Ferdinand de Rothschild, The Nineteenth Century, 1888 - 1893 by Waddesdon

1888

589

C/irVTU/C Y l’O/i’ C/LLVTU/i’ Y.

STARTED in 1830 by M. Buloz, the [fame (has Dram Jluadcs has maintained an undisputed suprcmaeyin French periodical literature. The Reva/2 has always extended its hospitality to unknown authors: with a. generosity tempered by discrimination. Alfred de Musset’s masterpiece in comedy, The Caprice, was not admitted to tln-Theatre I’rang'ais until ten years after its publication, though all his poems had found a place in the licence. But whilst rising luminaries gain admission to the sanctuary of M. Buloz, as the ante—chamber to the Academy, the gr‘at writers of the day deem it an honour to be among his contributors. Thus in every number are found such names as those of M. Taine, the Due de Broglie, M. Maximo Ducamp, the (‘omte de Paris, M. ()ctave Fenillet, )l. lx’enan, M. Francois Coppee, and M. Cherhuliez. Naturally, the articles of the [i’et'lw deal principally with French topics. Our own magazines, which largely exceed in number those of France, rarely devote their space to sub— jects of a foreign nature. Itis therefore a source of satisfaction when

the well—known salmon—coloured cover of 1 he [fame (ZUN Dean) Jfondcs contains the title of an article. on English history, politics, or letters. In recent years Queen Elizabeth, Shakespeare, Hogarth, Carlyle, Darwin, and the fiction of George Eliot and ()uida, to quote at hap— hazard, have been treated of in its pages. A writer of repute, M. Augustin Filon, sometime tutor to the Prince Imperial, has made English worthies the subject of various papers. Having devoted his attention to Lord Tennyson and Hogarth in articles deserving of commendation, he has more recently criticised the works of our two leading contemporary historians. Valued as are the achievements of )li‘.l“1‘ou(le and Mr. Leeky, and great asistheir importance in our eyes,

it is still an agreeable surprise that a writer who has so ample a mass of material for his investigations nearer home should occupy himself with the analysis of these comprehensive narratives of the progress of England and her institutions. I purpose dealing only with M. Filon’s essay on Mr. Lecky which appeared in the Revue for the 1st of March of this year, and it is to be regretted that when we turn from its matter to its manner )1. Filon should fail to display that im-

partiality which characterised his former articles.

“Ye should not

i l l t

1888

589

C/irVTU/C Y l’O/i’ C/LLVTU/i’ Y.

partiality which characterised his former articles.

“Ye should not

i l l t

590

THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

April

1888

accuse M. Filon of writing for those readers who believe in the stage Englishman with red whiskers and suit of glaring check, not: of In estimating Mr. Lccky's

English, and that of Raucoux from the Imperialists.

position as an historian, M. Filon shows, a scholarly appreciation of

and engender a suspicion that he, is .not wholly above appealing to

Having paid a tribute to Mr. Leckys work, M. -

The causes are easily explained which always lead us Frenchmen back to the analytical and impassioned study of our eighteenth century. (.hu' eighteenth century interests us like a well—conceived drama ; it is a piece tlt‘t‘m'tlnlg to the taste ot our time. a high comedy which develops into a tragedy. I‘or many persons, toofand

bravery of the Prince de Soubise redeem the rout of his army by

I confess to being one of theme—this magic century has another great charm: . It is, in the liistorv ofour social life. a delightful hour which will not be repeated: it is the, 1‘ 1'41nce WM culminating point of our language and of our race, the-time when most French. Above all, it has the supreme merit of having prepared the present

' - . 0 which marks the century .

Maupeou, D’Aiguillon, and even Choiseul, the men who guided the fortunes, or rather invited the misfortunes, of France during the reign of Louis the Fifteenth.

Can the marshals of Louis the Fifteenth compare their laurels

Frederick the Great at Rossbach ‘9

It is not my intention to be the

apologist of Louis the Fourteenth.

llis egt,»tisin; his successful policy

ofcentralising the power of the State in his own person; his destruc— tion of the independent existence of the nobility, producing absentee— ism and t‘ansforn'iing high—spirited Chieftains into abject courtiers ; his bigotry, resulting in the revocation of the Edict of Nantes ; his recognition of James the Second after the Revolution of 1688, which led to Malplaquet, Oudenardc, and Blenheim ; his reckless expendi— ture, iiistanccd by his outlay on the Chateau of Versailles, which Mirabeau estimated at fifteen million pounds, but which has since been shown by the accounts of the architect, Mansart, to have reached the handsome ﬁgure of six millions; his entire disregard of all conjugal propriety in establishing his favourites under the same rOof as the queen and legitimising their children; in all these respects he was equalled, ifnot surpassed, by his successor. In ﬁne Louis the Fourteenth initiated a royal road to bankruptcy, corruption, im— morality, and national decay, which had its issue in the reaction of 1789, and renders him in the seventeenth century as responsible as the eighteenth for the downfall of the monarchy. But the seventeenth century of France has a grandeur which the eighteenth lacks—

centui‘v. . . . But where in the English eighteenth csntury are we to look tor 11,nnity, its importance. its attraction? “here are we to illl'l the salient teatuic

\Vere I a I‘lrenchinan, it would seem to me that. the seventeenth century would appeal more to my national pride than tln: eighteenth. France is apt to style the seventeenth century the snide of Louis the Fourteenth, but we must. remember that Louis the l‘ourtcenth only ascended the throne in lti—l3, and he was then but tivc years old. The earlier part of the seventeenth century is dominated by the ﬁgure of Richelieu, the founder, for good or eVil, of autocratic. sovereignty in France, ; the destroyer-of the feudal system and pow'er of the nobilitv; the originator of the French Academy of Let tcrs ; the minister whohln'ought Canada and the \Vest Indies under the sceptrc of France. The one administration of Cardinal Richelieu did as much to enhance the power of France as those of the three Cardinal ministers of the eighteenth ccntury, Ditbois, Fleury, and I'it‘l‘llh‘, combined to lower it. Paris may owe to Louis the Fifteenth the Ecole Militaire, the Pantheon, and the Place de la Concorde ; but the French eighteenth century (lid not produce a Colbert, who gave a fresh impetus to trade and manufactures; furrowed the face of the country with high roads and canals; established the academies of science, architecture, and inscriptions; paved and lit Paris ; re—established order and averted bankruptcy and famine, and who certainly was not equalled by such ministers as Maurepas, St. Florentm,

But Marshal

Saxe was a German, and among the regiments he led at Fontenoy was a strong Irish contingent. Are the ephemeral successes of Marshal Richelieu, his conquest. of Port Mahon, or his Hanoverian campaign, to be classed with the victories of Turenne and Villains? Is the Prince de Conde of Louis the Fifteenth, the future leader of tho Emigration, as illustrious as his ancestor the great Conde, the hero of Rocroy and Nordlingcn? Finally, will the personal

his merits. But he indulges in reflections on the eighteenth century of England which ignore facts of historical and intellectual importance, Gallic prejudices. Filon observes :—

591

with those of the marshals of Louis the Fourteenth? The most successful of the French military commanders of the eighteenth century was Marshal Saxe, who won the battle of Fontenoy from the

sympathising with those politicians who profess to believe that lungland‘s chief characteristic is her pertidy.

CENTURY FOR CENTURY.

which is exemplified in the minutest details.

Louis the Fifteenth is

credited with the epigram, ‘After me the deluge.’ “Vhen, after the battle of Ramillies, Marshal Villeroi appeared crestfallcn at Versailles, Louis the Fourteenth received him with the words: ‘At our age, Marshal, fortune no longer smiles on us.’ The seventeenth century had its many dark and gloomy pages, but was a century of boundless activity. It. saw the conquering arms of France cross the Pyrenees and the Rhine. In literature it was the period in which the French language was moulded into the shape which the eighteenth century turned to such excellent account. Louis the It‘ourteenth extended his enlightened protection to Moliere, who was hated by the

clergy and the nobility because of his satires. If the king did not ask the poet—actor to his table, as tradition would make us believe,

he in—

vited him to eat from his en tout cos, the tray which was always

i .j 1.

i i l

590

THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

April

1888

accuse M. Filon of writing for those readers who believe in the stage Englishman with red whiskers and suit of glaring check, not: of In estimating Mr. Lccky's

English, and that of Raucoux from the Imperialists.

position as an historian, M. Filon shows, a scholarly appreciation of

and engender a suspicion that he, is .not wholly above appealing to

Having paid a tribute to Mr. Leckys work, M. -

bravery of the Prince de Soubise redeem the rout of his army by

' - . 0 which marks the century .

Maupeou, D’Aiguillon, and even Choiseul, the men who guided the fortunes, or rather invited the misfortunes, of France during the reign of Louis the Fifteenth.

Can the marshals of Louis the Fifteenth compare their laurels

Frederick the Great at Rossbach ‘9

It is not my intention to be the

apologist of Louis the Fourteenth.

llis egt,»tisin; his successful policy

centui‘v. . . . But where in the English eighteenth csntury are we to look tor 11,nnity, its importance. its attraction? “here are we to illl'l the salient teatuic

But Marshal

his merits. But he indulges in reflections on the eighteenth century of England which ignore facts of historical and intellectual importance, Gallic prejudices. Filon observes :—

591

with those of the marshals of Louis the Fourteenth? The most successful of the French military commanders of the eighteenth century was Marshal Saxe, who won the battle of Fontenoy from the

sympathising with those politicians who profess to believe that lungland‘s chief characteristic is her pertidy.

CENTURY FOR CENTURY.

which is exemplified in the minutest details.

Louis the Fifteenth is

clergy and the nobility because of his satires. If the king did not ask the poet—actor to his table, as tradition would make us believe,

he in—

vited him to eat from his en tout cos, the tray which was always

i .j 1.

i i l

' _, _,.. 3- 4:.

of genlus.

Lallv Tollendal and Dupleix, failed where (‘live and Hastings suc— eeeded? Because thev were not supported by the national senti— ment and resources. How is it that the former was condenmed to an ignominious and unmerited death, and the latter allowed to perish in a garret? Because an ungrateful sovereign and a careless people allowed them to be sacriﬁced tothc jealousy of their enemies. “The, extension ofthe American Colonies? ’ goes on M. Filon. ‘ lint. almost immediately these colonies went to pieces, the best part of them was irrevocably lost to the mother country.’ But M. Filon leaves out of consideration the hand which the English nation had in founding these colonies, the advantage they subsequently afforded for emigration, and the inﬂuence Great Britain and the United Statese—one in blood, creed, and language—have acquired over the face of the or e’lobe. M. Filon continues : ‘ Will it be said that it is literature y? originalit its century h eighteent English the :rt which gives Art, when Hogarth reproduces, with heavy and graceless brush, the

593

CENTURY FOR CENTURY.

school, and that, whilst many a genius has been unproductive, the cuttings of Hogarth ﬁlled every nursery of art.’ In days when public opinion had not the facilities and means of expression which it has in our own, Hogarth’s presentments of fashionable vices brought ‘ Or with Reynolds ? ’

M. Filon asks. ‘ He composes with mysterious recipes and puts into small labelled bottles the complexion of all the. pretty women of England.’ The meaning of this sentence is almost as mysterious as Sir Joshua’s recipes. If M. Filon had crossed the Channel during the winter months of these last eighteen years, and visited the exhibitions at the Royal Academy, and of late at the (‘rrosvenor Gallery, he would have carried away a clearer conception of the countless beauties and great men whose varied lineaments not only

Reynolds, but Gainsborough and Romney, have preserved.

. __.__._ .34...- ‘ .

more, may not the question be asked why two Frenchmen

1888

them into prominence and consequent discredit.

.~s—.—g

hand containing delicacies for the royal palate. When Voltaire was presented to Louis the Fifteenth, the king turned his back upon the greatest writer of the day. Louis the Fourteenth was distingmshed bv ceaseless energy ; Louis the Fifteenth, the incarnation of boredom, was the thorough representative of a time when ennui was the attliction of society and wit was prized above the qualities of the heartf as typified in D’Argenson’s sorrowful exclamation, ‘My son’s heart 1s . stupid.’ M. Filon speaks of the want of unity in the English elghteenth century, and, in order to prove that it lacks importance, attraction, and salient features, he asks : ‘ The victories of Marlborough ? But their consequences were partly annulled by the battle of Denain.’ ls .he correct in stating this? L'ndeniahly the battle of Denain, in which Marlborough took no part, saved France from annihilation. But the concessions France gained in the Treaty of Utrecht were the out— come not of the victory of Denain, but of the state of party feeling in England. liolingbroke, who was responsible for the treaty, has been condemned for criminal ambition in consenting to a peace at any price in order to retain the emoluments of office. M. Filon says: ‘The foundation of the Indian Empire? A mere accident, the personal work of two men of genius, Clive and Warren Hastings.’ M. Filon disposes himself of his argument. Without men of genius no empire can be founded,and the simple fact that (‘live and Warren Hastings were Englishmen of the eighteenth century is sufiictent to illustrate the genius of the English eighteenth century. Furt her-

._ e .,—. r-..-

April

THE NINETE ENTII CENT UR Y.

A“. h..._._..m.

592

\Vith regard to literature, M. Filon states that ‘it is altogether borrowed and rctlected.’ 0n reading such a sentence we might be tempted to ask whether he has studied Mr. Lecky’s history atten— tively, or in fact any history of the literature of the eighteenth century. We may grant that the writings of Bolingbroke, who is generally recognised as a master of the English language, had been influenced by his long sojourn in France, and to a certain extent repeat with Voltaire that his books, though ﬁlled with leaves, bore no fruit. But we may remind M. Filon of the fact that Voltaire, during the composition of the Nematode, took his manuscript to liolingbroke, and asked him for corrections and suggestions, which he gladly adopted. Moreover, were not Voltaire himself, Montesquieu, and many of the otherl lading French writers indebted for their lead— ing doctrines to Locke and the English deists? Has M. Filon never

heard of the Rape of [/14 Lock: or the Essay on Man?

If Addison‘s

('(tto and Campaign are beneath his notice, could he really assert that the inimitable ﬁgure of Sir Roger de (foverley is borrowed or reﬂected?

Again, we may concede that fﬁr Horace \Valpole

acquired the piquancy of his epistolary style from his long residence in Paris; but is (gz‘ribbon’s history a ‘borrowed and reﬁected’ work? tlf Dr. Johnson, M. Filon says that he was ‘ an old pedant, and half mad, though dictator of English letters.’ Of late a controversy has been going on in this country whether Dr. Johnson’s works are still read; but no one has denied that his ,UtCll'OntlT/j is a standard work, and that his table talk, over his innumerable cups of tea and his ferocious and ugly appetite, remodelled the whole style of English conversation, and imparted to it a hitherto unknown brilliancy and elegance. M. Filon condescends to remark that he ﬁnds an original

most

accent in Defoe and Richardson behind their counters, and in the

vulgar scenes of life.’ It is difficult to reconcrle tlns View with M. Filon’s former impression of Hogarth, that his ‘ fame has survived for 120 years, that he initiated the triumphs of the modern realistic

poems of the peasant Burns, ‘ who composes sublime songs written to the step of his oxen.‘ But of Gray’s Elegy, which Wolfe (leclared he would rather have written than have taken Quebec, M. Filon VOL. XXIII.‘N0. 123 . S S

outlines of reality, and

presents with cruel cxactitude the

' _, _,.. 3- 4:.

of genlus.

593

CENTURY FOR CENTURY.

Reynolds, but Gainsborough and Romney, have preserved.

. __.__._ .34...- ‘ .

more, may not the question be asked why two Frenchmen

1888

them into prominence and consequent discredit.

.~s—.—g

._ e .,—. r-..-

April

THE NINETE ENTII CENT UR Y.

A“. h..._._..m.

592

heard of the Rape of [/14 Lock: or the Essay on Man?

If Addison‘s

('(tto and Campaign are beneath his notice, could he really assert that the inimitable ﬁgure of Sir Roger de (foverley is borrowed or reﬂected?

Again, we may concede that fﬁr Horace \Valpole

most

accent in Defoe and Richardson behind their counters, and in the

outlines of reality, and

presents with cruel cxactitude the

59-1

TI] 1'} NIA'ETEILLYJ'JI CENTER l'.

April

1888

says nothing. He dismisses all the other authors of the English eighteenth century with the general observation. ‘ The rest are not Worth the honour of being mentioned." l’oor Uliver Goldsmith was too homely a genius to deserve this honour. (‘er'tainly the idyllic

CENTURY FOR ('EJ'TUIL’l'.

595

transmitted the hatred to his son Frederick Prince of \Vales. “Yas there so much domestic affection to be found at. Versailles? The llauplrin's piety was ridiculed by his father, and the contempt which the king showed for him is said to have shortenw'l his life. M. Filon quotes 'l‘hackerav‘s words that in the English (fourt ‘ there was neither dignity, morality. nor wit." But was there so much dignity at the court. of France? Madame de l’ornpadour was the daughter of a clerk who was condemned to be hanged for embezzlement. His

scenes of the Vicar of ll'r/Z'rj/ie/«Z may appear tame beside the Abbe l’revost‘s spicy apotheosis of Manon Lescaut, whilst the adventures of Tom Jones and Sophia may be too coarse for the adu’rirers of the erotic tales of Crebillon l/i/s. He goes on to say: ‘Shall we seek in the eighteenth century of England that reﬁnement, that flower of worldly civilisation, which expands in our French salons of the

sentence was commuted to exile, and when he returned he was made

shortcomings of the first two Georges may have been as individuals,

To induce the king to dismiss his parliament, she pointed repeatedly

it seems as if they might not unworthily bear comparison with Louis the Fifteenth, ,7" trim—(lone. At any rate, George the Second won his spurs on the ﬁeld of battle. and fought like a soldier at Dettingen. Rapacious as were the favourites of (ieorge the First and ("reorge the Second, the wealth of England was not, exhausted in satisfying their protligat‘e demands. The king had a civil list and a ﬁxed income which he was able to dispose of as he chose ; and George the Second is known for his economical disposition. \‘Vhereas the whole

to the portrait of (‘harles the First by Vandyke, which is now in the Louvre. and, calling the king ‘La France,' exclaimed, ‘Your parlia— ment, too, will cut off your head.’ Did the king display much dignity in the following incident ? ()ne of his courtiers died suddenly in his presence while the royal party were playing at billiards, and his wig fell off. The next morning he asked, ‘Did you hear how parted with his wig?’ Or was the French court rendered dignified by the king devoting his time to practising the art of embroidery and the preparation of truttled dishes? As to morality, surely M. Filon could not wish us to draw a parallel? When we come to wit, however, we confess that we must strike our colours. The palm undeniably belongs to France. In his further indictment of the English eighteenth century, through which it would be tedious to follow M. Filon step by step, he devotes several pages to the Revolution of 1088, to the internal policy of England during the reign of \‘Villiam the Third, Queen Anne, and the first Georges. A glance into Mr. Lecky’s conscientious and picturesque narrative will give the reader cause to regret that a critic of M. Filons authority should present so misleading a picture of the time of which he writes. The Revolution of 1688, he says, ‘ arose ostensibly through hatred of the Roman Catholic religion, but really through hatred of France.’ Superficially this is correct. Dislike of the foreigner and of frn‘eign influence has always been one of the strongest motives of all great national movements. That sentiment is not con-

revenue of France, wrung from an oppressed peasantry, went towards

purchasing the twenty—four residences of Madame de l’ompadour, the sale of whose effects after her death occupied a year, and furnishing the cabinets of Madame du Barry, of which we are told that every lock and every window-fastening 'as a work of art. (,‘ontrast the simplicity of St. James’s Palace, Kensington, Kew, and even Windsor t‘astle, with the lavishuess, not of Versailles only, but of l‘lontainebleau, Marly, Choisy, lv’ambouillet, and other palaces which were swept away in 1793. Cach royal removal entailed a fabulous outlay ; each residence had its special and costly costume; every royal birth or wedding served as a pretext for festivities, which, as neither nobility nor clergy were taxed, were paid for by the people. At the marriage of the king’s daughter, the future Duchess of Parma, the expendi— tnre on public entertainments amounted to 32,000[., the item for

the dresses of the geritlemen—iri~waiting and equerries alone being upwards of 2,0005. Marie-Antoinette spent on the Petit Trianon during the ﬁfteen years of its existence the sum of two million francs. However much we may suffer from the increase in the National Debt, owing to the war policy of the younger Pitt, at least it saved and

“a

day? If we look at theprinccs . there have been more infamous ones, but none more vulgar, than the ﬁrst two l’ianoverian kings.‘ lle theuproceeds to review the lives of the, first two thororges, in words which are exaggerated from the pages of Thackeray. \Vhatever the

a marquis. The connection of Louis the Fifteenth with Madame du liarry was one long episode of want ofdignity. To accustom the king to the dismissal of the minister he liked—the Due de Choiseul ~we read that Madan’re du Barry sat on the king’s knee, tossing oranges into the air, and exclaimed, ‘ Saute (,‘hoiseul, saute l’raslin.’

ﬁned to the British race. Has France or any other country ever been so partial to foreign influence?

Was it not that sentiment which

enabled the tattered legions of the Republic to beat back the German

strengthened the empire ; whereas the expenditure of Louis the Fif—

armies? and in more recent times have we not seen the unity of

teenth, which was imitated by a servile nobility, ruined the country,

accomplished chiefly through the hatred of foreign dominion and

and hastened and aggravated the Revolution. M. Filon says that George the First mortally hated his son George the Second, who

fluence?

Italy

iri—

Unqucstionably, shortly before her death, Queen Anne’s

sympathies were strongly in favour of a restoration of the Stuarts ; SS2

and

59-1

TI] 1'} NIA'ETEILLYJ'JI CENTER l'.

April

1888

CENTURY FOR ('EJ'TUIL’l'.

595

sentence was commuted to exile, and when he returned he was made

shortcomings of the first two Georges may have been as individuals,

To induce the king to dismiss his parliament, she pointed repeatedly

revenue of France, wrung from an oppressed peasantry, went towards

“a

ﬁned to the British race. Has France or any other country ever been so partial to foreign influence?

Was it not that sentiment which

enabled the tattered legions of the Republic to beat back the German

strengthened the empire ; whereas the expenditure of Louis the Fif—

armies? and in more recent times have we not seen the unity of

teenth, which was imitated by a servile nobility, ruined the country,

accomplished chiefly through the hatred of foreign dominion and

and hastened and aggravated the Revolution. M. Filon says that George the First mortally hated his son George the Second, who

fluence?

Italy

iri—

Unqucstionably, shortly before her death, Queen Anne’s

sympathies were strongly in favour of a restoration of the Stuarts ; SS2

and

596

THE NINETEENTH CENTER I'.

April

1888

if the queen’s life had been prolonged, the order of succession'might have been changed. The country naturally preferred the heir of an ancient and native line of kings to an unsympathetic, and to them unknown, prince. As late as the Rebellion of 1745 the feelings of the people were so divided that old Horace \Valpole wrote: ‘1 ap—'

CENTURY FOR CENTURY.

597

eighteenth century saw the consolidation of the results of the Revolution of 1688. That Revolution, of which M. Filon presents so original a view, saw the establishment of liberty of speech, and the birth and growth of modern parliamentary government which super— seded the autocratic rule of an intolerant monarchy. It cannot be

sufﬁciently borne in mind that England at that time and for many

ﬁght bear 3 ” if they do no worse.’ But there can be no doubt that the accession of the House of Hanover and its ﬁrm hold on the throne were due to the national dislike of Roman Catholicism. If the Old Pretender had renounced his creed, and had been willing to adopt that of his sister Queen Anne, the course of history might have been altered. But we must abide by facts, and the bigoted intole— rance of the Stuart monarchs was too fresh in the recollection of the people to render any latholic sovereign accept able. Ilow superheml in reality was the devotion of the nation to the Stuarts, the failure of the (lld I’retender’s expedition in 1715 and the rapid collapse of the rebellion of 17—15 proved. The intense craving of a considerable portion of the people for an even more ascetic Protestantism. found its expression in the revival of 17:30, to the mention of which M. Filon allows only two lines. M. Filon’s aceount of the statesmen of the eighteenth century is remarkaliile for its omissions. He makes

a year to come was the only country in Europe where popular representation existed 011 a free and sound basis, where the prerogative

no mention of Godolphin, Somers, Bolinghroke, Harley, or I’ultency.

Sir Robert VValpole's long administration he ignores altogether, and is satisﬁed with stating that ‘ he reconciled the Hanoverian dynasty

with the provincial gentry, because being issued from them he knew their feelings, practised their habits, and spoke their language; he reconciled the Church with the Government because during twenty vears he filled it with rationalist bishops, or, to speak the language of the day, latitudinarians.’ ()f William Pitt, the'statesnian who at twenty-three was appointed Prime Minister, remained at the .head of the Government seventeen years, and in times of unequalled difficulty and during struggles of vital importance, M. Filon sumsiip a long and acrimonious criticism by saying that he was ‘ more like an old maid than an old bachelor,’ ‘that many traits of manliiiess were missing in his nature,’ though he condescends to state of him that ‘ he was otherwise strong, audacious, and resolute.’ In enlarging on Edmund Burke’s words, M. Filon calls I’itt ‘a mediocrity, and devoid of a single great idea.’ Pitt’s father, ‘the great commoner,’ M. Filon rapidly dismisses with the remark that he was ‘imposed on the choice of the king by an explosion of public feeling, and that he exercised his authority only too well.’ M. Filon does not like to dwell on the . . Treaty of Paris of 1763.

The limits of this article would prevent me from entering into a survey of the great political and military achievements of the English eighteenth century, but an emphatic answer must be given to

M. Filon’s constantly repeated question, ‘ \Vhere is the interest: Where is the greatness, of the English eighteenth century?’ The English

:4.;~.—-.

prehend that the people may perhaps look on and cry, " 1* ight dog .

was kept in abeyance, and where liberty of discussion was permitted. The country may have suffered from parliamentary corruption and bribery and inadequate representation; but it witnessed the liberty of the press and the publication of parliamentary proceedings, which has led to the complete control of the Legislature by public opinion.

John Wilkes—of Whom Mr. Gladstone in one of his speeches said that, Whether we choose it or not, he must be enrolled among the great champions of English freedom, and who, whether directly or indirectly, bore so large a share in assisting the free representation of the nation M. Filon ignores as a nonentity. The English eighteenth century inaugurated an era of discovery and science, and a development of trade and civilisation, the full results of which we have not yet fathoined.

4 I.

i i

‘ii

If it saw the loss of the American Colonies,

it saw also the expansion of the British race over the globe. But the great and important achievement of the English eighteenth century was that, whereas the inﬂuence of France promised to become paramount in the East Indies and in North America, the Treaty of I’aris of 1763 transferred that inﬂuence to the British Empire. By that treaty ii’igland obtained the cession of Canada and Nova Scotia, and secured her supremacy in the Indian peninsula. Nations and centuries are not: free from those defects which are the unfortunate heritage of individual members of the community, and the history of the English eighteenth century was marked by some deplorable events; but the eighteenth century ended in internal peace and prosperity for England, whilst for France it ended on the s ‘affolds of the Republic, in bankruptcy and internal dissension. In contrasting the eighteenth century of England with that of France, it is not my intention to appear to undervalue the latter. When M. Filon remarks that ‘it is a. magical century,’ he can meet with no denial. It is too, as he observes, ‘an a‘sthetic century, and, so far as its social life is concerned, it exercises upon us an irresistible attraction.’ He might have added that it was endowed with the girdle of Venus. To Talleyrand’s remarlsltliiat ,he who did not. live before 1 789 could not know the full charms, we can give an unqualified assent as far as the life of the upper classes is concerned. The many memoirs of the period introduce, us to an exuberance of intellectual activity and social luxury, a perfection of form and manner, a courtli— ness and an elegance, which must ever appeal to our taste, our fancy, and our senses. Every nerve was strained, every responsibility dis—

v‘ t ti t l

596

THE NINETEENTH CENTER I'.

April

1888

CENTURY FOR CENTURY.

597

sufﬁciently borne in mind that England at that time and for many

a year to come was the only country in Europe where popular representation existed 011 a free and sound basis, where the prerogative

no mention of Godolphin, Somers, Bolinghroke, Harley, or I’ultency.

Sir Robert VValpole's long administration he ignores altogether, and is satisﬁed with stating that ‘ he reconciled the Hanoverian dynasty

The limits of this article would prevent me from entering into a survey of the great political and military achievements of the English eighteenth century, but an emphatic answer must be given to

M. Filon’s constantly repeated question, ‘ \Vhere is the interest: Where is the greatness, of the English eighteenth century?’ The English

:4.;~.—-.

prehend that the people may perhaps look on and cry, " 1* ight dog .

4 I.

i i

‘ii

If it saw the loss of the American Colonies,

v‘ t ti t l

598

THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

April l 888

carded, every principle forsaken, every duty abandoned, in the effort to idealise the forms of enjoyment. If We turn from the memoirs to the prints, they disclose pageants, the splendorrr of which the modern imagination can scarcely realise, or unveil mysteries of life which mix the accompaniment of inimitaljile grace redeems from grossncss. iUnder Louis the l*‘ourteenth society was still linked with that of the sixteenth century, and the rude and primitive conditions of those earlier days ﬁrst began to give place to the pleasing conventionalities of later times under the influence of the Hotel de Ranrbouillet; whereas under Louis the Fifteenth, dress, manners, conversation, all the thousand and one amenities of life, reached a pitch of perfection which has never been surpassed, because they were made the subject of profound study, and were the essentials of success. ‘ One of the seductive attributes of society was that beauty in women and talent in men acted as an ‘open sesame,~ and, for the first time in modern history, levelled the distinctions of caste. Strange scenes sometimes occurred, revealing that a tinge of bar— barism still survived to remind men of genius that their position was still inferior to that of the nobles with whom they mixed. Tlrns Voltaire, having cleverly retorted on the Chevalier de ltohan for some

Assn-as . .‘IM.,?‘W'L '

impertinence, received a thrashing the next day at the hands f the lacqueys of the Chevalier. Voltaire demanded satisfaction, but WELL a Zcr‘li'c r/r cor/«ct which sent. him to the Bastille. However desirous we may be of doing justice to the eighteenth century, it is still impossible to absolve Louis the Fifteenth from the political and moral obloeuy which is indelibly attached to his name. Some allowance must be made for the circurnstanccs in which he was placed. It was his lot to occupy t he throne at the time when t he evils of the autocratic system reached 1 heir culmirrat ing point . What could be expected of a sovereign who, at the awe of twelve, was taken by his 5 governor, old Marshal Villeroi, to a window of the Tuilerics within sight of the assenrbled people, and told, ‘Look, sire, at all those people; they are yours. You are their master; look at them a little in order to please them ; ’ then, having been married at fifteen to an unattractive woman older than himself, was subjected to the wiles of all the highest ladies in the land. But of his heartlessness, it is true, many proofs are extant. Count Durfort, a court: ofﬁcial, contradicts the well—known story that, when the funeral of Madame de Pornpadour left Versailles in a downpour of rain, the king exclaimed: ‘The poor martpriso will have bad weather for her journey,’ and asserts that the king wept, and, on being rallied for his emotion, replied, ‘It is the only tribute I can pay to the memory of the marquise.’ The influence of Madame de I’on’rpadour was certainly deplorable. Politically she showed some discernment in inducing the king to tight the growing forces of Prussia, though she neutralised the.

CENT U13 1 ' FOR OEiVTUR Y.

599

possible good effects of the counsel by giving the command of the army to the Prince de Soubise, for the war was disastrous and terminated in the Treaty of Paris. She deserves more recognition for her share in bringing about the institution of the ,lilcole Militaire, as well as for her patronage of Voltaire and many of the great thinkers of the time, whom the king cordially detest ed. Old L‘rébillon, her former master, she relieved from misery and pensioned; no mean artist herself and a singer of urrnsual talent, she provided the painters, sculptors, and engravers with constant employment, and called the mannfactory of Sevres into existence. Unsuccessful as were nrost of the French military commanders of the eighteenth century, the courage and gallantry of individual soldiers and officers were as conspicuous in those days as at any time before or since. The episode of the Chevalier d’Assasfito mention only one of the many heroic acts which were repeated on every battle— fieldiproves how capable the soldiers of Louis the Fifteenth were of acts of chivalrous self—sacrifice. The Chevalier d’Assas, in advance of his regiment, came suddenly on a party of the enemy. He was seized, and threatened with death if he gave the alarm; but, nothing daunted, he cried out, to his comrades, paying the penalty with his life. The nobility of France, who must be counted not by hundreds, but by hundreds of thousands, were imbued with a love for king and country which enabled them to turn at a moments notice from the supreme attraction of dancing in a royal ballet, or squandering their fortunes at the royal gaming—tables, to the hardships of campaigning. One of the prominent features of the French eighteenth century was the efiiciency and integrity of the magistracy. A member of that order was Turgot, who became what we may call Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1774, shortly after the accession of Louis the Sixteenth. Any one who takes an interest in the birth and progress of political economy might read with advantage at short biography of Target writ— ten by M. Leon Say, and one of a series of biographies which is being

published in France in imitation of Mr. Morley’s English Slam of Letters. M. Loon Say, unlike his compatriot M. Filon, does not class Adam Smith and David Hume among the not-to-be—mcntioned

noncntities of the English eighteenth century; and, while he states that. Adam Smith owes much to the economists of France and to ll‘urgot, acknowledges that ‘ the philosophy of Turgot owes much to the Scottish school, to Hutchison, the master of Adam Smith, and to Adam Smith himself.’ Between David Hume, the friend and patron of Rousseau, and angot, there was a long and interesting correspondence, from which the French minister could not. but» derive

some proﬁt, and some of those reﬂected impressions which M. Filon attributes to English thinkers.

After a term of ofﬁce of twenty

months and three weeks Turgot had to resign, owing to the intrigues of an infuriated clergy and nobility, whose privileges he Wished to

1 l l

r i

598

THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

April l 888

Assn-as . .‘IM.,?‘W'L '

CENT U13 1 ' FOR OEiVTUR Y.

599

published in France in imitation of Mr. Morley’s English Slam of Letters. M. Loon Say, unlike his compatriot M. Filon, does not class Adam Smith and David Hume among the not-to-be—mcntioned

some proﬁt, and some of those reﬂected impressions which M. Filon attributes to English thinkers.

After a term of ofﬁce of twenty

months and three weeks Turgot had to resign, owing to the intrigues of an infuriated clergy and nobility, whose privileges he Wished to

1 l l

r i

18 88

April

infringe, and chiefly to the influence of Marie-Antoinette, then still the frivolous princess of nineteen, whose extravagant demands on the ex— chequer the minister would not comply with. If Turgot, on the one hand, was one of the originators of the present system of political economy, he was also the first man of his day who had a settled and powerful policy for the re-establishment of the finances of his country, consisting in the abolition of the abuses and privileges of the nobility, clergy, magistracy, army, and guilds, and the enfranchisement of labour, trade, and industry, which were crippled by restrictions and monopolies; thus endeavouring to realise peacefully the reforms which the Revolution of 1789 accomplished with so much violence and suffering. How ineffectively he struggled with these abuses may be exemplified by one instance. In 1780 Marshal Ségur, the Minister for \Var, promulgated a law to the effect that none but nobles could rise to the rank of officers in the French army, a law which went not a little towards intensifying the hatred of the Tiers liltat for the nobility. Though unprincipled as a class, the nobility of France comprised individual members who were examples not only of personal bravery, but of high mental apacity and culture. The aristocratic element which pervaded all customs and inst itutions—for instance, the wife of

an untitled man was 'alled illademoisclla instead of Mat/(Mae, and none but titled women were allowed to row/c—had been of long and steady growth ; but if we put ourselves in the place of persons who lived under the old regime, we shall not be surprised at their dislike of innovation. Notwithstanding the reverence for rank and blood, the importance and number of social functions, the burdens of court life and etiquette, many of the French nobles distin— guished themselves in science and letters, so that one of their chief ambitions often was to be enrolled as members of the Academy. The French nobility which was so wedded to its privileges waived all considerations in favour of intellectual enjoyments; and though to gain admission at Versailles a patent of nobility dating back to 1399 was necessary, in Paris men and women of the highest rank mixed with the wives of citizens, elbowed artists and writers, in assemblies where intellect reigned supreme. Madame Geoffrin, the (laughter of a royal servant, remained the friend of Stanislas Poniatowski after he became King of Poland, and in his familiar correspondence he calls her his mother. The salon—t0 mention one out of many—of Madame d’Epinay, the wife of a fcrmier general, the friend of Rousseau and Grimm, was the centre of all that was brightest and cleverest in France. The Prince de Conti showed a generous hospitality to Rousseau, and after Beaumarchais’ conviction invited him to spend a day at his house in order ‘ to show France the way a great citizen

should be treated.’ The great citizen came and supped with the prince and forty persons of quality. Strange contrasts and anoma— lous situations were the result of the familiar intercourse of all classes,

_.\.H_

THE NINETEENTH CENT UR Y.

.....

600

CENTURY FOR CENT UR Y.

601

and contribute not a little to make the society of that time so amusing to us. Perhaps the greatest anomaly of all was the position of actors and actresses. An antiquated law deprived them of all civil rights; they could not appear as witnesses in a court, nor ﬁll any public post. They were sent to prison for the slightest peccadillo on the mere whim of the court authorities, and if they died whilst following their profession were refused religious rites at their burial. Adrienne Lecouvreur was taken out at night. in a cab by two porters and buried in a hole hastily dug at the corner of the street. Yet Adrienne Lecouvreur was so sought after in her lifetime that she complained she could not. comply with all the invitations she received from the great, and that their attentions prevented her from enjoying a peaceful and quiet life. The actress Clairon was an intimate friend of the Duchesse de Villeroi and the Duchesse de Duras. Not only actresses, but actors infatuated the leaders of society. The actor Mole received from Marshal Richelieu a costume worth ten thousand francs, and Flcury from a noble friend a dress that had only been worn once and for which 18,000 francs had been paid. Two ladies one French, one Polish~—fought a. duel for an actor. The ]*‘renchwoman was wounded and locked up in a convent.

Quaint

incidents of allrkinds illustrate the relations between the stage and its patrons. Actresses were sometimes present at State concerts, and on one occasion Sophie Arnould was seated next to a duchess, who exclaimed disdainfully : ‘ Honest women should wear badges to distinguish them.’ ‘ Then you would wish,’ replied the actress, ‘to give the public a chance of counting them.’ A young abbé, accom— panied by two young and pretty women, entered the box of the Marshal de Noailles, who was known for his misfortunes on the battle—ﬁeld. The marshal soon afterwards came and claimed the box. In the height of the dispute, the abbe called out to the pit, which had looked on with much interest: ‘t‘mntleinen, I appeal to you. Here is the Marshal de Noailles, who has never taken a place in his life, and now wants to take mine. Am I to go?’ ‘Nol No! ’ cried the pit, and the marq’ttig was forced to give vay. Some palliation for the levity of society is to be found in the

system of education, which was itself the outcome of the exigencies of fashion.

Fathers brought up their sons to consider that the

smiles of the king were the only source of honour and preferment. The entire day of a lady of rank was taken up by dress, conversation, and amusement. No mother was able under such circumstances to devote her thoughts to her daughter, who was sent off at an early age to an aristocratic convent.

How peculiar was the education

which she there received may be judged from the fact that the same prizes were given for history as for dancing. In orderto preserve the purity of blood and the equality of position, the pupil was aﬂﬁanced and often married by her parents when hardly in her teens to a man Whom she had never seen.

18 88

April

_.\.H_

THE NINETEENTH CENT UR Y.

.....

600

CENTURY FOR CENT UR Y.

601

Quaint

system of education, which was itself the outcome of the exigencies of fashion.

Fathers brought up their sons to consider that the

How peculiar was the education

602

THE N1 NETEEN'J'II ('ENTL'R Y.

April

But the tact and power of assimilation peculiar to Frenchwomen enabled them, notwithstanding their faulty education, to acquire that culture and brilliancy which was so highly prized. Domestic affection and purity were scarcely compatible with the conditions under which their lives were passed. (twing to the educational teachings of Rousseau, combined with the Anglomania—which declared itself not only in the diffusion of constitutional aspirations, but even in the practice of liorse—racing—aml to the participation in the \Var of American Independence, a desire for a better state of things began to make itself felt. The literary and philosophical doetrines of the encyclopzedists contributed towards the reform of the abuses of the aristoeratic system, but they must also bear the responsibility of having produced that contempt for religion and for authority which accelerated the Rerolution. That lleyolution con— tributes a ﬁtting antithesis and climax to the leyity and enchant— ment of the earlier portions of the century. \Vhen, however, we throw off the spell exercised by the superficial attractions of the French eighteenth century, then we perceive beneath the brilliant Veneer of art, wit, and retinement, those \‘ict-s of character and con—

stitution which couhl only be eradicated by a supreme conyulsion. As in tropical countries the rotting trunks of ancient trees are covered by a rank and gorgeous \egetation, so the processes of de— composition at work in the political, aristocratic, clerical, and social

systems of France wereconcealed by a luxuriant and yiyidintellectual overgrowth. M. Filon gleefully improyes on Lord t'hestertiehl‘s observation and says that the graces were not nat iyes of (treat Britain; but when we come to judge impart iallythe cardinal merits ofthe English and French eighteenth centuries, when we emancipate ourselves from the glamour of the Gallic graces, and only compare stern historical facts in their immediate effects on the welfare of the nation, the consequences of the old vv‘g/me in France with those of the new in England, we are forced to conclude that the English kings of the eighteenth century deserved better of their country than the, Bourbons of France, that English statesmen adapted themselves to the growing demand for popular and democratic changes, that Englands soldiers and sailors brought rictory to her arms, that her religiol'ls and philosophical reforms soWed the seeds of the greater purity and greater prosperity of the nineteenth century; while in France princes, statesmen, and nobles brought the throne into disre— pute, the ﬁnances to rain, and the count ryto anarchyit hat, in a word, all the forces of England were united in building up the empire, whilst

those of France were united in destroying hers. (‘entury for century, the eighteenth century of England was a century of ascent, the eighteenth century of France a century of desCent. FERDINAND RorHsCHILI).

‘i

*i 1

1 | l

l l

602

THE N1 NETEEN'J'II ('ENTL'R Y.

April

‘i

*i 1

1 | l

l l

686

THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

Nov.

1888 THE MEMOIRS OF THE OOMTE DE BRIENNE. 687 there are many other and shorter memoirs which, if read chronologically, would give a clear insight into the political and social condition

of France from the days of Froissart, the contemporary of Edward the Third, down to the Revolution of 1789 ; and convey in a most attrac— tive manner a correct knowledge of the men, manners, and customs of

successive generations. On the ground of propriety, it may be alleged that there is little to choose between the French novel and the French memoir. But, if French books are to be read, it is manifestly desirable that we should read those which have, at any rate, the

TfIE ATE/1101165

merit of conveying historical instruction as well as entertainment.

OF THE COHITE DE EZUEZVNE.

in reading her history we must not lose sight of her national charac— teristics. Foremost among these we find that, for good or evil, women have played a conspicuous part in the history of France—a state of things which Frenchmen accepted as a matter of course.

It would, of course, be futile to judge France by English ideas, and

IMPROVED facilities of communication with Paris and a more general knowledge of the French language are leading to an increased

The entire life of Henry the Fourth, the ideal of a French monarch, demand for French literary works. This is amply indicated by the greater attention given in our press to French publications of merit,

and by the establishment of an increasing number of French book— sellers in various parts of the metropolis. For the present, however, the taste of English readers for French works is chiefly confined to fiction. Only the other day one of these booksellers replied to my inquiry for some new publications that he could only offer me novels, as there was practically no demand for books of any other description. This may not be a matter for surprise, as fiction is the most popular form which literature takes, but it is none the less a. matter for regret.

Discrimination is not general, and the advantage which may be derived from one good French novel is more than counteracted by the perusal of scores of bad ones. Such compositions as Octave Feuillet’s Sibylle, George Sand's rural stories and tales to her grandchildren, some of the elder Dumas’ historical novels, Theuriet’s earlier works, to mention only a few, are lost amongst, or discarded

for, the productions of the realistic school, which are, or should

was moulded by his gallantries, which even helped to endear him to his subjects. We cannot forget that, but. for the dagger of ltavaillac, he would have plunged his country into war in pursuit of

his passion for the l’rincesse de Condo, who had sought refuge from him in Brussels.

A special reason why the present moment seems

appropriate to advocate the reading ofFrench memoirs is because our attention is being directed to the celebration of the centenary of the Revolution of ”SQ—not only to the dramatic episodes of the struggle but to the investigation of its rcmotest causes. On these, the memoirs of the preceding century throw an abundant light. Among perhaps the least known in this country, but not the least attractive, are those of the Comte de Brienne, published in Paris in 1828, and edited by M. Barrierc. The Comte do Brienne was descended from one Martial de Loménie, a clerk of the Council, who being a zealous Huguenot, was

killed in the Massacre of St. Bartholomew in 1572.

Henry the

Fourth adopted his son, sent him as ambassador to London, and be, as offensive to our notions of art as to our ideas of decency.

made him a Secretary of State.

The next Loménie, the ﬁrst of the

One vast and most important branch of French literature is almost ignored in this country, though it has the advantage of combining the charm of style and the fascination of romance with the reality

family who was styled Comte de Brienne, negotiated in 1621 the marriage of Henrietta Maria with Charles the First, and afterwards

of history.

became what we should term Secretary for Foreign Affairs. His death in 1666 elicited from Louis the Fourteenth the ﬂattering

The natural reserve of the English character has, with

some few exceptions, deterred our notabilities in the past from recording their private experiences for the beneﬁt of posterity. On the other hand, the greater effusiveness of the French character has had the effect of preserving for us an inexhaustible store of personal and historical reminiscences of the deepest and widest interest. In most instances, the exigencies of modern life preclude the perusal of some of the most valuable of these memoirs. Few can now ﬁnd time to read such voluminous records as those of the Due de St. Simon, the Marquis d’Argenson, or the Cardinal de Retz. But

eulogium, ‘ I lose to-day the oldest, most useful, and best—informed

of my Ministers.’

His son, Louis Henri de Loménie, Comte de

Brienne, writer of the memoirs, was born in 1635, three years before the birth of Louis the Fourteenth, and seven before the death of

Cardinal Richelieu. At seven years of age he and his brother were appointed pages to Louis the Fourteenth, who was then in his ﬁfth year. In the opening pages of his memoirs he gives an amusing account of his ﬁrst reception by his youthful sovereign :—

686

THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

Nov.

1888 THE MEMOIRS OF THE OOMTE DE BRIENNE. 687 there are many other and shorter memoirs which, if read chronologically, would give a clear insight into the political and social condition

TfIE ATE/1101165

merit of conveying historical instruction as well as entertainment.

OF THE COHITE DE EZUEZVNE.

It would, of course, be futile to judge France by English ideas, and

IMPROVED facilities of communication with Paris and a more general knowledge of the French language are leading to an increased

for, the productions of the realistic school, which are, or should

was moulded by his gallantries, which even helped to endear him to his subjects. We cannot forget that, but. for the dagger of ltavaillac, he would have plunged his country into war in pursuit of

his passion for the l’rincesse de Condo, who had sought refuge from him in Brussels.

A special reason why the present moment seems

killed in the Massacre of St. Bartholomew in 1572.

Henry the

Fourth adopted his son, sent him as ambassador to London, and be, as offensive to our notions of art as to our ideas of decency.

made him a Secretary of State.

The next Loménie, the ﬁrst of the

One vast and most important branch of French literature is almost ignored in this country, though it has the advantage of combining the charm of style and the fascination of romance with the reality

family who was styled Comte de Brienne, negotiated in 1621 the marriage of Henrietta Maria with Charles the First, and afterwards

of history.

became what we should term Secretary for Foreign Affairs. His death in 1666 elicited from Louis the Fourteenth the ﬂattering

The natural reserve of the English character has, with

eulogium, ‘ I lose to-day the oldest, most useful, and best—informed

of my Ministers.’

His son, Louis Henri de Loménie, Comte de

Brienne, writer of the memoirs, was born in 1635, three years before the birth of Louis the Fourteenth, and seven before the death of

688

THE NINETEENTH CENTUR Y.

N0v.

1888 THE MEMOIRS OF THE COMTE DE BRIENNE. 689

Ifemember that Madame de Lasalle (\Voman of the Bedchamber to the Queen Regent), who was appointed by her Majesty to the ginmliauship of the King, received us, a pike in her hand, and beating a drum, at the head of the numerous company of pages whom she had under her command. She wore a large hat covered with black feathers, and carried a sword by her side. She gracefully placed rnuskets on our shoulders, and made us give a military salute ; then kissed us on the torchead, and blessed us in the most. cavalier manner. \Ve next went through our exercises, in which the King, though still wearing a piuafore, took much pleasure. llis amusements were all martial. llis lingers were alwavs beating a drum, and as soon as his small hands could hold the slit-its, he had a.~ kettledrum in front of him, on which he was constantly hammering.

a child. They were tears which anger and indignation could draw from the eyes of grown—up men. I took his hand, kissed it, and said, ‘ \Yhy do you cry, dear master? ’ He answered, ‘I shall not always be a child !—but be silent: I wish that no one should notice my tears. Those Bordelais rogues shall not always dictate to me! I shall punish them as they deserve! lie silent, I say, and do not betray the confidence 1 put in you I l

Young Brienne, however, was not allowed to waste his best years

in these pastimes, and was sent to school. Though he candidly acknowledged that he preferred Court life, and even confesses that he had already begun to be corrupted by it, his subsequent career

gave ample proof that he was no idler.

He states that he learned

geography, Latin, Greek, engineering, and history, and adds that he became proﬁcient in athletic exercises. He tells us—and this. is typical of the social conditions of the time—that by these latter

exterior accomplishments he secured the good graces ofthose who

The civil war continued, and the King, who was then in his

fourteenth year, was more or less a prisoner in Paris. He amused himself by constructing a fort in the garden, and divided his young friends into its defenders and assailants. It was at this time, two days before the King came of age, when Bricnne was in his seven-

teenth year, that he received the reversion of his father’s ofﬁce. The custom of reversion, which lasted until the Revolution, obtained in most of the great clerical, ministerial, and Court appointments.

Originally in the gift of the sovereign, many of them could be. bought and sold, and we constantly hear of the reversion of civil and Court places changing hands by sale in this singular fashion. Brienne’s father, as we have seen, was Secretary of State. On September 6, 1651, the last day of Anne of Austria‘s Regency, young

directed the education of the young King. Brienne passes very rapidly over the next eight years of his life, the period during which

Brienne took his oath to the Queen on his appointment as ASsistant

the troubles of the Fronde agitated France.

ously says, ‘ of kissing those beautiful hands.’

Three of these years,

fortunately for him, he spent in travel, visiting the chief countries of the Continent, where he learned languages, and contracted a taste for works of. art, which proved a great resource to him in his later

life. On his return he secured to himself the favourite opinion of the King by giving in the presence of the Court a polished and interesting account of his travels. ()f the wars of the Fronde he records an incident which vividly illustrates the class feeling of the period. He says that the small Castle of Vicses was besieged, and that its governor, though not a nobleman, had the audacity to hold it against, the royal army actually in sight of the King. But the King’s Marshal would stand no nonsense. The governor was taken, and I had the pleasure of seeing him executed from my wrndows.

However much such a sentiment may jar on us, it was only the natural outcome of a state of things in which the King was absolute, and was looked upon as the embodiment of the power and order of the nation. Louis the Fourteenth while still a child, long before the Queen

Regent surrendered the government into his hands, began to evince a consciousness of his own position. Brienne relates that the Queen Regent, to amuse the young King, made him a present of a

chariot drawn by eight horses. But the wars of the Fronde, which were then raging, ﬁlled the mind of Louis, and even this regal toy failed to beguile him. On the occasion, says Brienne, the King looked absent.

I went up to him and saw that he cried, but not like

Secretary of State, and kissed hands, ‘never tiring,’ as he ingenu-

On the following

day, in a dress covered with gold, and wearing a sword, he stood

next the King when he declared his majorityt to the Parlement. Several succeeding chapters he devotes to events prior to his own personal'experience, mainly to those relating to Richelieu’s admini—

stration.

While on this subject he gives his version of an historic

episode 2 The Cardinal was desperately in love, and made no secret of it, with a great Princess [Anne of Austrial, whom the respect which l owe to her memory prevents me from naming here. The Princess and her confidant [the Duchesse de Chevreuse] were in those days quite as much inclined to amusement. as to intrigue. One day they were talking together and laughing at the amorous Cardinal. ‘ He's desperately in love, madame,’ said the confidant, ‘and I don‘t know anything he would not do to please your Majesty. Shall I send him one evening into your room dressed as a mountebank, and oblige him to dance the Saraband? If you wish it he will come.’ ‘ Folly! ' replied the Princess; but she was a woman, young, high—spirited, and fond of fun. The idea of such a sight struck her as entertaining. She took her friend at her word, who at once went to the Cardinal. The great. Minister, although he had all the affairs of Europe in his head, still had his heart full of love. He accepted the strange assignation, already thinking himself assured of his conquest. But it happened otherwise. Boccau [a famous musician], who played the violin, was sent for. He was told to keep the secret—but are such secrets ever kept? and it was through him that the circumstances became known. Richelieu was attired in green velvet pantaloons, with garters ornamented with silver bells; he held castanets in his hands, and danced the Saraband, which was played by Boccau—the lady spectators and Boccau being hidden behind a screen, from which the movements of the dancer were seen. They laughed immoderately. How could they do otherwise? as I, in my ﬁftieth year, am still laughing over it. Boccau gone, the Cardinal went through all the stages of a declaration. But the Princess

688

THE NINETEENTH CENTUR Y.

N0v.

1888 THE MEMOIRS OF THE COMTE DE BRIENNE. 689

Young Brienne, however, was not allowed to waste his best years

in these pastimes, and was sent to school. Though he candidly acknowledged that he preferred Court life, and even confesses that he had already begun to be corrupted by it, his subsequent career

gave ample proof that he was no idler.

He states that he learned

exterior accomplishments he secured the good graces ofthose who

The civil war continued, and the King, who was then in his

directed the education of the young King. Brienne passes very rapidly over the next eight years of his life, the period during which

Brienne took his oath to the Queen on his appointment as ASsistant

the troubles of the Fronde agitated France.

ously says, ‘ of kissing those beautiful hands.’

Three of these years,

Regent surrendered the government into his hands, began to evince a consciousness of his own position. Brienne relates that the Queen Regent, to amuse the young King, made him a present of a

I went up to him and saw that he cried, but not like

Secretary of State, and kissed hands, ‘never tiring,’ as he ingenu-

On the following

day, in a dress covered with gold, and wearing a sword, he stood

stration.

While on this subject he gives his version of an historic

6 90

THE NINETEENTH CENT UR Y.

N0v.

1888 THE MEMOIRS OF THE COMTE DE BRIENNE. 691

treated it all as buffoonery, and her contempt, seasoned with jests, so maddened the haughty prelate, that his love turned to hate. The Princess paid only too dearly for the pleasure she had derived from seeing his Eminence dance.

Brienne was intimately acquainted with Mazarin, and a consider-

From another source we learn that Mazarin spent several hours in the morning weighing in the scales the coin he had won the night before, so as to pay his losses on the next evening with the light money. High play now became the chief pastime of the French

able part of his memoirs is taken up with the time of Mazarin’s

Court, and, as we are aware, was imported into England by Charles

ascendency. Mazarin, it may he remembered, was born in the Abruzzi, in 1602. He was most anxious to establish his claim to noble

the Second and his courtiers.

birth, though tradition is probably correct in asserting that he was the grandson of a Sicilian artisan, and that his father was a confi— dential servant to Prince Colonna. However, Mazarin gave himself

“'e are told that Mdme. de Montespan

often lost 600,000 livres at a single sitting, and on Christmas day lost 4,200,000 livres. The Duchesse d’Orléans, mother of the Regent, writing from Versailles to her sister in the year 1695, gives a graphic

description of the gaming room :—

the airs of a patrician, though he led the life of an adventurer— sometimes a soldier, sometimes a priest, sometimes a diplomatist—

always on the alert for a favourable opening for his talents.

He had

the luck to meet at Casal, near Turin, Cardinal Richelieu, who was there settling some diplomatic question of importance. His success in a difﬁcult negotiation excited the admiration of Richelieu, who,

struck with the subtle and resourceful mind of the young diplomatist, as well as with his good looks, invited him to Paris. There he had a further opportunity of appreciating his intellectual gifts,

his patience, and his genius as a negotiator.

He procured )Iazarin

the cardinal‘s hat, and at his death, in 16-12, recommended him to the King as Prime Minister. It is well known that Anne of Austria awarded him not only her conﬁdence but her affection, so that it was even believed that she was secretly married to him~the union being rendered possible by the fact that Mazarin was a lay cardinal. His

diplomatic skill in arranging the Treaty of \Vestphalia in 1648, and that of the Pyrenees in 1650,jiistiﬁed Richelieu’s estimate of his special talents; while the weakness he displayed in the civil war,

IIere they do uothingbut play at lansquenet: the gamblers behavelike madmeu —one howls, one thumps so strongly on the table with his ﬁsts that the whole room vibrates, a third blasphemes in such a manner that it makes one's hair stand on end, and they all look so beside themselves that it is appalling to behold.

Brienne devotes many pages to an account of the magniﬁcent collection of works of art which Mazarin had amassed. Charles the First in England and )Iazarin in France may be said to have been the ﬁrst collectors in the modern sense of the word. The Cardinal

from his earliest youth had a craze for works of art.

When a young

man, while travelling in Italy, he bought a rosary for a few francs,

which its owner thought to be of glass, but which Mazarin recognised as made of precious stones, and sold it afterwards in France at an enormous profit. As he grew in power and wealth he increased his collection, and a splendid opportunity was afforded him for doing so in 1650, when the treasures of Charles the First were sold by Cromwell. He did not, however, avail himself of it immediately. He con— sidered that an extravagant value or reserve had been placed on the

and the confusion in which he involved the ﬁnances of the country, showed the restricted scope of his capacity as an administrator. Brienne, as Assistant-Secretary of State, was much in Mazarin’s com—

articles for sale. We can well gauge the difference in value both of

pany, and we are indebted to him for many details of the Cardinal’s character and private life. Brienne’s admiration of his fine figure and handsome countenance is qualified by the statement that ‘ the Cardinal was always profusely perfumed to disguise the natural result of his want of cleanliness.’ \Vith regard to his religious

wreck of Charles the First‘s galleries, were then valued at 300$.

Observances Brienne sarcastically observes :— I never saw him read his breviary, but he probably had a dispensation from Rome. He went to mass every day, which was something, but he was not scru-

pulous, and a plurality of beneﬁccs did not embarrass him.

works of art and of money in those days, when we hear that the famous cartoons of Raphael, one of the few things saved from the general Never (says Brienue) has any private individual gathered together more statues, vases, pictures, and carvings. Ilis rooms were hung with the ﬁnest tapestries of France, Spain, Italy, and Flanders. The King of Spain made him a present of a tapestry representing the Labour's of Hercules, made from a drawing of Titian, and all embroidered in gold. Louis de Here, the Spanish Ambassador, gave him excel— lent tapestries made at lh'uges, after a drawing of a pupil of Raphael. \Vhat tables and sideboards from Florence made in mosaic! \Vhat ﬁre-dogs made of silver! ‘Vhat crystal and ormolu chandeliers, gilt mirrors, and sconces !

He was fond of the

play, of ballets, and especially of gambling, to which he gave as much time as to the direction of affairs. He bore his losses too impatiently, and showed himself too sensitive about winning. He knew well how to manage his game, and generally took a croupier with him who played better than he did, as he was afraid to lose. Finally, he thought that, as all great gamblers had the reputation of cheating, he might do as others did, and, what he called in milder phrase, ‘take his advantage.’

Brienne, owing to his ofﬁcial position, often acted as secretary to

the Cardinal, and it is a proof of the young man’s intelligence that the Wily Minister showed him much conﬁdence. This intimacy enabled him to witness many strange and interesting scenes. In 1560, the year of the conclusion of the Treaty of the Pyrenees, and of the marriage of Louis the Fourteenth with the Infanta of Spain,

6 90

THE NINETEENTH CENT UR Y.

N0v.

1888 THE MEMOIRS OF THE COMTE DE BRIENNE. 691

Brienne was intimately acquainted with Mazarin, and a consider-

able part of his memoirs is taken up with the time of Mazarin’s

Court, and, as we are aware, was imported into England by Charles

ascendency. Mazarin, it may he remembered, was born in the Abruzzi, in 1602. He was most anxious to establish his claim to noble

the Second and his courtiers.

“'e are told that Mdme. de Montespan

description of the gaming room :—

the airs of a patrician, though he led the life of an adventurer— sometimes a soldier, sometimes a priest, sometimes a diplomatist—

always on the alert for a favourable opening for his talents.

He had

struck with the subtle and resourceful mind of the young diplomatist, as well as with his good looks, invited him to Paris. There he had a further opportunity of appreciating his intellectual gifts,

his patience, and his genius as a negotiator.

He procured )Iazarin

from his earliest youth had a craze for works of art.

When a young

man, while travelling in Italy, he bought a rosary for a few francs,

articles for sale. We can well gauge the difference in value both of

wreck of Charles the First‘s galleries, were then valued at 300$.

Observances Brienne sarcastically observes :— I never saw him read his breviary, but he probably had a dispensation from Rome. He went to mass every day, which was something, but he was not scru-

pulous, and a plurality of beneﬁccs did not embarrass him.

He was fond of the

Brienne, owing to his ofﬁcial position, often acted as secretary to

6 92

THE NINETEENTH CENT UR Y.

1888 THE MEMOIRS OF THE OOMTE DE BRIENNE. 693

N0v.

when Brienne was twenty-ﬁve years of age, the Cardinal, as the result of his exertions, contracted the illness from which he died the follow-

ing year :— One day, as he was in bed, Anne of Austria came to inquire how he was.

‘Yery bad,’ he answered; and, without saying anything else, threw back the coverlet, pulled out his legs and showed them to the Queen.

‘ See, madame,’ said

he, ‘these legs have lost the rest which they gave to France.‘ They were so livid and lean that the good Queen could not help uttering a loud cry and shedding a few tears on seeing him in so deplorable a state. The health of his liniinence be— came weaker ever since then, and, in fact, the rest of his life was one long agony. Soon after this Iirienne writes :—

I was walking in the new apartment of his palace. when lheard, owing,r to the noise which his slippers made. that the (‘ardinal was coming. I hid myself behind the tapestry and I heard him speaking aloud. ‘ All 3 I must leave all this,Y and he halted at every step, he was so weak, looking on one side, then on the other. Glanciug at the articles which struck him most, he exclaimed. sighing from the bottom of his heart, ‘I must leave all this. I had so much trouble in acquiring these things, and I leave them with regret. I shall not see them any more where I am going to.‘ I sighed heavily, so that he heard me. ‘ “ho is there ?’ he said. ‘ It is I,’ I replied; ‘I was waiting here to speak to your Eminence of an important letter.’ ‘ Come,’ he said, in a piteous tone—he was only attired in a furer dressing— gown with a nightcap on his head. ‘ Give me your hand j. I am very weak.‘ He would not let me speak to him on lutsiness. ‘I am no longerin a tit state,‘ said he: ‘speak to the King, and do what he says. Look at this beautiful t‘orreggio, this Tenus by Titian, and this incomparable picture of the Flood by (‘zii-accio. I must leave all these. Adieu, my dear pictures, which I have liked so much, and which have cost me so much money! ’ . . . Four or ﬁve days before his death the Cardinal had himself shaved and his moustache curled. Ile was so thoroughly smothered with paint that he never looked so white and so pink. Ile then took a turn in the garden in his sedan chair, whereby he accelerated his death, which drew from the courtiers the heartless remark that ‘ a hypocrite he lived and a hypocrite he died.’

His magniﬁcent collection )[azarin offered to the King shortly before his death, but the latter would only accept the fourteen famous Mazarin diamonds, which remained among the French crown

jewels.

The greater portion of his effects went to the husband of

the pretence of destroyng them, then he had them secretly sold, and made about 2,000l. by the transaction. He laughingly said, ‘These Frenchmen are capital fellows—as long as they can sing and scribble they let me do what I like.’ A more agreeable trait of his character was that he would have no one unhappy about him. \Vhen any one was proposed to him for his household, his ﬁrst question would be ‘ Is he happy? ’ Pernicious as was the example he set to the King, by his avarice on the one hand and his prodigality on the other, still he taught the young monarch many a lesson in statecraft from which he was not slow to proﬁt. Brienne refers to the well-known story that after )Iazarin’s death, when the Archbishop of Rheims went to the King, and asked with whom he was in future to transact the

business of the clergy, the King replied, ‘ A moi, M. l’Archevéque.’ Whether he used these words or not, it is certain that from that very moment he took the helm of the State into his own hands. But neither his application to business nor his recent marriage precluded

him from falling in love with Louise de la Valliere, on whom young Brienne had himself cast an admiring eye. However, the instant he discovered the King‘s passion, in a thoroughly courtier—like manner,

he hastened to abandon all idea of her. During the next two years he enjoyed the favour and conﬁdence of the King, and among other particulars of the King‘s business habits he describes the Cabinet Councils as they were held by Mazarin, and by the King after his death 1* In )Iazai'in’s time these councils were held in his room While he was being shaved and dressed, and he often played with a bird or a. monkey while they were talking- to him on business. The young King used to come in when the council was over and receive a lesson in politics. . . . As soon as his Majesty had ordered his council we met once a week. It consisted of eight Ministers besides his Majesty. The King listened to 11s sitting, all the Ministers standing,the Chancellor on his left, close to the bed, the others standing wherever they could. The Secretaries of State stood while speaking to his Majesty, and if one had anything to write he sat on a stool at. the end of the table Where there was an inkstand and paper.

one of his nieces, who took the title of Due de Mazarin, and from

Immediately after this Brienne gives an account of one of the rare occasions on which Louis the Fourteenth lost his temper. It

whom the King bought sundry pictures which are still the chief

appears that the Spanish Ambassador in London had ordered his

ornaments of the Louvre. This same niece, the Duchesse de Mazarin, one of the famous beauties of the Court of Charles the Second, ended her days in London, while her husband, who was a maniac,

mutilated some of the Cardinal’s ﬁnest antique statues whose nudity offended him. Mazarin and Anne of Austria were the subject of the most scurrilous libels. Books of vile poems were published against the Queen, which may well have served as a pattern for those calumnies which were circulated against Marie Antoinette a hundred years later. Mazarin, with that peculiar cunning and avaricious character of his,

bad all the copies of the books attacking himself bought up under

chariot to take precedence by force of that of the French Ambas— sador:—This unpleasant news was brought to me by a special courier, from London, at eleven o‘clock at night. I went at once to see the King, who was slipping with the Queen, the Dowager Queen, and his brother. ‘ \Vhat's the news, Brienne P ’ he asked, and I related to him how the Spanish Ambassador’s servants had cut the traces of our Ambassador’s carriage, killed the postilion, and houghcd the horses. The King, without answering, rose from the table with such a movement- of rage that he almost knocked it over, and took me into the room of the Queen Dowager to hear the despatch. The Queen followed and begged him to ﬁnish his supper, but he only replied, ‘I have supped, madam l’ and then, turning to me, said, ‘I shall have satisfaction, or declare war against the King of Spain, and I shall then force him

6 92

THE NINETEENTH CENT UR Y.

1888 THE MEMOIRS OF THE OOMTE DE BRIENNE. 693

N0v.

when Brienne was twenty-ﬁve years of age, the Cardinal, as the result of his exertions, contracted the illness from which he died the follow-

ing year :— One day, as he was in bed, Anne of Austria came to inquire how he was.

‘Yery bad,’ he answered; and, without saying anything else, threw back the coverlet, pulled out his legs and showed them to the Queen.

‘ See, madame,’ said

His magniﬁcent collection )[azarin offered to the King shortly before his death, but the latter would only accept the fourteen famous Mazarin diamonds, which remained among the French crown

jewels.

The greater portion of his effects went to the husband of

one of his nieces, who took the title of Due de Mazarin, and from

Immediately after this Brienne gives an account of one of the rare occasions on which Louis the Fourteenth lost his temper. It

whom the King bought sundry pictures which are still the chief

appears that the Spanish Ambassador in London had ordered his

ornaments of the Louvre. This same niece, the Duchesse de Mazarin, one of the famous beauties of the Court of Charles the Second, ended her days in London, while her husband, who was a maniac,

bad all the copies of the books attacking himself bought up under

694

THE NINETEENTH GENTUR Y.

Nov

1888 THE MEMOIRS OF THE COMTE DE BRIENNE. 695

to make his Ambassadors give precedence to mine in every European Court.’ . . . I remained fully a quarter of an hour with the King, and, having received his orders, spent the Whole night writing, but did not fail to attend his levee in the morning.

instance, the daughter of the King’s brother, the Due of Orleans,

A special council was summoned for this affair, and eventually the King obtained from the King of Spain the reparation he demanded. It must be remembered that Louis was only in his twentyfourth year at this time, so that he already gave ample proof of his arrogant nature.

Precedence, rank, and etiquette were, however, in

these days matters of the first importance, not only in France, but in every European country. Louis the Fourteenth, in pursuance of his usual policy of self-exaltation, drew up a new code of etiquette, which filled several volumes. It had, it is true, the merit of settling dangerous and often sanguinary disputes, but it enslaved in a puerile manner every action of his life ; indeed, every hour of his day. The most rigid etiquette ruled the camp, as well as the Court, when the King took the field. Even during the hardships of a campaign, a marshal considered it a distinction of the highest order to be invited to sit at the King’s table. While at Paris no one, not even the Dauphin, was allowed to enjoy that privilege. Brienne says that

who married the Duke of Lorraine, when she came to Versailles was

never allowed to sit on anything higher than a footstool in the presence of her father and mother, though her mother was greatly attached to her. The sole object of all these rules was to augment the majesty of the King at the cost of the pride and standing of the nobility. The nobility had no option but to adopt them, and outwardly they adopted them cheerfully, for in some ways they pandered to their vanity, but behind the scenes they revenged themselves hy publishing satires at the expense of the dispenser of all these favours. It is not surprising that in the days preceding the Revolution the liberal-minded members of the aristocracy threw themselves heart and soul into the new movement, which promised them enfranchisement from this loathsome weight of subjection. Nor can it be wondered at that Marie Antoinette, fresh from the rural

simplicity of Schoenbrunn, should try to escape from her gilded prison at Versailles to the seclusion of the Petit Trianon, where

she could indulge in unconventional intercourse with her friends. So long as this pompous and puerile folly was overshadowed by the

during the years he served as Secretary of State he only twice shared the King’s supper. The ﬁrst time was on board a boat near Bordeaux. Having boasted tremendously of the distinction, he adds : ‘I didn’t eat next him, but at the sideboard off a dish from the King’s cadenas,

which he gave me with his own hand.’

military and personal grandeur of Louis the Fourteenth, it was tole— rated by public opinion; but under the levity of Louis the Fifteenth, and the effeteness of his successor, it became unbearable and inexcusable. Yet, again, the entire fabric of the French Monarchy had

These Garlands were cases of become so obsolete towards the end of the last century, that its

gold or silver, containing the small plate which only the King and Queen and some few princes of the blood were allowed to use. Originally adopted as a precaution against poison they were fastened

with a padlock—hence the name. An extract from the ‘ Code of Rights,’ mentioned above, will show how the most minute details of the King’s life were provided for in his elaborate scheme of

prestige rested only upon these trivial Observances, and it sustained irreparable damage even from these acts of Marie Antoinette, which

tended towards bringing royalty down to the level of ordinary mortality. The wastefulness of the Court, and the multiplicity of useless ofﬁces maintained down to the time of Louis the Sixteenth, were

etiquette :— \Vhen the King left his bed it was ordained that the Great Chamberlain, or the First Gentleman, or the First Lord in \V'aiting, or some other great dignitary, should put on his dressing-gown, which the ﬁrst valet dc chambre should hold. When the King received his shirt, which was always given by the First Prince, of the Blood, the ﬁrst va ct de chambre assisted him in putting on the right sleeve, While the groom of the stole assisted him with the left.

When the King went to bed the same forms were observed, and it was of the very highest importance that the ﬁrst valet dc chambre should unfasten his left garter, though we are not told whose duty it was to perform that ofﬁce for the right one. The Queen, in this respect, was more fortunate than her consort, as we are distinctly

assured she was allowed to unfasten her own garters. To enhance the effect of these regulations, it will be seen the King arranged that those ofﬁcers who came nearest his person should have the highest position and precedence. In practice these rules of etiquette had results contrary to all natural feeling as well as sentiment. For

another prime source of public discontent and disaffection. Among the minor oﬁ‘ices established during the reign of Louis the Fourteenth, in the household of the younger princes of the blood, were, for instance, ‘ four overseers of the roast meat,’ ‘one chafewax,’ ‘ four

barbers,’ ‘ one doctor and two valets to the pages,’ ‘ a captain of the greyhounds,’ and many others equally absurd, to which high salaries were attached, of course, at the cost of the country. Brienne touches very little on politics, and, when he alludes to

the visits of the King to the Parlement, dwells chieﬂy on the magniﬁcence of his own attire on such occasions. His omission to give us an account of the famous scene which was enacted in the Parlement in the year 1655, when Louis the Fourteenth was in his eighteenth year, is to be regretted.

Numerous and conﬂicting versions of that

scene are to be found in contemporary memoirs. Louis the Fourteenth is supposed to have arrived from the Forest of Vincennes, and entered the Parlement in his hunting costume, with a whip in his

694

THE NINETEENTH GENTUR Y.

Nov

1888 THE MEMOIRS OF THE COMTE DE BRIENNE. 695

instance, the daughter of the King’s brother, the Due of Orleans,

Precedence, rank, and etiquette were, however, in

who married the Duke of Lorraine, when she came to Versailles was

simplicity of Schoenbrunn, should try to escape from her gilded prison at Versailles to the seclusion of the Petit Trianon, where

she could indulge in unconventional intercourse with her friends. So long as this pompous and puerile folly was overshadowed by the

which he gave me with his own hand.’

These Garlands were cases of become so obsolete towards the end of the last century, that its

gold or silver, containing the small plate which only the King and Queen and some few princes of the blood were allowed to use. Originally adopted as a precaution against poison they were fastened

with a padlock—hence the name. An extract from the ‘ Code of Rights,’ mentioned above, will show how the most minute details of the King’s life were provided for in his elaborate scheme of

prestige rested only upon these trivial Observances, and it sustained irreparable damage even from these acts of Marie Antoinette, which

Numerous and conﬂicting versions of that

scene are to be found in contemporary memoirs. Louis the Fourteenth is supposed to have arrived from the Forest of Vincennes, and entered the Parlement in his hunting costume, with a whip in his

Nov.

697 1888 THE MEMOIRS OF THE COMTE DE BRIENNE.

The Parlement had expressed a wish to revise a ﬁnancial

d by a were then so illiterate, that they each had to be assiste

696

THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

hand.

decree it had registered, and the King is declared to have said :—~

councillor or lawyer, who, in time, took their place in the

Every one knows the misfortunes that have been caused by the discussions of llarlement. I intend to prevent these for the future, and I order that the discusSIODS shall cease which began on the edicts you have registered. )I. le President I forbid you to allow these deliberations to continue, and you, gentlemen to ask fof

ble. and superseded the ecclesiastics, who were rendered ineligi royal the of ers minist and rs founde the These lawyers became authority. They were recruited from the middle classes, and eventu rights the them, assert to unable were they gh ally proclaimed, althou of the people. The French Parlement destroyed the authority of the barons by centralising the administration of justice, and by performing its judicial functions in the King‘s name and in his interest. Thus, while in England the assembly of barons at Runnymede was h the forerunner of the establishment of popular liberty, the Frenc

them.

r‘

( IV

On being remonstrated with that these deliberations were ‘for the wood of

the State,’ he answered, ‘ L’etat c’est moi ! ’

In those days there were no shorthand writers, and we may assume

that this epigram, if not actually invented for him, was very much improved by some admirer of the young monarch. Mazarin was then at the zenith of his power, and the King was still his obedient instrument.

However, if he did not use these words, he might have

done so, as he acted only too well up to their purport. An amusinovariant of this story is related of a very much later day—in factD within the last‘ few years.

A certain young lady was summoned

before a legal tribunal in Paris on a charge of having displayed too much action in her dancing at the Bal de l’Opéra. She presented herself before the judge with a most demure air, and was interrogated by him. ‘ “'hat is your name ? ’ he asked. ‘ Anastasie,’ she replied. ‘ Your age?’ ‘ Eighteen} ‘ Your profession—votre etat ? ’ he added sarcastically. Anastasie was for a moment nonplnsscd by the

peremptoriness of the question, but, casting down her eyes, twirled a handsome diamond ring on her ﬁnger and adjusted a small velvet

cloak on her shoulders as she answered boldly, ‘ L'ctat c‘est moi l’ The tribunal and the court lost their gravity at this unexpected answer, and Mademoiselle Anastasie was acquitted forthwith. The Par-lement which Louis treated in this fashion had, of course nothing but the name in common with the English Parliament: Until its abolition in 1790, it was, strictly speaking, a judicial body

and combined the functions of all the law courts of the realm.

The,

King in France always was and always remained the supreme foun-

tain-head of justice for the whole kingdom. Ile merely delegated those functions to a council, nominated by him, and in no way representing the people. From the very earliest days of the French Monarchy, when there was still a great confusion of supreme powers

there existed political assemblies which dealt with the affairs of the: State. Amongst these was the King’s Council, which administered justice in his name.

That council, the Cnria Dominis Regis, gradually

grew into a Parlement, whilst the national assemblies in time became merged in the States General. The Parlement consisted originally

Parlement,

ment

I’arlement, as it grew into shape, became the strongest instru

of the King's authority. \Ve have the opinion of Machiavelli that ‘the Parlement was the strength of the Kings of France.’ The Kings of France established the formality of having their laws and decrees registered by the Parlement. In 1527 Francis the First submitted to the I’arlement the Treaty of Madrid, which he had signed when in captivity in the preceding year, and then declared, because the I’arlement refused to register it, that it was null and void. This was merely a convenient excuse for breaking his oath. d At the same time, this formality of registration could not be effecte sm,

without discussion, and it led inevitably to the examination, critici

and even the vetoing occasionally, by refusing to register, of the King’s decrees. Thus during the religious wars of the sixteenth century the Parlement took a creditable part in favour of religious liberty. Henry the Second soon put a stop to this by imprisoning ﬁve or six councillors and sending one to the stake. Richelieu was not the kind of man to brook the independence of any public body. When the Par— lement refused to register one of the royal decrees, the Cardinal sent for the magistrates, and made them listen on their knees, while, having torn up their decrees, he dictated another in which be condemned their boldness for having dared to oppose him. They revenged themselves by refusing for eighteen months to register the Letters Patent of the French Academy which Richelieu had instituted. Adate in the history of the Parlenient of interest to Englishmen

was March 17, 1713, which witnessed the registration of the Act of Renunciation of the Throne of Spain after the. Wars of the Succes— sion. The Peace of Utrecht, which was actually signed a. month later,

could not be concluded until this formality had been complied with. The Due de Berri, the grandson of Louis the Fourteenth, and

of the great feudatories, bishops, and great ofﬁcers of the Crown, and for

the Due d’Orléans, the future Regent, were both present, with the dukes and peers of the realm. The poor young Due de Berri had to

the: ﬁrst time, in 1344, it was thoroughly organised by the King, who ﬁxed the number of its members. These included three presidents seventy—eight councillors, thirty-four ecclesiastics, and forty—four lay:

deliver a speech which he had learned by heart, but when the time came he could only utter the word ‘Monsieur’ which he did four

men.

In time the number was considerably increased.

Noblemen

times in succession.

On his return home, he fell into an arm—chair

crying out that he was dishonoured. Von. XXIV—No. 141.

‘ They have only thought of 3 B

Nov.

697 1888 THE MEMOIRS OF THE COMTE DE BRIENNE.

The Parlement had expressed a wish to revise a ﬁnancial

d by a were then so illiterate, that they each had to be assiste

696

THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

hand.

decree it had registered, and the King is declared to have said :—~

councillor or lawyer, who, in time, took their place in the

them.

r‘

( IV

On being remonstrated with that these deliberations were ‘for the wood of

the State,’ he answered, ‘ L’etat c’est moi ! ’

In those days there were no shorthand writers, and we may assume

However, if he did not use these words, he might have

done so, as he acted only too well up to their purport. An amusinovariant of this story is related of a very much later day—in factD within the last‘ few years.

A certain young lady was summoned

peremptoriness of the question, but, casting down her eyes, twirled a handsome diamond ring on her ﬁnger and adjusted a small velvet

and combined the functions of all the law courts of the realm.

The,

King in France always was and always remained the supreme foun-

there existed political assemblies which dealt with the affairs of the: State. Amongst these was the King’s Council, which administered justice in his name.

That council, the Cnria Dominis Regis, gradually

grew into a Parlement, whilst the national assemblies in time became merged in the States General. The Parlement consisted originally

Parlement,

ment

I’arlement, as it grew into shape, became the strongest instru

without discussion, and it led inevitably to the examination, critici

could not be concluded until this formality had been complied with. The Due de Berri, the grandson of Louis the Fourteenth, and

of the great feudatories, bishops, and great ofﬁcers of the Crown, and for

the Due d’Orléans, the future Regent, were both present, with the dukes and peers of the realm. The poor young Due de Berri had to

deliver a speech which he had learned by heart, but when the time came he could only utter the word ‘Monsieur’ which he did four

men.

In time the number was considerably increased.

Noblemen

times in succession.

On his return home, he fell into an arm—chair

crying out that he was dishonoured. Von. XXIV—No. 141.

‘ They have only thought of 3 B

698

THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

Nov.

1888 THE MEMOIRS OF THE COMTE DE BRIENNE. 699

stultifying me, and of scheming to smother what I might have become. I was a younger son—they were afraid of the consequences. They have annihilated me! I was only taught to play and hunt, and they have succeeded in making me a brute, an incapable. This pathetic incident affords a painful proof of the principles on which the education of the princes of the day proceeded. The nearest approach to the British Parliament among the insti— tutions of France, the States General, were a distinctly political body, comprising delegates from the nobility, the clergy, and the commons.

Brienne in his prison, states in his memoirs that he never went to see him without being delighted with his conversation; speaks of the magniﬁcent collection of prints he had gathered, of his skill in drawing and playing the piano, and even of some religious poems he wrote, as well as novels. On his release from prison he lived in

The States General dates from the most dim and distant past of

French history, when there were assemblies of freemen who discussed

retirement until his death in 1698.

Brienne never mentions Louis

the Fourteenth but with the greatest respect and admiration. In the very last pages of his memoirs he praises his wisdom, his moderation, his patience, whilst always eulogising the King’s sense of dignity. He

relates how on one occasion the Dutch Ambassador spoke to the King in a public audience with his hat on his head :—

national questions, and were not unlike the VVitenagemote of Saxon

times. They were often summoned in the earlier times of the French monarchy; but when, under Richelieu, a compact, united, and civilised France bowed its will before a firmly established ruler, the King naturally shirked calling together a body which might infringe his authority, so that from the year 1614 the States General were never convened until the fatal days of 1789. However, to return to Brienne. We have seen that Brienne at the age of twentyeight enjoyed the confidence of the King, as well as a great political position. For some unaccountable reason—sand Brienne glances very lightly over this critical period in his career in his own memoirs, while other writers fail to enlighten us sufficiently on the subject —he suddenly fell into disgrace. It has been proved that his passion for gambling induced him to ‘take his advantage,’ as his patron Mazarin put it, at cards. But that would hardly have been a sufficient reason, in those lax times, for his expulsion from Court.

Another suggestion is that the King entertained a lurking jealousy on the subject of Brienne’s passion for Louise de la Valliere. At any rate, Brienne sold his ofﬁce to M. de Lionne for 900,000 livres, having

refused double the sum for it on a previous occasion. Shortly after— wards he lost his wife, and entered a religious congregation, where he qualified for the first step in the priesthood; but he soon changed his mind, returned to society, and gave up his time to the cultivation of poetry and art. This led him into a course of dissipation, which so angered his family and the King that he had to leave the country. He went to Germany, and found an asylum at the Court of the Duke of Mecklenburg, with whose wife he is alleged to have carried on an intrigue. History is very obscure on these points, but, whether on the ground first stated, or any other, he was recalled to France, and

at once imprisoned at St. Lazare under the pretext of lunacy.

was conﬁned there for eighteen years; and, considering that his

memoirs were written during that period, that they display great lucidity of mind, and the most perfect recollection of events and even conversations of a period long before, the charge of insanity must be discarded. The Abbé de Choisy, who was often allowed to visit

‘ You speak very proudly,’ says the King, ‘ M. l’Ambassadeur.

Another King,

less patient, would order you to be thrown out of the Window.7

\Vithout giving

him time to answer, Louis turned to me and said, ‘ Complain to his master by my Ambassador.’ The Dutchman changed colour and took off his hat. I followed the King into his study, and he said, ‘That brewer of beer is iiisolent.’ ‘Certainly, sire,’ I replied; ‘ I had a mind to throw his hat down at your .feet.’ ‘ l'ou would have done wrong, Brienne. He shall pay for the sneer, or I Will show him who is

master.’ This was the cause of the treaty of commerce with Holland being broken off. On another occasion, when I was young and thoughtless, I was galloping behind the King in the gardens of St. Germain. I was riding on a ﬁery mare, and, being hit by the Due de Joyeuse, I cannoned against the King’s horse, and he was inuch shaken. I threw myself on the ground, and begged his pardon, and seeing me in that position, he merely said, ‘Another time don’t gallop so'close behind me. Get up. It was the Dukes fault.’ He gave me his hand, which I never kissed so ardently, often as I had done so before and after.

Whether it was the outcome of an aristocratic reverence for the King, or of the consciousness of guilt, Brienne, in the course of his memoirs, never displays the least irritation against him. Every page

of his book glows with admiration for the sovereign with whom he was associated in the most brilliant epoch of his life. Louis the Fourteenth, especially in his earlier years, had the faculty of inspiring those with whom he came into contact with a boundless admiration. To estimate fairly his character, we should not forget the chivalrous Prince of the days of Louise de la Valliére in the infatuated and intolerant tyrant of those of Madame de Maintenon. We must remember, as well, that from the very remotest era of the French Monarchy, the

King was looked upon as the incarnation of France.

As far back as

the year 1346, when after the battle of Cregy, Philip the Sixth ﬂed for

his life, and sought refuge at the Castle of Broyes, he replied to its governor, who asked ‘Who is there?’ ‘Open your gates to the fortune of France!’ These words are redolent of the whole spirit of French history. The King was always considered, and actually was, the fortune of France,’ and down to Louis the Fourteenth the power and glory of France were identiﬁed with the personality of the king. Louis, with a thorough knowledge of the character of his people, utilised this sentiment for the advancement of his own ends and the 3132

698

THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

Nov.

1888 THE MEMOIRS OF THE COMTE DE BRIENNE. 699

The States General dates from the most dim and distant past of

French history, when there were assemblies of freemen who discussed

retirement until his death in 1698.

Brienne never mentions Louis

relates how on one occasion the Dutch Ambassador spoke to the King in a public audience with his hat on his head :—

national questions, and were not unlike the VVitenagemote of Saxon

at once imprisoned at St. Lazare under the pretext of lunacy.

was conﬁned there for eighteen years; and, considering that his

‘ You speak very proudly,’ says the King, ‘ M. l’Ambassadeur.

Another King,

less patient, would order you to be thrown out of the Window.7

\Vithout giving

King was looked upon as the incarnation of France.

As far back as

the year 1346, when after the battle of Cregy, Philip the Sixth ﬂed for

Nov.

1888 THE MEMOIRS OF THE OOMTE DE BRIENNE. 701

gratification of his own vanity, while not neglecting their interests. On his accession, the one great obstacle to the unity and pacification of the country was the power of the feudal chiefs, for whose influence we can only find a parallel in England in the days of the Plantagenets.

to draw up instructions to his ambassadors and generals, listened to every grievance and every observation, and formed his own sagaCious and common—sense conclusions. It is strange—and Brienne corrobo-

700

THE NINETEENTH CENT UR Y.

rates their opinion—that all the historical records of the seventeenth

In times of foreign war, the nobility patriotically stood by the king; but when the country was at peace abroad, France was perpetually disturbed by their pretensions and intrigues. Their ﬁnal subjection,

century are unanimous in asserting his want of education—in fact,

which Richelieu had begun by sanguinary means, Louis completed in

and powerful intellect, a tenacity of purpose—which amply atoned

a more diplomatic manner. Admirably qualiﬁed for the profession of an autocrat, enthusiastic yet dignified, gracious yet reserved,

for his lack of book learning.

despotic yet courteous, he invested the throne with a hitherto He made the favours he alone could bestow the

the point gives indisputable proof. ‘ They could not knowhim, he said, ‘ as there is sufﬁcient material in him to make four kings and

most coveted objects of ambition, but prevented these favours from sinking into contempt by making prowess in the ﬁeld the road to

the best evidence is an honest man.’ Of these abilities, however, . . , . . . in Louis s own hand, written notes, of volumes Six [contained in the

the highest preferment.

which are deposited in the National Library in Paris. When only twenty-three years of age, the period at which he assumed the personal management of affairs, and when he was, to all outward appearance, engrossed by Court entertainments, he began to make daily notes of his chief actions, to discuss them, and preserve them,

unknown glamour.

By this means he inspired the nobility with

a desire for military glory and a spirit of emulation which found expression in many deeds of bravery. Thus we read in Brienne that the Prince de Condé and Villeroi, while still young men,were attack--

ing the fortress of Dole, the capital of the Franche Comte, and were sitting in the trenches, when the Prince remarked to his subaltern officer that neither of their fathers had distinguished himself in the: late campaign. ‘Marquis,’ said he, ‘we must here vindicate the. honour of your father and mine I ’ The trench was a dangerous one

to pass; the attack was hot and sanguinary. Villeroi, who was commanding a regiment, was the ﬁrst to pass, and, reaching the summit of the bastion, he cried down to Prince de Condé, ‘My father is satisﬁed; what says yours?’ ‘ \Ve shall try that he too will be content,’ answered the Prince, laughing, in the thick of the

ﬁght; and in a moment he too was on the rampart. The most exalted order in France—the Saint-Esprit—he gave only to those who had borne arms at one time or another. Brienne tells us, not without much heartburning, that it was withheld from his father because he had only distinguished himself in civil employ— ment.

But if Louis, for reasons of policy, refused to grant this order

except for military services, there was scarcely any other favour which those who were in his good graces could not command. A striking instance of this is afforded by an experience of the Marquis de Cavoye, one of his favourites, who desired to buy some land adjoining his garden, which the owner refused to sell.

The King, on hearing

of the refusal, peremptorily bought the land himself, and presented it to the Marquis. By such despotic exercises of his authority he strengthened his hold on the allegiance of the nobles. And at a time while dazzling his Court and people with shows of unexampled magniﬁcence, while indulging in carrousels, ballets, festivities, and pompous representations of all kinds, be displayed a most remarkable capacity for work, found leisure to peruse the reports he received, and

his positive ignorance of elementary subjects. But he possessed great (natural gifts—perception of character, administrative ability, a lucrd That Mazarin recognised early 1115

great capacities, his reply to some one who expressed a doubt upon

as a means of educating his son in the art of reigning. ‘ Empires, he says, ‘can only be preserved in the same manner as they are

acquiredﬁby vigour, vigilance, and labour.’

The Dauphin proﬁted

very little by his father’s instructions. An insigniﬁcant man 111‘ all respects, his time was spent in hunting and gambling, occupations

which he occasionally varied by an essay in the ﬁeld of gallantry. In this latter pursuit he once, at least, received a check which must have been a rare experience. He was anxious to purchase a small but beautiful chateau in the neighbourhood of Versailles, the property of a convent, and which he intended as a residence for his mistress. The Abbess, learning his object, had the chateau sum.marily razed to the ground, as the only effectual way of defeating it. The King, we are told, was for some time uncertain whether to be angry at the rebuke administered to his son, or to admire the independence and rectitude of the Abbess. Admiration ultimately . prevailed. To its end Louis the Fourteenth’s life was full of ‘V’igour, vigilance, and labour ;= but the adulation which he received, the

long term of an autocratic rule which he never relaxed, his faith in the doctrine of divine right which induced him to believe himself .almost superhuman, warped his judgment and demoralised his nature, while they destroyed the self-respect and independence of the nobles, .and widened the chasm between them and the middle classes. Louis the Fourteenth, in his efforts to establish his throne on the :securest foundation, was, in fact, the ﬁrst great leveller of French

institutions, and a pioneer of the French Revolution. The second half of his reign contrasts so painfully with the ﬁrst that we turn

Nov.

1888 THE MEMOIRS OF THE OOMTE DE BRIENNE. 701

700

THE NINETEENTH CENT UR Y.

rates their opinion—that all the historical records of the seventeenth

century are unanimous in asserting his want of education—in fact,

which Richelieu had begun by sanguinary means, Louis completed in

and powerful intellect, a tenacity of purpose—which amply atoned

a more diplomatic manner. Admirably qualiﬁed for the profession of an autocrat, enthusiastic yet dignified, gracious yet reserved,

for his lack of book learning.

despotic yet courteous, he invested the throne with a hitherto He made the favours he alone could bestow the

the point gives indisputable proof. ‘ They could not knowhim, he said, ‘ as there is sufﬁcient material in him to make four kings and

most coveted objects of ambition, but prevented these favours from sinking into contempt by making prowess in the ﬁeld the road to

the best evidence is an honest man.’ Of these abilities, however, . . , . . . in Louis s own hand, written notes, of volumes Six [contained in the

the highest preferment.

unknown glamour.

By this means he inspired the nobility with

But if Louis, for reasons of policy, refused to grant this order

The King, on hearing

his positive ignorance of elementary subjects. But he possessed great (natural gifts—perception of character, administrative ability, a lucrd That Mazarin recognised early 1115

great capacities, his reply to some one who expressed a doubt upon

as a means of educating his son in the art of reigning. ‘ Empires, he says, ‘can only be preserved in the same manner as they are

acquiredﬁby vigour, vigilance, and labour.’

The Dauphin proﬁted

very little by his father’s instructions. An insigniﬁcant man 111‘ all respects, his time was spent in hunting and gambling, occupations

institutions, and a pioneer of the French Revolution. The second half of his reign contrasts so painfully with the ﬁrst that we turn

702

THE NINETEENTH CENT UR Y.

how

1890

803

with relief to memoirs like those of Brienne, where we see him in

his halcyon period. These memoirs remained in the keeping of Brienne’s descendants, and would have been published by the Cardinal de Loménie, Finance Minister of Louis the Sixteenth, but for the troubles of the Revolution. As a Minister, the Cardinal made

himself so hated by the people that they burned him in efﬁgy and called him the Cardinal de l’Ignominie; as a priest he disgraced him— self by taking the oath to the Civil Constitution of the Clergy. Pro— scribed by Robespierre, he was sent to prison, where he died in 1794,

77/15 COM? Y5 / V5 (fl/58d1’tLVT.

it is supposed, by his own hand. He was an unfortunate member of a not altogether fortunate family. li‘mmixirxn RornscniLD.

01" late, owing possibly to the celebration of the centenary of the Revolution, an abundance of literature relating to the last decades

of the French eighteenth century has flooded the book—market, throwing into the shade the not less instructive, though less sensa— tional, era which comprised the reign of Louis the Fifteenth. Every reader is tolerably familiar with the celebrities of that reign, but it is not the least remarkable feature of the time that its minor nota— bilities played an important, if unconscious, part in precipitating the events of 1789, and should be remembered, because of the strange and striking example they afford of the character and customs of a system which brought upon itself such a tragic dissolution. To M. .lules Cousin we are indebted for a curious and valuable sketch of the life of the Comte de Clermont, which has remained comparatively unknown. It was printed, so the author tells us, on good paper, and in fine type, but the issue was limited, so that

it might minister to the enjoyment of bibliophiles alone. Hf his hero the Comte de Clermont it must be confessed that, though of illustrious birth, he was not an illustrious personage in the other and more creditable sense of the word, and perhaps his memory would he better served by being ignored—ea remark which, however, might apply with greater force to many of his more eminent contemporaries whose higher responsibility enhanced their guilt.

He was the great—grandson of the great Prince de Condc and Mlle. de Nantes, a legitimised daughter of Louis the Fourteenth and Mme. de Montespan, and third son of the Due de Bourbon, and was born in 1709, a memorable date in French history.

France had

not been in such straits since 1420, when by the Treaty of Troyes Henry of Lancaster was made regent and heir to her throne. Her military power was humbled, her trade and commerce were paralysed by religious persecution and half a century of those wars which Louis the Fourteenth sorrowfully admitted on his deathbed he had loved too passionately. Decimated on the battleﬁeld abroad, and by famine at home, and oppressed by the wanton exercise of seignorial rights, the people were suffering indescribable misery. The various branches of the administration were thrown out of gear by the absolutism of a

702

THE NINETEENTH CENT UR Y.

how

1890

803

with relief to memoirs like those of Brienne, where we see him in

77/15 COM? Y5 / V5 (fl/58d1’tLVT.

it is supposed, by his own hand. He was an unfortunate member of a not altogether fortunate family. li‘mmixirxn RornscniLD.

01" late, owing possibly to the celebration of the centenary of the Revolution, an abundance of literature relating to the last decades

France had

8 04

THE NINETEENTH CENT UR Y.

May

1890

THE OOMTE DE CLERMONT.

805

despot who was past the age to correct the abuses which his arrogance, his egotism, and his bigotry had caused. Nevertheless, all classes of the population submitted to the tyranny of Louis the Four-

ated by them, that the premature deaths of the lineal descendants of the sovereign were laid to his charge, and at the funeral of the

teenth, and seemed to endure with indifference the scandals of the Regency and the profligacy of Louis the Fifteenth.

crowd.

It should be borne in mind that liberty of the subject, equality before the law, and religious toleration were then as unknown in

France as they are now in Russia; and it required all the vices and the long misrule of Louis the Fifteenth, and the growth of enlightenment and learning, to efface the glamour which the glory of the seventeenth century still shed on the darkening shadows of the eighteenth; and to dispel the idolatrous belief in the divine attri— butes of the king with which Louis the Fourteenth had saturated the whole of Europe.

‘ Unquestionably there are certain functions,” were

the words which he had written for the instruction of the dauphin, ‘in which taking the place of God we seem to participate in His knowledge as well as in His authority. . . . Exercising on earth an entirely divine function, we must try to appear incapable of the agitations which can detract from it. . . . Everything that exists in our state, of whatever nature it may he, belongs to us; the coin which is in our cash-box, that which is in the hands of the treasury, or that which we grant to the trade of our people.’ For some time these demoralising and corroding principles had been silently, but surely, undermining the old order of things. Their effects became manifest in 171.3, when, on the death of Louis

the Fourteenth, a cry of relief went. up through the land, and the man who had been deified in his lifetime was spoken of as a good riddance the moment he was gone. The country was secured by the Peace of Utrecht from all external danger, but was thoroughly exhausted, and longed for a rest of which it could never be certain

while the breath remained in the old king.

()f the great statesmen,

warriors, and writers whom he had honoured, none were left to

mourn the sovereign who had ended his days in a gloomy and priestridden court, or to assist his successor with their experience.

A new

generation had sprung up that had long chafed under severe restraint, and on the death of the monarch who had kept it in subjection broke into the most extravagant license with all the recklessness of youth and the vivacity of its race. On the throne sat a child of five, surrounded by a host of legitimate and legitimised princes and princesses, who had inherited all the arrogance, but none of the commanding qualities, of their blood,

and used their position solely for the furtherance of their personal ends, and in utter contempt of the commonweal. The Duo d’Orleans was regent by right of birth, but during the last years of the previous reign he had been kept back in disgrace by the influence of the legitimised children of the king. So artfully had he been calumni—

Duke of Burgundy he was nearly torn to pieces by the infuriated

(tne of the first acts of the new government was to annul

by parliamentary decree the will of Louis the Fourteenth, and to

order that the legitimised princes should lose their royal rank and be ineligible for the succession to the throne. For the ﬁrst time in French history the royal authority was represented in the State documents as a mandate, so that there was no longer any question of its sacred origin or inviolable character.

The nation, under this

new dispensation, had the right. to dispose of itself, the monarchy being regarded as a mere contract, which the contracting parties had the right to revoke. In this manner the first step was taken towards the revolution.

Such was the state of affairs during the infancy of the Comte de Clermont. As a younger son he was condemned by the prevailing system of primogeniture to forego his share of the ancestral inherits ance, and was marked out for the Church from his birth. The hard— ship of his lot, however, was not as great as might. be supposed.

France was studded with monasteries and convents, possessing rich endowments, the wealthiest of which were exclusively reserved for the benefit of the nobility. Remiremont and Fontevrault, the former situated in the Vosges, the latter near the Loire, were two small principalities whose abbeys enjoyed a splendid income, position, and privileges. To be admitted into the chapter of Remiremont, an unblemished ancestry extending over two centuries was essential, and when the daughter of Gaston d’Orléans, brother of Louis the Thirteenth, expressed the desire to become its abbess, she was refused, on the ground that the house of Bourbon, by its alliance with the

Medici, had derogated from its position. Fontevrault had ﬁve churches, its possessions and authority extended over four provinces, and it boasted of forty—ﬁve priories. Of its abbess, who in default of a legitimate, had at least to be an illegitimate princess of France, it was said that she wielded not a crozier, but a sceptre. But it should not be forgotten that there were two kinds of abbes in France the clerical and the lay abbé. The needy offspring of a wide-spreading aristocracy, the «Me (cu pctit 0011815, had nothing of the ecclesiastic about him but the garb, and used all the art at his

command to obtain the favour of the great ladies, and the patronage of the great nobles, to secure the reversion of a wealthy abbey en. cmmnemle, with whose religious duties he would have no concern, but whose revenues he could squander at his ease. These abbeys ea

conmnemlc were conferred by the king on lay clerics and by right, one—third of their revenue only could be appropriated by the abbé, while of the other two-thirds, one~third should go for alms and the

VOL. XXVIl.—No. 159.

3 F

8 04

THE NINETEENTH CENT UR Y.

May

1890

THE OOMTE DE CLERMONT.

805

despot who was past the age to correct the abuses which his arrogance, his egotism, and his bigotry had caused. Nevertheless, all classes of the population submitted to the tyranny of Louis the Four-

ated by them, that the premature deaths of the lineal descendants of the sovereign were laid to his charge, and at the funeral of the

teenth, and seemed to endure with indifference the scandals of the Regency and the profligacy of Louis the Fifteenth.

crowd.

It should be borne in mind that liberty of the subject, equality before the law, and religious toleration were then as unknown in

‘ Unquestionably there are certain functions,” were

while the breath remained in the old king.

()f the great statesmen,

warriors, and writers whom he had honoured, none were left to

mourn the sovereign who had ended his days in a gloomy and priestridden court, or to assist his successor with their experience.

A new

Duke of Burgundy he was nearly torn to pieces by the infuriated

(tne of the first acts of the new government was to annul

by parliamentary decree the will of Louis the Fourteenth, and to

The nation, under this

VOL. XXVIl.—No. 159.

3 F

8 06

THE NINETEENTH CENT UR Y.

May

repairs of the church, and the remaining third to the support of the religious community.

But lay cardinals, ministers, and princes of

the blood. asserted their claim to the same rights as the ecclesiastical abbes, and appropriated the whole income.

Cardinal Dubois drew

70,000Z. a year from his see, which he never visited once. The Abbe Terray, Finance Minister and Minister of Public \Vorks, built up a fortune at the public cost, which went chiefly into the pockets of the king’s favourites, and a conception can be formed of the magniﬁcence of the residence which he erected for himself in Paris, from

the fact that he spent 400,000 francs on his bed alone. The Cardinal de Bernis, the impecunious younger son of an illustrious family, owed his preferment, at the age of nineteen, to the charm of his manners

1890

THE CON/TE DE OLERMONT.

807

the Comte de Clermont‘s second brother has become historic, and of him the words of M. Lacretelle convey all that is needful. ‘The

Comte de Charolais became one of the vilest scoundrels of the day. He. began by murdering one of his servants whose wife he had been unable to seduce; and he shot a slater for the fun of seeing him roll

off the roof. Ile deserved the scaffold twenty times, and would have suffered on it had there been, under the monarchy, such a thing as

justice for a prince.‘ Of the princesses who adorned the house of Condé, Mdlle. dc Charolais—thc eldest, the brightest, and the most beautiful—signalised herself above her sisters by the levity of her conduct. From the diaries of the time we learn that, though she had the honour of

at fashionable supper parties. When he ﬁrst applied to Cardinal Fleury for a place, he was curtly told to wait, and that he had no-

preceding Mme. de Pompadour in the affections of Louis the Fif-

thing to expect in his lifetime. ‘ Well, then,I shall wait,‘ he rejoined

enumeration.

to the octogenarian minister; and he waited not in vain. Mme. de Pompadour, whom he had conciliated by his graceful verses, gave him

of devoutness, of which some diverting reminiscences are extant.

teenth, the number of her previous and subsequent intrigues deﬁes However, she varied them with an occasional attack

a pension and an apartment in the Tuileries, sent him as ambassador

One day fancying herself ill, and fearing that her last hour had struck, she cried out for the immediate assistance of a confessor, and a monk

to Venice, and then appointed him Minister for Foreign Affairs. How Bernis looked after the spiritual welfare of the many thousands

from a Capuchin monastery, who happened to be the nearest at hand, was brought to her bedside. On entering the apartment. of the

committed to his care, and who were ground down to provide him

princess the good friar was transfixed with admiration and awe, so

with his income, can easily be surmised. Many of the lay abbesses of France reflected as little dignity on the Church as their brethren the lay abbcs. One of the most,

that he dared neither move nor utter a word while the fair penitent unburthened herself of her lengthy narrative. At the end, making

remarkable of them was a daughter of the Regent, who, though

more notorious for her devotion to the Due de Richelieu than for

a low bow, and in a voice trembling with emotion, he muttered,

‘ Now perhaps her Highness will graciously permit me to give her absolution.’

any inclination to a monastic life, secured the removal of the reign—

For the advantage of these estimable relatives the Comte de

ing Abbess of Chelles in order to step into her place. In her capacity of Abbess she employed her time in hunting and shooting, arranging displays of ﬁreworks, and in giving ballets and balls. After the ceremony of her enthronement shc presided at a grand

Clermont was tonsured at the age of six, and was presented with half—

banquet with the Regent on one side and a nun on the other; when

the company had retired, the crowd was allowed to come in and scramble for the remains of the feast. In this way she showed her consideration for the poor. To this career the Comte de Clermont, the youngest of three brothers, was destined.

The eldest, the Due de Bourbon—«the father

of the Prince de Condé of the Emigration, and ancestor of the Due d'Enghien, Napoleon’s victim—became the nominal tutor of the young Louis the Fifteenth, and shortly afterwards Prime Minister. ]{e amassed a large fortune :in three years, and during his short administration he excelled by his venality and corruption, at a time when those Vices were the monopoly of his class.

Ilis successor,

Cardinal Fleury, sent him into exile, and though he was allowed to return, he had to abstain from interfering in politics. The infamy of

a-dozen cf the fattest abbeys in the land.

Some of these he after-

wards was made to exchange for the Abbey ca commcndc of St.Germain—des-Pres, a monastery of the Benedictines, the richest ecclesiastical beneﬁce of the kingdom. Besides a palace in Paris, the abbey owned the Chateau de Berny, on the Orleans road, and there Clermont passed the greater part of his life. Nominally he had his private apartments in the royal residences, but as these were often requisitioned without his permission for the use of distinguished visitors, he abstained from claiming them, and when he visited Versailles he found in the seclusion of a villa, in the Vicinity of the Parc aux Cerfs, a more congenial atmosphere and one more favourable to his pursuits.

Clermont lost his father a year after his birth, and was entrusted to the tuition of the Comte de Billy, an ofﬁcer in the Conde household, who became ﬁrst gentleman of his court, but died soon after

his appointment, leaving a son, whom Clermont adopted.

Of Cler—

mont’s education we have no special record, but we may gather that 3 F 2