones.
The fecret hiftory of Juftinian by Procopius †, is a
fatire dictated by revenge; and though malice may
ipeak the truth, this fatire, which contradicts his pub-
lic hiſtory, has not every where the appearance of it.
But we are not now allowed to imitate Plutarch, much
lefs Procopius. We admit for hiſtoric facts only thoſe
which are authenticated. When cotemporaries, like Car-
dinal de Retz and the Duke de Rochefoucault, enemies
to each other, agree in the fame article in their Memoirs,
it is deemed indubitable; when they differ, we ſhould
hefitate; what does not appear probable fhould not be
credited, unleſs feveral cotemporaries, worthy of belief,
unanimouſly agree in the point.
The moſt uſeful and moft valuable anecdotes are the
private papers that great Princes leave behind them,
Inedita, or unpublished. Tranflator.
+ He had been Secretary to Belifarius in all his campaigns. His
refentment to Juftinian aroſe from the ungrateful conduct of that Em-
peror to his friend. However, this work is juftly deemed fpurious;
and I think there is one circumftance in it that ought to make it fuf-
pected; which is, that the Emprefs, to whom he had no reaſon to bear
any malice, is there abuſed alfo. Ibid.
VOL. II.
K
when
130
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
1
when the candour of their minds is manifeft in thoſe mi-
nutes. Such are thoſe I relate of Louis XIV.
Domeſtic occurrences only amufe curiofity; weaknef-
fes expoſed to public view pleafe only the malignant, ex-
cept where fuch foibles are capable of inftructing, either
by the misfortunes that have attended, or by the virtues
that have made amends for them.
The private memoirs of cotemporaries are fufpected
of partiality. Thoſe who write one or two generations
after, fhould uſe the greateſt circumfpection, fhould dif-
card the trifling, reduce the extravagant, and foften
what is cenforious.
Louis XIV. was fo magnificent in his Court as well
as reign, that the fmalleft particulars of his life feem to
intereft pofterity as much as they were the object of
curioſity to all the Courts of Europe, and of all his
cotemporaries. The fplendor of his government ſhone
through his moft trivial actions. One is more eager,
eſpecially in France, to know the tranfactions of his
Court, than the revolutions of other States; fuch is the
effect of a great reputation. We had rather be informed
of what pafed in the Cabinet or the Court of Auguftus,
than read a detail of the conquefts of Attila, or of
Tamerlane.
Hence there are hardly any of the hiftorians who
have not mentioned the firft attachments of Louis XIV.
for the Baronefs de Beauvois; for Mademoiſelle d'Ar-
gencourt; for the niece of Cardinal Mazarin, who was
married to the Count de Soiffons, father of Prince
Eugene; and efpecially for her fifter, Maria Mancini,
who afterwards was efpoufed by the Conftable Colonna.
He had not affumed the reins of empire when theſe
amuſements occupied that idle interval of life, in which
Cardinal Mazarin, who governed with a defpotic fway,
fuffered him to languifh. His attachment to Maria
Mancini was alone an affair of great importance; for he
was fo paffionately enamoured of her as to be tempted to
marry her, and yet was fufficiently mafter of himfelf to
relinquish her. The victory which he gained over this
paffion began to make known the greatnefs of his foul.
Fe
A
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
131
*
He gained a greater and more difficult one in leaving
Cardinal Mazarin abfolute mafter of the government.
Gratitude prevented him from fhaking off that yoke
which now began to weigh heavy upon him. It was
a well-known anecdote at Court, that, after the Cardi-
nal's death, he faid, "I do not know what I ſhould
"have done, had he lived any longer †."
He employed himſelf in this leifure with reading
books of amufement, and particularly with the Con-
ftable, who had wit as well as his fifters. He was charm-
ed with poetry and romances, which in defcribing ga-
lantry and grandeur fecretly flattered his own character.
He read the Tragedies of Corneille, and formed in him-
ſelf that taſte which arifes only from good ſenſe, and the
quick difcernment of a found judgment. The conver-
fation of his mother and the ladies of her Court con-
tributed not a little to give him a relifh for that refine-
ment of fentiment, and to fashion him to that peculiar
politenefs, which began then to characterize the Court of
France. Anne of Auftria had introduced into it a certain
noble and elevated galantry which reſembled the Spanith
genius of that time; to which was joined that elegance,
foftnefs, and guarded freedom, which was no where to
be met with except in France.
The King made a greater progrefs in this School of
Politenefs, from the age of eighteen to twenty, than he
had done in the Sciences, under the Abbé Beaumont,
afterwards Archbishop of Paris. He was, indeed, but
very little inſtructed. It were to have been wiſhed that
* I cannot account for the meaning of this expreffion, here. It
was not gratitude to Mazarin, but fubmiffion and refpect to his mo-
ther's authority, through which Mazarin governed, that was the
caufe of Louis's permitting fuch abfolute fway. Tranſlator.
+ This anecdote is attefted by the Memoirs of La Forte, where we
alfo fee that the King had taken an averfion to the Cardinal; that
this Miniſter, though his god father, and intrufted with the charge
of his education, had taken no care to improve him, and had left
him often in want of common neceffaries. He adds much heavier ac-
cufations, which reflect difhonour on the Cardinal's memory; but
they do not appear to be proved, and no charge fhould be admitted
without it. Voltaire,
ケ
​K 2
he
1 33
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
he had at leaſt been made acquainted with hiſtory. parti-
cularly the modern part; but what was extant at that
time, was very ill written. It was an unhappy thing that
they had then only fucceeded in idle romances, and that
ufeful writings were difgulling. A tranflation of Cæfar's
Commentaries was printed under his name, and one of
Florus under the name of his brother. But theſe
Princes had no other part in them, than having had
feme paffages out of thofe authors given them, to very
little purpoſe, for their themes or exerciſes.
He who prefided over the education of the King,
under the firft Marshal Villeroy his Governor, was fuch
as he ought to have been, both learned and agreeable.
But the Civil Wars ipoiled his education, and Cardinal
Mazarin was very willing he fhould receive but little
inftruction. His paffion for Maria Mancini made him
foon mafter of the Italian language, to converfe with
her; and at the time of his marriage he applied himſelf
to Spaniſh, but with lefs fuccefs. His neglect of study
in his youth, a timidity which arofe from the fear of
expofing himſelf, with the ignorance in which Cardinal
Mazarin kept him, led the whole Court to imagine that
he would be always governed, like his father Louis XIII.
There was only one occafion, on which thoſe who
could frame a judgment before-hand, forefaw what he
would be. It was in the year 1655, after the extinction
of the Civil Wars, and after his first campaign and his
Coronation, when the Parliament refolving to continue
its affemblies on account of fome edicts, the King came
from Vincennes in his hunting-dreſs, attended by all his
Court, entered the Parliament in his great-boots, with
his whip in his hand, and pronounced thefe very words:
"The mifchievous confequences of your affemblies are
"well known. I order thefe to ceafe which were called
"together upon my edicts; and, Mr. First Prefident,
This may be either Abbé Beaumont, or the Preſident Périgny ;
for they were both his Preceptors, under Villeroy. Tranflator.
"I for-
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
133
"I forbid you to fuffer thefe affemblies to be continued,
. or any of you members to demand it *."
The majelty of his perfon, which had already begun
to appear t, the dignity of his countenance, and the
commanding tone and air with which he spoke, made a
ftronger impreffion on them than the authority of his
ftation, which t:11 then they had but little refpected.
But this bloom of his greatnefs foon after vanifhed; nor
did the fruit appear, till after the Cardinal's death.
The Court, upon the triumphant return of Mazarin,
amufed itſelf with Play, Balls, and Comedy, which
being in its infancy in France, was not yet become an
art; and with Tragedy, which had arrived to perfection
in the hands of Peter Corneille. A Parish-Priest of St.
Germain l'Auxerrois, inclining towards the rigorous
notions of the Janfenifts, wrote often to the Queen
againſt theſe exhibitions, from the first years of her
Regency. He affirmed that it was a damnable fin to be
prefent at them, and got this anathema figned by ſeven
Doctors of the Sorbonne. But the Abbé Beaumont,
the King's Preceptor, fupted by the approbations of
more Doctors than had
rred in the cenfure with
this puritanical Prieft, quieted the fcruples of the
Queen; and afterwards, when he was Archbiſhop of
Paris, he authorized the opinion he had defended when
an Abbé.
This fact may be found in the Memoirs of
the candid Madame de Motteville.
It may be here meg
Cardinal Richelieu ha
d, that from the time that
duced at Court the regular
* Thefe words, here faithfalopied, are in all the authentic me-
moirs of thoſe times; and other allowable to omit, nor change
any thing in them, in any hry of France. But the author of the
Memoirs of Madame Maintenon has taken upon him to fay, at ha-
zard, in his note: "Histech was not quite fo fine, and his eyes
fpoke more than his lip Where did he learn that the fpeech of
Louis XIV. was not qui ſo fine, when thefe were his very words ?
It was neither more or fine; it was exactly as above reported.
Voltaire.
He was then in his
Their tenets are
eventeenth year.
rly the fame with thofe of Calvinism, about
Grace, Predeftination Reprobation and Election. Tranflater.
K 3
Drama,
134
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
:
Drama, which has rendered Paris at preſent the rival of
Athens, there was not only a bench at thefe reprefenta-
tions appropriated to the Academy, which included a
number of Ecclefiaftics, but alſo a particular leat for the
Biſhops.
Cardinal Mazarin, in the years 1646 and 1654, intro-
duced upon the Theatre of the Palais Royal, and of the
Little Bourbon near the Louvre, fome Italian Operas,
performed by fingers whom he had fent for from Italy.
This new exhibition had been commenced a fhort time.
before, at Florence; a country then equally favoured
by Fortune as by Nature, and to which is owing the
revival of many arts loft, for ages, as well as the in
vention of ſome new ones. But in France there had ftill
fubfifted a relick of her ancient barbarifm, which op-
pofed the re-establishment of theſe arts *
The Janfeniſts, whom the Cardinals Richelieu´and
Mazarin were defirous to fupprefs, aimed their revenge
againſt the amufements which theſe two Minifters had
procured for the nation. The Lutherans and the Cal-
vinifts had acted after the fame manner, in the Pontifi-
cate of Leo X. All that is neceffary, often, to form a
fect, is to be auftere. The fame fanatics who would
fubvert a ſtate to establish an opinion, frequently abfurd,
anathematized the harmlels fports neceffary in a large
city, and the arts which contribute to the fplendor of
a nation. The abolition of public thows would have
been an idea more worthy the age of Attila †, than that
of Louis XIV.
Dancing, which may now be numbered among the arts,
as it is fubject to rules, and gives gracefulneſs to the
body, was one of the greateſt amufements at Court.
Louis XIII. had never danced but once, at a ball, in
1625; and this ball was in fo coarſe a ftile, as afforded
no fample of what the arts would arrive at in thirty
Are we to reckon Operas among the old arts revived, or the new
ones invented? Tranflator.
+ King of the Huns, a great conqueror, in the 5th century, whoſe
cognomen, or nom de guerre,, was the Scourge of God. Ibid.
3
years
T
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
135
years after *
Louis XIV. excelled in the furious
dancing, which fuited the majesty of his figure, without
offending againſt that of his rank. At the running of
the ring, which was fometimes performed, and in which
great magnificence was at that time difplayed, he fhewed
to advantage the addrefs he was mafter of at all his
exerciſes.
Pleaſure and magnificence, fuch as were then known,
diffuſed themſelves throughout. Thefe, indeed, were no-
thing in compariſon of what was feen when the King
reigned alone; but they were the more remarkable after
the horrors of a Civil War, and the dullness of the
gloomy and retired life of Louis XIII. That Prince,
fickly and peevish, had never been attended, or lodged,
or accommodated, as a King. He poffeffed no jewels
above the value of a hundred thouſand crowns, belong-
ing to the Crown; Cardinal Mazarin did not increaſe
them to more then twelve hundred thouſand; and now
there are not less than to the amount of twenty millions
of livres.
At the marriage of Louis XIV. every thing 1660.
affumed a yet higher air of tafte and magni-
ficence, which has been improving, ever fince. When
he made his entry with his Queen-Confort, Paris beheld
with a tender and refpectful admiration that young
Queen, who was really handſome, feated in a fuperb
equipage of a new conſtruction, with the King on horſe-
back, riding by her fide, and adorned with all that art
could add to his manly and heroic beauty, which at-
tracted every one's admiration,
At the entrance of the streets of Vincennes, a trium-
phal arch was erected, the foundation of which was of
itone; but the occafion not affording time, would not
permit them to finish it with the fame durable material.
The ſuperſtructure, therefore, was only made of plaf
* Cardinal Richelieu had before given balls, but they were with-
out the leaſt taſte; as indeed were all the public entertainments be-
fore his time. The French, who have now carried the art of dancing
to perfection, had in the minority of Louis XIV. only fome Spanish
dances; as the Saraband, the Courant, the Pavan, &c. Foltaire.
K 4
ter,
1
136
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
ter, and has been long fince totally demoliſhed. Claude
Perrault drew the defign of it. The gate of St. Antony
was rebuilt, on the fame occafion; a monument of an
inferior taſte, but ornamented with fome tolerable pieces
of ſculpture. All thofe who had feen, on the day of
the battle of St. Antony, brought back to Paris through
this gate, then guarded by a portcullis, the dead and
dying bodies of fo many citizens, and who now beheld
this entry fo very different, bleffed Heaven, and rendered
it thanks for fo happy a change.
Cardinal Mazarin, in order to celebrate this marriage,
had an Italian Opera repreſented at the Louvre, intitled
Ercole Amante *. But it did not pleaſe the French.
They faw nothing in it they liked, except the King and
Queen, who danced there. The Cardinal fought to ren-
der himself popular, by giving an entertainment more
agreeable to the tafte of the nation. The Secretary of
State, de Lionne, undertook to have a kind of allegorical
Tragedy compofed, in the manner of Europa, in which
Cardinal Richelieu had been concerned. It was lucky
for the great Corneille that he was not pitched upon to
fill up this wretched rough draught. The fubject was
Lifes and Hefperia. Lifis fignified France, and Hefperia
Spain. Quinault was appointed to this tafk, who had
gained a great reputation by his Falfe Tiberinus †, which,
though a poor performance, had an amazing fuccefs.
Lifis had not the fame good fortune. It was performed
at the Louvre, but had no merit in it, except the ma-
chinery.
The Marquis de Scurdiac, of the name of de Rieux,
to whom the eſtabliſhment of the Opera has been fince
*Hercules in love.
+ Tiberinus was a King of Alba, who was drowned in the river
Albula, which from thence derived the name of Tiberinus, or Tibris,
the Tiber.
Et in Tufci demerfus fluminis undis
Nomina fecit aquæ.
Ov. Metam.
Tiberinus was the fon of Capctus. If M. Voltaire had been a good
Court-Genealogift, he might have derived Hagh Capet from this
flock, for the honour of France, and the glory of Louis le Grand.
Tranflator.
owing
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
137
owing in France, had, at the fame time, La Toifon
d'or, the Golden Fleece, of Peter Corneille, with its
machinery, exhibited at his own expence, at his caftle
of Newburg. Quinault, young, and of an engaging
appearance, had the Court on his fide; Corneille had
his fame and all France. Thus it appears that we owe
Plays and Operas in France to two Cardinals.
It was but a fucceffion of feafts, pleaſures, and ga-
lantry, from the time of the King's marriage, which
was redoubled upon the marriage of Monfieur, his bro-
ther, with Henrietta of England, fifter of Charles II.
and theſe continued without interruption, till the death
of Cardinal Mazarin, in 1661.
;
Some months after the death of that Miniſter, there
happened an event which has no example; and what is
as ftrange, is, that none of the hiftorians feem to know
any thing of the matter. There was fent, with the ut-
moſt privacy, to the Caftle in the Iland of St. Marga-
ret, in the Mediterranean, near Provence, a prisoner
unknown, of ſtature above the ordinary fize, young, and
of a handſome and noble figure. This perfon on the
road wore a maſk, the chin part of which was compofed
of ſteel ſprings, which left him the liberty to eat, with-
out taking it off. Orders were given to kill him, if he
fhould attempt to difcover himſelf. He remained in this
Iſland till an Officer of great truft, named St. Mars,
Governor of Pignerol, being made Governor of the Ba-
ftille, in the year 1690, went to bring him from the
Iſland of St. Margaret, and conducted him to the Ba-
ftille, always maſked. The Marquis of Louvois went
to fee him in the Inland before his removal, and ſpoke
to him ftanding, and in a manner denoting refpect.
This ſtranger was brought to the Baftille, where he
was lodged in the best apartment of the cattle.
He was
refuſed nothing that he asked for. His greateſt paſſion
was for linen of the greateſt fineness, and for lace *.
* What a natural fop mut this perfon have been, who could affect
finery that was never to be feen? Perhaps it might have been a lady,
that was concealed under the maſk.
"Here Betty give this cheek a little red.”
Achilles was detected by fuch a characteriſtic as this. Translator.
He
138
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
He played on the guitar. His table was always ferved
in the moſt elegant manner, and the Governor feldom
fat down in his prefence. An old Phyfician of the Ba-
ftille, who had often attended this fingular perfonage in
his illneffes, declared that he had never feen his face,
though he had often examined his tongue, and other
parts of his body. The Phyfician faid he was extremely
well-made, that his fkin was rather brown, that he inte-
refted by the mere tone of his voice, never complained
of his fituation, nor gave the leaft hint who he was *.
·
This unknown perfon died in 1704, and was buried
at night in the parish of St. Paul. What increaſes the
myftery is, that when he was fent to the Iſland of
St. Margaret, no confiderable perſon had diſappeared in
Europe; and this prifoner was undoubtedly a man of
fome confequence: for on the firſt days after his arrival,
the Governor himfelf placed the difhes on his table, and
then retired, after shutting him in. One day the pri-
foner wrote fomething with the point of a knife, on one
of the filver plates, and flung it out of the window to-
wards a boat that flood near the bank, almoſt at the foot
of the tower. A fiſherman who owned the veffel, took
up the plate, and carried it to the Governor. He with
great furprize afked the fisherman, "Have you read
"what was written upon this plate, and has any one elſe
"feen it in your hands ?" "I cannot read," replied the
fiſherman; (6
I have but just found it, and no-body elfe
"has feen it." The pealant was detained till the Go-
vernor was well informed that he never could read, and
that the plate had not been ſeen by any other perſon.
"Go then, faid he, you are happy in not knowing how
to read."
Among
the witneies of this fact, there is one, very
worthy of credit, who is ftill alive. Monfieur de Cha-
millard was the laft Minifter who was intruſted
with this extraordinary fecret. The fecond Mar-
In 1750.
* A famous Surgeon, fon-in law to this Phyfician, and who be-
longed to Marthal Richelieu, teflifes what I advance, and Mr. de
Bernaville, fucceffor to St. Mars, has often confirmed it to BIC,
Voltaire.
ſhal
ނ ނ
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
139
*
fhal de la Feuillade, who was married to his daughter,
told me, that when his father-in-law was on his death-
bed, he intreated him to let him into the mystery of
the perſon who was known only under the name of the
Man in the Mafk. But Chamillard told him that it was
a fecret of State, and he had fworn never to reveal it.
In fine, there are many of my cotemporaries ftill in be-
ing, who can atteft the truth of what I advance, and I
know of no fact either more extraordinary, or more
authentic.
Louis XIV. continued to divide his time between the
pleaſures that fuited his age, and the duties which be-
longed to his ftation. He held a Council every day,
and afterwards had a private conference with Colbert.
Theſe private interviews produced the fall of the famous
Fouquet, in whofe ruin were involved the Secretary
of State Guenegaud, Peliffon, Gourville, and many
others. The difgrace of that Minifter, who was lefs
guilty than Cardinal Mazarin, made it appear that every
oue cannot venture to commit the fame faults. His
ruin was already refolved upon, at the very time the
King had accepted of the magnificent entertainment that
this Minifter gave him, at his feat at Vaux. That pa-
lace, with the gardens, had coft him eighteen millions,
which was about thirty-five of the prefent currency.
He had built this edifice twice over, and had pur-
chafed three villages, the land of which was incloſed
within thefe extenfive gardens, laid out moftly by Le
Nôtre, and reputed then to be the fineſt in Europe.
His water-works, which, fince thofe of Verſailles, of
Marly, and St. Cloud, have appeared, feem fo incon-
fiderable, were then regarded with wonder. However,
" He conjured
*The French expreffion is, Il le conjura à genoux,
"him on his knees." I did not think that to fatisfy a mere curiofity
required fo folemn a conjuration. Befides, there is fomething in the
idea of kneeling, at which the fpirit of a man is apt to revolt, except
at our devotions. The action fhould be appropriate to the Creator.
Methinks it argues a meanness even in the Prince that fuffers fuch
homage to himself. It is politic in defpots. Slaves çannot be ren-
dered too abject. Tranflater.
[
not-
140
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
notwithstanding the grandeur of this feat, the expence
of eighteen millions, the accounts of which are ftill ſub-
fifting *, proved that he had been ferved with as little
economy, as he had himfelf ferved his maſter.
It is certain that St. Germain's and Fontainebleau, the
only country-palaces the King was in poffeffion of, were
much inferior in beauty to Vaux. Louis XIV. was
fenfible of this, and it piqued him. In every part of
the houfe were feen the arms and the motto of Fouquet,
which were a fquirrel, with thefe words, Quò non afcen-
dam? "To what height may I not afcend ?" The King
afked for an explanation of it; and the ambition hinted
in the device, did not ferve to moderate his refentment.
The Courtiers obferved, that the fquirrel was every
where painted as purfued by a fnake, which was the
arms of Colbert. The entertainment was fuperior to
any of thofe that Cardinal Mazarin had ever given, not
only in magnificence, but tafte. Les Fâcheux of Mo-
‡
lière was here exhibited, for the first time. Peliffon wrote
the Prologue, which was much applauded || .
The public diverfions cover or prepare fo often at
Court the ruin of particular perfons, that only in respect
of the Queen-mother, the Superintendant and Peliffon
would have been arrelled at Vaux, the very day of the
* The accounts of this vaft expence were at Vaux, now called
Villars, in 1718, and probably may be preferved there ftill. The
Duke of Villars, fon of the Marshal, confirms the fact. Nor is it fo
extraordinary, as appears at firil, We fee, in the Memoirs of the
Abbé Choi, that the Marquis de Louvois, fpeaking of Meudon,
Then building, told him, that it had then coil him fourteen millions.
Voltaire.
This paffage requires a note, and I cannot fupply it. By the
adverb partout, every whore, is it meant that a fquirrel purſued by a
fnake is a general emblem? I never heard that it was. And then
thofe Courtiers must have been in the fecret, by their allufion. If the
fartont be refrained to the Falace of Vaux, it muſt there be a pro-
rhetical device; as Fouquet did not know of the enmity of Colbert,
fo long before, nor would he have braved it. Tranflater.
†
The Impertinents. The hint of this piece is taken from the ninth
fatire of the first book of Horace.
Ibam forte vié facrâ, ficut meus eft mos, &c. Ilid.
The whole tubject of which was the praife of the King. Ibid.
feaft.
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
141
feaſt *. What had increaſed the refentment of the King
was, that Mademoiſelle la Valière†, for whom he had
begun to be fenfible of a lively paffion, was become one
of the objects of the Superintendant's tranfient attach-
ments, who fpared no expence to gratify his inclina-
tions. He had made an offer to her of two hundred
thouſand livres; but the propofal was received with in-
dignation, even before fhe had formed any defign up-
on the affections of the King. The Superintendant, foon
afterwards, on perceiving what a powerful rival he had,
endeavoured to become the confidant of her whom he
had not been able to poffefs; and this ferved but to add
new provocations.
The King, who, in the first emotion of his refent-
ment, had been tempted to have Fouquet arreſted in
the very midit of the entertainment he was then receiv-
ing from him, afterwards made ufe of a diffimulation
which was not neceffary. It might be faid that the
Monarch, though then in poffeffion of full power, was
yet afraid of the ftrength of party, which Fouquet had
eſtabliſhed for himſelf.
He was Attorney-General to the Parliament, and this
office intitled him to the privilege of being tried by an
Affembly of the Chambers. But after fo many Princes,
Marſhals, and Dukes, had been tried by Commiffioners,
a fimple Magistrate might have been treated in the fame
minner, fince it was refolved to make uſe of ſuch extra-
ordinary methods, which, though not unjust, afforded,
however, always a fufpicion of being fo.
Colbert induced him, by an artifice not very honourable,
to fell his poft. He was offered eighteen hundred thou-
fand livres for it, which were worth about three millions
and a half of the prefent times; but by a mistake he
only difpofed of it for fourteen hundred thouſand
franks. The exceflive price of places in the Parliament,
* This affords us no very favourable idea of Louis le Grand. Trans.
+ Louifa Frances de la Baume-le-Blanc de la Valière, was made
Maid of Honour to Henrietta of England, Dutchels of Orleans. She
fell in love with the perfon of Louis XIV. who was equally ftruck.
Smollet.
1
fo
142
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
fo greatly diminished fince, proves what confequence
that body had ftill preferved, even in its decline. The
Duke of Guife, Great Chamberlain to the King, had
fold that office of the Crown to the Duke of Bouillon,
for only eight hundred thouſand livres.
It was the Fronde, it was the war of Paris, that had
given fuch a value to feats in the Court of Judicature.
If it was one of the great faults, and one of the great
misfortunes of a Government a long while in debt, that
France fhould be the only country in the world where the
pofts of Judges were to be bought, it was the confe-
quence of the leaven of fedition; and it was a fort of infult
to the Throne, that the place of Attorney to the King
fhould cost more, than the firſt dignities of the Crown.
·
Fouquet, though he fquandered the revenues of the
State, uſing them as if they had been his own private
property, poffeffed not, however, the lefs greatneſs of
foul. His depredations were only ſpent in magnificence
and liberality. He reftored the money he fold his poft
for, into the public treaſury; but this noble action
public_treaſury
availed him not. They made ufe of an artifice to in-
veigle a perſon to Nantes, who might have been feized
at Paris by a common ferjeant and a couple of foldiers.
The King appeared to carefs him just before his dif
grace*.
I know not why moft Princes affect to deceive by falſe
fhows of regard, thofe of their fubjects whom they in-
tend to ruin. Diffimulation, in fuch a cafe, is incon-
fiftent with true greatnels. This is never a virtue, and
cannot be eſteemed a valuable talent, but when it be-
comes abfolutely neceffary +. Here Louis XIV. appears
*The first inftance of this kind of infincerity that occurs to me,
on this paffage, is in Sacred Hiftory, when Judas with a kifs betray-
ed his mafter. The fecond is in Profane Hiftory, when James I.
embraced the Earl of Somerfet, juft before he furrendered him to
the Warrant o Lord Chief Juftice Coke. Tranflator.
+ M. Voltaire is an indulgent cafuit in morals. He might have
trufted to the common frailty of poor Human Nature to have framed
a latitude for itſelf, in difficult cafes. Had fuch an accommodating
maxim been always obferved, we ſhould never have heard of martyrs
for loyalty or religion. Ibid.
to
2
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
143
to have acted out of character; but he had been inform-
ed that Fouquet had erected confiderable fortifications
at Belleifle, and that probably he might have too many
partizans, both within and without the kingdom.
But it plainly appeared, when he was arrefted, and
carried firit to the Baftille, and afterwards to Vincennes,
that his party was only the felf-intereftedneſs of fome de-
pendants, and of fome miftreffes of his, who were hist
penfioners, and who forfook him when he had no longer
any thing to beftow. But there remained friends of an-
other character, ftill attached to him, and fuch as proved
that he was worthy of them. The illuftrious Madame
de Sevigné, Péliffon, Gourville, Mademoiſelle de Scu-
der, and feveral perfons of Letters, declared fo loudly
in his favour, and fupported him with fo much warmth,
that they faved his life.
The verſes of Hainault, the tranflator of Lucretius,
againſt Colbert, the perfecutor of Fouquet, are well
known.
Miniftre avare et lâche, efclave malheureux,
Qui gémit fous le poids des affaires publiques;
Victime dévouée aux chagrins politiques,
Fantôme évéré fous un titre onéreux;
Voi combien des grandeurs le comble eft dangereux;
Contemple de Fouquet les funeftes relique:,
Et tandis qu'à fa perte en fecret tu t'appliques,
Crain qu'on ne te prépare un deftin plus affreux.
Sa chute quelque jour te peut être.commune.
Crain ton pofte, ton rang, la cour et la fortune:
Nul ne tombe innocent d'où l'on te voit monté.
Ceffe donc d'animer ton Prince à fon fupplice,
Et près d'avoir befoin de toute fa bonté,
Ne le fai pas ufer de toute fa juftice.
Bafe, fordid Minifter, a titled flave.
Whom public vigils of all rett bercave ;
A victim facrificed to State affairs,
An envied phantom ftill oppreffed with cares;
Contemplate of Fouquet the fad remains,
And then compute of greatness what the gains!
Thes
144
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
#
Thus while in fecret you his fentence plan,
Thy equal, perhaps greater, danger fcan.
His ruin may thy own but antedate,
Fear then thy poll, thy rank, the Court, and fate:
None from thy height can fall unhurt: then fpare
Thy Prince's vengeance to provoke too far;
And while thy crimes may foon his mercy need,
Urge not his juftice in the prefent deed*.
لمدد
Mr. Colbert, when this farcaftical Sonnett was
mentioned to him, aſked if the King had taken offence
at it; and being anſwered no; "Nor I neither," replied
the Miniſter.
We fhould never be the dupe of fuch premeditated
replies, of fuch public fpeeches, which belie the heart.
Colbert appeared moderate, indeed, but he pursued the
life of Fouquet with perfect animofity. A perfon
may be a good Minifter, though vindictive. It was un-
happy that he was not capable of as much generofity as
vigilance.
The most active and implacable of all his perfecutors,
was the chief of his Judges, the Chancellor Michael le
Tellier. He treated him very harshly in the Baſtille,
where
This Mr. Poct Hainault is but a flurdy beggar. A more pru-
deat friend would have judged it a hazardous experiment to add a
private pique to a public proiccution, in order to qualify it. Doctors,
they fay, fometimes raife a fever, to cure it; but the analogy will
hardly hold good in politics. Tranflator.
+ Thefe lines, as they are printed above, form the compleat French
Sonnet, according to the definition of it given by Richelet, in his
Dictionary. "A Poem of fourteen lines, divided into four couplets,
•of which the two firft are of four lines each, and the two laſt of
"three." It may here be obferved, that couplet, in French, fignifies
fanca, though improperly. Ibid.
The words in French are, pourſuivait la mort. An odd phraſe.
which I have taken the liberty to alter, thinking that no privilege of
idiom can warrant any expreffion falfe either in fenfe or grammar.
Ilid.
He was an honeft, but a rigid man.
in the Lift of Secretaries of State; where
qu'aimé du Roi, de la Cour, et du Public.
See his character before,
'tis faid, Il fut plus eftimé
"He was more efteemed
than loved by the King, the Court, and the Public." Such un-
aniable characters often lofe the merit of their virtue with the
world,
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
145
矍
​where he interrogated him, and did every thing in his
power to have him condemned to death. When one
reads the funeral oration of this Chancellor, pronounced
by Boffuet, and compares it with his conduct, what is
one to think, except that a funeral fermon is but a decla-
mation?
It is certain, that this proceſs againſt the Superintend-
ant was an accuſation againſt Cardinal Mazarin; for
the greateſt depredations in the finances were imputable
to him. He had appropriated to himſelf, as if he had
been the Sovereign, many branches of the public re-
venue. He had acted as Commiffary to the Armies, in
his own name, and to his own emolument. "He had
<6
impofed (ſaid Fouquet, in his defence), by Lettres
"de Cachet, large fums upon the Generalities*, which
"had never been done but by, and for himſelf, and
"which is liable to a capital puniſhment by the laws."
It was by thefe means that the Cardinal had amaffed
immenfe treaſures, of which he himſelf knew not the
amount.
I have heard the late Mr. de Caumartin, Intendant
of the Finances, fay, that when he was a young man,
fome years after the death of the Cardinal, he had been
at the Palais Mazarin, where the Duke, his heir, and
the Duchefs Hortenfia then refided; that he there ob-
ferved a large inlaid cabinet, very deep, and extending
from the top to the bottom of the clofet where it ſtood.
The keys of it had been a long time loft, and they had
therefore never examined its contents. Mr. Caumartin,
furpriſed at this neglect, faid to the Duchefs of Maza-
world, which is too generally not very charitable, and apt to ſuſpect
that men fometimes but borrow the appearances of trianels and juf-
tice, in order to indulge their fpleen and ill-nature with the lefs re-
proach. I have feen a Judge (a) ſign a death-warrant as if he him-
felf had been the victim, when the tears he fhed, had they been
blended with his ink, would have obliterated the fentence. Some
men are accufing Angels, others but recording ones; according to that
beautiful extravagance of Sterne, in his Chapter on Le Feve. Tranj.
*The Generalities mean the different Provinces or Diftricts allotted
to the feveral Collectors of the public revenue. Tranflator.
(a) Mr. Wainwright, a Judge in Ireland.
VOL: II.
L
rin,
145
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
"
rin, that perhaps fome curiofities might be difcovered in
this cabinet. It was accordingly opened, and was
found filled with quadruples, gold counters, and medals
of the fame metal; of which Madame de Mazarin threw
out handfuls to the populace, from the window, for
about eight days fucceffively *.
Cardinal Mazarin's abufe of his defpotic rule could
not juſtify the Superintendant; but the irregular courſe
of the proceedings against him; the length of his trial;
the odious virulence of the Chancellor Tellier, fhewn
in the proſecution; with time, which extinguishes the
public refentment, and infpires a compaffion for the
unhappy, and finally, folicitations, which are ever more
actively urged in favour of the unfortunate, than ad-
verfe fuits are profecuted againſt them; all theſe con-
curred to fave his life.
Judgement was not given in the proceſs till three
years after the commencement of it, in 1664; when, of
twenty-two Judges who voted on the queftion, only
nine of them paffed fentence of death; and the other
thirteen, among whom there were fome who had accept-
ed preſents from Gourville, declared for perpetual ba-
nishment. But the King commuted this banishment for
one more fevere.
This ſeverity was neither conformable to the ancient
laws of the kingdom, nor to thofe of humanity. But
what offended the minds of the nation moft, was the
Chancellor having banished one of the Judges, named
Roquefante, who had been the most active in deter-
mining the Chamber of Juftice to indulgence &
All
* I have fince met with the fame ſtory in St. Evremond. Voltaire.
+ We are obliged to M. Voltaire for this reflection to the honour
of human nature. Translator.
↑ See his Memoirs.
By confining him in the Caftle of Pignercl, where he employed
himſelf in compofing works of piety. Smollet.
§ Racine affirms, in his hiltorical fragments, that the King ſaid,
in Mademoifelle Valière's apartments, if he had been condemned
to
1
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
147
All the Hiftorians fay, that he died in confinement,
in 1680; but Gourville fays, in his Memoirs, that he
was diſcharged from prifon fome time before his death.
The Countess of Vaux, his daughter-in-law, had before
confirmed this fact to me; though the contrary is fill
believed in his own family. Thus 'tis uncertain where
died an unfortunate man, whofe ſlighteſt actions were
obferved when he was in power.
The Secretary of State, Guenegaud, who had fold
his poſt to Colbert, was no lefs purfued on that account,
by the Chamber of Juftice, which deprived him of the
greateſt part of his fortune. What was the moſt
fingular in the Arrêts of this Chamber, is, that a Biſhop
of Avranche was condemned in a fine of twelve thoufand
franks. His name was Boleve, and he was the brother
of a contractor, and had taken fhare in his extortions *.
St. Evremond, who was attached to the Superintend-
ant, was involved in his difgrace. Colbert, who fearch-
ed every where for proofs againſt the man whom he wiſhed
to ruin, had fome papers feized that were intruſted to
the care of Madame du Pleffis- Bellièvre; and among
them was found a letter written by St. Evremond, on
the peace of the Pyrenées +. This piece of pleaſantry,
then deemed a crime against the State, was fhewn to the
King. Colbert, who fcorned to revenge himſelf upon
fo obfcure a perfon as Hainault, perfecuted in the perfon
of St. Evremond the friend of Fouquet whom he hated,
and the man of wit whom he feared.
"to death, I would have let him fuffer." If he did make uſe of fuch
an expreffion, it cannot be excufed. It appears to be both too ſevere
and too abfurd. Foltaire.
The making fo intemperate and heedlefs a declaration, in the pre-
fence of La Valière, betrayed the leaven of a mean fpirit of jealoufy
and envy in Louis, which the magnificence and galantries fhewn to
that Lady by Fouquet, had formerly excited in his breaſt, and which
even then that unhappy man's fufferings and misfortunes had not been
yet able to qualify. Tranflator.
*See Guy Patin, and the memoirs of thofe times. Foltaire.
+ It was a humorous ridicule compofed against Cardinal Mazarin,
on his conduct and behaviour during that treaty. Tranſlator.
1. 2
The
148
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
The King was fo extremely fevere as to puniſh a harm-
lefs piece of raillery, compofed a long time before, up-
on Cardinal Mazarin, whom he regretted not, and
whom the whole Court had abufed, reprobated, and
baniſhed, for many years, without the leaft cenfure *.
Of a thouſand pieces written againſt that Miniſter, the
leaft fevere was the only one which was puniſhed, and that
after his death +.
St. Evremond, who had retired into England, lived
and died there a free man and a philofopher. The Mar-
quis de Miremont, his friend, told me formerly in Lon-
don, that there was fome other cauſe of his diſgrace, but
which St. Evremond would never reveal. When Louis
XIV. afterwards permitted St. Evremond to return to
his country, towards the latter end of his life, this phi-
lofopher fcorned to accept the permiffion as a favour;
and proved that a man's country is the place where he
lives happy; and he did fo at London.
The new Minifter of the Finances, under the fimple
title of Comptroller-General, juftified the ſeverity of
his conduct in re-eſtabliſhing that order which his pre-
deceffors had confuſed, and in labouring without relaxa-
tion towards the greatneſs of the State.
The Court became the center of pleaſures, and the
model of all other Courts. The King piqued himſelf
upon giving feafts which fhould obliterate the remem-
brance of thofe of Vaux .
It feemed as if Nature had taken a pleaſure then in
giving to France the greatest men in all the Arts, and
in affembling at Court the most beautiful and moft per-
fectly-formed perfons, of both fexes. The King furpaffed
all his Courtiers, in the dignity of his perſon, and the
majestic beauty of his features. The very found of his
voice, which was noble and engaging, gained thofe
* An order was iffued for carrying him to the Baftille, but he had
the good fortune to receive a hint of it time enough to effect his eſcape
out of the kingdom. Tranflator.
+ This was by Louis le Grand. Ibid.
A worthy emulation, truly! His jealoufy of Fouquet, it feems,
had not yet fubfided. Ibid.
hearts
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
149
air was
hearts which his prefence awed. His air
ſuch, as became only himſelf and his rank, and would
have been ridiculous in any other perfon. The embar-
raffment which people were fubject to when they ſpoke
to him, fecretly flattered the complacency with which
he was fenfible of his fuperiority. The old Officer who
was confounded, and heſitated in his fpeech, on folicit-
ing ſome favour, and who not being able to finish his
addreſs, faid, " Sir, I do not tremble thus before your
"enemies,” obtained his requeft without any further
difficulty.
The polish of Society had not yet received all its per-
fection at Court. The Queen-mother, Anne of Au-
ftria, began to affect retirement. The Queen Confort
fcarcely underſtood the language, and mere goodnefs
conſtituted her fole merit. The Princefs of England,
fifter-in-law to the King, brought to Court the charms
of a ſoft and lively converfation, foon after improved
by the reading of good Authors, and by a juft and re-
fined tafte. She alfo perfected herſelf in the knowledge
of the language, which fhe wrote but incorrectly at the
time of her marriage. She infpired a new emulation of
wit, and introduced at Court fuch graces and politenefs
as the reft of Europe had fcarcely any notion of. Ma-
dame had all the wit of Charles II. her brother, embel-
liſhed with the beauty of her fex, and by the gift and
the defire of pleaſing. The Court of Louis XIV.
breathed a galantry, the zeft of which was heightened
by decorum; while that which reigned at the Court of
Charles II. was lefs referved, and too much indecency
debaſed its pleaſures.
There paffed at first between Madame and the King
fome of thofe gallantries of wit, and that private inti-
macy, which little feafts, often repeated, are apt to
produce. The King ſent her verſes, which the replied to.
It happened that the very fame perfon was at the fame
time confidant both to the King and Madame, in this
gay intercourfe. This was the Marquis of Dangeau.
The King employed him to write for him, and Madame
engaged him to frame her anfwers. He thus ferved
Ls
them
150
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
them both, without fuffering either to fufpect that he
was fecretary to the other; and this was one of the
cauſes of his fortune.
This connection having alarmed the Royal Family,
the King changed this fufpicious commerce into a foun-
dation of friendſhip and efteem, which ever continued.
When Madame afterwards employed Racine and Cor-
neille to compofe the Tragedy of Berenice, fhe had in
view not only the rupture between the King and the
Conſtable Colonne, but the reftraint which fhe had im-
pofed upon her own inclinations, left they ſhould be-
come dangerous. Louis XIV. is fufficiently pointed
out in theſe two lines of Racine's Berenice :
Qu'en quelque obfcurité que le ciel l'eût fait naître,
Le monde en le voyant eût reconnu fon maître.
In whatſoever ftate he had been fhewn,
Mankind on feeing him their King would own.
Theſe amufements gave place to a paffion more ferious
and more conftant, which he had conceived for Made-
moiſelle de la Valière, Maid of Honour to Madame.
He taſted with her the uncommon happinefs of being
beloved, for his own fake alone. She had been for two
years the concealed object of all the entertainments and
of all the feafs the King had given. A young valet-
de chambre of the King's, named Belloc, compofed fe-
veral recitatives, which were intermixed with their
dances, and performed fometimes at the Queen's, and
fometimes at Madame's apartments; and theſe recita-
tives myſteriouſly expreffed the fecret of their hearts,
which foon became no longer a fecret.
All the public diverfions that the King had exhibited,
were fo many homages to his Miftrefs. In 1662 a Tour-
nan ent was held over against the Tuilleries*, in a
large enclature, which from thence has retained the
name of La Place du Caroufe, or the Tournament-Ground.
* Not in the Royal Square, as the Hiftory of la Hçde fays, under
the name of La Martinière. Voltaire.
There
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
151
There were five Quadrilles*, reprefenting fo many diffe-
rent nations, appointed to enter the lifts. The King
was at the head of the Roman troop; his brother, of
the Perfian; the Prince of Condé, of the Turks; the
Duke of Enghien, his fon, of the Indian; and the
Duke of Guife, of the American one.
This Duke of Guife was grandfon to Balafrét. He
had made himfelf famous in the world, by the unfortu-
nate temerity with which he attempted to become maſter
of Naples. His impriſonment, his duels, his romantic
amours, his prodigality, and his adventures, had ren-
dered him a fingular character in every thing. He feem-
ed to be a perſon of another age. It was faid of him,
on feeing him run at the ring against the Great Condé,
"Behold the Heroes both of Hiſtory and Fable."
The Queen-Mother, the Queen-Confort, and the
Queen of England, widow of Charles I. who upon this
occafion fufpended her afflictions, fat under a canopy at
this exhibition. The Count de Sault, fon to the Duke
de Lefdiguières, won the prize, and received it from the
hands of the Queen-Mother. Thefe fports revived more
than ever the tafte for emblems and devices which
Tournaments had formerly brought into fashion, and
which continued after them.
An Antiquarian, named D'Ouvrier, framed then for
Louis XIV. the emblem of a Sun, darting its rays on a
Globe, with thefe words: Nec pluribus impar. The
thought was taken from a Spaniſh device made for Phi-
lip II. and more fuitable to that Monarch, who poffeffed
* Quadril, from Quadrilla, Spaniſh. Small troops of cavaliers,
properly mounted, armed and prepared to enter the lifts, at tilts,
jufts, tournaments, running at the ring, &c. Tranflator.
+ Henry, Duke of Guife, who is here furnamed Balafré, was a
man equally distinguished for great and bad qualities; which unhappy
compofition of character was the caufe of many evils and calamities
to his county, in the reign of Henry III. and occafioned his being
put to death, with a factious Cardinal, a brother of his, at the Caftle
of Blois.
The world Balafre in French fignifies a fcar in the face; and this
Duke of Guife was fo cognomen'd, from a wound he had received
there, upon an attempt made to affaffinate him. Ibid.
L 4
the
152
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
1
:
the fineſt part of the New World, and fo many dominions
in the Old, than to a young King of France, who had
yet afforded nothing but hopes. This device had pro-
digious fuccefs. The atchievements of the King, the
furniture of the Crown, the tapeſtry and ſculptures were
all adorned with it. The King, however, never wore
it in his Tournaments.
Louis XIV. has been unjustly cenfured for the vanity
of this device, as if he had chofen it himfelf; and a cri-
ticifm might more properly be made upon the conceit
itfelf. The emblem does not reprefent what the motto
fignifies; nor has the latter a meaning fufficiently clear
and explicit. What may be explained in different
fenfes, deferves no interpretation at all. Devices, that
remain of antient chivalry, may be proper in feftivals,
and are agreeable enough when the allufions are juſt,
new, and pointed. It is better to have none, than ad-
mit thofe which are mean or incongruous; like that of
Louis XII. who bore a Hedge-Hog, with this motto:
Qui s'y frotte s'y pique-" He that touches me pricks
himfelf." Devices are to infcriptions, what maf
querades are to more formal affemblies.
The feaſt of Verſailles, in 1664, exceeded that of the
Tournament, in its fingularity, its magnificence, and
its rational pleafures; which being blended with the
fplendour of the entertainment, fuperadded fuch a reliſh
and an elegance to it, as no exhibition of the kind had
ever before been embelliſhed with. Verfailles began to
be a charming ſpot, even before it had reached that gran-
deur to which it has fince arrived.
On the 5th of May the King went there with a Court
compofed of fix hundred perfors, who, with their attend-
ants, were all entertained at his expence, as
1664. were alſo thoſe employed in conducting theſe
bewitching fcenes. There was nothing ever wanting
ar theſe feafts, except fuch lafting monuments, erected
purpolely for their exhibition, as the Greeks and Ro-
mans ufed to raife. But the diſpatch with which the
theatres, amphitheatres, and porticoes, ornamented with
as much magnificence as tafte, were conſtructed, was a
furprize
}
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
153
furprize which encreaſed the illufion, and which, varied
in a thouſand ways, augmented ftill more the charm of
theſe ſhows.
There was at firft a fort of caroufal, in which thofe
who were to run, appeared the firſt day as in a review.
Theſe were preceded by Heralds at Arms, Pages, and
'Squires, who carried their devices and bucklers; on
which latter were infcribed, in letters of gold, verfes
compoſed by Périgni* and Benferade+; the laſt of
whom, eſpecially, poffeffed a fingular talent for fuch
galant pieces, in which he always introduced delicate.
and lively allufions to the characters of the perfons pre-
fent, to the perfonages of antiquity or of the fable that
was reprefented, and to the reigning taſte or paffions of
the Court. The King perfonated Rogert. All the
jewels of the Crown were diſplayed on his dreſs, and on
the horſe he rode. The Queens, accompanied by three
* He was an Abbé, born at Lyons, and the firſt who establiſhed
an Opera at Paris, fimilar to the one at Venice, by a Royal Patent.
In 1672, he exhibited the Paſtoral of Pomona, the words by himſelf.
the mufic by Lambert. He afterwards, on fome difguft at his part-
ners, difpofed of his Patent to Lulli. He was author of feveral other
Paftorals, with many Odes, Sonnets, and Elegies. He tranflated the
Eneid into verfe, but indifferently. It might not have been fo much
his fault, as the weakneſs of the French language, which Epic Poely
revolts at. Indeed all kind of rhyme is a reſtraint upon it. A jing-
ling epopée reſembles a hero in chains. Tranflator.
There is too fhort and difparaging an account given of this
Writer, in the Catalogue prefixed to this Work. He was a man of
wit, fpirit and talents, was well received at Court, and had a pen.
fion fettled on him by Anne of Auftria, the Queen-Mother. He
wrote feveral Plays, both Tragedies and Comedies, befides compofing
fome Ballets, which had great reputation in that time.
He was author of a Sonnet upon Job, which divided the Critics in
the Belles-Lettres between it and Voiture's Sonnet called Uania.
M. Voltaire thould have given him the merit of fuch a competition,
at leaſt.
Not only the Men of Letters, but the whole Court took
part fo warmly in this conteft, that it became a party-matter at lait,
in which the different fides were denominated fobijts and Uraniafts.
}
Ibid.
We are at a lofs here to know what character this is, or in what
reprefentation introduced; but this we know, that the name and the
finery are by no means conforted. Ibid.
hundred
154
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
hundred Ladies, feated under triumphal arches, were
prefent at this entry.
The King, amidst all the eyes that were fixed on him,
diftinguiſhed only thofe of Mademoiſelle de la Valière.
The feftival was given for her alone, which fhe feemingly
enjoyed but as a common fpectator.
The cavalcade was followed by a gilded car
eighteen feet high, fifteen broad, and twenty-four long,
reprefenting the Chariot of the Sun. The four Ages, of
Gold, Silver, Brafs, and Iron, the Cœleftial Signs, the
Seafons, and the Hours, followed the car, on foot. Every
thing was characteristic. Shepherds carried the rails of
the palifadoes, and joined them together to the found
of trumpets; to which fucceeded, by intervals, haut-
boys and violins. Some perfons who followed Apollo's
car, came forward before the Queens, and recited fome
verſes applicable to the place, the time, the King, and
the Ladies.
The races finifhed, and the night come on, four thou-
fand large flambeaus illuminated the area where the
feaft was given. The tables there were ferved by two
hundred perfons, reprefenting the Seafons, the Fauns,
the Sylvans, and the Dryads, with Shepherds, Vinta-
gers, and Reapers of Corn. Pan and Diana advanced
upon a moving mountain, from which they defcended,
in order to place upon the tables whatever the fields
and the forefts produced that was most delicious. Be-
hind the tables, in a femicircle, fprang up fuddenly an
orcheftra filled with muficians. The arcades which
furrounded the tables and the orcheftra, were decorated
with five hundred girandoles, of green and filver, fup-
plied with wax tapers; and a gilt balustrade inciofed
this vaft amphitheatre.
Thefe frafts, fo much fuperior to thofe which are
imagined in romances, were continued for feven days.
The King four times carried the prizes of the games,
and then refigned them to be again contended for by the
other champions.
The Comedy of La Princeffe d'Elide*, though not
one of the beft of Moliere's Pieces, was one of the most
* The Frinceſs of Elis.
agreeable
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
155
agreeable articles of theſe ſports, from the number of
fine allegories on the manners of the times, and the
temporary allufions, which add a relifh to fuch entertain-
ments, but which are loft to poſterity.
Judicial aftrology ftill maintained its credit at Court:
many of the Princes, from a vain fuperftition, thought
that Nature had diftinguiſhed them fo far as to write
their deſtiny in the ftars. The Duke of Savoy, Victor-
Amadeus, father to the Dutchess of Burgundy, kept an
aftrologer in his train, even after his abdication. Mo-
liere was bold enough to attack this delufion, in his Co-
medy of Les Amans Magnifiques *.
There was alfo aourt Fool introduced in that piece.
This wretched fpecies of buffoons was ftill much in
faſhion, and was a relick of barbarifm which continued
much longer in Germany than elfewhere. The want of
amuſements, and the inability of procuring fuch as were
agreeable and chate, in the times of ignorance and bad
taſte, had given rife to this miferable fupplement, which
is a degradation to the human underſtanding. The
Fool that was then in the Royal family, had formerly be-
longed to the Prince of Condé: his name was Angeli.
The Count de Grammont faid, that of all the fools who
had followed Monfieur the Prince, there was only Angeli
ક
*The Magnificent Lovers.
6C
La Bruyere, in my opinion, offers a more philofophic folution of
this matter, in his Characters. Princes, or perfons otherwiſe hap-
py in all their circumstances of life (fays he), have a certain fuper-
fluity of joy in their minds, which inclines them to laugh at a
dwarf, a monkey, a fool, or any filly ftory. Thofe who are lefs
happy, fmile with more diftinction.
"C
But many of the perfons recorded in Hiftory, under this denomi-
nation, were not the jets, but the jefters of Courts. Killigrew, in the
reign of Charles II. was one. He was a man of wit and literature, and
employed abroad on Embaflies. They were a fort of privileged per-
fons, who, from a certain peculiarity of character, were apt to ſpeak
home-truths, and allowed to fay any thing fhort of treafon, without
offence to decorum.
What a pity that this ufage has been abolished! Kings need fuch
a member in the State, extremely. It would not be amifs if they would
take a fool's advice, now and then. Tranflator.
The appellation of the Prince of Condé. Ibid.
that
159
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
that made his fortune. This buffoon did not want wit:
It was he who faid, " he never went to hear Sermons,
"becauſe he did not love brawling, and did not under-
"ftand argument."
The Farce of Le Mariage forcé, or, The Forced
Marriage, was alſo performed at this feaft. But
1654. the moſt admirable circumftance here, was the
firſt repreſentation of the first three Acts of the Tar-
tuffe*. The King was impatient to fee this chef-d'œuvre,
even before it was finished. He afterwards protected it
againſt thofe falfe bigots who would have moved heaven
and earth for its fuppreffion; and it will fubfift, as has
been already faid elſewhere, while tafte and hypocrify
fhall continue in France.
The generality of thefe gay fpectacles are only cal-
culated for the eyes and ears. What is merely ſhow
and magnificence, is but the amufement of a day; but
when the mafter-piece of art, fuch as the Tartuffe, are
added to theſe feftivals, they render the memory of them
perpetual.
Several paffages of thofe allegories of Benferade,
which enriched the Ballets of that time, are ſtill remem-
bered. I fhall only quote thefe verfes, applied to the
King, reprefenting the Sun.
Je doute qu'on le prenne avec vous fur le ton
De Daphné ni de Phaeton.
Lui trop ambitieux, elle trop inhumaine :
Il n'eſt point là de piége où vous puiffiez donner;
Le moyen de s'imaginer,
Qu'une femme vous fuie, & qu'un homme vous mène ?
With thee we ne'er can fear the tale,
Of Daphne, or of Phaeton;
Her hynels, or his bold affail,
Thy fenfe and merits ftill muſt ſhun;
For, while fuch talents you employ,
Nor man can baffle, maids be coy,
The principal glory of theſe amuſements, which per-
fected taste, politenefs, and talents, in France, arofe
The Hypocrite; from whence our play of the Nonjuror is
taken. Tranflater.
from
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
751
r
from this, that they occafioned not the leaft relaxation
in the affiduous labours of the Monarch. Without
theſe attentions, he would only have known how to
keep a Court, but not have known how to reign; and
if theſe magnificent pleafures of the Court had infulted
the mifery of the people, they would only have been
deteftable.
But the fame perſon who gave theſe feafts, gave
bread alfo to the people, in the famine of 1662. He
caufed corn to be brought forth, which the rich had
purchaſed at a low price, and had it diftributed to poor
families, at the gate of the Louvre. He remitted to
the people three millions of taxes. No part of the in-
terior adminiftration was neglected; and his Govern-
ment was reſpected abroad. The King of Spain was
obliged to yield him precedence; the Pope forced to
make him fatisfaction; Dunkirk added to France, by a
purchaſe glorious to the acquirer, and fhameful to the
feller; finally, all theſe tranſactions fince he took the
reins of government into his own hands, were either
noble or uſeful. After this, the indulgence of thefe
revellings appeared with the better grace,
Chigi, the Legate-à-latere, nephew to Pope Alex-
ander VII. coming in the midft of all theſe ſports and
fpectacles at Verfailles, to make fatisfaction to the King,
for the infult offered him by the Pope's guards, afforded
a new exhibition to the Court. Such grand ceremonies
are a fort of feftivals to the Public. The honours that
were paid him, rendered the fatisfaction the more con-
fpicuous. He received under a canopy the compliments
of the fuperior Courts, of the corporation of the City,and
the body of the Clergy. He entered Paris under a dif-
charge of cannon, having the Great Condé on his right
hand, and the fon of that Prince on his left; and appear-
ed with all this poinp to humble himſelf, Rome, and the
Pope, before a King who had not yet drawn his fword.
He dined with the King after the audience, and the
Court exerted itfelf to treat him with magnificence, and
afford him every kind of entertainment.
kind of entertainment. The Doge of
Genoa, fince then, was treated with lefs ceremony, in-
2
deed,
158
THE AGE OF LOUIS. XIV.
deed, but with the fame earneftnefs to pleaſe, that the
King ever blended with his moſt important actions.
All theſe things gave to the Court of Louis XIV. an
air of grandeur which eclipfed all the other Courts of
Europe. He was defirous that this luftre annexed to
his perfon, fhould be reflected on all around him; that
all the great ſhould be honoured, but none of them
powerful, beginning with his brother, and with Mon-
fieur the Prince. It was with this view that he decided
in favour of the Peers their ancient difpute with the
Preſidents of the Parliament. Thefe contended for the
right of voting before the Peers, and had been in pof-
feffion of this claim. He determined, in an extraordinary
Council, that the Peers fhould vote in the Beds of
Justice, the King being then preſent, before the Pre-
fidents; as if they owed this privilege merely to his
perfon, and fuffered the ancient ufage ftill to ſubſiſt in
their common affemblies, where he did not perfonally
prefide.
In order to diftinguiſh his principal Courtiers, he di-
rected a uniform of large blue coats, embroidered with
gold and filver t. The permiffion to wear this garb was
deemed a great favour, by thoſe who were under the do-
minion of vanity. This honour was as much folicited
as the Collar of an Order. It may be obſerved, fince we
have here entered into minute details, that they wore
theſe coats over a doublet ornamented with ribbons, and
over the coat was flung a belt, to which hung the ſword.
They wore alfo a kind of laced cravat, and a hat mounted
with two rows of teathers. This drefs, which continued
till the year 1684, became the faſhion of all Europe, ex-
cept of Spain and Poland; for they already almoſt uni-
verfally piqued themfelves on imitating the Court of
Louis XIV.
He eſtabliſhed in his houfhold an economy which ſtill
fubfifts; regulated the ranks and offices belonging to it;
and created new pofts about his perfon, fuch as that of the
Grand mafter of his Wardrobe, &c. He re-eſtabliſhed the
* Where the King prefides in perfon, fitting enthroned. Transl.
† A fort of roquclause, or great-coat. Ibid.
tables
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
159
tables appointed by Francis I. and augmented them.
There were twelve of thefe for the Commenfal Officers+.
ferved with as much elegance and profufion as thofe of
many Sovereigns. He directed that all ftrangers fhould
be invited to them; and this attention was continued
during his whole reign.
There was another provifion of a ſtill more refined and
polite nature. When he had built the Pavillions of
Marly, in 1679, the Ladies found themſelves accommo-
dated in their apartments with a compleat toilette; no-
thing that was requifite to a convenient luxury was want-
ing. Whoever was of any of his excurfionary parties,
might give an entertainment in his own apartment, where
he was ferved with the fame accommodations as the maf
ter. Such trivial things have their value only, when
they are fupported by great ones. In all his actions.
fplendor and liberality were manifefted. He made pre-
fents of two hundred thouſand franks to the daughters of
his Minifters, on their marriage.
But what diftinguiſhed him the moft, in Europe, was
a liberality which had before no example. The hint
arofe from a converfation which he happened to hold
with the Duke de St. Aignan, who told him that Car-
dinal Richelieu had fent prefents to fome learned fo-
reigners who had written elogies on him. The King did
not wait till he was praifed; but, fure of deferving to
be fo, recommended it to his Minifters, Lionne and Col-
bert, to felect a number both of Frenchmen and ftran-
gers diftinguifhed for literature, on whom he might be-
ftow tokens of his munificence. Lionne having written.
into foreign countries, and having informed himfelf as
fully as he could, in a matter of fo delicate a nature,
where a preference was to be given between cotempora-
ries, a lift was then made out of fixty perfons; fome of
whom had prefents, and others penfions given them,
according to their rank, wants, or merits.
The Officers of the Houſehold who were privileged to dine at
Court. Tranflater.
Alazzi,
1бо
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
Alazzi, Librarian of the Vatican*; Count Graziani †,
Secretary of State to the Duke of Modena; the cele-
brated Viviani †, Mathematician to the Grand Duke of
Florence; Voffius $, Hiftoriographer to the United-
Provinces; the illuftrious Mathematician Huygens ||;
a Dutch
* Leo Allatius, or Alazzi, as the Italians name him, was a cele-
brated writer of the 17th century. He affifted the Members of Port-
Royal, in the controverfy they held with M. Claude, on the belief
of the Greeks with regard to the Eucharist. He fupported the doc-
trine of the Latin againſt the Greek Church. He neither mar-
ried nor went into orders. Alexander VII. aſked him, one day, why
" he did not do one or the other?" To which he replied,
"that
"he would not do either, becauſe it would prevent his doing the
"other." Upon which ftory M. Bayle farcaftically obferves, "Thus
"he paffed his whole life wavering between a parish and a wife;
"forry, perhaps, at his death, for having chofen neither; when, if
"he had fixed upon one, he might have repented his choice, for
thirty or forty years." He died at Rome in 1669, aged 83.—
Biog. Dia.
"
+ Jerome Graziani diſtinguiſhed himſelf by his poetical talents,
and wrote a number of works. He was thought to poffefs more eru-
dition, than either taſte or judgment. He was author of an epic
poem intitled Cleopatra, and of another on the conquest of Granada.
He wrote alfo a great many odes and fonnets. He was created Count
of Sarzana by Francis Duke of Modena. Ibid.
‡ Vincentio Viviani was of a noble family in Florence, where he
was born in 1621. He was a great Mathematician, and had been a
difciple of Galileo. He reflored the fifth book of Apollonius's Conic
Sections, which he publiſhed in 1659, with the title of De Maximis
et Minimis Geometrica Divinatio, &c. He was employed along with
Caffini to prevent the inundations of the Tyber.
He died in 1701.
Ibid.
§ Ifaac Voffius was the perfon here meant, but he was no hifto-
rian. It was his father, John Gerard Voffius, that had been Profef-
for of Hiftory, at Leyden. He was a man of great fludy and learn-
ing, held a correfpondence with Chriftina, Queen of Sweden, and
taught her Greek. In 1670, he came over to England, where he was
appointed a Canon of Windfor by Charles II. though he knew his
character well enough to fay, "there was nothing that Voffius did
not believe, except the Bible." He expofed both his credulity and
his want of faith in moft of his writings; for though he had great
learning, he was but a weak man. He died in Windfor Caſtle, in
1688. Ibid.
..
Chriftian Huygens, born at the Hague, and one of the greateſt
Mathematicians of the 17th Century. He firſt diſcovered Saturn's
ring, and invented or improved feveral feientific inftruments. He
loved a ftudious and fequeftered life, yet never contracted the leaft of
that
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
161
a Dutch Refident in Sweden, in fine, even the Pro-
feffors at Altorf and at Helmftadt, towns almoft un-
known to the French, were aftonifhed to receive let-
ters from Monfieur Colbert, in which he informed
them, that though the King was not their Sovereign, he
hoped they would permit him to be their Patron. The
ftile of theſe letters was adapted to the rank of the per-
fons; and they were all accompanied either with confi-
derable benefactions, or penfions.
Among the French, Racine, Quinault *, and Flé-
chier, fince Biſhop of Nîmes, though then very young,
were diſtinguiſhed, and received prefents. It is true,
that Chapelain + and Cotin had penfions; but it was
principally Chapelain that the Minifter Colbert confulted
upon this occafion. Theſe two men, otherwife ſo decried
for their poetry, were not without merit. Chapelain was
that feverity or fournefs of manners or difpofition which is generally
the effect of folitude and ftudy. B.og. Dict.
* Boileau was fevere on Quinault, in the following verfe :
Si je penfe exprimer un auteur fans défaut.
La Raifon dit Virgile, et la Rime Quinault.
'Mongit authors I ask which is freeft from fault;
'Tis Virgil, fays Reafon : fays Rhyme, 'Tis Quinault.
However, this author acquired confiderable reputation, by his Come
dies and his Operas. See the articles of Quinault and of Lulli, in
the Catalogue of Writers and of Muficians, prefixed to the Age of
Louis XIV. Tranflater.
+ His poem, De la Purelle, was fo dull and tedious a performance,
that it
gave occafion to the following farcafin :
Illa Capellani dudum expectata puella,
Polt tanta in lucem tempora prodit anus,
The maiden of Orleans, which Chapelain begun,
Became an old woman, before he had done.
This thought is not new: it was borrowed from a Latin epigram
upon an ancient prolix poem, written on the fubject of Cupid. The
words I have forgot, but the verfion of it runs thus:
Bavius in praife of Cupid's youth began,
But ere 'twas finish'd, Cupid grows a man. Ibid.
VOL. II.
M
a perfon
162
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
a perſon of great erudition; and, what is more furpri-
fing, had tafte, and was a judicious critic. But this dif
fers widely from genius. Senfe and fcience ferve to di-
rect an artiſt, but do not form one in any branch. No-
body in France had greater reputation in their time, than
Ronfard and Chapelain. The reafon was, that barba-
riſm ſtill ſubfifted in the days of Ronfard, and the
nation was hardly purged from it in thofe of Chapelain.
Coftar, fellow-ftudent of Balzac and Voiture, called
Chapelain the firft of epic poets.
Boileau had no fhare in thefe liberalities; he had yet
only written fatires; and we know that in thefe he had
attacked thofe very men of letters whom the Miniſter
had diftinguiſhed. The King, however, diftinguiſhed
him, fome years after, without confulting any one.
The prefents fent into foreign countries were fo con-
fiderable, that Viviani built a houfe at Florence, out of
the bounty of Louis XIV. and had this infcription
placed, in gilt letters, on the front: Ædes à Deo datæ,
"This houfe is the gift of God;" alluding to the fur-
name of Dieu donné, the Given of God, which the public
voice had beſtowed upon this Prince at his birth.
•
One may easily imagine the effect which fo extraordi-
nary a munificence must have produced in Europe;
and if we reflect upon all the memorable actions of the
King foon after performed, the most difficult and
fevere minds ought to make allowances for the exceffive
eulogiums ſo prodigally laviſhed upon him. It was not
the French alone who praifed him. There were twelve
panegyrics on Louis XIV. pronounced in fo many dif-
ferent towns of Italy; an homage paid him neither thro'
fear or hope, and which were fent him by the Marquis
Zampieri.
He always cotinnued to lavish his benefactions upon
the arts and fciences. Particular gratifications, to the
amount of four thousand louis-d'ors, to Racine; the
fortune of Defpréaux, of Quinault, and especially that
of Lulli, and of all the artists who devoted their labour
to hm, are fufficient proofs of it. He even gave a
thoufand louis to Benferade, for engraving the copper-
I
plates
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
163
plates of his Ovid's Metamorphofes, tranflated in ron-
deaux*; a liberality ill placed, and proving only the ge-
nerofity of the Sovereign. He feemed by this to recom-
penfe in Benferade the fmall merit he had in his Ballets.
Several writers have attributed folely to Colbert this
protection given to the arts, and this magnificence of
Louis XIV.; but he had no other merit in this matter,
than that of feconding the fpirit of his mafter. This
Miniſter, who had a great genius for finances, com-
merce, navigation, and the general police, poffeffed not
in his foul that taſte or that elevation of mind which the
King was endowed with. He actively promoted, indeed,
but was incapable of infpiring him with what nature had
already beſtowed upon him +.
One cannot imagine, after this, upon what foundation
fome authors have imputed avarice to this Prince. A
King who poffeffes an income diftin&t from the reve-
nues of the ſtate, may be covetous, as well as any other
individual; but a King of France, who in reality only
diftributes the money of the fubject, can be fcarcely ac-
cuſed of fuch a vice. He may be deficient in the at-
tention or the will to recompenfe; but this is not what
can be objected to Louis XIV.
Even at the time when he began to encourage talents
by fo many bounties, the ufe that the Count de Buffi t
made of his, was feverely punished. He was fent to the
Baftille, in 1665. The Amours of the Gauls § was the
* A fpecies of poetry, called alfo Roundelay, peculiar to the
French, fo named becauſe of its conftruction, as each ſtanza repeats
the first lines. The ſtanza or couplet, as it is called, confits of thir-
teen lines, eight in one rhime, and five in another. This work of
Benferade was by much the wort of his compofitions. Tranflator.
This feems to contradict fome former på fages in M. Voltaire.
Where he is ſpoken of among the Secretaries of State, this is the cha-
rafter there given of him : He may be confidered as the founder of
commerce and architecture, and the protector of all the arts."
And in the article of Herbelot, in the Catalogue of the Writers, are
thefe words" He was invited back, (from Tufcany) and encouraged
by Colbert, who was, indeed, an univerfal patron," lid.
1 Buffi Rabutin.
ŷ A book of his fo called; from which the hint of our English Ata-
lantis was taken. Tranflater.
•
M 2
pretence
164
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
pretence for his impriſonment; but the real caufe was
this fong, in which the King had been made too free
with, and which was then revived to ruin Buffi, to
whom it was imputed:
Que Déodatus eft heureux,
De baiſer ce bec amoureux,
Qui d'une oreille à l'autre va! &c.
What nectar Deodatus fips,
Allow'd to taſte thofe amorous lips,
Whofe charms extend from ear to ear! &c.-.
His works were not good enough to compenfate the
evil they brought upon him. He fpoke his own lan-
guage in its purity, and had fome merit, but ftill greater
felf-fufficiency; and he feldom exerted the former, but
to create himſelf enemies.
Louis XIV. would have acted generously, had he
forgiven him: but he indulged his perfonal refentment,
while he appeared only to fatisfy the public one. The
Count de Buffi was, however, fet at liberty, in about
eighteen months; but continued in difgrace the re-
mainder of his life, ever proteſting in vain an affection
for Louis XIV. which neither the King nor any body
elfe believed to be fincere.
* M. Voltaire has not mentioned upon what occafion theſe lines
were written. Tranflator.
1
CHAP.
THE AGE OF }
16;
LOUIS XIV.
CHA P. XXVI.
Continuation of the private Memoirs and Anecdotes.
T
O the glory, the pleasures, the grandeur, and the
galantry, which occupied the first years of his
government, Louis XIV. was willing to join the ſweets
of friendship. But it is difficult for a King to make a
proper choice. Of two men, in whom he placed the
greateſt confidence, one bafely deceived him, and the
other abufed his favour. The firit was the Marquis de
Vardes, confidant of the King's paffion for Madame de
la Valière. It is well known that fome Court-intrigues
made him attempt the ruin of Madame de la Valière,
who from her fituation might perhaps have been an
object of envy, but from her character could not de-
ferve enemies. It is alfo known that he had the hardi-
nefs, in concert with the Count de Guiche, and the
Counters of Soiffons, to write to the Queen-Confort a
forged letter, in the name of the King of Spain, her
father. This letter acquainted the Queen with what
The ought to have remained ignorant of, and which muſt
certainly disturb the peace of the Royal-family. To
this perfidy he added the vile artifice of making the fuf-
picions fall upon the moft worthy perfons of the Court,
the Duke and Dutchefs of Navailles. Theſe
two innocent perfons were facrificed to the re-
fentment of the deluded monarch. The villainous pro-
ceeding of de Vardes was diſcovered too late; and Vardes,
criminal as he had been, was, however, fcarcely more
puniſhed than the innocent perfons he had accuſed, who
had been deprived of their pofts, and obliged to retire
from Court.
1665.
The other favourite was the Count, afterwards Duke,
of Laufun; fometimes the King's rival in his flighter
amours, fometimes his confidant; and fo well known
ince by the marriage which he would have contracted,
M 3
too
155
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
too publickly, with Mademoiſelle *, and which he af-
terwards concluded privately, notwithſtanding the pro-
mife he had given to his maſter.
The King, thus deceived in his choice, faid, that he
had fought for friends, and found only deceivers. This
unhappy knowledge of mankind, which is generally
acquired too late, made him fay, alfo, "Whenever I
"difpofe of a vacant poft, I make a hundred male-con-
tents, and one ungrateful perfon."
66
Neither the pleaſures, nor the embelliſhments of the
royal palaces and of Paris, nor the attention to the
police of the kingdom, were diſcontinued during the
war of 1666.
The King danced at his balls till the year 1670.
He was then thirty-two years of age. The Tragedy of
Britannicus was performed before him at St. Germain's,
and he was ftruck with this paſſage in it:
Pour mérite premier, pour vertu fingulière,
11 excelle à trainer un char dans la carriere.
* M. de Montpenfier. M. Voltaire does not here explain what is
meant by the expreffion of too publickly; but I fhall fupply the defi-
ciency by a quotation from an ingenious work, and of undoubted au-
thority, written by the niece of M. Maintenon, who lived within the
verge of the Court, and was converfant with every perfon, character,
and circumftance of the era here treated of. Her words tranflated
are thefe:
"Monfieur de Lauzun, not fatisfied with merely efpoufing Made-
66
"moifelle, would have his marriage celebrated with all the magni-
ficence and parade of two crowned heads; and by the long and
"vain preparations that were making for it, he afforded time to Mon-
"fieur to work his point, and prevail on the King to revoke his con-
fent, which had been already given to the match."
Les Souvenirs de Madame de Caylus.
The work here cited is one of the moft entertaining and ingenious.
pieces that has been published upon the amusing fubjects of thofe
times. It is more authent c, fhews more of the interior of the Court
of Louis XIV. contains a greater number and variety of characters,
moſt admirably distinguified and defcribed, is fuller of incidents, and
has more the air of the novellette, than any of them. The whole of
thefe Recollections, as Madame de Caylus terms them, is told in fo
lively and picturefque a ftile and manner, that things are not related,
but reprefented. A juft and fpirited tranflation of this work may be
had at the Publishers of the prefent work. Tranflator.
A dif
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
$59.
A difputer des prix indignes de fes mains,
A fe donner lui-même en fpectacle aux Romains.
His chiefeft excellence, his merit rare,
Is but to drive and guide th' Olympic car;
To win a prize unworthy of his hands,
A fpectacle to public view he ftands.
From that moment he never danced any more in public;
and thus the Poet reformed the Prince.
His connection with the Dutchefs de la Valière ſtill
fubfifted, notwithſtanding his frequent infidelities to her.
Theſe amours coft him but little pains. He feldom
met with any women who refufed him, and returned
always again to her, who by the mildness and the good-
neſs of her character, by a fincere paffion, and even from
the attachment of habit, had captivated his affections
without the aid of artifice,
But from the year 1669, fhe perceived that Madame
de Montefpan was gaining the afcendant. She fuffered
under this diſcovery with her ufual mildneſs; the fup-
ported the mortification of being a long time witnefs of
the triumph of her rival; and without fcarce uttering a
complaint, thought herſelf even yet happy in her mif-
fortune, in being ftill refpected by the King, whom the
ever loved, and in feeing him, even without being
beloved.
At length, in 1675, fhe embraced the refource of
tender fouls, which are only to be fubdued by ſtrong
fentiments. She thought that God alone fhould fucceed
in her heart to her lover; and her penitence was foon as
celebrated as her paffion. She became a Carmelite at
Paris, and perfevered in that Order. To cover herſelf
with a hair-ſhift, to walk barefoot, to faft rigidly, and
to fing among the choirs at night, in a tongue unknown;
all this deterred not the delicacy of a woman accustomed
to fo much fplendor, luxury, and pleaſure. She lived
under theſe aufterities from 1675 to 1710, by the fimple
name of Sifter Louife of the Order of Mercy.
A King who fhould have punished even a guilty wo-
man thus, would be a tyrant; and yet thus have many
women puniſhed themſelves, for having loved. There
M 4
are
163
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
'
are ſcarcely any examples of Stateſmen who have con-
demned themſelves to fo much rigour. Yet the guilt of
Ministers feems to require greater expiation, than the
frailty of lovers. But fpiritual directors have feldom
a dominion over any but the weak.
It is known, that when Sifter Louifa of the Order of
Mercy was made acquainted with the death of the
Duke of Vermandois, her fon by the King, ſhe ſaid,
"I ought to lament his birth ftill more than his death."
She had one daughter remaining, who, of all the children
of the King, bore him the greateſt reſemblance. She was
married to the Prince Armand de Conti, couſin to the
Great Condé +.
In the mean time, the Marchionefs de Monteſpan
enjoyed her fituation, with a ſplendor and a fway which
could only be equalled by the modeſty of La Valière.
* This unhappy Sifter of the Order of Mercy, deſerved furely to be
the daughter of it, alfo. La Valière was one of the molt amiable
characters of human frailty. Her motive was love, not ambition;
her object not the monarch, but the man. When the King quitted her,
fhe did not, like other forfaken miftreffes, throw out lures for a fuc-
ceffor. Her world was dead, and the became dead to the world her-
ſelf. To eſteem and pity her as much as her merits and fufferings
deſerved, one muft read the character and account given of her in
Les Souvenirs, quoted in my laft note. It will be there feen how much
greater mortifications fhe fuftained, for fome years before ſhe took the
veil, than he did even under the difcipline of it.
Monafteries are comfortable afylums to contrite finners, who have
a faith in fuch purgations; it removes them from the paths of tempt-
ation, and gives peace to their minds, by amufing their hopes; and
though the doctrine of corporal atonements be a blafphemy, in the
priests who preach it, the folly of the belief is no crime, in the pe-
nitent that practifes it.
La Valière bore her auflerities for five-and thirty years! What
pity fhe furvived her fequeftration fo long! Tranflater.
† Madame de Caylus gives the following defcription of her.
"She was as handfome as Madame de Fontanges, as agreeable as
"her mother, with the height almoft, and princely air of her fa-
ther, and in whofe prefence the most beautiful and accompliſhed
perfons might have paffed unnoticed. It is not furprising, then,
that the fame of her beauty should have reached even to the ears of
"the Great Mogul, to whom her portrait was actually carried.”
It is a wonder that Louis did not fend him the original, in order
to make fo fuperb an alliance; efpecially as it was before Kouli-
Khan had plundered him of all his treaſures. This would have been
a better connection than the King of Siam. id.
While
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV,
169
;
While Madame de la Valière and Madame de Mon,
teſpan were yet difputing the firſt place in the King's
affections, all the Court was engaged in amours. Even
Louvois himſelf became fenfible. Among the many
mift effes of this Minifter, whofe harfh character feemed
fo little formed for love, was Madame du Freſnoy, wife
to one of his clerks, in whofe favour he afterwards by
his intereſt had a new poft created about the Queen's
perſon ſhe was made Lady of the Bedchamber, and
had the grand entrées. The King, by thus indulging
the inclinations of his Minifters, thought to juftify his
own.
:
It is a great inftance of the power of prejudice and
of cuftom, that it was permitted to all married women.
to have galants, while it was not allowed to the grand-
daughter of Henry IV. to have even a huſband. Ma-
demoifelle, after having refuſed fo many Sovereigns, and
after having conceived hopes of marrying Louis XIV.
was, at the age of forty-three, refolved to make the
fortune of a private gentleman. She obtained permif
fion to efpoufe Péguilin, of the Caumont family,
Count de Laufun, the laft who was Captain of the Com-
pany of the Hundred Gentlemen-penfioners, which fub-
fifted no longer, and the firft for whom the King had
created the Poft of Colonel-General of Dragoons. There
were a hundred examples of Princeffes who had married
private gentlemen: the Roman Emperors gave their
daughters to Senators: the daughters of the potentates
of Afia, more powerful and more defpotic than a King
of France, never marry any but the flaves of their
fathers.
Free admiffion, at all times, to the prefence, in public or pri-
vate, is fo called, Tranflator.
+ No heiress in France can marry without licence from the King.
It was formerly fo in England. Ibid.
I do not fee the force of this argument. In Rome there were no
titles, except the temporary ones derived from the offices of the State,
as Conful, Tribune, Prætor, &c. The higheft of the reft of the Com-
monwealth were but private gentlemen, whether Patricians or Ple-
beians; and as to the Afiatic Princeffes, I know of no authority to
eſtabliſh the fact. Ibid.
Made-
170
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
Mademoiſelle fettled all her fortune, eftimated at twen
ty millions, upon the Count de Laufun; four Dutchies,
the fovereignty of Dombes, the County of Eu,
1669.
and the palace of Orleans, which was called the
Luxemburg. She referved nothing to herfelf, facri-
ficing every thing to the fond idea of rendering the per-
fon fhe loved, richer than any King had ever made a
fubject. The contract was prepared. Laufun was Duke
of Montpenfier for a day. Nothing was wanting but
the fignature. Every thing was ready, when the King,
affailed by the reprefentations of the Princes, the Mini-
ftry, and the enemies of a man thought too happy, re-
tracted his promife, and forbad the union.
He had written to the foreign Courts, announcing
this marriage; he now wrote again to advertiſe its being
broken off. He had been blamed for having confented
to it, and was cenfured for having forbidden it.
He was grieved at rendering Mademoiſelle unhappy;
but this very Prince, who was fo afflicted at breaking his
word to her, caufed Laufun, in the year 1670, to be
shut up
in the Caftle of Pignerol, for having privately
married that Princefs, whom he had, fome months be-
fore, confented he fhould publickly efpoufe, He was
confined there exactly ten years.
There are many nations where the Sovereigns do not
poffefs fuch a power; and thoſe who have, are moſt
eſteemed if they ufe it not. The fubject who offends.
not against the laws of equity, fhould he be punished fo
ieverely by the Repreſentative of the State? Is there not
a great ference between difpleafing and betraying one's
Sovereign? Ought a King to treat a perfon more fevere-
ly than the laws would do?
Thofe who have written that Madame de Montefpan,
after having put a stop to this marriage, irritated againſt
the Count de Laufun for the warm reproaches he threw
out against her, exacted this revenge of Louis XIV.
have done much more injuftice to that Monarch *. It
would
This imputation, which we meet with in fo many hiftorians, de-
rives its origin from the Segraifiana; or a pofthumous collection of
fome
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
171
would have been both a tyranny and a meanneſs of ſoul,
to have facrificed to the refentment of a woman, a brave
man, and a favourite, who, though deprived by him of
an immenfe fortune, had committed no other fault than
the complaining too freely of Madame de Montefpan.
Theſe reflections fhould be excufed. The rights of
humanity force them from me. But, at the fame time,
equity requires, that as Louis XIV. had not in all his
reign committed any action of that nature, he fhould
not be accuſed of fo cruel an act of injuſtice. It was
full enough to have puniſhed with fuch feverity a clan-
deftine marriage, an innocent union, which he would
have done better to have taken no notice of. To with-
draw his favour was but juft; a prifon was too fevere.
Thoſe who doubt the certainty of this private marriage,
need only attentively perufe the memoirs of Mademoi-
felle. Thefe memoirs let us into a fecret that fhe does
not tell. We there fee that this very Princefs, who
complains fo bitterly to the King when her marriage
was forbidden, dared not complain of her husband's
impriſonment. She confeffes that ſhe was thought to
have been married; but does not fay that ſhe was not.-
In fine, if only this expreffion be attended to, "I nei-
"ther can, nor ought to change my affections for him,"
this alone would be decifive.
Laufun and Fouquet were aſtoniſhed at meeting to-
gether in the fame prifon; but particularly Fouquet,
who in his glory and power had feen Péguilin at a dif-
tance, in the croud, like a private perfon of no fortune
from one of the Provinces, thought him mad when he
related to him that he had been a favourite with the
King, and that he had obtained leave to marry the
grand-daughter of Henry IV. with all the wealth and
titles of the Houfe of Montpenſier.
After having languished ten years in prifon, he was
at length fet at liberty; but not till after Madame de
fome converfations of M. Segrais, moſt of which are forged. It is
full of contradictions; and every one knows how little thefe anas are
worthy of credit. Voltaire.
Mon-
172
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
24
Montefpan had prevailed upon Mademoiſelle to bestow
the fovereignty of Dombes and the Country of Eu
upon the Duke of Maine *, then an infant, who pof-
feffed them after the death of that Princefs. She did
not make this fettlement, but in the hope that Monfieur
de Laufun would be acknowleged as her huſband: but
the deceived herſelf; the King only permitted her to
beſtow on her concealed and unfortunate confort the
eftates of St. Fargeau and of Thiers, with fome other
confiderable revenues, which however Laufun did not
find fufficient. She was reduced to the neceffity of being
fecretly his wife, and of being therefore the worfe ufed
in public. Unhappy at Court, unhappy at home, the
common effect of ſtrong paffions, he died in 1693 †.
As
Her fon by the King. M. Voltaire, a few paragraphs before,
enters into a juflification of the King, upon the impriſonment of
M. Laufen. He there talks highly of the rights of humanity,"
of " equity," &c. But he is here quite filent upon the conditions
of his releaſe. The rights of humanity, or of equity, would have found-
ed but ill, in this place. Traflator.
+ There is printed at the end of her Memoirs, a hiftory of the
loves of Mademoiſelle and Monfieur Laufun. It was written by
fome Valet-de-Chambre. It contains alfo fome verfes which are of a
piece with the hiftory, and with all thofe impertinences which the
Holland Bookfellers feem to have a prefcriptive right to impofe up-
on the world.
We should place in the fame clafs the greatest part of the ftories
which are to be found in the Memoirs of Madame de Maintenon,
written by the before-mentioned La Beaumelle. It is there faid, that
in the year 1681, one of the Minifters of the Duke of Lorrain came
diſguiſed like a mendicant, and prefented himself in a Church to
Mademoiſelle, and fhewed her a prayer-book, upon which was writ-
ten, From the Duke of Lorrain, and that afterwards he prevailed on
her to declare the Duke her heir. Vol. II. page 204.
This fable is taken from the ftory of Queen Clotilda, whether true
or falle. Mademoiſelle does not mention it in her Memoirs, where
ſhe does not omit more triding circumftances. The Duke of Lor-
rain had no fort of pretentions to the fucceffion of Mademoiſelle; and
beſides ſhe had, in the year 1679, made the Duke of Maine and the
Count of Touloufe (a), her beits.
The author of thefe miferable Memoirs fays, page 207, that the
Duke de Laufan, at his return, found in Mademoiſelle a rvoman in-
flamed
(a) Behold another illuftrious illegitimate impofed upon this poor unkappy and
abuſed woman's adoption! Was this agreeable to the rights of humanity, or of equity,
pray! Tranflater.
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
173
As for the Count de Laufun, he afterwards went to
England, in 1619; and being deftined to extraordinary
events, conducted to France the Queen of James II.
with her fon, then in the cradle. He was created a Duke;
commanded in Ireland, with but little fuccefs; and re-
turned more diftinguiſhed on account of his adventures,
than from any perfonal merit. We have feen him die
very old, and forgotten; which is common to all thoſe
to whom only great incidents have happened, without.
their having performed any thing great, themselves.
In the mean time, Madame de Montelpan had attained
the fummit of power from the commencement of the
tranfactions juft mentioned.
Athenais de Mortemar, wife to the Marquis de Mon-
tefpan, her elder fifter the Marchionefs de Thiange, and
her younger one, for whom the obtained the Abbey of
Fontevrault, were the most beautiful women of their
time; and all three added to this advantage a certain
agreeable peculiarity of wit. Their brother, the Duke
of Vivonne, and Marfhal of France, was alfo one of the
moſt diſtinguiſhed men at Court, for tafte and learning.
It was to him that the King faid, once, "What is the
"benefit of reading?" The Duke of Vivonne, who
was plump, and fresh-coloured, replied, "Reading, Sir,
has a like effect upon the mind, with what your
Majefty's partridges have upon my cheeks."
''
Theſe four perfons charmed univerfally, from a fin-
gular turn of converfation, blended with humour,
naïveté †, and refinement, which was called the ſtile of
the Mortemars. They all wrote, likewife, with remark-
able eafe and grace. One may judge from this how ri-
diculous the story is which I have heard again revived,
that Madame de Montefpan was obliged to get Madame
flamed with an impure paffion. She was his wife, and he arowed it.
It is difficult to write greater falfehoods, in a more indecent file,
than this work contains. Foltaire.
* A ftrange queftion for a King-for any body-to alk! Tranflator.
+ I have left this word in its own language, becaufe Mr. Hume
fays it is one much wanted in English, which has no fynonima equally
expreffive. Ibid.
Scar-
174
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
Scarron to write her letters to the King; and that from
thence he became her rival, and a fuccefsful one.
Madame Scarron, afterwards Madame de Maintenon,
poffeffed, indeed, more knowledge acquired by reading;
her converſation alfo was fofter, and more infinuating.
There are fome letters of her's, in which art embellishes
nature, and the ftile of which is perfectly elegant. But
Madame de Montefpan had no occafion to borrow any
other perfon's talents; and ſhe had been a long time a
favourite, before Madame Scarron had been preſented
to her.
The triumph of Madame de Montefpan fhone forth
on the journey which the King made into Flanders, in
1670. The ruin of the Dutch was concerted on this
progrefs, in the midft of pleaſures. It was one conti-
nued feaft, attended with the moft magnificent accom-
modations.
The King, who made all his warlike expeditions on
horle - back, performed this, for the first time, in a
glafs coach. Poft-chaifes were not yet invented. The
Queen, Madame her fifter-in-law, and the Marchionefs
de Montefpan, rode in this magnificent equipage, which
was followed by many others; and when Madame de
Montefpan went alone, the had four of the King's life-
guards to attend her carriage. The Dauphin followed
after, with his fuite, and Mademoifelle with her's. This
was before the fatal affair of her marriage; when the
partook in peace of all thefe proceffions, and faw with
complacency her lover a favourite with the King, riding
at the head of his company of guards.
The fineſt furniture of the Crown was carried into
the villages where the Court lay. In every town they
paſſed through, there was a maſked, or a dreffed ball,
or fire-works. All the houshold-troops attended the
King, and all his domeftics preceded or followed him.
The tables were ferved as at St. Germain's. The Court
vifited in this fplendor all the conquered towns. The
principal ladies of, Bruffels and Ghent came to view
this magnificence. The King invited them to his table,
and made them prefents in the moft galant manner. All
the
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
175
the Officers of the troops in garrifon received gratuities.
It frequently coft him fifteen hundred louis d'ors a-day
in liberalities.
All the honours, all the homages, were defigned for
Madame de Montefpan, except what duty paid to the
Queen. However, this lady was not let into the ſecret
of the expedition. The King knew how to diftinguiſh
between the bufinefs of his State, and the folace of his
pleaſures.
Madame, folely entrusted with the union of the two
Kings * and the deftruction of Holland, embarked at
Dunkirk on board the fleet of the King of England,
Charles II. her brother, with a party from the Court of
France. She carried with her Mademoiſelle de Keroual,
afterwards Dutchefs of Portſmouth, whofe beauty equal-
led that of Madame de Montefpan. She was afterwards
in England, what Madame de Montefpan was in France,
but with more power. King Charles was governed by
her to the laſt moment of his life, and though often
unfaithful to her, fhe ftill preferved her fway. No
woman ever retained her beauty longer. I have ſeen her,
at the age of near feventy, with a figure noble and en-
gaging, which years had not been able to efface.
June 30-
1670.
Madame went to meet her brother at Canterbury,
and returned with the glory of fuccefs. She was rejoicing
in it, when a fudden and painful diforder carried her
off, at the age of twenty-fix. The Court was
ftruck with a grief and confternation which was
augmented by the manner of her death. This
Prince's was thought to have been poifoned. Montague,
the English Ambaffador, was convinced of it; the
Court made no doubt of it, and all Europe believed it.
One of the ancient domeftics of her hufband's houfhold,
told me the name of the perfon who, according to his
opinion, had adminiftered the poifon. "This man,
"faid he, whofe circumſtances were but mean, retired,
immediately after, into Normandy, where he pur-
"chafed an estate, upon which he lived a long time in
(6
* Louis XIV. and Charles II.
'
opulence.
876
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
<<
opulence. This poifon, added he, was the powder
"of a diamond ftrewed, instead of fugar, over fome
"ftrawberries." The Court and the City had conceived
an opinion that Madame had been poifoned in a glass of
fuccory-water, after which fhe fuftained horrible pains,
and foon felt the convulfions of death *.
But the malignity of human nature and a fondneſs
for the marvellous, were the fole caufes of this general
perfuafion. There could have been no poiſon in the
glaſs of water, fince Madame la Fayette and another
perfon drank off the reft of it, without being fen-
fible of the leaft ill effect; and the powder of dia-
monds has no more venom in it than the powder of
coral. The Princeſs had been a long time affected
with an abſceſs formed in her liver. She was in a bad
ftate of health, and had lately been brought-to-bed of a
child quite putrified. Her hufband, though much fuf-
pected all over Europe, was never, either before or
fince this event, accuſed of any action that could injure
his character; and there are few culpables who have
been guilty but of one crime. Human nature would be
too unhappy, if it were as common to commit atrocious
actions, as it is to fufpect them.
It was imagined that the Chevalier de Lorrain, a fa-
vourite of Monfieur's, in order to revenge himſelf for
an exile and impriſonment which his blameable conduct
towards Madame had brought upon him, had perpetra-
ted this horrible action . But it was not confidered
that the Chevalier de Lorrain was at that time in Rome,
and that it had been a difficult thing for a Knight of
See the hiftory of Henrietta of England, by the Countefs de la
Fayette, page 171. Edition of 1742. Voltaire.
+ Fragments of diamonds and of glafs might, by their points,
pierce the coats of the inteſtines, and tear them; but then it would
be difficult to fwallow them, and one would foon be aware of the
danger, from the excoriation of the palate and the throat. The im-
palpable powder cannot do any hurt, but would be rather a medicine,
like the filings of ſteel. The phyſicians who have added the diamond
to the clafs of poifons, fhould have diftinguifhed the impalpable pow
der from the groffer particles of it. Ibid.
This will be foon explained.
Malta,
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
177
Malta, twenty years old, who was at Rome, to compaſs
the death of a great Princeſs at Paris.
It is but too true, that a weakneſs and indifcretion of
the Viſcount Turenne, was what gave rife to all thoſe
odious rumours, which people are ſtill fond of reviving.
At the age of fixty he became the lover and the dupe of
Madame de Coatquen, as he had been formerly of Ma-
dame de Longueville. He revealed to that Lady the
fecret of ſtate which had been concealed from the
King's brother. Madame de Coatquen, who had an
amour with the Chevalier de Lorrain, told it to him,
and he informed Monfieur of it. This involved the dɔ-
meſtic peace of the Prince in the horrid difcord of re-
proaches and jealoufies. Thefe troubles commenced be-
fore the journey of Madame. The bitterness was aug-
mented at her return. The refentments of Monfieur,
and the quarrels of his favourites with the friends of
Madame, filled the family with trouble and confuſion.
>
The Princefs, a little time before her death, in a ten-
der and plaintive manner, reproached the Marchioneſs
de Coatquen, for the misfortunes fhe had brought upon
her. That lady, on her knees, by the bed-fide, and
bathing her hands with tears, anſwered only by theſe
lines from Wenceslaus :
J'allais j'étais-l'amour a fur moi tant d'empire.
Je m'égare, Madame, et ne puis que vous dire !
I went I was-Love's empire is too ftrong.
My wand'ring mind cannot direct my tongue!
The Chevalier de Lorrain, author of thofe diffen-
tions, was at firft fent by the King to Pierre-en-Cife; the
Count de Marfan of the Houfe of Lorrain, and the
Marquis, afterwards Marshal, Villeroy, were fent into
exile. In fine, the natural death of this unhappy Prin-
cefs was fuppofed to have been the guilty confequence
of theſe diſturbances.
* The purpoſe of Madame's vifit : England,
VOL. II.
N
What
178
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
What ſtrengthened the public opinion about the poi-
fon, was, that juft at that time this crime had become
known in France. This revenge of cowards was not
practiſed amidſt all the horrors of the civil war.
This
crime, by a fingular fatality, infected France in the era
of her glory, and of pleafures which naturally foften the
manners of mankind; juft as it obtained in ancient
Rome, during the moft fhining period of that Republic.
Two Italians, one of whom was named Exili, labour-
ed a long time with a German apothecary, whofe name
was Glafer, in difcovering what is called the Philofopher's
Stone. The two Italians having wafted their ſubſtance
in this purfuit, refolved by a crime to repair the mif-
chief of their folly; and accordingly fold poifons clan-
deftinely. Confeffion, the greateſt reſtraint upon human
depravity, but which is often abufed by men's ventu
ring to commit crimes in the belief of expiating them:
confeffion, I fay, diſcovered to the Great Penitentiary of
Paris, that fome perfons had died of poifon. He in-
formed Government of this; and the two Italians being
ſuſpected, were fent to the Baftille, where one of them
died. Exili remained there without being convicted
and from the midst of a prifon, fpread through Paris
thoſe fatal fecrets which coft the Lieutenant of the Po-
lice d'Aubray, and his family, their lives; and which
at length gave occafion to the erecting the Court of Poi-
fons, which was called La Chambre Ardente, the Burn-
ing-Court.
Love was the original fource of theſe horrible events.
The Marquis de Brinvilliers, fon-in-law to the Civil
Lieutenant d'Aubray, took St. Croix *, a Captain in
his regiment, a handſome man, to live in his houſe.
His wife was candid enough to warn him of the confe-
quences; but the hufband was obftinate in keeping this
young man ftill to affociate with her, who was young,
beautiful, and fenfible. What might have been ex-
pected happened accordingly: They had an amour.
*The hiftory of Louis XIV. under the name of La Martiniére, calls
him the Abbé de la Croix. This work, which is faulty throughout,
confounds names, dates, and events. Voltaire.
2
The
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
179
The Lieutenant of the Police, father of the Marchio-
neſs, was ſevere and imprudent enough to folicit a lettre-
de-cachet to fend the Captain to the Baftille, whom he
need only have got ordered to join his regiment. St.
Croix was unhappily confined in the fame apartment
with Exili. This Italian taught him how to take re-
venge. The confequences, which are enough to make
one fhudder, are fufficiently known.
The Marchionefs made no attempt on the life of her
huſband, who fhewed fome indulgence to a frailty of
which he had been himſelf the caufe; but in the fury of
her vengeance the poifoned her father, her fifter, and
two brothers. In the midſt of fuch great crimes, ſhe had
ftill preſerved a ſenſe of religion. She went frequently
to confeffion; and even when ſhe was arreſted at Liege,
a general confeffion, written with her own hand, was
found about her; which, however, was not made uſe of
as a proof, but only as a prefumption, against her.
It is not true, that the had tried the efficacy of her
powders in the hofpitals, as was commonly faid, and as
has been inferted in Les Caufes Celebres, The Celebrated
Cauſes, the work of a lawyer without bufinefs, and writ-
ten to captivate the ignorant. But it is true that fhe had,
as well as St. Croix, private connections with perfons
accuſed fince of the fame crimes. She was burnt in 1679,
having first her head cut off.
But from 1670, when Exili had begun to compoſe his
poilons, to 1680, Paris was infected with this crime.
It cannot be denied that Penautier, the Receiver-Gene-
ral for the Clergy, and a friend of this woman, was ac-
cufed, fome time after, of having made uſe of theſe ſe-
crets, and that it coft him half his fortune to have the
profecution fuppreffed.
La Voifin, La Vigoureux, a prieft named Le Sage,
and others, dealt in the fecrets of Exili, on pretence of
amufing curious and weak minds with the fight of ap
paritions. The crime was fuppofed to be more gene-
ral, than it really was. The Burning-Court was eftab-
lifhed at the arfenal near the Battille, in 1680. Perfons
of the first rank were cited before it: among others, two
nieces
N 2
180
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
nieces of Cardinal Mazarin, the Dutchefs of Bouillon*
and the Countefs of Soiffons, mother to Prince Eugene.
The Dutchefs of Bouillon was only fummoned to ap-
pear, and had no charge brought againſt her, except
that
of a ridiculous piece of curiofity, very common in thofe
times, but which the laws take no cognizance of. The
ancient cuftom of confulting fortune-tellers, getting
one's horofcope drawn, and the procuring philtres to
cauſe one's felf to be beloved, fubfifted ftill among the
common people, and even among thofe of the higheſt
ranks in the Kingdom.
We have already taken notice, that at the birth of
Louis XIV. an Aſtrologer, named Morin, had been in-
troduced into the very chamber of the Queen-Mother,
in order to caft the nativity of the heir to the crown.
We have known even the Duke of Orleans, Regent of
the Kingdom, credulous of this fuperftition which had
feduced all antiquity; and all the philofophy of the fa-
mous Count of Boulainvilliers could never rid him of
this chimera.
It was excufable enough in the Dutchefs of Bouillon,
and in all women who had the fame weakneffes. The
prieſt Le Sage, La Voifin, and La Vigoureux, had
made a revenue of the curiofity of the ignorant, who
were very numerous. They foretold the future, and
raiſed the Devil. If they had ftopped there, it had been
only a ridiculous piece of bufinefs, both in them and
in the Burning-Court.
La Reynie, one of the Preſidents of this Court, was
fo abfurd as to afk the Dutchefs of Bouillon if fhe had
feen the Devil?" I fee him, this moment," the replied:
"he is very ugly and very deformed, and fits under the
difguife of a Counfellor of State." The interrogatory
was preffed no further.
..
• The hiftory of Reboulet ſays, that "the Dutchess of Bouillon
was ordered into cuftody, and that the appeared before her Judges
attended by fo many friends, that the could have nothing to fear,
"even though fhe had been guilty,"
All this is falfe; there was no arreft ordered against her, and at
that time no friends could have fcreened her from jutt ce. Voltaire.
3
The
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
18 I
The affair of the Countess of Soiffons and of Marfhal
Luxemburg was a more ferious matter. Le Sage, La
Voifin, La Vigoureux, and other accomplices, were
thrown into prifon, being accufed of having vended a
certain poifon, which they denominated the powder of
fucceffion; and they informed againſt all thoſe who had
been to confult them. The Countess of Soiffons was
one of the number. The King had the condefcenfion
to fay to this Princeſs, that if ſhe knew herſelf guilty,
he would adviſe her to retire. She replied that ſhe was
perfectly innocent, but ſhould not chufe to be examined
before a Court of Juftice. She then went off to Bruffels,
where fhe died, towards the end of the year 1708; while
Prince Eugene, her fon, revenged her by fo many
victories, and triumphed over Louis XIV *.
Francis Henry de Bouteville, Duke and Peer and
Marſhal of France, who united the great name of Mont-
morency to that of the Imperial Houfe of Luxemburg,
already celebrated in Europe by the actions of a great
General, was arraigned in the Burning-Court. One of
his fecretaries, named Bonard, wanting to recover fome
papers of confequence which he had loft, applied to the
prieſt Le Sage to help him to retrieve them. Le Sage
began firft by requiring him to confefs himſelf, and then
defired that he would go, nine days fucceffively, to three
different churches, and there repeat three pfalms.
But, notwithſtanding this confeffion and theſe pfalms,
the papers were not found. They were in the poffeffion
of a young woman whoſe name was Dupin. Bonard,
under the infpection of Le Sage, made, in the name of
Marſhal Luxemburg, a kind of incantation, by which
La Dupin was to be rendered impotent, if he did not
deliver up the papers. We are left quite in the dark
here with regard to what is meant by the impotence of a
*This furely is a moſt invidious and unjuſt reflection. What was
there in this circumftance to prompt revenge? The hint given to the
Countess of Soiffons was certainly friendly, and ſhould have been
confidered as an extraordinary and favourable condeſcenſion in the
executive power. The King could not relax the finews of the laws,
but he did better, by cautioning her to elude their grafp. Tranflater.
N 3
woman.
182
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
woman. Dupin returned no papers, and had as many
galants as before.
Bonard in deſpair got another plenary power from
the Marſhal; and between the writing and the fignature.
he found two lines in a different hand, in which the
Marſhal devoted himſelf to the Devil.
Le Sage, Bonard, La Voifin, La Vigoureux, and
above forty accufed perfons were ſhut up in the Baſtille.
Le Sage depofed, that the Marfhal had applied to the
Devil and to him, to have Dupin put to death for not
having furrendered the papers; and his accomplices
added, that they had affaffinated Dupin by his order,
that they had cut her into quarters, and thrown them.
into the river.
Theſe charges were full as improbable as abominable.
The Marshal fhould have made his appeal to the Court
of Peers, and the Parliament and the Peers ſhould have
challenged the right of trying him; but they did not
move in it, and the Marfhal furrendered himſelf volun-
tarily to the Baſtille; an action which proved his inno-
cence of this pretended affaffination.
The Secretary of State, Louvois, who loved him not,
had him fhut up in a fort of dungeon, only fix feet
and a half long, where he fell very ill. He was inter-
rogated the fecond day, and was then left five intire
weeks without any further procefs; a cruel injuftice
againſt any private perfon, but ftill more unpardonable
against a Peer of the realm. He wanted to write to
the Marquis de Louvois to complain of the treatment,
but he was not permitted to do ſo. He was at length
interrogated again, and was afked, whether he had not
given fome bottles of poifoned wine in order to deſtroy
the brother of La Dupin, and a girl he kept?
It muſt have appeared extremely abfurd to fuppofe
that a Marſhal of France, who had been at the head of
armies, fhould compaſs the poifoning of an unhappy
citizen and his miftrefs, without being able to gain any
manner of advantage to himſelf from fo enormous a
crime *
At
Nothing, indeed, could be fo abfurd as the charge, except
M. Vol-
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
183
At length they confronted him with Le Sage, and
another prieſt named D'Avaux, with whom he was ac-
cuſed for having combined to deſtroy ſeveral other per-
fons.
His whole misfortune had arifen from his having
once only conferred with Le Sage, and asked him for
fome horofcopes.
Among the horrible charges upon which this profe-
cution was founded, Le Sage affirmed, that the Duke
of Luxemburg had entered into a compact with the De-
vil, to bring about a marriage between his fon and the
daughter of the Marquis de Louvois. The accufed re-
plied, "When Matthew de Montmorency fhall marry
66
a Queen of France, he will not addreſs himſelf to the
"Devil, but to the General States, which will deter-
"mine that, in order to acquire the minor King the
fupport of the Houfe of Montmorency, the marriage
"ſhould be contracted.”
£6
This anſwer was haughty *, and had not the air of
a guilty perfon. The procefs was depending for fourteen
months, and no judgment was given, either for or
againſt him. La Voifin, La Vigoureux, and his bro-
ther, a priest called alfo Vigoureux, were burnt with
Le Sage, at the Grèvet. Marshal Luxemburg retired
for a few days into the country, and then returned to
Court, to attend his duty as Captain of the Guards,
without feeing Louvois, or the King's ſpeaking a word
to him about all that had paffed ‡.
M. Voltaire's fo gravely controverting it, if we were to fuppofe him
ferious; but there is a vein of irony and ridicule running throughout
the whole of this extraordinary detail. Translator.
* But abfurd. Ibid.
+ The public place of executions in Paris. Ibid.
France must have been far from being purged of its ancient bar-
barifm, when charges for forcery, and compacts with the Devil, were
fuffered to be formally and judicially litigated. The Burning Court,
if the warmth of the fentiment may excufe the equivoque of the ex-
preffion, was a burning fhame au fiecle de Louis quatorze. They had
left off burning and drowning of witches and wizards in England,
long before that æra. Ibid.
N 4
We
184
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
We know how he had fince the command of armies
given him which he did not folicit, and by how many
victories he had impofed filence on his enemies.
"Tis eafy to conceive what fhocking reports thefe ac-
cufations must have given rife to in Paris. The exe-
cution of La Voifin and her accomplices, who were
burnt at the ſtake, put an end to thefe crimes and pro-
fecutions. This abominable vice, however, was confin-
ed to a few individuals only, and did not corrupt the
civilized manners of the nation; but it left in the minds
of the people an unhappy propensity thenceforward to
fufpect natural deaths to be violent ones.
What was believed to be the unhappy fate of Madame,
Henrietta of England, was afterwards thought to be her
daughter's, Maria-Louifa, who was married in 1679 to
Charles II. King of Spain. This young Princels fet
out with regret for Madrid. Mademoiſelle had often
ſaid to Monfieur, the King's brother, "Do not bring
your daughter fo often to Court; fhe will be too un-
happy elſewhere." This young Princefs was defirous
of marrying the Dauphin." I make you Queen of
Spain," faid the King to her; "what could I do
"more for my daughter?"
"Ah!" he replied, " but
86
EC
..
t
you might do more for your niece."
She was fnatched from the world in 1689, at the fame
age as her mother. It pailed for certain, that the Au-
ftrian Minifters of Charles II. were reſolved to get rid of
her, becauſe the loved her own country, and might pre-
vent the King her huſband from declaring for the Al-
lies, againſt France. They had even fent her from Ver-
failles what was thought a counter-poifon; a very un-
certain precaution, becauſe what may cure one diftem-
per might aggravate another, there being no fuch medi-
cine as an univerfal antidote. This imaginary counter-
poifon, however, did not arrive till after her death.
Thoſe who read the Memoirs compiled by the Mar-
quis de Dangeau, will there find that the King faid at
upper, The Queen of Spain is dead, poifoned by
* M. Montpenfier.
<<
eating
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
185
eating of an eel-pye; and the Countefs of Pernitz,
"with two women of the bed-chamber, who had taſted
"it after her, are alfo dead of the fame poifon."
Although I met with this extraordinary anecdote in
thefe manufcript memoirs, faid to be written with great
exactneſs by a perfon of the Court, who had fcarcely
ever been feparated from Louis XIV. for the fpace of
forty years, I could not diveſt myſelf of my doubts about
the truth of it. I then made enquiry from fome old
domeſtics of the King, if it was a fact that this Monarch,
always referved in his converfation, had ever made uſe
of fuch an imprudent expreffion; and they all affured
me that the whole ftory was falfe. I afterwards afked
the Dutchefs de St. Pierre, who had come from Spain,
if it was true that the three perfons above-mentioned had
died with the Queen; and ſhe gave me proofs that they
all three had furvived her a confiderable time.
To conclude: I have been fince affured, that theſe
Memoirs of Dangeau, which are confidered as a precious
monument, were nothing more than the flying reports
of the day, written down by one of his domeftics: and
this, I think, may be fufficiently apparent from the
file of the writing, with the trifles and falfhoods of
which that collection is compofed. After all thefe me-
lancholy reflections, to which the death of Henrietta of
England has led us, we fhall now return to the events
at Court which followed her lofs.
The Princeſs Palatine fucceeded her, a year after, and
was mother of the Duke of Orleans, Regent of the
Kingdom. In order to marry Monfieur, it was necel-
fary that ſhe ſhould renounce Calviniſm; but ſhe ever
retained for her former religion a fecret attachment,
of which it is difficult to diveft one's felf, when early
prejudices have impreffed it on the heart.
The unfortunate adventure of one of the Queen's
Maids of Honour, in the year 1673, was the cauſe of a
new eſtabliſhment at Court. This misfortune is known
by the Sonnet called The Abortive", the verſes of which
have been often repeated.
Written by Henault. Tranflator.
Toi
#36
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
1
Toi que l'amour fit par un crime,
Et que l'honneur défait par un crime à fon tour,
Funefte ouvrage de l'amour,
De l'honneur funefte victime, &c.
O thou the fruit of guilt and love,
Blafted by honour with a fin,
While love and honour adverfe ftrove,
One ends what t'other did begin, &c.
The dangers infeparable from the ftation of a young
woman in a galant and voluptuous Court, occafioned
the appointment of twelve Ladies of the Bedchamber,
in the room of the twelve Maids of Honour which had
before embelliſhed the Queen's Court; and ever fince
the houshold of the Queens of France has been fo com-
pofed. This alteration rendered the Court more nume-
rous and more magnificent, by adding to it the huſbands
and relations of thefe Ladies, which augmented the fo-
ciety, and diffufed more opulence there.
The Princefs of Bavaria, wife to the Dauphin, on her
first appearance, added a new luftre and vivacity to the
Court; though the Marchionefs de iviontefpan conti-
nued ſtill to attract the principal attention. But at laſt
The ceafed to pleaſe; and the haughty emotions of her
grief, upon that difcovery, could not reclaim an alienat-
ed heart. However, fhe ftill remained connected with
the Court, from her high employment there, being Su-
perintendant of the Queen's houfhold; and with the
King, by her children, by habit, and by her afcendancy
over his mind.
All the exterior fhew of refpect and friendship were
ſtill preferved towards her: but this confoled her not;
and the King, afflicted at being the caufe of her unhap-
py regrets, and attracted by other affections, began to
find in the converfation of Madame Maintenon, a gen-
tleneſs which he no longer enjoyed with his former
Miftrefs *.
હ
}
He
* In Les Souvenirs of M. de Caylus is the following paffage rela-
tive to this very crifis: Notwithstanding thefe infidelities of the
King, I have often heard it faid, that Madame Montefpan might
• have
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV. 187
76
He found himſelf at once divided between Madame
de Montefpan, whom he could not forfake, Mademoi-
felle Fontanges, whom he loved, and Madame de
Maintenon, whofe converſation was become neceffa-.
ry to his fatigued mind. Theſe three rivals kept the
whole Court in fufpence. It reflects great honour upon
Louis XIV. that none of theſe intrigues had any influ-
ence upon public affairs; and that love, which difturb-
ed the Court, never caufed the leaft difturbance in
the State. There cannot, in my opinion, be a bet-
ter proof that the foul of Louis was as great as it was
tender.
I ſhould be of opinion that theſe court-intrigues,
which have no fort of connexion with the State, ought
not to have a place in this Hiftory, if the great æra of
Louis XIV. did not render every thing interefting; and
if the veil had not been removed from thofe myſteries
by ſeveral Hiſtorians, who have for the moft part mifre
prefented them.
39
CHA P. XXVII.
Continuation of the Private Memoirs and Anecdotes.
THE
HE youth and beauty of Mademoiſelle de Fon-
tanges, the birth of a fon, whom the bore to the
King in 1680, and the title of Dutchefs, with which ſhe
was honoured, all confpired to prevent Madame de
6 C
،
"have ever preferved her influence over him, if ſhe had not been fo
very ill-tempered, and depended too much on the afcendant the
thought he had fo firmly eſtabliſhed. That turn of mind which
"does not ferve to conquer an untoward difpofition, is as little able
"to lure back again thofe affections it has once fuffered to take
wing; and if mild difpofitions bear longer, their flight is irreco-
❝verable.
"The King found a remarkable difference in the temper and man-
66 ners of Madame Maintenon. In her he met with a woman always
"gentle and modeft; ever miſtreſs of her words, looks, and actions;
"reaſonable in all things; and who to fuch rare qualities, joined the
charms of wit and converfation," Tranflater.
Maintenon
}
158
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
Maintenon from obtaining the first place; to which,
as yet, fhe durft not afpire, and which ſhe afterwards
poffeffed: but the Dutchefs of Fontanges and her fon
died in 1681.
The Marchionefs de Montefpan, though now with-
out a declared rival, was not, however, the nearer re-
gaining a heart wearied of her and her complainings.
When men are paft their youth, they almoſt all require
the company of a woman of complacency: the weight
of buſineſs, eſpecially, renders fuch a relaxation extreme-
ly neceffary. The new favourite, Madame de Main-
tenon, who perceived the fecret power fhe was daily
acquiring, conducted herfelf with that artful addrefs
which is fo natural to women, and is by no means dif-
pleafing to men. She one day wrote to Madame de
Frontenac, her coufin, in whom the repofed the moit
perfect confidence: "I always fend him away in difcon-
tent, but never in defpair *" While her intereft was
thus encreaſing, and that of Madame de Montefpan draw-
ing towards an end, theſe two rivals faw each other every
day, fometimes with a fecret uneafineſs, and ſometimes
with a tranfient familiarity, which the neceffity of con-
vering together, and the fatigue of conſtraint, obliged
them tometimes to affume. They both agreed to write
Memoirs, feparately, of all that paffed at Court +. This
work was never brought to any degree of perfection,
Madame de Montefpan, in the latter years of her life,
66
'
* This letter is, in other places, quoted as having been written to
her Confeffor. Tranflator.
The Memoirs published under the name of Mad. de Mainte-
non, relate, that the faid to Madame de Montefpan, in fpeaking of
her dreams; I dreamed that we were on the grand ftair-cafe of
* Verfailles: I was afcending, you was defcending; I mounted to
"the clouds, you went to Fontevraut." This ftory is borrowed
from the famous Duke d'Epernon, who met the Cardinal de Richelieu
on the ſtair-caſe of the Louvre in 1624. The Cardinal afked him,
"What news ?" "None (faid he), except that you are going up,
and I am coming down." But the beauty of the allufion is deftroyed,
by adding, that from a ftair-cafe one could mount to the c'ouds. It
is to be remarked, that in moft books of anecdotes, in the anas,
the authors always afcribe to their ſpeakers things that have been faid
a century, or even feveral centuries, before. Smollet.
ufed
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
189
uſed to divert herſelf with reading ſome of theſe memoirs
to her friends.
Devotion, which mingled itſelf in all theſe fecret in-
trigues, contributed till more to ftrengthen the influence
of Madame de Maintenon, and to weaken that of Ma-
dame de Montefpan. The King began to reproach him-
felf for his attachment to a married woman, and felt
this fcruple the more fenfibly when he no longer felt the
power of love. This embarraffing fituation continued
till 1685, a year rendered memorable by the revocation
of the Edict of Nantes. Scenes of a very different na-
ture were then prefented to the public view on the one
hand, the deſpair and flight of a part of the nation; on
the other, new feafts at Verfailles; Trianon and Marli
built; Nature forced in all theſe beautiful pots, and
gardens formed in which all art was exhaufted. The
marriage of the grandfon of the Great Condé with Made-
moifelle de Nantes, the King's daughter by Madame
de Montefpan, was the laft triumph of that miftrefs,
who now began to retire from Court.
on
The King afterwards difpofed in marriage of the other
two children which he had by her; Mademoiſelle de
Blois to the Duke de Chartres, whom we have fince
feen Regent of the Kingdom; and the Duke de Maine
to Louifa Benedicta de Bourbon, grand-daughter of the
Great Condé, and fiſter to Monfieur the Duke, a Prin-
ceſs diſtinguiſhed by her wit, and her taste for the polite
Thoſe who have ever approached the Royal Pa-
lace, or the Palace de Sceaux, know that all the popu.
lar reports relating to thefe marriages, and retailed in
fo many hiſtories, are abfolutely falfe and groundleſs “.
arts.
* You will find it reported in more than twenty different volumes,
that the Houſe of Orleans and the Houfe of Condé rejected the propo-
fals with indignation: you will find it written, that the Princeis, the
Duke de Chartres's mother, threatened her fon; nay, that the even
beat him. The Anecdotes of the Constitution relate, with a very
ferious air, that the King having employed the Abbé du Bois, fub-
preceptor to the Duke de Chartres, to negociate the match, the Abbé
found great difficulty in fucceeding; and that he asked the Cardinal',
hat, as a reward for his labour. Whatever relates to the Court is
written with as little regard to truth, in fèveral of our modern hifto-
res. Voltaire.
Before
190
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
!
Before the marriage between the Duke and Made-
moiſelle de Nantes was celebrated, the Marquis de
Seignelai gave the King an entertainment upon that oc-.
cafion, worthy of that Monarch, in the Gardens of
Sceaux, laid out by Le Notre with as much taſte and ele-
gance as thofe of Verfailles. L'Idylle de la Paix, compofed
by Racine, was there reprefented. There was another ca-
roufal at Verſailles; and, after the marriage, the King dif
played a ſcene of uncommon magnificence, of which
Cardinal Mazarin had given the firſt ſpecimen in 1656.
There were placed in the Hall of Marli four fhops, filled
with all the richest and most exquifite curiofities that
the induſtry of the Pariſian artifis could produce. Theſe
four ſhops were fo many fuperb decorations, repreſent-
ing the four ſeaſons of the year. Madame de Monte-
fpan kept one of them with the Dauphin: her rival kept
another with the Duke de Maine. The two new-married.
perfons had each their fhop; the Duke with Madame
de Thiange; and the Dutchefs, who, on account of
her youth, could not decently keep a fhop with a man,
took the Dutchefs of Chevreux into partnerſhip. The
Ladies and Gentlemen who were invited of this party,
drew by lot the jewels with which thefe fhops were fur-
nished. Thus the King made prefents to all his Court,
in a manner worthy of a Prince. The lottery of Cardi-'
nal Mazarin was neither fo ingenious nor fo brilliant.
Thefe lotteries had formerly been ufed by the Roman
Emperors; but none of them ever heightened the mag-
nificence of them by fuch an air of galantry.
After the marriage of her daughter, Madame de
Montefpan appeared no more at Court. She continued
to live at Paris with great dignity. She had a large in-
come appointed her, but it was only a life-annuity; the
King ordered a penfion of a thoufand louis-d'ors to be
paid her every month. She went yearly to drink the
waters at Bourbon; and married the young women in
the neighbourhood, to whom he gave portions. She
was now paft the age when the imagination, ftruck with
lively impreffions, fends people to a nunnery. She died
at Bourbon in 1707*.
*Her Biographer fays 1717. Tranflater.
About
મ
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
191
About a year after the marriage of Mademoifelle de
Nantes with Monfieur the Duke, the Prince of Condé
died at Fontainebleau, in the fixty-fixth year of his age.
His death was occafioned by a diſeaſe which was ren-
dered worſe by a journey he took to vifit the Dutchefs,
who was feized with the fmall-pox. From this anxiety,
which coft him his life, one may eafily judge whether
he had any averfion to the marriage of his grandfon with
the daughter of the King and of Madame de Montefpan,
as has been reported by all thofe lying Gazettes with
which Holland was then over-run.
We find alfo in a
hiftory of the Prince of Condé, proceeding from the
fame repofitories of ignorance and impofture, that the
King took a pleaſure in mortifying that Prince upon all
occafions; and that, at the marriage of the Princefs of
Conti, daughter to Madame de la Valière, the Secretary
of State refufed him the title of High and Mighty Lord;
as if that were a ftile ufed to Princes of the Blood. How
could the author who compofed the hiftory of Louis
XIV. in Avignon, partly from thefe wretched memoirs,
be fo ignorant of the world, and of the cuſtoms of our
Court, as to relate fuch falfhoods?
Mean while, after the marriage of the Dutchefs, and
the total ecliple of the mother, Madame de Maintenon,
now victorious, gained fuch an afcendant, and infpired
Louis XIV. with fo much love, and fo many fcruples
of confcience, that, by the advice of Father La Chaiſe,
he married her privately, in the month of January,
1686, in a little chapel, which ſtood at the end of the
apartment that was afterwards poffeffed by the Duke of
Burgundy. There was no contract, nor any articles of
marriage. Harlay de Chanvalon, Archbishop of Paris,
affifted by the Confeffor, gave them the nuptial bene-
diction. Montchevreuil*, and Bontems, firft valet-de-
chambre,
*And not the Chevalier de Fourbin, as the Memoirs of Choify
affert. None are intrufted with fuch a fecret but faithful domeftics,
and people attached by their places to the perſon of their mailer.
There was no formal act of celebration that is only neceffary to af-
certain an effate; but this was only a marriage of confcience. How
could
192
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
chambre, were prefent as witneffes. It is no longer
poffible to fupprefs this fact, which has been men-
tioned by fo many authors, who have been miſtaken,
however, with regard to the names, the place, and the
dates. Louis XIV. was then in his forty-eighth year,
and the perfon he married in her fifty-fecond.
The King, already crowned with glory, was defirous
of mingling the innocent pleaſures of a private life with
the cares of ſtate. This marriage did not involve him
in any thing unworthy of his rank; it was always a
doubtful point at Court, whether Madame de Mainte-
non was married or not: fhe was refpected as the King's
choice, but never treated as Queen.
We are apt to confider the fate of this woman as
fomething very extraordinary, though hiftory fupplies
us with many instances of greater and more diftinguished
fortunes from finaller beginnings. The Marchione fs
de St. Sebaſtian, married to Victor- Amadeus, King of
Sardinia, was not fuperior to Madame de Maintenon;
Catherine, Empreſs of Ruffia, was greatly inferior; and
the first wife of James II. King of England, was far
beneath her, according to the prejudices of Europe,
unknown in other parts of the world +.
*
She was of an ancient family, and grand-daughter to
Theodore-Agrippa d'Aubigné, Gentleman in ordinary
of the Bed-chamber to Henry IV. Her father Conftan-
tius d'Aubigné, having formed a defign of fertling in
Carolina, and having applied to the Engliſh for that
could any one have the impudence to report, that after the death of
Harlay, Archbishop of Paris, which happened in 1695, almoſt ten
years after the marriage, his lacqueys found the marriage-certificate in
his old breeches? The itory, which is even too mean for lacqueys, is
only to be found in the Memoirs of Maintenon. Voltaire.
*What! was the daughter of the great Earl of Clarendon, Lord
High Chancellor of Great Britain, and Prime Minister to King
Charles II. inferior in rank to the widow of poor Scarron the bur-
lefque poet? Sure our author has forgot himself on this occafion.
Smollet.
+ Genealogy is here meant; but why call the refpect that is paid
to it in Europe, a prejudice? Pedigree has its ufes and its merits, both
in a moral and potitical view. Is the fentiment of enlightened and
civilized nations to be deemed a prejudice, becauſe thoſe parts of the
world which remain in a ftate of barbarifm regard it not? Tranflator.
pur-
བ
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
193
purpoſe, was thrown into prifon in the caftle Trom-
pette; from whence he was delivered by the daughter of
the Governor, whofe name was de Cardillac, a gentle-
man of Bourdelois. Conftantius d'Aubigné married his
benefactreſs in 1627, and carried her along with him
to Carolina: but returning to France in a few years
after, they were both committed to cuftody, at Niort
in Poitou, by order of the Court.
It was in this prifon of Niort that Frances d'Aubigné
was born, in 1635; deftined by Heaven to fuffer all the
hardthips, and to enjoy all the favours, of Fortune.
Carried to America, at three years of age; left on the
fhore by the negligence of a fervant, where fhe was near
being devoured by a ferpent; brought back an orphan,
at ten years of age; educated with great feverity in the
houſe of Madame de Neuillant her relation, mother to
the Dutchefs de Navailles; ſhe was fo happy as to
marry, in 1651, Paul Scarron, who lived near her in
Hell-Street.
Scarron was of an ancient family belonging to the Par-
liament, and illuftrious by its great alliances; but the
burleſque which he profeffed, demeaned, though it re-
commended him. It was, however, an inſtance of good
fortune * for Mademoiſelle d'Aubigné to get this perſon
for a huſband, deformed and impotent as he was, and
poffeffed of but a ſmall fortune. Before her marriage,
the abjured the Calviniſtical religion, which was her own,
as well as that of her anceſtors. Her beauty and her
wit foon made her be diftinguiſhed. Her acquaintance
was eagerly courted by the best company in Paris;
and this part of her youth was doubtless the happieſt
time of her life †. After her huſband's death, which
VOL. II.
hap-
O
* M. Voltaire had furely a ſtrange notion of good fortune! Tran-
flator.
+ It is faid, in the pretended Memoirs of Maintenon, Vol. I. p.
216, that for a long time fhe lay in the fame bed with the celebrated
Ninon de l'Enclos, according to the hearfay-reports of the Abbé de
Chateauneuf, and of the author of the Age of Louis XIV. But there
is not a fyllable of fuch an anecdote to be found in the author of the
Age of Louis XIV. nor in the remaining works of the Abbé de
Cha
194
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
"
happened in 1660, fhe continued long to folicit the King
for a ſmall penfion of fifteen hundred livres, which Scar-
ron had enjoyed. At laft, after fome years had elapſed,
the King gave her a penfion of two thouſand; addreſſ-
ing her at the fame time in the following train: "Ma-
dam, I have made you wait long; but you have fo
many friends, that I was determined to have the fole
"merit myſelf."
.
66
This anecdote I had from the Cardinal de Fleury,
who took a pleaſure in frequently repeating it, becauſe
he faid that Louis XIV. paid him the fame compliment,
when he gave him the Bishopric of Fréjus.
And yet it appears, from the letters of Madame de
Maintenon herſelf, that ſhe was indebted to Madame de
Montefpan for this finall fupply, which extricated her
from extreme poverty. She was taken farther notice of,
fome years after, when there was a neceffity for educat-
ing privately the Duke de Maine, whom the King had
in 1670 by the Marchionefs de Montefpan. It was not
certainly until the year 1672, that he was chofen to fu-
perintend this private education. She fays, in one of
her letters," If the children are the King's, I will
"chearfully undertake the tafk; but I could not with-
"out fcruple take the charge of Madame de Monte-
"fpan's the King therefore muſt give me orders: this
"is my laft refolve."
Madame de Montefpan had not two children until
1672, the Duke de Maine and the Count de Vexin.
Hence it is evident, that the dates of Madame de Main-
tenon's letters, in 1670, in which fhe fpeaks of thoſe
two children, one of whom was not yet born, muſt ne-
Chateauneuf. The author of Maintenon's Memoirs quotes only at
fandom. This circumftance is mentioned no where, except in the
Memoirs of the Marquis de la Fare, p. 190, Amfterdam edition. It
was a cuſtom, it is true, for people to fhare their beds with their
friends; and this cuftom, which is now extinct, was very ancient,
even at Court. We find, in the Hiftory of France, that Charles IX.
in order to fave the Count de Briffac from the maffacre of St. Bar-
tholomew, adviſed him to fleep at the Louvre in his bed, and that
the Duke of Guife and the Prince of Condé lay together for a long
time. French Note.
3
ceffarily
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
195
letters are erroneous.
ceffarily be falfe. Almost all the dates of thefe printed
This inaccuracy would give one
reaſon to ſuſpect the authenticity of theſe letters, did
we not diſcover in them fuch ftrong marks of truth and
ingenuoufnefs as it was almoft impoffible to counterfeit:
It is a matter of no great confequence to know in
what particular year this perfon undertook the care of the
natural children of Louis XIV. but the attention given
to theſe minute circumftances may ferve to fhew with
what fcrupulous exactnefs we have related the principal
events in this hiftory.
The Duke de Maine was born with a deformed foot:
The first Phyfician, d'Aquin, who was in the fecret, ad-
viſed to fend him to the waters of Barege. An enquiry
was made for a perfan of integrity who might be in-
trufted with this charge. The King mentioned Madame
Scarron *. M. de Louvois went privately to Paris, to
make the propofal to her. From that time fhe had the
care of the Duke de Maine's education, being appointed
to that employment by the King, and not by Madame
de Montefpan, as has been reported. She wrote per-
fonally to the King, who was greatly charmed with her
letters. Such was the origin of her good fortune: her
merit completed the reft.
The King, who at firſt could not endure her compa-
ny, paffed by degrees from averfion to confidence, and
from confidence to love. The letters we have of hers
are a much more precious treafure than is generally
imagined they difcover that mixture of religion and
galantry, of dignity and weaknefs, which is fo fre-
quently to be found in the human heart, and which fill-
ed the foul of Louis XIV. The mind of Madame de
Maintenon feems at once infpired with an ambition and
a devotion, which accord perfectly well together. Her
confeffor Gobelin approves equally of both: he is a-
like a Director and a Courtier. His penitent, though
* The author of the romance intituled the Memoirs of Mad. de
Maintenon, makes her fay, upon feeing the Castle of Trompette,
There is the place where I was educated, &c." This is evidently
talfe: the was educated at Niort. Voltaire.
O 2
2.
guilty
195.
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
guilty of ingratitude to Madame de Montefpan, ſtilt
continues to diffemble her crime. The confeffor en-
courages the illufion; and fhe artfully calls in religion
to the affiftance of her fuperannuated charms, in order
to fupplant her benefactreſs, when the became her rival.
This ftrange mixture of love and fcruples on the
part of the King, and of ambition and devotion on the
part of the new miftrefs, feems to have continued from
1681 to 1686, which was the æra of their marriage.
Her elevation was to her only a retreat. Shut up in
her apartment, which was on the fame floor with that
of the King, the confined herſelf to the company of two
or three ladies, as retired as herſelf; and even theſe fhe
faw but feldom. The King went to her apartment
every day after dinner, and before and after fupper, and
remained with her till midnight. He there deliberated
with his Minifters, while Madame de Maintenon em-
ployed herſelf in reading, or in needle-work; never dif-
covering the leaft forwardnefs to talk of State-affairs;
frequently feeming to be ignorant of them; carefully
avoiding every thing that might have the leaft appear-
ance of cabal or intrigue; more defirous of pleaſing him
who governed, than of governing herſelf; and preferv-
ing her credit, by never employing it without extreme
circumfpection.
She did not avail herſelf of her fituation, to engroſs
all the dignities and great employments in her own fa-
mily. Her brother the Count d'Aubigné, though an
old Lieutenant - general, was not even a Marſhal of
France. A blue ribband and fome appropriation in
the farms of the public revenues were his only fortune:
hence it was that he faid to the Marſhal de Vivonne,
brother to Madame de Montefpan,
"that he had re-
"ceived his Marshal's ſtaff in ready money +.”
The Marquis de Villette, her nephew, or her coufint,
The badge of a Knight of the Order of the Holy Ghoft.
+ See his Letters to his brother: "I defire you, fays he, to live
"comfortably, and to spend freely the eighteen thousand livres we
"have made of this buſineſs; we ſhall get more when that is gone."
Voltaire.
He was her coufin-german. Tranflator.
2
was
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
197
was only a Commodore. Madame de Caylus, daughter
to the fame Marquis de Villette, had but a fmall pen-
fion given her in marriage by Louis XIV. Madame de
Maintenon, when the married her niece d'Aubigné to
the fon of the firft Marshal de Noailles *, gave her but
two hundred thouſand livres: the King made up the
reft. She poffeffed nothing herſelf except the lands of
Maintenon, which ſhe purchaſed with the prefents made
her by the King. She endeavoured to make the Public
excufe her elevation, in favour of her difintereſtedneſs.
The fecond wife of the Marquis de Villette, who was
afterwards Lady Bolingbroke, could obtain nothing from
her. I have frequently heard her ſay, that ſhe upbraid-
ed her coufin with the little fervice the did her family;
and that ſhe told her in a paffion, "You are fo fond of
your moderation, that you render your family the
" victims of it."
Madame de Maintenon forgot every thing, when the
was in the leaſt apprehenfive of offending Louis XIV.
She had not even the courage to fupport Cardinal de
Noailles againſt Father Le Tellier. She had a great
friendship for Racine; but that friendship was not
ftrong enough to protect him againſt a flight refentment
of the King. One day, being deeply affected with the
eloquence with which he reprefented the calamities of
the people, in 1698; calamities which were always ex-
aggerated, but which have fince been carried to a de-
plorable extremity; fhe prevailed upon her friend to
draw up a memorial, pointing out the evil and the re-
medy. The King having read it, and fhewn himſelf
diffatisfied with the contents, ſhe had the weaknefs to
name the author, and that alſo of not defending him.
* The compiler of Maintenon's Memoirs fays, vol. IV. P. 200,
Rouffeau, à venomous viper towards his benefactors, compoſed
"fome lampoons upon the Marthal de Noailles." This is falfe :
we ought not to calumniate any one. Rouleau, who was then
very young, did not know the firft Marfhal de Noailles. The lam-
poon was written by a gentleman of the name of Cabanac, who
openly acknowledged himself to be the author. Voltaire.
O 3
Racine
+
198
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
Racine, ftill weaker, if poffible, was feized with excef
five grief, which brought him to the grave*.
The fame difpofition which rendered her incapable
of doing a fervice, made her likewife incapable of doing
an injury. The Abbé de Choify relates, that the
Minifter Louvois fell on his knees before Louis XIV. in
order to diffuade him from marrying the widow Scarron.
If the Abbé de Choify knew this fact, Madame de Main-
tenon was not ignorant of it; and yet fhe not only for-
gave that Minifter, but even appealed the firſt tranſports
of paffion into which the blunt behaviour of the Marquis
de Louvois uſed fometimes to provoke his maſter +.
Hence
* This fact is related by the fon of the illuftrious Racine, in his
Life of his father. French Note.
There is a like flory toid of Sarrafin, in a note upon that article,
in the preceding Catalogue of Writers. How could M. Voltaire call
fo amiable and tender a fentiment a weakness? Whoever can read
either of thefe ftories unmoved, is only fit to be Cryer at the Old
Bailey. Traflator.
+ Who would imagine, that, in the Memoirs of Madame de
Maintenon, vol. III. p. 273, it fhould be faid that this Minifter was
afraid of being poifoned by the King? Strange! that at Paris they
fhould publish fuch horrid falfhoods at the end of ſo many ridiculous
fables.
This ftupid and fhocking ftory is founded on a common report
which was curent at the death of the Marquis de Louvois. Th's
Minifter was using the waters which Seron, his Phyfician, had pre-
fcribed to him, and which La Ligerie his Surgeon made him drink.
This is the fame Ligerie who gave the Public the remedy which is
now called le Poudre des Chartreux. This La Ligerie hath frequently
told me, that he apprized M. de Louvois of the great rifk he ran by
attending bufinefs while he drank the waters. The Minifler, how-
ever, continued his wonted alliduity. He died fuddenly on the 16th
of July, 1691; and not in 1692, as the author of thefe falfe Memoirs
afferts. La Ligerie opened his body, and found no other caufe of
his death, than what he had foretold. Some people took it into their
heads to fufpect that the Phyfician Seron had poifoned a bottle of
thefe waters. We have feen how common thefe ihjurious fufpicions
then were. It was pretended, that a neighbouring Prince, whom
Louvois had greatly provoked and abufed, had bribed the Phyfician
Seron. Some of thefe anecdotes are to be found in the Memoirs of the
Marquis de la Fare, p. 249. The family of the Marquis de Louvois
did even imprifon a Savoyard, who was a menial fervant in the houſe
but this poor man, who was perfectly innocent, was foon releaſed. But
if people fufpected, though very unreafonably, that a Prince, who was
20
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
199
Hence it appears, that Louis XIV. in marrying Ma-
dame de Maintenon, only gave himfelf an agreeable and
humble companion. The fole public diftinction that
diſcovered her private elevation was, that at chapel fhe
occupied one of thoſe ſmall pews, or gilded cloſets,
which feemed to be made for the King and Queen; but
there was not the leaft exterior of grandeur in any thing
elfe. The devotion with which the had infpired the
King, and which had contributed to her marriage, be-
came by degrees a real and deep fenfe of religion, which
was ftrengthened by age and wearinefs.
She had already acquired, both with the King and the
Court, the character of a foundrefs, by affembling at
Noifi a number of young ladies of quality, and the
King had appropriated the revenues of the Abbey of St.
Denis to this rifing community. St. Cyr was built at the
end of the park of Verfailles, in 1686. She gave this
fettlement a complete form, compofed the regulations.
of it with Godet Defmarêts, Biſhop of Chartres, and was
herſelf the Superior of the convent. She frequently went
thither to pass a few hours; and when I fay that weari-
nefs determined her to follow thefe amufements, I only
1
an enemy to France, endeavoured to take away the life of a Minifter of
Louis XIV. this furely could never be a reafon for fufpecting Louis
himfelf of the fame crime.
The fame author, who, in the Memoirs of Madame de Maintenon,
has collected fuch a heap of falfhoods, fays in the fame place, that the
King faid, "he had got rid, in one year, of three men whom he could
"not endure; the Marſhal de la Feuillade, the Marquis de Seignelai, and
"the Marquis de Louvois." In the first place, M. de Seiguelai did not
die the fame year 1691, but in 1690. In the fecond place, to whom did
Louis XIV. who always fpoke with great circumfpection, and like a
gentleman, addrefs thefe imprudent and fpiteful words? To whom did
ne diſcover fuch a hard and ungrateful heart? To whom could he fay,
that he was glad he had got rid of three men who had ſerved him with
fo much zeal and fidelity? Is it lawful thus to blacken, without the
leaft proof, without the leaft appearance of probability, the memory
of a King, who was always known to fpeak with great prudence?
Every fenfible reader beholds with contempt and indignation thefe
collections of lies, with which the Public is encumbered; and the
author of the Memoirs of Maintenon deferves chaftifement, if the
contempt which he is fallen into, did not fcreen him from punishment.
Voltaire.
04
repeat
200
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
repeat her own words. Read what fhe wrote to Madame
de la Maiſonfort, of whom mention is made in the chap-
ter of Quietifm:
66
Why cannot I give you my experience? Why can-
"not I make you fenfible of the wearinefs that devours.
"the Great, and of the difficulty they have to difpofe
"of their time? Do you not fee that I die of lowneſs of
66
66
fpirits, though poffeffed of a more fplendid fortune
"than ever I could have hoped to obtain? I have been
young and handfome; I have tafted pleaſures; I
"have been unive: fally beloved; in a more advanced
age, I have paffed fome years in the participation
"of intellectual pleafures; I am now arrived at the fum-
"mit of fortune; and I affure you, my dear friend, that
"every condition leaves a wretched vacuity in the
"mind *."
66
••
Could any thing fhew men the vanity of ambition, this
letter furely would do it. Madame de Maintenon, who
had no other caufe of uneafinefs than the uniformity of
her life in the company of a great King, faid one day to
the Count d'Aubigné her brother, "I can bear it no
longer; I wish I were dead." The anfwer which her
brother gave her is well known: "You have then got
"a promife, faid he, of being married to God the
"Father."
66
Upon the King's death, fhe retired wholly to St. Cyr.
What is furprifing is, that the King left her no certain
ftipend. He recommended her to the Duke of Orleans.
She only demanded a penſion of eighty thouſand livres.
This annuity was regularly paid her till her death,
which happened on the fifteenth of April 1719. The
author of her epitaph has affected too much to forget
the name of Scarron: this name was no difgrace, and
the omiffion of it ferves only to make one fufpect it was
fo.
The Court became lefs gay and more ferious, from
the time that the King began to lead a retired life with
*This letter is authentic; and the author faw it in MS. before
the fun of the great Racine had it printed. French Note.
Ma-
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
201
Madame de Maintenon; and the fevere fit of fick nefs he
had in 1686, contributed ftill more to deſtroy his tafte
for thoſe ſplendid feaſts which he had hitherto celebrated
almoſt every year. He was feized with a fiſtula in ano
The art of furgery, which under this reign had made
greater progrefs in France than in all the rest of Europe,
was not yet fufficiently practifed in this distemper. The
Cardinal de Richelieu had died of it, for want of proper
treatment. The King's danger alarmed the whole nation.
The churches were filled with crowds of people, who,
with tears in their eyes, implored the recovery of their
fovereign. This expreffion of univerfal concern and la-
mentation was fomewhat a-kin to that which happened
in the prefent age, when his fucceffor's life was in danger
at Metz, in 1744. Thefe two epochas will ferve as
perpetual monuments to remind Kings of what they
owe to a people who love them with fuch a warmth of
affection.
As foon as Louis XIV. felt the first attacks of his
diſeaſe, his chief ſurgeon, Felix, went to the hofpitals
to fearch for fuch patients as were in the fame condition.
He confulted the beft furgeons; and, in conjunction
with them, he invented fome new inftruments which
abridged the operation, and rendered it lefs painful. The
King fuffered the operation without complaining. He
cauſed his Minifters to hold a Council at his bed-fide,
the very fame day; and that the news of his danger
might occafion no change of meaſures in the Courts of
Europe, he gave audience to the Foreign Ambaffadors
next day. To this fortitude of mind may be added the
generofity with which he rewarded Felix, to whom he
gave an eftate which was then worth fifty thoufand
crowns,
This diſorder, to fhew how far the politeness of the French was
carried, was dignified by the title of regius morbus, and added, in
the books of furgery, to a certain clafs of diftempers which had
been before registered under the fame denomination by Court Phy-
ficians, in compliment to the feveral princes, who, in jpite of O King,
live for ever! had died of thoſe refpective maladies; as the Jaundice,
the Epilepfy, the King's-evil, &c, Tranflater.
After
202
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
After this the King went no more to the public fhows.
The Dauphinefs of Bavaria, being feized with a deep
melancholy, and oppreffed with a lownefs of fpirits,
which brought her to the grave in 1690, refufed to join
in any party of pleafure, and obftinately perfifted to
immure herfelf in her chamber. She was fond of learn-
ing; fhe had written fome poetry; but in her melancholy
moods fhe affected nothing but folitude.
It was the convent of St. Cyr which revived the taſte
for works of genius. Madame de Maintenon defired.
Racine, who had renounced the theatre for the Court
and Janfenifm, to write a Tragedy that might be acted
by her pupils; and fhe defired the fubject might be taken
from the Bible. Racine compofed Efther. This piece,
having been firft reprefented in the convent of St. Cyr,
was afterwards acted feveral times at Verfailles, before
the King, in the winter 1689. The prelates and Jefuits
were eager to obtain a permiſſion of ſeeing this fingular
repreſentation.
It is fomewhat remarkable, that this piece was at this
time univerfally approved; and that, two years after,
Athaliah, which was acted by the fame perfons, was as
univerfally condemned. The cafe was quite the reverſe
when theſe pieces were played at Paris, long after the
author's death, and when all party-diftinctions were
over. Athaliah was reprefented in 1717, and re-
ceived, as it deſerved, with great applaule: and Eſther,
which was acted in 1721, met with a cold reception, and
never appeared more. But there were now no Courtiers
fo flattering as to recognize Efiber in Madame de Main-
tenon, and ſo malicious as to diſcover Vafeti in Madame
de Montefpan*, Haman in M. de Louvois, and ef
pecially the Huguenots, who were perfecuted by that
Miniſter,
The whole account of theſe matters is extremely well told in
Les Souvenirs; and upon this article the Tranfiator of thofe anecdotes
has thrown in a judicious obfervation, which is proper to be quoted
here.
¢¢
60
1
The perfonage of Vashti was faid to have alluded to Madame de
Montefpan; but I cannot fee any refemblance between them, ex-
cept in her being fupplanted by Madame de Maintenon. The late
" Queen
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
75
2039 15
Minifter, in the profcription of the Jews. The impar-
tial Public could difcover nothing in that piece, but a
plot without probability or intereft; a ftupid King, who
had lived fix months with his wife without knowing her,
or even informing himfelf who he was; a Minifter fo
ridiculouſly barbarous as to require his King to exter-
minate a whole nation, old men, women and children,
becauſe they had not made him a bow; this fame Mi-
nifter fo filly as to iffue an order to put all the Jews to
death in eleven months, which plainly gave them time
for flight or defence; a weak King who without any
pretext figned ſo abfurd an order, and who with as little
reaſon fuddenly hanged up his favourite; all this, with-
out plot, without action, without intereft, extremely
diſguſted all perfons who had either fenfe or tafte *. But,
not-
Queen appears a fitter parallel, as they were both forfaken con-
"forts, and equally fhy of appearing before their husbands."
This laft circumftance, relative to the Queen of Louis XIV. alludes
to a paffage that went before, in Les Souvenirs.
But this pour
good Princefs had contracted fuch an awe of the King, as, join-
ed to her natural timidity, prevented her from being able to ſpeak
" before him, even among other company; and much more to ex-
poſe herſelf to a tête-à-tête converſation with him.” Tranflater.
* It is faid, in the Memoirs of Maintenon, that Racine feeing the
ill fuccefs of Efther in public, cried out, “ Why have I expoſed my-
felf! Why did they prevent me from becoming a Carthufian!
"Bat a thoufand louis d'ors confuled him."
t
In the first place, it is not true that Efther was then ill received.
Secondly, it is falfe and impoffible that Racine thould have faid,
that they had prevented him at that time from becoming a Carthuñan
Friar, becauſe his wife was then living. That author, who has writ-
ten every thing at hazard, and has confounded every thing, fhould
have confulted the Memoirs of the Life of John Racine, by Louis
Racine, his fon. He would there have feen that John Racine had
thoughts of becoming a Carthufian, before he was married. Third-
ly, it is falfe that the King gave him a thouſand louis d'ors, at that
time: This falfity is apparent from the fame memoirs. The King
preſented him with the poft of Gentleman in ordinary of his Bed-
chamber, in 1690, after the exhibition of Athaliah, at Verfailles.
Such minutie acquire fome importance when they relate to fo great
a man as Racire. The falfe anecdotes of thofe who difplayed the
Age of Louis XIV. are repeated in fo many filly books, theſe books
are ſo numerous, and there are fu'many indolent and ignorant readers
who receive thofe tales for facts, that too much caution cannot be
2
given
204
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
notwithſtanding the imperfection of the fubject, thirty
lines of Esther are of more value than many Tragedies
which have met with great fuccefs. Thefe ingenious
amuſements were revived for the education of Adelaide
of Savoy, Dutchefs of Burgundy, who was brought to
France at eleven years of age.
It is one of the many contradictions in our manners,
that on one hand theatrical exhibitions ſhould be branded
with a mark of infamy, and on the other that fuch re-
preſentations ſhould be confidered as an amufement the
most noble and moft worthy of perfons of royal birth.
A little theatre was built in the apartment of Madame
de Maintenon, on which the Dutchefs of Burgundy and
the Duke of Orleans played, with fuch perfons of the
Court as were moft remarkable for their talents. The
famous actor Baron gave them leffons, and performed
with them. Moft of the 7 ragedies of Duché, valet-de-
chambre to the King, were compofed for this theatre;
and the Abbe Genêt, Almoner to the Dutchefs of Or-
leans, wrote fome plays for the Dutchefs of Maine,
which that Princefs and her Court reprefented. Thefe
amufements formed the taſte, and enlivened ſociety
**
None of thoſe who have cenfured Louis XIV. with
fo much feverity, can deny that, till the battle of Hoch-
ftet, he was the most magnificent, and the greateſt man,
almoſt in every thing: for tho' there have been heroes,
given againſt all thofe impofitions. And if we have frequently con-
tradicted the author of Maintenon's Memoirs, it is becaufe no writer
ever published more falfehoods than he. Voltaire.
* How could the Marquis de la Fare fay in his Memoirs, that,
after the death of Madame, all was play, confufion, and impo-
"litenefs ?" They frequently played in their excurfions to Marli and
Fontainbleau, but never in the apartment of Madame de Maintenon;
and the Court was ever the ſtandard of the most perfect politeness.
The Dutchefs of Orleans, then Dutchess of Chartres, the Dutchefs of
Maine, the Princefs of Conti, and Madame the Dutchefs, difproved
by their conduct what the Marquis de la Fare afferts, This man, who
in the commerce of life was of the most accommodating temper, wrote
hardly any thing but fatire. He was diffatisfied with the Government;
he paffed his time in a fociety which made a merit of condemning the
Court; and this fociety converted a man of a moft amiable diſpoſition
into an hiſtorian who is fometimes unjuft. lbid.
fuch
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
203
fuch as John Sobieski and the Kings of Sweden, who
have excelled him as a warrior, no one has ever been
able to eclipfe him as a monarch. It must likewiſe be
acknowledged, that he fupported and repaired his loffes.
He had fome failings; he committed great faults; but
would thoſe who condemn him, have been able to equal
him, had they been in his place * ?
The Dutchess of Burgundy improved daily in beauty
and in merit. The praiſes beſtowed upon her fifter in
Spain, infpired her with an emulation which redoubled
her talent of pleafing. She was not a perfect beauty
but ſhe had a countenance like that of her fon, with an
air of grandeur, and a majeſtic ſtature. Theſe advan-
tages were greatly embellifhed by her wit, and ftill more
by her extreme defire of meriting the praifes of all the
world. She was, like Henrietta of England, the idol
and the model of the Court, and poffeffed of a ſtill higher
rank, as ſtanding next the throne. France expected
from the Duke of Burgundy fuch a government as the
fages of antiquity had conceived, but whofe aufterity
would be foftened by the virtues and accompliſhments of
this Princeſs, which were of a nature to be more fenfibly
felt than the philofophy of her huſband. Every body
knows how theſe hopes were fruftrated. It was the fate
of Louis XIV. to fee all his family perifh in France, by
premature deaths; his wife, in the forty-fifth year of
her age; his only fon in the fiftieth +; and in a year
after
* If greatnefs of foul confifts in a love of pageantry, an oftentation
of faftidious pomp, a prodigality of expence, an affectation of muni-
ficence, an infolence of ambition, and a haughty referve of deport-
ment, Louis certainly deferved the appellation of Great. Qualities
which are truly heroic, we ſhall not find in the compofition of his
character. Smollet.
The author of the Memoirs of Madame de Maintenon, vol. IV,
in a chapter intitled, Mademoiselle Chouin, fays, that the Dauphin was
in love with one of his own fifters, and that he afterwards married
Mademoiſelle Chouin. Thefe popular rumours are known to be falſe,
by every fenfible perfon. One should not only be a cotemporary, but
ought likewife to be furnished with proofs, before he venture to ad-
vance fuch anecdotes as thefe. There never was the least evidence of
the Dauphin's having married Mademoiſelle Chouin. To revive, af
ter
206
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
after he had loft his fon, he faw his grandfon the Dauphin
Duke of Burgundy, the Dauphinefs his wife, and their
eldeft fon the Duke of Brittany, carried to St. Denis,
and depofited in the fame tomb, in the month of
April 1712; while the youngest of their children, who
afterwards mounted the throne, was in his cradle at the
point of death. The Duke of Berry, brother to the
Duke of Burgundy, followed them two years after;
and his daughter, at the fame time, was carried from her
cradle to her grave.
Thefe lamentable loffes made fuch a deep impreffion
on the minds of men, that I have feen feveral perfons in
the minority of Louis XV. who could not mention them
without tears but amidft fo many untimely deaths, the
fituation of him † who ſeemed likely to fill the throne
in a fhort time, was moſt to be lamented.
The fame fufpicion which prevailed at the death of
Madame, and at that of Maria-Louifa, Queen of Spain,
was now revived with a fingular virulence. The excefs
of the public grief might almoft have excuſed the calum-
ny, could any thing have done fo. It was a folly to
fuppofe that any one would have taken off, by a violent
death, fo many royal perfons, and yet have left alive the
only one that could avenge them. The difeafe of which
the Dauphin of Burgundy and his wife and fon died,
was an epidemical purple-fever. This diftemper de-
ftroyed more than five hundred perfons in Paris, in the
ſpace of a month. The Duke of Bourbon, grandſon to
ter the expiration of fixty years, thefe common reports, fo vague, ſo
improbable, and fo generally difcredited, is not to write hiflory; it
is to comp le at random the moft fcandalous falfhoods, in order to get
money. Upon what foundation has this writer the impudence to ad-
vance, in page 244, that the Dutchefs of Burgundy faid to the Prince
her husband, If I were dead, would you fill the third tomb of your
family" He makes Louis XIV. and all the Princes and Mini-
fters talk as if he had heard them. There is hardly a page in the me-
moirs that is not filled with fuch barefaced lies, as justly excite the.
indignation of every honeft man. Voltaire.
*
The Duke of Orlans, nephew to Louis XIV. and, afterwards
Regent. Tranflator.
☛ That is, would you die for grief? Ibid.
the
1
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
207
the Prince of Condé, the Duke de la Trimouille, Ma-
dame de la Vrillière, and Madame de Liftenai, were
feized with it at Court. The Marquis de Gondrin, fon
to the Duke of Antin, died of it in two days. His wife,
afterwards Countefs of Thouloufe, was at the point of
death. This diſeaſe over-ran all France. It carried off
in Lorrain the eldeſt brothers of that Francis, Duke of
Lorrain, who was deſtined to be, one day, Emperor,
and to retrieve the Houfe of Auftria.
Mean while it was fufficient that a Phyfician called
Boudin, a debauched, forward, and ignorant fellow,
ufed the following expreffion: "We do not underſtand
"fuch difeafes:" This, I fay, was fufficient to take off
all reftraint from calumny.
The Prince had a laboratory, and ftudied chemiſtry,
as well as feveral other arts: this was an unanfwerable
proof. The clamour of the Public was fo violent, that
one muſt have been a witnefs, in order to believe it.
Several pamphlets and fome wretched hiftories of
Louis XIV. would eternize thefe fufpicions, did not
perfons who have had better opportunities of informa-
tion, take pains to deftroy them. I will venture to fay,
that as I have long been fenfiole of the injuſtice of man-
kind, I have made feveral inquiries to come at the
truth; and the following account has been frequently
repeated to me by the Marquis de Canillac, one of the
moft worthy men in the nation, and intimately connected
with the fufpected Prince, of whom he had afterwards
just reaſon to complain. The Marquis de Canillac,
amidſt all this public clamour, went to vifit him in his
palace. He found him ftretched at full length on the
ground, bathed in tears, and frantic with deſpair. His
chemift Homberg ran to the Baltille, to furrender himfelf
a prifoner; but no orders had been given to receive him,
and accordingly he was not admitted. The Prince him-
felf (who would believe it!) in the excess of his grief,
defired to be taken into cuftody, and to have an op-
portunity of clearing his innocence by a formal trial ;
and his mother joined him in demanding this cruel juſti-
fication. The lettre-de-cachet was made out, but was
not
208
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
not figned; and the Marquis de Canillac alone, amidit
this general fermentation, preferved fo much prefence of
mind as to perceive the dangerous confequences of fuch
a defperate meaſure. He prevailed upon the Prince's
mother to oppoſe this ignominious lettre-de-cachet. The
Monarch who granted it, and the Prince who demanded
it, were equally unhappy *.
*The author of the Life of the Duke of Orleans was the firft who
mentioned thefe fhocking fufpicions. He was a Jefuit of the name of
I a Motte, the fame that preached at Rouen againſt this Prince, du-
ring his Regency, and who afterwards took refuge in Holland, under
the name of La Hode. He was acquainted with fome public facts.
He lays, vol. 1. page 112, that the Prince,who was fo unjuſtly ſuſpect-
ed, offered to furrender himſelf a prifoner; and this is very true. La
Motte had no opportunity of knowing how M. de Canillac oppoſed
this ſtep, which was fo injurious to the Prince's innocence. All the
other anecdotes he relates are falfe. Reboulet, who copied him, fays,
page 143, vol. VIII. that the youngest child of the Duke and Dutch-
efs of Burgundy "was faved by the counterpoifon of Venice." There
is no counter-poifon of Venice that is thus given at random. Phyfic
knows no general antidotes that cure a diſeaſe the cause of which is
unknown. All the ſtories which were ſpread abroad in the world at
that unhappy time, are no more than a collection of popular errors.
It is a falfhood of little confequence in the compiler of the Memoirs
of Madame de Maintenon to fay, that the Duke of Maine was then at
the point of death. It is a childiſh calumny to fay, that the author
of the Age of Louis XIV. rather confirms than deftroys the credit of
thefe ftories.
Never was history diſgraced with more abfurd falfhoods than there
are in thefe forged memoirs. The author pretends to have wrote
them in 1753. He takes it into his head to fuppofe that the Duke
and Dutchess of Burgundy, and their eldeft fon, died of the fmall-
pox. He advances this falfhood to give himſelf an opportunity to
ſpeak of inoculation: an experiment that was not tried till the month
of May 1756. Thus in the fame page we find him fpeaking in 1753,
of what happened in 1756.
Learning hath been infected with ſo many kinds of defamatory li-
bels, and the Dutch have publiſhed fo many falfe memoirs and in-
jurious afperfions on the Government and people, that it is the duty
of every faithful hiſtorian to caution the reader againſt the impofture.
Voltaire.
CHA P.
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
209
L
CHA P. XXVIII.
Conclufion of the Private Memoirs and Anecdotes:
OUIS XIV. concealed his grief from the world,
and appeared in public as ufual: but in private
the fenfibility of fo many misfortunes pierced him to
the heart, and threw him into convulfions*. He met
with all thefe domeftic loffes towards the conclufion of
an unfuccefsful war, before he was fure of obtaining a
peace, and at a time when famine had laid the Kingdom
wafte; and yet he was never feen to fink under his af-
flictions.
The remaining part of his life was unhappy. The
diſordered ſtate of the finances, which he was unable to
remedy, alienated the minds of the people. The un-
bounded confidence he placed in Father Le Tellier, a
man of too violent paffions, completed the difguft. It
is very remarkable, that the Public, who freely forgave
him all his Miftreffes, could never forgive him his Con-
feffor. He loft, during the laſt three years of his life,
in the minds of moſt of his fubjects, all the refpect and
efteem he had gained by his great and memorable
actions.
Deprived of almost all his children, his love, which
was now redoubled to the Duke of Maine and the
Count of Thoulouſe, his legitimated fons, carried him
to declare them heirs to the Crown, them and their de-
ſcendants, in default of Princes of the Blood, by an
Edict that was registered without oppofition in 1714.
He thus tempered, by the law of nature, the feverity
of the laws of convention †, which deprive children
born out of marriage of all right of fucceeding to their
father's eftate: but Kings diſpenſe with this law. He
* We moft cordially forgive him his foibles, here, on account of
his feelings. Tranflator.
+ Statute Laws.
VOL. II.
P
thought
K
210
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
thought he might fafely do for his own blood, what he
had done in favour of feveral of his fubjects. He ima-
gined, particularly, that he might make the fame eſta-
bliſhment for two of his children, which he had cauſed
to be made in Parliament, without oppofition, for the
Princes of the Houfe of Lorrain. He afterwards raiſed
them to the fame rank with Princes of the Blood, in
1715. The fuit commenced fince by the Princes of
the Blood against the legitimated Princes, is well
known. The latter preferved for themſelves and their
children, the honours conferred upon them by Louis
XIV.; but the fate of their pofterity muft depend on
time, on merit, and en fortune.
Louis XIV. was feized, about the middle of Auguſt,
in 1715, on his return from Marli, with the difeafe that
brought him to the grave. His legs were fwelled; a
mortification began to appear. The Earl of Stair, the
Engliſh Ambaffador, laid a wager, according to the
cuſtom of his country, that the King would not outlive
the month of September. The Duke of Orleans, who
in his journey to Marli had no attendants, had now the
whole Court about him. An empiric, in the last days
of the King's illneſs, gave him an elixir which recruited
his ftrength. He eat, and the empiric affirmed he would
recover. The crouds which furrounded the Duke of Or-
leans began to diminish apace. "If the King eats a fe-
"cond time," faid the Duke of Orleans, "I fhall not have
36
a fingle perfon left in my levee." But the difeafe was
mortal. Meaſures were taken for giving the Regency, with
an abfolute authority, to the Duke of Orleans. The
King, by his will, which was depofited with the Parlia-
ment, had left it to him, under great limitations; or rather,
had only appointed him the head of a Council of Regency,
in which he would only have had the cafting voice; and
yet he faid to him, I have preferved to you all the
rights to which you are intitled by your birth*." The
66
reafon
* In the Memoirs of Madame de Maintenon, vol. V. page 194, it
is faid, that Louis XIV. intended to make the Duke of Maine Lieu-
tenant-General of the Kingdom. A man fhould be furnished with
authentic
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
+
21I
reaſon was, that he did not believe there was a funda-
mental law in the Kingdom which gives, during a Mi-
nority, an abfolute power to the prefumptive heir of
the Crown. This fupreme authority, which may be
abuſed, is no doubt dangerous; but a divided one is
ſtill more fo. He imagined, that having been fo faith-
fully obeyed during his life, he would be equally ſo af-
ter his death, not remembering that the will of his fa-
ther had been violated.
Every body knows with what greatnefs of foul he be-
held the approach of death. He faid to Madame de
Maintenon," I imagined it was more difficult to die;"
and to his domeftics, "Why do you weep? Did you
"think me immortal?" He gave orders about feveral
things, and even about his funeral folemnity. Who-
ever has many witneffes of his death, always dies with
courage *. Louis XIII. in his laft illneſs, fet to muſic
the Pfalm De Frofundis, which was to be fung at his
funeral. The fortitude of mind with which Louis XIV.
beheld his end, was diveſted of that glare of oftentation
which tinfelled the reft of his life. He had the courage
even to acknowledge his errors. His fucceffor has al-
ways kept under his pillow the remarkable words which
that Monarch ſpoke to him, as he fat up in his bed and
held him in his arms. Theſe words are not fuch as have
been repreſented in all former hiftories. The following
is a faithful copy :
"You are foon going to be the King of a great King-
"dom. What I would chiefly recommend to you, is
"never to forget the obligations you owe to God. Re-
"member that you are indebted to him for every thing
you are. Endeavour to preferve peace with your
authentic proofs, before he ventures to advance a thing of fo extra-
ordinary and important a nature. The Duke of Maine would, in
that cafe, have been above the Duke of Orleans, which would have
inverted the order of things; and hence we may infer the affertion to
be falfe. Voltaire.
*This is an illiberal and invidious reflection, and the more fo, as
'tis out of its place here; for in the very next fentence but one, our
Author acquits Louis of any manner of oftentation in this article.
This ftroke was a true Rochefoucaultana. Tranlater.
P 2
ર
neigh.
212
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
A
6.6
<6
neighbours. I have been too fond of war: in this
"do not follow my example, any more than in my too
"expenfive manner of living. Take counſel in every
thing, and endeavour to diftinguiſh the beft, that
you may ever purfue it. Relieve your fubjects as
"foon as you can, and do what I have been ſo unhap-
py as not to be able to do myſelf, &c."
66
This fpeech contains nothing of that meanneſs of ſpi-
rit which is afcribed to him in fome memoirs. He has
been reproached for carrying fome relics about him,
during the latter years of his life. His fentiments of
religion were noble and elevated; but his Confeffor,
who was of a different character, had ſubjected him to
fome practices little confiftent with theſe fentiments, and
now difufed, in order to fubject him the more abfolutely
to his direction: and befides, thofe relicks which he
had the weakneſs to bear about him, had been given
him by Madame Maintenon.
Though the life and death of Louis XIV. were glo-
rious, yet was he lefs lamented than he deſerved. The
love of novelty; the approach of a Minority, in which
every one hoped to make his fortune; the difpute about
the Conftitution*, which then exafperated the minds of
the people; all confpired to make the news of his death
be received with fomething more than indifference. We
beheld the fame people, who in 1686 had importun-
ed Heaven with fighs and tears for the recovery of
their fick Monarch, follow his funeral proceffion
with demonftrations of a very different nature +. It
is related, that the Queen, his mother, ſaid to him
once, when he was very young, "My fon, imitate
* A Pope's Bull fo called, obtained by Louis XIV. a little before
his death, to condemn 101 propofitions of Janfenifm, extracted
from Father Quefnel's writings. The fame Bull is alfo called Unigeni-
tus, from the firf word of it." Crebillon the Son is faid to have writ-
ten l'Ecumoire, The Skimmer, in ridicule of this Decretal. Tranſlator.
+ I have feen little tents fitted up on the road to St. Denis, where
they drank, and fung, and laughed, as the proceflion marched by.
The fentiments of the Citizens of Paris cxtended themselves to the
people at large. The Jefuit Le ellier was the caufe of this general joy.
I heard fome of the fpectators fay, that they ought to fet fire to the fe-
fuit Colleges with the flambeaux which attended the funeral. Voltaire.
A
66 your
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
213
66
your grandfather, and not your father." The King
having aſked the reafon; "Becaufe (faid fhe) the peo-
ple wept at the death of Henry IV. and laughed at
"that of Louis XIII."
66
;
Notwithſtanding he has been reproached with little-
neffes; with rigour in his zeal againſt the Janfenifts
with too much haughtinefs to foreign powers in his
profperity; with too great weakneſs to feveral women,
and too great feverity in perfonal concerns; with wars
undertaken without fufficient reafon; with the burn-
ing of the Palatinate, and the perfecution of the Pro-
teftants; yet his great qualities and his actions being
placed in the ſcale, have over-balanced his faults. Time,
which ripens the opinions of mankind, has affixed its
ſeal to his reputation; and in fpite of all that has been
written againſt him, his name will never be mentioned
without refpect, or without reviving the idea of an age
for ever memorable.
If we confider him in his private character, we ſhall
find him, indeed, too full of his own greatneſs, but
affable; refufing his mother a fhare in the Adminiftra-
tion, but performing to her all the duties of a fon;
and obferving the ſtricteft rules of decency and decorum
in his behaviour to his wife; a good father, a good
maſter, always decent in public, affiduous in the Ca-
binet, exact in the management of his affairs, thinking
justly, fpeaking well, and amiable with dignity.
I have elſewhere * remarked, that he never spoke the
words which have been afcribed to him, when the firft
Gentleman of the Bed-chamber and the Grand-mafter
of the Wardrobe were difputing about the honour of
ferving him: "What does it fignify which of my Va-
"lets ferve me?" Such a coarfe expreffion could ne-
ver be uſed by a man fo polite and fo confiderate as he
was, and agreed but ill with what he faid one day to the
Duke de la Rochefoucault, when talking of his debts:
"Why do you not fpeak to your friends?" words of a
#
*All this is extracted from Anecdotes printed among the Mifcel-
lanies of the fame Author, and founded upon this hiftory.
P 3
Voltaire.
very
214
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
very different meaning, and of great importance too
being accompanied with a prefent of fifty thoufand
crowns.
Nor is it true, that he wrote to the Duke de la
Rochefoucault: "I make you my compliments as your
"Friend, with regard to the poft of Grand-mafter of
"the Wardrobe, which I give you as your King.
The Hiftorians have done him the honour of this letter,
not remembering how very indelicate, and even illbred
it is to tell a man whofe mafter you are, that you
are fo. This would be very proper, were a fove-
reign writing to a rebellious fubject; and Henry IV.
might juftly enough have faid it to the Duke of May-
enne, before their perfect reconciliation.
Rofe, Secretary of the Cabinet, wrote the letter;
but the King had too much fentiment to fend it. It
was the fame refinement that made him fupprefs the
pompous infcriptions which Charpentier of the French
Academy affixed to the paintings of Le Brun, in the
Gallery of Verfailles: "The incredible paffage of the
"Rhine; the marvellous taking of Valenciennes, &c."
The King thought that the taking of Valenciennes, and
the paffage of the Rhine, were more expreffive. Char-
pentier was in the right to adorn with infcriptions in
our own language the monuments of our country*: flat-
tery alone (poiled the execution.
66
Some anfwers and fayings of this Prince have been
collected, which are reducible to a very fmall number.
It is pretended that when he formed the defign of abo-
liſhing Calvinifm in France, he ſaid, My grandfather
loved the Huguenots, and did not fear them; my fa-
"ther loved them not, but feared them; for my part, I
"neither love nor fear them."
Having given in 1658, the place of First Prefident
of the Parliament of Paris to M. de la Lamoignon,
then Mafter of Requeſts, he faid to him, "Had I
known a better man, or a more worthy fubject, I
"would have chofen him." He uſed much the fame
*
See the note in page 6z, Vol. I. Tranflator.
I
expreffion
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
215
}
expreffion to the Cardinal de Noailles, when he gave
him the Archbishoprick of Paris. What conftitutes
the merit of this compliment is, that it was true, and
infpired a principle of virtue.
It is faid, that a foolish Preacher having one day
pointed him out at Verfailles (a rafhneſs that is not al-
lowable towards a private man, and far lefs towards a
King), Louis XIV. contented himſelf with ſaying to
him, "Father, I like well enough to take my fhare of
a fermon, but do not chufe to be made the ſubject of
"it" Whether he ufed this expreffion or not, it may
ferve as a leffon.
6
He always expreffed himſelf nobly, and with preci-
fion; ftudying in public to fpeak, as well as to act, like
a Sovereign. When the Duke of Anjou was fetting
out on his journey to afcend the Throne of Spain, he
faid to him, in order to mark the union which was for
the future to unite the two nations, "Remember there
Có are now no Pyrenees
Nothing furely can fet his character in a clearer light
than the following memorial, written entirely with his
own hand+.
C6
66
Kings are frequently obliged to do many things
against their inclinations, and which fhock their na-
«tural humanity. They ought to take a pleaſure in dc-
ing favours, and they are often forced to puniſh, and
" even to ruin thote to whom they naturally wish well.
"The intereft of the State fhould be the first motive.
66
''
They must force their inclinations: they muft act,
"in every matter of importance, fo as to have no cauſe
"to reproach themſelves that they might have done
"better. But fome private interefts prevented me from
"following this courfe, and engroffed that attention
"which I ought to have employed in promoting the
"grandeur, the happineſs, and the power of the State.
"There are many circumftances that create uneafinefs;
"there are fome fo intricate, that it is difficult to unra-
* The mountains which divide France from Spain, Tranflator.
It was depofited in the King's Library fon.e years ago. Vautaire.
P 4
« vel
216
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
cc
66
c6
"vel them. We have confuſed ideas; and while that
"is the cafe, we may remain long without coming to
"any determination; but the moment we have formed
our refolution, and are convinced that it is the beft,
we ought to carry it into execution. It is this which
"has often given me fuccefs in feveral of my under-
takings. The errors I have committed, and which
"have caufed me infinite pain, have been owing to
"complaifance, and to a too ready compliance with
"the advice of others. Nothing is fo dangerous as
.. a weakneſs of this kind. To be able to command
"others, we must raife ourſelves above them; and af-
ter having heard the opinions of all parties, we muſt
"fix upon that which we judge to be beft, without
"prejudice or partiality; always careful not to order or
cr
..
execute any thing unworthy of ourſelves, of the cha-
"racter we bear, or of the grandeur of the State.
"Princes who have good intentions, and fome know-
"ledge of their own affairs, whether by experience,
tudy, or intenfe application to render themfelves
"capable, find fo many ways of difcovering their na-
"tural difpofition, that they ought to have a particular
"care, and give a general application to every thing.
"We ought conftantly to be on our guard againſt our-
"felves, our inclinations, and our natural propenfities.
"The province of a King is great, noble, and flattering,
"when he finds himself well able to perform all thoſe
"duties which it obliges; but it is not exempted from
66
pain, fatigue, and inquietude. Uncertainty fome-
"times creates defpair; when, therefore, he has em-
ployed a reaſonable time in examining an affair, he
ought to come to fome determination, and to purfue
"the courſe which he thinks moft adviſeable*.
..
€6
"When
*The Abbé Caftel de St. Pierre, author of feveral ſtrange per-
formances, in which there are many things of a philofophical, but
very few of a practical, nature, has left behind him fome Political An-
nals, from 1658 to 1739. He, in feveral places, condemns the Ad-
miniftration of Louis XIV. with great feverity, and will not, by any
means, allow him the title of Louis the Great. If by Great he
means perfect, this title, to be fure, does not belong to him; but
from
#
+
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
217
"When he labours for the State, he labours for
"himſelf; the welfare of the one conftituting the glory
"of the other. When the former is great, happy, and
<s
..
powerful, he who is the cauſe of all theſe advantages
"is glorious, and of confequence ought to enjoy more
"than his fubjects, both on his account and theirs, a
greater. fhare of all that is moſt agreeable in life.
"When he has committed an error, he ought to repair
"it as foon as poffible, and ſhould allow no confideration
"to hinder him, not even benevolence itſelf.
66
"In 1671 there died a man who had the poft of Se-
cretary of State, being charged with the department
"of foreign affairs. He was a man of capacity, but
"not without faults. He filled that important poft,
"however, with great ability.
"I was fome time in confidering on whom I fhould
"confer this charge; and, after mature deliberation,
"I fuppofed that a man who had long ferved in the
"character of an Ambaſſador *, was moſt likely to fill
"it with fuccefs.
"I remanded him home: the whole Kingdom ap-
proved my choice, which is not always the cafe. On
"his return, I put him in poffeffion of the poft I knew
"him only by report, and by the commiffions with
" which I had charged him, and which he had well ex-
"ecuted. But the employment I had now given him,
<<
was too great and too extenfive for his capacity. I
"have not availed myfelf of all the advantages I might
"have obtained, and this has always been owing to my
..
complaifance and good-nature. At laft I was obliged
"to difmifs him, becauſe all that paffed through his
"hands, loft that air of grandeur and importance which
ought ever to attend the execution of the orders of a
ap-
from theſe memoirs, written with the hand of that Monarch, it
pears that he had as good political principles, at leaſt, as the Abbé de
St. Pierre.
Theſe memoirs of the Abbé de St. Pierre have nothing curious in
them, except the abfurd perfuafion which had got poffeffion of his
mind, that he was formed for governing States. Voltaire.
Mr. de Pompone.
2
"King
218
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
<<
6C
King of France*. Had I removed him fooner, I ſhould
"have prevented many of the inconveniencies which
"afterwards befel me, and fhould have had no cauſe to
reproach myſelf with allowing my indulgence to him
"to hurt the State. Thefe particulars I have thought
proper to mention, in order to confirm the truth of
"what I have advanced above."
66
£
This precious and hitherto unknown monument will
ferve to convince pofterity of the integrity of his heart,
and the greatness of his foul. We may even fay, that
he judges himſelf with too much feverity, and that he
has no cauſe to reproach himſelf with regard to Mr. de
Pompone, fince the fervices and reputation of that Mi-
nifter had determined the Prince's choice, confirmed by
the general approbation of the Public; and if he con-
demns himſelf for his choice of Mr. de Pompone, who
at leaſt had the happineſs to ſerve during a glorious pe-
riod, what ought he not to object to himſelf, with re-
gard to Mr. de Chamillard, whofe miniftry was fo un-
fortunate, and fo univerfally condemned?
He had written feveral memoirs of this kind, either
with a view of keeping an account of his own conduct,
or for the inftruction of the Dauphin Duke of Burgun-
dy. Theſe reflections fucceeded the events. He would
have attained nearer to perfection, to which he had the
merit to afpire, had he been able to have formed to
himſelf a philofophy fuperior to common politics and
prejudices; a philofophy which, in the courſe of ſo
many centuries, we have feen practifed by fo few fove-
reigns, and which Kings are very excufeable for not
knowing, fince fo many private perfons are ignorant of
it t.
The following are a few of the inftructions which he
gave to his grandfon Philip V. when he was fetting out
for Spain. He wrote them in hafte, and with a negli-
* And why not of other Kings, pray? Tranfiator.
+ What a frange fentiment is this! A philofophy Superior to common
politics and prejudices, being more neceflary to Princes than to private
perfons, are they not, therefore, more inexcufable for being deficient
in it? In them 'tis a practical knowledge; in others; but a feculative
sne. Ibid.
gence
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
219
WA
gence which difcovers the foul much better than a ftu-
died diſcourſe. We here fee the Father and the King.
"Love the Spaniards, and all your fubjects who are
"attached to your crown and perfon. Don't prefer
"thofe that flatter you moft; efteem fuch as, for the
public good, will run the risk of difpleafing you.
"Theſe are your true friends.
.
"Promote the happineſs of your fubjects; and with
"this view never undertake a war until you are forced
"to it, and until you have fully weighed and examined
"the reafons for and against it in your Council.
.C
CC
"Endeavour to reduce your taxes; take care of the
Indies, and of your fleets; give great attention to
commerce, and live in a perfect union with France,
nothing being fo advantageous for both kingdoms as
"this alliance, which no power can refift *.
r
"If you are obliged to make war, put yourſelf at the
"head of your army.
"Endeavour to re-establish your troops every where,
"and begin with thofe of Flanders.
66
..
"Never neglect buſineſs for pleaſure; but frame to
yourſelf a fort of oeconomy of time, which will allow
you proper intervals both for pleaſure and diverfion.
Of theſe, there are hardly any more innocent than
hunting, and the pleaſures of a country-houſe, pro-
"vided you are not too expenfive in your decorations.
"Give great attention to bufinefs, when any one
"talks to you on that fubject; hear much at firſt, with-
ત out making any decifion.
"When once you have acquired more knowledge,
"remember that it is your province to decide; but
"whatever experience you may have, be always fure to
"hear the opinions and reaſonings of your Council, be-
"fore you come to a determination.
*He was greatly miſtaken in this conjecture. Voltaire.
The true policy of Spain is to keep itfelf detached from any confe-
erate connection with France. Every ftrength it gives to that Mo-
narchy weakens its own Empire. Translator.
Exert
220
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
"Exert your utmoſt fagacity and penetration, in or-
«der to find men of the greateſt abilities, that ſo you
"may properly employ them.
"Take care that your Viceroys and Governors be
"always Saniards.
'
"Treat every body well never fay a difagreeable
thing to any one; bu uniinguifh people of quality
"and merit.
"Shew the grateful fenfe you have of the kindnefs
of the late King, and of all thofe who have concur-
"red in chufing you for his fucceffor.
"Place great confidence in Cardinal Porto-Carrero,
"and let him know how much you are pleafed with the
"conduct he has purfued
"I think you ought to do fomething confiderable for
"the Ambaffador who had the happin fs to invite you
"into the Kingdom, and to falute you firit in the qua-
"lity of a fubject.
"Do not forget Bedmar, who is a man of merit, and
is capable of ferving you.
"Place an unreferved confidence in the Duke of
"Harcourt: he is a man of capacity and of honour,
"and will never give you any advice but what is for
your intereſt.
..
66
Keep all the French in order *
"Ufe your domestics well, but never admit them
"into too great a degree of familiarity, and far leſs of
"confidence. Employ them as long as they behave
well; but fend them back on the leaft fault they com
"mit; and never fupport them against the Spaniards.
"Have no intercourfe with the Queen-Dowager, but
"fuch as you cannot difpenfe with. See that he quit
"Madrid; but let her not go out of Spain. Wherever
"The is, obferve her conduct, and never allow her to
interfere in any affairs of itate. Sufpect the fidelity of
"thofe who have too much intercourſe with her.
"Always love your relations: remember the pain it
"coft them to part with you preferye a conftant inter-
* His houſehold was compofed of French, which he had carried
with him, when he went to take poffeffion of the kingdom. Tranfl.
courfe
3
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV:
221
"courfe with them, as well in fmall as in great things.
"Afk from us freely whatever you either want or deſire
to have, that is not to be had in your own country,
" and we will uſe the fame freedom with you.
،،
66
"Never forget that you are a Frenchman, nor what
"may poffibly befal you. When you have fecured the
"fucceffion of Spain by children, vifit your Kingdoms,
go to Naples and Sicily, pafs over to Milan, and come
to Flanders. This will give
This will give you an opportunity of
"paying us a vifit. Mean while vifit Catalonia, Arra-
gon, and other places. See what improvements may
"be made at Ceuta +.
..
<c
<c
66
"Throw ſome money to the people when you are in
Spain, and eſpecially when you enter Madrid.
"Don't feem to be (hocked at the ftrange figures you
may fee. Ridicule nothing: every country has its
particular manners; and you will be foon familia-
"rized to what at firit may appear moft furprifing.
66
t
6 c
66
Avoid, as much as poffible, the granting of favours
to thoſe who give money in order to obtain them.
"Give with difcretion and liberality; and never receive
any prefents, unlefs they be trifles. If it fhould fome-
"times happen that you are obliged to receive them,
"be always fure, in a few days after, to return more
"confiderable prefents to thofe who gave them.
"Have a ftrong box, in which you may depofite any
"thing particular, and keep the key of it yourſelf.
"I fhall conclude with one of the most important advices
"I can give you Do not fuffer yourfelf to be governed.
Be mafter yourſelf. Have no favourite, nor Prime
"Minifter. Hear and confult your Council; but de-
"cide yourſelf. And God, who hath made you a King,
"will give you fuch degrees of light and knowledge as
*
This circumftance alone may ferve to confound the many hif
torians, who, on the faith of fpurious memoirs written in Holland,
have mentioned the pretended treaty, (figned by Philip V. before his
departure) by which he ceded to his grandfather Flanders and the
Milanefe. Voltaire.
+ A fea-port town of Africa, on the Barbary Coaft, with a good
harbour, belonging to Spain. It is fituated on the Streights, oppofite
Gibraltar. Tranflator.
i
ແ
are
232
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
"are neceffary for you, in proportion to the rectitude
"of your intentions*"
Louis XIV. was more remarkable for a juſt and noble
manner of thinking, than for brilliant fallies of wit.
Befides, we do not expect that a King fhould fay me-
morable things, but that he fhould do them. What is
neceffary for every man in power is, that he ſhould never
fuffer any one to leave his prefence difcontented, but to
render himſelf agreeable to all who approach him. We
cannot always do kind things, but we can always fay
obliging ones. Louis had acquired this excellent habit.
Between him and his Court there was a perpetual inter-
change of all the graces that majefty could fhew without
degrading itſelf; and all the arts which an eagerness to
ferve, and a folicitude to pleaſe, could manifeſt without
debaſement. In the company of women, efpecially, he
diſcovered a politenefs and attention which increaſed that
of his Courtiers; and with men he never miffed an op-
portunity of faying fuch things as flattered their ſelf-love,
excited emulation, and left a deep impreffion on the
mind.
'
One day the Dutchefs of Burgundy, when he was
very young, obferving an Officer at fupper, who was re-
markably homely, began to jeft on his uglinefs with
"I think him,
great freedom, and in a loud voice.
Madam," faid the King, in a ftill higher key,
"of the handfomeft men in my Kingdom; for he is one
"of the braveft."
66 one
* The King of Spain profited by thefe wholfome advices: he was
a virtuous Prince.
The author of the Memoirs of Madame de Maintenon, vol. V.
p. 2co, &c. accufes him of having partaken of " a fcandalous fupper
with the Princeſs of Urfino, the day after the death of his firſt wife,"
and of having intended to marry that lady, whom he loads with the
mofl bitter invectives. It must be obferved, that the princefs of Urfino,
who had been maid of honour to the deceafed Queen, was then in the
fixtieth year of her age. Theſe popular reports, which ought to be
buried in oblivion, become calumnies that deferve the moſt ſevere
puniſhment, when people have the impudence to print them, and
endeavour to fully the moft refpectable names, without the leaft proof.
Foltaire
A Ge-
1
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
223
66
ود
A General Officer, a man of blunt addreſs, and who
had not poliſhed his manners, even in the Court of
Louis XIV. had loft an arm in an engagement, and was
making his complaints to the King, who, however, had
rewarded him as much as the lofs of an arm could be
recompenfed. "I wifh," faid he, "I had loft my other
arm likewife, that I might never ferve your Majefty
more." "Ifhould have been extremely forry for that,
replied the King, "both on your account and my
own;" which ſpeech was followed by the grant of ſome
favour. He was fo far from faying difagreeable things
which in the mouth of a Prince are deadly arrows, that
he never indulged himſelf even in the moft innocent
and harmleſs railleries, while private men daily uſe the
moſt ſevere and cruel ones.
<<
વર
He took pleaſure and knew how to bear his part in
ingenious converfations, in impromptus, and agree-
able fongs; and he fometimes compofed, extempore,
little parodies on the Airs in vogue, fuch as the following:
Chez mon cadet de frére,
Le Chancelier Serrant
N'eft pas trop néceſſaire;
Et le fage Boifrant
Eft celui qui fait plaire.
Obferve my younger brother
With Chancellor Serrant,
He's ever in a pother;
For 'tis the fage Boifrant
He ftill prefers to t'other.
r}
And this other, which he made one day on difmiffing the
Council:
Le confeil à ſes yeux à beau ſe préſenter;
Si-tôt qu'il voit fa chienne, il quitte tout pour elle:
Rien ne peut l'arrêter;
Quand la chaffe l'appelle.
His Minifters round him in judgement were fat,
At the cry of the hounds he adjourns the debate.
To the Council adieu,
When the chace is in view.
Theſe
224
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
Thefe trifles ferve at leaſt to fhew that the amusements
of fancy compofed one of the pleafures of his Court;
that he partook in theſe avocations; and that he was as
capable of living like a private man, as of acting the
great monarch on the theatre of the world.
His letter to the Archbishop of Rheims, concerning
the Marquis de Barbefieux, though wrote in a very
careleſs ftile, does more honour to his character, than
the moſt ingenious thoughts could have done to his wit.
He had given this young man the poft of Secretary at
War, which had been formerly poffeffed by his father,
the Marquis de Louvois: but being foon diffatisfied
with the conduct of his new Secretary, he refolved to
correct him, without giving him too great a mortifi-
cation. With this view he applied to his uncle, the
Archbishop of Rheims, and defired him to advife his
nephew; and fhews himſelf a mafter informed of every
thing, with the tenderneſs of a father.
"I know, fays he, what I owe to the memory of M.
"de Louvois *; but if your nephew does not alter his
"conduct, I fhall be obliged to come to fome refolution
"I fhould be forry for; but there will be a neceffity for
"it. He has talents; but does not make a good uſe of
"them. He spends too much time in giving entertain-
ments to the Princes, inſtead of minding buſineſs;
"he neglects the public affairs for his pleaſures; he
"makes the Officers wait too long in his antichamber;
"he fpeaks to them with haughtinefs, and even fome-
૬.
"times with harſhneſs."
This is all that I remember of this letter, which I
once faw in the original. It plainly fhews, that Louis
XIV. was not governed by his Minifters, as has been
reported, but that he knew how to govern them.
He loved praifes; and it were to be wifhed that Kings
were more fond of them, that they might endeavour to
*Thefe words contradict the infamous calumny of La Beaumelle,
who dared to ſay that the Marquis de Louvois imagined Louis XIV.
had poitoned him. This letter is probably to be found among
the manufcripts left by M. Chauvelin, Keeper of the Seals. Voltaire.
deferve
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
225
deferve them. But Louis XIV. did not always fwallow
them, when they were too ftrong and exceffive. When
our Academy, which always gave him an account of the
ſubject it propoſed for prizes, fhewed him the following,
"Which of all the virtues of the King deſerve the
<<
preference?" the King bluſhed, and would not allow
the fubject to be treated of. He fuffered, it is true, the
prologues of Quinault; but it was in the height of his
glory, and at a time when the intoxication of the people
was fome apology for his own. Virgil and Horace, from
gratitude, and Ovid, from a meannels of fpirit, loaded
Auguftus with praifes more extravagant, and, if we
confider the profcriptions, much leſs deſerved.
Had Corneille ſaid to any of the Courtiers in Cardinal
de Richelieu's chamber, " Tell the Cardinal that I
"underſtand poetry better than him," the Minifter
would never have forgiven him; and yet this is the very
thing that Delpreaux faid openly to his Majefty, in a
diſpute that happened about fome verfes, which the
King commended, and Defpreaux condemned. "He is
"in the right," faid the King; "he underſtands the
fubject better than I do."
'
The Duke de Vendôme had in his retinue a perfon
called Villiers, one of thofe men of pleafure who make
a merit of talking with a cynical freedom. He lodged
at Verſailles in the Duke's apartment: he was commonly
called Villiers-Vendôme. This man openly condemned
the taſte of Louis XIV. in mufic, in painting, in archi-
tecture, in gardening, and in every thing elle. If the
King planted a grove, furniſhed an apartment, or con-
ftructed a fountain, Villiers found it to be ill-contrived,
and expreffed his dilapprobation in very free terms.
"It is ftrange," faid the King, "that Villiers fhould have
"chofen my houfe to laugh at every thing I do." Having
one day met him in the garden, Well," faid he to
him, fhewing him one of his new improvements,
not this the good fortune to pleaſe you?" "No,”
faid Villiers." And yet," replied the King, "there are
"other people who are not fo difficult." "That may
"be," returned Villiers; "every one to his fancy." The
VOL. II.
е
'
"has
King
226
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.`
1
King replied, with a fmile, "It is impoffible to pleaſe
"all the world *."
(6
CC
One day Louis XIV. playing at backgammon, had
a doubtful throw. A difpute arofe, and the Courtiers
remained in the moſt profound filence. The Count de
Grammont happened to come in. "Decide this quef-
tion," faid the King to him. "Sire," faid the Count,
your Majefty is in the wrong." "How!" replied the
King; "can you pronounce fo peremptorily, before
you know what the queſtion is ?" "Becauſe," faid
the Count," had the matter been in the leaft doubtful,
"all theſe gentlemen here would have given it for your
Majefty."
ડ
66
The Duke of Antin diftinguished himſelf in this age
by a fingular art, not of faying flattering things, but of
doing them. The King went to pass a night at Petit-
bourgt, when he found fault with a long alley of trees,
which concealed the view of the river. The Duke
cauſed them to be cut down in the night. Next morning
the King was ſurpriſed at not feeing the trees which he
had objected to. "It is," replied the Duke, "becauſe
your Majeſty found fault with them, that you no
longer behold them."
66
·
We have elſewhere remarked, that the fame man ob-
ferving that a pretty large wood at the end of the canal
of Fontainbleau difpleafed the King, at the minute when
his Majefty went to take a walk, every thing being ready
for the purpoſe, he ordered the trees to be cut down,
and in a moment they were levelled with the ground,
*The very becoming eafe and carele ffness of temper of Louis XIV.
in fuch matters, muft fhew the inconfiflency of an article told in fome
of the French Memoirs of thefe times, that Sir John Vanburgh was
fent to the Baſtille, and remained there five years, for publicly con-
demning the conftruction of Pont-neuf, which was one of the royal
works.
It may
be natural to fuppofe that the Knight ftudied architecture
during his confinement there, for all his edifices bear a refemblance
to that prifon-dull, maffy, and heavy, according to the hint in
Swift's epitaph upon him :
"Lie heavy on him, earth ; for he
"Laid many a heavy load on thee." Tranflator.
The Duke's country refidence.
Theſe
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
227
Theſe are the ſtrokes of an ingenious Courtier, and not
of a flattering fycophant.
Louis XIV. has been accuſed of intolerable pride,
for fuffering the baſe of his ftatue in the Place des
Victoires to be furrounded with flaves in fetters: but
neither this ftatue, nor that in the Place Vendôm, were
erected by him. The ftatue in the Place des Victoires
is a monument of the greatnefs of foul and of the grati-
tude of the firſt Marſhal de la Feuillade to his maſter.
He expended on this ftatue five hundred thouſand
livres, amounting nearly to a million of our preſent
money; and the City added as much more, to render
the place regular. It feems equally unjuft to impute to
Louis XV. the pride of this ſtatue, and to find nothing
but vanity and flattery in the magnanimity of the
Marshal.
Nothing was taken notice of but the four flaves, tho'
they reprefent vices fubdued, as well as nations con-
quered; duelling aboliſhed, herefy deftroyed, &c. for
fo the infcription imports. They likewife celebrate the
junction of the fea, and the peace of Nimeguen: they
record benefits, rather than the exploits of war. Befides,
it is an ancient practice among Sculptors, to place flaves
at the feet of the ftatues of Kings. It would be better,
indeed, to reprefent there free and happy fubjects. But
to conclude, we fee flaves at the feet of the clement
Henry IV. and of Louis XIII. at Paris: we ſee them
at Leghorn under the ftatue of Ferdinand de Medicis,
who never, fure, enslaved any nation; and we fee them
at Berlin, under the ſtatue of an Elector who repulfed
the Swedes, but made no conquefts.
The neighbouring States of France, and even the
French themſelves, have with great injuftice made
Louis XIV. anfwerable for this ufage. The infcription,
Viro immortali, "To the immortal man," has been ac-
cufed of idolatry; as if that motto meant any thing
more than the immortality of his glory. The infcription
of Viviani, on his houfe at Florence, Edes à Deo datæ,
"the houſe given by God," might appear ftill mo e
idolatrous. It is no more, however, than an allufion to
Q 2
the
-
*28
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
the furname, Dieu-donné, or Deo-datus, and to the verfe
of Virgil, Deus nobis hæc otia fecit.
With regard to the ftatue in the Place de Vendôme,
it was erected by the City. The Latin infcriptions, on
the four fides of its bafe, contain a more grofs kind of
flattery than the ftatue in the Place des Victoires.
We
there read, that Louis XIV. never took arms but with
reluctance. To this adulation he folemnly gave the lie
on his death-bed, by words which will be remembered
longer than thefe infcriptions, which were unknown to
him, and produced by the mean adulation of ſome men
of letters.
The King had fet apart the houfes of this fquare for
a publick library. The place was too large it had at
first three fides, which were thofe of an immenfe palace,
of which the walls were already built, when the cala-
mities that happened in 1701, obliged the City to build
private houſes on the ruins of the palace which was
already begun. Thus the Louvre was never finiſhed,
and the fountain and the obelifk, which Coibert intended
to raiſe opposite to the portico of Perrault, never ap-
peared, but in embryo; the beautiful portico of St.
Gervais remained in obfcurity; and moſt of the monu-
ments of Paris fill us only with regret.
The nation wifhed that Louis XIV. had preferred
his Louvre and his capital to the Palace of Verfailles,
which the Duke de Crequi called a favourite without
murit. Pofterity admires with the moft grateful remem-
brance, the great and noble things he did for the public
welfare, but our admiration is mixed with cenfure,
when we behold all the magnificence and defects that
Louis XIV. has introduced into his country palace.
From all we have faid it appears, that Louis XIV.
loved grandeur and glory, in every thing. A Prince
who fhould perform as great things as Louis XIV. and
yet be modeft and humble, would be the firft of Kings,
and Louis only the fecond.
If he repented, on his death-bed, of having under-
taken war without juft reafon, it must be owned that he
did not judge by events; for, of all his wars, the moſt
juft
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
229
juft, and the moſt indifpenfible, that in 1701,* was the
only unfortunate one.
He had by his marriage, befides the Dauphin, two fons
and three daughters, who died in their infancy. His
amours were more fruitful. There were only two of his
natural children that died in the cradle; eight of them
lived, were legitimated, and five of them had pofterity.
He had likewife, by a lady who lived much with Ma-
dame de Montefpan, a daughter, whom he never ac-
knowledged, and whom he married to a gentleman near
Verfailles, of the name of La Queuë.
Some people fufpected, and not without reaſon, that
a certain Nun, in the Abbey of Moret, was his daughter.
She was very fwarthy, and refembled him in other
refpects. The King, when he placed her in the
Convent, gave her a portion of twenty thousand crowns.
The opinion fhe had of her birth, gave her an air of
pride, of which the Superiors of the Convent complained.
Madame de Maintenon, in a journey to Fontainbleau,
went to the Convent of Moret; and, willing to infpire
this Nun with more humility, endeavoured to banish the
idea that nouriſhed her pride. "Madam, (faid the Nun
"to her) the trouble which a lady of your rank takes
to come on purpoſe to tell me that I am not the
King's daughter, fully convinces me that I am."
This anecdote the Nuns of Moret remember to this
day.
66
Such a detail would be tedious to a philofopher; but
curiofity, that weakneſs ſo incident to mankind, ceafes
almoſt to be one, when it has for its objects times and
perfons which attract the attention of pofterity.
It was fo far from being juft, that it derived its immediate fource
from an open violation of treaties, and his purfaing a meaſure which
undoubtedly endangered the liberties of Europe, Smollet.
†The author faw this lady in company with Mr. de Caumartin,
Intendant of the Finances, who had a right of entering into the inner
apartments of the Convent. Voltaire.
{
I
Q3
CHAP.
230
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
CHA P. XXIX.
Of the Interior Government, Justice, Commerce, Police,
Laws, Military Difcipline, Marine, &c.
TH
HIS juftice we owe to perfons of a public character
who have done good to the age they have lived in,
that we should view the point from which they have fet
out, in order to form the better idea of the changes they
have produced in their country. Pofterity is for ever
indebted to them for the examples they have given, even
though they fhould be furpaffed. This juft tribute is
their only recompence. It is certain that the love of this
glory animated Louis XIV. when, beginning to govern
by himſelf, he had refolved to reform his Kingdom, em-
belliſh his Court, and perfect the Arts.
He not only made it a rule to himſelf to confer 're-
gularly with each of his Minifters, but every man of
character might obtain a private audience of him, and
all citizens had a liberty of preſenting their petitions
and their projects. The petitions were received at firſt by
a Maſter of Requefts, who noted them in the margin,
and they were afterwards fent to the offices of the Mi-
nifters. The projects were examined in Council, when
they deſerved it, and their authors were frequently ad-
mitted to difculs the points they contained with the Mi-
nifters, in prefence of the King. Thus we fee a corref
pondence fubfifting between the Prince and the people,
notwithstanding his abfolute power *.
Louis XIV. formed and accuſtomed himſelf to
buſineſs; and this labour was fo much the more pain-
* And this is the only method to render abfolute power permanent.
It confifts in the will, more than the deed. He must be a mere tyro
in politics, who does not know that an armed force, capable of maf-
tering the people, muſt be able alfo to mafter the Prince. Frequent
instances of this were feen in the decadence of the Roman Empire;
and the Spahis and Janizaries have afforded examples of it in the Ot-
toman one. Tranflater.
ful,
1
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
231
ful, as it was new to him, and as the feductions of
pleaſure might eafily distract him. He wrote the firſt
diſpatches himſelf to his Ambaffadors. The moſt impor-
tant letters were often afterwards minuted with his own
hand, and none were written in his name, which he
did not cauſe to be read to him.
Scarcely had Colbert, after the fall of Fouquet, re-
eſtabliſhed order in the Finances, before the King re-
mitted to his people all the arrears due on the impoſts,
from 1647 to 1656, and eſpecially three millions of the
taille*. Some other enormous duties were abolished for
five hundred thouſand crowns a-year. Thus the Abbé
de Choify ſeems either to have been very ill informed, or
to be guilty of injuftice, when he fays that the public
taxes were not diminished for it is certain that
the load was leffened by theſe remiffions, though the
income might have been increafed by good order in the
œconomy of them.
;
The care of the first Prefident Bellievre, affifted by the
liberalities of the Dutchefs d'Aiguillon, and feveral
citizens, had eſtabliſhed the General Hofpital. The King
augmented it, and caufed the like edifices to be erected
in all the principal towns of the Kingdom.
The great roads, till that time impaffable, were not
neglected, and by degrees they have become what they
are now, under the reign of Louis XV. the admiration
of foreigners. On whatever fide you come out of Paris,
you travel at prefent from about fifty to fixty leagues,
a few places excepted, through firm roads bordered with
trees. The roads made by the ancient Romans were
more durable, indeed, but not fo fpacious nor fo beau-
tiful.
Colbert's genius turned chiefly towards commerce,
which was but weakly cultivated, and its grand prin-
ciples were not yet fufficiently known. The Englifh,
and the Dutch ftill more, carried on in their own bot-
* La Taille is a term in the French Finances, which does not ſpe-
cify any particular kind of impoft. But it is enough for the purpofe,
that he relieved a grievance upon the people, no matter of what na-
ture or denomination it was. Translator.
Q4
toms
232
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
toms almost the whole traffic of France. The Dutch
efpecially loaded with our merchandiſes in our ports, and
bartered them all over Europe. The King began, from
the year 1662, to exempt his fubjects from an impoft
called the duty of freight, which all the veffels of foreign-
ers payed; and he otherwife enabled them to transport
their commodities themſelves, at lefs expence.
It was
then that maritime commerce had its birth. The Council
of Commerce, which ftill fubfifls, was then eſtabliſhed,
and the King prefided in it every fifteenth day.
Dunkirk and Marfeilles were declared free ports; and
foon afterwards this advantage drew the trade of the
Levant to Marſeilles, and that of the North to Dunkirk.
↓
In 1664 was formed a Weſt-India Company, and that
of the Eaft-Indies was eftablished the fame year. Before
this time, the luxuries of France, had been tributary to
the induſtry of the Dutch. The partifans of the old
œconomy *, who were timid, ignorant, and of narrow
views, declaimed in vain againft a commerce in which
a continual exchange was made of permanent cash for
periſhable commodities. They did not reflect that theſe
merchandiſes of India, now become neceffary, would be
more dearly purchafed from foreign importers. We carry
indeed to the Eaft-Indies more, fpecie than we bring
home from thence; and by that means Europe is im-
poverished. But this money comes from Peru and
Mexico; it is the price of our goods carried to Cadiz, and
there remains more of this cafh in France, than is ex-
ported to the Eaft Indies.
1 he King gave more than fix millions of our prefent
currency to the Company. He invited rich people to
embark in it. The Queens, the Princes, and all the
Court, furnished two millions of the coin of that time.
The fuperior Courts gave twelve hundred thoufand
1vies; the Financiers, two millions; the Company of
Merchants, fix hundred and fifty thoufand livres; fo
that the whole nation feconded their King.
This Company has always fubfifted; for though the
Dutch had taken Pondicherry, in 1694, and the com-
merce of the Indies has languifhed from thence, it re-
• Parfimony.
nowed
1
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
233
newed its vigour under the Regency of the Duke of
Orleans. Pondicherry has become a rival to Batavia;
and this India Company, founded with extreme difficul-
ty by the great Colbert, and re-eſtabliſhed in our days
by fingular revolutions, is now become one of the greateſt
reſources of the Kingdom. The King likewife erected
a Northern Company, in the year 1669: he lodged
funds in it, as he did in that of the Indies. Hence it is
very plain, that commerce was then thought no dif
grace, when the greatest families intereſted themſelves
in theſe eſtabliſhments, after the example of the Mo-
narch.
The Weft-India Company was no lefs encouraged
than the others. The King furniſhed the tenth part of
all the funds.
He granted thirty francs per ton for exportation, and
forty for importation. All thofe who had veffels built
in the ports of the Kingdom, received five livres for
each ton they contained.
One cannot forbear being very much furpriſed, that
the Abbé Choify has cenfured thefe eftabliſhments in his
Memoirs, which must not be read without fome diffi-
dence*. We are now fenfible of all that the Miniſter
Colbert did for the benefit of the Kingdom; but at that
time we were entirely ignorant of it: he laboured for an
ungrateful people. They were much more difgufted
with him at Paris for the fuppreffion of certain rents on
the Town-houſe, purchaſed at a cheap rate fince the
year 1656, and for the difcredit into which the Exche-
quer Bills fell that were fquandered under the preced-
ing Minifter, than they were fenfible of the general
good he did. There were then more cits than good ci-
* The Abbé Caftel de St. Pierre expreffes himfelf thus, p. 105.
of his manufcripts intitled Annales Politiques. "Colbert, that labo-
rious Minifter, by neglecting the Companies of maritime commerce,
that he might attend the more to the cultivation of the fpecula-
tive fciences and fine arts, took the fhadow for the fubftance.'
But Colbert was fo far from neglecting maritime commerce, that it
was he alone who established it. No Minilter ever took leſs the ſha-
dow for the fubftance, than he did. This is to controvert a truth
acknowledged in France, and in all Europe.
This Note was written in August 1756. Voltaire.
tizens.
234
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
tizens. Few people had any regard to the public advan-
tage. It is well known what a fafcinating power ſelf-
intereft has upon the views, and how it contract's the
mind: I do not fay only the intereſt of a merchant, but
that of a Company, and even a City. The rude anſwer
of a merchant named Hazon, (who, upon being confult-
ed by th's Miniſter, told him, "You have found the
"carriage overfet on one fide, and have overturned it
"on the other") was ftill told and credited when I was
a young man; and this anecdote is to be met with in Mo-
reri.
The philofophic fpirit, introduced very late into
France, reformed the prejudices of the people, fo as to
make them at length do entire juftice to the memory of
this great man. He had the fame exactneſs as the Duke
of Sully, but with views much more extenfive. The
one was acquainted only with economy, but the other
knew how to form great eſtabliſhments. Sully, from
the peace of Vervins, had no other difficulty but to pre-
ferve an exact and ſtrict meaſure of œconomy in the
State; but Colbert was obliged to find prompt and im-
menfe refources for the war of 1667, and for that of
1672. Henry IV. feconded the economy of Sully;
but the magnificence of Louis XIV. counteracted that of
Colbert.
Almoſt every thing was either repaired, or created, in
his time. The reduction of intereft on the twentieth
denier, on the loans given to the King and particular
perfons, was a fenfible proof of an abundant circula-
tion in the year 1665. He endeavoured both to enrich
and people France. Marriages in the country were en-
couraged by an exemption from the taille, during the
fpace of five years, for fuch as would fettle themſelves.
at the age of twenty; and every father of a family who
had ten children, was exempted for the remainder of
his life, becauſe he gave more to the State by the labour
of theſe, than he could poffibly have done in paying the
taille. This regulation ought to have continued for
ever unrepealed.
* See the Note in page 2313
From
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
235
From 1663 till 1672, each year of this Miniftry was
diſtinguiſhed by the eſtabliſhment of fome manufacture
or other. The fine cloths, which before had been
brought from England and Holland, were fabricated
in Abbeville. The King advanced to the manufactu
rer, for each working loom, two thouſand livres, befides
confiderable gratifications. In the year 1669, about
forty-four thoufand and two hundred woollen looms
were reckoned to be in the Kingdom. The filk manu-
factures, then brought to perfection, produced a com-
merce of above fifty millions currency of that time:
and the advantage drawn from it was not only very
much above the prime coſt of the filk neceffary in
their fabrication, but the cultivation of mulberry-trees
foon put the manufacturers into a condition of diſpen-
fing with foreign filk for the warp* of their ſtuffs.
From the year 1666 they began to make as fine glaffes
as at Venice, which city had always before furniſhed
the whole confumption throughout Europe; and they
foon made pieces of this kind, which, for largeneſs and
beauty, could never be imitated in any other place.
The carpets of Turkey and Perfia were furpaffed at
the Savonnerie +. The tapestry of Flanders was inferior
to that of the Gobelins; which vaft encloſure fo called,
was filled at that time with above eight hundred work-
men; and of thefe, three hundred were lodged in it.
The beſt painters had the direction of the work, either
from their own defigns, or thofe of the ancient maſters
of Italy. Within this encloſure of the Gobelins, was
alfo made a beautiful kind of Mofaic work; and the
art of marquetry, or inlaying, was carried to its pertec-
tion.
Beſides this fine manufactory of tapeſtry in the Go-
belins, another was fet up at Beauvais. The firſt ma-
nufacturer had fix hundred workmen in that town; and
the King made him a prefent of fixty thouſand livres.
* Commonly called the chain. Translator.
+ Savonnerie-a place in Paris fo called, from the foap-works for
merly carried on there. Ibid.
Sixteen
236
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
Sixteen hundred girls were employed in lace-works,
and thirty principal work women were brought from
Venice, and two hundred out of Flanders, who had
thirty-fix thouſand livres given them for their encou-
ragement.
•
The manufactory of the cloths of Sedan, and that of
the tapestry-hangings of Abuſſon, degenerated and fallen
into decay, were re-established. The rich ftuffs, in
which filk is mixed with gold and filver, were fabricat-
ed at Lyons and Tours with a renewed induſtry.
•
It is a thing well known, that the Miniftry purchaſed
in England the fecret of that ingenious machine by which
ſtockings are made ten times fafter than by knitting.
Tin-plates, fteel, fine Delft-ware, and Morocco lea-
ther, which were always brought from abroad, were
made in France. But the Calvinifts, who poffeffed the
fecret of making tin-plates and fteel, carried it away with
them, in the year 1686*, and imparted this advantage,
with feveral others, to foreign nations.
4
The King every year expended about eight hundred
thouſand of our livres upon the different works of taſte
which were fabricated in his Kingdom, of which he made
preſents.
Paris was then very different from what it is at pre-
fent; for it wanted light, fecurity, and cleanliness. It
was neceflary to make provifion for the continual clean-
fing of the streets; for lighting of them, which is done
by means of 5000 lamps lighted up every night; for
paving the city quite through, building two new gates,
repairing the old ones, and cauſing a continual guard on
foot and on horſeback to keep watch for the fecurity of
the citizens. The King took the whole upon himſelf,
allotting funds for thefe neceffary expences. In 1667,
he created a Magiftrate folely for taking care of the
Police. The greatest part of the large cities of Europe
did not follow thefe examples, till a long time after;
and none have equalled them: fo that no city is paved
like Paris; and Rome itſelf is not lighted at all.
Upon the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, which was in 1685,
Tranfator.
Every
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
137
Every thing began to have fo great a tendency to per-
fection, that the fecond Lieutenant of Police* that was
made in Paris, acquired in that poft a reputation which
fet him in the rank of thofe who have done honour to
this age; and indeed he was a man who had a capacity
for every thing. He was afterwards in the Miniftry,
and he would have made a good General. The place of
Lieutenant of the Police was below his birth and merit,
yet it gained him a much greater name than the inconfi-
derable poft in the Miniftry which he obtained near the
end of his days.
Here we ought to obſerve, that M. d'Argenſon was
by no means the only perfon of the ancient Knighthood,
who had been in the public magiftracy. France is almoſt
the only country of Europe, where the ancient Nobility
have often affumed
affumed the long robe. All other
nations, merely from the remains of Gothic barbarifm,
are ſtill ignorant that there is a dignity in this
profeffion.
•
The King ftill carried on the buildings at the Louvre,
St. Germain's, and Verſailles, from the year 1661. Par-
ticular perfons, after his example, erected in Paris a
thoufand fuperb and commodious edifices. Of theſe
the number was fo increaſed, that adjacent to the
environs of the Palais Royal, and thofe of St. Sulpice,
there were formed in Paris two new towns, very much
fuperior to the old one. It was at this time that they
invented the magnificent conveniency of coaches adorned
with glaffes, and hung upon fprings; ſo that a Citizen
of Paris could convey himfelf through this large city
with more pomp than the firft Romans difplayed in
their triumphal proceffions to the Capitol. This cuſtom
was foon after received throughout Europe; and be-
coming now very common, is no longer a piece of
luxury.
Louis XIV. had a taſte for architecture, gardening,
and fculpture; and this fhewed itfelf in all thefe to be
M. d'Argenfon.
蕈
​great
238
THE AGE OF LOUIS Xiv.
great and noble *. From the time that the Comptroller-
General Colbert had, in the year 1664, the direction of
the buildings, which is properly the department of the
Arts, he applied himſelf to fecond the fchemes of his
mafter +. The first work undertaken was to finish the
Louvre. Francis Manſard, one of the greateſt architects
France ever produced, was fixed upon to conſtruct the
vaft edifices that were projected for it. He would not
undertake this taſk, unleſs he had liberty given him to
rebuild whatever fhould appear to him defective in the
execution. This diffidence of himſelf, which might
have been attended with too great an expence, was the
reaſon for excluding him. The Chevalier Bernini was
therefore fent for from Rome, an artist whofe name was
famous on account of the colonnade which furrounds
the area of St. Peter's Church, the equeftrian ſtatue of
Conftantine, and the Navonne fountain. Equipages
were furniſhed him for his journey. He was conducted
to Paris as a man who came to do honour to France.
He received, befides five louis-d'ors a-day, for the
eight months that he ſtaid there, a prefent of fifty
thouſand crowns, with a penfion of two thouſand more,
* Voltaire ſeems to fet the opinions of M. Villiers-Vendome, and
Sir John Vanburgh, at nought, here. See first Note in page 226.
Tranflator.
*
+ The Abbé St. Pierre, in his Annales Politiques, page 104 of his
manufcript, fays, "That theſe things plainly fhew the number of
fluggards, as alfo their tafte for laziness, which ſerves to maintain
" and cheriſh other kinds of drones; that this is the condition of the
"Italian nation, at prefent, where theſe arts are carried to an high
"degree of perfection; for they are a poor, lazy, indolent, vain
people, occupied about fopperies, &c."
Theſe rude reflections, wrote in language equally rude, are void of
juftice. The time in which the Italians fucceeded beft in theſe arts,
was under the Medicis, while Venice was in its moft warlike and
opulent ftate: then it was that Italy produced great warriors and
illuftrious artifts of all kinds. And it was alfo in the flourishing
years of Louis XIV. that the Arts have been carried to the greateſt
perfection. The Abbé St. Pierre has miſtaken a great number of
things, and has given grounds for regretting that his judgment has
not always feconded his good intentions. Voltaire.
and
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV. ·
239
and one of five hundred for his fon *. This generofity
of Louis XIV. to Bernini, was much greater than the
munificence of Francis I. to Raphael. Bernini, by way
of acknowledgment, made fince at Rome the equeſtrian
ftatue of the King which is to be feen at Verfailles.
But when he came to Paris with fo much parade, as the
only perſon worthy of being employed by Louis XIV.
he was very much furprifed to fee the defign of the
front of the Louvre on the fide of St. Germain-
l'Auxerrois, which foon after, when executed, became
one of the moſt auguft monuments of architecture in
the world. Claude Perrault had given this defign,
which was executed by Louis le Vau and d'Orbay. He
invented the machines with which the ftones of fifty-two
feet in length were raiſed, that form the pediment of
this majeſtic edifice. Sometimes there is fetched from
afar what is to be met with at home. No palace of
Rome has an entrance comparable to that of the Louvre,
for which we are indebted to this Perrault +, whom
Boileau has attempted to render ridiculous. Travellers
allow that the moſt celebrated villas of Italy are much
inferior to the fingle Caſtle of Maiſons, which Francis
Manſard had built at fo little expence. Bernini was
magnificently recompenfed, but did not deferve it; he
only gave defigns, which were not executed.
The King, while the works at the Louvre were
carrying on, the completion of which was fo much
defired; while he was making a town at Verfailles, near
this palace, which has coft fo many millions; while
building Trianon and Marli, and ordering fo many
other edifices to be embellifhed; caufed the Obfervatory
* Manfard's reparations could fcarcely have coft fo much as thefe
gratuities, befides keeping the money in the Kingdom. Tranſlator.
Claude Perrault was a Member of the Royal Academy at Paris,
and bred a Phyfician, though he did not practife that art. He made
fome noble defigns in architecture, and was allowed to be a man of
genius by all the world but Boileau, who, from private pique,
has fatirized both him and his brother Charles; a want of candour
in Boileau, which greatly detracts from the merit of his genius.
Smollet.
to
}
240
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
to be erected, which was begun in 1666, after the time
that he eſtabliſhed the Academy of Sciences. But the
moſt glorious monument, for its utility, grandeur, and
the difficulties encountered in the execution, was the
Canal of Languedoc, which joins the two feas, and falls
into the port of Cette, conftructed for the receiving of
its waters. Theſe works were begun in the year 1664,
and continued without interruption till 1681.
The founding of the Hofpital of Invalids, and the
Chapel of that ftructure, the fineſt in Paris; the eſta-
bliſhment of St. Cyr, the laſt of ſo great a number of
works conſtructed by this Monarch; are alone fufficient
to render his name revered. Four* thouſand foldiers,
and a great number of Officers, who find in one of theſe
grand aſylums comfort in their old age, and relief for
their wounds and wants; two hundred and fifty
daughters of Noblemen, who receive an education
worthy of them, in the other; are ſo many voices that
celebrate the praiſes of Louis XIV. The eſtabliſhment
of St. Cyr will be furpaffed by that which Louis XV. has
juſt formed for the education of five hundred Gentle-
men; but ſo far from caufing St. Cyr to be forgotten,
it will cauſe it to be the more remembered. This will
be but the art of doing good brought to perfection.
Louis XIV. was at the fame time defirous to perform
greater things, and thoſe of more general utility, but
more difficult in the execution; and that was to reform
the laws. In this labour he employed the Chancellor
Seguier, Lamoignon, Talon, Bignon, and more efpe-
cially the Counſellor of State, Puffort. He himself
fometimes affifted at their affemblies. The year 1667
was at the fame time the epocha of his first laws, and
first conqueſts. The civil ordonnance appeared first;
next the code of the waters and forefts; then the ftatutes
for all the manufactures; the criminal ordonnance;
the code of commerce, and that of the marine. All
* The Abbé de St. Pierre cenfures that establishment which almoft
every nation has imitated.
Voltaire.
1
thefe
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
241
theſe followed nearly one year after another. There
was likewife a new jurifprudence eſtabliſhed in favour
of the negroes of our Colonies; a race of men who had
not yet enjoyed the common rights of humanity.
A profound knowledge in the law is not to be
acquired by a Sovereign. But the King was acquainted
with the principal ftatutes; he poffeffed the fpirit of them,
and knew how either to maintain or mitigate them,
properly. He often decided the cauſes of his fubjects,
not only in the councils of the Secretaries of State, but
in that called the Confeil des Parties. There are two
celebrated determinations of his, in which he decided
against himſelf.
In the first, which was given in 1680, the cafe was in
a procefs between him and certain inhabitants of Paris,
who had built upon his ground. He decided, that the
houſes ſhould remain to them, with the land belonging
to himſelf, which he ceded to them.
The other related to a Perfian merchant, called Rou-
pli, whofe goods had been ſeized by the Commiffaries
of his Revenue in the year 1687. His decifion
His decifion was, that
all ſhould be reſtored to him, and the King added a pre-
fent of three thoufand crowns. Roupli carried his ad-
miration and gratitude with him into his own country;
and when Mehemet Rizabeg was afterwards at Paris,
we found him acquainted with this fact by common re-
port *.
The abolition of duels was one of the greateſt ſervices
he did to his country. Thele combats had been for-
merly authoriſed even by the Parliament and by the
Church; and though they had been prohibited, from the
time of Henry IV. yet this fatal cuſtom prevailed ftill
more than ever. I he famous combat of the La Frettes,
four againſt four, in 1663, was that which determined
Louis XIV. not to pardon it any longer. His happy
feverity corrected, by degrees, our own nation, and even
* Both of theſe inftances are very imperfectly related; for in the
firft cafe, the King appears rather to have acted generoufly, than
justly; and in the ſecond, it is not faid whether the Commifiaries
had a right to feize the Perfian's goods, or not. Tranflator.
VOL. II.
R
the
242
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
1
i
the neighbouring nations, who conformed themfelves to
our wife cuſtoms, after having adopted our bad ones.
There are in Europe a hundred times fewer duels at this
day, than in the time of Louis XIII.
He was the legiflator both of his people and of his
armies. It was ſtrange, that, before his time, uniforms
among the troops was a thing not known. It was he
who in the first year of his adminiftration ordered, that
each regiment fhould be diftinguiſhed, either by the
colour of their clothes, or by different marks; a regu-
lation which was adopted foon after by all nations. It
was he alſo who inftituted the Brigadiers, and put the
corps of which the Houfhold-troops of the King are
formed; upon the footing they are on at prefent. He
formed a company of Mufqueteers out of the guards of
Cardinal Mazarin, and fixed at five hundred men the
number of the two companies, to which he gave the
clothing they ftill retain.
Under him were made no Conftables, and, after the
death of the Duke d'Epernon, no Colonel-Generals, of
the Infantry; thofe were become too much maſters:
this he would have himſelf to be; and fo he ought. Mar-
ſhal Grammont, who was only Colonel of Horſe of the
French Guards under the Duke d'Epernon, and took
orders from that Colonel-General, for the future took
them only from the King, and was the firſt who had the
title of Colonel of the Guards. He himſelf inſtalled
thofe Colonels at the head of their regiments, by giving
them, with his own hands, a gilt gorget and pike, and
afterwards a fpontoon, or a kind of half-pike, when the
ule of the former weapon was aboliſhed. He inftituted
the grenadiers, at firft to the number of four in each
company of the King's regiment, which is of his own
creation; afterwards he formed a company of grenadiers
in each regiment of foot; he gave two companies of them
to the French Guards, which at prefent have three. He
very much augmented the corps of dragoons, and gave
+ The Abbé de St. Pierre, in his Annals, fpeaks only of this infti-
tution of Brigadiers, and forgets all that Louis XIV. did for the mi-
litary difcipline. Voltaire.
them
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
243
them a Colonel-General. We muft not forget the eſta-
bliſhment of ſtuds for breeding horfes, in the year 1667,
which had been quite neglected before that time, and
were afterwards a great refource for remounting the ca-
valry. This important refource has been fince too much
neglected.
The uſe of the bayonet at the end of the mufket, is
an inſtitution of the King's. Before his time it was uſed
occafionally, and fome companies only had this weapon;
there was no uniform uſage nor exerciſe with it: all was
left to the General's difcretion. The pike was looked
upon as the moſt formidable weapon. The firft regi-
ment which had bayonets, and was trained to this exer-
cife, was that of the Fufileers, eſtabliſhed in the year
1671.
The manner in which the artillery is now ferved, is en-
tirely owing to him. He founded ſchools for this pur-
pofe at Douay, afterwards at Metz and Strafburg; and
the regiment of artillery was at length filled with Officers,
almoſt all of them capable of conducting a fiege. All
the magazines of the Kingdom were ftored, and every
year furniſhed with eight hundred thouſand weight of
powder. He formed a regiment of bombardiers, and
one of huffars, which, before his time, were known
only among our enemies.
In 1688, he eſtabliſhed thirty regiments of militia,
furniſhed and equipped by the Communities. Theſe
corps of militia exercifed themſelves in war, without
neglecting the cultivation of the lands.
Companies of Cadets were entertained in moft parts of
the frontiers; there they learned the mathematics, de-
figning, and all the exercifes, and did alfo the duty of
foldiers. This inftitution lafted ten years. At length
they were tired of theſe youths, as it was too difficult a
matter to diſcipline them; but the corps of Engineers
which the King formed, and to which he gave the regu-
lations ftill followed by them, is an eſtabliſhment that
will laſt for ever. Under him the art of fortification was
carried
R 2
244
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
carried to perfection by Marſhal Vauban and his pu-
pils, who furpaffed Count Pagan +. He conftructed or
repaired an hundred and fifty fortified places.
In order to maintain military difcipline, he created
Inspectors General, and afterwards Directors, who gave an
account of the ftate of the troops; and from their reports
it was feen whether the Commiffaries of War had done
their duty.
He inftituted the Order of St. Louis, an honourable
recompence, often courted more than fortune. The
Hotel of Invalids crowned the cares which he took for
meriting to be well ferved.
It was owing to fuch cares as thefe, that from the year
1672 he had an hundred and fourfcore thoufand regular
troops; and that by augmenting his forces in proportion
as the number and power of his enemies increaſed, he
had at length to the amount of four hundred and fifty
thouſand men in arms, including the troops of the
marine.
Before his time, no fuch numerous armies had been
ever feen. His enemies oppofed him with armies of equal
force, though there was not fo clofe an union among
them. He fhewed what France alone could do; and he
had always either great fuccefs, or great refources.
He was the first who, in time of peace, gave a perfect
idea and complete leffon of war. In 1698 he affembled
at Compeigne ſeventy thousand men, where he perform-
ed all the operations of a campaign; and this was in or-
der to inftruct his three grandfons. But luxury rendered
this military ſchool a fumptuous feſtival.
The fame attention which he fhewed in forming of
* Anthony le Prêtre, Chevalier Count de Vauban, is fo well known
as the greateſt Engineer of his time (if Cohorn does not conteft that
pre-eminence) that we need not dwell upon the particulars of his
character. Smollet.
See the note under the article Vauban, in the Catalogue of the
French Writers. Tranflator.
He was a diftinguiſhed Engineer, and wrote a celebrated treatife
on fortification, from the mathematical principles of which all fubfe-
quent improvements have been deduced. He was cotemporary with
Vauban, but greatly his fenior. Ibid.
numerous
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
245
numerous and well-difciplined land-armies, even before
he was engaged in any war, he likewife exerted in ac-
quiring the empire of the fea. Firft, the few veffels
which Cardinal Mazarin had fuffered to rot in the har-
bours, were repaired; fome others were bought in Hol-
land and Sweden; and after the third year of his govern-
ment, he fent his maritime forces to make an attempt
at Gigeri, on the coaft of Africa. The Duke of Beaufort
cleared the fea of pirates, in the year 1665; and two
years after, France had in its ports fixty fhips of war.
This was only a beginning. But whilft new regula-
tions and new efforts were making, he already feels all
his force. He was unwilling to confent that his fhips
ſhould ſtrike their flag to that of England. The Coun-
cil of King Charles II. in vain infifted upon this right,
which force, induſtry, and time, had given to the Eng-
lifh. Louis XIV. writes thus to the Count d'Eftrade,
his Ambaffador : "The King of England and his
"Chancellor may fee what my forces are; but they do
"not ſee my heart. I fet every thing at nought in com-
"pariſon with my honour."
He ſaid no more than what he was refolved to main-
tain; and, in fact, the ufurpation of the Engliſh gave
way to natural right and the firmnefs of Louis XIV.
Every thing was equal between theſe two nations at fea.
But, while he would have an equality kept up with Eng-
land, he maintains his fuperiority over Spain. He
obliges the Spaniſh Admirals to ftrike to his flag, by
virtue of the folemn precedency agreed upon in 1662 *.
Pains, however, were ufed on all fides for the eſta-
blishment of a marine capable of juftifying fuch haughty
fentiments. The town and port of Rochfort were built
at the mouth of the Charente. Sailors were enrolled and
ranked by claffes, who were to ferve at one time in mer-
chant ships, and at another in the royal navy; and
there were foon found to be fixty thouſand of theſe, actue
ally regiſtered.
Councils of conſtruction were eſtabliſhed in the ports,
* See Chap. VII. page 95, Vol. I.
R 3
for
246
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV:
for giving veffels the most commodious form. Five ma-
rine arfenals were built at Breft, Rochfort, Toulon, Dun-
kirk, and Havie de Grace. In 1672, there were fixty
fhips of the line, and forty frigates. In the year 1681,
an hundred and ninety-eight fhips of war, including the
tenders, and thirty galleys, were in the harbour of Tou-
lon, either equipped, or ready to be fo. Eleven thou-
fand regular troops ferved on board the fhips; and the
galleys had three thoufand. There were an hundred and
fixty thouſand men regiſtered by claffes, for all the dif-
ferent fervices of the marine. The following years there
were reckoned to be in the fervice a thouſand gentlemen,
or young men of family, doing the duty of foldiers on
board the ſhips, and learning in the ports whatever might
qualify them for the art of navigation and the working
of a ſhip theſe were the Marine Guards: they were upon
fea what the Cadets were upon land; and were inftituted
in the year 1672, but in ſmall numbers. This corps has
been the ſchool which has produced the beſt Officers for
the fervice of the navy.
There had not been yet any Marthals of France in the
corps of the marine; and this evinces how this effential
part of the forces of France had been neglected. John
d'Eftree was the firft Marfhal, in 1681. It appears, that
one of the great objects of attention in Louis XIV. was
to infpire all ranks with that emulation without which
every thing languiſhes.
In all the naval fights in which the French fleets were
engaged, the advantage was always on their fide, till the
baule of La Hogue, in 1692, when the Count de Tour-
ville, following the orders of the Court, attacked with
forty-four fail a fleet of ninety Engliſh and Dutch fhips.
There was no ftanding againſt numbers: fourteen capital
fhips of the first-rate were loft; which being run a-
ground, were burnt, left they fhould fall into the hands.
of the enemy. Notwithstanding this check, the maritime
force was ftill preferved; but it declined in the war
for the Succeffion *. Cardinal Fleury neglected it fince,
*The fucceffion to the Spanish Monarchy. Tranflator.
during
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
247
during the leisure of a happy peace, the only favourable
opportunity of re-establishing it.
Thefe naval forces were of ufe to protect commerce.
The Colonies of Martinico, St. Domingo, and Canada,
before in a languishing condition, now flourished; and
with an advantage which till then had not been hoped
for; for, from the year 1635 to 1665, thefe Colonies
had been an expence to the State.
In 1664, the King fent a Colony to Cayenne, and foon
after another to Madagaſcar. He tried all methods for
repairing the lofs and misfortune which France had la-
boured under for a long time by neglecting the ſea,
whilſt her neighbours had erected empires for themſelves
at the extremities of the earth.
From this fingle retrofpect, we ſee what changes Louis
XIV. had introduced into the State; changes extremely
advantageous, as they ftill fubfift. His Minifters had an
emulation among themfelves who fhould fecond him
beſt. The whole detail, the whole execution, was un-
doubtedly owing to them, but the general arrangement
to himſelf. It is certain, that the Magiftrates would not
have reformed the laws; the finances would not have
been restored again to order; difcipline introduced into
the armies; a general police into the kingdom; that
there would have been no fleets; the arts would not
have been encouraged; and all this in concert, and at
the fame time, with perfeverance, and under different
Minifters, if there had not been found a mafter who had
in general all thefe grand views, with a will determined
to accompliſh them.
He did not feparate his own glory from the advantage
of France, nor look upon the Kingdom with the fame
eye as a Lord does upon his lands, from which he drains
all he can, that he may live luxuriously. Every King
who loves glory, loves the public good. He had no
longer Calbert and Louvois, when, towards the year
1698, he ordered, with a view to the inftruction of the
Duke of Burgundy, that each Intendant fhould give a
circumftantial defcription of his refpective Province; by
which means an exact account might be obtained of the
Kingdom,
R 4
248
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
Kingdom, and the true number of its inhabitants afcer-
tained. The work was uſeful, though all the Intendants
had nor the capacity and attention of M. de Laimognon
de B ville. Had the views of the King been fo fully
answered, with regard to each Province, as they had been
by this Magiftrate in the enumeration of the people of
Languedoc, this collection of memoirs would have been
one of the nobleft monuments of the age. Some of them
are well done; but a plan was wanting, by which all the
Intendants were to be fubjected to the fame order. It
had been a thing much to be defired, that each had given,
in columns, a ſtate of the number of inhabitants in every
Province, alſo that of the nobles, citizens, labourers, ar-
tificers, works of art, the beasts of every fort, the good,
middling, and bad lands, the whole clergy, regular and
fecular, their revenues, with thoſe of the towns and com-
munities.
All the fe objects are confounded in the greateſt part of
the memoirs which have been given: the matters in
them are not canvaffed thoroughly, and are done with
little exactness. One is often obliged to feek with labour
for the proper lights he wants, and which a Minifter
ought to find ready at hand, and perceive by a fingle
glance, that he may eaſily diſcover the forces, the wants,
and the refources. The project was excellent, and an
uniform execution of it would have been of the greateſt
utility.
This then in general is what Louis XIV. did and at-
tempted, that he might render his own nation more flou-
r.fhing. It feems to me, that one cannot behold all
thefe labours and all thefe efforts without fome acknow-
ledgment, and being animated with the love of the
public good, which infpired them. Let us but repreſent
to ou felves what the ftate of the Kingdom was in the
days of the Fronde, and what it is at prelent. Louis XIV.
did more good to his nation, than twenty of his predecef
fors put together, and yet it falls infinitely fhort of what
might have been done. The war, which was ended by
the peace of Ryfwick, began the ruin of that commerce
2
which
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
249
which his Miniſter Colbert had eſtabliſhed, and the War
of the Succeffion completed it.
Had he employed for the embelliſhment of Paris and
finiſhing the Louvre, thofe immenfe fums expended on
the aqueducts and the works of Maintenon for conveying
of water to Verfailles-works left unfiniſhed and become
uſeleſs; had he laid out at Paris the fifth part of what
it cost to force Nature at Verfailles; Paris would be,
throughout its whole extent, as beautiful as it is on the
fide of the Tuilleries and the Pont-Royal, and would
have been the moft magnificent city in the world.
It was a great work to have reformed the laws; but chi-
cane could not be crushed by juftice. The Government
once thought of making juriſprudence uniform: it is fo
already in criminal matters, in thoſe of commerce, and
in the forms of proceſs; it might be fo likewife in the
laws which regulate the property of the fubject. It is a
great inconvenience, that the fame tribunal has more than
an hundred different customs to give decifions upon.
The rights of lands, either equivocal or burthenfome, or
which clog fociety, ftill continue, as the remains of the,
feudal government, which itſelf ſubſiſts no longer. Theſe
are the rubbiſh of a Gothic building fallen to ruins.
Not that it is pretended the different orders of the
State ought to be fubjected to the fame law; for we
are very fenfible, that the ufages of the nobleffe, the
clergy, the magiftrates, and thoſe who till the foil, ſhould
be different. But it is undoubtedly to be wished for,
that each order fhould have its uniform law throughout
the Kingdom, that what is juft and true in Champagne,
may not be looked upon as unjust and fale in Nor-
mandy. Uniformity in all forts of Adminiftrations is a
perfection; but the difficulties of this great work have
deterred from the attempt.
Louis XIV. might have more eafily difpenfed with
the dangerous refource of the Farmers of the revenues, to
which he was compelled by the conftant anticipation of
his revenues, as may be feen in the Chapter of the
Finances.
Had
250
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
Had he not believed that he was fufficiently able,
merely by his own authority, to oblige a million of men
to change their religion, France had not loft ſo many
fubjects *.
This country, however, notwithſtanding its
various fhocks and loffes, is at preſent the moſt flouriſh-
ing on the face of the earth +; becauſe all the good
which Louis XIV. did, is ftill fubfifting; and the evil,
which it was difficult for him to avoid in turbulent
times, has been repaired. In fine, Pofterity, who paffes
judgment on Kings, and whofe opinions they ought al-
ways to have before their eyes, will allow, upon weigh-
ing the virtues and foibles of this Monarch, that though
he had been too much praiſed in his life-time, he de-
ferved to be fo for ever; and that he was worthy of the
ftatue erected to him at Montpelier, with a Latin in-
ſcription to this effect: "To Louis the Great, after his
“death." Don Uſtaris, a Politician, who has written on
the finances and the commerce of Spain, calls Louis XIV.
un homme prodigieux, "an aftonishing man.
دو
All the changes which we have just now ſeen pointed
out in the government, and in all the orders of the State,
muft neceffarily have produced a very confiderable one
in the manners of the people. The fpirit of faction,
fury, and rebellion, which poffeffed the nation from the
time of Francis II. became a fpirit of emulation for
ferving the Prince. The Lords who poffeffed great
eftates, being no longer cantoned upon them, and the
Governors of Provinces having no longer any important
poſts to beſtow, each individual ftudied to deferve no
other favours than thofe of the Sovereign, and the State
became one regular whole, every line of which terminat,
ed in the center.
* See the Chapter of Calvinifm. French Note.
+ This is an affertion to which no Britiſh fubject will fubfcribe.
Smollet.
Ihe meaning of this expreffion is, that they were not then refi-
dent upon them, as formerly, and confequently poffeffed not that
fway and influence in the Provinces, which might render them too
powerful in the State, and too frong oppofers of defpotifin.➖➖➖➖➖➖
Tranflator.
This
2
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV,
251
This was what faved the Court from factions and
confpiracies, which had troubled the State during fo
many years. Under the adminiſtration of Louis XIV.
there was but one plot, in 1674, which was contrived
by La Truaumont, a gentleman of Normandy ruined by
debauchery and debt: he was joined by one of the
houfe of Rohan, Great Huntſman of France*, a man of
much courage, but little conduct. The haughtiness
and harſhneſs of the Marquis de Louvois had provoked
him to fuch a degree, that on quitting his audience he
ran foaming and frantic to Monfieur de Caumartin, and
throwing himſelf upon a couch, "It must be," faid he,
"that this Louvois or I fhould die." Caumar-
tin regarded this only as a fudden tranfport of refent-
ment, which might fubfide; but the next day, this fame
young man aſking him whether he thought the people
of Normandy were well affected to Government, he
began to fufpect fome dangerous defign to be in agi-
tation: "The days of the Fronde," replied he, " are
over; fo, believe me, that you will only facrifice
yourſelf, and nobody will have any compaffion for
you." The young man believed him not, and
rafhly engaged in the confpiracy of La Truaumont. In
this plot were concerned only the Chevalier de Preaux,
nephew to La Truaumont, who, feduced by his uncle,
alfo feduced his miftrefs, the Marchionefs de Villiers.
Their aim and hopes neither were, nor could be, to
form a party in the Kingdom. They only intended
to fell and deliver up Quillebeuf to the Dutch, and
introduce the enemy into Normandy. This was rather
a baſe treaſon, ill-planned, than a confpiracy. The
puniſhment of all the criminals was the only event
which this mad and fruitless affair produced, of which
there is hardly at prefent any remembrance left.
..
..
'
If there were any feditions in the Provinces, they
were only feeble tumults of the people, which were
eafily repreffed. Even the Huguenots were always
quiet, till the time that their churches were demoliſhed.
Called the Mafter of the Buckhounds,
At
252
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
At length the King fucceeded ſo far as to make, out
of a nation till then turbulent, a peaceable people,
who were dangerous only to the enemy, after having
been fo to their Princes for above an hundred years.
Their manners became civilized, without abating their
courage.
The houfes which the nobility built, or bought, in
Paris, and their ladies who lived there with dignity,
formed fchools of politeness, which drew by degrees
the young people from that tavern-life which had
been the prevailing mode for a long time before, and
only ferved to encourage a frontlefs debauchery.
Manners depend on fuch trifles, that the custom of
riding on horfeback in Paris, kept up a difpofition for
quarrels, which ceafed as foon as this ufage was
abolished. Decorum, for which we are principally
obliged to the ladies who affembled company at their
houfes, rendered converfation more agreeable, and read-
ing in time rendered it more folid. Treafons and
great crimes, which do not difgrace men in times of
faction and contufion, were hardly known any longer.
The villainies of Brinvilliers and Voifius were only
tranfitory ſtorms, under a fky other ne ferene: and
it would be equally unreaſonable to cond in a nation
on account of the glaring crimes of fome individuals,
as to canonize it on account of the reformation of
La Trappe.
All the different ftates of life were, in former times,
eafily known by the faults which characterized them.
Thofe of a military turn, and the young people who
defigned themselves for the profeffion of arms, were
noted for an over-bearing v vacity; and thofe belonging
to the Courts of Juftice, for a difgufting gravity, to
which the custom of going always in a long robe,
even to Court, did not a little contribute; and it
was the fame with regard to the Univerſities, and to
Phyficians. Merchants ftill wore little robes whenever
they affembled in their Guild, or went to wait on the
Minifters; the moſt confiderable tradeſmen alfo were
at that time perfons of ruftic manners. But the houſes,
the
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
253
the theatres, and the public walks, in which they
began to meet together, in order to enjoy the pleafures
of a focial life, gradually rendered the exterior ap-
pearance of all theſe people nearly alike. One may
fee at this day, even in the very fhops, that politenefs
has gained ground among all ranks. The Provinces
have in time alfo felt the effects of theſe improvements.
At length people no longer place luxury in any thing
but tafte and convenience. The croud of pages and fer-
vants in livery has difappeared, to make way for more
freedom in the houfes of the great; vain pomp and
external parade have been left to thofe nations, among
whom the people yet know no more than to difplay
themſelves in public, and who are ignorant of the art
of living.
The extreme eafe introduced into the intercourſe of
the world, affability, fimplicity, and the cultivation of
the mind, have rendered Paris a city, which, for the
enjoyments of life, probably very much furpaffes Rome
and Athens in the height of their fplendor.
The number of aids always ready, always open, for
the whole circle of the fciences, for all the arts, the
taſtes, and exigencies of life; fo many folid advantages
uniting with fuh a number of agreeable articles, joined
to that openness peculiar to the inhabitants of Paris;
all theſe together induce valt numbers of ftrangers to
travel to, or take up their refidence in, this focial city.
If fome natives quit it, they are either fuch as being
called eltewnie on account of their talents, are an
honourable fpecimen to their country; or elfe the
refufe of the nation, who try to make their advantage
of the reputation it has acquired*; or, perhaps,
fome emigrants, who, prefering their religion to their
country, go abroad to feek their fortunes, after
the example of their parents driven from France by
the fatal affront to the memory of the great Henry IV.
in the revocation of the perpetual law called the
*For cooks, hair-dreffers, and valets-de-chambre. Tranflator.
This is a Foltaireana. Ibid.
Edi&t
·
254
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
Edict of Nantes; or, finally, fome Officers, difcontented
with the Miniftry, or malefactors who have eſcaped
the rigorous forms of juftice, often ill administered;
and this is what happens in all the countries of the
world.
Some object, that there is no longer to be feen at
Court fo much dignity as formerly. The truth is, that
there are no petty tyrants, as in the days of the Fronde,
or under the reign of Louis XIII. and in the preceding
ages. But true greatnefs is now to be met with in
thofe crowds of gentry, who were formerly debaſed for
fo long a time by ferving fubjects grown too powerful.
There are feen Gentlemen, and alfo Citizens, who
would have thought themfelves honoured, in former
days, to be the domeftics of thefe Lords, become now
their equals, and very often their fuperiors, in the
military fervice and the more that merit, of every
kind, prevails over titles, the more flouriſhing is any
State.
The Age of Louis XIV. has been reſembled to that
of Augultus. Not that the power and perſonal events
in both, can be compared, for Rome and Auguftus
were ten times more confiderable in the world, than
Louis XIV. and Paris. But we muſt remember, that
Athens was equal to the Roman Empire in all things
which did not derive their value from force and power.
We muſt further confider, that if there is nothing at
preſent in the world like ancient Rome and Auguftus,
yet all Europe together is much fuperior to the whole
Roman Empire. In the time of Auguftus there was
but one nation, and at this day there are feveral well-
policied, warlike, and enlightened ones, who are
poffeffed of arts unknown to both Greeks and Romans:
and among thefe nations, there is not one that has
been more diftinguiſhed, in every thing, for about
an age paſt, than that formed in fome meaſure by
Louis XIV.
CHAP.
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
255
IF
CHA P. XXX.
The Finances and Regulations:
F we compare the Adminiſtration of Colbert with
all the preceding ones, pofterity will admire this
man, whole body the frantic populace after his death
would have torn to pieces. The French certainly owe
to him their induftry and their commerce; and con-
fèquently that wealth, the fources of which are fome-
times diminiſhed in war, but are always opened again
with an abundant flow in peace. Yet in 1672, people
had ftill the ingratitude to throw the blame upon
Colbert, for the languor which began to be perceivable
in the finews of the State.
One Boifguilbert, Lieutenant-General of the Baili-
wick of Rouen, published about that time a Detail of
France, in two fmall volumes, in which he pretends
that every thing was in a declining ftate from the year
1660. But it was quite the reverfe. France had never
been fo flouriſhing as fince the death of Cardinal Ma-
zarin, till the war of 1689; and even under that
difficulty, the body of the State, tho' beginning to
feel decay, fupported itfelf by means of the vigour
which Colbert had diffufed through all its members.
The author of this Detail pretended, that from 1660
the houſes and lands of the Kingdom had diminiſhed
in value fifteen hundred millions. But nothing was
more falſe, nor lefs probable. Theſe captious argu-
ments, however, perfuaded fuch as were inclined to
believe this ridiculous paradox. 'Tis the fame way in
England; where, in the moft flouriſhing times, pamphlets
are every day publiſhed to prove that the nation is
undone.
•
It was eafier in France than in any other country,
to decry the Minifter of the Finances in the minds of
the people. This Miniftry is the moft odious, becauſe
that impofts are always fo: befides, there prevailed
in
1
256
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
A
in general as much prejudice and ignorance in the
finances, as there did in philofophy.
It was fo long before people received better informa-
tion, that even in our days we find, in 1718, the
Parliament in a body telling the Duke of Orleans,
"that the intrinfic value of the filver mark is twenty-
"five livres ;" as if there was any other real intrinfic
value than that of the weight and ſtandard; and the
Duke of Orleans, with all his penetration, fhewed very
little of it in not being aware of this mistake of the
Parliament.
Colbert arrived at the management of the finances
with both knowledge and genius. He began, like the
Duke of Sully, by putting a ftop to the abufes and
peculations, which were enormous. The collection
was rendered as eafy as poffible; and by an admirable
œconomy he augmented the revenue, while he dimi-
niſhed the taxes. It is plain, from the memorable Edict
in 1664, that there was a million of the then currency
appropriated to the encouragement of manufactures
and maritime commerce. He was fo attentive to the
campaigns, which till his time were left to the rapacity
of the Conimiffaries, that fome English merchants
having applied to Mr. Colbert de Croiffi, his brother,
Ambaffador at London, to furnish France with cattle.
from Ireland and falt provifions for their Colonies
in 1667, the Comptroller-General replied, that for
four years paft they had fufficient for their own uſe,
and for exportation alfo.
To attain to fo happy an adminiſtration, it was
neceſſary to eſtabliſh a Court of Juſtice, and
and great
reformations. He was obliged to retrench above eight
millions of the rents upon the City, acquired at a low
price, which were repaid at the rate of the purchaſe.
Thefe feveral alterations required Edicts. The Parlia-
ment was in poffeffion of the right of authenticating
them, from the time of Francis I. It was propoſed
to have them regiſtered only in the Court of Exchequer,
but the ancient ufage prevailed. The King went
himfelf
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
257
himfelf to the Parliament, to get his Edict recorded,
in 1664.
He ever remembered, the Fronde, the fentence of
profcription againſt a Cardinal his Prime Minifter, and
the other Arrets by which they had feized the money
in the Treaſury, and pillaged the goods and caſh of the
citizens attached to the Crown. All thefe exceffes
having arifen from remonftrances on the Edicts relating
to the revenues of the State, he enjoined the Parliament
in 1667, not to offer any reprefentation, except within
eight days after its having been registered with
obedience. This Edict was again renewed, in 1673.
So that during the whole courfe of his reign, no remon-
ftrance was prefented from any of the Courts of
Judicature, except in the fatal year of 1709, when the
Parliament of Paris in vain reprefented the injury that
the Minifter of the Finances did to the State, by the
variation of the price of the gold and filver.
Moſt of the people were perfuaded, that if the
Parliament would limit themfelves to the rendering the
Sovereign perfectly fenfible of the diftreffes and necef-
fities of the fubject, the dangers of the impoſts, the
ftill greater hardship of felling them to Farmers General,
who cheated the King and oppreffed the people, this
ufage of remonftrating would be a facred refource of
the State, a check upon the avidity of the Financiers
and a conftant leffon to Minifters. But the fatal abute
of fo falutary a remedy, had fo much provoked
Louis XIV. that he faw nothing but the abufe, and
profcribed the remedy. The indignation which he
ever preferved in his mind, was carried fo far, that
in 1669 he went in perfon to the Parliament, to revoke
the privileges of Nobleffe, which he had granted in his
minority, in 1644, to all the fuperior Courts. But
notwithstanding this Edict, registered in the prefence
of the King, the ufage has ftill fubfifted to fuffer all
thofe to poffefs the rights of Nobleffe, whofe fathers
had exerciſed for twenty years an office of judicature
* When he was fix
years old.
S
VOL. II.
in
EACHE
灯
​258
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
in any of the fuperior Courts, or had died in their
employs.
In thus mortifying a body of Magiftrates, he meant
to encourage the Nobleffe which had defended their
country, and the Hufbandmen who fed it. He had
already, by his Edict of 1666, granted a penſion of
two thouſand francs, which was near four of the prefent
currency, to every gentleman who had twelve children,
and one thoufand to thofe who had had ten.
half of this gratification was given to all the inhabitants
of the towns exempt from taxes; and in the taxable
ones, every father of a family that had, or that had
had, ten children, was acquitted of taxation.
The
It is true, Colbert had not done all that he could,
and ſtill leſs than he would have done.
Men were
not then fufficiently enlightened; and in a great Kingdom
there are always great abufes. The arbitrary taille;
the multiplicity of duties; the different cuftoms of the
Provinces, which makes one part of the inhabitants
of France ftrangers, and even enemies, to the other;
the inequality between the meaſures of one town and
thoſe of another; with many other maladies of the
body politic, could not be remedied.
The greateſt fault that was objected to this Minifter,
was his not having ventured to encourage the exporta-
tion of corn. It was a long time fince they had fent
any of it out of the Kingdom. Agriculture had been
neglected, during the troubles of Richelieu's admini-
ftration; it was more fo in the civil wars of the Fronde.
A famine in 1661, compleated the ruin of the country;
a lofs, however, which Nature, feconded by Art, is
always able to repair. The Parliament of Paris, in
this unhappy year, voted an Arret which appeared
prudent in its principle, but which became almoſt as
pernicious in its confequences, as all the Arrets iffued
by that affembly during the civil war. The mer-
chants were inhibited, under heavy penalties, from
entering into any contract for this commerce, and all
individuals from hoarding up the grain. What might
have been proper in a tranfient dearth, became at
length:
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
259
length an injury, by difcouraging tillage; and to
refcind fuch a law in a time of fo critical a fituation,
and of fuch prejudices, would have cauſed an infurrec-
tion.
The Minifter had no other refource but to re-
purchaſe, at an advanced price, from foreign markets,
the very grain which the French themfelves had fold
in its years of abundance. The people were fed, but
it coft the State dear; but the economy which
Monfieur Colbert had before eſtabliſhed in the finances,
lightened the weight of this expence.
The dread of a fecond famine fhut up all our ports
from the exportation of corn. Each Intendant in
his Province made a merit of oppofing the tranſporta-
tion of grain, even into the neighbouring Provinces.
They could not, even in their years of plenty, difpofe
of their corn without petitioning the Council. This
fatal embargo, however, feemed excufable from their
paſt experience. The whole Council feared, that the
free commerce of grain might oblige them to re-
purchaſe again from foreign markets, at an extravagant
rate, fo neceffary a commodity, which the avarice and
improvidence of hufbandmen had fold at a low price.
The ploughman alfo, ftill more timid than the
Council, was afraid to hazard the cultivation of an
article which he was reftrained from turning to the
beft account; fo that the lands were not as well tilled
as they ought to have been. All the other branches.
of the Adminiſtration were in a flouriſhing ftate, while
it was not left in the power of Colbert to redreſs an
evil in the principal concern.
This was the only blot on his Miniftry; it is cer
tainly a great one; but what may ferve to excufe it,
what proves how difficult a thing it is to conquer
prejudices in the French Adminiftration, and how
hard it is to do good, is, that this evil, which has
been remarked by all fenfible natives, was not re-
paired by any Minifter, for the fpace of an intire
century, until the memorable æra of 1764, when a
Comptroller-General more enlightened refcued France
S 2
from
260
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
from extreme diftrefs, by rendering the exportation
of corn free, under fuch reftrictions, pretty nearly, as
thofe which are impofed in England.
Colbert, in order to furnish at once the expences of
the war, the buildings, and pleafures, was obliged to
re-eſtabliſh, towards the year 1672, what at first he
intended to have abolifhed for ever; namely, impofts
on places, annuities, new offices, and the augmenta-
tion of falaries; in fhort, what fupports the State for
fome time, but involves it in debt for many years.
He was carried beyond his intended meafures; for
by all the inftructions remaining of his, we fee he was
perfuaded that the riches of a country confift only in
the number of its inhabitants, the cultivation of the
lands, the induſtry of the people, and commerce.
We fee that the King, poffeffing very few perfonal
domains, and being only the fteward of the goods of
his fubjects, cannot be truly rich, but by impoſts cafy
to bear, and equally affeffed.
He feared fo much giving up the State to the Farmers
of the revenue, that fome time after the diffolution of
the Chamber of Juftice, which he had caufed to be
erected againſt them, he got an Arret of Council paſſed,
which made it death for thoſe who fhould advance
money upon the new impofts. His meaning by this
menacing Arret, which was never printed, was to cure
the avidity of Stock-jobbers. But, foon after, he was
obliged to make ufe of them, without even revoking
the Arret for the King was preffing, and prompt
means were neceffary.
This invention, brought from Italy into France by
Catherine of Medicis, had fo much corrupted the Go-
vernment, by the pernicious facility it fupplies, that
after having been fuppreffed in the glorious days of
Henry IV. it appeared again throughout the reign of
Louis XIII. and greatly infected the latter times of
Louis XIV.
In fine, Sully enriched the State by the means of a
prudent economy, which was feconded by a King
equally parfimonious and brave; a King who was a fol-
3.
dier
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
261
1
dier at the head of his army, and a father at the head
of his people. Colbert fupported the State, notwith-
ſtanding the extravagance of an oftentatious Prince,
who ſpared no expence to give a luftre to his reign.
66
It is known, that after the death of Colbert, when
the King determined to place Pelletier at the head of the
Finances, Le Tellier faid to him, "Sire, he is not fit
"for fuch a department. Why fo?" faid the King.
"He has not a heart callous enough," anfwered Le
Tellier. Why truly," replied the King, "I would
"not have my people oppreffed." In fact, this new
Miniſter was a good and juſt man; but when in 1688
the Kingdom was replunged in war, and obliged to
withſtand the League of Augiburg, or, in other words,
the united Powers of all Europe, he felt himſelf loaded
with a weight which even Colbert had found too heavy.
The eafy and dangerous expedient of borrowing, and
creating of funds, was his firſt reſource. Afterwards
he attempted to diminiſh luxury; which in a nation re-
plete with manufactures, is to diminish induſtry and
circulation; and by no means a prudent meaſure, ex-
cept in States which purchaſe their fuperfluities from
foreign countries.
An ordonnance was accordingly made, that all the
moveables of folid plate, which were at that time in
great quantities in the houſes of the great, and were a
proof of opulence, fhould be carried to the Mint. The
King ſet the example: he parted with all thoſe filver
tables, branched chandeliers, grand couches of maſſive
filver, and all the other moveables which were mafter-
pieces of chafed work by the hand of Balin, the greateſt
artist in his way, and all done from the defigns of Le
Brun. They had coft ten millions, but produced only
three. The wrought plate belonging to private perfons
yielded three millions more, The refource was inconfi-
derable.
They were afterwards guilty of one of thofe enormous
errors, which the Miniftry have not corrected till of late;
* The word glitter would have been more proper here. Tranflator.
this
S 3
262
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
this was to adulterate the fpecie, to make an unequal re
coinage, to give to the crowns a valuation difpropor-
tioned to that of the quarters*; fo that the value of the
latter being more intrinfic, that of the former being
partly nominal, they were fent out of the Kingdom
coined into crowns, and brought back again; by which
fraudulent traffic a confiderable profit was gained. A
country must be poffeffed of great internal ftrength to
be able to fupport itſelf with vigour, after experiencing
fuch frequent fhocks as theſe. Men were not then well
informed; the knowledge of finances was then like that
of phyfic, a ſcience of but vain conjecture. The ftock-
jobbers were a fort of mountebanks, who impofed on the
Minifter; it coft the State fourfcore millions, and would
require the labour of twenty years to repair the damage.
Towards the years 1691 and 1692, the finances of
the State appeared fenfibly out of order. Thofe who at-
tributed the diminution of the fources of the public re-
venue to the profufion of Louis XIV. upon his build-
ings, the arts, and his pleaſures, were not aware, that,
on the contrary, the expences which encourage induſtry
enrich a State. It is war that neceffarily impoverishes
the public treaſury, unleſs the ſpoils of the vanquished
can fill it again. Since the time of the ancient Romans,
I know of no nation that has enriched itſelf by victories.
Italy in the fixteenth century was opulent only by
commerce. Holland would not have fubfiited long,
had fhe confined herfelf to the taking the plate fleet of
the Spaniards, and were not the Eaft Indies the fupport
of her power. England has always impoverished her-
felf by war, even in deftroying the French fleets*; and
commerce alone has enriched her. The Algerines, who
have hardly any more than what they gain by piracy,
are moft miferably poor.
*Quart d'ecu, the fourth of a crown, a coin fo called.
Franflator,
+ If the French are turbulent, and encroach upon their neighbours,
it would feem that deftroying the means by which their infolence is
moft likely to be exerted with effect, namely, their fleet, will in the
end enrich, rather than impoverish, the English nation. Smollet.
that
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
263
ying
Among the nations of Europe, war, at the end of
fome years, renders the conqueror nearly as much di-
ftreffed as the conquered. It is a gulph in which all the
ftreams of abundance are abforbed. Ready money,
that principle of all good and all evil, raifed with fuch
difficulty in the Provinces, terminates in the coffers of
an hundred Stock-jobbers and Farmers of the revenue,
who advance the funds, and purchaſe by this means
the right of plundering the nation in the name of the
fovereign. The people, then, confidering the Govern-
ment as their enemy, conceal their wealth; and the
want of circulation fuffers the Kingdom to languiſh.
No fudden expedient can fupply the place of a fixed
and permanent eftablishment of long ftanding, which
provides at a distance againſt unforefeen wants. The
Capitation was eſtabliſhed in 1695. It was fuppreffed
at the peace of Ryfwick, and re-eſtabliſhed afterwards.
The Comptroller-General Pontchartrain fold patents
of Nobility for two thouſand crowns in 1696: five
hundred perſons bought them. But the refource was
tranfitory, and the fhame permanent. The Nobles, both
ancient and modern, were obliged to regiſter their coats
of arms, and to pay for the permiffion of fealing their
letters with them. The Farmers bargained for this tax,
and advanced the money: fo that the Miniſtry had hardly
ever recourſe to any but petty refources, in a country
which could have furniſhed much greater.
They durft not impofe the tenth penny, till 1710.
But this tenth penny, raiſed after fo many other bur-
thenfome taxes, appeared fo hard, that they durft not
exact it with rigour. The Government did not draw
from it twenty-five millions a-year, at forty franks to
the mark.
"C
Colbert made but few attempts to change the nominal
value of money. But it is better never to change it at
* In vol. IV. p, 136, of Maintenon's Memoirs, we find that the
Capitation brought in beyond the hopes of the Farmers." But
there has never been any farm of the Capitation. It is faid, that
"the lacqueys of Paris went to the Town-houfe to beg that they.
"might be put into the Capitation." This ridiculous story destroy's
itself; for mafters always paid for their domeftics. Foltaire.
S 4
all.
264
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
all. Silver and gold, thofe ftandards of exchange,
ought to be invariable meafures. He railed the nominal
value of the filver mark, which was twenty-fix franks
in his time, only to twenty-feven and twenty-eight;
and after his death, in the last years of Louis XIV. this
denomination was extended as far as forty imaginary
livres: a fatal refource, by which the King obtained a
temporary relief, in order to be ruined afterwards; for,
inſtead of a filver mark, he had only given him little
more than the half of it. He who owed twenty-fix
livres, in 1668, gave a mark; and he who owed forty
livres, gave little more than this fame mark, in 1710,
The diminutions which followed, injured the little com-
merce that remained, as much as the augmentation had
done.
A real reſource might have been found in paper-
credit; but this ought to be eftabliſhed in a time of pro-
ſperity, that it may maintain itſelf in times that are
otherwife.
The Miniſter Chamillard began, in 1706, to pay in
bank-notes, notes of fubfiftence, and of free quarters:
but as this paper-money was not received at the Exche-
quer, it was decried almoft as foon as it appeared. The
Government was reduced to the neceffity of continuing
to borrow heavy loans, and to anticipate four years of
the revenues of the Crown*,
* We are told in the Hiftory written by La Hode, and publiſhed
under the name of La Martiniere, that it coft feventy-two per cent.
for exchange, in the wars of Italy; which is an abfurdity. The fact
is, that M. de Chamillard, in order to pay the armies, made ufe of
the credit of the Chevalier Bernard. This Minifter believed, thro'
an old prejudice, that money muſt not go out of the Kingdom, as if
fuch money were given for nothing, and as if it were poffible that one
nation indebted to another, and which does not diſcharge itſelf by
the ballance of trade, ought not to pay in ready money. This Mi-
niſter gave the banker eight per cent. in the profits, upon condition
that foreigners were paid without making the money go out of
France. Befides this, he paid the exchange, which amounted to five
or fix per cent. lofs; yet the banker, notwithstanding his promife,
was obliged to clear his accounts with foreigners, in cafh; and this
produced a confiderable lofs. Voltaire.
They
1
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
255
;
They were always contriving extraordinary expedi-
ents they created ridiculous employs, readily purchaſ
ed by thoſe who were willing to exempt themfelves from
taxation; for the being fubject to the payment of taxes
was humiliating in France; and men being naturally
vain, the bait which was to fet them above this difgrace,
was fure to make dupes. The confiderable falaries, alfo,
annexed to theſe new pofts, tempted people to buy
them, in times of difficulty, without ever reflecting that,
in more profperous ones, they would be all fuppreffed.
So in 1707 they invented the dignity of King's Coun-
fellors Tafters and Brokers of Wine, which produced
a hundred and eighty thoufand livres. They appointed
Royal Regiſters, and Deputies of the Intendants of the
Provinces. They contrived Counſellors of the King
Comptrollers of the empilements of wood, Counſellors
of the Police, Officers of Barbers perriwig-makers,
Comptrollers vifitors of fresh butter, affayers of falt-
butter. Such extravagances make people laugh now,
but then they made them cry.
The Comptroller-General Definarets, nephew to the
illuftrious Colbert, having fucceeded Chamillard, in
1708, could not heal an evil which every thing rendered
incurable.
Nature conſpired with fortune to overwhelm the State.
The fevere winter of 1709 obliged the King to remit
to the people nine millions of taxes, at the time when
he had not wherewithal to pay his troops. 1 he ſcarcity
of provifions was fo exceffive, that it cost forty-five mil-
lions for the fubfiftence of the army. The expences of
this year 1709 amounted to two hundred and twenty-
one millions; and the King's ordinary revenue fcarce
produced forty-nine. There was then a necellity for
ruining the State, that the enemy might not make them-
felves mafters of it*. The diforder encreaſed to fuch a
degree, and was fo little repaired, that for a long time
after the peace, at the beginning of the year 1715, the
King was obliged to caufe thirty-two millions of notes
to be negociated, in order to procure eight millions in
Like blowing up a man of war, to prevent its being taken. Tran.
ipecie.
266
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
fpecie. In fhort, at his death, he left a debt of two
thouſand fix hundred millions, at twenty-eight livres
the mark, the rate to which the coin was then reduced;
and this makes about four thousand five hundred mil-
lions of our current money in 1760.
*
It is aftonishing, but true, that this immenfe debt
would not have been a burthen impoffible to bear, had
there been at that time a flourishing commerce in France,
a paper credit eſtabliſhed, and fubftantial Companies
which would have fupported this credit, as is the cafe
in Sweden, England, Venice, and Holland: for when
a powerful State is indebted only within itſelf, credit.
and circulation are fufficient to make payments. But
France was far from having at that time a fufficient num-
ber of springs to fet in motion fo vaft and complicated a
machine, the weight of which cruſhed it.
Louis XIV. in his reign' expended eighteen thouſand
millions; which amounts, one year with another, to
three hundred and thirty millions of the prefent curren-
cy, balancing the nominal raifings and lowerings of the
coin against each other.
Under the Adminiftration of the great Colbert, the
ordinary revenues of the Crown rofe only to an hundred
and feventeen millions, at twenty-feven livres, and af-
terwards twenty-eight livres, to the filver mark. Thus
the whole furplus was always furniſhed by extraordinary
methods. Colbert, though the greatest enemy to a fatal
refource, was obliged to have recourfe to it upon a
preffing exigency. He raifed eight hundred millions of
our prefent currency in the war of 1672. The King
had but very few ancient domains of the Crown left,
Theſe are declared unalienable by all the Parliaments
of the Kingdom; and yet almoft all of them are alie-
nated. The King's revenue confifts at prefent in the
wealth of his fubjects, and is a perpetual circulation of
debts and payments. His Majefty owes the people
more nominal millions a-year, under the name of an-
* Four thouſand millions, amounting to above one hundred and
eighty millions flerling. Smollet.
nuities
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
267
}
:
nuities of the Town-houfe, than any King ever drew
from the domains of the Crown.
In order to form an idea of this prodigious increaſe
of taxes, debts, riches of circulation, and at the fame
time the embarraffiments and trouble which have been
experienced in France and other countries, it is to be
confidered, that at the death of Francis I. the State owed
about thirty millions of livres perpetual annuity on
the Town-houſe, and that at prefent it owes upwards of
forty-five millions.
Thoſe who have compared the revenues of Louis XIV.
with thoſe of Louis XV. have found, by only keep-
ing to the fixed and current revenue, that Louis XIV.
was much richer in 1683, at the time of Colbert's death,
with an hundred and feventeen millions of revenue,
than his fucceffor was in 1730, with nearly two hundred
millions; and this will appear to be true, by conſidering
only the fixed and ordinary rents of the Crown. For an
hundred and feventeen nominal millions, with the mark
at twenty-eight livres, are a much greater fum than
two hundred millions at forty-nine livres, which was
the amount of the King's revenue in 1730: and beſides,
'we muſt reckon the charges increafed by the loans to
the Crown. But then, alfo, the revenues of the King,
that is, of the State, have fince accumulated; and the
knowledge of the Finances has been brought to fuch a
ftate of perfection, that in the ruinous war of 1741,
there was not the laft ftagnation of credit.. We have be-
gun to form finking funds, as among the English: it
was neceſſary to adopt a part of their fyftem of finances,
as we have done of their philofophy; and if in a State
purely monarchical, thefe circulating notes could be in-
troduced, which at leaſt double the wealth of England,
the Adminiſtration of France would acquire its lait de-
gree of perfection*, but a perfection too liable to abuſe,
in a monarchy.
* The Abbé de St. Pierre, in his Journal Politique, on the arti-
cle Syftem, fays, that in England and Holland there are no more
notes than fpecie: but it is certain that the former greatly exceed the
latter, and do not fubfift but by credit. Voltaire.
2
In
268
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
In 1683 there were about five hundred nominal mil-
lions of filver coin in the Kingdom; and there were
about twelve hundred in 1730, of the prefent currency.
But the computation under the Miniftry of Cardinal
Fleury, was almoft double what it was in Colbert's time.
It therefore appears, that France is only about one-fixth
part richer in circulating fpecie, fince the death of that
Minifter. It is much more fo in materials of filver and
gold, worked and uſed for ſervice and luxury. In 1590
the value of thefe amounted not to four hundred millions
of our prefent coin; and towards the year 1730 we pof-
feffed as much as equalled the circulating fpecie. No-
thing fhews more plainly, how commerce, the fources
of which Colbert opened, has been increafed, when a
free courfe has been given to its channels that were ſhut
up by the wars. Induſtry has been brought to per-
fection, notwithſtanding the emigration of fo many
artifts, which the revocation of the Edict of Nantes has
difperfed and this induftry ftill increafes, every day.
The nation is capable of as great things, and even ſtill
greater, than it was under Louis XIV. becauſe genius
and commerce always gain new ftrength wherever they
are encouraged.
To fee the affluence of individuals, the number of
fine houfes built in Paris and in the Provinces, the mul-
titude of equipages, the conveniences and refinements
of luxury, you would think that our opulence is twenty
times greater than it was formerly. All this is the fruit
of ingenious labour, rather than of riches. At this day
it coſts but little more for a good houfe, than it did for
a bad one in the reign of Henry IV. A handfome glaſs
of our own manufacture adorns our houfes at a much
lefs expence than the ordinary ones formerly brought
from Venice; and our fine and fhowy ftuffs are cheaper
than thoſe which we brought from foreign countries,
and which were not of equal fervice.
In reality, it is not filver and gold that procure the
accommodations of life, but genius. A nation poffeffed
only of theſe metals would be miſerable; but à people
without them, who can happily employ all the produc-
tions
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
269
tions of the earth, would be the truly wealthy people.
France poffeffes this advantage, with a great deal more
fpecie than is neceffary for her circulation.
Induſtry being brought to perfection in the towns,
grew up and increafed in the country. Complaints
will always arife about the condition of the tillers
of the foil: you hear them in all countries of the world;
and fuch murmurings are generally raifed by indolent
people of fortune, who condemn the Government much
more than they bemoan the people. It is true, that in
almoſt every country, if fuch as pafs their days in rural
labours had leifure to murmur, they would rife up
against the exactions which take from them a part of
their ſubſtance. They would deteft the ncceffity of pay-
ing taxes which they had not impofed upon themfelves,
and of bearing the burthens of the State without parti-
cipating of the advantages enjoyed by other members of
it.
It does not belong to the province of hiftory to exa-
mine how far the people may be taxed without being
oppreffed, and to mark the precife point, fo difficult to
be found out, between the execution of the laws and
the abuſe of them; between impoft and rapine; but
hiſtory ought to fhew, that it is impoffible for a town to
be flouriſhing, unleſs the country around it enjoys plen-
ty; for certainly the produce of the fields fupports its
inhabitants. We hear on particular days*, in all the
towns of France, the reproaches of thoſe who by their
profeffion are allowed to declaim in public againſt all
the different branches of confumption to which the
name of luxury is given +. It is evident that the fup-
plies for this luxury is furnished only by the induftrious
labour of the tillers of the ground; a labour which,
however, is always well paid for.
More vineyards have been planted, and better culti-
vated. New wines have been made that were not
known before, like thofe of Champagne; to which the
Sundays. Tranſlator.
↑ A Voltairiana. Ibid..
ļ
vintners
270
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
vintners have found out the art of giving the co-
lour, flavour, and ftrength of the Burgundy wines, and
which they vend among foreigners to a great advantage.
This increaſe of wine has produced that of brandies.
The cultivation of gardens, of vegetables, and fruits,
has received very great improvements; and the com-
merce of provifions with the Colonies of America has
from thence been augmented. The loud complaints
which have been made in all times about the mifery of the
country, have now ceaſed to have any foundation. Be-
fides, in theſe vague murmurs the planters and the
farmers are not diftinguished from the labourers. Thefe
last live only by the work of their hands; and the cafe is
alike in all the countries of the world, where the bulk of
the people, or the greater number, fhould fubfiſt by
that means. But there is ſcarcely a kingdom in the uni-
verfe in which the planter and the farmer are more at
eaſe than in France; and England alone may diſpute
this advantage with her. The proportional land-tax,
inftead of that fubftituted at difcretion, has ftill contri-
buted, for about thirty years paft, to render more fta-
ble the fortunes of fuch hufbandmen as have ploughs,
vineyards, and gardens. The labourer and common
artificer must be reduced to neceffity, before they will
fet themſelves to work; fuch is the nature of man.
But though the greatest part of mankind muſt be poor,
there is no reaſon for their being miſerable.
The middling clafs has enriched itſelf by induſtry.
The Minifters and the Courtiers are lefs wealthy, becauſe
though money has been raifed nominally near one half,
their appointments and penfions have continued the
fame, and the prices of provifions have rifen to more
than double. This is what has happened in all the coun-
tries of Europe. The feveral dues and fees have every
where remained on the ancient footing. An Elector of
the Empire who receives the inveftiture of his eftates,
pays no more than what his predeceffors did in the time
of the Emperor Charles IV. in the fourteenth century;
and in this ceremony there is only a crown perquifite to
the Emperor's fecretary.
$
- What
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
278
What is much ſtranger is, that though all things have
been raiſed, the nominal value of coin, the quantity of
materials in gold and filver, and the price of commodi-
ties, yet the pay of a foldier has continued at the fame
rate it was two hundred years ago. A foot-foldier has
five nominal fous, the fame as he had in the time of
Henry IV. None of the great number of ignorant
creatures who fell their lives at fo cheap a rate know,
that fince the over-rating of the fpecie, and the dear-
nefs of every commodity, he receives about two-
thirds leſs than the foldiers of Henry IV. If he knew
it, and demanded a pay two-thirds greater, it muſt
have been granted him. From thence it muſt happen,
that as the Powers of Europe would keep on foot two-
thirds fewer troops, their forces would be balanced in
the fame proportion; and the cultivation of the ground
and the manufactures would profit by this meaſure *.
We muſt farther obferve, that the profits of com-
merce being augmented, and the falaries for all the great
offices diminiſhed in their real value, there is found to
be leſs opulence among the great than formerly, and
more among the middling rank of people; and this
circumftance has brought men more upon a level. In
former days there was no refource for the little, but to
ſerve the great. At prefent, induſtry has opened a thou-
fand ways, which were not known an hundred years
ago. In fhort, in whatever manner the finances of the
State may be administered, France poffeffes, in the la-
bour of about twenty millions of inhabitants, an ineſti-
mable treaſure.
* This is a very fenfble remark; and a mutiny were much to be
wifhed, upon this account, provided it were univerfal. Though it
would be but fair to give the French leave to take the first advantage
of it, as the hint comes from Monieur Voltaire. Tranflator.
CHAP.
f
272
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
..
TH
CHA P. XXXI.
Of the Sciences.
HIS happy age, which has feen a revolution pro-
duced in the human mind, did not feem deſtined
to it. To begin with philoſophy, there was no appear-
ance in the time of Louis XIII. that it fhould have
emerged out of the chaos into which it was plunged.
The Inquifition of Italy, Spain, and Portugal, had link-
ed the errors in philofophy to the tenets of religion: the
eivil wars in France, and the difputes of Calvinifm, were
not more adapted to cultivate human reaſon, than was
the fanaticifm of Cromwell's time in England. If a
Canon of Thorn renewed the ancient planetary fyf-
tem of the Chaldeans, which had been exploded for fo
long a time, this truth was condemned at Rome; and
the Congregation of the Holy Office, compofed of feven
Cardinals, having declared not only heretical but ab-
furd the motion of the earth, without which there is no
true aftronomy (the great Galilæo having afked pardon
at the age of feventy for being in the right), there was
no appearance that the truth would be received in the
world.
Chancellor Bacon had pointed out at a distance the
track which fhould be followed. Galilæo had made fome
diſcoveries on the defcent of bodies: Torricelli began to
aſcertain the gravity of the air which furrounds us; and
fome experiments had been made at Magdeburg. But
thefe were feeble effays, and all the Schools continued
ftill in abfurdity, and the world in ignorance. Then
appeared Defcartes, who did the very contrary of what
ought to have been done; inſtead of ſtudying Nature,
he attempted to guefs at her *. He was the greateſt
Geometrician of his age; but Geometry leaves the
• Befcartes was but an empiric in philofophy. Tranflator.
mind
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
273
mind juſt as it finds it.
addicted to invention.
That of Defcartes was too much
The Prince of Mathematicians
made ſcarcely any thing more than romances of philo-
fophy. A man who fcorned experiments, never cited
Galilæo, and was for building without materials, could
erect nothing more than an imaginary edifice.
That which was romantic in it, fucceeded; and the
few truths, mixed with theſe new chimeras, were at firſt
conteſted; but at laſt theſe few truths fhone forth by the
help of the method which he had introduced. For be-
fore his time there was no thread for this labyrinth; and
at leaſt he gave one, of which uſe was made, after he had
bewildered himſelf. It was a great deal to deftroy the
chimeras of Peripateticifm, though by the fubftitution of
other chimeras. Theſe two phantoms combated each
other. They fell fucceffively; and reafon raiſed itſelf
at length upon their ruins. There was at Florence an
Aca ny for Experiments, under the name del Cimento,
eſtabliſhed by Cardinal Leopold de Medicis, about the
year 1655. They were already aware in this country of
the arts, that it was not poffible to comprehend any thing
of the great fabric of Nature, but by examining it by
parts. This Academy, after the days of Galilæo, and
from the time of Torricelli, was of fignal fervice.
Some Philofophers in England, under the gloomy ad-
miniſtration of Cromwell, met together in peace for the
diſcovery of truth, when it was oppreffed by fanaticiſm.
Charles II. being called home to the throne of his an-
cestors, by the repentance and inconftancy of his own
nation, gave letters patent to this infant Academy; but
this was all that the Government beftowed upon it.
The Royal Society, or rather, The Free Society of Lon-
don, laboured for the fole honour of the purfuit. It was
from this illuftrious body, that in our days proceeded
the diſcoveries on light, the principle of gravitation, the
aberration of the fixed ftars, the geometry of tranfcen-
dental quantities, and an hundred other difcoveries,
which, on this account, might give occafion to the cal-
ling of this æra the Age of the English, as well as that of
Louis XIV.
VOL. II.
T
In
1
1
274
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
In 1666, Colbert, jealous of this new kind of glory,
was defirous that the French fhould partake of it; and,
at the entreaty of fome learned men, prevailed on Louis
XIV. to conſent to the eſtabliſhment of the Academy of
Sciences. It was free, till 1699, like that of England
and the French Academy. Colbert allured from Italy
Dominico Caffini, and Huygens from Holland, by
means of large penfions. They difcovered the fatellites
and ring of Saturn. The world is indebted to Huygens
for pendulum-clocks. By degrees knowledge was ac-
quired in all the parts of true phyfics, by the rejecting of
fyftems. The Public was furpriſed to fee a chemiſtry,
in which reſearches were made neither for the grand fe-
cret, nor for the art of prolonging life beyond the
bounds of Nature; an aftronomy which did not predict
the events of the world; and a medicine independent of
the phaſes of the moon. Putrefaction was no longer the
parent of animals and plants. There were no more
prodigies, from the time that Nature came to be better
known; for fhe was ftudied in all her works.
Geography received extraordinary improvements. No
fooner had Louis XIV. built the Obfervatory, than he
caufed a degree of the meridian to be meafured, in 1669,
by Dominico Caffini and Picart; which was continued
towards the North, in 1683, by La Hire; and at laſt
Caffini extended it, in 1700, as far as the extremity of
Rouillon. This is the nobleft monument of aftronomy,
and is fufficient to eternize that age.
John Dominico Caffini was one of the most able Aftronomers
that ever Italy produced. He flouriſhed in the feventeenth century,
and in his youth was appointed Profeffor of Aftronomy at Bologna;
but he was invited into France by Colbert, to be Member of the Royal
Academy of Sciences; and there he spent the remaining part of his
life, which was happily extended to an extreme old age. He explain-
cd the nature and revolutions of comets: he diſcovered that the planet
Mars revolved upon its own axis, in twenty-four hours and forty mi-
nutes: he difcerned the spots on the body of Venus: he demonftrat-
ed that Saturn had Ave fatellites, inflead of one, which was all that
Huygens had difeerned; and he meaſured a degree of the meridian,
in the South of France. Smodet.
‡ The tranfmutation of baler metals into gold, commonly called
the Pinigipher's Stone. Tranflator.
In
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
275
・
>
In 1672, Natural Philofophers were ſent to Cayenne
in order to make ufeful obfervations. This voyage
gave rife to the diſcovery of a new Law of Nature, which
the great Newton has demonftrated, and has paved the
way for thoſe more famous voyages which have fince
given luftre to the reign of Louis XV.
In 1700, Tournefort was fent to the Levant, to collect
there the plants neceffary to enrich the Royal Garden,
which was formerly neglected, but at that time was re-
ftored to its due honour, and is now become worthy of
the curiofity of Europe,, The Royal Library, already
extenfive, was enriched under Louis XIV. with above
thirty thouſand volumes; and this example is fo well
followed in our days, that it contains at this time more
than an hundred and eighty thouſand. He caufed the
School of the Civil Law to be again opened, which had
been ſhut for an hundred years paft. He eſtabliſhed in
all the Univerſities of France a Profeffor of the French
Law. One would imagine that there fhould be no other
here, and that the good Roman Laws incorporated with
thofe of the country, fhould form but one body of the
Laws of the Nation.
Under him Literary Journals were eſtabliſhed. 'Tis
well known, that the Journal des Sçavans, which began
in 1665, is the origin of all the works of this kind with
which Europe now abounds, and into which too many
abufes have crept, as commonly happens in things of
the greatest utility.
The Academy of the Belles Lettres, compofed at firſt,
in 1663, of fome Members of the French Academy, for
tranfmitting to pofterity, by medals, the actions of Louis
XIV. became ufeful to the Public, from the time that it
was no longer folely employed about the Monarch, and
that they applied themfelves to refearches into antiquity,
and a judicious criticilm upon opinions and facts. It
produced nearly the fame effect in nultory, as the Aca-
demy of Sciences did in natural philofophy: it difpelled
errors.
* An Iſland of South-America
The
2
276
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
The ſpirit of good fenfe and difcernment, which en-
creaſed by degrees. infenfibly deſtroyed fuperftition. It
is to this dawn of reaſon that we owe the declaration of
the King in 1672, which forbids the Tribunals to admit
fimple accufations of forcery. This was a matter which
durft not be attempted under Henry IV. and Louis
XIII. And if, fince 1672, there have been accufations
of witchcraft, the Judges have not condemned the per-
fons accuſed, excepting where profanation of religion,
or the uſe of poiſon, was proved againſt them *.
It was formerly very common to try forcerers by
plunging them in water, being first bound with cords;
and if they floated on the furface, they were convicted.
Several Judges in the Provinces had ordered fuch trials
to be made, and theſe methods ſtill continued, for a long
t me, among the people. Every fhepherd was a for-
cerer; and amulets and conftellation-rings were uſed
in the towns. The effects of a hazle-wand +, with which
it was believed that fprings, treaſures, and thieves, could
be found out, were looked upon as certain, and have ſtill a
great deal of credit given them, in more than one Province
of Germany. There was hardly any body but who had
his nativity caft; and nothing was talked of but magical
fecrets. Almoſt every thing was illufion. Learned
men and Magiſtrates had written ſeriouſly upon theſe
* In 1609, fix hundred forcerers were condemned in the jurifdiction
of the Parliament of Bourdeaux, and most of them burnt. Nicholas
Remi, in his Demonolatry, gives an account of nine hundred arrets
paffed in fifteen years againſt forcerers, in Lorrain only. The fa-
mous Curate, Louis Guaffredi, burnt at Aix in 1611, had publicly
owned that he was a forcerer, and the Judges believed him.
It is frameful that Father Le Brun, in his Treatife of Superftitious
Practices, ftill admits of the deciſion of doubtful matters by caſting
lots. He even goes fo far as to fay, page 524, that the Parliament of
Paris acknowledged it; but he is miſtaken the Parliament indeed
owned that there were profanations and witchcrafts, but no fuperna
tural effects produced by the Devil. The book of Dr. Calmet, fur
les vampires & fur les apparitions, has been looked upon as the work of
a difordered brain, but it plainly fhews how much the mind of man is
addicted to fuperftition. Voltaire.
+ Called magic rings. Translator.
It was a particular kind, called, from thence, the witch-hazel.-
Ibid
matters.
f
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
277
matters. A fett of Authors was diftinguiſhed by the
name of Demonographi. There were rules for difcern-
ing true Magicians, and true Demoniacs, from the falfe.
In fine, to that time, there was hardly any thing adopted
from antiquity, but errors of every kind.
Superftitious notions were fo rooted among men, that
people were frightened by a comet fo late as in 1680;
and ſcarce any one dared to combat this popular fear.
James Bernoull, one of the greateſt Mathematicians in
Europe, in his anſwer to thoſe who maintained the omi-
nous nature of comets, fays, that its beams cannot be a
fign of the divine wrath, becauſe the beams are eternal;
but that the tail may very well be fo. However, neither
the head nor tail are eternal. It was then neceffary that
Bayle fhould write againſt theſe vulgar prejudices a
book famous at that time, which the progrefs of human
reafon has fince rendered ufelefs.
One would not believe that Sovereigns had obligations
to Philofophers. It is however true, that this philofo-
phic fpirit, which has gained ground among all ranks,
except the lower clafs of people, has very much contri-
buted to give a due weight to the rights of Princes. Dif-
putes, which would have formerly produced excommuni-
cations, interdicts, and fchifms, now caufe none of theſe
things. If it has been faid, that the people would be
happy had they Philofophers for their Kings; it is equal-
ly true, that Kings are the more happy, when many of
their fubjects are Philofophers.
It must be confeffed, however, that this rational ſpirit,
which begins to prefide over education in the large towns,
has not yet been able to cure the phrenzy of the fanatics
in the Cevennes, nor prevent the inferior people of Paris
from fhewing their folly at the tomb of St. Medard *
* Miracles were faid to be performed at the tomb of the Abbé
Paris, in the year 1730. As this Abbe was a profeffed Janfenift, the
Jefuits would not allow him to be a Saint, and found means to intereſt
both the Clergy and the Government against his pretenfions to this
title. The Archbishop of Paris published a mandamus, condemning
the new miracles of this beatified Janfenift. The Life of the Abbé,
which had been publifhed at Bruffels, was pronounced heretical, by
the Holy Congregation of the Office, and burnt by the hands of the
T
nor
278
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
nor quiet the difputes, as violent as they are frivolous,
which arife between men who ought to be wiſer. But
before this age, fuch difputes had caufed troubles in the
State; the miracles of St. Medard would have been cre-
dited by the moſt confiderable Citizens; and fanaticiſm,
now confined within the mountains of the Cevennes,
would have diffufed itfelf into the towns.
All kinds of fcience and literature were exhaufted in
this age; and ſo many Writers have extended the powers
of the human understanding, that thofe who at other
times would have been thought prodigies, paſſed un-
diſtinguiſhed in the crowd. Their glory is leffened, on
account of their number; but the glory of the age is,
therefore, the greater.
TRE
CHA P. XXXII.
Of the Fine Arts.
RUE philofophy made not in France fo great a
progrefs as in England and Florence ; and though
the Academy of Sciences was of advantage to the human
underſtanding, it did not fet France above other Nations.
All the great inventions, all the great truths, took their
rife elſewhere.
But in eloquence, in poetry, in polite literature, in
books of morality and entertainment, the French were
the Legiflators of Europe. There remained no longer
any tafte in Italy. True eloquence was every where
unknown. Religion was taught rid.culouſly from the
pulpit, and Caules pleaded as abfurdly at the Bar. The
Preachers quoted Virgil and Ovid; the Lawyers St.
Auflin and St. Jerome. There had not yet arifen a
hangman; but the reputation of the defunct flourished under this
perfecution. His tomb was furrounded by crowds of devotees, and
the lame were cured, the blind were reitored to fight; fo that the ca-
talogue of miracles daily encreaſed, until the burying-ground of St.
Medard was fhut up, by the King's exprefs arret, and then the Saint
being deprived of his retinue, funk into oblivion. Smoilet.
Genius
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
279
Genius capable of giving to the French language a turn
of period, or of phrafe, a harmony of meaſure, a pro-
priety of ftile, or a dignity of expreffion. Some verfes
of Malherbe had only made it known, that it was ca-
pable both of force and grandeur; but that was all.
The fame Writers who had fucceeded fo well in Latin,
as the Prefident De Thou, and the Chancellor De l'Hôpital,
did not appear the fame perfons when they attempted to
compofe in their own language, which was reftiff in their
hands. The French tongue had not yet any thing to re-
commend it, but a certain naïveté, which was the only
merit of Joinville *, of Amiot †, of Marot ‡, of Mon-
tagne, of Regnier §, and of the Menippean Satires **.
This fimplicity was debafed with a great deal of irregu·
larity and coarſeneſs.
A
John de Lingendes, Biſhop of Maçon, unknown at
prefent, as he did not publish his writings, was the firſt
Preacher who delivered himſelf in a polite ftile: His
Sermons and his Funeral Orations, though yet mixed up
with the ruft of his time, were the model of the Orators
who imitated and furpaffed him. The Funeral Oration
of Charles-Emanuel, Duke of Savoy, furnamed the Great,
* An eminent Stateſman in the reign of Louis IX. in the thirteenth
century. He compofed the Hiftory of St. Louis, which is a work both
curious and entertaining. He died in 1318. Tranflator.
† An Author, of little fame, it may be fuppofed, as he is not taken
notice of by the Biographers. Ibid.
Į Valet-de-Chambre to Francis I. He was efteemed a good Poet
in his time. Fontaine profeffedly imitated him. He tranflated fome
of the Pfalms of David, which were cenfured by the College of Di-
vinity at Paris, which made them fell the better. He was the first
that introduced a fort of Doggerel Verfe, called Maroticks, from his
name, and fince imitated moft fuccefsfully by Butier, in his Hudibras.
He died in 1544: Ibid.
This Author is fufficiently known. He is a fenfible, philofophie,
and entertaining Egotift. Ibid.
§ There were two of this name, Mathurin and Seraphin. The
firſt was a Satirift, of the fixteenth century; a great profligate, by his
own confeffion. The fecond was a Poet, of the feventeenth century,
and a perſon of good character. He tranflated Anacreon into Italian.
Ibid.
+
** So called from Menippus, an ancient Cynical Poet, who wrote
fome coarfe Satires, and then hanged himſelf. lbid.
T 4
in
280
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
in his own country, pronounced by Lingendes, in 1630,
was fo replete with fublime ftrokes of eloquence, that
Flechier, a long while after, borrowed the entire exor-
dium, as well as the text, and feveral remarkable paſ-
fages from it, to adorn his famous Funeral Oration upon
Viscount Turenne *.
Balzac, at that time gave numbers and harmony to
the French profe. His Letters, however, are written
in too bombaftical a ftile. He fays to the firft Cardinal
de Retzt, "You have taken the fceptre of Kings, and
"the livery of rofes." He wrote from Rome to Bois-
Robert, in fpeaking of fcented waters, "I fave my life
"by fwimming in my chamber through waves of per-
"fumes." Notwithſtanding his faults, he charms the
ear. Eloquence has fuch a power over the minds of
men, that Balzac was admired in his time, for having dif-
covered that ſmall part of this neceffary and neglected
art, which confifts in the harmonious choice of words;
and even for having often uſed them improperly .
Voiture afforded fome idea of the fuperficial graces of
an epiftolary ſtile, which is not the beft kind, becauſe it
confifts merely in entertaining. Two volumes of Epiftles
are but an idle work, which contain not a fingle Letter
that is inftructive, not one that flows from the heart, that
paints the manners of the times, or the characters of
men. This is rather an abuſe than an exercife of wit.
The language began to attain a purity, and affume a
more ſteady form. This was owing to the French Aca-
* He is ſpoken of in the Catalogue of the French Writers prefixed
to this work, Vol. I. Tranflator.
+ Uncle to the factious Prieſt of the Fronde. Ibid.
Alluding to his rank as a Prince, and to the colour of his fcarlet
robe. Ibid.
In a former Note, on the article of Balzac, in the Catalogue of the
French Writers, I took notice of a neglect in M. Voltaire, for not
mentioning the collection of Letters above spoken of; but I find now,
that he only deferred it to ſpeak more fully upon the fubject here.
He has certainly too much wit for the epiftolary ftile; but that we
may forgive him, as it is a ſcarce commodity; but he has ftill more
flattery, which we cannot pardon, as this is a drug. All his Stateſmen
are Solons, his Generals Cæfars, and his Bifhops Saints. Ibid.
demy,
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
281
demy, but more particularly to Vaugelas*. His tranfla-
tion of Quintus Curtius, which was publiſhed in 1646,
was the firſt good book written in a pure ftile; ſo that
very few of the phrafes or expreffions are yet become
obfolete.
Oliver Patru †, who followed foon after, contributed
to refine the language; and though he was not deemed
a profound lawyer, yet we are indebted to him for a juſt
difpofition, perfpicuity, decorum, and elegance of dif
courfe; merits abfolutely unknown before him at the
Bar.
One of the works which contributed the moſt to form
the taſte of the Nation, and to give it a reliſh of juſtneſs
and correctneſs, was the fmall collection of the Maxims
of Francis Duke of Rochefoucault. Though there is
but one truth in this book, namely, that ſelf-love is the
Spring of all our actions §, yet this thought prefents itſelf
under fuch a variety of afpects, that it is always ftriking.
It is not fo much a book, as the materials for embellishing
one. This little collection was much read and admired;
it accuſtomed men to think, and to comprize their
thoughts in a lively, correct, and delicate turn of expref-
fion. This was a merit that no Writer had poffeffed
before him in Europe, fince the revival of Letters.
But the first work of genius that appeared in profe, was
the collection of the Provincial Letters, in 1654 Examples
of every ſpecies of eloquence may there be found. There
is not a fingle word in it, which, after an hundred years,
has fuffered the change to which all living languages
are liable. We may refer to this work the æra when
our language became fixed. The Bishop of Luçon, fon
* Mentioned before in the Catalogue.
+ Ditto.
+ Principle, or propofition, would have been a jufter term here.-
Tranflator.
+ See the article under his name, and the Note upon it, in the Ca-
talogue. Such Menippean Satirifs fay, that even when a perfon per-
forms an action the most apparently difinterested, to his own lofs and
damage, yet the treafury of felf-love receives a fee from the very
pleasure of the deed. But pleaſure, in fuch cafes, is not the motive,
but the concomitant, only. Ibid.
of
282
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
1
1
of the celebrated Buffy, told me, that having aſked the
Biſhop of Meaux what work he would chufe to have been
the author of, exclufive of his own, Boffuet replied,
"The Provincial Letters." They have loft a good deal of
their poignancy fince the Jefuits have bee aboliſhed,
and the objects of their difputes fallen into contempt.
The good tafte which reigns throughout this work,
and the ft ength of the laft Letters, were not at firft fuf-
ficient to correct the loofe, diffufe, incorrect, and uncon-
nected file, which had fo long infected our Authors,
Preachers, and Pleaders at the Bar.
One of the first who difplayed in the pulpit a reafoning
uniformly eloquent, was Father Bourdaloue, about the
year 1668. He was a new light. There have fince ap-
peared other ecclefiaftical orators; as Maffillon, Biſhop
of Clermont, in whofe fermons are found more graces,
more delicate and maſterly pictures of the manners of
the age; but none of them can eclipſe Bourdaloue. In
his file, more nervous than florid, without the leaft
fancy in the expreffion, he feems rather to aim at con-
vincing, than infuming; and never labours to pleaſe.
1
Perhaps it were to be wifhed, that in banishing from
the pulpit that falle talte whereby it had been fo debated,
he had alfo fuppreffed the cuftom of preaching upon a
text. In reality, to fpeak a good while upon a quotation
of one or two lines, to weary one's felf in accommodating
the whole difcourfe to that line, feems to be a practice little
fuiting the gravity of a Divine. The text is a kind of
device, or rather enigma, to be explained by the fermon.
I his cuftom was unknown to the Greeks and Romans,
it aroft upon the decline of Letters, and has been confe-
crated by time.
The method of always dividing into two or three
beads, things that require no divifion, as morality; or
that require it a great deal more, as controverfy; is an
arbitrary cuftom, which Father Bourdaloue found efta-
blifhed, and with which he chofe to conform.
Boluet, afterwards Biſhop of Meaux, had preceded
him. He, who proved afterwards fo great a man, was
at first intended for the Bar, and contracted when very
young
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
283
young to Mademoiſelle Des-Vieux, a lady of extra-
ordinary merit. But his talents for divinity, and for
that kind of eloquence whereby he is particularly
diftinguiſhed, appeared fo very early, that his relations
and friends determined to dedicate him rather to the
Church. Mademoiſelle Des-Vieux interefted herſelf
in determining him in this point, preferring his glory
to the happineſs of ſpending her life with him *. In
1662, being yet very young, he preached before the
King and Queen-Mother, a long time before Father
Bourdaloue was known. His difcourfes, animated by
a noble and affecting manner, the first which had been
delivered at Court that approached the fublime, were
fo well received, that the King caufed a letter to be
written in his own name to his father, the Intendant
of Soiffons, congratulating him on the merit of his fon.
Nevertheleſs, when Bourdaloue appeared, Boffuet nɔ
longer was eſteemed the first preacher. He had applied
himſelf to the compofing funeral orations; a fpecies
of eloquence that requires imagination, and majestic
grandeur bordering a little on poetry, from which it
muſt always borrow fomething, though with difcretion,
when it aims at the fublime. The funeral oration of
the Queen-Mother, which he pronounced in 1667,
procured him the Bishopric of Condom; but it was a
performance unworthy of him, and was never printed,
no more than his fermons. The funeral elogium upon
the Queen of England, widow of Charles I. which he
delivered in 1669, is allowed in every part to be a
maſter-piece. The fubjects in thefe pieces of elo-
quence are happy, in proportion to the misfortunes.
ſuſtained by the deceafed. It is here, as in fome fort
of tragedy, where the great misfortunes of the principal
characters are what intereſt us mot.
His funeral oration on Madame †, who was fnatched
away in the flower of her youth, and expired in his
arms, had the great and uncommon effect of melting
* See the Catalogue of Writers, for the article Bɔffuet.
+
Henrietta Duchefs of Orleans.
the
284
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
the whole Court into tears. He was obliged to ftop
after theſe words: "O fatal night! O night of horror,
"when fuddenly was heard, like a clap of thunder, the
"fhocking found of Madame is dying! Madame is dead!"
The whole congregation fobbed, and the voice of the
crator was interrupted by their fighs and tears.
His
The French were the only people who fucceeded in
this kind of eloquence. A new one was foon after in-
vented by the fame perfon, which in any other hand could
fcareely have fucceeded. He applied the art of oratory
to hiſtory itſelf, which feems to exclude it.
Difcourfe upon Univerfal Hiftory, written for the uſe of
the Dauphin, is without model or imitation. Though
he has been oppoſed by the Learned in the fyftem which
he adopts for reconciling the Jewish chronology with
that of other nations, his ftile has been univerfally
admired. The World was aftonished at that majeſtic
force with which he deſcribes the manners, the govern-
ment, the rife and fall of the great empires; and
thoſe rapid ftrokes of energetic truth with which he
paints, and with which he judges the nations.
Almost all the works which reflect fo much honour
upon this Age, were of a fpecies unknown to antiquity.
Telemachus is of this number. Fenelon, the difciple,
the friend of Boffuet, and after, in fpite of himfelf,
become his rival and his enemy, compofed this fingular
work, which partakes at once of the romance and
poetry, and which fubftitutes a meafured profe in the
room of verfification. One would think that Fenelon
was inclined to treat romance as the Bishop of Meaux
had done hiſtory, by endowing it with a dignity and
charms before unknown; but more eſpecially to
deduce from theſe fictions a moral that might be uſeful
to mankind; a moral till then entirely neglected in every
fabulous invention. It has been generally believed,.
that he compofed this work to ferve for themes and
inftruction to the Duke of Burgundy, and the other
children of France, to whom he was preceptor, as
the Biſhop of Meaux had formed his Univerſal Hiſtory
for the education of the Dauphin. But I was affured
of
}
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
285
2
of the contrary, by the Marquis de Fenelon, the
nephew of this great man, who inherited all his virtues,
and was killed at the battle of Rocou. Nor does it
indeed feem probable, that the first leffons given by a
prieft to the children of France, fhould be the loves of
Calypfo and Eucharis.
It was not till after he was confined to his dioceſe of
Cambray, that he compofed this performance. Well
read in the Antients, and born with a lively and glowing
imagination, he formed a ftile peculiar to himſelf, and
wrote it with infinite eafe. I have feen the original
manuſcript, and there are not ten eraſures in the whole.
He compofed it in three months, in the height of his
unhappy diſputes about Quietifm; and his relaxations
were certainly preferable to his occupations. It is pre-
tended that the firft impreffion was taken from a copy
ftolen by one of his domeftics. If this be true, the
Archbishop of Cambray owes all the reputation which
he has acquired in Europe to this breach of truſt; but
to the fame caufe he is indebted alfo for being ever after
out of favour at Court. There were fome who ima-
gined they could trace in Telemachus an indirect re-
flection upon the Government of Louis XIV. Sefoftris,
too haughty in his triumphs; Idomeneus, who eita-
bliſhed luxury in Salentum, and neglected ceconomy,
were thought to be portraits of the King; yet, after
all, it was impoffible for him to have had a fuperfluity,
without a cultivation of the effential and neceffary arts.
The Marquis de Louvois was fuppofed by the male-
contents to be reprefented in the character of Protefi-
laus; vain, intractable, haughty, and an enemy to
thofe great Generals who chofe to ferve the State, and
not the Minifter.
The Allies, who in the war of 1668 united againſt
Louis XIV. and who in 1701 fhook his Throne, traced
his character with infinite pleafure in that of Idomeneus,
whofe haughtinefs had rendered him odious to all his
neighbours. Thefe allufions made the deeper impreffion,
by means of the harmony of the ftile, which fo gently
infinuates moderation and concord. Even the French
themfelves,
}
1
286
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
}
themſelves, as well as flrangers, tired out with fo
many wars, found a malicious confolation in tracing
a fatire of this kind through a book meant to inculcate
the principles of virtue. The editions of it were in-
numerable: I have feen fourteen in English. It is true,
that after the death of this Monarch, fo feared, fo
envied, fo refpected by all, fo hated by fome, when
the malignity of mankind ceafed to fatiate itſelf with
thoſe pretended allufions which cenfured his conduct,
the judges of the correcteſt taſte treated Telemachus
with feverity. They blamed it, as being too tedious.
and circumftantial; as having too little connection in
the adventures; befides the defcriptions of a country-
life occurring too often, and being too much of a piece;
yet the book has been always efteemed as one of the
fineſt monuments of a flourishing Age.
46
Among productions of a fingular kind, may be
counted the Characters of La Bruyere. We have no
copies of fuch a work among the Ancients *, no more
than of Telemachus. A ftile rapid, concife, and ner-
vous; expreffions picturefque; an entire new uſe of
language, without offending against its rules; capti-
vated the Public; and the allufions, which every where
occur, completed its fuccefs. When La Bruyere fhewed
his work in manufcript to Mr. Malezieux †, "It will
procure you (faid he) many readers, and many
"enemies." The reputation of this book funk in the
public opinion, when the whole generation against
which it was levelled was no more; yet, as there are
in it many paffages applicable to all times and all places,
there is room to believe it will never be entirely for-
gotten. Telemachus has had fome imitators; La Bruyere's
Charaters have produced many more. It is much
eafier to ſketch ſhort pictures of ftriking things, than to
produce a long work of imagination, which will at
once both pleafe and inftruct.
* Was not Theophraftus his model? Tranflator.
+ See the Catalogue of Writers.
2
The
1
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
287
i
•
The happy art of affociating the Graces with Philo-
fophy was a new thing, of which the Plurality of Worlds*
was the firft fpecimen, though a dangerous one; be-
cauſe the native drefs of Philofophy fhould be compofed
of order, perfpicuity, but more efpecially of truth.
There is nothing to hinder this ingenious work from
being ranked amongst our Claffics by pofterity, but
that it was partly founded upon Cartefius' chimerical
notion of the vortices.
To theſe new fpecies may be added Bayle's work,
who gave us a kind of reafoning dictionary. It is the
firft book of this fort whence a man may be taught to
think; though we muft indeed abandon to the fate
of common productions fuch articles in this collection,
as contain only trifling facts, unworthy of the character
of Bayle, beneath the attention of a grave reader, or
the regard of pofterity. It is neceffary to obſerve,
that in ranking Bayle among the authors who reflect
honour upon the Age of Louis XIV. though he was a
refugee in Holland, I only conform to the Decree of
the Parliament of Thouloufe, which in declaring his
will valid in France, notwithſtanding the rigour of the
laws, exprefsly faid, "Such a man cannot be looked
upon as a foreigner."
LC
We fhall not defcant here upon the multitude of
good books produced in this Age; we fhall only dwell
upon fuch new and fingular productions of Genius,
as characteriſe and diftinguith it from all others. The
eloquence, for example, of Boffuet and Bourdaloue
are not, nay cannot, be deemed fimilar to that of Cicero.
The merit, as well as the fpecies, was entirely new.
If any production of this era comes near the Roman
orator, it must be the three Pleadings of Peliffon,
compofed for Fouquet. They, like many of Tully's
orations, are a mixture of judicial and tate matters
folidly handled, with an art fcarcely difcernible, and
adorned with the molt affecting charms of oratory,
(
By Fontenelle.
We
288
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
!
We have had Hiftorians, but no Titus Livius. The
ftile of The Confpiracy of Venice may rank with Salluft:
that he was the Abbé de St. Real's model is evident, and
perhaps he has furpaffed him. All the other writings
of which we have been ſpeaking, ſeem to have been of
a new creation. And it is this which fo peculiarly
marks this illuftrious Age; for both the fixteenth and
ſeventeenth centuries have produced Scholars and Com-
mentators, but true Genius had not yet unfolded itſelf.
Who would believe that thefe excellent profe works,
of which we have taken notice, had probably never
exiſted, had they not been preceded by poetry? Yet
fuch has been the fate of the human underſtanding in
all nations, that verſe has every where been the firſt
offspring of Genius, and the parent of Eloquence.
It is the fame with men in general, as with particu-
lars. Plato and Cicero began with verfifying. When
every body had by heart the few fine verfes left us by
Malherbe, we had not one fublime or noble paffage
in profe to quote; and it is very likely that the genius
of proſe writers had never diſplayed itfelf, without the
aid of Peter Corneille *.
This great man is the more to be admired, becauſe
when he began to write Tragedies, he had none but the
very worst models before him; and as theſe bad patterns
were highly esteemed, he may be faid to have been
further ſhut out from the road to fuccefs: and the more
to augment his difcouragement, they were favoured by
Cardinal Richelieu, the protector of men of letters, but
not of taſte. He rewarded the moft miferable fcribblers,
who are commonly fycophants; and from his haughti-
nefs of mind, fo proper on other occafions, he endea
voured to humble men of real genius, whom he viewed
not without fome pique, as they feldom can ſtoop to
dependence. It rarely happens that a man of power
* This is a moft curious argument of M. Voltaire's. But, in
order to compleat it, he should have obferved, from the inftances he
adduces, of Plato and Cicero, that the writing of bad verles was the
best prognoftic of genius. Two exceptions would better prove a
general rule, than two examples. Tranflator.
cordially
'
1
有
​THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
289
cordially patronizes the beſt artiſts, when he himſelf is
an artist.
Corneille had the times, his rivals, and the Cardinal,
to combat. I fhall not rehearſe here all that has been
faid about The Cid; let it fuffice that the Acade ny, in
their critical decifions between Corneille and Scudery,
fhewed too much complaifance for his Eminence, in con-
demning the love of Chimene. To love the murderer
of her father, and yet perfift in avenging the murder,
was admirably fine. To have conquered her paffion
had been a capital defect in the tragic art, which con-
fifts principally in the ftruggles of the heart. But,
except to Corneille, the dramatic art was then entirely
unknown to the world. Nor was The Cid the only one
of his works which the Cardinal ftrove to depreciate
for the Abbé Polignac tells us, that he difapproved of
Polieuctes, allo. The Cid, after all, was a noble imi-
tation, and in many places a tranflation, of Guillain de
Caftro*. Cinna, which followed it, was original.
I knew an old domeſtic of the Condé family, who faid,
that at the firft exhibition of Cinna, the great Condé,
being then only twenty years old, fhed tears at theſe
lines pronounced by Auguſtus:
Je fuis mâitre de moi, comme de l'univers ;
Je le fuis, je veux l'être. O fiécles! ô mémoire !
Confervez à jamais ma nouvelle victoire.
Je triomphe aujourd'hui du plus jufte couroux,
De qui le fouvenir puiffe aller juſqu' à vous !
Soyons amis, Cinna; c'eft moi qui t'en convie.
Myfelf I govern, as the world I rule,
act and will. O Time! O Memory!
Hear and record this my new victory!
Behold me triumph over my just ire,
And let Pofterity the deed admire!
Cinna, let us be friend; 'tis Cæfar afks it.
;
There were two Spaniſh tragedies upon this ſubject; The Cid
of Guillain.de Caftro, and l'Honrador de Supadre of John Baptist
Dramante. Corneille imitated as many fcenes of Dramante, as of
Caltro. Voltaire.
VOL. II.
U
Theſe
290
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
Theſe were the tears of a hero. The great Corneille
forcing tears of admiration from the eyes of the great
Condé, is a moft celebrated epocha in the hiſtory of the
human mind. The many pieces unworthy of himfelf
which he afterwards publiſhed, will never hinder the
nation from regarding him as a great man; no more than
the confiderable blemishes of Homer have prevented his
being thought fublime. It is the privilege of true
genius, more eſpecially when it ftrikes out into a new
path, to launch with impunity into confiderable
errors *.
Corneille formed himself; but Louis XIV. Colbert,
Sophocles, and Euripides, all contributed to form
Racine. An ode which he compofed at the age of
eighteen, on the King's marriage, and for which he
obtained an unexpected prefent, determined him in
purſuit of poetry. His reputation encreaſes every day,
and that of the works of Corneille has fomewhat dimi-
niſhed; the reaſon of which is, that Racine, in all his per-
formances fubfequent to Alexander, is always correct,
always elegant, and always natural; that he ſpeaks
to the heart; while the other is often deficient in all
thefe refpects. Racine understood the paffions much
better than either the Greeks or Corneille and
carried the fmooth flow of verfification, as well as the
graces of expreffion, to the higheſt point they were
capable of. By thefe great men the nation was taught
to think, feel, and exprefs themſelves; and their audi-
tors, by them only inftructed, became at length judi-
cious critics of what their very mafters produced.
In the time of Cardinal Richelieu there were but
few people in France capable of difcerning the faults
19
*What prevented M. Voltaire from applying this remark to
Shakespeare? The Abbe Troublet juftly fays, "Si un ouvrage fans
defaute étoit poffible, il ne le feroit qu'à un homme mediocre.'
If a faultless work avere poffible, it could only be executed by a perfon of a
middling genius. He fays very well, alfo, in another place,
Il n'y
a rien de plus different, qu'un ouvrage fans defaut, et un ouvrage
parfat." There is nothing to different, as a faultless work, and a perfect
A diamond with a flaw is preferable to crystal. Tranflator.
..
ane.
"
of
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
291
of The Cid, and in 1702, when Athalia that maſter-
piece of dramatic writing, was performed at the houfe
of the Duchefs of Burgundy, the Courtiers thought
themſelves fufficient judges to condemn it. Time has
done the author juftice; but that great man died with-
out fharing in the fuccefs of his moft admitable compo-
fition.
There was ever a numerous party which were active
to decry Racine. Madame de Sevigné, the firft epiftolary
writer of her time, and who had particularly the art of
expreffing the mereft trifles with grace, always faid that
Racine's fame would never be great. She judged of
him as he did of coffee, about the virtues of which
the faid the Public would foon be undeceived.
is requifite to ripen reputations.
Time
The fingular fortune of this æra rendered Moliere
contemporary with Corneille and Racine. It is not true
that Moliere at his first appearance found the ftage
utterly devoid of good Comedies. Corneille had pro-
duced his Lyar, a piece taken from the Spaniſh, as well
as The Cid, a piece of character and intrigue; and
Quinault's Coquet-mother, a piece not only abounding
with character and intrigue, but even the very model of
intrigue, had been exhibited, when only two of Moliere's
capital pieces were prefented. It made its appearance
in 1664, and is the firft Comedy in which appears the
character of a ſpecies of men fince called Marquis'.
Moſt of the Nobility of Louis XIV.'s Court endea-
voured to imitate the grandeur, fplendour, and dignity
of their Sovereign. Thofe of an inferior clafs copied
the exalted air of their fuperiors; and there were many
who carried their conceit and predominant defire of
being thought of confequence, to the moft ridiculous
height.
This humour prevailed long. It was often attacked
by Moliere, and he contributed to rid the Public of
theſe important fubalterns; as well as of the affectation
of prudes, the pedantry of female learning, and the
jargon of lawyers and phyficians. Moliere was, if one
may be permitted to ufe the expreffion, the law-giver of
politeness
U 2
292
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
politeness to the world.
I only here fpeak of the
fervices he rendered to the Age: every body knows
fufficiently his other merits.
This was an æra worthy the attention of futurity,
when the heroes of Corneille and Racine, the characters
of Moliere, the mufical compofitions of Lully, fo very
new to the nation, and (fince we only fpeak here of the
arts) the eloquence of a Boffuet and a Bourdaloue, were
exhibited before a Louis XIV. a Duchefs of Orleans,
fo remarkable for the moſt finiſhed taſte, a Condé, a
Turenne, a Colbert, and that croud of illuftrious
men, of every fort, that now appeared. Thoſe times
will never return, wherein a Duke de la Rochefoucault,
author of the Maxims, after enjoying the converſation
of a Paſcal and an Arnauld, ſhall repair to the theatre
of Corneille.
Defpreaux raiſed himſelf to the rank of thefe great
men, not by his first fatires, for pofterity will not be
much entertained with an account of the Troubles of
Paris, or with the names of the Caffaignes and the
Cotins; but he has inftructed that pofterity by his fine
epiftles, and efpecially by his Art of Poetry, where
even Corneille might have found many uſeful leffons.
La Fontaine, lefs chafte in his ftile, lefs correct in his
language, but inimitable in his naïveté, and thoſe graces
peculiar to his manner, raiſed himſelf, by the fimplicity of
his narrations, nearly to an equality with thofe fublime
Genius's.
Quinault, who excelled in a new mode of writing, the
more difficult for its appearing to be the more eafy,
juſtly deſerves a place amongſt theſe his illuftrious con-
temporaries. The injuftice wherewith Boileau decried
him is well known. Boileau had never learned to fa-
crifice to the Graces; and it was in vain, that he all his
life fought to humble a man who was only infpired by
them. The greateſt praiſe that can be given to a Poet,
is to remember his verfes. Whole fcenes of Quinault
are got by heart, an advantage at which the Italian
Opera could never arrive. French mufic has remained
in a ftate of fimplicity which is no longer the taſte of
any
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
293
any other Nation; but thofe fimple and beautiful ſtrokes
of Nature which fo frequently charm in Quinault, ftill
pleaſe in every part of Europe thoſe who are mafters of
the French tongue, and poffefs a refined taſte. Had we
found fuch poems as an Armida, or an Alys, among
the remains of antiquity, with what idolatry had they been
received! but Quinault was a modern.
All theſe great men were known and patronized by
Louis XIV. except La Fontaine. His extreme fimpli-
city, which amounted even to a neglect of himſelf, kept
him at a diſtance from Court, where he never once
thought of appearing. The Duke of Burgundy fought
him out, and in his old age he received fome favours
from that Prince. He was, notwithſtanding his genius,
as fimple in his manners as the heroes of his fables.
Pouget, one of the Fathers of the Oratory, thinks he has
great merit in treating this man of fuch innocent man-
ners as if he ſpoke of a Brinvilliers, or a Voifin. His
tales are only from Poggius, Ariofto, and the Queen of
Navarre. If wantonnefs be dangerous, it is not wit or
humour that impofes it. One may apply to La Fon-
taine his admirable fable of the Beasts fick of the Plague,
which accufe each other of their fins the lions, the
wolves, and the bears, are pardoned every thing, and an
innocent animal is devoured for having nibbled a little
grafs. In the fchool of thefe Genius's, deftined to be
the delight and inftruction of pofterity, were formed
many men of wit, who have produced a multitude of
elegant little pieces, which ferve to amufe people of
taſte, juft as we have feveral good painters who are yet
unequal to Pouffin, Le Sueur, Le Brun, Le Moine, or
Vanloo.
But towards the end of Louis XIV's reign, two men
rofe fuperior to the clafs of mediocrity, and acquired a
great degree of reputation. One was La Motte-Hou
cart, rather of a more folid and extenfive, than a fu-
blime capacity. In profe he was delicate and metho-
dical; but in his poetry often wanted that fire and ele-
See the Catalogue of Writers, for his name.
№ 3
gance,
294
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV:
gance, even that correctnefs, the neglect of which is only
to be diſpenſed with in favour of the fublime. He has,
however, given us fome beautiful ftanzas, for they can-
not be properly called odes. His talents were not long-
lived, yet the many beautiful pieces he has left us, of
more than one kind, are fufficient to fet him above au-
thors of the loweſt claſs. In him is proved, that, in the
art of writing, fome may rank as feconds.
The other was Rouffeau, who, with lefs genius, lefs
art and facility, than La Motte, had yet greater talents.
for verfification. His odes were written after La Motte;
but they are more beautiful, more diverſified, and fuller
of imagery. In his pfalms, he comes up to that rapture
and harmony fo remarkable in the Canticles of Racine.
His epigrams are better finished than thofe of Marot.
He had lefs fuccefs in operas, which require fenfibility;
nor did he fucceed in comedy, in which a fpirit of gaiety
is neceffary; nor in his moral epiftles, which muſt be
founded in truth. In thefe requifites he may be deficient;
therefore in theſe kinds of writing he did not fucceed,
becauſe they were foreign to his genius.
Had the Marotic ftile *, which he uſed in his ſerious
works, been imitated, he would have corrupted the
French tongue but happily that mixture of the purity
of our language, with the obfolete dialect fpoken above
two hundred years before, did not long maintain its
ground. Some of his epiftles are ftill imitations of Boi-
leau, and are not compoſed of notions fufficiently clear,
nor of acknowledged truths: truth only is amiable.
He degenerated in foreign countries: whether his
genius was impaired by his misfortunes, or that his prin-
cipal merit confifting in a choice of words and happy
turns of expreffion, perfections more neceffary and un-
common than is generally imagined, he had not abroad
the fame advantages he might have found at home. Ex-
iled from his native land, he might rank it among his
{
*In the burleſque flile of Marot, a latitude was uſed of mixing ob-
folete words and expreffions with the modern languages, which though
well enough there, was abfurd in graver compofitions. Tranflator.
misfor
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
295
!
misfortunes, that he was no longer under the eye of fe-
vere criticiſm.
His long misfortunes had their foundation in an un-
governable felf-love, too much intermixed with jealouly
and animofity. His example fhould be a ftriking leffon
to all men of talents; but we only confider him here as
a Writer who has not a little contributed to the honour
of Letters.
We have had few great Genius's fince the glorious
days of thefe illuftrious men ; and Nature feemed as it
were to repofe herfelf, a little time before the death of
Louis the Great *.
:
The road was difficult at the beginning of this Age,
becauſe untrodden; it is ſo now likewife, becauſe it has
been beaten †. The great men of the preceding cen-
tury have taught us to think and fpeak; they have in-
formed us of things which were before unknown. But
little now is left to be faid by their fucceffors. In fine,
the multitude of excellent pieces has occafioned a kind
of fatiety in literature.
The Age of Louis XIV. had in every thing, there-
fore, the fate of the Ages of Leo X. of Auguftus, and of
Alexander. The foils which produced in thele illuftrious
times fo many fruits of genius, had been long before
preparing to rear them. In vain have we fearched out
in caufes moral and phyfical, the reafon of this flow
fruitfulneſs, and of the long fterility that enfued. The
true reafon is, that among the Nations which cultivate
the polite arts, it requires many years to purify their
language and refine their tafte. When thefe prelimi-
naries are adjuſted, then genius begins to bloom. Emu-
lation and public favour lavifhed upon thefe new efforts,
excite every talent. Each artift in his particular fphere
feizes upon thoſe natural beauties which correfpond with
his art.
Whoever fathoms the theory of fuch arts as
depend purely upon genius, muft, if he has any himſelf,
*What an hyperbole is here! Every thing bears reference to
Louis XIV. See the Notes in pages 3 and 108, Vol. I. Tranflator.
†The metaphor is falfe here, as referring to travelling. Ibid.
U 4
know
296
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
T
know that the primary beauties, the grand natural out-
lines p. culiar to fuch arts, and which are fuited to the
Nation for which their talents are employed, are in num-
ber very confined. The fubjects and their fuitable em-
bellishments have boundaries ftill more contracted than
is gen rally imagined.
Th Abbe du Bos, a man of great good fenfe, who,
in 114, compofed a Treatife upon Poetry and Painting,
found not in the whole Hiftory of France one proper
ſubject for an epic poem, but the deftruction of the
League by Henry the Great. He ought to have added,
that the ornaments of the epopea fuitable to the Greeks
and Romans, and the Italians of the fifteenth and fix-
teenth centuries, being profcribed by the French Writers;
the fabulous deities, oracles, invulnerable heroes, mon-
ſters, forceries, metamorpholes, romantic adventures, now
all generally exploded; the beauties proper to epic
poetry are confined within a very narrow circle. If
therefore at any time a Genius fprings up, who poffeffes
himſelf of all the embellifhents fuitable to the times,
to the fubject, and to the nation, and executes what he
has attempted, thofe who follow him will find the
whole fund exhaufted,
It is the fame in tragic compofitions. It is not to be
ſuppoſed that ſublime paffages and elevated fentiments can
* Here the Author alludes to his own Poem, entitled La Henriade.
We cannot, however, fubfcribe to his opinior, or that of the Critics,
who fuppofe the epopea depends fo much on the machinery of Heathen
Gods. &c. from the ufe of which we Chriftian Authors are excluded:
for gianting the ſcene or plan of the work is laid within the pale of
the Church, the opinions and traditions of our own fuperftition ſupply
the Author with a fund of machinery as ample as any that antiquity
can produce. We have our demons, fatires, forceries, prophecies, ap-
paritions, dreams, and even metamorphofes, with all the romantic
adventures of chivalry, which, if properly exhibited, would produce
as good an effect as the intervention of the Gods of Homer, which,
in spite of all that has been faid in their defence, certainly outrage
probability, and would be a difgrace to any fyftem of religion. After
all, notw thſtanding what Ariftotle, Poflu, Rapin, and other Critics
have faid of the fable and the machinery of the Epic Poem, we will
venture to affirm, that the fuccef of it does not fo much depend upon
the contrivance of the Poet, in thefe particulars, as upon the characters
or manners, the imagery and verfification of the performance. Smollet.
be
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
297
be fufceptible of fuch infinite variety as to be always new
and affecting every thing has its boundaries.
Nor is the cafe different, with regard to genteel comedy;
there is not in human nature above a dozen characters
truly comic and highly marked. The Abbé du Bos,
not having genius himfelf, thinks that men of wit may
ftrike out a variety of new characters; but they muft
all be founded in Nature. He imagines that thofe trifling
peculiarities which mark the different characters of men,
may be as happily handled as the ftronger diſtinctions.
The fhades, indeed, are innumerable, but her moft giar-
ing colours are not many; and it is thefe great primary
rays that the great mafters of Comedy generally make
uſe of *.
Pulpit oratory, particularly that which relates to funeral
eulogium, is in the fame ftate. Moral truths being once
delivered with eloquence, the images of wretchedneſs
and human weaknels, the vanity of grandeur, and the
devaſtations of death, being once drawn by maiterly
hands, in time become common-place. We are reduced
to the neceffity of imitating, or erring from the point.
A fufficient number of fables being compofed by a La
Fontaine, all further additions enter into the ſame fyftem
of morality; and the courſe of adventure is nearly the
fame. Thus genius has but its æra, after which it muſt
neceffarily degenerate.
Thofe kinds of fcience whofe fubjects permit of per-
petual renewal, fuch as history and natural philoſophy,
and which require only induftry, judgment, and a com-
mon underſtanding, may more eafily keep their ground;
* Without entering into a difcuffion of this point, whether Nature
has not produced more than a dozen original comic characters, we
hall beg leave to obſerve, that it is the bufinefs of Comedy to paint
the follies of the age: and every body knows, that the follies of life
are infinitely varied, acording to fashion, tine, and circumftance.
Smollet.
M. Voltaire confines the fcope of Comedy within too narrow limits.
'Tis the diftinguishing trokes of a general character which produce
the fineſt effect in the comic fcene. A piece of painting compofed
only of the prifmatic colours, without their fhades, would be but a
daub. Tranflater.
བྷཏཾ་
298
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV,
•
>
and the manual arts, fuch as painting and fculpture, can
never degenerate, when Princes, after the example of
Louis XIV. are careful only to employ the beſt maſters.
For, in painting and fculpture, the fame fubjects may be
treated an hundred different ways. The Holy Family is
drawn every day, though it is a fubject on which Ra-
phael has difplayed the utmoſt power of his art but it
would be abfurd again to undertake a Cinna, an Andro-
mache, an Art of Poetry, or a Tartuffe *
It may be farther obferved, that the laft age having
inftructed the prefent, it is become fo eafy to write in-
different things, that we have been over-run with trifling
books; and, what is ftill worfe, many of them as ferious
as uſeleſs. But amidft this quantity of pieces of fmall
merit, an evil become neceffary in a large city, opulent
and idle, where one part of the people are always ftriving
to amuſe the other, there will now and then be found
fome excellent tracts, either of history or reflection, or
of that fuperficial kind of writing which amufes every
body t.
The French Nation has, above all others, produced
moſt of theſe performances. Its language is become the
* We cannot think this a fair comparifon. A picture appeals in-
ftantaneously to the eye, which enjoys it at the first glance: but a man
must take fome pains to become a judge of tragedy. A picture is a
valuable piece of furniture, an original ornament, of which the owner
is fole poffeffor; an eighteen-penny pamphlet makes no figure at all,
and is befides commen to thousands; a circumftance that muft greatly
diminish its value. Yet we will be bold to fay, that if the fame fub-
ject for tragedy was treated by a dozen different Authors of eſtabliſhed
reputation, we fhould perufe them all with pleafure; and if there was
but one copy of cach, it would, perhaps, fetch as great a price as an
original Madona. Smollet.
The writings of the prefent age have been undervalued. not from
their mediocrity, but from their abundance. Genius is become cheap,
because the market is overlocked. Mr. Pope was careffed by the
Great, as the firft Poet of the age. His friendship was courted by the
fifi perions in the nation; and his fortune was made at once by a li-
beral fubfcription. Let it not be imagined we want to detract from
the memory or fame of this excellent Writer, when we declare our
op.nion, that there are now living feveral Authors equal to Pope in
poetical merit, who have never feit one ray of patronage or protection.
language
1
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
299
3
language of Europe; every thing has contributed to
this; the celebrated Writers of the Age of Louis XIV.;
thofe who fucceeded them; the Calvinift Minifters who
were refugées, and carried eloquence and method into
other countries;a Bayle, above all, who wrote in Hol-
land, and was read throughout Europe; a Rapin de
Thoyras, who publifhed in French the only good Hif-
tory of England; a St. Evremond, whofe acquaintance
was fought by the whole Engliſh Court; a Dutchess of
Mazarin, whom they were all ambitious to pleaſe; and a
Madame d'Olbreufe, afterwards Dutchefs of Zell, who
carried into Germany all the graces of her native country.
The focial fpirit is the natural characteristic of the
French; a merit and pleaſure of which other Nations
feel the want. The French tongue is, of all other
languages, that which expreffès every fubject of polite
convertation with the greateſt eaſe, correctneſs, and ele-
gance, and thereby contributes, all over Europe, to one
of the greateſt pleaſures of life.
CHA P.
XXXIII.
Sequel of the Arts.
HE arts which do not depend folely upon the
Tmind, fuch as Mufic, Painting, Sculpture, and
Architecture, made but ſmall progrefs in France, be-
fore that æra which we name the Age of Louis XIV.
Muſic was as yet in its infancy; all that we knew were
fome languid fongs, and a few airs for the violin, the
guittar, and theorbo, moft even of which were compoſ
ed in Spain. The tafte, the fkill of a Lully, furprifed
the nation. He was the first who in France introduced
bafes, half-notes, and fugues. However ealy and
fimple his compofitions may now appear, the executing
This affertion will, we hope, admit of a difpute. Rapin reign-
ed for fome years, becauſe there was no competitor. The cafe is other-
wife at prefent *. Śmollett.
*N. B. Dr. Sinoliet wrote a History of England himself. Tronflator.
of
3
300
THE AGE OF LOUIS XI
3
of them muft at firſt have coft ſome pains. There are
at this time a thoufand people who underſtand mufic,
for one who was a maſter of it in the days of Louis
XIII. and the art has arrived at perfection, in the pro-
greffion *.
Few great towns are now without a public concert;
whereas then there was not one, even in Paris. The
King's band of twenty-four violins, was all the mufic
of France. The different fpecies of fcience belonging
to mufic, and its dependent arts, made afterwards fuch
a progrefs, that, about the end of Louis XIV.'s reign,
the art of pricking down dances was invented; fo that
it may now be truly faid we dance by book.
In the Regency of Mary of Medicis, we had very
great architects.
She built the Palace of Luxemburg
in the Tufc.n ftyle, to do honour to her own country,
and embellish ours. The fame Defbroffes to whom we
owe the portal of St. Gervais, built that Queen's Palace,
which he never enjoyed. Cardinal Richelieu, with equal
greatnefs of foul, came not near her in tafte. His Pa-
lace, which now belongs to the Crown, is a proof of
When that beautiful front of the Louvre, which
with regret we ftill behold unfinished, was firft raiſed,
we conceived the warmest expectations. Many magni-
ficent buildings have been erected by citizens; but they
have been more highly finifhed within than without, and
contribute more to gratify the luxury of individuals,
than to the embellishment of the city.
it.
Colbert, the Mecenas of the Arts, founded an Academy
of Architecture in 1671. It is not enough to have
Vitruvius's, we must alfo haye Auguftus's to employ
them.
It is alfo neceffary that the municipal magiftrates
ſhould be men of public fpirit, and poffeffed of taſte.
Two or three fuch Mayors of Paris as the Prefident
Turgot, would have prevented the reproach now caft
*What mufic may have gained in compofition, it feems to have
loft in expreffion for the modern refinements of this art are calcu-
lated to tickle the car, rather than wake or affuage the paffions of the
heart. Smollet,
upon
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
301
upon
that city, on account of the Town-houſe, ſo badly
built, and fo ill fituated; of the public fquare, fo finall
and irregular, remarkable only for executions and bon-
fires; of the principal ftreets, fo extremely narrow;
and, in fine, of thoſe remains of barbarity, ſtill ſubſiſt-
ing in the midst of grandeur, and in the very bofom of
all the arts.
Painting began with Pouffin, in the days of Louis
XIII. It is not worth while to take notice of the indif-
ferent artiſts in that way who preceded him. We have
always fince his time had great painters; though not in-
deed in that abundance which conftitutes one of the
riches of Italy. But to fay nothing of Le Sueur, who
had no other mafter but himfelf; or Le Brun, who, in
defign and compofition, equalled the Italians; yet we.
can boaſt of more than thirty painters, who have left be-
hind them pieces worthy of admiration. Foreigners be-
gin to purchaſe them of us. I have feen the galleries
and apartments of a great Monarch*, which have been
adorned with our pictures only, of whofe merit we
were not, perhaps, fufficiently apprized. I have known
in France twelve thoufand livres refuted for a picture of
Santerre. Europe cannot boaſt a greater, nor perhaps
a finer piece of painting, than the cieling at Verfailles,
by Le Moine.
We have loft Vanloo, whom even foreigners allowed
to be the first in Europe. Colbert not only gave to the
Academy of Painting its prefent form, but prevailed allo
upon Louis XIV. to eſtabliſh one at Rome, in 1667.
An houfe was there purchafed for the Superintendant.
Scholars are ſent thither who have obtained the premi-
um in the Academy at Paris. They are fent and main-
tained there at the King's expence. They defign after
antiques, and ſtudy the works of Raphael and Michael
Angelo. This ambition of imitating her is a noble ho-
mage paid to ancient and modern Rome; and we ft.l
continue it, notwithſtanding the immenfe collection of
Italian pictures made by the Duke of Orleans and the
*The King of Pruffia.
King,
302
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
King, and thofe mafter-pieces of fculpture, produced
in France, which have fet us above the fearch after fo-
reign affiftance.
We have principally excelled in fculpture, and in
the art of cafting in metal coloffal equeftrian figures, at
a fingle heat.
Should there hereafter be diſcovered in ruins fuch
mafter-pieces of art as the baths of Apollo, expoſed to
all the injuries of the weather in the gardens of Verſailles;
the tomb of Cardinal Richelieu in the Chapel of the
Sorbonne, not fufficiently pointed out to the Public;
the equeſtrian ſtatue of Louis XIV. made at Paris, to
embelliſh Bourdeaux; the Mercury fent by the preſent
King of France as a prefent to his Majefty of Pruffia;
and other performances equal in merit to thofe I have
named; is it not probable they would fet this Age in a
light as advantageous as the moſt poliſhed æra of anci-
tient Greece?
We have equalled the Antients in our medals. Va-
rin was the first who raiſed this art above mediocrity,
about the end of the reign of Louis XIII. The number
and variety of theſe pieces which we fee ranged in hif-
torical order in that part of the Gallery of the Louvre
affigned to the Artifts, is furpriſing. There are above
two millions, and moſt of them very maſterly executed.
Nor have we been lefs fuccefsful in the art of engrav-
ing on precious ftones. That of multiplying pictures, of
perpetuating them by means of copper-plates, and tranf
mitting with eaſe to pofterity all the reprefentations of
art and nature, was, before this time, in a very imper-
fect ftate in France. It is one of the moft ufeful and
pleafing arts. We are indebted for it to the Florentines,
among whom it was invented, about the middle of the
fifteenth century; and it has been more improved in
France than even in the place of its difcovery, becauſe
we have made a greater number of works in that way.
The King's collection of prints has been often confidered
as one of the moft magnificent prefents that could be
given to Ambaffadors. Chafing in gold and filver,
which depends upon defign and tafte, has been carried
2
to
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
303
to the higheſt perfection which the hand of man is ca-
pable of.
Having thus run through all thofe arts which contri-
bute to the delight of individuals, and the glory of the
State, let us not pafs over in filence one of the moſt uſe-
ful of them all, in which France furpaffes all nations of
the world; I mean Surgery, the progrefs of which was
fo rapid and celebrated in this Age, that people crowded
to Paris from all parts of Europe, for thofe cures and
operations which required uncommon dexterity of hand.
And, befides that good furgeons were to be found fcarce-
ly any where but in France, it was the only country in
which the inftruments neceffary to that art, were pro-
perly finished. They fupplied all their neighbours;
and the celebrated Chefelden, one of the greateſt ſur-
geons in London, told me, that it was he who first
caufed them to be fabricated in that city, in 1715.
Phyfic, which contributes to perfect the chirurgical art,
did not make a fwifter progrefs in France, than in
England, and under Boerhaave* in Holland. But
we may fay of phyfic as of philofophy, that, by making
ufe of the lights communicated to us by our neighbours,
we have raiſed it to the greateft poffible perfection.
Thus have I given, in general, a faithful portrait of
the progrefs of the human genius, among the French,
in this Age, which commenced under Cardinal Riche-
lieu, and ended with our own times. It will be diffi-
cult to furpaſs it; and even though this fhould happen
in fome things, it will ever remain a model for thoſe
more fortunate Ages to which it may give birth.
Boorhaave. In Dutch the diphthong or is pronounced o. Voltaire.
CHAP:
4
304.
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
CHA P.
XXXIV.
Of the Fine Arts in Europe, in the Time of Louis XIV.
HAVE fufficiently hinted, in the courfe of this
Hiftory, that the public difafters it contains, and
which fucceed one another almoft without intermiffion,
are at length eraſed from the regiſters of time. The
fprings, and the details of politics fink into oblivion.
Wife laws, inftitutions, and the monuments produced
by the Arts and Sciences, remain for ever.
Of the immenfe crowd of ftrangers that now travel
to Rome, not as plgrims, but as perfons of taſte,
hardly one is at the pains to enquire any thing concern-
ing Gregory VII. or Boniface VIII. They admire the
beautiful churches built by a Bramantes and a Michael
Angelo, the paintings of a Raphael, and the fculptures
of a Bernini. If they have genius, they read the works
of Ariofto and Taffo, and reverence the afhes of
Galileo. In England, Cromwell is fcarcely mentioned,
and the difputes of the White and Red Rofes are almoſt
forgotten; but Newton is ftudied for whole years together.
No one is furpriſed to fee in his epitaph, "That he was
"the glory of mankind;" but it would be matter of
great wonder in that country, to ſee the remains of any
ſtateſman honoured with fuch a title.
I fhould be glad, in this place, to do juftice to all
great men, who, like him, were the ornaments of their
country in the laft century. I have called this the
Age of Louis XIV. not only becaufe this Monarch
patronized the arts much more than all the other
Kings his co temporaries put together, but alſo,
becauſe he lived to fee all the generations of the Princes
of Europe thrice renewed. I have fixed this epocha
fome years before the time of Louis XIV. and have
carried it down fome years after his deceafe, as this
was in fact the ſpace of time in which the human mind
made the greatelt progrefs.
The
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
305
The Engliſh have made greater advances towards
perfection, in almoſt every fpecies of learning, from
1660 to the prefent time, than in all the preceding
ages. I fhall not here repeat what I have elſewhere
faid of Milton *. It is true, he is accuſed by ſeveral
critics, of a ſtrange extravagance in his defcriptions;
his fools paradife; the walls of alabafter with which
the garden of Eden was furrounded; his devils, who
transformed themſelves from giants to pigmies, to take
up lefs room in the council-chamber of hell, built all
of pure gold; the firing of cannons in heaven; the hills
that the combatants flung at each other's heads, che-
rubims on horfeback, and feraphims whofe bod es a e
cut afunder, and unite again. He is condemned for his
prolixity and inceffant repetitions. They fay he neither
equals Ovid nor Hefiod, in that long defcription of
the formation of the earth, animals, and man. His
differtations on aftronomy are cenfured, as being too dry,
and his inventions are thought rather extravagant than
marvellous, and more difguiling than ftriking; fuch
as a long caufeway over the chaos; Sin and Death
enamoured of each other, and having children by their
incestuous commerce; and Death, who lifts up his nofe
to fnuff, through the immensity of chaos, the change
which befel the earth, as a raven fmeils dead carcafes;
the fame Death who fmells out Sin, who strikes with
his petrifying club on the Cold and on the Dry. which,
together with Heat and Humidity, becoming four
valiant generals of an army, lead in battle-array the
light-armed embrios of atoms. In short, criticiim has
exhaufted itſelf upon this work, but there can be no
end to the prafes it merits. Milton remains the boaſt and
admiration of the English nation; he is compared to
Homer, whole faults are equally great, and is preferred
to Dante, whoſe imagination is even more extravagant.
Among the great number of pleafing Poets that
adorned the reign of Charles II. fuch as Waller, the
Earls of Dorfer and Rofcommon, the Duke of Buck-
* See Page 147, Vol. I. and the ſecond Note in the fame place.
VOL. II.
X
ingham,
306
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
ingham, &c. the celebrated Dryden holds a diftinguished
place, who was equally famous in all the different.
fpecies of poetry. His writings abound with a number
of minute particulars, at once natural and brilliant,
animated, bold, nervous, and pathetic; a merit in
which he has been equalled by no other Poet of his
nation, nor furpaffed by any one among the Antients.
If Pope, who came after him, had not, in the latter
part of his life, written his Effay on Man, he would
have fallen far fhort of Dryden *.
No nation has ever treated morality, in verfe, with
fo much energy and depth, as the English. In this, I
think, feems to lie the greateft merit of their Poets.
There is another kind of varied literature, which
requires a ſtill more cultivated and univerfal genius; this
was what Addiſon poffeffed. He has not only immortalized
his name by his Cato, which is the only Engliſh tragedy
written with elegance and well-fupported dignity †,
but his other writings, both moral and critical, breathe
the fpirit of true tafte: here fenfe is every where
embelliſhed with the flowers of imagination; and his
manner of writing may ferve as a model to all nations.
There are feveral little pieces of Dean Swift, of which
there is no model in antiquity. He is Rabelais per-
fected I.
The English are not acquainted with funeral orations,
it not being the cuſtom with them to praife their Kings
and Queens in their churches; but pulpit-eloquence,
which before the reign of Charles II. was very coarfe
* We need only compare their two Odes on Mufic, together, the
Alexander's Feaft, of Dryden, and the Ode to St. Cecilia, of Pope,
to be certain of this afiertion. The attempt in Pope of meafuring
a lance with Dryden, was both vain and invidious: the liberal mind
mult, therefore, rejoice at his defeat. Tranflator.
+ Voltaire prefers this play, becaufe 'tis written more according to
the French model; with more declamation and fentiment, than either
action or pafion. But Doctor Johnfon, upon comparing it with one
of Shakespeare's, fays, very juftly, that Addifon fpeaks the lan-
guage of Pests, but Shakespeare that of Men." Ibid.
+6
I Some Writer files him, Rabelais in his fenfes; and Doctor Bocr-
haave called him, Ilomo heterocliti ingenii. Tranflator.
in
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV..
307
in London, became reformed on a fudden. Bishop
Burnet acknowledges, in his Memoirs, that this was.
owing to their imitation of the French. Perhaps they
have furpaffed their mafter; their fermons are lefs ftiff,
lefs affected, and lefs declamatory than the French.
It is also very remarkable that thefe Iflanders, fepa-
rated from the rest of the world, and inftructed fo late,
fhould have acquired at least as much knowledge of
antiquity as is to be acquired in Rome, though ſo long
the center of all nations. Marfham has unveiled the
dark accounts of ancient Egypt; no Perfian had
ever a more perfect knowledge of the religion of Zo-
roafter, than the celebrated Hyde *. The Hiftory of
Mahomet, and the times preceding him, which was
unknown to the Turks, has been fully illuftrated by
the Engliſhman Sale, who made fo many ufeful voyages
to Arabia.
. There is no country in the world where the Chriftian
religion has been fo ftrongly attacked, and fo learnedly
defended, as in England. From the time of Henry VIII.
to that of Cromwell, they carried on their difputes like
the ancient fort of gladiators who entered the arena
with the fcymetar in their hand, and a bandage over their
eyes. Some flight differences in doctrine and worſhip
were then productive of the moft bloody wars; but
though fince the Reftoration to the prefent time, ſcarce
a year has paffed without fome attack upon the whole
of Christianity, the controverfy has not excited the
leaſt diſturbance; learning being the only weapon now
employed: formerly it was fire and ſword.
But it is in philofophy that the English have particular-
ly had the advantage over all other nations. They never
amufed themlelves with ingenious fyftems. The fables
of the Greeks fhould have been long laid aſide, and
thofe of the moderns ought never to appear. Chancel-
lor Bacon firſt led the way, by affèrting that we ſhould
ſearch into Nature in a new manner, and have recourſe
to experiments. Boyle employed his whole life in
• Doctor Thomas Hyde.
X 2
making
108
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
making them. This is no place for difcuffions in
natural philofophy; let it fuffice to fay, that, after
three thousand years of vain enquiries, Newton was the
first who discovered and demonftrated the great law
of Nature, by which every part of matter tends towards
a center, and all the planets are retained in their proper
courſe. He was the firft who truly beheld light;
before him we knew not what it was.
His principles of the mathematics, which contain
a ſyſtem of natural philofophy entirely new and true,
are founded on the difcovery of a calculation, called,
but improperly, of Infinites, the laft effort of geometry,
and which was performed by him at the age of twenty-
four. This occafioned that great Philofopher the
learned Halley to fay, "That it will never be per-
"mitted any mortal to approach nearer to the Deity *."
Numberle's good geometricians and natural philo-
fophers were enlightened by his diſcoveries, and excited
by him. Bradley, at length, went fo far as to diſcover
the parallax + of the fixed ftars, at twelve millions of
miles diſtance from our little globe.
The fame Halley whom I have juſt mentioned,
though no more than a private aftronomer, had the
command of one of the King's fhips in the year 1698.
In this fhip he determined the poſition of the ſtars of the
Antarctic Pole, and marked the different variations
of the compafs in all the parts of the known world.
The famous voyage of the Argonauts was, in com-
parifon of his, no more than the paffing a ferry in a
boat; and yet this voyage
of Halley's has fcarcely been
fpoken of in Europe.
This indifference of ours for great things, when
become too familiar, and the admiration paid by the
ancient Greeks to the moſt trivial ones, is another proof
of the prodigious fuperiority of our Age over the
ancient times. Boileau in France, and Sir William
* A fublime compliment, and a fine expreffion. Tranflator.
+ The difference between the true and apparent fituation of any
object viewed through a refractie medium. Ibid.
t The South Pole. Ibid.
Temple
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
309
Temple in England, obftinately deny any fuch fupe-
riority; they feem refolved to depreciate their own Age,
in order to exalt themſelves above it. This difpute
between the antients and moderns, is at length decided,
at leaſt as to philofophy. There is not one of the
ancient philofophers, whofe works are now made uſe of
for the inftruction of youth in any of the enlightened
nations.
Locke alone might ferve as a great inftance of the
advantage the prefent time has over the fineſt Ages of
Greece. From Plato down to him, there is a perfect
void; no one, during all that interval, having explained
the operations of the foul; and a perfon who fhould be
acquainted with all that Plato has written, and acquaint-
ed only with that, would have very little knowledge,
and even that erroneous.
The Greek was indeed an eloquent writer; his Apo-
logy for Socrates is a great piece of fervice rendered to
the learned of all nations. It is but juft to hold him
in veneration, who fhewed oppreffed virtue fo venerable,
and its perfecutors fo deteftable. It was for a long
time thought that fo fine a moralift could not be a bad
metaphyfician; and he was held almoſt for a Father
of the Church, on account of his Ternarion, which no
one underſtood.
But what would be thought of a philofopher in our
days, who ſhould tell us that matter is the Being; and
that the world is a figure of twelve pentagons? that
fire, which is a pyramid, is linked to the earth by
numbers? How would a perfon be received, who
fhould go about to prove the immortality and metemp-
fychofis of the foul, by faying, that fleep comes from
watching, watching from fleep, life from death, and
death from life? Yet fuch are the arguments that have
been the admiration of fo many ages; and ideas ſtill
more extravagant have fince continued to be made uſe
of, in the education of mankind.
Locke is the only one who has explained the Human
Understanding, in a book where there are nothing but
truths;
X 3
310
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
truths; and what renders the work perfect, is, that
these truths are clear.
If we would, once for all, fee in what this laſt Age
has the fuperiority over the former ones, we have only
to caft our eyes upon Germany and the North. Heve-
lius, at Dantzick, is the firft aftronomer that was ever
well acquainted with the planet of the moon; no man
before him having ever fo carefully examined the
heavens. Among the many great men which this Age
has produced, no one is a more ftriking example how
justly it may be called the Age of Louis XIV. Heve-
lius loft an immenfe library by fire. The French
Monarch recompenfed the aftronomer with a prefent
that far overpaid his lofs.
In Holſtein, Mercator was the forerunner of Newton
in geometry.
The Bernouillis of Switzerland were
the worthy difciples of this great man. Leibnitz was
for fome time confidered as his rival.
The famous Leibnitz was born at Leipfick: he ended
his days in Hanover, like a true philofopher, beleving
in a God, like Newton, without confulting the various
opinions of mankind. He was perhaps a man of the moft
univerfal learning in Europe; he was an hiftorian in-
defatigable in his enquiries; a profound civilian, who
enlightened the f udy of the law by philofophy, foreign
as it may appear to that kind of icience; fo acute
an ontologift, as to attempt reconciling divinity with
metaphyfics; a tolerable Latin: poet; and laftly, fo
good a mathematician, as to difpute with the great
Newton the invention of the calculation of Infinites,
and to make the doubt for fome time to fubfift, between
Newton and him.
This was then the illuftrious Age of Geometry.
Mathematicians fent frequent challenges to each other,
*The connection here is not fo remote as M. de Voltaire feems to
imagine. The nature of Man, the
Quid fit pulchrum, quid turpe, quid utile, quid non,
the nature, circumftances, and relat ve fituation of nations, upon a
confideration of which all juft and prudent Laws fhould be founded,
are all equally the objects of the Philofopher, the Legiflator, and
the Politician. Tranflator.
that
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
310
that is to fay, problems to be folved, much in the fame
manner as it is faid the ancient Kings of Egypt and
Afia fent ænigmas to be anſwered by one another. The
problems propoſed by theſe geometricians were of a
much more difficult nature than the Egyptian ænigmas,
and yet none of them remained unanſwered, either in
Germany, England, Italy, or France. There never
was a more univerfal correfpondence kept up between
philofophers, than at this period, and Leibnitz con-
tributed to animate it. A Republic of Letters was in-
fenfibly established in Europe, in the midst of war, and
notwithstanding the number of different religions.
The Arts and Sciences all of them thus received mu-
tual affiftance from each other, and the Academies
helped to form this republic. Italy and Ruffia were
united by the bonds of fcience, and the natives of
England, Germany, and France, went to ftudy at
Leyden. The famous Phyfician Boerhaave was con-
fulted at the fame time by the Pope and the Czar of
Muscovy. His principal pupils have in like manner
drawn foreigners to them, and are in fome meaſure
become the phyficians of nations. The truly learned,
of eve y denomination, have ftrengthened the bands of
this grand Society of Geniufes, univerfally extended,
and every where independent. This correfpondence is
ftill carried on, and proves one of the greateſt comforts
againſt the evils which ambition and politics fcatter
through the world.
Italy has preferved her ancient glory, in this Age,
though fhe has produced no new Taffos nor Raphaels.
It is fufficient that he has once produced them. A
Chiabrera, and afterwards a Zappi, and a Filicaia, have
fhewn that delicacy is always the characteristic of this
nation. The Merope of Maffei, and the dramatic
works of Metaftafio, are beautiful monuments of the
Age.
The ſtudy of true natural philoſophy, as eſtabliſhed by
Galileo, ftill keeps its ground, in fpite of its oppofition
to an ancient philofophy too much fanctified. The
Caffinis, the Vivianis, the Manfredis, the Bianchinis,
X 4
the
312
THE AGE OF LOULS XIV. .
the Zanottis, and many others, have fpread over Italy
the fame light which beamed in other countries; and,
though its principal rays came from England, yet the
Italian ſchools have been able to gaze on it in all its
fplendor.
Every kind of literature has been cultivated in this
ancient feat of the Arts, as much as elfewhere, except
in thofe fubjects where a freedom of thinking allows a
greater latitude to the mind in other nations. This
Age, in particular, has attained a better knowledge of
antiquity, than the preceding. Italy furniſhes more
monuments than all Europe together, and in pro-
portion as theſe have been brought to light, Science has
become more extenſive.
We are indebted for this progreſs to fome wife men
and fome genius's, thinly fcattered over ſeveral parts of
Europe, almoſt all of them for a long time fubjected
to perfecutions, and loft in oblivion: they have enlight-
ened and comforted the world, during the wais that
ſpread deſolation through it. There are lifts to be met
with elſewhere, of all thofe who have been the orna
ments of Germany, England, and Italy. It would be
very improper in a ftranger to pretend to rate the
merits of fo many illuftrious men; let it fuffice then to
have fhewn, that, in the laft age, mankind had ac-
quired throughout Europe greater lights than in all
the ages that preceded it.
OF
CHA P. XXXV.
Ecclefiaftical Affairs; and Memorable Difputes.
F the three orders of the State, the Church, which
is the leaft numerous, is that which has exacted
from the Sovereign a conduct the moft delicate, and of the
greateſt addrefs. To preferve at the fame time an union
with the See of Rome, and fupport the liberties of the
Gallican Church, which are the rights of the ancient one;
that
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
313
that is, to make the Biſhops obey as fubjects, without in-
fringing their epifcopal immunities; to oblige them to
fubmit in many things to the fecular jurifdiction, and to
leave them judges in others; to make them contribute to
the exigencies of the State, without offending against their
privileges; all this required a compound of dexterity
and refolution, of which Louis XIV. was always maſter.
The Clergy of France were, by degrees, reduced to a
ſtate of order and decency, from which the civil wars,
and the licentioufnefs of the times, had cauſed them to
deviate. The King would no longer permit either that
laymen ſhould poffefs benefices in commendam, nor any
to be Biſhops unless they were Prieſts; as the Cardinal
Mazarin, who had held the Bishopric of Metz, when not
even a Sub-deacon, and the Duke de Verneuille, who
had alſo enjoyed the profits of it, though a layman.
The money paid, one year with another, to the King,
by the Clergy of France and the conquered towns, a-
mounted to about two millions five hundred thouſand
livres ; and, fince the numerical increaſe of the value
of money, they have affifted the State, yearly, with about
four millions, under the name of tenths, extraordinary
fubfidies, and free-gifts. The name and privilege of
free-gift is ftill preſerved, as one of the remains of an-
cient cuftom, whereby the Lords of Fiefs were wont to
contribute to the neceffities of the State, by way of free-
gift to the King. In the time of feudal anarchy, Biſhops
and Abbots, being Lords of Fiefs, by an ancient abuſe,
were only obliged to furniſh foldiers. Kings then, like
other Lords, lived upon the revenue of their own do-
mains afterwards, when every other order changed,
the Clergy remained upon their old footing, and pre-
ferved the cuſtom of affifting the State by way of free-
gift t
* A fort of plurality. Tranflator.
+ See the State of France, and Puffendorf. Ibid.
There feems to be a contradiction here. Is the furniſhing foldiens
and the free-gift the fame? If fo, why was the diftinction made juft
before? Ibid.
V.A
To
314
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
To this ancient cuſtom, which a body that affembles
often, eafily preferves, and which must be neceffarily loft
by one that never affembles, is joined the immunity al-
ways claimed by the Church; and the maxim, that its
revenues are thofe of the poor. Not that it pretends to
owe nothing to the State, of which it holds every thing;
becauſe, when the Public is neceffitated, it is to be con-
fidered in the firſt claſs of poor; but it alledged on its
own part, the right of only giving fupplies of its own
free-will, and Louis XIV. exacted thefe fupplies in
fuch a manner, that he was fure of never being refufed.
It is amazing to all Europe, as well as to France,
that the Clergy, who are fuppofed to be poffeffed of
one-third of the revenue of the Kingdom, fhould con-
tribute fo little. If they enjoy the third, it is indif
putable that they ought to pay one-third of the expences
of Government, which, upon an average, amounts to
thirty millions yearly, befides the duties upon the con-
fumptions, which they pay in common with other ſub-
jects; but vague and partial judgments are paffed upon
every thing. It is indifputable, that the Church of
France is, of all the Catholic ones, that which has ac-
cumulated the leaft riches. Not only it has no Biſhop
endowed, like the one of Rome, with a great fovereignty,
but there is no Abbot poffeffed of a regale +, like the
Abbot of Mount Caffin, and the Abbots of Germany.
In general, the Bishops of France have not very large
revenues. Thoſe of Straſburg and Cambray are the
moft confiderable; but then they originally belonged to
Germany, and the German Church was richer than the
Empire.
Giannoni, in his Hiftory of Naples, afferts, that
the Ecclefiaftics enjoy two-thirds of the revenue of
that country .
France does not labour under fo
enormous an abufe. They ſay, that the Church pof-
feffes the third of the Kingdom, as they pronounce at
random that Paris contains a million of inhabitants.
+ Princely rights and prerogatives. Tranflator.
Book II. Chap. 6,
3
Were
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV,
315
Were we but to take the pains of computing the re-
venues of the Bishoprics, by the rents of the leafes
granted about fifty years ago, it would appear, that the
whole annual revenue did, not then exceed four millions;
and the commendatary Aboies amounted to about four
millions five hundred thousand pounds. It is true, the
leafes were eſtimated at one-third of their real value; and
if to this eftimation we add the encreafe of the landed
revenue fince, the fum total of the confiftorial benefices
will amount to about fixteen millions; and it fhould not
be forgotten, that out of this income there goes annually
a confiderable fum to Rome, which, as it never comes
back, is abfolutely loft to us. The King is herein ex-
tremely liberal to the Holy See; by which the State is
plundered, in the fpace of a century, of more than
400,000 marks of filver; which could not in time fail
to impoverish the Kingdom, were not the lofs abun-
dantly repaired by the returns of commerce. To thefe
benefices which pay annates to Rome, must be added
the cures, convents, canonries, communities, and all
other ecclefiaftical eſtabliſhments; and, if we compute
the value of all together at fifty millions yearly, through-
out the whole extent of the Kingdom, we shall not fall
far fhort of the truth.
*
Thoſe who have enquired into this matter with the ut-
moft accuracy and attention, cannot carry the fum total
of the yearly revenues of the Gallican Church, fecular
and regular, farther than eighty millions. This is no
exorbitant fum, when appropriated to the maintenance
of ninety thouſand regulars, and about one hundred and
fixty thouſand other ecclefiaftics, which was the compu-
tation in 1700 and of thefe ninety thouſand, more than
one-third live upon alms and maffes. Many conventual
Monks do not ftand their community in two hundred
livres yearly there are regular Abbots, whofe income
each annually amounts to two hundred thouſand livres.
'Tis this enormous difproportion that ftrikes and excites
Firft fruits; a year's income of all Ecclefiaftical Livings.-
Tranflator.
murmurs.
316
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
murmurs. We pity a poor country Curate, whofe la-
borious duties only acquire him a fcanty income of three
hundred livres, and between four or five hundred more
from liberalities; while a lazy Monk become an Abbot,
but not the leſs lazy, poffeffes an immenfe fortune; receiv-
ing at the fame time from his inferiors the moft flattering
and pompous titles. Theſe abufes are carried much
higher in Flanders, Spain, and above all, in the Catholic
States of Germany, where we often find Monks among
the Princes. Abufes almoſt every where paſs by degrees
into laws; and if the wifeft men were to affemble to
compofe laws, where is the State whofe conſtitution
would remain unalterably the fame ?
The Clergy of France always obſerve a cuſtom that is
very burthenfome to them, when they affift the King with
a free-gift of feveral millions for a certain term of years.
They borrow the money, and reimburfe their creditors
with the capital, after having paid the intereft; thus
paying it twice over +. It would be more to the ad-
vantage of the State, as well as of the Clergy in general,
and more conformable to reafon, if this body were to
affift the wants of their country by contributions pro-
portioned to the value of their refpective benefices; but
we are always too much attached to old cuſtoms. It is
owing to this difpofition that the Clergy, though they
affemble every five years, have never yet had a Hall of
Convocation, nor any one moveable they could call
their own. It is clear, that with lefs expence to them-
felves, they might have more effectually ferved the King,
and have built themſelves a Palace in Paris, which would
have been a new ornament to that capital,
In the minority of Louis XIV. the maxims of the
Clergy of France were not entirely purged from the leas
ven they had imbibed from the League. It is well
known, that in the younger days of Louis XIII. and in
the laſt Affembly of the States, held in 1614, the moſt
numerous part of the Nation, diftinguiſhed by the ap-
I don't understand the objection made here. Does not every
borrower pay the intereft, till he diſcharges the principal ? Tranflator,
pellation
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
317
pellation of the Third Eſtate, and which is, as it were,.
the foundation of the State, in vain demanded of the
Parliament, that it fhould be regiſtered as a fundamen-
tal law, "That no fpiritual power can deprive Kings of
"their facred rights, which they hold only from God ;
"and that it is high-treafon of the firft magnitude to teach
"the doctrine of depofing and killing Kings." This was
the fubftance of the Nation's demand, in nearly the fame
words. It was made when the blood of Henry the Great
ftill ſmoked. Yet a Bishop of France, born in that
Kingdom, the Cardinal Du Perron, oppoſed violently
the propofition, under the pretence that it was not the
province of the Third Eftate to dictate laws that any
way concern the Church. Why did he not then, in con-
junction with the Clergy, concur with the requeft of the
Third Eftate?-But he was fo far from this as to fay,
"That the power of the Pope was plenary without con-
"troul, direct as to fpiritual matters, indirect as to tem-
porals; and he was alfo commiffioned by the Clergy
"to add, they would excommunicate all fuch perfons
as might pretend to maintain that the Pope could not
depofe Kings."
66
<<
66
The Nobility was gained over, and the Commons
were obliged to defift. The Parliament renewed their
ancient decrees, declaring the Crown independent, and
the King's perfon facred. The Ecclefiaftical Chamber,
in acknowledging the King's perfon to be facred, ſtill
perfifted to maintain that the Crown was dependent.
The very fame temper had before depofed Louis the
Debonnaire. It now prevailed fo far, that the Court was
obliged to acquiefce, and impriſon the Printer who had
publiſhed the decree of Parliament, under the title of
The Fundamental Law.' This proceeding was faid to be
neceflary for the public peace; but it was meant to pu-
nifh thoſe who furnished the Crown with defenfive arms,
The cafe was quite different at Vienna, becauſe France
ſtood in awe of the Court of Rome, and the Pope was
afraid of the Houfe of Auftria.
The cauſe here given up was fo much the cauſe of
Kings, that James I. King of England, wrote againſt
Cardinal
318
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
Cardinal Perron; and this piece is the beft of his works.
It was alfo the caufe of the people, whofe fafety required
that their Sovereign fhould not depend upon a foreign
Power. Reafon at length prevailed; and Louis XIV.
with the weight of his authority, found no great trouble
in procuring it to be heard.
Antonio Perez had recommended to Henry IV. three
things, Roma, Confejo, Pielago. Louis XIV. had at-
tained to fuch a fuperiority in the two laft, that he had
no need of the firſt. He was particularly careful to pre-
ferve the cuftom of appealing to Parliament from the
decrees of the Ecclefiaftical Courts, in all cafes refpecting
the regal jurifdiction. The Clergy fometimes com-
plained of this proceeding, and fometimes applauded it:
for if, on the one hand, thefe appeals fupport the rights of
the State againſt epiſcopal authority, they yet confirm
that authority itſelf, in maintaining the rights of the
Gallican Church against the pretenfions of the Court of
Rome: infomuch that the Biſhops have looked upon
the Parliament both as their adverfaries and defenders;
and the Government has been careful, that, in fpite of
the quarrels of religion, the boundaries, which are eaſily
broken down, fhould on neither fide be infringed. It
is with regard to the different bodies and companies of
the State, the fame as with the intereft of trading towns;
to balance them is in the hand of the Legiflator.
OF THE LIBERTIES OF THE GALLICAN CHURCH.
TH
HIS expreffion of Liberties fuppofes fubjection. Li-
berties and privileges are exemptions from general
fervitude. They ſhould be ftiled the Rights, and not the Li-
berties, of the Gallican Church. Theſe rights are thoſe of
all the ancient churches. The Biſhops of Rome never had
the leaft jurifdiction over the Chriftian focieties of the
Eaftern Empire. But on the deftruction of the Weſtern
one, every thing was invaded by them.
The Church of France was, a long time, the only one
*The words are Spaniſh. Rome, Council, and the Sea; which may
be interpreted, "Refpect the Holy See, regard good counfel, and attend
to commerce.”
Tranflator.
that
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
319
that difputed against the See of Rome the antient rights
that each Biſhop had affumed to himſelf, when after the
firſt Council of Nice the ecclefiaftical and purely fpiritual
administration modelled itfelf upon the civil govern-
ment, and that every Biſhop had his diocefe, as each im-
perial district had its own.
Certainly no goſpel ever ordained that a Biſhop of
Rome fhould fend into France his Legates à latere, with
power to judge, reform, difpenfe, and levy money from the
people.
To order the French Prelates to come and plead at
Rome.
To impofe taxes on the benefices of the Kingdom, un-
der the names of vacancies, affets, fucceffions, firſt-fruits,
incompatibilities, commands, ninths, tenths, annates †.
To excommunicate the King's Officers, in order to
forbid their exercifing the functions of their employs.
To render baftards capable of fucceffion.
To invalidate the wills of thofe who have died without
leaving a legacy to the Church.
To permit the ecclefiaftics of France to alienate their
immoveable properties.
To delegate Judges for enquiring into the legitimacy
of marriages.
In a word, there is an enumeration of feventy ufurpa-
tions, against which the Parliaments of the Kingdom have
ever fupported the natural liberty of the Nation, and the
dignity of the Crown.
Notwithstanding the fway which the Jefuits have poſ-
feffed under Louis XIV. and whatever restraint this Mo-
narch hasimpofed upon the remonftrances of the Parlia-
ments, fince he took the reins of government into his own
hands, yet none of theſe great bodies ever let paſs an oc-
cafion of fupprefling the pretenfions of the Court of
Rome; which vigilance was always approved of by the
King, becauſe that in thofe instances the effuntial rights
of the Nation were thofe alfo of the Prince.
+ Thefe are denominations of fees and impofitions in his Holinefi's
Book of Rates, which we cannot explain, as being happily ignorant of.
Tranflator.
The
320
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
The moſt important and delicate affair of this fort,
was that of the Regale. The Kings of France have a
right to preſent to all fimple benefices of a diocefe, dur-
ing the vacancy of the See, and alfo for that time to ap-
propriate the revenues to what uſe they think proper.
This prerogative is peculiar at prefent to the Kings of
France; but every State has its own privileges. The
Kings of Portugal enjoy one-third of the revenues of
every Biſhop in their dominions. The Emperor claims
the first-fruits, and difpofes of all livings when they be-
come firſt vacant after his acceffion. The rights of the
Kings of Naples and Sicily are fill greater. Thoſe of
the Court of Rome are founded rather upon cuſtom, than
original title.
The Kings of the Merovingian race appointed all Dig-
nitaries and Bifhops, of their own fole authority. We
know, that in 742, Carloman created Archbishop of
Mayence that fame Boniface who afterwards confecrated
Pepin in return. There ftill remain feveral monuments
of the power that the Kings had of difpofing of theſe im-
portant dignities; which the more they are ſo, the more
they fhould be dependent on the ruler of the State.
The retinue of a foreign Bishop appeared to be dan-
gerous; and the nomination referved to this foreign Bi-
ſhop has been often found to be ſtill more fo. It has more
than once occafioned a civil war. Since the Kings con-
fer the Bishoprics, it appears but juft they should pre-
ferve the poor privilege of difpofing of the revenue, and
of nominating to fimple benefices, during the fhort space.
that happens between the death of one Biſhop and the
regiſtering his fucceffor's oath of fidelity.
The Biſhops of feveral towns, reunited to the Crown
under the third race, refufed to acknowledge this right,
which their former Lords had been too weak to main-
tain. The Popes fided with the Bishops, and their
claims always remained enveloped in obfcurity. The
Parliament under Henry IV. in 1608, declared, that the
Regale fhould take place throughout the whole King-
dom. The Clergy murmured; and that Prince, who
temporifed with the Bifhops and the Court of Rome,
I
brought
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
321
brought the affair before his Council, but took care it
ſhould not be decided.
The Cardinals Richelieu and Mazarin caufed feveral
orders of Council to be iffued, whereby thofe Biſhops
who held themſelves exempt, were required to produce
their titles. The affair remained undecided, even in the
year 1673; and the King at that time did not venture
to difpofe of a fingle benefice, in almoft any dioceſe be-
yond the Loire, during the vacancy of a See.
At length, in 1673, the Chancellor Michael le Tellier
publiſhed an Edict, whereby all the Bishoprics in the
Kingdom were declared ſubject to the Regale. Two Bi-
fhops, who were unluckily the moft virtuous men in the
Kingdom, obftinately refuſed to ſubmit. Theſe were
Pavillon, Biſhop of Ålet, and Caulet, Biſhop of Pamiers.
They defended their caufe at firft with very plauſible
reafons, and were as ftrongly oppofed. When men of
understanding difpute long, it is very likely the queftion
is far from being clear. This was indeed very obſcure
but it was evident, that neither religion nor good order
were intereſted in preventing the King from doing in
two dioceſes, what he did in every other. Nevertheleſs,
the two Bishops remained inflexible. Neither the one
nor the other of them had cauſed his oath of fidelity to
be regiſtered; and the King thought he had a right to
difpofe of the Prebends in their reſpective Sees.
The two Prelates excommunicated all thofe who were
appointed by the Regale. Both had been fufpected of
Janfenifm. Innocent X. was their enemy; but when
they difputed against the King's prerogative, they had
Innocent XI (Odefcalchi) on their fide. This Pope, as
virtuous and obftinate as thmfelves, warmly efpoufed
their cauſe.
The King at first contented himself to exile the prin-.
cipal Officers of thefe B fhops. He fhewed more mo-
deration than two men who piqued themfelves on their
fanctity. Out of respect to his old age, the Bishop of
Alet was left to die in peace. The Bishop of Pamiers
refifted alone, and was not to be fhiken. He repeated
kis excommunications, and perfifted in not registering
VOL II.
Y
his
322
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
his oath of fidelity; perfuaded that by fuch an oath the
Church was acknowledged as fubfervient to monarchy.
His temporalities were feized upon by the King. The
Pope and the Janfenifts indemnified him. He gained
by the privation of his revenues, and died in 1680, fatif-
fied, that in oppofing the King, he had maintained the
cauſe of Heaven.
His death did not extinguifh the quarrel. The Canons
named by the King came to take poffeffion: the Monks,
who pretended to be Canons and Grand Vicars, drove
them out of the Church, and excommunicated them. The
Metropolitan Montpefat, Archbiſhop of Toulouſe, to
whom it belonged to take cognizance of this matter, gave
fentence, but to no purpoſe, against thefe pretended Grand
Vicars. They appealed to Rome, according to the cuf
tom of referring to that Court fuch ecclefiaftical caufes
as were determined by the Archbishops of France; a
cuſtom directly contrary to the liberties of the Gallican
Church but there are contradictions in every form of
human government. The Parliament iffued arrets. A
Monk, named Cerle, who was one of theſe Grand Vicars,
defied the fentence of the Archbishop, as well as the de-
crees of the Parliament. This tribunal condemned him
for contumacy, to be drawn on a fledge to the place of
execution, and to loſe his head. He was executed in
effigy. From his afylum he infulted both the Arch-
bifhop and the King; and was ſupported by the Pope.
Nay, this fovereign Pontiff went farther. Perfuaded,
like Pamiers, that the right of the Regale was an abuſe
upon the Church, and that the King had no authority in the
dioceſe of Pamiers, he repealed the ordonnances of the
Archbishop of Touloufe, and excommunicated the Grand
Vicars named by that Prelate, with all the ecclefiaftics.
that held under the Regale, and their abettors.
The King convened an Affembly of the Clergy, con-
fifting of thirty-five Bishops, and a like number of de-
puties of the ſecond order. The Janfenifts, for the firſt
time, took part with the Pope; and this Pope, an enemy
to the King, favoured, without loving them. He piqued
him elf on oppofing this Monarch, upon every occafion:
and
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
323
and afterwards in 1689, even joined with the Allies againſt
James II. becauſe he was protected by Louis XIV.; ſo
that it was then a common faying, That James ſhould
become an Huguenot, and the Pope a Catholic, to ter-
minate the troubles of Europe and of the Church.
However, the Affembly of the Clergy, in 1681 and
1682, unanimouſly declared for the King. Another
trifling quarrel, become now important, happened to
arife. The election to a priory in the fuburbs of Paris
inflamed the difference between the Pope and the King.
The Roman Pontiff repealed the ordonnance of the
Archbishop of Paris, and annulled his nomination to that
priory. The Parliament adjudged this proceeding of
the Court of Rome to be an abufe. The Pope, by a
bull, ordered the Inquifition to burn the Parliament's de-
cree; and the Parliament had ordered the ſuppreſſion of
the bull. Thefe difputes have been for a long time the
common and inevitable confequences of that ancient
mixture of the natural liberty which every country
claims, of governing within itſelf, and of its fubferviency
to a foreign power.
The Affembly of the Clergy took a courſe, which
fhews that men of wisdom can yield with dignity to their
Sovereign, without any other power interpofing. They
confented that the right of Regale fhould extend over the
whole Kingdom; but it was done in fuch a manner as to
feem rather a conceffion on the part of the Clergy, re-
linquishing their pretenfions out of regard to their pro-
tector, than a formal acknowledgment of the abfolute
right of the Crown.
The Affembly juftified themfelves to the Pope by a
letter, wherein we find this paffage, which alone ought
to ſerve as a conftant rule in all difputes :-" It is better
"to cede fomething of one's right, than to diſturb the
"public tranquillity." The King, the Gallican Church,
and the Parliament, were contented. The Janfenifts
wrote ſome libels. The Pope continued inflexible. He
reverſed by a brief all the refolutions of the Affembly,
and commanded the Bishops to retract their conceffions.
Here was fome foundation for dividing for ever the
Church
Y 2
324
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
Church of France from that of Rome. There had been
fome deſign of making a Patriarch in the times of Car-
dinal Richelieu and Mazarin.
It was the, wifh of every Magiftrate, that the tribute
of annates ſhould be no longer paid to Rome; that
Rome ſhould nominate to the benefices of Brittany, only
for fix months in the year; and that the Bishops of
France ſhould no longer ftile themſelves Biſhops by per-
miffion of the Holy See. Had it been the King's inclina-
tion, he needed only to have faid the word; he was
mafter of the Affembly of the Clergy, and the Nation
was for him. Rome would have loft all by the inflexi-
bility of a virtuous Pope, and the only one of that age
who knew not how to temporife. But there are certain
ancient boundaries which cannot be removed, without
the moſt violent fhocks. It required ftronger ties of in-
tereft, more inflamed paffions, and greater perturbations.
in the minds of men, to break at once with the Court
of Rome; and this rupture would have been the more
difficult, while the Miniftry perfifted in extirpating Cal-
vinifm. It was even looked upon as a bold ftep, to pub-
lifh the four famous decifions of the fame Affembly of
the Clergy, in 1682, of which here follows the fubſtance:
1. God gave no power, either directly or indirectly, in
temporal matters, either to Peter or his fucceffors.
2. The Gallican Church approves of the Council of
Conftance, which declares General Councils fuperior to
the Pope, in fpirituals.
3. The rules, cuftoms, and eſtabliſhed practices of the
Kingdom, and the Gallican Church, ought to remain
unchangeable.
4. The Pope's decifions, in matters of faith, are not
binding, until approved of by the Church.
All the Tribunals and Faculties of Theology regi
ftered theſe four propofitions, in their fulleft fenfe, and
forbade by edict any one to maintain the contrary. This
firmness was regarded at Rome as an overt-act of rebel-
lion, and by the Proteftants of Europe as a weak effay
of a Church naturally free, which had broken only four
links of her chains.
3
Thefe
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
335
Theſe four maxims were at firft efpoufed with enthu-
fiafm by the whole Nation; but they afterwards cooled.
About the end of Louis XIV's reign, they began to be
confidered as problematical; and Cardinal Fleury cauf-
ed them to be in part difavowed, by an Affembly of the
Clergy, without the leaft murmur; becauſe the minds
of men were not then ſo much heated, and that during
the adminiſtration of Cardinal Fleury, nothing was done
very remarkable. They have fince recovered their full
vigour. Innocent XI. was nevertheleſs more than ever
exafperated he refufed bulls to all the Bishops and´
Commendatary Abbots that had been nominated by the
King; fo that when he died, which was in 1689, there
were twenty-nine Sees in France without Bifhops. Thefe
Prelates, notwithſtanding, received their Revenues; but
they dared not either be confecrated, or perform any of
the epifcopal functions. The notion of creating a Pa-
triarch was revived. The quarrel about the rights of
Ambaffadors at Rome, which completed the widening
of theſe breaches, gave one reaſon to think that the time
was come for eſtabliſhing in France a Catholic Apoftolic
Church that was not Roman. The Attorney-General,
Harlai, and the Advocate-General, Talon, made this
fufficiently underſtood, by appealing, in 1687, from the
bull against the franchifes, as an abufe, and exclaiming
against the obftinacy of the Pope, who left fo many
churches without paftors. This was a ftep to which
the King never would agree, though it might have been
eafily done, notwithſtanding it appeared fo very difficult.
The caufe of Innocent XI. became now the caufe of
the Holy See. The four propofitions of the Clergy of
France attacked the phantom of infallibility (which,
though not believed in at Rome, yet was there fupport-
ed, and the real power annexed to that phantom.
Alexander VIII. and Innocent XII. followed the ſteps
of the obdurate Odefcalchi, not indeed with fuch vio-
lence. They confirmed the judgment pronounced
againſt the Affembly of the Clergy; they refufed bulls
to the Biſhops; and in fine did too much, becaufe Louis
XIV. had not done enough. The Bishops, weary of en-
Y
3
joying
326
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
joying no more than a regal nomination, without the
exercife of their epifcopal functions, intreated the Court
of France to permit them to appeaſe that of Rome.
The King, whofe refolution was worn out, permitted
their requeſt. Each of them wrote feparately to the
Court of Rome, expreffing themfeives grievously afflicted
with the proceedings of the Affembly; and each of them in
his letter declared he did not look upon that as decided,
which had there been decided; nor upon that to be
efſtabliſhed, which had there been eſtabliſhed. Pigna-
telli (Innocent XII.) more mild than Odefcalchi, was
fatisfied with this proceeding. The four propofitions
were yet from time to time not lefs taught in France.
But theſe arms became rufty when the fight had ceaſed;
and the difpute lay dormant without being determined;
as is always the cafe in a State, which has not in ſuch
matters invariable and acknowledged principles. Thus
we fometimes oppofe, fometimes give way to Rome, ac-
cording to the characters of thoſe who govern, or the par-
ticular intereſts of thoſe by whom the principal perfons
of the State are governed.
Louis XIV. except this, had no other kind of eccle-
fiaftical quarrel with the Court of Rome; nor had he
any oppofition from the Clergy, in temporal matters.
Under him the Clergy became refpectable, by a de-
cency of behaviour unknown to the barbarous times of
the two first races of our Kings, to the ſtill more bar-
barous times of feudal government, and abfolutely un-
known during the civil wars and the troubles of Louis
XIII.'s reign, and above all, during the Fronde; with
fome few exceptions, which will be always founded both
in the vices and the virtues which prevail.
It was now only that the eyes of the people began to
be opened upon the fuperftitions which always mingle
with their religion. It was now permitted to believe
that Lazarus and Mary Magdalen never were in Pro-
vence, in fpite of the opinion of the Parliament of Aix,
or of the Carmelites. The Benedictines could no longer
perfuade the people that Dionyfius the Areopagite had
ever
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
327
ever governed the church of Paris. Pretended faints,
falfe miracles, and fuppofed relics, began to be decried.
That found reafoning which had thrown fuch lights upon
philoſophy, made its way every where but ſlowly, and
with difficulty.
Gaſton Louis de Noailles, brother to the Cardinal, and
Biſhop of Chalons, in 1702, had fufficient fenfible piety
to throw away a relic which had been many ages care-
fully preſerved in the church of Notre-Dame, worship-
ped under the name of Jefus Chrift's navel. All Cha-
lons murmured againſt the Bishop. Prefidents, Coun-
fellors, King's Officers, Treaſurers of France, Merchants,
Citizens, Canons, Curates, unanimously protefted, by a
juridical act, againſt this action of the Biſhop, reclaiming
the holy navel; alledging the garment of Chrift preferv-
ed at Argenteuil, the handkerchief at Turin and Laon,
one of the nails of the crofs at St. Denis, and the pre-
puce at Rome, and many other relics that are preſerved
and deſpiſed, and which cauſe ſo much ſcandal to a reli-
gion which we revere. But the Bishop's wife refolution
triumphed at length over the credulity of the people.
Some other fuperftitions, becauſe united with refpec-
table cuſtoms, ſtill ſubſiſted. The Proteftants have
therefore exuited; but they are obliged to acknowledge,
that there is no Catholic Church in which thofe abufes
are lefs common, or more defpifed, than in France.
The true philofophical ſpirit, which had not taken root
till about the middle of this century, could not extinguiſh
the ancient and modern difputes in theology, of which
it took no cognizance. We fhall now proceed to ſpeak
of theſe diffentions, which are a difgrace to the human
underſtanding.
CHA P.
Y4
328
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
It
CHA P. XXXVI.
Of Calvinism, in the Time of Louis XIV.
a always tory by
T is undoubtedly a melancholy confideration, that the
Church has been always torn by inteftine divifions,
and that fo much blood ſhould have been for fo many
ages fhed by thofe who proclaim the God of peace.
This rage was unknown to Paganifm. It covered the
earth with darkness, but fcarcely fpilt any other blood
than that of animals; and if human victims were fome-
times offered up among the Jews and Pagans, fuch of-
ferings, horrible as they were, never occafioned civil
wars. The religion of the Pagans was compoſed of mo-
rality and feſtivals. Morality, which is common to all
men and all feafons, and feftivals, which are only acts
of rejoicing, could never disturb mankind.
The fpirit of dogmatifim infpired men with the rage
of religious war. I have often confidered how, and by
what means, that dogmatic fpirit which divided the
fchools of Pagan antiquity, without occafioning any dif
turbances, thould among us produce fuch horrible ones.
It cannot be caufed folely by fanaticifm; for the Gym-
nofophifts and Bramins, the moft fanatic of mankind,
never hurt any but themfelves. Cannot then the origin
of this new plague which has ravaged the earth, be
found in that republican fpirit which animated the pri
mitive churches against the authority that hates refiſtance
of every fort? Thofe fecret affemblies which from caves
and grottoes defied the authority of the Roman Em-
pero's, by degrees formed a State within a State. It was
a republic concealed in the befom of the empire. Con-
ftantine drew it from under ground, and fet it by the fide
of the throne.
The authority annexed to great Sees was foon found
to run counter to the fpirit of popularity, which had till
then infpired all the Christian aflemblies. It often hap,
pened, that when a Metropolitan uttered one opinion, a
fuffragan Bifhof, a Prieft, or a Deacon, maintained the
die&
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
329
direct contrary. All authority fecretly hurts mankind,
inafmuch as all authority is ever upon the encreaſe.
When people can find a pretext that may be deemed ſa-
cred, they foon make a duty of oppofition*. Thus one
party becomes perfecutors, the other rebels, while on
both fides they pretend to maintain the caufe of God.
We have ſeen, by the difputes fupported by Arius
against a Bishop, how the rage of governing fouls has
difturbed the peace of the earth +. To give one's own
opinion as the will of Heaven, to command it to be be-
lieved under pain of death and eternal torments, was in
Tome men deemed the utmoft ftretch of fpiritual defpo-
tiſm ;
and to refift thefe two menaces, was in others the
laft effort of natural liberty. The Effay on the Manners,
&c. you have paffed through, has fhewn you a conti-
nual ſtruggle between the fecular and ecclefiaftical jurif-
diction, ever fince the time of Theodofius; and fince
that of Charlemagne, the Grand Fiefs continually ftrug-
gling againſt their Sovereigns; Bifhops often rifing
against their Kings; and Popes at war with Bifhops and
with Kings. In the first ages they difputed lefs in the
Latin Church. The continual invafions of Barbarians
ſcarcely gave them time to think; and few of their dog-
matical opinions were fufficiently clear, to fecure them
and mu-
As the concerns of
*All the miſchiefs of religious zeal are, we apprehend, deducible
from the fingle doctrine of faith, implying that our eternal happiness
or mifery depends upon our believing or dilbelieving certain tenets, con-
cerning which the faculty of reafon cannot be exercifed. This it
was which opened a way to every fpecies of fanaticiſm and fpiritual
rancour: for thoſe who acopted this tenet confidered every perion who
differed from them in opinion, as reprobated and accurfed;
tual hatred, animofity, and perfecution enfued.
the foul were much more interefting than any that related to temporal
eſtabliſhments, the fpiritual guides acquired fuch influence over the
minds of the Neophytes §, as often fuperfeded the authority of the
civil magiftrates; a cucumftance which could not fail to aroufe the
jealoufy of the Government under which they lived; and this jea-
loufy was attended with ſeverity, which ferved only to inflame the
fpirit of enthufiatim, and engender rebellion and cefpair. Smetler,
+ Effay on the Manners, &c.
In the firft volumes of this work,
§ Neophyte, a convert, a profelyte, or, in the cant phrafeology of fanatics, one re-
generated. Tranflater.
univerfal
360
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
univerfal belief. The worſhip of images was almoſt
every where rejected, in the Weft, in the Age of Charle-
magne. A Biſhop of Turin, named Claudius, inveigh-
ed againſt them with great acrimony, and maintained
feveral opinions which at this time are the foundation of
the Proteftant religion. Thefe opinions fpread them-
felves in the valleys of Piedmont, Dauphiny, Provence,
and Languedoc. They flourished in the twelfth century;
foon afterwards produced the wars of the Albigenfes ;
and having paffed from thence to the Univerfity of
Prague, excited the wars of the Huffites.
The interval between the troubles which aroſe from
the ashes of John Hufs and Jerome of Prague, and
thoſe that were renewed by the fale of indulgences,
was not more than one hundred years. The ancient
opinions embraced by the Vaudois, the Albigenfes, and
the Huffites, revived and differently explained by.
Luther and Zuinglius, were eagerly adopted in Ger-
many, as they furniſhed pretence for feizing on the
many lands poffeffed by the Bishops and Abbots, and
for refifting the power of the Emperors, who were then
taking large ftrides towards arbitrary power. Thofe
tenets triumphed in Sweden and Denmark, countries
wherein people were free, under Kings.
The English, who inherit from nature a fpirit of
independence, adopted, qualified them, and thence
compofed a religion for themfelves. Prefbyterianifm
eftablished in Scotland, during the troubles, a kind of
Republic, the pedantry and harfhnefs of which became
much more intolerable than the inclemency of their
climate, and even than the tyranny of the Bishops, which
had excited fo much clamour. It continued to be
grievous in Scotland, till reafon, laws, and compulfion
had repreffed it. The Reformation made its way in
Poland; but its progrefs was confiderable only in
places where the people were not flaves. It found
little difficulty in being received among the greateſt
and the richeit part of the Swifs Cantons. From the
fame republican principle it was near being eſtabliſhed
at Venice; and might have perhaps taken root there,
had
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
331
had not Rome been fo near, and if the Government
had not dreaded a democracy, to which the people in
every Republic naturally afpire, and which was the chief
view of moft of the Reformers. The Hollanders fhook
off the yoke of Spain *, before they embraced this
religion. Geneva became intirely a republican State,
in receiving Calvinifm.
nions.
The Houſe of Auftria took all poffible pains to pre-
vent thefe religions from getting footing in their domi-
They fcarcely made any progrefs in Spain.
They were extirpated with fire and fword in the Duke-
dom of Savoy, which had been their cradle. In 1655,
the inhabitants of the vallies of Piedmont fuffered what
the people of Merindol and Cabriere had experienced
under Francis I. in France. The Duke of Savoy
abfolutely exterminated the fect, as foon as he found it
dangerous; fo that there remained only fome few,
fcarcely known, among the rocks which ſheltered
them.
It does not appear that the Lutherans and Calvinifts
cauſed any great troubles in France, under the refolute
government of Francis I. and Henry II. But when
the Adminiſtration was weak and divided, the quarrels
of religion became violent. Condé and Coligni, become
Calvinifts becaule the Guifes were Catholics, over-
whelmed the State through strife. The levity and im-
petuofity of the nation, their paffion for novelty and
enthufiafm, changed them, for above forty years, from
a moſt poliſhed to a moft barbarous people.
Henry IV. born of this fect, which he really loved
without being bigotted to any, could not, though
feconded by his victories and virtues, obtain the Crown
without abandoning Calvinifim. After he became a
Catholic, he had not the ingratitude to confent to the
deftruction of a people, to whom, though enemies to
monarchical government, in part he owed his Crown;
*The Dutch did not throw off the Spanish yoke, and then em-
brace the Proteftant Religion; they were firit converted to this doc-
trine, and finding themſelves oppreffed in the point of liberty of
confcience, then ſhook off the yoke of Spain. Smollet.
and
332
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
"10
and even had he been inclined to it, he could not now
have deftroyed this faction; he therefore cheriſhed and
protected, but reftrained it.
The Huguenots of France, at this time, amounted
to a twelfth part of the nation; and among them
were many powerful Lords: whole cities were Pro-
teftants. They had made war upon their Sovereigns,
who had been obliged to put fome ſtrong places into
their hands for fecurity. Henry III. had given up to
them, in Dauphiné alone, fourteen; Montauban and
Nifmes, in Languedoc; Saumur, and above all Ro-
chelle, which made a Republic of itſelf, and which
the commerce and protection of the Engliſh might have
rendered powerful.
At length Henry IV. feemed to act according to his
inclination, his duty, and even his policy, by granting
them, in 1598, the celebrated Edict of Nantes. This
Edict was in reality no more than a confirmation of
privileges which the Proteftants had obtained, fword
in hand, from preceding Kings, and which Henry the
Great, after being eſtabliſhed on the Throne, confirmed
to them voluntarily. By this Edict of Nantes, which
the name of Henry IV. had rendered more celebrated
than any other, every Lord of a Fief vefted with
power of capital jurifdiction, was permitted the full
exercife, within his own caftle, of the pretended reform-
ed religion. Every Lord not poffeffed of fuch power,
was allowed thirty perfons to be prefent at divine
fervice. The full exercife of this religion was tolerated
in every place under the immediate jurifdiction of a
Parliament.
The Calvinists were free to print books in every
place where their religion was permitted, without apply
ing to their fuperiors. They were declared capable of
holding all the great offices and dignities of State, and
this appeared plainly, in effect, by the King's having
created the Lords of Tremouille and Rohan Dukes and
Peers of France.
* Who were Huguenots,
*
A new
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
333
A new Chamber was purpoſely formed in the Parlia
ment of Paris, confifting of a Prefident and fixteen
Counſellors. This Court, which was called the Cham-
ber of the Edict, determined all caufes that concerned
the Reformed, not only in the immenſe diſtrict of Paris,
but likewife in that of Normandy and Brittany. Indeed
there never was but one Calvinift admitted by right
among the Counsellors of this jurifdiction: but as the
deſign of it was to prevent thoſe vexatious actions of
which the party complained; and as men always value
themſelves upon diſcharging a truft by which they are
diftinguiſhed; this Chamber, compoſed of Catholics,
always rendered the most impartial justice to the Hu-
guenots, as they themselves acknowledged.
They had a kind of leffer Parliament, at Caftres, in-
dependent on that of Touloufe. They had likewife
Courts of Justice at Grenoble and Bourdeaux, compoſed
of one-half Roman Catholics, and the other Calvinifts.
Their Churches affembled in Synods in the fame manner
as the Gallican Church. Thefe privileges, together
with many others, incorporated the Calvinifts with the
reft of the nation. It was, in effect, fuffering enemies
to league together; but the authority, the goodneſs,
and the addrefs of this great Monarch kept them within
bounds during his life.
After the tragical and much-lamented death of
Henry IV. during the weaknefs of a minority, and
under a divided Court, it was hardly poffible for the
republican ſpirit of the Reformed not to abuſe their
privileges, or for the Court, feeble as it was, not to
attempt to reſtrain them. The Huguenots had already
eſtabliſhed Circles in France, in imitation of thofe in
Germany. The Deputies of thefe Circles were frequent-
ly feditious, and there were in the party itfelf feveral
Noblemen of unbounded ambition. The Duke of
* No: It was, in effect, to make friends of enemies. "Tis per-
fecution, only, that creates the latter M. Voltai e feems to have
forgot his TOLERATION, here.-But That was a popular jubje 7 ; This
a private opinion. Lyars, the proverb fays, fhould have good me-
mories. Tranflator.
Bouillon,
334
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
Bouillon, and above all the Duke of Rohan, the chief
who had the greatest influence among the Huguenots,
foon hurried the reftlefs fpirit of the Preachers, and the
blind zeal of the people, into an open revolt. The
General Affembly of the party, in 1615, had the bold-
nefs to prefent a Remonftrance to the Court, in which,
among other infolent articles, they demanded a refor-
mation in the King's Council *. In the year 1616,
they took up arms, in feveral places; and the auda-
city of the Huguenots joining with the divifions in
the Court, the public hatred againſt the favourites,
and the unfettled ftate of the nation, every thing was
for ſome time in confufion. Nothing prevailed but fedi-
tions, intrigues, menaces, infurrections, treaties made in
hafte, and broken as fpeedily; which made the famous
Cardinal Bentivoglio, at that time Nuncio in France,
fay, that he had been witneſs of nothing but ftorms.
In the year 1621, the Calvinift Churches of France
offered Lefdiguieres, who was afterwards made Con-
ftable, the command of their armies, with a falary of
an hundred thoufand crowns a-month. But Lefdi-
guieres, more clear-fighted in his ambition, than they
in their factions, and who knew them well, as having
commanded them before, chofe rather at that time to
fight againſt them, than be at their head; and, inſtead
of accepting their offers, turned Catholic. The party
afterwards applied to the Marſhal Duke of Bouillon,
who returned for anfwer, that he was too old. To
conclude, they conferred that unhappy poft on the
Duke of Rohan, who, jointly with his brother Soubife,
had the hardinefs to make war upon the King of France.
The fame year the Conſtable de Luynes carried
Louis XIII. from province to province. He reduced
to obedience upwards of fifty cities, almoft without
* This they did not do, as Huguenots, but as a felect body. They
were equally fubjects, and had equal rights. When Engliſh Corpora-
tions or Counties addreſs the King to relieve a grievance, they are not
to be confidered as diftinct bodies from the rest of the people. The
ſubject has a natural right to demand redreſs, and none but a French-
man would treat the Fox Populi as boldness, or infolence. Tranflator.
refiftance;
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
335
refiftance; but failed before Montauban, whence the
King had the mortification of being obliged to decamp.
Rochelle was befieged in vain. That city continued to
defend itſelf, both by its own ftrength, and the fuccours
it received from England; and the Duke de Rohan, a
traitor to his Country, concluded a peace with his So-
vereign, like one Crowned Head treating with another *.
After this peace, and the death of the Conftable de
Luynes, there was a neceffity of renewing the war, and
again laying fiege to Rochelle, always in league againſt
its Sovereign with the Engliſh and the Calvinifts of the
Kingdom. A woman (the mother of the Duke of
Rohan) defended this city a whole year againſt the
royal army, against the activity of Cardinal Richelieu,
and the intrepidity of Louis XIII. who braved death
more than once at this fiege. The city fuffered all the
extremities of famine; and would not have been re-
duced at laft, had it not been for the mole of five
hundred feet long, which Cardinal Richelieu ordered
to be made across the mouth of the harbour, in imita-
tion of thoſe which Alexander formerly raifed before
the city of Tyre. This fubdued the fea and the Ro-
chellers.
Guiton, the Mayor of Rochelle, who had formed the
deſign to bury himſelf under the ruins of the place, had
the boldness, after having furrendered at difcretion, to
appear before Cardinal Richelieu, attended by his
guards, the Mayors of the principal Huguenot cities
being allowed this mark of honour. Guiton's guards,
however, were taken from him, and the city was diveſt-
ed of its privileges. The Duke of Rohan, chief of the
rebellious heretics, ftill continued the war for his party;
and finding himſelf abandoned by the English, though
Proteftants, he entered into an alliance with the
Spaniards, though Catholics. But the firm behaviour
1
*And his Sovereign acted wifely, in making fuch a conceffion.
It perhaps faved his empire. To continue to treat a people as rebels,
who, by ftrength or fuccefs, have become too powerful to be mafter
ed, is ignorantly to be governed by names, and not by things;
Tranflater.
of
336
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
of Cardinal Richelieu forced the Huguenots, at last,
after being defeated on all fides, to fubmit.
All the Edicts granted them before this time, had
been ſo many treaties made with their Kings. Richelieu
refolved that the one granted them on this occafion,
fhould be called The Edict of Grace. The King in it
fpeaks in the ftyle of a Prince who pardons. The
exerciſe of the new religion was forbidden in Rochelle,
the Ifle of Rhé, Oleron, Privas, and Pamiers; in other
refpects the Edict of Nantes was fuffered to remain,
which, by the Calvinifts, was always looked upon as
their fundamental law.
It ſeemed ſomewhat ftrange that Cardinal de Riche-
lieu, who was fo abfolute and daring, did not totally
aboliſh this famous Edict; but at that time he had
fomething elſe in view, more difficult perhaps in the
execution, but not lefs conformable to the extent of his
ambition, and the greatnefs of his defigns. He aimed
at the glory of fubduing the minds of men, which he
thought himſelf capable of effecting by the greatneſs
of his underſtanding, his power, and his politics. His
project was to gain over fome of the Preachers, which
the Reformed then called Minifters, and are now ftiled
Paſtors; to bring them firft to acknowledge that the
Roman Catholic worship was not criminal in the fight
of God; to lead them, afterwards, by degrees, to give up
fome points of little importance; and to appear in the eyes
of the Court of Rome, as if he had yielded nothing at
all. He made fure of dazzling one party of the Re-
formed, of feducing the other by pretents and favours,
and to appear at length to have united them to the
Church; leaving to time to accomplish the reſt, and
indulging himſelf before-hand in the glory of having
effected, or prepared the way for this great work, and
of being thought to have completed it. The famous
Capuchin Jofeph on one fide, and two Minifters gain-
ed on the other, fet about this negociation. But it ap-
peared that the Cardinal had prefumed too far; and
that it is more difficult to adjuſt the differences of
Divines, than to raife moles in the ocean.
Richelieu,
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
337
Richelieu, thus difappointed, refolved entirely to
cruſh the Calvinifts; but cares of another nature pre-
vented him. He found himfelf obliged to combat, at
the fame time, the Grandees of the Kingdom, the
Royal Family, the whole Houſe of Auftria, and fre-
quently Louis XIII. himſelf. At length, amidſt all
theſe ſtorms, he ended his days by a premature death,
before he was able to complete his defigns, leaving be
hind him a name more dazzling, than either loved or
revered.
In the mean time, after the taking of Rochelle, and
the publication of the Edit of Grace, the civil wars
ceafed, and there remained nothing but controverfy,
Large volumes were publifhed on both fides, which
no body reads, at prefent. The Clergy, and efpecially
the Jefuits, aimed at converting the Huguenots. The
Huguenot Preachers endeavoured to bring over fome
Catholics to their opinion. The King's Council was
bufied in iffuing Arrets about a burying-ground, which
the two parties were difputing in a village; about a
chapel built on fome land formerly belonging to the
Church; about fchools; the jurifdiction of caftles, in-
terments, and bells; in which the Reformed feldom
gained their cauſe. Thefe trifling difputes were all
that was
now left of the former devaftations and
ravages. The Huguenots were without a leader, fince
they had loft the Duke of Rohan, and that Sedan had
been taken from the Houfe of Bouillon. They even
made a merit of remaining quiet, during the factions
of the Fronde, and the civil wars excited by the
Princes of the Blood, the Parliaments, and the Biſhops,
on pretence of ferving the King againſt Cardinal Ma-
zarin.
There were ſcarce any diſputes about religion, during
the life of this Minifter. He made no fcruple to beſtow
the place of Comptroller-General of the Finances upon
a Huguenot of foreign extraction, named Hervard.
The Reformed were all of them admitted into the
offices of the revenue, and all the places dependent
upon it.
Colbert,
VOL. II.
Z
دایه
338
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV
Colbert, who revived the induſtry of the nation, and
whom France may look upon as the founder of her
commerce, employed a great number of Huguenots
in arts, manufactures, and the navy. Thefe uſeful
objects, which fully occupied them, foftened by degrees
the epidemic fury of controverfy; and the glory
which for fifty years together furtounded the throne.
of Louis XIV. added to his power, and the firmness
and vigour of his adminiftration, extinguished in the
Calvinit party, as well as in all orders of the State,
the leaft idea of fedition. The magnificent feaſts of a
gay and galant Court threw an air of ridicule on the
pedantry and referve of the Huguenots. In proportion
as good taste improved, the pfalms of Marot and Beza
began to infpire difguft. Thefe canticles, which had
charmed the Court of Francis II. feemed only calculated
for the populace, in the reign of Louis XIV. Sound
philofophy, which began to make its way in the world
towards the middle of this Age, helped fill more to put
men out of humour with religious difputes.
7
But while Reaſon was gradually extending her influence
over men, the ſpirit of controverfy itſelf became inftru-
mental in preferving the peace of the State: for the
Janfenifts, beginning about this time to appear with
fome reputation, acquired a confiderable fhare in the
eſteem of thoſe who are fond of fuch fubtleties. They
wrote at the fame time against the Jefuits and Hugue-
nots. Theſe latter anfwered the Jefuits and the Janfe-
nifts. The Lutherans, in the province of Alface,
attacked all the three. A paper-war among fo many
different fects, at a time when the State was engaged in
great.defigns, and the Government was powerful, could
not fail of becoming, in a few years, only an amufe-
ment for the idle part of the nation, which, fooner
or later, always links into indifference.
Louis XIV. was exafperated against the fectaries in
religion, by the continual remonftrances of his Clergy,
by the Court of Rome, and efpecially by the Chancellor
Like thofe of Sternhold and Hopkins, in cur days, Tranflator.
Le Tellier
}
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
339
Le Tellier and his fon Louvois, both enemies to Colbert,
and who had refolved to root out the Reformed, as
rebels, becauſe Colbert protected them, as ufeful fub-
jects. Louis, wholly a ftranger to the fundamental
points of their doctrine, looked upon them, not without
reafon, as old revolters fubdued with difficulty. He
applied himſelf at firft to undermine, by degrees, on
all fides, the fabric of their religion. Their churches
were taken from them on the moft flender pretexts,
and they were forbidden to marry the daughters of
Catholics: but in this there feemed to be a want of
policy, or at leaft an ignorance of the power of a fex,
with which the Court was otherwife fo well acquainted.
The Intendants and the Bifhops endeavoured, upon
the moſt plaufible pretences, to get Huguenot children
away from their parents. Colbert had orders, in 1681,
not to admit any perfon of this religion into places in
the revenue. They were excluded as much as poffible
from the corporations of arts and trades. The King,
however, though he kept them under the yoke, did
not always make them feel the whole weight of it:
Edicts appeared forbidding all violence againſt them;
infinuations were mingled with feverities, and the op-
preffions they laboured under, were at leaft covered
with a fhew of juftice.
1
One very efficacious inftrument of converfion was
particularly ufed, which was money; but there was not
an effectual ufe made of the expedient. Peliffon had
the charge of this fecret fervice; the fame Peliffon who
was fo long a Calvinit, and who is fo well known by
his writings, his copious eloquence, and his at achment
to the Superintendant Fouquet, whofe fecretary, fa-
vourite, and victim, he was. He had the good for-
tune to be enlightened, and to change his religion, at
a time when that change opened a way to fortens and
preferment.
He took the ecclefiaftical habit, and
obtained feveral benefices, and the place of Mafter of
Requets. About the year 1677, the king entruſted
him with the revenues of the Abbies of St. GroT
des Prez, and Cluni, together with the income arifing
7 2
from
340
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
from the third part of the Economat; the whole to
be diſtributed amongſt those who would become con-
verts. Cardinal Le Camus, Archbishop of Grenoble,
had lately tried this method. Peliffon, charged with
this negociation, fent money into the Provinces, endea-
vouring to make many converts with little expence.
Small fums diftributed to a number of indigent
wretches, fwelled the lift which Peliffon prefented,
every three months, to the King; perfuading him, that
every thing upon earth would at length give way to his
generolity and power.
The Council, encouraged by thefe fmall fucceffes,
which time would have rendered more confiderable, had
ventured in 1681, to iffue a declaration, permitting chil
dren to renounce their religion at the age of feven years;
and under the fanction of this decree, great numbers of
children were feized in the Provinces, in order to make
them abjure; and troops were quartered upon the
houfes of their parents.
This precipitate ftep of the Chancellor Le Tellier and
his fon Louvo was the occafion that, in 1681, a great
many families of Poitou, Saintonge, and the neigh-
bouring Provinces, fled the Kingdom.
Foreign nations, with eagernefs, took advantage of
this circumftance. The Kings of England and Denmark,,
and the City of Amfterdam, in particular, invited the
Calvinifts to take refuge in their territories, promifing
them ample fubfiftence. Amfterdam alone undertook
to build a thoufand houfes for the fugitives.
The Council foon perceived the dangerous confe-
quences of a too fpeedy ufe of authority, and thought to
find a remedy in that very authority itfelf. They were
fenfible how neceffary artifans were in a country where
commerce flouriſhed, and feamen, at a time when they
were eſtabliſhing a naval force. The puniſhment of
the gallies was therefore denounced against all, of theſe
profeffions, who ſhould attempt to quit the Kingdom.
* The Oeconomat is a term for the Stewardship appointed in every
Diocefe. for receiving the profits of all benefices, during their vacan-
cies. Translator.
It
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
341
It being obferved that a great number of Calvinist
families were felling their eftates, a proclamation im-
mediately appeared, confifcating all thole lands, in
cafe the feller fhould leave the Kingdom within a year.
The perfecution againft the Minifters was now refumed
with double ſeverity. Their churches were fhut up
upon the moſt frivolous pretences, and all the rents left
by will to their confiftories, were applied to the hoſpi-
tals of the Kingdom.
The Mafters of Calvinift fchools were forbid to re-
ceive boarders. The Minifters were taxed, and Pro-
teſtant Mayors were deprived of their right of nobleſſe.
The Officers of the King's Houfhold, and the King's
Secretaries, who were Proteftants, had orders to refign
their places. None of this religion were any longer
admitted, either among the Notaries, the Lawyers, or
ven in the function of Attornies.
The Clergy were ftrictly enjoined to uſe their utmoſt
endeavours to make profelytes, while perpetual baniſh-
ment was denounced against thofe Proteftant Minifters
who fhould attempt the fame. All thefe ordonnances
were publicly folicited by the Clergy of France, who,
like children of a houfhold, were refolved not to fhare
their inheritance with aliens introduced by force.
Peliffon went on buying converts
on buying converts; but Madame
Hervard, widow of the Comptroller-General of the
Finances, animated with that zeal for religion which
has been obferved in all ages to belong to women, fent
as much money to prevent converfions, as Peliffon had
done to procure them.
At length the Huguenots ventured on re- 1682.
fiftance in fome places. . They affembled in the
Vivarais, and in Dauphiny, near the places where
their churches had been demoliſhed. They were attack-
ed, and they defended themſelves. This was but a
ſmall ſpark of the fire of our ancient civil wars.
Two
* A fmall Province of Languedoc, feparated from Dauphiny by
the River Rhone.
Z 3
or
242
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
or three hund: el miferable wretches, without a leader,
without towns, and even without any regular plan of
defign, were difperfed in a quarter of an hour. Their
punishment immediately followed their deteat, The
Intendant of Dauphiny caufed the grandfon of the
Minifler, Chamier, who had drawn up the Edict of
Nantes, to be broke upon the wheel. He is ranked
among the most famous martyrs of the fect; and the
name of Chamier has been long held in veneration by the
Proteftants.
The Intendant of Languedoc caufed the
1683. Minifter Chomel to be broke alive upon the
wheel. Three more were condemned to the fame
puniſhment, and ten to be hanged; but they ſaved
theufelves by flight, and were only executed in effigy.
All theſe rigorous proceedings infpired terror, and
at the fame time encreaſed the fpirit of obftinacy. It is
but too well known, that people become more attached
to a religion, in proportion as they fuffer for its
fake *.
At this time the King was perfuaded, that, after
having fent Miffionaries into all the Provinces, it be-
hoved him likewite to fend dragoons. Thefe violences
feemed very ill-timed, and were the confequences of the
spirit which then prevailed at Court, that every thing
cught to fubmit to the will of Louis XIV. It was not
confidered that the Huguenots were no longer the fame.
as at Jarnac, Moncontour, and Coutras; that the
rage of civil war was now extinguiſhed; that this ma-
lady, of long continuance, was now upon the decline;
that every thing has but a limited duration with man-
kind; that it the fathers had been rebels under
Louis XIII. their children were become good fubjects
under Louis XIV. It was feen in Englind, Holand,
and Germany, that many fects, who had torn each
* That per/ocution makes Saints, is a vulgar, not a liberal idea. It
does not att ch nen tronger to their religious opinions; but 'tis
natural to refift oppreffion, let the impofiton be of what kind foever
it may. Tranflater.
other
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
343
other in pieces, during the laft age, now lived peaceably
together, within the walls of the fame city. Every
thing proved, that an abfolute Prince might be equally
well ferved by Catholics and by Proteftants. The
Lutherans of Álface were unanswerable proofs of this
maxim. In the end, it appeared that Queen Chriſtina
was not miſtaken, in what the favs in one of her letters.
on the ſubject of thefe oppreffions and emigrations:
"I look upon France as a patient whofe legs and
"arms are cut off, to cure him of a diforder which
patience and lenitives would have entirely got the
"better of."
66
Louis XIV. who, in feizing upon Strafburg, in
1681, protected Lutheranifm there, might have acted
in the fame manner by Calvinifm, which time would
have infenfibly aboliſhed, as it every day diminiſhes the
number of Lutherans in Alface. Could it be imagined,
that in putting this force upon a great number of his
fubjects, he would not lofe many more, who, in ſpite
of all his edicts and guards, would by flight avoid a
violence which they looked upon as a horrible perfecu
tion? And, in fact, why compel a million of people to
hate a name fo dear and precious, and to which both
Proteftants and Catholics, Frenchmen and ftrangers,
had agreed to join the epithet of Great? Policy itſelf
feemed to require a toleration of the Calvinifts, in order
to oppose them to the continual pretenfions of the Court
of Rome. It was about this very time, too, that the
King had openly broke with Innocent X!. the declared
enemy of France.
But Louis XIV. reconciling the
interefts of his religion with thofe of his grandeur, was
refolved to humble the Pope with one hand, and cruſh
the Calvinifts with the other.
He confidered thefe two enterprizes as productive of
that luftre of glory, of which he was in all things fond,
even to a degree of idolatry. The Biſhops, feveral of
the Intendants, and the whole Council, made him be-
lieve that his troops,would, by their bare appearance,
nifh what his liberalities and miffions had already
begun.
Z 4
He
344
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
He thought that in this he did no more than make
ufe of his authority; but thofe to whom that power
was committed, exerted it with extreme rigour *
Towards the end of the year 1684, and in the begin-
ning of 1685, when Louis XIV. always ftrongly armed,
had nothing to fear from any of his neighbours, troops
were fent into all the cities and caftles where the
Proteftants were moft numerous; and as the dragoons,
who at that time were very ill difciplined, committed
the greateſt exceffes, this execution was called the
Dragonade.
All poffible care was taken to guard the frontiers, in
order to prevent the flight of thofe who were defigned
to be reunited to the Church. It was a kind of chace
carried on within a large encloſure.
A Bishop, an Intendant, or a Sub-delegate, or a
Curate, or fome other perfon in authority, marched at
the head of the foldiers. The principal Calvinift fami-
lies were affembled, eſpecially thoſe who were deemed
* Madame de Caylus, in her Souvenirs, mentioning this circum-
ftance, fays, "Monfieur de Louvois firft prevailed on the King to
ftation fome regiments of dragoons in the moſt remarkable Hu-
guenot towns, by perfuading him that the fole appearance of the
troops, without any other manoeuvre than merely capreoling before
the inhabitants, would induce them more readily to liften to the
"doctrine of fuch orthodox teachers as might at the fame time be
fent among them.
66
"The King complied with this minifterial meaſure, againſt his
own opinion, and contrary to his natural bent, which always in-
clined to lenity. They took advantage of his permilion, and
"under the fanction of his orders, were guilty of much cruelty,
without his knowledge, which he would have puniſhed feverely,
"had the report of it ever been fuffered to have reached his ears.
"But Monfieur de Louvois contrived to amufe him, from time to
"time, by affirming that numbers of converts were every day made,
as he had before fuppofed would have been the cafe, at the mere
fight of the military on the parades.
6،
His Majefty had really fo much candour in his own nature, that
" he could never imagine any perfon to be capable of deceiving him
"whom he had once placed a confidence in; and many of the un-
"warrantable things which have been imputed to him, in theſe and
"other tranfactions, were owing to the miftaken notion of probity
that he uſed too often to compliment his Minifters with." Liften,
Oye Kings! fays the ingenious Tranflator, upon this paffage, Tranflator.
moſt
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV. ··
348
moft tractable. They renounced their religion in the
name of the reft, and thofe who continued obftinate
were given up to the foldiery, who were allowed every
licence but that of killing; nevertheless, many perfons
were fo cruelly treated, that they died foon after. The
poſterity of the refugees in foreign countries ftill cry
out againſt this perfecution of their fathers, comparing
it to the moft violent the Church had ever fuftained in
the first Ages of Chriftianity.
It ſeemed a ſtrange contraft, that ſuch cruel and mer,
cileſs orders fhould proceed from the bofom of a volup-'
tuous Court, diftinguiſhed for foftneſs of manners, the
graces, and all the charms of focial life. The inflexible
character of the Marquis de Louvois appeared too
plainly in this affair, and we ſee in it the fame genius
which had propofed to bury Holland under the waves,
and afterwards laid the Palatinate in afhes. There are
ftill extant letters written with his own hand, in this
year of 1685, and conceived in thefe terms: "It is the
"King's pleaſure, that fuch as refufe to conform to his
"religion fhould be punished with the utmoft rigour;
and that thoſe who ſhould affect the fooliſh glory of
"being the laft to comply, fhould be driven to the lait
"extremity."
Paris was not expoſed to theſe vexations; the cries of
the fufferers would have made themſelves heard too near
the Throne. The perfecutors were willing to make
victims, but did not care to have their clamours heard.
While the churches of the Reformed were thus every
where demolished, and abjurations were demanded in
the Provinces with an armed force, the Edia of Nantes
was at laſt revoked, in the month of October 1685. This
completed the ruin of that fabric which was already
undermined on all fides.
The Chamber of the Edict had been fuppreffed fome
time before, and the Calvinist Counſellors in Par-
liament were ordered to refign their places. Arrets of
Council followed one upon another, like thunderbolts,
to extirpate the remains of the profcribed religion. That
which appeared to be the moſt fevere, was the order
for
.
346
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
for feizing the children of the pretended Reformed, and
putting them into the hands of their neareft Catholic re-
lations; an order againſt which the voice of nature cried
fo loudly, that it was never carried into execution.
But in this memorable Edict, which revoked
1685.
that of Nantes, they feemed to have paved the
way to an event directly contrary to the end propofed.
The intent was to procure a re-union of the Calvinists
to the national Church, throughout the Kingdom.
Gourville, an expert politician, whom Louvois con-
fulted, advifed him, as is well known, to impriſon all
the Preachers, and releaſe fuch only, as being gained
by private penſions, would abjure in public, and might
by this means contribute more to the defired union than
the Miffionaries and foldiers.
Inſtead of following this politic advice, an Edict was
iffued, ordering all the Minifters who refuſed to renounce
their religion, to quit the Kingdom in fifteen days.
It was furely the utmoſt blindneſs to imagine, that in
driving away the Paftors, a great part of the flock would
not follow. It was prefuming extravagantly upon
power, and betraying a very flender knowledge of man-
kind, to fuppofe that fo many exafperated minds, fo
many imaginations heated with the idea of martyrdom,
eſpecially in the fouthern parts of France, would not
run all rifks to go and publish their conftancy, and thè
glory of their exile, in foreign countries, when fo many
nations, envious of Louis XIV. were ready to receive
the fugitives with open arms.
The old Chancellor Le Tellier, when he figned the
Edict, cried cut in an ecſtaſy of joy: Nunc dimittis fer-
vum tuum, Domine, quia viderunt oculi mei falutare tuum.
<<
Lord, now letteft thou thy fervant depart in peace,
"for mine eyes have feen thy falvation." He did not
imagine that he was then fetting his hand to an act
which would be productive of the greateft mifchief to
his Country*,
His
* In reading the funeral oration of this Chancellor, pronounced
by Bofuet, we fee him repreſented as a good and a great man,
If
WO
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
341
#
}
His fon, Louvois, was no lefs deceived, when he
thought that a bare order of his would be fufficient to
fhut the frontier-paffes and fea-ports againſt thoſe who
thought their duty obliged them to fly. Induftry, when
employed to elude the law, is always too ftrong for au-
thority. The gaining over fome few of the guards was
fufficient to favour the flight of a number of refugées.
No less than fifty thoufand families quitted the Kingdom
in the ſpace of three years; and were afterwards follow-
ed by others, who carried their arts, manufactures, and
riches, into foreign countries with them. Almoſt all
the north of Germany, a country till then rude and void
of induſtry, received a new face from the multitudes
tranſplanted thither, who peopled whole cities. Stuffs,
gold and filver lace, hats, ftockings, formerly bought
of France, were now manufactured in thoſe countries
by them. A part of the fuburbs of London was peopled
entirely with French manufacturers in filk. Others car-
ried thither the art of making cryſtal in perfection,
which was then loft in France. The gold which the
refugées brought with them, is ftill very frequently to
be met with in Germany *.
Thus France loft about five hundred thoufand inha-
bitants, an immenfe quantity of fpecie, and, what is ſtill
more, the arts with which her enemies enriched them-
felves. Holland gained excellent officers and foldiers.
The Prince of Orange and the Duke of Savoy had
entire regiments of refugées. Thofe fame Sovereigns
of Savoy and Piedmont, who had exerciſed ſo much.
cruelty against the Reformed of their own countries, en-
rolled thofe of France among their troops; and it cer-
we look into the Annals of the Abbé de St. Pierre, we fhall find him
a mean-fpirited and dangerous court-fycophant; one ſkilful in the art
of calumniating, of whom the Count de Grammont faid, on feeing
hin come out from a private conference with the King, "Methinks
"I fee a fox that has just been devouring a brood of chickens, and is
*cking his lips ftained with their blood." Voltaire.
*The Count d'Avaux, in his Letters, fays he was informed, that
at London there were fixty thouſand guineas coined with the gold
which the refugées nad fent cyer thither; but this account is 130
much exaggerated. Ibid,
tainly
3.4.8
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
tainly was not through any religious zeal that the Prince
of Orange enlifted them alfo. Some of them went even
as far as the Cape of Good Hope to fettle. The nephew
of the famous Du Quefne, Lieutenant-General of the
Marine, founded a fmall Colony at that extremity of the
globe; but it did not profper, for most part of thofe
who went on board perifhed by the way. However,
the remains of this Colony yet fubfift in the neighbour-
hood of the Hottentots. The French have had a farther,
difperfion than the Jews.
In vain were the prifons and gallies filled with thoſe
who were ftopt in their flight: what could be done with
fuch a multitude of wretches whom fufferings had but
more ftrengthened in their faith? How could members.
of the law, and infirm old men, be left to perish in the
gallies! Some hundreds were fent over to America. At
length the Council began to think, that if they were no
longer prohibited leaving the Kingdom, the minds of
the people being no longer inftigated by the fecret plea-
fure of difobeying, emigrations would become lefs fre-
quent. But here they were again miſtaken; and after
leaving the paffages open, they were a fecond time de-
fended, to no purpoſe.
In 1685 the Calvinifts were interdicted to employ
Catholic fervants in their families, left the mafter might
pervert the domeftics; and the year after another Edict
commanded them to hire none but Huguenots. There
was nothing fteady in the method of perfecuting them,
except the defign of compelling them to come in.
After all the churches of the Reformed were demoliſh-
ed, and their Paftors banished, nothing more remained
but to retain in the Roman Communion fuch as, through
fear or perfuafion, had quitted their religion. There
were about four hundred thouſand of thefe in the King-
dom *. Thefe were obliged to go to mais, and to com-
municate,;
*Thefe Edicts appear to be in effect the fame; and fo are Calvi-
nifts and Huguenots; though M. Voltaire feems to mark diftinction
here, in both. Tranflator.
+ It has been ſeveral times afferted in print, that there ftill re-
mained three millions of the Reformed in France. This is an inſüf-
ferable
1
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV:
349
municate: fome who refufed the Hoft, after having
once received it, were burnt alive. The bodies of fucli
aş refuſed to receive the facrament at their death, were
drawn upon a hurdle, and caft upon a dunghill *.
Perfecution always makes profelytes †, eſpecially when
it happens to encounter a heat of enthufiafm: The
Calviniſts affembled every where to fing their pfalmis,
though the penalty of death was denounced againſt all
fuch as ſhould hold thefe affemblies. Minifters return-
ing into the Kingdom were likewife to fuffer death, and
a reward of five thousand five hundred livres was pro-
miſed to whomsoever fhould inform against them. Se-
veral returned, and were either hanged or broke upon
the wheel.
The fect, however, ftill fübfifted, though in appear-
ance cruſhed. It vainly hoped in the year 1689, that
King William, who had dethroned his father-in-law, a
Roman Catholic, would fupport Calvinifm in France;
but in the war of 1701, fanaticifm and rebellion again
blazed out in Languedoc, and the adjacent Provinces.
This rebellion was excited by prophecies. Predictions
have ever been the means made uſe of to feduce the ig-
norant, and to inflame fanatics. Among a hundred
events that impofture pretends to foretell, if chance fhall
coincide with one, the reft are forgotten, and that fingle
incident is credited as a token of the favour of God, and
a proof of infpiration. If none of the predictions are
fulfilled, they are explained; a new fenfe is given to them
to accommodate the artifice; enthuſiaſts embrace it,
and fools are credulous.
The Minifter Jurieu was one of their moſt vehement
Prophets. He began by fetting himſelf above one Cot
ferable exaggeration. Mr. Baville reckoned but one hundred thou-
fand in Languedoc, and his account is exact. There are not above
fifteen thousand in Paris; and there are feveral cities, and even whole.
provinces, in which there is not one. French Editor.
*This was not done by Papifts, but by Priefts. Tranflator.
+ A few pages before M. Voltaire only took upon him to affert,
that perfecution confirms; but here he is fo extravagant as to fay it
converts. Pains and penalties are ftrange perfuafions, furely! They
may not deter, but can never allure. Ibid.
terus,
350
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
1
terus, fome never-before-heard-of Chriftina, one Juftus
Velfius, and a certain Drabitius, whom he enumerated
as perfons inſpired of God. Afterwards, he placed him
felf on a level with the Author of the Apocalypfe, and
of St. Paul. His followers, or rather his enemies, had a
medal ftruck in Holland, with this exergue, Jurius pro-
pheta: "Jurius the Prophet." He promifed the deliver-
ance of the people of God, in eight years. His School
of Prophecy was established in the mountains of Dau-
phiny, of the Vivarais, and the Cevennes; countries
very proper for favouring predictions, being inhabited
by ignorant peaſants, with hot brains, baked by the heat
of the fun, and ftill more inflamed by their Preachers.
c
The firit School of Prophecy was opened at a glafs-
houſe, on a mountain in Dauphiny, called Peira, where
an old Huguenot, named De Serre, foretold the de-
ftruction of Babylon, and the re-eſtabliſhment of Jerufa-
lem. He fhewed the children the words of Scripture
which fay, "When three or four are gathered together
" in my name, my Spirit is in the midſt of them ;" and,
"With a grain of faith one may remove mountains ;"
after which he received the Spirit, which was commu-
nicated to him by blowing into his mouth; becauſe it is
faid in St. Matthew, that Jefus breathed upon his Dif
ciples before his death. He then appeared diftracted,
fell into convulfions, his voice altered, he became im-
moveable, looked wild, with his hair ſtanding on end,
according to the ancient ufage of all the nations, and
agreeable to the rules of prophetic phrenzy, handed
down from generation to generation. The children thus
received the gift of prophecy; and if they did not re-
nove mountains, it was becaule they only poffeffed faith
enough to deſerve the Spirit, but not fufficient to work
miracles; and fo they redoubled their ardour to obtain
this latter capacity.
Whilft the Cevennes was thus the fchool of enthufi-
afm, fome of the Minifters, cailed Apostles, returned
fecretly to preach among the people.
Claude Brouffon, of a confiderable fam ly in Nîmes,
a man of eloquence, of great zeal, and in the highet
elleem
3
THE AGE OPOLOUIS XIV.
351
efteem among ftrangers, returned into his own country,
in 1698. He was convicted, not only of acting in his
Miniſtry contrary to the Edicts, but of having about
ten years before, held private correfpondence with the
enemies of the State. În fine, he had formed the pro-
ject of introducing English and Savoyard troops into
Languedoc. This fcheme, written with his own band,
and addreffed to Duke Schomberg, had been a long
while before intercepted, and remained in the poffeffion
of the Intendant of the Province. Brouffon, wandering
from town to town, was at laft feized at Oléron *, and
tranfmitted to Montpelier.
>
The Intendant and his Judges interrogated him. He
anfwered that he was the Apostle of Jefus Chrift, that
he had received the Holy Spirit, that he ought not to
betray the truſt of the faith, and that his duty was to
diftribute the bread of the Word to his Brethren. He
wasrafked if the Apoftles had written plans for inducing
the Provinces to revoke? They then fhewed him his
fatal manufcript, and the Judges unanimoufly fentenced
him to be broke alive upon the wheel.
1698.
He died after the manner of the first martyrs.
All thofe of his own fect, far from confidering
him as a criminal of State, faw in him only a Saint, who
had fealed the faith with his blood, and printed the
Martyrdom of Mr. De Brouffon.
After this, prophets began to ftart up every where,
and the fpirit of phrenzy redouble. Unhappily, in
1703, an Abbé of the family of Cha la, an Inſpector of
the Miffions, obtained an order from the Court to fhut
up in a Convent two daughters of a gentleman lately con-
verted. Inftead of conveying them to the Convent, he
carried them first to his own caftle. The Calvinists aí-
fembled, broke open the doors, and fet the two young
ladies at liberty, with other perfons they found confined
there. They afterwards feized upon the Abbé, to whom
they made an offer of his life, on condition he would
change to their religion. He refuted; upon which one of
A town in G fceny.
their
352
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV;
their prophets cried out, "Die, then! The Spirit condemns
thee; thy fin be upon thine own head!" and he was
immediately fhot to death. Soon after, they feized the
receivers of the capitation-tax, and hanged them with
their rolls about their necks: they then fell upon all the
Prieſts they met, and maffacred them. Finding them-
felves purfued, they retired amidſt the woods and rocks.
Their number daily encreafed. Their prophets and
propheteffes announced to them, as from God, the eſta-
bliſhment of Jerufalem, and the fall of Babylon. The
Abbé de Bourlie appeared unexpectedly among them,
in the midst of their wild lurking-places, and brought
them money and arms.
He was a fon of the Marquis de Guifcard, the King's
Sub-governor, who was one of the wifeft men in the
Kingdom. The fon was unworthy of fuch a father.
Having taken refuge in Holland, on account of fome
crime, he now came to excite a revolt in the Cevennes.
Some time after, he went to London, where he was ar-
reſted in 1711, for betraying the English Miniftry, as
he had before betrayed his own country. Being brought
before the Council, in order to be examined, he ſnatch-
ed up from the table a long pen-knife, which feemed
a proper inſtrument for murder, and with it ſtabbed the
Lord-Treaſurer Harley. Upon this, he was fent to
prifon loaded with irons. He prevented the puniſh-
ment prepared for him by a voluntary death. This was
the man then, who, in the names of the Engliſh, the
Dutch, and the Duke of Savoy, came to encourage the
fanatics, and promife them powerful fuccours.
Great part of the country favoured them fe
1703 cretly. Their war-cry was " Liberty of con.
ſcience, and no taxes!" This cry feduced the populace
every where; and thefe frenzies juftified Louis XIV. in
his defigh of extirpating Calvinifm. But had not the
Edict of Nantes been revoked, there would have been
no fuch frenzies to quell.
The King, at firft, fent Marfhal de Mont Revel with
fome troops, who made war upon thefe wretches as they
deferved. Thoſe who were taken priſoners were broke
I
upon
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
353
upon the wheel, or burnt at the ftake. But then the
foldiers, who fell into their hands, were made to expire
by the moſt cruel tortures. The King, who was en-
gaged in war on all fides, could only fpare a few troops
to fend against them. It was difficult to furpriſe them
amidſt rocks almost inacceffible, in caverns, and in
woods, whither they retired by unfrequented paths,
and whence they fallied again, like wild beaſts from a
foreft. They even defeated a body of marine troops in
a pitched battle. Three Marshals of France were em-
ployed againſt them fucceffively.
Marſhal de Mont-Revel was, in 1704, fucceeded by
Marſhal Villars, who, finding it more difficult to come
at them, than to defeat them, after he had infuſed terror
into them, propofed an amnefty. Some amongſt
them gladly accepted of it, finding themfelves fap-
pointed of the fuccours they expected from the Duke of
Savoy, who, after the example of fo many fovereigns,
perfecuted them in his own dominions, and would fup-
port them againſt his enemies.
The moſt confiderable of their Chiefs, and indeed the
only one who deferves to be mentioned, was Cavalier.
I have ſeen him fince in Holland and in England. He
was a little, fair man, and of a mild and agreeable
countenance. His Party gave him the name of David.
From a baker's boy, he, at the age of twenty-three,
became the Chief over a great multitude of people,
through his own courage and the affiftance of a Pro-
phetefs, who got him acknowledged Chief by an exprefs
order of the Holy Ghoſt. He was found at the head
of eight hundred men, whom he had formed into a
regiment, at the time the amnesty was propofed. He
demanded hoftages, which were fent him. He then
came to Nîmes, accompanied by one of the Chiefs,
where he concluded a treaty with the Marfhal.
1704.
He promised to form four regiments of the revolted,
who were to ferve the King under four
Colonels, of which he was to be the firft him-
felf, and to have the naming of the other three. Thefe
regiments were to be allowed the free exercife of their
VOL. II.
A a
religion,
Į
354
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
religion, like the foreign troops in the pay of France:
but this indulgence was to be permitted no where elſe.
Thefe conditions were accepted, when emiffaries from
Holland arrived, with prefents and promifes, to prevent
their being carried into execution. They drew off the
principal fanatics from Cavalier: but he, having given
his word to Marſhal Villars, was refolved to keep it.
He accepted a Colonel's commiffion, and began to form
his regiment with one hundred and thirty men, who
continued faithful to him.
I have frequently heard, from Marfhal Villars's own
mouth, that he asked this young man how, at his years,
he could have acquired fo great authority over men fo
favage and fo undifciplined. His anfwer was, that
whenever they difobeyed him, his Prophetefs, whom
they termed the Great Mary, became immediately in-
fpired, and condemned to death the refractory, who
were immediately executed, without any further argu-
ment *. Having myfelf fince that time put the fame
queſtion to Cavalier, he returned me the fame anſwer.
This fingular negociation happened after the battle of
Hochftet. Louis XIV. who had fo haughtily proſcrib-
ed Calviniſm, concluded a peace, under the name of an
amnefty, with a baker's boy; and Marshal Villars pre-
fented him with a Colonel's commiffion, and a penſion
of twelve hundred livres.
The new Colonel went to Verfailles, to receive his
orders from the Secretary at War. The King, when he
faw him, fhrugged up his fhoulders. Cavalier, finding
himfelf clofely obferved by the Miniftry, was apprehen-
five of fome foul play, and withdrew into Piedmont,
from whence he afterwards paffed into Holland and
England. He ferved in Spain, and commanded a regi-
ment of French refugées, at the famous battle of
Almanza.
*This circumflance fhould be met with in the true Memoirs of
Marſhal Villars. The first volume I know to be of his writing, be-
cauſe it agrees with a manufcript that I have ſeen; the two other vo-
lumes are by another hand, and differ widely in many refpects.
Foltaire.
A
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
355
A circumſtance which happened to this regiment,
Thews to what a pitch the rage of civil war may be car-
ried, eſpecially when heightened by religion. The re-
giment commanded by Cavalier happened to be oppoſed
to one of the French. As foon as the men knew each
other, they began a bloody fight with their bayonets,
without firing a fingle mufket. I have already obſerv-
ed, that the bayonet is of very little ute in a battle.
The appearance of the front line of three deep, after
having thrown in their fire, ufually decides the fate of
the day but here rage and fury exceeded the brighteft
deeds of valour; there were not above three hundred
men left alive out of theſe two regiments. Marſhal
Berwick was wont to relate this adventure with aftoniſh-
ment.
Cavalier died a General Officer, and Governor of the
İfland of Jerſey, with a great reputation for valour, re-
taining nothing of his former tranfports but courage,
and having by degrees fubftituted prudence in the
place of a fanatic fury, which was no longer fupported
by any example †.
Marſhal Villars, being recalled from Languedoc, was
fucceeded in command by Marshal Berwick. The ill
fuccefs of the King's arms had emboldened the fanatics
of Languedoc, who expected fuccours from Heaven, and
réceived them from the Allies. Money was fent to them
by the way of Geneva. They waited for Officers to be
fent them from Holland and England, and they had in-
telligence in all the towns of the Province.
We may rank in the number of the greateft confpira
cies, that which they formed to feize the Duke of Ber-
wick and the Intendant Baville at Nîmes, to make Lan-
guedoc and Dauphiny revolt, and to introduce the enemy
into thoſe Provinces. The fecret was kept by above a
thouſand confpirators. The indifcretion of a fingle per-
fon diſcovered the whole. Above two hundred perfons
+ Matters are here a little too much exaggerated. Cavalier was
always reckoned an honeft man in England; but his understanding
was ever held in contempt. He was only Lieutenant-Governor of
Jerſey, a place of no great confequence. Smoliet.
A a 2
died
།
356
OF LOUIS XIV,
THE AGE AGE
t
died by the hands of the executioner. Marfhal Berwick
deftroyed by fire and fword all theſe unhappy wretches
that came in his way. Some died with their arms in
their hands; others upon the wheel, or amidſt the flames;
fome, more addicted to prophecy than the ufe of arms,
found means to escape into Holland.
The French refugées there received them as meffen-
gers from Heaven. They went forth to meet them fing-
ing pfalms, and ftrewing their way with boughs of trees.
Many of theſe Prophets went afterwards to England;
but finding that the Epifcopal Church there had too
much reſemblance with that of Rome, they ftrove to eſta-
bliſh their own; and fo ftrong was their confidence, that,
not doubting but with a great fhare of faith they fhould
be able to perform miracles, they offered to raife a per-
fon from the dead; and even any one that ſhould be
pitched on. The populace are every where the fame,
and the Prefbyterians joined theſe fanatics againſt the
Church of England. Who would believe that one of
the greateſt Mathematicians of Europe, Fatio De Duil-
lier, and another very learned man, whofe name was
Dandé, were at the head of thofe poffeffed madmen! Fa-
naticifm renders even Science an accomplice, and ftifles
Reaſon.
•
The English Miniftry therefore took that courfe which
fhould be always taken with your workers of miracles.
They were allowed to take up a dead body, in the
church-yard of the Cathedral. The place was furround-
ed with guards: every thing paffed in a juridical man-
ner, and the fcene ended with fentencing the Prophets to
ftand in the pillory.
Thefe exceffes of fanaticifm could meet with but little
encouragement in England, where Philofophy had begun
to eſtabliſh its reign. They had ceaſed to diſturb Ger-
many, after the Treaty of Weftphalia had given equal
protection to the three religions, the Catholic, the Evan-
gelic, and the Reformed. The Republic of the United
Provinces, by a political toleration, admitted into its
bofom all religions whatfoever. In fhort, towards the
end of this century, France was the only State that ex-
perienced
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
357
perienced any violent ecclefiaftical difputes, notwith-
ſtanding the progrefs of reafon.
This reafon, which is fo flow in introducing itſelf
among the diſciples, could as yet hardly make its way
to the teachers themſelves; and ſtill lefs among the ge-
nerality of the people. It requires to be fift eftablished
among thofe of fuperior rank and capacity, from whence
it defcends lower by degrees, till at length it comes to
govern the people, even though they are unacquainted
with it, but who feeing their fuperiors behave with
moderation, learn to do the fame themſelves. This,
however, is one of the great works of time, and that time
was not yet arrived *.
CA
CHA P. XXXVII.
Of Fanfeniſm.
ALVINISM from its very nature neceffarily pro-
duced civil wars, and fhook the foundations of
States. Janfenifm could only raife theological difputes
and paper wars; for the Reformers of the fixteenth cen-
tury having deſtroyed all the ties by which the Romish.
Church held mankind in fubjection, having treated
what the held moft facred as idolatry, having fet open
the doors of her cloifters, and given her treaſures into
the hands of the Laity, it neceffarily followed that one
of the two parties muſt be fubdued by the other; and
indeed the religion of Luther and Calvin never appeared
in any country, without being the caufe of bloodshed
and perfecution †.
But the Janfenifts did not attack the Church, nor did
they ſtrike at her fundamental tenets, or her wealth;
* Mr. De Voltaire cannot be too much commended for the fpirit
of independence, candour, and moderation, fo fenfibly and elegantly
diſplayed in this Chapter. Smoilet.
This is one of M. Voltaire's ipfe dixits. Hiftory does not fupport
his affertion; except its having fuffered perfecution itſelf, be admitted
as an example. Tranflator.
A a 3
but
358
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
but by writing upon abftracted queftions, fometimes
against the Calvinifts, fometimes againſt the Pope's de-.
crees, they at length fell into general contempt; and
their fect is now deſpiſed by almoſt all Europe, notwith-
ftanding it has been fupported by feveral perfons of
diftinguiſhed characters and abilities.
While the Huguenot party was an object of the moſt
ferious attention, Janfenifm rather perplexed, than dif-
turbed the State. This controverfy, like many others,
had its rife from abroad. It was begun in 1552, by á
certain Doctor of Louvain, named Michael Bay, or
Baius, according to the pedantry of thofe times. This
man tock upon him to maintain certain propofitions
concerning Grace and Predeſtination. This queſtion, like
almoſt all others in metaphyfics, had its foundation in
the labyrinth of fatality and free-will, in which all Ags
have been bewildered, and where man has no clue to
direct his steps.
SI
The fpirit of enquiry which has been implanted in us
by the Creator, and is a neceffary incitement to guide us
to inftruction, too often carries us beyond the proper
bounds, in the fame manner as many other movements
of the foul, which if not ftrong enough to tranſport us
too far, would perhaps want power to excite us even far
enough.
Thus mankind have run into difputes upon what is
understood, and what is not underſtood: but the an-
cient Philofophers always carried on their controverfies
peaceably; whereas thofe of our Divines are frequently
bloody, and always turbulent.
The Francifcans, who understood as little of theſe
points as Michael Baius himſelf, looked upon the doc-
trine of free-will as overthrown, and the tenets of Scotus
in danger. They had before been irritated againſt
Banus on account of a diſpute of much the fame nature;
fo they referred feventy-fix of his propofitions to Pius V.
and Sixtus Quintus, then General of the Francifcan
Order, was the perfon who drew up the bill of condem-
nation, in the year 1567,
Whether
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
359
¡
Whether through the fear of expofing themſelves, a
diflike to entering into a difquifition on fuch fubtleties,
or an indifference and contempt for the theſes of Baius,
the Pope and Council condemned his feventy-fix propo-
ſitions in general, as heretical, obfcure, rafh, and fofpi-
cious, without fpecifying any thing in particular, oren-
tering into a detail. This method of proceeding is ra-
ther arbitrary, and leaves little room for difputation.
The Doctors of Louvain were greatly confounded when
they received the bull.
copy
There was one particular fentence, however, in which,
by the change of a comma, certain opinions of Michael
Baius were either condemned or admitted. The Uni-
verſity fént a deputation to Rome, to know of his Holi-
nefs where the comma was to be placed. The Court of
Rome, which had other buſineſs upon its hands, fent
the Deputies back with no other anfwer than a freſh
of the Bull, in which there was no comma at all. This
was depoſited in the Archives. The Grand Vicar, whoſe
name was Morillon, infifted that the Bull ought to be
received, “even though it fhould be erroneous." Mo-
rillon was certainly right, in a political fenfe; for un-
doubtedly it is much better to receive an hundred errone-
ous bulls, than to reduce as many towns to afhes, as the
Huguenots and their adverfaries have done. Baius
took Morillon's advice, and quietly retracted his opinion.
Some years afterwards, Spain, which was as fruitful
in fcholaftic Writers, as it was barren in Philofophers,
produced the Jefuit Molina, who thought he had clear-
ly diſcovered the manner in which God acts upon the
creature, and how the latter refifts his operations. He
diftinguiſhed between natural and fupernatural orders,
predeftination to grace and predeftination to glory,
preventing and co-operating grace. He was the firft
who invented the doctrine of concomitant concurrence,
of intermediate knowledge, and congruifm. The two
latter in particular were curious notions. God, by his
intermediate knowledge, ſkilfully confults the will of
man, to know what man would do if he was affifted with
his
grace; and then, according to the ufe which he
A a 4
forefees
i
360
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
foreſees a free agent would make thereof, he takes his
meaſures for determining man; and theſe meaſures are
what is called congruifm.
The Spaniſh Dominicans, who understood no more.
of this explanation than the Jefuits, but were jealous of
them, declared in their writings that "Molina's book
was the forerunner of Antichrift."
The Court of Rome took cognizance of this difpute,
which was then under the confideration of the Grand
Inquifitor, and with great prudence impofed filence upon
both parties, which however was obferved by neither.
At length the affair came to be ſeriouſly pleaded before
Clement VIII. and, to the difgrace of human under-
ftanding, all Rome took part in the caufe. A Jefuit,
by name Achilles Gaillard, affured the Pope, that he had
hit on a certain method to reſtore the peace of the
Church; and then very gravely propoſed to allow of
free predeſtination, provided the Dominicans would ad-
mit the mediate knowledge, and reconcile the two ſyſtems
as well as they could. The Dominicans refufed to ac-
cept of Gaillard's expedient. Their famous brother
Lemos maintained preventive concurrence, and the com-
pletion of active virtue. Numberlefs fects ftarted up,
on this occafion, without knowing any thing of what
each other meant.
Clement VIII. died before he was able to reduce the
arguments on each fide to a clear fenfe. Paul V. re-
newed the trial: but as he was engaged in a conteſt of
greater importance with the Venetian State, he put a
ſtop to all thofe meetings, then known by the name
De Auxiliis. This name, by which they are ftill known,
and which is equally obfcure with the difputes in quef
tion, was given them becauſe it fignifies affiftance, anɖ
that this controverfy related to the affiftance which God
gives to the weak will of mankind. Paul V. terminat
ed the affair, by enjoining the two parties to live in
peace.
Whilft the Jefuits were thus eftabliſhing their doc
trine of mediate knowledge and congruifm, Cornelius
Janfenius, Bishop of Ypres, revived forme of Baius's
notions,
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
361
notions, in a large volume which he wrote on St. Au-
guftine, and which was not printed till after his death;
fo that he became the head of a fect without once
dreaming of it. This book was fcarcely read by any
one, notwithſtanding the diſturbance it has occafioned.
But Du Verger De Haurane, Abbot of St. Cyran, a
friend to Janlenius, a man as violent in his temper as he
was prolix and obfcure in his writings, came to Paris,
and gained over fome young Doctors and old women.
The Jefuits applied to the Court of Rome to have Jan-
fenius's book condemned, as a fupplement to that of
Baius; and this they obtained in the year 1641. But
at Paris the Faculty of Divines, and all thofe who dealt
in controverſy, were divided in their opinions. There
did not feem much to be gained by adopting the fenti-
ments of Janfenius, that God commands impoffibilities.
This doctrine is neither philofophical nor confolatory.
But the ſecret pleaſure of being of a party, the general
odium which the J-fuits had incurred, the defire of being
fingular, and a reflefsnefs of mind, formed a fe&t.
The Faculty condemned five propofitions of Janfe-
nius, by a plurality of voices: thefe five propofitions
were ext acted from his book with great fidelity, as to
the fenfe, but not in his own words. Sixty Doctors ap-
pealed to Parliament for an abuſe, and the parties were
fummoned to appear before the Chamber of Vacations.
The parties themſelves, however, did not make their
appearance. But, on the one hand, a Doctor named Ha-
bert ſtirred up the minds of the people against Janle
nius; while, on the other fide, the famous Arnauld, the
difciple of St. Cyran, defended Janfenifm with all the
force of his eloquence. He hated the Jefuits even more
than he loved efficacious grace; and was held in ftill
greater hatred by them, as being born of a father who,
having applied himself to the Bar, had pleaded with.
great vehemence for the Univerſity against their efta-
blifhment. His family had acquired great credit, both
in the army and long robe. His genius, and the cir-
cumſtances in which he then was, determined him to
engage in a paper war, and to fet up for the head of
party
a
362
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
party; a kind of ambition which annihilates every
other.
He continued to wage war against the Jefuits til he
was eighty years of age. There are an hundred and
four volumes of his writing, of which hardly one is at
prefent to be found among the claffical books which are
the ornaments of the Age of Louis XIV. and are juftly
eſteemed the Library of all Nations. His works were
all of them in great vogue at the time he lived, both on
account of the reputation of the Author, and the warmth
of difputation. But that warmth is now cooled, and the
books themſelves are forgotten. None of them now remain,
but thoſe which relate fimply to reafoning, his geome-
try, his rational grammar, and his logic; in all of which
he was deeply read. No one was ever born with a more
philofophical turn of mind; but his philofophy was cor-
rupted by a ſpirit of faction, which hurried him away,
and for above fixty years involved a genius formed to
enlighten mankind, in wretched fchool difputations, and
in thoſe evils incident to obftinacy of opinion.
The Univerſity was divided with relation to the five
famous propofitions, as were likewife the Bishops.
Eighty-eight of the French Bishops wrote in a body to
Pope Innocent X. requefting him to give his decifion,
and eleven others befought him not to do any thing at
all in the matter. Innocent X. proceeded to fentence,
and condemned each propofition apart, but without once
quoting the pages from whence they were extracted, or
thofe which preceded or followed.
This omiffion, which would not have been done in
civil matters in the meaneft Courts of Judicature, was
done by the Sorbonne, the Janfenifts, the Jefuits, and
the Supreme Pontiff. The purport of the five con-
deraned propofitions is evidently to be found in Janfe-
nius, you have nothing more to do than to open Vol.
111. of the Paris edition, printed in 1641, where in page
138, you will find thefe very words: Tout cela dé-
montre pleinement & évidemment, qu'il n'eft rien de
"plus certain & de plus, fondemental dans la doctrine
"de St. Auguftin, qu'il y a certains commandemens im-
poffibles,
6.
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
363
"poffibles, non-feulement aux infidèles, aux aveugles,
"aux endurcis, mais aux fidèles & aux juftes, malgré
"leurs volontés & leurs.efforts, felon les forces qu'ils
66 ont; & que la grace, qui peut rendre ces commande-
""
mens poffibles, leur manque. We alſo read in
page 165, "
que JESUS CHRIST n'eft pas, felon St. Au-
guftin, mort pour tous les hommes.'
"All this plainly and evidently demonftrates, that
"there is nothing more certain and fundamental in the
"doctrine of St. Auguftine, than that there are certain
"commands impoffible, not only to the unbelieving,
"the blind, and the hardened, but even to the faithful
"and righteous, notwithſtanding their will and efforts,
according to the ftrength they are endued with; and
"that they fail of grace, which can alone render theſe
"commands poffible.'
We alſo read in page 165,
"That, according to St. Auguftine, Jefus Chrift did not
“ die for all men.”
<c
""
Cardinal Mazarin obliged the Affembly of the Clergy
to receive the Pope's bull unanimoufly. He was at that
time upon good terms with his Holiness; he did not
love the Janfenitts, and with good reaſon hated all
factions.
The French Church feemed now reftored to peace ;
but the Janfenifts wrote fo many letters, quoted St. Au-
guftine to often, and got fo many female converts to en-
gage in their interefts, that Janfenifm prevailed more
than ever, after the bull was received.
A Priest of St. Sulpice thought proper to refufe ab-
folution to M. De Liancourt, becauſe it had been faid
he did not believe the five propofitions to be in Janfe-
nius's book, and that he harboured heretics in his
houſe. This was a freſh ſubject of ſcandal, and occa-
fioned a new paper war, in which Dr. Arnauld diſtin-
guiſhed himself; and, in a letter which he wrote to a
real or imaginary Duke or Peer, he maintained that the
propofitions which had been condemned, were not in
Janfenius, but were actually to be found in the writings
of St. Auguftine, and feveral other Fathers. He more-
over added, that "St. Peter was a righteous man, in
"whom
364
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
"whom grace, without which we can do nothing, was
wanting."
36
It is true, that St. Auguftine and St. John Chryfoftom
had afferted the fame thing; but time and circum-
ftances, which change all things, rendered Arnauld cul-
pable. It was faid on this occafion, that the Holy Fa-
thers fhould have their wine mixed with water; as the
moſt ſerious ſubject to one party, is generally an object
of pleaſantry to another. The Faculty met, and Chan-
cellor Seguier appeared at the Affembly, on the part of
the King. Arnauld was condemned, and excluded the
Sorbonne, in 1654. The appearance of the Chancellor
among the Divines wore an air of defpotic power, which
difpleafed the Public; and the care taken to fill the Hall
with a crowd of mendicant Monks, who were not wont
to be ſeen there in fuch numbers, gave occaſion to Paſ-
chal to fay, in his Provincial Letters, That it was
"eafier to find Monks than arguments."
The greatest part of thefe Monks did not admit of
congruifm, intermediate knowledge, nor the neceffitating
grace, of Molina; but they maintained a fufficient grace,
to which the human will may confent, but never does;
an efficacious, grace, which it may refift, and does not;
and this they explained clearly, by faying, that this grace
might be refifted in the divided, but not in the com-
pound, fenfe.
If theſe fublime matters are not very agreeable to hu-
man reaſon, the opinion of Arnauld and the Janfenitts
feems too much to agree with pure Calvinilm. This
was exactly the ground of the quarrel between the Go-
merians and Arminians, which divided Holland, as Jan-
fenifm had done France; but in Holland it became a
political faction, rather than a difpute between a parcel
of idle perfons. It ftained the fcaffold with the blood
of the Penfionary Barnevelt; a deed of atrocious vio-
lence, which is now held in deteftation by the Dutch,
after having had their eyes opened upon the abfurdity of
thefe difputes, the horror of perfecution, and the happy
neceffity of toleration, the refource of wife Governors.
againſt the ſhort-lived enthufiafm of those who delight
in
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
365
in controverſy. In France this diſpute produced only a
few edicts, bulls, lettres de catchet, and pamphlets, be-
cauſe the State was at that time employed in quarrels of
more importance.
Arnauld then was only excluded the Faculty. This
fmall perfecution gained him a great number of friends:
but both himſelf and the Janfenifts had ftill the Church
and the Pope against them. One of the firſt ſteps taken
by Alexander VII. on his fucceeding Innocent X. in
the papal chair, was to renew the cenfures againſt the
five propofitions. The French Biſhops, who had readi-
ly drawn up one formulary, now framed a new one,
which concluded in this manner: "1 condemn, both
"with heart and voice, the doctrine of the five propoſi-
"tions contained in the book of Cornelius Janfenius,
"that doctrine not being of St. Auguftine, whom Jan-
"fenius has badly explained."
This formulary was to be fubfcribed; and the
Biſhops prefented it to all thofe in their diocefes, who
were fulpected by them. They required the Nuns of
Port-Royal of Paris, and Port-Royal-des-Champs to
fign it. Theſe two Houſes were the fanctuaries of Jan-
feniſm, as being governed by Arnauld and St. Cyran.
There was an Houſe fet apart near the Monaſtery of
Port-Royal-des-Champs, whither feveral learned and
pious, but infatuated men, and linked together by con-
formity of opinion, had retired. Here they inftructed
a ſelect ſet of young perfons. From this fchool came
the celebrated Racine, a Poet the best acquainted with
the human heart of any in the world. Pafchal, the
chief of French Satirifts, for Defpréaux was but the fe-
cond, was intimately connected with theſe illuftrious
and dangerous reclufes. The formulary was prefented
to the Siſters of Port-Royal of Paris, and Port-Royal-
des-Champs, to fign; but they made anſwer, that their
confciences would not permit them to acknowledge, with
the Pope and Bifhops, that the five propofitions were in
Janfenius's book, which they had never read; that his
meaning had certainly been mistaken; and that though
2
the
356
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
Ї
five propofitions might be erroneous, yet Janfenius
himſelf was not to blame.
no
This obftinacy of theirs incenfed the Court. D'Au-
bray, the Lieutenant-Civil (for at that time there was
Lieutenant de Police) went to Port-Royal-des-
Champs, and obliged the religious reclufes to quit the
place of their retirement, together with the young
people whom they educated: at the fame time they
threatened to deſtroy the two Monafteries; but they
were faved by a miracle.
The
Mademoiſelle Perrier, a boarder in the Monaſtery
of Port-Royal of Paris, and niece to the celebrated
Pafchal, was afflicted with a diforder in one of her eyes.
At Port-Royal they had a ceremony of kiffing one of
the thorns of the crown which had been formerly put
on the head of our Saviour. This thorn had been a
long time preferved at Port-Royal. It would not be
very easy to prove how it was preferved and tranſported
from Jerufalem to the fuburbs of St. James.
patient kiffed the thorn, and appeared to be cured of
her diforder, a fhort time afterwards. Upon this occa-
fion, they did not fail to declare and affirm, that ſhe
had been cured in an inftant of a dangerous fiftula
lachrymalis. This young woman died in the year 1728.
Several perfons who had lived a confiderable time with
her, affured me, that her cure had been very tedious ;
which is indeed very probable. But it is very unlikely,
that God, who has not wrought any miracles to bring
over to our religion the nineteen-twentieths of the
earth who are either ftrangers to it, or hold it in ab-
horrence, ſhould have interrupted the order of Nature,
in favour of a young girl, in order to juſtify a dozen
Nuns, who pretended that Cornelius Janfenius did not
write ten or twelve lines which were afcribed to him,
or that he wrote them with a different intention to that
imputed to him.
The miracle, however, made fo great a noife, that
the Jefuits wrote againſt it. One Father Annat, Con-
feffor to Louis XIV. publiſhed "The Diſappointment
"of the Janfenifts, on account of the miracle faid
66 to
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
367
es
"to have been performed at Port Royal, By a Catholic
" Doctor."-Now Annat was neither Doctor nor doctus.
He meant to demonftrate, that if a thorn had come from
Judea to Paris, to cure the little Perrier, it was a
fufficient proof that Chriſt had died for all, and not for
many. Father Annat was laughed at.
The Jefuits,
therefore, fell upon the fcheme of working miracles,
on their fide; but they did not become popular: the
miracles of the Janfenifts were the only ones in faſhion
at that time. A few years afterwards thefe latter
performed another miracle. One Sifter Gertrude of
Port-Royal was cured of a fwelling in her leg. This
prodigy, however, met with no fuccefs: the time for
thofe things was paft, and Sifter Gertrude had not a
Pafchal for her uncle.
The Jefuits, though they had both Popes and Kings
on their fides, were entirely funk in the opinion of the
people. They revived against them the old ſtories of
Henry the Great, whofe affaffination was plotted
by Barriere, and executed by Châtel, who had been
educated in their ſchools; the execution of Father
Guignard; the baniſhment of their Society from France
and Venice; the confpiration of the powders; and the
bankruptcy of Seville. Every method was practiſed
to render them odious. Pafchal went ftill further; he
rendered them ridiculous. His Provincial Letters,
which made their appearance at that time, were models
of eloquence and raillery. The beft Comedies of
Moliere have not more wit in them than the firſt part of
thofe Letters, nor the writings of Boffuet more fubli-
mity than the latter.
It is true, that the whole of this book is founded
upon a falle principle. He has artfully charged the
whole Society with the extravagant opinions of fome few
Spanish and Flemish Jefuits, which he might with
equal eafe have detected among the cafuifts of the
Dominican and Francifcan Orders; but the Jefuits
alone were the perfons he wanted to attack. In theſe
Letters, he endeavoured to prove that they had a fettled
defign to corrupt the morals of mankind; a defign
which
368
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
which no fect or fociety ever had, or ever could have.
But his buſineſs was not to be right, but to entertain,
the Public.
The Jefuits, who at that time had not one good
writer amongſt them, could not wipe off the fcandal caſt
upon them by this book, which was one of the beſt
written that had yet appeared in France. But nearly
the fame thing happened with regard to them, in their
difputes, as did formerly to Cardinal Mazarin. The
Blots, the Marignis, and the Barbançons, had diverted all
France at his expence, but he ftill continued maſter
of the Kingdom. In like manner, thefe Fathers had
fufficient intereft to procure an Arret of the Parliament
of Provence, ordering the Provincial Letters to be
burnt; but this did not render them lefs ridiculous,
and only ſerved to make them become the more odious
to the nation.
The principal Nuns were carried away from the
Abbey of Port-Royal, by a guard of two hundred men,
and difperfed into other Convents, none being allowed
to remain, but ſuch as would ſign the formulary. The
diſperſion of thefe Nuns intereſted all Paris. Sifter
Perdreau and Sifter Paffart, who fubfcribed this formu-
lary, and prevailed on fome others to do the fame,
became the fubjects of lampoons and humorous fongs,
with which the town was over-run by a fort of idle
perfons, who ſeeing nothing but the ridiculous fide of
things, divert themſelves with every occurrence, while
devotées lament, male contents declaim, and Govern-
ment purſues its own meafures.
The Janfenifts became ftronger by perfecution. Four
Prelates, Arnauld Biſhop of Angers, brother to the
Doctor, Buzenval of Beauvais, Pavillon of Alet, and
Caulet of Pamiers, the fame who afterwards oppoſed
Louis XIV. on the fubject of the Regale, declared them-
felves openly against the formulary. This was a new for-
mulary, framed by Pope Alexander VII. alike, in every
thing effential to the former received in France by the
Bishops, and even by the Parliament. Alexander, in-
cenfed at this oppofition, named nine French Biſhops
to
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
369
to commence a procefs against their four refractory
brethren. Upon this the fpirit of animofity grew more
outrageous than ever.
But juft at the time that the flame of difputation was
at the higheft, to know whether five propofitions were,
or were not, in Janfenius, Rofpigliofi became Pope,
under the name of Clement IX. and made every thing
quiet, for fome time. He prevailed on the diffenting
Biſhops to ſign the formulary fincerely, inſtead of purely
and fimply. Thus it feemed permitted to believe, that
tho' the five propofitions were condemned, they might
not be extracted from Janfenius. The four Bishops
gave ſome ſmall explanations of their own, and Italian
complaifance thus allayed French vivacity. One word
fubftituted in the place of another, brought about this
peace, which is called The Peace of Clement IX. and
even The Peace of the Church; though the whole affair
had been only about a difpute, either unknown to, or
defpifed by the reft of the world. It had been evident,
ever fince the time of Baius, that the Popes had always
had in view to fupprefs thefe unintelligible controver-
fies, and to bring the two parties to teach that morality
which every one understands. Nothing could be more
reaſonable. But they had to deal with men.
The Government fet at liberty the Janfenifts who had
been confined in the Baftile, and, amongſt the reſt, Saci,
author of a verfion of the Teftament. Several Nuns
were recalled from their exile, who all figned the for-
mulary fincerely, and thought they triumphed by this
expreffion. Arnauld now came forth from his retreat,
and was prefented to the King, kindly received by the.
Nuncio, and looked upon by the Public as a Father
of the Church. From that time he promiſed to enter
the lifts only against the Calvinists, for he muſt necef-
farily be engaged in fome kind of difpute. In this
time of tranquility he fent into the world his book
entitled The Perpetuity of Faith, in which he was affifted
by Nicole; and this gave birth to the great controverſy
betwixt them and Claude the Minifter; a controverfy
VOL. 11.
B b
in
370
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
in which each party, according to cuſtom, claimed the
victory.
The Peace of Clement IX. having been given to
reftlefs minds that were perpetually in movement,
proved but a ſhort truce. Secret cabals, intrigues, and
infults, continued on both fides.
The Duchess of Longueville, fifter to the Great
Condé, fo well known by the civil wars, and by her
amours, now grown old, and without any employment,
became a devotée; and as fhe hated the Court, and
loved intrigue, fhe turned Janfeniſt. She added a
wing to the Abbey of Port-Royal des-Champs, whither
fhe retired fometimes with the Reclufes. They were
then in their moſt flouriſhing ſtate. Arnauld, Nicole,
Le Maitre, Herman, Saci, and feveral other perſons,
who, though leſs famous, had nevertheleſs confiderable-
merit and reputation, affembled at her houſe. In the
room of that ſprightly wit to which the Duchefs had
been accuſtomed at the Palace de Rambouillet, they
fubftituted converfations of a more folid kind, and
that mafculine and animated fenfe, which fo remarkably
diftinguished their compofitions and converfations.
They continued not a little to diffute good taſte and
true eloquence through France; but unhappily they
were ſtill more anxious to ſpread their opinions. They
ſeemed to be themſelves a proof of that doctrine of
fatality with which they were reproached. It might
be faid, that they were carried away by an irreſiſtible
determination to draw down upon themfelves perſecu-
tions for mere chimerical notions, when they might
have acquired the moſt folid reputation, and have
enjoyed their lives in a happy tranquility, by only
renouncing theſe frivolous difputes.
The Jefuitical faction, which ftill fmarted from the
fatire of the Provincial Letters, ftirred heaven and earth
against its adverfaries. Madame de Longueville,
being no longer able to form cabals for the Fronde,
formed them in fupport of Janfenifm. There were fre-
quent meetings at Paris, fometimes at her houſe, and
fometimes at Arnauld's. The King, who had already
refolved
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
371
1
1679.
refolved to extirpate Calvinifm, would not fuffer a new
fect. He threatened them; and at laſt Ar-
nauld, dreading to encounter enemies armed
with fovereign authority, and being deprived of the
ſupport of the Duchefs of Longueville, whom death
had lately robbed him of, determined to quit France
for ever, and go to live in the Netherlands, unknown,
without fortune, and even without domeftics; he whofe
nephew had been Miniſter of State, and who might
himſelf have been a Cardinal: but the pleaſure of
writing with freedom, outweighed every other con-
fideration with him. He lived till the year 1694, in
obfcure retirement from the world, and known only to
his friends, continually employed in writing, always
the philofopher, fuperior to ill fortune, and to his
laft moments giving an example of a pure, refolute,
and unfhaken foul.
His party was always perfecuted in the Catholic
Netherlands, called the Land of Obedience, where the
Pope's Bulls are fovereign laws; and it was ftill more
harraffed in France.
One thing very extraordinary is, that the queftion,
"Whether the five propofitions were really in Janfenius?”
was always the fole pretext for thefe little inteftine
broils. The diftinction of de facto and de jure now
occupied the minds of many. At length, in 1701,
they propofed a theological queftion, which was called
Le Cas de Confcience par Excellence, The Cafe of Con-
fçience by Excellence: "Whether the facraments
"fhould be given to a perfon, who, though he fub-
"fcribed to the formulary, believed in his heart that
"the Pope, and even the Church, might be miſtaken
"in facts?" Forty Doctors gave it under their hands
that abfolution might be given to fuch a man.
Immediately the controverfy was renewed; the Pope
and Bishops infifted on being believed upon facts.
Noailles, Archbiſhop of Paris, decreed that belief was
to be given to divine faith, de jure; and to human
faith, de facto. Others again, among whom was Fenelon,
Archbishop of Cambray, who was not well pleafed with
Bb 2
Noailles,
372
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
Noailles, demanded divine faith for the fact. It would
have been better, perhaps, to have cited the paffages in
the book itſelf; but this was never done.
Pope Clement XI. publiſhed a bull in 1705, called
Vineam Domini, by which he enjoined a belief de facto,
without explaining whether it was of a divine or human
faith.
It was a new cuftom introduced into the Church to
make women fign thefe bulls. This refpect was again
fhewn to the Sifters of Port-Royal-des-Champs, and
Cardinal de Noailles was obliged to cauſe it to be carried
to them by way of trial. They figned it, without de-
tracting any thing from the Peace of Clement IX. and
confining themſelves to a reſpectful filence with regard
to the cafe de facto.
It can hardly be faid which is the moſt extraordinary,
either the confeffion infifted on from women, that five
propofitions were contained in a Latin book, or the ob-
ftinate refufal of theſe Nuns.
The King applied to the Pope for a bull for the
fuppreffion of their Monaftery. Cardinal de Noailles
deprived them of the facraments, and their Advocate
was confined in the Baftile. All the Nuns were re-
moved into ſeparate Convents, that were more obedient.
The Lieutenant de Police, in 1709, ordered their houſe
to be razed to the foundation; and laftly, in 1711, all
the bodies that were buried in the church, and in the
church-yard, were removed from thence, and carried
elſewhere.
The troubles, however, were not fuppreffed with
this Monaftery. The Janfenifts were ftill for caballing,,
and the Jefuits for making themſelves appear ne-
ceffary. Father Quênel, a Prieft of the Oratory, a
friend of the celebrated Arnauld, and who accompanied
his retreat to his laſt moments, had, in 1671, com-
pofed a book of pious reflections on the text of the New
Teftament. This book contains fome maxims which
feem to favour Janfenifm; but thefe are blended with
fuch a number of pious fentiments, and are fo replete
with that foft perfuafion which wins the heart, that
the
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
373
the work was received with univerſal approbation. The
good tendency of this book manifefts itſelf in almoft
every line, and it requires the minuteft fearch to dif
cover the faults. Several Biſhops beftowed the higheſt
encomiums upon it, even when imperfect, which they
confirmed when the author had put the finiſhing hand
to it. I myſelf know, that the Abbé Renaudot, one of
the moſt learned men in France, being at Rome, the
first year of Clement XI.'s pontificate, and going one
day to wait upon this Pope, who loved men of letters,
and was himſelf a man of learning, found him reading
Father Quênel's book: "This is," faid the Pope,
a truly excellent work; we have no one at Rome
"capable of writing in fuch a manner. I fhould be glad
"to bring the author to my Court." This very Pope
afterwards condemned the book.
We muſt not, however, confider thefe encomiums of
Clement XI. and his fubfequent cenfure, as a contra-
diction. A perfon may be touched with the fhining
beauties of a work, at the first reading, and afterwards
condemn faults which had then efcaped his notice.
Of all the French Prelates, Cardinal de Noailles, Arch-
biſhop of Paris, gave the moft fincere commendations
to this book. He declared himſelf its patron when
Biſhop of Chalons, and the work was dedicated to him.
This Cardinal was a perfon equally eminent for virtue
and learning, of the moft mild and amiable difpofition,
and a fincere friend to peace. He protected fome of
the Janſeniſt party, though not of their perfuafion; and,
though he had no great affection for the Jefuits, he
neither injured nor feared them.
This order began to acquire great influence when
Father La Chaife had the government of Louis XIV.'s
confcience, and, in confequence, was the head of the
Gallican Church. Father Quênci, dreading their
power, had retired to Bruffels with the learned Bene-
dictine Gerberon, a Prieſt named Brigode, and ſeveral
others of the fame party, of which he became the chief,
after the death of the famous Arnauld; and, like him,
enjoyed the flattering glory of eftabliſhing to himſelf
Bb 3
a fo-
$
5
2
374
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
a fovereignty independent of Princes, of reigning over
confciences, and of being the foul of a party compofed of
the brightest Geniuſes. The Jefuits, more univerſal and
more powerful than his faction, foon found out Quênel
in his retirement, and accufed him to Philip V. who was
ftill master of the Netherlands. Perfecuting him as
they had done his mafter Arnauld with Louis XIV.
they obtained an order from the Spaniſh
1703. King to feize the perfon of theſe religious
reclufes. Quênel was thrown into prifon in the Arch-
bishopric of Mechlin. A gentleman, who thought
the Janfenift party would make his fortune if he
could compass the deliverance of their Chief, broke
through the walls, and helped Quênel to make his
eſcape, who returned to Amfterdam, where he died in
1719, in an extreme old age, after having contributed
to eſtabliſh ſome Janfenift churches in Holland: but
this weak flock foon dwindled away.
When Quênel was taken into cuftody, they at the
fame time feized upon his papers, in which were found
evident proofs of a formed party. There was a copy
of an ancient contract made by the Janfenifts with
Antonietta Bourignon the celebrated fanatic, a woman
of great fortune, who in the name of her fpiritual
director had purchaſed the Ifland of Nordstrand, near
Holstein, as an afylum for thofe whom the pretended to
affociate into a myftical fect, which the propoſed to
eftablish.
This Bourignon had printed, at her own expence,
nineteen large volumes of pious meditations, and had
fpent the half of her fortune in making profelytes.
However, fhe fucceeded only in rendering herſelf ridi-
culous and had even fuffered all the perfecutions
which are the confequences of fuch innovations. At
length, defpairing of fettling in her Ifland, fhe fold it
again to the Janienifts, who, like herfelf, were incapable
of making any eſtabliſhment there.
;
A
Amongst the manufcripts of Quênel, there was like-
wife found a project of a more criminal nature, had it
not been fo very fooliſh. Louis XIV. having fent the
Count
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
375
Count D'Avaux, in 1684, with full powers to grant a
truce of twenty years to all the Powers who were will-
ing to accept of it, the Janfeniſts, under the title of
"The Difciples of St. Auguftine," had formed the idle
fcheme of getting themfelves included in this truce, as
if they had been really a formidable party, as the
Calvinifts had fo long been. This ridiculous project,
however, was not executed; but the propofitions of a
peace between the King of France and the Janfenifts
had been actually drawn up in writing. They had
certainly a view in this fcheme to render themſelves too
confiderable, and this was fufficient to make them
culpable; and Louis XIV. was eafily perfuaded to look
upon them as dangerous.
He wanted difcernment, or he would have known,
that empty and fpeculative notions will fall of them-
felves, if left to their own infignificancy. It was giving
them a degree of confequence to which they were not
intitled, to make the matter an affair of State. It was
no difficult matter to make Quênel's books appear
culpable, after the author had been treated as a fedi-
tious perfon. The Jefuits prevailed upon the King to
petition himſelf for a condemnation of this book at
Rome. This was, in fact, condemning Cardinal de
Noailles, who had been one of its moft zealous patrons.
They flattered themſelves, and not without reaſon, that
Clement XI. would be glad to mortify the Archbishop
of Paris.
It will be neceffary to obſerve, that when Clement XI.
was Cardinal Albani, he publiſhed a book written
intirely on Molinist principles, by his friend Cardinal
de Sfondrati, and that Noailles had cenfured it. It
was natural then to think, that now Albani was be-
come Pope, he would, at leaſt, oppofe the encomiums
given to Quênel, as thofe beftowed on Sfondrati had
been before cenfured.
This expectation proved to be well grounded: Pope
Clement XI. in 1708, iffued a decree againſt Quênel's
book. But the fituation of temporal affairs, at that
B b 4
time,
376
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
|
time, hindered this fpiritual bufinefs, fo warmly foli-
cited, from fucceeding. The Court was piqued at
Clement XI. for having acknowledged the Archduke
Charles as King of Spain, after having before acknow-
ledged Philip V. The decree was found in fome places
not valid, and was rejected in France; and the con-
troverſy lay dormant till the death of Father La Chaiſe,
the King's Confeffor; a man of a mild difpofition,
who was always ready to adopt pacific meaſures, and
who always kept up a good underſtanding with Car-
dinal de Noailles, as the relation of Madam de Main-
tenon.
The Jefuits had a right to appoint a Confeffor for
the King of France, as well as almoſt all the other
Catholic Princes in Europe. They enjoy this privi-
ledge in virtue of their inftitution, by which they
renounce all ecclefiaftical dignities: fo that what their
founder eſtabliſhed through humility, is become the
means of grandeur. In proportion as Louis XIV. ad-
vanced in years, the office of Confeffor became more
important. This poft was given to Father Le Tellier,
fon of an Attorney of Viré, in Lower Normandy; a
gloomy, hot-headed, and inflexible man, concealing
his turbulence under an apparent phlegm. He did all
the miſchief that could be done in his office, where
there are but too many opportunities of infpiring fuch
fentiments as one pleaſes, and of deftroying thoſe
one hates; and he had many private injuries to re-
venge.
The Janfenifts had got one of his books on the
Chineſe ceremonies condemned at Rome. He had
likewiſe a perfonal diflike to Cardinal de Noailles, and
he was not of a difpofition to reftrain his paffions.
He foon raiſed diſturbances in the whole Church of
France. In 1711, he drew up letters and mandates
to be figned by the Bishops, and fent them ſeveral
articles of accufation againſt Cardinal de Noailles, to
which they were allowed only to fign their names.
Such practices meet with proper puniſhment in fecular
affairs;
1
.
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
377
affairs; but here, though they were diſcovered, they
fuceeded, notwithſtanding *.
The King's confcience was alarmed by his Confeffor,
as much as his authority was hurt by the idea of a
rebellious faction. Cardinal de Noailles in vain de-
manded juſtice of his Majefty, for theſe myſteries of
iniquity. The Confeffor perfuaded him, that he made
ufe of human means to bring about divine matters;
and as in effect he defended the Pope's authority, and
the unity of the Church, he ſeemed, in the main, to
have right on his fide. The Cardinal applied to the
Dauphin, Duke of Burgundy, but found him prepof-
feffed by the letters and friends of the Archbishop of
Cambray. Human frailty finds an entrance into every
breaft: Fenelon was not then philofopher enough to
forget that Cardinal de Noailles had been inftrumental
in getting him cenfured; and Quênel now fuffered for
Madam Guion.
The Cardinal found no greater fupport from the
intereſt of Madame de Maintenon. This affair is alone
fufficient to fhew the character of that woman, who
had no fentiments of her own, and placed her whole
ſtudy in conforming to thofe of the King. The few
following lines of her's to the Cardinal de Noailles,
will enable us to form a true judgment of her, of
Father La Tellier's intrigues, of the King's fentiments,
*It is faid in the Life of the Duke of Orleans, that the Cardinal
de Noailles having accufed Father Le Tellier of felling church-
livings, that Jefuit expreffed himſelf thus to the King: "I freely
"confent to be burnt alive, if this accufation can be proved, on
"condition that the Cardinal fhall fuffer the fame puniſhment, if
" he does not prove it."
This ftory is taken from fome of the pieces that were handed
about on the affair of the Conftitution, and thefe pieces are as full
of abfurdities as the Life of the Duke of Orleans. Moft of them were
written by a fet of wretches, merely for the fake of getting money.
Thefe fort of people do not know, that a perſon who has his credit
to maintain with a Prince whofe Confeffor he is, would hardly propoſe
to him to condemn his Archbishop to the flames for his vindication.
All the idle ftories of this nature may be found collected in the
Memoirs of Maintenon. We fhould be careful to diftinguifh be-
tween facts and hearfays.
Voltaire,
and
378
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
r
66
and of the conjuncture. "You are fufficiently ac-
quainted with me, to know what my thoughts are
"on the late difcovery; but I have many reafons to
"be cautious how I fay any thing. It is not my buſi-
"nefs to judge or condemn: I have only to be filent,
"and to pray for the Church, for the King, and for
you. I have delivered your letter to his Majefly,
"who has read it: this is all I can fay to you about
it, being oppreffed with forrow *.”
«Ε
.
The Cardinal Archbishop, being thus infulted by a
Jefuit, took away the power of preaching and con-
feffing from all the Jefuits in France, excepting only a
few of the moft moderate and difcreet. By his place
he had likewife the dangerous right of hindering
Le Tellier from confeffing the King; but he did not
dare to irritate his Sovereign to fuch a degree; and
therefore left him refpe&fully in the hands of his
enemy +. "I am apprehenfive (faid he, writing to
"Madame Maintenon) that I fhew too mean a fub-
"miffion to the King, in thus leaving power in the
"hands of one fo unworthy of it. I pray God that he
will open his eyes to the danger he is in by entruſting
his foul to a man of fuch a character."
We read in feveral memoirs, that Tellier declared
either he muſt lofe his place, or the Cardinal his. It is
* This woman had no foul, but what was to be faved by huckſter-
ing. Tranflator.
+ Confult Madame de Maintenon's Letters. It may eafily be per-
ceived that the Author of this Work was well acquainted with thoſe
Letters before they were publifhed, and that he has taken nothing
upon truft.
૯.
Voltaire.
↑ When we are provided with letters of fuch good authority, we
may boldly venture to quote them, as being the most valuable ma-
terials in hiftory; but what truft can be put in a letter which is fup-
poſed to have been written by Cardinal de Noailles to the King?
I was the firft who laboured to ruin the Clergy, in order to fave
your State and fupport your Throne. It is not allowable for you
"to demand an account of my conduct." Is it probable that a wife
and difcreet fubject fhould write fo infulting and daring a letter to
his Sovereign? This is but an ill-judged imputation. It is to be
found in page 141. Vol. V. of the Memoirs of Maintenon, and as it
is deftitute of all authority and probability, ought not to meet
with the leaft credit. Ibid.
not
*
盏
​THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
379
not improbable he might think fo, but very unlikely
that he ſhould declare it.
When two parties are exasperated againſt each other,
both frequently take steps which prove fatal to them.
The partizans of Father Le Tellier, and thoſe Biſhops
who afpired at a Cardinalfhip, made ufe of the royal
authority to blow up thofe fparks which might have
been extinguiſhed. Inftead of imitating the conduct of
Rome, which had feveral times impofed filence on both
parties; inſtead of curbing the infolence of the Jefuit,
and foothing the Cardinal; inſtead of prohibiting theſe
controverfies, in the fame manner as duels, and making
the Clergy, as well as the Nobility, uſeful without
being dangerous; in a word, inftead of crushing the
two parties by the weight of the fupreme power, fup-
ported by reafon and by all the magiſtrates, Louis XIV.
thought he acted right in foliciting Rome, himſelf, for
a declaration of war, and procuring that famous Con-
ftitution Unigenitus which embittered the remainder of
his life.
Father Le Tellier and his party fent an hundred and
three propofitions to Rome, to be cenfured, of which
the Holy Office condemned one hundred and one. This
bull, which was publiſhed in the month of September
1713, raiſed a murmur throughout almoft the whole
Kingdom of France. The King had applied for it,
as a means to prevent a fchifm, and it was likely to
produce one. The clamour was general, becauſe,
among thofe hundred and one propofitions, there were
feveral which appeared to every one to carry the moſt
innocent meaning, and the pureft morality. A nume-
rous Affembly of Bishops was convoked at Paris: forty
accepted the bull, for the fake of peace, but at the
fame time they added certain explanations, to quiet
the fcruples of the people. The direct and unreſerved
acceptation was fent to the Pope, and the modifications
were referved for the people. By this means, they
thought at once to fatisfy the Pope, the King, and the
People; but Cardinal de Noailles, and feven other
Bishops of this Affembly, who joined with him, refuſed
both
380
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
both the bull and its modifications: they wrote to the
Pope, requeſting to have theſe modifications from his
Holiness himſelf. This was affronting him, with the
appearance of refpect.
The King would not permit it to be done, hindered
the letter being fent, remanded the Bishops back to their
Dioceſes, and forbade the Cardinal to appear at Court.
This perfecution procured the Archbishop an additional
fhare of credit with the Public. Seven other Biſhops
now joined with him: there was a real divifion in the
Epifcopacy, among all ranks of the Clergy, and all
religious orders. Every one allowed, that the funda-
mental points of religion were not concerned in this
difpute, and yet a civil diffention was raifed in the
minds of the people, as if Chriftianity itſelf was in
danger of being fubverted; and as many political
reſources were employed on both fides, as in the moſt
profane affairs.
Theſe reſources were chiefly employed to get the
Conftitution received by the Sorbonne; and it was
regiſtered there, notwithstanding the majority
1714. of votes was against it. The Miniftry could
hardly ſupply a fufficient number of lettres de cachet to
impriſon or banifh thofe who oppoſed it.
This bull had been registered in Parliament, with
a proper refervation of the ordinary rights of the
Crown, the liberties of the Gallican Church, and
the power and jurifdiction of the Bishops; but the
public clamour got the better of obedience. Cardinal
de Biffi, one of the moft zealous defenders of the bull,
acknowledged in one of his letters, that it could not
have been received with greater indignity at Geneva,
than it was at Paris.
The people were particularly incenfed againſt Father
Le Tellier. Nothing is more apt to excite indignation
than a Prieft exalted to power; it feems a violation of
his VOWS; but if he abuſes this power, he is held in
execration. All the prisons had been a long time
crouded with natives accuſed of Janfenifm. Louis XIV.
too ignorant in thefe matters, was made to believe that
it
2
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
381
it was the duty of a Moft Chriftian King, and that he.
could not expiate his fins, without perfecuting the
heretics. But what was moft fhameful was, that
the copies of the interrogatories exhibited to theſe un-
happy people were put into the hands of the Jefuit
Le Tellier. Never as juftice fo bafely betrayed, and
never did meannefs more unworthily facrifice to power.
In 1768 were found, in the profeffed houſe of the
Jefuits, theſe monuments of their tyranny, after they
had fuffered the penalty of their exceffes, and that
they were chafed out of the Kingdom by all the Parlia-
ments of France, by the wishes of the Nation, and,
finally, by an Edict of Louis XV. Le Tellier pre-
fumed fo much on his influence, that he even
propofed the depofing of Cardinal de Noailles,
in a national Council. Thus did this Prieft make his
prince, his penitent, and his religion, fubfervient to
his revenge.
1715.
In order to prepare this Council, which was to de-
pofe a man become the idol of Paris, and of the whole
Kingdom, for the purity of his manners, the amiable-
nefs of his character, and ftill more by the perfecution
he fuffered; they prevailed on Louis XIV. to order a
Declaration to be registered in Parliament, by which
every Bishop who had not received the bull purely and
Simply, fhould be obliged to fubſcribe it, or be proſe-
cuted as a rebel by the Advocate-General. Chancellor
Voifin, Secretary at War, a rigid, arbitrary man, was
the perſon who drew up this Edict. D'Agueffeau, who
underſtood the laws of the realm much better than Voifin,
and had all that reſolution of mind which youth na-
turally infpires, peremptorily refufed to be concerned
in fuch an affair. De Mefme, Prefident of the Council,
demonſtrated to the King the confequences likely to
enfue. Thus the affair was protracted. The King
was drawing towards his end; and theſe unhappy dif-
putes greatly difquieted him, and contributed not a
little to haften his laft minutes. His mercilefs Con-
feffor was continually teazing him, though in this weak
condition, by repeated exhortations to confuminate a
}
work
382
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
work which would have been far from endearing his
memory. The King's domeftics, filled with indigna-
tion at the Confeffor's behaviour, twice refuſed him
entrance into his chamber, and at laft earneſtly con-
jured him not to fpeak to the King about the Conftitu-
tion. The King died, and a total change enfued.
The Duke of Orleans, Regent of the Kingdom.
having immediately upon his affuming the reins of
power, changed the whole arrangement of Louis XIV's
government, and having fubftituted Councils in the
room of the offices of the Secretaries of State, erected
a Council of Confcience, of which Cardinal de Noailles
was made Prefident. They baniſhed Father Le Tellier,
loaded with the hatred of the Public, and very little
beloved by his own fraternity.
The Bishops who oppofed the bull appealed to a
future Council, fine die. The Sorbonne, the Clergy of
the diocefe of Paris, and whole bodies of religious
orders, appealed likewife; and at length Cardinal de
Noailles made his appeal, in 1717, but would not
publiſh it at first; however, it was printed, as is ſaid,
contrary to his inclination. The Church of France
remained divided into two factions, the Acceptants and
the Recufants. The Acceptants confifted of an hun-
dred Bishops, who had adhered under Louis XIV. to
the Jefuits and Capuchins. The other confifted of
fifteen Biſhops, and the whole Nation. The Accep-
tants had the Court of Rome for their defender; the
Recufants were fupported by the Univerfities, the
Parliament, and the People. Volume upon volume,
and letter upon letter, was printed; and each party
treated the other as fchifmatics and heretics.
An Archbishop of Rheims, named Mailly, a great
and fuccefsful partizan of Rome, had fubfcribed his
name to two papers which the Parliament ordered to
be burnt by the hangman. The Archbiſhop, when he
heard it, ordered Te Deum to be fung, and returned
God thanks for having been thus ignominiouſly treated
by fchifmatics. God rewarded him, and he was made
a Cardinal. The Biſhop of Soiffons having been dealt
with
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
383
1
+
with in the fame manner by the Parliament, fignified
to that Affembly, "That it did not belong to them
"to judge him, even in cafes of high-treafon." For
this he was mulcted in the fum of ten thouſand livres :
but the Regent remitted the fine, left, as he ſaid,
Soiffons fhould be made a Cardinal alfo.
The Court of Rome broke out into loud reproaches;
much time was fpent in negociations, in appealing and
re appealing, and all this about a few paffages, now
forgotten, of a book written by an old Prieft of four-
fcore, who lived on charity at Amſterdam *.
The extravagant project of the Funds + contributed
more than one would imagine to restore the peace of
the Church. The madnefs of the nation for ftock-
jobbing, and the greedinefs of every one to fnap at the
bait, was fo general, that thofe who talked about Jan-
fenifm or the bull could find no one to liften to them.
The people of Paris paid as little regard to theſe
matters, as to the war that was carrying on upon the
frontiers of Spain. The fudden and immenfe fortunes
made at that time, the excefs to which luxury and vo-
luptuouſneſs of every kind was carried, put a stop to
all ecclefiaftical difputes. Thus pleafure and diffipa-
tion brought about that which Louis XIV. could not
effect.
The Duke of Orleans laid hold of this occafion to
unite the Church of France. In this his policy was
intereſted; for he dreaded to fee the time when Rome,
Spain, and an hundred Bifhops, fhould be all united
againſt him ‡.
And now he had to prevail on Cardinal Noailles,
not only to receive the Conftitution, which he looked
upon as fcandalous, but alfo to withdraw his appeal,
which he confidered as lawful. He was to obtain more
*Nothing, certainly, could be more ridiculous, in a rational and
civilized Nation. Translator.
† Lazv's Syftem; fuch another bubble as the South-Sea Scheme in
England. Ibid.
In the Age of Louis XV. will be feen what were the vices and
the conduct of the Regent, Voltaire.
I
of
!
384
THE AGE OF LOUIS Xiv.
of him than his benefactor Louis XIV. had in vain
demanded. The Duke of Orleans, with reafon, ex-
pected great oppofition from the Parliament, which he
had banished to Pontoife. Nevertheleſs he gained all
his points. A Body of Doctrine was compofed, which
partly fatisfied both parties; and the Cardinal was pre-
vailed upon to give his promife, that he would at laſt
accept it.
The Regent went himſelf to the Great
Council, with the Princes of the Blood, and the Peers,
to get an Edict regiſtered, enjoining the acceptance of
the bull, the fuppreffion of all appeals, and the reſtora-
tion of peace and unanimity. The Parliament, which had
been mortified by feeing Edicts carried to the Great
Council which it was their right to receive, and being
likewife threatened to be removed from Pontoile to
Blois, regiſtered what had been entered by the Great
Council; but always with the customary reſervations,
viz. the preſervation of the rights and liberties of the
Gallican Church, and the laws of the Realm.
The Cardinal-Archbishop, who had given his word
to withdraw his appeal whenever the Parliament ſhould
obey, now faw himſelf neceffitated to keep his promife;
and the inftrument of his recantation was pofted up the
20th of Auguft 1720.
Du Bois, the new Archbishop of Cambray, fon to
an apothecary of Brive-la-Gaillarde, afterwards Cardi-
nal and Prime Minifter, was the perſon who had the
greateſt ſhare in bringing about this bufinefs, in which
the power of Louis XIV. had failed. No one is a
ftranger to the conduct, fentiments, and morals, of this
Minifter. The licentious Du Bois got the better of the
pious Noailles. It is ftill remembered with what con-
tempt the Duke of Orleans and his Minifter fpoke of
the difputes which they oppofed, and what ridicule
they threw upon the controverfial war.
This contempt
and ridicule contributed not a little to bring about a
peace. People grew at length weary of fuch conteſts
as afforded a fubject of laughter to the reſt of the
world.
From
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
385
From this time all that was known in France by the
name of Janfenifm, Quietifm, bulls, and theological
difputes, fenfibly declined; but fome Biſhops, who had
appealed, ftill continued obftinately attached to their
opinions.
Under the adminiſtration of Cardinal de Fleury, an
attempt was made to extirpate the remains of the party,
by depofing one of the moſt ſtubborn Prelates. To this
end, Old Soanin, Bishop of the little town of Senés, was
fixed on for an example; a man equally pious and in-
flexible, but of no family nor influence.
He was condemned by the Provincial Synod of Am-
brun, in 1728, fufpended from his epifcopal and clerical
functions, and banished by the Court to Auvergne,
when above eighty years old. This treatment occafion-
ed a few murmurings, which proved of no confequence.
There is not at prefent any Nation which murmurs
more, obeys better, and forgets fooner, than the French.
Some remains of fanaticifm ftill continued, among a
fmall number of people of Paris. Certain enthufiafts
imagined, that a Deacon named Paris, brother to a
Counſellor of Parliament, one who had appealed and
re-appealed, and who lay buried in the church-yard of
St. Medard, was to perform miracles. Some of the
party, who went to pray at his tomb, had their imagi-
nations fo heated, that their difordered organs produced
flight convulfions. Upon this the tomb was furround-
ed by ſwarms of people, who continued to flock thi
ther, both day and night: ſome got upon the tomb, and
took the motions they gave their bodies in mounting,
for miraculous convulfions. The fecret abettors of the
party encouraged this phrenzy. They prayed at the
tomb in the vulgar language; nothing was now talked
of but the deaf hearing certain words, the blind having
had glimpfes, and the lame walking upright for fome
moments. Theſe pretended miracles were even attefted
upon oath by a crowd of witneffes, who thought they
had beheld them, because they came thither fully pre-
poffeffed that they ſhould do fo.
The Government left this epidemical madneſs to
VOL II.
C c
felf
386
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
felf for a month; but the concourfe of people became
fo great, and the miracles fo frequent, that they were at
laft obliged to fhut up the church-yard, and place a
guard round it. Thefe enthufiafts then went to work
their miracles in houſes. This tomb of the Deacon Paris
proved in effect the grave of Janfenifm, in the opinion
of all fenfible people. Such farces might have had fe-
rious confequences, in the more ignorant times; but
thoſe who encouraged them ſeemed to have miſtaken
the Age they lived in.
The fuperftition, however, was carried fo far, that a
Counſellor of Parliament had the folly to prefent" the
King, in 1736, with a collection of thefe miracles, fup-
ported by a confiderable number of atteftations. This
madman, the inftrument and victim of others as mad as
himſelf, fays, in the memorial prefented to the King,
"That credit ought to be given to witneffes who fuf-
"fered death in fupport of their evidence." If all other
books were to be loft, and this only was to remain,
pofterity would imagine our Age to be the æra of igno-
rance and barbarifm.
1
Theſe extravagances were in France the expiring fighs
of a fect, which, being no longer ſupported by an Ar-
nauld, a Paſchal, nor a Nicole, and compofed only of a
few convulfionaries, is fallen into utter contempt; and
we ſhould hear no more mention of thoſe diſputes which
diſgrace reaſon, and do injury to religion, were it not
for fome bufy minds, who are continually raking in theſe
extinguiſhed ashes, for a remaining ſpark of fire, which
they endeavour to blow up into a new flame. But even
fhould they fucceed, the difpute concerning Molinifm
and Janfeniſm will never again be the object of diffen-
tion. What has once become ridiculous, can never
more be dangerous. The difpute will change its na-
ture; for mankind never want a pretext to injure each
other, though they may be without a caufe,
Religion may ftill whet its poignards. There are al-
ways in the Nation a fett of people who hold no commu-
nication with honeft men, who are not of this Age, who
are inacceffible to the progress of reafon, and over whom
the
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
387
the atrocity of fanaticifm preferves its empire, like cer-
tain diſeaſes which attack only the meaneft of the
vulgar.
The Jefuits feemed involved in the fall of Janfeniſm;
their arms grew edgelefs for want of adverfaries to
whet them on; they loft that credit at Court which Le
Tellier had fo grofsly abufed; their Journal de Trevoux
gained them neither the efteem nor friendship of the
learned world. The Biſhops, over whom they had for-
merly domineered, confounded them with the other re-
ligious orders; and thefe, who had been kept under by
them, now humbled them, in their turn. The Parlia
ment made them fenfible, more than once, of the opi-
nion they entertained of them, by condemning fome of
their books, which would otherwife have been forgotten.
The Univerſity, which now began to make a fhining
figure in literature, and had an excellent method of edu
cating youth, deprived them of moft of their pupils
and they were obliged to wait with patience till time
ſhould furnish them with men of genius, and a favourable
opportunity, to regain their former afcendancy.
But they were much deceived in their hopes; their
fall; the abolition of their order in France; their ba-
niſhment from Spain, from Portugal, and from Naples,
have fhewn the world, at laft, how wrong it was in Louis
XIV. to place ſo much confidence in them.
It would be very uſeful for thoſe who are infatuated
with theſe kinds of difputes, to look into the general
hiſtory of the world; for in obferving the multitude of
different nations, manners, and religions, they will fee
how very infignificant a figure a Molinist and a Jan-
fenift makes on the theatre of the world. They will then
bluſh at their mad fondneſs for a party which is loft in
the common crowd, and fwallowed up in the immenſity
of things.
Cc 2
CHAP.
388
1
TH AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
XXXVIII.
A
CHA P.
Of Quietism.
MIDST the factions of Calvinifm and the dif-
putes of Janfenifm, there happened yet another
divifion in France, about Quietifm. It was an unhappy
confequence of the progrefs of human underſtanding,
in the Age of Louis XIV. that it excited efforts to go
beyond the limits prefcribed to our knowledge; or ra-
ther, it was a proof that this progreſs had not yet been
extended far enough.
The controverfy about Quietifm is one of thofe ex-
travagant fallies of the imagination and theological
fubtleties, which would never have left any impreffion
on the memory of mankind, had it not been for the
names of two illuftrious rivals in the difpute. A wo-
man, without any credit, of even real underſtanding,
who had only an overheated imagination, fet at variance
two of the greatest men in the church. Her name was
Bouvieres de la Motte. Her family was originally of
Montargis. She had been married to the fon of Guion,
the Contractor for the Canal of Briarie: being left a
widow when very young, with a confiderable fortune,
beauty, and every way fitted for the converfe of the
world, fhe became poffeffed with what is called Spiritua-
lity. She had for her Confeffor a Barnabite Monk, of
the country of Annecy, near Geneva, named La Combe.
This man, noted for what is common enough, a medley
of paffions and religion, and who died mad, plunged
the mind of his penitent in mystical contemplations, to
which he was already but too much inclined. The
defire of being a St. Therefa, in France, prevented her
from difcerning the great difference between the genius
of the French and Spaniards, and carried her even to
greater lengths than St. Therefa. The ambition of
having difciples, the ſtrongeſt perhaps of every other
fpecies of ambition, took entire poffeffion of her mind.
Her Confeffor La Combe conducted her into that
ſmall territory of Annecy, where the titular Biſhop of
Geneva holds his refidence. It was then thought a
great
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
389
great indecency in a Monk to lead a young widow out
of her country; but this was the general practice of all
thoſe who had a mind to eſtabliſh a fect. They always
engaged the women on their fide. The young widow
at first acquired great authority in Annecy, by her ex-
tenfive charities, and held feveral conferences. She
preached up an entire felf-renunciation, the tranquil
ftate of the foul, and the annihilation of all its faculties,
inward worship, and pure and difinterefted love, which
is neither debaſed by fear, nor exalted by the hope of
reward.
Tender and flexible imaginations, eſpecially thofe of
women, and fome young ecclefiaftics, who loved, more
than they believed, the word of God, proceeding from
the mouth of a fine woman, were eafily led away with
an eloquence of delivery, the only thing calculated to
perfuade minds already favourably difpofed. She made
profelytes; but was foon driven away from thence by
the Biſhop of Annecy, with her Confeffor. They next
went to Grenoble. There fhe publiſhed a little piece,
entitled, Le Moyen Court, The Short Way; and another
called, Les Torrens, The Torrents, both written in the
fame ſtile fhe preached; but, in a fhort time, he was
likewife obliged to leave Grenoble.
Flattered already with being ranked among the Con-
feffors, ſhe began to prophefy. This prophecy fhe ſent
to Father La Combe: "All Hell (faid fhe) fhall rife
06
up to ſtop the progrefs of the inward fpirit, and the
"formation of Chrift Jefus in fouls. And ſo great
"fhall be the ftorm, that not one ſtone ſhall remain
"upon another; and I foreſee that throughout the
"whole earth, there fhall be troubles, wars, and great
"overthrows. The woman fhall be pregnant with the
"inward fpirit, and the dragon ſhall ſtand up before
❝ her.""
1 he prediction was in part verified: Hell indeed did
not riſe up againſt her; but on her return to Paris with
her Confeffor, where both endeavoured to ſpread their
doctrine, in 1687, the Archbishop Harlai de Chanva-
lon obtained an order from the King to confine La
Combe as a feducer, and to fhut up in a convent Ma-
Cc 3
dame
390
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
}
A
dame Guion, as a perfon difordered in her fenfes, and
who flood in need of a cure. But before this blow,
Madame Guion had engaged protections which now
proved of fervice to her. In the convent of St. Cyr,
then only in its infancy, fhe had a coufin named Ma-
dame de la Maifon-Fort, a favourite with Madame
de Maintenon. She had likewife infinuated herfelf into
the mind of the Dutcheffes of Chevreufe and Beauvilliers.
Thefe, her good friends, exclaimed loudly againſt Arch-
bifhop Harlai, that he, who was well known to be too
fond of the fair fex, fhould perfecute a woman only for
difcourfing on the love of God.
Madame de Maintenon, by her powerful influence,
procured Guion her liberty, and got the Archbishop
of Paris filenced. She went to Verfailles, and intro-
duced herſelf into the convent of St. Cyr, where fhe af
fifted at the devout conferences held by the Abbé de
Fenelon, after having dined with Madame de Mainte-
non and him. The Princeſs of Harcourt, and the
Dutcheffes of Chevreufe, Beauvilliers, and Charôt, were
of this myſtical fociety.
น
The Abbé Fenelon, then Preceptor to the Children
of France, was the moſt engaging man about the Court.
He had naturally a tender heart, a mild and lively ima-
gination, and had embelliſhed his mind with all that was
elegant in the Belles Lettres. Poffeffed of taſte and re-
finement, he preferred the affecting and fublime in di-
vinity, to the gloomy and abftrufe. Joined to all theſe,
he had a certain romantic turn, which infpired him, not
with the reveries of Madame Guion, but with a fentiment
of ípirituality, which was not very unlike the notions of
that lady.
His imagination was heated with candour and virtue,
as others are inflamed by their paffions. His paffion was
o love God purely for himself. He faw in Madame
Guion a ipotlefs mind, infpired with the fame affection
as his own, and therefore made no fcruple to affociate
with her.
It was ftrange that he ſhould be led away by a weak
woman, who pretended to revelations, to prophecies, and
fuch idle ftuff, who was ready to be choaked with in-
2
ward
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
391
ward grace, and was obliged to be unlaced, that fhe
might empty herſelf (according to her own expreffion)
of a fuperabundance of grace, in order to communicate
it to the body of the choſen perſon who ſat next her.
But Fenelon, in his friendſhip and myſtical notions, was
like a perfon in love: he excufed the errors, and at-
tached himſelf only to that conformity of fentiment with
which he had been firft captivated.
Madame Guion, elevated and emboldened by the ac-
quifition of fuch a difciple, whom the called her fon,
and depending on Madame de Maintenon's favour, pro-
pagated her notions in St. Cyr. Godet, Biſhop of
Chartres, in whofe dioceſe St. Cyr is, was alarmed, and
made complaints. The Archbishop of Paris likewife
threatened to renew his former profecution,
Madame de Maintenon, who intended St. Cyr wholly
for a peaceable retreat, who knew how much the King
was an enemy to all novelty, and who had no occafion to
put herſelf at the head of a fect to acquire influence,
and had befides her own credit and repofe only in view,
broke off all correfpondence with Madame Guion, and
forbade her to appear again at St. Cyr.
The Abbé de Fenelon faw the ftorm gathering, and
was apprehenſive of being diſappointed of the great pre-
ferment to which he afpired. He therefore adviſed his
female friend to put herſelf into the hands of the famous
Boffuet, Biſhop of Meaux, who was regarded as a Father
of the Church. She accordingly ſubmitted herſelf to
the deciſions of this prelate, received the facrament from
him, and delivered up all her writings to his examination.
The Bifhop of Meaux, with the King's permiſſion,
chofe for his affiftants in this affair the Biſhop of Cha-
lons, afterwards Cardinal de Noailles, and the Abbé
Tronfon, fuperior of St. Sulpice. They had a private
meeting at the village Iffi, near Paris. Chanvalon,
Archbishop of Paris, jealous that any other perfons
fhould fet themfelves up as judges in his diocefe, imme-
diately poſted up a public cenfure on the books they had
under their examination. Madame Guion retired to the
city of Meaux, fubſcribed to all that Bishop Boffuet re-
Cc4
quired
392
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
quired of her, and promiſed to dogmatize no more, for
the future.
In the mean time Fenelon was promoted to the Arch-
biopric of Cambray in 1695, and confecrated by the
Biſhop of Meaux. It might have been prefumed, that
an affair now dormant, and that had been from the be-
ginning only a fubject of ridicule, would never have
been revived. But Madaine Guion, being accuſed of
continuing to preach her doctrines after fhe had pro-
miſed filence, was feized by order of the King in the
fame year 1695, and confined prifoner at Vincennes, as
if ſhe had been a perfon dangerous to the State. She
could not poffibly be fo; and her pious follies did not
merit the attention of the Sovereign. During her con-
finement at Vincennes, the compofed a large volume of
myftic poetry, more wretched even than her profe. She
wrote parodies upon verfes of operas, and would often
fing the following lines:
L'Amour pur et parfait va plus loin qu'on ne penſe :
On ne fait pas, lorfqu'il commence,
Tout ce qu'il doit coûter un jour.
Mon cœur n'auroit connu Vincennes ni fouffrance,
S'il n'eût connu le pur amour.
Pure perfect love leads farther than we think ;
At firſt we do not fee the dangerous brink
On which we ftand; nor ever fear to prove,
Thoſe evils under which I fuffering fink,
When chains and tears repay pure perfect love,
The opinions of mankind depend on time, place, and
circumſtances. While Madame Guion was confined in
prifon, who in one of her phrenfies had imagined herfelf
married to Jefus Chrift, and from that time would ne-
ver invoke the Saints, faying, that it was not for the
miſtreſs of the family to addrefs herself to her fervants ;
at this very time, I fay, there was application made to
Rome for the canonization of Mary d'Agreda *, who
* This enthuſiaſt, who was Abbefs of a convent at Agreda, pre-
tended to have received divine orders to write the Life of the Virgin
Mary, which was accordingly published, under the title of The Mystic
City of God, and appears to be a firange medley of madness and fa-
naticifin.
Smollet.
had
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
393
had pretended to more vifions and revelations than all
the myſtical tribe put together; and as an unanſwerable
inftance of thofe contradictions with which the world
abounds, at the Sorbonne they prefented as an Heretic
this very d'Agreda, whom they wanted to make a Saint
of in Spain. The Univerfity cf Salamanca condemned
the Sorbonne, and was in return condemned by it.
It is difficult to fay on which fide lay the greateſt portion
of folly and abfurdity; but there is certainly a great
deal of both in fuffering any of theſe extravagances to
attain fuch a weight of confequence as they even yet
fometimes preſerve +.
Boffuet, who had long looked upon himfelf as the
father and maſter of Fenelon, beheld with jealous eyes
the rifing reputation and credit of his difciple; and de-
firous of preferving that afcendant which he had over
all the reft of his brethren, he required the new Arch-
bishop to join with him in the condemnation of Ma-
dame Guion, and to ſubſcribe to his paftoral inftructions.
Fenelon refuſed to facrifice to him either his fentiments
or his friend. A medium was propofed, and mutual
promifes made. The one accufed the other of a breach
of faith. The Archbishop of Cambray, when he de-
parted for his diocefe, caufed his book, entitled, The
Maxims of the Saints, to be printed at Paris; a
work in which he endeavoured to palliate the charge
brought againſt his friend, and to reveal the orthodox
notions of devout contemplatifts, who raiſe themſelves
above the fenfes, and aim at a ftate of perfection, to
which ordinary fouls feldom afpire. The Bishop of
Meaux and his adherents rofe up in arms against this
+ It may be here remarked, that Quietifm is to be met with in
Don Quixote. The Knight-errant fays there, that Dulcinea fhould--
be ferved without any other reward than merely that of being her
knight. To which Sancho replies, "Con esta manera de amor he
oydo yo predicar que fe ha de amar a nueftro fenor pcr fi folo, fin
que nos mueva fperança de gloria o temor de pena; aunque yo
"le querria amar y fervir por lo que puede fer.'
"I have heard
"it preached ſo that God is to be loved after this man er, without
hope or fear; though, for my part, I am inclined to love and ferve
** him for what he does to ſerve me.” Foltaire.
Look.
394
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
book. They complained of it to the King, as if it had
been as dangerous, as it was unintelligible. The King
ſpoke of it to Boffuet, of whofe reputation and under-
ftanding he had a great opinion. This Prelate, throw-
ing himſelf on his knees before his Prince, implored his
pardon for not having before informed him of the fatal
hereſy of the Archbishop of Cambray.
This enthufiafm appeared it to be fincere, to the
numerous friends of Fenelon. The Court fuppofed it
to be but a ſtroke of courtly addrefs. It was fcarcely
poffible, in reality, that fuch a man as Boffuet fhould
confider as a dangerous herefy the chimerical piety of
loving God for his own fake. It is poffible that he was
fincere in his reprobation of this myftical devotion, and
ftill more fo in his fecret jealouly of Fenelon; and that,
confounding one with the other, he most cordially pre-
ferred this accufation against his ecclefiaftical brother
and old friend; imagining, poffibly, that the office of an
Informer, which would have difgraced a foldier, might
be honourable in a Prieft; and that a zeal for religion
was fufficient to fanétify the bafeft actions +.
The King and Madame de Maintenon immediately
confulted Father de la Chaife; and the Confeffor made
anfwer, that the Archbishop's book was a very good
one; that it had greatly edified all the Jefuits; and
that the Janfenifts only difapproved of it. The Bishop
of Meaux was not a Janfenift, but he had profited of their
beft writings. He did not like the Jeſuits, nor they
him.
The Court and the City were divided; and the atten-
tion of every one being engroffed by this contention,
the Janfenifts had a little refpite. Boffuet wrote againſt
Fenelon; and both fent their works to Pope Inno-
cent XII. fubmitting themfelves to his decifion. Cir-
cumftances did not appear favourable to Fenelon; for
not long before, the Court of Rome had ftrongly con-
* How fhockingly invidious mut this reflection appear to every
man who has not been converfant in religious controverfy!-
Tranjator.
demned,
1
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV:
395
*
2
demned, in the perfon of Molinos the Spaniard the
Quietifm of which the Archbishop of Cambray was
now accuſed.
Cardinal d'Etrées, the French Ambaffador at Rome,
was the perſon who had profecuted Molinos. This
Cardinal, whom we have feen in his old age more en-
gaged in the pleafures of fociety than theology, had
proceeded againſt Molinos merely to pleaſe the enemies
of that unfortunate Prieft; and had even prevailed upon
the King to folicit his condemnation at Rome, which
he obtained but too eafily: fo that Louis XIV. proved,
unknown to himſelf, the moſt formidable enemy of the
pure love of the myftics.
In matters of this nice nature, nothing is more eaſy
than to diſcover paffages in a book under confideration,
reſembling thoſe in one already condemned. The Arch-
bishop of Cambray had on his fide the Jefuits, the
Duke of Beauvilliers, the Duke of Chevreufe, and Car-
dinal de Bouillon, lately Ambafador from France to
Rome. The Biſhop of Meaux had his own great name,
and the principal Prelates of France for his adherents.
He preſented to the King the fubfcribed declarations of
many of the Bishops, and a great number of Doctors,
who all condemned The Maxims of the Saints.
So great was the authority of Boffuet, that Father de
la Chaiſe durft not vindicate the Archbishop of Cam-
bray to his royal penitent, and Madame Maintenon
entirely abandoned her friend. The King wrote to
Pope Innocent XII, that having had the Archbishop of
Michael Molinos, a Spanish Prieft, and Founder of the Seat of
Quietifm. He published his book ou fpiritual conduct at Rome, and
was much followed for a feries of years; but his reputation having
at length awakened the jealoufy of the Jefuits, they employed all their
art and influence for his deftruction. A process was inftituted against
him in the general congregation of the Inquifition of Rome, held in
the prefence of the Pope and the Cardinal Inquifitors. Sixty-eight
of the propofitions were condemned as falfe and pernicious, fcandalous, -
blafphemous, and heretical. He was compelled to abjure them pub-
lickly in the habit of a penitent, and condemned to perpetual impri-
fonment, in which he died. His real character was that of an inof-
fenfive enthuſiaſt, who afpired at a fublime communication with God,
by means of abtracted contemplation. Smollet.
Cambray's
396
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
Cambray's book laid before him as a dangerous work,
he had put it into the hands of the Nuncio, and earneſt-
ly requeſted his Holinefs to give judgment upon it *.
It was infinuated, and even publicly affirmed at Rome,
nor are there wanting thoſe who ſtill believe the report,
that the Archbishop of Cambray was thus perfecuted
for no other reafon but his having oppofed the publica.
tion of the private marriage of the King with Madame
Maintenon. The anecdote-makers pretend that this
Lady had engaged Father de la Chaife to prefs the
King to acknowledge her for Queen; that the Jefuit
had artfully thrown this dangerous commiffion upon the
Abbé Fenelon; but that this Preceptor of the Children
of the Blood had preferred the honour of the Nation,
and that of his royal pupils, to his own intereſt, and had
thrown himself at the feet of Louis XIV. to prevent a
declaration, which, from its unaccountable ftrangenefs,
would have injured that Monarch more with pofterity,
than all the tranfitory gratifications of his life could have
recompenfed +.
It is very certain, that Fenelon, having continued the
education of the Duke of Burgundy, after his promo-
tion to the Archbishopric of Cambray, the King, during
this interval, had heard fome confuſed talk about Fene-
lon's connection with Madame Guion and Madame
de la Maiſon Fort; and was apprehenfive alfo that he
might infpire his pupils with maxims too auftere, with
fuch principles of government and morality as would
perhaps one day become an indirect cenfure upon that
air of grandeur, upon that thirst for glory, on thoſe wars
too inconfiderately engaged in, and on that taſte for
feafts and pleafures, which had characterifed his
reign.
He was defirous of having fome converfation with
the new Archbishop on his political principles. Fene-
lon, full of his ideas, difcovered to the King fome part
•
• What a groupe of precious fools are here defcribed! Tranfater.
+ This tale is till to be found in the Hiftory of Louis XIV. printed
at Avignon. Those who have had access to this Monarch, and to
Madame Maintenon, know how far this is from the truth. Volire.
of
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
397
of the principles which he afterwards unfolded in
thofe paffages of his Telemachus where he treats of
Government; principles which better fuit with Plato's
republic, than the manner in which mankind are to be
governed. The King, after this converfation, faid,
that he had been difcourfing with the fineſt and moſt
chimerical genius in his kingdom. The Duke of
Burgundy was made acquainted with what his Majefty
had faid, and repeated it afterwards to Mr. de Malefieux,
his maſter for geometry. I had this from Mr. de Male-
Geux himſelf, and it was afterwards confirmed to me
by Cardinal Fleury. From this converfation the King
readily believed Fenelon to be as romantic in his
religious, as in his political notions.
'Tis certain that the King was perfonally animated
againſt the Archbiſhop of Cambray. Godet Deſmarêts,
Biſhop of Chartres, who governed Madame Maintenon
and St. Cyr with the defpotifm of a fpiritual director,
envenomed the mind of the King. This Monarch made
a principal bufinefs of this ridiculous difpute, of which
he underſtood not a ſingle word. It had been doubt-
lefs a very eaſy matter to have let it drop to the ground,
fince it did fo, of itſelf, a fhort time after: but it
cauſed fuch a buftle at Court, that he was more afraid
of the cabal than the herefy. This was the true origin
of the perfecution raiſed againſt Fenelon.
The King commanded the Cardinal de Bouillon, then
his Ambaffador at Rome, by his letters in the month
of Auguft (which we fo abfurdly call Aouft) 1697, to
procure the condemnation of a man whom they were
abfolutely refolved to have confidered as a heretic; and
alfo wrote to Pope Innocent XII. with his own hand,
preffing him to decide in this matter.
The Congregation of the Holy Office named a Do-
minican, a Jefuit, a Benedictin, two Cordeliers, a
Feuillant, and an Auguftin, to take cognizance of
the affair. Theſe are what they call at Rome the
Confultors. The Cardinals and Prelates generally
* A fet of begging White Friars of the Order of St. Bernard.
+ Somewhat like our Law-Lords in Parliament. Tranflater.
1. ve
398
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
leave to theſe Monks the ftudy of theology, to be more
at leiſure to follow politics, intrigues, or the pleaſures
of an indolent life *.
The Confultors, in thirty-feven fittings, examined
as many propofitions, and declared them erroneous by
a majority of voices; and the Pope, at the head of a
congregation of Cardinals, condemned them by a brief,
publiſhed and fixed up at Rome, the thirteenth day of
March 1699.
The Bishop of Meaux triumphed; but the Arch-
biſhop of Cambray gained a more glorious victory
from his defeat. He fubmitted without reftriction or
reſerve. He even mounted the pulpit himſelf at Cam-
bray, to condemn his own book; and afterwards for-
bade his friends to defend it. This fingular inſtance
of condefcenfion in a man of learning, who might
have raiſed a confiderable party to himſelf, even from
his perfecution; this candor, or this art †, gained him
the good-will of every one, and rendered his antagoniſt
almoft hated for his victory.
The
He ever afterwards continued to refide in his diocefe;
like the good Archbishop and the man of letters. That
ſweetneſs of manners which fhewed itſelf in his conver-
fation as well as in his writings, made all who were
acquainted with him his affectionate friends.
perfecution he underwent, and his Telemachus, gained
him the veneration of all Europe. The Engliſh in
particular, though they carried the war into his dioceſe,
were eager to fhew him refpect. The Duke of Marl-
borough took particular care that his lands fhould be
fpared. He was always held dear by the Duke of Bur-
gundy, who was his pupil; and had that prince lived,
he would have had a fhare in the Adminiſtration.
In his philofophical and honourable retreat, we may
fee how difficult it was for a perfon to difengage himſelf
from fuch a Court as that of Louis XIV.; for there
*The Nuncio Roberti faid, Bisogna infarinarſi di Teologia e fare un
fondo di Politica. "One fhould be well grounded in Theology to
"make a good Politician." Foltaire.
+ A Voltairiana. Tranflator.
K.
are
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
399
are others that many great men have quitted without
regret. He always fpoke on this head in fuch a feeling
manner, as broke through all his appearance of refignation.
Several pieces upon philofophy, divinity, and polite li-
erature, were the fruits of the leifure-hours of his retire-
ment. The Duke of Orleans, afterwards Regent. of
the kingdom,, confulted him on certain difficult points
which concern all mankind, and yet are feldom thought
of by them. He afked him, whether the existence of a
Deity could be demonftrated? whether this Deity re-
quired worship of us? what worſhip he most approved?
and whether a miſtaken choice was offenfive to him?
He propofed many queſtions of a like nature, as a phi-
lofopher who fought inftruction; and the Archbishop
anfwered him like a philofopher and a divine. *
After having been worfted in fcholaftic difputes, it
would have been more becoming, had he not inter-
meddled in the controverfy of Janfenifm; nevertheleſs,
he engaged in it. Cardinal Noailles had formerly
joined with the ftrongeſt fide against him. The Arch-
He was
biſhop of Cambray did the fame in his turn.
in hopes of being recalled to Court, and confulted; fo
hard is it for the mind of man to difengage itſelf from
any buſineſs it has ever been anxious about. His de-
fires, nevertheless, were as moderate as his writings;
and even towards the latter part of his life, he at laft
deſpiſed all difputation; refembling, in this one particu
lar, Huet, Biſhop of Avranche, one of the meit learn-
ed men in Europe, who in his latter days acknowledged
the vanity of almost all feiences, and of the human
underſtanding itſelf.
The Archbishop of Cambray (who would believe
it!) thus parodied an air of Lulli :
Jeune, j'étois trop fage,
Et voulais trop favoir;
Je ne veux en partage.
Que badinage,
Et touche au dernier âge,
Sans rien prevoir.
When
400
嘎
​THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
1
When young, I was exceeding wife,
And piled up knowledge in a heap:
Now nothing I prize,
Bat trifles and toys,
And creep to the grave without noiſe;
Nor wish to look before I leap.
He compofed thefe verfes in the prefence of his
nephew, the Marquis de Fenelon, afterwards Ambaſſa-
dor at the Hague, from whom I had them, and can
warrant the truth of this fact *. It is a circumſtance
of
very little importance in itſelf, only as it is a proof
that in the grave tranquillity of old age, we often view
in a different light what appeared fo great and intereſt-
ing to us, at a time of life when the active mind is
the fport of its own defires and delufions.
Thefe difputes, fo long the object of attention to
France, as well as many others foftered in idlenefs, are
*The above verfes are to be met with in the poetical works of
Madame Guion: but the Archbishop's nephew having affured me,
more than once, that they were his uncle's, and that he heard him
repeat them, the very day he made them, I thought I was in juſtice
bound to restore them to their real Author. They have been printed
in fifty copies of the edition of Telemachus published by the Marquis
de Fenelon, in Holland, but fuppreffed in the rest of the impreffion.
I am obliged to repeat here, that I have in my poffeffion the Letter
of Monfieur Ramfay, a pupil of Mr. de Fenelon, in which he fays
"If he had been in England, he would have diſplayed his
genius, and have ſpoken his principles without referve, which
were never thoroughly known."
to me,
The Author of the Dictionary Hiftorical, Literary, and Critical, pub-
liſhed at Avignon in 1759, fays, on the article of Fenelon, That he
was artful, fupple, flattering, and diffembling. He has founded
his authority for this afperfion on his memory, upon a libel of the
Abbé Phelipeaux, who was an enemy to this great man. He after-
wards affures us, that the Archbiſhop of Cambray was but a flight theo-
logian, becauſe that he was not a Janfenift. We are overwhelmed of
late with dictionaries which are but defamatory libels. Never was
Literature fo much difhonoured, or Truth fo much feandalized.
The fame Author denies that Mr. Ramfay ever wrote me the Letter
I fpeak of here, and denies it with an infulting groffnefs, though he
has borrowed a great number of his articles from this Age of Louis XIV.
The Janfenift plagiarifts are not very well bred. I, who am neither
a Quietift, a Janfenift, nor a Molinist, fhall return him no other
answer, but this, that I have the Letter to produce. His words are
the very fame I have quoted above. Foltaire.
3
now
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV:
401
now vaniſhed. We are aſtoniſhed in thefe days what
could have excited fo much animofity. That philofo-
phic ſpirit which gets ftrength every day, feems to af
fure the public tranquillity; and even the fanatics that
rife up in arms against the Philofophers, are obliged to
them for the very peace they enjoy, and which they
are endeavouring to forfeit.
The affair of Quietifm, fo unfortunately important
under Louis XIV. now fo defpifed and forgotten, ruin-
ed at Court the Cardinal de Bouillon, though he was
nephew to the famous Turenne, to whom the King owed
his fafety in the civil war, and the aggrandizement of
his kingdom afterwards.
United by friendship to the Archbishop of Cambray,
and charged with the command of the King againft
him, he endeavoured to reconcile thefe two obligations.
It is obvious from his Letters, that he never betrayed
his minifterial character in being always faithful to his
friend. He folicited the decree of the Pope, according
to the order from his Court, but at the fame time exert
ed himſelf to reconcile both the parties.
An Italian Prieſt named Giori, who was placed as a
fpy upon him, by the oppofite faction, infinuated him-
felf into his confidence, and traduced him in his letters;
and carrying his perfidy to the extremeft pitch. had the
baſeneſs to borrow a thouſand crowns from him, upon
fome pretence, and after he got them never law hun
again.
Theſe letters of this wretch were what ruined the
Cardinal de Bouillon at his Court. The King loaded
him with reproaches, as if he had betrayed the State.
It appeared, however, from all his diſpatches, that he
had conducted himfelf with as much wifdom as dignity.
He obeyed the orders of the King, in foliciting the
condemnation of fome piouſly r.diculous notions of the
myftics, who are the alchemifts of religion. But he was
faithful to his friendſhip in elu ling the blows that were
aimed at the perfon of Fenelon. Even fuppofing
be a matter of im ortance to the Church that people
VOL. II.
fhould
D
402
TE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
1
fhould not love God for his own fake, it was of no con-
fequence that the Archbishop of Cambray fhould be
ftigmatized.
But, unhappily, the King was inclined to have Fenelon
condemned; whether through private enmity towards
him, which feemed to be below a great King; or in
compliance with the oppofite party, which appears ftill
more below the dignity of the Throne. Whatever it
was, he wrote to Cardinal de Bouillon, March 16, 1699,
a letter full of the moft mortifying reproaches, in which
he declares his wifh for the condemnation of the Arch-
biſhop of Cambray; and feems there to ſpeak as a man
who was piqued. The Telemachus then made a great
noife throughout Europe; and The Maxims of the Saints,
which he had never read, were punished for the maxims
cultivated in Telemachus, which he had.
The Cardinal de Bouillon was immediately recalled.
He fet cut; but having heard, when he was got a few
miles from Rome, that the Cardinal Dean was dead, he
was obliged to return back to take poffeffion of that dig-
nity, which devolved upon him of right, being, though
yet young, the fenior of the Cardinals.
The ſtation of Dean of the Sacred College conferred
great privileges in Rome; and, according to the manner
of thinking in thoſe times, was a lucky circumftance for
France to have it filled by a Frenchman.
It was not, befices, any neglect of duty to the King,
to take poffeffion of his rights, and then proceed on his
journey. However, this little circumftance provoked
the King beyond forgivenefs. The Cardinal, on his
arrival in France, was fent into exile, and his fentence
of baniſhment fubfifted for ten years.
At length, tired out with fo long a difgrace, he took
the refolution of quitting France for ever, in 1710, at
the time that Louis XIV. feemed to be overpowered by
the Allies, and that the Kingdom was threatened on all
lides.
Prince Eugene and the Prince d'Auvergne, his rela-
tions, received him on the frontiers of Flanders, where
they
1
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
403
they were conquerors. He fent back to the King the
Crofs of the Order of the Holy Ghoft, and a refignation
of his office of Great Almoner of France, with a letter
containing theſe words :-" I recover that liberty which
"I am entitled to by my birth, as a foreign Prince, fon
"of a Sovereign dependant only on God, and my dig-
nity of Cardinal of the Holy Church of Rome, and
"of Dean of the Sacred College. I fhall dedicate the
"remainder of my days to the fervice of God and the
"Church, in the firſt ſtation next to the fupreme," &c.
His pretenfion of independent Prince appeared to him
to be founded not only on the axiom of many Civilians,
who fay, that whoever renounces every connection is not
bound by any; and that every man is free to chooſe his
own refidence; but upon this alſo, that the Cardinal
was born at Sedan, at the time his father was till Go-
vernor of the place, and he confidered the quality of
an independent Prince as an indelible character. And
as to the title of Cardinal Dean, which he called the
Erft place after the fupreme, he juſtified himſelf from
the example of all his predeceffors, who undoubtedly
marched before the Kings, in all the proceffions of
Rome.
The Court of France and the Parliament of Paris had
quite different notions upon this matter. The Attorney-
General D'Agueffeau, afterwards Chancellor, accufed
him before the Affembly of the Chambers, who granted
a decree against him of arret and confifcation. He lived
at Rome honoured, though poor, and died a victim to
Quietifm which he defpifed, and to a friendship which
he had nobly reconciled with his duty.
It fhould not be omitted, that when he retired from
the Low-Countries to Rome, the Court was alarmed, left
he fhould be made Pope. I have in my hands the
King's letter to Cardinal de la Trimouille, of May 26,
1710, in which he betrays that fear. "Every thing
(i
may be prefumed (faid he) of a fubject poffeffed of a
"notion that he depends folely on himself. It fuffices,
"that the place which the Cardinal de Bouillon is at
Dd 2
prefent
404
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
.
prefent dazzled with, appears to him inferior to his
"birth and talents. He will think every means jufti-
"fiable to obtain the first place in the Church, when he
contemplates the fplendor nearer."
66
Thus while they were fentencing the Cardinal de
Bouillon, and giving orders to have him thrown into the
prifon of the Conciergerie, if he could be laid hold of,
they were in dread of his mounting a throne which is
confidered as the firft in the world, by thofe of the Ca-
tholic religion; and which, at that time, uniting with
the enemies of Louis XIV. might revenge itſelf ftill
more than Prince Eugene. The arms of the Church
could do little of themfelves, but could do a great deal
then, with the affiftance of Auſtria.
CHA P.
XXXIX.
Difputes upon the Ceremonies of the Chinese. How thefe
Quarrels contributed to have the Christian Religion pro-
fcribed in China.
T was not fufficient for the difquiet of our minds,
that we difputed at the end of ſeventeen hundred
years upon the articles of our own religion, but we muſt
ikewife introduce into our quarrels thofe of the Chineſe.
This difpute, however, was not productive of any great
diſturbances; but it ferved more than any other to cha-
racteriſe that buſy, contentious, and jarring fpirit, which
prevails in our climates.
The Jefuit Matthew Ricci had been one of the firft
miffionaries to China, at the end of the feventeenth cen-
tury. The Chineſe were then, and ftill are, almoft the
fame in philofophy and literature, that we were two hun-
dred years ago. The veneration they have for their
ancient maſters makes them afraid of paffing certain
bounds. A progrefs in the fciences is the work of time.
*The Parliament Gaol.
and
i
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
405.
and a daring genius: but morality and policy being
more eafy to comprehend than the fciences, and thefe
being brought to perfection amongst them before the
other arts, it has happened that the Chineſe, who have
continued above two thousand years within the fame
limits they had at first attained, have continued but mid-
dling proficients in the fciences; and are the first people
in the world in morals and policy, as well as the moſt
ancient.
After Ricci, many other Jefuits found the way into
this vaft empire; and by the help of the European
fciences, they ſecretly ſcattered fome feeds of Christia-
nity amongſt the children of that people, whom they
took care to inftruct whenever they had an opportunity.
Some Dominicans, who were joined in this miffion, ac-
cuſed the Jefuits of permitting idolatry, whilft they
preached up Chriftianity. This was a delicate point,
as well as the conduct to be obferved in China.
The laws and tranquillity of this great empire are
founded on the moſt natural, and, at the fame time, the
moſt facred of all rights, the reſpect of children to their
parents. To this, refpect they join that which they owe
to their firſt maſters in morality, and efpecially to Con-
fut-zee, or Confucius, as we call him, an ancient Phi-
lofopher, who had taught them the principles of virtue
fix hundred years before the founding of Christianity.
Every family affembles itſelf in private on certain
days, to honour their anceſtors; and the learned meet
publicly to honour Con-fut-zee. They proftrate them-
felves according to their manner of faluting their fupe-
riors, which was formerly called adoration throughout
all Afia. They burn wax tapers and frankincenfe.
The Colaos, to whom the Spaniards have given the name
of Mandarins, twice a-year kill animals, near the hall
where Con-fut-zee is honoured, and afterwards feaft
upon them. Are thefe ceremonies idolatrous, or are they
merely civil inſtitutions? Do they hereby acknowledge
their parents and Con-fut-zee for deities? or are they
even invoked only as our faints? Is this, in fhort, a po-
litical custom, which fome fuperftitious Chinefe abuſe?
Dd 3
Thafe
406
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
#
Thefe were queſtions that could not be eafily cleared up
in China by ſtrangers, and which we are unable to decide
in Europe.
The Dominicans laid an account of the cuſtoms of the
Chineſe before the Inquifition of Rome, in 1645. The
Holy Office, from their reprefentation, forbad the uſe
of thele ceremonies till the Pope fhould give his
decifion.
The Jefuits defended the caufe of the Chineſe and
their ceremonies, which, in their opinion, could not be
forbidden, without for ever barring the entrance againſt
Chriſtianity in an empire fo jealous of its cuftoms.
They prefented their reafons on this head. The Inqui-
fition in 1656 permitted the literati to revere Con-fut-
zee, and the Chineſe children to honour their anceſtors.
but proteſted at the fame time againſt all fuperftition, if
there was any.
While the affair remained thus undecided, the mif-
fionaries always divided, and the cauſe foliciting at Rome
from time to time, the Jefuits at Pekin infinuated them-
felves fo far into the eſteem of the Emperor Camhi, by
their mathematical knowledge, that this Prince, renown-
ed for his virtue and goodnefs, permitted them at
length to exercife their office of miffionaries, and teach
Chriſtianity publicly. But here it may be neceffary to
obferve, that this Monarch, fo defpotic, and grandfon
to the Conqueror of China, was nevertheleſs fo fubject
by custom to the laws of the empire, that he could not
by his own authority alone permit the exerciſe of Chrif-
tianity, but was obliged to folicit one of the Tribunals
on that head; and he himſelf drew up two petitions, in
the name of the Jefuits. At laft, in 1692, Chriftianity
was permitted in China, through the indefatigable pains
and addreſs of the Jefuits alone.
}
There is at Paris a houſe eſtabliſhed for foreign mif-
fionaries. Some Priefts of this Society were then in
China. The Pope, who fends apoftolic vicars into all
the countries which they call the regions of infidelity,
made choice of a Prieft of this fraternity, named Magrot,
to go and prefide as vicar in the Chineſe miffion, and
gave
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
407
gave him the Bishopric of Conon, a little Chineſe Pro-
vince in Fo-kien. This Frenchman, thus become a
Biſhop in China, declared not only the rites performed
for the dead, fuperftitious and idolatrous, but alſo pro-
nounced their learned men Atheiſts. This was the opi-
nion of all the French Puritans. The fame men, who
fo much exclaimed againſt Bayle, who blamed him fo
much for having faid that a republic of Atheiſts might
ſubſiſt, and who had written fo much to prove fuch a
Commonwealth impoffible, coolly afferted, that this very
eſtabliſhment flouriſhed at China, in the wifeft of Go-
vernments: fo that the Jefuits had now more to do to
ftruggle against their brother-miffionaries, than againſt
the mandarins and the people.
They reprefented to the Court of Rome, that it was
not conſiſtent that the Chineſe fhould be at once atheils
and idolaters. It was urged againſt theſe learned men,
that they admitted only matter; but then the difficulty
was to account for their invoking the fouls of their de
ceaſed anceſtors, and that of Con-fut-zee. One of thoſe
charges evidently deftroyed the other, unless it was pre-
tended that they admitted contradictions in China, as is
fo frequently done among us. But it was neceffary to
be well acquainted with their language and manners, to
reconcile this feeming contradiction. The proceſs of
the empire of China remained a long time before the
Court of Rome; and in the mean time the Jefuits were
attacked on all fides.
66
Father Le Comte, one of their moft learned miffiona.
ries, had faid in his Memoirs of China, "That this peo-
ple had preſerved for two thouſand years, the know-
ledge of the true God; that they facrificed to the
"Creator in the most ancient temple of the world; and
"that China had practifed the pureft leffons of morali-
<<
66
ty, when Europe remained in error and corruption."
We have feen that this Nation goes up, by an au-
thentic hiftory, and by a fucceffion of thirty-fix calcu-
lated eclipfes of the fun, even beyond the era in which
we generally place the deluge. The learned men of
that Nation have never had any other religion than the
adoration
Dd 4
h
408
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
adoration of a Supreme Being. Their worship was juf
tice. They could not be acquainted with the fucceffive
laws which God gave to Abraham and to Mofes; nor
the more perfect law of the Meffiah, which remained
fo long unknown to the nations of the Weft and North.
It is certain that Gaul, Germany, England, and all the
North, was plunged in the moſt barbarous idolatry,
when the tribunals of the vast empire of China culti-
vated morality and the obfervance of laws, at the fame
time acknowledging one fole God, the fimple worſhip of
whom had never varied among them. Thefe evident
truths were fufficient to justify the expreffions of the
Jefuit Le Comte; but as there was fomewhat in thefe
affertions which feemed to militate against the received
notions, they were attacked in the Sorbonne.
The Abbé Boileau, brother to Defpréaux, as great a
critic as his brother, and a greater enemy to the Jefuits,
declared, in 1700, this encomium on the Chinele a di-
rect blafphemy. This Abbé Boileau was a man of a lively
and peculiar genius, who wrote on the moſt ſerious and
important fubjects in a humorous ftile. He was Author
of a book entitled The Flagellants *, and fome other
pieces of the like kind. He faid he wrote them in Latin,
for fear of being cenfured by the Bishops. His brother
faid of him, "That if he had not been a Doctor of the
"Sorbonne, he would.have been a Doctor of the Italian
<<
Comedy." He declaimed violently against the Je-
fuits and the Chineſe, and began by faying, "That the
"encomiums on that people had fhook his Chriftian
"brain." The brains of the reft of that Affembly
ſeemed to be not much leſs diſordered. There were
ſome debates on the fubject. A Doctor, named Le Sage,
was of opinion that twelve of their brethren, of the moft
robuſt conſtitutions, fhould be fent upon the fpot to
instruct themſelves in every particular. The deba e
grew warm; but at length the Sorbonne declared the
encomiums given to the Chinele, falfe, fcandalous, raſh,
impious, and heretical.
* A tranſlation of this work has been published in London.-
Tranflator.
This
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
409
This difpute, which was carried on with great warmth,
inflamed that about the ceremonies; and at length Pope
Clement XI. the year after, fent a Legate to China.
He chofe Thomas Maillard de Tournon, titular patri-
arch of Antioch, who could not arrive in China till
1705. The Court of Pekin were, till that time, wholly
ignorant that they had been under trial at Rome and
Paris. The Emperor Camhi at first received the Pa-
triarch de Tournon with great kindneſs. But how
great was his furprize, when he underſtood by the Le-
gate's interpreters, that the Chriftians who preached their
religion in his empire, did not agree amongst themſelves,
and that this Legate was come to decide a difpute, of
which the Court of Pekin had never heard the leaft
mention. The Legate gave his Majefty to underſtand,
that all the miffionaries, except the Jefuits, condemned
the ancient cuſtoms of his empire, and even fufpected
his Chineſe Majefty, and all the learned men of his
Kingdom, to be Atheists, who admitted only of a mate-
rial heaven. He added, that he had in his dominions
the learned Bifhop of Conon, who would explain theſe
matters more fully, if his Majefty would condefcend to
give him a hearing. The Monarch found his furprize
encreafe, when he was informed that he had Biſhops in
his empire; but the Reader will not be lefs fo, when he
finds this Prince carried his indulgence fo far as to per-
mit the Biſhop of Conon to come to speak to
him againſt his religion, the cuſtoms of his country, and
even against himſelf. The Bishop of Conon was ad-
mitted to an audience. He was very little acquainted
with the Chineſe language. The Emperor began by
afking him the meaning of four characters which were
infcribed in gold over his throne. Maigrot could read
only two; but he maintained that the words King-tien,
which the Emperor had written in his pocket-book, did
not fignify Ailore the Lord of Heaven. The Emperor had
the patience to explain to him, that it was the precife
meaning of thefe words; and even condefcended to en-
ter into a long argument, in which he vindicated the
honours paid to the dead. The B.fhop remained in-
flexible;
410
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
flexible; and it may well be believed that the Jefuits
had more intereft at Court than he.
The Emperor, who, by the laws, might have put
him to death, contented himself with only baniſhing
him; and paffed an ordinance, that all the Europeans
willing to remain in his Empire, fhould, for the future,
be obliged to take his letters of protection, and
undergo an examination.
As for De Tournon, the Legate, he had orders to
quit the capital. As foon as, he got to Nankin he
published a mandate, entirely condemning all the
Chineſe rites in regard to the dead, and forbidding the
ufing that expreffion which the Emperor uſed to fignify
the God of Heaven.
The Legate upon this was baniſhed to Macao*, of
which the Chineſe always retain the fovereignty, though
they permit the Portugueſe to have a Governor there.
Whilft the Legate was in his confinement here, the
Pope fent him a hat; but this only ferved to make him
die a Cardinal, for he ended his days there in 1710.
The enemies of the Jefuits laid his death to their charge.
It was fufficient if they imputed his banishment to
them.
Thefe divifions among ftrangers who came into the
Empire, on pretence of inftructing it, greatly difcredited
the religion they preached. It fuffered ftill more when
the Court, who began to study the Europeans more
nearly than heretofore, diſcovered, that not only the
Miffionaries were thus divided, but that likewife among
the Merchants who traded from Canton, there were
feveral fects ſworn enemies to each other.
The Emperor Camhi died in 1724. He was a Prince
fond of all the Arts of Europe. The moſt learned
Jefuits had been fent to him, who by their fervices
merited his affection, and obtained from him, as has
been already obſerved, the permiffion to exercife and
publicly teach the Chriftian Religion.
* A City in China, in the Province of Canton, where the Portu-
gueſe have been in poffeffion of a Settlement for above two centuries.
Tranflator.
I.
His
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
411
His fourth fon, Yont-ching, nominated by him to
the empire, in prejudice of his elder brothers, took
poffeffion of the throne without a murmur from the
difinherited Princes. Filial piety, which is the baſis
of this empire, renders it a crime and a reproach in all
the ranks of life, to complain of the laft will of a
father.
The new Emperor Yont-ching furpaffed his father
in a love for the laws, and of the public good. No
Emperor encouraged agriculture more. He carried his
attention to this firft of arts fo far, as 'to raiſe to the
rank of Mandarin of the eighth order, in each Province,
thoſe huſbandmen who fhould be judged by the Magi-
ftrates of their Cantons, the moſt diligent, the moſt
induſtrious, and the honefteft men: not that fuch
ploughmen were to relinquish a vocation in which
they had fucceeded, to exercife the functions of judica-
ture, which they were ignorant of; they ſtill remained
huſbandren, but with the title of Mandarin; they had
a right to fit in the prefence of the Viceroy of the
Province, of eating at the fame table with him; and
their names were written in gold letters in the public hall.
'Tis faid that this regulation, fo different from our
manners, and which, perhaps, reproaches them, ftill
fubfifts.
This Prince made an order, that throughout the
whole extent of the empire no. perfon fhould be put
to death before the criminal proceſs had been tranſmitted
to him, and even preſented thrice. Two reafons which
were the motives of this edict, are as refpectable as the
rule itſelf. One was, the confideration that ſhould ever
be had of a man's life; and the other, the tenderness
that a King fhould have of his people.
He had large magazines of rice eſtabliſhed in all the
Provinces, upon fuch a plan of economy as pre-
vented them from being a charge upon the people, and
fecured them for ever againft famine. The whole
empire manifeſted their joy by new ſports and paſtimes,
and their gratitude raifed triumphal arches in honour
of him. But he exhorted them by a proclamation to
give
412
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
give over their expenſive exhibitions, which broke in
upon that œconomy he was endeavouring to eſtabliſh,
and forbad them to conftruct any monuments to him.
"When I have done good," faid he in his Refcript to the
Mandarins, "it was not in order to acquire a vain repu-
“tation. I would have my people happy, I would have
"them better, that they fhould fulfil all their duties: Thefe
are the fole monuments I will accept *."
66
Such was this Emperor, and unfortunately it was he
who profcribed the Chriftian religion. The Jefuits had
already feveral public churches in China, and even
fome of the Princes of the royal blood had received
baptifm. The Government began to fear fome danger-
ous innovations in the State. The troubles which
happened in Japan made a greater impreffion on their
minds, than the purity of Chriftianity, too generally
unknown, could poffibly do. It was known, that
exactly at that very time, the difputes which exafperated
the Miffionaries of the different orders againſt each
other, had caufed the extirpation of the Chriſtian
religion in Tonquin; and the fame difputes, which
made greater difturbances in China, fet all the tribunals
againſt thoſe who coming abroad to preach their law,
were not agreed among themfelves about the law itſelf.
Finally, it was difcovered, that at Canton there were
Dutch, Swedes, Danes, and English, who, though
Chriſtians, did not allow themſelves to be of the fame
religion with the Chriftians of Macao.
All theſe confiderations united, determined the Su-
preme Tribunal of the Rites to forbid the exercife of
Christianity. The arret was carried January 10, 1724,
but without any ftigma, without annexing fevere
penalties, or without the leaft offenûve word thrown
out againſt the Miffionaries; nay, the very arret recom-
mended it to the Emperor to retain at Pekin thoſe of
them who could be uſeful in the mathematics. The
* While I was tranflating this character, my mind was running
on the prefent Emperor of Germany, who is undoubtedly the prefent
Yont-ching of Europe. Tranflator.
+ Proteftants.
3
+ Papifls.
Emperor
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
413
Emperor confirmed the arret, and ordered, by his edict,
that the Miffionaries fhould be fent back to Macao,
attended by a Mandarin, who fhould accommodate
them on the way, and prevent them from receiving
any infult. Theſe were the very words of the edict.
He kept fome of them with him; among others the
Jefuit called Parennin, whofe praiſe I have already
ſpoken *; a man diftinguiſhed for his knowledge and
the good ſenſe of his character, and who ſpoke the
Chineſe and Tartarian languages perfectly. He was
neceffary, not only as an interpreter, but as a mathe-
matician. He is principally known among us, by the
wiſe and inſtructive anfwers upon the ſciences of China,
to the learned difficulties of one of our greatest philofo-
phers.
This Monk poffeffed the favour of the Emperor
Camhi, and ſtill preferved that of Yont-ching. If any
one could have faved the Chriftian religion, it was he.
He obtained, along with two other Jefuits, an audience
of the Prince who was brother to the Emperor, and
was appointed to examine the arret, and to make a
report. Parennin related candidly the anſwer they
received. The Prince, who protected them, faid,
"Your buſineſs embarraffes me. I have read the
"accufations brought against you. Your continual
difputes with other Europeans on the Rites of China.
have done you infinite harm. What would you
"fay fhould we go over to Europe, and act the fame
part that you have done here? Speak honeftly, would
you fuffer it ?"
cr
CC
...
It was difficult to reply to fuch a ſpeech. However,
they prevailed on the Prince to ſpeak to the Emperor
in their favour; and when they were admitted to the
foot of the throne, the Emperor told them, in ſhort,
that he ſhould ſend back all thoſe who ſtiled themſelves
Miffionaries. We have already reported his words;
Though you have been able to impose upon my father,
expect not to impofe upon me +."
'
* See the Efay on the Manners, &c.
† See the Eſſay on the Manners, E96.
Not-
414
THE AGE OF LOUIS XIV.
Notwithstanding the wife orders of the Emperor,
fome Jefuits returned fecretly into fome of the Pro-
vinces, under the fucceffor of the celebrated Yont-
ching, and were condemned to death for having fo
manifeftly violated the laws of the empire; juft as we
execute in France the Huguenot Preachers who come
to make diſturbances in the Kingdom, in ſpite of the
orders of the King. This rage for making profelytes
is a difeafe peculiar to our climates, as has been already
remarked; it has ever been unknown in the Upper
Afia. Theſe people never fent Miffionaries into Europe,
and our nations are the only ones who are for extending
their opinions as well as their commerce to the two
extremities of the globe.
The Jefuits even occafioned the deaths of many
Chineſe, and particularly of two Princes of the Blood
who favoured them. Were they not very unhappy to
travel from the end of the world to fow difcord in the
Royal Family, and caufe two Princes to undergo an
ignominious death? They thought to render their
miffion refpectable in Europe, by pretending that
Heaven had declared itſelf on their fide, and had made
four croffes appear in the clouds, above the horizon of
China. They have got the figures of thefe croffes
engraven in their Lettres Edifiantes et Curieufes: but if
God had a mind to convert China to Chriflianity,
would he think it fufficient to fend croffes into the air,
or would he not rather have imprinted them on the
hearts of the Chineſe?
END OF THE SECOND VOLUME.
}
ERRAT A.
Page 4. The fignature, r. French Editor.
P. 23.
་
I. 30. prefix to.
P. 24. 1. 4. for bore, 1. born;
for bore, t. born; and 1. 9. dele firſt 1.
P. 25. firſt note, the fignature, r. French Editor.
P. 28. 1. 12. put an alteriſk after first word, and prefix the fame to
fecond note.
P. 32. 1. 4. г. broken.
P. 129. 1. 1. transfer the comma after certain, to the end.
P. 162. 1. laft but fixth, r. continued,' and 1. last but one, r. them.
P. 253. 1. laſt but feven, for to, r. of.
P. 266. 1. 27, for a, r. this.
P. 315. laſt, put a comma after ſtrikes.
P. 327. 1. 9. after Notre Dame, r. and.
P. 341. 1 17.
17. firſt word, r. even.
P. 348. the note, 1. fecond, after mark, r. a.
P. 378. fecond note, the fignature, r. French Note.
P. 399. 1. j. prefix t, to the firft word
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