with the minister: the fact all the time being, that the minister and she had previously settled the points in agitation. If, for instance, the matter in hand was a list of candidates for a particular employment, the minister went over the names until he came to the one Madame de Maintenon had previously consented to, and after balancing the merits of the various competitors, at last summed up in favour of the name he had stopped at. If the king preferred another, and was obstinate, he was led away from the subject; other things were started, and the appointment was brought upon the carpet at another interview, when in all probability the humour had shifted. If the minister rebelled against the female sway, he was lost; but if, on the other hand, he was adroit and obedient, Madame de Maintenon took care of his reward. "To a woman of De Maintenon's ambition, the declaration of her marriage must necessarily have been an object near to her heart. On two several occasions, she had so far succeeded with the king, that he was on the point of acknowledging her, and twice he was prevented: first, by the ardent solicitation of Louvois; and the second time, by the advice of Bossuet and Fénélon. Louvois was poisoned, and Fénélon disgraced. The Bishop of Meaux's authority with the king, the weight of his eloquence and character, and, more than all, the need of his services, prevented him from sharing the fate of the Archbishop of Cambray. "The death-bed of this extraordinary man was as fine a piece of acting as any other in his life: if anything could have gone deeper than the external surface of form and etiquette, assuredly it would have been the last agony. But Louis died as he had lived-with all the grace and decorum he loved in his brightest moments. His several addresses to his different friends and attendants, and lastly to his heir, were distinguished by that neatness and propriety for which he was famous: in fact, so studied and so perfect is the whole scene, as described in the faithful pages of Saint-Simon, that it produces the effect of a well-acted play, and may almost be said to be affecting. If the combined efforts of a nation of courtiers could ever raise a man out of humanity, it was done in the case of Louis le Grand : yet here he is, a dying god, on his bed, discovering, as the film comes across his physical sight, and at the same time drops from his intellectual vision, that his apotheosis has been a mistake. His only regret was, that he had neglected the interests of his subjects. His advice to the little dauphin (his great-grandson), not to build, not to make war, but to study the interests of his people, was as much as to say, "take the precisely opposite course which I myself have followed." He was long in dying: when he appeared at the worst, the courtiers deserted his apartments, and flocked about the Duke of Orleans, his successor as regent; when he rallied somewhat, the reaction was sudden and complete, and the duke was left for a whole day without a visit from a single individual.' Perhaps no man who ever sat upon a throne possessed greater power of doing good than Louis, yet no one with these advantages ever did greater mischief. His payment of bribes, or rather a sort of annual salary, to Charles II. of England, gave him no permanent power over this country; while in his warlike views he was completely set at nought by Marlborough. His revocation of the Edict of Nantes, which stamps everlasting infamy on his reign, led to the unforeseen result of making England the place of refuge of thousands of Protestants, the most industrious among his subjects, and whose knowledge of certain manufactures tended alike to enrich their adopted country, and impoverish that which they had left. While the example which he ostentatiously set of the wildest profligacy, had the effect of sapping the morals of his people, his extravagance in building palaces and laying out of pleasure-grounds, in his mode of living, and in his continual wars, exhausted the national resources, and laid the foundation of that misery and discontent which broke out in the Revolution of 1789. Till the present hour, France has not recovered from the deplorable prostration of morals and pecuniary exhaustion produced through his with the minister: the fact all the time be "To a woman of De Maintenon's ambition, the tion of her marriage must necessarily have been an near to her heart. On two several occasions, she } far succeeded with the king, that he was on the po acknowledging her, and twice he was prevented: fir the ardent solicitation of Louvois ; and the second tim the advice of Bossuet and Fénélon. Louvois was poiso and Fénélon disgraced. The Bishop of Meaux's authe with the king, the weight of his eloquence and charac and, more than all, the need of his services, preven him from sharing the fate of the Archbishop Cambray. "The death-bed of this extraordinary man was as fine piece of acting as any other in his life: if anything cou have gone deeper than the external surface of form and etiquette, assuredly it would have been the last agony. But Louis died as he had lived-with all the grace and decorum he loved in his brightest moments. His several addresses to his different friends and attendants, and lastly to his heir, were distinguished by that neatness a propriety for which he was famous: in fact, so stud and so perfect is the whole scene, as described in faithful pages of Saint-Simon, that it produces the eff a well-acted play, and may almost be said to be e with the minister: the fact all the time being, that the minister and she had previously settled the points in agitation. If, for instance, the matter in hand was a list of candidates for a particular employment, the minister went over the names until he came to the one Madame de Maintenon had previously consented to, and after balancing the merits of the various competitors, at last summed up in favour of the name he had stopped at. If the king preferred another, and was obstinate, he was led away from the subject; other things were started, and the appointment was brought upon the carpet at another interview, when in all probability the humour had shifted. If the minister rebelled against the female sway, he was lost; but if, on the other hand, he was adroit and obedient, Madame de Maintenon took care of his reward. "To a woman of De Maintenon's ambition, the declaration of her marriage must necessarily have been an object near to her heart. On two several occasions, she had so far succeeded with the king, that he was on the point of acknowledging her, and twice he was prevented: first, by the ardent solicitation of Louvois; and the second time, by the advice of Bossuet and Fénélon. Louvois was poisoned, and Fénélon disgraced. The Bishop of Meaux's authority with the king, the weight of his eloquence and character, and, more than all, the need of his services, prevented him from sharing the fate of the Archbishop of Cambray. "The death-bed of this extraordinary man was as fine a piece of acting as any other in his life: if anything could have gone deeper than the external surface of form and etiquette, assuredly it would have been the last agony. But Louis died as he had lived-with all the grace and decorum he loved in his brightest moments. His several addresses to his different friends and attendants, and lastly to his heir, were distinguished by that neatness and propriety for which he was famous: in fact, so studied and so perfect is the whole scene, as described in the faithful pages of Saint-Simon, that it produces the effect of a well-acted play, and may almost be said to be affecting. |