THE REAL LOUIS 
 THE FIFTEENTH 
 
 VOL. I
 
 LIB RARY J 
 
 THE REGENT QF THE ROUES. 
 
 with Seventeen Portraits. 
 
 Demy 8vo, cloth gilt, I6s. net. 
 
 ' ' This book, written in popular style to show — hut to 
 show truthfully — the romance of the period of eight years 
 before Louis XV. came to the throne, is in Colonel 
 Haggard's best vein. It is a romance in which women 
 take a chief part." — Daily Graphic. 
 
 " No better guide to the history of France after the 
 death of Louis XIV. could possibly be found than 
 the entertaining writer who so vividly pictured for us 
 the Grand Monarque and his satellites in ' Louis XIV. 
 in Court and Camp.' " — Manchester Courier.
 
 c^2^?-fA 
 
 '^^ Js:v
 
 T 
 
 HE REAL LOUIS 
 ^» THE FIFTEENTH 
 
 By Ueut.=Colonel ANDREW C. P. 
 HAGGARD. D.S.O. Auihor of " Side- 
 
 lights on the Court of France," " Louis XIV. 
 in Court and Camp," "The Regent of the 
 
 Roues," etc. 
 
 WITH 34 FULL-PAGE PORTRAITS . . 
 INCLUDING 2 PHOTOGRAVURE PLATES 
 
 Vol. I 
 
 London: HUTCHINSON 6 CO. 
 
 PATERNOSTER ROW # # ^ 1906
 
 MY OLD FRIEND 
 
 BARON NICOLAS DE VAY 
 
 SEIGNEUR DE VAJA 
 
 KNIGHT OF THE ORDER OF ST. JOHN OF JERUSALEM 
 
 THE FOLLOWING PAGES ARE 
 
 AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED 
 
 ANDREW HAGGARD
 
 PREFATORY NOTE 
 
 Only when the brave, dissipated, good-natured, and 
 humane Regent, Philippe d'Orleans, sunk to his death 
 upon the shoulder of Madame de Falari can Louis XV. 
 be said to have ascended the throne of France. This 
 was on December 2nd, 1723. Prior to this date, although 
 the taciturn httle boy Louis had succeeded his great- 
 grandfather eight years earher, the Due d'Orleans had 
 been practically King. The subsequent rule of the 
 fourth of the Bourbon Monarchs, who was, as if in irony, 
 termed The Well- Beloved, extended to May, 1774, when 
 he closed a degraded life by a degraded death. 
 
 The reign of le Bien-Aime seems naturally to divide 
 itself into two periods. It is with the earlier period, 
 that which terminates with the year after the Peace of 
 Aix-la-Chapelle, concluded in October, 1748, that the 
 first of these volumes deals. It may, in contradistinc- 
 tion to that which follows, be characterised as the period 
 of the Priest and the Petticoat, while in 1749 began 
 those struggles with the clergy which eventually banished 
 the Jesuit and left the Woman supreme. 
 
 V.l
 
 viii Prefatory Note 
 
 Up to 1749, however, the Priest, under one guise or 
 another, and the Petticoat, in frequently changing 
 form, ruled contemporaneously and frequently con- 
 jointly. After that date the ruling element became 
 gradually centred in the decision of Pompadour, an 
 invalid and hourgeoise mistress who had long ceased to 
 charm, or the whim of du Barry, a vulgar and self-assured 
 courtesan who sprang from the lowest ranks of the 
 people. 
 
 Great indeed is the change with which we are con- 
 fronted when we close the volume of the atheistical 
 Regent of the Roues and open that of the degrading 
 days of Louis XV., the devout pupil, so far as form goes, 
 of holy Mother Church. 
 
 One passes at once from the full light of day at the 
 Palais-Royal, where every action, no matter how well 
 intentioned, no matter how ignoble, takes place before 
 all the world, to the gloom of night in the darksome 
 petits cabinets of Versailles. There, one unpatriotic 
 trick, one infamous or inglorious intrigue succeeds the 
 other, all alike evolved from the cunning brain of 
 the Jesuit without ; it may be at Issy or Saint-Sulpice 
 close by, or in the tricky purlieus of the Court of 
 Madrid. 
 
 Filtering through the lips of the old-womanish Car- 
 dinal Fleury, those of the four successive Nesle sisters, 
 those of the three far too favourite daughters of the 
 Monarch, or of Pompadour, inspired by her relatives the 
 farmers-general Paris, these intrigues reach the licentious
 
 Prefatory Note ix 
 
 Monarch in his besotted moments of debauchery and 
 semi-intoxication. 
 
 The result is seen in actions, apparently those of 
 the weak, obstinate, and cowardly King himself, which 
 tend to the discredit of his Government, the disgrace 
 of his kingdom, and the untold misery of millions of 
 his subjects. 
 
 Nor do these priestly and womanish intrigues which, 
 under Fleury, owing to his weakness for a bigoted Austria, 
 sacrifice a French army in the snows at Prague, affect 
 France alone. It will be seen in the following pages 
 how they cause the blood to flow in streams all over 
 Europe, and how, time and time again, that heroic 
 figure Frederick the Great, the faithful ally of France, 
 is treacherously abandoned owing to their far-reaching 
 influences. 
 
 ANDREW HAGGARD. 
 
 VOL. I.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAP. 
 I. 
 
 II. 
 
 III. 
 
 IV. 
 
 y. 
 
 VI. 
 
 VII. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 IX. 
 
 X. 
 
 XI. 
 
 XII. 
 
 XIII. 
 
 XIV. 
 
 XV. 
 
 XVI. 
 
 XVII. 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 XIX. 
 XX. 
 
 VOL. 
 
 THE BISHOP AND THE MARQUISE DE PRIE 
 
 HOW A QUEEN WAS MADE . 
 
 HOW A QUEEN WAS DEPOSED 
 
 FRANCE, AFTER THE MARQUISE . 
 
 A TROUBLESOME QUEEN 
 
 THE DUG DE RICHELIEU AND PRINCE EUGENE 
 
 TPIE TRIALS OF MARIE LESCZVNSKA . 
 
 THE AFFAIRE CADIERE. 
 
 LOUIS'S FIRST LOVES— AND BELLE-ISLE 
 
 THE WAR OF THE POLISH SUCCESSION 
 
 MADEMOISELLE DE NESLE . 
 
 THE HOUSE OF ORLEANS 
 
 THE GREAT FREDERICK 
 
 A ROVAL CONSPIRACY AND A DOTARD'S 
 FOLLIES 
 
 THE INSTALLATION OF A FAVOURITE. 
 
 THE WAR OF THE AUSTRIAN SUCCESSION 
 
 THE DISC;RACE OF THE FAVOURITES . 
 
 \ENGEANCE AND DEATH OF MADAME DE 
 CHATEAUROUX .... 
 
 THE BATTLE OF FONTENOY 
 
 MADEMOISELLE LECOUVREUR AND THE 
 
 MARECHAL DE SAXE 
 I. xi c 
 
 I 
 19 
 
 33 
 45 
 60 
 
 74 
 86 
 
 96 
 1 1 1 
 
 125 
 137 
 151 
 i6r 
 
 171 
 1 89 
 197 
 208 
 
 225 
 234 
 
 249
 
 xii Contents 
 
 CHAP. PAGE 
 
 XXI. MADEMOISELLE POISSON — MARQUISE DE 
 
 POMPADOUR 259 
 
 XXIL BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE AND FLORA 
 
 MACDONALD 268 
 
 XXIIL MANCEUVRES OF THE MARQUIS D'ARGENSON 28O 
 
 XXIV. THE FAMILY, POMPADOUR, VOLTAIRE, AND 
 
 PEACE 293 
 
 XXV. A VENGEANCE FOR MADAME DE POMPADOUR 3 II 
 
 XXVL MANNERS AND MORALS AT THE COURT OF 
 
 STANISLAS 323 
 
 XXVn. COURT ETIQUETTE AND POMPADOUR'S MAG- 
 NIFICENCE 338 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 VOL. I 
 LOUIS XV. {Photogravure) Frontispiece 
 
 „ FACING PAGE 
 
 CARDINAL FLEURY 
 
 4 
 MARIE LESCZYNSKA {after Va7iloo) 32 
 
 JOSEPH PARIS-DUVERNEY . . .o 
 
 PRINCE EUGENE OF SAVOY ^8 
 
 MARIE LESCZYNSKA {after Nattier) 04 
 
 MAR^CHAL DE BELLE-ISLE j2q 
 
 FREDERICK THE GREAT j56 
 
 EMPRESS MARIE THERESE . 
 
 MADAME DE CHATEAUROUX 
 
 184 
 230 
 
 MAURICE DE SAXE ... „p, 
 
 MARQUISE DE POMPADOUR . . 25q 
 
 PRINCE CHARLES EDWARD .STUART 278 
 
 MADAME MARIE LOUISE j^LISABETH DE FRANCE 288 
 
 MADAME HENRIETTE OF FRANCE . . ,0, 
 
 COMTE PH^LIPPEAUX DE MAUREPAS 320 
 
 STANISLAS LESCZYNSKI ^,2
 
 THE 
 
 REAL LOUIS THE FIFTEENTH 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 The Bishop and the Marquise de Prie 
 
 1723 AND LATER 
 
 When the dissolute Regent, Philippe, Due d'Orleans, 
 expired upon the shoulder of Madame de Falari, on 
 December 2nd, 1723, the nod of an old man's head 
 transferred the Kingdom of France. 
 
 The dwarfish little Minister of State Prisons, la 
 Vrilliere, who in his day signed no less than fifty thousand 
 lettres de cachet, had a paper ready in his pocket in case 
 of the Regent's death. This was a patent appointing 
 M. le Due de Bourbon, Prince de Conde, to the office of 
 First Minister, towards which supreme post even before the 
 Regent's decease M.le Due had been casting covetous eyes. 
 
 First Minister was the title which had been assumed 
 by the Due d'Orleans since the death of, that disgrace to 
 France, the infamous Cardinal Dubois, and the recently 
 declared majority of the boy-King Louis XV. That 
 Prince had, however, practically remained all-powerful 
 Regent to his last moments, which had come with 
 VOL. I. I
 
 2 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 such awful suddenness. Louis XV., great-grandson of 
 Louis XIV. and third son of the Due de Bourgogne and 
 Marie-Adelaide of Savoy, was born on February 15th, 
 1710. He was crowned at Reims on October 25th, 1722, 
 and his majority declared on February 19th, 1723. 
 
 Still very childish for his age, and taciturn in manner 
 to a remarkable degree, the little boy was entirely under 
 the thumb of his aged preceptor, Fleury, Bishop of 
 Frejus. Hastily warning M. le Due, before any steps 
 could be taken by the Due de Chartres, son of the late 
 Regent, la Vrilliere repaired with the scheming scion of 
 the house of Conde to the King's apartments. These 
 apartments, in the chateau of Versailles, were situated 
 just above those occupied by the Regent, who was 
 now lying dead below. 
 
 It was early on the winter's night, while the Due 
 de Noailles and Due de Guiche were in Paris seeking for 
 the Regent's son, that the first Prince of the Blood 
 was forestalled at Versailles. 
 
 The Due de Bourbon found the young King with his 
 eyes red from weeping. Hard and cold as was the boy's 
 nature, he had latterly become attached to the kindly 
 disposition of his cousin the Regent ; moreover, tears 
 came easily to him. 
 
 While the gnome-like Due de la Vrilliere fingered the 
 oath written out ready in his pocket, the Due de Bourbon 
 demanded of the King to make him First Minister. 
 
 The boy, without saying a word, looked across at old 
 Fleury, who, as already arranged, remarked quietly that 
 the King " could not do better." Still without a word, 
 the boy-King made a sign of assent. The aspirant to 
 office thanked him, took the paper from la Vrilliere, 
 signed it, and went out.
 
 The Bishop and the Marquise de Prie 3 
 
 Thus was inaugurated the government of the Marquise 
 de Prie, for it was this mistress en titre of M. le Due who 
 actually ruled the kingdom for the ensuing year or two. 
 The Due de Bourbon was the name, the harpy, Madame 
 de Prie, the power behind that name. Behind both was 
 Fleury, the King's preceptor. 
 
 In the arrangements made with the new First Minister, 
 the apparently benevolent seventy-year-old Bishop 
 merely reserved for himself a seat in the Privy Council 
 and the dispensation of ecclesiastical preferment. Who 
 would, then, have dreamed that in three years' time that 
 humble-mannered old man would have blossomed out 
 into the position of practical Monarch, to rule absolutely 
 for seventeen years, until he died at the age of ninety ? 
 
 But such indeed was the case. Not for twenty years 
 from the time that Bourbon signed the oath was Louis XV. 
 able gleefully to exclaim, " Messieurs, here I am, then — 
 at last — First Minister ! " while the courtiers in turn 
 shouted, " Le cardinal est mort ! Vive le roi .' " as though 
 it were a new reign commencing. 
 
 By that time Louis XV., who succeeded his great- 
 grandfather on September ist, 1715, had been twenty- 
 eight years upon a throne without becoming his own 
 master. And during the thirty-one subsequent years 
 of his reign it was the King's mistresses who really 
 ruled, or mis-ruled, the State. 
 
 Those who remember the closing scenes of the life of 
 Louis XIV. will recollect that one of the last actions of 
 the Grand Monarque was to sign the appointment, 
 suggested to him by his rabid Jesuit confessor le Tellier, 
 of Fleury as preceptor and confessor to the little five-year- 
 old boy about to succeed to the kingdom. 
 
 Louis " Dicudonnc " then acted rather against his
 
 4 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 will, for he did not care for Fleury ; although, thanks 
 to a handsome face and majestic presence, he had origin- 
 ally appointed him Almoner to the Queen. About six 
 feet in height, the appearance of the Abbe Fleury was 
 gentle rather than truculent when he first appeared at 
 the Court, and such it had remained. From the position 
 of Queen's Almoner he was promoted to that of King's 
 Almoner, although he was only a deacon and apparently 
 in no hurry to take further orders. It was not until he 
 had entered his fortieth year that Fleury made up his 
 mind to become priest. It is to be feared that in those 
 days the future Cardinal was not more particular in his 
 moral conduct than Harlay de Champvallon, the Arch- 
 bishop of Paris, who became so notorious with his 
 duchesses and grisettes that the populace hooted him in 
 the streets. The celebrated Abbe Pucelles, the courageous 
 mainstay of Jansenism in the Parliament of Paris, went 
 indeed so far as to declare that he and Fleury, for the sake 
 of economy, shared the same mistress. These reports 
 came to the ears of the King, who, already annoyed at 
 the publicity of the Archbishop's immoralities, punished 
 his Almoner by making him a Bishop and sending him far 
 away from Paris. 
 
 The bishopric of Frejus, to which he was appointed, 
 was the most unenviable see in the whole of France. 
 Two hundred leagues from Paris, Frejus was in a marsh 
 whence, for fifteen long years, the only sounds of revelry 
 which saluted the ears of the pleasure-loving prelate were 
 the croakings of the frogs. He signed his letters " Bishop 
 of Frejus — by divine indignation." 
 
 Any prospects which he might have had of returning 
 to the Court, the Bishop ruined for himself by his own 
 indiscretion during the War of the Spanish Succession.
 
 From a)t engraving after the picture l)y Rigaiui. 
 
 CARDINAI, 1-LEURY.
 
 The Bishop and the Marquise de Prie 5 
 
 Prince Eugene and the Duke of Savoy having invaded 
 Provence, the incautious prelate visited them in their 
 camps and charmed them with his agreeable society. 
 Until the year after the Peace of Utrecht Fleury remained 
 thus in banishment and disgrace, when he threw himself 
 into the arms of the Jesuits in the hope of obtaining their 
 good graces. Nor were his hopes in vain : the Jesuits 
 accepted him, with a proviso. This was that the Bishop 
 of Frejus should receive at their hands a very hard 
 taskmaster, in the shape of the ruler of the Seminary 
 Saint-Nicolas, the Pere Pollet, as his confessor. 
 
 Under the auspices of this awful man, one of the 
 savage and cruel despoilers of the Jansenist convent and 
 cemetery of Port-Royal, Fleury floated back into favour ; 
 until Louis XIV., after the gangrene had already 
 gained his limbs, signed his appointment to his great- 
 grandson as preceptor and confessor. 
 
 In this position the Regent left him ; but knowing the 
 ignorance and indolence of the Bishop of Frejus, the Due 
 d'Orleans gave him two able assistants for the education 
 of the child-King. Another priest, also named Fleury, 
 was made his sous-preceptcur, while the Abbe Wittement, 
 or Vitement, formerly reader to the Due de Bourgogne 
 and a very honest man, taught the King to read. 
 
 When, in August, 1722, the wilful boy-King, schooled 
 by his governor, the Due de Villeroi, commenced to show 
 his impatience of control, by refusing a Jesuit as confessor 
 and cruelly, in his sullen temper, butchering his tame 
 white doe, the Bishop played his cards well. Seeing 
 that his Royal charge disliked constraint, he sent away 
 the learned Fleury, author of the Histoire ecclesiastique ; 
 he also sent off the excellent Wittement. 
 
 Thus the Bishop of Frejus remained alone with the
 
 6 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 King, and, by allowing him to follow his own devices 
 and not forcing him to talk, became absolutely necessary 
 to the youth. It is true that, by way of keeping in with 
 the Jesuits, the Bishop persuaded his charge to give the 
 name of his confessor to a member of that order, the 
 Pere Linieres, but it was merely a name. Fleury alone 
 governed the young Louis in everything, and did so by 
 doing nothing, never seeming to assert himself, either 
 with the boy or with those in authority who might have 
 become jealous had he pushed himself forward. More- 
 over, he taught the King absolutely nothing. 
 
 In the year 1722, after the Regent had seized the 
 person of the insolent old Due de Villeroi and sent him 
 off to his estates for interfering between himself and the 
 King, Fleury remained the master while seeming the 
 slave. That he was the former was made manifest when, 
 upon the death of the Regent, he again played his cards 
 well by permitting the most powerful of the Princes of 
 the Blood to assume the nominal dictatorship. 
 
 To have allowed the Due de Chartres, the honest but 
 inefficient son of Phihppe d'Orleans, to have become 
 First Minister would, from Fleury's point of view, have 
 been a mistake. The Due d'Orleans once said to his 
 son, whose incompetence he realised, " You will never 
 be anything but an honest man." This was true, and 
 his honesty, which turned to devotion and Jansenism, 
 ended up in semi-madness. 
 
 A Prince of Jansenistical principles would have helped 
 Fleury little with the Jesuits or Rome, the persecutors of 
 the Jansenists ; while, again, the turbulent and jealous 
 spirit of the Condes and Contis, the other Princes, would 
 before long have made the position of the First Prince of 
 the Blood impossible, and probably resulted in a civil war.
 
 The Bishop and the Marquise de Prie 7 
 
 The Due de Chartres — now Due d'Orleans — was heir 
 to the throne while the young Louis liad no children, and 
 was excessively jealous of his position as head of the 
 Royal Family. This fact also would have rendered the 
 post of Fleury far more difficult to maintain than by 
 accepting, as he quietly did, the rule of the Conde — for a 
 time. The Due d'Orleans would have sought the support 
 of the Jansenist faction, strong in the Parliament of Paris, 
 against the Jesuits, the protectors of Fleury, and thus 
 his Bishop's place would probably before long have been 
 vacant. 
 
 With M. le Due there was nothing of that sort to fear. 
 He was no friend of the Due de Noailles, no friend of the 
 Jansenists or the Parliament ; the Jesuits, Pollet and 
 the rest, accordingly promised him their support. The 
 Due de Bourbon, of course, promised in return to obtain 
 from Rome the Cardinal's hat for the Bishop of Frejus. 
 He promised, moreover, to work against and persecute 
 the Jansenists, who still refused to accept the constitution 
 of the Papal Bull Unigenitus. This Bull was framed 
 in 171 1 by Louis XIV. and his grandson the Due de 
 Bourgogne to crush the Jansenists, and furthermore 
 it was forced by Louis and the Due upon Clement XL, 
 a semi-Jansenist Pope. Bourbon also promised to 
 persecute the Protestants. 
 
 At Chantilly, the home of the Condes, irreligion 
 reigned supreme, as it had reigned everywhere in France 
 during the Regency, when indifference, led by the Regent 
 and Cardinal Dubois, had been, fortunately for the 
 Protestants, the order of the day. The Regent indeed 
 had befriended the Protestants, and rescued many of 
 their number from the galleys ; while the unbelieving 
 Cardinal Dubois only made a pretence of wishing to
 
 8 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 persecute either Jansenist or Protestant for a short time, 
 when agitating for his Cardinal's hat. That once 
 obtained, all the old cruel traditions of the time of 
 Louis XIV. and Madame de Maintenon had been com- 
 pletely forgotten and ignored. 
 
 It is not to be supposed, therefore, that the religious 
 question was of more importance at Chantilly than it 
 had been during the Regency. Madame de Prie was the 
 friend of the ladies of the Conde family, all of them 
 Princesses of more than light reputation. Madame la 
 Duchesse the mother of the Due de Bourbon, Made- 
 moiselle de Charolais and Mademoiselle de Clermont his 
 sisters, his brother the Comte de Charolais, were all 
 alike known for their immoral behaviour. All of these 
 were the friends of Voltaire. The astute farmer- 
 general Paris-Duverney, who with his three brothers 
 had come into great prominence during the Regency, had 
 been selected by Madame de Prie as her right-hand man. 
 He helped to make Voltaire's enormous fortune, by giving 
 him a share in his traffic in provisions for the army and 
 the State, while Madame de Prie caused the poet to be 
 given a pension. 
 
 Things being thus at Chantilly, from the first M. le 
 Due did not back up the Jesuits, who were behind Fleury, 
 in a whole-hearted manner. Thus although, at the 
 instance of Lavergne de Tressan, Bishop of Nantes, who 
 wished to be made a Cardinal, an old edict of persecution 
 of the days of Louis XIV. was revived against the Pro- 
 testants, M. le Due took the sting out of it. He secretly 
 removed the murderous article from the code which 
 the clergy contrived to get him to promulgate — the 
 clause by which every one found to be a Protestant might, 
 for the crime of " relapse," be executed in some horrible
 
 The Bishop and the Marquise de Prie 9 
 
 manner, burned or broken on the wheel. Nor did he 
 press the demand for the Cardinal's hat for Fleury : on 
 the contrary, he tried to block the matter. Regarding 
 the persecution of the Jansenists he was lukewarm also, 
 and demanded peace from Rome instead of war. 
 
 M, le Due was the more careless in these matters 
 because from the first he found that the Bishop of Frejus 
 was playing him false with the young King. While 
 keeping entire control over the Monarch, Fleury also 
 kept in his own hands the best part of the spoils of the 
 State through that control. He reserved in a great 
 measure the rewards, the power ; moreover, as regards 
 his influence with the boy-King, he held M. le Due 
 in a condition of fear as to how it might be exerted 
 against him. 
 
 Madame de Prie did not, however, propose to remain 
 in the future Cardinal's tutelage. From the first she 
 determined to be Queen in the State, and, with the 
 assistance of Paris-Duverney, for a time she succeeded. 
 
 There was no money in the State coffers, and without 
 money the old priest Fleury was powerless. Paris- 
 Duverney and his three brothers from Dauphine, who but 
 two years earlier had been the conquerors of the brilliant 
 Scotsman John Law and his SysUme, always seemed 
 to have the knack of obtaining money. The brothers 
 Paris were no common men ; Duverney in particular, 
 who lived to the age of eighty, filled a century with his 
 activity. At one time the favourite of de Prie, he was, 
 many years afterwards, the favourite of Pompadour, who 
 called him familiarly " my old booby." Long before 
 the days of de Prie, he and his brothers, mountaineers 
 and inn-keepers in the passes of the Alps, had helped 
 Louvois, the furious Minister of War, to pass an army
 
 lo The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 rapidly across those Alps. All the brothers had a 
 wonderful knowledge of affairs, while Duverney, with 
 a remarkable sense of order and precision, loved affairs 
 for themselves more than for the money they could 
 bring. During his career he handled many millions, 
 but only left a moderate fortune. He never cared 
 about honours or titles, and was content to be known, 
 while under the Due de Bourbon, as Secretaire des 
 commandements de M. le Due. 
 
 Having been associated with the great financier 
 Samuel Bernard, the brothers Paris did all the rough 
 work for him, provisioned army after army, always 
 paying money down, and obtaining provisions when none 
 else could find any. Upon one occasion they suddenly 
 produced forty thousand horses at once for the Marechal 
 de Villars ; moreover, they conducted him and pro- 
 visioned him during his last splendid efforts upon the 
 Rhine, which resulted in peace. 
 
 In the days of the Seven Years' War we shall find 
 Paris-Duverney, as an octogenarian, again in the field, 
 as active as ever, and always a performer of miracles. 
 
 Such, then, was the man with whom Madame de Prie 
 had associated herself. In her alliance with him she was 
 strong ; she found means to satisfy her ambition, and 
 that greed which had enabled her, with M. le Due and 
 his family, to make at least fifty millions of livres, by 
 dubious methods, out of John Law and his Systeme 
 during the Regency. 
 
 Madame de Prie, daughter of Madame Pleneuf, an 
 amiable lady with many lovers, became at an early age 
 the wife of the Marquis de Prie, a starveling envoy at 
 Turin to the Court of Victor Amadeus of Savoy, King of 
 Sardinia. When «he returned to Paris she was floated
 
 The Bishop and the Marquise de Prie 1 1 
 
 by a well-known stock- jobbing lady, Madame de Verrue, 
 who was of the ducal family de Luynes. 
 
 Madame de Verrue also had lived long in Italy, in 
 Piedmont, where her husband had taken it in very bad 
 part when she refused to become the mistress of the 
 then Duke of Savoy, rviler of Piedmont. She at length 
 gave way to the importunities of the Duke, and practically 
 became Queen of the State, until, wearied out by the 
 jealous tyranny of her Royal lover, she made her escape 
 back to Paris and indulged in both unlimited pleasure 
 and boundless speculations. Her hotel became famous 
 for its splendid picture-galleries, and especially for its 
 collection of paintings by Rubens and Rembrandt, of 
 whose work Madame de Verrue was one of the earliest 
 admirers. 
 
 When the Marquise de Prie, then in the flower of her 
 youthful beauty, returned, full of Italian charms and 
 graces, from Turin, Madame de Verrue saw in the beautiful 
 but depraved girl an object of speculation. She knew the 
 young Due de Bourbon to be tired of Madame de Nesle, 
 by whom he had two daughters, one acknowledged and 
 legitimatised, the other to become one of the several sisters 
 who became the King's first mistresses. She therefore 
 planned the celebrated meetings at the masked balls in 
 which Madame de Prie captivated M. le Due even before 
 he succeeded in seeing her face. 
 
 With the possession of Madame de Prie, fortune came 
 rolling in upon the Conde family. Law's shares began 
 to rise from that moment. She and the Condes had the 
 State secrets from the Regent, and knew how to work 
 the rise and how to take advantage of it, how unscrupu- 
 lously need not be detailed here. 
 
 In her nature the Marquise de Prie was ferocious,
 
 12 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 she was a tiger-cat, and proved it by her hatred of 
 Orleans and the way in which she pursued her good- 
 natured, good-looking mother, whom she envied her 
 celebrated lovers, among whom were Leblanc and 
 Belle-Isle. Libertine with all the libertinism of a 
 Borgia, the Marquise de Prie had about her nothing 
 bourgeoise like Madame de Pompadour, nothing that 
 was vulgar after the fashion of Madame du Barry. 
 She bewitched the Due de Bourbon at the same time 
 that, with the touch of her magic wand, she caused 
 to flow for his benefit the golden river of Pactolus. 
 
 The most trustworthy and honest of all the chroniclers 
 of the time of Louis XV. was undoubtedly the Marquis 
 Rene Louis de Voyer d'Argenson, eldest son of the 
 celebrated Police-Lieutenant Marc Rene, and elder 
 brother of the Minister of War, Comte Marc Pierre. Both 
 the brothers were born in the same year, 1696, and, 
 fortunately for the Marquis, he died in 1757, a few days 
 before the disgrace of his brother, owing to the wiles of 
 Madame de Pompadour. Besides his journal, which 
 was continued to within a few days of his death, 
 the Marquis left behind him, in his Loisirs d'un ministre, 
 voluminous notes amounting in many cases to veritable 
 essays upon every man and woman of importance of 
 his day, from the King downwards. Often he returns, 
 in subsequent years, to add additional notes or to modify 
 previous impressions of the same personages as he follows 
 their careers. Throughout his memoirs it is constantly 
 forced upon the mind of the reader that their writer was 
 indeed that which he claimed to be — an honest man ! 
 
 At the time of his dismissal from the post of 
 Minister of Foreign Affairs, for the mere crime of 
 not being enough of a courtier, posterity, reading
 
 The Bishop and the Marquise de Prie 13 
 
 his temperate remarks, shares with the Marquis himself 
 his patriotic grief that the King, whose faihngs he always 
 attributes to his evil surroundings, had not continued to 
 keep him in office. How much would not the world 
 have been spared had his counsels but prevailed. For 
 although he still remained a IMinister, as a member of 
 the Council, the Marquis d'Argenson never again received 
 a portfolio, although his scheming brother the Comte, 
 whose character, without malevolence, he often dissects, 
 gradually increased in power and importance, owing to 
 the absence of those very qualities of honesty by which 
 the Marquis stands forth alone in the Court of Louis XV. 
 In reading his concluding pages, we do so with the 
 greatest regret that he should not have lived to continue 
 his diary until the close of the Seven Years' War, to 
 have given to posterity his views upon the dismember- 
 ment of Poland. However, we must be thankful that 
 he left us so much that we feel can be absolutely 
 relied upon. He remarks upon Madame de Prie as 
 follows : 
 
 " It was in the winter of 1719 that Madame de Prie 
 returned to Paris from Turin, where her husband was 
 Ambassador. I often met her in the house of a lady,* one 
 of her cousins. 
 
 " I do not think that there has ever existed a more 
 celestial creature than Madame de Prie. She was the real 
 flower of the sweet-pea. A charming face, and even 
 more graces than beauty, wit lively and acute, genius, 
 ambition, giddiness, and nevertheless a supreme presence 
 
 • This lady, whom the worthy d'Argenson often speaks of 
 as Madame de G., was his mistress, but historians have not 
 been successful in discovering the identity of one to whom he 
 continued to show such fidchty.
 
 14 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 of mind, an extreme indifference in her choices, and with 
 it all the most decent air in the world. 
 
 " Well, she governed France throughout two years, 
 and one was able to judge her ; but to say that she 
 governed it well is another matter ! 
 
 " At the depth there reigned the greatest disorder 
 in her conduct ; also she died partly from the results 
 of her libertinage, partly from rage at seeing her credit 
 overturned. During her prosperity she maintained an 
 affection for each of her lovers, and did her best to be 
 useful to them.* 
 
 " I saw her intimately at the period of her great 
 beauty. Her fascination was great, but, whether from 
 prudence or from chance, I resisted it, and do not regret 
 having done so, however much my conduct may have 
 damaged me with her. 
 
 " Madame de Prie arrived ruined from the Embassy, 
 and set at once about repairing her fortunes. She would 
 not have succeeded badly had it not been for the extreme 
 disorder in which she lived. 
 
 " M. le Due was wildly taken with her. Mesdames 
 de Verrue and de Saissac gave her to him. The bargain 
 was soon made. I have known a good many of the 
 details of this liaison and its origin. I knew their customs, 
 their goings to the opera-balls, their grey chariot de bonne 
 fortune, which had outwardly the appearance of a common 
 fiacre, but was internally of an extreme magnificence. 
 Madame de G. and I accompanied them everywhere, 
 and I was proud to be seen walking about arm-in-arm 
 with a Prince of the Blood. 
 
 * Madame de Prie died of poison, self-administered, at the 
 age of twenty-nine. She had been exiled to the country for 
 fifteen months when her death took place on October 6th, 1727.
 
 The Bishop and the Marquise de Prie i 5 
 
 " Nevertheless, I almost ceased to see him later on, 
 and when he became First Minister. I am inclined, 
 however, to think him an honest man, above all, having 
 the desire to be one, although for that matter restricted 
 and narrow-minded. 
 
 " M. le Due became jealous of the Marquis d'Alincourt 
 (the grandson of the Marechal-Duc de Villeroi), and 
 in consequence Madame de Prie had to give the Marquis 
 his conge at an opera-ball. There was great irritation 
 about it, but all that is very young and childish. 
 
 " M. le Due d'Orleans died, and M, le Due became 
 First Minister, or rather he only had the title of it. La 
 de Prie and Du Vernay [Paris-Duverney] held him 
 in bondage. 
 
 " Madame de Prie did not like my brother ; she took 
 away from him his post of Lieutenant de Police. But 
 he was a Councillor of State. At the same time I gave 
 up my Intendance of Valenciennes, which only ruined 
 me without being good for anything. I was reproached 
 for this step as a want of attachment to M. le Due, and 
 an occasion for making me feel it soon came. I had 
 asked for an intendancy, and there were two vacant. 
 La de Prie cut me out ; she preferred M. de Harlay, who 
 had Strasbourg, and M. d'Angervilliers, who got Paris. 
 She procured M. le Due Madame d'Egmont for his 
 amusement as soon as she perceived that her own charms 
 ceased to have the same empire over that Prince. In 
 fact, she was getting thin while one looked at her, her 
 bones showed through the skin. 
 
 " She it was who made the Queen, just as I would 
 make of my lackey a valet de chambre. That was a pity ! 
 Nevertheless, her credit fell against M. de Fr^jus [Fleury], 
 whom she wished to separate from the King, but who
 
 1 6 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 sat tight and laughed at her. From disappointment, 
 she became hideous and haughty with every one, would 
 listen to no reasonable advice. 
 
 " Seeing that I was becoming importunate, I seldom 
 appeared before her ; not that I feared her though, on 
 account of our old acquaintance, and therefore did not 
 neglect to tell her a few home truths when I saw her, 
 at which she only laughed. She was disgraced at the 
 same time as M. le Due. Her husband, M. de Prie, 
 asked everybody with a comic affectation, ' But what 
 have my wife and M. le Due to do in common ? ' 
 
 " She died in the saddest manner at Courbe-Epine. 
 I have seen M. le Due from time to time since then, but 
 not with the old familiarity. 
 
 " Madame de Prie was absolutely determined to 
 receive me alone. As for me, I avoided these interviews 
 like another Joseph with Potiphar's wife. Never was her 
 door closed to me. One day when I went I was ushered 
 in to her at her toilette — she was washing herself. I 
 wished to retire, but she made me remain. 
 
 " ' At all events, madame,' I then said, ' let me take 
 the first-fruits of such cleanliness.' As a matter of fact, 
 I kissed her, and heartily too, although it was but by 
 chance that I found myself there. Fortunately some 
 one came, for I really truly loved Madame de G., and it 
 went against the grain that, from pure libertinage, her 
 cousin should make advances to me and fail towards 
 M. le Due, who was so good to her. She was uncommonly 
 pretty then, although she had commenced to fine 
 down. I went off on the morrow to Valenciennes, 
 without taking advantage in any way of her good will 
 towards me." 
 
 Such, then, is a portrait of the woman who ruled tlie
 
 The Bishop and the Marquise de Prie 17 
 
 State, and whose first measure was to send back the 
 young Infanta from Versailles to Spain. 
 
 This young daughter of Philip V., uncle of Louis XV., 
 first Bourbon King of Spain, and husband of Elizabeth 
 Farnese of Parma, had come to France as a mere child of 
 four or five, a year or two earlier, amid a great flourish 
 of trumpets. The projected alliance had been the work 
 of Cardinal Dubois and the Regent, who, b}^ selecting 
 such a very young child to be afftanced to the young 
 King, had hoped for a long time to keep the power in 
 France in their own hands. Since there could naturally 
 be no heir to the King, moreover, the boy being in feeble 
 health, there was in the event of his death every prospect 
 that the Due d'Orleans, the direct heir, would himself 
 succeed to the crown. 
 
 Two of the Regent's daughters were at about the 
 same time sent to Spain. Mademoiselle de Montpensier, 
 the elder, married Don Luis, Prince of the Asturias, and 
 was for eight months Queen of Spain, Philip V. having 
 temporarily abdicated until King Luis his son died of 
 smallpox. 
 
 Mademoiselle de Beaujolais, the younger daughter, 
 was sent in exchange for the Infanta, who came to Ver- 
 sailles, and was intended for Don Carlos, the younger 
 half-brother of Luis. She was, however, sent back to 
 France when Madame de Prie returned the Infanta. 
 This was a step which caused the greatest fury at the 
 Court of Spain, and especially in the heart of Elizabeth 
 Farnese, the second wife of the French King of Spain. 
 She, although but a beggarly Princess from the infini- 
 tesimal Court of Parma, was perhaps the most ambitious 
 Queen who ever sat upon an European throne. Ruling 
 her husband, her manoeuvres in pursuit of this ambition 
 VOL. I. 2
 
 1 8 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 frequently drenched all Europe in blood. Later on she 
 procured the eldest daughter of Louis XV. for Don 
 Philip, who was the second son of the Parmesan Princess, 
 and eventually obtained the Principality of Parma.
 
 CHAPTER II 
 How a Queen was Made 
 
 1725 
 
 The inauguration of the reign of the Marquise de Prie 
 was marked by the bitterness between the houses of 
 Orleans and Conde. In this matter Madame de Prie 
 was as much Conde as her princely lover the First Minister 
 and all his female relations. Of these his mother, Madame 
 la Ducliesse, was the most bitter, although, an illegitimate 
 daughter of Louis XIV. by Madame de Montespan, she 
 was sister to the Dowager Duchesse d'Orleans, widow of 
 the late Regent. 
 
 The Regent was the son of Philippe d'Orleans the 
 only brother of Louis XIV,, and had, greatly against his 
 will, married Mademoiselle de Blois, the youngest of that 
 King's illegitimate daughters. She, however, with her 
 brothers, the Due du Maine and the Comte de Toulouse, 
 as well as her two sisters, liad been publicly legitimatised 
 and declared Royal with the rights oi Royalty. During 
 the Regency the Due d'Orleans, at the instance of the 
 Conde faction and to preserve himself from the plottings 
 with Spain of the Due du Maine, had taken away these 
 Royal rights from Montespan's children, including his 
 own wife and the Duchesse de Bourbon, who liad married 
 the head of the Conde family. A single exception, 
 
 19
 
 20 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 however, was made in favour of the Comte de Touloues^ 
 for his hfetime only, since he was harmless and did 
 not intrigue against his cousin the Regent. 
 
 The Comte de Toulouse married an attractive widow, 
 whose relations with the young King were at different 
 times of a varied nature, which caused considerable 
 comment during the few years after the death of the 
 Regent, as will be seen later. She was the widow of 
 the Due d'Antin, by whom she had two sons, the Due 
 d'Epernon and the Marquis d'Antin. Her name before 
 marriage was Marie Victoire de Noailles, she being the 
 sister of the Marechal-Duc de Noailles. By the Comte 
 de Toulouse she had one son, who was given the title 
 of Due de Penthievre. This title had been borne by 
 several Princes of the legitimatised house of Vendome, 
 descendants of Henri TV. and Gabrielle d'Estrees, cele- 
 brated as la belle Gabrielle in the song which the gallant 
 Henri de Navarre composed about his beloved mistress. 
 
 While maintaining, as Ministers, la Vrilliere, Fleuriau 
 d'Amenonville, the Comte de Morville, Breteuil, and 
 Dodun, all mediocre nominees of the late Due 
 d'Orleans, Madame de Prie and M. le Due were not so 
 complaisant where other friends of the Orleans family 
 were concerned. 
 
 They commenced by, in as far as possible, making a 
 clean sweep of Versailles. From the numerous sets of 
 apartments in that chateau was first hunted out the 
 brave Comte de Belle-Isle, who with his friend and 
 colleague the able Minister of War, Leblanc, had already 
 experienced the vengeance of " la " Prie and M. le Due 
 before the deaths of Cardinal Dubois and the Regent. 
 Their real crime had been that of being among the be- 
 loved of Madame Pleneuf, the mother of M. le Due's
 
 How a Queen was Made 21 
 
 favourite. What they were pursued for, although the 
 charge was disproved before the Parhament, was pilfering 
 the chest of the War Office. After Belle-Isle, went the 
 Marquis de Simiane and all the roues, those companions 
 of pleasure and debauch of the late Regent. While 
 thus in one way striving to cause the ruin of the party 
 of Orleans, by banishing its adherents from the Court, 
 in another way it was sought to be occasioned by the 
 elevation of its enemies to lucrative posts, which M. le 
 Due sold and gave the proceeds to Madame de Prie. 
 
 The cause of this hatred between the allied families 
 of Conde and Orleans, both of the Blood-Royal, was 
 undoubtedly the haughty attitude and pretensions of 
 the Orleans themselves. M. le Due declared that it was 
 his project " to humiliate " the latter, as he regarded 
 their pretensions as " enormous, exorbitant." 
 
 The young Due de Chartres became Due d'Orleans 
 on the death of the Regent, and at once comported himself 
 in a haughty manner, in no way after the fashion of his 
 good-natured, easy-going father. Occupying now the 
 position of First Prince of the Blood, he declared that, 
 if in the affairs of the State M. le Due enjoyed the power 
 of First Minister, his own rank constituted him his cousin's 
 superior. He added that he himself was alone pre-eminent 
 in the rank of Prince of the Blood of France, and that, 
 as heir to the throne, he intended to be treated with 
 proper respect by one whom he would teach that he was 
 only the Minister. 
 
 His mother, the Duchesse d'Orleans, a woman of 
 such a disagreeable nature that her husband, against 
 whose interests she had plotted, always called her Madame 
 Satan, was more haughty even tlian her son. While 
 backing up Leblanc and trying to restore him to office,
 
 22 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 she refused to accept of any favours from " the Minister," 
 insisting upon her rights from the young King himself. 
 Thus when the new distribution of apartments was 
 made at Versailles, since this distribution was made by 
 the Due de Bourbon, the Duchesse declined to accept 
 those which her son desired, making him go to the 
 King in person to demand apartments befitting his 
 rank. 
 
 The war was carried on by Madame de Prie's dis- 
 missal from the Police-Lieutenantcy of the Comte 
 d'Argenson. It was a place of great importance, since 
 by it were held all the secrets of Paris, especially the 
 handling of the letters in the post department, which 
 were opened, their contents copied, and then resealed 
 and forwarded. Instead of this friend of the Orleans 
 family, who was for long its chancelier, a relation of 
 " la " Prie's, named d'Omberval, was made Police- 
 Lieutenant, by whose agency the ruling Marquise was 
 soon able to know all that was taking place. 
 
 About this time the young Due d'Orleans thought 
 of taking a wife, and he fixed his affections upon a 
 Princesse of the Blood — Louise Adelaide, Mademoiselle 
 de la Roche-sur-Yon. She was the daughter of Fran9ois, 
 Prince de Conti, and her mother was a Conde. To her 
 his mother objected, upon the grounds that the young 
 lady was " haughty, quarrelsome, and above all very 
 libertine." 
 
 That the Duchesse d'Orleans had right upon her 
 side in objecting to the match with Mademoiselle de la 
 Roche-sur-Yon is apparent from the remarks of the 
 Marquis d'Argenson concerning that lady, when she 
 died unmarried in 1750, at the age of fifty-four. 
 " C'etait une bonne princesse, et qui laisse beaucoup de
 
 How a Queen was Made 23 
 
 batards." It has been said of her that her blood was 
 too rich ! 
 
 Faihng to obtain this bonne princesse, the Due 
 d'Orleans had to search elsewhere, when, oddly enough, 
 in spite of the internecine warfare raging between the 
 families, the Duchesse d'Orleans applied to the Duchesse 
 de Bourbon for a young sister of M. le Due — Made- 
 moiselle de Vermandois. 
 
 This demand was to court a refusal, especially as 
 Madame la Duchesse was secretly aspiring to marry that 
 young lady to the fourteen-year-old King. She offered 
 instead Mademoiselle de Sens, who was declined ; while 
 the Duchesse d'Orleans began to search the Almanach- 
 royal for a suitable Princesse elsewhere. 
 
 When at length she fixed upon the Princess of Baden- 
 Baden, M. le Due contrived to put all sorts of obstacles 
 in the way, to prevent the demand being made with the 
 proper ceremony comporting with the Royal rank of 
 the Due d'Orleans. In fact, every petty means which 
 his mind or the ingenuity of his mistress could invent 
 was employed to reduce the grandeur of the house 
 of Orleans. Notwithstanding these tactics, the First 
 Minister had at length to give way, when the demand 
 for the hand of the Princess was made in the name of 
 the King, 
 
 It was, however, the Marquis de Matignon, an enemy 
 of the Orleans family, who was entrusted with the duty, 
 and he was instructed to carry it out in an unbefitting 
 manner. Ne\^ertheless, the marriage took place. 
 
 This Marquis de Matignon, formerly Comte de Gac6, 
 was he who fought the memorable duel in the street 
 with his comrade in debauch, the young Due de Riche- 
 lieu. The mutual dissipations in which these nobles
 
 24 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 were indulging with some of the highest ladies in the 
 land gave rise to the quarrel, which took place at an 
 opera-ball, when the young men went outside and 
 fought it out in the presence of numerous well-known 
 persons in their ball attire. Gace then received three 
 wounds, while Richelieu was run through the body. 
 
 The Parliament of Paris insisted, in spite of the Regent, 
 in imprisoning both in the Bastille, but both swore 
 vigorously that there had been no duel. Moreover, none 
 of the witnesses had seen anything ! When, after some 
 time, their bodies were ordered to be examined for 
 wounds, they had covered these with taffeta and had 
 them skilfully painted. Thus the judges observed 
 nothing, and the two nobles were released, after embracing 
 each other heartily and dining together with the Governor 
 of the Bastille. 
 
 Although at the time of these quarrels between the 
 two princely families the boy- King was exceedingly 
 handsome, he was in delicate health. Moreover, he 
 occasionally had severe, if short, illnesses. These made 
 M. le Due excessively anxious lest he should die and the 
 kingdom pass to the Due d'Orleans. He was desirous, 
 therefore, to marry the youth to a lady of an age capable 
 of having an heir, and for this reason it was that the 
 seven-year-old Infanta was suddenly sent back to Spain, 
 at the risk of a war with that Power, whose troops were, 
 indeed, ordered to make some incursions across the 
 Pyrenees. 
 
 The First Minister had further cause for anxiety in 
 the policy of the Bishop of Frejus, which consisted in 
 making the boy as effeminate as possible. He wished 
 to keep all ideas of the sex out of the King's head, and 
 for that purpose allowed him to be surrounded by several
 
 How a Queen was Made 25 
 
 young companions of execrable habits. Already, two 
 years earlier, the Regent had violently removed from 
 Versailles several grandsons and a young granddaughter 
 by marriage of the old Due de Villeroi on account of 
 their bad example to the King ; the priestly preceptor 
 was, however, once more closing his eyes and conniving 
 at what he knew to be utterly wrong. 
 
 The leaders of this gang of effeminate young wretches 
 were the Due d'Epernon, son of Madame de Toulouse, 
 who lived in apartments just below the King at Versailles ; 
 the boy-Due de Gesvres, who did woman's work, such 
 as tapestry and knitting, all his life, and who was 
 always with the King ; and la Tremouille, two years 
 older than the others, the worst of the three. There 
 was likewise the young Comte de Maurepas, a Secre- 
 tary of State at fifteen, and afterwards an important 
 personage in the State. He was witty, clever, fond 
 of bon-mots, epigrams, and charades from early youth. 
 Although looked down upon by the others on account of 
 his inferiority of birth, being but the grandson of the 
 Chancelier Pontchartrain, he led the band and encouraged 
 them in iniquity ; he was, moreover, a year or two the 
 senior of Tremouille. 
 
 Madame de Toulouse, who, although still young and 
 remarkably well preserved, at this time played the mother 
 to the young King, did all she could to foster the intimacy 
 of her son with him ; in short, she backed up the Bishop 
 in allowing his Royal charge to run wild with the girlish 
 boys who set him against all women, and made him vow 
 that he would never marry, as did the others. 
 
 Owing to disorder on a large scale which was taking 
 place in Paris at this time in the house of a certain des 
 Chauffours (who was eventually burned), the public, who
 
 26 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 loved their young King, became alarmed for his moral 
 welfare. 
 
 While the still youthful Voltaire was taking up his 
 pen to flagellate, in La Courcillonade and the Cure de 
 Chantilly, those vicious persons whose example these 
 young mignons but imitated, M. le Due and Madame 
 de Prie were endeavouring to institute vigorous police 
 measures against them, in which they were assisted by 
 Paris-Duverney. It would take many pages to follow 
 the ramifications of the affair, in which, in the end, the 
 influence of Versailles proved too strong for the really 
 laudable efforts of Madame de Prie. This, by-the-bye, 
 was owing to the fact that Herault, whom she appointed 
 Lieutenant de Police instead of her cousin d'Omberval, 
 proved untrue to her and went over to the other side. It 
 may be well to mention that the celebrated beating which 
 Voltaire received at the hands of the servants of the 
 Chevalier de Rohan-Chabot came out of the same business, 
 as was also his imprisonment in the Bastille to prevent 
 him fighting a duel with de Rohan, and his subsequent 
 departure for England. The Chevalier, formerly a friend 
 of the Marquise de Prie, like Herault, had changed sides. 
 
 Although unsuccessful in the sweeping reforms of the 
 public morals which they sought to carry out in Paris, 
 at Versailles Madame de Prie and M. le Due contrived 
 to triumph over the old Bishop Fleury, whose studied 
 indulgence amounted to iniquity. By it, indeed, he 
 kept a hold over the young King all the rest of his life. 
 The excellent Abbe Wittement said some years later, 
 *' There exists a certain indissoluble bond between the 
 King and the Cardinal from which it results that His 
 Majesty could never send him away, however much he 
 might wish to." And he never did send him away,
 
 How a Queen was Made 27 
 
 although men and events all around him proved more 
 and more every day how necessary it was that he should 
 do so. 
 
 The Due and his mistress resolved to marry young 
 la Tremouille by force — which they did ; they also 
 resolved to marry the King, in spite of Fleury. Now 
 we shall see the truth of d'Argenson's words, " Madame 
 de Prie made the Queen of France as I would make my 
 lackey valet de chambre.'' 
 
 She and her partner at the head of affairs well realised 
 that to marry the King had this much to recommend it : 
 for not only would it do away with the Court influences 
 at Versailles, but it would be the greatest blow that 
 could be aimed at the Palais-Royal, since it would 
 render the Orleans family furious. The scheme was 
 therefore all the more readily decided on. 
 
 While looking about for a wife for the young King, 
 the Due did him a good turn. An ardent sportsman 
 himself, he commenced to make a sportsman of Louis, 
 and to take him out to his parties of the chase. In later 
 years the only healthy occupation of the King's life was 
 hunting and shooting, and at this critical period of his 
 youth these pursuits made a man of the badly brought- 
 up boy, and his health was soon greatly improved by the 
 outdoor exercise. 
 
 It was natural, while looking about for a wife for the 
 King, that the Due de Bourbon should be of the same 
 opinion as Madame la Duchesse in considering that he 
 could not do better than give him his own young sister, 
 Mademoiselle de Vermandois. By nature this young 
 lady, who was still being educated in a convent, was 
 haughty, spiriiuelle, and given to speaking out her mind. 
 She took good care to let all the other pupils in the
 
 2 8 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 convent understand her superior rank, and exacted from 
 them humble respect to herself. In appearance she was 
 remarkably good-looking and well formed for her age. 
 
 While Madame de Prie was of the same mind as her 
 lover in considering the Due's young sister as a suitable 
 match for the King, she determined not to decide on 
 accepting the young Princesse without in a personal 
 interview deciding upon her adaptability for the mag- 
 nificent position to which she proposed to raise her. 
 
 With this object in view, and especially to see if she 
 would be likely to allow herself to be ruled, the Marquise 
 formed a plan for finding out the true nature of 
 Mademoiselle de Vermandois. Disguising herself and 
 taking a titled name not her own, she proceeded to 
 Tours, where the convent was situated. Having armed 
 herself with letters from M. le Due to his sister, she 
 readily gained access to the young member of the house 
 of Conde. 
 
 Chatting with the girl in a lively manner and giving 
 her all the Court news, she managed to bring the con- 
 versation round to herself, asking Mademoiselle de 
 Vermandois if she had heard of the Marquise de Prie, and 
 what she thought about her. 
 
 The young Princesse was not long in giving her 
 opinion ; she thought all the horrors possible of Madame 
 de Prie — and said so. 
 
 The Marquise listened, in no wise disconcerted, and 
 drew her on with an approving smile while she said that 
 " Well did she know that wicked woman ; they talked of 
 nothing else in the convent, and in a horrible manner. 
 It was very annoying that her brother had about him a 
 disgusting creature like that, whose very name made him 
 hated by the whole of France." The young scholar
 
 How a Queen was Made 29 
 
 continued for a long time in this strain, ending up 
 by saying that it was greatly to be desired that her 
 brother's friends should contrive to remove such an 
 abandoned person from his society. 
 
 Madame de Prie had now heard enough ; moreover, 
 owing to the increasing animation of Mademoiselle de 
 Vermandois, she commenced to feel that she herself was 
 losing her temper. Rising hurriedly to leave, she re- 
 marked aloud, contemptuously, " Va! tu ne seras point 
 reine de France," and thereupon left the incautious 
 young Princesse to her reflections. 
 
 Upon returning to Versailles Madame de Prie did not 
 fall into the error of abusing his sister to her lover. Far 
 too clever to adopt such a course, she acted in an entirely 
 contrary manner, declaring to M. le Due that his sister 
 possessed all the qualities required in a Queen of 
 France. 
 
 Having thus eliminated the chance of any odium 
 falling upon herself should the match not come off, 
 Madame de Prie repaired to Paris-Duverney, who pos- 
 sessed the Due's full confidence and ruled him in great 
 matters of State. To him she pointed out that if 
 Mademoiselle de Vermandois should become Queen, he 
 would, instead of the one master whom he now had, have 
 five. These she enumerated : they were the King, the 
 Queen, M. le Due, his mother, Madame la Duchesse, and 
 M. de Lassay. 
 
 This Marquis de Lassay was an old fop whom the 
 mother of the First Minister was not ashamed to be seen 
 about with everywhere, and who exercised a great deal 
 too much influence upon Madame la Duchesse. Perhaps 
 fortunately for her, she had never prided herself suffici- 
 ently upon her reputation to mind what was said about
 
 30 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 her and the bitter-tongued old man to whom eventually 
 she was supposed to have been married in secret. 
 
 Paris-Duverney was not long in acting upon the hint 
 given to him by the cunning Marquise ; and it bore such 
 good fruit that before long M. le Due was telling everybody 
 that if the marriage with his sister was une affaire man- 
 quee, it was by no means the fault of Madame de Prie, 
 as that lady had strongly recommended the alliance. 
 
 The worthy couple experienced a good deal of difficulty 
 in finding just the sort of wife they wanted for the young 
 King, which was one who would be virtuous and at the 
 same time docile enough to do what she was told. For 
 one cause or another, all the marriageable Princesses 
 seemed unsuitable, or, if suitable, were refused to them. 
 
 Among the former class was Elizabeth, Princess of 
 Russia, whom her mother, Catherine I., widow of Peter 
 the Great, very readily offered. The mother's character 
 and low birth, however, were an obstacle, to which was 
 added the equivocal reputation of the Princess herself ; 
 she was therefore declined with thanks. 
 
 With George I., the German King of England, the 
 First Minister had continued the traditions of Cardinal 
 Dubois, which were those of a close friendship, cemented 
 all the closer from the fact that the annual million of 
 livres which England had given to Dubois were continued 
 to Madame de Prie. When, therefore, the King of 
 England was asked for one of his grand-daughters for 
 the King of France, he made no personal objection ; 
 on the contrary, expressed himself flattered. But he 
 pointed out that the people of England would not stand 
 the proviso that an English Princess should change her 
 religion. 
 
 At length some one thought of a very humble
 
 How a Queen was Made 31 
 
 personage who yet had some claims to the rank of a 
 Royal Princess, and suggested her to Madame de Prie. 
 It is probable that Paris-Duverney was the real 
 originator of the suggestion, although de Rohan, Bishop 
 of Strasbourg, has been named as responsible for 
 it. It was remembered that, living humbly in a 
 remote corner of Alsace upon the bounty of the King 
 of France, there existed a worthy gentleman who once 
 had been a King of Poland, and that he had a daughter. 
 Duverney, at all events, had formerly lent money at 
 Wurtemburg to Stanislas Lesczynski, and knew him. 
 He was now at Weissemburg with his family. His 
 career had been a varied one already, and was to be more 
 so before he died. Son of Raphael Lesczynski, Palatine 
 of Posen and Treasurer of Poland, Stanislas had in his 
 youth been appointed arch-butler to the crown by 
 Augustus II. When Charles XII. of Sweden conquered 
 Augustus in 1704, he took a fancy to Stanislas, and helped 
 to get him elected to the throne by the Diet at Warsaw. 
 After Charles was defeated at Pultawa in 1709, Stanislas 
 felt his position insecure, and had definitely to abandon 
 the crown and fly to Pomerania when Augustus came back 
 in 1712. He then abdicated ; but being treacherously 
 taken prisoner by the Hospodar of Moldavia, he was sold 
 by him to the Turks, who kept Stanislas until 1714. 
 The exiled King then going to Sweden, Charles XII. 
 made Stanislas the Governor of Deux-Ponts. Five 
 years later Charles died. Bereft at once of his protector 
 and his large family estates in Poland, Lesczynski found a 
 refuge under Philippe d'Orleans, the Regent, who gave 
 him an allowance and permission to live at Weissemburg, 
 with his only daughter Marie Lesczynska. He had 
 been trying hard for some years past to marry Marie
 
 32 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 to some Prince, but in vain, and at length had fallen 
 so low in his demands for his penniless daughter that 
 he had been ready to unite her to a simple colonel, 
 the Comte d'Estrees. This marriage, however, fell 
 through, as the Regent declined to make the Comte a 
 due and peer of France. 
 
 Madame de Prie learned enough about Marie to know 
 that she was twenty-two years old, was virtuous, gentle 
 and simple in manner, and that she was not handsome. 
 She was convinced that her poverty would make her 
 submissive to her will. When the messenger arrived 
 with the demand for his daughter's hand for the King 
 of France, it is said that Stanislas Lesczynski fell upon 
 Marie Lesczynska's neck in a swoon. On recovery from 
 his fainting fit, the ex-King of Poland remarked, 
 " Never have I wished again to sit upon a throne save 
 for the purpose of establishing my beloved daughter." 
 
 Neither father nor daughter could believe the good 
 news to be true ; but hard upon the heels of her messenger 
 arrived Madame de Prie herself at Strasbourg, to indoc- 
 trinate the simple Polish maiden with the duties that 
 she was contracting towards the First Minister. The 
 Marquise had not only brought advice, she came with her 
 hands full of presents from M. le Due, and other and 
 more womanly ones from herself. Having learned that 
 the Queen of her selection was wanting in underclothing, 
 the favourite profited by the extreme poverty of Stanislas 
 to take his daughter a liberal supply of these necessary 
 articles, and especially stockings of the finest quality. 
 Poor Marie Lesczynska, accustomed to the direst poverty, 
 was dazzled. She exclaimed simply, " Never in my life 
 have I seen so much riches ! "
 
 From an ciigiaviiig ujlti llic /ml me bv yuii/oo. 
 
 MARIF, LKSCZYNSKA, I'RINCK.SS OF I'OI.ANI) AXl) (^X'KKN OF FRANCE.
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 How a Queen was Deposed 
 
 1725 — 1726 
 
 The old saying of " Happy is the bride that the sun shines 
 upon " could liardly have been apphed to Marie Lesczynska. 
 From the moment that she left Alsace to the time that 
 she arrived in Paris it rained in torrents. In spite of the 
 fact that all the horses of the farmers were impressed to 
 draw the coaches of the cortege, in spite, too, of the 
 impressment of thousands of miserable peasants to work 
 upon the roads by forced labour in every province, the 
 carriages were with the greatest difficulty got through. 
 They were, indeed, frequently floating. She, however, 
 duly arrived at length, and was married to the handsome 
 young King on September 5th, 1725. He was then 
 fifteen and a half years old, and, from the contemporary 
 reports of Bachelier, his celebrated valet de chambre, and 
 others, appears at first to have persisted in following the 
 advice of the now married la TremouiUe, and treated his 
 spouse more as a sister than a wife. La TremouiUe, who 
 was married to the daughter of the Due de Bouillon, in 
 spite of the threats of his father-in-law, insisted for eight 
 years in following a similar line of conduct and neglecting 
 his amiable bride. 
 
 The misery and famine brought about by the heavy 
 
 VOL. I. 33 3
 
 34 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 rains of the year of the marriage were all visited upon 
 the head of Paris-Duverney. Since he had been following 
 the tenets of the celebrated engineer Vauban, and en- 
 deavouring to tax nobles and clergy as well as the peasants 
 and bourgeoisie, the members of the privileged classes 
 stirred up even the ignorant lower orders against Du- 
 verney. His tax-collectors were received everywhere 
 with a pitchfork. To wind up his splendid military 
 career, Vauban's book was publicly burned by the 
 hangman, and he died in disgrace in 1707. In such guise 
 had Louis XIV. treated his faithful servant, who brought 
 him so much military glory at sieges at which the Monarch 
 was present in person. 
 
 To touch the pockets of the nobility or the clergy was 
 still a dangerous operation under Louis XV., and when 
 the fall arrived of the Due de Bourbon and the Marquise 
 de Prie, Duverney was rewarded for his courageous 
 attempts with eighteen months in the Bastille. 
 
 In the meantime, however, the trio proceeded gaily, 
 suppressing most of the pensions conferred upon his 
 favourites by the late Regent, and many also which dated 
 from the time of Louis XIV. By this means there 
 was some money for the State and a good deal for 
 M. le Due, his family, and his mistress. 
 
 The hard laws of the energetic Duverney, his wholesale 
 suppression of the millions of beggars whom he forced 
 to work or imprisoned, his prying into the private affairs 
 and the incomes of the noblesse and clergy, soon made the 
 ruling couple excessively unpopular. Especially did the 
 Jesuit party — which was also the party of Versailles and 
 Fleury — rage. Their meeting-place was the salon of the 
 infamous Madame de Tencin, the ex-nun who had been 
 mistress to Dubois, and was, by the poet Destouches,
 
 How a Queen was Deposed 35 
 
 the mother of the celebrated d'Alembert, whom she 
 abandoned at his birth upon the steps of a church. 
 
 This late go-between of the Regent's amours and 
 stage-manageress of his shameful orgies lived in a semi- 
 marital fashion with her equally shameless brother, soon 
 now to become Cardinal de Tencin. While still Abbe 
 this disgrace to the Church had, by blackmailing the old 
 Cardinal Conti after his election to the papal chair as 
 Innocent XIII., compelled him to give the Cardinal's hat 
 to the dissolute Dubois. He had now been negotiating 
 successfully with Benedict XIII. for the same distinction 
 for the Bishop of Frejus and himself. The credit of 
 the two Tencins stood very high with Fleury and the 
 Jesuits — and through Fleury with the young King. In 
 every manner in their power they sought to subvert 
 the authority ai M. le Due and Madame de Prie, who 
 soon found themselves without any support save in the 
 Queen whom they had made, and she was almost a 
 nonentity. 
 
 Far from marriage having served to regulate the King 
 in the matter of his choice of friends, it had but served to 
 cynically emancipate him. At his levers, at his couchers, 
 his friends had returned, including the scandalous young 
 Duchesse de Retz, whom the Regent had banished from 
 Court with those polissons the grandsons of Villeroi. 
 She was now a widow, and gained in favour. The girlish 
 Gesvres was also to be seen back once more, doing his 
 tapestry work in the Royal apartments. 
 
 As for the newly married Queen, she was quite 
 neglected and left out in the cold, to the society of the 
 ladies-of-honour whom de Prie had selected for her, and 
 upon none of whom, as yet, the boy-King had deigned 
 to cast his eyes.
 
 36 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 Seeking to find in others that which she did not possess 
 herself, Madame de Prie had undertaken a difficult 
 task when she endeavoured to procure for the Queen's 
 household none but ladies whose names the breath of 
 scandal had not sullied. The Abbe de Soulavie tells 
 us that " After having greatly searched it was found 
 that Madame la Marechale de Boufflers possessed the 
 qualities and virtue required for a lady-of-honour, 
 whence one may infer to what corruption the sex had 
 abandoned itself, and how much the Regency had favoured 
 scandalous libertinage. It was for these reasons that 
 the Comtesse de Mailly, the eldest daughter of the Mar- 
 quise de Nesles, was chosen for Lady of the Robes. She 
 was neither capricious, intriguing, nor ambitious, and 
 her character had in it much that could accommodate 
 itself to that of the Queen, which it much resembled. 
 Madame de Mailly had in addition qualities of the 
 heart ; with an equable temperament, she was true to 
 her friendships, and was known for her probity and 
 modesty. 
 
 " Massillon says that ' One did not look so closely into 
 the character of the twelve ladies of the Palace, for it 
 would have been too difficult to fill these places with 
 ladies of irreproachable manners. M. le Due was obliged 
 to recompense Madame de Prie and Madame d'Egmont, 
 whose gallantry was known to all the Court, and some 
 others whom in his moments of distraction had not proved 
 cruel to him.' 
 
 " Among other ladies were to be distinguished Madame 
 de Nesle and Madame de Gontaut, who had for the Due de 
 Richelieu, among others, sentiments less interested but 
 more lively and natural than those of Madame de Prie 
 for M. le Due. While Madame de Nesle had wit and
 
 How a Queen was Deposed 37 
 
 courage, activity and energy, in her passions, Madame de 
 Gontaut, on the other hand, possessed more sensibihty 
 and reflection," It will be remembered that although 
 for years the mistress of M. le Due, the Marquise de Nesle 
 during the Regency fought a duel with pistols with 
 Madame de Polignac for the Due de Richelieu, and while 
 lying bathed in blood as a result of a bullet received 
 just above the breast, that she loudly proclaimed that 
 fickle noble to the bystanders as " the eldest son of 
 Venus and Mars, for whom I am ready to shed my 
 blood to the last drop." Her courage was, therefore, 
 certainly less to be questioned than her qualities of 
 reflection. 
 
 The manners and morals of the ladies of the Palace 
 of the Queen were, as may be judged from those already 
 named, sufficiently varied. Among the others were the 
 Duchesses de Tallard, de Bethune, and d'Epernon, the 
 young and beautiful Marechale de Villars, for whose 
 beaux yeux Voltaire sighed a whole year in vain, and 
 Mesdames de Chalais, de Rupelmonde, de Merode, and 
 de Matignon, of whom it was said that they were sus- 
 pected of some gallantries, but less bold and less talked 
 about than those of the other ladies. 
 
 To this charming bevy of ladies, then, was the Queen 
 relegated, and it must be conceded that if among such a 
 collection of unprincipled women she, while neglected 
 by the King, remained good and pure, it was owing alone 
 to her own innate virtue. Virtuous and religious, indeed, 
 this ill-treated woman remained all her life. 
 
 For the officers of her chapel she was compelled to 
 accept Fleury as her Grand Almoner, while Bishop 
 Tavannes, afterwards a Cardinal and Archbishop of 
 Rouen, was appointed her First Almoner.
 
 38 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 While Fleury, burning with the desire to govern the 
 State and to get rid of M. le Due and Madame de Prie, 
 was plotting with the Tencins and the Jesuits their 
 enemies, M. le Due tried to appease the old Bishop of 
 Frejus by leaving in his hands everything of whatsoever 
 kind to do with the distribution of favours in the 
 Church. Fleury, however, was not by any means 
 contented, M. le Due and the Marquise therefore laid 
 a plot to get rid of him. 
 
 A great coup was attempted in December, 1725, by 
 which it was proposed to separate the prelate from his 
 pupil. It was Madame de Prie, inspired by Duverney, 
 who suggested to M. le Due that he should get the King 
 to speak to him alone about State affairs, carefully 
 keeping him apart from the Bishop, who invariably 
 contrived to be present. By degrees, it was thought, the 
 King would learn to do without this constant presence of 
 his preceptor, and eventually send him away altogether. 
 
 To succeed, the Queen's assistance was required and 
 readily granted. M. le Due, on December 17th, 1725, 
 was with the Queen, who sent to ask the King to come to 
 her (he was, as usual, with Fleury). Upon his arrival 
 the doors were closed, and the Queen and the Due de 
 Bourbon kept them so until eleven o'clock. 
 
 At half-past eight Fleury, tired of waiting for the 
 King, left Versailles and went off to a convent at Issy. 
 He had played the same trick once before with great 
 success during the Regency. Then, while the King 
 moaned and groaned and refused to eat or sleep, Fleury 
 remained concealed for a day or two, to the great dis- 
 comfiture of the Regent, who did not know how to pacify 
 the boy. It was upon the occasion that the Marechal de 
 Villeroi was sent away. Fleury had promised the King's
 
 How a Queen was Deposed 39 
 
 Governor that he would also leave the Court and remain 
 absent if anything should happen to him. He did not, 
 however, keep his compact with Villeroi, but allowed 
 himself to be found and brought back in triumph to his 
 charge, while the Marechal was kept in exile by the 
 Regent. 
 
 Remembering the King's tears upon the former 
 occasion of his absenting himself, the wily Bishop felt 
 that in a similar manner he would now triumph over 
 M. le Due. He did not, however, this time take the 
 trouble to hide himself, but left a letter for the King to 
 say where he was gone — and why. 
 
 This letter no one dared to deliver that night nor the 
 next morning, when the King went out hunting. It was 
 only on the evening of December i8th that he received 
 the letter in which Fleury declared that he " would never 
 return to the Court." As before, the King wept, he was 
 sulky with M. le Due, and constantly demanded his pre- 
 ceptor from every one. It was the Due de Mortemart, of 
 the party opposed to the First Minister, who dared at 
 length to say to the King that he had only to give his 
 orders, and he would go and bring Fleury back from Issy 
 in his carriage. He even had the courage to tell the boy, 
 whimpering in such a childish manner, that he would 
 also go to M. le Due and order him on the King's behalf 
 to send a messenger himself to the Bishop of Frejus and 
 tell him to return. 
 
 The result was, as had been anticipated, triumph 
 for Fleury and his party, consternation in the camp of 
 the Condes. Among these, the Queen was as much 
 embarrassed as the rest, for she had now learned that 
 her master was not the King, nor M. le Due, but the 
 Bishop. It was a lesson which the unfortunate woman
 
 40 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 was never allowed to forget in after-years. Her first 
 mortification came very soon, when she vigorously 
 demanded the cordon bleu of the order of the Saint- 
 Esprit for M. de Nangis and the Marechal de Tesse, and 
 was refused point-blank. 
 
 A month or two after this rebuff to M. le Due and 
 the Marquise, a horrible incident occurred which for 
 the time greatly abased their enemies the Tencins, brother 
 and sister. During the frantic gambling for Law's 
 shares during the Regency, Madame de Tencin took the 
 money of one of her lovers, the Jacobite Lord Boling- 
 broke, to gamble with, saying that she would give him 
 the proceeds. To speculate in the shares, she sent an 
 aimable young councillor in the Parliament backwards 
 and forwards to the Rue Quincampoix to the Bourse. 
 He gained immense sums, which he remitted to Madame 
 de Tencin, and she promised him that she would become 
 his wife, while he was foolish enough to remain in- 
 fatuated with the horrible woman. 
 
 Early in 1726 it transpired that she had refused to 
 give to Bolingbroke the money that she held of his, 
 denying that she had ever received it. La Fresnaye, 
 the young gentleman who had brought back to her the 
 spoils of the Bourse, felt his honour at stake, but he still 
 urged her to marry him, apparently intending to make 
 good the missing sums himself. For reply, Madame 
 de Tencin — who, by-the-bye, was really Mademoiselle, 
 and only called Madame for having been a canoness — 
 snapped her fingers in his face. She told la Fresnaye 
 plainly that she had never dreamed of doing anything 
 else than make use of him as a tool. 
 
 On April 6th, 1726, while the Tencins and the 
 rest of Voltaire's enemies were laughing spitefully at his
 
 How a Queen was Deposed 41 
 
 ineffectual attempts to fight his duel with Rohan-Chabot, 
 the laughers became the laughed at, although it was a 
 horrible tragedy which caused the turn of the tables. 
 M. la Fresnaye, in despair and dishonoured, had taken 
 a dire revenge. After writing a terrible letter, which 
 he sent to a sure place, detailing all he knew of Madame 
 de Tencin's iniquities, and accusing her of ruining 
 him, he repaired to her house. There in her presence, 
 after upbraiding her, he blew his brains out with a 
 pistol. 
 
 It was in vain that Madame de Tencin with some 
 magistrates of her acquaintance, without informing the 
 police, contrived to bury the body in quick-lime in the 
 vaults of Saint-Roch ; in vain, too, that they pretended 
 that la Fresnaye had died of apoplexy. The dead man's 
 letter remained to explain the whole truth about Madame 
 de Tencin. The Police of the Chatelet, under Herault, 
 seized her on the loth, and were about to judge her, when 
 she would have received scant mercy. 
 
 Versailles, however, came to her assistance. Fleury, 
 with the aid of the Comte Phelipeaux de Maurepas, the 
 young Secretary of State, contrived to rescue her from 
 the police, who might have hanged her out of hand. 
 They were, however, compelled, if only for her own 
 safety, to put her in the Bastille under a lettre de cachet. 
 It was, however, a terrible blow for them, so great that 
 Fleury commenced to talk about retiring, while Madame 
 de Prie was able to write to the Due de Richelieu, then 
 on an embassy to the Emperor Charles VI. at Vienna, 
 " Everything is once more in order, again I am in 
 repose." 
 
 By the end of May, however, her friend Voltaire, 
 released from the Bastille, had been hunted out of France,
 
 42 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 while in the honeyed tones with which Fleury remarked 
 to M. le Due that " one might arrange matters if Madame 
 de Prie and Duverney would go to the country," the 
 First Minister saw a danger. He recognised the fear 
 and hatred of the young King behind the suave words 
 of the old priest — now a Cardinal. Madame de Prie 
 and Paris-Duverney consented to go to the country for 
 a time, when M. le Due was rewarded for their departure 
 by the burning of des Chauffours, the head of an enor- 
 mous institution of vice. None of his several hundred 
 disciples, many of them nobles, protected by Versailles, 
 or Bishops, like Saint-Aignan and la Fare, were allowed 
 to be interfered with. The Conseiller Delpech, the 
 painter Nattier, and the ex-Jesuit the Abbe Desfontaines, 
 although among those whose prosecution Madame de 
 Prie had urged, were allowed to go scot-free. 
 
 It was, indeed, Voltaire who, with the chivalry of 
 youth, saved Desfontaines from the Bastille before enter- 
 ing its portals for the second time himself. And yet it 
 was precisely because this wretched Abbe had done him 
 the greatest possible injury that Voltaire rushed off to 
 young Maurepas in haste to save him, Desfontaines had 
 stolen and published as his own, under the name of La 
 Ligue, Voltaire's magnificent epic of Henry IV. called 
 La Henriade. 
 
 Maurepas, an effeminate, frivolous young man, as 
 we have seen the friend of la Tremouille and Gesvres, 
 was himself not without suspicion of being mixed up with 
 the cabal of vice in Paris, whose manners he was con- 
 sidered to have brought to Versailles. He was not sorry, 
 although of the party against Voltaire, the friend of de 
 Prie, to stifle the charge against the Abbe Desfontaines. 
 That there can be no doubt as to Voltaire really having
 
 ' 'tti'iiiitii)iiiiiiiniiimiiiHiiiii!iiiiiHiiMiiniii;iiiniiiimiM iMiji/imhMiiimiii mmiiiiiiiiMniiiiiiiN]iumiiiiiini;uimnini 
 I'roui (in iiii;iaviiig ti/tei llie />icliiic by I'liii'oo. 
 
 JOSKI'M I'AKIS-DIVERNEY.
 
 How a Queen was Deposed 43 
 
 performed this generous action, was proved by the 
 letter of thanks written by Desfontaines himself, and 
 the statement of that writer most hostile to Voltaire, 
 the learned Nicolardot. 
 
 With the absence of Duverney, Versailles was at ease, 
 especially as the Marquise was also away. After a few 
 weeks of absence, however, Paris-Duverney, learning that 
 his own creatures, appointed by himself, were performing 
 various strange financial operations, boldly returned. 
 Not only did he return himself, but he wrote to Madame 
 de Prie to return also, that M. le Due and the State were 
 lost in her absence. 
 
 Like a whirlwind the Marquise flew back to Ver- 
 sailles. This was what Fleury wished ; he had even 
 himself secretly given to Duverney a hint that he would 
 not be averse to seeing the lady back. For he knew that 
 by this time the King hated as well as feared her ; by 
 that hatred Fleury expected to profit so soon as his Royal 
 pupil should find himself once more face to face with the 
 favourite of M. le Due. 
 
 The King, however, was too frightened, when in the 
 middle of May the Marquise returned, to act. He would 
 not even speak a word when Fleury begged him to act 
 against Duverney and Madame de Prie, who were be- 
 having as master and mistress at Versailles once more 
 and making every one feel their supreme authority. For 
 about a month more, while Fleury fell at the feet of 
 M. le Due and begged him to reign alone, " la " Prie 
 remained as the real Queen and ruler of France. 
 
 At length the King timidly fled to "Maman" Toulouse 
 at Rambouillet, and at the same time became guilty of the 
 first of those acts of duplicity for which he afterwards 
 became so well known whenever he intended to dismiss
 
 44 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 a Minister. Upon leaving for Rambouillet, he begged 
 M. le Due in the most cordial manner to come and join 
 him there. When the Due de Bourbon had finished his 
 State affairs that afternoon, the Due de Charost handed 
 him a letter from the King saying that in future he in- 
 tended to govern by himself without a First Minister ! 
 M. le Due was exiled to Chantilly. This took place on 
 June nth, 1726, and the reign of the Marquise de Prie 
 ceased upon the same day.
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 France, after the Marquise 
 
 1727 AND LATER 
 
 M. LE Due was exiled to his home at Chantilly, a punish- 
 ment which might not have seemed very great when the 
 splendours of that home of the Condes were considered. 
 Unfortunately, the old-womanish spite of the priesthood 
 added a very bitter pill to the first sentence of exile 
 nominally pronounced by the King, actually by Fleury. 
 This was to deprive the energetic Due de Bourbon of the 
 pleasures of the chase in his country retreat. M. le Due, 
 who was a chasseur enrage, was forbidden his horses and 
 his hounds, his dogs and guns. A petty spite this to 
 wreak upon his rival ! but Fleury knew how to make 
 the late ruler of the State wince, and that all the more 
 since he was deprived of the presence and counsels of 
 his soul, Madame de Prie, who was exiled to Courbe- 
 Epine. This was that chateau in Normandy whence 
 she had recently returned to resume for a short time 
 the helm of government. 
 
 As for Paris-Duverney, a man so able that in order 
 to rule by a proper administration of the taxes he seemed 
 necessary, the old priest had recourse to all his rivals and 
 enemies in order to work his downfall. These were the 
 old agents of the extortion of the days of Louis XIV., 
 
 45
 
 46 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 farmers-general and financiers. To tliese Fleury remitted 
 the enormous sum of fifty-six millions, owed by them on 
 back taxes, in order that they should take up the matter 
 of supply to the State according to the rotten, old- 
 fashioned methods. They pocketed the fifty-six millions, 
 abolished all regular administration ; the farmers-general 
 were re-established everywhere, while Duverney went to 
 rage in the Bastille, in solitude. 
 
 While the absolute nothingness of the character of 
 M. le Due became apparent, by his actually begging the 
 girlish Gesvres to ask grace for him in the matter of 
 hunting, Madame de Prie behaved differently. She 
 affected the greatest stoicism and indifference, and, in her 
 retreat, lived ostentatiously in a manner to show that she 
 did not care — that she snapped her fingers at Fleury and 
 her disgrace. 
 
 This young lady, who had been so great and was now 
 only twenty-seven, endeavoured, indeed, to lead a life of 
 the wildest en train. She composed verses and wrote 
 plays, and recited or acted before an audience of such 
 members of the Court as she could get to visit her. She 
 had kept a friend — albeit a false one — in the shape of 
 the spiteful spitfire Madame du Deffand ; she took a 
 new lover in the shape of a young country gentleman, 
 who was the nephew of the Abbe Damfreville. 
 
 Under all her apparent carelessness, she was eating 
 her heart out, and had resolved to die upon a day that she 
 had appointed and announced long in advance, while 
 in the meantime comporting herself after the fashion of 
 a jemme d'espHt. This she most certainly was — the 
 perusal of one of her long letters to the Due de Richelieu 
 at Vienna is alone sufficient to reveal that fact. Never 
 was seen such a mixture upon every subject, from the
 
 France^ after the Marquise 47 
 
 affairs of the State to the latest affaires de cceur of the 
 Royal Princesses, or the Marquise de Villars, as, written 
 in an agreeable style, composed those budgets. 
 
 While giving out to everybody that she knew she was 
 going to die upon a certain date, no one believed her, least 
 of all the young lover whom she patronised and who 
 adored her as a slave. 
 
 The Due de Bouillon was among those who was 
 visiting at her chateau when, three days before her death, 
 she recited in the most brilliant fashion three hundred 
 verses before her guests. On the following day she made 
 a present of a diamond to her lover, then despatched 
 him with fifty thousand livres' worth of other diamonds, 
 to place in security at Rouen. 
 
 " Go ! " she said ; " I don't wish you to see me die." 
 He went, but had no idea that she was in earnest. When 
 he returned, he found her dead ! She had died in the 
 most awful agonies ; the unhappy woman's legs and feet 
 were all curved and drawn up by the contraction of the 
 muscles caused by the poison, her screams were fearful. 
 The false Due de Bouillon, upon his return to Versailles, 
 thought it appropriate to pay court to the Cardinal by 
 depicting these tortures in a semi-humorous manner, 
 while representing them as the just torments experienced 
 by one of the damned. The fact that a great nobleman — 
 we cannot call him a gentleman — could behave in such a 
 way after having been her guest, and yet not be scouted 
 by society, affords in itself a picture of the times ! And 
 yet there was Royal blood in the veins of the family of 
 Bouillon — to which the great Mar6chal Turenne had 
 belonged — the hereditary rulers of Sedan. 
 
 The unhappy Madame de Prie being dead, it must be 
 conceded that, in spite of the viciousncss of her character,
 
 48 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 she was worth more than many who came after her in 
 the management of the State coach. There was an at- 
 tempt at rude vigour in her government with Duverney ; 
 whereas, after her, under the Jesuits and farmers-general, 
 the administration went to sleep. At all events, the 
 Marquise de Prie made a determined effort to abolish 
 certain abuses. 
 
 However impure, however furious or bizarre her 
 nature, her ideas, energetic as they were, contained 
 ^ements of greatness. It is probable that she would 
 have done something for France had she not had the 
 opposition of Fleury to contend with. According to her 
 own words, she had the real interests of the young King 
 at heart, and those interests were most certainly not 
 better served when they were entirely abandoned to the 
 senile ecclesiastic who did not commence to rule until in 
 his seventy-third year. 
 
 We will give an extract from one of her letters to 
 Richelieu ; it was written at the time that, for the good 
 of M. le Due, she left the Court for Normandy, while 
 Duverney also went away. x\fter a lot of amusing 
 gossip, the Marquise says : 
 
 " If I talked to you about myself, I should not find 
 any such lively matter to discuss. I can only assure you 
 that the ties of attachment must be very strong in me 
 which can induce me to remain in a country where I 
 have just experienced the greatest rebuffs {les dernier es 
 horreurs) through those whom I had the best served, and 
 that I shall have no other consolation than that of seeing 
 my enemies obliged to lie to injure me. Although that 
 may seem a triumph, I would make more of one by my 
 retreat. Thus, in spite of the violence with which the 
 Queen, M. le Due, and my friends attack me for taking
 
 France, after the Marquise 49 
 
 this resolution, I wish to let you know that I have 
 proved the stronger ; therefore, in no longer exciting 
 jealousy, I shall at the same time only show existing facts 
 in my line of conduct. I shall shortly obtain the esteem 
 of all honest people and the justice due to me, I shall have 
 more tranquillity and repose. Again, no longer will it 
 be imputed to me that I govern people who are not in- 
 clined to be governed and whose firmness ought to be 
 recognised. I refuse, while their glory has ever been my 
 sole object, to allow myself longer to be made the pretext 
 by which it is sought to weaken them. I speak to you 
 as my friend, and hope that you will make no other 
 usage of that which I say than to be touched by the 
 confidence reposed in you. . . . 
 
 " I find all the obstacles in the world opposed to my 
 intention. I shall have all the more merit in following 
 it, since they only seek to bafiie it with chains which, 
 while appearing to be those of flowers, may well contain 
 some of the serpents with which the Court is filled. 
 
 " I have never seen anything so black, so low, so false 
 and much to be despised as that which I find there. Only 
 does M. le Due appear to me to-day as worthy of my 
 veneration and of all my attachment. His firmness, 
 friendship, and truth towards myself have made liim 
 for ever the master of my life, which I would with joy 
 lay down in his service." 
 
 Upon reading this letter, one feels inclined to exclaim 
 " Poor Madame de Prie ! " with one of the great historians 
 of France, who has elsewhere abused her as a vampire 
 and all kinds of evil things. 
 
 In her remarks about the Court, that she is truthful 
 is evident ; they might have come verbatim from the 
 pages of that honest d'Argenson who ran away to Valen- 
 VOL. I. 4
 
 50 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 ciennes to escape her wiles. With regard to her ex- 
 pressed gratitude to M. le Due, she proved it ; even in 
 doing that which should excite our reprobation, such 
 as giving to him Madame d'Egmont, at the risk of being 
 herself utterly effaced in his affections. During her last 
 days, when she allowed herself to be beloved by the 
 young man who persisted in his adoration, her heart was 
 withered and she never returned that love. Only indeed 
 did she accept his homage from pride, to keep up her 
 reputation, and prove to her enemies that there still ex- 
 isted those who would persist in casting themselves at 
 her feet. Madame de Prie had already decided to die 
 when he presented himself again and again, and would 
 not be sent away. When all else is said, the Marquise 
 de Prie, if a female tyrant, was yet a young woman of 
 courage. This she proved in her tentatives of reform 
 with Duverney ; in the manner in which she returned 
 to the Court, a hornets' nest of her enemies, which she 
 cowed by her presence ; and, above all, by the manner 
 in which, like the victim of the red Indian tied to the 
 stake, she apparently kept up the liveliest spirits until 
 the day that she had decreed was to terminate her exis- 
 tence, and then boldly kept her word and passed out 
 into the unknown. 
 
 After M. le Due and Madame de Prie had disappeared 
 from the scene of the Court, the state of affairs in France 
 soon became pitiable in the extreme. Under Fleury's 
 controleur des finances Desforts, who made a foolish 
 arrangement with the receivers and farmers-general, the 
 people were ruined everywhere throughout the country, 
 where armies of clerks, tax-gatherers, archers, and 
 bailiffs invaded every home. In vain was it that the 
 wretched people crowded into the towns and cities.
 
 France, after the Marquise 51 
 
 There they were worse off than ever, the cruel system 
 of octroi duties pressing most heavily upon those of the 
 lowest classes. 
 
 As if these miseries were not enough, religious per- 
 secution recommenced. From Noailles, the aged Arch- 
 bishop of Paris, dowmwards, every person was persecuted 
 who was suspected of not accepting in its entirety the 
 absurd Papal Bull Unigenitus, which made of the Pope 
 a god. The abominable Tencin, who before he suc- 
 ceeded in being elevated to Cardinal's rank had been 
 made Archbishop of Embrun, by the King's orders — 
 that is to say, those of Fleury and the Jesuits — assembled 
 a Court of Bishops at Embrun, composed of prelates 
 favourable to the Bull. This Council of Embrun has 
 been called the brigandage d'Enibrun. Without allowing 
 him to speak on his own behalf, they condemned the 
 old Soanen, a Bishop eighty years of age, to the cold 
 mountains of Auvergne, where he died. Noailles, with 
 twelve Bishops, vainly protested against this infamous 
 Council, presided over by an infamous man. 
 
 But Tencin and his crew, which included a wretch 
 like Lafiteau, whom even Cardinal Dubois had punished 
 for his thefts, were too strong for the Archbishop of 
 Paris. This old man, whose life since 171 1 had but been 
 a long story of Jesuit persecution, was soon literally 
 worried to death. He was forced to accept the Bull, 
 however, before he, like Soanen, gave up the ghost. 
 
 While the followers of St. Augustine, those who 
 maintained that man had a right to a conscience of his 
 own, were in this manner being worried, while the police- 
 agents of Herault were everywhere inscribing their names 
 upon the registers and finding in Chauvelin, the able 
 new Keeper of the Seals, a hard and bitter judge who
 
 52 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 handed them over to Saint-Florentin, the gaoler, son 
 of la Vrilliere, the Protestants were not forgotten, 
 
 M. le Due, before his fall, had eliminated from the 
 revived edicts against these the clause which subjected 
 to death those accused of " relapse ; " he had, however, 
 passed another clause unnoticed. By tliis clause all 
 parish priests possessed the power to take, one by one, 
 any man or woman whom he chose, and argue or bargain 
 with them in private, in such manner as he thought fit, 
 upon the question of the penalties to which they or 
 those near and dear to them were exposed. Seeing 
 the danger to women, in a time when the priesthood 
 were not over-famous for morality, the old edict of 
 Louis XIV. had expressly stipulated that the cure or 
 other priest should not be alone to examine those whom 
 he chose to interrogate. This clause as altered soon 
 became a cause of great terror to the unhappy Protestant 
 women who sought to save their husbands or brothers 
 from some dreadful fate. 
 
 The persecution, however, far from stamping out the 
 Protestantism which existed concealed in the country, 
 merely caused the death of many martyrs. A noble 
 young pastor of Geneva, Antoine Court, restored the 
 Reformed faith in France. Himself leaving wife and 
 children to come and preach in the mountain villages 
 and caverns, or the recesses of the forests, he ordained 
 others, who ordained more in turn. Hunted about, 
 starved or hanged, if the numbers of these pastors were 
 constantly being diminished, there were thus always 
 found others ready to replace them and receive in turn 
 the crown of martyrdom, for the sake of the souls that 
 they might save. In spite of the law which hanged the 
 pastors, a seminary was founded at Lausanne, in Switzer-
 
 France, after the Marquise S3 
 
 land, to furnish victims for the dragoons and judges. They 
 came into France, to hve thenceforward Hke wild beasts, 
 chased from rock to rock, ever flying, always in hiding, 
 without a fire, without a roof ! And, with it all, they 
 maintained a great instinct of peace ; preaching to the 
 multitudes against armed resistance, and non-resistance 
 to those who would assassinate them. As in the days 
 of the massacres in the Cevennes forty years earlier, 
 when the poor people, driven in time to armed resistance, 
 were known as the Camisards, the poor, persecuted 
 creatures considered that to pray for the King, that his 
 heart might be rendered merciful towards them, was 
 the only right way in wliich to avoid the miseries inflicted 
 upon them in the name of religion. Meanwhile, their 
 marriages and baptisms took place in secret under the 
 panoply of heaven, since from the time of the Revoca- 
 tion of the Edict of Nantes, by Louis XIV. and Madame 
 de Maintenon in 1685, all the Protestant churches had 
 been destroyed in France. 
 
 At length, against these celebrations of the Christian 
 rites in the woods and fields, the Bishops, becoming 
 more and more intolerant, called for a repetition of the 
 dragonnades. In 1738 they demanded the sword and 
 military government to suppress those whom all other 
 means, however severe, had failed to convince and 
 convert. 
 
 The strangest thing, in reference to the intolerance 
 of the Catholic clergy towards the Protestants, was that 
 the very Jansenists, who had so much to fear from per- 
 secution themselves, were as intolerant as those of the 
 Jesuitical tendency who supported the Bull Unigenitus. 
 The good-natured and irreligious Regent soon found this 
 out when he assumed the reins of government in 1715.
 
 54 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 Had not the Archbishop Noailles, the Chanceher d'Agues- 
 seau, and many Jansenist conseillers of the Parliament 
 of Paris been so bitter against the Protestants, he would 
 have recalled to the kingdom all the scattered thousands 
 of Huguenots, who had gone to enrich other countries 
 with their industries, or the armies of foreign potentates 
 with their skill and valour. During the last fourteen 
 years of the seventeenth, and during the eighteenth 
 century until the Peace of Utrecht, Frenchmen frequently 
 found that the most stubborn and valorous foes whom 
 they had to encounter were Protestant Frenchmen who 
 had been driven from their native country. To give but 
 one instance of this, at the battle of the Boyne, in 1690, 
 the French troops aiding James H., under the Comte de 
 Lauzun, were mainly defeated by the French Protestants, 
 who, under the French Due de Schomberg, had reinforced 
 William of Orange. 
 
 To return to the Chancelier d'Aguesseau : he, under 
 the Regent in 1721, severely reproved the Intendants 
 in the provinces who did not repress the Protestants. 
 They indeed enjoyed considerably more repose than 
 usual, owing to the known indifference of the Regent, 
 during the eight years that he held the supreme power. 
 And yet this Jansenist d'Aguesseau was a very honest 
 man, who had dared to flout the great Louis XIV. to 
 his face in the matter of refusing to register the Bull 
 upon the records of the Parliament. Another very 
 honest man was an austere Jansenist Bishop named 
 Colbert. According to Corbiere, this Bishop, who for 
 forty years fought boldly against the Ultramontanes, 
 was, on that account, none the less hostile to the Pro- 
 testants. 
 
 Upon the whole, therefore, it would seem as if the
 
 France, after the Marquise 55 
 
 unfortunate members of the Reformed faith had Httle 
 more mercy to expect from the one great Cathohc party 
 than from the other ; but had the Due d'Orleans lived 
 longer, they probably would have had their hard lot 
 improved. 
 
 The moral misery throughout the kingdom of France 
 was, under any circumstances, extreme from the be- 
 ginning of the influence of Fleury. While Louis XIV. 
 had dazzled and the Regent lured onward with false 
 hopes, under the King's old preceptor there was neither 
 hope nor thought. It was a government as dull as ditch- 
 water, tiresome, tedious, when the end of one day meant 
 nothing as much as did the end of that which followed. 
 All was as monotonous as the dull skies of the short winter 
 days as seen from the unhealthy and narrow streets of 
 Paris. Here, owing to the ridiculous laws which forbade 
 building outside the walls, the surplus of the inhabitants 
 lived in a huge and miserable camp of torn canvas and 
 rotten planks ; while, in the streets, the houses grew 
 higher and higher. Tenements of seven and eight stories 
 in height were everywhere to be seen, the garret roofs 
 of which let in the rain everywhere. The damp running 
 down the walls on the insides of the houses left greenish 
 mouldy streaks from floor to floor, while the lower stages 
 were dark, and regular wells of standing water. Up under 
 the dripping roof the apprentices and serving-women 
 were all crowded together, with no fireplaces and no 
 carpeting upon the filthy boarding. Upon the ground 
 floor, in the shop or counting-house, the visitor was on 
 entering greeted with the pale and emaciated faces of 
 unhealthy men and women, living in an atmosphere of 
 damp and mould which clung to everything. 
 
 Such was the condition of the greater part of Paris in
 
 S^ The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 the reign of Louis XV. Since the streets were, in addition, 
 crowded with sturdy, deformed, or maimed beggars, often 
 old soldiers who would stop at no kind of violence, it was, 
 save for the rich or noble who could go out attended and 
 armed, not a very pleasant place to live in. Versailles 
 being once more the Court, since during the last two years 
 of his life the Regent had left the Palais-Royal and 
 contrived, by a ruse, to instal the young King there, in 
 order to avoid the intrigues of the Due de Villeroi, the 
 greater number of the courtiers always remained there, 
 where was the seat of Government. Paris being ten 
 miles distant, the Court avoided the city, and for 
 which, a few years later, Louis XV. grew to have 
 a positive hatred. 
 
 While such was the general condition of affairs pre- 
 vailing after the fall of the Due de Bourbon and Madame 
 de Prie, owing to the indignation caused by the perse- 
 cution of the Jansenists in 1727, a religious fanaticism 
 arose in opposition to it. The persecution itself was a 
 false fanaticism, set to work by all the interested prelates, 
 from Fleury downwards, who wished to stand in well 
 with Rome, that which arose in opposition to it was real 
 when it commenced in 1728, became crazy in 1729, and 
 later on resulted in depravity. 
 
 There was a certain good, humble, and charitable 
 deacon of the Jansenist faction, who died after having, 
 from religious asceticism, become semi-deranged. His 
 name was Paris, and he had lived in a kind of hermit's 
 retreat, made of rough planks, in a damp courtyard in the 
 quarter of Saint-Marceau. 
 
 His death, which resulted from starvation owing to 
 his giving away all that he had, created a great stir among 
 a large number of people, who, even before death, looked
 
 France, after the Marquise 57 
 
 upon him as a saint. Accordingly, no sooner was Paris 
 buried than, throughout the summer of 1727, sick people 
 commenced to drag themselves to the holy man's tomb. 
 His brother, a conseiller in the Parliament, had erected 
 over his grave a marble slab, at a height of about one foot 
 from the ground. Some of those who from faith visited 
 the saint's tomb, died ; others declared themselves cured 
 of their maladies. The crowd increased daily, chiefly 
 consisting of sick ladies or unmarried girls. These, to 
 get closer to the holy earth, would squeeze themselves 
 under the marble slab and kiss the ground or swallow 
 some earth ; when many would fall into trances from 
 ecstasy, or have attacks of an hysterical nature, after 
 which they would leave, declaring themselves cured. 
 When, the religious persecution increasing, the Jansenist 
 priests were deprived of their offices, the condition of 
 things around the tomb of the deacon Paris soon amounted 
 to a veritable delirium. Many indeed were the miracles 
 which were declared to have taken place owing to the 
 agency of the departed saint, whose reputation soon 
 spread far and wide, while they found their chronicler 
 in a certain Carre de Montgeron. His book, entitled 
 Verite des miracles du bienhcureux Paris, is most in- 
 structive. It commences by relating in detail all the 
 miseries and ills of the times, and then, with the greatest 
 sincerity and mentioning witnesses, describes all the 
 wonderful cures which took place. No stone is left 
 unturned by Montgeron to prove the miracles ; many of 
 the names he gives of witnesses are those of serious 
 savants, who had made a critical and searching examina- 
 tion into the facts. The cures which took place, and 
 apparently there really were some, would seem to have 
 been the result of a sort of hypnotic effect created upon
 
 58 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 the imagination. The sick thought themselves well — 
 therefore they were well. 
 
 Those cured meanwhile no longer felt the need of the 
 priests who had been taken away from tliem. They felt 
 that they now possessed that grace within themselves 
 which made them semi-divine. Thus even people at a 
 distance, hearing the echo of the call of these semi-divine 
 voices, soon came to Saint-Medard cemetery, to squeeze 
 themselves in turn under the marble slab, and share in 
 the solace of the condition of grace to the soul which 
 accompanied the relief from the ills of the body. 
 
 Meanwhile, no less than fifty learned doctors of the 
 Sorbonne, who had nobly protested against the ill-treat- 
 ment meted out to the old Bishop Soanen, were carried 
 off by force and thrust into the hardest prisons of the 
 State. These cruelties excited the imagination of the 
 public, and the fanaticism of the persecuted Jansenists 
 only increased all the more when the gates of the little 
 cemetery were definitely closed upon them. The result 
 was that the unfortunate women, deprived of the open- 
 air devotion to which they had been able to give them- 
 selves over at the tomb of Paris, commenced, in the 
 secret retreats to which they were compelled to resort, 
 to follow, in an outre manner, the inclination of their 
 religious tenets, they believing that the sorrows of 
 the innocent served as expiation for the guilty. 
 
 Accordingly, as the years rolled by and Versailles 
 plunged itself deeper and deeper into the mire of de- 
 bauchery, so also did the innocent martyrs seek out more 
 and more cruel penances for themselves. With the most 
 painful tortures, offered as a sacrifice to God, they 
 appealed for mercy for the King, implored that the cup of 
 vengeance might be turned from him to them, who
 
 France, after the Marquise 59 
 
 expiated his sins in their own persons. To those who may 
 say that these ecstasies, these furies of hunger and thirst, 
 these self-inflicted floggings and other cruel punishments, 
 were a perversion of the real ideas of Christianity, the 
 reply is, that it was not so according to the stories of the 
 lives of the saints. The recorded legends of all the 
 saints are alike. Whoever reads them will see that 
 all say that suffering purifies, that the love of death 
 is the real path which leads to the salvation of the 
 soul. Thus undoubtedly, according to their lights, these 
 Jansenists were true Christians. Unfortunately, they 
 possessed all the intolerance so often seen in the various 
 sects of Christianity. One marvels that they were not 
 moved by the extraordinary patience and resignation 
 shown at the same period by the Protestants.
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 A Troublesome Queen 
 
 1724— 1731 
 
 The restoration of the royalty of the priesthood, march- 
 ing to aggressive warfare under the banner of the Bull, 
 was not the outcome of revived religious sentiment, but 
 that of interested motives. At its head were men like 
 Tencin, already Archbishop of Embrun, Tressan, Almoner 
 to the late Regent, who had revived and put before M. le 
 Due the old edicts of Louis XIV., and Fleury himself. 
 All of these were seeking the Cardinal's hat, to obtain 
 which it was necessary to make evident to Rome their 
 energy in strongly repressing schism and heresy in 
 France. 
 
 Behind these leaders were a very large body of the 
 priesthood, fighting against a very actual danger with 
 which of recent years they had been twice threatened. 
 The goods of the Church were at stake. During the 
 Regency, John Law, the indomitable Scotsman, had 
 when Controleur-General endeavoured to compel the 
 priesthood to sell half of the properties which they had 
 acquired during the last hundred and twenty years ; 
 while, under the rule of Madame de Prie, Paris-Duverney 
 had made a determined effort to tax their enormous 
 revenues for the benefit of the State. 
 
 60
 
 A Troublesome Queen 6i 
 
 The movement for the suppression of heresy was by 
 no means confined to France ; and in Poland the action 
 of the Jesuits was such as to give rise to the state of 
 affairs which, before the end of the reign of Louis XV., 
 afforded Frederick the Great the pretext for the partition 
 of Poland with Austria and Russia. 
 
 Poland had taken under its protection two merchant 
 cities of Germanic origin — Thorn and Dantzic. 
 
 The latter-named city, in Polish Gdansk, with an ad- 
 ministrative district extending a hundred miles along the 
 Baltic, is traversed by the River Vistula, and now forms a 
 province of West Prussia. The city of Dantzic, which 
 abounds with learned, charitable, and artistic institutions, 
 is still, as in the days of Louis XV., chiefly the home of 
 Protestant inhabitants. In exports it is nowadays 
 probably the first Prussian port, where also ship-building 
 is extensively carried on. In 1310 Dantzic fell under the 
 sway of the order of Teutonic Knights, and became a 
 German city in the midst of a Polish population, the 
 protection of whose State it obtained in 1454 while 
 remaining a free city. 
 
 The town of Thorn, which was likewise a stronghold 
 of the Reformed faith, is chiefly celebrated as having 
 been the birthplace of Copernicus, in Polish Nicolas 
 Kopemik, the German astronomer who was the discoverer 
 of the system of the planetary revolutions. He was born 
 at Thorn, which now like Dantzic forms part of Prussia, 
 on February 19th, 1473, and died at Frauenberg in June, 
 1543. Oddly enough, he received the first copy of the 
 first edition of his six books on the very morning of the 
 day that he died. 
 
 The country of Poland having until the seventeenth 
 century been the protector of free institutions and.
 
 62 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 largely Protestant itself, the hospitable receiver of 
 Protestant exiles, had generously extended its hand to 
 assist Thorn and Dantzic. With the seventeenth century 
 however, came a change. Poland, being three times 
 invaded by the Protestant Swedes, went over to the 
 enemy, the Jesuits, who had gradually insinuated them- 
 selves into all the households. Thenceforth the banner 
 of Poland became that of the Catholic Church — the 
 Virgin. Wounded in their pride, the greater number of 
 the inhabitants now hated the religion of Reform which 
 they had formerly espoused and protected. Thorn and 
 Dantzic, however, refused to be gained by the suavities 
 of the Order of Jesus, and remained ultra-Protestant. 
 It was with great difficulty that, one by one, the Jesuits 
 contrived to enter these free cities also, and establish 
 themselves in the houses of the nobility. They founded 
 a school and a college in Thorn for the education of the 
 young nobles. These proud young lords, marching about 
 sword on hip, were not contented with the religious 
 Jesuit-led processions with which they offended the eyes 
 of the majority of the inhabitants of Thorn : they set 
 to work to provoke and quarrel with the merchant 
 population. When the Lutheran lookers-on refused to 
 remove their hats as they passed with their procession 
 of the Virgin, they attacked them. Thereupon the 
 magistrates arrested one of the noble students, and the 
 Jesuits in return laid violent hands upon the people. 
 As a result, there was a riot of the workmen, who broke 
 into the Jesuit college and smashed up everything, 
 including two altars, also burning the image of the 
 Virgin which had given rise to the quarrel. 
 
 The Virgin being the sacred emblem of the flag of 
 Poland, the Jesuits had no difficulty in making of these
 
 A Troublesome Queen 6^ 
 
 religious disturbances a national affair. They argued 
 that if Louis XIV., a mere human being, had revenged 
 his personal majesty, which was outraged by Genoa, 
 by crushing that city with bomb-shells, how much 
 more right would Poland have to avenge the wrongs of 
 her divine Virgin ! The Jesuits violently demanded the 
 death of the magistrates themselves ; they were not 
 contented with merely demanding the blood of the 
 workmen who had retaliated upon their pupils, when 
 they first attacked them. 
 
 The Saxon Elector Augustus, who sat also upon the 
 throne of Poland, a drunkard and debauchee, was afraid 
 to protect his brother-Germans from the result of the 
 insult to the Polish flag. While rescuing one alone, he 
 left the remainder of the arrested magistrates in the 
 claws of the Jesuits, who, before sending them to the 
 scaffold, tortured the unhappy men almost to death 
 with priestly exhortations to recant, in order that they 
 might die Catholics, which they refused to do. 
 
 Ten heads fell to satisfy Jesuit revenge, in December, 
 1724 ; before which, however, not only had the second 
 King of Prussia, Frederick William I., father of Frederick 
 the Great, intervened, but Sweden, Hanover, Denmark, 
 Holland, England, and even France, through M. le Due, 
 had made representations to save the innocent magistrates 
 of Thorn. 
 
 There was, however, no combination between the 
 Powers ; their separate action was also slow. Thus the 
 Jesuits were triumphant ; the ten heads fell at Thorn, 
 and, as a result, eventually Poland was dismembered. 
 The excuse for the dismemberment being the protection 
 of those of the Protestant and Greek Churches, the Poles 
 had little for which to be thankful to the Jesuits, who
 
 64 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 were constantly leading them into the extremes of 
 violence. 
 
 While in Poland this party were laying up the 
 seeds from which subsequently sprung the dismember- 
 ment of the State, in Spain they were not behindhand. 
 Here, in April, 1725, the ambitious Italian Queen, 
 Elizabeth Farnese, and her husband Philip V., whom with 
 her wine and her drugs she rendered for a time half-crazy 
 and bestial, were ruled by their confessors, Montgon and 
 Bermudez. To be more accurate, it might perhaps be 
 said that while the Queen made of Father Montgon her 
 secretary and man of affairs, the Jesuit Bermudez, the 
 hater of the Jansenists, burned to establish the French 
 Philip V. at Versailles, and pushed him in that direction. 
 
 During the period of the abdication of Philip from the 
 Spanish throne, while his son Luis, for eight months only, 
 was Monarch, the King and Queen retired to the castle of 
 San Ildefonso, where they had laid up all the revenues 
 of the coming year, levied in advance, to furnish them 
 with the means of entry into France. Unfortunately for 
 them, while with their baggage packed, hand-bag in hand, 
 they eagerly read each bulletin which announced that 
 the young Louis XV. suffered from a bad cold, that 
 nephew of Philip V. did not die. On the other hand, he 
 lived, sent back the child Infanta, married Marie Lesczyn- 
 ska, and generally upset the plans of San Ildefonso. 
 
 Who did die was the young King Luis, whereupon 
 his widow, daughter of the Regent, was packed off back 
 to France with Mademoiselle de Beaujolais, her sister ; 
 while the Queen of Spain dragged forth her husband 
 from his swinish retreat and filthy clothing and made him 
 resume the crown, in spite of the solemn oaths which he 
 had sworn.
 
 A Troublesome Queen 65 
 
 The Queen, in league with the Jesuits in Italy, friends 
 of the so-called James III. of England, the old Pretender, 
 more furiously than ever recommenced her plottings 
 to upset the peace of Europe. Since there was no longer 
 any question of her husband relinquishing one throne for 
 the sake of obtaining another, Elizabeth Farnese turned 
 her thoughts more ardently than ever in the direction of 
 Italy. There she sought to establish various kingdoms 
 and principalities — for her two sons, Carlos and Philip, 
 in the first instance ; one for herself, too, should she 
 become a widow. 
 
 Austria and Savoy, the Duke of which latter State 
 had become King of Sardinia in 1718, as the result of the 
 Queen of Spain's folly, remained the paramount Powers 
 in Italy. It had hitherto been Elizabeth's plan, which 
 had signally failed, to enforce the assistance of England 
 in her Italian plans against Austria, terrifying that 
 Power by launching the Pretender upon her shores. 
 
 Her compact with Charles XII. of Sweden having 
 failed, owing to that adventurous King's death, her sea 
 expedition fitted out by Cardinal Alberoni for Scotland 
 having been wrecked, her fleet off the shores of Sicily 
 having been destroyed by Admiral Byng, neither England 
 nor Austria had been affected by the Queen's menaces. 
 In the month of April, 1725, the Queen formed a new 
 plan, encouraged thereto by a Spanish-Dutch adventurer 
 who, formerly a Protestant, came into her service and 
 became a Catholic. This was an empty-headed boaster 
 whom she created Duke of Riperda. The old idea of 
 launching the Pretender, who had failed so completely 
 in the rising of 1715, once more upon tlie coasts of Scotland 
 was not abandoned in the new combination of the Par- 
 mesan Princess. 
 
 VOL. I. 5
 
 66 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 In her blind fury against France, she sought to humble 
 that country, the ally of England, with England. Thus, 
 while the old romance of the Jesuits, the re-establishment 
 of a Catholic Prince upon the throne of Great Britain, 
 was not forgotten, Elizabeth sought a new ally, one whom 
 she hoped to use against both Great Britain and France. 
 This was Austria, the very Power whose territories she 
 most coveted, by whose means she now fancied that 
 she would be enabled to change the face of Europe. 
 Riperda undertook to manage the business for the Queen 
 of Spain — it would be easy. It was only the matter of 
 a few ducats to Charles VI., Emperor of Germany, 
 hereditary ruler of Austria as Grand Duke, of Bohemia 
 and Hungary as King, since 1714 lord of Naples, Milan, 
 and other Italian principalities, ruler also of the Nether- 
 lands and Sicily. 
 
 Elizabeth accordingly sought for an intimate alliance 
 with this Charles VI., who, during the War of the Spanish 
 Succession, had actually at one time been declared King 
 in Spain, where he was fighting for his rights. He would, 
 indeed, have been crowned at Madrid in 1706, but refused 
 because he had not the proper regal outfit. Elizabeth 
 sent Riperda to Vienna, his pockets being lined with all 
 the gold that could be procured. At the same time the 
 celebrated profligate the Due de Richelieu, great-nephew 
 of Cardinal Richelieu, was sent to Vienna by France to 
 upset Riperda's plans if possible. We may here remark 
 casually that his first efforts in that direction resulted in 
 his upsetting Riperda himself. By husthng the Spanish 
 Ambassador so violently that he fell down the grand- 
 ducal staircase, Richelieu forcibly obtained precedence 
 of entry to the presence of the Emperor. For this 
 insult, Riperda, who was a poltroon, refused to ask
 
 A Troublesome Queen 67 
 
 for satisfaction with the sword, although Richeheu, in 
 a very insulting manner, called upon him to ask for 
 tidings of his health. 
 
 The Emperor Charles was just at tliis time fishing 
 round in all directions to gain adherents to help him 
 in carrying out an illegal scheme of his own. By this 
 scheme, which he called a Pragmatic, he sought to upset 
 the Salic and constitutional law of the various countries 
 of which he was hereditary ruler. He had no sons, only 
 two young daughters, Maria Theresa and Maria Eleonora, 
 the latter bom in 1718, by his wife Elizabeth of 
 Brunswick-Wolf enbiittel, who had remained with Count 
 Stahrenberg, her Minister, as Queen of Spain in 
 Barcelona until 1713, although Philip V. had ascended 
 the throne in 1700 and was reigning with the Savoyarde 
 Princess Louise Marie, his first wife at Madrid. Charles 
 himself had, in the meantime, at the suggestion of 
 Prince Eugene, returned to Germany and been elected 
 and crowned Emperor in 171 1, he being the son of 
 the Emperor Leopold I. and brother of the Emperor 
 Joseph I., whom he succeeded. 
 
 While uniting in his person so many grandeurs and 
 dignities, Charles was the last heir male of the great house 
 of Hapsburg, or Habsburg, in which family the Empire, 
 supposed to be elective, had remained as if hereditary ever 
 since, in 1273, Rudolph of Hapsburg-Lauffenburg, son 
 of Count Albert IV., became first Emperor of the line. 
 The family of Hapsburg was even then a very ancient 
 one of potentates who had ruled over a great portion of 
 Europe, being descended from Ethico L, a Uuke of the 
 Alemannia in the seventh century. 
 
 The elder of Charles VL's daughters was Maria 
 Theresa, born in May, 171 7, to whom he was anxious
 
 68 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 to leave all his crowns — although, of course, they would 
 not include the Empire, it being, as mentioned, elective 
 by the Princes of Germany holding the rank of Elector. 
 The young Maria Theresa was affianced at this time 
 to Prince Francis of Lorraine, who, when John Gaston 
 de Medicis died, as the last of his line, in 1737, be- 
 came Grand Duke of Tuscany, and gave in exchange 
 Lorraine to King Stanislas, ex-King of Poland, with 
 reversion to France of the duchy of Lorraine at his 
 death. 
 
 In pursuit of his plan to obtain the recognition by 
 Europe of his daughter as his heiress, in spite of the 
 Salic law, Charles VL was, at the time of Riperda's 
 embassy, in the mood to make concessions in any direc- 
 tion where they would be likely to be most useful. 
 Riperda, therefore, imagined that he would have no 
 difficulty in bending the Emperor to the will of the Queen 
 of Spain and obtaining his alliance. 
 
 Elizabeth Farnese wished to obtain for her family in 
 Italy, Tuscany, Parma, Piacenza, Naples, and as much as 
 possible of Milan and Piedmont, this latter being part of 
 the dominions of the King of Sardinia. Nor did her pre- 
 tensions fall short of Sicily. In fact, there were none of 
 the Italian duchies which she did not desire. Her more 
 immediate desire was, however, to obtain the island of 
 Minorca and Gibraltar from the English, who had taken 
 the Rock in 1704 and had it ceded to them by the Treaty 
 of Utrecht in 1713. Also she desired the invasion of 
 France. 
 
 The ideas of the Queen of Spain were that since the 
 Emperor, for all the kingdoms that he possessed, was in 
 want of money, this old enemy of Spain, on being supplied 
 liberally with funds, should arm once more that Savoyard
 
 A Troublesome Queen 69 
 
 hero the Prince Eugene, the son of the Comte de Soissons 
 and Olympia Mancini, one of the first sweethearts of the 
 Grand Monarque. With an enormous army Eugene 
 should fall upon France and, tooth and nail, ravage its 
 fair domains. At the same time an invincible Spanish 
 fleet, aided by a Russian squadron, should menace the 
 coasts of England. Spain would meanwhile invest 
 Gibraltar. George I. would, she imagined, immediately 
 become frightened and give instructions for Gibraltar to 
 be surrendered forthwith. This action would make him 
 unpopular in Great Britain, where he would be de- 
 posed. Thereupon the Pretender would enter upon his 
 dominions as James III. without being obliged to strike 
 a blow. 
 
 A pretty fable indeed ! and rendered none the less 
 chimerical that, as if to increase the difficulties with the 
 British nation, the whole was to be accomplished under 
 the Jesuit flag. 
 
 The Pretender had been sufficiently wise to provide 
 himself with a council of Protestants. His wife, 
 Clementina Sobieski, a Polish woman of Jesuitical 
 leanings, was instructed from Madrid to make him get 
 rid of these Protestants. This she accomplished by 
 retiring to a convent and refusing to come out until the 
 affair was all constituted upon religious grounds, the 
 forced conversion of Great Britain to the faith of Rome, 
 where the Pretender resided. 
 
 In Vienna, however, the Empress was also the ruler 
 of her husband, and she had no cause to love that Spain 
 where she had, while Queen, so long been shut up in 
 Barcelona. Therefore, while taking the Spanish ducats 
 and constantly asking for more, Charles treated Riperda 
 politely, and thoroughly befooled liim. He had not
 
 70 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 the remotest idea of plunging, on behalf of Spain, into 
 a bloody war with that Europe whose adherence he 
 sought to his Pragmatic Sanction. All that the 
 Emperor did was to make a pretence of threatening 
 Holland. England, alarmed, was at this time governed 
 by Sir Robert Walpole, who entered into mutual treaties 
 with France and Prussia, while dispatching fleets in 
 all directions to overawe Russia and Spain, at home 
 and in her American colonies. Three large fleets were 
 sent to the Mediterranean. 
 
 By May 31st, 1726, the Emperor had extracted from 
 the Duke of Riperda the last of the Spanish ducats. He 
 was then tired of the whole business and a richer man 
 than before, so he definitely abandoned Spain. 
 
 It might have been imagined that the Queen of that 
 country would then have had sense enough to give up her 
 enterprise. Not at all ! She merely exclaimed, " M. le 
 Due is no longer at the head of affairs in France ; we have 
 only got Fleury to deal with. Let us send the Abbe 
 Montgon to him and ask him to give us three months' 
 grace, during which he does nothing. We, in the mean- 
 time, will attack his ally, England, alone. During 
 those three months we will take Gibraltar, the House 
 of Brunswick will fall, and the Stuarts will be back 
 again in England." 
 
 Montgon flew to Paris, and, strange to say, when by 
 the Queen's express orders the Spanish emissary laid bare 
 before the Cardinal the whole design, he did not refuse 
 the three months' grace desired. Acting as Fleury the 
 Jesuit-ridden priest rather than as Fleury the Minister 
 and ruler of France, he was afraid of his ultramontane 
 friends if he should refuse. 
 
 Montgon had not gone to France as the emissary of
 
 A Troublesome Queen 71 
 
 the Queen alone. The King, Philip V., who, with his 
 manhood restored, had now also a will of his own, sent 
 him to rally all the old friends of his Bourbon house — 
 to the Due de Bourbon and his adherents. The Queen, 
 however, gave to the Abbe Montgon secret instructions 
 to reveal to Fleury all that M. le Due might say. This 
 he did. Montgon, who has left five great volumes 
 behind him, reveals all the plottings, all the incidents of 
 this shady affair. He distinctly shows the opposition 
 existing between the King and the Queen of Spain, and, 
 further, that Fleury, treacherously to England, not only 
 accorded to Spain the time to take Gibraltar, but that 
 to raise Scotland also and let the Pretender be loosed 
 upon the Caledonian shores. The reason for his conduct 
 is explained above — his servility to the Jesuits, who had 
 years before withdrawn him from the swamps of Frejus, 
 and, by appointing one of their order as his confessor, 
 whom he was forced to obey, they had given him also a 
 fresh start in life. While tacking about, Fleury deceived 
 Walpole, with whom he was not yet in accord, as, owing 
 to mutual pacific inclinations, he afterwards became. 
 
 While thus preparing for the siege of Gibraltar, it 
 was vainly pointed out to the Queen that it was an 
 impossibility to take that stronghold by land alone, that 
 the command of the seas was necessary. To Elizabeth 
 it was all the same, she insisted upon proceeding, even 
 when the Jacobite agents in Rome assured her that 
 Scotland was not ripe for an invasion. Austria now 
 openly blamed her and worked against her views in Italy, 
 while the King told his wife that history would call her 
 the assassin of his people, and asked, witli anguish, why 
 there should be all this unnecessary effusion of blood. 
 Indeed, althougli Philip, now in the full possession of his
 
 72 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 senses, vainly exclaimed, " Oh the false — the false 
 Italian ! " the siege took place. 
 
 The Conde de las Torres with 30,000 men sat down 
 before Gibraltar for four months in 1727, but the attempt 
 to take the Rock proved a dismal failure, and the siege 
 had to be raised without any result save disaster to the 
 Spanish forces. 
 
 The Bourbon King, now filled with religious remorse, 
 endeavoured to abdicate once more ; the Italian Queen, 
 however, fearing to see Spain revert to its owners, the 
 Spaniards, contrived to keep him a prisoner under lock 
 and key. The real state in which he was then has never 
 been known, but what is known is that Philip V. protested 
 by refusing to shave and, although religious, by refusing 
 also to hear the Mass. The Queen now herself went 
 through the farce of taking the robe of the Franciscan 
 Order of Mendicants, which she wore for eight months 
 in 1728. Before the end of that time the King consented 
 to shave and there was a reconciliation, and the Queen 
 became the mother of another child, a girl, in March, 
 1729. 
 
 In the meantime George II. had come to the throne 
 (in 1727). Spain, at an end of her resources, had been 
 compelled to disarm, and peace had been signed with 
 England. Thus, for the time being, was this wicked and 
 troublesome Italian woman compelled to cease from 
 disturbing Europe with her continued agitations. By 
 the Treaty of Seville, all that she gained was the promise 
 of the succession of one of her sons to the principality of 
 Parma, whence she herself came, upon the death of her 
 uncle the ruling Duke, and to Tuscany, which latter she 
 never obtained. Spain, and England some time later 
 (173 1 ), gave to the Emperor Charles their guarantee to the
 
 A Troublesome Queen 73 
 
 Pragmatic Sanction. Other countries also gave this 
 guarantee, which ensured to the mind of the Emperor a 
 repose which he would not have felt had that mind but 
 been prophetic enough to foresee the events that occurred 
 upon his death. For guarantees and treaties entered 
 into between the European Princes in the eighteenth 
 century greatly resembled pie-crust, in that they were 
 made solely to be broken.
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 The Due de Richelieu and Prince Eugene 
 
 1725— 1729 
 
 While the Queen of Spain had, by the endless intrigues 
 in which she had indulged, seriously compromised the 
 peace of Europe, the lot of the still young Due de Riche- 
 lieu, the envoy of France at the Court of Vienna, had not 
 exactly resembled a bed of roses. 
 
 For a long time debarred from the permission to make 
 his public and official entry, when this was at length 
 accorded he endeavoured to carry out this function 
 with a magnificence such as would redound to the glory 
 of France. 
 
 The description of this public entry of Richelieu into 
 Vienna reads, indeed, more like that of a glorified Lord 
 Mayor's show than anything else. It was made with 
 seventy-five coaches, each with six horses, the trappings 
 of coaches and horses alike being of gold, silver, and 
 richest velvets of different colours. 
 
 The Ambassador's own carriage was draped within 
 and without with crimson velvet, covered with gold 
 embroidery in relief, heavy with fringes of gold ; the 
 four panels carried his arms in golden relief, his monogram 
 in the same style being upon the small side-panels. The 
 large panel behind, and the box, were treated in similar 
 
 74
 
 The Due de Richelieu and Prince Eugene 75 
 
 fashion, golden branches and flowers in rehef also 
 draping the velvet hangings of the box. The six horses 
 of this carriage were bright bays, their harness, of crimson 
 velvet, covered with silver-gilt plates, while upon the 
 heads of each were aigrettes of red feathers and gold 
 ornaments interwoven. 
 
 The second coach was in blue, the third in green, the 
 fourth in jonquil-tinted velvet, the fifth in grey, the 
 sixth in rose-coloured velvet, all equally covered with 
 gold and silver, and some carrying mythological designs, 
 such as figures of Prudence, Secrecy, Silence, Fame, and 
 so on. The horses of each coach varied in colour — one 
 had greys, another blacks, a third chestnuts, a fourth 
 roans ; while armed outriders and footmen, smothered 
 in golden ornaments, accompanied the cortege, the fur- 
 nishing of which must have cost hundreds of thousands 
 of pounds. 
 
 Upon the principle of that renowned fop the Duke 
 of Buckingham, who at a ball in the presence of Anne 
 of Austria wore pearls so loosely attached that they 
 were meant to fall and be gathered up by the company, 
 Richelieu imagined the idea of shoeing all his horses with 
 silver, the shoes only being attached by one nail. They 
 thus fell off as the cortege progressed, and were gathered 
 up by the crowd. 
 
 Upon the morrow of this public entrance the Am- 
 bassador was accorded his public audience of the Em- 
 peror Charles VI. and the Empress, also of the dowager 
 Empress Amelie. To this, attired in the full robes of a 
 peer of France, Richelieu proceeded with equal magni- 
 ficence, while, after the audience, he gave a banquet in 
 his palace to more than five hundred persons of dis- 
 tinction. He also gave a fete for the people at large,
 
 76 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 who were permitted to roam at will about his magnificent 
 apartments. 
 
 Whether or no this splendour dazzled the Emperor, 
 it most certainly dazzled the great ladies of Vienna. 
 It also appalled the Due's rival, the Duke of Riperda, 
 who precipitately fled from Vienna on the very day of 
 the audience. 
 
 The letters of Richelieu to Fleury, for whose Cardinal's 
 hat he was working with the Emperor through the 
 Prince Eugene, soon reveal the fact that all this magni- 
 ficence reduced him to very great straits. Fleury's 
 letters in reply usually promise money, which is to 
 be sent by the Comte de Morville as soon as it can 
 be procured, but never arrives, and in the meantime 
 Richelieu finds himself greatly in debt. Fleury, however, 
 writes to him to keep up appearances in the best way 
 that he can, while promising upon his side not to allow 
 it to be known to any one that he is pressed for money. 
 This, it seems, was the least that Fleury could do, since 
 he did not pay the appointments of the Ambassador in 
 cash. 
 
 Accordingly, while the great-nephew of Cardinal 
 Richelieu, finding himself baffled at every turn by the 
 Emperor and Prince Eugene in matters of policy, began 
 to grow impatient, the actual ruler of France found other 
 means to allay him when he earnestly urged his recall. 
 This was to promise that the King would before long 
 make him a chevalier des ordres — that is to say, give him 
 the coveted cordon bleu of the Order of the Holy Ghost. 
 With this great distinction held out as a bait, Richelieu 
 held on at Vienna for more than three years, from 1725 
 almost to 1729. 
 
 In the meantime love, as usual with this profligate
 
 The Due de Richelieu and Prince Eugene 77 
 
 noble, came to his assistance in several ways. His 
 many mistresses among the great ladies of Paris remitted 
 to him large sums of money, while two new mistresses, 
 with whom he formed liaisons among the great ladies 
 of Vienna, helped him politically. 
 
 Among the former class there was notably a certain 
 Duchesse, whose scruples he had, by a combination of 
 fraud and audacity, contrived to overcome when, quite 
 as a boy as Due de Fronsac, he had been staying in her 
 chateau. There he took advantage of the certainly 
 very free tricks which the ladies played upon him to 
 play a trick in return — one which landed him in the 
 apartment of the Duchesse, where he remained in spite 
 of her religious scruples. 
 
 This woman, however, after weakening for a time 
 to the worthless Richelieu, with whom she was honestly 
 in love, refused before long, despite his prayers, to remain 
 to him anything more than a friend. In this capacity 
 not only was she kind to a poor young hourgeoise, Madame 
 Michehn, whom he deceived and whose death he caused 
 of a broken heart, but she often vainly urged him to 
 reform. Although reformation was not possible to the 
 depraved nature of a man who remained a rake until 
 eighty years of age, the Duchesse, having become a widow, 
 never lost her interest in him. While, therefore, he was 
 vainly awaiting remittances from M. de Morville, who 
 was acting as Foreign Minister under Fleury, she occa- 
 sionally relieved his necessity by sending him as nuich 
 as 100,000 livres at a time, while others helped him in 
 a similar manner. 
 
 There were no foolish scruples of honour about the 
 Due de Richelieu to debar him from taking money from 
 his mistresses, old or new. On the contrary, it was a
 
 78 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 known thing among a great many of the ladies who 
 sought to become of the fashionable Court world by, in 
 the recognised manner, passing first through the hands 
 of the Due de Richelieu, that they must pay him for 
 his favours. He used to charge a large sum for a single 
 rendezvous. The letters which he received proposing 
 these were so many that he was in the habit of throwing 
 quantities on one side unopened, in which condition they 
 were found more than half a century later, upon his 
 death, which took place at the age of ninety-two, in 
 1788. 
 
 In Vienna, finding that he was not advancing in State 
 negotiations, and especially was unable to discover 
 what were the secret dispositions and inclinations towards 
 France of the Emperor and Prince Eugene, he conceived 
 the idea of making up to the Countess Batthyany, the 
 mistress of this latter. The Countess Batthyany, by 
 birth Eleonora Strattmann, the last of her race, was a 
 young and beautiful woman who enjoyed the entire 
 confidence of this Prince, who, having been born in Paris 
 in 1663, was now sixty-two years of age. Richelieu, 
 being only twenty-nine, thought that he would have no 
 great difficulty in persuading the Countess that the merits 
 of youth upon his side would prove an equivalent of all 
 the honours which were laid at her feet by one who, 
 born a Frenchman, had always been the enemy of France. 
 Nor was he mistaken ; for he soon shared the favours of 
 the lady with the hero of so many combats, to whom 
 she proved ere long so faithless that she whispered upon 
 the shoulder of her new lover all the State secrets that 
 she learned from the old one, greatly to the advantage 
 of Richelieu in his negotiations. 
 
 If Eugene, who might well have been the son of
 
 From a mczz^liitl a/let J . Kufn'zhy. 
 
 I'RINCE RUCKNE OK SAVOY.
 
 The Due de Richelieu and Prince Eugene 79 
 
 Louis XIV., were the enemy of France, that Monarch 
 had only to blame himself and his fiery War Minister 
 Louvois for the fact that that country had been deprived 
 of his services. His father, Eugene Maurice, Comte de 
 Soissons, was the grandson of Emanuel I., Duke of Savoy ; 
 while 013'mpia Mancini, his mother, was one of the 
 beautiful nieces of Cardinal Mazarin, with whom Louis 
 XIV. had love affairs before and after her marriage. In 
 company with her brother-in-law the Comte de Clermont, 
 Olympia is supposed to have poisoned her husband. Then 
 hurriedly leaving France for Madrid, she there also is 
 believed to have poisoned the young French Queen of 
 Spain. When Louis refused a regiment to Olympia's son, 
 he entered the service of Austria, distinguishing himself 
 greatly in his first campaign against the Turks in 1683. 
 After, in 1688, he had won increased renown and been 
 made a major-general at the siege of Belgrade, Louvois 
 ordered home, on pain of banishment, all Frenchmen 
 serving in foreign armies. Eugene, however, refused to 
 consider himself as a Frenchman or to return to France, 
 saying that he would do the latter only when he chose, at 
 the head of an army. When the Duke of Savoy invaded 
 France in 1692, Eugene, serving under his relative, was 
 enabled to keep his promise. 
 
 Louis XIV. now offered Eugene, who had become a 
 Field Marshal, the highest honours to enter his service ; 
 these offers were again rejected, and after, in 1697, 
 gallantly defeating the Turks at Zentha, the Prince 
 combined with Marlborough to humble the pride of 
 Louis XIV. in the War of the Spanish Succession, 
 between 1702 and 171 1. 
 
 In Italy he defeated tlie Marechal de Catinat ; the 
 vamglorious Due de Villeroi lie defeated at Chiari, and
 
 8o The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 captured, subsequently, in his sleeping-attire at Cremona ; 
 while against that sleepy bon-vivant the Due de Ven- 
 dome he fought a bloody drawn battle at Luzara in 
 August, 1702. After sharing with Marlborough on 
 August 13th, 1704, the glories of Blenheim, Prince 
 Eugene found the tables turned upon him by Vendome 
 at Cassano. In this battle, which took place on August 
 i6th, 1705, Eugene was twice wounded. He had, how- 
 ever, a glorious revenge at Turin a year later, failed to 
 take Toulon in 1707, but helped Marlborough at Ouden- 
 arde, Lille, and Malplaquet, all victories over the 
 French. In the last-named action, fought on September 
 nth, 1709, the defeated French infantry made their 
 name as glorious as did the English infantry at the battle 
 of Fontenoy nearly forty years later. 
 
 After the Treaty of Rastadt in 1714 secured that peace 
 between France and Austria which England had arranged 
 in the previous year by the Treaty of Utrecht, Eugene 
 recommended Austria to join Venice against his old 
 enemies the Turks, whom he defeated, again in the 
 month of August, in the year 1716, with immense slaugh- 
 ter at Peterwardein. Perhaps the greatest feat of 
 renown for which the name of the gallant Eugene will 
 ever remain famous was the battle which he fought once 
 more near Belgrade and once more in his usually lucky 
 month. On August i6th, 1717, he was assailed by the 
 Turks with forces six times as many as his own, but 
 inflicted upon them the greatest defeat which they ever 
 experienced, and on the 22nd he took the city, but was 
 again wounded. 
 
 The last time upon which we shall find Eugene pitted 
 against the French is upon the Rhine, in the War of the 
 Polish Succession in 1734. By that time, however, his
 
 The Due de Richelieu and Prince Eugene 8i 
 
 own inclinations were rather inclined to the side of France, 
 since he saw the error of Austria in encouraging the 
 growth of Prussia, and had already strongly urged a French 
 alliance, very possibly as a result of the instigations of 
 the Countess Batthyany, after she had been gained by 
 Richelieu. Whatever the cause, Eugene did not act with 
 his old energy against France in this campaign, and, 
 while there was not much lighting, made no efforts to 
 bring about a pitched battle. The heir-apparent to the 
 Prussian Crown, afterwards to become Frederick II, 
 and The Great of Prussia, had his baptism of fire 
 under him in this campaign, the young Prince having 
 enrolled himself as a volunteer and being present with the 
 great Savoyard commander at Philipsburg. 
 
 Eugene, who was of a poetic and artistic frame of 
 mind, fostered the arts of literature and science almost as 
 much as those of war. The personal friend of Leibnitz, 
 he frequently corresponded with Montesquieu and other 
 philosophers, while he himself made collections of books, 
 manuscripts, and, above all, pictures. This great man, 
 one of the five greatest Generals who ever lived, was 
 found dead in his bed in Vienna on April 21st, 1736, 
 after an evening passed peaceably in playing piquet, 
 and sixteen Field Marshals carried his coffin to the tomb. 
 No legitimate offspring survived him, as he was never 
 inarried, but he was supposed to be the father of two 
 sons by the beautiful Countess Batthyany. 
 
 Such, then, is a brief epitome of the career of one 
 against whom Richelieu found it necessary to pit his 
 wits in whatever way he could. While enjoying liimself 
 with the Countess Batthyany, and making use of her, 
 the Due had during his mission to undergo many a 
 mauvais quart dlieure. " The Emperor," according to 
 VOL. I. 6
 
 82 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 one of the Due's letters to the witty Cardinal de Polignac, 
 " under the pretext of invitations to chapel, causes 
 himself to be followed about by the Ambassadors as if 
 they were his valets de chambre. None but a Capuchin 
 of the healthiest constitution could survive such a life 
 during Lent ! Just to give your Eminence an idea : 
 I have been, since Palm Sunday until the Wednesday 
 after Easter, an hundred hours in Church with the 
 Emperor — an enforced devotion which is unheard of in 
 any Court in the world, and of which I cannot prevent 
 myself from giving to your Eminence a touch of my 
 ill-humour." 
 
 Polignac wrote back to congratulate Richelieu upon 
 having survived the sacred duties of Holy Week, 
 saying, " Perhaps you have never done so much before 
 in all your life. Imagine yourself exactly the same 
 as a Cardinal when at Rome. It is true, however, that 
 we are paid for it." 
 
 From the Ministers of the Emperor Richelieu received 
 many humiliations. Nor, although Prince Eugene com- 
 menced to treat him with a friendliness which he scarcely 
 deserved, was the great General himself well regarded 
 by these Ministers, who were jealous of his influence. 
 Especially were they averse to Eugene, because he 
 was advising the Emperor to listen to one of the pro- 
 positions of the ambitious Queen of Spain. This was 
 that he should unite in marriage his two daughters, the 
 Archduchesses Maria Theresa and Maria Eleonora, to 
 the two Infantes her sons. Since Richelieu, on behalf 
 of France, was equally averse to the idea that these 
 daughters of a Power then hostile to France should be 
 united to Spain, there were thus wheels within wheels 
 which made it very difficult to steer a straight course.
 
 The Due de Richelieu and Prince Eugene 83 
 
 He therefore continued to steer a crooked one, 
 and, careless of the feehngs of the Countess Batthyany, 
 the intimate of the Prince, contrived to enter into a 
 fresh haison with the Princess von Lichtenstein, who 
 was very liee with the Ministers. He thus soon had 
 a female friend in both camps in the Austrian Court. 
 Indeed, it would seem as if the Princess, who was trcs 
 grande dame, herself gave to the young Ambassador the 
 opportunity of talking to her — about affairs — a conversa- 
 tion which led to others. During a grand sleighing party 
 given by the Emperor, this lady fell to Richelieu's lot, 
 to drive in his own magnificent sledge, when she opened 
 the ball by asking him, in an apologetic manner, if he 
 would mind her giving him a few counsels, as a friend. 
 
 Naturally, Richelieu did not mind in the least, where- 
 upon the Princess informed him that France was making 
 a great mistake in assuming a humble attitude in the 
 negotiations ; that what she had to do, if she required 
 peace, was to make a show of arming. It was, in fact, 
 in the sense of the old Latin proverb, " Si vis pacem 
 para bellum," that the Princess von Lichtenstein ad- 
 dressed Richelieu. 
 
 These views were exactly those held by the Due 
 himself, and he now urged them so strongly upon Fleury 
 that the pacific and economical Bishop of Frejus took 
 his advice. Shortly afterwards he was able to main- 
 tain boldly to the Emperor, who menaced him with 
 war, that France was quite ready to face hostilities, and 
 that she had merely entered into negotiations to avoid 
 the effusion of blood — it was not, however, men nor 
 money that were wanting. 
 
 After thus boldly asserting himself, Richelieu (and 
 the interests of France through him), received more
 
 84 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 consideration. He naturally thought it only right to 
 thank the Princess Lichtenstein for his success, but one 
 evening, going to do so in disguise, and on foot, just 
 as he was about to enter by a side door, upon which 
 he had given three mysterious taps, he had a disagreeable 
 misadventure. 
 
 Three half-drunken members of his own suite, seeing 
 a mysterious person who seemed to wish to avoid ob- 
 servation, commenced to insult him. Finding it im- 
 possible to escape from them, the Due, losing his temper, 
 struck them violently with his stick. The drunkards 
 then shouted for the watch, and made so much noise 
 that people, running up on all sides, attempted to arrest 
 the man whom they said had assaulted them. At 
 length Richelieu was compelled to make himself known 
 to his followers. This made things worse than ever. 
 The three rascals, falling upon their knees, loudly com- 
 menced to call him " Monseigneur," and to beg for 
 mercy. At length the young Ambassador got away 
 somehow, but he was obliged to reserve his thanks to 
 the Princess von Lichtenstein until another and more 
 auspicious occasion. 
 
 Eventually, at the beginning of 1728, the nomination 
 for the cordon bleu arrived for Richelieu at Vienna ; 
 when, for sponsors in the investiture, he had the honour 
 of having the Prince Eugene and Graf von Seckendorf, 
 the Emperor's Chancellor. He had not yet reached the 
 age of thirty-two, while the rule of the Ordre du Saint 
 Esprit was that it should not be granted to any noble 
 before thirty-five. He was thus the recipient of a most 
 unusual honour, which was repeated, with all the full 
 ceremonies at Versailles, after his return at the beginning 
 of the following year.
 
 The Due de Richelieu and Prince Eugene 85 
 
 By that time all apparent danger of war with Austria 
 and Spain had been cleared away, and the profligate 
 courtier, tired of the caresses of the ladies of Vienna, 
 was only too pleased to be able to return to receive the 
 fehcitations of those of Paris upon the results of his 
 Embassy. 
 
 The Princess von Lichtenstein, however, parted with 
 him in grief and tears, the Countess Batthyany also 
 expressed her sorrow, but Prince Eugene did not 
 prove over-cordial in the manner in which he took leave 
 of the departing Richelieu. He had, it appears, some 
 time earlier made up his mind that the gay Ambassador 
 of France was to be seen a great deal too often in the 
 drawing-rooms of the Countess
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 The Trials of Marie Lesczynska 
 
 1725 — 1768 
 
 As the young Louis XV. grew up, his health, originally 
 so weak, gradually improved, and he became more good- 
 looking daily until, at the age of seventeen, he was 
 reckoned the most handsome young man in the kingdom. 
 His education having, however, been purposely neglected 
 by Fleury, he was in the greatest state of ignorance, 
 notably so in all matters pertaining to the government 
 of the State. 
 
 Fleury had, however, taken particular pains to have 
 him instructed so as to have the blindest faith in matters 
 of religion ; he had been often, indeed, frightened in his 
 childish years with pictures of the devil, of hell, and of 
 death. These impressions never left him through life ; 
 even in his most libertine moments in his later years 
 he would instruct in religion the poor young girls whom 
 he had debauched, after having torn them from their 
 homes or bought them for his pleasures. There was 
 thus a perpetual combat apparent in his mind 
 throughout his life between the religious instruction 
 he had received and his evil passions. Especially did 
 the fear of death trouble him, as he showed notably 
 upon various occasions in his career ; while even to 
 
 86
 
 The Trials of Marie Lesczynska 87 
 
 hear of the death of any noble of the Court, or any of 
 his friends, disturbed his peace of mind. 
 
 As in his childhood, so he grew up to man's estate, 
 taciturn, reserved, concentrated in himself. With 
 women in general he continued for the first five years 
 after his marriage to maintain an attitude of nervous 
 timidity. With the exception of the motherly Comtesse 
 de Toulouse, who was Marie Victoire, sister of the 
 Mar^chal Due de Noailles, he never felt at home in their 
 society ; only with her he was at his ease — and more 
 than at his ease. 
 
 For in spite of her age, her decent tenue, and the 
 observances of devotion which were regular at her semi- 
 Court at Rambouillet, all historians unite in saying 
 that the Comtesse de Toulouse it was who first instructed 
 the young Monarch in the meaning of the verb to love. 
 She became a widow, for the second time, just at the 
 period of the young man's life when he was commencing 
 to realise that it was not a verb that he could conjugate 
 with the Queen. His cousin Mademoiselle de Charolais 
 succeeded, by her unremitting attentions, in leading the 
 King still further astray. 
 
 Of the Queen it was said that he became the father 
 of her numerous children — mostly girls — without ever 
 speaking to her. This was partly owing to the timid 
 nature of Marie Lesczynska herself. Thus, from the 
 beginning, each treated the other coldly and with cere- 
 mony, and the more so from the fact of the rebuffs 
 which the Queen received from Fleury, causing her to 
 shrink within herself. She was not inclined to ask any- 
 thing more from the King from the day when, having 
 vainly begged for some favour for M. de Nangis, a 
 member of her household, he had, upon her complaining
 
 88 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 to him of the fact of Fleury's refusal, rephed, " Do as I 
 do, ask nothing of the Cardinal." It was as much as 
 to say that it was Fleury who was King, not himself. 
 What hurt the gentle-minded Marie still more was the 
 roughly worded note written to her after the occasion 
 when she had combined with M. le Due against Fleury, 
 whereupon the preceptor had run away to Issy. This 
 note merely said, " You will execute the Cardinal's 
 orders ! " She was just beginning to hope to live, and 
 love, for the King was the object of her greatest 
 admiration, when her spirits were thus crushed. 
 
 The Queen was not, moreover, in herself naturally 
 inclined to be prudish ; on the contrary, she was fond 
 of lively company, while far livelier stories were, accord- 
 ing to d'Argenson, related in her presence than would 
 be considered at all proper nowadays. Towards the 
 King, however, she schooled herself to act with a studied 
 obedience and indifference ; the more so that an old 
 Jesuit, her confessor, had foolishly indoctrinated her 
 with the idea that heaven would be displeased if she 
 showed too much that was really womanly in the in- 
 timate relations of life. She, therefore, instead of 
 endeavouring to attract her youthful husband by feminine 
 coquetry, on the contrary, put all such things from her, 
 in the fear that earthly desires and satisfactions should 
 make her lose a heavenly crown. 
 
 Her character upon all matters became of an equal 
 reserve, and, after her rebuffs, she no longer sought to 
 take any interest in the affairs of the State. Further, 
 she forbade the persons of her household to solicit any- 
 thing, any more than she did so herself, while she main- 
 tained an air of general tranquilhty and decency which 
 never gave the world occasion to talk lightly about her in
 
 The Trials of Marie Lesczynska 89 
 
 anyway. Moreover, owing to her bringing up, the Queen 
 hated extravagance, and was fond of doing charitable 
 deeds. She hked to save, and did not mind privations 
 if by them she could do good with her savings. With 
 this object in view, she looked upon the expenses 
 of her household as a charge upon the State which was 
 much to be regretted, and would often inquire, " How 
 much did this cost ? " While all others about the Court 
 merely looked upon the lower orders as an evil, neces- 
 sary to be endured as the means of production of money 
 for the noblesse, Marie Lesczynska held opposite views, 
 and would exclaim, " Money is the product of the sweat 
 of the people's brow." Never was the old adage, " Set 
 a beggar on horseback and he will ride to the devil," 
 more falsified than in tlie case of this amiable Polish 
 woman. Out of tiie money which she received for her 
 allowance for private purposes, she annually set apart 
 some for the poor, gave dowries to indigent young ladies, 
 donations to wounded officers, assisted the education of 
 youth, the apprenticing of young men to the trades, 
 established homes for the Savoyard street porters and 
 workmen of Paris, while causing also schools and work- 
 ing-classes to be formed and supported in the country 
 villages. Had her successor as Queen, the giddy Austrian 
 Princess, Marie Antoinette, but shown one tithe of the 
 solicitude for her people that did Marie, the history of 
 France would probably have nowadays to be written 
 differently, with the bloody episodes of the Revolution 
 left out. Unfortunately, she, on the contrary, re- 
 mained wholly taken up with her pleasures and excite- 
 ments while the people were starving, with the result 
 that, after being mainly instrumental in causing her 
 husband's head to fall, she lost her own.
 
 90 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 Had but Marie Lesczynska enjoyed her husband's love, 
 or possessed the power to rule him of Marie Antoinette 
 to rule Louis XVI., there would have been a very different 
 state of affairs existing in France before ever the well- 
 meaning, but stupid and wife-governed, grandson of 
 Louis XV. ascended the throne. But she enjoyed none 
 of that influence. Fleury had seen to that ! 
 
 In personal appearance, while not handsome, Marie 
 was pleasant to look at. When upon horseback she 
 became handsome, her beautiful figure was then seen to 
 its full advantage. The mistresses of Louis XV. were 
 well aware of this fact, and, accordingly, no sooner did 
 their reign commence, with Madame de Mailly, the first 
 of the four de Nesle sisters who were to succeed or run 
 contemporaneously with each other, than her appear- 
 ances on horseback were restricted, since it caused 
 themselves to show to a disadvantage. 
 
 The jealous malice of the mistresses went further 
 than this. In a time when it was customary for the 
 Academie Francaise to celebrate in flowery language 
 the virtues of the worst conducted members of the 
 Royal family, no literary gem was ever allowed to 
 sparkle with the praises of the one occupant of the 
 throne who deserved the nation's admiration — the good- 
 hearted, downtrodden, neglected Marie Lesczynska. No 
 wonder if, towards the end of her days, the nature of 
 this excellent Princess became somewhat soured and 
 embittered. Victim of the disgraceful vices of her 
 husband, living in a Court to witness shameful harlotry 
 flaunting openly, and its absolute usurpation of her own 
 position and rights, she was also witness of the miseries 
 of the people that she loved. These she knew chiefly 
 to be caused by the extravagance or the ambition of
 
 The Trials of Marie Lesczynska 91 
 
 the courtesans who reigned, and who had secured their 
 positions by their own calculated and meretricious arts. 
 
 These women, some of them chosen from among her 
 own ladies-of-honour, the unhappy Queen had to meet 
 at every turn ; she was compelled to be civil to them 
 when they attended upon her person, coming into her 
 presence frequently from the very arms of the King. 
 No wonder if she is reported as having frequently shed 
 torrents of tears, as having been in the habit of pros- 
 trating herself for hours at a time before her crucifix, 
 while offering up her sorrows to her Maker as a sacrifice. 
 Only too well did she see in the life of the King the source 
 of the calamities of France, not only in the present, 
 but to come. 
 
 With a prophetic eye she realised that heaven, at 
 present abandoning the King, would also abandon the 
 kingdom in the future. Thus did Marie Lesczynska pass 
 her days in tears, moanings, and vain repinings, while 
 ardently praying for the King's conversion. Unhappy 
 Queen ! one's heart bleeds for her. Truly the Providence 
 which elevated her to the throne treated her more than 
 ordinarily unkindly ; slie had better by far have been 
 left in obscurity, to have been married to the simple 
 Colonel, tlie Comte d'Estrees, to whom her father, 
 Stanislas of Poland, had once been willing to unite her. 
 
 While thus weeping at the foot of her cross, it must 
 not be imagined that the character of the Polish Princess 
 was such that she was unable to give vent to her pique, 
 should she so choose, in no other way. Far from this, 
 her powers of conversation, of expressing herself wittily 
 and bitterly, were sufficient whenever she chose to let 
 her tongue express what she thought. And, since even 
 a worm will turn, so did Marie Lesczynska occasionally
 
 92 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 exert her powers of sarcasm. When we consider that, 
 before her death in 1768, she had seen no less than six 
 women pubhcly at the Court as her husband's acknow- 
 ledged favourites, one of whom lasted for ten and another 
 for twenty years in her presence, it would have been a 
 marvel indeed had the Queen done otherwise. Like 
 the Regent before him, not only was the King, let us 
 hope wrongly, accused of too great an intimacy during 
 his drunken fits with some of his own daughters, but he 
 maintained the horrible pleasure-house presented to 
 him by Madame de Pompadour, called the Pare aux 
 Cerfs. In this he installed woman after woman of the 
 lower orders, for a day, week, or month or two. 
 
 Let us see, however, who were those loves of Louis, 
 miscalled the Well-Beloved, who, belonging to the 
 nobility, polluted the precincts of the Palace before the 
 twenty years of the bourgeoise Mademoiselle Poisson, 
 who became Marquise de Pompadour, and her successor, 
 Dubarry, this latter a low woman from the dregs of the 
 people. 
 
 There were four of them, all sisters, and there would 
 have been five, save for the fact that Hortense Felicite, 
 the fifth, preferred to remain faithful to her husband, 
 the Marquis de Flavacourt — a good and worthy soldier. 
 These four, all daughters of the ultra-gallant Madame 
 de Nesle, wife of the third Marquis Louis de Nesle, were — 
 
 1. Louise Julie, born 1710, who married her cousin 
 Louis Alexandre de Mailly in 1726, and died in 175 1. 
 
 2. Pauline Felicite, who espoused Felix de Vintimille, 
 and died in 1741. 
 
 3. Diane Adelaide, born in 1714, and married Louis 
 de Brancas, Due de Lauraguais. 
 
 4. Marie Anne, married in 1734 the Marquis de la
 
 The Trials of Marie Lesczynska 93 
 
 Tournelle, who died in 1740. She survived liim four 
 years, and was made the Duchesse de Chateauroux by 
 the King, with a great flourish of trumpets in the patent 
 creating her peeress and duchesse of France — on account 
 of her virtues ! This patent, presented to the Parhament 
 by the King, that body was obhged to register tamely. 
 
 Madame de Flavacourt, who refused to become one 
 of the incestuous gang, came between Madame de 
 Lauraguais and the Duchesse de Chateauroux ; she 
 was a celebrated beauty, and much sougiit after by 
 the King. 
 
 Of these four charming creatures, one alone, Madame 
 de Mailly, after she had sold herself on account of her 
 poverty, showed tliat she possessed a heart. Cold at 
 first, she became ardently attached to the King, while 
 she remained disinterested and anxious for his welfare 
 in every way. Her reward was to be sent away in 
 poverty, after having had to witness the King's inlidelity 
 to her witli one of her sisters, who deliberately supplanted 
 her. 
 
 It will be remembered that the Marquise de Neslc, 
 mother of these sisters, was one of those who had been 
 appointed dame du palais to the Queen on her marriage. 
 By birth she was Mademoiselle de la Porte-Mazarin. 
 Marie Lesczynska, who did not approve of this lady's mode 
 of behaviour, somewhat maliciously found means to 
 prevent her from leaving her presence upon various 
 occasions when she was going off to some giddy fete. 
 She then caused her lady-of-the-palace to sit down and 
 read to her books from which she might possibly derive 
 some edification — such as the Imitation of Christ, the 
 History of France, or the Gospels. Madame de Nesle died 
 HI 1729, before any of her young and enterprising
 
 94 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 daughters had attracted the attention of the youthful 
 King. She herself only lived to be thirty-nine. 
 
 Two instances of the Queen's smartness of tongue 
 have been recorded ; both at the time that Madame de 
 Mailly, the first of the Nesle favourites, had been recently 
 elevated to that unenviable distinction. 
 
 The old Princesse de Conti was, with justice, suspected 
 by the outraged wife of lending her protection to the 
 intrigue, to which she gave countenance by her frequent 
 presence at parties of pleasure with the King and his 
 inamorata. In her anger against this Princesse of the 
 Blood-Royal, with whose history she was well acquainted, 
 Marie Lesczynska gave vent to a biting sarcasm which, 
 when repeated throughout the Court, made its subject 
 wince : " Un vieux cocher aime encore a entendre 
 claquer le fouet." 
 
 Upon another occasion it was Madame de Mailly 
 herself who was made to feel the lash in a witty mot. 
 Having, in her quality of lady-of-honour, respectfully 
 requested the Queen's permission about some matter, 
 she received for reply, " Comment, oubliez-vous done 
 que vous etes la maitresse ? " 
 
 In these little ways, thus, the Queen occasionally 
 allowed herself the satisfaction of a trifling vengeance, 
 and then only for a time, after which she became silently 
 contemptuous. As the nocturnal orgies of the King 
 increased in frequency, she became tired of giving per- 
 mission of absence to such of her ladies as were bidden 
 to them ; nor would she exact the presence of the other 
 ladies who came voluntarily to replace the absentees 
 in their duties about her person. She gave, therefore, 
 a general permission of absence to all who pleased 
 to go to the petits soupers des cabinets, or anywhere
 
 From an e>i^iai>ing after ih 
 
 MARIE LKSCZYNSKA, I'RINCKSS 01' TOLAM) AM) (JUKKN OK I-KANCE.
 
 The Trials of Marie Lesczynska 95 
 
 else they might choose. She preferred the absence of 
 nearly all to their presence, and contented herself with 
 the society of an excellent woman, the Duchesse de 
 Luynes, also of Mesdames d'Ancenis, de Rupelmonde, and 
 one or two others, with whom she would sup in a modest 
 manner, after which the ladies amused themselves by 
 reading. These modest reunions were sneered at by 
 the libertine Court, which called them " the holy week," 
 but they formed an exemplary contrast to the petits 
 cabinets of the King.
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 The Affaire Cadiere 
 
 1730— 1732 
 
 The leit motif of whicli the refrain runs through the 
 whole of the reign of Louis XV. may be said to be the 
 murmur — by no means harmonious — of the struggles 
 between the magistracy and the clergy. The kingdom 
 was continually disturbed by contests between the 
 ecclesiastical and civil authorities, growing out of 
 attempts on the part of the clergy to enforce the 
 Papal Bull Unigenitus, which were resisted by the 
 Parliaments of Paris and the provinces. Although, 
 chiefly owing to the instances of the Due de Choiseul 
 and Madame de Pompadour, who hated them, the King 
 was at length induced to banish the Jesuits, in the mean- 
 time their perpetual dissensions with the Jansenists 
 had greatly embittered the conflict. This, towards 
 the end of the reign, became merged in the struggles 
 between the King and the Parliaments, in which the 
 Royal authority was finally triumphant. It was, how- 
 ever, but a transient triumph for the Royalty, for already 
 could be heard the distant murmurings of the Revolution 
 when Louis XV. died in May, 1774. 
 
 In the year 1730 the power of the priesthood was so 
 great, headed as it was by Fleury, that it may be truly 
 
 96 
 
 i
 
 The Affaire Cadi^re 97 
 
 said to have represented both the State and the Govern- 
 ment. The King himself was but a puppet in the hands 
 of the clergy, who ruled Fleury, as we have already seen. 
 
 Although they do not appear much upon the surface, 
 there were potentates of very great power in France, 
 in the shape of two valets de chamhre. These were 
 Bachelier, belonging to the King, and Barjac, in whose 
 possession the Cardinal considered himself fortunate. 
 
 There seems to have been no rivalry between the 
 couple, who, indeed, worked together under Fleury, to 
 whom the Sieur Bachelier, as he became, remitted the 
 compromising correspondence that he found at nights 
 in the King's pockets. Yet these two both recognised 
 that there were greater than they in the kingdom ; 
 the old Barjac said, of the out-and-out ultramontane 
 papists, " If we don't let them loose they will devour 
 us ourselves." i 
 
 Cardinal Fleury knew well this fact, and, too feeble 
 to resist, was constantly trotting backwards and forwards 
 to the establishment at Issy, to take the orders of his 
 spiritual director Couturier. The result of these visits 
 was made clearly evident when, upon April 3rd, 1730, a 
 great event happened, the greatest triumph for the ultra- 
 montane party in twenty years. 
 
 On that day, with the greatest ceremony, accom- 
 panied by many troops, the twenty-year-old King was 
 led in person to the Parliament of Paris to enforce the 
 registering of the Bull — an action which that Jansenistical 
 body had refused to perform in tlie teeth of his great- 
 grandfather the Grand Monarque. 
 
 There was a calculated provocation in this challenge, 
 thrown by the clergy to the magistracy, the men of the 
 robe, who were popularly supposed to be the guardians 
 VOL. I. 7
 
 98 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 of the Regal rights. The outrage — felt throughout all 
 France — was intended to exasperate them beyond all 
 measure, cause them to revolt, to make a new Fronde, 
 and stir up the populace by the unruly attitude which 
 they might assume. By these mutinous actions the King 
 and Fleury would both become alarmed — they would 
 then suppress the Parliament of Paris by force. That 
 was the plan, although it was not avowed. 
 
 The King, in haughty style, accomplished his mission. 
 Not deigning to speak himself, he stood by while the 
 Chancellor read out words to the effect that " since 
 the Bull had force and authority of itself, it was not 
 the King who imposed it." The Parliament trembled. 
 One old magistrate, nearly ninety years of age, fell 
 upon his knees before the handsome young King, but 
 was not allowed to speak. Only forty out of the two 
 hundred conseillers present would vote for the regis- 
 tration, but these forty votes were declared to be the 
 majority by that formerly staunch Jansenist, the 
 Chancellor d'Aguesseau. 
 
 All throughout this year of 1730 there was a cabal, 
 headed by that person devoid of morality, the Dowager 
 Duchesse de Bourbon, to supply this handsome young 
 King, now twenty years of age, with a mistress who 
 would counteract the influence of Fleury, and restore 
 that of M. le Due. It was now sought to carry out this 
 plan ; the infamous Madame la Duchesse seeking to 
 supply the young second wife of her son for that purpose. 
 
 The banishment of M. le Due had been revoked in 
 1729, after the death of Madame de Prie, and he had 
 taken a second wife. She was a Savoyard Princess, being 
 sister of the young King of Sardinia, whose father, Duke 
 of Savoy until 1718, had recently abdicated. She was the
 
 The Affaire Cadiere 99 
 
 granddaughter of the celebrated " Madame," sister of 
 Charles II. of England and first wife of the father of the 
 Regent, who was supposed to have met her death by 
 poison sent by the Chevalier de Lorraine. The young 
 Duchesse de Bourbon was a very pretty and attractive 
 woman, to whose society the King had shown a marked 
 partiality. Her mother-in-law, the mother of the un- 
 principled Mademoiselle de Charolais, had absolutely no 
 scruples where the King was concerned. She had already 
 accepted as a present for her daughter-in-law some very 
 valuable diamonds from the King, of which she intended 
 to keep her own share, when Fleury got an inkling of 
 the affair, in which, by the way, the part played by 
 M. le Due is uncertain. The Cardinal was justly 
 frightened, however, and with the more reason since 
 there were other plots being woven against him, and 
 by persons in the most intimate daily communion with 
 the King. 
 
 M. de Chauvelin, the Keeper of the Seals, was a man 
 of great energy and capacity ; he was, moreover, very 
 artful. Unable openly to combat the womanly rule of 
 Fleury, he formed the design of letting the King know, 
 through his boyish comrades, how incapable the Cardinal 
 really was. The young Due de Gesvres was the nephew 
 of the Cardinal de Rohan, the friend of Fleury, and 
 was, therefore, above suspicion. This effeminate youth 
 was, however, as capable of liolding the threads of a 
 plot as those of the tapestry work which he delighted 
 in weaving. 
 
 One day, accordingly, he allowed the King, as if by 
 chance, to see him with a paper, which he pretended to 
 hide. Louis, becoming curious, could not obtain it with- 
 out an effort, when it was fcnuid to be a very clever and
 
 loo The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 pungent exposition of all the Cardinal's weak points. 
 Above all, the King understood with terror as he read 
 it that the action of the Cardinal with regard to the 
 Parliament was such as was likely to bring about a state 
 of civil war. He took a copy of the paper before he 
 returned it to Gesvres. 
 
 After this the King went to bed, forgetting the copy 
 of the memorial in his pockets. Bachelier, feeling 
 through these, found it, read it, and took it straight 
 to Fleury. 
 
 Never was the King seen weaker than at this moment ! 
 Fleury attacked him upon the subject of his continuing 
 to hold friendly relations with the youths whose conduct 
 had already been condemned. He terrified the King, 
 who, after prevaricating and lying, gave up both Gesvres 
 and d'Epernon to the Cardinal, who forced him to sign 
 their exile for two years. 
 
 Fleury now changed the locks of the King's apartments, 
 and kept duplicate keys for himself and any one whom 
 he might wish to use as a spy. At the same time he 
 rewarded Bachelier. The valet de chambre was made a 
 seigneur, the Intendant of Marly and of the Trianon. 
 In spite of this treachery on behalf of his domestic, 
 Louis retained him about his person as before, and 
 apparently without resentment. 
 
 After this Barjac, the Cardinal's valet de chambre, 
 became the most courted man in the kingdom. While 
 nightly now the courtiers thronged to the Cardinal's 
 bed-goings, his valet was beset by applicants for favours. 
 He had in effect the disposition of all the important 
 places in France, made farmers-general or appointed to 
 any office he pleased. In speaking, Barjac would say, 
 " We will do this " ; "We cannot allow that " ; or, " I
 
 The Affaire Cadicre loi 
 
 have finished the affair." Such was the manner of the 
 government of the country of France ! 
 
 It is in vain that the methods of government of the 
 Cardinal have been called " gentle and moderate," for 
 that they were not. The press was gagged, forty-eight 
 learned doctors were sent away to prison from the Sor- 
 bonne, every voice was stifled, while the terror of the 
 Protestants, attacked by the clergy with troops in this 
 year 1730, was aggravated. The word " relapse," of 
 which M. le Due had removed the principal terrors, 
 was now openly pronounced with its whole fell signifi- 
 cance, for it carried with it a sentence of death. 
 
 It was while things were in this stifled condition that 
 a circumstance took place, a voice arose away in the 
 south, which was the cause of great disturbance, and 
 rightly ended in the utter disrepute of the Jesuit faction. 
 In fact it did more, for so strong was the voice of public 
 opinion that the priesthood were in the end debarred 
 from ever obtaining that which was the cause of their 
 conflict with the magistracy — a Church Court of their 
 own, which should make them independent of the lay 
 tribunals of the Parliaments and the law. It was not, 
 however, until after a violent struggle and the most 
 cruel injustice had for a time seemed to show the 
 Church as supreme, that at last Versailles yielded and 
 made the clergy remain for ever subject to lay justice. 
 
 In the year 173 1 the mockers of Paris listened and 
 scoffed as they heard the news which filtered through 
 from Toulon and Aix, cities of Provence ; the latter, 
 the seat of the Proven9al Parliament. The Jesuists, as 
 a counter-blast to the Jansenist miracles said to have 
 taken place at the tomb of the recluse Paris, had 
 manufactured a miracle of their own !
 
 I02 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 In Toulon, Mademoiselle Cadiere, being brought up 
 in a convent under the spiritual direction of an elderly 
 and ill-looking priest named Girard, became stigmatised. 
 In imitation of Christ, the marks of whose wounds she 
 bore upon her person, the blood fell continually from 
 her forehead, wounded by the crown of thorns — she was 
 a saint ! No sooner had this startling news arrived 
 when it was followed by the intelligence that the saint 
 was about to become a mother, and not she alone, but 
 many others — merchants' daughters, ladies, and work- 
 girls. 
 
 The Jansenists now violently declared that the action 
 of Girard, in taking advantage of these innocent young 
 women under his direction, proved him to be a sorcerer, 
 a wizard. It was, they maintained, only by the use 
 of the black art that this Jesuit, old and ugly, could 
 have prevailed over so many victims. He was, they 
 said, another Gauffridi — " Prince of the Magicians," 
 the spiritual director burned at Marseilles by the Parlia- 
 ment of Provence in 1610. Like him, Girard should 
 perish at the stake for witchcraft ; as, under similar 
 conditions, had the priest Urbain Grandier at Loudun 
 in 1634, and the Vicaire Picart, who, with the already 
 dead Pere Boulle, was burned by the Fronde about 1649. 
 All of these spiritual directors had taught too freely 
 to their patients the tenets of lUuminism and Molinism : 
 " The body cannot stain the soul. One must, by the 
 sin which renders humble and cures pride, kill sin ! " 
 
 Having already (in Louis XIV. in Court and Camp) 
 related at length all the details of these separate affairs, 
 as weU as explained the doctrines of Quietism, Illu- 
 minism, and Molinism, which were productive in the 
 convents of such evil results, only a word is here necessary
 
 The Affaire Cadiere 103 
 
 in referring to them. While the nuns, a whole convent 
 full at Louviers, who were the victims, became hysterical 
 and fraudulent, and pretended to have been bewitched, 
 upon each occasion one particular nun was made the 
 scapegoat, at the same time that the greatest efforts 
 were made to save the priests. The unfortunate girls 
 underwent untold horrors : being stripped and stuck all 
 over with needles to find the witch's mark, and subjected 
 to such terrifying tortures as to be shut up with dead 
 men's bones in a charnel house, or left without clothing 
 in underground sewers full of rats ! 
 
 Instead of it being admitted that the horrible de- 
 bauchery which had taken place was but the result of 
 the wickedness of the director, it was sought to prove 
 that the girl it was who was possessed, and had cast her 
 spell over the priest. 
 
 To prove this in the case of Father Gauffridi — the 
 " Prince of the Magicians " — Father Michaelis, the Pope's 
 Inquisitor at Avignon, declared, after examining his 
 quite young victim Madeleine de la Palud, that he had, 
 by exorcism, drawn out from her no less than six thousand 
 six hundred devils, at one time, in a gluey mass ! 
 
 A sirrilar reply was that made by the Jesuits who 
 defended Father Girard. They admitted the sorcery, 
 but said that it was the young saint of the miracle. 
 Mademoiselle Cadiere, who had put the devil into Girard. 
 
 The whole of Provence divided itself furiously into 
 two parties. In the cities, those against the priest 
 flooded the streets with comic literature, songs, and 
 pamphlets. In Paris there was an echo of the songs, 
 which derided the Jesuits, and which, while vulgar 
 and ribald, concealed a danger. In the south, at Mar- 
 seilles and elsewhere, such was the excitement that
 
 I04 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 crowds of hundreds of thousands collected while the 
 trial progressed. 
 
 At first people had laughed on learning that the 
 Jesuits intended to cap one crime with another ; the 
 laugh, however, turned to a thrill of horror when it 
 became known that, before the very Parliament of Aix, 
 the people of the King proposed to strangle, not Girard, 
 but the maiden whom he had outraged ! 
 
 While the world shuddered it also became instructed, 
 with a sudden revelation, of the evils which in almost a 
 century had been forgotten. Mademoiselle Cadiere was a 
 weakly and not by any means strong-minded girl, there 
 was, therefore, nothing marvellous in the fact that Girard 
 should have won her to his will ; but what astonished 
 the world was the fact of the immense power given to 
 the priest by the mystical jargon of Illuminism, a power 
 by which, in only six months, Girard had made victims 
 of his penitents in all directions. 
 
 Much — too much — became known concerning the 
 interior of the Convent d'OUioules, where Mademoiselle 
 Cadiere was kept concealed by Girard : the manners 
 of the rich abbess, the rich ladies who visited the convent, 
 the monks who met them there, the nuns under the 
 abbess, — all these became the subject of universal 
 comment. 
 
 The Bishop of Toulon, who was an honest man, at 
 first made a determined effort to save Mademoiselle 
 Cadiere. The Jesuits, however, frightened him with 
 a threat of bringing a shameful accusation against him. 
 The Bishop then joined her enemies, and, in company 
 with the judge, subjugated the Lieutenant Civil, who 
 represented the King, to whom " la " Cadiere appealed 
 for justice. and mercy in vain.
 
 The Affaire Cadiere 105 
 
 The other women who were in the same phght as 
 the poor girl herself were brought to testify against 
 her, and say that Girard was possessed by her, that she 
 alone was answerable for his actions ; while the nuns 
 of Ollioules were threatened with the torture unless 
 they spoke as they were told to. All this became publicly 
 known, and also the fact that, on account of her clear, 
 straightforward answers, a poisonous drug was forced 
 down the throat of the poor innocent, which affected 
 her senses so that for three days she did not know what 
 she was saying, and contradicted herself. 
 
 Being afraid of Paris, the Jesuits endeavoured to 
 get two Commissaircs from the Parliament of Aix to 
 come to Toulon and complete the preparation of the 
 case. They came, with permission of the Chancellor 
 d'Aguesseau — a Jansenist, and formerly an honest man 
 but who had weakened lately — and actually lodged in 
 the quarters of the Jesuits themselves. What chance 
 was there for the poor girl ? The two Commissaircs 
 found that there was sufficient evidence against her 
 to send on the case to the Parliament of Aix. 
 
 All the great ladies of that city were for the Jesuits, 
 who were their confessors. It was a simple matter for 
 Girard to prove that he had only followed the tenets 
 of Illuminism, of the high mysticism of Molinos, greatly 
 approved by the Jesuits. It was, he maintained, the 
 right and the duty of the confessor to shut himself up 
 with and discipline his penitent, and only lay ignorance 
 could question that right. Whatever might be found 
 indecent or impure was recommended as the effort 
 of obedient humility to break down pride and the will. 
 Without referring to ancient books, he had only to refer 
 to the book of the day to prove this — a book recently
 
 io6 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 dedicated to the Queen by the Bishop who wrote it, 
 and generally highly approved. 
 
 In this, the Life of Marie Alacoque, obedience was 
 preached at every line as superior to every other virtue. 
 It was distinctly laid down that Jesus said, " Prefer 
 the will of thy superiors to Mine," " Obey them before 
 Me." That meant, obey the priest before the God 
 whom he pretends to serve. This Marie Alacoque was 
 a Burgundian nun of a convent of the Sacre Cceur at 
 Paray. She also was a miracle-worker, since her heart 
 actually became joined to that of Christ, after which 
 she was united in marriage to Jesus, signing the marriage 
 contract with her own blood. This occurred in 1675, and 
 great events followed upon that marriage, which we have 
 described in Louis XIV. in Court and Camp (p. 217 et seqq.). 
 
 The great ladies of Provence — and it is a picture of 
 the power of the priesthood — instead of feeling pity 
 for the victims of Father Girard, considered them highly 
 honoured — especially, it would seem. Mademoiselle 
 Cadiere. " What ! " they exclaimed, " even if the good 
 Pere Girard did honour her so much as to indulge in 
 certain intimacies with her, she has been very daring 
 to be wanting in respect to her director — to the order 
 of the Jesuits. She is only a monster fit for stifling." 
 The influence of these women carried the verdict in the 
 Parliament of Aix. She was condemned "to be hanged 
 and strangled at Toulon " ; her brothers who had sup- 
 ported her were ordered to be criminally proceeded 
 against, also the lawyer who had defended her, he having 
 been officially ordered to do so. 
 
 The people rose in hundreds of thousands, rushed 
 to the prison, shouting, " Be not frightened, mademoiselle. 
 We are here ; they shall not strangle you."
 
 The Affaire Cadiere 107 
 
 Hereupon the terrified Parliament, in which were 
 many Jansenist members, took courage, and some of 
 these magistrates declared that Pere Girard was worthy 
 of death — worthy of the fire ! In their excess of zeal, 
 in persisting in thus looking upon Girard as a sorcerer, 
 a wizard, these Jansenists defeated themselves. They 
 were merely laughed at for persisting in seeing the devil 
 everywhere, the result of which was that many who 
 were quite ready to hang Girard, rather than burn a 
 man, retracted. His death was put to the vote before 
 a special Court of twenty-five. Twelve of these voted 
 for his death, twelve for his acquittal ; the President 
 gave his vote in his favour — Girard was saved. Girard 
 and the President were, however, nearly torn to pieces 
 by the infuriated people. 
 
 In the meantime the revised judgment had said that 
 Mademoiselle Cadiere should be restored to her mother. 
 This was pure hypocrisy, since she was ordered at the 
 same time to pay all the costs of the proceedings against 
 herself. As a matter of fact the poor, unhappy girl never 
 was returned to her mother at Toulon, where she would 
 have received a triumph worthy of a Roman Emperor. 
 The people waited for her, and burned Girard in effigy. 
 But she never came — she was never seen again ! The 
 Jesuits had hidden her away somewhere in some horrible 
 in pace below a convent — some cesspool or drain, whence 
 the victim never reappeared. 
 
 Nor were there any Jesuits massacred. And yet 
 in her horrible end, whatever it may have been, she 
 conquered these. Even to the Parliament of Aix, 
 which from the earliest times had shown a spirit of 
 persecution, there came a revulsion of feeling, and with 
 it reform. The full light of day, as distinguished from
 
 io8 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 the dark shadows of the silent convent, had been 
 thrown athwart the dark paths of the Church by 
 justice as administered in open court in the affaire 
 Cadi ere. 
 
 From that moment the world became more curious 
 as to what was contained between those sealed walls, 
 where the little bones were suspected to lie whitening 
 in heaps beneath the flags in the convent yard. They 
 have been found since those days ; but before the affaire 
 Cadiere the magistrates were not bold enough to face 
 the Church. The judge, when his eyes fell upon those 
 convent walls, discreetly looked the other way. 
 
 The clergy feared, however, that the time of further 
 well-merited exposures would follow fast upon the heels 
 of these terrible scandals which had become universally 
 known to the world. Fleury was seventy-six years old ; 
 he could not, they imagined, live much longer : after 
 him who knew what might happen ? All the Parlia- 
 ments were not, moreover, like those of Aix, which had 
 favoured the massacre of the Vandois or Waldenses in 
 the days of Fran9ois I. Before no other Parliament 
 in France could Girard have escaped so lightly. Should 
 some new shady affair arise, the priesthood would, 
 they feared, find themselves at the mercy of the magis- 
 trates. Feverishly, accordingly, the clergy hurried up 
 to put pressure upon the old Cardinal, to cause him to 
 suppress the censors of their morals, to assure to them- 
 selves the sweets of untrammelled liberty. 
 
 The people understood their haste, and laughed and 
 hooted. In Paris every Jesuit who passed in the street 
 was mocked at, while the people called out, "Girard! 
 there goes Girard ! " 
 
 Notwithstanding this the Church seemed to triumph,
 
 The Affaire Cadiere 109 
 
 when, in 1732, the Parhament of Paris was humbled 
 by the Cardinal, through the King. 
 
 The Sulpicians, whose house at Issy was greatly 
 favoured by Fleury, had formed the plan to remove 
 entirely from the Parliaments all jurisdiction in ecclesias- 
 tical matters. To humiliate the Parliament of Paris, 
 that body, to commence with, was ordered not to discuss 
 in any form the question of the Bull. Thereupon the 
 celebrated orator the Jansenist Abbe Pucelles, by his 
 eloquent denunciations of despotism, aroused all his 
 comrades, who drew up a memorial to the King. 
 
 In this appeal it was represented that the temporal 
 power was directly established by God, and under the 
 King, that the clergy had no right to interfere between 
 Parliament and the King, since the canons of the Church 
 only became laws of the State when clothed by the 
 authority of the Sovereign. The memorial was ordered 
 to be erased from the books, when, Maurepas arriving 
 with a letter from the King, the Parliament refused to 
 open it or take knowledge of its contents. Another letter 
 was sent, with orders to read it or be treated as rebels. 
 This was in the year 1731. 
 
 After long deliberation it was decided to open this 
 letter, and, after doing so, to proceed in a body to the 
 King at Marly, and humbly remonstrate with His 
 Majesty. But it was only when the courageous Abbe 
 Pucelles offered to go alone on this dangerous mission 
 that his comrades said that they would not desert him. 
 
 The letter, wlien opened, was found to contain a 
 sharp order from Louis XV. to leave all Church affairs 
 alone. 
 
 Upon the arrival of the conseillers at Marly they 
 were unable to see the King, but a personal altercation
 
 no The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 took place between Pucelles and the Cardinal, in which 
 the Abbe told Fleury boldly what may be expressed as 
 " a few plain truths." Without beating about the bush, 
 he told the Cardinal exactly what he thought of him and 
 his behaviour. 
 
 Early in the following year, 1732, Fleury had his 
 revenge. The King sent for the Parliament, whom 
 Pucelles had again been animating to resistance. Upon 
 arrival the magistrates were not allowed to speak a 
 single word, but ordered merely to listen to the King's 
 words. These, which were very violent, he read out 
 of his hat. He then caused d'Aguesseau, who, with 
 Maurepas, Chauvelin, Fleury, and the Due d'Orleans, 
 was present, to order the Parliament to wipe out from 
 their records all traces of their recent deliberations. 
 
 The old Pucelles fell upon his knees and offered a 
 memorial. This Maurepas snatched from his hand and 
 tore to pieces, after which the King spoke again. " This 
 is my will ; do not force me to make you feel that I am 
 master ! " 
 
 The First President made a reply of about only ten 
 words of regret that the King would not hear them, 
 when the audience was ended, greatly to the satisfaction 
 of Versailles. 
 
 In spite of this, in the month of December that same 
 year, Versailles receded and yielded. Neither imprison- 
 ments, exiles, nor carryings off proving of any avail 
 against the stubbornness of the Parliament, Versailles 
 abandoned, under form of a reprieve, that which it had 
 accorded to the clergy upon August i8th. This abandon- 
 ment left the Church, after all, subject to the authority 
 of the men of the robe.
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 Louisas First Loves — and Belle-Isle 
 
 1732— 1739 
 
 It was near the end of the year 1732 when Cardinal 
 Fleury decided that it would be as well that Louis XV. 
 should take a mistress, and that the lady should be of 
 his own selection. After a consultation with Madame de 
 Tencin, that old go-between of the days of the Regent, 
 it was determined that this mistress should be the eldest 
 daughter of the Nesle family. From the manner in 
 which she subsequently comported herself, no better 
 selection could have been made than that of Louise 
 Julie, Comtesse de Mailly, who was married to her own 
 first cousin. 
 
 The Cardinal arranged the matter as cheaply as he 
 could with the lady's husband, giving to the needy 
 Comte de Mailly the sum of 20,000 livres ; and Madame 
 de Mailly was brouglit by Bachelier, upon a cold winter's 
 night, to meet the King in a dark entresol at Versailles. 
 
 According to the King's valet de chamhre, Louis greeted 
 with timidity the lady thus sold to meet her husband's 
 necessities, while she herself was very unenthusiastic 
 at this first interview, which was purely a cold-blooded 
 affair of sale and barter. 
 
 The meetings were, however, continued. Since the 
 
 III
 
 112 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 King was afraid to ask from the Cardinal the sum of 
 1,000 francs which, for a time at all events, he wished 
 to present to Madame de Mailly upon each interview, 
 he had recourse to Chauvelin. The Keeper of the Seals 
 contrived, without the knowledge of Fleury, to obtain 
 the necessary funds from some Government department, 
 upon which account Chauvelin commenced to take a 
 stronger position with Louis, while he also earned the 
 gratitude of Louise Julie de Mailly. She and the King 
 were both of the same age, twenty-two in 1732, and 
 for three years the liaison was continued in secret, 
 during which time she fell greatly in love with Louis, 
 who, it will be remembered, was remarkably hand- 
 some. 
 
 Madame de Mailly was an excellent person, but no 
 beauty. Tall and a brunette, she was thin, and showed 
 evidences of the Italian blood she had inherited on the 
 father's side in her very fine dark eyes, which were full 
 of fire. 
 
 Fleury, who was kept well informed of all that took 
 place in the King's fetits cabinets, felt gratified with his 
 selection of a favourite, and the succeeding years 
 continued to show the discretion of her whom he had 
 chosen as a means of baffling the plan of Madame la 
 Duchesse. 
 
 The Comtesse was gentle, reserved, and timid. With- 
 out having the slightest pretensions of knowledge of 
 State affairs, she was amusing, owing to her clever little 
 sayings and joyous manners. A sure friend, she was 
 incapable of deceit, and had a sympathetic manner. 
 Strange to say, although living in the Court, she remained 
 disinterested, was without personal ambition and un- 
 intriguing.
 
 Louis's First Loves — and Bellc'IsIc 1 1 3 
 
 Perfectly content to love the King in secret, she 
 never desired either to profit by her favour or to make 
 it known. Madame la Duchesse, Madame de Tencin, 
 and the valetry, Bachelier, le Bel, and Barjac, how- 
 ever, all took very good care to keep on friendly terms 
 with the lady. The Duchesse, of course, only learned 
 the secret when it was one no longer, which was in 1735. 
 Then, for some reason, Fleury and his cabal thought it 
 as well that the world should become aware that the 
 place which women of all ages about the Court were 
 striving to occupy was already held. 
 
 As if by an accident, one night, while the Comtesse 
 was being conducted by Bachelier up a staircase, her 
 hood was allowed to slip on one side when two ladies 
 were passing. That was sufficient ! all the world knew 
 after that, that one of the Queen's ladies was not the 
 plaything of a moment, but the King's acknowledged 
 favourite. 
 
 The excuse which was given out for the King's open 
 infidelity was a malady from which the Queen suffered, 
 as a result of having, since her marriage to the fifteen- 
 year-old boy, borne seven children with too great 
 rapidity, and her consequent expressed disinclination 
 to lead an intimate conjugal existence. 
 
 The Queen had, indeed, thrown every obstacle in 
 the way of the King's approaching her apartments, 
 especially when he had been drinking, which was a 
 common occurrence. Then, if he presented himself 
 after she was already in bed, she reproached the King 
 with the smell of the wines of Champagne ; whereas, if 
 she had not already retired, the Queen took an unusually 
 long time over her prayers, which would sometimes be 
 continued until the King had fallen asleep. 
 
 VOL. I. 8
 
 114 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 Marie Lesczynska was thus the cause of her own 
 downfall, although had those who followed Madame de 
 Mailly but loved the Queen as well as did that unfortunate 
 lady, the Queen would not have been so greatly to be 
 pitied. Indeed, the interests of the Queen were always 
 considered by the Comtesse, for which reason she fell 
 in with the views of Chauvelin, and of all France, 
 against Fleury with reference to the restoration of the 
 King's father-in-law to his throne. Secretly she urged 
 the King to the War of the Polish Succession. 
 
 Personally it was, however, but little which the 
 Comtesse either sought for or obtained. The presents 
 which the King gave her were modest for a King, more 
 worthy, indeed, of some little bourgeois ; while she herself 
 ran into debt for the expenses of entertaining him in 
 her house. 
 
 After having been the beloved of the King for nine 
 years, in 1741 she had, we are told, " neither silver 
 flambeaux nor counters " to entertain Louis with when 
 he came, but had always to borrow these from her neigh- 
 bours. Things were different in the time of Pompadour ! 
 That lady knew how to help herself with both hands, 
 and how to help those whom she chose to with both hands 
 also. She, however, was a mere bourgeoise — Miss Fish 
 by name (Mademoiselle Poisson). Madame de Mailly 
 came of one of the oldest families of France. With her 
 it was a case of noblesse oblige ! 
 
 It was not so, however, with the King. When he 
 eventually sent Madame de Mailly away cruelly, as 
 part of the bargain made with her sister, Madame de la 
 Tourneile, he left her to pay her own debts. He was 
 even mean enough to retain, for the benefit of two of 
 the sisters, the blue silk sheets which the Comtesse had
 
 Louis's First Loves — and Belle^lsle 1 1 5 
 
 worked for him with her own hands, and the materials 
 for which he knew she owed and would be sued for. If, 
 as well as being King of France, Louis XV. had happened 
 to have possessed the instincts of a gentleman, he would, 
 at all events, have paid that bill for the disinterested 
 woman. Unfortunately, he was only King of France. 
 
 Thus was all the solicitude and affection which 
 Madame de Mailly showered upon her Royal lover only 
 met by the greatest ingratitude and neglect. From a 
 worthless husband, a mere parasite, she fell into the 
 hands of a worthless King, for whose sake she sacrificed 
 all her womanly feelings when he turned his eyes upon 
 her sisters, to be in the end driven from the Court like 
 a pariah dog. 
 
 After she was first handed over to Louis in 1732, the 
 Comte de Mailly soon astonished Versailles by appearing 
 in a smart carriage. His wife's discretion was, however, 
 so great that none knew whence he had obtained the 
 funds which enabled him to exchange a fiacre for a 
 gilded coach. 
 
 By the year 1739 Louis was tired of Madame de Mailly, 
 who, nevertheless, still maintained her position at the 
 Court without any apparent rival. The King was, 
 however, in the habit of visiting Chantilly so often as 
 to cause the greatest anxiety to Fleury, as also to M. le 
 Due, who was now excessively jealous of his young wife. 
 Louis also was indulging in various escapades — visiting 
 the opera balls and other places masked, running severe 
 risks to his health from his excesses. These, indeed, 
 resulted in his severe illness in 1738, when the Queen 
 was advised by the scheming Madame de Tencin to arrange 
 for a Council of Regency, chiefly of women, to be ready 
 in case of the death of the Monarch. The Cardinal was
 
 1 1 6 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 very ill at the same time, but France was not fated to 
 be relieved of either Cardinal or King upon that occasion. 
 
 In her convent, the Abbaye de Port-Royal, there 
 was a young lady weaving plans. This was a simple 
 pensionnaire, Mademoiselle de Nesle ; in this year, 1739, 
 she was twenty-four years of age. This young lady's 
 plans can be expressed in three words — to rule France ! 
 
 She proposed to capture the King, and oust the 
 Ministers and her sister for this purpose ; and, since not 
 only was she not good-looking, but positively ugly, it 
 must be owned that her plan seemed a trifle doubtful. 
 This is how she expressed her intention to her friend, 
 the Chanoinesse Madame de Dray : "I will write 
 letters upon letters to my sister Mailly — she is good, she 
 will call me to her ; I will make the King love me ; I 
 will hunt out Fleury and will govern France ! " 
 
 " La " Nesle nearly succeeded in accomplishing all this 
 before a dose of poison, administered by the priests, 
 stopped a career which was just then more promising 
 than ever. The Abbe Brissard, confidential man to 
 the Cardinal's nephews, is said to have given the dose. 
 
 Although Pauline Felicite had no looks, she was much 
 whiter than her sister Louise Julie ; she also had some- 
 thing else which the other did not possess — strength of 
 character. She knew well enough that she was ugly, 
 but with an elevated genius, an inventive brain, a bold 
 and decided manner and limitless impertinence, Pauline 
 proposed to prevent the King from finding out that 
 fact for himself. This she succeeded in doing. 
 
 Madame de Mailly did not see her sister's falseness 
 at first. When she did so, and discovered that the 
 petulant, audacious, and spirituel conversation of that 
 young lady had bewitched the King, it was too late to
 
 Louis's First Loves— and Belle Jslc 1 1 7 
 
 send her away again. For a short time she struggled, 
 when Louis first proposed that she should bring her 
 sister to the petits soupcrs in the pdits cabinets. Then, 
 for sheer love of the King, to whom she could refuse 
 nothing, she did not refuse him her own sister. 
 
 There were now two of them at the Court, and the 
 King soon determined to find a husband for the last 
 arrival, so that the intention of his assiduities to the 
 sister of his acknowledged mistress might be covered 
 with the cloak of decency, even more than it was by the 
 complaisant Desmoiselles de Charolais and de Clermont, 
 Princesses of the Blood. 
 
 The selected husband was a young fellow, Felix de 
 Vintimille, son of the Comte du Luc, and nephew of 
 Vintimille du Lur, Archbishop of Paris. 
 
 This Prelate performed the marriage, the whole pro- 
 ceedings in connection with which, and the subsequent 
 retirement to Madrid, the chateau of Madame la Duchesse, 
 were a farce for which the Archbishop was very largely 
 paid. At Madrid the King attended and pretended to 
 act the part of best man in putting the husband to bed. 
 In the presence of a bevy of great ladies who had consented 
 to attend the farce, the King did to the bridegroom 
 the great honour of presenting him with the chemise. 
 On the morrow every one about the Court said, however, 
 that instead of it having been the King who went back 
 to La Muette, it was the young bridegroom who occu- 
 pied His Majesty's coach, while Louis himself remained 
 to enjoy the hospitality of the Conde ladies at Madrid. 
 
 From the date of that marriage Louis gave himself 
 up entirely to his love for Madame de Vintimille, married 
 only in name. She was, indeed, the only woman whom 
 he ever really loved. Although seeing her constantly
 
 ii8 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 he was, when away from her, always writing to her ; 
 during the two years that the connection lasted he wrote 
 her over two thousand letters. 
 
 We must, however, return to the days when Madame 
 de Mailly first became favourite. France had then been 
 at peace for practically twenty years, and there was a 
 very warlike feeling throughout the country, the young 
 nobles especially burning to emulate the deeds of their 
 fathers in the days of the Grand Monarque. 
 
 There were two or three persons of distinction in the 
 country who sought to instil this warlike feeling into 
 the heart of the young King, At the head of these was 
 the gallant old Marechal de Villars, the hero of endless 
 combats, the greatest of which, his brilliant victory at 
 Denain in 1713, had brought Austria to her knees, and 
 forced her to the Peace of Rastadt in the following year. 
 
 Villars was much beloved of the Queen, and when 
 that old voluptuary Augustus II., Elector of Saxony 
 and King of Poland, died in February, 1733, he boldly 
 declared to Louis that the time had come for him to re- 
 instate the Queen's father, Stanislas Lesczynski, upon the 
 throne of Poland. Secretly he was aided in his counsels 
 by Chauvelin and Madame de Mailly ; but Fleury was 
 all for peace at any price. 
 
 In his wishes for peace the Cardinal had two ideas — 
 the first, rigid economy ; the second, to do nothing cal- 
 culated to hurt the interests of France's old enemy, 
 Austria. This country was dear to the Jesuits on account 
 of its persecution of the Protestants in Hungary, which 
 was continued and bitterly cruel. The wishes of the 
 Jesuits were accordingly to allow Austria to remain 
 strong with a free hand, and they warned Fleury to let 
 her alone.
 
 Louisas First Loves — and Bellc'IsIe 1 1 9 
 
 Fleury, in 1733, however, found himself being carried 
 off his legs by the current, headed by the young King and 
 the nobles. To his disgust he found himself compelled 
 to send a million of livres to Poland to assist the cause 
 of the re-election of Stanislas, and, not much later, three 
 more millions had to follow. 
 
 The Pohsh Assembly at Warsaw voted in May that 
 they would have " none but a Polish King," thus ex- 
 cluding Augustus III., the son of the Saxon debauchee, 
 who was the candidate of Russia. The Emperor Charles 
 VI., however, addressed haughty letters to France from 
 Vienna, making light of the Polish rights of election 
 — he was on the side of Saxony and Russia. In spite 
 of Fleury, angry replies were sent from France, who 
 felt that her honour was at stake. 
 
 In France war was looked forward to, more than for 
 any other reason, as a means of emancipation from the 
 tutelage of Fleury. It was hoped that, with it, the young 
 King, who was but as a baby in arms, would shake 
 off the leading-strings, and display to the kingdom some 
 of the energy of his great-grandfather ; moreover that, 
 while gaining liberty for himself, Louis would give 
 liberty to the people. Already it was felt that Fleury 
 was declining. 
 
 Among those nursing this hope was Voltaire. He 
 dared not launch upon France, while Fleury was onmi- 
 potent, those famous Lettres sur les xinglais which had 
 already been in the press at Rouen for two or three years 
 awaiting a favourable moment for pubhcation. In 
 these Voltaire exhibited his admiration of the English 
 and their polity. Above all, he described the operations 
 of constitutional government in flattering terms, calcu- 
 lated to give a powerful impulse to the love of liberty
 
 I20 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 which, from the days of the Regent, PhiHppe d'Orleans, 
 had commenced to spread among the classes and the 
 masses ahke. 
 
 Among those whose counsels Fleury had to fear 
 almost as much as those of Villars, was the able and 
 brave Comte de Bellisle, or Belle-Isle, as his name is 
 written by d'Argenson in his Loisirs d'un ministre. The 
 Comte de Belle-Isle was the grandson of Fouquet, the 
 Surintendant des Finances in the days of Cardinal 
 Mazarin, who was disgraced when the Cardinal died, 
 and imprisoned for life at the instances of his rival 
 Colbert. 
 
 Fouquet's grandson was the son of the Marquis de 
 Belle-Isle and a sister of the Due de Levis. Although 
 bearing the title from the island of the same name off the 
 French coast which was his possession, the Marquis was 
 kept in disgrace by Louis XIV., who occupied his island 
 with a garrison. Colbert had, indeed, too well aroused 
 the Monarch's hatred against the family for any of 
 Fouquet's descendants to have any chance of advance- 
 ment before the death of Louis XIV. 
 
 With the Regency came a change. The young Belle- 
 Isle, distinguished already, and dangerously wounded 
 in the Flemish wars under the Marechal de Boufflers, 
 knew how to make himself useful to the Due d'Orleans 
 and his Minister, Cardinal Dubois. In the short war 
 against Spain in 1719 he fulfilled the hazardous position 
 of spy upon his chief, the Duke of Berwick, the commander 
 of the French forces. This son of James II. and Ara- 
 bella Churchill, sister of the Duke of Marlborough, was 
 looked upon by the Regent with a certain amount of 
 suspicion, he being half-brother to the Pretender, whose 
 cause Spain was supporting. After this war Belle-Isle
 
 Louis's First Loves — and BelleJsle 121 
 
 was rewarded by being made Marechal de Camp and 
 Governor of Himinguen. 
 
 Towards the end of the Regent's career, and during 
 the First-Ministry of M. le Due, the Comte de Belle-Isle 
 shared with his friend Leblanc, Minister of War, the 
 hatred of Madame de Prie, from which cause both fell 
 for a time, and were unjustl}^ imprisoned in the Bastille. 
 Belle-Isle was further exiled and persecuted so long as 
 the reign of Madame de Prie lasted. For that lady never 
 could forgive her mother's lovers for refusing to leave 
 Madame Pleneuf to worship at her own feet. 
 
 When the Cardinal de Fleury took hold of the reins, 
 and while, in their turn, his enemies the Due de Bourbon 
 and Madame de Prie were exiled, Belle-Isle, with his 
 brother the Chevalier de Belle-Isle, reappeared at the 
 Court. The Cardinal, in his young and giddy days, had 
 carried on a love affair with the Duchesse de Levis, Belle- 
 Isle's aunt. The lady reminded the Cardinal of the 
 happy past days, with the result that her nephew was 
 reinstated in the War Office, with his old chief and friend 
 Leblanc, who was once more made War Minister. 
 
 Leblanc dying, the Comte de Belle-Isle did not care 
 to remain in the War Department under M. d'Anger- 
 villiers, his successor. He contrived to be appointed 
 Lieutenant-General and Commandant of Metz and 
 the Three Bishoprics, and to gain considerable credit for 
 the advantageous arrangements which he made for the 
 State in his new command, especially for his splendid 
 fortification of Metz. 
 
 This was the position which the Comte de Belle-Isle 
 occupied when, at the beginning of 1733, he joined with 
 the old Marechal de Villars in urging the King to war- 
 like measures, and, together, the King was not able to
 
 122 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 withstand them. Towards the end of August all of the 
 Council of State was carried away by their eloquence. 
 Fleury alone was left murmuring. Even the semi- 
 Jansenist, semi-devout young Due d'Orleans, who hated 
 war, agreed with the rest of the Council in saying that 
 in the matter of Poland France had gone too far to 
 draw back. 
 
 There is no doubt, despite the sneers of his enemies, 
 that Belle-Isle was a great man. Although the Marquis 
 d'Argenson joins occasionally in these sneers, it would 
 seem rather as if his memoirs had been touched up by 
 his son M. de Paulmy where they concern Belle-Isle. 
 A reason for this can be found in the fact that, some 
 years after the Marquis wrote, M. de Paulmy was re- 
 placed in the Ministry of War by the then old Marechal 
 de Belle-Isle, who also assumed some of the honours 
 of which the Comte Marc-Pierre d'Argenson, Paulmy's 
 uncle, had been bereft. Paulmy would, therefore, be 
 only too ready to minimise such acts of personal bravery 
 as Belle-Isle's capture of Treves by a coup de main in 
 1733) or to cut out too complimentary mention of his 
 gallant storming of Trarbach, and also of an outwork 
 of Philipsburg, which he took by sheer audacity. 
 But his father seems to speak with attempted impartiality, 
 even if his words have been touched up : 
 
 " However it may be, there is every reason to suppose 
 that the fortune of M. de Belle-Isle will not stay where 
 it now is. Although up to the present he has, so to 
 speak, done nothing but intrigue, people believe him 
 capable of becoming a very great General, and even 
 a great Minister. That is possible, but it must be agreed 
 that up till now he has only been recompensed for pre- 
 sumed merits.
 
 Louisas First Loves — and Belk'Isle 123 
 
 " He is tall and thin, his constitution seems delicate, 
 his stomach weak, his chest attacked. Since the wound 
 through the breast received at the siege of Lille, he seems 
 compelled to take great care of his health ; but from 
 the second that he feels himself animated with the 
 desire for glory, or to make an ambitious plan succeed, 
 the activity of his soul makes him find the strength 
 which the weakness of his body refuses. He works 
 continually, never sleeps, tires out the hardest-working 
 secretaries, dictating to several at the same time ; in 
 short, he is all on fire, devours everything and resists 
 everything. He carries along several intrigues at once, 
 and is careful that the several threads do not become 
 intermixed. Nevertheless, the proof that his ideas are 
 neither very luminous nor really great is that his style 
 is weak, even flat, that he writes neither purely nor 
 with strength, that he is not even eloquent when speak- 
 ing. But he always seems assured of success, he speaks 
 without hesitating, and he persuades all the better 
 because one believes that he is not artificial. He under- 
 stands even better to cause approval of what he has 
 done than what he is going to do. When one has followed 
 his advice, if things have turned out all right one feels 
 under an obligation to him ; should they have gone 
 wrong one feels that it has been one's own fault. If 
 M. de Belle-Isle should be charged with a great admini- 
 stration, it is to be feared that his love for details and 
 projects of all kinds will induce him to take hold of more 
 than he can handle. Also, he is sure to take a fancy to 
 adventurers ; being something of one himself, he will 
 not be able to distinguish between those who will be 
 really useful to him and the others. 
 
 " M. de Belle-Isle has made himself a custom of
 
 124 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 concealing the immensity of his plans under a starchy air 
 of wisdom. Nevertheless, the interior fire of his imagina- 
 tion is heated up by this constraint. You see a stiff 
 and motionless statue calmly proposing to you the 
 devastation of empires, the agitation of republics, and 
 leading you, by reasoned consequences, to the most 
 dangerous results for the State which should follow 
 them according to his ideas. The great fault of his 
 nature is that he does not know when to pull up, he 
 only perceives perfection in the infinite. 
 
 " I once heard M. de Belle-Isle utter words which 
 made me shudder. ' Nothing so easy,' said he one 
 day before me, ' than to overset, by a simple line of 
 the pen, the Russian power into the sea, and that with- 
 out leaving one's office ! ' 
 
 " In truth, there is enough to make one tremble in 
 seeing a frivolous and venturesome people like ours 
 giving itself over into the hands of such leaders." 
 
 Such then is a portrait of the sole French General 
 in whom Frederick the Great had ever any confidence ; 
 the man who would have brought glory to France had 
 it not been for the crass idiotcy and obstinacy of the 
 old woman Fleury, who seemed to take a positive delight, 
 as long as he lived, in doing the exact opposite to any 
 scheme proposed by Belle- Isle.
 
 CHAPTER X 
 The War of the Polish Succession 
 
 1733— 1737 
 
 When Chauvelin discovered the strength of the party 
 behind him, he ceased for the moment to fear Fleury, 
 and acted promptly, taking, in conjunction with Spain 
 and Savoy — that is, the kingdom of Sardinia and Pied- 
 mont — such measures as must necessarily lead to war. 
 
 Years afterwards, when in disgrace and exile, he 
 disclosed his reasons for thus hurr5dng on the conflict. 
 They were no weighty affairs of State which prompted 
 Chauvelin to deluge Europe with blood, but simply 
 that, with its affaire Cadiere and other foolish disputes, 
 France had become ridiculous and a laughing-stock. 
 The Keeper of the Seals, therefore, considered that she 
 required a war to re-estabhsh herself as a serious nation 
 in the eyes of the world. While, therefore, apparently 
 merely following the general and national impulse, 
 Chauvelin was in reality acting vigorously upon his 
 own account when, upon September 26th, 1733, he 
 signed what was known as the Treaty of Turin, between 
 Spain, France, and Sardinia. 
 
 This treaty was one for the driving of Austria out 
 of Italy. Its provisions were, roughly, that the Duchy 
 of Milan should be conquered and given to the Pied- 
 
 125
 
 126 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 montese Prince, who in return would give Savoy to 
 France ; France would then generously return Savoy, 
 satisfied if Austria were driven from Italy. The elder 
 Infante of Spain, Don Carlos, was to have the two 
 Sicilies — that is, the kingdom of Naples and the island 
 of Sicily — the younger, Don Philip, to have Tuscany, 
 Parma^ and Piacenza, and, in return for her assist- 
 ance, Spain was to pay large subsidies to France. This 
 latter proviso delighted and calmed Fleury. A large 
 French army under the Duke of Berwick was to 
 occupy Lorraine, and to cross the Rhine into Germany, 
 and, at the same time, the army of Italy under the 
 Marechal Due de Villars was to cross the Alps. In 
 the harbour of Brest a fleet, under the violent old sea- 
 dog Duguay-Trouin, was to be got ready for the North 
 Sea and the Baltic. 
 
 To all these provisions Fleury appeared to agree, 
 but it was with a concealed ill-will. Secretly, even 
 before the war broke out, he was cooling down the 
 martial ardour of the young King, who soon ceased 
 to wish for a war or to care whether or no his father-in- 
 law should become once more a King in Poland. 
 
 There was, however, no means of holding the country 
 of France, which, like a greyhound on a leash, was 
 straining for war. Fleury was, however, in league with 
 Sir Robert Walpole, the peaceable Minister then direct- 
 ing affairs in England, and, between them, they agreed 
 to do all that they could to prevent the beginning of 
 a war, but, if begun, to neutralise its results and 
 stultify the action of the French Generals, by working 
 in favour of Austria. The Poles were to be betrayed 
 and Austria saved in the moment of her imminent 
 destruction. Such was the design of the traitor
 
 The War of the Polish Succession 127 
 
 Fleury, acting under the instructions of his rehgious 
 director at Issy, which were the more peremptory on 
 account of the recent mihtary persecution by Austria of 
 Salzburg. 
 
 England, also, which had been the ally of Austria 
 in the last war against France, now seemed to love that 
 land of bigoted and persecuting Catholics more than 
 ever, and anxious to protect the country whence the 
 hordes of semi-barbarians who mutilated prisoners 
 were to be launched on Europe. 
 
 The diplomatist Horatio Walpole, brother of Sir 
 Robert, was present in Paris, and appeared to be in- 
 separable from Fleury. He brought all his dispatches 
 from London to the old Cardinal, and paid him the 
 compliment of asking his assistance in framing their 
 replies. Thus English Protestantism and the Jesuits 
 in France were in league together for Austria against 
 France, the Cardinal — the ruler of France — being as 
 much a traitor to his country as though he were fighting 
 in the ranks of her opponents. 
 
 While both the Queen and the mistress urged the 
 King on to the war, Fleury continued to block all pre- 
 parations, and allowed the summer to pass by. Nothing 
 was done to arm the fleet in Brest, nor were any measures 
 taken for the provisioning of the armies, to move which 
 swiftly was a vital measure if success were to be ensured. 
 Thus the Saxon and the Austrian were enabled to arm 
 at their leisure ; the distant Russian had also time to 
 quietly get ready for a promenade into Poland. To- 
 wards the end of August a despairing cry came from 
 Poland. " King Stanislas must come at once, or all 
 will be lost ! " 
 
 While the Queen was on needles with anxiety and
 
 128 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 Villars was thundering in rage, the assembled Council 
 could do nothing because the King could not be found. 
 For three days he remained missing — he was at Chantilly 
 making love to the young wife of M. le Due. At length 
 he returned, and Stanislas was then able to tear himself 
 from his anxious daughter's arms and start almost alone 
 for his perilous journey across Europe, through hostile 
 States. That night Louis XV., instead of staying at 
 Versailles to console his wife, in an agony of fear for 
 her father's safety, went off to sleep at la Muette, 
 accompanied by his mistress. 
 
 In fifteen days Stanislas made the journey to War- 
 saw, where he was received tumultuously by the Poles. 
 Sixty thousand nobles and gentlemen voted for him 
 as their King. But, with exception of some excellent 
 but scattered cavalry, there were no forces at hand 
 wherewith to protect the King whom they had chosen, 
 and the Russians were coming. Saxony had not, how- 
 ever, yet set any troops in motion, and merely ten 
 thousand men sent from France would have been suffi- 
 cient to secure the Queen's father in the possession of 
 the crown which he had regained by the popular acclaim. 
 But they did not come. Stanislas Lesczynski, who had 
 counted upon at least that number of men from his 
 daughter's kingdom, as a nucleus around which to raise 
 an army, found himself deserted, for not a man came 
 from France. Fleury saw to that. Forced to retire 
 to Dantzic, he next expected the arrival of the fleet 
 from Brest. For that too the deceived Prince waited 
 in vain. 
 
 Walpole and Fleury had together played a comedy 
 over that matter to deceive France. English war- 
 ships were sent to cruise up and down in front of Brest,
 
 The War of the Polish Succession 129 
 
 which furnished Fleury with the false and feeble excuse, 
 " We dare not leave — Horatio Walpole says that to 
 do so would be an attack upon the commercial liberties 
 which the treaties assure to the navigation of the Baltic." 
 
 Thus winter came, the Baltic was closed with ice, 
 while the city of Dantzic did its best to defend itself 
 and its newly elected King from the Russians who, 
 to the number of thirty thousand, arrived before the 
 place. The sole assistance which came to Dantzic 
 was a letter, written by Louis XV. upon November i8th, 
 1733, encouraging the citizens of Dantzic to resist boldly 
 and vigorously. 
 
 In the meantime, France had placed a hundred 
 thousand men upon the Rhine. Villars and Belle- 
 Isle loudly cried for permission to penetrate into Ger- 
 many, to stir up Bavaria and other German Powers 
 inimical to Austria. The Austrians by the greatest 
 exertions had meanwhile only contrived to put seventy 
 thousand in the field. Fleury, however, replied to his 
 two brave generals, " Yes, yes ; if we only had with 
 us the States of the German Empire, we could go in." 
 
 " Go in ; and the Empire will be with you," thundered 
 Villars in reply. 
 
 At length, after the late autumn rains had come, 
 the armies were allowed to cross the Rhine. They 
 soon returned, the country having become impassable 
 with water, while the Austrian forces marched off to 
 Italy, whither Villars also proceeded. 
 
 The gallant old Mar^chal Due de Villars, although 
 now over eighty years of age, was as full of courage 
 and fire as ever. He had been invested with a rank 
 which had only been hitherto bestowed upon his fcjrmer 
 comrade, the Mar^chal Vicomte de Turenne. This was 
 VOL. I. 9
 
 130 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 that of Marechal-General of the camps and armies of 
 France. He strove, and not in vain, to prove him- 
 self in his old age as worthy of this rank as Turenne 
 had been before him. In Italy he rapidly conquered 
 the Duchies of Milan and Mantua, but he soon had cause 
 to be dissatisfied with the conduct of the King of Sar- 
 dinia, in whose interests France was fighting, since, 
 according to the bargain made, Milan was to be annexed 
 to the possessions of that Piedmontese Prince whose 
 seat of government was Turin. 
 
 The Savoyard King, Charles Emanuel, however, 
 refused to listen when Villars endeavoured to drive 
 into his head the fact that he should assist with all his 
 might in crushing Austria before she could get together 
 a big army ; replying that Milan was all he wanted — 
 with that he was satisfied. 
 
 In February, 1734, the Spanish army arrived, under 
 Don Carlos. Now, at all events, Villars hoped for 
 assistance in crushing the Austrians. Again he was 
 doomed to disappointment ; Don Carlos marched away 
 to the south to the easy conquest of Naples, leaving 
 Villars with the French army to face the storm 
 gathering against him in the Tyrol. 
 
 Naples opened its gates to the Infante on May 30th, 
 1734, when he received homage in the name of his 
 father, Philip V., from all orders of the State. The 
 King his father, transferred his rights to Don Carlos, 
 who thus became the first Bourbon King of the two 
 Sicilies. 
 
 The French infantry, by performing prodigies of 
 valour, held the Austrians in the north, but Villars died 
 of disgust and despair at Turin on June 17th. He 
 was succeeded in the command by two old Generals,
 
 The War of the Polish Succession 131 
 
 the Marechal Due de Coigny and the Marechal Comte de 
 Broglie, then called Broglio. This latter, owing to the 
 intentional delays of the Savoyard, was almost captured 
 on the Secchia. He escaped in his shirt, with his breeches 
 in his hand ! In two furious battles, however, at Parma 
 and Guastalla. the young French soldiery with the 
 greatest steadiness beat off the terrible onslaughts of the 
 wild Hungarian and Croatian cavalry, charging like 
 demons with their red cloaks flying in the breeze. In the 
 former, June 29th, 1734, the able Austrian General 
 Count Mercy was killed, while in the latter, Sep- 
 tember 19th, 1734, Broglio defeated Count Konigsegg 
 and drove him across the Po. The Sardinians fought 
 valiantly with Broglio in this action. 
 
 These battles saved the Spaniards in the south, the 
 scanty garrisons of Germanic race yielded up most of 
 the towTis almost without a blow to Don Carlos, and 
 such of their remnants as, banded together, attempted 
 to make a stand against the Spaniards, were defeated 
 by the Duke of Mortemart at Bitonto. 
 
 The cowardice or treachery of Fleury's government 
 had in the meantime become more than ever apparent 
 in the matter of Poland, which country was by this time 
 occupied by a hundred thousand Russians and Saxons. 
 It was now no longer a question of retaining the monarchy 
 for Stanislas ; all that could be hoped for was to save 
 the life of that Prince, still shut up in Dantzic. 
 
 Some French ships arrived at length, in May, before 
 that place, but refused to disembark the few troops on 
 board. There was at Copenhagen in the position of 
 French Ambassador a gallant man, the Comte de Plelo. 
 In his indignation, when the French fleet arrived at 
 CopLMihagcn, Pltlo taunted the commanders of the little
 
 132 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 force on board with their cowardice. He offered to 
 lead them himself against the Russians, and obtained 
 some fifteen or sixteen hundred volunteers under 
 Peyrouse-Lamotte. With this small force Plelo landed 
 below the fort of Wechselmunde and charged the thirty 
 thousand Russians in front of Dantzic. 
 
 Such was the gallantry with which this brave man 
 inspired his few followers, that Plelo had almost succeeded 
 in cutting liis way through the Russians into Dantzic 
 when he fell mortally wounded. M. de la Peyrouse- 
 Lamotte then gallantly managed to extricate his small 
 force from the thousands of Russians surrounding them, 
 and for a month entrenched himself near at hand, sup- 
 porting the brave defenders of Dantzic. 
 
 On June 23rd the small French band was forced to 
 yield to General Munich, the Austrian General assisting 
 the Russians, when this General chivalrously allowed 
 Peyrouse-Lamotte to re-embark with his remaining men 
 and stores, owing to his admiration of the courage dis- 
 played by the French. 
 
 Dantzic fell on July 7th, 1734, but King Stanislas 
 Lesczynski escaped in disguise and found a refuge with 
 Frederick William L, who was the second King of Prussia 
 and the brutal father of Frederick the Great. Although 
 a partisan war continued to be carried on m Poland 
 for some little time longer, the Austrians and Russians 
 were omnipotent. The Pope absolved the Polish nobility 
 and gentry from the oath they had sworn never to have 
 a foreign King, and Augustus IIL, the Saxon, the tool 
 of Russia, became their ruler. 
 
 Meanwhile, in Germany the Duke of Berwick had 
 taken the fortress of Kehl in December, 1733, had forced 
 the lines of the Austrians at Erlingen in the early part
 
 The War of the Polish Succession 133 
 
 of 1734, and had then proceeded to invest Phihpsbiirg 
 in form. In front of this city he was killed by a cannon- 
 ball while making a reconnaissance. "Just like his 
 usual luck ! " exclaimed old Villars when he heard of 
 this occurrence, which was shortly before his own death 
 in his bed at Turin. This occurrence took place in the 
 very room in which he was born. Philipsburg, in the 
 Grand Duchy of Baden, on the right bank of the Rhine, 
 fell not long after to the Due de Noailles, who was made a 
 Marechal de France when Berwick died. During the con- 
 tinuance of the siege of that place the old Prince Eugene 
 was close at hand with an army, but his ardour was gone 
 and he did not approve of the war. Accordingly, he 
 stood by without making any effort to save the town, 
 which was only taken after great difficulties, owing to 
 heavy rains, on July i8th, 1734. 
 
 In the following year, the senile Due de Noailles 
 and his lieutenant the Marechal d'Asfeldt failing to 
 agree, nothing was done to profit by the advantages 
 which had been gained in Germany. After the battles 
 of Parma and Guastalla the fortunes of Austria seemed, 
 however, to be at a low ebb. In the former their 
 commander-in-chief, M. de Mercy, had been killed, 
 while in the latter the Prince of Wurtemberg likewise 
 met his fate. The Spaniards had occupied Sicily as 
 well as the kingdom of Naples, while the Austrians, 
 falling back on the Tyrol, merely held Mantua. The 
 Due de Noailles was about to invest Mantua, and thus 
 complete the conquest of Italy, when, owing to the 
 quarrels between the King of Sardinia and the Queen 
 of Spain as to which of tliem should keep the place 
 when taken, Charles Emanuel withdrew his troops in 
 dudgeon.
 
 134 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 Noailles now remained inactive, and in the meantime 
 Fleury, inspired by England and his Jesuits, suddenly 
 commenced overtures of peace with Austria, greatly to 
 the advantage of that country. Entirely renouncing those 
 ideas of the total emancipation of Italy from the Austrian 
 rule with which France had entered upon the war, 
 Fleury in 1735 proposed to return the Duchy of Milan, 
 while France was also to renounce all her conquests in 
 Germany. At the same time the Cardinal guaranteed 
 to the Emperor Charles VI. that pragmatic sanction 
 which his soul so greatly desired. 
 
 The two Sicilies were left to Don Carlos, who was 
 to become their King ; but he was compelled to renounce 
 his claim to the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, also Parma 
 and Piacenza, which he had obtained in 173 1. These 
 three States were formed into an appanage for Duke 
 Francis of Lorraine, the betrothed of Maria Theresa of 
 Austria. All that the King of Sardinia gained by the 
 war was Tortona and Novara, two cantons of Milan. 
 For Stanislas Lesczynski, the father of the French Queen, 
 in his anxiety to advantage Austria, Fleury had but 
 little care. Modestly the Cardinal expressed himself as 
 willing to accept for the King of Poland merely the little 
 Duchy of Bar, and, in addition, the return of his personal 
 estates in Poland. It is true that to these was added a 
 facetious proviso emanating from Walpole. This was 
 that an embassy should be solemnly sent to the King of 
 Poland to thank him for giving up his dominions. 
 
 The negotiations of this inglorious peace were, in 
 spite of Fleury, who wished to finish off at once, con- 
 siderably protracted. The Keeper of the Seals, Chauvelin, 
 was determined that terms so ignoble for France should 
 not be accepted. He dared to browbeat the Cardinal,
 
 The War of the Polish Succession 135 
 
 and insist that in return for the three Italian Duchies 
 given to the Duke Francis of Lorraine that Prince should 
 resign Lorraine. This country was, according to the 
 views of Chauvelin, to be given as well as Bar to Stanislas 
 for life ; after his death to revert to the Crown of France. 
 Moreover, Stanislas was to retain the title of King of 
 Poland, while relinquishing the throne of that country. 
 In the end Chauvelin gained his point, and with it the 
 glorious possession of Lorraine for France, which she 
 retained until the war with Prussia in 1870, when she 
 lost both Lorraine and Alsace. 
 
 While gaining for France the only honourable terms 
 in the treaty of peace, Chauvelin ruined himself. His 
 principal crime in the eyes of the Cardinal was a postscript 
 which, in 1737, he added in his own handwriting to a 
 letter written by Fleury to the Emperor : " That in the 
 meantime the King would continue to hold Philipsburg, 
 Treves, and Kehl." These were the words added by 
 Chauvelin, and they were tantamount to saying that if 
 the Emperor would never finish the negotiations France 
 would continue to remain in Germany. 
 
 These bold words decided everything. Austria 
 yielded, Stanislas obtained the Duchy of Lorraine, where 
 he established his Court at Luneville ; but the fall of 
 Chauvelin was assured. It had long been decided upon 
 between Walpole and Cardinal Floury — he was too 
 good a Frenchman for those good Austrians. He was 
 offered money to go, but he refused. His enemies 
 then descended to calumny, and accused him of 
 stealing — a watch among other things ! Walpole then 
 procured letters in which the Keeper of the Seals had 
 communicated with Spain. He had done so purely 
 in the interests of I^ance, but it was made the excuse,
 
 136 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 by the traitor Fleury, to accuse Chauvelin of treason 
 to his country. 
 
 Conquered and terrified by the firmness of Chauvehn, 
 Austria dehvered over Lorraine upon February 15th, 1737. 
 A week later, on February 23rd, Cardinal Fleury, in 
 revenge, exiled Chauvelin — an exile which lasted for the 
 rest of his life. Although frequently appealed to, never, 
 in the moments of the greatest difficulties of France, 
 would the ungrateful Louis XV. consent to his return 
 to Versailles. 
 
 I
 
 ;! CHAPTER XI 
 
 Mademoiselle de Nesle 
 
 1738— 174T 
 
 The life of the devoted Madame de Mailly was not 
 a very happy one between the years 1737 and 1741. 
 Fluttering around the Queen were the intriguing Madame 
 de Tencin with her unscrupulous brother the Archbishop 
 of Embrun (who became at last a Cardinal, in March, 
 1739), the Due and the ladies of the Noailles family, 
 and, above all, the most important of the Noailles, 
 Madame de Toulouse. 
 
 During the King's illness in 1738 the Tencins had 
 arranged everything in such a manner that upon them 
 would have devolved the supreme authority, in a Council 
 of Regency under the Queen, had Louis died. The 
 King, however, recovered, when Madame de Toulouse 
 became more than ever empressee in her semi-motherly, 
 semi-loverly attentions to the young Monarch. She, 
 who set up for being devout, was working at the same 
 time in the interests of her son the Due de Penthievre, 
 and the interests of the Church. 
 
 The Condes demanded that this young son, upon 
 the death of his father the Comte de Toulouse, should 
 not continue in his person the Royal condition which 
 the Regent had continued to his father, who was one 
 
 ^37
 
 138 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 of the legitimatised children of Louis XIV. by Madame 
 de Montespan. 
 
 Madame de Toulouse, according to the Due de 
 Luynes, gave little suppers to the King which astonished 
 the Court, who knew to what an extent Louis was 
 apt to forget himself after drinking. When her husband 
 died, all inundated with tears, the Comtesse threw herself 
 into the arms of the King, confiding to his care her 
 fortunes and those of her son. The King was greatly 
 touched ; he consoled her, and thenceforward his visits 
 to her pleasant retreat at Rambouillet became more 
 frequent than ever. Thus she gradually advanced 
 more and more in his good graces. 
 
 Not content with receiving the King at Rambouillet, 
 Madame de Toulouse, who had in her widowhood re- 
 tained a fine set of apartments at Versailles, kept him 
 there constantly by her side. There was a little secret 
 staircase by which M. de Toulouse had formerly been 
 able to visit at will his father Louis XIV. — he had 
 possesed a private key. The King was now in the habit 
 of running up and down this staircase at any hour, 
 but Madame de Toulouse did not possess the key, and 
 was anxious to obtain that favour. She at length, 
 however, succeeded in gaining it by a ruse. 
 
 Louis XV. was fond of wood-carving and turning ; 
 the Comtesse brought him a piece of some precious 
 wood which she had received from her late husband, 
 and proposed that he should turn and carve it for her 
 into a pretty key-holder, upon the model of the key 
 of his apartments. When it was finished, it was a 
 pity that the case should remain empty ! Louis re- 
 turned it, with the precious key inside, to the Comtesse 
 upon March 17th, 1738. It was, moreover, the master-
 
 Mademoiselle de Nesle 139 
 
 key which opened all the doors, even that leading to 
 the King's last cabinet, where he wrote. The intimacy 
 so granted to Madame de Toulouse was greater than 
 any which the King ever accorded to his daughter 
 Madame Henriette, although later he gave it to his 
 beloved daughter Madame Adelaide. It was in truth 
 a very great favour, since by it Madame de Toulouse 
 was able to go in and out whenever she chose, and 
 read at will all the papers lying upon the King's table. 
 
 In the meantime the Comtesse kept up a great 
 appearance of affliction for the loss of her husband, 
 and, with many devotional exercises, imposed upon the 
 inhabitants of the Chateau of Versailles. Thus people 
 thought more than they dared to say openly of such 
 a pious lady. Madame de Mailly was, however, very 
 unhappy, and frequently tired the King with scenes of 
 jealousy on account of her good-looking, plump, and 
 elderly rival. 
 
 Madame de Toulouse, on the other hand, put for- 
 ward the excuse that she was really in need of the King's 
 protection for her young son. In such a cause, what 
 might seem doubtful was really but the performance 
 of a motherly duty. She proved eminently successful 
 in the accomplishment of her designs. Between May 
 and November, 1738, she contrived to win back for the 
 young Due de Penthievre all the Royal honours, and 
 to recover all the princely appanages of his rank. At 
 a supper at Fontainebleau this young son, now named 
 as a Prince of the Blood, waited upon the King at table, 
 while the Comtesse herself waited upon him at dessert, 
 handing to Louis a glass and a plate. By these actions, 
 a relic of feudal customs, the Royalty of both mother 
 and son was undeniably established.
 
 140 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 After this the Comtesse was less careful to keep 
 up appearances ; in August she established a bedroom 
 for the King at Rambouillet, also, says the Due de 
 Luynes, a private cabinet, concerning which she held 
 a long conversation with the King in the presence of 
 the courtiers at Versailles. The conversation, although 
 carried on in low tones, was not so low but that all knew 
 what it was about. (Luynes, ii. 226 : August 21st, 
 
 1738.) 
 
 This state of affairs naturally saddened Madame 
 de Mailly. Feeling herself neglected and alone, she 
 listened all the more readily when her intriguing 
 sister Mademoiselle de Nesle wrote her the " letters 
 upon letters " begging her to take her from her convent. 
 Upon her arrival at the Court, full of life and gaiety, 
 she soon filled the tedious Versailles with her youthful 
 spirits and clever sayings. These were bold and biting, 
 and spared no one, not even the King, whom she cap- 
 tivated by laughing at and making fun of him. 
 
 It was not long, indeed, after the arrival of Made- 
 moiselle de Nesle at Versailles, before every one in the 
 dull surroundings of the Court, fearing her ridicule, 
 was afraid of her. The situation had indeed been flat 
 and uninteresting to a degree, dominated as it was by 
 an old Minister who seemed in his dotage, and a mistress 
 whose charms no longer attracted. Moreover, people 
 were bored to death with the unhealthy and tiresome 
 story of Madame de Toulouse with her secret staircase ; 
 the pious manoeuvres of that lady, twenty-two years 
 the King's senior, filled the wearied courtiers with dis- 
 gust. Thus Versailles was worn out and sick of every- 
 thing, when, after the peace negotiations had been 
 at length completed, and Chauvelin, the one person
 
 Mademoiselle de Nesle 141 
 
 of energy, sent away, Pauline F^licite brought a breath 
 of novelty and liveliness to the used-up sourroundings of 
 the King and Queen. 
 
 In the following year the King gave evidence of 
 being conscience-stricken. Brought up as he had been 
 in the fear of the terrors of hell, he imagined that, living 
 a life whicli was considered incestuous with the two 
 sisters, he could no longer take the Sacrament at Easter. 
 The fear of some terrible judgment falling upon him, 
 if he should desecrate the Sacrament, determined Louis 
 to take a step which was a great blow to the clergy. 
 The Church was crushed when the King declared " quHl 
 ne ferait 'point ses pdques.^^ 
 
 The eldest son of the Church — not to communicate 
 at Easter ! There was the greatest scandal and com- 
 motion throughout Paris when this became known. 
 Many, no doubt, shared the views of Barbier, that the 
 King could do no wrong. That writer demands " how 
 is it that the Church has not a dispensation from the 
 Pope to administer the Sacrament to Louis, no matter 
 what might be the conditions of his life ? " 
 
 The ultramontane party, knocked down by the 
 blow, tried to deceive the public by a ruse. Cardinal 
 Fleury endeavoured to persuade his pupil to allow a 
 Low Mass to be celebrated in the Royal cabinet, so 
 that the world miglit imagine he had communicated 
 as usual. Louis, however, would have none of these 
 subterfuges — he refused to allow the not very credit- 
 able farce proposed by the clergy to be played. 
 
 Meanwhile the curious spectacle was to be seen in 
 France of the hopes of the people being fixed upon 
 a woman to save the Royalty, elevate the King, lift 
 up the kingdom. It did not matter whom the woman
 
 142 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 might be — any woman would serve the turn. The same 
 hope was to be seen springing to tlie surface every time 
 that the King took a new mistress. Even the best of 
 men hke the Marquis d'Argenson embraced it. It 
 mattered not whether the woman were Madame de Mailly, 
 Madame de Vintimille, Madame de la Tournelle, or 
 Madame de Pompadour, it was ever the same. With 
 the appearance of each upon the scene in turn there 
 sprang up in the breast of the people of France the 
 ardent desire that she might do something with the 
 King — make a man of Louis. Even the biting and 
 ironical Voltaire went with the rest in this matter. In 
 spite of his ironies and sarcasms, Voltaire persisted in 
 imagining vainly that each new petticoat might contain 
 an Agnes Sorel, to stir up to manhood and glory 
 another Charles VII. 
 
 It must be confessed that with the appearance upon 
 the scene of Mademoiselle de Nesle there seemed some 
 considerable prospect that the necessary miracle might 
 be accomplished. The essential thing was that the 
 King loved her and admired her genius. Although 
 her power was exerted in secret, and, so to speak, under 
 the shadow of her sister's wing, it was none the less 
 real, at the same time that it was exercised with prudence. 
 Prudence was indeed necessary for one who, actively 
 anti-Austrian in her sentiments, was combating the 
 ever-present inert weight of the Austrian Fleury, with 
 his Austrian Walpole and Austrian Jesuits at Issy behind 
 him. 
 
 During her short lifetime, under her sister's cloak, 
 Pauline Felicite de Nesle thus contrived to a great 
 extent to prevent her actual position from being recog- 
 nised. France at large scarcely knew her name at the
 
 Mademoiselle de Nesle 143 
 
 very moment when she was preparing to launch upon 
 Austria and Europe an entire revolution of policy. All, 
 however, about the Court who knew her, friend and foe 
 alike, recognised that, with a keen and brilliant mode 
 of expressing herself, she possessed a vast and powerful 
 mind, one which would have shrunk before nothing. 
 
 The young King Frederick II. of Prussia, afterwards 
 known as Frederick the Great, ascended the throne at 
 the age of twenty-eight at the end of May, 1740. As 
 may be seen from his own Memoirs, none better than 
 he understood the position of affairs at Versailles before 
 he ventured suddenly to attack Austria. He well knew 
 that the Nesle interest was dead against Austria, or he 
 would never have dared to strike as boldly as he did. 
 Everything, however, hung upon a young woman, and 
 upon the strength of the King's love for her. How 
 far was he prepared to go, tied to her frills and furbelows ? 
 How far would he be bold enough to resist the influences 
 of his childhood, as represented by the senile and old- 
 womanly Fleury ? Would Louis ever be capable of 
 rising from the mud in which he grovelled upon the 
 wings of a great love ? These were the questions to 
 be considered, and their answer was doubtful in the 
 extreme. 
 
 Voltaire, however, was inclined to answer the last in 
 the affirmative. For several years past he had taken 
 refuge at Cirey, near Vassy, in Champagne, with Madame 
 du Chatelet, the handsome young lady of literary and 
 philosophical inclinations who worshipped him. Her 
 Imsband, according to the strange customs of those 
 days, approved of the liaison. To the Marquis du 
 Chatelet his wife was so but in name ; for fifteen years 
 she was practically the wife of Voltaire, after which
 
 144 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 she proved unfaithful to her distinguished lover. Being 
 present with the Marquis du Chatelet and Voltaire at 
 the Court of King Stanislas at Luneville, she gave birth 
 to a little girl, of which the poet Saint-Lambert was the 
 father. She was then forty-two, and died a few days 
 later. Her life had paid the forfeit of her too late ex- 
 cursions into fresh courts of love. 
 
 Already in 1739, while the then Prince of Prussia, 
 himself a writer and adorer of les belles-lettres, was calling 
 Voltaire to him, Madame du Chatelet persuaded the 
 poet to return to Paris, which was, she felt, the real theatre 
 for his genius. In April of that year she and Voltaire 
 together purchased the magnificent hotel belonging to 
 the Dupins, son-in-law and daughter of the wealthy 
 Samuel Bernard. It was known as the Hotel Lambert, 
 and situated upon the point of the island. To this 
 spot they proposed to return, and openly. Voltaire, 
 who had been an outcast, and was now forty-four years 
 old, no longer proposed to make even a pretence of 
 concealment, so convinced was he of the change that 
 was being operated in the nature of the King, whose 
 religious devotion had in a marked manner been dis- 
 played in antipathy to the free-thinking ideas of the 
 author of the Lettres sur les Anglais and the Henriade. 
 
 Vainly did Voltaire think that now he was to obtain 
 rest and repose, to be allowed to pass the rest of his life 
 in the Hotel Lambert, for a career of continued exile 
 was, had he but known it, that which was really looming 
 ahead of him. 
 
 While Voltaire was writing Mahomet, dedicated, 
 strange to say, by permission, to the Pope, Alzire, his 
 Memoire sur le feu, and the disgusting La Pucelle, while 
 also early in 1740 he visited the Prince of Prussia at
 
 Mademoiselle de Nesle 145 
 
 Berlin, the religious scruples of Louis XV. returned 
 stronger than ever. 
 
 Being frightened by the rough language of the Bishop 
 of Chartres, who threatened him with the plague, the 
 King was seized with a fainting-fit while present at the 
 Mass : he was not at all inclined to relent in his feelings 
 towards the philosophical freethinker or others of his 
 kidney. 
 
 Nevertheless Bachelier, his valet dc chauihrc, at this 
 time preached tolerance to his master, with tlie result 
 that Louis ordered the slackening of the religious 
 persecution of the Jansenists who refused to accept the 
 Bull. They were now, at all events, allowed to die in 
 peace, without having their last moments disturbed by 
 the ultramontane priests who forced them to subscribe 
 to its tenets with their last breath. 
 
 With this relief to the Jansenists it almost seemed 
 as if the downfall of Fleury were about to take place. 
 That very libertine Princesse of the Blood, Mademoiselle 
 de Charolais, had openly taken Madame de Vintimille 
 under her protection, taking her to stay in her apart- 
 ments at Compiegne, where the King came to visit his 
 beloved. Between them these ladies persuaded the 
 King to play an unexpected trick upon the Cardinal, 
 who was in the habit of coming to Compiegne to work 
 with the King, during the presence there of a large camp 
 under the command of the Due de Biron. 
 
 Having his own key to the Royal apartments, Fleury 
 was wont to open the door and walk in without being 
 announced. Arriving one day, with Barjac, his valet, 
 carrying his portfolio, in vain did both master and 
 servant endeavour to open the door. Louis, inside, 
 listened and laughed as he heard first the fumblings and 
 VOL. I. 10
 
 146 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 then the scratchings at the door which in those days 
 took the place of knocking. At length the King opened, 
 and, to the Cardinal's expostulations, merely remarked 
 frigidly, " I have had the locks changed." 
 
 In spite of this childish affront to the Cardinal, the 
 natural maliciousness of the King's nature made him 
 take an equal delight in seeing Fleury at times humiliate 
 not only Madame de Mailly but Madame de Vintimillc, 
 whom he professed and appeared to love so deeply. 
 
 Blow after blow was struck by Fleury at the friends 
 of the sisters. Chauvelin was exiled, M. de Mailly was 
 exiled, M. de Nesle, the father of the two mistresses, was 
 also exiled from Versailles to Lisieux. It amused the 
 petty mind of the King to see the two sisters compelled 
 to go humbly to the old Cardinal and beg from him 
 their father's pardon. The Cardinal, at their request, 
 changed the place of exile from Lisieux to Caen. 
 
 Even in the matter of the marriage of Mademoiselle 
 de Nesle, Louis played her false. Having determined 
 to provide her with a husband, in order that any offspring 
 that she might bear should be covered with his name, 
 he had promised to the young lady that that husband 
 should be a Prince — the Comte d'Eu, a son of the Due 
 du Maine. Instead of which he provided her with a 
 little protege of Fleury's, Vintimille, a noble of no con- 
 sequence. 
 
 She, like her sister de Mailly, now became sad, feeling 
 herself humiliated by Fleury. Others, too, seeing this, 
 thought that the star of "la " Nesle was setting, and com- 
 menced to avoid her, after the fashion of Courts under 
 such circumstances. She lived, thenceforth, very much 
 alone in her chamber, to which her husband never ven- 
 tured to penetrate.
 
 Mademoiselle de Nesle i47 
 
 The ladies about the Queen, notably the spiteful 
 woman connected with the Queen's intimates, the de 
 Luynes, Madame du Deffand, formerly the hanger-on 
 and go-between of Madame de Prie, became curious to 
 penetrate to this apartment and find out what she did 
 there. Du Deffand was now living in the household 
 of the Duchesse du Maine, from whose imitation of a 
 Court at Sceaux she wished to emancipate herself to 
 form an establishment of her own. This she thought 
 she could accomplish either through Madame de Vin- 
 timille or through the enemies of that lady. She com- 
 menced by flattery and caresses. In the sincerity of 
 these Pauline Felicite pretended to believe, answering 
 the gushing letter, in which du Deffand represented her- 
 self as the friend of Voltaire, by one equally expansive. 
 With a charming abandon and appearance of credulity, 
 Madame de Vintimille declared to Madame du Deffand 
 that nothing in the world would give her so much pleasure 
 as to be directed in all matters by her. 
 
 But " la " Nesle took care that matters should go 
 no farther, and, as she remained alone to plot and plan, 
 her star soon seemed to reascend. In the beginning 
 of 1740 it was very high. To her alone of all the ladies 
 or Princesses of the Court did the King give a New 
 Year's gift upon January ist ; while in February she had 
 a victory over Fleury. In that month she appointed 
 the new Minister of War, M. de Breteuil, in the very 
 face of the Cardinal's wishes. He replaced d'Angcr- 
 villiers, who died. 
 
 The spiteful, bitter-tongucd, and witty Comte Pheli- 
 peaux de Maurepas, who had hitherto maintained his 
 post of Secretary of State since the age of fifteen by 
 successful trimming, veered round to the &ide of the
 
 148 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 rising star. He quietly deserted the Cardinal, while 
 speaking well of Madame de Vintimille. 
 
 This, then, was the state of affairs at the Court of 
 Versailles when two events of great importance occurred 
 in Europe almost simultaneously. In the month of 
 May, 1740, by his father's death, Frederick the Great, 
 henceforth to be the hero of the hour, sprung upon the 
 scene. Four months or so later Charles VI., Emperor 
 of Germany, Archduke of Austria, and King or Duke 
 of half a dozen other countries, breathed his last. Thus 
 Europe was now face to face with the new and serious 
 situation created by the Pragmatic Sanction, which Charles 
 had instituted in favour of his daughter Maria Theresa, 
 and by which, in defiance of the Salic law, she was to 
 inherit all his possessions. 
 
 How now would all those countries act who, after 
 the War of the Polish Succession, had subscribed to that 
 Pragmatic Sanction ? It was a moment of the greatest 
 gravity for France above all other countries, yet was 
 she perhaps the weakest in all Europe, owing to the 
 fact that her fortunes still continued to be held in the 
 hands of a doddering old priest, at this time eighty- 
 seven years old. Against his weight and influence the 
 Jesuits saw in Madame de Vintimille alone at Versailles 
 an adversary of any weight to the cause of Austria, that 
 ancient enemy of France. For the party of the rehgious 
 Queen and her daughters and that of the Noailles, 
 brother and sister, formed but one in favour of Austria, 
 while the Comte de Stainville from Lorraine, later Due 
 de Choiseul, was but an Austrian spy. 
 
 In this year 1740 the Cardinal was rendered stronger 
 than ever, owing to the withdrawal by death of the 
 rival whose return to favour he ever feared. M. le Due
 
 Mademoiselle de Nesle 149 
 
 died early that year, at the age of forty-seven, from 
 a chill caught while rabbit shooting when too lightly 
 dressed. Not long before his death, although him- 
 self continuing to live with the Comtesse d'Egmont, 
 he had displayed the greatest jealousy of his wife. A 
 serving-woman having informed him that the Duchesse 
 de Bourbon was carrying on a love affair with M. de 
 Bissy, M. le Due had ordered her to be confined in barred 
 apartments at the top of the house. As a matter of 
 fact, the affair had not gone any further than the inter- 
 change of a letter or two, but the head of the Conde 
 family had one law for himself and another for his wife, 
 except where the King was concerned. For he had 
 been compelled to rage in vain at His Majesty's atten- 
 tions, which were fostered by his mother, the wicked 
 Madame la Duchesse. From the time that she was 
 known as Mademoiselle de Nantes, this licentious 
 daughter of Louis XIV. and Madame de Montespan had 
 never shrunk from any iniquity. 
 
 When he died, the King gave to his three-year-old 
 son, the Prince de Conde, the charge of Grand-Master 
 and also the government of Burgundy. The furious 
 Comte de Charolais, a man of the most unbridled and 
 violent passions, was appointed to exercise these 
 functions, however, for his little nephew, until he should 
 attain the age of eighteen. 
 
 In the autumn before M. le Due died, he succeeded 
 in procuring from the King the legitimation of his 
 natural daughter by the Marquise de Nesle. This 
 young lady, half-sister to Madame de Mailly and Madame 
 de Vintimille, was called Henriette, Mademoiselle de 
 Verneuil, and she married the Comte de la Guiche eight 
 months after the Due de Bourbon died.
 
 150 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 The public saw in this act of legitimation the fore- 
 shadowment of a similar act in favour of a child whom 
 Madame de Mailly was expected to bring into the world. 
 Already people were saying, " It will be a Due de 
 Vendome, like the son of Henri IV. by Gabrielle 
 d'Estrees," when an accident ruined the hopes of Madame 
 de Mailly. Her sister, however, became enceinte in 
 the beginning of 1741, at the very time that the question 
 of peace or war with Austria was once more the question 
 of the day. The circumstance becoming known at 
 once, the credit of Fleury commenced to go down, while 
 that of the war party, headed by the Comte de Belle- 
 Isle, was once more in the ascendant. 
 
 Madame de Vintimille being in favour of the party 
 which was for alliance with the Protestant King of 
 Prussia, she became more than ever hateful to the 
 Church which favoured Catholic Austria. Her child 
 was, to the great delight of the King, born at Versailles 
 on September 4th, 1741. It was a son and a healthy 
 infant, who lived to old age. The mother, however, 
 already very ill, succumbed to a dose of poison, by 
 whom actually administered being unknown, on 
 September 9th. Moreover, her confessor, whom the 
 dying girl had entrusted with a message for Madame 
 de Mailly, never reached that lady's apartments alive. 
 He tottered and fell dead at the threshold. The agony 
 of mind of the King was pitiable, but he consoled him- 
 self with Madame de Mailly and the Comtesse de Toulouse.
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 The House of Orleans 
 
 1740— 1741 
 
 When Madame de Vintimille died, according to an 
 absurd custom which did not allow death to exist in 
 the presence of Royalty, her body was hustled out of 
 Versailles at once to a neighbouring hotel, and, having 
 been examined with a view to finding poison, was care- 
 lessly left lying uncovered in a coach-house. Here 
 the brutal populace of Versailles treated the remains 
 to all sorts of indignities, such as firing crackers upon 
 the body. The reason of the enmity shown to her 
 whom they called la reine de Choisy was that the canaille 
 imagined tlie dead woman to have been the cause of 
 the King's prolonged absences from Versailles at Choisy. 
 This was a little country house which had been 
 purchased for the King by Fleury in November, 1738, 
 nominally as a hunting-box. However, M. le Due's sister, 
 the shameless Mademoiselle de Charolais, who had 
 instituted herself as a sort of purveyor of the King's 
 pleasures, soon gave a different character to the house 
 at Choisy. Here the rule was enforced that ladies 
 alone were received without their husbands. There were 
 six bedrooms usually occupied by women of the Court, 
 who came on the King's invitation for a day or two.
 
 15^ The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 It was in order that she might hold the fort against 
 all comers that Madame de Vintimille established her- 
 self at Choisy during the months before her confinement. 
 Here she rendered herself extremely unpopular among 
 the useless servantry, by pointing out to Louis how 
 they were robbing him in the most barefaced manner, 
 especially by their large thefts of bottles of Champagne. 
 
 Thus, not content with endeavouring to reform 
 Europe, she tried also to reform the King's household, 
 and to save him money, with which he was but poorly 
 supplied by Fleury. Afraid of no one, she was foolish 
 enough to attack even Bachelier, saying of the power- 
 ful valet de chambre to the King, " I suppose that you 
 will go and report this to Bachelier ? " She pointed 
 out to him also how Barjac, Fleury's domestic, trafficked 
 in the greatest places in the kingdom ; how again the 
 Abbe Brissard, the preceptor of Fleury's nephews, 
 sold offices, and had made more than a million out 
 of his illegal traffic. When this Brissard died, eighteen 
 hundred thousand francs were found under the carpets 
 in his bedroom ; but in the meantime he is supposed 
 to have served as the agent for all those who desired 
 the death of the favourite, and to have poisoned both 
 her and her unfortunate confessor. 
 
 Unfortunately, she was seen to be somewhat neg- 
 lected by the King during the last months of her preg- 
 nancy, especially after the King had realised, from 
 hearing the opinion of others, that she was ugly. They 
 therefore arranged their plans serenely, and waited for 
 the moment of her confinement to execute them with- 
 out fear of punishment. The manner in which the King 
 learned what was thought of the personal appearance 
 of his mistress was as follows
 
 The House of Orkans 153 
 
 Louis was one day walking upon a terrace at Versailles, 
 when, from a chimney which opened close at hand, 
 from a room below, he heard the voices of the Marquis 
 de Flavacourt, husband of the handsome Hortense 
 Felicite de Nesle, and M. de Vintimille. Approaching his 
 ear to the wide chimney, the King found that they were 
 discussing him and his mistresses, the sisters-in-law and 
 wife of the persons talking below. They talked of the 
 advancing age of Madame de Mailly, and of the imperi- 
 ous nature of Madame de Vintimille, that lady's husband 
 expressly dwelling upon the ugliness of both, and the 
 King's bad taste. Flavacourt, married to the beauty 
 of the family, agreed, saying, " Yes, it's quite true, 
 he has only got the two ugly ones," when the King lost 
 his temper and shouted down the chimney, " Vintimille 
 and Flavacourt ! Will you hold your tongues ? Do 
 you understand what I say ? " Although the courtiers 
 were alarmed at the angry tones of the master, it seems 
 more than probable that they knew all the time that 
 they could be overheard, and were only rehearsing 
 a little comedy which was arranged for the King's 
 especial benefit. 
 
 At all events, the King was oftener at Rambouillet 
 than at Choisy for some time after the conversation, 
 although at the time of Madame de Vintimille's accouche- 
 ment he showed the greatest anxiety, and personally 
 and triumphantly conducted her to Versailles — and 
 her deatli. A day or two previously he had, however, 
 shown a great mark of favour to the Comtesse de 
 Toulouse in presenting to her the chateau and estate 
 of Luciennes, which had been occupied by Mademoiselle 
 de Clermont — sister of M. \v Due — that lady having 
 died recently.
 
 154 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 Never, both in the Court of France and the Courts 
 of various other States of Europe, was there such a mass 
 of intrigue as during the months which succeeded the 
 death of the Emperor in October, 1740, and preceded 
 that of Madame de Vintimille in September, 1741. The 
 juvenile Dauphin having been married to Marie 
 Therese, a young Infanta of Spain, and the eldest 
 daughter of Louis XV., a child of fifteen, united to 
 the Infante Don Philip, the bonds between the two 
 Bourbon-ruled countries had been drawn closer to- 
 gether, and with them strengthened the ambitions of 
 Elizabeth Farnese, the Spanish Queen. Don Carlos, 
 the elder of the two sons of this second wife of Philip V., 
 being now provided for with the kingdom of the two 
 Sicilies, she was more furiously determined than ever 
 to establish Don Philip in another Italian kingdom at 
 the expense of Austria. Tuscany, or at all events 
 Milan, she was determined to have at any price, but 
 Duke Francis of Lorraine was not inclined to give up 
 the former, while to attempt to take Milan from Austria 
 for a Spanish Prince married to a French Princesse would 
 be to embroil France, with Spain, in a quarrel with Sar- 
 dinia, who, since the Polish war, was still determined 
 to possess Milan. 
 
 While, owing to the closely knit family relations, the 
 King, Queen, Dauphin, and Royal Family in France were 
 anxious to help in this matter of Milan for the Infante 
 Don Philip, they were otherwise not at all unfavourable 
 to Austria. Led by Fleury and the priesthood, they 
 were indeed favourably inclined towards the youthful 
 Queen of Hungary, Maria Theresa, and consequently 
 disposed to support the Pragmatic Sanction which gave 
 her Hungary, Bohemia, Austria, the Low Countries,
 
 The House of Orkans 155 
 
 and other possessions. The Royal Family, however, 
 was not France, which was opposed to both the Royal 
 Family and Fleury. Especially was France, including 
 the King, who was worked upon by the Comte de Belle- 
 Isle and the two mistresses, averse to the project of 
 of the ambitious young Maria Theresa for making her 
 husband, Francis of Lorraine, Emperor of Germany 
 in place of her deceased father Charles VI. Louis XV. 
 had, by descent through his Spanish ancestresses, him- 
 self some claims to this grand position, held for so long 
 in the male line of the Hapsburgs, but these he was 
 inclined to waive, provided that he could supply Germany 
 with an Emperor of his own choice, and the choice of 
 France was the Bavarian Elector, Charles Albert. 
 
 To place him upon the Imperial throne, with the 
 title of Charles VII., all the influence of France was 
 accordingly exerted, and the Comte de Belle-Isle was 
 in December, 1740, appointed to a splendid embassy 
 to the Diet of Frankfort for the election of the Emperor. 
 This step alone seemed to make war with Austria pro- 
 bable. There were, however, other causes of disturbance, 
 owing to the quarrels of Spain with England, the friend 
 of Austria, into which France seemed likely to be drawn, 
 and owing also to the clamours of the Queen of Spain 
 to be allowed to march her troops through France into 
 Italy. With reference to this demand, botli England 
 and Holland declared that if the permission were granted 
 it w(juld be considered as a declaration of war. The 
 weak old Cardinal was in despair ; he found himself 
 driven into a corner of the wall, and could see no means 
 of escape. 
 
 In the meantime Madame de Mailly, and especially 
 Madame de Vintimille, had formed a compact of mutual
 
 156 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 assistance with the party of the Noailles family. This 
 included the Duchesses de Villars and d'Armagnac 
 among its members, and had great weight with all the 
 female members of the Royal Family. The Due de 
 Noailles was anxious to become President of the Council 
 of State, to obtain which brilliant position the Due 
 sent his son the Due d'Ayen to make a pretence of being 
 violently in love with Madame de Vintimille. That lady 
 was not deceived, but laughed ; however, the two Nesle 
 ladies promised to exert their influence with the King to 
 obtain for the father the leadership of the Council. 
 
 While political intrigues, including the warm advances 
 made to France by the young King of Prussia, were 
 occupying all Europe, less weighty affairs seemed to 
 form the principal subject of consideration at Versailles. 
 Of these the most important appeared to be the 
 King's revived interest in the womanly occupation, 
 learned from the Due de Gesvres, of making tapestry ; 
 the next to be considered was the Cardinal's determina- 
 tion to thwart the house of Orleans and prevent the 
 marriage of the young Due de Chartres, son of the Due 
 d'Orleans, with his cousin Madame Henriette, the eldest 
 unmarried daughter of the King. She was now about 
 fifteen, and loved her cousin, who also loved her, and she 
 had been promised to him by Louis. 
 
 Early in the year 1741 the Court of Versailles, 
 following the King's example, went wild with the craze 
 of tapestry making. To such an extent was this in- 
 dulged in that it led to a quarrel, as between two children, 
 between Louis and Madame de Mailly. The King and 
 that lady were both occupied in this delightful occu- 
 pation when the favourite became so engrossed in her 
 employment that she failed to reply upon being ad-
 
 The House of Orleans 157 
 
 dressed several times. So angry did Louis then become 
 that he sprang up in a rage and with a pocket-knife 
 cut Madame de Mailly's embroidery into four pieces. 
 A terrible quarrel ensued ; the rest of those present had 
 to interfere to separate the disputants. The old Latin 
 proverb, " Amantium irae amoris integratio est," however, 
 once more held good. The lovers became reconciled ; 
 with the result that that night the King proceeded to 
 Paris, to be entertained to supper by Madame de Mailly. 
 In addition to the usual silver flambeaux, she upon 
 this occasion also borrowed a cook and gave a delight- 
 ful entertainment to a small party of live or six convives. 
 All through the autumn and winter of 1740-41 
 there was the greatest distress throughout the country, 
 the people wanting bread. While the Due d'Orleans, 
 devout and occupied with the affairs of eternity to an 
 extent that he usually neglected those of this world, 
 sympathised with the sufferers, Fleury could not be 
 brought to pay attention to his suggestions for the 
 relief of the people. Entirely taken up with his foolish 
 hatreds and petty dislikes, he refused to see the distress. 
 Everything appeared to the Cardinal under one of three 
 heads — Freemasonry, Jansenism, or Chauvelinism. It 
 was for attending a Freemasons' dinner that he caused 
 the King to exile the husband of Madame de Mailly, 
 but he failed to excite His Majesty to renewed oppression 
 of the Jansenists. When, as he frequently did, he re- 
 verted to bitter abuse of Chauvehn and his admirers, 
 who were termed Chauvelinists, Louis, tired of the 
 subject, became mute and answered nothing. The 
 King, however, hated the society of Freemasons, to 
 be accused of belonging to which was to incur his dis- 
 pleasure. As for Fleury, he saw Freemasons everywhere,
 
 158 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 and when the Prince de Tingry, son of the Marechal 
 Due de Montmorency, was accused by Marville, the 
 PoHce-Lieutenant, of belonging to that body, he sent 
 for him from the Opera to come to him at once at Issy. 
 Although the Prince knew absolutely nothing about the 
 association, and proved it, the old man gave the serious 
 de Tingry a violent scolding for a crime of which he 
 understood nothing whatever. Fleury was, in fact, in 
 his dotage completely. When, in October, 1740, the 
 Due d'Orleans returned furious from Fontainebleau 
 because, the price of bread increasing, neither the King 
 nor the Cardinal seemed in the least to care about the 
 awful suffering throughout the kingdom, Fleury re- 
 plied that " he did not understand anything about it " 
 — a nice reply for the actual ruler of the State ! 
 
 The Due d'Orleans found himself treated with scant 
 courtesy in other matters. Complaining of being un- 
 suitably lodged at Fontainebleau, Fleury paid no attention 
 to the complaint ; while the hand of Madame Henriette, 
 which had been promised long since to the Due for his 
 son, was suddenly refused to him merely on account of 
 the ill-humour of the Cardinal against himself and his 
 house. Fleury simply forced the King to refuse to keep 
 his promise. The only pretext for a refusal was frivolous 
 in the highest degree. Fleury said that if the Empress, 
 wife of Charles VI., died, Madame Henriette, a child 
 of fifteen, would be given to the Emperor as a second 
 wife. The Emperor himself it was who died that same 
 year. 
 
 In May, 1741, the young Due de Chartres went in 
 person to have it out with the Cardinal before witnesses. 
 
 " I have to thank you, monsieur," he said, " for the 
 great pains you have taken in the matter of my marriage ! "
 
 The House of Orleans 159 
 
 The Cardinal reddened as he repHed, " Yes, Mon- 
 seigneur, I have thoiiglit that, under the circumstances 
 of present conditions, it would be difficult to ally our- 
 selves so openly with Bavaria ; but there are other 
 Princesses in Germany — three Princesses, for instance, 
 of Salzbach, of whom the second is very good-looking 
 and livelv." 
 
 To this Chartres replied, with great hauteur, " Mon- 
 sieur, there is another establishment here which is all 
 that I require." 
 
 Again the Cardinal reddened with embarrassment, 
 and remained five or six seconds before he could find 
 strength to stammer out confusedly, " Monseigneur, of 
 what do you wish to speak ? " 
 
 " Monsieur, it is not a question of answering me, but 
 «f understanding me," said the Prince angrily. 
 
 The Cardinal murmured, " But, but, I have spoken 
 to the Due d'Orleans on the subject, and the King has 
 it before him." 
 
 " Sir, I leave for the army in Flanders on Thursday," 
 answered Chartres, and went out without leave-taking. 
 
 In the end the amiable Henriette, who was heart- 
 broken at her disappointment about him, died unmarried 
 at an early age. 
 
 Meanwhile in the Palais-Royal, the old home of the 
 Regent, an unhappy state of affairs prevailed. The 
 Regent's widow, the legitimatised daughter of Louis XIV. 
 whom Philippe d'Orleans used to call Madame Satan, 
 was terribly at cross-purposes with her son. " Never," 
 says d'Argenson, " have I seen a little provincial town 
 so quarrelsome as is the Palais-Royal to-day. It is the 
 house of back-bitings, of calumnies, of repeatings, of 
 feuds, and of detestable passions. Her Royal Highness
 
 i6o The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 the Dowager Duchesse d'Orleans is like a dethroned 
 Queen. After several years of her widowhood she has 
 lost all authority over her son. She moans — she rages. 
 The son is jealous to preserve his independence, the 
 mother on the look-out to recapture her domination. 
 She has wit, above all, woman's instincts. One must 
 distrust them. I can answer for it that she joins bad 
 faith to her pretended devotion. She often lies to the 
 Holy Ghost, bears false witness against those whom she 
 knows to merit but good words, nurses bitter hatreds 
 and unjust suspicions. She is herself irreconcilable 
 in her aversions and in those passions which make the 
 heart black ; witness her horrible rancour against her 
 daughter Madame la Duchesse de Modene. In fact, 
 one sees more than ever the existence of two parties in 
 the members of the nobility inhabiting the Palais-Royal, 
 of both sexes. They are those of the mother and those 
 belonging to the son. One distinguishes them and 
 points them out with the finger, and the august Princesse 
 takes good care to maintain the division. The son only 
 preserves silence, makes himself acquainted with all that 
 takes place, and shows firmness in only appointing to 
 places people who are for himself. My brother was for 
 the mother — but, as for myself, I most decidedly belong 
 to the son." Since the honest Marquis d'Argenson suc- 
 ceeded his more than doubtful brother the Comte in the 
 position of Chancellor of the house of Orleans, he evi- 
 dently knew what he put on record to be true. Upon 
 reading his words, therefore, the student of history is 
 inclined to believe that Philippe, Due d'Orleans, the 
 Regent, was not so far wrong when he christened the 
 wife forced upon him by Louis XIV. by the euphonious 
 title of Madame Satan.
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 The Great Frederick 
 1740 — 1742 
 
 Frederick, artist, musician, poet, and literary genius, 
 who had long been held a prisoner by his father, and 
 narrowly escaped being beheaded by him, spoke the 
 French language better than German, and started in 
 life a Frenchman at heart. 
 
 In his long confinement at Gastrin and at the castle 
 of Rheinsberg, where he amused himself with literary 
 occupations and in studying the arts of peace, none had 
 imagined the military and patriotic ambitions that the 
 young man was nursing in his heart. The early life of 
 Frederick II., third King in Prussia, not of Prussia, 
 and great-grandson of Frederick WiUiam, the " Great " 
 Elector of Brandenburg, indeed in no manner fore- 
 shadowed his future greatness. 
 
 His father, Frederick William I., was noted for two 
 crazes — one of these was avarice, the other the formation 
 of a corps of giant soldiers. Every month of his reign 
 he put away a large sum of money, and at the same 
 time had the world ransacked for giants for his army. 
 For an Irish giant seven feet high he paid a bounty of 
 £1,300 to induce him to enlist. Not content with the 
 giants already to be found, he bred them, like horses 
 
 VOL. I. 161 II
 
 1 62 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 or cattle. Whenever he found a tall young woman he 
 had her married forcibly to one of his tallest soldiers. 
 
 An amusing story is told concerning one of these 
 forced marriages. Frederick William, one day out 
 riding in a forest, came upon a beautiful girl about six 
 feet in height. She did not know the King by sight, 
 and when, after having got into conversation with her, 
 the stranger offered her a thaler or two to carry a note 
 for him, she readily acceded to his request. The note 
 was to the officer commanding the guard at a fortress 
 not far distant, and ran as follows : " Instantly have 
 the bearer of this letter married to Corporal Fritz of 
 the Grenadiers." 
 
 The King rode away in one direction while the maiden 
 started on her journey in another. Presently she 
 realised that to accomplish her mission she would be 
 compelled to miss an appointment that afternoon with 
 her lover. The stately maid accordingly bethought her 
 of a withered old crone who lived alone in a hut upon 
 the borders of the forest. To her she repaired, and, 
 giving half of the King's bounty to the beldame, entrusted 
 her with the missive, and then tripped away gaily in 
 search of her swain. 
 
 When Frederick William rode into the gates of the 
 fortress in the evening he found the corporal married 
 sure enough — but to the old hag ! 
 
 History does not relate whether or no he had the 
 handsome young giantess searched for and married after 
 all to the same or another grenadier ; but, judging from 
 his passion for breeding giants, it seems more than 
 probable that she did not escape some such fate. 
 
 The Kingdom of Prussia merely dated from the year 
 1701, and during his reign of twenty-seven years, from
 
 The Great Frederick 163 
 
 1713, Frederick William increased the dominions of 
 what had been the Electorate of Brandenburg by the 
 conquest from Charles XII. of Pomerania, with Stettin 
 and the islands at the mouth of the Oder. He was 
 married to Sophia Dorothea of Hanover, daughter of 
 George I. of England, and among her ten children the 
 eldest son, Prince Frederick, and a daughter, Wilhelmina, 
 incurred the ferocious hatred of their father. The King 
 strove hard to induce the Prince to renounce the succes- 
 sion, which young Frederick announced his willingness 
 to do — provided that the King would declare that he 
 was not his father ! 
 
 From childhood to the age of twenty Frederick 
 William vented his rage upon the youth in the most 
 savage manner, while the Prince, chiefly brought up by 
 French refugees, conceived a strong passion for French 
 literature. He was not, however, allowed to learn 
 Latin, Greek, English, or any other language. After 
 narrowly escaping death at his father's hands, Frederick 
 attempted to escape to his uncle George II., in England. 
 He was, however, captured, and sentenced to death as — 
 a deserter. Frederick William, after executing before 
 his son's eyes a young officer who had assisted his flight, 
 kept the Prince a prisoner at Gastrin before carrying 
 out upon him the sentence of death also. 
 
 In the meantime, however, the Emperor, the Kings 
 of Sweden and Poland, and the rulers of the United 
 States of Holland, contrived by their interposition to 
 save the Prince. After a long imprisonment he was 
 released from Gastrin, appointed a Gouncillor of War, 
 and banished from the Court to Rheinsbcrg, when 
 his father forced liim to marry Elizabeth Christina, 
 daughter of the Duke of Brunswick Bevern, in 1733.
 
 164 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 With this Princess Frederick refused to cohabit, 
 and various stories are told of his youthful excesses, 
 which may or may not be true. Judging by his sub- 
 sequent career, it seems pretty safe to say that the 
 calumnies of his enemies were at all events exaggerated, 
 for he could never have been a monster of vice. 
 
 At Rheinsberg Frederick followed his literary tastes 
 and collected around him French and German savants. 
 Being now left in peace he played upon the flute without 
 fear of the instrument being broken over his head, dined 
 without danger of having dishes flung at him, and was 
 able to sit undisturbed to write verses or prose without 
 expecting at every moment the apparition of a furious 
 father, to drag him round by the hair of his head while 
 kicking him with heavy riding-boots. While Frederick 
 was writing the Anti-Macchiavelli and many other of 
 his celebrated works, his crazy old father's heart was 
 becoming softened towards him. He died after sobbing 
 out upon his son's breast the words, " My God, my God, 
 I die content with such a noble son to succeed me." 
 
 Owing to his freethinking ideas and wild admiration 
 for French literature, Frederick at an early age held 
 an exaggerated opinion of the talents of Voltaire, of 
 whom, however, he formed his own estimate as a man, 
 and by whom, it must be confessed, he was very 
 sorely tried and subsequently treated with great in- 
 gratitude. However, he wrote in the following terms to 
 Voltaire at a time when he was inchned to idolise his 
 literary genius and wished him to come to him, " My 
 Royal titles shall run thus : By the grace of God, King 
 of Prussia, Elector of Brandenburg, possessor of 
 Voltaire, etc." Frederick at the same time wrote to 
 Algarotti of the poet, that he knew him to be a scoundrel,
 
 The Great Frederick 165 
 
 but that he could make use of him and learn his French. 
 French was, by-the-bye, the language which Frederick 
 usually employed for his writings, but he never learned 
 to write it with the pen of a Voltaire. 
 
 Upon his father's death Frederick inherited from him 
 about a million and a quarter pounds sterling in surplus 
 cash, and an army of seventy-two thousand soldiers, 
 which had, however, had but very little, if any, experience 
 in war. 
 
 Those of his judges who had before their eyes but 
 the knowledge of his epicurean abode at Rheinsberg 
 were astounded at the energy which was immediately 
 displayed by the already very stout young man of 
 twenty-eight, he having been born in 1712. Frederick 
 almost instantly astonished the world by appearing in 
 the light of a military despot — one who listened to no 
 counsel and confided in no friend, while all the time 
 bent upon enlarging his monarchy and determined to 
 make of the dominions of the King of Prussia something 
 more than a kingdom in name only. 
 
 Prussia, in common with the other nations of Europe, 
 had guaranteed to Charles VI. his Pragmatic Sanction, 
 and, upon her father's death, Frederick sent to the young 
 Archduchess Maria Theresa an offer of help in money 
 and his vote for her husband Duke Francis as Emperor. 
 He, however, made conditions, which were that the 
 Duchies of Glogau and Sagan, and the greater part of 
 Silesia, to which the house of Hohenzollern laid claim, 
 should be ceded to him. Hohenzollern in those days 
 formed two small independent principalities of the 
 Germanic confederation, railed Hohenzollern-Hechingen 
 and HohenzoUern-Sigmaringen, and Hechingen was the 
 original abode of the afterwards princely house of
 
 1 66 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 Hohenzollern, to which the reigning dynasty in Prussia 
 belongs. Its possessions were all finally ceded to Prussia 
 in 1850. The name of Prussia was, until the eighteenth 
 century, only applied to the former Duchy of Prussia 
 on the Baltic and Vistula, whose inhabitants, a Lithuanian 
 tribe called Porussi, or Borussi, whence the Latin name 
 Borussia, had been conquered by the Teutonic knights 
 in the thirteenth century. The rulers of Prussia were 
 formerly called Kings in Prussia, thus expressing that 
 their Germanic possessions were no kingdom ; but when 
 Frederick the Great firmly established his power, he 
 also assumed the title of King of Prussia. Since his 
 day the different provinces ruled over by the Hohen- 
 zollern dynasty have come to be considered a consolidated 
 kingdom. Of these provinces Brandenburg was the 
 original possession in Germany of the Prussian dynasty. 
 The Teutonic knights, who finally conquered the 
 Borussi in 1283, were constantly fighting against 
 Poland and Lithuania until Casimir IV. of Poland 
 compelled them to cede Western Prussia and Erme- 
 land to Poland, the knights being left the remainder 
 of Borussia merely as a fief under Poland. In 1525 
 the Margrave Albert of Brandenburg, Grand Master 
 of the Order, after various wars, accepted all of 
 Prussia as a duchy from Poland. A collateral de- 
 scendant, John Sigismund, Elector of Brandenburg, 
 inherited it in the year 1618. This Elector was descended 
 from Frederick of Hohenzollern, Burgrave of Nuremberg, 
 who had become possessor of Brandenburg in 1415 by 
 foreclosure of a mortgage. It is therefore the Electorate 
 of Brandenburg, not Prussia proper, which must be 
 considered the nucleus of the present monarchy of that 
 name, the two countries having been definitely united
 
 From a mezzoliitl after George I'aiu/ir Ah 
 
 FREDKRICK THK (;REA1', 
 King of Prussia.
 
 The Great Frederick 167 
 
 by John Sigismimd, who was a Protestant. The third 
 Elector Frederick, the son of the " Great " Elector, 
 Frederick William, by consent of the German Emperor, 
 assumed the title of King in Prussia in 1702. He was the 
 grandfather of King Frederick II. — called the " Great.'* 
 
 To return to that Monarch's overtures to the young 
 Maria Theresa. They were rejected and his claims to 
 Silesia laughed at. To the surprise of the world, this 
 young King wasted no time in endeavouring to enforce 
 them at the point of the bayonets of his untried army, 
 of which he took the command in person. On 
 December 13th, 1740, the year of his accession, he entered 
 Lower Silesia, routed the handful of Austrians who were 
 quartered on the frontier, and overran the province. 
 In six weeks he returned to Berlin in triumph. It was 
 the dead of winter, and Maria Theresa, almost incredulous 
 of what had happened, was immediately honoured by 
 the young King with proposals of peace and alliance. 
 Privately, Frederick acknowledged that " ambition, 
 interest, the desire to make people talk about me, carried 
 the day, and I decided to make war." 
 
 As a matter of fact, Frederick had good cause to 
 hate Austria and the Imperial Family. Among the 
 most remarkable men of the seventeenth and eighteenth 
 centuries was Count Friedrich Heinrich Seckendorf, 
 born in 1673, who lived for a hundred years and five 
 months. This German General and diplomatist served 
 during his career England, Holland, the Emperor, Saxony, 
 and Poland, and Austria again from 1715 to 1737 ; after 
 which that country imprisoned liim for three years at 
 Gratz, on account of his want of success against the 
 Turks. After his release, Seckendorf entered the service 
 of Charles VII. of Bavaria for some years from 1740,
 
 1 68 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 now fighting vigorously against Maria Theresa and the 
 Austrians. Subsequently, regaining his former position 
 in Austria, this Count of the Empire fell, in 1758, into 
 the hands of Frederick the Great, who imprisoned him 
 for six months in Magdeburg. 
 
 It was through the action of this Seckendorf towards 
 Frederick in his early years that Austria made for herself 
 the great enemy who well-nigh destroyed her. He had 
 served, for upwards of twenty years, as Ambassador at 
 Berlin, and been expressly charged by Austria to stifle the 
 infancy of Frederick and prevent him from reigning, 
 because Vienna feared in him a Prince of absolutely 
 French sympathies. Thus Seckendorf it was who stirred 
 up Frederick's father against him to an extent that 
 the brutal German was ready to cut off the head of his 
 son, whom he looked upon as being merely a httle French 
 marquis. 
 
 The little French marquis, however, was not stifled, 
 but, alone in his imprisonment, although fat and feverish, 
 he was laying up for himself a force of wonderful energy, 
 a resistless will. When the time came, this writer of pretty 
 French verses, the friend of Voltaire and player on the 
 flute, burst forth from his bonds a man of iron. In his 
 first great battle, that of Mollwitz in the spring of 1741, 
 he, however, showed the white feather, and lost command 
 of himself so completely as to fly with his broken cavalry 
 miles from the scene of action. The battle, how- 
 ever, was gained by the courage of those under him, 
 and never again was Frederick aught but calm and 
 lucid under the most tremendous fire when fighting 
 against overwhelming odds. 
 
 The fighting in Silesia during the previous winter 
 had by no means been severe, as the Protestant inhabit-
 
 The Great Frederick 169 
 
 ants were favourable to the invasion and opened the 
 gates of the principal places. The personal courage 
 of Frederick had, however, been previously well estab- 
 lished when in the Polish war, a volunteer under Prince 
 Eugene against the French, he sacrificed the pleasures 
 of Rheinsberg for a few weeks. But, as we have already 
 mentioned, Eugene displayed none of his old fire and 
 activity during these operations ; the Prussian Prince 
 saw, therefore, nothing of that fury and carnage of war 
 which came to him as a surprise at MoUwitz, 
 
 This battle decided the fate of Silesia. It was, 
 however, the signal for a general war in Europe, known 
 as the War of the Austrian Succession. Bavaria, backed 
 up by France, now took up arms. A French, Saxon, 
 and Bavarian army invaded Bohemia, while Frederick 
 marched into Moravia. Thus the fortunes of the 
 ambitious young Maria Theresa seemed at a low ebb, 
 especially as England, although indulging in a desultory 
 and unrecognised naval warfare with France, declined 
 to assist her, maintaining neutrality on land. 
 
 How she was saved by Fleury we shall presently 
 see ; but in the meantime Frederick, disgusted with his 
 French allies, after gaining a magnificent victory at 
 Chotusitz, in the Bohemian province of Czaslau, in May, 
 1742, concluded a separate peace. 
 
 Accepting English mediation, Maria Theresa made 
 peace with Prussia by a treaty concluded at Breslau 
 on June nth, 1742, and ceded to Frederick both Silesia 
 and the county of (ilatz, in the district of Breslau. This 
 fertile county, separated by mountains from Bohemia 
 and Austrian Silesia, had frequently been the cause of 
 dispute between Poland and Bohemia, and it continued 
 to change masters at times until Frederick definitely
 
 lyo The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 retained its possession by the Peace of Hubertsburg in 
 1763. In the meantime he was enabled to retire from 
 the contest in 1742, well contented with his present 
 gains, if disgusted with the folly by which Fleury's 
 effete rule left Austria strong and powerful instead of 
 crushed and crawling in the dirt. 
 
 When Prussia withdrew victorious from the conflict, 
 the Austrian arms triumphed everywhere against France 
 and Bavaria, while England, thinking the moment now 
 opportune, cut in upon the side of Austria.
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 A Royal Conspiracy and a Dotard^s Follies 
 
 1741— 1742 
 
 While anxious to carry out the views of his great-grand- 
 father Louis XIV., and aggrandise Cathohc Bavaria, 
 the King of France had no such wishes in favour of 
 Protestant Prussia. Fleury openly moaned at the idea, 
 the King did so secretly. He was, however, between 
 two stools, Fleury and Madame de Vintimille, in 1740, 
 and when in 1741 his mistress was expected to become 
 a mother, she instantly took the upper hand. 
 
 Fleury trembled, succumbed like a pricked bladder, 
 and at once commenced to make up to Frederick by 
 writing to liim that, " since Austria had not fulfilled 
 her treaties, France would no longer guarantee her." 
 At the same time this old man played at Versailles the 
 comedy of pretending that he had no ideas, no intentions, 
 did not know which way to go — enacting, in fact, the part 
 of a simpleton. The Marquis d'Argenson says in his 
 Memoirs, " He has made himself shorter in appearance, 
 and goes about trying to excite pity," while the people 
 at large exclaimed in their exasperation, " Will one never 
 be able to kill off that old priest ? " 
 
 Meanwhile he continued his old game of 1733, his 
 old policy of delay and shilly-shally, instead of marching 
 
 171
 
 172 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 at once upon Vienna, as he should have done in March, 
 1741, Nor would he listen to the urgent appeal of 
 Frederick, which was to give the supreme command to 
 the Comte de Belle-Isle, whose genius Frederick had 
 recognised when meeting him recently with his splendid 
 embassy to the German Diet for the Imperial election. 
 
 The ideas of both of these great commanders, the 
 one then almost as untried as the other, had agreed in 
 every particular. Belle-Isle pointed out to Frederick 
 that the moment had come to dismember Austria, while 
 Frederick showed to Belle-Isle the most efficacious 
 manner in which France could co-operate in that dis- 
 memberment. 
 
 While Fleury did nothing, Frederick gained MoUwitz. 
 The Cardinal still waited ! 
 
 Fleury was, however, very near his fall in 1741. Being 
 secretly anxious to obtain for his nephew the Due de 
 Fleury the post of First Gentleman of the Bedchamber, 
 vacant by the death of the Due de la Tremouille, the 
 whole Court was against him. The two mistresses were 
 in favour of the Due de Luxembourg, and there were 
 other applicants for the post of far higher birth than 
 his nephew, but recently created a peer of France. 
 Adopting his old tactics, Fleury sulkily retired to Issy, 
 and while pretending to the King that he did not want 
 the post, at the same time sent in his resignation as 
 Minister, upon the grounds of ill-health. To this resig- 
 nation Madame de Vintimille persuaded Louis to write 
 an acceptance, saying that he regretted that the Cardinal 
 did not feel strong enough to continue his labours, but, 
 under the circumstances, he excused him from them. 
 
 That night the King passed with Madame de Mailly, 
 who, we are told by the Abbe Soulavie, slept with her
 
 A Royal Conspiracy and a Dotard^s Follies 173 
 
 hair arranged and wearing all her diamonds. The fatal 
 letter, which was to decide the fate of the Cardinal — and 
 France — lay upon the chimney piece. 
 
 In the meantime the Cardinal had sent a sure person 
 to Madame de Vintimille, warning her of the danger 
 to which she would expose herself if she pushed him 
 too far. She sent, in turn, word to her sister Mailly, 
 requesting her not to allow the letter to go, but, on the 
 other hand, to speak for the Due de Fleury and to drop 
 the Due de Luxembourg. For she understood Louis' 
 heart, and knew that he could not really make up his 
 mind to do without Fleury for long — that, if disgraced, 
 the Cardinal would probably be recalled. 
 
 In the middle of tlie night the King aroused Madame 
 de Mailly. He was in a very melancholy state of mind, 
 and said, " I thought that the Cardinal was really 
 attached to me, but he is more so to his own credit.'* 
 He seemed anxious to negotiate with his favourite for 
 the suppression of the letter, and pointed out to her 
 all the good services which the Cardinal had rendered 
 to the State. Madame de Mailly, warned by her sister, 
 replied to the King that he was the master — he could 
 destroy the letter if he liked. 
 
 In a second the King sprang up cheerfully, threw 
 the letter into the fire, and recovered all his good-humour. 
 The next morning he personally appointed the Due de 
 Fleury to the coveted post, with a revenue of four hundred 
 thousand livres. Thereupon the old hypocrite Fleury 
 declared openly that the greatest injury had been done 
 to I lis house, since he had never desired anything for his 
 nephew. He even had the effrontery to rush in to the 
 Queen with this ridiculous story, when Marie Lesczynska 
 crushed liim witii the biting sarcasm of her reply.
 
 174 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 A strange contrast was to be seen in the month 
 of May, 1 741, when these events took place. While 
 the eighty-eight-year-old Cardinal, representing extreme 
 weakness, was apparently once more fixed in perpetuity 
 upon the seat of government at Versailles — fixed there 
 as the man of Austria, the man of peace — throughout 
 all Europe Louis XV. was being proclaimed as the King 
 of war. Bavaria, Saxony, the countries on the Rhine, 
 Poland, Spain, Sardinia, all were crying out to France, 
 begging her to make treaties of alliance with them. 
 All declared their firm intention to follow her to the 
 tented field of glory should she but show the way. 
 
 Belle-Isle returned from his embassy bringing in 
 person this expression of the wishes of Europe. He came 
 with all the strength due to the personal favourite of 
 three Monarchs — the new Emperor, Charles VII. (of 
 Bavaria), Frederick Augustus III., King of Poland and 
 Elector of Saxony, and Frederick, King of Prussia. 
 But all that he could extort from Fleury, even so 
 late as the month of July, 1741, was the vague 
 promise of twenty- five thousand men. Austria had 
 indeed gained a respite ! 
 
 That which distressed Belle-Isle more than all else 
 was the decided change which he found in the Court 
 that had sent him away to procure the election of 
 Charles VII. Then there had been, at all events, some 
 ideas favourable to the King of Prussia ; upon his return 
 there was nothing but dislike seen at Versailles for the 
 Protestant King. The Court, the Royal Family, so 
 essentially Catholic, now seemed to have become more 
 Austrian even than Spanish — all that they wanted was 
 the establishment in Italy of a kingdom for the Infante, 
 Don Philip, husband of the King's daughter. If only
 
 A Royal Conspiracy and a Dotard's Follies 175 
 
 this could be arranged — what, they said, was the need 
 for war with their dear friend, Maria Theresa ? And 
 Prussia was temporised with more than ever. As week 
 by week there came from the httle Infanta in Spain 
 a long letter to her father, the King, which had been 
 carefully dictated by the Queen, Elizabeth Farnese, 
 Frederick commenced to grow irritable, the new Em- 
 peror was also out of temper, and meanwhile the year 
 dragged out its length. August came — and September. 
 It almost seemed as though it were Frederick who was 
 the enemy. 
 
 At length, on September 13th, 1741, Maria Theresa, 
 with one child in her arms and about to become the 
 mother of another, was enabled to play her great stroke, 
 her pathetic comedy, which assured to her the assistance of 
 those very Hungarians who for so long past had suffered 
 by fire and sword at the hands of Austria on account 
 of their religion. Holding up her child, she begged 
 the Hungarian nobles for their assistance. Chivalrously 
 drawing their swords, they forgot old injuries and, 
 headed by Count Batthyany, cried, " Let us die for 
 Maria Theresa — our King ! " Thus they forged their 
 own fetters — which still exist. 
 
 This event occurred only four days after the death 
 of Madame de Vintimille, the only counsellor of any 
 weight whom Louis XV. had possessed to help to make 
 a man of him in spite of Fleury, 
 
 The murderers of this poor woman had foreseen only 
 too surely that the King would insist upon no inquiry 
 of any serious nature as to the cause of her death. The 
 doctors were too prudent to say what they discovered, 
 and it would seem that Louis himself would rather not 
 push the inquiry too far. He knew full well tlial there
 
 176 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 was a party of the clergy who had seriously approached 
 the devout young Dauphin and asked this thirteen-year- 
 old boy to become their protector. Realising that these 
 persons would be only too willing to welcome this boy 
 to the throne in his own place, he was afraid to push 
 them too far, for fear that he might himself follow Madame 
 de Vintimille sooner than he expected. So the King 
 held his tongue, and contented himself with weeping for 
 his loss alternately with Madame de Toulouse in the 
 entresol and Madame de Mailly in the apartments 
 overhead. 
 
 The Dauphin, even at this early age, was heavy in 
 temperament and heavy in body ; as he grew older he 
 became enormously fat, and, as he was disinclined to 
 movement, continued so. He did not share the predilec- 
 tion for field-sports and the chase which was common 
 to all the other members of the Bourbon race. This may 
 perhaps have been because he was unfortunate on the 
 occasion of his earlier shooting parties. Upon the first 
 of these he shot and killed a man, while upon that which 
 succeeded he wounded a lady severely ! 
 
 While following a very sedentary life, the youth shared 
 with his sisters views about Austria which agreed with 
 those of Fleury. This old Cardinal, when interrogated 
 by the Dauphin as to the justice or injustice of the war, 
 allowed himself to be forced, as it were, to confess to 
 the Prince that it was " an unjust war." All who heard 
 this fall from the lips of the Minister were horrified ; 
 but the Dauphin was thenceforward the hope of those 
 who styled themselves " les honnetes gens.^^ 
 
 As the war was being continued by Frederick alone, 
 and when that Prince was pushing hard the troops of 
 Maria Theresa, Fleury nevertheless did not scruple to
 
 A Royal Conspiracy and a Dotard^s Follies 177 
 
 give vent to very similar sentiments before the Council 
 of State. He exclaimed of the Queen of Hungary, 
 " She is like Jesus upon the mountain tried by the 
 devil. But the angels will bear her up." 
 
 Meanwhile the Dauphin was made the nucleus, the 
 kernel, around which, little by little, all the retrograde 
 elements in the Court collected. The Spanish-Austrian 
 intrigue, the Royal Family, the clergy, the Queen to 
 whom Spain was so dear, the two-faced intriguers such 
 as Stainville (later Due de Choiseul) from Lorraine, the 
 Polish Jesuits — all these formed but one party with the 
 Dauphin, and it was a party formed with the intention 
 of working upon the feelings of the King. 
 
 Louis was very much attached to his daughters, even 
 to the extent of being jealous of them. The elder, the 
 Infanta, was tall, handsome, and cunning ; she en- 
 deavoured by all means in her power to wind herself 
 around the King. The nature of Madame Henriette, a little 
 younger, and weakly in person, was singularly sweet. 
 Her spirit remained completely broken when her match 
 with the Due de Chartres was broken off, but she never 
 complained. It was, however, by working upon tlie 
 King's jealousy of the Orleans family that Fleury 
 contrived without difficulty to cause the engagement to 
 be broken. She remained timid and trembling, the 
 mere instrument of the Dauphin, until she died aged 
 twenty-ftve. Another daughter, Adelaide, only ten 
 years old, already possessed a different nature. Full of 
 Polish vivacity, she, even at that early age, caused astonish- 
 ment by the liveliness of her sallies and, indeed, uncouth 
 tricks of manner and speech. From an early age the King 
 favoured her ; alone of his daughters he kept her always 
 at home, never sent her to a convent for education. 
 
 VOL. I. 12
 
 1 78 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 All of these sung the same song, of which the refrain 
 was — first Spain, second Austria ! All alike hoped to 
 see an Infanta of Spain betrothed before long to the 
 infant eldest son of Maria Theresa, afterwards to 
 become the Emperor Joseph II. This child of Don 
 Philip and the French Princesse was now only six 
 months old; but that did not matter. The Bourbons in 
 Spain, ever anxious to despoil Austria, were also ever 
 anxious to conclude matrimonial alliances with her; and 
 the Bourbons in France always were of the same mind 
 as their cousins. The Imperial Family always seemed to 
 them something grander than themselves, worthy to be 
 courted even when most considered as a cause for jealousy. 
 Imperial the Austrian family was indeed to become once 
 more before long, although it was only owing to the 
 election of Duke Francis of Lorraine, her husband, to 
 the dignity of Emperor when Charles VII. died, that 
 Maria Theresa earned that title of Empress by which 
 she was so well known. Her son Joseph II. eventually 
 married, as his first wife, the daughter of the Infanta, 
 wife of Don Philip, while the wishes of the Bourbons 
 were likewise crowned with success in that marriage — 
 so unfortunate for France — of the Empress's daughter 
 Marie Antoinette to the son of the Dauphin who became 
 Louis XVI. 
 
 Having now explained the situation, it will be easily 
 realised that Fleury, in blocking the war, was but acting 
 in accordance with the views of the honnetes gens. 
 He was directly acceding to the vows of that Royal 
 Family which wept when France gained a victory, which 
 had formed what may be called a " family conspiracy " 
 against the very kingdom over which it ruled. 
 
 The older the Dauphin grew the more clearly could
 
 A Royal Conspiracy and a Dotard's Follies 179 
 
 the existence of this family conspiracy be seen and realised, 
 although it worked underground, and worked upon the 
 King only through those influences — bigoted religion 
 and love for Austria — in which Cardinal Fleury had 
 brought him up from infancy. 
 
 The only possible opposing influences to these were 
 to be found in his mistresses. Of these, Madame de 
 Mailly, being all heart and no politician, did not count. 
 Her sister Mademoiselle de Nesle, who possessed grand 
 and patriotic instincts, was poisoned before she could 
 accomplish anything. There are yet to come Madame 
 de la Tournelle, who became Duchesse de Chateauroux, 
 and who wished to make of Louis an absolute Monarch 
 in the highest degree, and Mademoiselle Poisson, Marquise 
 de Pompadour, who would, if she could, have instilled 
 some ideas of literature and philosophy into the King's 
 head. 
 
 But if ever for a time he seemed to tolerate any 
 change or listen to anything new, or in any way to take 
 the initiative in a manly way to break away from the 
 leadership of those who led him, it was merely from 
 hatred and jealousy of the Dauphin. And when he 
 broke away from, or acted from antagonism to, the 
 Dauphin, his daughters picked up the broken threads, 
 and bound him once more in the meshes of the family 
 conspiracy. 
 
 While on the death of Madame de Vintimille two 
 classes of interested persons were already trying to 
 assuage the King's grief by presenting him with either 
 Mademoiselle Poisson or the deceased favourite's sister 
 Madame de la Tournelle, the question of war or no war 
 was still being vigorously discussed at Versailles. It 
 must not be forgotten tliat in July, 1741, Belle-Isle had
 
 i8o The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 extorted from the Cardinal the promise of twenty-five 
 thousand men to help the allies. The war was at last 
 embarked on, but in a manner to meet the wishes of 
 Fleury, the Noailles, and the Royal Family, not at all 
 upon the sure road leading to success as pointed out by 
 the King of Prussia. It seemed, indeed, as if the object 
 of Versailles were to wound Frederick as much as 
 possible. His views were disregarded in two matters. 
 Instead of making Belle-Isle Commander-in-chief, the 
 Marechal Due de Broglio, formerly one of the Regent's 
 roues and an ill-mannered and incompetent General, 
 who had recently most grossly insulted Frederick, was 
 given the principal command : he was sent to super- 
 sede Belle-Isle on pretence of the ill-health of the latter. 
 The French army, however, did not march straight 
 into Vienna, which was left undefended by the flying 
 Maria Theresa, but was foolishly stopped short when only 
 six leagues from that city, and instructed to take Prague, 
 in Bohemia. Once again — instead of making use of 
 Hanover as a battle-ground — George II., King of England 
 and ruler of Hanover, the uncle and bitter enemy of 
 Frederick, was accorded the neutrality of his Hanoverian 
 dominions. And yet, already in April, 1741, six English 
 ships had attacked four French vessels near Martinique, 
 while in May the British took from Spain the city of 
 Cartagena in South America, burned six galleys, and 
 captured six Spanish ships-of-war. 
 
 It was not until November, 1741, that the troops 
 under the Comte Maurice de Saxe at length fell upon 
 Prague, which was taken by assault upon the i8th, owing 
 to the marked bravery of Colonel Chevert, his subordinate; 
 and in the meantime Belle-Isle obtained elsewhere that 
 command which he had been refused of French troops.
 
 A Royal Conspiracy and a Dotard's Follies i8i 
 
 The Saxon and Bavarian armies were also before Prague. 
 King Augustus III. of Poland, Elector of Saxony, 
 presented to Belle-Isle a sword with a diamond-en- 
 crusted hilt, and in that same month of November 
 appointed him Generalissimo of all his Saxon troops. 
 
 The Spaniards had already marched forty thousand 
 men into Spain, through Roussillon and Languedoc, 
 and the Infante Don Philip followed, to join them at 
 about the same time as the French arms appeared before 
 Prague. Upon arrival, the Spaniards found that Sar- 
 dinia was inimical to them, owing to the old quarrel 
 about Milan, which the Savoyard King would rather 
 have died than see pass into the hands of Spain. Ac- 
 cordingly that Piedmontese Prince joined hands with 
 Austria in 1742, although he commenced the war as 
 the friend of France. Before Prague the Comte de 
 Belle-Isle, feeling the disgrace of the appointment of 
 Brogho over his head, fell back upon the diplomatic 
 position which he still held of Envoy-Extraordinary to 
 the Princes of the Empire ; but he found himself un- 
 justly exposed to numerous insults from the various 
 Lieutenant-Generals who were jealous of him. Thus, 
 while following the threads of the negotiations with 
 the Germanic Princes, he found himself compelled to 
 waste endless time in writing letters in order to right 
 himself in view of the false accusations and calumnies 
 made against him. 
 
 Belle-Isle's diplomatic functions were no sinecure ; 
 everything seemed to be giving way under his feet. The 
 Prussian and the Saxon he found floating, his friend 
 Frederick especially being angered at hnding, upon the 
 top of French disregard of his advice, that Comte Maurice 
 de Saxe was being set up by France in a measure against
 
 1 82 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 him. This General in the French service was one of 
 the three or four hundred bastards of whom the late 
 Augustus II. of Poland and Saxony was supposed to 
 be the father. His mother was the Swedish Countess 
 of Kcenigsmark, and having aspired to the Russian 
 Duchy of Courland, Saxe had displayed the unheard-of 
 folly of declaring himself jealous of the King of Prussia. 
 Frederick, feeling himself alone, was already calmly 
 determining to fight for his own hand, and make 
 peace when he had conquered that which he fought 
 for, without considering his perfidious allies. Nor 
 did he disguise his views from Belle-Isle, whom he 
 trusted. 
 
 The situation was rendered worse by the fact that 
 the hereditary dominions of the Emperor in Bavaria 
 were already overrun and in the possession of Austria. 
 In March, 1742, Belle-Isle posted off to Versailles to re- 
 present the situation, where he found, upon arrival, that 
 the Cardinal had been abusing him worse than a pick- 
 pocket, and had held him in the greatest aversion ever 
 since he had discovered that the King had commenced 
 to recognise his merits. The Cardinal's petty jealousy 
 was aroused, and he was determined upon his disgrace. 
 Yet, by his ability, Belle-Isle had succeeded in placing 
 the Imperial crown upon the head of the nominee of 
 France, after conciliating all the opposing German 
 interests, and his only crime was that he was beloved 
 by three Kings, the allies of France, none of whom cared 
 to act except in conjunction with himself. 
 
 The evening of his arrival at Versailles, at the hour 
 of seven, the Cardinal refused to see Belle-Isle, sending 
 word that it was late — that they were both tired, and 
 that he required repose. The next day he was received
 
 A Royal Conspiracy and a Dotard^s Follies 183 
 
 by the Cardinal, but very coldly ; the interview only 
 lasted for a minute and half. 
 
 Proceeding to the King's levee, His Majesty, in turn, 
 would scarcely speak to the Ambassador who had done 
 so much ; his disgrace now seemed certain — the Bastille 
 loomed ahead. To the surprise of the courtiers, who 
 were turning their back upon the fallen man, and to the 
 disgust of the Cardinal, against whose wishes the King 
 acted, two days later this disgraced soldier and diplo- 
 matist was placed at the top of the ladder. Louis had 
 appointed the man whom he would not speak to as 
 Marechal de France, and in addition endowed him with 
 the rank and title of Due ct pair her edit aire de Vernon. 
 All the partisans of Fleury, Broglio, and the Tencins 
 had their noses put out of joint, while the disconcerted 
 Cardinal attempted to explain this sudden promotion 
 to the Due de Chartres by saying, " You see, we could 
 not do without him down there ; it was necessary to send 
 him back again." 
 
 But the fact was that there was one good heart at 
 Versailles which bled for the Frenchmen whose lives 
 were being wasted by the follies of Fleury, the incom- 
 petence of Broglio — one woman who knew that if Belle- 
 Isle fell, the army would surely be left to perish unaided 
 and unfed. Madame de Mailly it was who had forced 
 the King to listen to wliat Belle-Isle had to say, and 
 who, by so doing, crushed all his enemies and their 
 jealousies together. The Emperor also appointed Belle- 
 Isle a Prince of the Empire -but all these honours came 
 late in the day. 
 
 Frederick, finding the Saxons, like the French, were 
 not backing him up, and being very closely pressed, 
 gave battle to the forces of Maria Tiieresa. So certain
 
 1 84 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 was the Queen of Hungary of the victory, that she was 
 debating in advance whether she would pardon or be- 
 head Frederick, when the news came of the crushing 
 defeat which he had inflicted upon her arms at Chotusitz. 
 
 Maria Theresa then became humble and took a very 
 different tone ; while Frederick wrote to Brogho that 
 he was now quits with him and France, and would make 
 peace alone. At the same time, he gave Brogho some 
 sound advice, by ignoring which that incompetent leader 
 got himself soundly beaten and compelled to shut himself 
 up with his army within the walls of Prague. This 
 occurred in May, 1742. Belle-Isle hastily hurried to 
 Frederick, and endeavoured to prevent him from treating. 
 The newly created Due de Vernon even lost his temper 
 with the King of Prussia when he found him inexorable. 
 
 Thereupon Frederick greeted him with a surprise. 
 From his pockets he extracted several letters which 
 Fleury had written to Austria, in which he offered to 
 desert Prussia, to force the King of that country to 
 restore Silesia if the Emperor were only given Bohemia. 
 They were miserable and disgraceful letters, the out- 
 pourings of a dotard. In them Fleury related all his secret 
 sorrows ; the spirit of the priest, of the pohce-spy, of 
 the coward, of the child telling tales, made them the 
 more remarkable. Formerly, in 1737, he had written 
 similar letters, accusing Chauvelin. In these, produced 
 from Frederick's pockets, Belle-Isle found something 
 else equally cowardly. For he himself was denounced 
 by name as being the sole cause of the war with Austria. 
 
 Maria Theresa had caused these letters to be printed 
 and scattered broadcast throughout all Europe, in 
 order to shame France and make of her a laughing- 
 stock. Poor Belle-Isle was dumbfounded. A patriotic
 
 //.. 
 
 //; <m I n ^1 <t ^ in 
 
 ,/,■ , ,,■■ I .'. -. ■'"'■■ " -l/', . 
 
 KMI'RESS MARIK IHERKSE.
 
 A Royal Conspiracy and a Dotard^s Follies 185 
 
 Frenchman, he suffered for his country's shame far 
 more than for himself. Frederick kept his word — he 
 made peace with Austria at Breslau and arranged 
 friendly terms with England. Holland, Denmark, Poland, 
 Saxony, and Sardinia all followed suit. Louis XV., 
 King of France, at whose feet Europe had fallen in 
 1741, found himself in August, 1742, worse than alone, 
 for he was saddled with the useless allies Bavaria and 
 Spain. 
 
 Now indeed were hard days beginning for France. 
 Broglio, shut up for months past in Prague, was be- 
 ginning to be short of food, nor could further supplies 
 be obtained. The Saxons and Prussians had gone 
 away, the winter was coming on. The cut-throat bands 
 of barbaric cavalry were everywhere in the country 
 around, severing all communications with the outside 
 world. Well might Maria Theresa laugh and say, 
 " I hold the French in the hollow of my hand." 
 
 The shameless Fleury now descended to prayers that 
 Broglio's army might be allowed to come out. He was 
 mocked at. " Yes, as prisoners," replied Maria Theresa, 
 " after they have yielded up their arms." 
 
 The heroic Belle-Isle now nobly contrived to get into 
 Prague, generously to shut himself up with Broglio and 
 assist him. His energy was terrible. Now commenced a 
 series of furious sorties, every one of which was a pitched 
 battle. The Austrian batteries were charged, the guns 
 spiked, their troops cut to pieces, their General, Monti 
 by name, taken prisoner. The horses of the batteries 
 were carried into Prague to be eaten by the garrison. 
 
 By the end of August already a murmur, almost 
 amounting to a roar, could be heard in Paris, in Versailles. 
 It was a cry for the recall of Chauvelin to hold the helm
 
 1 86 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 of the worse than rudderless State. But, while Maurepas 
 and Noailles trembled and feared his return, Fleury 
 found a voice to speak against it. The interests of 
 religion, he said, required that Chauvelin should be 
 kept at a distance. But he agreed that the Council 
 required strengthening. He strengthened it by the 
 admission of the younger d'Argenson, the Comte, and 
 by Cardinal Tencin. The latter, whose intriguing powers 
 had hitherto made people believe that he had brains, 
 when once in the Royal Council proved to be worse 
 than useless. 
 
 Fleury was persuaded by a friend, however, to 
 attempt the relief of Prague by sending an army which 
 was inactive under the command of M. de Maillebois. 
 This Marechal, a brave and capable warrior who was 
 the hero of Bassignano in 1745, was descended from 
 Colbert, the bitter enemy of Fouquet, who was Belle- 
 Isle's ancestor. The families were still jealous of 
 one another, but Belle-Isle had gone ahead. Maillebois 
 had advanced as far as Egra when Stainville, the double- 
 faced Lorrainer and spy of Austria, told Fleury that, 
 peace being so near at hand, it would be a pity to spoil 
 the chances of concluding it by sending forward this 
 army. Thereupon Maillebois was recalled by Fleury, 
 and the French troops left to starve in Prague. There 
 a dreadful winter had set in, and what made it worse, 
 the inhabitants of the town, starving like the garrison, 
 were hostile to the French soldiers. Ammunition now 
 fell short, and wood for fuel became very scarce. The 
 troops made sorties, using the bayonet or the sabre alone, 
 and brought in a little bread, a little wood. They 
 generously shared all that they had with the inhabitants, 
 who were ready at any moment to cut their throats.
 
 A Royal Conspiracy and a Dotard's Follies 187 
 
 Meanwhile the King cared nothing for the recall of 
 Chauvehn, whose name alone would have frightened 
 Austria ; he cared nothing, moreover, for his army shut 
 up in Prague, to whose sufferings he was indifferent. His 
 mind was taken up with one idea alone. Having for- 
 gotten Madame de Vintimille, he had become mad with 
 passion for the young widow her sister, Madame de la 
 Toumelle, the reputed daughter of the Conde, M. le Due, 
 and Madame de Nesle. But she was a rusee young 
 lady, one, moreover, who already had in the Due d'Agenois, 
 afterwards Due d'Aiguillon, the nephew of the Due de 
 Richelieu, another lover. She was determined to sell 
 herself very dearly to the King, to drive a hard and 
 cruel bargain, one of the terms of which was that her 
 sister de Mailly should be driven out with ignominy 
 from the Court, exiled for ever from Versailles. The 
 King was wholly taken up with the conditions of his 
 bargain with the lady ; the army in Prague might rot 
 or freeze for all he cared — and it almost did both. 
 
 Maria Theresa meanwhile was fanning and nursing 
 her vengeance. By Fleury's supplications her pride 
 was immensely increased. She was looking forward 
 with glee to the immense humiliation of France when 
 Prague should fall, when Fleury suddenly thought 
 of writing a letter to Belle-Isle. Since he liad nothing 
 better to say, the Cardinal remarked that " the army 
 ought to come home." 
 
 This was enough for Belle-Isle, that dauntless soul 
 whose wounded chest had never recovered from the 
 terrible wound received many years previously. He 
 determined to come home — to bring the army through the 
 bitter frost and snow away from I'rague. And he did it ! 
 Leaving the gallant Colonel Chevert with the wounded
 
 1 88 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 and the invalids to guard the city, with fourteen thousand 
 men he came out one night. For the first time now was 
 seen a horse artillery, one which flew about from flank 
 to flank. Belle-Isle had invented it, and with it protected 
 himself from the hordes of savage cavalry — he had thirty 
 guns with him under the command of the brave la 
 Valliere. For day after day, night after night, over 
 the frozen plains, through the icy mountains, Belle- 
 Isle and his half-starved army fought their way. From 
 the night of December i6th to December 26th. 1742, 
 they struggled on without covering for the fearful 
 nights passed in the snow. But, in spite of dreadful 
 losses, upon this latter date they reached Egra in triumph. 
 Chevert also saved his men. Maria Theresa in the end 
 lost her vengeance. In the meantime, the King also 
 had his triumph. On December loth the bargain was 
 concluded. That night he appeared with his new mistress 
 at the opera.
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 The Installation of a Favourite 
 
 1742 
 
 The Duchesse de Mazarin, Mistress of the Robes to the 
 Queen, was the mother of the Marquise de Nesle and 
 grandmother of Madame de Mailly and her sisters. One 
 of her daughters was married to that spiteful and witty 
 maker of personal verses and epigrams, Comte Phelipeaux 
 de Maurepas, who was thus uncle by marriage to Madame 
 de Mailly and her sisters. The Duchesse de Mazarin, 
 who up to the age of fifty-four made herself ridiculous 
 with the Marquis du Mesnil, upon whom she wasted her 
 substance, was particularly hateful to the King, since 
 she it was who first informed the Queen of his connection 
 with her grand-daughter Madame de Mailly. Accord- 
 ingly, the three younger sisters of Mailly, to whom 
 their grandmother gave a home, had not been presented 
 to the King when Madame de Mazarin died in 1742. 
 Two of these young ladies, the Marquise de Flavacourt 
 and, the youngest of the Nesles, Madame de la Tournelle, 
 were with her when she died ; whereupon her heir, 
 Maurepas, -.\n<\ his wife, their aunt, were guilty of the 
 greatest inhumanity to the two young women, whom 
 they apparently detested. 
 
 No sooner was the Duchesse dead, notwithstanding 
 
 189
 
 190 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 that the Marquis de Flavacourt was away at the war, 
 and that Madame de la Tournelle — a widow — hke her 
 sister had no home, than Madame de Maurepas sent 
 them word to get out at once from the house, which had 
 now become hers. The inhuman aunt gave, moreover, 
 instructions to the effect that not so much as a glass 
 of water was to be given to Madame de Flavacourt and 
 Madame de la Tournelle if they demanded it. 
 
 Hortense Felicite, the former of these ladies, who 
 had a temperament not easily disturbed, took matters 
 calmly and philosophically. Not so Marie Anne, the 
 young widow. Breathing lire and flames against 
 Maurepas and his wife, she rushed off to all her relations 
 and friends to complain of them. The more sedate 
 Hortense meanwhile pursued other tactics. 
 
 Calling for a sedan-chair, Madame de Flavacourt had 
 herself transported the ten miles from Paris to Versailles. 
 There she ordered the bearers to withdraw the supporting 
 poles, to set the sedan-chair down in the centre of the 
 Court of the Ministers, and to go away and leave her. 
 There she remained, sitting in state in front of the chateau, 
 the abode of the King and Court, saying aloud, " I am 
 young, I am without father and without mother [her 
 father was in exile at Caen]; my husband is away, my 
 relations have cast me off. No doubt that heaven will 
 succour me." 
 
 She waited for the influences of heaven, while courtiers 
 came and went, wondering to see a lady seated alone in 
 a sedan-chair in such an extraordinary position. At 
 length the Due de Gesvres, passing, saw a beautiful young 
 lady whose face he thought he knew ; indeed, it would 
 have been hard not to recognise it — she was a lovely 
 brunette with beautiful eyes. Opening the door of the
 
 The Installation of a Favourite 191 
 
 chair, he exclaimed in his astonishment, " Madame de 
 Flavacourt ! What in the name of heaven brings 
 you here Hke this ? Do 3'ou not know that your 
 grandmother is just dead ? " 
 
 " How do I find myself here ? " replied the facetious 
 lady. " Well, learn that M. de Maurepas and his wife 
 have bundled my sister la Tournelle and myself out of 
 the house like a couple of adventuresses. I suppose 
 they fear that we may cost them something to keep. I 
 have not the slightest idea what has become of my sister, 
 but, you see, here am I, in the hands of God ; and here 
 I shall remain until something happens." 
 
 The Due de Gesvres, in his surprise, rushed in to the 
 King, whom he brought to the window to witness the 
 extraordinary spectacle in the centre of the courtyard, 
 saying, " Your Majesty, look at that chair. For the 
 last two hours it has contained Madame de Flava- 
 court." 
 
 " Wlio on eartli placed her there ? " inquired the 
 King. 
 
 " It is the action of her own ingenious brain," replied 
 Gesvres. " Madame de Maurepas has turned her out, 
 and the lady now has placed herself under the protection 
 of God." 
 
 " Go and fetch her in fjuick," said Louis. " Give her 
 a lodging in the chateau, and send also for her sister. In 
 a moment Gesvres brought in Hortense Felicite to present 
 her to the King, who laughed with her gaily and gave 
 her a set of apartments which had at one time been 
 occupi«!d by her sister Mailly, while promising her the 
 post of First Lady of the Palace. Madame de la Tournelle, 
 upon her arrival, was given a set of rooms which had 
 formerly belonged to Vaur<^al the Bishop of Rennes.
 
 192 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 Thus, by her sister's ingenuity did Marie Anne first 
 obtain admission to Versailles. There was yet a third 
 sister who had not yet penetrated to the sacred precincts 
 of Royalty. This was Diane Adelaide de Nesle, who for 
 some reason was always called Mademoiselle de Mont- 
 carvel. She was still unmarried, but Madame de la 
 Tournelle, in combination with the Due de Richelieu, 
 who became the King's go-between in arranging the 
 bargain with Marie Anne, proposed shortly to make of 
 her a duchesse, by marrying her to a widower, the Due de 
 Lauraguais. In the meantime, the young widow made 
 disgraceful use of Mademoiselle de Montcarvel, by sending 
 her to the King at Choisy when he became impatient 
 because he was unable to conclude the treaty with 
 herself. In this manner she kept up his interest in the 
 family which supplied four mistresses to the Monarch, 
 and would have supplied five had not the virtue of 
 Madame de Flavacourt remained unshaken. Doubtless 
 this virtue was greatly aided by the action of the 
 Marquis her husband. That gallant soldier vowed to 
 Hortense Felicite, his wife, that he would assassinate 
 her if she should allow herself, like her sisters, to be 
 cajoled by the King. 
 
 Madame de Flavacourt, once she found herself com- 
 fortably installed at Versailles, brought to her aid the same 
 equanimity of temperament by which she had introduced 
 herself there. When M. de Maurepas, seeing her star 
 now in the ascendant, came and made his humble ex- 
 cuses for his conduct, she willingly accepted them. By 
 this discretion she was, from the first, enabled to live 
 at the Court in peace and quiet with all men. Not so 
 la Tournelle : from the first moment this haughty 
 young lady declared war against Maurepas and his wife,
 
 The Installation of a Favourite i93 
 
 openly saying that she would lose no opportunity of 
 humbling them or doing them an injury. 
 
 This she at times succeeded in doing ; but Maurepas 
 was an enemy she had better have left alone. Throughout 
 her career many of the obscene songs which were cir- 
 culated against her probably emanated from his scurrilous 
 pen, while, although she notably humbled Maurepas 
 during her short last illness, she herself attributed her 
 approaching death to poison administered by his in- 
 structions. 
 
 While the King's ardent desire for Madame de la 
 Tournelle was heightened by the fact that she was the 
 known mistress of the Due d'Agenois, whom she adored, 
 the Monarch made use of the infamous Due de Richelieu 
 to separate her lover, who was his nephew, from Marie 
 Anne. This that past-master in the art of intrigue 
 accomplished by an ignoble ruse, worthy of himself. 
 
 By promising that he would present her at the Court, 
 he induced a very handsome lady of Languedoc, who had 
 been his own mistress, to simulate a hopeless passion for 
 the Due d'Agenois, while that young man was away 
 from Madame de la Tournelle. D'Agenois at first refused 
 to be moved, but the lady wrote him such frantic letters 
 of love and devotion that at last he foolishly allowed 
 himself to be flattered, and replied, saying that " he 
 hoped to be able to wipe away the tears from her pretty 
 face and relieve her anguish " — or in some such style. 
 This letter, handed on to Richelieu, was given to the 
 King. Louis, in turn, showed it to la Tournelle, saying 
 that surely now there existed no cause for her continued 
 cruelty towards himself. 
 
 The lady now determined to yield, and insisted upon 
 the following terms. Her sister Montcarvel having now 
 VOL. I. 13
 
 194 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 become Duchesse de Lauraguais, she was to be created 
 a duchesse also, and in her own right — the Duchesse de 
 Chateauroux. It was simply in order to create this pre- 
 cedent in the family that she had obtained the assistance 
 of Richelieu to procure the elderly widower Lauraguais 
 for her sister. He had been previously married to a 
 Mademoiselle d'O, and had two children whom he wished 
 taken care of, and when Mademoiselle de Montcarvel 
 was given him for a bride, was entirely unaware of the 
 fact that the King took more than an ordinary interest 
 in her as being the sister of Madame de Mailly. 
 
 That lady, who had now been for ten years the King's 
 mistress, still continued to appear at the little suppers in 
 his petits cabinets. They were, however, but sad affairs, 
 unrelieved by the slightest spark of gaiety. She re- 
 proached Louis with his attentions towards her sister 
 la Tournelle, who had commenced to treat her with 
 raillery and mockery. He treated her with cold in- 
 difference, even when the unfortunate woman threw 
 herself at his feet in floods of tears and begged for mercy 
 and a little kindness. He, however, was thinking only 
 of her sister, who was making it one of her conditions 
 that Madame de Mailly should be banished and her apart- 
 ments given to herself. 
 
 While the King was becoming thin and ill from the 
 delay in gaining his ends, he was in the habit of visiting 
 Madame de la Tournelle of an evening in disguise. 
 Maurepas, anxious to defeat that lady's plans, was 
 watching and spying upon him when, one evening, the 
 Due de Richelieu, accompanying the King, flashed a 
 lantern in the face of a man whom he observed in a 
 dark corner of a corridor. Although Maurepas covered 
 his face, Richelieu, who knew him, drew his sword and
 
 The Installation of a Favourite 195 
 
 was about to run it through the body of the imprudent 
 Minister, when lie threw himself flat on the ground at 
 the feet of Louis and begged for mercy. Thereupon the 
 King, always friendl}^ to Maurepas, good-naturedly 
 lifted him up, telling him that soon he would let him 
 know whom he sought thus in disguise, and present him 
 to her into the bargain. 
 
 The Comte d'Argenson had meanwhile joined in the 
 intrigue, and, playing the false friend to Madame de 
 Mailly, advised her to retire for three days to Paris. 
 He assured her that the King was annoyed, and that she 
 would be wise to leave him alone for a day or two, when 
 he would become himself again. Madame de Flavacourt, 
 however, who was sorrowfully watching the course of 
 events, told her the truth ; which was that the Comte 
 d'Argenson was a cunning rogue working in their sister 
 la Tournelle's interests. 
 
 At length, after a final interview with the King, 
 Madame de Mailly came out weeping, followed by Louis, 
 who was speaking to her with kindness and affection. 
 This incident took place under the observation of the 
 courtiers. 
 
 His iinal words, spoken out loud, were much in 
 the same perfidious style as those in which he had ad- 
 dressed M. le Due when he intended to exile him from 
 Versailles : " On Monday at Choisy then, Madame la 
 Comtesse — on Monday ! I hope that you won't keep 
 me waiting." On Monday Louis had arranged to pass 
 the night at Choisy with Madame de la Tournellc, who 
 was to be conducted there in state by the greatest ladies 
 of the Court, including several duchesses and Made- 
 moiselle de la Roche-sur-Yon, a Princesse of the Blood. 
 The Due de Villeroi, the Prince de Soubise, the
 
 196 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 Marechals Dues de Duras, de Bouillon, de Guerchy, and 
 de Villars, the Prince de Tingri, the Marechal Marquis de 
 Meuse, and several other great nobles were invited to 
 be present at Choisy that evening to witness the official 
 installation of the new favourite, all of whose demands 
 had been agreed to. 
 
 In addition to the duchy of Chateauroux, these 
 included the same condition of luxury as that in which 
 Louis XIV, had kept the Marquise de Montespan, with, 
 moreover, the promise of legitimation for any possible 
 children of the union. The whole of this treaty was 
 made public, and the duchy registered in the parliamen- 
 tary records amid a great flourish of trumpets. 
 
 One worthy couple there were, however, at the 
 Court who refused to attend at Choisy upon this abomin- 
 able occasion, which was to be celebrated there by a 
 quadrille party and a grand supper. These were the 
 Queen's favourite friends the Due andDuchesse de Luynes, 
 who declined respectfully but firmly, although the King 
 personally requested their presence. The Due de Luynes 
 was aU the more courageous in making this refusal for 
 his wife and himself, as he had something to lose. He 
 was just expecting to receive the much-coveted cordon 
 bleu of the Ordre du Saint Esprit, but, as he knew would 
 be the case, the King passed him over and made him 
 wait for it for years.
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 The War of the Austrian Succession 
 
 1742 AND LATER 
 
 During the month of January, 1743, Cardinal Fleury 
 died— at last — to the delight of France. So anxiously was 
 his death looked forward to that the courtiers were 
 cracking jokes upon the subject of his approaching 
 dissolution in the antechamber of the room in which the 
 old man was in the death-throes. 
 
 A sigh of relief arose from the whole kingdom when 
 this old man of ninety had disappeared from the scene, 
 and when Louis XV., at the dictation of his family, 
 declared that " in future he intended to govern by 
 himself," hope arose once more in every breast. 
 
 The Due de Noailles, who had been commanding on 
 the frontier of the Low Countries, now found himself 
 warmly backed up by the Due de Richelieu and his 
 bosom friend the Duchesse de Chateauroux, with the 
 result that he was admitted into the Royal Council upon 
 equal terms with Cardinal Tencin. The latter had been 
 proposed to Louis as First Minister, to replace Fleury ; 
 but the King, parrot-like, repeating the words put into 
 his mouth by Chateauroux, said sharply and drily, 
 " Above all — no more priests ! " 
 
 The favourite, in the meantime, imagined that she 
 had a lucky star, and she proposed to follow its influence 
 
 »97
 
 198 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 by making of the King the greatest Monarch in the world. 
 Unfortunately, the first step which she dictated, the 
 admission of Noailles to the Council, did not assist that 
 project ; while, as the Marechal and Maurepas between 
 them contrived to set the King more than ever against 
 Chauvelin, Louis voluntarily sent that able Minister 
 into a more distant exile, instead of recalling him to 
 Versailles at a time when his services would have been 
 invaluable. 
 
 The Due de Noailles had, unfortunately, changed 
 greatly since the early days of the Regency. Then he 
 had been full of enlightened ideas, and had striven hard 
 to assist the Due d'Orleans upon the path of progress. 
 With old age, however, had come indecision, with, 
 moreover, a noisy^ overbearing manner at the Council 
 which intimidated the others present. These he brow- 
 beat, while his actions were so extravagant that, to assist 
 his violent and changeable arguments, he would fling 
 his hat up into the air. He now appeared without 
 heart, character, or any solid foundation ; further, while 
 making believe to have become devout, he backed up 
 the Spanish- Austrian conspiracy of the Royal Family. 
 Richeheu and Chateauroux soon regretted what they 
 had done; but once Noailles had been admitted to the 
 Council by their means, they were afraid to gainsay him 
 in anything. 
 
 Not content with hanging and imprisoning the 
 harmless inhabitants of the city of Prague, Maria Theresa, 
 now thirsting for vengeance, flung her troops upon the 
 Rhine. Before long, moreover, to the delight of the 
 Secretaries of State, they were, owing to the exigencies 
 of the service, relieved of the presence of Noailles, who 
 meddled in everything, as he was sent off to his command
 
 The War of the Austrian Succession 199 
 
 in the Low Countries. There it seemed as if he would 
 soon have George II. of England to contend with, for 
 Pitt and Carteret had succeeded the pacific Walpole at 
 the head of affairs in the country across the Channel. 
 Howev^er, owing to the loyalty to France shown by 
 Frederick, for a time the English did not interfere. 
 
 Although he had made peace on his own account, 
 the Prussian King paralysed his uncle George by 
 threatening to draw the sword once more if, with the 
 troops that he had in Flanders, he made a step in the 
 direction of the Empire. He overawed the Dutch also, 
 who had an army all ready to do the bidding of the 
 German King of England. At the same time the active 
 Frederick visited the various German Princes of the 
 Empire, and encouraged them to form a neutral army 
 wherewith to cover Bavaria. England, however, de- 
 clared that the election of the Bavarian Elector, which 
 had been regularly made, was illegal ; illegal also was, 
 she said, the proclamation which had been made at 
 Lintz of that Prince as Archduke of Austria. Charles 
 VII. had, however, been duly crowned with the imperial 
 crown at Frankfort on February 12th, 1742, and had 
 also been crowned at Prague. 
 
 Meanwhile, on the Rhine, Mentzel, the barbaric 
 cavalry leader, was threatening the peasants in his 
 proclamations, " that those who did not come to him 
 would be forced to cut themselves in pieces and to cut 
 off their own noses and ears." Maria Theresa, while 
 disclaiming all responsibility for these terrifying pro- 
 clamations, recompensed and promoted Mentzel. She 
 was in liigh spirits since her General, Khevenhuller, 
 had entered and plundered Munich, and the affairs 
 of the Bavarian Emperor were at a very low ebb.
 
 200 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 At length, after being delayed for a year owing to 
 the manoeuvres of Frederick, England, and Holland 
 also, at her bidding, plunged into the war on the side 
 of Austria. George II. sent an army into Germany, 
 and the Dutch helped him with a reinforcement of 
 twenty thousand men. Strange to say, it was not 
 until some nine or ten months later that France, originally 
 merely acting as an ally of the Emperor, declared war 
 in form against Maria Theresa and George. This was 
 on March 15th, 1744, and already the Emperor, driven 
 from his hereditary dominions, whence Broglio had re- 
 treated, had sought refuge at Frankfort with nothing but 
 his empty titles and a crippled France to support him. 
 
 In the June before the declaration of war a great 
 battle was fought between the French on one side, com- 
 manded by the Marechal Due de Noailles, and George II. 
 on the other, in command of the allies. This was the 
 battle of Dettingen, which was fought on June 27th, 1743, 
 the place being a village of Bavaria, in the circle of 
 Lower Franconia, situated on the right bank of the Main 
 and not far from Aschaffenburg. Noailles had some 
 sixty thousand men with him, including those corps 
 (T elite the Gardes Frangaises and the King's Household. 
 The latter formed part of twenty-five thousand men, 
 chiefly cavalry, under the young Due de Grammont, the 
 nephew of Noailles. This commander likewise possessed 
 the advantage of a splendid service of artillery under 
 the very capable officer la Valliere, who had so ably 
 handled the guns for Belle-Isle in his masterly retreat 
 from Prague. King George had with him some thirty- 
 seven thousand men, consisting of English, Hanoverian, 
 Hessian, and Dutch troops. 
 
 At the commencement of the battle everything
 
 The War of the Austrian Succession 201 
 
 was in favour of Noailles, whose batteries la Valliere 
 had placed in an admirable position, while the German 
 King of England had foolishly forced himself into a 
 situation from which it seemed impossible that he could 
 extricate himself. Indeed, had it not been for the folly 
 of the Due de Grammont, the entire army of the allies 
 must have been slaughtered or forced to surrender. 
 
 Noailles held Aschaffenburg with twelve thousand 
 men, which cut off the retreat of the allies, and the 
 defile of Dettingen in front of the allies was occupied 
 by Grammont. The Marechal adroitly shifted his 
 position on the other side of the Maine, so as with his 
 batteries to take the English King's troops everywhere 
 in flank ; they could neither advance nor retire, although 
 George determined upon a futile attempt to do the former. 
 
 The battle was, however, lost for Noailles, owing to 
 the jealousy of Grammont and his household troops 
 of the artillery under la Valliere, which seemed in a 
 fair way to win the battle alone. Foolishly charging, 
 contrary to orders, in front of their own guns, the French 
 cavalry masked their fire. The British iuid Hanoverian 
 infantry stood firm and received them with steady 
 musketry fire and the bayonet. The French advanced 
 guard, without orders, rushed across the morass and 
 rivulet in front of the defile after the cavalry. When 
 these were repulsed, the infantry coming behind them 
 were in the way and prevented any re-formation. King 
 George, with all his troops in a dense body, now followed 
 and drove horse and foot before them in a confused 
 mass, while la Valliere was unable to make any use 
 at all of his excellently placed guns. The Gardes Fran- 
 daises behaved very badly, while a large number of the 
 French newly raised levies of inexperienced recruits
 
 202 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 were absolutely panic-stricken. The advancing allies 
 had simply to slaughter at their leisure as they plunged 
 forward through the disorganised and mixed-up French 
 infantry and cavalry. Meanwhile Noailles, with the 
 greater part of his army held in reserve, was unable to 
 get into touch with the advancing allies, owing to the 
 River Main and the distance which separated him from 
 the victorious troops, who were driving those whom 
 they did not kill into the river to be drowned. 
 
 The Marechal lost six thousand men in this unlucky 
 affair, ruined for him by the worse than folly and in- 
 discipline of his nephew. The losses of the allies were 
 about two thousand. These, however, are the estimates 
 as given by the allies of the losses of either side. The 
 French writers claim that the losses were equal. 
 
 The essential point of the result of the conflict was 
 that George, who had driven himself in between Noailles 
 and Broglio, was saved, and able to draw off his troops 
 at leisure, while awaiting an expected Austrian re-in- 
 forcement. Wliatever may have been the actual losses 
 at Dettingen, the army of Noailles was so shaken that, 
 rather than wait for the junction of the British and 
 Austrians, he retreated and recrossed the Rhine. 
 
 The excuse given for this retrograde movement was 
 ridiculous. The French King gave out that his ally 
 the Bavarian Emperor being engaged in trying to come 
 to terms with the Queen of Hungary, he did not wish 
 to spoil the negotiations by the presence of his troops 
 and therefore recalled them. Charles VII. had, how- 
 ever, already been obliged to sign disgraceful terms 
 with Maria Theresa in January of that year 1743. 
 
 This pacific declaration only emboldened the Generals 
 of the Austrian forces, while it had a serious effect upon
 
 The War of the Austrian Succession 203 
 
 Sardinia. The Piedmontese King was, by the way, 
 the uncle of Louis XV. and brother-in-law of Philip V, 
 of Spain, whose first wife was a Savoy arde and sister 
 of the Duchesse de Bourgogne, the mother of Louis XV. 
 
 Charles Emanuel was found once again on terms of 
 alliance with France and Spain before Dettingen. After 
 that affair, he commenced to realise that the French 
 were altogether too Spanish for him, and he accordingly, 
 in September, 1743, concluded a treaty with Austria. 
 Like his father, Victor Amadeus, he rarely remained 
 for long upon the side of the French-Spanish troops, 
 who were at this time known as the " Gallispans " in 
 Italy. His father even upon one occasion joined the 
 Austrians just after marrying one daughter to the 
 Due de Bourgogne, the father of Louis XV., and 
 the other to Philip V. Then the secret advices 
 which came to him from his daughter in France 
 were of the greatest assistance to him in lighting 
 against the very French and Spanish army in Italy, 
 of which he had just asked Louis XIV. to make him 
 the Commander-in-Chief against Austria. By their long 
 course of successful trimming these Dukes of Savoy were 
 always in receipt of large subsidies from one country 
 or another, often from two or three at once, of whom 
 one was England. Thus, also, from being merely ducal 
 rulers of Savoy and Piedmont, they became alternately 
 Kings of Sicily and of Sardinia, until, in the fulness of 
 time, they were to be fated to rule over an United Italy 
 from which the last Austrian soldier had been driven. 
 In 1743 their Italian possessions were still nominally 
 held, under the old feudal law, as fiefs of the Holy Roman 
 Empire. 
 
 It was a severe blow to Spain when Sardinia " ratted "
 
 204 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 once more in 1743. The family union of Versailles and 
 Madrid felt the blow keenly. The Infanta, wife of 
 Don Philip, now sent frequent, tear-stained letters to 
 her father Louis, and he, weeping for sympathy, and 
 finding the Council averse to too serious engagements 
 being entered into with Spain, consulted that Maurepas 
 whom the Duchesse de Chateauroux hated and always 
 called "Little Rascal" (Faquinet). 
 
 Maurepas fell in with the afflicted father's views, and 
 copied, while he really dictated, a kind of family com- 
 pact, which promised to Spain the whole of the Duchy 
 of Milan for Don Philip. While France thus associated 
 herself more closely than ever with the quixotic views 
 of Elizabeth Farnese, she reserved no compensation 
 whatever for herself in her stipulations. It was after 
 this that war was solemnly declared against England. 
 Hitherto the war, so far as George II. was concerned, 
 had merely been one against Hanover. 
 
 Maurepas now had to tremble for himself and his 
 ships, for he had to look out for a naval warfare with 
 Great Britain. Besides other posts, he held that of 
 Minister of Marine, and had recently, in that capacity, 
 built a fleet of such rotten timbers that he was afraid 
 to send them to sea. 
 
 In the foolish treaty made with Spain a very impru- 
 dent clause had been inserted in Maurepas's own hand. 
 This was one which bound France under no circumstances 
 to make peace with England until Gibraltar should be 
 returned to Spain. Thus was it, in his first act of any 
 importance, while " governing by himself," that Louis 
 tied his own hands. Since Gibraltar still flies the British 
 flag, he would have had a long time to wait to make 
 peace if circumstances stronger than the will of the
 
 The War of the Austrian Succession 205 
 
 ambitious Queen of Spain had not forced him to break 
 those foohsh bonds ! 
 
 The duphcity of the King's nature was, however, 
 never more apparent than at this time ; for the Due 
 de Richeheu and Madame de Chateauroux persuaded 
 him to take steps to ally himself once more with that 
 very Protestant Prussia whom Spain and the party of 
 the honnetes gens at Versailles so virulently detested. 
 Still worse ! the agent selected for the carrying out of 
 their plans was none else than the freethinking Voltaire. 
 The casuistical excuse of which the King descended to 
 make use in sending Voltaire to Berlin was, that it was 
 in order that the poet and playwright might be able 
 to escape from the persecutions of Boyer, Bishop of 
 Mirepoix. 
 
 When Fleury was dying, in order to disappoint 
 Cardinal Tencin, he made the King maliciously promise 
 to give the feuille des benefices to this Boyer. Of this 
 feuille, d'Argenson says, " The district of the benefices 
 is a very important ministry. The Court considers it 
 in accordance with the views of intrigue and the person- 
 ality of whoever may hold it. It distributes rich salaries 
 and eminent offices to the high nobility. Plutus presides 
 and the Holy Ghost is rejected by it. As for the interests 
 of the State, what is required is to make the priesthood 
 agree with the empire; to step in where political power 
 leaves off and where ghostly power begins ; to back 
 up the parliaments in suppressing any enterprise that 
 would go too fast or too far." Of Boyer he says, 
 " Every one at once complains of the Bishop of Mirepoix — 
 big and small, clergy and laity. He persecutes for a 
 bagatelle and places the Bull Unigenitus far above the 
 Gospel. From step to step he has become the greatest
 
 2o6 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 persecutor of the Jansenists who has yet troubled the 
 Church of God, and he will even surpass the celebrated 
 Jesuit Pere le Tellier." 
 
 This bigoted fool, of whom elsewhere it is said that 
 he was a perfect nullity, had therefore at his disposal 
 all the rich abbeys and bishoprics, all the enormous 
 funds of the Church. Moreover, he governed the 
 Dauphin, and around them a Court was being formed, 
 in the Court, of pious persons who did not dare to censure 
 the King aloud, but who, with upturned eyes, offered 
 prayers for his reformation. While Louis had read, 
 and laughed over, a satire which Voltaire had written 
 on Boyer, he also very well understood when the Due 
 de Richelieu pointed out to him this Court opposed 
 to his own, and therefore did not love Boyer any more 
 than he did the Dauphin. 
 
 At the same time the Duchesse de Chateauroux was 
 preaching to the King that he should imitate Frederick 
 of Prussia, become really an omnipotent King, and rule 
 according to his own lofty ideas without being con- 
 trolled by the wishes of any one. Louis accordingly 
 entirely disregarded the inclinations of the honnetes gens 
 when he sent Voltaire to Berlin. There Frederick was 
 delighted to receive him ; he well knew that, if not at 
 the Court, the poet had become a power in the land 
 of France. Besides which, the Prussian King was re- 
 establishing an Academy which Leibnitz had started in 
 Berlin in the days of his grandmother. 
 
 Nothing, as we know, delighted this warlike King, 
 who was up, dressed, booted, and spurred, and writing 
 his dispatches at four o'clock every morning, more 
 than figuring as the patron of literature and free thought. 
 He readily listened to Voltaire's offers, for he was
 
 The War of the Austrian Succession 207 
 
 still a Frenchman at heart. Moreover, he knew how 
 his uncle, George II., sought to ruin him, and that Maria 
 Theresa hated him like deadly poison. He was well 
 aware of their plottings with Augustus of Saxony and 
 Poland to dismember his kingdom, and to deprive him 
 once more of Silesia. He therefore, like France, wanted 
 an ally. Austria, he thought, was getting too strong, 
 thus he was ready to join Louis and cut in once more 
 against her, before she combined with England and 
 Poland to crush him. 
 
 Thus again was the Catholic King of France, who 
 held his Councils in the apartments of the ultramontane 
 priest Tencin, joined to Protestant Prussia ; Protestant 
 Sweden, Hesse, and the Palatinate becoming also 
 members of the union. But all that which Louis really 
 desired by this union with the King of Prussia was to 
 make use of him for his own ends. And these were 
 to gain a peace — one which should give him Milan for 
 his beloved and letter-writing daughter, the young 
 Infanta. 
 
 He did not, however, know how to go the right 
 way to work. While pretending to listen to Noailles, 
 he had in reality no ears for any one but Cardinal 
 Tencin. And Tencin, who had been assisted in the 
 matter of his Cardinal's hat by the Pretender, had 
 now only one idea in his head. This was the restoration 
 of the Catholic Pretender — the Stuart in Great Britain. 
 Louis — blockhead as he was — listened to Tencin's plan, 
 and liked it. He had not sufficient sense to see how 
 unpopular the pursuit of such a scheme must make him 
 with those very Protestant allies who had once more 
 just stretched out to him the hand of friendship from 
 Germany.
 
 CHAPTER XVII 
 
 The Disgrace of the Favourites 
 1744 
 
 The plan of Louis being the plan of Tencin, the King did 
 not waste much time in having a large army collected, 
 under Comte Maurice de Saxe, for a descent into England, 
 while every kind of ship and boat capable of crossing the 
 Channel was collected along the northern shores of 
 France. At the same time the French King developed 
 a wonderful idea in his brain. His idea was to give 
 George II. and Maria Theresa no cause for anger, and 
 in order to accomplish this, Louis proposed to leave 
 George's Hanoverian dominions alone, and only to attack 
 the Queen of Hungary in her outlying possessions in the 
 Low Countries. The extra advantage to be gained from 
 this plan for Louis personally was that he would be able 
 to figure in the light of a conqueror. While George, seeing 
 the preparations for a descent upon England, got ready 
 all his warships and withdrew his forces from Flanders to 
 Great Britain, Louis, in imitation of his great-grandfather, 
 prepared to head a Royal army and make a Royal pro- 
 gress through Flanders. 
 
 The Protestant allies of the Rhine were not long 
 in displaying the resentment which they felt when they 
 learned this plan for the restoration of the Catholic 
 
 208
 
 The Disgrace of the Favourites 209 
 
 Stuarts. The Hessians, indeed, rather than help France, 
 were anxious to go in person to help the inhabitants 
 of Great Britain, their co-religionists. 
 
 That the Royal farce which commenced to be enacted 
 in Flanders in May, 1744, might in nothing lack its 
 resemblance to the previous one of Louis XIV. in 1667, 
 like his great-grandsire, Louis XV. was soon followed 
 to the seat of war b}^ liis two mistresses, Madame de 
 Chateauroux and her sister Madame de Lauraguais. 
 
 Louis XIV., seventy 3^ears earlier, had been accom- 
 panied by Louise de la Valliere, Madame de Montespan, 
 and his Queen Marie Therese, who often travelled along 
 together in one golden coach, when they were secretly 
 laughed at by the army, who called them les trots reines. 
 The Grand Monarque himself then frequently made a 
 fourth in the gilded chariot at such times as he was 
 not engaged in the bombardment of city after city. 
 
 His great-grandson, however, had given orders that 
 Marie Lesczynska was not to follow him to the seat 
 of war. Maurepas, however, was responsible for the 
 instructions which had been given to the raging Duchesse 
 de Chateauroux to remain behind at Versailles — in- 
 structions which she soon disregarded. She well knew 
 when she flew on the footsteps of lier Royal lover 
 that she would meet with a warm welcome and forgive- 
 ness from the King, even if the people of France and 
 the army did not display the same satisfaction at her 
 manoeuvres. 
 
 The capital and the provinces had indeed already 
 commenced an outcry against the new favourite, whom 
 they reproached, above all else, with her shameful con- 
 duct in hunting out into the direst poverty her sister, 
 de Mailly, whose good heart and harmlessness were 
 VOL. I. 14
 
 2IO The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 universally recognised. The people loudly complained 
 of the incestuous orgies of the King with the two new 
 sisters at Choisy, where he dragged the Royal dignity 
 in the dirt. Never, indeed, was he more unpopular 
 than when he started, with an enormous army, for his 
 career of conquest in Flanders, while public opinion 
 warmly applauded the tactics of Maurepas, in accord- 
 ance with which Louis had left the reigning favourite, 
 with that subsidiary mistress her sister, behind him. 
 
 Madame de Chateauroux, however, who had, in her 
 projects to glorify the King, warmly encouraged his 
 warlike inclinations, was above all anxious to give herself 
 the reputation of sharing in the glory which she designed 
 for Louis. She hoped, when the nation saw that she 
 was associated in the measures which withdrew the 
 Monarch from his accustomed indolence, that she would 
 be forgiven and taken into public esteem and affection. 
 Closely allied with the Comte d'Argenson against 
 Maurepas, and strongly backed up by the Due de 
 Richelieu, she imagined at first that her influence was 
 too strong not to be called by the King to accompany 
 him to the tented field of honour. Maurepas, however, 
 very wisely persuaded Louis that, if he wished to preserve 
 the affection and esteem of his subjects, he must upon 
 proceeding to the war endure the sacrifice of leaving 
 all petticoat influences behind him. 
 
 Madame de Chateauroux, before the King's departure, 
 enjoyed a petty vengeance. She contrived to have 
 Maurepas sent off upon a tour of inspection of the 
 maritime ports, and thus to remove her enemy from 
 the Royal presence. He was obliged to go at first to 
 Provence. Having accomplished this, by Richelieu's 
 advice she pretended to submit to the King's will, that
 
 The Disgrace of the Favourites 2 1 1 
 
 \\'il3^ courtier, who was his Majesty's chief aide-de-camp, 
 promising her that he would soon dispose Louis to cause 
 her to follow him to the army. Knowing his master 
 thoroughly, and that he had nothing whatever of the 
 warrior in his nature, Richelieu was quite convinced 
 that he would very soon be lost if unable to pursue 
 his favourite diversions and enjoy his little suppers in 
 feminine society. 
 
 The Queen, meanwhile, learning that the favourite 
 Minister and the mistress were both to be separated 
 from her husband, made efforts towards a reconciliation 
 with him, their terms latterly, owing to his shameful 
 conduct, having become more than ever formal. So 
 badly had Louis treated his spouse that frequently, 
 when she attended his petit lever in the morning, he 
 had even been wanting in the courtesy of telling the 
 Queen to be seated, but left her standing in his presence. 
 Feeling herself thus downtrodden, the natural timidity 
 of the Polish Princess had been more than ever in- 
 creased. She had become almost afraid to ask any- 
 thing of the King verbally ; when she had. anything 
 particular to say to him, she usually sent it to Louis 
 in a letter. 
 
 On April i6th, 1744, going to see him as usual, 
 the Queen personally delivered a letter into his hand. 
 It contained the expression of her wishes that, under 
 such conditions as Louis might think fit to approve, 
 she might be permitted to follow him to the war. In 
 this letter the Queen humbly said that she dared not 
 ask for a reply. 
 
 A few days later this brute of a King took an oppor- 
 tunity of openly outraging the wife who had thus shown 
 her devotion. The Queen, conquering her timidity,
 
 212 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 went to him at his petit lever and asked for the post of 
 dame du Palais to the Dauphine for a daughter of the 
 Marquis de Tesse. Louis did not even deign to reply, 
 and the next day the Queen learned from Madame de 
 Talleyrand that he had appointed another lady, Madame 
 de Perigord. 
 
 A few nights later the King left for the army without 
 even informing Marie Lesczynska that he was leaving, 
 although he passed a part of the evening in her society. 
 He sent his two mistresses to stay with Paris-Duverney, 
 and, taking with him a Jesuit confessor, Pere Perusseau, 
 to be at hand in case of necessity, departed in company 
 with the Due d'Ayen, who afterwards became Marechal 
 de Noailles like his father. For the Queen he left behind 
 four lines, saying that it would cost too much to take 
 her with him to the frontier. 
 
 Upon arrival at Valenciennes the King, who talked 
 in this manner to his wife about expense, commenced 
 by giving a magnificent supper to twenty-five Princes 
 and general officers ; while the Queen, left behind, 
 tried to cut down her expenses closer than ever. 
 
 To his two mistresses the King now sent daily 
 messengers with letters ; but Richelieu, seeing the credit 
 of the Marechal de Noailles and the Due d'Ayen daily 
 increasing, became fearful that his own credit might 
 fall. Accordingly he wrote off to the Duchesse de 
 Chateauroux and the Duchesse de Lauraguais to come 
 at once. At the same time he wrote to a Princesse of 
 the Blood who had formerly been his mistress and 
 several other grand ladies to accompany them to Lille, 
 and thus cover their departure with their presence and 
 countenance. This Princesse was the Duchess of Modena, 
 who had been Mademoiselle de Valois, the daughter of
 
 The Disgrace of the Favourites 213 
 
 the Regent, and she was quite ready to do the bidding 
 of the man with whom she had twenty years previously 
 been openly compromised, both before and after her 
 marriage. 
 
 Another Princesse who was not ashamed to follow 
 in the train of Madame de Chateauroux was the Princesse 
 de Conti. Her young daughter, who finally had been 
 the wife selected for the young Due de Chartres, also 
 elected to accompany her mother to the seat of war, 
 where her husband was already. Other ladies included 
 Madame de Bellefonds and her daughter. 
 
 It is not to be supposed that all these grand dames 
 could depart without the Queen being aware of the 
 proceeding. Indeed, Chateauroux and Lauraguais 
 thought fit to take their adieux of Her Majesty, when 
 she received them with such kindness that the former 
 was ashamed and overcome — although not so was her 
 sister. 
 
 The Duchess of Modena also thought fit to attend 
 upon the Queen and ask if she had any orders to give 
 her before her departure to Lille ; whereupon Marie 
 Lesczynska replied acidly, " Make your idiotic journey 
 as you like ; it does not concern me in any way." 
 
 The departure from Paris was made after nightfall, 
 in order to avoid the jeers of the people, and relays of 
 horses having been provided in advance, the journey 
 was easily accomplished. In the capital, however, the 
 murmurings were loud, while the people went so far 
 as to name the two mistresses and the three Princesses 
 of the Blood who accompanied them by the lowering 
 and disgraceful name of les coureuses. 
 
 The arrival of this grouj) of women at the army 
 headquarters excited the greatest scorn and annoyance
 
 214 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 among the soldiery. The Swiss in particular, to express 
 their derision, sang in chorus a vulgar and well-known 
 song so that it could be heard in the Royal tents. Soon 
 all the army took up the refrain of this ballad, which, 
 commencing with the lines — 
 
 Ah ! Madame Enroux, 
 Je deviendrai fou, 
 
 could be heard menacingly sung wherever the King 
 might happen to be. For Madame Enroux had, how- 
 ever, been substituted the words " Belle Chateauroux." 
 The King meanwhile had taken Courtrai, Menin, 
 and Ypres, but before proceeding to the reduction of 
 Furnes in turn, he found that the position in the army 
 with the sisters present had become impossible. He, the 
 Due de Richelieu, and the mistresses became frightened ; 
 Louis therefore conducted his favourites to Lille, and 
 sent them thence to Dunkirk for security. Here they 
 were much disconcerted to find their uncle and enemy 
 Maurepas, who, having finished his tour of inspection 
 of the southern ports, was now in turn visiting those 
 in the north of the kingdom. As might have been 
 expected, they found themselves obliged to listen to 
 many pleasant little witticisms from his biting tongue 
 upon the subject of the agreeable visit to the army which 
 they had so much enjoyed. 
 
 While the King had thus been having "a walk-over " in 
 Flanders, things had been going badly on the Rhine, which 
 had been very indifferently watched by the Marechal 
 de Coigny. Broglio had been disgraced since his retreat 
 from Bavaria, and old Coigny with old Noailles now 
 between them shared the important posts of honour 
 which Frederick had urgently demanded for Belle-Isle.
 
 The Disgrace of the Favourites 215 
 
 Noailles was commanding on the Lower Rhine, but 
 to Belle-Isle had been merely' allotted the duties of 
 preparing the stores for the army at Metz. 
 
 Meanwhile the Austrians, under Prince Charles of 
 Lorraine, had invaded Alsace and were expected in 
 Lorraine also, which was left unprotected. King Stanislas 
 Lesczynski was in such imminent danger that he fled 
 from his capital, Luneville ; but Frederick, believing 
 that there was nothing to fear if his advice was followed, 
 wrote a friendly letter to Louis in July. In this he 
 said that he was about to prove his friendship — would 
 start on August 13th and arrive before Prague, in Bohemia, 
 the 30th of the month. He hopes that the King will 
 not leave him alone under such serious circumstances, 
 in which he is partly acting on behalf of France. There 
 are, he says, three blows to be delivered — in Bavaria, 
 Bohemia, and Hanover. Belle-Isle, the man who enjoys 
 the confidence of all Germany, should be given the 
 supreme command. A man of dash and decision, such 
 as Comte Maurice de Saxe, should lead the expedition 
 against Hanover. But it was necessary to act instantly, 
 above all, to give up defensive operations and assume 
 a vigorous offensive which would ensure success. The 
 offensive, Frederick continued, was the secret of the 
 successes of le Grand Conde, of Turenne, of Luxembourg, 
 and of the Marechal de Catinat under Louis XIV., who 
 between them had given so much glory to France. It 
 would have been imagined that Louis XV., so anxious 
 at this time to emulate the glories of his great-grand- 
 father, would have listened to Frederick. But not at 
 all ! — not even in that which concerned Maurice de Saxe 
 did he pay any attention to the counsels of the Prussian 
 King. This natural son of Augustus II. he left in a post
 
 2i6 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 of no immediate importance, merely with the charge of 
 guarding the northern coasts. 
 
 The two fat and gouty old Marechals, Coigny and 
 Noailles, were left at the seat of action, with forces 
 immeasurably greater than those of the Austrian. Un- 
 fortunately, they would not act, but remained discussing 
 the point whether, if the enemy retired, they should 
 follow him or no. Not a blow was struck to assist 
 Frederick, when it would have been easy by a few rapid 
 marches to have crushed the enemy in Alsace, for ever 
 to have prevented one of the Austrians from again 
 crossing the Rhine, to rejoin the other armies of Maria 
 Theresa against whom Frederick was about to hurl 
 himself. 
 
 While the Marechals were thus doing nothing, a 
 message arrived from the King : he would come and 
 command in person ! the object of his offensive would 
 be to attack the city of Fribourg just across the frontier. 
 It was pitiable in the extreme ! 
 
 Louis had now gone to Dunkirk to join his mistresses, 
 where their ears could no longer be assailed by the vulgar 
 songs of the army of Flanders. He determined to travel 
 across France to Metz, and to take the two sisters with 
 him. During this journey all decency was abandoned ; 
 wherever the King stayed the two women were lodged 
 with him. Nor was the Jesuit confessor Perusseau for- 
 gotten ; he was required in case of illness or death, al- 
 though the King now no longer even said his prayers. 
 Since he could not deprive himself again of his witty- 
 tongued Minister, it was settled that the favourite's 
 uncle Maurepas was also to accompany the King. In 
 spite of the insults she had received, not for worlds 
 would Chateauroux therefore allow Louis to depart
 
 The Disgrace of the Favourites 217 
 
 \vathout her while this doubtful personage was at hand, 
 especially as another enemy was also to follow the 
 King in the shape of his Almoner, Fitz-James, the 
 rugged Bishop of Soissons. 
 
 During the journey in the heats of July, Madame 
 de Chateauroux delayed the King by falhng ill at Reims. 
 Here she declared that the medicine given to her was 
 poisoned by her enemy Maurepas. Louis immediately 
 talked to her as though she were a dying woman, and 
 entertained the invalid with cheerful discussions as to 
 the place where she should be buried, and the design 
 of her tombstone. Then he went on ahead, leaving 
 the two sisters to follow him to Metz, if the Duchesse 
 should recover, which she did shortly. 
 
 At Metz the greatest scandal was created by the 
 manner in which the sisters were lodged in the Abbey 
 of Saint-Arnould. When a long wooden gallery was 
 made for them to communicate with the King's apart- 
 ments, there was an outcry. This gallery blocked four 
 streets, and it was in vain that it was given out that 
 the Prior had built it in order that the King might 
 traverse its length when going to the Mass. The real 
 intention of the gallery was far too evident to the 
 meanest intellect for such an absurd story to be 
 believed. 
 
 On August 3rd, 1744, the King was taken ill at Metz, 
 after a supper at which he had indulged too freely in 
 wine. His illness developed into what was called a 
 putrid fever. The two sisters established themselves 
 by his bedside, and refused to admit any but persons 
 favourable to themselves, such as the Due de Richelieu, 
 the servants and the aides-de-camp, and the Mar^chal 
 Marquis de Meuse, a worthless pandar beloved of the
 
 218 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 King. The Princes of the Blood and the grand officers 
 of the Crown — the Dues de Bouillon, de la Rochefou- 
 cauld, de Villeroi — with the Bishop of Soissons and Pere 
 Perusseau, now all found themselves barred out from 
 the Royal presence, and a great tussle began between 
 all these personages and the Duchesse de Chateauroux. 
 
 All of this party had, however, fully determined to 
 gain access to the Monarch at such a favourable oppor- 
 tunity, and, by working upon his religious scruples, to 
 bring about the downfall at the same time of the Duchesse 
 de Chateauroux and of the Due de Richelieu. Nothing 
 but bickerings and quarrellings were to be heard be- 
 tween the two parties for many days, but, for a time, 
 Chateauroux held the fort against all comers. 
 
 The priests and the Princes intended, nevertheless, 
 that the King should be confessed, and compelled, as 
 the price of his absolution, to send the two mistresses 
 away in disgrace. At length his condition became so 
 low that the favourites found themselves compelled to 
 treat with Father Perusseau, and endeavour to come 
 to terms with him and the very severe Fitz-James, 
 Bishop of Soissons, who would, in his quality of Almoner, 
 administer the Sacraments after the confession of the 
 King. They had already allowed the grand officers to 
 enter the King's apartments during celebration of the 
 Mass, but ejected them at the conclusion of the service, 
 when they retained Perusseau, taking the Jesuit into a 
 little cabinet close to the King's bed. 
 
 Here Chateauroux demanded of the priest if she 
 would be obliged to go away in case the King should 
 desire confession and the other Sacraments. He, how- 
 ever, became confused, and could not give any direct 
 answer, when the favourite said impatiently, " Come,
 
 The Disgrace of the Favourites 219 
 
 make up your mind. Do not allow me to be sent 
 away openly and scandalously ; the King's reputation 
 will be less compromised if I leave in secret." 
 
 Perusseau did not wish to outrage the Duchesse if 
 the King lived, nor did he wish to lose his place in case 
 the King died and the Dauphin succeeded him. He 
 tried, therefore, to temporise : " But, Madame, perhaps 
 the King will not be confessed ! " 
 
 " Yes, he will be," replied Chateauroux, " if only to 
 set a good example. I myself shall urge him to it. 
 But what is required is to avoid a scandal. Shall I be 
 sent away ? Reply ! " 
 
 The confessor, more embarrassed than ever, stam- 
 mered that he did not know the King's life ; it depended 
 upon what avowals he might make. 
 
 " So far as that goes," replied the Duchesse, " I will 
 myself confess to you that I have sinned with the King 
 as much as possible. But is that a reason to make the 
 dying Louis XV. send me away ? Is there no exception 
 for a King ? " 
 
 Here Perusseau, in his embarrassment, endeavoured 
 to make his escape ; but the Due de Richelieu, from 
 whose own account of the affair we are quoting, blocked 
 the doorway, and said, " Come, Father Perusseau, be 
 gallant to the ladies ; accord to them that there shall 
 be no scandal. Your ifs and your buts drive us to 
 despair." 
 
 The Jesuit maintaining silence, Richelieu embraced 
 him, asking good-humouredly if he would not do for 
 his sake, who had always been a good friend to the 
 Jesuits, that which the fathers of the Church had always 
 permitted to the confessors of Kings under similar 
 circumstances.
 
 220 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 But Perusseau remained mute, fearing both the Due 
 and the Duchesse should the King recover, but with 
 his mind made up what to do if the King seemed dying. 
 Thereupon Madame de Chateauroux, who was in despair, 
 tried the effects of her charms upon the priest. Taking 
 the Jesuit's chin between her pretty hands, with tears 
 in her eyes, she implored him to avoid a scandal, vowing 
 that if he would do so she would never again be any- 
 thing but a friend to the King. The wily priest, how- 
 ever, contrived in the end to escape without binding 
 himself by any definite promises. 
 
 Meanwhile all the King's Ministers stood by watching, 
 without interfering in the quarrel between the two 
 parties. They, like Perusseau, did not wish to commit 
 themselves, knowing that if the King died the devout 
 party of the Dauphin and the Queen would be para- 
 mount, whereas if he should live, then Richelieu and 
 Madame de Chateauroux would definitely triumph over 
 the Princes and the great officers of the Crown. Maurepas 
 only did not hide that he was for the Princes and the 
 priests. 
 
 Eventually the Comte de Clermont, a Conde and 
 Prince of the Blood, brother of the late Due de 
 Bourbon, forced his way in to the King's bedside, and 
 told his Royal cousin that, from love for him, the 
 Princes desired to be allowed the satisfaction of learning 
 from his own lips how he felt. Having said so much, 
 this Prince became alarmed and wished to retreat ; 
 the King, however, retained him awhile and showed 
 that he was not offended. 
 
 When next the Mass was celebrated, Fitz-James, 
 the King's Almoner, took the opportunity to urge the 
 King to confess.
 
 The Disgrace of the Favourites 221 
 
 " It is not yet time," replied Louis ; " besides which, 
 my head aches too much." 
 
 Fitz- James had to retire discomfited ; but when he 
 had gone out, and the Duchesse, taking his hand, en- 
 deavoured to fondle the King, and embrace him, he 
 repulsed her, saying, " I fear that I do ill, in the con- 
 dition that I am in, to allow you these caresses ; we 
 may perhaps be forced to separate." 
 
 " Oh, very well ! " replied the favourite testily, and 
 dropped the King's hand. 
 
 Eventually Peyronie, the surgeon, informed the 
 Due de Bouillon, who was Grand Chamberlain, that 
 the King had but two days to live. Bouillon, in spite 
 of Richelieu, contrived to send a message to the King, 
 whereupon Louis in reply sent for the Princes and great 
 officers of the Court, who entered triumphant. The 
 King was not, however, very gracious to them, as he 
 understood from Bouillon that that which they chiefly 
 desired was to be able to fulfil the duties of their re- 
 spective charges during the grand function of the ad- 
 ministration of the Sacraments. 
 
 " It is not yet time for that," said the King, especially 
 as the Due de Richelieu, feeling his pulse like a doctor, 
 assured him that he was really not very ill. 
 
 At length, after a fit of unconsciousness, the King 
 cried out for Bouillon and Pere Perusseau, saying that 
 he was dying — they must come at once. Perusseau 
 having confessed him, Louis said to the Due de Bouillon, 
 " You can fulfil your duties. I have sacrificed my 
 favourites, male and female, in the name of religion, 
 and as the very Christian King, eldest son of the Church." 
 
 The victorious Bishop of Soissons entered at once 
 find, in a furious manner, said to the mistresses, " Mes-
 
 222 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 dames, retire at once — the King orders you." And he 
 gave instant orders for the wooden gallery by which 
 the ladies were able to approach the King to be knocked 
 down, so that the people might learn the tidings of the 
 separation. 
 
 Richelieu, however, stood firm. In the name of the 
 King, he counselled the favourites to remain, saying that 
 he took the consequences upon himself. The furious 
 prelate thereupon sent orders for all the churches in 
 Metz to be closed until the mistresses had obeyed the 
 King's order for them to leave his presence. The two 
 sisters then left in tears, with downcast heads, not looking 
 at any one. 
 
 Fitz- James then, in violently chosen words, refused 
 the Sacraments to the King so long as " la Concubine " 
 remained in the town. He added, " Your Majesty will 
 soon die. I beg you to give orders for their instant de- 
 parture." Louis was frightened ; in his weak state the 
 words la Concubine shouted out by the Bishop alarmed 
 him — he agreed to all that his Almoner required of him. 
 
 The news was instantly promulgated by the party of 
 the Princes, who stirred up all the people of Metz against 
 the sisters. Even their former ally the Comte d'Argenson 
 treated them with scorn. Nor could they obtain a 
 carriage from the Royal stables in which to leave the 
 town. 
 
 The Marechal de Belle-Isle, however, came to their 
 assistance ; he was not ungenerous or ungrateful, and 
 remembered former services rendered to him by their 
 sister Madame de Mailly. Afraid lest they should be 
 stoned, he gave his own commodious coach to the dis- 
 graced women and sent them, in company with three 
 other great ladies who had followed them, to a country-
 
 The Disgrace of the Favourites 223 
 
 house several leagues from Metz, the proprietors of 
 which Belle-Isle with some trouble persuaded to receive 
 Madame de Chateauroux and Madame de Lauragiiais. 
 
 While they reached this asylum in safety, owing to 
 the window-blinds of Belle-Isle's coach being drawn 
 down, Fitz-James prepared, figuratively speaking, to 
 dance upon the helpless body of Louis XV. now that, 
 at last, he had got him prostrate and in his power. Louis, 
 believing his last moment at hand, allowed himself to 
 be danced upon ; nobody could have been more abjectly 
 humble than the King, who, in the presence of all the 
 overpowering paraphernalia of the Church displayed 
 by the Bishop, was completely overcome. He made no 
 objection when, in his name, Fitz-James expressed his 
 contrition to all the courtiers, and vowed that, so long 
 as he lived, never again should the sisters be allowed 
 within a hundred and fifty miles of Versailles ; moreover, 
 that their charges about the Court should be taken from 
 them. When tlie Sacrament was to be administered 
 to him, so great was his fear of the devil that Louis said 
 to the Bishop, " Monsieur, make the administration a 
 real good one ; it is twenty-two years since I had my 
 first communion." 
 
 One sensible and penitent remark the King made, 
 which was that if he dared to ask anything of God, it 
 would be that he might give to the kingdom a better 
 ruler than himself. 
 
 In this manner did the Princes, priests, and great 
 officers of the Crown gain the battle, while the party of 
 Richelieu melted away, and those who had pinned 
 themselves to the fortunes of the Duchesse de Chateau- 
 roux hastened to separate and liide, for fear that a 
 Lettre de cachet might lodge them in the Bastille. The
 
 2 24 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 Due de Richelieu alone valiantly held up his head to the 
 storm, openly declaring that if only the King could get 
 rid of those who had forced themselves upon him, the 
 two sisters would be brought back again in triumph. 
 Hereupon Fitz- James and his party contrived to get 
 an order from the King that Richelieu should leave 
 the kingdom and retire to Bale, in Switzerland. 
 
 A day or two later the King was completely given 
 up by the physicians, and seemed at the last gasp. A 
 quack, however, contrived to gain access to the deserted 
 Monarch, and by administering a tremendous emetic 
 soon put him in the fair way to recovery.
 
 CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 Vengeance and Death of Madame de Chateauroux 
 
 1744 
 
 While the King was gradually returning to health, the 
 Queen arrived at Metz, when Louis, touched by her kind- 
 ness, for once in his hfe seems to have had a spice of 
 manhood about him. He acknowledged his past faults, 
 and asked the forgiveness of the loving woman who 
 clung about his worthless neck in tears. 
 
 The Dauphin had also expressed a wish to visit his 
 sick father, but Louis sent word to the Due de Chatillon, 
 his son's Governor, at Chalons, that for the present he 
 was not to approach any closer than Verdun. In spite 
 of this order, Chatillon came on with his Royal charge 
 and took up for his lodging the apartments recently 
 vacated by the two favourites. The Dauphin was not 
 very well, and Belle-Isle and others tried to persuade 
 ChatiUon not to take him to the King. The physicians 
 joined in protesting, saying that the King's fever was 
 infectious, and that the heir to the Crown should not be 
 subjected to the risk of catching it. 
 
 In spite of these protestations, the Due took the 
 
 Dauphin to his father, who received his son frigidly. 
 
 When Chatillon commenced to make excuses for having 
 
 disobeyed the Royal command, Louis did not answer. 
 
 VOL. I. 225 15
 
 22 6 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 He was furious, and determined from that minute signally 
 to disgrace the Due de Chatillon at an early date. 
 
 During the King's illness the Marechals de Coigny 
 and Noailles had, in spite of their superior forces, allowed 
 the Austrians to escape unmolested, to go and reinforce 
 the troops acting against the King of Prussia. Louis, 
 however, upon his recovery joined the army which 
 already had invested Fribourg. He reached the camp in 
 front of that city on October loth, 1744, but he had not 
 waited so long before resuming his former brutal in- 
 difference to Marie Lesczynska, who went off, or rather 
 had been sent off, some time previously to visit her 
 father at Limeville. 
 
 The King also passed through Luneville to visit 
 King Stanislas and his Queen, and behaved most rudely. 
 We are told that already was his mind taken up once 
 more so much with the Duchesse de Chateauroux that 
 he forgot even to say good-bye on leaving to the King 
 and Queen of Poland, or to his own wife, their daughter. 
 Upon his journey to join the army he suddenly recol- 
 lected that he had been wanting in politeness, whereupon 
 he sent back a courier to inquire for the health of the 
 Queen of Poland. A little farther on Louis suddenly 
 remembered his father-in-law and his wife also, for whom 
 he had given the courier no messages. To repair this 
 omission the forgetful King sent a flattering letter to 
 each to apologise for his remissness. 
 
 On November ist the King had the satisfaction of 
 seeing Fribourg yield to his army. He signed the articles 
 of capitulation, and, having by this time become tired 
 of war and bored with Germany, determined to return 
 to Paris. 
 
 Here a triumph awaited him ; the people, who had
 
 Vengeance of Madame de Chateauroux 227 
 
 hated their King upon his departure for Flanders, were 
 ready to fete him for a double reason — on account of 
 his recovery, and as the saviour of the kingdom, which 
 had been invaded when he proceeded to Metz from 
 Dunkirk. 
 
 The real reason of the joy of the people was that 
 before the King went to the army France had suffered 
 nothing but defeats and humiliations at the hand of 
 Austria. After his arrival the campaign in Flanders 
 had been a triumph, while upon his arrival at Metz the 
 Austrians had, at all events, retired from Gallic soil, 
 after which Louis himself had taken Fribourg. In 
 addition, since all the events which had occurred at 
 Metz had become known, the people of France were de- 
 lighted with their King because he had sent away the 
 two unpopular mistresses and been openly reconciled 
 with the Queen. 
 
 Now it was that the inhabitants of the capital be- 
 stowed upon the returning conqueror the title of le 
 Bien-Aime — the Well-Beloved. Never did a Roman 
 Emperor, returning from some mighty conquest, receive 
 a more rapturous greeting than that accorded to le 
 Bien-Aime. 
 
 The Well-Beloved, lolling back upon the cushions 
 of the golden coach in which he made his entry, was 
 dreaming of a new conquest, or rather re-conquest— 
 that of the haughty Duchesse de Chateauroux, who, 
 in disguise, was, had he but known it, watching him in 
 the crowd. 
 
 Her disguise did not, liowever, prevent her from 
 being recognised just after the King had passed her. 
 The unfortunate lady wrote to the Due de Richelieu 
 that one man in tiie crowd called her by a most offensive
 
 228 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 name, while another spat upon her nose ! She was 
 glad to escape without being torn to pieces by the mob, 
 who were frantically applauding the King whom she 
 had stirred up to perform the kingly deeds for which he 
 was receiving the plaudits of his people. 
 
 Long before his return to Paris, Louis had com- 
 menced to look with hatred upon all those who in any 
 way reminded him of the humiliating part that he had 
 been compelled to play during his illness. The Due de 
 Richelieu, the Marquis de Meuse, and the old party 
 of the favourites were now once more high in the King's 
 good graces ; while he was furious with the priests, 
 the Princes, and the Dues de Bouillon and de la Roche- 
 foucauld, who had taken advantage of his weakness 
 to compel him, while humbling himself, to send his 
 mistresses away. 
 
 Especially was he enraged with the Due de Chatillon 
 and his wife, owing to tidings that had come to him 
 from Spain that the Queen and Royal Family at Madrid 
 were openly rejoicing at the disgrace of Chateauroux, 
 full particulars of which had been communicated to 
 Elizabeth Farnese by some person unknown. 
 
 The King having upbraided the Spanish Ambassador 
 with being the culprit, Montijo warmly disclaimed 
 having sent any report on the matter, and sent off at 
 once to Spain to find out the facts. He and Vaur6al, 
 the French Ambassador, between them contrived to 
 make the Queen of Spain confess the truth — namely, 
 that the Duchesse de Chatillon had written everything 
 to her, while violently abusing and sneering at the 
 disgraced mistress. Although Louis had already written 
 and signed the lettre de cachet exiling the Dauphin's 
 Governor, he was waiting to make a present of his
 
 Vengeance of Madame de Chateauroux 229 
 
 disgrace to Chateauroux until his return ; as he was 
 anxious to do anything in his power to appease the 
 woman whose anger he feared and from whom he was by 
 no means assured that he would meet with a favourable 
 reception. For he well knew the proud spirit of the young 
 Duchessede Chateauroux. Considering herself the daughter 
 of the Conde, she asserted herself as of the Blood Royal, 
 and was not likel}^ to yield once more to the King with- 
 out exacting vengeance upon her enemies. 
 
 On the night of November 14th, 1744, the Queen having 
 foolishly told her ladies not to open at once when the 
 King scratched upon the door of her apartment, Louis 
 left the Tuileries at once in high dudgeon, and proceeded 
 incognito to the house of Madame de Chateauroux, in 
 the Rue du Bac. 
 
 Taken entirely by surprise, and extremely agitated, 
 that lady declared to the King at first that it would 
 cause " too many heads to fall " if she should accede 
 to his request and return to the Court. It was in vain 
 that the King endeavoured to induce his former favourite 
 to return with him tliat vcvy night to Versailles. He did 
 not, however, wish to cut off any heads. 
 
 The liaughty beauty then demanded from him the 
 exile of Maurepas and his wife, of Chatillon, who stirred 
 the Dauphin up against her, of the Due de Bouillon, 
 de la Rochefoucauld, Pere Perusseau, Balleroy, formerly 
 Governor of the Due de Chartres, and of Fitz- James, 
 Bishop of Soissons. Louis replied that he would give 
 her all these, and Madame de Chatillon also, only ex- 
 cepting the Comte de Maurepas, for him he could not 
 get on without, he made the work of the State so easy. 
 He wilhngly agreed, however, to humiliate Maurepas 
 in any other way she chose.
 
 230 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 It was decided between them, at length, that 
 Maurepas was to be forced to undergo a cruel mortifi- 
 cation. This was, to be made personally the bearer of 
 a letter of humble excuses from the King to the 
 Duchesse, which letter should also demand her to 
 return to the Court and there resume the charge of 
 which she had been deprived. Her sister de Lauraguais 
 was to return to the Court also. 
 
 This having been decided, the favourite melted 
 towards the King and he passed the night in the 
 Rue du Bac. The agitations of that night were, 
 however, too much for Madame de Chateauroux, especi- 
 ally after all the disgrace and suffering that she had 
 undergone already. The next day she had a violent 
 headache, which soon developed into a high fever. All 
 of her vengeances were^ however^ carried out except 
 that of Perusseau, which, from a spirit of facetiousness, 
 Louis varied, by keeping the priest for a long time upon 
 tenterhooks as to whether he should be exiled or no. 
 The King in the meantime caused him personally to pre- 
 sent at the Court, to himself, the Queen, Dauphin, and 
 Dauphine, the priest whom he was given to understand 
 was going to replace him in the post of confessor to His 
 Majesty. Out of revenge for the way in which Perusseau 
 had left the handsome favourite in uncertainty as to 
 her approaching fate at Metz, the King kept up this 
 farce with Perusseau for a long time after the death 
 of Madame de Chateauroux, but finally pardoned him. 
 For that unhappy woman died a month later as the 
 result of her fever, although not until she had had the 
 satisfaction of humiliating Phelippeaux de Maurepas, and 
 seeing her other enemies sent off into exile. When her 
 old enemy, and uncle, brought her the King's letter
 
 I'loni an cii!j;raviiig a/ler lite pniiilhii; by \til/icr. 
 
 MADAM !•: DE CM ATEAUROUX.
 
 Vengeance of Madame de Chateauroux 231 
 
 of apology and, moreover, sought with a pohte grace 
 to kiss her hand, she merely snapped at him the words 
 " Be off with you ! " as though he were a dog. 
 
 During her illness the sick woman frequently 
 declared that she was still suffering from the effects 
 of the poison which Maurepas had caused to be put into 
 her medicine at Reims ; she also accused the now humble 
 Minister of having poisoned the King's letter before handing 
 it to her; and by many the former charge was considered 
 to be true. The youthful Marquise de la Tournelle 
 had already enjoyed the satisfaction of humbling her 
 aunt upon the occasion of her first presentation at Court 
 in her rank of Duchesse. Then, while she and several 
 other grandes dames had, as peeresses, been accorded 
 the " tabouret " and permitted to sit in the Royal pre- 
 sence, Madame de Maurepas was forced to attend the 
 ceremony and stand in the presence of the niece whom 
 she had so cruelly ejected from her house. A truly 
 sweet revenge ! 
 
 Of Madame de Chateauroux's other enemies, the Due 
 and Duchesse de Chatillon were for ever banished ; the 
 Due de Bouillon was exiled to an old castle at 
 Albret, in Navarre, which had not been lived in 
 for two hundred years ; the Due de la Rochefoucauld 
 was sent to Rocheguyon, with strict orders that he 
 was only allowed to go from Rocheguyon to Liancourt 
 and from Liancourt to Rocheguyon. Fitz- James, that 
 illegal offshoot of the Stuart race, was exiled to his 
 diocese of Soissons, but the King's vengeance did not end 
 there. Although the Pretender had promised to obtain his 
 illegitimate relative the Cardinal's hat, the King exercised 
 the right, which he enjoyed in common with the rulers 
 of Spain and Austria, by which they could refuse to
 
 232 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 allow their subjects to accept the dignity of the Car- 
 dinalate. For the rest of his life Fitz- James was compelled 
 to remain a mere Bishop. He took his revenge by 
 writing to the King occasionally, to remind him that 
 he would die some day, and by saying that in the mean- 
 time " his greatest pleasure was to remember that once 
 His Majesty had shown signs of repentance and humility." 
 Balleroy, whose crime had been that he had composed 
 the fulminations pronounced at Metz by Fitz- James, 
 and also had stirred up the Due de Chartres to show 
 his resentment with the other Princes, was not for- 
 gotten : he was exiled to Normandy for life. 
 
 In this manner did Marie Anne, the most important 
 and over-bearing of the four Nesle favourites, have her 
 revenge — one indeed which lasted long after she was gone. 
 During her illness the King became once more sufficiently 
 religious to offer up prayers himself and to send money 
 to all the churches of Versailles to obtain Masses for 
 his mistress ; but the bought Masses, like his own 
 prayers, proved unavailing. She was before dying 
 reconciled to her sister de Mailly, and also, in a touching 
 scene, to Madame de Flavacourt, with whom she had 
 not been on good terms. She was waited upon by that 
 daughter of the Regent the Duchess of Modena, and at- 
 tended by the Jesuit Father Segaud, who expressed himself 
 as being most edified by her exemplary sentiments ; and 
 just before she died the Sacraments were taken to her 
 by Languet, the Cure of Saint-Sulpice. Thus, in every 
 manner, were the circumstances attending her end far 
 less cruel and tragic than had been those in connection 
 with the death of her elder sister, Madame de Vintimille. 
 Madame de Chateauroux, widow of Jean Louis Marquis de 
 la Tournelle, Lieutenant-Colonel of the infantry regiment
 
 Vengeance of Madame de Chateauroux 233 
 
 of Conde, a Duchesse and peeress of France by letters 
 patent of 1743, was interred in the chapel of Saint Michel 
 at Saint-Sulpice upon December loth, 1744. 
 
 With her death, so far as is known, ceased the con- 
 nection of Louis XV. with the Nesle family. For the 
 memoir writers of the time make no further mention 
 of his liaison with the Duchesse de Lauraguais ; while, in 
 spite of his advances, Madame de Flavacourt, the greatest 
 beauty of the family, persisted in refusing to allow the 
 name of a fifth sister to be united by the tongue of scandal 
 with that of Louis XV. She remarked grandiloquently 
 to Richelieu, who came to make her brilliant offers 
 from the King, " If that is all, I prefer the esteem of 
 my contemporaries ! " 
 
 It affords a strange picture of the times when we 
 read that the Duchesses of Modena, Boufflers, and Belle- 
 fonds retired to Trianon to weep with the King ; that 
 the Dauphin, the Prince de Conti, the Royal Dues de 
 Chartres and Penthievre came there to share their sorrow ; 
 and that the Queen herself wrote and asked permission 
 to be allowed to come and mingle her tears with his 
 own. While that Royal Prince the Due de Chartres 
 obtained as a favour — as a relation of the dead woman ! 
 — permission to wear mourning for her, the Queen 
 received, as usual, a sharp and brutal reply to her 
 offered sympathy — Louis wrote a curt letter which was 
 a strict order to her to keep away.
 
 CHAPTER XIX 
 The Battle of Fontenoy 
 
 1745 
 
 While the Duchesse de Chateauroux was dying in 
 Paris, things were going badly with Frederick the Great, 
 and this young warrior, at the age of thirty-two, came 
 near to meeting with an untimely end. 
 
 Upon again taking up arms as the ally of France, 
 he marched into Bohemia with a hundred thousand 
 men, and took Prague. Although he had sent a mes- 
 senger to urge Coigny and Noailles to perform the French 
 part in the contract and attack the Austrians on the 
 Rhine, those two dotards, as we know, let them go to 
 join the myriads of light troops, Pandours of Trenk and 
 Hussars of Mentzel, who were already unceasingly 
 harassing the Prussian. 
 
 Daily he was seeing some of his magazines of stores, 
 his supplies of food, cut off and captured, when the 
 second Austrian army arrived from the Rhine and he 
 found himself overwhelmed by a sea of enemies. Then 
 it was that the Prussian army, sorely tried, showed that 
 wonderful condition of discipline and valour with which 
 they had been already inspired by their young and 
 heroic commander. While retreating slowly, Frederick 
 displayed most remarkable firmness. Repeatedly halt- 
 
 234
 
 The Battle of Fontenoy 235 
 
 ing in well-chosen positions, he showed a bold front. 
 On October 24th he offered battle in form, but the 
 enemy preferred to decline the contest, while trying to 
 wear out and starve out the retreating forces, and con- 
 stantly watching for an opportunity to fall upon some 
 part of Frederick's army when separated from the main 
 forces. 
 
 His garrison left in Prague was meanwhile reduced 
 to the same condition as the French had been in 1742. 
 Their retreat, which commenced in the bitter winter 
 weather at the end of November, also resembled in its 
 awful hardships the cruel retreat of Belle-Isle to Egra 
 in the December of that year ; half of the force was 
 frozen. 
 
 At one moment the Prussian King came very near 
 to being killed or captured. He had, with his Guards 
 and Head-quarter Staff, entered Kolin. There was 
 considerable confusion accompanying the entry into 
 the place, when the barbaric hordes without charged 
 the advanced guard of the Prussian army, rolled them 
 up, and charged into the streets of the city. Had 
 this attack been well pushed home, Frederick must 
 have fallen or have suffered the ignoble fate of being 
 taken alive to his implacable enemy Maria Theresa. 
 
 Cursing the bad faith of his French allies, Frederick 
 contrived to right matters, and, during his continued 
 retreat, to keep his army together in the face of the 
 numberless swarms of the pursuers. At length, by 
 good generalship, he managed to arrive in Silesia with 
 all his corps united. There he turned upon the foe 
 like a lion at bay, and, at the point of the bayonet, 
 drove back the Austrian masses before him like chaff 
 before the wind. They, in their turn, were now
 
 n^ The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 compelled to sleep without shelter for five nights upon 
 the frozen snow, whence many never rose again. 
 
 Louis XV., after the death of the high-born 
 favourite whom, as the supposed daughter of M. 
 le Due de Bourbon, Prince de Conde, he had always 
 dignified by addressing as " Priiicesse," had not for 
 long contented himself with his parties of pleasure 
 at his chateau at Choisy with the Court ladies whom 
 he invited without their husbands. By the beginning 
 of April he was already suited with a new official 
 mistress — a low-born one this time, who from child- 
 hood had marked out the King for her prey, and 
 who, by her various accomplishments, talents, and 
 ambitions, was fated to make some noise in the world 
 during the ensuing twenty years. The Duchesse de 
 Chateauroux had already been so jealous of this lady, 
 in anticipation, that once, when the Duchesse de Chev- 
 reuse praised her looks to the King, she took a signal 
 revenge. Moving over to where Madame de Chevreuse 
 was sitting, she carefully selected the foot upon which 
 she knew that lady suffered with a bad corn. With her 
 own high heel Madame de Chateauroux stamped so 
 viciously upon that corn that she crushed corn and 
 toe together, Madame de Chevreuse, fainting with 
 the agony thus caused, had to be carried off to her bed. 
 Warned by the example made of her, the other Court 
 ladies were careful to make no further mention to the 
 King of she who was then merely known as "la petite 
 d'Etioles " — concerning whom more later. 
 
 In the beginning of May, 1745, Louis had a fancy 
 to go off once more and see what was taking place at 
 the seat of war in Flanders. There the army was now 
 commanded by the half-Saxon, half- Polish, and Protestant
 
 The Battle of Fontenoy 237 
 
 Comte Maurice de Saxe, whom the King had created a 
 Marechal de France. He had with him another dis- 
 tinguished foreign officer, a friend of his own named 
 Lowenthal, or Lowendhal, upon whom he could rely. 
 Saxe was, however, greatly hampered by the jealousies, 
 almost amounting to insubordination, of the French 
 Generals under him. The presence of the King seemed 
 necessary to produce any sort of union in the army. 
 
 Before his arrival the forces were very largely 
 strengthened at the expense of the army of the Rhine. 
 When Louis arrived at the camp before Tournai, in 
 Austrian Flanders, which is now a frontier town of 
 Belgium, in the province of Hainault, there were little 
 short of eighty thousand men with the army. 
 
 Tournai was being besieged, but the allies, under 
 the Duke of Cumberland, son of George II., were ap- 
 proaching to relieve the place. These consisted of the 
 British, Dutch, and Hanoverians, with some Austrians, 
 about fifty-five thousand men in all. The Austrians 
 were under the wise old General Koenigseck. 
 
 On May 9th Louis learned that these were about 
 to attack near Fontenoy, some five miles south-east of 
 Tournai, where Saxe had given orders for his army to 
 take up a strong position on rising ground. This com- 
 mander was himself suffering severely at this time from 
 dropsy, brought on by his excesses, and he therefore 
 had to rely considerably upon his subordinates. 
 
 The allies attacked on May loth, drove in the French 
 outposts, and halted for the night under arms. Saxe, 
 who had been tapped that morning for his dropsy, 
 caused himself to be carried in a sort of basket-carriage 
 to the position, upon inspecting which he found that its 
 fault consisted in having the River Escaut in the rear.
 
 238 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 Across this river he had several bridges thrown, one 
 especially as a line of retreat for the King in case of 
 necessity. 
 
 Louis, jealous as ever of the Dauphin, upon pro- 
 ceeding to the front on the night of May 9th, purposely 
 left the Dauphin behind him sleeping, giving orders 
 that he was not to be awakened. The outpost fighting, 
 however, on the loth gave the Dauphin time to rejoin 
 his father before the battle of Fontenoy, which com- 
 menced early on May nth, 1745. 
 
 There are many accounts of this battle, of which 
 some appear to be wilfully misleading. Such, for 
 instance, are the remarks of that modern writer Guizot, 
 who says, " The King and Dauphin had already taken 
 up their positions of battle," as though Louis XV. 
 had personally taken a part in the contest. Untrue also 
 is the statement, from British sources, that " Brigadier- 
 General Ingoldsby, who had been ordered to pierce the 
 wood with a division, retired with dishonour," the 
 truth being that that gallant officer, who was severely 
 wounded, was given orders, by the Duke of Cumberland 
 himself and others, of such a remarkably contradictory 
 nature that, after commencing his advance, he obeyed 
 the last given orders and remained on his ground, having, 
 in fact, no other alternative. Never was a brave officer 
 more falsely maligned than Ingoldsby, and never was 
 there a greater misfortune than that he should have 
 been stopped during his advance upon the redoubt 
 and wood of Barry, in front of him, early in the day, 
 and compelled to remain inactive under a heavy fire. 
 
 The French position contained three villages, which 
 were strongly fortified and supplied with a hundred and 
 twenty cannon. These were Barry on the right, Fontenoy
 
 The Battle of Fontenoy 239 
 
 in the middle, and Antoing on the left. It was in rear 
 of these three villages, upon high ground, that the 
 main French army was posted. There was a little 
 wood near Barry, and a plain between that place and 
 Fontenoy, near wliich there was also some wooded 
 ground. 
 
 In front of these villages were two ravines, which 
 Cumberland had to cross with his infantry in order to 
 attack, but which were impracticable for his cavalry. 
 The guns which he took with him were drawn by hand. 
 Thus the position was, as admitted by their writers, 
 distinctly in favour of the French ; although, in case 
 of a reverse, the retreat of many thousands of men 
 across the River Escaut by bridges could only prove 
 disastrous. 
 
 To guard these bridges there were left twenty thou- 
 sand men on the river banks, who were, therefore, out 
 of action and useless ; while in order to protect the King 
 a force of six thousand men, including the Household 
 Cavalry, gendarmerie, and flower of the army, were left 
 with him in a post out of danger. This was near a mill 
 on high ground, and a battery of artillery was also left 
 there to protect the King and the Dauphin, who was 
 unwillingly compelled to remain inactive with his 
 father. 
 
 In this post of security, well protected, when first 
 the cannons began to roar, Louis showed himself very 
 lively while the carnage was commencing elsewhere. 
 He, surrounded by his Ministers and Household troops, 
 started singing a very free soldiers' song, causing those 
 around him to join in the chorus. 
 
 While the King was brave thus — at a distance — the 
 English, Dutch, and Hanoverians started to cross the
 
 240 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 two ravines, and attack under the fire of all the heavy 
 guns in the three redoubts in the villages. The in- 
 centive to this gallant advance was nothing less than 
 the capture of the King of France. There were in the 
 ranks of the allies many sons of the persecuted French 
 Huguenots who were thirsting for the Bourbon blood 
 of the great-grandson of the cruel Louis XIV. 
 
 The fault in the disposition of the French troops, 
 which Saxe early recognised, was that there was a con- 
 siderable opening which had been left between those at 
 Barry and those at Fontenoy. He had now left his 
 basket-carriage and mounted his horse, but he was unable 
 to correct this fault before a huge column of English 
 and Hanoverians crossed the ravines, traversed the 
 plain under the terrific cross-fire of the redoubts at 
 Barry and Fontenoy, and continued slowly and steadily 
 to advance through this opening, leaving the French 
 cannon useless behind them. Another column, of Dutch 
 troops, meanwhile advanced towards Antoing on the 
 French left, all of these troops marching admirably in 
 order of battle. This column had on its right a force of 
 British cavalry under Campbell, but the cannonade of 
 Antoing checked the Dutch, while Campbell having 
 his thigh shattered by a cannon-ball, his horse were 
 driven back by the French cavalry, under the Comte 
 d'Eu and the Chevalier d'Apcher. 
 
 Meanwhile, the combined British and Hanoverian 
 column, fourteen thousand strong, continued its slow 
 advance, forming itself into three great faces — that is, 
 in shape of a square from which the hinder face had 
 been removed. These three faces carried on a terrible 
 rolling fire while their guns, drawn by hand, created 
 frightful havoc. Approaching Fontenoy, they scattered
 
 The Battle of Fontenoy 241 
 
 the French battahons opposed to them and carried 
 all before them. 
 
 A line of French infantry, of the regiments of the 
 King and of Aubeterre, of the Swiss Guards and Gardes 
 Frangaises, now advanced to within fifty paces of the 
 British column. At the first volley these troops lost 
 twenty-nine officers and two hundred and seventy-five 
 men, after which the (iardes Fran9aises behaved badly 
 and would not face the stern and solid ranks of the foe, 
 who next drove back in succession all the other regiments 
 who followed this first line. 
 
 Saxe now endeavoured to attack the three-sided 
 square from two flanks at once. The right attack, 
 however, arriving first, was crumpled up entirely by the 
 British, and it seemed as if the moment of the French 
 defeat had arrived. Saxe, in fact, now sent the Mar- 
 quis de Meuse to request " the man of the mill," as 
 Frederick the Great says Louis was called, to retire 
 across the river. And meanwhile the Marechal com- 
 menced the withdrawal of some of his troops. It is 
 from the recital of the Due de Richelieu that the best 
 account is given of the subsequent events, although 
 that noble glorifies himself too much when he suggests 
 that he alone saw that the four cannon which the King 
 had with him could be better employed in firing upon 
 the unbroken square, for all saw this plainly, while it 
 was a young artillery officer who suggested to Richelieu 
 how to use them. 
 
 After crushing the right attack, the British and 
 Hanoverian column next turned its attention to the left 
 attack, and, while the French made all kinds of useless 
 attempts to divide this irresistible body, their cavalry 
 squadrons and infantry alike melted away before its 
 
 VOL. I. 16
 
 242 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 determined valour. Advancing still further, it com- 
 pleted the division of the French forces. Three times 
 was the regiment des Vaisseaux, commanded by de 
 Guerchy, driven back in disorder ; the horse of the leader 
 was killed, and himself injured. The Prince de Craon 
 was killed at the head of his corps, while Colonel Dillon 
 in the Irish Brigade fell mortally wounded while leading 
 on his men. 
 
 The Marechal de Saxe rallied his beaten men and 
 sent them forward again in conjunction with the Irish 
 Brigade under Lord Clare, who attacked the right flank 
 of the great square with fury — but in vain. 
 
 For five hours did the British and Hanoverian corps 
 thus victoriously maintain themselves before the on- 
 slaughts of a whole army, but the Dutch meanwhile had 
 been compelled to retire. 
 
 While the French troops were thus being slaughtered 
 in detail, a number of Lieutenant-Generals, not knowing 
 what to do, rode up to the King asking for his orders 
 and saying that all was lost, that there were no means 
 to break into this unbreakable column, and that the time 
 had come to retire. The Due de Richelieu then asked 
 the King's permission to join in a fresh charge with de 
 Guerchy and his already broken corps, in order to see 
 close at hand what was the condition of affairs. The 
 Dauphin also requested permission to charge with the 
 Household Cavalry, for which request the King never 
 forgave his son, since it showed up his own cowardly 
 inactivity. Richelieu was allowed to go, but the Dauphin 
 ordered to remain at the mill with his father. Here, 
 when some cannon-balls struck the ground or passed 
 overhead, Louis XV. descended to a lower and safer 
 position.
 
 The Battle of Fontenoy 243 
 
 Richelieu charged with a brigade under de Guerchy, 
 which was repulsed, when he came back and made his 
 report to the King. We will now quote from his own 
 words, in a relation of the circumstances of this famous 
 battle which he wrote out for King Louis XVI. nearly 
 forty years later. 
 
 " There were none of those with Louis XV. who did 
 not propose a retreat and recognise the impossibility 
 of a victory with troops as frightened as ours. Only 
 the Due de Richelieu ventured to give a contrary opinion. 
 He remarked that with the system of attacking by 
 successive small bodies it was impossible that our troops 
 could gain any advantage over the hostile infantry. 
 He added that he had no doubt that by cannonading 
 this column, which was tightly packed together, it could 
 be reduced to a state of great disorder, which would 
 give back to our troops their courage and enable them 
 to attack the mass from all parts at once, especially as 
 it was unsupported by any cavalry. Then, if the enemy 
 was not broken by the cannonading, it would be always 
 time enough to retreat, but that without this previous 
 cannonading a retreat could only be effected with the 
 greatest danger. 
 
 " Some one replied, ' Where could we get the 
 cannon ? ' 
 
 " ' Quite close by,' replied the Due de Richelieu ; ' I 
 have just seen a battery.' 
 
 " They answered that the Marechal de Saxe had 
 forbidden to remove this battery. 
 
 "The Due de Richelieu remarked that this order 
 had been given by the Marechal before the present 
 condition of affairs, but that the King was far above 
 any General in the army.
 
 244 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 " Nobody dared to say any more, when the Due de 
 Richeheu asked the King if His Majesty would be good 
 enough to order that one might take the cannon of the 
 said battery. 
 
 " His Majesty, much upset, consented, after having 
 hesitated for some time. The Due de Richeheu then 
 told an officer whom he knew, named Isnard, to go and 
 bring the cannon as quickly as possible, and Isnard 
 obeyed with the greatest promptitude. There was not 
 a single cannon-shot which did not produce its effect, 
 and a terrible carnage was the result. Then we (the 
 Household Cavalry) charged on all sides and succeeded 
 in driving them completely away ; which gave such 
 courage to our troops that it became scarcely necessary 
 to give them any orders. The enemy only thought 
 of retiring in disorder, being charged from all sides." 
 
 So far the Due de Richelieu ; another excellent 
 account was given of the battle in a letter written on 
 May 14th by the valet de chambre of the Marechal de Saxe, 
 who was among the six thousand of the Household 
 retained near the miU to protect the King. 
 
 After describing the courage of the dropsical Comte 
 de Saxe, who remained nine hours on horseback in spite 
 of the misery he suffered ; after also stating that the 
 allies lost sixty-three officers, three being Generals, and 
 that he saw between four thousand and five thousand 
 of their wounded on the ground, he says that the French 
 took forty-four pieces of cannon and a quantity of 
 stores from " these proud English, whom I do not think 
 will appear again before us during this campaign. 
 
 " Now see our glory ! This is what we risked. The 
 enemy first of all attacked a village and a redoubt which 
 we had on the right. It contained two brigades of
 
 The Battle of Fontenoy 245 
 
 infantry and eight pieces of cannon, commanded by 
 M. de Lutau. The enemy carried this work after a 
 frightful carnage. We attacked again without losing 
 breath and carried it at once. The enemy attacked 
 in front . The fire and the bloodshed were awful on both 
 sides. Our infantry was driven back after a two hours' 
 conflict. The first and the second line of cavalry were 
 ordered to advance ; they were also driven back. 
 
 " At last Louis XV., who was present, performed 
 miracles — for a King. He went so far as to rally his 
 troops himself, saying to them with sweetness, ' Come ! 
 courage, my children ! Return ! I am going to put 
 myself at your head.' And to others he said, with his 
 whip in his hand : ' You are miserable wretches to 
 abandon your comrades who are getting their throats 
 cut.' " 
 
 Miracles indeed ! for a King like Louis XV. ; but 
 what did Frederick of Prussia have to say of such miracles 
 — for a King ? Also what would have been the opinion 
 of his ancestor Henry of Navarre ? To return to our 
 valet de chambre, he proceeds : 
 
 " The enemy continued to advance and became 
 almost masters of the field of battle. 
 
 " The King, sweating great drops and all consterna- 
 tion, as also Monseigneur the Dauphin, said under these 
 circumstances, ' Let my Household be advanced.' And 
 he retired lower down, because the balls were coming 
 up to his feet at every moment and often passed him. 
 All seemed lost for us. 
 
 " We marched upon the enemy and attacked a 
 battalion square of from ten to twelve thousand men. 
 In a first and second charge we could never break them. 
 In a third we shook them a little, but without making
 
 246 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 them yield an inch of ground. Their fire crushed us. 
 We sent word to the King under these circumstances, 
 that his household stood firm, and that all would go 
 well, only that we wanted some infantry and a few 
 pieces of cannon. He sent us what we asked for. 
 
 " Again we attacked ; the infantry made a little 
 daylight for us. We entered into the battalion sword 
 in hand and put them to flight, pursuing as far as a 
 wood. Then the soldiers threw their hats into the air, 
 crying, ' Vive le roi — the battle is gained ! ' The whole 
 of the army was rallied among the unfortunate corpses." 
 
 A very cruel circumstance in connection with the 
 battle of Fontenoy was that attending the death of the 
 young Seigneur de Castelmoron, a boy fifteen years old. 
 He was of the family of Bethune, of the blood of the 
 Dues de Sully. 
 
 A cavalry standard-bearer, being run away with by 
 his horse, was surrounded by the enemy. This boy called 
 five men to accompany him, charged, and brought back 
 the man and the flag in safety. 
 
 He was modest to a degree and never mentioned 
 the circumstance, which, however, became known in 
 Paris, where many of the great nobles became jealous 
 of the brilliancy of the brave lad's action. Among 
 these a certain Monteclair superciliously called him 
 ' Child ! ' Castelmoron, to prove that he was a man, 
 challenged the bully Monteclair, who ran the poor boy 
 through and stretched him dead at his feet. It was 
 an act of sheer cold-blooded murder, for which, however, 
 no punishment was inflicted. 
 
 The result of the battle of Fontenoy, in which each 
 side lost about seven thousand men, proved very favour- 
 able to Louis. Tournay yielded to him, and the citadel
 
 The Battle of Fontenoy 247 
 
 of that town fell nineteen days later. The Comte de 
 Lovvendhal and the Marquis du Chayla took Gand in 
 the following month, Bruges soon followed, and then 
 Lowendhal took Oudenarde. In August the Due 
 d'Harcourt caused Dendermonde to capitulate, and at 
 the same time Lowendhal opened his trenches before 
 Ostend, the Austrian garrison of which yielded, notwith- 
 standing that the English were throwing in provisions 
 to the city from the sea. After taking Ostend, 
 Lowendhal captured Nieuport, taking all its garrison 
 prisoners of war. 
 
 There still remained belonging to the Queen of 
 Hungary the town of Ath, between the Dendre and the 
 sea. Before the end of the autumn of 1745 the Lieu- 
 tenant-General de Clermont-Gallerande reduced Ath 
 also. Thus Maria Theresa had lost nearly all of the 
 Low Countries. She continued, however, haughty as 
 ever, and refused to treat for peace upon any other 
 basis than the indivisibility of the Austrian possessions. 
 Louis accordingly instructed the Marechal de Saxe, 
 although winter had fallen, to proceed to attack Brussels, 
 the capital of Brabant. 
 
 Saxe invested Brussels, at the end of January, 1746, 
 from all sides. Within a week he reduced the place to 
 submission, capturing all the garrison, including seventeen 
 Lieut enant-Generals, on February 7th. After Brussels, 
 Lierres, Louvain, Malines, and many other places sur- 
 rendered ; it being on May 31st, or more than a year 
 after Fontenoy, that the Comte de Clermont, a Prince 
 of the Blood, by the capture of Antwerp, completed the 
 conquest of all Brabant. Mons, in the province of 
 Hainault, and Charleroi were soon added to the list of 
 fallen places by the Prince de Conti, and Saint-Guilhain
 
 248 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 by the Marquis de la Fare ; while the clever manoeuvres 
 of the Marechal de Saxe between the Meuse and the sea 
 rendered the reduction of the city of Namur a simple 
 matter for the Comte de Clermont. This city fell upon 
 September 30th, 1746. 
 
 While victorious everywhere in the Low Countries, 
 the French, who had weakened their army on the Rhine, 
 had been compelled to recross that river. In Italy, 
 however, the French, Spanish, and Genoese forces had 
 defeated and separated the allied Austrian and Pied- 
 mont ese troops. In the meantime the cause of all this 
 war, the Bavarian Emperor Charles VII., had died in 
 January, 1745, and Francis of Lorraine, the husband of 
 Maria Theresa, had been elected Emperor in his stead.
 
 CHAPTER XX 
 
 Mademoiselle Lecouvreur and the Marechal 
 
 de Saxe 
 
 1720 — 1750 
 
 The career of the Comte Maurice de Saxe, the victor 
 of Fontenoy, was one of remarkable interest. Bom of 
 the Swedish Countess of Koenigsmark on October 19th, 
 1696, he was one of the several hundred illegitimate 
 children of whom the Elector Frederick Augustus I. 
 of Saxony (afterwards King Augustus II. of Poland) 
 was credited with being the father. 
 
 At the early age of twelve Maurice was already a 
 soldier, and, serving under Prince Eugene, was present 
 at the sieges of Tournay and Mons, and present also in the 
 bloody battle of Malplaquet in 1708. There Marlborough 
 and Eugene lost twenty thousand men in a victory over 
 the Marechals de Boufflers and Villars, who only lost 
 seven thousand, although driven from their entrench- 
 ments. Thus the boy saw war in its bloodiest aspects 
 from his tenderest years, and, at the age of fifteen, he 
 was given the command of a cavalry regiment, at the 
 head of which he fought at Stralsund. In 1717, 1718, 
 and 1720 we find the young man engaged still in the 
 Austrian service in the most arduous warfare against 
 the Turks, who were constantly invading Hungary and 
 
 249
 
 250 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 other parts of the hereditary dominions of the Hapsburg 
 Emperor Joseph I. 
 
 In the meantime he had not neglected to study 
 both the arts of mathematics and the arts of love. 
 The Princess Anna Ivanovna, niece of Peter the Great 
 of Russia, became in 17 10 the widow of Duke Frederick 
 William of Courland. This is a Baltic province of 
 Russia which in those days was ruled by sovereign dukes. 
 Its capital is Mitau, and it possesses two good seaports 
 in Libau and Windau. Of this Princess the young 
 Maurice, who was remarkably handsome and manly in 
 every way, became the acknowledged lover and favourite. 
 When in 1730 the boy-Emperor Peter II., grandson of 
 Peter the Great, died, Anna succeeded to the throne of 
 Russia. Had it not been for his infidelities to her, Saxe 
 would have been able to share this throne with the 
 Empress, as also at an earlier date that of Courland. 
 This duchy she would at all events have given to him had 
 he continued sufficiently devoted, even although his 
 jealous father, Augustus of Saxony and Poland, opposed 
 the elevation of the son of the Countess of Koenigsmark 
 to the condition of a sovereign ruler. 
 
 As it was, Anna made over Courland, which then 
 acknowledged the suzerainty of Poland, to another 
 favourite, whom she had selected from the lowest classes. 
 This was a Russian adventurer named Biron, or Biihren, 
 who, the grandson of a groom, was a groom himself. 
 After living for some time with Biihren in Mitau, Anna 
 took him with her to St. Petersburg, made him Grand 
 Chamberlain, and heaped riches upon him. Biihren, 
 then elevated to the rank of a duke, had the effrontery 
 to assume the coat-of-arms and name of the celebrated 
 French ducal family of Biron. At the same time he
 
 Mademoiselle Lecouvreur 251 
 
 became practically the Emperor of Russia. The Princess 
 Dolgorouki, who, when Anna was made Empress, had 
 kicked Biron out of her closet and made it a condition 
 that he should remain in Mitau, became one of the first 
 victims of his vengeance. Executions followed each 
 other, and thousands died — neither age nor sex being 
 spared. One of Biron 's favourite cruelties was causing 
 his victims, men and women, to be put naked under the 
 spouts of pumps in winter time and frozen to death ! 
 
 Such was the man whom Anna sent to Courland to 
 oppose the election to the ducal dignity of Maurice de 
 Saxe, when the nobility of Courland, terrified of the 
 man whom formerly they would not recognise and of 
 all the weight of Russia behind him, made Biron their 
 sovereign. 
 
 The Empress Anna died in 1740, leaving Biron as 
 Regent of Russia during the infancy of her great -nephew 
 Ivan VII. Field-Marshal Miinich, however, conspiring 
 in favour of the infant Ivan's mother, the Princess Anna, 
 for the Regency, contrived to have Biron seized in his 
 bed on the night of November 20th, 1740. He was 
 condemned to death, but unfortunately spared and sent 
 by Miinich into exile and imprisonment for life into 
 Siberia, where the Field-Marshal had caused a prison 
 to be expressly prepared for the ruler of Courland. In 
 the following year, 1741, Elizabeth Petrovna, the daughter 
 of Peter the Great and Catharine I., obtained the throne. 
 She recalled Biron, and sent Miinich to occupy his prison, 
 which was at Pelvin, six hundred miles beyond Tobolsk. 
 The two antagonists met in Kazan while changing 
 post-horses. They looked at each other, but did not 
 speak ! 
 
 Biron was now ordered to live in Zaroslaw, but when.
 
 252 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 in 1762, Elizabeth was succeeded by her nephew Peter III., 
 that Prince recalled Biron and sent him back as ruler to 
 Courland, where, on dying in 1772, he was succeeded by his 
 elder son Peter. Catharine II. of Russia, however, 
 seized the Duchy of Courland twenty-three years 
 later, whose history since 1795 has therefore become 
 that of Russia. 
 
 Peter Biron purchased several ducal estates in Prussia, 
 notably that of Sagan, where he died in 1800. One of his 
 four daughters, first known as the Duchess of Dino and 
 afterwards as the Duchess of Sagan, was still an orna- 
 mental figure in political and aristocratic European 
 society in the middle of the nineteenth century. Thus, 
 even in the times of those still living have the grand- 
 children of the opponent of Maurice de Saxe been well 
 known. He, meanwhile, after the Turkish war of 1720 
 had repaired to Paris, where he asked for, and obtained, 
 a command from Philippe, Due d'Orleans, the Regent, 
 to whom the fact of Saxe being a Protestant made no 
 difference. 
 
 From his first appearance in Paris Maurice excited 
 the greatest interest, which was increased when he com- 
 menced to discipline and manoeuvre a French regiment 
 according to an entirely new scheme of his own devising. 
 It was not until 1726 that he proceeded to Courland for 
 the first time from Paris, in order to endeavour to obtain 
 the Duchy. At that time his design was favoured by the 
 then Duchess Anna Ivanovna, whom there was some 
 question of his then marrying. His election was duly 
 secured, but the opposition of Russia and his father 
 the King of Poland compelled Maurice de Saxe to give 
 up Courland and return to Paris. In 1728 the Duchess, 
 who was still in love with him, recalled him once more,
 
 Mademoiselle Lecouvreur 253 
 
 after which she turned her affections to Biron, as we have 
 described. 
 
 During the first quarter of the eighteenth century 
 there already existed in Paris a woman whom it has been 
 said that Voltaire " tenderly loved." If this was true, 
 his love can only have existed and been returned for a 
 time before it developed into a very close friendship, 
 during which Voltaire was the complaisant confidant of 
 the lady's love for another, whom she sought to idealise 
 as a veritable hero. The lady was Mademoiselle Le- 
 couvreur, the celebrated actress, and the man to whom 
 she devoted herself was the Comte Maurice de Saxe. 
 
 It is said of Mademoiselle Lecouvreur that she was 
 " a rare person, admired and adored and, what was more, 
 esteemed." When, at the Comcdie Fran9aise, she played 
 the part of Jocaste in Voltaire's tragedy Qidipc, she was 
 " more than an actress, she was the heroine herself. She 
 had a real genius, free from the monotonous sing-song 
 which Racine taught to Champmesle, free from the 
 bombastic emphasis which pleased Voltaire. A spectator 
 said on coming out, ' I have seen the Queen of all 
 comedians ! ' When she made her debut, which was 
 not until the age of twenty-seven, all were ravished, and 
 troubled. Young people became crazy from love of 
 her. She was the first who upon the stage spoke really 
 from the heart." 
 
 Such was the woman under whose pohshed influences 
 fell Maurice de Saxe, when, a rough mixture of Saxon, 
 Swede, and Pole, he came to Paris straight from the 
 scenes of blood and slaughter among which he had been 
 brought up. Tliis soldier and countryman was indeed 
 in want of some of the culture and refined graces of Paris, 
 in order to fit himself for the distinguished career which
 
 254 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 he seemed anxious to make for himself more by some 
 Imperial marriage than by the use of his trusty sword. 
 
 Mademoiselle de Lecouvreur, who fell deeply in love 
 with the handsome soldier, devoted all her energies 
 towards giving to his nature the necessary polish. She 
 became not merely his mistress but his preceptress, and, 
 by rounding off the rough edges, made of him a finished 
 noble who had assimilated the nobility of her own char- 
 acter. She even led the footsteps of this most redoubt- 
 able warrior into the paths of literature, with such success 
 that he became the author of a book in five volumes 
 entitled Mes reveries, which contains many useful hints 
 on the art of war. In it he appeared to offer himself to 
 dethrone his father, saying that he would take Poland 
 in two campaigns at the most, without its capture costing 
 a sou. 
 
 When, at one time, he thought seriously of 
 espousing the Princess of Courland, Maurice de Saxe 
 found himself obliged to take a tender farewell of his 
 mistress, she did not complain. On the contrary, 
 the devoted woman thought with joy that he whom 
 she loved might become King or Czar. She poured all 
 her savings into his lap, sold her silver and diamonds, 
 and forced the proceeds upon her hero, in order that he 
 might be able to cut a fine figure in his undertakings. 
 Then when, after having seemed to be the master of 
 Courland, he returned, through a thousand perils and 
 hairbreadth escapes, she welcomed him back as tenderly 
 as she had sent him away. 
 
 Saxe was now more than ever a hero, a Roland or 
 a Charles XII., not only for Mademoiselle Lecouvreur, 
 but for the world at large. Several other Courts besides 
 those of France thought of employing him in the further-
 
 Front (III cn^iu^.n^ njui llii. /uliiie hy II. Rr^tuni. 
 
 MAUKK K 1)K SAXK, 
 Maicchal de Fiance.
 
 Mademoiselle Lecouvreur 255 
 
 ance of their schemes. While EHzabeth Farnesc in 
 Madrid wished to place him at the head of the proposed 
 Spanish expedition to restore the Stuart upon the 
 British throne, Stanislas Lescz3mski imagined that he 
 saw in Maurice the man whom destiny had selected 
 to reconquer for him the throne of Poland. 
 
 At the same time that distinguished men, like the 
 gallant Comte d'Argental, thought so highly of Made- 
 moiselle Lecouvreur as to offer her their hand and 
 their heart, she was, on her side, not spared the pain of 
 seeing the greatest ladies in France throwing themselves 
 at her lover's head. Nor did these women take the 
 pains to conceal the bitter hatred with which they 
 regarded Mademoiselle Lecouvreur. 
 
 At the theatre these great ladies took advantage 
 of their position to hiss the soul-ravishing actress from 
 their boxes. One of those who had flung herself, and 
 it is to be feared not unavailingly, at the head of the 
 handsome Saxe, was the Duchesse de Bouillon, who, 
 being of the princely family of Lorraine, was related to 
 half the crowned heads in Europe. 
 
 One day, when playing Phedre, the popular tragedienne 
 saw this grand dame insulting her by her supercilious 
 looks and scornful remarks to those around her. Anger 
 arose within the breast of the faithful woman as she 
 beheld these contemptuous agaceries, and she deter- 
 mined to be revenged upon her high-born rival. Ad- 
 vancing to the front of the stage and fixing the Duchesse 
 de Bouillon with her piercing glance, she hurled at her 
 the verses : 
 
 Jc ne suis point de ces femmcs hardies 
 
 Qui portant dans le crime une tranquillc paix 
 
 Ontsu se faire un front qui ne rougit jamais I
 
 256 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 The audience stared up at the box, saw the point as 
 it appHed to the Lorraine Princesse, and violently ap- 
 plauded the actress. 
 
 She, however, like Madame de Chateauroux with 
 Maurepas, had insulted an implacable foe who would 
 have a dire revenge. In those days of the meek-minded 
 Cardinal Fleury anything was permissible towards 
 actresses. Not long before the two Camargos, quite 
 young and of noble Spanish birth, had made their ap- 
 pearance upon the stage, where they created a furore 
 by their dancing. Suddenly they disappeared, and for 
 two years the police were not willing to know where 
 they were. They had been carried off, and were being 
 kept in a detestable house by a young noble, one of 
 the badly spoken of associates of the then youthful 
 Louis XV. Tired of them both, they were let loose 
 at length, when the people laughed as if at a good 
 joke. 
 
 Mademoiselle Lecouvreur had more to fear than 
 being carried off. Not long after the scene in the theatre, 
 a polite Abbe offered her some poisoned pastilles. A 
 few days later a celebrated painter of miniatures informed 
 her that the Duchesse de Bouillon had asked him to 
 poison her. The painter showed her the poison, which 
 the actress caused to be analysed by a celebrated 
 apothecary named Geoff roi. Thereupon the painter 
 was arrested and thrust into the horrible prison of 
 Saint-Lazare, nor could the complaints of the woman 
 whom he had warned obtain his release. 
 
 She now made arrangements for her own death, 
 which every one expected. With Voltaire and the Comte 
 d'Argental she drew up her will, making d'Argental 
 her sole legatee, in order that he might save her fortune
 
 Mademoiselle Lecouvreur 257 
 
 for her two little girls from the hands of her grasping 
 relatives. These things being settled, once more she 
 played the part of Jocaste for Voltaire. Two days 
 later she was seized with terrible agonies, and died in 
 forty-eight hours. 
 
 Before dying, when Languet, a Vicaire of Saint-Sulpice, 
 came to visit her, she told him that she had not forgotten 
 the poor in her will. Then, pointing to a bust of Maurice 
 de Saxe, the half-delirious woman said, " Behold my 
 universe, my hope, and my gods ! " It is to be noted 
 that Saxe himself does not appear to have been present 
 to comfort the dying woman, who had done for herself 
 with the Church by these supposed infidel words, since 
 Languet made his report to Archbishop Vintimille. 
 This prelate, whose doubtful behaviour in the matter 
 of the marriage of his nephew to the King's mistress 
 we have seen, was inexpressibly shocked. He refused 
 a Chnstian burial to the poor actress. Her friends had 
 her body carried away in a package by two porters, and 
 eventually they buried her under the corner boundary 
 of a wood-yard by night. They could not get into the 
 wood-yard, which was locked, otherwise that would 
 have been the proper place in those days for the inter- 
 ment of one branded by the Church as a free-thinker. 
 The career of Maurice de Saxe in the French service 
 had already become brilliant but very shortly after 
 the death of Mademoiselle Lecouvreur ; and then came 
 Fontenoy, in which we have seen how he behaved. 
 Subsequent to that battle and the succeeding capture 
 of Austrian cities in Flanders, the Marechal de Saxe 
 defeated the allies, under Prince Charles of Lorraine, 
 in an important battle at Raucoux. In this engage- 
 ment, which was fcjuglil on October iitli, 174b, the 
 
 VOL. I. 17
 
 258 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 English left wing suffered severely. The result of the 
 affair was not, however, of any signal importance to 
 France, although to Saxe it brought the title of Marechal- 
 General, and the gift from the King of princely estates 
 at Chambord. In 1747 and 1748 Saxe captured Laffeld 
 and Bergen-op-Zoom, and invested, and would have 
 taken, the important Dutch city of Maestricht, had 
 not Louis XV., to his General's intense disgust, con- 
 cluded peace by the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle before 
 the fall of that place had been accomplished. 
 
 After the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, Saxe retired to 
 his estates at Chambord, where he lived in a style of 
 princely magnificence until his death. This, which was 
 the result of his debauchery and high hving, took place 
 on November 30th, 1750, when this man of great military 
 talent had reached the age of fifty-four.
 
 CHAPTER XXI 
 Mademoiselle Poisson — Marquise de Pompadour 
 
 1745 
 
 How many are there of those who have heard the stately 
 name of Madame de Pompadour — one which rolls sonor- 
 ously from the tongue — who know that the real name 
 of this King's favourite was Mademoiselle Poisson — 
 Miss Fish ? 
 
 This lady first saw the light in Paris in 1720, although 
 she herself always made her birth two years later. She 
 was the reputed daughter of one Poisson, an army con- 
 tractor who was sentenced to be hanged for purloining 
 stores or robbing the State ; he was also in the butchery 
 business, and supplied the Hospital des Invalides with 
 meat. However, the King pardoned him shortly after 
 Mademoiselle Poisson began first to flutter around his 
 Royal person, being at that time persuaded by the 
 party who wished to forward the affairs of Madame de 
 la Tournelle that it would be cheaper to pardon the 
 father than to be moved by the blandishments of the 
 daughter. 
 
 Jeanne Antoinette Poisson has been given several 
 fathers. While Voltaire supplies her with a farmer of 
 Fert^-sous-Jouarre in that capacity, others credit the 
 farmer-general Lenormant, or le Ncjrmand, de Tourne- 
 
 aS9
 
 26o The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 heim, who brought her up, with having been her 
 male parent. He was very rich and related to the 
 celebrated farmers-general the brothers Paris-Duver- 
 ney and the rest — who were the godfathers of Jeanne 
 Antoinette Poisson. 
 
 Every advantage that a young girl can have was 
 showered upon the youthful Jeanne. Music, drawing, 
 painting, dancing, literature — these she was instructed 
 in from an early age, and in all proved an apt pupil. 
 Her gifts being early known, men of talent who were 
 not of the high nobility, such as Voltaire, Crebillon, the 
 aged Fontenelle and Duclos, were frequently to be seen 
 at the hotel in which she lived. They praised her 
 beauty as well as her accomplishments from the time 
 that she was fifteen or sixteen — at least, so we are told. 
 
 As a matter of fact, even at that early age this 
 plebeian jewel was being educated for the King — if she 
 could catch him. Her mother openly said, " C'est un 
 morceau de roi," while she herself posed as early as 1740 
 as being the amoureuse du roi. When she was only nine 
 years old it was predicted that she would become the 
 King's mistress. 
 
 There have been various volumes concerning her 
 career which have come down to us from the eighteenth 
 century, which no doubt contain a good deal of truth 
 with a certain amount of imagination. Every memoir 
 writer of her day has also had something to say about 
 " la petite Poisson," who became " la petite d'Etioles " 
 before blossoming out under the grander title of a family 
 that had just died out, and which Louis XV. passed on 
 to her. During the Regency there was a Marquis de 
 Pompadour, who intrigued with the Duchesse du Maine 
 and the King of Spain against the Due d'Orleans.
 
 Mademoiselle Poisson 261 
 
 No writer of modem times has written more prettily 
 of the celebrities of the eighteenth century than Arsene 
 Houssaye, who some sixty years ago — that is, in the middle 
 of the nineteenth century — produced his chatty works. 
 In them he has tacked together in an amusing manner 
 all that is to be found elsewhere concerning the early 
 hfe of Jeanne Antoinette Poisson. We cannot, therefore, 
 do better than quote some of his paragraphs — they 
 form a perfect picture. 
 
 " Louis XV., the son of a King, was born a farmer- 
 general : that is to say, to sup well, love women, pleasure, 
 and money. Madame de Pompadour, the daughter 
 of a farmer-general, was bom a queen, loving power, 
 luxury, the fine arts, everything that belongs to the 
 splendour of royalty. . . . 
 
 " The history of Madame de Pompadour is unknown 
 m its details ; it is, however, a name that radiates upon 
 the past century with more brightness than the name 
 of Louis XV. . . . Some have exalted her virtues ; 
 others exaggerated her crimes. Both are in error. A 
 courtier and a disappointed applicant for favours are 
 neither of them historians when they write. With a 
 little patience, studying at leisure the writers of the 
 eighteenth century, it is possible to catch here and there 
 a faithful feature of her charming face. But how fathom 
 the depths of the dark ambition of her heart, which wore 
 the mask of a perpetual smile ! Ask Vanloo, la Tour, 
 Boucher, if they could ever, when she sat for them, 
 detect any of the secrets of her love or her policy. 
 
 " Madame de Pompadour was an example of a 
 woman both handsome and pretty. The lines of her face 
 possessed all the harmony and elevation of a creation 
 of Raphael ; but instead of the elevated sentiment with
 
 262 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 which that great master animated his faces, there was 
 the smihng expression of the Parisienne. She possessed 
 in the highest degree all that gives to the face brilliancy, 
 charm, and sportive gaiety. No lady at Court had then 
 so noble and coquettish a bearing, such delicate and 
 attractive features, so elegant and graceful a figure. 
 Her mother used always to say, ' A King alone is worthy 
 of my daughter.' Jeanne had an early presentiment 
 of a throne — at first from the ambitious longings of her 
 mother, later because she imagined that she was in love 
 with the King. 
 
 " ' She confessed to me,' says Voltaire in his Memoirs, 
 ' that she had a secret presentiment that the King would 
 fall in love with her, and that she had a violent in- 
 clination for him.' 
 
 " Well, how was the throne of France to be reached, 
 the very idea of which made her head turn ? In the 
 meantime, full of genius, always admired, always listened 
 to, she familiarised herself with the life of a beautiful 
 Queen ; she saw at her feet all the worshippers of her 
 father's fortune, she gathered about her poets, artists, 
 and philosophers, over whom she already threw a Royal 
 protection. 
 
 " The farmer-general had a nephew, Lenormant 
 d'Etioles. He was an amiable young man and had 
 the character and manners of a gentleman ; he was also 
 heir to the immense fortune of the farmer-general, at 
 least according to the law. Jeanne, on her side, had 
 some claim to a share of this fortune. It was a very 
 simple way of making all agreed by marrying the young 
 people. 
 
 "Jeanne, as we have seen, was already in love with 
 the King ; she married d'Etioles without shifting her
 
 Mademoiselle Poisson 263 
 
 point in \-iew. Versailles, Versailles — that was her 
 only horizon. Her young husband became desperately 
 enamoured of her ; but this passion of his, almost amount- 
 ing to madness, she never felt in the least. She accepted 
 it ^\'ith resignation as a misfortune that could not last 
 long. 
 
 " The hotel of the newly married couple, Rue Croix 
 des Petits Champs, was established on a lordly footing : 
 the best company in Paris left the fashionable salons for 
 that of Madame d'Etioles ; until that time there had 
 never been such a gorgeous display of luxury in France. 
 The young bride hoped by this means to make something 
 of a noise at Court, and thus excite the curiosity of the 
 King. Day after day passed away in feasts and brilliant 
 entertainments. Celebrated actors, poets, artists, and 
 foreigners made their rendezvous at this hotel, the 
 mistress of which was its life and ornament : in one 
 word, all the world went there but the King. . . . The 
 Abbe Bemis was the Abbe of Madame d'j^toiles, he had 
 no other abbey or benefice. Did the Abbe and the 
 mistress of the hotel suspect that in ten years from that 
 time they would rule over France as Ministers with 
 absolute power ? 
 
 " There was also among this celebrated circle a good- 
 looking and good-natured pagan, who went by the name 
 of Gentil Bernard. Madame d'Etioles treated him like 
 a child, but he was the la Fontaine without genius of 
 a la Sabliere without virtue. He was thought to be 
 in some degree her lover ; he did not, however, become 
 Minister with her. She had, nevertheless, the memory 
 of the heart — she made him Ubrarian to the King. 
 
 " Madame d'Etioles swore fidelity to hor husband, 
 provided the King did not make love to her. The
 
 264 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 husband laughed at this reservation. It was first talked 
 about at home, in their house ; the rumour reached 
 Versailles. The King said in joke, ' I would like to 
 see the husband.' 
 
 " M. d'Etioles had a deserted chateau in the forest 
 of Senart ; Madame d'Etioles, having heard that the 
 King often hunted in that forest, told her husband that 
 the physicians recommended her the forest air for her 
 nervous attacks. Her husband, not foreseeing his wife's 
 design, furnished the chateau with great luxury. Once 
 installed in her new quarters, Madame d'Etioles ordered 
 three or four carriages of a light, fairy-like build, in order 
 to take the air for her attacks of the vapours. 
 
 " As she was always on the watch, she often met 
 the King in the forest. ' What a beautiful phaeton ! ' 
 he said, meeting her for the third time. Finally he 
 noticed her, but confined himself to a remark on her 
 good looks. 
 
 " One afternoon during a rainstorm the King entered 
 the Chateau d'Etioles, but Madame de Chateauroux 
 was with him. Madame d'Etioles was not disheartened ; 
 she continued to pass before the eyes of the Royal hunter, 
 according to Soulavie, ' sometimes like a goddess de- 
 scended from heaven, at one time dressed in an azure 
 robe seated in a rose-coloured phaeton, at another 
 dressed in rose colour in an azure phaeton.' " 
 
 At ^tioles there were private theatricals, in which 
 la petite d'Etioles always look the principal parts ; but 
 although she contrived to get some of the principal 
 courtiers to attend them, including the Due de Richelieu, 
 the King, well watched by Madame de Chateauroux, never 
 came to inspect the young actress behind the scenes. 
 
 Thus for a long time was this designing woman's
 
 Mademoiselle Poisson 265 
 
 ambition to become faithless to her husband with the 
 King frustrated. Two years passed away, and still she 
 had not succeeded — and then the Duchesse de Chateau- 
 roux died. 
 
 Despite the praises which have been showered upon 
 her beauty, her portraits do not represent Madame 
 d'Etioles, or de Pompadour, at all as a healthy woman. 
 If her father was the butcher, her cheeks had none of 
 the rosy hue of the typical butcher's daughter. The 
 Parisians made silly verses about her name, they were 
 called poissonnades, in which they said that she re- 
 sembled rather the fish she was named after than the 
 good fresh meat which her father had dealt in, not 
 wisely but too well. From her pictures she has an 
 amiable appearance, pale, with agreeable but by no 
 means striking features. From an early age she was 
 sickly and used to spit blood. She gave up her drives 
 in the forest at length, as she found that she was apt 
 to get a chill ; and no sooner was Chateauroux dead, 
 than she sought more direct means of gaining access to 
 the King. 
 
 She commenced by being unfaithful to her husband 
 with M. de Briges, the King's equerry. The rest was 
 easy ; one night he took her to the King. 
 
 He was at first by no means charmed with Madame 
 d'litioles, who was then twenty-three with two children. 
 For a month after that first interview, which had not 
 left a favourable impression, Louis forgot her entire 
 existence. In vain she waited day after day for a note 
 to tell her to come again ; no billet-doux made its appear- 
 ance — there was not even a message. At last, through 
 her friends at Court, the woman, nearly driven to despera- 
 tion, contrived to get the King reminded of her. They
 
 266 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 tried to excite his interest by representing that since the 
 night that he had received Madame d'Etioles the poor 
 lady had led a dreadful life ; her husband was desperately, 
 frantically jealous, he made her life a perfect hell owing 
 to his jealousy of His Majesty. The necessary stimulus 
 was thus applied, and the King, thinking that some one 
 else did not wish to let her go, imagined that she might 
 be a treasure after all, although he had not at first per- 
 ceived it. He asked her to supper with Richelieu, who 
 did not pay her much attention. When Richeheu 
 had retired, she played the part of a woman who had 
 nowhere to go, saying that the King must hide her some- 
 where ; she could not, dare not return to her jealous 
 husband — he would kill her. Excellent actress as she 
 was, she played this part so well that the King felt 
 flattered and believed her. He kept Madame d'Etioles 
 hidden for several days after that night, which was that 
 of April 22nd, 1745. 
 
 Letters of despair actually commencing to arrive 
 from her unfortunate husband, letters reminding her 
 of her two children and begging her to return, Louis 
 determined all the more not to let her go. After three 
 days Louis hid her no longer, but, in spite of the mute 
 despair and disgusted looks of his own family, resolved 
 to keep Madame d'Etioles altogether. Openly the 
 King now declared her as his mistress, and the declara- 
 tion came with the greater shock to all of his devout 
 family from the fact that he selected the holy season 
 of Easter for making his determination known. A 
 fortnight later he dignified this low-born woman, whose 
 very parentage was doubtful, with the title of a noble 
 family only just extinct, its last member having been the 
 Abb6 de Pompadour.
 
 Mademoiselle Poisson 267 
 
 By May 6th, 1745, Mademoiselle Poisson had become 
 Madame la Marquise de Pompadour ! And then Louis 
 went off to the war and the battle of Fontenoy, and, 
 according to some accounts, he took the newly created 
 Marquise %^ith him to the camp before Tournai, where 
 he arrived on the night of the 9th of that month. For 
 the httle Fish had indeed come to stay — for twenty 
 years !
 
 CHAPTER XXII 
 Bonnie Prince Charlie and Flora Macdonald 
 
 1744 AND LATER 
 
 King Frederick IL, the Great, of Prussia, had con- 
 siderable cause for discontent in the year 1745 with 
 Louis XV., his ally in the War of the Austrian Succession. 
 Although the King of France had, by the prowess of 
 the Marechal de Saxe, won in May the battle of Fontenoy, 
 and overrun the Austrian Low Countries ; he had in 
 no particular helped Frederick by this campaign in 
 Flanders, undertaken solely for his own glorification. 
 On the contrary, the French King's Generals, de Coigny 
 and de Noailles, had listened to neither the advice nor 
 the prayers of the King of Prussia, and, by their un- 
 willingness to assist him, by attacking the Austrians 
 on the Rhine with their superior forces, had exposed 
 Frederick and his army to the greatest danger of an- 
 nihilation. 
 
 While, by his own splendid generalship and bravery, 
 the Prussian had extricated himself from the mess into 
 which the French had led him by not keeping their 
 promises, he, with reason, remained very angry with 
 his allies, and complained to Louis XV. that his battles 
 would have been " quite as useful if fought on the banks 
 of the Scamander or at the taking of Pekin." 
 
 268
 
 Bonnie Prince Charlie and Flora Macdonald 269 
 
 Meanwhile, Maria Theresa, who, by the assistance of 
 the continuous suppUes of British gold, had succeeded 
 in getting her husband, Francis of Lorraine, elected 
 Emperor on the death of Charles VII., remained haughty 
 and implacable towards Prussia. Her pride was even 
 greater than her fury — she neither saw the situation, 
 nor listened to any propositions for coming to terms. 
 Frederick, from previous experience, knew that the 
 newly made Empress only became good and mild after 
 receiving good thrashings. He accordingly administered 
 plenty of these. After each refusal — a victory ! 
 
 Having defeated the allied Austrians and Saxons at 
 Hohenfriedberg on June 4th, 1745, at Sorr on September 
 30th, at Kesseldorf on December 15th, and having taken 
 Dresden immediately after, Frederick found that Maria 
 Theresa had had about enough, and was inclined to 
 come down off her high horse. She now made peace 
 with him, while definitely confirming the cession of 
 Silesia to Prussia. England also came to terms by 
 the Peace of Dresden on December 22nd, 1745. 
 
 While France was now, for the second time since 
 the beginning of her participation in the war in 1742, 
 left alone by Frederick, she had only had herself to 
 blame upon each occasion, owing to the extreme selfish- 
 ness of her conduct. That country now indeed found 
 herself in a fix, especially as the young Elector of Bavaria 
 also deserted her, on behalf of whose father, created 
 Emperor by France, she had commenced the war. 
 
 This desertion was felt all the more keenly at Ver- 
 sailles from the fact that France had recently paid for 
 the formation of a new mercenary anny of Hessians for 
 the son of Charles VII., which army he treacherously 
 handed over to Maria Theresa.
 
 270 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 For eleven years now Frederick was able to remain 
 at peace. During that time he devoted his energies 
 to the interests of his subjects, whose numbers he had 
 more than doubled since, as a young man of twenty- 
 eight, he became in 1740 the ruler of Brandenburg and 
 Prussia. While devoting himself to the reorganisation 
 of his army, to the advancement of agriculture, manu- 
 factures, education, commerce, and the improvement 
 of the legal code, Frederick did not forget that litera- 
 ture which he delighted in more than war. He now 
 wrote his two volumes the Memoirs of the House of 
 Brandenburg, and his poem The Art of War. So 
 devoted, indeed, was this, by far the greatest com- 
 mander of the eighteenth century, to his literary pursuits, 
 that often when his tent was pitched upon the site of 
 some sanguinary battle, fought that day, Frederick 
 would sit up for hours correcting a poem or inditing 
 an essay. 
 
 France, meanwhile, remained with her Spanish allies, 
 the Bourbon cousins at Madrid and Naples, alone to 
 help her and the little Republic of Genoa against 
 Austria and the King of Sardinia in the north of Italy. 
 Between them, however, they had done good work in 
 1745, by roughly separating, and rendering useless for 
 the time, the Piedmontese and forces of Maria Theresa, 
 and by crowning the Infante Don Philip in triumph at 
 Milan. What, however, seemed to France as far more 
 grave for the moment than anything else was the situ- 
 ation in Scotland, where the young and Catholic Stuart 
 had effected a landing at Moidart on July 25th in that 
 year, 
 
 Charles Edward Louis Philip Casimir was the second 
 son bom to James Stuart (the old Pretender, son of
 
 Bonnie Prince Charlie and Flora Macdonald 271 
 
 King James II.) and Clementina Sobieski, granddaughter 
 of King John III., Sobieski, of Poland. He was bom 
 in Rome on the last day of the year 1720, when his un- 
 fortunate mother was six days in labour. He had a 
 younger brother living in 1744 when he first came to 
 France, who accompanied him. This brother, Henry 
 Benedict jNIaria Clement, was born in 1725, and was 
 made a Cardinal by Benedict XIV. when he took orders 
 in 1747, whereupon, at the age of twenty-two, he was 
 known as the Cardinal of York. On the death of his 
 brother Charles Edward in 1788 he assumed the title 
 of King of England as Henry IX. gratia Dei non volim- 
 tate homincm, as the medal which he caused to be struck 
 on the occasion declared. 
 
 The Chevalier deSt. George, as the rightful James III., 
 the old Pretender, called himself, was still alive when 
 his son came to Paris, and he lived until 1766. How 
 signally he had failed in his attempt in 1715 to regain 
 his father's crown all know well. He then proceeded 
 to Scotland too late after the insurrection of the Earl 
 of Mar had begun ; moreover, his ungracious manner 
 alienated the sympathies of those who were risking lives 
 and fortunes in his cause. Neither did he evince any of 
 the qualities of a commander before his speedy return 
 to France. It was to seize the throne of Great Britain 
 as Regent for his father that the various proposed 
 expeditions under Charles Edward were planned ; he was, 
 indeed, proclaimed Regent in Edinburgh. 
 
 When he came to France in 1744 Louis XV. behaved 
 strangely towards this young Prince, his kinsman, in 
 refusing to see him. He ne\crthelcss caused an army 
 of hfteen thousand men to be assembled under the 
 Mar6chal de Saxe on the nortiiern coast of France,
 
 272 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 and furnished twenty ships of the Une and five frigates 
 to convoy Charles Edward and Saxe across with this 
 army into England. 
 
 The English Channel fleet was but small, owing to 
 a large squadron being in the Mediterranean, when 
 the Prince and the Marechal embarked at the close of 
 February. This was the most favourable opportunity 
 which the Stuarts had ever had since the deposition 
 of James II. in 1688. There was much discontent in 
 England, they had a powerful party in Scotland, and 
 the Irish party looked upon them as promised deliverers. 
 
 Young Charles Edward, who had already seen war and 
 fought bravely with the Spanish army before Gaeta in 
 his fourteenth year, was enthusiastic, bold, and resolute. 
 He did not take at all after his half-Italian and dreamy 
 father, the son of Mary d'Este of Modena, but had 
 inherited the nature of his Polish mother and the high 
 character of the spirited race from which she sprang. 
 He had early given indications of talent and a firmness 
 of character derived from her, which firmness misfortune 
 later caused to degenerate into sheer obstinacy. He 
 had been well educated by Protestant tutors, spoke 
 several foreign languages, and was dexterous in all manly 
 exercises. Charles Edward had, moreover, a taste for 
 the fine arts, and was a good musician. 
 
 Thus, personally, there was no reason why he should 
 not succeed, although, going over as a Catholic to restore 
 •a Catholic dynasty in Protestant Britain, he was likely 
 to arouse against him the feeling of enormous numbers 
 who otherwise in their hearts would have preferred to 
 have seen the legitimate Jacobite rather than the Hano- 
 verian line continued. 
 
 This Prince became a Protestant in 1752 ; had he
 
 Bonnie Prince Charlie and Flora Macdonald 273 
 
 become one sooner, one wonders what would have been 
 the result in 1745 when he reached Scotland. For 
 in 1744, after embarking with Saxe, Charles Edward 
 was doomed never to get across the Channel. On 
 March 6th a great storm arose which lasted for a week. 
 Many ships filled with French troops were lost, and the 
 rest forced back to France. Nor then would Louis XV. 
 allow a renewal of the attempt, although it was with 
 great difficulty that the brave young Prince was pre- 
 vented from sailing to Scotland alone in a fishing-boat. 
 He remained in France, moving heaven and earth 
 to get assistance. He stirred up the foundations of 
 Versailles secretly througli his brother, who was far 
 more adroit than himself. He worked through the 
 intriguing Cardinal Tencin, and through the Due de 
 Richelieu, who hoped to obtain the command of the 
 expedition. 
 
 At last, in an underhand sort of way, Versailles 
 consented to lend two ships, privateers belonging to an 
 Irish fihbuster, or corsair, at Nantes. France gave him 
 no troops, only a few arms, and very little money. A 
 few volunteers accompanied him when, in July, 1745, 
 Charles Edward sailed, and of money he had from all 
 sources obtained less than ;^"5,ooo sterling. He lost one 
 of his ships with all his stores in a sea-fight in crossing, 
 but landed at Moidart in safety. 
 
 As a modern French writer says, " All this could 
 not stop the brave Prince. He had his romance in his 
 head, to leave the too prudent Jacobites alone, and to 
 fling himself at first upon the Highlands of Scotland, 
 among those valiant savages witli the short petticoats, 
 uncalculating and ready for the fray. 
 
 " Polish madness added to Gaelic craziness : all 
 VOL. '. 18
 
 274 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 that might produce something extraordinary — great. 
 The absurdity of the thing, the improbabihty, aided its 
 success. Arriving alone and without foreign forces, he 
 had all the better chance. No care for ways or means ! 
 He calculated so little that he had taken the most un- 
 popular dress, the one the most detested in England, 
 that of the Scottish seminary in Paris. 
 
 " All was arranged by signs and looks, for he did not 
 know their tongue nor they his. They saw him, and were 
 moved. As soon as they were twelve hundred, with 
 the bagpipes at the head, they descended upon Edin- 
 burgh ; then they became three thousand. 
 
 " Without stopping to count, they charge the English 
 at Preston Pans, and defeat them. All Scotland declares 
 herself. But the difficulty is to lead to London these sons 
 of the mountain so attached to their natal soil. The 
 further he plunges into England the more he hopes two 
 things : that the old loyalty will animate the heart of the 
 English Jacobites ; that France, Spain, will blush in the 
 end — will not see him perish. 
 
 " The help was strange : three companies of French 
 troops, just enough to compromise us without strength- 
 ening him. The Jacobites, on the other hand, far 
 from making any movement, were frightened. They 
 would do nothing without a large army from France. 
 
 " The Whigs, the anti- Jacobites, did not move 
 either. It was just like the invasion of William in 1688 — 
 there was no movement on either side. But, upon this 
 occasion, the circumstance was all the more amusing 
 from the fact that it took place at the very moment 
 when the English — imagining the war far away, in 
 Germany — were boiling over with valour ; fighting with 
 words, pitilessly breathing fire and flames. War !
 
 Bonnie Prince Charlie and Flora Macdonald 275 
 
 Well, here it is, at two days' march from London. One 
 says, ' I am a merchant,' another, ' I am a banker ' 
 or ' I am a farmer. This is the King's — the soldiers' 
 business.' Comic situation ! " 
 
 Comic, however, the situation, thus excellently 
 described, was not for the unfortunate Charles Edward. 
 After having taken Carlisle and Derby, and when within 
 ninety- four miles of London, the chiefs who had accom- 
 panied him became so discouraged by this coldness 
 everywhere that they strongly urged their courageous 
 young leader to beat a retreat to the north, where a 
 fresh army had been formed, partly consisting of the 
 three miserable companies sent from France. He bitterly 
 opposed this course, and events showed that he was 
 right ; had his army but pushed on, London would 
 inevitably have fallen into his hands, and then his secret 
 sympathisers would have thrown off their apathy and 
 flown to his standard. London itself was full of them. 
 
 During his retreat, as in his advance, Charles Edward 
 out-generalled and out-marched the troops sent against 
 him, whom he repulsed with great loss at Clifton. He 
 afterwards won a victory over General Hawley at Falkirk 
 in January, 1746, and also took Glasgow. 
 
 At length, on April i6th, his half-starved troops were 
 defeated by the Duke of Cumberland with an army 
 at Culloden Moor, near Inverness ; but only after the 
 gallant right wing of the Highlanders had charged, 
 claymore in hand, and driven back the front line of the 
 Hanoverian King's troops opposed to them. 
 
 Had the left wing of the young Pretender's forces 
 but done as well, the day might perhaps have been his. 
 But they, consisting of the Macdonalds, would not light, 
 from jealousy of the McLeans, Frasers, Mclntoshes,
 
 276 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 Camerons, and Stuarts, who had been put on the right, 
 which the Macdonalds claimed as their own position 
 from the days of Bannockburn. The left wing accord- 
 ingly remained inactive, childishly chopping at the 
 heather-clad soil with their claymores ; until first the 
 British cannon tore their ranks to pieces, and then the 
 onslaughts of some dragoons, who had pulled down a 
 wall in order to charge, completed their discomfiture. 
 Thus it was that Bonnie Prince Charlie lost the day, 
 and the crown for his father into the bargain. 
 
 His subsequent flight for five months, and conceal- 
 ment in company with the brave young lady. Flora 
 Macdonald, who hid him in the Isle of Skye, have been 
 made as much the matter of romance as of history ; 
 they are too well known to be more than referred to. 
 The Prince escaped eventually to France, where, for 
 the first time, Louis XV. deigned to receive him. 
 
 Before detailing his further career, a few lines 
 may, however, be devoted to that of his preserver, 
 Flora Macdonald, who was a handsome and agreeable 
 young lady. When Charles Edward, who had been 
 disguised as " Betty Bourke, a stout Irishwoman," 
 while fleeing from place to place with Flora Mardonald, 
 eventually bade farewell for ever to that young lady at 
 Portree, in the Isle of Skye, her share in his escape became 
 known. After being kept in detention for five months 
 on various vessels of war, she was taken to London, 
 where she suffered a light imprisonment. Frederick, 
 the Prince of Wales, having visited her, became interested 
 in her, and caused her to be discharged under the Act 
 of Indemnity of 1747, before the passing of which a 
 great number of Jacobites lost their heads, while others 
 were exiled.
 
 Bonnie Prince Charlie and Flora Macdonald 277 
 
 Flora remained for some time in London, where she 
 was made much of, in the house of Lady Primrose, a 
 Jacobite sjmipathiser, but, returning to Scotland, she 
 married the younger Macdonald of Kingsburgh in 1750. 
 She emigrated to North Carohna with him and her family 
 twenty-five years later, when she was fifty-five years 
 old, having been born in 1720, the same year as Charles 
 Edward, the object of her romantic attachment. 
 
 Siding with the loyalists in the revolutionary war of 
 the American colonies, her family suffered some losses, 
 when Mrs. Macdonald sailed alone for Europe. While 
 on the voyage, the ship that she was in fought an engage- 
 ment with a French vessel, during the course of which 
 this companion of the flight of the Young Pretender 
 was severely injured by a fall. She was eventually 
 joined by her husband and family in Scotland, and 
 sent all of her four sons into the British service. 
 
 When Flora Macdonald died, on March 4th, 1790, her 
 body was wrapped in a sheet which she had romantically 
 carried about with her ever since 1746. It was one 
 upon which the disguised Prince Charlie had slept when 
 she had been his hostess in the house at Kingsburgh. 
 That house had then been occupied by Mr. Macdonald, 
 her father's factor, whose son she herself married five 
 years later. 
 
 Charles Edward, after having been received by 
 Louis XV. at Versailles, became a great favourite at 
 the Court, where he was looked upon as a hero. He 
 led a life of considerable dissipation, gambling a good 
 deal, and forming some romantic liaisons which caused 
 him to become strongly wedded to life in Paris. With 
 his brother, however, he became on bad terms, which 
 resulted m the departure oi Henry of York to take holy
 
 278 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 orders at Rome. Some faint show was made of renew- 
 ing the attempt to invade England, but, as the young 
 Pretender refused to promise to cede Ireland to France 
 in case of success, it never came to anything. He paid 
 a visit to the Court of Spain in 1747, where he was re- 
 ceived with Royal honours, and courted and feted even 
 more than in France. To this country he returned 
 before long, and installed himself once more in his 
 beloved Paris. 
 
 When Louis concluded the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle 
 in 1748, one of the provisions of that treaty, made 
 by the English King, was that such a dangerous fire- 
 brand as this young Charles Edward should no longer 
 be allowed to remain in the French dominions. He 
 was, accordingly, at first courteously requested to 
 leave Paris, but he refused to go. Having been 
 again asked to leave, he armed himself and his house- 
 hold, and threatened to shoot down any one attempting 
 to lay a hand upon him. At the same time he went 
 about as usual, and carried on his ordinary amusements 
 and dissipations, but always with loaded pistols in his 
 pockets. The English remonstrances now becoming 
 urgent, Louis determined to expel by force the grandson 
 of James H. from his capital. Accordingly, one night, 
 as Charles Edward was entering the doors of the Opera- 
 house, he was suddenly seized from behind by several 
 officers and, in spite of his furious resistance, disarmed, 
 bound with silken cords, hurried into a carriage, and 
 put into confinement in very comfortable quarters at 
 Vincennes. By a preconcerted movement his followers 
 had been dexterously separated from the furious Prince 
 at the moment of his arrest, which had only been the 
 result of his own obstinacy.
 
 / ,.„n 
 
 (/.. ( ,... j ,' tiii'c by U I inline, i , ., . 
 I'klNCIi CltAKI.KS KDWAkI) SIl'AK
 
 Bonnie Prince Charlie and Flora Macdonald 279 
 
 Forced to leave Paris, he repaired to Papal territory 
 at A\-igiion, where he was again requested to move on. 
 The same thing happening in Venice, he repaired to 
 Germany ; after which for a time Prince Charlie resided 
 in the Duchy of Bouillon. After becoming a Protestant 
 in 1752, he engaged in some new Jacobite conspiracies, 
 and even visited London both in 1750 and 1753. When, 
 by his father's death in 1766, he had become the legitimate 
 King of Great Britain, he did not, like his brother Henry, 
 assume the title of King, but took that of Duke of 
 Albany, which he had already borne many years earlier. 
 
 When iifty-two years of age Charles Edward com- 
 mitted the lamentable error of marrying a young lady 
 thirty years younger than himself. She was a Princess 
 Louisa of Stolberg-Gedern, who soon made of him a 
 dishonoured husband. His faithless spouse eventually 
 eloped with the Italian poet, Count Vittorio Alfieri ; when 
 the Prince obtained a judicial separation from one who 
 had never brought him anything but unliappiness and 
 shame. She, however, complained of him that he had 
 given way to intemperance, to which he is said to have 
 become addicted, owing to having learned to drink 
 whiskey while in Scotland. 
 
 Charles Edward died at Rome on January 30th, 
 1788, leaving an illegitimate daughter but no legal 
 issue behind him. He was a man of more marked 
 ability than had been any of the Stuarts who preceded 
 him.
 
 CHAPTER XXiri 
 
 Manoeuvres of the Marquis d^Argenson 
 
 1744— 1746 
 
 Whereas the Comte Marc Pierre d'Argenson had been 
 a member of the Council of Ministers in 1742, and had 
 become Minister of War on the death of the Marquis 
 de Breteuil in 1743, it was not until the following year 
 that his elder brother also occupied an important position 
 at the Court of Versailles. 
 
 In the year 1744 it was probably in a great measure 
 owing to the fact that the younger d'Argenson thought 
 that he could direct his brother as he might wish, that 
 the Marquis Rene Louis de Voyer d'Argenson assumed 
 the important post of Minister of Foreign Affairs. The 
 cunning younger brother thought that he would only 
 have a simpleton to deal with in this straightforward, 
 single-minded man. With his own tortuous methods, 
 he was incapable of realising that it was in his very 
 honesty that there lay his brother's strength. It was, 
 however, a strength so great that by it at one time 
 the Marquis controlled Louis XV., and led the King 
 into the paths of reason, in spite of the strongly opposing 
 influences of the Court and the Royal Family. 
 
 While clearly seeing the faults of the administration, 
 he came to the Ministry with a head full of Utopian 
 
 280
 
 Manoeuvres of the Marquis d^Argenson 281 
 
 schemes in advance of his time. One can judge of his 
 ideas by a few extracts from his journal. 
 
 ''September 21st, 1745.— The hatred of all Europe 
 against the King of Prussia and the fear which the 
 King's Council has had for M. de Belle-Isle have crowned 
 the Grand Duke Emperor. [Francis of Lorraine, Grand 
 Duke of Tuscany, husband of Maria Theresa.] 
 
 " September 28th. — In the King's Council, mistrust, 
 suspicion are fanatical passions. Every one judges his 
 neighbour by his own measure. I have a bad opinion 
 of those suspicious people who deny the existence of 
 pure virtue. My confreres are the sweetest and most 
 honest scoundrels I have ever known. 
 
 " October 20th. — The King resembles the Almighty, 
 who sees all, listens, and never says a word. It is true 
 that he lets off occasionally a few thunder-bolts, some 
 influences, but no concert, no direction. 
 
 " The secondary causes are mistresses, and antagonistic. 
 Hence trouble and confusion. M. le Dauphin is at the 
 same time dissipated and a man of retirement. 
 
 " October y)th. — I found upon arrival in the Ministry 
 our kingdom governed by a policy of vulgarians. No 
 great ideas ; there was a horror of justice, a passion 
 for suspicions, an inclination to treason under the pretence 
 of cleverness. 
 
 " Superiority of the Ministry of Foreign Affiairs above 
 tlie others. Herein lies the superexcellence of my 
 charge over the other departments. I say to them : 
 You — you will keep the money — you the navy — you 
 the troops, and I the reputation of the State ; above 
 everything its reputation for probity and good faith. In 
 behaving thus all will go well. And if it be true that the 
 fault of our Government is that each one works for
 
 2 82 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 himself, only speaking up for his own charge, and that 
 under a King of middling solicitude this fault has its 
 dangers, I will do like the rest. I will work for my 
 greatest and best reputation, by which I shall be able 
 to do without all the rest — troops, Royal ships, and 
 even money for the external affairs. 
 
 " On the Abuse of Councils. — Consultations are good 
 for the government of a State ; councils are pernicious 
 for it. I mean by consultations when a chief has under 
 him some good advisers with whom he consults, with 
 decisive authority on his side and subordination on that 
 of the counsellor — what is called a consultative and not 
 a deliberative voice. 
 
 " On the other hand, the Councils of equals are only 
 useful to stir one another up to fear and uncertainty. 
 Nothing but very indifferent work will ever be the 
 result of a community of workers at the same job. 
 
 "If I were the King's favourite, or only the most 
 accredited of my colleagues, as was Maximilien de Sully 
 to Henri IV., I would persuade His Majesty to think 
 seriously for ten years of paying his debts, to improve 
 his dominions, by means of which after ten years he 
 would be the greatest King on the earth. I would 
 further persuade His Majesty to reside in Paris, to live 
 in the Tuileries or the Louvre as they are now, while 
 hunting out all the people who have got no business 
 there. In this there would be a great saving. 
 
 " The Ministers would live in their own homes, in 
 Paris, the nearest possible to the Louvre. They could 
 have their lodging allowance in cash, and their offices 
 close at hand. Each one should have a cabinet in the 
 Louvre, with an ante-room where they could be found at 
 certain hours before or after the Council.
 
 Manoeuvres of the Marquis d^Argenson 283 
 
 " A Commission should be formed to consider upon 
 the retrenchment of expenses at the Court. Down 
 with the hunting estabhshments, the stable greatly 
 reduced. The Gardes now in Barracks to be sent off 
 into garrison, serving only in detachments. The Royal 
 houses could be well kept up, especially Versailles ; and 
 the King might go from time to time to pass a week at 
 his various country-houses, Fontainebleau, Versailles, 
 Marly, la Muette, Choisy, Compiegne, in a quiet way 
 with a picked company, but without dragging after him 
 either Ministers or Council. 
 
 " If only one could during this time continue the impost 
 of the tenth, even the fifth, what improvements ! — what 
 reimbursements ! Yearly one would make known to 
 the public the progress of the acquittal of debts, and of 
 the charges of the State. One would pay off the most 
 expensive offices and those of which the venality is most 
 dangerous, and one would tax the financiers for the 
 debts of the State. . . . 
 
 " My system of democracy is, that the specie should 
 be improved in value ; a Royal and sure bank should 
 be instituted to enjoy many sums without interest. 
 Supposing the debts and charges to amount to two 
 milliards, nothing would be easier than to pay them off 
 in ten years. And in the meantime the King's revenues 
 would increase by the happiness of the people, by the 
 abundance and the circulation which all these reimburse- 
 ments would procure to the State. During this time the 
 troops could become militia — the ships go to the wood- 
 yards." 
 
 Such were some of the Utopian schemes of the Marquis 
 d'Argenson, but he went even further : " One would 
 alienate in perpetuity all the Crown domains, burn the
 
 284 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 title-deeds, permit the reimbursement of all feudality 
 of the properties, and a hundred other things." 
 
 Thus he entered into the Ministry with the fixed idea 
 of re-establishing the reputation of that good faith which 
 ought never to have left the nation ; saying that France 
 ought to prefer a good reputation to any new acquisitions, 
 that she ought only to aim at a noble preponderance 
 in Europe which would procure her repose and dignity. 
 The Marquis maintained that all the political maxims 
 of the country should consist in strict laws of morality 
 and generosity. To lift up the weak, to abase tyrants, 
 to do good, to prevent evil, to do to others as one would 
 be done by, to reign in the civilised world only by justice 
 and good works — such was his code. It seemed to him 
 that, by such a line of conduct, France would attain to 
 a height and condition of abundance hitherto little seen 
 in the world. Filled with these ideas, hitherto unkno\vn, 
 d'Argenson was not careful enough to conceal them. 
 Neither the century nor the nation was accustomed to 
 anything of the kind. Thus he was only too easily 
 misunderstood, while that which he advanced, after 
 profound reflection, as being for the good of the country, 
 was only considered as the sign of a want of cleverness 
 or ability in his judgment. 
 
 Whatever others may have thought, the Marquis 
 boldly carried his ideas for the improvement of the 
 condition of France so far as to urge Louis XV. to 
 make peace, or to stand merely on a defensive warfare, 
 even before the battle of Fontenoy. The circumstances 
 of that battle, which for quite two hours was a lost 
 one for France, merely confirmed him in his views. 
 " Where," he asked, " should we have been if it had 
 been lost entirely ? " He with his brother the War
 
 Manoeuvres of the Marquis d'Argenson 285 
 
 Minister were both present with the King during his 
 campaigns in 1745 and 1746. Therefore he was able 
 to judge of matters from personal knowledge when in 
 the former year he advised the King to hold on to what 
 he had obtained, but to seek for no more. At the same 
 time he was very displeased with the fact that twenty 
 thousand men were withdrawn from the Prince de Conti 
 in Italy in order to secure a triumph for Louis in Flanders, 
 at the price of sacrificing both the French and Prussian 
 interests everywhere else. The Prince de Conti was 
 obliged to retreat. D'Argenson's words, however, con- 
 cerning the advantage of defensive war, made little 
 impression on the King, wlio rephed that " it was more 
 ruinous than an offensive one, since one ate up one's own 
 country instead of that of the enemy ; moreover," he 
 added, " that the Queen of Hungary could only be 
 directly attacked through the Low Countries, and that 
 it would also frighten the Maritime Powers." By the 
 Maritime Powers England and Holland were understood. 
 
 D'Argenson, however, wished not to frighten Holland, 
 but for a firm alliance with that Protestant country, as 
 also with Saxony and Prussia ; and, in addition, one 
 with Catholic Piedmont, which would have become 
 the chief power in the free Italy he souglit to create, 
 liberated from Austrian influences. The Royal Family, 
 on the other hand, wished for the Catholic alliance of 
 Spain and Austria ; with an Italy under the yoke of 
 Spain. Already were the two d'Argensons distinguished, 
 even by the King, as Peace d'Argenson and War 
 d'Argenson, when Louis was seduced into listening to 
 the counsels of the former — to be gained by the hope 
 of peace. 
 
 This was at the end of October, 1745. The King
 
 286 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 appeared then to be so much in the ascendancy in every 
 direction, whether Flanders, Piedmont, or in Scotland 
 through the Pretender, that there seemed every chance 
 for the success of the plan proposed by M. d'Argenson 
 dc la paix. This was to detach from the league of 
 the enemies, and to regain for France the secondary 
 Powers, such as Saxony, Piedmont, and Holland. 
 
 There was sense in this plan under every aspect. 
 Saxony and Poland being then united under Augustus III., 
 as they had been already under his father Augustus II., 
 d'Argenson sought to make the hitherto elective Monarchy 
 of Poland hereditary in the Saxon line. By this means 
 he hoped to establish a lirm combination between the 
 two countries which would enable them to unite and 
 form a barrier against Russia. 
 
 With regard to the United States of Holland, a great 
 party in that Republic was both anti-Orange and anti- 
 English in feeling and utterly sick of perpetually being 
 dragged in the wake of Great Britain in all her 
 enterprises for the advantage of the Hanoverian George. 
 That party was only too willing to become friendly with 
 France, should the opportunity arrive. 
 
 Concerning Italy, of which Piedmont — that is, the 
 Kingdom of Sardinia — was the strongest factor, the 
 ideas of the Marquis were very fine. He sought to 
 form that which did not come until more than a 
 hundred years later in the days of Garibaldi — an united 
 Italy. This was to be obtained by means of a con- 
 federation of the various component parts, under the 
 leadership of the Savoyard King Charles Emanuel and his 
 successors. The Austrian was to be hunted out entirely ! 
 
 This federation was to be of States equal among 
 themselves, who were to have a common Diet always in.
 
 Manoeuvres of the Marquis d^Argenson 287 
 
 session. The armed guardian of the north was to be 
 Piedmont, to whom was to be given all of Milan .The 
 Infante Don Philip would be compelled in future to resign 
 all pretensions to Milan, notwithstanding that he had 
 already had himself crowned with the ancient iron crown 
 of Lombardy. Venice was also to have a part of 
 Lombardy. Tuscany, freed from its Grand Duke, now 
 just becoming Emperor of Germany, was to revert to 
 its ancient condition of a Republic. The Kingdom of 
 Naples, with Sicil3% was to remain under Philip's brother 
 Don Carlos of Spain, who had become its King during 
 the recent War of the Polish Succession. 
 
 But every foreign Prince ruling any part of Italy was 
 to be forced to elect between his Italian kingdom or 
 duchy and any other to which he might succeed. He 
 was to swear to make himself an Italian alone, or else 
 abandon Italy entirel3^ Thus, should Don Carlos succeed 
 to the throne of Spain (as he did eventually, after his 
 half-brother Ferdinand) he could take either Spain or 
 his Neapolitan kingdom, but not hold both. 
 
 While a state of war actually existed between France 
 and Sardinia, by a course of clever manoeuvres d'Ar- 
 genson brought the Piedmontese Prince to agree secretly 
 with Louis XV. his nephew to desert Austria and effect 
 this condition of affairs. The emissaries of France went 
 backwards and forwards in disguise, carrying letters in 
 the French King's own handwriting, and M. de Cham- 
 peaux, an envoy disguised in the dress of an abbe, was 
 actually hidden in Charles Emanuel's palace at Turin 
 when Austrian agents arrived, to ask that Prince to 
 continue to push the war against France more vigorously 
 and to act in combination with the approaching Austrian 
 forces. A preliminary treaty was secretly signed at
 
 288 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 Turin. This was followed by a treaty in form, also secret, 
 being signed at Paris, and by this latter the two Kings 
 determined upon an armistice. The nephew and uncle 
 made what d'Argenson called " an equitable division of 
 the States of the house of Austria in Italy." The biggest 
 share was given to the King of Sardinia, a part to 
 Don Philip the son-in-law of Louis XV., the remainder 
 to the Venetians ; while the King of Sardinia restored 
 what Genoese territory he had seized to that republic, 
 the firm ally of France, and which had suffered through 
 her fidelity. 
 
 All would have gone well if it had not been for 
 the greed of that peace-disturbing element, Elizabeth 
 Farnese, the Princess of Parma who occupied the Spanish 
 throne. For two months and a half she refused to join 
 the alliance or accede to the terms of the Treaty of Turin ; 
 and yet by its earlier conditions her son Philip was to have 
 obtained Savoy and the county of Nice. As the French 
 and Spanish forces were all the time besieging Alessandria, 
 which was in the greatest straits, it became very difficult 
 to keep the proposed armistice a secret from Austria, 
 especially as Charles Emanuel did not want Alessandria 
 to fall into the hands of the Spaniards, and, moreover, 
 Austrian agents pointed out to him how to prevent its 
 doing so. " The Gallispans " were meanwhile secretly 
 allowing enough food to pass into the citadel of Alessan- 
 dria to permit the garrison to live from week to week, 
 while d'Argenson, Louis XV., and the King of Sardinia 
 were all three anxiously waiting for Elizabeth Farnese 
 to agree to that which was for her own interests. Mean- 
 while, to complicate matters still more, an Austrian army 
 was marching on Italy. The Infante, indeed, had not 
 a ghost of a chance of having any establishment at all
 
 J'loiii llie (>'iiiili>ii; by ynllicr. (d/iyi iyli.', It'. .Viiiiy,ell S' Cn 
 
 MAOA.ME MARIE LOUISE I^-LISAUETII DE KkANCE, DUCHESS Or I'ARMA.
 
 Manoeuvres of the Marquis d*Argenson 289 
 
 before long, unless his mother came to terms. But that 
 she would not see, nor allow her effete husband Philip V. 
 to see either. Spain, indeed, had become presumptuous, 
 and imagined herself a conqueror in Italy on her own 
 account alone, whereas all her successes had been owing 
 to the sacrifices of France on her behalf. 
 
 Meanwhile, an old beau, the Bishop of Rennes, was 
 the French Ambassador in Spain, and endeavouring to 
 arrange matters. There he found all the greater difficulty 
 in calming the Queen, as she considered herself outraged 
 from the fact that Don Philip then actually was himself 
 occupying Milan. The greatest marplot was perhaps 
 the young Infanta-, Louise EHsabeth de France, Don 
 Philip's wife, in Madrid. Louis XV., on account of 
 this beloved daughter, was very Spanish in his feelings. 
 He felt it hard to withdraw Milan from this daughter 
 and give that duchy to the Savoyard. It is true that 
 Louis was also very discontented with the insolent 
 behaviour of his Spanish relations, whom success had 
 rendered arrogant almost beyond all bearing. He was 
 even very dissatisfied with the Infanta herself. She 
 was not content to trust to her father alone, but was 
 intriguing with Versailles in general. Maurepas, always 
 intimate with Spain, the Due de Noaillcs, whom Eliza- 
 beth Farnese had flattered, and the Dauphine — all were 
 being worked upon by her in an underhand manner, 
 and Louis knew it. In addition to all this, the King had 
 reason to suppose that the young and handsome Infanta 
 had, in the continued absence of her husband, been 
 indulging in more than an ordinary ilirtation with the 
 too gallant Bisliop who represented France at Madrid. 
 Being always jealous of his daughters, this circumstance 
 touched Louis to the quick. 
 
 VOL. I. 19
 
 290 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 Ever a proficient in geography, it had been Louis him- 
 self who with his own hand had traced out the plan of 
 the new partition of Italy by which his son-in-law was to 
 be deprived of a great slice of his share. Everything had, 
 with the map before him, been first sketched out by Louis, 
 and then definitely arranged between him and d'Argen- 
 son. The rest of the Council had not been taken into 
 the confidence of the pair of plotters for peace. In some 
 way, however, the sly Maurepas had contrived to ferret 
 out the details of the plan, and lost no time in informing 
 the Spanish Ambassador, Campo Florido by name. He 
 rushed to Versailles and wept aloud in the King's cabinet. 
 According to d'Argenson, "One could hear him howling." 
 The Queen, Madame Henriette, the Court now all sur- 
 rounded the King weeping and wailing ; with woe- 
 begone faces and reproachful looks they assailed him in 
 every comer. But, backed by the faithful Minister, Louis 
 remained firm. In Madrid the foolish Royal Family 
 covered their heads with ashes also, but did not forget to 
 rage at the same time. The Duque d'Huescar, one of the 
 greatest grandees and greatest fops in Spain, was sent off 
 post-haste to Paris to protest. He also secretly en- 
 deavoured to bribe d'Argenson, by promising him the rank 
 of Grandee of Spain of the highest class if he would only 
 break off the negotiations with Turin. 
 
 " Of this despicable offer," says d'Argenson, " I 
 never made any mention to the King." Needless to say, 
 that worthy Minister stuck to his guns and refused to 
 accept any modifications in the treaty personally, saying 
 that anything of that sort would be for Spain to ne- 
 gotiate direct with the King of Sardinia, but that, as 
 for the King of France, he had passed his Royal word 
 and signed definitely. D'Argenson told d'Huescar
 
 Manoeuvres of the Marquis d^Argcnson 291 
 
 further that His Majesty himself had drawn up the treaty 
 with excellent sense, and that it was a case of at the 
 same time banishing once for all both the Germans 
 and the fatal wars which ruined Italy. 
 
 Meanwhile, the Austrians were advancing rapidly, 
 and the King of Sardinia, becoming more and more 
 uneasy, wrote that he no longer knew how to continue 
 to play the comedy with his allies. The Marechal de 
 Maillebois, grandson of the great Colbert, was com- 
 manding the French forces in Italy, and his son, the 
 Comte de Maillebois, was married to d'Argenson's 
 daughter. Him d'Argenson sent off to Turin, to make 
 definite arrangements for the armistice between France 
 and Piedmont, whether the Spaniards came in or no ; 
 and with instructions to dri\^e out the Austrians in 
 combination with the Marechal de Maillebois. 
 
 But the Comte arrived too late ! On March loth, 1746, 
 he reached Rivoli, near Turin. Two of the principal 
 Ministers from the Piedmontese capital arrived to meet 
 him, in company with the Sieur de Champeaux, the 
 trusty envoy of d'Argenson hidden in the palace of the 
 King of Sardinia. They came to say that the time 
 for arrangement was passed, that the Prince von Lichten- 
 stein was in the palace, and, in the following night, the 
 Piedmontese army was about to march to relieve, or 
 at all events liclp, Alessandria. The Count was politely 
 told to leave the States of Piedmont quicker than he 
 had come. He could go to his father, who was with 
 his army at Tortona, if lie liked ; for he would be too 
 late to prevent the steps about to be taken. These 
 steps were to surprise M. de Montal, a French Lieutenant- 
 General, with nine regiments at Asli. De Montal luul 
 been at Asti all the winter without taking the trouble
 
 2 92 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 to entrench his position. He was forced to capitulate 
 with all his force. Maillebois, marching to assist Montal, 
 arrived too late, especially as the Spanish refused to 
 lend him the aid of their cavalry. Two days after the 
 capture of Montal's force a messenger arrived at Versailles 
 from the King and Queen of Spain to say that they had 
 changed their minds and would agree to the treaty with 
 Sardinia ! In the meantime their son Don Philip was 
 shut up in Parma, and only escaped by a miracle.
 
 CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 The Family, Pompadour, Voltaire, and Peace 
 
 1746 — 1748 
 
 After the surprise of M. de Montal at Asti, the Spaniards 
 soon had cause to regret that they had made such a 
 foolish outcry about the treaty with Sardinia, only to 
 agree when it was too late. Their armies were defeated 
 everywhere. Nor was the Marechal de Maillebois any 
 more successful. Instead of reinforcing that General, 
 Louis once more formed a grand army for himself for 
 parade purposes through the Low Countries, both Flan- 
 ders and Holland, whither he proceeded early in 1746 ; 
 while Maillebois, with whom the Spaniards would not 
 loyally co-operate, was driven back step by step into 
 the territory of the faithful Genoese, whose capital was 
 soon invaded by the Austrians. 
 
 Except for the short time that he passed in Flanders, 
 Louis devoted the greater part of the year to fetes, or- 
 ganised by the energy of Madame de Pompadour, and 
 towards its close two circumstances of importance took 
 place. First, the young Spanish wife of the Dauphin 
 died, and then Philip V. of Spain, broken-hearted and 
 disgusted at the results of his wife's Italian policy, died 
 also. 
 
 Thus the year 1746 closed with a new King, 
 
 393
 
 294 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 Ferdinand VI., upon the throne of Spain. He was the 
 son of the Savoyard first wife of Phihp V., and cared 
 nothing for his stepmother's plans for the glorification 
 of her offspring. 
 
 Behold Elizabeth Farnese accordingly at last dis- 
 credited, and able no longer to upset the peace of Europe ! 
 Before finally disappearing from the scene, she, however, 
 aided by the Infanta, wife of Don Philip, made one more 
 determined effort to disturb that of France. Throughout 
 the year 1746 she had herself been in a great measure 
 the cause of the disasters which befell the Marechal de 
 Maillebois, by endeavouring to conduct the operations 
 of the Spanish troops from Madrid in such a manner 
 as upon every occasion to act in opposition to his well- 
 thought-out plans. She now sought to supply the 
 Dauphin with another wife. 
 
 Well might the Abbe Regnier write : 
 
 Le destin de I'Espagne est toujours de nous nuire, 
 Et le siecle a venir aura peine a juger 
 S'il nous a plus coute de la vouloir detruire 
 Ou de la vouloir proteger. 
 
 The wife whom Elizabeth sought to impose upon France 
 was her daughter Antonia, sister of the deceased 
 Dauphine. This Antonia was a little black imp — a regular 
 dwarf with a dangerous and intriguing disposition like 
 her mother. Her sister, who had only lived for eighteen 
 months after her marriage, had assumed a consider- 
 able ascendancy over the mind of the Dauphin. She 
 had been a very handsome young woman, who, although 
 having red hair, had endeavoured to conceal that fact 
 from her husband, red hair being looked upon as a 
 disgrace in Spain. The young Prince, despite the loving 
 messages sent to him on behalf of Antonia, was not
 
 The Family, Pompadour, Voltaire, and Peace 295 
 
 inclined hurriedly to replace his briUiantly complexioned 
 wife by her swarthy sister. 
 
 Nor, when Louis found that the Oueen and Infanta 
 were acting in a double-faced way — writing affectionately 
 to himself while stirring the Dauphin at the same time 
 up against him — did he incline to the proposed new 
 Spanish marriage. He still had at his elbow, as his 
 Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Marquis d'Argenson, who 
 had a theory, formed in a great measure from his ob- 
 servations upon the Queen of Spain's own conduct. 
 
 This theory was that far more evil had been wrought 
 in kingdoms by the ascendancy over Kings of their 
 legitimate wives than from the ascendancy of mistresses. 
 He mistrusted any Princess having anything to do with 
 Spain, and advised the King with regard to his reply. 
 Louis acted very firmly under his Minister's advice, 
 saying that there was such a horror in France against 
 the idea of an incestuous connection that he could not 
 bring himself to agree to the proposed match for the 
 Dauphin with his wife's sister. 
 
 This remark may not have seemed to have come 
 with a very good grace from a King who had himself 
 lived with four sisters of the de Nesle family. It was, 
 however, as good an excuse for a refusal as another, 
 even although the people of France and, according to 
 the very careful Due de Luynes, the Queen herself, 
 were at this very time offended at the excessive degree 
 of intimacy existing between the King and the too- 
 obedient Madame Hcnriette. 
 
 Elizabeth Farnesc was furious, and threatened war 
 in the name of her stepson Ferdinand VI. ; but, although 
 both she and the Infanta quoted this new ruler of Spain 
 for the furtherance of their designs, he knew little about
 
 296 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 their intrigues, nor did he care to know more. Thus, 
 so far as France was concerned, the dowager Queen of 
 Spain was forced to close her turbulent career of thirty 
 years of agitation by sitting down under a stinging 
 rebuff, which she well merited. 
 
 D'Argenson meanwhile was looking out for a wife 
 for the Dauphin elsewhere. The Spanish Princess just 
 dead having left no son, he was particularly anxious to 
 select one who gave promise of fecundity. He decided 
 upon Maria Josepha, the younger Princess of the house 
 of Saxony, with which State the marriage would bring 
 about a cessation of hostilities. The grandfather of this 
 Princess, Augustus II., was credited with being the 
 parent of three hundred odd children, and her sister, 
 married to Don Carlos, annually brought a child into the 
 world. 
 
 Except for the conduct of the King of Sardinia, 
 whose troops had recently fired upon the Marechal de 
 Maillebois during his retirement, it is probable that a 
 Piedmontese Princess would have been selected. For 
 the Queen was very averse to the Saxon marriage, while 
 the brothers Paris, who governed Madame de Pompadour 
 and who came from Dauphine, had a natural predilection 
 for Savoy, on whose borders they had been bom. There 
 were in fact advances made by Sardinia. The King 
 spoke of the matter to his Council, saying that there 
 could not, unfortunately, be any question of a marriage 
 with a Princess of the house of Savoy, " since a passport 
 would be necessary for the bride." 
 
 There was a great Savoyard lady in Paris, the 
 Princesse de Carignan, who seems to have acted through- 
 out all these years as the semi-spy, semi-diplomatic 
 agent of Sardinia. The Sieur de Montgardin was also
 
 The Family, Pompadour, Voltaire, and Peace 297 
 
 the accredited agent of the Piedmontese Court at Ver- 
 sailles, even during the existence of a state of war with 
 France. 
 
 To these two persons d'Argenson could not forego 
 the pleasure of emphasising the fact of the mistake that 
 King Charles Emanuel had made in being in such a 
 hurry to break off his Treaty of Turin. To Madame de 
 Carignan, the Foreign Minister, in announcing the rupture 
 of all matrimonial negotiations, remarked that " our 
 flirtations were only received with bullets." 
 
 Montgardin the Marquis kept by his side the whole 
 of an evening in the garden of the Palace of the Luxem- 
 bourg. In his own words : "To him I said that his 
 master was the most unskilful Prince in all Europe : 
 he had lost all by breaking the treaty of 1745, and had 
 come by nothing since but injuries and expenses in the 
 place of Milan, which he would have had by waiting 
 only a week longer for the consent of Spain. And now 
 again he was losing, by his own fault, the most brilliant 
 match in Europe for his daughter," 
 
 The marriage of the Dauphin to the Princess of 
 Saxony was the signal for the downfall of the Marquis 
 d'Argenson. He had to the last kept the matter an 
 entire secret between himself and the King, in spite 
 of the repeated questionings by Maurepas of His Majesty 
 and himself. His enemies, among whom must be 
 counted the Dauphin, and the Queen, so favourable to 
 Spain, took the opportunity of the very day of the 
 marriage at Dresden to persuade the King to dismiss 
 his faithful Minister just when his credit witli liis master 
 seemed at its greatest height. This greatness had 
 brought upon his hc.id the jealousy and hatred of all. 
 The Daupliin himself did not enter wilhngly into the
 
 298 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 new matrimonial engagement, and showed ill-humour 
 to the Minister when he took him the necessary pro- 
 curation to sign. Afterwards, however, he soon learned 
 to love his new wife well. As d'Argenson had antici- 
 pated, this marriage proved very fruitful. The Saxon 
 Princess was the mother of Louis XVI., Louis XVII L, 
 Charles X., Madame Clotilde, Princesse de Savoie, and 
 Madame Elizabeth. 
 
 M. de Paulmy, the Marquis d'Argenson's son, had 
 been sent with the Due de Richelieu to Dresden to fetch 
 the bride, where he learned his father's disgrace, at 
 which the whole Court of Saxony was distressed when 
 the news arrived. 
 
 The order of the Black Eagle was offered to the 
 Marquis, but he decHned it, not approving that Ministers 
 should wear any orders save those of the King whom 
 they served. Thereupon a magnificent service of 
 Dresden porcelain, worth more than twenty thousand 
 crowns, was sent to the outgoing Minister of Foreign 
 Affairs. It had been ordered expressly for him, and 
 every piece was perfect when it arrived three months 
 after his dismissal. 
 
 D'Argenson took it to the King and insisted that 
 His Majesty should take it for one of his country-houses. 
 The King, however, after some hesitation, refused, and 
 made the Marquis keep it himself ; for if disgraced as 
 a Minister, his name still remained as high as ever as 
 a man. Indeed, he still retained the ministerial rank 
 of a Secretary of State, although replaced by a scheming 
 and unworthy creature of his own, M. de Puysieux, 
 in the post from which he had been dismissed — for too 
 much honesty. D'Argenson had some time previously 
 regretted having lent a helping hand to Puysieux. His
 
 The Family, Pompadour, Voltaire, and Peace 299 
 
 son M. de Paulm}^ who was present at the celebration 
 of the marriage at Dresden, also receiv^ed a magnilicent 
 present worth ten thousand livres. It consisted of a snuff- 
 box set in diamonds, the box being of most exquisite 
 design. 
 
 The Dauphin, when married for the second time, did 
 not find his father any better disposed towards him 
 than he had been previousl}^ He and the so-called 
 devout party of les honnetes gens, headed by the un- 
 scrupulous Madame de Ventadour, therefore took ad- 
 vantage of the King's growing infatuation for Madame 
 Henriette to push this retiring girl forward — make her 
 come out of her shell and take bold steps that she would 
 never have taken alone. By these, the party of the 
 Dauphin were able to gain various objects which they 
 had in view, and which would never have been obtained 
 if demanded by that Prince himself, who played a most 
 unworthy part. 
 
 Madame Henriette now gave in her apartments little 
 suppers to the King, while he made a habit of installing 
 himself at his ease with this daughter, who submitted 
 to all his caprices while never making any complaint. 
 The King commenced to distinguish Madame Henriette 
 in a way to make Madame de Pompadour feel herself 
 quite eclipsed at the Court, as indeed was the Queen 
 almost eclipsed also. 
 
 Althougli at Versailles this Princesse had need of 
 nothing, her doting father made her an allowance of 
 eight hundred thousand livres yearly, which was four 
 times what he allowed to Pompadour. He also created 
 for the retiring and unobtrusive girl of twenty a " house- 
 hold," with a large establishment of ladies and grand 
 officers. Henriette did not, however, forget her mother
 
 300 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 when she had to this extent become her father's favourite, 
 but contrived to force the King to treat the Queen with 
 more consideration than formerly. Thus on New Year's 
 Day, 1747, Marie Lesczynska received the etrennes of the 
 King, while the Marquise de Pompadour was neglected 
 and had no gift. The Queen, however, so says de 
 Luynes, became fatigued of being compelled to submit 
 to the kiss of ceremony from her daughters. 
 
 It was no doubt owing to the representations of the 
 humble Henriette, working, as she thought, in the 
 interests of her sister the Infanta, that that bugbear of 
 Spain, the Marquis d'Argenson was hunted out of office 
 in February, 1747. His departure brought about quite a 
 revolution of policy. He had in a recent conference 
 assembled at Breda, in Holland, endeavoured once more 
 to patch up matters with Sardinia, making use of Holland 
 as mediator. France, owing to the family influences, now 
 turned a cold shoulder to Prussia, Holland, and Piedmont 
 altogether. But, even before his fall, the neglect to follow 
 his advice had been regretted, for Provence was in- 
 vaded by ruthless Austrian bands after the failure of 
 the negotiations of Turin. Had it not been for the 
 valiant uprising of the Genoese against the Austrians, 
 who had pitilessly pillaged their city with every circum- 
 stance of extortion, France would have been completely 
 ruined in the south. 
 
 In another matter — namely, the question of Holland — 
 it became plain how wise had been the counsels of 
 d'Argenson. While the Minister of Foreign Affairs had 
 been cultivating the party favourable to France and 
 opposed to the English and Orange faction — which was, 
 in fact, the party that approved a continuance of re- 
 publican institutions and opposed to any autocratic
 
 The Family, Pompadour, Voltaire, and Peace 301 
 
 form of government — Louis had caused Holland to be 
 invaded. This had not been a difficult matter after 
 the dismantling of the line of frontier fortresses lying 
 between Austrian Flanders and the seven Dutch pro- 
 vinces which had united in 1579. Then the ten provinces 
 of Flanders had remained Roman Catholic and under 
 Spanish rule, to revert to Austria, and in later days to 
 become Belgium. 
 
 These frontier fortresses had been known as the 
 Dutch Barrier, but from the first invasion of Holland 
 by Louis XIV. in 1672 France had taken a delight in 
 repeatedly destroying this Barrier. Previous to that date 
 — namely, in 1648 — Spain at the Treaty of Westphalia 
 had acknowledged the independence of Holland, which 
 had already been practically independent for seventy 
 years. 
 
 The first French invasion had resulted in the estab- 
 lishment of a Stadtholder, who liad been William of 
 Orange, descended from William the Silent of the house 
 of Nassau-Dillenberg. He took his title of Prince of 
 Orange from a small principality in the south-east of 
 France, acquired by the Nassau family in 1570. It 
 lapsed with the death of William, who had become 
 William III. of England in 1702, and was ceded to 
 France by the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. After his 
 death the collateral line of Nassau-Dietz, which only re- 
 mained established in two little provinces in Friesland, 
 still by the treaty retained the title of Princes of Orange. 
 Holland, however, reverted to a Republic after the death 
 of the ruler of both England and Holland. 
 
 When the fourth instance of wanton French aggres- 
 sion since 1672 took place in 1746, it had the same 
 result upon the Dutch as had had the first invasion of
 
 302 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 Louis XIV. Holland demanded a Stadtholder once 
 more, and imposed upon the Republic a very undistin- 
 guished successor to the great William the Silent and 
 his various descendants. He was William IV. of Orange, 
 and of the Nassau-Dietz line. This Prince had neither 
 boldness nor personal appearance to recommend him, 
 having had no experience of the profession of arms and 
 being somewhat misshapen in body. The interest of 
 England had nevertheless elevated him to a quasi- 
 Royal position, he being the son-in-law of George II. 
 and brother-in-law of the British commander at Fontenoy, 
 the Duke of Cumberland. 
 
 By the establishment of this new Stadtholder, 
 England had therefore much more closely united the ties 
 between Holland and Great Britain, which latter country 
 could now rely upon the Dutch implicitly for mutual 
 action against France. This was the sole result of the 
 imprudent attack by Louis XV. upon the United States, 
 who for the time being virtually lost their position 
 either as an independent land or sea power, being at 
 the beck and call of George II. 
 
 France felt this position, and in 1747 commenced 
 humbly to sue for peace with the allies, upon the con- 
 dition of returning all her conquests. She was not, 
 however, listened to, whereupon the Marechal de Saxe 
 gained the bloody victory of Lauffeldt, took Bergen- 
 op-Zoom, and threatened Maestricht, the finest city 
 in Holland. 
 
 The taking of Bergen-op-Zoom was accompanied 
 by the cruel sack of that place, so bitter had the war 
 become. Holland was terrified, and trembled for Maes- 
 tricht. She already saw herself in imagination reduced 
 to the cruel measures which she had been compelled
 
 The Family, Pompadour, Voltaire, and Peace ^o^ 
 
 to adopt in the reign of Louis XIV. for self-defence. Then 
 both the sea and fresh-water dykes had been cut and 
 the whole country around Amsterdam flooded, including 
 the suburbs of that flourishing city. The country re- 
 mained flooded for two years from June 20th, 1672, 
 entailing untold misery upon the inhabitants. This 
 drastic measure, however, even in winter time saved 
 Holland. When the Duke of Luxembourg attempted 
 to take The Hague, he found the ice breaking everywhere 
 under his horses' feet, and was with difficulty able to 
 retreat to the province of Utrecht. 
 
 In 1747 Holland was fortunately spared the necessity 
 of reducing her flat domains to the condition of a vast 
 lake. England suddenly became pacific ; having de- 
 stroyed nearly all the French warships, she did not wish 
 to see the war continued merely in order that Louis 
 might continue his career of conquest in Holland. 
 
 Every one was tired of the war, most had forgotten 
 what it was all about, what had been its cause of origin. 
 Austria, the Pragmatic Sanction — to abase the former, 
 to enforce the latter, had been those primary causes ; 
 and what was the result ? With exception of the loss 
 of Silesia to Prussia, Austria was stronger than ever. 
 The Queen of Hungary had become the Empress of 
 Germany ; in Italy, Bohemia — everywhere except in 
 the Low Countries — she was supreme. 
 
 How had matters fared with the Infante Don Philip ? 
 The French Infanta, his wife, Louise Elisabeth, elder 
 sister of Henriette, had seen lier Italian establishment, 
 her Royalty of Lombardy, fall to the ground. She had 
 no longer anything left — not even hope. Should her 
 brother-in-law Don Carlos succeed tlie weakly Ferdinand 
 upon the throne of Spain, he would not now resign his
 
 304 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 kingdom of the two Sicilies to Pliilip, for he had two 
 sons of his own, and intended to make the Neapolitan 
 kingdom over to the second of these. 
 
 Thus, after sharing with Elizabeth Farnese the 
 reigning power in Madrid, after having possessed Milan 
 and hoped for Naples, between three kingdoms the 
 French Infanta found herself thrown flat without one. 
 There was nothing left for her to do but to think of 
 returning to France, where she had heard how the power 
 of Madame Henriette was increasing. 
 
 With her mother the Queen, with Madame de 
 Pompadour, Louise Elisabeth was becoming more than 
 uneasy at this ascendancy which was effacing her own 
 old supremacy over her unreliable father Louis XV. 
 As for Pompadour, from the year 1746 she had seen 
 herself sinking. Power in the State she had certainly 
 acquired by that year, but both her health and beauty 
 were declining. Her constant efforts to amuse the 
 King, to keep him interested in her, were wearing her 
 out. Performing the duties of a Minister during the 
 day, when the evening came she was compelled to enact 
 the part of an actress, a ballet-girl, an opera-singer, a 
 dancer in vaudeville. While spitting blood and put 
 upon a milk diet, no repose was possible for the un- 
 fortunate woman, if she would keep that which one of 
 the preceding favourites had termed " her office." 
 
 In spite of her unheard-of efforts, the Marquise only 
 now succeeded in boring the King. He yawned when 
 she performed in a ballet, and said that he preferred 
 comedy. When she acted in comedy, he fell asleep. 
 
 In Paris she knew herself to be looked upon with 
 mistrust and scorn, and at Versailles the Dauphin and 
 the King's young daughters, especially the effervescent
 
 l')o>n IIh- paiiilin^ hy ynlliii Ci>/>ynglil, W. Afa/isc// c (n. 
 MAIiAMK IIKNRIETTA Ol' I'RANCE.
 
 The Family, Pompadour, Voltaire, and Peace 305 
 
 Adelaide, lost no opportunity of putting an affront upon 
 their father's mistress. They persuaded the King that 
 she was unhealthy, consumptive, that it was unwise 
 for him to live with her, as he too might become 
 poitrinaire. Madame du Hausset, Pompadour's con- 
 fidential waiting- woman, says, in her Memoirs, that 
 although, just as a make-believe to deceive the world, 
 Louis continued to go to her room at night, he slept 
 apart, on a sofa. 
 
 By the end of 1747 Madame de Pompadour had 
 become so jealous of tJie influence of both Madame 
 Henriette and Madame Adelaide, that she persuaded 
 the King to recall their younger sister, Madame Victoire, 
 from the convent at Fontevrault, where she was being 
 educated. The King took to Victoire at once, and 
 made a great fuss about the fourteen-year-old girl, for 
 whom he made enormous expenses, while showering 
 honours upon her. While Henriette suffered in silence, 
 Adelaide became furious with jealousy, not upon her 
 own account, but upon her sister's, when she saw the 
 youthful newcomer taking all the honours of the Court 
 from Henriette, who was now twenty-one. Adelaide 
 was only fifteen, but slic made such violent scenes that 
 her father had to listen to her and send Victoire away 
 from the grand apartments he had given her, up to a 
 more humble abode on the second story. There she 
 was relegated to the duties of looking after her two 
 little sisters. 
 
 The Infanta, Louise Elisabeth — a woman with a vicious 
 mind — had meanwhile dreamed of another sort of ven- 
 geance, whereby she might kill Madame Henriette by 
 ridicule. She well knew Voltaire's play (Edipe, which, 
 written as an attack upon the Regent's incestuous 
 
 VOL. I. 20
 
 3o6 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 connection with his daughter the unbridled Duchesse de 
 Berry, had been rewarded by that easy-going Prince 
 with a pension, instead of the Bastille, for the author. 
 She now induced Voltaire to write another tragedy with 
 the same intention. The piece was called S emir amis, 
 and it hit at Madame Henriette, not directly, but 
 round the corner, through other persons well known. 
 Through Pompadour, the poet had contrived to reach 
 Versailles as a gentleman of the chamber, and had been 
 also appointed historiographer of France. But Voltaire 
 became alarmed even before he had finished writing 
 the play. He was in bad odour at Versailles, where 
 he had not at all succeeded as a courtier. Presuming 
 upon his position as a famous man of letters, he had 
 attempted a slight familiarity with the King — who hated 
 men of letters. His Majesty froze the cynical poet 
 with a glance without replying when, after the per- 
 formance of a piece glorifying Louis, he confidently 
 approached the Royal box and asked, " Is Trajan 
 content ? " Pompadour, by whose credit he was there, 
 was too anxious for her own position to back Voltaire 
 up, whereupon he retired to Sceaux. There, in the 
 Court of the spiteful little Conde, the old Duchesse du 
 Maine, who to her last hour plotted against the Court 
 of Versailles, S emir amis was finished. 
 
 It was completed just at the time that " the head of 
 the family Council," as d'Argenson calls Henriette, 
 was being moved by the King into a grander and more 
 royal abode than she had hitherto occupied. Voltaire 
 became frightened, and wrote from Luneville, whither 
 he had retired, to stop the representation of Semiramis. 
 Madame de Pompadour, however, wished the piece to 
 be proceeded with ; for she imagined that by making
 
 The Family, Pompadour, Voltaire, and Peace 307 
 
 the King himself the protector of the tragedy, the hidden 
 allusions would not be understood, or at all events could 
 not be applied. 
 
 It was first played at Paris on August 29th, 1748, 
 with no ill effects to any one. The author, staying 
 with Stanislas, the ex-King of Poland, at Luneville, 
 had shown the play to the Queen's father ; but no 
 sooner was it performed than he became thrown into 
 a terrible state of alarm lest it should be parodied, as 
 was customary in those days. The danger was that 
 the parody should too plainly reveal its real intention. 
 Such a parody was indeed written. No doubt by the 
 ad\dce of the good-natured and not too straight-laced 
 Stanislas, whose mistress the Marquise de Boufflers 
 protected men of letters, Voltaire now wrote wild 
 letters to the Duchesse de Lu3mes, to the Cardinal Quirini, 
 and six letters to the Queen herself. In these he im- 
 plored that the production of the parody should be 
 prevented. Marie Lesczynska, however, replied very 
 coldly, that " a parody was customary." Her Majesty 
 was not just then on such good terms with Madame 
 Henriette that she wished either her husband or her 
 daughter to be spared. What the Queen would not do, 
 however, was effected by Madame de Pompadour. Very 
 alarmed herself, she contrived, in September, 1748, to 
 have the performance of the parody stopped at the 
 last minute. 
 
 Already during that month were the terms of a peace 
 dishonourable for France being negotiated. The Marechal 
 de Saxc before Maestricht was moaning and groaning 
 aloud, writing and begging that no peace should be made 
 before the fall of the important Dutch city would make 
 better terms easily obtainable. Louis, however, replying
 
 3o8 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 that there was no more money for the war, launched 
 into extravagance upon a series of fetes. 
 
 The devout party, the family party at the Court 
 also, who had always hated the war and wished for the 
 success of Austria, hurried the King on to throw all 
 the fruits of his conquests into the fire ; persuaded him 
 to get rid, as fast as possible, of all that for which hundreds 
 of thousands of French lives had been uselessly sacrificed. 
 All France was indignant already before peace was 
 signed at Aix-la-Chapelle, but few were found who 
 dared to express aloud their disgust or indignation. 
 Voltaire, however, had the temerity to utter a protest, 
 and, with an entire want of tact, he made it take the form 
 of some very ill-judged verses to the King and Pompadour 
 combined, as though the master and the mistress were 
 upon an equal footing. These verses ended with the 
 words, " Et gardez tons deux vos conquetes." 
 
 These lines, arriving when the shameful treaty was 
 all ready to be signed, wounded all the more because 
 of the excellent advice of Voltaire to the King to keep 
 his conquests. No one about the Court had dared to 
 express the irritation which had been secretly felt when 
 Semiramis was produced ; but now — Mesdames de France 
 were furious. The Princesses rushed to the King with 
 their party and cried shame ! ' ' The State and the King 
 were lost," they said, " if a man of his household — his 
 servant — dared to give him advice and, moreover, 
 impudently to mix up His Majesty's name with that 
 of Pompadour ! " 
 
 That lady made herself very humble for a time and 
 endeavoured to conciliate the Princesses. The Queen, 
 being very irritated with her daughters, had pity upon 
 Pompadour, and kindly connived with the King when
 
 The Family, Pompadour, Voltaire, and Peace 309 
 
 he sought to hft up the unhappy woman from her con- 
 dition of abasement. She was appointed to the post 
 of Superintendent of the Queen's Household ; and Her 
 Majesty took particular care to receive the Marquise 
 with kindness and consideration when she came to pay 
 her respects upon her appointment. 
 
 By the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, signed October i8th, 
 1748, France restored a whole kingdom — the Low Coun- 
 tries — to Austria, and also signed away to Great Britain 
 the future Empire of India, which had been lost to 
 Dupleix by the restoration of Madras. England, how- 
 ever, restored her conquests made from France across 
 the seas, which included Louisbourg and Cape Breton, 
 in what was then called Acadia, but is now Nova Scotia, 
 
 The wording of the treaty, however, in all that 
 concerned America, was so vague and badly expressed 
 as to permit of a good excuse for British aggression 
 again before long in those regions. There, indeed, the 
 war between the British and French colonists can scarcely 
 be said to have ever ceased ; and thus the inter-colonial 
 disturbances soon had paved the way for what was 
 known as the Seven Years' War. 
 
 In France there was the greatest discontent at the 
 terms of the peace. The King of Prussia was, however, 
 relieved by its terms from the fear of an invasion by a 
 force of thirty-seven thousand Russians, who, in alliance 
 with the maritime Powers and Austria, had been slowly 
 approaching his dominions. With the peace, this army 
 commenced a gradual retreat by way of Bohemia and 
 Moravia, where it was proposed, on account of the bad 
 weather, that they should retire into winter quarters. 
 The object witli whicli this army of Russians had ad- 
 vanced remained a subject of speculation in France,
 
 3IO The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 where some thought that what they had really been 
 aiming at was the coercion of the Empire, intending to 
 force the Diet to elect Joseph, the young son of Maria 
 Theresa, as King of the Romans. 
 
 All that Spain gained by the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle 
 was a little establishment for Don Philip, that of the 
 Duchies of Parma, Guastalla, and Piacenza. Of this 
 d'Argenson remarks, "It is an establishment only 
 worthy of a Pope's bastard, to whom originally it was 
 given." But that Parmesan Princess, Don Philip's 
 mother, only had herself to thank for her disappointment.
 
 CHAPTER XXV 
 A Vengeance for Madame de Pompadour 
 
 1749 
 
 Never were the internal affairs of France in a more 
 distracted condition than from the close of hostilities 
 in 1748, by the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, until the official 
 recommencement of war on January 23rd, 1755 ; before 
 which latter date hostilities with England had really 
 existed for upwards of two years in America. 
 
 Madame de Pompadour was practically the principal 
 Minister, and the cause of all the trouble was the condition 
 of affairs at Versailles. It consisted there in the pre- 
 valence of the petticoat — the King being ruled by some 
 of the Ministers through Madame de Pompadour's 
 influence, and by the Dauphin and clergy through the 
 inordinate affection of Louis for his daughters, the 
 Infanta, Henriettc, and Adelaide. 
 
 In Paris the people were so discontented by the 
 terms of the peace that one fish-wife, quarrelling with 
 another, flung at her enemy the words, " Tu es bete 
 comme la paix ! " which well expressed the popular 
 feeling. 
 
 There was already great destitution among the 
 poorer classes by the end of 1748, and while this distress 
 continued to increase steadily, the expenditure at the 
 
 3"
 
 312 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 Court also increased, which circumstance added much 
 to the discontent of the people. 
 
 On the occasion of the fireworks to celebrate the 
 peace, although the crowds thronged to the Quai Pelletier, 
 their faces showed no sign of joy, and hardly any one 
 cried Vive le roi ! Owing to the crush, there was great 
 mortality among the people, between two and three 
 hundred being drowned in the Seine or severely injured. 
 
 What, however, was worse, was the behaviour of 
 the soldiers of the Gardes Fran9aises, a supposed corps 
 d'elite who had by no means distinguished themselves 
 at Dettingen or Fontenoy. They now distinguished 
 themselves by the atrocity of their behaviour. Taking 
 advantage of the confusion to pounce upon the young girls 
 of the bourgeoisie, they dragged them off and ravished 
 their victims. Some of them they kept in concealment 
 until, tired of their charms, they are supposed to have 
 murdered them. When the girls were being dragged 
 off screaming, the brutal soldiers exclaimed to any 
 offering to interfere, " Cest ma gueuse ! " and threatened 
 those who interposed so that they were in terror of 
 their lives, and glad to escape themselves while leaving 
 the women to their fate. 
 
 After the awful catastrophe, sooner or later many 
 of the poor young women sadly made their way home 
 again, after being dishonoured. But many parents never 
 knew if their daughters had been drowned at first, or 
 been the victims of the ruffianly Gardes Fran9aises and 
 drowned later, as they were never seen again. A large 
 number of corpses, chiefly of women, were taken out of 
 the river as far down as Saint-Cloud for days after the 
 disaster. 
 
 These disorders were laid by the people to the malig-
 
 A Vengeance for Madame de Pompadour 313 
 
 nance and malice of those who governed them, the 
 bourgeoisie being in the condition of mind ready to think 
 any evil of its masters ; but those at the Court cared little 
 as to what the lower orders thought about them. At 
 Versailles, where woman's honour was held cheap, and 
 whence the fiat went forth for the death of thousands of 
 men, the intrigues of the different Ministers or courtiers, 
 or the last ribald verses against Madame de Pompadour, 
 were themes considered worthy of much more attention 
 than a mere popular calamity. 
 
 The most important party about the King consisted 
 
 of the brothers Paris, M. de Puysieux, and the Comte 
 
 de Saint-Severin, all closely allied with Madame de 
 
 Pompadour ; with, in addition, the Comte d'Argenson, 
 
 who constantly played a double part between the Queen 
 
 and Jesuits on one side, and the Marquise on the other. 
 
 He continued to hold his post of Minister of War and 
 
 to become more powerful for years after his brother 
 
 lost his office. On the side opposed to Pompadour 
 
 was Maurepas, who now had the ]\Iinistry of Marine, the 
 
 King's Household, and one or two minor posts. He 
 
 was in close union with the Princesses, and strongly 
 
 suspected of being the author of some of the Poissonnades, 
 
 the disgraceful songs about the Marquise. She always 
 
 said that she feared that he would poison her, as he had 
 
 Madame de Chateauroux, and did not take any pains to 
 
 disguise her dislike of this Minister and his hons-mots and 
 
 satires. Another Minister with whom the King's mistress 
 
 existed on terms of apparent friendship was M. de 
 
 Machault, the Controleur-General des Finances. Whether 
 
 she actually liked liiin or not is doubtful, but at all 
 
 events she refrained from abusing him to the King as 
 
 she did both his favourite Maurepas and the Comte
 
 314 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 d'Argenson ; although with the latter she worked well, 
 while rightly mistrusting him, for he was not of her 
 party of the cabinets. 
 
 The Marechal Due de Richelieu was probably the 
 most important courtier who was not also a Minister. 
 When he returned to the Court after the war, he 
 behaved in a singular manner, while seeking to in- 
 gratiate himself as deeply into the King's good graces 
 as he had been in the days of, that mistress of 
 his own appointment, the Duchesse de Chateauroux. 
 " He has butted against the mistress, against the 
 favourites, against the Ministers, and has got on bad 
 terms with both parties, the Ministry and les cabinets. 
 The King would not receive a mistress at his hands on 
 any account, even if he presented the most beautiful 
 in creation. He is warned that it would only be as a 
 means of governing him as he used to be in the days of 
 Madame de Chateauroux. Thus all doors are closed 
 to him — that is not the way to succeed " (d'Argenson). 
 Not long after we find Richelieu, however, changing his 
 tactics. He then not only becomes the warm friend of 
 Pompadour, but apparently as high as ever in the favour 
 of Louis XV. 
 
 The Comte de Saint-Severin, or Severino, mentioned 
 above, was an Italian by birth who had contrived to be 
 employed in high diplomatic positions in the service of 
 France. He was closely allied with Pompadour, and was 
 the envoy who conducted the negotiations for the peace 
 at Aix-la-Chapelle. Of this peace, it was generally said 
 that " England bought the peace at Choisy, and it cost 
 sixteen millions." That was tantamount to saying that 
 Pompadour had been paid for the peace, and with the 
 King's knowledge and connivance — he was supposed
 
 A Vengeance for Madame de Pompadour 315 
 
 to have shared with her the price of his country's dis- 
 honour. M. de Saint-Severin, who had been to England 
 to arrange the matter of the estabhshment of Don Phihp in 
 Parma, Guastalla, and Piacenza, was also credited with 
 having arranged that the pension of a million livres, 
 formerly paid by England to Cardinal Dubois and then 
 to the Marquise de Prie, should be continued to Madame 
 de Pompadour. 
 
 Saint-Severin was a man of a singularly ferocious 
 temper ; indeed, he was supposed at times to be half crazy, 
 as some of his pithy remarks would seem to betoken. 
 One day, among a very distinguished company, when 
 he was making his bows upon being received as Chevalier 
 of the grand Ordre du Saint-Esprit, he was asked if he 
 was not frightened of the public. He replied, " I have 
 never known that sensation of fear of the public. I 
 have always looked upon the public as a bench ! " 
 
 He was said to have hanged Fontauban, a spy who 
 was suspected of having intended to deliver Louis XV. 
 into the hands of the English. Saint-Severin said, 
 " Yes, it was I who had him hanged, and I would 
 like in a similar manner to hang half of the human 
 race. As for the other half, I really do not know what 
 I would do with them." 
 
 The horrible songs and verses which in these days 
 after the war appeared in such profusion spared the King 
 no more than they spared the mistress. While vulgar 
 to a degree, many of these were too clever, and showed 
 too intimate a knowledge of affairs at the Court not to 
 have emanated from some source not far removed from 
 the King. 
 
 M. de Bcrrycr, who was then Lieutenant de Police, 
 was attacked one day upon the subject by a group of
 
 3i6 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 the petits matires des petits cabinets in the long corridor 
 at Versailles, whither business had taken him. They 
 told him that the late Police-Lieutenant, d'Argenson, 
 would not have proved himself so supine in discovering 
 the offenders. Had such things happened in the days 
 of Louis XIV., d'Argenson would never have allowed 
 them to escape, but have unearthed the miscreants 
 from the bottom of a well. 
 
 Berryer looked the courtiers up and down with a 
 piercing and significant glance, before he replied, " I 
 know my Paris as well as it can be known, but — I do 
 not know Versailles ! " The courtiers vanished into 
 thin air. 
 
 Besides these vulgar songs, ribald prints appeared. 
 In one of these the King, bared for punishment like 
 a schoolboy, was bound by the Marquise de Pompa- 
 dour and M, de Puysieux, while various potentates 
 flogged him. Maria Theresa applied the birch ; England 
 said, " Give it him hard " ; and Holland, " He will 
 give up everything." This was called the print " of the 
 four nations." One ballad, aimed at the Marquise 
 (Mademoiselle Poisson), had a line, " Les cabinets sont 
 dans la bassesse, les poissons viennent de la halle." In 
 short, the publications more than ever resembled the 
 mazarinades against Cardinal Mazarin and Queen Anne 
 of Austria, the Spanish wife of Louis XIII. and Regent 
 of France, in the time of the Fronde, just a hundred 
 years earlier. 
 
 The King was so much distressed that he fell into a 
 state of melancholy, while open war existed between 
 the Ministry of les cabinets and the rest of the Ministry. 
 Maurepas was strongly suspected, and, further, it was 
 imagined that he was being pushed by friendship for the
 
 A Vengeance for Madame de Pompadour 317 
 
 Queen and the Royal Princesses to continue the attacks 
 against the mistress. Thus the King fell into a great 
 state of uncertainty and indecision how to act. On the 
 one side, he was shown that in retaining the unpopular 
 mistress he was increasing the popular discontent, and, 
 further, that if he sent away the Ministers opposed to 
 Pompadour he would seem to be sacrificing them to the 
 sultana — especially the two longest established. These 
 were the Comte d'Argenson and Maurepas, who were 
 popular since they were supposed to hate the favourite. 
 On the other hand, the King felt that if he sent away 
 Pompadour he would lose also her godfathers, the 
 brothers Paris, who alone supplied him with money ; 
 lose likewise de Puysieux and Saint-Severin, who, solely 
 supported by the credit of les cabinets, were not only 
 devoted to his interests, but useful as a balance of power 
 against the malcontents. Saint-Severin had mean- 
 while become a Secretary of State. 
 
 Pompadour during this period — acting as First 
 Minister — had more authority and more business to 
 attend to than ever had Cardinal Fleury. Besetting 
 the King, she pushed him and shook him up, while 
 hardly ever leaving him alone. In the days of Fleury 
 he scarcely had passed an hour a day in his cabinet, 
 but Pompadour, telling Louis that it was for the good 
 of his health, constantly kept his Royal nose down to 
 the grindstone. She contrived to persuade the King 
 that he would keep away melancholy thoughts by 
 constant work ; but, in reality, her object was, by 
 keeping the master thus under her supervision, to 
 prevent him from being able to run the Government 
 without her. 
 
 In vain M. de Puysieux ventured to tell the Marcj^uise
 
 31 8 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 that she mixed herself too much in affairs of State and 
 received too many petitions. She continued her hne 
 of conduct and kept a finger in every pie. Further, 
 she worked all the more because Puysieux seemed to 
 become less able to work himself, owing to having fallen 
 desperately in love with the beautiful Madame de Flava- 
 court. Owing to the intensity of his passion for that 
 member of the Nesle family, who was nicknamed at 
 Court la poulc, the unhappy Minister of Foreign Affairs 
 became thinner from day to day. Pompadour finding 
 him grown useless for other matters, employed him 
 chiefly as her emissary and go-between with the brothers 
 Paris — ^notably Paris-Duverney. 
 
 Meanwhile, the Comte Phelippeaux de Maurepas seemed 
 to continue secure in the Royal favour, and held his head 
 higher than ever when Madame Infante, as the wife 
 of Don Philip was called, arrived from Spain. Received 
 at Versailles with the most ruinous extravagance by her 
 father, Louise Elisabeth seemed to have come to stay, 
 the pretence being that the palace at Parma, where her 
 husband was, required endless repairs before it would 
 be fit for the haughty Princesse to live in. The fact 
 was that she cared nothing for Don Philip, of whom 
 she had seen very little, although he was the father of 
 the little girl who accompanied the Infanta to France. 
 Always the friend of Spain, Maurepas now gave himself 
 more airs than ever. 
 
 One day Madame de Pompadour, accompanied by 
 her scheming friend the Comtesse d'Estrades, paid 
 Maurepas a visit, when the favourite said to him, 
 " People cannot say that I send for the Ministers ; I 
 come to find them." Then she added, " When will 
 you know the author of those libellous songs ? "
 
 A Vengeance for Madame de Pompadour 319 
 
 Maurepas replied, " When I know, I will inform 
 the King." 
 
 The Marquise returned, " Monsieur, you do not 
 appear to make too much of the King's mistresses." 
 
 M. de Maurepas was equal to the occasion — he answered 
 casually, " I have always respected them — of whatever 
 kind they might &<? ! " 
 
 The Marquise and her friend rose in a hurry, and 
 left the impertinent courtier to congratulate himself 
 upon his rudeness. 
 
 A fortnight later, on the morning of April 22nd, 
 1749, the King was in a particularly good humour with 
 Maurepas. He listened to his stories and bons mots, 
 and laughed over his quips and little bits of scandal. 
 Presently the King made up his mind to go off for a day 
 or two's amusement to his chateau at Choisy ; where- 
 upon Maurepas said that he would pass the day at the 
 wedding of Mademoiselle de Maupeou to the Comte de 
 Laval-Montmorency. 
 
 " Mind you have a good time and amuse yourself 
 well," said Louis, and departed, leaving the Minister 
 of Marine in the highest of spirits. 
 
 This occurred on a Tuesday morning, and the cour- 
 tiers, witnesses of the scene, were convinced that nothing 
 could shake Maurepas in the Royal favour. Neverthe- 
 less, a day or two previously some verses with a double 
 meaning had appeared — a quatrain of which the point 
 was in the ktst line, which had a disgusting second in- 
 tention. The first three were : 
 
 Pax vos fagons nobles et franches 
 Iris, vous enchantez nos coeurs ; 
 Sur nos pas vous semez dcs fleurs. 
 
 At Versailles it had been clearly understood that
 
 320 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 this quatrain could but have emanated from Maurepas, 
 for tlie reason that they referred to an incident which 
 had occurred at one of the King's petits soupers. There 
 had been present at this only the Marquise de Pompa- 
 dour, the Comtesse d'Estrades, and Maurepas. A 
 bouquet of white hyacinths had been carried by the 
 Marquise, who had broken it up and scattered all the 
 petals on the floor. 
 
 On the following Thursday Maurepas was expected 
 at the Opera, where a new piece was to be played ex- 
 pressly for him. For a long time he was awaited in 
 vain, when suddenly a member of the audience cried 
 out, " M. de Maurepas was exiled this morning ! " 
 
 The news was true — the King had given one more 
 instance of that dissimulation which he invariably 
 assumed when about to strike a heavy blow. On the 
 morning of Thursday, April 24th, 1749, the Comte 
 d'Argenson had handed to the self-confident Minister 
 a letter in these terms : 
 
 " I had told you, Monsieur, that I should warn you 
 when your services were no longer necessary to me. 
 I keep my word with you. Get ready to proceed to 
 Bourges as soon as possible. In the meantime, see 
 few people, even of your family. I would have allowed 
 you to go to Pont-Chartrain, if it had not been too near 
 Versailles and Paris. No answer. 
 
 '* Louis." 
 
 It may be remembered that Maurepas' father and 
 grandfather were celebrated Ministers who figured only 
 under the name of Pontchartrain, from their country 
 seat. Hence the allusion. Bourges, whither Maurepas
 
 '"■■"".■.://.■ .//.•/.'■"/' 
 
 COMTK IMIKLII'I'EArX 1)E .MAUREI'AS.
 
 A Vengeance for Madame de Pompadour 321 
 
 was exiled, had been previously selected by the King 
 as the first place of banishment for M. de Chauvelin, 
 Keeper of the Seals, in Fleury's days as First Minister. 
 
 Thus was Madame de Pompadour able to cry quits 
 at last with the sharp-tongued Minister who had been 
 a Court sneak and a tell-tale during all his Ministry, 
 which had been practically all his hfe, since he was 
 first made Secretary of State when a boy between four- 
 teen and fifteen. In being revenged for herself, she was 
 avenging the late Duchesse de Chateauroux also; more- 
 over, the vengeance was a lasting one. When Louis XV. 
 punished, he never forgave. As it had been with M. de 
 Chauvelin, as with the Due de Chatillon and others, 
 so it was with Maurepas. The exile was for life. In 
 the case of the Comte, it was for the King's hfe. This 
 kept Maurepas in exile for a good long time, a quarter 
 of a century, as the Well-Beloved did not die until 
 May, 1774. When that event occurred, at the age of 
 sixty-three, Maurepas was recalled, at the instances of 
 Madame Adelaide and the Due de la Vrilliere, formerly 
 Saint-Florentin, the cruel Minister of the State Prisons. 
 
 While the Queen and the Dauphin wept at the dis- 
 grace of their favourite, it was generally understood 
 that it was owing to her alliance with Richelieu in a 
 great measure that Pompadour had been able to get 
 rid of her verse-writing enemy. A courtier remarked 
 at the Palais-Royal, "It is M. de Richelieu who had 
 Maurepas exiled ; when he chooses, he will exile the 
 King himself ! " 
 
 RicheHeu had in fact become a great favourite, not 
 
 only with the King, but among the people. Profligate 
 
 as he was, the populace admired the Marechal-Duc, 
 
 probably on account of that very profligacy which he 
 
 VOL. I. 21
 
 32 2 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 exercised in such Royal style in a city as libertine as 
 the Court which it copied. 
 
 It was said that on the night following his exile 
 Maurepas proceeded to Versailles in disguise and saw 
 the Queen, and that further he contrived to carry off 
 from his bureau a mass of papers which he had feared 
 would have already been put under seal. He left many 
 friends behind him in Paris, several of whom, like him- 
 self, were makers of verses. One of these, M. de Bazon- 
 court, was arrested, while others, such as the Marquis 
 de Caylus and Marquis de Pont de Veyle, were thrown 
 into the greatest state of alarm. 
 
 With the departure of the Comte from the scene 
 the King found, to his great discontent, that his in- 
 fluence had remained behind. He complained bitterly 
 to his confessor, the Pere Perusseau, that the Royal 
 family had been stirred up against himself. Above all, 
 the King was shocked at the abominable and low ex- 
 pressions which were reported to him daily as being 
 used by his daughters against the mistress. Her they 
 called a disgraceful name which they had been taught 
 by the Comte Jean Frederic Phelippeaux de Maurepas, 
 a man of such culture and refinement that the Aca- 
 demies of Science and Literature had been placed under 
 his supervision.
 
 / 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI 
 
 Manners and Morals at the Court of 
 Stanislas 
 
 1737— 1/66 
 
 At the end of the War of the PoKsh Succession the 
 firmness of Chauvehn, Keeper of the Seals, in overcoming 
 the effete pohcy of the womanish Cardinal Fleury, 
 secured the province of Lorraine for King Stanislas 
 Lesczynski. The ex-King of Poland accordingly took 
 possession of that duchy in 1737, and established his 
 Court at Luneville, a pretty city on the right bank of 
 the Meurthe, near its junction with the Vezouse. This 
 Court soon became a lively place of residence under the 
 easy-going Polish ruler. 
 
 Luneville is two hundred and forty miles east of 
 Paris and seventy-three west of Strasbourg, in Alsace, 
 In ancient times Metz had been the capital of Lorraine, 
 which was known originally as the Kingdom of Austrasia, 
 and then as the Kingdom of Metis, or Metz, until the 
 middle of the ninth century, when the name Lorraine 
 was assumed. The city of Metz, which from the eleventh 
 century was famous for its commerce with Germany, 
 its brilliant society, and its love of letters and art, was 
 in the year 1552 united to France. The inhabitants 
 of Lorraine were mostly of Germanic race, but only 
 
 323
 
 324 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 in a small district between the Vosges Mountains and 
 Metz was German spoken ; it was therefore called 
 German Lorraine. The province, roughly speaking, 
 contained, in the Duchy of Lorraine, Lorraine proper, 
 German Lorraine, and the territory of the Vosges. It 
 also included, at times, the Duchy of Bar, the capital of 
 which was Bar-le-Duc, and the " three Bishoprics," 
 which were Metz, Toul, and Verdun. This Duchy of 
 Bar had been all that the Austrians had proposed to 
 cede to Stanislas, when for the second time ejected from 
 his Kingdom of Poland ; and that Fleury had expressed 
 himself as willing to accept until Chauvelin intervened. 
 Then the Duke Francis of Lorraine was compelled 
 to abandon the whole of his dominions and to accept 
 the reversion of the Grand Dukedom of Tuscany ; for 
 which he did not have long to wait. Stanislas obtained 
 Lorraine for hfe, with reversion to France at his death. 
 
 Under the Roman Emperors the country had formed 
 part of the province of Belgica Prima, and under Otho 
 the Great in the tenth century it was given by him to 
 his brother, Bruno of Cologne, and divided into Upper 
 and Lower Lorraine. Lower Lorraine subsequently 
 became Brabant, a province of the Dukes of Burgundy, 
 and is now part of Belgium, containing Brussels as its 
 principal city. 
 
 Gerard of Alsace obtained Upper Lorraine from the 
 Emperor Henry IIL, and was the ancestor of the long 
 line of Dukes who, with some interruptions, ruled 
 Lorraine until Stanislas obtained its sovereignty in the 
 year 1737. While Duke Francis, married to Maria 
 Theresa, became the founder, both in Tuscany and in 
 Austria, of the line of Hapsburg-Lorraine, Stanislas 
 Lescz3mski ruled Lorraine with great benevolence until
 
 Manners at the Court of Stanislas 325 
 
 1766, when he died, and it was annexed to France. It 
 remained French until the Germans took both Alsace 
 and Lorraine after the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71. 
 
 As the home of the celebrated Guise family, which 
 was a branch of the Ducal line, Lorraine had for about 
 two hundred years furnished many both bold and in- 
 triguing spirits to France, while, since a Guise was the 
 mother of Mary Queen of Scots, there are but few Royal 
 families in Europe at the present day who have not still 
 some of the old Lorraine blood in their veins. 
 
 For a description of the Court at Luneville, as it 
 existed in the year 1746, we have a letter written by the 
 President of the Parliament, Renault, who was a great 
 favourite with Queen Marie Lesczynska. He says : " We 
 regret not to have seen the reign of Henri IV., but we 
 have only got to go to Luneville and one will find it. 
 Stanislas has a gay style of conversation, he says the 
 most light and merry things. He tells a story well, sees 
 clearly, and has a fruitful and agreeable imagination, as 
 one can easily observe by visiting his houses and noting 
 the peculiarities at La Malgrange, which are endless. 
 All that is not built in our style, and at last I was afraid 
 of finding myself in Turkey, when happily I was reassured 
 by seeing in the wood a statue of Saint Francis instead 
 of a figure of Mahomed. 
 
 " Recently a foreign seigneur, who is well known, 
 presented himself to Stanislas for an emplo3mient at 
 his Court similar to that which he formerly filled at the 
 Court of Lorraine. ' What charge did you hold ? ' 
 asked Stanislas. — " Sire, I was the Grand Master of the 
 Ceremonies." — " Gad ! sir," repied the King, " I don't 
 even allow that any one sliould ever bow to me ! " 
 
 This was true. Although Stanislas had been liberally
 
 3^^ The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 supplied from the French Court with ofificials, he allowed 
 them to dispense with the excess of ceremony and boring 
 etiquette of Versailles. One man — la Galasiere — filled 
 four posts at once : Chancellor, Keeper of the Seals, 
 Chief of the Council, and Minister of French Affairs. 
 
 The post of Grand Master had been given to the 
 Duke OssoHnski, a bold spirit who formerly had seized 
 and carried off the diamonds from the Polish crown. 
 At Luneville this hero became as lamblike as his master. 
 There were scores of other officers, as Grand Chamber- 
 lains, Ordinary Chamberlains, and Chamberlains of 
 Honour, Grand Wolf-catchers, Masters of the Horse, 
 Gentlemen of the Bedchamber, and so on. Many of 
 these bore well-known names, such as Zaluski, Wiltz, 
 d'Ossonville, de Bethune, Choiseul or du Chatelet ; but 
 most of their offices were mere sinecures. The last- 
 named noble was for fifteen years the complaisant 
 husband of the good-looking, literary lady who was the 
 mistress and hostess of Voltaire at Cirey. As Houssaye 
 remarks : " The husbands of those days were much 
 easier to get along with than those of the present times. 
 M. le Marquis du Chatelet lived in community with the 
 Marquise du Chatelet and M. de Voltaire her lover. 
 They were two unquiet and turbulent creatures, always 
 ready to take fire, always armed for controversy, always 
 burning for tumult and eclat. Madame du Chatelet 
 was no better Catholic than Voltaire ; her motto, which 
 she placed on her escutcheon, was a sentence of the 
 poets — ' Happiness is the aim ; he who has acquired it 
 has gained his salvation.' 
 
 '' She resembled Voltaire in her tastes, had, like him, 
 a passion for science and petits soupers, for the fine arts 
 and gaming, for philosophy and fine clothes. They saw
 
 Manners at the Court of Stanislas 327 
 
 one another — they loved one another. M. du Chatelet 
 did not complain— he was another philosopher." 
 
 Voltaire was for some time at the Court of Stanislas 
 with this lady. Besides her knowledge of Latin, she 
 set to work to learn three or four living languages, and 
 had translated Newton and anal3^sed Leibnitz. Their 
 time was passed there quite as much in fighting as in love- 
 making. They quarrelled upon every earthly subject — 
 philosophy, physics, metaphysics, and literature. M. du 
 Chatelet would reconcile the disputants, when all three 
 would weep together. As we know, Madame du Chatelet 
 had other amusements at Luneville — she listened too 
 readily to the impassioned madrigals of Saint-Lambert 
 — to her misfortune. 
 
 Among the other ladies at this Court in Lorraine, 
 Madame de Linanges was Lady of Honour to the Queen. 
 The Marquise de Boufflers, Madame de Salles, daughter 
 of the Duchesse de Brancas, the Marquise de Choiseul, 
 and Madame de Raigecourt were Ladies of the Palace. 
 Of these, Madame de Boufflers was the Pompadour of 
 this imitation of Versailles, and fond of the fine arts. 
 This lady and the King did much between them to 
 civilise the noblesse of Lorraine, most of whom before the 
 reign of Stanislas did not even know how to read. The 
 commencement of his reign was indeed signalised by 
 nothing but crazy and violent love affairs, terrible 
 jealousies, duels and suicides. Stanislas, by the influence 
 of letters, philosopliy, and quieter and more decent 
 pleasures, endeavoured, and with a certain amount of 
 success, to tame down the uncouthness of his courtiers 
 of Lorraine. 
 
 One of the most celebrated scandals which disgraced 
 this Court was that caused by a young lady, daughter
 
 32 8 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 of the Marquise de Mezieres. She was the sister of the 
 Princesse de Montauban and Princesse de Ligne ; and 
 being a favourite of the Queen of Poland, became in- 
 stalled as Canoness of the Abbey du Poussay, the Queen 
 intending later to make her an Abbesse. 
 
 As chanoinesse, she was called Madame, although 
 unmarried. The world therefore has heard of her as 
 Madame de Bethisy. Although the Canonesses of the 
 Chapter of du Poussay were accustomed to getting them- 
 selves talked about, they expressed themselves as scan- 
 dalised when the young Madame de Bethisy eloped with 
 her cousin, an Irishman, Lord Tyrconnell. 
 
 Six of them wrote to the Queen, demanding that she 
 should be bidden to return to the Abbey, as her journey 
 dishonoured the house to the extent that it was said that 
 she had absented herself " pour aller faire ses couches.''^ 
 Thereupon the Queen told the six chanoinesses to keep 
 quiet, mind their own business, and not spread scandals ; 
 and two months later, Madame de Bethisy having 
 returned from her little trip, they were forced to make 
 her an apology in the presence of her mother and four 
 officers sent from the Court. 
 
 The Queen was still determined to make an Abbesse 
 of this free-and-easy young lady, when she suddenly 
 indulged in a new flight— this time with her own 
 brother ! after which, solely, she said, when he ceased 
 to love her, in order to make her brother jealous, she 
 indulged in a libertine career with the Marquis de 
 Meuse. 
 
 Eventually, after writing a very long letter of love 
 and remorse to her brother, in which she said that she 
 had never really loved Meuse, this ill-regulated young 
 lady blew her brains out in the Abbey du Poussay. She
 
 Manners at the Court of Stanislas 329 
 
 was, says the chronicler, " universally regretted ! " (April 
 5th, 1742). 
 
 Such, then, was the style of manners and morals 
 of Lorraine before King Stanislas endeavoured to 
 soften them down and civilise the State by the in- 
 fluence of education and philosophy ; but it cannot 
 be said by his personal example. Nor can much be 
 said for the Polish Queen in her choice of favourites. 
 
 The character of the Court was one of mixed gallantry 
 and devotion, dashed over and above with the principles 
 of that modern philosophy of which Fontenelle, Voltaire, 
 Diderot, d'Alembert, and others were the exponents. 
 The King of Poland made no concealment of what he 
 termed " his little peccadilloes " from time to time, while 
 the seigneurs and ladies of the Court were far less decent 
 and reserved even than the King. 
 
 While the Court of Luneville was thus the abode 
 of unbridled pleasures, Stanislas, having abolished 
 ceremonial, lived more in the style of a rich gentleman 
 of the period than in that becoming the father of the 
 Queen of France. 
 
 The manners and morals of Luneville, even as they 
 existed under the King's roof, were of a rough-and-ready 
 description. When Stanislas had escaped from Dantzic, 
 where he was besieged by the Russians, Austnans, and 
 Saxons, he had carried off two Polish ladies with him. 
 To one of these, the Duchess Ossolinska, he was much 
 attached, while her sister, called the Princess Palatine 
 of Russia, did not make the Polish Colonel of the Cavalry 
 of the Guards, the Chevalier de Wiltz, languish in vain 
 for her favours. 
 
 The late Due de Bourbon, before liis second marriage, 
 had declined to accept this lady when she was offered
 
 330 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 him as a wife, but de Taillebourg, who became Due de 
 Chatellerault, was not so particular. He married the 
 Princess Palatine of Russia upon the understanding 
 that she was to give up de Wiltz. The lady did not 
 keep her bargain, but continued her intercourse with 
 the Chevalier as before, while her husband devoted 
 himself to serious studies. 
 
 One day, while the Princess was flirting with Wiltz, 
 the Due de Chatellerault retired to read a serious book 
 of philosophy. Dinner time arriving, he sent word 
 by the servant that Madame could begin without him, 
 and went on reading. Madame herself then came, but 
 Monsieur would not give up his book. The Chevalier de 
 Wiltz next followed the Princess, to say that the soup 
 was getting cold. The Due merely remarked, " Get 
 out ! I am reading." The Chevalier thereupon com- 
 menced humorously to insist upon the Due coming to 
 dinner, making fun of him. Snatching up the branched 
 silver candlestick from the table, Chatellerault flung it 
 with all his force at the head of his wife's lover. Wiltz 
 dodged the missile, which smashed a mirror, and in a 
 second both the men had their swords out and had flown 
 at each other, while the screams of the Princess added 
 to the confusion. 
 
 The King, hearing the disturbance, rushed in, to 
 find his two favourites fighting furiously among over- 
 turned tables, chairs, books, and inkstands. With the 
 greatest trouble, and at considerable personal risk, 
 Stanislas managed to knock up their swords and to keep 
 the combatants separated. 
 
 The soup was quite cold by the time that the dinner 
 table was reached that evening, nor did the Due appear 
 at the board. He went off to Paris, where, having taken
 
 Manners at the Court of Stanislas 331 
 
 the title of Prince de Talmont, he became devout, and 
 lived alone until de Wiltz died. Then, by his confessor's 
 instructions, and for the edification of the public, he 
 li\-ed again in the same hotel as his wife. 
 
 King Stanislas having given to the Prince de Talmont 
 the regiment which de Wiltz had commanded, he returned 
 to Luneville, where another confessor, coupled with 
 devotion, brought about a complete reconciliation 
 between husband and wife, according to the manners 
 and customs of the times, especially at Luneville. 
 
 Another story of love, vengeance on a spy, faithful 
 friendship, seduction, jealousy, and passion, one even 
 containing an element of the comic, was that of the 
 amours of the Comte, afterwards Prince de Salm, who 
 was the Rhingrave of the Rhine, with Mademoiselle, 
 or Madame, de Lamberty, a young chanoinesse of Remire- 
 mont. It forms a complete romance, of which the 
 characters are the Rhingrave, Mademoiselle de la 
 Plotte, afterwards wife of the ChevaHer de Meuse, the 
 Marquise de Boufflers, mistress of Stanislas and bosom 
 friend of the last-mentioned lady, the young chanoinesse, 
 her mother, a spy employed by Mademoiselle de la 
 Plotte, the Comte de Vanbanglart, the Rhingrave's 
 sister, and the daughter of the Prince de Horn. 
 
 The story is too long to relate in detail, but we may 
 give an incident. Both the Rhingrave and the Chan- 
 oinesse de Lamberty, who had been on the point of 
 eloping together, persisted in declaring to the young 
 lady's furious mother that there had been nothing wrong 
 in their conduct. 
 
 At last the mother, wild with rage at hearing so 
 much barefaced lying, screamed out at the Rhingrave, 
 " I have read all your letters ! " The young noble, thus
 
 33^ The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 convicted, burst out laughing, and sought refuge in 
 flight by the door. He married the daughter of the 
 Prince de Horn a few days later in Flanders ; while the 
 chanoinesse was also united, by the matrimonial bond 
 this time, to the nephew of the Abbe de Saint-Hubert. 
 
 By the foregoing incidents it is easy to perceive that 
 the fact of a little slip beforehand was considered no 
 bar to the subsequent honourable establishment of a 
 young lady at the Court of Luneville. 
 
 Two of the oldest Lorraine families, whose names are 
 well known owing to services rendered to France, were 
 those of Stain ville and Beauveau. The Dues and 
 Marquis de Choiseul were of the former family, and the 
 Princes de Craon belonged to the latter. Of all the 
 Lorraine nobility, these families stand out as having 
 possessed some glimmerings of education and fewer 
 instincts of primeval savagery than the rest. 
 
 Upon his advent to Luneville, Stanislas found them 
 both devoted to the cause of the old Ducal family. When 
 he sought to make of the Marquis de Stainville his Grand 
 Chamberlain, that noble excused himself, sa5dng that 
 he preferred to follow his late master, Duke Francis of 
 Lorraine, and keep his table for him at Brussels, although 
 obliged to live upon a small pension. The Prince de 
 Craon, however, although equally attached to the late 
 Duke, elected to remain at Luneville. He had lived 
 in peace and amity with his wife for nearly fifty years ; 
 although, as the former Dukes had been in the habit of 
 making of the Hotel Beauveau almost their own home, 
 of course the Prince had not failed to hear his wife given 
 out as being the mistress of one of them. She was a 
 demoiselle de Ligneville and the mother of twenty-two 
 children.
 
 
 From 'III eiiLiiiiviii:^ ajici tin- /licliiif hv Liiuihoiiig. 
 
 SIANIsr.AS LKSCZYNSKI, 
 King of I'ljland, Ruler of Lorraine.
 
 Manners at the Court of Stanislas 333 
 
 Stanislas looked upon this house with suspicion ; he 
 feared treason from a family too devoted to the line 
 which he had replaced, and one which he himself dis- 
 liked. One day, either as a sly jest or by way of making 
 his court to the King, the Prince de Craon offered to him 
 a fine piece of statuary, which he had admired as such. 
 It was the statue of the Duke Francis of Lorraine, which 
 Craon greatly valued. " It would be very useless to 
 me," said Stanislas. 
 
 " Why so ? " replied the Prince de Craon. " Since 
 3-our ]\Iajesty finds the statue so beautiful, I will have 
 the head changed and your Majesty's head substituted." 
 
 The King of Poland was quite embarrassed at this 
 insistence. " Leave things as they are," he said. 
 *' You could never give to the statue my corpulence, 
 thus it would never resemble me." 
 
 The arbitrary manner in which the Duchy used to 
 be ruled by the Dukes of Lorraine is exemplified by an 
 incident in the annals of the Beauveau family in 1728, 
 which shows also how good was the credit of the Prince 
 de Craon at Court in those days. Having, on the death 
 of Madame de Ludes, wished to make one of his numerous 
 daughters Abbess of Epinal in the deceased lady's place, 
 de Craon obtained the Duke's support. That Prince sent 
 some commissioners to cause the election, willy-nilly, 
 of the young lady, who was only fourteen. The French, 
 Lorraine, and German Canonesses of the convent resisted, 
 saying that election was free, and that, according to 
 their rules, they must elect one of their own number, 
 not a young lady who had belonged to another conventual 
 establishment. The Duke sent word that he would 
 exile from his State all who did not vote for Mademoiselle 
 dc Beauveau and, moreover, seize their stipends. This
 
 334 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 brought the ladies of Epinal to reason — the youthful 
 daughter of the Prince de Craon became their Abbess. 
 
 The interesting point about this incident is, that it 
 shows how much greater was the power of the Dukes of 
 Lorraine where the Church was concerned than that of 
 the Kings of France. Throughout the reigns of Louis 
 XIIL, Louis XIV., and Louis XV., there were occasion- 
 ally tussles between the Crown and the clergy, in which 
 the Church as a body invariably issued as victor. 
 Even the great Cardinal Richelieu, in his capacity of 
 all-powerful Minister, was unable to compel the obedience 
 of the clergy in various matters, such as paying taxes 
 or the abolition of the tenets of Quietism, when they 
 became rampant in the convents — especially in Picardy. 
 
 Two sons and nine daughters survived of the family 
 of the Prince de Craon. Four daughters he put into 
 the Church, and five he married well. De Morvet, de 
 Mirepoix, de Chimay, de Bassompierre, and de Boufflers, 
 were the names of the great nobles who became their 
 husbands. His son the Prince de Beauveau became 
 a Marechal in the service of France, while his other son, 
 the Chevalier de Beauveau, was killed at the battle of 
 Fontenoy. The Marechal Prince de Beauveau suc- 
 ceeded the Marechal de Mirepoix in the post of Grand 
 Master of the Household of the King of Poland, when, 
 forgetting his father's predilection for the old Ducal 
 house, he made very successful efforts to turn the Lor- 
 rainers into Frenchmen. He did more than any one else 
 to improve the tone and manners of the Court of Luneville, 
 and while being himself a man of a noble presence and 
 decent mode of life, was also an accomplished scholar. 
 Towards the end of the reign of Stanislas his presence 
 at Luneville was a distinctly improving influence.
 
 Manners at the Court of Stanislas 335 
 
 Voltaire, although so greatly sought after at one time 
 by Frederick the Great, was not at Luneville so highly 
 appreciated in his person as by his poems and other 
 works. The spoilt child of the human race, he took 
 little pains to make himself agreeable, but gave free sway 
 to his frequently peevish temper, and thus was often 
 almost insupportable. Priding himself on his high 
 literary reputation, he did not trouble to play the courtier 
 at Luneville after having failed at Versailles. Moreover, 
 he lived in the most free-and-easy style, as if he were 
 still at Cirey or at his own country chateau, Les Dehces. 
 
 Despite the liberties, usually trifling ones, which the 
 jovial King Stanislas good-humouredly allowed himself 
 with the fair sex even to an advanced age, there was 
 nothing low or base about him as there was about his 
 son-in-law the King of France. None of the horrid 
 stories of young girls of tender age being stolen or pur- 
 chased, so frequently heard in Paris, which city justly 
 accused its King, were ever to be heard in Luneville. 
 Stanislas, on the contrary, acted like a father to the 
 people who had fallen under his rule when he definitely 
 lost Poland. While endeavouring to detach his Duchy 
 from the interests of the house of Lorraine, and occa- 
 sionally in so doing being guilty of some arbitrary 
 measures, he showered benefits upon the inhabitants. 
 
 Himself fond of all that was fine, devoted to letters and 
 the arts, he strove by nil means to embellish his capital — 
 he erected statues and cstablislicd academies. Like 
 Frederick the Great, imbued with philosophical ideas, 
 he was also, like him, an author of no mean powers. The 
 Church, as represented by the fanatical Bishop of Verdun, 
 even saw fit to prevent for a considerable period the 
 publication of one of his philosophical works.
 
 336 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 For a King, however, he indulged in curious habits : 
 one of these was, hke Cardinal Mazarin before him, 
 occasionally cheating at cards ; another that of writing 
 anonymous pamphlets to enforce his views on the subject 
 of Austria, which country he detested — and with reason. 
 In his conversation he was witty to a degree, he was 
 quick and clever at a repartee, and told a good story. 
 An early riser, he went to bed at nine, and always ate 
 with a good appetite. 
 
 His wife never ceased to be jealous of Stanislas, and 
 never ceased to regret Poland. At the age of sixty 
 these were still her most prominent ideas, and to her last 
 hour the ex-Queen cherished the idea of regaining the 
 PoHsh Crown. She had a considerable Household, but 
 it was conducted with economy, as also was that of the 
 King. He saved largely upon a small income for a 
 potentate in his position, which was 2,400,000 francs, 
 and he employed some of his savings in the cause of 
 humanity. 
 
 Stanislas went to Paris as seldom as possible ; but 
 when he did so treated the King with respect, but his 
 daughter with the most homely affection and sans-gene. 
 Throwing himself down for a nap in the Queen's apart- 
 ments upon a sofa, he would say, " Marie, mind my 
 ^vig — be sure and let nobody touch it until I have had 
 
 forty winks." 
 
 The manner in which Stanislas contrived to save 
 was a cause of marvel to Louis XV. Especially was he 
 astonished when— before the death of Cardinal Fleury, in 
 January, 1743 — the King of Poland remitted to France 
 the sum of 400,000 francs to be invested in the State. 
 The interest to be paid to him, of 40,000 francs a year, 
 he made revertible in case of his death to the Queen
 
 Manners at the Court of Stanislas 337 
 
 of Poland, and after her to his daughter Marie 
 Lesczynska. Louis thought it a very good joke that 
 money should be invested thus for the benefit of a Queen 
 of France, and remarked, " That is a good lesson to 
 myself." It was a lesson, however, which he never 
 properly learned, for he always kept the Queen upon 
 a very short allowance, part of which she devoted to 
 charity. 
 
 At his death Stanislas left all his splendid furniture 
 to Louis, on condition that he should pay legacies, to 
 the extent of eight millions, for good works and for 
 the officers and servants of his household, for the pur- 
 chase of wheat for the poor, and other charities. When, 
 on February 22nd, 1766, King Stanislas breathed his 
 las never was there a Monarch so much regretted as 
 the ex-King of Poland in Lorraine. 
 
 Two years before him, died his jealous, malicious, 
 and amusing little dwarf, Bebe, only nineteen inches 
 high at the age of twenty-three. The adventures and 
 tricks of this pretty little dwarf would fill a book. They 
 remind one of Gulliver's voyage to Brobdingnag. The 
 ladies of the Court were always in terror of sitting upon 
 Bebe, one of whose tricks consisted in creeping under 
 chairs or petticoats where least expected, and frightening 
 unsuspecting ladies into fits. 
 
 VOL. I. 22
 
 CHAPTER XXVII 
 
 Court Etiquette and Pompadour^s Magnificence 
 
 1749— 1753 
 
 When the student has carefully followed the history of 
 the French Court and kingdom from the death of the 
 Regent in 1723 ; when he has pried into the secrets of 
 the Court, followed the careers of the King, Queen, 
 Royal Family, Royal mistresses. Ministers, and Courtiers, 
 until the year 1749, he finds himself brought up by a 
 break in the road— there is a change ahead in the route. 
 The Royal road, which leads onwards for another quarter 
 of a century through the reign of the Well-Beloved, 
 and which has hitherto been straight and easy enough 
 to follow, commences at that date, in many branches, 
 to turn and twist upon itself, sometimes to go forwards, 
 sometimes backwards ; the policy of France — or shall 
 we not say that of Versailles ? — has turned the course of 
 that road into various new and unfamiliar directions. 
 
 Pausing in front of the Palace of Versailles, upon 
 the threshold of the new departure, the wayfaring student 
 scans with a somewhat puzzled interest the inscriptions 
 upon the arms of the new sign-post which has been put J 
 up, while reading some such directions as follow : 
 " Quarrels with the clergy — Quarrels with the Parliament 
 —Quarrels with the people — Dismissal of the Comte 
 
 338
 
 Court Etiquette and Pompadour's Magnificence 339 
 
 d'Argenson — Difficulties with the brothers Paris — Per- 
 secution of the Protestants — Persecution of the Jan- 
 senists." There is also an inscription, " Expulsion 
 of the Jesuits." Other arms of the post will be inscribed, 
 " To Madame Infante, to Madame Henriette, to Madame 
 Adelaide " — this last one written very plainly, showing 
 that the road it points out is of considerable importance 
 to the King. 
 
 Glancing at the foot of the sign-post, is seen lying, 
 where it has been thrown, an old and rotting piece of wood. 
 The inscription which it bears, still legible, runs, " To 
 Prussia." Since it evidently came from the top of the 
 pole, the traveller, before starting on his new journey, 
 glances upward to see what has replaced " To Prussia." 
 Lo, and behold ! in very clear and black letters upon a 
 dazzling white ground, the words " To Austria " shine 
 before his eyes. As if the direction were not enough, 
 and as though to verify its correctness, two names 
 are painted below — these are, Kaunitz and Choiseul ! 
 The wearied traveller, before being able to make 
 up his mind to follow in turn all of these different roads, 
 thinks that perhaps a preliminary rest may be advisable. 
 At all events, he decides to examine their condition, 
 since to traverse them will require a new supply of 
 stout shoe-leather, that which he wears having already 
 become muddy and worn. He glances back, along the 
 straight route which he has already followed in his 
 journey with Louis XV. It seems to him that he has 
 already been obliged to encounter much that is far 
 from pleasant on that Royal causeway. He looks 
 forward once more, to a post which, standing by itself, 
 has but one arm, bearing the inscription, " To the Pare 
 aux Ccrfs." It points along a lane ; one glance along
 
 340 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 that lane is enough, its condition is filth ! — sheer 
 filth! 
 
 A rest and restorative are decidedly advisable before 
 following that road for twenty-five years in company 
 with him whom they have called the Well-Beloved ! 
 Faugh ! the very thought of his society is enough. 
 " Apres moi le deluge,'" indeed ! It is a pity that his 
 subjects, already grown revolutionary by the first months 
 of 1750, did not catch him whom already they called 
 Herod — the butcher of children — and plunge him into 
 that deluge then, instead of contenting themselves by 
 feebly crying, " Brulons Versailles ! " 
 
 But the Bien-Aime had become frightened and 
 cautious. When he wished to go to his suspicious 
 little house at La Muette, he started before daylight and 
 travelled all round outside the walls of Paris. " Why ? " 
 exclaimed this hoggish King, " should I journey through 
 the streets ? Why should I wish to see a people who 
 call me Herod ? I prefer to go round." The people 
 later named the route that Louis followed by the title 
 of Chemin de la Revolte. But that was when they 
 had another Louis in their clutches, an innocent idiot, 
 whom they caused cruelly to suffer for the sins of his 
 grandfather and all his Bourbon ancestry. 
 
 Let us, however, turn our eyes with the student way- 
 farer back from those onward pathways leading to the 
 Seven Years' War and defeat at Rosbach, to the mastery 
 of the Austrian Kaunitz, to the affectionate letters in 
 which the haughty Maria Theresa cringes to Pompadour 
 and calls her " Cousin." Finally, let us not look on just 
 at present to those disgraceful years during which one of 
 the lowest of women. Mademoiselle Lange, under the name 
 of Madame du Barry, lives upon equal terms with The
 
 Court Etiquette and Pompadour^s Magnificence 341 
 
 Very Christian King in his splendid chateau of Ver- 
 sailles. 
 
 For in that chateau, if we pause to look within, 
 apart from the haughty favourite seated at her desk 
 conducting the Ministers — while waiting yet a little longer 
 to encourage literature and science by backing up the 
 philosophic authors of the Encyclopedie — strange sights 
 may be observed. Strange quarrels among the servantry 
 upon the subject of etiquette among themselves were 
 constantly occurring, and especially among those of the 
 Queen's household. Since, owing to these dissensions 
 upon the subject of their respective duties, the good- 
 natured Marie Lesczynska was sometimes compelled 
 to forego some of the few pleasures which she was ever 
 allowed to enjoy, we can see how wise was her father, 
 King Stanislas, to abolish all etiquette from his Court 
 at Luneville. 
 
 An example of this slavery of all Versailles to the 
 laws of etiquette was to be seen one day when the 
 Queen was making the rounds of the Royal apartments 
 with the Duchesse de Luynes. Her Majesty, observing 
 some dust upon the counterpane of her grand official 
 bed, known as the Queen's lit de parade, pointed it out 
 to her companion. Madame de Luynes then sent for 
 the official who bore the title of valet de chambre tapissier 
 to the Queen, who was on duty in that part of the palace. 
 This post of tapestry valet de chainhrc was, by-the-bye, 
 the sole official post which the poet Moliere ever held 
 at the Court of King Louis XIV., when it was not con- 
 sidered one of much consideration. To resume, when 
 the Queen's valet had come, the Duchess de Luynes 
 did not tell him to remove the dust, but to go and fetch 
 the King's valet de chambre tapissier and show the counter-
 
 342 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 pane to him. He arrived, whereupon he maintained 
 to Her Majesty that this particular dust did not concern 
 him. He admitted, however, that the valets de chambre 
 tapissiers made the Queen's bed, but, he said, as for the 
 bed of parade, when the Queen was not sleeping in it, 
 that article came under the heading of meuble — furniture. 
 He could not touch it — the dust only then concerning 
 the officers of the garde meuble. It took two entire 
 days before it could be discovered whose duty it was — 
 in accordance with the charge which he had purchased — 
 to remove that dust ! In the meantime, if the Queen 
 had chosen to occupy the bed of parade, she would 
 have been compelled to sleep in it dusty, or else dust it 
 herself, for fear of interference with any one's prerogative. 
 
 The tasting of the dishes at meal-times was another 
 function even more serious than that of removing a 
 speck or two of dust. There were five gentlemen de- 
 puted to this charge, who stood in front of each large 
 dish. One was the chief, and ordered the four others 
 in his presence to taste. These gentlemen were called 
 officiers de la bouche, and they were compelled to taste 
 fruit, ices, vegetables, as well as the meats at every 
 meal before the King was served. Four or five others 
 tasted the wines — the chief of these was called the chef 
 du gobelet. 
 
 One of the excuses which Louis XV. gave for his all 
 too frequent absences to his petits cabinets in the petites 
 maisons of Choisy or La Muette, was that he wished to 
 escape the etiquette which, at Versailles, made it im- 
 possible for him to receive whom he liked openly. Very 
 few persons were allowed to enter by the main doors 
 leading to any of the Royal apartments ; but little 
 hidden doors, leading on to hidden staircases, were
 
 Court Etiquette and Pompadour^s Magnificence 343 
 
 constructed in the walls, on purpose for the admission 
 of those not of very high rank. At Choisy the King 
 received whom he chose and how he chose — his mistresess, 
 or ladies of known gallantry and a few male favourites, 
 who might well be termed his roues, as were those of 
 the Regent before him. 
 
 The unfortunate Queen was, however, unable always 
 in a similar manner to escape from etiquette when she 
 went to the Chateau de Trianon, which had been given 
 to her for her amusement. A serious quarrel, which 
 took place between the Governor of the Trianon and Her 
 Majesty's fruit-woman, as to which had the right to 
 provide the candles, kept ^larie Lesczynska away from 
 the Trianon for two whole years. Good-natured soul 
 as she was, she did not wish to offend either party, and 
 so kept away altogether. 
 
 In nothing did the Queen show this kindness of 
 disposition more than in the excessive consideration 
 with which she treated Madame de Pompadour, when, 
 as Madame d'Etioles, she first was installed at Versailles 
 as the King's mistress. Unworthy as was this designing 
 woman — who had deserted a husband passionately 
 attached to her and her surviving little girl to gain the 
 King — Marie Lesczynska was sorry for her, when she 
 heard the courtiers and ladies-of-honour mimicking her 
 too bourgeois pronunciation and use of words which were 
 considered slangy and vulgar. 
 
 The Queen having been forced by the King to accept 
 the public presentation of his mistress, all the jealous 
 ladies of the Court were looking forward to seeing her 
 coldly and slightingly received. They liad made up 
 their minds, in advance, that the only subject of con- 
 versation in which the Queen would indulge would be
 
 344 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 a stilted remark or two upon the subject of the dress 
 of the debutante. Being aware of this, Marie Lesczynska 
 purposely avoided the subject of dress, and talked 
 affably to Madame d'Etioles about some great lady, 
 as if to infer that she belonged to the same society. 
 While, however, she was received in this flattering 
 manner, Pompadour had no answer to make, when the 
 Queen asked her to give her the latest news of Madame 
 de Saissac. The sole reply she could think of was to 
 say, " Madame, I have the greatest passion to please 
 you." 
 
 In making this remark, which was scarcely a propos, 
 Pompadour, however, doubtless told the truth. Through- 
 out her career of twenty years as the King's official 
 favourite, the Marquise always showed consideration 
 for the Queen and behaved with a studied humility 
 towards her. To the Dauphin and the Princesses, 
 however, she never lost an opportunity of doing an ill 
 turn with the King ; especially did she reciprocate the 
 hatred which she knew that the Dauphin bore her. The 
 Queen, however, was grateful for the favourite's studied 
 humility, and even went so far as to dine in her society 
 one day at Choisy when the King was there ill. 
 
 The King, who had shown himself so niggardly with 
 Madame de Mailly that he even allowed that good-hearted 
 lady to impoverish herself on his behalf, behaved in a 
 very different manner to the insatiable Madame de 
 Pompadour. When the people of France were starving, 
 he always could find money for her. One reason may 
 have been that he went into business himself, and, in 
 the year 1749 and later, speculated in wheat, no doubt 
 under the advice of the brothers Paris, the farmers- 
 general, her god-fathers. With the poor dying of starva-
 
 Court Etiquette and Pompadour^s Magnificence 345 
 
 tion, the King was able, no doubt, to make an enormous 
 profit by the " corner " which he estabhshed in wheat, 
 of which a large supply was collected in various granaries. 
 These, although not declared as such, the hungry people 
 knew to be Royal. 
 
 Long before 1749, however, the King's mistress had 
 become rich. In the first six months of her reign she 
 was allowed 180,000 livres a year and the Marquisate 
 and estates of Pompadour. A Royal lodging was 
 also then provided for her in all of the King's chateaux. 
 In 1746 she purchased Selle, for 160,000, and at once 
 expended 60,000 in repairing the castle on the property ; 
 and in the same year she also bought the chateau and 
 estate of Crecy for 700,000. In addition, she acquired 
 a charge on the treasury of the Royal stables worth half 
 a million of livres. 
 
 The public were already furious at learning how the 
 usually avaricious and miserly King was lavishing his 
 money on this favourite, when on January ist, 1747, 
 he presented her with some magnificent diamond-en- 
 crusted tablets, inlaid with the three towers which she 
 had selected as her arms, and bearing also the arms of 
 the King. Her brother meanwhile was created Marquis 
 de Vandieres ; which name the pQople facetiously altered 
 into the Marquis d'Avant-hier. This title was coupled 
 with the post of the Captaincy of la Grenelle, which 
 brought him in 100,000 livres of income. He after- 
 wards became Marquis de Marigny. 
 
 It would be fatiguing to recapitulate all the known 
 sums of money that Madame de Pompadour acquired 
 during tlic following years. During the ascendancy in 
 the King's affections of several of his daughters in suc- 
 cession, he did not give her so much in cash as in the earlier
 
 34^ The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 days ; but somehow she always contrived to continue 
 to purchase new chateaux, estates, and magnificent 
 hotels. An hotel at Fontainebleau and the Chateau 
 d'Aulnay in 1749 ; the chateau of Brimborion in 1750; the 
 estate of Marigny in the same year for her father, Poisson, 
 who became a noble and died in 1754 ; the chateau 
 and estate of Saint-Remi, and an hotel at Compiegne, both 
 in 1752 ; the magnificent hotel of the Comte d'Evreux in 
 the Faubourg Saint-Honore in Paris in 1753, — such were 
 only a few of her acquisitions bought with the money 
 wrung from the starving poor, bought, too, in only nine 
 years out of the twenty of her reign. 
 
 When the favourite commenced to refurnish and 
 make extensive repairs upon this last-acquired mansion, 
 when, moreover, Madame de Pompadour calmly appro- 
 priated and enclosed a piece of the Champs Elysees 
 adjoining, the people of Paris went wild with fury at her 
 extravagance and greed. In the course of one night the 
 whole of the walls of the Hotel d'Evreux were plastered 
 with sarcastic lampoons and satires of the most offensive 
 description. Moreover, on the following day, a mob 
 collected and drove away the workmen employed in 
 repairing this ancient aristocratic building by her whom 
 they designated as la grisette. 
 
 Although always called by preference Marquise, the 
 rights of Duchesse and Peeress of France were be- 
 stowed upon Madame de Pompadour on October i8th, 
 1752. She was accordingly granted the honour of the 
 tabouret, which allowed her to be seated in the presence 
 of the King and Queen. 
 
 When it is considered that many of the properties 
 which she, who had been originally merely Mademoiselle 
 Poisson, purchased — for instance, the beautiful Chateau
 
 Court Etiquette and Pompadour's Magnificence 347 
 
 de Bellevue — could alone satisfy Princes of the Blood, 
 it would almost seem as if the resources of this woman 
 were limitless. She died very affluent at the age of 
 forty-two, after having spent millions. 
 
 Madame de Pompadour has always been held up as 
 having been the patroness of, not only men of science, 
 but of artists. Her enemies say that she looked upon 
 the great artists — Vemet, Pigale, la Tour, and others — 
 merely in the light of so many house decorators ; that, 
 moreover, through the employment given by her to men 
 of genius, she acquired for herself the reputation of 
 being highly artistic in her tastes. At her death 
 some of the works of art which she had bought for a 
 moderate sum sold for three times what she had paid 
 for them. Some of them were repurchased by the 
 painters themselves at their enhanced value. 
 
 Whatever may have been her real nature, artistic or 
 otherwise, one thing is certain — that she furnished her 
 palaces as Royal palaces were furnished. She had funds 
 in various foreign banks. London and Genoa, Amster- 
 dam and Venice, were each the depositaries of part of 
 her fortune. Therefore, in case misfortune had come, 
 and, like du Barry, later she had been forced to fly to 
 any of these foreign cities, she would not have found 
 herself destitute, but well provided for. 
 
 With regard to her protection of the philosophers of 
 the modern school of thought, it will be noticed that in 
 several pictures still extant of this Royal courtesan she 
 is seated with the greatest works of the day very much 
 en evidence by her side. The Encyclopedic, the Esprit 
 des lois by Montesquieu, such are the volumes in her 
 liand or on her table. Opposed bitterly to the Jesuits, 
 who would not ally themselves with her, they being of
 
 348 The Real Louis the Fifteenth 
 
 the party of the Dauphin, it is more than probable that 
 Madame de Pompadour became really imbued with the 
 tenets which the Jesuits detested, and, moreover, the 
 more inchned to lend a helping hand to those scoffers or 
 men of genius who advanced those tenets. Whatever her 
 enemies may say, it is more than probable that Diderot, 
 d'Alembert, and the rest would never have obtained the 
 permission to produce the often suppressed Encyclopedie 
 without her assisting influence. Therefore, to her were 
 due the thanks of those very revolutionary spirits who, 
 educated by these works, would most assuredly, had 
 she been alive a few years later, have torn in pieces the 
 woman who protected the production of that first great 
 exposition of modern scientific and revolutionary thought. 
 It must not be forgotten that Madame du Barry, returning 
 from London to Paris for her jewels, fell under the 
 guillotine — how much more then would the greedy 
 Marquise de Pompadour, detested by the poor, have 
 suffered ? 
 
 Yet was not Madame de Pompadour removed from 
 this world without leaving her name in connection with 
 one good work. In the year 1746 she remembered that 
 there really existed such ordinary beings as poor, miserable, 
 and diseased persons. Accordingly, selling a quantity of 
 diamonds for the purpose, she established a Hotel-Dieu, 
 or hospital for her peasants, on the estate at Crecy. It 
 contained forty-eight beds, and its establishment cost 
 the Marquise 600,000 Hvres. She obtained great praise 
 for her benevolence from the journals of the day. 
 Still more praise did she earn when, in company with 
 her lover and lapdog the amiable and handsome Abbe 
 de Bemis, Comte de Lyon, she left the dehghts of Ver- 
 sailles personally to inspect the manner in which the
 
 Court Etiquette and Pompadour^s Magnificence 3 4-9 
 
 institution was being managed by the Grey Sisters 
 whom she had put in charge. 
 
 We have now, however, attained the bounds we had 
 set ourselves the task of reaching in the present vohime. 
 It is a time of peace in France, and the muttering sounds 
 of the Seven Years' War are yet afar off. Frederick the 
 Great has for the moment turned his sword into a plough- 
 share, Louis has his internal affairs and his pleasures to 
 keep him occupied. Let us, therefore, rest ^\ith the 
 student-traveller in front of the portals of Versailles. 
 When we resume our journey in the following volume, 
 it will be to see the avenging sword of the Prussian 
 flashing in the face of his former allies at Rosbach ; to 
 be held in astonishment upon finding that a camp has 
 been surprised containing more hairdressers and women 
 than French cavaliers. 
 
 END OF VOL. I 
 
 Prxnltd by llazell, kVaison cS" Vincy, LJ,, London and Aylesbury.
 
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