In the year 1681, then, the great king, with bag and baggage,--with guards, cooks, chamberlains, mistresses, Jesuits, gentlemen, lackeys, Fenelons, Molieres, Lauzuns, Bossuets, Villars, Villeroys, Louvois, Colberts,--transported himself to his new palace: the old one being left for James of England and Jaquette his wife, when their time should come.And when the time did come, and James sought his brother's kingdom, it is on record that Louis hastened to receive and console him, and promised to restore, incontinently, those islands from which the canaille had turned him.Between brothers such a gift was a trifle; and the courtiers said to one another reverently: "The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool." There was no blasphemy in the speech: on the contrary, it was gravely said, by a faithful believing man, who thought it no shame to the latter, to compare his Majesty with God Almighty.Indeed, the books of the time will give one a strong idea how general was this Louis-worship.I have just been looking at one, which was written by an honest Jesuit and Protege of Pere la Chaise, who dedicates a book of medals to the august Infants of France, which does, indeed, go almost as far in print.He calls our famous monarch "Louis le Grand:--1, l'invincible; 2, le sage; 3, le conquerant; 4, la merveille de son siecle; 5, la terreur de ses ennemis; 6, l'amour de ses peuples; 7, l'arbitre de la paix et de la guerre; 8, l'admiration de l'univers; 9, et digne d'en etre le maitre; 10, le modele d'un heros acheve; 11, digne de l'immortalite, et de la veneration de tous les siecles!" I think it is in the amusing "Memoirs of Madame de Crequi" (a forgery, but a work remarkable for its learning and accuracy) that the above anecdote is related.
A pretty Jesuit declaration, truly, and a good honest judgment upon the great king! In thirty years more--1.The invincible had been beaten a vast number of times.2.The sage was the puppet of an artful old woman, who was the puppet of more artful priests.
3.The conqueror had quite forgotten his early knack of conquering.
5.The terror of his enemies (for 4, the marvel of his age, we pretermit, it being a loose term, that may apply to any person or thing) was now terrified by his enemies in turn.6.The love of his people was as heartily detested by them as scarcely any other monarch, not even his great-grandson, has been, before or since.
7.The arbiter of peace and war was fain to send superb ambassadors to kick their heels in Dutch shopkeepers' ante-chambers.8, is again a general term.9.The man fit to be master of the universe, was scarcely master of his own kingdom.
10.The finished hero was all but finished, in a very commonplace and vulgar way.And 11.The man worthy of immortality was just at the point of death, without a friend to soothe or deplore him; only withered old Maintenon to utter prayers at his bedside, and croaking Jesuits to prepare him, with heaven knows what wretched tricks and mummeries, for his appearance in that Great Republic that lies on the other side of the grave.In the course of his fourscore splendid miserable years, he never had but one friend, and he ruined and left her.Poor La Valliere, what a sad tale is yours! "Look at this Galerie des Glaces," cries Monsieur Vatout, staggering with surprise at the appearance of the room, two hundred and forty-two feet long, and forty high."Here it was that Louis displayed all the grandeur of royalty; and such was the splendor of his court, and the luxury of the times, that this immense room could hardly contain the crowd of courtiers that pressed around the monarch." Wonderful! wonderful! Eight thousand four hundred and sixty square feet of courtiers! Give a square yard to each, and you have a matter of three thousand of them.Think of three thousand courtiers per day, and all the chopping and changing of them for near forty years: some of them dying, some getting their wishes, and retiring to their provinces to enjoy their plunder;some disgraced, and going home to pine away out of the light of the sun; new ones perpetually arriving,--pushing, squeezing, for their place, in the crowded Galerie des Glaces.A quarter of a million of noble countenances, at the very least, must those glasses have reflected.Rouge, diamonds, ribbons, patches, upon the faces of smiling ladies: towering periwigs, sleek shaven crowns, tufted moustaches, scars, and grizzled whiskers, worn by ministers, priests, dandies, and grim old commanders.--So many faces, O ye gods! and every one of them lies! So many tongues, vowing devotion and respectful love to the great king in his six-inch wig; and only poor La Valliere's amongst them all which had a word of truth for the dull ears of Louis of Bourbon.
They made a Jesuit of him on his death-bed.
Saint Simon's account of Lauzun, in disgrace, is admirably facetious and pathetic; Lauzun's regrets are as monstrous as those of Raleigh when deprived of the sight of his adorable Queen and Mistress, Elizabeth.
"Quand j'aurai de la peine aux Carmelites," says unhappy Louise, about to retire from these magnificent courtiers and their grand Galerie des Glaces, "je me souviendrai de ce que ces gens la m'ont fait souffrir!"--A troop of Bossuets inveighing against the vanities of courts could not preach such an affecting sermon.What years of anguish and wrong had the poor thing suffered, before these sad words came from her gentle lips! How these courtiers have bowed and flattered, kissed the ground on which she trod, fought to have the honor of riding by her carriage, written sonnets, and called her goddess; who, in the days of her prosperity, was kind and beneficent, gentle and compassionate to all; then (on a certain day, when it is whispered that his Majesty hath cast the eyes of his gracious affection upon another) behold three thousand courtiers are at the feet of the new divinity.--"O divine Athenais!