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HISTORY 
 
 OF 
 
 LOUIS XIV. 
 
 By JOHN S. C. ABBOTT, 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 
 'THE HISTORY OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE," "THE 
 FRENCH REVOLUTION," &o. 
 
 OTfti) fillusttatfons. 
 
 
 ■ ■:*/£,„■. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS, 
 
 FRANKLIN SQUARE. 
 l87 I, 
 
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1870, by 
 
 Haepeb & Brothers, 
 
 In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 We all live a double life : the external life 
 which the world sees, and the internal life of 
 hopes and fears, joys and griefs, temptations 
 and sins, which the world sees not, and of 
 which it knows but little. None lead this 
 double life more emphatically than those who 
 are seated upon thrones. 
 
 Though this historic sketch contains allu- 
 sions to all the most important events in the 
 reign of Louis XIV., it has been the main ob- 
 ject of the writer to develop the inner life of 
 the palace ; to lead the reader into the interior 
 of the Louvre, the Tuileries, Versailles, and 
 Marly, and to exhibit the monarch as a man, 
 in the details of domestic privacy. 
 
 This can more easily be done in reference 
 to Louis XIY. than any other king. Very 
 many of the prominent members of his house- 
 hold left their autobiographies, filled with the 
 minutest incidents of every-day life. 
 
 It is impossible to give any correct idea of 
 the life of this proud monarch without allusion 
 
viii Preface. 
 
 to the corruption in the midst of which he 
 spent his days. Still, the writer, while faithful 
 to fact, has endeavored so to describe these 
 scenes that any father can safely read the nar- 
 rative aloud to his family. 
 
 There are few chapters in history more re- 
 plete with horrors than that which records the 
 "Revocation of the Edict of Nantes." The 
 facts given are beyond all possibility of con- 
 tradiction. In the contemplation of these 
 scenes the mind pauses, bewildered by the re- 
 flection forced upon it, that many of the actors 
 in these fiend-like outrages were inspired by 
 motives akin to sincerity and conscientious- 
 ness. 
 
 The thoughtful reader will perceive that in 
 this long and wicked reign Louis XIY. was 
 sowing the wind from which his descendants 
 reaped the whirlwind. It was the despotism 
 of Louis XIY. and of Louis XV. which ushered 
 in that most sublime of all earthly dramas, the 
 French Revolution. 
 
 John S. C. Abbott. 
 
 New Haven, Conn., 1870. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Chapter Page 
 
 I. BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD 13 
 
 II. THE BOY-KING . 49 
 
 III. MATRIMONIAL PROJECTS 86 
 
 IV. THE MARRIAGE OP THE KING 121 
 
 V. FESTIVITIES OP THE COURT 159 
 
 VI. DEATH IN THE PALACE 194 
 
 VII. THE WAR IN HOLLAND 234 
 
 Vni. MADAME DE MAPNTENON 268 
 
 IX. THE REVOCATION OP THE EDICT OP NANTES 302 
 
 X. THE SECRET MARRIAGE 330 
 
 XI. INTRIGUES AND "WARS 359 
 
 XII. LAST DAYS OF LOUIS XIV 384 
 
ENGRAVINGS. 
 
 Page 
 
 louis xiv. Frontispiece. 
 
 THE CASTLE OP BLOIS 18 
 
 PALACE OP ST. GERMAIN-EN-LAYE 23 
 
 THE PALAIS ROYAL 31 
 
 PALACE OP THE LUXEMBOURG 52 
 
 THE TUILERIES . ." 74 
 
 THE CASTLE OF VLNCENNES 79 
 
 PALACE OP CHANTILLY 98 
 
 VIEW OF FONTAINEBLEAU 103 
 
 ISLE OF PHEASANTS 129 
 
 THE LOUVRE AND THE TUILERIES... 139 
 
 PALACE OF FONTAINEBLEAU 145 
 
 CHATEAU MAZARIN 157 
 
 CHATEAU DE VAUX 176 
 
 CONVENT OP VAL DE GRACE 198 
 
 THE PALACE OF ST. CLOUD 201 
 
 INTERIOR OF ST. DENIS 208 
 
 ST. DENIS 230 
 
 PORTE ST. DENIS 254 
 
 MADAME DE MALNTENON 273 
 
 PALACE OP VERSAILLES 297 
 
 PARTERRE OF VERSAILLES . 324 
 
 RACINE AND BOILEAU 339 
 
 THE TRIANON 351 
 
 MARLY 354 
 
 LOUIS XIV. DIRECTING THE SIEGE 362 
 
 FRONT VIEW OF ST. GERMAIN 376 
 
 ANNOUNCEMEMT OF THE DEATH OF LOUIS XIV. .. 409 
 
LOUIS XIY. 
 
 Chapter I. 
 Iirth and Childhood. 
 
 Marriage of Louis XIII. 
 
 LOUIS XIII. of France married Anne of 
 Austria on the 25th of November, 1615. 
 The marriage ceremony was performed with 
 great splendor in the Cathedral of Bordeaux. 
 The bride was exceedingly beautiful, tall, and 
 of exquisite proportions. She possessed the 
 whitest and most delicate hand that ever made 
 an imperious gesture. Her eyes were of 
 matchless beauty, easily dilated, and of extra- 
 ordinary transparenc}'. Her small and ruddy 
 mouth looked like an opening rose-bud. Long 
 and silky hair, of a lovely shade of auburn, 
 gave to the face it surrounded the sparkling- 
 complexion of a blonde, and the animation of 
 a brunette.* 
 
 The marriage was not a happy one. Louis 
 
 * Louis XIV. et son Siecle. 
 
14 Louis XIV. [1615. 
 
 Character of Louis XIII. 
 
 XIII. was not a man of any mental or physical 
 attractions. He was cruel, petulant, and jeal- 
 ous. The king had a younger brother, Gaston, 
 duke of Anjou. He was a young man of joy- 
 ous spirits, social, frank, a universal favorite. 
 His moody, taciturn brother did not love him. 
 Anne did. She could not but enjo}^ his socie- 
 ty. Wounded by the coldness and neglect of 
 her husband, it is said that she was not unwill- 
 ing, by rather a free exhibition of the fascina- 
 tions of her person and her mind, to win the 
 admiration of Gaston. She hoped thus to in- 
 spire the king with a more just appreciation of 
 her merits. 
 
 Louis XIII., at the time of his marriage, 
 was a mere boy fourteen years of age. His 
 father had died when he was nine years old. 
 He was left under the care of his mother, Mary 
 de Medicis, as regent. Anne of Austria was 
 a maturely developed and precocious child of 
 eleven years when she gave her hand to the 
 boy-king of France. Not much discretion 
 could have been expected of two such children, 
 exposed to the idleness, the splendors, and the 
 corruption of a court. 
 
 Anne was vain of her beauty, naturally co- 
 quettish, and very romantic in her views of life. 
 
1624.] Bikth and Childhood. 15 
 
 Character of Anne of Austria. Cardinal Richelieu. 
 
 It is said that the queen dowager, wishing to 
 prevent Anne from gaining much influence 
 over the mind of the king, did all she could to 
 lure her into flirtations and gallantries, which 
 alienated her from her husband. For this 
 purpose she placed near her person Madame 
 Chevreuse, an intriguing woman, alike renown- 
 ed for wit, beauty, and unscrupulousness. 
 
 Quite a desperate flirtation arose between 
 Anne and little Gaston, who was but nine years 
 of age. Gaston, whom the folly of the times 
 entitled Duke of Anjou, hated Louis, and de- 
 lighted to excite his jealousy and anger by his 
 open and secret manifestation of love for the 
 beautiful Anne. The king's health failed. 
 He became increasingly languid, morose, ema- 
 ciate. Anne, young as she was, was physically 
 a fully developed woman of voluptuous beauty. 
 The undisguised alienation which existed be- 
 tween her and the king encouraged other 
 courtiers of eminent rank to court her smiles. 
 
 Cardinal Richelieu, notwithstanding his ec- 
 clesiastical vows, became not only the admirer, 
 but the lover of the queen, addressing her in 
 the most impassioned words of endearment. 
 Thus years of intrigue and domestic wretched- 
 ness passed away until 1624. The queen had 
 
16 Louis XIV. [1628. 
 
 The Duke of Buckingham. His death. 
 
 then been married nine years, and was twenty 
 years of age. She had no children. 
 
 The reckless, hot-headed George Yilliers, 
 duke of Buckingham, visited the French court 
 to arrange terms of marriage between Henriet- 
 ta Maria, sister of Louis XIII., and the Prince 
 of Wales, son of James I. of England. He 
 was what is called a splendid man, of noble 
 bearing, and of chivalric devotion to the fair. 
 The duke, boundlessly rich, displayed great 
 magnificence in Paris. He danced with the 
 queen, fascinated her by his openly avowed 
 admiration, and won such smiles in return as 
 to induce the king and Cardinal Richelieu al- 
 most to gnash their teeth with rage. 
 
 This flirtation, if we may not express it by 
 a more emphatic phrase, created much heart- 
 burning and wretchedness, criminations and 
 recriminations, in the regal palace. In Au- 
 gust, 1628, the Duke of Buckingham, then in 
 England, terminated his wretched and guilty 
 life. He fell beneath the dagger of an assas- 
 sin. Anne, disdaining all dissimulation, wept 
 openly, and, secluding herself from the gaye- 
 ties of the court, surrendered herself to grief. 
 
 A mutual spirit of defiance existed between 
 the king and queen. Both were wretched. 
 
1637.] Birth and Childhood. 17 
 
 Estrangement of the king and queen. 
 
 Such are always the wages of sin. Ten more 
 joyless years passed away. The rupture be- 
 tween the royal pair was such that they could 
 scarcely endure each other. Louis himself 
 was the first to inform the queen of the news 
 so satisfactory to him, so heart-rending to her, 
 that a dagger had pierced the heart of Buck- 
 ingham. After this they met only at unfre- 
 quent intervals. All confidence and sympathy 
 were at an end. It was a bitter disappointment 
 to the queen that she had no children. Upon 
 the death of the king, who was in very feeble 
 health, her own position and influence would 
 depend almost entirely upon her having a son 
 to whom the crown would descend. Louis re- 
 sided generally at the Castle of Blois. Anne 
 held her court at the Louvre. 
 
 A married life of twenty -two years had pass- 
 ed away, and still the queen had no child. 
 Both she and her husband had relinquished all 
 hope of offspring. On the evening of the 5th 
 of December, 1637, the king, having made a 
 visit to the Convent of the Visitation, being 
 overtaken by a storm, drove to the Louvre in- 
 stead of Blois. He immediately proceeded to 
 the apartments of the queen. Anne was as- 
 tonished, and did not disguise her astonishment 
 B 
 
IS 
 
 Louis XIV. 
 
 Joy of the nation. 
 
 [161 
 
 THE OASTLE OP BLOI8. 
 
 at seeing him. He, however, remained until 
 the morrow. 
 
 Soon after this, to the inexpressible joy of 
 the queen, it appeared that she was to become 
 a mother. The public announcement of the 
 fact created surprise and joy throughout the 
 nation. The king was equally astonished and 
 delighted. He immediately hastened to the 
 Louvre to offer the queen his congratulations. 
 
 The queen repaired to St. Germain-en-Laye, 
 about six miles from Versailles, to await the 
 
1638.] Birth and Childhood. 19 
 
 Birth of Louis XIV. 
 
 birth of her child. Here she occupied, iu the 
 royal palace, the gorgeous apartments in which 
 Henry IY. had formerly dwelt. The king 
 himself also took up his abode in the palace. 
 The excitement was so great that St. Germain 
 was crowded with the nobility, who had flock- 
 ed to the place in anxious expectancy of the 
 great event. Others, who could not be accom- 
 modated at St. Germain, stationed couriers on 
 the road to obtain the earliest intelligence of 
 the result. 
 
 On the 5th of September, 1638, the king 
 was greeted with the joyful tidings of the birth 
 of a son. A vast crowd had assembled in front 
 of the palace. The king, in the exuberance of 
 his delight, took the child from the nurse, and, 
 stepping out upon a balcony, exhibited him to 
 the crowd, exclaiming, " A son ! gentlemen, a 
 son !" 
 
 The announcement was received with a uni- 
 versal shout of joy. The happy father then 
 took the babe into an adjoining apartment, 
 where the bishops were assembled to perform 
 the ordinance of baptism. These dignitaries 
 of the Church had been kneeling around a 
 temporary altar praying for the queen. The 
 Bishop of Meaux performed the ceremony. A 
 
20 Louis XIV. [1638. 
 
 Gift of the Pope. 
 
 Te Deum was then chanted in the chapel of 
 the castle. Immediately after this, the king 
 wrote an autograph letter to the corporation 
 of Paris, announcing the joyful tidings. A 
 courier was dispatched with the document at 
 his highest possible speed. 
 
 The enthusiasm excited in the capital sur- 
 passed any thing which had ever before been 
 witnessed. The common people, the nobles, 
 the ecclesiastics, and the foreign embassadors, 
 vied with each other in their demonstrations 
 of joy. A few months after, in July, an extra- 
 ordinary messenger arrived from the pope, to 
 convey to the august mother and her child the 
 blessing of the holy father. He also present- 
 ed the queen, for her babe, swaddling-clothes 
 which had been blessed by his holiness. These 
 garments were exceedingly rich with gold and 
 silver embroidery. They were inclosed in a 
 couple of chests of red velvet, and elicited the 
 admiration of the royal pair. 
 
 The France of that day was very different 
 from that magnificent empire which now stands 
 in intellectual culture, arts, and arms, promi- 
 nent among the nations of the globe. The 
 country was split up into hostile factions, over 
 which haughty nobles ruled. The roads in the 
 
1640.] Birth and Childhood. 21 
 
 Condition of Paris. Reconciliation of the king and queen. 
 
 rural districts were almost impassable. Paris 
 itself was a small and dirty city, with scarcely 
 any police regulations, and infested with rob- 
 bers. There were no lamps to light the city 
 by night. The streets were narrow, ill paved, 
 and choked with mud and refuse. Immedi- 
 ately after nightfall these dark and crooked 
 thoroughfares were thronged with robbers and 
 assassins, whose depredations were of the most 
 audacious kind. 
 
 Socially, morally, and intellectually, France 
 was at the lowest ebb. The masses of the peo- 
 ple were in a degraded condition of squalid 
 poverty and debasement. Still the king, by 
 enormous taxation, succeeded in wresting from 
 his wretched subjects an income to meet the 
 expenses of his court, amounting to about four 
 millions of our money. But the outlays were 
 so enormous that even this income was quite 
 unavailing, and innumerable measures of ex- 
 tortion were adopted to meet the deficit. 
 
 The king was so much gratified by the birth 
 of a dauphin that for a time he became quite 
 reconciled to his beautiful and haughty queen. 
 Two years after the birth of the dauphin, on 
 the 21st of September, 1640, Anne gave birth 
 to a second son, who took the title of Philip,, 
 
22 Louis XIV. [1640. 
 
 Orders of Louis XIII. respecting the dauphin. 
 
 duke of Anj on. The queen and her two chil- 
 dren resided in the beautiful palace of Saint 
 Germain-en-Laye, where the princes were born. 
 
 A company of French Guards, commanded 
 by Captain Montigni, protected the castle. 
 Madame de Lausac was the governess of the 
 two children. The title by which the king's 
 brother was usually designated was simply 
 Monsieur. But for these children of the king, 
 the crown, upon the death of tho? monarch, 
 would descend immediately to Monsieur, the 
 king's brother. The morals of the times were 
 such that the king was ever apprehensive that 
 some harm might come to the children through 
 the intrigues of his brother. Monsieur lived 
 in Paris. The king left orders with Madame 
 de Lausac that, should his brother visit the 
 queen, the officers of the household should im- 
 mediately surround the dauphin for his protec- 
 tion, and that Monsieur should not be permit- 
 ted to enter the palace should he be accompa- 
 nied by more than three persons. 
 
 To Montigni, the captain of the guard, the 
 king gave half of a gold coin, of which he re- 
 tained the other half. Montigni was com- 
 manded to watch over the persons of the princes 
 with the utmost vigilance. Should he receive 
 
1643.] Birth and Childhood. 25 
 
 111 health of Louis XIII. 
 
 an order to remove them, or to transfer them 
 to other hands, he was enjoined not to obey 
 that order, even should it be in the handwrit- 
 ing of his majesty himself, unless he at the 
 same time received the other half of the broken 
 coin. 
 
 The king, as- we have mentioned, had been 
 for some time in feeble health. Early in the 
 spring of 1643 he became seriously ill. The 
 symptoms were so alarming as to lead the 
 king, as well as his friends, to think that death 
 could not be far distant. There are few men 
 so hardened as to be able to contemplate with- 
 out some degree of anxiety death and the final 
 judgment. The king was alarmed. He be- 
 took himself to prayer and to the scrupulous 
 discharge of his religious duties. 
 
 In preparation for the great change, he re- 
 paired to Saint Germain to invest the queen 
 with the regency when he should die. His 
 brother, Monsieur, who had taken the title of 
 the Duke of Orleans, and all the leading nobles 
 of the court, were present. The king, pale, 
 emaciate, and with death staring him in the 
 face, was bolstered in his bed. Anne of Aus- 
 tria stood weeping by his side. She did not 
 love her husband — she did love power ; but 
 
26 Louis XIV. [1643. 
 
 The dauphin declared King Louis XIV. 
 
 the scene was so solemn and so affecting as to 
 force tears into all eyes. The dauphin was 
 then four and a half years old. He was de- 
 clared king, with the title of Louis XIV., un- 
 der the regency of his mother until he should 
 attain his majority. 
 
 The next day, April 21st, the christening of 
 the dauphin with his new title took place with 
 great state in the chapel of the palace. After 
 the celebration of the rite, the dauphin was 
 carried into the chamber of his dying father, 
 and seated upon the bed by his side. The 
 poor king, dying in the prime of life, was op- 
 pressed with the profoundest melancholy. 
 There was nothing in the memory of the past 
 to give him pleasure ; nothing in the future to 
 inspire him with well-grounded hope. Turn- 
 ing to the little prince, who had just been chris- 
 tened with the royal title, he inquired, 
 
 "What is your name, my child?" 
 
 " Louis XIV.," the dauphin promptly replied. 
 
 " Not yet," said the king, sadly, shaking his 
 head ; " but pray God that it may soon be so." 
 
 A few more days of sickness and suffering 
 passed away, during which it was almost hour- 
 ly expected that the king would die. Death 
 often comes to the palace invested with terrors 
 
1643.] Birth and Childhood. 27 
 
 Last hours of Louis XIII. 
 
 unknown in the cottage. Beneath his sceptre 
 all gradations and conditions of rank disap- 
 pear. The sufferings of the king were such 
 that he longed for release. 
 
 On the 13th of May, as the shades of even- 
 ing were gathering around his dying bed, he 
 anxiously inquired of his physicians if it were 
 possible that he could live until morning. 
 They consulted together, and then informed 
 him that they did not think it possible. 
 
 " God be praised !" the king replied. " I 
 think it is now time that I should take leave 
 of all whom I love." 
 
 The royal household was immediately as- 
 sembled around the couch of the dying mon- 
 arch. He had sufficient strength to throw his 
 arms around the neck of the queen, and to press 
 her tenderly to his heart. In such an hour 
 past differences are forgotten. In low and 
 broken tones of voice, the king addressed the 
 queen in a few parting words of endearment. 
 
 The dauphin was then placed in his arms. 
 Silently, but with tearful eyes, he pressed his 
 thin and parched lips to both cheeks and to the 
 brow of the child, who was too young to com- 
 prehend the solemn import of the scene. 
 
 His brother, Monsieur, the duke of Orleans, 
 
28 Louis XIV. [1643. 
 
 Death of Louis XIII. 
 
 the king had never loved. In these later years 
 he had regarded him with implacable hostility. 
 But, subdued by the influences of death, he 
 bade that brother an eternal adieu, with even 
 fond caresses. Indeed, he had become so far 
 reconciled to Monsieur that he had appointed 
 him lieutenant general of the kingdom, under 
 the regency of Anne of Austria, during the mi- 
 nority of the dauphin. 
 
 Several of the higher ecclesiastics were pres- 
 ent, who had assisted in preparing him to die. 
 He affectionately embraced them all, and then 
 requested the Bishop of Meaux to read the 
 service for the dying. While it was being 
 read he sank into a lethargy, and never spoke 
 again. He died in the forty-second year of 
 his age, after a reign of thirty-three years, hav- 
 ing ascended the throne when but nine years 
 old. 
 
 Immediately after the death of the king, 
 Anne of Austria held a private interview with 
 Monsieur, in which they agreed to co-operate 
 in the maintenance of each other's authority. 
 The Parliament promptly recognized the queen 
 as regent, and the Duke of Orleans as lieutenant 
 general, during the minority of the dauphin. 
 
 The Duke de Grammont, one of the highest 
 
1643.] Bieth and Childhood. 29 
 
 Louis XIV. recognized king. 
 
 nobles of France, and a distinguished member 
 of the court of Louis XIII., had a son, the 
 Count de Guiche, a few months older than the 
 dauphin. This child was educated as the play- 
 fellow and the companion in study of the 
 young king. One of the first acts of Anne of 
 Austria was to assemble the leading bodies of 
 the realm to take the oath of allegiance to her 
 son. The little fellow, four and a half years 
 old, arrayed in imperial robes, was seated upon 
 the throne. The Count de Guiche, a very se- 
 date, thoughtful, precocious child, was placed 
 upon the steps, that his undoubted propriety of 
 behavior might be a pattern to the infant king. 
 Both of the children behaved remarkably well. 
 Soon after this, at the close of the year 1643, 
 the queen, with her household, who had resided 
 during the summer in the palace of the Louvre, 
 took up her residence in what was then called 
 the Cardinal Palace. This magnificent build- 
 ing, which had been reared at an enormous ex- 
 pense, had been bequeathed by the Cardinal 
 Richelieu to the young king. But it was sug- 
 gested that it was not decorous that the king 
 should inhabit a mansion which bore the name 
 of the residence of a subject. Therefore the 
 inscription of Cardinal Palace was effaced 
 
30 Louis XIV. [1643. 
 
 Palais Royal. Apartments of the qneen regent. 
 
 from above the doorway, and that of Palais 
 Royal placed in its stead. The palace had 
 cost the cardinal a sum nearly equal to a mil- 
 lion of dollars. This ungrateful disregard of 
 the memory of the cardinal greatly displeased 
 his surviving friends, and called forth earnest 
 remonstrance. But all expostulations were in 
 vain. From that day to this the renowned 
 mansion has been known only as the " Palais 
 Royal." The opposite engraving shows the 
 palace as left by the cardinal. Since his day 
 the building has been greatly enlarged by ex- 
 tending the wings for shops around the whole 
 inclosure of the garden. 
 
 Louis XIY. was at this time five years old. 
 The apartments which had been occupied by 
 Richelieu were assigned to the dauphin. His 
 mother, the queen regent, selected for herself 
 rooms far more spacious and elegant. Though 
 they were furnished and embellished with ap- 
 parently every appliance of luxury, Anne, fond 
 of power and display, expended enormous sums 
 in adapting them to her taste. The cabinet of 
 the regent, in the gorgeousness of its adorn- 
 ments, was considered the wonder of Paris. 
 
 Cardinal Mazarin had also a suite of rooms 
 assigned him in the palace which looked out 
 
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 'I'M- IF! 
 
 5 ^3 
 
 Ills 
 
 11111 > '-',,, 
 
 II 
 
 M 
 
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 I 
 
 ;.-,■ 
 
1643.] Birth and Childhood. 33 
 
 Educational arrangements for Louis XIV. 
 
 upon the Rue des bons Enfans. These house- 
 holds were quite distinct, and they were all 
 surrounded with much of the pageantry of 
 royalty. The superintendence of the educa- 
 tion of the young prince was intrusted to the 
 cardinal. He had also his governor, his sub- 
 governor, his preceptor, and his valet de cham- 
 bre, each of whom must have occupied posts of 
 honor rather than of responsibility. The Mar- 
 chioness de Senecey, and other ladies of high 
 rank, were intrusted with the special care of 
 the dauphin until he should attain the age of 
 seven years. 
 
 Thus the court of the baby-king was quite 
 imposing. From his earliest years he was ac- 
 customed to the profoundest homage, and was 
 trained to the most rigid rules of etiquette. 
 The dauphin early developed a fondness for 
 military exercises. Very eagerly he shoulder- 
 ed the musket, brandished the sword, and beat 
 the drum. The temperament of his brother 
 Philip, the duke of Anjou, was very different: 
 he was remarkably gentle, quiet, and affection- 
 ate. Gradually the baby-court of the dauphin 
 was increased by the addition of other lads. 
 The young king was the central luminary 
 around whom they all revolved. By them all 
 C 
 
34 Louis XIY. [1643. 
 
 Speech of Louis at five years old. 
 
 the dauphin was regarded with a certain kind 
 of awe, as if he were a being of a superior, al- 
 most of a celestial race. These lads were 
 termed " children of honor." They always 
 addressed the king, and were addressed in re- 
 turn, with the formality of full-grown men. 
 One day a little fellow named Lomenie de- 
 lighted the king with a gift. The king was 
 amusing himself with a cross-bow, which for 
 the time being happened to be in special favor. 
 He loaned the bow for a few moments to Lo- 
 menie. Soon, however, anxious to regain the 
 valued plaything, he held out his hand to take 
 it back. His governess, the Marchioness de 
 Senecey, said to him, aside, 
 
 " Sire, kings give what they lend." 
 Louis, immediately approaching his compan- 
 ion, said, calmly, " Monsieur de Lomenie, keep 
 the cross-bow. I wish that it were something 
 of more importance ; but, such as it is, I give 
 it to you with all my heart." 
 
 This was a speech of a boy of five years old 
 to a companion of the same age. When the 
 dauphin reached his seventh birthday, a great 
 change took place in his household. All his 
 female attendants were withdrawn, and he was 
 placed exclusively under the charge of men. 
 
1643.] Birth and Childhood. 35 
 
 Dislikes the change of teachers. Interest in history. 
 
 It is said that this change was at first the occa- 
 sion of much grief to him. He had become 
 much attached to many of the ladies, who had 
 devoted themselves to the promotion of Ins 
 happiness. We are told that he was greatly 
 chagrined to find that none of the gentlemen 
 of his court could tell him any of those beau- 
 tiful fairy tales with which the ladies had often 
 lulled him to sleep. In conference with the 
 queen upon the subject, it was decided that M. 
 Laporte, his first valet de chambre, should read 
 to him every night a chapter of a very popular 
 history of France. The dauphin soon became 
 greatly interested in the narrative. He de- 
 clared that he, when he grew up, wonld be a 
 Charlemagne, a St. Louis, a Francis First, and 
 expressed great abhorrence of the tyrannical 
 and slothful kings. 
 
 The pleasure which the little king took in 
 these historical readings daily increased. Car- 
 dinal Mazarin accidentally found out what was 
 going on, and was greatly displeased. He was 
 anxious that the intellectual powers of the king 
 should not be developed, for the cardinal de- 
 sired to grasp the reins of government with his 
 own hands. To do this, it was necessary that 
 the king should be kept ignorant, and should 
 be incited only to enervating indulgence. 
 
36 Louis XIV. [1643. 
 
 Mazarin's wicked policy. Henrietta, queen of Charles I. 
 
 Scornfully the cardinal remarked, " I pre- 
 sume the governor of the king must put on his 
 shoes and stockings, as I perceive his valet de 
 chambre is teaching him history." 
 
 The young king entertained an instinctive 
 aversion to the proud cardinal, who assumed 
 imperial airs, and who was living in splendor 
 far surpassing that of the regent or of the child- 
 king. Those who surrounded the prince were 
 equally inimical to the cardinal-minister, who, 
 in that age of superstition and fanaticism, had 
 attained such power that the regent herself 
 stood in awe of him. 
 
 Henrietta, queen of England, wife of the un- 
 fortunate Charles I., was a daughter of Henry 
 IV., and sister of Louis XIII. She was con- 
 sequently aunt to the dauphin. The troubles 
 in England, which soon led to the beheading 
 of the king her husband, rendered it necessary 
 for her to escape to France. Her brother, 
 Monsieur, duke of Orleans, went to the coast to 
 receive his unhappy and royal sister. As they 
 approached Paris, the queen regent and her son 
 the king rode out to meet them. Henrietta 
 took a seat in the same carriage with their 
 majesties, and returned with them to the Lou- 
 vre. The pallid cheeks and saddened features 
 
1646.] Birth and Childhood. 37 
 
 Figure and bearing of the king. 
 
 of the English queen proclaimed so loudly the 
 woes with which she was stricken as to exert 
 universal sympathy. 
 
 The young king at seven years of age was 
 tall, muscular, and excelled in all physical ex- 
 ercises ; but the villainous cardinal had en- 
 deavored in every way to dwarf his intellect, 
 so that his mind remained almost a blank. 
 Both the young king and his brother at this 
 early age had acquired a very remarkable de- 
 gree of courtly grace. A chronicler of the 
 times, speaking of the bearing of Louis at a 
 court wedding, says, 
 
 " The king, with the gracefulness which 
 shines in all his actions, took the hand of the 
 Queen of Poland, and conducted her to the 
 platform, where his majesty opened the dance, 
 and was followed by nearly all the princes, 
 princesses, great nobles, and ladies of the court. 
 At its termination, the king, with the same 
 grace and majestic deportment, conducted the 
 young queen to her place. The king then 
 danced a second time, and led out the Duke 
 of Anjou with such skill that every one was 
 charmed with the polite bearing of these two 
 young princes." 
 
 Early in the year 1646, the king, not yet 
 
38 Louis XIV. [1646. 
 
 His first campaign. The cardinal's nieces. 
 
 quite eight years old, was conducted upon what 
 was singularly called his first campaign. The 
 queen and her son repaired to Amiens, where 
 they sojourned for a short time with the army, 
 and established a very brilliant court. When 
 the army left Amiens for Flanders, the regent 
 and her son returned from their campaign. 
 
 The infant court of the monarch was now 
 established at Paris. The ambitious cardinal 
 had brought from Italy several little children, 
 his relatives, the eldest of whom had attained 
 but her twelfth year. They were immediately 
 introduced to the court of Louis XI Y. The 
 wealth of the cardinal was such, and his influ- 
 ence so great, that, young as these his nieces 
 were, they were instantly surrounded by ad- 
 mirers. The Duke of Orleans, who hated the 
 cardinal and all that belonged to him, bitterly 
 remarked, 
 
 " There is such a throng about those little 
 girls that I doubt if their lives are safe, and 
 if they will not be suffocated." 
 
 The boy-king, however, notwithstanding his 
 dislike for the cardinal, received the little girls 
 with that gallantry for which throughout life 
 he was distinguished. 
 
 Very early he began to develop quite a pos- 
 
1646.] Birth and Childhood. 39 
 
 Anecdote. Feud between Mazarin and the Parliament. 
 
 itive character. On one occasion the courtiers 
 were speaking in his presence of the absolute 
 power exercised by the sultans of Turkey. 
 Several very striking examples were given. 
 The young prince, who had listened attentive- 
 ly, remarked, 
 
 " That is as it should be ; that is really reign- 
 ing." 
 
 " Yes, sire," pertinently replied Marshal d'Es- 
 trees, " but two or three of those sultans have, 
 within my memory, been strangled." 
 
 The Prince de Conde inquired of Laporte, 
 the first valet of the king, respecting the char- 
 acter his young majesty was developing. Upon 
 being told that he was conscientious and intel- 
 ligent, he replied, " So much the better. There 
 would be no pleasure in obeying a fool, and 
 no honor in being commanded by a bad man." 
 
 Cardinal Mazarin, the prime minister, who 
 looked with jealousy upon any development of 
 superior intelligence in the dauphin, said to 
 Marshal de Grammont, " Ah ! sir, you do not 
 know his majesty. There is enough stuff in 
 him to make four kings and an honest man." 
 
 There had gradually sprung up a deadly 
 feud between the court, headed by the tyran- 
 nical nfinister Mazarin on the one side, and by 
 
4:0 Louis XIV. [1648. 
 
 r 
 
 Alarm of Mazarin. 
 
 the Parliament on the other. The populace 
 of Paris were in sympathy with the Parlia- 
 ment. Many of the prominent nobles, some 
 even of royal blood, detesting the haughty 
 prime minister, espoused the Parliamentary 
 cause. There were riots in Paris. Affairs 
 looked very threatening. Mazarin was alarm- 
 ed, and decided to escape from Paris with the 
 court to the palace of St. Germain. There he 
 could protect the court with an ample military 
 force. He thought, also, that he should be able 
 to cut off the supply of provisions from the 
 capital, and thus starve the city into subjection. 
 
 It was necessary to move with much caution, 
 as the people were greatly agitated, were fill- 
 ing the streets with surging crowds, and would 
 certainly prevent the removal of the king 
 should they suspect the design. The night of 
 the 5th of January was selected as a time in 
 which to attempt the escape. The matter was 
 kept profoundly secret from most of the mem- 
 bers of the royal household. 
 
 At three o'clock in the morning a carriage 
 was drawn up in the gate of the royal garden. 
 The queen regent, who, to avoid suspicion, had 
 retired to bed at the usual hour, had in the 
 mean time risen and was prepared for her 
 
1648.] Birth and Childhood. 41 
 
 Escape of the royal family from Paris. Flight of the court. 
 
 flight. The young king and his brother were 
 awoke from their sleep, hurriedly dressed, and 
 conveyed to the carriage in waiting. The 
 queen regent, with several other prominent 
 members of the court, descended the back 
 stairs which led from the queen's apartment 
 and joined the children. Immediately one or 
 two other carriages drove up, and the whole 
 party entered them, and by different routes, 
 through the dark and narrow streets, left the 
 city. It was a short ride of about twelve 
 miles. 
 
 Other prominent members of the court, re- 
 siding in different parts of the city, had been 
 apprised of the movement, so that at five 
 o'clock in the morning twenty carriages, con- 
 taining one hundred and fifty persons, drove 
 into the court-yard of the palace. One of the 
 ladies who accompanied the expedition, Mad- 
 emoiselle Montpensier, gives the following 
 graphic description of the scene : 
 
 "When we arrived at St. Germain we went 
 straight to the chapel to hear mass. All the 
 rest of the day was spent in questioning those 
 who arrived as to what they were doing in 
 Paris. The drums were beating all over the 
 pity, and the citizens had taken up arms. The 
 
42 Louis XIV. [1648. 
 
 Discomfort of the court at St. Germain. 
 
 Countess de Fiesque sent me a coach, and a 
 mattress, and a little linen. As I was in so 
 sorry a condition, I went to seek help at the 
 Chateau Neuf, where Monsieur and Madame 
 were lodged ; but Madame had not her clothes 
 any more than myself. Nothing could be 
 more laughable than this disorder. I lodged 
 in a large room, well painted and gilded, with 
 but little fire, which is not agreeable in the 
 month of January. My mattress was laid 
 upon the floor, and my sister, who had no bed, 
 slept with me. Judge if I were agreeably sit- 
 uated for a person who had slept but little the 
 previous night, with sore throat and violent 
 cold. 
 
 " Fortunately for me, the beds of Monsieur 
 and Madame arrived. Monsieur had the kind- 
 ness to give me the room which he vacated. 
 As I was in the apartment of Monsieur, where 
 no one knew that I was lodged, I was awoke 
 by a noise. I drew back my curtain, and was 
 much astonished to find my chamber quite 
 filled by men in large buff skin collars, who ap- 
 peared surprised to see me, and who knew me 
 as little as I knew them. 
 
 " I had no change of linen, and my day che- 
 mise was washed during the night. I had no 
 
1648.] Birth and Childhood. 48 
 
 Excitement in Paris. 
 
 women to arrange my hair and dress me, which 
 is very inconvenient. I ate with Monsieur, 
 who keeps a very bad table. Still I did not 
 lose my gayety, and Monsieur was in admira- 
 tion at my making no complaint. It is true I 
 am a creature who can make the best of every 
 thing, and am greatly above trifles. I remain- 
 ed in this state ten days, at the end of which 
 time my equipage arrived, and I was very glad 
 to have all my comforts. I then went to lodge 
 in the chateau Vieux, where the queen was re- 
 siding."* 
 
 At a very early hour in the morning the 
 news was circulated through the streets of 
 Paris that the court had fled from the city, 
 taking with it the young king. The excite- 
 ment was terrible, creating universal shouts 
 and tumults. All who were in any way con- 
 nected with the court attempted to escape in 
 various disguises to join the royal party. The 
 populace, on the other hand, closed the gates, 
 and barricaded the streets, to prevent their 
 
 * There were at that time two palaces at St. Germain. 
 The old palace, originally built by Charles V., and in the al- 
 teration of which Louis XIV. spent over a million of dollars, 
 still remains. The new palace, constructed by Henry IV. 
 about a quarter of a mile from the other, is now in ruins. 
 
44 Louis XIV. [1648. 
 
 Issue of a parliamentary decree. 
 
 flight. In the midst of this confusion, a letter 
 was received by the municipal magistrates, 
 over the signature of the boy-king, stating that 
 he had been compelled to leave the capital to 
 prevent the seizure of his person by the Par- 
 liament, and urging the magistrates to do all 
 in their power for the preservation of order 
 and for the protection of property. The king 
 also ordered the Parliament immediately to 
 retire from the city to Montargis. 
 
 The Parliament refused to recognize the or- 
 der, declaring " that it did not emanate from 
 the monarch himself, but from the evil coun- 
 selors by whom he was held in captivity." 
 Upon the reception of this reply, the queen re- 
 gent, who had surrounded her palace at St. 
 Germain with a thousand royal troops, acting 
 under the guidance of Mazarin, issued a decree 
 forbidding the villages around Paris sending 
 into the capital either bread, wine, or cattle. 
 Troops were also stationed to cut off such sup- 
 plies. This attempt to subdue the people by 
 the terrors of famine excited intense exasper- 
 ation. A decree was promptly issued by the 
 Parliament stating, 
 
 " Since Cardinal Mazarin is notoriously the 
 author of the present troubles, the Parliament 
 
1648.] Birth and Childhood. 45 
 
 Origin of the names Fronde and Mazarins. 
 
 declares him to be the disturber of the public 
 peace, the enemy of the king and the state, 
 and orders him to retire from the court in the 
 course of this day, and in eight days more from 
 the kingdom. Should he neglect to do this, at 
 the expiration of the appointed time all the 
 subjects of the king are called upon to hunt 
 him down." 
 
 At the same time, men-at-arms were levied 
 in sufficient numbers to escort safely into the 
 city all those who would bring in provisions. 
 The Parliament, from the populace of Paris, 
 could bring sixty thousand bayonets upon any 
 field of battle. Thus very serious civil war 
 was inaugurated. 
 
 As we have mentioned, many of the nobles, 
 some of whom were allied to the royal family, 
 assuming that they were not contending against 
 their legitimate sovereign, the young king, but 
 against the detested Mazarin, were in cordial 
 co-operation with the Parliament. The people 
 in the rural districts were also in sympathy 
 with the party in Paris. 
 
 The court party was now called " The Maz- 
 arins" and those of the Parliament "The 
 Fronde." The literal meaning of the word 
 fronde is sling. It is a boy's plaything, and, 
 
46 Louis XIV. [1648. 
 
 Two rival courts. Straw scarce. 
 
 when skillfully used, an important weapon of 
 war. It was with the sling that David slew 
 Goliath. During the Middle Ages this was the 
 usual weapon of the foot soldiers. Mazarin 
 had contemptuously remarked that the Parlia- 
 ment were like school-boys, fronding in the 
 ditches, and who ran away at the approach of 
 a policeman. The Parliament accepted the 
 title, and adopted the fronde or sling as the 
 emblem of their party. 
 
 There were now two rival courts in France. 
 The one at St. Germain was in a state of great 
 destitution. The palace was but partially fur- 
 nished, and not at all capable of affording 
 comfortable accommodations for the crowd 
 which thronged its apartments. Nothing could 
 be obtained from Paris. Their purses were 
 empty. The rural population was hostile, and, 
 while eager to carry their products to Paris, 
 were unwilling to bring them to St. Germain. 
 Madame de Motteville states in her memoirs 
 " that the king, queen, and cardinal were sleep- 
 ing upon straw, which soon became so scarce 
 that it could not be obtained for money." 
 
 The court of the Fronde was assembled at 
 the Hotel de Yille in Paris. There all was 
 splendor, abundance, festive enjoyment. The 
 
1650.] Birth and Childhood. 47 
 
 Character of Mazarin. Termination of the war. 
 
 high rank of the leaders and the beauty of the 
 ladies gave eclat to the gathering. 
 
 Cardinal Mazarin was not only extortionate, 
 but miserly. He had accumulated an enor- 
 mous property. All this was seized and ap- 
 propriated by the Fronde. Though there were 
 occasional skirmishes between the forces of the 
 two factions, neither of them seemed disposed 
 to plunge into the horrors of civil war. 
 
 The king sent a herald, clad in complete ar- 
 mor and accompanied by two trumpeters, to 
 the Parliament. The Fronde refused to re- 
 ceive the herald, but decided to send a deputa- 
 tion to the king to ascertain what overtures he 
 was willing to make. After a lengthy confer- 
 ence a not very satisfactory compromise was 
 agreed upon, and the royal fugitives returned 
 to Paris. It was the 5th of April, 1650. A 
 Te Deurii was chanted with great pomp at the 
 cathedral of Notre Dame. 
 
 " Thus terminated the first act of the most 
 singular, bootless, and, we are almost tempted 
 to add, burlesque war which, in all probability, 
 Europe ever witnessed. Throughout its whole 
 duration society appeared to have been smitten 
 with some moral hallucination. Kings and 
 cardinals slept on mattresses, princesses and 
 
48 Louis XIV. [1650. 
 
 Society reversed. 
 
 duchesses on straw. Market-women embraced 
 princes, prelates governed armies, court ladies 
 led the mob, and the mob, in its turn, ruled the 
 city."* 
 * Louis XIV. and the Court of France, vol. L, p. 262. 
 
1650.] The Boy-King. 49 
 
 M. de Retz. Fears of Mazarin. 
 
 Chapter II. 
 The Boy-King. 
 
 THE reconciliation between the court and 
 the Fronde was very superficial. The old 
 antagonism soon reappeared, and daily grew 
 more rancorous. To add to the embarrass- 
 ment of the court, Monsieur, the duke of Or- 
 leans, became alienated from Mazarin, and 
 seemed inclined to join the Fronde. The most 
 formidable antagonist of the cardinal in the 
 Parliament was M. de Retz. He was coadju- 
 tor of the Archbishop of Paris, a man of con- 
 summate address and great powers of elo- 
 quence. 
 
 The struggle between De Retz and Mazarin 
 soon became one of life and death. The co- 
 adjutor was at length imboldenecl to offer a 
 decree in Parliament urging the king to ban- 
 ish from his presence and his councils Cardi- 
 nal Mazarin. This measure threw the court 
 into consternation. The cardinal was appre- 
 hensive of arrest. Some of his friends urged 
 him to retire immediately to a fortress. Oth- 
 D 
 
50 Louis XIV. [1650. 
 
 Escape of the cardinal. 
 
 ers proposed to garrison the Palais Royal and 
 its neighborhood with an efficient guard. 
 
 From the saloons of the palace the shouts 
 were heard of the excited populace swarming 
 through the streets. No one could tell to what 
 extremes of violence they might proceed. 
 Warned by these hostile demonstrations, the 
 cardinal decided to escape from Paris. At 
 ten o'clock at night he took leave of the queen 
 regent, hastened to his apartments, exchanged 
 his ecclesiastical costume for a dress in which 
 he was entirely disguised, and on foot thread- 
 ed the dark streets to escape from the city. 
 Two of his friends accompanied him. At the 
 Richelieu Gate they took horses, which were 
 awaiting them there, and in two hours alighted 
 at the palace of St. Germain. 
 
 M. de Retz, through his spies, was immedi- 
 ately informed of the flight of the cardinal. 
 He at once hastened to communicate the in- 
 telligence to Monsieur. The duke at first 
 could not credit the statement, as he felt as- 
 sured that Mazarin would not have left with- 
 out taking the young king with him. Should 
 the cardinal, in his retreat, gain possession of 
 the king, in whose name he would issue all his 
 orders, it would be hardly possible to avoid the 
 
1650.] The Boy-King. 51 
 
 Dangers of civil war. Alarm and energy of De Retz. 
 
 horrors of a desolating civil war. All minds 
 in Paris, from the highest to the lowest, were 
 thrown into a state of the most intense excite- 
 ment. 
 
 On the night of the second day after the 
 cardinal's night, M. de Retz was awakened by 
 a messenger, who informed him that the Duke 
 of Orleans was anxious to see him immediate- 
 ly at the palace of the Luxembourg. The co- 
 adjutor rose, hastily dressed, and in great anx- 
 iety repaired to the palace. The duke, though 
 lieutenant general of the kingdom, was a very 
 timid man, and exceedingly inefficient in ac- 
 tion. As they entered the chamber of the 
 duke, he listlessly said to M. de Retz, 
 
 "It is just as you said. The king is about 
 to leave Paris ; what shall we do ? I do not 
 see what can be done to prevent it." 
 
 The resolute coadjutor replied, "We must 
 immediately take possession of the city gates." 
 
 But the inert and weak duke brought for- 
 ward sundry silly excuses. He had not suffi- 
 cient force of character or moral courage to 
 commit himself to any decisive course of ac- 
 tion. The only measure he could be induced 
 to adopt was to send a message to the queen 
 regent, imploring her to reflect upon the con- 
 
52 
 
 The populace aroused. 
 
 Louis XIV. 
 
 [1650. 
 
 Palace of the Luxembourg. 
 
 sequences which would inevitably result from 
 the removal of the king from Paris. In the 
 mean time, the resolute and fearless coadjutor 
 sent his emissaries in all directions. The pop- 
 ulace were aroused with the cry that Mazarin 
 was about to carry off the king. The gates of 
 
 PALACE OP THE LUXEMBOURG. 
 
 the city were seized. Mounted patrols trav- 
 ersed the streets urging the citizens to arms. 
 An enormous crowd of excited men and wom- 
 en rushed toward the Palais Royal. 
 
 The carriages were, in fact, at that hour, at 
 the appointed rendezvous for the midnight 
 flight of the kino; and his attendants. The 
 young monarch was already in his traveling 
 
1650.] The Boy-King. 53 
 
 Discovery of the attempted flight of the royal family. 
 
 dress, just about to descend the stairs of the 
 palace, when the queen was apprised, by the 
 tumult in the streets, that the design was dis- 
 covered, and that consequently its execution 
 was impracticable. 
 
 "With the utmost precipitancy, the traveling 
 dress of the king was removed, and he was 
 robed in his night garments, replaced in bed, 
 and urged to feign that he was asleep. Scarce- 
 ly was this accomplished ere one of the officers 
 of the household entered and announced to the 
 queen that the exasperated mob was threaten- 
 ing the palace, insisting upon seeing the king, 
 that they might satisfy themselves that he had 
 not been carried away. While he was speak- 
 ing, another messenger entered with the an- 
 nouncement that the mob had already proceed- 
 ed to violence, and were tearing down the pal- 
 isades of the palace. While he was yet speak- 
 ing, a messenger from the Duke of Orleans ar- 
 rived, imploring the queen regent not to at- 
 tempt the removal of the king, and assuring 
 her that it was impossible to do so, since the 
 citizens were resolved to prevent it. 
 
 The queen, with dignity, listened to all. To 
 the messenger of the Duke of Orleans she 
 haughtily replied, 
 
54 Louis XIV. [1650. 
 
 Haughty reply of Anne of Austria. Courage of the queen mother. 
 
 " Say to the duke that he, instigated by the 
 coadjutor, has caused this tumult, and that he 
 has power to allay it. That nothing can be 
 more unfounded than the idea that there has 
 been any design to remove the king. That 
 both his majesty and his brother, the Duke of 
 Anjou, are asleep in their beds, as I myself had 
 been until the uproar in the streets had caused 
 me to rise." To satisfy the messenger, M. de 
 S ouches, she led him into the chamber of the 
 king, and showed him his majesty apparently 
 soundly asleep. 
 
 As they were softly retiring from the room, 
 the outcry of the populace filling the court- 
 yard was heard shouting " The king ! the 
 king ! we must see the king." The queen re- 
 gent hesitated for a moment, and then, with 
 wonderful presence of mind, and with moral 
 and physical courage rarely equaled, turning 
 to the envoy of Monsieur, said, 
 
 " Say to the people that the doors of the 
 palace shall be immediately thrown open, and 
 that every one who wishes may enter the 
 chamber of the king. But inform them that 
 his majesty is asleep, and request them to be 
 as quiet as is possible." 
 
 M. Souches obe} 7 ed. The doors were open- 
 
1650.] The Boy-King. 55 
 
 Respectful conduct of the populace. 
 
 ed. The mob rushed in. Nevertheless, con- 
 trary to all expectation, they had no sooner 
 reached the royal apartment than their leaders, 
 remembering that their king was sleeping, de- 
 sired the untimely visitors to proceed in per- 
 fect quiet. As the human tide moved onward, 
 their very breathing was suppressed. They 
 trod the floor with softest footsteps. The 
 same tumultuous multitude that had howled, 
 and yelled, and threatened outside the gates, 
 now, in the chamber of the sovereign, became 
 calm, respectful, and silent. They approached 
 the royal bed with a feeling of affectionate 
 deference, which restrained every intruder 
 from drawing back the curtains. 
 
 The queen herself performed this office. 
 She stood at the pillow of her son, beautiful in 
 features, of queenly grace in form and stature. 
 Pale, calm, and dignified as though she were 
 performing some ordinary court ceremonial, 
 she gathered back the folds of the velvet dra- 
 pery, and revealed to the gaze of the people 
 their young sovereign in all the beauty of 
 youth, and apparently in profound slumber. 
 
 This living stream of men and women from. 
 the streets of Paris continued to flow through 
 the chamber until three o'clock in the morn- 
 
56 Louis XIV. [1650. 
 
 Fortitude of the regent. The queen regent dissembles. 
 
 ing, entering at one door and passing out at its 
 opposite. Through this trying scene the queen 
 never faltered. 
 
 " Like a marble statue," writes Miss Pardoe, 
 " she retained her position, firm and motionless, 
 her majestic figure drawn haughtily to its full 
 height, and her magnificent arm resting in 
 broad relief upon the crimson draperies. And 
 still the boy-king, emulating the example of 
 his royal parent, remained immobile, with 
 closed eyes and steady breathing, as though 
 his rest had remained unbroken by the incur- 
 sion of his rebellious subjects. It was a sin- 
 gular and marked passage in the life of both 
 mother and son."* 
 
 In those days and at that court falsehoocr 
 was deemed an indispensable part of diploma- 
 cy. In the afternoon of the same day in 
 which the scene we have described occurred, 
 the queen assembled in her saloon in the pal- 
 ace the prominent magistrates of the city. 
 With firm voice and undaunted eye, she as- 
 sured them that she had never entertained the 
 slightest idea of removing his majesty from 
 the city. She enjoined it upon them vigilant- 
 ly to continue to guard the gates, that the pop- 
 * Louis XIV. and the Court of France, vol. i., page 351. 
 
1650.] The Boy-King. 57 
 
 Vigilance of Monsieur. 
 
 ulace might be convinced that no design of 
 escape was cherished. Her words were not 
 believed; her directions were obeyed. The 
 gates were rigidly closed. Thus the king was 
 a prisoner. 
 
 The apprehensions of the Fronde, that by 
 some stratagem the king might be removed, 
 were so great that Monsieur dispatched a gen- 
 tleman of his household every night to ascer- 
 tain if the king were quietly in his bed. The 
 messenger, M. Desbuches, carried a nightly 
 greeting to the queen, with orders not to leave 
 the Palais Boyal without seeing the young 
 sovereign. The excuse for this intrusion was, 
 that Monsieur could not, without this evidence, 
 satisfy the excited citizens that the king was 
 safe. This was a terrible humiliation to the 
 queen regent. 
 
 Cardinal Mazarin, having passed the night 
 at St. Germain, commenced traveling by slow 
 stages toward Havre. He was expecting every 
 hour to be joined by the queen regent and 
 other members of the royal household. He 
 was, however, overtaken by a courier, who an- 
 nounced to him what had transpired in Paris, 
 and that the escape of the royal family was 
 impossible. The cardinal thus found himself 
 
58 Louis XIV. [1651. 
 
 Cardinal Mazarin iu exile. Majority of the dauphin attained. 
 
 really in exile, and earnest endeavors were 
 made by the Fronde to induce the queen re- 
 gent to secure a cardinal's hat for M. de Retz, 
 and make him her prime minister. The last 
 act of the queen regent was the issuing of a 
 decree that Mazarin was banished forever from 
 the kingdom. 
 
 Such was the posture of affairs when, on the 
 5th of September, 1651, the minority of the 
 dauphin ceased. He now entered upon his 
 fourteenth year, and, immature boy as he was, 
 was declared to be the absolute monarch of 
 France. 
 
 It was immediately announced to the Par- 
 liament by the grand master of ceremonies 
 that on the seventh day of the month the king 
 would hold his bed of justice. This name was 
 given to the throne which the king took at ex- 
 traordinary meetings of Parliament. The bed, 
 or couch, was furnished with five cushions, and 
 stood under a gorgeous canopy. Upon this 
 couch the king extended himself, leaning upon 
 the cushions. 
 
 The ceremony was attended with all the 
 pomp which the wealth and taste of the em- 
 pire could create. As, in the morning, the 
 court left the Palais Royal, a band of trumpet- 
 
1651.] The Boy-King. 59 
 
 Imposing ceremony. Appearance of Louis XIV. 
 
 ers led the van, causing the air to resound with 
 their bugle peals. These were followed by a 
 troop of light-horse, succeeded by two hundred 
 of the highest nobility of France, splendidly 
 mounted and in dazzling array. But it is vain 
 to attempt to describe the gorgeous procession 
 of dignitaries, mounted on tall war-horses, ca- 
 parisoned with housings embroidered with sil- 
 ver and gold, and accompanied by numerous 
 retainers. The attire of these attendants, from 
 the most haughty man of arms to the humblest 
 page, was as varied, picturesque, and glittering 
 as human ingenuity could devise. 
 
 The young king himself rode upon a mag- 
 nificent cream-colored charger. He was a 
 beautiful boy, well formed and tall for his age. 
 Apparently deeply impressed with the grand- 
 eur of the occasion, he appeared calm and dig- 
 nified to a degree which attracted the admira- 
 tion of every beholder. As he sat gracefully 
 upon hie horse, he appeared almost like a gold- 
 en statue, for his dress was so elaborately em- 
 broidered with gold that neither its material 
 or its color could be distinguished. His high- 
 mettled charger became frightened by the 
 shouts of " Long live the king" which burst so 
 enthusiastically from the lips of the crowd. 
 
60 Louis XI.Y. [1651. 
 
 Address of Louis. Address of the queen regent. 
 
 But Louis managed the animal with so much 
 skill and self-possession as to increase the ad- 
 miration with which all seemed to regard him. 
 After attending mass, the young monarch took 
 his seat in the Parliament. Here the boy of 
 thirteen, covering his head, while all the nota- 
 bilities of France stood before him with heads 
 uncovered, repeated the following words : 
 
 " Gentlemen, — I have attended my Parlia- 
 ment in order to inform you that, according 
 to the law of my kingdom, I shall myself as- 
 sume its government. I trust that, by the 
 goodness of God, it will be with piety and jus- 
 tice. My chancellor will inform you more 
 particularly of my intentions." 
 
 The chancellor then made a long address. 
 At its conclusion the queen mother rose and 
 said to her son : 
 
 " Siee, — This is the ninth year in which, by 
 the last will of the deceased king, my much 
 honored lord, I have been intrusted with the 
 care of your education and the government of 
 the state. God having by his will blessed my 
 endeavors, and preserved your person, which 
 is so precious to your subjects, now that the 
 law of the kingdom calls you to the rule of 
 this monarchy, I transfer to you, with great 
 
1651.] The Boy-King. 61 
 
 Reply of Louis. Power of the King of France. 
 
 satisfaction, the power which had been granted 
 me to govern. I trust that God will aid you 
 with his strength and wisdom, that your reign 
 may be prosperous." 
 
 To this the king replied, " I thank you, ma- 
 dame, for the care which it has pleased you to 
 take of my education and the administration 
 of my kingdom. I pray you to continue to 
 me your good advice, and desire that, after my- 
 self, you should be the head of my council." 
 
 The mother and the son embraced each oth- 
 er, and then resumed their conspicuous seats 
 on the platform. The king's brother, Philip, 
 duke of Anjou, next rose, and, sinking upon 
 his knee, took the oath of allegiance to his roy- 
 al brother. He was followed in this act by 
 all the civil and ecclesiastical notabilities. The 
 royal procession returned to the gates of the 
 Palais Royal, greeted apparently by the unani- 
 mous acclamations of the people. 
 
 Thus a stripling, who had just completed his 
 thirteenth year, was accepted by the nobles 
 and by the populace as the absolute and un- 
 trammeled sovereign of France. He held in 
 his hands virtually, unrestrained by constitu- 
 tion or court, their liberties, their fortunes, and 
 their lives. It is often said that every nation 
 
62 Louis XIV. [1651. 
 
 Gallantry of Louis. 
 
 has as good a government as it deserves. In 
 republican America, it seems incredible that a 
 nation of twenty millions of people could have 
 been guilty of the folly of surrendering them- 
 selves to the sway of a pert, weak, immature 
 boy of thirteen years. 
 
 The young king, in those early years, was 
 celebrated for his gallantry. A bevy of young 
 beauties, from the most illustrious families in 
 the realm, crowded his court. The matter of 
 the marriage of the king was deemed of very 
 great moment. According to the etiquette of 
 the times, it was thought necessary that he 
 should marry a lady of royal blood. It would 
 have been esteemed a degradation for him to 
 select the daughter of the highest noble, unless 
 that noble were of the royal family. But these 
 pretty girls were not unconscious of the power 
 of their charms. The haughty Anne of Aus- 
 tria was constantly harassed by the flirtations 
 in which the young king was continually en- 
 gaging with these lovely maidens of the court. 
 
 Louis by nature, and still more by education, 
 was egotistical, haughty, and overbearing. His 
 brother Philip, on the contrary, was gentle, re- 
 tiring, and effeminate. The young king wish- 
 ed to be the handsomest man of his court, the 
 
1651.] The Boy-King. 63 
 
 Influence of Anne andMazarin upon Louis. 
 
 most brilliant in wit, and the most fascinating 
 in the graces of social life. He was very jeal- 
 ous of any one of his companions who might 
 be regarded as his rival in personal beauty, or 
 in any intellect ual or courtly accomplishment. 
 His mother encouraged this feeling. She de- 
 sired that her son should stand in his court 
 without a peer. 
 
 Still Anne of Austria, in conjunction with 
 Cardinal Mazarin, had done what she could to 
 check the intellectual growth of her son. 
 Wishing to retain power as long as possible, 
 they had manifested no disposition to with- 
 draw young Louis from the frivolities of child- 
 hood. His education had been grossly neglect- 
 ed. Though entirely familiar with the routine 
 of his devotional exercises, and all the punctil- 
 ios of court etiquette, he was in mental culture 
 and general intelligence far below ordinary 
 school-boys of his age. 
 
 Though the king was nominally the absolute 
 ruler of France, still there were outside influ- 
 ences which exerted over him a great control. 
 There is no such thing as independent power. 
 All are creatures of circumstances. There 
 were two antagonistic forces brought to bear 
 upon the young king. Anne of Austria for 
 
64 Louis XIV. [1651. 
 
 Conflict between the court and Parliament. 
 
 nine years had been regent. With the aid of 
 her prime minister, Cardinal Mazarin, she had 
 governed the realm. This power could not at 
 once and entirely pass from their hands to the 
 ignorant boy who was dallying with the little 
 beauties in the saloons of the Palais Royal. 
 Though Mazarin was in exile — an exile to 
 which the queen regent had been compelled to 
 assent — still he retained her confidence, and 
 an influence over her mind. 
 
 On the other hand, there was the Parlia- 
 ment, composed mainly of proud, haughty, 
 powerful nobles, the highest dignitaries of 
 Church and State. This body was under the 
 leadership of the coadjutor, M. de Petz. The 
 antagonism between the Parliament and the 
 court was by no means appeased. The great 
 conflict now rose, which continued through 
 months and years, between them, as to which 
 should obtain the control of the king. Im- 
 pelled by the action of the Parliament, the 
 king had applied to the pope for a cardinal's 
 hat to be conferred upon M. de Eetz. This 
 dignity attained would immeasurably increase 
 the power of the coadjutor. 
 
 In the mean time, Cardinal Mazarin, who 
 had fled to Spain, had re-entered France with 
 
1652.] The Boy-King. 65 
 
 Mazarin arrives in France. 
 
 an army of six thousand men. Paris was 
 thrown into a state of great agitation. Par- 
 liament was immediately assembled. The king 
 sent them a message requesting the Parlia- 
 ment not to regard the movements of the car- 
 dinal with any anxiety, " since the intentions 
 of his eminence were well known by the court." 
 This, of course, increased rather than diminish- 
 ed the fears of the nobles. Notwithstanding 
 the message of the king, a decree was immedi- 
 ately passed declaring the cardinal and his ad- 
 herents disturbers of the public peace. The 
 cardinal was outlawed. A sum equal to thir- 
 ty thousand dollars, the proceeds of the sale of 
 some property of the cardinal, was offered to 
 any one who should deliver him either dead 
 or alive. Unintimidated, Mazarin continued 
 his march toward Paris, arriving at Poictiers 
 at the end of January, one month after having 
 re-entered France. The king, the queen re- 
 gent, and the whole court advanced there to 
 meet him. They received him with the great- 
 est demonstrations of joy. 
 
 When the news reached the capital that 
 Mazarin had thus triumphantly returned, Par- 
 liament and the populace were thrown into a 
 state of great excitement. The Duke of Or- 
 E 
 
66 Louis XIV. [1652. 
 
 Civil war inaugurated. Mazarin's army defeated. 
 
 leans was roused as never before. The hostile 
 demonstrations in Paris became so alarming, 
 that the royal family adopted the bold resolve 
 to return immediately to the capital. The 
 king commenced his march at the head of the 
 troops of the cardinal. When he reached 
 Blois, he tarried there for a couple of days to 
 concentrate his forces. Civil war was now in- 
 augurated, though on rather a petty scale, be- 
 tween the hostile forces in various parts of the 
 kingdom. The Prince of Conde was the prom- 
 inent leader of the Parliamentary troops. 
 
 The city of Blois is situated on the right 
 bank of the River Loire, about forty-five miles 
 below the city of Orleans, which is also on the 
 northern side of the same stream. At Blois, 
 the court learned to its consternation that the 
 Mazarin army had been attacked at Orleans 
 by the Prince de Conde and utterly routed, 
 with the loss of many prisoners, nearly three 
 thousand horses, and a large part of its ord- 
 nance stores. The royal party, which was at 
 this time in a state of great destitution, was 
 quite overwhelmed by the disaster. The queen 
 ordered all the equipages and baggage to be 
 transported to the south side of the Loire, and 
 the bridge to be broken down. At midnight, 
 
1652.] The Boy-King. 67 
 
 Depression of the regent. Monsieur. 
 
 in the midst of a scene of great terror and 
 confusion, this movement was accomplished. 
 As the morning dawned, the carriages, crowd- 
 ed with the ladies of the court, were seen on 
 the left bank of the stream, ready for flight. 
 The queen was, for the only time in her life, 
 so dejected as to seem utterly in despair. She 
 feared that the triumph of the Fronde at Or- 
 leans would induce every city in the kingdom 
 to close its gates against the court. 
 
 The royal fugitives retreated to Montereau. 
 In the disorder of the flight they were exposed 
 to great privation. Even the young king lost 
 several of his best horses. Thence they pro- 
 ceeded to Corbeil, on the right bank of the 
 Seine, about twelve leagues from Yersailles. 
 Here a scene occurred which is graphically 
 .described by M. Laporte, an eye-witness, who 
 was a prominent attendant of his majesty. 
 
 " The king," writes Laporte, " insisted that 
 Monsieur* should sleep in his room, which 
 was so small that but one person could pass at 
 a time. In the morning, as they lay awake, 
 
 * As Louis XIV. was now king, his brother Philip, eleven 
 years of age, according to usage, took the title of Monsieur. 
 The title for a time adhered still to the Duke of Orleans, 
 brother of Louis XIII. 
 
68 Louis XIV. [1652. 
 
 Ludicrous quarrel of Louis and his brother. 
 
 the king inadvertently spat upon the bed of 
 Monsieur, who immediately spat upon the 
 king's bed in return. Thereupon Louis, get- 
 ting angry, spat in his brother's face. When 
 they could spit no longer, they proceeded to 
 drag each other's sheets upon the floor, after 
 which they prepared to fight. During this 
 quarrel I did what I could to restrain the king. 
 As I could not succeed, I sent for M. de Vil- 
 leroi, who re-established peace. Monsieur lost 
 his temper sooner than the king, but the king 
 was much more difficult to appease." 
 
 It is very evident that aristocratic titles, and 
 all the formalities of court etiquette, do not 
 change the nature of boyhood. Though one 
 of these little belligerents bore the title of 
 Louis XIV., king of France, and the other was 
 called Monsieur, the duke of Anjou, they were 
 in character like all other ungoverned and un- 
 governable boys. 
 
 The court, not venturing to enter Paris, pur- 
 sued its way by a circuitous route to St. Ger- 
 main, leaving the city on the left. Here an 
 additional gloom was cast over their spirits by 
 the intelligence of very decided acts of hostil- 
 ity manifested against them by the inhabitants 
 of the metropolis. The court was in a state 
 
1652.] The Boy-King. • 69 
 
 Embarrassment of the court. Conflict at Etampes. 
 
 of great embarrassment, without any money, 
 and without possibility of obtaining stores from 
 the capital. It was supposed that Cardinal 
 Mazarin, noted for his selfishness, had taken 
 good care of himself. But he declared that 
 he was as poor as the meanest soldier in the 
 ranks. 
 
 "While at St. Germain, there was another pet- 
 ty conflict between the Parliamentary forces 
 and those of the court in the vicinity of 
 Etampes, about forty miles from Versailles. 
 The Fronde was routed with loss. The glad 
 tidings was brought by a courier at night to St. 
 Germain. The news was too good to be kept 
 till morning. M. Yilleroi, to whom it was at 
 first communicated, hastened to the chamber 
 of the king and the Duke of Anjou, to awake 
 them from sleep and inform them of the vic- 
 tory. They both, Laporte informs us, sprang 
 from their beds, and rushed, in their slippers, 
 night-caps, and dressing-gowns, to the chamber 
 of the cardinal, whom they awakened with the 
 joyful tidings. He hurried in his turn with 
 them, and in the same unsophisticated costume, 
 to the chamber of the queen, to announce the 
 intelligence to her. 
 
 The destitution of Louis XIY. while at St. 
 
70 Lons XIV. [1652. 
 
 Destitution of Louis XIV. Scenes of the conflict at Etampes. 
 
 Germain was such that he borrowed one hun- 
 dred and ten francs from Moreau, one of his 
 valets, for some replenishment of his wardrobe. 
 Subsequently the valet, learning that the king 
 had obtained possession of one hundred louts 
 oVor, applied for payment of the debt ; but the 
 king had already expended the coin. 
 
 The routed troops of Conde took refuge 
 within the walls of Etampes. The court, in its 
 elation, immediately proceeded from St. Ger- 
 main to the scene of conflict, to take part in 
 the siege. This was the first serious campaign 
 of the young king. As, attended by his suite, 
 he examined the works, he was at one time 
 under fire, and several bullets passed near him. 
 Still young as he was, he had sufficient regard 
 for his reputation and control over himself not 
 to manifest the slightest fear. 
 
 The scenes of war which here presented 
 themselves to the young monarch were painful 
 in the extreme. He was every where sur- 
 rounded by sick and dying soldiers. But he 
 had no money with which to relieve their mis- 
 ery, and when finally the city of Etampes was 
 taken, the spectacle of starvation, woe, and 
 death was more awful than words can express. 
 
 As the king was entering the city, he passed 
 
1652.] The Boy- King. 71 
 
 Retreat of Conde. Battle at St. Antoine. 
 
 a group lying upon the ground, consisting of 
 a mother and three children, huddled closely 
 together. The mother had died of starvation. 
 Two of the skeleton children were also dead 
 by her side, and the -third, a babe, was strain- 
 ing at the exhausted breast, which could no 
 longer afford it any nourishment. 
 
 The Prince de Conde retreated to Paris with 
 about three thousand men. The royal troops, 
 eight thousand in number, pursued. Each par- 
 ty gathered re-enforcements, so that the Prince 
 de Conde, with about five thousand men, held 
 at bay the royal troops, then numbering about 
 ten thousand. The citizens, as we have men- 
 tioned, were in sympathy with the Parliament. 
 They hated Cardinal Mazarin, and with good 
 reason regarded the king as a prisoner in his 
 hands. The king also detested Mazarin per- 
 sonally, while the force of circumstances com- 
 pelled him to regard the cardinal as the advo- 
 cate of the royal cause. 
 
 A very severe battle was fought between 
 the two parties in the Faubourg St. Antoine. 
 The ranks of the Fronde, shattered by over- 
 powering numbers, were, in a disordered re- 
 treat, hotly pursued by their foes under Mar- 
 shal Turenne. The carnage was dreadful. 
 
72 Louis XIV. [1652. 
 
 Cardinal Mazarin forced to retire. 
 
 Suddenly the cannon of the Bastile flamed out 
 in rapid succession, hurling their deadly shot 
 through the compact masses of the Royalists. 
 They recoiled and fled in confusion. Paris 
 was in the hands of the Fronde. The popu- 
 lace surged through the streets, shouting "Long 
 live the king ! Death to Mazarin !" 
 
 The cardinal, taking the king with him, re- 
 tired to St. Denis. Turenne re-collected his 
 scattered forces at Pontoise, about twenty miles 
 north from Versailles. The cardinal, with the 
 king, took refuge at that place in the centre 
 of Tnrenne's army. Here the king issued an 
 ordinance, transferring the Parliament from 
 Paris to Pontoise ; but the Parliament replied 
 " that they could not obey the royal command 
 so long as Cardinal Mazarin, whom they had 
 outlawed, remained in France." They also is- 
 sued an ordinance of their own, forbidding any 
 member of the Parliament to leave Paris. The 
 king, we know not under what influences, ac- 
 quiesced in both of these decrees. This led 
 the cardinal immediately to tender his resigna- 
 tion and retire. This important step changed 
 the whole aspect of affairs. After the removal 
 of the cardinal, all opposition to the court be- 
 came rebellion against the king, to whom the 
 Fronde professed entire allegiance. 
 
[1652. The Boy-King. 75 
 
 The king invited to return. The Duke of Orleans retires to Blois. 
 
 Parliament immediately issued a decree, 
 thanking the king for banishing the cardinal, 
 and imploring him to return to his good city 
 of Paris. After some negotiation the king ac- 
 ceded to their wishes, and on the 17th of Octo- 
 ber arrived at St. Germain. Here a numerous 
 civic guard and deputation hastened to greet 
 him, and to conduct him to the metropolis. 
 On the 20th he proceeded to Ruel, where he 
 passed the night. 
 
 The king decided to enter the city at the 
 head of his army. In order to render the 
 scene more imposing, it was to take place at 
 night, by the light of thousands of torches. 
 The spectacle was such as Paris had rarely 
 witnessed. The fickle people, ever ready to 
 vibrate between the cry of hosanna and cruci- 
 fy, pealed forth their most enthusiastic rejoic- 
 ings. The triumphant boy-king took posses- 
 sion of the Tuileries. Cardinal de Retz, who 
 had now gained his long-coveted ecclesiastical 
 distinction, hastened to congratulate the king 
 and his mother upon their return to the city, 
 from which they had so long been banished. 
 The Duke of Orleans, chagrined and humilia- 
 ted, retired to Blois. 
 
 The king soon held what was called a bed 
 
76 Louis XIV. [1652. 
 
 Doom of the leaders of the Fronde. Respectful refusal of DeKetz. 
 
 of justice, in which, instead of granting a gen- 
 eral amnesty, he denounced the princes Conde 
 and Conti, and other of the prominent leaders 
 of the Fronde, as traitors to their king, to be 
 punished by death. These doomed ones were 
 nobles of high rank, vast wealth, with thou- 
 sands of retainers. Many throughout the king- 
 dom were in sympathy with them. They 
 would not die without a struggle. Hence the 
 war, which had hitherto raged between Maza- 
 rin and the Fronde, was renewed between the 
 king and the Fronde. All over the provinces 
 the hostile forces were rallying themselves for 
 the conflict. 
 
 It was necessary that the Parliament should 
 register this decree of the king. It did so, but 
 Cardinal de Retz refused to give his vote. He 
 very respectfully declared to the king that he, 
 having been on friendly terms and in co-oper- 
 ation with the Prince de Conde", it would be 
 neither courteous nor just for him to vote his 
 condemnation. 
 
 This enraged both the king and his mother. 
 They said it proved that he was in sympathy 
 with their enemies. The court did not venture 
 at once to strike down one so formidable. A 
 mission was assigned the cardinal at Rome, to 
 
1652.] The Boy-King. 77 
 
 Orders for his arrest. 
 
 remove him from the country. He refused to 
 accept it. The boy-king was growing reckless, 
 passionate, self-willed. He began to feel the 
 power that was in his hand. The cardinal 
 was warned of his danger. He smiled, and 
 said " that, sustained by his ecclesiastical rank, 
 he had nothing to fear." 
 
 The court issued an order for the arrest of 
 the cardinal. It was placed in the hands of 
 Pradelle for execution. But the king was told 
 that the cardinal would never suffer himself 
 to be arrested without resistance; that, to se- 
 cure his seizure, it might be necessary to take 
 his life. The king seized a pen and wrote at 
 the bottom of the order, 
 
 " I have commanded Pradelle to execute the 
 present order on the person of De Retz, and 
 even to arrest him, dead or alive, in the event 
 of resistance on his part. Louis." 
 
 It was deemed very important to arrest the 
 cardinal, if possible, without exciting a popular 
 tumult. The palace of the cardinal was well 
 guarded. He never went out without a nu- 
 merous retinue. Should the populace of Paris 
 see him endangered, they would spring to his 
 rescue. 
 
 At length De Retz was earnestly invited to 
 
78 Louis XIV. [1652. 
 
 Treachery of Anne of Austria. Arrest of De Retz. 
 
 visit the queen at the Louvre, in token that he 
 was not hostile to the court. It was one of the 
 most dishonorable of stratagems. The cardi- 
 nal was caught in the trap. As he was enter- 
 ing the antechamber of the queen upon this 
 visit of friendship, all unsuspicious of treach- 
 ery, the captain of the guard, who had been 
 stationed there for the purpose with several 
 gendarmes, seized him, hurried him through 
 the great gallery of the Louvre, and down the 
 stairs to the door. Here a royal carriage was 
 awaiting him. He was thurst into the car- 
 riage, and five or six officers took seats by his 
 side. To guard against any possibility of res- 
 cue, a numerous military escort was at hand. 
 The horses were driven rapidly through the 
 streets, and out through the Porte St. Antoine. 
 
 At nine o'clock the cardinal found himself 
 a prisoner at the castle of Vincennes. The 
 apartment assigned him was cold and dreary, 
 without furniture and without a bed. Here 
 the prisoner remained a fortnight, in the mid- 
 dle of December, with no fire. 
 
 The arrest of the cardinal created a great 
 sensation throughout Paris. But the chateau 
 was too strong, and too vigilantly guarded by 
 the royal troops, to encourage any attempt at 
 a rescue. 
 
1652.] The Boy-King. 81 
 
 Return of Mazarin. First care of Mazarin. 
 
 In the mean time, Mazarin had placed him- 
 self at the head of the royal troops in one of 
 the provinces, where he gained several unim- 
 portant victories over the bands of the Fronde. 
 These successes were trumpeted abroad as 
 great achievements, so as to invest the cardi- 
 nal with the renown of a great conqueror. 
 Mazarin was well aware of the influence of 
 military glory upon the populace in Paris. 
 The king also began to feel the need of his 
 dominant mind. He was invited to return to 
 Paris. Louis himself rode out six miles be- 
 yond the walls to receive him. The cardinal 
 entered the city in triumph, in the same car- 
 riage with his sovereign, and seated by his side. 
 All the old idols were forgotten, and the once 
 detested Mazarin was received as though he 
 were an angel from heaven. Bonfires and il- 
 luminations blazed through the streets; the 
 whole city resounded with demonstrations of 
 rejoicing. Thus terminated the year 1652. 
 
 The first care of Cardinal Mazarin, after his 
 return to Paris, was to restore the finances, 
 which were in a deplorable condition. Louis 
 was fond of pleasure. It was one great object 
 of the cardinal to gratify him in this respect, 
 in every possible way. Notwithstanding the 
 F 
 
82 Louis XIV. [1653. 
 
 Festivities at court. Approaching coronation. 
 
 penury of the court, the cardinal contrived to 
 supply the king with money. Thus, during 
 the winter, the royal palaces resounded with 
 festivity and dissipation. The young king be- 
 came very fond of private theatricals, in which 
 he, his brother Philip, and the young ladies of 
 the court took prominent parts. Louis often 
 appeared upon the stage in the character of a 
 ballet-dancer. He was proud of the grace 
 with which he could perform the most difficult 
 pirouettes. He had plays written, with parts 
 expressly composed for his aristocratic troop. 
 
 The scene of these masqueradings was the 
 theatre of the Hotel du Petit Bourbon, which 
 was contiguous to the Louvre. When royalty 
 plays and courtiers fill pit and gallery, applause 
 is without stint. The boy-king was much ela- 
 ted with his theatric triumphs. The queen and 
 Cardinal Mazarin were well pleased to see the 
 king expending his energies in that direction. 
 
 These entertainments cost money, which 
 Mazarin was greatly embarrassed in obtaining. 
 The hour was approaching for the coronation 
 of Louis. The pageant would require large 
 sums of money to invest the occasion with the 
 desirable splendor. But gold was not all that 
 was wanted. Bank, brilliance, beauty were 
 
1653.] The Boy-King. 83 
 
 Paucity of notabilities at the coronation. 
 
 requisite suitably to impress the masses of the 
 people. But the civil war had robbed the 
 court of many of its most attractive ornaments. 
 
 Monsieur, the duke of Orleans, was sullenly 
 residing at Blois. Here he held a somewhat 
 rival court to the king. He refused to attend 
 the coronation unless certain concessions were 
 granted, to which Mazarin could not give his 
 consent. Mademoiselle, the duchess of Mont- 
 pensier, daughter of Monsieur by his first wife, 
 a young lady of wonderful heroism and attrac- 
 tions, who possessed an enormous property in 
 her own right, and who was surrounded by a 
 brilliant court of her own, could not consistent- 
 ly share in festivities at which her father re- 
 fused to appear. 
 
 The Prince of Conde, one of the highest no- 
 bles of the realm, and who had many adherents 
 of the most illustrious rank, was in arms against 
 his king at the head of the Spanish forces, and 
 sentence of death had been pronounced upon 
 him.' 
 
 Cardinal de Retz was a prisoner at Vincen- 
 nes. His numerous followers in Church and 
 State refused to sanction by their presence any 
 movements of a court thus persecuting their 
 beloved cardinal. 
 
84 Louis XIV. [1653. 
 
 The king repairs to Stenay. Louis in the trenches. 
 
 It was thus impossible to invest the corona- 
 tion with the splendor which the occasion 
 seemed to demand. 
 
 The coronation took place, however, at 
 Rheims. Cardinal Mazarin exerted all his 
 ingenuity to render the pageant imposing; 
 but the absence of so many of the most illus- 
 trious of the realm cast an atmosphere of 
 gloom around the ceremonies. 
 
 France was at the time at war with Spain. 
 The Fronde co-operated with the Spanish 
 troops in the civil war. Immediately after 
 the coronation, the king, then sixteen years of 
 age, left Rheims to place himself at the head 
 of the army. ITe repaired to Stenay, on the 
 Me use, in the extreme northeastern frontier of 
 France. This ancient city, protected by strong 
 fortifications, was held by Conde. The royal 
 troops were besieging it. The poverty of the 
 treasury was such that Mazarin could not f ur- 
 nisli Louis even with the luxury of a carriage. 
 He traveled on horseback. He had no table 
 of his own, but shared in that of the Marquis 
 de Fabei't, the general in command. 
 
 It seems difficult to account for the fact 
 that the young king was permitted to enter 
 the trenches, and to engage in skirmishes, 
 
1653.] The Boy-King. 85 
 
 Defeat of Cond6. 
 
 where he was so exposed to the fire of the en- 
 emy that the wounded and the dead were con- 
 tinually falling around him. He displayed 
 much courage on these occasions! 
 
 The Prince of Conde left a garrison in one 
 of the strong fortresses, and marched with the 
 main body of his troops to Arras. The move- 
 ments of the two petty armies, their skirmishes 
 and battles, are no longer of any interest. The 
 battles were fought and the victories gained 
 by the direction of the generals Turenne and 
 Fabert. Though the boy -king displayed in- 
 trepidity which secured for him the respect of 
 the soldiers, he could exert but little influence 
 either in council or on the field. Both Stenay 
 and Arras were soon taken. The army of the 
 Prince of Conde was driven from all its posi- 
 tions. 
 
 The king returned to Paris to enjoy the grat- 
 ulation of the populace, and to offer public 
 thanksgiving in the cathedral of Notre Dame. 
 
86 Louis XIV. [1648. 
 
 Gayeties in Paris. Poverty of the court. 
 
 Chapter III. 
 
 Matrimonial Projects. 
 
 " r I ^HEEE is nothing so successful as suc- 
 -■- cess." The young king returned to Paris 
 from his coronation and his brief campaign a 
 hero and a conqueror. The courage he had 
 displayed won universal admiration. The ex- 
 citable populace were half frenzied with enthu- 
 siasm. The city resounded with shouts of glad- 
 ness, and the streets were resplendent with the 
 display of gorgeous pageants. 
 
 The few nobles who still rallied around the 
 court endeavored to compensate by the mag- 
 nificence of their equipages, the elegance of 
 their attire, and the splendor of their festiv- 
 ities, for their diminished numbers. There 
 were balls and tournaments, where the dress 
 and customs of the by-gone ages of chivalry 
 were revived. Ladies of illustrious birth, glit- 
 tering in jewels, and proud in conscious beau- 
 ty, contributed to the gorgeousness of the spec- 
 tacle. Still, in the midst of all this splendor, 
 the impoverished court was greatly embarrass- 
 ed by straitened circumstances. 
 
1648.] Matrimonial Projects. 87 
 
 Death of the Archbishop of Paris. Murmuriugs. 
 
 Cardinal Mazarin, eager to retain his hold 
 upon the king, did every thing he could to 
 gratify the love of pleasure which his royal 
 master developed, and strove to multiply se- 
 ductive amusements to engross his time and 
 thoughts. 
 
 But a few days after Cardinal de Betz had 
 been conducted a prisoner to Yincennes, his 
 uncle, the Archbishop of Paris, died. The car- 
 dinal could legally claim the succession. The 
 metropolitan clergy, who had been almost 
 roused to rebellion by his arrest, were now still 
 more deeply moved, since he had become their 
 archbishop. They regarded his captivity as 
 political martyrdom, and their murmurs were 
 deep and prolonged. The pope also addressed 
 several letters to the court, soliciting the liber- 
 ation of his cardinal. The excitement daily 
 increased. Nearly all the pulpits more or less 
 openly denounced his captivity. At length a 
 pamphlet appeared urging the clergy to close 
 all their, churches till their archbishop should 
 be released. 
 
 Mazarin was frightened. He sent an envoy 
 to the captive cardinal presenting terms of 
 compromise. "We have not space to describe 
 the diplomacy which ensued, but the confer- 
 
88 Louis XIV. [1653. 
 
 Escape of Cardinal de Retz. Manoeuvres of Anne of Austria. 
 
 ence was unavailing. The cardinal was soon 
 after removed, under an escort of dragoons, to 
 the fortress of Nantes. From this place he 
 almost miraculously escaped to his own terri- 
 tory of Retz, where he was regarded as sov- 
 ereign, and where he was surrounded by re- 
 tainers who, in impregnable castles, would 
 fight to the death for their lord. These scenes 
 took place early in the summer of 1653. 
 
 In the mean time, the young king was amus- 
 ing himself in his various palaces with the 
 many beautiful young ladies who embellished 
 his court. Like other lads of iifteen, he was 
 in the habit of falling in love with one and 
 another, though the transient passion did not 
 seem very deeply to affect his heart. Some of 
 these maidens were exceedingly beautiful. In 
 others, vivacity and intellectual brilliance quite 
 eclipsed the charms of the highest physical 
 loveliness. 
 
 Anne of Austria, forgetting that the all- 
 dominant passion of love had led her to regret 
 that she was the wife of the king, that she 
 might marry the Duke of Buckingham, did 
 not deem it possible that her son could stoop 
 so low as to marry any one who was not of 
 royal blood. She therefore regarded without 
 
1653.] Matrimonial Projects. 89 
 
 Olympia de Mancini. Henrietta of England. 
 
 much uneasiness his desperate flirtations, while 
 she was scanning the courts of Europe in 
 search of an alliance which would add to the 
 power and the renown of her son. 
 
 One of the nieces of Cardinal Mazarin, an 
 Italian girl by the name of Olympia Mancini, 
 was among the first to whom the boy-king of 
 fifteen became specially attached. Olympia 
 was very beautiful, and her personal fascina- 
 tions were rivaled by her mental brilliance, 
 wit, and tact. She was by nature and educa- 
 tion a thorough coquette, amiable and endear- 
 ing to an unusual degree. She had a sister a 
 little older than herself, who was also extreme- 
 ly beautiful, who had recently become the 
 Duchess of Mercosur. Etiquette required that 
 in the balls which the king attended every 
 evening he should recognize the rank of the 
 duchess by leading her out first in the dance. 
 After this, he devoted himself exclusively, for 
 the remainder of the evening, to Olympia. 
 
 It will be remembered that Henrietta, the 
 widowed queen of Charles II., who was daugh- 
 ter of Henry IV. and sister of Louis XIIL, 
 was then residing in France. She had no pe- 
 cuniary means of her own, and, chagrined and 
 humiliated, was a pensioner upon the bounty 
 
90' Louis XIV. [1653. 
 
 Embarrassment of Henrietta. 
 
 of the impoverished French court. Henrietta 
 had with her a very pretty daughter, eleven 
 years of age. Being the granddaughter of 
 Henry IV. and daughter of Charles II., she 
 was entitled, through the purity of her royal 
 blood, to the highest consideration in the eti- 
 quette of the court. But the mother and the 
 daughter, from their poverty and their misfor- 
 tunes, were precluded from any general partic- 
 ipation in the festivities of the palace. 
 
 The cpeen, Anne of Austria, on one occa- 
 sion, gave a private ball in honor of these un- 
 fortunate guests in her own apartments. None 
 were invited but a few of her most intimate 
 friends. Henrietta attended with her daugh- 
 ter, who bore her mother's name. There are 
 few situations more painful than that of poor 
 relatives visiting their more prosperous friends, 
 who in charity condescend to pay them some 
 little attention. The young Henrietta was a 
 fragile and timid girl, who keenly felt the em- 
 barrassment of her situation. As, with her 
 face suffused with blushes, and her eyes moist- 
 ened with the conflicting emotions of joyous- 
 ness and fear, she entered the brilliant saloon 
 of Anne of Austria, crowded with those below 
 her in rank, but above her in prosperity and 
 
1654.] Matrimonial Projects. 91 
 
 Rudeness of Louis XIV. 
 
 all worldly aggrandizement, she was received 
 coldly, with no marks of sympathy or attention. 
 As the music summoned the dancers to the 
 floor, the king, neglecting his young and royal 
 cousin, advanced, according to his custom, to 
 the Duchess of Mercosur, to lead her out. 
 The queen, shocked at so gross a breach of eti- 
 quette, and even of kindly feeling, rose from 
 her seat, and, advancing, withdrew the hand of 
 the duchess from her son, and said to him, in 
 a low voice, " You should dance first with the 
 English princess." The boy-king sulkily re- 
 plied, " I am not fond of little girls." Both 
 Henrietta and her daughter overheard this un- 
 courteous and cruel remark. 
 
 Henrietta, the mother, hastened to the queen, 
 and entreated her not to attempt to constrain 
 the wishes of his majesty. It was an exceed- 
 ingly awkward position for all the parties. 
 The spirit qf Anne of Austria was aroused. 
 Resuming her maternal authority, she declared 
 that if her niece, the Princess of England, were 
 to remain a spectator at the ball, her son should 
 do the same. Thus constrained, Louis very un- 
 graciously led out Henrietta upon the floor. 
 The young princess, tender in years, sensi- 
 tive through sorrow, wounded and heart-crush- 
 
92 Louis XIV. [1654. 
 
 Royal quarrel. Independence of the king. 
 
 ed, danced with tears streaming down *lier 
 clieeks. 
 
 Upon the departure of the guests, the moth- 
 er and the son had their first serious quarrel. 
 Anne rebuked Louis severely for his shameful 
 conduct. The king rebelled. Haughtily fac- 
 ing his mother, he said, " I have long enough 
 been guided by your leading-strings. I shall 
 submit to it no longer." It was a final decla- 
 ration of independence. Though there were 
 tears shed on both sides, and the queen made 
 strenuous efforts at conciliation, she felt, and 
 justly felt, that the control of her son had pass- 
 ed from her forever. It was a crisis in the 
 life of the king. From that hour he seemed 
 disposed on all occasions to assert his manhood. 
 
 A remarkable indication of this soon occur- 
 red. It was customary, when the king, through 
 his ministers, issued any decrees, that they 
 should be registered by the Parliament, to give 
 them full authority. Some very oppressive 
 decrees had been issued to raise funds for the 
 court. It was deemed very important that they 
 should be registered. The king in person at- 
 tended Parliament, that the influence of his 
 presence might carry the measure. No one 
 dared to oppose in the presence of the king. 
 
 \ 
 
1654.] Matrimonial Projects. 93 
 
 Order of the king. 
 
 Louis had now established his summer resi- 
 dence at the castle of Yincennes. Arrange- 
 ments had been made for a magnificent hunt 
 in the forest the next day, to be attended by 
 all the ladies and gentlemen of the court. The 
 king, after leaving the Parliament, returned to 
 Yincennes, which is about three miles from 
 Paris. He had scarcely arrived at the castle 
 when he received information that, immediate- 
 ly upon his leaving the Parliament, a motion 
 had been made to reconsider the approval of 
 the decrees. 
 
 The king dispatched a courier ordering the 
 Chamber to reassemble the next morning. 
 The pleasure-loving courtiers were dismayed 
 by this order, as they thought it would inter- 
 fere with the hunt. But the king assured 
 them that business should not be allowed to 
 interfere with his pleasures. 
 
 At half past nine o'clock the next morning 
 the king entered the chamber of deputies in 
 his hunting-dress. It consisted of a scarlet 
 coat, a gray beaver hat, and high military boots. 
 He was followed by a large retinue of the no- 
 bles of his court in a similar costume. 
 
 " In this unusual attire," writes the Marquis 
 de Montglat, " the king heard mass, took his 
 
94 Louis XIV. [1654. 
 
 Audacity of Louis. Submission of Parliament. 
 
 place with the accustomed ceremonies, and, 
 with a whip in his hand, declared to the Par- 
 liament that in future it was his will that his 
 edicts should be registered, and not discussed. 
 He threatened them that, should the contrary 
 occur, he would return and enforce obedience." 
 
 How potent must have been the circumstan- 
 ces which the feudalism of ages had created. 
 These assembled nobles yielded without a 
 murmur to this insolence from a boy of eigh- 
 teen. Parliament had ventured to try its 
 strength against Cardinal Mazarin, but did not 
 dare to disobey its king. 
 
 Soon after this, Louis, having learned that 
 Turenne had gained some important victories 
 over the Fronde, decided to join the army to 
 witness the siege of the city of Conde and of 
 St. Quilain. Both of these places soon fell 
 into the hands of the Royalist troops. The 
 king had looked on. Rapidly he returned to 
 Paris to enjoy almost a Roman triumph for 
 his great achievement. 
 
 As one of the festivities of the city, the king 
 arranged a tournament in honor of his avowed 
 lady-love, Olympia Mancini. She occupied a 
 conspicuous seat among the ladies of the court, 
 her lovely person decorated with a dress of ex- 
 
1654.] Matrimonial Projects. 95 
 
 A tournament. Christina of Sweden. 
 
 quisite taste and beauty. The king was prom- 
 inent in his attire among all the knights as- 
 sembled to contest the palm of chivalry. He 
 was dressed in robes of brilliant scarlet. A 
 white scarf encircled his waist, and snow-white 
 plumes waved gracefully from his hat. 
 
 The scene was as gorgeous as the wealth and 
 decorative art of the court could create. There 
 were retainers surrounding the high lords, and 
 heralds, and pages, and trumpeters, all arrayed 
 in the most picturesque costume. No one 
 could be so discourteous or impolitic as to van- 
 quish the king. He consequently bore away 
 all the laurels. This magnificent tournament 
 gave the name of " The Carousal" to the space 
 where it was held, between the Louvre and the 
 Tuileries. 
 
 Early in the summer the court removed to 
 Compiegne, to spend the season in rural amuse- 
 ments there. Christina, the young queen of 
 Sweden, who had just abdicated the throne, 
 and whose eccentricities had attracted the at- 
 tention of Europe, came to the frontiers of 
 Erance with an imposing retinue, and, announ- 
 cing her arrival, awaited the invitation of the 
 king to visit his court. She was one of the 
 most extraordinary personages of that or any 
 
96 Louis XIV. ■ [1654. 
 
 Reception of Christina. 
 
 age. Good looking, " strong minded" to the 
 highest degree, masculine in dress and address, 
 always self-possessed, absolutely fearing noth- 
 ing, proud, haughty, speaking fluently eight 
 languages, familiar with art, and a consummate 
 intriguante, she excited astonishment and a 
 certain degree of admiration wherever she ap- 
 peared. 
 
 The curiosity of Louis was so greatly excited 
 and so freely expressed to see this extraordi- 
 nary personage as to arouse the jealousy of 
 Olympia. The king perceived this. It is one 
 of the most detestable traits in our fallen na- 
 ture that one can take pleasure in making an- 
 other unhappy. The unamiable king amused 
 himself in torturing the feelings of Olympia. 
 
 Christina proceeded at first to Paris. Here 
 she was received with the greatest honor. 
 For a distance of nearly six miles from the 
 Louvre the streets were lined with armed citi- 
 zens, who greeted her with almost unintermit- 
 ted applause. The crowd was so great that, 
 though she reached the suburbs of Paris at two 
 o'clock in the afternoon, she did not alight at 
 the Louvre until nine o'clock in the evening. 
 This eccentric princess was then thirty years 
 of age, and, though youthful in appearance, in 
 
1654.] Matrimonial Projects. 99 
 
 Her eccentric character. 
 
 dress and manners she affected the Amazon. 
 She had great powers of pleasing, and her wit, 
 her entire self-reliance, and extensive informa- 
 tion, enabled her to render herself very attract- 
 ive whenever she wished to do so. 
 
 After spending a few days in Paris, she pro- 
 ceeded to Compiegne to visit the king and 
 queen. Louis and his brother, with Mazarin 
 and a crowd of courtiers, rode out as far as 
 Chantilly, a distance of nearly twenty miles, to 
 meet her. Christina also traveled in state, ac- 
 companied by an imposing retinue. Here 
 there was, at that time, one of the largest and 
 finest structures in France. The castle belong- 
 ed to the family of Conde. The opposite cut 
 presents it to the reader as it then appeared. 
 
 The king and his brother, from some freak, 
 presented themselves to her at first incognito. 
 They were introduced by Mazarin as two of 
 the most nobly born gentlemen in France. 
 Christina smiled, and promptly replied, 
 
 " Yes, I have no doubt of it, since their birth- 
 right is a crown." 
 
 She had seen their portraits in the Louvre the 
 day before, and immediately recognized them. 
 
 Christina was to be honored with quite a 
 triumphal entrance to Compiegne. The king 
 
100 Louis XIV. [1654. 
 
 Astonishment of Anue of Austria. 
 
 accordingly returned to Compiegne, and the 
 next day, with the whole court in carriages, 
 rode out a few leagues to a very splendid man- 
 sion belonging to one of the nobles at Fayet. 
 It was a lovely day, warm and cloudless. 
 Anne of Austria decided to receive her illus- 
 trious guest upon the spacious terrace. There 
 she assembled her numerous court, resplendent 
 with gorgeous dresses, and blazing with dia- 
 monds. Soon the carriage of the Swedish 
 queen drove up, with the loud clatter of out- 
 riders and the flourish of trumpets. Cardinal 
 Mazarin and the Duke de Guise assisted her 
 to alight. As she ascended the terrace the 
 queen advanced to meet her. 
 
 Though Anne was at first struck with amaze- 
 ment at the ludicrous appearance of the attire 
 of Christina, she was immediately fascinated 
 by her conversational tact and brilliance. 
 Some allusion having been made to the por- 
 trait of the king in the Louvre, the queen held 
 out her arm to show a still more faithful min- 
 iature in the clasp of her bracelet. Anne of 
 Austria had a very beautiful arm, and was 
 very proud of it. Christina, instead of looking 
 at the bracelet, surveyed the undraped arm 
 and hand with admiration. 
 
1654.] Matrimonial Peojects. 101 
 
 Varied information of Christina. 
 
 "How beautiful! how beautiful!" she ex- 
 claimed. " Never did I see an arm and hand 
 of such lovely hue and such exquisite symme- 
 try. I would willingly have made the journey 
 from Rome to Paris to see this arm." 
 
 The queen's heart was won, Christina knew 
 it. The next achievement was to win the king. 
 
 Christina was apparently as familiar with 
 the French court, and all the intrigues there, 
 from the information which she had obtained, . 
 as if she had always been a resident at that 
 court. She immediately turned with very 
 marked attention to Olympia Mancini, and 
 seemed dazzled by her beauty. The heart of 
 the boy-king was won in seeing his own good 
 taste thus highly appreciated and sanctioned. 
 Having thus secured the queen and the king, 
 Christina was well aware that she had captiva- 
 ted the whole court. 
 
 An elegant collation was prepared. The 
 plump little queen ate like a hungry dragoon. 
 The royal cortege, enveloping the Swedish 
 princess, returned to the palace of Compiegne. 
 Several days were spent at Compiegne, during 
 which she astonished every one by the remark- 
 able self -poise of her character, her varied in- 
 formation, and the versatility of her talents. 
 
102 Louis XIV. [1654. 
 
 Rudeness of the ex-queen. She visits Mademoiselle. 
 
 She conversed upon theology with the ecclesi- 
 astics, upon politics with the ministers, upon 
 all branches of science and art with philoso- 
 phers and the virtuosi, and eclipsed the most 
 brilliant of the courtiers in the small-talk of 
 gallantry. 
 
 She attended the theatre with the queen. 
 During the tragedy she wept like a child, 
 heartily and unaffectedly. During the farce, 
 which was one of those coarse and pungent 
 compositions by the poet Scarron, which would 
 now be scarcely tolerated, her shouts of laugh- 
 ter echoed through the theatre. She astonish- 
 ed the court by clapping her hands and throw- 
 ing her feet upon the top of the royal box, like 
 a rowdy in a smoking-room. 
 
 From Compiegne, Christina, by invitation, 
 went to Fontainebleau to visit Mademoiselle de 
 Montpensier. The piquant pen of Mademoi- 
 selle has described this interview. Some al- 
 lowance must perhaps be made for the vein of 
 satire which pervaded nearly all the utterances 
 of this haughty princess. The dress of Chris- 
 tina consisted of a skirt of gray silk, trimmed 
 with gold and silver lace, with a bodice of gold- 
 colored camlet trimmed like the skirt. She 
 wore a kerchief of Genoa point about her neck, 
 
1654.] Matrimonial Projects. 105 
 
 Christina returns to Sweden. Outbreak of Christina. 
 
 fastened with a knot of white ribbon. A light 
 wig concealed her natural hair. Her hat was 
 profusely decorated with white plumes. She 
 looked, upon the whole, Mademoiselle thought, 
 like a handsome boy. 
 
 Mademoiselle, accustomed to the rigid pro- 
 priety of the French court, was not a little sur- 
 prised to hear Christina, during the comedy, 
 interlard her conversation with hearty oaths, 
 with all the volubility of an old guardsman. 
 She flung about her legs in the most astonish- 
 ing manner, throwing them over the arms of 
 her chair, and placing herself in attitudes quite 
 unprecedented in Parisian circles. 
 
 Soon after this, this Amazonian princess re- 
 turned by a circuitous route to her Northern 
 home. Before taking leave of her, it may be 
 well to remark that subsequently Christina 
 made .a second visit to France uninvited — not 
 only uninvited, but very unwelcome. She 
 took possession of the palace of Fontainebleau 
 with her attendants, where with cold courtesy 
 she was tolerated. In a freak of passion, she 
 accused her grand equerry, M. Monaldeschi, of 
 high treason, and actually put him to death. 
 So high-handed an outrage, even in those days 
 of feudal barbarism, excited throughout France 
 
106 Louis XIV. [1654. 
 
 Letter to Cardinal Mazarin. 
 
 a universal feeling of disgust and indignation. 
 The sentiment was so strong and general that 
 the king deemed it necessary to send her a let- 
 ter through his minister, Mazarin, expressive 
 of his extreme displeasure. 
 
 Christina, much exasperated, sent a reply 
 containing the following expressions : 
 
 " Mk. Mazarin, — Those who acquainted you 
 with the details regarding Monaldeschi, my 
 equerry, were very ill informed. Your pro- 
 ceeding ought not, however, to astonish me, sil- 
 ly as it is. But I should never have believed 
 that either you or your haughty young master 
 would have dared to exhibit the least resent- 
 ment toward me. Learn all of you, valets and 
 masters, little and great, that it was my pleas- 
 ure to act as I did ; that I need not, and I will 
 not account for my actions to any one in the 
 world, and particularly to bullies of your de- 
 scription. I wish you to know, and to say to 
 all who will hear it, that Christina cares very 
 little about your court, and still less about 
 yourself; and that, in order to revenge my 
 wrongs, I do not require to have recourse to 
 your formidable power. Believe me, there- 
 fore, Jules,* you had better conduct yourself 
 
 * Jules, the Christian name of Mazarin. 
 
1656.] Matrimonial Peojects. 107 
 
 Count de Soissons. 
 
 in a mariner to deserve my favor, which you 
 can not study too much to secure. God pre- 
 serve you from ever risking the least indiscreet 
 remark upon my person. Although at the end 
 of the earth, I shall be informed of your plots. 
 I have friends and courtiers in my service who 
 are as clever and far-sighted as yours, although 
 they are not so well paid. Christina." 
 
 Soon after this her Swedish majesty disap- 
 peared from France, to the great relief of the 
 court, and was seen there no more. 
 
 Olympia.Mancini had ever increasing evi- 
 dence that the love of the king for her was 
 but a frivolous and heartless passion. The 
 Count de Soissons, of Savoy, a young prince 
 who had just become the head of his house, 
 visited the court of Louis XIV. The marvel- 
 ous beauty of Olympia, at first glance, won his 
 heart. He was young, handsome, chivalric, 
 high-born, and was just entering upon a mag- 
 nificent inheritance. Olympia had recently 
 lost by death a mother whom she greatly re- 
 vered, and a beloved sister. She was over- 
 whelmed with grief. The entire want of sym- 
 pathy manifested by the king shocked her. 
 He thought of nothing but his own personal 
 pleasure. Regardless of the grief of Olympia, 
 
108 Louis XIV. [1656. 
 
 Marriage of Olympia Mancini. Mademoiselle d'Argencourt. 
 
 he exhibited himself, evening after evening, in 
 court theatricals, emulating the agility of an 
 opera-dancer, and attired in spangled robes. 
 . Wounded and irritated by such conduct, 
 Olympia accepted the proffered hand of the 
 Count de Soissons, who was grandson of 
 Charles V. The marriage was attended with 
 great splendor at the palace of the Louvre. 
 All the court was present. The king himself 
 seemed not at all discomposed that another 
 should marry the beautiful maiden whom he 
 had professed so ardently to love. - Indeed, he 
 was already beginning to transfer his atten- 
 tions to Mademoiselle d'Argencourt, a queenly 
 beauty of the high family of Conti. Her fig- 
 ure was perfect, her manners were courtly in 
 the highest degree, and all who approached 
 her were charmed with her conversational vi- 
 vacity and tact. 
 
 But Mademoiselle's affections were already 
 engaged, and, being fully aware that the king 
 flitted from beauty to beauty, like the butter- 
 fly from flower to flower, she very frankly in- 
 timated to the king that she could not receive 
 his attentions. Louis was heart-broken; for 
 such fragile hearts are easily broken and as 
 easily repaired. He hastened to his mother, 
 
1656.] Matrimonial Projects. 109 
 
 The Pope's choir. Mary Mancini. 
 
 and told her that he must leave Paris to con- 
 quer his passion. The love-sick monarch re- 
 tired to Yincennes, spent ten days there, and 
 returned quite cured. 
 
 The marriage of Olympia, as we have men- 
 tioned, was celebrated with very great brill- 
 iance. The ambitious cardinal, in heart dis- 
 appointed that he had not been able to confer 
 the hand of Olympia on the king, was increas- 
 ingly desirous of investing the members of his 
 family with all possible eclat. He had im- 
 ported for the occasion the principal members 
 of the Pope's choir. These wonderful vocal- 
 ists from the Sistine Chapel astonished the 
 French court with melody and harmony such 
 as had never been heard in the Louvre before. 
 
 Olympia had a younger sister, Mary, fifteen 
 years of age. She had come from her school 
 in a convent to witness the marriage festivities. 
 The music and the impressive scene affected 
 the artless child deeply, and her tears flowed 
 freely. The king, surrounded by the brilliant 
 beauties of his court, accidentally caught sight 
 of this child. Though not beautiful, there was 
 something in her unaffected attitude, her tears, 
 her entire absorption in the scene, which ar- 
 rested his attention. 
 
110 Louis XIV. [1056. 
 
 Description of Mary Mancini. 
 
 Mary had early developed so bold, indepen- 
 dent, and self-reliant a spirit as to induce her 
 father, on his death-bed, to entreat Madame de 
 Mancini to compel her to take the veil. In 
 compliance with this injunction, Mary had been 
 placed in a convent until she should attain the 
 fitting age to assume the irrevocable vows. 
 Thus trained in seclusion, and with no ambi- 
 tious aspirations, she had acquired a character 
 of perfect simplicity, and her countenance bore 
 an expression of intelligence and sensibility 
 far more attractive than ordinary beauty. A 
 contemporaneous writer says, 
 
 " Her movements, her manners, and all the 
 bearing of her person were the result of a na- 
 ture guided by grace. Her look was tender, 
 the accents of her voice were enchanting. 
 Her genius was great, substantial, and exten- 
 sive, and capable of the grandest conceptions. 
 She wrote both good prose and pleasing poet- 
 ry ; and Mary Mancini, who shone in a court- 
 ly letter, was equally capable of producing a 
 political or state dispatch. She would not 
 have been unworthy of the throne if among 
 us great merit had been entitled to obtain it." 
 
 The king inquired her name. Upon learn- 
 ing that she was a niece of the cardinal, and 
 
1656.] Matrimonial Projects. Ill 
 
 Mary Mancini becomes a member of the court. 
 
 a sister of Olympia, he desired that she might 
 be presented to him. 
 
 Mary was an enthusiast. The young king 
 was very handsome, very courtly, and a perfect 
 master of all the phrases of gallantry. Mary 
 fell in love with him, without knowing it, at 
 first sight. It was not the monarch which had 
 won her, but the man, of exquisitely symmet- 
 rical proportions, so princely in his bearing, so 
 fascinating in his address. The young school- 
 girl returned to her convent with the image of 
 the king indelibly engraven on her heart. The 
 few words which passed between them inter- 
 ested the king, for every word she said bore 
 the impress of her genius. Ere long she was 
 added to the ladies of the queen's household. 
 
 The king, having closed his flirtation with 
 Mademoiselle d'Argencourt, found himself al- 
 most insensibly drawn to Mary Mancini. 
 Though there were many in his court more 
 beautiful in person, there were none who could 
 rival her in intellect and wit. Though natu- 
 rally timid, her reserve disappeared when in 
 his presence. Though ever approaching him 
 with the utmost possible deference and respect, 
 she conversed with him with a frankness to 
 which he was entirely unaccustomed, and 
 
112 Louis XIV. [1656. 
 
 Her influence over Louis. Ambitious views of Mazarin. 
 
 which, at the same time, surprised and charm- 
 ed him. 
 
 His vanity was gratified with the almost re- 
 ligious devotion with which she unaffectedly 
 regarded her sovereign, while at the same time 
 she addressed him with a bold simplicity of 
 utterance which astounded the courtiers and 
 enthralled the king. He was amazed and be- 
 wildered by the grandeur of a character such 
 as he had never encountered before. She re- 
 proved him for his faults, instructed him in his 
 ignorance, conversed with him i^on themes 
 beyond the ordinary range of his intellect, and 
 endeavored to enkindle within him noble im- 
 pulses and a lofty ambition. The king found 
 himself quite unable to compete with her 
 strength of intellect. His weaker nature be- 
 came more and more subject to one endowed 
 with gifts far superior to his own. In every 
 hour of perplexity, in every serious moment, 
 when the better nature of the king gained a 
 transient ascendency, he turned from the fri- 
 volity of the gay and thoughtless beings flut- 
 tering around him to Mary Mancini for guid- 
 ance and strength. 
 
 The ambition of Cardinal Mazarin was again 
 excited with the hope that he might yet place 
 
1656.] Matrimonial Projects. 113 
 
 Projects for the. marriage of Louis XIV. 
 
 •a niece upon the throne of France. But there 
 was no end to the intrigues of ambitious aspi- 
 rants, directly or indirectly, for the hand of the 
 young king. Mademoiselle de Montpensier 
 had enormous wealth, was of high birth, and 
 was endowed with marvelous force of charac- 
 ter. She had long aspired to share the throne 
 with her young cousin. "When it was evident 
 that this plan had failed, the Duke of Orleans 
 brought forward a younger daughter by a sec- 
 ond wife. But Mazarin succeeded in thwart- 
 ing this arrangement. The Princess Henrietta 
 of England, whom the young king had treated 
 so cruelly at the ball, was urged upon him. 
 She was lovely in person, amiable in character, 
 but in poverty and exile. Cromwell was in 
 the plenitude of his power. There was no 
 probability that her family would be restored 
 to the throne. The king turned coldly from 
 her. 
 
 Portugal was then one of the most wealthy 
 and powerful courts of Europe. The Queen of 
 Portugal was exceedingly anxious to unite her 
 daughter with the King of France. Through 
 her embassadors she endeavored to effect an 
 alliance. A portrait of the princess was sent 
 to Louis. It was very beautiful. The king 
 H 
 
114 Louis XIV. [1656. 
 
 Diplomatic efforts with Spain. 
 
 made private inquiries. She was very plain. 
 This settled the question. The Portuguese 
 princess was thought of no more. 
 
 The King of Spain had a very beautiful 
 daughter, Maria Theresa. The Spanish mon- 
 archy then, perhaps, stood second to none oth- 
 er on the globe. Spain and France were en- 
 gaged in petty and vexatious hostilities. A 
 matrimonial alliance would secure friendship. 
 The matter was much talked of. The proud 
 queen-mother, Anne of Austria, was very solic- 
 itous to secure that alliance, as it would grati- 
 fy her highest ambition. Mazarin professed 
 warmly to favor it. He probably saw insuper- 
 able obstacles in the way, but hoped, by co- 
 operating cordially with the wishes of the 
 queen, to be able finally to secure the marriage 
 of the king with Mary Mancini. 
 
 Maria Theresa was heiress to the throne of 
 Spain. Should she marry Louis XIY., it would 
 be necessary for her to leave Spain and reside 
 in Paris. Thus the Queen of France would 
 be the Queen of Spain. In fact, Spain would 
 be annexed to France as a sort of tributary na- 
 tion, the court being at Paris, and all the of- 
 fices being at the disposal of the Queen of 
 France, residing there. The pride of the Span- 
 
1656.] Matrimonial Projects. 115 
 
 The Princess of Orange. Power of Mary Maucini. 
 
 iards revolted from this, and still the diploma- 
 tists were conferring upon the matter. 
 
 Henrietta, the unfortunate widow of Charles 
 I. of England, had an elder daughter, who had 
 married the Prince of Orange, the head of the 
 illustrious house of Nassau. This Princess of 
 Orange was very beautiful, young, in the en- 
 joyment of vast possessions, and a widow. She 
 aspired to the hand, and to share the crown of 
 the King of France. Surrounded by great 
 magnificence and blazing with jewels, she visit- 
 ed the court of Louis XIY. Her mission was 
 signally unsuccessful. The king took a strong 
 dislike to her, and repelled her advances with 
 marked discourtesy. 
 
 While matters were in this state, Charles II. 
 offered his hand to Mary Mancini. But the 
 proud cardinal would not allow his niece to 
 marry a crownless and impoverished king. In 
 the mean time, Mary Mancini, by her increas- 
 ing beauty and her mental superiority, was 
 gaining daily more influence over the mind of 
 the king. "With a voice of singular melody, 
 a brilliant eye, a figure as graceful and elastic 
 as that of a fairy, and with words of wonder- 
 ful wisdom flowing, as it were, instinctively 
 from her lips, she seemed effectually and al- 
 
116 Louis XIV. [1656. 
 
 The Princess Marguerite. Anger of the queen regent. 
 
 most unconsciously to have enthralled the king. 
 All his previous passions were boyish and 
 ephemeral. But Mary was very different from 
 any other lady of the court. Her depth of 
 feeling, her pensive yet cheerful temperament, 
 and her f ull-souled sympathy in all that was 
 truly noble in conduct and character, astonish- 
 ed and engrossed the susceptible monarch. 
 
 The Duchess of Savoy had a daughter, Mar- 
 guerite, whom she wished to have become the 
 wife of the French king. The princess was 
 by birth of the highest rank, being a descend- 
 ant of Henry IV. The duchess sent as an en- 
 voy a young Piedmontese count to treat secret- 
 ly with the cardinal for the marriage of the 
 king with the Princess Marguerite. The count 
 was unsuccessful. It was quite evident that 
 Mazarin was intending to secure the marriage 
 of the king with his niece. 
 
 The proud queen, Anne of Austria, became 
 greatly alarmed. She mortally offended the 
 cardinal by declaring to him that nothing 
 should induce her to consent to such a degra- 
 dation of her son as to permit his marriage 
 with the niece of the cardinal. She declared 
 that in such an event she herself would head 
 an insurrection against the king, and that the 
 
1656.] Matrimonial Projects. 117 
 
 Decision of the cabinet. New negotiations. 
 
 whole of France would revolt both against him 
 and his minister. These bitter words ever aft- 
 er rankled in the bosom of the cardinal. 
 
 The queen summoned a secret assembly of 
 the cabinet, and put to them the question 
 whether the marriage of her son without her 
 consent would be a valid one. The unanimous 
 decision was in the negative. She then had 
 this decision carefully drawn up, and made ef- 
 fectual arrangements to have it registered by 
 the Parliament, should the king secretly mar- 
 ry Mary Mancini. 
 
 The cardinal now found himself compelled 
 to abandon his ambitious hopes for his niece, 
 and opened again negotiations with Spain for 
 the hancl of the Infanta Maria Theresa, and 
 with the court of Savoy for the Princess Mar- 
 guerite. The Spanish marriage would termi- 
 nate the war. The union with Savoy would 
 invest France with new powers for its vigorous 
 prosecution. 
 
 Every day the attachment of the king to 
 Mary Mancini became more undisguised. She 
 guided his reading ; she taught him the Italian 
 language ; she introduced to him the names of 
 great men in the works of literature and art, 
 and labored heroically to elevate his tastes, and 
 
118 Louis XIV. [1656. 
 
 The two courts arrange to meet at Lyons. 
 
 to inspire him with the ambition of perform- 
 ing glorious deeds. 
 
 The queen, in her anxiety, made arrange- 
 ments for the king to meet the Princess Mar- 
 guerite at Lyons, that they might he betrothed. 
 She greatly preferred the alliance with Spain ; 
 but as there seemed to be insuperable objec- 
 tions to that, she turned her attention to Savoy. 
 The king continued his marked and almost ex- 
 clusive attentions- to Mary, and she loved him 
 with the full flow of her ardent affections. 
 
 The whole court was to proceed in great 
 magnificence to Lyons, to meet the court of 
 Savoy. Mary was compelled to accompany 
 the court. She knew full well the errand 
 upon which Louis was bound. Though her 
 heart was heavy, and tears dimmed her eyes, 
 she was obliged to appear cheerful. She had 
 made an earnest effort to avoid the journey, 
 but Anne of Austria was obdurate and cruel. 
 She assured Mary that she could not spare her 
 presence when she wished to impress the Prin- 
 cess Marguerite with the magnificence and 
 beauty of the French court. 
 
 The court of Savoy left Turin at the same 
 time that the French court left Paris. The 
 pledge had been given that, should the king be 
 
1656.] Matrimonial Projects. 119 
 
 Fickleness of Louis. The royal parties meet. 
 
 pleased with the appearance of Marguerite, 
 the marriage should take place without delay. 
 During the journey, the heartless and fickle 
 king, ever charmed by novelty, was in buoyant 
 spirits. Though he still clung to the side of 
 Mary, giving her a seat in his own carriage, 
 and, when the weather was fine, riding by her 
 side on horseback, he tortured her heart by the 
 joyousness with which he spoke of the antici- 
 pated charms of Marguerite and of his ap- 
 proaching marriage. 
 
 At Lyons the royal party was' received with 
 great magnificence. The next day it was an- 
 nounced that the court of Savoy was approach- 
 ing. The queen -mother and her son, with two 
 ladies in the royal coach, preceded, and, follow- 
 ed by a considerable retinue, advanced to meet 
 their guests. The king mounted his horse and 
 galloped forward to get a sight of Marguerite 
 without being known by her. She was riding 
 in an open barouche. He soon returned in 
 great glee, and, springing from the saddle, re- 
 entered the carriage, and informed his mother 
 that the Princess Marguerite was very beauti- 
 ful. Scarcely had he said this ere the two 
 royal coaches met. Both parties alighted. 
 The princess was introduced to Louis. Then 
 
120 Louis XIV. [1656. 
 
 The Princess Marguerite. ■ Sorrows of Mary. 
 
 the queen-mother and her son, the Duchess of 
 Savoy and the Princess Marguerite, and an 
 elder daughter, who was a widow, entered the 
 royal coach and returned to Lyons. The king 
 was in exuberant spirits. He at once entered 
 into the most animated and familiar conversa- 
 tion with the princess. 
 
 The Princess Marguerite fully appreciated 
 the embarrassment of her own situation. She 
 was going to Lyons to present herself to Louis 
 XIV. to see if he would take her for his wife. 
 The humiliation of being rejected would be 
 dreadful. In vain she implored her mother 
 to spare her from such a possibility. But the 
 question seemed to be at once settled favora- 
 bly. The king was manifestly much pleased 
 with Marguerite, and the princess could see 
 nothing but attractions in the young, hand- 
 some, and courtly sovereign of France. 
 
 Poor Mary, who was informed of every thing 
 that transpired, was suffering martyrdom. She 
 was immediately forsaken and forgotten. In 
 public, all her force of character was called 
 into requisition to dress her face in smiles. In 
 her secret apartment she wept bitterly. 
 
1658.] Marriage of the King. 121 
 
 Marguerite of Savoy. Sudden change of prospects. 
 
 Chapter IV. 
 The Marriage of the King. 
 
 THE Princess Marguerite of Savoy was very 
 beautiful. She was a brunette, with large, 
 lustrous eyes, fairy -like proportions, queenly 
 bearing, and so graceful in every movement 
 that she scarcely seemed to touch the ground 
 as she walked. Her reception by the king, the 
 queen, and the whole court was every thing 
 that could be desired. The duchess and her 
 daughter that night placed their heads upon 
 their pillows with the undoubting conviction 
 that Marguerite was to be the Queen of France. 
 The king ordered his suite to be ready, in their 
 gala dresses, to attend him on the morrow to 
 the apartments of the princess. 
 
 The morning came. To the surprise and 
 bewilderment of the court, every thing was 
 changed. The king was thoughtful, distant, 
 reserved. With great formality of etiquette, 
 he called upon the princess. His countenance 
 and manner indicated an entire change of feel- 
 ing. With the coldest phrases of court etiquette 
 
122 Louis XIV. [1658. 
 
 An heir to the Spanish throne. Rejection of Marguerite. 
 
 he addressed her. He was civil, and civil only. 
 The warmth of the lover had disappeared en- 
 tirely. The Duchess of Savoy was astounded. 
 Even the French court seemed stupefied by so 
 unexpected and decisive an alteration in the 
 aspect of affairs. 
 
 The explanation which gradually came to 
 light was very simple. During the night a 
 courier had arrived, in breathless haste, with 
 the announcement that the Queen of Spain 
 had given birth to a son. Maria Theresa was 
 no longer heir to the throne. The way was 
 consequently open to the Spanish marriage. 
 This alliance would secure peace with Spain, 
 and was altogether a more powerful and 
 wealthy connection than that with the court 
 of Savoy. The cardinal immediately commu- 
 nicated the intelligence to the queen -mother 
 and the king. They alone knew it. Margue- 
 rite was to be rejected, and the hand of Maria 
 Theresa to be claimed. 
 
 Mary Mancini was utteily bewildered by the 
 change, so inexplicable to her, in the posture of 
 affairs. The face of the queen was radiant with 
 joy. The king seemed a little embarrassed, but 
 very triumphant. The Duchess of Savoy be- 
 trayed alternately surprise, indignation, and de- 
 
1658.] Marriage of the King. 123 
 
 Mazarin communicates with the Duchess of Savoy. 
 
 spair. The eagle eye and painful experience 
 of Mary taught her that the Princess Margue- 
 rite was struggling to retain her self-possession, 
 and to maintain a cheerful spirit, while some 
 terrible blow had fallen upon her. 
 
 The news from Spain was such that Mazarin, 
 upon receiving it after midnight, hastened to 
 the bedchamber of the queen with the an- 
 nouncement. As he entered, the queen rose 
 upon her pillow, and the cardinal said : 
 
 "I have come to tell you, madame, a piece of 
 news which your majesty never anticipated." 
 
 " Is peace proclaimed ?" inquired the queen, 
 earnestly. 
 
 "More than peace," the cardinal exultantly 
 replied ; " for the Infanta brings peace in her 
 hand as but a portion of her dower." 
 
 This extraordinary scene took place on the. 
 night of the 29th of November, 1658. It was 
 the task of the wily cardinal to break the hu- 
 miliating intelligence to the Duchess of Savoy. 
 He assured her that he felt bound to seek, 
 above all things else, the interests of France ; 
 that an opportunity had unexpectedly occurred 
 for an alliance with Spain ; that this alliance 
 was far more desirable than any other ; but that, 
 should any thing occur to interrupt these nego- 
 
124 Louis XIV. [1658. 
 
 Private interview of Mazarin and the Duchess of Savoy. 
 
 tiations, he would do every thing in his power 
 to promote the marriage of the king with the 
 Princess Marguerite. 
 
 Notwithstanding the intense irritation which 
 this communication excited, there was too much 
 self-respect and too much good breeding in the 
 court of Savoy to allow of a sudden rupture, 
 which would provoke the sarcastic remarks of 
 the world. Still the duchess, in a private in- 
 terview with Mazarin, could not restrain her 
 feelings, but broke out into passionate upbraid- 
 ings. The thought that she had been lured to 
 expose herself and her daughter to the derision 
 of all Europe stung her to the quick. The 
 Princess Marguerite, however, by her graceful 
 composure, by her courtesy to all around her, 
 and by the skill with which she concealed her 
 wounded feelings, won the admiration of all 
 in both courts. 
 
 For several days the two courts remained 
 together, engaged in a round of festivities. 
 This seemed necessary to avoid the appear- 
 ance of an open rupture. The fickle king, in 
 these assemblies, treated Marguerite with his 
 customary courtesy; but he immediately turned 
 to Mary Mancini with his marked attentions 
 and devotion, dancing with her repeatedly on 
 
1658.] Marriage of the King. 125 
 
 Conduct of the king. 
 
 the same evening, and keeping her constantly 
 by his side. Indeed, his attentions were so 
 very marked as to lead the courtiers to think 
 that the king rejoiced at his escape from his 
 marriage with Marguerite from the hope that 
 it might yet lead to his securing Mary for his 
 bride. But it is more probable that the king, 
 utterly selfish, reckless of the feelings of others, 
 and devoted to his own enjoyment, sought the 
 society of Mary because it so happened that she 
 was the one, more than any other then within 
 his reach, who, by her personal beauty and her 
 mental attractions, could best beguile his weary 
 hours. He was ready at any moment, without 
 a pang, to lay her aside for another who could 
 better minister to his pleasure or to the aspir- 
 ings of his ambition. 
 
 The king, with his court, returned to Paris. 
 The secret communicated by the mysterious 
 visitor from Spain was still undivulged. The 
 mystery was so great, and its apparent bearing 
 upon the destiny of Mary so direct, that she 
 resolved to interrogate one of the most influ- 
 ential ministers of the court upon the subject. 
 He, thinking in some degree to evade the ques- 
 tion, replied that the courier had come simply 
 to inform Anne of Austria that the Queen of 
 
126 Louis XIV. [1659. 
 
 Movements of Mazarin. 
 
 Spain had given birth to a son. This reveal- 
 ed the whole to Mary. 
 
 In the mean time, arrangements were made 
 for Cardinal Mazarin to meet the Spanish 
 minister on the frontiers of the two kingdoms 
 to negotiate for the Spanish marriage. The 
 cardinal, fully convinced that now it would be 
 impossible to secure the hand of the king for 
 his niece Mary, and anxious to convince the 
 queen that he was heartily engaged in promo- 
 ting the Spanish alliance, ordered Mary im- 
 mediately to withdraw from the court, and re- 
 tire to Brouage. This was a fortified town on 
 the sea-coast many leagues from Paris. The 
 king heard of the arrangement, and, forbidding 
 the departure of Mary from the court, hasten- 
 ed to the cardinal demanding an explanation. 
 Mazarin informed him that the Infanta of 
 Spain would be very indignant should she 
 learn that, while he was making application for 
 her hand, he was retaining near him one whom 
 he had long treated with the most devoted and 
 affectionate attentions ; that her father, Philip 
 IV., would be disgusted ; that there would be 
 a probable rupture of the negotiations; and 
 that the desolating war between France and 
 Spain would continue. 
 
1659.] Marriage of the King. 127 
 
 Power of the cardinal. Mary exiled from the court. 
 
 Louis declared that he should not allow his 
 pleasure to be disturbed by such considerations. 
 Roused by opposition, he went so far as to say 
 that he was quite ready to carry on the war 
 with Spain if that power so wished ; that the 
 war would afford him an opportunity to ac- 
 quire glory in the eyes of his countrymen, and 
 in that case he would marry Mary Mancini. 
 
 But the cardinal was fully conscious that 
 neither the queen nor France would now sub- 
 mit to such an arrangement. He had with 
 great skill retained his attitude of command 
 over the young monarch, holding his purse 
 and governing the realm, while the boy-king 
 amused himself as a ballet-dancer and a play- 
 actor. The cardinal remained inexorable. It 
 is said that the king wept in the excess of his 
 chagrin as he felt compelled to yield to the 
 representations of his domineering minister. 
 As he unfolded to him the miseries which 
 would be inflicted, not only upon the kingdom, 
 but upon the court, should the desolating and 
 expensive Avar be protracted, the king threw 
 himself upon a sofa, and buried his face in his 
 hands in silent despair. It was decided that 
 Mary should be exiled from the court. 
 
 The king, thwarted, vexed, wretched, repair- 
 
128 Louis XIV. [1659. 
 
 Mary's parting with the king. 
 
 ed to the cabinet of Ms mother. They con- 
 versed for an hour together. As they retired 
 from the cabinet, Madame de Motteville says, 
 "the eyes of both were red with weeping. The 
 orders were immediately issued for Mary's de- 
 parture. She was to go with an elder sister 
 and her governess. The morrow came; the 
 carriage was at the door. Mary, having taken 
 leave of the queen, repaired to the apartment 
 of Louis to bid him adieu: She found him 
 deluged in tears. Summoning all her resolu- 
 tion to maintain self-control, she held out her 
 trembling hand, and said to him reproach- 
 fully, ' Sire, you are a king ; you weep ; and 
 yet I go.' " 
 
 The king uttered not a word, but, burying 
 his face in his hands upon the table, sobbed 
 aloud. Mary saw that it was all over with 
 her ; that there was no longer any hope. With- 
 out speaking a word, she descended the stairs 
 to her carriage. The king silently followed 
 her, and stood by the coach door. She took 
 her seat with her companions, and, without the 
 interchange of a word or a sign, the carriage 
 drove away. Louis remained upon the spot 
 until it disappeared from sight. 
 
 The Isle of Pheasants, a small Spanish isl- 
 
Mm 
 
 llllil 
 
 ?f| 
 
 1 '■ I'lUlllHil 
 
 ^wHB IB 
 
 ^fe» i 
 
 " 
 
 MI 
 
 ■ I 
 
1652.] Marbiage of the King. 131 
 
 The Isle of Pheasants. Interview of Louis with Mary. 
 
 and in the Bidassoa, a boundary river between 
 France and Spain, was fixed upon as tlie ren- 
 dezvous for the contracting parties for the 
 royal marriage. Four days after the exile of 
 Mary, the king and court, with a magnificent 
 civil and ecclesiastical retinue, set out for the 
 island. The king insisted, notwithstanding the 
 vehement remonstrances of the queen, upon 
 visiting Mary Mancini on the journey. As 
 the splendid cortege passed through the streets 
 of Paris, the whole population was on the pave- 
 ment, shouting a thousand blessings on the head 
 of their young king. 
 
 Mary Mancini had received orders from the 
 queen to proceed with her sister to Saint Jean 
 d'Angely, where, upon the passage of the court, 
 she was to have an interview with the kins:. 
 "Her interview," writes Miss Pardoe, "was, 
 however, a bitter one. Divided between van- 
 ity and affection, Louis was at once less firm 
 and less self-possessed than Mary. He wept 
 bitterly, and bewailed the fetters by which he 
 was shackled. But as he remarked the change 
 which nights of watching and of tears had 
 made in her appearance, he felt half consoled. 
 The only result of this meeting was to harrow 
 the heart of the poor victim of political expe- 
 
132 Louis XIV. [1659. 
 
 Negotiations with Spain. 
 
 diency, and to prove to her upon how unstable 
 a foundation she had built her superstructure 
 of hope."* 
 
 From Saint Jean d'Angely the court pro- 
 ceeded, by way of Bordeaux, to Toulouse. 
 Here they awaited the conclusipn of the treaty. 
 The negotiation was tedious, as each party was 
 anxious to gain all that was possible from the 
 other. Many questions of national moment 
 and pride were involved. At length the con- 
 ference was amicably concluded. The king 
 agreed to pardon the Prince of Conde, and re- 
 store to him all his honors; and the Infanta 
 Maria Theresa renounced for herself and her 
 descendants all claim to the inheritance of her 
 parents. She was to receive as a dowry five 
 hundred thousand golden crowns. There were 
 several other articles included in the treaty 
 which have now ceased to be of any interest. 
 
 Much surprise was soon excited in the court 
 of Louis XIV. by the intimation that the mar- 
 riage ceremony must be postponed until the 
 spring. Philip IY. stated that his infirm health 
 would not allow him to take so long a journey 
 in the inclement weather of winter. Louis 
 XIV. had never yet seen his affianced bride. 
 
 * Louis XIV. and the Court of France, vol. ii., p. 23, 24. 
 
1660.] Marriage of the King. 133 
 
 Marriage preparations according to Spanish etiquette. 
 
 We do not learn that he was at all annoyed by 
 the delay. The intervening weeks were pass- 
 ed in journey ings and a round of amusements. 
 Early in May, 1660, the king returned to the 
 vicinity of the Isle of Pheasants, where he was 
 to meet the King of Spain and Maria Theresa. 
 
 The most magnificent preparations had been 
 made at the Isle of Pheasants for the interview 
 between the two courts and the royal nuptials. 
 Bridges were constructed to the island from 
 both the French and Spanish sides of the river. 
 These bridges were covered, and so decorated 
 as to present the aspect of beautiful galleries. 
 Upon the island a palace was erected, consist- 
 ing of one immense and gorgeous apartment, 
 with lateral chambers and dressing-rooms. 
 This apartment was carpeted, and furnished 
 with all the splendor which the combined mon- 
 archies of France and Spain could command. 
 
 Two doors, directly opposite each other, en- 
 abled the two courts to enter simultaneously. 
 A straight line across the centre of the room 
 divided it into two portions, one half of which 
 was regarded as French, and the other as Span- 
 ish territory. The Spanish court took up its 
 residence at Fontarabia, on the eastern or Span- 
 ish bank of the river. Louis and his court oc- 
 
134 Louis XIV. [1660. 
 
 Appearance of the Infanta. 
 
 cupied Saint Jean de Luz, on the French or 
 western side of the stream. 
 
 There are many exactions of court etiquette 
 which to republican eyes seem extremely irra- 
 tional and foolish. Louis could not cross the 
 river to take his Spanish bride, neither could 
 Maria Theresa cross the stream 'to be married 
 on French soil; therefore Don Luis de Haro, 
 as the proxy of Louis XIY., having the French 
 Bishop of Frejus as his witness, was married to 
 Maria Theresa in the church at Fontarabia. 
 The ceremony was conducted with the most 
 punctilious observance of the stately forms of 
 Spanish etiquette. 
 
 Madame de Motteville gives the following 
 account of the appearance of the bride : 
 
 " The Infanta is short, but well made. We 
 admired the extreme fairness of her complex- 
 ion. The blue eyes appeared to us to be fine, 
 and charmed us by their softness and brillian- 
 cy. We celebrated the beauty of her mouth, 
 and of her somewhat full and roseate lips. The 
 outline of her face is long, but, being rounded 
 at the chin, pleased us. Her cheeks, rather 
 large, but handsome, had their share of our 
 praise. Her hair, of a very light auburn, ac- 
 corded admirably with her fine complexion." 
 
1660.] Marriage of the King. 135 
 
 Interview of Anne of Austria and her brother. 
 
 The Infanta was dressed in white satin, or- 
 namented with small bows of silver serge. She 
 wore a large number of brilliant gems, and her 
 head was decorated with a mass of false hair. 
 The first lady of her household bore her train. 
 
 During the ceremony Philip IY. stood be- 
 tween his daughter and the proxy of Louis. 
 The princess did not present her hand to Don 
 Luis, nor did he present to her the nuptial ring. 
 At the close of the ceremony the father em- 
 braced his child, and silently the gorgeous train 
 swept from the church. 
 
 The next day Anne of Austria, accompanied 
 by her second son, then Duke of Orleans, re- 
 paired to the Isle of Pheasants to meet her 
 brother, Philip IY., and the royal bride. Court 
 etiquette did not yet allow Louis XIY. to have 
 an interview with the lady to whom he was al- 
 ready married by proxy. He, however, sent to 
 his young queen, by one of his nobles, a pres- 
 ent of some very fine jewels. 
 
 Though Philip IY. was the brother of Anne 
 of Austria, and though they had not met for 
 many years, Spanish etiquette would not al- 
 low any demonstrations of tenderness. The in- 
 terview was chillingly stately and dignified. 
 Anne, for a moment forgetting the icy re- 
 
136 Louis XIV. [1660. 
 
 Meeting of Louis XIV. and his bride. 
 
 straints of the court, in sisterly love endeav- 
 ored to salute her brother on the cheek. The 
 Spanish king held back his head, rejecting the 
 proffered fondness. The young bride threw 
 herself upon her knees, requesting permission 
 to kiss the hand of Anne of Austria. The 
 queen-mother lifted her from the floor, and ten- 
 derly embraced her. 
 
 After some time had elapsed, Cardinal Maz- 
 arin entered, of course from the French side, 
 and, advancing to their majesties, informed 
 them that there was a distinguished stranger 
 at the door who begged permission to enter. 
 Anne and Philip affected to hold a brief con- 
 ference upon the subject, when they gave their 
 consent for his admission. 
 
 Louis XIV. entered in regal attire to see for 
 the first time, and to be seen for the first time 
 by, his bride. As he approached, Maria There- 
 sa fixed her eyes upon him, and blushed deep- 
 ly. Philip IY. smiled graciously, and said au- 
 dibly to Anne of Austria, "I have a very hand- 
 some son-in-law." 
 
 As we have mentioned, there was a line sep- 
 arating the Spanish half of the room from the 
 French half. Louis advanced to the centre 
 of the apartment, and kneeled upon a cushion 
 
1660.] Marriage of the King. 137 
 
 Tedious ceremonies. 
 
 which had been provided for him there. The 
 King of Spain kneeled also upon a similar 
 cushion. Cardinal Mazarin then brought in a 
 Bible, with a cross upon the volume. One of 
 the high Spanish church officials did the same 
 on his side. The treaty of peace was then 
 read simultaneously to Philip IY. in Spanish, 
 to Louis XIY. in French. At its conclusion, 
 they each placed their hands upon the Bible, 
 and took a solemn oath to observe its stipula- 
 tions. During this scene one sovereign was 
 ceremonially in France, and the other in Spain. 
 Having taken the oath, they rose, and in stately 
 strides advanced to the frontier line. Here they 
 cordially embraced each other. 
 
 At the conclusion of sundry other ceremo- 
 nies, some tedious, some imposing, the two 
 courts returned each to its own side of the 
 river. Maria Theresa accompanied her father. 
 The next morning the queen -mother, with a 
 suitable retinue, returned to the island palace, 
 where she met again the bride of her son, and 
 conducted her to her own apartments at Saint 
 Jean de Luz. Two days elapsed, while prepa- 
 rations were made again to solemnize the mar- 
 riage beneath the skies of France. 
 
 A platform was constructed, richly carpeted, 
 
138 Louis XIY. [1660. 
 
 Gorgeous entrance into the capital. 
 
 from the residence of Anne of Austria to the 
 church. The young maiden-queen was robed 
 in French attire for this repetition of the nup- 
 tial ceremony. She wore a royal mantle of 
 violet-colored velvet, sprinkled with fleur de 
 lis, over a white dress. A queenly crown was 
 upon her brow. Her gorgeous train was borne 
 by three of the most distinguished ladies of 
 France. At the conclusion of this ceremony 
 Louis XIV. received his bride. The king was 
 then in the twenty-second year of his age. 
 
 Until within a week of the royal marriage, 
 the king wrote frequently to Mary Mancini. 
 Then the correspondence was suddenly drop- 
 ped. The king never after seemed to manifest 
 any interest in her fate. 
 
 After a few days of festivity, the court com- 
 menced, on the 15th of June, its leisurely re- 
 turn toward Paris. Having reached Yincennes, 
 the illustrious cortege tarried for several days 
 in the royal chateau there, until preparations 
 could be completed for a magnificent entrance 
 into the capital. The gorgeous spectacle took 
 place on the 26th, of August, 1660. For many 
 weeks the saloons of the Louvre and the Tuil- 
 eries resounded with unintermitted revelry. 
 
 Very cruelly the queen-mother sent a mes- 
 
1660.] Marriage of the King. 141 
 
 Cruelty of the queen-mother. The Prince Colonna. 
 
 sage to Mary Mancini, expressing her regret 
 that she could not be present at the royal nup- 
 tials, and requiring her to come immediately 
 to be present at the entree of the king and 
 queen into the metropolis, and to share in the 
 festivities of the palace. The order came to 
 the crushed and bleeding heart of Mary like a 
 death-summons. Accompanied by her two sis- 
 ters, and with suitable attendants, she set forth 
 on her sad journey. All France was rejoicing 
 over the royal marriage, and as her carriage 
 rapidly approached Paris, every hour pierced 
 her heart with a new pang. With all the for- 
 titude she could summon, she could not retain 
 the roseate glow of health and happiness. Her 
 cheeks were pale and emaciate, and her forced 
 smile only proclaimed more loudly the grief 
 which was consuming her heart. She alighted 
 at the new palace of her uncle, Cardinal Maz- 
 arin, and hastily retired to her apartment. 
 
 She had scarcely entered her room ere a let- 
 ter from the cardinal was presented to her, so- 
 liciting her hand for Prince Colonna, one of the 
 most illustrious nobles in wealth and rank in 
 Europe. This marriage would give her posi- 
 tion scarcely second to that of any lady not 
 seated on a throne. The ambitious cardinal, 
 
142 Louis XIV. [1660. 
 
 Mary is presented to the yonng Queen of France. 
 
 not fully understanding the delicate mechan- 
 ism of a young lady's heart, had negotiated 
 this matter, hoping thus to rescue his niece 
 from the humiliating sympathy of the cour- 
 tiers. But the noble nature of Mary recoiled 
 from such a rescue. She had instinctively re- 
 solved that in her own person, and by her own 
 individual force of character, however great 
 might be her sufferings, she would maintain 
 her womanly dignity. Consequently, to the 
 surprise of the cardinal, she returned a cold 
 and positive refusal to the proposition. 
 
 Soon after this she received a communica- 
 tion to repair to the palace of Fontainebleau, 
 there to be presented to the young queen, with 
 her two sisters, and many others of the notabil- 
 ities of the realm. The presentation was to 
 take place on the ensuing Sunday, immediately 
 after high mass. Her elder sister, the Countess 
 de Soissons, assisted by the Princess de Conti, 
 was to preside at the ceremony. 
 
 Mary had just entered the audience-hall, and 
 was approaching the queen to be presented, 
 when Louis XIV. entered the apartment to in- 
 vite Maria Theresa to accompany him in a walk 
 in the park. Just at that moment Madame de 
 Soissons was presenting Mademoiselle Mancini. 
 
1660.] Makriage of the King. 143 
 
 Misery of Mary Mancini. 
 
 The king heard the name which had once been 
 apparently so clear to him. Without the slight- 
 est emotion or the least sign of recognition, he 
 bowed, as if in the presence of a perfect stran- 
 ger, and inquired of Mary respecting her uncle 
 the cardinal. He then exchanged a few cour- 
 teous words with the other ladies in the room 
 with the same assumed or real indifference, and 
 invited all the ladies of the circle to attend the 
 queen in a hunt in which she was about to en- 
 gage. 
 
 It seemed as if the fates had combined to 
 expose poor Mary to every species of mental 
 torture. Her brain reeled, and, scarcely able 
 to retain her footing, she withdrew a little 
 apart to rally her disordered senses. Unable 
 any longer to endure these sufferings, <she 
 begged to be excused from attending the hunt, 
 alleging that the feeble health of her uncle the 
 cardinal rendered it necessary for her to return 
 to Paris. Her carriage was ordered for her 
 departure, but, at a short distance from the 
 chateau, she encountered the whole hunting- 
 party, filling the road with its splendor. Her 
 carriage was compelled to stop, that the king 
 and queen and royal train might pass. 
 
 "And thus again she saw Louis, who pre- 
 
14:4 Louis XIV". [1660. 
 
 Mary concludes to accept the hand of Prince Colonna. 
 
 ceded the cavalcade on horseback, surrounded 
 by the nobles of his court. The heart of Mary 
 throbbed almost to bursting. It was impossi- 
 ble that the king should not recognize the liv- 
 ery of her uncle — the carriage in which he had 
 so often been seated by her side ; he would not, 
 he could not pass her by without one word. 
 She deceived herself. His majesty was laugh- 
 ing at some merry tale, by which he was so 
 much engrossed that he rode on without even 
 bestowing a look upon the gilded coach and 
 its heart-broken occupant."* 
 
 Mary returned to Paris pondering deeply 
 her awful destiny. She saw that she was fated 
 to meet continually the king and queen in their 
 festivities ; that with a broken heart she must 
 feign gayety and smiles ; that by lingering tor- 
 ture she must sink into the grave. There was 
 no refuge for her but to escape from Paris and 
 from the court. Apparently the only way to 
 accomplish this was to accept the proffered 
 hand of the Prince Colonna, who would re- 
 move her from Paris to Pome. 
 
 The next morning, pale and tearless, Mary 
 drove to Yincennes, where Cardinal Mazarin 
 then was, and informed him that she was ready 
 
 * Louis XIV. and the Court of France, vol. ii., p. 48. 
 
K 
 
1660.] Marriage of the King. 147 
 
 Marriage of Mary Mancini. 
 
 to marry Prince Colonna, provided the marriage 
 could take place immediately, and that the car- 
 dinal would, without an hour's delay, write to 
 the king to obtain his consent. The cardinal 
 was rejoiced, and proceeded with energy. The 
 king, without one kind word, gave his cold and 
 indifferent consent. In accordance with the 
 claims of etiquette, he sent her some valuable 
 gifts, which she did not dare to decline. 
 
 " Mary walked to the altar," says Miss Par- 
 doe, to whom we are indebted for many of 
 these details, " as she would have walked to 
 the scaffold, carrying with her an annual dow- 
 er of one hundred thousand livres, and perjur- 
 ing herself by vows which she could not fulfill. 
 Her after career we dare not trace. Suffice it 
 that the ardent and enthusiastic spirit which 
 would, had she been fated to happiness, have 
 made her memory a triumph for her sex, em- 
 bittered by falsehood, wrong, and treachery, 
 involved her in errors over which both charity 
 and propriety oblige us to draw a veil ; and if 
 all Europe rang with the enormity of her ex- 
 cesses, much of their origin may safely be 
 traced to those who, after wringing her heart, 
 trampled it in the dust beneath their feet." 
 
 A few days after the scenes of presentation 
 
148. Louis XIV. [1653. 
 
 Character of Louis XIV. and Maria Theresa. 
 
 at Fontainebleau, the royal pair made their 
 triumphal entry into Paris. In those days of 
 feudal oppression and ignorance, the masses 
 looked up to kings and queens with a degree 
 of superstitious reverence which, in our en- 
 lightened land, seems almost inconceivable. 
 Louis XIV. was a heartless, selfish, pleasure- 
 loving young man of twenty- one, who had 
 never in his life done any thing to merit the 
 especial esteem of any one. Maria Theresa 
 was an amiable and pretty girl, who never 
 dreamed that she had any other function than 
 to indulge in luxuries at the expense of others. 
 Millions were to be impoverished that she and 
 her husband might pass through life reveling 
 in luxury and charioted in splendor. One can 
 not contemplate such a state of things without 
 being agitated by the conflicting emotions of 
 pity for such folly and indignation for such 
 outrages. Louis and Maria Theresa were re- 
 ceived by the populace of Paris with as much 
 reverence and enthusiasm as if they had been 
 angels descending from heaven, fraught with 
 every blessing. 
 
 Scarcely had the morning dawned ere the 
 whole city was in commotion. The streets 
 were thronged with countless thousands in the 
 
1660.] Marriage of the King. 149 
 
 Magnificent ceremonies. 
 
 most brilliant gala dresses. Triumphal arches 
 spanned the thoroughfares through which the 
 royal procession was to pass. Garlands of flow- 
 ers and hangings of brilliantly colored tapestry 
 concealed the fronts of the houses from view. 
 The pavements were strewn with flowers and 
 sweet-scented herbs, over which the wheels of 
 the carriages and the hoofs of the horses would 
 pass without noise. At the barrier a gorgeous 
 throne was erected. Here the young queen 
 was seated in royal state, to receive the hom- 
 age of the several distinguished officers of the 
 city and of the realm. At the close of these 
 ceremonies, which were rendered as imposing 
 as civil and ecclesiastical pomp could create, 
 the apparently interminable procession of car- 
 riages, and horsemen, and footmen, with the 
 most dazzling adornments of caparisons, and 
 uniforms, and banners, with resounding music, 
 and shouts of acclaim which seemed to rend 
 the skies, commenced its entrance into the city. 
 An antique car had been constructed, of 
 massive and picturesque proportions, embla- 
 zoned with gold. Upon this car the young 
 queen was seated. She was, in reality, very 
 beautiful, but in this hour of triumph, with 
 flushed cheek and sparkling eye, robed in the 
 
150 Louis XIV. [1660. 
 
 Festivities continued. 
 
 richest attire, brilliant with gems, and so con- 
 spicuously enthroned as to be visible to every 
 eye, she presented an aspect of almost celestial 
 loveliness. 
 
 The young king rode by her side, magnifi- 
 cently mounted. His garments of velvet, rich- 
 ly embroidered with gold and jewels, had been 
 prepared for the occasion at an expense of con- 
 siderably more than a million of dollars. The 
 splendors of this gala-day were never forgotten 
 by those who witnessed them. 
 
 For succeeding weeks and months the court 
 luxuriated in one continued round of gayety 
 and extravagance. Night after night the mag- 
 nificent saloons of the Louvre and the Tuileries 
 resounded with music, while proud lords and 
 high-born dames trod the floors in the mazy 
 dance, and inflamed their passions with the 
 most costly wines. It can not be denied that 
 a man who is trained from infancy amidst such 
 scenes could acquire elegance of manner which 
 those engrossed in the useful and ennobling 
 employments of life rarely attain. Neither 
 can it be denied that this is as poor a school 
 as can possibly be imagined to prepare one 
 wisely to administer the affairs of a nation of 
 twenty millions of people. In fact, Louis XIY. 
 
1660.] Marriage" of the King. 151 
 
 Revolting state of society. 
 
 never dreamed of consulting the interests of the 
 people. It was his sole object to aggrandize 
 himself by promoting the splendor, the power, 
 and the glory of the monarchy. 
 
 One does well to be angry when he reflects 
 that, to maintain this reckless and utterly use- 
 less extravagance of the king and the court, 
 the millions of the peasantry of France were 
 compelled to live in mud hovels, to wear the 
 coarsest garb, to eat the plainest food, while 
 their wives and their daughters toiled barefoot- 
 ed in the fields. One would think that guilty 
 consciences would often be appalled by the 
 announcement, " Know thou that for all these 
 things God will bring thee into judgment?" 
 
 Though this revolting state of society was 
 the slow growth of time, and though no one 
 there could have regarded this aristocratic op- 
 pression as it is now estimated in the clearer 
 light of the present day, still these outrages, 
 inflicted by the strong upon the weak, by the 
 rich upon the poor, merit the unmitigated con- 
 demnation of men, as they have ever incurred 
 the denunciations of God. 
 
 Cardinal Mazarin, more than any other man 
 in France, was accountable for the enormous 
 luxury of the court, and the squalid misery of 
 
152 Louis £IV. [1660. 
 
 Mazarin guilty of great extortion. Fatal accident. 
 
 the people. He knew better. He was pro- 
 fessedly a disciple of Jesus Christ, and yet a 
 more thorough worldling could hardly have 
 been in Christian or in pagan lands. He was 
 one of the most gigantic robbers of the poor 
 of which history gives any mention. 
 
 In the midst of these festivities, Mazarin de- 
 cided to invite the court to a grand ballet, 
 which should transcend in splendor every thing 
 which Paris had witnessed before. To deco- 
 rate the saloons, a large amount of costly dra- 
 peries were manufactured at Milan. In ar- 
 ranging these tapestries, by some accident they 
 took fire. The flames spread rapidly, utterly 
 destroying the room, with its paintings and 
 its magnificently frescoed roof. The fire was 
 eventually extinguished, but the shock was a 
 death-blow to the cardinal. He was then in 
 feeble health. His attendants conveyed him 
 from the blazing room to the Chateau Mazarin. 
 
 The terror of the scene so aggravated the 
 maladies from which the cardinal had for a 
 long time suffered, that he was prostrated upon 
 his bed, and it soon became evident that his 
 dying horn' was near at hand. There are many 
 indications that the haughty cardinal was tor- 
 tured by the pangs of remorse. He was gen- 
 
1660.] Marriage of the King. 153 
 
 Sufferings of the cardinal. 
 
 erally silent, though extremely dejected. His 
 body was subjected to the most extraordinary 
 convulsions, while inaudible murmurs escaped 
 his lips. 
 
 Count de Brienne, in his memoirs, states 
 that, on one occasion, he entered the chamber 
 of the cardinal on tiptoe, his valet informing 
 him that his eminence was asleep. He found 
 Mazarin bolstered in an arm-chair before the 
 fire, apparently in a profound slumber, " and 
 yet," writes the count, " his body rocked to and 
 fro with the greatest rapidity, from the back 
 of his chair to his knees, now swinging to the 
 right, and again to the left. These movements 
 of the sufferer were as regular and rapid as 
 the vibrations of the pendulum of a clock. At 
 the same time inarticulate murmurs escaped 
 his lips." 
 
 The count, much moved by the wretched 
 spectacle, summoned the attendant, and awoke 
 the cardinal. Mazarin, in awaking, betrayed 
 that troubled state of soul which had thus agi- 
 tated his body. In most melancholy tones, he 
 said, 
 
 " My physician, M. Guenaud, has informed 
 me that I can live but a few days." 
 
 Count de Brienne, wishing to console him, 
 
154 Louis XIV. [1660. 
 
 Oppressive measures of the cardinal. Confession of Mazarin. 
 
 said, " But M. Guenaud is not omniscient. He 
 may be deceived." 
 
 The cardinal, uttering a heavy sigh, exclaim- 
 ed, " Ah ! M. Guenaud well understands his 
 trade." 
 
 Mazarin, as we have mentioned, had ac- 
 quired enormous wealth. The resources of the 
 kingdom had been in his hands. The poor had 
 been oppressed by as terrible a system of tax- 
 ation as human nature could endure and live. 
 With the sums thus extorted, he had not only 
 maintained the army, and supported the vo- 
 luptuousness of the court, but he had also ap- 
 propriated vast sums, without the slightest right 
 to do so, to his own private enrichment. He 
 was now dying. The thought of going to the 
 bar of God with his hands full of this stolen 
 gold tortured him. Constrained by the an- 
 guish of a death-bed, he sent for a Theatine 
 monk to act as his confessor, and to administer, 
 in his last hours, the services of the Church. 
 
 The virtuous monk was quite startled when 
 the cardinal, with pale and trembling lips, in- 
 formed him that he had accumulated a fortune 
 of over forty millions of francs — $8,000,000. 
 Mazarin allowed that he considered it a sin 
 that he had by such means accumulated such 
 
1660.] Marriage of the King. 155 
 
 Advice of M. Colbert. 
 
 vast wealth. His pious confessor boldly de- 
 clared that the cardinal would peril his eternal 
 salvation if he did not, before his death, make 
 restitution of all his ill-gotten gains, reserving 
 only that for which he was indebted to the 
 bounty of the king. 
 
 The dying sinner, trembling in view of the 
 judgment, replied in faltering accents, "In 
 that case I must relinquish all. I have re- 
 ceived nothing from the king. My family 
 must be left in utter beggary." 
 
 The confessor was deeply moved by the as- 
 pect of despair presented by the cardinal. Em- 
 barrassed by the difficulties of the position, he 
 sent for a distinguished member of the court, 
 M. Colbert, to confer with upon the situation. 
 
 The shrewd courtier, after a little delibera- 
 tion, suggested that, as it would be manifestly 
 impossible to restore the money to the differ- 
 ent individuals, scattered all over the realm, 
 from whom it had been gathered in the ordi- 
 nary collection of the taxes, the cardinal should 
 make a transfer of it, as a donation, to the sov- 
 ereign. " The king," added M. Colbert, " will, 
 without any question, annul so generous an act, 
 and restore the property to you. It will then 
 be yours by royal grant." 
 
156 Louis XIV. [1661. 
 
 Suspense of the cardinal. His property restored. 
 
 The cardinal, who had lived, and moved, and 
 had his being in the midst of trickery and in- 
 trigue, highly approved of the suggestion. The 
 papers were immediately made out, transfer- 
 ring the property to the king. It was the 3d 
 of March, 1661. Three days passed, and there 
 was no response of rejection — no recognition 
 of the gift. The cardinal was terror-stricken. 
 As he sat bolstered in his chair, he wrung his 
 hands in agony, often exclaiming, "My poor 
 family ! my poor family ! they will be left 
 without bread." 
 
 At the close of the third day M. Colbert en- 
 tered the dying chamber with a document in 
 his hand, announcing that the king had re- 
 stored to the cardinal all his property, authoriz- 
 ing him to dispose of it as he judged to be best. 
 
 It is scarcely possible that this trickery could 
 have satisfied the conscience of the cardinal. 
 His confessor professed to be satisfied, and 
 granted the dying man that absolution which 
 he had previously withheld. Still Mazarin 
 was extremely reluctant to die. He dressed 
 with the utmost care; painted his wrinkled 
 brow and emaciate cheeks, and resorted to all 
 the appliances of art to maintain the aspect of 
 youth and vigor. But death could not thus be 
 
1661.] Marriage of the King. 157 
 
 Death of Mazarin. 
 
 His immense wealth. 
 
 deceived. The destroying angel on the 9th of 
 March bore his spirit away to the judgment 
 seat of Christ. He died in the Chateau Maz- 
 arin, at the age of fifty-two, having been virtu- 
 ally monarch of France for eighteen years. 
 
 CHATEAU MAZAIU.N. 
 
 It appeared by the will of Mazarin that his 
 property was vastly greater even than the enor- 
 mous sum which he had reluctantly admitted. 
 That portion of it which might be included 
 under the term real estate, consisting of houses, 
 lands, etc., amounted to over fifty millions of 
 francs, while his personal effects, embracing 
 the most costly furniture, diamonds, and other 
 
158 • Louis XIV. [1661. 
 
 Legacies of Mazarin. Views oi' Louis XIV. 
 
 jewels, of which he strictly forbade any inven- 
 tory to be taken, amounted to many millions 
 more. The legacies to his nieces and to other 
 aristocratic friends were truly princely. To 
 the jpoor he left a miserable pittance amount- 
 ing to about twelve hundred dollars. 
 
 The cardinal was a heartless, avaricious man, 
 of but little ability, and yet endowed with a 
 very considerable degree of that cunning which 
 sometimes proves to be temporarily so success- 
 ful in diplomatic intrigues. The king was 
 probably glad to be rid of him, for he could 
 not easily throw off a yoke to which he had 
 been habituated from childhood. During most 
 of the cardinal's illness Louis continued his us- 
 ual round of feasting and dancing. Upon his 
 death he manifested no grief. It seems that 
 he had previously made up his mind no longer 
 to be troubled by a prime minister, but to rule 
 absolutely by his own will. 
 
 Two days before the death of Mazarin, when 
 he was no longer capable of transacting any 
 business, the president of the ecclesiastical as- 
 sembly inquired of the king "to whom he 
 must hereafter address himself on questions of 
 public business." The emphatic and laconic 
 response was, "To myself." 
 
1661.] Festivities of the Court. 159 
 
 Influence and reputation of Mazarin. 
 
 Chapter V. 
 Festivities of the Court. 
 
 CAKDINAL MAZAKIN" was exceedingly 
 unpopular both with the court and the 
 masses of the people. Haughty, domineering, 
 avaricious, there was nothing in his character 
 to win the kindly regards of any one. His 
 death gave occasion to almost universal rejoi- 
 cing. Indeed, it was with some difficulty that 
 the king repressed the unseemly exhibition of 
 this joy on the part of the court. The cardi- 
 nal, as we have mentioned, had been for many 
 years virtually monarch of France. He, in 
 the name of the king, imposed the taxes, ap- 
 point*- . the ministry, issued all orders, and re- 
 ceived all reports. The accountability was so 
 entire to him that the monarch, immersed in 
 pleasure, had but little to do with reference to 
 the affairs of the realm. 
 
 Immediately upon the death of Mazarin, the 
 king summoned to his presence Tellier, minis- 
 ter of War, Lionne, minister of State, and 
 Fouquet, minister of the Treasury. He in- 
 
160 Louis XIV. [1661. 
 
 Character of M. Fouquet. 
 
 formed them that he should continue them in 
 office, but that henceforth he should dispense 
 with the services of a prime minister, and that 
 they would be responsible to him alone. The 
 young king was then twenty-two years of age. 
 He was very poorly educated, had hitherto de- 
 veloped no force of character, and appeared to 
 all to be simply ^ frivolous, pompous, self -con- 
 ceited young marr u± pleasure. 
 
 Fouquet had held the keys of the treasury. 
 When the king needed money he applied to 
 him for a supply. Tbc'"_Jmost invariable re- 
 ply he received was, — «• 
 
 " Sire, the treasury is empty, but his emi- 
 nence will undoubtedly advance to your maj- 
 esty a loan." 
 
 The money came, the king little cared where 
 from while reveling in luxury, and dancing 
 and flirting with the beauties who crowded his 
 court. 
 
 Fouquet was an able bin. '"horoughly unprin- 
 cipled man. He had grown enormously rich 
 by robbing the treasury. The king disliked 
 him. But Fouquet knew that the king could 
 not dispense with his services. He was a mar- 
 velously efficient financier, and well knew how 
 to wrench gold from the hands of the starving 
 
1661.] Festivities of the Court. 161 
 
 Information given by M. Colbert. 
 
 millions. The property lie had acquired by 
 fraud was so great that he often outvied the 
 king in the splendor of his establishments. 
 Conscious of his power, he doubted not that 
 he should still be able to hold the king, in a 
 measure, subject to his control. 
 
 Scarcely had Louis returned from his brief 
 conference with his ministers to his cabinet at 
 the Louvre, ere the secre"' r of the deceased 
 cardinal, M. Colbert, entered, and requested a 
 private audience. He informed the king, to 
 his astonishment a f "d inexpressible delight, 
 that the cardinal had concealed fifteen millions 
 of money (three milliors of dollars) in addition 
 to the sums mentioned in his will ; that it was 
 doubtless his intention that this money should 
 immediately replenish the utterly exhausted 
 treasury of his majesty. 
 
 The king was overjoyed. He could scarce- 
 ly believe the intelligence. Concealing the 
 tidings from Fou^-^et, he speedily and secretly 
 recovered the money from the several places 
 in which it had been deposited. Fifteen mil- 
 lions of francs would be a large sum at any 
 time, but two hundred years ago it was worth 
 three or four times as much as now. Fouquet 
 was utterly bewildered in attempting to imag- 
 L 
 
162 Louis XIV. [1661. 
 
 Appearance of Louis XIV. 
 
 ine where the king had obtained the suras he 
 was so lavishly expending. 
 
 Louis XIV. by nature and by education was 
 excessively fond of the pomp and the punctilios 
 of court etiquette. As this new era of inde- 
 pendence dawned upon him, it was his first 
 and most anxious object to regulate even to 
 the minutest details the ceremonies of the 
 court. He was of middling stature. High- 
 heeled shoes added between two and three 
 inches to his height. His hair was very fine 
 and abundant, and he wore it long, in masses 
 of ringlets upon his shoulders. Deep blue 
 eyes, a fair complexion, and well moulded feat- 
 ures formed an unusually handsome counte- 
 nance. He was stately in his movements, 
 pompous in his utterance, and every word of 
 every sentence was pronounced slowly and 
 with distinct enunciation, as if an oracle were 
 giving out its responses. 
 
 There was no resemblance morally, intel- 
 lectually, or physically between the king and 
 his only brother Philip. They did not love 
 each other. During their whole lives there 
 had been one perpetual struggle on the part of 
 the king to domineer over his brother, and on 
 the part of Philip to resist that domination. 
 
1661.] Festivities of the Court. 163 
 
 Charles II., King of England, and family. 
 
 Philip was gentle in disposition, effeminate in 
 manners, and, though a voluptuary in his tastes, 
 a man of chivalric courage. As Duke of Or- 
 leans he had large wealth, many retainers, and 
 feudal privileges, which invested him with pow- 
 er which even the king was compelled to re- 
 spect. 
 
 Charles II. was now King of England. The 
 whole nation had apparently received him with 
 exultation. Suddenly, from being a penniless 
 and crownless wanderer, he had become a sov- 
 ereign, second in rank and power to no other 
 sovereign in Europe. His mother Henrietta, 
 his widowed sister the Princess of Orange, and 
 his younger sister Henrietta, of course, shared 
 in the prosperity and elevation of Charles. 
 They were no longer pensioners upon the char- 
 ity of their French relatives, but composed the 
 royal family of the British court. 
 
 It will be remembered how cruelly Louis 
 treated his young cousin in the ball-room in 
 the days of her adversity. Charles in those 
 days had solicited of Mazarin the hand of his 
 niece, Mary Mancini. But the proud cardinal 
 promptly rejected the offer of a wandering 
 prince, without purse or crown. Yery soon 
 after Charles II. ascended the throne of En- 
 
164 Louis XIV. [1661. 
 
 The Princess Henrietta. Marriage of Philip. 
 
 gland, Mazarin hastened to inform him that 
 he was ready to confer upon him his niece. 
 Charles, a profligate fellow, declined the prof- 
 fered alliance, to the great chagrin of the 
 haughty cardinal. 
 
 Prosperity is sometimes a great beautifier. 
 The young Princess Henrietta, upon whom the 
 sun of prosperity was now shining in all its 
 effulgence, seemed like a new being, radiantly 
 lovely and self-reliant. Philip fell desperately 
 in love with her. With a form of exquisite 
 symmetry, with the fairest complexion and 
 lovely features, she suddenly found herself the 
 sister of a monarch, transformed into the prin- 
 cipal ornament, almost the central attraction, 
 of the court. She went to England to attend 
 the coronation of her brother. She then re- 
 turned to Paris. On the 31st of March, 1661, 
 she was married to Philip in the Palais Royal, 
 in the presence of the royal family and the 
 prominent members of the court. 
 
 A few weeks after this the whole court re- 
 moved to Fontainebleau. Here a month was 
 spent in an incessant round of festivities. The 
 fickle king, as soon as his brother had married 
 Henrietta, saw in her new personal beauty and 
 mental charms. It is not improbable that she 
 
1661.] Festivities of the Court. 165 
 
 Fascinations of Henrietta. Grief of Maria Theresa. 
 
 almost unconsciously, in order to avenge the 
 past neglect of the king, had studied all court- 
 ly graces, all endearments of manner, all con- 
 versational charms, that she might eompel the 
 king to do justice to the fascinations of person 
 and character with which she was conscious 
 of being richly endowed. Unhappily, she was 
 triumphantly successful ; perhaps far more so 
 than she had intended. The changeful and 
 susceptible king became completely entranced. 
 He was continually by her side, exasperating 
 Philip by his gallantry, and keenly wounding 
 the feelings of his young queen. 
 
 The marriage of the king with Maria The- 
 resa had been merely a matter of state policy. 
 The connection had not been inspired by any 
 ardent affection on either side. Though the 
 king treated her with great politeness as the 
 Queen of France, her enthusiastic nature claim- 
 ed a warmer sentiment from her young hus- 
 band. When she saw the attentions to which 
 she was entitled lavished upon Henrietta, the 
 wife of his brother, her affectionate heart was 
 chilled. She became reserved, wept, sought re- 
 tirement, withdrawing from all those gayeties 
 in which her husband attracted the attention 
 of the whole court by his undisguised admira- 
 
166 Louis XIV. [1661. 
 
 The queen-mother appealed to. Mademoiselle de la Valliere. 
 
 tion for Henrietta. At last her secret anguish 
 so far overcame her that she threw herself, 
 trembling and in tears, at the feet of Anne of 
 Austria, and confided to her the grief of her 
 heart. 
 
 The queen-mother could not have been sur- 
 prised at this avowal. Her eyes were open to 
 that which all the court beheld ; and, besides, 
 Philip had already complained to his mother 
 that Louis was endeavoring to rob him of the 
 love of his bride. The remonstrances of the 
 queen-mother were of no avail. The selfish 
 king, ever seeking only his own pleasure, cared 
 little for the wreck of the happiness of others. 
 He devoted himself with increasing assiduity 
 to the society of Henrietta, frequently held his 
 court in her apartments, and instituted a series 
 of magnificent fetes in her honor. 
 
 Philip, then Duke of Orleans, and in the en- 
 joyment of magnificent revenues and of much 
 independent feudal power as brother of the 
 king, was designated in the court as Monsieur. 
 There was at that time in the court a young 
 lady, one of Henrietta's maids of honor, Mad- 
 emoiselle de la Valliere. Her romantic ca- 
 reer, which subsequently rendered her famous 
 throughout Europe, merits a brief digression. 
 
1661.] Festivities of the Court. 167 
 
 Visit to the palace of Blois. Fascination of Louis. 
 
 Louise Frangoise, daughter of the Marquis 
 de la Valliere, was born at Tours in the year 
 1644. She was, consequently, seventeen years 
 of age at the time of which we write. Her 
 father died in her infancy. Her mother, left 
 with an illustrious name and a small income, 
 took for a second husband a member of the 
 court, Gaston,' duke of Orleans, to whom we 
 have previously alluded, who was brother of 
 Louis XIII. and uncle of the king. He re- 
 sided at Blois. 
 
 As the king and court were on their way to 
 the frontiers of Spain for the marriage of Louis 
 with Maria Theresa, it will be remembered that 
 he stopped for a short visit to his uncle at his 
 magnificent palace of Blois. This grand castle, 
 with its gorgeous architectural magnificence, 
 its shaded parks and blooming gardens, was to 
 Louise and her many companions an earthly 
 paradise. Here, in an incessant round of pleas- 
 ures, she had passed her girlhood. 
 
 The sight of the young monarch, so graceful 
 in figure, so-'handsome in features, so marvel- 
 ously courteous in bearing, aroused all the en- 
 thusiasm of the susceptible young maiden of 
 sixteen. He was her sovereign, as well as to 
 her eyes the most fascinating specimen of a 
 
168 Louis XIV. [1661. 
 
 Louise captivated. Festivities at Fontamebleau. 
 
 man. She felt as though she were gazing 
 upon a superior, almost a celestial being. She 
 dreamed not of having fallen in love with him. 
 . The feeling of admiration, and almost of ado- 
 ration, was altogether too elevated for earthly 
 passion. In the presence of the king she was 
 but an obscure child. In the crowded assem- 
 blage of wealth, and rank, and beauty which 
 greeted the king at Blois, Louise was unnoticed. 
 The king went on his way, leaving an impres- 
 sion on the heart of the young girl which could 
 never be effaced. She thought it would be 
 heaven to live in his presence, to watch his 
 movements, to listen to his words, even though 
 no word were addressed to her. 
 
 Soon after this the Duke of Orleans died. 
 His court was broken up. Louise was appoint- 
 ed to a place as one of the maids of honor of 
 the Princess Henrietta. She joined the court 
 of Madame in Paris just before their depart- 
 ure for Fontainebleau, to which place, of course, 
 she accompanied them. 
 
 Here, in the midst of scenes of most brilliant 
 festivities, Louise feasted her eyes with the sight 
 of the king. Louis was exceedingly fond of ex- 
 hibiting his grace as a dancer. Among these 
 entertainments, the king took part in a ballet 
 
1661.] Festivities op the Court. 169 
 
 Discussion of the court ladies. 
 
 with Henrietta, he, in very picturesque dress, 
 representing the goddess Ceres. At the close 
 ' of the ballet, Louise, bewildered by the scene, 
 and oppressed by inexplicable emotions, pro- 
 posed to three of her lady companions that 
 they should take a short walk into the dim 
 recesses of the forest. It was a brilliant night, 
 and the cool breeze fanned their fevered cheeks. 
 As the four young ladies retired, one of the 
 companions of the king laughingly suggested 
 to him that they should follow them, and learn 
 the secret of their hearts. 
 
 The ladies seated themselves at the foot of 
 a large tree, where they began to discuss the 
 scenes and actors of the evening. The king 
 and his companion, concealed at a short dis- 
 tance, heard every word they uttered. Louise 
 was for a time silent, but, being appealed to 
 upon some subject, with very emphatic utter- 
 ance remarked that she wondered that they 
 could see any body, or think of any body but 
 the king, when he was present. Upon her 
 companions rallying her for being so much 
 carried away by the splendors of royalty, she 
 declared " that it was not the king, as a king, 
 who excited her admiration, but it was Louis, 
 as the most perfect of men ; that his crown 
 
170 Louis XIV. [1661. 
 
 Vexation of Louise. Discovery by Louis. 
 
 added nothing to his splendor of person or 
 mind." 
 
 The king could not see the speaker; he. 
 could only hear her enthusiastic and impas- 
 sioned voice. The parties returned to the 
 chateau. Louise was very much chagrined 
 that she should have allowed herself so impru- 
 dently to express her feelings. She knew that 
 the conversation would be repeated, and feared 
 that she should become a subject of ridicule 
 for the whole court. In the interesting ac- 
 count which she gives of these events in her 
 autobiography, she says that she retired to her 
 room and wept bitterly. 
 
 The next morning Louise repaired to the 
 apartments of Henrietta. She was surround- 
 ed by her suite of ladies. The king was al- 
 ready there. As, with his accustomed gallant- 
 ry, he passed down the room addressing a few 
 words to each, he approached Louise. Her 
 heart throbbed violently. He had never spoken 
 to her before. 
 
 In response to his question, "And what did 
 you think of the ballet last night ?" she, great- 
 ly agitated, attempted an answer. The king 
 observed her confusion, and instantly recog- 
 nized her voice. It was the same which he 
 
1661.] Festivities of the Court. 171 
 
 Louis and Mademoiselle de Valliere. 
 
 had heard the evening before in the forest ex- 
 pressing such enthusiastic admiration for his 
 person. The king started, and fixed his eyes 
 so intently upon her as to increase her embar- 
 rassment and attract the observation of all 
 around. With a profound bow the king passed 
 on, but again and again was seen to turn his 
 eyes to the blushing girl. From that time 
 Mademoiselle de la Valliere became the ob- 
 ject of the marked and flattering attention of 
 the king. 
 
 The unaffected timidity and modesty of her 
 demeanor, her brilliant complexion, large and 
 languishing blue eyes, and profusion of flaxen 
 hair, were enough of themselves to excite the 
 admiration of one so enamored of beauty as 
 was Louis XIV. But, in addition to this, the 
 self-love of Louis was gratified by the assurance 
 that Louise admired him for his personal qual- 
 ities, and not merely for his kingly crown. 
 As the king was well aware of the gossip with 
 which the court was filled in view of his de- 
 votion to Madame Henrietta, he perhaps deem- 
 ed it expedient, by special attention to Louise, 
 to divert the current of thought and conversa- 
 tion. 
 
 A few days after this a great hunt took place 
 
172 Lou is XIV. [1661. 
 
 Sudden interruption of festivities. 
 
 in the park. It was a hot summer's day. At 
 the close of the hunt a table was spread load- 
 ed with delicacies. As the king and the cour- 
 tiers, in the keenest enjoyment of the merry 
 scene, were partaking of the sumptuous repast, 
 almost unobserved a thunder-cloud arose, and 
 there descended upon them a flood of rain so 
 deluging that the company scattered in all di- 
 rections for shelter. Louise running, she knew 
 not where, soon found the king by her side. 
 Politely taking her by the hand, he hurried 
 her to a large tree, whose dense canopy of 
 leaves promised some protection from the 
 shower. There they stood, the young and 
 handsome king, the beautiful maiden, the rain 
 falling upon them in floods. It is interesting 
 to record that the homage which rank paid to 
 beauty was such that the king stood bare- 
 headed, with his plumed hat in his hand, en- 
 gaged during the hour the rain descended in 
 animated conversation. After tliis it was ob- 
 served that in the evening drives in the park 
 he would ride on horseback for a short time 
 by the carriage of the queen, or of the Prin- 
 cess Henrietta, and would then gallop to the 
 coach of Louise. 
 
 He soon commenced a daily correspondence 
 
1661.] Festivities of the Court. 173 
 
 Attentions of Louis. Anecdote. 
 
 with her. Louis was by no means a well-ed- 
 ucated man. In fact, he might be almost re- 
 garded as illiterate ; but his letters were writ- 
 ten with so much delicacy of sentiment and 
 elegance of expression, that Louise was embar- 
 rassed in knowing how to return suitable re- 
 plies. She was mortified at the thought of 
 having her awkward letters compared with the 
 elegant epistles which she received. In her 
 embarrassment, she applied to the Marquis of 
 Dangeau, a man of superior talents and cul- 
 ture, to write her responses for her. 
 
 Louise was a very noble girl, frank, sincere, 
 confiding. On one occasion, when the king 
 was complimenting her upon the rare beauty 
 of her letters, the artless child confessed that 
 she was not the author of them, but that they 
 were written by the Marquis of Dangeau. 
 The king smiled, and had the grace to admit 
 that his letters to her were written by the same 
 individual ! 
 
 It had become a common entertainment of 
 the court to put up in a lottery some beautiful 
 article of jewelry. On one occasion the king 
 drew a very costly pair of bracelets. All were 
 looking with some curiosity to see to whom he 
 would present them. Pausing for a moment, 
 
174 Louis XIV. [1661. 
 
 The lottery and the bracelets. The palace of Vaux. 
 
 the king admiringly contemplated the spark- 
 ling gems, and then, threading his way through 
 the throng of ladies, advanced to Mademoiselle 
 de la Yalliere, who stood a little apart, and 
 placed them in her hands. Henrietta turned 
 pale, and bit her lip with vexation. The queen, 
 Maria Theresa, looked on with a marble smile, 
 which revealed nothing of her feelings. Louise 
 was embarrassed, but with admirable tact she 
 assumed that the king had merely presented 
 them to her for inspection. After carefully 
 examining them, she handed them back to him, 
 saying, with a courtesy, " They are indeed very 
 beautiful." Louis, instead of receiving them, 
 said, with a stately bow, " In that case, made- 
 moiselle, they are in hands too fair to resign 
 them," and returned to his seat. 
 
 As we have mentioned, the minister of the 
 treasury was rolling in ill-gotten wealth. His 
 palace of Yaux,* upon which he had expended 
 fifteen millions of francs, eclipsed in splendor 
 
 * The chateau of Vaux was a spacious and magnificent 
 palace in the small village of Maincy, about three miles from 
 Melun. M. Fouquet purchased it, and expended enormous 
 sums in enlarging the buildings, ornamenting the gardens, 
 and decorating the walls with paintings. His expenditures 
 were so lavish that the chateau exceeded in magnificence 
 any of the royal palaces. 
 
1661.] Festivities of the Court. 175 
 
 Splendor of the palace. Rebuke of Louis. 
 
 the royal palaces of Fontainebleau and Saint 
 Germain. The king disliked him as a man. 
 He knew very well that he was robbing the 
 treasury, and it was annoying to have a sub- 
 ject live in state surpassing that of the sover- 
 eign. M. Fouquet very imprudently invited 
 Louis and all his court to a magnificent fete 
 at his chateau. All the notabilities of France 
 were bidden to this princely festival, which the 
 minister resolved should surpass, in splendor, 
 any thing that France had hitherto witnessed. 
 
 The king, with an imposing escort, reached 
 the gates of the chateau. Fouquet- met him 
 there, and conducted him and all the court, 
 first, to the park. Here a spectacle of splen- 
 dor presented itself which astonished the king. 
 Notwithstanding all he had heard of the gor- 
 geousness of his minister's palace, he was still 
 not prepared for such a scene of luxury and 
 enchantment. Instead of being gratified, he 
 turned to Fouquet, and said to him bitterly, 
 
 " I shall never again, sir, venture to invite 
 you to visit me. You would find yourself in- 
 convenienced." 
 
 Fouquet felt the keen rebuke. For a mo- 
 ment he turned pale. He soon, however, ral- 
 lied, and did all in his power to gratify his 
 
176 
 
 Louis XIV. 
 
 [1661. 
 
 Magnificent scenes. 
 
 Continued festivities. 
 
 guests by the gorgeous spectacles and sumptu- 
 ous entertainments of his more than regal 
 Home. The king, led by his host, passed 
 through all the apartments of the chateau, and 
 acknowledged that in its interior adornings 
 there was not probably another edifice in Eu- 
 rope which could equal it in magnificence. 
 
 CHATEAU DE VATTX. 
 
 In the evening there was a ball in the grand 
 saloon of the castle. The king having danced 
 several times with Louise, she became fatigued, 
 and expressed the desire to leave, for a short 
 time, the heated room. Louis drew her arm 
 
1661.] Festivities of the Court. 177 
 
 Significant motto. Fouquet in danger. 
 
 through his own, and, conducting her through 
 the magnificent suite of apartments, which had 
 already excited his displeasure, pointed out to 
 her the armorial bearings of the proud minis- 
 ter, which were conspicuous in every room. 
 The shield represented a squirrel ascending 
 the topmost branches of a tree, with the motto 
 " quo non ascendam." 
 
 Neither the king nor his fair companion un- 
 derstood Latin. Just then the kind's secretarv, 
 M. Colbert, entered. He hated Fouquet. He 
 had already detected the minister in many fal- 
 sifications of the treasury accounts, and had 
 explained the robbery to the king. Louis had 
 been for some time contemplating the arrest 
 of Fouquet, but hardly dared, as yet, to strike 
 one so powerful. 
 
 As M. Colbert entered, Louise inquired of 
 him the significance of the motto. 
 
 "It signifies," he replied, "to what height 
 may I not attain, and this significance is well 
 understood by those who know the boldness of 
 the squirrel or that of his master." 
 
 Just at that moment another courtier came 
 up, who remarked, " Your majesty has proba- 
 bly not observed that in every instance the 
 squirrel is pursued by a serpent." 
 M 
 
178 Louis XIV. [1661. 
 
 Intervention of Louise. M. Fouquet imprisoned. 
 
 The king turned pale with anger, and order- 
 ed the captain of his musketeers to attend him. 
 Louise understood full well what this meant. 
 She threw herself at his feet, and entreated 
 him not to sully his reputation by arresting a 
 man whose guest he was, and who was enter- 
 taining him and his court with the highest hon- 
 ors. "With the greatest difficulty, the king was 
 dissuaded from immediate action. For a time 
 he smothered his vengeance, and the court re- 
 turned to Fontainebleau. 
 
 The king's displeasure not only remained 
 unabated, but increased with added evidence 
 of the pride, display, and fraudulent transac- 
 tions of his minister. At length he ordered 
 him to be secretly arrested, conveyed in close 
 confinement to Angers, while a seal was placed 
 on all his property. But for the interposition 
 of the kind-hearted Louise, the degraded min- 
 ister would have lost his life. It was easy for 
 the king, immersed in pleasure, to forget the 
 miserable. M. Fouquet was left in his impris- 
 onment, almost as entirely lost to the world 
 as if he had been consigned to the oubliettes 
 of the Bastile. 
 
 Soon after this, the 1st of November, 1661, 
 Maria Theresa gave birth to a dauphin. Louis 
 
1661.] Festivities of the Couet. 179 
 
 Continued gayety at court. 
 
 was greatly elated. Still, the pride which he 
 took in the child as the heir to the throne did 
 not secure for his neglected wife any more ten- 
 derness of regard. He treated her with great 
 courtesy, while his affections were vibrating 
 between Henrietta and Louise. Every thing 
 seemed to combine to magnify the power of 
 the king. Still, the pleasure-loving monarch, 
 while apparently wholly resigning himself to 
 the career of a voluptuary, was with instinctive 
 sagacity striving to undermine the resources of 
 the haughty nobility, and to render his own 
 court the most magnificent in Europe. 
 
 For several months the court continued im- 
 mersed in gayety. Dancing, in all variety of 
 costumes, was the great amusement of the king. 
 There were balls every evening. Mademoi- 
 selle de la Yalliere became more and more the 
 object of the marked attentions of Louis. All 
 his energies seemed absorbed in the small-talk 
 of gallantry ; still there were occasional indica- 
 tions that there were latent forces in the mind 
 of the king which events might yet develop. 
 
 One evening the king was attending a bril- 
 liant, ball in the apartments of Henrietta. As 
 he was earnestly engaged in conversation with 
 the beautiful Louise, some important dispatches 
 
180 Louis XIV. [1662. 
 
 Important dispatches. The king's orders. 
 
 were placed in liis hands. He seated himself 
 at a table to examine them. Many eyes watch- 
 ed his countenance as he silently perused the 
 documents. It was observed at one moment 
 that he turned deadly pale, and bit his lip with 
 vexation. Having read the dispatches to the 
 end, he angrily crushed them in his hand, and 
 said to several of the officers of the court who 
 were around him, 
 
 " Our embassador in London has been pub- 
 licly insulted by the Spanish embassador." 
 Then turning to M. Tellier, the Minister of 
 War, he said, " Let my embassador at Madrid 
 leave that city immediately. Order the Span- 
 ish envoy to quit Paris within twenty-four 
 hours. The conferences at Flanders are at an 
 end. Unless Spain publicly recognizes the 
 superiority of our crown, she may prepare for 
 a renewal of the war." 
 
 These orders of the king created general 
 consternation. It was virtually inaugurating 
 another war, with all its untold horrors. M. 
 Tellier seemed thunderstruck. The king, per- 
 ceiving his hesitation, said to him imperiously, 
 
 "Do you not understand my orders? I 
 wish you immediately to assemble the council. 
 I will meet them in an hour." 
 
1662.] Festivities of the Court. 181 
 
 Relationship of the French and Spanish courts. 
 
 The king then returned to the ladies, and 
 entered into trifling small-talk with them, as 
 if nothing of moment had occurred. 
 
 It seems that a dispute had arisen in London 
 between the French and Spanish embassadors 
 upon the point of precedence. This had led 
 to a bloody rencounter in the streets between 
 the retinues of the two ministers. The French 
 were worsted. The Spaniards gained the con- 
 tested point. 
 
 The King of Spain was the brother of Anne 
 of Austria. His first wife, the mother of Maria 
 Theresa, was sister of Louis XIII., and conse- 
 quently aunt of Louis XIV. Thus there was 
 a peculiar bond of relationship between the 
 French and Spanish courts. Still Louis was 
 unrelenting in the vigorous action upon which 
 he had entered. In addition to the hostile 
 measures already adopted, a special messenger 
 was sent to Philip IV. to inform him that, un- 
 less he immediately recognized the supremacy 
 of the French court, and made a formal apolo- 
 gy for the insult offered the French minister, 
 war would ensue. The Spanish king, unwill- 
 ing, for so trivial a cause, to involve the two 
 nations in a bloody conflict, very magnanimous- 
 ly yielded to the requirements demanded by 
 
182 Louis XIV. [1662. 
 
 The apology of Philip IV. Conduct of M. Crequi. 
 
 the hot blood and wounded pride of his son- 
 in-law. In the presence of all the foreign min- 
 isters and the assembled court at Fontaine- 
 bleau, the Spanish embassador made a humble 
 apology, and declared that never again should 
 the precedence of the embassador of France 
 be denied. 
 
 A very similar difficulty occurred a short 
 time after at Rome. The French embassador 
 there, the Duke of Crequi, an old feudal noble, 
 accompanied by troops of retainers armed to 
 the teeth, had, by his haughty bearing, become 
 extremely unpopular both with the court and 
 the people of Rome. The myrmidons of the 
 duke were continually engaged in night-brawls 
 with the police. On one occasion they even 
 attacked, sword in hand, the Pope's guard, and 
 put them to flight. The brother of Pope Alex- 
 ander V1L, who hated Crequi, instigated the 
 guard to take revenge. In an infuriated mob, 
 they surrounded the palace of the embassador, 
 and fired upon his carriage as it entered his 
 court -yard. A page was killed, and several 
 other attendants wounded. Crequi immediate- 
 ly left the city, accusing the Pope of instigating 
 the outrage. 
 
 Louis XIV. demanded reparation, and the 
 
1662.] Festivities of the Court. 183 
 
 The Pope humbled. 
 
 most humble apology. The proud Pope was 
 not disposed to yield to his insolent demands. 
 Affairs assumed so threatening an aspect, that 
 the Pope ordered two of the guard, one an of- 
 ficer, to be hung, and the Mayor of Rome, who 
 was accused of having instigated the outrage, 
 to be banished. This concession, however, by 
 no means satisfied the irascible Louis. He 
 commenced landing troops in Italy, threaten- 
 ing to besiege Rome. The Pope appealed to 
 the Roman Catholic princes of Germany for 
 aid. They could not come to his rescue, for 
 they were threatened with war by the Turks. 
 The unhappy Pope was thus brought upon his 
 knees. He was compelled to banish from 
 Rome his own brother, Don Mario Chigi, and 
 to send an embassador to Paris with the most 
 humble apology. 
 
 These events were but slight episodes in the 
 gay life of the pleasure-loving king. He was 
 still reveling in an incessant round of feasting 
 and dancing, flitting with his gay court from 
 one to another of his metropolitan and rural 
 palaces. 
 
 There are few so stern as not to feel emo- 
 tions of sympathy rather than of condemna- 
 tion for Louise de la Valliere. She was a 
 
184 Louis XIV. [1662. 
 
 Remorse of De laValliere. Illness of Anne of Austria. 
 
 child of seventeen, exposed to all the fascina- 
 tions and temptations of the most luxurious 
 court then upon the globe. But God has im- 
 planted in every bosom a sense of right and 
 wrong. She wept bitterly over her fall. Her 
 remorse was so great that she withdrew as far 
 as possible from society, and the anguish of 
 her repentance greatly embarrassed her royal 
 lover. 
 
 Henrietta was greatly annoyed at the pref- 
 erence which the king had shown for Louise 
 over herself. She determined to drive the un- 
 fortunate favorite from the court. Anne of 
 Austria, with increasing years, was growing 
 oblivious of her own youthful indiscretions, 
 and was daily becoming more stern in her 
 judgments. A cancer had commenced its se- 
 cret ravages upon her person. Its progress no 
 medical skill could arrest. She tried to con- 
 ceal the terrible secret which was threatening 
 her with the most loathsome and distressing 
 of deaths. In this mood of mind the haughty 
 queen sent for the weeping Louise to her room. 
 Trembling in every nerve, the affrighted child 
 attended the summons. She found Anne of 
 Austria with Henrietta by her side. The 
 queen, without assigning any cause, sternly in- 
 
1662.] Festivities of the Coukt. 185 
 
 Trials of Mademoiselle de la Valliere. 
 
 formed her that she was banished from the 
 court of France, and that suitable attendants 
 would immediately convey her to a distant 
 castle. Upon Louise attempting to make 
 some inquiry why she was thus punished, the 
 haughty queen sternly interrupted her with 
 the reply "that France could not have two 
 queens." 
 
 Louise staggered back to her room over- 
 whelmed with despair. Both God and man 
 will declare that, whatever fault there might 
 have been in the relations then existing be- 
 tween the king and this unprotected girl, the 
 censure should have rested a thousand fold 
 more heavily upon the king than upon his vic- 
 tim. And yet Louise was to be driven in ig- 
 nominy from the court, to enter into a deso- 
 lated world utterly ruined. Through the re- 
 mainder of the day no one entered her apart- 
 ment. She spent the hours in tears and in the 
 fever of despair. In the evening Louis him- 
 self came to her room and found her exhaust- 
 ed with weeping. He endeavored to ascertain 
 the cause of her overwhelming distress. She, 
 unwilling to be the occasion of an irreconcila- 
 ble feud between the mother and the son, 
 evaded all his inquiries. He resorted to en- 
 
186 Louis XIV. [1662. 
 
 Disappointment. Flight of Mademoiselle de laValliere. 
 
 treaties, reproaches, threats, but in vain. Irri- 
 tated by her pertinacious refusal, he suddenly 
 left her without speaking a word of adieu. 
 
 Louise seemed now truly to be alone in the 
 world, without a single friend left her. But 
 she then recalled to mind that she had former- 
 ly entered into an agreement with the king 
 that, in case of any misunderstanding arising 
 between them, a night should not pass without 
 an attempt at reconciliation. A new hope 
 arose in her mind that the king would either 
 return, or send her a note to inform her that 
 his anger no longer continued. 
 
 " And so she waited and watched, and count- 
 ed every hour as it was proclaimed from the 
 belfry of the palace. But she waited and 
 watched in vain. When at length, after this 
 long and weary night, the daylight streamed 
 through the silken curtains of her chamber, 
 she threw herself upon her knees, and praying 
 that God would not cast away the victim who 
 was thus rejected by the world, she hastened, 
 with a burning cheek and a tearless eye, to 
 collect a few necessary articles of clothing, and 
 throwing on her veil and mantle, rushed down 
 a private staircase and escaped into the street. 
 In this distracted state of mind she pursued 
 
1662.] Festivities of the Couet. 187 
 
 Seeks admission to the convent, and is denied. 
 
 her way to Chaillot,* and reached the convent 
 of the Sisters of St. Mary, where she was de- 
 tained some time in the parlor. At length 
 the grating was opened and a portress appear- 
 ed. On her request to be admitted to the ab- 
 bess, she informed her that the community 
 were all at their devotions, and could not see 
 any one. 
 
 "It was in vain that the poor fugitive en- 
 treated and asserted her intention of taking 
 the vows. She could extort no other answer, 
 and the portress withdrew, leaving her sitting 
 on a wooden bench desolate, heart-sick. For 
 two hours she remained motionless, with her 
 eyes fixed upon the grating, but it continued 
 closed. Even the dreary refuge of this poor 
 and obscure convent was denied her. Even 
 the house of religion had barred its doors 
 against her. She could bear up no longer. 
 From the previous evening she had not tasted 
 food, and the fatigue of body and anguish of 
 
 * Chaillot was a village on the banks of the Seine, about 
 a mile and a half from the Tnileries, near the present bridge 
 of Jena. The nuns of the order of St. Mary had a celebra- 
 ted, convent here, where persecuted grandeur often sought an 
 asylum. Within the walls of this convent the widowed 
 queen of Charles I. and daughter of Henry IV. died in the 
 year 1669. 
 
188 Louis XIV. [1662. 
 
 Reproaches of the queen-mother. Fury of Louis. 
 
 mind which she had undergone, combined with 
 this unaccustomed fast, had exhausted her 
 slight remains of strength. A sullen torpor 
 gradually overcame her faculties, and eventu- 
 ally she fell upon the paved floor cold and in- 
 sensible."* 
 
 The king had probably passed a very un- 
 comfortable night. Early in the morning he 
 learned that Louise had disappeared. Much 
 alarmed, he hastened to the apartments of 
 Madame Henrietta in the Tuileries. She un- 
 feelingly expressed entire ignorance of the 
 movements of Mademoiselle de la Valliere. 
 He immediately repaired to the rooms of his 
 mother. She was unable to give him any in- 
 formation respecting the lost favorite. Bitter- 
 ly, however, she reproached her son with his 
 want of self-control in allowing himself to 
 cherish so strong an attachment to Mademoi- 
 selle de la Valliere. She accused him of hav- 
 ing no mastery over himself. 
 
 The king's eyes flashed with indignation. 
 He was fully convinced that his mother was 
 in some way the cause of the departure of 
 Louise. Angrily he replied, 
 
 " It may be so that I do not know how to 
 
 * Louis XIV. and the Court of France, vol. ii., p. 125. 
 
1962.]Festivities of the Court. 189 
 
 Power of Louis over Mademoiselle de la Valliere. 
 
 •control myself, but I will at least prove that I 
 know how to control those who offend me." 
 
 Turning upon his heel, he left the apartment. 
 By some means he obtained a clew to the re- 
 treat of Louise. Mounting his horse, accom- 
 panied by a single page, he galloped to the con- 
 vent of Chaillot. As there had been no warn- 
 ing of his approach, the grating still remained 
 closed. He arrived just after the poor girl 
 had fallen from the wooden bench upon the 
 tesselated floor of the cold and cheerless ante- 
 room. Her beautiful form lay apparently life- 
 less before him. Tears fell profusely from his 
 eyes. He chafed her hands and temples. In 
 endearing terms he entreated her to awake. 
 Gradually she revived. Frankly she related 
 the cause of her departure, and entreated him 
 to permit her to spend the remainder of her sad- 
 dened life buried in the cloisters of the convent. 
 
 The king insisted, with all his authority as a 
 monarch, and with all his persuasive influence 
 as a man, that Louise should return with him 
 to the Louvre. He was inspired with the dou- 
 ble passion of love for her, and anger against 
 those who had driven her from his court. 
 Louise, saddened in heart and crushed in spirit, 
 with great reluctance at last yielded to his 
 
190 Louis XIV. [16(33. 
 
 Return of Mademoiselle de la Valliere to the court. Reinstated. 
 
 pleadings. The page was dispatched for a car- 
 riage. Seated by the side of the king, Made- 
 moiselle de la Valliere returned to the palace, 
 from which she supposed a few hours before 
 she had departed forever. Louis immediately 
 repaired to the apartment of Madame Henri- 
 etta, and so imperiously insisted that Louise 
 should be restored to her place as one of her 
 maids of honor, that his sister-in-law dared not 
 refuse. The influence of Anne of Austria was 
 now nearly at an end. She was dying of slow 
 disease, and, notwithstanding all her efforts to 
 conceal the loathsome malady which was de- 
 vouring her, she was compelled to spend most of 
 her time in the seclusion of her own chamber. 
 Louis XIV., in the exercise of absolute pow- 
 er, with all the court bowing before him in the 
 most abject homage, had gradually begun to 
 regard himself almost as a God. He had nev- 
 er recovered from the mortification which he 
 had experienced at the palace of Vaux, in find- 
 ing a subject living in splendor which outvied 
 that of the crown. He determined to rear a 
 palace of such extraordinary magnificence that 
 no subject, whatever might be his resources, 
 could equal it. For some time he had been 
 looking around for the site of the building. 
 
1663.]Festivities of the Couet. 191 
 
 Resolve of Louis. "Versailles. 
 
 which he had resolved should, like the Pyra- 
 mids, be a monument of his reign, and excite 
 the wonder and admiration of future ages. 
 
 About twelve miles from Paris there was a 
 little village of Versailles, surrounded by an 
 immense forest, whose solemn depths frequent- 
 ly resounded with the baying of the hounds 
 of hunting-parties, as the gayly dressed court 
 swept through the glades. 
 
 On one occasion, Louis XIV., in the eager- 
 ness of the chase, became separated from most 
 of the rest of the party. Night coming on, he 
 was compelled, and the few companions with 
 him, to take refuge in a windmill, where they 
 remained till morning. The mill was erected 
 upon the highest point of ground. The king 
 caused a small pavilion to be erected there for 
 his accommodation, should he again chance to 
 be overtaken by night or a storm. Pleased 
 with the position, the king ere long removed 
 the pavilion, and ordered his architect, Lemer- 
 cier, to erect upon the spot an elegant chateau 
 according to his own taste. A landscape gar- 
 dener was also employed to ornament the 
 grounds. The region soon was embellished with 
 such loveliness as to charm every beholder. 
 It became the favorite rural resort of the kinsr. 
 
192 Louis XIV. [1664. 
 
 Extravagance of the king. 
 
 The chateau and its grounds soon witnessed 
 a series of festivities, the fame of which re- 
 sounded through all Europe. Republican 
 America will ponder the fact, which the aris- 
 tocratic courts of Europe ignored, that these 
 entertainments of boundless extravagance were 
 at the expense of the overtaxed and starving 
 people. That king and courtiers might riot in 
 luxury, the wives and daughters of peasants 
 were harnessed by the side of donkeys to drag 
 the plow. 
 
 Early in the spring of 1664, the king, ac- 
 companied by his court of six hundred indi- 
 viduals, gentlemen and ladies, with a throng 
 of servants, repaired to Versailles. The per- 
 sonal expenses of all the guests were defrayed 
 by the king with the money which he wrested 
 from the people. With almost magical rapid- 
 ity, the artificers reared cottages, stages, porti- 
 coes, for the exhibition of games, and the dis- 
 play of splendor scarcely equaled in the visions 
 of Oriental romances. 
 
 The first entertainment was a tournament. 
 The cavaliers were gorgeously dressed in the 
 most glittering garb of the palmiest days of 
 feudalism, magnificently mounted with won- 
 drous trappings, with their shields and devices, 
 
1664] Festivities of the Court. 193 
 
 Magnificent fetes. 
 
 with their attendant pages, equerries, heralds 
 at arms. Among them all the king shone pre- 
 eminent. His dress, and the housings of his 
 charger, embellished with the crown jewels, 
 glittered with a profusion of costly gems which 
 no one else could equal. 
 
 The queen, with three hundred ladies of the 
 court, brilliant in beauty, and in the most at- 
 tractive dress, sat upon a platform, beneath tri- 
 umphal arches, to view the procession as it 
 passed. The gleaming armor of the cavaliers, 
 their prancing steeds, the waving of silken 
 banners, and the nourish of trumpets, present- 
 ed a spectacle such as no one present had ever 
 conceived of before. 
 
 The tilting did not cease till evening. Sud- 
 denly the blaze of four thousand torches illu- 
 mined the scene with new brilliance. Tables 
 were spread for a banquet, loaded with every 
 delicacy. 
 
 " The tables were served by two hundred at- 
 tendants, habited as dryads, wood deities, and 
 fawns. Behind the tables, which were in the 
 form of a vast crescent, an orchestra arose as 
 if by magic. The tables were illuminated by 
 five hundred girandoles. A gilt balustrade 
 inclosed the whole of the immense area." 
 1ST 
 
194 Louis XIV. [1664. 
 
 Continued festivities. Moliere. Cost of Versailles. 
 
 Chapter VI. 
 Death in the Palace. 
 
 THE festivities to which we have alluded in 
 the last chapter, the expenses of which 
 were sufficient almost to exhaust the revenues 
 of a kingdom, lasted seven days. The prizes 
 awarded to the victors in the lists were very 
 costly and magnificent. The renowned dram- 
 atist Moliere accompanied the court on this oc- 
 casion, to contribute to its amusement by the 
 exhibition of his mirth-moving farces on the 
 stage. 
 
 It was during these scenes that Louis XIV. 
 selected Versailles as the site of the stupendous 
 pile of buildings which was to eclipse all oth- 
 er palaces that had ever been reared on this 
 globe. This magnificent structure, alike the 
 monument of munificence in its appointments, 
 and of infamy in the distress it imposed upon 
 the overtaxed people, eventually swallowed up 
 the sum of one hundred and sixty -six million 
 of francs — thirty-three million dollars. It is 
 to be remembered that at that day money was 
 
1664.] Death in the Palace. 195 
 
 Lenotre. Mansard. Large sum squandered. 
 
 far more valuable, and far more difficult of 
 acquisition than at the present time. 
 
 For seven years an army of workmen was 
 employed on the palace, parks, and gardens. 
 No expense was spared to carry into effect the 
 king's designs. The park and gardens were 
 laid out by the celebrated landscape gardener 
 Lenotre. The plans for the palace were fur- 
 nished by the distinguished architect Mansard. 
 Over thirty thousand soldiers were called from 
 their garrisons to assist the swarms of ordinary 
 workmen in digging the vast. excavations and 
 constructing the immense terraces. " It is es- 
 timated that not less than forty millions ster- 
 ling — two hundred million dollars — were ex- 
 hausted upon the laying out of these vast do- 
 mains and the erection of this superb chateau. 
 Such was the extraordinary vigor with which 
 the works were pushed, that in 16S5, hardly 
 twenty-five years after its commencement, the 
 whole was in readiness to receive its royal oc- 
 cupants. Here the royal family and the court 
 resided until the Revolution of 1789. Every 
 part of the interior as well as the exterior was 
 ornamented with the works of the most emi- 
 nent masters of the times."* 
 
 * Bradshaw's Guide through Paris and its Environs. 
 
196 Louis XIY. [1664. 
 
 Magnificent room at Versailles. Ill feeling toward La Valliere. 
 
 The most magnificent room in the palace, 
 called the grand gallery of Louis XIY., was 
 two hundred and forty-two feet long, thirty- 
 five feet broad, and forty-three feet high. The 
 splendors of the court of Louis XIY. may be 
 inferred from the fact that this vast apartment 
 was daily crowded with courtiers. The char- 
 acteristic vanity of the king is conspicuously 
 developed in that he instituted an order of no- 
 bility as a reward for personal services. The 
 one great and only privilege of its members 
 was that they were permitted to wear a blue 
 coat embroidered with gold and silver precise- 
 ly like that worn by the king, and to follow 
 the king in his hunting-parties and drives. . 
 
 The position of Mademoiselle de la Yalliere 
 was a very painful one. Though the austere 
 queen-mother was so ill in her chamber that 
 she could do but little to harass Louise, Ma- 
 dame Henrietta, who had been constrained to 
 receive her as one of her maids of honor, did 
 every thing in her power to keep her in a state 
 of perpetual anxiety. The courtiers generally 
 were hostile to her, from the partiality with 
 which she was openly regarded by the king. 
 The poor child was alone and desolate in the 
 court, and scarcely knew an hour of joy. 
 
1665.] Death in the Palace. 199 
 
 Auue of Austria becomes more ill. 
 
 The queen-mother was rapidly sinking, de- 
 voured by a malady which not only caused her 
 extreme bodily suffering, but, from its loath- 
 some character, affected her sensitive nature 
 with the most acute mental pangs. She re- 
 tired to the convent of Yal de Grace, where, 
 with ever-increasing devotion as death drew 
 near, she consecrated herself to works of piety 
 and prayer. 
 
 This vast structure is situated upon the left 
 bank of the Seine, and is now in the limits of 
 the city of Paris, 
 
 " Anne of Austria had enjoyed the rare priv- 
 ilege, so seldom accorded to her sex, of grow- 
 ing old without in any' very eminent degree 
 losing her personal advantages. Her hands 
 and arms, which had always been singularly 
 beautiful, remained smooth and round, and 
 delicately white. Not a wrinkle marred the 
 dignity of her noble forehead. Her eyes, 
 which were remarkably fine, lost neither their 
 brightness nor their expression; and yet for 
 years she had been suffering physical pangs 
 only the more poignant from the resolution 
 with which she concealed them."* 
 
 The queen-mother had made the most hero- 
 
 * Louis XIV. and the Court of France, vol. ii., p. 145. 
 
200 Louis XIV. [1665. 
 
 Illness of Maria Theresa. The king sick. 
 
 ic exertions to assume in public the appearance 
 of health and gayety. None but her physi- 
 cians were made acquainted with the nature 
 of her malady. 
 
 The young queen, Maria Theresa, who ap- 
 pears to have been an amiable, pensive woman, 
 endowed with many quiet virtues, was devoted- 
 ly attached to the queen-mother. She clung 
 to her and followed her, while virtually aban- 
 doned by her royal spouse. She had no heart 
 for those courtly festivities where she saw oth- 
 ers with higher fascinations command the ad- 
 miration and devotion of her husband. The 
 queen was taken very ill with the measles. It 
 speaks well for Louis XIV., and should be re- 
 corded to his honor, that he devoted himself to 
 his sick wife, by day and by night, with the 
 most unremitting attention. The disease was 
 malignant in its form, and the king himself 
 was soon stricken down by it. For several 
 days it was feared that he would not live. As 
 he began to recover, he was removed to the 
 palace of St. Cloud. The annexed view repre- 
 sents the rear of the palace. The magnificent 
 saloons in front open upon the city, and from 
 the elevated site of the palace command a 
 splendid view of the region for many leagues 
 around. 
 
1665.] Death in the Palace. 203 
 
 Abode of Madame Henrietta. Sufferings of the queen-mother. 
 
 This truly splendid chateau, but a few miles 
 from the Tuileries, had been assigned to Ma- 
 dame Henrietta. Here she resided with her 
 court, and here the king again found himself 
 under the same roof with Mademoiselle de la 
 Valliere. 
 
 In the mean time the health of the queen- 
 mother rapidly declined. She was fast sink- 
 ing into the arms of death. The young queen, 
 Maria Theresa, having recovered, was unwill- 
 ing to leave her suffering mother-in-law even 
 for an hour. 
 
 " The sufferings of Anne of Austria," writes 
 Miss Pardoe, " must indeed have been extreme, 
 when, superadded to the physical agony of 
 which she was so long the victim, her peculiar 
 fastidiousness of scent and touch are remem- 
 bered. Throughout the whole of her illness 
 she had adopted every measure to conceal, 
 even from herself, the effects of her infirmity. 
 She constantly held in her hand a large fan of 
 Spanish leather, and saturated her linen with 
 the most powerful perfumes. Her sense of 
 contact was so acute and irritable that it was 
 with the utmost difficulty that cambric could 
 be found sufficiently fine for her use. Upon 
 one occasion, when Cardinal Mazarin was jest- 
 
204 Louis XIV. [1665. 
 
 Death of Philip IV. of Spain. Increasing ambition of Louis XIV. 
 
 ing with her upon this defect, he told her ' that 
 if she were damned, her eternal punishment 
 would be sleeping in linen sheets.' " 
 
 Louis XIV. was too much engrossed with 
 his private pleasures, his buildings, and rapidly 
 multiplying diplomatic intrigues to pay much 
 attention to his dying mother. It was not 
 pleasant to him to contemplate the scenes of 
 suffering; in a sick-chamber. The gloom which 
 was gathering around Anne of Austria was 
 somewhat deepened by the intelligence she re- 
 ceived of the death of her brother, Philip IV. 
 of Spain. It was another admonition to her 
 that she too must die. Though Philip IV. 
 was a reserved and stately man, allowing him- 
 self in but few expressions of tenderness to- 
 ward his family, Maria Theresa, in her isola- 
 tion, wept bitterly over her father's death. 
 
 The ties of relationship are feeble in courts. 
 Louis XIV. was growing increasingly ambi- 
 tious of enlarging his domains and aggrandiz- 
 ing his power. The news of the death of the 
 King of Spain was but a source of exultation 
 to him. Though scrupulous in the discharge 
 of the ceremonies of the Church, he was a 
 stranger to any high sense of integrity or hon- 
 or. In the treaty upon his marriage with Ma- 
 
1666.] Death in the Palace. 205 
 
 Festivities at St. Cloud. 
 
 ria Theresa he had agreed to resign every 
 claim to any portion of the Spanish kingdom. 
 The death of Philip IV. left Spain in the 
 hands of a feeble woman. Louis XIV., upon 
 the plea that the five hundred thousand crowns 
 promised as the dower of his wife had not yet 
 been paid, resolved immediately to seize upon 
 the provinces of Flanders and Franche-Comte, 
 which then belonged to the Spanish crown. 
 
 Notwithstanding the queen-mother had be- 
 come so exhausted, from long-continued and 
 agonizing bodily sufferings, that she could not 
 be moved from one bed to another without 
 fainting, still the festivities of the palace con- 
 tinued unintermitted. The moans of the dy- 
 ing queen in the darkened chamBer could not 
 be heard amidst the music and the revelry of 
 the Louvre and the Tuileries. On the 5th of 
 January, 1666, Philip, the Duke of Orleans, 
 gave a magnificent ball in the palace of St. 
 Cloud. Louis XIY. was then in deep mourn- 
 ing for his father-in-law. Decorously he wore 
 the mourning dress of violet-colored velvet 
 adopted by the court ; he, however, took care 
 so effectually to cover his mourning garments 
 with glittering and costly gems that the color 
 of the material could not be discerned. 
 
206 Louis XIV. [1656. 
 
 Dying scene. 
 
 • While her children were engaged in these 
 revels, the queen - mother passed a sleepless 
 night of terrible suffering. It was apparent 
 to her that her dying hour was near at hand. 
 She was informed by her physician that her 
 life could be continued but a few hours lon- 
 ger. She called for her confessor, and request- 
 ed every one else to leave the room. What 
 sins she confessed- of heart or life are known 
 only to him and to God. Having obtained 
 such absolution as the priest could give, she 
 prepared to partake of the sacrament of the 
 Lord's Supper. Her son Philip, with Madame 
 his wife, were admitted to her chamber, where 
 the king soon joined them. The Archbishop 
 of Auch, accompanied by quite a retinue of 
 ecclesiastics, approached with the holy viati- 
 cum. The most scrupulous regard was paid 
 to all the punctilious ceremonials of courtly 
 etiquette. 
 
 When the bishop was about to administer 
 the oil of extreme unction, the dying queen re- 
 quested an attendant very carefully to raise 
 the borders of her cap, lest the oil should touch 
 them, and give them an unpleasant odor. It 
 was one of the most melancholy and impress- 
 ive of earthly scenes. The king, young, sensi- 
 
1666.] Death in the Palace. 207 
 
 Death of the queen-mother. Funeral ceremonies. 
 
 tive, and easily overcome by momentary emo- 
 tion, could not refrain from seeing in that sad 
 spectacle, as in a mirror, his own inevitable lot. 
 He fainted entirely away, and was borne sense- 
 less from the apartment. 
 
 On the morning of the 7th or 8th of Janu- 
 ary, 1666, Anne of Austria died. Her will 
 was immediately brought from the. cabinet and 
 read. She bequeathed her heart to the con- 
 vent of Yal de Grace. It was taken from her 
 body, cased in a costly urn, and conveyed to 
 the convent in a carriage. The Archbishop 
 of Auch seated himself beside the senseless 
 relic, while the Duchess of Montpensier occu- 
 pied another seat in the coach. 
 
 At 7 o'clock of the next evening the re- 
 mains of the queen left the Louvre for the 
 royal sepulchre at St. Denis. It was a gloomy 
 winter's night. Many torches illumined the 
 path of the procession, exhibiting to the thou- 
 sands of spectators the solemn pageant of the 
 burial. The ecclesiastics and the monks, in 
 their gorgeous or picturesque robes, the royal 
 sarcophagus, the sombre light of the torches, 
 the royal coaches in funereal drapery, and the 
 wailing requiems, now swelling upon the 
 breeze, and now dying away, blending with 
 
208 
 
 Louis XIV. 
 
 The Abbey of St. Denis. 
 
 [1666. 
 
 the voices of tolling bells, presented one of the 
 most mournful and instructive of earthly spec- 
 tacles. The queen had passed to that tribunal 
 whei'e no aristocratic privileges are recognized, 
 and where all earthly wealth and rank are dis- 
 regarded. 
 
 The funeral services were prolonged and 
 imposing. It was not until two hours after 
 midnight that the remains were deposited in 
 the vaults of the venerable abbey, the oldest 
 Christian church in France. 
 
 INTERIOR OP ST. DENIS. 
 
 The death of the queen-mother does not 
 
1666.] Death in the Palace. 209 
 
 Duchess of Vaujours. Madame de Montespan. 
 
 seem to have produced much effect upon the 
 conduct of her ambitious and pleasure-loving 
 son. He had cruelly betrayed the young and 
 guileless Mademoiselle de la Valliere, and she 
 never ceased to weep over her sad fate. The 
 king, however, conferred upon her the duchy 
 of Vaujours, and the title of Madame. Her 
 beauty began to fade. Younger and happier 
 faces attracted the king. He became more 
 and more arrogant and domineering. 
 
 There was at that time rising into notice in 
 this voluptuous court a young lady who was 
 not only magnificently beautiful, but extreme- 
 ly brilliant in her intellectual endowments. 
 She was of illustrious birth, and was lady of 
 the palace to the young queen. She deliber- 
 ately fixed her affections upon Louis, and re- 
 solved to employ all the arts of personal love- 
 liness and the fascinations of wit to win his 
 exclusive favor. She had given her hand, 
 constrained by her family, to the young Mar- 
 quis de Montespan. She had, however, stated 
 at the time that with her hand she did not 
 give her heart. 
 
 The young marquis seems to have been a 
 very worthy man. Disgusted with the folly 
 and the dissipation of the court, he was anxious 
 O 
 
210 Louis XIV. [1666. 
 
 Daily developments. Duke de Mazarin — his cynicism. 
 
 to withdraw with his beautiful bride to his 
 ample estates in Provence. She, however, en- 
 tirely devoted to pleasure, and absorbed in her 
 ambitious designs, refused to accompany him, 
 pleading the duty she owed her royal mistress. 
 He went alone. Madame de Montespan was 
 thus relieved of the embarrassment of his pres- 
 ence. 
 
 Louis XIY., while apparently immersed in 
 frivolous and guilty pleasures, was developing 
 very considerable ability as a sovereign. It 
 daily became more clearly manifest that he 
 was not a man of pleasure merely; that he 
 had an imperial will, and that he was endow- 
 ed with unusual administrative energies. 
 
 The Duke de Mazarin, a relative and rich 
 heir of the deceased cardinal, and who assumed 
 an austere and cynical character, ventured on 
 one occasion, when displeased with some act 
 of the king, to approach him in the presence 
 of several persons and say, 
 
 " Sire, Saint Genevieve appeared to me last 
 night. She is much offended by the conduct 
 of your majesty, and has foretold to me that if 
 you do not reform your morals the greatest 
 misfortunes will fall upon your kingdom." 
 
 The whole circle stood aghast at his ef- 
 
1667.] Death in the Palace. 211 
 
 He is silenced by the king. Sale of Dunkirk. 
 
 frontery. But the king, without exhibiting 
 the slightest emotion, in slow and measured ac- 
 cents, replied, 
 
 " And I, Monsieur de Mazarin, have recent- 
 ly had several visions, by which I have been 
 warned that the late cardinal, your uncle, plun- 
 dered my people, and that it is time to make 
 his heirs disgorge the booty. Remember this, 
 and be persuaded that the very next time you 
 permit yourself to offer me unsolicited advice, 
 I shall act upon the mysterious information I 
 have received." 
 
 The duke attempted no reply. Such devel- 
 opments of character effectually warded off all 
 approaches of familiarity. 
 
 The fugitive and needy Charles II. had sold 
 to Louis XIV., for about one million of dollars, 
 the important commercial town of Dunkirk, in 
 French Flanders. The king, well aware of the 
 importance of the position, had employed thir- 
 ty thousand men to fortify the place. 
 
 Louis now sent an army of thirty-five thou- 
 sand men, in the highest state of military dis- 
 cipline, to seize the coveted Spanish provinces 
 of Flanders and Franche-Comte. At the same 
 time, he sent a reserve of eight thousand troops 
 to Dunkirk. The widowed Queen of Spain, 
 
212 Louis XI Y. [1667. 
 
 Inconsistencies in the character of Louis. 
 
 acting as regent for her infant son, could make 
 no effectual resistance. She had but eight thou- 
 sand troops, in small garrisons, scattered over 
 those provinces. The march of the French 
 army was but as a holiday excursion. Fortress 
 after fortress fell into their hands. Soon the 
 banners of Louis floated proudly over the whole 
 territory. The king displayed his sagacity by 
 granting promotion for services rendered rath- 
 er than to birth. This inspired the army with 
 great ardor. He also boldly entered the trench- 
 es under fire, and exposed himself to the most 
 imminent peril. <^< 
 &* The opposite side of the king's character is 
 displayed in the fact that he accompanied the 
 camp with all the ladies of his court, eighteen 
 in number. In each captured city, the king 
 and court, in magnificent banqueting-halls and 
 gorgeous saloons, indulged in the gayest rev- 
 elry. Amidst the turmoil of the camp, these 
 haughty men and high-born dames surround- 
 ed themselves with the magnificence of the 
 Louvre and the Tuileries, and were served with 
 every delicacy from gold and silver plate. 
 
 The king, by the advice of his renowned 
 minister of war, Marshal Louvois, placed strong 
 garrisons in the cities he had captured, while 
 
1667.] Death in the Palace. 213 
 
 Treachery of Montespan. Sorrows of Louise. 
 
 the celebrated engineer, M. Vauban, was in- 
 trusted with enlarging and strengthening the 
 fortifications. From this victorious campaign 
 Louis XIY. returned to Paris, receiving adu- 
 lation from the courtiers as if he were more 
 than mortal. 
 
 Madame de Montespan accompanied the 
 court on this military pleasure tour. She 
 availed herself of every opportunity to attract 
 the attention of the king and ingratiate herself 
 in his favor. She so far succeeded in exciting 
 the jealousy of the queen against Madame de 
 la Valliere, upon whom she was at the same 
 time lavishing her most tender caresses, that 
 her majesty treated the sensitive and despond- 
 ing favorite with such rudeness that, with a 
 crushed spirit, she decided to leave the court 
 and retire to Versailles, there to await the con- 
 clusion of the campaign. The king, however, 
 interposed to prevent her departure, while at 
 the same time he was daily treating her with 
 more marked neglect, as he turned his attention 
 to the rival, now rapidly gaining the ascendency. 
 The unfortunate Louise was doomed to daily 
 martyrdom. She could not be blind to the fact 
 that the king's love was fast waning. Con- 
 science tortured her, and she wept bitterly. 
 
214 Louis XIV. [1667. 
 
 Letters of the Marquis de Montespau. 
 
 Before her there was opened only the vista of 
 weary years of neglect and remorse. 
 
 But the Marchioness of Montespan was 
 mingling for herself a cup of bitterness which 
 she, in her turn, was to drain to its dregs. Her 
 noble husband wrote most imploring letters, 
 beseeching her to return to him with their in- 
 fant child. 
 
 "Come," he wrote in one of his letters, "and 
 take a near view, my dear Athenais, of these 
 stupendous Pyrenees, whose every ravine is a 
 landscape, and every valley an Eden. To all 
 these beauties j^ours alone is wanting. You 
 will be here like Diana, the divinity of these 
 noble forests." 
 
 The excuses which the marchioness offered 
 did by no means satisfy her husband. His 
 heart was wounded and his suspicions aroused. 
 At last he was apprised of her manifest en- 
 deavors to attract the attention of the king. 
 He wrote severely ; informed her of the extent 
 of his knowledge. He threatened to expose her 
 conduct to her own family, and to shut her up 
 in a convent. At the same time, he command- 
 ed her to send to him, by the messenger who 
 bore his letter, their little son, that he might 
 not be contaminated by association with so un- 
 worthy a mother. 
 
1667.] Death in the Palace. 215 
 
 Alarm of the marchioness. Cowardice of the Pope. 
 
 It was too late. The marchioness was in- 
 volved in such guilty relations with the king 
 that she could not easily be extricated. Still 
 she was much alarmed by the angry letter of 
 her husband. The king perceived her anxiety, 
 and inquired the cause. She placed the letter 
 in his hands. He read it, changing color as he 
 read. He then coolly remarked, 
 
 " Our position is a difficult one. It requires 
 much precaution. I will, however, take care 
 that no violence shall be offered you. You had 
 better, however, send him your son. The child 
 is useless here, and perhaps inconvenient. The 
 marquis, deprived of the child, may be driven 
 to acts of severity." 
 
 A mother's love was strong in the bosom of 
 the marchioness. She wept aloud, and de- 
 clared that she would sooner die than part with 
 her son. Her husband soon after came to Par- 
 is. He addressed the king in a very firm and 
 reproachful letter, and for three months made 
 earnest applications to the pope for a divorce. 
 But the pope, afraid of offending Louis XIV., 
 turned a deaf ear to his supplications. It was 
 in vain for a noble, however exalted his rank, 
 to contend against the king. 
 
 The injured marquis, finding all his efforts 
 
216 Louis XIV. [1667. 
 
 Sorrow of the marquis. Vexation of Louis. 
 
 vain, returned wifeless and childless to his 
 chateau. Announcing that to him his wife 
 was dead, he assumed the deepest mourning, 
 draped his house and the liveries of his serv- 
 ants in crape, and ordered a funeral service to 
 take place in the parish church. A numerous 
 concourse attended, and all the sad ceremonies 
 of burial were solemnized. 
 
 The king was greatly annoyed. The scan- 
 dal, which spread throughout the kingdom, 
 placed him in a very unenviable position. The 
 marquis would probably have passed the rest 
 of his life in one of the oubliettes of the Bas- 
 tile had he not escaped from France. Madame 
 de Montespan, in her wonderfully frank Me- 
 moirs, records all these facts without any ap- 
 parent consciousness of the infamy to which 
 they consign her memory. She even claims 
 the merit of protecting her injured husband 
 from the dungeon, saying, 
 
 " Not being naturally of a bad disposition, I 
 never would allow of his being sent to the Bas- 
 tile." 
 
 There were continual antagonisms arising 
 between Madame de la Yalliere and Madame 
 de Montespan. They were both ladies of hon- 
 or in the household of the queen, who, silent 
 
1667.] Death in the Palace. 217 
 
 Petty jealousies. Employments of the king. 
 
 and sad, and ever seeking retirement, endeav- 
 ored to close her eyes to the guilty scenes trans- 
 piring around her. Sin invariably brings sor- 
 row. The king, supremely selfish as he was, 
 must have been a stranger to any peace of 
 mind. He professed full faith in Christianity. 
 Even lost spirits may believe and tremble. 
 The precepts of Jesus were often faithfully 
 proclaimed from the pulpit in his hearing. 
 Remorse must have frequently tortured his 
 soul. 
 
 From these domestic tribulations he sought 
 relief in the vigorous prosecution of his plans 
 for national aggrandizement. He plunged into 
 diplomatic intrigues, marshaled armies, built 
 ships, multiplied and enlarged his sea-ports, es- 
 tablished colonies, reared magnificent edifices, 
 encouraged letters, and with great sagacity 
 pushed all enterprises which could add to the 
 glory and power of France. 
 
 The king had never been on good terms with 
 his brother Philip. Louis was arrogant and 
 domineering. Philip was jealous, and not dis- 
 posed obsequiously to bow the knee to his im- 
 perious brother. The king was unrelenting in 
 the exactions of etiquette. There were three 
 seats used in the presence of royalty : the arm- 
 
218 Louis XIV. [1607. 
 
 Remarks of Louis upon court etiquette. 
 
 chair, for members of the royal family; the 
 folded chair, something like a camp-stool, for 
 the highest of the nobility ; and the bench, for 
 other dignitaries who were honored with a res- 
 idence at court. Philip demanded of his broth- 
 er that his wife, Henrietta, the daughter of 
 Charles I. of England, and the sister of Louis 
 XIII., being of royal blood, should be allowed 
 the privilege of taking an arm-chair in the sa- 
 loons of the queen. The king made the fol- 
 lowing remarkable reply : 
 
 " That can not be permitted. I beg of you 
 not to persist in such a request. It was not I 
 who established these distinctions. They ex- 
 isted long before you and I were born. It is 
 for your interest that the dignity of the crown 
 should neither be weakened or encroached 
 upon. If from Duke of Orleans you should 
 one day become King of France, I know you 
 well enough to believe that this is a point on 
 which you would be inexorable. 
 
 " In the presence of God, you and I are two 
 beings precisely similar to our fellow-men; 
 but in the eyes of men we appear as some- 
 thing extraordinary, superior, greater, and 
 more perfect than others. The day on which 
 the people cast off this respect and this volun- 
 
 I 
 
1667.] Death in the Palace. 219 
 
 They are unanswerable. Conquest of Holland determined on. 
 
 tary veneration, by which alone monarchy is 
 upheld, they will see us only their equals, suf- 
 fering from the same evils, and subject to the 
 same weaknesses as themselves. This once ac- 
 complished, all illusion will be over. The laws, 
 no longer sustained by a controlling power, will 
 become black lines upon white paper. Your 
 chair without arms and my arm-chair will be 
 simply two pieces of furniture of equal impor- 
 tance." _^-* 
 
 To these forcible remarks, indicating deep 
 reflection, the Duke of Orleans, a nobleman 
 rioting in boundless wealth, and enjoying 
 amazing feudal privileges, could make no re- 
 ply. The coronet of the noble and the crown 
 of the absolute king would both fall to the 
 ground so soon as the masses of the people 
 should escape from the thrall of ignorance and 
 deception. Philip left his brother silenced, yet 
 exasperated. A petty warfare was carried on 
 between them, by which they daily became 
 more alienated from each other. 
 
 The king, elated by his easy conquest of 
 Flanders, resolved to seize upon Holland, and 
 then proceed to annex to France the whole of 
 the Low Countries. The Dutch, a maritime 
 people, though powerful at sea, had but a feeble 
 
220 Louis XIV. [1668. 
 
 Henrietta embasaadress to England. Louise Renee. 
 
 land force. Holland was in alliance with En- 
 gland. The first object of Louis was to dis- 
 solve this alliance. 
 
 There were two influences, money and beau- 
 ty, which were omnipotent with the contempt- 
 ible Charles II. Henrietta, the wife of Philip, 
 was sent as embassadress to the court of her 
 brother. The whole French court escorted her 
 to the coast. The pomp displayed on this oc- 
 casion surpassed any thing which had hereto- 
 fore been witnessed in France. The escort 
 consisted of thirty thousand men in the van 
 and the rear of the royal cortege. The most 
 beautiful women of the court accompanied the 
 queen. Maria Theresa, the queen, and Henri- 
 etta, occupied the same coach. The ladies of 
 their households followed in their carriages. 
 
 The king's two favorites — Madame de la 
 Yalliere, whose beauty and power were on 
 the wane, and Madame de Montespan, who 
 was then in the zenith of her triumph — were 
 often invited by the king to take a seat in the 
 royal carriage by the side of the queen and 
 Madame. The most beautiful woman then in 
 the French court was Louise Renee, subse- 
 quently known in English annals as the Duch- 
 ess of Portsmouth. She was to accompany 
 
1668.] Death in the Palace. 221 
 
 The bribe. Constant bickerings. 
 
 her royal mistress to the court of Charles II., 
 and had received secret instructions from the 
 king in reference to the influence she was to 
 exert. Louise Renee was to be the bribe and 
 the motive power to control the king. 
 
 Brilliant as was this royal cortege, the jour- 
 ney, to its prominent actors, was a very sad 
 one. The queen, pliant and submissive as she 
 usually was, could not refrain from some ex- 
 pressions of bitterness in being forced to such 
 intimate companionship with her rivals in the 
 king's favor. There were also constant heart- 
 burnings and bickerings, which etiquette could 
 not restrain, between Philip and his spouse 
 Henrietta. Madame was going to London as 
 the confidential messenger of the king, and she 
 refused to divulge to her husband the purpose 
 of her visit. Louis XIY. was embarrassed by 
 three ladies, each of whom claimed his exclu- 
 sive attention, and each of whom was angry if 
 he smiled upon either of the others. In such 
 a party there could be no happiness. 
 
 As this gorgeous procession, crowding leagues 
 of the road, swept along, few of the amazed 
 peasants who gazed upon the glittering specta- 
 cle could have suspected the misery which was 
 gnawing at the heart of these high-born men 
 
222 Louis XIV. [1669. 
 
 Alliance between France and England. Festivities thereon. 
 
 and proud dames. Upon arriving at the coast, 
 Henrietta, with her magnificent suite, embark- 
 ed for England. The negotiation was perfect- 
 ly successful. The fascinating Louise Renee 
 immediately made the entire conquest of the 
 king. Her consent to remain a member of his 
 court, and the offer of several millions of money 
 to Charles II., secured his assent to whatever 
 the French king desired. It is said that he 
 the more readily abandoned his alliance with 
 Holland, since he hated the Protestants there, 
 whose religion so severely condemned his 
 worthless character and wretched life. A 
 treaty of alliance was speedily drawn up be- 
 tween Charles II. and Louis XIY. 
 
 His Britannic majesty then, with a splendid 
 retinue, accompanied his sister Henrietta to the 
 coast, where she embarked for Calais. The 
 French court met her there with all honors. 
 The return to Paris was slow. At every im- 
 portant town the court tarried for a season 
 of festivities. Henrietta, or Jfadame, as the 
 French invariably entitled her, established her 
 court at St. Cloud. Her husband, Monsieur, 
 was very much irritated against her. Keither 
 of them took any pains to conceal from others 
 their alienation. 
 
1669.] Death in the Palace. 223 
 
 Maria Theresa. Vivacity of Henrietta. 
 
 Madame was in the ripeness of her rare beau- 
 ty, and enjoyed great influence in the court. 
 The poor queen, Maria Theresa, was but a 
 cipher. She was heart-crushed, and devoted 
 herself to the education of her children, and 
 to the society of a few Spanish ladies whom 
 she had assembled around her. The king, 
 grateful for the services which Henrietta had 
 rendered him in England, and alike fascinated 
 by her loveliness and her vivacity, was lavish- 
 ing upon her his constant and most marked at- 
 tentions, not a little to the chagrin of her irri- 
 tated and jealous husband. 
 
 On the 27th of June, 1669, Henrietta rose at 
 an early hour, and, after some conversation 
 with Madame de Lafayette, to whom she de- 
 clared she was in admirable health, she attend- 
 ed mass, and then went to the room of her 
 daughter, Mademoiselle d' Orleans. She was in 
 glowing spirits, and enlivened the whole com- 
 pany by her vivacious conversation. After call- 
 ing for a glass of succory water, which she 
 drank, she dined. The party then repaired to 
 the saloon of Monsieur. He was sitting for his 
 portrait. Henrietta, reclining upon a lounge, 
 apparently fell into a doze. Pier friends were 
 struck with the haggard and deathly expres- 
 
224 Louis XIV. [1669. 
 
 Henrietta poisoned. 
 
 sion which her countenance suddenly assumed, 
 when she sprang up with cries of agony. All 
 were greatly alarmed. Her husband appeared 
 as much so as the rest. She called for another 
 draught of succory water. It was brought to 
 her in an enameled cup from which she was 
 accustomed to drink. 
 
 She took the cup in one hand, and then, 
 pressing her hand to her side in a spasm of 
 pain, exclaimed, " I can scarcely breathe. Take 
 me away — take me away ! I can support my- 
 self no longer." "With much difficulty she was 
 led to her chamber by her terrified attendants. 
 There she threw herself upon her bed in con- 
 vulsions of agony, crying out that she was dy- 
 ing, and praying that her confessor might im- 
 mediately be sent for. Three physicians were 
 speedily in attendance. Her husband entered 
 her chamber and kneeled at her bedside. She 
 threw her arms around his neck, exclaiming, 
 
 " Alas ! you have long ceased to love me ; 
 but you are unjust, for I have never wronged 
 you." Suddenly she raised herself upon her 
 elbow, and said to those weeping around her, 
 " I have been poisoned by the succory water 
 which I have drank. Probably there has been 
 some mistake. I am sure, however, that I have 
 
1669.] Death in the Palace. 225 
 
 Intense suffering. Arrival of the king. 
 
 been poisoned. Unless you wish to see me 
 die, you must immediately administer some 
 antidote." 
 
 Her husband did not seem at all agitated by 
 this statement, but directed that some of the 
 succory water should be given to a dog to as- 
 certain its effects. Madame Desbordes, the first 
 fomme de chamhre, who had prepared the bev- 
 erage, declared that the experiment should be 
 made upon herself. She immediately poured 
 out a glass, and drank it. 
 
 Yarious antidotes for poisons were adminis- 
 tered. They created the most deadly sickness, 
 without changing the symptoms or alleviating 
 the pain. It soon became evident that the 
 princess was dying. The livid complexion, 
 glassy eyes, and shrunken nose and lips, show- 
 ed that some agent of terrific power was con- 
 suming her fife. A chill perspiration oozed 
 from her forehead, her pulse was impercepti- 
 ble, and her extremities icy cold. 
 
 The king soon arrived, accompanied by the 
 queen. Louis XIV. was greatly affected by 
 the changed appearance and manifestly dying 
 condition of Henrietta. He sat upon one side 
 of the bed and Monsieur upon the other, both 
 weeping bitterly. The agony of the princess 
 P " 
 
226 . Louis XIY. [1669. 
 
 Death scene of Henrietta. Suspicion of Louis. 
 
 was dreadful. In most imploring tones she 
 begged that something might be done to miti- 
 gate her sufferings. The attendant physicians 
 announced that she was dying. Extreme unc- 
 tion was administered, the crucifix fell from 
 her hand, a convulsive shuddering shook her 
 frame, and Henrietta was dead. 
 
 " Only nine hours previously, Henrietta of 
 England had been full of life, and loveliness, 
 and hope, the idol of a court, and the centre of 
 the most brilliant circle in Europe. And now, 
 as the tearful priest arose from his knees, the 
 costly curtains of embroidered velvet were 
 drawn around a cold, pale, motionless, and liv- 
 id corpse." 
 
 A post - mortem examination revealed the 
 presence of poison so virulent in its action that 
 a portion of the stomach was destroyed. Dread- 
 ful suspicion rested upon her husband. The 
 king, in a state of intense agitation, summoned 
 his brother to his presence, and demanded that 
 he should confess his share in the murder. 
 Monsieur clasped in his hand the insignia of 
 the Holy Ghost, which he wore about his neck, 
 and took the most solemn oath that he was 
 both directly and indirectly innocent of the 
 death of his wife. Still the circumstantial 
 
1669.] Death in the Palace. 227 
 
 Development of facts. 
 
 evidence was so strong against him that he 
 could not escape the terrible suspicion. 
 
 Notwithstanding the absolute proof that the 
 death of the princess was caused by poison, 
 still an official statement was soon made out, 
 addressed to the British court, and widely pro- 
 mulgated, in which it was declared that the 
 princess died of a malignant attack of bilious 
 fever. Several physicians were bribed to sign 
 this declaration. 
 
 Notwithstanding this statement, the king 
 made vigorous exertions to discover the perpe- 
 trators of the crime. The following facts were 
 soon brought to light. The king, some time be- 
 fore, much displeased with the Chevalier de 
 Lorraine, a favorite and adviser of Monsieur, 
 angrily arrested him, and imprisoned him in 
 the Chateau d'lf, a strong and renowned for- 
 tress on Marguerite Island, opposite Cannes. 
 Here he was treated with great rigor. He was 
 not allowed to correspond, or even to speak 
 with any persons but those on duty within the 
 fortress. Monsieur was exceedingly irritated 
 by this despotic act. He ventured loudly to 
 upbraid his brother, and bitterly accused Ma- 
 dame of having caused the arrest of his bosom 
 friend, the chevalier. 
 
228 Louis XIV. [1669. 
 
 Statements of M. Pernon. 
 
 Circumstances directed the very strong sus- 
 picions of the king to M. Pernon, controller of 
 the household of the princess, as being impli- 
 cated in the murder. The king ordered him 
 to be secretly arrested, and brought by a back 
 staircase to the royal cabinet. Every attend- 
 ant was dismissed, and his majesty remained 
 alone with the prisoner. Fixing his eyes stern- 
 ly upon the countenance of M. Pernon, Louis 
 said, " If you reveal every circumstance rela- 
 tive to the death of Madame, I promise you 
 full pardon. If you are guilty of the slightest 
 concealment or prevarication, your life shall be 
 the forfeit." 
 
 The controller then confessed that the Chev- 
 alier de Lorraine had, through the hands of a 
 country gentleman, M. Morel, who was not at 
 all conscious of the nature of the commission 
 he was fulfilling, sent the poison to two con- 
 federates at St. Cloudy This package was de- 
 livered to the Marquis d'Effiat and Count de 
 Beuvron, intimate friends of the chevalier, and 
 who had no hope that he would be permitted 
 to return to Paris so long as Madame lived. 
 The Marquis d'Effiat contrived to enter the 
 closet of the princess, and rubbed the poison 
 on the inside of the enameled cup from which 
 
1669.] Death in the Palace. 229 
 
 Testimony of M. Pernon. 
 
 Henrietta was invariably accustomed to drink 
 her favorite beverage. 
 
 The king listened intently to this statement, 
 pressed his forehead with his hand, and then 
 inquired, in tones which indicated that he was 
 almost afraid to put the question, "And Mon- 
 sieur — was he aware of this foul plot ?" 
 
 " No, sire," was the prompt reply. "Mon- 
 sietir can not keep a secret; we did not ven- 
 ture to confide in him." 
 
 Louis appeared much relieved. After a mo- 
 ment's pause, he asked, with evident anxiety, 
 " Will you swear to this ?" 
 
 " On my soul, sire," was the reply. 
 
 The king asked no more. Summoning an 
 officer of the household, he said, " Conduct M. 
 Pernon to the gate of the palace, and set him 
 at liberty." 
 
 Such events were so common in the courts 
 of feudal despotism in those days of crime, 
 that this atrocious murder seems to have pro- 
 duced but a inomentary impression. Poor 
 Henrietta was soon forgotten. The tides of 
 gayety and fashion ebbed and flowed as ever 
 through the saloons of the royal palaces. No 
 one was punished. It would hardly have been 
 decorous for the king to hang men for the mur- 
 
230 Louis XIV. [1669. 
 
 Keturn of Chevalier de Lorraine. Marriage of Monsieur. 
 
 der of the princess, when he had solemnly an- 
 nounced that she had died of a bilious fever. 
 The Chevalier de Lorraine was ere long re- 
 called to court. There he lived in unbridled 
 profligacy, enjoying an annual income of one 
 hundred thousand crowns, till death summoned 
 him to a tribunal where neither wealth nor 
 rank can purchase exemption from crime. 
 
 Henrietta, who was but twenty-six years of 
 age at the time of her death, left two daugh- 
 ters, but no son. Monsieur soon dried his tears. 
 He sought a new marriage with his rich, re- 
 nowned cousin, the Duchess of Montpensier. 
 But she declined his offered hand. With in- 
 conceivable caprice, she was fixing her affec- 
 tions upon a worthless adventurer, a miserable 
 coxcomb, the Duke de Lauzun, who was then 
 disgracing by his presence the court of the 
 Louvre. This singular freak, an additional ev- 
 idence that there is no accounting for the va- 
 garies of love, astonished all the courts of Eu- 
 rope. Monsieur then turned to the Princess 
 Charlotte Elizabeth of Bavaria. The alliance 
 was one dictated by state policy. Monsieur 
 reluctantly assented to it under the moral com- 
 pulsion of the king. The advent of this most 
 eccentric of women at the French court created 
 
1670.] Death in the Palace. 231 
 
 Portrait of Charlotte Elizabeth. 
 
 general astonishment and almost consternation. 
 She despised etiquette, and dressed in the most 
 outrl fashion, while she displayed energies of 
 mind and sharpness of tongue which brought 
 all in awe of her. The following is the por- 
 trait which this princess, eighteen years of age, 
 has drawn of herself : 
 
 " I was born in Heidelberg in 1652. I must 
 necessarily be ugly, for I have no features, 
 small eyes, a short, thick nose, and long, flat 
 lips. Such a combination as this can not pro- 
 duce a physiognomy. I have heavy hanging 
 cheeks and a large face, and nevertheless am 
 short and thick. To sum up all, I am an ugly 
 little object. If I had not a good heart, I 
 should not be bearable any where. To ascer- 
 tain if my eyes have any expression, it would 
 be necessary to examine them with a micro- 
 scope. There could not probably be found on 
 earth hands more hideous than mine. The 
 king has often remarked it to me, and made 
 me laugh heartily. Not being able with any 
 conscience to flatter myself that I possessed 
 any thing good looking, I have made up my 
 mind to laugh at my own ugliness. I have 
 found the plan very successful, and frequently 
 discover plenty to laugh at." 
 
232 Louis XIV. [1670. 
 
 Her power of sarcasm. 
 
 Notwithstanding the princess was ready to 
 speak of herself in these terms of ridicule, she 
 was by no means disposed to grant the same 
 privilege to others. She was a woman of keen 
 observation, and was ever ready to resent any 
 offense with the most sarcastic retaliation. She 
 perceived very clearly the sensation which her 
 presence, and the manners which she had very 
 deliberately chosen to adopt, had excited. Ma- 
 dame de Fienne was one of the most brilliant 
 wits of the court. She ventured to make her- 
 self and others merry over the oddities of the 
 newly-arrived Duchess of Orleans, in whose 
 court both herself and her husband were pen- 
 sioners. The duchess took her by the hand, 
 led her aside, and, riveting upon her her un- 
 quailing eye, said, in slow and emphatic tones, 
 
 " Madame, you are very amiable and very 
 witty. You possess a style of conversation 
 which is endured by the king and by Mon- 
 sieur because they are accustomed to it ; but 
 I, who am only a recent arrival at the court, 
 am less familiar with its spirit. I forewarn 
 you that I become incensed when I am made 
 a subject of ridicule. For this reason, I was 
 anxious to give you a slight warning. If you 
 spare me, we shall get on very well together ; 
 
1670.] Death in the Palace. 233 
 
 Sharp reproof of Madame de Fierine, 
 
 but if, on the contrary, you treat me as you 
 do others, I shall say nothing to yourself, but I 
 shall complain to your husband, and if he does 
 not correct you, I shall dismiss him." 
 
 The hint was sufficient. Neither Madame 
 de Fienne nor any other lady of the court ven- 
 tured after this to utter a word of witticism on 
 the subject of the Duchess of Orleans. 
 
234 Louis XIV. [1670. 
 
 Louis's fondness for jewels. 
 
 Chaptee VII. 
 The War in Holland. 
 
 MADAME DE MONTESPAN" was now 
 the reigning favorite. The conscience- 
 stricken king could not endure to think of 
 death. He studiedly excluded from observa- 
 tion every thing which could remind him of 
 that doom of mortals. All the badges of 
 mourning were speedily laid aside, and efforts 
 were made to banish from the court the mem- 
 ory of the young and beautiful Princess Hen- 
 rietta, whose poisoned body was mouldering to 
 dust in the tomb. 
 
 The king had a childish fondness for bril- 
 liant gems. In his cabinet he had a massive 
 and costly secretary of elaborately carved rose- 
 wood. Upon its shelves he had arrayed the 
 crown jewels, which he often handled and ex- 
 amined with the same delight with which a 
 miser counts his gold. 
 
 Mademoiselle de Montpensier, in her inter- 
 esting Memoirs, relates the following anecdote, 
 whicli throws interesting light uj>on the char- 
 
1670.] The War in Holland. 235 
 
 Anecdote. Superstitions of Louis. 
 
 acter of the king at this time. It will be re- 
 membered that Louis XIV. was born in one of 
 the palaces at St. Germain, about fifteen miles 
 from Paris. The magnificent terrace on the 
 left bank of the winding Seine commands per- 
 haps as enchanting a view as can be found any 
 where in this world. The domes and towers 
 of Paris appear far away in the north. The 
 wide, luxuriant valley of the Seine, studded 
 with villages and imposing castles, lies spread 
 out in beautiful panorama before the eye. The 
 king had expended between one and two mil- 
 lions of dollars in embellishing the royal resi- 
 dences here. But as the conscience of the king 
 became more sensitive, and repeated deaths 
 forced upon him the conviction that he too 
 must eventually die, St. Germain not only lost 
 all its charms, but became a place obnoxious to 
 him. From the terrace there could be dis- 
 tinctly seen, a few leagues to the east, the tower 
 and spire of St. Denis, the burial-place of the 
 kings of France. To Louis it suddenly became 
 as torturing a sight as to have had his coffin 
 ostentatiously displayed in his banqueting-hall. 
 When Anne of Austria was lying on her bed 
 of suffering, the king was one day pacing alone 
 
 the terrace of St. Germain. Dark*clouds were 
 
 - 
 
236 
 
 Louis XIV. 
 
 His dread of the towers of St. Denis. 
 
 [1670. 
 
 6T. DENIS. 
 
 drifting through the sky. One of these clouds 
 seemed to gather over the towers of St. Denis. 
 To the excited imagination of the king, the 
 vapor wreathed itself into the form of a hearse, 
 surmounted by the arms of Austria. In a few 
 days the king followed the remains of his moth- 
 er to the dark vaults of this their last resting- 
 place. Just before the death of the hapless 
 Henrietta, the same gloomy towers appeared 
 to the king in a dream enveloped in flames, 
 
1670.] The Wae in Holland. 237 
 
 Ambition of Louis. He abandons St. Germain. 
 
 and in the midst of the fire there was a skele- 
 ton holding in his hand a lady's rich jewelry. 
 But a few days after this the king was con- 
 strained to follow the remains of the beauti- 
 ful Henrietta to this sepulchre. God seems to 
 have sent warning upon warning upon this 
 wicked king. Absorbed in ambitious plans 
 and guilty passions, Louis had but little time 
 or thought to give to his neglected wife or her 
 children. In the same year his two daughters 
 died, and with all the pageantry of royal woe 
 they were also entombed at St. Denis. 
 
 It is not strange that, under these circum- 
 stances, the king, to whom the Gospel of Christ 
 was often faithfully preached, and who was liv- 
 ing in the most gross violation of the principles 
 of the religion of Jesus, should have recoiled 
 from a view of those towers, which were ever a 
 reminder to him of death and the grave. He 
 could no longer endure the palace at St. Ger- 
 main. The magnificent panorama of the city, 
 the winding Seine, the flowery meadows, the 
 forest, the villages, and the battlemented cha- 
 teaux lost all their charms, since the towers of 
 St. Denis would resistlessly arrest his eye, for- 
 cing upon his soul reflections from which he in- 
 stinctively recoiled. He therefore abandoned 
 
238 Louis XIV. [1670. 
 
 Severity of Louis to Madame de la Valliere. 
 
 St. Germain entirely, and determined that the 
 palace he was constructing at Versailles should 
 be so magnificent as to throw every other abode 
 of royalty into the shade. 
 
 Madame de la Valliere was daily becoming 
 more wretched. Fully conscious of her sin 
 and shame, deserted by the king, supplanted by 
 a new favorite, and still passionately attached 
 to her royal betrayer, she could not restrain 
 that grief which rapidly marred her beauty. 
 The waning of her charms, and the reproaches 
 of her silent woe, increasingly repelled the king 
 from seeking her society. One day Louis en- 
 tered the apartment of Louise, and found her 
 weeping bitterly. In cold, reproachful tones, 
 he demanded the cause of her uncontrollable 
 grief. The poor victim, upon the impulse of 
 the moment, gave vent to all the gushing an- 
 guish of her soul — her sense of guilt in the 
 sight of God — her misery in view of her igno- 
 minious position, and her brokenness of heart 
 in the consciousness that she had lost the love 
 of one for whom she had periled her very soul. 
 
 The king listened impatiently, and then 
 haughtily replied, " Let there be an end to this. 
 I love you, and you know it. But I am not 
 to be constrained." He reproached her for 
 
1670.] The War in Holland. 239 
 
 A second flitting to Chaillot. 
 
 her obstinacy in refusing the friendship of her 
 rival, Madame de Montespan, and added the 
 cutting words, " You have needed, as well as 
 Madame de Montespan, the forbearance and 
 countenance of your sex." 
 
 Poor Louise was utterly crushed. She had 
 long been thinking of retiring to a convent. 
 Her decision was now formed. She devoted 
 a few sad days to the necessary arrangements, 
 took an agonizing leave, as she supposed for- 
 ever, of her children, to whom she was tender- 
 ly attached, and for whom the king had made 
 ample provision, and, addressing a parting let- 
 ter to him, entered her carriage, to seek, for a 
 second time, a final retreat in the convent of 
 Chaillot. 
 
 It was late in the evening when she entered 
 those gloomy cells where broken hearts find a 
 living burial. To the abbess she said, " I have 
 no longer a home in the palace ; may I hope 
 to find one in the cloister?" The abbess re- 
 ceived her with true Christian sympathy. Aft- 
 er listening with a tearful eye to the recital of 
 her sorrows, she conducted her to the cell in 
 which she was to pass the night. 
 
 " She could not pray, although; she cast her- 
 self upon her knees beside the narrow pallet, 
 
240 Louis XIV. [1670. 
 
 Night in the convent. Disappointment. 
 
 and strove to rejoice that she had at length es- 
 caped from the trials of a world which had 
 wearied her, and of which she herself was 
 weary. There was no peace, no joy in her 
 rebel heart. She thought of the first days of 
 her happiness; of her children, who on the 
 morrow would ask for her in vain ; and then, 
 as memory swept over her throbbing brain, she 
 remembered her former flight to Chaillot, and 
 that it was the king himself who had led her 
 back again into the world. Her brow burned 
 as the craestion forced itself upon her, Would 
 he do so a second time ? would he once more 
 hasten, as he had then done, to rescue her from 
 the living death to which she had consigned 
 herself as an atonement for her past errors % 
 
 " But hour after hour went by, and all was si- 
 lent. Hope died within her. Daylight stream- 
 ed dimly into the narrow casement of her cell. 
 Soon the measured step of the abbess fell upon 
 her ear as she advanced up the long gallery, 
 striking upon the door of each cell as she ap- 
 proached, and uttering in a solemn voice, ' Let 
 us bless the Lord.' To which appeal each of the 
 sisters replied in turn, ' I give him thanks.' " 
 
 The deceptive heart of Louise led her to 
 hope, notwithstanding she had voluntarily 
 
1670.] The War in Holland. 241 
 
 Return of Louise to the palace. 
 
 sought the cloister, that the king, yearning for 
 her presence, would come himself, as soon as 
 he heard of her departure, and affectionately 
 force her back to the Louvre. Early in the 
 morning she heard the sound of carriage- 
 wheels entering the court-yard of the convent. 
 Her heart throbbed with excitement. Soon 
 she was summoned from her cell to the par- 
 lor. Much to her disappointment, the king 
 was not there, but his minister, M. Colbert, pre- 
 sented to her a very affectionate letter from 
 his majesty urging her return. As she hesi- 
 tated, M. Colbert pleaded earnestly in behalf 
 of his sovereign. 
 
 The feeble will of Louise yielded, while yet 
 she blushed at her own weakness. Tears filled 
 her eyes as she took leave of the abbess, grasp- 
 ing her hand, and saying, " This is not a fare- 
 well; I shall assuredly return, and perhaps 
 very soon." The king was much moved in re- 
 ceiving her, and, with great apparent cordiali- 
 ty, thanked her for having complied with his 
 entreaties. Even the heart of Madame de Mon- 
 tespan was touched. She received with words 
 of love and sympathy the returned fugitive, 
 whose rivalry she no longer feared, and in 
 
 Q 
 
242 Louis XIV. [1670. 
 
 Madame de Montespan. Louis reproved by the clergy. 
 
 whose sad career she perhaps saw mirrored her 
 own future doom. 
 
 Madame de Montespan was then in the ze- 
 nith of her power. The king had assigned her 
 the beautiful chateau of Clagny, but a short 
 distance from Versailles. Here she lived in 
 great splendor, entertaining foreign embassa- 
 dors, receiving from them costly gifts, and in- 
 troducing them to her children as if they were 
 really princes of the blood. 
 
 Notwithstanding the corruptions of the pa- 
 pal Church, there were in that Church many 
 faithful ministers of Jesus Christ. Some of 
 them, in their preaching, inveighed very se- 
 verely against the sinful practices in the court. 
 Not only Madame de Montespan, but the king, 
 often knew that they were directly referred 
 to. But the guilty yet sagacious monarch care- 
 fully avoided any appropriation of the denun- 
 ciations to himself. Still, he was so much an- 
 noyed that he seriously contemplated urging 
 Madame de Montespan to retire to a convent. 
 He even authorized the venerable Bossuet, then 
 Bishop of Condom, to call upon Madame de 
 Montespan, and suggest in his name that she 
 should withdraw from the court and retire to 
 the seclusion of the cloister. But the haughty 
 
1670.] The War in Holland. 243 
 
 Power of France. Alarm in Holland. 
 
 favorite, conscious of the power of her charms, 
 and knowing full well that the king had only 
 submitted to the suggestion, peremptorily re- 
 fused. She judged correctly. The king was 
 well pleased to have her remain. 
 
 The preparations which the king was mak- 
 ing for the invasion of Holland greatly alarm- 
 ed the Dutch government. France had be- 
 come powerful far beyond any other Conti- 
 nental kingdom. The king had the finest army 
 in Europe. Turenne, Conde, Yauban, ranked 
 among the ablest generals and engineers of 
 any age. While Louis XIV. was apparently 
 absorbed in his pleasures, Europe was surprised 
 to see vast trains of artillery and ammunition 
 wagons crowding the roads of his northern 
 provinces. In his previous campaign, Louis had 
 taken Flanders in three months, and Franche- 
 Comte in three weeks. These rapid conquests 
 had alarmed neighboring nations, and Holland, 
 Switzerland, and England had entered into an 
 alliance to resist farther encroachments, should 
 they be attempted. 
 
 Louis affected to be very angry that such a 
 feeble state as Holland should have the impu- 
 dence to think of limiting his conquests. Hav- 
 ing, as we have mentioned, detached England 
 
244 Louis XIV. [1670. 
 
 Humble inquiry of the Dutch. Haughty reply of Louis. 
 
 from the alliance by bribing with gold and fe- 
 male charms the miserable Charles II., Louis 
 was ready, without any declaration of war, even 
 without any openly avowed cause of grievance, 
 to invade Holland, and annex the territory to 
 his realms. The States-General, alarmed in 
 view of the magnitude of the military opera- 
 tions which were being made upon their bor- 
 ders, sent embassadors to the French court hum- 
 bly to inquire if these preparations were de- 
 signed against Holland, the ancient and faith- 
 ful ally of France, and, if so, in what respect 
 Holland had offended. 
 
 Louis XIY. haughtily and insolently replied, 
 " I shall make use of my troops as my own dig- 
 nity renders advisable. I am not responsible 
 for my conduct to any power whatever." 
 
 The real ability of the king was shown in 
 the effectual measures he adopted to secure, 
 without the chance of failure, the triumphant 
 execution of his plans. Twenty millions of 
 people had been robbed of their hard earnings 
 to fill his army chests with gold. An army of 
 a hundred and thirty thousand men, in the 
 highest state of discipline, and abundantly sup- 
 plied with all the munitions of war, were on 
 the march for the northern frontiers of France. 
 
1670.] The War in Holland. 245 
 
 Body-guard of the king. Reply of the Dutch merchant. 
 
 These troops were supported by a combined 
 English and French fleet of one hundred and 
 thirty vessels of war. It was the most resist- 
 less force, all things considered, Europe had 
 then ever witnessed. We shall not enter into 
 the details of this campaign, which are inter- 
 esting only to military men. Twelve hundred 
 of the sons of the nobles were organized into 
 a body-guard, ever to surround the king. They 
 were decorated with the most brilliant uni- 
 forms, glittering with embroideries of gold and 
 silver, and were magnificently mounted. The 
 terrible bayonet was then, for the first time, at- 
 tached to the musket. Light pontoons of brass 
 for crossing the rivers were carried on wagons. 
 A celebrated writer, M. Pelisson, accompanied 
 the king, to give a glowing narrative of his 
 achievements. 
 
 As there had been no declaration of war and 
 no commencement of hostilities, the king pur- 
 chased a large amount of military stores even 
 in the states of Holland, which, no one could 
 doubt, he was preparing to invade. A Dutch 
 merchant, being censured by Prince Maurice 
 for entering into a traffic so unpatriotic, replied, 
 
 " My lord, if there could be opened to me by 
 sea any advantageous commerce with the in- 
 
246 Louis XIV. [1672. 
 
 Forces of William, prince of Orange. Louis's march unresisted. 
 
 f ernal regions, I should certainly go there, even 
 at the risk of burning my sails." 
 
 Louis made arrangements that money should 
 be liberally expended to bribe the command- 
 ants of the Dutch fortresses. To oppose all 
 these moral and physical forces, Holland had 
 but twenty-five thousand soldiers, poorly armed 
 and disciplined. They were under the com- 
 mand of the Prince of Orange, who was in 
 feeble health, and but twenty-two years of age. 
 But this young prince proved to be one of the 
 most extraordinary men of whom history gives 
 any account ; yet it was manifestly impossible 
 for him now to arrest the torrent about to in- 
 vade his courts. 
 
 Louis rapidly pushed his troops forward into^ 
 the unprotected states of Holland which bor- 
 dered the left banks of the Rhine. His march 
 was unresisted. Liberally he paid for what- 
 ever he took, distributed presents to the nobles, 
 and, preparing to cross the river, placed his 
 troops in strong detachments in villages scat- 
 tered along the banks of the stream. The king 
 himself was at the head of a choice body of 
 thirty thousand troops. Marshal Turenne com- 
 manded under him. 
 
 The whole country on the left bank of the 
 
1672.] The War in Holland. 247 
 
 The French ctosb the Rhine. Death of the Duke of Longueville. 
 
 Rhine was soon in possession of the French, as 
 village after village fell into their hands. The 
 main object of the Prince of Orange was to 
 prevent the French from crossing the river. 
 Louis intended to have crossed by his pontoons, 
 suddenly moving upon some unexpected point. 
 But there came just then a very severe drouth. 
 The water fell so low that there was a portion 
 of the stream which could be nearly forded. 
 It would be necessary to swim the horses but 
 about twenty feet. The current was slow, and 
 the passage could be easily effected. By mov- 
 ing rapidly, the Prince of Orange would not 
 be able to collect at that point sufficient troops 
 seriously to embarrass the operation. V 
 jK Fifteen thousand horsemen were here sent 
 across, defended by artillery on the banks, and 
 aided by boats of brass. But one man in the 
 French army, the young Duke de Longueville, 
 was killed. He lost his life through inebria- 
 tion, and its consequent folly and crime. Half 
 crazed with wine, he refused quarter to a Dutch 
 officer who had thrown down his arms and sur- 
 rendered. Reeling in his saddle, he shot down 
 the officer, exclaiming, " No quarter for these 
 rascals." Some of the Dutch infantry, who 
 were just surrendering, in despair opened fire, 
 
248 Louis XIV. [1672. 
 
 Passage of the Rhine. Louis a bigoted Catholic. 
 
 and the drunken duke received the death-blow 
 he merited. 
 
 This passage of the Rhine was considered a 
 very brilliant achievement, and added much to 
 the military reputation of Louis XIV., though 
 it appears to have been exclusively the feat of 
 the Prince of Conde. The cities of Holland 
 fell in such rapid succession into the power of 
 the French, that scarcely an hour of the day 
 passed in which the king did not receive the 
 news of some conquest. An officer named 
 Mazel sent an aid to Marshal Turenne to say, 
 
 " If you will be kind enough to send me fifty 
 horsemen, I shall with them be able to take 
 two or three places." 
 
 It was on the 12th of June, 1672, that the 
 passage of the Rhine was effected. On the 
 20th the French king made his triumphal en- 
 trance into the city of Utrecht. The king was 
 a Catholic — a bigoted Catholic. Corrupt as he 
 was in life, regardless as he was in his private 
 conduct of the precepts of Jesus, he was ex- 
 tremely zealous to invest the Catholic Church 
 with power and splendor. It was with him a 
 prominent object to give the Catholic religion 
 the supremacy. 
 
 Amsterdam was the capital of the republic. 
 
1672.] The War in Holland. 249 
 
 Consternation. Reception of the Dutch deputies. 
 
 The capture of that city would complete the 
 conquest. Not only the republic would perish, 
 but Holland would, as it were, disappear from 
 the earth, her territory being absorbed in that 
 of France. The consternation in the metropo- 
 lis was great. The most noble and wealthy 
 families were preparing for a rapid flight to 
 the north. Amsterdam was then the most op- 
 ulent and influential commercial town in Eu- 
 rope. It contained a population of two hun- 
 dred thousand sagacious, energetic, thrifty peo- 
 ple. As is invariably the case in days of dis- 
 aster, there were discordant counsels and angry 
 divisions among the bewildered defenders of 
 the imperiled realm. Some were for fiercely 
 pressing the war, others for humbly imploring 
 peace. 
 
 At length four deputies were sent to the 
 French camp to intercede for the clemency of 
 the conqueror. They were received with rail- 
 lery and insult. After contemptuously com- 
 pelling the deputation several times to come 
 and go without any result, the king at last 
 condescended to present the following as his 
 terms : 
 
 He demanded that the States of Holland 
 should surrender to him the whole of the ter- 
 
250 Louis XIV. [1672. 
 
 Terms of Louis XIV. 
 
 ritoiy on the left bank of the Rhine ; that they 
 should place in his hands, to be garrisoned by 
 French troops, the most important forts and for- 
 tified towns of the republic ; that they should 
 pay him twenty millions of francs, a sum equal 
 to several times that amount at the present day ; 
 that the French should be placed in command 
 of all the important entrances to Holland, both 
 by sea and land, and should be exempted from 
 paying any duty upon the goods they should 
 enter ; that the Catholic religion should be es- 
 tablished every where through the realm ; and 
 that every year the republic should send to . 
 Louis XIV. an embassador, with a golden med- 
 al, upon which there should be impressed the 
 declaration that the republic held all its priv- 
 ileges through the favor of Louis XIV. To 
 these conditions were to be added such as the 
 States -General should be compelled to make 
 with the other allies engaged in the war. 
 
 The nations of Europe have been guilty of 
 many outrages, but perhaps it would be diffi- 
 cult to find one more atrocious than this. In 
 reference to the cause of the war, Voltaire very 
 truly remarks, " It is a singular fact, and wor- 
 thy of record, that of all the enemies, there was 
 not one that could allege any pretext whatever 
 
1672.] The Wak in Holland. 251 
 
 Heroic conduct of the Dutch. The dikes pierced. 
 
 for the war." It was an enterprise very simi- 
 lar to that of the coalition of Louis XII., the 
 Emperor Maximilian, and Spain, who conspired 
 for the overthrow of the Venetian republic sim- 
 ply because that republic was rich and prosper- 
 ous. 
 
 These terms, dictated by the insolence of the 
 conqueror, were quite intolerable. They in- 
 spired the courage of despair. The resolution 
 was at once formed to perish, if perish they 
 must, with their arms in their hands. The 
 Prince of Orange had always urged the vigor- 
 ous prosecution of the war. Guided by his en- 
 ergetic counsel, they pierced the dikes, which 
 alone protected their country from the waters 
 of the sea. The flood rushed in through the 
 opened barriers, converting hundreds of leagues 
 of fertile fields into an ocean. The inundation 
 flooded the houses, swept away the roads, de- 
 stroyed the harvest, drowned the flocks ; and 
 yet no one uttered a murmur. Louis XIV., 
 by his infamous demands, had united all hearts 
 in the most determined resistance. Amster- 
 dam appeared like a large fortress rising in the 
 midst of the ocean, surrounded by ships of war, 
 which found depth of water to float where 
 ships had never floated before. The distress 
 
■252 Louis XIV. [1672. 
 
 Naval battle. Efforts of the Prince of Orange. 
 
 was dreadful. It was the briny ocean whose 
 waves were now sweeping over the land. It 
 was so difficult to obtain any fresh water that 
 it was sold for six cents a pint. 
 
 Maritime Holland, though weak upon the 
 land, was still powerful on the sea. The united 
 fleet of the allies did not exceed that of the re- 
 public. The Dutch Admiral Ruyter, with a 
 hundred vessels of war and fifty fire-ships, re- 
 paired to the coasts of England in search of 
 his foes. He met the allied fleet on the 7th 
 of June, 1672, and in the heroic naval battle 
 of Solbaie disabled and dispersed it. This gave 
 Holland the entire supremacy on the sea. Thus 
 suddenly Louis XIV. found himself checked, 
 and no farther progress was possible. 
 
 The Prince of Orange gave all his private 
 revenues to the state, and entered into nego- 
 tiations with other powers, who were already 
 alarmed by the encroachments of the French 
 king. The Emperor of Germany, the Spanish 
 court, and Flanders, entered into an alliance 
 with the heroic prince. He even compelled 
 Charles II. to withdraw from that union with 
 Louis XIY. which was opposed to the interests 
 of England, and into which his court had been 
 reluctantly dragged. Troops from all quarters 
 
1672.] The War in Holland. 253 
 
 Louis returns to Paris. His extraordinary energy. 
 
 were hurrying forward for the protection of 
 Holland. 
 
 The villainy of Louis XIV. was thwarted, 
 Chagrined at seeing his conquest at an end, 
 but probably with no compunctions of con- 
 science for the vast amount of misery his crime 
 had caused, he left his discomfited army under 
 the command of Turenne and the other gener- 
 als, and returned to his palaces in France. 
 
 The troops which remained in Holland com- 
 mitted outrages which rendered the very name 
 of the French detested. Louis, from the midst 
 of the pomp and pleasure of his palaces, still 
 displayed extraordinary energies. Agents were 
 dispatched to all the courts of Europe with 
 large sums of money for purposes of bribery. 
 By his diplomatic cunning, Hungary was roused 
 against Austria. Gold was lavished upon the 
 King of England to induce him, notwithstand- 
 ing the opposition of the British Parliament, 
 to continue in alliance with France. Several 
 of the petty states of Germany were bought 
 over. Louis greatly increased his naval force. 
 He soon had forty ships of war afloat, besides 
 a large number of fire-ships. 
 
 But Europe had been so alarmed by Iris en- 
 croachments and his menaces that, notwith- 
 
254 
 
 Louis XIV. 
 
 Arch of triumph. 
 
 [1672 
 
 standing his efforts at diplomacy and intrigue, 
 he was compelled to abandon his enterprise, 
 and withdraw his troops from the provinces he 
 had overrun. 
 
 In the early part of his campaign, Louis, 
 flushed with victory and assured of entire suc- 
 cess, had commenced building, as a monument 
 of his great achievement, the arch of triumph 
 at the gate of St. Denis. The structure was 
 scarcely completed ere he was compelled to 
 withdraw his troops from Holland, to meet the 
 
 PGBTE 8T. DEJSIS. 
 
1673.] The War in Holland. 255 
 
 Skill and strategy of Turenne. 
 
 foes who were crowding upon him from all 
 directions. 
 
 Louis XIY. now found nearly all Europe 
 against him. He sent twenty thousand men, 
 under Marshal Turenne, to encounter the forces 
 of the Emperor of Germany. The Prince de 
 Conde was sent with forty thousand troops to 
 assail the redoubtable Prince of Orange. An- 
 other strong detachment was dispatched to the 
 frontiers of Spain, to arrest the advance of the 
 Spanish troops. A fleet was also sent, convey- 
 ing a large land force, to make a diversion by 
 attacking the Spanish sea-ports. 
 
 Turenne, in defending the frontiers of the 
 Rhine, acquired reputation which has made 
 his name one of the most renowned in milita- 
 ry annals. The emperor sent seventy thousand 
 men against him. Turenne had but twenty 
 thousand to meet them. By wonderful com- 
 binations, he defeated and dispersed the whole 
 imperial army. It added not a little to the 
 celebrity of Turenne that he had achieved his 
 victory by following his own judgment, in di- 
 rect opposition to reiterated orders from the 
 minister o£ war, given in the name of the king. 
 
 Turenne, a merciless warrior, allowed no 
 considerations of humanity to interfere with 
 
256 Louis XIV. [1673. 
 
 Barbarities of Turenne. Opinion of Voltaire. 
 
 his military operations. The Palatinate, a 
 country on both sides the Rhine, embracing a 
 territory of about sixteen hundred square miles, 
 and a population of over three hundred thou- 
 sand, was laid in ashes by his command. It 
 was a beautiful region, very fertile, and cover- 
 ed with villages and opulent cities. The Elec- 
 tor Palatine saw from the towers of his castle 
 at Manheim two cities and twenty-five villages 
 at the same time in flames. This awful de- 
 struction was perpetrated upon the defenseless 
 inhabitants, that the armies of the emperor, 
 encountering entire desolation, might be de- 
 prived of subsistence. It was nothing to Tu- 
 renne that thousands of women and children 
 should be cast houseless into the fields to starve. 
 
 Alsace, with nearly a million of inhabitants, 
 encountered the same doom. Another prov- 
 ince, Lorraine, which covered an area of about 
 ten thousand square miles, and contained a 
 population of one and a half millions, was 
 swept of all its provisions by the cavalry of 
 the French commander. In reference to these 
 military operations, Yoltaire writes,* 
 
 "All the injuries he inflicted seemed to be 
 necessary. Besides, the army of seventy thou- 
 sand Germans, whom he thus prevented from 
 
1678.] The War in Holland. 257 
 
 Death of Turerme. Peace of Nimeguen. 
 
 entering France, would have inflicted much 
 more injury than Turenne inflicted upon Lor- 
 raine, Alsace, and the Palatinate." /\ 
 X On the 27th of June, 1675, a cannon ball 
 struck Turenne, and closed in an instant his 
 earthly career. His renown filled Europe. 
 He was a successful warrior, a dissolute man ; 
 and few who have ever lived have caused more 
 widespread misery than could be charged to 
 his account. Such is not the character which 
 best prepares one to stand before the judg- 
 ment seat of Christ. 
 
 The war continued for two years with some- 
 what varying fortune, but with unvarying blood 
 and misery. At last peace was made on the 
 14th of August, 1678 — the peace of Nimeguen, 
 as it is styled. Louis XIY. dictated the terms. 
 He was now at the height of his grandeur. 
 He had enlarged his domains by the addition 
 of Franehe-Comte, Dunkirk, and half of Flan- 
 ders. His courtiers worshiped him as a demi- 
 god. The French court conferred upon him, 
 with imposing solemnities, the title of Louis 
 le Grand. The ambition of Louis was by no 
 means satiated. He availed himself of the 
 short peace which ensued to form plans and 
 gather resources for new conquests. 
 K 
 
258 Louis XIV. [1678. 
 
 Penitence and anguish of Louise de Valliere. 
 
 Let us now return from fields of blood to 
 life in the palace. Madame de la Valliere, 
 upon her return from the convent, soon found 
 herself utterly miserable. She had hoped that 
 reviving affection had been the inducement 
 which led Louis to recall her. Instead of this, 
 his attentions daily diminished. Madame de 
 Montespan had accompanied the king in his 
 brief trip to Holland, and returned with him 
 to Paris. She was all-powerful at court, and 
 seemed to delight, by word and deed, to add 
 to the anguish of her vanquished rival. After 
 a dreary year of wretchedness, Louise could 
 endure no longer a residence .in the palace. 
 Her mother, who had been exceedingly dis- 
 tressed in view of the ignominious position oc- 
 cupied by her daughter, entreated her to retire 
 to the Duchy of Vaujours with her children. 
 Her mother promised to accompany her to 
 that quiet yet beautiful retreat. But the spirit 
 of Louise was broken. She longed only to 
 sever herself entirely from the world, and to 
 seek a living burial in the glooms of the clois- 
 ter. In those days of sorrow, penitence and 
 the spirit of devotion sprang up in her weary 
 heart. 
 
 Louise was still young and beautiful. Her 
 
1678.] The War in Holland. 259 
 
 Takes leave of her children and the queen. 
 
 passionate love for the king still held strong 
 dominion over her. Grief brought on a long 
 and dangerous illness. For many days her 
 life was in danger. In view of the approach- 
 ing judgment, where she felt that she soon 
 must stand, the greatness of her transgression 
 harrowed her soul, and increased her desire to 
 spend the rest of her life in works of piety and 
 in prayer. When convalescent, the king con- 
 sented to her retirement to the Carmelite con- 
 vent. Like one in a dream, she took leave of 
 her children without a tear. Then, entering 
 the apartment of the queen, she threw herself 
 upon her knees, and with the sobbings of a re- 
 morseful and despairing heart implored her 
 pardon for all the sorrow she had caused her. 
 The generous Maria Theresa raised her up, 
 embraced her, and declared her entirely for- 
 given. 
 
 The morning of her departure arrived. The 
 king, who was that day to leave Paris to visit 
 the army in Flanders, attended high mass. 
 Louise also attended. Absorbed in prayer, 
 she did not raise her eyes during the service. 
 She then, pale as death, and leaning upon the 
 arm of her mother, but for whose support she 
 must have fallen, advanced to take leave of 
 
260 Louis XIV. [1678. 
 
 Again at the convent. Faithfulness to duty. 
 
 the king. The selfish monarch, with a dry eye 
 and a firm voice, bade her adieu, coldly ex- 
 pressing the hope that she would be happy in 
 her retreat. Without the slightest apparent 
 emotion, he saw Louise, with her earthly hap- 
 piness utterly wrecked, enter her carriage and 
 drive away, to pass the remainder of her joy- 
 less years in the gloomy cell of 'the convent. 
 He then turned and conversed with his com- 
 panions with as much composure as if nothing 
 unusual had happened. 
 
 Louise, upon her arrival at the convent, cast 
 herself upon her knees before the abbess, say- 
 ing that hitherto she had made so ill a use of 
 her free will that she came to resign it to the 
 abbess forever. For thirty-six years the heart- 
 broken penitent endured the hardships of her 
 convent life — its narrow pallet, its hard fare, 
 its prolonged devotions, its silence, and its rigid 
 fastings. Under the name of Louisa of Mercy 
 she with the most exemplary fidelity performed 
 all her dreary duties, until, in her sixty-sixth 
 year, she fell asleep, and passed away, we trust, 
 to the bosom of that Savior who is ever ready 
 to receive the returning penitent. 
 
 The hapless Henrietta, duchess of Orleans, 
 left a very beautiful daughter, Maria Louisa. 
 
1679.] The Wak in Holland. 261 
 
 Marriage of the Duchess of Orleans with the King of Spain. 
 
 Her charms of countenance, person, and man- 
 ners attracted the admiration of the whole 
 court, where she was a universal favorite. She 
 was compelled by the king, as a matter of state 
 policy, to marry Charles II., the young King 
 of Spain, for whom she felt no affection. Bit- 
 terly she wept in view of the terrible sacrifice 
 she was compelled to make. But the will of 
 the king was inexorable. Her melancholy mar- 
 riage was solemnized with much splendor in 
 the great chapel at St. Germain. She then 
 left, with undisguised reluctance, for Madrid. 
 The King of Spain, feeble in body, more feeble 
 in mind, moody and melancholy, was charmed 
 by her youth and beauty. Her mental endow- 
 ments were such that she soon acquired entire 
 ascendency over him. He became pliant as 
 wax in her hands. 
 
 The cabinet at Vienna were alarmed lest 
 Maria Louisa should influence her husband to 
 unite with France against Germany. The 
 Countess de Soissons was sent as a secret agent 
 to the Spanish court. Beautiful and fascinat- 
 ing, she soon became exceedingly intimate with 
 the queen. One day Maria Louisa, oppressed 
 by the heat, expressed regret at the scarcity of 
 milk in Madrid, saying how much she should 
 
262 Louis XIV. [1679. 
 
 The Countess de Soissons. 
 
 enjoy a good draught. The countess assured 
 her that she knew where to obtain some of ex- 
 cellent quality, and that, with her majesty's per- 
 mission, she would have it iced and present it 
 with her own hands. The queen received the 
 cup with a smile, and drank it at once. In half 
 an hour she was taken ill. After a few hours 
 of horrible agony, such as her unhappy mother 
 had previously endured from the same cause, 
 she died. In the confusion, the countess es- 
 caped from the capital. She was pursued, but 
 her arrangements for escape had been so skill- 
 fully made that she could not be overtaken. 
 
 Maria Theresa, the neglected queen of France, 
 had borne six children ; but of these, at this pe- 
 riod, there was but one surviving son, the dau- 
 phin. In his character there appeared a com- 
 bination of most singular anomalies and con- 
 tradictions. Though exceedingly impulsive 
 and obstinate in obeying every freak of his 
 fancy, he seemed incapable of any affection, 
 and alike incapable of any hostility, except that 
 which flashed up for the moment. 
 
 " The example of his guardians had inspired 
 him with a few amiable qualities, but his nat- 
 ural vices defied eradication. His constitution- 
 al tendencies were all evil. His greatest pleas- 
 
1679.] The Wae in Holland. 263 
 
 Character of the dauphin. 
 
 ure consisted in annoying those about him. 
 Those who were most conversant with his hu- 
 mor could never guess the temper of his mind. 
 He laughed the loudest and affected the great- 
 est amiability when he was most exasperated, 
 and scowled defiance when he was perfectly 
 unruffled. His only talent was a keen sense 
 of the ridiculous. Nothing escaped him that 
 could be tortured into sarcasm, although no 
 one could have guessed, from his abstracted 
 and careless demeanor, that he was conscious 
 of any thing that was taking place in his pres- 
 ence. His indolence was extreme, and his fa- 
 vorite amusement was lying stretched upon a 
 sofa tapping the points of his shoes with a cane. 
 Never, to the day of his death, had even his 
 most intimate associates heard him express an 
 opinion upon any subject relating to art, liter- 
 ature, or politics."* 
 
 Such was the imbecile young man who, by 
 the absurd law of hereditary descent, was the 
 destined heir to the throne of more than twen- 
 ty millions of people. The king was anxious 
 to obtain for his son a bride whose alliance 
 would strengthen him against his enemies. 
 With that policy alone influencing him, he ap- 
 
 * Louis XIV. and the Court of France, vol. ii., p. 268. 
 
264 Louis XIV. [1635. 
 
 Monseigneur's indifference. Francoise d'Aubigne. 
 
 plied for the hand of the Princess Mary Ann 
 of Bavaria. It so chanced that she was in 
 personal appearance exceedingly unattractive. 
 The king said that, " though she was not hand- 
 some, he still hoped that Monseigneur would 
 be able to live happily with her." 
 
 The dauphin, or Monseigneur as he was call- 
 ed, seemed to be perfectly indifferent to the 
 whole matter. He at one time inquired if the 
 princess were free from any deformity. Upon 
 being told that she was, he seemed quite con- 
 tented, and asked no farther questions. In an- 
 ticipation of the marriage, a lady, Madame de 
 Maintenon, whose name henceforth became in- 
 separably connected with that of Louis XIV., 
 was appointed to the distinguished post of 
 " mistress of the robes" to the dauphiness. We 
 must now introduce this distinguished lady to 
 our readers. 
 
 The Marchioness Francoise d'Aubigne was 
 born of a noble Protestant family, in the year 
 1635, in the prison of Niort. Her mother, with 
 her little boy, had been permitted to join her 
 imprisoned husband in his captivity. Here 
 Francoise was born, amidst scenes of the most 
 extreme poverty and misery. The emaciate 
 mother was unable to afford sustenance to her 
 
1640.] The War in Holland. 265 
 
 Her apparent death and recovery. 
 
 infant. A sister of Baron d' Aubigne, Madame 
 de Vilette, took Frangoise to her home at the 
 Chateau de Marcey, where she passed her in- 
 fancy. After an imprisonment of four years, 
 the baron was released ; but, as he refused to 
 abjure Calvinism, Cardinal Richelieu would 
 not permit him to remain in France. He con- 
 sequently, with his family, embarked for Mar- 
 tinique. During the passage, Frangoise was 
 taken ill and apparently died. As one of the 
 crew was about to consign the body to its ocean 
 burial, the grief -stricken mother implored the 
 privilege of one parting embrace. As she 
 pressed the child to her heart, she perceived in- 
 dications of life. The babe recovered, to oc- 
 cupy a position which filled the world with 
 her renown. 
 
 Upon the island of Martinique prosperity 
 smiled upon them. Madame d' Aubigne was 
 a Catholic, though her husband was a 'Prot- 
 estant. She at length took ship for France, 
 hoping to save some portion of her husband's 
 sequestered estates, but was unsuccessful. 
 Upon her return to Martinique, she found that 
 Baron d' Aubigne, during her absence, deprived 
 of her restraining influence, had utterly ruined 
 himself by gambling. Overwhelmed by re- 
 
266 Louis XIV. [1640. 
 
 Francoise a Protestant. Persecutions in consequence. 
 
 gret and misery, he almost immediately sank 
 into the grave. Madame d'Aubigne and her 
 two children, in the extreme of poverty, re- 
 turned to France. Madame de Vilette again 
 took the little Francoise to the chateau of Mar- 
 cey. As her mother was a Catholic, Francoise 
 had been baptized by a Romish priest, and 
 reared in the faith of her mother. The Count- 
 ess de Neuillant, who was attached to the 
 household of Anne of Austria, was her god- 
 mother, and a very intense Catholic ; but Ma- 
 dame de Vilette, the sister of the child's father, 
 was a Protestant. The susceptible child was 
 soon led to adopt the faith of her protectress. 
 Catholic zeal was such in those days that 
 Madame de Neuillant obtained an order from 
 the court to remove the little girl from the 
 Protestant family, and to place her under her 
 own guardianship. Here every effort was 
 made to induce Francoise to return to the 
 Catholic faith, but neither threats nor entreat- 
 ies were of any avail. She remained firm in 
 her Protestant principles. The persecution 
 she endured amounted almost to martyrdom. 
 Madame de Neuillant, in her rage, imposed 
 upon her the most humiliating and onerous 
 domestic services. She was the servant of the 
 
1675.] The War in Holland. 267 
 
 Sufferings of Franpoise. Death of her mother. 
 
 servants. She fed the horses. She suffered 
 from cold and hunger. Thus she, who subse- 
 quently caused the revocation of the Edict of 
 Nantes, and thus exposed the Protestants to 
 the most dreadful sufferings, was a martyr of 
 the religion of which she later became so ter- 
 rible a scourge. 
 
 The mother, witnessing the distress of her 
 child, succeeded in withdrawing her from Ma- 
 dame de Neuillant, and placing her in a con- 
 vent. Here the Ursuline nuns won her over 
 to the Catholic faith. Proud of their convert, 
 who was remarkably intelligent and attractive, 
 they kept her for a year. But as neither Ma- 
 dame de Neuillant, from whom she had been 
 removed, nor Madame de Yilette, who dread- 
 ed her return to Romanism, would pay her 
 board, they refused to give her any longer a 
 shelter. Francoise left the convent, and join- 
 ed her mother only in time to see her sink in 
 sorrow to the grave. She was thus left, at 
 fourteen years of age, in utter destitution, de • 
 pendent upon chanty for support. 
 
268 Louis XIV. [1649. 
 
 Beauty and intelligence of Franp oise. 
 
 Chapter VIII. 
 Madame de Maintenon. 
 
 THE extreme distress and destitution of 
 Francoise touched the heart of Madame 
 de ISTeuillant. She again took the orphan child 
 under her charge and returned her to school 
 in the convent. Frangoise gradually develop- 
 ed remarkable beauty and intelligence. Her 
 quiet, unobtrusive, instinctive tact gave her 
 fascinating power over most who approached 
 her. She often visited the countess, where she 
 attracted much admiration from the fashiona- 
 ble guests who were ever assembled in her sa- 
 loons. The dissolute courtiers were lavish in 
 their attentions to the highly-endowed child. 
 Established principles of virtue alone saved 
 her from ruin. Misfortune and sorrow had 
 rendered her precocious beyond her years. It 
 was her only and her earnest desire to take 
 the veil, and join the sisters in the convent. 
 But money was needed for that purpose, and 
 she had none. 
 
 There was residing very near Madame de 
 
1649.] Madame de Maintenon. 269 
 
 Franp oise d'Aubigne and the poet Scarron. 
 
 Neuillant, a very remarkable man, Paul Scar- 
 ron. He was born of a good family, and had 
 traveled extensively. Having run through the 
 disgraceful round of fashionable dissipation, he 
 had become crippled by the paralysis of his 
 lower limbs, and was living a literary life in 
 the enjoyment of a competence. He was still 
 young. Imperturbable gayety, wonderful con- 
 versational powers, and celebrity as a poet, 
 caused his saloons to be crowded with distin- 
 guished and admiring friends. Some one 
 mentioned to him the situation of Francoise 
 d'Aubigne, and her desire to enter the convent. 
 His kindly heart was touched, and, heading a 
 subscription -list, he soon obtained sufficient 
 funds from among his friends to enable her to 
 secure the retreat she desired. 
 
 Quite overjoyed, the maiden hastened to the 
 apartments of the poet to express her gratitude. 
 Scarron was astonished when the apparition of 
 a beautiful girl of fifteen, full of life, and with 
 a figure whose symmetric grace the sculptor 
 could with difficulty rival, appeared before 
 him. Her heart was glowing with gratitude 
 which her lips could hardly express, that he 
 was furnishing her with means for a life-long 
 burial in the glooms of the cloister. The poet 
 
270 Louis XI Y. [1660. 
 
 Scarron's proposal of marriage. 
 
 gazed upon her for a moment quite bewildered, 
 and then said, with one of those beaming smiles 
 which irradiated his pale, intellectual face with 
 rare beauty, 
 
 " I must recall my promise ; I can not pro- 
 cure you admission into a religious communi- 
 ty. You are not fitted for a nun. You can not 
 understand the nature of the sacrifice which 
 you are so eager to make. Will you become 
 my wife ? My servants anger and neglect me. 
 I am unable to enforce obedience. Were they 
 under the control of a mistress, they would do 
 their duty. My friends neglect me ; I can not 
 pursue them to reproach them for their aban- 
 donment. If they saw a pretty woman at the 
 head of my household, they would make my 
 home cheerful. I give you a week to decide." 
 
 Francoise returned to the convent bewilder- 
 ed, almost stunned. She was alone in the 
 world, living upon reluctant chanty. There 
 was no one to whom she could confidingly look 
 for advice. The future was all dark before 
 her. Scarron, though crippled, was still young, 
 witty, and distinguished as one of the most pop- 
 ular poets of the day. His saloon Avas the in- 
 tellectual centre of the capital, where the most 
 distinguished men were wont to meet. At the 
 
1660.] Madame de Maintenon. 271 
 
 Marriage of Frangoise d'Aubign6. Becomes a governess. 
 
 close of the week Frangoise returned an affirm- 
 ative answer. They were soon married. She 
 found apparently a happy home with her crip- 
 pled but amiable husband. The brilliant cir- 
 cle in the midst of which she moved strength- 
 ened her intellect, enlarged her intelligence, 
 and added to that wonderful ease and graceful- 
 ness of manner with which she was by nature 
 endowed. oJ 
 
 In the year 1660 Monsieur Scarron died. 
 He had lived expensively, and, as his income 
 was derived from a life annuity which ceased 
 at his death, his wife found herself again in 
 utter destitution. She was then forty-five years 
 of age. Madame de Montespan, who had fre- 
 quently met her in those brilliant circles, which 
 had been rendered additionally attractive by 
 her personal loveliness and mental charms, per- 
 suaded the king to appoint Madame Scarron 
 governess for her children. A residence was 
 accordingly assigned her near the palace of the 
 Luxembourg, where she was installed in her 
 responsible office. She enjoyed a princely res- 
 idence, horses, a carriage, and a suite of serv- 
 ants. The many attractions of Madame Scar- 
 ron were not lost upon the king. He often 
 visited her, loved to converse with her, and 
 
272 Louis XIV. [1660. 
 
 Elevation of Madame Scarron. 
 
 soon the jealousy of Madame de Montespan 
 was intensely excited by the manifest fond- 
 ness with which he was regarding the new fa- 
 vorite. 
 
 Greatly to the disgust of Madame de Monte- 
 . span, whose influence was rapidly waning, the 
 king appointed Madame Scarron to the respon- 
 sible office of Mistress of the Robes to the 
 dauphiness, Mary Ann of Bavaria, who was 
 soon to arrive. He also conferred upon her 
 the fine estate of Maintenon, with the title of 
 Marchioness of Maintenon. It was now the 
 turn of Madame de Montespan to experience 
 the same neglect and humiliation through 
 which she had seen, almost exultingly, the un- 
 happy Madame de la Valliere pass. 
 
 The haughty favorite had reached her thir- 
 ty-ninth year. The charms of youth were fast 
 leaving her. Louis had attained his forty-sec- 
 ond year. Bitter reproaches often rose between 
 them. The king was weary of her exactions. 
 He made several efforts, but in vain, to induce 
 her to retire to one of the estates which he had 
 conferred upon her. The daily increasing al- 
 ienation led the king more frequently to seek 
 the soothing society of the calm, gentle, serious 
 Madame de Maintenon. Her fascinations of 
 
.MADAME DE MAINTENON. 
 
 s 
 
1680.] Madame de Maintenon. 275 
 
 Personal appearance of Madame de Maintenon. 
 
 person and mind won his admiration, while her 
 virtues commanded his respect. 
 
 Such was the posture of affairs when prep- 
 arations were made for the reception of the 
 dauphiness with the utmost magnificence. The 
 costumes of Madame de Maintenon were partic- 
 ularly remarked for their splendor, being cov- 
 ered with jewels and embroidered with gold. 
 
 "Madame de Maintenon, although in her 
 forty-fifth year, had lost no charm save that of 
 youth, which had been replaced by a stately 
 grace, and a dignified self-possession that ren- 
 dered it almost impossible to regret the lighter 
 and less finished attractions of buoyancy and 
 display. Her hands and arms were singularly 
 beautiful ; her eyes had lost nothing of their 
 fire ; her voice was harmoniously modulated, 
 and there was in the whole of her demeanor 
 unstudied ease, which was as far removed from 
 presumption as from servility."* 
 
 Madame de Montespan was so annoyed by 
 the honors conferred upon Madame de Main- 
 tenon that she was betrayed into saying, " I 
 pity the young foreigner, who can not fail to 
 be eclipsed in every way by her Mistress of 
 the Robes." 
 
 * Louis XIV. and the Court of France, vol. ii., p. 274. 
 
276 Louis XIY. [1680. 
 
 Portrait of Ann of Austria. The Princess of Tuscany. 
 
 Early in the year 1680 Madame de Main- 
 tenon and M. Bossuet, bishop of Meanx, who 
 had educated the dauphin, accompanied by a 
 suitable retinue, proceeded to Schelestadt to re- 
 ceive the dauphiness. Here the ceremony of 
 marriage by proxy was to be solemnized. The 
 king and the dauphin proceeded as far as Yit- 
 ry le Francais to receive the bride. She was 
 not beautiful, " but she was," writes Madame 
 de Sevigne, " very graceful ; her hands and 
 arms were exquisitely moulded. She had so 
 fine a figure, so admirable a carriage, such 
 handsome teeth, such magnificent hair, and so 
 mnch amiability of manner, that she was cour- 
 teous without being insipid, familiar without 
 losing her dignity, and had so charming a de^ 
 portment that she might be pardoned for not 
 pleasing at first sight." 
 
 Louis seemed quite delighted with his new 
 daughter-in-law, and devoted himself much to 
 her entertainment. She was accompanied by 
 her sister, the Princess of Tuscany, who was 
 extremely beautiful. The king, in conversa- 
 tion with Mary Ann, remarked, "You never 
 mentioned to me the fact that the Princess of 
 Tuscany was so singularly lovely." With tact 
 which gave evidence of her self-possession and 
 
1680.] Madame de Maintenon. 277 
 
 Unhappiness of the danphiness. 
 
 ready wit, the dauphiness replied, " How can 
 I remember, sire, that my sister monopolized 
 all the beauty of the family, when I, on my 
 part, have monopolized all its happiness." 
 
 The young dauphiness had sufficient pene- 
 tration soon to perceive that the attentions 
 which the king was apparently devoting to 
 her were due mainly to his desire to enjoy the 
 society of the beautiful and agreeable Mistress 
 of the Robes. The dauphiness was annoyed. 
 Naturally of a retiring disposition, very fond 
 of books and of music, she soon wearied of the 
 perpetual whirl of fashion and frivolity, and 
 gradually withdrew as much as possible from 
 the society of the court. She imbibed a strong 
 dislike to Madame de Maintenon, which dis- 
 like Madame de Montespan did every thing in 
 her power to increase. The dauphiness be- 
 came very unhappy. She soon found that her 
 husband was a mere cipher, whom she could 
 neither regard with respect nor affection. 
 Louis XIV. allowed the dauphiness to pursue 
 her own course. While ever treating her with 
 the most punctilious politeness, he continued, 
 much to her chagrin, and especially to that of 
 Madame de Montespan, to manifest his admi- 
 ration for Madame de Maintenon, and con- 
 
278 Louis XIV. [1680. 
 
 Louis's providence for his children. Mademoiselle de Blois. 
 
 stantly to seek lier society. Thus the clouds 
 of discontent, jealousy, and bitter hostility shed 
 their gloom throughout the court. There was 
 splendor there, but no happiness. 
 
 It was a good trait in the character of the 
 king that he was affectionately attached to all 
 of his children. He provided for them sump- 
 tuously, and did every thing in his power to 
 provide abundantly for those of dishonorable 
 birth. Royal decrees pronounced them legiti- 
 mate, and they were honored and courted as 
 princes of the blood. 
 
 Mademoiselle de Blois, a daughter of Ma- 
 dame de la Yalliere, was one of the most beau- 
 tiful and highly accomplished women ever 
 seen at the French court. Her mother had 
 transmitted to her all her many virtues and 
 none of her frailties. Tall and slender, her 
 figure was the perfection of grace. A slight- 
 ly pensive air enhanced the charms of a coun- 
 tenance remarkably lovely, and of a bearing in 
 which were combined the highest attractions 
 of self-respect and courtly breeding. Her 
 voice was music. Her hands and feet were 
 finely modeled. Several foreign princes had 
 solicited her hand. But the king, her father, 
 had invariably declined these offers. He de- 
 
1680.] Madame de Maintenon. 279 
 
 Marriage of Mademoiselle de Blois. 
 
 clared that the presence of his daughter was 
 essential to his happiness — that he could not 
 be separated from her. 
 
 In 1680 Mademoiselle de Blois was mar- 
 ried to the Prince de Conti, nephew of the 
 great Conde. It was as brilliant a marriage 
 as exalted rank, gorgeous dresses, superb dia- 
 monds, and courtly etiquette could create. 
 The king could not have honored the nuptials 
 more had he been giving a daughter of the 
 queen to the proudest monarch in Europe. 
 Her princely dowry was the same as would 
 have been conferred on such an occasion. It 
 amounted to five hundred thousand golden 
 crowns. This was the same sum which the 
 Spanish monarchy assigned Maria Theresa 
 upon her marriage with the King of France. 
 
 It is difficult to imagine what must have 
 been the emotions of Madame de la Valliere 
 when she heard, in her narrow cell, the details 
 of the brilliant nuptials of her child. Her 
 loving heart must have experienced conflicting 
 sensations of joy and of anguish. Madame de 
 la Valliere had also a son, Count Vermandois. 
 He became exceedingly dissipated, so much so 
 as to excite the severe displeasure of the king. 
 Rumor says that on one occasion he had the 
 
280 Louis XIV. [1703. 
 
 The man with the iron mask. 
 
 audacity to strike the dauphin. The council 
 condemned him to death. Louis XIV., through 
 paternal affection, commuted the punishment 
 to imprisonment for life. The report was 
 spread that he had died of a contagious dis- 
 ease, "while he was privately conveyed to the 
 prison of St. Marguerite, and subsequently to 
 the Bastile, his face being ever concealed un- 
 der an iron mask. Here he died, it is said, on 
 the 19th of November, 1703, after an imprison- 
 ment of between thirty and forty years. The 
 true explanation of this great historical mys- 
 tery will probably now never be ascertained. 
 
 The story of the " Man with the Iron Mask" 
 is one of the most remarkable in the annals of 
 the past. Probably no information will ever 
 be obtained upon this subject more full than 
 that which Voltaire has given. He says that 
 a prisoner was sent in great secrecy to the cha- 
 teau in the island of St. Marguerite ; that he 
 was young, tall, and of remarkably graceful 
 figure. His face was concealed by an iron 
 mask, with coils of steel so arranged that he 
 could eat without its removal. Orders were 
 given to kill him instantly if he should an- 
 nounce who he was. He remained at the cha- 
 teau many years in close imprisonment. 
 
1690.] Madame de Maintenon. 281 
 
 Measures adopted to prevent discovery. 
 
 In 1690, M. St. Mars, governor of the prison 
 at St. Marguerite, was transferred to the charge 
 of the Bastile in Paris. The prisoner, ever 
 masked, was taken with him, and was treated 
 on the journey with the highest respect. A 
 well-furnished chamber was provided for him 
 in that immense chateau. The governor him- 
 self brought him his food, and stood respect- 
 fully like a servile attendant while he ate. The 
 captive was extremely fond of fine linen and 
 lace, and was very attentive to his personal ap- 
 pearance. Upon his death the walls of his 
 chamber were rubbed down and whitewashed. 
 Even the tiles of the floor were removed, lest 
 he might have concealed a note beneath them. 
 
 It is very remarkable that, while it can not 
 be doubted that the prisoner was a person of 
 some great importance, no such personage dis- 
 appeared from Europe at that time. It is a 
 plausible supposition that the king, unwilling 
 to consign his own son to death, sent him to 
 life-long imprisonment ; and that the report of 
 his death by a contagious disease was circu- 
 lated that the mother might be saved the an- 
 guish of knowing the dreadful fate of her 
 child. Still there are many difficulties con- 
 nected with this explanation, and there is 
 
282 Louis XIV. [1680. 
 
 Madame de Montespan and her sou. Mary Angelica Roussille. 
 
 none other which has ever satisfied public cu- 
 riosity. 
 
 Madame de Montespan had eight children, 
 who were placed under the care of Madame 
 de Maintenon. Her eldest son, Count de Yix- 
 en, died in his eleventh year. Her second son, 
 the Duke de Maine, was a lad of remarkable 
 character and attainments. He loved Madame 
 de Maintenon. He did not love his mother. 
 Unfeelingly he reproached her with his igno- 
 ble birth. Madame de Montespan, though still 
 a fine-looking woman, brilliant, witty, and al- 
 ways conspicuous for the splendor of her equi- 
 page and her attire, felt every hour embittered 
 by the consciousness that her power over the 
 king had passed away. She regarded the se- 
 rious, thoughtful Madame de Maintenon as her 
 successful rival, though her social relations with 
 the king were entirely above reproach. 
 
 The character of the discarded favorite is de- 
 veloped by the measure she adopted to lure the 
 susceptible and unprincipled monarch from the 
 very agreeable society of Madame de Main- 
 tenon. In the department of Provence there 
 was a young lady but eighteen years of age, 
 Mary Angelica Roussille. She was of such 
 wonderful beauty that its fame had reached 
 
1680.] Madame de Maintenon. 283 
 
 Intrigue of Madame de Montespan. 
 
 Paris. Her parents had educated her with the 
 one sole object of rendering her as fascinating 
 as possible. They wished to secure for her the 
 position of a maid of honor to the queen, hop- 
 ing that by so doing she would attract the fa- 
 vor of the king. Madame de Montespan heard 
 of her. She plotted to bring this young and 
 extraordinary beauty to the court, that, by her 
 personal charms, she might outrival the mental 
 and social attractions of Madame de Main- 
 tenon. She described her intended protege to 
 the king in such enthusiastic strains that his 
 curiosity was roused. She was brought to 
 court. The monarch, satiated by indulgence, 
 oppressed by ennui, ever seeking some new ex- 
 citement, was at once won by the charms of the 
 beautiful Mary Angelica. She became an ac- 
 knowledged favorite. He lavished upon her 
 gifts of jewels and of gold, and dignified her 
 with the title of the Duchesse de Fontanges. 
 The court blazed again with splendor to greet 
 the new favorite ; and, let it not be forgotten, 
 to meet this royal splendor, millions of peas- 
 ants were consigned to hovels, and life -long 
 penury and want. 
 
 There was a constant succession of theatric 
 shows, ballets, and concerts. Mary Angelica 
 
284 Louis XIV. [1680. 
 
 Display of the Duchess de Fontanges. A quarrel. 
 
 was a gay, frivolous, conceited, heartless girl, 
 who recklessly squandered the gold so profuse- 
 ly poured into her lap. The insolent favorite 
 even ventured to treat the queen with disdain, 
 assuming the priority. In the streets she made 
 a truly regal display in a gorgeous carriage 
 drawn by eight cream-colored horses, while the 
 clustering ringlets, the floating plumes, and the 
 truly radiant beauty of the parvenue duchess 
 attracted all eyes. If she had ever heard, she 
 refused to heed the warning voice of the proph- 
 et, saying, " Know thou that for all these things 
 God will bring thee into judgment." 
 
 The scheme of Madame de Montespan had 
 succeeded far more fully than she had expect- 
 ed or desired. The absorption of the king in 
 the new-comer was so entire that the discarded 
 favorite was tortured with new pangs of jeal- 
 ousy and remorse. Implacably she hated the 
 Duchess of Fontanges. With her sharp tongue 
 she mercilessly cut the luxurious beauty, who 
 had intelligence enough to feel the sarcasms 
 keenly, but had no ability to retort. A dis- 
 graceful quarrel ensued, in which the most vul- 
 gar epithets and the grossest witticisms were 
 bandied between them. The king himself at 
 length found it necessary to interpose. He ap- 
 
1680.] Madame de IVfAiNTENON. 285 
 
 Virtuous endeavors of Madame de Maintenon. 
 
 plied to Madame de Maintenon for counsel 
 and aid. She had quietly attended to her du- 
 ties, observing all that was passing, but taking 
 no part in these shameful intrigues. Con- 
 scious that any attempt to influence Madame 
 de Montespan, hardened as she was in her ca- 
 reer, would be futile, she ventured to address 
 herself to the young and inexperienced Duch- 
 ess de Fontanges. Gently she endeavored to 
 lead her to some conception of the enormity 
 of the life she was leading, and of the inde- 
 cency of compromising the king and the court 
 by undignified brawls. 
 
 The vain and heartless beauty received her 
 counsels with bitter derision and passionate in- 
 sult, and attributed every annoyance to which, 
 as she averred, she was continually subjected, 
 to the jealous envy of those with whose ambi- 
 tious views she had interfered ; more than 
 hinting that Madame de Maintenon herself 
 was among the number. She was, however, 
 only answered by a placid smile, and instruct- 
 ed to remember that those who sought to share 
 her triumphs and her splendor must be con- 
 tent at the same time to partake her sin. It 
 was a price too heavy to pay even for the 
 smiles of a monarch. In vain did the flushed 
 
286 Lotfis XIV. [1680. 
 
 Madame de Mainteuon's efforts unsuccessful. 
 
 and furious beauty plead the example of oth- 
 ers, higher born and more noble than herself. 
 The calm and unmoved monitress instantly 
 availed herself of this hollow argument to bid 
 her, in her turn, to set an example which the 
 noblest and the best-born might be proud to 
 follow. 
 
 " And how can I do this ?" was the sullen 
 inquiry. 
 
 " By renouncing the society of the king," 
 firmly replied Madame de Maintenon. "Ei- 
 ther you love him, or you love him not. If 
 you love him, you should make an effort to 
 save both his honor and your own. If you do 
 not love him, it will cost you no effort to with- 
 draw from the court. In either case you will 
 act wisely and nobly." 
 
 "Would not any one believe who heard 
 you," passionately exclaimed the duchess, " that 
 it was as easy to leave a king as to throw off a 
 glove ?"* 
 
 This was the only reply. The mission of 
 Madame de Maintenon had entirely failed. 
 The proud, unblushing beauty, whose effront- 
 ery passed all bounds, was greatly enraged 
 against Madame de Maintenon ; and when she 
 
 * Louis XIV. and the Court of France. 
 
1684.] Madame de Maintenon. 287 
 
 Sickness and distress of the Duchess de Fontanges. 
 
 perceived that the king was again beginning 
 to take refuge in her virtuous society and con- 
 versation, she vowed the most signal vengeance. 
 
 But the day of retribution soon came — far 
 sooner than could have been expected. The 
 guilty and pampered duchess was taken ill — 
 hopelessly so, with a sickness that destroyed 
 all her beauty. She became sallow, pallid, 
 gaunt, emaciate, haggard. The selfish, heart- 
 less king wished to see her no more. He did 
 not conceal his repugnance, and quite forsook 
 her. The humiliation, distress, and abandon- 
 ment of the guilty duchess was more than she 
 could bear. She begged permission, either 
 sincerely or insincerely, to retire to the con- 
 vent of Port Royal. Louis, whose crime was 
 far greater than that of his wrecked and ruin- 
 ed victim, was glad to be rid of her. But she 
 was too far gone, in her rapid illness, to be re- 
 moved. It was soon manifest that her life 
 was drawing near to its close. She begged to 
 see the king once more before she died. 
 
 Louis XIV. dreaded every thing which could 
 remind him of that tomb toward which all are 
 hastening, and especially did he recoil from 
 every death-bed scene. The wretched man 
 would not have listened to the plea of the dy- 
 
288 Louis XIV. [1684. 
 
 Death of the Duchess de Fontanges. Mad. de Montespan rejoices. 
 
 ing girl had not the remonstrances of his con- 
 fessor constrained hirn. Thus, reluctantly, he 
 entered the dying chamber. He found Mary 
 Angelica faded, withered, and ghastly — all 
 unlike the radiant beauty whom for a few 
 brief months he had almost worshiped. Ego- 
 tist as he was, he could not restrain his tears. 
 Her glassy eyes were riveted upon his counte- 
 nance. Her clammy hand. almost convulsive- 
 ly clasped his own. Her livid lips quivered in 
 their last effort as she besought him to pay 
 her debts, and sometimes to remember her. 
 Louis promised all she asked. As she sank 
 back upon her pillow, she gasped out the dec- 
 laration that she should die happy, as she saw 
 that the king could weep for her. Immedi- 
 ately after she fell into a swoon and died. 
 
 The exultation of Madame de Montespan 
 at her death was so indecent and undisguised 
 as to excite the disgust of the king. Her very 
 name became hateful to him. Wicked man 
 as he was, Louis XIY. believed in Christianity, 
 and in its revelations of responsibility at the 
 bar of God. He was shocked, and experienced 
 much remorse in view of this death-bed with- 
 out repentance. He could not conceal from 
 himself that he was in no inconsiderable de- 
 
1684.] Madame de Maintenon. 289 
 
 Supremacy of Madame de Maintenon. Pere la Chaise. 
 
 gree responsible for the guilt which burdened 
 the soul of the departed. His aversion to Ma- 
 dame de Montespan was increased by the re- 
 port, then generally circulated, that the duch- 
 ess had died from poison, administered through 
 her agency. The poor victim of sin and shame 
 was soon forgotten in the grave. The court 
 whirled on in its usual round of frivolous and 
 guilty pleasures, such as Babylon could scarce- 
 ly have rivaled. 
 
 The supremacy of Madame de Maintenon 
 over Louis XIY. was that of a strong mind 
 over a feeble one. The king had many very 
 weak points in his character. He was utterly 
 selfish, and the slave of his vices. Madame de, 
 Maintenon, with much address, strove to recall 
 him to a better life. In these efforts she was 
 much aided by the king's confessor, Pere la 
 Chaise. This truly good man reminded the 
 king that he had already passed the fortieth 
 year of his age, that his youth had gone forev- 
 er, that he would soon enter upon the evening 
 of his days, and that, as yet, he had done noth- 
 ing to secure his eternal salvation. He had 
 already received many warnings as he had fol- 
 lowed one after another to the grave. The 
 king was naturally thoughtful, and perhaps 
 T 
 
290 Louis XIV. [1684. 
 
 Eemorse of Louis. Degradation of the people. 
 
 even religiously inclined. Not a few events 
 had already occurred calculated to harrow his 
 soul with remorse. He had seen his mother 
 die, one of the saddest of deaths. He had 
 seen his sister Henrietta, his brother's bride, 
 whom he had loved with more than a brother's 
 love, writhing in death's agonies, the victim of 
 poison. He had followed several of his chil- 
 dren to the grave. Madame de la Valliere, 
 whom he had loved as ardently as he was ca- 
 pable of loving any one, now a ruined, heart- 
 broken victim of his selfishness and sin, was 
 consigned to living burial in the glooms of the 
 cloister. He could not banish from his mind 
 the dreadful scenes of the death of the Duch- 
 ess of Fontanges. 
 
 Just at this time the dauphiness gave birth 
 to a son. This advent of an heir to the throne 
 caused universal rejoicing throughout the court 
 and the nation. It is melancholy to reflect 
 that the people, crushed and impoverished as 
 they were by the most atrocious despotism, 
 were so unintelligent that they regarded their 
 oppressors with something of the idolatrous 
 homage with which the heathen bow before 
 their hideous gods. 
 
 The king himself, at times, manifested a kind 
 
1684.] Madame de Maintenon. 291 
 
 Birth of the Duke of Burgoyne. Louis taken ill. 
 
 of tender interest in the people, who were so 
 mercilessly robbed to maintain the splendor 
 of his court and the grandeur of his armies. 
 Upon the birth of the young prince, who re- 
 . ceived the title of the Duke of Burgoyne, the 
 populace of Paris crowded to Versailles with 
 their rude congratulations. Every avenue was 
 thronged with the immense multitude. They 
 even flooded the palace and poured into the 
 saloons. The king, whose heart was softened 
 by the birth of a grandson to whom the crown 
 might be transmitted, received all very gra- 
 ciously. 
 
 The birth of an heir to the crown added 
 much to the personal importance of the dau- 
 phiness. But, neglected by her husband and 
 annoyed by the scenes transpiring around her, 
 she was a very unhappy woman. No efforts 
 on the part of the court could draw her from 
 the silence and gloom of her retirement. Ma- 
 dame de Maintenon and the king's confessor, 
 Pere la Chaise, were co-operating in the en- 
 deavor to lure the king from his life of guilty 
 indulgence into the paths of virtue. Fortu- 
 nately, at this time the monarch was attacked 
 by severe and painful illness. Death was to 
 him truly the king of terrors. He was easily 
 
292 Louis XIV. [1684. 
 
 Dismissal of Mad. de Mnntespau. Resolves to build a convent. 
 
 influenced to withdraw from his criminal re- 
 lations with .one whom he had for some time 
 been regarding with repugnance. Madame de 
 Maintenon was deputed to inform Madame de 
 Montespan of the king's determination never 
 again to regard her in any other light than that 
 of a friend. 
 
 It was g. very painful and embarrassing com- 
 mission for Madame de Maintenon to fulfill. 
 But the will of the king was law. She dis- 
 charged the duty with great delicacy and kind- 
 ness. Deeply mortified as was the discarded fa- 
 vorite, she was not entirely unprepared for the 
 announcement. She had for some time been 
 painfully aware of her waning influence, and 
 had been preparing for herself a retreat where 
 she could still enjoy opulence, rank, and power. 
 
 In piirsuit of this object, she had determined 
 to erect and endow a convent. The sisterhood, 
 appointed by her and entirely dependent upon 
 her liberality, would treat her with the defer- 
 ence due to a queen. The king had lavished 
 such enormous sums upon her that she had 
 large wealth at her disposal. She had already 
 selected a spot for the convent in the Faubourg 
 St. Germain, and had commenced rearing the 
 edifice. It so happened that the corner-stone 
 
1684] Madame de Maintenon. 293 
 
 Her great wealth. The convent of St. Joseph completed. 
 
 was laid at the very moment in which the un- 
 happy Duchess de Fontanges was breathing 
 her last. Madame de Montespan had no idea 
 of taking the veil herself. The glooms of the 
 cloister had for her no attractions. Her only 
 object was to rear a miniature kingdom, where 
 she, having lost the potent charms of youth and 
 beauty, could still enjoy an undisputed reign. 
 
 The marchioness already owned a dwelling, 
 luxuriously furnished, which the king had pre- 
 sented her, in the Rue St. Andre des Arcs. 
 Her wealth was so great that, in addition to 
 the convent, she also planned erecting for her- 
 self a magnificent hotel, in imitation of the pal- 
 ace of the Tuileries. The estimated expense 
 was equal to the sum of one million five hun- 
 dred thousand dollars at the present day. 
 
 The workmen upon the convent were urged 
 to the most energetic labor, and the building 
 was soon completed. The marchioness gave 
 it the name of St. Joseph. One room was 
 sumptuously furnished for her private accom- 
 modation. She appointed the abbess. The 
 great bell of the convent was to ring twenty 
 minutes whenever she visited the sisterhood. 
 As the founder of the community, she was to 
 receive the honors of the incense at high mass 
 
294 Louis XIV. [1684. 
 
 The king recovers, and goes to Flanders. 
 
 and vespers. The marchioness richly enjoyed 
 this adulation, and was a frequent visitor at 
 the convent. 
 
 The king, having recovered from his illness, 
 decided upon a journey to Flanders. Oppress- 
 ed with ennui, he sought amusement for him- 
 self and his court. He wished also to impress 
 his neighbors by an exhibition of his splendor 
 and power. The queen, with the dauphin and 
 dauphiness, attended by their several suites, ac- 
 companied him on this expedition. Madame 
 de Montespan was excessively chagrined in 
 finding her name omitted in the list of those 
 who were to make up the party. But the name 
 of Madame de Maintenon headed the list of 
 the attendants of the princess. 
 
 The gorgeous procession, charioted in the 
 highest appliances of regal splendor, swept 
 along through cities and villages, every where 
 received with triumphal arches, the ringing of 
 bells, the explosions of artillery, and the blaze 
 of illuminations till the sea-port of Dunkirk 
 was reached. Here there was a sham -fight 
 between two frigates. It was a serene and 
 lovely day. The members of the royal suite, 
 from the deck of a bark sumptuously prepared 
 for their accommodation, witnessed with much 
 
1685.] Madame de Main tenon. 295 
 
 Return to Versailles. Political ambition of Louis XIV. 
 
 delight the novel spectacle. At the close, the 
 king repaired to .one of the men-of-war, upon 
 whose deck a lofty throne was erected, draped 
 with a costly awning. Here the splendor-lov- 
 ing monarch, surrounded by that ceremonial 
 and pageantry which were so dear to him, re- 
 ceived the congratulations of the dignitaries of 
 his own and other lands upon his recent recov- 
 ery from illness. At the end of a month the 
 party returned to Versailles. 
 
 Devoted as Louis XIV. was to his own self- 
 ish gratification, he was fully awar^ of the de- 
 pendence of that gratification upon the aggran- 
 dizement of the realm, which he regarded as 
 his private property. Upon this tour of pleas- 
 ure he invested the city of Luxembourg with 
 an army of thirty thousand men, and took it 
 after a siege of eight days. He then overrun 
 the Electorate of Treves, demolished all its 
 fine fortifications, and by the energies of pil- 
 lage, fire, and ruin, rendered it impossible for 
 the territory hereafter to render any opposition 
 to his arms. The destructive genius of Lou- 
 vois had suggested that these unnecessary spo- 
 liations would tend to increase the authority" 
 of his royal master by inspiring a greater ter- 
 ror of his power. 
 
236 Louis XIV. [1685. 
 
 Sickness and death of the queen, Maria Theresa. 
 
 Soon after this, the queen, Maria Theresa, 
 was suddenly taken sick. Her indisposition, 
 at first slight, rapidly increased in severity, and 
 an abscess developed itself under her arm. 
 The pain became excruciating. Her physician 
 opened a vein and administered an emetic at 
 11 o'clock in the morning. It was a fatal pre- 
 scription. At 3 o'clock in the afternoon she 
 died. As this unhappy queen, so gentle, so 
 loving, so forgiving, was sinking away in death, 
 she still, with woman's deathless love, cherish- 
 ed tenderly in her heart the memory of the 
 king. Just as she was breathing her last, she 
 drew from her finger a superb ring, which she 
 presented to Madame de Maintenon saying, 
 
 "Adieu, my very dear marchioness. To 
 you I confide the happiness of the king." 
 
 Maria Theresa was one of the most lovely 
 of women. Her conduct was ever irreproach- 
 able. Amiable, unselfish, warm-hearted, from 
 the time of her marriage she devoted herself 
 to the promotion of the happiness of her hus- 
 band. His neglect and unfaithfulness caused 
 her, in secret, to shed many tears. Naturally 
 diffident, and rendered timid by his undisguised 
 indifference, she trembled whenever the king 
 approached her. A casual smile from him 
 
1685.] Madame de Maintenon. 
 
 297 
 
 Tribute to her worth. 
 
 Masses. 
 
 Versailles. 
 
 filled her with delight. The king could not 
 be insensible to her many virtues. Perhaps 
 remorse was mingled with the emotions which 
 compelled him to weep bitterly over her death. 
 As he gazed upon her lifeless remains, he ex- 
 claimed, 
 
 "Kind and forbearing friend, this is the 
 first sorrow that you have caused me through- 
 out twenty years." 
 
 The royal corpse lay in state at Versailles 
 for ten days. During this time perpetual 
 masses were performed for the soul of the de- 
 parted from 7 o'clock in the morning until 
 dark. The king had reared the gorgeous pal- 
 
 PALACE OF VERSAILLES. 
 
298 Louis XIV. [1685. 
 
 Heai-tlessnesB of the king and of the courtiers. 
 
 ace of Versailles that lie might not be annoy- 
 ed, in his Babylonian revelry, by the sight of 
 the towers of St. Denis. But God did not al- 
 low the guilty monarch to forget that kings as 
 well as peasants were doomed to die. The 
 king was compelled to accompany the remains 
 of Maria Theresa from the sumptuous palace, 
 where she had found so splendid and so un- 
 happy a home, to the gloomy vaults of the ab- 
 bey, where, in darkness and silence, those re- 
 mains were to moulder to dust. 
 
 The queen was forgotten even before she 
 was buried. The gay courtiers, anxious to 
 banish as speedily as possible from their minds 
 all thoughts of death and judgment, sought, in 
 songs, and mirth, and wine, to bury even the 
 grave in oblivion. The funeral car was deco- 
 rated with the most imposing emblems of 
 mourning. A numerous train of carriages 
 followed, filled with the great officers of the 
 crown and with the ladies of the royal house- 
 hold. The procession was escorted by a bril- 
 liant and numerous body of mounted troops. 
 
 "But nothing could exceed the indecency 
 with which the journey was performed. From 
 all the carriages issued the sounds of heartless 
 jest and still more heartless laughter. The 
 
1685.] Madame de Ma in ten on, 299 
 
 Accident. Death of the minister of finance. 
 
 troop's had no sooner reached the plain of St. 
 Denis than they dispersed in every direction, 
 some galloping right and left, and others firing 
 at the birds that were flying over their heads."* 
 
 The king, on the day of the funeral, in the 
 insane endeavor to obliterate from his mind 
 thoughts of death and burial, ordered out the 
 hounds and plunged into the excitement of the 
 chase. His horse pitched the monarch over 
 his head into a ditch of stagnant water, dislo- 
 cating one of his shoulders. 
 
 About this time, Jean Baptiste Colbert, the 
 king's minister of finance, and probably the 
 most extraordinary man of the age, died, worn 
 out with toil, anxiety, and grief. Few men 
 have ever passed through this world leaving 
 behind them such solid results of their labors. 
 As minister of finance, he furnished the king 
 with all the money he needed for his expensive 
 wars and luxurious indulgence. As superin- 
 tendent of buildings, arts, and manufactures, 
 he enlarged the Tuileries, completed the gor- 
 geous palace of Versailles, reared the magnifi- 
 cent edifices of the Invalides, Yincennes, and 
 Marly, and founded the Gobelins. These and 
 many other works of a similar nature he per- 
 
 * Memoirs of Mademoiselle de Montpensier. 
 
300 Louis XIV. [1684. 
 
 Ingratitude. Remarkable condescension on the part of Louis. 
 
 formed, though constantly struggling against 
 the jealousy and intrigues of powerful oppo- 
 nents. 
 
 The king seldom, if ever, manifested any 
 gratitude to those who served him. Colbert, 
 in the 64th year of his age, exhausted by in- 
 cessant labor, and harassed by innumerable an- 
 noyances, was on a dying bed. Sad reflections 
 seemed to overwhelm him. Not a gleam of 
 joy lighted up his fading eye. The heavy tax- 
 es he had imposed upon the people rendered 
 him unpopular. He could not be insensible to 
 imprecations which threatened to break up his 
 funeral and to drag his remains ignominiously 
 through the streets. The king condescended, 
 as his only act of courtesy, to send a messenger 
 to ask tidings of the condition of his minister. 
 As the messenger approached the bed, the dy- 
 ing sufferer turned away his face, saying, 
 
 " I will not hear that man spoken of again. 
 If I had done for God what I have done for 
 him, I should have been saved ten times over. 
 ISTow I know not what may be my fate." 
 
 The day after his death, without any marks 
 of honor, his remains were conveyed, in an or- 
 dinary hearse, to the church of St. Eustache. 
 A few of the police alone followed the coffin. 
 
1684.] Madame de Maintekon. 301 
 
 Genoa assailed. Capture. The Doge humbled. 
 
 Genoa had offended the king by selling 
 powder to the Algerines, and some ships to 
 Spain. Louis seized, by secret warrant, lettre 
 de cachet, the Genoese embassador, and plunged 
 him into one of the dungeons of the Bastile. 
 He then sent a fleet of over fifty vessels of war 
 to chastise, with terrible severity, those who 
 had offended him. The ships sailed from 
 Toulon on the 6th of May, 1684, and entered 
 the harbor of Genoa on the 19th. Immedi- 
 ately there was opened upon the city a terrific 
 fire. In a few hours fourteen thousand bombs 
 were hurled into its dwellings and its streets. 
 A large portion of those marble edifices, which 
 had given the city the name of Genoa the Su- 
 perb, were crumbled to powder. Fourteen 
 thousand soldiers were then disembarked. 
 They advanced through the suburbs, burning 
 the buildings before them. The whole city 
 was threatened with total destruction. The 
 authorities, in terror, sent to the conqueror im- 
 ploring his clemency. The haughty King of 
 France demanded that the Doge of Genoa, 
 with four of his principal ministers, should re- 
 pair to the palace of Versailles and humbly 
 implore his pardon. The doge, utterly power- 
 less, was compelled to submit to the humilia- 
 ting terms. 
 
302 Louis XIV. [1655. 
 
 Character of Madame de Maiutcuon. 
 
 Chapter IX. 
 
 The Revocation of the Edict of 
 
 Nantes. 
 
 IT is the undisputed testimony of all the con- 
 temporaries of Madame de Maintenon that 
 she possessed a character of rare excellence. 
 Her personal attractions, sound judgment, in- 
 stinctive delicacy of perception, and conversa- 
 tional brilliance, gave her a certain suprem- 
 acy wherever she appeared. The fidelity with 
 which she fulfilled her duties, her high relig- 
 ious principles, and the bold, yet tender remon- 
 strances with which she endeavored to reclaim 
 the king from his unworthy life, excited first 
 his astonishment, and then his profound admi- 
 ration. 
 
 Every day the king, at three o'clock, proceed- 
 ed to the apartments of Madame de Maintenon, 
 and, taking a seat in an arm-chair, sat in a re- 
 clining posture, sometimes silently watching 
 the progress of her tapestry-work, and again 
 engaged in quiet conversation. Occasionally 
 some of Racine's tragedies were read. The 
 
1685.] Revocation of the Edict. 303 
 
 Depression of the dauphiness. Pere la Chaise. 
 
 king took a listless pleasure in drawing out Ma- 
 dame de Maintenon to remark upon the merits 
 or defects of the production. 
 
 " In truth, a weariness of existence was rap- 
 idly growing upon Louis XIV. He had out- 
 lived his loves, his griefs, and almost his ambi- 
 tion. All he wanted was repose. And this 
 he found in the society of an accomplished, ju- 
 dicious, and unassuming woman, who, although 
 he occasionally transacted business in her pres- 
 ence with Louvois, never presumed to proffer 
 an opinion save when he appealed to her judg- 
 ment, and even then tendered it with reluct- 
 ance and reserve."* 
 
 Upon the death of the queen the dauphi- 
 ness was raised to the first rank at court. Still 
 she was gloomy and reserved. No allurements 
 could draw her from her retirement. Madame 
 de Maintenon was a very decided Roman Cath- 
 olic, and was very much influenced by the 
 king's confessor, Pere la Chaise, who seems to 
 have been a man of integrity and of conscien- 
 tiousness, though fanatically devoted to what 
 he deemed to be the interests of the Church. 
 In former reigns the Protestants had endured 
 
 * Louis XIV. and the Court of France, by Miss Pardoe, 
 vol. ii., p. 339. 
 
304 Louis XIV. [1598. 
 
 The Edict of Nantes. 
 
 from the Catholics the most dreadful persecu- 
 tions. After scenes of woe, the recital of which 
 causes the blood to curdle in one's veins, Hen- 
 ry IV., the grandfather of Louis XIV., feeling 
 the need of the support of the Protestants to 
 protect the kingdom from the perils by which 
 it was surrounded, and having himself been 
 educated a Protestant, granted the Protestants 
 the world-renowned Edict of Nantes. 
 
 By this edict, which took its name from the 
 place in which it was published, and which 
 was issued in April, 1598, certain privileges 
 were granted to the Protestants, which, in that 
 dark age, were regarded as extraordinarily lib- 
 eral. 
 
 Protestants were allowed liberty of con- 
 science ; that is, they were not to be punished 
 for their religious faith. In certain designa- 
 ted places they were permitted to hold public 
 worship. The highest lords of the Protestant 
 faith could celebrate divine service in their 
 castles. Nobles of the second rank could have 
 private worship provided but thirty persons 
 attended. Protestants were declared to be eli- 
 gible to offices of state, their children were to 
 be admitted to the public schools, their sick to 
 the hospitals, and their poor to the public char- 
 
1685.] Revocation of the Edict. 305 
 
 The Catholic clergy indignant. Kavaillac. 
 
 ities. In certain places they could publish 
 books ; they were allowed four academies for 
 scientific and theological instruction, and were 
 permitted to convoke synods for Church disci- 
 pline. 
 
 The Catholic clergy were very indignant in 
 view of these concessions. Pope Clement VIII. 
 declared that the ordinance which permitted 
 liberty of conscience to every one was the most 
 execrable which was ever made.* 
 
 There were then seven hundred and sixty 
 churches in France of the Protestant commun- 
 ion. No such church was allowed in Paris. 
 Protestants from the city, rich and poor, were 
 compelled to repair, for public worship, to the 
 little village of Ablon, fifteen miles from the 
 city. The Edict of Nantes probably cost Hen- 
 ry IV. his life. The assassin Ravaillac, who 
 plunged his dagger twice into the bosom of the 
 king, said, in his examination, 
 
 " I killed the king because, in making war 
 upon the pope, he made war upon God, since 
 the pope is God." 
 
 The Protestants were thrown into the ut- 
 most consternation by the death of Henry IV. 
 
 * History of the Protestants of Trance, b}' Professor G. de 
 Fe'lice, p. 275. 
 
 u 
 
306 Louis XIV. [1622. 
 
 Confirmation of the Edict of Nantes. 
 
 They apprehended the immediate repeal of 
 the edict, and a renewal of the massacre of St. 
 Bartholomew's Day. But the regent, Mary de 
 Medici, and the court immediately issued a de- 
 cree confirming the ordinance. Louis XIII. 
 was then a child but eight and a half years 
 of age. As he came into power, he was urged 
 by the Jesuits to exterminate the Protestants. 
 But they were too powerful to be wantonly as- 
 sailed. They held two hundred fortified places. 
 Many of the highest lords were among their 
 leaders. Their soldiers were renowned for val- 
 or, and their churches numbered four hundred 
 thousand men capable of bearing arms. It 
 was not deemed safe to rouse such a people to 
 the energies of despair. Still, during the reign 
 of Louis XIII., there were many bloody con- 
 flicts between the royal troops and the Protest- 
 ants. 
 
 In this religious war, the Protestants, or Hu- 
 guenots, as they were then called, defended 
 themselves so valiantly, that the king felt con- 
 strained, in October, 1622, to relinquish his at- 
 tempt to subjugate the Protestants by force of 
 arms, and to confirm the Edict of Nantes. 
 The sword was scarcely sheathed ere it was 
 drawn again. All over France the Catholics 
 
1662.] Revocation of the Edict. 307 
 
 La Rochelle. Sufferings of the Huguenots. 
 
 and Protestants faced each other upon fields 
 of blood. The battle raged for seven years 
 with every conceivable concomitant of cruelty 
 and horror. The eyes of all Europe were di- 
 rected to the siege of La Rochelle, in 1627, 
 where the Huguenots made their most decisive 
 stand. All that human nature could suffer 
 was endured. "When two thirds of the popu- 
 lation of the city had perished, and the streets 
 and dwellings were encumbered with the un- 
 buried dead, and the remaining soldiers, re- 
 duced to skeletons, could no longer lift their 
 weapons, the city surrendered on the 28th of 
 October, 1628. 
 
 By this war and the fall of La Rochelle, 
 the Protestants were hopelessly weakened. 
 Though they were deprived of many of their 
 privileges, and were greatly diminished in 
 numbers and influence, still the general pro- 
 visions of the Edict of Nantes were not re- 
 pealed. 
 
 In the year 1662, Louis XIV., then upon the 
 throne, in recognition of some support which 
 he had received from the Protestants, issued a 
 decree in which he said, 
 
 " Inasmuch as our subjects of the pretended 
 Reformed religion have given us proofs of 
 
308 Louis XIV. [1670. 
 
 Policy of Louis. Influence of Madame de Maintenon. 
 
 their affection and fidelity, be it known that, 
 for these reasons, they shall be supported and 
 guarded, as in fact we do support and guard 
 them, in the full enjoyment of the Edict of 
 Nantes." 
 
 . The king had even appointed, the year be- 
 fore, two commissaries, the one a Catholic, the 
 other a Protestant, to visit every province, and 
 see that the requisitions of the Edict of Nantes 
 were faithfully observed. This seemed very 
 fair. But, in appointing these commissioners, 
 a Catholic was always appointed who was a 
 high dignitary of the state, a man of wealth 
 and rank, distinguished for his devotion to the 
 interests of the Catholic Church. On the oth- 
 er hand, the Protestant was always some poor 
 country gentleman, timid and irresolute, and 
 often one who had been secretly sold to the 
 court to betray his duties. 
 
 The Protestants had hoped much from the 
 influence of Madame de Maintenon over the 
 king, as she was the granddaughter of Agrip- 
 pa d'Aubigne, one of the most illustrious de- 
 fenders of the Calvinistic faith, and as she her- 
 self had been a Protestant until she had at- 
 tained the age of sixteen years. 
 
 But the king was fanatically Catholic, hop- 
 
1680.] Revocation of the Edict. 309 
 
 Religious zeal of the king. False-hearted. 
 
 ing, in some measure, to atone for his sins by 
 his supreme devotion to the interests of the 
 Church. Madame de Maintenon found it nec- 
 essary, in promotion of her ambitious plans, to 
 do all in her power to conceal her Protestant 
 origin. She was fully aware of the king's 
 great dislike to the Protestants, and of the ne- 
 cessity of cordially co-operating with him in 
 these views. Still she could not refrain from 
 manifesting some compassion at times for the 
 sufferings of the friends of her earlier years. 
 
 Louis XIV., while assuring the Protestant 
 powers of Europe that he would continue to 
 respect the Edict of Nantes, commenced .issu- 
 ing a series of ordinances in direct opposition 
 to that contract. First he excluded Protest- 
 ants from all public offices whatever. A Prot- 
 estant could not be employed as a physician, 
 lawyer, apothecary, bookseller, printer, or even 
 as a nurse. This decree was issued in 1680. 
 In some portions of the kingdom the Protest- 
 ants composed nearly the entire population. 
 Here it was impossible to enforce the atrocious 
 decree. In other places it led to riots and 
 bloodshed. 
 
 This ordinance was followed by one forbid- 
 ding marriages between Catholics and Protest- 
 
310 Louis XIY. [1680. 
 
 Persecution of the Protestants. 
 
 ants. Catholic servants were forbidden to 
 serve in Protestant families, and Protestant 
 servants could not be employed by Catholics. 
 
 Rapidly blow followed blow. On the 17th 
 of June, 1680, the king issued the following 
 ordinance : "We wish that our subjects of the 
 pretended Reformed religion, both male and 
 female, having attained the age of seven years, 
 may, and it is hereby made lawful for them to 
 embrace the Catholic Apostolic and Roman 
 religion, and that to this effect they be allowed 
 to abjure the pretended Reformed religion, 
 without their fathers and mothers and other 
 kinsmen being allowed to offer them the least 
 hinderance, under any pretext whatever." 
 
 The effect of this law was terrible. Any 
 malignant person, even a servant, could go into 
 a court of justice and testify 'that a certain 
 child had made the sign of the cross, or kissed 
 an image of the Virgin, or had expressed a de- 
 sire to enter the Catholic Church, and that 
 child was immediately taken from its parents, 
 shut up in a convent, and the parents were 
 compelled to pay the expenses of its education. 
 Even Madame de Maintenon availed herself 
 of this law in wresting from her relative, the 
 Marquis de Yilette, his children. 
 
1680.] Revocation of the Edict. 311 
 
 Severe measures to force proselytism. 
 
 A decree was then issued that all Protest- 
 ants who should become Catholics might de- 
 fer the payment of their debts for three years, 
 and for two years be exempt from taxation, 
 and from the burden of having soldiers quar- 
 tered upon them. To save the treasury from 
 loss, a double burden of taxation and a double 
 quartering of soldiers was imposed upon those 
 Protestants who refused to abjure their faith. 
 
 If any Protestant was sick, officers were ap- 
 pointed whose duty it was to visit the sick-bed, 
 and strive to convert the sufferer to the Cath- 
 , olic faith. Any physician who should neglect 
 to give notice of such sickness was punished 
 by a severe fine. The pastors were forbidden 
 to make any allusions whatever in their ser- 
 mons to these decrees of the court. Follow- 
 ing this decree came the announcement that 
 if any convert from Catholicism should be re- 
 ceived into a Protestant Church, his property 
 should be confiscated, he should be banished, 
 and the privilege of public worship should no 
 longer be enjoyed by that Church. Under this 
 law several church edifices were utterly demol- 
 ished. 
 
 One of the severest measures adopted against 
 the Protestants was quartering brutal and fe- 
 
312 Louis XIV. [1681. 
 
 The dragonnades. Moral suasion of the dragoons. 
 
 rocious soldiers in their families. In March, 
 1681, Louvois wrote to the governor of Poiton 
 that he intended to send a regiment of cavalry 
 into that province. 
 
 "His majesty," he said, ''has learned with 
 much satisfaction the great number of persons 
 who are becoming converts in your province. 
 He desires that you continue to give great care 
 to this matter. He thinks it best that the chief 
 part of the cavalry and officers should be lodged 
 in the houses of the Protestants. If, after a 
 just distribution, the Calvinists would have to 
 provide for ten soldiers, you can make them 
 take twenty." 
 
 The governor, Marillac, lodged from four to 
 ten dragoons in the house of every Protestant. 
 The soldiers were directed not to kill the peo- 
 ple with whom they lodged, but to do every 
 thing in their power to constrain them to ab- 
 jure Protestantism. Thus originated that sys- 
 tem of dragonnades which has left an indeli- 
 ble stain upon the character of Louis XIV., 
 and the recital of which has inspired every 
 reader with horror. 
 
 " The cavalry attached crosses to the muz- 
 zles of their muskets to force the Protestants 
 to kiss them. When any one resisted, they 
 
1681.] Revocation of the Edict. 313 
 
 Brutality of the soldiery. Enactments of intolerance. 
 
 thrust these crosses against the face and breasts 
 of the unfortunate people. They spared chil- 
 dren no more than persons advanced in years. 
 Without compassion for their age, they fell 
 upon them with blows, and beat them with the 
 flat side of their swords and the butt of their 
 muskets. They did this so cruelly that some 
 were crippled for life."* 
 
 It does not reflect credit upon Madame de 
 Maintenon that she was eager to enrich her 
 friends from the spoils of these persecuted 
 Christians. Her brother was to receive a pres- 
 ent of one hundred and eight thousand francs 
 ($21,600). This sum was then three or four 
 times as much as the same amount of money 
 now. 
 
 A law was now passed prohibiting the Prot- 
 estants from leaving the kingdom, and con- 
 demning to perpetual imprisonment in the gal- 
 leys all who should attempt to escape. France 
 was ransacked to find every book written in 
 support of Protestantism, that it might be 
 burned. A representation having been made 
 to the king of the sufferings of more than two 
 millions of Protestant Frenchmen, he sternly 
 replied, 
 
 * Histoire de l'Edit de Nantes, t. iv., p. 473. 
 
314 Louis XIY. [1685. 
 
 Zeal of the king. The revocation of the Edict of Nantes. 
 
 " To bring back all my subjects to Catholic 
 unity, I would readily, with one hand, cut off 
 the other." 
 
 In some places the Protestants were goaded 
 to an appeal to arms. With the most merci- 
 less butchery they were cut down, their houses 
 razed, while some were put to death by lin- 
 gering torture. In September, 1685, Louvois 
 wrote, 
 
 " Sixty thousand conversions have taken 
 place in the district of Bordeaux, and twenty 
 thousand in that of Montauban. The rapidity 
 with which they go on is such that, before the 
 end of the month, there will not remain ten 
 thousand Protestants in all the district of Bor- 
 deaux, where there were one hundred and fifty 
 thousand the 15th of last month." 
 
 The Duke of Noailles wrote to Louvois, 
 " The number of Protestants in the district of 
 Xismes is about one hundred and forty thou- 
 sand. I believe that at the end of the month 
 there will be none left." 
 
 On the 18th of October, 1685, the king, ac- 
 ceding to the wishes of his confessor and other 
 high dignitaries of the Church, signed the Rev- 
 ocation of the Edict of Nantes. 
 
 In the preamble to this fatal act, it was stated, 
 
1685.] Revocation of the Edict. 315 
 
 Severe enactments against the Protestauts. 
 
 ""We see now, with the just acknowledgment 
 we owe to God, that our measures have secured 
 the end which we ourselves proposed, since the 
 better and greater part of our subjects of the 
 pretended Reformed religion have embraced 
 the Catholic faith, and the maintenance of the 
 Edict of Nantes remains therefore superfluous." 
 
 In this act of revocation it was declared that 
 the exercise of the Protestant worship should 
 nowhere be tolerated in the realm of France. 
 All Protestant pastors were ordered to leave 
 the kingdom within fifteen days, under pain 
 of being sent to the galleys. Those Protestant 
 ministers who would abjure their faith and re- 
 turn to Catholicism were promised a salary 
 one third more than they had previously en- 
 joyed. Parents were forbidden to instruct 
 their children in the Protestant religion. Ev- 
 ery child in the kingdom was to be baptized 
 and educated by a Catholic priest. All Prot- 
 estants who had left France were ordered to re- 
 turn within four months, under penalty of the 
 confiscation of their possessions. Any Prot- 
 estant layman, man or woman, who should at- 
 tempt to emigrate, incurred the penalty of im- 
 prisonment for life. 
 
 This infamous ordinance caused an amount 
 
316 Louis XIV. [1085. 
 
 Flight of the Protestants. Numbers of the emigrants. 
 
 of misery which can never be gauged, and in- 
 flicted upon the prosperity of France the most 
 terrible blow it had ever received. Hundreds 
 of thousands persevered in their faith, notwith- 
 standing all the menaces of poverty, of the dun- 
 geon, and of utter temporal ruin. Only one 
 year after the revocation, Marshal Vauban 
 wrote, 
 
 " France has lost one hundred thousand in- 
 habitants, sixty millions of coined money, nine 
 thousand sailors, twelve thousand disciplined 
 soldiers, six hundred officers, and her most flour- 
 ishing manufactures." 
 
 From this hour the fortunes of Louis XIY. 
 began manifestly to decline. The Protestant 
 population of France at that time was between 
 two and three millions. The edict of revoca- 
 tion was enforced with the utmost severity. 
 Many noble - hearted Catholics sympathized 
 with the Protestants in their dreadful suffer- 
 ings, and aided them to escape. The tide of 
 emigration flowed steadily from all the prov- 
 inces. The arrival of the pastors and their 
 flocks upon foreign soil created an indescrib- 
 able sensation. From all the courts in Prot- 
 estant Christendom a cry of indignation rose 
 against such cruelty. Though royal guards 
 
1680.] Revocation of the Edict. 317 
 
 Scenes of suffering. Louis alarmed. 
 
 were posted at the gates of the towns, on the 
 bridges, at the fords of the rivers, and upon all 
 the by-ways which led to the frontiers, and 
 though many thousands were arrested, still 
 many thousands escaped. Some heroic bands 
 fought their way to the frontiers with drawn 
 swords. Some obtained passports from kind- 
 hearted Catholic governors. Some bribed their 
 guards. Some traveled by night, from cavern 
 to cavern, in the garb of merchants, pilgrims, 
 venders of rosaries and chaplets, servants, men- 
 dicants. 
 
 Thousands perished of cold, hunger, and ex- 
 haustion. Thousands were shot by the sol- 
 diers. Thousands were seized and condemned 
 to the dungeon or the galleys. The galleys of 
 Marseilles were crowded with these victims of 
 fanatical despotism. Among them were many 
 of the most illustrious men in France, magis- 
 trates, nobles, scholars of the highest name and 
 note. 
 
 The agitation and emigration were so im- 
 mense that Louis XI Y. became alarmed. Prot- 
 estant England, Switzerland, Holland, Prussia, 
 Denmark, Sweden, hospitably received the suf- 
 ferers and contributed generously to the sup- 
 ply of their wants. " Charity," it is said, 
 
318 Louis XIV. [1680. 
 
 Historical accounts of the emigration. Multiplied outrages. 
 
 "draws from an exhaustless fountain. The 
 more it gives the more it has to give." 
 
 It is now not possible to estimate the precise 
 number who emigrated. Yoltaire says that 
 nearly fifty thousand families left the king- 
 dom, and that they were followed by a great 
 many others. One of the Protestant pastors, 
 Antoine Court, placed the number as high as 
 eight hundred thousand. A Catholic writer, 
 inimical to the Protestants, after carefully con- 
 sulting the records, states the emigration at two 
 hundred and thirty thousand souls. Of these, 
 1580 were pastors, 2300 elders, and 15,000 no- 
 bles. It is also equally difficult to estimate 
 the numbers who perished in the attempt to 
 escape. M. de Sismondi thinks that as many 
 died as emigrated. He places the number at 
 between three and four hundred thousand. 
 
 As we have mentioned, the Protestants were 
 compelled to place their children in Catholic 
 schools, to be taught the Catechism by the 
 priests. A new ordinance was soon issued, 
 which required that the children, between five 
 and sixteen, of all suspected of Protestantism, 
 should be taken from their parents and placed 
 in Catholic families. A general search was 
 made throughout the kingdom for all books 
 
1685.] Revocation of the Edict. 319 
 
 Reactions. Secret assemblies. Rage of the Jesuits. 
 
 which could be deemed favorable to the Prot- 
 estant faith. These were destroyed to the last 
 copy. Thus perished many very valuable 
 works. " The Bible itself, the Bible above all, 
 was confiscated and burned with persevering 
 animosity."* 
 
 But there is no power of persecution which 
 can utterly crush out two or three millions of 
 people. There were occasional reactions. 
 Louis XIY. himself became, at times, appalled 
 by the atrocities his dragoons were perpetra- 
 ting, and he commanded more moderation. 
 In some of the provinces where the Protest- 
 ants had been greatly in the majority, the king 
 found it very difficult to enforce his despotic 
 and sanguinary code. The persecuted people 
 who could not fly from the kingdom, some 
 having given a compulsory and nominal assent 
 to Catholicism, held secret assemblies in for- 
 ests, on mountain summits, and in wild ravines. 
 Some of the pastors ventured to return to 
 France, and to assist in these scenes of peril- 
 ous worship. 
 
 " On hearing this, the king, his ministers, 
 and the Jesuits were transported with uncon- 
 trollable rage. Sentence of death was pro- 
 
 * Hist, of the Protestants of France, by Prof. G. De Te'lice. 
 
320 Louis XIV. [1686. 
 
 New measures of the court. 
 
 nounced in the month of July, 1686, against 
 the pastors who had returned to France. 
 Those who lent them an asylum, or any assist- 
 ance whatever, were condemned to the galleys 
 for life. A reward of five thousand five hun- 
 dred livres was promised to any one who seized 
 or secured the seizure of a minister. The sen- 
 tence of death was pronounced against all who 
 should be taken in any of these religious as- 
 semblies."* 
 
 Soldiers were sent in all directions to hunt 
 the Protestants. " It was," writes Voltaire, " a 
 chase in a grand cover." If the voice of pray- 
 er or of a psalm were heard in any wild re- 
 treat, the soldiers opened fire upon the assem- 
 bly of men, women, and children, and hewed 
 them down without mercy with their blood- 
 stained swords. In several of these encoun- 
 ters, three or four hundred men, women, and 
 young children were left dead and unburied 
 upon the spot. 
 
 If any sick persons, apparently near death, 
 refused to receive the sacraments of the Cath- 
 olic Church from the hands of a Catholic 
 priest, should they recover, they were punished 
 with confiscation of property and consignment 
 * M. G. De Felice. 
 
1686.] Revocation of the Edict. 321 
 
 Remonstrances of honorable Catholics. 
 
 to the galleys for life. If they did not recov- 
 er, their bodies were refused respectful burial, 
 and were dragged on a hurdle and thrown into 
 a ditch, to be devoured by carrion crows. 
 
 Many honorable Catholics cried out with 
 horror against these enormities. All humane 
 hearts revolted against such cruelty. The 
 voice of indignant remonstrance rose from ev- 
 ery Protestant nation. The French court be- 
 came embarrassed. Two millions of people 
 could not be put to death. The prisons were 
 filled to suffocation. The galleys were crowd- 
 ed, and could receive no more. Many were 
 transported to America. 
 
 The Jansenists remonstrated. The good 
 Catholic bishops of Grenoble and St. Poins 
 boldly addressed the curates of their dioceses, 
 directing them not to force communion upon 
 the Protestants, and forbidding all violence. 
 Many pious curates refused to act the part of 
 accusers, or to torment the dying with their 
 importunities. But the Jesuits and the great 
 mass of the clergy urged on the persecution. 
 
 Madame de Maintenon became greatly 
 
 troubled by these atrocities, against which she 
 
 did not dare to remonstrate. Louis XIY. Was 
 
 somewhat alarmed by the outcry which these 
 
 X 
 
322 Louis XIY. [1662. 
 
 Intrigues of the king. Madame de Montespan to be removed. 
 
 measures aroused from Protestant Europe, but 
 his pride revolted against making the admis- 
 sion, before his subjects and foreign courts, 
 that he could have been guilty of a mistake. 
 He could not endure the thought of humbling 
 himself by a retraction, thus confessing that 
 he had failed in an enterprise upon which he 
 had entered with such determination. Thus 
 influenced, the king, on the 13th of April, 1662, 
 issued a decree solemnly confirming the revo- 
 cation of the Edict of Nantes. " Not one law 
 of torture and blood was abolished." 
 
 The king, meanwhile, urged by his growing 
 passion for Madame de Maintenon, determined 
 to remove from court Madame de Montespan, 
 whom he had come to thoroughly dislike. But 
 he had not the courage to announce his deter- 
 mination in person. He therefore commission- 
 ed Madame de Maintenon to make the painful 
 communication. She, shrinking from so un- 
 welcome a task, persuaded" the Marquis de Yi- 
 vonne, brother of the marchioness, to break the 
 tidings to his sister. He invited her to take a 
 ride with him in his carriage, gradually intro- 
 duced the subject, and at last plainly informed 
 her that she must either, of her own accord, 
 immediately and forever retire from Versailles, 
 
1685.] Revocation of the Edict. 323 
 
 Banishment of Madame de Montespan. 
 
 or submit to the indignity of being arrested by 
 the police and removed by them. 
 
 Madame de Montespan was in a fearful rage. 
 Though fully aware of her waning power over 
 the king, the menace of arrest and banishment 
 was an indignity the thought of which had 
 never entered her mind. But the calm firm- 
 ness of her brother soon convinced her of the 
 impotence of all exhibitions of indignation. 
 The splendor -loving marchioness was, as we 
 have mentioned already, wealthy. She was, 
 however, informed that the king had decided 
 to settle upon her an annual pension of six hun- 
 dred thousand livres. When we consider the 
 comparative value of money then and now, it 
 is estimated that this amount was equivalent 
 to about four hundred and eighty thousand 
 dollars at the present day. 
 
 " Madame de Montespan," writes Miss Par- 
 doe, " buried her face in her hands, and re- 
 mained for a considerable time lost in thought. 
 When, at length, she looked up, her lips were 
 pale and her voice trembled. She had not shed 
 a tear, but her breast heaved, and she had evi- 
 dently come to a decision. Folding her shawl 
 about her, she requested the marquis immedi- 
 ately to drive her to Versailles, it being neces- 
 
324 
 
 Louis XIV. 
 
 [1685. 
 
 Parterre of Versailles. 
 
 A successful mission. 
 
 sary, as she asserted, that she should collect her 
 money, her jewels, and her papers, after which 
 she declared that she was ready, for the sake 
 of her family, to follow his advice." 
 
 PABTEEEE OF VEKSAILLES. 
 
 They returned to the palace. Madame de 
 Maintenon hastened to her apartments. The 
 Marquis de Vivonne informed her of the suc- 
 cess of his mission, and she communicated the 
 intelligence to the king. 
 
 The marchioness had been in her apartments 
 but about twenty minutes, when, to her sur- 
 prise, the door opened, and the king entered 
 unannounced. The marchioness, with her own 
 graphic pen, has given an account of the sin- 
 
1685.] Revocation of the Edict. 325 
 
 Egotism and heartlessness of the king. 
 
 gular and characteristic interview which en- 
 sued. 
 
 The king came forward smiling very com- 
 placently at the thought that with so little em- 
 barrassment he was to get rid of a companion 
 whose presence had become an annoyance to 
 him — that he could discard her as easily as he 
 could lay aside a pair of soiled gloves. He 
 congratulated the marchioness upon the great 
 good sense she had shown in thus readily sun- 
 dering ties which, after existing for eighteen 
 years, had become embarrassing. He spoke of 
 their children as his property, and assured her 
 that he should do all in his power to promote 
 their welfare ; that he had already, by act of 
 Parliament, conferred upon them statute legiti- 
 macy, and had thus effaced the dishonor of 
 their birth. He apologized for not having her 
 name mentioned in Parliament as their moth- 
 er, this being impracticable, since she was the 
 wife of another man. 
 
 "With smiling complacency, as if he were 
 communicating very gratifying intelligence, he 
 informed this crushed and discarded mother 
 that, since her children were now princes, they 
 would, of course, reside at court, and that she, 
 their dishonored mother, might occasionally be 
 
326 Louis XIV. [1685. 
 
 Singular interview. 
 
 permitted to visit them — that he would issue 
 an order to that effect. And, finally, he coolly 
 advised her to write to her husband, whom she 
 had abandoned eighteen years ago, soliciting a 
 renewal of their relationship, with the assur- 
 ance that it was her intention to return to the 
 paths of virtue. 
 
 Almost gasping with indignation, the haugh- 
 ty marchioness succeeded in restraining herself 
 until the king had finished his harangue. She 
 then burst forth in a reply which astonished 
 and even alarmed the king. 
 
 " I am amazed," said she, " at the indiffer- 
 ence with which a monarch, who boasts of his 
 magnanimity, can throw from hirn a woman 
 who has sacrificed every thing to his pleasure. 
 For two years your majesty, in devotion to 
 others, has been estranged from me, and yet 
 never have I publicly offered one word of ex- 
 postulation. Why is it, then, that I am now, 
 after silently submitting for two years to this 
 estrangement, to be ignominionsly banished 
 from the court? Still, my position here has 
 become so hateful, through the perfidy and 
 treachery of those by whom I am compelled to 
 associate, that I will willingly consent never 
 again to approach the person of the king upon 
 
1686.] Revocation of the Edict. 327 
 
 The king defends Madame de Maintenon's character. 
 
 condition that the odious woman who has sup- 
 planted me* shall also be exiled." 
 
 The proud monarch was enraged. Pale 
 with anger, he replied, " The kings of Europe 
 have never yet ventured to dictate laws in my 
 palace, nor shall you, madame, subject me to 
 yours. The lady whom I have too long suf- 
 fered you to offend is as nobly born as your- 
 self. If you were instrumental in opening the 
 gates of the palace to her, you thus introduced 
 there gentleness, talent, and virtue. Tins lady, 
 whom you have upon every occasion slandered, 
 has lost no opportunity to excuse and justify 
 you. She will remain near the court which 
 her fathers defended, and which her wise 
 councils now strengthen. In seeking to re- 
 move you from the court, where your presence 
 and pretensions have long since been mis- 
 placed, I wished to spare you the evidence of 
 an event calculated to irritate your already ex- 
 asperated nature. But stay you here, ma- 
 dame," he added, sarcastically, " stay you here, 
 since you love great catastrophes and are 
 amused by them. Day after to-morrow you 
 will be more than ever a supernumerary in 
 the palace." 
 
 * Madame de Maintenon. 
 
328 Louis XIV. [1686. 
 
 Scene of frenzy and despair. 
 
 This heartless announcement, that Madame 
 de Maintenon was to take the place of Ma- 
 dame de Montespan in the affections of the 
 king, and probably as his wedded wife, pierced, 
 as with a dagger's point, the heart of the dis- 
 carded favorite. She fell senseless to the floor. 
 The king, without the slightest exhibition of 
 sympathy, looked on impatiently, while her 
 women, who were immediately summoned, en- 
 deavored to restore consciousness. As the un- 
 happy marchioness revived, the first words 
 which fell upon her ears were from the king, 
 as he said, 
 
 "All this wearies me beyond endurance. 
 She must leave the palace this very day." 
 
 In a frenzy of rage and despair, the mar- 
 chioness seized a dessert-knife which chanced 
 to lay upon the table, and, springing from the 
 arms of her attendants, rushed upon her young- 
 est child, the little Count de Toulouse, whom 
 the king held by the hand, and from whom 
 she was to be cruelly severed, and endeavored 
 to plunge the knife into his bosom, exclaiming, 
 
 " Yes, I will leave this palace, but first — " 
 
 At that moment, before the sentence was 
 finished, the door opened, and Madame de 
 Maintenon, who had probably anticipated some 
 
1686.] Revocation of the Edict. 329 
 
 Madame de Maintenon and Madame de Montespan. 
 
 tragic scene, sprang upon the wretched wom- 
 an, seizing the knife with one hand, and with 
 the other thrusting the child away. The ma- 
 niacal marchioness was seized by her attend- 
 ants. The king tottered to the chimney-piece, 
 buried his face in his hands, and, from a com- 
 plicity of emotions not easily disentangled, 
 wept convulsively. 
 
 Madame de Maintenon's hand was cut by 
 the knife. As she was binding up the bleed- 
 ing wound with her handkerchief, the half -de- 
 lirious marchioness said to her, referring to the 
 fact that the king had at first been unwilling 
 to receive her as the guardian of the children, 
 
 " Ah ! madame, had I believed what the king 
 told me fourteen years ago, my life would not 
 have been in your power to-day." 
 
 Madame de Maintenon, her eyes suffused 
 with tears, looked sadly upon her, then taking 
 her hand, pressed it feelingly, and, without ut- 
 tering a word, left the apartment. The king 
 followed her. The heart-broken marchioness, 
 in most imploring tones, entreated the king 
 not thus to leave her. He paid no heed to her 
 supplications. The agitation of this scene 
 threw Madame de Montespan into such a 
 burning fever that for several days she could 
 not be removed from her bed of pain and woe. 
 
330 Louis XIV. [1685. 
 
 Temptation resisted. Rumors of marriage. 
 
 Chapter X. 
 The Secret Marriage. 
 
 THE king exerted all his powers of persua- 
 sion to induce Madame de Maintenon to 
 "enter into the same relations with him which 
 Madame de Montespan had occupied. At last 
 she declared, in reply to some passionate re- 
 proaches on his part, that she should be under 
 the necessity of withdrawing from the court 
 and retiring to the cloister, rather than con- 
 tinue to expose herself to a temptation which 
 was destroying her peace of mind and under- 
 mining her health. Under these circumstances 
 the king had been led to think of a private 
 marriage. At first his pride revolted from the 
 thought. But in no other way could he secure 
 Madame de Maintenon. 
 
 Rumors of the approaching marriage were 
 circulated through the court. The dauphin 
 expostulated with his father most earnestly 
 against it, and succeeded in inducing the king 
 to consult the Abbe* Fenelon and Louvois. 
 They both protested against the measure as 
 
1686.] The Seceet Maebiage. 331 
 
 Preparations for the marriage. The archbishop summoned. 
 
 . 
 
 compromising the dignity of the monarch and 
 the interests of the nation. Bossuet, however, 
 urged the marriage. Boldly he warned the 
 king against entering again into such connec- 
 tions as those which had hitherto sullied his 
 life, wounded his reputation, and endangered 
 his eternal welfare. 
 
 Pure as Madame de Maintenon was, the de- 
 votion of the king to her was so marked that 
 her reputation began to suffer. She felt the 
 unjust imputations cast upon her very keenly. 
 The king at last resolved that it should be so 
 no longer. Having come to a decision, he act- 
 ed very promptly. It was a cold night in Jan- 
 uary, 1686. A smothering snow-storm swept 
 the streets of Paris. At half past ten o'clock 
 a court messenger entered the archiepiscopal 
 palace with a sealed packet, requesting the 
 archbishop to repair immediately to Versailles 
 to perform the marriage ceremony. The great 
 clock of the Cathedral was tolling the hour of 
 eleven as the prelate entered his carriage in the 
 darkness and the storm. At half past twelve 
 he reached the gate of the chateau. Here Bon- 
 tems, the first valet de chambre of the king, 
 conducted the archbishop to the private closet 
 of his majesty. Madame de Maintenon was 
 
332 Louis XIV. [1686. 
 
 An extraordinary scene. 
 
 there in full dress. Louis XIY. stood by her 
 side. In the same apartment were the Mar- 
 quis de Montechevreuil and the king's confess- 
 or, Pere la Chaise. 
 
 Miss Pardoe thus describes the scene that 
 ensued: 
 
 "As the eye of the king rested upon the 
 archbishop, he exclaimed, ' Let us go.' Tak- 
 ing the hand of the lady, he led her forward 
 through the long suite of rooms, followed by 
 the other actors in this extraordinary scene, 
 who moved on in profound silence, thrown for 
 an instant into broad light by the torch carried 
 by Bontems, and then suddenly lost in the deep 
 darkness beyond its influence. Nothing was 
 to be heard as the bridal party proceeded save 
 the muffled sound of their footsteps, deadened 
 by the costly carpets over which they trod. But 
 it was remarked that as the light flashed for 
 an instant across the portraits of his family 
 which clothed the walls, Louis XIV. glanced 
 eagerly and somewhat nervously upon them, 
 as though he dreaded the rebuke of some stern 
 eye or haughty lip for the weakness of which 
 he was about to become guilty." 
 
 The marriage ceremony was performed by 
 the Archbishop of Paris. There were eight 
 
1686.] The Secret Marriage. 333 
 
 Ceremonies. The Widow Scarron. Etiquette. 
 
 persons present as witnesses, most of them of 
 high distinction. The king was in the forty- 
 eighth year of his age, and Madame de Main- 
 tenon in her fifty-second. The marriage was 
 celebrated with all the established ceremonies 
 of the Church, the solemnization of the mass, 
 the exchange of marriage rings, and the pro- 
 nouncing of the benediction by the archbishop. 
 A magnificent suite of apartments was pre- 
 pared for Madame de Maintenon at Versailles. 
 She retained her own liveries, but thencefor- 
 ward appeared in public only in the carriage 
 of the king. Though by her own private at- 
 tendants she was addressed as " your majesty," 
 she was never publicly recognized as the cpieen. 
 The king addressed her simply as Madame. 
 
 Though the morning after the nuptials the 
 astounding rumor spread through the court 
 that the king had actually married the Widow 
 Scarron, still there were no positive vouchers 
 found for the fact. As she was never recog- 
 nized as the queen, for a long time many doubts 
 rested upon the reality of the marriage. 
 
 It was a matter of necessity that Madame de 
 Montespan should call upon Madame de Main- 
 tenon, and pay her respects to her as the real 
 though unrecognized wife of the monarch. 
 
334 Louis XIV. [1686. 
 
 Humiliation of Madame de Montcspan. 
 
 Dressed in her richest robes, and glittering with 
 jewels, the discarded favorite entered the apart- 
 ment of her hated rival. The king was seated 
 by her side. His majesty rose, bowed formal- 
 ly, and took his seat. Madame de Maintenon 
 did not rise, but, with a slight flush upon her 
 cheek, motioned to Madame de Montespan to 
 take a seat upon a tabouret which stood near 
 by. The king scarcely noticed her. Madame 
 de Maintenon addressed her in a few words of 
 condescension. The unhappy visitor, after a 
 short struggle to regain her composure, rose 
 from the humble stool upon which she had 
 been seated, and, repeating the stately rever- 
 ences which etiquette required, withdrew from 
 the room. 
 
 With crushed heart she retired to her apart- 
 ment, and, weeping bitterly, threw herself upon 
 a sofa. She soon sent for her son, the Duke 
 du Maine, hoping to hear, from his lips at least, 
 words of sympathy. But the duke, who had 
 reproached his mother with his dishonorable 
 birth, and who, by a royal decree, had been rec- 
 ognized as a prince, was not at all disposed to 
 cultivate intimate relations with that mother, 
 now that the memory of disgrace only would 
 be perpetuated by that recognition. Without 
 
1686.] The Secret Maeeiage. 335 
 
 Routine of a day at Versailles. 
 
 the exhibition of the slightest emotion, the 
 duke addressed his mother in a few cold, form- 
 al words, and left her. The marchioness sum- 
 moned her carriage, and left Versailles and the 
 court forever. As she cast a last look upon 
 the palace, she saw the king standing at the 
 balcony of a window watching her departure. 
 
 The reader will be interested in learning the 
 routine of a day as passed by this most sumpt- 
 uous of earthly kings amidst the splendors of 
 Versailles. At eight o'clock in the morning 
 the under valets carefully entered the bed- 
 chamber, opened the shutters, replenished the 
 wood fire, if cold, and removed the ample re- 
 freshments which were always placed by the 
 royal bedside in case the king should need food 
 during the night. 
 
 The first valet then entered, carefully dress- 
 ed, and took his stand respectfully by the side 
 of the bed-curtains. At half past eight pre- 
 cisely he drew the curtains and awoke the 
 king, assuming always that he was asleep. The 
 valet then immediately retired to an adjoining 
 room, where several distinguished members of 
 the court were in waiting, and communicated 
 to them the important intelligence that the 
 king no longer slept. 
 
336 Louis XIV. [1686. 
 
 Routine of a day at Versailles. 
 
 The folding doors were thrown open, and 
 the dauphin, attended by his two sons, the eld- 
 est of whom was entitled Monsieur, and the 
 youngest the Duke of Chartres, entered, and 
 inquired of the king how he had passed the 
 night. They were immediately followed by 
 the Duke du Maine and the Count de Tou- 
 louse, sons of Madame de Montespan, and by 
 the first lord of the bedchamber and the grand 
 master of the robes. They were succeeded by 
 the first valet of the wardrobe, and by several 
 officers, each bearing a portion of the royal 
 vestments. The two medical attendants of the 
 king, the physician and surgeon, also entered 
 at the same time. A, 
 
 The king, still remaining pillowed in his gor- 
 geous bed, held out his hands, and his first val- 
 et de chambre poured upon them a few drops 
 of spirits of wine, holding beneath them a basin 
 of silver. The first lord of the bedchamber 
 presented a vase of holy water, with which the 
 king made the sign of the cross upon his brow 
 and breast. His majesty then repeated a short 
 prayer. A collection of wigs was presented to 
 him. He selected the one which he wished to 
 wear. As the king rose from his couch, the 
 first lord of the bedchamber drew upon him 
 
1686.] The Secret Marriage. 337 
 
 Routine of a day at Versailles. The First Entree. 
 
 his dressing-gown, which was always a richly 
 embroidered and costly robe. 
 
 The king then sat down, and, holding out 
 one sacred foot after the other, his valet, Bon- 
 terns, drew on his stockings and his slippers of 
 embroidered velvet. The monarch conde- 
 scended to place upon his head, with his own 
 hand, the wig which he had selected. Again 
 the devout monarch crossed himself with holy 
 water, and, emerging from the balustrade 
 which inclosed the bed, seated himself in a 
 large arm-chair.. He was now prepared for 
 what was called The First Entree. 
 
 The chief lord of the bedchamber, with a 
 loud voice, announced The First Entree. A 
 number of courtiers, who were peculiarly fa- 
 vored, were then admitted to the distinguished 
 honor of seeing his majesty washed and shaved. 
 The barber of the king removed his beard and 
 gently washed his face with a sponge saturated 
 with spirits of wine and water. The king 
 himself wiped his face with a soft towel, while 
 Bontems held the glass before him. 
 
 And now the master of the robes approach- 
 ed to dress the king. Those who had been 
 present at what was called the jjetit lever re- 
 tired. A new set of dignitaries, of higher 
 Y 
 
338 Louis XIV. [1686. 
 
 The ceremony of dressing. The Grand Entree. 
 
 name and note, crowded the anteroom to en- 
 joy the signal honor of being present at the 
 Grand Entree, that is, of witnessing the sub- 
 lime ceremony of seeing shirt, trowsers, and 
 frock placed upon his sacred majesty. 
 . Three of the highest officers of the court 
 stood at the door, attended by several valets and 
 door-keepers of the cabinet. Admission to the 
 Grand Entree was considered so great an honor 
 that even princes sought it, and often in vain. 
 As each individual presented himself, his 
 name was whispered to the first lord of the 
 bedchamber, who repeated it to the king. 
 When the monarch made no reply the visitor 
 was admitted, and the duke walked back to 
 his station near the fireplace, where he mar- 
 shaled the new-comers to their several places 
 in order to prevent their pressing too closely 
 about his majesty. Princes and governors, 
 marshals and peers, were alike subjected to 
 this tedious and somewhat humiliating ceremo- 
 ny, from which three individuals alone were 
 excepted, Racine, Boileau, and Mansard. On 
 their arrival at the guarded door they simply 
 scratched against the panel, when the usher 
 threw open the folding door, and they stood in 
 the presence of the monarch. 
 
> \ 
 
1686.] The Secret Mabeiage. 341 
 
 Dressing the king. The royal breakfast. 
 
 In the mean time, a valet of the wardrobe 
 delivered to a gentleman of the chamber the 
 socks and garters, which the gentleman pre- 
 sented to the monarch, and which socks his 
 majesty deigned to draw on himself. Even 
 with his own hand he clasped the garters with 
 their diamond buckles. Etiquette did not al- 
 low the king to unclasp them at night. The 
 head valet de chambre enjoyed the privilege 
 of unclasping the garter of the right leg, while 
 a more humble attendant performed the same 
 office for the left leg. 
 
 A distinguished officer of the household pre- 
 sented the monarch with his hcmt de chausses 
 (breeches), to which silk stockings were attach- 
 ed; the king drew them on; another gentle- 
 man put on his shoes ; another gentleman 
 buckled them. Two pages, richly dressed in 
 crimson velvet embroidered with gold, removed 
 the slippers which the king had laid aside. 
 
 And now came the royal breakfast. Two 
 officers of the household entered, in pictur- 
 esque attire, one bearing a loaf of bread on an 
 enameled salver, and another a folded napkin 
 between two enameled plates. The royal cup- 
 bearer handed a golden vase, richly decorated, 
 to one of the lords. He poured into it a small 
 
342 Louis XIV. [1686. 
 
 Formalities. Dressing the king. 
 
 quantity of wine and water. Another lord 
 tasted of it, to prove that it contained no poi- 
 son. The vase was then carefully rinsed, and 
 being again filled with the wine and water, 
 was presented to the king on a gold salver. 
 
 His majesty drank. Then the dauphin, who 
 was always present at these solemnities, hand- 
 ed his hat and gloves to the first lord in wait- 
 ing, and presented the monarch with a napkin 
 with which to wipe his lips. Breakfast was a 
 very frugal repast. Having partaken of these 
 slight refreshments, the king laid aside his 
 dressing-gown. One of his lordly attendants 
 then assisted him in removing his night-shirt 
 by the left sleeve. It was Bontems's peculiar 
 privilege to draw it off by the right sleeve. 
 
 The royal shirt, which had been carefully 
 warmed, was then given to the first lord. He 
 presented it to the dauphin, who approached 
 and presented it to the king. Some one of the 
 higher lords, previously designated for the 
 honor, assisted the king in the arrangement of 
 his shirt and breeches. A duke enjoyed the 
 honor of putting on his inner waistcoat. Two 
 valets presented the king with his sword, vest, 
 and blue ribbon. A nobleman then stepped 
 forward and buckled on the sword, assisted in 
 
1686.] The Secret Marriage. 343 
 
 The dressing completed. The king prays. 
 
 putting on the vest, and placed over his shoul- 
 ders a scarf bearing the cross of the Holy 
 Ghost in diamonds, and the cross of St. Louis. 
 
 The king then drew on his under coat, with 
 the assistance of the grand master of the robes, 
 adjusted his cravat of rich lace, which was 
 folded round his neck by a favorite courtier, 
 and finally emptied into the pockets of the 
 loose outer coat, which was presented to him 
 for that purpose, the contents of those which 
 he had worn the previous day. He then re- 
 ceived two handkerchiefs of costly point from 
 another attendant, by whom they were carried 
 on an enameled saucer of oval shape called 
 salve. His toilet once completed, Louis XIV. 
 returned to the Ttielle of his bed, where he 
 knelt down upon two cushions already pre- 
 pared for him, and said his prayers ; all the 
 bishops and cardinals entering within the bal- 
 ustrade in his suite, and reciting their devo- 
 tional exercises in a suppressed voice. 
 
 The king, being thus dressed, retired from 
 his chamber to his cabinet. He was followed, 
 in solemn procession, by all those dignitaries 
 of Church and State who had enjoyed the priv- 
 ilege of the Grand Entree. He then issued 
 the orders of the day, after which all withdrew 
 
344 Louis XIV. [1686. 
 
 The king attends mass. Etiquette at the royal dinner. 
 
 excepting some of his children, whom a royal 
 decree had legitimatized and raised to the rank 
 of princes, with their former tutors or govern- 
 ors. 
 
 In the mean time a crowd of courtiers were 
 assembled in the great gallery of Versailles, 
 to accompany the king to mass. The captain 
 of the royal guard awaited orders at the door 
 of the cabinet. At 12 o'clock the door was 
 thrown open, and the king, followed by a 
 splendid retinue, proceeded to the chapel. 
 
 The service was short. At one o'clock the 
 king returned to his room, and dined sumptu- 
 ously and alone. He was waited upon, at the 
 table, by the first gentleman of the chamber. 
 Sometimes the dauphin or other lords of high- 
 est rank were present, but they stood respect- 
 fully at a distance. Iso one was permitted to 
 be seated in the royal presence. The brother 
 of the king stood at times by the chair of his 
 majesty, holding his napkin for him. Upon 
 the king's twice requesting him to be seated, 
 he was permitted to take a seat upon a stool, 
 behind the king, still holding his napkin. 
 
 Upon rising from the table the king repair- 
 ed to the grand saloon, where he tarried for a 
 few moments, that persons of high distinction, 
 
1686.] The Secret Marriage. 345 
 
 Visits the kennel. The morning drive. 
 
 who enjoyed the privilege of addressing him, 
 might have an opportunity to do so. He then 
 returned to his cabinet. The door was closed, 
 and the king had a brief interview with his 
 children, of whom he was very fond. He then 
 repaired to the kennel of his dogs, of whom he 
 was also fond, and amused himself, for a time, 
 in feeding them and playing with them. 
 
 He now made some slight change in his 
 dress. A small number of persons, of high 
 rank, enjoyed the distinguished honor of being 
 present in his chamber as the monarch, with 
 all suitable stateliness of ceremony, exchanged 
 one royal garment for another. The carriage 
 awaited the king in the marble court. He de- 
 scended by a private staircase. His craving 
 for fresh air was such that he took a drive 
 whatever the weather. Scarcely any degree of 
 heat or cold, or floods of rain, could prevent him 
 from his drive, or his stag-hunt, or his over- 
 looking the workmen. Sometimes the ladies 
 of his court rode out with him on picnic excur- 
 sions to the forests of Fontainebleau or Marly. 
 
 Upon returning from the drive, the king 
 again changed his dress and repaired to his 
 cabinet. He then proceeded to the apartments 
 of Madame de Maintenon, where he remained 
 
;J46 Louis XIV. [1686. 
 
 The royal supper. Tasting and trying. 
 
 conversing with her, or reading, and sometimes 
 transacting business with his minister, until ten 
 o'clock. The hour for supper had now arrived. 
 The house-steward, with his badge of office in 
 hand, gave the information to the captain of 
 the guard. He, entering the royal presence 
 from the antechamber, announced 'the fact to 
 the king, and opened wide the door. After the 
 delay of a quarter of an hour, which etiquette 
 required, his majesty advanced to the supper- 
 roOm. During the quarter of an hour which 
 had elapsed, the officers of the household had 
 made preparations for the royal repast by tast- 
 ing the bread and the salt, and by testing the 
 plates, the fork, the spoon, the knife, and the 
 tooth-pick of the king, so as to be assured that 
 no poison could be thus conveyed. 
 
 As the king, preceded by the house-steward 
 and two ushers with flambeaux, entered the 
 supper-room, he found there awaiting him the 
 princes and princesses of France, with a nu- 
 merous assemblage of courtiers, gentlemen, and 
 ladies. The king, having taken his seat, re- 
 quested the others to be seated also. Six no- 
 blemen immediately stationed themselves at 
 each end of the table, to wait upon the king. 
 Each one, as he presented a dish to the king, 
 
1686.] The Secret Marriage. 347 
 
 "Drink for the king !" He feeds his dogs at midnight. 
 
 first tasted of it himself. When the king wish- 
 ed for a drink, his cnp-bearer exclaimed aloud, 
 " Drink for the king." Two of the principal of- 
 ficers, making a profound obeisance, approach- 
 ed his majesty, one bearing an enameled cup 
 and two decanters upon a salver. The other 
 poured out the wine, tasted it, and presented 
 the goblet to the king. With another low sal- 
 utation, the two officers replaced the decanters 
 upon the sideboard. 
 
 The repast being finished, the king rose, and, 
 preceded by two guards and an usher, and fol- 
 lowed by all the company, proceeded to the . 
 bed-chamber. He there bowed adieu to the 
 company, and, entering the cabinet, took a seat 
 in a large arm-chair. The members of the 
 royal family were introduced. His brother, 
 Monsieur, was permitted to take an arm-chair. 
 All the rest remained standing except the prin- 
 cesses, who were indulged with stools. After 
 an hour or so of such converse as these stately 
 forms would admit, the king, about midnight, 
 went again to feed his dogs. He then retired 
 to his chamber, with great pomp said his pray- 
 ers, and was undressed and put to bed with 
 ceremonies similar to those with which he had 
 been dressed in the morning. 
 
348 Louis XI V. [1686. 
 
 Madame de Maintenon's apartments. Her tact. 
 
 Such was the ordinary routine of the life of 
 the king at Versailles. Its dreary monotony 
 was broken by occasional fetes, balls, and the- 
 atric shows. Madame de Maintenon testifies 
 to the almost insupportable tedium of such a 
 life. " If you could only," she exclaims, " form 
 an idea of what it is !" 
 
 Magnificent apartments were prepared for 
 Madame de Maintenon at Versailles, opposite 
 the suite of rooms occupied by the king. Sim- 
 ilar arrangements were made for her in all the 
 royal palaces. Royalty alone could occupy 
 arm-chairs in the presence of the sovereign. 
 In each of her apartments there were two such, 
 one for the king and the other for herself. The 
 king often transacted business with his minis- 
 ter, Louvois, in her room. She had sufficient 
 tact never to express an opinion, or to take a 
 part in the conversation except when appealed 
 to.. 
 
 Madame de Maintenon was exceedingly anx- 
 ious that the king should publicly recognize 
 her as his wife. It is said that the king, tor- 
 mented by the embarrassments which the se- 
 cret marriage had brought upon him, seriously 
 contemplated this. His minister, Louvois, re- 
 monstrated even passionately against such a 
 
1689.] The Secret Marriage. 349 
 
 Sickness of the king. A surgical operation necessary. 
 
 recognition. At the close of a painful inter- 
 view upon this subject, he threw himself upon 
 his knees before his majesty, and, presenting to 
 him the hilt of a small sword which the minis- 
 ter usually wore, exclaimed, 
 
 " Take my life, sire, that I may not become 
 the witness of a disgrace which will dishonor 
 your majesty in the eyes of all Europe." 
 
 Others of the most influential members of 
 the court joined in the opposition, and so stren- 
 uously that the king commanded Madame de 
 Maintenon never again to allude to the subject. 
 
 Premature old age was fast advancing upon 
 the king, though he had as yet attained only 
 his forty-ninth year. He was tortured, by the 
 gout. He was also attacked by a very painful 
 and' dangerous internal malady. His suffer- 
 ings were dreadful. It became necessary for 
 him to submit to a perilous surgical operation. 
 The king met the crisis with much heroism. 
 Four persons only, including Madame de Main- 
 tenon, were present during the operation. In- 
 deed, the greatest precautions had been adopt- 
 ed to keep the fact that an operation was to be 
 performed a profound secret. During the op- 
 eration the king uttered not a groan. It was 
 successful. In gratitude he conferred upon 
 
350 Louis XIV. [1689. 
 
 World-weariness of the king. Dissatisfied with. Versailles. 
 
 the skillful operator who had relieved him 
 from anguish and saved his life an estate val- 
 ued at more than fifty thousand crowns. 
 
 Weary of every' thing else, the king now 
 sought to find some little interest in building. 
 The renowned architect, .Mansard, whose gen- 
 ius still embellishes our most beautiful edifices, 
 was commissioned to erect a pavilion on the 
 grounds of Versailles in imitation of an Italian 
 villa. Thus rose, within a year, the Grand 
 Trianon, which subsequently became so cele- 
 brated as the favorite rural residence of Maria 
 Antoinette. 
 
 Most men who, with vast wealth, attempt to 
 build a mansion which shall eclipse that of all 
 their neighbors, and which shall be perfect in 
 all the appliances of comfort and luxury, find 
 themselves, in the end, bitterly disappointed. 
 This was pre-eminently the case with Louis 
 XIV. The palace of Versailles, still unfin- 
 ished, had already cost him countless millions. 
 But it did not please the king. It had cold 
 and cheerless grandeur, but no attractions as a 
 home. The king looked with weary eyes upon 
 the mountain pile of marble which had risen 
 at his bidding, and found it about as unconge- 
 nial for a home as would be the Cathedral of 
 
ilsGis 
 
 VlBni 
 
 SMI--- ■ .' ' 
 
 MtJTIir 
 
 
 ;& 
 
 m >' 
 
1689.] The Seceet Maeeiage. 355 
 
 The royal palaces unsatisfactory. The "hermitage" at Marly. 
 
 Notre Dame. Disgusted with the etiquette 
 which enslaved him, satiated with sensual in- 
 dulgence, and having exhausted all the form- 
 tains of worldly pleasure, with waning powers 
 of body and of mind, it is not possible that any 
 thing could have satisfied the world-weary king. 
 
 He had other palaces. None suited him. 
 The Tuileries and the Louvre were in the heart 
 of the noisy city. The banqueting hall at St. 
 Germain overlooked the sepulchre of St. Den- 
 is, where the grave-worm held its banquet. 
 Fontainebleau was at too great a distance from 
 the capital. To reach it required a carriage 
 drive of four or five hours. Vincennes, not- 
 withstanding the grandeur of the antique, 
 time-worn castle, was gloomy in its surround- 
 ings, inconvenient in its internal arrangements 
 — a prison rather than a palace. 
 
 About nine miles from Paris, upon the left 
 bank of the Seine, there reposed the silent vil- 
 lage of Marly. The king selected that as the 
 spot upon which he would rear a snug "her- 
 mitage" to which he could retire " from noise 
 and tumult far." The passion for building is 
 a fearful passion, which often involves its vic- 
 tim in ruin. The plans of the king expanded 
 under his eye. The little hermitage became a 
 
356 Louis XIV. [1689. 
 
 War with Germany. The dauphin in command. 
 
 spacious palace, where a court could be enter- 
 tamed with all the appliances of regal elegance. 
 
 But dark and stormy days were rapidly 
 gathering around the path of the king. He 
 became involved in war with Germany. The 
 complicated reasons can scarcely be unraveled. 
 The king sent his son, the dauphin, at the head 
 of one hundred thousand men, to invade Hol- 
 land. Situated upon both sides of the Rhine 
 there was a territory called the Palatinate. It 
 embraced one thousand five hundred and nine- 
 ty square miles, being not quite so large as the 
 State of Delaware. It contained an intelli- 
 gent, industrious, and prosperous population of 
 a little over three hundred thousand. The 
 beautiful city of Manheim was the capital of 
 the province. 
 
 Though the dauphin was nominally at the 
 head of the invading army, that the glory of 
 its victories might redound to his name, the 
 ablest of the French generals were associated 
 with him, and they, in reality, took the direc- 
 tion of affairs. One city after another speedi- 
 ly fell into the hands of the French. The king 
 mercilessly resolved, and without any justifica- 
 tion whatever, to convert the whole province 
 into a desert. An order was issued by the 
 
1689.] The Secret Marriage. 357 
 
 Devastation of the Palatinate. Designs upon England. 
 
 king that every city, village, castle, and hut 
 should be laid in ashes. 
 
 It was midwinter — the month of February, 
 1689. There were many beautiful cities in 
 the province, such as Manheim, Philipsbourg, 
 Franckendal, Spire, Treves, Worms, and Op- 
 pendeim. There were more than fifty feudal 
 castles in the territory, the ancestral homes of 
 noble families. The citizens had but short 
 warning. Houses, furniture, food, all were 
 consumed. The flames rose to heaven, calling 
 upon God for vengeance. Smouldering ruins 
 every where met the eye. Men, women, and 
 children wandered starving through the fields. 
 
 Nearly all Europe soon became banded 
 against this haughty monarch, and he found it 
 necessary to raise an army of four hundred 
 thousand men to meet the exigencies. 
 
 Intoxicated by the pride of past success, he 
 thought that he should be able to force upon 
 England a Roman Catholic king, and the Ro- 
 man Catholic faith, and thus expel heresy from 
 England, as he dreamed that he had expelled 
 it from France. He equipped a fleet, and 
 manned it with twenty thousand soldiers, to 
 force upon the British people King James II., 
 whom they had indignantly discarded. 
 
358 Louis XIV. [1689, 
 
 Civil war in France. Complications of the royal family. 
 
 Civil war was now also desolating unhappy 
 France. The Protestants, bereft of their chil- 
 dren, robbed of their property, driven from 
 their homes, dragged to the galleys, plunged 
 into dungeons, broken upon the wheel, hanged 
 upon scaffolds, rose in several places in the 
 most desperate insurrectionary bands. And 
 the man who was thus crushing beneath the 
 heel of his armies the quivering hearts of the 
 Palatinate, and who was drenching his own 
 realms with tears and blood, was clothed in 
 purple, and faring sumptuously, and reclining 
 upon the silken sofas of Marly and Versailles. 
 It is not strange that Faith, with uplifted hands 
 and gushing eyes, should have exclaimed, "O 
 Lord, how long !" 
 
 The singular complication of the royal fam- 
 ily, with the various mothers and the various 
 children, some of which children were recog- 
 nized by royal decree as princes, and some of 
 whom were not, filled the palaces with bicker- 
 ings, envyings, and discontent in every form. 
 The unhappy dauphiness, who had long been 
 immersed in the profoundest gloom, at last 
 found a welcome retreat in the grave. Nei- 
 ther her husband nor the king shed a single 
 tear over her remains, which were hurried to 
 the vaults of St. Denis. 
 
1690.] Intrigues and Waks. 359 
 
 Exhaustion of the treasury. The royal plate sacrificed- 
 
 chapter xi. 
 Intrigues and Waks. 
 
 THE treasury of the king was empty. Ex- 
 travagant building, a voluptuous court, 
 and all the enormous expenses of civil and 
 foreign wars, had quite exhausted the finances 
 of the realm. It became necessary to call upon 
 the cities for contributions. New offices were 
 invented, which were imposed upon the wealthy 
 citizens, and for which they were compelled to 
 pay large sums. Even the massive silver plate 
 and furniture, which had attracted the admira- 
 tion of all visitors to Versailles, were sent to 
 the Mint and coined. Most of the value of 
 these articles of ornament consisted of the skill 
 with which the materials had been wrought into 
 forms of beauty. In melting them down, all 
 this was sacrificed, and nothing remained but 
 the mere value of the metal. Large as were 
 the sums attained by these means, they were 
 but trifling compared with the necessities of 
 the state. 
 
 Louvois, the minister of Louis, had for a long 
 
360 Louis XIV. [1690. 
 
 Assumptions of Louvois. 
 
 time held the reins of government. It was 
 through his influence that the king had been 
 instigated to revoke the Edict of Nantes, to 
 order the dragonnades, and to authorize those 
 atrocities of persecution whieh must ever ex- 
 pose the name of Louis XIV. to the execra- 
 tions of humanity. It was Louvois who, from 
 merely contemptible caprice, plunged France 
 into war with Germany. It was through his 
 persuasions that the king was induced to order 
 the utter devastation of the Palatinate. 
 
 But the influence of Louvois was now on the 
 wane. The jealous king became weary of his 
 increasingly haughty assumptions. The con- 
 flagration of the Palatinate raised a cry of in- 
 dignation which the king could not but hear. 
 The city of Treves had escaped the flames. 
 Louvois solicited an order to burn it. The 
 king refused to give his consent. Louvois in- 
 solently gave the order himself. He then in- 
 formed the king that he had done so that he 
 might spare the conscience of the king the pain 
 of issuing such an edict. 
 
 Louis was furious. In his rage he forgot all 
 the restraints of etiquette. He seized from the 
 fireplace the tongs, and would have broken the 
 head of the minister had not Madame de Main- 
 
1691.] Intrigues and "Wars. 363 
 
 Disgrace, sickness, and death of Louvois. 
 
 tenon rushed between them. The king ordered 
 a messenger immediately to be dispatched to 
 countermand the order. He declared that if 
 a single house were burned, the head of the 
 minister should be the forfeit. The city was 
 saved. 
 
 In 1691 the French army was besieging 
 Mons. The king visited the works. The haugh- 
 ty minister, unintimidated even by the menace 
 of the tongs, ventured to countermand an or- 
 der which the king had issued. The lowering 
 brow of the monarch convinced him that his 
 ministerial reign was soon to close. 
 
 The health of the minister began rapidly to 
 fail. He became emaciate, languid, and deep- 
 ly depressed. A few subsequent interviews 
 with the king satisfied him that his disgrace 
 and ruin were decided upon. Indeed, the king 
 had already drawn up the lettre de cachet 
 which was to consign him to the Bastile. 
 About the middle of June, 1691, Louvois met 
 the king in his council chamber, and, though 
 the monarch was unusually complaisant, Lou- 
 vois so thoroughly understood him that he re- 
 tired to his residence in utter despair. Scarce- 
 ly had he entered his apartment ere he dropped 
 dead upon the floor. Whether his death were 
 
364 Louis XIY. [1692. 
 
 Louis suspicious of Madame de Maiutenon. Letters. 
 
 caused by apoplexy, or by poison administered 
 by his own hand or that of others, can never 
 be known. The king forbade all investigation 
 of the case. 
 
 Immediately after the death of Louvois, the 
 long began to devote himself to business with 
 an energy which he had never before mani- 
 fested. Madame de Maintenon made some 
 farther efforts to induce him to proclaim their 
 marriage, but she soon perceived that nothing 
 would induce him to change his resolution, and 
 she accepted the situation. Louis now yielded 
 more than ever to her influence ; but he was 
 always apprehensive that she might be engaged 
 in some secret intrigue, and kept a vigilant 
 watch over her. In letters to a friend, she gives 
 some account of her splendid misery. 
 
 " The king is perpetually on guard over me. 
 I see no one. He never leaves my room. I 
 am compelled to rise at five in the morning in 
 order to write to you. I experience more than 
 ever that there is no compensation for the loss 
 of liberty." 
 
 Again she writes, in reference to the weary 
 routine of court life : " The princesses who 
 have not attended the hunt will come in, fol- 
 lowed by their cabal, and wait the return of 
 
1692.] Intrigues and Wars. 365 
 
 Court life. The dauphin. His sons. 
 
 the king in my apartment in order to go to 
 dinner. The hunters will come in a crowd, 
 and will relate the whole history of their day's 
 sport, without sparing us a single detail. They 
 will then go to dinner. Madame de Dangeau 
 will challenge me, with a yawn, to a game of 
 backgammon. Such is the way in which peo- 
 ple live at court." 
 
 It will be remembered that the king and 
 queen had an only son, the dauphin. He was 
 a man of ignoble character and of feeble mind. 
 Still, as heir to the throne, he was, next to the 
 king, the most important personage in the 
 realm. The dauphin had three sons, who were 
 in the direct line of succession to the crown. 
 These were Louis, duke of Burgoyne, Philip, 
 duke of Anjou, and Charles, duke of Berri. 
 
 The eldest, the Duke of Burgoyne, who, of 
 course, next to the dauphin, was heir to the 
 throne, was thirteen years of age. The king 
 selected for his wife Adelaide, the daughter 
 of the Duke of Savoy, a remarkably graceful, 
 beautiful, and intelligent child of eleven years. 
 The pretty little girl was brought to France to 
 spend a few months in the court previous to 
 her marriage, which was to take place as soon 
 as she should attain her twelfth year. She 
 
366 Louis XIV. [1692. 
 
 Graces of the Duchess of Burgoyne. 
 
 came in great splendor, with her retinue, her 
 court, and her ladies of honor. Both the king 
 and Madame de Maintenon were charmed 
 with the princess. Sumptuous apartments 
 were assigned her in the palace of Versailles. 
 Madame de Maintenon wrote to the Duchess 
 of Savoy, 
 
 " The king is enchanted with her. He ex- 
 patiates on her deportment, her grace, her 
 courtesy, her reserve, and her modesty. She 
 has all the graces of girlhood, with the perfec- 
 tions of a more mature age. Her temper ap- 
 pears as perfect as her figure promises one day 
 to become. She only requires to speak to dis- 
 play the extent of her intellect. I can not re- 
 sist thanking your royal highness for giving 
 us a child who, according to all appearance, 
 will be the delight of the court, and the glory 
 of the century." 
 
 The king resolved that the festivities at the 
 marriage of these two children should be the 
 most splendid which France had ever witness- 
 ed. He announced the intention of appearing 
 himself, upon the occasion, in the most sump- 
 tuous apparel which the taste and art of the 
 times could furnish. This intimation was suf- 
 ficient for the courtiers. Preparations were 
 
1697.] Intrigues and Wars. 367 
 
 Misery of the people. Extravagance of the court. 
 
 made for such a display of folly and extrava- 
 gance as even alarmed the king. All ordinary 
 richness of dress, of satin, and velvet, and em- 
 broidery of gold, was discarded for fabrics of 
 unprecedented costliness, for bouquets of dia- 
 monds, and wreaths of the most precious gems. 
 
 " I can not understand," exclaimed the king, 
 " how husbands are mad enough to suffer 
 themselves to be ruined by the folly of their 
 wives." 
 
 The marriage took place between the bride 
 of twelve years and the bridegroom of four- 
 teen at six o'clock in the evening of the 7th of 
 December, 1697. The ceremony was perform- 
 ed in the chapel of the palace at Versailles. 
 The ensuing festivals exceeded in magnificence 
 all that Versailles had previously witnessed. 
 But there was no rejoicing among the people. 
 They listened, some silently, some sullenly, 
 some murmuringly, to the chiming bells and 
 the booming cannon. The elements of discon- 
 tent and wrath were slowly beginning to col- 
 lect for bursting forth one hundred years later, 
 in that most sublime of moral tempests, the 
 French Revolution. 
 
 The grand avenue to Versailles day after 
 day was crowded with gorgeous equipages. 
 
368 
 
 
 Louis XIV. 
 
 [1700. 
 
 BriUiai 
 
 it assembly. 
 
 
 Death of Charles II. 
 
 At night it blazed with illuminations. The 
 highest ingenuity was taxed to devise new 
 scenes of splendor and amusement, which fol- 
 lowed each other in rapid succession. Three 
 days after the marriage, the king gave a spe- 
 cial assembly which was to eclipse all the rest. 
 All the ladies were directed to appear in dress- 
 es of black velvet, that the precious gems, 
 which were almost literally to cover those 
 dresses, might sparkle more brilliantly. The 
 great gallery of Versailles was illuminated by 
 four thousand wax-lights. The young bride 
 wore upon her apron alone jewels estimated 
 at a sum equal to fifty thousand dollars. 
 
 On the 1st of November, 1700, Charles II., 
 the half crazed King of Spain, died, leaving 
 no heir. The pope, Innocent XII., bribed by 
 Louis XIV., sent a nuncio to the dying king, 
 enjoining upon him to transmit his crown to 
 the children of the Dauphin of France, as the 
 legitimate heirs to the monarchy. As the 
 Duke of Burgoyne was the direct heir to the 
 throne of France, the second son of the dau- 
 phin, the Duke of Anjou, still a mere boy, was 
 proclaimed King of Spain, with the title of 
 Philip V. 
 
 On the 14th of the month the Spanish em- 
 
1700.] Inteigues and Wars. 369 
 
 The Duke of Anjou proclaimed King of Spain. 
 
 bassador was summoned to an audience with 
 Louis XIY. at Versailles. The king present- 
 ed his grandson to the minister, saying, " This, 
 sir, is the Duke of Anjou, whom you may sa- 
 lute as your king." 
 
 A large crowd of courtiers was soon assem- 
 bled. The Spanish minister threw himself 
 upon his knees before the boy with expressions 
 of profound homage. There was a scene of 
 great excitement. The king, embracing with 
 his left arm the neck of the young prince, 
 pointed to him with his right hand, and said 
 to those present, 
 
 " Gentlemen, this is the King of Spain. His 
 birth calls him to the crown.* The late king 
 has recognized his right by his will. All the 
 nation desires his succession, and has entreated 
 it at my hands. It is the will of Heaven, to 
 which I conform with satisfaction." 
 
 The Duke of Anjou was quite delighted in 
 
 * The claim of the young prince was founded upon the fact 
 that his grandmother, Maria Theresa, was the eldest daugh- 
 ter of Philip IV. of Spain. She had, however, upon her mar- 
 riage, renounced all claim to the succession. Her younger 
 sister, Margarita, had married the Emperor Leopold of Aus- 
 tria without this renunciation. The emperor claimed the 
 crown for her daughter, who had married the Elector of Ba- 
 varia. Hence the war of The Spanish Succession. 
 A A 
 
370 Louis XIV. [1700. 
 
 Anecdote of the princes. Preparations for the coronation- 
 
 finding himself thus liberated from all the re- 
 straints of tutors and governors, and of being, 
 in his boyhood, elevated to the dignity of a 
 crowned king. As soon as these stately forms 
 of etiquette were concluded, and he was alone 
 . with his brothers, he kicked up his heels and 
 snapped his fingers, exclaiming with delight, 
 
 " So I am King of Spain. You, Burgoyne, 
 will be King of France. And you, my poor 
 Berri, are the only one who must live and die 
 a subject." 
 
 The little prince replied, perhaps upon the 
 principle that " the grapes were sour," perhaps 
 because he had observed how little real happi- 
 ness regal state had brought to his grandfather, 
 
 " That fact will not grieve me. I shall have 
 less trouble and more pleasure than either of 
 you. I shall enjoy the right of hunting both 
 in France and Spain, and can follow a wolf 
 from Paris to Madrid." 
 
 Preparations were immediately made for the 
 departure of the boy-king to take possession of 
 his Spanish throne and crown. The pomp- 
 loving French king had decided to invest the 
 occasion with great splendor. He regarded it 
 as a signal stroke of policy, and a great victory 
 on his part, that he had been enabled, notwith- 
 
1700.] Intrigues and Wars. 371 
 
 Exultation of Louis XIV. Final meeting of the royal family. 
 
 standing the remonstrances of other nations, to 
 place a French Bourbon prince upon the throne 
 of Spain, thus virtually uniting the two nations. 
 He thought he had thus extended the domain 
 of France to the Straits of Gibraltar. " Hence- 
 forth," exclaimed Louis XIV., exultingly, 
 " there are no more Pyrenees." 
 
 To his grandson, the new king, he said, " Be 
 a good Spaniard, but never forget that you 
 were born a Frenchman. Carefully maintain 
 the union of the two nations. Thus only can 
 you render them both happy." 
 
 There was a final meeting of the royal fam- 
 ily to take leave of the young monarch as he 
 was departing for his realm. All the young 
 nobility of France, with a numerous military 
 escort, were to compose his brilliant retinue. 
 The Duchess du Maine, the legitimatized daugh- 
 ter of Madame de Montespan, and thus the half 
 brother of the dauphin, persuaded the dauphin 
 to invite her mother to the palace on this occa- 
 sion. Here occurred the last interview between 
 the heartless king and his discarded favorite. 
 
 As the king made the tour of the room, he 
 found himself opposite Madame de Montespan. 
 She was greatly overcome by her emotions, and, 
 pale and trembling, was near fainting. The 
 
372 Louis XIV. [1700. 
 
 Last interview between Madame de Montespan and the king. 
 
 king coldly and searchingly, for a moment, 
 fixed his eye upon her, and then said, calmly, 
 
 " Madame, I congratulate you. You are still 
 as handsome and attractive as ever. I hope 
 that you are also happy." 
 
 The marchioness replied, "At this moment, 
 sire, I am very happy, since I have the honor 
 of presenting my respectful homage to your 
 majesty." 
 
 The king, with his studied grace of courtesy, 
 kissed her hand, and continued his progress 
 around the circle. The monarch and his per- 
 haps equally guilty victim never met again. 
 She lived twenty-two years after her expulsion 
 from the palace. They were twenty-two years 
 of joylessness. Her confessor, who seems to 
 have been a man of sincere piety, refused her 
 absolution until she had written to her hus- 
 band, the Marquis de Montespan, whom she 
 had abandoned for the guilty love of the king, 
 affirming her heartfelt repentance, imploring 
 his forgiveness, and entreating him either to 
 receive her back, or to order her to any place 
 of residence which he should think proper. 
 The indignant marquis replied that he would 
 neither admit her to his house, nor prescribe 
 for her any future rules of conduct, nor suffer 
 
1707.] Intrigues and Wars. 373 
 
 Penaiice of Madame de Montespan. Her death. 
 
 lifer name ever again to be mentioned in his 
 presence. 
 
 The reverend father compelled her, in atone- 
 ment for her sins, to sit at a frugal table ; to 
 consecrate her vast wealth to objects of benev- 
 olence ; to wear haircloth next her skin, and 
 around her waist a girdle with sharp points, 
 which lacerated her body at every movement. 
 She was also daily employed in making gar- 
 ments of the coarsest materials with her own 
 hands for the sick in the hospitals, and for the 
 poor in their squalid homes. 
 
 The guilty marchioness was dreadfully afraid 
 of death. Every night a careful guard of wom- 
 en watched her bedside. In a thunder-storm 
 she would take an infant in her lap, that the 
 child's innocence might be her protection. In 
 the night of the 26th of May, 1707, she was at- 
 tacked in her bed by very distressing suffoca- 
 tion. One of her sons, the Marquis of Antin, 
 was immediately sent for. He found his moth- 
 er insensible. Seizing a casket which contained 
 her jewels, he demanded of an attendant the 
 key. It was suspended around the neck of his 
 dying mother, where she ever wore it. The 
 young man went to the bedside, tore away the 
 lace which veiled his mother's bosom, seized 
 
374 Louis XIV. . [1707. 
 
 Heartless conduct of the king. His health failing. 
 
 the key, unlocked the casket, emptied its con- 
 tents into his pockets, descended to his carriage, 
 and hurried away with the treasure, leaving his 
 mother to die without a relative to close her 
 eyes. An hour after she breathed her last. 
 
 The king was informed of the death of Ma- 
 dame de Montespan just as he was setting out 
 on a shooting excursion. " Ah ! indeed," he 
 said, "and so the marchioness is dead. I 
 should have thought that she would have last- 
 ed longer. Are you ready, M. de la Eoche- 
 f oucald 1 I have no doubt that after this last 
 shower the scent will lie well for the dogs. 
 Come, let us be off at once." 
 
 We have slightly anticipated the chronolog- 
 ical sequence of events in this narrative of the 
 death of Madame de Montespan, which took 
 place in the year 1707. James II. of England 
 died in exile at St. Germain in September, 
 1701. The Prince of Orange then occupied 
 the British throne with the title of William 
 III. He formed what was called the " Grand 
 Alliance" against the encroachments of France. 
 For several years the war of the " Spanish 
 Succession" raged with almost unprecedented 
 fury throughout all Europe. 
 
 The kind's health was now failing, and 
 
1707.] Intrigues and Wars. 377 
 
 Quarrel with Philip. He is stricken with apoplexy. 
 
 troubles in rapid succession came crowding 
 upon him. His armies encountered terrible 
 defeats. The king had thus far lived on 
 friendly terms with his only brother Philip, 
 duke of Orleans, the playmate of his childhood, 
 and the submissive subject of maturer years. 
 They were now both soured by misfortune. 
 In a chance meeting at Marly they fell into a 
 violent altercation respecting the conduct of 
 one of the sons of the duke. It was their first 
 quarrel since childhood. The duke was so ex- 
 cited by the event that he hastened to his pal- 
 ace at St. Cloud with flushed cheeks and trem- 
 bling nerves, where he was stricken down by 
 apoplexy. A courier was immediately dis- 
 patched to the king. Pie hastened to the bed- 
 side of his brother, and found him insensible. 
 
 Philip was two years younger than Louis. 
 To see him die was a louder appeal to the con- 
 science of the king than the view of St. Denis 
 from the terrace at St. Germain. Death was, 
 to this monarch, truly the king of terrors. He 
 could not endure the spectacle of his brother's 
 dying convulsions. Burying his face in his 
 hands, he wept and sobbed bitterly. It was a 
 midnight scene, or rather it was the sombre 
 hour of three o'clock in the morning. 
 
378 Louis XIV. [1701. 
 
 Death of the king's brother. The king dispels his gloom. 
 
 At 8 o'clock in the morning the king took 
 his carriage and returned to Marly, and repair- 
 ed immediately to the apartment of Madame 
 de Maintenon. At 11 o'clock his physician 
 arrived with the intelligence that the duke was 
 dead. Again the king was overcome with 
 emotion, and wept almost convulsively; but, 
 soon recovering himself, he apparently resolved 
 to make every effort to throw off these painful 
 thoughts. 
 
 Notwithstanding the remonstrances of Ma- 
 dame de Maintenon, he persisted in his deter- 
 mination to dine, as usual, with the ladies of 
 the court. Much to the astonishment of the 
 ladies, he was heard, in his own room, singing 
 an air from a recent opera which was far from 
 funereal in its character. 
 
 In the month of May of this same year, 1701, 
 the Duke of Anjou, the young King of Spain, 
 who was uneasily seated upon his beleaguered 
 throne, entered into a matrimonial alliance 
 with Maria Louisa of Savoy, younger sister of 
 Adelaide, the duchess of Burgoyne.y She was 
 of fairy-like stature, but singularly graceful 
 and beautiful, with the finest complexion, and 
 eyes of dazzling brilliance. Her mental en- 
 dowments were also equal to her physical 
 
1701.] Intrigues and Wars. 379 
 
 The Princess des Ursins. Civil war. 
 
 charms. Louis XIY., ever anxious to retain 
 the control over the court of Spain, appointed 
 the Princess des Ursins to be the companion 
 and adviser of the young queen. This lady 
 was alike remarkable for her intelligence, her 
 sagacity, her tact, and her thorough acquaint- 
 ance with high and courtly breeding. The 
 young King of Spain was perfectly enamored 
 of his lovely bride. She held the entire con- 
 trol over him. The worldly-wise and experi- 
 enced Princess des Ursins guided, in obedience 
 to the dictates of Louis XIY., almost every 
 thought and volition of the young queen. 
 Thus the monarch at Marly ruled the court at 
 Madrid. 
 
 "While foreign war was introducing bank- 
 ruptcy to the treasury of France, civil war was 
 also desolating the kingdom. The sufferings 
 of the Protestants equaled any thing which had 
 been witnessed in the days of pagan persecu- 
 tion. The most ferocious of all these men, who 
 were breathing out threatenings and slaughter, 
 was the i^bbe de Chayla. This wretch had 
 captured a party of Protestants, and, with them, 
 two young ladies from families of distinction. 
 They were all brutally thrust into a dungeon, 
 and were fettered in a way which caused ex- 
 
380 Louis XIV. [1702. 
 
 Insurrection of the Protestants. Enthusiasm of the Camisards. 
 
 treme anguish, and crushed some of their bones. 
 It was the 24th of July, 1702. At ten o'clock 
 in the evening, a party of about fifty resolute 
 Protestants, thoroughly armed, and chanting a 
 psalm, broke into the palace of the infamous ec- 
 clesiastic, released the prisoners from the dun- 
 geon vaults, seized the abbe, and, after compel- 
 ling him to look upon the mangled bodies and 
 broken bones of his victims, put him to death 
 by a dagger-stroke from each one of his assail- 
 ants. The torch was then applied, and the pal- 
 ace laid in ashes. 
 
 Hence commenced the terrible civil war 
 called The War of the Camisards. The Prot- 
 estants were poor, dispersed, without arms, and 
 without leaders. Despair nerved them. They 
 fled to rocks, to the swamps, the forests. In 
 their unutterable anguish they were led to fren- 
 zies of enthusiasm. They believed that God 
 chose their leaders, and inspired them to action. 
 Thus roused and impelled, they set at defiance 
 an army of twenty thousand men sent against 
 them. 
 
 The terrible war lasted two years. Fiends 
 could not have perpetrated greater cruelties 
 than were perpetrated by the troops of the 
 king. It is one of the mysteries of divine prov- 
 
1702.] Intrigues and Wars. 381 
 
 Cruelty of the persecutors. 
 
 idence that one man should have been permit- 
 ted to create such wide-spread and unutterable 
 woe. Louis XIY. wished to exterminate Prot- 
 estantism from his realms. Millions were made 
 wretched to an intensity which no pen can de- 
 scribe. Louis XIV. wished to place his grand- 
 son, without any legal title, upon the throne 
 of Spain. In consequence, Europe was deluged 
 in blood. Cities were sacked and burned. 
 Provinces were devastated. Hundreds of thou- 
 sands perished in the blood of the battle-field. 
 The book of final judgment alone can tell how 
 many widows and orphans went weeping to 
 their graves. 
 
 The Pope Clement IX. fulminated a bull 
 against the Camisards, and promised the abso- 
 lute remission of sins to those engaged in their 
 extermination. Protestant England and Hol- 
 land sent words of cheer to their fellow-relig- 
 ionists. We can not enter into the details of 
 this conflict. The result was that the king 
 found it impossible to exterminate the Prot- 
 estants, or to blot out their faith. A policy 
 of semi - tolerance was gradually introduced, 
 though in various parts of the kingdom the 
 persecuting spirit remained for several years 
 unbroken. The king, chagrined by the failure 
 
382 Louis XIV [1711. 
 
 Distress in France. The dauphin taken sick. 
 
 of his plans, would not allow the word Protest- 
 ant or Huguenot to be pronounced in his pres- 
 ence. 
 
 The distress in France was dreadful. A win- 
 ter of unprecedented severity had even frozen 
 the impetuous waters of the Rhone. Provisions 
 commanded famine prices. The fields were 
 barren, the store -houses exhausted, the mer- 
 chant ships were captured by the enemy, and 
 the army, humiliated by frequent defeats, was 
 perishing with hunger. The people became 
 desperate. The king was ignominiously lam- 
 pooned and placarded. He dared not appear 
 in public, for starving crowds gathered around 
 his carriage clamoring for bread. Even the 
 king and the nobility sent their plate to the 
 Mint. The exhaustion of the realm had be- 
 come so complete that the haggard features of 
 want seemed to be staring in even at the win- 
 dows of the palace. Madame de Maintenon 
 practiced so much self-denial as to eat only 
 oaten bread. 
 
 In April of 1711 the dauphin was taken sick 
 with apparently an attack of fever. It proved 
 to be malignant smallpox. After a brief sick- 
 ness, which terrified and dispersed the court, 
 he died, almost alone, in a burning fever, with 
 
1711.] Intrigues and Wars. 383 
 
 Death and burial of the dauphin. 
 
 a frightfully swollen face, and in delirium. 
 Even the king could not visit the dying cham- 
 ber of his son. He fainted upon his sofa when 
 he heard that the dauphin was in his last ago- 
 nies. 
 
 The terror-stricken courtiers fled from the 
 palace of Meudon, where the loathsome re- 
 mains of the heir to the throne of France 
 awaited burial. The corpse was hurried into 
 a plain coffin, which was not even covered by 
 the royal pall. Not a single mourning coach 
 followed the only legitimate son of Louis XIY. 
 to the grave. He had two sisters, the Princess 
 of Oonti and the Duchess of Bourbon Conde. 
 •Neither of them ventured to join the funeral 
 procession of their only brother. He had three 
 sons, Louis, Philip, and Charles. Philip was 
 king of Spain. Louis and Charles were at 
 home. But they kept at a safe distance, as did 
 the king his father, from the meagre funeral 
 procession which bore, with indecent haste, the 
 remains of the prince to the vaults of St. Denis. 
 
384. Louis XIV. [1712. 
 
 The Duke ofBurgoyne. • His character. 
 
 Chapter XII. 
 The Last Days of Louis XIV. 
 
 UPON" the death of the king's son, the Duke 
 of Burgoyne assumed the title of Dau- 
 phin, which his father had previously borne, 
 and became direct heir to the crown. He was 
 a retiring, formal man, very much devoted to 
 study, and somewhat pedantic. He was also 
 religiously inclined. In his study, where he 
 passed most of his time, he divided his hours 
 between works of devotion and books of sci- 
 ence. His sudden advent to the direct heir- 
 ship to the French throne surrounded him with 
 courtiers and flatterers. The palace at Meu- 
 don, where he generally resided, was now 
 crowded with noble guests. 
 
 He became affable, frequently showed him- 
 self in public, entered into amusements, and 
 was soon regarded as a general favorite. 
 Taught by Madame de Maintenon, he succeed- 
 ed, by his marked respect for the king and his 
 submission to his slightest wishes, in gaining 
 the good will of the homage-loving monarch. 
 The years had rolled rapidly along, and the 
 
1712.] Last Days of Louis XIV. 385 
 
 The dauphiness poisoned by means of snuff. 
 
 young dauphin was thirty years of age. He 
 had three children, and, being irreproachable 
 in his domestic relations, was developing a very 
 noble character. The dauphiness had attain- 
 ed her twenty-seventh year. She was an ex- 
 tremely beautiful and fascinating woman. 
 
 The dauphiness was fond of snuff. On the 
 3d of February, 1712, the Duke de Noailles, a 
 true friend, presented her with a box of Span- 
 ish snuff, with which she was delighted. She 
 left the box upon the table in her boudoir. It 
 was there for a couple of days, she frequently 
 indulging in the luxury of a pinch. On the 
 5th she was attacked with sudden sickness, ac- 
 companied by shivering fits, burning fever, and 
 intense pain in the head. The attack was so 
 sudden and extraordinary that all the attend- 
 ants thought of poison, though none ventured 
 to give utterance to the surmise. For four 
 days she grew worse, with frequent seasons of 
 delirium. The dauphin was almost frantic. 
 The king sat in anguish, hour after hour, at 
 her bedside. 
 
 No remedies were of any avail. Her suffer- 
 ings were so great that the dauphin could not 
 remain in her dying chamber to witness her 
 agony. She was greatly surprised when in- 
 ~ Bb 
 
386 Louis XIV. [1712. 
 
 Anguish of the king. Death. The dauphin taken ill. 
 
 formed that she must die. All the offices of 
 the Church were attended to. She received 
 the rite of extreme unction, and, in the wild- 
 ness of delirium, lost all recognition of those 
 who were around her. The king, bowed down 
 with anguish, was with difficulty prevailed 
 upon to retire. He had but reached the door 
 of the palace when she expired. 
 
 The king was now a world-weary, heart- 
 stricken old man, who had numbered more 
 than his threescore years and ten. He seem- 
 ed crushed with grief, and his eyes were flood- 
 ed with tears as he returned, with Madame de 
 Maintenon, to Marly. The apartment which 
 the dauphin paced in agony was immediately 
 above the dying chamber. As soon as the 
 death-struggle was over, he was induced to re- 
 tire to Marly, that he might be spared the an- 
 guish of witnessing the preparations for the 
 funeral. 
 
 As the dauphin entered the chamber of the 
 king, the monarch was startled in witnessing 
 the change which had taken place in his ap- 
 pearance. His face was flushed with fever ; 
 his eyes were dilated and inflamed, and livid 
 stains covered his face. It was manifest that 
 the same disease, whatever it was, which had 
 
1712.] Last Days of Louis XIV. 387 
 
 Death of the dauphin. 
 
 stricken down the dauphiness, had also attack- 
 ed the dauphin. The malady made rapid 
 progress. In the intensity of his anguish, the 
 sufferer declared his entrails were on fire. 
 Conscious that his dying hour had come, he, 
 on the night of the 17th, partook of the sacra- 
 ment of the Lord's Supper, and almost imme- 
 diately expired. 
 
 The dreadful tidings were conveyed to the 
 king as he sat in the apartment of Madame de 
 Maintenon, with the younger brother of the 
 dauphin, Charles, the duke de Berri, by his 
 side. The king, anticipating the announce- 
 ment, sat with his head bent down upon his 
 breast, and clasping almost convulsively the 
 hand of the prince who sat at his feet. Throw- 
 ing his arms around the neck of the Duke de 
 Berri, the king exclaimed, in accents of despair, 
 " Alas ! my son, you alone are now left to me." 
 
 The Duke of Burgoyne had buried three 
 children. There were two then living. The 
 eldest, the Duke of Bretagne, was five years of 
 age. The youngest, the Duke of Anjou, had 
 just attained his second year. By the death 
 of the Duke of Burgoyne, his eldest child be- 
 came the dauphin and the immediate heir to 
 the crown. The next day both of these chil- 
 
388 Louis XIV. [1712. 
 
 Death of the child-dauphin. The Duke of Orleans. 
 
 dren were taken sick, evidently with the same 
 malady, whether of natural disease or the ef- 
 fect of poison, which had proved so fatal to 
 their parents. The eldest immediately died. 
 The same funeral car conveyed the remains of 
 the father, the mother, and the child to the 
 gloomy vaults of St. Denis. 
 
 The youngest child, the Duke of Anjou, by 
 the most careful nursing recovered to ascend 
 the throne with the title of Louis XV., and to 
 present to the world, in his character, one of 
 the most infamous kings who had ever worn 
 an earthly crown. 
 
 We have previously mentioned the death of 
 the king's only brother, Philip, duke of Or- 
 leans. He left a son, the Duke of Chartres. 
 Upon the death of the Duke of Orleans his 
 son inherited the title and the estate of his fa- 
 ther. He was an exceedingly dissolute man. 
 Should all the legitimate descendants of the 
 king die, he would be heir to the throne. 
 With the exception of Philip, who was King 
 of Spain, and thus precluded from inheriting 
 the throne of France, all were now dead ex- 
 cept the infant Duke of Anjou. The death 
 of that child would place the crown upon the 
 brow of Pliilip, duke of Orleans. 
 
1712.] Last Days of Louis XIV. 389 
 
 He is suspected as the poisoner. A quarrel and its result. 
 
 As it was evident that all these victims had 
 died of poison, suspicion was so directed against 
 the Duke of Orleans that the accusation was 
 often hooted at him in the- streets. There is, 
 however, no convincing evidence that he was 
 guilty. One of the daughters of the Duke of 
 Orleans had married the Duke de Berri. She 
 was as wicked as she was beautiful, and scarce- 
 ly condescended to disguise her profligacy.. 
 The duke intercepted some letters which 
 proved her guilty intimacy with an officer of 
 her household. A violent quarrel took place 
 in the royal presence. The husband kicked 
 his wife with his heavy boot, and the king lift- 
 ed his cane to strike the duke. 
 
 A sort of reconciliation was effected. The 
 duchess, who, beyond all doubt, was a guilty 
 woman, professed to be satisfied with the apolo- 
 gies which her husband made. Soon after they 
 went on a wolf-hunt in the forest of Marly. 
 Both appeared in high spirits. The run was 
 long. Heated by the race and thirsty, the duke 
 asked the duchess if she had any thing with 
 her with which he could quench his thirst. 
 She drew from the pocket of her carriage a 
 small bottle, which contained, she said, an ex- 
 quisite cordial with which she was .always pro- 
 
390 Louis XIV. [1712. 
 
 Death of the Duke de Berri. Auguish of the Duke of Orleans. 
 
 vided in case of over-fatigue. The duke drain- 
 ed it, and returned the empty bottle to the 
 duchess. As she took it she said, with a smile, 
 " I am very glad to have met you so oppor- 
 tunely." 
 
 Thus they parted. In a few hours the duke 
 was a corpse. It was so manifestly for the in- 
 terest of the dissolute and unprincipled Duke 
 of Orleans that the princes which stood be- 
 tween him and the throne should be removed, 
 that all these cases of poisoning were attributed 
 to him. Indeed, one of the motives which 
 might have influenced his daughter, the Duch- 
 ess de Berri, to poison her husband, whom she 
 loathed, may have been the hope of seeing her 
 father upon the throne. When the funeral 
 procession passed near the Palais Royal, the 
 residence of the duke, the tumult was so great, 
 that it was feared that the palace might be 
 sacked. 
 
 The anguish of the duke, thus clamorously 
 assailed with the crime of the most atrocious 
 series of assassinations, was great. A friend, 
 the Marquis de Canillac, calling upon him one 
 day, found him prostrate upon the floor of his 
 apartment in utter despair. He knew that he 
 was suspected by his uncle the king, and by 
 
1712.] Last Days of Louis XIV. 391 
 
 Feelings of the king. The regency. Intrigues and plots. 
 
 the court as well as by the populace. At last 
 he went boldly to the king, and demanded that 
 he should be arrested, sent to the Bastile, and 
 put upon trial. The king sternly, and without 
 any manifestation of sympathy, refused, saying 
 that such a scandal should not, with his con- 
 sent, be made any more public than it already 
 was. The king also recoiled from the idea of 
 having a prince of the blood royal tried for 
 murder. 
 
 As it was known that the king could not live 
 long, and a babe of but two years was to be his 
 successor — a feeble babe, who had already nar- 
 rowly escaped death by poison, the question of 
 the regency, during the minority of this babe, 
 and of heirship to the throne in case the babe 
 should die, became a matter of vast moment. 
 The court was filled with intrigues and plots. 
 The Duke of Orleans had his numerous parti- 
 sans, men of opulence and rank. He was but a 
 nephew of the king — son of the king's brother. 
 
 On the other hand was the Duke du Maine, 
 an acknowledged son of the king — the legiti- 
 mated son of Madame de Montpensier, But 
 no royal decree, no act of Parliament could 
 obliterate the stain of his birth. He had many 
 and powerful supporters, who, by his accession 
 
392 Louis XIV. [1712. 
 
 Louis harassed. The Duke of Orleans removes to St. Cloud. 
 
 to power, would be placed in all the offices of 
 honor and emolument. Madame de Mainte- 
 non, in herself a host, was one of the most de- 
 voted of his friends. She had been his tutor. 
 She had ever loved him ardently. He had also 
 pledged her, in case of his success, that she 
 should be recognized as Queen of France. 
 
 The monarch was harassed and bewildered 
 by these contending factions. The populace 
 took sides. The Duke of Orleans could not 
 leave his palace without being exposed to the 
 hootings of the rabble. He withdrew from 
 his city residence, the Palais Eoyal, to the splen- 
 did palace of St. Cloud. He was accompanied 
 by a magnificent train of nobles, and, being a 
 man of almost boundless wealth, he established 
 his court here in regal splendor. 
 
 There was no proof that the Duke of Or- 
 leans was implicated in the poisonings. The 
 king was unwilling to receive evidence that his 
 brother's son could be guilty of such a crime. 
 Being superstitiously a religionist, the king re- 
 coiled from the attempt to place upon the 
 throne a son of Madame de Montespan, who 
 was the acknowledged wife of another man. 
 He therefore favored the claims of the Duke 
 of Orleans, and sent him word at St. Clond that 
 
1712.] Last Days of Louis XIV. 393 
 
 Policy. Wretchedness of the king. The Duchess de Berri. 
 
 he recognized his innocence of the crime of 
 which public rumor accused him. 
 
 It is, however, very evident that this was a 
 measure of policy and not of sincere convic- 
 tion. He entered into no friendly relations 
 with the duke, and kept him at a respectful 
 distance. The disastrous war of the Spanish 
 Succession was now closed, through the curi- 
 ous complications of state policy. Philip YI. 
 retained his throne, but France was exhaust- 
 ed and impoverished. The king often sat for 
 hours, with his head leaning upon his hand, in 
 a state of profound listlessness and melancholy. 
 Famine was ravaging the land. A wail of woe 
 came from millions whom his wars and extrav- 
 agance had reduced to starvation. 
 
 The Duchess de Berri, the unblushing prof- 
 ligate, the undoubted murderess, was, as the 
 daughter of the king's brother, the only legiti- 
 mate princess left to preside over the royal 
 court. She was fascinating in person and man- 
 ners, with scarcely a redeeming virtue to atone 
 for her undisguised vices. 
 
 " Thus the stately court of Anne of Austria, 
 the punctilious circle of Maria Theresa, and 
 the elegant society of the Duchess of Burgoyne 
 were — at the very period of his life when Louis 
 
394 Louis XIV. [1712. 
 
 Plottings. The council of regency. 
 
 XIV., at length disenchanted of the greatness 
 and disgusted with the vices of the world, was 
 seeking to purify his heart and to exalt his 
 thoughts that they might become more meet 
 for heaven — superseded by the orgies of a wan- 
 ton, who, with unabashed brow and unshrink- 
 ing eye, carried her intrigues into the very sa- 
 loons of Marly."* 
 
 Madame de Main tenon resorted to every 
 measure she could devise to induce the king to 
 appoint her favorite pupil, the Duke du Maine, 
 regent during the minority of the infant Duke 
 of Anjou. The king was greatly harassed. Old, 
 infirm, world-weary, heart-stricken, and pulled 
 in opposite directions by powers so strong, he 
 knew not what to do. At last he adopted a 
 sort of compromise, which gave satisfaction to 
 neither party. 
 
 The king appointed a council of regency, 
 of which the Duke of Orleans was president. 
 But the Duke du Maine was a member of the 
 council, and was also intrusted with the guard- 
 ianship and education of the young heir to the 
 throne. This will was carefully concealed in 
 a cavity opened in the wall of a tower of the 
 state apartment. The iron door of this closet 
 
 * Louis XIV. and the Court of France, vol. ii., p. 588. 
 
1715.] Last Days of Louis XIY. 395 
 
 The last testament of the king. Unsatisfactory. 
 
 was protected by three keys, one of which was 
 held by the president of the chambers, one by 
 the attorney general, and one by the public 
 registrar. 
 
 A ro} T al edict forbade the closet to be opened 
 until after the death of the king, and then only 
 in the presence of the assembled Parliament, 
 the princes, and the peers. The document had 
 been extorted from the king. It was not in 
 accordance with his wishes. Indeed, it satis- 
 fied no one. As he placed the papers in the 
 hands of the president of the chambers, he said 
 to him, gloomily, 
 
 "Here is my will. The experience of my 
 predecessors has taught me that it may not be 
 respected. But I have been tormented to frame 
 it. I have been allowed neither peace nor rest 
 until I complied. Take it away. Whatever 
 may happen to it, I hope that I shall now be 
 left in quiet."* 
 
 The advanced age of the king and his many 
 infirmities rendered even a slight indisposition 
 alarming. On the evening of the 3d of May, 
 1715, the king, having supped with the Duch- 
 ess de Berri, retired to bed early, complain- 
 ing of weariness and exhaustion. The rumor 
 
 * Memoires de St. Simon. 
 
396 Louis XIV. [1715. 
 
 Sickness of the king. The last review. 
 
 spread rapidly that the king was dangerously 
 sick. The foreign embassadors promptly dis- 
 patched the news to their several courts. 
 
 The jealous king, who kept himself minute- 
 ly informed of every thing which transpired, 
 was very indignant in view of this apparent 
 eagerness to hurry him to the tomb. To prove, 
 not only to the court, but to all Europe, that he 
 was still every inch a king, he ordered a mag- 
 nificent review of the royal troops at Marly. 
 The trumpet of preparation was blown loudly. 
 Many came, not only from different parts of 
 the kingdom, but from the other states of Eu- 
 rope, to witness the spectacle. It took place 
 on the 20th of June, 1715. As the troops, in 
 their gorgeous uniforms, defiled before the ter- 
 race of Marly, quite a spruce-looking man, sur- 
 rounded by obsequious attendants, emerged 
 from the principal entrance of the palace, de- 
 scended the marble steps and mounted his 
 horse. It was the poor old king. Inspired by 
 vanity, which even dying convulsions could not 
 quell, he had rouged his pale and haggard 
 cheeks, wigged his thin locks, padded his skel- 
 eton limbs, and dressed himself in the almost 
 juvenile costume of earlier years. Sustained 
 by artificial stimulants, this poor old man kept 
 
1715.] Last Days of Louis XIV. 397 
 
 Struggles against death. Affects youthfulness. 
 
 his tottering seat upon his saddle for four long 
 hours. He then, having proved that he was 
 still young and vigorous, returned to his cham- 
 ber. The wig was thrown aside, the pads re- 
 moved, the paint washed off, and the infirm 
 septuagenarian sought rest from his exhaus- 
 tion upon the royal couch. 
 
 Day after day the king grew more feeble, 
 with the usual alternations of nervous strength 
 and debility, but with no abatement of his 
 chronic gloom. The struggles which he en- 
 dured to conceal the approaches of decay did 
 but accelerate that decay. He was restless, 
 and again lethargic. Dropsical symptoms ap- 
 peared in his discolored feet and swollen an- 
 kles. Still he insisted every day upon seeing 
 his ministers, and exhibited himself padded, 
 and rouged, and costumed in the highest style 
 of art. He even affected, in his gait and ges- 
 ture, the elasticity of youth. In his restless- 
 ness, the king repaired, with his court, from 
 Marly to Versailles. 
 
 Here the king was again taken seriously sick 
 with an attack of fever. With unabated reso- 
 lution, he continued his struggles against the 
 approaches of the angel of death. While the 
 fevered blood was throbbing in his veins, he 
 
398 Louis XIV. [1715. 
 
 Summons a band. Scene in the death-chamber. 
 
 declared that lie was but slightly indisposed, 
 and summoned a musical band, to his presence, 
 with orders that the musicians should perform 
 only the most animating and. cheerful melo- 
 dies. 
 
 But the fever and other alarming symptoms 
 increased so rapidly that scarcely had the band 
 been assembled when the court physicians be- 
 came apprehensive that the king's dissolution 
 was immediately to take place. The king's 
 confessor and the Cardinal de Rohan were 
 promptly summoned to attend to the last ser- 
 vices of the Catholic Church for the dying. 
 There was a scene of confusion in the palace. 
 The confessor, Le Tellier, communicated to the 
 king the intelligence that he was probably 
 near his end. While he was receiving the 
 confession of the royal penitent, the cardinal 
 was hurrying to the chapel to get the viaticum 
 for administering the communion, and the 
 holy oil for the rite of extreme unction. 
 
 It was customary that the pyx, as the box 
 was called in which the host was kept, should 
 be conveyed to the bedside of expiring royalty 
 in formal procession. The cardinal, in his 
 robes of office, led the way. Several attend- 
 ants of the roval household followed, bearing; 
 
1715.] Last Days of Louis XIV. 399 
 
 The last offices of the Church. The king resigned. 
 
 torches. Then came Madame de Maintenon. 
 They all gathered in the magnificent chamber, 
 and around the massive, sumptuous couch of 
 the monarch. The cardinal, after speaking a 
 few words in reference to the solemnity of a 
 dying hour, administered the sacrament and 
 the holy oils. The king listened reverently 
 and in silence, and then sank back upon his 
 pillow, apparently resigned to die. 
 
 To the surprise of all, he revived. Patiently 
 he bore his sufferings, which at times were se- 
 vere. His legs began to swell badly and pain- 
 fully. Mortification took place. He was in- 
 formed that the amputation of the leg was 
 necessary to save him from speedy death. 
 
 "Will the operation prolong my life?" in- 
 quired the king. 
 
 " Yes, sire," the surgeon replied ; " certainly 
 for some days, perhaps for several weeks." 
 
 "If that be all," said the king, "it is not 
 worth the suffering. God's will be done." 
 
 The king could not conceal the anguish with 
 which he was agitated in view of his wicked 
 life. He fully believed in the religion of the 
 New Testament, and that after death came the 
 judgment. He tried to believe that the priest 
 had power to grant him absolution from his 
 
400 Louis XIV. [1715. 
 
 Remorse of the king. Energy of fanaticism. 
 
 sins. How far lie succeeded in this no one 
 can know. 
 
 Openly he expressed his anguish in view of 
 the profligacy of his youth, and wept bitterly 
 in the retrospect of those excesses. We know 
 not what compunctions of conscience visited 
 him as he reflected upon the misery he had 
 caused by the persecution of the Protestants. 
 But he had been urged to this by his highest 
 ecclesiastics, and even by the holy father him- 
 self. 
 
 It would not be strange, under these circum- 
 stances, if a man of his superstitious and fanat- 
 ical spirit should, even in a dying hour, reflect 
 with some complacency upon these crimes, be- 
 lieving that thus he had been doing God serv- 
 ice. It is this which gives to papai fanaticism 
 its terrible and demoniac energy. The sincere 
 papist believes " heresy" to be poison for the 
 soul infinitely more dreadful than any poison 
 for the body. Such poison must be banished 
 from the world at whatever cost of suffering. 
 Many an ecclesiastic has gone from his closet 
 of prayer to kindle the flames which consumed 
 his victim. The more sincere the papist is in 
 his belief, the more mercilessly will he swing 
 the scourge and fire the fagot. 
 
1715.] Last Days of Louis XIV. 401 
 
 Deplorable condition of France. 
 
 Loudly, however, he deplored the madness 
 of his ambition which had involved Europe in 
 such desolating wars. Bitterly he expressed 
 his regret that he left France in a state of such 
 exhaustion, impoverished, burdened with taxa- 
 tion, and hopelessly crushed by debt. 
 
 The condition of the realm was indeed de- 
 plorable. A boy of five years of age was to 
 inherit the throne. A man so profligate that 
 he was infamous even in a court which rival- 
 ed Sodom in its corruption was to be invested 
 with the regency of the kingdom — a man who 
 was accused, by the general voice of the nation, 
 of having poisoned those who stood between 
 him and the throne. That man's sister, an un- 
 blushing wanton, who had poisoned her own 
 husband, presided over the festivities of the 
 palace. The nobles, abandoned to sensual in- 
 dulgence, were diligent and ingenious only in 
 their endeavors to wrench money from the 
 poor. The masses of the people were wretch- 
 ed beyond description, and almost beyond im- 
 agination in our land of liberty and compe- 
 tence. The execrations of the starving mil- 
 lions were rising in a long wail around the 
 throne. 
 
 Thomas Jefferson, subsequently President of 
 Cc 
 
402 Louis XIV. . [1715. 
 
 Testimony of Thomas Jefferson. Napoleon. 
 
 the United States, who, not many years after 
 this, was the American embassador at Paris, 
 wrote, in 1785, to Mrs. Trist, of Philadelphia, 
 
 " Of twenty millions of people supposed to 
 be in France, I am of the opinion that there 
 are nineteen millions more wretched, more ac- 
 cursed in every circumstance of human exist- 
 ence than the most conspicuously wretched in- 
 dividual of the whole United States." 
 
 Even the Duke of Orleans, the appointed 
 regent, said, " If I were a subject I would cer- 
 tainly revolt. The people are good-natured 
 fools to suffer so long." 
 
 These sufferings and these corruptions were 
 the origin and cause of the French Revolu- 
 tion.* Napoleon, the great advocate of the 
 rights of the people in antagonism to this aris- 
 tocratic privilege, said, at St. Helena, 
 
 " Our Revolution was a national convulsion 
 as irresistible in its effects as an eruption of 
 Vesuvius. When the mysterious fusion which 
 takes place in the entrails of the earth is at 
 such a crisis that an explosion follows, the 
 eruption bursts forth. The unperceived work- 
 ings of the discontent of the people follow ex- 
 
 * Abbott's French Revolution, as viewed in the Light of 
 Republican Institutions. 
 
1715.] Last Days of Louis XIY. 403 
 
 Devotion of Madame de Maintenon. Last messages. 
 
 actly the same course. In France, the suffer- 
 ings of the people, the moral combinations 
 which produce a revolution, had arrived at 
 maturity, and the explosion took place."* 
 
 Such was the condition in which unhappy- 
 France was left by Louis XIV., after a reign 
 of seventy years. He was now seventy-seven 
 years of age. Madame de Maintenon, two 
 years his senior, was entering her eightieth 
 year. With unwearied devotion she watched 
 at the bedside of that selfish husband whose 
 pride would never allow him to acknowledge 
 her publicly as his wife. 
 
 Feeling that his end was drawing near, the 
 king summoned the Duke of Orleans to his 
 bedside, and informed him minutely of the 
 measures he wished to have adopted after his 
 death. The duke listened respectfully, but 
 paid no more regard to the wishes of the now 
 powerless and dying king than to the wailing 
 of the wind. The king had penetration 
 enough to see that his day was over. He sank 
 back upon his pillow in despair. 
 
 On the 26th of August several prominent 
 members of his court were invited to the dy- 
 ing chamber of the king. His voice was al- 
 
 * Napoleon at St. Helena, p. 374. 
 
404 Louis XIV. [1715. 
 
 Melancholy spectacle. 
 
 most gone. He beckoned them to gather near 
 around his bed. Then, in feeble tones, tremu- 
 lous with emotion, the pitiable old man, con- 
 scious of his summons to the tribunal of God, 
 said, 
 
 " Gentlemen, I ask your pardon for the bad 
 example I have set you. I thank you for your 
 fidelity to me, and beg you to be equally faith- 
 ful to my grandson. Farewell, gentlemen. 
 Forgive me. I hope you will sometimes think 
 of me when I am gone." 
 
 " By many a death-bed I have been, 
 By many a sinner's parting scene, 
 But never aught like this. " 
 
 It was, indeed, a spectacle mournfully sub- 
 lime. The dying chamber was one of the 
 most magnificent apartments in the palace of 
 Versailles. The royal couch, massive in its 
 architecture, richly curtained in its embroider- 
 ed upholstery of satin and gold, presented a 
 bed whose pillowed luxury exhibited haggard 
 death in the strongest possible contrast. 
 
 Upon this gorgeous bed the gray-haired king 
 reclined, wrinkled and wan, and with a coun- 
 tenance which bore the traces both of physical 
 suffering and of keen remorse. The velvet 
 hangings of the bed were looped back with 
 
1715.] Last Days of Louis XIY. 405 
 
 The young heir to the throne. Dying advice. 
 
 heavy tassels of gold. A group of nobles in 
 gorgeous court costumes were kneeling around 
 the bed. Dispersed over the vast apartment 
 were other groups of courtiers and ladies, in 
 picturesque attitudes of real or affected grief. 
 The gilded cornices, the richly-painted ceilings, 
 the soft carpet, yielding to the pressure of the 
 foot, the lavish display of the most costly and 
 luxurious furniture, all conspired to render the 
 dimmed eye, and wasted cheek, and palsied 
 frame of the dying more impressive. 
 
 At a gesture from the king nearly all retired. 
 For a few moments there was unbroken si- 
 lence. The king then requested his great 
 grandchild, who was to be his successor, to be 
 brought to him. A cushion was placed by the 
 side of the bed, and the half-frightened child, 
 clinging to the hand of his governess, kneeled 
 upon it. Louis XIV. gazed for a few mo- 
 ments with almost pitying tenderness upon 
 the infant prince, and then said, 
 
 " My child, you are about to become a great 
 king. Do not imitate me either in my taste 
 for building or in my love of war. Live in 
 peace with the nations. Render to God all 
 that you owe him. Teach your subjects to 
 honor His name. Strive to relieve the bur- 
 
406 Louis XIV. [1715. 
 
 The king blesses the dauphin. 
 
 dens of your people, in which I have been so 
 unfortunate as to fail. Never forget the grat- 
 itude you owe to the Duchess de Ventadour."* 
 
 "Madame," said the king, addressing Ma- 
 dame de Yentadour, " permit me to embrace 
 the prince." 
 
 The dauphin was placed upon the bed. 
 The king encircled him in his arms, pressed 
 him fondly to his breast, and said, in a voice 
 broken by emotion, 
 
 "I bless you, my dear child, with all my 
 heart." He then raised his eyes to heaven, 
 and uttered a short prayer for God's blessing 
 upon the boy. 
 
 The next day, after another night of. languor 
 and suffering, the restless, conscience-stricken 
 king again summoned the dignitaries of the 
 court to his bedside, and said to them, in the 
 presence of Madame de Maintenon and of his 
 confessor, who had mainly instigated him in 
 the persecution of the Protestants, 
 
 " Gentlemen, I die in the faith and obedi- 
 ence of the Church. I know nothing of the 
 
 * The Duchess de Ventadour, by the most careful nursing, 
 to which she entirely devoted herself, had rescued the infant 
 Duke of Anjou from the effect of the poison to which his fa- 
 ther, mother, and brother had fallen victims. 
 
1715.] Last Days of Louis XIV. 407 
 
 Dying confession. Scenes of suffering. 
 
 dogmas by which it is divided. I have follow- 
 ed the advice which I have received, and have 
 done only what I was desired to do. If I have 
 erred, my guides alone must answer before 
 God, whom I call upon to witness this asser- 
 tion." 
 
 The succeeding night the king was restless 
 and greatly agitated. He could not sleep, and 
 seemed to pass the whole night in agonizing 
 prayer. In the morning he said to Madame 
 de Maintenon, 
 
 " At this moment I only regret yourself. I 
 have not made you happy. But I have ever 
 felt for you all the regard and affection which 
 you deserved. My only consolation in leaving 
 you exists in the hope that we shall, ere long, 
 meet again in eternity." 
 
 Hours of agony, bodily and mental, were 
 still allotted to the king. His limbs were bad- 
 ly swollen. Upon one of them mortification 
 was rapidly advancing. He was often deliri- 
 ous, with but brief intervals of consciousness. 
 The service for the dying was performed. 
 The ceremony seemed slightly to arouse him 
 from his lethargy. His voice was heard occa- 
 sionally blending with the prayers of the ec- 
 clesiastics as he repeated several times, 
 
408 Louis XIV. [1715. 
 
 Last words. The death of the king. 
 
 "Now, in the hour of death, O my God, 
 come to my aid." 
 
 These were his last words. He sank back 
 insensible upon his pillow. A few hours of 
 painful breathing passed away, and at eight 
 o'clock in the morning of the 1st of Septem- 
 ber, 1715, he expired, in the seventy-seventh 
 year of his age and the seventy-second of his 
 reign. It was the longest reign in the annals 
 of France. Had he been governed through 
 this period by enlightened Christian principle, 
 how many millions might have been made 
 happy whom his crimes doomed to life-long 
 woe! 
 
 An immense concourse was assembled in 
 the court-yard at Versailles, anticipating the 
 announcement of his death. The moment he 
 breathed his last sigh, the captain of the body- 
 guard approached the great balcony, threw 
 open the massive windows, and, looking down 
 upon the multitude below, raised his truncheon 
 above his head, broke it in the centre, threw 
 the fragments down into tlie court-yard, and 
 cried sadly, " The king is dead !" 
 
 Then, instantly seizing another staff from 
 the hands of an attendant, he waved it joyful- 
 ly above his head, and shouted triumphantly, 
 
1715.] Last Days of Louis XIV. 409 
 
 Louis XV. proclaimed. 
 
 Ignominious burial of Louis XIV. 
 
 " Long live the king, Louis XY. !" A huzza 
 burst from the lips of the assembled thousands 
 almost loud enough to pierce the ear of the 
 king, now palsied in death. 
 
 ANNOUNCEMENT OF TUB DEATH OP LOUIS XIV. 
 
 There were few to mourn the departed mon- 
 arch. As his remains were hurried to the 
 vaults of St. Denis, those vaults which he had 
 so much dreaded, the populace shouted execra- 
 tions and pelted his coffin with mud. Not the 
 
110 Louis XIV. [1715. 
 
 Louis XV. Louis XVI. The Revolution 
 
 slightest regard was paid to his will. The 
 Duke of Orleans assumed the regency with 
 absolute power. His reign was execrable, fol- 
 lowed by the still more infamous reign of 
 Louis XY. Then came the Revolution, as the 
 sceptre of utterly despotic sway passed into the 
 hands of the feeble Louis XYI. The storm, 
 which had been gathering for ages, burst with 
 fury which appalled the world. A more tre- 
 mendous event has not occurred in the history 
 of our race. The story has too often been 
 told by those who were in sympathy with the 
 kings and the nobles. The time will come 
 when the people's side of the story will be re- 
 ceived, and the terrible drama will be better 
 understood. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 J 1 
 
 ■ 
 
 i 
 
ABBOTTS' JUVENILE BOOKS. 
 
 THE FRANCONIA STORIES. 
 
 By Jacob Abbott. In Ten Volumes. Beautifully Illus- 
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 2. Mary Bell. 7. Agnes. 
 
 3. Ellen Linn. 8. Mary Erskine. 
 
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 5. Beechnut. 10. Caroline. 
 
 YOUNG CHRISTIAN SERIES, 
 
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 HARPER'S STORY BOOKS, 
 
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 BRUNO ; or, Lessons of Fidelity, Patience, and Self-De- 
 
 nial Taught by a Dog. 
 WILLIE AND THE MORTGAGE : showing How 
 
 Much may be Accomplished by a Boy. 
 THE STRAIT GATE ; or, The Rule of Exclusion from 
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 THE LITTLE LOUVRE ; or, The Boys' and Girls' 
 
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 FRANKLIN, the Apprentice-Boy. 
 
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-V-? 
 
 'OZ'